Japan's two biggest airlines replaced below-par lithium-ion batteries on their Boeing Co 787 Dreamliners in the months before separate incidents led to the technologically advanced aircraft being grounded worldwide due to battery problems.?
Comments from both All Nippon Airways, the new Boeing jetliner's biggest customer to date, and Japan Airlines Co Ltd point to reliability issues with the batteries long before a battery caught fire on a JAL 787 at Boston's airport and a second battery was badly charred and melted on an ANA domestic flight that was forced into an emergency landing.?
ANA said it changed 10 batteries on its 787s last year, but did not inform accident investigators in the United States because the incidents, including five batteries that had unusually low charges, did not compromise the plane's safety, spokesman Ryosei Nomura said on Wednesday.?
JAL also replaced batteries on the 787 "on a few occasions", said spokeswoman Sze Hunn Yap, declining to be more specific on when units were replaced or whether these were reported to authorities.?
The Federal Aviation Administration tells NBC News that neither ANA nor Boeing ever notified the agency of that batteries were replaced on 787s prior to the emergency landing in Japan.
However,?ANA did inform Boeing of the faults that began in May, and returned the batteries to their manufacturer, GS Yuasa Corp. A spokesman for the battery maker declined to comment on Wednesday. Shares of the company fell 1.2 percent.?
Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, speaking on a conference call, said that the company is making progress toward narrowing down the potential cause of the battery incidents. In a separate statement, Boeing said the numerous replacements were not made because of safety concerns.?"Batteries are a replaceable unit on airplanes, regardless of the technology used."?
Little?headway
National?Transportation?Safety?Board investigators have asked Boeing Co. to provide a full operating history of lithium-ion batteries used in its grounded 787 Dreamliners.
Under aviation inspection rules, airlines are required to perform detailed battery inspections once every two years.?
Officials are carrying out detailed tests on the batteries, chargers and monitoring units in Japan and the United States, but have so far made little headway in finding out what caused the battery failures.?
Japan's transport ministry said the manufacturing process at the company which makes the 787 battery's monitoring unit did not appear to be linked to the problem on the ANA Dreamliner that made the emergency landing.?
The NTSB said on Tuesday it was carrying out a microscopic investigation of the JAL 787 battery. Neither it nor the Japan Transport Safety Board has been able to say when they are likely to complete their work.?
The global fleet of 50 Dreamliners - 17 of which are operated by ANA - remain grounded, increasing the likely financial impact to Boeing, which is still producing the aircraft but has stopped delivering them, and the airlines that fly the Dreamliner.?
Boeing said Wednesday that it expected no significant impact to its earnings from the grounding of the 787s. The airplane maker posted a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter profit with net income of $978 million, down from $1.39 billion in the same period a year ago, when it had a special gain from taxes.?
NBC News' Tom Costello contributed to this report.
The New York Times?published an article?on?its website?Wednesday evening alleging that "Chinese hackers have persistently attacked The New York Times" over the past four months.
The decision by the paper to publish a story exposing the fact that Times employees and computer security experts have been "surreptitiously tracking the intruders" in order to figure out the best way to stop their activities, and have now "expelled the attackers and kept them from breaking back in," is a bold and intriguing move by?the Times.
The article?states that security experts determined that the hacking attacks "coincided" with Times Shanghai bureau chief David Barboza's work on an in-depth investigation into Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jibao that exposed that some of his relatives had earned billions of dollars through various business deals.
Shortly after the piece -- which was called "Billions in Hidden Riches for Family of Chinese Leader" and cast Wen and his associates in a negative light -- was published online on Oct. 25, Chinese authorities blocked the New York Times website throughout the country, in a move that was almost definitely timed to help soften the blow of the Wen story,?according to the Washington Post.
And the new revelations by the Times expose another level of the Chinese government's willingness to take major steps against foreign publications critical of the powers that be there.
The Times report states that the Chinese hackers broke into Barboza and former Beijing bureau chief Jim Yardley's email accounts during the hacking attacks.
The Times' executive editor, Jill Abramson, discussed the breach of email accounts in the Wednesday article:
?Computer security experts found no evidence that sensitive e-mails or files from the reporting of our articles about the Wen family were accessed, downloaded or copied,? Abramson said.
And security experts told the Times that they found evidence that every Times employee's corporate password was stolen, and they were used to access 53 employees' personal computers, many of which were located outside of the paper's newsrooms. But it appears that the target of all the hacking was only data on the blockbuster story by Barboza, and that no other data was targeted, the Times wrote.
The Times article points out that this is not the first such example of Chinese espionage against American media companies.?Bloomberg News?was?hit by Chinese hackers?in 2012, after?an article that revealed the wealth?of family members of the country's then-vice-president, Xi Jinping, who is about to become supreme leader, was published by the outlet.
Jan 7, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Eddie Lacy (42) runs with the ball against Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Matthias Farley (41) during the second half of the 2013 BCS Championship game at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
With the Super Bowl this coming Sunday, teams are already considering decisions for next season. Many of those decisions will amount to selections in the 2013 NFL Draft that draws ever nearer.
