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Current Time: 09/30/2012 01:11:44 GMT
Time Left:
India vs Pakistan, 20th Match
Toss: NA
: /()
Result: Match scheduled to begin at 19:30 local time (14:00 GMT)
Man of the Match
To be Decided
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India Team Squad: IK Pathan, G Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, MS Dhoni, PP Chawla, RG Sharma, V Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Z Khan, SK Raina, YK Pathan, V Kohli, MK Tiwary, L Balaji, AB Dinda, R Ashwin
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Pakistan Team Squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Nazir, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Sami, Shahid Afridi, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Raza Hasan
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- A jury on Friday recommended death for an arsonist convicted of murdering five men who died of heart attacks during a wildfire that ripped through Southern California nearly a decade ago.
The murder charges against Rickie Lee Fowler, 31, signaled a tough standard for arson cases in a region plagued by wildfires that sometimes claim the lives of firefighters and civilians.
The Old Fire scorched 91,000 acres and destroyed 1,000 buildings while burning for nine days. The men died after their homes burned or as they tried to evacuate.
Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith ordered Fowler to return to court Nov. 16 for sentencing. The judge can either accept the jury's recommendation or sentence Fowler to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Fowler, who wore a pinstriped shirt, spoke briefly with his attorney after the recommendation was read. He was handcuffed and led down a hall by bailiffs.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos welcomed the verdict after the fire devastated neighborhoods, destroying people's lives and cherished personal property such as photos, albums and letters that can never be replaced.
"Hopefully this does bring some justice to the victims," Ramos said.
Jurors declined to speak with reporters outside the courtroom.
Defense attorney Michael Belter said he spoke with members of the jury after the hearing and was told they had gone back and forth on whether to recommend death or a life sentence.
"We still take the position that if one is not involved with the intentional killing of somebody, the death penalty would not be warranted," Belter said, adding that he plans to file a motion for a new trial.
The decision to recommend the death penalty for a crime tangential to the arson appeared to be unprecedented, according to a legal expert.
"I've never heard of a case like this," said Loyola Law School professor Stan Goldman. "This issue is going to keep the California Supreme Court busy for quite a while."
He said a key consideration would be whether it was foreseeable to Fowler that five men would die of heart attacks when he set the fire.
"The real question is whether we should be executing people when the deaths were not an easily foreseeable consequence of the criminal act," Goldman said.
He cited a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision reversing the death sentence of a man charged with aiding and abetting a murder. The court held that the sentence should not apply to someone who didn't kill, attempt or intend to kill the victim.
The district attorney declined to discuss the death recommendation in detail because he expects the issue to be raised on appeal.
Fowler was convicted in August of arson and five counts of first-degree murder for setting the massive wind-blown blaze that ravaged the hills east of Los Angeles in 2003.
Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School and former federal prosecutor, said that in charging Fowler with murder for setting the fire, prosecutors applied the same reasoning as they do when charging bank robbers for murder after tellers die of heart attacks. However, she acknowledged that people might not see a link between setting a wildfire and suffering a heart attack.
"Usually in arson, people die of smoke inhalation, or being ? God forbid ? burned to death. This is not the ordinary way people die in these situations," she said.
Levenson said the prosecution ran little risk in trying to get the death penalty for Fowler because doing so enabled them to cull a more conservative jury pool.
Robert Bulloch, supervising deputy district attorney, said he doesn't believe the manner of death made a difference in this case.
"Whether they were shot in a liquor store, in the course of a robbery or they were run over while somebody was trying to get away, the fact of the matter is that these lives were directly lost as a result of Rickie Fowler's actions," said Bulloch, who prosecuted the case.
Fowler became a suspect in the wildfire after witnesses reported seeing a passenger in a white van tossing burning objects into dry brush in the foothills above San Bernardino. Acting on a phone tip, investigators interviewed Fowler several months after the fire but didn't have enough evidence to file charges until six years later.
Fowler was serving time for burglary when he was charged with starting the blaze ? one of many fires that raged simultaneously throughout Southern California. While in prison awaiting trial, he was convicted of sodomizing an inmate and sentenced to three terms of 25 years to life.
Prosecutors argued at trial that Fowler lit the fire out of rage after he was thrown out of a house where his family was staying. They painted a picture of Fowler as a sadistic felon who raped, robbed and tortured people throughout his life.
Defense attorneys said Fowler never acknowledged starting the fire and suffered a horrific childhood with methamphetamine-addicted parents and a neighbor who molested him.
Prosecutors said Fowler gave authorities a note in 2008 acknowledging he was there when the fire began. The following year, he told reporters he had been badgered into making a confession.
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AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.
Have you ever thought about turning your blog into a book?
Over the past few years, we?ve seen many of our favorite blogs transformed into books (The Sartorialist, P.S. ? I Made This?, I Spy DIY, Cupcakes & Cashmere) This is a fabulous achievement for the entire style blogging community ? but certainly not a reality for everyone. These bloggers have the support of literary agents, publishing houses and PR teams to help them through the development, production and promotion of a book.
However, don?t let the daunting stats behind these bigger blogs deter you! If you have a clear vision, quality content and a lot of dedication ? you can publish on your own. Perhaps the most well-known success story in our community is that of Yuli Ziv, who?s book Fashion 2.0: Blogging Your Way To The Front Row has become a must-read among bloggers. She self-published her book through Create Space in July of 2011.
How Do You Start?
?Originally I was going to do a short 40-50 page ebook,? says Crosby Noricks, who self-published Ready To Launch: The PR Couture Guide To Breaking Into Fashion PR?in the spring on 2012. ?Only after the book kept getting longer and longer did I think about doing something else. I was inspired by Yuli?s choice to self-publish using Amazon?s Create Space, and decided to try my luck that way.?
