US, allies planning direct aid to Syrian rebels

NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports that the U.S. will announce Thursday that the US plans to provide aid directly to a select group of Syrian rebels.

By Andrea Mitchell and Catherine Chomiak, NBC News

In a policy shift, the United States on Thursday will announce plans to channel aid directly to selected groups of the Syrian opposition rather than through non-governmental agencies, senior White House officials told NBC News.

The aid plan, being?forged with European allies, will still not include weapons, despite the calls of a growing number of American senators?? but the definition of "non-lethal" aid will be more broadly defined, the officials said, noting that details of the plan were still being finalized.

---

Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in Paris on his first foreign trip in his new position,?said earlier that?Washington is looking for new ways to help rebels fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and speed up political transition in the country.

"We are examining and developing ways to accelerate the transition the Syrian people seek and deserve," Kerry said during a news conference with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

The Washington Post?has reported that?the administration was planning to start sending non-lethal equipment like body armor and armed vehicles to Assad's foes.

Among the items likely to be included in the direct aid to rebels are meals and medical kits, The Associated Press reported.

Kerry was expected to announce the new contributions at the Rome conference, in addition to tens of millions of dollars intended for rule of law and governance programs.

For its part, the Syrian opposition is planning to demand "qualitative military support" at talks with major powers in Rome this week, a leading figure in movement to oust Assad told Reuters on Wednesday.

"We ask our friends to give us every backing to achieve gains on the ground and help reach a political solution from a position of strength, not weakness," said Riad Seif of the Syrian National Coalition umbrella group said a day before a Friends of Syria conference in the Italian capital.

"We expect to receive political, humanitarian and qualitative military support,? he said.

Jacquelyn Martin / AP

Secretary of State John Kerry, left, shakes hands after a news conference with French Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius at the Foreign Ministry in Paris on Wednesday.

The Friends of Syria group is composed mainly of Western powers, Gulf Arab states opposed to the Iranian-backed Assad, and Turkey.

The West and Syria's neighbors have been looking for a solution to the two-year-old civil war in Syria that has claimed around 70,000 lives and sent 860,000 refugees fleeing abroad. The conflict pitting the largely Sunni rebels against the Alawite-dominated Assad?government?threatens to destabilize countries in the region, most notably Lebanon.

In Paris, Kerry said the United States wanted the Syrian opposition's advice on how to accelerate a political solution to help halt the bloodshed and protect the interests of the Syrian people.

"We want (the Syrian opposition's) advice on how we can accelerate the prospects of a political solution because that is what we believe is the best path to peace, the best way to protect the interest of the Syrian people," he said ahead of meetings with the opposition on Thursday.

"As I have said, that may require us to change President al-Assad's current calculation. He needs to know that he can't shoot his way out of this. So we need to convince him of that and I think the opposition needs more help in order to be able to do that. And we are working together to have a united position," Kerry added.?

But Iraq's prime minister warned that a victory for the rebels in Syria would create new problems, by creating a haven for extremists and worsening sectarian tensions in the Middle East.

In an interview with the AP, Nouri al-Maliki stopped shy of expressing support for the Assad regime.

During his first overseas trip as secretary of state, John Kerry hinted at a policy shift saying that Syrian opposition isn't going to be 'dangling in the wind wondering where the support is.' NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

The prime minister's remarks reflect fears by many Shiite Muslims in Iraq and elsewhere that Sunni Muslims would come to dominate Syria should Assad be toppled.

"If the world does not agree to support a peaceful solution through dialogue ... then I see no light at the end of the tunnel," al-Maliki said.

"Neither the opposition nor the regime can finish each other off," he continued. "The most dangerous thing in this process is that if the opposition is victorious, there will be a civil war in Lebanon, divisions in Jordan and a sectarian war in Iraq."

As the bloody Syrian conflict wears on, there is a growing number of U.S. legislators urging greater action, including some type of military support for the rebels.

Sen. Roger Wicker, a member of the Armed Services Committee, appearing on NBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports on Wednesday.