For a young Cincinnati Bengals team, several draft needs will certainly be filled in both the early rounds and the later ones. The offensive line will likely be targeted, and the secondary will see some replenishing.
However, something the Bengals should consider is another running back as well. BenJarvus Green-Ellis overcame a slow start last season to finish strong. He ended up with over 1,000 yards on the season as he carried much of the offense in the final stretch.
Many Bengals fans would like to see the team pick Montee Ball Jr. early in the draft. However, many of those fans are missing another potential candidate for the Bengals running back position. (Or a shared role, that is.)
And also much more of a steal.
Alabama running back Eddie Lacy.
?
Topics: Cincinnati Bengals, Eddie Lacy, NFL, NFL Draft
BERLIN (AP) ? On the 80th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to always fight for their principles and not fall into the complacency that enabled the Nazi dictator to seize control.
Speaking Wednesday at the opening of a new exhibit at the Topography of Terror memorial documenting Hitler's election, Merkel noted that German academics and students at the time happily joined the Nazis only a few months later in burning books deemed subversive.
"The rise of the Nazis was made possible because the elite of German society worked with them, but also, above all else, because most in Germany at least tolerated this rise," Merkel said.
After winning about a third of the vote in Germany's 1932 election, Hitler convinced ailing President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint him chancellor on Jan. 30, 1933 ? setting Germany on a course to war and genocide.
"This path ended in Auschwitz," said Andreas Nachama, the director of the Topography of Terror.
The Topography memorial is built around the ruins of buildings where the Gestapo secret police, the SS and the Reich Security Main Office ran Hitler's police state from 1933 to 1945. A stretch of the Berlin Wall along the edge serves as a reminder of Germany's second dictatorship under the Communists in the 20th century.
Once chancellor, Hitler was able to use his position to consolidate absolute control over the country in the months to follow.
About a month after being appointed chancellor, Hitler used the torching of the Reichstag parliament building ? blamed on a Dutch communist ? to strengthen his grip on power. He suspended civil liberties and cracked down on opposition parties, paving the way for the police state.
By midsummer 1933, he had declared the Nazi Party to be the only political party in Germany. He later named himself "Fuehrer" or "Leader" of the country.
The fact that Hitler was able to destroy German democracy in only six months serves as a warning today of what can happen if the public is apathetic, Merkel said.
"Human rights do not assert themselves on their own; freedom does not emerge on its own; and democracy does not succeed on its own," Merkel said. "No, a dynamic society ... needs people who have regard and respect for one another, who take responsibility for themselves and others, where people take courageous and open decisions and who are prepared to accept criticism and opposition."
Following the morning ceremony, Germany's Parliament held a special session in tribute to those who died under the Nazi dictatorship.
Inge Deutschkron, a 90-year-old Jewish Berliner and writer, recalled Germans celebrating Hitler's rise to power as she addressed lawmakers.
She remembered her family growing more tense over the subsequent weeks amid worries about Hitler's paramilitary SA thugs who roamed the streets.
"Often, I couldn't get to sleep in the evenings and listened for footsteps in the staircase," she said. "If they were boots, I became afraid they could be SA men coming to arrest my father."
Deutschkron's father managed to escape to England shortly before World War II, while she and her mother were hidden by friends in Berlin for the final years of the war.
She recalled most ordinary Germans' indifference to the fate of Jews, who were forced to wear yellow stars.
"The majority of Germans I met in the streets looked away when they saw this star on me ? or looked straight through me," she said.
And when she visited West Germany's capital of Bonn after the war, she recalled that most "had simply erased from their memory the crimes for which the German state had set up its own machinery of murder."
Deutschkron remembered West Germany's first postwar chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, saying that most Germans opposed the Nazis' crimes against Jews and that many had helped Jews to escape.
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday:
1. OBAMA VOWS TO FAST-TRACK IMMIGRATION OVERHAUL
He says he'll send his own legislation to Capitol Hill if lawmakers don't act quickly.
2. WHAT CAUSED THE BRAZIL NIGHTCLUB FIRE
The flares for the band's onstage pyrotechnic display were meant only for outdoor use. They cost $1.25 each ? while an indoor flare costs $35.
3. KERRY BREEZES TO CONFIRMATION AS SEC'Y OF STATE
Even Republicans praise him as Clinton's ideal successor.
4. CHUCK HAGEL AIMS FOR ZERO
The likely next secretary of defense supports an international movement that favors eliminating all nuclear weapons.
5. AN URGENT SUMMONS FOR SYRIAN AID
Officials plan to seek $1.5 billion from the international community to help up to 1 million refugees and twice that number of people inside the country.
6. BP CLOSES BOOK ON CRIMINAL PROBE OF GULF OIL SPILL
A judge agrees to let the company plead guilty to manslaughter charges for the deaths of 11 rig workers and pay a record $4 billion in penalties.
7. FURY IN EGYPT
Nation on the threshold of revolt against an Islamist president buries its dead as political violence intensifies.
8. EYES IN THE AFRICAN SKY
The Obama administration plans to locate a drone base in Niger to monitor al-Qaida as concerns about extremists there deepen.
