Gay Catholic school teacher in Ohio fights firing

A gay teacher who said she was fired by an Ohio Catholic school after her mother's published obituary included the name of her partner is fighting to get her job back.

Carla Hale said she was told she was being let go because her relationship is against teachings of the church.

She plans to file a complaint this week with the city of Columbus, which prohibits firings based on sexual orientation, her attorney said Monday. She already filed a grievance that is now in the hands of a union representing teachers in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus.

Some current and former students have rallied behind the physical education teacher, staging a protest outside the diocese headquarters and starting an online petition that has collected about 100,000 supporters.

Hale, 57, said she was fired during Holy Week in March after an anonymous letter sent to school administrators drew attention to the obituary published in The Columbus Dispatch.

A copy of the letter provided by her attorney was signed "a concerned parent."

"My daughter came home and told me that one of the gym teacher's mother had died," the letter said. "She asked me to pray for her. When we looked in the obituaries, I was shocked by what I saw. It had her teacher's name and that of her 'spouse' listed. It was two females!"

Hale, who is Methodist, was informed about two weeks after her mother's death that the school was investigating, but she never had a chance to discuss it with school leaders, said attorney Thomas Tootle.

Hale, who had spent 19 years teaching at Bishop Watterson High School, said the decision to acknowledge her partner was not immoral.

"It's kind of baffling that someone would take an obituary and use it, to me, in such a mean-spirited manner," Hale said at a news conference last week.

The Diocese of Columbus would not comment directly about the firing, but it said school employees can't go against teachings of the church.

"All Catholic school personnel at the outset of their employment agree that they will abide by the rules, regulations and policies of the Catholic Diocese, including respecting the moral values advanced by the teachings of Christ," the diocese said in a statement.

Hale's attorney said he will file a complaint Tuesday with a Columbus community relations board, arguing that the firing violates the city ordinance on employers discriminating based on sexual orientation. Another option is a wrongful termination lawsuit, Tootle said.

He said some courts have allowed religious groups exemptions to similar discrimination laws but he thinks the case is similar to one in Cincinnati, where a teacher challenged her firing by the archdiocese over her use of artificial insemination to become pregnant. A federal judge has allowed that lawsuit to continue.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-catholic-school-teacher-ohio-183007702.html

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He Helped Discover Evolution, And Then Became Extinct

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He Helped Discover Evolution, And Then Became Extinct
Charles Darwin is known as the father of evolution. But another British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, played a major role in developing the theory of natural selection before fading into obscurity. A trip to what's now Sulawesi in Indonesia, and the unique animals he found there, helped form his seminal ideas.

Source: NPR
Posted on: Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013, 10:18am
Views: 8

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127986/He_Helped_Discover_Evolution__And_Then_Became_Extinct

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Revolutionary shape-changing phone curls upon a call

Public release date: 29-Apr-2013
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Contact: Michael Onesi
Michael.Onesi@queensu.ca
61-353-360-007-7513
Queen's University

Queen's University's Human Media Lab to unveil MorePhone at Paris conference

Researchers at Queen's University's Human Media Lab have developed a new smartphone called MorePhone which can morph its shape to give users a silent yet visual cue of an incoming phone call, text message or email.

"This is another step in the direction of radically new interaction techniques afforded by smartphones based on thin film, flexible display technologies" says Roel Vertegaal (School of Computing), director of the Human Media Lab at Queen's University who developed the flexible PaperPhone and PaperTab.

"Users are familiar with hearing their phone ring or feeling it vibrates in silent mode. One of the problems with current silent forms of notification is that users often miss notifications when not holding their phone. With MorePhone, they can leave their smartphone on the table and observe visual shape changes when someone is trying to contact them."

MorePhone is not a traditional smartphone. It is made of a thin, flexible electrophoretic display manufactured by Plastic Logic a British company and a world leader in plastic electronics. Sandwiched beneath the display are a number of shape memory alloy wires that contract when the phone notifies the user. This allows the phone to either curl either its entire body, or up to three individual corners. Each corner can be tailored to convey a particular message. For example, users can set the top right corner of the MorePhone to bend when receiving a text message, and the bottom right corner when receiving an email. Corners can also repeatedly bend up and down to convey messages of greater urgency.

