Australia reviews timetable for buying 12 F-35s (AP)

CANBERRA, Australia ? Australia is reviewing its timetable for buying 12 of the troubled F-35 Joint Strike Fighters between 2015 and 2017 after the Unites States announced a rethink of its own purchase schedule for the futuristic warplanes.

Australia is a funding partner in developing the JSF, which the U.S. Defense Department describes as the largest fighter aircraft program in history.

Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith said Monday that Australia is only contractually obligated to take delivery of two of the warplanes. They will be based in the United States and be available from 2014 for training Australian pilots.

Smith says Australia is reconsidering its schedule of buying another 12 during the following three years.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oceania/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_as/as_australia_jet_fighters

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Occupy protest resurfaces in Oakland after lull

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan surveys damage to City Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Oakland, Calif., following an Occupy Oakland protest Saturday. After a confrontation with police, demonstrators gained entrance to City Hall where they burned an American flag, broke glass and toppled a model of City Hall. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan surveys damage to City Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Oakland, Calif., following an Occupy Oakland protest Saturday. After a confrontation with police, demonstrators gained entrance to City Hall where they burned an American flag, broke glass and toppled a model of City Hall. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Occupy Oakland protestors burn an American flag found inside Oakland City Hall during an Occupy Oakland protest on the steps of City Hall, Saturday, January 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

A defaced bust of former city councilmember Frank Ogawa sits outside Oakland, Calif., City Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, following an Occupy Oakland protest Saturday. After a confrontation with police, demonstrators gained entrance to City Hall where they burned an American flag, broke glass and toppled a model of City Hall. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Police officers stand near graffiti while guarding Oakland, Calif., City Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, following an Occupy Oakland protest Saturday. After a confrontation with police, demonstrators gained entrance to City Hall where they burned an American flag, broke glass and toppled a model of City Hall. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Police move in on Occupy Oakland protesters on Oak Street and 12th Street as tear gas gets blown back on them in Oakland, Calif. on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. An unlawful assembly was declared as occupiers planned to take over an undisclosed building. (AP Photo/The Tribune, Bay Area News Group) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) ? It started peacefully enough: A midday rally at City Hall and a march. But as the day wore on, Oakland was hit by the most turbulent protests in weeks as Occupy demonstrators clashed repeatedly with police, leaving more than 400 people arrested.

The demonstrations in downtown Oakland broke a lull that had seen just a smattering of people taking to Oakland's streets in recent weeks for occasional marches that bore little resemblance to the headline-grabbing Occupy demonstrations of last fall.

That all changed Saturday with clashes punctuated by rock and bottle throwing by protesters and volleys of tear gas from police, and a City Hall break-in that left glass cases smashed, graffiti spray-painted on walls and an American flag burned.

AP photos showing the flag burning ? including images of masked protesters touching off the blaze, a woman urging protesters not to burn it, and another of an officer stomping out the fire ? drew attention on social networking sites.

At least three officers and one protester were injured. Police spokesman Sgt. Jeff Thomason said there were more than 400 arrests on charges ranging from failure to disperse to vandalism,

On Sunday, Oakland officials vowed to be ready if Occupy protesters try to mount another large-scale demonstration. Protesters, meanwhile, decried Saturday's police tactics as illegal and threatened to sue.

Mayor Jean Quan personally inspected damage caused by dozens of people who broke into City Hall. She said she wants a court order to keep Occupy protesters who have been arrested several times out of Oakland, which has been hit repeatedly by demonstrations that have cost the financially troubled city about $5 million.

Quan also called on the loosely organized movement to "stop using Oakland as its playground."

"People in the community and people in the Occupy movement have to stop making excuses for this behavior," she said.

Saturday's protests ? the most convulsive since Oakland police forcefully dismantled an Occupy encampment in November ? came just days after the announcement of a new round of actions. The group said it planned to use a vacant building as a social center and political hub and threatened to try to shut down the Port of Oakland for a third time, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.

After the mass arrests, the Occupy Oakland Media Committee criticized the police's conduct, saying that most of the arrests were made illegally because police failed to allow protesters to disperse. It threatened legal action.

"Contrary to their own policy, the OPD gave no option of leaving or instruction on how to depart. These arrests are completely illegal, and this will probably result in another class action lawsuit against the OPD," a release from the group said.

Deputy Police Chief Jeff Israel told reporters late Saturday that protesters gathered unlawfully and police gave them multiple verbal warnings to disband.

Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests. Police officials say they were in "close contact" with the federal monitor during the protests.

The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately. Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.

Caitlin Manning, an Occupy Oakland member, believes that Saturday's protest caught the world's attention.

"The Occupy movement is back on the map," Manning said Sunday. "We think those who have been involved in movements elsewhere should be heartened."

In Oakland, social activism and civic unrest have long marked this rough-edged city of nearly 400,000 across the bay from San Francisco. Beset by poverty, crime and a decades-long tense relationship between the police and the community, its streets have seen clashes between officers and protesters, including anti-draft protests in the 1960s that spilled into town from neighboring Berkeley.

Dozens of officers, who maintained guard at City Hall overnight, were also on the scene Sunday.

"They were never able to occupy a building outside of City Hall," Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said Sunday. "We suspect they will try to go to the convention center again. They will not get in."

Jordan defended his officers' response to the protesters on Saturday.

"No we have not changed our tactics," Jordan said. "The demonstrators have changed their tactics, which forces us to respond differently."

Quan, who faces two mayoral recall attempts, has been criticized for past police tear-gassing, though she said she was not aware of the plans. On Saturday, she thought the police response was measured.

She also said she hopes prosecutors will seek a stay-away order against protesters who have been arrested multiple times.

"It appears that most of them constantly come from outside of Oakland," Quan said. "I think a lot of the young people who come to these demonstrations think they're being revolutionary when they're really hurting the people they claim that they are representing."

Saturday's events began when a group assembled outside City Hall and marched through the streets, disrupting traffic as they threatened to take over a vacant convention center.

The protesters then walked to the convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and "destroying construction equipment" shortly before 3 p.m., police said. The number of demonstrators swelled as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging up to 2,000 people, although city leaders say that figure was much closer to several hundred.

A majority of the arrests came after police took scores of protesters into custody as they marched through downtown, with some entering a YMCA building, Thomason said.

One of those taken into custody at the facility was KGO radio reporter Kristin Hanes.

Though she was released after about 25 minutes, Hanes said she was "angry that they put a reporter in zip-tie handcuffs."

