travel search engines: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Pakistan Christian girl accused of blasphemy moves to Canada over security fears

A supporter of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri poses with a victory sign at a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. Pakistani ministers held talks with a cleric leading a mass protest in Islamabad in an attempt to avert a political crisis and end a demonstration that has heaped pressure on the fragile government. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

A supporter of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri waves the national flag at a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. Pakistani ministers held talks with a cleric leading a mass protest in Islamabad in an attempt to avert a political crisis and end a demonstration that has heaped pressure on the fragile government. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri gather at a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. Pakistani ministers held talks with a cleric leading a mass protest in Islamabad in an attempt to avert a political crisis and end a demonstration that has heaped pressure on the fragile government. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri addresses his supporters from his makeshift room at a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. Pakistani ministers held talks with a cleric leading a mass protest in Islamabad in an attempt to avert a political crisis and end a demonstration that has heaped pressure on the fragile government. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri chant slogans at a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. Pakistani ministers held talks with a cleric leading a mass protest in Islamabad in an attempt to avert a political crisis and end a demonstration that has heaped pressure on the fragile government. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

A supporter of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri holds a placard at a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. Pakistani ministers held talks with a cleric leading a mass protest in Islamabad in an attempt to avert a political crisis and end a demonstration that has heaped pressure on the fragile government. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri gather inthe rain at a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. Pakistani ministers held talks with a cleric leading a mass protest in Islamabad in an attempt to avert a political crisis and end a demonstration that has heaped pressure on the fragile government. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of Pakistani moderate preacher Tahir-ul Qadri gather on the fourth day of a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. Pakistan's President intervened to stop authorities from using force against protesters who are calling for parliament to be dissolved in Islamabad's largest political rally in years. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

A supporter of Pakistani moderate preacher Tahir-ul Qadri waves the national flag on the fourth day of a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. Pakistan's President intervened to stop authorities from using force against protesters who are calling for parliament to be dissolved in Islamabad's largest political rally in years. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri gesture the victory symbol during a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. A populist Pakistani cleric calling for electoral reforms announced that a mass sit-in of tens of thousands of people camped outside parliament in Islamabad would end January 17. (FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri gather in the rain during a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. A populist Pakistani cleric calling for electoral reforms announced that a mass sit-in of tens of thousands of people camped outside parliament in Islamabad would end January 17. (FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images)

A supporter of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri wears a plastic bag in the rain during a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. A populist Pakistani cleric calling for electoral reforms announced that a mass sit-in of tens of thousands of people camped outside parliament in Islamabad would end January 17. (FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images)

A supporter of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri enjoys the rain at a protest rally in Islamabad on January 17, 2013. A populist Pakistani cleric calling for electoral reforms announced that a mass sit-in of tens of thousands of people camped outside parliament in Islamabad would end January 17. (FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images)

Female supporters of moderate preacher Tahir-ul Qadri stand guard to protect sleeping women taking part in the fourth day of protests in Islamabad early on January 17, 2013. Pakistan's president on January 16 intervened to stop authorities from using force against protesters who are calling for parliament to be dissolved in Islamabad's largest political rally in years. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri rest on the third day of the protest rally in Islamabad on January 16, 2013. A populist cleric Wednesday urged Pakistani politicians to join tens of thousands taking part in the largest protest in Islamabad for years, ratcheting up the pressure on the government to step down. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Pakistani students, civil society and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz party activists light candles in the favor of democracy in Lahore on January 16, 2013. Pakistan's main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif demanded January 16, that the government immediately announce a timetable for elections. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)

A supporter of Pakistani cleric Tahir-ul Qadri dances to drums on the third day of the protest rally in Islamabad on January 16, 2013. A populist cleric Wednesday urged Pakistani politicians to join tens of thousands taking part in the largest protest in Islamabad for years, ratcheting up the pressure on the government to step down. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Activists of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) burn tyres on a street at a protest rally in Lahore on January 16, 2013, against the Supreme Court order to arrest of the prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. Pakistan's top judge January 15, ordered the arrest of the prime minister over graft allegations, threatening to worsen turmoil as thousands of protesters demanded the government step down. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)

A Pakistani villager from the northwest mourns the death of a relative during a protest in the provincial capital Peshawar on January 16, 2013. Demonstrators said gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed homes in Bara Tehsil in Khyber Agency, some 30 kilometers from Peshawar and shot 18 villagers dead in an overnight raid. (A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of moderate preacher Tahir-ul Qadri rest on the third day of a protest rally in Islamabad on January 16, 2013. Pakistani protesters rallied for a third day January 16 in the largest political demonstration seen for years in the capital, calling on the government to quit after the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the prime minister. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of moderate preacher Tahir-ul Qadri prepare breakfast at dawn on the third day of a protest rally in Islamabad on January 16, 2013. Pakistani protesters rallied for a third day January 16 in the largest political demonstration seen for years in the capital, calling on the government to quit after the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the prime minister. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Pakistani Frionter Constables (FC) and policemen stand guard over a barricade of shipping containers on Constitution avenue on the third day of a protest rally in Islamabad on January 16, 2013. Pakistani protesters rallied for a third day January 16 in the largest political demonstration seen for years in the capital, calling on the government to quit after the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the prime minister. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

A supporter of moderate preacher Tahir-ul Qadri waves this Pakistani national flag on the third day of a protest rally in Islamabad on January 16, 2013. An estimated 25,000 to 50,000 people have poured into Islamabad from across the country, devoted followers of moderate preacher Tahir-ul Qadri who is calling for the government to step down and radical reforms. It is the largest protest in the capital since the Pakistan People's Party won elections in 2008, ending a decade of military rule and forming what in March will be the country's first civilian government to complete a term in office. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of moderate preacher Tahir-ul Qadri gather on the third day of a protest rally in Islamabad on January 16, 2013. An estimated 25,000 to 50,000 people have poured into Islamabad from across the country, devoted followers of moderate preacher Tahir-ul Qadri who is calling for the government to step down and radical reforms. It is the largest protest in the capital since the Pakistan People's Party won elections in 2008, ending a decade of military rule and forming what in March will be the country's first civilian government to complete a term in office. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/30/pakistan-christian-girl-a_n_3524563.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-politics

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Two Sketchy Florida Attorneys Could Help Zimmerman Beat a Murder Rap

The first week of the trial of George Zimmerman has wrapped up in a Sanford, Florida courtroom. Zimmerman has been charged with 2nd degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin back on February 26, 2012. There is a lesser-included charge of manslaughter. Based on what I?ve seen, heard and read so far, Zimmerman walks, signaling ?Open Season on Negroes? (OSON) in the state of Florida. As if that wasn?t already the case in any of the ?Stand your ground? or ?Castle Doctrine? states that represent a vast majority of the country.

