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OSLO, Norway?? Two men accused of plotting to attack a Danish newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad were found guilty Monday of terror charges in Norway, the first convictions under the country's anti-terror laws.

The Oslo district court sentenced alleged ringleader Mikael Davud to seven years in prison and co-defendant Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak to three and a half years.

Judge Oddmund Svarteberg said the court found that Davud "planned the attack together with al-Qaida."

A third defendant, David Jakobsen, was cleared of terror charges but convicted of helping the others acquire explosives. Jakobsen, who assisted police in the investigation, was sentenced to four months.

Investigators say the plot was linked to the same al-Qaida planners behind thwarted attacks against the New York subway system and a British shopping mall in 2009.

The case was Norway's most high-profile terror investigation until last July, when a right-wing extremist killed 77 people in a bomb and shooting massacre.

The three men, who were arrested in July 2010, made some admissions but pleaded innocent to terror conspiracy charges and rejected any links to al-Qaida.

During the trial Davud denied he was taking orders from al-Qaida, saying he was planning a solo raid against the Chinese Embassy in Oslo. He said he wanted revenge for Beijing's oppression of Uighurs, a Muslim minority in western China.

Davud, a Norwegian citizen, also said his co-defendants helped him acquire bomb-making ingredients but didn't know he was planning an attack.

Cartoons of Prophet Muhammad
Prosecutors said the Norwegian cell first wanted to attack Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, whose 12 cartoons of Muhammad sparked furious protests in Muslim countries in 2006, and then changed plans to seek to murder one of the cartoonists instead.

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Bujak, an Iraqi Kurd, said the paper and the cartoonist were indeed the targets, but described the plans as "just talk."

Prosecutors had to prove the defendants worked together in a conspiracy, because a single individual plotting an attack is not covered under Norway's anti-terror laws.

During the trial, prosecutors presented testimony obtained in the U.S. in April from three American al-Qaida recruits turned government witnesses.

Jakobsen, an Uzbek national who changed his name after moving to Norway, provided some of the chemicals for the bomb, but claims he did not know they were meant for explosives. Jakobsen contacted police and served as an informant, but still faced charges for his involvement before that.

The men had been under surveillance for more than a year when authorities moved to arrest them in July 2010. Norwegian investigators, who worked with their U.S. counterparts, said the defendants were building a bomb in a basement laboratory in Oslo.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46188310/ns/world_news-europe/

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Sony Electronics

Sony Cyber-shot TX200V in red

By Athima Chansanchai

In an attempt to stanch the flow of consumers leaving digital cameras for their phones to take photos, Sony released its first wave of ultra slim Cyber-shot point-and-shoots that feature 18 megapixel sensors that lessens the "noise" in low-lit scenes and auto-focuses faster.

In all, we'll see 12 models from Sony this spring, with these three coming out first: the?TX200V ($500), the?WX70 ($230) and the?WX50 ($200). All three will be in stores in March.

Sony Electronics

The TX200V, as you can see in the two above images, is billed as the cream of the crop in this deployment, with a glass-bodied waterproof, dust proof and freeze-proof?design that gives it a distinctly different look than the other Cyber-shots, an?18.2 megapixel "Exmor R" CMOS sensor (supposedly "the highest-resolution currently offered in point and shoot market") and the ability to snap stills while also recording full HD videos. As you can also tell from the image above, the 3.3-inch OLED touch screen takes up the entire back of the camera. It will come in silver, red and violet.

Sony's Kate Dugan admitted that despite the natural disasters in Japan that affected production and shipment of its digital cameras, "true decline" has set in for digital cameras, in which sales are down 20 percent, the first time losses have hit in the double digits. The exodus is most pronounced amongst entry level users, who have turned to their phones as their all-in-one must-have gadget.

Dugan said that meant Sony has to?focus on things phones can't achieve, such as "high optical zoom, low light shooting, full HD video." The way the company sees it, phones are fine to shoot food on the fly, but for "important moments should go to cameras."

You can see there are some problems with this, right? Anyone who has an iPhone or has seen pictures from the iPhone 4S knows that it is as high quality a camera, period, as you can get on entry level. And right now, there are already smartphones that shoot in 1080p full HD, such as the 4S, the Samsung Galaxy S II and the Motorola Razr.?

But seeing the slides on the enhanced low-lighting shooting does give us some pause that there are some advantages to standalone cameras (though again, the iPhone 4S's performance in low light is comparable).

Sony Electronics

Sony Cyber-shot WX70 in pink

Besides sharing the full HD shooting capability of the TX200V, the WX70 comes in at 16.2 megapixels with a?25mm equivalent lens with 5x optical zoom and a 10x virtual zoom, with a slightly smaller 3-inch LCD touch screen; the WX50 differs from it only in a smaller screen (2.7-inches) and its color choices (silver and black, vs. silver, black, pink, and violet).

All three models have the CMOS sensors, three-way image stabilization and picture effects that allow users to exercise some creativity as they shoot.?

More stories:

On Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.

Source: http://gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10267566-sony-debuts-3-new-cyber-shot-cameras

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From: GuruFocus Updates - - 7:43am - January 31, 2012
By Charles Sizemore. If there is one word that summarizes the choppy, volatile year that was 2011, it would be "Europe." Last year the market lived or died based on developments (or lack thereof) in the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis. When they weren't running to the safety of U.S. treasuries, they ran to the (relative) safety of German bunds. With the periphery of Europe threatening to descend into chaos, mighty German seemed a rock of stability. Today, getting access to the German bond market is as easy as buying a share of General Electric or Wal-Mart with the arrival of the ProShares German Sovereign/Sub-Sovereign ETF (GGOV). The ETF gives investors access to euro-denominated bonds issued by the Federal Republic of Germany, the state governments of Germany, and various federal and state agencies. Read more ? ?Related Stocks: GGOV, TEF, UL, EWG,

Continue reading this article ?