Oakland police didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about her arrest.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-30-Occupy%20Oakland/id-c86aa202319041168d3a3e917d44b4c7

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SAG Awards menu is months in the making (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? When your dinner party guests include Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Kate Winslet and Glenn Close, and the whole affair is televised live, it can take months to plan the menu. That's why the team behind the Screen Actors Guild Awards began putting together the plate for Sunday's ceremony months ago.

It was still summer when show producer Kathy Connell and executive producer and director Jeff Margolis first sat down with chef Suzanne Goins of Los Angeles eatery Lucques with a tall order: Create a meal that is delicious at room temperature, looks beautiful on TV, is easy to eat and appeals to Hollywood tastes. Oh, and no poppy seeds, soups, spicy dishes, or piles of onions or garlic.

"It can't drip, stick in their teeth or be too heavy," Connell said. "We have to appease all palates."

The chef put together a plate of possibilities: slow-roasted salmon with yellow beets, lamb with couscous and spiced cauliflower and roasted root vegetables with quinoa. There was also a chopped chicken salad and another chicken dish with black beans.

To ensure the dishes are both tasty and TV-ready, Connell and Margolis, along with the SAG Awards Committee and the show's florist and art director, dined together at this summertime lunch on tables set to replicate those that will be in the Shrine Exposition Center during the ceremony. The pewter, crushed-silk tablecloths and white lilies you'll see on TV Sunday were also chosen months ago.

The diners discussed the look of the plate, the size of the portions and the vegetarian possibilities.

"We'd like the portions a little larger," Connell told the chef.

"And a little more sauce on the salmon," Margolis added.

Come Sunday, it's up to Goins to prepare 1,200 of the long-planned meals for the A-list audience.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_en_mo/us_sag_awards_menu

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Researchers find cancer in ancient Egyptian mummy (AP)

CAIRO ? A professor from American University in Cairo says discovery of prostate cancer in a 2,200-year-old mummy indicates the disease was caused by genetics, not environment.

The genetics-environment question is key to understanding cancer.

AUC professor Salima Ikram, a member of the team that studied the mummy in Portugal for two years, said Sunday the mummy was of a man who died in his forties.

She said this was the second oldest known case of prostate cancer.

"Living conditions in ancient times were very different; there were no pollutants or modified foods, which leads us to believe that the disease is not necessarily only linked to industrial factors," she said.

A statement from AUC says the oldest known case came from a 2,700 year-old skeleton of a king in Russia.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_sc/ml_egypt_ancient_cancer

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Thousands rally for Putin in Russian industrial belt (Reuters)

YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) ? Thousands of supporters of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rallied on Saturday to back his bid to return to the Kremlin, a week before what are likely to be far larger opposition protests to demand greater political choice.

Police said around 10,000 people gathered in Yekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city, with many brought on buses and trains from outlying towns in the Urals industrial belt to back Putin before the March 4 presidential vote.

Putin enjoys strong support in many Russian regions, but faces criticism from the urban middle class, especially in Moscow and St Petersburg. Effectively excluded from mainstream politics, middle class Russians have taken to the Internet to call for sweeping electoral reform.

Tens of thousands people from different parties and others, unaffiliated to any political organization, are expected to take part in a protest march on Feb 4 to press "For fair elections" in Moscow, which was approved by the city's authorities.

Tens of thousands protested in Moscow and other cities in December calling for a December 4 parliamentary election to be re-run, alleging the ruling United Russia party's victory was achieved through widespread ballot fraud.

In Yekaterinburg, demonstrators held placards with slogans such as 'We are for a stable tomorrow', swayed to pop music and enjoyed free food and drink.

"Buses were laid on for us at the factory, we saw lists in advance of those who would go to the rally," said Andrei Mandure, a worker at a chemical plant in the town of Lesnoy, a closed facility during the Soviet era. Putin did not attend the rally.

Public-sector workers were also out in the city's railway station square. One, a 59-year-old kindergarten worker who gave her name as Yevgeniya, told Reuters her boss had instructed her to attend.

Putin, president from 2000-08, is aiming to secure a further six-year term in March. He holds a clear lead in opinion polls, with Communist Gennady Zyuganov running a distant second.

The exclusion of liberal Grigory Yavlinsky from the slate on a technicality has further angered the opposition, which says the Kremlin has allowed billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov to run to capture protest votes without posing a threat to Putin.

"There are no good candidates. Yavlinsky was banned ... (so) who else if not Putin?" said Sergei, a 46-year old from Kirovgrad, when asked who he would vote for in March.

(Writing by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Ben Harding)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/wl_nm/us_russia_putin_rally

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IMF chief presses for more cash to fight crisis (AP)

DAVOS, Switzerland ? The head of the International Monetary Fund appeared to be making headway Saturday in her drive to boost the institution's financial firepower so that it can help Europe prevent its crippling debt crisis from further damaging the global economy.

Christine Lagarde, who replaced Dominique Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the fund six months ago, is trying to ramp up the IMF's resources by $500 billion so it can help if more lending is needed in Europe or elsewhere. The IMF is the world's traditional lender-of-last-resort and has been involved in the bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

Insisting that the IMF is a "safe bet" and that no country had ever lost money by lending to the IMF, Lagarde argued that increasing the size of the IMF's resources would help improve confidence in the global financial system. If enough money is in the fund the markets will be reassured and it won't be used, she said, using arguments similar to those that France has made about increasing Europe's own rescue fund.

"It's for that reason that I am here, with my little bag, to actually collect a bit of money," she said at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps town of Davos.

Her plea appeared to find a measure of support from ministers of Britain and Japan, sizable IMF shareholders that would be expected to contribute to any money-raising exercise.

George Osborne, Britain's finance minister, said there is "a case for increasing IMF resources and ... demonstrating that the world wants to help together to solve the world's problems," provided the 17 countries that use the euro show the "color of their money."

European countries have said they're prepared to give the IMF $150 billion, meaning that the rest of the world will have to contribute $350 billion. However, many countries, such as Britain and the U.S., want Europe to do more, notably by boosting its own rescue fund.

Osborne said he would be willing to argue in Parliament for a new British contribution, though he may encounter opposition from some members from his own Conservative Party.

Japan's economy minister, Motohisa Furukawa, said his country would help the eurozone via the IMF, too, even though Japan's own debt burden is massive. Unlike Europe's debt-ridden economies, Japan doesn't face sky-high borrowing rates, partly because there's a very liquid domestic market that continues to support the country's bonds.

Europe once again dominated discussions on the final full day of the forum in Davos. Despite some optimism about Europe's latest attempts to stem the crisis, fears remain that turmoil could return.

Whether the markets remain stable could rest for now on if Greece, the epicenter of the crisis, manages to conclude crucial debt-reduction discussions with its private creditors. It's also seeking to placate demands from its European partners and the IMF for deeper reforms.

