Apple Hong Kong revives reserve and pick up page, wants to stop iPhones going abroad

In a bid to keep iPhones sold in Hong Kong on the island nation, Apple has reintroduced reserve and pick up pages for the smartphones. The difference this time around is the inclusion of the customer's Hong Kong identity card number within the registration form, which goes live between 9am and 12pm each day. The aim is put breaks on the speculative smartphone buyers picking up several devices to mule across to mainland China. You'll still need a bit of luck; Apple performs a random draw each day for those that registered, and 'winners' are informed via email. Each card can apparently buy a limited quantity of the in-demand phone -- one that's getting some smartphone obsessives a little too hot under the collar.

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Djokovic tops Nadal in marathon Australian final (AP)

MELBOURNE, Australia ? Novak Djokovic wore down Rafael Nadal in the longest Grand Slam singles final in the history of professional tennis Sunday, winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 after 5 hours, 53 minutes to claim his third Australian Open title.

Djokovic sealed victory at 1:37 a.m. local time and became the fifth man since the Open Era began in 1968 to win three straight Grand Slam finals.

The 24-year-old Djokovic tore off his shirt in celebration after one of the most dramatic finals in the history of the game. He went to his support camp and repeatedly thumped the side of the arena in delight and relief.

Djokovic's win maintained his mastery of Nadal, who has lost seven straight finals against the Serb since March.

Nadal became the first man in the Open Era to drop three straight major finals after losing to Djokovic at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

After coming from 5-3 down to win the fourth-set tiebreaker, Nadal was up a break at 4-2 in the fifth set while Djokovic appeared to be tiring.

But the top-ranked Djokovic, who needed almost five hours to win his semifinal against Andy Murray, somehow responded. He broke for a 6-5 lead and saved a break point before finally claiming the win.

The previous longest major singles final was Mats Wilander's win over Ivan Lendl at the U.S. Open in 1988, which lasted 4 hours, 54 minutes.

The longest Australian Open final also involved Wilander in 1988, when the Swede beat Pat Cash in 4:27.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_sp_te_ga_su/ten_australian_open

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"Beasts," "The House I Live In" win top awards at Sundance (omg!)

PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) - "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "The House I Live In" won the top awards at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, making them likely favorites for independent movie audiences in 2012.

Directed by Benh Zeitlin and set in impoverished Louisiana, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" picked up the jury prize for best drama as well as best cinematography with its poetic tale of the bond between a father and a daughter.

The documentary winner, "The House I Live In," was one of many documentaries at Sundance 2012 that looked at a struggling America at Sundance 2012. It is an examination of America's long war on drugs and critiques of U.S. drug policies, its court system, prisons and their impact on minorities.

"The war on drugs is a terrible scar on America," said director Eugene Jarecki.

Special juries of industry professionals vote on winners, and those are considered the top prizes but audiences also vote for their favorites.

"The Surrogate," which stars Helen Hunt and John Hawkes and is about a man's quest to lose his virginity while mostly confined to an iron lung, won the Audience Award for best drama.

The film, based on the life of poet and journalist Mark O'Brien, fetched one of the highest selling prices at the festival -- a reported $6 million -- and with its mix of comedy and drama could turn out to be one of the bigger U.S. indie hits in cinemas to come out of the festival.

"Love is a journey, that's it," said director Ben Lewin when accepting his trophy, quoting a line from the film.

"SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN"

The Audience Award for documentary was given to "The Invisible War," about an epidemic of sexual assault in the U.S. military and shining a light on a little known problem.

Other documentary special jury prizes went to "Love Free or Die," about the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson; and "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry," about the Chinese artist and activist who was detained for 81 days last year.

"Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry" director Alison Klayman took a picture of the crowd upon accepting the award and promised to send it to the Chinese artist, who was spent 81 days in government detention last year and felt it was too risky to attend the festival from China.

Sundance, which is backed by Robert Redford's Sundance Institute for filmmaking, is the largest U.S. gathering for independent movies. Festival winners go on to become some of the most talked about films in art houses.

Many of the more hyped fictional films for Sundance 2012 did not live up to their buzz, with many including "Red Lights" starring Robert De Niro and Spike Lee's "Red Hook Summer" disappointing critics, although films have still sold.

In addition to prizes for U.S. films, Sundance also gives awards in world cinema.

"Searching for Sugar Man," about the search for an obscure 1970s Detroit folk singer known as Rodriguez, won the audience award for best world documentary as well as a special jury prize. It was one of the most popular films of the festival, which served as the d3ebut for documentaries such as "An Inconvenient Truth."

Chile's "Violeta Went To Heaven," based on the life of Chilean folk singer Violeta Parra's journey from a poor upbringing to national hero, won the jury prize for best drama, and "The Law In These Parts" was the jury's pick for best documentary.

(Reporting By Christine Kearney; editing by Mohammad Zargham and Bill Trott)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_beasts_house_live_win_top_awards_sundance044758686/44342750/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/beasts-house-live-win-top-awards-sundance-044758686.html

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Researchers find cancer in ancient Egyptian mummy

CAIRO (AP) ? A professor from American University in Cairo says discovery of prostate cancer in a 2,200-year-old mummy indicates the disease was caused by genetics, not environment.

The genetics-environment question is key to understanding cancer.

AUC professor Salima Ikram, a member of the team that studied the mummy in Portugal for two years, said Sunday the mummy was of a man who died in his forties.

She said this was the second oldest known case of prostate cancer.

"Living conditions in ancient times were very different; there were no pollutants or modified foods, which leads us to believe that the disease is not necessarily only linked to industrial factors," she said.

A statement from AUC says the oldest known case came from a 2,700 year-old skeleton of a king in Russia.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-01-29-ML-Egypt-Ancient-Cancer/id-e1ac4d45bf884d0ea6f5c8fb2ede8778

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Connecticut killer sentenced to die for "unimaginable horror" (Reuters)

NEW HAVEN, Conn (Reuters) ? A judge formally sentenced Joshua Komisarjevsky to death for the murders of a mother and her two daughters during a brutal home invasion in Connecticut, saying he committed a crime of "unimaginable horror."

Judge Jon Blue on Friday told Komisarjevsky, 31, that he alone was to blame for his new address on death row after the 2007 triple murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and her daughters Hayley Petit, 17, and Michaela Petit, 11, and beating of husband and father Dr. William Petit Jr.

"This is a terrible sentence but one you have written for yourself," Blue told Komisarjevsky in New Haven Superior Court.

"Your crime was one of unimaginable horror and sadness," the judge said. "Your fate is now in the hands of others. May God have mercy on your soul."

