Drones over America: How unmanned fliers are already helping cops

Nidhi Subbaraman , NBC News ? ? ? 3 hrs.

It was getting dark, and the sheriff of Nelson County, N.D., was in a standoff with a family of suspected cattle rustlers. They were armed, and the last thing anybody wanted was a shoot out.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which monitors police radio chatter, offered to help. Their Predator was flying back to its roost at the Grand Forks Air Force base and could provide aerial support. Did the sheriff want the assist?

Yep.

"We were able to detect that one of the sons was sitting at the end of the driveway with a gun. We also knew that there were small children involved," Sheriff Kelly Janke told NBC News, remembering that tricky encounter in the early summer of 2011. "Someone would have gotten seriously injured if we had gone in on the farm that night." He decided to wait.

The next day, the drone gave them an edge again by helping them choose the safest moment to make a move. "We were able to surprise them ? took them into custody," Janke said. They also collected six stolen cows.

Rodney Brossart, the arrested farmer, sued the state, in part because of the cop's use of a drone. But a district judge ruled that the Predator's service was not untoward.

When advocates express concern about government drones threatening people's privacy, the Brossart case is one they bring up. It's one of the first instances of a flying robot doing a cop's dirty work, and this kind of intervention is likely to be more and more commonplace, as the FAA fulfills a congressional mandate to increase its granting of drone permits ? certificates of authorization, or COAs.

Cops and flying robots
At the moment, there are only 327 active COAs, all held by these organizations, and all for unarmed crafts, of course. A tiny sliver of these permits are in the hands of law enforcement agencies, and from them, we're seeing the first glimpses of drone use in policing and emergency response.

"The FAA has approved us to cover a 16-county area," Sheriff Bob Rost of Grand Forks County, N.D., said of their COA. "To look for missing children, to look for escaped criminals and in the case of emergencies." In the spring, they will use two mini-copter drones ? a trusty DraganFlyer X6 and an AeroVironment Qube ? to check on flooded farms.

The police department in Arlington, Texas, also recently got FAA clearance to fly their drones after two years of testing. The two battery-powered Leptron Avenger helicopter drones won't be used for high-speed chases or routine patrol, the department explains. In fact, the crafts will be driven in a truck to where they're needed, and when they're launched to scope out incidents, local air traffic control will be informed.

In Mesa County, Colo., the police department has used drones to find missing people, do an aerial landfill survey and help out firefighters at a burning church. For them, it's seen as a cost-cutting technology.

"It's the Wal-Mart version of what we'd normally get at Saks Fifth Avenue," said Benjamin Miller, who leads the drones program in Mesa County, comparing drones to manned helicopters that would otherwise give police officers help from the sky.

In Seattle, the police department received an FAA permit ? but had to give back its drones when the mayor banned their use, following protests in October 2012.

Protests and red tape
"Hasn't anyone heard of George Orwell's '1984'?" the Seattle Times quoted a protester as saying. "This is the militarization of our streets and now the air above us."

Protesters, not just in Seattle, seek more legal definition of what a drone can or can't do, and debate whether or not current laws sufficiently protect citizens from unauthorized surveillance and other abuses.

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks of police drones as an inevitability ? "We're going to have them," he recently said in a radio interview ? while those on the police (and drone) side say the fears are unfounded.

"This hysteria of [a drone] hovering outside your backyard taking a video of you smoking a joint, it's just that ? hysteria," said Al Frazier, an ex-cop from Los Angeles who is now an assistant professor of aeronautics at the University of North Dakota, and a deputy at the Grand Forks sheriff's office.

The reason the sky isn't lousy with drones already mostly has to do with red tape. The FAA's highly restricted drone application for government agencies is supposed to take about 60 days, though unofficially, we're told it's much longer. COAs are also very strict about where, when and by whom a drone is flown.

"I think there are many agencies who would like to use [drones] for public good, but they're stymied by the process," Frazier said.

That's likely to change ? and soon. Last February, Obama signed a mandate that encourages the FAA to let civil and commercial drones join the airspace by 2015. This will take new regulations from the FAA for safe commercial drone flight, and it may take some convincing of local anti-drone activists (who sometimes don't differentiate between drones great and small). It may even require the passing of a few new privacy laws.

Folks like Frazier and Miller don't see the permit process getting easier any time soon but eventually ? inevitably ? and for better or worse, your local police department will get its drone.

Nidhi Subbaraman writes about technology and science. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.