Source: http://ewallstreeter.com/investing-in-german-bonds-with-etfs-3212/

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Amazon?introduced their first Kindle device back in 2007 when the dedicated eBook reader population was made up almost exclusively by Sony’s Reader line of products. The eReader population has grown to include more brands than I can count and in the last 5 years, we’ve seen the?technology in this category evolve from e-Ink devices to [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/01/31/amazon-kindle-fire-review/

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Reuters TV

A Taliban-affliated website recently posted video of this man who said he was Bowe Bergdahl, the only U.S. soldier held by the Taliban

By NBC News

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Talks between the Afghan Taliban and the United States in Qatar almost failed as the Taliban leadership reportedly refused to accept the U.S. demand?of a?ceasefire before? swapping prisoners.

Sources in the Afghan Taliban said the Taliban had set up an office in Qatar hoping that it?would?help in a?prisoners' swap, especially for their five top commanders held at the?Guantanamo Bay?base since 2002.

The Taliban sources said their talks with the U.S. had been going for the past few years in exchange for an American soldier, Bowe Bergdahl, captured by Taliban militants in Afghanistan's Paktika province in June 2009, bordering Pakistan's South Waziristan.?

Maulvi Sangeen, a senior commander of the powerful Haqqani terror network, had initially claimed responsibility for kidnapping the U.S. soldier.

The Taliban sources said U.S. officials had earlier promised them they would exchange prisoners and later start peace talks.

However, according to the sources, the U.S. demanded that the Taliban announce a ceasefire in Afghanistan before any prisoner swap, which they said their central leadership had turned down.

STORY: Family of captured US soldier hopeful

"Our stance is the same. We will announce a ceasefire when the foreign forces start their withdrawal from Afghanistan,"?a Taliban source said.

The Afghan Taliban leadership is also worried about the reaction from their field commanders and fighters?if a?ceasefire were announced without getting anything to show in exchange.

Some members of the 140-strong Taliban delegation that went?to Qatar had started leaving after no breakthrough was seen in talks with the U.S.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/29/10264773-us-taliban-talks-on-prisoner-swap-falter

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Three weeks ago, as some of you might remember, I wrote a column about the three-week health-food cleanse upon which I was then embarking. I thought I'd take this occasion to update you on how it went and answer the question of whether I made it the whole three weeks.

The column ran on The Huffington Post, where it received quite a few comments from people wishing me good luck. A few days later, I received an email from a representative for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The email was very friendly and earnest, recommending all sorts of vegan options and offering support if I needed it, and I would like to thank PETA sincerely for sending it to me. I just didn't have the heart to tell them they had no idea who they were dealing with.

I'm a carnivore. Always have been. Always will be. I have no qualms with people advocating for ethical treatment of animals -- I fully support PETA in that quest -- but the ethical treatment of certain animals is going to end shortly before they enter my mouth. I'm sorry it has to be that way, but after a week and a half of veggies, I knew I was destined to stay a meat-eater.

But back to the cleanse, which was never intended to usher in a new lifestyle and about which I inadvertently lied three weeks ago when I called it vegetarian. Fish played a large part in the whole endeavor once I realized I could have them. Of course, to a guy like me, based on my usual likelihood of eating them, fish are basically just swimming vegetables anyway.

The first week of the cleanse consisted mostly of fruit smoothies for breakfast and veggies the rest of the day. I tell you, there's nothing like a kale salad to make you not want to eat much, so I just dealt with being hungry and lost about 9 or 10 pounds. Shortly after that, I started to get angry.

I was so famished and bored with veggies that I became a bad person (OK, fine, a worse person). I was short and unpleasant with people, and I went around muttering to myself about how much everything sucked. I even snapped at my wife over the phone. It was so bad she actually told me, "You need to go eat some meat." But I didn't. I stuck it out all the way. I just started doing it on my terms.

Instead of preparing the recipes from the website where my wife found the cleanse, I started cooking stuff based on the rules of the cleanse as I interpreted them. By this I mean I cooked massive amounts of things like mushroom soup, sweet potatoes and rice noodles, and then I ate until I was as stuffed as I would have been had I devoured a beluga whale or wildebeest. Oh, and I decided chocolate was allowed back on the menu. That helped, too.

Essentially, for the latter half of the cleanse, the rules as I saw them were: no poultry, pork or red meat, no pasta, no fried stuff, no non-chocolate sweets and no blatantly obvious dairy. I say that because I had a bowl of tomato bisque, and I didn't bother to ask if it had cream in it. I also had a small slice of pizza, but I didn't need to ask about that.

So did I make it the whole three weeks? In my mind, yes. Sort of. Two Girl Scouts showed up at my door on the final day of the cleanse with Samoas and Thin Mints in hand, and it's not like I wanted cookies, but I'm very civic-minded, so I bought a box of each and had five Samoas before the day was through. Not because I wanted them, mind you. I was just doing my part to support a good cause.

But I didn't eat any pasta, I didn't have any ice cream or anything fried, and I didn't eat any meat that didn't swim. For my efforts, I ended up losing 15 pounds.

So would I recommend a cleanse like this for a guy like me? Sure. It's a good way to drop some weight, but you're not going to like it. And that line they'll feed you about your body getting retrained to crave veggies instead of fat? That's a load of crap. Trust me -- the first thing I did once the cleanse ended was go out and get a bucket of fried chicken. It was delicious.

Todd Hartley thinks cows should stop tasting so good if they don't want to get eaten. To read more or leave a comment, please visit zerobudget.net.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-hartley/im-with-stupid-yes-bacon_b_1236415.html

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gumyifu · Jan. 28, 2012

/

updated 4:25 p.m. ET Jan. 28, 2012

LONDON - Liverpool reached the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday at the expense of its fiercest rival, a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Manchester United leaving the famous competition without the English Premier League's top two teams.

While Chelsea progressed with a 1-0 win at Queens Park Rangers thanks to Juan Mata's second-half penalty, Netherlands forward Dirk Kuyt scored the winner for Liverpool in the 88th minute at Anfield.

United earlier dumped out neighbor Manchester City ? the Premier League leader and defending FA Cup champion ? in the fourth round, leaving the world's oldest club knockout competition wide open this year.

