Dodgers place Kemp on DL with shoulder trouble

PHOENIX (AP) ? The Los Angeles Dodgers placed center fielder Matt Kemp on the 15-day disabled list Monday with joint inflammation in his troublesome left shoulder.

Manager Don Mattingly said Kemp tried to take early batting practice before Monday night's game at Arizona but experienced more soreness and, with the All-Star break coming up, it didn't make sense to play short-handed while Kemp heals.

The move is retroactive to Saturday. Kemp was injured while swinging the bat against San Francisco on Friday night and hasn't played since. He received a cortisone shot Friday night but it hasn't helped much.

Mattingly said the team doesn't think the problem is related to the shoulder surgery Kemp had in the offseason.

"It's kind of a separate issue," Mattingly said. "It is that shoulder, though."

The Dodgers recalled outfielder Scott Van Slyke from Triple-A Albuquerque to take Kemp's roster spot.

Los Angeles also placed right-hander Stephen Fife on the 15-day DL with right shoulder bursitis and added newly acquired right-hander Ricky Nolasco to the roster.

Nolasco, obtained in a trade with Miami, will start Tuesday night. Mattingly said left-hander Chris Capuano would take Fife's next scheduled start. Fife could be back for a scheduled start after the break.

Kemp will return to Los Angeles on Tuesday to see team doctor Neal ElAttrache. It's Kemp's second stint on the DL this season. He missed 24 games from May 30 to June 25 with a right hamstring strain.

Kemp was clearly frustrated.

"It's going to take more than a couple of days," he said. "I just want to play and I want to be 100 percent when I play. I'm not good when I'm 70-80 percent. I may be all right, but I want to be more than all right."

Mattingly said the team had expected the cortisone shot to help more than it did.

"He had a shot earlier this year that seemed to make everything go away for a long time. I think that was maybe April or spring or something," the manager said. "So that's why I think we expected this thing to be gone by today.

"I think we're being a little cautious. He probably would be able to play before the break, but it didn't seem to be worth it."

Kemp is hitting .254 with four homers and 24 RBIs in 61 games. Van Slyke was optioned to Albuquerque last Friday but did not appear in a game there. In Monday night's lineup, Andre Ethier moved from left field to Kemp's spot in center, with Carl Crawford inserted in left.

Fife also is on the DL for the second time this year. He missed 33 games from April 22 to May 30, also with right shoulder bursitis. Fife is 3-3 with a 2.76 ERA in eight starts.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dodgers-place-kemp-dl-shoulder-trouble-003946908.html

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Stocks head higher for fourth day

NEW YORK (AP) ? The stock market nudged higher Tuesday, putting it on track for a fourth day of gains, as investors waited for more quarterly results from companies.

Investors are turning their attention to corporate earnings after spending much of the last month preoccupied with the outlook for the Federal Reserve's stimulus.

Alcoa was the first major company to announce second-quarter results. The aluminum maker late Monday reported a second-quarter loss that wasn't as big as financial analysts' expected. The company benefited from strong demand for aluminum used in autos and airplanes, although that was offset by weaker prices.

Traders weren't blown away by the results, though. After initially rising, the stock fell 4 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $7.88 by midday.

Along with the latest quarterly results, investors want to see how confident companies are about the rest of the year, said Cam Albright, director of asset allocation for Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors.

Major U.S. stock indexes have notched a series of all-time highs this year on expectations that earnings will remain at record levels.

"A lot of what the market has justified its advances on is a strong second-half for the economy and a strong second-half for earnings," said Albright. "It's important that we see verification of that."

Analysts at investment bank Goldman Sachs said in a note Tuesday that they expected second-quarter earnings growth of about 2 percent. They predicted that revenue growth would remain weak, however, hurt by a lackluster economy and a stronger dollar.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 69 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,294 as of 12:22 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained nine points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,649. The Nasdaq composite rose 16 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,501.

Investors on Tuesday bought companies that grow the most when the economic outlook is bright. Industrial companies notched the biggest gains among the 10 sectors in the S&P 500. Phone companies, which investors turn to when the outlook is gloomier, were the only sector to fall.

In another sign of investor confidence, the Russell 2000 gained 6 points, or 0. 6 percent, to 1,015. The index of small-company stocks has gained 3.8 percent in July and is at record levels.

The index has risen more this year than the Dow and the S&P 500. The gains suggest that investors are becoming more comfortable in taking on riskier investments.

"When you see that leadership from the smaller caps that's probably a good sign overall for the bigger blue chips to potentially follow suite," said Ryan Detrick, a senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. "People are leaving the more defensive areas."

The Russell 2000 has gained 19.5 percent since the start of the year, compared to a rise of 16.6 percent for the Dow and a gain of 15.7 percent for the S&P 500.

Among individual stocks, a handful of medical companies were the top decliners in the S&P 500.

Intuitive Surgical, a maker of robotic surgery systems, plunged $88.19, or 18 percent, to $411.89 after the company forecast disappointing second-quarter sales late Monday. Laboratory Corp. of America fell $4.27, or 4.3 percent, to $95.86. Varian Medical Systems, a maker of medical devices and software for treating cancer, fell $2.06, or 3 percent, to $66.14.

IBM fell $3.39, or 1.7 percent, to $191.60 after a Goldman Sachs analyst lowered his rating and cut his price target on the stock, saying the company may face more pressure in the near term in emerging markets.

Corporate America's quarterly results should give Wall Street fresh fodder after investors and traders spent most of June trying to figure out where the Fed was headed with its economic stimulus program.

The central bank has been buying $85 billion in bonds a month to keep interest rates low and encourage borrowing and spending. Comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that the central bank planned to reduce the stimulus prompted the stock market to pull back from record levels reached in late May.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 2.64 percent early Tuesday. The yield has pulled back after surging to 2.74 percent Friday, its highest level in almost two years, after the government reported strong hiring for June.

In commodities trading, the price of oil rose 17 cents, or 0.2 percent to $103.33 a barrel. Gold rose $12, or 1 percent, to $1,246.90.

Among stocks making big moves:

? WD-40 rose $3.13, or 5 percent, to $60.77 after the maker of maintenance products reported earnings that beat financial analysts' forecasts.

? Barnes and Noble rose 64 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $18.32 after the bookseller said Monday its CEO is leaving after three years. The company didn't name a replacement.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-07-09-Wall%20Street/id-1afe372a0b72459b988712653ce1801d

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Leader of standoff at polygamist compound is freed

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Addam Swapp, the man who bombed a Mormon church building and sparked a 13-day standoff in 1988 that left a corrections officer dead at a polygamist compound, was released from prison on Tuesday after more than 25 years behind bars.

