Israeli government offers concessions to settlers (AP)

JERUSALEM ? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has made two overtures to West Bank settlers in the run-up to his party's leadership race on Tuesday: It's offering financial incentives to encourage people to move to settlements and opening the door to legalizing rogue settler outposts.

The gestures appear to be aimed at appeasing hardline elements in the ruling Likud Party who are sympathetic to settlers. While Netanyahu is expected to win the leadership race, a relatively strong showing by his ultranationalist rival would suggest many Likud voters consider the prime minister too soft on peacemaking with the Palestinians.

The moves threatened to derail tentative new peace efforts with the Palestinians. A round of low-level peace negotiations hosted by Jordan ground to a halt last week, in large part because of Palestinian objections to Israeli settlement construction.

Those talks are sponsored by the "Quartet" of international Mideast mediators ? the U.S., European Union, United Nations and Russia. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon visited Jordan Tuesday en route to Israel and the Palestinian Authority in an effort to restart the talks.

"We must all do our part to break this impasse," Ban said. "In the short term, it is essential that provocations stop as called for by the Quartet and that the parties build confidence and sustain these nascent talks."

The Palestinians have rejected Netanyahu's latest moves.

"They are adding obstacles at a time when everyone is intensifying efforts to try to resume peace talks," said Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib. "I think with every additional settlement activity, the feasibility of having two states is diminished."

Years ago, the Israeli government halted generous financial enticements designed to encourage Israelis to settle in the West Bank, the occupied territory the Palestinians see as the core of their future state.

But in this week's government decision, 70 settlements appeared on a new list of 557 communities inside Israel and the West Bank that qualify for housing subsidies. The incentives, according to a statement from the prime minister's office, are "meant to encourage positive migration to these communities."

The list of qualifying settlements include major enclaves that would likely remain in Israeli hands under a peace deal. But most are located deep inside the West Bank and likely would have to be dismantled.

In a separate move, the government on Monday appointed a committee to examine land ownership issues in the West Bank.

The panel will review a 2005 government report that found several dozen outposts were built not only without state approval, but on privately held Palestinian land. Officials said the report needs to be reviewed because its author, state prosecutor Talia Sasson, later entered politics with a dovish political party, raising questions about her objectivity.

A court-ordered evacuation of Migron, the largest unauthorized outpost, set for next month would not be affected by the formation of the new committee, officials said.

But the panel's makeup aroused suspicions it would legalize at least some of the more than 100 outposts built without government authorization, including dozens Sasson says were erected on privately held Palestinian land.

The committee's head, former Supreme Court chief justice Edmond Levy, spoke out against Israel's withdrawal of settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005. A second panel member, Alan Baker, has represented settlers hoping to legalize unauthorized outposts.

The international community opposes all Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. But Israel distinguishes between the 121 settlements established in accordance with official procedures and the more than 100 unauthorized "outposts" that skirted the process with the help of sympathetic authorities and are considered illegal.

Peace talks with the Palestinians stalled more than three years ago, largely over continued Israeli settlement construction. With Palestinians demanding a settlement freeze, a recent round of meetings between Israeli and Palestinian envoys in Jordan has yielded no breakthroughs.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is under intense international pressure to stay at the negotiating table. A final decision is expected after Abbas consults with Arab League officials over the weekend. The Palestine Liberation Organization discussed the issue on Monday but stopped short of urging Abbas to halt the contacts.

Israel has said it wants to keep talking.

Also Tuesday, Israeli authorities said they have received permission to force feed a Palestinian prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for more than six weeks.

Prisons spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said 33-year-old Khader Adnan would not be force fed until "medical conditions" warranted it, but provided no further details.

Adnan, a leading member of the Islamic Jihad militant group, says he was kicked, punched and painfully shackled by his interrogators, according to his lawyers. His lawyers say he also wants to be put on trial and not held for months in administrative detention without charges.

___

Associated Press writer Dale Gavlak contributed to this report from Amman, Jordan.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians

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College presidents wary of Obama cost-control plan (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Public university presidents facing ever-increasing state budget cuts are raising concerns about President Barack Obama's plan to force colleges and universities to contain tuition prices or face losing federal dollars.

Illinois State University President Al Bowman says the reality is that deficits in many public schools can't be easily overcome with simple modifications. Bowman says he's happy to hear Obama call for state-level support of public universities but adds that, given the decreases in state aid, tying federal support to tuition is a product of "fuzzy math."

Obama spelled out his proposal Friday at the University of Michigan.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_college_costs

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Obama to senators: Change the way you do business

President Barack Obama waves as he walks off of Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama waves as he walks off of Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama greets supporters after his speech at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is pressing his case for changes in how the Senate does business, hoping to ease the partisan gridlock, and he wants to bar lawmakers from profiting from their service.

In his radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama said many people he met during his five-state tour after his State of the Union address were optimistic but remained unsure "that the right thing will get done in Washington this year, or next year, or the year after that."

"And frankly, when you look at some of the things that go on in this town, who could blame them for being a little cynical?" Obama said.

The president reiterated his calls for government reform made in Tuesday's address, saying he wants the Senate to pass a rule that requires a yes-or-no vote for judicial and public service nominations after 90 days. Many of the nominees, he said, carry bipartisan support but get held up in Congress for political reasons.

Obama noted that "a senator from Utah" said he would hold up nominations because he opposed the recess appointment of the head of the new consumer protection agency and three members of the National Labor Relations Board. Obama put the officials in their post during the Senate's holiday break; many Republicans have called that move unconstitutional. Obama said the American people deserve "better than gridlock and games."

"One senator gumming up the works for the whole country is certainly not what our founding fathers envisioned," the president said.

While Obama did not name the lawmaker, Utah GOP. Sen Mike Lee said Thursday that because of the president's "blatant and egregious disregard both for proper constitutional procedures and the Senate's unquestioned role in such appointments, I find myself duty-bound to resist the consideration and approval of additional nominations until the president takes steps to remedy the situation."

Obama said he also wants Congress to pass legislation to ban insider trading by lawmakers and prohibit lawmakers from owning securities in companies that have business before their committees.

In addition, the president is seeking to prohibit people who "bundle" campaign contributions from other donors for members of Congress from lobbying Congress. Obama urged the public to contact their member of Congress and tell them "that it's time to end the gridlock and start tackling the issues that really matter."

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., delivering the GOP address, said Obama's address to Congress lacked much discussion of the president's achievements "because there isn't much."

"This president didn't talk about his record for one simple reason," Rubio said. "He doesn't want you to know about it. But you do know about it, because you feel the failure of his leadership every single day of your life."

Rubio accused the president of driving up the national debt, failing to reduce high unemployment across the country and offering divisive economic policies.

