Indy battens down hatches for Super Bowl security (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? From pickpockets and prostitutes to dirty bombs and exploding manhole covers, authorities are bracing for whatever threat the first Super Bowl in downtown Indianapolis might bring.

Some ? nuclear terrorism, for instance ? are likely to remain just hypothetical. But others, like thieves and wayward manhole covers, are all too real.

Though Indianapolis has ample experience hosting large sporting events ? the Indianapolis 500 attracts more than 200,000 fans each year, and the NCAA's men's Final Four basketball tournament has been held here six times since 1980_ the city's first Super Bowl poses some unique challenges.

Unlike the Final Four, which is compressed into a weekend, the Super Bowl offers crowd, travel and other logistical challenges over 10 days leading up to the Feb. 5 game. And unlike the 500, where events are largely concentrated at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway about seven miles from Lucas Oil Stadium, the NFL's showcase event will consume 44 blocks ? about a mile square ? in the heart of the city, closing off streets and forcing an anticipated 150,000 or more NFL fans to jockey with downtown workers for space much of the week.

"This is clearly bigger in terms of the amount of people who will be downtown over an extended period of time," city Public Safety Director Frank Straub said.

Under a security risk rating system used by the federal government, the Super Bowl ranks just below national security events involving the president and the Secret Service, said Indianapolis Chief of Homeland Security Gary Coons. The ratings are based on factors including international attention, media coverage, number of people the event attracts and visits by celebrities and foreign dignitaries, he said. The Indianapolis 500 ranks two levels below the Super Bowl.

The city has invested millions of dollars and worked with local, state and federal agencies to try to keep all those people safe. Up to 1,000 city police officers will be in the stadium and on the street, carrying smartphones and other electronic hand-held devices that will enable them to feed photos and video to a new state-of-the-art operations center on the city's east side or to cruisers driven by officers providing backup, Straub said. Hundreds of officers from other agencies, including the state police and the FBI, will be scanning the crowd for signs of pickpocketing, prostitution or other trouble.

One concern has been a series of explosions in Indianapolis Power & Light's underground network of utility cables. A dozen underground explosions have occurred since 2005, sending manhole covers flying.

Eight explosions have occurred since 2010. The latest, on Nov. 19, turned a manhole cover into a projectile that heavily damaged a parked car and raised concerns about the safety of Super Bowl visitors walking on streets and soaring above the Super Bowl village on four zip lines installed for the festivities.

Since December, IPL has spent about $180,000 to install 150 new locking manhole covers, primarily in the Super Bowl village and other areas expected to see high pre-game traffic.

IPL officials say the new Swiveloc manhole covers can be locked for security reasons during the Super Bowl. In case of an explosion, the covers lift a couple of inches off the ground ? enough to vent gas out without feeding in oxygen to make an explosion bigger ? before falling back into place.

An Atlanta consultant hired by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission last summer to audit IPL's underground network of cables for a cause of the explosions says the new covers are merely a Band-Aid.

"We've argued it's better to prevent," said Dan O'Neill of O'Neill Management Consulting, which filed its report in December.

O'Neill's team couldn't pinpoint an exact cause for the explosions but said a flawed inspection process contributed, noting that IPL workers missed warning signs such as road salt corroding an old cable or leaks in nearby steam pipes. In a report filed Jan. 19 with Indiana utility regulators, the power company said it had overhauled its inspection process.

IPL will dispatch extra crews to the area around the stadium in case of power-related problems, such as a recent breaker fire that left 10,000 customers in homes south of downtown without power. Spokeswoman Crystal Livers-Powers said the company doesn't anticipate any power issues.

Straub, the public safety director, said he's confident the city is prepared and notes that Indianapolis hosts major events "pretty regularly."

Special teams from the Department of Energy will sweep Lucas Oil Stadium and the surrounding area for nuclear terror threats, and a new $18 million high-tech communications center that opened in time for the lead-up to the game will tie it all together.

"We're using more technology, and state of the art technology, than has been used in any Super Bowl before this one," Straub said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_super_bowl_security

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Djokovic has that unbeatable feeling (AP)

MELBOURNE, Australia ? Novak Djokovic has that unbeatable feeling.

And well he should.

The Serb outlasted Rafael Nadal to defend his Australian Open title in the longest ever Grand Slam final and become the fifth man to win three straight majors in the Open Era.

Djokovic now has the French Open ? the one major to elude him ? in his sights. He won't even rule out the ultimate: the Grand Slam.

"One player (Rod Laver) has done it, so it is possible," he said after the traditional post-victory photo shoot in a downtown Melbourne park on Monday. "Obviously the times are different and tennis nowadays is much more competitive and much more physical. And that makes that challenge more difficult to achieve. But everything is possible."

With the London Olympics to follow Wimbledon this year, Djokovic could even make it a Golden Slam by winning the gold medal at London 2012 to go with the four majors.

"The facts are that I'm at the peak of my career," Djokovic said. "I feel physically and mentally at the peak, I feel strong, I feel motivated, I feel eager to win more trophies."

Having slept for only a few hours, Djokovic dispensed with the band and the raucous dressing room celebrations that marked his victory last year, choosing to strum the air guitar and belt out a few lyrics from "Highway To Hell."

Djokovic recalled the brief celebrations after the match at Rod Laver Arena and made a half-hearted attempt to sing the refrain from the AC/DC rock anthem. His legs were too tired, and his throat a bit hoarse. "Oh man, I'm tired."

And so he should be. Djokovic completed a 5-hour, 53-minute 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 victory over Nadal at 1:37 a.m. ? ending an epic match with a forehand winner that finally finished off the Spaniard.

He defied exhaustion to tear off his shirt and flex his bare torso as he made his way to celebrate with friends and family. He was still doing interviews after 4 a.m.

It didn't leave much time for celebrating. Unlike his victory at the 2011 Australian Open, when he beat his friend Andy Murray in straight sets and then kicked off an all-night party with a rock band in the locker room.

"I didn't have any more energy left to celebrate," Djokovic said Monday. "I was preferring my bed."

When he awoke not long after, his body reminded him not just of the incredible events of the previous evening, nearly six hours of physically punishing tennis against one of the game's most ferociously competitive athletes, but also of a near five-hour semifinal two nights earlier against Murray.

"I felt lots of pain all over the body," he said. "The adrenaline is still there and I still am very excited about what I have experienced here in the last two weeks and especially last night. I'm full of joy, but I think still I don't have a real sense of what's going on."

Djokovic wasn't the only one feeling a little dazed Monday. There were still 1.86 million people watching in Australia until after 1:30 a.m. The peak audience was 3.86 million, approaching about one-fifth of the population. When the last ball was struck, hardly any of the almost 15,000 spectators in Rod Laver Arena had left.

A historic final provided a fitting climax to a men's tournament that also featured riveting semifinals between Nadal and No. 3-ranked Roger Federer, and Djokovic and No. 4 Murray.

Tournament director Craig Tiley, celebrating a record attendance of 686,006 over two weeks, described the final as "the greatest match of all time."

