Arvaj: এপ্রিল 2013

মঙ্গলবার, ৩০ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

Boston suspect's defense team gets major boost

FILE - In this April 26, 2013 file photo, Judy Clarke, a defense lawyer whose high-profile clients include "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph, and Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner, speaks at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Clarke was appointed Monday, April 29, 2013 to the team representing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

This Friday, April 19, 2013 photo shows the home of Katherine Russell's parents in North Kingstown, R.I. Russell, widow of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has been staying there. FBI agents visited the home Monday, April 29, 2013, and carried away several bags. (AP Photo/Joe Giblin)

Katherine Russell, right, wife of Boston Marathon bomber suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, leaves the law office of DeLuca and Weizenbaum with Amato DeLuca, left, Monday, April 29, 2013, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)

FILE - This file photo provided Friday, April 19, 2013 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Tsarnaev's legal defense is in the hands of Miriam Conrad, the chief federal public defender for Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Conrad has asked a judge to appoint two additional lawyers with experience in death penalty cases. (AP Photo/Federal Bureau of Investigation, File)

BOSTON (AP) ? The defense team representing the Boston Marathon bombing suspect got a major boost Monday with the addition of Judy Clarke, a San Diego lawyer who has won life sentences instead of the death penalty for several high-profile clients, including the Unabomber and the gunman in the rampage that injured former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Clarke's appointment was approved Monday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler.

The judge denied, at least for now, a request from Miriam Conrad, the public defender of 19-year-old suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to appoint a second death penalty lawyer, David Bruck, a professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Tsarnaev has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction during the April 15 marathon. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line.

The suspect's lawyers could renew their motion to appoint another death penalty expert if he is indicted, the judge said.

Tsarnaev's brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, also a suspect in the bombing, died after a gunbattle with police. Their mother has staunchly defended them, calling the bombing allegations against them lies.

Clarke's clients have included the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski; Susan Smith, who drowned her two children; Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph; and most recently Tucson, Ariz., shooter Jared Loughner. All received life sentences instead of the death penalty.

Clarke has rarely spoken publicly about her work and did not return a call seeking comment Monday. However, at a speech Friday at a legal conference in Los Angeles, she talked about how she had been "sucked into the black hole, the vortex" of death penalty cases 18 years ago when she represented Smith.

"I got a dose of understanding human behavior, and I learned what the death penalty does to us," she said. "I don't think it's a secret that I oppose the death penalty."

Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz said the decision to put Clarke on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's defense team shows "they are going to litigate hard against the death penalty."

"They are not going to put on a jihadi defense," he said. "The client wants to live, and he wants to avoid the death penalty. They are not going to say, 'I want to die, I want to join my brother.' "

Bruck has directed Washington and Lee's death penalty defense clinic, the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, since 2004.

In other developments in the Boston case:

? FBI agents visited the Rhode Island home of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's in-laws and carried away several bags, at least one labeled as DNA samples, CNN reported.

Katherine Russell, Tsarnaev's widow, has been staying at the North Kingstown home and did not speak to reporters as she left her attorneys' office in Providence later in the day. Attorney Amato DeLuca says she's doing everything she can to assist with the investigation.

? President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed terrorism coordination Monday. Obama expressed his "appreciation" for Russia's close cooperation after the Boston Marathon attack.

The bombing suspects are Russian natives who moved to the Boston area. Russian authorities told U.S. officials before the bombings they had concerns about the family but only revealed details of wiretapped conversations since the attack.

? A medical examiner has determined but did not release the cause of death for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, authorities said. His body is unclaimed, and authorities said the information will remain private until his remains are released and a death certificate is filed.

Police have said he ran out of ammunition during the gunbattle before his brother dragged his body under a vehicle while fleeing.

___

AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-30-US-Boston-Marathon-Explosions/id-2e124717b8cb4de5893c81942c7147ac

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Clarifying the effect of stem cell therapy on cancer

Apr. 28, 2013 ? Injection of human stem cells into mice with tumors slowed down tumor growth, finds research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), isolated from bone marrow, caused changes in blood vessels supplying the tumor, and it is this modification of blood supply which seems to impact tumor growth.

The use of stem cells in treating cancer has been controversial, with some studies finding that stem cells force tumors to enter programmed cell death. However other studies find that stem cells actually promote tumor growth by inducing infiltration of new blood vessels. In attempting to sort out this puzzle researchers from INSERM groups at Universit? Joseph Fourier in collaboration with CHU de Grenoble investigated the impact of MSC on already established subcutaneous or lung metastasis in mice.

For both the subcutaneous and lung tumors, injection of MSC reduced cell division, consequently slowing the rate of tumor growth. Part of the mode of action of stem cells therefore appears to be due to with angiogenesis, but the mechanism behind this is still unclear.

Claire Rome who led this study explained, "We found that MSC altered vasculature inside the tumor -- although new blood vessels were generated, overall they were longer and fewer than in untreated tumors. This could be restricting the oxygen and nutrients to the tumor, limiting cell division." She continued, "Our study confirms others which propose that stem cells, in particular MSC, might be one way forwards in treating cancer."

Commenting on this study Celia Gomes, from the University of Coimbra, said, "One of the interesting questions this study raises is when MSC promote tumor growth and when they restrict it. The answer seems to be timing -- this study looks at already established tumors, while others, which find that MSC increase growth, tend to be investigating new tumors. This is a first step in the path to identifying exactly which patients might benefit from stem cell therapy and who will not."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Michelle K?ramidas, Florence de Fraipont, Anastassia Karageorgis, Ana?ck Moisan, Virginie Persoons, Marie-Jeanne Richard, Jean-Luc Coll and Claire Rome. The dual effect of MSCs on tumour growth and tumour angiogenesis. Stem Cell Research & Therapy, 2013, 4:41 [link]

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/SFxmSeqXAZ0/130428230425.htm

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সোমবার, ২৯ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

Discuss College Savings During Divorce Process

When Mary Thate and her now ex-husband divorced, she had no idea where her children would go to college. As a couple, they had put aside money for their three children's college education. Early on in the divorce process, they decided to stay in touch and save individually for the collegiate needs of their children.

