BERLIN, April 29 (Reuters) - Barcelona will try every trick in the book to overturn a 4-0 first-leg deficit against Bayern Munich in their Champions League semi-final return leg on Wednesday, honorary Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer warned on Monday. Bayern crushed the Spaniards last week in a surprisingly one-sided encounter but Beckenbauer, former player, coach and president of Germany's most successful club, warned that Barcelona were not ready to surrender. "Barca will try everything to throw Bayern off balance," he told Bild newspaper. ...
HR Capitalist Kris Dunn displays an ?outlandish? handwritten note as an example of recruiting that catches top performers.
It?s by a basketball recruiter from NC State, opens with ?WHAT UP Big Time?!!? and reads in part: ?We need DIFFERENCE MAKERS to come in and MAKE AN INSTANT IMPACT! This place is unreal bro! Create your own legacy & LEAD THE PACK!?
The elements that matter are that this note is not typed, crazy, and it's over the top. ?I?m calling you Big Time, referring to you as a Baller, and I?m telling you that I?m a fan,? Dunn says.
When you need to stop being boring and attract a top producer, there?s your template.
? Kinetix
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Home prices increased by 9.3 percent, their largest annual margin in nearly seven years. But experts warn that a backlog in some markets could keep home prices low for the foreseeable future.?
By Schuyler Velasco,?Staff writer / April 30, 2013
A US flag decorates a for-sale sign at a home in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington last year.US home prices in 20 cities rose more than expected in February, racking up their best annual rise since May 2006, according to the Case-Shiller index released Tuesday, April 30, 2013.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters/File
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The good news for the housing market just keeps on coming. The latest report of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices showed that average home prices for 20 cities increased by 9.3 percent for the year ending in February 2013. That same index rose 0.3 percent between January and February of this year. It was the biggest annual increase in residential real-estate prices since May 2006.
Skip to next paragraph Schuyler Velasco
Staff writer/editor
Schuyler Velasco is a writer and editor for the Monitor's business desk.? She writes about consumer issues, sports, and the occasional sandwich.
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It?s yet further evidence of the trend for the past year or so ? nationally, the housing market recovery is speeding along nicely. It?s still a long way off, but developments over the past year have the market at least moving towards the direction of ?normal? after years of depressed conditions.
?Despite some recent mixed economic reports for March, housing continues to be one of the brighter spots in the economy,? David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices,? wrote in the report. ??The 2013 first quarter GDP report shows that residential investment accelerated from the 2012 fourth quarter and made a positive contribution to growth. One open question is the mix of single-family [homes] and apartments; housing starts data show a larger than usual share is apartments.?
What's driving prices up? Analysts point to lean inventories, low interest rates, a rise in employment, and a drop in the share of foreclosed homes (which typically sell at a reduced price).?
Keep up to date with the hottest music trending on twitter #music service. #trending is an unofficial app bringing you the recently launched twitter music experience to windows phone in a clean and beautiful modern interface (originally metro).
In addition to listening to the 30 secs sample, the app also allow content to set as ringtones. Please make sure you have purchased the content before setting as ringtone from windows phone music store.
Full capabilities:
View top charts trending @twitter.
Listen to tracks samples in background.
Purchase tracks from windows phone music store in a single click.
Set tracks as ringtones.
Explore related samples for ringtones (make sure you have rights).
And much more?
The app is available in both paid and free versions. The app is fully functional in trial mode but ad-funded. Please support the developer by upgrading if you like the app.
Who even knows. The creators of Wool&Prince are claiming that you can wear their wool button-down shirts for days on end without them wrinkling, smelling or showing any dirt. Frankly, that sounds ridiculous, but maybe? More »
North Atlantic seaweed is safe to eatPublic release date: 30-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Birgitte Svennevig birs@sdu.dk 45-65-50-29-36 University of Southern Denmark
Seaweed has been eaten for thousands of years by people all over the world, and it can be considered a tasty and healthy food item. This is the conclusion from professor Ole G. Mouritsen, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Southern Denmark, who has scientifically studied the species dulse (Palmaria palmata).
Dulse has traditionally been eaten by populations along North Atlantic coasts in countries such as Iceland, Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Norway and along the North American and Canadian Atlantic coasts. Dulse has particularly fine gastronomic qualities, and it can be commercially grown in tanks.
Previously other scientists from i.a. the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration have cautioned that dulse may contain dangerous levels of the neurotoxin kainic acid, which, when consumed in large doses, can lead to brain damage.
Professor Mouritsens research now shows that dulse contains only extremely small doses of kainic acid, and that a person needs to eat 150 kg fresh dulse in one go in order to experience the poisoning effect observed in animal studies.
