Congo's M23 rebels threaten new UN brigade

GOMA, Congo (AP) ? Rebels in eastern Congo said Tuesday they are getting ready to fight a new United Nations brigade.

The U.N. peacekeepers are set to arrive soon, with a mandate to allow them to actively pursue armed groups in addition to protecting civilians.

The rebels' threat comes as peace talks appear to have reached a dead end between the Congolese government and the M23 rebels who seized the provincial capital of Goma late last year and held it for two weeks.

"We are waiting for the brigade; we are ready. Our men are on maximum alert," said Stanislas Baleke, an official with the M23's political branch.

The M23 already has issued threats to South Africa and Tanzania, both contributing troops to the U.N. intervention brigade, warning them that the M23 will not hesitate to fight back if the brigade attacks them.

The U.N. Security Council recently renewed the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo known as MONUSCO for one year but also allowed for the creation of a special unit now expected to arrive on the ground before July.

The new brigade's mandate will allow it to carry out targeted offensive operations against armed groups in Congo's troubled east, unlike previous peacekeeping missions that only allowed the U.N. forces to protect civilians.

"Its objectives are to neutralize armed groups, reduce the threat they posed to state authority and civilian security and make space for stabilization activities," said Andre Michel Essoungou, the U.N. peacekeeping spokesman.

Congo's mineral-rich eastern region has been unstable, and often engulfed in fighting, since the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda. More than two dozen different armed groups are currently operating in the area. The gravest threat, though, has been posed by the formation of the M23 rebel group one year ago.

M23 is led by fighters from a now-defunct rebel group who agreed to put down their arms on March 23, 2009, in return for being allowed to join the Congolese army. The rebellion began last April, when hundreds of soldiers defected from the military, saying the accord had not been respected.

In November, the peacekeepers stood by as the M23 rebels seized the provincial capital of Goma. The rebels eventually withdrew from the city two weeks later. But the fall of Goma shocked the international community, opening the path for the creation of the brigade.

The new U.N. brigade's mandate is a strong departure from the usually cautious U.N. approach to peacekeeping. But with more than 25 armed groups in the Kivu region alone, the brigade of about 3,000 risks being spread thin, say experts.

Jason Stearns, a researcher at the Rift Valley Institute, said he was skeptical that the additional soldiers "will be good against some of the most battle-hardened militia" such as the M23 and another rebel group known as the FDLR.

MONUSCO officials acknowledge that the brigade will have to target specific armed groups to be efficient, though they stop short of saying that the M23 will be the priority for the special unit.

Following the U.N. resolution in March, the Congolese government asked the rebels to dismantle their movement or they will be the target of the U.N. brigade.

"There are many armed groups in the east. If the brigade focuses on the M23, it means that the international community has taken sides in the conflict and wants to stir it," says Baleke, the M23 political cadre.

The brigade's mandate to attack also raises some questions about U.N. neutrality. U.N. and MONUSCO staff are concerned about their safety, fearing that the rebels confuse the brigade's troops with the entire U.N. contingent in Congo.

The showdown between the M23 and the MONUSCO already intensified earlier this month when the rebels blocked a dozen U.N. vehicles transporting material in Bunagana. In Rutshuru, another town in rebel territory, the M23 has tried to mobilize the population against the intervention brigade.

"The rebels want to force us to demonstrate against the new U.N. force, but we refused because the force is coming to liberate us," says Charly, a 20-year-old student from Rutshuru, who gave only his first name fearing reprisals from the rebels.

Residents of Rutshuru accuse M23 rebels of carrying out several targeted killings and arrests of people suspected to be against the movement.

Talks between the rebels and the government that were underway in Uganda have stalled, and both delegations pulled out most of their representatives last week.

"We received the government's proposal for a peace deal, but it did not take into account our suggestions. We have decided to come back to Bunagana to discuss our answer, but we have left a few representatives in Kampala (where the talks are taking place)," said Baleke. "We are still open to negotiations."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congos-m23-rebels-threaten-un-brigade-115736055.html

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US stocks rise, led by technology companies

NEW YORK (AP) ? Encouraging economic reports are sending stock prices higher on Wall Street.

Wages and spending rose in the U.S. last month, and pending home sales hit a three-year high.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 66 points to 14,779 at noon Eastern time Monday, a gain of 0.4 percent.

The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes reached the highest level since April 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors. Back then, a tax credit for buying houses had lifted sales.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose nine points to 1,591, or 0.6 percent. The S&P is just two points below the record high it reached April 11.

The Nasdaq rose 27 points at 3,305, or 0.8 percent. Apple and Microsoft led the gains in technology stocks.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-stocks-rise-led-technology-companies-155709063.html

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Virgin Galactic's commercial space plane makes first successful test flight

Attention, amateur space cadets! If you've ever wanted to swing on a star or see one up close, consider this proof positive Virgin Galactic's that much closer to making your dreams come true. SpaceShipTwo, its inventively named commercial vehicle designed to take well-moneyed civilians into outerspace, has just completed its first rocket-powered test flight. The craft, partially owned by Virgin group overlord Sir Richard Branson and the Abu Dhabi-based investment group PJC, took off earlier today from its berth at Mojave Air and Space Port in California, where carrier-craft WhiteKnightTwo ferried it to a 47,000 ft altitude after which its own rockets kicked in for a supersonic flight. In all, the solo run lasted just slightly over ten minutes, during which the SS2 notched an altitude of 55,000 feet before returning safely back to its desert port.

For its first outing, the SS2 scored high marks by Virgin Galactic chief George Whitesides' estimation, performing just as expected with "expected burn duration, good engine performance and solid... handling qualities throughout." It's encouraging news for the nascent commercial space industry, although it's worth noting this flight carried reduced risk considering it was bound to our own atmosphere. The team anticipates that "full space flight" testing will begin sometime before year's end. As for when you'll be able to actually book a real deal luxury space flight? Virgin Galactic's set a tentative 2015 date for that, giving you, the every(wo)man, plenty of time to save up or mortgage your life for the opportunity to tour the cosmos.

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Russia caught bomb suspect on wiretap

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Russian authorities secretly recorded a telephone conversation in 2011 in which one of the Boston bombing suspects vaguely discussed jihad with his mother, officials said Saturday, days after the U.S. government finally received details about the call.

In another conversation, the mother of now-dead bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was recorded talking to someone in southern Russia who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case, officials said.

The conversations are significant because, had they been revealed earlier, they might have been enough evidence for the FBI to initiate a more thorough investigation of the Tsarnaev family.

