Economic mood in euro zone sours again in April

By Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Confidence in the euro zone's economy fell further in April, data showed, strengthening the case for a cut in interest rates this week by the European Central Bank.

The euro zone is facing a difficult road out of recession and has seen a souring of the mood among companies and consumers since March, after an optimistic start to the year was disrupted by turmoil in Cyprus and Italy.

Morale in the 17-country bloc slipped 1.5 percentage points to 88.6, the European Commission said on Monday - worse than the decline to 89.3 expected by economists polled by Reuters.

"We are reaching a trough and the market is betting on the ECB cutting rates to lift the economy," said Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank. "But lower interests won't solve the euro zone's problems, we need structural reforms and for businesses to invest again."

Pessimism set in even in Germany, which has performed better than most during the crisis, with economic sentiment there worsening by 2.3 points. Morale also fell in France and Italy, meaning the euro zone's three largest economies are all witnessing a marked decline in the confidence that is crucial in getting the output in the euro zone growing again.

Confidence fell across the region from industry to retail trade, and sentiment in services fell 4.1 percentage points.

The Commission's measure of the euro zone's business cycle decreased 0.18 points to -0.93, lower than the -0.89 level expected by economists.

Many expect the ECB to cut interest rates to lower the cost of borrowing and help improve morale.

A majority of economists expect a 25 basis point cut this Thursday, according to a Reuters poll last week, to take the bank's main refinancing rate to a record low of 0.5 percent.

RATE CUTS, LESS AUSTERITY

Germany's economic resilience and reforms in southern Europe sowed hope early this year that the bloc could pull out of recession before the end of 2013, but a messy bailout in Cyprus and Italy's inconclusive February election, which failed to yield a government until late April, have weighed on confidence.

France's weak economy and public accounts are also a concern.

Meanwhile, budget cuts have been at the centre of the euro zone's strategy to overcome a three-year public debt crisis but they are also blamed for a damaging cycle where governments cut back, companies lay off staff, Europeans buy less and young people have little hope of finding a job.

Crippling levels of unemployment and outbreaks of violence in southern Europe are now forcing a rethink, but there is division on just how far to soften the targets.

"If the ECB eases monetary policy and the European Commission engineers a slower pace of fiscal consolidation, the euro zone economy may still exit from recession later this year," Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING.

"But the fragility of confidence suggests that any economic recovery would likely be slow, and largely confided to the core countries," he said.

Spain, the euro zone's fourth largest economy, said last week its economy would shrink more than initially expected this year and its budget deficit would be higher than promised.

Growth should return next year, and economic sentiment improved by almost 1 point, the Commission said, in a sign that despite record unemployment, reforms may be helping business.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; editing by Rex Merrifield and Toby Chopra)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/economic-mood-euro-zone-sours-again-april-090511020.html

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CIA gave bags of cash to Afghan leader

(Reuters) - Tens of millions of U.S. dollars in cash were delivered by the CIA in suitcases, backpacks and plastic shopping bags to the office of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai for more than a decade, according to the New York Times, citing current and former advisers to the Afghan leader.

The so-called "ghost money" was meant to buy influence for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) but instead fuelled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington's exit strategy from Afghanistan, the newspaper quoted U.S. officials as saying.

"The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan", one American official said, "was the United States."

The CIA declined to comment on the report and the U.S. State Department did not immediately comment. The New York Times did not publish any comment from Karzai or his office.

"We called it ?ghost money'," Khalil Roman, who served as Karzai's chief of staff from 2002 until 2005, told the New York Times. "It came in secret and it left in secret."

For more than a decade the cash was dropped off every month or so at the Afghan president's office, the newspaper said.

Handing out cash has been standard procedure for the CIA in Afghanistan since the start of the war.

The cash payments to the president's office do not appear to be subject to oversight and restrictions placed on official American aid to the country or the CIA's formal assistance programs, like financing Afghan intelligence agencies, and do not appear to violate U.S. laws, said the New York Times.

There was no evidence that Karzai personally received any of the money, Afghan officials told the newspaper. The cash was handled by his National Security Council, it added.

U.S. and Afghan officials familiar with the payments were quoted as saying that the main goal in providing the cash was to maintain access to Karzai and his inner circle and to guarantee the CIA's influence at the presidential palace, which wields tremendous power in Afghanistan's highly centralized government.

Much of the money went to warlords and politicians, many with ties to the drug trade and in some cases the Taliban, the New York Times said. U.S. and Afghan officials were quoted as saying the CIA supported the same patronage networks that U.S. diplomats and law enforcement agents struggled to dismantle, leaving the government in the grip of organized crime.

In 2010, Karzai said his office received cash in bags from Iran, but that it was a transparent form of aid that helped cover expenses at the presidential palace. He said at the time that the United States made similar payments.

The latest New York Times report said much of the Iranian cash, like the CIA money, went to pay warlords and politicians.

For most of Karzai's 11-year reign, there has been little interest in anti-corruption in the army or police. The country's two most powerful institutions receive billions of dollars from donors annually but struggle just to recruit and maintain a force bled by high rates of desertion.

(Additional reporting by Alistair Bell and Sarah Lynch in Washington; Writing by Michael Perry; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/millions-cia-ghost-money-paid-afghan-presidents-office-020006835.html

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Pacific Rim's Latest Trailer Is Even Better Than the First

When we first saw Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim back in December, it was just a tease filled with robots, creatures, loud noises and explosions. And now we have a little more insight into both the mechs and creatures from a new trailer cut with scenes from Con-exclusive footage. Pacific Rim drops in theaters July 12.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/pacific-rims-latest-trailer-is-even-better-than-the-fi-484612299

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Black Voters Are Key to a Colbert Busch Win in South Carolina

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. ? South Carolina?s First Congressional District is known for the churning Port of Charleston, growing suburbs to the north, and stately homes with wrap-around porches from Beaufort to Mount Pleasant. The white, well-heeled voters who dominate the district favored Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney by 18 percentage points.

This coastal strip is also home to a more blue-collar, solidly Democratic population; about one out of five of the district?s residents are African-American. Their turnout in the May 7 special congressional election is key to an upset by the Democratic nominee, Elizabeth Colbert Busch.

Inside her campaign office here, having come straight from church in their Sunday best, Dot Brown and Ethel Campbell are planning an afternoon of phone banking and door knocking. Local television stations aren?t carrying the only debate pitting Colbert Busch against Sanford on Monday night.

?Most people we come across tend not to understand the importance of a special election, so you have got to get out and let them know,? said Brown, 67 years old, dressed in a marigold suit and bright pink scarf.

