Chevron: Rig catches fire off Nigeria's delta (AP)

LAGOS, Nigeria ? An offshore rig exploring possible oil and gas fields off Nigeria's coast for Chevron Corp. caught fire Monday, and the oil company said officials were still trying to account for all those working there.

Chevron said two workers were missing and 152 others found, but gave no further detail on the missing persons.

The company said it was still investigating the fire, which occurred near its North Apoi oil platform, and which forced it to shut down.

"We immediately flew out people to the nearby North Apoi platform, and have been helping those needing any medical assistance," Chevron spokesman Scott Walker said in a statement.

Chevron did not immediately say what caused the fire. However, Nigeria's government believes a "gas kick" ? a major build up of gas pressure from drilling ? was responsible, said Levi Ajuonoma, a spokesman for the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.

Chevron and other foreign oil companies in Nigeria pump crude oil in partnership with the state-run company.

Nnimmo Bassey, who runs an environmental watchdog group in Nigeria, said he had received reports from locals nearby that the fire was an industrial incident.

"Workers were trying to contain the gas pressure and they didn't succeed," Bassey said.

The rig is run on Chevron's behalf by contractor FODE Drilling Co., Walker said. Officials with FODE, which has offices in London and Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, could not be immediately reached for comment Monday.

Nigeria is the fifth-largest crude oil exporter to the U.S. It produces about 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day. However, more than 50 years of oil production has seen environmental damage through delta's maze of muddy creeks and mangroves.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, produced an average of 524,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Nigeria in 2010. The company has exploration rights to about 2.2 million acres across Nigeria's delta and offshore.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_bi_ge/af_nigeria_oil_unrest

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US ambassador to head UN food agency (AP)

UNITED NATIONS ? Ertharin Cousin, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.'s Rome-based food agencies, has been chosen to head the U.N. World Food Program.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva announced Cousin's appointment Tuesday.

She will replace another American, Josette Sheeran, who will become vice chairman of the World Economic Forum when her term ends in April.

Cousin worked for the Clinton Administration for four years, including as deputy chief of staff for the Democratic National Committee and White House Liaison at the State Department. In 1997 she received a White House appointment to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development.

(This version CORRECTS APNewsNow. Corrects that Graziano heads FAO rather than WFP. New to some points. For global distribution.)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_re_us/un_un_food_agency_appointment

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Taiwan re-elects president

TAIPEI?? Taiwan voters re-elected incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou on Saturday, endorsing his push for closer ties with Beijing and removing a potential irritant in Sino-U.S. relations as those two powers head for a year of political transition.

The election had been expected to be tight, but the Central Election Commission said the Nationalist Party's Ma Ying-jeou won about 51.6 percent of the vote versus about 45.6 percent for Tsai Ing-wen of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

"In the next four years, cross-strait relations will be more peaceful, with greater mutual trust and the chance of conflict will be less," Ma, 61, told thousands of his supporters, many clapping, waving red and blue Taiwan flags and cheering in the pouring rain outside the party headquarters in downtown Taipei.

There was no official comment from Beijing, but the Communist Party's official newspaper, the People's Daily, welcomed the outcome.

"This result shows that striving for peace, development and stability has become mainstream public opinion on the island of Taiwan, and this will promote the advance of cross-strait relations," said a commentary on its website.

"In recent years, the peaceful development of cross-strait relations has brought dividends, and many members of Taiwan's public feel this deeply."

U.S. President Barack Obama congratulated Ma on the win. "Cross-strait peace, stability and improved relations, in an environment free from intimidation, are of profound importance to the United States," he said.

China claims Taiwan, a U.S. ally, as a renegade province that must be re-unified eventually with the mainland. U.S. arms sales to the island are a major bugbear for Beijing.

The election outcome would be a relief to China. The opposition DPP's independence-leaning stance has long angered Beijing, even though Tsai had tried to distance herself from that position in the campaign. Analysts had said a DPP win would have put ties with China in limbo, and sharpened Beijing's differences with the United States.

Ma's victory lifted a potential cloud over China's own leadership transition later this year. China's President Hu Jintao, who considers forging detente with Taiwan as a proud part of his legacy, is due to step down as Communist Party chief this year and as president next year as part of the leadership reshuffle.

One irritant
For the United States as well, the result removes at least one prickly issue from its ties with China as Obama readies for his own re-election bid later this year.

"It's a good result for Ma's China policy, and it is probably also a good result for Beijing's Taiwan policy," said Alex Huang, professor of strategic studies at Taipei's Tamkang University.

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"It is also a good result for the United States and for regional stability," he added, noting also that business will benefit from the continuity the same administration will provide.

However, Ma's victory was much reduced from the near 17-point margin he had over the DPP at the last election in 2008.

Year of the Dragon woes for China-U.S. ties?

The Nationalist Party also won a clear majority in parliament, which should give Ma a fillip in pushing through policy. The election commission said the Nationalists won 64 seats in the 113-member legislature, although that is also lower than the 81 seats they had in the outgoing house.

"We will continue to let economic growth flourish, protect cross-strait peace and friendly relations to achieve more concrete results in cooperation in important areas," said Lien Chan, the honorary chairman of the Nationalists.

But in an acknowledgement of the reduced majority, he added: "We need to discuss thoroughly the criticism the voters have handed to us."

Ma's China policy is centered on not declaring independence but also not not moving toward unification. Despite critics saying that his policy of detente could lead to unification with China, he is seen unlikely to allow that.

"There's a majority position that is in support of maintaining the status quo, the numbers of people that want unification or independence are very, very small," said Bonnie Glaser, a leading U.S. scholar on Taiwan issues.

"He (Ma) wants to do what is in the interests of the majority in Taiwan. I think it's extremely unlikely that he'll move away from that position."

China also was more relaxed about this election. Unlike in 1996, when China fired missiles into waters off Taiwan before the island's first direct presidential election, Beijing has learnt to temper any response to avoid antagonizing voters into backing the DPP.

Trend against outsourcing brings jobs back from China

Nearly 200,000 Taiwanese returned from overseas for the poll according to local media reports, cramming flights in a last minute rush to cast ballots. In a measure of the easing ties with the mainland, most of them came over from China.

Ma and Tsai are both former law academics with doctorates from Harvard and the London School of Economics respectively. Tsai, the first woman to bid for Taiwan's presidency, appeared unable to press home her charges that Ma had pursued his pro-China policy with little regard to rising costs of living and a widening income gap at home.

"Ma has lost a lot of votes," said former DPP legislator Luo Wenjia. "But the people's dissatisfaction was not enough to make him lose the election."

A third presidential candidate, former Nationalist party member James Soong who now leads a splinter party, trailed far behind with around 2.8 percent of the vote.

