Olsson brothers link up at Blackburn

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:19 a.m. ET Jan. 31, 2012

BLACKBURN, England (AP) -Sweden midfielder Marcus Olsson has joined his twin brother Martin at Blackburn after signing for the English Premier League club on a free transfer on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Olsson joined Blackburn from Swedish side Halmstad on a 2 1/2-year deal - seven years after failing to secure a move to the northwest club after a trial.

He won his first two caps for Sweden this month, in friendlies against Bahrain and Qatar.

Olsson is awaiting international clearance from the Swedish FA and FIFA before completing the move to Blackburn, which is in the Premier League's relegation zone.

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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No big deadline-day signings

??European football's January transfer window is closing with the leading clubs appearing to avoid any lavish outlays in the first season of UEFA's strict new financial controls.

Mike Zarrilli / Getty Images Contributor

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46201475/ns/sports-soccer/

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Deception Diet: How Optical Illusions Can Trick Your Appetite

Enlarge Michael McCloskey/iStockphoto.com

On a smaller plate, this meal would look larger ? and feel more filling.

Michael McCloskey/iStockphoto.com

On a smaller plate, this meal would look larger ? and feel more filling.

Think you know how to avoid overeating? Think again.

Research suggests that choices, like how much to eat during a meal, are often made subconsciously. Trouble is, our brains are hard-wired to mislead us in lots of little ways, which can have a big impact on our diets.

Take the Delboeuf effect, an optical illusion first documented in 1865. It starts with two dots of equal size. But surround one dot with a large circle and the other dot with a small one, and suddenly the second dot looks bigger.

Washiucho/Wikimedia Commons

The Delboeuf illusion makes one dot appear larger than the other. But they're the same size. Your brain is misled by comparing the dots to the surrounding circles.

Every time you fill your plate, the Delboeuf illusion affects how much food you take, and how much food you think you've taken, Koert Van Ittersum, professor of marketing at Georgia Tech, tells The Salt.

He and Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell, performed a series of experiments to measure the effect of the Delboeuf illusion on serving behavior and perceptions of serving size. Their work recently appeared online in the Journal of Consumer Research.

For one experiment, participants were asked to re-create a "target" serving of soup in bowls of various sizes. In another, they had to compare pre-filled bowls to the target serving. Researchers also measured serving behavior in the real-world atmosphere of a buffet line.

As predicted by the illusion, people underserved and overestimated on small dishes, while the reverse was true for large dishes. People using the smallest dishes undershot the target serving by as much as 12 percent. But people using the largest dishes took up to 13 percent more food than they intended.

"We are oftentimes our own worst enemy. And that's not because we want to overeat," Van Ittersum says. The illusion is embedded so deeply in our brains, he says, it is nearly impossible to overcome. Even telling test subjects about it ahead of time, as they did in another phase of the research, didn't eliminate the bias.

? Enlarge Jason Koski/University Photography/Cornell University

Brian Wansink demonstrates an optical illusion that even fools bartenders. How much should he pour to match the amount in the taller glass?

Jason Koski/University Photography/Cornell University

Brian Wansink demonstrates an optical illusion that even fools bartenders. How much should he pour to match the amount in the taller glass?

The Delboeuf illusion is just one of many subconscious biases influencing our food choices. We may not be able to prevent these kinds of effects, but with a little planning, we could turn them to our advantage. The Salt scoured the literature and came up with these suggestions for eating just enough.

Buy smaller dishes. The average size of an American dinner plate has increased almost 23 percent since 1900, according to Wansink and Van Ittersum. They've shown that people using smaller dishes overestimate the size of their servings, even as they serve themselves less food. Contrasting colors between the food and dish, and between the dish and table, enhance the effect.

Mass. General Hospital Nutrition and Food Service

At Massachusetts General Hospital's cafeteria, moving water and diet beverages to eye level (above the dotted line) increased sales.

Buy taller glasses. Another optical trick, the T-illusion, which you can try for yourself, affects the serving size of liquids. We tend to overestimate vertical lengths, compared with horizontal lengths. In a previous experiment, Wansink and Van Ittersum asked people to pour equal amounts into a short, wide glass and a tall, skinny one. They found that even professional bartenders poured too much into the short, wide glass ? but thought the underfilled tall glass held more.

Put healthy food at eye level in your kitchen. In 2010, the cafeteria at Massachusetts General Hospital adopted a green-yellow-red labeling system to indicate how healthy each food was. A few months later, they rearranged the shelves to place healthier items at eye level. Both changes increased purchases of healthy food.

"We were trying to make the default or the easy choice the one that was healthier," says hospital researcher Anne Thorndike, who led the reorganization.

Color-coding might be overkill at home, but you can rearrange your fridge and cabinets to make healthy foods more visible and accessible, and keep unhealthy foods out of sight.

Avoid food porn. It should be a no-brainer that looking at images of delicious food will make you hungry, but science has finally proved it. Researchers in Germany found that looking at pictures of food increases levels of the hormone ghrelin, which makes us feel hungrier and eat more.

Use food coloring. Color affects taste, as our sister blog Shots reported last year. We expect red things to be sweet, like ripe fruit. Cut a few calories by replacing some of the sugar in your recipes with red dye, a food psychologist recommends.

Eat with men. In October, The Salt reported that college students of both genders ate fewer calories in the presence of men than with women. Researchers speculate that social gender norms are to blame: Women may try to eat daintily around men, while men may feel less inclined to show off by pigging out if no women are around.

Adopt a mindful eating routine. OK, so this one isn't subconscious. But several experts reminded The Salt that subliminal tricks only go so far. So slow down and pay attention to your food ? and your appetite ? as an additional defense against overeating.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/01/28/145865238/deception-diet-how-optical-illusions-can-trick-your-appetite?ft=1&f=1007

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Long road ahead for Conn. home invasion survivor

FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2011 photo, Dr. William Petit Jr., looks up as he responds to a question from the media outside Superior Court in New Haven after a jury condemned Joshua Komisarjevsky to death for the murder of Petit's wife and daughters in New Haven, Conn., On Friday, Jan 27, 2012, the second killer was sentenced to death and the book closed after two long, graphic trials. Petit is the sole survivor of the 2007 Cheshire, Conn., home invasion where his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit and their daughters, Hayley and Michaela, were murdered. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2011 photo, Dr. William Petit Jr., looks up as he responds to a question from the media outside Superior Court in New Haven after a jury condemned Joshua Komisarjevsky to death for the murder of Petit's wife and daughters in New Haven, Conn., On Friday, Jan 27, 2012, the second killer was sentenced to death and the book closed after two long, graphic trials. Petit is the sole survivor of the 2007 Cheshire, Conn., home invasion where his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit and their daughters, Hayley and Michaela, were murdered. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