Campbell, 62, who immediately kicked off her pumps once she sat down, said she tries to explain to voters that electing another Democrat to Congress will help President Obama. ?I say, ?You had his back in 2012. Do you have his back in 2013?? "

But Colbert Busch has flaunted her independence from a president unpopular in most of the district, assailing his budget plan for raising taxes, not cutting enough spending and meddling with Social Security. ?Not only does President Obama?s plan fail to put our finances back in order, it would cut benefits for our seniors, which is wrong,? she said in a statement. Colbert Busch also declined to say whether she would have supported Obama's economic stimulus plan in his first term.? ?She?s trying to be all things to all people,?? said Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer.

Interviews with black voters on Sunday found few knew much about the businesswoman and political novice -- beyond the fact that she?s the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert. ?If they vote, disgust with her Republican opponent, former Gov. Mark Sanford, is more likely to be the driving force. The governor left office in 2011, over a year?after admitting he disappeared from public view for several days to visit his girlfriend in Argentina.

?We don?t need people like him who set a bad example,? said 78-year-old Virginia Rosemond, her wide-brimmed, red hat shielding her from a drizzly rain as left the Baum Temple AME Zion Church. Will she vote for Colbert Busch? ??If I get a ride,? she responded.

Fellow churchgoer Charles Logan, 67, said he ?might? vote for Colbert Busch. ??I?m not messing with him,? he said of Sanford. ?He left his wife. He left his office. What makes you think he won?t go to Washington and do the same thing??

Colbert Busch?s campaign did not respond to e-mails and phone calls about its outreach to African-American voters. Appealing to moderate Republicans and independents is also crucial to her success, so there is a political risk in appearing eager to court black Democrats. When she campaigned at historically black Burke High School in Charleston last week, the event was billed as a rally for women voters.

But the campaign?s radio ad linking Sanford to allegations of voter suppression makes her intentions clear. With Isaac Hayes? soundtrack from the 1971 movie about a black private detective as backdrop, the ad assails a new South Carolina law that requires voters to show photo identification.? A federal court blocked the law from going into effect until after the 2012 election. ?Somebody doesn?t want African Americans to vote, and it doesn?t take Shaft to figure out who,? a narrator says in the radio spot. ?Tuesday May 7^th is your chance to show them they can?t get away with it.?

The spot doesn?t mention that the ID law was signed after Sanford left office by Gov. Nikki Haley. A spokesman for the Sanford campaign, Joel Sawyer, released a written statement when the ad first aired earlier this month that called it a ?negative radio ad with some very unfortunate overtones.?

Jaime Harrison, vice chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, defended the spot.

?Voter ID has been a very hot button issue in the African-American community,? said Harrison, who if elected chairman next month would be the first black to lead the party in South Carolina. ?Many folks who grew up in the civil rights movement have called it modern-day Jim Crow. The ad will help to pique the awareness of African-Americans in that district.?

Sanford is not opposed to the law, Sawyer said, but he did not recall the ex-governor ever speaking publicly about it. Sawyer also noted that Sanford appointed a record number of African-Americans to his Cabinet and joined the state Supreme Court?s chief justice in 2006 in calling for more diverse appointments to the bench. In 2003, Sanford offered an official apology for the ?Orangeburg Massacre,? the 1968 shootings by South Carolina highway patrol officers that killed three black students ?protesting a segregated bowling alley.

The uncertainty of black turnout in the May 7 special election comes on the heels of an Associated Press analysis that found blacks voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and largely surpassed white turnout for the first time. If black turnout had matched 2004, Romney would have won in 2012.

In one of Colbert Busch?s only campaign events aimed at African-Americans, she spoke at a black history celebration in February at Summerville High school. ?I give her credit for that,? said Ava Graham, a 44-year-old child care worker whose daughter sang with her church choir at the event. Colbert Bush spoke about the impact of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy on her life. ?I hope the black community comes out,? Graham said, ?because the Republicans want this seat and are going to do what they have to do.??

CORRECTION: Sanford left office after his second term ended in January 2011; he did not resign from office after the scandal hit.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/black-voters-key-colbert-busch-win-south-carolina-072536368.html

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Shape-shifting mobile devices

Apr. 28, 2013 ? Prototype mobile devices that can change shape on-demand will be unveiled today [Monday 29 April] and could lay down the foundation for creating high shape resolution devices of the future.

The research paper, to be presented at one of the world's most important conferences on human-computer interfaces, will introduce the term 'shape resolution' and its ten features, to describe the resolution of an interactive device: in addition to display and touch resolution.

The research, led by Dr Anne Roudaut and Professor Sriram Subramanian, from the University of Bristol's Department of Computer Science, have used 'shape resolution' to compare the resolution of six prototypes the team have built using the latest technologies in shape changing material, such as shape memory alloy and electro active polymer.

One example of a device is the team's concept of Morphees, self-actuated flexible mobile devices that can change shape on-demand to better fit the many services they are likely to support.

The team believe Morphees will be the next generation of mobile devices, where users can download applications that embed a dedicated form factor, for instance the "stress ball app" that collapses the device in on itself or the "game app" that makes it adopt a console-like shape.

Dr Anne Roudaut, Research Assistant in the Department of Computer Science's Bristol Interaction and Graphics group, said: "The interesting thing about our work is that we are a step towards enabling our mobile devices to change shape on-demand. Imagine downloading a game application on the app-store and that the mobile phone would shape-shift into a console-like shape in order to help the device to be grasped properly. The device could also transform into a sphere to serve as a stress ball, or bend itself to hide the screen when a password is being typed so passers-by can't see private information."

By comparing the shape resolution of their prototypes, the researchers have created insights to help designers towards creating high shape resolution Morphees.

In the future the team hope to build higher shape resolution Morphees by investigating the flexibility of materials. They are also interested in exploring other kinds of deformations that the prototypes did not explore, such as porosity and stretchability.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaZHj9SEzLQ

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

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/oQOP2z3HA_Y/130428230421.htm

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U.S. earnings beating forecasts but jury's out on rest of season

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Ben Berkowitz

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. companies have easily beaten expectations for first-quarter earnings so far in the reporting season, but nearly half of the members of the S&P 500 are yet to announce results and they are unlikely to be as robust.

With results in from 271 of the S&P 500 companies, year-over-year earnings growth is projected at 3.9 percent, compared with a forecast for 1.5 percent growth at the start of the earnings season, Thomson Reuters data shows. That figure includes those that have reported and analyst estimates for those who have not.

The companies yet to report are expected to post an aggregate earnings decline of 0.4 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data - whereas the companies that have already reported have posted growth of 6.1 percent.

Among the biggest companies yet to report are Dow components Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Home Depot .

