Visual Errors Twist and Tickle the Mind (preview)

Image: PETER BENNETTS

Visual perception begins with our retinas locating the edges of objects in the world. Downstream neural mechanisms analyze those borders and use that information to fill in the insides of objects, constructing our perception of surfaces. What happens when those borders?the fundamental fabric of our visual reality?are tweaked? Our internal representation of objects fails, and our brain's ability to accurately represent reality no longer functions. Seemingly small mistakes lead to the very distorted perceptions of an illusory world.

Plumb Crazy

This article was originally published with the title Your Twisted Little Mind.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=fc32598995c505408d34c4e1bf9fd2ab

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Jobless claims rose in latest week

35 min.

Reuters

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits bounced off five-year lows last week, pulling them back to levels consistent with modest job growth.?

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 38,000 to a seasonally adjusted 368,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week's claims figure was unrevised.?

Economists polled by Reuters had expected claims to increase to 350,000.?

Claims have been very volatile this month, dropping sharply in the week ended January 12 and maintaining the trend in the following week. That was largely because the model used by the department to smooth out the seasonal variations has been unusually generous during the first three weeks of January.?

The volatility in the so-called seasonal factors has to do with the timing of holidays and when the weekends. The January calendar this year is aligned to 2008 and claims have generally followed a similar pattern.?

The four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of labor market trends, gained 250 to 352,000, suggesting a steady improvement in labor market conditions.?

A Labor Department analyst said the seasonal factor had anticipated claims would drop 24.8 percent last week. Unadjusted claims, however, only declined 16.1 percent. As a result, the seasonally adjusted claims increased last week.?

He said no states were estimated and there was nothing unusual in the state-level data.?

The claims data has no bearing on January's employment report, which is scheduled for release on Friday, as it falls outside the survey period.?

Employers are expected to have added 160,000 jobs to their payrolls after an increase of 155,000 in December. The unemployment rate is seen holding steady at 7.8 percent.?

The employment report could confirm that the economic recovery remains intact after output unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter. The drag largely came from temporary factors, which were expected to lift this quarter.?

The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid increased 22,000 to 3.20 million in the week ended January 19.?

The four-week moving average of so-called continuing claims was the lowest since July 2008.?

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/jobless-claims-rose-latest-week-still-point-modest-job-growth-1B8192610

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Home loans point to boost from BoE scheme

LONDON (Reuters) - Home loan approvals in Britain rose last month to the highest since January 2012, a sign that a Bank of England scheme may be starting to boost the flow of credit and support a flagging economy.

Net mortgage lending also jumped sharply to its highest level since April, offering hope that the bank's Funding for Lending Scheme - which went into operation in August - is starting to bear fruit.

The scheme is a response to worries that ultra-low official interest rates and the extra funds the bank has pumped into the financial system are not getting through to households and businesses.

The lack of lending has contributed to a grim economic outlook that has brought Britain to the verge of a "triple-dip" recession.

"On the face of it, those figures would support the Bank of England's claims that the FLS is starting to make its presence felt," said Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank.

"We would need to see a few more months of good data before we can validate the claim, but at least we're moving in the right direction," he said.

There was no immediate market reaction to the data.

Mortgage approvals rose to 55,785 in December from 54,011 in November, above analysts' expectations and the highest since January 2012, when the imminent end of a government incentive for first-time home-buyers boosted demand.

Net mortgage lending increased by 1.036 billion pounds ($1.63 billion), the largest amount since April, and interest rates on new secured loans to households fell to their lowest since April as well.

Evidence of benefit for businesses in Wednesday's data was less clear, though one measure of lending to firms posted its smallest annual percentage fall since November 2011.

Before the 2008 financial crisis, monthly mortgage approvals ran at around 90,000, but the number of home sales has slumped since then and the property market has largely ceased to be a major driver of consumer spending.

Last week similar data from the British Bankers' Association showed a tick up in mortgage approvals in December, although they were 4 percent down on the year.

Overall net household lending rose by 1.685 billion pounds after stagnating the month before. Within that, unsecured consumer lending rose by 649 million pounds, the biggest rise since September and a much stronger increase than forecast.

A quarterly Bank survey found that British banks planned to increase the supply of mortgages in early 2013 after a record rise in the availability of this type of credit in the three months to December. The poll also pointed to an improvement in terms on which loans are extended.

The BoE's preferred gauge of money supply, M4 excluding intermediate other financial corporations, rose 5.2 percent on the year, the sharpest rise since the second quarter of 2008.

Britain's economy shrank more than expected at the end of 2012, with a slump in oil production, lower factory output and a hangover from the London Olympics pushing it to the brink of its third recession since 2008.

(Reporting by David Milliken and Olesya Dmitracova; editing by Patrick Graham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/december-mortgage-approvals-rise-highest-since-january-2012-093546509--finance.html

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Obama: 'Now's the time' for immigration reform ? MSNBC

President Obama made an aggressive case for an immediate overhaul of U.S. immigration laws during a speech in Las Vegas Tuesday, giving momentum to the Senate?s new bipartisan push towards reform.

The president declared ?now?s the time? for comprehensive changes to an immigration system he called ?broken?, and which he said has approximately 11 million undocumented workers ?living in the shadows.? He argued getting these immigrants on the right side of the law strengthens our economy.

Speaking in a city that in recent years has been transformed by an influx of Hispanic immigrants, Obama outlined four broad principles he wants in a proposal: Strengthening security at U.S. borders, cracking down on businesses that knowingly hire illegals; streamlining the earned path to citizenship for millions; and improvements in the existing legal immigration system.

?Yesterday, a bipartisan group of senators announced their principles for comprehensive immigration reform, which are very much in line with the principles I?ve proposed and campaigned on for the last few years,? said Obama. ?At this moment, it looks like there?s a genuine desire to get this done soon. And that?s very encouraging.?

But, if lawmakers gets ?bogged down in an endless debate? and don?t act in a timely fashion, Obama threatened to send his own bill to Congress and??insist that they vote on it right away.?

?The closer we get, the more emotional debate this is going to become,? said Obama,?encouraging lawmakers to stay the course, even on this debate which traditionally packs an emotional punch.??It?s important for us to realize that the foundation for bipartisan action is already in place.?

In reaction to the president?s speech, Speaker John Boehner warned a fast hard shift to the left on immigration ideas puts the bill on shaky ground in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.