Noricks writes a blog called PR Couture, and says the decision to write a book came before knowing what she was going to fill it with. Sally McGraw, who recently turned her blog, Already Pretty, into a self-published book agrees, but says her process was a bit different.
?I wrote a proposal and sent it to literary agents,? says McGraw. ?It took about five months of submissions before I connected with an agent and signed on. I spent a full year submitting my book to various publishers, from the behemoths of the industry to tiny indie houses. All of the publishers said some version of the following: The book is well-written and original, Sally is terrific, and we?re not going to publish it because she?s not Tim Gunn and it?s too much of a financial risk.?
McGraw decided to take matters into her own hands. She had dreamed about becoming a published author since she was eight years old, and her desire to produce a book that was truly of her own creation motivated her to publish on her own. As she and Norcks will tell you, there are some serious pros and cons to the venture.
The Pros of Self-Publishing:
You have total creative freedom
You control how, when and where you market your book
?The accomplishment of building something from the ground up.? ? Sally McGraw
You can use a platfortm like?CreateSpace ? an Amazon-owned company ? to print and distribute your book. ?They were very helpful, and it only took a few weeks from file submission to live on Amazon,? says McGraw
The Cons of Self-Publishing:
As a solitary opporation, it can be incredibly stressful
Literary agencies and publishing houses have an already established network of connections, and built-in distribution channels
Unless you can find someone else do help, designing the physical layout of the book can be extremely time-consuming
You?re responsible for all promotional costs, which can get expensive if you?re working with a tight budget
With the proliferation of ebooks and digital publishing, the print route is risky
Some ideas from Noricks and McGraw for promotions:
Reach out to fellow bloggers about possible reviews, giveaways and promotion incentives
Work with press that?s small, local or specialized to your book?s topic
Organize a local event to promote youself and encourage sales
And in the end?
?Maybe I?ll sell 100 copies to my friends, family, and loyal readers and then the book will disappear forever. But it feels fantastic to have followed this project to completion, despite being pooh-poohed by the struggling traditional publishing industry.? ? Sally McGraw
?For me, writing the book was a natural progression after five years of writing PR Couture and speaking all over the country about fashion marketing and social media ? it feels good to have the added legitimacy of the book, and it?s a great excuse to throw yourself a party!? ? Crosby Noricks
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Have you ever thought about turning your blog into a book?
Christine Rae, President of CSP International Business Training Academy, a Home Staging Training company, shares a recent study which confirms the impact that home staging has on the process of selling a home. ?
Orlando, FL ? September 28, 2012 ? Christine Rae, President of CSP International Business Training Academy, a Home Staging Training and Real Estate Strategy company, recently published a blog on her website (http://www.stagingtraining.com) discussing the benefits of home staging. The blog, titled ?Home Staging Pays?urges home stagers to highlight the benefits of their services in order to win more business.
Christine writes, ?As a stager, if you can successfully persuade prospective clients that home staging yields a positive return on their investment, you?re going to win the business. It?s simple math?of course a homeowner is willing to invest $2,500 into professional staging if they are confident that doing so will increase their sales price by $4,000.?
Certified Staging Professionals trains home stagers through a comprehensive course of study that includes 3 days in a classroom, 4 weeks of home study and 6 weeks of hands-on market coaching. CSP is also a resource for Realtors and home sellers to find and hire graduates of this highly accredited staging education program, for assisting them in successfully closing their real estate sale.
The entire blog can be found at http://www.stagingtraining.com/blog/home-staging-pays.php
To learn more about Christine Rae and Certified Staging Professionals, please visit http://www.stagingtraining.com.
About CSP International? Business Training Academy:?
CSP began as the brainchild of its founder and president, Christine Rae. A long-time corporate executive, Christine began with the CSP program and a goal of bringing her penchant for high standards and business ethics, together with her knowledge of design and the real estate industry to an industry without a map. Her own extensive training from across North America includes ?New York City, California, Texas and the Carolinas as well as the United Kingdom.? From her research Christine knew there was a need for a distinctly different approach to staging and staging training. Growing from one course to a complete school with several physical locations and a group of well trained instructors, the CSP program is the leading global source for finding highly trained stagers and is the primary destination for anyone wanting to become a stager, it is the company more real estate agents turn to, on behalf of their clients. CSP International is a Certified Women?s Business Enterprise having expanded to the United States in 2006 and Australia in 2009.? The program has been translated into Mandarin; Global license opportunities currently under review include China, Germany and France.
About the CSP? designation:?
The CSP? designation is recognized by real estate professionals, builders, home stagers, decorators and home sellers for its brand reputation of excellence. The designation identifies home staging consultants who have achieved certification in the staging industry which included quality hands-on training with vigorous testing, apprenticeship, business process and ethics.
As much as MediaTek is known for powering budget smartphones, the company is keen to make a fast track into the big leagues. Or bigger, at any rate. General manager Xie Qingjiang explains to China Times that MediaTek should have a quad-core, 28-nanometer mobile processor in production between the fall and the very start of 2013 -- not bad for a firm that just introduced a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 design this summer. Smartphones built around the new part should arrive before the first quarter of 2013 is over. Details aren't available for the processor in question, although it's reasonable to say that MediaTek is more likely to serve a cost-conscious crowd than to compete in the lofty realms of the similarly 28nm Snapdragon S4 Pro. The move to quad-core could nonetheless be a welcome spike in performance for an audience that often has to settle for old technology.
Frustrated with Minneapolis' tight job market, Pam Perleberg sold her house and moved next door to North Dakota, where the wind-chill factor might be higher but unemployment is just 3 percent.