"I hope our new secretary of state will listen carefully to the more responsible of the Syrian opposition," said Wicker, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Asked if that meant the United States should provide weapons, he said: "I think there are ways and means for us to see that is done. I think Secretary of State Kerry is going to be listening to those proposals, and I think if he does what he's being told at the highest levels of the Pentagon, we may be moving, yes, to military aid for the responsible opposition groups."

He agreed that there is a risk to those weapons falling into the hands of radical extremists infiltrating the opposition movement, but said.

"There's no question it's a concern, but this has gone on too long. The Assad regime needs to fall."

Andrea Mitchell is NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent. Catherine Chomiak is an NBC News producer. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

Huge blast rocks central Damascus as Assad hints at talks

In initial coup for Kerry, Syria's opposition to attend Rome meeting

Dozens killed after huge car bomb hits Syria's capital

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/27/17118363-us-allies-planning-direct-aid-to-syrian-rebels?lite

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/top_news/top_science/ Top science news, featured on ScienceDaily's home page.en-usWed, 27 Feb 2013 10:52:33 ESTWed, 27 Feb 2013 10:52:33 EST60http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gifhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/news/top_news/top_science/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227102052.htm Researchers have shown that a camera embedded in the side of a rubber-sheathed plastic foam football can record video while the ball is in flight that could give spectators a unique, ball's-eye view of the playing field. They developed a computer algorithm that converts the unwatchable, raw video into a stable, wide-angle view.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:20:20 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227102052.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227085944.htm A new study offers the first evidence of source memory in a nonhuman animal. 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Computer-generated holography, they say, could be used in conjunction with a technique called optogenetics, which uses gene therapy to deliver light-sensitive proteins to damaged retinal nerve cells. In conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP), these light-sensing cells degenerate and lead to blindness.Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:42:42 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226134259.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226120551.htm Plentiful food can accelerate the spread of infections, scientists have shown in a study of water fleas. Scientists studying bacterial infections in tiny water fleas have discovered that increasing their supply of food can speed up the spread of infection.Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:05:05 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226120551.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226114023.htm Glass doesn't have to be brittle. Scientists propose a way of predicting whether a given glass will be brittle or ductile -- a property typically associated with metals like steel or aluminum -- and assert that any glass could have either quality.Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:40:40 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226114023.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226114021.htm Scientists have developed a new method that better preserves the units necessary to power lightning-fast electronics, known as qubits. Hole spins, rather than electron spins, can keep quantum bits in the same physical state up to 10 times longer than before, the report finds.Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:40:40 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226114021.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226113830.htm Fresh insights into the protective seal that surrounds the DNA of our cells could help develop treatments for inherited muscle, brain, bone and skin disorders. 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Treating human and mouse cells with compounds that modify cell nuclear material called chromatin induced the expression of beta cell genes in alpha cells, according to a new study.Sat, 23 Feb 2013 11:13:13 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130223111356.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222143233.htm Running cockroaches start to recover from being shoved sideways before their dawdling nervous system kicks in to tell their legs what to do, researchers have found. These new insights on how biological systems stabilize could one day help engineers design steadier robots and improve doctors' understanding of human gait abnormalities.Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:32:32 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222143233.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222143142.htm Researchers have now found stem cells inside the parasite that cause schistosomiasis, one of the most common parasitic infections in the world. These stem cells can regenerate worn-down organs, which may help explain how they can live for years or even decades inside their host.Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:31:31 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222143142.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222120753.htm Humans have at least two functional networks in their cerebral cortex not found in rhesus monkeys. This means that new brain networks were likely added in the course of evolution from primate ancestor to human.Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:07:07 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222120753.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222102958.htm When fruit flies sense parasitic wasps in their environment, they lay their eggs in an alcohol-soaked environment, essentially forcing their larvae to consume booze as a drug to combat the deadly wasps. The finding adds to the evidence that using toxins in the environment to medicate offspring may be common across the animal kingdom.Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:29:29 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222102958.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222075730.htm Electrodes have been permanently implanted in nerves and muscles of an amputee to directly control an arm prosthesis, for the first time. The result allows natural control of an advanced robotic prosthesis, similarly to the motions of a natural limb.Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:57:57 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222075730.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221194241.htm Virologists have discovered a new class of molecular compounds capable of killing the influenza virus. Working on the premise that too much of a good thing can be a killer, the scientists have advanced previous researchers' methods of manipulating an enzyme that is key to how influenza replicates and spreads. 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Their observation would constitute the discovery of a "fifth force of nature" (in addition to the four known fundamental forces: gravity, weak, strong and electromagnetic) and would suggest the existence of new particles, beyond those presently described by the Standard Model of particle physics.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:27:27 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221192736.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221143946.htm Scientists have found compelling evidence that older adults can eliminate forgetfulness and perform as well as younger adults on memory tests. The cognitive boost comes from a surprising source -- a distraction learning strategy.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:39:39 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221143946.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221143942.htm Researchers have developed a robotic bat wing that is providing valuable new information about dynamics of flapping flight in real bats. 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A new study suggests that exposure to coldness found in the microenvironment of the monarch's overwintering site triggers their return north every spring. Without this cold exposure, the monarch butterfly would continue flying south.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:12:12 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221141259.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221115808.htm By analyzing Mercury's rocky surface, scientists have been able to partially reconstruct the planet's history over billions of years.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:58:58 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221115808.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221115217.htm Unlike comets, asteroids are not characterised by exhibiting a trail, but there are now ten exceptions. Researchers have observed one of these rare asteroids from the Gran Telescopio Canarias (Spain) and have discovered that something happened around the 1st July 2011 causing its trail to appear: maybe internal rupture or collision with another asteroid.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:52:52 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221115217.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221104359.htm An international team of scientists has discovered how an important natural antibiotic called dermcidin, produced by our skin when we sweat, is a highly efficient tool to fight tuberculosis germs and other dangerous bugs.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:43:43 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221104359.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221104357.htm Feeling good about spending money on someone else rather than for personal benefit may be a universal response among people in both impoverished countries and rich nations, according to new research.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:43:43 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221104357.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221091829.htm Disruption in the body's circadian rhythm can lead not only to obesity, but can also increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease. That is the conclusion of the first study to show definitively that insulin activity is controlled by the body's circadian biological clock. The study, helps explain why not only what you eat, but when you eat, matters.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:18:18 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221091829.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220184728.htm Bioengineers and physicians have created an artificial ear -- using 3-D printing and injectable molds -- that looks and acts like a natural ear, giving new hope to thousands of children born with a congenital deformity called microtia. Scientists have described how 3-D printing and injectable gels made of living cells can fashion ears that are practically identical to a human ear. Over a three-month period, these flexible ears grew cartilage to replace the collagen that was used to mold them.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:47:47 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220184728.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220163631.htm Gravity remains the dominant force on large astronomical scales, but when it comes to stars in young star clusters the dynamics in these crowded environments cannot be simply explained by the pull of gravity.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:36:36 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220163631.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220163629.htm Bullied children grow into adults who are at increased risk of developing anxiety disorders, depression and suicidal thoughts, according to a new study.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:36:36 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220163629.htm

