Official: Green Zone bombing was targeting Iraq PM (AP)

BAGHDAD ? An explosion earlier this week in the Green Zone, a protected area in the center of the Iraqi capital, was an assassination attempt against the Iraqi prime minister, an Iraqi spokesman said.

That assailants were able to get a bomb inside what is supposed to be the most heavily fortified area in the country raises serious doubts about the abilities of Iraq's security forces at a crucial time when American troops are leaving the country.

The Baghdad military spokesman, Qassim al-Moussawi, said an attacker was able to get a vehicle carrying about 44 pounds (20 kilograms) of explosives into the Green Zone on Monday, and then tried to join a convoy of other vehicles going into the parliament grounds.

But at a checkpoint leading into the parliament compound, guards prevented the driver from going any farther because he did not have proper authorization. The driver then drove to the parking lot just opposite the parliament entrance where many lawmakers or their staff park, and the vehicle exploded seconds later.

At the time, officials had said they did not know if the explosion was the result of rocket or mortar fire into the Green Zone, whether a bomber managed to get inside or whether a bomb had been attached to a vehicle that then drove into the Green Zone.

Al-Moussawi said Friday that the new information was based on confessions from members of a terrorist group. They revealed that the bomb was supposed to go off when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited the parliament during an upcoming session, he said. But al-Moussawi declined to give further details.

He added that security officials already had information leading them to believe that al-Maliki might be targeted during his parliament trip. Al-Maliki was expected to address the legislative body soon but no date had been set.

A security official with knowledge of the investigation said police found a charred body near the mangled vehicle and were still trying to determine the identity of the person through DNA tests. The official said no one had come forward to claim the body, and it was not clear whether it was an innocent bystander or a suicide bomber.

Al-Maliki was in his office in another area of the Green Zone when the bomb went off, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists.

No one else was killed in the blast, though two people were wounded.

The vast area in central Baghdad dubbed the Green Zone is the most protected area in Iraq and houses the U.S. Embassy, the Iraqi parliament and the homes of many Iraqi government officials. People going into the area must go through a checkpoint and show identification. Guards check for bombs or use dogs to search for explosives.

Inside the Green Zone there are often more checkpoints to access certain areas, including the parliament.

___

Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111203/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

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Barnes & Noble Nook business jumps 85% to $220 million

Barnes & Noble on Thursday reported its results for the second fiscal quarter of 2012, in which it revealed its Nook business has seen stellar growth over the last year. The company said that its Nook business, which includes sales of tablets, eReaders and eBooks, pulled in $220 million in the second quarter, up 85% from the same quarter last year. Barnes & Noble did not reveal how many Nook devices it sold during the quarter but said that it expects to sell ?millions of devices? during the third fiscal quarter. B&N.com sales increased 17% year-over-year from $177 million to $206 million, but Barnes & Noble?s overall sales fell 0.6% from $190 billion in the second quarter last year to $189 billion this past quarter. Retail sales also dropped 1% from $931 million to $918 million. Barnes & Noble?s full press release follows after the break.

Barnes & Noble Reports Fiscal 2012 Second Quarter Financial Results

EBITDA Increases 21% over the Prior Year

Comparable Store Sales Increase 10.9% over the Three Day Holiday Weekend

NOOK Tablet? Becomes Fastest Selling NOOK? Product

NEW YORK?(BUSINESS WIRE)?Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) today reported sales and earnings for its second quarter ended October 29, 2011.

SECOND QUARTER SALES

Total sales decreased 0.6% as compared to the prior year, from $1.90 billion to $1.89 billion. Barnes & Noble store (?Retail?) sales decreased 1% from $931 million to $918 million, with comparable sales decreasing 0.6%. Physical book sales declined, offset by increases in NOOK products and were positively affected by the liquidation of the remaining Borders stores. Comparable store sales improved each month throughout the quarter.

Barnes & Noble College (?College?) sales declined 4% from $797 million to $768 million, due to a shift from selling new and used textbooks to lower priced, higher margin textbook rentals. Comparable store sales increased 0.4%. College comparable store sales reflect the retail selling price of a new or used textbook when rented, rather than solely the rental fee received and amortized over the rental period.

BN.com sales increased 17% over the prior year, from $177 million to $206 million. Comparable sales increased 38%, on top of a 59% increase a year ago. This increase was driven by continued growth of digital content sales and purchases of award winning NOOK? devices. BN.com comparable sales reflect the actual selling price for eBooks sold under the agency model rather than solely the commission received.

SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew 21% over the prior year, from $46 million to $56 million.