"Dulse is - when you observe common sense rules for freshness and hygiene when handling food - perfectly safe to eat. No person can eat 150 kg in one go", says professor Mouritsen.
He and his colleagues also measured dulses content of heavy metals, inorganic arsenic and iodine - substances that may occur in seaweeds and may be harmful in large doses.
Dulse contains only very small concentrations of iodine, arsenic, mercury, cadmium and lead, and they are all below the WHO-defined limits. Nor the content of vitamin K is alarmingly high.
"Not even people who take blood thinning medicine need to worry if they eat dulse in moderation," says professor Mouritsen.
Two well-known seaweed species (Sargassum muticum and Sargassum fusiforme) are known to have a very high content of inorganic arsenic, which increases the risk of cancer. S. fusiforme is not found in North Atlantic waters, but can be purchased in stores. S. muticum is found in North Atlantic waters.
For his own part professor Mouritsen is not nervous to harvest and eat seaweed from North Atlantic waters.
"There are many delicious, healthy and safe seaweed species in North Atlantic waters. Just stay away from old seaweed washed up on the beach and harvest only seaweed from clean waters", he adds.
Dulse is a particularly delicate seaweed, he points out, and he is supported by restaurant chefs. Through time dulse has been one of the most popular seaweed species in the parts of the western world with a tradition for eating seaweed.
"Dulse has a very appealing taste. It tastes best as dried and can be added to bread, omelets, soups and fish dishes. It can be fried and served as a crisp substitute for bacon or sprinkled over a salad", suggests professor Mouritsen.
Other interesting edible seaweed species from North Atlantic waters are:
Winged kelp (Alaria esculenta). Raw in salads. Roasted and granulated with fresh fruit.
Oarweed (Laminaria digitata). Cooked in soups.
Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima). Raw in salads or packed around fish.
Sea lettuce (Ulva sp). Raw in salads or dried and crushed into bread, dressings or omelets. Good source of iron.
Bladder Wrack (Fucus sp). Blanched - watch it change color from light brown to green when it hits the boiling water.
###
This press release was written by press officer Birgitte Svennevig.
Contact:
Professor Ole G. Mouritsen, tel + 45 6550 3506, email: ogm@memphys.sdu.dk
The scientific results on dulse is published here:
Journal of Applied Phycology, March 2013: On the human consumption of the red seaweed dulse (Palmaria palmata (L.) Weber & Mohr) by Ole G. Mouritsen, Christine Dawczynski, Lars Duelund, Gerhard Jahreis, Walter Vetter, Mark Schroeder.
[ | 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.
North Atlantic seaweed is safe to eatPublic release date: 30-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Birgitte Svennevig birs@sdu.dk 45-65-50-29-36 University of Southern Denmark
Seaweed has been eaten for thousands of years by people all over the world, and it can be considered a tasty and healthy food item. This is the conclusion from professor Ole G. Mouritsen, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Southern Denmark, who has scientifically studied the species dulse (Palmaria palmata).
Dulse has traditionally been eaten by populations along North Atlantic coasts in countries such as Iceland, Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Norway and along the North American and Canadian Atlantic coasts. Dulse has particularly fine gastronomic qualities, and it can be commercially grown in tanks.
Previously other scientists from i.a. the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration have cautioned that dulse may contain dangerous levels of the neurotoxin kainic acid, which, when consumed in large doses, can lead to brain damage.
Professor Mouritsens research now shows that dulse contains only extremely small doses of kainic acid, and that a person needs to eat 150 kg fresh dulse in one go in order to experience the poisoning effect observed in animal studies.
"Dulse is - when you observe common sense rules for freshness and hygiene when handling food - perfectly safe to eat. No person can eat 150 kg in one go", says professor Mouritsen.
He and his colleagues also measured dulses content of heavy metals, inorganic arsenic and iodine - substances that may occur in seaweeds and may be harmful in large doses.
Dulse contains only very small concentrations of iodine, arsenic, mercury, cadmium and lead, and they are all below the WHO-defined limits. Nor the content of vitamin K is alarmingly high.
"Not even people who take blood thinning medicine need to worry if they eat dulse in moderation," says professor Mouritsen.
Two well-known seaweed species (Sargassum muticum and Sargassum fusiforme) are known to have a very high content of inorganic arsenic, which increases the risk of cancer. S. fusiforme is not found in North Atlantic waters, but can be purchased in stores. S. muticum is found in North Atlantic waters.
For his own part professor Mouritsen is not nervous to harvest and eat seaweed from North Atlantic waters.
