Weather forces Utica-Rome Speedway to cancel Sunday show

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The heavy rains that have plagued the area for several weeks and caused massive flooding in the surrounding area have forced the Utica-Rome Speedway to cancel Sunday evening?s stock car racing program.

This will be the third consecutive rainout at the Route 5 speedway and fourth in the past five weeks.

Racing is scheduled to resume Sunday, July 7, when the Utica-Rome Speedway hosts the final leg of the SUNY Canton Central New York Speedweek featuring the Empire Super Sprints.? The Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stocks, and Pure Stocks will also be in action, and a fireworks display will cap a full night of racing.

Gates open at 3 p.m. with racing beginning at 5:30.

Source: http://www.uticaod.com/sports/x273426637/Weather-forces-Utica-Rome-Speedway-to-cancel-Sunday-show?rssfeed=true

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Rebels kill policeman, injure 14 others in Chechnya

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Rebels have killed a Russian policeman and injured 14 others in Chechnya, police said on Saturday, a rare clash in the now mostly calm North Caucasus republic which lies near to the venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Moscow waged two wars against separatist rebels in mainly Muslim Chechnya in the 1990s but the province has been fairly peaceful in recent years as Islamist insurgents have turned their focus to the nearby regions of Dagestan and Ingushetia.

This month, President Vladimir Putin put Russia's security forces on high alert to safeguard the Games due to take place next year in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

A police spokesman said by telephone from the Chechen capital Grozny that a police patrol had run into a band of rebels in the southern Shatoi district.

"They (the rebels) were ordered to put down their weapons, but instead they opened fire," he said, adding that he could not say how many insurgents had been involved.

Russia's interior ministry said security forces were pursuing the rebels in a mountainous forest region.

Human rights activists say Russia's Islamist insurgency is fuelled by a combination of religion, official corruption and strong arm tactics against suspected militants by local leaders.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-kill-policeman-injure-14-others-chechnya-103901031.html

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Champion News | Sen. Cruz Proposes Amendment to Prevent ...

Sen. Ted Cruz exposed and tried to stop a provision in the Senate version of the Immigration Bill that actually penalizes businesses $5,000 for hiring citizens and legal immigrants, while there is no penalty for hiring those with Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI).

?I filed an amendment that would have corrected one of the most egregious aspects of the gang of eight bill as it intersects with Obamacare legislation, namely a penalty imposed on U.S. employers for hiring U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. This bill says if an employer hires a citizen or a legal immigrant, the IRS can impose a $5,000 penalty on that employer. But if the employer instead hires someone with RPI status, that penalty will go away. That is utterly and completely indefensible,? Sen. Cruz said.

See full transcript and press release at Cruz.Senate.Gov?

Source: http://www.championnews.net/blog/2013/06/28/sen-cruz-proposes-amendment-to-prevent-penalty-for-hiring-citizens-and-legal-immigrants/

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Senate Passes Immigration Bill - The New American

The Senate voted 68-to-32 to pass the long-debated immigration bill on June 27, with 14 Republicans joining 52 Democrats and two independents. The extraordinary protocol for the vote highlighted its importance, with Vice President Biden presiding and the senators voting from their desks.

The New York Times summarized the bill?s key components as providing a 13-year path to citizenship for the 11 million ?unauthorized? immigrants in the country, as well as tough border security provisions that must be put in place before the illegal immigrants can gain legal status.

(For AP?s roll call of the vote, click here.)

The Times reported that the ?Gang of Eight? group of senators who drafted the bill?s framework delivered supportive speeches prior to the vote, signaling out Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). When he finished his speech, the other ?Gang of Eight? senators gathered around him on the floor, patting him on the back and praising his oratory. ?Good job,? said one. ?I?m proud of you,? said another.

Rubio?s highly visible role in the process was seen by many as an attempt by the Republican Party to improve its standing among Hispanic voters.

A report in USA Today described the passage of the bill as ?a historic step forward for President Obama on one of the most important planks of his second-term agenda.?

Following the vote, the White House released President Obama?s statement commenting on the bill?s passage. It read, in part:

If enacted, the Senate bill would establish the most aggressive border security plan in our history. It would offer a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are in this country illegally ? a pathway that includes passing a background check, learning English, paying taxes and a penalty, and then going to the back of the line behind everyone who?s playing by the rules and trying to come here legally. It would modernize the legal immigration system so that it once again reflects our values as a nation and addresses the urgent needs of our time. And it would provide a big boost to our recovery, by shrinking our deficits and growing our economy.

Today, the Senate did its job. It?s now up to the House to do the same.?

As this process moves forward, I urge everyone who cares about this issue to keep a watchful eye.?Now is the time when opponents will try their hardest to pull this bipartisan effort apart so they can stop commonsense reform from becoming a reality.?We cannot let that happen.?

The Washington Post reported that Thursday?s vote was the culmination of more than six months of negotiations led by the ?Gang of Eight,? noting that two of the group?s most high-profile members ? John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) ? had worked together as they rarely had in the past.

The Post summarized the bill?s progression through the Senate by noting that following the release of a proposed bill by the ?Gang of Eight? in April, the Senate Judiciary Committee spent 37 hours in deliberations spread over three weeks, during which the senators considered almost 300 proposed amendments. Finally, the panel referred the legislation to the full Senate.

However, the reporting on the thoroughness and benefits of the bill seems highly embellished. Though the Congressional Budget Office did claim in a recent report that the immigration law would provide new revenues for government, not a drain on government, the report admits that it did not take into account many costs, such as the future costs of immigrants as they use Social Security and other government benefits. All indications show that the bill will be an economic boondoggle for the country. Also, the CBO reported that, even if the bill works exactly as its sponsors say it will, it will reduce immigration by only 25 percent going forward?? hardly a resounding success.

In a recent article, we reported how two of the Senate?s leading opponents to the immigration bill had attempted, without success, to amend it:

A press release sent from [Sen. Ted] Cruz?s office on June 19 noted that the senator had ?filed additional amendments to S. 744 [the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act introduced by the Gang of Eight] to significantly improve border security measures, fix our immigration system in a manner that champions legal immigration, and uphold the rule of law by ensuring illegal immigrants granted legal status under this bill?are not given a path to citizenship.? [Emphasis added.]

?I very much want commonsense immigration reform to pass, but if this bill becomes law as currently written, it will not solve the problem. Instead it will make the problem of illegal immigration worse,? Sen. Cruz said.

The other senator also attempting to put some teeth into the bill was Rand Paul (R-Ky.):

?If [the immigration bill] got stronger, I could consider it, but since they rejected my call to have Congress involved with determining whether the border is secure, I can?t imagine how they can get me back unless they come back to me and say, ?We've changed our mind,?? Paul said. ?We would like Congress to be involved in this.?

