NBA Star Jason Collins Comes Out As Gay (VIDEO)

NBA Star Jason Collins Comes Out As Gay (VIDEO)

NBA star Jason Collins, the 34-year-old basketball player who is a free agent for the Washington Wizards, has came out as gay in a revealing interview with Sports Illustrated. The initial reports came from the National Football League, as a number of straight players said that they would support a teammate if they revealed they ...

NBA Star Jason Collins Comes Out As Gay (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/04/nba-star-jason-collins-comes-out-as-gay-video/

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Libya to help ease Egypt crisis with $1.2 bln oil deal

By Jessica Donati and Ghaith Shennib

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya will soon start shipping oil to neighbouring Egypt on soft credit terms, two senior Libyan officials said, as Cairo struggles to pay for energy imports and avoid fuel shortages.

The officials told Reuters that Tripoli would supply Cairo with $1.2 billion worth of crude at world prices but on interest free credit for a year, with the first cargo expected to arrive next month.

Egypt has slid into economic crisis since president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown two years ago. Most international companies have reduced oil product supplies to the country fearing non-payments, as the government tries to curb soaring energy subsidy costs which swallow up a fifth of its budget.

Libya plans to ship one to two cargoes a month for refining in Egypt under a deal that involves 12 million barrels of crude over 12 months, the oil industry officials said.

With foreign currency reserves running low, Egypt has not bought any crude on the open market since January. In rough terms the Libyan deal would be worth slightly more than half its 2012 imports, which the central bank put at $2 billion.

"Their situation is very bad, and if necessary they can take up to a year to pay (for each delivery)," said one of the Libyan officials.

Libyan authorities themselves face a daily struggle to keep services running and take control of a country awash with weapons looted from the arsenal of Muammar Gaddafi, who was toppled in 2011.

But the official said Libya could not shy away from helping an important trading partner. "If you are a good neighbour and something is wrong with your neighbour, you will not feel comfortable with yourself. It's human nature," he said.

Cairo has so far failed to agree a $4.8 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund and has sought help from energy producing countries in the region and beyond.

Tripoli has already deposited $2 billion at the Egyptian central bank and Qatar has announced $8 billion in loans, grants and other deposits since Islamist President Mohamed Mursi was elected last June.

WORLD PRICES

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) declined immediate comments on the details of the deal, although one of the oil industry officials said it would supply Sirteca, the cheapest of all the country's grades. "Shipments will be sold at world prices," said the second Libyan official.

An official at the Egyptian oil ministry confirmed some of the deal's terms. "(It will be) one million barrels a month and deferred payment for 12 months without interest starting from the first half of May, God willing," the official told Reuters.

However, the official maintained that the two sides were still discussing the kind of crude oil to be supplied and how long the shipments would last. The Libyan officials said that if the first cargo was sent next month as planned, they would last until April 2014.

The Libyan deal should ease the problems of Egypt, which owes at least $5 billion to oil companies, half of it overdue.

Cairo aims to raise prices of subsidised energy gradually, bringing them close to world levels in four years, to reduce the burden on its huge budget deficit. In the short term, it wants to avoid arousing more social unrest by ensuring energy supplies during the approaching summer when energy consumption peaks.

Libya has already shown willingness to step back into its old role as North Africa's version of a Gulf petro-state by using cash to open doors.

Libya's new rulers authorised a payment of almost $200 million to Mauritania after it extradited Gaddafi's former spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi last year, although they later denied there was a quid pro quo.

Diplomats and analysts have also suggested Libya's growing support may help persuade Egypt to hand over Gaddafi's cousin Ahmed Gaddaf Alddam, who was arrested in Cairo in March.

Egypt sent two other ex-Gaddafi officials to Libya last month but barred the extradition of Gaddaf Alddam, who is claiming Egyptian citizenship. Libya is appealing the Egyptian court ruling.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/libya-help-ease-egypt-crisis-1-2-bln-124645011.html

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The Guru's Guide to List Building | Home Based Business and Make ...

