Activists pressure Obama on Keystone

Power Players

Environmental activists are turning up the heat on President Obama as he faces what could be the trickiest decision of his second term: whether or not to approve the controversial proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which could reach his desk this summer.

The project, which would transport oil from the tar sands of Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, promises jobs and energy. But critics say it will ravage the environment and send oil overseas.

?We put him in the White House because we thought he was the best chance of really making progress on the issue of climate,? the Sierrra Club?s Courtney Hight told ?Power Players.?

?He?s strongly said that he wants to do something?and this is one of his best opportunities to actually follow through,? she said.

Hight is no ordinary environmentalist. She was one of the first foot soldiers for Obama in New Hampshire in 2007 and later led his campaign?s outreach to youth voters in swing-state Florida.

In 2008, she joined the administration as a member of the president?s Council on Environmental Quality, but later quit her post disillusioned by what she saw as Obama?s weak commitment to cleaning up the earth.

?I worked for the president because I believed that he would change the way Washington fundamentally worked,? Hight said. ?It?s still important to me, and I think part of governing is that you need people to push.?

And push she has. Hight has helped to mobilized hundreds of young people to boycott the pipeline in Washington. During one protest, she was arrested in front of the White House fence.

With Obama no longer under pressure of re-election, it?s unclear what leverage Hight and fellow activists may have. Polls show a strong majority of Americans favor of approving the pipeline. It?s also backed by labor unions and business groups.

?It?s not just about denying this pipeline,? Hight said. ?It?s about, you know, making good on his investment or his promise to invest in clean energy and put that money into that, into clean energy opportunities verses into oil.?

The State Department, which is reviewing the pipeline plan, has released a favorable environmental review. However, the Environmental Protection Agency this week raised objections over the potential for harmful impacts.

What does Hight predict President Obama will do, and what are the potential consequences of his decision? Check out this episode of ?Power Players.?

ABC's Eric Wray, Alexandra Dukakis, Freda Kahen Kashi, Dick Norling, and Shari Thomas contributed to this episode.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/former-obama-staffer-leads-white-house-protests-against-111050839.html

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Upton brothers go back-to-back as Braves sweep DH

DENVER (AP) ? In their first season with the Atlanta Braves, Justin and B.J. Upton have become the new bash brothers.

The power-hitting siblings cracked back-to-back homers for the first time, leading Atlanta past the Colorado Rockies 10-2 Tuesday night to complete a doubleheader sweep that began with the coldest game at Coors Field.

"It's always cool when you can see him have success before you and then you go up and do the same thing," said Justin Upton, acquired as part of a seven-player trade with Arizona in January. "It was definitely cool for us to tack on those runs when we needed them. That was nice."

It was the 27th time in major league history that brothers homered in the same game, but only the second time they went deep in consecutive at-bats. Lloyd and Paul Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates also accomplished the feat on Sept. 15, 1938.

Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said the Uptons were displaying the kind of 1-2 punch that the Braves were hoping for when they acquired them. B.J. Upton was signed as a free agent last winter.

"It makes your lineup a lot better when you've got B.J. going and you've got Justin, too," Gonzalez said. "For me, Justin is your No. 3 hitter and it doesn't matter who is on the mound that night."

Or what the weather is like, for that matter.

In the first game, Justin Upton, Dan Uggla and rookie Evan Gattis homered in support of a solid outing by Mike Minor as the Braves won 4-3 in a game that began with a temperature of 23 degrees.

The weather warmed up for the night game ? but only a bit. It was 30 degrees at first pitch.

In the nightcap, B.J. Upton homered to left field off Jon Garland to start the fifth inning, his third of the season. Justin Upton drove Garland's next pitch to center for his major league-leading 11th home run.

"Mistakes," Garland said. "Maybe a wrong choice of pitches. When you miss with pitches, good hitters will get you."

Said Justin Upton: "I'm just trying to be part of a team that was already good. I can't put my thumb as to why I have hit the way I have; just got to continue to work and try to keep it up."

B.J. Upton was getting treatment and not available to reporters after the nightcap.

The Uptons have homered in the same game three times this season. They each added another RBI later in the game, B.J. on a sixth-inning sacrifice fly and Justin on a ninth-inning double that was part of a four-run burst.

The Braves outhomered the Rockies 6-0 in taking both games from Colorado, which entered the twinbill tied with Atlanta for the best record in baseball at 13-5.

"This Atlanta team, you have to try to keep them in the yard. We had a tough time doing that today," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "Six homers in two games. That is what they do if it's for a strike and they are locked in."

Julio Teheran (1-0) made the most of his offensive support in the nightcap, allowing one run over seven innings to quiet the Rockies, who have lost three in a row at Coors Field since an 8-0 start at home.

The Braves also got a home run and run-scoring double from Juan Francisco. His two-run shot in the fourth came after Freddie Freeman drew a one-out walk. Colorado had broken on top with an RBI single by Michael Cuddyer in the third.

Garland (2-1) went six innings and allowed six runs on 10 hits.

Reed Johnson, playing right field for Atlanta in the opener because Jason Heyward underwent an appendectomy Monday night, went 4 for 4 with three doubles. Heyward was put on the 15-day disabled list.

The matchup featured baseball's hottest teams ? and the coldest game-time temperature in the majors since such data collection began in 1991, according to STATS. The Rockies said the previous low at Coors Field was 28 degrees.

Donning a short-sleeve jersey with his standard T-shirt underneath while many other players were bundled up, Minor (3-1) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings. He said he decided against warmer attire because he wanted the same freedom of movement he feels with his arms uncovered.

"I don't know what it is, but with (long) sleeves on, I feel restricted," he said. "It's just a feeling and you want to feel comfortable out there."

To a degree, anyway.

"It was all right," Minor said. "The biggest thing was grip, just being cold and dry. I pretty much just battled through it."

At one point, Minor acknowledged he got so cold that he had a trainer rub his back, arms and thighs with a heating ointment.

"I was burning up there," he said with a smile.

By the time Craig Kimbrel pitched a one-hit ninth for his eighth save in eight chances, the temperature had warmed up to 27.

Gattis hit a tiebreaking home run in the fourth and ended the game by throwing out Wilin Rosario trying to steal second.

Jeff Francis (1-2) gave up four runs and six hits in four innings, leaving him with an 8.44 ERA.

Ground crews began working around 6 a.m. to clear several inches of snow from the playing surface at Coors Field, which opened in 1995. While there was no sign of snow on the field when the game started, some parts of the ballpark remained closed, including the snow-filled Rockpile section in center.

Workers hosed off the snow on the stand of evergreen trees beyond the center-field wall. It was important that the trees be cleared because they're part of the green batters' eye background.

It's been a wintry April for Denver, which has been hit by a wave of snowy weather over the past nine days that forced postponements of games three times. The delays led to two doubleheaders within a week.

NOTES: Justin Upton's 11 homers in April are the most by a Braves player. ... Gattis leads all major league rookies with six home runs and has homered in every park he's played in so far (Colorado, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Washington and Miami). ... The Rockies were 0-3 at home against the Braves last year and 1-6 overall. ... It isn't always freezing at Coors Field. According to the Rockies, the hottest game played here was 100 degrees last June 25 when Colorado hosted Washington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/upton-brothers-back-back-braves-sweep-dh-035118200--mlb.html

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Carnival ship evacuated after Alabama fuel barges explode

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) ? A large fire that began with explosions aboard two fuel barges in Mobile, Ala., burned into Thursday morning after injuring three people.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Carlos Vega said shortly before dawn Thursday.