FILE - This June 2007 file photo provided by Dr. William Petit Jr., shows Dr. Petit, left, with his daughters Michaela, front, Hayley, center rear, and his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, on Cape Cod, Mass. Dr. Petit was severely beaten and his wife and two daughters were killed during a home invasion in Cheshire, Conn., July 23, 2007. Joshua Komisarjevsky was convicted Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011 for the crimes, and will be formally sentenced to death Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/William Petit, File)

FILE - This March 14, 2011 file photo released by the Connecticut Department of Correction shows Joshua Komisarjevsky, convicted Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011 on several counts related to the beating of Dr. William Petit Jr., and killing his wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit and their two daughters in a July 2007 home invasion in Cheshire, Conn. Komisarjevsky will be formally sentenced to death Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Connecticut Department of Correction, File)

William Petit Sr., right, stands with his wife Barbara and family outside Superior Court in New Haven after the formal sentencing of Joshua Komisarjevsky in New Haven, Conn., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Komisarjevsky is joining co-defendent Steven Hayes on death row for the 2007 killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley and Michaela, in their Cheshire home. William Petit Jr. is the sole survivor of the crime. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Barbara Petit, mother of William Petit Jr., stands with family outside Superior Court in New Haven after the formal sentencing of Joshua Komisarjevsky in New Haven, Conn., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Komisarjevsky is joining co-defendent Steven Hayes on death row for the 2007 killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley and Michaela, in their Cheshire home. William Petit Jr. is the sole survivor of the crime. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) ? How does a man move on with his life after losing his wife and daughters to two ruthless home invaders who tormented, then killed them?

For more than four years, a nation both disgusted and captivated by a chilling crime in prototypical suburbia has wondered that. Only one man ? Dr. William Petit, the sole survivor ? can provide the answer.

On Friday, with the second killer sentenced to death and the book closed after two long, graphic trials, Petit gave a clue as to how he copes with pain he has been forced to revisit continually in court.

"My only hope is for justice to be served and to do my best to honor the lives of my family, who should all still be here to share their gifts and love with the world," Petit said Friday right before a judge sentenced Joshua Komisarjevsky, 31, to death.

"I hope to continue to honor my family," said Petit, who survived being beaten with a baseball bat and tied up. "I push forward in the hope that good will overcome evil, and feel the need to tell the world that evil lives among us and we need to rid the world of it."

The gruesome crime evoked comparisons to Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," about the brutal murders of a Kansas farmer and his family.

Komisarjevsky admitted in an audiotaped confession played for the jury in his trial late last year that he spotted Petit's wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and their 11-year-old daughter, Michaela, at a supermarket and followed them to their house in Cheshire, a suburb of New Haven.

After going home and putting his own daughter to bed, he and Steven Hayes, now 48, returned to the Petit house in the middle of the night, while the family was sleeping, to rob it.

Dr. Petit was beaten, tied up and taken to the basement. Michaela and Hayley, 17, were tied to their beds. In the morning, Hayes took Jennifer to the bank to withdraw money, while Komisarjevsky stayed at the house.

It's believed that's when he sexually assaulted Michaela, the 11-year-old. Hayes was convicted of sexually assaulting the mother.

After Hayes arrived back at the house with the girls' mother, she was strangled. The pair doused the house and beds with gasoline, set it ablaze and left. The sisters, bound helplessly while flames and fumes rose around them, died of smoke inhalation.

Dr. Petit managed to escape the basement and hop, roll and crawl across a yard to a neighbor's house for help ? too late to save his family.

"July 23, 2007, was our personal holocaust," Petit said Friday. "A holocaust caused by two who are completely evil and actually do not comprehend what they have done."

Petit called his wife a friend, confidant and wonderful mother. He noted that Hayley would be in medical school by now and that Michaela loved to cook and sing.

"I lost my family and my home," he said. "They were three special people. Your children are your jewels."

Petit said he has difficulty sleeping and trusting. Family gatherings are subdued, he said, with no one quite sure what to do or say.

Jennifer's sister, Cynthia Hawke-Renn, said via a video played in court that everyday items like gas, rope and bedposts conjure horrific memories.

"There is no escaping the horrors of that night," she said.

Petit's father, William Petit Sr., said his son is not the same person now as he was in the days when he was a happy husband and father.

"Not only did we lose Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela, we have lost the Bill that we knew, and it is heartbreaking daily to watch him," Petit said. "He puts on a brave face and tries to hide his anguish and despair by working hard."

Petit has found what he calls occasional moments of peace, dedicating himself to a charity named for his family that raises money for education, the chronically ill and those affected by violence; and by campaigning for tougher laws, including the death penalty.

He has admitted he contemplated suicide many times. But this month he became engaged to a woman who volunteered at foundation events.

Petit has maintained his composure in court through three trials, even as the defense referred to him and his family as the "Petit posse."

Komisarjevsky's lawyers had worked to spare him the death penalty by describing sexual abuse their client endured as a child. The jury and the judge ? who had been subjected to grim evidence including pictures of charred beds, rope used to tie up the family and autopsy photos ? were unmoved.

The crime led to the defeat of a bill to outlaw the death penalty in Connecticut and sparked tougher state laws for repeat offenders and home invasions.

"This is a terrible sentence, but it is in truth a sentence you wrote for yourself with deeds of unimaginable horror and savagery on July 23, 2007," Judge Jon Blue said.

Komisarjevsky conveyed a mixture of regret and insistence in court Friday, saying that he didn't intend for anyone to die, that he didn't rape Michaela and that he didn't start the fire.

"I wonder when the killing will end," he said of his death sentence.

He described regrets and the devastating consequences of his decisions ? but blamed Hayes for the killings.

"I know my responsibilities, but what I cannot do is carry the responsibilities of the actions of another," Komisarjevsky said. "I did not want those innocent women to die."

The state's last execution in 2005 was the first since 1960, and Komisarjevsky and Hayes will likely spend years, if not decades, in prison.

William Petit and his relatives left the courtroom before Komisarjevsky spoke. The killer noted that "forgiveness is not mine to have" but said it wasn't the forgiveness of the victims' relatives he needed to find.

"I have to learn how to forgive my worst enemy ? myself," he said.

Petit's sister, Hannah Chapman, said Komisarjevsky tried to blame others when he planned and carried out the crime, escalating it by attacking her brother and molesting her niece.

"Either way, he will be damned to hell for what he did," she said, "and that is where he belongs."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-28-US-Home-Invasion/id-83210204e2044702a53fcf4c758de33a

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Magnus iPad Stand Marries Minimalism With Magnets

It’s hard to see why anyone would spend $50 on this small sliver of aluminum, but design-wise, it has to be one of the best-looking iPad stands around. It comes from Ten One design, purveyor of minimal iAccessories to the rich and tasteful, and it’s called the Magnus. The Magnus is carved from aluminum, stuffed [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/JSEgkfTCHck/

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BP emails reveal company veiling spill rate (AP)

NEW ORLEANS ? On the day the Deepwater Horizon sank in the Gulf of Mexico, BP officials warned in an internal email conversation that if the well was not protected by the blow-out preventer at the drill site, crude oil could burst into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of 3.4 million gallons a day, an amount a million gallons higher than what the U.S. government ultimately estimated spilled daily from the site.