Ma's victory is likely to provide a short-term boost to Taiwan stocks and the Taiwan dollar when markets reopen on Monday, analysts said. Economists see stronger ties with China's vast markets as vital for Taiwan's heavily export-dependent economy because of the slowdown elsewhere in the world.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45997749/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

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Costa CEO blames captain error for ship grounding

An Italian firefighter helicopter airlifts a rescued passenger from the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Firefighters worked Sunday to rescue a crew member with a suspected broken leg from the overturned hulk of the luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia, 36 hours after it ran aground. More than 40 people are still unaccounted-for. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

An Italian firefighter helicopter airlifts a rescued passenger from the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Firefighters worked Sunday to rescue a crew member with a suspected broken leg from the overturned hulk of the luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia, 36 hours after it ran aground. More than 40 people are still unaccounted-for. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Italian firefighters' scuba divers approach the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground a day earlier off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The incident sent water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forced the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Italian firefighters scuba divers approach the cruise ship Costa Concordia leaning on its side, the day after running aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. A helicopter on Sunday airlifted a third survivor from the capsized hulk of a luxury cruise ship 36 hours after it ran aground off the Italian coast, as prosecutors confirmed they were investigating the captain for manslaughter charges and abandoning the ship. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Italian firefighters' scuba divers approach the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A passenger from South Korea, top left, disembarks from an Italian Firefighter boat after being rescued from the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

ROME (AP) ? The jailed captain of the cruise ship that capsized off Tuscany made an unauthorized deviation from the programmed course, a blunder that led to its deadly crash against a reef, the ship's Italian owner said Monday.

Rescue operations were suspended for several hours Monday after the Costa Concordia shifted in rough seas and fears mounted that any further movement could cause some of the 500,000 gallons of fuel on board to leak into the pristine waters off the island of Giglio that are a protected dolphin sanctuary.

Fire department chief Alfio Pini said rescue operations resumed after the waters calmed and would continue, safety permitting, as long as there remained hope of finding people alive.

The confirmed death toll rose to six after searchers found the body of a male passenger wearing a life vest in the corridor of the above-water portion of the ship. Sixteen people are unaccounted for, including two American passengers.

Chances that they would be found alive three days after the ship was speared by the reef and toppled to one side grew slimmer.

The Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, was arrested and jailed early Saturday, a few hours after Friday's night shipwreck a few hundred meters (yards) off Giglio, a tiny island of fishermen and tourist hotels near the Tuscan coast in west central Italy.

Prosecutors who are investigating the captain for manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck stepped up their scathing criticism of his conduct.

"We are struck by the unscrupulousness of the reckless maneuver that the commander of the Costa Concordia made near the island of Giglio," prosecutor Francesco Verusio told reporters. "It was inexcusable."

A judge on Tuesday is expected to decide if the captain should be charged and remain jailed in Grosseto on the mainland.

Costa Crociere SpA chairman and CEO Pier Luigi Foschi said the company would provide him legal assistance, but he disassociated Costa from his behavior, saying it broke all rules and regulations.

"Capt. Schettino took an initiative of his own will which is contrary to our written rules of conduct," Foschi said in his first public comments since the grounding.

At a news conference in Genoa, the company's home base, Foschi said that Costa ships have their routes programmed, and alarms go off when they deviate. Those alarms are disabled if the ship's course is manually altered, he said.

"This route was put in correctly upon departure from Civitavecchia," Foschi said, referring to the port outside Rome. "The fact that it left from this course is due solely to a maneuver by the commander that was unapproved, unauthorized and unknown to Costa."

Foschi didn't respond directly to prosecutors' and passengers' accusations that Schettino abandoned ship before all passengers had been evacuated, but he suggested his conduct wasn't as bad in the hours of the evacuation as has been portrayed. He didn't elaborate.

The Italian coast guard says Schettino defied their entreaties for him to return to his ship as the chaotic evacuation of the 4,200 people aboard was in full progress. After the ship's tilt put many life rafts out of service, helicopters had to pluck to safety dozens of people remaining aboard, hours after Schettino was seen leaving the vessel.

The captain has insisted in an interview before his jailing that he stayed with the vessel to the end.

Foschi defended the conduct of the crew, while acknowledging that passengers had described a chaotic evacuation where crew members consistently downplayed the seriousness of the situation as the 300 meter-long (nearly 1,000 foot-long) ship lurched to the side.

"All our crew members behaved like heroes. All of them," he said.

He noted that 4,200 people managed to evacuate a lilting ship at night within two hours. In addition, the ship's evacuation procedures had been reviewed last November by an outside firm and port authorities and no faults were found, he said.

The two missing Americans have been identified by their family as Jerry Heil, 69, and his wife Barbara, 70, from White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

Costa owner Carnival Corp. estimated that preliminary losses from having the Concordia out of operation for at least through 2012 would be between $85 million and $95 million, though it said there would be other costs as well. The company's share price slumped more than 16 percent Monday.

Why the ship sailed so close to the dangerous reefs and rocks that jut off Giglio's eastern coast is not clear, but there have been suspicions the captain may have ventured too close while carrying out a maneuver to entertain islanders and passengers.

Residents of Giglio said they had never seen the Concordia, which makes a weekly Mediterranean cruise that passes the Tuscan coast, come so close to the dangerous reef area near the southern tip of the island.

Foschi said only once before had the company approved a navigational "fly by" of this sort ? last year on the night of Aug. 9-10. In that case, the port and company had approved it.

The rescue operation was called off at midday Monday after the Concordia shifted a few inches (centimeters) in rough seas. Just beyond where the gashed ship lies, the seabed drops off quickly by some 20-30 meters (65-100 feet); if the Concordia suddenly drops, any divers participating in the rescue operation could be doomed.

There are also rising fears that any significant movement could send some 500,000 gallons of fuel into the pristine waters around the island of Giglio, which is a protected sanctuary for dolphins and other sea creatures popular with scuba divers.

Even before the accident there had been mounting calls from environmentalists to restrict passage of large ships in the area.

Costa executive Costa said that the Rotterdam, Netherlands, based Smit, one of the world's biggest salvagers, will try to salvage the 290-meter (1,000 foot) cruise liner and would provide a study by Tuesday on how to extract the fuel.

Smit has a long track record of dealing with wrecks and leaks, including refloating grounded bulk carriers and securing drilling platforms in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A spokesman for Smit, which is part of dredging and maritime services giant Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, did not immediately return calls seeking comment on the Concordia salvage.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-16-EU-Italy-Cruise-Aground/id-008c6f0b252647a69d68a3272b7e7d13

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The Open Thread Is Your Weekly Defense Against SAD [Open Thread]

It's the dead of winter, and sure, we may not be able to give your body the sunshine it needs to completely battle Seasonal Affective Disorder, but we can educate you on the finer points of avoiding SAD. And we can invite you in for a conversation about whatever's on your mind in this week's open thread.

Same drill as always, open-threaders: You can chat and ask questions with your fellow readers all week long at the #openthread hashtag page, but our weekly open thread post is your opportunity to reach the most people. Ask questions, offer advice, discuss productivity tips, or just chat about whatever's on your mind. You'll need a commenter account to participate, then you're ready to roll.