Swapp, 52, was accompanied by family members as he left Sanpete County Jail three months after members of the state board of pardons and parole approved his release, saying he had shown remorse for leading the standoff in Marion.

At his September parole hearing, Swapp apologized and said he planned to join his wife Charlotte and wanted to use his freedom to live peacefully and "be a blessing to my fellow man."

"I desire when I get out of prison to live my life in such a manner that my family, friends, neighbors and community would find my presence in their lives a benefit and a blessing," Swapp said in a written statement, according to a transcript of the hearing posted online by The Salt Lake Tribune.

Swapp said he was a different man after serving time in state and federal prisons for manslaughter, attempted murder, possessing a bomb and other offenses.

"My core beliefs have completely changed," he said. "I am completely opposed to the violent acts I committed which got me sent to prison."

Ann House, the widow of the slain officer, Lt. Fred House, said Tuesday that she believes Swapp has had time to consider his actions, according to a statement obtained by The Deseret News.

"There has been much suffering by both of our families in the past years," she wrote. "Addam deserves a chance to reverse the damage done by doing good and now being an asset to his family."

The standoff began after Swapp detonated 87 sticks of dynamite at a Mormon church building in Kamas on Jan. 16, 1988. Swapp claimed it would lead to the overthrow of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and resurrect his father-in-law, John Singer, who was killed by police at the Marion compound in 1979.

Authorities said Singer was fatally shot when he pointed a gun at officers trying to arrest him over his refusal to send his children to public schools. Singer, 48, was a practicing polygamist and blamed the LDS church for his legal problems after he was excommunicated.

Swapp claimed he had a revelation that Singer would return to life on the ninth anniversary of his death, which was barely two weeks away.

Swapp, who went on to marry two of Singer's daughters, holed up in Singer's compound following the bombing. Nine children were among the 14 people barricaded with him in a log cabin. More than 100 officers surrounded the property after following tracks in the snow.

Throughout the standoff, officers flashed bright lights and circled in noisy snowmobiles in the middle of the night to psychologically weaken members of the Singer-Swapp clan. They resisted by shooting out police floodlights and used a lantern and mirrors to flash a crude Morse code message, "Cops not telling truth."

Shortly after dawn on Jan. 28, 1988, the showdown ended in a gun battle.

Fred House, a dog handler with the state corrections department, was killed after he was struck by a bullet between armored plates in his flak jacket. House was shot by Singer's son, John T. Singer, who was released from prison in 2006 after serving time on state and federal charges that included manslaughter and attempted murder.

Swapp was shot in the arm and chest during the shootout and waved a white towel through the doorway to surrender. The shootout was later recounted in a made-for-TV movie.

During court appearances, Swapp donned a buckskin coat fashioned by his wives that featured Indian signs, geometric symbols and a flag designed by his deceased father-in-law. He told the Salt Lake Tribune at the time that he believed God had chosen him to gather American Indians for the second coming of Christ. John Singer, he said, would be resurrected and unite lost tribes of Israel.

Swapp served 17 years in federal prison before beginning a state sentence in 2006. Officials opted to house him in Arizona rather than Utah because of his ties to a state officer's death.

At his parole hearing in September, Swapp wept and issued a long apology, including statements directed at the House family, the Tribune reported. Swapp said it had been a long, slow process to shift from what he called wrongful beliefs to Christ-centered beliefs.

"The end result is that I have come away with a complete change of heart and a radically new way of looking at life," he said.

___

Follow Michelle Price at http://www.twitter.com/michellelprice.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leader-standoff-polygamist-compound-freed-180838003.html

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"Angry Trayvon" mobile game pulled from Google Play

A mobile video game called "Angry Trayvon" has been pulled from Google Play, after it sparked outrage from protesters who said the app was exploitative of the death of a Florida teenager.

It appears a petition on the website Change.org to removed "Angry Treyvon" has been heeded. According to CNET, all traces of the mobile app and the game's Facebook page were removed on Tuesday.

The game's main character was an angry man in a hooded sweatshirt, whose goal was to complete a "world tour of revenge on the bad guys who terrorize cities everyday."

The petition's creators felt that the game referenced Trayvon Martin, the African American teenager who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman last year. And wrote an letter to Google that reads:

This application unnecessarily promotes violence and exploits the unfortunate death of Trayvon Martin. I am sure his parents not appreciate the image of their son as a gun toting vigilante. The death of this young man is NOT A GAME. This developer is using the Google Marketplace to exploit the death of an unarmed teen for profit while simultaneously promoting violence. Given the racial and social climate surrounding this issue and the unfair depiction of a deceased minor who perished as a result of gun violence, we are asking that this application be moved from the Google Play marketplace immediately.

The shooting stirred racial tension because Martin was unarmed when Zimmerman shot and killed him on Feb. 26. Zimmerman was taken into custody by police, but was soon released. He claimed to have acted in self defense. After the story went national, a wave of protests swept the country. Zimmerman turned himself in and was charged with second-degree murder on April 11.

The game's maker released a statement Monday, saying it would take down the mobile app and apologized for "the inconvenience," but said it was "by no means a racist game."

Google said it does not comment on individual applications.

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsTheEarlyShowBoxOffice/~3/X7wVUAA6sYU/

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Shooting the Golden Goose? Californians Flee Taxes - Finance ...

SAN FRANCISCO -- California was once the dream destination of millions of people. But now many are fleeing the Golden State, and much of it has to do with high taxes and a generally anti-business attitude.

Economic analyst Jonathan Williams of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) points out what California lost in just the year 2011.

"Nearly 250 companies of all sizes left California for one of the other 49 states," he said.

MyTime.com?CEO Ethan Anderson started at Google before striking out to create two new companies on his own.

"I am hearing almost every single day somebody saying 'I'm leaving California' because they're trying to avoid the high taxes," the San Francisco-based entrepreneur said.

Ex Post Facto Tax Laws?

Now California is even taxing backwards in time, deciding to demand more money from entrepreneurs, investors, and businesses for past years. It claims a tax break used by them is no longer valid, and it wants them to pay up, even for the last five years.

Anderson said California is telling people like him, "Now you guys owe us taxes going back five years ago, and we want interest on those taxes as well."

"It's a very scary environment to operate in when the rules of the game can change, not just going forward, but going back in time," Anderson said.

"California's a fantastic place to live. Don't get me wrong. It's just not a great place to do business," AdverseEvents founder Brian Overstreet told CBN News.

Overstreet, who started up two businesses in California, has suddenly found himself owing an extra $250,000 because of this sudden move by the state to impose back taxes for the past five years.