A day after earning her first Grand Slam title, even Victoria Azarenka came out to watch the men's final. The 22-year-old Belarusian needed 82 minutes ? two minutes more than the first set lasted between Nadal and Djokovic ? to rout Maria Sharapova and claim both the trophy and the No. 1 ranking.

Djokovic's seventh straight win in a final over Nadal underlined his dominance of the men's game, which until last year had been headlined by Nadal and Federer.

Nadal got closer to ending the Serb's recent success against him, but after being a break up in the fifth set, couldn't get over the line. Despite a third straight loss in a Grand Slam final, Nadal leaves Melbourne more motivated than ever.

Less than 24 hours before the tournament began, he was in tears, believing a freak knee injury he sustained while sitting on a chair would prevent him from competing in the tournament.

To end it having pushed his nemesis to the limit was more than enough consolation for the 10-time Grand Slam champion.

"I wanted to win, but I am happy about how I did," he said. "I had my chances against the best player of the world today. I played one against one."

In the end, Djokovic's unshakable belief that began to develop when he won the Davis Cup with Serbia at the end of 2010, and strengthened when he went the first 41 matches of last season unbeaten, pulled him through.

Once the bridesmaid to Nadal and Federer, Djokovic understood exactly how his opponent felt.

"When I played three, four years ago against Rafa and Roger in Grand Slam semifinals and finals, I felt that they were just superior on the court, that they had this mental advantage," he said. "Because they just know that when the time comes, when the match is breaking down, fifth set, they will always prevail, because they believe more, they have more experience and they know what to do."

Now it's Djokovic's turn to feel like he's the one who can't lose.

___

AP Sports Writer John Pye contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_sp_te_ne/ten_australian_open

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Houston First-Party Insurance Claims Lawyer Expects Disputes to ...

Houston First-Party Insurance Claims Lawyer Expects Disputes to Arise After Double Dose of Winter Storms

Houston first-party insurance claims lawyer Brad T. Wyly

Houston (PRWEB) January 27, 2012

Brad T. Wyly, a Houston first-party insurance claims lawyer, said today that many Harris County homeowners will need legal assistance to obtain appropriate settlements for property damage after a second round of winter storms struck the area this week.

?After two rounds of wind damage and flooding, insurance adjusters are likely to either try to settle quickly with a low-ball offer or to delay paying claims with the excuse that they are busy,? said Wyly, founder of the Wyly Law Firm, P.C., which evaluates business / commercial property first-party insurance claims and residential / homeowners claims.

?Insurance companies are never eager to pay damages, regardless of what their policies say they?ll do,? Wyly continued. ?Homeowners and businesses that are unsure about an insurance company?s offer will inevitably come out ahead by having an experienced first-party insurance claims lawyer review their policy, claim and settlement offer before agreeing to or accepting anything.?

The storm that hit the Houston area Wednesday January 25, 2012, included a tornado reported near Manvel about 12:45 p.m., and between one and four inches of rain, according to the Houston Chronicle. Tornado damage in Pearland included a torn-open shopping center roof, downed power lines and snapped trees. Trees and power lines were also reported down in Montgomery, Houston, Washington, Burleson, Grimes and Brazos counties.

On January 9, 2012, a tornado packing 95 mph winds touched down briefly in the Mission Bend community southwest of Houston amid storms that dumped up to four inches of rain in parts of Harris County and nearly seven inches in spots near Sugar Land, the Chronicle said.

?This double dose of strong storms should prove persuasive to those businesses or homeowners who don?t already have comprehensive property insurance that includes coverage for hail, wind, flood, hurricanes, tornados or whatever perils Mother Nature can conjure,? Wyly said.

The veteran lawyer said that area home and business owners can best protect themselves by having a Houston first-party insurance claims attorney review their insurance needs or existing coverage before a natural disaster strikes.

?Despite bad-faith insurance practices and disputes over claim settlements or delays, having the proper amount of comprehensive insurance coverage in place is invaluable when you need it,? Wyly said.

?We?ve seen the tricks of the insurance trade from start to finish,? he continued. ?And we help homeowners and businesses by making sure they have the proper insurance coverage and that, when the need arises, they get proper settlements.?

About Wyly Law Firm, P.C.

The Wyly Law Firm, P.C., is a Houston law firm that represents business and homeowners in disputes with their insurance companies. The firm also represents personal injury victims, including those injured in car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle or pedestrian accidents, throughout Houston and surrounding communities, including Harris County, Baytown, Pasadena, Galveston, Beaumont, Bellaire, Cloverleaf, Spring Valley, Missouri City, Aldine and Jersey City.

Attorney Brad T. Wyly, the firm?s founder, is a skilled negotiator and lawyer. Wyly has extensive experience in personal injury cases, including claims involving complex accidents, catastrophic injuries and wrongful deaths. He has been named a Rising Star in Law & Politics magazine. To contact Wyly Law Firm, P.C., call (713) 574-7034 or use the firm?s online form.

###

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Euro, rich-poor gap proved key issues at Davos

The mountain resort of Davos pictured during the last day of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. The overarching theme of the Meeting, that took place from Jan. 25 to Jan. 29 was "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models". (AP Photo/Keystone/Laurent Gillieron)

The mountain resort of Davos pictured during the last day of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. The overarching theme of the Meeting, that took place from Jan. 25 to Jan. 29 was "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models". (AP Photo/Keystone/Laurent Gillieron)

Workers remove material during the last day of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Keystone/Jean-Christophe Bott)

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? Europe's crippling debt crisis dominated the world's foremost gathering of business and political leaders, but for the first time the growing inequality between the planet's haves and have-nots became an issue, thanks largely to the Arab Spring uprisings, the Occupy movement and other protests around the globe.

The mood at the end of the five-day meeting in Davos was somber, and more than 2,500 VIPs headed home Sunday concerned about what lies ahead in 2012. Plenty of champagne flowed in this alpine ski resort ? but the atmosphere was flat and the bubbling enthusiasm of some past World Economic Forums was noticeably absent.

Despite some guarded optimism about Europe's latest attempts to stem the eurozone crisis, fears remain that turmoil could return and spill over to the rest of the world. And there were no answers to the widening inequality gap, but a mounting realization that economic growth must include the poor, that job creation is critical, and that affordable food, housing, health care and education need to part of any solution.

Just before the forum began, the International Monetary Fund reduced its forecast for global growth in 2012 to 3.3 percent from the 4 percent pace it projected in September. Many other economic forecasters also predict a slowing economy, including New York University's Nouriel Roubini, who is widely acknowledged to have predicted the crash of 2008 and who said he might be "even slightly more bearish" on the new IMF forecast.

Asia is expected to remain the engine for global growth though at a slower rate, with China leading the way at more than 8 percent, followed by India and Indonesia.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned that the eurozone crisis is not the region's problem alone.

"It's a crisis that could have collateral effects, spillover effects, around the world," she said. "What I have seen, and what the IMF has seen in numbers and forecasts, is that no country is immune and everybody has an interest in making sure that this crisis is resolved adequately."