A simple review of the night?s activities of the 26th had the teenager dawdling in the rain walking through gated community ?Retreat at Twin Lakes? after a trip to a local convenience store for Skittles and a 23 oz drink. He was headed to his dad?s fianc??s residence in the complex. Cipher Zimmerman positioned himself to head the neighborhood watch program and decided in a 911 call that Martin was a real suspicious guy, up to no good. Armed with a nasty 9 mm, he stalked the kid and killed him but not until Martin fought for his life. Martin didn?t initiate the proceedings, Zimmerman did.

A first-week?s review of the trial is available here thanks to CBS/AP. Here are a few observations. Neither of the Assistant State Attorneys (John Guy and Bernie de la Rionda) could win a moot court case at the lowest-rated law school. After Guy?s dramatically compelling opening statements that shockingly included Zimmerman?s blatantly racist 911 references (F***ing punks and A-holes) to so-called ne?er do wells sneaking through his hood with occasional bad acts, it looked like the prosecution had some trial skills.

The defense opening statement was overly long, embarrassing and clueless. Attorney Don West actually started his plea to the jury with an absurdly ill-placed and offensive ?knock knock? joke.

I felt comfortable that Guy?s effective opening statement would extend into the case in chief and a conviction of Zimmerman. Ain?t gonna happen! On either count. As it turns out, the two lead prosecutors have turned out to be weak sisters. Time and time again on redirect, they?ve missed critical follow-up questions that would have given context to the awesomely misleading questions and tactics of the two sketchy defense attorneys, West and the consummate phony, Mark O?Mara, a media-savvy (he appears on TV both locally and nationally) silver tongued devil.

Let me give you a couple of examples. In Friday?s testimony, A Twin Lakes resident, Jonathan Good, testified that it was so dark that upon first investigating sounds outside his residence he could see a human, but didn?t know whether that human was interacting with another person or an animal. Later he confidently told the jury that the man on the bottom of a subsequent scuffle that went to the ground was wearing a red jacket. Another witness produced a photo of the upper body a face-down and deceased Trayvon Martin in the circle of his flashlight and you could absolutely not even see the youngster?s pants outside the circle. Nothing on that point from prosecutions redirect.

Good also fell for O?Mara?s constant reference to the Mixed Martial Art?s term ?ground and pound.? That?s an MMA term for one fighter essentially sitting on top of another and beating him with his fists. Just like some of the more pugnacious of you did when you were in 4th grade. But instead of the standard scuffle, it was characterized as scary old ?MMA GROUND AND POUND!?

Had the prosecution done ANY homework they would have checked into connections to MMA for both combatants; Martin and Zimmerman. They didn?t. They allowed the Defense to get away with constant and meaningless MMA references. And it wasn?t until the later testimony of a Physicians Assistant, that it came out that Zimmerman was the devotee of MMA and took MMA classes three times a week in addition to working so intensely at the outset of his MMA involvement that he couldn?t sleep.

The Christian Science Monitor quotes O?Mara as saying ?I have had anecdotal evidence that there were videos out there suggesting that Trayvon involved himself in MMA fighting. Here?s one such video O?Mara was apparently referring to: Martin was not one of the fighters. His brother says he wasn?t there at all.

The defense earlier insisted that even though Zimmerman went to a gym for boxing lessons (no mention of MMA by the defense), he wasn?t allowed in the ring because he was too ?soft.? Pure BS unchallenged by the prosecution. In fact, if you pay your money, you would be allowed into the ring, either fully protected with someone of your skill level or just working out with a trainer who wouldn?t hit back.

Speaking of the Physicians Assistant, the most egregious snake-oil the defense was allowed to get away with was O?Mara turning minor injuries as described by the PA into life-threatening near-death wounds; a legal necessity because the law stipulates that the ?victim? who shoots his/her attacker must be in fear for his life or great bodily injury.

After conceding that Zimmerman might have broken his nose, in spite of the fact it was perfectly straight a day later, she shrugged off two minor cuts measured at 2 centimeters and 0.5 cm. There are about 2.5 cm per inch so these were baby cuts. There were also some inconsequential minor abrasions. Zimmerman?s weight was listed at 204, 46 lbs more than Martin. O?Mara came back on cross and flashed the bloody photo taken shortly after the shooting as if that was the Zimmerman the witness had examined.

A side note, in the photo, they may look like elongated cuts, but those were merely dry blood trails. The prosecutors never pressed the issue of the bloody photo. Here are the questions that should have been asked. Do scalp wounds bleed profusely? Yep; thinner skin, higher BP. Was there any indication that Mr. Zimmerman?s life was in ANY danger? How many people with similar injuries have died since you started practicing? Did Mr. Zimmerman tell you he felt like he was going to die? Of course he didn?t and, in fact, declined every opportunity to seek further professional treatment and sought the evaluation so he could return to work. Something pretty much ignored by the prosecution.

Neither cop on the witness stand was asked if there were any complaints lodged against Martin other than Zimmerman.

The state?s ?star? witness, Rachel Jeantel, turned out to be a troubled teenage eccentric more to be pitied than censured and was totally unprotected by the prosecution as she was insulted repeatedly by Attorney West.

Yes, Trayvon pounded on Zimmerman and was most likely on top, but Zimmerman started it, picked the fight, was carrying a deadly weapon at the ready and who knows who struck the first blow? Maybe the state is saving the best for last, but I?m afraid ?softie? will beat the rap. See if Zimmerman?s day-old account holds up here.

So Zimmerman can go back to being Block Watch Captain, seeking out his next OSON victim ?er ?real suspicious guy.?

Source: http://www.politicususa.com/2013/06/29/sketchy-florida-attorneys-zimmerman-beat-murder-rap.html

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Ecuador president: Snowden can't leave Moscow

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, speaks during a interview with The Associated Press in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Correa said he had no idea Snowden?s intended destination was Ecuador when he fled Hong Kong for Russia last week. He said the Ecuadorean consul in London committed ?a serious error? without consulting any officials in the capital, Quito, when the consul issued a letter of safe passage for Snowden.(AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, center, jokes as he prepares before an interview with The Associated Press in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Correa said he had no idea Snowden?s intended destination was Ecuador when he fled Hong Kong for Russia last week. He said the Ecuadorean consul in London committed ?a serious error? without consulting any officials in the capital, Quito, when the consul issued a letter of safe passage for Snowden. At left AP reporter Michael Weinssenstein, at right Gonzalo Solano. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, laughs during a interview with The Associated Press in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Correa said he had no idea Snowden?s intended destination was Ecuador when he fled Hong Kong for Russia last week. He said the Ecuadorean consul in London committed ?a serious error? without consulting any officials in the capital, Quito, when the consul issued a letter of safe passage for Snowden.(AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa sings during his weekly live broadcast "Enlace Ciudadano," or "Citizen Link," in Manta, Ecuador, Saturday, June 29, 2013. While the Ecuadorean government appeared angry over U.S. threats of punishment if it accepts U.S. National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, there were also mixed signals about how eager it was to grant asylum. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

PORTOVIEJO, Ecuador (AP) ? Edward Snowden is "under the care of the Russian authorities" and can't leave Moscow's international airport without their consent, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa told The Associated Press Sunday in an interview telegraphing the slim and diminishing possibility that the National Security Agency leaker will end up in Ecuador.