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There are tons of marketers out there with great sites and great stuff to offer, but they just don?t have anyone to present it to. Time and time again I have seen people come and go. They finally just give up because they think it?s just impossible and there is simply no hope for them in the business.

I?m talking about some real talented people who would?ve made it if they would have taken more time to learn list building strategies to get their business on the right track.

You can have the greatest content on the web today and you can have the best graphics that money can buy, but as I said before without a base of clients no one?s ever going to know about it.

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You?ll learn how article marketing works to help drive traffic back to your squeeze page. I?ll actually show you how to put out the articles and little things you can do to??? boost their attention.

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Look, putting this off is not something you want to do. Hoping things are going to change for the better sounds good and all, but the reality is that?s not going to happen.

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Source: http://www.empowernetwork.com/hbbpartners/blog/the-gurus-guide-to-list-building/

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Obama jokes about aging during 2nd term

President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Michael Douglas poses for a photo during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama talks with Michael Clemente, Executive Vice President of Fox News, the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama looks to the podium during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

First lady Michelle Obama, right, and late-night television host Conan O'Brien attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama joked Saturday that the years are catching up to him and he's not "the strapping young Muslim socialist" he used to be.

Obama poked fun at himself as well as some of his political adversaries during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner attended by politicians, members of the media and Hollywood celebrities.

Entering to the rap track "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled, Obama joked about how re-election would allow him to unleash a radical agenda. But then he showed a picture of himself golfing on a mock magazine cover of "Senior Leisure."

"I'm not the strapping young Muslim Socialist that I used to be," the president remarked, and then recounted his recent 2-for-22 basketball shooting performance at the White House Easter Egg hunt.

But Obama's most dramatic shift for the next four years appeared to be aesthetic. He presented a montage of shots featuring him with bangs similar to those sometimes sported by his wife.

"So we borrowed one of Michelle's tricks," Obama said. "I thought this looked pretty good, but no bounce."

Obama closed by noting the nation's recent tragedies in Massachusetts and Texas, praising Americans of all stripes from first responders to local journalists for serving the public good.

Saturday night's banquet not far from the White House attracted the usual assortment of stars from Hollywood and beyond. Actors Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Claire Danes, who play government characters on series, were among the attendees, as was Korean entertainer Psy. Several Cabinet members, governors and members of Congress were present.

And despite coming at a somber time, nearly two weeks after the deadly Boston Marathon bombing and 10 days after a devastating fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, the president and political allies and rivals alike took the opportunity to enjoy some humor. Late-night talk-show host Conan O'Brien headlined the event.

Some of Obama's jokes came at his Republican rivals' expense. He asked that the GOP's minority outreach begin with him as a "trial run" and said he'd take his recent charm offensive with Republicans on the road, including events with conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Michele Bachmann.

"In fact, I'm taking my charm offensive on the road -- a Texas barbeque with Ted Cruz, a Kentucky bluegrass concert with Rand Paul, and a book-burning with Michele Bachmann," Obama joked.

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson would have had better success getting Obama out of office if he simply offered the president $100 million to drop out of last year's race, Obama quipped.

And on the 2016 election, the president noted in self-referential irony that potential Republican candidate Sen. Marco Rubio wasn't qualified because he hasn't even served a full term in the Senate. Obama served less than four years of his six-year Senate term before he was elected president in 2008.

"I mean, the guy has not even finished a single term in the Senate and he thinks he's ready to be President," Obama joked.

The gala also was an opportunity for six journalists, including Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace, to be honored for their coverage of the presidency and national issues.

The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza won the Aldo Beckman Award, which recognizes excellence in the coverage of the presidency.

Pace won the Merriman Smith Award for a print journalist for coverage on deadline.

ABC's Terry Moran was the winner of the broadcast Merriman Smith Award for deadline reporting.

Reporters Jim Morris, Chris Hamby and Ronnie Greene of the Center for Public Integrity won the Edgar A. Poe Award for coverage of issues of national significance.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-28-Obama-Correspondents/id-09d4febe6e4d4128a38db58294475600

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Qatar: Nude statues returned to Greece

Qatar: Nude statues lent by Greece, didn't go on display as part of a history of the Olympics. Greece took the male nude statues back.