The Florida senator said there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor but the best way to solve the problem is by embracing the American free enterprise system. Rubio said he hopes 2012 "will be the beginning of our work toward a new and prosperous American century."

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: http://www.youtube.com/gopweeklyaddress

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-28-Obama/id-2dba09403d564c59bbfec3fae31af81a

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Motorola Droid Razr Maxx Review: 4G LTE With Solid Battery Life Just Got Real

The Droid Razr Maxx by Motorola is a very special phone. You see, I had a bit of a thing for the Droid Razr when it first came out, but it wasn't quite perfect. It felt a bit light, and I had trouble holding it in my hand since it was so big and so thin at the same time. Plus, battery life was a bust. It wasn't awful, but it only lasted about nine hours, meaning most people would need to bring a charger along every day. The Droid Razr Maxx throws all those problems into the trash can, and only gains about 18g and 1.89mm in return.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/SUtxNDfVm3k/

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New biodiversity map of Andes shows species in dire need of protection

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2012) ? The Andes-Amazon basin of Peru and Bolivia is one of the most biologically rich and rapidly changing areas of the world. A new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology has used information collected over the last 100 years by explorers and from satellite images which reveals detailed patterns of species and ecosystems that occur only in this region. Worryingly, the study also finds that many of these unique species and ecosystems are lacking vital national level protection.

Endemic species are restricted to a specific area and occur nowhere else. These species are especially vulnerable to climate and environmental changes because they require unique climates and soil conditions. This makes them an ideal indicator for measuring biodiversity.

A multinational team from the United States, Bolivia, Peru, and other countries mapped a wide range of ecosystems in Bolivia and Peru, from the wetlands of Beni savanna and the Iquitos v?rzea, to the bone dry xeric habitats of inter-Andean valleys, and the cool and humid montane forests along much of the eastern Andean slope. Over 7000 individual records of endemic species locations for 115 birds, 55 mammals, 177 amphibians and 435 plants were combined with climate data (WorldClim), topography (NASA's SRTM), and vegetation (NASA's MODIS satellite sensor), resulting in species distribution maps, accurate to 1km.

Analysis of the maps showed that the highest concentration of endemic birds and mammals was along a narrow band of the Andes mountains, between 2500 and 3000m above sea level. Endemic amphibian species peaked at 1000 to 1500m and were especially concentrated in southern Peru and northern Bolivia. One of the areas that had the highest levels of 'irreplaceability' and highest number of species for birds and mammals, is an unprotected region surrounding the small World Heritage Site of Macchu Pichu (Cordillera de Vilcabamba, Peru).

Disturbingly, the authors found that a total of 226 endemic species have no national protection and about half of the ecological systems have 10% or less of their range protected. Additionally only 20% of the areas with high numbers of endemic species and 20% of the irreplaceable areas are currently protected.

Dr Jennifer Swenson, from Duke University, who led the research said, "Biodiversity in the Andes is under threat from oil and gold mining, infrastructure projects, illegal crops, and many other activities. There is already evidence of species migrating upslope to keep up with climate change in this region. Conservation across the Andes needs urgent revising and we hope that our data will help protect this incredibly unique region."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited, via AlphaGalileo.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jennifer J Swenson, Bruce E Young, Stephan Beck, Pat Comer, Jesus H Cordova, Jessica Dyson, Dirk Embert, Filomeno Encarnacion, Wanderley Ferreira, Irma Franke, Dennis Grossman, Pilar Hernandez, Sebastian K Herzog, Carmen Josse, Gonzalo Navarro, Victor Pacheco, Bruce A Stein, Martin Timana, Antonio Tovar, Carolina Tovar, Julieta Vargas and Carlos M Zambrana-Torrelio. Plant and animal endemism in the eastern Andean slope: Challenges to conservation. BMC Ecology, 2012 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6785-12-1

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120126223929.htm

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Lindsay Davenport Names Daughter Kaya Emory

"We named her Kaya Emory Leach ... although not sure if we are going to call her Kaya or Emory."

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/n4Utr521HK8/

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Dem NC governor faced tough re-election fight (AP)

RALEIGH, N.C. ? Gov. Beverly Perdue said Thursday she will not seek re-election because she fears a fight with Republicans over public education would become too political. But she entered the election year with some baggage: a campaign finance investigation, sagging poll numbers and worries from fellow Democrats she would drag them down in a key battleground state for President Barack Obama.

Perdue, the state's first woman governor, rode into office partly on the coattails of Obama's surprise 2008 victory in North Carolina. Her departure created a wide-open gubernatorial primary in a state that is so key to Obama, Democrats are hosting their national convention in Charlotte in September.

Perdue, a former school teacher, said her decision was about protecting public education from spending cuts by the GOP-led Legislature. She said in highly partisan times, her re-election bid would "only further politicize the fight to adequately fund our schools."

"The thing I care about most right now is making sure that our schools and schoolchildren do not continue to be the victims of shortsighted legislative actions and severe budget cuts inflicted by a legislative majority with the wrong priorities," Perdue said in a statement.

The statement made no mention of what Perdue, 65, planned to do in the future. Perdue campaign spokesman Marc Farinella said the governor declined to speak to reporters Thursday because she is spending time with her family after making "this very difficult decision."

"For now she wants her statement to speak for itself," he said.

Perdue's decision caught many by surprise, and means it will be the first time a sitting North Carolina governor has failed to get elected to a second term since voters gave chief executives authority to succeed themselves in the 1970s.

"It is really uncommon for a sitting governor to have the opportunity to run for re-election to not do so, even in a harsh political climate," said Steven Greene, a political science professor at North Carolina State University. "But an objective analysis of the political situation suggests she'd have an extremely uphill fight for re-election."

Perdue faced a tough rematch against former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, a Republican she narrowly defeated in 2008 in the state's closest gubernatorial contest since 1972. Only two Republicans have been governor in more than 100 years.

Obama's win here was the first in 32 years for a Democratic nominee for president. He praised Perdue for breaking down barriers during her political career.

"For over 25 years, she has fought for the people of the Tar Heel state ? working to transform the state's public schools, improve the health care system, protect and attract jobs for members of the military and their families, and create the jobs of the future," Obama said in a statement.

Perdue's decision could help Obama and the party's eventual nominee by removing Perdue as a liability, said Brad Crone, a Raleigh-based Democratic consultant.

"It strengthens the Democratic Party's top of the ticket, and that's definitely going to be good news for Obama," Crone said.

Perdue faced scrutiny about her 2008 campaign and more than three dozen flights that she didn't initially report on campaign filings required by state election officials. A local prosecutor has said the governor wasn't the focus of his investigation, but four people were indicted last year related to the flight investigation, including her former campaign finance director.