9. A-ROD DENIES CLAIMS HE BOUGHT HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE
Miami newspaper alleges the three-time AL MVP used a now-defunct clinic to buy PEDs.
10. HOW TO TELL THE HARBAUGHS APART
Jim's the intense competitor. Older brother John is more engaging.
Welcome to the final Monday of January 2013, ladies and gentlemen. Let's get it started right with a big ol' pot of coffee, and a little thing we like to call the Android Central Podcast. If you missed Thursday night's live show, you missed some lively discussion about the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, the state of the Nexus, some really good e-mails and voicemails. And Jerry might or might not have been dressed as a farmer. (We don't ask why.)
The Android Central Podcast is your weekly peek into the world of Android, where we break down the news that really matters, and explain what's just a bunch of hype. Plus, we answer your e-mails and voicemails. You don't want to miss it. Check out the Android Central Podcast.
Prehistoric remains discovered more than a century ago have been identified as a new species of marine super-predator.
Researchers said the 165-million-year-old creature was distantly related to modern-day crocodiles.
Parts of its skeleton were found near Peterborough in the early 1900s and are held at Glasgow's Hunterian museum.
The species has been named as Tyrannoneustes lythrodectikos, meaning "blood-biting tyrant swimmer".
Scientists found that the partial skeleton - including a jawbone and teeth - belonged to a group of crocodiles that were similar to dolphins.
The animal's pointed, serrated teeth and large gaping jaw meant it would have been suited to feeding on large-bodied prey.
A team of experts led by the University of Edinburgh said it would help scientists better understand how marine reptiles were evolving about 165 million years ago.
'Missing link'
The researchers believe the species represents a missing link between marine crocodiles that fed on small prey, and others that were similar to modern-day killer whales, which fed on larger prey.
Their findings have been published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
Dr Mark Young of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, said: "It is satisfying to be able to classify a specimen that has been unexamined for more than 100 years, and doubly so to find that this discovery improves our understanding of the evolution of marine reptiles."
Dr Neil Clark, palaeontology curator at the Hunterian, said little research had been done on the specimen since it was first listed in 1919.
He added: "It is comforting to know that new species can still be found in museums as new research is carried out on old collections.
"It is not just the new species that are important, but an increase in our understanding of how life evolved and the variety of life forms that existed 163 million years ago in the warm Jurassic seas around what is now Britain."
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, pleasesend us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.
"Why should a 3D printer look like a microwave oven?" That's the question being posed by the DeltaMaker Kickstarter project team, which thinks it can put some showbiz into 3D printing using a so-called delta robot platform. That type of design uses three parallel arms to control the print head, enabling a device that's not only "fun to watch," according to the group, but that can also quickly print high resolution objects with a large 9-inch by 11-inch build envelope. The open-cage printer will work using "fused filament fabrication" with 1.75mm filament, and will also feature 100 micron layer resolution (0.1 millimeter), rigid aluminum construction, an open-source software tool chain and optional heated build platform. The company sees it putting on a 3D printing show in "living rooms, waiting rooms, and classrooms," with a current Kickstarter price between $1,400 and $1,600, depending on how soon you pony up. After five days, the project is nearly halfway to its $107k goal, with backers having already snapped up early deals as cheap as $500. Check the video after the break to see how it works, or hit the source to pledge.
[Thanks, Jake]
Previous project update: The Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner might be long of name but it's not short of funds, having shot way past its $50,000 goal to the tune of $205k with a week still left, netting the first stretch goal -- meaning backers will also get a free "leporello" accordion photo album.
SANTA MARIA, Brazil (AP) ? There was no alarm, no extinguishers, no sprinklers and almost no escape from the nightclub that became a death trap for more than 200 Brazilian college students.
As investigators began poking through the rubble and families mourned their dead, questions abounded as the university city in southern Brazil tried to understand how the Sunday morning blaze that killed 231 people could have been sparked in the first place, then rage rapidly out of control.
Why was there only one door available for exit and entry? What was the flammable material in the ceiling that allowed the conflagration to move so quickly? And, more pointedly, why was a band playing at the club allowed to use pyrotechnics inside the building?
Police were leaning toward the band's pyrotechnics as the cause of the blaze during a party at the Kiss nightclub organized by several academic departments at the Federal University of Santa Maria. Inspector Antonio Firmino, who's part of the team investigating the fire, said it appeared the club's ceiling was covered with an insulating foam made from a combustible material that ignited with the pyrotechnics.
Firmino said the number and state of the exits is under investigation but that it appeared that a second door was "inadequate," as it was small and protected by bars that wouldn't open.
The disaster, the worst fire of its kind in more than a decade, also raises questions of whether Brazilian authorities are up to the task of ensuring safety in such venues ahead of it hosting next year's World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
Some critics have said conditions in many Brazilian bars and clubs are ripe for another deadly blaze. They say that in addition to modernizing sometimes outdated safety codes and ensuring sufficient inspectors, people must change their way of thinking and respect safety regulations.
