??Italian emergency officials say they are calling off a search for missing people in the submerged part of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, due to the danger to rescue workers, according to the Associated Press.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46195629#46195629
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HONOLULU ? Brandon Marshall caught six passes for 176 yards and a Pro Bowl-record four touchdowns, and the AFC used a second-half surge to beat the NFC 59-41 on Sunday.
The Miami Dolphins wide receiver had a touchdown catch in each quarter, including an early 74-yarder and a 3-yarder in the fourth, in a game filled with highlight-reel catches. He was selected the game's MVP and his four TD catches set a Pro Bowl record.
The 59 points by the AFC set a Pro Bowl mark, and the 100 points scored by the two teams combined was the second highest, a touchdown shy of the 107 scored in 2004.
But it was clear from the start it was Marshall's day. He hauled in a deflected, go-ahead 47-yard TD pass from Andy Dalton, while on his back, to give the AFC a 38-35 lead late in the third quarter. It was Marshall's third TD catch of the game, tying Jimmy Smith's Pro Bowl record set in 2004.
Marshall, making his third Pro Bowl appearance, then nabbed a 3-yard TD pass from Dalton that gave the AFC a 52-35 lead with 8:25 left and put the game away.
The game featured 36 first-timers, including rookie quarterbacks Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals, who replaced Super Bowl quarterbacks Eli Manning and Tom Brady. Their selection made this Pro Bowl the first to feature two rookie signal callers.
While Dalton looked composed, Newton played horribly ? struggling to move the ball, stay in the pocket and find his targets, which drew some boos from the sun-splashed, sellout crowd of 48,423.
Newton finished 9 of 27 for 186 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Dalton, meanwhile, was 7 of 9 for 99 yards and two TDs.
On his first series, Newton overthrew a wide-open Tony Gonzalez over the middle, with the ball sailing into Eric Weddle's hands. The San Diego Chargers safety popped up to his feet and returned it 63 yards to the NFC 23, leading to a 37-yard FG by Sebastian Janikowski, which gave the AFC its first lead of the game at 31-28.
Newton recovered on the next series, airing out a 55-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to Panthers teammate Steve Smith, making it 34-31. But he was intercepted again on the next series.
With the Pro Bowlers unable to get out of third gear ? particularly on the offensive and defensive lines ? and hitting each other as though they were having a pillow fight, the Pro Bowl featured some good, bad and real ugly ? sometimes on the same play. For example, Aaron Rodgers caught a pass from himself. His throw was deflected at the line and he leaped to catch the ball and backpedaled for a 15-yard loss.
Rodgers was 13 of 17 for 141 yards and two TDs, giving him a quarterback rating of 139.6, higher than his NFL record 122.5 rating during the season. But he was watching late in the game as Newton struggled.
The NFC had three players with 100-yard yard receiving: Gonzalez (seven for 114), Larry Fitzgerald (6 for 111) and Smith (5 for 118).
The AFC and NFC traded score after score, and turnover after turnover in the first half.
Rodgers and Fitzgerald connected for a pair of scores on back-to-back plays to put the NFC up 14-0 early in the game.
After stopping the AFC on fourth down at midfield, Rodgers drove the NFC down the field and threw a 10-yard TD toss to Fitzgerald. Six seconds later, Rodgers aired a 44-yard rainbow in the end zone to Fitzgerald for another score after the NFC got the ball back with a surprise onside kick.
The reception was Fitzgerald's sixth career TD catch in the Pro Bowl, tying Gonzalez's record.
The AFC came right back and tied it up on two deep TD passes on the right side by Ben Roethlisberger. He threw a 34-yarder to rookie A.J. Green, and then connected with Marshall on a 74-yarder.
But Drew Brees and the NFC kept the scoring going. Just like in the regular season, Brees and Saints teammate Jimmy Graham hooked up to give the NFC a 21-14 lead in the second quarter. On fourth-and-goal, Brees zipped a pass to Graham for a 6-yard score and would later find Brandon Jennings for an 11-yard TD.
Antonio Gates pulled in a 27-yard TD from Chargers teammate Rivers as time expired in the half to tie it at 28.
Each AFC player earned a record $50,000 for the win, while the NFC players received $25,000.
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PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) ? Singer Nancy Sinatra may have had boots made for walking, but she never attended Pottstown Middle School.
Starting Monday the Philadelphia suburban district is banning the wearing of fuzzy open-top boots, including the popular Ugg brand, to middle school classes because students have been stashing cell phones in the loose footwear, according to district director of community relations John Armato.
"Cell phones are a problem for obvious reasons," Armato said.
Superintendent Reed Lindley said the school principal asked for the boot ban "because of the classroom disruptions that are resulting from ringing cell phones."
Students at the school can avoid going toe-to-toe with school officials by wearing boots that lace up and usually have a snugger fit.
First time offenders will get detention, and subsequent violations include two detentions, followed by confiscation of the phone, Armato said.
Middle school parent Adrienne Beyer said she thinks the ban is extreme.
"I understand there may be a handful of kids that shove cell phones down their boots, but why does the handful have to ruin it for the other 600 students? But, I said to my daughter, 'It's a rule and we're going to follow it,'" Beyer said.
Ugg sheepskin boots originated in Australia and New Zealand and have become popular with pre-teens and teenagers in the United States in recent years.