Dr. Vertegaal thinks bendable, flexible cell phones are the future and MorePhones could be in the hands of consumers within five to 10 years. Queen's researchers will unveil the prototype at the ACM CHI 2013 (Computer-Human Interaction) in Paris on April 29th. The annual conference is the world's premier conference on all aspects of human-computer interaction.

MorePhone was developed by Dr. Vertegaal and his School of Computer students Antonio Gomes and Andrea Nesbitt.

###

For a video demonstration and high resolution photos of MorePhone visit: http://www.hml.queensu.ca/morephone

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 29-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael Onesi
Michael.Onesi@queensu.ca
61-353-360-007-7513
Queen's University

Queen's University's Human Media Lab to unveil MorePhone at Paris conference

Researchers at Queen's University's Human Media Lab have developed a new smartphone called MorePhone which can morph its shape to give users a silent yet visual cue of an incoming phone call, text message or email.

"This is another step in the direction of radically new interaction techniques afforded by smartphones based on thin film, flexible display technologies" says Roel Vertegaal (School of Computing), director of the Human Media Lab at Queen's University who developed the flexible PaperPhone and PaperTab.

"Users are familiar with hearing their phone ring or feeling it vibrates in silent mode. One of the problems with current silent forms of notification is that users often miss notifications when not holding their phone. With MorePhone, they can leave their smartphone on the table and observe visual shape changes when someone is trying to contact them."

MorePhone is not a traditional smartphone. It is made of a thin, flexible electrophoretic display manufactured by Plastic Logic a British company and a world leader in plastic electronics. Sandwiched beneath the display are a number of shape memory alloy wires that contract when the phone notifies the user. This allows the phone to either curl either its entire body, or up to three individual corners. Each corner can be tailored to convey a particular message. For example, users can set the top right corner of the MorePhone to bend when receiving a text message, and the bottom right corner when receiving an email. Corners can also repeatedly bend up and down to convey messages of greater urgency.

Dr. Vertegaal thinks bendable, flexible cell phones are the future and MorePhones could be in the hands of consumers within five to 10 years. Queen's researchers will unveil the prototype at the ACM CHI 2013 (Computer-Human Interaction) in Paris on April 29th. The annual conference is the world's premier conference on all aspects of human-computer interaction.

MorePhone was developed by Dr. Vertegaal and his School of Computer students Antonio Gomes and Andrea Nesbitt.

###

For a video demonstration and high resolution photos of MorePhone visit: http://www.hml.queensu.ca/morephone

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/qu-rsp042913.php

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Bang With Friends Is Reportedly Raising $1M To Help You Bang With Friends

Bang With Friends, the wonderfully controversial Facebook app that helps you find the people in your social circles with a mutual interest in hookin' up, seems to be on to something. As Bang With Friends approaches their millionth user and surpasses their 200,000th "match", Business Insider is reporting that the company is raising a $1M seed round.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/PMp3zo_vcwg/

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White House: Anthony Foxx in line for transportation post

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama on Monday will nominate Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx as his new transportation secretary, a White House official said Sunday.

If confirmed by the Senate, Foxx would replace outgoing Secretary Ray LaHood.

Foxx is Obama's first black nominee among the new Cabinet members appointed for the second term. The president faced criticism early in his second term for a lack of diversity among his nominees.

The official insisted on anonymity to avoid public discussion of the pick before the official announcement.

The official noted that Foxx has led efforts to improve his city's transit infrastructure to expand economic opportunity for businesses and workers. During Foxx's term as mayor, Charlotte has broken ground on several important transportation projects, including the Charlotte Streetcar Project to bring modern electric tram service to the city as well as a third parallel runway at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. The city has also moved to extend the LYNX light rail system to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the official said.

If confirmed by the Senate, Foxx would take over a department that has been at the center of Washington's debate over the impact of the so-called sequester cuts. The automatic cuts resulted in furloughs for air traffic controllers that helped cause delays at many airports.

Congress reached a deal last week to provide the Transportation Department flexibility that allowed it to end the air traffic controller furloughs.

Foxx, an attorney who has worked in several positions with the federal government, was first elected mayor in 2009. He raised his national profile last year when Charlotte played host to the Democratic Party's convention.

He also served as a member of the Charlotte City Council.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wh-anthony-foxx-line-transportation-post-211537174.html

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Italy president calls centre-left official Letta

By Paolo Biondi

ROME (Reuters) - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano called Enrico Letta, deputy head of the center-left Democratic Party, to the Quirinale Palace, indicating he was likely to be asked to form a new coalition government.

