Britain's economy at a glance

LONDON (AP) ? Here is a look at Britain's economy as Mark Carney becomes Bank of England governor;

STUCK IN A RUT

Britain's $2.3 billion economy ? Europe's third-largest ? has been slow to recover from the global financial crisis as the government cuts spending to control a burgeoning budget deficit. Gross domestic product grew just 0.3 percent in the first quarter of this year after shrinking during the previous three months. The Bank of England has forecast that growth will accelerate to 0.5 percent in the second quarter.

The desultory recovery is threatened by an economic downturn among Britain's European trading partners, which may undermine efforts to rev up exports. Adding more peril, inflation is stuck above the central bank's 2 percent target. Analysts expect it to hit 3.1 percent this summer, partly due to a weaker pound, which makes imports more expensive.

AUSTERITY: WAIT. THERE'S MORE

Prime Minister David Cameron's government instituted an austerity program to make ends meet and shrink the size of the government. The respected Institute for Fiscal studies estimates that 1 million public sector jobs could be lost by 2017-2018. Even so, the deficit remains stubbornly high. The budget deficit was 6.3 percent of GDP in 2012, according to figures from the European Union statistics agency. That was better than 2011's 7.8 percent but is still more than twice the EU limit of 3 percent ? at the same level as that of Cyprus. The IFS says Britain may be facing austerity until 2020.

WHAT TO DO?

The Bank of England slashed interest rates to 0.5 percent and pumped money into the economy. Since 2009, the bank has bought 375 billion pounds ($579 billion) of assets in a stimulus program known as quantitative easing. Some members of the bank's nine-person Monetary Policy Committee, including outgoing Gov. Mervyn King, have argued that stimulus should be increased. Vicki Redwood, an analyst for Capital Economics, has suggested that policymakers were stuck in limbo ahead of Carney's arrival.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-economy-glance-091049198.html

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Father of NSA leaker says he would return to US

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The father of NSA leaker Edward Snowden acknowledges his son broke the law but doesn't think he committed treason.

The NBC "Today" show reported Friday that Lonnie Snowden is sending a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder saying he believes his son would voluntarily return to the United States if the Justice Department promises not to hold him prior to trial and not subject him to a gag order.

The elder Snowden hasn't spoken to his son since April but says he believes he's being manipulated by people at the WikiLeaks website.

Lonnie Snowden tells NBC his son broke the law in releasing classified information, but says he didn't betray the people of the United States.

Edward Snowden, who fled to Russia, is charged with violating U.S. espionage laws.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-28-NSA-Surveillance-Snowden's%20Father/id-90a0e12527484400aae2771b26aab6ac

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U.S. approves a horse slaughterhouse, sees two more plants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A New Mexico meat plant received federal approval on Friday to slaughter horses for meat, a move that drew immediate opposition from animal rights group and will likely be opposed by the White House.

The U.S. Agriculture Department said it was required by law to issue a "grant of inspection" to Valley Meat Co, Roswell, New Mexico, because it had met all federal requirements. Now, the USDA is obliged to assign meat inspectors to the plant.

The USDA also said it may soon issue similar grants for plants in Missouri and Iowa.

Horse meat cannot be sold as food in the United States, but it can be exported. Attempts to reach Valley Meat Co via a number listed online were unsuccessful.

Valley Meat would be the first meat plant to be allowed to slaughter horses since Congress banned it in 2006.

It is not known when the plant will start production, but two bills in Congress want to ban horse slaughter and President Obama has asked Congress to ban it.

The Humane Society of the United States and Front Range Equine Rescue threatened on Friday to sue the USDA, saying horses are raised as pets and as working animals. Because they are not intended as food animals, horses are given medications banned from other livestock, the groups said, questioning if the meat would be safe.

The USDA says it can test for residues of 130 pesticide and veterinary drugs. It also has safeguards to keep horse meat out of the food supply.

Congress effectively banned horse slaughter in 2006 by saying the USDA could not spend any money to inspect horse plants. Without USDA inspection, meat plants cannot operate.

The ban was part of the annual USDA funding bill and was renewed a year at a time through 2011. The prohibition expired in October 2011.

Lawmakers could vote on reinstating the ban in coming weeks when the USDA appropriations bills are debated in the House and Senate. But no date has been set to consider the bills and it could be months before work is completed.

The USDA said it was required by law to issue the grant of inspection because Valley Meat met all federal requirements. At one point, the company sued the USDA for an overly long review of its application. Once it issues a grant of inspection, the USDA is obliged to assign meat inspectors to a meat plant.

"Until Congress acts, the department must comply with current law," said a USDA spokeswoman.

Valley Meat retrofitted its plant for horses after drought weakened its cattle slaughter business.

Horse meat is sold for human consumption in China, Russia, Mexico and other foreign nations and is sometimes used as feed for zoo animals.

But in the United States, horses enjoy a higher stature, more akin to house pets, than to hogs, cattle and chickens.

An estimated 130,000 U.S. horses are shipped annually to slaughter in Canada and Mexico. Groups have quarreled for a decade whether a ban on slaughter will save horses from a cruel death or lead to abandonment by owners of animals they cannot afford to feed or treat for illness.

Early this year, regulators discovered that horse meat was being sold as beef in Ireland. The mislabeled meat was found in meatballs sold by Swedish retailer IKEA in much of Europe and in other outlets.

USDA conducts tests on domestic and imported products to identify the species that yielded the meat. The tests can distinguish beef, sheep, swine, poultry, deer and horse.

As well, USDA stepped up its species testing in April because of the meat adulteration scandal in Europe.

(Reporting By Charles Abbott; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-approves-horse-slaughterhouse-sees-two-more-plants-002957259.html

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Want to marry a millionaire in China? You'd better be hot and know how to clean...

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/globalpost/posts/10151711775713447

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Immigration focus on House after Senate OKs bill

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Attention is shifting to the House and its conservative majority after the Senate passed a landmark immigration bill opening the door to U.S. citizenship to millions while pouring billions of dollars into securing the border with Mexico.

The bill's prospects are highly uncertain in the Republican-led House, where conservatives generally oppose citizenship for immigrants living in the country unlawfully. Many also prefer a step-by-step approach rather than a comprehensive bill like the legislation the Senate passed Thursday on a bipartisan vote of 68-32.

Following the Senate vote, President Barack Obama, who's made an immigration overhaul a top second-term priority, called on the House to act.

