Egypt erupts with protests demanding Morsi ouster

An Egyptian protester waves a national flag as Egyptians gather in Tahrir Square during a demonstration against President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured out onto the streets in Cairo and across much of the nation Sunday, launching an all-out push to force Mohammed Morsi from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Fears of violence were high, with Morsi's Islamist supporters vowing to defend him. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

An Egyptian protester waves a national flag as Egyptians gather in Tahrir Square during a demonstration against President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured out onto the streets in Cairo and across much of the nation Sunday, launching an all-out push to force Mohammed Morsi from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Fears of violence were high, with Morsi's Islamist supporters vowing to defend him. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured out onto the streets in Cairo and across much of the nation Sunday, launching an all-out push to force Mohammed Morsi from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Fears of violence were high, with Morsi's Islamist supporters vowing to defend him. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Supporters of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi hold sticks and shields as they rally in Nasser City, Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured out onto the streets in Cairo and across much of the nation Sunday, launching an all-out push to force Mohammed Morsi from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Fears of violence were high, with Morsi's Islamist supporters vowing to defend him.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Graffiti, including a caricature of President Mohammed Morsi, left and ousted President Hosni Munarak, is painted on the wall of a building across from the Ministry of Culture in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured out onto the streets in Cairo and across much of the nation Sunday, launching an all-out push to force Mohammed Morsi from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Fears of violence were high, with Morsi's Islamist supporters vowing to defend him. The red Arabic words below the face drawing reads, "Whoever cost it didn't die." The Arabic next to the face drawing reads, "Down with the rule of sheep." The red and white Arabic reads, "The revolution is everywhere against the killer and the traitor." (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi protest outside the presidential palace, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured out onto the streets in Cairo and across much of the nation Sunday, launching an all-out push to force Mohammed Morsi from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Fears of violence were high, with Morsi's Islamist supporters vowing to defend him.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

CAIRO (AP) ? Hundreds of thousands thronged the streets of Cairo and cities around the country Sunday and marched on the presidential palace, filling a broad avenue for blocks, in an attempt to force out the Islamist president with the most massive protests Egypt has seen in 2? years of turmoil.

In a sign of the explosive volatility of the country's divisions, young protesters mainly from the surrounding neighborhood pelted the main headquarters of President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood with stones and firebombs, and at one point a fire erupted at the gates of the walled villa. During clashes, Brotherhood supporters barricaded inside opened fire on the attackers, and activists said at least five protesters were killed.

At least five more anti-Morsi protesters were killed Sunday in clashes and shootings in southern Egypt.

Fears were widespread that the collisions between the two sides could grow more violent in coming days. Morsi made clear through a spokesman that he would not step down and his Islamist supporters vowed not to allow protesters to remove one of their own, brought to office in a legitimate vote. During the day Sunday, thousands of Islamists massed not far from the presidential palace in support of Morsi, some of them prepared for a fight with makeshift armor and sticks.

The protesters aimed to show by sheer numbers that the country has irrevocably turned against Morsi, a year to the day after he was inaugurated as Egypt's first freely elected president. But throughout the day and even up to midnight at the main rallying sites, fears of rampant violence did not materialize.

Instead the mood was largely festive as protesters at giant anti-Morsi rallies in Cairo's central Tahrir Square and outside the Ittihadiya palace spilled into side streets and across boulevards, waving flags, blowing whistles and chanting.

Fireworks went off overhead. Men and women, some with small children on their shoulders, beat drums, danced and sang, "By hook or by crook, we will bring Morsi down." Residents in nearby homes showered water on marchers below ? some carrying tents in preparation to camp outside the palace ? to cool them in the summer heat, and blew whistles and waved flags in support.

"Mubarak took only 18 days although he had behind him the security, intelligence and a large sector of Egyptians," said Amr Tawfeeq, an oil company employee marching toward Ittihadiya with a Christian friend. Morsi "won't take long. We want him out and we are ready to pay the price."

The massive outpouring against Morsi raises the question of what is next. Protesters have vowed to stay on the streets until he steps down, and organizers called for widespread labor strikes starting Monday. The president, in turn, appears to be hoping protests wane.

For weeks, Morsi's supporters have depicted the planned protest as a plot by Mubarak loyalists. But their claims were undermined by the extent of Sunday's rallies. In Cairo and a string of cities in the Nile Delta and on the Mediterranean coast, the protests topped even the biggest protests of the 2011's 18-day uprising, including the day Mubarak quit, Feb. 11, when giant crowds marched on Ittihadiya.

It is unclear now whether the opposition, which for months has demanded Morsi form a national unity government, would now accept any concessions short of his removal. The anticipated deadlock raises the question of whether the army, already deployed on the outskirts of cities, will intervene. Protesters believe the military would throw its weight behind them, tipping the balance against Morsi.

The country's police, meanwhile, were hardly to be seen Sunday. In the lead-up to Sunday, some officers angrily told their commanders they would not protect the Brotherhood from protesters, complaining that police are always caught in the middle, according to video of the meeting released online.

"If the Brothers think that we will give up and leave, they are mistaken," said lawyer Hossam Muhareb as he sat with a friend on a sidewalk near the presidential palace. "They will give up and leave after seeing our numbers."

Violence could send the situation spinning into explosive directions.

The fire at the Brotherhood headquarters, located on a plateau overlooking Cairo, sent smoke pouring in the air. Witnesses said it was caused when the youths hurled a gas canister at the heavily barricaded gate and it exploded. For several hours after, Brotherhood supporters inside fired on stone-throwing youths outside. At least five on the anti-Morsi side were shot to death, and 60 were wounded, an activist who monitored casualties at the hospital, Nazli Hussein, said.

Southern Egypt saw deadly attacks on anti-Morsi protests, and five people were killed. Two protesters were shot to death during clashes outside offices of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, one in Beni Suef, the other in Fayoum.

In the city of Assiut, a stronghold of Islamists, gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a protest in which tens of thousands were participating,, killing one person, wounding four others and sending the crowd running.

The enraged protesters then marched on the nearby Freedom and Justice offices, where gunmen inside opened fire, killing two more, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the press. Clashes erupted, with protesters and security forces fighting side by side against Morsi's supporters.

At least 400 people were injured nationwide, the Health Ministry said.

Morsi, who has three years left in his term, said street protests cannot be used to overturn the results of a free election.

"There is no room for any talk against this constitutional legitimacy," he told Britain's The Guardian newspaper in an interview published Sunday, rejecting early elections.

If an elected president is forced out, "there will (be) people or opponents opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later, they will ask him to step down," he said.

Morsi was not at Ittihadiya as Sunday's rally took place ? he had moved to another nearby palace.

As the crowds massed, Morsi's spokesman Ihab Fahmi repeated the president's longstanding offer of dialogue with the opposition to resolve the nation's political crisis, calling it "the only framework through which we can reach understandings."