Hundreds of people marched peacefully outside the nightclub Monday night to remember the victims, and demand justice. Some carried signs with slogans such as, "May God's justice be carried out."
"We hope that the justice system, through its competent mechanisms, succeeds in clarifying to the public what happened, and gives the people an explanation," said marcher Eglon Do Canto.
Brazilian police said they detained three people Monday in connection with the blaze, while the newspaper O Globo said on its website that a fourth person had surrendered to police. Police Inspector Ranolfo Vieira Junior said the detentions were part of the ongoing police probe and those detained can be held for up to five days.
Vieira declined to identify those detained, but local media has identified them as two co-owners of the club, and two members of the band that was using a spark machine inside the building when the fire erupted.
According to state safety codes here, clubs should have one fire extinguisher every 1,500 square feet as well as multiple emergency exits. Limits on the number of people admitted are to be strictly respected. None of that appears to have happened at the Santa Maria nightclub.
"A problem in Brazil is that there is no control of how many people are admitted in a building," said Joao Daniel Nunes, a civil engineer in nearby Porto Alegre. "They never are clearly stated, and nobody controls how many people enter these night clubs."
Rodrigo Martins, a guitarist for the group Gurizada Fandangueira, told Globo TV network in an interview Monday that the flames broke out minutes after the employment of a pyrotechnic machine that fans out colored sparks, at around 2:30 a.m. local time.
"I felt that something was falling from the roof and I looked up and I saw the fire was spreading, and I shouted 'Look, it's catching on fire, man, it's catching fire,'" Martins said. "Then the drummer tried to throw water on it, and it looked like the fire spread more then. Then the security guards came with an extinguisher, tried to use it, but it didn't work."
He added that the club was packed and estimated the crowd at about 1,200-1,300 people.
"I thought I was going to die there. There was nothing I could do, with the fire spreading and people screaming in front."
Standing next to the stage when the fire broke out, Rodrigo Rizzi, a first-year nursing student, watched the tragedy unfold.
"I was right there, so even though I was far from the door, at least I realized something was wrong," he said. "Others, who couldn't see the stage, never had a chance. They never saw it coming."
As he headed toward the door, the air turned dense and dark with smoke; there was no light, nothing pointing to the single exit. Rizzi found himself clawing through a panicked crowd that surged blindly toward the door.
"I was halfway across the floor, I could see the door, but the air turned black with this thick smoke," he said. "I couldn't breathe. People started to panic and run toward the door. They were falling, screaming, pulling at each other."
Witnesses said security guards who didn't know about the blaze initially blocked people from leaving without paying their bills. Brazilian bars routinely make patrons pay their entire tab at the end of the night before they're allowed to leave.
Inside the club, metal barriers meant to organize the lines of people entering and leaving became traps, corralling desperate patrons within yards of the exit. Bodies piled up against the grates, smothered and broken by the crushing mob.
About 50 of the victims were found in the club's two bathrooms, where the blinding smoke caused them to believe the doors were exits.
Martins confirmed that the group's accordion player Danilo Jacques, 28, died, while the five other band members made it out safely. Martins said he thought Jacques made it out of the building and later returned to save his accordion.
The first funeral services were held Monday for the victims, including brothers Pedro and Mercello Salle. Most of the dead were college students 18 to 21 years old, but they also included some minors. Almost all died from smoke inhalation rather than burns.
National Health Minister Alexandre Padilha cautioned that the death toll could worsen dramatically, telling news media in Santa Maria on Monday that 75 of those injured were in critical condition and could die.
Santa Maria Mayor Cezar Schirmer declared a 30-day mourning period, and Tarso Genro, the governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, said officials were investigating the cause of the disaster.
The blaze was the deadliest in Brazil since at least 1961, when a fire that swept through a circus killed 503 people in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro.
Sunday's fire also appeared to be the worst at a nightclub anywhere in the world since December 2000, when a welding accident reportedly set off a fire at a club in Luoyang, China, killing 309 people.
___
Associated Press writers Marco Sibaja contributed to this report from Brasilia, Brazil, Stan Lehman and Bradley Brooks contributed from Sao Paulo and Jenny Barchfield contributed from Rio de Janeiro.
As expected, the Senate passed a $50.5 billion aid package on Monday evening to help rebuild areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. With the $9.7 billion increase in national flood insurance that was passed earlier this month, Sandy victims now have $60.2 billion coming to their rescue. But who exactly gets all that money? And when?
RELATED: The Big Sandy Relief Bill is Almost Here ? Finally
Well, the next stop for the Sandy relief bill itself is obviously the president's desk. Obama is expected to sign it and will probably do so with a coy grin, since he literally got over 99 percent of what he asked for. (Obama's original budget request called for $60.4 billion in aid, which is only slightly more than the $60.2 billion in aid that Congress ended up passing.) But after the ink dries, things get a little complicated.