By Nicholas Paphitis,?Associated Press / April 27, 2013

Greece has pulled two ancient statues of nude males from an Olympic exhibition in Doha after Qatari authorities insisted on veiling them.

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A Culture Ministry official says exhibition organizers wanted to avoid scandalizing female visitors.

Greek Deputy Culture Minister Costas Tzavaras, who visited the Muslim country last month for the exhibition opening, objected, saying the works should be displayed as they were or shipped home.

So the statues were returned to Athens last week, the official said on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record.

Qatari officials could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday night.

The statues date to the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. They were among nearly 600 antiquities brought from Greece for the "Olympics - Past and Present" exhibition.

?For the first time, an exhibition showcases the cultural history of the ancient and modern Olympics on such a scale, not to mention a special section on Qatar?s participation in the world-class event,? said Dr. Christian Wacker, Director of the Qatar Olympic & Sports Museum. ?ExxonMobil has shown its dedication to sports in Qatar in various local events and we welcome the opportunity to cooperate with such a committed partner.?

Of course, the Qatar isn't the only place where nude statues are objectionable. According to The Daily Mail, a 40-foot statue of Vivienne Westwood was banned from a "Punk: Chaos to Couture" exhibit scheduled to open May 6 at London't Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/0YalK0DAyxQ/Qatar-Nude-statues-returned-to-Greece

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Link between school climate and violence confirmed

Apr. 25, 2013 ? Schools may be a step closer towards the development of effective strategies to prevent violent behaviour. New research from the University of Luxembourg shows that there is a direct link between school climate and school violence.

School violence is a very important social issue world-wide. It poses a significant threat to the health, achievement, and well-being of students. Although the most highly publicised incidents involve serious physical violence, less serious forms of physical aggression and psychological violence (including harassment, bullying, and relational aggression) present far more prevalent and persistent problems.

During the last twenty years there has been extensive research on identifying risk factors of school violence. Especially the concept of school climate has received increased attention. Most importantly, the social climate in class and in school is assumed to have a significant effect on the prevalence of violence in schools. But, the lack of clear definitions and empirically validated measures of school climate has resulted in a multitude of findings that are often difficult to interpret.

Professor Georges Steffgen and his team of researchers from the University of Luxembourg?s Integrative Research Unit on Social and Individual Development (INSIDE) analysed the statistical results of a collection of empirical research studies, to find out if a relevant effect size could be detected between the relationship of school climate and school violence.

The meta-analysis of 36 independent studies reporting a relationship between school climate and school violence, showed a moderate negative relationship between students? perception of school climate and violence. Students? characteristics such as age, and gender, as well as school size and school grade do not influence this relationship.

The results, published in the April edition of the prestigious international review journal ?Aggression and Violent Behaviour? show that there is a relationship between school climate and violence. The analysis concludes that changes in the school environment can reduce the appearance of violent behaviour.

Professor Steffgen who is head of the University of Luxembourg?s research group ?Health promotion and aggression prevention? said:

?The research shows that implementing school educational and social functions do play a role, overturning the idea that violent perpetrators are themselves all alone responsible for school violence. Thus, it is recommended that future prevention programmes should consider both individual and environmental factors of school violence. ?

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universit? du Luxembourg, via AlphaGalileo.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Georges Steffgen, Sophie Recchia, Wolfgang Viechtbauer. The link between school climate and violence in school: A meta-analytic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2013; 18 (2): 300 DOI: 10.1016/j.avb.2012.12.001

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/R48Jh-uyVK4/130425091450.htm

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Senate passes bill to ease FAA furloughs

WASHINGTON (AP) ? With flight delays mounting, the Senate approved hurry-up legislation Thursday night to end air traffic controller furloughs blamed for inconveniencing large numbers of travelers.

A House vote on the measure was expected as early as Friday, with lawmakers eager to embark on a weeklong vacation.