"There are many delicious, healthy and safe seaweed species in North Atlantic waters. Just stay away from old seaweed washed up on the beach and harvest only seaweed from clean waters", he adds.
Dulse is a particularly delicate seaweed, he points out, and he is supported by restaurant chefs. Through time dulse has been one of the most popular seaweed species in the parts of the western world with a tradition for eating seaweed.
"Dulse has a very appealing taste. It tastes best as dried and can be added to bread, omelets, soups and fish dishes. It can be fried and served as a crisp substitute for bacon or sprinkled over a salad", suggests professor Mouritsen.
Other interesting edible seaweed species from North Atlantic waters are:
Winged kelp (Alaria esculenta). Raw in salads. Roasted and granulated with fresh fruit.
Oarweed (Laminaria digitata). Cooked in soups.
Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima). Raw in salads or packed around fish.
Sea lettuce (Ulva sp). Raw in salads or dried and crushed into bread, dressings or omelets. Good source of iron.
Bladder Wrack (Fucus sp). Blanched - watch it change color from light brown to green when it hits the boiling water.
###
This press release was written by press officer Birgitte Svennevig.
Contact:
Professor Ole G. Mouritsen, tel + 45 6550 3506, email: ogm@memphys.sdu.dk
The scientific results on dulse is published here:
Journal of Applied Phycology, March 2013: On the human consumption of the red seaweed dulse (Palmaria palmata (L.) Weber & Mohr) by Ole G. Mouritsen, Christine Dawczynski, Lars Duelund, Gerhard Jahreis, Walter Vetter, Mark Schroeder.
[ | 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.
Hulu's future ownership may be in question, but the video streaming site is apparently doing fairly brisk business on the paid subscription front. During an advertiser event this morning, the site announced that it has managed to double its Hulu Plus accounts in the past year, up to four million. The site's revenue also hit a record for the first quarter of the year, though Hulu's not giving out any numbers. As with rivals Netflix and Amazon, the company's making a big bet on original programming, with a number of exclusive series, including the animated The Awesomes and western Quick Draw.
If an 8-inch stylus-enabled Galaxy Tablet wasn't your cup of tea, perhaps Samsung's new seven-inch model will do the trick. The Galaxy Tab 3 has gone official and the third iteration of the company's first Android tablet arrives with a 1.2GHz processor, 8GB or 16GB of storage (with expansion up to 64GB), a 3- and 1.3-megapixel camera array and a substantial 4,000mAh battery. That 7-inch WSVGA (1,024 x 600) TFT display suggests it's likely to be a keenly-priced slate, although we're still waiting to hear on specifics. Samsung's loaded up the Galaxy Tab 3 with Android 4.1 and says that the WiFi version will launch "globally" in May, while an incoming 3G model (no LTE at this point, but it'll be able to make calls) will follow in June.
Apr. 28, 2013 ? Scientists from ETH Zurich have shown for the first time that brown and white fat cells in a living organism can be converted from one cell type to the other. Their work, using mice as a model organism, provides important new insights into the origin of brown fat cells, which is a prerequisite for the development of successful anti-obesity therapies.
Two types of fat cells can be found in mammals and hence in humans: White fat cells function mainly as highly flexible energy stores which are filled in times of calorie abundance. The fat is stored in the form of lipid droplets, which are mobilized when energy is needed. Diametrically opposed in function are the so-called brown adipocytes: These cells specialize in burning energy in the form of fat and sugar to produce heat. New-born babies possess substantial amounts of brown fat and utilize it to maintain body temperature. Since it was recently shown that brown adipocytes also exist in adult humans, research has focused on understanding how brown adipocytes are formed. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to increase brown adipocyte number and activity in obese humans, allowing them to burn excess calories and thus reduce weight.
Against the current belief
It is known that both humans and mice can adapt to cold temperatures by forming brown fat cells within their white fat depots. These cells are called "brite" fat cells (brown-in-white) and are less common at warmer versus colder temperatures. However, the origin of these special brown adipocytes has remained a matter of debate. The prevalent hypothesis was that brite cells are formed from special precursor cells and are removed when no longer needed. The alternate idea of a direct interconversion between white and brown fat cells gained less attention. By demonstrating that this interconversion does occur and is one of the main contributors to brite fat cell formation, the current belief has been challenged.
Genetically labelled fat cells
To demonstrate how brite fat cells are formed the researchers in the laboratory of Christian Wolfrum, a professor at the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, generated mice that allowed them to genetically label specific fat cells. These animals were kept in a changing environment: starting at 8?C for a week and for several weeks afterwards at normal room temperature. During the cold exposure, the mice formed brown adipocytes in their white fat depots -- a process called "britening." After warm adaptation the fat tissue turned white again. Using the genetic markers the scientists concluded from these experiments that white fat cells can convert into brown fat cells and vice versa. As humans have the same type of cells as mice it is likely that the same process occurs in humans upon cold stimulation.
Treatments against obesity
"To develop new treatment strategies we need to find ways to convert white into brown adipocytes," says Wolfrum. Most of the research has focused on identifying the precursor cells for brown fat cells, an approach that may be insufficient. Future work will address the question of how to manipulate this interconversion process either by pharmacological or by nutritional means.
This approach would represent a novel strategy. "Current anti-obesity therapies target the energy intake side of the equation by controlling appetite and the uptake of nutrients," says Wolfrum. The pharmacological treatments that are available are not very efficient and usually are associated with side effects. In contrast, this novel approach to treat obesity would target the energy expenditure side of the equation by promoting brown fat formation.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by ETH Zurich, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Matthias Rosenwald, Aliki Perdikari, Thomas R?licke, Christian Wolfrum. Bi-directional interconversion of brite and white?adipocytes. Nature Cell Biology, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/ncb2740
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
BOSTON (Reuters) - Congressional intelligence leaders said on Sunday that authorities are pursuing "persons of interest" in the United States in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings, and asked for more help from Russian spy agencies.
Congressman Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Of Representatives intelligence committee said better cooperation from Russia was needed in Washington's probe of the two suspected bombers' recent contacts and activities.
Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Rogers said he believed that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, the elder of two ethnic Chechen brothers suspected of carrying out the April 15 blasts in Boston, clearly changed during his visit to Russia in 2012, becoming "radicalized."
"I think they (Russia) have information that would be incredibly helpful and that they haven't provided yet," he said.
New details of the unfolding investigation emerged following reports on Saturday that Tamerlan Tsarnaev spoke to his mother about "jihad" in a 2011 phone call secretly recorded by Russian officials.
U.S. authorities learned of the wiretapped discussion between Tsarnaev and his mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, within the last few days, CBS News reported. Tsarnaev died in an April 18 shootout with police, three days after the bombings that killed three people and injure more than 260 others.
Asked about the information Russia might have, Rogers said of Russia's spy service, "The FSB is a hostile service to the FBI and the CIA and there is cultural problem there between where the Russians are and our folks. So they sent a letter, didn't have a lot of information." Rogers added that subsequent U.S. requests for assistance have not been met.
"We still have persons of interest that we're working to find and identify and have conversations with," said Rogers. The Michigan lawmaker declined to say how many "persons of interest" there were.
"We are looking at phone calls before and after the bombing," the intelligence committee's senior Democrat, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, also said on ABC.
The revelations that others are being sought for questioning came as the suspected bombers' father told Reuters on Sunday that he has abandoned plans to travel to the United States. Speaking from a village in southern Russia, Anzor Tsarnaev said he believed he would not be able to see his surviving son, Dzhokhar, 19, who is being held in a federal prison in Massachusetts on charges he also carried out the bombing.
"In every investigation we have seen" when suspects carried out attacks, Rogers told ABC, they had at least "affirmed" their plans to others.
In each case, Rogers said, "there was outside affirmation of their intent to commit an act of jihad." In the Boston bombing, "I believe that happened in the United States," he said.
Attention has turned to whether U.S. officials missed signs that Tamerlan Tsarnaev may have posed a security threat, including a warning from Russia that he might be an Islamic militant. Jihad can refer to a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty, or to a Muslim's personal struggle in devotion to the faith.
The FBI interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011 but did not find enough cause to continue an investigation. His name was on the U.S. government's highly classified central database of people it views as potential threats, sources close to the bombing investigation have said.
Law enforcement authorities do not closely monitor the list, which includes about 500,000 people.
(Reporting by Maria Golovnina, Chris Francescani, Mohammad Zargham and Rachelle R. Younglai; editing by Barbara Goldberg and Jackie Frank)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Technology companies led the stock market higher Monday, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500 index back up to the record high it reached earlier this month.
A pair of strong economic reports also encouraged investors. Wages and spending rose in the U.S. last month, and pending home sales hit their highest level in three years.
Shortly after 12 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was up 85 points at 14,798, a gain of 0.6 percent. Microsoft and IBM were among the Dow's best performers, rising 2 percent each.
Big tech firms have slumped this month. Concerns about weak business spending and slower overseas sales have weighed on the industry, said Marty Leclerc, the managing partner of Barrack Yard Advisors, an investment firm in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Revenue misses from IBM and other big tech companies have highlighted the industry's vulnerability to the world economy.
"The areas of the stock market that haven't done as well rely on exports," Leclerc said. "Those stocks more dependent on the domestic economy have done the best."
Tech played catch-up on Monday. Information technology stocks rose the most of the 10 industry groups in the S&P, 1.5 percent. It's the only group that remains lower over the past year.
The S&P 500 index was up 11 points to 1,593, a gain of 0.7 percent. That matches its all-time closing high reached on April 11.
The Nasdaq composite rose 32 points at 3,311, a rise of 1 percent. Apple, the biggest stock in the index, rose 3.5 percent to $431.95.
The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes reached the highest level since April 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors. Back then, a tax credit for buying houses had lifted sales. Separately, the government reported that Americans' spending and income both edged up last month.
Moody's and Standard & Poor's parent company McGraw-Hill surged following news that the ratings agencies settled lawsuits dating back to the financial crisis that accused them of concealing risky investments. McGraw-Hill gained 6 percent to $54.80, while Moody's jumped 10 percent to $61.02, the biggest gain in the S&P 500.
Eaton Corp. gained 5 percent to $61.31 after reporting that its quarterly net income jumped, beating Wall Street's estimates. The results were helped by its acquisition of Cooper Industries, an electrical equipment supplier.
In the market for government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 1.65 percent. That's down from 1.67 percent late Friday.
San Diego 2024 Olympics boosters have included events in Tijuana, Mexico, as a selling point. The USOC is reaching out to potential bid cities, and a cross-border Olympics would be a first.
By Mark Sappenfield,?Staff writer / April 28, 2013
President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama lobby for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Olympics at the International Olympic Committee Session in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009. That failed. Maybe a proposal to hold events in Tijuana, Mexico, in 2024 will help.
Gerald Herbert/AP/File
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Can one Summer Olympics be held in two countries? Or in Oklahoma?
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Those are questions that have surfaced in recent days as the United States Olympic Committee looks for bid cities to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.The USOC has contacted 35 cities as part of a feeling-out process.
Of those 35 cities, Tulsa, Okla., was the smallest, with only 400,000 residents. But the mayor of Tulsa is not dismissing the notion of hosting the Summer Games out of hand, despite the fact that the city would need to more than triple its number of hotel rooms (to at least 45,000) and find more than $3 billion to build infrastructure like an Olympic stadium.
"I see this as a great opportunity, I really do," Mayor Dewey Bartlett told AP, encouraged the city's success in hosting the Bassmaster Classic in February
Perhaps the most intriguing candidate was San Diego, which has submitted a joint bid with Tijuana, Mexico.
USOC Chief Executive Scott Blackmun said the bid "would have its challenges," according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. "We haven't looked at it carefully. We just learned about it.?
Yet the problems might not be so difficult. No Olympic Games have been shared between two neighboring host countries, but the world of soccer has been dividing is major events between countries for years. South Korea and Japan shared the 2002 World Cup, and the European Championships were held in Austria and Switzerland in 2008 and Poland and Ukraine last year.
In Euro 2012, for example, Poland and Ukraine set up special "green lines" at customs posts on the border, which allowed fans with game tickets and nothing to declare to pass through via an expedited process.
Of course, the World Cup and European Championships are spread out at eight sites over an entire month, while the Summer Olympics ? while mammoth ? want to be as compact as possible to limit travel for athletes, fans, and VIPs. Soccer tournaments are a string of big events evenly spaced out, while the Summer Games are a constellation of small events packed together in time and space.
But San Diego and Tijuana are hardly worlds apart. The driving distance is 17 miles. For the Winter Games, which have increasingly devolved into city sports (skating, hockey) and mountain sports (skiing, sliding), 17 miles would be nothing.
By the early 90s, Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo were the foremost experts on footclan shredding, sewer living, and pizza eating. It was only a matter of time before one of the major pizza chains hitched their ovens to TMNT's rising star, and lo and behold it was Pizza Hut who called dibs.
1990's TMNT: The Arcade Game port for the NES not only featured Pizza Hut logo throughout its backgrounds, but the game's manual included Pizza Hut coupons to help kids recreate their own ?Pizza Time!? in real life. Sadly, those coupons have long since expired, but Pizza Hut lives on forever in every copy of the TMNT arcade port.
When you think about how you would deal with a zombie invasion, the weapons that come to mind probably don't include slingshots. But if the story of David and Goliath has taught us anything it's that slingshots are pretty deadly. Plus that whole underdog thing. Whatever.