As it was, Russian authorities told the FBI only that they had concerns that Tamerlan and his mother were religious extremists. With no additional information, the FBI conducted a limited inquiry and closed the case in June 2011.

Two years later, authorities say Tamerlan and his brother, Dzhohkar, detonated two homemade bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring more than 260. Tamerlan was killed in a police shootout and Dzhohkar is under arrest.

In the past week, Russian authorities turned over to the United States information it had on Tamerlan and his mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva. The Tsarnaevs are ethnic Chechens who emigrated from southern Russia to the Boston area over the past 11 years.

Even had the FBI received the information from the Russian wiretaps earlier, it's not clear that the government could have prevented the attack.

In early 2011, the Russian FSB internal security service intercepted a conversation between Tamerlan and his mother vaguely discussing jihad, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation with reporters.

The two discussed the possibility of Tamerlan going to Palestine, but he told his mother he didn't speak the language there, according to the officials, who reviewed the information Russia shared with the U.S.

In a second call, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva spoke with a man in the Caucasus region of Russia who was under FBI investigation. Jacqueline Maguire, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Washington Field Office, where that investigation was based, declined to comment.

There was no information in the conversation that suggested a plot inside the United States, officials said.

It was not immediately clear why Russian authorities didn't share more information at the time. It is not unusual for countries, including the U.S., to be cagey with foreign authorities about what intelligence is being collected.

The FSB said Sunday that it would not comment.

Jim Treacy, the FBI's legal attache in Moscow between 2007 and 2009, said the Russians long asked for U.S. assistance regarding Chechen activity in the United States that might be related to terrorism.

"On any given day, you can get some very good cooperation," Treacy said. "The next you might find yourself totally shut out."

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva has denied that she or her sons were involved in terrorism. She has said she believed her sons have been framed by U.S. authorities.

But Ruslan Tsarni, an uncle of the Tsarnaev brothers and Zubeidat's former brother-in-law, said Saturday he believes the mother had a "big-time influence" as her older son increasingly embraced his Muslim faith and decided to quit boxing and school.

After receiving the narrow tip from Russia in March 2011, the FBI opened a preliminary investigation into Tamerlan and his mother. But the scope was extremely limited under the FBI's internal procedures.

After a few months, they found no evidence Tamerlan or his mother were involved in terrorism.

The FBI asked Russia for more information. After hearing nothing, it closed the case in June 2011.

In the fall of 2011, the FSB contacted the CIA with the same information. Again the FBI asked Russia for more details and never heard back.

At that time, however, the CIA asked that Tamerlan's and his mother's name be entered into a massive U.S. terrorism database.

The CIA declined to comment Saturday.

Authorities have said they've seen no connection between the brothers and a foreign terrorist group. Dzhohkar told FBI interrogators that he and his brother were angry over wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the deaths of Muslim civilians there.

Family members have said Tamerlan was religiously apathetic until 2008 or 2009, when he met a conservative Muslim convert known only to the family as Misha. Misha, they said, steered Tamerlan toward a stricter version of Islam.

Two U.S. officials say investigators believe they have identified Misha. While it was not clear whether the FBI had spoken to him, the officials said they have not found a connection between Misha and the Boston attack or terrorism in general.

___

Associated Press writer Adam Goldman in Washington and Michael Kunzelman in Boston contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-caught-bomb-suspect-wiretap-105240857.html

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Insight: Good life goes on as Syrian elite sit out war

By Michael Stott and Samia Nakhoul

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - It might sound absurd to talk about normal life in Syria after two years of civil war which have killed more than 70,000 people and left five million more destitute and homeless.

Yet in the neighborhood of Malki, a tree-lined enclave of central Damascus, a wealthy group of elite, pro-government Syrians still enjoy shopping for imported French cheeses, gourmet hand-made chocolates and iPad minis in the well-stocked, recently built Grand Mall and in nearby boutiques.

Such are the parallel realities of a conflict in which, for all the gains made by rebels and the current chatter about U.S. "red lines" crossed that might ultimately draw in Western might, President Bashar al-Assad is holding his ground in the capital, bulwarked by his own foreign allies and by many Syrians who fear his end could prove fatal for them too. And so life goes on.

In Malki, sprinklers water the manicured lawns outside their blocks of million-dollar apartments. Maids and drivers cater to their every whim and birds sing in the trees. Fuel for their BMWs and electricity for their air-conditioning is plentiful and the well-guarded streets are free of loiterers.

"Look at this display and you feel all is well, life is good and everything is here," said an elegantly dressed Hiyam Jabri, 50, as she placed her order at the delicatessen counter in the mall's main supermarket.

Malki residents continue to enjoy material comforts and abundant supplies of imported goods, even as millions of their compatriots subsist on food handouts.

The United Nations World Food Programme estimates it is feeding 2.5 million people inside Syria - a tenth of the population - and a further million who have fled the country, offering them subsistence rations of flour and rice.

"We are trying to keep up with the enormity of the crisis and the impact of the brutality," the WFP's deputy regional emergency coordinator Matthew Hollingworth said in the capital.

Most of those whom his staff help "haven't been displaced once but sometimes twice, three times". Food is so scarce for those uprooted by the fighting that rations intended to feed a family of five are being shared by three families.

ILLUSIONS

Even in Malki, though, the air of normality is an illusion - as unreal as the oft-repeated assertions of government officials that victory is near and Assad still controls almost all Syria.

Scratch the surface of the illusion and the normality quickly becomes anything but.

Pasted to the lamp-post outside the elegant chocolatier Ghraoui, whose interior boasts award certificates from France, is a wad of black and white fliers. They are printed by families and they mourn sons and husbands killed in the war.

It is a war, however, that seems to be going nowhere fast.

Recent days have shown again the reluctance of the United States and its allies, in the face of evidence Assad's troops may have crossed President Barack Obama's "red line" by using chemical weapons, to intervene militarily against him - not least as some rebels have espoused the cause of al Qaeda.

Among the few independent outsiders seeing at first hand the mosaic of opinion and suffering in Syria, many aid workers lament that international discourse has become a monotone debate on supplying weapons, with little push for a negotiated peace.

"We need a political solution for this conflict," said Marc Lucet, the local emergency coordinator for UNICEF, whose fellow humanitarian workers recount grim tales of hungry refugees found cowering in half-built apartment blocks or idle factories.

The surface serenity of Malki contrasts with what aid groups say is a country splintered by ever shifting frontlines and a fragmenting opposition; many fear violence will spread beyond Syria's borders and are baffled by the debate in the West over how far to arm rebels, saying this will only make matters worse.