RELATED: The Most Unbelievable but Real Pictures of Sandy's Destruction
The Sandy Aid package must be divvied up between the completely devastated communities in coastal areas of New Jersey and New York, not to mention the less devastated parts of states like Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut. From a big picture perspective, some $50 billion will go towards disaster relief, while the remainder of the money will go towards mitigation -- that is, reducing the risk of a disaster like this happening again. Think infrastructure improvements, rather than an ultra powerful weather machine built by a mad scientist. Now because the original Obama proposal went through both the media's and the Republicans' gauntlet, some got the impression that the bill was "stuffed with pork." That was, however, not the case, and the final breakdown of aid dollars doesn't look too different from Obama's original breakdown.
RELATED: Another Bookstore Falls Victim to Sandy; New York Library Waives Overdue Fines
Based on the original breakdown, everyone from the New York City subway system to coastal New Jersey residents to the Statue of Liberty will receive relief aid. That $50 billion figure will be divided up between both national and local programs. Included is the $9.7 billion increase in National Flood Insurance which will go, in part, to help rebuild homes. Funds with similarly broad missions will receive the other major chunks. FEMA Disaster Relief Fund gets about $11 billion, and the Community Development Block Grant gets $15 billion. The various transportation agencies -- the MTA, Port Authority, NJTransit and NYC DoT, Amtrak -- get about $6.5 billion, while the Army Corp of Engineers gets $1.5 billion. Smaller sums will be awarded to?Health and Human Services, the National Parks Service, US DOT, Amtrak, Veterans Affairs and the Small Business Administration.
RELATED: Man vs. South African Penguins; Scientists Don't Like Jersey Shore's Fake Beaches
Mitigation spending is a bit simpler. The Federal Transit Administration takes the lion's share of the $13 million set aside for disaster prevention. The Army Corps of Engineers and Community Development Block Grant get $3.8 and $2 billion, respectively. The remaining $1.6 billion will be split up between the top federal environmental organizations, like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). If anybody has an ultra powerful weather machine built by a mad scientist, by the way, it's these guys.
RELATED: The Death of a Drugged Pony, a Mayorless Town, and 2013 in Culture
It's unclear exactly who will get how much money when, but let's put it this way. The victims of Hurricane Sandy have already waited three months for help from the federal government. What harm is a few more weeks going to do?
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UPDATES DEATH TOLL - Egyptian soccer fans of Al-Ahly club celebrate a court verdict that returned 21 death penalties in last years soccer violence, inside the club premises in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Egyptian security officials say military to deploy in Port Said after 38 people including a senior police officer and a policeman were shot dead in the Mediterranean city of Port Said after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
UPDATES DEATH TOLL - Egyptian soccer fans of Al-Ahly club celebrate a court verdict that returned 21 death penalties in last years soccer violence, inside the club premises in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Egyptian security officials say military to deploy in Port Said after 38 people including a senior police officer and a policeman were shot dead in the Mediterranean city of Port Said after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
UPDATES DEATH TOLL - Families and supporters of those accused of soccer violence from the Port Said soccer club react to the announcement of verdicts for 21 fans on trial in last years Port Said stadium incident which left 74 people dead, in Port Said, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Egyptian security officials say that 38 people have died in the Mediterranean city of Port Said after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence (AP Photo/Mohammed Nouhan, Shorouk Newspaper) EGYPT OUT
UPDATES DEATH TOLL - Egyptian soccer fans of Al-Ahly club celebrate a court verdict that returned 21 death penalties in last years soccer violence, which left 74 dead, inside the club premises in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Egyptian security officials say military to deploy in Port Said after 38 people including a senior police officer and a policeman were shot dead in the Mediterranean city of Port Said after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
PORT SAID, Egypt (AP) ? The death toll from rioting in the Egyptian city of Port Said has risen to 31, health officials said Sunday, as army troops backed by tanks and armored vehicles staked out positions at key government facilities to try to restore order.
The violence erupted Saturday after a court handed down death sentences to almost two dozen local fans involved in a deadly melee at a Port Said soccer game last year. Immediately after the ruling was announced, angry residents and young men went on a rampage in the city, attacking the prison where the defendants were being held and trying to storm police stations and government offices.
The street clashes in Port Said were the latest in a bout of unrest that has left a total of 42 people dead in two days, including 11 killed in clashes between police and protesters marking Friday's second anniversary of the uprising that overthrew longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. On Sunday, clashes continued for the fourth successive between protesters and police near Cairo's central Tahrir square, birthplace of the 2011 uprising. Police used tear gas, while the protesters pelted them with rocks.
The bloodshed highlights the challenges facing President Mohammed Morsi, who took office nearly seven months ago following the uprising that ousted Mubarak. Critics say Morsi has failed to carry out promised reforms in the country's judiciary and police force, and claim little has improved in the two years after the uprising against Mubarak.
As the situation spiraled out of control Saturday, police disappeared from Port Said's streets, residents and security officials said.
The military then dispatched troops to the city, which is located on the northern tip of the Suez Canal. Soldiers took up positions at vital state facilities, including the local power and water stations, the city's main courthouse, the local government building and the city prison. Navy sailors were guarding the local offices of the Suez Canal company.
Navy vessels were escorting merchant ships sailing through the international waterway, and army helicopters were flying over the canal to ensure the safety of shipping, according to Suez Canal spokesman Tareq Hassanein.