"Today, the Senate did its job. It's now up to the House to do the same," Obama said in a statement issued as he traveled in Africa. "As this process moves forward, I urge everyone who cares about this issue to keep a watchful eye. Now is the time when opponents will try their hardest to pull this bipartisan effort apart so they can stop common-sense reform from becoming a reality. We cannot let that happen."

Members of the Senate's so-called Gang of Eight, the senators who drafted the bill and hoped a resounding vote total would pressure the House, echoed the plea.

"To our friends in the House, we ask for your consideration and we stand ready to sit down and negotiate with you," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said. "You may have different views on different aspects of this issue, but all of us share the same goal, and that is to take 11 million people out of the shadows, secure our borders and make sure that this is the nation of opportunity and freedom."

At a news conference, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, made clear the House would not simply take up the Senate bill as some Democrats and outside advocates are calling for, but would chart its own legislation with a focus on border security. How exactly Boehner will proceed remained unclear, but the speaker has called a special meeting of his majority Republicans for July 10 to go over options.

"The House is not going to take up and vote on whatever the Senate passes. We're going to do our own bill," Boehner said. "It'll be legislation that reflects the will of our majority and the will of the American people."

The bill passed by the Senate devotes $46 billion to border security improvements, including calling for a doubling of the border patrol stationed on the U.S.-Mexico border and the completion of 700 miles of fencing ? changes added at the last minute to attract Republican support. No one would be able to get a permanent resident green card until those border enhancements and others were in place.

The bill also makes it mandatory for employers to check their workers' legal status, sets up new visa programs to allow workers into the country and establishes new tracking systems at seaports and airports to keep better tabs on people entering and leaving the country.

At its contentious core, though, is a 13-year path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants living in this country illegally.

Without such a provision, senators say the legislation could not pass the Senate. With it, its prospects are difficult in the House.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., predicted that the House might end up having to pass the Senate bill after failing to find any other avenue forward and feeling pressure from the public to act.

But that approach is strongly opposed by many conservatives. Boehner also dismissed the idea of relying on Democratic votes instead of a majority of his Republicans to pass an immigration bill.

At the same time Boehner said he hopes the bill will be bipartisan, and he encouraged a House group of four Democrats and three Republicans trying to forge a compromise to continue their efforts.

He offered no details on how a House bill could be both bipartisan and supported by more than half of his own rank and file, given that most of the single-issue immigration bills that have moved through the House Judiciary Committee recently did so on party-line votes over the protests of Democrats. None envisions legal status for immigrants now here illegally.

Boehner declined to say whether there were circumstances under which he could support a pathway to citizenship, but he made clear that securing the border was a priority.

"People have to have confidence that the border is secure before anything else is really going to work. Otherwise, we repeat the mistakes of 1986," he said, referring to the last time Congress overhauled the immigration system.

One option could be to bring up one or more of four narrowly focused immigration bills approved by the Judiciary Committee this week and last, hoping to pass it and use it as a vehicle for House members to enter into negotiations with senators on a merged bill in the fall or winter.

___

Associated Press writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/immigration-focus-house-senate-oks-bill-074045659.html

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Vine update enables 6-second selfies

Just use that front-facing camera power wisely

Vine has just been updated in the Play Store to enable what every self-loving kid on the internet needed -- front facing camera support. Nothing else in the interface for recording has changed, except now you have a simple button in the bottom left corner of the app to toggle between cameras. You can toggle in the middle of a video between cuts if you just have to give that reaction shot, or you can go the full 6-seconds with one camera or the other.

Is this enough to bring people back over from Instagram with video? Hard to say that it is. Regardless, you're likely about to see your Vine feed filled up with a lot more faces for the next few days. You can grab a download from the Play Store link above.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/T0DUcIIr1Mg/story01.htm

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American-US Airways merger: Feds investigate possible antitrust issues

Airlines

Reuters

1 hour ago

LARRY DOWNING / Reuters

A U.S. Airways jet takes off from Washington's Reagan National Airport outside Washington, passing an American Airlines plane, February 25, 2013. Reuters reports the Justice department is probing the proposed American-US merger for antitrust issues.

The U.S. Justice Department is taking depositions as part of a probe into a planned merger of American Airlines and US Airways that would create the world's largest airline, three sources close to the discussions told Reuters.

The sticking point in talks between the Justice Department and the companies is whether the airlines will agree to sell slots -- take-off and landing rights -- to reduce their dominance at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., according to one source.

The three sources spoke privately to protect business relationships.

US Airways announced on February 14 that it planned to merge with American, which is emerging from bankruptcy, to create an $11 billion airline. The deal requires the approval of the Justice and Transportation Departments. The companies hope to wrap up the merger by the end of September.

American Airlines and US Airways declined comment. Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona said only that the agency's investigation was continuing.

The fact that the Justice Department is taking sworn testimony in the form of depositions indicates it has concerns that the proposed merger creates antitrust problems. Depositions will be needed if the agency approves the deal with conditions or, in rare cases, if it decides to try to stop it. The department could also decide to approve the merger without requiring asset sales.

Depositions preserve testimony if the department decides to challenge the merger, said Robert Doyle, an antitrust expert with Doyle, Barlow and Mazard PLLC.

If the deal is approved, the new airline would have 68 percent of the slots at Reagan National, far more than Delta Air Lines with 12 percent, United Airlines with 9 percent and the 11 percent held by other airlines, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The companies have pushed back hard against any suggestion that takeoff and landing slots at Reagan National be sold.

US Airways CEO Doug Parker told lawmakers in congressional testimony last week that requiring the combined company to surrender slots could mean fewer flights to small and medium-sized cities.

Antitrust experts have said the Justice Department could request divestitures of some slots at Reagan National and a small number of other airports. Outside these hubs, the carriers fly different routes for the most part.

In late May, more than 100 members of Congress asked U.S. regulators to allow the new American to keep all the slots at Reagan National. The airport is used by many members of Congress to travel to and from their home districts.

The U.S. airline industry has undergone five years of rapid consolidation. Delta acquired Northwest Airlines in 2008, United merged with Continental in 2010 and Southwest Airlines Co bought discount rival AirTran in 2011.