Firefighters from Mobile and Coast Guard officials responded after 8:30 p.m. CDT Wednesday to a pair of explosions involving the gas barges in an area of the Mobile River east of downtown, authorities said. Additional explosions followed over the next few hours.

Authorities say three people were brought to University of South Alabama Medical Center after suffering burn-related injuries. The three were in critical condition early Thursday, according to hospital nursing administrator Danny Whatley.

Across the river, the Carnival Triumph, the cruise ship that became disabled in the Gulf of Mexico last February before it was towed to Mobile's port, was evacuated, said Alan Waugh, who lives at the Fort Conde Inn in downtown Mobile, across the river from the scene of the explosions. Waugh saw the blasts and said throngs of Carnival employees and others were clustered on streets leading toward the river as authorities evacuated the shipyard.

"It literally sounded like bombs going off around. The sky just lit up in orange and red," he said, "We could smell something in the air, we didn't know if it was gas or smoke." Waugh said he could feel the heat from the explosion and when he came back inside, his partner noticed he had what appeared to be black soot on his face.

Video from WALA-TV (http://bit.ly/15NEYJl) showed flames engulfing a large section of the barge, and a video that a bystander sent to AL.com (http://bit.ly/13vWz4G) showed the fiery explosions and billowing smoke over the river.

The initial blast took place in a ship channel near the George C. Wallace Tunnel ? which carries traffic from Interstate 10 under the Mobile River, Vega said. The river runs south past Mobile and into Mobile Bay, which in turn flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

The tunnels were still open and operating overnight, Mobile fire officials said in a statement.

As daybreak approached, the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department's fireboat Phoenix was moving toward the barges, checking to make sure their mooring lines were secured, the fire department said in a statement.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, Huffman and Vega said.

"Once (the fire) is out and safe, a full investigation will take place," Huffman wrote.

Mobile Fire Chief Steve Dean told AL.com he was confident the fire wouldn't spread to nearby industrial properties, including the shipyard where the Carnival cruise ship is docked.

Huffman said the ship is directly across the river from the incident ? about two football fields in length.

The barges are owned by Houston-based Kirby Inland Marine, company spokesman Greg Beuerman said. He said the barges were empty and being cleaned at the Oil Recovery Co. facility when the incident began. He said the barges had been carrying a liquid called natural gasoline ? which he said is neither liquefied natural gas or natural gas. He said the company has dispatched a team to work with investigators to determine what caused the fire.

The explosion comes two months after the 900-foot-long Carnival Triumph was towed to Mobile after becoming disabled on the Gulf during a cruise by an engine room fire, leaving thousands of passengers to endure cold food, unsanitary conditions and power outages for several days. The ship is still undergoing repairs there, with many workers living on board.

Carnival didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment late Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the cruise ship was dislodged from its mooring by a windstorm that also caused, in a separate incident, two shipyard workers to fall into Mobile Bay. While one worker was rescued, the other's body was pulled from the water more than a week later.

___

Associated Press writers Phillip Lucas and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fuel-barges-explode-causing-large-fire-ala-072757586.html

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The New Digital State?

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt

Photo by Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images

Once upon a time, Google concerned itself with seemingly benign, profit-driven things: the optimal position of online ads for erectile dysfunction drugs, mapping the location of every sports bar in America, churning out free services to further cement a quasi-monopoly in global search.

But these are no longer the comfortable, well-established guardrails around Google.

More than two years ago, as governments on two continents were preparing to launch anti-trust investigations against it, Google began moving aggressively onto the turf of states. Today, Google is arguably one of the most influential nonstate actors in international affairs, operating in security domains long the purview of nation-states: It tracks the global arms trade, spends millions creating crisis-alert tools to inform the public about looming natural disasters, monitors the spread of the flu, and acts as a global censor to protect American interests abroad.?Google has even intervened into land disputes, one of the most fraught and universal security issues facing states today, siding with an indigenous group in the Brazilian Amazon to help the tribe document and post evidence about intrusions on its land through Google Earth.

In a new form of digital statecraft, Google?s executive chairman Eric Schmidt has traveled to North Korea against State Department wishes. ?Keep the government out of regulating the Internet,? he recently told an audience on a visit to Burma. (Disclosure: Schmidt is the chairman of the New America Foundation board. New America is a partner in Future Tense with Slate and Arizona State University.)

As Google evolves its role on the world stage, the fundamental question might be less about whether states might regulate Google, but whether states can compete against such a powerful, global technology platform. After all, Google appears to have emerged relatively unscathed from the threat of state intervention. In January, it was victorious after a two-year anti-trust investigation by U.S. regulators. Earlier this month, Google settled with European regulators following a two-year inquiry. And for the systematic collection of personal data, such as personal photographs and emails from Wi-Fi networks through its Street View mapping service, Google must pay what amounts to a pittance of a fine to a German privacy regulator.

Google?s most explicit and organized foray into state domains has been under the banner of Google Ideas, its ?think/do tank.? Jared Cohen, who gained fame as a rising star of ?digital diplomacy? at the State Department, joined Google in October 2010 to launch Google Ideas. It began with a trio of initiatives under the broad umbrellas of counter-radicalization, illicit networks, and fragile states. Through the unit, Google has collaborated with state authorities to dismantle what it calls illicit networks, such as drug cartels and human trafficking, and worked with the U.S. government?s broadcasting arm, Voice of America, to run the ?first phone-based constitutional survey? in Somalia.

It has even staked a claim in the fight against violent extremism, in which there has ?traditionally been an over-reliance on governments,? as Cohen wrote in a post on Google?s corporate blog nearly a year ago. ?What do a former violent jihadist from Indonesia, an ex-neo-Nazi from Sweden and a Canadian who was held hostage for 15 months in Somalia have in common?? Cohen asked. With this, Google Ideas launched the quasi-social network aimed at a demographic not typically coveted by advertisers: former gang members, religious extremists, right-wing nationalists, far-right fascists, or the victims thereof. The Against Violent Extremism network would spur a global conversation, ?de-radicalize? youth and serve as a ?one-stop shop? to reframe the issue of counter-radicalization. Wired called it the ?Facebook for terrorists.? Among America?s foreign policy elite, it was praised as an example of something Google can do ?much more easily than any government could.? A year later, 231 former terrorists and violent extremists have joined AVE. But they?re outnumbered: The network hosts almost three times as many private-sector members and Western elites, such as NGO workers and academics.

As Google carved out a role in terrorism prevention, state-based counter-radicalization programs have come under scrutiny. "Western governments ? are unlikely to succeed in tackling the risk of future terrorism by attempting to shape religious ideology," Samuel Rascoff, a law scholar at New York University, wrote in a January 2012 paper questioning the effectiveness of state-based counter-radicalization efforts that promote "mainstream" theological alternatives to radical Islam. In addition to criticizing state-led efforts, Rascoff questioned initiatives by the private sector. Despite having a ?less pronounced government footprint,? he writes, nongovernmental actors in this space may rouse suspicion, with skeptical targets worrying ?that the secretive national security apparatus plays some unknown role in the process.? Indeed, Google?s alignment with the national security apparatus is far from clear. Despite frequently touting transparency as a core value, the details of Google?s relationship with the National Security Agency on encryption and cybersecurity remains a secret.