Under the legislation, the Federal Aviation Administration would gain authority to transfer up to $253 million from accounts that are flush into other programs, to "prevent reduced operations and staffing" through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.

In addition to restoring full staffing by controllers, Senate officials said the available funds should be ample enough to prevent the closure of small airport towers around the country. The FAA has said it will shut the facilities as it makes its share of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts that took effect last month at numerous government agencies.

The Senate acted as the FAA said there had been at least 863 flights delayed on Wednesday "attributable to staffing reductions resulting from the furlough."

There was no immediate reaction at the White House, although administration officials participated in the negotiations that led to the deal and evidently registered no objections.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a key participant in the talks, said the legislation would "prevent what otherwise would have been intolerable delays in the air travel system, inconveniencing travelers and hurting the economy."

Senate approval followed several hours of pressure-filled, closed-door negotiations, and came after most senators had departed the Capitol on the assumption that the talks had fallen short.

Officials said a small group of senators insisted on a last-ditch effort at an agreement before Congress adjourned for a vacation that could have become politically problematic if the flight delays continued.

"I want to do it right now. There are other senators you'd have to ask what the hang-up is," Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said at a point when it appeared no compromise would emerge.

For the White House and Senate Democrats, the discussions on legislation relating to one relatively small slice of the $85 billion in spending cuts marked a shift in position in a long-running struggle with Republicans over budget issues. Similarly, the turn of events marked at least modest vindication of a decision by the House GOP last winter to finesse some budget struggles in order to focus public attention on the across-the-board cuts in hopes they would gain leverage over President Barack Obama.

The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, a union that represents FAA employees, reported a number of incidents it said were due to the furloughs.

In one case, it said several flights headed for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York were diverted on Wednesday when a piece of equipment failed. "While the policy for this equipment is immediate restoral, due to sequestration and furloughs it was changed to next-day restoral," the union said.

It added it was "learning of additional impacts nationwide, including open watches, increased restoration times, delays resulting from insufficient funding for parts and equipment, modernization delays, missed or deferred preventative maintenance, and reduced redundancy."

The airlines, too, were pressing Congress to restore the FAA to full staffing.

In an interview Wednesday, Robert Isom, chief operations officer of US Airways, likened the furloughs to a "wildcat regulatory action."

He added, "In the airline business, you try to eliminate uncertainty. Some factors you can't control, like weather. It (the FAA issue) is worse than the weather."

In a shift, first the White House and then senior Democratic lawmakers have signaled a willingness in the past two days to support legislation that alleviates the budget crunch at the FAA, while leaving the balance of the $85 billion to remain in effect.

Obama favors a comprehensive agreement that replaces the entire $85 billion in across-the-board cuts as part of a broader deficit-reduction deal that includes higher taxes and spending cuts.

One Senate Democrat, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, noted that without the type of comprehensive deficit deal that Obama favors, a bill that eases the spending crunch at the FAA would inevitably be followed by other single-issue measures. She listed funding at the National Institutes of Health as one example, and cuts that cause furloughs of civilians who work at military hospitals as a second.

At the same time, Democratic aides said resolve had crumbled under the weight of widespread delays for the traveling public and pressure from the airlines.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., involved in the discussions, said the issue was big enough so "most people want to find a solution as long as it doesn't spend any more money."

Officials estimate it would cost slightly more than $200 million to restore air traffic controllers to full staffing, and another $50 million to keep open smaller air traffic towers around the country that the FAA has proposed closing.

Across the Capitol, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., said, "We're willing to look at what the Senate's going to propose."

He said he believes the FAA has the authority it needs under existing law to shift funds and end the furloughs of air traffic controllers, and any legislation should be "very, very limited" and direct the agency to use the flexibility it already has.

In a reflection of the political undercurrents, another House Republican, Rep. James Lankford of Oklahoma, said FAA employees "are being used as pawns by this (Obama) administration to be able to implement the maximum amount of pain on the American people when it does not have to be this way."

The White House and congressional Democrats vociferously dispute such claims.