Perleberg liked the idea of a smaller city with less traffic and the opportunity to live closer to her family, though she didn?t expect to land in Fargo on the eve of a January blizzard. North Dakota welcomed her with below-zero temperatures and fierce blasts of 30 mph winds.
?It was awful,? says the 42-year-old university fundraiser. ?My mom and I joke that we were like the 'Cannonball Run' on I-94. I was driving the U-Haul, and she was trying to keep up with me in my car.?
Still, Perleberg has no regrets about packing up for the prairie, where employment is so plentiful that the state government website greets visitors with this enticement: ?Find a Job in North Dakota. More than 20,000 job openings statewide.?
With a wealth of jobs and too few people to fill them, the upper Midwest "flyover" states are among the rare pockets in the nation on a hiring binge.?North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah are the top five states for job creation so far this year, according to a recent Gallup survey?of more than 100,000 U.S. workers.
The five states at the bottom of Gallup's Job-Creation Index were Maine, Oregon, New Jersey, New York and Delaware.
Touting rock-bottom unemployment rates, recruiters in the remote states at the top of the list have ramped up efforts to entice skilled job seekers to relocate from economically depressed regions, where disillusionment can be more common than career opportunities.
?In 2008 and 2009, a lot of people were still waiting,? says Clinton Brown, a recruiter with the Experis-Manpower Group office in Sioux Falls, S.D. ?Now people are a lot more willing to go where the jobs are. They see the jobs aren?t coming back.?
Brown should know. His firm is at ground zero of South Dakota?s unprecedented effort to lure skilled workers to the Mount Rushmore State, where the unemployment rate is just 4.4 percent -- far below the national rate of 8.1 percent.
After a series of a brainstorming sessions, Gov. Dennis Daugaard and South Dakota lawmakers launched an aggressive $5 million national recruiting program this spring. The state has hired the Milwaukee-based Experis-Manpower team to woo workers for manufacturing, engineering, information technology and other high-demand openings at South Dakota companies. The state's goal is to hire 1,000 skilled workers by 2014.
South Dakota (population 824,082) has about 11,000 job openings statewide, and the state's rapidly growing companies are clamoring for more workers, says Kim Olson, a policy adviser in the governor?s office. The state is big but sparsely populated, covering? more than 77,000 square miles but with an average of only 10 people for each of those square miles (New Jersey has 1,189 people per square mile).
?The demand outstrips the number of people we have,? says Olson. ?We just recognized we can?t do this alone.?
New jobs are advertised for 30 days in South Dakota, giving homegrown workers first crack. Then they're forwarded to headhunters scattered among Manpower's 700 offices nationwide. So far, Olson says, more than 20 of the state?s largest companies have posted jobs with the fledgling South Dakota Workforce Initiative program. A separate effort is under way to attract medical professionals with inducements that include tuition reimbursement for new doctors willing to work in the state?s small towns.
In addition, the Dakota Roots website reaches out to former residents and graduates of South Dakota colleges who moved away. The site provides a service that might appeal to job seekers frustrated with impersonal Internet job boards: one-on-one assistance from career counselors who help applicants navigate job openings. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??
In Sioux Falls, the state?s biggest city and cultural hub, recruiter Brown says his office interviews 10 to 14 job candidates each day and forwards the top applicants to state employers.? South Dakota?s lack of income tax, abundance of outdoor recreation and affordable housing are among the main selling points, especially for job seekers with family ties to the region. This year, Forbes ranked Sioux Falls No.1 in its list of best small places for business and careers.?
?We really try to match the skill set to the position,? Brown says. ?If the candidate is in Florida or Ohio, I?m going to call them either way.?
In neighboring North Dakota, employers aggressively recruit talent, too, and troll job fairs in surrounding states for new workers.
With the nation?s lowest unemployment rate and an enviable state budget surplus, North Dakota is awash in oil, tech and agriculture jobs. National media reports have chronicled the employment explosion in northern wildcat oil towns like Williston, where rig workers reportedly can earn six-figure incomes with little or no experience.? But the economic boom has spread to cities across the state, including the capital of Bismarck, more than 230 miles away from the oil fields.
Overall, North Dakota reports the best job scene in the nation, with 42 percent of companies hiring and expanding the size of their workforces. The Gallup job index notes that the state?s positive jobs situation also is creating a construction demand to build new homes, roads, and schools.
?The funny thing about North Dakota is there are 'help wanted' signs everywhere,? says transplant William Phillips, 24, a former resident of Utica, N.Y. ?Even places like Wal-Mart have to have job fairs.?
After graduating from college with no job in sight, Phillips boarded a Greyhound bus for Bismarck in 2009 with two suitcases, a credit card and about $600 in his pocket. He chose North Dakota based on its low unemployment rate. Within a few days of stepping off the bus, Phillips says, he landed an IT job at an office supply company with help from the state?s employment website. ?Coming from the New York area, I was just happy to have a job.?
Three years later, Phillips is happily settled in Bismarck. He lives in a spacious one-bedroom apartment and this summer found a higher-paying IT job with the state of North Dakota?s judicial branch.
Phillips says more and more people are joining him in the move to North Dakota to find work. The downside, he says, is that housing is getting harder to find and rents are going up. He bemoans that his monthly rent has increased by $70 this year -- he now pays $560.
Pam Perleberg, who relocated to Fargo, N.D., in 2009, also talks about the tradeoffs of leaving a bigger city for a smaller community of 107,000. In Minneapolis, she says, she had a higher salary working in marketing. But her current job at North Dakota State University, coupled with Fargo?s easy-going lifestyle, are a better fit for her.? ?The quality of life -- less commute, less stress, more family time -- confirms my decision every day,? she says.
