Desert drama: Islamists take hostages in Algeria

In this undated image released Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013, by BP petroleum company, showing the Amenas natural gas field in the eastern central region of Algeria, where Islamist militants raided and took hostages Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013. Islamist militants from Mali attacked the Amenas natural gas field partly operated by BP in Algeria early on Wednesday, killing a security guard and kidnapping at least eight people, including English, Norwegian and Japanese nationals, an Algerian security official and local media reported. Algerian forces, later caught up with and surrounded the kidnappers and negotiations for the release of the hostages are ongoing, officials said.(AP Photo/BP)

In this undated image released Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013, by BP petroleum company, showing the Amenas natural gas field in the eastern central region of Algeria, where Islamist militants raided and took hostages Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013. Islamist militants from Mali attacked the Amenas natural gas field partly operated by BP in Algeria early on Wednesday, killing a security guard and kidnapping at least eight people, including English, Norwegian and Japanese nationals, an Algerian security official and local media reported. Algerian forces, later caught up with and surrounded the kidnappers and negotiations for the release of the hostages are ongoing, officials said.(AP Photo/BP)

In this undated image released Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013, by BP petroleum company, showing the Amenas natural gas field in the eastern central region of Algeria, where Islamist militants raided and took hostages Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013. Islamist militants from Mali attacked a natural gas field partly operated by BP in southern Algeria early on Wednesday, killing a security guard and kidnapping at least eight people, including English, Norwegian and Japanese nationals, an Algerian security official and local media reported. Algerian forces, later caught up with and surrounded the kidnappers and negotiations for the release of the hostages are ongoing, officials said.(AP Photo/BP)

Map locates Ain Amenas, Algeria where American hostages were taken

Norwegian Prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, right, and Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide, attend a press conference in Oslo regarding the attack on Statoil's plant in Algeria, where 13 Norwegians are among 17 workers who were taken as hostages, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. Militants said they attacked and occupied the field partly operated by the British energy company BP because of Algeria's support of France's operation against al-Qaida-linked Malian rebels groups to the southeast. (AP Photo/NTB Scanpix, Berit Roald) NORWAY OUT

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta pauses during a news conference in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. Panetta confirmed on Wednesday that American citizens are among the hostages taken by an Al Qaeda-linked group that seized a gas field in Algeria, calling the action a "terrorist attack," (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

(AP) ? In a desert standoff deep in the Sahara, the Algerian army ringed a natural gas complex where Islamist militants hunkered down with dozens of hostages Wednesday night after a rare attack that appeared to be the first violent shock wave from the French intervention in Mali.

A militant group that claimed responsibility said 41 foreigners, including seven Americans, were being held after the assault on one of oil-rich Algeria's energy facilities, 800 miles from the capital of Algiers and 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from the coast. Two foreigners were killed.

The group claiming responsibility said the attack was in revenge for Algeria's support of France's military operation against al-Qaida-linked rebels in neighboring Mali. The U.S. defense secretary called it a "terrorist act."

The militants appeared to have no escape, with troops surrounding the complex and army helicopters clattering overhead.

The group ? called Katibat Moulathamine or the Masked Brigade ? phoned a Mauritanian news outlet to say one of its affiliates had carried out the operation at the Ain Amenas gas field, and that France should end its intervention in Mali to ensure the safety of the hostages.

BP, the Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach, operate the gas field. A Japanese company, JGC Corp, provides services for the facility as well.

In Rome, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared that the U.S. "will take all necessary and proper steps" to deal with the attack in Algeria. He would not detail what such steps might be but condemned the action as "terrorist attack" and likened it to al-Qaida activities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

Algeria's top security official, Interior Minister Daho Ould Kabila, said that "security forces have surrounded the area and cornered the terrorists, who are in one wing of the complex's living quarters."

He said one Briton and one Algerian were killed in the attack, while a Norwegian and two other Britons were among the six wounded.

"We reject all negotiations with the group, which is holding some 20 hostages from several nationalities," Kabila said on national television, raising the specter of a possible armed assault to try to free the hostages.