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/rss/top_news/top_science.xml

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Salesforce.com Launches Service Cloud Mobile With In-App Customer Service, Co-Browsing And Chat

Salesforce.com is launching Service Cloud Mobile, a package of four new features, including mobile co-browsing, in-line community support for game apps and a mobile chat capability. A fourth feature, designed specifically for customer service reps, allows agents to use mobile devices to give personalized support by connecting internally to get questions answered?through a lightweight activity stream experience. The new features are part of Salesforce.com Service Cloud and demonstrative of what executives say is the company's plan to "double down" on mobile in 2013.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/zL0QW1vgJEI/

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LA Kings trade Simon Gagne back to Philadelphia

The Los Angeles Kings traded Simon Gagne back to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a conditional draft pick, sending the struggling left wing back to the city where he had his greatest NHL success.

Gagne spent his first 10 NHL seasons with the Flyers, but won his first Stanley Cup title last season in Los Angeles after a late-playoff return from a concussion. He hasn't scored a goal in 11 games this season for the Kings, who decided the veteran didn't fit in coach Darryl Sutter's system.

Before Gagne even got up the nerve to ask for a trade, Kings general manager Dean Lombardi sent him back to Philadelphia.

"They just did it on their own," Gagne said. "It just shows you the class those guys have. Even if it's hard getting traded in the middle of the season, going to Philly ? and they told me it was the best place for me to go ? they're really gentlemen to do that to me this year."