The new government, which could take office in a matter of days, would be backed primarily by the rival center-left and center-right groupings, which had hitherto refused to cut a deal following inconclusive elections in late February.

Formation of a government would end two months of damaging political impasse in Italy and send a signal to markets that the country might at last be ready to make a start on much-needed reforms.

Letta, the nephew of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's long-time chief of staff Gianni Letta, is considered a moderate. He is close to former party leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who resigned at the weekend after rebels sabotaged him in the voting for a new president, which ended with Napolitano being re-elected.

Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party, Letta's PD and the centrist Civic Choice movement of outgoing premier Mario Monti have all said they will cooperate with whomever Napolitano chooses.

"Given the crisis the country finds itself in, the country needs a strong, a durable government that can make important decisions," Berlusconi said after meeting Napolitano.

Letta said on Tuesday his party would back any government committed to tackling the "social-economic emergency," and enacting serious political reform, including changes to a dysfunctional electoral law considered largely responsible for the two-month long political stalemate.

In February's general election, the center-left narrowly won a majority in the lower house but failed to win control of the Senate and was not able to form a government.

Hopes that the deadlock would soon be over have given a further boost to financial markets, with the yield on 10-year Italian government bonds dropping below 4 percent and the spread, or risk premium over German bonds, narrowing.

Italy's economy has been the most sluggish in Europe for more than a decade and mired in a deep recession since the middle of 2011, with no recovery in sight.

POLITICAL "IRRESPONSIBILITY"

Napolitano angrily scolded the parties on Monday when he was inaugurated for an unprecedented second term, berating them for their "irresponsibility" in prolonging the political stalemate for nearly two months.

He threatened to resign unless the parties agreed to cooperate and find some middle ground on reforms.

The PD has emerged the most scarred from the crisis and its fractures could threaten the stability of the next government given the hostility among many in the party to any deal with Berlusconi, their enemy for almost two decades.

Deep internal divisions worsened when Bersani was unable to make a government deal with either Berlusconi's center-right or the shock new third political force, Beppe Grillo's 5-Star Movement.

Berlusconi has capitalized on the center-left's woes. One poll gave the center-right a clear lead of around 8 points.

The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which won a quarter of the vote and speaks for millions of Italians disillusioned with an entire political class, told Napolitano it would sit in opposition and may support specific reforms.

The Left Ecology Freedom party (SEL), a partner of the PD in the February election, and Berlusconi's allies in the Northern League also said they would not join a coalition led by Amato.

(Additional reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Robin Pomeroy, Barry Moody and Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italy-president-set-announce-choice-prime-minister-054722232.html

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'Big data? algorithm used to customize video game difficulty

Apr. 18, 2013 ? Georgia Tech researchers have developed a computational model that can predict video game players' in-game performance and provide a corresponding challenge they can beat, leading to quicker mastery of new skills. The advance not only could help improve user experiences with video games but also applications beyond the gaming world.

Digital gaming has surged in recent years and is being adopted almost as fast as the mobile devices that are enabling its growth. The Georgia Tech researchers developed a simple turn-based game, then used participant scores to apply algorithms that predict how others with similar skill sets would perform and adjust the difficulty accordingly.

"People come in playing video games with different skills, abilities, interests and even desires, which is very contrary to the way video games are built now with a 'one size fits many approach,'" said Mark Riedl, co-creator of the model and assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing.

The researchers used a method called collaborative filtering, a popular technique employed by Netflix and Amazon in product ratings and recommendations. While Netflix recommends movies, the gaming model recommends the next challenge for players, adjusting game difficulty by computationally forecasting in-game performance. Riedl said the approach can scale to tens of thousands of users.

The data-driven gaming model outperforms other current techniques specifically because it models player improvement over time, said Riedl. It uses an off-the-shelf algorithm, called tensor factorization, for the first time in gaming research to tailor challenges to individual players.

The gaming model also includes a performance arc with which an algorithm selects in-game events for gamers that brings the predicted player performance in line with the developer's specifications for target performance (i.e., completing the game). Current games use player progress to make small adjustments to what's going on in the game, sometimes called "rubberbanding." The classic example: fall behind in a racing game and the other cars slow down; blow away the field with a large lead and the cars speed up.