A failure on either front could force the country, which is now in its fifth year of recession, to default on its debt and leave the euro, potentially triggering another wave of mayhem in financial markets that could hit the global economy hard.

One German official even said Saturday that Greece should temporarily cede sovereignty over tax and spending decisions to a powerful eurozone budget commissioner to secure further bailouts. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because talks on the idea are confidential.

"The fact that we're still, at the start of 2012, talking about Greece again is a sign that this problem has not been dealt with," Britain's Osborne said.

For Donald Tsang, the chief executive of Hong Kong, efforts to deal with the 2-year-old debt crisis have fallen short of what is required. The failure to properly deal with the Greek situation quickly has meant the ultimate cost to Europe has been higher, he said.

"I have never been as scared as now about the world," he said.

Most economic forecasters predict that the global economy will continue to grow this year, but at a fairly slow rate. The IMF recently reduced its forecasts for global growth in 2012 to 3.3 percent, from the 4 percent pace that the IMF projected in September.

Lagarde sought to encourage some countries that use the euro to boost growth to help shore up the ailing eurozone economy, which is widely expected to sink back into recession, adding that it would be counterproductive if all euro countries cut their budgets aggressively at the same time.

"Some countries have to go full-speed ahead to do this fiscal consolidation ... but other countries have space and room," Lagarde said.

Though conceding that there aren't many such countries, Lagarde said it is important that those that have the headroom explore how they can boost growth. She carefully avoided naming any countries, but likely had in mind Germany, Europe's largest economy and a major world exporter. She didn't specify how to boost growth or how one eurozone country could help others grow.

Lagarde said members of the eurozone should continue the drive to tie their economies closer together. On Monday, European leaders gather in Brussels in the hopes of agreeing on a treaty that will force member countries to put deficit limits into their national laws.

Britain's Osborne said eurozone leaders should be praised for the "courage" they have shown over the past few months in enacting austerity and setting in place closer fiscal ties, but said more will have to be done if the single currency is to get on a surer footing.

Fiscal transfers from rich economies to poorer ones will become a "permanent feature" of the eurozone, Osborne predicted.

While politicians and business people were discussing the state of the global economy within the confines of the conference center, protesters questioned the purpose of the event as income inequalities grow worldwide.

Protesters from the Occupy movement that started on Wall Street have camped out in igloos at Davos and were demonstrating in front of City Hall to call attention to the needs of the poor and unemployed.

In a separate protest, three Ukrainian women were arrested when they stripped off their tops ? despite temperatures around freezing ? and tried to climb a fence surrounding the invitation-only gathering of international CEOs and political leaders.

"Crisis! Made in Davos," read one message painted across a protester's torso.

Davos police spokesman Thomas Hobi said the three women were taken to the police station and told they weren't allowed to demonstrate. He said they would be released later in the day.

___

Frank Jordans and Edith M. Lederer in Davos, and Juergen Baetz in Berlin contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_davos_forum

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Demi Moore: "Her Life Is Completely in Crisis" (omg!)

Demi's darkest hour.

Demi Moore turns 50 this November -- and it appears the Margin Call actress, on the heels of her devastating split from Ashton Kutcher, is now suffering a full-blown mid-life crisis.

PHOTOS: Demi's scary slimdown

After weeks of hard-core partying at various spots around Hollywood, it all came to a head on Monday evening, when the painfully skinny star called 911, was rushed to a hospital, and explained through her rep that she's seeking "professional assistance to treat her exhaustion and improve her overall health."

An insider confirms to Us Weekly that Moore suffered a seizure on Monday, prompting her 911 call. (TMZ claims that Moore was doing "whip-its," inhaling nitrous oxide, to get high.)

PHOTOS: Biggest celeb meltdowns

"She has spiraled," the source explains, "and gotten to a place where she is struggling too much to function."

She announced her split from Kutcher, 33, in November, following his September affair (on their sixth wedding anniversary) with 22-year-old Sara Leal.

VIDEO: Sara Leal talks up her Ashton affair to Us

"Her life is completely in crisis," continues the source. "She is turning 50 and has no idea who she is or what her focus should be."

Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly

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How to Build a Simple 2-Door Wooden Cabinet

January 27, 2012 6:30 AM Text Size: A . A . A One basic thing can make the difference between a room looking cluttered or put-together: storage. Of course, getting rid of excess stuff also helps. But even after you've pared down your possessions, having an attractive place to stash essential items is key. Enter the two-door cabinet, a minimalist solution that's been around for centuries. Our take on the classic fits just about anywhere, and its panels can be made from a variety of materials?metal mesh, glass, or wallpapered plywood, for example?to suit your decorative palette. Like many PM projects, this one is simple; a reasonably skilled woodworker with a small table saw, cordless drill, and pocket-screw kit could build it over the course of two weekends, max. Here's how.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/woodworking/how-to-build-a-simple-2-door-wooden-cabinet?src=rss

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Italy signs deal for long-term aid to Afghanistan (AP)

ROME ? Italy signed a pact Thursday aimed at supporting Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw from the country in 2014, while Germany extended its military mission there for another year, developments that came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai began a tour of Europe with a stop in Rome.

Italian Premier Mario Monti assured Karzai that "Italy will not abandon" his impoverished, conflict-scarred nation, where Taliban militants once thought defeated after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 have roared back in recent years.

The two men signed a long-term cooperation agreement that deals with a wide range of areas, including political, security, and economic, as well as efforts to counter the drug trade and establish the rule of law.

While in Rome, Karzai also met with Marc Grossman, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, to discuss ongoing efforts to engage the Taliban in peace talks by having them open a representative office in Qatar, the State Department said in Washington.

Grossman was wrapping up a tour of numerous countries, including Afghanistan and Qatar, to discuss the matter. Prior to traveling to Doha, he had met with Karzai at least two times in Kabul in the last week-and-a-half, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The meeting in Rome "gave Ambassador Grossman an opportunity to debrief President Karzai on his meetings in Qatar and continue to work closely with the Afghan government on next steps in the reconciliation process," Nuland told reporters.

She refused to say if he had seen any Taliban officials in Qatar but said his meetings in Doha focused on whether and when the group would open an office there.

In Germany, parliament voted to extend the country's military mission in Afghanistan to next year, signing off on a plan that gradually reduces troop levels toward an eventual complete withdrawal. The plan sets a ceiling of 4,900 soldiers, reduced from the maximum 5,350 over the last year.

By the end of January 2013, the government aims to get troop numbers down to 4,400. That's part of overall plans by the U.S. and other allies to withdraw combat troops and hand over responsibility for security to Afghan authorities by the end of 2014.