Residents said Port Said was quiet overnight except for the intermittent bursts of gunfire. The city was still on edge Sunday, although a degree of calm had returned. Streets were largely deserted, stores were closed for the second successive day, and some hotels asked guests to leave, fearing more violence.
Funerals for those killed on Saturday were to be held later Sunday, and residents said they expected more street clashes after the city buries its dead.
The officials and residents spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Saturday's riot in Port Said mostly stemmed from animosity between police and die-hard soccer fans know as Ultras, who also were part of the uprising that toppled Mubarak's regime.
The Ultras were at the forefront of protests against the military generals who took over from Mubarak and are now again on the frontlines of protests against the rule of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
Survivors and witnesses of the Feb. 1 soccer melee in Port Said say Mubarak loyalists had a hand in instigating the killings, which began after Port Said's home team Al-Masry beat Cairo's Al-Ahly 3-1. Some say "hired thugs" wearing green T-shirts posing as Al-Masry fans led the attacks.
Others say, at the very least, police were responsible for gross negligence in the soccer violence, which killed 74 people, most of them Al-Ahly fans.
Anger at police was evident in Port Said, home to most of the 73 men accused of involvement in the bloodshed, although the trial was held outside Cairo.
Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid did not give his reasoning when he handed down the sentences for 21 defendants on Saturday. Executions in Egypt are usually carried out by hanging.
Verdicts for the remaining 52 defendants, including nine security officials, are scheduled to be delivered March 9. Some have been charged with murder and others with assisting the attackers. All the defendants ? who were not present in the courtroom Saturday for security reasons ? can appeal the verdict.
Early tomorrow morning I'm jumping in a plane and flying to San Francisco, California for Macworld|iWorld 2013. Since it's been well below -20 celsius in Montreal this week, I'm looking even more forward to it than usual.
Leanna Lofte, who usually covers the SF events with me, just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Lucy Danae Lofte, so she's sitting this one out. There are very few people in our line of work with her camera skills, so to make sure we keep the level of quality you guys expect and deserve, we're bringing Martin Reisch with us this year. Yeah.
There'll be a lot going on, and we'll be doing our best to bring you with us every step of the way with photo journals, videos, podcasts, and a bunch of social sharing. Here's the plan so far:
Monday: Arrive. Hang.
Tuesday: Head up to TWiT in Petaluma to shoot MacBreak Weekly with Leo and the gang. It'll be nice to be in the same room with everyone for once!
Wednesday: Hoping to head down to Cupertino and visit the Apple Company Store.
Friday/Saturday: We'll be covering the show, bringing you back everything you need to know.
Sunday: Head back home.
There will be tons of other stuff happening in and around all that, so make sure you keep your browsers locked to iMore's Macworld|iWorld page, and subscribe to the iMore YouTube channel to get all the latest videos as soon as inhumanly possible.
And for up-to-the-minute stuff, including everything and anything unfit for print, you can follow @reneritchie and @safesolvent on Twitter.
Last year Macworld|iWorld completed their transition from trade show to epicenter of the community, from a place to see Apple stuff to place to meet and enjoy the company of fellow Apple enthusiasts. I can't wait to see what they have in store for all of us this year.
Let me know what you'd like to see from our Macworld|iWorld coverage, and if you're going to be there are well, please do come up and say hello!
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#1 ? vV?
Group:Moderator
Posts:14516
Joined:24-October 03
Gender:Male
Location:Netherlands
Posted Yesterday, 06:44 PM
Quick answer to: http://forum.renoise...919#entry287919
-Right click in the instrument area. -Select "Save All Samples as..." You will get a dialog to define your first location, once set, it won't ask you any more (unless you click the browse button). -Either pick wav or flac and then click save.
If an instrument has samples, it will save them into a folder named after the instrument.
Whoops, first edit already required... The renaming schedule was broken if the same sample filename already existed...
V1.1 is available... Decided to also use the idle notifier. (Renoise was quite often nagging the script turn unresponsive) The status bar now shows some form of progress while exporting.
http://www.renoise.c...xportallsamples
Vv....
cpu Intel Core2 Quad CPUQ6600 @2.40GHz chipset nVidia nForce 4 SLI x16 -> Driver rev:5.1.2600.445 (management 4.4.5.0) mem 8 Gb 800Mhz os Win 7 64-bit SP1, DirectX 11 audio ESI ESP1010e - > Driver rev:2.0.1.0 video nVidia Geforce GTX580 - > Driver rev:306.23
Renoise Official Manual
4
#2 ? ostrogoth?
Group:Normal Members
Posts:37
Joined:17-February 12
Gender:Male
Location:france
Interests:do and hear music,read ,
Posted Yesterday, 10:40 PM
0
#3 ? vV?
Group:Moderator
Posts:14516
Joined:24-October 03
Gender:Male
Location:Netherlands
Posted Today, 12:16 AM
ostrogoth, on 25 January 2013 - 10:40 PM, said:
perhaps can you add the fact that once the sample are save the window will be close.
Done, plus a few cleanup stuff added as well. Download from the tools page or update through the tool updater.
