Militants storm UN compound in Somalia; 20 killed

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) ? Seven al-Qaida-linked militants on a suicide mission attacked the U.N. compound Wednesday with a truck bomb and then poured inside, killing at least 13 people before dying in the assault.

At least three foreigners were slain during the raid in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, where the United Nations expanded its presence this year, about 18 months after Islamic insurgents were pushed from the seaside city.

The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, calling the U.N. "a merchant of death."

African Union forces expelled al-Shabab from Mogadishu in August 2011, ending years of daily violence that had caused the rest of the world to shun the capital for two decades. After the ouster of al-Shabab, the international community had started trickling back into the capital, and the U.N. began moving in its personnel from Kenya, a process that accelerated in recent weeks.

Wednesday's attack, however, underscores the fragile security situation and will force the U.N. and embassies to review safety plans and decide if they have the resources to withstand a sustained assault from al-Shabab.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commended the U.N. security guards who defended the compound, a spokesman said.

"Malicious terrorist attacks ... will not deter the United Nations or weaken its resolve to stand by the people and government of Somalia as they work courageously to build peace in their country," said U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., condemned the "brazen assault on civilians working for peace."

Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said he was appalled by "such barbaric violence." An African Union official, Mahamet Saleh Annadif, condemned the "cowardly" attack and sent condolences to the families of the victims.

The attack began about 11:30 a.m. when the seven al-Shabab militants from what the group called its martyrdom brigade blew up an explosives-laden truck at the gates of the U.N. compound and gunmen rushed in, said a U.N. official who insisted on anonymity because he was not an official spokesman.

At least two other blasts followed, said Ben Parker, a spokesman for the U.N. Assistance Mission in Somalia.

Dozens of staff from U.N. humanitarian and development agencies were in the compound, and many were moved to a secure bunker in the complex, Parker said. Later, they were evacuated to a secure military base and airport complex across the street, where U.N.-backed African Union military forces are based.

Fadumo Hussein, a shopkeeper who was in her shop near the scene of the attack, described a narrow escape.

"It started with an earsplitting explosion, followed by heavy gunfire," she said, showing holes made by bullets on her shop. "I crouched and then crawled like an animal. I am very lucky. It was a shocking moment."

African Union and Somali security forces responded and took control of the compound by 12:30 p.m.

An Associated Press reporter who went into the bullet-scarred compound afterward saw two bodies of what appeared to be al-Shabab attackers wearing Somali military uniforms. The seven attackers died, said a U.N. official who insisted on anonymity because he was not an official spokesman.

Del Buey said one U.N. international staff member, three contractors, and four Somali security guards died inside the compound. A number of Somali civilians were also killed and wounded outside the compound, del Buey said at U.N. headquarters.

Ambulance driver Mohamed Ali said he took away five dead civilians and 10 people who were wounded.

Two of the dead were South Africans from the company Denel Mechem who were working to get rid of land mines, said Vuyelwa Qinga, a spokeswoman for Denel, a manufacturer of defense equipment.

"There was not very much time to get into the safe area," Parker said.

The top U.N. official on Somalia, Nicholas Kay, who was not in the compound when it was attacked, said he was horrified by the attack.

"The United Nations common compound houses U.N. personnel working on humanitarian and development issues for the Somali people. This was an act of blatant terrorism and a desperate attempt to knock Somalia off its path of recovery and peace-building," he said.

A statement sent on al-Shabab's Twitter feed said: "The U.N., a merchant of death & a satanic force of evil, has a long inglorious record of spreading nothing but poverty, dependency & disbelief."

Ban had visited Mogadishu in December to announce the return of the U.N.'s political office to the country.

___

Straziuso reported from Nairobi, Kenya. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer contributed from the United Nations.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/militants-storm-un-compound-somalia-20-killed-200424922.html

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Bizarre supernova completely normal in every way, find astronomers

A nearby white dwarf went supernova in 2011, giving scientists an unprecedented look at a rare Type Ia supernova. They discovered that it's remarkably, stunningly, perfectly 'normal.'

By Liz Fuller-Wright,?Correspondent / June 19, 2013

Supernova 2011fe was discovered just hours after it exploded in the Pinwheel Galaxy in the Big Dipper. Studies by the Nearby Supernova Factory of its spectrum as it evolved over time have produced a benchmark atlas of data by which to measure all future Type Ia supernovae.

B. J. Fulton / Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

Enlarge

Astronomers have weird names for things. Blame it on the fact that they started naming stars and planets a long, long time ago, back when they thought the sun went around the Earth. "Planet" means wanderer, even though planetary orbits are completely regular and predictable. A "planetary nebula" has nothing whatsoever to do with planets. And a Type II (aka Type 2, but astronomers insist on Roman numerals) supernova is common, but a Type Ia (1a) supernova is rare, with a bizarre origin story.?

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Rare, but useful. (We'll get to that.)

A group of astronomers just announced that they've found the perfect Type Ia supernova. The Platonic ideal of Type Ia supernovae: 2011fe.