An extra reminder: If you're not quite satisfied with the interaction in the weekly open thread or in #tips, remember that you can also share your expertise every day on our Expert Pages. Photo by Ru Lochlea.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/Wo3u02AI2Yo/this-weeks-open-thread-is-your-weekly-defense-against-sad

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APNewsBreak: UN visit to Tehran set for Jan 28 (AP)

VIENNA ? A senior U.N. nuclear agency team will visit Tehran on Jan. 28 with Iran saying it is ready after years of refusal to discuss allegations that it was involved in secret nuclear weapons work, diplomats said Thursday.

Diplomats have previously said that International Atomic Energy Agency officials were discussing such a trip with their Iranian counterparts. But before the diplomats' comments Thursday, no date ? or indication that Iran was ready to talk about the allegations ? had been mentioned.

Any follow-through on the part of Iran on its reported pledge to discuss nuclear arms suspicions would be significant.

For more than three years, Tehran has blocked IAEA attempts to follow up on U.S. and other intelligence alleging covert Iranian work on nuclear arms, dismissing the charges as baseless and insisting all its nuclear activities were peaceful and under IAEA purview.

Faced with Iranian stonewalling, the IAEA summarized its body of information in November, in a 13-page document drawing on 1,000 pages of intelligence. It stated then for the first time that some of the alleged experiments can have no other purpose than developing nuclear weapons.

Iran continues to deny the charges and no change in its position is expected during the Tehran talks with IAEA officials. But even a decision to enter a discussion over the allegations would be a major departure from outright refusal to talk about them ? and create hopes of future progress in the investigation.

Two diplomats told The Associated Press that Iranian officials had suggested they were ready to talk about the issue during recent meetings with officials of the Vienna-based IAEA. They asked for anonymity because their information was confidential.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's chief IAEA delegate, declined to be drawn on what would be discussed in Tehran, indicating in comments to The AP that it was too early to go public with details.

The composition of the IAEA team, as described by one of the diplomats, also reflects the significance the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency attaches to the visit, which is expected to conclude in the first few days of February.

Normally such trips are made by Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts, in charge of the Iran nuclear file, and more junior officials of his department. But the diplomat said that this time Nackaerts will be accompanied by Assistant Director General Rafael Grossi, the right-hand to IAEA chief Yukiya Amano, and Peri Lynne Johnson, the agency's senior legal official.

Johnson is the only American among the three. While IAEA officials are formally neutral, her citizenship is of potential significance considering the high tension-level between Washington and Tehran.

Beyond the dispute over Iran's nuclear intentions, U.S.-Iranian relations have been further burdened by an Iranian announcement that a joint U.S.-Iranian national will be executed after being found guilty of spying ? a charge both he and Washington denies.

Iran, in turn, sees possible U.S. complicity in a series of assassinations of its nuclear experts ? the latest Wednesday, when scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was killed by a bomb attached to his car by a passing bicyclist.

In a letter to the U.N. secretary-general on Thursday, Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee called on the U.N. to condemn the killing and two earlier attacks that left two nuclear scientists dead and another seriously injured.

"There is firm evidence that certain foreign quarters are behind such assassinations. As has been claimed by these circles, such terrorist acts have been carried out as part of the efforts to disrupt Iran's peaceful nuclear program, under the false assumption that diplomacy alone would not be enough for that purpose," the letter read in part.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton denied any U.S. role in the slaying and the U.S administration condemned the attacks. Israeli officials, in contrast, have hinted at covert campaigns against Iran without directly admitting involvement.

Beyond urging Iranian cooperation with the IAEA probe of the alleged weapons work, the U.S. and its allies are pressuring Iran to halt uranium enrichment, a key element of the nuclear program that dozens of nations suspect is aimed at producing atomic weapons. Uranium enriched to low levels can be used as nuclear fuel, but at higher levels it can be used as material for a nuclear warhead.

Iran denies it is trying to make nuclear weapons, saying its program is for peaceful purposes only and is geared toward generating electricity.

Those claims were called into question on Monday when the IAEA confirmed Iran had begun increasing its production of uranium enriched to 20 percent. That's a significantly higher concentration than the nation's main stockpile ? and can be turned into weapons-grade material more quickly than the lower enriched uranium.

Olli Heinonen, Nackaert's predecessor, noted that "if Iran decides to produce weapons-grade uranium from 20 percent enriched uranium, it has already technically undertaken 90 percent of the enrichment effort required."

"This does not automatically mean Iran will be able to build a nuclear weapon in one month ? building an atomic bomb is a complex endeavor that requires precision engineering capabilities that Iran may lack," wrote Heinonen, in a commentary for Foreign Policy magazine. "But it does mean that the country would be able to 'break out' of its international obligations very quickly should it decide to do so."

___

Michael Astor contributed to this report from the United Nations.

___

George Jahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/georgejahn

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_re_us/iran_nuclear

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World's most extreme deep-sea vents revealed

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Scientists have revealed details of the world's most extreme deep-sea volcanic vents, 5 kilometres down in a rift in the Caribbean seafloor.

The undersea hot springs, which lie 0.8 kilometres deeper than any seen before, may be hotter than 450 ?C and are shooting a jet of mineral-laden water more than a kilometre into the ocean above.

Despite these extreme conditions, the vents are teeming with thousands of a new species of shrimp that has a light-sensing organ on its back. And having found yet more 'black smoker' vents on an undersea mountain nearby, the researchers suggest that deep-sea vents may be more widespread around the world than anyone thought.

Reporting in the scientific journal Nature Communications this week, a team led by marine geochemist Dr Doug Connelly at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton and marine biologist Dr Jon Copley of the University of Southampton has revealed details of the world's deepest known 'black smoker' vents, so-called for the smoky-looking hot fluids that gush from them.

During an expedition in April 2010 aboard the Royal Research Ship James Cook, the scientists used the National Oceanography Centre's robot submarine called Autosub6000 and a deep-diving vehicle, HyBIS, manufactured by the British firm, Hydro-Lek to locate and study the vents at a depth of five kilometres in the Cayman Trough, an undersea trench south of the Cayman Islands.

The vents, which the team named the Beebe Vent Field after the first scientist to venture into the deep ocean, are gushing hot fluids that are unusually rich in copper, and shooting a jet of mineral-laden water four times higher into the ocean above than other deep-sea vents. Although the scientists were not able to measure the temperature of the vents directly, these two features indicate that the world's deepest known vents may be hotter than 450 ?C, according to the researchers. "These vents may be one of the few places on the planet where we can study reactions between rocks and 'supercritical' fluids at extreme temperatures and pressures," says Connelly.

The team found a new species of pale shrimp congregating in hordes (up to 2,000 shrimp per m2) around the six-metre tall mineral spires of the vents. Lacking normal eyes, the shrimp instead have a light-sensing organ on their backs, which may help them to navigate in the faint glow of deep-sea vents. The researchers have named the shrimp Rimicaris hybisae, after the deep-sea vehicle that they used to collect them.