The plan garnered cross-party support, with 424 voting for it, 107 against, and 38 abstaining.

"It's positive that Parliament has supported our soldiers in Afghanistan with such a wide majority," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said. "It is also important that this mission is responsibly and orderly carried out through the end."

Germany also has promised its support for Afghanistan after troops leave in 2014.

It hosted a conference in Bonn in December, where it was one of about 100 nations and international organizations, including the United Nations, which pledged political and financial long-term support for war-torn Afghanistan to keep it from falling back into chaos or becoming a safe haven for terrorists.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_eu/eu_europe_afghanistan

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The Maximum-Gluten Diet

When hippies and their mainstream sympathizers looked to reduce or eliminate their meat consumption in the late 1960s, tofu was well positioned to grab that market. It had been a staple of Asian cooking for centuries, and came to America with Asian immigrants. Nearly every 19^th-century Asian community in California, Oregon, and Washington state had its own manufacturer. America boasted 528 commercial tofu makers between 1925 and 1975, according to William Shurtleff, the Japanese vegetarian cuisine expert who became tofu?s great champion when he published his Book of Tofu in 1975. Shurtleff was profiled in a People magazine article that named Doris Day, Cheryl Tiegs, Bill Walton, and Gloria Swanson among the growing ranks of celebrity tofu-philes.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=1ba8c5fc81622af61423ab903e66fd5d

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How to Make Science and Tech Jobs More Enticing to Undergrads

Web Exclusives | More Science

Despite studying science, technology, engineering or math, many students avoid STEM careers. Higher salaries, improved status and apprenticeships would change that. A special online-only addition to February 2012's Graphic Science

By Mark Fischetti ?| January 25, 2012?|

The number of U.S. undergraduate degrees being awarded in most STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and math) has risen steadily in recent years{link to G Sci page}. Yet some American employers say they are having trouble finding candidates to fill STEM jobs. The mismatch is not occurring because of an actual shortage of graduates; the numbers of job openings and new degree holders align fairly closely. And the shortfall is not because more foreign-born students are returning home after earning U.S. degrees, as has been rumored lately.

The mismatch is occurring because people with STEM degrees are choosing jobs in other fields that pay more or have higher perceived status, according to Nicole Smith, senior economist at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. "Biology students become doctors; math majors go into finance," she explains. Others get MBAs so they will be recruited for management positions, where they can make more money, in part to pay off high student loans.

Smith says several steps could make STEM jobs more attractive to students. Raising salaries in certain disciplines would clearly help. Starting wages in computer science and engineering have increased steadily over time, for example, but wages in biology have not. Notably, the number of women entering college is rising faster than the number of men, and female students tend to take biology over computer science or engineering, so raising biology salaries could be particularly helpful.

Making science jobs appear more exciting would also improve their attractiveness. So would finding ways to get society to hold STEM professions in higher regard. Surveys of graduating STEM students show that they value social ?recognition? and that they think society holds professionals such as doctors and corporate executives in higher esteem than scientists.

Companies could help the cause as well. Smith says that sometimes employers complain that they cannot find the right graduates to fit specific jobs, yet she thinks that expectation is unrealistic. In decades past, corporations would hire graduates for placement into apprentice-style programs where the new employees would receive custom training. But companies have cut back on such programs in recent years. Resurrecting training programs could help shape graduates into the kinds of employees companies are seeking, which ultimately would increase the number of STEM grads who end up in STEM jobs.

Find more data and commentary about undergraduate science degrees in the February 2012 issue of Scientific American.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=5d671f0575695ef27f94ac641b3a9e52

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Marine accepts plea deal in Iraqi civilian deaths (AP)

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. ? A Marine sergeant who told his troops to "shoot first, ask questions later" in a raid that killed unarmed Iraqi women, children and elderly pleaded guilty Monday in a deal that will carry no more than three months confinement and end the largest and longest-running criminal case against U.S. troops from the Iraq War.

The agreement marked a stunning and muted end to the case once described as the Iraq War's version of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. The government failed to get one manslaughter conviction in the case that implicated eight Marines in the deaths of 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha in 2005.

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 31, of Meriden, Conn., who was originally accused of unpremeditated murder, pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty for leading his troops to disregard rules of combat when they raided homes after a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy, killing one Marine and wounding two others.

The Haditha incident is considered among the war's defining moments, further tainting America's reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.

"The case doesn't end with a bang, it ends with a whimper and a pretty weak whimper at that," said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge. "When you have 24 dead bodies and you get dereliction of duty, that's pretty good defense work."

Wuterich, his family and his attorneys declined to comment after he entered the plea that halted his manslaughter trial at Camp Pendleton before a jury of combat Marines who served in Iraq.

Prosecutors also declined to comment on the plea deal. Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel said the deal was not a reflection or in any way connected to how the prosecution felt their case was going in the trial.

Wuterich, the father of three children, had faced the possibility of life behind bars when he was charged with nine counts of manslaughter, among other charges.

The prosecution implicated him in 19 of the 24 deaths.

The manslaughter charges will be dropped now that Wuterich has pleaded guilty to the minor dereliction of duty charge. As a result, he faces a maximum of three months in confinement, two-thirds forfeiture of pay and a rank demotion to private when he's sentenced.

Both sides will present arguments Tuesday during a sentencing hearing. Seven other Marines were acquitted or had charges dismissed in the case.

The killings still fuel anger in Iraq after becoming the primary reason behind demands that U.S. troops not be given immunity from their court system.

Kamil al-Dulaimi, a Sunni lawmaker from the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, called the plea deal a travesty of justice for the victims and their families.

"It's just another barbaric act of Americans against Iraqis," al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press. "They spill the blood of Iraqis and get this worthless sentence for the savage crime against innocent civilians."

News of the plea agreement came late in the evening in Iraq, just hours before curfew most cities still impose, producing no noticeable public reaction. Government officials didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The issue at the court martial was whether Wuterich reacted appropriately as a Marine squad leader in protecting his troops in the midst of a chaotic war or disregarded combat rules and ordered his men to shoot and blast indiscriminately at Iraqi civilians.

Prosecutors said he lost control after seeing the body of his friend blown apart by the bomb and led his men on a rampage in which they stormed two nearby homes, blasting their way in with gunfire and grenades. Among the dead was a man in a wheelchair.

Wuterich has said he regretted the loss of civilian lives but believed he was operating within military combat rules.

During Monday's hearing, he acknowledged he told the squad before the raids to shoot without hesitation, leading them to believe they could ignore the rules of combat. He told the judge that caused "tragic events."

"I think we all understood what we were doing so I probably just should have said nothing," Wuterich told the judge, Lt. Col. David Jones.