In a series of sketches about ?our future world? in The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business, a new book by Schmidt and Cohen, there is the slightest of hints of what Google?s alignment with state security apparatuses might actually look like, especially in regards to counterterrorism efforts: ?We?ll use computers to run predictive correlations from huge volumes of data to track and catch terrorists, but how they are interrogated and handled thereafter will remain the purview of humans and their laws,? they write. Is there a global, nonstate actor with more access to ?huge volumes of data? than Google? Indeed, Google, which often bristles at regulation, may have little choice but to enter and cooperate more fully with states in the fraught arena of counterterrorism. ?The public will demand that [technology companies] do more in the fight against terrorism,? Cohen and Schmidt write. And this was before Boston, before every video watched and posted by Tamerlan Tsarnaev on YouTube had been scrutinized for signs of radicalization.

In The New Digital Age, Schmidt and Cohen describe the Internet as the largest experiment involving anarchy in history. They go further, too, arguing it might ?ultimately be seen as the realization of the classic international-relations theory of an anarchic, leaderless world.? By describing the Internet in such dystopian fashion?a space ravaged by code wars and cyberwarfare, a place where terrorists get radicalized and illicit networks find global reach?Cohen and Schmidt justify Google?s increasingly close ties with state security interests. Yet the authors conceive of the battle for power in our time as one mostly between citizens and states, a conception of the world that deflects less obvious questions: How state-like will states allow Google to become? As a global, borderless entity, what mechanisms exist for Google?s billions of global users to hold Google accountable? Yes, Google allows users to download personal data and activity logs, but that?s not exactly the same thing as having a say in how Google uses that same data.

Google?s view on state regulation is certainly no secret. The defining theme of Schmidt and Cohen?s book is ?the importance of a guiding human hand,? a clever rewrite of Adam Smith?s centuries-old metaphor for free markets that even today animates our endless debates about the proper role of the state in regulating the economy.? Schmidt and Cohen never explicitly refer to Google as the all-important ?guiding human hand? the world needs today. Yet for a company that?s never been humble, a company unafraid to enter the Sisyphean quest for global security, it is hard not to imagine that?s what they meant.

This article arises from Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, the New America Foundation, and?Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, visit the?Future Tense blog?and the?Future Tense home page. You can also?follow us on Twitter.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=22fdd147d8ea141dfe081b728d54bafb

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Bank of Japan QE needed, but structural reforms also important

By Stanley White

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan should stick with its expanded quantitative easing to achieve its inflation target, but this may not be enough to foster sustainable economic growth unless it is coupled with structural reforms, the OECD said on Tuesday.

Japan's government should stay with its plan to double the sales tax to 10 percent, compile a detailed plan to return to primary budget surplus in 2020 and boost revenue from other taxes, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

The size of fiscal consolidation needed means Japan does face the risk of a spike in interest rates that would hurt the financial system due to its large exposure to Japanese government bonds, the Paris-based think tank said.

"The new quantitative and qualitative monetary easing should be implemented to meet the new 2 percent price stability target, although this may not be enough," the OECD said in its economic survey of Japan.

"Pushing ahead with structural reform on a broad front is equally imperative to achieve sustained growth."

The BOJ earlier this month committed to open-ended asset buying to nearly double the monetary base to 270 trillion yen ($2.72 trillion) by the end of 2014 to end 15 years of deflation and achieve its 2 percent inflation target in two years.

At a news conference, OECD officials said they were uncertain when Japan would meet its inflation target but that they were willing to give the BOJ some leeway as long as prices are approaching the target.

"We don't know how quickly it will take for inflation to come back," said Randall Jones, a senior economist at the OECD.

"It would be okay if it took three years. What is important is that the BOJ has committed to continue its policy until the target is achieved."

Haruhiko Kuroda, the BOJ's new governor, has dubbed the policy quantitative and qualitative easing, because the BOJ is greatly increasing the size of asset purchases and changing the composition by focusing on longer-term government debt.

Japan's consumer prices are still showing small annual declines, and many private-sector economists doubt the BOJ can meet its price target by 2015.

The OECD forecast that Japan's core-core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food and energy, will rise around 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 from the same period a year earlier.

It is important for Japan to end deflation because this lowers nominal gross domestic product (GDP), which worsens Japan's debt-to-GDP ratio, the OECD said. Japan's debt burden is already the worst among major economies at more than twice the size of its $5 trillion economy.

FISCAL DISCIPLINE

In order to repair public finances, the government should not use multiple tax rates when raising the sales tax, the OECD said. Some lawmakers have argued that the government should exempt food and other items from sales tax hikes.

Should doubts about fiscal discipline emerge, Japan's financial sector would be vulnerable as government debt accounts for about a fifth of all bank assets, the OECD said.

The OECD did turn more positive on Japan's growth prospects due to expectations for higher private consumption and an increase in capital expenditure as exports recover.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's stimulus spending and a decline in the yen also led the OECD to upgrade its forecasts.

Japan's economy will expand 1.4 percent both this year and in 2014, the OECD said. That is higher than its previous forecasts of 0.7 percent growth and 0.8 percent growth, respectively.

Labor market reforms to increase the number of female workers and improve productivity are also needed to help Japan's economy grow faster and help end deflation, the OECD said.

Abe's government will announce an economic growth strategy in June, and investors will look for signs of how far the government will push its structural reform agenda.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday it saw more than a one-third chance that it would downgrade Japan's sovereign ratings because of uncertainty about whether the government's push to revive growth and end deflation will succeed.

"The continuing prospect of a downgrade arises from risks associated with recent government initiatives and uncertainty of their success," S&P said in a report.

"Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to lift Japan out of deflation and spur economic expansion - known as 'Abenomics' - has three pillars: bold monetary easing, fiscal efforts to spur growth, and a strategy to induce private sector investment," it said.

"Of the three engines that Mr. Abe foresees reinvigorating the nation's economy, so far only one, monetary easing, has kicked into full gear. The others remain idle."

S&P has an AA- long-term rating on Japan's sovereign debt.

($1 = 99.2900 Japanese yen)

(Editing by Kim Coghill)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-japan-qe-needed-structural-reforms-important-161911110--business.html

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Credit Suisse beats forecast, eyes cash dividend

By Katharina Bart

ZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse said its drive to cut costs, risky assets and focus on its investment bank were bearing fruit as its quarterly earnings beat analysts' expectations and it raised the prospect of a cash dividend this year.

The results are a boost to the Swiss bank's argument that its slimmed-down investment bank can prosper despite lacking the scale of Wall Street giants like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs . Swiss rival UBS is largely pulling out of fixed income to focus on private banking.

Credit Suisse said on Wednesday first-quarter investment bank net revenues were stable versus a year ago, contrasting with weaker trading revenues at Wall Street's top five banks.

But some analysts were cautious of drawing conclusions.

"It's a better quarter than expected, particularly in the investment bank, but one swallow doesn't make a summer," said Rainer Skierka, Zurich-based analyst for private bank Sarasin.

"For me, Credit Suisse's strategy is going to lead to more volatile results than those of UBS or someone focused on private banking. It's up to investors to decide which they prefer."

At 0730 GMT, Credit Suisse shares were up 0.5 percent at 26.59 Swiss francs, in line with the European banking index <.sx7p>. The stock has risen 19 percent this year, beating UBS's 7.2 percent gain and a 2.5 percent rise in the sector index.

Credit Suisse reported first-quarter net profit of 1.30 billion Swiss francs ($1.38 billion), up from 44 million francs a year earlier. The result topped the average estimate of 1.26 billion francs in a Reuters poll Of analysts.