The Cayman shrimp is related to a species called Rimicaris exoculata, found at other deep-sea vents 4,000 kilometres away on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Elsewhere at the Beebe Vent Field, the team saw hundreds of white-tentacled anemones lining cracks where warm water seeps from the sea bed. "Studying the creatures at these vents, and comparing them with species at other vents around the world; will help us to understand how animals disperse and evolve in the deep ocean," says Copley.

The researchers also found black smoker vents on the upper slopes of an undersea mountain called Mount Dent. Mount Dent rises nearly three kilometres above the seafloor of the Cayman Trough, but its peak is still more than three kilometres beneath the waves. The mountain formed when a vast slab of rock was twisted up out of the ocean floor by the forces that pull the plates of the Earth's crust apart.

"Finding black smoker vents on Mount Dent was a complete surprise," says Connelly. "Hot and acidic vents have never been seen in an area like this before, and usually we don't even look for vents in places like this." Because undersea mountains like Mount Dent may be quite common in the oceans, the discovery suggests that deep-sea vents might be more widespread around the world than previously thought.

The vents on Mount Dent, which the team has named the Von Damm Vent Field to commemorate the life of geochemist Karen Von Damm, are also thronged with the new species of shrimp, along with snake-like fish, and previously unseen species of snail and a flea-like crustacean called an amphipod. "One of the big mysteries of deep-sea vents is how animals are able to disperse from vent field to vent field, crossing the apparently large distances between them," says Copley. "But maybe there are more 'stepping stones' like these out there than we realised."

The UK expedition that revealed the vents followed a US expedition in November 2009, which detected the plumes of water from deep-sea vents in the Cayman Trough. A second US expedition is currently using a deep-diving remotely operated vehicle to investigate the vents further and the UK team also plans to return to the Cayman Trough in 2013 with Isis, the National Oceanography Centre's deep-diving remotely operated vehicle, which can work at depths of up to six kilometres.

###

National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (UK): http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk

Thanks to National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (UK) for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116609/World_s_most_extreme_deep_sea_vents_revealed

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Fed should keep easy policy to boost economy: Evans (Reuters)

LAKE FOREST, Illinois (Reuters) ? The U.S. Federal Reserve should stick to its super-easy monetary policy to fight unemployment and spur a "painstakingly slow" economic recovery, even if doing so pushes inflation temporarily higher, a top Fed official said on Wednesday.

"There is a natural tendency for policymakers to pull back on accommodation too early before the real rate of interest has fallen to low enough levels," Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said in an address to a business group. "It is essential that the Fed clearly commit to a policy action that is measurable against our goals."

Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond Fed and an inflation hawk, also touted the benefits of clear communications in an interview with CNBC.

However, unlike Evans, he said it would not be appropriate for the Fed to set a numerical target for unemployment.

Fed policymakers meeting on Jan 24-25 will debate a statement on their longer-run policy goals and could go so far as to set an inflation target.

Last week, the president of the St. Louis Fed Bank, James Bullard, told Bloomberg Radio that agreement to begin inflation targeting was near. "We are getting closer to being able to make a committee-wide statement about these longer-term policy issues," he said.

Evans wants the central bank to keep interest rates near zero until either unemployment falls below 7 percent or inflation rises above 3 percent. He said that a prolonged period of low rates will likely help the economy and is unlikely to result in higher-than-normal inflation.

Unemployment registered 8.5 percent in December. Despite a recent improvement in economic growth, Evans said, inflation will probably fall to 1.8 percent this year and to near 1.5 percent in 2013 and 2014, below the 2 percent level the Fed views as healthy.

Lacker said he was not too worried that inflation would exceed the Fed's comfort range this year.

Evans said that inflation at around two percent seemed to be tolerable to a majority of policymakers currently but added: "I think clarifying that would be very helpful."

He said that, given current soft economic conditions, an agreement on fiscal policy between Congress and the White House would be reassuring. "It would be helpful to have more stimulus," Evans added.

Meanwhile, the risk that Europe's debt crisis could disrupt the U.S. financial system is looming larger, he said.

"Three percent inflation is a risk that we should be willing to take" given the dire consequences of doing too little to help the economy, Evans said.

INFLATION DEBATE

Fed officials are at odds on what the economy needs, with some like Evans calling for easier monetary policy and others, including Lacker, warning that more stimulus would be ineffective at best and at worst spark inflation.

Atlanta Fed Bank President Dennis Lockhart, also speaking on Wednesday, noted that the housing market, which has weighed heavily on the economy, remains depressed. He said housing prices were still falling year-over-year, suggesting the troubled sector has yet to see a bottom.

Lacker singled out money market funds as being particularly susceptible to financial market shocks.

"The major vulnerability of our financial system to Europe has to do with money market funds. We haven't fixed the structural problems there and until we do they're vulnerable to flights," Lacker said.

The Fed has kept interest rates near zero for more than three years and has signaled it will keep them there until at least mid-2013. This month it will start publishing short-term interest-rate forecasts, a move that is likely to push expectations for a rate hike even further into the future.

Both Evans and Lacker said they strongly supported the Fed's decision to publicize rate forecasts. Evans said the move will help the economy by reducing uncertainty.

"Households and businesses will be able to make better-informed decisions if they have a clearer notion of future policy rates," Evans said. "The potential for reduced uncertainty could also lower the risk premium embedded in longer-term interest rates."

(Writing by Ann Saphir and Pedro da Costa; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120111/bs_nm/us_usa_fed_evans

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Three Tiny Exoplanets Suggest Solar System Not So Special

SMALL TIME: An artist's representation of three small extrasolar worlds in a miniature planetary system. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Adding to its already long roster of firsts, NASA's Kepler spacecraft has found the three smallest extrasolar planets ever detected ? all of them smaller than Earth, and the most diminutive no larger than Mars. The newly discovered trio forms a miniature planetary system orbiting a cool, dim red dwarf star called KOI-961.

Because they are so close to their star, the three exoplanets are too hot to support life. But unlike most previously known exoplanets, the vast majority of which are Jupiter-scale gas giants, all three are thought to be rocky worlds like Earth and the other worlds of the inner Solar System. And because red dwarfs are the most common type of star in the Milky Way, the finding suggests that the Galaxy may be teeming with rocky planets ? with at least some residing in the 'habitable region' around those stars, where the temperature would be just right for water to remain liquid and life might have got a foothold.

?We need to get a census of how many rocky planets are out there to understand how Earth formed, and how common life may be in the Milky Way,? notes Sara Seager, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge who was not part of the latest study. The discovery bodes well for fulfilling that quest, she adds.

?The suggestion ? but not proof ? is that rocky planets are common and diverse, and that our Solar System is not some cosmic quirk composed of weirdo worlds,? agrees study collaborator Geoffrey Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley.