The IMF is the world's traditional lender-of-last-resort and Lagarde is trying to increase its resources by $500 billion so it can help if more lending is needed in Europe or elsewhere. European countries have said they're prepared to give the IMF $150 billion, but that means the rest of the world will have to come up with $350 billion.

At a closing panel Sunday, Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, said a readjustment in Europe is essential "because, if you want to really simplify it, we've lived above our means, and we've done that for too long, and the moment of truth has arrived."

Vikram Pandit, CEO of the global bank Citigroup Inc., said the euro crisis "is costing us about 1 percent in GDP around the world. You do the math. You do the math and say: 'How many jobs is that? How many people are not working because of that? What can we do to go after the biggest question we've got for this decade which is jobs?'"

The world needs 400 million new jobs between now and the end of the decade, not counting the 200 million needed just to get back to full employment, so "that should be our number one priority," he said.

To keep the spotlight on jobs and poverty at the forum, the Occupy movement that began on Wall Street and spread to dozens of cities around the world set up a protest camp in igloos in Davos. They demonstrated in front of City Hall.

In a separate protest, three Ukrainian women were arrested when they stripped off their tops ? despite temperatures around freezing ? and tried to climb a fence surrounding the invitation-only gathering holding banners saying: "Poor, because of you" and "Gangsters party in Davos."

Citi's Pandit said to create the conditions for growth, economic uncertainty must end and that means quickly resolving the eurozone crisis, ending regulatory uncertainty, and getting the public and private sector together to build infrastructure that can create jobs.

Unilever's Polman said it's unacceptable that more than 1 billion people are hungry every day while another billion are obese.

"How do we pull up the people that are excluded from the work force, at the bottom of the pyramid?" he asked. "That we haven't quite figured out yet."

Sheryl Sandberg, CEO of Facebook, said the Internet sector has been creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and to keep up innovations in technology "great scientists" need to be educated all over the world, investment in infrastructure is critical, and regulations must not stifle growth or access.

Nobel economics laureate Peter Diamond, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in an Associated Press interview that in the U.S. there is "an unemployment crisis," especially among young people who aren't accumulating experience. He said the government should fix the Social Security system, fix aging infrastructure, spend on research, and start fixing the education system.

When the forum opened, its normally upbeat founder Klaus Schwab said he remained a deep believer in free markets but that capitalism is out of whack and needs to be fixed "to serve society." He welcomed critics' ideas of how to fix it ? including from the Occupy protesters, though they walked out of a side event where a representative had been invited to talk.

This year for the first time, the forum invited about 60 "Global Shapers" ? young leaders under 30 ? to the forum to try to address issues confronting the generation that will be running the world in decades to come.

Among the younger generation also at Davos were Chelsea Clinton, daughter of the former U.S. president and present secretary of state, who moderated a panel on philanthropy and philanthropist Howard Buffett, son of Warren Buffett, whose foundation focuses on promoting agriculture and fighting hunger, especially in Africa.

The possibility of Iran developing nuclear weapons was among top concerns at Davos this year. There were also several follow-up panels on the Arab Spring and a session moderated by Schwab with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, which demonstrated the deep divisions over getting peace negotiations back on track.

But although the conflict in Syria ? where the U.N. estimates a crackdown on anti-government protesters has killed some 5,400 people over the past year ? came up in the Arab Spring panels, it wasn't a hot issue.

Julia Marton-Lefevre, director general of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, said that this year for the first time at Davos "the environment is not treated so much as separate topic, which I think is a good thing."

"We are moving towards a more integrated approach to the world's challenges," she said. "Environment is not a side issue, it's really a part of everything. For me, of course, nature is a life support system ? and finally it is being recognized as being a part of the solution."

(This version CORRECTS Corrects spelling of 'Vikram' and first reference to bank as Citigroup Inc. in 10th paragraph. This story is part of AP's general news and financial services.)

Associated Press

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CEO pay cut: Who saw pay halved in '11?

CEO pay of $84 million earned him the top spot in 2010, but dropped to $43 million in 2011. So who was tops in CEO pay last year? Apple's Tim Cook.

Viacom Inc.'s Philippe Dauman led the list of America's top-paid?CEOs?in 2010 but his?pay package for 2011 was nearly halved, mainly because he didn't get stock bonuses for renewing his contract as he did a year ago.

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Still, an Associated Press tally values Dauman's?pay?package at $43 million, down from $84.5 million a year ago.

The figures were contained in a securities filing the media company filed Friday.

Another reason he won't be the highest paid?CEO?last year: Apple Inc.'s Tim Cook was awarded a package valued at a whopping $378 million for replacing the late Steve Jobs at the helm.

Dauman's base salary rose 33 percent to $3.5 million, but the bulk of his?pay?came in the form of a $20 million bonus for good performance, a 78 percent increase from a year ago. The company said operating profits came in above the mid-point of its target range and free cash flow generation was near the top of its range.

Dauman's annual grant of stock awards was 68 percent smaller than a year ago at $13.3 million, and new stock options he was granted were valued at $6 million, down 79 percent from fiscal 2010.

He also received other compensation of $262,636, mainly for personal use of the company aircraft.

New York-based Viacom's executive chairman and 88-year-old founder, Sumner Redstone, saw a 39 percent boost to his?pay?package to $21 million.

Redstone, who controls the company through a special class of voting shares, pulled down a base salary of $1.75 million, up a third from a year earlier, and a performance bonus up 78 percent at $10 million. New grants of stock and stock options came to about $8 million, the same as the previous year.

Redstone also benefited from a preferential executive pension plan that grew by about $1 million, with other compensation totaling $30,955.

Over the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, Viacom's widely traded Class B shares rose 7 percent to $38.74 from $36.19. The company said its total shareholder return in fiscal 2011, comprised of $417 million in dividends and $2.5 billion in share buybacks, was 8.7 percent, compared to 0.8 percent for the companies of the S&P 500 Index.

Viacom owns?pay?TV networks such as MTV, Nickelodeon and VH1 and the Paramount Pictures movie studio.

The Associated Press formula calculates an executive's total compensation during the last fiscal year by adding salary, bonuses, perks, above-market interest the company?pays?on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock and stock options awarded during the year. The AP formula does not count changes in the present value of pension benefits. That makes the AP total slightly different in most cases from the total reported by companies to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The value that a company assigned to an executive's stock and option awards for 2011 was the present value of what the company expected the awards to be worth to the executive over time. Companies use one of several formulas to calculate that value. However, the number is just an estimate, and what an executive ultimately receives will depend on the performance of the company's stock in the years after the awards are granted. Most stock compensation programs require an executive to wait a specified amount of time to receive shares or exercise options

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More than 50 killed in 2 days of turmoil in Syria (AP)

BEIRUT ? Two days of bloody turmoil in Syria killed more than 50 people as forces loyal to President Bashar Assad shelled residential buildings, fired on crowds and left bleeding corpses in the streets in a dramatic escalation of violence, activists said Friday.