?There are a lot of ideas about how best to fix our broken immigration system,? said Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck. ?Any solution should be a bipartisan one, and we hope the president is careful not to drag the debate to the left and ultimately disrupt the difficult work that is ahead in the House and Senate.?

While hailing the Senate?s bipartisan effort?no common occurrence these days?Obama appears to be at odds with the Senate over the specific approach to border security. Similar to the Gang of Eight in the Senate, the president?s preferred method of preventing more illegal immigration and tracking those who have overstayed their visas involves improving infrastructure at processing points and taking advantage of private and public partnerships to encourage technological advances in the way the government processes foreigners to the country.?The Senate?s plan goes one step further, saying increased security measures on the border must go into effect before immigrants can even apply for a green card. A provision in the Senate bill also called for the creation of a border state commission to monitor developments.

Unlike the Senate plan, Obama also figures marriage equality into the equation by giving U.S. citizens and permanent residents the ability to sponsor same-sex partners for visas.

?The president has long believed that Americans with same-sex partners from other countries should not be faced with the painful choice between staying with the person they love or staying in the country they love,? said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

Both sides suggested an ?earned? path to legal status for undocumented workers could include fines, back taxes and background checks. After that, then they could get into the back of the immigration line behind others who have already been waiting to become citizens.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) praised Obama?s ?perfect? handling on the delicate situation. ?He is using the bully pulpit to focus the nation?s attention on the urgency of immigration reform and set goals for action on this issue,? said Schumer, who was one of the leaders to submit the immigration proposal. ?But he is also giving lawmakers on both sides the space to form a bipartisan coalition.?

Source: http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/29/obama-nows-the-time-for-immigration-reform/

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Cuban baseball defector returns home under new law

Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras (R) meets fans in Havana January 29, 2013. A decade after he defected to the United States to play Major League

By Jeff Franks

HAVANA (Reuters) - A decade after he defected to the United States to play Major League Baseball, Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras has returned to his homeland in the first test of the island's liberalized travel laws.

He was welcomed on Tuesday at Havana's Hot Corner, a mecca for baseball fans, by about 200 people who crowded around to get photos and autographs from the lanky right-hander.

Contreras, 41, signed baseball caps, dollar bills, Cuban money and a woman's dress as he mixed happily with his fellow countrymen in an emotional return home.

"After 10 years, I've had the opportunity to come back to Cuba, to my land, my country, and it's like a dream come true to be here with my family, with my fans," Contreras told Reuters in an occasionally tearful interview.

Before January 14, when new travel regulations went into effect, high-profile defectors such as Contreras were effectively barred from returning to Cuba, but now they can return if they have been away for at least eight years.

Much to the chagrin of Cuban officials, many Cuban athletes have left the country over the years to cash in on their sporting prowess.

Contreras was in Mexico playing for the Cuban national team when he defected in 2002 and signed a four-year, $32 million contract with the New York Yankees. He went on to pitch for the Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies.

Contreras was the first big-name athlete known to have tested the new law, returning to Cuba from the United States a few days ago, driven not only by a desire to see his homeland, but to be with his 77-year-old mother Modesta Camejo, who is ill.

THANKFUL TO COMANDANTE

Camejo, wheelchair-bound after surgery to amputate one of her legs, told Reuters she was grateful to former Cuban leader Fidel Castro for the change.

"I am very thankful to the Comandante who gave (us) that law," she said at a beach house near Havana where the family was staying. "Now things are different."

The law is part of wide-ranging reforms enacted under President Raul Castro, who succeeded older brother Fidel as president in 2008. Many Cubans still think of the elder Castro as Cuba's leader.

The change also allows Cubans to travel abroad without need of an exit visa for the first time since the government imposed restrictions half a century ago to stanch the flow of people fleeing the country after the 1959 revolution.

Contreras, who played for the Phillies last year but is currently a free agent, wears two bejeweled rings, one of them for the White Sox' World Series in 2005 and another for the Yankees' 2003 American League championship.

Before defecting, he was a star in Cuban baseball and a favorite of Fidel Castro for helping the Cuban national team win gold medals in the 1996 Olympics and the Baseball World Cup in 1998 and 2001.

At the Hot Corner, where people gather in Havana's tree-shaded Parque Central to loudly discuss baseball, there were no hard feelings against Contreras for leaving the island and its paltry average monthly salary (equivalent to $20) to make his fortune.

Contreras smiled broadly as the crowd, mostly men, chanted his name.

"It makes us immensely happy that Contreras is here in Cuba, his land, the country where he was born, a place he defended in other moments. The decision he has made is very personal and it has to be respected," said Miguel Diaz, who wore a red cap with the New York Yankees emblem.

Contreras said he was pleased to be home after so many years away and hoped that other exiled Cuban athletes would follow in his footsteps and visit the island.

"I am very happy, very happy for me personally and for all the other guys, all the people outside of Cuba, who can come back and be here again in the homeland," he said.

(Editing by Kevin Gray and Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://wkzo.com/news/articles/2013/jan/30/cuban-baseball-defector-returns-home-under-new-law/

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Report: Ivory Coast gov't lacks impartiality

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) ? Ivory Coast's government has displayed a "lack of impartiality" by not pursuing specific perpetrators of 2010-11 postelection violence including those who killed hundreds of men in the country's western town of Duekoue, according to a new United Nations expert report that also criticized the indefinite and inhumane detention of those suspects that are being held.

The report by independent human rights expert Doudou Diene deplored "the slowness of the proceedings before the civil courts" and found fault with indictments leveled against top suspects. It also documented the use of torture by security forces responding to a series of attacks on military installations last year.

Months of conflict following Ivory Coast's 2010 presidential elections saw at least 3,000 people killed, according to U.N. estimates. The violence erupted after former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to leave office despite losing the November 2010 runoff vote to current President Alassane Ouattara.

A national commission of inquiry last year attributed 727 deaths to the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast, the army Ouattara created by decree in March 2011, one month before Gbagbo was arrested. But Diene's report said that while 55 Gbagbo loyalists have been charged for violent crimes, no Ouattara loyalists have been the subject of any "serious procedure."