The memo, which BP agreed to release Friday as part of federal court proceedings, suggests BP managers recognized the potential of the disaster in its early hours, and the company officials sought to make sure that the model-developed information wasn't shared with those outside the company. The emails also suggest BP was having heated discussions with Coast Guard officials over the potential of the oil spill.

The memo was released as part of the court proceedings to determine the division of responsibility for the nation's worst offshore oil disaster, which began when the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, 2010, killing 11 men about 50 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast. The first phase of the trial is set to start Feb. 27.

BP officials declined to comment on the emails late Friday.

The official amount of oil that flowed from the well was pegged at 206 million gallons from at least April 22 until the well was capped on July 15, a period of 85 days. That's a daily flow rate of about 2.4 million gallons ? two-thirds of the way to BP's projection of what could leak from the well if it was an "open hole." BP has disputed the government's estimates.

Having an accurate flow rate estimate is needed to determine how much in civil and criminal penalties BP and the other companies drilling the well face under the Clean Water Act.

In the memo, one BP official urges not to share the flow-rate projections and refers to the "difficult discussions" BP was having at the time with the Coast Guard.

Gary Imm, a BP manager, told Rob Marshall, BP's subsea manager in the Gulf, to tell the modeler doing the estimates "not to communicate to anyone on this."

"A number of people have been looking at this we already have had difficult discussions with the USCG on the numbers," Imm said in the email string, referring to the Coast Guard and flow estimates.

On April 23, the Coast Guard, relying on BP's remotely operated vehicles, reported that no oil was leaking from the well a mile under the sea. A day later, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry announced that oil was leaking an estimated rate of 42,000 gallons a day. The Coast Guard and BP did not divulge how they determined that figure.

In the second week after the spill, the official flow rate was increased to 210,000 gallons a day. The government continued to use that number until May 27.

On May 24, BP informed Congress that they had used an "undisclosed method to generate much higher figures" than official estimates, according to a report from a presidential commission investigating the spill. BP estimated that the flow rates were between 210,000 gallons and 1.6 million gallons a day, the January 2011 report said.

As the spill grew into weeks and months, and soiled fishing grounds, beaches and coastal marshes, independent scientists began to question official flow rates. Eventually, the federal government convened teams of government and independent scientists to determine how much oil leaked out of the well and came up with an official estimate of about 2.4 million gallons of oil a day on average.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_flow_rate

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UnleashPhones: Official Mid-Day Tabloid App Now In Windows Phone Marketplace - http://t.co/yZFPUkdx

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PFT: Revis says Ryan unaware of Jets' chemistry woes

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Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick suggested the team wasn?t ready to handle success this season.

G.M. Jeff Ireland hopes to uncover some future Dolphins at the Senior Bowl.

Patriots S James Ihedigbo showed Giants WR Victor Cruz around the UMass campus seven years ago.

A strong review of the upcoming HBO documentary about former Jets QB Joe Namath.

Kevin Cowherd of the Baltimore Sun comes up with some reasons why the Ravens should keep offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.

With no more head coaching vacancies, Mike Zimmer is back to solely concentrating on the Bengals defense.

Members of the Browns hierarchy won?t be in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl.

An appreciation of the career of DL Chris Hoke, who is retiring from the Steelers.

New coaches and new players made a big difference in the Texans secondary.

Said Colts coach Chuck Pagano about whether he?ll coach QB Peyton Manning, ?Uh, you know, I?ve got a text or call out to Rob Lowe and I haven?t heard back from Rob yet. I?m going to have to get back to you on that one.?

The Jaguars haven?t gotten much from their recent top draft picks.

A look at the Titans through the financial lens.

The Broncos could use a bit more pass rush from the middle of the line.

Figuring out how much to use Dexter McCluster is something the Chiefs need to do this offseason.

Said Raiders P Shane Lechler of new coach Dennis Allen, I think it will be a good fit for us. ?He?s a young, energetic guy. Smart guy. Been through a lot with Atlanta, then a lot with New Orleans, over to Denver and that defense. We?ll take all the help we can get right now.?

Chargers QB Philip Rivers doesn?t think the team is a long way from a return to the playoffs.

Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray says that he doesn?t pay attention to negative tweets.

Indianapolis will be a trip to the Super Bowl and a trip home for Giants LB Mathias Kiwanuka.

Eagles coach Andy Reid finally sat down and shared his thoughts about ? basketball.

New Redskins receivers coach Ike Hilliard is still getting the team?s offensive terminology down.

The new Bears general manager will have to hit the ground running.

North Alabama CB Janoris Jenkins is a player that Lions fans should keep an eye on in the Senior Bowl.

Packers C Scott Wells is enjoying the Pro Bowl before he starts worrying about his future.

New Vikings defensive coordinator Alan Williams said the team?s players have a clean slate this offseason.

Who are the likeliest cap casualties with the Falcons?

Panthers QB Cam Newton was catching some passes from Aaron Rodgers at Pro Bowl practice.

Said Saints T Jermon Bushrod, ?Teams fall short. It?s gonna happen every year. And it definitely still stings a little. But you?ve got to stick together as a team and remember there?s always next year. ? We?re too blessed to be down for too long.?

Buccaneers G Jeremy Zuttah played for Greg Schiano at Rutgers and looks forward to playing for him again in Tampa.

The Cardinals? coaching staff might be impacted by Greg Schiano?s arrival in Tampa.

Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders what keeping the Rams is really worth to St. Louis.

Wide receivers will be the first priority for the 49ers this offseason.

Seahawks S Earl Thomas is enjoying his first trip to the Pro Bowl.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/26/revis-says-rex-didnt-know-about-problems-in-jets-locker-room/related/

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Lana Del Rey Covers Complex, Ignores Critics

Lana Del Rey is caught in the rain on the cover of this month's Complex. But that's preferable to where the singer found herself a couple weeks ago:

Caught in a storm of controversy following a hesitant Saturday Night Live performance.

But the artist, whose debut album comes out on January 31, shrugs off the rebukes. Correction: she doesn't even notice them.

“I’m pretty much switched off from it," Del Rey tells the magazine of the press in general. "What other people have been saying doesn’t have anything to do with me because I never gave any long interviews to anyone. Ever. Everything is basically fiction.”

Del Rey has caught fire on the Internet largely because she sounds so real, so passionate, so Adele-like. There's a reason for that, says the singer.

“If you consider the definition of authenticity, it’s saying something and actually doing it. I write my own songs. I made my own videos. I pick my producers. Nothing goes out without my permission. It’s all authentic.”

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/lana-del-ray-covers-complex-ignores-critics/

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What Does an Office Secretary Have in Common With the Secretary of Defense?