Los Angeles will get a third-round pick if Philadelphia makes the playoffs or a fourth-round pick if the Flyers miss the postseason.

Gagne had 259 goals and 524 points in his decade with the Flyers, who traded him to Tampa Bay in July 2010 partly to get under the salary cap. The Kings signed him a year later, but Gagne has scored just 24 goals in 108 games since leaving Philadelphia.

"This is a good player that I've known a long time, and I know that if he would have wanted to go anywhere, that would be the place he wanted to go," said Kings general manager Dean Lombardi, a former Flyers scout. "Given that we had to do this, if we can, I would certainly put him someplace I know he'd be happy."

Gagne scored a career-high 47 goals during the 2005-06 season while playing mostly on a line with Peter Forsberg and Mike Knuble, who re-signed with Philadelphia last month. Before the lockout last July, the Flyers re-signed Ruslan Fedotenko, who began his career alongside Gagne with the Flyers more than a decade ago.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren spoke with Lombardi a few days ago about Gagne, but suddenly had urgency to add front-line depth. Matt Read is sidelined for six weeks with torn ribcage muscles, and Tye McGinn will be out for a few weeks after breaking an orbital bone in a fight with Toronto's Matt Brown on Monday night.

"He improves our depth up front automatically," said Holmgren, who traded Gagne three years ago. "He is a good two-way player that can skate. ... Coaches have watched tape of him playing, so we feel comfortable that he is fine. He seems excited to be coming back, and looks forward to an opportunity to play and help us."

The seven-time 20-goal scorer was sidelined for more than five months of his first season in Los Angeles with his latest concussion, but returned to action in the Stanley Cup finals. He played four games while winning his first NHL championship, but underwent neck surgery five days after raising the Cup for the first time.

Gagne's ice time was down sharply this season, and he had been a healthy scratch recently for the Kings (9-6-2), who have won four straight after a slow start. Gagne had five assists this season, but lost playing time recently to fellow veteran Dustin Penner.

Gagne only recently pulled up some of his Philly roots. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette has been renting Gagne's old house in Philadelphia's New Jersey suburbs for the past 2? years ? but Gagne recently sold the house, with the closing scheduled for March 15.

While Los Angeles only recently started clicking after a slow start, Philadelphia is off to just a 9-11-1 start despite scoring 60 goals, third-most in the Eastern Conference.

Gagne has a $3.5 million salary for the season and will be a free agent this summer, but Holmgren said the Flyers could afford him after losing players to injury.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-26-HKN-Kings-Flyers-Trade/id-669b927899e644cd88bf247a5ae8d241

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Rocket explodes in Israel, first attack from Gaza since November truce

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in Israel on Tuesday, the first such attack since a November truce, and a militant group said it launched the strike to retaliate for the death of a Palestinian in an Israeli jail.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's West Bank-based Fatah movement, called the rocket a "first response" to inmate Arafat Jaradat's death in disputed circumstances on Saturday.

"We must resist our enemy by all available means," the group said in a statement emailed to reporters. "We stress our commitment to armed struggle against the Zionist enemy."

Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, said it was investigating the attack, which caused no casualties and followed a surge in West Bank protests since Jaradat's death and intermittent hunger strikes by four other prisoners.

The rocket hit a road near the southern city of Ashkelon, police said. Israel responded by closing the Kerem Shalom border crossing through which produce and other goods are moved into the Gaza Strip, but it took no immediate military action.

The rocket was the first to hit Israel since a November 21 truce brokered by Egypt that ended eight days of cross-border air strikes and missile attacks in which 175 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed.

In addition to the fire from Gaza, a surge of unrest in the occupied West Bank has raised fears in Israel of a new Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.

Abbas accused Israel of inciting the unrest but urged calm.

"We did not want things to go as far as they have. We do not want tension or any escalation," Abbas said in the West Bank, in his second appeal in as many days to tamp down the violence.

TORTURE ALLEGATIONS

On Monday, thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank turned out for the funeral of Jaradat, 30, who died a week after his arrest for throwing stones at Israeli vehicles.