The head of a catering company working on the base told the French Journal de Dimanche that helicopters were flying over the complex and the army waited outside. There were even reports of clashes between the two sides and a member of the militant group told the Mauritanian news outlet the Islamists had already repelled one assault by Algerian soldiers late Wednesday night.

It was not immediately possible to account for the discrepancies in the number of reported hostages. Their identities also were not clear, but Ireland announced that they included a 36-year-old married Irish man. Japan, Britain and the U.S. said their citizens were taken. A Norwegian woman said her husband called her saying that he had been taken hostage.

Hundreds of Algerians work at the plant and were also captured in the attack, but the Algerian state news agency reported they were gradually released unharmed Wednesday.

The Algerian minister said it seemed the militants were hoping to negotiate their departure from the area ? a notion he rejected. He also dismissed theories that the militants had come from Libya, a mere 60 miles (100 kilometers) away, or from Mali, more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away.

Kabila said the roughly 20 well armed gunmen were from Algeria itself, operating under orders from Moktar Belmoktar, al-Qaida's strongman in the Sahara.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed that "U.S. citizens were among the hostages."

The caller to the Nouakchott Information Agency, which often carries announcements from extremist groups, said the kidnapping was carried out by "Those Who Signed in Blood," a group created to attack countries participating in the offensive against Islamist groups in Mali.

The Masked Brigade was formed by Belmoktar, a one-eyed Algerian who recently declared he was leaving the terror network's Algerian branch, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, to create his own group. He said at the time he would still maintain ties with the central organization based in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The name of his group could be a reference to the nomadic Tuareg inhabitants of the Sahara, known for masking their faces with blue veils.

A close associate of Belmoktar blamed the West for France's recent air and ground intervention against Islamist fighters in Mali.

"It's the United Nations that gave the green light to this intervention and all Western countries are now going to pay a price. We are now globalizing our conflict," Oumar Ould Hamaha told The Associated Press by telephone Wednesday night from an undisclosed location.

French President Francois Hollande launched the surprise operation in Mali, a former French colony in West Africa, on Friday, hoping to stop the al-Qaida-linked and other Islamist extremists whom he believes pose a danger to the world.

Further kidnappings could well be on the horizon, warned Sajjan Gohel, the international security director for the Asia-Pacific Foundation.

"The chances are that this may not be a one-off event, that there could be other attempts in Africa ? especially north and western Africa ? to directly target foreign interests," he said. "It's unclear as to what fate these individuals may meet, whether these terrorists are going to want a ransom or whether they'll utilize this for propaganda purposes."

Wednesday's attack in Algeria began with an ambush on a bus carrying employees from the massive gas plant to the nearby airport but the attackers were driven off, according to the Algerian government, which said three vehicles of heavily armed men were involved.

"After their failed attempt, the terrorist group headed to the complex's living quarters and took a number of workers with foreign nationalities hostage," the government said in a statement.

Attacks on oil-rich Algeria's hydrocarbon facilities are very rare, despite decades of fighting an Islamist insurgency, mostly in northern Algeria.

In the last several years, however, al-Qaida's influence in the poorly patrolled desert of southern Algeria and northern Mali and Niger has grown and the group operates smuggling and kidnapping networks throughout the area. Militant groups that seized control of a vast section of northern Mali last year already hold seven French hostages as well as four Algerian diplomats.

Prime Minister David Cameron's office said "several British nationals" were involved, while Japanese news agencies, citing unnamed government officials, said there are three Japanese hostages.

"I want to say this is unforgivable," said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was traveling from Vietnam to Thailand on Thursday as part of a Southeast Asian tour.

"Our first priority is to protect their lives," Abe said of the hostages. Japanese and U.S. officials were meeting in Tokyo to cooperate in resolving the crisis, and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera called for close exchange of information between the two governments.

Late Wednesday, Statoil said five employees ?four Norwegians and a Canadian ? were safe at an Algerian military camp and two of them had suffered minor injuries. It said 12 employees were unaccounted for.

The Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidende said a 55-year-old Norwegian working on the site called his wife to say he had been abducted.

