United States "not threatened" by China's surge in Africa -Obama

Four people who were on the ground the night of the Benghazi attacks last year are writing a book about their experience, and they're getting a $3 million advance from Twelve Books to do it. The authors are unnamed, according to New York Post's Keith J. Kelly, who describes them as "members of the elite security team from the annex of the US Embassy." That annex, we now know, was the CIA annex, which makes this book deal really fascinating. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/united-states-not-threatened-chinas-surge-africa-obama-103633039.html

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Report: Israel arrests unarmed Palestinians crossing Gaza border

TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- An Israeli army unit arrested two unarmed Palestinians who crossed the Gaza Strip border fence near Kisufim, Israeli media reported Saturday.

Israel's Ynet news site said the soldiers fired in the air but did not injure the Palestinians.

It said they were taken for interrogation.

Source: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=609427

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Vice President Joe Biden rouses Virginia Democrats, gives GOP a tea party label

RICHMOMD, Va. ? Vice President Joe Biden continued a busy political pace Saturday, appearing with Virginia?s Democratic gubernatorial candidate at the swing state?s premier party fundraiser and ridiculing this fall?s conservative Republican statewide ticket as extreme captives of tea party ideology.

Biden brought about 1,000 Democrats to their feet repeatedly at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner barely four months ahead of the nation?s only competitive governor?s race. His appearances at state fundraisers haved evoked speculation that he is laying his footing for a 2016 presidential bid.

?Ladies and gentlemen, we stand for equal rights and women?s rights,? Biden said. ?With virtually zero support from the Republicans, the president and I have moved the country from the worst recession since the Great Depression to 38 months of private-sector growth.?

With Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe at his side, Biden took aim at McAuliffe?s opponent, state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who won the GOP nomination with strong tea party support and his socially conservative ticket mates.

?There is so much they stand for that is so at odds with the value set of Virginians,? Biden said.

The vice president warned that a GOP victory in Virginia would only galvanize the tea party?s grip on the GOP in Congress, where he said even longtime moderate Republicans are fearful of a primary challenge if they don?t do the tea party?s bidding.

?They are so afraid of a challenge by the tea party that they vote against what is the right vote. Imagine what they will do to Barack and me if Terry McAuliffe loses,? he said.

A McAuliffe victory, he said, would ?send a strong signal to Republicans across America that there?s no reason to be afraid of these extreme guys.?

Before speaking to activists who paid $175 or more per ticket, Biden joined McAuliffe, a longtime confidante of Bill and Hillary Clinton, in surprising patrons at a Richmond restaurant, shaking hands before wolfing down two plates of fried whiting.

Among other campaign events this season, Biden aided Democratic Rep. Ed Markey in a Massachusetts special election ? Markey won, thus keeping Secretary of State John Kerry?s old seat in Democratic hands ? and held a series of closed-door ?donor-maintenance? events in Washington.

Sen. Tim Kaine, elected on the same Virginia ballot as President Barack Obama last fall, said it?s too early for Democrats to take sides in a potential nomination contest between Biden and Hillary Clinton, but he counseled both to try pragmatism over progressive partisanship.

?I think the Virginia Democratic success model is, we?ll let the other guys be the ideology people and we will be the work-together, compromise, make-things-happen party. That?s been the model that has allowed Dems to win,? said Kaine, like McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman.

In speeches warming up the crowd, Kaine and Sen. Mark Warner congratulated gay-rights activists for the ruling that cleared the way for same-sex marriages in 13 states but not in Virginia, where a 7-year-old amendment to the state Constitution prohibits it. And both hailed the immigration reform bill that they supported ? it now faces an uncertain future in a conservative Republican-led House.

The Cuccinelli campaign joined the Virginia GOP in using Biden?s visit as an occasion to attack the ticket for Obama?s clean-energy initiative, warning that it will devastate Virginia?s struggling coal industry and drive up utility bills.

?With no economic plan or message to tout, Vice President Biden and Terry McAuliffe doubled down on an empty strategy of division and false attacks tonight,? the campaign said in a statement that referred to the ?Obama/Biden/McAuliffe War On Coal? and government-run healthcare as ?harmful to job growth and economic opportunity in Virginia.?

State GOP Chairman Pat Mullins called it ?the most anti-coal slate of candidates ever fielded in the history of Virginia,? a distinction intended to lock up the rural, rugged but independent southwestern tip of the state for the GOP in a neck-and-neck governor?s race.

Republicans weren?t alone in protesting Biden?s trip. About three dozen environmental activists opposed to construction of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline stood on a street corner as Biden?s motorcade passed, waving placards that read ?Say No to Big Oil? and chanting ?Hey, Joe, you ought to know, Keystone pipeline?s got to go.?

Source: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/jun/30/vice-president-joe-biden-rouses-virginia-democrats/

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UAE has the energy to face the future

DUBAI //Abu Dhabi and Dubai are implementing ambitious projects to meet the growth in demand for energy. The emirates have some of the world's highest levels of electricity use per person.

The projects include the development of the Dh73 billion Barakah nuclear plant by 2017, and the aggressive shift towards solar power and renewable energy - core principles of the UAE's future sustainability policy - and are spearheaded by the Supreme Council for Energy.

According to a Power UAE report this month by Global Business Reports, a provider of industry-specific studies, the UAE's increasing population and industrial development has driven demand for electricity.

Experts calculate that electricity demand in the region would grow by between 8 and 12 per cent annually for the next decade thanks to population growth and industry.

"Abu Dhabi is an industrial centre and Dubai is a tourism, real estate and industry hub in the region but the demand is growing very quickly all over the country," said Dr Hassan Noura, a professor at UAE University's department of electrical engineering.

Dr Noura said that, despite the rapid rise in demand, Abu Dhabi and Dubai had coped well over the past five years and were even surpassing the demand for energy with supply.

Last week, a Dh15 billion raft of power and water projects were announced for the Northern Emirates - Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain.

Mohammed Saleh, director general of the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (Fewa), said multimillion-dirham projects were also being implemented in the eastern, western and central regions.

Dr Noura said: "Industry is growing in the Northern Emirates but at a much slower rate than in Abu Dhabi and Dubai."

Since 2009, the level of growth and development in the north has seen a rapid increase in energy consumption, which has added to the area's existing power-shortage problems.