He set an execution date of July 20, 2012, pending an appeal, which could drag out the matter for years.

Before the judge spoke, Komisarjevsky, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, denied he killed or raped anyone.

But he told the judge, "The clock is now ticking and I owe a debt I cannot repay."

Komisarjevsky now joins his accomplice, Steven Hayes, 48, who was sentenced to death last year for killings in which Hawke-Petit was strangled and the girls died of smoke inhalation after the home was set afire. Hawke-Petit was raped and Michaela Petit was sexually assaulted.

The killer's portrayal of innocence was in stark contrast to the "evil" described by the sole survivor of the attack, Dr. Petit, who told the court how Komisarjevsky's actions had destroyed his family.

"July 23, 2007 was my own personal holocaust," said Petit, who was beaten unconscious but escaped. "Evil does live among us."

He said he missed his late night chats with his wife and their partnership raising their daughters, who he will never walk down the wedding aisle and who will never bear the grandchildren he would have loved to have known.

Outside the courthouse, Petit's father spoke of the slow emotional recovery of his son, who is now engaged to be married.

"He's starting to come back a little bit now to what he was. He never will come all the way back," William Petit Sr. told reporters after the sentencing.

"To know Bill, the brilliant young doctor that he was, the happy young man, the good father, brother, cousin, uncle, all of those things, and son, and then to see him after this is just heartbreaking."

A jury convicted Komisarjevsky last fall, then sentenced him to death.

Komisarjevsky targeted Hawke-Petit and her younger daughter at a local grocery store and followed them home, he confessed during the investigation. He later returned with Hayes in the early morning, while the family was sleeping, and bashed Petit with a baseball bat and tied him to a pole in the basement.

After ransacking the home for valuables and finding little, they two men tied the girls to their beds and concocted a plan to take Hawke-Petit to the bank to withdraw $15,000.

Despite his last-minute denial at the sentencing, Komisarjevsky admitted to investigators that he molested Michaela while her mother was at the bank, according to police.

With the police circling the home, Hayes raped and strangled Hawke-Petit and the two men doused the family room and the girls' beds with gasoline.

Dr. Petit escaped through bulkhead doors in the basement as the home went up in flames.

Police caught Komisarjevsky and Hayes as they tried to flee.

During the trial, prosecutors laid blame for the predatory nature of the crime and the escalating violence on Komisarjevsky.

Defense attorneys said Komisarjevsky never intended for anyone to die and suffered mental health problems stemming from his upbringing by rigidly religious parents as well as from suffering several concussions and years of childhood sexual assault at the hands of a foster child in the family home.

Komisarjevsky's sentencing brings to 11 the number of men on the Connecticut's death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Connecticut has executed only one person, in 2005, since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976, the center said.

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Barbara Goldberg and Paul Thomasch)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/us_nm/us_crime_homeinvasion

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Leadership scramble: GOP rivals vie for title (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Republican presidential contenders are making a pitch to voters that sounds a lot like a children's game: Follow the leader.

When Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich aren't puffing up their own leadership credentials, they're running down the leadership skills of one another and President Barack Obama.

If anyone missed Monday's conference call from the Romney campaign about Gingrich's record as a "failed leader," not to worry. They could have tuned in to Tuesday's conference call. Or Wednesday's. Or Thursday's. Or checked out the "unreliable leader" banner splashed across a Romney news release that labeled Gingrich "unhinged." Romney's political biography, meanwhile, is all about his leadership as a businessman, Massachusetts governor and savior of the 2002 Olympic Games.

It's hard to miss Gingrich's frequent broadsides at Romney, meanwhile, for failing to provide consistent, visionary leadership. Or the former House speaker's pronouncements that he, by contrast, offers "exactly the kind of bold, tough leader the American people want." Or Gingrich's muscular descriptions of all that was accomplished in his four years as speaker in the 1990s.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, lagging them in the polls, keeps trying to muscle his way into the leader palooza by offering himself as the steady bet who can be counted on to offer more reliable conservative leadership than "erratic" Gingrich or "moderate" Romney.

In a race where all the candidates are trying to out-conservative one another, stressing leadership credentials gives the GOP rivals a way to try to distinguish themselves. And in a year when Obama's own leadership skills are seen as one of his weakest qualities, it gives the Republicans another arrow in their quiver as they argue over who would be most electable in a matchup with Obama come November.

Leadership is always a part of the equation in presidential elections. In 2008, for example, the candidates all were abuzz with claims that they offered "transformational" leadership. Obama announced he was running by declaring, "I want to transform this country."

This year, leadership is getting an extra dose of attention, perhaps because of statistics such as this: The share of Americans who view Obama as a strong leader slipped from 77 percent at the start of his presidency to 52 percent in a Pew Research Center poll released this month. And among Republicans, only about a fourth of those surveyed in the most recent poll viewed Obama as a strong leader, compared with 80 percent of Democrats.

At a campaign debate last week in Tampa, Fla., Gingrich and Romney both turned a question about electability into an answer about the L-word.

"This is going to come down a question of leadership," Romney said. Then the former Massachusetts governor recited his track record as a leader in business and government and took a dig at Gingrich for having to "resign in disgrace" when he was speaker in the 1990s.

Gingrich, answering the same question, aligned himself with the leadership record of conservative hero Ronald Reagan and offered himself as someone "prepared to be controversial when necessary" to bring about great change.

The answers offer a window into how differently the two candidates define leadership ? Romney more as a manager with business school credentials, Gingrich more as a big-thinking visionary.

The leadership argument is a particularly potent campaign weapon for Romney because a number of Republicans who served in Congress with Gingrich have been happy to describe his shortcomings in running the House.

"If you were somebody trying to serve with him, you were always sort of left standing with your hands empty in terms of moving forward with an actual plan or putting a plan to paper," Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., said of Gingrich on a Romney campaign conference call on Thursday. "So for me, it's an example that he's just not an effective leader. I think Mitt has the temperament and the ability to lead."

Gingrich, who resigned after a spate of ethics problems and a poor showing for House Republicans in the 1998 elections, managed to turn even his resignation as speaker into evidence that he's a strong leader.

"I took responsibility for the fact that our results weren't as good as they should be," he said in the Tampa debate. "I think that's what a leader should do."

As for the turbulence of his tenure as speaker, Gingrich casts that, too, as evidence of his bold leadership.

"Look, I wish everybody had loved me, but I'd rather be effective representing the American people than be popular inside Washington," he said earlier in the campaign.

Stephen Wayne, a presidential scholar at Georgetown University, said the harsh judgment of Obama's presidential leadership by Republicans and even some Democrats in part is due to the high hopes that he raised during the 2008 campaign. Obama the president has been measured against the words of Obama the candidate ever since.

Now that it's campaign season again, says Wayne, "he's not competing against his own image, he's competing against a real life person that has frailties. ... In a sense, that lowers the bar for Obama."

___

AP Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

___

Follow Nancy Benac at http://www.twitter.com/nbenac

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_follow_the_leader

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Liam Neeson: 'The ultimate alpha male actor'? (The Week)

New York ? The 59-year-old's intense turn in The Grey is the latest in a string of well-received tough-guy performances from an actor decades older than most action stars

A pack of vicious wolves may dominate the trailer for The Grey, but the film is all about Liam Neeson. (Watch the trailer below.) In the new action thriller, the Oscar winner plays John Ottaway, who survives a plane crash in the snowy mountains of Alaska and attempts to lead a band of survivors to safety ? fighting off blood-hungry lupines along the way. Critics are pleasantly surprised by the "terrifying" and "suspenseful" flick, calling it as "compelling as they come." Credit for its success is being given, almost unanimously, to Neeson?? "a bona fide 59-year-old action hero," who, with recent performances in films like Taken, Unknown, and The A Team, has proven himself more adept in the genre than his younger contemporaries. Is Neeson really that good?

Liam Neeson is Hollywood's best action star: As the leader of a band of frightened, ill-equipped survivors, Neeson leaves absolutely no doubt that he's the man to save them from "the snapping fangs of the wolf pack," says Soren Andersen at The Seattle Times. His winning performance solidifies his status as "the ultimate alpha-male actor in movies today." And his ability to deftly balance "soul-deep anguish" and shattering intensity in one performance is "unmatched by any other Hollywood leading man."
"The Grey: A harshly beautiful, bloody game of man vs. wolves"

Neeson simply brings more to these roles than other actors do:?Neeson shines because he elevates these action roles, masterfully expanding them beyond the typical script's cookie-cutter characterization, says Stephanie Zacharek at Movieline. His character in The Grey is saddled with "absurdly macho" dialogue, but Neeson makes the lines surprisingly poetic. He infuses Ottaway with an emotional complexity that "keeps him from becoming a caricature." As he slowly reveals his character's suffering, you can see "the shifts of dusky feeling that play across his face."
"The Grey is a howl of existential pain, with some action thrown in"

But he's squandering his talent: How the mighty have fallen, says Scott Tobias at The A.V. Club. At the top of his game, Neeson brilliantly played sensitive ? in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives ? and was perfectly cast as the "vengeful urban hero" in?Darkman, which "emphasized his intense vulnerability and inner torment." Neeson's recent string of "steely, inscrutable tough guy" roles does not play to his strengths. In The Grey, he sounds like "the hard-bitten narrator of a justly forgotten film noir." What a waste.
"The Grey"

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SEE ALSO: Megan Fox's 'bizarre' Brazilian language school ad

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GOP seeks limits on new Colo. child-care rules (AP)

DENVER ? Talk about red tape: Colorado's Department of Human Services last year proposed regulating child care businesses down to the number of crayons per box and the color of dolls kids can play with.

Also included: How many books child care centers should have, limits on computer and TV time, and bans on "googly eyes" and cotton balls, considered potential choking hazards.

Republicans in the Legislature say it highlights out-of-control government ? and they are introducing a bill Friday limiting how far the state can go when it comes to regulating child care.

"This one is at the top of my list because it seems so contrary to what the governor has been saying he wants the state agencies to do," said GOP Sen. Kevin Lundberg. "I expected the governor, when he found about it, to say, `Whoa, hold on a minute ? this isn't what I had in mind ? and to pull the plug. But he hasn't.'"

The state says it's backing off some of the more controversial proposals but is still in the process of drafting dozens of pages of new rules for more than 1,300 licensed child care centers and more than 800 licensed preschools.

"We continue to support the Department of Human Services as it works through a public process on the proposed regulations," Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper's office said in a statement.

Some child-care providers say they worry excessive rules will put them out of business. And Lundberg, who is sponsoring the legislation, said he wants to ensure that the state only regulates health and safety matters.

Department spokeswoman Liz McDonough said new rules are needed because child-care has evolved and is not just about putting kids in front of the television for eight hours.

Reggie Bicha, the executive director for Human Services, told a committee of lawmakers this week that quality child care helps children's long-term success.

"I don't think that we need to trade lowering standards to keep mediocre child care providers in business," he said, according to The Pueblo Chieftain.

Julie Krow, director of the Office of Children, Youth and Families, said businesses are contributing to the rules being crafted. At the earliest, it's possible a draft will be completed late this year, she said.

"We know that investing in early quality childhood education is an investment that saves money later," Krow said.

McDonough said guidelines on the "race" of dolls and classroom materials, such as having a minimum of 10 crayons per box, have been dropped. Officials said the proposal for crayons was based on national quality suggestions for a rich educational experience.

Sandy Bright, who directs three child-care centers in Weld County, is taking a wait and see attitude.

Bright said existing regulations have compelled her to pull her college transcripts from the early `70s as part of her child-care recertification. Employees are required to take classes with titles like "infant-toddler theory."

"Which is kind of interesting because if you don't take infants or toddlers, you're still required to take that course," Bright said.

Bright recently sought assurances from Hickenlooper at a luncheon for the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry during which the governor reiterated his commitment to eliminating red tape.

"If these go through ? four colors of dolls per classroom, numbers of crayons and numbers of everything. I've been in business for 40 years. I'm very concerned about where this is headed," she said.

Hickenlooper responded that his administration is aware of the child-care industry's concerns.

"I guarantee you no one's going to tell you how many crayons you have to have in your crayon box," he said.

___

Follow Ivan Moreno on Twitter: http://twitter.com/IvanJournalist

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_us/us_day_care_too_much_oversight

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'Red Tails' Proves All-Black Cast Can Soar At Box Office

'I feel like this was a matter of just proving them wrong,' Ne-Yo tells MTV News of the George Lucas-produced flick.
By Rob Markman

Ne-Yo in "Red Tails"
Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd.

It wasn't easy getting "Red Tails" into theaters, but singer/actor Ne-Yo believes that after opening at #2 at the box office, it was well worth the fight.

"I feel like we definitely did what we set out to do, which was make sure these incredible men, the Tuskegee Airmen, got the recognition that they deserved for the incredible things that they did for this country," Ne-Yo told MTV News of the George Lucas-produced film on Wednesday. "And [we] proved to Hollywood that an ensemble cast of black faces can put asses in the seats, basically," he laughed. "So I feel like we served our purpose."