He admitted he did not positively identify his targets, as he had been trained to do. He also said he ordered his troops to assault the homes based on the guidance of his platoon commander at the time.

Wuterich also acknowledged in his plea that the squad did not take any gunfire during the 45-minute raid on the homes or find any weapons.

After Haditha, Marine commanders ordered troops to try and distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The prosecution had several squad members testify, but many said they do not believe to this day that they did anything wrong because they feared insurgents were inside hiding. Several also acknowledged lying to investigators in the past, leaving doubt about their credibility.

The prosecution was further hurt by the testimony of former Lt. William T. Kallop, Wuterich's former platoon commander, who said the squad was justified in its actions because the house was declared hostile. From what was understood of the rules of combat at the time, that meant Marines could attack without hesitation, Kallop said.

Legal experts say the prosecution had an uphill battle because of the delay caused by six years of pre-trial wrangling between the defense and prosecution, including over whether the military could use unaired outtakes from an interview Wuterich gave in 2007 to the CBS newsmagazine "60 Minutes."

Prosecutors eventually won that right but overestimated its value, analysts say.

Solis, the former military prosecutor, said the military should have pushed for an earlier trial to ensure witnesses' memories were fresh.

"Six years for a trial is unacceptable," said Solis, who teaches law of war at Georgetown University Law Center. "Delay is always to the benefit of the accused."

He said prosecutors may have been cowed by the Army's missteps in its handling of the death of former NFL star and Ranger Pat Tillman from friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004.

___

Associated Press writers Barbara Surk and Mazin Yahya in Baghdad, and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

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

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Consumer watchdog targets payday loans

Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau held a hearing in Birmingham, Ala., on payday lenders. Richard Cordray, the CFPB?s newly-appointed executive director, said his agency will examine both bank and nonbank institutions offering these short-term, small-dollar loans.

?We recognize that there is a need and a demand in the country for emergency credit,? he said. ?At the same time, it?s important that these products actually help consumers and not harm them. We know that some payday lenders are engaged in practices that present immediate risks to consumers and are illegal. Where we find these practices, we will take immediate steps to eliminate them.?

Payday loans are supposed to be short term: 14 days. As the name implies, they?re supposed to get you to the next pay day, when you?re able to repay the loan.

Here?s how it works. Let?s say you need $100 and the interest rate for that two week period is 17 percent. You write a postdated check made out to the lender for $117. If you can?t pay that amount when the two weeks is up, they keep $17, the loan is extended and another $17 fee is added on.

Critics say customers often roll-over their debt when they can?t repay it. They wind up living off that borrowed money at an annual interest rate of 400 to 600 percent or more.

Steven Stetson, a policy analyst with Alabama Arise, an anti-poverty group based in Montgomery, told the hearing people get ?churned through the system? six, eight, 10 times a year.

?If we have laws against gouging for gas and water, we ought to have laws against gouging for loans,? he said.

In his opening remarks, Director Cordray said the CFPB planned to look into the long-term use of payday loans.? He talked about a consumer who had contacted the agency. The man took out a $500 loan to pay for car repair. But at the end of two weeks, he couldn?t repay the loan.

It?s been nine months and the borrower has paid $900 on that loan. He has $312 more to go. The money is withdrawn directly from his paycheck and now he doesn?t have enough left to pay his bills.

Other customers at the hearing spoke favorably about their experience. They wore ?I Choose Payday Advance? stickers provided by the industry, the Associated Press reported.

LaDonna Banks said she needed the loan after she donated a kidney to her brother and couldn?t work.

?I borrowed the money. I paid back the money,? she said.

People who use payday loans tend to have less income, fewer assets and lower net worth than the average American family. They are disproportionately people of color. The industry insists it is serving people who are denied credit and shut out of the traditional banking system. ?

Ted Saunders, CEO of Ohio-based Community Choice Financial (which operates in more than a dozen states), said he was offended by suggestions that payday lenders take advantage of people. Saunders believes the federal government should go after the ?bad actors? in the business rather than creating new rules.

What do you think? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to hear from people who?ve used payday lenders. You can leave an anonymous comment on the CFPB website.?

More info:

Payday Loans Equal Very Costly Cash: Consumers Urged to Consider the Alternatives??

Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/24/10217549-consumer-watchdog-targets-payday-loans

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Neil Young journeys to Utah with new concert film (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? Neil Young recalls how his first concert film with director Jonathan Demme was a lush, stately tribute to country music.

He says their latest, "Neil Young Journeys," is more like an electric bolt, with a "grinding, blinding beauty to it."

Their 2006 film "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was a reflective, comforting chronicle of two shows Young performed at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium alongside such longtime musical comrades as Emmylou Harris, Ben Keith and Spooner Oldham.

"Journeys" is a raw, thunderous counterpart, filmed by Demme at Toronto's Massey Hall during the closing shows of Young's solo tour last year. Solo often implies intimate and acoustic, but Young wails away on electric guitar, harmonica, piano and organ throughout the show.

The new film played Saturday at the Slamdance Film Festival, a rival showcase to Sundance. Demme says it was a fitting place because both Slamdance and the film share something of a "bad-boy" attitude.

"'Journeys' is so different from `Heart of Gold.' It's like the other side of the universe," Young, 66, said in an interview alongside Demme. "'Heart of Gold' was a massive production with great caretaking to present this whole image of this forgotten style of presenting music, in this great old chapel of country music. ...

"This film we just made is so opposite of that. It's just one person. The sound is completely different and the attitude of it is different. The look is different. ... The sounds are kind of enveloping. You get to move way inside, whereas, `Heart of Gold,' you're way back, going, `Oh, it's beautiful seeing it from the back, seeing all these beautiful people, these great musicians.' And this one here, you're like inside my instrument, inside the distortion of the guitar. There's nothing in the way."

Demme and Young seem to be on a never-ending film journey. The new movie marks the fourth film collaboration between Young and Demme, the Academy Award-winning director of "The Silence of the Lambs."

Young earned an Oscar nomination for the title song of Demme's 1993 AIDS drama "Philadelphia," and in between "Heart of Gold" and "Journeys," the two made the 2009 concert film "Neil Young Trunk Show."

"Journeys" premiered at last September's Toronto International Film Festival and has since been picked up for theatrical distribution by Sony Pictures Classics.

The film includes extreme close-ups of Young captured by a tiny camera mounted on his microphone. The camera was so close its lens catches globs of spit from Young as he's singing, adding a bit of a psychedelic tinge to the images.