The Kepler findings were presented on 11 January at the semi-annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Austin, Texas, by John Johnson and Philip Muirhead of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. A paper describing the discovery has been accepted by the Astrophysical Journal.

Kepler hunts for planets by monitoring a field of some 150,000 stars in search of a subtle, periodic dimming ? a sign that an orbiting body is passing, or transiting, in front of a star, blocking a tiny fraction of light. Most of the stars Kepler examines are similar in mass to the Sun, but some are considerably smaller ? including one, a red dwarf star some 40 parsecs (130 light years) away from Earth, that was among the stars flagged as a candidate for possessing one or more planets.

Crucial downsizing
Dubbed KOI-961, for ?Kepler Object of Interest?, the red dwarf came under close scrutiny by the researchers. Muirhead realized early on that the Kepler mission team, which concentrates on finding planets around Sun-like stars, had overerestimated the brightness and size of the much smaller red dwarfs, which are notoriously difficult to model. On average, the red dwarfs' diameters turned out to be only about half the values listed in Kepler's official star catalog. And for KOI-961, in particular, the diameter had to be revised downwards even further: its actual size is only about one-sixth that of the Sun.

The revised estimate for the diameter of KOI-961 was crucial to discovering the latest trio, because the size of any transiting planets found by Kepler are measured only relative to the size of their parent star. The tinier the star, the tinier the transiting planet that can be detected. An essential clue came from a fortuitous e-mail that Johnson received last September from Kevin Apps, an amateur astronomer in Horley, England. Apps, a co-author on the Astrophysical Journal paper, spends his spare time studying the data on extrasolar planets and nearby stars, and he has an encyclopaedic knowledge of their properties. He alerted the rest of the team that KOI-961 bore an uncanny resemblance in colour and temperature to a well-known dwarf called Barnard?s Star. Follow-up observations with ground-based telescopes confirmed that the two stars were virtual twins. And because the size of Barnard?s Star has been very precisely measured, thanks to its location only 1.9 parsecs (6 light years) from Earth, Johnson?s team could gauge the diameter of KOI-961 ? and therefore its transiting planets ? with high precision.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=8b10ae5ca47d3d7accb58a5bfb8e8c5a

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Africa: 307th Meeting of Peace and Security Council of the African Union [press conference]

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African Union (Addis?Ababa)

9 January 2012

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press conference

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 307 th meeting, held on 9 January 2012, considered the partnership between the African Union and the United Nations on peace and security, and adopted the following decision:

Council,

1. Takes note of theReport of the Chairperson of the Commission on the Partnership between the AfricanUnion and the United Nations on Peace and Security: Towards Greater Strategic and Political Coherence[PSC/PR/2.(CCCVII)]. Council also takes note of the statements made by the Commissioner for Peace and Security,the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kenya,the representatives ofAlgeria, Egypt and Mozambique, as well as by the representatives of the United Nations, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States;

2. Commends the Chairperson of the Commissionfor his comprehensive and forward?? looking Reporton the AU?s strategic vision of the cooperation between the African Union and the United Nations on peace and security, issued pursuant to paragraph 31 of decision Assembly/AU/Dec.338 (XVI), adopted by the Assembly of the Union, at its 16 th Ordinary Session held in Addis Ababa, on 30 and 31 st January 2011;

3. Notes thatthe UN Secretary?Generalhas issued,on 29 December 2011,a report on United Nations?African Union cooperation on peace and security (S/2011/805), in which he provides an update on AU?UN cooperative efforts on peace and security and recommendations on ways to further strengthen the cooperation with the AU, buildingon his earlier report of 14 October 2010 (S/2010/514), in which he stressed that ?the complex challenges of today?s world require a revitalised and evolving interpretation of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter?. Council expresses its gratitude to Secretary?General Ban Ki?moon for his commitment to work closely with the AU and forhis efforts to deepen earlier UN Secretariat initiatives to develop a complementary relationship between the UN and regional arrangements;

4. Notes with appreciation the sustained attention that the UN Security Council continues to devote to the promotion of peace and security in Africa, within the framework of its mandate under the UN Charter;

5. Recalls its previous communiqu?s and press statements on the partnership between the AU and the UN on peace and security, including its communiqu? PSC/PR/Comm.(CLXXVIII)and press statement PSC/PR/BR.2(CCVII), adopted at its 178 th and 206 th meetings, held respectively on 13 March 2009 and 15 October 2009, in which it, among others:

(i) welcomed the report of the African Union?United Nations Panel (Prodi Panel) established under Security Council resolution 1809 (2008) to consider the modalities for support to African Union peacekeeping operations (A/63/666?? S/2008/813),

(ii) stressed that regional arrangements, in particular the AU, have an important role to play in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, and

(iii) emphasised that support by the UN to regional organisations in matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security is an integral part of collective security as provided for in the UN Charter;

6. Welcomes the progress made in the partnership between the AU and the UN on matters related to peace and security, within the context of Chapter VIII of the UN Charter and Article 17 of the Protocol relating to the Peace and Security Council;

7. Reiterates AU?s gratitudeto the Government of the Republic of South Africafor having, in line with relevant AU decisions,used the opportunity of its successive membershipsof the UN Security Council to further the objective of an enhanced partnership between the AU and the UN within the context of an innovative and forward?looking reading of Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, and commends President Jacob Zuma for his personal commitment to this initiative as demonstrated by his decision to chair the forthcoming meeting of the UN Security Council on this theme, on 12 January 2012;

8. Notes the close cooperation that exists between the AU Commission and the UN Secretariat, including the consultations among senior officials, the establishment of the Joint Task Force (JTF), the holding of regular Desk?to?Desk meetings, the increased coordination on the ground between AU and UN representatives and the steps taken towards the implementation of the Ten?Year Capacity Building Programme for the AU,as well as the institutionalisation of the yearly consultative meetings with the UN Security Council and the cooperation being developed with the UN Peace?building Commission (UNPBC);

9. Emphasisesthe need for innovative approaches to peacemaking and peacekeeping, in order tomore effectively address the peace and security challenges facing the continent, such as the establishment of the AU?UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), the authorization by the Security Council of a UN support package to the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the launching of joint mediation and other diplomatic efforts. Council underlines that these cooperative modalities and other innovative approaches provide a framework for future cooperation between the two organisations;

10. Recognises that, whileAfrica has made significant progress in its quest for lasting peace, security and stability, it continues, nonetheless, to be faced with serious challenges. In this regard, Council emphasises,once again, the need for renewed efforts by all concerned within the continent and the critical importance of African leadership and ownership,as well as the need for an enhanced support by the rest of the international community, in particular the United Nations, for the promotion of lasting peace and security;