Palestinian officials said he had died after being tortured in prison. But Israel said an autopsy carried out in the presence of a Palestinian coroner was inconclusive.

In confrontations after the emotive funeral, Israeli police shot and wounded five Palestinian youths in Bethlehem and outside a West Bank prison, leaving a 15-year-old boy with a critical head injury, Israeli and Palestinian medics said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman, commenting on the incident, said troops had opened fire at Palestinians who threw homemade hand grenades at a Jewish holy site called Rachel's Tomb.

Before the rocket attack from Gaza, media reports said Israeli officials had hoped the Palestinian protests were winding down.

Palestinian frustration has also been fuelled by Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements in territory captured in a 1967 war and deadlocked diplomacy for a peace agreement since 2010.

The U.S. State Department said American diplomats have contacted Israeli and Palestinian leaders to appeal for calm.

The United Nations coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, called Tuesday's rocket fire "totally unacceptable" and urged an investigation into Jaradat's death.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Jeffrey Heller)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rocket-explodes-israel-first-attack-gaza-since-truce-053441696.html

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C. Everett Koop Dies; Former Surgeon General Was 96

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/c-everett-koop-dies-former-surgeon-general-was-96/

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Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Stand Pouch

We've seen some Android tablets essentially ape the iPad's Smart Cover, which protects the screen while closed and doubles as a stand when folded in on itself. Samsung's gone a different route with the Galaxy Note 8.0 Stand Pouch.

Pouches in and of themselves are hardly new in the mobile space. But Samsung's here also doubles for a stand for the Galaxy Note 8.0. Slip the Note 8.0 into it (the inside is soft and warm and safe, like ... something soft and warm ... or at least soft) to keep things nice and safe.

The pouch -- notice how it's segmented here -- folds in on itself in the usual triangle manner. From there, you get a couple options for angles -- one high, for media viewing, the other low, say, for typing.

Samsung's got a host of colors -- I'm partial to the boring (but nicely textured) gray you see here.

We've got some more pics of the Samsung Stand Pouch after the break.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/sdcupiz1jBM/story01.htm

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Comet C/2013 A1 May Hit Mars In 2014

Late-breaking news from the Council: REMAIN CALM.

Panic and hysteria swept our world today upon the discovery of an inbound cometary body with a non-zero impact probability.

K'Breel, Speaker for the Council, addressed a terrified world:

"Podmates and citizens, we believe this object to rate, at most a 1 or a 2 on the Q'nirot scale, and expect further observations to eliminate the possibility of a collision. There is cause for continued observation, but at present there is no cause for alarm."

"We believe this potential impactor to be a routine and natural phenomenon, not a hostile threat from the Blueworlders. For one thing, is approaching from the direction away from the Blue World, from a region that even their invasion fleets have yet to control. Furthermore, it has recently been demonstrated that the Blueworlders, despite the technological terrors they have sent to our world, remain utterly incapable of deflecting inbound asteroids and comets. Unlike our illustirous Planetary Defense Forces, the blueworlders lack the technology to do anything about an inbound impactor."

"A solid planetary defense is the right of every being in every technologically-advanced civilization. As the Blueworlders have so recently discovered the hard way, conquest and empire sometimes need to take a back seat to the basic tools that constitute civilization."

When a junior reporter suggested that EVERYBEING PANIC ANYWAYS, the Speaker concluded his remarks:

"For decades, junior reporters have been making proposals to this council that begin with 'we have to fight the blueworlders over there before we have to fight them over here', and today marks the day where they can finally put their gelsacs where their mouths are."

The reporter's gelsacs were then mounted on the impactor unit of the the kinetic kill vehicle that remains the Planetary Defense Force's third and last line of defense.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/xl9XqGiCx4U/story01.htm

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5 live Sport: Premier League Football 2012-13: QPR v Manchester United

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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01qwcxv/5_live_Sport_Premier_League_Football_201213_QPR_v_Manchester_United/

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Pope's last blessing from window drawing crowd

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Pope Benedict XVI has given his pontificate's final Sunday blessing from his studio window to the cheers of tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.