Saving for college after a divorce is a process of communication. However, the communication is easier if a framework is set up during the divorce settlement, says Mike Fitzgerald, chairman of the College Savings Plans Network.

The framework could include freezing the current 529 plan account (a tax-advantaged investment account used for higher education), splitting 529 plan accounts when needed and deciding what proportion each parent will pay toward their children's education.

[Learn more ways to save for college.]

First, freezing a 529 plan account means no more deposits are made to the account. The money already in it can only be used toward education for the child designated, Fitzgerald says.

Under normal circumstances, an account owner could withdraw money at any time for any reason - a car, a vacation or another purpose - though they would have to pay a tax penalty for non-education spending. Freezing the account prevents former spouses from doing so during what is often a very tense process, he says. Freezing the account would also prevent a parent from using account funds to pay for the education of a child from a new marriage.

The other issue that should be discussed or decreed is what to do with money left over after the child completes his or her education, says Ernest Almonte, a certified public accountant. Possible options include one of the parents using funds to return to school or a sibling using leftover funds, he says.

Once the account is frozen, there are still investment decisions, Fitzgerald says, which are made by the account owner. The legal owner could decide to change the investment strategy to a riskier, more stock-based one or take a more conservative route with a greater percentage of short-term bonds and money market and savings accounts, he says.

[Examine your college savings strategy.]

There is a solution to the problem of one parent having full investment control. "The judge can order splitting an existing 529 plan, and the state has to abide by it," Fitzgerald says.

That means each half of the plan would be set up as a new account and owned by one spouse, who would make investment decisions on his or her half of the account. If a 529 plan had $5,000 in assets, each spouse would be responsible for a new account containing $2,500.

"That money could eventually be used by each parent to help pay for his or her share of the college costs as outlined in the divorce settlement," Fitzgerald says. The court can mandate the percentage each parent will pay toward the child's education, he says. However, each parent will make their own decisions as far as how and where the savings is held or invested.

Thate set a goal of saving $4,000 a year, which she deposits into Idaho's Ideal College Savings Program 529 plan. Her new husband also deposits $4,000, for a total of $8,000. Her ex-husband makes his own decisions about how he will save.

[Avoid the college savings mistakes parents make.]

Each child's education had a different price tag, and that cost wasn't known until college neared. It varied per child based on scholarships awarded, the tuition at time of graduation and high school grades, Thate says. Their oldest won a scholarship and the former couple adjusted what each needed to contribute toward their daughter's education accordingly.

They have an open discussion with each child and say they will pay the full cost of tuition if the child chooses which college to attend from among a set list of schools, she says. If the child chooses a more expensive school, she and her ex-husband will pay a certain amount.

Parents have to keep working together and be in agreement when it comes to education, Thate says. She and her ex-husband managed to get two children started in college by working together.

Trying to fund your education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for College center.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/discuss-college-savings-during-divorce-process-150730767.html

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Are lesbians more accepted than gay men? | The Salt Lake Tribune

ADVANCE FOR USE SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013 AND THEREAFTER - Sarah Toce, editor of a daily online news magazine "The Seattle Lesbian," poses for a photo Friday, April 19, 2013, in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, in an alleyway that has been the site of fights and other violence against gay men. Even as society has become more accepting of homosexuality overall, longstanding research has shown more societal tolerance for lesbians than gay men, and that gay men are significantly more likely to be targets of violence. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Society ? Research shows more societal tolerance for lesbians, and gay men face more violence.

Chicago ? It may be a man?s world, as the saying goes, but lesbians seem to have an easier time living in it than gay men do.

High-profile lesbian athletes have come out while still playing their sports, but not a single gay male athlete in major U.S. professional sports has done the same. While television?s most prominent same-sex parents are the two fictional dads on "Modern Family," surveys show that society is actually more comfortable with the idea of lesbians parenting children.

And then there is the ongoing debate over the Boy Scouts of America proposal to ease their ban on gay leaders and scouts.

Reaction to the proposal, which the BSA?s National Council will take up next month, has been swift, and often harsh. Yet amid the discussions, the Girl Scouts of USA reiterated their policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, among other things. That announcement has gone largely unnoticed.

Certainly, the difference in the public?s reaction to the scouting organizations can be attributed, in part, to their varied histories, including the Boy Scouts? longstanding religious ties and a base that has become less urban over the years, compared with the Girl Scouts?.

But there?s also an undercurrent here, one that?s often present in debates related to homosexuality, whether over the military?s now-defunct "Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell" policy or even same-sex marriage. Even as society has become more accepting of homosexuality overall, longstanding research has shown more societal tolerance for lesbians than gay men, and that gay men are significantly more likely to be targets of violence.

That research also has found that it?s often straight men who have the most difficult time with homosexuality ? and particularly gay men ? says researcher Gregory Herek.

"Men are raised to think they have to prove their masculinity, and one big part about being masculine is being heterosexual. So we see that harassment, jokes, negative statements and violence are often ways that even younger men try to prove their heterosexuality," says Herek, a psychologist at the University of California, Davis, who has, for years, studied this phenomenon and how it plays out in the gay community.

That is not, of course, to downplay the harassment lesbians face. It can be just as ugly.

But it?s not as frequent, Herek and others have found, especially in adulthood. It?s also not uncommon for lesbians to encounter straight men who have a fascination with them.

story continues below

"The men hit on me. The women hit on me. But I never feel like I?m in any immediate danger," says Sarah Toce, the 29-year-old editor of The Seattle Lesbian and managing editor of The Contributor, both online news magazines. "If I were a gay man, I might ? and if it?s like this in Seattle, can you imagine what it is like in less-accepting parts of middle America?"

One of Herek?s studies found that, overall, 38 percent of gay men said that, in adulthood, they?d been victims of vandalism, theft or violence ? hit, beaten or sexually assaulted ? because they were perceived as gay. About 13 percent of lesbians said the same.