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Anticipating domestic boom, colleges rev up drone piloting programs

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Pope makes Easter pleas for Mideast peace

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Pope Francis delivered a plea for peace in his first Easter Sunday message to the world, decrying the seemingly endless conflicts in the Middle East and on the Korean peninsula after celebrating Mass at an outdoor altar before more than 250,000 people in flower-bedecked St. Peter's Square.

Francis shared in his flock's exuberance as they celebrated Christianity's core belief that Jesus Christ rose from the dead following crucifixion. After Mass, he stepped aboard an open-topped white popemobile for a cheerful spin through the joyous crowd, kissing babies and patting children on the head.

One admirer of both the pope and of the pope's favorite soccer team, Argentina's Saints of San Lorenzo, insisted that Francis take a team jersey he was waving at the pontiff. A delighted Francis obliged, briefly holding up the shirt, and the crowd roared in approval.

Francis has repeatedly put concern for the poor and suffering at the center of his messages, and he pursued his promotion of the causes of peace and social justice in the Easter speech he delivered from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, the same vantage point above the square where he was introduced to the world as the first Latin American pope on March 13.

The Roman Catholic leader aimed his Easter greetings at "every house and every family, especially where the suffering is greatest, in hospitals, in prisons." Francis prayed that Jesus would inspire people to "change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace."

As popes before him have, he urged Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks and end a conflict that "has lasted all too long." And, in reflecting on the two-year-old Syrian crisis, Francis asked, "How much suffering must there still be before a political solution" can be found?

The pope also expressed desire for a "spirit of reconciliation" on the Korean peninsula, where North Korea says it has entered "a state of war" with South Korea. He also decried warfare and terrorism in Africa, as well as what he called the 21st century's most extensive form of slavery: human trafficking.

The first pontiff to come from the Jesuits, an order with special concern for the poor, and the first pope to name himself after St. Francis, a medieval figure who renounced wealth to preach to the down-and-out, Francis lamented that the world is "still divided by greed looking for easy gain."

Earlier, wearing cream-colored vestments, Francis celebrated Mass on the esplanade in front of the basilica at an altar set up under a white canopy. He frequently bowed his head as if in silent reflection.

The sun competed with clouds in the sky Sunday, but the square was a riot of floral color in Rome, where chilly winter has postponed the blossoming of many flowers. Yellow forsythia and white lilies shone, along with bursts of lavender and pink, from potted azalea, rhododendron, wisteria and other plants.

Francis thanked florists from the Netherlands for donating the flowers. He also advised people to let love transform their lives, or as he put it, "let those desert places in our hearts bloom."

The Vatican had prepared a list of brief Easter greetings in 65 languages, but Francis didn't read them. The Vatican didn't say why not, but has said that the new pope, at least for now, feels at ease using Italian, the everyday language of the Holy See. Francis also has stressed his role as a pastor to his flock, and, as Bishop of Rome, Italian would be his language.

The pontiff improvised his parting words to the crowd. He repeated his Easter greeting to those "who have come from all over the world to this square at the heart of Christianity" as well as to those "linked by modern technology," a reference to TV and radio coverage as well as social media.

Francis added that he was especially remembering "the weakest and the neediest" and praying that all of humanity be guided along "the paths of justice, love and peace."

In another departure from Easter tradition, Francis won't be heading for some post-holiday relaxation at the Vatican's summer palace in Castel Gandolfo, in the hills southeast of Rome. That retreat is already occupied by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who went there in the last hours of his papacy on Feb. 28. Benedict became the first pope in 600 years to resign from the position, and eventually is to move back to the Vatican, after a convent there is readied for him.

Francis so far has declined to move into Benedict's former apartment in the Apostolic Palace, into the rooms whose studio overlooks St. Peter's Square. He is still in the Vatican hotel where earlier this month he was staying along with other cardinals participating in the secret conclave to choose Benedict's successor.

While Francis has just begun to make his mark on the church, it is plain he has little desire to embrace much of the pomp customarily associated with the office.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-makes-easter-pleas-mideast-peace-101523086.html

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Pope refers to "Muslim brothers" on Good Friday

ROME (AP) ? Pope Francis reached out in friendship to "so many Muslim brothers and sisters" during a Good Friday procession dedicated to the suffering of Christians from terrorism, war and religious fanaticism in the Middle East.

The new pontiff, who has rankled traditionalists by rejecting many trappings of his office, mostly stuck to the traditional script during the nighttime Way of the Cross procession at Rome's Colosseum, one of the most dramatic rituals of Holy Week.

With torches lighting the way, the faithful carried a cross to different stations, where meditations and prayers were read out recalling the final hours of Jesus' life and his crucifixion.