Fargo earned the No. 2 spot on the Forbes list of best small places for business and careers, while Bismarck ranked No. 3.
For Phillips, the best part of living in North Dakota is knowing that even if he lost a job, he could always find another. The security represents a ?huge burden taken off.?
?People seem happier here,? he says, ?because you don?t have to worry about where your next paycheck is coming from.?
Donna Wares is a writer and editor based in Southern California. Follow her on Twitter @donnawares.
BEIJING (AP) ? China formally entered its first aircraft carrier into service on Tuesday, underscoring its ambitions to be a leading Asian naval power, although the ship is not expected to carry a full complement of planes or be ready for combat for some time.
The Defense Ministry's announcement had been long expected and was not directly linked to current tensions with Japan over a disputed group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.
In a brief notice on its website, the ministry said the carrier's commissioning significantly boosted the navy's combat capabilities and its ability to cooperate in responding to natural disasters and other non-traditional threats.
"It has important significance in effectively safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development benefits, and advancing world peace and common development," the statement said.
China had partly justified the launching of a carrier by pointing out that it alone among the five permanent United Nations Security Council members had no such craft. That had been particularly glaring given the constant presence in Asia of carriers operated by the U.S. Navy, which maintains 11 worldwide.
President Hu Jintao, also chairman of the commission that controls the military, presided over a ceremony Tuesday morning at the ship's home port of Dalian, along with Premier Wen Jiabao and top generals. Hu "fully affirmed" the efforts of those working on the ship and called on them to complete all remaining tasks according to the highest standard, the Defense Ministry said.
The carrier is the former Soviet navy's unfinished Varyag, which was towed from Ukraine in 1998 minus its engines, weaponry and navigation systems. Christened the Liaoning after the northeastern province surrounding Dalian, the ship began sea trials in August 2011 following years of refurbishment.
So far the trial runs of the aircraft carrier have been to test the ship's propulsion, communications and navigation systems. But launching and recovering fixed-wing aircraft at sea is a much trickier proposition. It will take years to build the proper aircraft, to train pilots to land in adverse weather on a moving deck, and to develop a proper carrier battle group.
China is developing a carrier-based fighter-bomber, the J-15, derived from Russia's Sukhoi Su-33, along with a prototype stealth carrier fighter, the J-31.
Beijing hasn't said what role it intends the carrier to fill other than helping safeguard China's coastline and sea links. The Liaoning has also been portrayed as a kind of test platform for the future development of up to five domestically built Chinese carriers.
Writing in Tuesday's China Daily newspaper, retired Rear Adm. Yang Yi said the carrier will be used to master the technology for more advanced carriers. He said it also will be used to train in how to operate such a craft in a battle group and with vessels from other nation's navies.
Without specifically mentioning China's territorial disputes, Yang acknowledged other countries' concerns about its growing military might, but said Beijing wouldn't shy from flexing its muscles.
"When China has a more balanced and powerful navy, the regional situation will be more stable as various forces that threaten regional peace will no longer dare to act rashly," Yang wrote.
Whatever its practical effects on China's global status, the carrier embodies huge symbolism for China's political and military leaders as a totem of their country's rise from weakness to strength, according to Andrew S. Erickson, a China naval specialist at the U.S. Naval War College.
"While (Chinese navy) acceptance of this 'starter carrier' is the first step in a long journey, it is a journey that will take place in full view of the world, and one that will ultimately take Beijing to a new place as a great sea power," Erickson wrote on his blog.
The carrier's political importance was highlighted in Wen's remarks to the ceremony, in which he said it would "arouse national pride and patriotic passion."
"This has mighty and deep significance for the opening of a new facet in our enterprise of socialism with Chinese characteristics," he said.
A major security vulnerability has been discovered in some TouchWiz-based Samsung smartphones, including the Galaxy S3. The bug, was first demonstrated by security expert Ravi Borgaonkar at the Ekoparty security conference. It can be triggered via a single line of code in a malicious web page, immediately triggering a factory reset without prompting the user, and without allowing them a way to cancel the process. Even more serious is the possibility that this could be paired with a similar glitch that can render the user's SIM card inoperable. As the malicious code is in URL form, it can also be delivered via NFC or QR code.
We've confirmed that the malicious code does indeed trigger an immediate factory reset on our Verizon Galaxy S3 running Ice Cream Sandwich. Presumably, because the built-in browser is common to all S3 models, other versions will also be affected. Others have reported that the Galaxy S2, Galaxy Ace and Galaxy Beam are susceptible, too. As far as we can tell, though, the vulnerability does not seem to affect Samsung phones running stock Android, like the Galaxy Nexus. Similarly, Google Chrome on Samsung handsets is not susceptible to the bug, nor are other browsers we tested.
The vulnerability is the result of the way native Samsung browser and dialer app handle USSD codes and telephone links. USSD codes are special codes that can be entered in the keypad to perform certain functions, like enabling call forwarding, or accessing hidden menus on the device. On Samsung phones, there's also a USSD code for resetting the phone (and presumably another for nuking your SIM). That, combined with a glitch in the browser which allows phone numbers to be automatically dialed, results in a particularly nasty issue for anyone unfortunate enough to run by a malicious web page.
There are, of course, other applications of this glitch for vulnerability. The ability to automatically run numbers through the dialer could be used to call premium-rate phone numbers, for example.
But the fact that just visiting a web site could trigger your phone to factory reset itself, and nuke your SIM in the process, is a very serious issue. Until it's addressed, we'd recommend switching to Google Chrome immediately, and as an added precaution, disabling the built-in "Internet" app through Settings > Apps > All, if you're using an affected Samsung phone.