Algeria had long warned against any military intervention against the rebels in northern Mali, fearing the violence could spill over its own long and porous border. Though its position softened slightly after Hollande visited Algiers in December, Algerian authorities remain skeptical about the operation and worried about its consequences on the region.

Algeria, Africa's biggest country, has been an ally of the U.S. and France in fighting terrorism for years. But its relationship with France has been fraught with lingering resentment over colonialism and the bloody war for independence that left Algeria a free country 50 years ago.

Algeria's strong security forces have struggled for years against Islamist extremists, and have in recent years managed to nearly snuff out violence by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb around its home base in northern Algeria. In the meantime, AQIM moved its focus southward.

AQIM has made tens of millions of dollars off kidnapping in the region, abducting Algerian businessmen or politicians, and sometimes foreigners, for ransom.

_____

Paul Schemm reported from Rabat, Morocco. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Rukmini Callimachi in Bamako, Mali, Bradley Klapper in Washington, Jill Lawless in London, Elaine Ganely in Paris, Jan Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin and Elaine Kurtenbach in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-16-Algeria-Kidnapping/id-1b29673dae1745f686acac504f96c598

world wildlife fund gsa keith olbermann andrew bynum the time machine michelin tires michelin tires

Obama extends presidential power in bypassing Congress on gun control

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - During the past two years as his frustration with a "dysfunctional" Congress has grown, President Barack Obama has resorted to bypassing the legislative branch as he did on Wednesday to implement tighter gun control laws.

"Where they won't act, I will," he said in October 2011 as part of a "We Can't Wait" campaign he launched 10 months after Republicans took over the U.S. House of Representatives.

Since then, the president has turned to executive orders, policy directives, waivers, signing statements and other administrative steps to bypass Congress and act on contentious issues, including immigration, welfare, education reform and now gun violence.

Acting in response to the shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut, Obama announced 23 executive actions Wednesday designed to ensure guns don't get into the wrong hands. He also called on Congress to ban the sale of assault rifles, limit the size of ammunition clips and require background checks for all gun sales.

"Increasingly, what we're seeing is a lot of the policy-making apparatus of the federal government shifting to the executive branch," said William Howell, a University of Chicago expert on presidential powers.

Gun rights groups have accused Obama of an unconstitutional power grab.

"It's definitely not appropriate for the president to act unilaterally," said Erich Pratt, director of communications for the Gun Owners of America.

OBAMA'S ACTIONS ON GUN CONTROL 'SURGICAL'

Compared with some of the stronger steps Obama has taken in the past two years, his administrative actions announced Wednesday seem surgical. Most of what he proposed will have to be approved by Congress. He issued no executive order, which is the most formal tool a president has for pronouncing policy.

Obama did issue a presidential memorandum effectively overturning a congressional ban on federal research into the cause of gun violence.

He also acted administratively to get health care providers, states and federal agencies to share more information with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS. This is an effort to prevent gun sales to people with disqualifying criminal backgrounds or mental health issues.

"These are all critically important," said Ladd Everitt, director of communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

Even before Obama announced his unilateral steps on gun violence, critics began accusing him of overreaching his presidential powers. However, political analysts note that presidents since George Washington have used the same tools, especially when Congress is divided, as it is today.

Obama is not relying on executive orders themselves any more than other recent presidents. His 147 orders through four years is roughly the same pace as former President George W. Bush, who issued 294 in two full terms and Bill Clinton, who issued 308 in two terms.

CONGRESS SLOWED BY GRIDLOCK

Neither Clinton nor Bush faced a Congress as unproductive as the last one. It failed to pass a budget or a single one of 13 appropriations bills that fund federal agencies. It also has failed to pass a farm bill or overhaul the bankrupt Postal Service.

Only a few of the 147 orders Obama has issued have been controversial. Many are relatively modest, such as establishing advisory groups and task forces. Some have more substance, such as ratcheting up sanctions against Iran. And others are politically popular, such as one to identify and reduce regulatory burdens.