Second-tier Brighton beat Premier League Newcastle 1-0 at Amex Stadium in another Cup match that Magpies defender Mike Williamson will want to forget.

Williamson deflected in Will Buckley's close-range effort for the only goal 14 minutes from time. The defender also scored an own goal last season when Newcastle lost to then League Two side Stevenage in the third round of the competition.

Bolton beat Swansea 2-1 and Norwich won by the same scoreline at West Bromwich Albion in the other all-Premier League matchups, while Stoke ? which lost the 2011 final to Man City ? also progressed with a 2-0 win at Derby.

Arsenal hosts Aston Villa on Sunday.

Liverpool and United met for the first time since the unsavory race row between Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra erupted in a Premier League match between them in October.

Evra, United's captain on Saturday, was booed throughout while Suarez watched from the stands as he served the seventh of his eight-game ban for repeatedly racially abusing the France defender.

The match passed without trouble, however, with United manager Alex Ferguson saying: "The players showed great respect to each other ? there wasn't a bad tackle in the game."

Denmark center back Daniel Agger's opener for Liverpool in the 21st minute was canceled out by United's Park Ji-sung six minutes before the break in a first half edged by the visitors, despite being without a raft of key players including the injured Wayne Rooney.

Kuyt settled the match when he ran to a flick-on by Andy Carroll and beat United goalkeeper David de Gea at the near post.

___

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Three days after Barcelona ended its Copa del Rey title defense, Real Madrid came from behind to beat last-place Zaragoza 3-1 on Saturday as its campaign rolled on to break its fierce rival's hold on the Spanish league title.

Three-time defending champion Barcelona finds itself trailing the league leader by eight points heading into its game at Villarreal later.

Zaragoza, which upset Madrid at home late last season, started well with Angel Lafita scoring an 11th-minute opener.

But Kaka leveled for Madrid in the 32nd, and Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Oezil added two more shortly after halftime at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Ronaldo has scored in each of Madrid's last four games, and his 24 league goals are best in Spain, two ahead of Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who was playing later Saturday against Villarreal.

Madrid has won nine of 10 league home games this season, with its only home loss to Barcelona in December.

"Every game is tough. Zaragoza is a good team and they showed it with a quick goal," Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero said. "But we gave it our all and were able to turn it around."

After his team's strong performance in its closely fought elimination by Barcelona on Wednesday, Madrid coach Jose Mourinho opted again for an attack-minded starting 11 with rarely used Granero and Kaka in midfield behind Oezil and scoring pair Karim Benzema and Ronaldo.

Fernando Llorente scored a hat trick to give Athletic Bilbao a 3-2 win at Rayo Vallecano.

After Miguel "Michu" Perez's opener for Rayo, Llorente headed in a free kick to level in the 16th minute, and added a second when he controlled a pass with his chest, spun and fired from the edge of the area in the 23rd.

Alejandro Arribas drew Rayo even moments later, but Llorente headed home Gaizka Toquero's cross for the 68th-minute winner and his 11th league goal of the season.

Bilbao, which plays third-tier Mirandes in the Copa del Rey semifinals this week, moved into sixth place.

Also, Espanyol edged 10-man Mallorca 1-0 to climb level on points with fourth-place Levante.

___

BERLIN (AP) ? Bayern Munich beat Wolfsburg 2-0 to remain top of the Bundesliga on goal difference, just ahead of Borussia Dortmund and Schalke.

All three are tied at 40 points, but Bayern will be looking nervously over its shoulder after Dortmund brushed Hoffenheim aside 3-1 and then Schalke came from behind to win 4-1 in Cologne.

Dortmund was already 3-0 up at home through two goals from Shinji Kagawa and another from Kevin Grosskreutz, before league scoring leader Mario Gomez's 60th-minute strike allowed Bayern a sigh of relief.

Dutch winger Arjen Robben sealed the points in an edgy win for Bayern with a goal in injury time.

"We had a lot of chances and for me this win is fully deserved," Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said. "The win gives us security so we can continue like this in the coming weeks."

Werder Bremen drew 1-1 with Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburger SV won 2-1 at Hertha Berlin, and Augsburg and Kaiserslautern played out a 2-2 draw in a relegation battle.

___

MILAN (AP) ? Catania was held to 1-1 by Parma in the Serie A, a result which did neither team any favors in the standings.

Gonzalo Bergessio gave Catania a deserved lead shortly after the half-hour mark, but Francesco Modesto leveled 10 minutes later.

The tie left Parma nine points above the relegation zone before the rest of the weekend's fixtures. Catania, which has won only one of its past seven games, was tied with Cagliari a point further back.

Serie A leader Juventus hosts third-place Udinese later.

___

PARIS (AP) ? Big-spending Paris Saint-Germain needed a scrappy 1-0 win over Brest to keep a three-point lead over Montpellier at the top of the French league.

PSG defender Milan Bisevac flicked home a corner from Christophe Jallet in the sixth minute.

Brest lost its first home match this season while PSG has now won all four games under coach Carlo Ancelotti, who replaced Antoine Kombouare last month.

Also Saturday, it was: Nice 0, Montpellier 1; Lyon 3, Dijon 1; Toulouse 1, Caen 0; Lorient 1, Sochaux 1; and Auxerre 1, Nancy 3.

Lille hosts Saint-Etienne later Saturday.

___

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Olympiakos closed within two points of Greek league leader Panathinaikos by defeating stubborn visitor Ergotelis 3-0.

Ergotelis ended the game with nine players, as Mario Hieblinger and Andreas Bouhalakis were shown second yellow cards for rough challenges in the 56th and 60th minutes, respectively.

Also, OFI beat Xanthi 1-0 and Panionios defeated Kerkyra 2-0.

Panathinaikos travels to last-place Drama on Sunday.

___

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) ? Rangers kept the pressure on Scottish Premier League leader Celtic with a 4-0 thrashing of 10-man Hibernian.

Captain Steven Davis scored two goals.

Celtic, whose lead was trimmed to one point, was not in league action this weekend. Instead, Neil Lennon's team will face Falkirk in the semifinal of the Scottish League Cup on Sunday.