Fewa stated in 2010 that chronic power shortages in the Northern Emirates would be brought under control within two years.

At the time, the authority told the Federal National Council that it would be able to meet the deadline because Abu Dhabi would continue feeding electricity into the federal grid and because Fewa was expanding the electricity network.

Mr Saleh said last week that the Government of Abu Dhabi had hugely supported power supply to the Northern Emirates by feeding 1,300 megawatts of electricity into the federal network.

He said the federal network in the Northern Emirates would be completely dependant on supply from Abu Dhabi by the end of the year.

The director general of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea), Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, said economic diversification and demographics had been driving the development of the power and water sectors in Abu Dhabi and around the GCC. This underscores the fact that the region is not only one of the fastest growing, but also holds the most potential in global electricity markets, he added.

Last year, Abu Dhabi's Executive Council gave the green light for a large power plant to help meet the growing need for electricity in the capital and Northern Emirates.

The plant, due to be completed in 2015, will be built in Mirfa, in the Western Region, with the capacity to generate 1,500 megawatts of electricity and desalinate 53 million gallons of water a day.

"The project is targeted to satisfy the increasing demand for electricity, which escalates annually by 11 per cent, in addition to the commitment of Adwea to satisfy the requirements of the Northern Emirates," Mr Al Nuaimi said.

Adwea supplied 2,000 megawatts to the Northern Emirates alone in 2011, he added, a commitment that will almost double by 2015.

amustafa@thenational.ae

Source: http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/uae-has-the-energy-to-face-the-future

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Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' 'Same Love' Is 'Perfect' Anthem For DOMA's Defeat

Singer Mary Lambert celebrates Supreme Court's DOMA decision, talks 'Same Love's' success.
By James Montgomery

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709772/macklemore-mary-lambert-same-love-marriage-equality-doma.jhtml

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39;People must be educated on tackling natural ... - mbps scampi

Places that are prone to natural disasters must have a proper warning system in place and their residents should be educated on how to deal with crisis situations, experts said here Wednesday.

Experts, representatives of governments and the civil society from eight South Asian countries, including India, Pakistan and Bhutan, participated in a three-day workshop on ?Regional Priorities for Knowledge Management and Strategy for Action: South Asia on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction? organised by Unesco.

Speaking to IANS on the sidelines of the event which ended Wednesday, SAARC Disaster Management Centre director Santosh Kumar said it was of utmost importance that a proper early warning system was in place for areas that were prone to natural calamities and residents were educated and informed about tackling a crisis.

?Early warnings need to be more quantified and people should be educated about the impact of such a damage?local level communities have to be educated and informed,? he said.

Agreed Lam Dorji, executive director of Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN), Bhutan, who said that when it comes to natural disasters, people at the village level have no education on how to tackle the situation.

?Changes have to be made at the ground level,? he said.

Kumar said it was difficult to say whether climate change was behind the cloudburst and incessant rains which subsequently led to flash floods and landslides, killing hundreds in the hill state of Uttarakhand.

?Scientifically, it is difficult to establish the relation between the heavy rains and climate change as more study is required on this subject though according to reports, global warming is threatening to affect the rain patterns in India,? Kumar said.

?

?

Article Reference: ?www.business-standard.com

Source: http://southasiarevealed.com/2013/06/27/people-educated-tackling-natural-calamities/

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Source: http://mbps-scampi.blogspot.com/2013/06/must-be-educated-on-tackling-natural.html

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Source: http://oil-spill-latest-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/39people-must-be-educated-on-tackling.html

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Hasty Plans To Take On GrubHub With Super Healthy Takeout and Delivery App In SF

GrubHub or Seamless - and if you're in Europe, Just Eat and many others - is, as we all know, something of a guilty secret. On demand food ordering has exploded in recent years. But trying to pick the healthy option is rarely that easy. Step in Hasty, a new bootstrapped startup which is starting in San Francicso first but hopes to expand in the US and internationally. To join the waiting list for the private beta of the 'takeout and delivery' iPhone app, visit the site. Instagram?s lead designer, Tim Van Damme, happens to be an advisor to the company. There are 200 private beta invites for TechCrunch readers via this link.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/veAMNr0RvsI/

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AP Interview: Moniz sees coal's 'significant role'

FILE - In this May 21, 2013 file photo, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz speaks after being sworn in as Energy Secretary, at the Energy Department in Washington. Moniz says coal will continue to play a role in meeting America?s energy needs even as the Obama administration seeks to reduce carbon emissions and combat global warming. In an interview with The Associated Press, Moniz refuted claims by Republicans and even some coal-state Democrats that the president?s climate plan would cripple the coal industry. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - In this May 21, 2013 file photo, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz speaks after being sworn in as Energy Secretary, at the Energy Department in Washington. Moniz says coal will continue to play a role in meeting America?s energy needs even as the Obama administration seeks to reduce carbon emissions and combat global warming. In an interview with The Associated Press, Moniz refuted claims by Republicans and even some coal-state Democrats that the president?s climate plan would cripple the coal industry. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Thursday that coal will continue to play a major role in meeting America's energy needs even as the Obama administration seeks to reduce carbon emissions and combat global warming.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Moniz dismissed claims from Republicans and some coal-state Democrats that President Barack Obama's climate plan amounted to a war on coal. He said he and the president "strongly support an all-of-the above energy policy" that embraces traditional energy sources such as coal, oil and nuclear power, as well as renewables such as solar, wind and hydro.

"The president made clear that we anticipate that coal and other fossil fuels are going to play a significant role for quite some time on the way to a very low carbon economy," he said.

Specifically, the administration plans to offer up to $8 billion in loan guarantees for technologies that can keep carbon dioxide produced by power plants from being released into the atmosphere, Moniz said. Several "carbon capture" demonstration projects are now underway, including a large plant in Port Arthur, Texas, that began operations in December.

"It's not going to happen tomorrow, but I believe in this decade we will have demonstrated the viability of large-scale storage" of carbon-dioxide from industrial operations, Moniz said.

Obama's far-reaching plan would for the first time put limits on carbon pollution from new and existing power plants, while expanding development of renewable energy on public lands.

Forty percent of U.S. carbon emissions, and one-third of greenhouse gases overall, come from electric power plants, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. Nearly 40 percent of U.S. electricity is generated by coal.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday that the plan "will shutter power plants, destroy good-paying American jobs and raise electricity bills for families that can scarcely afford it. "

And Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has called Obama's proposals "irresponsible" and said they would result in significant job losses in his coal-heavy state.

"The regulations the president wants to force on coal are not feasible," Manchin said.

He said the proposed regulations on coal cannot be met with existing technology.

Moniz said he was sympathetic to that point of view, saying a key part of the president's strategy is to push technical innovations such as carbon storage. "We have an aggressive technology department program that will lower the cost of doing that," he said.

He cited a study by the U.S. Geological Survey showing that the United States has the potential to store about 3 trillion tons of carbon dioxide in geologic basins throughout the country. The study, released this week, said the largest potential for storage is in Texas and the Southeast. Alaska and the Rocky Mountain states also have significant storage capacity.

The administration also will move more aggressively to make factories and appliances more energy efficient, Moniz said. Obama said he wants to avoid the equivalent of 3 billion tons of carbon pollution by 2030 through increased efficiency.

Environmental groups and congressional Democrats have complained that the White House was holding up a host of Energy Department regulations that would require appliances, lighting and buildings to use less energy. Many of the regulations, including proposed efficiency standards for commercial walk-in coolers and freezers, have been delayed for more than a year.

Moniz acknowledged the delay, but said, "The president's plan gives us a strong motivation to move these out quickly."

Moniz also pledged quick action on a slew of proposals to export liquefied natural gas. Just two projects have been approved in the past two years, a pace that energy companies call glacial.

"I have said, and I repeat, that we expect to have significant action this year on a case by case basis," Moniz said. "We understand there are lots of people waiting with capital ready to come off the sidelines and start investing in projects."

___

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-27-Climate%20Change-Moniz-Interview/id-ef8f588a7e9846c1a14591b08dcafe4e

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Christian Pundits Say They're the Real Victims in the Gay Marriage Fight Now

The Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional because, in part, the court found the law was created to express disapproval of a class of citizens: gay couples. But in doing so, the court created a new class of citizens to demonize: conservative Christians. At least, that's according to some conservative commentators and the religious right.

RELATED: A Guide to the Last Anti-Gay Marriage Holdouts and What They Really Believe

"You will be made to care about gay marriage," RedState editor Erick Erickson writes, despite tweeting yesterday that he really didn't care all that much about the Supreme Court's decision on DOMA. "You must either fully embrace it or be shunned? you will not be allowed to accept that others can disagree on the issue due to their orthodox faith," he says. As Justice Antonin Scalia predicted in his dissent, Erickson thinks gay marriage will come to the states soon. He says, "Once that happens, there will be an even messier culture war designed to treat traditionalism as a noxious notion of a bygone era ? the equivalent of Jim Crow." Fox News' Todd Starnes tweeted on Wednesday, "Won't be long before they outlaw the Bible as hate speech." And: "they're going after the preachers next."

RELATED: Religious Right on Gay Marriage: 'We Will Never, Never, Never, Never Give In'

Like Erickson, The New York Times' Ross Douthat worries religious objections to gay marriage will come to look like 1960s-style Southern bigotry, unless gay-rights advocates have it in their heart to show some mercy:

Unless something dramatic changes in the drift of public opinion, the future of religious liberty on these issues is going to depend in part on the magnanimity of gay marriage supporters?? the extent to which they are content with political, legal and cultural victories that leave the traditional view of marriage as a minority perspective with some modest purchase in civil society, versus the extent to which they decide to use every possible lever to make traditionalism as radioactive in the America of 2025 as white supremacism or anti-Semitism are today.

(It might be worth noting that religious groups still have the right to exclude all kinds of people. Many churches won't marry couples if one partner hasn't converted. Some don't allow divorcees to remain in the church. Some churches don't allow nonbelievers inside their temples.)

RELATED: Chaos Looms if the Court Strikes Down DOMA and Punts on Prop 8

Naturally, it was Rush Limbaugh who really clarified the stakes. "The Supreme Court majority, in its ruling, actually uses language that insults and demonizes the people who support marriage as it's been since the beginning of time," Limbaugh said on his radio show. There's an angry mob out there, and they're going to start hunting people down. The hunted are not the usual victims of hate crimes. They're people like Rush and his listeners:

I have often said that what animates people on the left -- what motivates them, what informs them -- is defeating us. No matter how, no matter what, no matter what it means. Their hatred for us overwhelms anything else. No matter the result, victory that includes impugning and demeaning and insulting us is what they seek. It's what makes them happy.

While wallowing in his victimhood, Limbaugh is still shocked at the reversal:

Okay, so here's basically what happens. Everything's going along just fine, everything's cool, and then all of a sudden homosexuals say, "You know what? We want to be married," and the people who don't think that marriage is anything other than a man and a woman said, "No, no, no, no. Marriage is strictly between a man and a woman. That's what it means; it's what it's always meant."

So the people who want the change then attack the defenders of the status quo as being hateful bigots, and the Supreme Court took up that argument and made their decision on that basis.

Everything's cool, and then all of a sudden, gay people want to be treated like everyone else. Those gays are such bigots.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/christian-pundits-theyre-real-victims-gay-marriage-fight-141007658.html

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Turkey seeks to tighten grip on Twitter after protests

By Ozge Ozbilgin and Jonathon Burch

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey said on Wednesday it had asked Twitter to set up a representative office inside the country, which could give it a tighter rein over the microblogging site it has accused of helping stir weeks of anti-government protests.

While mainstream Turkish media largely ignored the protests during the early days of the unrest, social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook emerged as the main outlets for Turks opposed to the government.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has described sites like Twitter as a "scourge" - although senior members of his party are regular users - saying they were used to spread lies about the government with the aim of terrorizing society.

Police detained several dozen people suspected of inciting unrest on social media during the protests, local reports said.

"We have told all social media that ... if you operate in Turkey you must comply with Turkish law," Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters.

"When information is requested, we want to see someone in Turkey who can provide this ... there needs to be an interlocutor we can put our grievance to and who can correct an error if there is one," he said.

While Ankara had no problems with Facebook, which had been working with Turkish authorities for a while and had representatives inside Turkey, Yildirim said it had not seen a "positive approach" from Twitter after Turkey had issued the "necessary warnings" to the site over the matter.