"It's the perfect time to start new businesses," Overstreet said of the present economic climate. "But when the state of California is telling you, 'We're going to change the rules on you after the fact by up to five years,' that puts a lot of strain and that puts a lot of questions into people's minds as to whether they really want to go through that or not."

Anderson shared Overstreet's sentiment.
?
"Looking forward when I want to start another business here...maybe not," Anderson said. "Maybe it's a little too risky because what if they make the business I'm doing illegal? Or what if they decide they want to do another 50 percent tax increase on my business?"

Texas Beckons
?
It's not just a matter of taxes, but of over-regulation and over-litigation. Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been launching verbal strikes into California to encourage unhappy companies to leave.
?
"When you have small businesses that it takes months if not over a year to get a simple permit to be able to build or do some work -- I mean the unions and the strangulation by regulation in California, it's just incredibly onerous," Perry told CBN News. "So they're doing a lot of things wrong."

Perry pointed to policies in Texas do just the opposite: free businesses up.
?
"Give people more freedom from over-taxation, over-regulation, over-litigation -- and it works," Perry concluded.

Overstreet said Texas and the especially hi-tech hub of Austin have such a wonderful reputation that they're tempting his business buddies to move there.

"I can tell you a number of them have told me specifically they are very seriously starting to look at that for their companies," Overstreet stated.

Eric Loeffel and his company Compass Learning have already made the move from California to Austin.

"It was hard for us to do business there, harder to do business there than it is to do business here in Texas," the Compass Learning CEO said of California.

The move was expensive, but the tax savings enormous.

"In the first year that we moved, we figured the savings was about a million dollars," Loeffel said.

One of the main benefits: no income tax in Texas, meaning a big hike in the paychecks of all the workers who moved.

"Everyone got an automatic increase in pay," Loeffel said with a big grin. "Automatic!"

Williams said the employers he knows talk about this all the time.

He paraphrased what they tell him: "Our employees are clamoring to leave high-tax locations that we have in California and go to lower cost-of-living states and lower tax states."

High-Tax States See Exodus

Now this urge to exit high-tax states has become a major national trend. Workers and businesses are fleeing in droves from the Top 10 high-tax blue states, like California, to the top 10 low-tax red states, like Texas.

"One American per minute has left one of the high tax states over the last decade," Williams stated.

That adds up to an exodus of about 4,500,000 Americans from the highest tax states to the lowest.

"People vote with their feet, and they're voting very strongly towards the low-tax states," the ALEC economist said.

"Talent and money are the most transferable things in this economy right now," Overstreet insisted. "And it doesn't much matter whether you work in Austin or California - if you can do better for yourself, you can provide your employees a better lifestyle, you have to be considering it."

If this trend continues, America could end up with a group of economically failing, possibly bankrupt states who chased their wealth away.

"You're going to lose your business leaders. And you're going to be left with a population that is more dependent on the welfare state," Overstreet pointed out.

Anderson agreed.

"California's going to end up getting less taxes than they would have gotten if they'd just left things alone because all these people who are generally wealthy are leaving," Anderson said.

Shooting the Golden Goose

Williams said lawmakers in well-to-do states are telling him they're frightened they'll be forced to someday bail out a bunch of deadbeat states.

"They say 'California's the new Greece. Why are we going to give our hard-earned tax dollars to bail out basket-cases like California and Illinois?'"

Anderson is worried his home state won't turn itself away from this economic downward spiral.

"California had so many gifts," he lamented. "How could this state actually be bleeding people? It seems like they're trying to shoot the goose who lays the golden egg."

Source: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/finance/2013/July/Shooting-the-Golden-Goose-Californians-Flee-Taxes/

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China's New Jet, Radar Complicate US Posture

China's New Jet, Radar Complicate US Posture

China's increasing military musculature continues to crush the margins of how far the US military can conduct operations near the mainland, experts say.

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Source: http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130706/DEFREG03/307060004

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How Mexico City fixed its air pollution problem

Mexico City was once known for its smoggy landscape with industrial eyesores such as the 18 de Marzo Refinery spewing ozone-forming emissions such as sulfur dioxide. The cloud of contaminants hanging over the capital played into an apocalyptic reputation for pollution, crime, and overpopulation; and it fueled urban myths, like the one about birds dropping dead mid-flight because of the poor air quality.

But the refinery ? named for the day Mexico expropriated its oil industry ? was ordered closed in 1991, and converted into a park commemorating the country's 2010 bicentennial. It is but one example of industry exiting Mexico City and the steps taken to improve air quality over the past two decades in this megalopolis of more than 20 million people.

With urbanization advancing, economies expanding, and climate change a concern, Mexico City has emerged as an unlikely environmental example for cities in developing countries suffering similar air quality issues.

Mexico City recorded only eight days with air quality considered "good" in 1992. That compares with 248 "good" air days in 2012, reflecting the success of initiatives to relocate industry, kick clunkers off the capital's streets, encourage cleaner technologies, and expand public transit and cycling options.

"Mexico City is still perceived as one of the most contaminated [cities] in the world, but nowadays there are cities ... that have worse contamination," says Roberto Mu?oz, a biologist teaching at the Ibero-American University.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Mexico? Take our quiz.

Closing the refinery was among the first actions in cleaning up the capital as industries either invested in new technologies, ceased operations, or moved to other states.

The state oil company Pemex started selling lower-sulfur and unleaded gasoline, while a program known as "Hoy no Circula," or "No driving today," forced motorists off the road one day a week. Vehicles also had to undergo emissions tests.

Slowly but surely air quality improved here in spite of obstacles such as unfavorable geography, which keeps contamination in the Valle de M?xico ? the high-altitude valley containing Mexico City and the surrounding state of Mexico.

Left-wing administrations led by Mayors Andr?s Manuel L?pez Obrador and Marcelo Ebrard between 2000 and 2012 in the Federal District ? home to about 9 million residents; another 11 million live in municipalities in the state of Mexico ? took policies that targeted pollution even further.

The Mexico City government opened dedicated lanes for a public transport system known as Metrobus, built a new subway line, and launched a bicycle-sharing service, which was expanded after waits for new memberships reached six weeks. Mexico City is home to more than 4 million vehicles, and still faces notorious traffic problems, but this year it received the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy's Sustainable Transport Award.

Levels of ozone have dropped drastically, Mr. Mu?oz says, although the levels of particulate matter pollution ? tiny particles that can cause heart and lung problems ? remain a concern.

"The problem with contamination is [it's mostly] coming from vehicular sources" in Mexico City, Mu?oz says.

Cars are big contributors to air pollution in other parts of the country as well, where poor public policy is contributing to deteriorating air quality, says Gabriela Alarc?n, director of urban development studies at the think tank Mexican Institute for Competitiveness.