The Daily Caller reported on Wednesday that the Senate voted 61 to 37 to table Paul?s ?Trust but Verify? amendment to the immigration bill that would have required a vote from Congress affirming that border security measures were working before illegal (aka ?undocumented?) immigrants could be granted legal status.

Not surprisingly, both Cruz and Paul voted ?No? on Thursday.

Following the Senate vote, the immigration bill will go to the Republican-controlled House, where passage is far from assured.?

The Chicago Sun-Times quoted from the statement by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio):

Apparently, some haven?t gotten the message. The House is not going to take up and vote on whatever the Senate passes. We?re going to do our own bill through regular order, and it?ll be legislation that reflects the will of our majority and the will of the American people. And for any legislation, including a conference report, to pass the House, it?s going to have to be a bill that has the support of the majority of our members.

Despite Boehner?s strongly worded statement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday that he was ?confident? the House would pass the Senate?s immigration legislation.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor expressed concern that most legislators ? including the senators who voted for the bill ? don?t know a great deal about what the bill contains. ?I can?t tell you what?s in that big Senate bill, and the well over 1,000 or 1,500 pages that it may be, and that?s my concern,? Cantor said in an interview with Yahoo News. ?I don?t know if you could ask a lot of the senators what?s in that bill. And that?s my concern.?

The Senate bill just passed included a provision to spend almost $40 billion over the next decade to improve border enforcement, including adding 20,000 new Border Patrol agents and 700 miles of fencing along the southern border. This addition was the result of an amendment proposed by Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.). The New York Times noted that that amendment ?helped bring along more than a dozen reluctant Republicans, who were hesitant to support the overall bill without a clear plan to secure the southern border, in order to ward off a future wave of illegal immigration.?

However, as we noted in our article, ?Permanent Amnesty, Temporary Border?:

Plans such as those produced by the ?Gang of 8? often include the promise of border security, in order to mollify the concerns of those who fear that open borders combined with amnesty and generous government benefits for illegals would produce an uncontrollable wave of illegal immigration....

??Border security? has been promised in the past in connection with legalizing illegal immigrants who had already crossed the border. But though amnesty has been provided, the promise of border security remains elusive.

?

Related articles:?

Sen. Ted Cruz Launches Petition Against Gang of Eight

Permanent Amnesty, Temporary Border

Source: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/immigration/item/15842-senate-passes-immigration-bill

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Sioux Falls, SD 2011 Ford Fusion Used Sedan Sioux City, SD Minneapolis, SD Vern Eide Auto Center at E 10th for $19,947

*The advertised price does not include sales tax, vehicle registration fees, finance charges, documentation charges, and any other fees required by law. We attempt to update this inventory on a regular basis. However, there can be lag time between the sale of a vehicle and the update of the inventory.

EPA mileage estimates are for newly manufactured vehicles only. Your actual mileage will vary depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle.

Before purchasing this vehicle, it is your responsibility to address any and all differences between information on this website and the actual vehicle specifications and/or any warranties offered prior to the sale of this vehicle. Vehicle data on this website is compiled from publicly available sources believed by the publisher to be reliable. Vehicle data is subject to change without notice. The publisher assumes no responsibility for errors and/or omissions in this data the compilation of this data and makes no representations express or implied to any actual or prospective purchaser of the vehicle as to the condition of the vehicle, vehicle specifications, ownership, vehicle history, equipment/accessories, price or warranties. 2011 Ford Sioux Falls, SD 2011 Ford Mitchell, SD 2011 Ford Albert Lea, MN

Source: http://www.verneide.com/2011-Ford-Fusion-Sioux-Falls-SD/vd/15373629

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Chris Christie Vetoes NJ Pork Gestation Crate Ban

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) prides himself on his record of fighting pork in the state legislature. But he's never taken that mandate as literally as he did Thursday, when he vetoed a bill that would have banned the use of gestation crates on pig farms in New Jersey.

The bill, S. 1921, passed the state Assembly by a vote of 60 to 5 and the state Senate by a vote of 29 to 4 in May, with both Democrats and Republicans supporting the effort to prohibit farmers from using any confinement method that would prevent pigs from turning around or laying down. A poll taken in the state showed that 89 percent of voters were in favor of Christie signing the measure into law [pdf].

The bill's passage was hailed by animal rights groups, such as the Humane Society of the United States, as an important symbolic victory for their movement. Though major buyers, such as McDonald's and Smithfield Foods, have recently announced plans to stop buying pork from farmers that use gestation crates, 83 percent of American pigs still spend some time in them, and their use remains legal in 41 states, including all the major pork-producing states. Recent efforts to pass such legislation in four other states have failed, though a bill remains on the table in Massachusetts.

But agricultural interest groups have been pressuring Christie's office to veto the bill for the past six weeks. They argued that gestation crates are not only the cheapest method of raising sows, but also the best for their health, because they allow the farmer total control over the animals' upbringing. And on Thursday, Christie sided with the hog farmers.

In his statement on the decision [pdf], he noted that "neither the American Veterinary Medical Association nor the American Association of Swine Veterinarians advocates" banning the use of gestation crates, and suggested that the legislature continue to take its cues on animal welfare from the state's Department of Agriculture, which opposed the bill.

The National Pork Producer's Council applauded Christie's veto. "It's important that these things are defeated, because we don't need outside groups telling farmers how to raise their animals," spokesman Mark Warner told The Huffington Post.

It's unclear what practical impact the veto will have on animal welfare, if any. New Jersey is among the smallest hog-farming states in the country, with just 700 pigs residing in the Garden State [pdf]. Still, animal rights advocates were unequivocal in their denunciation of Christie's veto.

"From our perspective, even one gestation crate is too many," said ASPCA attorney Debora Bresch, who lobbied for the bill in New Jersey.

"It seems odd that anyone would want to be on the side of such a barbaric practice," added Bruce Friedrich, senior advocacy director at Farm Sanctuary. "When you compare badly on animal welfare with Smithfield and McDonald's, you might want to reconsider your position."

Friedrich chalked Christie's rejection of the gestation crate ban up to his busy schedule. "My suspicion is that the governor didn't fully consider the issue. He's had an awful lot on his plate recently," he said.

Though the pork lobby was among the groups that allegedly encouraged Christie to veto the bill, New Jersey pig farmers aren't necessarily thrilled about it.

Michael Clampffer of Mosefund Farm is one of the biggest hog farmers in the state; he raises 150 heritage breed pigs on 15 acres of land in Sussex County. He has never used a gestation crate and says he never would. "It's inhumane," he explained. "It's not good for the animals. They like to be outdoors, rooting around in the mud and basking in the sun."

He worries that the continued legality of gestation crates in New Jersey could make it hard to market his pork.

"This is one of the big black marks in people's minds about pork, that the animals aren't raised well," he said. "This bill could have changed that in New Jersey. Vetoing it strikes me as detrimental to the movement of eating local and sustainable."