Obama used his third executive order, issued two days after his inauguration, to reverse earlier presidential signing statements by then-President George W. Bush that allowed harsh interrogation tactics.

Obama has bypassed Congress on at least four major issues:

-- In June 2012 he issued what became known as "the mini-Dream Act order." He directed the Department of Homeland Security not to deport undocumented immigrants brought here as children who meet certain other requirements. This came after a Senate filibuster two years ago killed legislation allowing immigration rights for people brought to the United States illegally as children.

-- In July 2012 he issued an "information memorandum" providing for conditional waivers from the workfare requirements of the 1996 welfare reform law in a way designed to give the states greater flexibility in how they reach the law's goals.

-- Starting in February 2012, Obama's Department of Education began issuing waivers giving states greater flexibility in meeting the requirements of the No Child Left Behind law enacted in 2001 as a means to make schools more accountable. Congress had been expected to incorporate many of the changes in a renewal of the act that was due in 2007. But it has failed to act over the past five years.

-- In October 2011, Obama instructed the Justice Department to no longer enforce the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, saying it was unconstitutional. In a response that typifies Republican reaction to Obama's unilateral moves, former Republican Attorneys General Edwin Meese and John Ashcroft called the move "an extreme and unprecedented deviation from the historical norm."

Obama's "mini-Dream Act" order was perhaps his most aggressive. He effectively did for hundreds of thousands of people what Congress had specifically rejected since 2001, putting off the deportation of some who were brought to the country illegally as children by their parents.

"The Dream Act order is a decision by a president to implement a policy when Congress wouldn't give him the statute," said Kenneth Mayer, a University of Wisconsin professor of political science.

Analysts say the partisan gridlock of the moment is part of a longer trend in which the legislative branch, established under the Constitution as the first branch of the federal government, is giving way increasingly to a presidency.

"Congress has been taking themselves out of the game for several decades now," said Elaine Kamarck, who worked in the White House during the 1990s for then-Vice President Al Gore and now is a public policy lecturer at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Obama formalized his intent to act more unilaterally in October 2009, 10 months after Republicans took control of the House.

Rarely does Congress or the Supreme Court reverse executive orders, according to legal scholars. When they are reversed or modified, it usually is by a future president. A rare example came in 1952 when the Supreme Court, ruling in the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer case, rejected then-President Harry Truman's use of an executive order to put the steel industry under government control.

(Reporting by Marcus Stern; Editing by Fred Barbash and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-extends-presidential-power-bypassing-congress-gun-control-060256781.html

tcu football westminster bonnaroo 2012 lineup twisted metal sea lion si swimsuit 2012 westminster dog show

Lance Armstrong awaits 'candid' Oprah interview

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Out for a Sunday morning jog in bright sunshine, Lance Armstrong hardly looked like a man about to finally confront the doping scandal that has shadowed his storied career like an angry storm cloud.

''I'm calm, I'm at ease and ready to speak candidly,'' Armstrong told The Associated Press, referring to his interview Monday with Oprah Winfrey.

In what's been billed as a ''no-holds barred'' session, the cyclist is expected to reverse course after a decade of denials and apologize for doping, as well as offer a limited confession about his role at the head of a long-running scheme to dominate the Tour de France with the aid of performance-enhancing drugs.

Armstrong was stripped of all seven tour titles last year in the wake of a voluminous U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report that portrayed him as a ruthless competitor, willing to go to any lengths to win the prestigious race.

''The most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen,'' is how USADA chief executive Travis Tygart labeled the doping regimen allegedly carried out by the U.S. Postal Service team that Armstrong once led.

Yet if any of that was weighing on Armstrong's mind, he didn't show it early in the day.

Wearing a red jersey and black shorts, sunglasses and a white baseball cap pulled down to his eyes, he was training by himself and about a mile from his home when he talked to the AP. Armstrong ran for about an hour as his team of lawyers and advisors began arriving one-by-one at his house.

Leaning into a reporter's car on the shoulder of a busy Austin road, he also seemed unfazed by the international news crews gathering at the gates of his home. He cracked a few jokes about all the attention the interview with Winfrey had already drawn, then added, ''But now I want to finish my run'' and took off down the road.