"To those of you who have supported me throughout my years of public service, I will always be grateful for the confidence you have placed in me," Perdue said. "In my remaining months in office, I look forward to continuing to fight for the priorities we share, by putting North Carolinians back to work and investing in our children's future."

She also struggled with a state economy hit hard by the recession and an unemployment rate persistently above the national average. Perdue and fellow Democrats raised the sales tax by a penny in 2009 and had to make deep cuts to education and health care.

Republicans let the temporary sales tax increase expire last summer. Just last week, Perdue proposed raising it nearly a penny again for education. At least one legislative leader called her proposal dead on arrival.

Perdue often clashed with the new Republican leadership in the General Assembly, which swept into power after the 2010 elections and gave GOP control of the Legislature for the first time since the 1870s. In a sign of the tension, she vetoed a record 16 bills last year.

Polling throughout her term has consistently shown her approval ratings hovering around 40 percent.

Perdue's re-election campaign raised more than $2.6 million in 2011 ? only slightly more than what McCrory had raised during last year ? a poor showing in a state where Democratic candidates routinely outspend Republicans in statewide elections.

A native of Virginia, Perdue moved in the 1970s to the coastal town of New Bern, where she became director of geriatric services at a hospital before entering politics. She served in the Legislature and as the state's first female lieutenant governor before being elected governor.

As word of her exit spread, several candidates said they were considering jumping into the fray, and Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, another Democrat elected in 2008, announced he would run. Dalton had nearly $600,000 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31.

Democratic state Rep. Bill Faison, a Perdue critic, said he'll make an announcement soon, setting up a May 8 primary. He said prominent leaders in the party worried for weeks about Perdue's low poll numbers and had suggested she not run.

Former State Treasurer Richard Moore, who lost to Perdue in the 2008 primary, and Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines, also are considering bids. Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx also said he's considering future plans.

Candidate filing begins Feb. 13.

Longtime Washington-based Perdue pollster Fred Yang said he believed she still had a pathway to victory and knew how much she liked being governor.

"I know how hard she tried," Yang said.

___

Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker and Tom Breen in Raleigh and Ken Thomas in Washington also contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_governor

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U.S. Marine spared from jail time in Iraq killings (Reuters)

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif (Reuters) ? A U.S. Marine accused of leading a 2005 massacre of 24 civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha was spared jail time when he was sentenced on Tuesday for his role in killings that brought international condemnation on U.S. troops.

The harshest penalty Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, now faces for his guilty plea on Monday to a single count of dereliction of duty is a demotion to the rank of private, the lowest rank in the service, as recommended by a military judge.

More serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed as part of a plea deal that cut short Wuterich's court-martial.

The outcome appeared certain to stoke outrage among Iraqis, adding to anger over other abuses by U.S. soldiers or private security contractors, including the 2004 Abu Ghraib prison scandal, during the more than eight years troops spent in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Even before it became clear that Wuterich would be spared from serving time in jail, relatives of the victims decried the results of his court-martial as a disgrace.

The head of the Iraqi parliament's human rights committee, Saleem al-Jubouri, said terms of the plea deal were "a violation of Iraqis' dignity" and vowed to convene his panel on Wednesday to discuss the matter.

Wuterich, whose guilty plea had carried a maximum possible penalty of three months in jail, showed no emotion as a military judge pronounced his sentence.

But in a pre-sentencing statement he read in court earlier in the day, Wuterich expressed remorse for the slayings and said he realized his name would always be associated with "being a cold-blooded baby-killer, an out of control monster."

As part of his guilty plea, Wuterich accepted responsibility for giving negligent verbal instructions to the Marines under his command when he told them to "shoot first and ask questions later," orders that resulted in the deaths of civilians.

In his court statement on Tuesday, Wuterich added that when he gave that order, "the intent wasn't that they should shoot civilians. It was that they would not hesitate in the face of the enemy."

He said that he and his fellow Marines behaved honorably under extreme circumstances, and that he "never fired my weapon at any women or children that day."

A final decision on a demotion of rank for Wuterich is up to the commander of the Marine Corps Forces Central Command, Lieutenant General Thomas Waldhauser, who had ruled out any confinement as part of the punishment.

Any discharge process faced by Wuterich, a father of three girls, will be separate from his sentencing.

OUTRAGE IN IRAQ

Wuterich was accused of being the ringleader in a series of shootings and grenade attacks on November 19, 2005, that left two dozen civilians dead in Haditha, a city west of Baghdad that was then an insurgent hotspot.

The killings were portrayed by Iraqi witnesses and military prosecutors as a massacre of unarmed civilians -- men, women and children -- carried out by Marines in anger after a member of their unit was killed by a roadside bomb.

Defense lawyers argued the deaths resulted from a chaotic, fast-moving combat situation in which the Marines believed they were under enemy fire.

Jeffrey Dinsmore, an intelligence officer with Wuterich's battalion, testified on Tuesday that insurgent forces "had complete control over the city (of Haditha) at the time" and the unit had received word that an ambush was likely.

He said insurgents were known to commandeer homes as places to launch attacks and to use civilians as human shields.

Six of the seven other Marines originally accused in the case had previously had their charges dismissed by military judges, while another was cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

Even before sentencing, word of a plea deal that carried a jail term of no more than 90 days for Wuterich sparked indignation in Iraq, where Ali Badr, a Haditha resident and relative of one of the victims, called it "solid proof that the Americans don't respect human rights."

"This is not a traffic felony," said Khalid Salman, a lawyer for the Haditha victims' relatives and a cousin of one of those killed, expressing his shock at the plea ahead of sentencing.

Wuterich, in his statement on Tuesday, directed an apology to family members of those killed in Iraq, but said civilians were not singled out for attack.

"Words cannot express my sorrow for the loss of your loved ones," he said. "The truth is, I don't believe anyone in my squad ... behaved in any way that was dishonorable or contrary to the highest ideals that we all live by as Marines."

"But even with the best intentions, sometimes combat actions can cause tragic results," he added, reading calmly and deliberately.

In his own remarks to the judge before sentencing, Wuterich's civilian defense lawyer, Neal Puckett, said his client had unfaltering integrity and was "not evil," but knew that his Marine career was at its end.

After the proceedings, his lawyers said Wuterich planned to pursue a post-military career in information technology.

Wuterich enlisted in the Marines after his 1998 graduation from high school, where he was an athletic honor-roll student and played with the marching band. He was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq when the Haditha incident occurred.

(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/us_nm/us_marine_haditha

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Ireland in first test of bond markets since 2010 (AP)

DUBLIN ? Ireland tapped the bond markets Wednesday for the first time in 16 months in a significant test of investor sentiment toward the bailed-out nation.