Yet Warner, of the National Pork Producer's Council, insisted that the veto is an important deterrent to future efforts to ban gestation crates in larger pork-producing states, such as Iowa. He said that discontinuing the use of gestation crates would require farmers to dedicate more space and labor to each sow, increasing the cost of pork.

And that, he said, is a central motive of groups like the Humane Society: "That's part of their goal -- to reduce the amount of meat we eat."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/27/chris-christie-gestation-crate_n_3512521.html

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Detroit faces exodus of police, firefighters

By Bernie Woodall

DETROIT (Reuters) - After years of pay cuts and reduction in their ranks, Detroit police officers and firefighters in the next week face a tough decision: Retire now or put their careers in the hands of Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr, who has the power to unilaterally cut their pay and benefits.

At least several dozen police officers and firefighters will retire early as they try to lock in benefits before Orr imposes new labor contracts, union officials told Reuters.

A large flight of veteran public safety workers could cause disruption in a city facing some of the nation's highest violent crime rates and a rash of arson fires. This in turn would raise the level of difficulty for Orr as he seeks to address Detroit's myriad urban problems.

Uncertainty over future pay and benefits for the city's 500 mid-level unionized police officers and 917 unionized firefighters is causing some to seek the exit, presidents of the two unions said.

Mark Young, president of the Detroit Police Lieutenants & Sergeants Association (LSA), said 200 of the 500 officers he represents are eligible to retire. He said many are "on the bubble" regarding a decision to retire before the union's contract expires next week.

By retiring now, members of the LSA and the Detroit Firefighters' Association could hope to lock in retirement benefits under their existing contract before Orr could impose cuts to pay and benefits -- a power granted him under Michigan's emergency manager law.

Contracts for the Detroit Firefighters Association, as well as for about 150 unionized emergency medical services workers, both expire June 30. The city's contract with the LSA expires July 6.

Any significant loss of lieutenants and sergeants could immediately damage the Detroit Police Department, said Eric Lambert, head of the criminal justice department at Wayne State University, located in the city.

"You lose the expertise and institutional knowledge if you have too many retire at once," said Lambert.

Orr has had little contact with leaders of public safety unions since his first few days after taking office on March 25, but he has said consistently that public safety is a top priority. He addressed union leaders along with creditors and pension trustees when he forecast large cost cuts and a possible bankruptcy filing in a large-group meeting two weeks ago.

Orr's spokesman, Bill Nowling, said the emergency manager knows a crowd of police officers and firefighters may soon leave. Orr's staff needs to and later this week intends to communicate "at least what our short-term intentions are," Nowling said.

"I know there are guys who are on the retirement bubble and they need all the facts," Nowling said. "We want everybody to make factual decisions and not emotional decisions. We want to provide them with the information to do that."

Orr is holding internal staff meetings and is "hopeful" he can clue the unions in on his plans in the next few days, Nowling added. After the internal sessions, Nowling said Orr can go say to union leaders, "This is what the future looks like, at least for the short-term, so everybody has a clear picture."

One possibility is that Orr may maintain terms of existing contracts for a period of time after expiration, Nowling added.

Police and firefighters are not eligible for Social Security checks because of their city-sponsored retirement funds, to which they contribute with every paycheck. But the city's police and firefighters pension systems are only 78 percent funded, according to estimates by Orr's office. The underfunding is below the 80 percent threshold at which the emergency law allows Orr to replace the board that manages the fund now.

Early retirement likely would not protect retirement benefits, regardless of whether Orr imposes changes or new terms are set under a possible bankruptcy filing. Orr earlier this month said there is a 50-50 chance that Detroit will enter bankruptcy.

"Whether you retire today or you retire two months from now, those two things are going to impact (retirement benefits)," said Nowling.

Dan McNamara, president of the Detroit Firefighters Association, said he is frustrated by the lack of communication from Orr's office.

So is Young, who said, "I have to know what to tell my membership. Right now, we're reduced to collective begging."

Even as Orr decides how to handle pay and benefits, Detroit's new police chief, James Craig, must begin restructuring the police department he will lead beginning July 1.

Craig will "drive the restructuring" of the police department, Nowling said.

Craig is expected to focus on "community policing," which calls for more personal contact between officers and residents. Lambert of Wayne State said that a delayed benefit of new officers may be more openness to new police tactics.

If large numbers of sergeants and lieutenants retire early, Nowling said, Craig will need to promote from within. Around 400 active police officers now working in administrative jobs could shift to patrol positions after some retraining, he added.

The 1,900-member Detroit Police Officers Association has a contract that extends through June 2014. Its members took a 10-percent pay cut last July.

Mark Diaz, president of the police officers union, said the union five years ago represented about 3,000 active officers.

There were more than 700 members in the LSA five years ago, said Young.

Five years ago, there were 1,300 firefighters in the city, and that number has dwindled to 917, said McNamara

Since the beginning of 2012, about 140 firefighters have retired and not been replaced. The department is strapped in trying to cover the city's 139 square miles, he said, and cannot afford even a handful of retirements.

"We're on our last legs everywhere we go," said McNamara.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Chris Reese)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/detroit-faces-exodus-police-firefighters-152432884.html

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Power struggle underway in rebel-held Syrian town

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 5, 2013 file photo, citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian man sitting on a fallen statue of former Syrian President Hafez Assad in a central square in Raqqa, Syria. The Arabic words on the fallen statue read: "tomorrow will be better." A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition.(AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 5, 2013 file photo, citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian man sitting on a fallen statue of former Syrian President Hafez Assad in a central square in Raqqa, Syria. The Arabic words on the fallen statue read: "tomorrow will be better." A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition.(AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC, File)

FILE - In this Monday, March 4, 2013 file image taken from video obtained from Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a statue of former Syrian President Hafez Assad is pulled down in a central square in Raqqa, Syria. A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video, File)

FILE - In this Monday, March 4, 2013 file image taken from video obtained from Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a statue of former Syrian President Hafez Assad is pulled down in a central square in Raqqa, Syria. A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition.(AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video, File)

FILE - In this Monday, March 4, 2013 file photo citizen journalism image provided by Coordination Committee in Kafr Susa which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows people tearing down a huge poster of President Bashar Assad and hitting it with their shoes, in Raqqa, Syria. A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition.(AP Photo/Coordination Committee In Kafr Susa, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012 file image taken from video obtained from the Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Free Syrian Army soldiers sit at a check point in Ain al-Arous town in Raqqa, Syria. A quiet power struggle in taking place in the eastern city between Islamic extremist rebels, who control the city after capturing it four months ago from the regime, and moderates trying to curtail their influence, making it a test case for the opposition.(AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video, File)

BEIRUT (AP) ? A slogan painted in small letters on a school wall reads, "We the people want Syria to be a civil, democratic state." Scrawled next to it in bigger letters is the response from an unknown Islamic hard-liner: "The laws of the civil state contradict the Islamic caliphate."