Motherwell tightened its grip on third place, six points ahead of Hearts, by beating St. Johnstone 3-2.

More news

US women qualify for Olympics

The U.S. women's soccer team booked their way to London on Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament.

Kuyt to the rescue

??Euro roundup: Liverpool reaches the 5th round of the FA Cup, beating rival Manchester United 2-1.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46175745/ns/sports-soccer/

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MIAMI ? Newt Gingrich slammed GOP presidential rival Mitt Romney for "carpet-bombing" his record ahead of Tuesday's presidential primary in Florida, trying to cut into the resurgent front-runner's lead in the final 48 hours before the vote.

On the defensive after barrage of attacks from Romney and a political committee that supports him, Gingrich said Romney had lied and the GOP establishment had allowed it.

"I don't know how you debate a person with civility if they're prepared to say things that are just plain factually false," Gingrich said during appearances on Sunday talk shows. "I think the Republican establishment believes it's OK to say and do virtually anything to stop a genuine insurgency from winning because they are very afraid of losing control of the old order."

Despite Romney's effort to turn positive, the Florida contest has become decidedly bitter and personal. Romney and Gingrich have tangled over policy and character since Gingrich's stunning victory over the well-funded Romney in the South Carolina primary Jan. 21.

Showing no signs of letting up, Gingrich objected to a Romney campaign ad that includes a 1997 NBC News report on the House's decision to discipline the then-House speaker for ethics charges.

"It's only when he can mass money to focus on carpet-bombing with negative ads that he gains any traction at all," Gingrich said.

Gingrich acknowledged the possibility that he could lose in Florida and pledged to compete with Romney all the way to the party's national convention this summer.

An NBC/Marist poll showed Romney with support from 42 percent of likely Florida primary voters and Gingrich slipping to 27 percent.

While Romney had spent the past several days sharply attacking Gingrich, he pivoted over the weekend to refocus his criticism on President Barack Obama, calling the Democratic incumbent "detached from reality." The former Massachusetts governor criticized Obama's plan to cut the size of the military and said the administration had a weak foreign policy.

Gingrich's South Carolina momentum has largely evaporated amid the pounding he has sustained from Romney's campaign and the pro-Romney group called Restore Our Future. They have spent some $6.8 million in ads criticizing Gingrich in the Florida campaign's final week.

Gingrich planned to campaign Sunday in central Florida, while Romney scheduled rallies in the south. He was also looking ahead to the Nevada caucuses Feb. 4, airing ads in that state and citing the endorsement Sunday of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada's largest newspaper.

Gingrich collected the weekend endorsement of Herman Cain, a tea party favorite and former presidential hopeful whose White House effort foundered amid sexual harassment allegations.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, trailing in Florida by a wide margin, planned to remain in Pennsylvania where his 3-year-old daughter, Bella, was hospitalized, and resume campaigning as soon as possible, according to his campaign. She has a genetic condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 18th chromosome.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul has invested little in the Florida race and is looking ahead to Nevada. The libertarian-leaning Paul is focusing more on gathering delegates in caucus states, where it's less expensive to campaign. But securing the nomination only through caucus states is a hard task.

Gingrich appeared on "Fox News Sunday" and ABC's "This Week." Paul was on CNN's "State of the Union."

___

Associated Press writer Philip Elliott in Tampa contributed to this report.

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

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FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011 file photo, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh speaks to reporters during a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Sanaa, Yemen. Yemen's President's office says Yemeni leader Saleh has arrived in London en route to the U.S. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hamoud, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011 file image made from video, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh speaks on Yemen State Television. Yemen's President's office says Yemeni leader Saleh has arrived in London on route to the US. (AP Photo/Yemen State TV, File)

SANAA, Yemen (AP) ? Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh headed to the United States on Saturday for medical treatment, his spokesman said, the latest stage in an effort to distance him from his country's policies to help ease a transition from his rule.

Ahmed al-Soufi, the press officer for the presidency, told The Associated Press that Saleh had arrived in London and would leave later Saturday for New York for medical treatment in the United States for wounds suffered in a June assassination attempt in the Yemeni capital.

Saleh left Yemen for to neighboring Oman a week ago, planning to head to the United States, after weeks of talks with the U.S. over where he could go. Washington has been trying to get Saleh to leave his homeland, but it does not want him to settle permanently in the United States, fearing it would be seen as harboring a leader considered by his people to have blood on his hands.

In London, a Foreign Office spokeswoman confirmed that Saleh's plane was scheduled to land Saturday at a British commercial airport "to refuel en route to the United States." Speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government policy, she said Saleh and those accompanying him were not going to enter the United Kingdom.

Saleh was traveled on a chartered Emirates plane with a private doctor, translator, eight armed guards and several family members, an official in the Yemeni president's office said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the details.

In November, Saleh handed over his powers to his vice president and promised to step down completely after months of protests by millions across the country demanding an end to his nearly 33-year rule. A national unity government was formed between his ruling party and the opposition.

But opponents say he has continued to interfere in the work of a unity government through his allies and relatives in key posts ? particularly his son and nephew, who command the country's most elite and powerful military units. As a result, the past two months have seen persistent violence, power struggles and delays in reforms.

The U.S. and its allies have been pressured Saleh to leave in hopes of removing him from the scene will smoothen the transition.

Saleh agreed to step down in return for a sweeping immunity from prosecution on any crimes committed during his rule, a measure that has angered many in Yemen who want him tried for the deaths of protesters in his crackdown on the uprising against him. Protests have continued demanding his prosecution and the removal of his relatives and allies from authority.

It is also unclear how permanent Saleh's exile is. In a farewell speech before leaving to Oman, Saleh promised to return to Yemen before Feb. 21 presidential elections as the head of his party.

Some in Yemen suspect Saleh is still trying to slip out of the deal and find ways to stay in power, even if it's behind the scenes.

Even since the protests against his rule began a year ago, Saleh has proved a master in eluding pressure to keep his grip, though over the months his options steadily closed around him. He slipped out of signing the accord for the power handover three times over the months before finally agreeing to it.