The rise was driven by its investment banking division, where spending fell 13 percent and charges on Credit Suisse's own debt slid to 68 million francs from 1.5 billion a year ago.

Investment banking revenues at Barclays were also flat in the first quarter as improving equities and prime services helped offset a decline in fixed income, currencies and commodities, the British bank said on Wednesday.

Credit Suisse's wealth management arm, the other pillar in its banking model, posted a seven percent drop in pretax profits as revenues fell five percent.

CASH DIVIDEND

"One should never declare success based on one quarter, but clearly with a return on equity of 23 percent, it's a very good start for this year," financial chief David Mathers told journalists, referring to the investment bank.

He added the results showed Credit Suisse did not have to have the scale of the so-called "flow monsters" of Wall Street to succeed in investment banking.

"We've always been skeptical about the concept of flow monsters, because we're not really convinced it's a scale business. It's not one business, it's a collection of businesses," he said.

The Zurich-based bank said its restructuring - it is on track to meet a spending cut target of 4.4 billion francs by the end of 2015 - would help it pay investors a cash dividend after last year's largely stock payout.

Credit Suisse said its private bank, which targets clients with more than $1 million in bankable assets, won 12 billion francs in fresh money from clients.

The bank suffered big outflows of money from clients in Europe, where Swiss banks are under fire for helping tax cheats, but saw new assets up nearly 10 percent in Asia.

It said it could not give investors any information on when Swiss government talks to end a U.S. investigation into it and a host of other banks including Julius Baer in return for expected fines and a transfer of client names might end.

Last week, signs mounted that Swiss and U.S. diplomats were nearing a solution to resolve their dispute, part of a global crackdown on tax evasion.

Credit Suisse took a 295-million-franc provision towards a settlement with U.S. authorities in 2011.

The bank, a member of U.S. dollar, Swiss franc and Euro Libor panels, said it did not expect a big hit from a global investigation into rigging of benchmark interest rates, adding it would vigorously defend itself against U.S. civil lawsuits.

(Writing by Carmel Crimmins; Editing by Chris Gallagher and Mark Potter)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/credit-suisse-first-quarter-rises-says-track-2013-051332539--finance.html

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Nintendo has another tough year, sells just 390,000 Wii Us in the last quarter

While there's no shortage of 3DS iterations headed to the market, Nintendo is having a harder time selling its new Wii U. Profits for the year are also half of its own predictions, despite the fact that Nintendo reduced its rosy estimates in the interim. Net sales are down 1.9 percent over the last year, down to 635 billion yen, but most importantly the company has managed to turn its net income into positive figures, netting 7 billion yen over the last year, compared to a 40 billion yen loss the year before. Following its initial launch, Wii U sales have slowed substantially, with only 390,000 units sold since December (now totaling 3.45 million), while the 3DS continues to sell in healthier numbers, with Nintendo shifting 1.25 million handhelds in the same period.

Focusing on the next year, the company maintains that it'll increase net income to 10 billion yen in the next twelve months, with a focus on selling "the compelling nature" of its gaming hardware, as well as pushing its 3DS more in foreign markets. The financial statement adds that the games maker plans to concentrate on "proactively releasing key Nintendo titles" starting the second half of this year "in order to regain momentum." Those key titles will have to hit hard, as certain competitors' new consoles are creeping closer.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Hasty, last-ditch gay marriage protest held in Paris

Opponents of France's same-sex union and adoption law, expected to pass next week, marched in Paris on Sunday, arguing the government should hold a referendum on such a fundamental issue.

By Pauline Mevel,?Reuters / April 21, 2013

Demonstrators shout as they march during a rally to protest against French President Francois Hollande's social reform on gay marriage and adoption in Paris, Friday. On Sunday protesters held another rally in Paris.

Michel Euler/AP

Enlarge

Thousands of gay marriage opponents waving pink and blue flags marched through?Paris?on Sunday in a last-ditch protest before a law allowing same-sex union and adoption is passed next week.

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Chanting "We don't want your law, Hollande!", some 50,000 protesters massed behind a banner reading: "All born of a Mum and a Dad" and said it was undemocratic to bring about such a fundamental social change without holding a referendum.

Hastily organized after the law's passage was sped up to circumvent a big rally set for late April, Sunday's march capped months of protests by a dogged opposition movement that has sullied President Francois Hollande's flagship social reform.

"We warned the president back in November that we would not give up and that we would do everything to stop this law being passed, or to get it repealed if it is adopted," one of the protest organisers,?Alberic Dumont, told Reuters.

Attended largely by families with children and old people, it was much more peaceful than a series of agitated demonstrations outside parliament this month that saw hard-right youths pelt police with stones and bottles and damage cars.

The piggy-backing by hard-right youths of a movement led by conservatives and Catholics has fed other ugly scenes including the public stalking of government ministers and a spate of homophobic attacks around the country.

As far back as January, the "anti" movement came under fire when some 350,000 protesters massed under the?Eiffel Tower?tore up the lawns beneath the monument.

Hollande, who is grappling with the lowest popularity ratings of any recent French president as unemployment surges above 10 percent, hoped to win some glory from passing a reform already in place in a dozen other countries.

Paris?Mayor?Bertrand Delanoe, one of very few French public officials who is openly gay, headed a rival march in favour of same-sex marriage and said that it was too late for anything to derail the law, set for a final parliament vote on Tuesday.

Additional reporting by Yves Clarisse; Writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Stephen Powell

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Ey_myIUEeVg/Hasty-last-ditch-gay-marriage-protest-held-in-Paris

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'RHOA' star learned about divorce on Twitter

By Drusilla Moorhouse, TODAY contributor

Porsha Stewart was "totally blindsided" by her husband's secret divorce filing, the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star told Andy Cohen after the reality show's reunion aired.

"When I found out about the divorce, it was absolutely a surprise," she said on Sunday night's "Watch What Happens Live," explaining that she took to Twitter after her sister called to ask whether she'd "heard the news."

"The first thing I see (on Twitter) is 'Kordell divorcing Porsha,'" she revealed. "I thought this is some kind of crazy joke."

Considering her husband hadn't even moved out, her disbelief is understandable.

Even more shocking: The former couple still lives together.? And while their mansion measures approximately 12,000 square feet, Porsha calls their cohabitation a "difficult, difficult situation."

"We're in the same house, but I didn't say we speak," she clarified, adding, "And I didn't say I'm cooking, and it ain't no eggs and bacon and ham hocks no mo'!"

Related content:

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Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/04/22/17863732-real-housewives-star-porsha-stewart-on-kordells-divorce-shocker-i-found-out-on-twitter?lite

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James has 27, Heat top Bucks 110-87 in Game 1

Miami Heat's LeBron James, top, goes to the basket as Milwaukee Bucks' Ersan Ilyasova (7) looks on during the first half of Game 1 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Miami, Sunday April 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Miami Heat's LeBron James, top, goes to the basket as Milwaukee Bucks' Ersan Ilyasova (7) looks on during the first half of Game 1 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Miami, Sunday April 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (3) congratulates Chris Andersen (11) after Andersen scored against the Milwaukee Bucks during the second half of Game 1 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Miami, Sunday April 21, 2013. The Heat won 110-87. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (3) shoots as Milwaukee Bucks' Monta Ellis (11) defends during the first half of Game 1 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Miami, Sunday April 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Milwaukee Bucks power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute practices before Game 1 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Miami Heat in Miami, Sunday, April 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings arrives at the American Airlines for Game 1 in the first round of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Miami Heat in Miami, Sunday April 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

MIAMI (AP) ? LeBron James has never taken fewer shots in a playoff game than he did on Sunday night, which at first glance might seem like a good thing for the Milwaukee Bucks.