A glut of imported vehicles ? many illegal and older models ? have entered the country over the past 10 years and the federal government has spent more than $50 billion on gasoline and diesel subsidies since 2008, which has encouraged more private vehicle use across Mexico, Ms. Alarc?n says.

Government housing programs over that same time frame gave rise to far-off exurbs, creating lengthy commutes, adds Guillermo Velasco Rodr?guez, director of planning and projects for the Centro Mario Molina. Mr. Rodr?quez acknowledges the improvement in air pollution in Mexico City but cautions against prematurely celebrating.

"It sounds good if you compare it to 1992," he says, "but it's not [yet] what we want."

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Mexico? Take our quiz.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/model-megacities-mexico-city-cleans-air-145300765.html

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Remote Control Turtles Could One Day Be Our Secret Slow and Steady Drones

Even if they aren't mutated into teenage ninjas, turtles might one day be a viable alternative to drones for espionage and surveillance. They come already armor-plated, they're amphibious, they're powered by plants, and thanks to their natural desire to avoid obstacles, researchers have found a clever way to even make them remote controllable. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/WOecpRMeCoo/remote-control-turtles-could-one-day-be-our-secret-slow-and-steady-drones

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Google Now, Donna, Sherpa, And The Rise Of The Smart Personal Assistant App

Mobile personal assistant apps are all the rage these days. First there was Google Now for Android, but over the last several weeks we’ve seen a whole bunch of new apps pop up — apps like Donna, Osito, and Sherpa — all of which seek to make our lives easier by simplifying how we organize our meetings, travel, and other personal information. With that in mind, I sat down with my colleague Drew Olanoff to discuss why this is such a hot space and whether these apps deliver on their promise. On that latter question, we still think these apps have a long way to go. As Drew says, all the technology is there — and yet, no one has really pulled it all together in a way that makes these apps truly smart. There’s also the issue of finding an app that fits everyone’s lifestyle. As he points out, his personal workflow is different from mine. Finding a way to make a personal assistant that suits everyone’s needs is a difficult process. As for me? I like what I’ve seen so far from apps like Donna or Osito, but I don’t want an app that I have to enter information into to make things work. I want something that will scour my email and calendars, figure out where and when things are happening, and then from that information plan my calendar for me. No one quite comes close right now. Check out the video above for our discussion on the topic, and let us know what you think in the comments.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/_T5MjuD1s6s/

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ITC tosses Motorola's sensor-based complaint against Apple

If you thought the patent war between Motorola (Google) and Apple was already over, you were mistaken. Though, today's decision by the ITC to toss Moto's complaint against Cupertino regarding the use of sensors to control the interface of a phone, might be one of the final blows struck. The claim over patent No. 6,246,862, was the last patent-in-suit standing from its 2010 complaint against Apple. Now it's been completely invalidated. The decision can still be appealed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and we can almost guarantee the company will take advantage of that option. (In fact, it already is with previous decisions that did not go in its favor.) With courts tossing out complaints left and right, and some companies even willingly withdrawing them, we certainly keep hoping that the era patent Risk is coming to an end.

The ITC tossing out yet another complaint is a big loss for Motorola and Google. But, Apple has lost plenty of its own suits recently. It seems that both sides are settling into a stalemate. And ultimately pushing these competitors to innovate in the market instead of the courtroom is good for consumers.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Google

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Source: FOSS Patents, ITC (PDF)

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RI gas prices down another 9 cents

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Gas prices in Rhode Island have dropped by nine cents a gallon.

Monday's price survey from AAA Southern New England finds that a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline is averaging $3.52, down from $3.61 last week.

The local price is one penny higher than the national average, and is 22 cents less than the price in Rhode Island last month.

A year ago at this time Rhode Islanders were paying an average of $3.96 a gallon.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ri-gas-prices-down-another-165941375.html

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Police: Bombing suspects planned more

BOSTON (AP) ? As churches paused to mourn the dead and console the survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing Sunday, the city's police commissioner said the two suspects had such a large cache of weapons that they were probably planning other attacks. The surviving suspect remained hospitalized and unable to speak with a gunshot wound to the throat.

After the two brothers engaged in a gun battle with police early Friday, authorities found many unexploded homemade bombs at the scene, along with more than 250 rounds of ammunition.

Police Commissioner Ed Davis said the stockpile was "as dangerous as it gets in urban policing."

"We have reason to believe, based upon the evidence that was found at that scene ? the explosions, the explosive ordnance that was unexploded and the firepower that they had ? that they were going to attack other individuals. That's my belief at this point." Davis told CBS's "Face the Nation."

On "Fox News Sunday," he said authorities cannot be positive there are not more explosives somewhere that have not been found. But the people of Boston are safe, he insisted.

The suspects in the twin bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 180 are two ethnic Chechen brothers from southern Russia ? 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan. Their motive remained unclear.

The older brother was killed during a getaway attempt. The younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was still in serious condition Sunday after his capture Friday from a tarp-covered boat in a suburban Boston backyard. Authorities would not comment on whether he had been questioned.

Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Tsarnaev's throat wound raised questions about when he will be able to talk again, if ever.

The wound "doesn't mean he can't communicate, but right now I think he's in a condition where we can't get any information from him at all," Coats told ABC's "This Week."

It was not clear whether Tsarnaev was shot by police or inflicted the wound himself.

In the final standoff with police, shots were fired from the boat, but investigators have not determined where the gunfire was aimed, Davis said.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the parents of Tamerlan Tsarnaev insisted Sunday that he came to Dagestan and Chechnya last year to visit relatives and had nothing to do with the militants operating in the volatile part of Russia. His father said he slept much of the time.

The younger Tsarnaev could be charged any day. The most serious charge available to federal prosecutors would be the use of a weapon of mass destruction to kill people, which carries a possible death sentence. Massachusetts does not have the death penalty.

Across the rattled streets of Boston, churches opened their doors to remember the dead and ease the grief of the living.

At the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in South Boston, photographs of the three people killed in the attack and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer slain Thursday were displayed on the altar, each face illuminated by a glowing white pillar candle.

"I hope we can all heal and move forward," said Kelly McKernan, who was crying as she left the service. "And obviously, the Mass today was a first step for us in that direction."

A six-block segment of Boylston Street, where the bombs were detonated, remained closed Sunday. But city officials were mapping out a plan to reopen it.

Mayor Thomas Menino said Sunday that once the scene is released by the FBI, the city will follow a five-step process, including environmental testing and a safety assessment of buildings. The exact timetable was uncertain.