A quiet power struggle is taking place in the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa ever since a Muslim extremist faction of the rebels swept in and wrested the town from the regime nearly four months ago.

Armed men wearing Afghan-style outfits patrol the streets, raising black Islamic banners at checkpoints instead of the rebellion's three-star flags. But moderates are trying to counter the extremists' tight grip, establishing dozens of newspapers, magazines and civil society forums in an effort to educate the roughly 500,000 residents about democracy and their right to vote.

Raqqa, the first and only provincial capital to fall into rebel hands, is now a test case for the opposition, which has wrestled with how to govern territories it has captured amid Western concerns that Islamic groups will hijack power if President Bashar Assad is ousted.

The tensions reflect a wider struggle going on in the rebel movement across Syria, where alliances of Islamic extremist brigades have filled the void left behind whenever Assad's forces retreat, while moderate and secular rebels have failed to coalesce into effective fighters and the opposition's political leadership has failed to unify its ranks.

The rebel capture of Raqqa on March 5 consolidated opposition gains in a string of towns along the Euphrates River, which runs across the desert from the Turkish border in the north to the Iraqi border in the southeast.

Even so, the momentum on the battlefield over the past few months has been with regime, aided by Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon. More than 93,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011, according to the U.N. ? though a count by activists puts the death toll at over 100,000.

Two extremist factions, Ahrar al-Sham and the al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front, led the push into Raqqa, which fell relatively quickly after a campaign that lasted less than a month. Most of the Jabhat al-Nusra fighters in the city are foreign jihadis, while the Ahrar al-Sham fighters are Syrians with a jihadist ideology.

Other opponents of the Assad regime in the city have been put off by what they see as the extremists' unnecessary brutality. In the days after seizing the city, the Muslim brigades brought captured security forces into public squares, killed them and drove their bodies through the streets.

Then in May, fighters affiliated with al-Qaida killed three men described as Shiite Muslims in the city's main Clock Square, shooting them in the back of the head. In a speech to a crowd that had gathered, a fighter said the killing was in retaliation for the massacres of Sunni Muslims in the town of Banias and the city of Homs, both in western Syria, according to online video of the scene. The statement was made in the name of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a merger of Jabhat al-Nusra and Iraq's al-Qaida arm announced in April.

Armed gunmen with their faces covered in masks shot pistols and rifles wildly in the air in celebration after the three men were killed. They wore clothing favored by Afghanistan's Taliban and Arab mujahedeen who fought in that country ? a sign that they belonged to Jabhat al-Nusra.

The Shiites "were executed in front of everyone, young and old," said Mohammad Shoeib, an activist, recalling how for several hours, nobody dared approach the bodies to take them for burial until a nurse did. The nurse, Mohammad Saado, was assassinated by unknown gunmen the next day, Shoeib said. Other activists corroborated his account.

"Executing people in this manner in a public square and killing Saado was unacceptable and turned many people against them," Shoeib said. "Our revolution was against oppression and we don't accept such actions under any circumstance."

Activists set up a mourning tent in the same spot where the three were executed, receiving mourners for three days in a sign of their anger. "They didn't like it," he said of Jabhat al-Nusra, "but people demonstrated their right to an opinion and they should respect that."

Shoeib, 28, is one of the directors of "Haqquna," Arabic for "It's Our Right," an organization founded about three weeks after Raqqa fell that aims to educate people about democracy. The group's logo is a victory sign with the index finger bearing an ink mark, signifying the right to vote. The logo can be seen on walls in the city and on leaflets distributed by the group.

More than 40 publications have popped up in Raqqa, including newspapers and magazines as well as online publications, many of them run by young activists.

Many recall with pride the day rebels overran their city, about 120 miles (195 kilometers) east of the commercial capital of Aleppo, after capturing the country's largest dam and storming its central prison.

On March 5, cheering rebels and Raqqa residents brought down the bronze statue of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad after tying a rope around its neck. Others tore down a huge portrait of his son, the current president.

It was a striking scene in a city once considered so loyal to the regime that in November 2011 ? early in the 2-year-old uprising ? Assad prayed at Raqqa's al-Nour mosque for the Muslim holiday of Eid in an apparent attempt to show that the regime was fully in control there.

Activists like to compare Raqqa with Benghazi, the first major city in Libya to revolt against Moammar Gadhafi and fall into rebel hands.

But unlike Benghazi, which then became the rebel capital and the heartland for the militias of the months-long civil war in Libya, Raqqa feels sequestered and insecure. Regime warplanes still swoop down at random, shattering the calm with punishing airstrikes on opposition-held buildings.

Schools have closed and government employees have not been paid their salaries in months as a form of punishment.

Residents complain that the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, has paid no attention to the needs of Raqqa.

"The opposition groups are too busy fighting each other," said one owner of a sweets shop in the center of Raqqa. "They have not sent anyone to ask about our needs, nor is there any contact with any of them."

In March, the Coalition elected an interim prime minister, Ghassan Hitto, tasked with forming an interim government that would help administer rebel-held territories in northern and eastern Syria. But the opposition has been plagued with infighting, and Hitto has been effectively sidelined.

Khalid Salah, spokesman for the Coalition, insisted the opposition was trying to support Raqqa despite a lack of funds and other resources. He said the city was receiving aid from the Coalition but that it was unmarked so many people are unaware of its origin.

"We are trying to step up aid and make up for some shortcomings in the next weeks," he said, adding that regime airstrikes around the city made the work more difficult.

Rebel groups, particularly Ahrar al-Sham, administer daily life in Raqqa, setting up bakeries, keeping electricity and water going as much as possible and distributing aid they receive from international supporters. They have set up courts that impose Islamic law, mostly dealing with financial disputes and criminal cases such as kidnappings and theft.

Many residents are grateful, saying the Islamic brigades are simply making up for the shortcomings of the opposition in exile.

Mouaz al-Howeidi, a 40-year-old programmer and Web designer-turned activist, said it's promising that the power struggle has itself not turned violent.

But he said civil groups were at a disadvantage because the rebels have more means at their disposal to get their message across, through mosques and by controlling the city's resources.

"They control everything in Raqqa," he said. "And they have weapons and money ? this makes everything easier."

The owner of the sweets shop, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals, said Islamic groups were the flip side of the regime.

"Raqqa has not been liberated. It has been re-occupied by the Islamists."

___

A Syrian journalist contributed from Raqqa.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-26-Syria-Moderates%20vs%20Extremists/id-044dea46f3e949f5806cdf251c50f1e6

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U.S. court to hear oral arguments in net neutrality case on September 9

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The federal appeals court in Washington on Tuesday set September 9 as the date for oral arguments in the so-called net neutrality case that could be seminal for federal regulation of Internet traffic.

The highly anticipated hearings, originally expected to take place this past spring, will pit Verizon Communications Inc against the Federal Communications Commission as the biggest U.S. wireless provider challenges the FCC's order that guides how Internet service providers manage their networks.

The ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will have major implications for the increasingly partisan debate over the degree of regulatory power possessed by the federal communications agency.

Net neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be able to access any Web content and use any applications they choose, without restrictions or varying charges imposed by the Internet service provider or the government.

Judges Judith Rogers, Laurence Silberman and David Tatel will hear the arguments in the case, according to the order issued on Tuesday.

The FCC's 2011 open Internet rules require Internet providers to treat all Web traffic equally and give consumers equal access to all lawful content, even if, for instance, it comes from a competitor or disagrees with their political views.

Verizon and other critics argue that the FCC's rules are an unwarranted government intrusion into regulating the Internet, including which content consumers may access and which companies may provide that content, and should be thrown out.

Public interest groups have criticized the rules as too weak, saying the FCC was swayed by big industry players. Democrats on Capitol Hill have said they would push against the court's decision if it sides with Verizon.

The FCC's position in the case received a boost from the Supreme Court in May, when in a separate case it ruled in favor of giving regulatory agencies deference in interpreting the extent of their own regulatory authority.

The case is Verizon v. FCC, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, case No. 11-1355 (and consolidated cases).

(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; editing by Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-court-hear-oral-arguments-net-neutrality-case-221334847.html

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Brazil: 250K protest against govt corruption

SAO PAULO (AP) ? More than 250,000 anti-government demonstrators again took to streets in several Brazilian cities Saturday and engaged police in some isolated, intense conflicts. Anger over political corruption emerged as the unifying issue for the demonstrators, who vowed to stay in the streets until concrete steps are taken to reform the political system.

Across Brazil, protesters gathered to denounce legislation, known as PEC 37, that would limit the power of federal prosecutors to investigate crimes ? which many fear would hinder attempts to jail corrupt politicians.

Federal prosecutors were behind the investigation into the biggest corruption case in Brazil's history, the so-called "mensalao" cash-for-votes scheme that came to light in 2005 and involved top aides of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva buying off members of congress to vote for their legislation.

Last year, the supreme court condemned two dozen people in connection to the case, which was hailed as a watershed moment in Brazil's fight against corruption. However, those condemned have yet to be jailed because of appeals, a delay that has enraged Brazilians.

The protests continued despite a prime-time speech the night before from President Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla who was tortured during Brazil's military dictatorship. She tried to appease demonstrators by reiterating that peaceful protests were a welcome, democratic action and emphasizing that she would not condone corruption in her government.

"Dilma is underestimating the resolve of the people on the corruption issue," said Mayara Fernandes, a medical student who took part in a march Saturday in Sao Paulo. "She talked and talked and said nothing. Nobody can take the corruption of this country anymore."

The wave of protests began as opposition to transportation fare hikes, then became a laundry list of causes including anger at high taxes, poor services and high World Cup spending, before coalescing around the issue of rampant government corruption. They have become the largest public demonstrations Latin America's biggest nation has seen in two decades.

Across Brazil, police estimated that about 60,000 demonstrators gathered in a central square in the city of Belo Horizonte, 30,000 shut down a main business avenue in Sao Paulo, and another 30,000 gathered in the city in southern Brazil where a nightclub fire killed over 240 mostly university students, deaths many argued could have been avoided with better government oversight of fire laws. Tens of thousands more protested in more than 100 Brazilian cities, bringing the nationwide total to 250,000, according to a police count published on the website of the Globo TV network, Brazil's largest.

In Belo Horizonte, police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters who tried to pass through a barrier and hurled rocks at a car dealership. Salvador also saw protests turn violent.

During her pre-recorded TV speech, Rousseff promised that she would always battle corruption and that she would meet with peaceful protesters, governors and the mayors of big cities to create a national plan to improve urban transportation and use oil royalties for investments in education.

Many Brazilians, shocked by a week of protests and violence, hoped that Rousseff's words after several days of silence from the leader would soothe tensions and help avoid more violence, but not all were convinced by her promises of action.

Victoria Villela, a 21-year-old university student in the Sao Paulo protest, said she was "frustrated and exhausted by the endless corruption of our government."

"It was good Dilma spoke, but this movement has moved too far, there was not much she could really say. All my friends were talking on Facebook about how she said nothing that satisfied them. I think the protests are going to continue for a long time and the crowds will still be huge."

Around her, fathers held young boys aloft on their shoulders, older women gathered in clusters with their faces bearing yellow and green stripes, the colors of Brazil's flag.

In the northeastern city of Salvador, where Brazil's national football team played Italy and won 4-2 in a Confederations Cup match, some 5,000 protesters gathered about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the stadium, shouting demands for better schools and transportation and denouncing heavy spending on next year's World Cup.

They blocked a main road and clashed with riot police who moved in to clear the street. Protesters said police used rubber bullets and even tossed tear gas canisters from a helicopter hovering overhead. The protesters scattered and fled to a nearby shopping mall, where they tried to take shelter in an underground parking garage.

"We sat down and the police came and asked us to free up one lane for traffic. As we were organizing our group to do just that, the police lost their patience and began to shoot at us and throw (tear gas) canisters," said Rodrigo Dorado.

That was exactly the type of conflict Rousseff said needed to end, not just so Brazilians could begin a peaceful national discussion about corruption but because much of the violence is taking place in cities hosting foreign tourists attending the Confederations Cup.

Brazil's news media, which had blasted Rousseff in recent days for her lack of response to the protests, seemed largely unimpressed with her careful speech, but noted the difficult situation facing a government trying to understand a mass movement with no central leaders and a flood of demands.

With "no objective information about the nature of the organization of the protests," wrote Igor Gielow in a column for Brazil's biggest newspaper, Folha de S. Paulo, "Dilma resorted to an innocuous speech to cool down spirits."

At its height, some 1 million anti-government demonstrators took to the streets nationwide on Thursday night with grievances ranging from public services to the billions of dollars spent preparing for international sports events.

Outside the stadium in Belo Horizonte where Mexico and Japan met in a Confederations Cup game, Dadiana Gamaleliel, a 32-year-old physiotherapist, held up a banner that read: "Not against the games, in favor of the nation."

"I am protesting on behalf of the whole nation because this must be a nation where people have a voice ... we don't have a voice anymore," she said.

She said Rousseff's speech wouldn't "change anything."

"She spoke in a general way and didn't say what she would do," she said. "We will continue this until we are heard."

___

Associated press writers Tales Azzoni and Ricardo Zuniga in Salvador, Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo and Rob Harris in Belo Horizonte contributed to this report

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brazil-250k-protest-against-govt-corruption-015658186.html

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Immigration deal would double number of border agents

By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal agents on the U.S.-Mexican border would double to about 40,000 under a deal reached on Thursday in the Democratic-led Senate to draw more Republicans to a landmark immigration bill headed toward anticipated passage.

Some questioned the costs and benefits of up to $50 billion in the extra border security, which also will include high-tech surveillance equipment such as manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, radar and seismic devices.