In the western town of Duekoue, Ouattara forces have been accused of killing hundreds of men belonging to the Guere ethnic group "which largely supported Gbagbo" during a single March 2011 massacre in the Carrefour neighborhood. Diene said that he was told a judge had launched a probe into crimes committed in Duekoue during the crisis but was unable to visit the town because of security reasons. Ouattara visited Duekoue during a trip to the west last April. Others were also killed in the area, although there are contending figures from various groups that range from 400 to 1,000, according to past Associated Press reports.

Ivory Coast's military tribunal handed down the first verdict related to the postelection conflict last October. Diene said he was told civilian trials would begin last November, but they still have not started.

Ivorian authorities have dismissed allegations that they are not pursuing perpetrators who fought for Ouattara, and the president has publicly vowed that all perpetrators of crimes committed during the conflict will eventually be brought to justice.

Civilian prosecutor Simplice Koffi was removed from his post for unspecified reasons earlier this month, and his replacement was not available for comment this week.

The report, based on a mission conducted in September and October, was finalized earlier this month and is scheduled to be presented to the Human Rights Council in March. A copy was obtained by the AP last week.

The report also deplored the "indefinite detention" and bad conditions of those being held for postelection violence. Diene said Gbagbo loyalists in the northern town of Korhogo were "crammed into small cells in a very advanced state of disrepair and unsanitary conditions."

Former first lady Simone Gbagbo, who is being held in the northwest town of Odienne, "showed signs of physical weakness" and complained that she was unable to be treated by the doctors of her choice, he said. The International Criminal Court unsealed an arrest warrant for Simone Gbagbo in November on crimes against humanity charges. The government has not yet said whether it plans to send her to The Hague, where her husband has been held for more than a year.

Simone Gbagbo is one of nearly 50 people charged with genocide by the Ivorian courts, according to the report. The others include seven high-level Gbagbo allies and 41 Ivorians extradited by Liberia following a June attack near the border between the two countries that killed seven U.N. peacekeepers.

The report expressed concern about Ivory Coast's use of an "incomplete" definition of genocide that does not comport with international standards, saying this could discredit the Ivorian judiciary.

The report also brought up more recent allegations of human rights abuses, notably the response to a wave of attacks on security installations throughout the country that began last August.

The local U.N. mission has documented at least 23 different attacks since August throughout the country, mostly targeting military, gendarmerie and police posts. Some 60 people have died, according to the U.N., including civilian women and children.

Gbagbo's political party has accused the government of using the attacks as a pretext to crack down on the former president's allies.

The report said at least 382 people were arrested in connection with the attacks, some of whom were subject to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Two died as a result of torture, it said. The government has denied the use of torture, as have military camp commanders.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-ivory-coast-govt-lacks-impartiality-124021414.html

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Russian investigators search liberal governor's office

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Masked Russian police searched the office of a liberal regional governor who has connections with opponents of Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in what Kremlin critics said was part of a campaign to put pressure on foes of the president.

The federal Investigative Committee said law enforcement officers searched the office of Kirov region governor Nikita Belykh as part of a criminal investigation into the alleged theft of 90 million roubles ($3 million).

Belykh denied any wrongdoing and said he was cooperating with the investigation.

A former moderate opposition party leader, Belykh was appointed in 2009 by then-President Dmitry Medvedev in what was seen as an effort to appease liberals pushed to the margins during Putin's 2000-8 presidency and ally them with the Kremlin.

"The searches in Nikita's office are a clear sign of the end of the 'Medvedev thaw'," Maria Gaidar, a critic of Putin and a former deputy to Belykh, said on Twitter. Putin returned to the presidency in May after four years as prime minister.

Opposition leaders accuse the Kremlin of using the court cases and criminal investigations to put pressure on Putin's critics during his new six-year term, but the president's spokesman has denied this.

Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader who preceded Belykh as head of a liberal pro-business party in the mid-2000s, said the search was aimed not at Belykh directly but at Alexei Navalny, who has helped organize protests against Putin and has been charged in a separate case of theft in the Kirov region.

The Investigative Committee said police, FSB security forces and federal investigators were searching for documents related to the sale of a 25.5 percent state share in a distillery for some 90 million roubles less than its market value, which the committee said was about twice that figure.

THEFT ACCUSATIONS

"Belykh will be questioned on issues of interest to the investigation," it added in a statement.

Belykh, 37, said on his page on a Russian social networking site that he would be questioned on Wednesday as a witness, and suggested his home had also been searched. He told Ekho Moskvy radio that he had done nothing wrong.

"I am absolutely certain that everything I did was right and correct. Why should I be afraid?" he said.

Footage on state television showed police, some in body armor and black balaclavas, entering the administration building in Kirov, 800 km (500 miles) northeast of Moscow.

"This is a special operation to put pressure on Belykh to give evidence against Navalny," Nemtsov said by telephone.

Navalny has been charged with large-scale theft over the sale of timber while he was working in the Kirov region. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Navalny denies any wrongdoing, and Belykh said on a social network site in 2011 that he believed the accusations against Navalny over the timber sale were baseless.

The Investigative Committee spokesman said in December that the authorities were looking into Navalny's possible involvement in the distillery case, according to the Interfax news agency.

Navalny could not be reached for comment. His spokeswoman, Anna Veduta, said Navalny had left the Kirov region before the distillery stake was sold in 2010 and was not involved.

($1 = 30.1805 Russian roubles)

(Editing by Alison Williams/Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-investigators-search-liberal-governors-office-180653232.html

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Microsoft retools Office for touch screen, Web use | Long Island ...

Microsoft?s retooled version of its Office software is hitting the market as the company tries to extend one of its key franchises beyond personal computers.

Tuesday?s debut comes six months after Microsoft previewed the new-look Office, which includes popular word processing, spreadsheets and email programs.

The revamped Office boasts touch controls, just like the redesigned version of the Windows operating system that Microsoft Corp. released three months ago. The company, which is based in Redmond, Wash., is trying to ensure that its products retain their appeal at a time when people increasingly rely on smartphones and tablet computers instead of PCs.

Yet Microsoft still isn?t trying to get Office on the largest number of devices possible. Office 2013 doesn?t include an option that works on Apple Inc.?s iPhone and iPad or smartphones and tablets running the Android software made by Google Inc. That leaves out the majority of smartphones and tablets sold in the past two years.

The company believes Office 2013 is currently best suited for Windows devices, said Chris Schneider, Microsoft?s senior public relations manager for Office. Microsoft is trying to become a bigger player in the mobile market with its own operating system for smartphones and tablets.