With fewer carriers competing, ticket prices have risen. The average fare rose about 8 percent to $375 in the third quarter of 2012, compared with $346 in 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663286/s/2def37a2/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Camerican0Eus0Eairways0Emerger0Efeds0Einvestigate0Epossible0Eantitrust0Eissues0E6C10A480A485/story01.htm

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Welcoming a Summer Break From the 'Rug-Rat Race' - NYTimes.com

[unable to retrieve full-text content]If my children stay home to play after school, guess what? Those children down the street won't be home. Actually, nobody will be home. Because everybody who can run this gauntlet, does.

Source: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/welcoming-a-summer-break-from-the-rug-rat-race/

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Four-year hacking spree in South Korea blamed on 'Dark Seoul Gang'

By Jim Finkle

BOSTON (Reuters) - Researchers with U.S. security software maker Symantec Corp say they have uncovered digital evidence that links cyber attacks on South Korea dating back four years to a single hacking group dubbed the "Dark Seoul Gang."

Eric Chien, technical director with Symantec Security Response, said late on Wednesday that his firm made the connection while reviewing malicious software code used to launch attacks that disrupted some South Korean government websites earlier in the week.

He said that the evidence did not uncover the identity of the gang members.

North Korea has been blamed for previous cyber attacks on South Korean banks and government networks, although Pyongyang denies responsibility and has said it has also been a victim.

Symantec researchers found chunks of code that were identical to code in malicious programs used in four previous significant attacks, the first of which happened on July 4, 2009, according to Chien.

"We know that they are one gang," he said. "It is extremely well coordinated."

He estimates that the group has between 10 and 50 members, based on the sophistication of the code and the complexity of their attacks.

The July 4, 2009, attack wiped data on PCs and also launched distributed denial of service attacks that disrupted websites in South Korea as well as the United States.

In March of this year, the gang knocked tens of thousands of PCs off line at South Korean companies by destroying data on their hard drives, Chien said. It was one of the most destructive cyber attacks on private computer networks to date.

Symantec published its report on the gang on its website: http://bit.ly/14ukq4o

A hacking attack on Tuesday, the anniversary of the start of the Korean War in 1950, brought down the main websites of South Korea's presidential office and some local newspapers, prompting cybersecurity officials to raise the alert.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/four-hacking-spree-south-korea-blamed-dark-seoul-033835422.html

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Sen. Wyden denounces bulk phone record collection

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A senator who has been instrumental in the fight for open government warned Wednesday that the government's practice of "vacuuming up the phone records of millions of law-abiding Americans" puts citizens' privacy at risk.

During a panel sponsored by the American Society of News Editors, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said while the information collected by the National Security Agency involves phone numbers, location and time of the call, it might also contain vital personal details, such as relationships, medical issues, religious matters or political affiliations.

"I have to believe the civil liberties of millions of Americans have been violated," Wyden said.

"I have not seen any evidence that demonstrates that the bulk collection of all of these records provides unique value," he added.

Wyden said he believes that the information the NSA gathers could be obtained by emergency authorization or court order and does not need to be collected automatically from millions of Americans in bulk.

"The fact is that vacuuming up the phone records of millions of law-abiding Americans can really determine and reveal a lot of private information," he said.

The Sunshine in Government Initiative, a group of nine media organizations including the ASNE, presented its annual award to Wyden for his work in stripping several provisions from the Fiscal Year 2012 Intelligence Authorization Act that would have significantly lessened reporters' ability to access even unclassified information.

One provision particular was a provision that would have prevented intelligence committee officials from becoming paid news commentators for at least a year after leaving public service.

"You could basically only have a handful of people who were designated as the ones legally allowed to talk to the press," said Wyden of the provision he worked to strike down. "They (reporters) could only get one side of the story and basically only the side that the high-level people want you to have. That's not transparency, that's not the public's right to know," he said.

In addition to Wyden, government employees Tim Crawford and Larry Gottesman were also honored by the Sunshine in Government Initiative for creating FOIAonline, a system that allows the public to manage and track Freedom of Information requests.

___

Online:

https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/home

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-26-Wyden%20ASNE%20Conference/id-46e44e3c3077464094b98a653bd8ff34

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Poppy Hands On: Turn Your iPhone into a 21st Century View-Master

The Fischer-Price View-Master has entertained generations of kids with stereoscopic views of famous landmarks and cartoon characters since its advent in 1939. Problem was, these iconic gadgets could only display images, never record them. But the Poppy can. It turns your iPhone into a 3D camera.

The Poppy generates a pair of stereographic images from the iPhone's camera and recombines them into a 3D image when seen through the viewfinder. You just flip open the front end, slip your iPhone 4/4s/5 or iPod Touch into the slot on the top of the device and you're ready to go. And in addition to recording 3D content through the phone's camera, it can also be used to play back 3D content as well (such as the growing number of 3D trailers and user-generated content on YouTube).

I had the opportunity to sit down with Poppy co-creators, Ethan Lowry and Joe Heitzeberg, last week for a quick hands on ahead of the $50 product's Kickstarter launch and played with the Poppy for about 20 minutes. The device seemed a bit bulky at first blush, especially given that 3D content goes hand in hand with action sports?it's not like you're going to strap this to your face and try to land a triple frontside rodeo 1440. It was, however, surprisingly light and intuitive to use. The image quality for both recording and playback was solid (though that of course depends on your Internet connection and camera settings). The 3D playback feature is especially slick since it doesn't rely on (but can play) red-blue anaglyph 3D, which throws off the video's color. On the downside, this is an iOS accessory as it's built around the iPhone's corner-mounted camera, so Android users are out of luck.

I would gladly take a guided video tour through famous locales or vicariously BASE jump from sky scrapers using the Poppy?at least until I finish growing that spare arm and leg the Oculus Rift is going to cost me.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/poppy-hands-on-turn-your-iphone-into-a-21st-century-vi-576130963

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Averting worse economic collapses

Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Sophia Grein
sophia.grein@springer.com
49-622-148-78414
Springer

A new study shows how specific parameters can help us steer clear of tipping points in dynamic systems, such as entire economies

By managing macro-economic parameters, scientists believe thatunlike previously thoughtit is possible to steer an economy around irreversible changes in its complex dynamics and avert potential economic disasters. These findings, about to be published in EPJ B, stem from the theoretical work of Michael Harr and colleagues at the Complex Systems Group at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Physicists have a long experience of using statistical mechanics to study equilibrium points and small fluctuations in large numbers of interacting particles under varying pressure and temperature conditions. By applying statistical-mechanics methods to economic game theory, it is possible to describe the strategic interactions between, say, businesses which are influenced by their own incentives as well as the incentives of third parties.