Correa portrayed Russia as entirely the master of Snowden's fate and said Ecuador is still awaiting an asylum request from Snowden before deciding its next moves.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has distanced himself from the case since Snowden arrived in Moscow last week, insisting the 30-year-old former NSA contractor remains in the transit zone of the capital's Sheremetyevo Airport and that as long as he has not legally entered Russia, he is out of the Kremlin's control.

At the same time, the Kremlin said Sunday that it will take public opinion and the views of human rights activists into account when considering Snowden's case, a move that could lay the groundwork for him to seek asylum in Russia.

"This is the decision of Russian authorities," Correa told the AP during a visit to this Pacific coast city. "He doesn't have a passport. I don't know the Russian laws, I don't know if he can leave the airport, but I understand that he can't. At this moment he's under the care of the Russian authorities. If he arrives at an Ecuadorean Embassy we'll analyze his request for asylum."

Last week, several members of Russia's Presidential Council for Human Rights spoke out in support of Snowden, saying he deserved to receive political asylum in the country of his choice and should not be handed over to the United States. And a handful of protesters picketed outside the Moscow airport in what appeared to be an orchestrated demonstration on Friday, holding signs reading "Edward, Russia is your second motherland" and "Russia is behind Snowden."

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Ekho Moskvy radio that while Snowden is not Russia's concern, the Kremlin is aware of the viewpoints of Russian experts and representatives of human rights organizations.

"Public opinion on the subject is very rich," Peskov said in the radio interview. "We are aware of this and are taking it into account."

Correa said he had no idea Snowden's intended destination was Ecuador when he fled Hong Kong for Russia last week. He said the Ecuadorean consul in London committed "a serious error" by not consulting officials in Ecuador's capital when the consul issued a letter of safe passage for Snowden. He said the consul would be punished, although he didn't specify how.

Analysts familiar with the workings of the Ecuadorean government said Correa's claims that the decision was entirely Russia's appeared to be at least partly disingenuous. They said they believed Correa's administration at first intended to host Snowden, then started back-tracking this week when the possible consequences became clearer.

"I think the government started to realize the dimensions of what it was getting itself into, how it was managing things and the consequences that this could bring," said Santiago Basabe, an analyst and professor of political sciences at the Latin American School of Social Sciences in the Ecuadorean capital, Quito. "So it started pulling back, and they'll never tell us why, but I think the alarm bells started to go off from people very close to the government, maybe Ecuador's ambassador in Washington warned them about the consequences of asylum for Snowden."

Correa said Snowden must assume responsibility if he broke U.S. laws, but added the broader legitimacy of Snowden's action must be taken into consideration. He said Ecuador would still consider an asylum request but only if Snowden is able to make it to Ecuador or an Ecuadorean Embassy to apply.

The U.S. is seeking the former NSA contractor's extradition for leaking secret documents that, among other things, detail U.S. surveillance of international online activity. On Sunday, German magazine Der Spiegel reported that classified documents taken by Snowden also revealed U.S. spies had allegedly bugged European Union offices.

Correa never entirely closed the door to Snowden, whom he said had drawn vital attention to the U.S. eavesdropping program and potential violations of human rights. But Correa appeared to be sending the message that it is unlikely Snowden will ever end up in Ecuador. He repeatedly emphasized the importance of the U.S. legal process and praised Vice President Joe Biden for what he described as a courteous and appreciated half-hour call about the Snowden case on Friday.

He similarly declined to reject an important set of U.S. trade benefits for Ecuadorean exports, again a contrast with his government's unilateral renunciation of a separate set of tariff benefits earlier in the week.

"If he really could have broken North American laws, I am very respectful of other countries and their laws and I believe that someone who breaks the law must assume his responsibilities," Correa said. "But we also believe in human rights and due process."

He said Biden had asked him to send Snowden back to the United States immediately because he faces criminal charges, is a fugitive from justice and has had his passport revoked.

"I told him that we would analyze his opinion, which is very important to us," Correa said, adding that he had demanded the return of several Ecuadoreans who are in the United States but face criminal charges at home.

"I greatly appreciated the call," he said, contrasting it with threats made by a small group of U.S. senators to revoke Ecuadorean trade privileges. "When I received the call from Vice President Biden, which was with great cordiality and a different vision, we really welcomed it a lot."

Ecuadorean officials believe Russian authorities stymied the country's efforts to approve a political asylum application from the former NSA systems analyst, according to government officials with direct knowledge of the case.

Those officials said Ecuador had been making detailed plans to receive and host Snowden. One of the officials said Russia's refusal to let Snowden leave or be picked up by Ecuadorean officials had thwarted the plans. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the case by name.

One of the officials said Snowden had intended to travel from Moscow to the Ecuadorean capital of Quito. The official said Ecuador had also asked Russia to let Snowden take a commercial flight to meet Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino in Vietnam or Singapore, where Patino was on an official trip.

The Russians rejected all of Ecuador's requests to let Snowden leave Moscow, or to let an Ecuadorean government plane pick him up there, the official said.

Asked Sunday about those accounts, Correa responded, without elaborating, "We don't have long-range aircraft. It's a joke."

Snowden's path to Ecuador would have gone through Cuba, which said little about the case all week, including whether it would have allowed him to use its territory to transit.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro praised Correa's rejection of U.S. trade pressure, expressing his "sympathies" for the Ecuadorean leader in a Sunday editorial in the state press.

_______ Gonzalo Solano contributed from Quito, Ecuador. Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-30-NSA-Surveillance-Interview-Correa/id-f20ef6c5f40d42b0b1918345e0d8b744

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Saturday, June 29, 2013

Following mass protests, Brazil's president sees sharp drop in approval

Public support for Brazilian President Dilma Pousseff's government has dropped from 57 to 30 percent approval. Mass protests over a variety of issues have taken place in Brazil since mid-June.?

By Stan Lehman,?Associated Press / June 29, 2013

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff meets with governors and mayors representing Brazil's 26 states and its federal district, to discuss the wave of protests, at the Presidential Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday.

Eraldo Peres/AP

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Public approval of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's government has suffered a steep drop in the weeks since massive protests broke out across this country, according to Brazil's first nationwide poll released since the unrest began.