Vv....
cpu Intel Core2 Quad CPUQ6600 @2.40GHz chipset nVidia nForce 4 SLI x16 -> Driver rev:5.1.2600.445 (management 4.4.5.0) mem 8 Gb 800Mhz os Win 7 64-bit SP1, DirectX 11 audio ESI ESP1010e - > Driver rev:2.0.1.0 video nVidia Geforce GTX580 - > Driver rev:306.23
This photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 shows some of the recaptured crocodiles back safely on the farm they escaped from, at Pontdrif, South Africa, near the Botswana border. About 7,000 of the creatures escaped when the gates on a dam were opened this week to alleviate pressure created by rising flood waters. About 2,000 had been recaptured Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Video from the scene shows people hunting down the small-ish crocs at night, tying them up and taking them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, in northern South Africa. The farm, which didn't respond to an email or calls seeking comment, used to hold 15,000 crocodiles (AP Photo) SOUTH AFRICA OUT
This photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 shows some of the recaptured crocodiles back safely on the farm they escaped from, at Pontdrif, South Africa, near the Botswana border. About 7,000 of the creatures escaped when the gates on a dam were opened this week to alleviate pressure created by rising flood waters. About 2,000 had been recaptured Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Video from the scene shows people hunting down the small-ish crocs at night, tying them up and taking them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, in northern South Africa. The farm, which didn't respond to an email or calls seeking comment, used to hold 15,000 crocodiles (AP Photo) SOUTH AFRICA OUT
This photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 shows a couple of the recaptured crocodiles back safely on the farm they escaped from, at Pontdrif, South Africa, near the Botswana border. About 7,000 of the creatures escaped when the gates on a dam were opened this week to alleviate pressure created by rising flood waters. About 2,000 had been recaptured Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Video from the scene shows people hunting down the small-ish crocs at night, tying them up and taking them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, in northern South Africa. The farm, which didn't respond to an email or calls seeking comment, used to hold 15,000 crocodiles (AP Photo) SOUTH AFRICA OUT
JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? Calling all crocodile experts ? South African police say you're needed to help capture thousands of crocs out on the lam.
Thousands of crocodiles escaped a breeding farm along a river on the South Africa-Botswana border when the farms' gates were opened earlier this week to alleviate pressure caused by rising flood waters.
Efforts are now being made to wrangle the reptiles and get them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, from where the vast majority escaped. Hangwani Mulaudzi, a spokesman for the police in Limpopo Province, said Friday that experts are needed right away to help sort out the crocodile crisis.
"Due to the number of crocodiles that have been washed away there is a need for expertise, people who have expertise to come and assist," Mulaudzi said. "So we are just making appeals to anyone ... who has knowledge of catching crocodiles to come and assist."
News reports from the scene show people hunting down smaller crocodiles at night, tying them up and taking them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm in northern South Africa. The crocodiles are easier to hunt at night because their eyes glow when hit with a beam of light. The farm's website shows crocs up to 5 meters (16 feet) long, though crocs of all sizes escaped, Mulaudzi said.
It isn't clear exactly how many crocodiles are on the loose. Mulaudzi said he believes around 10,000 from multiple farms remain on the loose. Officials from the Rakwena Crocodile Farm have been quoted in conflicting South African media accounts as saying either 7,000 escaped or up to 15,000 escaped. The farm originally held about 15,000 crocs. About 2,000 crocodiles have been returned to the farm, Mulaudzi said.The farm did not respond to an email or calls seeking comment.
Regardless of the exact number of farm-raised crocs now touring the wild, government officials and experts are calling on people who live near the remote region, which sits on the Limpopo River, to be careful around bodies of water. Many of the crocodiles are assumed to now be residing in the river.
"So far we are lucky. There has not been any emergencies," said Mulaudzi. "And we are hopeful that nothing will happen. But with crocodiles all over in the river we are saying, please, we need assistance."
Donald Strydom, a wildlife expert at South Africa's Khamai Reptile Centre, said he doesn't think the croc release will lead to a loss of human life. People are aware of the situation, he said, and crocodiles don't naturally hunt humans.
"People must not go into a monster hunt and think these crocodiles are out to eat them," Styrdom told South Africa's eNews Channel Africa.
Mulaudzi said he did not think the Rakwena Crocodile Farm would face any charges from police for releasing the crocs, given the emergency nature of the flood. Flood waters are inundating northern South Africa and neighboring Mozambique. But Mulaudzi said the farm may face scrutiny from the Department of Environmental Affairs, which is helping with the reptile emergency.
The Rakwena Crocodile Farm website shows goods like crocodile-skin purses, belts and hats for sale. Crocodile meat is also available for purchase.
Thinking about starting a roleplay, but don't have the idea completely finished? Post it here, not in the main OOC forum!