Some 69 percent of the S&P 500 have beaten forecasts, once again conforming to the pattern of lowering expectations enough to "surprise" by beating them. The 69 percent figure exceeds the long-term average of 63 percent. This has been the pattern for the last 15 quarters, with growth estimates at the beginning of earnings ultimately being beaten by at least a full percentage point.

From April 1 to April 24, S&P 500 earnings growth expectations fell 170 basis points for the second quarter, 130 basis points for the third quarter and 70 basis points for the fourth quarter.

"If this recent pattern holds, you're going to find that those beats will continue and therefore lead earnings season to be one of continued positive surprise," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

So far, this has been good enough for investors. Since earnings season began with Alcoa's report on April 8, the S&P 500 has gained 1.2 percent, and it closed Friday less than 1 percent from its all-time high of 1,593.37 reached on April 11. So far this year, it has climbed nearly 11 percent.

GOING FORWARD, WITH CAUTION

Even though profits have been better than expectations, revenue forecasts have declined, a sign, once again, that companies are exceeding results on the bottom line because of reduced expenses, and not because of stellar sales. So far, just 42 percent of companies are beating revenue expectations, below the long-term average.

First-quarter revenue now is expected to fall 0.3 percent, which is worse than the forecast for 1 percent growth when the season started.

That means companies - yet again - have been able to squeeze out higher profits through cost-cutting and other measures. But that does not bode well for hiring and stands as a potential headwind to the economy in coming quarters.

"It does concern me. It's not sustainable over the medium or the long term. There's only so much companies can do to sustain growth without increasing sales," said Paul Zemsky, head of asset allocation at ING Investment Management, in New York.

There are plenty of examples of major companies that were deeply reserved about the second quarter or the remainder of the year.

Among those were Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc . Apple, until recently the world's biggest company by market value, saw its first quarterly profit decline in a decade and issued a soft outlook for the second quarter that fell short of investor hopes. The stock has lost about 40 percent of its value since September.

"The market was telling you the numbers were too high," BGC analyst Colin Gillis said of Apple's outlook, adding that it was "pretty much even worse than even I was expecting."

(Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos and Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-earnings-beating-forecasts-jurys-rest-season-211946052.html

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Optimizing nanoparticles for commercial applications

Apr. 26, 2013 ? Nanoparticles are used in many commercial products catalysts to cosmetics. A review published today in the Science and Technology of Advanced Materials by researchers in Sweden and Spain describes recent work on the 3 main nanoparticles used in photocatalytic, UV-blocking and sunscreens.

Nanoparticles are currently used in commercial products ranging from catalysts, polishing media and magnetic fluids to cosmetics and sunscreens. A new review by researchers in Sweden and Spain describes recent work to optimize the synthesis, dispersion and surface functionalization of titania, zinc oxide and ceria -- the three main nanoparticles used in photocatalytic, UV-blocking and sunscreen applications.

With the commercial success of self-cleaning glass in the window frames of high-rise buildings, there is growing interest in applying photocatalytic, self-cleaning titania coatings on building facades and other construction materials. These coatings not only can keep building surfaces clean but also reduce concentrations of harmful airborne pollutants. The antibacterial properties of photocatalytic coatings also offer a means of managing persistent bacteria, mainly in hospitals.

Transparent UV-absorbing or UV-blocking coatings currently have two main applications: as a UV-protecting lacquer for wooden surfaces, and as a UV-barrier coating deposited on the surface of polymer-based products or devices to slow down their deterioration.

Published in the journal, Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, this study describes the structural and chemical requirements as well as the various routes for producing transparent photocatalytic and nanoparticle-based UV-blocking coatings and sunscreens. The authors review the main methods for synthesizing titania, zinc oxide and ceria nanoparticles, with a focus on recent research on the generation of non-agglomerated powders. (Agglomeration is often the major cause of poor performance and limited transparency.) The authors also identify organic additives that are efficient dispersants and can improve the compatibility of inorganic nanoparticles with an organic matrix.

In addition to discussing the technical performance of nanoparticles, the authors address concerns related to distributing them in the environment. They conclude by describing future prospects for nanoparticles and identifying promising materials, such as multifunctional coatings and hybrid films.

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Journal Reference:

1. Bertrand Faure, German Salazar-Alvarez, Anwar Ahniyaz, Irune Villaluenga, Gemma Berriozabal, Yolanda R De Miguel, Lennart Bergstr?m. Dispersion and surface functionalization of oxide nanoparticles for transparent photocatalytic and UV-protecting coatings and sunscreens. Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 2013; 14 (2): 023001 DOI: 10.1088/1468-6996/14/2/023001

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/5iewoNBStdY/130428144955.htm

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Marijuana tax debate stalls in Colorado

DENVER (AP) -- Marijuana taxation brought the Colorado Legislature to a standstill early Saturday, with the House giving up and heading home without voting after the pot debate stretched past midnight.

The standstill was not exactly caused by the bill to tax pot more than 30 percent, though Republicans were in the middle of trying to lower the tax rate when the House stopped work. Instead, the breakdown came as a result of frayed nerves after long, divisive debates on unrelated measures, from a renewable energy bill to an education funding overhaul.

The House managed to finish a vote on one marijuana measure late Friday. That bill would set the nation's first regulations for how recreational pot can be grown, packaged and sold.

"We are in a new era," Democratic Rep. Dan Pabon said when introducing the sweeping regulation bill.

The measure, which needs one more vote before heading to the Senate, sets product safety rules and marijuana purchasing limits for out-of-state visitors.

The House will resume the marijuana tax debate on Monday. The bill would give recreational pot a 15 percent excise tax and a special pot sales tax of 15 percent, in additional to local sales taxes. Republicans were seeking to lower the tax to 10 percent excise and 10 percent sales taxes.

When House Democratic Leader Dickey Lee Hullinghorst interrupted a Republican lawmaker talking about his amendment, trying to extend the legislative session past midnight, the chamber's Republican caucus stormed off the floor in protest. After about 30 minutes, House sergeants retrieved Republicans from their offices and the debate continued, though ruling Democrats shut down business after letting the interrupted Republican finish his speech.

The walkout was not directly caused by the marijuana tax debate. But it was the latest twist in an increasingly odd path for marijuana regulation in Colorado.

On Friday, marijuana activists blasted a proposal to send marijuana legalization back to voters this fall through a new tax ballot measure. That measure would repeal recreational pot in the state constitution if voters don't approve the pot taxes.

Marijuana activists immediately blasted the proposal as a backhanded effort to repeal the pot vote, in which 55 percent of Coloradans chose to flout federal drug law and declare pot legal in small amounts for adults over 21.