A separate study of young people in England also found that, in their teens, gay boys and lesbians were almost twice as likely to be bullied as their straight peers. By young adulthood, it was about the same for lesbians and straight girls. But in this study, published recently in the journal Pediatrics, gay young men were almost four times more likely than their straight peers to be bullied.

At least one historian says it wasn?t always that way for either men or women, whose "expressions of love" with friends of the same gender were seen as a norm ? even idealized ? in the 19th century.

"These relationships offered ample opportunity for those who would have wanted to act on it physically, even if most did not," says Thomas Foster, associate professor and head of the history department at DePaul University in Chicago.

Today?s "code of male gendered behavior," he says, often rejects these kinds of expressions between men.

We joke about the "bro-mance" ? a term used to describe close friendships between straight men. But in some sense, the humor stems from the insinuation that those relationships could be romantic, though everyone assumes they aren?t.

Call those friends "gay," a word that?s still commonly used as an insult, and that?s quite another thing. Consider the furor over Rutgers University men?s basketball coach Mike Rice, who was recently fired for mistreating his players and mocking them with gay slurs.

If two women dance together at a club or walk arm-in-arm down the street, people are usually less likely to question it ? though some wonder if that has more to do with a lack of awareness than acceptance.

"Lesbians are so invisible in our society. And so I think the hatred is more invisible," says Laura Grimes, a licensed clinical social worker in Chicago whose counseling practice caters to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clients.

Next Page >

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/56228624-68/gay-lesbians-says-scouts.html.csp

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PSA: T-Mobile's Samsung Galaxy S 4 available online today

Samsung's latest flagship, the GS4, landed on Sprint and AT&T a couple of days ago, and now it's T-Mobile's turn to join the party -- at least by way of its virtual stores. Taking advantage of the carrier's recently unveiled pricing scheme, the Galaxy S 4 will be available starting at $149.99 up front for the 16GB model (plus the $20 extra per month for the next two years, of course). Now, if you're looking to physically pick one up instead, you'll have to wait a little longer, as it won't be available at brick-and-mortar shops until May 1st.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, T-Mobile

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Source: T-Mobile

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/29/psa-t-mobile-samsung-galaxy-s-4/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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শুক্রবার, ২৬ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

Thief with conscience returns cremated remains in Washington state

(Adds later picks) NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - Selections in the first roundof the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on Thursday (picknumber, NFL team, player, position, college): 1-Kansas City, Eric Fisher, offensive tackle, Central Michigan 2-Jacksonville, Luke Joeckel, offensive tackle, Texas A&M 3-Miami (from Oakland), Dion Jordan, defensive tackle, Oregon 4-Philadelphia, Lane Johnson, offensive tackle, Oklahoma 5-Detroit, Ezekiel Ansah, defensive end, Brigham Young 6-Cleveland, Barkevious Mingo, linebacker, LSU 7-Arizona, Jonathan Cooper, guard, North Carolina 8-St. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thief-conscience-returns-cremated-remains-washington-state-012827468.html

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Vanilla Ice Goes Amish: Actually a Show!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/vanilla-ice-goes-amish-actually-a-show/

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৫ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

AP twitter hacking causes stocks to fall

>>> welcome back. right now the dow is down about 12 point. but it is much calmer on wall street than we witnessed yesterday afternoon. the government is looking into the hacking of the associated press's twitter account which referred to a flash crash. it created a post saying there were explosions at the white house and the president was injured. the dow plunged more than 140 point wiping out more than $140 billion before gaining it all back. joining me live now, tyler mathisen , co-anchor of cnbc's "power lunch." i'm curious, looking at the tick tock , tyler , how soon before people realize what happened there.

>> it happened quickly. i was on the air at the time, tamron , and my cohost, sue herera , noticed that dow dove about 150 point there, very quickly. and there was a lot of scurrying down on the floor of the new york stock exchange . simultaneously, i was hearing in my ear that this hack and presumably, we knew very quickly, that it was a bogus hack, had taken place, and that that probably explained it. it was a matter of a couple of minutes. one of the things we don't know yet, tamron , and really one of the focuses of the investigation, is whether this attack was simply a malicious party trying to unnerve a nation already on edge after the boston bombings last week or whether it could have been someone somewhere trying to profit by the very quick down and up that it caused in the stock market . because if you put that kind of fake tweet out there, you know that the markets are going to pick it up and react negatively.

>> i think, tyler , you know because this is your business. but i think most people would be stunned to know that based on a tweet, that the markets could swing in such a way so give me -- educate us on how that works, of all things that a tweet could cause that.

>> sort of yes and no, tamron . the market reacts to rumors all the time. rumors there's been a bombing at an oil installation in nigeria. or things that are filtered through one way or another. somebody tells somebody. what is different now is the speed and the transmission method, in this case, by twitter. and what happened in this case, clearly, is that there are an awful lot of program traders, who are following lots of different feeds. news feeds, twitter feeds, all kind of sources. and those traders' computers pick up the feeds. pick up the language they would see, ap, bombs, white house , and immediately, they would send cell signals, ask questions later, or react now. so that how it really happens. is it these were all computerized trades that o were getting executed, based on the alga rhythms in the system. just like google used algorithms to lead you to searches somewhere, those algorithms prompt trading.

>> okay, tyler mathisen , thank you. let's we heard tyler complain, but it still leaves you scratching your head when you think about the amount of money wiped out, even though it was earned back, how does this happen? what's the next step in making sure it doesn't?

>> i think the more disturbing thing is that unlike a run of the mill rumor, this appeared to be an official ap report. from what we can tell now, someone hack need the twitter page --

>> well, if we learned anything last week, reports could be wrong. if you didn't know it, after last week, you know it now. so the tweet was not verified.

>> we do put a certain amount of credibility in gate keepers that we trust. if msnbc came out with a tweet, you would react to it differently than if your friend, joe, came out with a tweet. charles schwab , which hosts trillions of dollars of our assets, bank accounts and trading, their website was hacked for about an hour and a half. you couldn't get on the website. it happened again this morning for periods of time between 10:00 and 12:00 . imagine if you have a rumor hitting and charles schwab 's site down because of hacking, this is one of those risk factors. unless you keep your stuff in cash in a mattress or gold, there is nothing can you do about it.

>> does it speak to the biggerish university frailty? we talk about washington, all street and how big women an guys are doing, but nevertheless, this is still a fragile situation.

>> and when it is electronically enhanced, and tyler is right, a lot of this is computer driven and al algorithm, it can all spiral down quickly. but it can also spiral up quickly.

>> all right, thank you very

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2b201028/l/0Lvideo0Bmsnbc0Bmsn0N0Cid0C516480A35/story01.htm

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Pakistan police defuse 110-pound bomb near Musharraf house

By Mehreen Zahra-Malik

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani police said on Tuesday they had defused 50 kg (110 lb) of explosives hidden in a car wired with remote-controlled detonators near the fortified farmhouse where former president Pervez Musharraf is under house arrest.

The discovery added a new sub-plot to the saga of Musharraf's deepening legal woes, which have transfixed Pakistanis unaccustomed to the sight of a once all-powerful military ruler submitting to the will of judges.

"When we checked the car we found explosives," police bomb squad constable Rehmat Ali told Reuters television. "When we unlocked one of the doors we saw a detonator cord."

Ali added that police had discovered several remote-controlled detonators rigged to the explosives, which they disarmed.

There was no immediate word from police on who they suspected might have planted the device.

Pakistan's Taliban movement, which threatened to kill Musharraf shortly before he returned to Pakistan last month after almost four years of self-imposed exile, denied any involvement in the incident.

"We would have sent suicide bombers," Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said.

MADE ENEMIES

Musharraf made many enemies during his stint in power, notably among militant groups who felt betrayed by his decision to align Pakistan with the United States following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Musharraf had hoped to relaunch his political career by running for a seat in the National Assembly at general elections on May 11, Pakistan's first transition between elected civilian-led governments.

Instead, election officials disqualified him from running and a court ordered he be placed under house arrest last week over allegations he unlawfully ordered the detention of judges during a showdown with the judiciary in 2007.

Police found the explosives several hours after Musharraf made his latest court appearance over separate allegations that he failed to provide adequate security to prevent the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Pakistani television broadcast video showing scores of lawyers, who have not forgiven Musharraf for the crackdown he launched on the judiciary, scuffling with supporters of the ex-president after the hearing.

Police arrested Musharraf on Friday, treating Pakistanis to the rare spectacle of a former army commander being humbled by judges in a country where the military has ruled for more than half the years since Pakistan's creation in 1947.

Musharraf's office has dismissed the allegations against him as baseless and politically motivated.

Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, resigned in 2008 and left Pakistan for residences in London and Dubai.

His legal troubles have provided a stark symbol of the changing balance of power in Pakistan, where the military still retains enormous behind-the-scenes influence but has retreated from the overt meddling and coups of the past.

(Reporting By Mehreen Zahra-Malik, additional reporting by Jibrin Ahmad; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-police-explosives-found-near-musharraf-house-151900508.html

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বুধবার, ২৪ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

The 15 Best Movie Wedding Dresses

Amanda Seyfried is sure to turn heads when she walks down the aisle in her new film, The Big Wedding. Judging by the trailer, her gown is gorgeous -- but she won't be the first onscreen bride to take our breath away! Take a look at our top 15 favorite movie wedding dresses.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/best-movie-wedding-dresses/1-a-534088?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Abest-movie-wedding-dresses-534088

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HTC One announced for China with dual-SIM and microSD support

Android Central

A removable back cover houses the extra goodies, but the battery still remains untouchable

The HTC One is steadily making its way into hands around the world, and the next big launch announcement is for China. The HTC One has been announced for all China's main carriers, but comes slightly customized for the region from its international counterpart.

Beneath a removable rear cover, the Chinese HTC One houses slots for dual-SIM cards, and for a microSD card to expand the total storage. The battery still remains non-removable however, as it sits in the middle of the device still as on the international variants.

No carrier subsidized prices have been announced at present, but the One is set to go on sale direct from HTC on Friday, April 26.

via Engadget Chinese

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/EBiEhkx-gzk/story01.htm

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Deadpooling Gidsy Acquired By GetYourGuide In A Berlin Insiders Deal

Socialising the travel experience - in the way that Airbnb 'socialised' apartment rentals - has proved harder than expected. "Hot" Berlin-based startup Gidsy has spent almost two years touting its peer-to-peer booking platform for discovering local experiences and things to do. It attracted $1.2 million in a seed round in January 2012, with Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher participating. But recently rumours surfaced that the company was dead-pooling, unable to raise a follow on round based on its current growth figures. It's now been acquired by competitor GetYourGuide in an undisclosed deal. The latter has offices in Berlin and Las Vegas. Clearly, it's that Berlin connection that proved vital in this deal.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/B0oQEKZ9wKs/

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Mark Pryor May Soon Have A Bloomberg Problem

Mayor?s Against Illegal Guns, the well-funded group co-founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is seriously considering a months-long television, radio and direct-mail campaign against Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, one of four Democrats who opposed expanding a background check for guns.

The goal: Make an example of him.

Senior members of Mayor?s Against Illegal Guns met at length Sunday to debate potential responses to the failure of President Obama?s gun regulation package, including a watered-down background check provision that fell five votes short.

In addition to Pryor, three Democratic senators abandoned Obama: Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. The group discussed targeting two of those senators: Pryor and Baucus, according to a senior official involved in the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity.?

Unlike the others who face election in 2014, Heitkamp was just elected to a six-year term. Begich was considered more secure politically than Pryor and Baucus, and thus a less attractive target.?Baucus announced Tuesday that he will not seek re-election.

That leaves Pryor as possibly the lone target of a campaign to convince Democrats that there is a price to pay for opposing modest gun regulations, even in a conservative-leaning state like Arkansas.

The broader goal of the Bloomberg group is to provide a political counterweight to the National Rifle Association which has had virtually unmitigated influence over Congress since 1994, when Democrats lost control of the House and blamed then-President Clinton?s assault-weapons ban.