But concerns were overshadowed by the deal's main goal: win votes for an overhaul of U.S. immigration law that will open a pathway to citizenship for up to 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid was expected to set a test vote for as early as Monday in a bid to have the deal added to the White House-backed bill in the form of an amendment.

A senior Democratic aide predicted the amendment would get upward of 60 votes in the 100-member chamber, more than enough to clear any procedural roadblocks.

A vote on passage of the bill is expected before the Senate departs at the end of next week for its Fourth of July holiday recess.

Backers are aiming for at least 70 votes on passage to increase pressure on the more resistant Republican-led House of Representatives to give the bill final congressional approval.

Republican John McCain, a member of the "Gang of Eight" senators who wrote the bipartisan bill, voiced doubt about the high cost of additional border security.

"I don't know if it's totally well spent," he said.

But McCain added, "I think it's important that we do this to give people confidence that we have border security, so in that respect it's well spent."

A leading conservative voice embraced the deal.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American lawmaker from Florida and another member of the Gang of Eight, said the deal was a "dramatic improvement in border security" during an interview on Fox News.

Rubio, touted as a possible 2016 presidential candidate, had hinged his support on improvements in border security. His endorsement is seen as crucial to winning conservative backing for the biggest changes in U.S. immigration law in a generation.

The proposal would double the overall number of U.S. border patrol agents, according to senior Senate Democratic aides.

That would mean assigning 21,000 new officers to the border with Mexico in an attempt to shut down illegal crossings by foreigners.

"I am now confident ... that the Senate will pass a strong, bipartisan immigration reform bill and that it will ultimately reach the desk of the president for his signature," Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York said.

The immigration bill, which is supported by President Barack Obama, currently calls for adding 3,500 Customs and Border Protection officers by 2017.

Besides doubling the number of border agents, the deal also calls for completing the construction of 700 miles of border fencing or walls, Senate aides said. About 650 miles have been built in one form or another, although some portions will have to be upgraded.

At an estimated price tag of about $40 billion to $50 billon, the amendment would represent a potentially massive investment of federal resources in securing the border at a time when conservatives are complaining about government outlays.

As originally written, the legislation called for about $6 billion in new border security spending.

CRITICS STILL UNHAPPY

Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama mocked the deal even though he has called for tougher border enforcement. He noted that it was drafted after congressional analysts estimated the bill would trim illegal immigration by just 25 percent.

"The bill gets in trouble on the floor and they scurry around to get an amendment to throw 20,000 agents ... somewhere on the border in the future, we promise." Sessions said, adding that such promises have been made in the past but not honored.

Sessions and other conservatives have pushed for delaying any pathway to citizenship for 11 million people until the government virtually eliminates illegal border crossings.

But the Senate repeatedly has repelled such attempts. On Thursday, it voted 54-43 to kill an amendment by Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Republican, which would have delayed permanent legal status for undocumented immigrants until the government met strict border enforcement goals.

On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Senate's immigration bill would save the federal government nearly $900 billion over 20 years as illegal immigrants became legal, tax-paying residents.

A Democratic aide said those projected savings gave senators the leeway to craft such an expensive border security amendment.

House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican who has promised to consider an immigration bill this year, told reporters the CBO deficit-reduction estimates, if "anywhere close to being accurate, would be a real boon for the country."

While the legislation authorizes the beefed-up security programs, it would be up to Congress in the future to appropriate the funding.

A Senate aide said the newly legalized residents would not get "green cards" allowing permanent resident status until the border security measures were in place.

Gaining permanent resident status would take 10 years under the bill, giving the federal government the time to deploy the added border officers and equipment.

(Additional reporting by Rachelle Younglai and David Lawder; Editing by Fred Barbash and Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-immigration-deal-double-number-u-border-agents-030840734.html

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Developer Affairs: The agony and ecstasy of app stores - Talk Mobile

Back in the day, what mattered when picking a smartphone - be it a Nokia N-something, an aging Palm Treo, a BlackBerry with proper answer and end buttons, or a stylus-driven Windows Mobile brick - was the quality of the built-in applications. The features of the email program or the to-do application or whether or not the calendar integrated with Exchange were the driving forces.

Today smartphones are almost wholly dependent on third-party apps. These apps are the focus of half the commercials for every platform - they define what you can do with the smartphone or tablet. With how codependent modern smartphones and app developers are, we have to ask, what can the builders of these platforms to do better support the builders of these apps?

Each platform offers a different experience and set of features for developers. Some app storefronts are strictly curated while others are a free-for-all. They offer different mechanisms for advertising, in-app purchases, subscriptions, cloud services, and deployment. Some platform builders offer incentives, while others have the marketshare that the incentive is success.

Platforms need developers, and developers need platforms, but the relationship is a rocky one. How do we improve it for better platforms and better apps?

Users and developers alike can agree that having an app available regardless of platform is a great ideal. But at what cost?

Let's get the conversation started!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/ZBTsSZzQW2w/story01.htm

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Samsung ATIV Tab 3 hands-on

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investigators have found what they believe are human remains in a search of the former home of late New York mobster Jimmy Burke, suspected mastermind of the 1978 Lufthansa cargo heist, New York City Medical Examiner spokeswoman Ellen Borakove told Reuters on Thursday. She said the medical examiner's Office is checking material FBI agents scouring the Queens home found a day earlier, and it appears they are human remains. "I think they are," Borakove said, declining to comment further. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/samsung-ativ-tab-3-hands-212619939.html

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The numbers game muddies NSA surveillance debate

FILE - This Sept. 19, 2007 file photo shows the National Security Agency building at Fort Meade, Md. As many as one of every five worldwide terror threats picked up by U.S. government surveillance has been targeted on the United States, the Obama administration says. But officials are reluctant to say much more about the 50 plots they claim have been thwarted. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - This Sept. 19, 2007 file photo shows the National Security Agency building at Fort Meade, Md. As many as one of every five worldwide terror threats picked up by U.S. government surveillance has been targeted on the United States, the Obama administration says. But officials are reluctant to say much more about the 50 plots they claim have been thwarted. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

A banner supporting Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, is displayed at Central, Hong Kong's business district, Thursday, June 20, 2013. A WikiLeaks spokesman who claims to represent Snowden has reached out to government officials in Iceland about the potential of the NSA leaker applying for asylum in the Nordic country, officials there said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Seeking to win over public trust, the Obama administration has been throwing around a lot of numbers as it tries to describe ? in as much detail as possible without jeopardizing national security ? the terror plots it says were thwarted by the government's sweeping surveillance of U.S. communications.

There's 50, 12, 10 and four. You also hear 20 and 90 in statements and official testimony, and even 702 and 215, though those aren't for estimates of plots.

The numbers game is just part of the effort to convince skeptical Americans that the recently disclosed National Security Agency spy programs are vital in detecting and stopping extremist plots. But the approach has produced relatively limited, often vague information, and it has ended up confusing many in Congress as lawmakers grapple with how to assure people that their privacy rights are protected along with their security.