Boston's historic Trinity Church could not host services Sunday because it was within the crime scene, but the congregation was invited to worship at the Temple Israel synagogue instead. The FBI allowed church officials a half-hour Saturday to go inside to gather the priests' robes, the wine and bread for Sunday's service.

Trinity's Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III offered a prayer for those who were slain "and for those who must rebuild their lives without the legs that they ran and walked on last week."

"So where is God when the terrorists do their work?" Lloyd asked. "God is there, holding us and sustaining us. God is in the pain the victims are suffering, and the healing that will go on. God is with us as we try still to build a just world, a world where there will not be terrorists doing their terrible damage."

Near the crime scene, Dan and Keri Arone were pushing their 11-week-old daughter in a stroller when they stopped along Newbury Street, a block from the bombing site, to watch investigators in white jumpsuits scour the pavement. Wearing his bright blue marathon jacket, Dan Arone said he had crossed the finish line 40 minutes before the explosions.

The Waltham, Mass., couple visited the area to leave behind pairs of their running shoes among the bouquets of flowers, hand-written signs and other gifts at a makeshift memorial on Boylston Street, near the police barriers.

"I thought maybe we'd somehow get some closure," Dan Arone said of leaving behind the sneakers. "But I don't feel any closure yet."

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was tracing the suspects' weapons to try to determine how they were obtained.

Neither of the brothers had permission to carry a gun. Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas said it was unclear whether either of them ever applied for a gun permit, and the applications are not considered public records.

But the younger brother would have been denied a permit based on his age alone. Only people 21 or older are allowed gun licenses in Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, surgeons at a Cambridge hospital said the Boston transit police officer wounded in a shootout with the suspects had lost nearly all his blood, and his heart had stopped from a single gunshot wound that severed three major blood vessels in his right thigh.

Richard Donohue, 33, was in critical but stable condition. He is sedated and on a breathing machine but opened his eyes, moved his hands and feet and squeezed his wife's hand Sunday.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is asking residents to observe a moment of silence Monday at the time the first of two bombs exploded. The one-minute tribute is scheduled for 2:50 p.m., exactly a week after the attacks. It will be followed by the ringing of bells in Boston and elsewhere in Massachusetts.

In New York, thousands of runners donned "I Run for Boston" bibs during a 4-mile run in Central Park, one of a number of races held around the world in support of the victims of the marathon bombings.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, thousands of London Marathon runners offered their own tributes. The race began after a moment of silence, and many competitors wore black armbands as a sign of solidarity.

___

Associated Press writers Meghan Barr and Michael Hill in Boston contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-bombing-suspects-planned-more-attacks-201956630.html

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Huawei A199 outed with 5-inch 720p display, 1.5GHz CPU, 2GB RAM

Huawei kicked off the year by introducing its 5-inch Ascend D2 and 6.1-inch Ascend Mate flagships, and after a few months of catering for smaller hands, it's revisiting larger screens with the A199. The new handset shares a handful of specs with the Ascend D2, and although it's not as equipped, you wouldn't call it a low-end device. Behind the 5-inch, 720p IPS display, you'll find Huawei's own quad-core 1.5GHz K3V2 CPU paired with 2GB of RAM and eight gigs of internal storage, expandable via a microSD slot (up to 32GB cards supported).

Weighing in at roughly 160g (5.6 ounces) with a 2,150mAh battery on board, the 8.9mm (0.35 inch) thick handset has an 8-megapixel main camera, a 1.3-megapixel shooter up front, and runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean as standard. We're inclined to believe the A199 will be destined for China and emerging markets only given the phone's dual-SIM support (GSM / CDMA / EV-DO), a feature popular in these regions. The device does, however, bear similarities in both specs and design to an Ascend G710 that was detailed in a leak back in February. Maybe, then, the A199 will make its way to the US eventually, albeit with a fresh name and brushed metal disguise.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Video: Which direction is Lacy's draft stock headed?

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93% Zero Dark Thirty

All Critics (244) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (229) | Rotten (17) | DVD (2)

What's striking is the absence of triumphalism -- Bigelow doesn't shy away from showing the victims shot down in cold blood in the compound -- and we come away with the overwhelming sense that this has been a grim, dark episode in our history.

This is an instant classic.

Chastain makes Maya as vivid as a bloodshot eye. Her porcelain skin, delicate features and feminine attire belie the steel within.

No doubt Zero Dark Thirty serves a function by airing America's dirty laundry about detainee and torture programs, but in its wake, there's a crying need for a compassionate Coming Home to counter its brutal Deer Hunter.

While "Zero Dark Thirty" may offer political and moral arguing points aplenty, as well as vicarious thrills,as a film it's simply too much of a passable thing.

From the very first scenes of Zero Dark Thirty, director Kathryn Bigelow demonstrates why she is such a formidable filmmaker, as adept with human emotion as with visceral, pulse-quickening action.

A film of infectious urgency, questionable accuracy, murky morality and undeniable emotional and intellectual power

Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty is a grueling masterpiece that captures the hunt for bin Laden with a daunting amount of realism and efficiency.

Slathered in controversy, Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty confidently and forcefully storms onto DVD with an admirable A/V transfer, only hindered by a paltry gathering of extras from Sony.

The direction by Kathryn Bigelow, who won Oscars for Best Film and Best Director in her previous film "The Hurt Locker," is fierce and focused...

Despite what those silly Oscars would have you believe, it was this movie, not Argo, that was the finest of 2012.

Indulges Cheneyian fantasies complete with the bad-movie scene of the prisoner's defiance: "You're just a garbage man in the corporation," shouts the Arab who needs a lesson in manners from the Ph.D. (in torture?) who is racking him.

Bigelow tells the story very well, very efficiently, but doesn't really say much about it, which is ironic given the response to the film in some quarters.

Kathryn Bigelow takes the procedural model and brushes away every unnecessary detail, leaving behind a heavy, blunt object of a film that is also hugely watchable, engrossing and, best of all... highly suspenseful.

Rotten Tomatoes notes that I agree with Tomatometer critics 80 percent of the time, but this is one of those times I have to part ways with them.

Bigelow has directed excellent movies before, but this deserves to be remembered as the film that established her as a master.

You can't deny that what Zero Dark Thirty sets out to do, it does excellently.

An exhilarating and compelling historical document worthy of praise.

Bigelow's latest proves a rewarding piece of filmmaking, one that, in its best moments at least, is as gripping and as troubling as anything the director's ever made.

Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal shape history -- those breaks, big and small, that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden -- into one of the finest fact-based thrillers since "All the President's Men."

Purely as cinematic exercise, Zero Dark Thirty is an exhilarating piece of work. But, beyond its for-the-times subject matter, the work does not linger whatsoever.

Zero Dark Thirty is interesting as opposed to enjoyable, intriguing as opposed to entertaining, and certainly less memorable than The Hurt Locker.

It's quite remarkable how Bigelow and Boal managed to take 12 years of information (including a conclusion that everyone knows) and packaged it into a coherent, intimate and intense movie.

We know the ending, yet remain mesmerized by familiar details, filmed with a harrowing sense of urgency. It's as close to being in the White House situation room that night, watching a closed-circuit broadcast, as anyone could expect.

The second half of the film IS the film.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/zero_dark_thirty/

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AP source: FBI eyes possible extortion at Rutgers

The FBI is investigating whether a former Rutgers basketball employee tried to extort the university before he made videos that showed ex-coach Mike Rice shoving and kicking players and berating them with gay slurs.

A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Sunday that investigators are interested in Eric Murdock, who left his job as the men's basketball program's player development director last year and later provided the video to university officials and ESPN.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the inquiry has not been announced. The investigation was first reported last week by ESPN and The New York Times.

A spokeswoman for the FBI's Newark office said the agency would not say whether there is an investigation. Murdock's lawyer did not return a call to the AP on Sunday. A Rutgers spokesman referred questions to the FBI.

A December letter from Murdock's lawyer to a lawyer representing Rutgers requested $950,000 to settle employment issues and said that if the university did not agree by Jan. 4, Murdock was prepared to file a lawsuit. The letter was obtained last week by the AP and other media outlets.

No settlement has been made. The video became public last week, and Murdock on Friday filed a lawsuit against the university, contending he was fired because he was a whistleblower trying to bring to light Rice's behavior.

The video's release last week set off a chain reaction that led to Rice's firing and the resignations of athletic director Tim Pernetti, the university's top in-house lawyer and an assistant basketball coach. Some critics want the university's president, Robert Barchi, to resign.

At a news conference last week, Barchi said the firing and resignations likely never would have happened unless Murdock provided the video to ESPN. Barchi said he did not see the video himself until after it had been made public.

Murdock, a New Jersey native who played for seven NBA teams from 1991 to 2000, was on the initial staff Rice assembled when he became the Rutgers coach in 2010. He left the team last year, though there are conflicting stories about the circumstances.

Murdock has said Rice fired him after he skipped a session of Rice's summer basketball camp, but has said he was targeted because he had spoken with others about Rice's conduct at practice. The university found in a report that Murdock was not actually fired and that he could have continued working at the school.

After Murdock left, he spoke with university officials about his allegations against Rice. He also used an open public records request to obtain hundreds of hours of videos of basketball practice. It's not clear who shot the original footage, but it was edited into the half-hour video later given to the university that touched off a scandal last week.

The university report on Rice, which was completed in December but not made public until Friday, criticized the video provided by Murdock as taken many situations out of context. While the report found fault with Rice's behavior in several instances, it also said he did not create a hostile work environment, as Murdock had suggested.

The report also said that Murdock had claimed some violations of NCAA rules - including that he and others in the program paid players - but he did not provide evidence.

After a review, university officials agreed to suspend Rice without pay for three games, fine him $50,000, send him to anger-management counseling and monitor his behavior.

Barchi said when he first saw the video last week he immediately decided Rice could not continue as coach.

----

AP sports writer Tim Sullivan contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-source-fbi-eyes-possible-171313032--ncaab.html

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Report: Anti-Semitic incidents surge in 2012

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) ? Israeli researchers and Jewish leaders on Sunday reported a 30 percent jump in anti-Semitic violence and vandalism last year, topped by a deadly school shooting in France, and expressed alarm about the rise of far-right parties in Hungary, Greece and other countries.

Following a two-year decline in the figures, the annual report on worldwide anti-Semitic incidents recorded 686 attacks in 34 countries, ranging from physical violence to vandalism of synagogues and cemeteries, compared to 526 in 2011. The report was issued at Tel Aviv University, in cooperation with the European Jewish Congress, an umbrella group representing Jewish communities across Europe.

The report linked the March 2012 shooting at a Jewish school in Toulouse, where an extremist Muslim gunman killed four, to a series of copycat attacks, particularly in France, where physical assaults on Jews almost doubled.

Researchers who presented the report at the university on Sunday said they had also found a direct correlation between the strengthening of extreme right-wing parties in some European countries and high levels of anti-Semitic incidents, as well as attacks on other minorities and immigrants.

They said Europe's economic crisis was fueling the success of parties like Jobbik in Hungary, Golden Dawn in Greece and Svoboda in Ukraine.

Moshe Kantor, the president of the European Jewish Congress, called for strong action by the European Union, charging that governments ? particularly Hungary ?were not doing enough to curb these parties' activities and protect minorities.

"Neo-Nazis have been once again legalized in Europe, they are openly sitting in parliaments," said Moshe Kantor, the president of the European Jewish Congress.

Golden Dawn swept into Greece's parliament for the first time in June on an anti-immigrant platform. The party rejects the neo-Nazi label but is fond of Nazi literature and references. In Hungary, a Jobbik lawmaker has called for Jews to be screened as potential security risks. The leader of Ukraine's Svoboda denies his party is anti-Semitic but has repeatedly used derogatory terms to refer to Jews.

The report by the university's Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry found little correlation between the increase of anti-Semitic attacks and Israel's military operation in Gaza in November. While there was a spike in incidents at the time, it was much smaller in number and intensity than the one that followed the Toulouse attack, said Roni Stauber, the chief researcher on the project.

"This shows that the desire to harm Jews is deeply rooted among extremist Muslims and right-wingers, regardless of events in the Middle East," he said.

The release of the report was timed to coincide with Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was starting Sunday at sundown.

__

On the net:

http://www.kantorcenter.tau.ac.il/

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-anti-semitic-incidents-surge-2012-121250759.html

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Anonymous blogger targets Mexico's cartels

'Undercover Inside the Mexican Drug War' by the reporters of Blog Del Narco

The anonymous author behind the acclaimed Blog Del Narco, which focuses on Mexico's war with the powerful drug cartels, spoke with the U.K.'s The Guardian and the Texas Observer about the reporting and photography emphasizing the war's violence that has made the site as disturbing as it is popular.

People have long speculated about the identity of the blog's creator and why a person would risk retaliation from both drug gangs and corrupt members of the government. The Guardian reports that the blog's creator is a woman who asked to use the pseudonym "Lucy."

"I don't think people ever imagined it was a woman doing this," Lucy said. "Who am I? I'm in my mid-20s. I live in northern Mexico. I'm a journalist. I'm a woman. I'm single. I have no children. And I love Mexico."