We've reached out to Samsung for comment on this issue, and we'll keep you updated with any information they provide.
President Barack Obama steps off Air Force One upon his arrival, Monday, Sept. 24, 2012, at JFK airport in New York. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
President Barack Obama steps off Air Force One upon his arrival, Monday, Sept. 24, 2012, at JFK airport in New York. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
The Marine One helicopter, with President Barack Obama aboard, lands at the Wall Street heliport in New York, Monday, Sept. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama appear on the ABC Television show ?The View? in New York, Monday, Sept. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
President Barack Obama arrives at JFK International Airport in New York, Monday, Sept. .24, 2012. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Campaign politics shadowing every word, President Barack Obama will step before the world and declare that anti-American rage and riots among Muslims abroad will never force the United States to backtrack on diplomacy.
In his final international address before the November election, Obama on Tuesday has a United Nations stage afforded to presidents, not presidential challengers. He will use it to try to boost his political standing without mentioning his opponent.
Obama's comments to the General Assembly will be scrutinized around the globe and by the gathering of presidents and prime ministers in the famed United Nations hall, given the tumult, terrorism, nuclear threats and poverty that bind so many nations. He will respond to unrest in the Muslim world and seek to underscore U.S. resolve in keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Yet, were there any doubt that the U.S. presidential campaign hung heavy over Obama's speech to the General Assembly, Republican rival Mitt Romney shredded it by assailing Obama's foreign affairs leadership on the eve of the president's speech.
"This is time for a president who will shape events in the Middle East, not just be merciful or be at the mercy of the events," Romney said Monday. Focusing on the killing of the U.S. ambassador in Libya and mass bloodshed in Syria, Romney repeatedly ridiculed Obama's comment that nations moving toward democracy after the Arab Spring face "bumps in the road."
That prompted White House spokesman Jay Carney to fire back at Romney: "There is a certain rather desperate attempt to grasp at words and phrases here to find political advantage, and in this case that's profoundly offensive."
Obama's activities at the United Nations said plenty, too: There are not many of them. Campaigning is his imperative.
He is skipping the private meetings with key allies that a U.S. president typically schedules when the whole international community comes to New York. The president will spend only 24 hours in New York in total this time, and he spent some of it Monday to appear on "The View," giving a talk show interview intended to sell his election pitch to a big TV audience.
The dominant theme of Obama's U.N. speech, according to his aides and Obama's own recent words, will be to underscore his response to the protests raging in places across the Middle East and North Africa. As he has for days, Obama will condemn the violence, defend democratic principles of free speech and promise no U.S. withdrawal of outreach.
Much of the growing ire is aimed at the United States because of an anti-Islam film produced in this country, but the White House has now deemed the attack on its consulate in Libya a "terrorist attack" and has not ruled that it was premeditated. Four Americans, including ambassador Chris Stevens, died in what Obama now says "wasn't just a mob action."
Obama noted in the TV interview Monday that many Libyans have protested the extremist strains in their nation.
"Part of the message for us is that the overwhelming majority of Muslims, they want the same things that families here want," Obama said. "They want opportunity. They want jobs. They want peace. ... We're going to stay engaged. Because ultimately, over the long term, our security is going to be tied up with the success of these countries."
In a preview of Obama's speech, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appealed for Muslims to show "dignity" as they protest the film denigrating the Prophet Muhammad.
"Dignity does not come from avenging insults," she said in a speech to her husband's Clinton Global Initiative. Romney and Obama were to speak there as well on Tuesday.
The secretary of state was also standing in for Obama. She saw the presidents of Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya and Pakistan. She was due later in the week to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
For U.S. presidents, the yearly United Nations address is always laced with domestic politics even though the speeches are scripted without campaign references. Wars and the failed attempts at Mideast peace have dominated in recent years.
Romney's campaign made the campaign linkage directly Monday.
"On the eve of his United Nations address, President Obama's foreign policy is in disarray," spokesman Ryan Williams said. "As president, Mitt Romney will repair our relationships abroad and create a safer, more secure nation."
Polling shows Obama has a clear edge over Romney when voters are asked who they think is a stronger leader and would better protect the country.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this story.
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Follow Ben Feller at http://www.twitter.com/benfellerdc
A 22-year-old Fort Hood, Texas, soldier was shot in the face and died after what prosecutors say was an attempt by a fellow soldier to cure the victim?s hiccups.
Patrick Edwards Myers, of Spartansburg, S.C., was charged with manslaughter in the case and remains in the Bell County Jail on $1 million bond, according?to a news release from the Killeen, Texas, police.
Police say three men were inside a Killeen residence Sunday night watching ?a football game and drinking when one of the men produced a handgun, handled it in an ?unsafe manner,? and shot the victim in the face.
An arrest affidavit obtained by the Associated Press said Myers apparently pointed a gun at the victim?s head to scare him and stop the hiccups. Myers allegedly thought the gun had dummy rounds when it discharged.
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The victim was being taken by ambulance to an airfield for transport to a hospital when he died.
After a review by the Bell County District Attorney, Myers was charged with manslaughter.
A Fort Hood spokesman on Tuesday declined to release the name of the victim, saying relatives had to be notified.
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NEW YORK (AP) ? Regulators are investigating whether several major U.S. banks failed to monitor transactions properly, allowing criminals to launder money, according to a New York Times story. The newspaper cited officials who it said spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the federal agency that oversees the biggest banks, is leading the money-laundering investigation, according to the Times. The report said the OCC could soon take action against JPMorgan Chase & Co., and that it is also investigating Bank of America Corp. Money laundering allows people to make money ? often obtained illegally ? appear like it came from another source.