By changing a macro-economic parameter like tax rates, previous research has shown the system will usually move away a little from where it had settled, but not much. Their new results show that such optimisation can produce a tipping point where a change in the tax regime, for example, will cause the whole economy to suddenly collapse.

Harr and colleagues found that it is possible to find a steady state in the specific scenario where the contributions each business makes to the whole economy are maximised in terms of financial return. And even if an economy is drifting inexorably towards a tipping point, they showed that small perturbations of the system parameters can move an economy around a tipping point, thus averting it.

The ability to exert control on economies depends on having sufficient control of the system parameterspotentially addressed by empirical research, and knowing where the economy is relative to these tipping pointsprovided by recent measuring techniques.

###

Reference

M. S. Harr, S. R. Atkinson, and L. Hossain (2013), Simple Nonlinear Systems and Navigating Catastrophes, European Physical Journal B, DOI 10.1140/epjb/e2013-31064-x

For more information visit: http://www.epj.org

The full-text article is available to journalists on request.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Sophia Grein
sophia.grein@springer.com
49-622-148-78414
Springer

A new study shows how specific parameters can help us steer clear of tipping points in dynamic systems, such as entire economies

By managing macro-economic parameters, scientists believe thatunlike previously thoughtit is possible to steer an economy around irreversible changes in its complex dynamics and avert potential economic disasters. These findings, about to be published in EPJ B, stem from the theoretical work of Michael Harr and colleagues at the Complex Systems Group at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Physicists have a long experience of using statistical mechanics to study equilibrium points and small fluctuations in large numbers of interacting particles under varying pressure and temperature conditions. By applying statistical-mechanics methods to economic game theory, it is possible to describe the strategic interactions between, say, businesses which are influenced by their own incentives as well as the incentives of third parties.

By changing a macro-economic parameter like tax rates, previous research has shown the system will usually move away a little from where it had settled, but not much. Their new results show that such optimisation can produce a tipping point where a change in the tax regime, for example, will cause the whole economy to suddenly collapse.

Harr and colleagues found that it is possible to find a steady state in the specific scenario where the contributions each business makes to the whole economy are maximised in terms of financial return. And even if an economy is drifting inexorably towards a tipping point, they showed that small perturbations of the system parameters can move an economy around a tipping point, thus averting it.

The ability to exert control on economies depends on having sufficient control of the system parameterspotentially addressed by empirical research, and knowing where the economy is relative to these tipping pointsprovided by recent measuring techniques.

###

Reference

M. S. Harr, S. R. Atkinson, and L. Hossain (2013), Simple Nonlinear Systems and Navigating Catastrophes, European Physical Journal B, DOI 10.1140/epjb/e2013-31064-x

For more information visit: http://www.epj.org

The full-text article is available to journalists on request.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/s-awe062513.php

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From tiny to massive: Mammal size evolution explained

June 25, 2013 ? Scientists have added another piece to the evolutionary puzzle to explain why certain mammal families evolved to be very large, while others remained tiny.

In research published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, an international group of scientists including Monash University's Dr Alistair Evans proposed a new theory explaining the diversity of mammal sizes -- from the Etruscan shrew which weighs around two grams, to the blue whale which clocks in at almost 200 tonnes. Surprisingly, baby weight relative to adult body mass is key.

Dr Evans, of the Monash School of Biological Sciences, said size impacts on all aspects of an animal's physiology and anatomy, and the roles it can play in ecosystems.

"Size is fundamental to your life and your body -- how fast your heart beats, how much food you need to eat, and how you move," Dr Evans said.

Following the extinction of the dinosaurs, mammals flourished and their size increased dramatically. The study examined the maximum size of groups including whales, elephants, primates and rodents over this period to examine the constraints on size.

The researchers found that species that matured more quickly and produced a larger mass of young each year relative to body weight were able to evolve to a larger maximum size. Further, they are likely to reach that size in fewer generations.

This high rate of biological production is vital, regardless of whether many small young or just one large offspring are born in a year.

Dr Evans said whales were an excellent example of the theory.

"The blue whale is the largest animal to have evolved, even larger than dinosaurs, and it reached this size at the fastest rates we recorded. Key to this success is that they produce large young that mature quickly, reaching around 30 metres in eight to 10 years," Dr Evans said.

Lead author of the study, Dr Jordan Okie from Arizona State University, said primates were at the opposite end of the spectrum.

"Primates have a low production rate and have evolved very slowly. They have never got bigger than about 500 kilograms," Dr Okie said.

The study also linked maximum size to mortality rate. Because larger animals tend to breed less frequently than smaller animals, if the mortality rate doubles, the maximum size is predicted to be 16 times smaller.

"This is a really surprising finding," said Dr Evans.

"It points to why many of the large animals went extinct after the last Ice Age, as changing climates probably increase mortality rates. Large animals are also at high risk of extinction in modern environments because it takes a long time for their population to rebound from disasters."

In the future, this work will be extended to help explain how extinction risk may be reduced in the face of climate change.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/WVYra1sPi-A/130625092012.htm

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Giant panda gives birth to twin cubs in China

A rare giant panda has given birth to a pair of infant pandas. The panda twins are the first born in captivity this year.

By Elizabeth Barber,?Contributor / June 24, 2013

A researcher holds a newborn giant panda in Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan province. Giant panda Hai Zi gave birth to the world's first twin pandas this year in the reserve on Saturday.

Reuters

Enlarge

In the animal kingdom, this birth was royal.

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A giant panda gave birth to twins in China on Saturday, the first pair of the rare species to be born this year, The Telegraph reported.

Born to panda-mother Haizi in Sichuan province?s Wolong Nature Reserve, in China's southwest, the two cubs join just some 1,900 pandas worldwide (including about 300 endangered animals in captivity).

"This is the first time a giant panda has given birth to twins, anywhere in the world, this year," conservation expert Liu Chunhua told The Telegraph.

While panda twins are not unusual, they pose special challenges because panda mothers tend to ignore one of the twins.? But the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center in China has had success in boosting the survival rate of twins by secretly swapping them. The BBC reports:

"Whenever a cub was abandoned after birth, keepers at the Chengdu centre swiftly moved it to an incubator. Panda mothers were tricked into caring for twins as staff stealthily rotated them between their mother and the incubators. The survival rate of cubs rose to 98% through this combination of maternal care and artificial support."