The Bloomberg group is mulling a variety of messages and methods for Arkansas. One approach would be to target reliable Democratic voters, including African Americans, with advertising that calls out Pryor for ?opposing the president?s agenda,? the official said. Another would be to expand the campaign to suburban women and other moderates.The campaign might not be limited to the issue of guns.

?Money would not be an object,? the official said, adding that a decision on whether to target Pryor would come soon and that action against other Democrats is still possible.

The son of a popular former senator, Pryor is a brand name in Arkansas who nonetheless faces a tough re-election. The Democratic bench in Arkansas is shallow, which limits Bloomberg?s ability to impact the Democratic primary.

The risk to Democrats is that Bloomberg?s money could weaken Pryor for the general election, tipping the race to the GOP. ?It will mean electing someone who is even worse on guns and just about everything else,? wrote liberal columnist Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times.

Brantley noted in an interview that Pryor supported Obamacare. On gun control, Brantley said, ?Democrats aren?t that much different than Republicans in Arkansas.?

That will be the case for much of the 2014 midterms, when Senate elections will be fought predominantly in pro-gun territory ? Southern and Mountain West conservative states. The picture is brighter for Bloomberg and Obama in 2016, when Electoral College math favors those who back gun regulations.

Obama's political operation, Organizing for Action, is urging its activists today to tweet those who opposed Obama, including Pryor. There are no plans for an ad campaign against the four Democrats, an official said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mark-pryor-may-soon-bloomberg-problem-230611229--politics.html

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Ex-CIA boss David Petraeus to be NY college prof

NEW YORK (AP) ? Ex-CIA director David Petraeus (peh-TRAY'-uhs) is replacing one kind of intelligence work with another.

Macaulay (muh-KAHL'-lee) Honors College at City University of New York said Tuesday the retired four-star general has been named a visiting professor for public policy. He starts Aug. 1.

Petraeus has a doctorate from Princeton University and has written widely on international relations, military strategy and tactics and national security issues.

He says in a statement released by Macaulay he's pleased to teach at the college, where most students are children of immigrants. He says he looks forward to leading a seminar on the global economic slowdown.

Petraeus was a hero of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He left the CIA in scandal last November after it was uncovered he'd had an affair with his biographer.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-cia-boss-david-petraeus-ny-college-prof-014521937.html

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মঙ্গলবার, ২৩ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

Over Half the Prisoners at Guantanamo Are Now on a Hunger Strike

Things aren't going so well down at Guantanamo Bay. A few days after The New York Times published a rather arresting column written by an inmate staging a hunger strike, 25 percent more prisoners have joined the protest. The latest report from United States officials puts the number of inmates on hunger strike at 84 ? there are 166 total inmates at Guantanamo ? with at least 17 of them, including the author of the Times column, being force fed. The number of prisoners participating is up 32 since last Wendesday and has continued to increase over the weekend.

RELATED: Guantanamo Guards Are Now Shooting at the Prisoners

The hunger strike dates back to February 6, when a group of prisoners took action against prison guards they say desecrated the Koran. It didn't help that some of the prisoners have been locked up for over a decade without having received a trial or even been formally charged with a crime. On top of that, news emerged about a week after the hunger strike started that the supposedly private rooms where inmates meet with their lawyers had been bugged illegally. Guantanamo officials swear they never used the surveillance equipment, but that didn't do anything to improve prisoner-guard relations. Last month, a stand-off between prisoners and guards even led to gunfire, though nobody was killed.

RELATED: U.S. Is Trying to Exchange Gitmo Prisoners for Peace with Taliban

This all sounds very dramatic, and it is. It's also unclear how much Americans care about what's happening in the off-shore prison, where we send men to forget them. Initially ? read: before that Times column ? there was debate over whether the hunger strike was happening at all. But that column. Wrote Guantanamo prisoner Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel of the hunger strike:

People are fainting with exhaustion every day. I have vomited blood.

And there is no end in sight to our imprisonment. Denying ourselves food and risking death every day is the choice we have made.

I just hope that because of the pain we are suffering, the eyes of the world will once again look to Guant?namo before it is too late.

With the spike in participation, there will soon be more people fainting with exhaustion, more blood-infused vomit, more pain, more suffering. No word from Obama on when he might keep his promise to close the prison, though. In fact, it looks less likely than ever.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/over-half-prisoners-guantanamo-now-hunger-strike-025717024.html

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Android predicted to beat Apple in China ? thanks to its potential for ?oppression?

Apple Versus Android

We tend to think of an open source operating system as something that gives both smartphone vendors and end users more freedom to customize their experiences. But as Bronte Capital?s?John Hempton points out, open source software can have a dark side as well if it is changed by authoritarian governments to limit the information that end users can access. Hempton says he bought a Samsung Desire HD off of eBay from a Middle Eastern country a couple of years ago and found that ?it did not contain any access to the Google market place (Google?s equivalent of the App store),? that ?it had limited apps and no possibility of adding more? and ?it contained a non-standard web browser and a non-standard email client (leaving open the possibility of the State watching what I wrote and said).?

[More from BGR: iPhone sales projections are now so low it?s ridiculous]

All of this was possible, Hempton notes, because governments have access to Android?s source code and can thus ?demand and implement any changes? they want as a precondition of selling devices on national wireless carriers. Hempton says that it?s significantly more challenging for repressive regimes to drastically overhaul Apple?s iOS for their own purposes since Apple does not hand out its source code to anyone who asks for it. Instead, the regime must negotiate with Apple over potential country-specific modifications to iOS, which means that the government is unlikely to get everything it wants.

[More from BGR: Was Samsung caught fighting dirty in war against Apple?]

Of course, there is a solution to this for Android users living under more repressive governments: They can simply root their phones and install stock Android or remove their device?s more oppressive features. But Hempton worries that knowledge about rooting Android phones will be severely limited in many countries and that rooted Android phones will be used only by a tiny elite who have education?in coding.