"It's clear that the intent ... is to prevent marijuana from being legal and being regulated and being controlled," said Mason Tvert, who led last year's campaign to add recreational pot to the state constitution, which has allowed medical marijuana since 2000.

Sen. Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa, said the whole purpose of legalizing recreational marijuana was to raise money for education and other programs. "So if there's no money, we shouldn't have marijuana," Crowder said.

A volunteer group that has been critical of proposed marijuana regulations, Smart Colorado, praised the effort to get rid of recreational pot without approval of the taxes.

A spokesman for the group, Eric Anderson, said in a statement that marijuana activists "sold the ballot issue to Colorado voters as a way to pay for state priorities like education, but increasingly it's looking like it could be a net drain on the state budget."

The marijuana measure approved last year won more votes than President Barack Obama, who carried the state. The pot measure directed lawmakers to come back to the ballot with a tax proposal, with much of the money going to school construction. Because of Colorado's Byzantine tax laws, the recreational pot taxes can't be levied until voters again sign off on them.

In Washington state, the only other place where voters last year approved recreational pot, the ballot measure set taxes at 75 percent, settling the question. Both states are still waiting to find out whether the federal government plans to sue to block retail sales of the drug, set to begin next year.

The Colorado repeal effort wouldn't apply to medical marijuana, which voters approved in 2000.

Ruling Democrats said Friday they doubt lawmakers would send pot legalization back to voters this year.

"That's almost like saying to voters, 'Vote for this, or else,'" said Sen. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge. "I don't think you threaten voters like that. When over 55 percent of the people vote for something, I think we have to respect that."

Marijuana repeal debate could dominate the Legislature's closing days.

___

Kristen Wyatt can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/APkristenwyatt.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/marijuana-tax-debate-stalls-colorado-072116306.html

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Obama: Flight delay fix a 'Band-Aid'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says the congressional fix for widespread flight delays is an irresponsible way to govern, but he's prepared to sign the legislation that lawmakers fast-tracked.

He says the bipartisan bill to end furloughs of air traffic controllers is a "Band-Aid" solution rather than a lasting answer to this year's $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester.

The cuts have affected all federal agencies, and flight delays last week left thousands of travelers frustrated and furious and Congress feeling pressured to respond.

"Republicans claimed victory when the sequester first took effect, and now they've decided it was a bad idea all along," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, aired Saturday.

He singled out the GOP even though the bill passed with overwhelming Democratic support in both the House and Senate.

The president scolded lawmakers for helping the Federal Aviation Administration while doing nothing to replace other cuts that he said harm federal employees, unemployed workers and preschoolers in Head Start.

"Maybe because they fly home each weekend, the members of Congress who insisted these cuts take hold finally realized that they actually apply to them, too," Obama said.

Rushed through Congress with remarkable speed, the bill marked a shift for Democrats who had hoped the impact of the cuts would increase pressure on Republicans to reverse the broad cuts.

Republicans have rejected Obama's proposal to replace the spending reductions with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.

"There are some in the Obama administration who thought inflicting pain on the public would give the president more leverage to avoid making necessary spending cuts, and to impose more tax hikes on the American people," said Rep. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania in the Republican address.

Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the FAA could have averted the flight delays on its own by cutting costs elsewhere and rejiggering work schedules, but chose not to do so.

The bill signed by Obama would let the FAA use up to $253 million from an airport improvement program and other accounts to halt the furloughs through the Sept. 30 end of the government's fiscal year.

Faced with the prospect that emboldened Republicans will push to selectively undo other painful effects of the cuts, the White House said Friday that a piecemeal approach would be impractical, but wouldn't definitely rule out signing other fixes.

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.youtube.com/HouseConference

___

Follow Josh Lederman at https://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-flight-delay-fix-band-aid-100306095.html

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Renault hopes to have approval for Chinese plant by summer: CEO

* Lewandowski scored four goals against Real Madrid * Poland international refuses contract extension (adds details, background) BERLIN, April 26 (Reuters) - Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski have not signed a deal, the newly-crowned champions said on Friday, shooting down widespread speculation of another imminent surprise transfer. "Bayern, as opposed to some reports, has no contract with Robert Lewandowski," the Bavarian Champions League semi-finalists said in a brief statement. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/renault-hopes-approval-chinese-plant-summer-ceo-091801999.html

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Nokia hosting Lumia event on May 14th, invites us to 'see what's next'

The next couple months are gearing up to be pretty busy, and Nokia's joining the fun with a press event on May 14th. The Finnish company is putting out a rather hefty teaser to get us intrigued, stating that the Nokia Lumia story continues, and we'll get to "see what's next." The timing of this new device is rather curious, given the fact that the flagship Lumia phones typically get shown off later in the fall. Is this the rumored 41MP PureView Windows Phone we've been hoping for ever since the 808 came out? Perhaps we'll see the Lumia 928 that we hear is supposed to hit Verizon in May (though London would be an odd and unlikely locale for a US-only handset unveiling). Could it simply be a lower-end device along the lines of the 520 or 620? We doubt that as well, but either way, we'll be there to get the scoop as Mr. Elop (we'd expect) shows off the latest Windows Phone coming out of Espoo.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Nokia

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Via: TechnoBuffalo

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/25/nokia-lumia-event-may-14/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Goodyear swings to 1Q profit, beats estimate

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. reported a profit for the first quarter on Friday as lower raw material costs helped offset the effect of a decline in global tire sales.

Its adjusted earnings beat Wall Street estimates, and its shares rose more than 2 percent in morning trading.

"Our first quarter earnings demonstrate that our strategic focus on improving productivity and selling innovative products in targeted market segments where our brands add value is working, especially in North America, where our business continues to outperform expectations," said Richard J. Kramer, chairman and CEO.

The Akron, Ohio-based tire maker said its net income was $26 million, or 10 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31. It lost $11 million, or 5 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

After charges, Goodyear earned 45 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected 30 cents per share.

Revenue fell to $4.8 billion from $5.5 billion a year ago. Analysts expected $5.09 billion.

Sales dropped 13 percent in Goodyear's core North America market, but also saw a $163 million reduction in raw material costs. Sales dropped 17 percent in Europe, 1.5 percent in Latin America and 1.7 percent in Asia.

Asia and Latin America had increased numbers of tires sold and higher operating income.

Despite an 8 percent decline in the number of tires sold globally, a push to sell high-end products helped Goodyear post record first-quarter operating income in North America and the Asia-Pacific region.

In its outlook, Goodyear said it expects the number of tires sold this year to be unchanged from 2012, reflecting weakness in Europe amid an uncertain economy.

To revive its European business, Goodyear has announced plans to leave the farm tire business and close a manufacturing plant in France, a move that has sparked a legal fight on two continents and street protests by French workers.

Kramer said the company remains confident in its full-year outlook. The company expects global segment operating income of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion in 2013. Kramer noted that would be up more than 12 percent from 2012 and a record.

Goodyear shares fell 43 cents, or 3.3 percent, to close at $12.51 Friday. They are down 14.6 percent from $14.65 in January. They traded as low as $9.24 last June.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/goodyear-swings-1q-profit-beats-125238308.html

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Japan transport minister: Government to issue permit to resume Boeing 787 flights

April 25 (Reuters) - Fenerbahce 1 Benfica 0 - Europa League semi-final first leg result At Sukru Saracoglu stadium Scorer - Egemen Korkmaz 72 Halftime: 0-0 Fenerbahce: 1-Volkan Demirel; 33-Reto Ziegler, 2-Egemen Korkmaz, 6-Joseph Yobo, 77-Gokhan Gonul; 5-Mehmet Topal, 14-Raul Meireles (48-Salih Ucan 54); 7-Moussa Sow (27-Milos Krasic 86), 16-Cristian Baroni (21-Selcuk Sahin 86), 11-Dirk Kuyt, 99-Pierre Webo Benfica: 1-Artur; 14-Maxi Pereira, 33-Jardel, 24-Ezequiel Garay, 25-Melgarejo; 89-Andre Gomez (17-Carlos Martins 81), 10-Pablo Aimar (20-Nicolas Gaitan 46), 21-Nemanja Matic; 15-Ola John ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japan-transport-minister-government-issue-permit-resume-boeing-001100848--finance.html

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Information Technology|Certification Intelligence | - Yehia

Information technology information and technical information regarding certification intelligence for assessment instruction is the primary intent behind this article. Lots of people do not know the distinction between computer training and certification assessment training. I would like to inform everyone what the differences are. Computer training is class room knowledge with planned classes or on line training in regards to the career field pertaining to I t. Let me explain! You may want to be a Server Administrator. To begin with you will need some education somewhere to be able to be proficient in the subject and probably get a 2 or 4-year level or get some online training with a professional instructor. You could just want to take a few courses and receive a certificate in this field. This could be considered computer training.

Information technology certification intelligence on exam instruction is things you need in order to be fully ready to move your certification exam. After computer training you might have a degree or a document but you still don?t have a certification that?s identified by Microsoft, CIW and CompTia or any. You?ll would like to get qualified in Microsoft, CIW or CISCO if you?ve computer education that qualifies you to be always a Server Administrator then. Certification exam education concentrates on preparing one to pass your certification exam. An IT Certification exam is unlike any exam that you have had in college or school. You can find two essential facts to consider when preparing for a certification examination. They?re the proper study process and having relevant material that relates to the real exam that?s up to date with the present market.

There are just a number of sites on the web that offer Certification test instruction. The reason why I wrote this short article would be to provide information and information regarding the most effective sources on certification assessment training. There are many students of information technology that want this information because they are seriously interested in moving their certification test on the very first try. This article is not about marketing but about helping those who find themselves not informed about Certification examination instruction.

Yet another intent behind this article is knowledge concerning I t certification. There are several schools and on the web training about information technology that will prepare you for a specific subject or field but there are but several areas where you can find information technology accreditation intelligence on examination training.

Say you wish to become a Technician and so that you?re knowledgeable about that field you study at a school or receive online education and receive a degree or certificate in that place but until a certification exam is taken by you you still are not qualified. Despite school you will need to schedule an certification test with prometric or pearsonvue in order to be licensed in the field that you wish.

Where you could possibly get training on how to pass your it certification test how many sites do you know. Exam training isn?t the same as computer training. You?ll need understanding of how to study for your certification exam and to learn the proper study practices because an IT exam isn?t the identical to the examinations in college. You?ll also have to know where to get current material about your certification exam because if you?re studying material that is outdated then you will not move your certification exam. Certification exam training is very important if you intend on driving your certification exam the first time so you can prevent 2nd and 3rd exam fees.

Some individuals might already be taking care of the job in the career which they desire, such as a Server Administrator, Desktop Support Technician or even a PC Repair Technician. They might have had prior training before work but have never received a certification. Because their employer requires it they probably know their work and have become experienced in their work and field but desire a certification. They don?t need any computer training. Certification exam training is only needed by them so their certification exam can be passed by them. I really hope you get the picture now. Buying a good resource then visit: billnaugle.comChris Wallace

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Source: http://yehia.net/viewpost/information-technologycertification-intelligence

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Two militants shot dead in Russia's Dagestan

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Security officers shot dead two suspected militants in Russia's volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, the epicenter of an Islamist insurgency, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said on Wednesday.

Moscow is struggling to quell the persistent attacks by Islamist militants more than a decade after it fought two separatist wars in the adjacent republic of Chechnya.

Security officers surrounded a house in the village of Sogratl, some 100 km (60 miles) southwest of the regional capital Makhachkala, where the two suspected insurgents were hiding, the statement said.

Two unidentified women with a baby left the house after law enforcement officers demanded that the militants surrender. The two rebels then opened fire and were shot dead, the statement said.

Rights groups say the revolt is driven by a volatile mix of religion, corruption and grievances against the strongarm tactics of some local leaders against suspected militants and their families.

Russia has tightened security in the surrounding region less than a year ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, which it is planning to host on the western side of the Caucasus mountains, 1,000 km (620 miles) from Dagestan.

(Reporting By Alexei Anishchuk; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/two-militants-shot-dead-russias-dagestan-163824144.html

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The Winds of Change | Periodicals Price Survey 2013 - Library Journal

The stock market has hit record highs, and unemployment has reached the lowest level since the recession began. Despite this good news, the library economic environment has not seen commensurate improvement. There continues to be a struggle to find the resources needed to support library collections and services, and conditions remain highly unsettled.

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, 24 states are working from 2013 budgets with lower general fund expenditures in FY13 than in 2008, the last year before the recession. Nearly half the states have not returned to prerecession levels of revenue and spending. Overall, total general fund expenditures for all states will not exceed the pre?recession high of $687.3 billion spent in FY08. Funding for K-12 education has seen a little relief as a total of $4.9 billion was added to state budgets overall, but higher education is still seeing cuts, as 16 states reduced allocations for higher education by a total of just over $1 billion.