The opposition has repeatedly turned down his offers for dialogue, arguing that they were for show.

The demonstrations are the culmination of polarization and instability that have been building since Morsi's June 30, 2012, inauguration. The past year has seen multiple political crises, bouts of bloody clashes and a steadily worsening economy, with power outages, fuel shortages, rising prices and persistent lawlessness and crime.

In one camp are the president and his Islamist allies, including the Muslim Brotherhood and more hard-line groups. Morsi supporters accuse Mubarak loyalists of being behind the protests, aiming to overturn last year's election results, just as they argue that remnants of the old regime have sabotaged Morsi's attempts to deal with the nation's woes and bring reforms.

Hard-liners among them have also given the confrontation a sharply religious tone, denouncing Morsi's opponents as "enemies of God" and infidels.

On the other side is an array of secular and liberal Egyptians, moderate Muslims, Christians ? and what the opposition says is a broad sector of the general public that has turned against the Islamists. They say the Islamists have negated their election mandate by trying to monopolize power, infusing government with their supporters, forcing through a constitution they largely wrote and giving religious extremists a free hand, all while failing to manage the country.

"The country is only going backward. He's embarrassing us and making people hate Islam," said Donia Rashad, a 24-year-old unemployed woman who wears the conservative Islamic headscarf. "We need someone who can feel the people and is agreeable to the majority."

As they marched toward the presidential palace, some chanted, "You lied to us in the name of religion." The crowds, including women, children and elderly people, hoisted long banners in the colors of the Egyptian flag and raised red cards ? a sign of expulsion in soccer.

In Tahrir, chants of "erhal!", or "leave!" thundered around the square. The crowd, which appeared to number some 300,000, waved Egyptian flags and posters of Morsi with a red X over his face. They whistled and waved when military helicopters swooped close overhead, reflecting their belief that the army favors them over Morsi.

Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi warned a week ago that the military would intervene to prevent the nation from entering a "dark tunnel." Army troops backed by armored vehicles were deployed Sunday in some of Cairo's suburbs, with soldiers at traffic lights and major intersections. In the evening, they deployed near the international airport, state TV said.

Similarly sized crowds turned out in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta cities of Mansoura, Tanta and Damanhour, with sizeable rallies in cities nationwide.

"Today is the Brotherhood's last day in power," Suliman Mohammed, a manager of a seafood company, said in Tahrir.

The protests emerge from a petition campaign by a youth activist group known as Tamarod, Arabic for "Rebel." For several months, the group has been collecting signatures on a call for Morsi to step down.

On Saturday, the group announced it had more than 22 million signatures ? proof, it claims, that a broad sector of the public no longer wants Morsi in office.

It was not possible to verify the claim. If true, it would be nearly twice the some 13 million people who voted for Morsi in last year's presidential run-off election, which he won with around 52 percent of the vote. Tamarod organizers said they discarded about 100,000 signed forms because they were duplicates.

Morsi's supporters have questioned the authenticity of the signatures, but have produced no evidence of fraud.

Near Ittihadiya palace, thousands of Islamists gathered in a show of support for Morsi outside the Rabia al-Adawiya mosque. Some Morsi backers wore homemade body armor and construction helmets and carried shields and clubs ? precautions, they said, against possible violence.

At the pro-Morsi rally at the Rabia al-Adawiya mosque, the crowd chanted, "God is great," and some held up copies of Islam's holy book, the Quran.

"The people hold the legitimacy and we support Dr. Mohamed Morsi," said Ahmed Ramadan, one of the rally participants. "We would like to tell him not to be affected by the opponents' protests and not to give up his rights. We are here to support and protect him."

____

AP reporters Tony G. Gabriel and Mariam Rizk contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-30-Egypt/id-d36b75ab90334d19b741d12e61540688

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Social Media Video Blueprint Facebook Class

2013-06-29 22:10:20 - Doylestown, PA ? How can your business benefit from Facebook?s 1 billion users? This training on July 17 from 9:30-11:30 at Doylestown?s Mac Outfitters will show you key ways to leverage this popular social media network.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Jen Phillips April
Social Media Video Blueprint
267-265-7291
jen@jenphillipsapril.com

It takes more than opening a Facebook account to draw the return your business needs. Get a plan, learn about the recent changes and start maximizing Facebook for your business.
This class will focus on Facebook:
The Difference Between a Personal Facebook Page vs. Business Page
2 Ways to Always Have Content at the Ready So You Don?t Face ?Social Media Blockand You Know Exactly What to Post
What a Hashtag is and How You Can Use It Effectively
Creating Visuals from Text ? How to Do it and Why You?d Want To
How Video Can Increase Your Visibility and Your Business
How Facebook Ads Can Help You Promote Your Business
Streamlining Your

Facebook Marketing So it Doesn?t Take a Huge Bite
Out of Your Day.
This is an in-person class. You can register here: july17fb.eventbrite.com
Seminar leaders are:
Rick Toone -- 20 years of Hollywood experience and Doylestown's favorite video expert & Jen Phillips April ? web writer and social media trainer and consultant
The class is held at Doylestown?s Mac Outfitters Store, 739 N Easton Rd Ste 200 Doylestown, PA 18902. The class will take place July 17 9:30-11:30. Call Jen for more info, 267-265-7291 or Rick at 215-262-0022 or go to july17fb.eventbrite.com to register.
###

Source: http://www.pr-inside.com/social-media-video-blueprint-facebook-class-r3718032.htm

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48th edition film fest opens at Czech spa town

PRAGUE (AP) ? An international film festival in the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary is bestowing its Crystal Globe awards on actor John Travolta and director Oliver Stone for outstanding contributions to world cinema.

Travolta is receiving his award on Friday, the opening day of the 48th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Stone has to wait for the final day, July 6.

Fourteen movies are competing for top honors, including "A Field in England" directed by Ben Wheatley, and U.S.-Swedish production "Bluebird" by director Lance Edmands.

The grand jury is led by Polish director Agnieszka Holland.

The festival, known for its relaxed atmosphere, features some 200 movies.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/48th-edition-film-fest-opens-czech-spa-town-181736378.html

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Obama sees no threat in China rivalry for Africa business

By Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal

PRETORIA (Reuters) - The United States does not feel threatened by the growth of trade and investment in Africa by China and other emerging powers, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday.

Suggestions that he has allowed China to steal a march over the United States in doing business with Africa have dogged Obama's three-nation swing through the continent, but he said the increased Chinese engagement was beneficial for all.

"I don't feel threatened by it. I feel it's a good thing," Obama told a news conference during a visit to South Africa.

The more countries invest in Africa, the more the world's least developed continent can be integrated into the global economy, the first African-American U.S. president said.

"I want everybody playing in Africa. The more the merrier."

China has greatly expanded its reach in Africa since the start of the new century. It overtook the United States as Africa's largest trading partner in 2009, a February report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) showed.