Retail EBITDA grew from $1.3 million to $21.0 million, benefiting from higher product margins this year. In addition, the prior year included $10 million of litigation and proxy contest costs. College EBITDA declined slightly from $95.3 million to $93.9 million. BN.com EBITDA losses increased from $50.2 million to $58.9 million, driven by planned product markdowns on the recently announced NOOK price adjustments, as well as higher advertising production costs.

Total company net loss was $6.6 million for the quarter, or $0.17 per share, as compared to a net loss of $12.6 million last year, or $0.22 per share. Included in the current quarter is a $0.06 loss per share related to the company?s preferred stock dividend, in accordance with ASC 260, Earnings per Share. The dividend is deducted from earnings available to common shareholders in the earnings per share calculation and does not impact the company?s results of operations.

BARNES & NOBLE LAUNCHES NOOK Tablet?

On November 7, 2011, Barnes & Noble launched NOOK Tablet, the company?s fastest and lightest tablet with the best in entertainment. msnbc.com cited the product as a ?terrific tablet,? The Associated Press called it ?really impressive? and Forrester Research Inc. called it a ?wow product?. In the first few weeks of launch, NOOK Tablet has become the fastest selling NOOK product in the company?s history.

Concurrent with the launch of NOOK Tablet, the company also announced enhancements and new low prices for NOOK Color? and NOOK Simple Touch?, retailing at $199 and $99, respectively.

The newly updated NOOK Simple Touch continues to earn high praise from leading tech review outlets. CNET, PCMag and Laptop Magazine rank it among their top-rated touch eReaders with all three naming it ?Editor?s Choice? and this week, PC World rated NOOK Simple Touch the #1 eReader (11/29/11).

The consolidated NOOK business across all of the company?s segments, including sales of digital content, device hardware and related accessories, increased 85% in the second quarter to $220 million, on a comparable sales basis.

?The launch of NOOK Tablet, combined with the product enhancements to NOOK Color and $99 NOOK Simple Touch, represents the highest-quality portfolio of digital reading products on the market at incredible values,? said William Lynch, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc. ?We expect to sell millions of devices during our third quarter, adding to the millions of current NOOK customers. This growing base of customers buying digital content from Barnes & Noble will continue to position us as one of the fastest growing companies in this exploding digital content market, and we project this will generate significant returns on our investments for years to come.?

HOLIDAY RESULTS TO DATE

Over the three-day holiday weekend, comparable store sales increased 10.9% at Barnes & Noble stores, on top of 17% comparable store growth last year. ?Based on early sales and traffic results in stores we are encouraged by our prospects for this upcoming holiday,? added William Lynch.

FULL YEAR GUIDANCE

The company expects full year EBITDA to be at the lower end of the previously issued range of $210 million to $250 million. Although the company has seen and continues to expect increases in retail earnings from plan, it plans to invest more heavily in customer acquisition activities to fuel NOOK digital growth. These investments primarily include promotional activity and advertising for NOOK products, as well as technology costs related to developing other opportunities.

CONFERENCE CALL

A conference call with Barnes & Noble, Inc.?s senior management will be webcast beginning at 10:00 A.M. ET on Thursday, December 1, 2011, and is accessible at www.barnesandnobleinc.com/webcasts.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. will report holiday sales on or about January 5, 2012.

Source: http://www.bgr.com/2011/12/01/barnes-noble-nook-business-jumps-85-to-220-million/

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US awaits release of 3 students held in Egypt (AP)

PHILADELPHIA ? Three American students arrested during a protest in Cairo and ordered released by an Egyptian court are in the midst of being processed by authorities there, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said Friday.

Katharina Gollner-Sweet, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, told The Associated Press that Derrik Sweeney, Luke Gates and Gregory Porter are being processed for their eventual release one day after a court ordered them released from police custody, according to information from Egyptian officials.

"According to the latest information that the Egyptians gave out they were ordered released in the court but they are in an administrative out-processing stage," Gollner-Sweet said. "We are continuing to provide normal consular services."

The three U.S. college students, who attend the American University in Cairo, were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square on Sunday. Officials accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

A court in Egypt ordered the release of the students, a lawyer in Philadelphia confirmed Thursday.

Attorney Theodore Simon, who represents Porter, a 19-year-old student at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said he spoke by phone with Porter, describing the student's demeanor as "calm and measured, demonstrating a maturity well beyond his 19 years."

"He was extremely thankful and appreciative for our efforts and the unconditional support of his mother and father," Simon said.

Porter is from Glenside, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia.

Sweeney's mother, Joy Sweeney, said she is "absolutely elated" at the news of her 19-year-old son's release.

"I can't wait to give him a huge hug and tell him how much I love him," she said, adding that the news of the court order was the best Thanksgiving gift.

The 21-year-old Gates is a student at Indiana University.