___

Associated Press writers Joan Lowy, Henry C. Jackson and Alan Fram in Washington and David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-passes-bill-ease-faa-furloughs-005441034--politics.html

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Discs reveal phone pioneer's voice

25 April 2013 Last updated at 07:45 ET

The voice of Alexander Graham Bell has been identified for the first time, in a recording from 1885.

On the wax-disc recording, the telephone inventor says: "Hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell."

The recording is among the earliest held by the Smithsonian Institution, which runs the National Museum of American History.

Bell's voice was recorded on to the disc on 15 April 1885 at his Volta laboratory in Washington.

As well as saying his name, he also recites a series of numbers and lines from several Shakespeare plays. The sound clip has been posted online.

"Identifying the voice of Alexander Graham Bell, the man who brought us everyone else's voice, is a major moment in the study of history," said museum director John Gray.

"It enriches what we know about the late 1800s, who spoke, what they said and how they said it."

The disc was too fragile to play using a needle so the museum, along with researchers at the US Library of Congress and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, developed an alternative play-back system that used light and a 3D camera to turn its bumps and grooves into sounds.

Also identified was the voice of Alexander Melville Bell, the inventor's father, in a recording from 1881.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22294017#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Syrian troops capture key town near Damascus

BEIRUT (AP) ? After five weeks of battle, Syrian government troops captured a strategic town near Damascus, cutting an arms route for rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad's regime, state media and activists said Thursday.

By taking the town of Otaybah, east of the capital, the army dealt a major setback to opposition forces that in recent months have made gains near the city they eventually hope to storm.

Also Thursday, the White House and other top Obama administration officials said that U.S. intelligence has concluded with "varying degrees of confidence" that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in the civil war, which has dragged on for two years.

However, officials also said more definitive proof was needed and the U.S. was not ready to escalate its involvement in Syria beyond non-lethal aid despite President Barack Obama's repeated public assertions that Syria's use of chemical weapons, or the transfer of its stockpiles to a terrorist group, would cross a "red line."

Syria's main Western-backed opposition promptly called on the international community to act "urgently and decisively." The opposition's statement said: "Failure to act will be seen by the regime as encouragement to use chemical weapons on a larger scale in the future."

Ahmad Ramadan, a member of the Syrian National Coalition opposition group's executive body, called the U.S. assertion an "important step" that should be followed by actual measures. "The U.S. has a moral duty to act ... we are waiting for the next steps," he told The Associated Press by phone from Istanbul.

The Syrian conflict began with largely peaceful protests against the Assad regime in March 2011, but eventually turned into a full-scale civil war. The fighting has exacted a huge toll on the country, killing an estimated 70,000 people and laying waste to cities, towns and villages.

With fresh supplies of weapons from foreign backers, the rebels have recently seized military bases and towns south of the capital in the strategically important region between Damascus and the border with Jordan, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) away.

The regime has largely kept the rebels at bay in Damascus, although opposition fighters control several suburbs of the capital from which they have threatened the heart of the city, the seat of Assad's power. Last month, government troops launched a campaign to repel the opposition's advances near the capital, deploying elite army units to the rebellious suburbs and pounding rebel positions with airstrikes.

The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said government troops regained control of Otaybah late Wednesday.

State-run SANA news agency said Thursday that the army has "restored complete control" over Otaybah. The official news services also said Assad's troops "discovered a number of tunnels which were used by terrorists to move and transfer weapons and ammunitions."

The regime and state media refer to rebels as terrorists and accuse them of being part of a foreign plot seeking to destroy Syria.

"It's a huge victory for the regime, and a big blow to the opposition that is now in danger of losing other towns and villages around Damascus," Abdul-Rahman said of the army's campaign.

On Thursday, the army was already capitalizing on the territorial gains, pounding southern suburbs of Damascus, including the long-contested Daraya with artillery barrages and airstrikes, according to the Observatory. The group, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, also reported fierce clashes between rebels and army troops to the east of the capital.