Stressing the need for a political settlement, however, unpalatable and, so far, unattainable, UNICEF's Lucet said: "The solution is certainly not to give more weapons to either side."

Attempts to bring Assad down by diplomatic means have failed to break the impasse, even if they do make life less comfortable in Malki.

Inside the Ghraoui chocolate boutique, as everywhere else in Syria, sales are strictly cash only - sanctions have forced international credit card networks to boycott transactions here.

Prices on restaurant menus in local currency, the Syrian pound, have been hastily updated with stickers multiple times - a tell-tale sign of rapid inflation.

At the luxury mall supermarket, Eyad al-Burghol says he is selling fewer imported foodstuffs than before because many wealthy customers have left the country.

FIGHTING TALK

A distant thump of artillery fire serves as a reminder that, just a few kilometers (miles) away, fierce street-to-street battles are being fought between government and rebel forces. Some days, Russian-made MiG fighter jets streak across the sky on their way to bomb insurgent positions.

The abundant security in Malki, residents say, is provided by men who speak the Iranian tongue of Farsi, rather than Syrian Arabic. Tehran has long been Assad's sponsor against his fellow Arab leaders and the word on the street - impossible to verify - is that this heavily guarded area of town may be home to the Syrian president himself and to his immediate family.

Assad is not seen in public these days and officials refuse to comment on his movements or whereabouts.

Senior Syrian officials try hard to show visiting reporters a picture of normality in which the government is firmly in control. But even the cocoon in which they live and work is starting to be punctured by the facts of war.

Syria's central bank governor Adeeb Mayaleh gave Reuters an interview last week at a headquarters building bearing the scars of a car bomb attack earlier in the month. Blinds hung twisted and useless in front of warped window-frames without glass. A palm tree outside had been reduced to a charred skeleton.

The bank chief insisted that the government had plenty of foreign currency available to guarantee imports and enough cash to pay public employees' wages in advance each month. For how long? Iran and Russia, he said, were about to agree fresh funds.

Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad gave an upbeat assessment of the war in an interview - but a Syrian who works nearby told us that the complex housing the ministry had been attacked four times by rebels in the past few months.

UNICEF regional coordinator Youssef Abdul-Jalil estimated that at least three million children inside Syria now needed humanitarian assistance because of the war: "There is a crisis of the children of Syria," he said. "They are paying a terrible price in their lives, in their surroundings, in their health, in their education and in their lack of protection".

REALITY INTRUDES

Cars still choke central Damascus and traffic police still issue tickets for speeding and even clamp badly parked vehicles. But armed checkpoints snarl progress to a snail's pace.

Travel agents still offer flights and holidays. But the road to the city's airport is considered too dangerous by many and flights are available only to a few, friendly, destinations.

Telephones still work and officials still show up for work in neatly ironed shirts and well-pressed suits - but many scuttle off early to be home before nightfall.

One resident spoke of a distant relative, a Christian from a prosperous family of car dealers, who was kidnapped. Accused of supporting Assad, he was beaten while hanging upside down. His captors then they injected fuel into his veins. Released for a ransom worth over $20,000, the man died a few days later.

While the Syrian elite continue to insist that the military campaign against the rebels is succeeding, aid workers in Aleppo say that the area of the country's biggest city that is now controlled by the government is very small.

The main north-south highway which connects Aleppo to Damascus via the major cities of Homs and Hama now features some 38 checkpoints, about nine of which are manned by various groups of rebels, NGO workers who have traveled along it recently say.

In the capital, the government says it guarantees a "Square of Security" in the center; some locals joke that rebel gains have shorn it to a rather smaller "Security Triangle".

Damascus's walled Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to the 7th-century Umayyad mosque, retains its beauty. But these days it is eerily empty. Tourists have long gone and the souvenir sellers have all but given up hope of selling anything.

Inside the mosque's main prayer hall, featuring a shrine said to contain the head of St. John the Baptist, mournful guides tell of how the imam was recently murdered.

At a jewelry shop in the al-Hamidiyeh bazaar, Anas Hallawi, 25, sat looking bored: "People are selling their gold not buying these days," he said. "Our business thrived on foreign tourists and Syrians buying gold for their brides.

"Now the tourists are gone. And nobody is getting married."

At the Al-Naranj restaurant in the Christian Quarter, one of Damascus's finest eateries, diners discussed the relative risks of car bombings versus random mortar attacks and kidnap. Little wonder that so many with the means have left for Lebanon, as life in the capital becomes a kind of ghoulish Russian roulette.

Across the room, a smartly dressed family group celebrated a betrothal with a lavish spread of traditional Syrian food on a table decorated with red roses.

As the strains of the old songs died away and a festive cake was eaten, a fighter jet roared across the sky. Artillery fire thudded in the distance. The family looked upwards through the restaurant's glass roof, eyes suddenly fearful. (Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-good-life-goes-syrian-elite-sit-war-154008389.html

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Obama: Flight delay fix a 'Band-Aid'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama chided lawmakers Saturday over their fix for widespread flight delays, deeming it an irresponsible way to govern even as he prepared to sign the legislation they hurriedly pushed through Congress.

Wary of letting Republicans set a precedent he might later regret, Obama dubbed the bipartisan bill to end furloughs of air traffic controllers a "Band-Aid" and a quick fix, rather than a lasting solution to this year's $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester. The cuts have affected all federal agencies, and some cuts were undone. But flight delays last week left thousands of travelers frustrated and furious and Congress feeling pressured to respond.

"Republicans claimed victory when the sequester first took effect, and now they've decided it was a bad idea all along," Obama said, singling out the GOP even though the bill passed with overwhelming Democratic support in both chambers.

He scolded lawmakers for helping the Federal Aviation Administration while doing nothing to replace other cuts that he said harm federal employees, unemployed workers and preschoolers in Head Start.

"Maybe because they fly home each weekend, the members of Congress who insisted these cuts take hold finally realized that they actually apply to them, too," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address released Saturday.

Rushed through Congress with remarkable speed, the bill marked a shift for Democrats, who had hoped the impact of the cuts would increase pressure on Republicans to reverse the sequester. Republicans, meanwhile, have rejected Obama's proposal to replace the across-the-board cuts with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.

"There are some in the Obama administration who thought inflicting pain on the public would give the president more leverage to avoid making necessary spending cuts, and to impose more tax hikes on the American people," said Rep. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania in the Republican address.

He argued that the FAA could have averted the flight delays on its own by cutting costs elsewhere and rejiggering work schedules ? but intentionally chose not to do so.

The bill signed by Obama would let the FAA use up to $253 million from an airport improvement program and other accounts to halt the furloughs through the Sept. 30 end of the government's fiscal year.