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Published Saturday by Folha de S. Paulo, the country's biggest newspaper, the Datafolha survey found 30 percent of respondents rated Rousseff's government as "great/good," a sharp fall from the 57 percent who gave it that rating three weeks ago before the demonstrations began.

Datafolha interviewed 4,717 people on June 27 and 28, and the poll has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

The firm said Rousseff's rating suffered the biggest drop in presidential approval since a 1990 fall for then-President Fernando Collor de Mello, who was forced from office because of a corruption scandal.

Beginning mid-June, the protests had first targeted transportation fare hikes but quickly expanded to a variety of causes including government corruption, high taxes, poor public services and the billions of dollars spent for next year's World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The Datafolha poll showed that 81 percent of respondents supported the protests.

Political watchers said Rousseff's popularity drop was to be expected in the face of the biggest protests this 197 million-person nation has seen in two decades. But it still wasn't clear whether opposition politicians could take advantage of Rousseff's problems, as she gears up for re-election next year.

"The protest movement that began two weeks ago isn't necessarily a movement against the (ruling) Workers Party nor Dilma personally, it's a protest against the entire ruling class," said Pedro Arruda, a political science professor at the Catholic University of Sao Paulo. "If polled, the unpopularity would be of all politicians. The people are protesting all the parties."

For Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes the demonstrations have underscored the "institutional crises" affecting the country's political parties.

"Which party has a good image?" he asked in an interview in Saturday's edition of Folha de S.Paulo. "Only the one not yet been born. We cannot sit back and think there is nothing more to be done because we have become a democracy, pulled 40 million people out of poverty and enjoy high employment rates.

Throughout the protests, the country has been hosting the Confederations Cup soccer tournament, which are seen as a warm-up to next year's World Cup. But the unrest has grown to such a level that Rousseff and other political leaders have reportedly decided not to attend Sunday's final match, which would be seen as a major embarrassment after they had showcased the country's hosting of such mega-events as proof that Brazil had finally arrived on the global stage. Demonstrators are expected to turn out around the iconic Maracana stadium where the Brazilian and Spanish teams will meet.

Meanwhile, social networks were abuzz with rumors of a general strike Monday, with posts saying it would hit every state. However, representatives for Brazil's two biggest unions, the Central Workers Union and Union Force, said they knew nothing about such a strike but were planning a national work slowdown for July 11, when workers will only perform strictly what's required of them on the job.

Rousseff is expected to deliver a formal proposal to Congress Monday on a political reform plebiscite she wants held in the coming months. She hasn't yet released any details on what political reforms she will suggest nor how or exactly when a plebiscite would occur.

Earlier this week, the president announced $23 billion in transportation investments. On top of that, she said her government would prioritize improvements in fiscal responsibility, controlling inflation, political reform, health care, public transport and education.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/tsDk7jmFrMI/Following-mass-protests-Brazil-s-president-sees-sharp-drop-in-approval

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'Laverne & Shirley' to reunite on 'Sam & Cat'

Anna Chan TODAY

28 minutes ago

Robert Mora / Getty Images

Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams are working together again on a guest appearance on "Sam & Cat."

Schlemiel! Schlimazel! "Laverne & Shirley" are back! Sort of.

Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, who starred in the popular 1970s and early 1980s sitcom, are reuniting for an upcoming episode of Nickelodeon's "Sam & Cat," the network announced this week.

They'll be playing the feuding creators of the "Salmon Cat" show, who Sam (Jennette McCurdy) and Cat (Ariana Grande) must try to reunite. This will be the first time in more than three decades that Marshall and Williams have worked together on a scripted program.

Like "Laverne & Shirley," Nickelodeon's "Sam & Cat" is a spin-off show about two roommates who work together. But instead of working as bottlecappers at a brewery, Sam and Cat run their own babysitting business and have wacky adventures.

The episode guest-starring Marshall and Williams filmed in Los Angeles this week. Nickelodeon has not yet announced when the episode will air.

"Sam & Cat" airs Saturdays at 8 p.m.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/laverne-shirley-reunite-sam-cat-6C10486626

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Summer Movie Sneak Peek: Here's What We Can't Wait to See!

From The Lone Ranger to Iron Man 3, check out our picks for the season's biggest films.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/summer-movies-2013-guide/1-b-535106?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Asummer-movies-2013-guide-535106

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Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/My-Calorie-Counter-Is-A-Lifesaver-/5178596

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10 Things to Know for Today

1. IMMIGRATION OVERHAUL IN HANDS OF HOUSE

Speaker John Boehner says leaders will craft their own version of the legislation the Senate overwhelmingly passed to give millions in the country illegally a path to citizenship.

2. RETIRED GENERAL REPORTED TARGET OF LEAK PROBE

The investigation of the leaking of classified information about a 2010 cyberattack on Iran's nuclear facilities is focusing on Marine Gen. James "Hoss" Cartwright.

3. OBAMA DOWNPLAYS SNOWDEN SEARCH

The president called the NSA leaker a "29-year-old hacker" and said it wasn't worth wheeling and dealing with other countries to win his extradition to face espionage charges in the U.S.

4. WHAT MANDELA'S DAUGHTER SAYS

Her father is still able to open his eyes and react to family's touch. South Africa's government said his condition is critical but stable.

5. WHO TRAINED BOSTON BOMB SUSPECTS

An indictment against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev suggests the Tsarnaev brothers learned how to make pressure-cooker explosives on the Internet, not from a terror network.

6. OBAMA TRIES TO BUILD AFRICAN LEGACY

The president has been to his father's home continent twice in five years, less frequently than both Bush and Clinton.

7. PROSECUTORS DETAIL CASE AGAINST HERNANDEZ

They say the ex-New England Patriot orchestrated the shooting of Odin Lloyd because he talked to the wrong people at a nightclub.

8. HOW HOT WILL THE WEST GET

Death Valley in California is expecting a high of 124 and some officials worry it might get too hot to fly airplanes.

9. HOSPITALS TRY TO KEEP THEIR HANDS CLEAN

Some are testing a system that uses beepers, buzzers and lights to remind workers to use hand sanitizer and to report those who don't.

10. SURPRISING NBA DRAFT PICK AND TRADE

Anthony Bennett of UNLV was chosen by Cleveland over favored Nerlens Noel, and the Nets and Celtics pulled off a blockbuster trade that gave Brooklyn Kevin Garnett.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/10-things-know-today-101340019.html

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New low-cost, transparent electrodes

June 27, 2013 ? Indium tin oxide (ITO) has become a standard material in light-emitting diodes, flat panel plasma displays, electronic ink and other applications because of its high performance, moisture resistance, and capacity for being finely etched. But indium is also rare and expensive, and it requires a costly deposition process to make opto-electronic devices and makes for a brittle electrode. Replacing indium as the default material in transparent electrodes is a high priority for the electronics industry.