He was badly burned in a June explosion in his compound in Sanaa. He received medical treatment in neighboring Saudi Arabia for three months. American officials had hoped he would remain there, but the Yemeni leader returned home and violence worsened anew.

His maneuvering and the turmoil on the ground left the United States struggling to find a stable transition in the country to ensure a continued fight against al-Qaida militants based in the country, who make up the most active branch of the terror network in the world. Saleh was a close ally of Washington in the fight, taking millions in counterterrorism aid.

During the past year of turmoil, al-Qaida-linked militants outright took control of several cities and towns in the south, including Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province.

On Friday, government forces battled with the militants near the town of Jaar, which they also control. At least five people were killed in the fighting, Yemeni security officials said Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

___

AP correspondent Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-28-ML-Yemen/id-d7ec9868eb9746018ce2de96ef79fe84

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? Two adults and an 18-month-old boy died when their SUV collided with a light-rail train in Sacramento, moments after the vehicle's driver ignored flashing warning lights and veered around a rail crossing arm, authorities say.

The only other person in the Nissan Pathfinder, a woman in her 30s, was hospitalized with serious injuries, said Niko King, assistant chief with the Sacramento Fire Department.

Six of the roughly 50 passengers on the light rail train suffered minor injuries in Saturday's crash and were taken to a hospital, he said.

King and a spokeswoman for the transit line said video from a camera at the crossing clearly shows the SUV driving around the crossing arm.

The collision, in a working class neighborhood south of downtown, occurred shortly after 4 p.m. and pushed the Pathfinder about 30 yards from the point of impact.

"All I heard was a big bang, and I saw a light-rail train heading south with a big truck smashed on it," said Ravin Pratab, 42, of Davis, whose car was among those waiting for the train at the rail crossing, on the opposite side of the tracks from the Pathfinder.

The train was going about 55 mph at the time, a typical speed for that location.

The light rail followed two Union Pacific freight trains, which use separate tracks, and the arms had remained down during the interval, said Alane Masui, spokeswoman for the Sacramento Regional Transit District.

"They were down after the UP trains and before the (light rail) train approached, so the crossing arms were properly working," she said.

She said the length of time between the freight trains clearing the intersection and the light rail train crossing it had not yet been determined and would be part of the investigation. Investigators also were reviewing video from a camera mounted on the light rail train.

Authorities did not release the identities of those in the Pathfinder or their relationship. A man and woman in the vehicle, both in their 40s, died at the scene while the baby boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. Firefighters said one had been ejected.

The University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento would say only that the woman remained in serious condition late Saturday.

The light rail system carries an average of 50,000 passengers a day, with lines stretching from the state capital to its suburbs in the north, south and east.

Masui said there are four sets of tracks at the crossing ? two for freight and two for light rail so trains from both systems can run in either direction.

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

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NEWARK, N.J. ? The state's largest city must produce a list of documents related to a $100 million pledge to its public schools from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, a judge ruled Friday.

The ruling stemmed from of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a group representing Newark schoolchildren that is seeking more transparency about the donation. The Associated Press and other news outlets also have made such requests.

State Superior Court Judge Rachel Davidson's ruling requires the city to produce the list, believed to enumerate about 50 pages of emails pertaining to the donation, by Feb. 10. The city could seek to block the publishing of some of the emails on the list, according to ACLU New Jersey attorney Ed Barocas.

The city, in a response letter to an AP request for the documents in 2010, said that any conversations between Democratic Mayor Cory Booker and Zuckerberg were "not made in the course of the Mayor's official duties" and therefore were exempt from open-records laws.

Were Booker found to have been acting in his capacity as mayor, the letter continued, the city didn't have the records requested. But it added that if the records were found, their release was barred under executive privilege.

The ACLU, in its lawsuit, argued that privilege can be claimed only by the governor, not by a sitting mayor. It argued that the public has a right to know how the grant funds are to be used and who is making the decisions on their allocation.

"We don't want to make it seem that there was necessarily something nefarious going on," Barocas said Friday. "All we ask is for this to be transparent. The public should be aware what, if any, agreements were made prior to or as part of the grant of the money."

City attorney Anna Pereira declined to comment Friday, citing the ongoing litigation.

In court filings, the city has said that the Facebook grant is being administered not by the city but by two not-for-profits that it doesn't fund, operate or exercise any control over. The city's schools were placed under state control in 1995 after instances of waste and mismanagement, including the spending of taxpayer money by school board members on cars and restaurant meals.

Newark's public school system is the state's largest, with 75 schools and a student population of about 40,000, according to its website. The schools have been plagued for years by low test scores, poor graduation rates and crumbling buildings.

The $100 million pledge to the schools was announced in the fall of 2010 by Booker, Zuckerberg and Republican Gov. Chris Christie as they appeared together on Oprah Winfrey's syndicated talk show.

Zuckerberg described the gift as a "challenge grant" to Booker, who has sought to raise $100 million more to match what Zuckerberg promised to contribute over five years. Zuckerberg's social networking website, based in Palo Alto, Calif., is estimated to be worth more than $50 billion.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_hi_te/us_newark_schools_facebook

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Welcome to?Just Show Me on?Tecca TV, where we show you tips and tricks for getting the most out of the?gadgets in your life. In today's episode we'll show you two amazing to-do apps for your?iPhone.

In addition to the Reminders app that comes on iOS 5 devices, these to-do apps will help you stay on task like never before! You'll be able to sync your to-dos with multiple devices; including on your web browser and on your iPhone. Check 'em out and?increase your productivity!

Take a look at these other episodes of Just Show Me that'll help you become an iPhone master:

For even more episodes of Just Show Me?check out our complete episode list. If you have any topics you'd like to see us cover, just drop us a line in the comments.

This article originally appeared on Tecca

Related Links:

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46149655/

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? New orders for manufactured goods rose in December and a gauge of future business investment rebounded, while new claims for jobless benefits rose only moderately last week, suggesting the labor market was still healing.

Durable goods orders climbed 3.0 percent, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. Economists had forecast orders rising 2.0 percent.