Faced with the prospect that emboldened Republicans will push to selectively undo other painful effects of the cuts, the White House said Friday that a piecemeal approach would be impractical, but wouldn't definitely rule out signing other fixes.

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.youtube.com/HouseConference

___

Follow Josh Lederman at https://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-flight-delay-fix-band-aid-100306095.html

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Fossilized Elephant bird egg sells at auction for more than $100,000

It's generally understood that in the Fox News and Glenn Beck breakup, Fox was the dumper and Beck the dumpee. But, in most breakups where the couple shares a social circle, neither party wants a reputation as the dumpee. Beck says he's the one who wanted to leave -- because the network was so depressing. "I remember feeling, 'If you do not leave now, you won?t leave with your soul intact,'" Beck said Friday, according to Forbes' Jeff Bercovici. Roger Ailes tried to talk him out of it. "Roger said to me, 'You're not going to leave.' And I said, 'I am. ...

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Sprint sets tentative date for investor vote for SoftBank deal

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Arsenal will keep with tradition and form a guard of honour for new Premier League champions Manchester United when the sides meet at The Emirates on Sunday. "That is part of the tradition of English football and I want that, of course, to be respected," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told a news conference on Friday. "I'm French, I work in England and the English tradition should be respected. When you work somewhere abroad you have to respect the culture of the country," he added. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sprint-sets-tentative-date-investor-vote-softbank-deal-190250732.html

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Humane Society for Greater Nashua recognized for volunteerism ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]NASHUA ? There are about a million hours devoted to the city of Nashua by.

Source: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/1001830-469/humane-society-for-greater-nashua-recognized-for.html

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GOP faces Senate recruitment woes in key states

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? Republicans are struggling to recruit strong U.S. Senate candidates in states where the party has the best chances to reclaim the majority in Washington.

It's a potentially troubling sign that the GOP's post-2012 soul-searching could spill over into next year's congressional elections.

The vote is more than 18 months away, so it's early. But candidate recruitment efforts are well underway, and thus far Republicans have been unable to field a top-tier candidate in Iowa or Michigan.

In those two Mideast swing states, the GOP hopes to make a play for seats left open by the retirement of veteran Democrats.

The GOP is facing the prospect of contentious and expensive primaries in Georgia and perhaps West Virginia, Republican-leaning states where incumbents, one from each party, are not running again.

President Barack Obama is not on the ballot, so Republicans may have their best chance in years to try to retake the Senate. Changing the balance of power in the Senate would put a major crimp on Obama's efforts to enact his agenda and shape his legacy in the final two years of his presidency.

Republicans need to gain six seats to gain control of the Senate. Democrats will be defending 21 seats to Republicans' 14, meaning the GOP has more opportunities to try to win on Democratic turf.

Only recently, Republicans were reveling in the fact that several veteran Democrats were retiring in states where the GOP had not had a chance to win in decades.

Last week, Democrat Max Baucus of Montana became the latest to announce his retirement in a state that typically tilts Republican.

But so far there's been a combination of no-thank-you's from prospective Republican candidates in Iowa, slow movement among others in Michigan and lack of consensus elsewhere over a single contender.

All that has complicated the early goings of what historically would be the GOP's moment to strike. In the sixth year of a presidency, the party out of power in the White House usually wins congressional seats.

Democrats, despite this historical disadvantage, are fighting to reclaim the majority in the U.S. House, where control will be decided by a couple of dozen swing states.

After embarrassing losses in GOP-leaning Indiana and Missouri last year, the new Republican Senate campaign leadership is responding by wading deep into the early stages of the 2014 races.

Strategists are conducting exhaustive research on would-be candidates, making hard pitches for those they prefer and discouraging those they don't, to the point of advertising against them. The hope is to limit the number of divisive primaries that only stand to remind voters of their reservations about Republicans.

"It's more about trying to get consensus and avoid a primary that would reopen those wounds, rather than the party struggling to find candidates," said Greg Strimple, a pollster who and consultant to several 2012 Republican Senate campaigns.

The party's top national Senate campaign strategists are so concerned about squandering potential opportunities by failing to persuade popular Republicans to run in critical states that they were in Iowa last week to survey the landscape. The visit came after top Senate prospects U.S. Rep. Tom Latham, a prolific fundraiser, and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, a rising star, decided against running despite aggressive lobbying by the National Republican Senate Committee.

The committee's senior spokesman, Kevin McLaughlin, and its political director, Ward Baker, met privately Wednesday with state Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey and state Sen. Joni Ernst, who have expressed interest.

They invited Mark Jacobs, the former CEO of Reliant Energy, to breakfast Thursday. They also tried again, and in vain, it turns out, to persuade Terry Branstad, Iowa's longest-serving governor, to run for Senate instead of seeking another term as governor.

Despite all that, the Washington delegation shrugged off the recruitment troubles. "It's more important to take the time to get it right than it is to rush and get it wrong," McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin and others have lamented the national party's decision not to intervene in the candidate selection last year, when Republicans lost races viewed as winnable in Indiana, Missouri and elsewhere.

The mission in Iowa for 2014 is to beat Democrat Bruce Braley, a four-term congressman trying to succeed retiring six-term Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin. Braley is the party's consensus prospect. He's won Harkin's endorsement and already has raised more than $1 million for his campaign.

Democrats are similarly set in Michigan, where Democrat Carl Levin is leaving the Senate after six terms. The Democratic field has been all but cleared for three-term Rep. Gary Peters, who already has more than $800,000 toward his campaign.

Last week, Debbie Dingell, wife of Michigan Rep. John Dingell, opted not to run for the Senate, after some of her key donors made clear they were for Peters.

But, as in Iowa, Republicans have faced recruitment challenges in Michigan.

The GOP's Senate campaign committee is planning a visit soon to Michigan and hopes to coax U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers into the race.

There's a belief in GOP circles in Washington and in Michigan that the seven-term Rogers, a former FBI agent who's chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, would be a stronger candidate than two-term Rep. Justin Amash, a tea party favroite with little money in his campaign account.

National Republican officials also are working to head off primaries in several states and are taking sides when they can't. That includes in West Virginia, which Republican president nominee Mitt Romney won in 2012 and where six-term Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller is retiring.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito quickly announced her candidacy and became a favorite of the GOP establishment. Some conservatives complained about her votes for financial industry bailouts, and former state Sen. Patrick McGeehan has announced plans to challenge her.

National Republican Senate Committee officials said they would campaign and run ads against McGeehan if he appeared to be a threat.