Much of the violence was focused in Homs, where heavy gunfire hammered the city Friday in a second day of chaos. A day earlier, the city saw a flare-up of sectarian kidnappings and killings between its Sunni and Alawite communities, and pro-regime forces blasted residential buildings with mortars and gunfire, according to activists who said an entire family was killed.

Video posted online by activists showed the bodies of five small children, five women of varying ages and a man, all bloodied and piled on beds in what appeared to be an apartment after a building was hit in the Karm el-Zaytoun neighborhood of the city. A narrator said an entire family had been "slaughtered."

The video could not be independently verified.

Activists said at least 30 people were killed in Homs on Thursday and another 21 people were killed across the country Friday.

In an attempt to stop the bloodshed in Syria, the U.N. Security Council was to hold a closed-door meeting Friday to discuss the crisis, a step toward a possible resolution against the Damascus regime, diplomats said.

The Syrian uprising, which began nearly 11 months ago with mostly peaceful protests, has become increasingly violent in recent months as army defectors clash with government forces and some protesters take up arms to protect themselves. The violence has enflamed the potentially explosive sectarian divide in the country, where the Alawite minority dominates the regime despite a Sunni Muslim majority. The U.N. estimates that more than 5,400 people have been killed since March.

The head of Arab League observers in Syria said in a statement that violence in the country has spiked over the past few days. Sudanese Gen. Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi said the cities of Homs, Hama and Idlib have all witnessed a "very high escalation" in violence since Tuesday.

A "fierce military campaign" was also under way in the Hamadiyeh district of Hama since the early hours of Friday, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activists. They said the sound of heavy machine-gun fire and loud explosions reverberated across the area.

Some activists reported seeing uncollected bodies in the streets of Hama.

Elsewhere, a car bomb exploded Friday at a checkpoint outside the northern city of Idlib, the Observatory said, citing witnesses on the ground. The number of casualties was not immediately clear.

Details of Thursday's wave of killings in Homs were emerging from an array of residents and activists on Friday, though they said they were having difficulty because of continuing gunfire.

"There has been a terrifying massacre," Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the AP on Friday, calling for an independent investigation.

Thursday started with a spate of sectarian kidnappings and killings between the city's population of Sunnis and Alawites, a Shiite sect to which Assad belongs as well as most of his security and military leadership, said Mohammad Saleh, a centrist opposition figure and resident of Homs.

There was also a string of attacks by gunmen on army checkpoints, Saleh said. Checkpoints are a frequent target of dissident troops who have joined the opposition.

The violence culminated with the evening killing of the family, Saleh said, adding that the full details of what happened were not yet clear.

The Observatory said at least 11 people, including eight children, died when a building came under heavy mortar and machine gun fire. Some residents spoke of another massacre that took place when shabiha ? armed regime loyalists ? stormed the district, slaughtering residents in an apartment, including children.

"It's racial cleansing," said one Sunni resident of Karm el-Zaytoun, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. "They are killing people because of their sect," he said.

Some residents said kidnappers were holding Alawites in the building hit by mortars and gunfire, but the reports could not be confirmed.

Thursday's death toll in Homs was at least 35, said the Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees, an umbrella group of activists. Both groups cite a network of activists on the ground in Syria for their death tolls. The reports could not be independently confirmed.

Syria tightly controls access to trouble spots and generally allows journalists to report only on escorted trips, which slows the flow of information.

The Syrian uprising began last March with largely peaceful anti-government protests, but it has grown increasingly violent in recent months.

Also Friday, Iran's official IRNA news agency said gunmen in Syria have kidnapped 11 Iranian pilgrims traveling by road from Turkey to Damascus.

Iranian pilgrims routinely visit Syria ? Iran's closest ally in the Arab world ? to pay homage to Shiite holy shrines. Last month, 7 Iranian engineers building a power plant in central Syria were kidnapped. They have not yet been released.

The Free Syrian Army ? a group of army defectors ? released a video on its Facebook page claiming responsibility for the kidnapping and saying the Iranians were taking part in the suppression of the Syrian people. The leader of the group could not be reached for comment.

Bassma Kodmani, a spokeswoman for the opposition Syrian National Council, said the group is working to help the army defectors to link them up and supply them with everything from communications equipment to clothes. Speaking in Paris, she said defectors are increasingly swelling the ranks of the Free Syrian Army and it is becoming a critical force in the uprising.

In Cairo, around 200 opposition Syrians protested outside the Syrian Embassy, trying to break into the building. They threw stones and bricks at the building, but were kept back by a line of police and soldiers.

Assad's regime claims terrorists acting out a foreign conspiracy are behind the uprising, not protesters seeking change, and that thousands of security forces have been killed.

International pressure on Damascus to end the bloodshed so far has produced few results.

The Arab League has sent observers to the country, but the mission has been widely criticized for failing to stop the violence. Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia pulled out of the mission Tuesday, asking the Security Council to intervene because the Syrian government has not halted its crackdown.

The U.N. Security Council has been unable to agree on a resolution since violence began in March because of strong opposition from Russia and China.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Friday that Moscow will oppose a new draft U.N. resolution on Syria worked out by the West and some Arab states because it does not exclude the possibility of outside military interference.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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O'Hare 2nd Busiest Airport In Nation: Chicago Airport Undergoing Expansion

CHICAGO ? New figures from the Federal Aviation Administration show Chicago's O'Hare International Airport remains the second busiest in the nation.

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson is the busiest by number of arrivals and departures, despite a decline of 2.7 percent in 2011 from the previous year.

Traffic was also down at O'Hare, dipping 0.4 percent to nearly 879,000 takeoffs and landings. The figures were released Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Worldwide, O'Hare ranks third busiest by passenger numbers behind Atlanta and Beijing.

O'Hare is undergoing a $15 billion expansion.

The city reached a deal in March with United and American airlines on funding for a second phase of expansion involving construction of a new runway and other upgrades. Under the deal, Chicago issued $1 billion in bonds to pay for the work.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/ohare-2nd-busiest-airport_n_1234885.html

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Study finds Gardasil does not trigger autoimmune conditions after vaccination

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Gardasil, the human papillomavirus vaccine that is now recommended for male and female adolescents and young adults, does not trigger autoimmune conditions such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes or multiple sclerosis after vaccination in young women, according to a new study in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Kaiser Permanente researchers used electronic health records to conduct an observational safety study of 189,629 females aged 9 to 26 years old in California who were followed for six months after receiving each dose of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine in 2006-2008. Researchers found no increase in 16 pre-specified autoimmune conditions in the vaccinated population compared to a matched group of unvaccinated girls and women.

The quadrivalent HPV vaccine was licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006 and recommended for young women and girls to protect against genital warts, which infects 6.2 million people annually, is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and can lead to cervical cancer in women. But autoimmune reactions have been a longstanding concern surrounding vaccination and many parents withhold the vaccine from their children because of perceived safety concerns. However, most speculated associations have stemmed from case reports that have not been confirmed by large, controlled epidemiologic studies. This study presents findings from a well-designed, post-licensure safety study of the vaccine on a large, ethnically diverse population, researchers said.