"Red Tails" tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American fighter pilots who battled deep-rooted racism, while fighting in World War II. Both Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. star in the flick, while Ne-Yo, Method Man and Tristan Wilds have supporting roles. The historical piece hit theaters January 20, the Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day and opened second behind "Underworld: Awakening." Not bad for the singer/songwriter, who was also named senior vice president of A&R at Motown Records.

Considering the movie wasn't especially well-received by critics, "Red Tails" did well in its first weekend, surpassing initial expectations. Lucas appeared on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" earlier this month and claimed that major studios showed no interest in the film when he went to pitch it.

"It's because it's an all-black movie," he said. "There's no major white roles in it at all. It's one of the first all-black action pictures ever made."

"We've come a long way from when Martin was marching in the streets and getting rocks thrown at him. We've come a very, very long way," Ne-Yo said. "However, even with that being said, we got a long way to go. As a black person, period, we're kinda constantly in a state of proving, which is something that I came to wraps with a long time ago."

Despite the studios' lack of interest in the film, Ne-Yo decided to let the success of "Red Tails" speak for itself. "At the end of the day, you complain about it, or you prove them wrong," he said. "I feel like this was a matter of just proving them wrong."

Check out everything we've got on "Red Tails."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Related Videos

• MTV Rough Cut: Red Tails

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• Ne-Yo

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678007/ne-yo-red-tails-box-office.jhtml

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Asia stocks gain slightly on Fed's low rate pledge (AP)

BANGKOK ? Asian stock markets posted muted gains Thursday after the U.S. central bank pledged to keep interest rates low for another three years to nurture the country's stubbornly slow economic recovery.

Benchmark oil hovered just below $100 per barrel while the dollar fell against the euro and the yen.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.2 percent to 20,342.71 on its first trading day since the Chinese New Year holiday. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2 percent to 1,956.21. Benchmarks in Thailand and New Zealand also rose.

Japan's Nikkei was 0.4 percent lower at 8,853.02 as a weakening dollar pressured the country's exporters. Benchmarks in Singapore and Malaysia also fell.

Markets in Taiwan and mainland Chinese remained closed for the Chinese New Year. Markets in India and Australia were closed for public holidays.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee said it was unlikely to raise interest rates before late 2014. It had previously said it expected to keep rates low into the middle of 2013.

The Fed cut rates to near zero in December 2008, during the financial crisis, and has held them there ever since. The announcement was a sign that the Fed expects the economy, which is improving, to need significant help for three more years.

Analysts said some stock buyers rejoiced that the Fed was leaning toward promoting economic growth.

"With the FOMC sending out a strong signal that monetary policy is likely to remain accommodative for even longer than previously expected, risk assets are in a very good position," Stan Shamu of IG Markets in Melbourne said in an email.

Wall Street welcomed the news, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing up 0.6 percent at 12,756.96 ? the highest close since May 10. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.9 percent to 1,326.06. The Nasdaq composite index gained 1.1 percent to close at 2,818.31.

Energy shares got a boost after crude briefly topped $100 per barrel on Wednesday. South Korea's oil refiner S-Oil Corp. rose 2.5 percent, while China National Offshore Oil Corp., known as CNOOC, rose 2.1 percent in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong-listed Zijin Mining Group, China's largest gold miner, jumped 4.1 percent amid rising prices in the precious metal.

But Japanese export shares didn't fare so well. Low interest rates in the U.S. would likely weigh on the dollar, giving the tenaciously strong yen another unwelcome boost.

Yamaha Motor Corp. sank 2.4 percent, while Sony Corp. lost 1.2 percent. Toshiba Corp. was 1.2 percent down.

Lee Kok Joo, head of research at Phillip Securities in Singapore, said the Fed announcement would likely have only a short-term affect on equities.

"Beyond that, you still need to look at the macro picture," he said, referring in particular to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. "Things are still pretty uncertain in the European region."

Greece, which faces an important bond repayment deadline in March, is struggling to reach a deal with creditors to prevent a chaotic default on its massive debts. A default could trigger a financial crisis in Europe and beyond.

Private sector investors that hold a large part of Greece's debt are being asked to swap their existing bonds with new ones of a reduced value, longer maturity and lower interest rate. Greece needs the deal if it is to avoid default this spring.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 57 cents to $99.97 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose by 45 cents to finish at $99.40 per barrel in New York on Wednesday. At one point it was as high as $100.40.

The prospect of low interest rates dragged on the dollar, since it reduces the returns that investors get from holding assets denominated in that currency. The euro rose to $1.3109 from $1.3084 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.69 yen from 77.81 yen.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

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VH1 Debuts MOB WIVES: THE SIT DOWN with Host CARRIE KEAGAN Sunday January 29th at 9pm EST

With ratings as high as the on-set drama, VH1 today announced that its one-hour hit reality series ?Mob Wives? will?be immediately followed with a half-hour post-show titled ?Mob Wives: The Sit Down,? beginning Sunday, January 29 at 9pm ET/PT. The series will also be produced by TWC, Electus, Left/Right and JustJenn Productions who also produce [...]

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Obama tax ideas face long odds ahead of election (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama's bid to get millionaires and multinational companies to pay more taxes may play well with many voters but it faces long odds in the deadlocked U.S. Congress.

Obama used his State of the Union speech on Tuesday to press the case for a new minimum 30 percent tax on Americans earning more than $1 million a year and for tougher treatment of corporations that move jobs out of the United States.

At the same time, he called for tax credits to lure jobs back to the United States.

"Right now, companies get tax breaks for moving jobs and profits overseas," Obama said. "Meanwhile, companies that choose to stay in America get hit with one of the highest tax rates in the world."

Obama, facing a tough re-election campaign, for several years has called for steeper taxes on corporations' foreign profits and closing what he calls tax loopholes that also benefit multinational companies.

Most of these ideas have stalled for years in Congress - even some Democrats say they can wait for a complete overhaul of the tax code.

A tax lobbyist affiliated with Democrats said real debate over the proposed tax changes would have to wait until after the November 6 presidential and congressional elections.

"They would only likely stand a chance in a broader corporate tax reform debate and I just don't think that tax reform is in the cards," the lobbyist said.

Obama and Republicans both say the tax code needs a major rewrite and lawmakers are laying the groundwork for such a reform, but the process is expected to take years. The 35 percent U.S. corporate rate is among the highest in the world and critics say it harms business competitiveness.

Obama is calling for a number of tax policies that could in theory appeal to Republicans, in the name of boosting the flagging economy. For example, he wants to trim tax rates for manufacturers and double a tax deduction for high-tech manufacturing - ideas that might gain some bipartisan backing.