In Georgia, several Republican candidates are considering trying to succeed the retiring Republican Saxby Chambliss. But so far, the two who have entered the race are arch conservative House members Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey.

National Republicans are treading carefully to avoid enraging the conservative base in Georgia. But the primary field could eventually include up to a half-dozen people.

At the local level, some Republicans are worried the delay is costing precious organizing and fundraising time.

"Every day Iowa Republicans spend talking about potential candidate deliberations ... is a day lost," said Matt Strawn, a former Iowa Republican Party chairman.

But others say that the meddling from Washington stifles the voices of voters, who they say ought to be in charge of shaping the party's future, even if the primary is loud and divisive.

"It's a truer reflection of where the Republican Party needs to go," said Iowa Republican Doug Gross, a veteran adviser to Branstad.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gop-faces-senate-recruitment-woes-key-states-071637703.html

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On Syria, U.S. options appear limited

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House disclosure that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons still leaves the Obama administration stuck with a limited choice of military options to help the rebels oust President Bashar Assad.

Arming the rebels runs smack into the reality that a military group fighting alongside them has pledged allegiance to al-Qaida. Establishing a no-fly zone poses a significant challenge as Syria possesses an air defense system far more robust than what the U.S. and its allies overwhelmed in Libya two years ago.

President Barack Obama had declared that the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons in the two-year civil war would be "game changer" that would cross a "red line" for a major military response, but the White House made clear Thursday that even a quick strike wasn't imminent.

Reflecting a strong degree of caution, the White House said the intelligence community assessed "with varying degrees of confidence" that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons on a small scale. The White House said in a letter to two senators that the "chain of custody" was unclear and that the determination was based on physiological samples.

The information had been known to the administration and some members of Congress for weeks despite public pronouncements from the White House. The revelation on Thursday strengthened proponents of aggressive military action, who challenged the administration to act and warned that going wobbly would embolden Assad.

Yet it also underscored the difficulties of any step for war-weary lawmakers horrified by a conflict that has killed an estimated 70,000 but guarded about U.S. involvement in a Mideast war.

"There's no easy choice here," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a member of the Armed Services Committee. "All the alternatives are flawed. It's just finding the least flawed among them that will get Assad out."

The next move on Syria was high on the agenda for Obama's meeting Friday with King Abdullah II of Jordan, as the U.S. ally has struggled with the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees escaping the Syrian violence. Vice President Joe Biden and Abdullah discussed the best path to "a peaceful, democratic post-Assad Syria where moderates are empowered" on Thursday.

"I think it's important for the administration to look for ways to up the military pressure on Assad," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

One of the most powerful of the rebel groups in Syria is Jabhat al-Nusra, which recently declared its affiliation with al-Qaida. Last December, the State Department designated the group a terrorist organization, and the administration's opposition to directly arming the Syrian opposition stems from concerns about the weapons ending up in the hands of Islamic extremists.

Arming the rebels, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is a "lot harder that it was before."

"We've gotten to the point now where the opposition has been affected by the radicals," Graham said in an interview. "Right weapons in right hands is the goal. The second war is coming. I think we can arm the right people with the right weapons. There's a risk there, but the risk of letting this go and chemical weapons falling into radical Islamists' hands is the greatest risk."

Several lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have called for the U.S. to create a narrow, safe zone inside Syria, along its border with Turkey.

Either a safe zone or a no-fly zone would require neutralizing Syria's air defenses. According to a report by the Institute for the Study of War, Syria's largely Soviet-era air defense system includes as many as 300 mobile surface-to-air missile systems and defense systems, and more than 600 static missile launchers and sites.

"You can establish it (safe zone) by taking out their aircraft on the ground with cruise missiles and using the Patriot (missile) also. No American manned aircraft in danger," McCain said.

The U.S. has taken only minimal military steps so far, limiting U.S. assistance to nonlethal aid, including military-style equipment such as body armor and night vision goggles.

The U.S. has deployed about 200 troops to Jordan to assist that country's military, and participated in NATO's placement of Patriot missile batteries in Turkey near the border to protect against an attack from Syria.

It's unclear, however, what arming the rebels or patrolling a no-fly zone over Syria would accomplish.

"The options are all bad," says Aram Nerguizian, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. "Arming the opposition doesn't do anything regarding chemical weapons or solving proliferation concerns in Syria."

Targeting a facility, he added, might send a message to the Assad regime. But it does little to address the larger direction of the civil war, which is tilting back toward government forces again after a counteroffensive.

"Here's one thing you can do," argues Andrew Tabler at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in a similar vein. "If they load this stuff into bombs or mix the stuff, we can hit it," he said, but agreed that wouldn't eliminate the larger stockpiles or address the larger context of a conflict that is destroying Syria.

In testimony to Congress last week, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked whether he was confident that U.S. forces could secure the chemical weapons caches within Syria.

"Not as I sit here today, simply because they've been moving it and the number of sites is quite numerous," Dempsey said.

Tabler pointed to the Israeli attack earlier this year on a Syrian weapons convoy going to Hezbollah as an example of a possibly targeted U.S. intervention. He said the question of arming the rebels should be looked at beyond chemical weapons use, considering the 200 Scud missiles that have been launched by Assad's regime in the last five months and the government's ongoing escalation "all over the place."

Even if U.S. interests aren't immediately affected, they could be over time.

"Syria isn't Vegas," Tabler said. "What happens in Syria doesn't stay in Syria. Where do these chemical weapons all go?"

___

Associated Press Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-options-limited-syria-despite-weapons-report-071116497.html

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Canadian dollar hits over one-week high after U.S. job data

By Andrea Hopkins

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar hit its strongest level in more than a week against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday after U.S. data showed a fall in new jobless benefit claims, briefly tempering broader fears about tepid U.S. economic growth.

The data fueled investor appetite for riskier assets including stocks and helped support the prices of some commodities. While the Canadian currency climbed in early trade, activity fell off when the data bounce faded.

"It's very, very light volumes, very light activity, there are no big drivers across most of the markets, whether bonds or currencies," said Mark Chandler, head of Canadian fixed income and currency strategy at Royal Bank of Canada.

"The U.S. dollar was a bit of an outlier, weaker across the board, and the Canadian dollar garnered some strength from that early on," he added.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week by a surprisingly large 16,000 to 339,000, offering reassurance the bottom is not falling out of the labor market despite signs of slower growth.

The data countered several weeks of signs that the U.S. economic activity softened in March and early April, and recent weak global economic data, including record-high jobless figures from Spain on Thursday.