The Guardian spoke with Lucy by phone after verifying that she was in fact the writer of Blog Del Narco. "I'm in love with my culture, with my country, despite all that's going on," she said. "Because we're not all bad. We're not all narcos. We're not all corrupt. We're not all murderers. We are well educated, even if many (foreign) people think otherwise."

[Related: Drug war death tolls a guess without bodies]

The danger that Lucy and her reportedly male collaborator face is very real. During the interview with the Guardian, Lucy said that a man and woman who were tortured and hung from a bridge in 2011 used to send photographs to Blog Del Narco. Their death "was very hard," she said. "Very painful."

According to the Guardian, the blog gets 3 million hits per month. It includes gruesome pictures and videos of murders and can be gut-wrenching to look at. "One video showed cartel members interrogating a captured rival and then decapitating him," the Guardian writes. Blog Del Narco gets the footage and news from multiple sources, including from members of the drug cartels.

Lucy and her fellow reporters have put together a book, "Dying for the Truth: Undercover Inside the Mexican Drug War." The book, just published and available in English and Spanish, covers a full year in the savage Mexican drug wars.

"I did the book to show what was happening," Lucy said. "When I finished, I was able to breathe, because I had worried about being killed before finishing. But the book is there. It's there on paper, a testament to what we have suffered in Mexico in these years of war."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/anonymous-drug-war-blogger-speaks-guardian-dangers-reporting-151943177.html

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A Thailand Backpacking Adventure [Guest Post] - Alpha Travel ...

Thailand ? a popular gap year destination and a favourite among backpackers.? With a promise of a hot climate, stunning architecture and plenty of adventure, there?s no wondering why!

We caught up with traveller?Emily Suart?to share her experience of?visiting Thailand. Read on to find out about?how to plan your own Thailand adventure, riding elephants and even learning to cook Thai food!

• Hello Emily, tell us a little about yourself?

Hello! My name is Emily, I?m 22 and from South East London. I?m currently in my final year of studying?at University?and wondering what?s going to happen next!

Upon finishing our A levels, my friends and I knew we didn?t want to go straight into studying, so we decided to take a year out and get a taste of what the world could offer. After working hard to save as much money as possible we packed our bags and travelled around Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, and in the process had the best five months of our lives!

• What inspired you to visit Thailand?

Thailand. Mecca for all travellers hungry for some excitement. The promise of a hot climate and beautiful beaches was too tempting for us and we knew we had to explore it for ourselves.

The opportunities are varied, with jungles, temples and bustling cities in the North, and opportunities for snorkelling, diving and hedonistic bucket parties in the South. Thailand offers something for every visitor, and definitely lives up to expectations.

I?ve since returned for a family holiday to visit my sister, who has now moved to Koh Phi Phi. The trip was just as exciting, proving that Thailand also has much to offer to the more mature visitor (sorry Mum and Dad)!

I?ve spent a total of six weeks in Thailand and have visited Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Phi Phi, Koh Tao, Koh Phangan, Krabi, Ao Nang and Koh Lanta. Everywhere offers something different, meaning the opportunities for adventure are unlimited!

Accommodation is very cheap and we paid between ?2-15 a night for a bed, staying in hostels, hotels and guest houses. For the multitude of backpackers there are lots of dorm rooms available, but paying a couple of Baht more will often get you a private en suite room. Of course, if slumming it isn?t really your thing, there are plenty of luxury hotels for a fraction of what you might pay in the UK.

• How did you go about planning your experience? Did you face any problems organising it?

Planning a trip in Thailand is really very easy and most?activities can be organised at last minute. My friends and I had around-the-world tickets and Thailand was one of the stop-offs. Apart from that and the first night?s accommodation, we literally had nothing else booked- not even a flight out! Booking travel internally can often be booked at your hotel; otherwise there are usually travel agents.

Booking places to stay is also very easy and can generally be done online. Visa-wise, you don?t need to apply for one unless you?re staying for more than 30 days, which was enough time for us to do everything we wanted anyway.

The only problem we faced was actually travelling over the border to Malaysia by coach. A lady ripped us off by telling us we had to pay a certain amount of money to cross the border and in our naivety and panic we paid up, later realising it had been a scam. I would just advise backpackers to keep their head screwed on, and make sure you find out in advance before travelling whether there will be any payments needed.

• Did you do any exciting/adventurous activities?

Thailand offers lots of different exciting adventures, often for not much money. For example, we did lots of boat/snorkelling trips, including visiting Phi Phi Leh where the film The Beach was filmed. One particularly good day trip was the trekking in Chiang Mai. We did a long walk through the jungle and eventually arrived at a stunning waterfall and had a swim to cool off. We then got to ride elephants, before finishing with white water and bamboo rafting. It was a tiring day, but one filled with excitement! Before booking a trip, please make sure the elephants are in good care and when you are there make sure they are fed and watered well! Our enjoyment should never be at the expense of the animals? welfare!

• You also did a Thai cooking course, how did you organise this??Do?you still cook the recipes you learned?

One of the best ways to get involved in a culture is to learn to cook some of the cuisine. Cooking courses are widely available and can usually be organised and booked from your hotel/ hostel. I have done courses in both Chiang Mai and Ao Nang, and they were both really hands-on, fun and a cheap way to enjoy a banquet at the end of the day!

We were taken around the local market, shown different vegetables, rice types, noodles and spices, and as a result we were completely immersed into the Thai culture. We each had our own cooking station, and with the help from our lovely teachers, we were quickly and easily able to make six delicious dishes. Eating it was the hardest part of the day as there was so much of it!

With the aid of the free recipe book we were given at the end of the class, I?m now able to cook Penang curry, Pad Thai and Spring Rolls, all the way from the UK!

• Did you face any problems whilst in Thailand? How did you overcome them? (language barriers, money, severe problems, cancellations)

Perhaps the worst thing that happened to us was my friend getting scratched by a dog and having to get a series of Rabies jabs in both Thailand and Australia. In the end she was fine and as we told her, this could have been avoided by staying away from the dogs!! Apart from this and the scam on the border, nothing too bad happened. Unfortunately we regularly had upset tummies from the food, but this is unavoidable and shouldn?t stop you from trying out the delicious cuisine; just don?t drink tap water and avoid dodgy-looking street food!

• What was the highlight of your trip and why?

There are too many to mention! We made lots of new friends whilst travelling, and this was maybe one of the best things. Dancing on the beach with friends and our drinks in buckets was a particular highlight.

• If you could describe your entire Thailand experience in one word what would it be?

Liberating.

• And finally, what one piece of advice would you give anyone planning to travel?

My best advice would definitely be to keep a diary!! You can record where you?ve been, what you?ve done and stick tickets and photos in it. Your memories will last much longer and it will be an extra souvenir for you!