"It's more distorted and funky. It's a little bit more in your face," Young said. "It's like zooming in on something, losing everything that's usually around it, and you're just losing everything else. There's no bass, no drums, there's no other guitars, there's no other voices, there's no synthesizers, there's no echo. There's just this thing. It's a big sound, because you're right up on it. It's like a fantastic voyage into your guitars."

Along with songs from Young's 2010 album "Le Noise," "Journeys" features such classics as "After the Gold Rush," "Ohio" and "Down by the River."

Intercut between the songs in "Journeys" is a road trip Young takes to one of the Toronto shows from his northern Ontario hometown of Omemee, cruising with Demme in a 1956 Ford Crown Victoria and commenting on how the towns and landscape have changed.

"This whole world of cars and music, that's a big chunk of Neil's DNA. He's all about cars and driving and music in motion," Demme said. "I don't think we had any discussions. It was just like, well, we're going to Canada to shoot the concert in Toronto. Obviously, we'll drive down there from Omemee and take a look and see what's changed, and kind of just discover the past in the present. The same way the songs are very often kind of reflective. ...

"It put a lens up to his life. He's a medium for all of our lives. Certainly, our generation, whatever Neil's been singing about for the last 40 years or whatever, it's like, `Thank you. That's exactly what I was feeling. You've put it into words and music.'"

___

Online:

http://www.slamdance.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_en_mo/us_film_sundance_neil_young

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Croatia says 'yes' to EU membership

Croatia's president Ivo Josipovic, center, prime minister Zoran Milanovic, left, and the Parliament speaker Boris Sprem make a toast upon hearing unofficial results of the referendum, at the Croatian Parliament in Zagreb, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Croatians voted Sunday in favor of joining the European Union despite a poor turnout for the referendum, a sign of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost its appeal within countries aspiring to join. (AP Photo)

Croatia's president Ivo Josipovic, center, prime minister Zoran Milanovic, left, and the Parliament speaker Boris Sprem make a toast upon hearing unofficial results of the referendum, at the Croatian Parliament in Zagreb, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Croatians voted Sunday in favor of joining the European Union despite a poor turnout for the referendum, a sign of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost its appeal within countries aspiring to join. (AP Photo)

A member of the electoral counts the ballots at a polling station in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012.Croatians voted Sunday in a referendum on whether to join the European Union ??? a test of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost in its appeal among aspiring new members because of its crisis. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

A member of the electoral commission empties the ballot box at a polling station in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012.Croatians voted Sunday in a referendum on whether to join the European Union ??? a test of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost in its appeal among aspiring new members because of its crisis. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Members of the electoral commission count ballots at a polling station in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012.Croatians voted Sunday in a referendum on whether to join the European Union ??? a test of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost in its appeal among aspiring new members because of its crisis. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Members of the electoral commission count ballots at a polling station in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012.Croatians voted Sunday in a referendum on whether to join the European Union ??? a test of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost in its appeal among aspiring new members because of its crisis. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) ? Croatians voted Sunday in favor of joining the European Union despite a poor turnout for the referendum ? a sign of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost its appeal within countries aspiring to join.

Croatia's state referendum commission said that with nearly all ballots counted, about 66 percent of those who took part in the referendum answered "yes" to the question: "Do you support the membership of the Republic of Croatia in the European Union?"

About 33 percent were against, while the rest of the ballots were invalid. About 47 percent of eligible voters took part in the referendum, illustrating voters' apathy toward the EU. That compares to 84 percent who voted in a referendum for Croatia's independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1992.

"The people are obviously tired," Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said. "It would have been better that the turnout was larger, but that's reality."

It was among the lowest turnouts in any of the EU states that have held accession referendums before they joined. Nearly 46 percent took part in the vote in Hungary, while more than 90 percent voted in Malta.

Milanovic said: "This is a historic decision, the turning point in our history, as from now on, everything, including success or failure, depends only on us."

The EU congratulated Croatians on their vote, saying it's good news for the whole Balkan region.

"The upcoming accession of Croatia sends a clear signal to the whole region of southeastern Europe," it said in a statement. "It shows that through political courage and determined reforms, EU membership is within reach."

Croatian anti-EU activists were furious.

"The turnout shows that Croatia has turned its back on the EU," said war veteran Zeljko Sacic, who led a campaign against membership. "This referendum is illegitimate. We will never recognize it."

Croatia signed an EU accession treaty last year and will become its 28th member in July 2013 after all the bloc's states ratify the deal.

The Croats were deeply divided before the referendum.

Those who were for the EU say their Balkan country's troubled economy ? burdened by recession, a euro48-billion ($61-billion) foreign debt and a 17 percent unemployment rate ? will revive because of access to wider European markets and job opportunities that the membership should bring.

"It's a big moment in our history ... we are joining more successful countries in Europe," Croatia's President Ivo Josipovic said after casting his ballot. "I'm happy that Europe will become my home."

Opponents said Croatia has nothing to gain by entering the bloc, which is fighting off the bankruptcy of some of its members. They said that Croatia will lose its sovereignty and the national identity it fought for in a war for independence from Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

"I voted against, because I don't think we'll do well in the EU," said university student Matea Kolenc, 23. "I heard a lot of bad things about the EU, its economic situation and what it has to offer."

The Balkan nation started negotiating its EU entry six years ago, but since then the popularity of the bloc has faded, as Croats realized that EU membership would not automatically lead to prosperity.

Many in Croatia ? and the rest of the EU ? also wonder what is the bloc going to gain from the country, which is rife with corruption and has economic woes that are among the deepest in the Balkans.

Croatia's credit rating was last year reduced to a step above junk by ratings agency Standard & Poor's which cited its deteriorating fiscal position and external financing for its decision. If it enters the EU in 2013, Croatia won't be adopting the euro currency for several more years, and is unlikely to contribute to its further plunge.

In a sign of deep divisions in Croatia over the membership, police clashed Saturday in downtown Zagreb with a group of nationalist protesters who attempted to take down an EU flag.

Numerous anti-EU graffiti, some saying "Stop the Destruction, No to EU," appeared Sunday on the walls of voting stations in the Croatian Adriatic coast port of Split, the hotbed of nationalists. Police covered the signs with white paint.

Croatian officials, who have launched a pro-EU campaign before the referendum, warned that a "no" vote would have deprived the country of the much-needed accession funds, and that even the payment of pensions for retirees and war veterans could be in jeopardy.

Croatia has received around euro150 million ($193 million) in pre-accession assistance since 2007. It is to receive another euro150 million for 2012 and euro95 million ($122 million) in 2013.

Croatia's pro-government media have also tried to scare Croatians by saying that if they reject the EU, they would have to return to some sort of a Balkan union with their former wartime foe, Serbia, which has been struggling to gain a candidacy status in the bloc.