All of this brings us to the looming battle between Android and Apple for consumers in China. Hempton speculates that Apple might have to make such severe changes to its operating system to gain broad access to the Chinese market that it could actually wind up degrading its devices? overall user experience. This will only stand to benefit Android vendors, especially among elites who will know how to root their devices to open up access to more apps and content.

?I am assuming that if Apple goes mass-market in China it will sell systems with enough ?apologies??to the cultural differences of China,? he writes. ?Those ?apologies? will make a rooted Android massively superior to a botched-up Apple. The elite will want their Samsungs??Some bulls?on Apple and China may be just flat wrong??

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/android-predicted-beat-apple-china-thanks-potential-oppression-163545115.html

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Real Estate Investing Key Areas Of A Contract Offer | The Niche Report

Nothing happens in Real Estate Investing until someone makes an offer. Then there are only three possible outcomes to expect from a Seller: Rejection ? Counter Offer ? Offer Acceptance.

The Real Estate Investing Contract Offer

A Real Estate Investing transaction begins with an offer. An investor uses an offer to persuade a seller to sell at the buyer?s (investor?s) price and on the buyer?s (investor?s) terms rather than on the seller?s terms. It is through the real estate offer to buy that the investor begins to take control of the deal. It is through the offer to buy that the investor lays the foundation for the contract, a contract of the investor?s design.

You must understand the seriousness of the offer process and the power of a properly though-out, prepared and presented offer. You are just a signature away from a legally binding contract, so investors need to prepare a contract that they can live with, one that is designed for real estate investing and one that will be taken seriously. Take the time to get one designed for you with the help of your realtor, attorney or more experienced investor.

Contract Basics

College and school of hard knocks will teach you this: Under contract law, four things are required for a contract to be considered a binding contract:

Written and signed
Consideration
Legal Intent
Mental capacity of the signers (legal competence).

Key Areas of Contract Offer ? Price, Timing, Convenience

A contract has three parts that are great negotiating points: price, timing, and convenience. If you are willing to give the seller two of these three, they should be willing to give you the last one. I suggest Investors make them choose between price and timing.

A great way to establish motivation with a seller is to ask them why they are moving or selling. They will never say they are moving because the house is a piece of junk. They will instead tell you their motivation, for instance that they build a new home, had a job transfer, or were laid off. This established that they are a motivated seller and the first key ingredient to a bargain.

Now here is a great follow up line: Ask ?when they need to be out by, for example, when will their home be finished, or when will they be leaving?? That response will help you establish timing, the second key ingredient to a bargain.

Then ask ? ?What is more important to them, price or timing?? Most sellers respond with ?price?. Naturally a follow up sequence will look something like this: ?Is it more important to get the price you want than to be out of the home quickly?? If the Seller responds that they have to be out sooner than later, respond by saying ?looks like timing is more important than?. What the Seller had essentially done is created a ?trap? for themselves.

Making Price Key Point To Your Contract Offer

Here is an example: ??You need to be in Kentucky in three weeks. I am willing to close before them; I will handle everything so that you do not have any additional stress. However, for this to work for me as a real estate investment property, this is the most I can offer?. You want to really play up the convenience that you are creating for them. Most sellers do not realize how intensive the closing process is. If necessary make a list of all the steps that must be completed to close on a home. Your realtor or a title-agent will likely have a ?cheat-sheet? that they can share with you.

Making Timing & Convenience Key Point To Your Contract Offer

Another example: ?I understand that you need your asking price, I am willing to make it as convenient as I possibly can for you, but for this to work for me as a real estate investor, you are going to have to help with the financing. Let me explain. You have said that you owe $150,000 on the home, the value is around $145,000 to $155,000, and that your payments are $1200 per month. I will give you $2000 for moving expenses. I will then pay your mortgage payment for you for the next two years. After two-years, I will cash you out of the transaction. During that two-year period, I will be paying down your loan, taxes, insurance and maintaining the property. The advantage to you is that you will walk away with equity because of the principle reduction on the loan instead of walking away with nothing right now?

In this last investing example of working with a motivated seller, you give the seller their asking price and their timing, but they had to make it worthwhile for you with ? terms.

Submitting Real Estate Contract Offers

Last thing about making real estate offers and submitting a contract ? you must be able to make a profit or there is no point in purchasing the property. Make sure your bottom line purchase price ?locks in your real estate investment profits?. Alternatively, if you are paying close to current market value for a property, but the area is renting for more than the amount of the payment you will be making, you have the potential for positive cash flow. Either way you should clearly see the end BEFORE you submit your contract offer to purchase a potential investment property.

Please leave a comment below or let me know if you have trouble submitting offers directly to sellers or through your realtor?

Short URL: http://www.thenichereport.com/?p=14531

Source: http://www.thenichereport.com/articles/real-estate-investing-key-areas-of-a-contract-offer/

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Immigration bill debate sidetracked following Boston bombings

By Richard Cowan and Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional advocates of comprehensive U.S. immigration legislation were diverted into a sometimes testy debate on Monday over whether the measure should be delayed because of questions arising from the Boston Marathon bombing allegedly carried out by two immigrant brothers.

The idea of holding up the legislation gained some ground with the support of U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a prominent Republican who in the past supported immigration reform. However, the highest-ranking Republican in Washington, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said he saw no reason for the bombings to delay the debate.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican sponsor whose continued support is crucial to the bill's survival, took a middle-ground position, saying in a statement that he disagreed with "those who say that the terrorist attack in Boston has no bearing on the immigration debate" but he added that immigration reform could and should address any "flaws" exposed by the attack in Boston.

Rubio's remarks came as some conservative commentators and lawmakers continued to seize on the Boston bombings as evidence that an immigration bill should move more slowly in Congress.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who was captured Friday night and charged on Monday in the deadly marathon bombing, was a naturalized U.S. citizen. His brother, Tamerlan, 26, who died after a shootout with police early Friday, also was in the country legally and had applied for U.S. citizenship. The brothers had immigrated to the United States a decade ago with their family, which is from Chechnya.