11. Reiterates AU?s strong conviction on the need for the AU and the UN, building on the progress already achieved and lessons learned, to develop a stronger partnership, based on an?? innovative strategic and forward?looking reading of Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, in order to more effectively promote peace, security and stability in Africa, particularly in view of Africa?s evolving security landscape and the complexity of the challenges at hand, the development by the AU and its Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution of a comprehensive normative and institutional framework for dealing with peace and security issues, and their proximity and familiarity with the challenges facing their member States. In this respect, Council, while acknowledging the primary responsibility of the UN Security Council in the maintenance of international peace and security, stresses that the following principles would provide the basis for a more effective strategic partnership between the AU and the UN in a manner that would further clarify the relationship between the two institutions:

(i) support for African ownership of peace initiatives on the continent,as well as priority setting,

(ii) flexible and innovative application of the principle of subsidiarity, which is at the heart of Chapter VIII of UN Charter, including consultations priortodecision?making, division of labour and sharing of responsibilities,PSC/PR/COMM(CCCVII)

(iii) comparative advantage, taking into account the familiarity of AU and its Regional Mechanisms with conflict dynamics and their flexibility in dealing with security challenges, including their ability to rapidly deploy peace support operations to create conditions for the eventual deployment of UN peacekeeping operations, in line with the recommendations of the Prodi Panel Report;

12. Emphasises the urgent need for the AU and the UN, both at the level of their relevant decision?making organs and Secretariats, including within the framework of the forthcoming JTFmeeting to be held on the margins of the forthcoming AU Summit, at the end of January 2012, to engage in earnest on a dialogue to elaborate the principles that would underpin their strategic relationship, to better harmonise their approaches and methods for dealing with peace and security issues on the continent;

13. Reiterates its commitment, including on the basis of the communiqu?s of the consultative meetings held between Council and the UN Security Council, to strengthen its cooperation with the latter, including through more structured and substantive yearly meetings, regular consultations before taking decisions on issues of common concern, enhanced interaction between the Chairperson of the AU Peace and Security Council and the President of the UN Security Council,joint field missions to enhance synergy in monitoring, assessment of results and response strategies;

AllAfrica - All the Time

More News on allAfrica.com

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Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5733732341&f=378

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Samsung takes on LG with 55-inch OLED TV

Matt Rivera / msnbc.com

Samsung's Super OLED TV could be the hottest set on the market this year.

By Wilson Rothman

In 2009, Sony sold an 11-inch OLED TV. Then, for two full years, there was hardly a peep about OLED, even though it was touted as the thinnest, most efficient and highest contrast technology ever. Now, both LG and Samsung are showing off 55-inch models at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. OLED is finally ready?? or almost ready?? to compete with far cheaper LCDs for space in the living room.

Samsung's "Super OLED" TV, winner of a CES "Best of Innovations Award,"?is called by its maker "a masterpiece of accurate color reproduction and maximized performance." It has 3-D, motion control, voice control, face recognition. Of course it has the Media Hub and other features of Samsung's smart TVs, powered by a dual-core processor.

Our friend Geoff Morrison at HD Guru has this to say about the OLED TV:

Organic light-emitting diode TVs offer the promise of the best picture quality ever (and yes, we?re including CRT). Long ?vaporware? in the TV world, 2012 might be the year we see actual models. Samsung?s 55-inch model sure seems like the real deal ... maybe. They're promising a delivery in 2012, but at the moment there?s no pricing, release date, or even a model number. We remain optimistic, but skeptical.

Why is it finally the year for OLED? Sources have told HD Guru that it was advancements to the lifespan of the blue phosphor (one of three colors required for TV pictures). In terms of cost and availability, we'll have to wait and see. Regardless, we're finally pointing in the right direction. OLED is the future.

More CES 2012 coverage from msnbc.com's Gadgetbox:

We'll be posting live from Las Vegas this week at CES 2012. If you have questions or comments, shoot Wilson a tweet at?@wjrothman, or grab one of the other Gadgetbox team members featured in the widget on the right. As usual, you can catch our ongoing conversation about technology over?on Facebook.

Source: http://gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/09/10079151-samsung-takes-on-lg-with-55-inch-oled-tv

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Kelly Clarkson Talks About Reuniting With 'SNL' 'Family'

Saturday will be the pop singer's third time as the show's musical guest.
By Jim Cantiello

Kelly Clarkson
Photo: MTV News

This weekend, Kelly Clarkson is making her third appearance on "Saturday Night Live" as the musical guest. But the bubbly singer insists that being a part of NBC's iconic show will never feel old hat.

"I'm a three-peat! I've made it," Clarkson exclaimed to MTV News when we caught up with her at rehearsals. "It's a legendary stage! I've been watching it since I was a kid. I think we all have."

More so than the enormity of playing Studio 8H, Clarkson said she digs the vibe of the cast and crew. "It's a fun environment. You don't feel like you're working ... This is like a family place. Everybody here is nice to people who aren't famous. You know what I'm saying? They're nice to my makeup artist, my hair guy ... I hate people who are just nice to famous people. It bothers me. I want to kick 'em," she chuckled.

Clarkson still thinks about her first appearance on "SNL" in 2005, when she became the first "American Idol" winner to snag a musical guest spot. Even cooler, she got to flex her comedic muscles in a couple of skits with former cast members Amy Poehler and Horatio Sanz. "I remember I was so excited. First of all, Horatio? He's hard to do skits with because you laugh 'cause he laughs all the time at [himself]. So you're laughing 'cause he's laughing, and I'm trying to keep a straight face. I had so much fun."

But this go-around, Clarkson's too busy to participate in any sketches, even though the politically charged "SNL" could write comedy gold for Clarkson, who recently found herself in the middle of the presidential race when she casually tweeted about digging Ron Paul's campaign. The singer's always down to poke fun at herself and be goofy, but alas, tour rehearsals are top priority. "We're literally flying in and out [of New York]. Charles Barkley's hosting, so he's doing all the skits."

Kelly fans can still look forward to two high-energy performances. During Saturday night's show, Clarkson and her band will rock her #1 single, "Mr. Know It All," as well as her latest hit, "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)."

Related Videos

• MTV News Extended Play: Kelly Clarkson

Related Artists

• Kelly Clarkson

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676882/kelly-clarkson-saturday-night-live-musical-guest.jhtml

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Trinamool activists beat up West Bengal college principal

Kolkata:? The current war of words between the? Congress and the Trinamool turned physical on Thursday, with student unions of the two allies clashing at a college in North Bengal. The clash saw Trinamool activists severely beating up the college principal.

Close to 1000 Trinamool activists yesterday stormed into Raigunj College, ransacked class rooms and entered the principal's office. They dragged the college head out of his office and thrashed him.

The principal had refused to postpone students' elections in the college which is dominated by the Congress's Chatra Parishad.

The Trinamool activists were allegedly led by the party's district working president.

This is the second time in the last 30 days that the Trinamool has been involved in campus violence. On 17 December, two Trinamool councillors had led a mob to a prominent south Kolkata school and beat up the principal.

The Raigunj College has been closed for the next few days and a police team has been posted at the gate.