What makes 2011fe so perfect? For one thing, the supernova spotters (known as the Nearby Supernova Factory) found it almost right away in August, 2011, when the supernova was less than 12 hours old.

?We?d never before seen a Type Ia supernova this early,? said Greg Aldering of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in a press release. For another, it's right in our galactic backyard ? just 21 million light years away ? so we got a crystal-clear view. Amateur astronomers could see it through binoculars.

Most of the Type Ia supernovae we've spotted before were far enough away that the light was distorted by interstellar dust. Astronomers can "correct" for those distortions, but in doing so, they have to make a lot of assumptions. That makes the data somewhat less trustworthy. This time, we got an undistorted view, giving us a gold standard against which to measure all future Type Ia supernovae. It's also "remarkably normal," the astronomers found ? the light curve fell right in the heart of normal distributions from past Type Ia observations, with no "peculiar" outliers to explain away.

Rollin Thomas, a member of the research team, remembers that as new data arrived from the telescope each night, he would think, ?Please don?t be peculiar, please don?t be peculiar.? His wish was granted: ?Our measurements showed how remarkably normal 2011fe is," says Dr. Aldering.

The researchers?began watching the supernova just hours after it began. Two weeks later, it reached its peak brightness, but they kept watching it, off and on, for another three months, as the light faded away. In the June (current) issue of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Nearby Supernova Factory is releasing their 32 nights of data on 2011fe. They even made a movie of it.

Remind me: What's a supernova?

Nearly all supernovae are explosions caused by super-giant stars exploding. After a super-giant's core stops fusing, it begins to collapse on itself. As more and more mass falls inward, the atoms are forced to fuse together, resulting in a thermonuclear explosion. Think Nagasaki, but instead of something the size of a softball, it's a star 10 to 70 times bigger than our sun.

That's a Type II supernova.

But there are a few oddballs, known as Type Ia supernovae. Type Ias are also fusion explosions, but they're not caused by the sheer enormousness of the exploding star. In fact, Type Ia supernovae are kicked off by tiny white dwarfs.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/9-9CeVlDCwE/Bizarre-supernova-completely-normal-in-every-way-find-astronomers

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Sprint sues to stop Dish Clearwire buyout

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) ? Sprint is suing to stop Dish Network's buyout of wireless data network operator Clearwire. The nation's third-largest cellphone carrier said the proposed deal violates the rights of Sprint and other Clearwire shareholders.

Dish has offered to pay $4.40 per share for Clearwire, which has recommended that its shareholders approve the offer. That reverses its earlier stance in support of a takeover bid by Sprint, its majority shareholder.

Sprint, headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., has bid $3.40 per share for the minority stake in Clearwire it doesn't already own.

Dish Network Corp., based in Englewood, Colo., a satellite broadcaster, has said its offer is contingent on being able to buy 25 percent of the company.

But Sprint Nextel Corp. said late Monday that Dish cannot complete its offer without the approval of holders of at least 75 percent of Clearwire's shares. Sprint also contends that the deal violates shareholder rights under Clearwire's charter and an equity holders' agreement.

Sprint's complaint, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, asks the court to prevent Dish's offer from being consummated. Clearwire is incorporated in Delaware.

Representatives with Dish and Clearwire did not immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday morning from The Associated Press.

Earlier this month, Sprint had sent an open letter to Clearwire's board saying the conditions of Dish's offer are illegal and violate Clearwire Corp.'s shareholder agreement. But Dish said in a separate letter that its offer was "carefully designed to comply with applicable law and the existing rights of Clearwire stockholders including Sprint."

Clearwire Corp. is based in Bellevue, Wash.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-06-18-Sprint-Dish-Lawsuit/id-3509cd7c27064598b9448cd43701cf6d

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Jay-Z's Magna Carta Going Platinum? Not So Fast

Nielsen SoundScan does not count bulk sales, which could impact how the album charts after Samsung's download give-aways.
By Gil Kaufman

Jay-Z
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709233/jay-z-samsung-album-charts.jhtml

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Budget office view boosts Senate immigration bill

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Supporters of a far-reaching immigration bill in the Senate see fresh momentum from a report by the Congressional Budget Office that says the measure would boost the economy and reduce federal deficits by billions of dollars.

Congress' nonpartisan scorekeeping agency said Tuesday that the immigration bill would decrease federal red ink by $197 billion over a decade and $700 billion in the following 10 years as increased taxes paid to the government offset the cost of benefits for newly legal residents.

The White House said the report was "more proof that bipartisan commonsense immigration reform will be good for economic growth and deficit reduction." Several members of the "Gang of Eight" senators who drafted the legislation also welcomed the news.

The CBO assessment came as the pace of activity increased at both ends of the Capitol on an issue that President Barack Obama has placed at the top of his domestic agenda.

Challenged by protesters chanting, "Shame, shame," House Republicans advanced legislation to crack down on immigrants living illegally in the United States, while the Senate lurched ahead on a dramatically different approach offering the hope of citizenship to the same 11 million people.