It was not.

James scored 27 points on 9 for 11 shooting ? finishing two assists shy of a triple-double ? while Ray Allen scored 20 off the bench and the defending champion Heat picked up where they left off in the NBA playoffs a year ago, never trailing on the way to beating the Bucks 110-87 in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round series.

"All I care about is the win," James said. "I didn't even know my stats. I just knew that we were playing efficient offensively besides the turnovers. We want to try to keep that going."

Dwyane Wade scored 16, Chris Bosh added 15 and Chris Andersen finished with 10 on 4 for 4 shooting for the Heat, who opened their title defense by holding Milwaukee to 42 percent shooting and outrebounding the Bucks 46-31.

Brandon Jennings scored 26 points and Monta Ellis added 22 for the Bucks, who have not won the opening game of a playoff series since May 2001.

Game 2 is Tuesday in Miami.

"We've got nothing to lose," Jennings said. "Nobody should be scared or anything. Let's just hoop."

James had taken only 11 shots in a playoff game twice before, and his postseason per-game average entering Sunday was just under 21 tries. But with the way he controlled the game Sunday, he didn't exactly need to shoot.

That's probably not the best of signs for the Bucks.

"Obviously, incredibly efficient," Bucks coach Jim Boylan said. "When you have a game like that, what can you do?"

Milwaukee came into the series with Jennings predicting his team would oust the reigning champions in six games.

They'll have to win four of five now for that to happen.

And with James playing like this, the odds would seem particularly slim. He had 10 rebounds and eight assists ? both game-highs. His assist total was only six shy of what the Bucks managed, combined.

"That's about as efficient as you can get," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Made that look easier than it was."

The 23-point margin notwithstanding, it was far from a perfect night for Miami. The Heat shot only 30 percent from 3-point range, plus turned the ball over 19 times ? giving Milwaukee 22 points ? and still won with ease.

Milwaukee had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, zero in the second half.

"I think we played good basketball in stretches," Ellis said. "They're a great team. They capitalized on our mistakes. I think they were more aggressive towards the end. In the third and fourth, they never looked back."

The Bucks said coming into Game 1 that they would brace for Miami to come out flying, and the Heat more than delivered on that expectation. Miami scored on its first five possessions and after back-to-back scores at the rim by James ? the first of those a vicious one-handed slam after Wade set him up on a 3-on-1 break ? the Heat were up 21-8 early.

Milwaukee settled down quickly, getting within 26-24 at the end of the first, with Jennings scoring 10 in the period. And the Bucks hung around for the remainder of the first half, with the Miami lead just 52-45 going into intermission.

"I thought in the first half we played with some good energy, had some good ball movement, created some turnovers and took advantage of that," Boylan said. "In the third quarter they came out a little bit more focused ... with a little more purpose, I think."

Ellis ? who compared himself to Wade earlier this season, saying he had everything the Heat guard had besides the wins and two championships ? opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, getting the Bucks within four.

Then came the second big Heat flurry of the night, and the Bucks had no more answers.

An 11-1 Miami run immediately followed that 3-pointer by Ellis, stretching the lead to 14, and the Heat were off and running. Miami closed the quarter with seven straight points ? James started that burst with a left-handed slam, then set up Andersen for another dunk. Another dunk by Andersen, this time when he soared in for a two-handed flush of a missed 3-pointer by Shane Battier, sent the building into overdrive, with people in the "White Hot" crowd waving their giveaway T-shirts in unison.

Anderson flapped his arms ? he's called "Birdman" for a reason ? and the Heat improved to an uncanny 40-3 when he plays.

"He brings us a lot of energy and effort plays," James said. "He flies above the rim and we're so happy to have him."

The fourth quarter took on a familiar feel as several Heat regular-season games did, with the only question being if James would get a triple-double, as he got in the clinching Game 5 of last season's NBA Finals.

He finished a bit short, and left with a broad smile.

"It's a great way to start the series," Bosh said. "They're a feisty team over there. We wanted to make sure that we played good on defense and keep doing what we've been doing."

NOTES: Miami outrebounded Milwaukee 22-9 after halftime. ... The Heat stayed with what was their normal regular-season rotation, with Udonis Haslem starting and allowing Bosh to play more away from the basket ? which paid off by him making a pair of 3-pointers in the first 4 minutes. ... Rihanna was in attendance. ... Miami paid tribute to Army Spc. Eddie Romero before the game, continuing their tradition of welcoming a soldier who serves abroad back to South Florida. ... In Milwaukee's last trip to Miami, only Jennings was in double figures. This time, only Jennings and Ellis scored at least 10. ... Miami's bench outscored Milwaukee's reserves 43-25.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-21-Bucks-Heat/id-e69ed4aaca5f4b12b175c118402d7a3a

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Arizona's Gov. Brewer say she needs border help

Power Players

As the Senate moves to consider the ?Gang of 8? immigration reform bill, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is calling on the federal government to do more to secure her state?s border, which she refers to as ?the gateway for the criminal element."

Brewer says the federal government has given increased security resources, ranging from electronic surveillance to fencing, to other border states, while ignoring such requests for Arizona.

?We don't understand why the federal government will do that for other states, but they refuse to do it in Arizona,? Brewer says in an interview with ABC's Senior National Correspondent Jim Avila. ?I am not going to sit back and be the governor of the state of Arizona and not make a position for Arizona to the federal government that our border needs to be secured. It's as simple as that.?

The "Gang of 8" bill now before the Senate promises to provide more resources for border security, if passed, but Brewer says she won't be supportive of the legislation, which also provides a path to citizenship for the estimated 10-12 million people currently living in the United States illegally, until she and ranchers living along the border are convinced the border is secure.

?They had a good relationship with immigrants coming across working on their ranches and going back and um very comfortable?and things have changed,? Brewer says of the ranchers along the border. ?They don't feel safe, they feel very insecure. They don't believe that the border is secured, their wives, their children, they're very, very guarded.?

When asked how she would reply if a one of the ?Gang of 8? senators were to call her, Brewer replies: ?If they were to call me today, I would say our border is not secure, and I would not be in a position to support their measure.?

To hear more of the interview with the governor of Arizona, including her explanation on why she believes those people who came to the United States should be labeled as ?illegal immigrants,? check out this episode of Power Players.

ABC's Serena Marshall and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/gov-brewer-federal-government-not-doing-enough-secure-112051545.html

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Auditors Find Low Enrollment in Vets Jobs Program

Apr 15 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $4,139,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,137,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,442,389 4. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,100,469 5. Steve Stricker $1,935,340 6. Phil Mickelson $1,764,680 7. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 8. Jason Day $1,659,565 9. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 10. Keegan Bradley $1,430,347 11. Charles Howell III $1,393,806 12. John Merrick $1,375,757 13. Russell Henley $1,331,434 14. Michael Thompson $1,310,709 15. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 16. Bill Haas $1,271,553 17. Billy Horschel $1,254,224 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/auditors-low-enrollment-vets-jobs-program-230407367.html

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E-health made easier, and more comfortable: Paper-thin skin patch collects vitals

Apr. 16, 2013 ? The future of health care could be found in a tiny, paper-thin skin patch that collects vital information. The Bio-patch sensor developed by researchers at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology is inexpensive, versatile and, best of all, comfortable to wear.