(All tables are labeled to correspond to the print layout of this article, and so appear out of order below for this web presentation)

Meanwhile, sequestration is not going to make state and local funding problems any easier. Historically, the federal government provides about one-quarter of all state revenues, and owing to sequestration, the federal government is now poised to make deep spending cuts. If a significant portion of sequestration is left in place, federal funding for schools and other non-entitlement grants to states are on track to reach their lowest levels in four decades, measured as a share of the economy.

The lack of public funding translated to flat funding in libraries. Data from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) shows that median total expenditures for ARL libraries dropped slightly from 2011 to 2012 ($24,052,161 to $24,000,677). Since the ARL members are a mixture of public and private organizations, increases in expenditures by the private universities helped offset declines in spending from the public universities and the overall result was a slight decrease in expenditures.

There is good economic news out there, but most libraries that rely on public funding have not fully recovered from the recession. Flat budgets and ongoing inflation in costs are forcing libraries to continue to find creative ways to keep current services. In this environment, disproportionate serials prices are thrown into greater relief.

This year, the serials pricing data indicates that prices are increasing at about the same rate as last year. Increases seemed to have plateaued at about 6% for 2013. Data from the merged ISI indexes shows a 6% increase for 2013, unchanged from 2012. EBSCO?s MasterFILE Premier and Academic Search Premier show similar results: average prices for titles in MSP increased 5% for 2013, while average prices for titles in ASP increased 6% in 2013, the same increase as for 2012. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), on the other hand, advanced 1.7% for 2012, which means serials inflation continues to far exceed general inflationary pressures and library budget adjustments. Serials prices showed restraint in 2010, but since that time they have risen steadily, and budgets have not. The price increases are not driven by science, technology, and medical (STM) prices since education and library science showed the highest increases, 9%, in 2013 ISI data, while the numbers from ASP showed anthropology and health sciences increasing at the 9% levels.

Average prices for STM serials remain the highest, compared with prices for serials in other subject areas. Chemistry has historically seen the highest average serials prices, and that has not changed: recent reports show that the average price for chemistry journals hovers around $4,450 annually. There were only slight shifts in the overall average prices for serials broken down by subject area although food science did climb up the list by several spots from 2012.

Price, value, & expenditure

It has been the intent of this article to present the most reliable information concerning serials pricing as is reasonably possible to produce, and the current version of the price survey has now been published for over 20 years by LJ. Based on the ANSI/NISO Z39.20-1999 Criteria for Price Indexes for Printed Library Materials, this price survey uses the available retail print price for subscriptions for titles that are listed in indexes widely used in the United States. The actual change in the retail price is measured year to year to gauge the overall increase in serial prices.

Unlike print, published retail rates are not available for all of the titles in the combined indexes. Starting in 2011, Average Price for Online Journals in the ISI Indexes, has documented the average cost per subject area where standard online pricing is available. This fall, the Professional Scholarly Publishing Bulletin published an article by Paula Gantz that suggested serial price has now been replaced by digital licenses as the true reflection of real journal costs. In the article, the author directly questions the validity of this study by suggesting that the ?effective? price increase for an average journal was only 9% higher in 2010 as compared to 1990, not the six-fold increase documented over the years in this price study.

There are good points raised by Gantz concerning the increased value derived from digital licenses and how the increase in research has resulted in increased content. There do need to be more substantive discussions concerning these issues and the failure of libraries to secure their piece of the research funding pie. However, the contention that the effective price of the average journal has only increased 9% and that the price of journals accessed in the UK has actually gone down 11% since 2004 cannot be accepted without much more data substantiating those claims. After searching the reports cited in the UK study, no reference to the cited data could be found. If this is derived data then the source for the primary data and the methodology used to derive the figure need to be documented.

Those who has been involved with purchasing serials in the last 20 years know that serial prices have increased significantly and represent the largest inflationary factor for library budgets. To suggest that the real increase in serial prices is only 9% flies in the face of reality. The author derived the figure by using data from ARL that reported changes in the number of purchased serials and serial expenditures for the period 1990?2010. While the data does show that the numerical value resulting from dividing expenditures by the number of purchased serials did increase 9% over that period, to conclude that prices only increased 9% is incorrect. Between 1990 and 2010, ARL changed the definition of purchased serials. In 1990, the definition was based on subscribed titles. In 2010, the definition used by ARL had changed considerably: ?Report the total number of unique serial titles, NOT SUBSCRIPTIONS, that you currently acquire and to which you provide access?. Report each title once, regardless of how many subscriptions or means of access you provide for that title? (definitions for 2010 and 2011 are essentially unchanged).

The majority of the increase in the number of serials purchased reported over this period is due to the inclusion of titles purchased through databases and similar aggregations, not through ?big deal? packages. The cost of the access provided to these journals by libraries cannot be compared to the retail price of subscribed content. These are very different things.

Price, value, and expenditure are likewise different entities. While related, the means of measurement and assessment of these items must be considered individually. The value of content is an important factor to consider when making purchasing decisions, but the price on the invoice is what impacts the budget, and there needs to be reliable information on changes in price to assist with budget planning. The $50,000 sports car discounted to $25,000 may be the best value, but if the budget only has room for a $10,000 used compact, that is what you buy.

Geography & discipline

There was little change in the relative order for the average price per title sorted by country of origin. While the average price per title decreased slightly from 2012, titles from Russia and Ireland continue to have the highest cost per title for all included in the merged ISI indexes. Hungary, Austria, the Netherlands, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, Greece (replacing the United States in the Top 10), and England round out the Top 10 countries with the highest cost per title in 2013. It will be interesting to see the impact of open access initiatives upon 2014 pricing, especially in England where government initiatives mandated open access for publicly funded research by April 2013.

Table 9 once again examines the titles in the combined ISI Arts and Humanities, Science Citation, and Social Sciences Citation indexes, which offer published rates for online formats. As in past years, the data reflects online only, print plus free online, and the first tier of any tiered pricing, with the common element being pricing for the online format.

Elsevier, Wiley, Springer, Taylor & Francis, and SAGE still dominate the combined indexes with more than half of the titles; 3% of titles in the combined indexes are open access. The 2013 average cost for this set of titles is $1,184. While that reflects an increase of 3% over last?s year?s average price of $1,147, it is important to keep in mind that the individual titles and associated pricing models reflected by Table 9 change each year and may have been impacted by the number of factors, including the number of open access titles included in the ISI indexes this year.

New business models

While the debate over the Big Deal continues, ?The State of Large-Publisher Bundles in 2012,? authored by Karla Strieb and Julia Blixrud and published by ARL, documents the market penetration and continued dominance of packaged content in ARL libraries. The authors? analysis of survey responses from 81 ARL member libraries conducted during the summer of 2012 revealed that more than 85 percent subscribed to e-journal packages from the American Chemical Society, Wiley, Springer, Elsevier, SAGE, and Nature in 2012. The study also documents the shift in the definition of the e-journal package from all the titles offered by the publisher to consortially or individually defined collections. The survey likewise addresses the shift from bundled print and e-journal subscriptions to electronic-only format, with respondents reporting selected retention of print for all publishers except Taylor & Francis.