China's advantage in trade stems mostly from how much it sells to Africa. Chinese exports to the continent in 2011 were almost triple the level of U.S. exports.

When it comes to investment flows, however, the picture is different. Data for 2007-2011 suggest U.S. foreign investment flows to the region were larger than China's, the GAO said.

"China's role as an investor, aid donor and financier is not outsized," Johns Hopkins University China scholar Deborah Brautigam wrote recently.

"Although Western countries fret about China's growing role in Africa, the United States alone disbursed more official finance to African countries than China did in 2010."

Still, China's influence looms large over the continent, partly because it has been so aggressive in its courtship.

Beijing and Washington should be partners in Africa to foster development and peace, said an official Chinese commentary after Obama's made his remarks.

Obama's stops in South Africa and Tanzania mirror a visit in March by then newly named Chinese President Xi Jinping, which could be seen as rivalry between the two superpowers on the African continent, state-run news agency Xinhua said.

"This mentality belongs to the past. It results from the West's biased perception of China's role in Africa," Xinhua said. "It also misses the bigger picture in which Beijing and Washington, instead of being competitors undermining each other's efforts, can actually work as partners in promoting Africa's development."

RESTING ON ITS LAURELS?

Obama's visit to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania will bring to four the number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa that the U.S. president has visited in the last four years. He stopped briefly in Ghana in his first term.

In contrast, Chinese presidents and vice presidents have visited 30 African countries over the same period, said Mwangi Kimenyi, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

There is also a sense that the United States may be resting on its laurels.

"There hasn't really been a presence of U.S. companies since 1994, taking advantage of the new opportunities," Haroon Bhorat, a professor at the University of Cape Town said recently, speaking of South Africa.

"So, you've seen new emerging markets entering into other emerging markets like South Africa and taking advantage of economic opportunities in a way where the U.S., already with a foothold, arguably hasn't done enough."

Obama's aides have argued that he has had two wars and a deep economic crisis to deal with since he took office in 2009.

Obama has also said that U.S. interactions with Africa have included goals of social and political development, unlike those of China, which he said were more narrowly focused on commercial benefits.

"A lot of people are pleased that China is involved in Africa," he told reporters travelling with him on Friday.

"On the other hand, they recognize that China's primary interest is being able to obtain access for natural resources in Africa to feed the manufacturers in export-driven policies of the Chinese economy."

That relationship makes Africa an exporter of raw materials but does not create jobs in Africa and is not a sustainable model over the long-term, he added.

In Pretoria on Saturday, Obama urged African nations to be tougher negotiators in accepting investments from abroad.

"You produce the raw materials, sold cheap and then all the way up the chain somebody else is making the money and creating the jobs and the value," he said.

"Make sure that whoever you're dealing with ... you're getting a good deal that's benefiting the people here and that can help to spur on broad-based development."

(Additional reporting by Terrill Yue Jones in Beijing, Writing by Pascal Fletcher and Mark Felsenthal, Editing by Gareth Jones and Michael Perry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-sees-no-threat-china-rivalry-africa-business-031602563.html

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Real Estate And The World Of Technology - Home Smart ...

written by admin_user on June 28, 2013 in Tips for Home Buying with no comments

Beginning your search for a new home is exciting and can be lots of fun! There are many tools available to help make your search much more efficient and rewarding. Working with a realtor may be a great way to get up-to-date information about the current statistics of the real estate market and various properties that are available. However, perhaps an even more helpful tool is choosing to use smartphone technology in real estate.

The world of real estate has been drastically changed for the better by the introduction of the ever popular smartphone. Before the existence of the technology that is available today, real estate agents had to compile listings of properties through a much more time consuming process. From searching out the addresses of various properties, to photographing them, to making them available to interested consumers, everything took twice as long. Now, with the introduction of smartphone technology in real estate, agents are able to get properties posted and available to consumers much faster. They can do most of their work virtually to complete things much more efficiently than ever before. Thanks to the ever evolving world of technology, the world of real estate has become more proficient and able to deliver timely results to hundreds of consumers.

You can also utilize smartphone technology in real estate. With so many technological devices available for your use, you can advance your search for available properties from the comfort of your own home. There are many apps and tools available to assist you in finding potential homes that fit in your price range and have the kind of amenities you desire.

You can easily log onto various social media sites with smartphone technology in real estate and quickly find updated listings of properties that have recently been put up on the market. You can quickly access information about the housing market to help you make a smarter decision about the home you are interested in purchasing. Your smartphone also has the applications you need to be able to respond promptly with your real estate agent so you can get into a home much sooner. You can use email applications on your phone to communicate with buyers and sellers, as well as any real estate professionals who may be assisting you in the process. Another critical application that is extremely helpful as you are looking for homes is that of GPS. This feature is something that can be used extensively by both consumers and real estate agents alike. Instead of having to call back and forth to get directions to various property listings, you can quickly access addresses on your smartphone and have the GPS guide you directly to the home.

Smartphone technology in real estate has practically changed the way that agents do their work. It has also opened an entirely new world for consumers and has enabled them to get into a new home much faster. With the development of new technology, the real estate market has also evolved to become much more efficient and thus rewarding. As you begin your search for your dream home, don?t forget about all of the wonderful technological devices that are available to assist you in your search.

tags: Scottsdale Real Estate

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Source: http://blog.homesmartinternational.com/real-estate-and-the-world-of-technology/

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Obama heads to South Africa with Mandela on his mind

By Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal

DAKAR (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama heads to South Africa on Friday hoping to see ailing icon Nelson Mandela, after wrapping up a visit to Senegal that focused on improving food security and promoting democratic institutions.

Obama is in the middle of a three-country tour of Africa that the White House hopes will compensate for what some view as years of neglect by the administration of America's first black president.

Before departing Dakar, Obama was scheduled to meet with farmers and local entrepreneurs to discuss new technologies that are helping farmers and their families in West Africa, one of the world's poorest and most drought-prone regions.

But it was Mandela, the 94-year-old former South African president who is clinging to life in a Pretoria hospital, who will dominate the president's day even before he arrives in Johannesburg.

Asked on Thursday whether Obama would be able to pay Mandela a visit, the White House said that was up to the family.

"We are going to completely defer to the wishes of the Mandela family and work with the South African government as relates to our visit," deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters in Senegal.

"Whatever the Mandela family deems appropriate, that's what we're focused on doing in terms of our interaction with them."

Obama sees Mandela, also known as Madiba, as a hero. Whether they are able to meet or not, officials said his trip would serve largely as a tribute to the anti-apartheid leader.

"I've had the privilege of meeting Madiba and speaking to him. And he's a personal hero, but I don't think I'm unique in that regard," Obama said on Thursday. "If and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages."

The president arrives in South Africa Friday evening and has no public events scheduled. He could go to the hospital then.

Obama is scheduled to visit Robben Island, where Mandela spent years in prison, later during his trip.

On Friday morning, Obama will take part in a "Feed the Future" event on food security. That issue, along with anti-corruption measures and trade opportunities for U.S. companies, are topics the White House wants to highlight on Obama's tour.

Obama, who has been in office since 2009, has only visited Africa once in his presidential tenure: a short trip to Ghana at the beginning of his first term.

While acknowledging that Obama has not spent as much time in Africa as people hoped, the administration is eager to highlight what it has done, in part to end unflattering comparisons to accomplishments of predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Food security and public aid are two of the issues the Obama team believes are success stories.

"Africa has seen a steady and consistent increase in our overall resource investment each year that we've been in office," said Raj Shah, head of USAID. "And sustaining that in this political climate has required real trade-offs to be made in other areas, but we've done that."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-heads-south-africa-mandela-mind-062709670.html

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Renesas to shutter the modem business it acquired from Nokia in 2010

Today, Renesas is announcing that it's going to "discontinue" the wireless unit it acquired from Nokia. Finnish state media outlet YLE is reporting that all 808 of Renesas' employees in Finland will be let go, of which more than two-thirds are located in the northern city of Oulu. Three years ago, Nokia decided to focus on designing and manufacturing mobile phones. It sold its wireless modem division to the Japanese semiconductor firm Renesas for roughly $200 million. The idea was, with wireless modem R&D moved out of the way, the company could concentrate on developing blockbuster handsets.

Unfortunately, the sale took place half a year before Android phones outsold Symbian devices for the first time and Nokia announced that it was going to switch to Windows Phone -- this put Renesas in the awkward position of being a modem supplier to a company with collapsing sales. Nokia Siemens Networks has large offices in the same city where most of Renesas' employees are located. Though, engineers looking for a change of scenery might want to head south to Espoo where Samsung just opened its own R&D center.

Filed under: Nokia

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Source: The Wall Street Journal, YLE

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/27/renesas-modem-shut-down/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Afghan museum on the mend but long way to go

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Looters stole tens of thousands of artifacts from the National Museum of Afghanistan during the country's civil war in the 1990s, and then thousands more were destroyed by the Taliban when they took power.

Now the museum is slowly coming back to life, helped by millions of dollars in U.S. and other foreign aid. Every day 300 to 400 visitors a day come to see the collections of sculptures, jewelry, coins and other artifacts dating from the Stone Age through the 20th century.

A new exhibit, "The 1,000 cities of Bactria," focuses on a northern region of Afghanistan that accumulated great wealth, thanks to its location along the Silk Road and several other important trade routes from China and India.

But the exhibit won't include any of the legendary "Bactrian gold," a collection of tens of thousands of gold and silver coins, crowns and jewelry more than 2,000 years old ? because the museum lacks the security measures to keep it safe. Instead the collection travels the world, already displayed at the British Museum in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington and other institutions. It is now at the Melbourne Museum in Australia.

"There were a lot of problems, but year by year we're trying to solve these," director Omra Khan Masoudi said on a tour of the museum on Friday. "Now it's starting to look like a museum."

The two-floor museum is across the street from Kabul's famous Darul Aman Palace, which still lies in ruins from fierce fighting in the area in the early 1990s during the civil war. The museum was also badly damaged in the fighting, and in the chaos some 70 percent of its collection ? about 70,000 pieces ? was lost to looting.

With the help of foreign governments, some 9,000 of those artifacts have been recovered so far from the U.S., Britain, Germany and elsewhere.

Despite the losses, the collection is still impressive.

At the front door, a second century limestone statue of a Kushan Empire prince greets visitors ? missing its head from devastation wrought under the Taliban in 2001 when they embarked on a campaign to destroy pre-Islamic art.

Five wooden sculptures from Nuristan dating to the 18th century, each about two meters (five to six feet) tall, loom over the end of the museum's great hall, and a special exhibit on Buddhism in Afghanistan contains some of the first examples of sculptures depicting Buddha.

"I believe the National Museum of Afghanistan can be one of the richest museums in the region, or in the world," Masoudi said.

Some $3 million from the Afghan government and another $5 million from the U.S. Embassy, as well as donations from Italy, Japan and the Netherlands, have helped bring the museum to the state it is in today.

Another $3 million project funded by the U.S. State Department involves experts from the University of Chicago helping to catalog and document all of the museum's inventory, after some 90 percent of object records were lost during the years of turmoil.

But restoration can only go so far. Frequent power cuts, issues with heating and lighting and ? above all else ? insufficient security mean the museum needs a new building, Masoudi said.

Plans are already drawn up, and the museum is planning on embarking next year on a capital campaign to raise the $30 million needed for the construction.

That's why the Bactrian gold, which had been hidden and thought lost until resurfacing in 2003, is currently more valuable abroad than at home, because it raises interest in the museum.

"This exhibits shows the other face of Afghanistan," Masoudi said. "It is an ancient civilization with its own unique art ? it opens a window for us to the other nations."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-museum-mend-long-way-105952682.html

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EU looks beyond Balkans' warring past

BRUSSELS (AP) ? Their proclivity to divide, fight and break up was such that it became a verb ? to balkanize. Now, the European Union wants to unite Balkan nations in the fold of a united continent, smothering any remaining enmity in cooperation and the promise of prosperity.

In one fell swoop on Friday, EU leaders welcomed Croatia as the club's newest member, agreed to open membership talks with Serbia and held out the promise of open trade and political cooperation with Kosovo.

After wars in the former Yugoslavia of the 1990s filled the rest of Europe with dread, EU leaders are slowly shedding their reticence and moving into one of the continent's most perilous areas.

"The European Union is courageous enough," said European Parliament President Martin Schulz at an EU summit in Brussels that wrapped up Friday.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said the EU decision means that Serbia has restored its image abroad "even among those countries that do not like us very much."

"But all of them speak of Serbia with respect now," Nikolic said.

The prime minister of Croatia, which battled Serbia in the 1990s, welcomed the leaders' decision to give the go-ahead to talks with other Balkan nations.

"Their absence from the EU creates a sort of strategic gap in the European belly," Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic told reporters in Brussels, where he joined other leaders as an honorary guest. Croatia formally joins the EU on Monday after nearly a decade of negotiations.

He warned that Serbian membership is not a done deal.

"This process is going to be long and ... as anybody else they will have to play by rules," Milanovic said.

For would-be Balkan member states, a big part of the lure of EU membership is financial aid, jobs and investment. However, this appeal has faded because of the debt crises in the eurozone that have hurt trade with other economies in the region too.

The EU leaders agreed to open membership talks with Serbia by January, in recognition of its efforts to improve relations with breakaway Kosovo.

Challenges remain before former enemies can sit alongside each other at the same tables in Brussels to agree on joint security policies, for instance, and where to spend common funds.

Highlighting the gingerly walk toward peaceful coexistence, there were clashes Friday between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo as Serbs celebrated Vidovdan, or St. Vitus Day, commemorating a medieval battle against invading Ottomans and symbolically asserting Serbian nationalists' claim to Kosovo.