The interview, which will take place at his home and broadcast Thursday on the Oprah Winfrey Network, will be Armstrong first public response to the USADA report. A person with knowledge of the situation told the AP a day earlier that Armstrong will give a limited confession and apologize. He is not expected to provide a detailed account about his involvement, nor address in depth many of the specific allegations in the more than 1,000-page USADA report.

In a text to the AP on Saturday, Armstrong said: ''I told her (Winfrey) to go wherever she wants and I'll answer the questions directly, honestly and candidly. That's all I can say.''

A confession would be a stunning reversal after years of public statements, interviews and court battles from Austin to Europe that Armstrong waged while zealously protecting his reputation.

After a federal investigation of the cyclist was dropped without charges being brought last year, USADA stepped in with an investigation of its own. The agency deposed nearly a dozen former teammates and accused Armstrong of masterminding a complex and brazen drug program that included steroids, blood boosters and a range of other performance-enhancers.

Armstrong had remained defiant, tweeting a picture of himself on a couch at home with all seven of the yellow leader's jerseys on display in frames behind him. But the preponderance of evidence in the USADA report and pending legal challenges on several fronts apparently forced him to change tactics dramatically.

A federal whistle-blower lawsuit brought by former teammate Floyd Landis, who himself was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title, accuses Armstrong of defrauding the U.S. Postal Service. The Justice Department has yet to announce whether it will join the case.

The London-based Sunday Times is also suing Armstrong to recover about $500,000 it paid him to settle a libel lawsuit, and Dallas-based SCA Promotions has threatened to bring yet another lawsuit against Armstrong to recover more than $7.5 million an arbitration panel awarded him as a bonus for winning the Tour de France.

The lawsuit most likely to be influenced by a confession might be the Sunday Times case. Potential perjury charges stemming from his sworn testimony in the 2005 arbitration fight would not apply because of the statute of limitations. Armstrong was not deposed during a federal investigation that was closed last year without charges being brought.

But the USADA report persuaded many of his sponsors to drop Armstrong - at the cost of tens of millions of dollars - and soon after, he left the board of the Livestrong cancer-fighting charity he founded in 1997. Armstrong is still said to be worth about $100 million.

Livestrong might be another reason Armstrong has decided to come forward with an apology and limited confession. The charity supports cancer patients and still faces an image problem because of its association with Armstrong. He may also be hoping a confession would allow him to return to competition in the elite triathlon or running events he participated in after his cycling career.

But World Anti-Doping Code rules state his lifetime ban cannot be reduced to less than eight years. WADA and U.S. Anti-Doping officials could agree to reduce the ban further depending on what new information Armstrong provides and his level of cooperation.

USADA officials said in a recent interview that the cyclist's cooperation could well initiate a ''pathway to redemption.''

---

AP Sports Columnist Jim Litke contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/sports/rss/top/SIG=12s7vk7tr/*http%3A//sports.yahoo.com/news/armstrong-awaits-candid-oprah-interview-182703998--spt.html

george will obama birth certificate nick cannon lindsay lohan saturday night live snl lindsay lohan valley fever project x

Ronda Rousey is not impressed with Georges St-Pierre?s fighting style

In six fights, UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has ended every fight in the first round. Her go-to armbar submission means her fights are predictable, but they're rarely boring.

But as for fighters she finds exciting? Don't put welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre on her list. Rousey called him boring last year, and confirmed what she said.

"I respect Georges St. Pierre as a businessman and an athlete," Rousey said to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I don't have anything against him personally. But he's not the kind of fighter I like watching."

"He fights to win matches. He doesn't fight to defeat his opponents. I lost a lot of judo matches because of points fighters. It was extremely frustrating for me. And when I see that same style being played out in a different sport, it brings out the same reaction in me."

The last time GSP didn't have a fight go to the judges was when he won by TKO over B.J. Penn in 2009. Rousey is hardly the first person to criticized GSP's strategic style, but this is from a fellow champion who has the standing to say what she likes. It gives the criticism even more weight.