But even that is unlikely in the current environment.

"Tempted as they may be by more tax cuts, anything that smacks of a deal with Obama, or a victory for Obama, especially one that undercuts their theme - however detached from the reality - that Obama is a tax-increaser, will be reflexively resisted by Republicans in both houses," said Norm Ornstein, a congressional watcher at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

BUFFETT RULE

Probably the biggest tax change Obama outlined is a revamp of what he has called the Buffett rule, named for billionaire investor Warren Buffett, to ensure the wealthy pay what he calls a fair share of taxes. Obama proposed a minimum 30 percent tax on millionaires, and eliminating many tax deductions for them - including for housing, healthcare and childcare.

Buffett's secretary - famous for her boss's observation that she pays a higher tax rate than he does - sat in the congressional gallery as a guest of the White House to underscore the point.

A minimum 30 percent tax rate would be about twice the tax rate paid by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the past two years, according to filings he released on Tuesday.

Lower tax rates enacted under former Republican President George W. Bush are set to expire at the end of this year, setting up a fight over extending them in late 2012.

Obama and Democrats want to let the lower rates for the wealthy expire. Obama said given steep budget deficits, Americans face a choice.

"Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? Or do we want to keep our investments in everything else?" Obama asked.

The top individual income tax rate is now 35 percent, but the superwealthy can enjoy lower rates in some cases if they earn most of their income from investments - as does Romney - which are subject to a 15 percent rate.

A version of Obama's so-called Buffett rule has been promoted by Democrats in Congress as a way to pay for extending the payroll tax cut, but has no chance of passing.

Obama had previously proposed limiting deductions for wealthier Americans to a certain percentage of their income, but he went further in Tuesday's speech to advocate cutting out certain tax breaks completely for millionaires.

Even before Obama spoke, Republicans were blasting the speech as a campaign event.

"No Bailouts, No Hand-outs, And No Cop-outs," read one congressional Republican press release.

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/pl_nm/us_usa_obama_speech_taxes

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Rollin' Justin learns to throw like a robot

Our pal Rollin' Justin proved the old adage about teaching old robots new robo tricks wrong back in April, when he learned to catch balls by tracking moving objects, calculating their flight paths and then snapping shut his cold metal claws at the moment of impact. Now he's besting himself, thanks to a handful of improvements imparted upon him by way of his fleshy masters at the German Aerospace Agency. Among the upgrades are are an improvement to old Justin's dynamic performance -- he's now 1.5 times faster in his arms, thanks to new gear ratios, helping to make his game of robo catch two-sided, with the ability to actually throw. He's also adopted the more flattering moniker Agile Justin and likes to play catch with his older, similarly named sibling. Video evidence of his new-found skills after the jump.

Continue reading Rollin' Justin learns to throw like a robot

Rollin' Justin learns to throw like a robot originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reese Witherspoon Will Answer Your Questions For 'MTV First'

FROM MTV MOVIES:
Reese Witherspoon, the star of the upcoming action-comedy "This Means War," could answer your question on MTV. All you have to do is ask it.
It will all happen Tuesday, January 31st on MTV and MTV.com. MTV News' Josh Horowitz will sit down with the Academy Award-winning actress for an interview and premiere [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/01/23/reese-witherspoon-mtv-first/

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Croats say 'yes' to EU membership (AP)

ZAGREB, Croatia ? Croatians voted Sunday in favor of joining the European Union amid a record small referendum turnout ? a sign of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost in its appeal within the aspiring members states.

Croatia's state referendum commission said that with about 50 percent of the ballot calculated, about 67 percent of those who took part in the referendum answered "yes" to the question: "Do you support the membership of the Republic of Croatia in the European Union?"

About 32 percent were against, while the rest of the ballots were invalid. About 42 percent of eligible voters were estimated to have taken part in the referendum, illustrating voters' apathy toward the 27-nation bloc.

"The people are obviously tired," Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said. "It would have been better that the turnout was larger, but that's reality."

Croatia signed an EU accession treaty last year and will become its 28th member in July 2013 after all the bloc's states ratify the deal.

The Croats were deeply divided before the referendum.

Those who were for the EU say their Balkan country's troubled economy ? burdened by recession, a euro48-billion ($61-billion) foreign debt and a 17 percent unemployment rate ? will revive because of access to wider European markets and job opportunities that the membership should bring.

"It's a big moment in our history ... we are joining more successful countries in Europe," Croatia's President Ivo Josipovic said after casting his ballot. "I'm happy that Europe will become my home."

Opponents said Croatia has nothing to gain by entering the bloc, which is fighting off the bankruptcy of some of its members. They said that Croatia will only lose its sovereignty and the national identity it fought for in a war for independence from Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

"I voted against because I don't think we'll do well in the EU," said university student Matea Kolenc, 23. "I heard a lot of bad things about the EU, its economic situation and what it has to offer."

The Balkan nation started negotiating its EU entry six years ago, but since then the popularity of the bloc has faded, as Croats realize that EU membership would not automatically lead to prosperity.

Many in Croatia ? and the rest of the EU ? also wonder what is the bloc going to gain from the country that is ripe with corruption and has economic woes that are among the deepest in the Balkans.

Croatia's credit rating was last year reduced to a step above junk by ratings agency Standard & Poor's which cited its deteriorating fiscal position and external financing for its decision. If it enters the EU in 2013, Croatia won't be adopting the euro currency for several more years, and is unlikely to contribute to its further plunge.

In a sign of deep divisions in Croatia over the membership, police clashed Saturday in downtown Zagreb with a group of nationalist protesters who attempted to take down an EU flag.

Numerous anti-EU graffiti, some saying "Stop the Destruction, No to EU," appeared Sunday on the walls of voting stations in the Croatian Adriatic coast port of Split, the hotbed of nationalists. Police covered the signs with white paint.

Croatian officials, who have launched a pro-EU campaign before the referendum, warned that a "no" vote would deprive the country of the much-needed accession funds, and that even the payment of pensions for retirees and war veterans could be in jeopardy.

Croatia has received around euro150 million ($193 million) in pre-accession assistance since 2007. It is to receive another euro150 million for 2012 and euro95 million ($122 million) in 2013.

"Clearly all that funding will be stopped if the Croats say no in the referendum," Croatia's Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said.

Croatia's pro-government media have also tried to scare Croatians by saying that if they reject the EU, they would have to return to some sort of a Balkan union with their former wartime foes, Serbia, which has been struggling to gain a candidacy status in the bloc.