France and Germany set the example for the continent by burying enmities and creating an economic union after World War II that was meant to render any new continental conflicts impossible.

After starting out as a largely western European group, the EU has steadily expanded east to bring in several nations that were once governed by communist regimes.

The Balkan wars of the 1990s, involving Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo, shattered the peace. Today the integration of Serbia and other countries that were involved in the conflicts is viewed as key for permanent and lasting stabilization and economic development of the region.

The former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia ? which sees itself more as an Alpine nation than a Balkan one ? joined the EU in 2004. Other countries in the region ? Bosnia, Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia ? are at different stages on the path toward possible EU membership.

Zoran Ostojic, a liberal lawmaker in the Serbian parliament, said the primary idea behind the integration "is stability of a region that has been unstable for centuries and which has produced more history than it can muster."

Ostojic said Balkan membership in the EU and NATO will "make the word balkanization vanish."

Despite lingering resentment of Serbia by some of its neighbors, "the region is also becoming aware how important it is for Serbia, as the biggest country in the region, to finally move faster toward EU integration," said Ognjen Pribicevic, a Belgrade analyst and a former ambassador to Germany. Pribicevic noted that both Croatia and Montenegro have promised to support Belgrade along the way.

Also Friday, EU leaders announced negotiations for closer ties with Kosovo, a possible step on the way to membership talks.

For both Serbia and Kosovo, the vital breakthrough came April 19, when the neighbors reached a historic agreement to normalize relations and end years of acrimony.

"There is remarkable progress," an upbeat German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. "Many problems have been overcome."

Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, declared independence in 2008. Over the years, Belgrade has said it would never recognize the sovereignty of Kosovo, considered by Serbia's nationalists to be the cradle of the country's medieval statehood and religion.

Kosovo has been recognized by over 90 countries including the U.S. and 22 of the EU's 27 members.

Merkel would not say whether formal recognition of Kosovo would be a prerequisite to Serbia's EU accession, noting that "it will take quite a long" time until that decision is due. She noted that negotiations with Croatia were opened in 2004.

Membership negotiations can take that long because any new EU nation has to bring reams of legislation into line with EU standards, from farm policy to human rights and legal issues. But Serbia is looking for the talks to take no more than five years.

___

Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia and Juergen Baetz in Brussels contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-looks-beyond-balkans-warring-past-162642672.html

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Identify Where Your Leads Coming From Using Call Tracking Utility ...

At its basic definition, call tracking utility tells a business or organization which ad campaign or marketing method is very effective and which is not through tracking the number of the phone calls that are made from a specific ad campaign.

Many businesses and huge companies assume that their marketing campaigns and ads are working and that they generate leads randomly from one to another. So, they kept spending on the same campaigns that they once have had without minding the expenses. What they mistook a lot is that they do not know which ad generates leads.

Many advertisers failed to know if the potential customer is calling because they found a listing on Google, or through receiving a flier in the mail, or clicked through an online banner, or watched on TV or heard over the radio. If you are so keen enough, most of the business websites will add a special poll question at the bottom of their page to inquire about where do you find their article or website.

Call tracking allows businesses to know which form of advertising or campaigns that keep the phone ringing. This helps them stop wasting money on the ads that aren?t so effective and focus on a campaign that is more effective in driving buying customers instead.

How Does this Work?

Okay, let?s start with the most basic example. Let?s say you own a medium sized business. You occasionally do direct mail ads, radio commercials, banner ads, you listed your business on an online directory and Google PPC campaign. The call tracking software will assign a unique phone number to each of the campaigns and then the database will show you which ad or phone number generates the phone call and which is not.

You no longer need a tracking code after the call is connected or a coupon to bring into the store. You will simply put a unique phone numbers on each of the marketing pieces and wait which is working.

Who Could Benefit from Call Tracking?

If you pay to advertise elsewhere, especially on more than one platform, you could benefit from using call tracking software. You could waste a lot of revenues allotted for marketing campaigns if you do not use call tracking to identify which platform serves the utmost purpose.

Other Uses of Call Tracking Utility

Aside from the above functions, call tracking software also offers several other tools like call recording, call tagging, lead scoring, and goals and alerts.

Call recording allows you to record every call that comes in through a tracking number. You can also use call recording to gather customer feedback, concerns, problems, track employees customer handling performance and held them accountable, improve sales skills, improve customer service and gather important marketing data.

Call tagging allows you to tag or label calls in accordance to their marketing lead quality. The example is when a customer is calling simply to check the price but is not interested in buying the product, you can tag the call as ?far away from sale? or ?cold lead.?

Lead scoring allows you to score the call on certain criteria you choose to measure the lead quality. For instance, you can use the lead scoring to measure whether or not the caller is going to buy the product within 30 days, or whether they don?t have the money to buy now, or whether they are just hunting around.

Goals and alerts allows you to set goals and alerts for campaign ROI. You can use this tool to set a goal to generate specific amount of income from specific advertising campaign or set a goal to close a number of deals from specific ad campaign. It will also alert you when the deadline of your goals is approaching via text message or email.

With these crucial tools, you will never waste another amount of penny paid on advertising that does not work.

About the author...

Steven Wright ? who has written 1 posts on ShoeMoney.com.

Steven Wright is a Marketing Expert at Dial800. His task is to reach out prospective clients through online marketing, and promotes their company's online social presence. He is passionate about virtual phone business, call tracking and the wonders of inbound marketing. You can connect with Steven via Twitter at @Dial800.

---

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Source: http://www.shoemoney.com/2013/06/26/identify-where-your-leads-coming-from-using-call-tracking-utility

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Debenhams' sales growth slows in volatile UK market

By James Davey

LONDON (Reuters) - Debenhams , Britain's No. 2 department store group, said on Thursday a volatile trading climate and unhelpful spring weather contributed to a slowdown in third quarter sales growth, which fell-short of analysts' forecasts.

The company, like many other British retailers, is finding the going tough as consumers, whose spending generates about two thirds of Britain's gross domestic product, fret over job security and a squeeze on incomes.

Debenhams' sales at stores open over a year were flat in the 16 weeks to June 22 - a period which includes its fiscal third quarter. That compares with a first-half like-for-like sales rise of 3.1 percent and analyst forecasts for growth of about 2 percent.

"Any retailer that you speak to will tell you that it's not easy out there ... I think in the context of the market backdrop these are robust results," CEO Michael Sharp told reporters.

The 200-year-old department store group, which trails rival John Lewis by annual sales, said it had coped well with the conditions and was comfortable with market expectations for pretax profit in 2013-14, thanks to control over gross margins and more cost savings.

Shares in the firm, down 23 percent since the start of the year, were up 1.75 pence at 92.6 pence at 0912 GMT, valuing the business at 1.13 billion pounds ($1.73 billion).