Joerg Sprave wanted to make sure he was ready for the undead so he got fellow YouTubers, Zombie Go Boom, to send him two of their rubber zombie heads. Then he filled the head cavities with red wine. Because of course he did. He tested a homemade slingshot and a commercially made model and the results were pretty solid. You can inflict a lot of damage with a slingshot. At least if you're Joerg. The main takeaway here? A zombie apocalypse where the monsters bleed red wine will be way more relaxing and full of antioxidants than any alternative. [Slingshot Channel]
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva may stay out of American custody because the US and Russia do not have a bilateral extradition treaty, despite efforts by Moscow to negotiate one.
By Fred Weir,?Correspondent / April 28, 2013
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva at a news conference in Dagestan, Russia, on Thursday. Her sister Maryam, right, is with her.
Musa Sadulayev/AP
Enlarge
The mother of the two Boston bombing suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, has become a focus of interest after it emerged that her name had been added to a key terrorist watchlist in 2011 and fresh materials, including wiretaps, handed over to the US by the Russians showed her "vaguely discussing" jihad with her elder son two years ago.?
Skip to next paragraph Fred Weir
Correspondent
Fred Weir has been the Monitor's Moscow correspondent, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, since 1998.?
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
Ms. Tsarnaeva, a naturalized US citizen who moved back to Russia a few years ago, has best been known until now as the most passionate defender of her two sons, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar, up to the point of insisting that they were "framed" because they were Muslims. Now investigators may want to look into what role she may have played, if any, in the radicalization process that may have led her two sons to carry out the Boston Marathon bombing almost two weeks ago.
Tsarnaeva was reportedly added to the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE)?database in 2011 at the request of US intelligence agencies. That list, which held about 750,000 names at the time, is used to compile the consolidated Terrorist Watchlist?used as the main reference tool by airlines and law enforcement agencies. It is believed her name, and that of her son Tamerlan, were appended to the list after the Russian FSB security service appealed for more information about the pair to the FBI and the CIA and warned of their growing radicalization.?
In recent days the Russians have also turned over wiretaps of conversations between Tsarnaeva, who was by that time back living in her native Dagestan, and her son Tamerlan in Boston. In one they reportedly discuss "jihad" in a general way. In another, Tsarnaeva is recorded talking with someone who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case.
In his annual town hall meeting with the Russian public last Thursday, President Vladimir Putin called for stepped up security cooperation?between the US and Russia in the wake of the Boston tragedy. He downplayed any links between Russia and the Boston bombers, and added "to our great regret" Russian security forces lacked any "operative information" that they might have shared with US law enforcement in the run up to the attack.
Tsarnaeva is an ethnic Avar, one of the largest groups in Russia's multi-national, but solidly Muslim, mountain republic of Dagestan?which abuts the Caspian Sea. Dagestan has been wracked for over a decade by a growing Islamist insurgency that has made parts of the republic a no-go zone even for law enforcement.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ? A new pope from Latin America who wants to build "a church for the poor" is stirring hopes among advocates of liberation theology, a movement of social activism that alarmed former popes by delving into leftist politics.
Pope Francis has what it takes to fix a church "in ruins" that has "lost its respect for what is sacred," prominent liberation theologian Leonardo Boff said Saturday.
"With this pope, a Jesuit and a pope from the Third World, we can breathe happiness," Boff said at a Buenos Aires book fair. "Pope Francis has both the vigor and tenderness that we need to create a new spiritual world."
The 74-year-old Brazilian theologian was pressured to remain silent by previous popes who tried to draw a hard line between socially active priests and leftist politics. As Argentina's leading cardinal before he became pope, Francis reinforced this line, suggesting in 2010 that reading the Gospel with a Marxist interpretation only gets priests in trouble.
But Boff says the label of a closed-minded conservative simply doesn't fit with Francis.
"Pope Francis comes with the perspective that many of us in Latin America share. In our churches we do not just discuss theological theories, like in European churches. Our churches work together to support universal causes, causes like human rights, from the perspective of the poor, the destiny of humanity that is suffering, services for people living on the margins."
The liberation theology movement, which seeks to free lives as well as souls, emerged in the 1960s and quickly spread, especially in Latin America. Priests and church laypeople became deeply involved in human rights and social struggles. Some were caught up in clashes between repressive governments and rebels, sometimes at the cost of their lives.
The movement's martyrs include El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero, whose increasing criticism of his country's military-run government provoked his assassination as he was saying Mass in 1980. He was killed by thugs connected to the military hierarchy a day after he preached that "no soldier is obliged to obey an order that is contrary to the will of God." His killing presaged a civil war that killed nearly 90,000 over the next 12 years.
Romero's beatification cause languished under popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI due to their opposition to liberation theology, but he was put back on track to becoming a saint days after Francis became pope.
Scores of other liberation theologians were killed in the 1970s and 1980s. Six Jesuit teachers were slaughtered at their university in El Salvador in 1989. Other priests and lay workers were tortured and vanished in the prisons of Chile and Argentina. Some were shot to death while demanding land rights for the poor in Brazil. A handful went further and picked up arms, or died accompanying rebel columns as chaplains, such as American Jesuit James Carney, who died in Honduras in 1983.
While even John Paul embraced the "preferential option for the poor" at the heart of the movement, some church leaders were unhappy to see church intellectuals mixing doses of Marxism and class struggle into their analysis of the Gospel. It was a powerfully attractive mixture for idealistic Latin Americans who were raised in Catholic doctrine, educated by the region's army of Marxist-influenced teachers, and outraged by the hunger, inequality and bloody repression all around them.
John Paul and his chief theologian, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, drove some of the most ardent and experimental liberation theologians out of the priesthood, castigated some of those who remained, and ensured that the bishops and cardinals they promoted took a wary view of leftist social activism.
Yet much of the movement remained, practiced by thousands of grassroots "base communities" working out of local parishes across the hemisphere, nurtured by nuns, priests and a few bishops who put freedom from hunger, poverty and social injustice at the heart of the Church's spiritual mission.
Hundreds of advocates at a conference in Brazil last year declared themselves ready for a comeback.
"At times embers are hidden beneath the ashes," said the meeting's final declaration, which expressed hopes of stirring ablaze "a fire that lights other fires in the church and in society."
Boff and other advocates are thrilled that this new pope spent so much time ministering in the slums, and are inspired by his writings, which see no heresy in social action.
"The option for the poor comes from the first centuries of Christianity. It is the Gospel itself," said then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio during a 2010 deposition in a human rights trial. He said that if he were to repeat "any of the sermons from the first fathers of the church, from the 2nd or 3rd century, about how the poor must be treated, they would say that mine would be Maoist or Trotskyite."
Msgr. Gregorio Rosa Chavez, the auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, said Romero and Francis have the same vision of the church. "When he says 'a church that is poor and for the poor,' that is what Monsignor Romero said so many times," he said.
Rosa Chavez said neither cardinal was among the most radical of churchmen.
"There are many theologies of liberation," he said. "The pope represents one of these currents, the most pastoral current, the current that combines action with teaching." He described Francis' version as "theologians on foot, who walk with the people and combine reflection with action," and contrasted them with "theologians of the desk, who are from university classrooms."
John Paul II himself embraced the term "liberation theology," but was also credited with inspiring resistance to the communist regime in his native Poland, and was allergic to socialist pieties.
For 30 years, the Vatican has been seeding Latin America, Africa and Asia with cardinals "who have tended to be, adverse, to put it kindly, to liberation theology," said Stacey Floyd-Thomas, a professor of ethics and society at Vanderbilt University Divinity School.
In Brazil, Sao Paulo Archbishop Odilo Scherer, widely considered a possible pope, told the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper last year that liberation theology "lost its reason of being because of its Marxist ideological underpinnings . which are incompatible with Christian theology."
"It had its merits by helping bring back into focus matters like social justice, international justice and the liberation of oppressed peoples. But these were always constant themes in the teachings of the Church," Scherer said.
In 1984, Ratzinger put Boff in Galileo's chair for a Vatican inquisition over his writings, eventually stripping him of his church functions and ordering him to spend a year in "obedient silence." Nearly a decade later, in 1993, the Vatican pressured him again, and he quit the Franciscan order.
Now Boff says Francis has brought a "new spring" to the global church.
"Josef Ratzinger. He was against the cause of the poor, liberation theology," Boff said. "But this is from last century. Now we are under a new Pope."
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Associated Press Writers Michael Warren in Buenos Aires, Jenny Barchfield in Rio de Janeiro, Marcos Aleman in San Salvador and John Rice in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Making new friends over cold brew isn't particularly difficult, but making those friendships Facebook-official requires a bit more effort -- unless you have Buddy Cup, that is. Developed by ad outfit Agencia Africa and creative studio Bolha for Budweiser Brazil, the drinking vessel makes folks who toast with each other friends on Zuckerberg and Co.'s social network as soon as their beverages collide, with an LED lighting up to confirm the new acquaintance. Partygoers link their Facebook profile with theLilyPad-based grail by scanning a QR code underneath the glass with an app from the brewer, and they'll be on their way to making new pals. The Drum reports that the Buddy Cup will be used at concerts, festivals and parties sponsored by The King of Beers, but we're sure intrepid imbibers can hack some together for use at their own soirees. Hit the jump to for a video of the contraption.