The bill approved late Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee on a 20-15 party-line vote would make being in the U.S. illegally a federal crime punishable by prison time, instead of a civil offense as it is now. It also would empower state and local law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration laws.

Republicans said the bill was needed to ensure enforcement of the law and said the legislation was a first step in an incremental approach toward solving the immigration issue, in contrast to the comprehensive approach being taken by the Democratic-led Senate. Many in the Republican-controlled House oppose tackling the immigration issue with a single, big bill.

On Wednesday, the committee was to take up a bill creating a temporary agriculture worker program.

"There has to be a first step, Mr. Chairman, and enforcing the law seems to me a reasonable place to begin," said Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, who wrote the bill approved Tuesday.

Democrats called the bill a dangerous retread of a similarly tough enforcement measure that sparked mass protests around the country in 2006.

Reading the bill, "you would think there are 11 million criminals in the United States," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.

In the Senate, a bipartisan bill that Obama supports appeared on track for a final vote as early as July 4.

The CBO said in its report and accompanying economic analysis that the Senate legislation would raise economic activity in each of the next two decades, in part because of the legal immigration fostered by the measure and also because millions of workers currently in the country illegally would join the legal workforce and pay taxes.

The CBO said the bill would increase gross domestic product by 3.3 percent over the next 10 years compared with current law and by 5.4 percent over the following decade. The agency forecast that 8 million people now here illegally would gain legal status under the bill.

The CBO also said that average wages would decline through 2025 as a result of the bill and that unemployment would go up slightly.

One critic quickly seized on the impact on pay.

"It's going to raise unemployment and push down wages," said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. Supporters of the bill saw it differently.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat and a member of the Gang of Eight, said the CBO report "debunks the idea that immigration reform is anything other than a boon to our economy and robs the bill's opponents of one of their last remaining arguments."

The report was issued near the end of a day of skirmishing on the Senate bill, during which senators rejected two amendments delaying legalization until certain security provisions were in place. One would have required additional fencing and the other a new biometric system to track entries into the country and exits.

Those proposals were overshadowed by a larger debate over the legislation's border security requirements, which Republicans generally want to toughen.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., is working on an amendment requiring the government to demonstrate an ability to apprehend 90 percent of those attempting to enter the country illegally before anyone already present can get a permanent resident green card.

Democrats have been skeptical of proposals along those lines, arguing that they could postpone legalization for years. But after intense discussions on the Senate floor, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and others said they were hopeful of progress.

In addition to border security and a path to citizenship, the bill includes an expanded number of visas for highly skilled workers prized by the technology industry and a new program for low-skilled workers.

___

Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/budget-office-view-boosts-senate-immigration-bill-071707946.html

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The Voice Final 3 Perform: Who Should Win Season 4?

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Planes, trains, or automobiles: Travel choices for a smaller carbon footprint

June 17, 2013 ? Planes, trains, or automobiles: what's the most climate-friendly way to travel? A new study by researchers from IIASA and CICERO brings better estimates of how much personal travel impacts the climate.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology by researchers at IIASA and Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) calculates the climate impact for passenger trips of 500-1000 km -- typical distances for business or holiday trips. It shows that while air travel continues to have the biggest climate impact per distance travelled, the choices that people make about how they drive or take public transport make a big difference in how much they contribute to climate change.

"Traveling alone in a large car can be as bad for the climate as flying, but driving with three in a small car could have an equally low impact as a train ride," says IIASA's Jens Borken-Kleefeld. A 1000 km trip alone in a big car could emit as much as 250 kg of carbon dioxide (CO₂), the researchers calculate, while a train trip or carpooling in a small car could emit as little as 50 kg of CO₂ for each traveler.

Air travel has by far the biggest impact on climate per distance traveled, because it can lead to contrails and formation of cirrus clouds that have a strong climate impact, as well as ozone. These mechanisms have a strong effect on the climate, but cause warming over much shorter periods of time than CO₂.

The study focused on the short-lived greenhouse gases and aerosols emitted by both ground transportation and airplanes. In addition, the researchers accounted for vehicle occupancy and efficiency, based on real-world emissions data from cars, buses, trains, and airplanes in Europe.

"These components have not been regulated in the Kyoto Protocol," says Terje Berntsen, climate researcher at CICERO. "This means they risk being overlooked when comparing the climate impact from different travel choices."

Previous work and publicly available carbon footprint calculators estimate only averages for the whole transport system, at best. That means that they can miss big differences in climate impact that come from other pollutants, personal choices, and local mitigation measures.

Technologies to control air pollutant emissions from cars, buses, power plants, and trains effectively minimizes their climate impact, the study also shows -- benefiting not just air quality but also climate change mitigation efforts. The researchers say that mitigation efforts should concentrate on improving fuel efficiency and developing low-carbon fuels. While this is also important for aircraft, they say, more needs to be done to avoid the contrail and cirrus clouds.

For people wanting to minimize their climate impact, Borken-Kleefeld says, "Try to avoid flying, driving alone, and driving big cars. Instead, when you can, choose the train, bus, or carpool with 2 to 3 people."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/3odnbIpinBI/130617111345.htm

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