The unexpected strength in the U.S. labor market helped send U.S. stock markets up and government bonds down, aided by earnings that beat lowered expectations.

The Canadian dollar ended the North American session at C$1.0208 to the U.S. dollar, or 97.96 U.S. cents, up from C$1.0256, or 97.50 U.S. cents, at Wednesday's close.

Chandler said he did not see much that might drive trading in the Canadian dollar on Friday, with the only major data being U.S. GDP for the first quarter. He expects the Canadian dollar to weaken in the weeks and months ahead, with few signs of the Canadian economic strength that buoyed it during parts of last year.

"We continue to look for the Canadian dollar to weaken somewhat, get to C$1.05 by the late summer period," he said.

Canadian markets are waiting for the Bank of Canada to announce a replacement for Governor Mark Carney, who is leaving in June to head the Bank of England. The bank's current deputy, Tiff Macklem, is widely expected to take the helm, but analysts say there is always a chance of a surprise.

The loonie, as the currency is colloquially known, has traded within a tight range since the central bank last week stuck to its oft-repeated view that its next interest rate move will be a rise.

Canadian government bond prices were mixed. The two-year bond was down half a Canadian cent to yield 0.947 percent and the benchmark 10-year bond was down 20 Canadian cents to yield 1.747 percent.

(Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Bob Burgdorfer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/canadian-dollar-hits-over-one-week-high-u-205546920--finance.html

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Movement of pyrrole molecules defy 'classical' physics

Apr. 26, 2013 ? New research shows that movement of the ring-like molecule pyrrole over a metal surface runs counter to the centuries-old laws of 'classical' physics that govern our everyday world.

Using uniquely sensitive experimental techniques, scientists have found that laws of quantum physics -- believed primarily to influence at only sub-atomic levels -- can actually impact on a molecular level.

Researchers at Cambridge's Chemistry Department and Cavendish Laboratory say they have evidence that, in the case of pyrrole, quantum laws affecting the internal motions of the molecule change the "very nature of the energy landscape" -- making this 'quantum motion' essential to understanding the distribution of the whole molecule.

The study, a collaboration between scientists from Cambridge and Rutgers universities, appeared in the German chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie earlier this month.

A pyrrole molecule's centre consists of a "flat pentagram" of five atoms, four carbon and one nitrogen. Each of these atoms has an additional hydrogen atom attached, sticking out like spokes.

Following experiments performed by Barbara Lechner at the Cavendish Laboratory to determine the energy required for movement of pyrrole across a copper surface, the team discovered a discrepancy that led them down a 'quantum' road to an unusual discovery.

In previous work on simpler molecules, the scientists were able to accurately calculate the 'activation barrier' -- the energy required to loosen a molecule's bond to a surface, allowing movement -- using 'density functional theory', a method that treats the electrons which bind the atoms according to quantum mechanics but, crucially, deals with atomic nuclei using a 'classical' physics approach.

Surprisingly, with pyrrole the predicted 'activation barriers' were way out, with calculations "less than a third of the measured value." After much head scratching, puzzled scientists turned to a purely quantum phenomenon called 'zero-point energy'.

In classical physics, an object losing energy can continue to do so until it can be thought of as sitting perfectly still. In the quantum world, this is never the case: everything always retains some form of residual -- even undetectable -- energy, known as 'zero-point energy'.

While 'zero-point energy' is well known to be associated with motion of the atoms contained in molecules, it was previously believed that such tiny amounts of energy simply don't affect the molecule as a whole to any measurable extent, unless the molecule broke apart.

But now, the researchers have discovered that the "quantum nature" of the molecule's internal motion actually does affect the molecule as a whole as it moves across the surface, defying the 'classical' laws that it's simply too big to feel quantum effects.

'Zero-point energy' moving within a pyrrole molecule is unexpectedly sensitive to the exact site occupied by the molecule on the surface. In moving from one site to another, the 'activation energy' must include a sizeable contribution due to the change in the quantum 'zero-point energy'.

Scientists believe the effect is particularly noticeable in the case of pyrrole because the 'activation energy' needed for diffusion is particularly small, but that many other similar molecules ought to show the same kind of behavior.

"Understanding the nature of molecular diffusion on metal surfaces is of great current interest, due to efforts to manufacture two-dimensional networks of ring-like molecules for use in optical, electronic or spintronic devices," said Dr Stephen Jenkins, who heads up the Surface Science Group in Cambridge's Department of Chemistry.

"The balance between the activation energy and the energy barrier that sticks the molecules to the surface is critical in determining which networks are able to form under different conditions."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Cambridge. The original article is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Barbara A. J. Lechner, Holly Hedgeland, John Ellis, William Allison, Marco Sacchi, Stephen J. Jenkins, B. J. Hinch. Quantum Influences in the Diffusive Motion of Pyrrole on Cu(111). Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2013; DOI: 10.1002/anie.201302289

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/RDFpcgJ5_Os/130426115449.htm

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US jobless claims data shore up markets

LONDON (AP) ? Solid weekly U.S. jobless claims figures shored up markets Thursday in the run-up to the first estimate of the country's first-quarter economic growth.

This week economic data have largely disappointed expectations. However, the 16,000 fall in weekly claims to 339,000 augurs well for next week's nonfarm payrolls report for April. Before then, investors will focus on Friday's release of GDP growth during the first three months of the year.

Growth is expected to come in at an annualized rate a little above 3 percent, way up from the previous quarter's 0.4 percent.

Michael Hewson, senior analyst at CMC Markets, said the risk is that investors are setting themselves up for "significant disappointment" if the growth numbers are low.

"Given the weakness of recent data it is somewhat surprising that this 3.1 percent estimate hasn't been revised lower, especially in light of the poor data seen in March, from employment, retail sales, existing home sales and durable goods yesterday," Hewson said.

Following the claims figures, European markets were trading more or less where they were before whereas Wall Street opened solidly.

In Europe, Germany's DAX rose 0.6 percent to 7,805, while the CAC-40 fell 0.2 percent to 3,835. Spain's IBEX underperformed all others, trading 0.8 percent lower after figures showed the unemployment rate climbed to a record high of 27.2 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2013.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was flat at 6,433 even though official figures showed the country's economy grew by a greater than anticipated quarterly rate of 0.3 percent in the first three months of the year.

Many in the markets were predicting that Britain would sink into its third recession in less than five years. But the rise eased expectations that the Bank of England will soon announce another big monetary stimulus. That gave the British pound a lift ? it was trading 1.3 percent higher at $1.5466 and near two-month highs.