The approval rating for EU membership has also dropped to 52 percent in Serbia because of Germany's conditioning for the candidacy with the de facto recognizing of the independence of its former Kosovo province which declared independence in 2008.

___

Eldar Emric contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-22-EU-Croatia-EU-Referendum/id-9d9fdb1d3d7849a19121bbd8968da25f

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Tornadoes possible in southern U.S. as snow threatens (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Severe storms were expected to spread across several southeastern U.S. states on Sunday into Monday with tornadoes, highwinds and large hail possible, weather forecasters said.

A second stormfront expected to hit California late Sunday night will bring significant snowfall to the mountain regions, according to the National Weather Service, before rolling into the southern United States later in the week.

The potential for severe storms stretched from the Gulf of Mexico in Mississippi to southern Indiana and Ohio, according to AccuWeather.com meteorologist Bill Deger.

"Some of the thunderstorms are even expected to spawn tornadoes, making for an especially dangerous situation given the veil of night," Deger said.

In Alabama, residents were bracing for storms that could hit after dark on Sunday or overnight with a strong cold front from the west combining with warm moist air flowing up from the Gulf of Mexico, said Mary Keiser, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama.

"The best dynamics for this are going to be across the northwest part of the state and lesser so as you move to the southeast part of the state," Keiser said of the forecast for severe weather to strike in Alabama.

The weather service said thunderstorms could bring wind gusts up to 80 mph, tornadoes or gulf ball-sized hail in Mississippi. Farther west, the weather service warned of a high fire danger in Texas with wind gusts of up to 50 mph.

Weather.com said the greatest tornado threat appeared to be in eastern Arkansas, western Tennessee, northern Louisiana and northern Mississippi.

Parts of central and southern California were under a winter weather warning as a storm system was expected to sweep into the area late Sunday into Monday morning, with the weather service predicting 6 to 12 inches of snow.

The Sierras and the Rockies may accumulate as much as 3 feet of snow, the weather service said, and driving in mountain passes will be "very hazardous" due to low visibility, gusting winds and heavy snowfall.

In Reno, Nevada, meanwhile, snowfall provided welcome relief to firefighters who were monitoring remaining hotspots from a blaze that raged near the outskirts of the city beginning Thursday, destroying 30 houses and prompting thousands of people to flee their homes.

"As long as we keep on getting snow instead of rain, it looks like we'll be okay, at least for the next couple of days," said Mark Regan, spokesman for the Sierra Fire Protection District.

Rain had threatened the area with flash flooding on Friday night. Emergency responders had the blaze 100 percent contained as of Saturday, and all residents have been allowed to return to their homes, Regan said.

In the upper Midwest, freezing drizzle was expected to make roads and sidewalks slippery from southeastern Minnesota into Wisconsin, changing to snow later Sunday, the weather service said. Up to 4 inches of snow was expected farther north in southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota.

In the northeast United States, a fast-moving storm from central Pennsylvania eastward dropped up to a foot of snow in parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts on Saturday.

(Reporting By David Bailey and Mary Slosson; Editing by Tim Gaynor)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/ts_nm/us_weather

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Wal-Mart names woman to run Sam's Club

Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Friday named Rosalind Brewer president and chief executive of its Sam's Club warehouse retail chain, marking the first time that the world's largest retailer will have a woman and an African American leading one of its three business units.

Brewer, 49, will replace Brian Cornell on Feb. 1 at the start of the company's fiscal year, Wal-Mart said. She most recently ran Walmart U.S. operations on the East Coast.

Cornell, 52, recently told Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart that he and his wife want to move back to the Northeast to be closer to their children.

Wal-Mart also promoted two other women on Friday, naming Gisel Ruiz to the role of Walmart U.S. chief operating officer and Karenann Terrell as chief information officer.

Wal-Mart last year won a historic U.S. Supreme Court decision when the court rejected a nationwide class-action lawsuit brought by women who alleged that they were denied raises and promotions while working for the company because of their gender. Some are regrouping to file smaller suits.

As president and CEO of Sam's Club since April 2009, Cornell led growth at the chain including the launch of new private-label goods aimed at bringing shoppers in more often.

Sam's Club, with 610 stores and $49 billion in fiscal 2011 sales, is a smaller business than the Walmart division Brewer previously ran. It trails behind warehouse club leader Costco Wholesale Corp, which has roughly 600 stores and $88.9 billion in fiscal 2011 revenue.

In her most recent role, president of the Walmart U.S. East business unit, Brewer was responsible for more than $100 billion in annual revenue, representing almost 1,600 stores and more than 500,000 employees.

Brewer joined Wal-Mart in 2006 as a regional vice president after spending years at Kimberly-Clark Corp. She was selected as one of the most powerful women in business by Fortune magazine in 2010 and 2011 and sits on the board of Lockheed Martin Corp. She was also the first chair of the Walmart President's Council of Global Women Leaders.

Walmart U.S., The retailer's largest division in terms of sales, is run by Bill Simon, who also joined the company in 2006. Walmart International, the second-largest division, is led by Doug McMillon, who previously served as CEO of Sam's Club.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46072331/ns/business-retail/

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High court throws out Texas electoral maps

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court handed Texas Republicans a partial victory Friday, tossing a court-drawn electoral redistricting plan that favored minorities and Democrats but leaving the future of the state's political maps - and possibly control of the U.S. House - in the hands of two federal courts with Texas' April primaries looming.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ordered a three-judge court in San Antonio to craft a new map that pays more deference to one originally drawn up by Texas' GOP-led Legislature. The immediate effect was to scrap the interim map the San Antonio court drafted that would have favored Democrats to pick up four new congressional seats Texas will add in 2012.

Republicans, led by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, heralded the ruling as a clear victory for the state.

"The Court made clear in a strongly worded opinion that the district court must give deference to elected leaders of this state, and it's clear by the Supreme Court ruling that the district court abandoned these guiding principles," he said in statement.

But the Supreme Court didn't go as far as Texas wanted, which was to implement the maps the Legislature drew for this year's election. Doing so would have rewritten existing election law as well as the Voting Rights Act. Only Justice Clarence Thomas said he would have gone that far.

Still, the outcome appeared to favor Republicans by instructing the judges to stick more closely to what the Legislature did, said election law expert Richard Hasen, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, law school.

After the 2012 election, Texas will have 36 seats in the next Congress, a gain of four seats. Under the map initially drawn by the San Antonio court and thrown out on Friday, Democrats would have been favored in three or four new seats. The GOP holds 23 of the current 32 seats.

In its decision, the Supreme Court said the San Antonio judges particularly erred in altering the borders of legislative and congressional districts in areas of the state where the allegation that the Legislature's map discriminated doesn't apply.