His parents released a statement Thursday through the school, saying they were "extremely happy" to hear that their son would soon be released.

"This has been a difficult situation, and while we are disappointed that he will be held a few days longer to complete administrative procedures related to his release, we're confident he will be home soon," Bill and Sharon Gates wrote.

The State Department released a statement saying it was trying to independently confirm the reports of the students' release.

Earlier Thursday, Egypt officials said the Abdeen Court in Cairo had ordered their release. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media. They did not say when the students would be released.

Joy Sweeney said she wasn't sure when her son, a student at Georgetown University, would be returning to their home in Jefferson City, Mo.

"If he can find his passport (then he'll leave) tomorrow, if not, it won't be until Monday," she said.

She said the U.S. consul general in Egypt, Roberto Powers, recommended that her son leave Egypt as soon as possible.

"He also conveyed that that was what Derrik had conveyed to him that he wanted to do. He was enjoying his experience but (was) ready to be done with it," Sweeney said.

Derrik Sweeney interned for U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., earlier this year. Luetkemeyer's spokesman Paul Sloca, said the congressman is "extremely pleased that he's safe and coming home, especially on Thanksgiving."

Sweeney said she had not prepared for a Thanksgiving celebration, although a friend had taken her some food. She said the idea of a Thanksgiving feast had seemed "absolutely irrelevant" before the news of her son's pending freedom.

Asked what she thought her son would take away from his arrest, Sweeney said she thought he would make something useful of it.

"I'm sure that he'll put a life-lesson learning experience into a positive story," Sweeney said. "He's a writer, he will write about this experience."

___

Associated Press reporter Ed Donahue in Washington contributed to this report. Hadeel Al-Shalchi reported from Cairo.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_us/egypt_american_students

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DARPA aims to hear your fear in a crowd

Arshad Arbab / EPA

In this file photo locals topple over a burnt out car after a car bomb blast near a market in Peshawar, Pakistan. The U.S. military is working on technology to track down terrorists by listening for their heartbeats, even in a crowd.

By John Roach

You can run, you can hide, but the masterminds in the military's high-tech research arm have their eyes on a gadget that will allow them to hear your racing heart even as you try to get lost in a crowd.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency already has the technology to hear your heart as you crouch and cower in a dark corner across the room. Now the agency aims to increase its ability to do this at even greater distances, through walls ??and even hear and distinguish between multiple hearts at once.

---

The technology could help chase down terrorists who set off a bomb and then scatter into the fleeing crowd, for example. It could also help rescue victims trapped in the rubble from the explosion.

The goal of the agency's "Biometrics-at-a-distance" program is a technology that "can record human vital signs at a distance greater than 10 meters using non-line-of-sight and non-invasive or non-contact methods" and do this for up to 10 people at once.

The technology to do this, the agency suspects, is likely to build from electrocardiograms, which measure the heart's electrical activity. This is what doctors use, for example, to diagnose heart disease in people.

[Via Gizmodo]

More on DARPA tech:

---

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

?

Kids' play has moved to tablets and PCs. In this new age, toy makers and researchers alike are sorting out the benefits ? and detriments ? of playful educational interaction in virtual space.

?

Source: http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/21/8934288-darpa-aims-to-hear-your-fear-in-a-crowd

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Separating signal and noise in climate warming

Friday, November 18, 2011

In order to separate human-caused global warming from the "noise" of purely natural climate fluctuations, temperature records must be at least 17 years long, according to climate scientists.

To address criticism of the reliability of thermometer records of surface warming, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists analyzed satellite measurements of the temperature of the lower troposphere (the region of the atmosphere from the surface to roughly five miles above) and saw a clear signal of human-induced warming of the planet.

Satellite measurements of atmospheric temperature are made with microwave radiometers, and are completely independent of surface thermometer measurements. The satellite data indicate that the lower troposphere has warmed by roughly 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit since the beginning of satellite temperature records in 1979. This increase is entirely consistent with the warming of Earth's surface estimated from thermometer records.

Recently, a number of global warming critics have focused attention on the behavior of Earth's temperature since 1998. They have argued that there has been little or no warming over the last 10 to 12 years, and that computer models of the climate system are not capable of simulating such short "hiatus periods" when models are run with human-caused changes in greenhouse gases.

"Looking at a single, noisy 10-year period is cherry picking, and does not provide reliable information about the presence or absence of human effects on climate said Benjamin Santer, a climate scientist and lead author on an article in the Nov. 17 online edition of the Journal of Geophysical Research (Atmospheres).

Many scientific studies have identified a human "fingerprint" in observations of surface and lower tropospheric temperature changes. These detection and attribution studies look at long, multi-decade observational temperature records. Shorter periods generally have small signal to noise ratios, making it difficult to identify an anthropogenic signal with high statistical confidence, Santer said.