Geng Yang, a researcher at JRC iPack centre at KTH, says that the Bio-patch measures bioelectrical signals through the skin, gathering data on different parts of the body depending on where it is placed.

"On the chest it provides electrocardiography (ECG), on the skull it measures brainwaves (EEC), and on the forearm it can measure muscle response to stimulation from the nervous system (EMG)," he says. It also has a built-in sensor that constantly monitors body temperature.

With a wireless connection, the patient can analyse the readings in their smartphone, or send the data via internet to a healthcare professional for diagnosis.

The thinking behind Bio-patch is that health care can be moved out of the hospitals and into the home, Yang says. "Bio-patch is a step towards what is known as self-care, which is valuable especially for patients discharged after an operation, or for the elderly living unassisted," he says.

While the technology is versatile, interest has focused on the heart. "Heart diseases account for the majority of all deaths in the EU," he says.

Yang says Bio-patch can also aid detection of brain disease, by generating EMG data that helps physicians distinguish muscle changes from neurological problems.

A paper thin battery energy source in the Bio-patch helps make the patch comfortable and as small as possible, he says.

"Patient comfort will be an important success factor for the next generation of medical technology," Yang says. "All electronic components are mounted on a flexible foil, which makes it easy to attach to the skin and to wear comfortably," he says. Bio-patch is easy to attach to the skin and can be discarded after use.

Bio-patch has resulted in several publications in scientific journals and successful development of a prototype.

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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/matter_energy/biochemistry/~3/vemPxy6j4KU/130416102206.htm

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It started with a cough: Deadly China bird flu outbreak raises fears of pandemic

AFP ? Getty Images

Chinese authorities have closed some live bird markets in an attempt to stop the spread of a deadly strain of bird flu. A vendor, above, washed a chicken stall in a poultry market in Hefei, China, shortly before it was due to be closed Thursday.

By Li Le and Ian Johnston, NBC News

BEIJING -- It began in late February when an 87-year-old man started coughing up phlegm. A high fever followed, he struggled to breathe and was dead just 13 days later.

His death in Shanghai, China, was one of 13 fatalities out of 41 known cases to date of a new form of bird flu that experts warn may pose a "serious human health risk."

On Saturday, China's center for disease control announced the first case in Beijing, and outside of eastern China. The seven-year-old girl, whose parents work in the live poultry trade, was stable in a hospital in the capital, media reports said.

Around the world, scientists are now beginning to examine samples of the virus with a significant question in mind: Could this strain of the disease cause a global pandemic?

This international network of scientists keeps constant watch for good reason.

In 1918 and 1919, a flu pandemic killed between 20 million and 40 million people, more than the total death toll of World War I, more in a year than the Black Death of 1347 to 1351. More recently, an H1N1 swine flu pandemic?was blamed for more than 284,500 human deaths worldwide between April 2009 and August 2010.

So far, the signs are that this is a localized outbreak. The number of cases is low and the virus -- an H7N9 strain -- does not appear to be capable of jumping from one person to another.

But each case represents a chance for the virus to mutate into one that is highly infectious in humans. And it is an unusual strain -- normally avian diseases make birds sick first, giving an early warning sign, but this one does not.

More than 1,000 dead ducks have been fished out of a river Sichuan, China. The discovery comes as the country deals with anger over the dumping of over 16,000 pigs elsewhere in China. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

Scientists have established it is from an "avian reservoir" but still don't know the precise source. Chinese officials have dismissed suggestions of a connection with the large number of dead pigs and other animals found recently in rivers.

Many in China are understandably worried, with some deciding to avoid eating chicken, even though it poses no threat if properly cooked.

KFC?s parent company Yum reported on Wednesday that sales in its Chinese restaurants had dropped by 13 percent in March, saying ?publicity associated with avian flu in China has had a significant, negative impact.?

Even Jiangsu Zoo, just north of Shanghai, reportedly stopped feeding chicken to animals such as lions and tigers and started giving them a traditional medicinal herb called ban lan gen.

Xie Li, an accountant in Shanghai, admitted she was ?kind of nervous.?

?Now, we only eat vegetables," she said. "My daughter's school is measuring students' temperatures. We were told that we should eat less eggs or not touch eggs because they might have some excrement from chickens."

But others in the city of 23 million people were more sanguine.

A farm in China has admitted to dumping more than 6,000 pigs corpses into Shanghai's Huangpu River, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. NBCNews.com's Alex Witt reports.

Yan Zhanlin, a 40-year-old businessman, said he was ?not scared, because there are not many cases, and the number of deaths is not high? and the virus had not yet spread between people.

?Today, I went to a train station, and I only saw few people wearing masks,? he said.

But even he said he had stopped eating ?poultry, pork and other meat.?

Tang, a company manager in his late 20s, who declined to give his full name, was also relatively unconcerned.

?I do not fear [the virus] at all. It is just a kind of flu, and will pass quickly,? he said. Avoiding poultry was ?not too bad, because it forces us to eat vegetables and fish, which are nutritious,? he added.

'Watching very carefully'
Perhaps in a sign of the country's nervousness, People's Liberation Army Colonel Dai Xu claimed the U.S. was behind the outbreak, saying the U.S. had used "bio-psychological weapons" to cause the deadly 2003 Sars outbreak and the current flu one, The South China Morning Post reported.

Such allegations aside, this apparently local problem is being treated seriously on a global scale.

Samples of the virus ? or non-infectious nucleic acid from it ? are being sent to scientists in up to 140 national influenza centers recognized by the World Health Organization, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Work has already started in the U.S. to make a vaccine against the new strain -- just in case.

Scientist John McCauley, of the U.K.?s National Institute for Medical Research, received his consignment on Thursday.

?We?re watching very carefully the events there [in China] because we are aware although there?s no human-to-human transmission, these are unusual infections people have been getting from an avian reservoir,? he said.

?China will need to identify the source and hopefully be able to control the cross-species transmission,? he said. ?We?re watching very carefully to see how it does.?

The outbreak of a new strain of bird flu has now infected at least 18 people, and killed six in China. NBC's Robert Bazell reports.

?In the meantime, the national influenza centers around the world are developing their ability to detect this newly emerging virus? and also working on vaccines, McCauley said.

Experts needed to find out how vaccines would perform ?in case this virus becomes pandemic,? he said.

Coincidentally, John Oxford, a professor of virology and an expert on the 1918 flu pandemic, was in Shanghai about eight weeks ago -- roughly the same time that the elderly man first fell ill ? for a meeting about hygiene, important in the fight against viruses such as flu.

He said the situation in China was ?getting a little more worrying.?

?I don?t like the sound of it. Every day I open up the reports and find out someone else has died,? he said. ?I just don?t like to see the figures going up day after day.?

?So far there?s no human-to-human transmission. What?s tomorrow going to bring, what?s the next day going to bring? You don?t know and I don?t know,? he added.

But Oxford, of the U.K's Queen Mary, University of London, stressed there was ?no need for anyone to start flapping at the moment.?

?I don?t think we should start thinking of 1918 scenarios, definitely not,? he said.

Bobby Yip/Reuters

Officials from the Center for Food Safety get a blood sample from a chicken imported from mainland China at a border checkpoint in Hong Kong on Thursday.

A group of Chinese scientists, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, also warned that the ?pandemic potential of these novel avian-origin viruses should not be underestimated.?