(Editing By Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune)
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Officials test the signals and lights at an intersection where an SUV and Light Rail train collided in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. Authorities say a light-rail train has collided with a sport utility vehicle in Sacramento, killing a man, a woman and a baby and injuring seven other people. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater)
Officials test the signals and lights at an intersection where an SUV and Light Rail train collided in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. Authorities say a light-rail train has collided with a sport utility vehicle in Sacramento, killing a man, a woman and a baby and injuring seven other people. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater)
An SUV lies upside down on the tracks after being struck by a light-rail train in Sacremento, Calif., Saturday Jan. 28, 2012. The driver of an SUV drove around a crossing arm and ignored flashing warning lights before the vehicle was struck by the light-rail train Saturday, killing an infant and two adults, authorities said. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Villegas, Sacremento Bee)
Sacramento Fire and Police wait near the light rail crossing on 26th Ave near Franklin and 24th Street where a three people died in a crash between a light-rail train and a sport utility vehicle, Saturday Jan. 28, 2012 authorities. The driver of an SUV drove around a crossing arm and ignored flashing warning lights before the vehicle was struck by a light-rail train in Sacramento on Saturday, killing an infant and two adults, authorities said. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Villegas, Sacramento Bee)
Officials test the signals and lights at an intersection where an SUV and Light Rail train collided in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. Authorities say a light-rail train has collided with a sport utility vehicle in Sacramento, killing a man, a woman and a baby and injuring seven other people. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater)
An SUV lies upside down on the tracks after being struck by a light-rail train in Sacremento, Calif., Saturday Jan. 28, 2012. The driver of an SUV drove around a crossing arm and ignored flashing warning lights before the vehicle was struck by the light-rail train Saturday, killing an infant and two adults, authorities said. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Villegas, Sacremento Bee)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? An SUV ignored flashing warning lights and veered around a rail crossing arm moments before it collided with a light-rail train, killing two adults and an 18-month-old boy in the vehicle, authorities said.
The only other person in the Nissan Pathfinder, a woman in her 30s, was hospitalized with serious injuries after Saturday's crash, said Niko King, assistant chief with the Sacramento Fire Department.
Six of the roughly 50 passengers on the light rail train suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital, he said.
King and a spokeswoman for the transit line said video from a camera at the crossing clearly shows the SUV driving around the crossing arm.
The collision, in a working class neighborhood south of downtown, occurred shortly after 4 p.m. and pushed the Pathfinder about 30 yards from the point of impact.
"All I heard was a big bang, and I saw a light-rail train heading south with a big truck smashed on it," said Ravin Pratab, 42, of Davis, whose car was among those waiting for the train at the rail crossing, on the opposite side of the tracks from the Pathfinder.
The train was going about 55 mph at the time, a typical speed for that location.
The light rail followed two Union Pacific freight trains, which use separate tracks, and the arms had remained down during the interval, said Alane Masui, spokeswoman for the Sacramento Regional Transit District.
"They were down after the UP trains and before the (light rail) train approached, so the crossing arms were properly working," she said.
She said the length of time between the freight trains clearing the intersection and the light rail train crossing it had not yet been determined and would be part of the investigation. Investigators also were reviewing video from a camera mounted on the light rail train.
Authorities did not release the identities of those in the Pathfinder or their relationship. A man and woman in the vehicle, both in their 40s, died at the scene while the toddler was pronounced dead at a hospital. Firefighters said one had been ejected.
The University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento would say only that the woman remained in serious condition late Saturday.
The light rail system carries an average of 50,000 passengers a day, with lines stretching from the state capital to its suburbs in the north, south and east.
Masui said there are four sets of tracks at the crossing ? two for freight and two for light rail so trains from both systems can run in either direction.
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TEHRAN (Reuters) ? A law to be debated in Iran's parliament on Sunday could halt exports of oil to the European Union as early as next week, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted a lawmaker as saying on Friday.
"On Sunday, parliament will have to approve a 'double emergency' bill calling for a halt in the export of Iranian oil to Europe starting next week," Hossein Ibrahimi, vice-chairman of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, was quoted as saying.
Parliament is pushing for the export ban to deny the EU a 6-month phase-in of the embargo on Iranian oil that the bloc agreed on Monday as part of a raft of tough new Western sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to curb its nuclear program.
The EU accounted for 18 percent of Iranian crude oil sales in the first half of 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), making it Iran's second biggest customer after China.
"If the deputies arrive at the conclusion that the Iranian oil exports to Europe must be halted, the parliament will not delay a moment (in passing the bill)," Fars quoted Moayed Hosseini-Sadr, a member of parliament's energy committee, as saying.
"If Iran's oil exports to Europe, which is about 18 percent (of Iran's oil exports) is halted the Europeans will surely be taken by surprise, and will understand the power of Iran and will realize that the Islamic establishment will not succumb to the Europeans' policies," he said.
Reflecting how seriously Tehran was taking the idea, Iran's OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi told the ILNA news agency the country might choose to raise the issue at the next OPEC meeting.
Iran's conservative-dominated parliament has previously shown it is ready to force the government to take action against what it sees as hostility from the West.
In November it voted to expel the British ambassador after London announced new sanctions ahead of other EU countries.
The day after that vote, radical Iranians stormed the British embassy, causing London to withdraw all staff and close the mission.
(Writing by Robin Pomeroy; editing by James Jukwey)
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Oil prices moved in a narrow range Friday as Iran prepared to consider a ban on crude sales to European Union countries.
Iranian leaders are scheduled to debate the ban Sunday in response to EU plans to embargo Iran's oil by summer because of that country's nuclear program. Investors worry that any ban could cause supply disruptions.
Benchmark oil fell 14 cents to finish at $99.56 per barrel after climbing as high as $100.63 per barrel earlier in the session. Brent crude rose 67 cents to end at $111.46 per barrel in London.
EU countries account for about 18 percent of Iran's oil exports. Analysts believe any shortfall in Europe could be made up by other countries. If it stops selling oil to Europe, Iran should find takers in Asia. China is its biggest oil customer.
Iran also has threatened to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. About one-fifth of the world's supply of oil is shipped through the strategic waterway. The U.S. and other nations have said they will not tolerate an Iranian blockade. U.S., British and French warships regularly patrol the Gulf.
In other trading, gasoline futures jumped almost 3 percent on concerns about future supplies after next month's closure of the big Hovensa refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It produced about 350,000 barrels per day, but the high price of crude has made it unprofitable. The closure comes as many refineries slow down for regular spring maintenance.
Gasoline futures rose 8 cents to end at $2.92 per gallon. Futures prices are up about 10 percent since the start of the year.
Natural gas prices rose again on Friday, after dropping more than 4 percent on Thursday. Futures contracts rose 7 cents, or 2.8 percent, to finish at $2.68 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Natural gas hit a 10-year low last week, driven down by huge supplies and mild winter weather that's kept furnaces turned down. Now forecasts show a colder weather pattern emerging for the Midwest and the Northeast in February, which would mean more natural gas will be needed for heating. The buildup of natural gas supplies may also slow as producers cut back. Chesapeake Energy, ConocoPhillips and Consol Energy said this week that they would reduce some natural gas operations.
Heating oil futures rose 2 cents to end at $3.07 per gallon.
At the pump, AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline rose a penny on Friday, to $3.39. That's about 15 cents more than a month ago and nearly 29 cents more than a year ago.
___(equals)
AP Energy Writer Jonathan Fahey contributed to this report.
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Experiments bring us closer to understanding our own sun
As scientists work to discover more and more about the?galaxy and our own?solar system, they're doing some pretty amazing things. But U.S. Department of Energy scientists working at the?SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University have accomplished something that really boggles the mind: they have created superhot solid plasma?? the kind of material you would find at the center of a star or a giant planet.
The scientists used a machine called the Linac Coherent Light Source, the most powerful X-ray laser machine ever created, to accomplish this feat. They fired the laser at a tiny cube of aluminum only one-thousandth of a centimeter wide, and as the laser pulses converged on the aluminum, it created a superhot solid plasma burning at a temperature of 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit (2 million degrees Celsius).
While that might sound pretty darn hot (and it is about the temperature of our sun's corona or outer atmosphere), it's still much cooler than the 14 million Kelvin (13.9 million Celsius) of the matter at the center of our star. But the research goes a long way toward understanding the nuclear fusion process that powers our sun and makes stars work.
[Image credit:?University of Oxford/Sam Vinko]
This article was written by Katherine Gray and originally appeared on Tecca
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Public release date: 26-Jan-2012
Share ] Contact: Karen Mallet
km463@georgetown.edu
Georgetown University Medical Center
WASHINGTON, DC Research physicians from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center will present new data about a complex group of cancers known as head and neck cancers at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, January 26 through 28, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Should patients with HPV+ head and neck cancers receive less chemotherapy?
Georgetown researchers are examining a hypothesis about whether HPV+ patients with a head and neck cancer should receive more or less chemotherapy.
"Given the rising number of patients with HPV-caused head and neck cancers, we need to find the right way to treat and cure, this disease," explains John Deeken, M.D., director of head and neck medical oncology at Georgetown Lombardi. "Some argue that we should decrease the intensity of treatment given how well HPV-positive cancers respond to treatment. Our research suggests the opposite -- that intensifying therapy in high-risk HPV-positive patients might well increase the cure rate of this disease. Clearly additional clinical studies are warranted to further test our findings." (See study abstract below.)
Examining a rare sequel of head and neck cancer axillary node metastasis
In a separate study, researchers are studying an unusual occurance linked to head and neck tumors involving metastasis in the axillary nodes.
"It is postulated that this can be secondary to tumor blockage at the jugulo-subclavian junction and/or fibrosis of the cervical lymphatics following surgery or radiation therapy resulting in retrograde lymphatic flow," says Richard H. Comstock III, M.D, a 4th-year resident in the department of otolaryngology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. "Upon reviewing the patients in our series we found that they all had manipulation of their neck lymphatics with either surgery or radiation which we believe played a role in the development of axillary metastasis. In addition we present the only known case of axillary metastasis from a squamous cell skin malignancy."
Comstock adds, "Clinicians should be aware of this potential complication of head and neck cancer an screen high risk patients accordingly." (See study abstract below.)
###
The findings presented at this conference are from a limited peer-reviewed abstract. The data should be considered as preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed scientific or medical journal.
The Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium is co-sponsored by the American Society for Clinical Oncology, American Society for Radiation Oncology, American Head and Neck Society and the Society of Nuclear Medicine.
About Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Georgetown Lombardi is one of only 40 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the Washington, DC, area. For more information, go to http://lombardi.georgetown.edu.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC's mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical Translation and Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. In fiscal year 2010-11, GUMC accounted for 85 percent of the university's sponsored research funding.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 26-Jan-2012 Share ] Contact: Karen Mallet
km463@georgetown.edu
Georgetown University Medical Center
WASHINGTON, DC Research physicians from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center will present new data about a complex group of cancers known as head and neck cancers at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, January 26 through 28, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Should patients with HPV+ head and neck cancers receive less chemotherapy?
Georgetown researchers are examining a hypothesis about whether HPV+ patients with a head and neck cancer should receive more or less chemotherapy.
"Given the rising number of patients with HPV-caused head and neck cancers, we need to find the right way to treat and cure, this disease," explains John Deeken, M.D., director of head and neck medical oncology at Georgetown Lombardi. "Some argue that we should decrease the intensity of treatment given how well HPV-positive cancers respond to treatment. Our research suggests the opposite -- that intensifying therapy in high-risk HPV-positive patients might well increase the cure rate of this disease. Clearly additional clinical studies are warranted to further test our findings." (See study abstract below.)
Examining a rare sequel of head and neck cancer axillary node metastasis
In a separate study, researchers are studying an unusual occurance linked to head and neck tumors involving metastasis in the axillary nodes.
"It is postulated that this can be secondary to tumor blockage at the jugulo-subclavian junction and/or fibrosis of the cervical lymphatics following surgery or radiation therapy resulting in retrograde lymphatic flow," says Richard H. Comstock III, M.D, a 4th-year resident in the department of otolaryngology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. "Upon reviewing the patients in our series we found that they all had manipulation of their neck lymphatics with either surgery or radiation which we believe played a role in the development of axillary metastasis. In addition we present the only known case of axillary metastasis from a squamous cell skin malignancy."
Comstock adds, "Clinicians should be aware of this potential complication of head and neck cancer an screen high risk patients accordingly." (See study abstract below.)
###
The findings presented at this conference are from a limited peer-reviewed abstract. The data should be considered as preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed scientific or medical journal.
The Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium is co-sponsored by the American Society for Clinical Oncology, American Society for Radiation Oncology, American Head and Neck Society and the Society of Nuclear Medicine.
About Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Georgetown Lombardi is one of only 40 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the Washington, DC, area. For more information, go to http://lombardi.georgetown.edu.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC's mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical Translation and Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. In fiscal year 2010-11, GUMC accounted for 85 percent of the university's sponsored research funding.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/gumc-glr012612.php
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Continue reading The Engadget Podcast is live tonight at 5PM!
The Engadget Podcast is live tonight at 5PM! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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WASHINGTON ? Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday the Justice Department opened a record number of more than 100 new investigations into possible voting rights discrimination across the country last year.
During an appearance at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Holder praised the federal government's aggressive enforcement efforts while vowing to defend a landmark voting rights law that is increasingly under attack in this presidential election year.
On Thursday, Holder said that nowhere is the Justice Department's commitment to equal opportunity clearer than in efforts to expand access to voting nationwide.
It was the attorney general's third speech in little more than a month focusing on voting rights, coming amid a flurry of activity by states, largely those controlled by Republicans, to redraw political boundaries and impose requirements that could reduce voting by minorities who enthusiastically supported Barack Obama in the 2008 election.
"The reality is that ? in jurisdictions across the country ? both overt and subtle forms of discrimination remain all too common ? and have not yet been relegated to the pages of history," Holder told the audience.
Pointing to some of the Justice Department's efforts, Holder cited as success stories the cases of two Ohio counties ? Cuyahoga and Lorain ? which agreed to ensure that bilingual ballots are available on county voting machines and that bilingual poll workers are on hand to help. In another positive outcome, said Holder, a northeast Ohio school board let a federal court determine how to structure elections to give blacks a greater chance of being elected.
In December in Austin, Texas, Holder urged the country to "call on our political parties to resist the temptation to suppress certain votes in the hope of attaining electoral success."
Earlier this month in Columbia, S.C., Holder told thousands of people commemorating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday that in his travels "I've heard a consistent drumbeat of concern from citizens, who ? often for the first time in their lives ? now have reason to believe that we are failing to live up to one of our nation's most noble ideals."
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires all or parts of 16 states to obtain advance approval from either the Justice Department's civil rights division or a federal court in Washington before carrying out changes in elections. The states are mostly in the South and all the jurisdictions have a history of discriminating against blacks, American Indians, Asian-Americans, Alaskan Natives or Hispanics.
Despite congressional reauthorization in 2006 of Section 5 for 25 years, its future has come under constitutional challenges in federal courts by Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Shelby County, Ala., and some voters in Kinston, N.C.
As of last week, there were 833 Section 5 submissions for proposed electoral changes awaiting approval at the Justice Department from state, county and local units of government.
In one Section 5 action, the civil rights division in December rejected a new South Carolina law that requires voters to present a photo ID when they go to the polls. It was the first time in nearly two decades the Justice Department had reached such a conclusion about a voter ID law.
A pending Section 5 review involves Texas, where the Justice Department has raised questions over a new photo ID requirement. The state reacted by taking its case for the new law to a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., where lawyers from the Justice Department and the state will square off. The Justice Department's civil rights division also is immersed in a court battle with Texas over allegedly discriminatory boundaries drawn by the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
The challenges to Section 5's constitutionality followed a 2009 Supreme Court opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts which seemed to raise doubts about whether the provision was still needed.
Section 5 "imposes current burdens and must be justified by current needs," Roberts wrote. "Today, the registration gap between white and black voters is in single digits" in the states covered by the act's preclearance provision and "in some of those states, blacks now register and vote at higher rates than whites."
The stakes would be enormous if the Supreme Court got involved.
In 2006, Congress held hearings and created a 15,000-page record to justify renewing Section 5. Congress found that the Justice Department protected the interests of some 663,503 minority voters from 2000 to May 2006 by refusing to approve changes in political boundaries drawn by states, counties and local units of government. The Justice Department filed over 700 objections to proposed voting changes from 1982 to 2006 in states and counties covered by Section 5. From 1982 to 2003, states and local entities withdrew more than 200 proposed voting changes when the Justice Department started asking questions about them.
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VALLE DE BRAVO, Mexico ? Five police officers were fatally shot after they stopped a vehicle in a town outside Mexico City, authorities said Tuesday.
Mexico State prosecutor Alfredo Castillo Cervantes said the municipal officers from the town of Ixtapaluca had stopped the vehicle when a taxi and a van pulled up and a group of attackers opened fire with high-powered weapons.
A member of La Familia Michoacana drug cartel who police say was responsible for collecting extortion money from bars in the area was killed in the Monday attack. Another man was shot in the head and is at a hospital under police guard, Castillo said.
Investigators think the men may be the suspects originally stopped by the officers.
Police are still trying to determine why the officers stopped the vehicle and whether they were in a negotiation with the men in the car when they were attacked. Witnesses told investigators the officers talked for several minutes with the pair before the assailants arrived, Castillo said.
La Familia, based in Michoacan state, has been spreading to Mexico state and neighboring areas as they wage a turf battle with former allies.
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FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2011 file photo, veteran leader Sir Michael Somare, second right, attends a press conference after claiming to have been reinstated as Papua New Guinea's prime minister in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave Prime Minister Peter O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor. The self-proclaimed new leader of the country's defense forces, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, insisted he was not mounting a coup. But he warned that the military will take unspecified action unless O'Neill stands down and former prime minister Somare, is reinstated, as the national Supreme Court ordered last month. (AP Photo/Post-Courier, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2011 file photo, veteran leader Sir Michael Somare, second right, attends a press conference after claiming to have been reinstated as Papua New Guinea's prime minister in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave Prime Minister Peter O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor. The self-proclaimed new leader of the country's defense forces, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, insisted he was not mounting a coup. But he warned that the military will take unspecified action unless O'Neill stands down and former prime minister Somare, is reinstated, as the national Supreme Court ordered last month. (AP Photo/Post-Courier, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2011 file photo, Peter O'Neill, center, addresses his supporters in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, as controversy on who is the legitimate prime minister continues. Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave Prime Minister O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor. The self-proclaimed new leader of the country's defense forces, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, insisted he was not mounting a coup. But he warned that the military will take unspecified action unless O'Neill stands down and former prime minister Sir Michael Somare, is reinstated, as the national Supreme Court ordered last month. (AP Photo/Post-Courier, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
In this April 21, 2010 photo, former Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Michael Somare receives a traditional taiaha at an official welcome ceremony for him in Rotorua, New Zealand. Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave Prime Minister Peter O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor, Somare. (AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Ben Fraser) NEW ZEALAND OUT, AUSTRALIA OUT
FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2011 file photo, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O'Neill addresses the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York. Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor. The self-proclaimed new leader of the country's defense forces, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, insisted he was not mounting a coup. But he warned that the military will take unspecified action unless O'Neill stands down and former prime minister Sir Michael Somare, is reinstated, as the national Supreme Court ordered last month. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) ? Prime Minister Peter O'Neill refused to step down despite a mutiny Thursday by soldiers who seized Papua New Guinea's military headquarters and demanded that he cede power to his ousted predecessor.