"This is not a high quality update, but we think that the market had been expecting another warning," said Sanjay Vidyarthi, analyst at Espirito Santo Investment Bank.

Forecasts had been cut after a profit warning in March that was blamed on January snow.

Analysts' consensus forecast is a pretax profit of around 153 million pounds, down from 158.3 million pounds in 2012-13.

Debenhams published a graph to illustrate the volatile trading conditions in Britain, which showed like-for-like sales swinging wildly from one week to another. They were down more than 20 percent in the second week of March, the coldest March since 1962, but up over 15 percent in the last week of April.

Sharp highlighted market share gains in clothing, beauty and home and a 40 percent rise in online sales, saying that was a clear manifestation of the strength of the group's offer.

Across Europe fashion retailers have suffered so far this year as the economic downturn has been exacerbated by unusually cold weather in spring and early summer.

Earlier this month, global fashion retail leader Spain's Inditex , which owns the Zara chain, posted its weakest quarterly growth in net profit in four years, while No. 2 Sweden's H&M missed forecasts for second quarter net sales.

But there are still strong performers in Britain despite the tough trading conditions. John Lewis's total sales were up 7.9 percent in the 20 weeks to June 15, while online fashion retailer ASOS recently reported a 45 percent jump in third quarter sales.

Debenhams is spending 25 million pounds on a refurbishment of its flagship Oxford Street store in central London. The company said this was on track for completion in December, and would create 430 new jobs.

In line with previous guidance, Debenhams also said gross margin would be flat for the full 2013-14 year, while cost savings had been eked out from, for example, the UK online business. ($1 = 0.6520 British pounds)

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Neil Maidment and Jane Merriman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/debenhams-sales-growth-slows-062438795.html

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Two-headed turtle hatches at San Antonio zoo

Thelma and Louise, a two-headed Texas cooter turtle, is seen in an undated photo provided by the San Antonio Zoo. Zoo officials on Tuesday, June 25, 2013 said the Texas cooter was born June 18. The turtle was one of several Texas cooters born this month at the zoo but the only one with two heads. The unusual turtle will go on display Thursday at the zoo's Friedrich Aquarium. (AP Photo/San Antonio Zoo)

SAN ANTONIO (AP) ? A two-headed turtle has hatched at the San Antonio Zoo and officials have named her Thelma and Louise.

The female Texas cooter arrived June 18 and will go on display Thursday at the zoo's Friedrich Aquarium.

Zoo spokeswoman Debbie Rios-Vanskike (van SKYKE') said Wednesday that the two-headed turtle appears healthy and is able to swim and walk. She says experts at the zoo don't foresee any health issues for Thelma and Louise, named for the female duo in the 1991 Oscar-winning road movie of the same name.

The San Antonio Zoo is no stranger to two-headed reptiles. The facility was home to a two-headed Texas rat snake named Janus from 1978 until the creature's death to 1995.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/two-headed-turtle-hatches-san-antonio-zoo-170418385.html

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No Hex Wrench Needed: Ikea Designs a Smarter Flatpack Refugee Shelter

If there's any company on earth with an expertise in designing things that are easy to transport and assemble, it's Ikea. So it makes perfect sense that the Swedish furniture manufacturer would team up with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees?or the UNCHR for short?to redesign the temporary shelters that millions of refugees around the world call home.

The tent-based structures currently deployed by the UN are not only time-consuming to assemble, but lack insulation against the heat and cold. What's more, the tents usually only survive for about six months, which is a huge problem since refugees often have to call these shelters home for years. So the engineers working for the Ikea Foundation came up with a simple four wall structure that's an improvement in every way.

At roughly twice the size of current temporary dwellings, the new shelters are built around a simple framework of poles and connectors covered in lightweight insulated plastic panels that reflect sunlight in the day, and retain heat in the evening. And while assembly only takes about four hours, the completed shelter will last for almost three years, even in harsh conditions.

It goes without saying that electricity is a luxury that most refugee camps are lacking. So as these shelters are being tested in Ethiopia next month, Ikea and the UNCHR are looking to further advance the design with netting that not only blocks heat, but also works as a solar panel to charge a battery that can power lighting throughout the night. And since Ikea's involved, here's to hoping some of these shelters even come already furnished. [Ikea via Fast Company]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/no-hex-wrench-needed-ikea-designs-a-smarter-flatpack-r-586760053

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Teenage physical fitness reduces the risk of suicidal behavior later in life

June 26, 2013 ? Being in good physical shape at 18 years of age can be linked with a reduced risk of attempted suicide later in life. So says a study of over one million Swedish men conducted by researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

A new, extensive report from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare on child and adolescent health shows that teenagers and young adults in Sweden have worse mental health than their age cohorts in other western countries.

Another report that is part of a new social welfare study shows that the number of serious suicide attempts among 19-23 year olds with activity compensation has increased from 115 per year to 460 per year in Sweden between 1995-2010.

At the same time, the number of suicides in the 10 to 45 age group increased. Even the percentage of young people with no activity compensation who attempted to take their life increased.

In order to break this trend, research has now focused on the factors that can prevent mental illness and the risk of suicidal behavior.

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, have been able to use a study of 1,136,527 Swedish men to show that there is a link between exercising as a young person and a reduced risk of suicidal behavior later in life.

"Being in poor physical shape at 18 years of age, measured as the test results on an exercise bike during their medical exam for compulsory military service, can be linked to a risk of suicidal behavior as an adult that is 1.8 times greater," says Margda Waern, researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

The study shows that the increased risk was evident even 42 years after the exam for military service.

It has previously been shown that physical exercise has a highly positive effect on brain function, e.g. more nerve cells are developed with physical exercise.

"The teenage years are a critical period in terms of brain development since this is when social and emotional faculties are established. Therefore, it was important to do a larger study on the importance of physical fitness in terms of suicidal behavior in this age group," says Maria ?berg, researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy who led the study together with Professor Margda Waern.

In the study, which covers all Swedish men born between 1950 and 1987 who completed the previously mandatory exam, researchers compared the results from physical tests during the exam with the national registers of disease and death.

By carefully examining the roughly 340,000 brothers who took part in the study, researchers were able to study how hereditary factors and the home environment affect this relationship.

In a much discussed study published in 2012, the researcher group showed that good physical fitness as a teenager can also be linked to decreased risk of severe depression later in life.

"But even when we exclude individuals who suffer from severe depression in connection with suicide or attempted suicide, the link between poor physical shape and an increased risk of suicidal behavior remains," says Margda Waern.

While depression is a particularly strong predictor of suicidal behavior in later life, the picture among younger people is complex and many factors are involved.

"One theory is that the brain becomes more resistant to different types of stress if you are physically active," says Maria ?berg.

Researchers think that physical exercise should be considered in suicide prevention projects aimed at young people.