"This kind of safety information may help parents with vaccination decisions," said study lead author Chun Chao, PhD, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Department of Research & Evaluation in Pasadena, Calif. "These findings offer some assurance that among a large and generalizable female population, no safety signal for autoimmune conditions was found following HPV4 vaccination in routine clinical use."

The study looked for autoimmune conditions such as immune thrombocytopenia, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, Hashimoto's disease, Graves' disease, multiple sclerosis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, other demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system, vaccine-associated demyelination, Guillain-Barr? syndrome, neuromyelitis optica, optic neuritis and uveitis.

Previous safety data on the HPV vaccine has been collected in clinical trials, as well as through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Both have important limitations in assessing the safety profile of the vaccine. Clinical trials often include a highly selected population, with sample sizes too small, and follow-up too short, to observe rare safety events such as autoimmune conditions. The VAERS reports are often hard to interpret due to the lack of a proper comparison group and limited ability to determine whether the onset of the condition really preceded vaccination.

On the other hand, the present study, conducted at Kaiser Permanente in California, employed methods that involved in-depth medical-chart review to ensure the accuracy of diagnosis and that onset of disease was after vaccination. In addition, disease incidence in the vaccinated group was compared with a comparable unvaccinated group. As a result, this study offers important complementary safety information for the HPV vaccine.

###

Kaiser Permanente: http://www.dor.kaiser.org

Thanks to Kaiser Permanente for this article.

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Adorable and foldable pod-like electric car headed to production in Spain (Yahoo! News)

The Hiriko cars will likely cost around $16,400 each if and when released to the public

It may look like just another shiny?concept, but this curious-looking and futuristic pod-like?car is already slated for a trial production in Spain. To announce this development, a prototype of the tiny?electric car Hiriko (the?Basque word for "urban")?was recently demonstrated in Brussels. Aside from being quite unusual in appearance, Hiriko has another very interesting feature ? you can actually fold the car so it takes up the smallest amount of parking space possible.

The collapsible two-seater designed by the?MIT Media Lab has a single entrance located at windshield: You just have to swing the front of the glass bubble up in order to get in. MIT's designers also eschewed the traditional steering wheel in favor of a joystick, so you can pretend you're playing a?game while navigating a busy street. The four-wheel drive's expected range is roughly 60 miles, but that may change once the first batch of cars comes out in 2013.

The first 20 Hiriko cars to be manufactured will be part of a pilot program in Spain's Basque region, intended for shared-use similar to existing car sharing projects. MIT is also studying the possibility of deploying Hiriko fleets to Malmo (Sweden), Barcelona (Spain), Berlin (Germany), Hong Kong, and San Francisco. The manufacturers don't have concrete plans to sell the car to individuals yet, but if and when they do, their target price is approximately $16,400 per unit, or around half the price of the?Chevy Volt.

[via?Autoblog]

This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca

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Politics of defense cuts: emphasize the positive (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Pentagon is preparing to tighten its belt, but with an election-year battle looming in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta wants to stress the positive: Parts of the budget devoted to reshaping the military to fit a new global strategy will actually get fatter, he says.

But that's unlikely to mollify Republicans who say President Barack Obama's plan will leave the Pentagon stretched too thin to handle potential security threats in the Middle East, Asia and beyond.

Panetta is expected to outline the main areas of proposed spending cuts and increases at a Pentagon news conference Thursday, more than two weeks before the Obama administration submits its 2013 budget proposal to Congress. He will be joined by Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for a presentation designed to highlight the military leadership's embrace of defense cuts.

Panetta and Dempsey are expected to cast the plan as one that reflects President Barack Obama's strategy for reorienting the military as it recovers from a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Prominent in the Obama plan is a renewed focus on Asia, where China's rapid military modernization has raised worry in Washington and rattled U.S. allies. That, along with continued security threats in the Middle East ? especially Iran ? is why Panetta wants to invest more in certain air and naval assets. He also is putting a focus on cybersecurity and commando forces like those who killed Osama bin Laden last May and who swooped into Somalia on Tuesday to rescue two hostages, including an American.

The Pentagon has embraced a proposal by special operations chief Adm. Bill McRaven to send more manpower and equipment to worldwide "Theater Special Operations Commands" to strike back wherever threats arise, according to a senior defense official who spoke to The Associated Press, and other current and former U.S. officials briefed on the program. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the details of the proposal are still being worked out, including how fast the changes could be made.

The stepped-up network would put top special operations personnel closer to the problems they face, better able to launch unilateral raids like this week's Somalia mission. McRaven also wants the newly invigorated commands to build new relationships with foreign armies to help them lead their own operations, the senior defense official said.

To save money, Panetta would reduce the size of Army and Marine Corps ground forces and shrink the U.S. presence in Europe, while maintaining a commitment to building missile defenses in Europe.

He also is expected to delay production of perhaps 100 or more of the F-35 Lightning II stealth attack planes that the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps are counting on to replace a portion of their aging aircraft fleets. The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program. Nonetheless, it is among those that Panetta has publicly identified as central to a strategy for maintaining American air dominance.

According to defense officials, substantial budget savings will come from slowing ? but not eliminating ? programs. In the case of the F-35, Loren Thompson, defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, said there are no plans to cut the total number of fighters purchased ? which is about 2,400. Instead, the intention is to reduce the number bought each year over the next five years.

The construction of some Navy ships also may be stretched out over a longer period.

Panetta also has made clear the administration will resist any effort to shrink the Navy's fleet of aircraft carriers. He said last weekend while on board the fleet's oldest carrier, the USS Enterprise, that keeping 11 of the warships is a "long-term commitment" that Obama believes is important to keeping the peace.

"Our view is that the carriers, because of their presence, because of the power they represent, are a very important part of our ability to maintain power projection both in the Pacific and in the Middle East," he said.

Obama has said he hopes to further reduce the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, but Panetta is expected to make clear that the basic structure ? a "triad" of land, sea and air nuclear forces ? will be maintained. The Pentagon may find some savings by stretching out planned modernization programs.

The defense budget is being reshaped in the midst of a presidential contest in which Obama seeks to portray himself as a forward-looking commander in chief focusing on new security threats. Republicans want to cast him as weak on defense.

Obama has highlighted his national security successes ? the killing of Osama bin Laden, the death of senior al-Qaida leaders and the demise of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi ? to counter Republican criticism. He also has emphasized the completion of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq and the start of a drawdown in Afghanistan as turning points that offer new opportunities to scale back defense spending.

But several congressional Republicans see a political opening in challenging the reductions in projected military spending that the GOP and Obama agreed to last summer as part of a deal to raise the nation's borrowing authority. They've echoed Obama's potential presidential rivals Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, who plead for fiscal austerity but contend that sizable cuts would gut the military.