Hey I am looking for anyone who is interested in a Faberry rp. I normally play Quinn but I could do Rachel too. If interested just pm me. I'd love to hear from you. :)
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Richard Cordray stands left as President Barack Obama announces in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, that he will re-nominate Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a role that he has held for the last year under a recess appointment, and nominate Mary Joe White to lead the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Richard Cordray stands left as President Barack Obama announces in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, that he will re-nominate Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a role that he has held for the last year under a recess appointment, and nominate Mary Joe White to lead the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate last year to appoint three members of the National Labor Relations Board, a federal appeals court ruled Friday in a far-reaching decision that could severely limit a chief executive's powers to make recess appointments.
The decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit marked a victory for Republicans and business groups critical of the labor board. If it stands, it could invalidate hundreds of board decisions over the past year, including some that make it easier for unions to organize.
When Obama filled the vacancies on Jan. 4, 2012, Congress was on an extended holiday break. But GOP lawmakers gaveled in for a few minutes every three days just to prevent Obama from making recess appointments. The White House argued that the pro forma sessions ? some lasting less than a minute ? were a sham.
The court rejected that argument, but went even further, finding that under the Constitution, a recess occurs only during the breaks between formal year-long sessions of Congress, not just any informal break when lawmakers leave town. It also held that presidents can bypass the Senate only when administration vacancies occur during a recess.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said the administration strongly disagrees with the decision and that the labor board would continue to conduct business as usual, despite calls by some Republicans for the board members to resign.
"The decision is novel and unprecedented," Carney said. "It contradicts 150 years of practice by Democratic and Republican administrations."
Under the court's decision, 285 recess appointments made by presidents between 1867 and 2004 would be invalid.
The Justice Department hinted that the administration would ask the Supreme Court to overturn the decision, which was rendered by three conservative judges appointed by Republican presidents. "We disagree with the court's ruling and believe that the president's recess appointments are constitutionally sound," the statement said.
The court acknowledged that the ruling conflicts with what some other federal appeals courts have held about when recess appointments are valid, which only added to the likelihood of an appeal to the high court.
"I think this is a very important decision about the separation of powers," said Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor at Virginia's University of Richmond. "The court's reading has limited the president's ability to counter the obstruction of appointments by a minority in the Senate that has been pretty egregious in the Obama administration."
The ruling also threw into question the legitimacy of Obama's recess appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Cordray's appointment, made on the same date, has been challenged in a separate case.
Carney insisted the court's ruling affects only a single case before the labor board and would have no bearing on Cordray's appointment. Obama on Thursday renominated Cordray for the job.
The case challenging the recess appointments was brought by Noel Canning, a Washington state bottling company that claimed an NLRB decision against it was not valid because the board members were not properly appointed. The D.C. Circuit panel agreed.
Obama made the recess appointments after Senate Republicans blocked his choices for an agency they contended was biased in favor of unions. Obama claims he acted properly because the Senate was away for the holidays on a 20-day recess. The Constitution allows for such appointments without Senate approval when Congress is in recess.
But during that time, GOP lawmakers argued, the Senate technically had stayed in session because it was gaveled in and out every few days for so-called pro forma sessions.
GOP lawmakers used the tactic ? as Democrats had done in the past ? specifically to prevent the president from using his recess power to install members to the labor board and the consumer board. They had also vigorously opposed the nomination of Cordray.
The three-judge panel flatly rejected arguments from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which claimed that the president has discretion to decide that the Senate is unavailable to perform its advice and consent function.
"Allowing the president to define the scope of his own appointment power would eviscerate the Constitution's separation of powers," Chief Judge David Sentelle wrote in the 46-page ruling. He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.
The court ruled that during one of those pro forma sessions on Jan. 3, 2012, the Senate officially convened its second session of the 112th Congress, as required by the Constitution.
Sentelle's opinion was joined by Judge Thomas Griffith, appointed to the court by President George W. Bush, and Karen LeCraft Henderson, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush.
"With this ruling, the D.C. Circuit has soundly rejected the Obama administration's flimsy interpretation of the law, and (it) will go a long way toward restoring the constitutional separation of powers," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
GOP House Speaker John Boehner welcomed the ruling as "a victory for accountability in government."
If the ruling stands, it would invalidate more than 600 board decisions issued over the past year. It also would leave the five-member labor board with just one validly appointed member, effectively shutting it down. The board is allowed to issue decisions only when it has at least three sitting members.
Obama used the recess appointment to install Deputy Labor Secretary Sharon Block, union lawyer Richard Griffin and NLRB counsel Terence Flynn to fill vacancies on the labor board, giving it a full contingent for the first time in more than a year. Block and Griffin are Democrats, while Flynn is a Republican. Flynn stepped down from the board last year.
All three vacancies on the labor board had been open for months before Obama acted to fill them.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa called the ruling "a radical departure from precedent" and argued that Obama had no choice but to act.
"Throughout his presidency, Republicans have employed unprecedented partisan delay tactics and filibusters to prevent confirmation of nominees to lead the NLRB, thus crippling the board's legal authority to act," Harkin said.
If Obama's recess appointment of Cordray to the newly created consumer board is eventually ruled invalid, it could nullify all the regulations the consumer board has issued, many of which affect the mortgage business.
___
Follow Sam Hananel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP
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ostrogoth, on 25 January 2013 - 10:40 PM, said: