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Sunday, June 30, 2013
Saturday, June 29, 2013
HBT: Rays' Longoria exits with foot injury
Rays third baseman Evan Longoria was taken out before the start of the top of the third inning of tonight?s game against the Tigers. The Tampa Bay Times reports Longoria re-aggravated the plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He will be reevaluated tomorrow. Kelly Johnson replaced him at the hot corner.
Longoria missed more than three months last year due to a strained left hamstring, so another injury is the last thing the Rays want to hear right now, especially with the season he is having. The 27-year-old has a .920 OPS and racked up 3.6 WAR already, the sixth-most in the American League, per Baseball Reference.
Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/28/evan-longoria-exits-early-with-foot-injury/related/
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A year in asylum, Assange digs in for the long haul
The Wikileaks founder says even if the Swedish investigation against him were dropped, he would not leave his 'space station' existence in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange show letters that read 'Free Assange' as they wait for his appearance in front of the Ecuadorian embassy in London Sunday. Today marks the anniversary of Mr. Assange seeking sanctuary in the embassy, where he is trying to avoid being extradited to
Frank Augstein/AP
EnlargeIt?s been a year since Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, walked into the Ecuadorean embassy in London and sought political asylum, living there ever since as if in a ?space station.?
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In an interview with various news outlets marking today?s anniversary, he said that even if Sweden were to drop its investigation into sex allegations against him, he plans to stay put. That means London faces the prospect of an unusual guest for years to come.
"I wouldn't say I wouldn't leave," he said. But "my lawyers have advised me I shouldn't leave the embassy because of the risk of arrest and extradition to the United States."
Mr. Assange?s plight has drawn in equal measure support and disdain. Some call him a criminal and danger to security, others a crusader of freedom of information. And those same divides are apparent within the United Kingdom itself: just read the comments section of any Guardian article on the Wikileaks head, and the range of views are obvious.?
But it appears the UK, after a year hosting Assange, does not want another leaker in its midst. Britain last week warned global airlines not to let Edward Snowden, the American contractor who identified himself as the source of the leak about widespread American surveillance programs called PRISM, into British territory. And this was before Mr. Snowden released documents showing British intelligence spying on foreign diplomats at a G20 in London in 2009.
Assange linked Britain?s position on Snowden?to his own, saying the country "doesn't want to end up with another Julian Assange," he said. Yet, Assange said, the UK should consider Snowden a hero and offer him asylum.
That?s not something that Britain was willing to do for Assange, who walked into the Ecuadorean embassy last June after the British government said it would send him to Sweden, where he faces questioning over sexual assault and rape. Assange, who maintains his innocence in that case, says his real fear is being extradited to the US for being behind one of the biggest leaks of confidential documents in US history.
Ecuador has granted Assange asylum, but he cannot leave the embassy in London because Britain promises to arrest him if he does. Recent talks between Ecuador and the UK did nothing to end the stalemate. So the status quo remains: Assange living without natural sunlight, relying on a sun lamp instead, and working 17-hour days in front of his computer, he says, with police on constant guard. He?s likened his circumstances to living in a space station.
Assange is not the only one to compare himself to Snowden. After Snowden answered questions on an online chat this week, Zeke Miller, in Time, draws parallels between the two men.??There were other clear echoes of Assange?s?past remarks?in Snowden?s responses Monday. Both men suggest that much, if not all, American spying abroad is wrong, including the spying on allies and foreign leaders that perhaps every government has practiced for decades, if not centuries,? Miller writes.
Assange has drawn critics who fault him for putting global security at risk, but also has his share of detractors who distinguish the issue of Wikileaks from the separate sex allegations he faces.
Snowden, meanwhile, has gotten some support in Britain for leaking information about PRISM, says?Orla Lynskey, a lecturer in law at the London School of Economics and Political Science. ?What really struck people here was the disproportionate nature of that kind of intelligence, the blanket surveillance,? Ms. Lynskey says. ?That?s where Snowden gets some support.?
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British Muslims urged to denounce sex crimes in forceful sermon
By Costas Pitas
LONDON (Reuters) - Muslims across Britain heard a sermon on Friday urging them to help prevent a recurrence of recent high-profile crimes such as organised child rape and the gruesome murder of a soldier in London, which have put their community in the spotlight.
Congregations in around 500 mosques heard the sermon arguing that Muslims must speak out following the conviction of men of Pakistani and east African origin on Thursday for running a child sex ring in the city of Oxford.
The case, where seven men were convicted of offences including child rape or sexual activity with children, followed others in Derby, Rochdale and Telford in which Muslim men, usually from Pakistani and South Asian backgrounds, were found guilty of 'grooming', or luring children into sex rings.
The murder of soldier Lee Rigby outside London's Woolwich barracks last month, which is being treated as terrorism, has prompted a series of demonstrations against Islam and a rise in islamophobic attacks, including suspected arson at an Islamic centre in London.
"The combination of publicity from a number of these cases hitting the headlines in a short space of time and the fallout from the Woolwich case will create a major challenge for the Muslim community," the sermon read.
"With so many individuals from a Muslim background involved in such crimes, we have a responsibility to condemn this," congregations heard, as they were encouraged to take action to prevent such acts.
Prime Minister David Cameron had called the Woolwich attack "a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country".
The Muslim Council of Britain, which represents Britain's nearly 3 million Muslims, sent out the sermon in conjunction with a group that campaigns against street grooming.
"We wholeheartedly condemn the disgraceful actions of those involved in these cases and welcome the convictions in the cases that have been through the courts," the sermon said.
"We wish to show our support for the (victims) of this terrible crime, many of whom are innocent children, and we wish to affirm that Islam as a religion of mercy and compassion places a strong obligation on safeguarding and protecting the weak and vulnerable from (oppression) and abuse, particularly of women and children."
Ansar Ali, spokesman for the Together Against Grooming project, said the sermon was unprecedented.
"We have brought together mosques and imams from all over the UK, irrespective of differences, to collectively deliver a hard-hitting sermon," he said.
"We are united in our stand against sexual grooming and, as Muslims, we are leading the effort to rid society of this crime."
(Reporting By Costas Pitas; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-muslims-urged-denounce-sex-crimes-forceful-sermon-163346380.html
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Straight from the horse's toe: The world's oldest genome
Scientists have reconstructed the genome of a horse that lived some 700,000-years-ago, mapping out the evolutionary history of the modern horse.
A Przewalski's horse is shown in Khomyntal, western Mongolia, in one of three reintroduction sites. From a tiny fossil bone found in the Yukon, scientists have deciphered the genetic code of an ancient horse about 700,000 years old. The researchers also found new evidence that the endangered Przewalski's horse, found in Mongolia and China, is the last surviving wild horse.
Claudia Feh/Przewalski's Horse Association via Nature/AP
EnlargeResearchers have sequenced the genome of a horse that lived some 700,000 years ago ? the oldest genome ever sequenced ? making it possible to reconstruct an evolutionary narrative of the modern horse, whose journey through history has been intimately bound to our own.
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According to a study published in the current ?issue of the scientific journal, Nature, the genome, of an ancient horse that lived in what is now Canada?s Yukon, is about 10 times older than the previous oldest genome, of a human that lived about 70,000 years ago. That means the hindsight of paleogenomics has been dialed backwards some 630,000 years from where it was, offering up the extraordinary possibility that scientists may be able to reproduce our prehistoric record in greater detail than ever before, tracing not just the evolution of horses but ? tantalizingly ? of humans.
"We have beaten the time barrier,? said evolutionary biologist Ludovic Orlando of the University of Copenhagen, a lead author of the study, in a statement.??All of a sudden, you have access to many more extinct species than you could have ever dreamed of sequencing before.?
Discovered in 2003, the ancient horse bones were bound in the world?s oldest known permafrost at Canada?s remote Thistle Creek site. A multinational team of scientists, headed by Dr. Orlando and Eske Willerslev, also of the University of Copenhagen, then extracted DNA from one of the animal?s toes after determining that the bone was a promising candidate to still have viable DNA: had the DNA not been kept cold and dry, it would have not survived those more than half-million years.
Sequencing DNA as fantastically old as that of the ice-encased horse is tough work, and the successful mapping of its genome is a testament to just how far sequencing technology has come, since the first genome, of a virus that infects bacteria, was sequenced in 1976.?
The scientists mulled over fragmented and deteriorating DNA, building from disjointed strings of just 25 individual letters a complex genome that is billions of bases long. And since the DNA had accumulated bacteria tenants during its long, icy repose, scientists also had to ferret out which sequences belonged to the horse, and which to the bacteria.
That complex sequencing needed fact checking. To confirm the horse?s age, scientists compared it to younger horses? genomes, sequencing a DNA sample from the frozen bones of a horse some 43,000-years-old, as well as samples from a donkey, five modern domestic horses, and a wild horse native to Mongolia. They say they are now confident that the horse is a staggering 700,000 years old.?
Scientists had once believed that horses had followed a simple, linear evolutionary road ? the sort that can be easily printed onto a T-shirt ? growing from a tiny version to the modern domesticated horse, frolicking cowboy astride it. But recent developments have complicated that linearity, suggesting that the horse?s evolution looked less like a T-shirt design and more like an unruly river, swelling to enormous volumes and pitching over waterfalls, and splitting off into tributaries, some with dead-ends.
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Friday, June 28, 2013
6 Ways Supreme Court's Rulings Will Affect Gay Couples
Two Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage announced today (June 26) were hailed as landmark victories for the gay rights movement, and will significantly change the recognition of legal rights for many gay couples and their children.
Earlier today, in a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited lawfully married same-sex couples from accessing the federal benefits afforded to opposite-sex couples and their families. Now all marriages legally performed by states will be recognized by the federal government.
The Court also dismissed a case on Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage, which is likely to pave the way for "The Golden State" to become the 13th state to recognize same-sex unions. But while the Supreme Court's decision reversed California's ban, the rulings do not overturn laws banning same-sex marriage in other states. [Infographic: States Where Gay Marriage Is Legal]
In the aftermath of today's DOMA rulings, here are six ways the lives of gay couples could be affected:
1. Inheritance
In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages that were deemed legal by individual states. With regards to federal benefits, the law defined "marriage" as being between a man and woman.
The case challenging DOMA, U.S. v. Windsor, involved New York residents Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, who legally married in Toronto, Canada in 2007. After Spyer died in 2009, the Internal Revenue Service was not allowed to recognize Windsor as a surviving spouse eligible to inherit Spyer's property. As a result, Windsor was required to pay more than $360,000 in federal estate taxes, which do not apply for marriages between a man and a woman.
Now that DOMA has been deemed unconstitutional, legally married same-sex spouses can inherit their deceased spouse's property without paying estate taxes.
2. Health Care
With DOMA struck down, couples in states where same-sex unions are legal will now have access to a range of federal benefits relating to health care. Married same-sex couples will be able to receive employee health coverage more easily, and be eligible for medical leave and health benefits under COBRA. Previously, when a gay spouse received health care benefits through his or her partner's employer, the value of that coverage was taxed as federal income (this was not the case for straight married couples). These extra charges should go away on married gay couples' federal tax returns now.
3. Military Benefits
Military benefits will be made available to all military spouses following the Supreme Court's ruling, according to officials at the Department of Defense. Previously, the DOMA law had prevented federal agencies from offering the same benefits to same-sex spouses afforded to opposite-sex military spouses. [8 Supreme Court Rulings That Changed US Families]
"The Department of Defense welcomes the Supreme Court's decision today on the Defense of Marriage Act," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement. "The Department will immediately begin the process of implementing the Supreme Court's decision in consultation with the Department of Justice and other executive branch agencies. The Department of Defense intends to make the same benefits available to all military spouses ? regardless of sexual orientation ? as soon as possible. That is now the law, and it is the right thing to do."
"Every person who serves our nation in uniform stepped forward with courage and commitment," Hagel added. "All that matters is their patriotism, their willingness to serve their country and their qualifications to do so. Today's ruling helps ensure that all men and women who serve this country can be treated fairly and equally, with the full dignity and respect they so richly deserve."
4. United States Citizenship
Same-sex spouses who are American citizens will now be able to sponsor their non-citizen spouses for U.S. visas, and can qualify for immigration measures toward citizenship. Under DOMA, only marriages between a man and a woman were recognized by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Already, because of the Supreme Court ruling, a New York City immigration judge has halted deportation proceedings?for a Colombian man?who is legally married to a male U.S. citizen, Think Progress reported.
5. Social Security Benefits
The Supreme Court's landmark ruling also affords social security survivor benefits to legally married same-sex couples. This means that in the event of death, gay people will be eligible to receive their deceased spouses' Social Security checks, if they amount to more than the ones currently being collected.
6. Income Tax Returns
With the repeal of DOMA, married same-sex couples in states that legally recognize the unions will be able to jointly file state and federal tax returns. In states where same-sex marriage is not recognized, however, individuals may be able to file joint federal tax returns, but will still have to submit single tax forms to the state.
Previously, married gay couples had to submit their state tax returns as if they were married (either filing separately or jointly), and their federal returns as if they were single. Now, taxes have become significantly less complicated for gay couples across the country.
Follow Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow LiveScience @livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/6-ways-supreme-courts-rulings-affect-gay-couples-214945763.html
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
Study confirms social brain theory
26 June 2013
Last updated at 02:48 ET
The social brain theory - that animals in large social groups have bigger brains - has now been supported by a computer model.
For animals in smaller social groups, the cost of having a large brain outweighs the benefits.
Scientists used a simulation modelling technique to confirm that large social groups are only possible through sophisticated communication.
The study is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The human brain is a very costly organ which consumes a lot of energy. Animals that live in small social groups could therefore be at a disadvantage if they had large brains taking up processing power that could better be used elsewhere.
A team at Oxford University has now looked at the cognitive demands of making social decisions using a method called agent-based modelling, which models simplified representations of reality.
As expected, they found that more complex social decisions take up more 'brain' power.
The cognitive complexity of language evolved as social groups became larger and more complex, said lead author of the study Tamas David-Barrett from the University of Oxford.
He explained that a group of five is an ideal number to coordinate an event such as a hunt, but as the group size increases, the coordination involved would become increasingly complex.
"This paper shows what has been hypothesized since the late 1980s - that to live in a large group you need to have a large brain, and to live in a really large group like humans do, you need language.
"It was postulated this might be the case, but nobody has ever shown how it would happen. This paper provides a formal mathematical mechanism behind the theory."
The computational method used could also have other applications, like how inequality can emerge in a community, added Dr David-Barrett.
"We've introduced a new way of approaching how to model the way separate agents - ranging from dots on a screen to humans - get to some kind of communal or social action."
Ryota Kanai from the University of Sussex, who was not involved in the research, said it was an important study as it "refines existing theories by showing how the ability of information processing might interact with group size".
But he added that though the model supports the social brain hypothesis, it cannot alone provide an absolute proof for any theory on evolution.
"Unlike other types of science, it is difficult to repeat evolution in the laboratory. The model is based on abstraction of social interactions, which is great for the purpose of understanding the general relationships between group size and the ability to process social information.
"But it may not fully capture the complexity of real social interactions. For example, there might be more complex types of communication not considered in the model.
"Nevertheless, the study has made an important first step by offering a formal description of the social brain," Dr Kanai told BBC News.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23045905#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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YouTube Celebrates Pride With #ProudToLove Spotlight Channel
As Pride month comes to a close, YouTube is following in the footsteps of parent company Google in showcasing a collection of LGBT-themed videos on the YouTube spotlight channel to celebrate a historic month in the LGBT community. Just yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States weighed in on two major cases that could affect the rights of the gay community with regards to marriage equality. SCOTUS struck down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, and dismissed an appeal by defenders of Prop. 8, thereby clearing the way for same-sex marriages in California to resume. With these decisions setting the stage, this weekend should be the best Pride celebration ever (at least in NYC), and YouTube is here to help usher in the gayness. Here’s what the company said in an official blog post: At YouTube, we?re proud to stand with the LGBT community to support equal rights and marriage equality ? we believe that everyone has the right to love and be loved. Pride Month may be coming to a close, but we hope YouTube is a place where you can feel proud and build a community all year long. Google has always been a huge proponent of gay rights, and YouTube has been one of the most important online destinations for the LGBT community to find a voice. The “It Gets Better” campaign, which saw participation from some big-name celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and Aleksander Skarsgard, was one of the biggest pro-LGBT campaigns in the world, and surely helped some young people find some hope and comfort. Other tech companies have chimed in as well, including Facebook’s release of the particular statistic that over 70 percent of Americans are friends with someone who is gay on Facebook ? something that should make us think twice before posting a thoughtless status update. Those who want to participate in YouTube’s #ProudToLove campaign should include the #ProudToLove hashtag in their videos for a chance to be featured in the YouTube spotlight channel. Happy Pride, everyone! Warning: This video may induce tears.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/-jmkRPL-8j8/
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Lawmakers to weigh rights of IRS official in Tea Party fracas
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representative's investigatory committee will vote on Friday on the legal future of an embattled tax agency official at the center of the Tea Party targeting scandal, who invoked her constitutional right not to testify last month.
At a May 22 House Oversight and Government Reform hearing, Lois Lerner, the former head of the Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt division, invoked her constitutional right not to answer lawmakers' questions.
But by reading a statement before refusing to testify, some Republicans said Lerner waived her rights.
Committee Chairman Republican Darrell Issa dismissed Lerner from the hearing with a warning that she could be called back for another appearance.
If committee members vote on Friday that Lerner waived her rights, she could be brought back before the panel to answer questions, the committee said in a statement on Tuesday.
A lawyer for Lerner, who was director of the IRS tax-exempt unit during the time period when an inspector general found inappropriate scrutiny of Tea Party and other conservatives groups, defended her actions. "Protesting your innocence and invoking right not to answer questions, which is what she did, is not a waiver" of constitutional rights, said Lerner's lawyer, William Taylor, in a statement to Reuters.
(Reporting by Patrick Temple-West; Editing by Kim Dixon and Jackie Frank)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lawmakers-weigh-rights-irs-official-tea-party-fracas-225309163.html
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U.S. New Home Sales Hit Fastest Pace in 5 years ... - AOL Real Estate
by Jun 25th 2013 2:00PM
Updated Jun 25th 2013 2:06PM
WASHINGTON - Sales of new homes rose in May to the fastest pace in five years, a solid gain that added to signs of a steadily improving housing market.
New home sales rose 2.1 percent last month compared with April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 476,000, the highest level since July 2008, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
The median price of a new home sold in May was $263,900, up 3.3 percent from a year ago.
Sales of new homes remain below the 700,000 annual rate that's considered healthy by most economists. But the pace has increased 29 percent from a year ago.
Analysts say the housing recovery is looking more sustainable and should continue to boost economic growth this year, offsetting some drag from higher taxes and federal spending cuts.
The sales gains in May were led by a 40.7 percent increase in the Midwest followed by a 20.7 percent gain in the Northeast. Sales were also up 3.6 percent in the West but they fell 9 percent in the South.
The inventory of unsold homes rose 2.5 percent to 161,000 in May, the highest level since August 2011 but still just 13 percent higher than the record low for inventories set in July 2012. Prices of new homes have been rising in part because more people are bidding on a limited number of homes.
The National Association of Realtors reported last week that sales of previously occupied homes surpassed 5 million in May. It was the first time that's happened in 3? years.
Sales of previously owned homes rose to an annual rate of 5.18 million in May. The last time sales had exceeded 5 million was in November 2009, a month when the pending expiration of a home-buying tax credit briefly inflated sales
Steady hiring and low mortgage rates have encouraged more people to buy homes. And with demand up, prices rising and few homes on the market, builders have grown more optimistic about their prospects, leading to more construction and jobs.
Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cited the housing gains as a major reason the Fed's economic outlook has brightened.
Still, mortgage rates have jumped in recent weeks. And they're expected to rise further now that the Fed has signaled it plans to scale back its bond purchases this year if the economy continues to strengthen. A pullback in the bond purchases would likely send long-term borrowing rates up. Higher mortgage rates could slow some of the housing market's momentum.
For now, a brighter outlook for housing has made builders more optimistic. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index rose in June to 52, up from 44 in May.
That was the highest reading in more than seven years and the largest monthly increase in more than a decade. A reading above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good rather than poor.
Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/06/25/u-s-new-home-sales-hit-fastest-pace-in-5-years/
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Exclusive: Japan's Meiji Yasuda nears deal for Thai Life stake: sources
By Taiga Uranaka and Denny Thomas
TOKYO/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co has entered into exclusive talks to buy a 15 percent stake in Thai Life Insurance Co for around $700 million, people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Japanese insurers step up their presence in Southeast Asia.
Meiji Yasuda, Japan's second-largest life insurer by premium income after Nippon Life Insurance Co, beat Sumitomo Life Insurance Co to enter final negotiations, in an auction that had attracted private equity firms Carlyle Group
A deal is expected as early as next week, one person familiar with the matter said.
If successful, Meiji Yasuda's purchase will make it the fourth financial services acquisition by a Japanese firm in Southeast Asia this year, bringing the year-to-date total value of Japanese M&A deals in the region to $6.6 billion.
Rising personal income in Southeast Asia is giving, for the first time in many cases, individuals and families the ability to afford insurance. That new demand has boosted stock prices and corporate valuations, culminating in a spate of M&A transactions.
To tap into that growth, Japanese insurers and banks have turned aggressive buyers of Southeast Asian financial services companies as they battle sluggish growth in their home market.
Meiji Yasuda officials were invited to Thailand recently for the discussions, while Sumitomo Life was told that the process has temporarily ended for them, a second source said.
A Meiji Yasuda spokesman declined comment, while Thai Life officials were unavailable for an immediate comment.
JAPAN INC
Unlisted Thai Life, the country's second-biggest life insurer, is selling a minority stake to help fund the next stage of its growth.
The stake sale is set to be Thailand's third insurance deal in the past year, with at least two more insurance deals said to be brewing in Southeast Asia.
Facing slow growth at home, Japan's financial services industry, as well as other sectors, have bought into Southeast Asian businesses to expand abroad, often taking minor stakes.
Japan's biggest lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) is in advanced talks to buy a majority stake in Thailand's Bank of Ayudhya
In a related deal, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group agreed in May to acquire a $1.5 billion stake in Indonesia's BTPN
Southeast Asia has emerged as a key battleground for global and regional insurers, with international companies attracted by the region's rapidly growing market.
Last year, Prudential Plc
All those deals have boosted insurance M&A in Southeast Asia to a record $13.1 billion last year, compared with a total of $3.9 billion in the previous four years, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Swiss Re Economic Research & Consulting forecasts that life insurance premiums in emerging Asia - a region comprising of seven countries, including China, India, Malaysian, Thailand - will grow at a compounded annual rate of 8.5 percent between 2011 and 2021 to $631 billion. By contrast, premiums in industrialized countries will expand 2.9 percent in the same period.
Meiji Yasuda's discussions for buying a minority stake comes just weeks after another Japanese company Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co Ltd agreed to purchase a 40 percent stake in Indonesia's Panin Life for $337 million.
Thai Life had 15.3 percent of the country's life insurance market with annualized premium equivalent of 6.2 billion baht ($202 million) as of the end of the second quarter of 2011, according to Thai Life Assurance Association data.
Thai Life is controlled by the Thailand's Chaiyawan family.
Barclays is advising Thai Life on the sale, according to a previous Reuters report.
(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka and Denny Thomas; Additional reporting by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Michael Flaherty and Ryan Woo)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-japans-meiji-yasuda-nears-deal-thai-life-020153457.html
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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Chevy Spark conceived in South Korea surprise ... - Automotive News
[unable to retrieve full-text content]General Motors in modern times has never successfully sold a tiny car like the Chevy Spark in the United States. The Spark's success today, 26869 sales in its first 12 months, exceeds GM's initial expectations by as much as ...
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Imgur has just now released an official app for Android, with an iOS version waiting in the wings.
Imgur has just now released an official app for Android, with an iOS version waiting in the wings. All the functionality you'd expect has been ported to the app. [ATD]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/imgur-has-just-now-released-an-official-app-for-android-555503069
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Ailanthus tree's status as invasive species offers lesson in human interaction
June 24, 2013 ? An exotic tree species that changed from prized possession to forest management nightmare serves as a lesson in the unpredictability of non-native species mixing with human interactions, according to researchers.
"There are other invasive tree species in Pennsylvania, but the ailanthus, by far, has been here longer and does more damage than any other invasive tree," said Matthew Kasson, who received his doctorate in plant pathology and environmental microbiology from Penn State. "It's the number one cause of native regeneration failure in clearcuts in Pennsylvania."
Kasson, who is a post-doctoral researcher in plant pathology, physiology and weed science at Virginia Tech, said that William Hamilton, a pioneer botanist who corresponded with William Bartram and Thomas Jefferson, imported the first ailanthus altissima -- Tree-of-Heaven -- a tree native to China, from England sometime between 1784 and 1785 and cultivated the tree on his estate, the Woodlands, in Philadelphia. The deciduous tree, which grows rapidly, often to a height of 50 feet, has become one of the biggest forest management problems, especially since the 1980s, according to the researchers.
Kasson and colleagues report in a recent issue of the Northeastern Naturalist thatailanthus can invade quickly in areas where large, continuous stands of trees are cut down -- clearcuts -- and displace slower-growing native plants. The spread of ailanthus in Pennsylvania occurred in spurts that seem to be connected with stages of human development, particularly during cross-state transportation projects, Kasson said.
While the tree was initially isolated to the properties of a few botanists and wealthy plant collectors, commercialization of ailanthus after 1820 coupled with railroad construction projects that connected the eastern and western parts of the state in the mid-1800s intensified its spread, according to Kasson, who worked with Matthew Davis, lab assistant and Donald Davis, professor of plant pathology, both of Penn State.
In the 1980s, widespread gypsy moth infestation in Pennsylvania led to the death or near death of large stands of oak trees in the state forests, especially in south-central Pennsylvania. Crews that cut down the trees built roads to reach the sites, which became avenues for the spread of ailanthus. From 1989 to 2004 the number of Ailanthus trees on inventory plots increased from 76 million to 135 million.
In parts of the state forests there were no roads in areas associated with the gypsy moth devastation," said Kasson. "During these timber salvage operations, crews are building roads and moving a lot of soil and seed."
The researchers found one or two older female ailanthus trees near areas where foresters removed trees following the gypsy moth infestation, but also discovered that most of the ailanthus trees started to grow shortly after the clearing operation. The older seed-producing trees were often found upwind from the sites of the recent ailanthus growth. Kasson said this indicates that following the clearcut ailanthus grew faster than competing species and quickly dominated these forests.
Kasson said recent mining and drilling operations in Pennsylvania forests may also cause the species to expand.
"New roads are being constructed into these active drilling sites," said Kasson. "These drilling operations could lead to future spread."
Previous research may have also underestimated how long ailanthus can live, according to Kasson. While prior studies estimated that ailanthus's lifespan was between 50 to 75 years, the tree routinely lives longer than 100 years.
The researchers conducted tree-ring studies of ailanthus in all the counties where the tree grows in Pennsylvania, as well as several surrounding states. The researchers used these studies, along with historic surveys and reports on plant species in the state, to determine age and growth patterns.
Ailanthus, which is also calledChinese sumac or stinking sumac, grows in 60 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, according to the researchers -- nine more counties than reported in previous studies. The research also suggests that the incidence of ailanthus in Pennsylvania's northern-tier counties, where the tree has been historically absent, will likely increase like previous ailanthus expansions in southern parts of the state.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources supported this work.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/8ry7-txpLx8/130624133134.htm
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Games of the week - Doodle Jump, Minion Rush, Icebreaker and more!
As promised, we've started to split apart our app picks every week so that we highlight games separately to regular apps. Not everyone plays games on their iOS devices, and likewise some folks play them by the barrel full. So, here's a selection of what the iMore team has been playing this past seven days.
Doodle Jump - Ally Kazmucha
Out of all the games that I've played on my iPhone, Doodle Jump has always remained a staple from the very beginning. I don't even remember when exactly Doodle Jump was released but I know it was a very long time ago. The thing I love about it is that it never really has gotten old for me. I still have friends and family members that play it to this day.
The best part is that the developers still continuously update it and create new themes and crazy monsters. While the premise has always remained the same, it just hasn't seemed to grow old to me. I'm still trying to beat my high scores to this day and occasionally I still get a friend or family member telling me they finally bested my score.
It's an all around great game at just as great of a price.
- $0.99 - Download Now
Knights of Pen and Paper - Joseph Keller
Some friends sit down at a table, write up character sheets, and their adventure begins. This is the premise of Knights of Pen and Paper, where you play the role of a group of tabletop roleplaying game players as the make their way through adventures in their favorite pen and paper game. Select a few players from a diverse group, each with their own unique ability that helps them play the game, then select a class for that player. All classic roleplaying archetypes such as Paladin, Mage, and Rouge, each class comes with a set of upgradable powers to help you battle the monsters your players will encounter. Their adventure will take your players' characters across a vast and varied continent, completing quests such as finding magical stones to battling beasts and saving townsfolk. If you enjoy RPGs and an 8-bit art style, then Knights of Pen and Paper is certainly worth a look.
- $2.99 - Download Now
Icebreaker - Simon Sage
This week Rovio, the makers of Angry Birds, acted as a publisher for a new game called Icebreaker. This is a first for them, but I guess when you've got more money than god, you can make transitions like that. Icebreaker was originally a flash game, and involves slicing through blocks of ice in order to get abandoned vikings to their longboats. Those blocks of ice can be smashed up if they get to the boat after sliding or swinging across the stage, since your main character is there at the ready with an oversized hammer. There are also bonus chests scattered around the level to earn extra coins, which can be used to unlock new branching stages. Icebreaker is actually an awful lot like Perfection, which I looked at last week, only with a bit more of a Cut the Rope vibe. What I like most about Icebreaker though are the chunky, low-fi graphics and the nuggets of funny dialog between each level.
- $0.99 - Download now
Minion Rush - Chris Parsons
The lovable little minions are back for Despicable Me 2 and to help promote that they've got a pretty fun little movie tie in game as well from Gameloft. It's a classic swipe based game where you have to collect bananas and avoid whatever may pop up in your path. That all sounds a bit easy but it's really not. Trust me. I've wasted a good amount of time on this. If you're a Temple Run kid of fan, you'll like Minion Rush plus, it's got a lot of humor in it. The game is free to download but has the typical in-app purchases of "coins" to help you progress through the came which can add up.
- Free - Download Now
MetalStorm: Online - Peter Cohen
It's one thing to fly jets in iOS games; it's another thing entirely to do it online with other players. MetalStorm: Online is a modern jet dogfighting game that's free to download (in-app purchases can be used to improve your jets). It's easy to control and play using a combination of gyroscopic support, swipe commands and clearly marked buttons on the HUD. Despite its name, MetalStorm: Online has plenty to do offline, too - single player missions that don't require other folks. Of course, the online games are where this one shines - chat with others using an in-game voice system and leverage Game Center to find other people to play. AirPlay support means you can stream games to your Apple TV.
- Free - Download now
Real Racing 3 - Richard Devine
I know, I know, the in-app purchases in Real Racing 3 really haven't been handled that well. But truth be told, I haven't spent much more than the cost of its predecessor on it, and I'm still enjoying it immensely. In fact, it's about the only game I play on my iPad every single day. I love racing, and I love racing games, and Real Racing 3 (ignoring the IAP's) is about the best racing game I've ever played on a mobile device. The graphics are sublime, the control system is excellent, and you can get a decent amount of life out of it without handing over a penny. I'm not a fan of how they handled the IAP's on this one, but I'm also not letting it ruin my enjoyment of a truly fantastic game.
- Free - Download Now
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/zaLXLx8mvlM/story01.htm
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Counting underway in Albania election
TIRANA, Albania (AP) ? Vote counting has begun a day after Albania's general election, which was marred by gunfire at a polling station which left one man dead and two others wounded.
Initial returns indicated a narrow lead for the opposition Socialist Party-led coalition of Edi Rama, who is running against Prime Minister Sali Berisha of the Democratic party.
Both men claimed victory after polls closed Sunday evening.
Turnout was 53 percent of some 3.3 million registered voters, according to preliminary estimates by the country's Central Election Commission, in the eighth national polls since the fall of communism in 1990.
Official results were not expected to be announced earlier than Tuesday.
A police spokesman said Gjon Gjoni, 49, died after being shot in an exchange of fire that also wounded Mhill Fufi, 49, a candidate for Berisha's governing Democratic Party, and a relative of Fufi.
The violence drew condemnation from an EU official.
"Violence is simply not acceptable and cannot be tolerated," Ettore Sequi, the EU ambassador to Tirana, told Associated Press television.
Berisha and Rama have both expressed the hope that Albania can gain entry to the EU, and Sunday's election was seen as a test of whether the country can run a fair and safe election.
"These elections are a crucial test for the democratic maturity of the country a test for the smooth functioning of the Albanian institutions," Sequi said.
Preliminary findings of some 400 international observers were expected later Monday.
Although the election campaign was highly acrimonious, it was generally considered peaceful.
In 2009, three people were killed in politically motivated attacks during the campaign. They Socialists boycotted the parliament for a long time in protest to what it called manipulation from the governing Democrats.
Albania, now a NATO member despite a rocky road to democracy, has been denied EU candidate status twice since 2009 because of criticism that it has not done enough to fight corruption and proceed with democratic reforms that include its ability to hold elections that comply with international and European standards.
Last month, parliament held an extraordinary session to pass the last three laws in a series of 12 key recommendations required by the EU as part of the country's quest for eventual membership.
___
Associated Press writer Nebi Qena in Tirana contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/counting-underway-albania-election-100534768.html
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Monday, June 24, 2013
Facebook Graph Search Let Dev Scrape Thousands of Public Phone Numbers
It looks like all our Graph Search privacy concerns
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Sunday, June 23, 2013
Erdogan defends riot police tactics in Turkey protests
By Daren Butler
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan piled ridicule on activists behind weeks of protests against his government during a rally on Sunday and defended riot police who fired water cannon at crowds in Istanbul a day earlier.