"Twitter will probably comply too. Otherwise this is a situation that cannot be sustained," he said, without elaborating, but stressed the aim was not to limit social media.

An official at the ministry, who asked not to be named, said the government had asked Twitter to reveal the identities of users who posted messages deemed insulting to the government or prime minister, or which flouted people's personal rights.

It was not immediately clear whether Twitter had responded.

In a statement, Facebook said it had not provided user data to Turkish authorities in response to government requests over the protests and said it was concerned about proposals internet firms may have to provide data more frequently.

"PROVOCATEURS"

Turkey's interior minister had previously announced the government was working on new regulations that would target so-called "provocateurs" on social media but there have been few details on what the new laws would entail.

One source with knowledge of the matter said the justice ministry had proposed a regulation whereby any Turk wishing to open a Twitter account would have to enter their national identification number, but that this had been rejected by the transport ministry as being technically unfeasible.

Twitter last year introduced a new feature called "Country Withheld Content", that allows the service to narrowly censor tweets considered illegal in one specific country, causing some concern among users.

The website implemented the feature for the first time in October in response to a request by German authorities, blocking messages in Germany by a right-wing group banned by police.

Turkey last year said it had won a long-running battle to persuade YouTube to operate under a Turkish web domain, giving Ankara more control over the video-sharing website and requiring the firm to pay Turkish taxes.

Turkey banned the popular website for more than two years in 2008 after users posted videos Turkey deemed insulting to the republic's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Rights groups have long pressed Turkey to reform strict Internet laws and analysts have criticized the ease with which citizens and politicians can apply to have a site banned.

Turkey cites offences including child pornography and insulting Ataturk to justify blocking websites.

But Turkish users have increasingly turned to encryption software to thwart any ramp up in censorship of the Internet.

(Writing by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Ralph Boulton)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-seeks-tighten-grip-twitter-protests-155410419.html

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Texts, video cited in charges against Hernandez

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, left, stands with his attorney Michael Fee, right, during arraignment in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, left, stands with his attorney Michael Fee, right, during arraignment in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, left, stands with his attorney Michael Fee, right, during arraignment in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, left, stands with his attorney Michael Fee, right, during arraignment in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

FILE - This Dec. 25, 2012 file photo taken by a sister and provided by the Boston Bandits football team shows Odin Lloyd, 27, whose body was found Monday, June 17, 2013 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arraigned Wednesday, June 26, 2013, on a charge of murdering Lloyd. (AP Photo/Lloyd family via the Boston Bandits, File)

Family of Odin Lloyd react during the arraignment of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

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 on 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 news 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 cell phone towers.

Lloyd, 27, a semi-pro football player with the Boston Bandits, had known Hernandez about a year and was dating the sister of Hernandez's fianc?e, 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, telling 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 cotton candy 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 the city of 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 emerges. 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 shows 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, and two were so overcome that they had to leave the courtroom.

The Patriots said in a written 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 story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-27-Hernandez-Police/id-c7abfb8130324e6582063afca1b68535

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Obese Americans confront 'brutal' disease

Hearing his doctor utter the "o" word pushed Steven Bryan to shed weight.

At 6 feet and 287 pounds, he was morbidly obese, his doctor warned him in November 2011. That news forced the 50-year-old Anaheim, Calif., resident to re-examine his habits. He made some changes, dropped below 250 and now hovers around 257. His body mass index, however, is 34.9, which, according to the medical establishment, still makes him obese.

?I'm fat, and it's my fault,? Bryan says.

It?s no surprise, then, that he criticizes last week?s decision by the American Medical Association to classify obesity as a disease. Some experts say the decision increases the chance that doctors and insurance companies could more effectively treat the 78 million adults and 12 million children in the United States with BMIs above 30.

Steven Bryan (Photo courtesy of Steven Bryan)

To Bryan, that wrongly fashions the medical establishment as a crutch?one with more meds and more billings for more doctor appointments.

He is one of several obese Americans who wrote this week on Yahoo News about their struggles with weight and their views on the AMA?s declaration. To see how they perceive their condition?described as ?a disability,? ?a disease,? ?a choice,? ?a wake-up call? or simply ?a challenge??we asked them the following questions: Does the AMA?s definition alter their outlook on obesity? Does calling it a disease help or hinder their personal weight battles? Is this a positive or negative step in battling the country?s bulge?

Bryan says the answer is clear. ?The AMA's declaration is nothing more than a happy pill designed to make overweight people like myself shift the blame for our own bad habits,? he writes.

?I ate what I wanted when I wanted: cookies, ice cream, chips, and other comfort foods. I overindulged to fill emotional voids in my life. In many ways, I followed the guidelines of Miss Piggy, the Muppet who said, ?Never eat anything you can?t lift.??

The key, he says, was his ?obnoxious and brutally honest? doctor, who encouraged him to trade in cookies for carrots.

He adds that his doctor had him recite what he ate the previous day and explained how his choices?for instance, ?an innocent bowl of unsweetened cereal? for breakfast?boosted the chance he?d snack immediately when arriving at work.

He now eats in moderation. He notes the occasional chocolate-frosted doughnut is OK and, importantly, his choice.

?The AMA gets a big fat ?F? from me for their enabling declaration,? Bryan says. ?If I want to change [my life], it's up to me. Over the last year, I made some lifestyle changes and have been keeping my weight under control, but I have more work to do.?

Alyce Wilson and her son (Photo courtesy of Alyce Wilson)

Can a ?squishier? physique possibly be contagious?

Alyce Wilson plugged her numbers into a BMI calculator and read the result: 32.6.

?Imagine my joy when I learned that,? she says in jest.

So, she rounded up her actual height by a half-inch, to 5 foot 5 inches. ?Hey, I had to try,? she says.

Her BMI fell slightly?to 31.6. ?Depending on which height I use, I'd have to lose 10 to 15 pounds just to be considered overweight.?

Wilson, a 42-year-old mom who lives in Philadelphia, is on the fence about the obesity designation. She writes somewhat tongue in cheek that her newfound obesity ?disease? is a chronic condition that could kill her if left untreated.

The cause of her condition? Bad genes? Too many muffins? An out-of-whack thyroid? Nope.