?Severe avian influenza A (H7N9) infections, characterized by high fever and severe respiratory symptoms, may pose a serious human health risk,? it added. ?We are concerned by the sudden emergence of these infections and the potential threat to the human population.?

However ? mirroring the split on the streets of Shanghai ? other experts were less worried.

Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, a microbiology professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and principal investigator for the Center for Research on Influenza Pathogenesis, said while it was ?too early to be able to conclude anything ?? the probabilities are very low? that a global pandemic is looming.

He was comforted by the lack of a surge in the numbers of people with the disease.

?It?s not that it?s increasing by ten times per week, I think right now the number of cases is what you would have expected from the original numbers,? he said.

?Right now there are no major indications to become highly alarmed.?

Ian Johnston reported from London.

Related:

Deaths from new bird flu underscore grim fears, reports show

US rushes to make vaccine against new bird flu -- just in case

New H7N9 bird flu has officials worried about skimpy resources

This story was originally published on Sun Apr 14, 2013 12:47 PM EDT

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AnandTech | Best Gaming Notebooks, April 2013

For this week?s update of our laptop/notebook recommendations, we turn our eye towards the mobile gaming sector?and no, we?re not including tablets in this category, even though they can play games; we?re talking about Windows games played natively on your notebook. Just to set the stage, let me give a few thoughts on the general idea of gaming notebooks.

First, if you?re the type of gamer that wants to set everything at maximum quality and you?re not willing to turn down a few knobs, you?re either going to spend a ton of money (e.g. for GTX 680M SLI) or you?re going to be disappointed?and eventually, you?ll need to opt for lower quality settings on some new titles, as it?s only a matter of time before we see our next GPU-killer Crysis game. Think about that for a moment: Crysis was originally released way back in 2007 when DX9 was relatively new, and here we are in 2013 and there are still many GPUs that can?t run Crysis at 1080p at maximum quality and get more than 60FPS.

The first point is important, but even if you?re willing to compromise on some settings, you probably don?t want to compromise too much. While it?s possible to play almost any game on a moderate GPU, I find the bare minimum GPU to be around the level of AMD?s HD 6630M/6650M (aka HD 7570M, more or less) and NVIDIA?s GT 640M LE. If possible I?d want more GPU performance, especially if you?re running higher than 1366x768 for your resolution. So, for example, AMD?s entry-level A6-4455M and its HD 7500G don?t make the cut for ?gaming? in my book, and even the faster A10-4655M with HD 7620G is questionable for many titles.

Finally, there?s the question of GPU vendor, and mostly I?m talking about mobile drivers. I wish I didn?t even have to discuss this, but my experience with AMD?s Enduro is still leaving me wanting compared to NVIDIA?s Optimus. These days it?s difficult to find a notebook with a discrete GPU that doesn?t implement one of those technologies, and while there are people that have no real complaints with Enduro, I?m not one of them. AMD right now seems to be best for iGPUs from Trinity (and soon Richland), and while something like the 7970M can offer great performance in the right games, in the wrong titles it can be a pain.

Finally, let?s not forget that there are new GPUs, CPUs, and APUs just around the corner. If rumors are to be believed, Intel?s GT3e solution (the ?e? is for embedded DRAM) may provide some healthy competition to GPUs like the GT 650M and HD 7730M. Driver support is a concern there, sure, but Intel has definitely improved their driver compatibility over the past year since HD 4000 launched, and doubling performance (or more) would go a long way towards making their iGPU viable. AMD and NVIDIA meanwhile will have 8000M and 700M parts, with some rebranding/recycling and minor clock speed changes. AMD will also have Richland APUs that are supposed to be at least 10% faster than Trinity, and at the right price such a solution could be really attractive. If you can wait until June or so, we?ll know who the winners and losers of the next round are, but we?ll have an updated ?Best Gaming Notebooks? by then.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn?t Read): I?ll give a few lower-end recommendations for those on a serious budget, but my real preference for notebook gaming would be at least a Radeon HD 7730M or a GeForce GT 650M?with GDDR5 memory in both cases. Those two GPUs provide enough graphics horsepower to handle every game I can think of at 1366x768 and medium or higher detail settings, and in many cases even 1920x1080 at medium settings will be playable. If you want 1920x1080 with high quality settings (and possibly 4xAA), and you?d really like frame rates of 60FPS or more, you?ll have to go all-in on an HD 7950M or GTX 675MX at the very least.

Budget Gaming Notebook: Lenovo IdeaPad Z585 ($580)

We?re in familiar territory here, as the best way to get acceptable gaming performance without breaking the bank is AMD?s A10-4600M APU. I discussed this category last week as well, so I?ll keep things short. You can get the Toshiba L850D with A10-4600M, 4GB RAM, and 640GB HDD for $540, direct from Toshiba. For just a bit more (and likely quicker shipping), Newegg has Lenovo?s IdeaPad Z585 for $580 with the A10-4600M, 6GB RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. HP?s dv6z is similar as well, but pricing starts at $600 with the A10 APU. Of those three, at least with the current pricing I?d take the Lenovo IdeaPad Z585. Even if Richland shows up next month at a similar price (doubtful), you?re only losing out on the ~10% higher clock speeds of the A10-5750M.

Midrange Gaming Notebook: HP Envy dv4t-5300 ($705)

Considering we?re only looking at $100 more (give or take) than the budget notebook, the HP Envy dv4t is a great value. For that price, you get a dual-core Intel i3-3120M (2.5GHz), GeForce GT 650M 2GB, 4GB RAM, and 500GB HDD. The last two specs are underwhelming, sure, but it?s cheaper to just go buy 8GB of laptop memory rather than paying HP an additional $100 to do the upgrade for you! What?s more intriguing to me personally is that this is a 14? laptop instead of a 15.6? chassis, and I personally find a lot to like in the 14? form factor. The dv6t-7300 is there for you if you prefer 15.6? screens, and you get a $150 upgrade option for a 1080p anti-glare LCD if you?re interested. With similar specs it?s actually the better buy, as $750 will get you 8GB RAM and a 750GB HDD, along with the Core i5-3230M CPU.

Higher-End Gaming Notebook: Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 ($1100)

I?ll be honest: I?m not a big fan of SLI or CrossFire in notebooks. The combination of dual GPUs in a small enclosure is a recipe for lots of heat and poor battery life. That said, while a single GT 650M isn?t amazingly fast, two of them in SLI should perform quite admirably?roughly somewhere in the GTX 670MX to 675MX range?and you should be able to play most games at High settings and 1080p (but not ?Ultra? settings, at least not in the most demanding titles). Lenovo is so far the only company I?m aware of to do SLI with a GK107 GPU, and it?s definitely an interesting tactic. The Y500 comes with a reasonable feature set (1080p LCD, backlit keyboard, Core i7-3630QM, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB HDD) and build quality, and it?s available starting at $1100. For this level of performance, $1100 isn?t a bad price, but if you want better battery life and Optimus (note that the Y500 does not support Optimus?a decision made by Lenovo and not a limitation imposed by NVIDIA or SLI), you?ll need to spend more money.