"In fingerprinting, we analyze longer, multi-decadal temperature records, and we beat down the large year-to-year temperature variability caused by purely natural phenomena (like El Ni?os and La Ni?as). This makes it easier to identify a slowly-emerging signal arising from gradual, human-caused changes in atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases," Santer said.

The LLNL-led research shows that climate models can and do simulate short, 10- to 12-year "hiatus periods" with minimal warming, even when the models are run with historical increases in greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosol particles. They find that tropospheric temperature records must be at least 17 years long to discriminate between internal climate noise and the signal of human-caused changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

"One individual short-term trend doesn't tell you much about long-term climate change," Santer said. "A single decade of observational temperature data is inadequate for identifying a slowly evolving human-caused warming signal. In both the satellite observations and in computer models, short, 10-year tropospheric temperature trends are strongly influenced by the large noise of year-to-year climate variability."

###

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: http://www.llnl.gov

Thanks to DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115331/Separating_signal_and_noise_in_climate_warming

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GOP co-chair: Debt talks a 'roller coaster ride' (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Republican co-chair of a committee in charge of slashing the nation's deficit on Sunday called deliberations a "roller coaster ride" and gave no indication that a deal could be struck before the panel's Thanksgiving deadline.

Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling said the panel will fail unless Democrats agree to significant "structural" changes to entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security. When asked whether that could be done in a matter of days, he said "we haven't given up hope."

"But if this were easy, the president of the United States (Barack Obama) and the speaker of the House (John Boehner) would have gotten it done themselves," Hensarling said.

The supercommittee has until Nov. 23 to agree on how to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion in the next decade. Any amount less than that would be made up in automatic across-the-board cuts divided evenly between defense and domestic programs.

The panel has been stymied for weeks over taxes. Democrats want to raise revenue by making tax code changes that directly add money to government coffers. Republicans have agreed to increase government revenue, but are demanding large cuts to benefit programs, which they say are bleeding Americans dry.

Both sides have blamed the other for failing to move forward. Last week, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that Obama has told panel members that their finished product must contain both sources of new revenue, or taxes, as well as spending cuts.

At a press conference at the Asia-Pacific economic summit in Hawaii Sunday, Obama said he hopes lawmakers will "bite the bullet and do what needs to be done," but voiced frustration with what he said was a desire by some members of Congress to "want to keep jiggering the math" to get a different outcome.

The president refused to say whether he would veto any effort to bypass the deep cuts in defense and other spending that would take effect if there is no deal forthcoming from Congress.

Hensarling offered no new talking points Sunday, indicating that the two sides remain far from reaching consensus.

"We want more revenues. We just want to raise it by growing the economy," he said.

Likewise, Democratic panel member Rep. James Clyburn offered no hint that a real compromise was in the works.

"We've got 10 days to do this, and I really believe that all of the ingredients for a good resolution are there. We just need to build the will," said Clyburn, D-S.C. At the same time, Clyburn accused Republicans of wanting to cut a billionaire's tax bill by $300,000 while eliminating Medicare for people on a fixed income.

"That is just not fair," he said.

Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican member of the committee, defended his latest proposal as one that would get the economy moving again. Toomey and other Republicans want to generate at least $250 billion in new revenue by limiting tax deductions but only if Democrats agree to drop the top tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent.

"You absolutely can do this in a way that will be pro-growth, that will generate more revenue, (and) that would avoid this huge tax increase that's coming otherwise," Toomey said.

Democrats have rejected the idea as something that will ultimately cost more than it would save, and called for a mix of $1 trillion in spending cuts and $1 trillion in higher tax revenue over the next decade.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat who supports entitlement and tax reform, suggested that politics was the biggest culprit in preventing a deal.

"You'll know this supercommittee is getting close when folks on both ends of the political extreme scream the loudest, because that will show that there's actually movement being made," he said.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., agreed.

"We can fix our problems but we require leadership from the president, and the leaders from the House and the Senate to say `we're going to do this.' And we have not seen that on both sides of the aisle and that's disappointing," he said.

Coburn, a vocal opponent of any tax increase, said he could stand the idea of increasing government revenues if the money comes from restructuring entitlement programs.

"I want to tell you, we're going to touch Medicare because there's no way we can borrow the money five years from now to run Medicare the way it is today," he said. "The question really is, will politicians do what is best for the country or best for their party and position?"

Hensarling, Warner and Coburn spoke on CNN's "State of the Union." Toomey and Clyburn spoke on "Fox News Sunday."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111114/ap_on_go_co/us_debt_supercommittee

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