?Much as I love him, I have my toddler to blame,? she says.

Before her pregnancy, Wilson dropped 70 pounds over five years and kept if off. ?But I was not one of those pregnant women who look like a snake that swallowed a basketball,? she says. ?I packed on 58 pounds and became an ancient fertility figure.?

Now, three years after the birth of her son, she?s halfway to losing her ?baby fat,? as she calls it. ?If only reading books aloud or changing diapers burned more calories.?

And when she plugged her numbers into the BMI calculator, she worried about what her ?squishier? composition will entail.

?What will this new ?disease? designation mean? Will people avoid me, fearing my fat is contagious?? she asks. ?It's also startling?and annoying?to learn I'm no longer considered healthy, especially when that isn't true. Two years ago, growing frustrated with the glacial pace of my postpartum weight loss, I consulted my physician. She ran a series of diagnostic tests that determined I was in the healthy range for everything she tested. Some obese people have associated health problems, but I'm not one of them.?

She does hope, however, that the AMA?s decision will expand coverage for weight-loss treatments and prevention and increase insurers? leeway.

?I'm cautiously optimistic,? Wilson says.

Laura Cushing (Photo courtesy of Laura Cushing)

Looking forward to a healthy future?with assistance

Tagging obesity as a choice ignores its complexity, Laura Cushing says.

Cushing, 43, carries 324 pounds on her nearly 6-foot frame. She?s down from 390 three years ago. ?While morbid obesity doesn't have a pleasant ring to it,? the West Berlin, N.J., resident writes, ?it's certainly preferable to some of the names I've been called in reference to my body size.?

Compounding her frustration over losing weight are the myriad costs. See the doctor? That?s a co-pay. Meet with a nutritionist? Another co-pay. Blood tests and body exams set her back even more. Weight Watchers, at $65 for three months of online tools and $15 for in-person meetings, is too pricey. The $400 annual gym membership is out of her budget.

And because Cushing is unsure about the exact cause of her being overweight, losing the pounds hasn?t been easy.

?Is my obesity a ?self-inflicted? disease?? she asks. ?I can pinpoint a number of factors: My father and his side of the family were all obese, meaning it is partially genetic. I have had limited access to healthy foods at times during my life that doubtlessly contributed. I suffered a crippling car accident that impeded my ability to be active for quite a while. And, yes, there's also just that I enjoy eating and haven't always made the best choices.?

She thus welcomes a change in how the country views obesity. ?But other steps are needed,? she argues. ?Education, individual action, and community support must be achieved as well. I am hoping that instead of pushing an agenda of diet drugs and surgeries, there will be more focus on treatments that include healthy eating and exercise.?

?It is a slow process,? she acknowledges.

Read more stories about personal battles with obesity:

Obesity's classified as a disease, but losing weight is on me

My obesity is my disease and my problem

Obesity disease classification will lead to overmedication

Does your BMI make you ill?

Being called fat was bad enough; now I am obese

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/m-fat-fault-other-reactions-calling-obesity-disease-185246512.html

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Madness Made Them Great

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announces the debut of a new iPad on Jan. 27, 2010, in San Francisco.

Photo by Ryan Anson/AFP/Getty Images

The man could not stand dirt. When he built his company?s first factory in Fremont, Calif., in 1984, he frequently got down on his hands and knees and looked for specks of dust on the floor as well as on all the equipment. For Steve Jobs, who was rolling out the Macintosh computer, these extreme measures were a necessity. ?If we didn?t have the discipline to keep that place spotless,? the Apple co-founder later recalled, ?then we weren?t going to have the discipline to keep all these machines running.? This perfectionist also hated typos. As Pam Kerwin, the marketing director at Pixar during Jobs? hiatus from Apple, told me, ?He would carefully go over every document a million times and would pick up on punctuation errors such as misplaced commas.? And if anything wasn?t just right, Jobs could throw a fit. He was a difficult and argumentative boss who had trouble relating to others. But Jobs could focus intensely on exactly what he wanted?which was to design ?insanely great products??and he doggedly pursued this obsession until the day died. Hard work and intelligence can take you only so far. To be super successful like Jobs, you also need that X-factor, that maniacal overdrive?which often comes from being a tad mad.

For decades, scholars have made the case that mental illness can be an asset for writers and artists. In her landmark work Touched With Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, Johns Hopkins psychologist Kay Jamison documented the ?fine madness? that gripped dozens of prominent novelists, poets, painters, and composers. As Lord Byron wrote of his fellow bards, ?We of the craft are all crazy. Some are affected by gaiety, others by melancholy, but all are more or less touched.? For the author of Don Juan, as for many of the other artsy types profiled by Jamison, the disease in question is manic depression (or bipolar disorder), but depression is also common. Sylvia Plath?s signature works?The Bell Jar and Daddy?hinge on her suicidal despair. But while most Americans now acknowledge that many famous writers were unbalanced, few realize that the movers and shakers who have built this country?CEOs like Steve Jobs?also struggled with psychiatric maladies. This misunderstanding motived me to write my latest book, America?s Obsessives. After discussing Jobs and other contemporary figures in the prologue, I cover seven icons, including Thomas Jefferson, marketing genius Henry J Heinz, librarian Melvil Dewey, aviator Charles Lindbergh, beauty tycoon Est?e Lauder, and baseball slugger Ted Williams. (Like Jobs, the Red Sox Hall of Famer was a neatness nut who used to quiz the clubhouse attendant about why he used Tide on the team?s laundry.) By picking trailblazers who toiled in different arenas?from business and politics to information technology and sports?I wanted to show how a touch of madness is perhaps the secret to rising to the top in just about any line of work.

These men and women of action did have occasional bouts with depression, but they primarily suffered (or benefited) from another form of mental illness: obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. The key features of this superachiever?s disease include a love of order, lists, rules, schedules, details, and cleanliness; people with OCPD are addicted to work, and they are control freaks who must do everything ?their way.? OCPD is not to be confused with its cousin, obsessive-compulsive disorder. Those with OCD are paralyzed by thoughts that just won?t go away, while people with OCPD are inspired by them. Steve Jobs couldn?t stop designing products?when hospitalized in the ICU, he once ripped off his oxygen mask, insisting that his doctors improve its design on the double. Est?e Lauder couldn?t stop touching other women?s faces. Perfect strangers would do, including those she might bump into on an elevator or a street corner. Without her beauty biz as an alibi, she might have been arrested for assault with deadly lipstick or face powder. These dynamos are hard-pressed to carve out time for anything else but their compulsions. Spouses and children typically endure long stretches of neglect. In the early 1950s, with two boys at home (today both are billionaire philanthropists), Lauder was riding the rails all over the country half the year, hawking her wares.