High-End Single GPU Gaming Notebook: CyberPowerPC Fang III X7-100 ($1400)

For $300 more than the Lenovo, you can get CyberPowerPC?s branded version of the MSI GT70, the Fang III X7-100. Dustin reviewed a similar laptop with the iBUYPOWER Valkyrie and found it to be a reasonable alternative to the large Clevo and Alienware offerings. The extra money will get you a larger chassis, a single GTX 675MX 4GB GPU (which should be 10-20% faster than the GT 650M SLI?and more in cases where SLI doesn?t scale well), Optimus support, and a good 1920x1080 LCD. You also get 8GB RAM and a 750GB HDD, so Lenovo wins out in those two areas. If you don?t like the look of the MSI chassis, or if you just prefer Clevo, you can of course get similar configurations of the P150EM and P170EM for roughly the same price.

For those that simply want all-out maximum performance, you can get higher performance configurations of the above. I wouldn?t bother with the Radeon HD 7970M personally, as the extra $100 doesn?t make up for the sometimes flaky driver support from AMD, which currently leaves the GTX 680M as the only other option. That adds around $300 to $400 to the price of the MSI, iBUYPOWER, or Clevo offerings (take your pick?CyberPowerPC currently doesn?t have a GTX 680M configuration). It also brings Alienware?s M17x into the picture, which I still find to be the best looking of the bunch with my preferred keyboard layout, but even with 6GB RAM and a 500GB HDD (the minimum Alienware has in their configuration utility) the M17xR4 will set you back $2249 when equipped with the GTX 680M.

Really, not much has changed with any of these notebooks since the GTX 680M launched last June. While I wouldn?t expect any major updates with 700M (maybe a GTX 780M that will bring GTX 680MX clocks to a lower TDP part?), buying right now instead of waiting for the Haswell and 700M updates seems a bit odd at the top of the performance pyramid. Thus, while all of the above are potential options depending on your personal taste, I?d personally hold off spending more than $1500 on a soon-to-be-outdated laptop, and really even $1400 is a stretch.

As always, other options or opinions are welcome in the comments. Think I missed a great option? Let me know! We?ll be back again next week where I?ll scour the thin-and-light market for good 13.3? and 14? offerings that don?t fall into the Ultrabook/Ultraportable category.

Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6897/best-gaming-notebooks-april-2013

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Even with 1-stroke penalty, 14-year-old makes cut

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) ? A weekend at the Masters was worth the wait for Guan Tianlang.

The 14-year-old from China became the youngest player to make the cut at the Masters on Friday afternoon, some six hours after a one-stroke penalty for slow play left him on the bubble.

"I made it," he said afterward on Weibo, China's version of Twitter. "I hope I can make more miracles, more dreams come true. I want to thank my parents and everyone who cared, supported and helped me."

Guan had to wait until the very last group finished to know if he was in or out at Augusta National. He finished at 3-over 75 for the round, giving him a 4-over 148 total. The top 50 players made the cut, as well as those within 10 strokes of the lead. Jason Day got to 6 under with two holes still to play but he missed a birdie putt by inches on 17, and was in the sand off the tee on 18.

"Obviously it's an amazing achievement to get to the weekend at Augusta. And being able to play and experience what he's going to experience on the weekend, you can't buy that stuff," Day said. "I talked to him earlier and he seems like a really, really good kid. It's unfortunate that he received the penalty, but he can learn from that and move on and hopefully can play well over the next two days."

For all the talk of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, Guan added a buzz to the Masters. An eighth grader who arrived at Augusta National with textbooks stuffed in his bag, he is the youngest player ever at the Masters and the youngest at any major in 148 years.

He impressed fans and fellow golfers alike with his steady play and calm demeanor, and making the cut looked like a given when he teed off on 17. But he was assessed the penalty after his second shot at the 17th hole, turning what would have been a par into a bogey.

Slow play is a frequent complaint among golfers, particularly at major events, but it's rarely enforced. Guan is believed to be the first player penalized for slow play at the Masters. The last player to be penalized at a major was Gregory Bourdy in the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

"A rule is a rule," Guan's father, Han Wen, said after his son was penalized. "It's OK."

But it sure caused a headache for Masters officials, who were horrified that anything might spoil the coming out party of a youngster who has the potential to be golf's biggest star since Tiger Woods. Several "green jackets" were waiting for Guan at the scoring building when he finished his round, and the eighth grader spent almost 90 minutes talking with rules and tournament officials.

"That's unfortunate," Brandt Snedeker said. "I wish they would have made an example out of somebody else except for a 14-year-old kid, you know? Make an example out of me or somebody else. But a kid just trying to make a cut in his first week of the Masters? I understand that slow play is a problem and it's just a tough situation. I feel bad for the kid."

Guan said he's never had issues with slow play before, and he wasn't warned Thursday. But conditions at Augusta National are notoriously tricky in perfect weather, and the swirling, gusty winds blowing Friday only made them more difficult.

"I respect the decision they make," Guan said. "They should do it because it's fair to everybody."

Though Guan had played about a dozen practice rounds before the tournament, it often takes golfers years to figure out the best way to play Augusta National and Guan repeatedly sought the advice of his caddie, Brian Tam, who is a regular caddie at the course. The teenager tossed blades of grass into the air before many of his shots to test the wind. He was often indecisive about his clubs, pulling one, taking a few practice swings and then asking for another one.

"I just changed my routine before the Masters and the routine is good, but I think today is pretty hard," Guan said. "You need to make the decision, but the wind switched a lot. But that's for everybody."

Guan and his playing partners, Ben Crenshaw and Matteo Manassero, never held up the group behind them. But Fred Ridley, the competition committee chairman at Augusta National, said they were first warned for being out of position at No. 10.

"I don't know what they do, but I don't think I'm too bad," Guan said.

The Masters follows the Rules of Golf, written by the U.S. Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient. Rule 6-7 requires golfers to keep up "with any pace of play guidelines that the committee may establish." For a threesome at Augusta National, those guidelines set a target of 4 hours, 38 minutes to play 18 holes. Once a group is warned it is "out of position" ? too far behind the group just ahead ? each player is timed and allotted 40 seconds to play the shot.

Guan went on the clock on 12, and received his first warning at the 13th.

"In keeping with the applicable rules ... he again exceeded the 40-second time limit by a considerable margin," Ridley said in a statement.

Guan said he understood the warning, and tried to pick up his pace.

"A little bit," he said. "But I think my routine is good. The only problem is I have to make the decision."

There was another long delay on the par-3 16th after a gust of wind dunked Manassero's tee shot in the water. Guan, hitting next, spent more than five minutes debating clubs with Tam.

"When the caddie pulls the club for him, I think he's ready. But he just sometimes ? most of the times ? he takes a little too long. He just asks questions that I think he knows, just to be sure, just to be clear in his mind," Manassero said.

"If I would have took more time on 16, I probably would have saved two shots, as well," Manassero added.

John Paramor, the chief referee for the European Tour, said he warned Guan as the group walked to the 17th tee that he needed to speed it up. But Guan had another long delay before his second shot on the hole as he tried to read the wind, and Paramor pulled him aside as the teenager approached the green. Paramor informed Guan he was being assessed a one-stroke penalty, and they had an animated discussion for several minutes.

"You give him the news, the best you can," Paramor said.

Guan said he was aware of the rule, which has been part of golf etiquette since 1934 and was added to the rule book in 1952. But the penalty rattled him, and he missed an easy birdie putt on 17. He pulled himself together on 18, nearly holing out from a greenside bunker. When the ball hit the back of the cup and bounced a few inches past the hole, leaving Guan an easy putt for par, his father yelled, "Yes!" and clapped his hands several times.

"No problem," Han Wen said. "No problem."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/even-1-stroke-penalty-14-old-makes-cut-010045308--golf.html

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