There are questions about effectiveness that still lack answers, "and we've gotten some answers that need further clarity," House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Thursday. He was referring to the so-called 215 program, which refers to the section of the anti-terror Patriot Act that authorizes the NSA to collect Americans' phone records.

And, he added, "we also should ask in those cases where it was successful, how dated were the records."

Another NSA program ? known as 702 ? authorizes the agency to sweep up Internet usage data from all over the world that goes through nine major U.S.-based providers.

Officials have used the rest of the numbers in Capitol Hill testimony over the past week as they have sought to allay Americans' concerns that the programs violate their privacy.

Top officials told Congress that the programs have been key in thwarting at least 50 terror plots across 20 countries. And, they said, an estimated 10 to 12 of those plots were directed at the U.S. They publicly offered four examples among the 50-plus cases:

?An NSA-provided phone record led authorities to identify a terrorist financier in San Diego who was arrested in 2007.

?The NSA's surveillance of Internet usage in 2009 revealed that a Chicago man, David Headley, was plotting to bomb a Danish newspaper that had published a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad, Deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce said. The FBI had been tipped off that Headley was involved in the deadly 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

?Information from the NSA's Internet usage surveillance of overseas operatives helped thwart a 2009 plot to blow up the New York City subway system. NSA Director General Keith Alexander said this information led investigators to Najibullah Zazi in Colorado. And the phone records collection gave investigators the connections between Zazi and his associates. Zazi ultimately pleaded guilty and provided information that helped send two of his friends to prison.

?A plot to blow up the New York Stock Exchange was thwarted in its early planning stages because the NSA was able identify an extremist in Yemen who was in touch with Khalid Ouazzani in Kansas City, Mo., Joyce said. This enabled investigators to identify co-conspirators and prevent the attack he said. Ouazzani pleaded guilty in May 2010 in federal court in Missouri to charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, bank fraud and money laundering. Ouazzani was not charged with the alleged plot against the stock exchange.

The administration has yet to provide firm numbers of precisely how many plots have been stopped worldwide because of these programs ? in part because intelligence officials are still trying to figure that out.

"The reason I'm not giving you a specific number is we want the rest of the community to actually beat those up and make sure that everything we have there is exactly right," Alexander said Tuesday during a House intelligence committee hearing. "I'd give you the number 50-X, but if somebody says, 'Well, not this one. Actually, what we're finding out is there's more. They said you missed these three or four.'"

Alexander said, "These programs are immensely valuable for protecting our nation and securing the security of our allies." And the NSA's authorization to sweep up Internet usage data has contributed to 90 percent of the information used to thwart at least 50 terror plots Alexander and his deputy told lawmakers.

On Wednesday, outgoing FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee that there are 10 to 12 cases in which the phone records surveillance program, authorized in the Patriot Act, contributed to breaking up terror plots.

He said that "of those, domestically, I think there will be anywhere from 10 or 12 where 215 was important in some way, shape or form."

But later in the same hearing, Mueller said he's not actually sure if it was the phone records authorization that helped thwart terror attacks in the 10 to 12 cases.

"I'm not sure whether all of them are 215. They're a combination or the other," Mueller said, referring to the phone records program and Internet usage programs.

FBI spokesman Paul Bresson referred requests for clarification to the NSA and National Counterterrorism Center. He said Mueller "was obviously unclear on the breakdown" since the FBI is not compiling the list of cases.

The confusion has, predictably, given rise to demands for more transparency by the intelligence agencies.

A growing number of Democratic and Republican lawmakers are pushing plans to open secret court orders authorizing the surveillance. Schiff, who filed House legislation on Thursday to match a similar Senate proposal, said it aimed at "allowing Americans to know how the court has interpreted the legal authorities" to ensure they are not being overly or improperly intrusive.

Additionally, a group of mostly Democratic senators are seeking to amend the Patriot Act to require the government to cite specific suspected links to terrorism or espionage before asking the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to approve the collection of Americans' phone records.

But the legislation isn't likely to be approved quickly, and confusion continues to hang over Congress and its constituents.

Noting frustration, Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said trying to balance support for classified intelligence programs against a transparent democracy is always a challenge. But all concerned agree the current situation has fueled public skepticism.

"The public trusts their government to protect the country from another 9/11-type attack," Rogers said this week, "but that trust can start to wane when they are faced with inaccuracies, half-truths and outright lies about the way the intelligence programs are being run."

___

Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier and Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

Follow Eileen Sullivan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/esullivanap and Lara Jakes at: https://twitter.com/larajakesAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-20-NSA%20Surveillance-Thwarted%20Attacks/id-7b7ef268f02c45fdb0d0db3292ff9442

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Italian icons find no respite from tax man

MILAN (AP) ? Sophia Loren wore green silk and sunglasses for her date with the taxman, Luciano Pavarotti a suit and sneakers. Diego Maradona gave up his diamond stud earring to pay off a tax debt.

Some of Italy's most well-heeled residents have come under the glare of successive governments who have declared wars on tax evasion, yet it remains a perennial problem for the debt-laden nation. On Wednesday, it was the turn of designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who were convicted of failing to declare 200 million euros ($268 million).

Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi declared a tax amnesty in 2009, repatriating billions at a negligible penalty of 5 percent. He, too, has been caught up in the crackdown: Last year the billionaire media mogul was convicted of tax fraud related to his media business, a charge he denies.

His successor, Premier Mario Monti, dispatched tax police to resorts to ensure that receipts were being properly issued and income declared. While hiding income abroad may suit the jet-set, a more widely practiced and insidious form of evasion in Italy is the failure to issue receipts for anything from handy work to private medical visits to a cup of espresso.

By some estimates, as much as 20 percent of Italy's GDP is lost to tax evasion ? a sum that if recouped would help Italy pay down its 2 trillion euro debt.

Here's a look at some of the biggest names in the dragnet:

DOLCE&GABBANA

A Milan court on Wednesday convicted Dolce and Gabbana of tax evasion for failing to declare 200 million euros ($268 million) through a Luxembourg company to Italian authorities. They received a one year and eight months suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay a penalty of 500,000 euros (about $670,000) to tax authorities.

The court, however, acquitted them of misrepresenting income of 416 million euros (around $560 million) each, ruling that no crime had been committed.

The designers have denied the charges, and the defense has pledged to appeal the ruling.

SILVIO BERLUSCONI

Berlusconi was convicted last fall of tax fraud in the purchase of rights to broadcast U.S. movies on his private TV network. An appeals court in May upheld the conviction, four-year jail term and five year ban on public office.

Berlusconi has contested the convictions, and called the judicial reasoning for the appeal "surreal."

The appellate court said there was "conclusive evidence, oral and documented, that Berlusconi directly managed ... an enormous tax evasion through off-shore companies."