Obsessives hate nothing so much as taking a break to relax or reflect, and they typically do so only when felled by illness. ?Home. Not well. Busy about house. Always plenty to do. Cannot well be idle and believe will rather wear out than rust out,? wrote the 35-year-old Henry Heinz in his diary in 1880, four years after starting his eponymous processed food company. Heinz?s compulsions included measuring everything in sight?he never left home without his steel tape measure, which he used on many an unsuspecting doorway?and keeping track of meaningless numbers. When traveling across the Atlantic on a steamer in 1886, he jotted down in his diary its precise dimensions as well as the number of passengers who rode in steerage class. But this love of pseudo-quantification would produce in the early 1890s one of the sturdiest slogans in American advertising history??57 Varieties.? At the time, his company actually produced more than 60 products, but this number fetishist felt that there was something magical about sevens. By his early 50s, Heinz had already driven himself close to a complete nervous collapse on numerous occasions, and he reluctantly passed the reins of the company to his heirs. For the last two decades of his life, his children insisted that the overbearing paterfamilias chill out in a German sanatorium every summer, either at Dr. Carl von Dapper?s outfit in Bad Kissingen or Dr. Franz Dengler?s in Baden-Baden.

Melvil Dewey, whose childhood fixation with the number 10 led him to devise the Dewey Decimal Classification system, also was forced into an early retirement by his feverish pace. Dewey published the first edition of his search engine?the Google of its day, which is still in use in libraries in nearly 150 countries?in 1876, when he was only 24. For the next quarter of a century, Dewey took on a series of demanding jobs, typically juggling two or three at a time, as a librarian, businessman, and editor. He became the head of the world?s first library school, at Columbia University in 1884. According to a running joke, Dewey had a habit of dictating notes to two stenographers at the same time. In the end, it was his sexual compulsions that did him in. He was a serial sexual harasser and in 1905 was ostracized from the American Library Association, the organization that he had helped found a generation earlier, when four prominent female members of the guild filed complaints against him.

The aviator Charles Lindbergh also was an order aficionado whose oversized libido created a mess. This demanding dad saw his five children only a couple of months a year. He ruled over them and his wife, the best-selling author Anne Morrow Lindbergh, not with an iron fist but with ironclad lists. He kept track of each child?s infractions, which included such innocuous activities as gum-chewing. And he insisted that Anne track all her household expenditures, including every 15 cents spent for rubber bands, in copious account books. After Lindbergh turned 50, feeding his sex addiction became his full-time job; for the rest of his life, he was constantly flying around the world to visit his three German ?wives,? longtime mistresses with whom he fathered seven children, and to hook up with various other flings.

Remarkably, though these obsessive icons were all awash in neurotic tics, there has been no shortage of hagiographers who idealize their every move. Of Heinz?s penchant for collecting seemingly random numbers, one biographer has observed that he ?enthusiastically wrote down in his diary the statistics that one must know and record on such an occasion.? Another saw in Heinz?s factoid-finding a reason to compare him to ?a scientist such as Thomas Edison.? The author of the first biography of Dewey made the laughable claim that ?there was no psycho-neurosis in [him].? Even today, some still agree with what New York Gov. Al Smith said about Lindbergh soon after his legendary flight to Paris: ?He represents to us ? all that we wish?a young American at his best.? We Americans like our heroes and do not easily let them go. By pointing out the character flaws in our superachievers, I do not intend to diminish the greatness of their achievements. Instead I aim to show exactly how they managed to pull them off. And more often than not, it was with a touch of madness.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/06/business_success_from_mental_illness_steve_jobs_henry_heinz_and_est_e_lauder.html

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Jon Gosselin: I live in the woods now

Celebs

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper TODAY

8 hours ago

Michael Buckner / Getty Images file

Jon Gosselin in 2012.

Once Jon Gosselin lived in a large house in Pennsylvania and his life unrolled on television in front of millions. Now, the dad of eight lives "in the woods," and says he doesn't even have an address.

Gosselin didn't clarify exactly where or how he lives, but he confirmed to VH1's "The Gossip Table" that he's taken to a more private life after living in an apartment where paparazzi and others "figured out where I was."

Gosselin, then-wife Kate, and their twins and sextuplets starred on "Jon and Kate Plus 8" for five seasons before divorcing. The show continued as "Kate Plus 8" despite Jon Gosselin suing to prevent filming of his children.

Gosselin was asked if Kim Kardashian and Kanye West should allow their newborn daughter, North, to appear on the reality show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," and unsurprisingly, he didn't think so.

"I wanted to raise my kids off television, so I changed my mind," he said. "So I would definitely not film with my newborn child."

Gosselin was also asked if he still wore Ed Hardy clothing, the brand he favored at the height of his tabloid fame in 2009. He said no, adding "I gave all my (Hardy clothing) to my mother." Tattoo artist Hardy recently told the New York Post that an association with Gosselin "tanked" his clothing brand.

He also said he'd be interested in appearing on "Dancing With the Stars," as his ex-wife Kate Gosselin famously did in 2010. She was the fourth celebrity eliminated on the show's tenth season, and partner Tony Dovolani later joked he needed "a lot of therapy" after partnering with her.

"I feel like I could probably get further than her," Jon Gosselin said.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/jon-gosselin-i-live-woods-now-6C10433570

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Heat's on in Paula Deen's kitchen as Smithfield Ham drops chef

11 hours ago

AP

This undated image released by Smithfield Foods shows celebrity chef Paula Deen wearing a Smithfield apron as she stands in front of various Smithfield meat products. Smithfield dropped Deen as a spokeswoman.

While the saying goes, "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," that's easier said than done for a woman who has built a food empire out of a humble, Southern home kitchen.

Fallout for the celebrity chef Paula Deen continued Monday, as Smithfield Foods announced it has severed its partnership with Deen after it was revealed she used racist language.