The army's offensive to dislodge rebel fighters from neighborhoods ringing Damascus is part of the government's broader campaign to secure central provinces of Hama and Homs, and areas along the Lebanese border. The region is of strategic value to Assad's regime because it links Damascus with the coastal enclave that is the heartland of Syria's Alawites and also home to the country's two main seaports, Latakia and Tartus.

Syria's regime is dominated by the president's minority Alawite sect ? an offshoot of Shiite Islam ? while the rebels are mostly from the country's Sunni majority. Assad's major allies, the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group and Iran, are both Shiite.

Otaybah is located on a road linking Damascus with the eastern suburbs of Damascus known as Eastern Ghouta. Rebels have been using the road to transport weapons and other supplies to the capital. Many of the capital's surrounding towns and neighborhoods have been opposition strongholds during the 2-year-old conflict.

Losing control of the town will make the defense of rebel enclaves in northeastern suburbs such as Douma, Harasta and others more difficult, Abdul-Rahman said.

In Hama, rebels ambushed and destroyed an army vehicle after a six-hour battle with troops. Amateur videos uploaded by activists online showed an army vehicle in flames amid sounds of intense gunbattles.

Another video showed rebels raising black Islamic flags over the Nasseh Alwani school after "liberating it" from troops who had transformed it into a military base, and what appeared to be the bodies of soldiers burning inside.

The videos appeared consistent with AP reporting from the area.

Fighting in Hama is rare because the government keeps it under tight control. The city was the site of a notorious massacre in 1982, when Assad's father and predecessor, Hafez, ordered the military to quell a Sunni rebellion. Amnesty International has estimated that between 10,000 and 25,000 people were killed in the siege, though conflicting figures exist and the Syrian government has never made an official estimate.

The fighting across the country has forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes and seek refuge abroad. Millions have also been displaced inside Syria.

International aid agencies have been pleading for funds to help refugees in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon. They have also been asking the Syrian government to allow aid convoys into the country and facilitate access to the area inside cities and towns that have been affected by fighting.

Jordan's U.N. Ambassador Prince Zeid al Hussein sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, saying the increasing influx of Syrian refugees had sparked "a grave humanitarian situation" that threatens his country's security and stability. More than 500,000 Syrians have fled to Jordan since the conflict began.

The letter asks members to make a determination that the refugee influx, "if left unchecked and in the absence of the financial assistance required to enable Jordan to cope," constitutes a threat to international peace and security, a statement obtained by AP said. The letter asked the Security Council to invite Jordan to a private meeting on the issue and to visit Jordan as soon as possible.

___

AP journalist Mohammad Hannon reported from Zaatari. AP writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-troops-capture-key-town-near-damascus-064600068.html

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LG Optimus G Pro for AT&T detailed: Snapdragon 600, LTE and a Full HD IPS display

There's not much surprise left to LG's Optimus G Pro reveal set for next Wednesday in New York. We've already seen the device slip through the FCC and recently had a previewed glimpse of the potential hardware. But thanks to an anonymous tipster, we now have more insight into the the upcoming AT&T variant's specifications. Based on the official doc we had a look at, LG's managed to keep this US model mostly in line with its global sibling, porting over the same 5.5-inch form factor, 3,140mAh battery, 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor paired with 2GB RAM, a healthy 32GB of internal storage (expandable via microSDXC to 64GB), 2.1-megapixel front-facing / 13-megapixel rear cameras, NFC and WiFi a/b/g/n. What has changed is the actual screen technology used: the AT&T G Pro employs a Full HD IPS panel as opposed to the True HD-IPS+ in the original. Additionally, and unsurprisingly, the device's radios have been tweaked, with the AT&T G Pro now supporting the carrier's flavor of LTE (700/1700 MHz), HSPA+21 (850/1900/2100 MHz) and quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz).