"This is very reactionary," said Riedl, who directs the Georgia Tech Entertainment Intelligence Lab. "You have to wait for things to fall apart, and then the game tries to correct it in this ad-hoc way."

Riedl said that the new gaming model, which grows alongside the learner, has significant potential for educational and training applications as well. Students struggling with math concepts, for example, could use the model to master arithmetic and mitigate the chances of falling behind in a course, said Riedl.

"We've also done some work with the U.S. Army," he said, "to generate virtual missions where we choose and tailor the types of things that have to happen in the mission so that we don't overwhelm the novices or that we can really challenge the experts.

"Our approach could allow novices to progress slowly and prevent them from abandoning a challenge right away," said Riedl. "For those good at certain skills, the game can be tuned to their particular talents to provide the right challenge at the right time."

Alex Zook, a Ph.D. candidate in human-centered computing, said that they were able to predict, with up to 93 percent accuracy, how players would perform in-game by modeling the changes in a player's skills and applying the recommendation algorithm. Zook was primary author on the paper he and Riedl presented on their findings at the 8th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment in Palo Alto, Calif.

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Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/Jn8x0iTFyQI/130418104209.htm

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Snag a copy of ?Migrating to BlackBerry 10: 10 Tips for IT?

Migrating to BlackBerry 10: 10 Tips for IT [affiliate link] is an eBook that offers 10 hands-on tips for IT administrators who want to make their organization’s transition to BlackBerry? 10 as simple, seamless and streamlined as possible. There are a few hoops to jump through to get this guide, but it helps The Gadgeteer [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/04/12/snag-a-copy-of-migrating-to-blackberry-10-10-tips-for-it/

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Judge: JCP can sell Martha-designed goods for now

NEW YORK (AP) ? A New York State Supreme Court judge says J.C. Penney can sell some goods designed by Martha Stewart that were destined for shelves this spring.

The ruling lets the department store operator sell the items until a lawsuit by rival Macy's Inc. is fully decided.

Macy's had argued in a lawsuit that the goods, which were labeled JCP Everyday, violate its exclusive contract with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. to sell certain goods like sheets and towels. The J.C. Penney Co. items don't carry Martha Stewart's name.

Judge Jeffrey Oing says Macy's didn't prove that selling the goods for now would present irreparable harm.

The ruling offers some short-term relief to Penney, in a cash crunch following a failed turnaround plan by recently ousted CEO Ron Johnson.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-04-12-Martha%20Stewart-JCPenney%20Trial/id-d52652b6d9c94ebaaaeae387158a0962

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Emilia Clarke No Makeup: Still Beautiful!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/emilia-clarke-no-makeup-still-beautiful/

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NRA threatens to punish lawmakers on gun control vote despite deal

?

By Kasie Hunt, NBC News

The National Rifle Association said Wednesday the group is unequivocally opposed to the newly-struck compromise plan to expand background checks ? and threatened that it may seek to penalize lawmakers who vote for what it deems ?anti-gun? measures by giving them poor grades in their rating system.

The warning to members of Congress came just hours after a compromise on expanding background checks for? gun purchasers was announced, a deal that the NRA itself participated closely in.

"Expanding background checks, at gun shows or elsewhere, will not reduce violent crime or keep our kids safe in their schools," top NRA lobbyist Chris Cox wrote in a letter sent to senators Wednesday night. "Given the importance of these issues, votes on all anti-gun amendments or proposals will be considered in NRA's future candidate evaluations."

The NRA rates lawmakers based on how they vote on the group's priorities. The letter grades are highly influential and carry particular weight in rural states with a strong gun culture.

Cox was a ubiquitous presence during negotiations between Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who announced the deal Wednesday morning to expand background checks to sales at gun shows and over the Internet.

Manchin has been careful to court the group's support; both he and Toomey both have "A" ratings from the NRA.

But despite their involvement, the NRA ultimately decided to come out against it.

Earlier Wednesday, a Senate Democratic aide had said that Democratic leaders were operating under the impression that the NRA will not throw its full weight behind opposing the background check bill, something which would have relieved pressure on moderate Democrats and Republicans to vote for the legislation.

Now, they have less cover.