This year, the prayers were composed by young Lebanese, and many recalled the plight of minority Christians in the region, where wars have forced thousands to flee their homelands. The meditations called for an end to "violent fundamentalism," terrorism and the "wars and violence which in our days devastate various countries in the Middle East."

Francis, who became pope just over two weeks ago, chose, however, to stress Christians' positive relations with Muslims in the region in his brief comments at the end of the ceremony.

Standing on a platform overlooking the procession route, Francis recalled Benedict XVI's 2012 visit to Lebanon when "we saw the beauty and the strong bond of communion joining Christians together in that land and the friendship of our Muslim brothers and sisters and so many others."

"That occasion was a sign to the Middle East and to the whole world, a sign of hope," he said.

Friday's outreach followed Francis' eyebrow-raising gesture a day earlier, when he washed and kissed the feet of two women, one a Muslim, in the Holy Thursday ritual that commemorates Jesus' washing of his apostles' feet during the Last Supper before his crucifixion.

Breaking with tradition, Francis performed the ritual on 12 inmates at a juvenile detention center, rather than in Rome's grand St. John Lateran basilica, where in the past, 12 priests have been chosen to represent Jesus' disciples.

Before he became pope, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio long cultivated warm relations with Muslim leaders in his native Argentina. In one of his first speeches as pope, he called for the church and the West in general to "intensify" relations with the Muslim world.

The Vatican's relations with Islam hit several bumps during Benedict XVI's papacy, when he outraged Muslims with a 2006 speech quoting a Byzantine emperor as saying some of Prophet Muhammad's teachings were "evil and inhuman." And in 2011, the pre-eminent institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world, Cairo's Al-Azhar institute, froze dialogue with the Vatican to protest Benedict's call for greater protection of Christians in Egypt.

However, Francis' past outreach to the Muslim community in Argentina seems to have changed that. Al-Azhar's chief imam, Sheik Ahmed el-Tayyib, sent a message of congratulations to Francis on his election and said he hoped for cooperation.

The Vatican's efforts to reconcile with the Islamic world have not been welcomed by all. Italy's most famous Muslim convert to Catholicism, Magdi Allam, announced last week he was leaving the church because of its "soft" stance on Islam. Allam was baptized by Benedict XVI in 2008 during the high-profile Easter Vigil service when the pope traditionally baptizes a handful of adults. There has been no Vatican comment on his about-face.

Thousands of people packed the Colosseum and surrounding areas for the nighttime procession, holding candles wrapped in paper globes as Francis sat in silent prayer as a giant torch-lit crucifix twinkled nearby. Some in the crowd had Lebanese flags around their shoulders in an indication of the special role Lebanese faithful played in this year's procession.

Lebanon has the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East ? nearly 40 percent of the country's 4 million people, with Maronite Catholics the largest sect. As civil war has raged in neighboring Syria, Lebanon's Christian community has been divided between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Overall, Christians in the Middle East have been uneasy as the Arab Spring has led to the strengthening of Islamist groups in most countries that have experienced uprisings. Thousands of Christians have fled the region ? a phenomenon that the Vatican has lamented, given Christianity's roots in the Holy Land.

"How sad it is to see this blessed land suffer in its children, who relentlessly tear one another to pieces and die!" said one of the Good Friday meditations. "It seems that nothing can overcome evil, terrorism, murder and hatred."

Francis picked up on that message, saying Christ's death on the cross is "the answer which Christians offer in the face of evil, the evil that continues to work in us and around us."

"Christians must respond to evil with good, taking the cross upon themselves as Jesus did," he said.

At the end of the ceremony, a male choir sang a haunting Arabic hymn, a reflection of the Eastern rite influence that infused the ceremony.

On Saturday, Francis presides over the solemn Easter Vigil ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica and on Sunday, he celebrates Easter Mass and delivers an important speech. Usually the pope also issues Easter greetings in dozens of languages.

In his two weeks as pope, Francis' discomfort with speaking in any language other than Italian has become apparent. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Friday "we'll have to see" what Francis does with the multilingual greetings.

The Good Friday procession was conducted entirely in Italian, whereas in years past the core elements recounting what happens at each station would be recited in a variety of languages.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-refers-muslim-brothers-good-friday-001145243.html

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NATO Strike Kills Child in Afghanistan (Voice Of America)

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Bee deaths stir up renewed buzz

From 2012: Honeybees may be victims of widely used insecticides. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

This past winter has been exceptionally rough for honeybees ??and although it's too early to say exactly why, the usual suspects range from pesticides that appear to cause memory loss to pests that got an exceptionally early start last spring.