More news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
? Years of frustration made Falcons' Tony Gonzalez more emotional than ever
? Hilarious call on a high-school dunk (video)
? Y! News: Marijuana-laced lotions to hit the market
? USC fires basketball coach Kevin O'Neill

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ronda-rousey-not-impressed-georges-st-pierre-fighting-000126630--mma.html

my sisters keeper kirby sarah palin cbi the shins atomic clock daylight savings time

Flushing Nemo: Home aquarium species a potential threat to California waters

Well-intentioned children and aquarium hobbyists seeking to ?free? their pet fish down a toilet bowl or into a local waterway may inadvertently be contributing to the threat of invasive species downstream, according to a new report from the University of California, Davis.

In a report released today to the California Ocean Protection Council, lead author Susan Williams, an evolution and ecology professor with the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, found that more than 11 million non-native ornamental marine individuals ? such as tropical fish, seaweed and snails bound for aquariums ? representing at least 102 species are being imported annually through California?s ports of San Francisco and Los Angeles, primarily from Indonesia and the Philippines. And 13 of those species have been introduced to California marine waters ? presumably after being released from aquariums.

While that number is low, the report cautions that 69 percent of the introduced species established themselves successfully in California, signaling a potential threat to marine ecosystems. Some non-native, invasive species can rapidly spread and outcompete native species for food and habitat.

?Although relatively few aquarium species have been introduced compared to species in other pathways, such as ballast water, they are highly successful because they?re grown to be hardy and robust,? Williams said. ?They have to be tough to survive in the trade.?

The aquarium trade represents a $1 billion a year global industry and a popular home hobby, second only to photography, the report said. It has also introduced some of the world?s worst invasive species, such as the seaweed Caulerpa, the ?killer algae? that infected two lagoons in Southern California in 2000 and cost California more than $6 million to eradicate.

Another invader is the highly predatory lionfish, which regularly enters the state?s ports through the aquarium trade ? 20 lionfish were imported into San Francisco International Airport on a single day, the report said. Introduced to Florida in 1999, it spread rapidly throughout the Caribbean Sea and along the East Coast by 2010. Lionfish have not been reported in California waters, but the fish is able to withstand cooler temperatures. If released, a lionfish could establish itself as far north as San Francisco Bay and, even farther, as oceans continue to warm, the report said.

While the report highlighted lionfish and Caulerpa as species of special concern, it identified at least 34 species deemed able to tolerate California?s current marine climate.

The report is one of six that the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory coordinated for the state, each exploring a different vector, or pathway, through which invasive species can enter California ocean waters. The other pathways include aquaculture, live seafood, live bait, fishing vessels and recreation vessels. Williams said it makes sense to focus on invasive threats from the aquarium trade because they can be managed primarily through public education, with minimal regulatory action or expensive measures.

?Unlike some other vectors, we can easily prevent unwanted introductions from the aquarium trade,? she said. ?Aquarium hobbyists can follow some simple practices ? like ?Don?t dump your aquarium? ? to avoid releasing aquarium species into natural water where they can become an expensive and harmful pest.? Williams said that people who no longer want an aquarium species can contact the vendor from which the species came or the California Department of Fish and Wildlife? (formerly called California Department of Fish and Game) to learn how to dispose of or return it responsibly.

For the risk assessment, researchers analyzed state and federal agency databases of non-native species associated with ornamental aquariums, as well as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service inspection records for live animals imported into California ports, and state permit records for restricted species. The researchers also observed a routine, one-day inspection of live organisms arriving in air cargo at San Francisco International Airport for a snapshot view of the inspection process.

The scientists discovered several data limitations: Regulatory agencies do not track the ultimate destination of the aquarium species once they clear customs, so it is unknown how many species stay in California once they arrive.

Both Caulerpa and lionfish are also readily available for sale over the Internet, which presents a data gap for researchers and a regulatory challenge for agencies.

Further, regulatory authority for the trade is fragmented across state and federal agencies, and there is no central source of information on the species, regulations, permits or other relevant records.