Separately Wednesday, Sens. Patrick Leahy and Susan Collins announced they'd reached an agreement with the NRA on gun trafficking language that will be included in the overall gun bill. Cox did not mention the gun trafficking measure in his letter.

NBC News? Luke Russert contributed to this report.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2a939ffa/l/0Lnbcpolitics0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C10A0C176944990Enra0Ethreatens0Eto0Epunish0Elawmakers0Eon0Egun0Econtrol0Evote0Edespite0Edeal0Dlite/story01.htm

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CA-NEWS Summary

South Korea increases surveillance as North moves missiles

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - South Korea said on Wednesday there was "very high" probability that North Korea, engaged in weeks of threats of war, would launch a medium-range missile at any time as a show of strength despite diplomatic efforts to soften its position. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said South Korea had asked China and Russia to intercede with the North to ease tension that has mounted since the U.N. Security Council imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea after its third nuclear arms test in February.

Fear stalks Yangon's Muslims after Buddhist-led killings

YANGON (Reuters) - An ultra-nationalist Buddhist creed is becoming more visible in Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon, after monks from the apartheid-like movement helped stoke a wave of anti-Muslim violence in the central heartlands. Many Muslims in the city say they are living in fear after dozens of members of their faith were killed in March by Buddhist mobs whipped up by monks from the "969" movement, a name that refers to attributes of the Buddha, his teachings and the monkhood.

China detains 10 for bird flu rumors, death toll at 9

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police detained at least 10 people for spreading rumors about the H7N9 bird flu virus, state media said on Wednesday, as the death toll from the new strain rose to nine. Authorities detained the people in six provinces - Shaanxi, Guizhou, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Fujian - some of whom had posted "fake information" online about new cases of the virus in their areas, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Cameron: "Iron Lady" Thatcher made Britain great again

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron led tributes to Margaret Thatcher on Wednesday, remembering a divisive and combative leader who transformed the country and set a political course still followed today. In a special session of parliament, Cameron said his fellow Conservative "defined and overcame the great challenges of her age" after a remarkable journey from the family grocer's shop to the highest office in the land.

Italy center-left tensions rise as Renzi cries foul over vote

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's center-left alliance showed new signs of division on Wednesday after the chief rival to Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani denounced the party hierarchy as efforts to form a government enter a critical phase. The deadlock has left the euro zone's third largest economy with only a caretaker government in charge as it slides further into a recession that many analysts expect will last until at least next year.

Police killings, ambushes put Mozambique peace on edge

MAPUTO (Reuters) - The deadliest attacks in Mozambique in more than a decade by suspected opposition gunmen have rekindled memories of a 1975-1992 civil war and put pressure on the ruling party to rethink the marginalization of its main political foe. Four policemen and three civilians were killed in ambushes of a truck and two buses at the weekend - a tactic widely used by guerrillas in the 1980s - raising fears that the mineral-rich southern African nation's two-decade peace may be under threat.

Venezuela's opposition denies it would scrap Chavez welfare aid

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles denied on Wednesday accusations from acting President Nicolas Maduro that he would scrap popular welfare policies if he wins Sunday's election. Social "missions" in poor areas, from subsidized groceries to Cuban-staffed medical clinics, were a mainstay of the late Hugo Chavez's 14-year socialist rule and kept his popularity high.

Syria, North Korea top G8 meeting in London

LONDON (Reuters) - Western and Middle Eastern nations trying to help the Syrian opposition in its war against President Bashar al-Assad will meet in Turkey on April 20, a U.S. official said on Wednesday as G8 foreign ministers gathered in London for a summit. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will attend the meeting of the so-called Friends of Syria "core group" in Istanbul, said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

Syria's Nusra rebels say support Qaeda's Zawahri

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's rebel al-Nusra Front, one of the most effective forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad, pledged allegiance to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in an audio recording posted on the Internet on Wednesday. Abu Mohammad al-Golani also appeared to distance his group from a recently announced merger with al Qaeda's Iraq branch.

Sudanese army, rebels report new fighting in South Darfur

CAIRO (Reuters) - Sudanese military forces and rebels reported intensified fighting around a key city in Darfur on Wednesday and both sides said they would launch further attacks. Defense Minister Abdel Raheem Mohammed Hussein said the army was closing in on a rebel-controlled town in South Darfur state.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-093348308.html

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Iran says 32 killed in earthquake in south

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? A 6.1 magnitude earthquake killed 32 and injured hundreds more in a sparsely populated area in southern Iran on Tuesday, Iranian officials said. Authorities said it did not damage a nuclear plant in the region.