The OCC didn't immediately comment. JPMorgan and Bank of America declined to comment.
The financial industry is struggling to mend its public image. Four years after the financial crisis, banks are getting closer scrutiny. And regulators are under pressure to show that they're not missing any questionable activity.
This summer, British bank Barclays PLC settled charges that it had manipulated a key global interest rate. Standard Chartered PLC, also based in the U.K., agreed to settle charges that it had improperly processed money for Iran, brought by the New York Department of Financial Services after the bank voluntarily informed regulators that it was reviewing relevant practices. In the spring, JPMorgan surprised shareholders with an unexpected trading loss.
If the OCC takes action, it could be similar to a cease-and-desist order that it filed against Citigroup in April. At the time, the OCC said that Citi had deficient internal controls and anti-money laundering procedures. In bank regulation, a cease-and-desist order doesn't mean that a bank has to shut down, but it is a serious sanction that requires a bank to change its practices. Citi had already told the regulator that from 2006 to 2010, it had "failed to adequately monitor" some of its transactions connected to "foreign correspondent banking."
The order in April didn't make any new, specific accusations. But it did instruct Citigroup to tighten its rules so it could improve compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and related regulations. The act requires financial institutions to report suspicious activity and to put rules in place to try to make money laundering impossible for customers.
Last year, JPMorgan paid $88 million to settle charges from the Treasury that it had unlawfully processed money for Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Liberia.
At the time, JPMorgan said it had had no intent to violate regulations. It pointed out that it oversaw "hundreds of millions of transactions and customer records per day, and annual error rates are a tiny fraction of a percent."
It's not expected that banks would be accused of trying to show support for countries like Cuba and Iran. It's more likely that they would be accused of faulty oversight that made any unlawful transactions possible. The industry has maintained that such violations are almost always unintentional.
According to the Times, the Justice Department and the Manhattan district attorney's office are also involved. The Manhattan U.S. attorney's office and the Manhattan district attorney's office declined to comment.
BERLIN (AP) ? Information that could have led to the arrest of three fugitive neo-Nazis later implicated in a string of far-right murders may have remained unused in German police files for a decade, according to a newspaper report Sunday.
The report by weekly Welt am Sonntag risks further embarrassing German authorities who for years failed to link members of the National Socialist Underground to the killing of 10 people from 2000 until 2007.
According to the newspaper, an informant in the far-right scene gave his Berlin police handler a tipoff on the trio's whereabouts as early as 2002 ? four years after they had disappeared from public view to avoid arrest over a series of attempted bombings.
Two of the suspects were found dead after an apparent murder-suicide following a botched bank robbery last November. The third, Beate Zschaepe, is in custody.
Welt am Sonntag said it was unclear whether Berlin police had passed on their tips to other parts of Germany's federal police system.
German media have previously reported that the informant, Thomas Starke, worked for Berlin police from 2000 until 2011.
A police spokesman declined Sunday to confirm the reports, but said Berlin's state interior minister Frank Henkel would make a statement to the federal parliament on Tuesday.
Four senior German domestic intelligence officials have resigned in recent months over the authorities' failure to track the NSU during its seven-year murder spree.
Google is allegedly playing hardball with its Android partners.
The company forced Acer to drop its support of Alibaba's new mobile operating system, Aliyun, threatening to pull its Android-related cooperation and support if Acer didn't, according to a report from the Dow Jones Newswires.
Acer was originally scheduled to hold a press conference today to show off a smartphone running on Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba's Aliyun platform, but it cancelled the event. Acer told Dow Jones that it will continue to talk with Google and hopes to still use Aliyun.
Alibaba told CNET that Acer was notified by Google that it would cease their partnership if Acer supported Aliyun.
"Our partner was notified by Google that if the product runs Aliyun OS, Google will terminate its Android-related cooperation and other technology licensing with our partner," according to a statement e-mailed to CNET. "We respect and understand our partner's decision to postpone the introduction of the phone, and are dismayed by the impact this dispute has had on our partner."
CNET has contacted Google and Acer for comment. We'll update the story when we get a response.
Google's Android operating system already dominates the market, and the company apparently wants to keep it that way. Alibaba is seen as China's version of Google, so it makes sense that Alibaba would want to emulate the strategy of creating its own mobile operating system.
Acer, a Taiwanese manufacturer of phones and PCs, was a logical choice to sign on to support the platform. Acer had said that the phone would go on sale in China on Friday.
If Alibaba's claim is true, the fact that Google would go to such lengths to stamp out a potential rival would speak to the intensity of the competitive smartphone environment. It would also illustrate the influence Google holds in the mobile industry and with its players.
Updated at 11:41 a.m. PT: to include a statement from Alibaba.
Industrial Nanotech?s trade visit will be in conjunction with the International conference on Nanotechnology, Nanocon012, where the company will exhibit its coatings. The company?s Vice President of Business Development, Francesca Crolley commented that the initiatives taken by the company for expansion in India have paved the foundation for this trade visit. The company has received support in the country for local availability and application of its Nansulate energy-saving and protective coating line and has witnessed an increase in the number of inquiries for factory visits.
Crolley further said that while energy users and manufacturers continue to recognize the company?s low-cost advanced technology to provide protection and insulation to buildings and equipment against corrosion, they also want to learn the ways of implementing this technology in their facilities. The company has received requests for factory visits from a variety of manufacturers, including electronics, chemical, plastics, pulp and paper, and textile industries, in addition to customers for institutional associated building and realty construction applications. The response to its marketing strategy in India has been tremendous with respect to sales inquiries, as well as the request to present full length article and product information to the country?s key chemical industry publications, which is anticipated to appear in the forthcoming September and October issues. Moreover, the company has established strong affiliations with local companies to strengthen ?on the ground? support to increase market share by getting new businesses in the country.