For NDTV Updates, follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NdtvNews-TopStories/~3/xCDAsCMEQQg/story01.htm

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Italy and Spain see debt default cover soaring

Jittery debt markets turned the screw on Italy and Spain yesterday amid fresh signs of economic gloom for the struggling eurozone duo and more warnings of recession.

The cost of insuring against defaults in both countries spiked higher after survey evidence showed Italy and Spain leading a fourth straight month of decline for the eurozone's services sector in December.

Markets were also on edge as nervy banks parked a record ?453bn (?375bn) with the European Central Bank and borrowed ?15bn from its overnight lending facility, while Hungary cancelled a bond auction due to spiralling borrowing costs.

Italy looks to be plunging towards an all-but-certain recession after a deepening decline in its services sector, according to the financial information group Markit. Only Germany and France registered any growth at all during the month. The results underline the two-speed Europe developing in the eurozone after the latest rise in Spanish unemployment yesterday contrasted with falling German dole queues. Germany sold ?4.1bn in 10-year debt yesterday, paying 1.93 per cent for the cash in a strong recovery after a failed bond auction spooked markets in November.

Italy and Spain can expect a much tougher ride from markets next week when they attempt to raise billions. The cost of insuring against a Spain default blew out 35 points to 4.37 per cent, meaning it costs $437 a year to insure $10,000 in sovereign debt. Italian prices were up by a similar amount at 5.15 per cent.

Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson said: "Recession is already looking inevitable in Italy and is a growing possibility in Spain as well."

In Hungary the Fidesz party cancelled its fund raising.

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/266/f/3511/s/1b875c09/l/0L0Sindependent0O0Cnews0Cbusiness0Cnews0Citaly0Eand0Espain0Esee0Edebt0Edefault0Ecover0Esoaring0E62850A760Bhtml/story01.htm

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Morning - iPad 2 Tastic! Video not so though.....

Hi there Forum!

My wife got a new iPad 2 16GB for Xmas as a gift, and is enjoying it greatly .

However, there is an annoyance with video playback that neither she or I can figure out, and I'd be grateful for advice / solutions. I've had a hunt around, but can't find any relevant posts, so here's my first (re)post.

She has installed BBC iPlayer for iPad, to watch (amongst other things EastEnders - sigh), and was midway through the New Years day episode when the video started cutting out. It would play for a few minutes or a few seconds - then the video would cut out but the audio would continue. To continue, she'd have to stop, close the app, rewind, then replay the video to get the video stream back again. It happens with EastEnders, but other shows on iPlayer as well. Apparently, it also happens when she views iPlayer from within Safari on her iPad (same issue), but not when she uses iPlayer in Safari on her MacBook. Apparently, video also drops on her dad's iPad 1 (same issue). What's annoying is it's not a definable period before the video cuts out, sometimes it's literally a few seconds, other times we watched 45mins of Great Expectations before the video dropped out.

What I have done to address this? Here's the list:
- Updated all the apps to latest versions.
- Restarted the iPad several times.
- Disabled the auto-sleep and auto-lock options in settings.
- Changed the iPlayer video quality to SD from HQ.
- Set the iPad to connect to both our protected wifi networks (MAC access control).
- (There is plenty of bandwidth on our network available - we have 8GB broadband).

Any thoughts on what to do about this? Surely iPlayer on iPad is able to stream without video dropping? Happy to try other suggestions and report back.
Many thanks for any advice in advance.
Cheers.
Jeremy. (husband of iPad owner)

Source: http://www.ipadforums.net/new-member-introductions-site-assistance/59546-morning-ipad-2-tastic-video-not-so-though.html

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Theme Parks in Japan

There are many fun amusement parks and theme parks across Japan. Below is a list of popular ones to visit. They are listed in alphabetical order.

_{All information on this page is subject to change.}

Edo Wonderland (Nikko Edomura)

It recreates the streets and buildings of the Edo era.
Address: 470-2 Karakura Nikko-city, Tochigi
Access: About 20 minutes by bus from Tobu Kinugawa Onsen Station.

Fuji Q Highland

It's a popular amusement park which features many thrilling rides. It's located at the foot of Mt. Fuji near Lake Kawaguchi.
Location: 5-6-1 Shin-Nishihara Fujiyoshida-city Yamanashi Prefecture
Access: Fuji Kyuko Line Fujikyu Highland Station

Nagasaki Huis Ten Bosch

It recreates medieval towns of Holland with canals running through the park and is filled with flowers throughout the year. It offers entertainment attractions, restaurants, shops, museums, hotels, and more.
Location: Sasebo-city, Nagasaki
Access: JR Omura Line Huis Ten Bosch Station

Nagashima Spaland

It's a fun amusement park located in Nagashima Resort which consists of hotels, hot springs, sport facilities, and lots more.
Address: Nagashima-cho Urayasu Kuwana-city, Mie
Access: 20 minutes by Mie Kotsu bus from JR Kuwana Station to Nagashima onsen

Shima Spain Village PARQUE ESPA?A

Shima Spain Village is a large resort consists of a Spanish-themed park called Parque Espa?a, hotels, and a hot spring facility.
Address: Sakazaki Isobe-cho Shima-city, Mie
Access: Take 13 minutes by bus from Kintetsu Shima Line Ugata Station to Shima Spain Village.

Space World

It's a space-themed amusement park.
Address: 4-1-1 Higashida Yahata-Higashi-ku Kitakyushu-city, Fukuoka
Access: JR Kagoshima Honsen Line Space World Station

Tobu World Square

It consists of many miniaturized versions of well-known buildings from around the world.
Address: Kinugawa Onsen Ohara Nikko-city, Tochigi
Access: 5 minutes by bus from Tofu Line Kinugawa Onsen Station

Tokyo Disneyland

It's located right outside of Tokyo. Tokyo Disneyland is filled with people throughout the year.
Location: Tokyo Disney Resort
Maihama Urayasu-city, Chiba
Access: JR Keiyo Line Maihama Station

Tokyo DisneySea

Tokyo DisneySea is located right next to Tokyo Disneyland. It consists of seven theme ports, presenting stories of the ocean for the guests.

Location: Tokyo Disney Resort
Maihama Urayasu-city, Chiba
Access: From JR Keiyo Line Maihama Station, take the Disnay Resort Line to Tokyo DisneySea Station.

Universal Studios Japan

It opened in 2001 as the first Universal Studios outside the US. It's located in Osaka. The park features fun rides, show attractions, theater-style attractions, and more.
Location: 2-1-33 Sakurajima Konohana-ku, Osaka-city
Access: JR Yumesaki Line Universal City Station

Source: http://gojapan.about.com/od/themeparksinjapan/tp/aatp_themeparks.htm

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East Nigeria clashes kill at least 50: state government (Reuters)

ONITSHA (Reuters) ? Clashes between rival ethnic groups in eastern Nigeria's Ebonyi state on Saturday killed at least 50 people, the state government spokesman said, and police said mobile units had been sent to the state to quell the violence.