While the job of secretary is quite old, the modern stereotype of an office secretary?the bespectacled young lady planted at a desk outside her boss?s door?is relatively recent. In fact, most secretaries were men until the mid- to late-19^th century. As the industrial revolution developed, family-run companies gave way to large enterprises with customers and suppliers spread over vast distances. They needed new workers to manage all those files and letters. At the same time, the feminist movement made it easier for women to work outside the home. Male executives of the time felt that the repetitive, nonintellectual nature of secretarial work suited women well. The Katharine Gibbs school, founded in 1911, helped solidify the notion that executive assistance was for women by feeding young ladies into secretarial jobs and stenographic pools. There were very few male secretaries left by the 1930s.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=157f07c8feaf414d7cdd08101a1c4469

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Divers, crane in place for Italy ship fuel pumping (AP)

ROME ? Workers and equipment are moving into place to begin pumping out the half-million gallons of fuel from the toppled Costa Concordia before it spills into the pristine seas off Tuscany.

A crew believed to be from the Dutch shipwreck salvage firm Smit was seen on the bow of the Concordia Tuesday morning and a platform with heavy equipment was nearby. Italian rescue crews continued blasting small holes in the ship's steel frame so divers could more easily search for the 17 people still missing.

The Concordia ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio on Jan. 13 after the captain veered from his approved course and gashed the ship's hull on a reef, forcing the evacuation of 4,200 passengers and crew. So far 15 bodies have been found.

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

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Yahoo delivers another listless performance in 4Q (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? Yahoo slipped further behind in the online advertising race during the fourth quarter as the Internet company entered the fourth year of a revenue slump.

The results announced Tuesday marked the latest in a succession of disappointing performances. The persisting malaise led to the firing of Carol Bartz as CEO four months ago.

Yahoo Inc. recently replaced Bartz with PayPal executive Scott Thompson, anointing him as the fourth CEO in less than five years to try to snap the company out of a funk that has depressed its stock. Thompson, who was hired just three weeks ago, promised to move quickly to fix the problems.

"There is no question we need to do better and we will," Thompson assured analysts in a Tuesday conference call.

The company earned $296 million, or 24 cents per share, in the October-to-December period. That is down 5 percent from $312 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier.

The earnings matched analysts' estimates, but the company missed Wall Street's revenue target.

Fourth-quarter revenue dropped 13 percent from the previous year to $1.32 billion. After subtracting advertising commissions, Yahoo's revenue totaled $1.17 billion, or $20 million below analyst projections. It's the 13th straight quarter that Yahoo's net revenue has declined from the prior year.

Although Thompson said it was still too early to share precise details about his turnaround strategy, he said he will close some Yahoo services. That could mean layoffs. Yahoo added 400 employees in the fourth quarter to end the year with 14,100 workers. It lost one of its co-founders last week when Jerry Yang resigned from the company's board and gave up his role as "Chief Yahoo."

Bartz had also closed or sold some of Yahoo's less popular services while jettisoning jobs to cut costs and sharpen the company's focus. Those moves, though, didn't increase Yahoo's revenue or stock price, leading the company's board to fire her in September with more than 15 months remaining on her contract.

"This company has been through such a rotating cast of characters that it's reached the point where it needs action, not words," BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis said.

Besides closing services, Thompson said Yahoo will expand into some fields where he sees opportunities to make money. He didn't elaborate on that or on which services to close.

Thompson also pledged to develop more innovative products to keep Yahoo's audience of 700 million users on its websites for longer periods. Accomplishing that could make Yahoo more attractive to online advertisers. Thompson said he hopes to harness the data that Yahoo collects about its audience to help advertisers do a better job of putting their marketing messages in front of the people most likely to buy their products.

"I'll always ask a lot of questions and I'll immerse myself in the details but when it comes to making decisions, I make them quickly and then push to move fast, fast, fast," Thompson said.

But Yahoo isn't promising a quick start under Thompson's leadership. Yahoo predicted its net revenue in the current quarter will range from $1.02 billion to $1.1 billion. The mid-point of that target works out to $1.06 billion, unchanged from last year's first quarter.

Investors appear to be taking a wait-and-see attitude with Thompson. Yahoo's stock shed 14 cents to $15.55 in extended trading after the report came out. The stock price has fallen by about 40 percent from five years ago.

Yahoo's downturn in revenue has occurred as advertisers are shifting more of their budgets to the Internet as people spend more of their time on the Web. The biggest beneficiaries of this boom so far have been Internet search leader Google Inc. and Facebook, the owner of the largest online social network.

While Yahoo continued to struggle during the final three months of last year, Google's revenue rose 25 percent from the same period in 2010. As a privately held company, Facebook doesn't disclose its financial results, but data compiled by independent research firms show that its website has been luring advertisers away from Yahoo.

Google has become so dominant in Internet search that Yahoo teamed up with another rival, Microsoft Corp., in an effort to become more competitive and save money. Yahoo's search engine now relies on Microsoft's technology to handle most requests. The alliance, forged in mid-2009, hasn't generated as much revenue so far as Yahoo had hoped, although there were signs of progress in the fourth quarter.

Net revenue from search totaled $376 million in the fourth quarter, a 3 percent decrease from a year earlier. The company, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., had been suffering year-over-year declines of more than 10 percent in previous quarters.

As it tries to boost its revenue and lift its stock price, Yahoo is considering selling its stakes in China's Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan. Yahoo is pursuing those negotiations with "great enthusiasm," according to Tim Morse, the company's chief financial officer. Neither Morse nor Thompson elaborated on when a deal might be reached.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_hi_te/us_earns_yahoo

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Iran slams EU oil embargo and warns could hit U.S. (Reuters)

TEHRAN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? Iran accused Europeans on Monday of waging "psychological warfare" after the EU banned imports of Iranian oil, joining the United States in new sanctions aimed at preventing Tehran from getting nuclear weapons.

The Islamic Republic, which denies trying to build an atom bomb, scoffed at efforts to choke its oil exports, as Asia lines up to buy what Europe scorns. Some Iranians also renewed threats to stop Arab oil from leaving the Gulf and warned they might strike U.S. targets worldwide if Washington used force to break any Iranian blockade of a strategically vital shipping route.

Yet in three decades of confrontation between Tehran and the West, bellicose rhetoric and the undependable armory of sanctions have become so familiar that the benchmark Brent crude oil price edged less than 0.5 percent higher, and some of that was due to unrelated currency factors.

"If any disruption happens regarding the sale of Iranian oil, the Strait of Hormuz will definitely be closed," Mohammad Kossari, deputy head of parliament's foreign affairs and national security committee, told Fars news agency a day after U.S., French and British warships sailed back into the Gulf.

"If America seeks adventures after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will make the world unsafe for Americans in the shortest possible time," Kossari added, referring to an earlier U.S. pledge to use its fleet to keep the passage open.