Sentiment has held up this week largely because investors think the world's major central banks will continue with their super-easy monetary policies. That's increasingly the case in Europe, where investors think the European Central Bank will likely cut interest rates at its policy meeting next Thursday.

"The case for an ECB rate cut at the 2 May policy meeting is quite strong," said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital.

Currency markets elsewhere were unspectacular, with the euro down 0.1 percent at $1.3009 and the dollar 0.1 percent lower at 99.37 yen.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.6 percent to close at 13,926.08 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1 percent to 22,401.24. South Korea's Kospi added 0.8 percent to 1,951.60.

Oil prices were fairly flat too after recovering above $90 a barrel on Wednesday ? the benchmark rate was down 15 cents at $91.27 a barrel.

____

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-jobless-claims-data-shore-markets-145707501--finance.html

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49ers Trade Up: Eric Reid Drafted By San Francisco With No. 18 Pick In 2013 NFL Draft

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) ? The San Francisco 49ers have selected free safety Eric Reid out of LSU with the 18th pick in the NFL draft after trading up to get the selection from the Dallas Cowboys.

Safety was considered a significant need by general manager Trent Baalke for the reigning NFC champions, who lost All-Pro Dashon Goldson to Tampa Bay at the start of the league's free agency period in March.

Reid played three seasons for LSU and is still considered a raw talent in pass coverage. He could make an immediate impact on kick coverage.

The two-time defending NFC West champion Niners gave up their selection at 31st overall to the Cowboys as well as No. 74 in the third round. San Francisco began the day with 13 picks.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/25/49ers-trade-eric-reid-nfl-draft-cowboys_n_3159433.html

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Sugary drinks can raise diabetes risk by 22 percent: study

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - Drinking just one can of sugar-laced soda drink a day increases the risk of developing diabetes by more than a fifth, according to a large European study published on Wednesday.

Using data from 350,000 people in eight European countries, researchers found that every extra 12 fluid ounce (340 ml) serving of sugar-sweetened drink raises the risk of diabetes by 22 percent compared with drinking just one can a month or less.

"Given the increase in sweet beverage consumption in Europe, clear messages on the unhealthy effect of these drinks should be given to the population," said Dora Romaguera, who led with study with a team at Imperial College London.

A 12-fluid-ounce serving is about equivalent to a normal-sized can of Coca-Cola, Pepsi or other soft drink.

The findings echo similar conclusions from research in the United States, where several studies have shown that intake of sugar-sweetened drinks is strongly linked with higher body weight and conditions like type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is a long-term condition characterized by insulin resistance that affects around 2.9 million people in Britain and, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 310 million people worldwide.

Romaguera's team wanted to establish whether a link between sugary drinks and diabetes risk also existed in Europe.

For their study, they used data from 350,000 people from Britain, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Sweden, France, Italy, Netherlands who were questioned about their diet, including how many sugary and artificially sweetened soft drinks and juices they drank each day.

Writing in the journal Diabetologia, the researchers said their study "corroborates the association between increased incidence of Type-2 diabetes and high consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks in European adults".

Fruit juice consumption was not linked to diabetes incidence.

Patrick Wolfe, a statistics expert from University College London who was not involved in the research, said the message from its results was clear.

"The bottom line is that sugary soft drinks are not good for you - they have no nutritional value and there is evidence that drinking them every day can increase your relative risk for type 2 diabetes," he said in an emailed comment.

(Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sugary-drinks-raise-diabetes-risk-22-percent-study-104200086--sector.html

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Twinkies return by midsummer? Hostess factories reopening soon.

Twinkies will return, announced the company that bought partnership that bought Hostess Brands' snack cake lines, including Twinkies.

By Associated Press / April 25, 2013

Twinkies first came onto the scene in 1930 and contained real fruit until rationing during World War II led to the now-standard vanilla cream Twinkies.

Interstate Bakeries Corporation / AP

Enlarge

The partnership that bought Hostess Brands' snack cake lines, including Twinkies, has announced it will reopen the bakery in Emporia this summer, with 250 employees to start.

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The private equity groups Apollo Global Management and Metropolis & Co. ? now doing business as Hostess Brands LLC ? recently paid $410 million for the rights to buy the Hostess and Dolly Madison snack cake lines as well as five plants, including the one in Emporia.

But Emporia City Commissioner Jon Geitz told KVOE-AM there had been no assurance the local bakery would reopen, so Thursday's announcement was good news.

"Having 250, 300 new employees coming in is a big win for the community," Geitz said, noting the plant and the city had been "'good partners for nearly 40 years."

Hostess Brands LLC said hiring is already underway for an initial 250 employees. The company is aiming for a total workforce of about 300 over the next several years, and the plant will be expanded. Officials hope it will start turning out Twinkies, HoHos and other Hostess mainstays by mid- to late summer.

Company spokesman Mike Cramer declined comment on whether union employees would be a part of the picture. More than 90 percent of the plant's employees at the time of the shutdown were union members.

Geitz is vice president of the Regional Development Association of Eastern Kansas, which together with Emporia Mayor Bobbi Mlynar worked to convince the new owners to reopen the plant.

In a statement issued by the company, Mlynar said the plant has been a "good corporate citizen in our community. We look forward to the same type of relationship with the new owners."

Kansas officials also worked for the reopening.

"Certainly the city and state were way out in front, trying to stay in touch, seeing what they could do to help," Cramer said.

With the plant idle since November, Cramer said a lot of work is needed to make the plant current. Besides cleaning and maintenance, the company is investing in new equipment and refurbishing existing equipment. It is also changing its packaging and shipping methods before starting to roll out cake products.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/3l78x0F9cJ8/Twinkies-return-by-midsummer-Hostess-factories-reopening-soon

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3 things we know about 'Arrested Development'

By Ashley Majeski, TODAY contributor

Fox via Everett Collection

The full cast of "Arrested Development"

"Arrested Development" fans will have to wait another month to watch all of the latest Bluth family hijinks, but from the looks of the sneak peek clip posted Thursday by Entertainment Weekly, not much has changed with the crazy clan.

The series, which was cancelled in 2006, is being being resurrected on May 26, when Netflix will post a completely new 15-episode season. The clip, which provides the first look at the new episodes, was shown during the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in January and at South by Southwest in March, but this marks the first time it has made its way to a wider viewing audience.

Although the short clip doesn't give away any spoilers, it did give fans an idea of what we can expect.