The Boston bombings hung over a congressional hearing on Monday as the Senate Judiciary Committee debated a bipartisan immigration bill.

Senators on the committee jousted with each other and with witnesses over the significance in the immigration debate of last week's attacks in which the two immigrant brothers are suspected of planting bombs that killed three people and injured more than 200.

Frank Sharry, head of the immigration advocacy group America's Voice, said the events in Boston could result in "a few more amendments on national security concerns" being debated as the legislation makes its way through Congress. He added that chances of enacting a bill this year remained strong.

John Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, said the fate of the legislation could be tied to whether there are revelations that the Boston attackers were aided by anyone in the United States illegally.

"If they were working with others and if some of those others were here illegally, that's the proverbial game changer," Pitney said.

Timing is considered critical to passage of an immigration reform bill in part because of the approach of the 2014 mid-term elections. Members of Congress traditionally shy away from controversial votes on anything in election season.

Supporters of the bill, introduced just last week, also are mindful of the fact that immigration legislation backed by former President George W. Bush disappeared from the political radar after the attacks on New York and Washington of September 11, 2001.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that immigration reform, which is President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, would enhance rather than harm security by bringing "out of the shadows the roughly 11 million residents of this country who are here illegally."

Boehner made a similar point in an interview with Fox News. "Primarily, I'm in the camp of: if we fix our immigration system it may actually help us understand who all's here, why they're here and what legal status they have," the speaker said.

He also said that it may take a couple of days for there to be clarity on key questions, such as 'What did our immigration system know and what didn't they know?'"

Paul has written to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid suggesting that the Boston bombing should give Congress reason to pause on immigration legislation.

"We should not proceed until we understand the specific failures of our immigration system," Paul wrote.

"Why did the current system allow two individuals to immigrate to the United States from the Chechen Republic in Russia, an area known as a hotbed of Islamic extremism, who then committed acts of terrorism?"

LEAHY DEFENDS BILL

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy chided critics who have cited the Boston bombings as a reason to hold off on immigration reform.

"Let no one be so cruel as to try to use the heinous acts of two young men last week to derail the dreams and futures of millions of hard-working people," the Vermont Democrat said.

Democratic leaders hope to have an immigration bill on the Senate floor for debate in June.

In the past, Boehner has voiced support for trying to pass an immigration bill through the House. But he has not gotten into the specifics of what sort of bill should be presented to his chamber, where a significant number of Republicans oppose a pathway to citizenship for illegal residents.

Much of the upcoming debate of immigration legislation in Congress will focus on whether 11 million illegal residents should be put on a 13-year pathway to citizenship, as the Senate legislation provides.

Under that provision, those who came into the United States illegally or overstayed their visas would have to register with the government if they want to become legal residents as a first step toward citizenship. That would in effect end their lives "in the shadows," as many immigration reform groups call it, as the undocumented currently try to evade deportation.

Even though the Senate legislation has bipartisan support, there is some significant opposition to the current bill in the Judiciary Committee, including Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the panel.

Grassley's temper flared when Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York, one of four Democrats and four Republicans who drew up the legislation, noted that some were using the Boston bombings as reason for delaying legislation.

"I never said that. I never said that," Grassley shouted at Schumer.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, noted during the congressional hearing that there were several "positive improvements to our immigration system" in the bipartisan bill.

But he signaled that the measure faces a tough fight when he criticized border security provisions of the measure and said that "major changes" were needed.

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Fred Barbash, Bill Trott and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/immigration-bill-debate-sidetracked-boston-terror-issues-181229014.html

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সোমবার, ২২ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

Parents of Boston suspect describe his Russia trip

MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) ? The parents of Tamerlan Tsarnaev insisted on Sunday that he came to Dagestan and Chechnya last year to visit relatives and had nothing to do with the militants operating in this volatile part of Russia. But the Boston bombing suspect could not have been immune to the attacks that savaged the region during his six-month stay.

Tsarnaev , 26, and his 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are accused of setting off the two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15 that killed three people and wounding more than 180 others.

Three days later, investigators say they killed a university police officer, carjacked a man and led police on a chase that resulted in a shootout that left Tamerlan Tsarnaev dead. His younger brother escaped, but was captured the next day, alive but badly wounded.

When the two ethnic Chechen suspects were identified, the FBI said it reviewed its records and found that in early 2011, a foreign government ? which law enforcement officials confirmed was Russia ? had asked for information about Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The FBI said it was told that Tsarnaev was a "follower of radical Islam" and was preparing to travel to this foreign country to join unspecified underground groups.

The FBI said that it responded by interviewing Tsarnaev and family members, but found no terrorism activity.

No evidence has emerged since to link Tsarnaev to militant groups in Russia's Caucasus. And on Sunday the Caucasus Emirate, which Russia and the U.S. consider a terrorist organization, denied involvement in the Boston attack.

But a trip Tsarnaev made back to Russia in January, 2012, has raised questions.

His father said his son stayed with him in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, where the family lived briefly before moving to the United States a decade ago. The father had only recently returned.

"He was here, with me in Makhachkala," Anzor Tsarnaev told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He slept until 3 p.m., and you know, I would ask him: 'Have you come here to sleep?' He used to go visiting, here and there. He would go to eat somewhere. Then he would come back and go to bed."

He said his son went to the mosque for prayers, but would not have come under the influence of radical imams, who he said stay up in the mountain villages.

A woman who works in a small shop opposite Tsarnaev's apartment building said she only saw his son during the course of one month last summer. She described him as a dandy.

"He dressed in a very refined way," said Madina Abdullaeva. "His boots were the same color as his clothes. They were summer boots, light, with little holes punched in the leather."

Anzor Tsarnaev said they traveled together to neighboring Chechnya. "He went with me twice, to see my uncles and aunts. I have lots of them," the father said.

He said they also visited one of his daughters, who lives in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan with her husband. His son-in-law's brothers all work in the police force under Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, he said.

Moscow has given Kadyrov a free hand to stabilize Chechnya following two wars between federal troops and Chechen separatists beginning in 1994, and his feared police and security forces have been accused of rampant rights abuses.