Soldiers led by retired Col. Yuara Sasa put the country's top commander under house arrest in a bloodless, pre-dawn takeover ? part of the power struggle in which both O'Neill and former Prime Minister Michael Somare claim to be the rightful leader of the South Pacific island nation.
Sasa told reporters in Port Moresby that O'Neill had seven days to comply with a Supreme Court order reinstating Somare "or I will be forced to take actions to uphold the integrity of the Constitution."
O'Neill, who appears to have the support of a majority of the country's lawmakers, later held a news conference to declare he was still fully in charge and to reject any demand to step down. He also implied that Sasa had been arrested.
"This government does not answer to one man calling on us to recall Parliament," O'Neill told reporters, adding that Parliament would resume on Feb. 14 as scheduled.
O'Neill said he remained in control of the nation, including the armed forces, and that Sasa had been "dealt with," but would not elaborate.
Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that it believed Sasa had been detained.
O'Neill said the military commander, Brig. Gen. Francis Agwi, who was released from house arrest within hours of the mutiny, remained in charge of most of the military. Earlier, the government had called on Sasa's group to surrender and said the mutiny did not have support from the broader military.
Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah told reporters that about 30 soldiers were involved in the mutiny and that 15 of them have been arrested. Australian Associated Press reported up to 80 soldiers were involved.
Namah accused Somare of using "rogue soldiers to pursue his own greed and selfishness" and said Sasa could be charged with treason, which carries the death sentence.
Sasa, who last served as Papua New Guinea's defense attache to Indonesia before retiring from the military, told reporters he had been legitimately appointed defense chief by Somare.
Somare's spokeswoman and daughter, Betha Somare, said that his ousted Cabinet had confirmed Sasa's appointment several days ago.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard condemned the mutiny, saying in a written statement that the military has no place in Papua New Guinea's politics.
"It is critical therefore that this situation be resolved peacefully as soon as possible, with the PNG Defense Force chain of command restored," she added.
Somare was Papua New Guinea's first prime minister when it became independent in 1975, and was knighted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. Papua New Guinea's Parliament replaced him with O'Neill in August, while Somare was getting medical treatment outside the country.
Last month, the country's Supreme Court and Governor-General Michael Ogio backed Somare, who the court ruled was illegally removed. But Ogio changed his mind days later, saying bad legal advice had led him to incorrectly reinstate Somare.
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By JOSEPH WHITE
updated 2:32 a.m. ET Jan. 25, 2012
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The U.S. women's soccer team was still on the field, having dispatched rival Mexico, when Abby Wambach gathered her teammates for a little speech.
The message: "We haven't done anything yet."
The Americans avenged one of their most shocking losses Tuesday night, and did so emphatically. A pair of early goals put to rest any notion of another upset by the neighbor to the south, and Carli Lloyd scored her first international hat trick in a 4-0 victory that clinched first place in the Americans' group and put them a major step closer to the London Olympics.
But hang on. Next up is the one game in this tournament that matters most, the London-or-bust semifinal against Costa Rica on Friday. The winner gets one of the two available berths for the Olympics; the loser stays home.
"The next game is the game that we need to be prepared for, and that matters the most," goalkeeper Hope Solo said. "She made sure that we didn't celebrate too much today."
Wambach and her teammates remember all too well the sting from a 2-1 defeat against Mexico in Cancun in a World Cup qualifier 14 months ago, the only time in 28 tries the Mexicans have beaten the Americans. That loss forced the U.S. into a backdoor playoff just to qualify for the World Cup ? and served as a wakeup call that the top-ranked team in the world can't take important games for granted any more.
"This was the exact same position that we were in, in Mexico in 2010," Wambach said. "We haven't done anything. We still have one game left. That's what I said ? stay focused.
"It's simple. I think everybody knows it. I think everybody understands it. But I also think that in hindsight we wish we had said something like that prior to that game. Because we didn't say those things, I didn't want to leave any stone unturned. And that's kind of what that speech was about."
The Americans will be heavily favored in the semis. Costa Rica is ranked No. 41 in the world and has never beaten the U.S., having been outscored 34-0 in seven meetings. Had the Americans lost to Mexico on Tuesday, they would have faced a much tougher semifinal against host Canada.
Instead, it will be Mexico vs. Canada in the other semi that will produce the tournament's second Olympic berth.
The lessons from Cancun have been prevalent during this entire CONCACAF tournament. The Americans routed their first two opponents ? Dominican Republic and Guatemala ? by scores of 14-0 and 13-0, the most lopsided results in U.S. team history.
Keeping with that theme, coach Pia Sundhage wanted a strong start against the Mexicans, and she got one. The Americans controlled the run of play early, and it paid off when Lloyd headed in the rebound in the seventh minute after Rachel Buehler clanged a shot off the post following a corner kick.
A minute later, the lead was doubled. Amy Rodriguez's cross was deflected by a defender and then by goalkeeper Cecilia Santiago straight to Heather O'Reilly for an easy goal.
Lloyd also netted in the 57th and 86th as the Americans avoided a repeat of a Mexican upset ? and wrapped up group play with three wins by a combined score of 31-0.
"It was redemption for us," Lloyd said. "We came out strong and knew we had to get it done."
The Mexicans, buoyed by a vocal and slightly pro-Mexico crowd of 7,599 at BC Place, worked hard on the counterattack for a goal, but the American back four of Buehler, Becky Sauerbrunn, Christie Rampone and Amy LePeilbet cleared nearly every serious threat, leaving goalkeeper Hope Solo without much work to earn her third shutout of the tournament.
That was probably for the best. Solo revealed after the game that she has "a little quad pull" that nearly caused her to ask for a sub. She hopes she'll be fine for the semifinals.
The defensive performance was especially heartening for the Americans given the absence of Ali Krieger, who tore two ligaments in her right knee against the Dominican Republic and likely won't be back in time for the Olympics. As a tribute to Krieger, each American player had the word "liebe" ? German for "love" ? written on her arm. Krieger, who has played five seasons in the German league for FFC Frankfurt, has a tattoo with the word on her left arm.
"Ali will be a part of this team ? whether she's here or not," Wambach said.
___
Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46126538/ns/sports-olympic_sports/
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. ? Authorities say a former CIA agent who has claimed he helped interrogate a top suspected terrorist has been charged with leaking classified secrets about fellow officers to the media.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says 47-year-old John Kiriakou (keer-ee-AH'-koo) of Arlington is charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and the Espionage Act. He is scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Alexandria on Monday afternoon.
Authorities say Kiriakou told a New York Times reporter about a fellow officer who participated in interrogating suspected al-Qaida financier Abu Zubaydah in 2002. That information was classified at the time.
Zubaydah was captured in Pakistan in 2002. He was reportedly waterboarded 83 times. His case has been made an example by those who believe the interrogation technique should be outlawed.
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SAN FRANCISCO ? Yahoo slipped further behind in the online advertising race during the fourth quarter as the Internet company entered the fourth year of a revenue slump.
The results announced Tuesday marked the latest in a succession of disappointing performances. The persisting malaise led to the firing of Carol Bartz as CEO four months ago.
Yahoo Inc. recently replaced Bartz with PayPal executive Scott Thompson, anointing him as the fourth CEO in less than five years to try to snap the company out of a funk that has depressed its stock. Thompson, who was hired just three weeks ago, promised to move quickly to fix the problems.
"There is no question we need to do better and we will," Thompson assured analysts in a Tuesday conference call.
The company earned $296 million, or 24 cents per share, in the October-to-December period. That is down 5 percent from $312 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier.
The earnings matched analysts' estimates, but the company missed Wall Street's revenue target.
Fourth-quarter revenue dropped 13 percent from the previous year to $1.32 billion. After subtracting advertising commissions, Yahoo's revenue totaled $1.17 billion, or $20 million below analyst projections. It's the 13th straight quarter that Yahoo's net revenue has declined from the prior year.
Although Thompson said it was still too early to share precise details about his turnaround strategy, he said he will close some Yahoo services. That could mean layoffs among Yahoo's workforce. The company added 300 employees in the fourth quarter to end the year with 14,000 workers.
Bartz had also closed or sold some of Yahoo's less popular services while jettisoning jobs to cut costs and sharpen the company's focus. Those moves, though, didn't increase Yahoo's revenue or stock price, leading Yahoo to fire her in September with more than 15 months left on her contract.
Besides closing services, Thompson said Yahoo will expand into some fields where he sees opportunities to make money. He didn't elaborate on that or on which services to close.
Thompson also pledged to develop more innovative products to keep Yahoo's audience of 700 million users on its websites for longer periods. Accomplishing that could make Yahoo more attractive to online advertisers. Thompson said he hopes to harness the data that Yahoo collects about its audience to help advertisers do a better job of putting their marketing messages in front of the people most likely to buy their products.
"I'll always ask a lot of questions and I'll immerse myself in the details but when it comes to making decisions, I make them quickly and then push to move fast, fast, fast," Thompson said.
But Yahoo isn't promising a quick start under Thompson's leadership. Yahoo predicted its net revenue in the current quarter will range from $1.02 billion to $1.1 billion. The mid-point of that target works out to $1.06 billion, unchanged from last year's first quarter.
Investors appear to be taking a wait-and-see attitude with Thompson. Yahoo's stock shed 15 cents to $15.54 in extended trading after the report came out. The stock price has fallen by about 40 percent from five years ago.
Yahoo's downturn in revenue has occurred as advertisers are shifting more of their budgets to the Internet as people spend more of their time on the Web. The biggest beneficiaries of this boom so far have been Internet search leader Google Inc. and Facebook, the owner of the largest online social network.
While Yahoo continued to struggle during the final three months of last year, Google's revenue rose 25 percent from the same period in 2010. As a privately held company, Facebook doesn't disclose its financial results, but data compiled by independent research firms show that its website has been luring advertisers away from Yahoo.
Google has become so dominant in Internet search that Yahoo teamed up with another rival, Microsoft Corp., in an effort to become more competitive and save money. Yahoo's search engine now relies on Microsoft's technology to handle most requests. The alliance, forged in mid-2009, hasn't generated as much revenue so far as Yahoo had hoped, although there were signs of progress in the fourth quarter.
Net revenue from search totaled $376 million in the fourth quarter, a 3 percent decrease from a year earlier. The company, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., had been suffering year-over-year declines of more than 10 percent in previous quarters.
As it tries to boost its revenue and lift its stock price, Yahoo is considering selling its stakes in China's Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan. Yahoo is pursuing those negotiations with "great enthusiasm," according to Tim Morse, the company's chief financial officer. Neither Morse nor Thompson elaborated on when a deal might be reached.
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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona announced Sunday she intends to resign from Congress this week to concentrate on recovering from wounds suffered in an assassination attempt a little more than a year ago.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona announced Sunday she intends to resign from Congress this week to concentrate on recovering from wounds suffered in an assassination attempt a little more than a year ago.
Skip to next paragraphAccording to officials in Washington, her resignation, first disclosed on the congresswoman's Facebook page, is expected to take effect on Monday.
The Democratic congresswoman was shot in the head last January as she was meeting with constituents outside a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz. While her progress has seemed remarkable, she said she has more work to do to recover, and it is best for her state if she resigns her seat in the House.
IN PICTURES:?Gabrielle Giffords, political survivor
Her shooting prompted an agonizing national debate about super-charged rhetoric in political campaigns.
In a two-minute video posted to her Facebook page, Giffords says: "I don't remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice."
She says, "I'm getting better. Every day my spirit is high. I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country."
Under state law, a special election will be called to fill out the remainder of Giffords' term.
In a statement, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said that "since the tragic events one year ago, Gabby has been an inspiring symbol of determination and courage to millions of Americans."
Democratic officials had held out hope for months that the congresswoman might recover sufficiently to run for re-election or even become a candidate to replace retiring Republican Sen. Jon Kyl.
The shooting on Jan. 8, 2011, left 6 victims dead, a federal judge among them. Twelve others were wounded as well as Giffords.
A 23-year-old man, Jared Lee Loughner, has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges in the shooting. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and is being forcibly medicated at a Missouri prison facility in an effort by authorities to make him mentally ready for trial.
In the months since she was shot, Giffords has been treated in Houston as well as Arizona as she re-learned how to walk and speak.
She made a dramatic appearance on the House floor Aug. 2, when she unexpectedly walked in to vote for an increase in the debt limit. Lawmakers from both parties cheered her presence, and she was enveloped in hugs.
More recently, she participated in an observance of the anniversary of the shooting in Arizona.
IN PICTURES:?Gabrielle Giffords, political survivor
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/w8fNYqQ9iJ4/Rep.-Giffords-to-resign-from-Congress-this-week
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GENEVA ? Two Swiss journalists said Sunday that Syrian authorities were to blame for the death of award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier, who was killed earlier this month in the restive city of Homs.
The 43-year-old correspondent for France-2 Television was the first Western journalist to die since the uprising began in March. Syrian authorities have said he was killed in a grenade attack carried out by opposition forces ? a claim questioned by the French government, human rights groups and the Syrian opposition.
Patrick Vallelian of the weekly L'Hebdo and Sid Ahmed Hammouche of the daily La Liberte newspaper, who were with Jacquier the day he died, said they believed the attack was part of an elaborate trap set up by Syrian authorities.
"It felt like it was all planned in advance," Vallelian told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
He described how a group of foreign journalists including Jacquier were on their way to visit a hospital in Homs on Jan. 11 when their escort of Syrian soldiers and intelligence officials ordered them to make an unscheduled stop to interview traders in a pro-government part of the city.
Shortly afterward, an explosion was heard and soldiers told the foreign journalists to run to the detonation site to film what had happened, Vallelian said.
While Jacquier and others went to the site, Vallelian and Hammouche said they stayed behind, suspicious of the fact that the soldiers were encouraging journalists to move toward, not away, from the danger zone.
Hammouche, who speaks Arabic, said it appeared the soldiers had known in advance that the attack was going to happen. Plainclothes intelligence officials even predicted the site of a subsequent explosion before it occurred, he said.
"For me, it was a trap," said Hammouche.
According to the two Swiss journalists, other incidents that followed the attack also point to government involvement. These included the theft of Jacquier's notes on meetings with opposition supporters, and remarkably consistent accounts of the attack given by pro-government figures who weren't present when it happened.
Vallelian said he plans to meet next week with French police. Paris prosecutors have launched a preliminary murder investigation into Jacquier's death.
Syria has banned almost all foreign journalists since the start of the uprising, in which the United Nations estimates more than 5,000 people have died. Authorities recently started issuing short-term visas for a limited number of journalists, who are allowed to move only accompanied by government minders.
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HARTFORD, Conn. ? The warning from the ratings agency could not have been more direct: The parent company of the Mohegan Sun faces a "wall of debt" due early this year as the casino, struggling with rising competition and a weak economy that's hammered consumer spending, tries to refinance hundreds of millions of dollars in loans.
The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority has $505 million in loans outstanding and another $250 million due April 1, Keith Foley, an analyst at Moody's Investors Service, recently told investors. The gaming authority, parent company of casinos in Uncasville, Conn., and Wilkes-Barre, Pa., also has about $21 million in interest payments due Feb. 15, he said.
Mohegan Sun announced this month that fourth-quarter net income rose significantly, to $46.7 million, compared with a net loss of $26.3 million in the same period in 2010. But it also said it failed to reach an agreement to refinance debt, though lenders waived a possible default.
"They get to live another day," Foley said in an interview.
Executives at Mohegan Sun did not respond to a request for an interview.
Mohegan Sun is not alone as several Indian-run casinos ? some with plans for expansion that have been put on hold ? struggle to refinance debt after being caught short when the economy went into recession in December 2007.
Foxwoods Resort Casino in eastern Connecticut seeks to restructure debt, and the Mescalero Apache tribe restructured $200 million in bonds last year for casino resort property in New Mexico. A spokeswoman said Foxwoods is in debt talks, but would not provide details.
An advantage that Indian-run casinos have over their commercial counterparts is that they cannot file for bankruptcy and creditors can't foreclose on their properties because tribal governments are sovereign, said Clyde Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
Valerie Red-Horse, an investment banker and financial adviser who worked on the Mecalero Apache deal, called it the "best model out there," in part because it preserved the casino's financial distributions to tribal members and tribal government while bond holders kept their stakes, she said.
Some tribes have been forced to agree to cut their distributions until debt is paid down, Red-Horse said. Making sure distributions continue is a "very delicate subject. It causes a lot of angst among tribes," she said.
Financial problems at the casino, the Inn of the Mountain Gods, were due in part to the slowing economy and faltering tourism, she said.
Indian-run casinos expanded rapidly because they are strong economic development tools for the tribes that run the casinos, said Peter Kulick, a Lansing, Mich., tax and gaming lawyer. The businesses survived economic downturns in the 1970s and 1980s and were seen as immune to recessions, he said.
"In the last go-round, that's not the case," he said.
Kulick and Barrow said competition is the newest threat to casinos, even as revenue is now rising as the economy slowly improves.
"There are some real pockets of recovery going on right now," Barrow said.