Now, in a paper appearing in APL Materials, a new open-access journal produced by AIP Publishing, researchers report creating a sturdy, transparent, and indium-free electrode from silver (Ag) and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) that could replace indium-based electrodes in some applications.

"Silver and titanium are much more abundant than indium in the earth's crust, and so we anticipate that electronic devices based on silver and titanium dioxide would be a more sustainable materials system and be manufactured at a low cost," said T.L. Alford, a professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Arizona State University who led the research.

The TiO₂/Ag/TiO₂ composite electrode multilayer film the researchers studied has been well characterized in the literature, but the team optimized both the thickness of the silver layer and the manufacturing process so that the multilayer film has a low sheet resistance and high optical transmittance, both properties necessary for high-performance.

The researchers created films with a sheet resistance as low as one sixth of that achieved by previous studies, while maintaining approximately 90 percent optical transmittance. With the choice of an underlying substrate made of polyethylene napthalate (PEN) -- a sturdy polymer used in a variety of applications from bottling carbonated beverages to manufacturing flexible electronics -- the researchers added additional durability.

Because of a less expensive manufacturing process and the wide availability of titanium dioxide, silver and PEN, the new TiO₂/Ag/TiO₂ thin film could one day help make devices such as electronic displays and solar cells more affordable by replacing more expensive indium-based electrodes.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Institute of Physics (AIP), via Newswise.

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

Journal Reference:

Aritra Dhar, T. L. Alford. High quality transparent TiO₂?Ag?TiO₂ composite electrode films deposited on flexible substrate at room temperature by sputtering. APL Materials, 2013; 1 (1): 012102 DOI: 10.1063/1.4808438

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/H1X-9lhBbuM/130627130953.htm

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Friday, June 28, 2013

Related getting into the money business - Real Estate Weekly

NEW YORK ? June 26, 2013 ?Related Companies, one of the nation?s most prolific real estate development and investment firms, and Highbridge Principal Strategies (HPS), a global credit and private investment firm, today announced the formation of a joint venture that will manage a new real estate credit investment platform.?

Related, along with funds they control, and HPS will invest $800 million in available capital primarily in real estate debt, specifically gap financing for real estate projects in transition across the United States.

Brian Sedrish, an experienced real estate investment professional, will join the joint venture as a Managing Director and serve as portfolio manager for the platform, which will evaluate opportunities to invest in first lien mortgages, mezzanine loans, and preferred equity positions in both land deals and non-stabilized assets, focusing on transitional real estate investments, such as re-development, conversions and new construction.

?We are pleased to partner with Related, one of the most successful developers, owners and operators of real estate assets in the U.S., and to welcome Brian to the team,? said Alex Popov, managing director at HPS.

?This joint venture will combine our due diligence and established credit structuring capabilities with Related?s 40 year track record in sourcing, developing, and managing real estate assets, to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities created by significant financing gaps in the residential and commercial real estate market.?

The joint venture will source investment opportunities across the nation with a focus on gateway cities including New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami and select secondary markets that demonstrate strong supply/demand imbalances.

?We look forward to partnering with HPS and combining our extensive real estate experience and access to deal flow with their extensive mezzanine credit experience to invest in financing opportunities secured by all property types throughout the country,? said Justin Metz, Managing Principal of Related Fund Management, the fund management platform of Related.

?Together with HPS, we have identified an opportunity to capitalize on the demand for financing solutions and recapitalizations in the current market, and to make debt investments secured by non-income producing assets, which are not eligible for securitization.?

Brian Sedrish said, ?I am delighted to join this joint venture and to lead this investment platform.? Related and HPS have identified an opportunity that offers investors the ability to take advantage of attractive supply and demand dynamics in the residential and commercial markets while minimizing potential downside by engaging a world-class real estate developer and operator.?

Brian Sedrish was previously dead of acquisitions for the Commercial Real Estate Division (Special Situations) at Deutsche Bank, where he was responsible for the purchase of distressed debt, the acquisition of non-performing and sub-performing pools of mortgages and the origination of high yield loans across the United States.

Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, ?Sedrish was employed by Fortress Investment Group?s Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund, where he focused on originating and purchasing high yield loans in the real estate sector and opportunistically acquiring real estate related assets across all sectors and geographic regions.? He also previously held positions with Goldman Sachs and Lazard Fr?res & Co. Mr. Sedrish received a MPA from Harvard University, an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and a BA from the University of Michigan.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Chip Starnes, U.S. Boss Held Hostage In Chinese Factory, Freed After Reaching Deal With Workers

BEIJING ? A pay dispute was resolved Thursday at a medical supply factory, ending a labor standoff in which the Chinese workers detained their American boss for nearly a week inside the plant until they reached agreement on a compensation package.

Chip Starnes, a co-owner of Florida-based Specialty Medical Supplies, told The Associated Press he had been forced to give in to what he called unjustified demands while he was held by about 80 workers inside the factory, an experience he described as "humiliating, embarrassing."

The workers began blocking all exits from the plant in Huairou district on the outskirts of Beijing on June 21 after seeing equipment being packed for shipment to India and thinking the entire factory was being shut down. They said the company owed them unpaid salary.

At the start of the standoff, the workers deprived Starnes of sleep by shining bright lights and banging on windows of his office, he said.

Police had made no moves to end the standoff but guarded the plant and said they were guaranteeing Starnes' safety while a labor official was brought in to broker negotiations.

It's not rare in China for managers to be held by workers demanding back pay or other benefits, often from their Chinese owners. Police are reluctant to intervene, as they consider it a business dispute, and local officials typically are eager to see the matter resolved in a way least likely to fuel unrest.

Starnes, who had spoken to reporters in recent days through the barred window of his factory office, said the workers' demands were unjustified. Neither he nor district labor official Chu Lixiang gave details of the compensation deal.

Chu said all the workers would be terminated, although Starnes said some would be rehired later.

"It has been resolved to each side's satisfaction," Chu told reporters at the plant. She said they had been sorting out paperwork until 5 a.m. and that 97 workers had signed settlement agreements.

Starnes had quietly departed the factory grounds by the time Chu spoke. He wrote in a text message: "Yes!! Out and back at hotel. Showered. 9 pounds lost during the ordeal!!!!!!"

He told the AP he was "saddened" by the experience.

He has said the company had been winding down its plastics division, with plans to move it to Mumbai, India. When he arrived in Beijing last week to lay off the last 30 people, workers in other divisions started demanding similar severance packages.

The deal reached Thursday would also pay those workers, even though the company said they weren't being laid off.

"We have transferred our funds from the U.S.," he said. "I am basically free to go when the funds hit the account here of the company."