The new findings are supported by earlier cross-sectional studies where teenagers are interviewed about their physical fitness connected with the risk for suicidal thoughts.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/depression/~3/J9fOGTb1YFY/130626113318.htm

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Three planets in habitable zone of nearby star: Gliese 667c reexamined

June 25, 2013 ? A team of astronomers has combined new observations of Gliese 667C with existing data from HARPS at ESO's 3.6-metre telescope in Chile, to reveal a system with at least six planets. A record-breaking three of these planets are super-Earths lying in the zone around the star where liquid water could exist, making them possible candidates for the presence of life. This is the first system found with a fully packed habitable zone.

Gliese 667C is a very well-studied star. Just over one third of the mass of the Sun, it is part of a triple star system known as Gliese 667 (also referred to as GJ 667), 22 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). This is quite close to us -- within the Sun's neighbourhood -- and much closer than the star systems investigated using telescopes such as the planet-hunting Kepler space telescope.

Previous studies of Gliese 667C had found that the star hosts three planets with one of them in the habitable zone. Now, a team of astronomers led by Guillem Anglada-Escud? of the University of G?ttingen, Germany and Mikko Tuomi of the University of Hertfordshire, UK, has reexamined the system. They have added new HARPS observations, along with data from ESO's Very Large Telescope, the W.M. Keck Observatory and the Magellan Telescopes, to the already existing picture [1]. The team has found evidence for up to seven planets around the star [2].

These planets orbit the third fainter star of a triple star system. Viewed from one of these newly found planets the two other suns would look like a pair of very bright stars visible in the daytime and at night they would provide as much illumination as the full Moon. The new planets completely fill up the habitable zone of Gliese 667C, as there are no more stable orbits in which a planet could exist at the right distance to it.

"We knew that the star had three planets from previous studies, so we wanted to see whether there were any more," says Tuomi. "By adding some new observations and revisiting existing data we were able to confirm these three and confidently reveal several more. Finding three low-mass planets in the star's habitable zone is very exciting!"

Three of these planets are confirmed to be super-Earths -- planets more massive than Earth, but less massive than planets like Uranus or Neptune -- that are within their star's habitable zone, a thin shell around a star in which water may be present in liquid form if conditions are right. This is the first time that three such planets have been spotted orbiting in this zone in the same system [3].

"The number of potentially habitable planets in our galaxy is much greater if we can expect to find several of them around each low-mass star -- instead of looking at ten stars to look for a single potentially habitable planet, we now know we can look at just one star and find several of them," adds co-author Rory Barnes (University of Washington, USA).

Compact systems around Sun-like stars have been found to be abundant in the Milky Way. Around such stars, planets orbiting close to the parent star are very hot and are unlikely to be habitable. But this is not true for cooler and dimmer stars such as Gliese 667C. In this case the habitable zone lies entirely within an orbit the size of Mercury's, much closer in than for our Sun. The Gliese 667C system is the first example of a system where such a low-mass star is seen to host several potentially rocky planets in the habitable zone.

The ESO scientist responsible for HARPS, Gaspare Lo Curto, remarks: "This exciting result was largely made possible by the power of HARPS and its associated software and it also underlines the value of the ESO archive. It is very good to also see several independent research groups exploiting this unique instrument and achieving the ultimate precision."

And Anglada-Escud? concludes: "These new results highlight how valuable it can be to re-analyse data in this way and combine results from different teams on different telescopes."

Notes

[1] The team used data from the UVES spectrograph on ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile (to determine the properties of the star accurately), the Carnegie Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS) at the 6.5-metre Magellan II Telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, the HIRES spectrograph mounted on the Keck 10-metre telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii as well as extensive previous data from HARPS (the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher) at ESO's 3.6-metre telescope in Chile (gathered through the M dwarf programme led by X. Bonfils and M. Mayor 2003-2010.

[2] The team looked at radial velocity data of Gliese 667C, a method often used to hunt for exoplanets. They performed a robust Bayesian statistical analysis to spot the signals of the planets. The first five signals are very confident, while the sixth is tentative, and seventh more tentative still. This system consists of three habitable-zone super-Earths, two hot planets further in, and two cooler planets further out. The planets in the habitable zone and those closer to the star are expected to always have the same side facing the star, so that their day and year will be the same lengths, with one side in perpetual sunshine and the other always night.

[3] In the Solar System Venus orbits close to the inner edge of the habitable zone and Mars close to the outer edge. The precise extent of the habitable zone depends on many factors.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/DpMy_6AWEjY/130625073544.htm

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GOP divided on immigration; House uncertain

FILE - In this June 20, 2013 file photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans are deeply split over the immigration bill now steaming toward Senate passage, with business allies pulling in one direction and tea party supporters in the other. The divide makes the bill's fate unpredictable in the House and complicates the party's campaign to broaden its appeal among Hispanic voters. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this June 20, 2013 file photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans are deeply split over the immigration bill now steaming toward Senate passage, with business allies pulling in one direction and tea party supporters in the other. The divide makes the bill's fate unpredictable in the House and complicates the party's campaign to broaden its appeal among Hispanic voters. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this June 11, 2013 file photo, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., left, accompanied by Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans are deeply split over the immigration bill now steaming toward Senate passage, with business allies pulling in one direction and tea party supporters in the other. The divide makes the bill's fate unpredictable in the House and complicates the party's campaign to broaden its appeal among Hispanic voters. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this June 20, 2013 file photo, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans are deeply split over the immigration bill now steaming toward Senate passage, with business allies pulling in one direction and tea party supporters in the other. The divide makes the bill's fate unpredictable in the House and complicates the party's campaign to broaden its appeal among Hispanic voters. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

President Barack Obama speaks during his meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, June 24, 2013, with CEOs, business owners and entrepreneurs to discuss immigration reform. From left are, Cecilia Mu?oz, direcor of the White House Domestic Policy Council, the president, senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling, and Dilawar Syed, CEO Yonja Media Group. Obama hosted the meeting to discuss the importance of commonsense immigration reform including the Congressional Budget Office analysis that concludes immigration reform would promote economic growth and reduce the deficit. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate Republicans are split over the immigration bill steaming toward approval at week's end, a divide that renders the ultimate fate of White House-backed legislation unpredictable in the House and complicates the party's ability to broaden its appeal among Hispanic voters.

To some Republicans, the strength of Senate GOP support for the bill is all but irrelevant to its prospects in the House. Conservatives there hold a majority and generally oppose a core provision in the Senate measure, a pathway to citizenship for immigrants living in the United States illegally.

Any such impact is "greatly overrated," said Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, who previously served as chief vote counter for House Republicans.

But Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., offered a different view. A Senate vote on Monday to toughen border security with thousands of new agents and billions of dollars in technology "obviously makes final legislation more likely," the party's 2012 vice presidential nominee said on CBS.

One prominent Democrat, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, also says House sentiment can be changed, particularly through the addition of strong border security measures of the kind that resulted from negotiations with previously uncommitted Republicans.