The National Treasury Management Agency asked holders of euro11.8 billion ($15.2 billion) of bonds due for repayment in January 2014 ? the month after Ireland's EU-IMF loans are supposed to run out ? to swap them for new government bonds maturing in February 2015.

Analysts welcomed the move as likely to be the first of many to kick 2014 bond repayments farther down the fiscal road. They forecast that between euro1 billion and euro2 billion in 2014 securities would be swapped in Wednesday's offer.

Cathal O'Leary, an analyst at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin, called the surprise exercise "a very smart move by the NTMA (because) it lessens the 2014 funding cliff."

The new three-year bonds were offered at an interest rate, or yield, of 5.15 percent, a premium over the existing bonds' current 4.9 percent. An announcement on the total investor take-up was expected Wednesday night.

Ireland withdrew from the markets in September 2010 after its bond yields surged above 6 percent. In recent days, those yields have fallen back to near 6 percent in response to the country's strong deficit-reduction program.

Still, that hypothetical price demanded by private investors remains nearly double the cost of Ireland's November 2010 bailout pact with the European Union and International Monetary Fund. Their euro67.5 billion ($87 billion) credit line commands interest rates averaging just 3.3 percent.

Ireland's bond yields have fallen in part because of the European Central Bank's insistence that Ireland repay in full the maturing bonds of its state-owned banks, most crucially the debts of the defunct Anglo Irish Bank.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny confirmed that, with reluctance, the government was repaying the full euro1.25 billion face value of Anglo bonds maturing Wednesday to unsecured investors.

A further euro5 billion in Anglo debt is due for repayment later this year. Ireland's 2009 nationalization of Anglo ? the most reckless lender to property developers during Ireland's lost Celtic Tiger boom ? is expected to cost taxpayers more than euro29 billion by the time those final bills are paid.

Kenny's year-old government repeatedly sought to negotiate a partial default on unsecured Anglo debt but the ECB blocked any concessions, arguing it would damage the credit worthiness of the wider eurozone. The ECB's veto is underwritten by its more than euro150 billion in liquidity loans to Ireland's largely state-owned banks.

Kenny told lawmakers that Ireland "is not looking for a writeoff. We have paid our way and will pay our way."

Several opposition figures shouted across the chamber accusing Kenny of abandoning his previous position and demanding that the government identify the foreign banks and hedge funds receiving full payouts. Kenny insisted the government didn't know the bondholders' identities.

A few dozen protesters from Ireland's Occupy movement blocked two entrances to the nearby Department of Finance at daybreak in protest at the bondholder payout. Some protesters chained themselves together and sat in sleeping bags. Police made no effort to arrest them as finance ministry workers used other entrances to get on with their work.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan told reporters that any short-term gain from burning bank bondholders would set back Ireland's overall plan to resume borrowing from bond markets over the coming year.

"The alternative would be worse," Noonan said. "We have been told on a number of occasions by the (European) Central Bank ... that it would have very, very serious consequences for Ireland if this weren't paid. Of course nobody likes doing it."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_ireland_financial_crisis

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With UFC on Fox 2 on deck, UFC on Fox 3 taking shape on same night as proposed Floyd Mayweather fight

The Fox/UFC deal is moving ahead full bore.

Heavy promotion for this weekend's second network TV card is underway, a cool new commercial with Jon Jones debuted over the weekend and last night, Dana White confirmed fights for the next MMA appearance on Fox.

That May date is interesting because it's the same night Floyd Mayweather is planning on fighting on pay-per-view in Las Vegas.

Mayweather got out of his 90-day jail sentence by saying he had a contracted fight for May 5. He has to fight that night or he violates the terms of his agreement. Mayweather is now due to check into the Clark County Detention Center on June 1.

Before anyone starts asking why the UFC is competing with a huge boxing PPV, the MMA card starts much earlier and ends before the Mayweather tilt would begin at roughly 11:30 p.m. ET. It serves as a great fight night for combat sports fans.

Miller gets to fight in his backyard in East Rutherford, N.J. He grew up in nearby Sparta.

From a contender standpoint Diaz, is an obvious choice. From a promotional standpoint, he presents a challenge. He's nowhere near as truculant as his brother Nick, but it's been established Nate isn't exactly fond doing tons of media work either. It should be interesting to follow how the 26-year-old handles some of the extra duties that come with fighting on network television.

The UFC's recent visits to the Garden State were at The Prudential Center. It appears nothing is currently scheduled at "The Rock" on on that Saturday night. It is a busy week though with Bruce Springsteen playing the arena on Tuesday and Friday night nouses The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The card will also include the UFC mini-tournament in the new 125-pound weight class. John Dodson will face Darren Uyenoyama.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-2-days-away-ufc-fox-3-160100858.html

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Newt Gingrich defends Mitt Romney immigration ad that his campaign has yanked (Washington Bureau)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/191577039?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Should You Buy Travel Insurance?

If you?ve booked a vacation for your family lately, or sent your kid off on a school-sponsored field trip, you?ve probably considered trip-cancellation insurance. These offers generally promise to reimburse you for the vacation or field trip if you need to cancel. Are these plans worth the cost? It depends on your own personal risk calculation.

What does it cover?

Trip cancellation insurance comes in several flavors. Basic coverage reimburses you if you can?t make your trip because of certain reasons, such as if you get sick, a hurricane rakes the island you were going to visit, or terrorists attack your hotel. The insurance covers non-refundable expenses, so if the tour operator cancels your tour and they refund your fee, for example, the insurance does not pay.

The basic coverage also generally provides benefits if your trip is delayed or interrupted. It also pays for lost or delayed baggage, some medical benefits if you?re injured during your vacation, and emergency evacuation if something horrible happens during your vacay.

You can add to the basics. For example, for an extra fee you can add ?cancel-for-any-reason? coverage, which reimburses you for at least part of the non-refundable portion of your trip if you cancel for any reason not covered by the usual terms. Other common upgrades are rental car insurance and accidental death insurance at higher amounts than the basic package offers.

Needless to say, read the terms carefully before you buy so you fully understand what is covered.

What does it cost?

How much does all of this cost? Prices vary, of course. In a comparison of four leading providers, basic coverage for a family of four on a $4,000, week-long, domestic vacation ranged from $82 for a policy from Travel Insured to $275 for a policy form HTH Worldwide.

Those two plans differed mostly in the amount of coverage. For example, the HTH plan included $500,000 in health coverage, while the Travel Insured plan offered $10,000; and the HTH plan offered $1 million emergency medical evacuation coverage, while the Travel Insured plan provided $100,000 coverage for that service.

In addition to the two firms mentioned above, popular trip cancellation insurance firms include American Express, Travelguard, and Access America. Insuremytrip.com is a site that allows users to compare rates from about 20 providers.

Furthermore, many trip providers, such as school field trip organizers, offer their own policies. As do some credit cards ? be sure to see if your card provides this coverage before spending money on a separate policy.