Starnes said he planned to get back to business, and even rehire some of the workers who had been holding him.

The labor action reflected growing uneasiness among workers about their jobs amid China's slowing economic growth and the sense that growing labor costs make the country less attractive for some foreign-owned factories.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/27/chip-starnes-free_n_3509707.html

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Texts, video cited in charges against Hernandez

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) ? In the final minutes of his life, Odin Lloyd sent a series of texts to his sister.

"Did you see who I was with?" said the first, at 3:07 a.m. June 17. "Who?" she finally replied.

"NFL," he texted back, then added: "Just so you know."

It was 3:23 a.m. Moments later, Lloyd would be dead in what a prosecutor called an execution-style shooting orchestrated by New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez because his friend talked to the wrong people at a nightclub. Hernandez was charged Wednesday with murder.

Hernandez was cut from the NFL team less than two hours after he was arrested and led from his North Attleborough home in handcuffs, and nine days after Lloyd's body was discovered by a jogger in a remote area of an industrial park not far from Hernandez's home. The 2011 Pro Bowl selection had signed a five-year contract last summer with the Patriots worth $40 million.

His attorney, Michael Fee, called the case circumstantial during a Wednesday afternoon court hearing packed with reporters, curiosity seekers and police officers. Fee said there was a "rather hysterical atmosphere" surrounding the case and urged the judge to disregard his client's celebrity status as he asked for Hernandez, 23, to be released on bail.

The judge, though, ordered Hernandez held without bail on the murder charge and five weapons counts. If convicted, Hernandez could get life in prison without parole.

Hernandez stood impassively with his hands cuffed in front of him as Bristol County Assistant District Attorney Bill McCauley laid out a detailed timeline of the events, cobbled together from sources including witnesses, surveillance video, text messages and data from cellphone towers.

Lloyd, 27, a semi-pro football player with the Boston Bandits, had known Hernandez for about a year and was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee, the mother of Hernandez's 8-month-old baby, McCauley said.

On June 14, Lloyd went with Hernandez to a Boston club, Rumor. McCauley said Hernandez was upset Lloyd had talked to people there with whom Hernandez had trouble. He did not elaborate.

Two days later, McCauley said, on June 16, Hernandez texted two unidentified friends. He asked them to hurry to Massachusetts from Connecticut. At 9:05 p.m., a few minutes after the first message to his friends, Hernandez texted Lloyd to tell him he wanted to get together, McCauley said.

Later, surveillance footage from Hernandez's home showed his friends arrive and go inside. Hernandez, holding a gun, then told someone in the house he was upset and couldn't trust anyone anymore, the prosecutor said.

At 1:12 a.m., the three left in Hernandez's rented silver Nissan Altima, McCauley said. Cell towers tracked their movements to a gas station off the highway. There, he said, Hernandez bought blue Bubblicious gum.

At 2:32 a.m., they arrived outside Lloyd's home in Boston and texted him that they were there. McCauley said Lloyd's sister saw him get into Hernandez's car.

From there, surveillance cameras captured images of what the prosecutor said was Hernandez driving the silver Altima through Boston. As they drove back toward North Attleborough, Hernandez told Lloyd he was upset about what happened at the club and didn't trust him, McCauley said. That was when Lloyd began sending texts to his sister.

Surveillance video showed the car entering the industrial park and at 3:23 a.m. driving down a gravel road near where Lloyd's body was found. Four minutes later, McCauley said, the car emerged. During that period, employees working an overnight shift nearby heard several gunshots, McCauley said.

McCauley said Lloyd was shot multiple times, including twice from above as he was lying on the ground. He said five .45 caliber casings were found at the scene.

Authorities did not say who fired the shots or identify the two others with Hernandez.

At 3:29 a.m., surveillance at Hernandez's house showed him arriving, McCauley said.

"The defendant was walking through the house with a gun in his hand. That's captured on video," he said.

His friend is also seen holding a gun, and neither weapon has been found, McCauley said.

Then, the surveillance system stopped recording, and footage was missing from the six to eight hours after the slaying, he said.

The afternoon of June 17, the prosecutor said, Hernandez returned the rental car, offering the attendant a piece of blue Bubblicious gum when he dropped it off. While cleaning the car, the attendant found a piece of blue Bubblicious gum and a shell casing, which he threw away. Police later searched the trash bin and found the gum and the casing. The prosecutor said it was tested and matched the casings found where Lloyd was killed.

As McCauley outlined the killing, Lloyd's family members cried and held each other. Two were so overcome that they had to leave the courtroom.

The Patriots said in a statement after Hernandez's arrest but before the murder charge was announced that cutting Hernandez was "the right thing to do."

"Words cannot express the disappointment we feel knowing that one of our players was arrested as a result of this investigation," it said.

Hernandez, originally from Bristol, Conn., was drafted by the Patriots in 2010 out of the University of Florida, where he was an All-American.

During the draft, one team said it wouldn't take him under any circumstances, and he was passed over by one club after another before New England picked him in the fourth round. Afterward, Hernandez said he had failed a drug test in college ? reportedly for marijuana ? and was up front with teams about it.

A Florida man filed a lawsuit last week claiming Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued at a strip club in February.

Hernandez became a father on Nov. 6 and said he intended to change his ways: "Now, another one is looking up to me. I can't just be young and reckless Aaron no more. I'm going to try to do the right things."

___

Associated Press writers Bridget Murphy in Boston and Howard Ulman in North Attleborough contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texts-video-cited-charges-against-hernandez-072445310.html

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Cleveland kidnapping suspect to appear in court

By Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A former Cleveland school-bus driver accused of imprisoning three women in his home for a decade was expected to appear in court on Wednesday and may face additional charges.

Ariel Castro, 52, pleaded not guilty last week to more than 300 charges against him, including rape and kidnapping in connection with the imprisonment of Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32.

The indictment also charges Castro with aggravated murder for impregnating Knight between November 2006 and February 2007 and forcing her to miscarry by assaulting her.

Prosecutors have indicated they may seek the death penalty, and Castro's attorney, Craig Weintraub, told reporters the defense was willing to discuss a plea agreement with prosecutors to avoid capital punishment.

Prosecutors have said they plan to seek additional indictments from the grand jury this week or next and that DNA and other forensic evidence processing would be completed sometime in July.

It was unknown whether the grand jury had returned any more indictments that might be addressed at Wednesday's pretrial hearing, which otherwise would deal with more routine matters related to Castro's case.

The initial indictment against Castro covered five years from August 2002, when Knight disappeared, to early 2007. He has not faced charges related to Berry's 6-year-old daughter, who authorities have said was fathered by Castro.

A committee will consider seeking the death penalty for murder, prosecutors have said. Ohio is one of 38 U.S. states that have fetal homicide laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The women and child were rescued on May 6 after Berry discovered an unlocked interior door that allowed her to get close enough to the exterior to make voice contact with neighbors, who helped her break free.