The defense budget this year is nearly $671 billion, including a base budget of $553 billion and $118 billion in war costs. Panetta is expected to announce on Wednesday that the administration's request for 2013 will drop to about $525 billion for the base budget. That is still far higher than the $480 billion base budget for the Pentagon in 2008, President George W. Bush's final year in office.

The administration's projected defense cuts would total nearly $490 billion over 10 years. If Congress fails to agree on other reductions in federal spending this year, the defense hit could double under automatic cuts that would take effect in January 2013.

Several Republicans argue that even the initial cuts totaling nearly $490 billion would "hollow" the military and costs tens of thousands of jobs nationwide, adding to an 8.5 percent unemployment rate that they already blame on the president's economic policies.

"While Secretary Panetta has conceded that our nation is now accepting more risk as a result of the budgetary vise squeezing the Pentagon, it remains unclear exactly what risks our nation is assuming," Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., a House Armed Services Committee member, said this week.

___

Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

___

Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_defense_budget

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Chinese New Year fireworks spark deadly Thai blaze (AP)

BANGKOK ? Fireworks set off during an official Chinese New Year celebration have sparked a blaze that burned homes, killed three people and injured others in central Thailand.

Suphanburi Governor Somsak Phureesrisak told TPBS TV by telephone the three were killed as at least 20 houses burned down late Tuesday.

Somjate Promsuntorn, head of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, said at least 20 people were injured. A local hospital, however, told Springnews.tv that it had treated 57 people.

The fireworks were part of an elaborate celebration led by former Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa. His political machine dominates prosperous rice-growing Suphanburi province.

He told TV Channel 9 the celebration would continue but without any more fireworks.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_chinese_new_year

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Bid for Iran nuclear talks confronts old snags (AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates ? The last time Iran's nuclear envoys held talks with the U.S. and other world powers, the negotiations limped along until a parting shot by the Islamic Republic: Its labs boosted the enrichment levels of uranium in reply to demands for a full-scale freeze.

Since then, the standoff has only become tenser. The European Union on Monday joined the U.S. with new sanctions targeting Iran's critical oil exports. Authorities in Tehran fired back with another threat to block tankers in the Persian Gulf ? even while offering to restart international talks after a one-year gap.

Yet one thing hasn't changed since the last round of meetings in January 2011. The chances of Iran agreeing to stop enriching uranium ? the core dispute between Tehran and its foes ? still appear slim.

Iran portrays its ability to make nuclear fuel as akin to a patriotic cause: showcasing the country's technological advances, elevating its international stature and proudly defying Western nuclear controls like other nations in the past ? including North Korea since the 1990s and China in the 1960s.

Iran strongly denies that it seeks nuclear weapons and says it only wants to enrich uranium to fuel reactors for energy and research. But Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has linked control of the entire nuclear cycle to part of Iran's "national identity."

"Iran's right for uranium enrichment is nonnegotiable," said conservative Iranian lawmaker Ali Aghazadeh. "There is no reason for Iran to compromise over its rights. But Iran is open to discussions over concerns about its nuclear program."

The bloc on the other side of the negotiating table ? the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany ? has not publicly spelled out any clear strategies if talks resume in Turkey as a proposed venue. It's highly unlikely, however, that they would back off the insistence that Iran suspend uranium enrichment, which Washington and others fear could lead to weapons-grade nuclear material.

The potential dead ends are clearly marked even before any agreement to reopen dialogue.

Iranian officials hammer the point that halting uranium enrichment is off the agenda. Some in the West, meanwhile, question whether Iran's outreach is simply another tactic to buy time for its nuclear program under pressure from cyberattacks and targeted killings that Tehran has blamed on Israel and its allies.

In Paris last week, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the European Union has made specific proposals for dialogue with Iran, but "unfortunately the country has not committed in a transparent and cooperative way in this process of talks."

On Monday in Brussels, the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged Tehran to offer "some concrete issues to talk about."

"It is very important that it is not just about words; a meeting is not an excuse, a meeting is an opportunity and I hope that they will seize it," she said as the EU adopted its toughest measures yet on Iran with an oil embargo and freeze of the country's central bank assets.

Iranian lawmaker Aghazadeh snapped back: "The West is not seeking a genuine dialogue."

"It's unlikely that any new round of talks will bring any understanding," he added. "There is lack of trust on both sides. Iran won't retreat from its position."

The situation carries strong echoes the last talks in January 2011. When the main talks foundered, Brazil and Turkey tried their hand by reviving proposals to provide Iran with reactor fuel rods from 20 percent enriched uranium in exchange for suspending the enrichment work.

It fell apart when Iran pushed ahead with a pilot program to make its own 20 percent enriched uranium. That's still far below the level needed for a warhead, but it boosts Iran's stockpile of higher-grade nuclear material and was seen as a powerful snub to Western demands.

In a news conference on Saturday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, used the word "justice" to describe what Tehran hopes to achieve from any possible talks.

It covers a lot of ground in explaining Iran's views.

Tehran considers its nuclear program as fully within U.N. rules ? which permit enrichment with oversight ? although U.N. watchdogs and other question how much of Iran's work is secret. Tehran also seeks to shift the nuclear spotlight onto Israel, which is believed to have an atomic arsenal despite its policy of neither confirming nor denying its military capabilities.

But, above all, the Islamic Republic sees its nuclear advancement as an integral part of its self-declared goal of becoming the Muslim world's answer to Western military and technological dominance.

Iran has announced sweeping plans for upgrades to its armed forces, including new warships and surveillance drones similar to the unmanned CIA spy craft captured last month. Iran's state media has claimed aerospace engineers have launched objects into orbit and are working on sending an astronaut into space.

"The nuclear program is a huge part of what's shaping Iran's world view," said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, an Iranian affairs expert at Syracuse University. "Khamenei sees it as part of his legacy. In a way, it's like the nationalization of the Suez Canal for Egypt. It's a defining issue and one of major national importance."

It also is one of the few patches of common ground in a country deeply divided since the clashes and crackdowns after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in 2009. Even opposition groups that rail against the ruling theocracy often support the nuclear program as a point of pride.

"The issue is protecting national interests," said Iranian political analyst Davoud Hermidas Bavand.

Yet he believes that talks ? even if they at first appear ill-fated ? are the only option to avoid deeper tensions that could lead to a military conflict in the Gulf.

"Talks offer a window to get out of the current impasse," he said.

The question still circles back to whether it could bring some concessions from Iran on uranium enrichment.

Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born analyst based in Israel, described Khamenei as stuck between "Obama and a hard place."

Khamenei cannot easily roll back the Iranian nuclear program, but is hit with increasing blows from sanctions that have isolated and eroded Iran's economy.

"Should he ignore it, the Iranian economy, the health of which is crucial to the survival of the regime, could collapse," he wrote in a Sunday commentary.

Keeping the ruling system in place, however, could also drive Iran's nuclear advances closer toward weapons, others contend.