Durable goods range from toasters to big-ticket items like aircraft which are meant to last three years and more.

Orders last month were buoyed by 5.5 percent increase in bookings for transportation equipment as orders for civilian aircraft surged 18.9 percent. Boeing received 287 orders for aircraft during the month, according to the plane maker's website, up from 96 in November.

Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, advanced 2.9 percent.

Business spending, which has helped the economy to recover from the 2007-09 recession, had been showing signs of cooling but December's rebound in new orders suggested corporations might be growing more willing to invest.

"What it does tell you about going into the new year is that there's some momentum here," said Jacob Oubina, an economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York.

Also, shipments of non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, which go into the calculation of gross domestic product, rose 2.9 percent after declining 1.0 percent in November.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Graphic on jobless claims:

http://link.reuters.com/xah36s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

Investors in U.S. stock futures appeared to take little notice of the data, with prices slightly higher. U.S. Treasury debt prices pared gains modestly.

Increased consumer spending and efforts by companies to restock their shelves likely led the U.S. economy to accelerate at the end of 2011 although many economists expect some of that strength to wane early this year.

A report due Friday is expected to show the economy grew at a 3.0 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, up from 1.8 percent in the previous period.

The proxy for business spending plans had dropped 1.2 percent in November and 0.9 percent in October. Economists' had expected a 1.0 percent gain last month.

Orders for motor vehicles edged up 0.6 percent. Excluding transportation, orders rose 2.1 percent.

In a separate report, Labor Department data showed new U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rising last week but the underlying trend continued to point to improving labor market conditions.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 377,000, the Labor Department said. The prior week's figure was revised up to 356,000 from the previously reported 352,000.

On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank could do more to help growth if the economy falters, after policymakers said interest rates would remain near zero until late 2014.

Among the darker clouds looming over the U.S. economy, Europe is still racing to contain a sovereign debt crisis that is widely seen triggering a recession in the euro zone.

Greece resumes tortuous negotiations on a debt swap with private creditors in Athens on Thursday, with the European Central Bank thrown into the mix after IMF chief Christine Lagarde said public sector holders of Greek debt may need to take losses too.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani in Washington and Emily Flitter in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/bs_nm/us_economy

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AT&T has reported sales of 7.6 million iPhone units totaling 80 percent of their overall smartphone sales in Q4 2011. The iPhone 4S no doubt helped boost iPhone numbers after Apple reported sales of 37.04 million iPhones for Q1 2012 -- their biggest quarter ever. Out of the 9.4 million smartphone sales in total for the quarter, 80 percent of them were the iPhone.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/vb0jmWHdG4A/story01.htm

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(Reuters) ? Ford Motor Co reported a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Friday as commodity costs shot up and results from operations outside North America fell short of expectations.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker's losses in Europe nearly quadrupled during the quarter as the economy suffered amid the ongoing debt crisis. Flooding in Thailand led to a loss in Asia, and increased competition blunted profits in South America.

"We saw the external environment deteriorate, and that really affected most regions other than North America," Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth told reporters, "and then we saw slightly greater than we expected impact of commodities, currency and also the Thai floods."

Shares of Ford, which derives the bulk of its revenue from North America, fell more than 5 percent in premarket trading.

Excluding one-time items, Ford's operating profit fell to $1.1 billion, or 20 cents per share, from nearly $1.3 billion, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier.

On that basis, analysts on average were expecting 25 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"It's been a tough go for Ford," said portfolio manager Gary Bradshaw of Hodges Capital Management of Dallas, which owns Ford shares. "It seems like the company continues to execute, but there are plenty of headwinds."

Besides higher commodity costs, Ford also said it missed expectations because of unfavorable exchange rates.

Profit margins in Ford's automotive business fell to 5.4 percent in 2011 from 6.1 percent in 2010. Commodity costs for the year came to $2.3 billion, up slightly from the company's $2.2 billion forecast.

NOT IMMUNE TO EUROPE

Ford's losses in Europe widened to $190 million in the fourth quarter from $51 million a year earlier. In South America, the company's pretax operating profit fell to $108 million from $281 million.

Ford posted a quarterly loss of $83 million in Asia, compared with a year-earlier profit of $23 million. The company flagged the loss in Asia earlier this month.

Booth said he expected Ford to be "modestly profitable" in Asia in 2012, but he did not provide a forecast for Europe, where he said rivals have piled on incentives to sell vehicles. Ford expects European growth will be tempered by the debt crisis and austerity measures in 2012.

Compared with Detroit rival General Motors, Ford is less exposed to Europe, Jefferies analyst Peter Nesvold said.

"Ford won't be immune to a downturn in Europe, but I think the product lineup is a little bit fresher and a little bit better, and it's a smaller piece of the overall pie," said Nesvold, who has a "buy" rating on Ford. "Europe is less of an anchor for Ford's shares than it is potentially for GM's shares."

For the fourth quarter, Ford reported net income of $13.6 billion, or $3.40 per share, buoyed by a one-time tax-related gain of $12.4 billion. Net income was $190 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier.

The higher net income was the result of an accounting change that Ford said reflects confidence in its long-term profit outlook. The one-time gain resulted in full-year net income of $20.2 billion, the highest since 1998.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman, Ben Klayman and Bernie Woodall; Editing by Derek Caney and Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/bs_nm/us_ford

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BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. ? President Barack Obama is courting Hispanics in politically important states, setting himself up as a champion of the crucial Latino voting bloc and as a foil to Republican candidates fighting for a share of support from the same groups.

With Latino voters voting overwhelmingly Democratic, Obama is not in danger of losing the support of a majority of Hispanics. But he does need their intensity, and a Gallup tracking poll shows that while a majority of Hispanics approve of Obama, that approval is not as high as it is among black voters.

Pitching his economic agenda during a three-day, five-state trip this week, Obama has not ignored the fact that three of the states ? Nevada, Arizona and Colorado ? all have Hispanic populations of 20 percent or more. A majority of them are Democratic, but they also could be a factor in upcoming nominating contests in those states. Nevada and Colorado hold caucuses within two weeks and Arizona has a primary Feb. 28.