Cleveland police responded and found DeJesus and Knight inside Castro's house on the west side of Cleveland.

Berry disappeared the day before her 17th birthday in 2003 after leaving her job at a Burger King restaurant. DeJesus was 14 when she went missing while on her way home from school in 2004. Knight disappeared in 2002 at age 20.

As of Tuesday, donations to a fund set up by Cleveland City Council members to help the women totaled more than $1 million, with more than 9,200 individual donations.

Tuesday also marked the end of one Ohio man's 240-mile (386-km) walk across the state to create awareness for "the needs of victims of sexual violence" in honor of the three women. Alex Sheen started his trek in Cincinnati 10 days ago and ending his walk at the house the three women were held captive.

Spokesmen for the three women have said they would not comment on the investigation while it was ongoing but hope for a "just and prompt resolution" of the legal proceedings.

Castro was being held in county jail on $8 million bail and according to jail logs has been refusing to shower or change his prison-issued clothing.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael Russo set an initial trial date for August 4.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cleveland-kidnapping-suspect-appear-court-110313321.html

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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Prop 8 Dismissed By Supreme Court; Gay Marriage Legal in California Once Again

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/prop-8-dismissed-by-supreme-court-gay-marriage-legal-in-californ/

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8 Designs That Rethink the Way We're Buried

The way we bury our dead hasn?t changed much over the past two thousand years. But it needs to change soon, according to a group of designers, philanthropic foundations, and funeral directors who sponsored a recent design competition to rethink burial traditions in the face of emerging problems with the status quo. It's a less less macabre concept than it sounds.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Supreme Court halts use of key part of voting law

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A deeply divided Supreme Court threw out the most powerful part of the landmark Voting Rights Act on Tuesday, a decision deplored by the White House but cheered by mostly Southern states now free from nearly 50 years of intense federal oversight of their elections.

Split along ideological and partisan lines, the justices voted 5-4 to strip the government of its most potent tool to stop voting bias ? the requirement in the Voting Rights Act that all or parts of 15 states with a history of discrimination in voting, mainly in the South, get Washington's approval before changing the way they hold elections.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a majority of conservative, Republican-appointed justices, said the law's provision that determines which states are covered is unconstitutional because it relies on 40-year-old data and does not account for racial progress and other changes in U.S. society.

The decision effectively puts an end to the advance approval requirement that has been used to open up polling places to minority voters in the nearly half century since it was first enacted in 1965, unless Congress can come up with a new formula that Roberts said meets "current conditions" in the United States. That seems unlikely to happen any time soon.

President Barack Obama, the nation's first black chief executive, issued a statement saying he was "deeply disappointed" with the ruling and calling on Congress to update the law.

But in the South, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said that, while the requirement was necessary in the 1960s, that was no longer the case. He said, "We have long lived up to what happened then, and we have made sure it's not going to happen again."

The advance approval, or preclearance, requirement shifted the legal burden and required governments that were covered to demonstrate that their proposed election changes would not discriminate.

Going forward, the outcome alters the calculus of passing election-related legislation in the affected states and local jurisdictions. The threat of an objection from Washington has hung over such proposals for nearly a half century. Unless Congress acts, that deterrent now is gone.

That prospect has upset civil rights groups which especially worry that changes on the local level might not get the same scrutiny as the actions of state legislatures.

Tuesday's decision means that a host of state and local laws that have not received Justice Department approval or have not yet been submitted can take effect. Prominent among those are voter identification laws in Alabama and Mississippi.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, said his state's voter ID law, which a panel of federal judges blocked as discriminatory, also would be allowed to take effect.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, dissenting from the ruling along with the court's three other liberal, Democratic appointees, said there was no mistaking the court's action.

"Hubris is a fit word for today's demolition" of the law, she said.

Reaction to the ruling from elected officials generally divided along partisan lines.

Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, said in a news release, "The practice of preclearance unfairly applied to certain states should be eliminated in recognition of the progress Mississippi has made over the past 48 years."

But Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, the only black lawmaker in Mississippi's congressional delegation, said the ruling "guts the most critical portion of the most important civil rights legislation of our time."

Alabama Gov. Bentley, a Republican, pointed to his state's legislature ? 27 percent black, similar to Alabama's overall population ? as a sign of the state's progress.

The court challenge came from Shelby County, Ala., a Birmingham suburb.

The prior approval requirement had applied to the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. It also covered certain counties in California, Florida, New York, North Carolina and South Dakota, and some local jurisdictions in Michigan. Coverage was triggered by past discrimination not only against blacks, but also against American Indians, Asian-Americans, Alaska Natives and Hispanics.

Obama, whose historic election was a subtext in the court's consideration of the case, pledged that his administration would continue to fight discrimination in voting. "While today's decision is a setback, it doesn't represent the end of our efforts to end voting discrimination," the president said. "I am calling on Congress to pass legislation to ensure every American has equal access to the polls."

Congress essentially ignored the court's threat to upend the voting rights law in a similar case four years ago. Roberts said the "failure to act leaves us today with no choice."

Congressional Democrats said they are eager to make changes, but Republicans were largely noncommittal.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he expects Republicans to block efforts to revive the law, even though a Republican-led Congress overwhelmingly approved its latest renewal in 2006 and President George W. Bush signed it into law.

"As long as Republicans have a majority in the House and Democrats don't have 60 votes in the Senate, there will be no preclearance. It is confounding that after decades of progress on voting rights, which have become part of the American fabric, the Supreme Court would tear it asunder," Schumer said.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department "will not hesitate to take swift enforcement action, using every legal tool that remains available to us, against any jurisdiction that seeks to take advantage of the Supreme Court's ruling by hindering eligible citizens' full and free exercise of the franchise."

Those federal tools include other permanent provisions of the Voting Rights Act that prohibit discrimination and apply nationwide. But they place the burden of proof on the government and can be used only one case at a time.

The Obama administration and civil rights groups said there is a continuing need for the federal law and pointed to the Justice Department's efforts to block voter ID laws in South Carolina and Texas last year, as well as a redistricting plan in Texas that a federal court found discriminated against the state's large and growing Hispanic population.

The justices all agreed that discrimination in voting still exists.

But Roberts said that the covered states have largely eradicated the problems that caused them to be included in the first place.

"The coverage formula that Congress reauthorized in 2006 ignores these developments, keeping the focus on decades-old data relevant to decades-old problems, rather than current data reflecting current needs," the chief justice said.

Ginsburg countered that Congress had found that the prior approval provision was necessary "to prevent a return to old ways."

Instead, "the court today terminates the remedy that proved to be best suited to block that discrimination," she said in a dissent that she read aloud in the packed courtroom.