"They perceive the whole nuclear issue as an insurance policy of sorts," said the analyst Boroujerdi. "There are those who say, 'If we are a nuclear power then the West wouldn't dare touch us.' And this, in their mind, helps ensure the survival of the system."

___

Associated Press writer Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_enrichment_commitment

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Mixed record for Obama's State of the Union goals

WASHINGTON (AP) ? As President Barack Obama prepares to deliver his annual address to Congress, many goals he outlined in previous State of the Union speeches remain unfulfilled. From reforming immigration laws to meeting monthly with congressional leaders of both parties, the promises fell victim to congressional opposition or faded in face of other priorities as the unruly realities of governing set in.

For Obama, like presidents before him, the State of the Union is an opportunity like no other to state his case on a grand stage, before both houses of Congress and a prime-time television audience. But as with other presidents, the aspirations he's laid out have often turned out to be ephemeral, unable to secure the needed congressional consent or requiring follow-through that's not been forthcoming.

As Obama's first term marches to an end amid bitterly divided government and an intense campaign by Republicans to take his job, it's going to be even harder for him to get things done this year. So Tuesday night's speech may focus as much on making an overarching case for his presidency ? and for a second term ? as on the kind of laundry list of initiatives that sometimes characterize State of the Union appeals.

"State of the Union addresses are kind of like the foam rubber rocks they used on Star Trek ? they look solid but aren't," said Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College. "Presidents will talk about solving some policy problem, and then the bold language of the State of the Union address disappears into the messy reality of governing."

For Obama, last year's State of the Union offers a case study in that dynamic. Speaking to a newly divided government not long after the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., Obama pleaded for national unity, a grand goal that never came to pass as Washington quickly dissolved into one partisan dispute after another.

Many of the particulars Obama rolled out that night proved just as hard to pull off.

Among the initiatives Obama promoted then that have yet to come to fruition a year later: eliminating subsidies to oil companies; replacing No Child Left Behind with a better education law; making a tuition tax credit permanent; rewriting immigration laws; and reforming the tax system.

The list of what he succeeded in accomplishing is considerably shorter, including: securing congressional approval of a South Korea free trade deal; signing legislation to undo a burdensome tax reporting requirement in his health care law; and establishing a website to show taxpayers where their tax dollars go.

One of Obama's pledges from last January's speech ? to undertake a reorganization of the federal government ? he got around to rolling out only this month. And other promises are vaguer or more long term, such as declaring a "Sputnik moment" for today's generation and calling for renewed commitments to research and development and clean energy technology; pushing to prepare more educators to teach science, technology and math; promoting high-speed rail and accessible broadband; and seeking greater investments in infrastructure.

"Clearly as time goes on and a presidency matures you get less and less of it and the State of the Union becomes an aspiration for what you want to do as opposed to a road map for what you can accomplish," said Princeton University historian Julian Zelizer. As voters' enthusiasm fades and opposition deepens, Zelizer said, "You lose some of your power and you get closer to the next election and no one wants to work with you."

Last year's address already contained more modest goals than the speech Obama gave to a joint session of Congress a month after his inauguration, which although not technically a State of the Union report had the feel of one. At the time Obama called for overhauling health care and ending the war in Iraq ? promises he kept ? but also for closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and imposing caps on carbon pollution ? promises unmet.

Some of his goals, such as immigration and education reform, have resurfaced in multiple addresses, but still without being accomplished.

And rarely has Obama's rhetoric as president reached as high as the lofty promises of his campaign, when he pledged to change the very way Washington does business and remake politics itself. It's a far cry from those promises of change to the ambition of meeting monthly with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders ? but even that relatively modest goal, from Obama's 2010 State of the Union, went unfulfilled.

Associated Press

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House Republican budget to seek Medicare reforms (reuters)

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Glam Slam: Makeup Mondays -- Get Gorgeous Tips (omg!)

Angelina Jolie's red lips made a bold statement at the Globes last week, but she's not the only beauty whose makeup we coveted. Here are the step-by-step guides for three gorgeous looks.

KATE BECKINSALE WHO: Makeup Artist Molly Stern INSPIRATION: "Kate's Roberto Cavalli dress was so ethereal and magical; I wanted to keep the skin looking completely luminous and create a bit of edge with the eyes." HOW-TO: SKIN Molly began by moisturizing Kate's skin with Natura Bisse's The Cure Cream. She then primed with Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer, which creates a flawless canvas for makeup, followed by a light application of Hourglass Illusion Tinted Moisturizer in Sand. Molly loved the sheer finish of the foundation, which allowed the British beauty's gorgeous skin to shine through.

PLAY IT NOW: Access Hollywood Live: How To Get Angelina Jolie & Reese Witherspoon's Show-Stopping Golden Globe Looks!

CHEEKS Molly used the bronze tone in Hourglass Illume Creme-to-Powder Bronzer Duo in Sunset to add warmth to Kate's skin, and followed with the blush tone applied on the apples of her cheeks. She then dusted NARS Miss Liberty high on her cheekbone to add an extra glow.

EYES Molly used the bronze shade of Hourglass Visionaire Eye Shadow Duo in Gypsy as a base, and set it with NARS Galapagos Eye Shadow, smudged deep into the lid. For an extra pop of light, she dabbed CHANEL's Blazing Gold Ombr? Essential over the inner lid. Her lashes are deep and jet-black due to Hourglass Film Noir Full Spectrum Mascara, followed by Hourglass Film Noir Lash Lacquer which was painted over them for an extra kick of drama.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Access Hollywood At The 2012 Golden Globes

LIPS Hourglass Femme Rouge Velvet Cr?me lipstick in Fresco was used as a base on Kate's lips, followed by Hourglass Extreme Sheen Lip Gloss in Imagine for a glistening sheen.

STACY KEIBLER WHO: Marina Gravani for NYX Cosmetics and KeSARI Beauty INSPIRATION: Marina complemented Stacy's stunning red Valentino gown with a neutral, effortless look to reveal her natural beauty.

HOW-TO:

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Golden Globes 2012: The Parties

FACE Stacy's skin was prepped the night before with the KeSARI Pore Minimizing Indian Clay Masque ($29.50/kesaribeauty.com). The day of the show, prior to applying makeup, Marina applied KeSARI Dark Circle Brightening Cream ($37.90/kesaribeauty.com) to the under eye area to reduce puffiness and impart a subtle glow. Next, Marina created a base using NYX Cosmetics HD Studio Photogenic Primer and HD Studio Photogenic Foundation in Sand Beige. She then used the NYX Cosmetics Stay Matte But Not Flat Powder Foundation in Soft Beige to attain a matte finish. The NYX Cosmetics Highlight & Contour Powder was then applied to define and highlight Stacy's cheekbones. To set the Highlight & Contour Powder and maintain a matte finish, Marina used the NYX Cosmetics Powder Blush in Dusty Rose over the apples of her cheeks.