Benedict says even though he's retiring on Thursday from the papacy, the first pope in 600 years to do so, he's "not abandoning the church." Instead he says he'll serve the church with the same dedication he has till now, but will do so in a way "more suitable to my age and my strength." Benedict, 85, will spend his last years in prayer, meditation and seclusion in a monastery on Vatican City's grounds.

He has one more public appearance, at his weekly audience on Wednesday in the square.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/popes-last-blessing-window-drawing-crowd-102544451.html

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Green Home, Green Business ? Home Improvement Projects Made ...

TIP! New windows will reduce both heating and cooling costs and upgrade the look of any home. These windows offer quite the reward, so consider them.

A lot of people want to do home improvement projects, yet they find it too hard to do, and give up. Most home improvement projects are not as hard as they seem if you take the time to do some research and to educate yourself first. Utilize the advice provided here when you try your hand at home improvement.

TIP! Apply a glaze to your bathroom to improve its looks. It can really make it look brand new! Plus it?s a much cheaper choice than replacing all of those older fixtures and flooring; a bathroom can be glazed for just a couple of hundred dollars.

One home improvement project that can increase the home?s value is finishing the basement. Finished basements add livable square footage for higher property values and greater enjoyment. Shop around for the best values to keep costs down. Actually finishing your basement can up the value of your home by 30 percent or more.

TIP! Avoid allowing contractors to work on your house without signing a contract. If possible, get a lawyer to look at the contract before work begins.

Watch for offers from flooring stores and home improvement stores that will save you money on installation fees. To encourage people to buy carpet, they will quote low installation costs. When you see this type of sale, it?s time to move as often full-priced installation can cost more than the carpet itself.

TIP! When considering a bathroom upgrade, think about making the room handicap-accessible. Although it is not necessary to completely convert the bathroom now, preparing it for future adaptations as you grow older will be very convenient.

It?s a good idea to have a professional take a look at your existing floors before you commit yourself to the expensive proposition of installing all-new hardwood. Sometimes you may have beautiful, natural hardwood hiding underneath layers of carpet or linoleum that is just waiting to be refinished. If this is the case, you?ll just need to strip the old carpet or flooring and refinish the natural floor underneath.

TIP! Enlist the help of a professional for electrical improvements. They?ll know what they?re doing and suggest the best plan of action.

An easy, inexpensive way to keep your house (and your feet) toasty warm is to add a heat source beneath your tiled floors. If you are already planning to install tile floors, talk to a flooring person about using radiant heat. The sales person will be able to guide you on which type of flooring should be used as well as the options available for radiant heating. When you are ready to sell your home, this will be an attractive feature for potential buyers.

TIP! Dormer windows can make use of extra attic space that would otherwise go unused. This will improve the look of your house from the outside and give you much more attic space inside.

As stated before in the beginning of this article, many people are interested in home improvement, but give up after finding it too difficult to do. It is not hard if you are armed with the right know-how. It can be simple if you use this article?s advice.

Source: http://greenhomegreenbusinessplanet.com/home-improvement-projects-made-simple/

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HP Slate 7 Android tablet rocks Beats, $169 price tag; due out in April

Mobile World Congress isn't just about the phones. Sometimes a company's got a little tablet love to give as well. HP's out in Barcelona talking up the new Slate 7, a Jelly Bean-sporting tablet with a 1.6GHz dual-core ARM processor inside. The tablet's got a (you guessed it) 7-inch display, plus front and rear facing cameras and, as the red backing not-so-subtly suggests, built-in Beats Audio. The device's biggest selling point, however, has to be that $169 starting price. The Slate 7's due out in April. In the meantime, have a read of the press release after the break.

Filed under: HP

Comments

Source: HP

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/hp-slate-7-android-tablet-rocks-beats-169-price-tag-due-out-i/

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Watching a spring training baseball game FINALLY!

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Sequestration: What will happen to national parks?

Automatic cuts to the National Parks Service budget could have drastic impacts across the country, from Yosemite National Park in California, to the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts.?

By Tracie Cone,?Associated Press / February 23, 2013

Hikers walk on the Mist Trail to Vernal Fall in Yosemite, Calif. Visitors to America's national parks will encounter fewer rangers, find locked restrooms and visitors centers, and see trash cans emptied less often if five percent across-the-board cuts are enacted by sequestration.