Generally, pandas are difficult to breed, especially in captivity. Female pandas are fertile for only about two or three days a year. Haizi became pregnant after conservationists introduced her to male pandas Bai Yang and Yi Bao in March.

Staff at the reserve have not yet been able to determine the gender of the first-born cub, as its mother is still cradling the baby animal in her arms. But staff have said that its sounds and apparent size suggest that it is healthy.?

The second cub, born some 10 minutes after its sibling, is a female cub weighing under 79.2 grams. That puts the little pink infant at about 1/900 the size of its mother.

The giant panda, the WWF?s mascot animal, is an international symbol of conservation efforts. Efforts to protect its dwindling forest habitat in China and to rescue it from poachers have surged in recent years, with the Chinese government establishing more 50 panda reserves within some 45 percent of the giant panda?s habitat. Still, some 40 percent of China's pandas do not live in protected zones.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/2zHVMOBXwqQ/Giant-panda-gives-birth-to-twin-cubs-in-China

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Almost There! Jessica Simpson Flaunts Her Baby Bump

The singer looks ready to pop during a lunch outing! Plus, check out more pics of your favorite stars on the scene!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/star-snapshots-celebrity-photo-gallery-2012/1-b-450006?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Astar-snapshots-celebrity-photo-gallery-2012-450006

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Self Improvement: Tips And Tricks For A Better You ... - Goal Setting

Initiating personal development is really hard sometimes. This exciting journey has multiple facets. These can range from developing better eating habits to thinking more positively. Many different methods for developing yourself exist, it?s just a case of choosing a path. Achieving your self improvement goals will leave you with a feeling of satisfaction, that everyone around you will notice.

Always read from multiple sources on self improvement. Having a good personal development book can give you insight and advice that will make a difference in your life forever. Books on the topic of self improvement can be poorly written. To avoid this, make sure you read books that have been reviewed well.

Spend time with people who are like-minded to you. Like-minded people will help strengthen your resolve while reinforcing positive attitudes.

TIP! Always make your own decisions, so you do not miss any opportunities that life is providing you. Make decisions based on your own knowledge and what you can learn from your research.

Anytime and anywhere, be ready for when your ideas strike. Carry a journal or diary with you, everywhere you go. Make detailed notes, and later, when you have the chance and are feeling creative, take your ideas further.

You should stay in great physical condition in order to get the best out of self improvement. Always keep a healthy routine that includes exercise, diet, and sleep in order to be successful. Though many take these simple things for granted, they are often hard to incorporate into personal habits.

A critical step of personal development is the realization and acceptance of your insignificance. You will want to learn all you can, once you realize that you have only scratched the surface of all there is to be known. Once you understand this concept, your natural desire to learn and grow will kick in, inspiring you to improve who you are.

TIP! Base your development plan on your values and goals. Focusing on areas contrary to your values does not make sense.

One way to raise your self-esteem is to give other people compliments. By being proactive and reaching out, being nice to others will help you to treat yourself nicely as well.

Each day should be an opportunity to top the previous day?s accomplishments. Keep aiming higher and higher. Encourage yourself to top yesterday?s accomplishments and set the stage for tomorrow?s successes.

Exercise is for everyone, not just people who are trying to lose a few pounds. There are many physiological benefits associate with exercise. For one thing, exercise stimulates your brain to produce chemicals that improve your mood.

TIP! Therapy is a good way to work through serious issues. While self-help books can be effective, many cannot provide the benefits that come from personal, targeted interaction with a therapist.

Do not boast about your accomplishments. Talk to people and find out more about their own achievements. You will find that you will learn more about those around you better by doing this. Not only that, you can respect them by knowing more about them.

Speaking to a pastor or a professional counselor can be very rewarding. They are trained to help you with issues, and also are experienced. They are able to look into your life from the outside and analyze things you can?t see. By speaking with a professional about your problems, you can lead a much healthier and enjoyable life.

Speaking to a therapist or religious official can really help you out. These professionals are trained and experienced in helping you understand and manage the issues you have. Their job is to listen to you and your concerns and help you gain a new outlook on your situation. Speaking with a professional is a great step toward personal development.

TIP! Treat everyone, regardless of status, with a high level of respect. The way you act toward others says something about your character, not theirs.

An excellent method of helping you with your anxiety is going to the movies with a friend. Movies are social settings, but they do not require conversation or uncomfortable socialization. This will help get you used to being in the same vicinity with lots of different people.

If you are never able to meet the goals you set, then it?s time to figure out your problem areas and make some changes. Try to find out what the goals of your peers are, and ask them how they?re able to meet them successfully. It?s possible your goals are too lofty, you?re missing a step along the way, or you?re just not putting the resources necessary into meeting your goal.

Are you a steady drinker? Do you make a habit of smoking or engaging in other harmful vices? Our body is a temple, and therefore it should be treated like one. Try getting rid of your bad habits; it can be important to making your life better. Look at your life, what you are doing that may be harmful, and work on omitting things that need to be removed from your life.

TIP! When dealing with depression issues, altering your diet to include a greater intake of complex carbohydrate may help. Serotonin can lower if you don?t eat enough carbs.

You should not shop out of comfort. Instead of shopping, spending money and adding more charges to your credit card bill, keep busy with a hobby. Not only will you have fewer debts to deal with, but your house will be less cluttered with stuff that you do not really need.

Hopefully this article has helped you learn a few ways to personally develop yourself better. You can always find new and innovative ways to improve the person that you are. Remember, you are never too old to develop positive personal habits.

You can learn how to handle difficult problems without over-reacting. Learning ways to maintain your composure when stressed will help boost your self-esteem, and help you triumph under any circumstance. Take a few seconds to focus on your breathing.

TIP! Organization should be central in your life. Completing an organization project will make you feel confident and productive.

Many people would like to understand Self Improvement, but they don?t always know how they should go about it. Thankfully, this article contains excellent tips to help you move ahead. Simply make the best use possible of this valuable information.

Source: http://www.projectpb.net/blog/index.php/personal_development/self-improvement-tips-and-tricks-for-a-better-you/

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End of BP cleaning crews after oil spill leaves questions, concerns on some Gulf Coast beaches (Star Tribune)

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WikiLeaks breach included secret details on Guantanamo prisoners: official

By Medina Roshan

FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The soldier accused of the largest release of classified data in U.S. history provided WikiLeaks with secret details of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, threatening "serious" damage to national security, the prison's former commander testified on Monday.