If you enjoyed this post please help others by sharing and tweeting it!

If this has inspired you to go travelling make sure you have travel insurance for your trip! Take a look at Alpha?s Longstay travel insurance policy and get cover for as little as ?13.11

Source: http://www.alphatravelinsurance.co.uk/blog/a-thailand-backpacking-adventure-guest-post/

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OUYA Could Become Emulation Destination With New Projects Covering Game Boy, Genesis, NeoGeo And More

OUYA is coming soon (tomorrow is the planned ship date for the earliest Kickstarter backers), and recent reports of emulators of classic gaming consoles made for the Android device are generating some buzz. Today, emulator developer Robert Broglia, who's responsible for some of the most popular Android emulators including Snes9x EX+, has revealed to OUYAForum that he's working on emulators for Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis, NeoGeo and more.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/O5QMpx3FCcY/

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Berezovsky's billions: How the tycoon lost so much

FILE - A Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 photo from files showing Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky talking to the media after losing his case against Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich as he leaves the High Court in London. United Kingdom police have said that Berezovsky has been found dead Saturday March 23, 2013.(AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)

FILE - A Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 photo from files showing Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky talking to the media after losing his case against Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich as he leaves the High Court in London. United Kingdom police have said that Berezovsky has been found dead Saturday March 23, 2013.(AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)

LONDON (AP) ? How do you burn through billions?

The death of Boris Berezovsky, whose body was found Saturday inside his upscale English home, has refocused attention on the fantastic wealth racked up by Russia's ruthless oligarchs ? and their propensity for spending it. Berezovsky, 67, had once been considered Russia's richest man ? but by this January, a British judge was wondering whether the tycoon would be able to pay his debts.

Police say post mortem examinations have found that Berezovsky died from hanging. There was no violent struggle, and no evidence of anyone else being involved, they said. His lawyer said the oligarch had been in "a horrible, terrible" emotional state. The tycoon had survived several assassination attempts, including a 1994 car bomb in Moscow, and there was speculation as to whether his death was natural, part of a conspiracy or a suicide.

To understand how one man could lose so much money, it helps to see how he made it in the first place.

___

FOUNDATIONS OF A FORTUNE

Berezovsky, a mathematician, made his fortune in the 1990s during the catastrophic privatization of the Soviet Union's state-run economy. That era was marked by hyperinflation, contract killings and rampant corruption. As Russia's GDP crumbled, oligarchs leveraged their ties to ruthless criminals and crooked officials to tear off huge chunks of the country's assets for themselves, draining resources and stripping factories to build fabulous fortunes.

Berezovsky ? whose interests ran from automobiles to airplanes to aluminum ? was one of this dark period's primary beneficiaries. He became a political operator in Russian President Boris Yeltsin's inner circle, trading on his connections to rack up assets estimated by Forbes to be worth roughly $3 billion in 1997.

"No man profited more from Russia's slide into the abyss," author Paul Klebnikov wrote in a critical profile of Berezovsky titled "Godfather of the Kremlin."

Eventually, the abyss began threatening Berezovsky as well.

The tycoon had been instrumental in orchestrating the accession of Yeltsin's successor, Vladimir Putin, but when the new leader and Berezovsky began to clash, his political cover disintegrated. Berezovsky then fled the country in 2000, eventually claiming political asylum in Britain.

___

LIVING LARGE IN LONDON

How much money Berezovsky really had ? and how much he was able to take with him from Moscow ? remains shrouded in uncertainty. Rich Russians at the time routinely stashed their money in labyrinthine offshore trusts or held assets under the names of associates or family members. Many deals weren't even put into writing.

What's clear is that the 1998 Russian financial crisis, coupled with Berezovsky's spectacular fall from political grace, had a big impact on his bottom line. Forbes estimated his post-Moscow fortune in the hundreds of millions. Rival oligarch Roman Abramovich testified in court that Berezovsky had been down to his last $1 million when he fled Russia.

If Berezovsky were strapped for cash, he didn't show it. He rode around London in a reinforced Maybach limousine and was often seen huddled with business contacts in the exclusive hotels that line London's Hyde Park. His string of oversize mansions in England, France and the Caribbean suggested he was a cut above the average millionaire.

Russian officials seemed to believe that Berezovsky had plenty of cash on hand, trying ? with mixed success ? to claw back some of the exile's assets. Charges are still pending against him in relation to the alleged embezzlement of some $13 million from Russia's now-defunct SBS-Agro bank. Berezovsky had also previously been convicted in absentia of bilking hundreds of millions of rubles from the airline company Aeroflot and the carmaker AvtoVaz.

___

THE BILLS PILE UP

Berezovsky often expressed a fondness for Britain's legal system, despite his frequent and expensive encounters with it. A search of British court records throws up roughly three dozen judgments ? libel, fraud, divorce, breach of contract ? involving the tycoon in some way.

Berezovsky sued a business associate over a fraudulent loan. Other business associates sued him over a botched oil deal. Berezovsky sued Forbes over an unflattering profile. He sued Russian television for suggesting he had a hand in the poisoning death of ex-Russian KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko. His second wife sued him for a divorce. His girlfriend sued him for a house he'd promised her. He sued the wife of his long-time partner, Badri Patarkatsishvili, in a complicated dispute over how to split the man's assets after his death.

The sums involved were staggering. The loan deal was worth $5 million. His second divorce settlement in 2011 reportedly cost him 100 million pounds (about $154 million at the time). Patarkatsishvili's assets could be worth hundreds of millions more. The biggest lawsuit of all, against Abramovich for breach of contract and blackmail, was for a mind-boggling $5.6 billion.

Berezovsky lost the lawsuit against Abramovich last year and the judge involved stopped just short of calling him a liar. He was stuck with tens of millions of pounds in legal bills.

___

A FORTUNE FALTERS

Whatever the extent of Berezovsky's wealth, his expensive divorce, Patarkatsishvili's death and his paper mountain of litigation left it much reduced.

In 2008, Berezovsky was forced to sell the Darius, a 110-meter (360-foot) -long custom-built yacht that many believed was an attempt to compete with an even larger ship, the Eclipse, being built for Abramovich.

Earlier this month, the Times of London reported that Berezovsky was downsizing his art collection, selling off his homes, firing staff and closing his office in London's upscale Mayfair district.

In a January ruling in a dispute between Berezovsky and his ex-girlfriend Helena Gorbunova, High Court Judge George Mann wrote that the oligarch's fortune appeared to have been spread thin.

"On the evidence, Mr. Berezovsky is a man under financial pressure," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-25-Britain-Berezovsky's%20Fortune/id-0e2d7453150f4aa5874047e3928d7386

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