A comparison of the publisher e-journal packages ordered by 619 major clients of EBSCO Information Services in both 2012 and 2013 reflected an average price increase of 5.5%, comparable to this year?s overall 6% print/online price increase. When the price analysis was made comparing similar tiers or other fixed criteria (tier 3 pricing compared to tier 3 pricing, Carnegie level 4 compared to Carnegie level 4, etc.), the price difference for the packages between 2012 and 2013 reflected an average 7.12% ?increase.

Open access

Spring 2012 brought renewed emphasis on open access as diminished academic library budgets and the steady increase in the cost of journal literature converged, resulting in stronger mandates regarding the availability of government-funded research from groups including Britain?s Wellcome Trust, Research Council UK, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The Report of the Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings, popularly known as the Finch Report, explored the difficult issues of funding as well as access models. Operating on a different scale and model from traditional publications offering green, gold, and hybrid open access options, the Public Library of Science (PLoS) was joined in 2012 by the megajournal offering from PeerJ.

With bipartisan support, in February of this year, the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR) was introduced in both the U.S. House and the Senate. FASTR would require federal agencies with research expenditures of over $100 million per year to make articles resulting from the funding freely available online (and notably available openly for ?computational analysis,? according to the bill) within six months of publication. Meanwhile, the Obama administration?s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a sweeping memo in February prompting many of the policies argued for by FASTR, though with a longer 12-month embargo. However, open access advocates are still pushing for Congressional passage of the bill to enshrine the mandate as law rather than policy subject to executive branch discretion.

SCOAP3, the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics, working with CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, moved forward in 2012 with the announcement of agreements with seven publishers covering 12 journals in high-energy physics. Earlier this year, in announcing new members representing 31 countries worldwide, SCOAP3 stated that the 85% of the anticipated required funding had been secured to transition the 12 journals to open access by 2014.

Widely embraced by the sciences where funding is more plentiful, the open access mandates have been less enthusiastically received by some in the humanities. A recent survey of authors who publish in Taylor & Francis/Routledge journals reported that 33% think that research outputs will be published as open access with some restrictions on reuse, while 51% of respondents think that research outputs will continue be published in subscription journals.

Philosophical issues aside, with the 2012 open access market estimated at $172 million by Outsell, open access is a business model. Funding will still be required to support the green, hybrid, and gold open access or subscription/membership costs. As has been discussed in previous serials pricing articles, open access options are currently being offereing by all the major publishers, such as Springer?s Biomed Central, Wiley Open Access, and SAGE Open. Traditional intermediaries such as EBSCO and the Copyright Clearance Center have joined new companies such as Open Access Key in providing services to streamline the management of author processing charges and related fees.

2014 forecast

The 2014 journal marketplace will continue to be unsettled as the traditional elements of budget, price, and value collide with the new forces of open access, government mandates, new evaluation tools such as altmetrics, and the increased availability of information offered by search engines, discovery systems, and social networks. All elements of the information marketplace?libraries, publishers, and vendors?will continue to be impacted by the changing market conditions. The 6% average price increase of 2013 is expected to abide, hovering in the 6% to 7% range for 2014. Like the spring weather, market conditions could change before 2014 pricing is finalized, but the evidence available to date does not presage price relief for libraries.

Periodical Prices for High School and Public Libraries

Overall price increases for titles in EBSCO Publishing?s MasterFILE Premier are expected to be in the 5% to 6% range.

Periodical Prices for University and College Libraries

Overall price increases for titles in EBSCO?s Academic Search Premier are expected to be in the 5% to 7% range for 2014.

Measuring Impact

This year we were able to employ title and publisher data collected for this article to explore the relationship between prices and metrics used to assess journals like Impact Factor, Eigenfactor, and the Article Influence Score. The definitions follow:

• The IMPACT FACTOR of a journal is the average number of citations received per paper published in that journal during the two preceding years. The impact factor of a journal is calculated by dividing the number of current-year citations to the source items published in that journal during the previous two years.
• The EIGENFACTOR rates journals according to the number of incoming citations, with citations from highly ranked journals weighted to make a larger contribution to the score than citations from poorly ranked journals. Journals are considered to be influential if they are cited often by other influential journals.
• The ARTICLE INFLUENCE SCORE is determined by the average influence of a journal?s articles over the first five years after publication. It is calculated by dividing a journal?s Eigenfactor Score by the number of articles in the journal, normalized as a fraction of all articles in all publications. The mean Article Influence Score is 1.00. A score greater than 1.00 indicates that each article in the journal has above-average influence. A score less than 1.00 indicates that each article in the journal has below-average influence.

The approach taken to determine if there were relationships between journals prices and metrics was to look at data in price bands to see if more expensive journals had higher ranking than lower cost titles. The ISI pricing data for 2013 was divided into five price bands; journals prices less than $410, journals priced between $410 and $760, $760 and $1,455, $1,455 and $2,475, and titles priced at more than $2,475. These bands were selected to ensure that the number of titles in each area was reasonably comparable. The average for Impact Factor, Eigenfactor, and Article Influence Score for all titles in a price range was compared to the averages in the other price bands; the results are in table 6. The Impact Factor and the Eigenfactor tended to show a fairly strong increase with the increase in price. The Article Influence Source did not show a significant increase with the average for titles less than $410 price band showing an average of 0.98 and the most expensive titles showing an average of 1.2.

Although there were increases in the metrics for Impact Factor and Eigenfactor, the increases were not proportionate to the increase in price, since the average price ($5,172) for the most expensive journals was more than 20 times higher than the average price ($237) for the least expensive journals. The percent increase in prices for the lower cost titles was a bit higher than the more expensive titles, but that is also relative, considering that the 5.9% cost increase of the higher priced titles is itself more than the total average cost of the lower priced titles. Higher priced titles do have higher Impact Factors and Eigenfactors, but the increase in the metrics is small when compared to the increase in costs. Article Influence Score did not show a strong correlation between higher scores and prices. Ranking based on some form of citation analysis may not be strong indications of actual value. Many groups are exploring different sets of data that may be better descriptors of the impact of journals. The efforts to create altmetrics are still being developed, but better tools to help assess the impact of scholarly works would be welcomed by the community.