The approval rating for EU membership has also dropped to 52 percent in Serbia because of Germany's conditioning for the candidacy with the de facto recognizing of the independence of its former Kosovo province which declared independence in 2008.

___

Eldar Emric contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_re_eu/eu_croatia_eu_referendum

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Best-selling Indian author says banned writers not "heroes" (Reuters)

JAIPUR, India (Reuters) ? Best-selling Indian writer Chetan Bhagat on Saturday criticised the support leant to authors whose books are banned for offending religious communities, a day after Salman Rushdie cancelled a trip to India citing threats against his life.

Bhagat, whose five novels have sold around 6 million copies, condemned the banning of texts at the Jaipur Literature Festival but criticised people who proclaim their writers as heroes for upholding the right to free speech.

"(Banned books) have hurt people, they have hurt Muslims," said Bhagat. "I don't think anyone should be banned... but let's not make heroes out of them."

Rushdie said on Friday that he was abandoning his visit to the five-day festival due to assassination threats against him, following protests by some Indian Muslim groups at the invitation to the author of The Satanic Verses.

Organizers of the festival said in a statement late on Friday that they would not tolerate any legal violations at the event after two authors read passages from The Satanic Verses, which is banned in India, in support of Rushdie.

"Any comments made by the delegates reflect their personal, individual views and are not endorsed by the festival, or attributable to its organizers," they wrote in the statement.

The publication of The Satanic Verses over twenty years ago sparked a wave of protests around the world after Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini claimed that the novel's portrayal of the prophet Muhammad insulted Islam.

Bhagat, whose best-selling novels such as 2005's One Night @ the Call Centre have divided literary critics, has risen in prominence over the past year as an outspoken supporter of the movement headed by anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare.

"Everyone has a right to hurt, but people don't have to," Bhagat added.

Oprah Winfrey, Michael Ondaatje and Ariel Dorfman will speak to over 70,000 visitors at the event, which aims to showcase the best of Indian, South Asian and international writing in one of the world's fastest-growing publishing markets.

(Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/stage_nm/us_india_literature_festival

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Editorial: RIM's new CEO isn't the shakeup it needed

For a brief moment, I had hopes that RIM had made a move that would unseat it from the funk it's been sitting in for years. And then I watched the introductory video of newly-appointed CEO Thorsten Heins. Anyone who assumes that a simple CEO swap is the answer to all of RIM's issues is woefully misinformed, or worse, just blinded by false hope. Sure, removing Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis -- both of which have been rightly criticized for not responding to market pressures quickly enough -- is a start, but it's not like they're gone. In fact, the two are still situated at a pretty fancy table within Research in Motion's organizational chart.

RIM, we've been here before

RIM seems to be as lost as my BlackBerry

Dear RIM, I'm your customer and I don't wear a suit

Have a listen at this: Mike is hanging around as the Vice Chair of RIM's Board and Chair of the Board's new Innovation Committee. You heard right -- the guy who has outrightly failed to innovate at anything in the past handful of years is now championing an innovation committee. Sounds right up his alley, no? Jim's staying put as an outright director, and if you think anyone at RIM is going to brush aside the input of the founders, you're wrong. Jim and Mike may have new titles, but they're still here, and I have no reason to believe that they'll act radically different going forward than they have in the past. Oh, and about Thorsten Heins? Let's go there.

Continue reading Editorial: RIM's new CEO isn't the shakeup it needed

Editorial: RIM's new CEO isn't the shakeup it needed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Washington St. women lose to No. 4 Stanford 75-41 (AP)

STANFORD, Calif. ? For nearly 18 minutes, Washington State coach June Daugherty saw just about everything she wanted to from her team.

The Cougars took everything No. 4 Stanford threw at them and even built an early lead against the Cardinal before it all fell apart in the second half. That's when Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer switched defenses and Washington State failed to adjust, losing 75-41 on Thursday night.

"I thought we really were on point as far as running our game plan (early)," Daugherty said. "We mixed up the defenses quite a bit and then offensively ... when we didn't have good shots, we spaced the floor, moved to cut a lot better and tried to force Stanford to play into the shot clock a little bit."

It's the second time in their last five games that the Cougars (9-9, 3-3 Pac-12) have gotten off to a quick start, only to see it go to waste in the second half.

Washington State didn't have a player in double figures, shot just 27.7 percent for the game and remained winless in 53 meetings against Stanford.

"I just thought they came out and were really aggressive," VanDerveer said of the Cougars. "I don't think the score indicates how well they played. I just think they got a little discouraged and we turned it up in the second half."

Shalie Dheenshaw had seven points to lead Washington State, which has lost three straight under Daugherty, a former Stanford assistant June Daugherty, since opening the Pac-12 schedule with three consecutive wins.

Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Chiney Ogwumike added 19 points and 12 rebounds while Joslyn Tinkle had nine points, eight rebounds and four assists as the Cardinal extended their school-record home winning streak to 72 games.

Stanford (16-1, 7-0 Pac-12) looked ragged in the early going before Nneka Ogwumike provided a spark, scoring 12 points in the first nine minutes of the second half. She then sat out the rest of the game, finishing 9 for 19 from the floor and moving into sixth place on the Cardinal's career scoring list.

The Pac-12's top-shooting team going in, Stanford was out of sorts offensively for the first 14 minutes of the game. The Cardinal missed 18 of their first 24 shots, committed careless turnovers and trailed 16-13 before Ogwumike's steal and layup triggered a 16-2 run capped by Bonnie Samuelson's 3-pointer.

Ogwumike moved past Jeanne Ruark Hoff on Stanford's charts and now has 2,055 career points. She needs eight more to slip past Nicole Powell into fifth place and only 23 to move past Val Whiting.

The Cardinal got off to a slow start against the Cougars 3-2 zone before Nneka and younger sister Chiney got them going, both scoring and working the boards. The duo combined to match Washington State's scoring total and was especially tough inside.

Chiney, the conference player of the week, had eight points coming out of halftime and got an assist on a short pass in the key to Nneka during a 24-6 blitz by Stanford that put the game out of reach.

That helped overcome a rough night from Stanford's perimeter shooting. The Cardinal were only 4 of 20 on 3s.

Stanford also got a boost from its own defense, which held the Cougars to 27.3 percent shooting. VanDerveer, who has juggled her lineup in recent weeks, had the Cardinal move to a high 2-3 zone which gave Washington State fits.

"That's when we struggled the most," Daugherty said. "We missed some very easy layups and they stayed in it. Of course you'd stay in it when teams are missing easy layups."

As rough a start as Stanford had shooting in the first half, it was the defense that kept it from being much of an issue.