Data released by Private First Class Bradley Manning included biographical material on Guantanamo prisoners, details of their religious affiliation, and names of their relatives with extremist links, Rear Admiral David Woods, who ran the Guantanamo operation in 2011 and 2012, told Manning's court martial.

Manning, 25, is in the third week of his court-martial for allegedly providing the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website with more than 700,000 files, videos and other data, including documents from classified military databases in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the prisoner files.

Woods said in a statement read into the court record that he had reviewed five assessments of detainees released by Manning.

Vice Admiral Robert Harward, the deputy commander for the Central Command, which covers the Middle East and Afghanistan, testified that he had reviewed about 120 leaked documents, including material about a 2009 airstrike in Afghanistan that killed dozens of civilians.

The files "contained information that if released, reasonably could be expected to cause serious damage to the national security of the United States," Harward said in a statement read into the record.

Manning was a junior intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2010 when WikiLeaks published the classified information. He faces 21 charges, the most serious being aiding the enemy, and faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has taken refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for the past year to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning about allegations of rape and sexual assault. Assange, an Australian, denies the allegations.

The United States set up the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to hold foreign terrorism suspects after U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan in pursuit the al Qaeda network behind the September 11 attacks in 2001.

(Writing by Ian Simpson; Editing by Scott Malone and David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wikileaks-breach-included-secret-details-guantanamo-prisoners-official-200825876.html

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Chemical in antibacterial soap fed to nursing rats harms offspring, study finds

June 17, 2013 ? A mother's exposure to triclocarban, a common antibacterial chemical, while nursing her babies shortens the life of her female offspring, a new study in rats finds.

The results were presented Monday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Commonly used in antibacterial soap and other personal care products, triclocarban has the potential for a large portion of the public to be exposed to it, said the study's lead author, Rebekah Kennedy, a graduate student in the Department of Public Health at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

"Our study provides supporting evidence for the potential adverse effects of triclocarban exposure during early life, specifically during the lactation period," Kennedy said. "The results indicate that a mother's long-term use of this compound might affect the early development of her offspring, at least according to our animal model."

Past studies by the senior investigator, Jiangang Chen, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, showed that triclocarban enhances the growth of sex organs in the adult male rat. In this study, the researchers sought to learn if exposure to the same compound, either in the womb or during lactation, would affect rat pups.

Beginning on pregnancy day 5 and continuing until 21 days after giving birth, maternal rats continuously had free access to regular rat chow (the control rats) or chow supplemented with either 0.2 or 0.5 percent triclocarban. The doses found in the blood of maternal rats exposed to triclocarban correspond to blood levels of triclocarban in humans after a 15-minute whole-body shower using a bar soap containing 0.6 percent triclocarban, Chen said.

After birth, some littermates were moved to other groups so that each rat mother nursed two of her own pups and two pups from each of the other two groups. The offspring were weighed daily.

Body weight did not differ at birth among rat pups from the three groups, but by day 3, pups nursed by control rats were heavier than either triclocarban-exposed group, Kennedy reported. Pups nursed by rats that received 0.2 percent triclocarban were about half as heavy at weaning on day 21 as pups nursed by controls, and only 4 of 30 pups survived.

The investigators found that all pups nursed by the control rats survived until weaning, including those born to triclocarban-fed maternal rats but nursed by control rats. No pups nursed by rats that received the larger triclocarban dose, 0.5 percent, survived until day 6. Among pups nursed by rats that received the 0.2 percent dose of triclocarban, 57 percent reportedly lived to nine days after birth, and only 13% survived after weaning.

"Our data suggest that the critical exposure window affecting rat pup survival is related to lactation, as all pups raised by control rats survived regardless of triclocarban exposure status during gestation," Kennedy said.

Although the researchers did not measure triclocarban levels in the offspring, they speculate that the chemical entered the gastrointestinal tract through the mother's milk and affected the pups' growth and development.

The National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences supported this research.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/grE4NvDM2vc/130617122146.htm

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'Burrito bomb' threat leads to federal charges for man who 'wanted to be sent to prison'

Brian Demarco, 50, was arrested June 13 for allegedly calling in multiple bomb threats to federal buildings in Albuquerque.

By Sophia Rosenbaum

?

This may be the first incidence of someone threatening to blow up a building with a burrito.

Brian Demarco, 50, was arrested late last week after he allegedly called the FBI?s Public Access line, based in West Virginia, on June 11 and said he was going to blow up the Albuquerque FBI field office by sending ?a burrito with CO2 explosive inside of it,? according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of New Mexico.

But that wasn?t the only bomb threat Demarco made, according to?the?complaint. Demarco allegedly threatened another Albuquerque building the next day ? and told FBI investigators that he has made ?terrorist bomb threats? to California in the past.

And his end goal was to actually wind up behind bars, according to the feds.

?He wanted to be sent to Federal prison,? the complaint said. ?The caller said that he wanted the voices and sounds to stop.?

Demarco later told the FBI that he has previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the report said.

One June 12, the Denver MegaCenter, a security monitoring system for the Department of Homeland Security, got a call from a man who said he was going to bomb the Albuquerque Social Security Administration building with a timer bomb containing C-4 plastic explosives, according to the complaint.

The building was evacuated, but no bombs were found.

Investigators traced the call to a Super 8 motel in Albuquerque ? the same location Demarco had said he was staying in the day before. FBI agents obtained a search warrant for room 209 in the Super 8 motel, where they found a handwritten note with the Albuquerque FBI phone number on it.

That same day, Demarco called 911 because he was ?feeling frantic?, according to the criminal report. The Albuquerque Police Department interviewed him and brought him to the University of New Mexico hospital for a mental health evaluation.

After Demarco was released from the hospital, the FBI interviewed him at the hotel where he admitted to placing both bomb threats to the Albuquerque buildings.

?Demarco stated that he was angry at the U.S. government because the government placed a tracking device inside his head and is watching him, in addition to beaming photons into his head,? the report said.

Demarco was arrested by the FBI as he was boarding a bus to Amarillo, Texas, at the Albuquerque Greyhound bus station on June 13. It was unclear why he was not arrested on June 12 after he allegedly first confessed to making the calls. The Albuquerque FBI declined to comment further because of the ongoing criminal case.