Office 2013 is the first overhaul of the software suite in three years.

The bundle of programs has become a staple on desktop and laptop computers, providing a rich vein of revenue for Microsoft.

The company has reaped most of its Office sales from licenses allowing buyers to install the suite of programs on individual machines, a very lucrative strategy. The Microsoft division anchored by Office generates about $24 billion in annual sales, accounting for nearly one-third of Microsoft?s total revenue.

Revenue in the Office division fell from the previous year during the three months ending in December, partly because many prospective buyers have been awaiting the latest version.

In one of the biggest changes, Microsoft has tailored Office 2013 so it can be peddled primarily as a program that?s used over Internet connections. All information is automatically stored in Microsoft?s data centers, allowing for access to the same material on multiple devices. The content also can be stored on the hard drives of devices.

Microsoft is offering Office 2013 in a $100 annual subscription package, called 365 Home Premium, which includes online access on up to five Windows devices or Mac computers. The fee also provides 20 additional gigabytes of storage on Microsoft?s SkyDrive to supplement the 7 gigabytes that the company gives away to accountholders for free. Subscribers also will get 60 minutes of free international calls on Microsoft?s Skype service for Internet phone calls and video chats.

College students and teachers will be able to buy Office 2013?s online product for $80 for four years, which works out to about $1.67 per month.

The online push reflects Microsoft?s recognition that people want access to documents and email on whatever Internet-connected device they might have, wherever they may be, whether it?s at work, home or a store while running errands.

?The technology needs to be able to move with you,? Schneider said.

It?s the first time that Microsoft has tried to persuade consumers that a recurring online subscription is the best way to buy and use Office. Microsoft had previously sold online Office subscriptions primarily to small businesses.

Office will still be sold under a one-time licensing fee that allows the software to be installed on a single machine. The fees start at $140.

Microsoft?s decision to reshape Office into an online service makes sense, although it may take customers a while to sign up for the subscriptions, said Edward Jones analyst Josh Olson. He suspects major companies that rely on Office probably will be among the last users to make the switch.

?This is a good innovation, but the uptake may be slow to begin because it is so different,? Olson said.

More breaking news

Source: http://libn.com/2013/01/29/microsoft-retools-office-for-touch-screen-web-use/

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Wash. vows to try to keep weed in state _ but how? (Providence Journal)

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

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Apple releases iOS 6.1, giving Siri the power to buy movie tickets

14 hrs.

Rosa Golijan , NBC News

Apple has released a software update?? iOS 6.1 ? which gives you the ability to purchase movie tickets through?Fandango using Siri, supports LTE?capabilities?for a bunch of carriers around the world?and adds the ability to download individual songs from iCloud.

You can find a complete list of the newly supported LTE-capable carriers on Apple's website.?(There's now support for LTE connectivity for 36 additional iPhone carriers and 23 additional iPad carriers around the world.)?

iOS 6.1 is available is compatible with the?iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, third- and fourth-generation?iPad, iPad Mini, iPad 2,?and fourth- and fifth-generation?iPod Touch. You can snag it by?connecting your device to iTunes and hitting the "check for updates" button. (Alternatively, head into your gadget's "Settings" menu, select the "General" tab, and tap the "Software Updates" option to download the update over?the air.)

Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/apple-releases-ios-6-1-giving-siri-power-buy-movie-1C8144611

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'First Time' May Influence Sexual Satisfaction for Life | Psych Central ...

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on January 29, 2013

New research suggests a person?s first sexual experience can set the tone for the rest of one?s sexual life.

Matthew Shaffer, a doctoral student in psychology at the University of Tennessee, and C. Veronica Smith, Ph.D., an assistant psychology professor at the University of Mississippi, devised the research project to study the effects of losing one?s virginity.

The study is published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy and is the first to look at whether the circumstances of losing one?s virginity have lasting consequences.

?The loss of virginity is often viewed as an important milestone in human development, signifying a transition to adulthood,? said Shaffer.

?However, it has not been studied in this capacity. We wanted to see the influence it may have related to emotional and physical development.?

The researchers examined how first-time sexual satisfaction impacts long-term sexual function as well as how first-time physical and emotional responses affect long-term sexual experiences.

They found that positive first-time experiences were predictive of physical and emotional satisfaction. Specifically, those who felt loved and respected by their partner found later encounters more emotionally satisfying.

The researchers asked 331 young men and women about how they lost their virginity. The anonymous participants ranked the experience according to emotions related to anxiety, contentment and regret.

Survey responders also answered questions about their sex life using scales measuring sense of control, satisfaction and well-being. Finally, the participants filled out a diary for two weeks describing each sexual experience.

A series of analyses revealed those who were most emotionally and physically satisfied the first time found their sex lives the most fulfilling. Those who reported higher levels of anxiety and negativity with the first time reported lower overall sexual functioning.

?While this study doesn?t prove that a better first time makes for a better sex life in general, a person?s experience of losing their virginity may set the pattern for years to come,? said Shaffer.

Shaffer suggests that a first-time sexual experience may create a general pattern of thought and behavior that guides sexual experiences and understanding of information concerning sexuality.

Source: University of Tennessee

APA Reference
Nauert PhD, R. (2013). ?First Time? May Influence Sexual Satisfaction for Life. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 29, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/01/29/first-time-may-influence-sexual-satisfaction-for-life/50954.html

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/01/29/first-time-may-influence-sexual-satisfaction-for-life/50954.html

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Twinkie lovers can relax: Hostess sale is imminent

36 min.

From wire services , NBC News

The indestructible Twinkie appears to be one step closer to a comeback.?

Hostess Brands is close to announcing that it has picked two investment firms ? C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo Global Management ? as the lead bidders for its Twinkies and other snack cakes, according to a source close to the situation.??

The so-called stalking horse bid would be for more than $400 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. It would serve as the baseline offer for the business and could be topped by others at an auction.??A judge would have to approve any final sale.??

A deal, part of Hostess's bankruptcy reorganization, is not yet final, said the source, who declined to be identified as the discussions are not public.??

Spokesmen for Metropoulos and Apollo were not immediately available to comment. Hostess declined to comment.?

After years of management turmoil and turnover, Hostess declared it was going out of business and selling its brands in November.?

Earlier this month, Hostess chose a $390 million offer by Flowers Foods , maker of Tastykake products, as the stalking horse bid for several brands including Wonder bread?and?Drake's.

?On Monday, Hostess said it chose McKee Foods Corp, maker of Little Debbie snack cakes, as the initial bidder for its Drake's cakes, which include Ring Dings, Yodels and Devil Dogs. It also chose United States Bakery as the lead bidder for four of its smaller bread brands plus bakeries, equipment and depots.?

The?Associated?Press?and?Reuters?contributed?to?this?report.?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/twinkie-lovers-can-relax-hostess-sale-imminent-1C8161026

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Iran Just Sent a Monkey Into Space

Sky News is reporting that Iran just took a major step towards its goal of achieving manned space flight—by firing a monkey into space. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/FRpAtYxK_3U/iran-just-sent-a-monkey-into-space

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Jennifer Lawrence Wardrobe Malfunction: Star Rips Dress at SAG Awards ... or Not

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/jennifer-lawrence-wardrobe-malfunction-star-rips-dress-at-sag-aw/

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Who's silencing Guantanamo court audio feed, judge asks

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - The sound was abruptly cut in the Guantanamo war crimes court on Monday, prompting the angry judge to question whether someone outside the room was censoring pretrial hearings for five men accused of plotting the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

In all hearings for the alleged al Qaeda operatives who were previously held in secret CIA prisons, a court security officer seated near the judge controls a button that muffles the audio feed to spectators when secret information is disclosed. A red light flashes and observers hear nothing but static.

The feed was cut when David Nevin, a lawyer for the alleged mastermind of the hijacked plane plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, asked if the lawyers and judges needed to meet in closed session before considering a defense request.

When the feed was restored moments later, the judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, indicated it wasn't the court security officer who cut the sound in the proceedings formally known as military commissions.

"If some external body is turning things off, if someone is turning the commissions off under their own views of what things ought to be, with no reason or explanation, then we are going to have a little meeting about who turns that light on or off," Pohl said tersely.

He seemed to be addressing the prosecution team and told them that Nevin had merely referred to the caption of an unclassified document - one asking the judge to order that the secret CIA prisons where the defendants say they were tortured be preserved as evidence.

A short time later, the judge said he would meet in closed session with the lawyers and reopen the public part of the hearing on Tuesday. The episode enlivened the first day of a weeklong pretrial hearing in the military tribunal at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba.

Mohammed and his four co-defendants are accused of training and aiding the hijackers who slammed commercial jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001. They could be executed if convicted of charges that include terrorism, attacking civilians and murdering 2,976 people.

Under a program during the presidency of George W. Bush, the defendants were among the suspected al Qaeda captives who were moved across borders without judicial review and held and interrogated in secret CIA prisons overseas.

The CIA has acknowledged that Mohammed was subjected to the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding. The defendants said they also were subjected to sleep deprivation, threats, and being chained in painful positions.

The defense lawyers argue that constituted illegal pretrial punishment and "outrageous government misconduct" that could justify dismissal of the charges, or at least spare the defendants from execution if convicted.

'CRIME SCENE'

Pohl ordered in 2004 that the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq be preserved as a "crime scene." He was at the time presiding over the trial of U.S. military police officers accused of torturing and photographing prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

It was unclear whether Pohl had authority to order the preservation of the CIA prisons, if they still exist. The government has kept secret their location, arguing that disclosure could threaten U.S. national security and put allies at risk.

Polish prosecutors are investigating allegations that one of the sites was in Poland, and there is evidence that the CIA set up others in Romania, Lithuania and Thailand, according to reports by the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

The chief prosecutor, Brigadier General Mark Martins, said he does not plan to introduce evidence obtained from the defendants or anyone else via torture, cruelty or inhuman treatment - which is prohibited by U.S. law and international treaty.

In a departure from the Bush administration, the Obama administration has made clear that any interrogation techniques must adhere to those long established in the Army Field Manual, which prohibits torture.

The defendants have been in U.S. custody for a decade, but there are still many legal and evidentiary issues that must be resolved before their trial begins.

Three of them wore camouflage jackets and accessories over their white tunics in court on Monday. As in earlier hearings, they alternated between refusing to answer the judge and critiquing the United States and the court. All five said they understood their legal rights could be compromised if the judge granted their request to skip some court sessions.

"We don't have any motivating factors that would invite us to come to court," said Yemeni defendant Walid bin Attash, who said restrictions at Guantanamo had thwarted efforts to build trust with defense lawyers.

(Editing by Tom Brown and Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/whos-silencing-guantanamo-court-audio-feed-judge-asks-000236934.html

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Skin, soft tissue infections succumb to blue light

Jan. 28, 2013 ? Blue light can selectively eradicate Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections of the skin and soft tissues, while preserving the outermost layer of skin, according to a proof-of-principle study led by Michael R. Hamblin of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Harvard Medical School, Boston.

The research is published online ahead of print in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

"Blue light is a potential non-toxic, non-antibiotic approach for treating skin and soft tissue infections, especially those caused by antibiotic resistant pathogens," says Hamblin.

In the study, animal models were infected with P. aeruginosa. All of the animals in the group treated with blue light survived, while in the control, 82 percent (9 out of 11) of the animals died.

Skin and soft tissue infections are the second most common bacterial infections encountered in clinical practice, and represent the most common infection presentation -- more than 3 percent -- in patients visiting emergency departments, says Hamblin. The prevalence of skin and soft tissue infections among hospitalized patients is 10 percent, with approximately 14.2 million ambulatory care visits every year and an annual associated medical cost of almost $24 billion (equivalent to $76 for every American), says Hamblin.

Treatment of skin and soft tissue infections has been significantly complicated by the explosion of antibiotic resistance, which may bring an end to what medical scientists refer to as the antibiotic era, says Hamblin. "Microbes replicate very rapidly, and a mutation that helps a microbe survive in the presence of an antibiotic drug will quickly predominate throughout the microbial population. Recently, a dangerous new enzyme, NDM-1, that makes some bacteria resistant to almost all antibiotics available has been found in the United States. Many physicians are concerned that several infections soon may be untreatable."

Besides harming public health, antibiotic resistance boosts health care costs. "Treating resistant skin and soft tissue infections often requires the use of more expensive, or more toxic drugs, and can result in longer hospital stays for infected patients," says Hamblin.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Society for Microbiology.

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Journal Reference:

1. T. Dai, A. Gupta, Y.-Y. Huang, R. Yin, C. K. Murray, M. S. Vrahas, M. Sherwood, G. P. Tegos, M. R. Hamblin. Blue light rescues mice from potentially fatal Pseudomonas aeruginosa burn infection: efficacy, safety, and mechanism of action. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2012; DOI: 10.1128/AAC.01652-12

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/Z_KxGNEuEXU/130128163403.htm

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Boy Scouts of America may end ban on gays

DALLAS (Reuters) - Boy Scouts of America is considering ending a longstanding national ban on gay youth and adult members and leaving policies on sexual orientation to its local organizations, a spokesman said on Monday.

Lifting the ban would mark a dramatic reversal for the 103-year-old organization, which only last summer reaffirmed its policy amid heavy criticism from gay rights groups and some parents of scouts.

The organization's national executive board is expected to discuss lifting the ban on gay members at its regularly scheduled board meeting next week in Texas.

"The policy change under discussion would allow the religious, civic or educational organizations that oversee and deliver Scouting to determine how to address this issue," spokesman Deron Smith said in an email to Reuters.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the United Methodist Church and the Catholic Church have the largest youth membership in the Boy Scouts among faith-based organizations.

The organization, which had more than 2.6 million youth members and more than 1 million adult members at the end of 2012, "would not, under any circumstances, dictate a position to units, members, or parents," Smith said.

The Boy Scouts has also faced criticism for keeping private files covering decades of child sex abuse incidents within the organization. The Scouts released thousands of pages of files in October covering incidents from 1965 to 1985.

The Boy Scouts won a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing the organization to ban gays in 2000, but has come under increasing public pressure in recent years from activists. They include Zach Wahls, an Eagle Scout with two lesbian mothers, and Jennifer Tyrrell, a lesbian mother from Ohio who was ousted as a Scout den leader and treasurer.

"This is absolutely a step in the right direction," said Wahls, who is founder of Scouts for Equality, a group that includes 3,151 other Eagle scouts.

Wahls said he would turn to persuading local councils to enact nondiscrimination policies if the change is approved.

Tyrrell said she looked forward to a day when she and her family might participate in scouting again.

"An end to this ban will restore dignity to countless families across the country, my own included, who simply wanted to take part in all Scouting has to offer," Tyrrell said in a statement.

GLAAD, an anti-discrimination advocacy group, began to press for a reversal of the Boy Scouts policy after Tyrrell was removed from her son's den and more than 1 million people have signed petitions on Change.org seeking an end to the policy.

More than 462,000 people signed a petition on Change.org calling for the Boy Scouts to grant an Eagle Scout application for Ryan Andresen, a California resident who is openly gay.

Andresen's scoutmaster refused to sign the application because of his sexual orientation. A review board for the California chapter recommended he receive the rank, but its recommendation was never forwarded to national headquarters.

The organization has faced pressure from board members - Ernst & Young chairman and chief executive Jim Turley and AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson have spoken out against the ban - and some corporations withdrew support over the policy.

United Parcel Service was among corporations that have said they would pull funding from the organization over its policy.

The Family Research Council, which said in December it would pull its business with UPS because the package delivery company had decided to cease funding of the Boy Scouts, said on Monday the Scouts should resist the pressure to change its policy.

"If the board capitulates to the bullying of homosexual activists, the Boy Scouts' legacy of producing great leaders will become yet another casualty of moral compromise," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in a statement.

Patrick Boyle, whose 1994 book "Scout's Honor" was among the first to examine sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America, said on Monday the "striking reversal in policy" was likely the result of growing pressure from corporations.

"This is a safe way out of this mess for the national organization, which takes the fight back to the local level, and says to a local leader, 'you make the choice that's right for you'," Boyle said. "It's essentially the Boy Scouts' version of states' rights."

(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson, Barbara Liston and Chris Francescani; Writing by Greg McCune and David Bailey; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boy-scouts-america-says-discussing-end-ban-gay-183918053.html

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Harry's Afghan downtime: movies, candy trades

LONDON (AP) ? Prince Harry's off-duty time in Afghanistan appeared to be full of war movies, board games and elaborate candy trades.

The 28-year-old helicopter pilot and fellow members of his squad swapped Kit Kats and Rice Krispies Squares for American soldiers' M&Ms, according to a British media pool report released Sunday.

Harry himself outlined one of his less-prestigious duties. The third-in-line to the U.K. throne said anyone who lost at Uckers ? a military game similar to Ludo or Parcheesi ? had to then wait on his comrades like a Buckingham Palace butler, ready with a fresh cup of tea whenever anyone rang their bell.

"Whoever loses ... then you have to make brews for everybody all day," Harry told journalists ahead of his return to Britain this week.

He also denied rumors that he was far better at PlayStation than at traditional board games.

"I don't know who told you that," he told reporters. "I lost two days ago, and yesterday, so since you guys have been here I've only lost."

Harry returned to Britain on Wednesday after a 20-week deployment in Afghanistan in which he acknowledged that he had targeted Taliban fighters from the cockpit of his Apache attack helicopter.

Asked in an earlier round of interviews whether he had killed anyone, Harry said: "Yeah, so, lots of people have." That admission disturbed some Britons and led to front-page headlines like the one in The Daily Mail that read: "Harry: I Have Killed."

This latest round of interviews, focusing on Harry's daily life at Britain's Camp Bastion military base in Afghanistan, is not likely to draw the same kind of headlines.

The report mainly carried glimpses of the prince's daily routine, including his favorite foods ? chicken and broccoli ? and his favorite movies ? "Full Metal Jacket," ''Apocalypse Now," and "Platoon."

In an interesting twist for an Apache pilot, "Black Hawk Down," the Ridley Scott film about a helicopter raid gone wrong in Somalia, was among the movies spotted in Harry's communal tent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/harrys-afghan-downtime-movies-candy-trades-090928405.html

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DIY Stove Made from a Paint Cain, Toilet Paper, and Rubbing Alcohol Keeps Your Warm in an Emergency

If you're worried about car trouble keeping you stranded overnight in freezing weather you can create an easy and nearly free heat source by adding a roll of toilet paper to a new quart paint can and pouring a bottle of rubbing alcohol over the TP.

Emergency preparedness weblog Prepared Not Scared also notes that you can place the quart-sized heater inside a new gallon paint can with holes punched in the gallon can so it can serve as a pot stand to cook on the smaller stove. This works well as you can fit the smaller stove, matches, and other accessories in the larger perforated gallon can and have a ready-to-go kit when needed. To use, just pour the alcohol over the TP, wait a few minutes for it to be absorbed, and then light the stove using a lighter or match. It will burn for a couple of hours and can provide life-saving heat in an emergency situation, but if using in an enclosed space make sure you have some ventilation to avoid carbon monoxide buildup. For a total project price of around five bucks, you may want to consider keeping one in your car trunk.

Preparedness Project - Paint Can Holders | Prepared Not Scared

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/2LEADeEadRE/diy-stove-made-from-a-paint-cain-toilet-paper-and-rubbing-alcohol-keeps-your-warm-in-an-emergency

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Study shows potential of differentiated iPS cells in cell therapy without immune rejection

Study shows potential of differentiated iPS cells in cell therapy without immune rejection

Monday, January 28, 2013

A new study from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shows that tissues derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells in an experimental model were not rejected when transplanted back into genetically identical recipients. The study, published online in Cell Stem Cell, demonstrates the potential of utilizing iPS cells to develop cell types that could offer treatment for a wide range of conditions, including diabetes, liver and lung diseases, without the barrier of immune rejection.

Ashleigh Boyd, DPhil, and Neil Rodrigues, DPhil, the study's senior authors, are assistant professors of dermatology at BUSM and researchers at the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at Boston University and Boston Medical Center (BMC). They also are lead investigators at the National Institutes of Health's Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) at Roger Williams Medical Center, a clinical and research affiliate of BUSM.

iPS cells can be developed from adult cell types, such as skin or blood, by returning them to a stem cell state using genetic manipulation. iPS cells are capable of maturing (differentiating) into all the specific cell types in the body, making them a powerful tool for biological research and a source of tissues for transplantation based therapies. Given that iPS cells can be made in a patient-specific manner, there should be great potential for them to be transplanted back into the same patient without rejection. Yet a study published in Nature in 2011 demonstrated that iPS cells transplanted in the stem cell state were rejected in genetically identical recipients.

"The Nature study provocatively suggested that tissues derived from patient-specific iPS cells may be immunogenic after transplantation. However, it never directly assessed the immunogenicity of the therapeutically relevant cell types that could be utilized in regenerative medicine and transplantation," said Rodrigues.

The BUSM researchers evaluated this matter by taking adult cells from an experimental model and deriving iPS cells from them. They then differentiated the iPS cells into three cell types: neuronal (nerve); hepatocytes (liver); and endothelial (blood vessel lining) cells. These three cell types represent each of the three germ layers present during embryonic development ? mesoderm, ectoderm and endoderm. Cells from these layers differentiate and ultimately develop into the body's tissue and organ systems. Using experiments to mirror the potential clinical use of patient-specific iPS cells in cell therapy, the team transplanted each of the differentiated cells into a genetically identical experimental model and found no signs of an elevated immune response or indications of rejection.

The study results suggest that using patient-specific iPS cells should overcome issues of immune rejection in transplantation, which will be a significant problem for potential embryonic stem cell-derived therapies. Immune rejection in transplantation is treated clinically by immunosuppressive drugs but they can have serious side-effects, including the risk of developing cancer.

"If the use of immunosuppressive drugs can be avoided, as may be the case for patient-specific iPS cell based therapies, it would be preferable. Our results are very promising and future work should be directed at assessing whether tissues derived from human iPS cells will similarly lack immunogenicity," said Boyd.

###

Boston University Medical Center: http://www.bmc.org

Thanks to Boston University Medical Center for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126481/Study_shows_potential_of_differentiated_iPS_cells_in_cell_therapy_without_immune_rejection

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AP PHOTOS: Scenes of panic at Brazil club fire

AAA??Jan. 27, 2013?3:06 PM ET
AP PHOTOS: Scenes of panic at Brazil club fire
By The Associated Press??By The Associated Press

A crowd stands outside the Kiss nightclub during a fire inside the club in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. A blaze raced through the crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing 245 people as the air filled with deadly smoke and panicked party-goers stampeded toward the exits, police and witnesses said. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.(AP Photo/Roger Shlossmacker)

A crowd stands outside the Kiss nightclub during a fire inside the club in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. A blaze raced through the crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing 245 people as the air filled with deadly smoke and panicked party-goers stampeded toward the exits, police and witnesses said. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.(AP Photo/Roger Shlossmacker)

Relatives of victims react as they wait for news near the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. According to police more than 200 died in the devastating nightclub fire in southern Brazil. Officials say the fire broke out at the club while a band was performing. (AP Photo/Ronald Mendes-Agencia RBS)

ALTERNATIVE CROP OF XSI107.- Relatives of victims react as they wait for news near the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. According to police more than 200 died in the devastating nightclub fire in southern Brazil. Officials say the fire broke out at the club while a band was performing. (AP Photo/Ronald Mendes-Agencia RBS)

Relatives of victims react near the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. According to police more than 200 died in the devastating nightclub fire in southern Brazil. Officials say the fire broke out at the club while a band was performing. (AP Photo/Ronald Mendes-Agencia RBS)

A victim of a fire in a club is carried in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, early Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. According to police more than 200 died in the devastating nightclub fire in southern Brazil. Officials say the fire broke out at the Kiss club in the city of Santa Maria while a band was performing. At least 200 people were also injured. (AP Photo/Deivid Dutra/Agencia Freelancer)

Here are photos showing the aftermath of a fatal nightclub fire in Santa Maria, Brazil. The club was hosting a party for university students, which turned fatal as hundreds of partygoers stampeded toward the exit. Firefighters and police say more than 200 are dead, and at least 200 are injured.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-27-Brazil-Nightclub%20Fire-Photo%20Gallery/id-365ad4a95df841bf8c1eca78af77ce0a

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Police: Brazil nightclub fire kills at least 232

Police have recovered 245 bodies after a fire swept through a Brazilian nightclub. An estimated 900 people were inside at the time and most of the victims were trampled as they attempted to escape. MSNBC's TJ Holmes reports.

By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

At least 232 people were killed after a band?s fireworks show sparked a rapidly moving fire in a packed nightclub in southern Brazil and fleeing patrons were unable to find their way out, local police said.

?

The bodies removed from the Kiss nightclub in the southern city of Santa Maria were taken to a gymnasium for identification, police said.

Major Gerson da Rosa Ferreira, who led rescue efforts at the scene for the military police, told Reuters that the victims died of asphyxiation or from being trampled.?

In addition to the number of deaths, more ?than 100 people were injured, police said, and most remain hospitalized.

Police officials had earlier reported that 245 people were killed. The death toll could still rise, police said later, from the people who are injured.?

Television footage monitored by Reuters overnight showed people crying outside the club as shirtless firefighters used sledge hammers and axes to knock down an exterior wall to open up an exit.?

Agencia RBS via AP

People help a man injured in a nightclub fire in Santa Maria city, Brazil, on Sunday.

Rodrigo Moura, who the newspaper Diario de Santa Maria identified as a security guard at the club, said it was at its capacity of between 1,000 and 2,000 people and patrons were pushing and shoving to escape, the AP reported. Police estimated the crowd at some 900 revelers.

"It was really fast. There was a lot of smoke, really dark smoke," survivor Aline Santos Silva, 29, told Globonews TV. "We were only able to get out quickly because we were in a VIP area close to the door."?

President Dilma Rousseff cut short a visit to Chile and was returning to Brazil following the blaze, her spokesperson said.?

"It is a tragedy for all of us. I am not going to continue in the meeting (in Chile) for very clear reasons," she said.

?Sad Sunday!? Tarso Genro, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul state where the club is located, tweeted. ?We are taking all of the possible and appropriate actions,? the tweet read, according to a rough translation by NBC News. ?I will be in Santa Maria later this morning.?

The precise cause of the fire was still under investigation, authorities said. But Luiza Sousa, a civil police official in Santa Maria, told Reuters that the blaze started when someone with the band ignited what was described as a flare, which then set fire to the ceiling. The fire spread "in seconds," Sousa said.?

The tragedy in Brazil recalled other nightclub disaster. A fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in 2003 killed 100 people after pyrotechnics used on stage by the rock band Great White set ablaze foam used for soundproofing on the walls. A Buenos Aires nightclub blaze in 2004 killed nearly 200 people.?

Reuters noted that Brazil's safety standards and emergency response capabilities are under particular scrutiny as the country prepares to host the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Summer Olympics.?

The Brazilian state?s Health secretary, Ciro Simoni, told the news service that emergency medical supplies from all over the state were being sent to the scene.?

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/27/16721339-police-brazil-nightclub-fire-kills-at-least-180?lite

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North Korean leader vows strong action

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korean leader Kim Jong Un convened top security and foreign affairs officials and ordered them to take "substantial and high-profile important state measures," state media said Sunday, fueling speculation that he plans to push forward with a threat to explode a nuclear device in defiance of the United Nations.

The meeting of top officials led by Kim underscores Pyongyang's defiant stance in protest of U.N. Security Council punishment for a December rocket launch. The dispatch in the official Korean Central News Agency did not say when the meeting took place.

Last week, the Security Council condemned North Korea's Dec. 12 launch of a long-range rocket as a violation of a ban against nuclear and missile activity. The council, including North Korea ally China, punished Pyongyang with more sanctions and ordered the regime to refrain from a nuclear test ? or face "significant action."

North Korea responded by rejecting the resolution and maintaining its right to launch a satellite into orbit as part of a peaceful civilian space program.

It warned that it would keep developing rockets and testing nuclear devices to counter what it sees as U.S. hostility. A rare statement was issued Thursday by the powerful National Defense Commission, the top governing body led by Kim.

Kim's order for firm action and the recent series of strong statements indicate he intends to conduct a nuclear test in the near future to show "he is a young yet powerful leader both domestically and internationally," said Chin Hee-gwan, a North Korea expert at South Korea's Inje University.

North Korea cites a U.S. military threat in the region as a key reason behind its drive to build nuclear weapons. The countries fought on opposite sides of the Korean War, which ended after three years in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The U.S.-led U.N. Command mans the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas, and Washington stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea to protect its ally.

North Korea is estimated to have enough weaponized plutonium for four to eight bombs, according to American nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker, who visited the country's nuclear complex northwest of Pyongyang in November 2010.

However, it is not known whether North Korean scientists have found a way to build nuclear warheads small enough to mount on a long-range missile.

Experts say regular tests are needed to perfect the technique, and another atomic test could take the country closer to its goal of building a warhead that can be mounted on a missile designed to strike the United States. North Korea has carried out two nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009.

South Korean defense officials say North Korea is technically ready to conduct a nuclear test in a matter of days.

Satellite photos taken Wednesday show that over the past month, roads have been kept clear of snow and that North Koreans may have been sealing the tunnel into a mountainside where a nuclear device would be detonated.

Analysis of the images of the Punggye-ri site was provided Friday to The Associated Press by 38 North, the website of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Kim could order a nuclear test ahead of the Feb. 16th birthday of his late father and former leader Kim Jong Il to "create a festive mood," Chin predicted. Kim Jong Il died at age 69 in December 2011.

The U.S., South Korea and other countries have warned North Korea not to go ahead with a nuclear test, saying that would only deepen the country's international isolation.

After meeting with Chinese officials Friday, U.S. envoy for North Korea Glyn Davies said a nuclear test would set back efforts to restart regional talks on the North's nuclear disarmament.

North Korea has accused the U.S. and South Korea of leading the push for the U.N. Security Council resolution.

Sunday's KCNA dispatch said the U.N. punishment indicates U.S. hostility toward North Korea has reached its highest point. North Korea warned South Korea on Friday of "strong physical countermeasures" if Seoul takes part in the U.N. sanctions.

Japan on Sunday launched two intelligence satellites into orbit amid concerns about North Korea's threats to conduct more rocket launches and a nuclear test.

The launch was in the planning stages long before the ongoing tensions with North Korea, but underscores Japan's longstanding wariness of its neighbor's abilities and intentions. Japan began its intelligence satellite program after North Korea fired a long-range missile over Japan's main island in 1998.

__

Associated Press writer Eric Talmadge contributed to this report from Tokyo.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korean-leader-vows-strong-action-042151410.html

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