The Cardinal forced 11 turnovers and had six steals before halftime, two from Tinkle who broke up a pass in the key and fed Toni Kokenis with a long pass and easy layup just before the buzzer to give Stanford a 31-20 lead.

Washington State, which shot 30 percent in the first half, never recovered and extended its winless streak against Stanford.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/bkw_t25_washington_state

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After protest, Congress puts off movie piracy bill (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Caving to a massive campaign by Internet services and their millions of users, Congress indefinitely postponed legislation Friday to stop online piracy of movies and music costing U.S. companies billions of dollars every year. Critics said the bills would result in censorship and stifle Internet innovation.

The demise, at least for the time being, of the anti-piracy bills was a clear victory for Silicon Valley over Hollywood, which has campaigned for a tougher response to online piracy. The legislation also would cover the counterfeiting of drugs and car parts.

Congress' qualms underscored how Internet users can use their collective might to block those who want to change the system.

The battle over the future of the Internet also played out on a different front Thursday when a loose affiliation of hackers known as "Anonymous" shut down Justice Department websites for several hours and hacked the site of the Motion Picture Association of America after federal officials issued an indictment against Megaupload.com, one of the world's biggest file-sharing sites.

The site of the Hong Kong-based company was shut down, and the founder and three employees were arrested in New Zealand on U.S. accusations that they facilitated millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content, costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue. New Zealand police raided homes and businesses linked to the founder, Kim Dotcom, on Friday and seized guns, millions of dollars and nearly $5 million in luxury cars, officials there said.

In the U.S., momentum against the Senate's Protect Intellectual Property Act and the House's Stop Online Piracy Act, known popularly as PIPA and SOPA, grew quickly on Wednesday when the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and other Web giants staged a one-day blackout and Google organized a petition drive that attracted more than 7 million participants.

That day alone, at least six senators who had co-sponsored the Senate legislation reversed their positions. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in statements at the time and again on Friday, stressed that more consensus-building was needed before the legislation would be ready for a vote.

On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was postponing a test vote set for Tuesday "in light of recent events." House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, followed suit, saying consideration of a similar House bill would be postponed "until there is wider agreement on a solution."

With opposition mounting, it was unlikely that Reid would have received the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation to the Senate floor.

The two bills would allow the Justice Department, and copyright holders, to seek court orders against foreign websites accused of copyright infringement. The legislation would bar online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as credit card companies from doing business with an alleged violator. They also would forbid search engines from linking to such sites.

The chief Senate sponsor, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., cited estimates that copyright piracy costs the American economy more than $50 billion annually and that global sales of counterfeit goods via the Internet reached $135 billion in 2010. He and Smith insist that their bills target only foreign criminals and that there is nothing in them to require websites, Internet service providers, search engines or others to monitor their networks.

That didn't satisfy critics who said the legislation could force Internet companies to pre-screen user comments or videos, burden new and smaller websites with huge litigation costs and impede new investments.

The White House, while not taking a specific stand on the bills, last week said it would "not support any legislation that reduces freedom of expression ... or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet." On Friday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said online piracy is an issue that has to be addressed, "but everybody has to be in on it for it to work and get through Congress."

The scuttling, for now, of PIPA and SOPA frustrates what might have been one of the few opportunities to move significant legislation in an election year where the two parties have little motivation to cooperate.

Until recently "you would have thought this bill was teed up," with backing from key Senate leaders and support from powerful interest groups, said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who cosponsored the original bill but quickly dropped his backing on the grounds the bill could undermine innovation and Internet freedom.

Moran said the "uprising" of so many people with similar concerns was a "major turnaround, and in my experience it is something that has happened very rarely."

Moran said PIPA and SOPA now have "such a black eye" that it will be difficult to amend them. Reid, however, said that there had been progress in recent talks among the various stakeholders and "there is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved."

Jeff Chester, executive director for the Center for Digital Democracy, a consumer protection and privacy advocacy group, said Google and Facebook and their supporters "have delivered a powerful blow to the Hollywood lobby." He predicted a compromise that doesn't include what many see as overreaching provisions in the current legislation.

"It's been framed as an Internet freedom issue, but at the end of the day it will be decided on the narrow interests of the old and new media companies," he said. The big questions involve who should or shouldn't pay ? or be paid ? for Internet content.

Leahy said he respected Reid's decision to postpone the vote but lamented the Senate's unwillingness to debate his bill.

"The day will come when the senators who forced this move will look back and realize they made a knee-jerk reaction to a monumental problem," Leahy said. Criminals in China, Russia and other countries "who do nothing but peddle in counterfeit products and stolen American content are smugly watching how the United States Senate decided" it was not worth taking up the bill, he said.

In the House, Smith said he had "heard from the critics" and resolved that it was "clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products." Smith had planned on holding further committee votes on his bill next month.

The bill's opponents were relieved it was put on hold.

Markham Erickson, executive director of NetCoalition, commended Congress for "recognizing the serious collateral damage this bill could inflict on the Internet."

The group represents Internet and technology companies including Google, Yahoo and Amazon.com. Erickson said they would work with Congress "to address the problem of piracy without compromising innovation and free expression."

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who has joined Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Moran in proposing an alternative anti-piracy bill, credited opponents with forcing lawmakers "to back away from an effort to ram through controversial legislation."

But the CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, former Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd, warned, "As a consequence of failing to act, there will continue to be a safe haven for foreign thieves." The MPAA, which represents such companies as Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., is a leading advocate for the anti-piracy legislation.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_en_ot/us_internet_piracy

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Northern Irish militant found guilty of soldiers' killing (Reuters)

ANTRIM, Northern Ireland (Reuters) ? A Northern Irish Catholic was found guilty on Friday of the 2009 murder of two British soldiers outside an army base, one of the worst attacks since a 1998 peace deal mostly ended three decades of sectarian violence.

The shootings were claimed by the Real IRA, a dissident group which opposes the Irish Republican Army's ending of its armed campaign against British rule.

Brian Shivers, 46, from county Londonderry, was found guilty of the killing of soldiers Patrick Azimkar, 21, and Mark Quinsey, 23. His co-accused Colin Duffy, 44, was acquitted.

Azimkar, 21, and Quinsey, 23, were shot dead outside the Massereene Barracks in Antrim as they collected a pizza just hours before they were due to fly out to Afghanistan. Four other people were seriously injured, including the pizza delivery men.

(Reporting by Ivan Little; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/usmilitary/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/wl_nm/us_irish_trial

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Costa Concordia vs. Titanic: Do they compare?

By Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience

The hectic evacuation of the sinking cruise liner Costa Concordia has been compared with the likes of the disastrous Titanic disaster. In fact, Swiss survivors even told the newspaper La Tribune de Gen?ve that Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," the theme song to the 1997 film "Titanic," was playing in their dining room as the ship hit the rocks.

So how do the two shipwrecks match up? While the?loss of life on the Titanic?was much worse than on the Costa Concordia, even the Titanic's poorly planned evacuation may have been less chaotic than the one off the Tuscan coast. By the numbers, here's a side-by-side look at the two cruise ship disasters:

Date of wrecks:?The Titanic went down on April 15, 1912. The?Costa Concordia capsizedon Jan.13, 2012.

Size of ships:?The Titanic was 882 feet and 8 inches long (268 meters) and had a tonnage of 46,000. The Costa Concordia was larger, with a tonnage of 114,500 and a length of 951 feet and 5 inches (290 m). The width of the Titanic was 92.5 feet (28 m), compared with 118 feet (36 m) for the Costa Concordia.

More from Live Science

Bragging rights:?The Titanic was the?largest ship?of her day. The Costa Concordia had the largest spa center ever built on a cruise ship.

People on board:?2,201 people were aboard the Titanic when it sunk, and 4,200 were aboard the Costa Concordia.

Cause of wreck:?The Titanic famously hit an iceberg on its starboard side in the middle of the North Atlantic, while the Costa Concordia struck a rock on its port side when the captain brought the ship in close to the Tuscan island of Giglio in the Mediterranean Sea.

Lifeboat capacity:?The Titanic's lifeboats could have carried no more than 1,178 people. Nowadays, according to the International Maritime Organization, ships are required to have plenty of lifeboat space, with enough lifeboats hanging off the port side to accommodate half of the passengers, enough on the starboard side to accommodate the other half, and room for 25 percent more of the ship's passengers in inflatable rafts stored on board. [Titanic Quiz: Fact or Fiction?]

"The Costa Concordia had sufficient lifeboat space, as far as we know, by the regulations she operates under," said Charles Weeks, an emeritus professor of marine transportation at the Maine Maritime Academy, and a member of the Titanic International Society. Unlike the Titanic, which lacked sufficient staff at lifeboat muster points, the Costa Concordia seemed to have crew supervision at the lifeboat stations, he said. The delay in lowering the lifeboats, which occurred about 45 minutes to an hour after the ship hit the rocks, may have been the captain's call, he said.

"There may have been a perfectly valid reason why he waited so long," Weeks told LiveScience. "You don't want to put lifeboats in the water while the ship is still making way. That can be very hazardous."

Time it took to sink: The Titanic went down over a period of two hours and 40 minutes. The Costa Concordia began listing about 20 minutes after it hit a rock near Giglio Island and was completely on its side within about three hours.

Depth of the wreck:?The Titanic lay on the seafloor 12,460 feet (3,798 m) below the surface. The Costa Concordia essentially ran aground and is now half-submerged ? the ship is unable to float in water less than 26 feet (8 m) deep.

Temperature of water: The passengers of the Titanic unlucky enough to end up in the water likely perished in a few short minutes, as the water temperature was just 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 2 degrees Celsius).

According to Accuweather, the air temperature when the Costa Concordia crashed was in the mid-to-low 40s Fahrenheit. The water temperature was in the mid- to upper-50s. In 50-degree water,?hypothermia sets in?quickly; boating guides put the time at about 60 minutes until exhaustion or unconsciousness, with death following within three hours.

Loss of life:?Only 711 of the passengers aboard the Titanic were rescued, resulting in adeath toll?of 1,514, according to the British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry. The most recent reports show 11 Costa Concordia passengers were confirmed dead, with 21 still missing.

Fate of the captain:?Edward J. Smith, the captain of the Titanic, went down with his ship. His body was never found.

The Costa Concordia captain, Francesco Schettino, is under intense scrutiny for allegedly abandoning ship while passengers were still on board. A transcript of a phone conversation between Schettino and a coast guard officer reveals the officer insisting Schettino return to the ship, and the captain refusing. Schettino is now under house arrest and is being investigated for manslaughter.

The standard of the captain being the last person to leave a crippled ship serves two purposes, Weeks said. First, it's the captain's job to take care of everyone else on the boat. Second, if a captain stays with a?damaged ship, he can protect the ship owner's interests. If the captain is still on the boat, the owners can arrange a towing contract to get the vessel back to port, Weeks said. If the ship is abandoned, it must be salvaged, which can be a more complicated and costly process for the owners.

Big evacuation foul-ups:?Hundreds of Titanic passengers never had a?chance at survival, given the lack of lifeboat space available. Not only that, but a U.S. inquiry into the disaster found that the evacuation process was a mess: There was no system for loading the boats, and many of the boats went down partially filled (though there was space for 1,176 people on the boats, only about 700 made it onto one). Additionally, the loss of life would have been much worse had the weather have been rough, the panel found. With the lifeboats suspended 70 feet (21 m) above the ocean, rough waters would have made lowering them without smashing them against the ship impossible.

On the other hand, all reports indicate very little panic during the Titanic evacuation, at least not until the very end. This is likely because most passengers didn't realize the seriousness of the situation, Weeks said. There are reports of passengers refusing to get on the lifeboats, choosing instead to stay in the warmth and light of the doomed ship.

The same cannot be said of the Costa Concordia evacuation, which survivors describe as chaotic. "It was every man for himself," one survivor told French News outlet?France 24. Crew members reportedly panicked and jumped aboard lifeboats before passengers.

The Costa Concordia listed to one side, in contrast with the Titanic, which tilted forward, her bow in the water. That may have made the Concordia sinking seem more dramatic than the sinking of the Titanic, at least from the perspective of those on board.

"A ship that lists to one side is far more dramatic than a ship that trims down by the head," Weeks said.

The evacuation of the Costa Concordia was delayed, with passengers initially informed that the ship was having a minor electrical problem. There had been no evacuation drill onboard ? it was scheduled for Saturday ? so passengers were confused. Many of the crew did not speak Italian and could not communicate with their charges. Some cruise-goers reported being on lifeboats captained by waiters and other support staff.

Weeks said reports of the crew's behavior still needed confirmation, but said that such a situation is not without precedent. The cruise ship Oceanus, for example, sank off the South African Coast in 1991.

"The social director wound up overseeing the evacuation of the passengers," Weeks said. "The captain and certain members of the crew went off in the first lifeboat."

Regardless of the waters they're operating in, cruise ships are governed by a series of international maritime treaties that set standards for everything from evacuation procedures to emergency crew training. NBC's Tom Costello reports.

Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/19/10190701-costa-concordia-vs-titanic-do-they-compare

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