"I believe a large bipartisan vote will wake up our colleagues ... in the House," Schumer said shortly before the Senate inserted a requirement for 20,000 new Border Patrol agents and a total of 700 miles of fencing along the border with Mexico.

"Hopefully, as congressmen look how their senators voted, they will be influenced by it."

In the key Senate showdown so far, 15 Republicans voted to advance the legislation that toughens border security at the same time it creates a chance at citizenship for 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally. Another 27 voted to keep the bill bottled up.

Republicans who voted to block the legislation generally did so after saying it would not deliver on its promise of operational control of the border.

"When you look at it, it doesn't, and they know it," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said of the bill's backers, who quickly disputed the charge.

A political pattern emerged, as well.

Among Republicans who are seeking a new term next year and as a result face the risk of a primary challenge, only three voted with supporters of the measure. Eight did not, a group that includes the party's two top leaders in the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and John Cornyn of Texas, as well as Sessions, who has been one of the bill's principal opponents across three weeks of debate.

While party leaders long have looked to immigration legislation as a way to broaden appeal among Hispanic voters, individual members of Congress report a different perspective.

"It's hard to argue with the polling they've been getting from the national level," Texas Republican Rep. Kenny Marchant said recently, referring to polls that show support for border security along with legalization. Yet in his own district in the suburbs west of Dallas, he said, proposals along the lines of the Senate bill are "very unpopular."

The party's potential presidential contenders also are split, likely a harbinger of a struggle in the campaign for the 2016 nomination.

Two of them, Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas, oppose the legislation.

For his part, Cruz took a verbal poke at fellow Republicans in remarks on the Senate floor on Monday, saying that some senators in each parties "very much want a fig leaf" on border security to justify a vote for the measure.

Yet one Republican presidential hopeful, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, is a member of the so-called Gang of Eight, a bipartisan group that helped draft the bill. Among its provisions are several that impose conditions on immigrants seeking legal status, including payment of fines, pay outstanding taxes and undergo a background check.

In recent months, Rubio has sought to reorder the political circumstances rhetorically, asserting that the status quo amounts to "de facto amnesty" for those in the country illegally since it is unlikely they will be forced to leave. The phrasing marks an attempt to neutralize long-time claims that legalization confers amnesty. Increasing numbers of Republicans now employ similar rhetoric.

Among the unknowns is how much impact Rubio and the other Republicans in the Gang of Eight ? Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina ? will have on House Republicans whose votes will determine the fate of legislation to overhaul the immigration system.

Rubio has met with members of the House Republican leadership as well as with Ryan and members of the conservative Republican Study Group.

Among House Republicans, supporters of legalization in any form, citizenship or otherwise, is scarce, although Blunt predicted there would be "an incredible amount of reasonableness" on that subject once lawmakers thought the border had truly been secured.

The House Judiciary Committee has approved two immigration bills recently, one of which echoes Mitt Romney's suggestion in the 2012 presidential campaign that immigrants "self-deport" if they are in the country illegally. It encourages immigrants living in the United States to "depart voluntarily" at their own expense.

Neither of the bills cleared by the committee offers the prospect of legalization for immigrants in the country illegally, either citizenship or a step short of it.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has pledged not to bring legislation to the floor for a vote that does not have the support of at least half the GOP lawmakers in the chamber, a commitment made under pressure from restive conservatives that virtually rules out any measure envisioning legalization.

Some GOP lawmakers are hoping no immigration bill passes, to avoid the possibility of a final compromise with the Senate that goes further than they want.

Boehner also has said the entire House will "work its will" on the issue. It's a comment that takes into account the potential impact of House Democrats, some of whom are already clamoring for a chance to vote on the bill that clears the Senate this week.

Republicans command a 234-201 majority, meaning that as few as 17 GOP defections could change the outcome of any vote.

____

Associated Press writers Chuck Babington, Donna Cassata and Erica Werner contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-25-Immigration/id-d3323312d6b24260af932018533f9cab

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Lebanese troops secure hardline cleric's complex

BEIRUT (AP) ? Lebanese troops detonated booby traps at a complex captured from followers of a hardline Sunni cleric on Tuesday, securing the area after two days of fighting that left dozens dead in the port city of Sidon.

Soldiers who blocked off several office and residential buildings around the mosque where Ahmad al-Assir once preached told reporters they were clearing the complex of explosives. An Associated Press photographer on the scene heard several explosions and saw black smoke billowing during the operation.

The fate of Al-Assir, a maverick Sunni sheik who controlled the complex for about two years, is unknown. His rapid rise in popularity underscored the deep frustration among many Lebanese who resent the influence Shiites have gained in government via the militant group Hezbollah.

Official reports said at least 17 soldiers were killed and 50 were wounded in the fighting while more than 20 of al-Assir's supporters died in the battle, according to a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to reporters.

The streets around al-Assir's complex were packed with people who came to inspect their homes and shops, many of which were damaged during the fighting. Lebanese commandos patrolled streets littered with burnt-out cars and others riddled with bullets.

The state-run National News Agency reported Tuesday that military prosecutor Saqr Saqr has asked military intelligence to open an investigation into the Sidon clashes and begin interrogating some 40 detainees. On Monday, Saqr issued arrest warrants for al-Assir and 123 of his supporters.

Sidon, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Beirut, had largely been spared from violence plaguing Lebanon's border areas where Syria's civil war has been spilling over. Fighting in the Mediterranean city began Sunday after troops arrested an al-Assir follower. The army says the cleric's supporters opened fire without provocation on an army checkpoint.

Also Tuesday, a roadside bomb exploded on the key highway linking Beirut to the Syrian capital without causing casualties, security officials said. They said the small bomb went off early in the morning near the town of Barr Elias, a few kilometers (miles) from the border crossing point of Masnaa.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. It was the second such attack on the highway within weeks.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lebanese-troops-secure-hardline-clerics-complex-111029152.html

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Mad scientists turn roaches into cyborgs, control them with Kinect, laugh at nature

We'd love to tell you that the researchers at North Carolina State University aren't monsters who implant circuits on living things so that those living things do their bidding, but we'd be lying. They totally do that, roaches are their primary victim, and now they're using Microsoft's Kinect to help them control the insects. Sure, why not!

As Dr. Alper Bozkurt of NCSU says in today's new release, "Our goal is to be able to guide these roaches as efficiently as possible, and our work with Kinect is helping us do that." Apparently the researchers are employing Kinect for data collection as well, determining how effectively the cyborg survivors respond to electrical impulse-motivated control. They say the end goal is to use the partially mechanized arthropods to, "explore and map disaster sites." For now, there's some very weird stuff happening in South Carolina. Head below for a video of the roaches in action.

Filed under: Misc, Robots, Science, Software, Alt, Microsoft

Comments

Source: North Carolina State University

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/25/roach-kinect-cyborgs/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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