We hate the way a lot of Apple design looks, these days: virtual leather, felt, wood, and glass. It's like a sleazy game room in your Cool Uncle's basement. Who is making these eye-screwing decisions?Fast Company says it was Jobs. More »
Compensation for forced labor under National Socialism: Negotiations to practicesPublic release date: 6-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Constantin Goschler constantin.goschler@rub.de 49-234-322-2540 Ruhr-University Bochum
The effect of material and symbolic reparations after 60 years
From 2001 to 2007, Germany paid more than 4.4 billion Euros to 1.66 million former forced labourers in 98 countries. Although it was initially expected that the victims would view the money as a symbolic acknowledgement, it later turned out that their assessment of the compensation varied depending on their economic situation and personal memories of forced labour. This is one of the central results of an academic study of the Foundation "Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft" ("Remembrance, Responsibility and Future," or EVZ). The large-scale study, funded by the EVZ Foundation and headed by Prof. Dr. Constantin Goschler (Contemporary History, Ruhr University Bochum), was completed early in the summer of 2012. Tomorrow, on September 4th, the four volumes of "Die Entschdigung von NS-Zwangsarbeit am Anfang des 21. Jahrhunderts. Die Stiftung ,Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft' und ihre Partnerorganisationen" (The compensation for forced labour under National Socialism at the beginning of the 21st Century. The Foundation 'Remembrance, Responsibility and Future' and its partner organisations") will be published by the Wallstein publishing company in Gttingen.
Mainly compensated: victims in the East
After lengthy international negotiations that received a great deal of attention in the German and international press, the foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" was founded in Berlin in the summer of 2000. Equipped with approximately 5.1 billion and financed half by the federal government and half by the German private business sector, the foundation was to pay former forced labourers and other victims of the National Socialist regime a material and symbolic reparation almost 60 years after the end of World War II. In a complex payment produce, the foundation and seven international partner organisations primarily compensated former forced labourers in Central and Eastern Europe, who had hardly received any compensation until then, along with Jewish former slave labourers.
Extensive archival research and interviews with contemporary witnesses
Immediately after all the compensation was paid, an international team of twenty academics led by Prof. Constantin Goschler at the Ruhr University Bochum started to research the implementation and effects of the payment procedure. They searched through extensive archives of the participating organisations in eight countries and conducted numerous interviews with contemporary witnesses. The results of their four years of research show how complex persecution experiences and competing claims to justice were dealt with by bureaucratic organisations and how these affected political distribution struggles, how the recipients rated the financial benefits and how these benefits reshaped the European landscape of remembrance.
Volumes thematically broad in scope
The Ruhr University's research findings were published in four volumes, which deal with: the way the topic of forced labour under National Socialism is handled in Germany and the work of the EVZ (Volume 1), the practice of the globally active Jewish Claims Conference and the International Organisation for Migration (Volume 2), the payments and effects thereof in Poland and the Czech Republic (Volume 3) and the compensation for forced labour and remembrance culture in the post-Soviet societies (Volume 4).
Supposed "traitors" finally compensated
The organisations concerned with the payment of compensation struggled with a complex set of bureaucratic traditions, varying expectations and remembrance cultures, as well as with divergent systems of assistance for victims. The EVZ Foundation was in a difficult position, torn between conflicting priorities; it was to make the process as simple as possible for the elderly applicants and yet also do justice to the Federal Government's aim of permanently concluding the restitution process and giving the German economy legal security against further lawsuits. The partner organisations in Russia and other former Soviet republics had to learn to implement the internationally-agreed upon compensation categories and hierarchies of victims in their own countries, even though they partially conflicted with national and individual memories and past practices. In the Soviet Union, for example, the forced labourers who returned from Germany after 1945 were labelled as traitors. The idea that they would now be compensated with German money for their sacrifice contradicted the Soviet cultural memory of the Second World War, which held sway until the 2000s. The Ruhr University's project is thus opening eyes to the unintended side effects of a transnational compensation process.
Personal experiences and memories important
One of the key results of the Bochum research project concerns the individual applicant's perspective on the significance of the compensation payments. Without this aspect having been explored in detail before, it was pointed out in the discussion on material resolution of historical injustice that the significance of the compensation lies above all in its symbolic recognition by the persecuted. In this regard, the Bochum project comes to the conclusion that there can be no talk of a single linear significance that victims derive from compensation payments. At the individual level, the meaning of compensation is highly dependent on a range of different variables, such as a person's persecution experience, their social context, their political and economic environment, their country's reminiscence culture and not least their experiences with prior German reparation and compensation efforts.
Working model for future compensation practice
Since the 1990s, compensation payments have been gaining importance worldwide in overcoming dictatorships and dealing with historical injustice. The Bochum project about the foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" greatly advances the study of such processes and also provides important insights for future compensation practices. For the first time it is shown in detail how difficult the implementation of compensation payments is, and what compensation can mean both for the individuals concerned and for their societies.
###
Bibliographic record
Die Entschdigung von NS-Zwangsarbeit am Anfang des 21. Jahrhunderts. Die Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft" und ihre Partnerorganisationen (The compensation of forced labour under National Socialism at the beginning of the 21st Century. The Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" and its partner organisations). Published by Constantin Goschler in collaboration with Jos Brunner, Krzysztof Ruchniewicz and Philipp Ther, 4 volumes, Gttingen (Wallstein) 2012.