?From the hobbyist or industry side, it is really hard to figure out the rules and regulations for holding live organisms in the state ? for importing, possessing and trading them,? said Williams. ?So one of our conclusions is that a more centralized information and permitting system would benefit the regulators, industry and hobbyists, and enable scientists to collect more information and better assess the risk.?

The study was funded by the California Ocean Protection Council and California Ocean Science Trust.

Source: http://eastsouthstockton.news10.net/news/environment/109387-flushing-nemo-home-aquarium-species-potential-threat-california-waters

born this way foundation lytro camera lytro camera andrew brietbart branson mo monkees songs rail gun

UAE Ratifies IRENA HEADQUARTERS, Cements Position as Renewable Energy Hub

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - Sunday, January 13th 2013 [ME NewsWire]

The UAE today announced the formal ratification of its headquarters agreement with the International Renewable Energy Agency(IRENA), confirming IRENA?s position as the global hub for renewable energy, and the first international organisation headquartered in the Middle East.

The announcement was made during the first day of the annual IRENA Assembly in Abu Dhabi, in the presence of ministers and officials from 150 countries. It formally accords IRENA all the rights, privileges and protections of an international organisation.

The agreement also highlights the UAE?s emergence as a global centre of excellence for renewable energy. Abu Dhabi is home to Masdar, the renewable energy city, and this week is hosting thousands of industry leaders and policy makers for Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW).

?I want to thank the UAE?s leadership for their support of IRENA?s HQ ratification, which represents a major milestone for the future of the Agency,? said Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE?s Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change and CEO of Masdar.? ?The UAE now has its first fully fledged international organization ?reflecting and enhancing our position as a global hub for the energy industry.?

?The ratification of our headquarters agreement, and the presence of a record breaking number of ministers and policy makers at the 2013 Assembly, marks IRENA?s coming of age,? said Adnan Amin, IRENA Director General. ?What began as a visionary idea in 2009 has truly taken form. The renewable energy era is upon us.?

Note to Editors

IRENA is mandated by 159 countries and the European Union to promote the sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, and to serve as the global hub for renewable energy cooperation and information exchange. Formally established in 2011, IRENA is the first major international organization to be headquartered in the Middle East.

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week

Taking place January 13-17, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) will attract an anticipated 30,000 participants from 150 countries to Abu Dhabi for what will be the largest gathering on sustainability in the history of the Middle East. A significant platform for international dialogue and cooperation, ADSW will tackle the world?s most pressing energy, water and environmental challenges. ADSW will unite world leaders, policy makers, thought leaders, experts, scientists, business and academia.



Permalink: http://www.me-newswire.net//news/6715/en

Source: http://www.me-newswire.net//news/6715/en

Anderson Cooper Gay NBA draft 2012 alicia sacramone Don Grady ann curry euro 2012 Colorado Springs

1x1 rp guy needed

I'm a girl looking for a guy to do either a werewolfxwerewolf roleplay or one that starts as a werewolfxhuman roleplay and turns into a werewolfxwerewolf rp with me.

Romance is definitely acceptable and is a plus in my books, but I do not want this to turn into some stupid Twilight fanfic (I apologize to all Twi-hards).

I love writing and will write as often and as much as possible as my schedule lets me.

Ideally, I want to roleplay through pm. Hope you're interested :)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/utUxwObxy3o/viewtopic.php

daniel von bargen the beach blood diamond 8 bit google maps kids choice awards 2012 micah true kansas vs ohio state

Tiger Woods 14?s Golf Legends Shown Off (Trailer)

Post image for Tiger Woods 14?s Golf Legends Shown Off (Trailer)

EA Sports released a new trailer for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 showing off all the legends you?ll play against and as in the game.

Jonah Falcon is a blogger for TMRzoo and GameStooge.com and covers all gaming consoles and platforms including Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP and computer games designed for Mac OS, Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. Jonah provides his readers with reviews, previews, release dates and up to date gaming industry news, trailers and rumors.