In Arizona Wednesday, where he was drawing attention to his efforts to increase manufacturing, Obama playfully interacted with a supporter who shouted out: "Barack es mi hermano! (Barack is my brother!)"

"Mi hermano ? mucho gusto (My brother, a real pleasure)," Obama shouted back.

And it was no accident that he scheduled an interview with Univision, the Spanish language network that reaches a broad swath of the U.S. Latino population, while he was in Arizona and with local Telemundo affiliates Thursday in Las Vegas and in Denver. All that while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the rest of the Republican presidential field were battling in Florida, another state with a key Latino voting bloc.

"It's an important community in this country and he will continue to have those interactions," White House spokesman Jay Carney said of Obama's efforts to reach out to Spanish language media.

No issue reverberates more in the appeal to Latinos than immigration.

For Obama, it reared up suddenly for him Wednesday when Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican who signed one of the toughest laws to curtail illegal immigration, greeted him at the airport tarmac in Mesa, Ariz., with a handwritten invitation for the president to join her in a visit to the Mexican border.

Obama replied coolly, noting that he did not appreciate the way she had depicted him in a book she published last year, "Scorpions for Breakfast." In the book, Brewer writes that Obama was condescending and lectured her during a meeting at the White House to discuss immigration. "He was a little disturbed about my book," Brewer told two reporters shortly after the encounter.

Obama continued to promote his economic plan Thursday in Nevada and Colorado, focusing on energy policy and his attempts to expand oil and gas exploration while also emphasizing clean energy.

"Doubling down on a clean energy industry will create lots of jobs in the process," the president said at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado, where the Air Force has installed solar panels and tested jets that run on biofuels.

As such, he was indirectly pitching to Hispanics as well. A new Pew Research Center poll found that 54 percent of Latinos believe that the economic downturn has been harder on them than on other groups in the U.S.

"There is no question that Latinos were hard hit, especially by the bursting of the housing bubble and the resulting steep decline in construction work," Carney said Thursday. "Latinos are overrepresented in the construction industry. It's one of the reasons why, certainly, Latinos would greatly benefit from infrastructure investments that put construction workers back to work."

In 2008, Obama beat Republican John McCain by a 2-1 margin among Hispanics.

To win again, he will need that level of enthusiasm to make up for weaknesses elsewhere in his voter support. In a bright spot for Obama, the Pew poll found that even though Hispanics believe their economic condition is poor, two-thirds of those polled said they expect their financial situation to improve over the next year, whereas 58 percent of the overall population expect the same.

In his interview with Univision, Obama made a point of noting that both Romney and Gingrich have said they would veto legislation, known as the DREAM Act, that would give a pathway to citizenship to children who came to the United States illegally but who attend college or enlist in the military.

"They believe that we should not provide a pathway to citizenship for young people who were brought here when they were very young children and are basically American kids but right now are still in a shadow," Obama said. "They've said that they would veto the DREAM Act. Both of them."

At a debate Monday on NBC, however, both Gingrich and Romney said they would support modified legislation that only applied to young people who joined the military. "I would not support the part that simply says everybody who goes to college is automatically waived for having broken the law," Gingrich said.

Obama, in the interview, explicitly connected the Republican presidential field to congressional Republicans, who suffer from bottom-dwelling approval ratings right now. Asked why he had been unable to deliver on his promise for overhauling the immigration system, Obama replied:

"Well, it's very simple. We couldn't get any Republican votes. Zero. None," he said. "So this is the kind of barrier that we're meeting in Congress. We're just going to keep on pushing and pushing until hopefully we finally get a break."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama

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LONDON ? A British court has banned a man from driving for a year after he was caught traveling with four children in the trunk of his car.

Britain's Press Association news agency said Thursday that police found a total of 11 people in Zoltan Lakatos' Audi A4 when they stopped him in the English city of Leicester last year.

One passenger was in the driver's seat, three adults and two children were squeezed into the back, and officers discovered four more children in the trunk.

The news agency says Lakatos was convicted of endangering his passengers and of driving without insurance earlier this week at Leicester Magistrates' Court. He also was fined 1,325 pounds (about $2,080).

The agency said the 38-year-old was not in court for the ruling.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_kids_in_the_trunk

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CANBERRA, Australia ? Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard stumbled and was caught by a security guard as riot police helped her force a path through a crowd of rowdy protesters following a ceremony to mark Australia's national day Thursday.

She appeared distressed as she was pulled away from the protesters but was unharmed. She later remarked that she was made of "pretty tough stuff" and commended police for their actions.

Some 200 supporters of indigenous rights had surrounded a Canberra restaurant and banged its windows while Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott were inside officiating at an award ceremony.

Around 50 police escorted the political leaders from a side door to a car. Gillard stumbled, losing a shoe. Her personal security guard wrapped his arms around her and supported her to the waiting car, shielding her from the angry crowd.

The protesters had been demonstrating for indigenous rights nearby at the so-called Aboriginal Tent Embassy, a ramshackle collection of tents and temporary shelters in the national capital that is a center point of protests against Australia Day.

Australia Day marks the arrival of the first fleet of British colonists in Sydney on Jan. 26, 1788. Many Aborigines call it Invasion Day because the land was settled without a treaty with traditional owners.

Abbott appeared to be the target of protesters, who chanted "shame" and "racist" outside the restaurant.

The Tent Embassy celebrated its 40th anniversary on Thursday. Abbott had earlier angered indigenous activists by saying it was time the embassy "moved on."

Gillard was unharmed and later hosted another Australia Day function for foreign ambassadors at her official residence.

"The only thing that angers me is that it distracted from such a wonderful event," Gillard told reporters.

"I am made of pretty tough stuff and the police did a great job," she added.

Reaction from protesters afterward was mixed, with some saying police assaulted them and that Gillard and Abbott were never in danger. They also made conflicting claims over who had Gillard's shoe ? a Midas high-heeled blue suede ? and if it would be returned.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oceania/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_as/as_australia_indigenous_protest

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New biodiversity map of the Andes shows species in dire need of protection

Public release date: 26-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: Dr. Hilary Glover
hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com
44-203-192-2370
BioMed Central

This release is available in Spanish.