But do you need it?

This all sounds good, but you should evaluate this kind of insurance the same way you would evaluate any kind of insurance. Rather than thinking, ?Wow, I?d love to get reimbursed for our vacation if my kid gets the flu the night before,? think, ?Hmmm, what are the odds my kid is going to get the flu the night before our vacation??

Use the $4,000 family vacation above as an example. Let?s say you?re considering a plan that costs $200 and will reimburse you for the full $4,000 if someone in the family gets sick and you have to cancel. Forget about the rest of the coverage ? emergency medical evacuation, health insurance, death benefits, etc. ? for the moment and focus on the real reason you might get this insurance: to refund your purchase price.

If you buy this policy, you are essentially gambling $200 against a potential pay-out of $4,000. What are the odds that you will ?win? this gamble? You?ll win if one of you gets sick or a big storm hits the vacation site or whatever. So what are the odds of that? One way to calculate those odds for your family is to look at history: How many vacations have you had to cancel in the past few years? If you have taken ten vacations over the past five years, and cancelled one of them because of a covered reason, you could assume that the odds of you having to cancel your current, $4,000 vacation are one in ten.

So think about it: If your neighborhood bookie put $4,000 on your kitchen table and said you could have it if you drew the right card out of a stack of ten, would you pay him $200 for that one draw? Probably not, unless you?re really into taking risks.

But here?s another way to think about it: If you bought the insurance every time, you would come out even if you were able to collect on the insurance once for every 20 trips. Now it doesn?t sound that risky, especially if you travel a lot.

Obviously, many factors play into your personal risk calculation ? maybe you are not traveling with any accident-prone children or maybe you know the tourist destination you are headed to frequently has hurricanes (hmm, maybe you want to rethink this vacation!). The point is, whatever the circumstances, make a rough guess of your odds of using the insurance before you plunk down the money.

Insurance companies do this with highly trained actuaries using sophisticated algorithms and databases full of historical information, but you can make an educated guess without any of that.

That way, whether you get the insurance or not, you will rest easy knowing that you made an informed decision.

Source: http://www.fivecentnickel.com/2012/01/24/should-you-buy-travel-insurance/

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Man pleads not guilty to trying to kill Obama (AP)

WASHINGTON ? An Idaho man accused of firing shots at the White House pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he tried to assassinate President Barack Obama.

A lawyer for Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez entered the plea on his client's behalf during a brief appearance in U.S. District Court in Washington. Ortega did not say anything during the proceedings and will remain held without bond. He has another court date next month.

Prosecutors say Ortega used an assault rifle with an attached scope to fire a series of shots at the White House from long range on the night of Nov. 11. Obama and his wife, Michelle, were out of town at the time. In the months before the shooting, investigators say, he had had become obsessed with Obama, referred to him as the anti-Christ and told at least one person that he planned to "take care of" the president.

Prosecutors say he drove away after the shooting and crashed his car, then took off on foot. Authorities searching his car found a semi-automatic rifle, 12 spent shell casings and three fully-loaded magazines, and bullet impact points were located in the area of the White House that's known to be the living quarters of the First Family. Authorities recovered a bullet from a window frame on the Truman Balcony.

He was arrested on Nov. 16 at the same hotel where he had stayed before the shooting, authorities say.

Ortega, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, was indicted last week on 17 counts including trying to assassinate the president, transporting a firearm across state lines and assaulting officers or employees of the United States with a deadly weapon. Those charges three government employees who were on the grounds of the White House at the time of the shooting.

Ortega's federal public defender, David Bos, has previously argued that prosecutors have not established that Ortega was present at the shooting or that the president was the target of the attack. Bos declined to comment after the hearing.

Ortega could face up to life in prison if convicted of trying to assassinate the president.

The hearing took place in the same week that a lawyer for John Hinckley, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, is making his case for extended time away from the psychiatric hospital where Hinckley has been confined.

____

Eric Tucker can be reached at http://twitter.com/etucker

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_us/us_shots_fired_white_house

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Insight: As Africa's consumers rise, so does inequality (Reuters)

NAIROBI (Reuters) ? In a cafe on the terrace of a Nairobi mall, well-heeled Kenyans sip coffee as shoppers in the car park navigate between BMW X5s, Toyota Land Cruisers and Mercedes. A nearby cinema last month advertised an array of Hollywood fare including Brad Pitt's "Moneyball."

Sales at this Java House outlet along the Ngong Road were up last year, says Kevin Ashley, a Californian who co-founded the chain of 14 coffee houses 13 years ago. Kenya's rich and new middle classes have a growing taste for lattes and ice cream.

That's just one sign that African states such as Kenya are changing. Even as rich countries face a slowdown, sub-Saharan African economies are expected to post nearly 6 percent average growth in 2012, according to the IMF. A study by the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank, has pointed to the potential of the continent's more than 1 billion people, millions of whom have moved out of subsistence agriculture and into urban jobs over the past decade. Such promise has helped fuel foreign investment. Kenya alone has had a capital influx of billions of dollars in recent years: the latest official figures show around $800 million came in in 2008.

But the wealth on show at the mall has a flip side. The consumption boom has been fueled by fast-growing credit. In Kenya and elsewhere that has sucked in imports - cars, shoes, clothes, wines and whiskies - and swelled the current account deficit. Inflation in Kenya is now nearing 20 percent. As always, high inflation hurts the poorest most.

Java House employs 700 workers and plans to open new outlets soon, but its co-owner worries about price rises. The cost of sugar, electricity and gas has doubled. A volatile currency has fed into coffee prices, which are paid in dollars. A sack of green coffee costs close to $500, up from $150-200 per sack three years ago.

"This particular case right now of inflation is a dangerous phase," Ashley says. People who were taking a bus to work may now walk, somebody who was driving may take a bus, and somebody who was eating in Java might now carry their own food to work.

The risk is that Africa's consumers are harvesting their gains before their economies can bear it, economic analysts say. As more people see inequalities widen, that could fuel unrest.

"Minimum wage-earners in urban centers in East Africa are encountering a simply unprecedented squeeze," said Aly Khan Satchu, a Nairobi-based independent trader and analyst, and himself solidly middle class. Inflation is a major concern, he said. "It creates a sort of reverse Robin Hood effect where the poor carry the main burden."

A BOOM THAT HURTS

Western investors have become accustomed to Africa as a boom story in recent years. As demand from places such as China and Brazil pushed up commodity prices, investment poured in. Since the financial crisis, investors have ventured into Africa in search of higher returns.

In Kenya, firms have been hiring and property prices have risen exponentially, creating a feel-good factor for home owners, especially in towns and cities. That, in turn, has fed the appetite for consumer goods.