Although Republicans were quick to say Friday's decision will benefit them, Democrats and minority groups said that's not so.

Jose Garza, who argued on behalf of minority groups and Texas Democrats at the Supreme Court, said Abbott, the Texas attorney general, is "celebrating too early." Garza said he expects the new maps drawn by the San Antonio court to look very similar to the ones rejected Friday.

Garza said he interpreted the Supreme Court's ruling, in part, as a call for the San Antonio court to better explain its decisions.

Others involved in legal efforts opposing the Legislature's map echoed Garza.

"This is not a victory for Texas," said Nina Perales, a lawyer for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, one of several groups involved in legal efforts to throw out the Legislature's map. "They wanted their unprecedented maps in place, and Texas hasn't been allowed to do that."

Perales said she expected the Supreme Court to remand a decision on the maps to the San Antonio court and said she was confident that minority groups would be protected even if the new baseline for creating a map was the Legislature's original draft.

Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis, said Friday that she saw the decision bolstering the judge's decision to make changes to her Fort Worth-based district. Davis filed a lawsuit against the state Senate plan after her district was carved into three pieces, splitting Latino and African-American voters.

Beyond the jousting about how to interpret Friday's ruling was a reality that the electoral battlegrounds in Texas will remain hazy for the foreseeable future. Both Democrats and Republicans see Texas as potentially key for control of the U.S. House, but until the new maps are in place, neither side will have a clear sense of how it might fair in the state.

The Supreme Court didn't set a deadline for the San Antonio court to produce an acceptable map, but the clock is ticking toward Texas' scheduled April 3 primaries. The primaries have already been pushed back from March 6, and both parties expect the date to be pushed back again ? a prospect causing consternation among Republican leaders who worry the GOP presidential race will be decided before Texas votes.

Meanwhile, a separate three-judge federal court panel in Washington heard testimony this week about whether the map drawn by the Texas Legislature violated the federal Voting Rights Act, which requires states with a history of discrimination to get advance approval before changing the way they conduct elections. That proceeding will continue next week, with closing arguments set for February. With thousands of documents and dozens of hours of testimony to consider, a decision from that panel could be months away but could also affect the composition of Texas' maps.

The legal battle over Texas' maps was prompted by the results of the 2010 census, which found that Texas added more than 4 million residents since 2000, most of them Latinos and African-Americans. Minority groups and Democrats have maintained that they are being denied deserved voting power by GOP lawmakers seeking maximize electoral gains.

___

Associated Press writer Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-20-Supreme%20Court-Texas%20Redistricting/id-dd49122bf9ae4a47baddd690e28d7e10

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The "Eye of America" Takes Two-Story-Tall Pictures [Video]

To celebrate the 200th birthday of the invention of the camera, photographer Dennis Manarchy built one of his own. It looks just like a classic film camera with a wooden frame, leatherette, and brass hardware but, oddly, I don't remember cameras normally being 35-feet long. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/-K4F3gsupkU/the-eye-of-america-takes-two+story+tall-pictures

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Selma Blair Loves PaigeLauren?s Baby Clothes

See how adorable Arthur Saint looks in his PaigeLauren tee, plus find out where to buy it.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/NiVJUtUYi8c/

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Missing teenager Natalee Holloway declared dead (AP)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? The parents of Natalee Holloway looked on somberly as a judge on Thursday declared their child dead, more than six years after the American teenager vanished during a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba.

"We've been dealing with her death for the last six and a half years," Dave Holloway said after a brief hearing. He said the judge's order closes one chapter in a long ordeal, but added: "We've still got a long way to go to get justice.

Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba on May 30, 2005. The 18-year-old was last seen leaving a bar early that morning with a young Dutchman, Joran van der Sloot. Her body was never found and the ensuing searches for the young woman would reap intense media scrutiny and worldwide attention.

Thursday's hearing was scheduled long before van der Sloot ? a suspect questioned in Holloway's disappearance ? pleaded guilty Wednesday in Peru to the 2010 murder of a woman he met at a casino in Lima. Stephany Flores, 21, was killed five years to the day after Holloway, an 18-year-old from the wealthy Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook, disappeared.

Shortly after Flores' death on May 30, 2010, van der Sloot told police he killed the woman in Peru in a fit of rage after she discovered on his laptop his connection to the disappearance of Holloway. Police forensic experts disputed the claim.

Dave Holloway told the judge in September he believed his daughter had died and he wanted to stop payments on her medical insurance and use her $2,000 college fund to help her younger brother.

The teen's mother originally objected, but her lawyer, Charlie DeBardeleben, said she subsequently changed her mind once she understood her husband's intentions.

Natalee Holloway's parents were divorced in 1993 and Beth Holloway sat in the back row of the courtroom, mostly staring at her hands in her lap through the hearing Thursday afternoon in a probate court in Birmingham.

Although Beth Holloway declined to speak to journalists, her attorney signaled it was a difficult moment for her to witness a judge signing the order declaring her daughter dead.

"She's ready to move on from this," DeBardeleben added.

Mark White, an attorney for Dave Holloway, told the judge just before he announced his decision, that there was no evidence that Holloway was alive.

"Despite all that no evidence has been found Natalee Holloway is alive," he told the judge, noting that exhaustive searches, blanket international media coverage and even the offer of rewards had turned up nothing new.

King had ruled in September that Dave Holloway had met the legal presumption of death for his daughter and it was up to someone to prove she didn't die on a high school graduation trip. He had set the hearing after a period of several months in the event anyone might come forward with new information.

However, investigators have long worked from the assumption that the young woman was dead in Aruba, where the case was officially classified as a homicide investigation.

That investigation remains open, though there has been no recent activity, said Solicitor General Taco Stein, an official with the prosecutor's office on the Dutch Caribbean island.

"The team that was acting in that investigation still is functioning as a team and they get together whenever there is information or things are needed in the case or a new tip arrives," Stein said in a phone interview Thursday.

Dave Holloway said he hopes the 24-year-old van der Sloot, who is awaiting sentencing in Lima, gets a 30-year prison term sought by Peruvian prosecutors.

"Everybody knows his personality. I believe he is beyond rehabilitation," Holloway said.

Attorneys said both parents also expressed hope that van der Sloot's next stop is Birmingham, where he faces federal charges accusing him of extorting $25,000 from Beth Holloway to reveal the location of her daughter's body.

Prosecutors said the money was paid, but nothing was disclosed about the missing woman's whereabouts.

"I expect to see him in Birmingham," Dave Holloway said Thursday.

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Online: AP interactive - http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2012/natalee-holloway

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_re_us/us_missing_teen_aruba

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