The Andes-Amazon basin of Peru and Bolivia is one of the most biologically rich and rapidly changing areas of the world. A new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology has used information collected over the last 100 years by explorers and from satellite images which reveals detailed patterns of species and ecosystems that occur only in this region. Worryingly, the study also finds that many of these unique species and ecosystems are lacking vital national level protection.

Endemic species are restricted to a specific area and occur nowhere else. These species are especially vulnerable to climate and environmental changes because they require unique climates and soil conditions. This makes them an ideal indicator for measuring biodiversity.

A multinational team from the United States, Bolivia, Peru, and other countries mapped a wide range of ecosystems in Bolivia and Peru, from the wetlands of Beni savanna and the Iquitos vrzea, to the bone dry xeric habitats of inter-Andean valleys, and the cool and humid montane forests along much of the eastern Andean slope. Over 7000 individual records of endemic species locations for 115 birds, 55 mammals, 177 amphibians and 435 plants were combined with climate data (WorldClim), topography (NASA's SRTM), and vegetation (NASA's MODIS satellite sensor), resulting in species distribution maps, accurate to 1km.

Analysis of the maps showed that the highest concentration of endemic birds and mammals was along a narrow band of the Andes mountains, between 2500 and 3000m above sea level. Endemic amphibian species peaked at 1000 to 1500m and were especially concentrated in southern Peru and northern Bolivia. One of the areas that had the highest levels of 'irreplaceability' and highest number of species for birds and mammals, is an unprotected region surrounding the small World Heritage Site of Macchu Pichu (Cordillera de Vilcabamba, Peru).

Disturbingly, the authors found that a total of 226 endemic species have no national protection and about half of the ecological systems have 10% or less of their range protected. Additionally only 20% of the areas with high numbers of endemic species and 20% of the irreplaceable areas are currently protected.

Dr Jennifer Swenson, from Duke University, who led the research said, "Biodiversity in the Andes is under threat from oil and gold mining, infrastructure projects, illegal crops, and many other activities. There is already evidence of species migrating upslope to keep up with climate change in this region. Conservation across the Andes needs urgent revising and we hope that our data will help protect this incredibly unique region."

###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

New biodiversity map of the Andes shows species in dire need of protection Public release date: 26-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. Hilary Glover
hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com
44-203-192-2370
BioMed Central

This release is available in Spanish.

The Andes-Amazon basin of Peru and Bolivia is one of the most biologically rich and rapidly changing areas of the world. A new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology has used information collected over the last 100 years by explorers and from satellite images which reveals detailed patterns of species and ecosystems that occur only in this region. Worryingly, the study also finds that many of these unique species and ecosystems are lacking vital national level protection.

Endemic species are restricted to a specific area and occur nowhere else. These species are especially vulnerable to climate and environmental changes because they require unique climates and soil conditions. This makes them an ideal indicator for measuring biodiversity.

A multinational team from the United States, Bolivia, Peru, and other countries mapped a wide range of ecosystems in Bolivia and Peru, from the wetlands of Beni savanna and the Iquitos vrzea, to the bone dry xeric habitats of inter-Andean valleys, and the cool and humid montane forests along much of the eastern Andean slope. Over 7000 individual records of endemic species locations for 115 birds, 55 mammals, 177 amphibians and 435 plants were combined with climate data (WorldClim), topography (NASA's SRTM), and vegetation (NASA's MODIS satellite sensor), resulting in species distribution maps, accurate to 1km.

Analysis of the maps showed that the highest concentration of endemic birds and mammals was along a narrow band of the Andes mountains, between 2500 and 3000m above sea level. Endemic amphibian species peaked at 1000 to 1500m and were especially concentrated in southern Peru and northern Bolivia. One of the areas that had the highest levels of 'irreplaceability' and highest number of species for birds and mammals, is an unprotected region surrounding the small World Heritage Site of Macchu Pichu (Cordillera de Vilcabamba, Peru).

Disturbingly, the authors found that a total of 226 endemic species have no national protection and about half of the ecological systems have 10% or less of their range protected. Additionally only 20% of the areas with high numbers of endemic species and 20% of the irreplaceable areas are currently protected.

Dr Jennifer Swenson, from Duke University, who led the research said, "Biodiversity in the Andes is under threat from oil and gold mining, infrastructure projects, illegal crops, and many other activities. There is already evidence of species migrating upslope to keep up with climate change in this region. Conservation across the Andes needs urgent revising and we hope that our data will help protect this incredibly unique region."

###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/bc-nbm012512.php
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Norway convicts 2 over Muhammad cartoon bomb plot

Sony debuts 3 new Cyber-shot cameras

Investing in German Bonds with ETFs - Wall Street - eWallstreeter

Amazon Kindle Fire Review

US, Taliban talks on prisoner swap falter

Monday, January 30, 2012

Todd Hartley: I'm With Stupid: Yes, Bacon Is Still My Favorite Condiment

Kuyt to the rescue

US women qualify for Olympics

Kuyt to the rescue

Gingrich bemoans Romney's Florida "carpet-bombing" (AP)

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Yemeni president heads to US for medical treatment

3 killed in Sacramento SUV-light rail train crash (AP)

Newark, NJ, told to produce Facebook pledge log (AP)

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Just Show Me: Great free to-do apps for your iPhone (Yahoo! News)

Five Ways The SAGs Predicted The Oscars

Finance chiefs reassure CEOs over European crisis (AP)

Video: First Read Minute

Durables orders up, job market still healing (Reuters)

Friday, January 27, 2012

iPhone makes up 80% of AT&T smartphone sales after selling 7.6 million in Q4

Ford hit by commodity costs, international woes (Reuters)

Obama courts Latino vote on economic tour (AP)

Man gets car ban after 4 children found in trunk (AP)

Australian PM stumbles before rowdy protest crowd (AP)

Thursday, January 26, 2012

New biodiversity map of the Andes shows species in dire need of protection