Game Stooge Footer

Related posts:

Source: http://www.tmrzoo.com/2013/42034/tiger-woods-14%E2%80%B2s-golf-legends-shown-off-trailer

sopa marg helgenberger censorship wikipedia sopa and pipa bills censoring the internet blackout

Windows tablets - easy, one-stop jailbreak now available for everyone. What should Microsoft do? [POLL]

Earlier this week, Chester wrote an article about what he referred to as the "jailbreaking" of Windows RT.

That "jailbreak" was a means of liberation that allowed you to run traditional desktop-style applications of your own choice, painstakingly worked out by a smart and well-organised hacker (in the benevolent and complimentary sense of the word) called @clrokr.

? Windows RT, very loosely speaking, is Windows 8 ported to the ARM processor and locked down. You can't alter the bootloader (preventing you switching to, say, Android or Linux) and you can't install anything other than Windows-approved apps from the Windows Store. From a flexibility standpoint, Windows RT is to Windows 8 as iOS is to OS X.

The quotation marks around the word "jailbreak" were Chester's own, as it isn't a method for the fainthearted.

You need to: use the Windows RT remote debugger, assemble some ARM code, patch it into memory, find where KERNEL32 is loaded, and use it to help you find the location of an operating system component you'll need in a moment. (You can't guess where it is because of Address Space Layout Randomisation, or ALSR).

That's just the start of the "jailbreak".

Once you've located the needed system function (NtQuery?System?Information), you use it to locate a second system function (TerminalServer?RequestThread) that includes a call to a third function that is exploitable (NtUser?SetInformation?Thread).

Then you set a breakpoint to grab control just after the vulnerable function call, redirect execution to your previously-entered patch, and finally unset the breakpoint and let the operating system go back on its merry way.

Phew. Now you can draw breath.

All this to adjust a single byte in kernel memory: the place where the operating system remembers how much slack it will cut you in respect of code signing.

The lower the value, the more relaxed the system will be. Drop it to zero and you have effectively made Windows RT as liberal as Windows 8.

Despite the complexity, Chester guessed that "someone [would] create a tool to replicate @clrokr's efforts for those with less knowledge of a debugger."

And that's exactly what happened. A helpful coder called Netham45 has already released his RT Jailbreak tool.

In Netham45's own words, it's an "all-in-one program to jailbreak Windows RT tablets using the method recently released by clrokr."

Grab it today if you have a Windows RT tablet and you want the freedom to run desktop applications. A growing list of ported applications has already sprung up on the XDA website.

You can get software such as the TightVNC server and client (so you can do screen sharing), PuTTY (so you can run SSH and administer your UNIX boxen), various text editors popular with coders, and a Nintendo Gameboy emulator (because you know you want it).

That's good news. Isn't it?

? Netham45's jailbreak won't survive a reboot. The secure bootloader ensures that the code signing level gets set back to 8 after a restart. But Netham45 wants you to know that this is not a tethered jailbreak. That would mean you'd need to connect (tether) your tablet to another device, usually a PC, to reboot it. This jailbreak runs from the tablet itself. Netham45 also reminds you that his tool is not intended to assist with piracy, and, for that matter, doesn't.

One question, of course, is, "What will Microsoft do?"

When Microsoft released the Kinect depth-sensing camera a couple of years ago for its gaming platform, the open source community immediately began to work on open-source drivers for it.

At first, Redmond was apparently unamused, to the point of bringing the cops into it:

Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products. With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant.

Two weeks later, when the open source hackers had not only got the Kinect working for themselves, but already adopted it as a groovy technological darling, Redmond changed its mind just as quickly, with one Microsoft "experience creator" effusive with her praise:

I'm very excited to see that people are so inspired that it was less than a week after the Kinect came out before they had started creating and thinking about what they could do.

The issue of whether Microsoft would take legal action against Kinect hackers went from "working closely with law enforcement" to "absolutely not."

How do you think Microsoft will react this time?

Tell us what you think the Legal Beagles in Redmond ought to do by voting in our poll!

Take Our Poll

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nakedsecurity/~3/GDVAUixFuGY/

michael jackson courtney stodden Ncaa Football Scores Plaquemines Parish michigan football michigan football askew