The report said the earthquake struck the town of Kaki some 96 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bushehr, a town on the Persian Gulf that is home of Iran's first nuclear power plant, built with Russian help.

"No damage was done to Bushehr power plant," Bushehr provincial governor Fereidoun Hasanvand told state TV. He said 32 people died and 850 were injured, including 100 who were hospitalized.

Water and electricity were cut to many residents, said Ebrahim Darvishi, governor of the worst-hit district Shonbeh.

The UN's nuclear watchdog agency said on its website that it had been informed by Iran that there was no damage to the plant and no radioactive release and, based on its analysis of the earthquake, was not seeking additional information. The International Atomic Energy Agency statement indicated that it was satisfied there was little danger.

Shahpour Rostami, the deputy governor of Bushehr province, told state TV that rescue teams have been deployed to Shonbeh.

Three helicopters were sent to survey the damaged area before sunset, said Mohammad Mozaffar, the head of Iran's Red Crescent rescue department. He said damage was particularly bad in the village of Baghan.

Kaki resident Mondani Hosseini told The Associated Press that people had run out into the streets out of fear.

Iran announced three days of mourning.

The quake was felt across the Gulf in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, where workers were evacuated from high-rise buildings as a precaution.

Earlier on Sunday a lighter earthquake jolted the nearby area. Iran is located on seismic faults and it experiences frequent earthquakes.

In 2003, some 26,000 people were killed by a 6.6 magnitude quake that flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam.

____

AP writer George Jahn in Vienna contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-says-32-killed-earthquake-south-164750556.html

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What's Inside the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset?

The Oculus Rift might be something out of Demolition Man. Or it might be a Virtual Boy. However it turns out, it's deeply ambitious, and iFixit has the first look at what's inside the new VR headset. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/anEQVFv8mU8/whats-inside-the-oculus-rift-virtual-reality-headset

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911 audio released from manhunt of ex-LA cop

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) ? Authorities on Tuesday released audio of a February 911 call from a California couple bound in their condo by fugitive ex-police officer Christopher Dorner, who fled in their SUV and would die during a shootout with deputies just hours later.

"We were tied up by Dorner," Karen Reynolds says, her husband Jim shouting in the background, during the roughly 21-minute recording from Feb. 12 released by San Bernardino County after a public records request by The Associated Press.

"We're still tied up!" she says shortly after.

The couple arrived to work on their mountain condominium that day and found Dorner, who had eluded a massive manhunt for a week.

Minutes after Dorner departed, Karen Reynolds freed herself enough to get to her cellphone, calling 911 in speaker mode with her hands still bound.

She told the operator she believed Dorner had been holed up in her condo just across from the manhunt's command center during much of the search.

"I'm pretty sure he's been here the whole time," Reynolds says.

"You guys are just across from the command center?" the operator says, sounding surprised.

The couple stayed on the call while they waited for deputies. Karen Reynolds at one point falls over and groans in pain.

The operator asks Reynolds to yell out for deputies so they could locate the couple, and they arrived 19 minutes into the call.

Dorner would be spotted again just after he fled, and hours later would die from what authorities called a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a shootout with deputies, ending a rampage that left four people dead.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/911-audio-released-fugitive-ex-la-cop-manhunt-015116876.html

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Environmental change triggers rapid evolution

Apr. 8, 2013 ? Environmental change can drive hard-wired evolutionary changes in animal species in a matter of generations. A University of Leeds-led study, published in the journal Ecology Letters, overturns the common assumption that evolution only occurs gradually over hundreds or thousands of years.

Instead, researchers found significant genetically transmitted changes in laboratory populations of soil mites in just 15 generations, leading to a doubling of the age at which the mites reached adulthood and large changes in population size. The results have important implications in areas such as disease and pest control, conservation and fisheries management because they demonstrate that evolution can be a game-changer even in the short-term.

Professor Tim Benton, of the University of Leeds' Faculty of Biological Sciences, said: "This demonstrates that short-term ecological change and evolution are completely intertwined and cannot reasonably be considered separate. We found that populations evolve rapidly in response to environmental change and population management. This can have major consequences such as reducing harvesting yields or saving a population heading for extinction."