"Africa is about consumers," Stephen Murphy, managing director at private equity firm Citadel Capital, told a conference in Nairobi in December. "It is about high-impact infrastructure investing and it is certainly about value-added exports and not just commodity exports."

But not everyone has welcomed the growth. Food prices - especially meat - have risen sharply. In a rain-soaked field outside the Kenyan capital, it's easy to see why. Farmer Joseph Kiarie puts the fertilizer on his crop of cabbages by hand from a plastic bucket, and says rising costs have cut his earnings by two thirds in the past year.

"This has been a terrible year," he said.

A 52-METRE TOWER

Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered in London, says the problem is an Africa-wide one. "More rapid growth was accompanied almost everywhere by a surge in imports, especially capital goods imports related to infrastructure development."

Like other African countries, Kenya has yet to make good use of the capital pouring into the country and encourage manufacturing.

"It is good if people think Kenya is a good place to park their money but what Kenya needs most is long-term investments that go into productive industries," said Wolfgang Fengler, the lead economist at the World Bank office for Kenya.

Unlike countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, or Zambia, Kenya doesn't have significant mineral or oil resources. But its economy has been lifted by infrastructure investment - including a high-speed internet connection. That should help spread the wealth, and is already attracting home thousands of skilled, educated Kenyans, many of whom work in the booming financial sector.

Satchu, the trader and analyst, is one of them. He returned five years ago after working with various banks in London all his adult life, at one point managing a balance sheet in excess of $17 billion for Sumitomo Bank.

When he first returned, Satchu headed straight to Mombasa, a port city on the Indian Ocean. In the back garden of his home he erected a 52-metre tower to get a decent connection to the internet - speeds via commercially available internet service providers were capped at 32 kilobytes per minute - and access the New York Mercantile Exchange. A neighbor was so puzzled he asked Satchu if he was prospecting for oil.

In 2009, though, a high-speed undersea cable plugged Kenya into the global grid. Encouraged by new tech-friendly policies, Kenya has pulled in investments from firms like Britain's Vodafone, France Telecom and India's Essar Telecoms. Mobile commerce is growing.

Now Satchu has moved to Nairobi and follows the global markets through 3G technology.

"I have a supreme conviction that the African convergence with the rest of the world has begun, therefore I needed to place myself not on the beach, but in the thick of things."

Satchu has a well-honed urge to consume. He likes to wear pricey Canali suits and Hermes ties, and drives a Nissan Patrol, a behemoth four-wheel-drive. "I prefer to drive a Maserati or a fast car but it is just not practicable on our roads," he said, pointing to one of Kenya's persistent shortcomings.

"A SERIOUS OPPORTUNITY"

Eventually, improved infrastructure might allow him to drive that Maserati. For now, analysts fret about whether Kenya's exporting capacity can keep pace with its imports.

"In most frontier markets ... we haven't seen sufficient evidence of this," Khan said. "Exports go up, but not nearly by enough, and imports - especially of consumer goods - go up even more."

Such imports - combined with rising prices for domestic goods such as food - speed up inflation. That's a worry for people like Vimal Shah, a third-generation Indian-Kenyan whose grandfather first came to Mombasa to work on the Kenya-Uganda railway. He now runs Bidco Industries, which was started by his family 25 years ago and sells 30 brands of soap and edible oils.

Bidco is based in Thika, a manufacturing town a half hour's drive from Nairobi, which made a name for itself in the 1970s as "The Birmingham of Kenya" because of its thriving textiles factories, bakeries and motor vehicle plants.

In the early 2000s, though, it grew to symbolize Kenya's decline. Plants closed, unemployment and poverty grew. Today, it feels like a typical rural Kenyan town - open-air markets brimming with fresh cabbages and potatoes, streets crowded with the small minibuses known as matatus.

Shah's firm Bidco survived the hard times. It exports 20 percent of its output to other African countries, with a value of $40 million a year, he says. A fast-spoken father of one, Shah believes Kenya should be well positioned to export to markets in east and southern Africa, thanks to regional economic groupings. The World Bank's Fengler agrees Kenya could turn Mombasa into a transshipment hub to serve the east African region, which has fast-growing land-locked nations like Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.

"It is serious opportunity," says Shah in the company's boardroom, furnished with comfortable, leather-padded seats and sound-proofed to muffle the noise of machinery. "All we need to do is work on our costs of doing business."

Energy, transport and labor costs are hurting manufacturing and exports, Shah says. "Our cost of power is more than 20 U.S. cents per kilowatt hour today. If we compare with Egypt, we are eight times higher."

For him, the most important thing for Kenya is to turn its raw materials into things it can sell for more money. "Why export cotton when you can export shirts? All that tea and coffee we produce, we should package it and send it straight to Starbucks."

POOR PEOPLE'S SHOPS?

Or perhaps a home-grown cafe such as Java House. The outlet on Ngong Road is not far from Nairobi's biggest slum, Kibera, a vast shanty town that lacks even basic services such as sanitation. Many Kibera residents - there are hundreds of thousands of them - are angry that while prices of food have risen, wages have not. Many say their families now have to forego meals.

A year ago, 300 shillings ($3.48) bought breakfast, lunch and supper, "but now that is nothing," said Jane Mwalugha, a married mother of five children aged between three and 15, in her one-roomed house. "We have had to cut out lunch this year so we just take supper. Bread is now a luxury so we have cut it out."

A few Kibera residents make their way to supermarkets in a nearby mall to buy tiny portions of food. But they are well out of reach for most. "The government should construct supermarkets for the rich and let us have our own because they have decided in life that there are two tribes, the poor and the rich. They should let us have poor people's shops," Mwalugha said.

Kevin Ashley of Java House says that mobile phones and the internet mean Africa's young people understand the opportunities that people in richer countries enjoy. That will increase the pressure to get the economy right.

"As policymakers and business leaders we need to making sure that not only are we creating wealth at the top," he said. "We need to be creating lots of jobs down there for that group of young people coming now to the workforce."

(Edited by Sara Ledwith and Simon Robinson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/lf_nm_life/us_africa_spenders_inflation

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'Voice' sneak peek: Tearjerker of an audition

By Jenna Mullins, E! Online

Art Streiber / NBC

If reality competitions know how to do one thing, it's tug on those heartstrings.

In this exclusive first look at a contestant's blind audition on "The Voice," a single father puts his future in one song, all in hope that one judge turns that giant chair around ...

More from E! Online: Lea Michele headed to 'Glee Project'

Jesse Campbell's story is one straight out of the movies: his wife left him, he ended up homeless and he had to sleep in his car with his little girl on his chest. He found a new life through singing, at weddings and churches, and now in his 40s, he's counting on his voice to bring him and his daughter the future they deserve.