"Smithfield condemns the use of offensive and discriminatory language and behavior of any kind. Therefore, we are terminating our partnership with Paula Deen," the company said Monday in a statement to CNBC. "Smithfield is determined to be an ethical food industry leader and it is important that our values and those of our spokespeople are properly aligned."

Court documents revealed the food celebrity?famous for high-calorie Southern cuisine?has used racial slurs and tolerated discriminatory jokes in her various business dealings. Deen has since posted three online video apologies. Fans, meanwhile, are flooding social-media outlets to defend their queen of Southern cooking.

Smithfield's decision to ax its partnership with Deen comes after the Food Network on Friday dropped Deen, and said it would not renew her contract, which expires at the end of this month. Her cooking shows have been a staple on that network for years?in which fans watch her fry butter and use doughnuts as hamburger buns.

(Read More:Paula Deen's Fans Take to Social Media to Defend Her)

Deen's Empire Worth an Estimated $6.5 Million Annually: Analyst

Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for The NPD Group, estimates Deen's empire to be worth around $6.5 million annually?which includes her retail and contract revenue.

Beyond her food network contract, Deen has product deals with many companies from pharmaceuticals to big-box retailers. Deen's name is associated with a diabetes drug by Novo Nordisk. Deen previously disclosed she suffers from diabetes.

Deen's vast product deals also span a who's who of retail?Macy's, Sears, Wal-Mart, JCPenney and QVC (owned by Liberty Interactive). Many of those companies are now evaluating their relationships with the well-known chef.

In a statement to CNBC, Paul Capelli, QVC vice president of corporate communications, said: "QVC shares the concerns being raised around the unfortunate Paula Deen situation. QVC does not tolerate discriminatory behavior. We are closely monitoring these events and the ongoing litigation.

"We are reviewing our business relationship with Ms. Deen, and in the meantime, we have no immediate plans to have her appear on QVC."

Sears Holdings tells CNBC they are "currently exploring next steps as they pertain to Ms. Deen's products."

Bad Celebrity Behavior in a Digital Age

As companies address the Deen situation, the public jury on her racial comments is still out.

Americans' willingness to forgive celebrity misconduct often depends on whether the transgressions occur in the particular field the celebrity "plays in," said Eric Martin, a partner at branding firm Boost Partners.

"Tiger [Woods] rebounds, as does Manti Te'o, in a way that Lance Armstrong or Pete Rose never will" because the misconduct by Rose and Armstrong was in their respective industries, Martin explained.

"Martha Stewart's insider trading conviction was far enough outside her field of celebrity that she could reemerge," Martin said.

In Deen's case, the public is not only reassessing her food business and dealings?but its star, who built an empire on a warm, giving public persona.

"Paula Deen's celebrity isn't simply about her food. It was also about her being the loving mom/grandma people admired. She had celebrity for being a nice, decent, giving person," Martin said. "Using racial slurs, no matter where one is from, but particularly in the South, strikes at the very heart of that image."

But perhaps unlike some previous celebrity flubs, Deen's missteps are happening in a rapid-fire, social-media age, where judgement via Tweets can be swift.

"Damage can happen at hyper speed in this era of social media, and the blogosphere," said Marty Brochstein, senior vice president of the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association.

Brochstein also agrees with Martin in that Deen's controversy could be especially damaging. "Anything that even hints at racism is particularly injurious to a brand," Brochstein said.

Brochstein said it's important for companies that have business arrangements with Deen to react?but not over react.

Martin, however, thinks Deen's image may have taken too much of a hit already. "I think her star is quite tarnished and will never regain its luster. She certainly can redeem her reputation among her core followers," Martin said. "But I do not see her empire being rebuilt," he said.

? 2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2dbd0c7c/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cheats0Epaula0Edeens0Ekitchen0Esmithfield0Eham0Edrops0Echef0E6C10A43540A2/story01.htm

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China says it respects HK government's handling of Snowden case

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Monday that it respects the Hong Kong government's handling of the case of fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden in accordance with Hong Kong law.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying was responding to a question about whether China was involved in the decision for Snowden to leave Hong Kong.

Hua also said at a regular briefing that China is gravely concerned about Snowden's allegations of U.S. hacking attacks on China.

In a major embarrassment for U.S. President Barack Obama, an aircraft carrying Snowden landed in Moscow on Sunday from Hong Kong after the Chinese territory allowed him to leave despite requests from Washington that he be arrested.

(Reporting by Michael Martina, Writing by Sui-Lee Wee)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-says-respects-hk-governments-handling-snowden-case-072232381.html

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NSA Whistleblower Snowden Requests Asylum In Ecuador After Leaving Hong Kong And Travelling To Russia

Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who exposed the NSA’s PRISM surveillance program and a number of similar government initiatives over the course of the last few weeks, has left Hong Kong and is currently in transit in Moscow. According to Wikileaks, which has been providing legal assistance to Snowden, he “is bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks.” That democratic nation, the earliest reports suggested, was Venezuela, with Moscow just being the first stop on his journey. Now, however, it looks like Ecuador, which also offered asylum to Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange, has taken an interest in this case, too. Earlier this week, it seemed Snowden was going to head for Iceland. Update (9:58am PT): It now looks as if Snowden has indeed applied for asylum in Ecuador. The country’s foreign minister just tweeted this: The Government of Ecuador has received an asylum request from Edward J. #Snowden— Ricardo Patiño Aroca (@RicardoPatinoEC) June 23, 2013 Wikileaks has also updated its press release to read: “He is bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks.” We have updated this story to reflect that. The Ecuadorean Ambassador is still here at Moscow airport. It looks like Ecuador is Edward Snowden's destination http://t.co/ZUfwND94nJ— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) June 23, 2013 As far as we can see, there are no direct flights that connect Moscow to Ecuador’s capital of Quito, so if Snowden would travel commercially (and the distance is out of the reach of most standard business jets), he will likely have to make another stop. Cuba would be a likely candidate and it was discussed earlier today when it still looked as if Snowden was heading to Venezuela. The U.S. has revoked Snowden’s passport, though, which shouldn’t be a problem for entering Ecuador, but it could complicate his travels through another country. Snowden was allowed to leave Hong Kong legally, Hong Kong’s government said today, because the U.S.’s request for the issue of a warrant of arrest “did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law.” Hong Kong asked the U.S. for more information, but because it didn’t receive this yet, it had “no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.”