Though it would be nice to see LG bump this up to a more current version of Android -- namely, 4.2.2 -- the AT&T model will likely ship with the more dated 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Continuing further down the software track, carrier bloat looks to be at a minimum as only two automobile-specific apps are mentioned in the document: AT&T DriveMode and Navigator. Aside from that, LG's own software suite makes the transition, bringing along QSlide 2.0 (a multiwindow feature), Dual Recording (for the picture-in-picture effect), Tag+ for NFC, VuTalk (a note sharing app), QuickMemo, Notebook and the ability to preset the Home Key's LED. That enough of a preview for you? Stay tuned for formal unveiling next week.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, AT&T, LG

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

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Canada thwarts "al Qaeda-supported" passenger train plot

By Euan Rocha

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police said on Monday they had arrested and charged two men with plotting to derail a Toronto-area passenger train in an operation they say was backed by al Qaeda elements in Iran.

"Had this plot been carried out, it would have resulted in innocent people being killed or seriously injured," Royal Canadian Mounted Police official James Malizia told reporters in Toronto.

The RCMP said it had arrested Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, and Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto in connection with the plot, which authorities said was not linked to the Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three and injured more than 200 people last week.

Neither is a Canadian citizen, but the police did not reveal their nationalities.

A spokeswoman for the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique near Montreal confirmed that Esseghaier was a doctoral student at the research institute and that he had been arrested.

Julie Martineau, the school's director of communications, said Esseghaier arrived at the school in 2010 and was about midway through his degree.

"He is doing a PhD in the field of energy and materials sciences," she told Reuters.

A bail hearing for the two will take place in Toronto on Tuesday morning.

Malizia said there was no indication that the planned attacks, which police described as the first known al Qaeda- backed plot on Canadian soil, were state-sponsored.

U.S. officials said the attack would have targeted a rail line between New York and Toronto, a route that travels along the Hudson Valley into New York wine country and enters Canada near Niagara Falls.

Canadian police said only that the plot involved a VIA train route in the Toronto area.

VIA is Canada's equivalent of Amtrak and operates passenger rail services on track owned primarily by Canadian National Railway Co.

JOINT OPERATIONS

Malizia said that the RCMP believed the two had the capacity and intent to carry out the attack, but there was no imminent threat to the public, passengers, or infrastructure.

The arrests come as Bostonians are still recovering from last Monday's bombings, and is one of a handful of terrorism-related investigations involving Canadians or Canadian residents.

Police said earlier this year that Canadians took part in an attack by militants on a gas plant in Algeria in January, while Canadian and Somalia authorities are investigating whether a former University of Toronto student participated in a bomb attack on Mogadishu last week.

And in 2006, police arrested and charged nearly 20 Toronto-area men accused of planning to plant bombs at various Canadian targets. Eleven were eventually convicted.

RCMP Superintendent Doug Best said a tip from the Canadian Muslim community had helped the investigation. The timing of the arrests was due to "logistics."

"Today's arrests demonstrate that terrorism continues to be a real threat to Canada," Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told reporters in Ottawa.

"Canada will not tolerate terrorist activity and we will not be used as a safe haven for terrorists or those who support terrorist activities."

AL QAEDA IN IRAN

The Canadian authorities linked the two to al Qaeda factions in Iran, to the surprise of some security experts.

"The individuals were receiving support from al Qaeda elements located in Iran," Malizia said.

Iran did host some senior al Qaeda figures under a form of house arrest in the years following the September 11, 2001 attacks, but there has been little to no evidence to date of joint attempts to execute violence against the West.

However, a U.S. government source said Iran is home to a little-known network of alleged al Qaeda fixers and "facilitators" based in the Iranian city of Zahedan, very close to Iran's borders with both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The source said the operatives serve as go-betweens, travel agents and financial intermediaries for al Qaeda operatives and cells operating in Pakistan and moving through the area.

They do not operate under the protection of the Iranian government, which has a generally hostile attitude towards Sunni al Qaeda militants, and which periodically launches crackdowns on the al Qaeda elements, though at other times appears to turn a blind eye to them.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball, Louise Egan, David Ljunggren and Alastair Sharp, writing by Cameron French; Editing by Janet Guttsman, Philip Barbara and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/canada-announce-arrests-thwarting-major-terrorist-attack-cbc-180404075.html

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