Looking out of over a sea of Turkish flags waved by his AK Party faithful in the eastern city of Erzurum, Erdogan praised his supporters and the general public for opposing what he called a plot against his country.
"The people saw this game from the start and frustrated it. They (the protesters) thought the people would say nothing. They said we will burn and destroy and do what we want but the people will do nothing," he said.
Sunday's mass rally was the fifth which Erdogan has called since protests began in Istanbul in an unprecedented challenge to his 10-year rule.
The unrest was triggered when police used force against campaigners opposed to plans to develop Istanbul's Gezi Park, but they quickly turned into a broader show of anger at what critics call Erdogan's growing authoritarianism.
The protests have underlined divisions in Turkish society between religious conservatives who form the bedrock of Erdogan's support and more liberal Turks who have swelled the ranks of demonstrators.
He ending his speech by throwing red carnations to the roughly 15,000-strong crowd in the AK Party stronghold.
MARCH ELECTIONS
The AK Party rallies are focused on boosting party support ahead of municipal elections scheduled for next March and Erdogan said voters would then give their verdict on the weeks of unrest.
"Those who came out using the excuse of Gezi at Taksim Square will get their answer at the ballot box," he said.
Erdogan, who won a third consecutive election in 2011 with 50 percent support, sees himself as a champion of democratic reform, and has been riled by the protests and by international condemnation coming mainly from key trade partner Germany.
Saturday's clashes occurred after thousands of protesters gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square, which adjoins Gezi Park, to remember the three demonstrators and one police officer who died in earlier protests. Many refused to leave after calls from the police for them to disperse.
Erdogan defended the tactics of the police, who also used fired teargas canisters to scatter protesters in nearby streets in cat-and-mouse clashes.
"Yesterday they wanted to occupy the square again. The police were patient up to a certain point," he said. "When they didn't leave the police was forced to get them out."
There were also clashes on Saturday night in the capital Ankara, where riot police fired water cannon and teargas to break up hundreds of protesters.
The interior ministry estimates about 2.5 million people have taken part in demonstrations across Turkey since the unrest began on May 31, Milliyet newspaper reported on Sunday.
Around 4,900 protesters have been detained and 4,000 protesters and 600 police injured, the report added.
The interior ministry also said the protests had caused 140 million lira ($72 million) worth of damage to public buildings and vehicles.
($1 = 1.9388 Turkish liras)
(Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/turkish-police-break-protest-pm-lambasts-opponents-153851912.html
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Kane scores, Blackhawks lead Bruins 1-0 in Game 5
CHICAGO (AP) ? Patrick Kane scored his eighth goal of the postseason, and the Chicago Blackhawks led the Boston Bruins 1-0 through the first period in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday night.
In a thrilling series that's seen only one game decided in regulation and was knotted at 2-all, the Blackhawks broke through in this one after both teams missed several chances in the early going. They grabbed the lead with 2:33 left in the period after a shot by Johnny Oduya closing in from the left point ricocheted off the stick of Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg.
Kane, who was to the left of the net, picked up the spinning puck and tucked it past Tuukka Rask into the lower left corner of the net. All that happened after Jonathan Toews muscled past Milan Lucic to carry the puck deep into the Boston zone.
Corey Crawford did his job in goal for Chicago with 11 saves after getting beaten five times to his glove side during Wednesday's 6-5 overtime victory.
Rask stopped seven of the eight shots he faced.
Boston outhit Chicago 23-9 in the period even though the Blackhawks indicated they would go right at the Bruins' Zdeno Chara, just as they did in Game 4. David Krejci had four of those hits.
Toews hit the post just under four minutes into the game, and Boston's Nathan Horton hit the crossbar right after that.
The Bruins had another chance midway through the first period when Jaromir Jagr came out of a scrum along the boards but got stopped from the edge of the crease.
Rask spread out and made a neat save with his chest or shoulder late in the period to stop a shot by Patrick Sharp closing in from the left circle.
Marian Hossa was in the lineup for Chicago as expected after missing the morning skate and practice on Friday. He was scratched from Game 3 because of an upper body injury but did play in Game 4. The Bruins also had center Carl Soderberg in the lineup over Kaspars Daugavins, another adjustment during arguably the wildest final in years.
Both teams have been doing whatever they can to get an edge, whether it was Chicago pairing Toews and Kane on the same line in Game 4 or Boston teaming Chris Kelly, Daniel Paille and Tyler Seguin in Game 2.
It had been 20 years since a championship series had at least three games go to overtime, and this is just the sixth time since 1927 it has happened. The only other final to feature more OT games during that stretch was when Toronto and Montreal played five in 1951.
Teams that have won Game 5 after splitting the first four have gone on to win the championship 15 of 22 times since the league went to a best-of-seven format in 1939. But in recent years, the pattern has not held. The Game 5 loser in that scenario has won the championship four of the past six times, with Boston taking out Vancouver in 2011.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kane-scores-blackhawks-lead-bruins-1-0-game-011741660.html
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