But of course, it's up to judges Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton if he makes it to the next round. Do they press the button and swing around? Watch the video below to find out, and then tune in to E! News tonight at 7 for the whole story (TODAY.com, NBC and E! are part of the NBCUniversal family).

"The Voice" premieres Feb. 5, after the Super Bowl, on NBC.

Do you think Jesse can win "The Voice"? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page!

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Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10218343-voice-sneak-peek-tearjerker-of-an-audition

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Organization: Kosovo supervision to end this year (AP)

VIENNA ? Kosovo moved a step closer to full control of its own affairs Tuesday, with a multinational organization announcing it will end its mandate this year pending continued progress on democratization and human rights.

The mandate of the International Civilian Office, which operates under the 25-nation International Steering Group, was to run out this year. But an ISG announcement was the first official confirmation the ICO plans to end the work in 2012, amid expectations that Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority government will enact remaining legislation meant to fully guarantee and strengthen democratic institutions and human rights.

"We have helped establish the institutions," ICO head Pieter Feith told reporters. "From the end of this year onwards, Kosovo will be like any other European state and will be helped and moved forward as part of the broader European project."

Kosovo declared independence in February 2008 after almost 10 years under a U.N. umbrella, and following a devastating conflict pitting its independence-seeking ethnic Albanian majority against Serbs who fought to maintain its status as a Serbian province.

While most of Europe, the U.S. and other western nations recognized its sovereignty, Russia, China and others did not.

Russia sees itself as a protector of Kosovo's minority Serbs, implicitly backing their refusal to accept the authority of the country's majority ethnic Albanian institutions and their wish for fusion of their region with neighboring Serbia.

Serbia itself refuses to recognize Kosovo's independence, continuing to maintain a police presence and other "parallel institutions" in the province's mostly Serb north and allowing Kosovo Serbs to cast ballots in Serbian elections.

With occasional ethnic violence continuing to flare, much of the international focus in Kosovo has been trying to ease Serb-Albanian tensions. The ICO has been operating under the Steering Group, whose mandate is to establish "a multiethnic society, which shall govern itself democratically, and with full respect for the rule of law."

An ISG statement ? issued after a Vienna meeting Tuesday ? said the organization will "start preparations for an organized end to supervised independence and the closure of the International Civilian Office (ICO), which should be possible by the end of 2012" if the country carries out its commitments to expand and strengthen western democratic norms.

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci welcomed the move, telling reporters in Vienna that "the ending of supervised independence means that Kosovo has been completely successful in the last four years and now we will enter a new phase of European perspective."

At the same time, the Steering Group urged both Serbs and Kosovo Albanians to work together, in a nod to remaining tensions not only between the two communities but also Serbia and Kosovo, which are trying to work out differences in occasional negotiations.

The Steering Group urged Serbia to "refrain from interfering in Kosovo, including by withdrawing its police, security, and other state presence ... (and) to ensure that its local elections are not extended into northern Kosovo."

It called on Kosovo's government to "reach out actively to its Serb citizens, particularly those in its northern municipalities," by agreeing to give them a greater role in running their own affairs.

Kosovo's government "needs to demonstrate that it understands and respects their rights, their concerns (especially for security), their language and their identity."

Feith urged Serbs both in Kosovo and Serbia to accept the territorial integrity of Kosovo, saying "we do not want to reinforce the expectation or the hope among certain policy makers in the region that partition is still an option."

___

Associated Press video reporter Philipp Jenne contributed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_eu/eu_austria_kosovo

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GOP Clown Car Arrives in Florida, Thread Two (Little green footballs)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190690795?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Mexican moms: We were duped into giving up kids

ZAPOPAN, Mexico?? Life seemed to give Karla Zepeda a break when a woman came to her dusty neighborhood of cinderblock homes and dirt roads looking for babies to photograph in an anti-abortion ad campaign.

The woman allegedly asked to use the 15-year-old's baby girl in a two-week photo shoot for $755 (10,000 pesos), a small fortune for a teen mother who earns $180 a month at a sandwich stand and shares a cramped, one-story house with her disabled mother, stepfather, and three brothers.

But 9-month-old Camila wasn't just posing for photographs when she was taken away.

Jalisco state investigators say the child was left for weeks at a time in the care of an Irish couple who had come to Ajijic, a town of cobblestone streets and gated communities 37 miles away, thinking they were adopting her.

Prosecutors say the baby was apparently part of an illegal adoption ring that ensnared destitute young Mexican women trying to earn more for their children and childless Irish couples desperate to become parents.

Camila and nine other children have been turned over to state officials who suspect they were being groomed for illegal adoptions.

And authorities hint that far more children could be involved: Lead investigator Blanca Barron told reporters the ring may have been operating for 20 years, though she gave no details. Prosecutors also say four of the children show signs of sexual abuse, though they gave no details on how or by whom.

Nine people have been detained, including two suspected leaders of the ring, but no one has yet been charged.

At least 15 Irish citizens have been questioned, the Jalisco state attorney general's office said, but officials have not released their names.

Neighbors say most or all have returned to Ireland after spending weeks or months in Ajijic trying to meet requirements for adopting a child. None was detained.

Mom: It 'seemed very normal'
For Karla Zepeda, the story began in August, when she was approached by Guadalupe Bosquez and agreed to lend her daughter for an anti-abortion advertising campaign, she told The Associated Press.

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Bosquez later returned with another woman, Silvia Soto, and gave her half the money as they picked the child up. She got the rest two weeks later when they brought Camila home.

"They showed me a poster that showed my girl with other babies and said 'No To Abortion, Yes To Life,'" said Karla, a petite girl cleaning her house to loud norteno music. "I thought it was legal because everything seemed very normal."

Before long, the message spread to her neighbors. Seven other women, most between the ages of 15 and 22, agreed to let their babies be part of the ad campaign.

Some already had several children. Some are single mothers. One of them doesn't know how to read or write. Five of them told the AP that they did not even have birth certificates for their babies when they came across Bosquez and Soto.

Story: Women held in Mexico-to-Ireland adoption racket

One said she needed money to pay for her child's medical care, another to finish building an extra room on her house.

All deny agreeing to give their children up for adoption.

"We're going through a nightmare," said Fernanda Montes, an 18-year-old housewife who said she took part to pay a $670 hospital bill from the birth of her 3-month-old. "How could we have trusted someone so evil?"

Babies given new clothes
The women say that Bosquez and Soto persuaded three of them to register their children as single mothers so they could participate in the anti-abortion campaign, even though they live with the children's fathers.

Children's rights activists say that also could have made it easier to release the child for adoption: Only the mother's signature would be needed.

The mothers were assured that the babies were being taken care of by several nannies and checked by doctors. The babies often returned home wearing new clothes.