The clashes erupted from a long running rivalry between the Ezza and Ezilo people of Ishielu district that periodically flares up.

There was no suggestion it had anything to do with wider security problems in the country stemming from a violent Islamist insurgency that set off a wave of deadly bombs on Christmas Day.

But they are likely to add to President Goodluck Jonathan's mounting security woes at a time when his forces are stretched.

"Up to 60 people died in the violence. It is difficult to give the exact figure because when we visited Ezilo community, which was the scene of the incident today ... villagers were still bringing out corpses," Ebonyi state spokesman Onyekachi Eni told Reuters by telephone. "Fifty corpses were shown to us."

Violent disputes over land are common in Africa's most populous country because the majority of its 160 million people are subsistence farmers living in rural areas with few means of arbitrating disputes.

Hundreds of people are killed every year in such clashes, many going unreported because of a lack of reliable information about them.

State Commissioner of Police Adeola Adeniji said the divisional crime officer for the area was killed in the violence. "Mobile police have been sent there and the inspector general has directed more to come," Adeniji said.

Chioma Oke, an Ezilo who survived the clashes, said they started around 5 a.m.

"We heard sporadic gunshots and we began to run. They burned our houses. They said they were retaliating for an attack on them last year," she said.

(Reporting by Anamesere Igboeroteonwu; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111231/wl_nm/us_nigeria_clashes

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Mubarak trial resumes amid acquittal speculation (AP)

CAIRO ? The trial of Hosni Mubarak resumed on Monday amid speculation that a recent acquittal of policemen tried for killing Egyptian protesters could be a prelude to the dismissal of charges against the ousted leader.

Mubarak faces charges of complicity in the killing of more than 800 protesters during last year's uprising that toppled his 29-year regime.

The 83-year-old ailing Mubarak was brought by helicopter to the Cairo courthouse from a hospital where he is held in custody. He was then taken into the defendants' cage on a gurney, wearing dark sunglasses and covered by a green blanket.

Another Cairo court on Thursday acquitted five policemen of charges of killing five protesters during the Jan. 25-Feb. 11 uprising in the capital's district of el-Sayedah Zeinab. The court said three of the defendants were not at the site of the killings while the other two fired against protesters in self defense.

The ruling angered families of the victims. Activists demanded that the killers be brought to justice and complained that similar cases are languishing in courts in several Egyptian cities.

On trial with Mubarak are his two sons, Gamal, his one-time heir apparent, and Alaa, along with the ousted leader's former security chief and six top police commanders. The Mubaraks face additional corruption charges in the same case.

The trial began Aug. 3 but has since been bogged down in procedural matters, including a demand by lawyers for the victims that the presiding judge, Ahmed Rifaat, be removed. That request alone took a separate court about three months to rule on.

The acquittal of the police officers in el-Sayedah Zeinab and the relatively long time the Mubarak trial is taking before even starting to deal with the core of the charges against him have led many activists to brand the proceedings a farce, organized by the generals who took over power when the longtime leader was ousted.

The generals are led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's defense minister for the last 20 years he spent in office.

The activists believe the generals remain beholden to the Mubarak regime, and only placed the former president and his two sons under arrest after mounting pressure by protesters. The Mubaraks were arrested in April, two months after the ouster of the regime. Activists believe this was long enough for the three to conceal evidence of their alleged involvement in either the killings or corruption.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120102/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_mubarak_trial

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San Diego spoils Oakland's playoff dreams

Chargers' 38-26 win gives Denver AFC West title and postseason berth

Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images

Shaun Phillips tackles Oakland receiver Denarius Moore.

By JOSH DUBOW

updated 7:39 p.m. ET Jan. 1, 2012

OAKLAND, Calif. - For all the talk about what it would take to send Oakland to the playoffs, the Raiders were unable to accomplish the one part they could control.

Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes and Richard Goodman returned a kickoff 105 yards for another score as the San Diego Chargers ended Oakland's playoff hopes by beating the Raiders 38-26 on Sunday.

The Raiders (8-8) went into the final day of the season needing to win and get help to end an eight-year playoff drought. They got the assistance they needed when Denver (8-8) lost 7-3 at home to Kansas City but were unable to do their part by beating the Chargers (8-8). The Broncos won the division based on record versus common opponents.

The Chargers could only celebrate playing the role of spoiler in what may have been coach Norv Turner's final game in San Diego. If this was his last game, he ended his tenure with an offensive masterpiece as San Diego did not punt, committed just one turnover and gained 463 yards.

Rivers completed 19 for 26 passes for 310 yards and was at his best on a key drive in the fourth quarter after Oakland cut San Diego's lead to 31-26 with 9:37 to go.

After Goodman mishandled the kickoff to force the Chargers to start from inside their 1, Rivers completed a 20-yard to Malcom Floyd, Mike Tolbert ran for 40 yards and Rivers threw a 43-yard TD pass to Floyd to make it a two-score game.

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Antoine Cason then intercepted Carson Palmer with 4:36 to go at the San Diego 20 to seal the victory for the Chargers and provide a disappointing finish to what had been a promising season for the Raiders.

Oakland seemed in control in the AFC West after beating Chicago 25-20 on Nov. 27 to improve to 7-4. But they lost four of their final five games, including squandering a late 13-point lead at home to Detroit two weeks ago to finish out of the postseason for the ninth straight year.

Palmer, brought in at midseason after starter Jason Campbell broke his collarbone, delivered the kind of performance the Raiders expected, throwing for 417 yards and two touchdowns.

But Oakland had to settle for four field goals by Sebastian Janikowski, mismanaged the clock late in the first half and could never stop Rivers and the Chargers offense.

The Raiders did set single-season records for penalties and yards penalized by committing eight for 64 yards. That gave them 163 for 1,358 yards, surpassing the totals of 158 for 1,304 set by the 1998 Chiefs. The record-setting penalty was a hold by Rock Cartwright on the opening kick of the second half.

The day got off to a bad start for the Raiders, who were eliminated from the wild-card chase when Tennessee held on to beat Houston 23-22 and the New York Jets lost 19-17 at Miami. But there were no score updates given all day at the Coliseum as Raiders coach Hue Jackson wanted his team to keep focused on the task at hand.

The game started off well as Oakland drove 95 yards on its first possession to score on Palmer's 3-yard TD pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey. The drive was aided by a pair of personal fouls against San Diego, including one that got San Diego's leading sacker Antwan Barnes ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct.

But Oakland then allowed a 38-yard TD pass from Rivers to Antonio Gates, a 1-yard run by Tolbert after a pass interference call in the end zone against Stanford Routt tied the single-season penalty record and Goodman's return.

The Raiders trailed 24-13 at the break, missing a chance at points in the closing seconds when they completed a 6-yard pass to Louis Murphy inbounds with 8 seconds and were unable to stop the clock.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45843313/ns/sports-nfl/

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