---

Stephen Bosch is Materials Budget, Procurement, and Licensing Librarian, University of Arizona Library, Tuscon. Kittie Henderson is Director, Academic and Law Divisions, EBSCO Information Services, Birmingham, AL

This article was featured in Library Journal's Academic Newswire enewsletter. Subscribe today to have more articles like this delivered to your inbox for free.

Source: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/04/publishing/the-winds-of-change-periodicals-price-survey-2013/

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Police say 5 people found dead in small Ill. Town

MANCHESTER, Ill. (AP) ? The bodies of five people who had been shot to death were found early Wednesday in a house in a tiny southwestern Illinois town, and authorities said a suspect was injured and taken into custody a short time later.

Illinois State Police spokeswoman Monique Bond would only say that the five were homicide victims, but could not confirm how they died. But two area school superintendents said they received calls from county sheriffs before 6 a.m. informing them that victims had been shot to death at a house in Manchester and that a suspect was at large.

Superintendent David Roberts of the Winchester School District and Les Stevens of the North Greene Unit District No. 3 said they both immediately canceled classes when they were told of the shootings, and that other school districts had done the same. They said the sheriff's offices later informed them that the suspect had been captured near Manchester, a Scotts County community of 300 people about 50 miles west of Springfield.

The Scott County Sheriff's Office declined to comment to The Associated Press early Wednesday.

Stevens said that he was told by the sheriff's office in nearby Green County that the suspect was captured after a brief car chase that included gunfire.

Manchester Mayor Ronald Drake said the suspect was injured in the chase and taken to a hospital.

Drake, who lives a block from the house where the shooting occurred, said the shootings happened at about 4:30 a.m.

Roberts and Stevens said they were waiting to hear if any of the victims were children who attended schools in their districts.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-5-people-found-dead-small-ill-town-141757368.html

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Anthony, Knicks rout Celtics for 2-0 series lead

Boston Celtics guard Jordan Crawford (27) defends as New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith (8) shoots a 3-pointer in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Boston Celtics guard Jordan Crawford (27) defends as New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith (8) shoots a 3-pointer in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler (6) and guard Pablo Prigioni (9) defend agaionst Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett (5) defends against New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler (6) in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) drives to the basket against Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) defends a shot by New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler (6) in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW YORK (AP) ? In what they considered a "must-win" game, the New York Knicks couldn't lose. Not the way they defended after halftime.

"We buckled down on the defensive end," Carmelo Anthony said, "and that's what opened the game up for us."

And they've done it two games in a row.

Anthony scored 34 points, Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith added 19, and New York took a 2-0 lead over the Boston Celtics with another dominant second half in an 87-71 victory Tuesday night.

Raymond Felton added 16 points for the Knicks, who used a 27-4 run spanning halftime to blow it open and move halfway to their first series victory since the 2000 Eastern Conference semifinals. This is their first 2-0 lead since sweeping Toronto in the first round that year.

"For us, we know what type of team we are," Anthony said. "We know when we really buckle down on the defensive end, it's been hard for teams."

It's been brutally difficult for Boston.

Paul Pierce scored 18 points for the Celtics, who will host Game 3 on Friday in their first home game since the Boston Marathon bombings.

They will have to be much sharper to avoid their first opening-round elimination since 2005, before they became one of the NBA's power teams again.

"We have to figure out the offensive side of the ball and not be so stagnated," Boston's Kevin Garnett said. "Figure out ways to score more often."

Anthony had said the Knicks needed to treat the game as a "must-win," aware of the difficulty of winning in Boston on Friday with the emotional boost the Celtics will get from finally being home.

They showed that mentality after halftime, outscoring Boston 32-11 in the third quarter.

"I think guys know what's at stake. We don't have to talk about it," veteran forward Kenyon Martin said. "Guys know what it's about right now and it's about winning a championship."

Garnett had 12 points and 11 rebounds, but battled foul trouble and spent too much time walking back to the bench with a raucous Madison Square Garden crowd finally experiencing playoff success again hounding him every step of the way.

Plagued by turnovers in Game 1, when they managed eight points in the decisive fourth quarter, the Celtics watched it all fall apart 12 minutes earlier this time. They managed only 23 points after halftime, two fewer than in their 85-78 loss Saturday.

"I thought we attacked them in the first half, but they hung in there," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "They didn't let us throw a knockout punch and I thought in the second half they turned that on us and they threw a knockout punch. Several."

Anthony followed his 36-point opener by making 8 of 13 shots in the second half to finish 11 of 24 for the game.

Iman Shumpert drilled two 3-pointers to open the third and tie it before Pierce scored to give Boston its last lead at 50-48. The Knicks scored 18 of the next 20 points, with the Celtics getting just two free throws from Jeff Green over the next 5-plus minutes. Anthony's jumper with 4:25 remaining in the third capped the run before Garnett finally gave Boston its second basket of the quarter 10 seconds later

The Celtics missed 10 of their first 11 shots of the third while getting outscored 24-4 to open the period.

"I thought in that third quarter we were as good as we've been all year in terms of ball movement and pushing it and making shots," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.

The Celtics vowed to get Garnett more involved after he shot 4 of 12 while scoring eight points in the opener. But that plan was quickly wrecked when he picked up two fouls in the first 3 minutes, 20 seconds. The Celtics shook it off and led 20-15 when Jason Terry made a 3-pointer with 1:57 left for his first basket of the series.

But the Knicks scored 11 straight to end the period. Smith, recognized before the game for the award he won Monday, kept the celebration going with five points in the final 6.8 seconds, hitting a 36-footer at the buzzer with Celtics players all over him to make it 26-20.

The Celtics quickly settled down again, ripping off an 11-0 run to take a 31-27 lead on another 3-pointer by Terry. The lead later grew to eight when Pierce made a jumper, then fired a lob pass that traveled about three-quarters of the court to a streaking Green.

They led 48-39, gave up the last three points of the half ? and probably never realized they gave away momentum for good with it.

"We made a good run in the first half, we played our style of basketball," Terry said. "But in the second half, we definitely got away from what gave us success."

Notes: Amare Stoudemire still hopes to return from right knee surgery for the second round if the Knicks advance. He hopes to be running full speed soon so he can see how the knee responds to the additional work. ... NBA TV's analysts have made their postseason awards picks, and former Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas chose Woodson, his friend and former Indiana University teammate. "That's good, but I mean, again, I'm not in this for Coach of the Year, I'm in to try to see if we can get this team to the championship round to try to win a title," Woodson said. "If that happens, it happens, but I'm not sitting here holding my breath about a Coach of the Year award." Woodson added that he and Thomas are friends and talk all the time.

___

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-24-Celtics-Knicks%20Folo/id-ab69098df53a4c40ab7deff52fa520df

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