Massachusetts legalized casino gambling in November, but it will be years before the three casinos authorized will be operating.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this month that he would work with the Genting Group, one of the world's largest gambling companies, to transform the Aqueduct horse track into a megaplex that would eventually include the nation's largest convention center, 3,000 hotel rooms and a major expansion of a casino that began operating in October.
For Connecticut's two casinos, "Aqueduct could be pretty substantial competitive pressure," Barrow said.
"I don't see real revenue growth for Connecticut's casinos, he said.
Declining or stagnant revenue is bad news for Connecticut state government, which takes 25 percent of what the casinos pull in. State revenue from the two casinos reached their peak in 2007 at more than $411 million, said Kevin Lembo, Connecticut's comptroller who tracks state revenue from all sources.
That's declined to $342 million in the state's budget year that ended last June 30, down $69 million, or 17 percent.
"The loss of revenue is one obvious and immediate impact for the state," Lembo said. "What happens to jobs? What happens to future development plans? These are areas of concern for everyone at this point."
Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman said the health of the two casinos is critical because they are destinations in southeast Connecticut, drawing tourists who also visit vineyards along the shoreline, the Mystic Aquarium and other sites.
"This is a big thing for us," she said.
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Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich takes part in a TV interview during a campaign event at the Grapevine Restaurant in Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, the unpredictable voting day of the South Carolina presidential primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich takes part in a TV interview during a campaign event at the Grapevine Restaurant in Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, the unpredictable voting day of the South Carolina presidential primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich takes part in a TV interview during a campaign event at the Grapevine Restaurant in Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, the unpredictable voting day of the South Carolina presidential primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, center, meets with patrons during a campaign event at the Grapevine Restaurant in Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, the unpredictable voting day of the South Carolina presidential primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, center, meets with patrons during a campaign event at the Grapevine Restaurant in Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, the unpredictable voting day of the South Carolina presidential primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich makes remarks during an event at the Grapevine Restaurant, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Spartanburg, S.C., on the unpredictable voting day of the South's first 2012 presidential primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
BOILING SPRINGS, S.C. (AP) ? Newt Gingrich has a message to South Carolina voters on primary day: Come out and vote for me if you want to stop Mitt Romney from winning the Republican presidential nomination.
Gingrich stopped by The Grapevine restaurant in Boiling Springs not long after the polls opened Saturday morning. He told diners who were enjoying plates of eggs and grits that he's the "the only practical conservative vote" if Republicans want to stop Romney. Gingrich says Romney is a Massachusetts moderate.
Gingrich says he would put a stop to federal actions against South Carolina's voter ID and immigration laws.
The former House speaker has seen his support rise in South Carolina in the days before the primary. He says that "polls are good, votes are better."
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MIAMI (AP) ? A month of wrenching emotion for Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin took another turn Friday when he landed the Miami Dolphins' head coaching job.
The deal was sealed less than two weeks after Philbin's 21-year-old son drowned in an icy Wisconsin river. The Dolphins confirmed the hiring in a news release and plan a news conference Saturday.
Philbin, who has never been a head coach, first interviewed with Miami on Jan. 7. The body of son Michael, one of Philbin's six children, was recovered the next day in Oshkosh.
After spending a week away from the Packers, Philbin rejoined the team last Sunday for its divisional playoff loss to the New York Giants.
Philbin has been with Green Bay since 2003, serving as offensive coordinator since 2007. Coach Mike McCarthy called the plays, but Philbin put together the game plan for one of the NFL's most prolific offenses.
The Dolphins' top choice, Jeff Fisher, turned them down a week ago to become coach of the St. Louis Rams. Miami owner Stephen Ross and general manager Jeff Ireland then conducted a second round of interviews this week with Philbin, Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and Todd Bowles, the Dolphins' interim coach at the end of the season.
"Joe has all the attributes that we were looking for when we started this process," Ross said in a statement. "Jeff Ireland and I felt Joe was the right choice to bring the Dolphins back to the success we enjoyed in the past."
The Dolphins are coming off a third consecutive losing season, their longest such stretch since the 1960s. Even so, Philbin called them "one of the premier franchises in professional sports."
"The Dolphins have a strong nucleus to build around," he said in a statement. "And working with everyone in the organization, I know that together we will return the team to its winning tradition."
Ross fired Tony Sparano last month with three games to go in his fourth year as the Dolphins' coach. When the search for a new coach began, Ross said he would like to give the franchise much-needed stability by hiring "a young Don Shula."
Instead he chose the 50-year-old Philbin, who has 28 years of coaching experience, including 19 years in college.
With Philbin's help, the Packers have ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in yardage each of the past five seasons, including third in 2011. A year ago they won the Super Bowl.
"A huge congratulations to Joe Philbin," Green Bay tight end Jermichael Finley tweeted. "No one deserves it more than this guy. The Pack will miss him!"
The hiring might give the Dolphins an edge if they decide to pursue Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn, who becomes a free agent this offseason. Flynn set Packers records with 480 yards passing and six touchdowns in their regular-season finale. Philbin played a major role in the development of Flynn and Pro Bowl quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"Worked five years with Joe Philbin," former Packers executive Andrew Brandt tweeted. "Calm, cerebral, humble and a skilled offensive mind. His style will resonate with players."
Assistants becoming first-time NFL head coaches have had mixed results in recent years. The group includes the Ravens' John Harbaugh, the Saints' Sean Peyton and the Steelers' Mike Tomlin, but also three coaches recently fired ? Jim Caldwell by the Colts, Todd Haley by the Chiefs and Steve Spagnuolo by the Rams.
Before joining the Packers, Philbin was Iowa's offensive line coach for four years. The former small-college tight end has been an offensive coordinator at Harvard, Northeastern and Allegheny College.
Philbin becomes the seventh coach in the past eight years for the Dolphins, who went 6-10 this season and missed the playoffs for the ninth time in the past decade. It has been 19 years since they reached the AFC championship game, 27 years since they reached the Super Bowl and 38 years since they won an NFL title.
Perhaps mindful of the drought, former Miami coach Jimmy Johnson offered this tweet: "Joe Philbin new Dolphin coach..good luck!"
Philbin will now begin assembling a staff. Bowles might remain as a replacement for defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, who took the same job this week with the Atlanta Falcons.
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