The United States, which imposed its own sanctions against Iran's oil trade and central bank on December 31, welcomed the EU move, as did Israel. It has warned it might attack Iran if sanctions do not deflect Tehran from a course that some analysts argue could potentially give Iran a nuclear bomb next year.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner: "This new, concerted pressure will sharpen the choice for Iran's leaders and increase their cost of defiance of basic international obligations."

CALLS FOR TALKS

Germany, France and Britain used the EU sanctions as a cue for a joint call to Tehran to renew long-suspended negotiations on its nuclear program. Russia, like China a powerful critic of the Western approach, said talks might soon be on the cards.

Iran, however, said new sanctions made that less likely. It is a view shared by some in the West who caution that such tactics risk hardening Iranian support for a nuclear program that also seems to be subject to a covert "war" of sabotage and assassinations widely blamed on Israeli and Western agents.

European Union foreign ministers who agreed an anticipated ban on imports of Iranian crude at a meeting in Brussels were so anxious not to penalize the ailing economies of Greece, Italy and others to whom Iran is a major oil supplier that the EU embargo will not take full effect until July 1. And the strategy will be reviewed in May to see if it should go ahead.

Curbing Iran's oil exports is a double-edged sword, as Tehran's own response to the embargo clearly showed.

Loss of revenue is painful for a clerical establishment that faces an awkward electoral test at a time of galloping inflation which is hurting ordinary people. But since Iran's Western-allied Arab neighbors are struggling to raise their own output to compensate, the curbs on Tehran's exports have driven up oil prices and raised costs for recession-hit Western industries.

A member of Iran's influential Assembly of Experts, former intelligence minister Ali Fallahian, said Tehran should respond to the delayed-action EU sanctions by stopping sales to the bloc immediately, denying the Europeans time to arrange alternative supplies and damaging their economies with higher oil prices.

"The best way is to stop exporting oil ourselves before the end of this six months and before the implementation of the plan," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted him as saying.

"PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE"

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast, quoted by state television, said: "European Union sanctions on Iranian oil is psychological warfare ... Imposing economic sanctions is illogical and unfair but will not stop our nation from obtaining its rights."

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told the official IRNA news agency that the more sanctions were imposed on Tehran "the more obstacles there will be to solve the issue."

"The European countries and those who are under American pressure, should think about their own interests. Any country that deprives itself from Iran's energy market, will soon see that it has been replaced by others," Mehmanparast added.

China, Iran's biggest customer, has resisted U.S. pressure to cut back its oil imports, as have other Asian economies to varying degrees. India's oil minister said on Monday sanctions were forcing Iran to sell more cheaply and that India planned to take full advantage of that to buy as much as it could.

The EU measures included an immediate ban on all new contracts to import, purchase or transport Iranian crude and petroleum products. However, EU countries with existing contracts to buy oil and petroleum products can honor them up to July 1, and there would be a review of the plans before then.

EU officials said they also agreed to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank and ban trade in gold and other precious metals with the bank and state bodies.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said of the new sanctions: "I want the pressure of these sanctions to result in negotiations ... I want to see Iran come back to the table and either pick up all the ideas that we left on the table ... last year ... or to come forward with its own ideas."

Iran has said lately that it is willing to hold talks with Western powers, though there have been mixed signals on whether conditions imposed by either side make new negotiations likely.

IAEA INSPECTORS VISIT

The Islamic Republic insists it is enriching uranium only to produce electricity and for other civilian uses. The start this month of a potentially bomb-proof - and once secret - enrichment plant has deepened skepticism abroad, however.

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed plans for a visit next week by senior inspectors to try and clear up questions raised about the purpose of Iran's nuclear activities. Tehran is banned by international treaty from developing nuclear weaponry.

"The Agency team is going to Iran in a constructive spirit, and we trust that Iran will work with us in that same spirit," IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said in a statement announcing the December 29-31 visit. "The overall objective of the IAEA is to resolve all outstanding substantive issues."

Iran, whose 'great power' ambitions face a setback from the difficulties of its Arab ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has powerful defenders in the form of Russia, which has built Iran a reactor, and China. Both permanent U.N. Security Council members argue that Western sanctions are counter-productive.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, classifying the EU embargo among "aggravating factors," said Moscow believed there was a good chance that talks between the six global powers and Iran could resume soon and that Russia would try to steer both Iran and the West away from further confrontation.

His ministry issued an official statement expressing "regret and alarm": "What is happening here is open pressure and diktat, an attempt to 'punish' Iran for its intractable behavior.

"This is a deeply mistaken approach, as we have told our European partners more than once. Under such pressure Iran will not agree to any concessions or any changes in its policy."

But that argument cuts no ice with the U.S. administration, for which Iran - and Israel's state willingness to consider unilateral military action against it - is a major challenge as President Barack Obama campaigns for re-election against Republican opponents who say has been too soft on Tehran.

"We and the EU are looking at ways to increase the pressure on Iran not because we want to go to war, not because we are looking for a military resolution but because we are looking for a resolution that has been a problem for a decade," Ivo Daalder, the U.S. ambassador to NATO said on Monday in London.

"We are ready at any time to sit down with them and have a serious conversation about how to resolve this issue through negotiations ... Let's just try to continue to go down this path. The alternatives are much more difficult."

(Additional reporting by Robin Pomeroy and Mitra Amiri in Tehran, David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Adrian Croft in London, John Irish in Paris, Alexei Anishchuk in Sochi, Ari Rabinovitch and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Nidhi Verma in New Delhi, Steve Gutterman in Moscow, Rachelle Younglai and Andrew Quinn in Washington and Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; editing by Robert Woodward)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/wl_nm/us_iran_eu_deal

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Fred Thompson Endorses Newt Gingrich Ahead Of Florida Primary

Fred Thompson, who made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination during the 2008 election cycle, endorsed Newt Gingrich in this year's GOP primary race on Monday night.

Thompson declared his support for the former House Speaker during an appearance on Sean Hannity's Fox News program. The announcement came as Gingrich -- along with Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul -- were participating in a debate in Florida.

Thompson served as a U.S. senator from Tennessee from 1994 through 2003. He has also held acting roles on NBC's TV show "Law & Order" and a number of action movies.

After failing to gain traction in early primary states in 2008, Thompson abandoned his presidential campaign and later threw his support behind eventual nominee John McCain.

This is a developing story... More information to come...

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/fred-thompson-newt-gingrich_n_1225668.html

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PFT: Ravens botch set up for Cundiff's missed kick

Reuters

Shortly before Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff did his best Gary Anderson impersonation (to the chagrin of Matt Birk), Ravens receiver Lee Evans had the ball in his hands, in the end zone.? But Patriots defensive back Sterling Moore knocked the ball out of Evans? hands, and the ruling on the field was that the would-be touchdown pass was incomplete.

Though it wasn?t a scoring play, fewer than two minutes remained in the game.? Thus, the decision (or not) to review the play was to be initiated by the replay assistant in the booth.? Even though the slow-motion angle shown by CBS seemed to suggest that it may have been a catch, the replay assistant didn?t instruct referee Alberto Riveron to take a look via the on-field portable TV on wheels.

As to whether a catch was made, the standard is simple.? From Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3, Item 3:? ?If a player controls the ball while in the end zone, both feet, or any part of his body other than his hands, must be completely on the ground before losing control, or the pass is incomplete.?

There?s no Calvin Johnson component.? No requirement of a football move.? Possession plus two feet down equals a catch, and a touchdown.

So why didn?t the replay assistant direct Riveron to take another look?? Absent indisputable visual evidence that the call on the field was correct, the replay assistant must tell the referee to look for indisputable visual evidence to overturn it.

The league disagrees.? ?The ruling on the field of an incomplete pass was confirmed by the Instant Replay assistant, correctly, and as a result, there was no need to stop the game,? the league said in a statement forwarded to PFT by spokesman Michael Signora.? ?The receiver did not get his second foot down in the end zone with possession, and as a result, it was an incomplete pass.?

Former V.P. of officiating and current FOX rules analyst Mike Pereira expressed a similar sentiment via text message to PFT.? ?Clearly not a catch,? Pereira said.? ?Ball coming out before second foot clearly down. . . .? No need to review it because it was clearly incomplete.?

But where?s the harm in taking a look at the play?? The left foot may have been down a nanosecond before the ball was dislodged.? Why not have Riveron decide whether or not that was the case?? Moreover, a different camera angle may have shown that Evans had the ball before his left foot previously left the ground.? (There?s no doubt that the right foot was down while Evans had the ball.)

It could be that the replay assistant erred on the side of not giving Riveron a chance to make what could have been another Bill Leavy-style error.? Either way, under the league?s standard for initiating a booth review, we think a booth review should have been initiated.? And if it had been initiated, Riveron would have been faced with a decision that wouldn?t have been quite as easy as the league seems to think it would have been.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/22/ravens-take-a-timeout-back-to-baltimore/related

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Music player app lets users sing along with lyrics (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Can't remember the lyrics to your favorite songs? A new iPhone app might help.

Shazam Player, released last week, is a music player that, in addition to playing songs, shows the lyrics too. The app also provides access to the song's music video, album reviews and artist tour dates.

Shazam is already well-known for its song identification app that uses the smartphone's built-in microphone to gather a sample of a song being played in a room, and then instantly reveals the title and artist name. The service has over 60 million users in the United States and 175 million users globally.

While the core Shazam app is focused on providing a simple and straightforward way to discover new music, the Player app is designed to provide a rich experience for discovering additional information about the music that people already own.

"This is a great way to rediscover that music," explained David Jones, Shazam's executive vice president of marketing, adding that many people have forgotten the details about the music on their smartphones.

When playing a song, lyrics scroll across the screen in sync with the music, and visualizations are tailored to the album being played.

"People are figuring out what the lyrics actually are that may be in some fast moving rap songs or hard-to-hear songs," Jones said.

Lyrics are available for approximately 50,000 songs, with thousands being added weekly prioritized based on song popularity.

According to Jones, Shazam is the largest mobile affiliate for iTunes in the world, selling more than $100 million worth of music each year. The Player app is positioned to give people the opportunity to buy more music by the artists they already like.

"I bought two of Adele's songs, but I haven't bought the whole album. So when I play those songs, there's a convenient button there to click off to iTunes to buy the album," Jones said.

Since launching on the App Store, some users have complained about issues with lyrics being out of sync, and other user interface bugs. Jones said the company is working on the issues, and also has a feedback button for user input.

"If you think the lyrics are out of sync or wrong, all you do is press one button and that gets fed back to us and our team jumps on it right away," he said.

Jones said that in addition to focusing on the apps, the company is forging ahead with campaigns that incorporate Shazam with television content.

"In our shows that are shazamable, more people shazam the show than are tweeting about it," Jones said.

With television commercials, users can learn more about brands and products such as accessing product discounts, discovering the closest place to test drive a car, or getting a quote from an insurance company.

"Advertisers are spending tens of millions on their television ad campaigns and these campaigns before Shazam were not clickable," he said.

(Reporting by Natasha Baker; editing by Patricia Reaney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/music_nm/us_shazam_app

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Police: Dad threatened to shock girl inside cage

By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

A man accused of punishing his 12-year-old daughter by binding her hands and feet with duct tape and sticking her in a dog cage, then threatening to electrify the crate,?was just engaging in "some horseplay"?that "got out of control," his lawyer?says.

Here's what happened, according to a?report from NBC station WLWT of Cincinnati:

The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Office said James Tapke restrained his 12-year-old daughter's hands and feet using?duct tape before placing her in a dog cage on Jan. 10. Then, while his daughter was in the cage, investigators said, Tapke dropped small amounts of water on her face.

According to court papers, the victim was in the cage for about 20 minutes before her 13-year-old brother let her out. When she got out, authorities said, the victim poured water on her father's head and in his ear.

Tapke then bound his daughter again with duct tape and put her back in the dog cage, investigators said, and while she was in the cage, Tapke told his son to go to the garage and retrieve an electrical jump pack so that he could electrify the cage. The girl's brother brought the jump pack and placed it in front of the cage, so his sister could see it.

Tapke never attempted to electrify the cage, but investigators said he told his daughter several times he would.

Tapke then let her out of the cage, and her grandmother helped her with taking off the duct tape, authorities said. During the entire incident, authorities said the girl's brother and her father took pictures of her in the cage.

Her brother posted the pictures on Facebook, investigators said, but the pictures were deleted.

In court on Thursday, Tapke's attorney, Christopher Jackson, said that the entire incident was a joke.

"We believe the evidence will eventually show that this was simply some horseplay that ended up, you know, taking pictures." Jackson said. "It just doesn't look that funny when you see it in pictures ... Maybe not the best joke in the world, but I believe that's what is going to come out later at trial."

"Judge, if this is a joke, it's about the most unfunny joke I've ever heard," said assistant prosecutor Matt Broo.?

Tapke, 41, was charged with child endangering. Bond?was set at $50,000.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

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Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/22/10208773-threat-to-electrify-dog-cage-with-girl-inside-just-horseplay

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Russia Mulling Joint Lunar Base with NASA, Europe (ContributorNetwork)

A report in Space.com and a number of other media outlets that Russia's Federal Space Agency, or Roscosmos, is consulting with NASA and the European Space Agency about a joint lunar base is causing some comment in aerospace circles.

What are the discussions about a lunar base?

There has been no official confirmation, as of this writing, from the United States or the European Union. Some sources suggest that the Russian report refers to the Global Exploration Roadmap, which is being discussed by representatives of a number of national space agencies. Two roadmaps are under discussion.

The first is "Moon First," which points to a manned lunar landing as the first step in solar system operation. This would be followed by a lunar base, likely close to one of the lunar poles where ice has been found in the permanently shadowed craters.

The second is "asteroid first" which would involve visiting an Earth approaching asteroid as the first space exploration goal. As per President Barack Obama's speech of April 15, 2010, this approach is currently official NASA policy.

Both roadmaps are designed to lead to Mars, sometime in the 2030s.

Why is Russia interested in a lunar base?

Russia has found some success in revitalizing its manned space program in its role of partner in the International Space Station program. It has provided a number of modules for the space station. With the end of the space shuttle program, it is the sole provider of space flights for astronauts to the ISS. Russia's participation has garnered it a great deal of prestige and quite a bit of cash from the United States is payment for rides to the ISS.

Russia is also reeling from a number of high profile space failures, most notably that of the Phobos-Grunt that was designed to conduct a sample return mission to Mars' moon Phobos. Instead the probe recently fell into the Pacific ocean, making a failure of Russia's planetary science program.

The Sticking Point is Money

Aside from the fact that a joint effort to settle the moon would require a revision of Obama space policy -- or the election of a new president -- the factor standing in the way is a lack of money. Both the United States and the European Union are experiencing a debt crisis that would tend to argue against taking on an expensive, new space project, no matter what the long term benefit would be. However cost sharing between NASA, the ESA, Russia, and perhaps other partners such as Canada, Japan, India, and Brazil might prove sufficient to get the thing off the ground. But the project would have to be sustained over many years, a hard proposition at best if history is any guide.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120121/sc_ac/10861289_russia_mulling_joint_lunar_base_with_nasa_europe

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Italian divers find body in cruise ship corridor (AP)

ROME ? The body of a woman wearing a life vest was recovered by Italian coast guard divers Saturday from a narrow underwater corridor of the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia, raising the death toll to 12 in the week-old accident that has sent some light fuel spilling into the Mediterranean off Tuscany.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Cosimo Nicastro told The Associated Press that the victim was found during a particularly risky inspection of an evacuation staging point at the ship's rear.

"The corridor was very narrow, and the divers' lines risked snagging" on objects in the passageway, Nicastro said. To permit the coast guard divers to get into the area, Italian navy divers had preceded them, setting off charges to blast holes for easier entrance and exit, he said.

The woman's nationality and identity were not immediately known.

Before the corpse was found, 21 people were listed as missing. One of the women on the list is a Peruvian crew member, the others are passengers.

Three bodies were found in the waters near the ship in the first hours after the accident' since then the rest of the victims have all been found inside the Concordia, apparently unable to get off the ship during a chaotic evacuation via lifeboats and later by helicopters. Some survivors jumped off and swam to safety.

The Concordia hit a reef and ran aground on Jan. 14, while passengers dined, about two hours after the ship had set sail from the port of Civitavecchia on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Costa Crociere has said the captain had deviated without permission from the vessels in an apparent maneuver to sail close to Giglio, a Tuscan island, to impress passengers aboard.

Search and rescue efforts for survivors and bodies have meant that an operation to remove heavy fuel in the Concordia's tanks hasn't yet begun, although specialized equipment has been standing by for days.

On Saturday, light fuel, apparently from machinery aboard the capsized Costa Concordia, was detected near the ship.

But Nicastro said there was no indication that any of the nearly 500,000 gallons (2,200 metric tons) of heavy fuel oil has leaked from the ship's double-bottomed tanks. He said the leaked substance appears to be diesel, which is used to fuel rescue boats and dinghies and as a lubricant for ship machinery.

There are 185 tons of diesel and lubricants on board the crippled vessel, which is lying on its side just outside Giglio's port. Nicastro described the light fuel's presence in the sea as "very light, very superficial" and appearing to be under control.

Although attention has been concentrated on the heavy fuel oil in the tanks, "we must not forget that on that ship there are oils, solvents, detergents, everything that a city of 4,000 people needs," Franco Gabrielli, the head of Italy's civil protection agency, told reporters in Giglio.

Gabrielli, who is leading rescue, search and anti-pollution efforts for the Concordia, was referring to the roughly 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew who were aboard the cruise liner when it ran into the reef, and then, with sea water rushing into a 70-meter (230-foot) gash in its hull, listed and finally fell onto its side.

Considering all the substances aboard the Concordia, "contamination of the environment, ladies and gentlemen, already occurred" when the cruise liner capsized, Gabrielli told a news conference.

Vessels equipped with machinery to suck out the light fuel oil were in the area, officials told Italian TV.

Earlier on Saturday, crews removed oil-absorbing booms used to prevent environmental damage in case of a leak. Originally white, the booms were grayish.

Divers resumed their search of the wreckage Saturday after data indicated the cruise ship had stabilized in the sea off Tuscany. Italian news reports said that the divers were also trying to locate the captain's safe, in case it might contain documentation useful to the criminal probe.

The Italian captain, Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest for investigation of alleged manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all were evacuated. Schettino insists he helped coordinate the evacuation from Giglio's docks after leaving the ship when the Concordia lurched to one side.

The search had been suspended Friday after the Concordia shifted, prompting fears the ship could roll off a rocky ledge of sea bed and plunge deeper into the sea. An abrupt shift could also cause a leak in the Concordia's fuel tanks, polluting the pristine waters around Giglio, part of a seven-island Tuscan archipelago.

___

Colleen Barry reported from Milan. Andrea Foa contributed from Giglio.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_italy_cruise_aground

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Helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan kills 6 (AP)

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan ? A NATO helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing six members of the international military force, the U.S.-led coalition said.

The coalition said in a release early Friday morning that there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash in southern Afghanistan.

The cause of the crash is still being investigated. The coalition did not disclose the nationalities of those killed.

The helicopter crash occurred on the same day seven civilians were killed outside a crowded gate at Kandahar Air Field, a sprawling base for U.S. and NATO operations, after a suicide attacker set off a vehicle laden with explosives. The Taliban claimed responsibility, claiming they were targeting a NATO convoy.

It was the second suicide bombing in as many days in southern Afghanistan, officials said. The coalition said no NATO troops were killed. It does not disclose information about injured troops.

Separately, Afghan authorities reported Thursday that avalanches have killed at least 29 people in the country's mountainous northeast.

Two witnesses told The Associated Press that they suspect the suicide car bomber was trying to hit U.S. forces because he detonated his explosives just as two pickup trucks, which they say are often used by American special forces, were leaving the base.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef said NATO forces opened fire after the bombing, and that they killed three of the seven civilians who died. The coalition denied this, saying there was no fighting after the blast.

Earlier, officials reported that the suicide bomber was walking near the gate, but the Afghan Ministry of Interior later said the attacker was driving a Toyota Corolla.

Zalmai Ayubi, the spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, said two children were among the seven civilians killed. He said eight other civilians, including two children and one woman, were injured in the explosion.

Gates to the larger U.S. bases in Afghanistan often are crowded with trucks waiting to deliver goods and services, and local Afghans going to or coming back from jobs on the compounds.

Safiullah, a 40-year-old fuel tank driver from neighboring Zabul province, was waiting his turn to enter the base when the blast occurred.

"There was dust and smoke everywhere," said Safiullah, who uses just one name. "I got down on my knees. When the smoke lifted, I moved closer. I saw two children dead at the side of the road."

At the time of the explosion, two pickup trucks were leaving the base, he said. He said he remembered that because he and another man were conversing at the time about how U.S. special forces sometimes use that kind of truck.

The explosion shattered the window of a taxi driven by Sabiullah Khan, who was at the gate waiting for customers.

"I put my head down in my car," he said. "For three or four minutes I was afraid. I was reciting the words of the Quran," the Muslim holy book. "When the smoke cleared and I knew I was OK, I started looking outside. People were shouting for help. I saw one vehicle on fire. The Afghan army were running and taking out the wounded."

He said that when he got out of his taxi, he also saw the two pickup trucks.

"Nobody was in them, but from the condition of the vehicle, I'm sure that if they were not killed, they were wounded," he said.

On Wednesday, 13 civilians, including three Afghan policemen, were killed when a suicide attacker blew himself up in a bazaar in neighboring Helmand Province.

The Helmand governor's office said 22 others were wounded in the blast in Kajaki district.

The coalition said some international troops were killed and wounded in the attack, but did not disclose details.

Late Wednesday, NATO reported that one coalition trooper had been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, but would not say whether the service member died in the Kajaki bombing, or some other incident.

U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, condemned the Kajaki attack, saying it was evidence that the Taliban insurgents had "declared outright war" on the Afghan people. He said that such violence "will only further isolate the Taliban from the process of peace negotiation."

The U.S. has been working to broker talks between the Taliban and President Hamid Karzai's government to end the 10-year war. The insurgents recently said they would open a political office in the Gulf state of Qatar to pursue negotiations but would also continue fighting.

In northern Afghanistan, 29 people have died in avalanches reported since Monday in Badakhshan province. according to the Afghan National Disaster Management Agency.

At least 40 more people have been injured and rescuers were struggling to reach areas of Afghanistan's mountainous northeast that have been cut off by heavy snows.

Roads outside the provincial capital of Faizabad were blocked by at least 6 feet (2 meters) of snow, the agency said.

Afghanistan's harsh winters and mountainous terrain in the north make avalanches a danger each year.

In February 2010, an avalanche killed at least 171 people near the Salang Pass, a major route through the Hindu Kush mountains that connects the capital of Kabul to the north of the country.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

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Republican candidates steer clear of "corridor of shame" (Reuters)

MARION, South Carolina (Reuters) ? Amid the flurry of campaigning before Saturday's South Carolina Republican presidential primary, not a single candidate has shown up in Marion County, a sleepy rural stretch that represents the bottom of the U.S. economy.

Unemployment in the county stands at a staggering 17.3 percent, the highest rate in a state battered hard by the recession. Manufacturing, textile and tobacco jobs have been steadily leaving Marion for decades and now more than 2,000 of the county's 33,000 residents are looking for work, according to the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.

Marion County is located in what has become known as the "corridor of shame" - an impoverished stretch of South Carolina along Interstate 95 - and has stood still even as Republican Governor Nikki Haley aggressively lures companies to the state. Her efforts last year brought announcements of new or expanded operations in the state from Boeing, BMW and TD Banknorth.

Haley, who has endorsed Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential race, is proud of the growth. "In a nation struggling economically," she said in a recent interview, "South Carolina is winning."

But Marion County, which sits along the site of a proposed interstate highway, has scored few wins. Its population is stagnant in a state that has seen a 67 percent increase in population in 30 years. Without jobs, officials say, it is hard to attract new people and younger residents are anxious to flee.

Rodney Berry, mayor of the town of Marion and executive director of business development in the county, says two things hold the county back. Roads need work, something residents feel acutely when they travel to more prosperous neighboring counties, and the county has built its hopes around completion of the new interstate highway.

It also suffers from the perception that the available workforce is uneducated. Thirteen percent of residents have bachelor's degrees, little more than half the average in South Carolina statewide.

"Plain and simple," Berry said. "A lot of people need some help."

SOLIDLY DEMOCRATIC

Politically, Marion County has long been a Democratic Party stronghold in a Republican state. It is majority African-American and in 2008 its voters solidly backed Barack Obama. They are poised to back Obama's re-election.

Obama visited the county in 2007 and raised its problems as a campaign issue. Republican Newt Gingrich picked up the theme, referring to the "corridor of shame" in campaign appearances and criticizing the Obama administration's outreach to low-income communities.

But none of the Republican contenders ventured into Marion when they gathered 50 miles away in the popular tourist town of Myrtle Beach for a Monday debate. Myrtle Beach is in Horry County, which has fared much better in the tough economy. Marion County's other neighbor, Florence, last year saw major manufacturing companies arrive, including the job-listing site Monster.Com, food-maker Heinz, and car-maker Honda.

"You'd think we'd be primed for great growth," Berry said. "But we are so different than the two big counties we are nestled between. We do think often that we are the forgotten people."

Adding to the pain, Marion County is about to lose its influential Democratic congressman, James Clyburn, through redistricting. A Republican may take the seat, leading Berry to worry that his county will be even more forgotten.

LIFE GOES BY

Rita Hennecey, who has lived here since 1953, watches the slow pace of progress with her friends from a table at Dry Dock, a popular gathering place along Highway 76.

"Marion used be known as a pretty little city on the way to the beach," she said after church one recent Sunday. "You would never have dreamed it would be this way."

Hennecey and her friends can recount the town's history, its namesake Revolutionary General Francis Marion, known as the "Swamp Fox," and the tobacco farms and textile plants that once supported a thriving economy.

But they can just as easily recall the names of the now-gone companies that once made candy, clothes and Coke bottles. When Russell Stover, the area's largest employer, left town in 2000, nearly 1,200 jobs went with it. That story has been repeated over and over. In May, car-parts manufacturer Inteva closed its plant, putting 42 people out of work.

"It used to be busy on Main Street," said Lucia Atkinson, who has lived in the area for more than 70 years. Her husband was mayor for 18 years. "It was filled with four or five groceries and four filling stations. They sold ladies dresses and furniture."

Today, a quarter of the stores on Main Street are vacant.

As mayor, Berry finds himself fielding phone calls from residents who need help with electric bills or organizing collections to put chicken, grits, and rice onto families' tables. More than a quarter of the people live below the poverty line.

"When you hear the news every month, Marion County is the highest unemployment," Berry said. "Emotionally, it takes a toll on folks. It's become engrained in our minds to some degree ... It just starts to permeate your mind and body that maybe we can't."

But he and others try to be optimistic. Over the years, folks here have faced and conquered adversity many times before.

"We are very resilient people," he said.

(Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Bill Trott)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/pl_nm/us_usa_campaign_shame

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