Gosia Wozniacka/AP

Enlarge

The towering giant sequoias at Yosemite?National?Park?would go unprotected from visitors who might trample their shallow roots. At Cape Cod?National?Seashore, large sections of the Great Beach would close to keep eggs from being destroyed if natural resource managers are cut.

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Gettysburg would decrease by one-fifth the numbers of school children who learn about the historic Pennsylvania battle that was a turning point in the Civil War.

As America's financial clock ticks toward forced spending cuts to countless government agencies, The Associated Press has obtained a?National?Park?Service?memo that compiles a list of potential effects at the?nation's?most beautiful and historic places just as spring vacation season begins.

"We're planning for this to happen and hoping that it doesn't," said?Park?Service?spokesman Jeffrey Olson, who confirmed that the list is authentic and represents cuts the department is considering.

Park?Service?Director Jon Jarvis last month asked superintendents to show by Feb. 11 how they would absorb the 5 percent funding cuts. The memo includes some of those decisions.

While not all 398?parks?had submitted plans by the time the memo was written, a pattern of deep slashes that could harm resources and provide fewer protections for visitors has emerged.

In Yosemite?National?Park?in California, for example,?park?administrators fear that less frequent trash pickup would potentially attract bears into campgrounds.

The cuts will be challenging considering they would be implemented over the next seven months ? peak season for?national?parks. That's especially true in Yellowstone, where the summertime crush of millions of visitors in cars and RVs dwarfs those who venture into the?park?on snowmobiles during the winter.

More than 3 million people typically visit Yellowstone between May and September, 10 times as many as the?park?gets the rest of the year.

"This is a big, complex?park, and we provide a lot of?services?that people don't realize," Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said. "They don't realize we're also the water and wastewater treatment operators and that it's our job to patch potholes, for heaven's sake."

The memo says that in anticipation of the cuts, a hiring freeze is in place and the furloughing of permanent staff is on the table.

"Clear patterns are starting to emerge," the memo said. "In general,?parks?have very limited financial flexibility to respond to a 5 percent cut in operations."

Most of the?Park?Service's?$2.9 billion budget is for permanent spending such as staff salaries, fuel, utilities and rent payments. Superintendents can use about 10 percent of their budgets on discretionary spending for things ranging from interpretive programs to historic-artifact maintenance to trail repair, and they would lose half of that to the 5 percent cuts.

"There's no fat left to trim in the?Park?Service?budget," said John Garder of the nonprofit?parks?advocacy group the?National?Park?Conservation Association. "In the scope of a year of federal spending, these cuts would be permanently damaging and save 15 minutes of spending."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/qnHDwy1Q1v0/Sequestration-What-will-happen-to-national-parks

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LIVE VIDEO: Ford Announces Hundreds of Jobs

Posted on: 10:17 am, February 21, 2013, by Lindsay Buckingham, updated on: 10:25am, February 21, 2013

BROOK PARK, Ohio ? Ford is expected to announce the addition of more than 400 jobs at its plant on Engle Road this morning at 10:30 a.m.

*Click here to watch LIVE video of the press conference

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ford, jobs

Source: http://fox8.com/2013/02/21/live-video-ford-announces-hundreds-of-jobs/

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SpiderSense ultrasonic radar suit lets you know when danger is near

Know that feeling when someone wanders too far into your personal space? The University of Illinois' Victor Mateevitsi does, which is why he'd built a suit that does the job to a far greater degree of accuracy. SpiderSense is a onesie that uses a series of microphones to rend and receive ultrasonic signals from the space around you, like high frequency radar. When the outfit senses something approaching, a robotic arm corresponding to the microphone exerts pressure on your skin, pointing you in the direction of the danger. Mateevitsi tested the gear by blindfolding researchers and asking them to throw a cardboard ninja star whenever (and wherever) they sensed a threat -- with positive results 95 percent of the time. SpiderSense will get its first public showing at Stuttgart's Augmented Human conference in March and it's hoped that the hardware will eventually help Blind people get around easier.

[Image Credit: Lance Long]

Filed under: Wearables, Alt

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Via: New Scientist

Source: Victor Mateevitsi

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/JtBZk0M9Jsw/

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