Ginsburg said the law continues to be necessary to protect against what she called subtler, "second-generation" barriers to voting. She identified one such effort as the switch to at-large voting from a district-by-district approach in a city with a sizable black minority. The at-large system allows the majority to "control the election of each city council member, effectively eliminating the potency of the minority's votes," she said.

Justice Clarence Thomas was part of the majority, but wrote separately to say anew that he would have struck down the advance approval requirement itself.

Civil rights lawyers condemned the ruling.

"The Supreme Court has effectively gutted one of the nation's most important and effective civil rights laws. Minority voters in places with a record of discrimination are now at greater risk of being disenfranchised than they have been in decades," said Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

The decision comes five months after Obama started his second term in the White House, re-elected by a diverse coalition of voters.

The high court is in the midst of a broad re-examination of the ongoing necessity of laws and programs aimed at giving racial minorities access to major areas of American life from which they once were excluded. The justices issued a modest ruling Monday that preserved affirmative action in higher education and will take on cases dealing with anti-discrimination sections of a federal housing law and another affirmative action case from Michigan next term.

The Alabama county's lawsuit acknowledged that the measure's strong medicine was appropriate and necessary to counteract decades of state-sponsored discrimination in voting, despite the Fifteenth Amendment's guarantee of the vote for black Americans.

But it asked whether there was any end in sight for a provision that intrudes on states' rights to conduct elections and was considered an emergency response when first enacted in 1965.

The county noted that the 25-year extension approved in 2006 would keep some places under Washington's oversight until 2031. And, the county said, it seemed not to account for changes that include the elimination of racial disparity in voter registration and turnout or the existence of allegations of race-based discrimination in voting in areas of the country that are not subject to the provision.

___

Associated Press writers Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Miss., and Bob Johnson in Montgomery, Ala. contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-halts-key-part-voting-law-200525381.html

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Google says did 'good job' replying to EU antitrust probe

By Ethan Bilby

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Google said on Monday it had done a good job coming up with concessions to allay EU antitrust concerns it blocks competitors in web search results, as it sought to deflect criticism the proposals would serve only to reinforce its dominance.

The world's most popular search engine has been under investigation for nearly three years by the European Commission, the EU executive.

More than a dozen companies, including Microsoft, British price comparison site Foundem and German online mapping company Hotmaps, have accused it of squeezing them out of the market.

Google proposed concessions in April, hoping to end a case which could otherwise lead to a fine of up to $5 billion. It offered to label its own products in internet search results and make it easier for advertisers to move to rival platforms.

Its competitors, asked by the Commission to comment on the proposals, said the plans would actually strengthen Google's dominance of internet searches by forcing rivals to compete among themselves, and would also raise their costs.

EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Google would almost certainly be asked to improve its proposals.

However Google's general counsel Kent Walker said on Monday that its offer went far enough.

"Our proposals are meaningful and comprehensive, providing additional choice and information while also leaving room for future innovation," Walker said on the company's Europe blog.

"That's why we focused on addressing the Commission's specific concerns, and we think we did a pretty good job."

Walker's were the first substantial comments from Google on the matter since it made its offer.

If the Commission decides Google's proposals resolve the competition concerns, they can make the commitments legally binding for the company.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission ended its investigation into the same matter without any significant action in January, handing Google a major victory.

(Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-says-did-good-job-replying-eu-antitrust-160415493.html

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Ed Markey leads polls heading into Tuesday?s Massachusetts Senate election

Ed Markey and Barack Obama at a rally in Boston June 12 (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)Three years ago, Democrats lost their grip on one of Massachusetts' Senate seats when their candidate, Martha Coakley, imploded.

But it's quite a different scene for Massachusetts Democrats Tuesday as Rep. Ed Markey heads into a special election leading political newcomer Republican Gabriel Gomez in the polls by a comfortable margin.

"We're going into election day with the wind at our back," Markey press secretary Andrew Zucker told Yahoo News. The Markey campaign claims 15,000 active volunteers and planned to have close to 16,000 door-knocking shifts completed by the end of Monday.

Democrats say their get-out-the-vote campaign dwarfed Gomez's.? They also had more high-profile national and state support and, perhaps most importantly, they say Markey's message of continuing his record for Massachusetts resonated with voters.

A Suffolk University poll released Monday put Markey 10 percentage points ahead of Gomez, a businessman and veteran Navy SEAL -- 52 to 42 percent-- among likely voters. That poll, conducted June 19-June 22, had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

A Western New England University poll (pdf) showed Markey 8 points ahead of Gomez-- 49 to 41 percent-- among likely voters, and 9 percent undecided. That poll was conduced June 16-20 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Additional independent polls have shown varied margins, but all have shown Markey in the lead -- suggesting Republican hopes of replicating Scott Brown's surprise 2010 upset over Coakley are much less attainable.

Democrats began the 2013 race with a numbers advantage -- 36 percent of registered voters are Democrats, compared to 11 percent registered Republicans, according to October 2012 statistics from the Massachusetts Secretary of State.

And Democrats, including outgoing Sen. John Kerry -- who was confirmed as Secretary of State -- early on rallied around Markey as their favored Kerry successor. The party also assisted Markey financially, and Democrats used high-profile politicians such as President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who defeated Brown last November, to campaign for Markey.

Additionally, Democrats believe their strategy of turning voters off to Gomez by marking him as an extreme Republican has worked in the Democratic-leaning state.

"Gabriel Gomez has spent several months trying and failing to distract voters for his strong support for the national Republican Party agenda to block common-sense gun laws, protect tax breaks for millionaires, raise the retirement age for our seniors and restrict a woman's right to choose, and that's yet another reason why Ed's going to win on Tuesday," Zucker said.

Republicans have worked to position Gomez as a fresh, vibrant alternative to a man who has since 1976 spent his career in Congress. The Gomez campaign on Monday expressed optimism about their candidate's odds.

?Gabriel Gomez is optimistic about [Tuesday] and hustling at events across the state leading up to election day," Gomez press secretary Will Ritter wrote in an email to Yahoo News. "This campaign is about putting people before politics, getting jobs back to Massachusetts and reforming Washington D.C. Gabriel will be spreading that message across the Commonwealth until the polls close. We are confident that they?ll be more voters motivated to change Washington and get things done than those that want more of the same from Career Politician Ed Markey."

Both campaigns are fighting to increase turnout.

Voter participation for all special elections is typically low, but that trend was specifically confirmed in this race by the recent poll from Western New England University. That survey found only 42 percent of registered voters had "a lot" of interest in the Massachusetts special Senate race, compared to 82 percent of registered voters who had "a lot" of interest in the 2012 presidential contest, according to the poll.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/news/ed-markey-leads-polls-heading-tuesday-massachusetts-senate-212310507.html

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