What began in Chechnya as a fight for independence has morphed into an Islamic insurgency that has spread throughout Russia's Caucasus, with the worst of the violence now in Dagestan.

In February, 2012, shortly after Tamerlan Tsarnaev's arrival in Dagestan, a four-day operation to wipe out several militant bands in Chechnya and Dagestan left 17 police and at least 20 militants dead. In May, two car bombs shook Makhachkala, killing at least 13 people and wounding about 130 more. Other bombings and shootings targeting police and other officials took place nearly daily.

The Caucasus Emirate said Sunday that its mujahedin are not fighting with the United States. "We are at war with Russia, which is not only responsible for the occupation of the Caucasus, but also for heinous crimes against Muslims," it said in a statement on the Kavkaz Center website.

The group suggested that Russia's secret services would have had a greater interest in carrying out the attack in Boston.

Despite the violence in Dagestan, Anzor Tsarnaev said Sunday that his son did not want to leave and had thoughts on how he could go into business. But the father said he encouraged him to go back to the United States and try to get citizenship. Tamerlan Tsarnaev returned to the U.S. in July.

His mother said that he was questioned upon arrival at New York's airport.

"And he told me on the phone, 'imagine, Mama, they were asking me such interesting questions as if I were some strange and scary man: Where did you go? What did you do there?,' " Zubeidat Tsarnaeva recalled her son telling her at the time.

Both parents insist that the FBI continued to monitor Tamerlan Tsarnaev and that both of their sons were set up.

Their mother went so far on Sunday to claim that the FBI had contacted her elder son after the deadly bombs exploded at the marathon. If true it would be the first indication that the FBI considered him a suspect before Boston descended into violence on Thursday.

At FBI headquarters in Washington, spokesman Michael Kortan stood by the bureau's public statement of two days ago in which the bureau described a 2011 FBI interview of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Kortan said the 2011 interview was the only FBI contact with Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The FBI statement from two days ago says that the FBI did not learn of the identity of Tamerlan and his brother until Friday after the gun battle in which Tamerlan was killed.

The mother's claim could not be independently confirmed, and she has made statements in the past that appeared to show a lack of full understanding of what occurred in Boston.

Investigators released photos and video of the two Tsarnaev brothers on Thursday afternoon, but at that point their identities were not known. By late that night Tamerlan Tsarnaev was dead.

Tsarnaeva said her elder son told her by telephone that the FBI had called to inform him that they considered him a suspect and he should come in for questioning.

She said her son refused. "I told them, what do you suspect me of?" Tsarnaeva quoted her son as saying. "This is your problem and if you need me you should come to where I am."

He then told her he was going to drive his younger brother to the university, she said, speaking by telephone from Chechnya. Tsarnaeva claimed that her son later called his wife to tell her they were being chased and fired upon.

___

Associated Press writer Lynn Berry contributed from Moscow.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/parents-boston-suspect-describe-russia-trip-205525143.html

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Stem cell transplant restores memory, learning in mice

Apr. 21, 2013 ? For the first time, human embryonic stem cells have been transformed into nerve cells that helped mice regain the ability to learn and remember.

A study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the first to show that human stem cells can successfully implant themselves in the brain and then heal neurological deficits, says senior author Su-Chun Zhang, a professor of neuroscience and neurology.

Once inside the mouse brain, the implanted stem cells formed two common, vital types of neurons, which communicate with the chemicals GABA or acetylcholine. "These two neuron types are involved in many kinds of human behavior, emotions, learning, memory, addiction and many other psychiatric issues," says Zhang.

The human embryonic stem cells were cultured in the lab, using chemicals that are known to promote development into nerve cells -- a field that Zhang has helped pioneer for 15 years. The mice were a special strain that do not reject transplants from other species.

After the transplant, the mice scored significantly better on common tests of learning and memory in mice. For example, they were more adept in the water maze test, which challenged them to remember the location of a hidden platform in a pool.

The study began with deliberate damage to a part of the brain that is involved in learning and memory.

Three measures were critical to success, says Zhang: location, timing and purity. "Developing brain cells get their signals from the tissue that they reside in, and the location in the brain we chose directed these cells to form both GABA and cholinergic neurons."

The initial destruction was in an area called the medial septum, which connects to the hippocampus by GABA and cholinergic neurons. "This circuitry is fundamental to our ability to learn and remember," says Zhang.

The transplanted cells, however, were placed in the hippocampus -- a vital memory center -- at the other end of those memory circuits. After the transferred cells were implanted, in response to chemical directions from the brain, they started to specialize and connect to the appropriate cells in the hippocampus.

The process is akin to removing a section of telephone cable, Zhang says. If you can find the correct route, you could wire the replacement from either end.

For the study, published in the current issue of Nature Biotechnology, Zhang and first author Yan Liu, a postdoctoral associate at the Waisman Center on campus, chemically directed the human embryonic stem cells to begin differentiation into neural cells, and then injected those intermediate cells. Ushering the cells through partial specialization prevented the formation of unwanted cell types in the mice.

Ensuring that nearly all of the transplanted cells became neural cells was critical, Zhang says. "That means you are able to predict what the progeny will be, and for any future use in therapy, you reduce the chance of injecting stem cells that could form tumors. In many other transplant experiments, injecting early progenitor cells resulted in masses of cells -- tumors. This didn't happen in our case because the transplanted cells are pure and committed to a particular fate so that they do not generate anything else. We need to be sure we do not inject the seeds of cancer."

Brain repair through cell replacement is a Holy Grail of stem cell transplant, and the two cell types are both critical to brain function, Zhang says. "Cholinergic neurons are involved in Alzheimer's and Down syndrome, but GABA neurons are involved in many additional disorders, including schizophrenia, epilepsy, depression and addiction."

Though tantalizing, stem-cell therapy is unlikely to be the immediate benefit. Zhang notes that "for many psychiatric disorders, you don't know which part of the brain has gone wrong." The new study, he says, is more likely to see immediate application in creating models for drug screening and discovery.