Berlusconi's defense is planning to appeal to the country's highest court.

They lost a separate challenge at the constitutional court level Wednesday that could have caused the trial and appellate court sentences to collapse. That court rejected a defense argument that the trial court judge had improperly gone ahead with scheduled testimony on a day then-Premier Berlusconi had a Cabinet meeting in Rome. It noted he had previously indicated to the trial court his availability.

DIEGO MARADONA

Soccer star Diego Maradona sold a diamond earring to help pay off his 37 million euro tax bill to Italy. Valued at 5,500 euros, it netted 25,000 euros at a 2010 auction.

Maradona's Italian debts stem from unpaid taxes during the time he played for Napoli from 1984-91.

The Equitalia tax collection agency said the auction take was a drop in the bucket ? but sent a message that even celebrities had to pay taxes.

VALENTINO ROSSI

Seven-time motorcycling world champion Valentino Rossi was snagged by tax authorities who monitored his comings and goings to Italy. He had declared his tax home in London, but ran afoul of the tax man when his presence in Italy exceeded the foreign resident test.

Rossi, then Italy's highest paid athlete, paid about 19 million euros in 2008 to settle the dispute with tax authorities, who accused him of not declaring earnings of 60 million euros from 2000-2004.

After reaching the settlement, Rossi said he had decided to live in Italy again.

"London is a very interesting city, but spending more time with my family and my friends has become of greater importance considering all my affairs around the world," Rossi said.

LUCIANO PAVAROTTI

Luciano Pavarotti wore a pinstripe suit over black sneakers for his reckoning with the Italian tax man.

The tenor showed up in person at the Finance Ministry in 2000 to seal an agreement to pay nearly 25 billion lire (around $12 million) to the Italian state after unsuccessfully claiming that the tax haven of Monte Carlo, rather than Italy, was his official residence.

"I cannot live being thought not a good person," Pavarotti told reporters at the time.

Pavarotti, who died in 2007, always denied wrongdoing, and insisted he paid taxes where ever he performed.

"It's very difficult to explain the life of one who travels the world, and who every year visits 50 different cities," he said at the time.

SOFIA LOREN

Oscar-winning actress Sophia Loren spent 17 days in prison in 1982 for tax evasion.

An Italian court convicted Loren in 1980 of filing an incorrect tax return for 1970, understating her earnings by 5 million lire, then worth about $7,000. Loren at the time was residing abroad.

Loren decided later to return to Italy to serve the sentence, and was arrested upon landing at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport from Geneva. Fans and fellow inmates at the prison north of Naples cheered Loren as guards ushered into a small pink cell. The 47-year-old movie star wore a green silk dress and tinted glasses.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italian-icons-no-respite-tax-man-195510843.html

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54% of pregnant women use insecticides that are harmful to the fetus, Spanish study shows

June 20, 2013 ? Pregnancy and infancy are the periods of greatest vulnerability to the use of household insecticides. This is one of the findings of the first study of its kind to be carried out in Spain, which concludes that more than half of expectant mothers routinely use these chemical compounds.

Spanish researchers have described the use of domestic pesticides during pregnancy and the first year of life in nearly 2,500 women and children in Sabadell, Guip?zcoa and various areas of Asturias and the Valencian Community.

The study, published in Science of the Total Environment, also considers the socio-demographic and lifestyle factors most strongly linked to the use of these pesticides.

In 2003 and 2008, the authors monitored the women who agreed to take part in the project from the beginning of their pregnancy until birth and during their offspring's first few years of life.

"Pesticides are used in domestic environments to control infestations of insects or other living creatures," explains Sabrina Llop from the Higher Public Health Research Centre (CSISP) in Valencia, the leading author of the paper. "Exposure during pregnancy or infancy proves to have a negative impact on fetal growth and neurological effects, as well as increasing the risk of childhood leukemia," she continues.

The results show that 54% of pregnant women used some kind of insecticide inside the home and 15% made use of a combination of two or three methods.

45% of women used some kind of insecticide in their bedrooms: 5% throughout the whole year, 75% seasonally and 20% on an occasional basis. The most frequently used method in the bedroom was the electric device at 62%.

47% of pregnant women used insecticides in the rest of the house, 7% throughout the whole year, 67% seasonally and 26% occasionally. The most widely used method by women in other areas of the house was insecticide spray at 69%.

2% of women used other kinds of measures to control infestations in their bedrooms and 5% in the rest of the house. These other measures included cockroach traps, powder insecticide and chemical methods such as wave devices. Only 1% of women used insect repellents during pregnancy.

10% of pregnant women used outdoor insecticides, such as in gardens or vegetable plots and yards with plants: 9% every month, 14% every 2-3 months, 20% three times a year and 57% occasionally.

"These results are significant because they enable this information to be used to come up with preventive measures, especially at vulnerable stages of life," Llop affirms.

The less educated, the more pesticides

"Multiparous women, born in Spain, with a lower level of education, who have a garden, whose residence is near crops, and/or from Sabadell or Valencia are the most likely to use household pesticides," Llop asserts.

The use of these pesticides continued during their offspring's first year of life, although 20% of the women stopped using them. Sprays were the method that the participants were most likely to stop using in their bedrooms: 53% during pregnancy and 26% during infancy. In contrast, the use of the electric device remained constant.

Exposure routes

The main ways of being exposed to these substances are inhalation, skin contact and unintentional ingestion. In babies and children, ingestion of contaminated dust in the house is the most significant route of exposure to pesticides in the home.

The authors attribute this to babies spending more time at home and in general wearing fewer clothes than adults. In addition, their breathing zones are closer to the ground, where pesticide residue levels can be higher, and they are more likely to have close contact with plants, grass and other surfaces.

"Fetuses and children are especially vulnerable to pesticide exposure because their detoxification mechanisms and immune systems are not fully developed," Llop concludes.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/Mk6bFrOGjb0/130620100832.htm

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What will it take to get every app on every platform? - Talk Mobile

There are three ways to choose what smartphone experience you're going to have: by carrier, by device, and by apps. Choosing by carrier places the quality of your voice and data service first, whereas making a decision based on the device means you're after a specific platform experience and hardware features. But choosing by apps is trickier.

The current array of mobile ecosystems is simultaneously fragmented and unified across the many platforms. Some major apps are available on all or most platforms, as are apps from smaller developers. Other apps are exclusive to a platform by virtue of features unique to the operating system or the resource constraints of the developer. But if you need that one app to do what you need to do, then the carrier or the device don't matter so much.

But what if all apps could be available on all platforms? Is cross-platform development something that developers should be concerned about, and what are the pitfalls that can be faced in doing so? Is it better to build an app specifically for each platform, or should the app be built with a cross-platform web-based framework?

Users and developers alike can agree that having an app available regardless of platform is a great ideal. But at what cost?

Let's get the conversation started!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/yhzQXkGdmYM/story01.htm

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