EYES Marina applied the NYX Cosmetics HD Studio Photogenic Concealer Wand in Beige to the under eye area to even Stacy's skin tone. She then dotted the NYX Cosmetics Collection Noir Liquid Black Liner between Stacy's lashes to make them appear thicker. Marina applied a thin line of the NYX Cosmetics Liquid Black Liner to Stacy's top lid and then mixed the Liquid Black Liner with the NYX Cosmetics Powder Brown Liner for the lower lash. Marina then used the shimmery light beige eye shadow from the NYX Cosmetics Butt "Naked" Eyes Palette on Stacy's lids and the brown eye shadow from the palette in the crease. She finished the look with three coats of the NYX Cosmetics Le Chick Flick waterproof mascara from the Boudoir Mascara Collection. LIPS Marina created a nude lip to keep Stacy's look as effortless as possible. She used a neutral lip liner and followed with the NYX Cosmetics Xtreme Lip Cream in Natural--the perfect finish to Stacy's gorgeous feminine look.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Golden Globes 2012: The Winners

FREIDA PINTO WHO: Makeup Artist Leslie Lopez INSPIRATION: "I really wanted to channel a young Sophia Loren and make Freida's eyes the focal point of her look."

HOW-TO: FACE Leslie gave Freida a flawless face by starting with L'Or?al Paris True Match Super-Blendable Foundation in W6 (Sun Beige).

CHEEKS She created a sun-kissed look on the cheeks with L'Or?al Paris Magic Smooth Souffl? Blush in Cherubic. EYES For Freida's eyelids, she used L'Or?al Paris Infallible Eye Shadow in Bronzed Taupe, and Iced Latte on the brow bone for an extra pop of shimmer. Leslie gave the look an extra layer of smokiness with L'Or?al Paris Voluminous Smoldering Eyeliner in black before curling her lashes and applying a few coats of L'Or?al Paris Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara in Black. LIPS To keep Freida's eyes the focus, she kept her lips on the natural side with L'Or?al Paris Infallible Le Rouge in Lingering Mocha, a soft mauve.

Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Ga child killer dead in jail cell; likely suicide (AP)

ATLANTA ? A 20-year-old maintenance worker who this week pleaded guilty to molesting and killing a 7-year-old girl was found dead of an apparent suicide in his prison cell Thursday, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Ryan Brunn was found unresponsive at 4:15 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson, said spokeswoman Kristen Stancil. Brunn was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:37 p.m., Stancil said in an email to The Associated Press. She gave no other details about how he died.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents out of Milledgeville were investigating, said agency spokesman John Bankhead. An autopsy will likely be done Friday at the agency's medical examiner's office in Decatur, he said.

Brunn pleaded guilty on Tuesday to Jorelys Rivera's Dec. 2 killing at a north Georgia apartment complex where she lived and he had worked for about a month.

The girl was reported missing after she left the complex's playground to retrieve sodas at her apartment for her friends. Brunn described in detail to the court how he lured the girl into a vacant apartment and sexually assaulted her. He said he was afraid she would tell her parents so he "cut her." When she didn't die right away, he beat and stabbed her.

Then he put her body in a garbage bag and dumped it in a trash compactor at the complex where it was found.

After his guilty plea, a judge immediately sentenced him to life in prison without parole. Brunn also apologized to the girl's family members who sobbed in the front row of the courtroom when he graphically described how he killed her.

The news of Brunn's death came the same day that Canton officials announced that its police Chief Jeff Lance had resigned after a scathing report found he took a "laid back" approach to the search for Rivera.

Brunn's defense attorney, David Cannon, did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Cherokee County District Attorney Garry Moss also did not immediately return calls.

Lance stepped down after the 17-page review revealed his department of about 50 officers violated several of its own policies and made many mistakes in the search for Rivera, said city manager Scott Wood.

A call to Lance for comment was not immediately returned.

The inquiry said there was little doubt that Rivera was already dead by the time Canton police received the missing child report. But it said if another such report were handled in the same manner, police "may indeed miss an opportunity to save a victim's life."

The review found that the officer who responded to the initial call treated the case as a routine one that "would be solved in the same manner as dozens of other such cases that the agency had handled in 2011."

Local officers arriving to search for Rivera failed to activate their dash-board cameras to record the scene, failed to immediately determine if any sexual predators lived or worked nearby, and didn't report her case to a national registry until almost a day after she went missing, the report said.

The report said Lance didn't arrive at the apartment complex in the town of about 23,000 until around 10:15 a.m. the next morning ? about 17 hours after the child was last seen. When he did arrive, it said he was talking to several other officers about the "Georgia game" and eventually turned the TV to a football game.

"Personnel present at the scene frequently characterized the chief's level of concern as `laid back,'" the report said.

Lance failed to launch a separate criminal investigation or heed advice to process Rivera's home as a crime scene, the report said.

Other problems with the investigation surfaced earlier. A Cherokee County deputy who failed to immediately report seeing drops of blood in an apartment during the search for the girl was earlier ordered to undergo additional training. That was not included in the latest report.

Wood, the city manager, said the review should answer questions that were raised about the department's policies and procedures.

"Although sadly the family must still deal with the heartache and loss of this young child, from a legal perspective the matter has now been fully concluded," he said in a statement.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_us/us_playground_abduction

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Judge narrows Apple and Motorola patent battle to five points (Digital Trends)

U.S. Circuit Court Judge Richard Posner has significantly narrowed the high-profile patent litigation between Apple and Motorola over the technology used in their iOS and Android-powered mobile devices, reducing the number of claims in the case that could go to trial from eight to five. Posner ruled that one of Apple?s patents in the case is invalid, and that Apple was not guilty of infringing on Motorola patents for authenticating telecommunications users and encrypting communications. However, the five remaining issues are eligible to go to trial. Posner has given the companies until January 23 to decide which of the remaining five issues they want tried; the jury trail has been scheduled to start June 11.

The ruling comes just days after Motorola won an early victory against Apple with the International Trade Commission, in which an administrative judge ruled Motorola smartphones weren?t violating three Apple patents. Apple?s complaint now moves on to a full ITC panel.

Judge Posner was hearing the case by special designation from a lower-court case in Chicago. He ruled that an Apple patent detailing a method for drawing graphics on a display was invalid because it was too vague; however, he also ruled that Apple was not guilty of infringing on two Motorola patents, finding one had been anticipated by earlier patents.

So far, neither Apple nor Motorola have commented on Judge Posner?s ruling.

The patent infringement case between Apple and Motorola could soon become the first direct conflict between Apple and Google over Android, which Apple co-founder Steve Jobs famously considered a ?stolen product.? Until now, Apple has been content to target Android device makers like Samsung, HTC, and Motorola with its litigation; however, since Motorola Mobility is currently in the process of being acquired by Google, the Motorola case could shift into a direct conflict between Apple and Google. Google has consistently claimed it doesn?t want Motorola Mobility so it can get into the Android handset business itself; rather, it wants Motorola?s extensive intellectual property portfolio to protect Android from litigation from the likes of Apple, Oracle, and Microsoft.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20120120/tc_digitaltrends/judgenarrowsappleandmotorolapatentbattletofivepoints

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