Although previous research has implied a link between short-term changes in animal species' physical characteristics and evolution, the Leeds-led study is the first to prove a causal relationship between rapid genetic evolution and animal population dynamics in a controlled experimental setting.

The researchers worked with soil mites that were collected from the wild and then raised in 18 glass tubes. Forty percent of adult mites were removed every week from six of the glass tubes. A similar proportion of juveniles were removed each week in a further six tubes, while no "harvesting" was conducted in the remaining third of the tubes.

Lead author Dr Tom Cameron, a postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Biological Sciences at Leeds at the time of the research and now based in Ume? University, Sweden, said: "We saw significant evolutionary changes relatively quickly. The age of maturity of the mites in the tubes doubled over about 15 generations, because they were competing in a different way than they would in the wild. Removing the adults caused them to remain as juveniles even longer because the genetics were responding to the high chance that they were going to die as soon as they matured. When they did eventually mature, they were so enormous they could lay all of their eggs very quickly."

The initial change in the mites' environment -- from the wild into the laboratory -- had a disastrous effect on the population, putting the mites on an extinction trajectory. However, in every population, including those subjected to the removal of adults or juveniles, the trajectory switched after only five generations of evolution and the population sizes began to increase.

The researchers found that the laboratory environment was selecting for those mites that grew more slowly. Under the competitive conditions in the tubes, the slow growing mites were more fertile when they matured, meaning they could have more babies.

Dr Cameron said: "The genetic evolution that resulted in an investment in egg production at the expense of individual growth rates led to population growth, rescuing the populations from extinction. This is evolutionary rescue in action and suggests that rapid evolution can help populations respond to rapid environmental change."

Short-term ecological responses to the environment -- for instance, a reduction in the size of adults because of a lack of food -- and hard-wired evolutionary changes were separated by placing mites from different treatments into a similar environment for several generations and seeing whether differences persisted.

Professor Benton said: "The traditional idea would be that if you put animals in a new environment they stay basically the same but the way they grow changes because of variables like the amount of food. However, our study proves that the evolutionary effect -- the change in the underlying biology in response to the environment -- can happen at the same time as the ecological response. Ecology and evolution are intertwined," he said.

Unpicking evolutionary change from ecological responses is particularly important in areas such as the management of fisheries, where human decisions can result in major changes to an entire population's environment and life histories. The size at which cod in the North Sea mature is about half that of 50 years ago and this change has been linked to a collapse in the cod population because adult fish today are less fertile than their ancestors.

"The big debate has been over whether this is an evolutionary response to the way they are fished or whether this is, for instance, just the amount of food in the sea having a short-term ecological effect. Our study underlined that evolution can happen on a short timescale and even small 1 to 2 per cent evolutionary changes in the underlying biology caused by your harvesting strategy can have major consequences on population growth and yields. You can't just try to bring the environment back to what it was before and expect everything to return to normal," Professor Benton said.

The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and involved researchers from the University of Leeds and Professor Stuart Piertney of the University of Aberdeen's School of Biological Sciences.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Leeds.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Tom C. Cameron, Daniel O'Sullivan, Alan Reynolds, Stuart B. Piertney, Tim G. Benton. Eco-evolutionary dynamics in response to selection on life-history. Ecology Letters, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/ele.12107

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.

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Big Sean Claims Kid Cudi's G.O.O.D. Exit And 'Switch Up' Is 'Just Ironic'

Sean clears the air about his supposed Cudi dis on 'Switch Up' with MTV News.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Lauren Child

Big Sean
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705286/big-sean-kid-cudi-good-music.jhtml

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U.S. pipeline agency issues corrective action order to Exxon

ARSAL, Lebanon (Reuters) - A Syrian jet flew 20 km (12 miles) into Lebanon and fired a missile into a field on the outskirts of the border town of Arsal on Wednesday but caused no casualties, witnesses said. Lebanon has maintained a policy of "dissociation" from Syria's two-year-old conflict. But many Lebanese officials feel their country is increasingly at risk of being dragged into the civil war, which the United Nations says has killed 70,000 people. Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have fired mortars into and occasionally entered Lebanese territory in pursuit of rebels. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-pipeline-agency-issues-corrective-action-order-exxon-234319278--finance.html

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Let's Hope the Facebook Phone Really Does Look This Darn Beautiful