He is currently in federal custody on charges of making threats and conveying false information.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2d5ded08/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C160C18988670A0Eburrito0Ebomb0Ethreat0Eleads0Eto0Efederal0Echarges0Efor0Eman0Ewho0Ewanted0Eto0Ebe0Esent0Eto0Eprison0Dlite/story01.htm

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Big Lots may rebound as new CEO, sales moves take hold: Barron's

(Reuters) - Big Lots Inc , the nation's largest closeout retailer whose shares have fallen 30 percent from their high in March 2012, deserves a closer look from investors now that the company has a new chief executive and is taking initiatives to boost sales, Barron's said.

Sales of the company, whose 1,505 U.S. stores are mainly located in strip malls, have been under pressure for the past two years from the weak economy and higher gasoline prices, the newspaper said.

But the arrival of the new CEO, David Campisi, and his 30 years of merchandizing experience, should help turn the tide, Barron's said.

"Other management changes, and a series of strategic initiatives aimed at boosting sales, could lead to improvements by the end of the year," Barron's said. It added that shares would still look inexpensive, compared with other discounters, even if they were to rise 20 percent above last week's level.

Shares of the company ended trading at $32.86, down 0.8 percent, on Friday.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/big-lots-may-rebound-ceo-sales-moves-hold-233039157.html

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CA-NEWS Summary

Moderate Rohani on course for outright Iran election win

DUBAI (Reuters) - Moderate Iranian cleric Hassan Rohani looked to be heading towards an outright victory over his conservative rivals in the presidential election, initial results showed on Saturday. The vote is unlikely to radically alter ties between Tehran and the West, but if Rohani wins he has indicated he would pursue a less confrontational foreign policy than current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and enact a "civil rights charter" at home.

Web companies begin releasing surveillance information after U.S. deal

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook and Microsoft have struck agreements with the U.S. government to release limited information about the number of surveillance requests they receive, a modest victory for the companies as they struggle with the fallout from disclosures about a secret government data-collection program. Facebook on Friday became the first to release aggregate numbers of requests, saying in a blog post that it received between 9,000 and 10,000 U.S. requests for user data in the second half of 2012, covering 18,000 to 19,000 of its users' accounts. Facebook has more than 1.1 billion users worldwide.

U.S. considers no-fly zone after Syria crosses nerve gas 'red line'

ANKARA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United States is considering a no-fly zone in Syria as it weighs options for intervention into the 2-year-old civil war, Western diplomats said on Friday, after the White House said Syria had crossed a "red line" by using nerve gas. After months of deliberation, President Barack Obama's administration said on Thursday it would now arm rebels, having obtained proof the Syrian government used chemical weapons against fighters trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

How Obama crossed his own line on Syria after months of debate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Obama's decision to arm Syrian rebels for the first time follows an intense, nearly two-year debate within the White House in which the president and his closest advisers consistently expressed skepticism about U.S. intervention in a Middle East civil war, current and former officials said. The two deciding factors in the decision to change course, they said, were growing military gains by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, aided by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, and harder intelligence that the Syrian military had used chemical weapons in the form of sarin nerve gas.

World Bank, U.N. join hands in conflict zones but face hurdles

(Reuters) - When the heads of the World Bank and the United Nations flew into the violence-wracked African city of Goma on a cloudy day last month, it was the first time the giants of international development had joined forces in the struggle to help the world's most fragile regions. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon traveled to three countries in the Great Lakes region in East Africa to cement a new partnership, tying $1 billion in bank money to the U.N. peacekeeping efforts in the region.

Rockets kill one, gut historic building in Baluchistan

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A rocket attack by unknown people killed a policeman on Saturday and gutted an historic summer retreat used by Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the resource-rich province of Baluchistan, only days after a new government vowed to end a guerrilla war there. Three rocket propelled grenades slammed into the heritage Quaid Azam Residency in the hill town of Ziarat in the early hours of the morning, district commissioner Nadeem Tahir said. A policeman died and the ensuing blaze tore through the two-storey wooden building, damaging several other houses nearby.

Assange: Britain loyal to U.S. in NSA leaker case

LONDON (Reuters) - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said on Friday that Britain had prevented NSA leaker Edward Snowden from flying to London out of loyalty to its ally, the United States. In an interview given to Reuters and others ahead of the first anniversary of his seeking refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, Assange said he was concerned by reports that Britain had told airlines to stop Snowden from flying to London.

Erdogan makes conciliatory move to end Turkish protests

ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told protesters on Friday he would put redevelopment plans for an Istanbul park on hold until a court rules, striking a markedly more conciliatory tone after two weeks of fierce anti-government demonstrations. Financial markets rose on hopes that environmentalists who oppose the construction on Gezi Park would be satisfied, but it remained unclear whether other protesters with a wide variety of grievances against Erdogan would go home.

Mexican judge orders detention of ex-governor suspected of graft

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican judge on Friday ordered the detention of a former Mexican governor suspected of embezzling millions in public funds, deepening a scandal that will test President Enrique Pena Nieto's anti-corruption agenda. Andres Granier, who was governor of Mexico's southern Tabasco state until his term ended in December, had been scheduled to appear before state prosecutors for questioning, but instead was admitted to a hospital after complaining of chest pains.

Britain lobbies for nuclear export group to admit India

VIENNA (Reuters) - Britain has stepped up efforts to let India join an influential global body controlling nuclear exports, a move that would boost New Delhi's standing as an atomic power but which has faced resistance from China and other countries. The diplomatic tussle centers on whether emerging power India should be allowed into a key forum deciding rules for civilian nuclear trade, even though it has refused to join an international pact under which it would have to give up its nuclear weapons.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-004242092.html

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2 Koreas to talk in border village after tensions

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Government delegates from North and South Korea arrived Sunday at a "truce village" on their heavily armed border for preparatory talks aimed at setting ground-rules for a higher-level discussion on easing animosity and restoring stalled rapprochement projects.

The meeting at Panmunjom, where the truce ending the 1950-53 Korean War was signed, is the first of its kind on the Korean Peninsula in more than two years. Success will be judged on whether the delegates can pave the way for a summit between the ministers of each country's department for cross border affairs, which South Korea has proposed for Wednesday in Seoul. Such ministerial talks haven't happened since 2007.

The intense media interest in what's essentially a meeting of bureaucrats to iron out technical details is an indication of how bad ties between the Koreas have been.