These days everyone wants you to hack your life in order to make your day-to-day existence more efficient. But there are times when the effort's not really worth it?and this chart should help you work out what to spend time on, and what to ignore.
Put together by XKCD's Randall Munroe, this chart tells you how much time you should spend on making a task more efficient based on how big a saving you can create and how often you have to perform the task over a five-year span. It makes complete sense, and is pretty revealing: if you can slice a minute off a 30 minute task you perform every day, then by all means spend an entire day trying to make that task more efficient.
A lot of the time, though, the savings just aren't worth the effort. Just make sure you don't spend too much time reading the chart?because that's hardly efficient, is it? [XKCD]
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons could be a greater threat after that nation's president leaves power and could end up targeting Americans at home, lawmakers warned Sunday as they considered a U.S. response that stops short of sending military forces there.
U.S. officials last week declared that the Syrian government probably had used chemical weapons twice in March, newly provocative acts in the 2-year civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. The U.S. assessment followed similar conclusions from Britain, France, Israel and Qatar ? key allies eager for a more aggressive response to the Syrian conflict.
President Barack Obama has said Syria's likely action ? or the transfer of President Bashar Assad's stockpiles to terrorists ? would cross a "red line" that would compel the United States to act.
Lawmakers sought to remind viewers on Sunday news programs of Obama's declaration while discouraging a U.S. foothold on the ground there.
"The president has laid down the line, and it can't be a dotted line. It can't be anything other than a red line," said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich. "And more than just Syria, Iran is paying attention to this. North Korea is paying attention to this."
Added Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.: "For America to sit on the sidelines and do nothing is a huge mistake."
Obama has insisted that any use of chemical weapons would change his thinking about the United States' role in Syria but said he didn't have enough information to order aggressive action.
"For the Syrian government to utilize chemical weapons on its people crosses a line that will change my calculus and how the United States approaches these issues," Obama said Friday.
But Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, said Sunday the United States needs to consider those weapons. She said that when Assad leaves power, his opponents could have access to those weapons or they could fall into the hands of U.S. enemies.
"The day after Assad is the day that these chemical weapons could be at risk ... (and) we could be in bigger, even bigger trouble," she said.
Both sides of the civil war already accuse each other of using the chemical weapons.
The deadliest such alleged attack was in the Khan al-Assal village in the Aleppo province in March. The Syrian government called for the United Nations to investigate alleged chemical weapons use by rebels in the attack that killed 31 people.
Syria, however, has not allowed a team of experts into the country because it wants the investigation limited to the single Khan al-Assal incident, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged "immediate and unfettered access" for an expanded investigation.
One of Obama's chief antagonists on Syria, Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz., said the United States should go to Syria as part of an international force to safeguard the chemical weapons. But McCain added that he is not advocating sending ground troops to the nation.
"The worst thing the United States could do right now is put boots on the ground on Syria. That would turn the people against us," McCain said.
His friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also said the United States could safeguard the weapons without a ground force. But he cautioned the weapons must be protected for fear that Americans could be targeted. Raising the specter of the lethal bomb at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, Graham said the next attack on U.S. soil could employ weapons that were once part of Assad's arsenal.
"Chemical weapons ? enough to kill millions of people ? are going to be compromised and fall into the wrong hands, and the next bomb that goes off in America may not have nails and glass in it," he said.
Rogers and Schakowsky spoke to ABC's "This Week." Chambliss and Graham were interviewed on CBS's "Face the Nation." McCain appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press."
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Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Philip_Elliott
PARIS (AP) ? An official says an explosion at a residential building and subsequent partial collapse of the edifice has left at least two people dead and injured nine others in France's Champagne country.
A local rescue official says more than 100 rescue workers, firefighters, and bomb and gas experts were deployed to the building in the subsidized housing complex that collapsed Sunday morning in the city of Reims, east of Paris.
Reims mayor Adeline Hazan told France's BFM television that "a very powerful explosion" had taken place but the cause was unclear. She said the bodies of the two people killed remained under the rubble.
The rescue official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said he couldn't immediately confirm whether an explosion had taken place.
Accidents happen. Butterfingers or not, you're bound to slip up and destroy a perfectly lovely device, especially if you use it a lot. But the worst is when you bust that sucker up RIGHT after you've started to fall in love with it. What's your record time for completely and totally busting up a new gadget? A month, a week, a day, an hour? Let's hear some real horror stories. More »
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Public release date: 30-Apr-2013
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