It's widely believed that Facebook will announce a new Android phone UI, called Home, along with accompanying HTC hardware at an event tomorrow. I know, we're all thinking, "Ugg, Facebook phone." But everything we've heard is really exciting. 9To5Google claims to have some shots of the new UI, and if they're real, it's going to be one of the most beautiful Android UIs to date. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/OIRvSOrYwUs/lets-hope-the-facebook-phone-really-does-look-this-darn-beautiful

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Close.io Raises Funding From SV Angel, Spark Capital To Improve Communication For Salespeople

Y Combinator Close.io, a startup that aims to improve communication and customer management for sales people, has raised a round of funding from Bebo co-founder Michael Birch, SV Angel, Spark Capital and David Tisch.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/r2aKU8UPXeM/

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Nigeria's Zenith Bank full-year pre-tax profit up 51 pct

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's Zenith Bank said on Tuesday its full-year pre-tax profit grew by 51 percent to 102.1 billion naira in 2012, compared with 67.44 billion naira posted the previous year.

Zenith's gross earnings also jumped 25.88 percent to 307.08 billion naira, from 243.95 billion naira the previous year, the bank said in a statement through the stock exchange.

"Efficiency in our operations led to the significant improvement in our cost to income ratio ... our operational expenses were held in check at below 3 percent growth," Zenith Chief Executive Godwin Emefiele said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nigerias-zenith-bank-full-pre-tax-profit-51-060952628--finance.html

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Telsa?expected to report?first quarterly profit

Paul Lienert and Prateek Chatterjee , Reuters ? ? ? 1 hr.

Electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc said it expects to report a first-quarter profit on both a net and adjusted basis following stronger-than-expected sales of its Model S sedan, sending its shares soaring more than 19 percent in early trading on Monday.

Tesla also said it was dropping plans to produce a low-end version of the Model S due to lack of demand, and will focus instead on higher-margin editions of the car.

Model S sales exceeded 4,750 units in the quarter, higher than the 4,500 Tesla had forecast, the company said on Monday.

CEO and founder Elon Musk tweeted early Monday that the company will make a separate announcement on Tuesday that "is arguably more important" than its new financial guidance.

Tesla said in January that it would be profitable in the first quarter when expenses related to non-cash options and warrants were excluded.

The automaker has focused in recent months on building and selling high-end versions of the Model S, with larger battery packs that provide more range.

The top-of-the-line Tesla Model S Performance model costs nearly $96,000. The base Model S, which Tesla is dropping, has a starting price of just over $60,000.

Tesla said only 4 percent of customer orders were for the base Model S, which was to be equipped with a 40 kWh battery pack. Those customers instead will receive a 60 kWh battery pack, with the output and range limited by software to 40 kWh, at no additional cost.

The carmaker went public in 2010 and has narrowed its losses as production of the Model S sedan ramped up late last year.

"There have been many car startups over the past several decades, but profitability is what makes a company real," Musk said. "Tesla is here to stay and keep fighting the electric car revolution."

Tesla shares rose $7.38, or about 19 percent, to $45.31 in early Nasdaq trading.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

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Obama image machine whirs as press access narrows (The Arizona Republic)

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

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NYPD braces for 'wilding' gang violence in Times Square on Easter

By Ida Siegal, NBCNewYork.com

NEW YORK CITY -- The NYPD is again planning to beef up patrols in Times Square and Midtown the night of Easter Sunday, a day that in recent years has seen violence as part of a yearly gang initiation ritual following the Javits Center car show.

Police say the Easter Day "wilding" started years ago but became especially violent in 2010, when hundreds of gang members attended the annual auto show at the Javits Center, then conducted gang initiations in Times Square.

Two women were shot during the sprawling brawl, two other people were wounded and several police officers injured. More than 50 people were arrested.

Since then, police have beefed up Easter patrols and monitored activity at the car show. The Daily News reports the NYPD is also monitoring social media to look for gang members who may be planning a "mobbing" through Times Square.

Read more news from NBCNewYork.com

There have not been any gang incidents on Easter since 2010, and the NYPD is looking to keep it that way.

"For me, it's a religious holiday and it should be respected," said Michael Hoard in Times Square Friday night.

The police "are here to protect us, that's the bottom line," said Al Centrella of Hempstead, who was in the area with his wife to see a show.

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