Buster and Lucille's relationship is still creepy
Lucille (played by Jessica Walter) has always had a "special" relationship with her youngest son, Buster (Tony Hale), but it appears that the co-dependent mother and son will take their closeness to a whole new level in the upcoming season. Buster is obviously still eager to please his mother, even if that means ingesting her exhaled cigarette smoke and puffing it outside for her so that she doesn't have to get up to go smoke. The close relationship between momma's boy Buster and over-bearing Lucille has always straddled the line between endearing and inappropriate, and it looks like this will remain the same.

The Bluth family still can't stay out of trouble
Apparently, patriarch George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor) isn't the only Bluth to run afoul of the law. In the new clip, Lucille is unable to go outside because she is sporting an ankle monitor. While it hasn't yet been revealed what Lucille did to acquire that new accessory, it appears that she's on house arrest.

Ron Howard will still be on hand to explain what's going on
The show's executive producer, Ron Howard, will continue to lend his voice to the series. In addition to serving as the show's narrator, Howard, who only appeared on camera for the series' last episode in 2006, has said that he will be making an?appearance?on the show at some point during the new season.

Related content:

?

Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/04/25/17916913-3-things-we-learned-about-the-new-season-of-arrested-development?lite

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TokBox Brings WebRTC To The Cloud, Enables Multi-Party Video Chats & SIP Interop

Telefonica’s TokBox announced a huge upgrade to its OpenTok on WebRTC service today. TokBox’s new cloud-based Mantis media distribution framework is designed to overcome some of WebRTC’s limits with regard to video distribution. By default, WebRTC is a peer-to-peer platform, but that makes it hard to scale video chats beyond two participants. With Mantis, TokBox essentially puts its own cloud infrastructure in the middle of these calls and is then able to route and manage calls that include multiple participants without using a prohibitive amount of bandwidth and using a complicated mesh-based architecture. In the future, as TokBox CEO Ian Small told me earlier this week, this will also enable TokBox shape video streams according to the different users’ bandwidth conditions and the developers’ needs. “With Mantis, what we’re doing putting smarts into the WebRTC infrastructure,” Small said. “Today, we’re routing traffic. Tomorrow, we’ll shape traffic.” On cool feature Mantis already enables today is SIP interop, so developers will actually be able to write WebRTC-based apps that allow users to call in from their standard phone lines. This, for example, is useful for video conferencing services where you can now have a number of WebRTC-based video streams and a few participants on regular phone lines simultaneously. Currently, Small told me, the system scales well for chats with up to ten users. In a webinar setting where just one user is broadcasting, it can easily scale up to more than a hundred users. The company beta tested Mantis with the help of LiveNinja and Roll20. Current OpenTok developers won’t have to do anything to take advantage of the new system, given that TokBox already abstracts most of the WebRTC calls anyway. They will just have to create the topology they need for their apps (P2P, multi-party chat, etc.) and get started. It just “happens in the cloud automatically,” as Small noted, and now that it’s in the cloud, the company will be able to add many new features to its implementation in the near future. WebRTC, of course, is still in its early phases, something Small also acknowledged in our interview. In his view, we are not even in the early adopter phase right now. Instead, he believes, WebRTC is still in its experimentation and early mover phase. Once WebRTC arrives in the stable release channel of Firefox (it’s about to hit the developer channels soon and should be in the

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/wTQ9fSe290c/

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What I love is what I fear losing (Unqualified Offerings)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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TC Cribs: Inside LinkedIn, The Professional Social Network With A Surprisingly Casual HQ

It's time for a brand spankin' new edition of Cribs, the TechCrunch TV series where we snoop around inside the parts of hot tech companies that are typically for employees only. Just like Walt Whitman, the tech industry contains multitudes, and we try to represent it all in Cribs. That means that in addition to touring smaller startups, we also like to go inside established tech giants -- and it was pretty amazing to have the chance to take an in-depth tour of LinkedIn, the professional social network that's grown from its 2002 inception in Reid Hoffman's apartment to a staff of thousands, a user base of hundreds of millions, a hugely successful initial public offering, and continued stock market success.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/n5VRmgZYDhw/

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Apple's Q2 2013 In Charts

Apple just released its fiscal Q2 2013 earnings, and as always there's plenty to dig into. In case you're more of a visual learner (or just don't have the time to read through multiple posts), take a peek at these charts to get a feel for how the folks in Cupertino did for themselves this time around. If you feel like learning a little more, clicking each of the charts will take you to a full post on the matter.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/aiC1OkkFwUc/

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Lee Pace Joins Guardians of the Galaxy

Lee Pace once tested for the lead in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, but too bad he didn't get it. The part of Peter Quill went to Chris Pratt instead. As it turns out, there's a more fitting role for him in the movie.

According to TheWrap, Pace is playing the villain in the movie. Who he is playing was not revealed, so it could range from The Controller to the recently rumored The Collector to a host of other villainous characters (Thanos?). We'll know soon enough.

Ophelia Lovibond boarded the move earlier this week in a mystery role as well. It has been said that she's playing a supporting or assistant-like character. Speculate away.

The pair will be joined in the movie by Chris Pratt as Peter Quill, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, and Michael Rooker as Yondu.

James Gunn is directing Guardians of the Galaxy this June over in London for an August 1, 2014 release.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927328/news/1927328/

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Mariah Carey Watches Movies with Her Adorable Twins!

Mariah Carey has a pajama party with Monroe and Moroccan! Check out other cute and candid moments from the stars.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/celebrity-twitter-pictures/1-b-229669?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Acelebrity-twitter-pictures-229669

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Namibia keeps repo rate steady, budget to support GDP

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Namibia's central bank left its lending rate unchanged for the fourth straight meeting, saying that although the economy was resilient, weak global growth has been dragging on the resource-rich country's mineral exports.

"The repo rate needs to remain low to support the economy and mitigate, as far as possible, the impact of endured slow growth in many of our trading partners," the Bank of Namibia said in a statement on Wednesday.

The bank maintained its GDP forecast of 4.4 percent for 2013, compared with an estimated 5 percent growth rate in 2012.

Namibia is one of the world's biggest producers of diamonds and a major source of uranium. Slowing growth in China, the world's biggest commodities consumer, and debt worries in Europe, a major export region, have put pressure on the country's mining sector.

The central bank said the government had a healthy 2012/13 fiscal position that resulted in a large build-up of cash, which would be used to support the economy.

"The government budget will support domestic production and consumption through relatively high levels of expenditure and tax relief."

The government announced planned corporate and income tax cuts in February when it forecast a relatively small budget shortfall of 2.8 percent of GDP for the 2012/13 year.

Inflation in the southern African country quickened slightly to 6.3 percent in March and the bank expects price growth to remain manageable over the short to medium term.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/namibia-keeps-repo-rate-steady-5-5-percent-113449535--business.html

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