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

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'Supermoon' lights up night sky

23 June 2013 Last updated at 01:30 ET

The night sky has been illuminated by what appears to be a much bigger and brighter Moon.

The so-called "supermoon" occurs when the Moon reaches its closest point to earth, known as a perigee full moon.

The effect makes the Moon seem 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it is furthest from the planet.

Skywatchers who miss the phenomenon this weekend because of cloudy skies will have to wait until August 2014 for the next one.

Space expert Heather Couper said "supermoons" were the result of coincidence.

"The Moon goes round in an oval orbit so it can come very close to us, and if that coincides with a full moon, then it can look absolutely enormous," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

She explained that when the Moon was high in the sky, it looked normal.

But as it got closer to the horizon, a "kind of optical illusion" occurred where it looked bigger when compared with trees or houses, she said.

She suggested it might be possible to dispel the illusion by turning away from the Moon, bending over and looking at the sky from between your legs.

Writing in Sky and Telescope about the "myth of the supermoon", Shari Balouchi said much of what we called the supermoon was just our eyes playing tricks on us.

"The supermoon might look bigger than normal if you see it in the evening when the Moon's just rising, but the real size difference isn't big enough to notice."

BBC Weather's Darren Bett said he was confident most people in the UK would have been able to see the Moon at some point on Saturday night, even if only fleetingly.

Sunday night should be better, he added, with people in south-west England and south Wales likely to have the clearest views of the Moon.

However Marek Kukula, public astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said people should not expect the supermoon to look that much bigger than normal.

"It won't fill the sky," he said.

"It's at its most impressive when the Moon is close to the horizon, ie when it's rising or setting - people will need to check online for rising and setting times for their locality."

Dr Kukula said the US Naval Observatory and HM Nautical Almanac Office had online tools for checking the moon's rising and setting times.

Scientists have dismissed the idea that the perigee can cause strange behaviour, like lycanthropy or natural disasters.

Dr Couper said the tides this weekend would be unaffected.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23013393#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Twinkies To Return To Shelves July 15, Hostess Says

NEW YORK ? Hostess is betting on a sweet comeback for Twinkies when they return to shelves next month.

The company that went bankrupt after an acrimonious fight with its unionized workers last year is back up and running under new owners and a leaner structure. It says it plans to have Twinkies and other snack cakes back on shelves starting July 15.

Based on the outpouring of nostalgia sparked by its demise, Hostess is expecting a blockbuster return next month for Twinkies and other sugary treats, such as CupCakes and Donettes. The company says the cakes will taste the same but that the boxes will now bare the tag line "The Sweetest Comeback In The History Of Ever."

"A lot of impostor products have come to the market while Hostess has been off the shelves," says Daren Metropoulos, a principal of the investment firm Metropoulos & Co., which teamed up with Apollo Global Management to buy a variety of Hostess snacks.

Hostess Brands Inc. was struggling for years before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in early 2012. Workers blamed the troubles on years of mismanagement, as well as a failure of executives to invest in brands to keep up with changing tastes. The company said it was weighed down by higher pension and medical costs than its competitors, whose employees weren't unionized.

To steer it through its bankruptcy reorganization, Hostess hired restructuring expert Greg Rayburn as its CEO. But Rayburn ultimately failed to reach a contract agreement with its second largest union. In November, he blamed striking workers for crippling the company's ability to maintain normal production and announced that Hostess would liquidate.

The shuttering triggered a rush on Hostess snack cakes, with stores selling out of the most popular brands within hours.

About 15,000 unionized workers lost their jobs in the aftermath.

In unwinding its business, Hostess sold off its brands in chunks to different buyers. Its major bread brands including Wonder were sold to Flowers Foods, which makes Tastykakes. McKee Foods, which makes Little Debbie snack cakes, snapped up Drake's Cake, which includes Devil Dogs and Yodels.

Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo bought Twinkies and other Hostess cakes for $410 million.

Apollo Global Management, founded by Leon Black, is known for buying troubled brands then selling them for a profit; its investments include fast-food chains Carl's Jr. and Hardee's. Metropoulos & Co., which has revamped then sold off brands including Chef Boyardee and Bumble Bee, also owns Pabst Brewing Co.

That could mean some cross-promotional marketing is in store.

"There is certainly a natural association with the two," Metropoulos said. "There could be some opportunities for them to seen together."

The trimmed-down Hostess Brands LLC has a far less costly operating structure than the predecessor company. Some of the previous workers were hired back, but they're no longer unionized.

Hostess will also now deliver to warehouses that supply retailers, rather than delivering directly to stores, said Rich Seban, the president of Hostess who previously served as chief operating officer. That will greatly expand its reach, letting it deliver to dollar stores and nearly all convenience stores in the U.S.

Previously, he said Hostess was only able to reach about a third of the country's 150,000 convenience stores.

Production was also consolidated, from 11 bakery plants to four ? one each in Georgia, Kansas, Illinois and Indiana. The headquarters were moved from Texas to Kansas City, Mo., where Hostess was previously based and still had some accounting offices.

In the months since they vanished from shelves, the cakes have been getting a few touchups as well. For the CupCakes, the company is now using dark cocoa instead of milk chocolate to give them a richer, darker appearance.

Seban stressed that the changes were to improve the cakes, not to cut costs. Prices for the cakes will remain the same; a box of 10 Twinkies will cost $3.99.

Looking ahead, Seban sees Hostess expanding its product lineup. He noted that Hostess cakes are known for three basic textures: the spongy cake, the creamy filling and the thicker icing. But he said different textures ? such as crunchy ? could be introduced, as well as different flavors.

"We can have some fun with that mixture," he said.

He also said there are many trendy health attributes the company could tap into, such as gluten-free, added fiber, low sugar and low sodium.

During bankruptcy proceedings, Hostess had said that its overall sales had been declining, although the company didn't give a breakout on the performance of individual brands. But Seban is confident Twinkies will have staying power beyond its re-launch.

As for the literal shelf-life, Seban is quick to refute the snack cake's fabled indestructibility.

"Forty-five days ? that's it," he said. "They don't last forever."

___

Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicehoi

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/23/twinkies-july-return-to-shelves_n_3486930.html

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