Video: Mexican drug cartels target children (on this page)

Some of the mothers said they began having second thoughts. But when they declined to send their children back, they say, Bosquez and Soto insisted they would have to pay for the strollers, car seats, diaper bags and everything else they had bought for the babies.

Investigators say that Bosquez and Soto were taking the children to a hotel in Guadalajara, where they met with Irish couples who believed they were going to adopt them.

The plan began to unravel on Jan. 9, when local police detained 21-year-old Laura Carranza and accused her of trying to sell her 2-year-old daughter.

Slideshow: Narco culture permeates Mexico, leaks across border (on this page)

Investigators said Carranza denied that allegation, but acknowledged she was "renting" her 8-month-old son. She then led authorities to Bosquez and Soto.

Both are now being held on suspicion they ran the alleged anti-abortion ad campaign as a front for an illegal adoption ring. It was not clear if they have attorneys and they have not yet been brought before a judge to say if they accept or reject the allegations.

Carranza is also being held, as is Karla's mother, Cecilia Velazquez, who hasn't worked since she lost both legs in a traffic accident in 2010. Karla says her mother's only fault was agreeing to the ad campaign.

'Problems'
Seven of the mothers interviewed told the AP that the children had most recently been picked up by Bosquez and Soto between Dec. 27 and Dec. 30 for an alleged photo shoot. They returned the babies on Jan. 9 and 10, saying "there had been problems." The mothers said they didn't notice anything wrong with the babies or any signs of abuse.

Then state police investigators showed up at their homes and drove them and their children to the police department for questioning. The babies were taken from them and put into state protective custody. The women complained that only four of them have been allowed to see their babies since, and only once.

A statement from Jalisco state prosecutors' said authorities seized Carranza's two children from her and the other seven while they were with Irish couples. Prosecutors didn't respond to requests by the AP to clarify the discrepancy.

Residents of Ajijic, a town on the shore of Lake Chapala favored by American and Canadian retirees, say Irish citizens looking to adopt Mexican children began appearing there at least four years ago.

Jalisco state prosecutors' spokesman Lino Gonzalez wouldn't confirm the Irish had left, but said none had been charged with a crime.

Even if they had adopted the children, Ireland might not have accepted them because the adoptions were handled privately, Frances FitzGerald, Ireland's minister for children, said.

"Obviously, for any couple caught up in this, it's a nightmare scenario," she said.

"What you can't have in Mexico is people going to local agencies or individuals doing private adoptions because when they come back, there is going to be a difficulty," she added.

Prosecutors say they have been trying without success to reach the attorneys who were handling the adoption paperwork in the neighboring state of Colima.

Custody release statements signed by all of the mothers carry the logo of Lopez y Lopez Asociados, a firm owned by Carlos Lopez Valenzuela and his son, Carlos Lopez Castellanos. Authorities raided their home last week.

The release statements were shown to the AP by a local advocate for missing and stolen children, Juan Manuel Estrada of Fundacion FIND, who said they had been leaked to him by a state official. He said Lopez Valenzuela had separately sent him a lengthy statement by email declaring that he too may have been duped in the case and denying wrongdoing.

Prosecutors wouldn't confirm the authenticity of that statement, but it mirrors the stories of seven mothers who were interviewed by the AP.

Cheating 'very easy'
According to the statement, Lopez said he had handled adoptions in Colima state for 63 Irish couples since 2004. He said he first met Bosquez when she approached him in 2009 about giving her own unborn child up for adoption to an Irish couple, a process, he wrote, that was completed legally.

The statement said that Bosquez also introduced Lopez to a social worker and together they brought him the current case involving Zepeda and the other women from Zapopan, apparently hoping he could match the children to adopting couples.

It says Lopez was told the mothers wanted only to deal with the two women, and he agreed. The young mothers confirmed they never met Lopez.

Lopez didn't respond to emailed interview requests from the AP.

According to the statement, Lopez said he follows the stringent adoption laws set by the Hague Adoption Convention, which Mexico has signed.

Unlike Guatemala or China, Mexico has not been a popular destination for foreigners looking to adopt, perhaps because the process, done by law, is complicated.

"The legal adoption process in Mexico is difficult, but cheating in Mexico is very easy," Estrada said.

Associated Press writer Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46101549/ns/world_news-europe/

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Physicists use ion beams to detect art forgery

Saturday, January 21, 2012

University of Notre Dame nuclear physicists Philippe Collon and Michael Wiescher are using accelerated ion beams to pinpoint the age and origin of material used in pottery, painting, metalwork and other art. The results of their tests can serve as powerful forensic tools to reveal counterfeit art work, without the destruction of any sample as required in some chemical analysis.

Their research is featured on the front cover of the current issue of Physics Today in an article titled, "Accelerated ion beams for art forensics." Wiescher and Collon say, "Art experts play an important role in identifying the style, history and context of a painting, but a solid scientific basis for the proper identification and classification of a piece of art must rely on information from other sources.

"A host of approaches with origins in biology, chemistry and physics have allowed scientists and art historians not only to look below a painting's or artifact's surface, but also to analyze in detail the pigments used, investigate painting techniques and modifications done by the artist or art restorers, find trace materials that reveal ages and provenances, and more," Wiescher and Collon continue.

The information that is revealed can shed light on trading patterns, economic conditions and other details of history. For example, the amount of silver in Roman coins can indicate the degree of inflation in the ancient economy.

Laboratories in Europe, including several in Italy and one in the basement of the Louvre in Paris, have accelerators dedicated to the forensic analysis of art, and archaeological artifacts. These accelerator-based techniques have allowed not only to analyze the works themselves, but also to determine origin, trade and migration routes as well as dietary information. As an example, the analysis of the ruby eyes in a Babylonian statue of the goddess Ishtar using the Louvre's accelerator showed that the rubies came from a mine in Vietnam, demonstrating that trade occurred between those far-apart regions some 4,000 years ago.

At Notre Dame, researchers are using proton-induced x-ray emission (PIXE) and Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy (AMS) to study artifacts brought by local archeologists, Native American cultures in the American Southwest and the Snite Museum of Art extensive collection of Mezzo-American figurines.

Wiescher, the Frank M. Freimann Professor of Physics, and Collon, associate professor of physics, are using their findings to teach undergraduates. Wiescher initially developed the undergraduate physics class called Physical Methods in Art and Archaeology, and now Collon teaches the class which attracts students from nearly every major. The course covers topics such as X-ray fluorescence and X-ray absorption, proton-induced X-ray emission, neutron-induced activation analysis, radiocarbon dating, accelerator mass spectroscopy, luminescence dating, and methods of archeometry.

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University of Notre Dame: http://www.nd.edu

Thanks to University of Notre Dame for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116915/Physicists_use_ion_beams_to_detect_art_forgery

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