Any dialogue is an improvement on the belligerence that has marked the relationship over recent years, which have seen North Korean nuclear tests and long-range rocket launches, attacks in 2010 blamed on the North that killed 50 South Koreans, and a steady stream in recent months of invective and threats from Pyongyang and counter-vows from Seoul.

"Today's working-level talks will be a chance to take care of administrative and technical issues in order to successfully host the ministers' talks," one of the South Korean delegates, Unification Policy Officer Chun Hae-sung, said in Seoul before the group's departure for Panmunjom.

The southern delegation will keep in mind, he said, "that the development of South and North Korean relations starts from little things and gradual trust-building."

Analysts express wariness about North Korea's intentions, with some seeing the interest in dialogue as part of a pattern where Pyongyang follows aggressive rhetoric and provocations with diplomatic efforts to trade an easing of tension for outside concessions.

March and April saw North Korean threats of nuclear war, Pyongyang's claim that the Korean War armistice was void, the closing of a jointly run factory park and a North Korean vow to ramp up production of nuclear bomb fuel.

If the Koreas can arrive at an agreement for ministerial talks, that meeting will likely focus on reopening the factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong that was the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, and on other scrapped rapprochement projects and reunions of families separated by the Korean War.

Pyongyang pulled its 53,000 workers from the Kaesong factories in April, and Seoul withdrew its last personnel in May.

Success will also mark a victory for South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who took office in February and has maintained through the heightened tensions a policy that combines vows of strong counter-action to any North Korea provocation with efforts to build trust and re-establish dialogue.

It wasn't immediately clear how long Sunday's meetings would last; reporters weren't being allowed access to the venue.

The Koreas have been communicating on a recently restored Red Cross line that Pyongyang shut down during earlier tensions this spring. The site of Sunday's meeting holds added significance because the armistice ending the Korean War was signed there 60 years ago next month. The Panmunjom truce, however, has never been replaced with a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula technically at war.

Representatives of the rival Koreas met on the peninsula in February 2011 and their nuclear envoys met in Beijing later that year, but government officials from both sides have not met since.

The meeting follows a summit by U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping in California. White House national security adviser Tom Donilon said Obama and Xi found "quite a bit of alignment" on North Korea and agreed that Pyongyang has to abandon its nuclear weapons aspirations.

China provides a lifeline for a North Korea struggling with energy and other economic needs, and views stability in Pyongyang as crucial for its own economy and border security. But after Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February, China tightened its cross-border trade inspections and banned its state banks from dealing with North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un late last month sent to China his special envoy, who reportedly told Xi that Pyongyang was willing to return to dialogue. President Park will travel to Beijing to meet Xi later this month.

The talks between the Koreas on Sunday could represent a change in North Korea's approach, analysts said, or could simply be an effort to ease international demands that it end its development of nuclear weapons, a topic crucial to Washington but initially not a part of the envisioned inter-Korean meetings.

Pyongyang, which is estimated to have a handful of crude nuclear devices, has committed a drumbeat of acts that Washington, Seoul and others deem provocative since Kim Jong Un took over in December 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.

___(equals)

AP writer Sam Kim contributed to this report from Seoul.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2-koreas-talk-border-village-tensions-162729228.html

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Doctor, guide rescue baby moose from Montana river

This image provided by the Four Rivers Fishing Co., shows Karen Sciascia of Red Hill, Pa., holding a baby moose she and Twin Bridges guide Seth McLean rescued in the Big Hole River in southwestern Montana on Saturday, June 1, 2013, near Missoula, Mont. Sciascia says she scooped the moose out of the water and McLean rowed the raft upriver so they could return the calf to her mother. (AP Photo/Four Rivers Fishing Co.)

This image provided by the Four Rivers Fishing Co., shows Karen Sciascia of Red Hill, Pa., holding a baby moose she and Twin Bridges guide Seth McLean rescued in the Big Hole River in southwestern Montana on Saturday, June 1, 2013, near Missoula, Mont. Sciascia says she scooped the moose out of the water and McLean rowed the raft upriver so they could return the calf to her mother. (AP Photo/Four Rivers Fishing Co.)

This image provided by the Four Rivers Fishing Co., shows Karen Sciascia of Red Hill, Pa., holding a baby moose she and Twin Bridges guide Seth McLean rescued in the Big Hole River in southwestern Montana on Saturday, June 1, 2013, near Missoula, Mont. Sciascia says she scooped the moose out of the water and McLean rowed the raft upriver so they could return the calf to her mother. (AP Photo/Four Rivers Fishing Co.)

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) ? A Pennsylvania doctor on a guided fishing trip in southwestern Montana went home with an amazing tale of hauling in a 25-pound lunker ? a baby moose she helped rescue from a rushing river.

Karen Sciascia of Red Hill, Pa., and a guide were fishing the Big Hole River on Saturday when they spotted a cow moose with a calf trying to cross the waterway.

"We were watching this adult female struggling back and forth, and we didn't see a baby until we got close," Sciascia told the Missoulian (http://bit.ly/18RzCfb) for a story published Thursday. "Mom kept pushing ? the current was pretty swift. The mother bolted and took off across the river. She was trying to get across the main portion of the channel, and even she struggled."

When the calf stepped off the gravel bar into the water to follow its mother, it was swept downstream.

"It was small, and the river was swift," Sciascia said. "We lost sight of the baby. It was hurtling downstream and was being pushed by the river. It was too small to ever fight the current."

Sciascia and guide Seth McLean with Four Rivers Fishing Co. in Twin Bridges followed downriver, finally spotting the tiny moose's nose just above the water.

"We got up alongside it, and I just grabbed the little bugger. I scooped it up from the river under its front legs," Sciascia said.

"I tried to hold it out, not wanting to get my scent all over it, but it was basically limp," she said. "It was breathing, and with my hand on its chest, I could feel its heart beating real fast."

McLean rowed the raft upstream and snapped a photo before they dropped off the calf at the side of the river.

The mother had disappeared into the woods but returned to the river after hearing the crying of her young calf. It sounded like a puppy, Sciascia said.

"When we last saw her, we were heading downstream," she said. "The mother was heading toward it. She had come out of the woods and was heading toward her baby."

Four Rivers Fishing posted the story, titled "Of Moose and Men," on its Facebook page Wednesday.

"It was cool to be in the right place at the right time," Sciascia said.

___

Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-06-06-Baby%20Moose%20Rescue/id-860de7a768ea4999b78d749a81d01310

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