Further information
Prof. Dr. Constantin Goschler, Chair of Contemporary History, Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, tel. 0234/32-22540, e-mail: constantin.goschler@rub.de
Editor: Dr. Josef Knig
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
Compensation for forced labor under National Socialism: Negotiations to practicesPublic release date: 6-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Constantin Goschler constantin.goschler@rub.de 49-234-322-2540 Ruhr-University Bochum
The effect of material and symbolic reparations after 60 years
From 2001 to 2007, Germany paid more than 4.4 billion Euros to 1.66 million former forced labourers in 98 countries. Although it was initially expected that the victims would view the money as a symbolic acknowledgement, it later turned out that their assessment of the compensation varied depending on their economic situation and personal memories of forced labour. This is one of the central results of an academic study of the Foundation "Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft" ("Remembrance, Responsibility and Future," or EVZ). The large-scale study, funded by the EVZ Foundation and headed by Prof. Dr. Constantin Goschler (Contemporary History, Ruhr University Bochum), was completed early in the summer of 2012. Tomorrow, on September 4th, the four volumes of "Die Entschdigung von NS-Zwangsarbeit am Anfang des 21. Jahrhunderts. Die Stiftung ,Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft' und ihre Partnerorganisationen" (The compensation for forced labour under National Socialism at the beginning of the 21st Century. The Foundation 'Remembrance, Responsibility and Future' and its partner organisations") will be published by the Wallstein publishing company in Gttingen.
Mainly compensated: victims in the East
After lengthy international negotiations that received a great deal of attention in the German and international press, the foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" was founded in Berlin in the summer of 2000. Equipped with approximately 5.1 billion and financed half by the federal government and half by the German private business sector, the foundation was to pay former forced labourers and other victims of the National Socialist regime a material and symbolic reparation almost 60 years after the end of World War II. In a complex payment produce, the foundation and seven international partner organisations primarily compensated former forced labourers in Central and Eastern Europe, who had hardly received any compensation until then, along with Jewish former slave labourers.
Extensive archival research and interviews with contemporary witnesses
Immediately after all the compensation was paid, an international team of twenty academics led by Prof. Constantin Goschler at the Ruhr University Bochum started to research the implementation and effects of the payment procedure. They searched through extensive archives of the participating organisations in eight countries and conducted numerous interviews with contemporary witnesses. The results of their four years of research show how complex persecution experiences and competing claims to justice were dealt with by bureaucratic organisations and how these affected political distribution struggles, how the recipients rated the financial benefits and how these benefits reshaped the European landscape of remembrance.
Volumes thematically broad in scope
The Ruhr University's research findings were published in four volumes, which deal with: the way the topic of forced labour under National Socialism is handled in Germany and the work of the EVZ (Volume 1), the practice of the globally active Jewish Claims Conference and the International Organisation for Migration (Volume 2), the payments and effects thereof in Poland and the Czech Republic (Volume 3) and the compensation for forced labour and remembrance culture in the post-Soviet societies (Volume 4).
Supposed "traitors" finally compensated
The organisations concerned with the payment of compensation struggled with a complex set of bureaucratic traditions, varying expectations and remembrance cultures, as well as with divergent systems of assistance for victims. The EVZ Foundation was in a difficult position, torn between conflicting priorities; it was to make the process as simple as possible for the elderly applicants and yet also do justice to the Federal Government's aim of permanently concluding the restitution process and giving the German economy legal security against further lawsuits. The partner organisations in Russia and other former Soviet republics had to learn to implement the internationally-agreed upon compensation categories and hierarchies of victims in their own countries, even though they partially conflicted with national and individual memories and past practices. In the Soviet Union, for example, the forced labourers who returned from Germany after 1945 were labelled as traitors. The idea that they would now be compensated with German money for their sacrifice contradicted the Soviet cultural memory of the Second World War, which held sway until the 2000s. The Ruhr University's project is thus opening eyes to the unintended side effects of a transnational compensation process.
Personal experiences and memories important
One of the key results of the Bochum research project concerns the individual applicant's perspective on the significance of the compensation payments. Without this aspect having been explored in detail before, it was pointed out in the discussion on material resolution of historical injustice that the significance of the compensation lies above all in its symbolic recognition by the persecuted. In this regard, the Bochum project comes to the conclusion that there can be no talk of a single linear significance that victims derive from compensation payments. At the individual level, the meaning of compensation is highly dependent on a range of different variables, such as a person's persecution experience, their social context, their political and economic environment, their country's reminiscence culture and not least their experiences with prior German reparation and compensation efforts.
Working model for future compensation practice
Since the 1990s, compensation payments have been gaining importance worldwide in overcoming dictatorships and dealing with historical injustice. The Bochum project about the foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" greatly advances the study of such processes and also provides important insights for future compensation practices. For the first time it is shown in detail how difficult the implementation of compensation payments is, and what compensation can mean both for the individuals concerned and for their societies.
###
Bibliographic record
Die Entschdigung von NS-Zwangsarbeit am Anfang des 21. Jahrhunderts. Die Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft" und ihre Partnerorganisationen (The compensation of forced labour under National Socialism at the beginning of the 21st Century. The Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" and its partner organisations). Published by Constantin Goschler in collaboration with Jos Brunner, Krzysztof Ruchniewicz and Philipp Ther, 4 volumes, Gttingen (Wallstein) 2012.
Further information
Prof. Dr. Constantin Goschler, Chair of Contemporary History, Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, tel. 0234/32-22540, e-mail: constantin.goschler@rub.de
Editor: Dr. Josef Knig
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
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Public release date: 6-Sep-2012
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