Friday marked the start of an annual survey that asks beekeepers to report how many bees they lost over the winter, conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership, the Apiary Inspectors of America and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The advance word is that the results will be brutal.??The New York Times, for example, quoted beekeepers as saying the losses reached levels of 40 to 50 percent?? which would be double the average reported last year.

One beekeeper in Montana was quoted as saying that his bees seemed health last spring, but in September, "they started to fall on their face, to die like crazy."

---

Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an entomologist at the University of Maryland who is one of the leaders of the survey team, said he can't predict what the past winter's average loss figure will be. The beekeepers' reports are being solicited online for the next two weeks, and the figures are due for release on May 7.

"What I can say is, when we were in California this year, the strength of the colonies that were there was significantly lower than it was in previous years," vanEngelsdorp told NBC News.?

Pesticides at issue
That's consistent with a mysterious ailment known as colony collapse disorder, which has stirred scientists' concern for the past decade. The malady almost certainly due to combination of factors ??including the Varroa mite, a single-celled parasite known as Nosema, several varieties of viruses, and pesticides. Researchers point to one particular class of pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, as a prime suspect.

Neonicotinoid-based pesticides are commonly applied as a coating on corn seeds, but the chemicals can persist in the environment. Although they have low toxicity for mammals, they've been found to have a significant neurotoxic effect on insects, including bees. Several European countries have banned neonicotinoids, the European Union has been looking at a wider ban, and the Environmental Protection Agency is considering new limitations as well. Just last week, a lawsuit called on the EPA to suspend the use of two types of neonicotinoids immediately.

Two recently published studies add to the concern: This week, researchers report in Nature Communications that neonicotinoids block the part of a bee's brain that associates scents with foods. They suggest that without that functionality, the bees effectively forget that floral scents mean food is nearby, and thus die off before they can pollinate. A study published in January in the Journal of Experimental Biology found a similar link to problems with scent-related learning and memory.

Mild winter, dry summer
Although neonicotinoids are currently front and center in the debate over colony collapse disorder, they're not necessarily the primary reason for this winter's dramatic dip in bee colonies.

VanEngelsdorp noted that the winter of 2011-2012 was easy on the bees: Losses amounted to just 21.9 percent, compared with a 2006-2011 average of 33 percent. However, the mild winter was kind to the bees' pests as well. VanEngelsdorp speculated that Varroa mites may have gained an early foothold in the hives last spring. By the time beekeepers started their treatments on the usual schedule, it was too late to keep the mites from weakening the colonies. That would help explain why the past winter's losses were worse than usual.

Scott Bauer / USDA via AP

A worker bee carries a Varroa mite, visible in this close-up view.

California beekeeper Randy Oliver, who discusses industry trends on the Scientific Beekeeping blog, said the past summer's drought was also a factor: "When there's a drought, the bees are in poor shape with the food," he told NBC News. He said he and other beekeepers predicted that there'd be heavy winter losses last July, when the scale of the drought became clear.

Heavy losses are bad news, and if bee colonies are becoming progressively weaker, that's worse news. It's not just because of the honey: The Department of Agriculture says that bee pollination is responsible for more than $15 billion in increased crop value each year. A bee scarcity increases costs for the farmers who need them for pollination, and that could lead to higher food prices. But Oliver said it's important to keep a sense of perspective about the bad news.

"The situation with the bees is not dire," he said. "The bees are doing OK. There's no danger that the bees will go extinct. ... That's just not true."

More about bees:

---

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

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'Harry Potter' actor Richard Griffiths dies at 65

LONDON (AP) ? Richard Griffiths was one of the great British stage actors of his generation, a heavy man with a light touch, whether in Shakespeare or Neil Simon. But for millions of movie fans, he will always be grumpy Uncle Vernon, the least magical of characters in the fantastical "Harry Potter" movies.

Griffiths died Thursday at University Hospital in Coventry, central England, from complications following heart surgery, his agent, Simon Beresford, said. He was 65.

"Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe paid tribute to the actor Friday, saying that "any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever just by his presence."

"I am proud to say I knew him," Radcliffe said.

Griffiths won a Tony Award for "The History Boys" and appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows. But he will be most widely remembered as a pair of contrasting uncles ? Harry Potter's Uncle Vernon Dursley and Uncle Monty in cult film "Withnail and I."

Griffiths was among a huge roster of British acting talent to appear in the "Harry Potter" series of films released between 2001 and 2011.

His role, as the grudging, magic-fearing guardian of orphaned wizard Harry, was small but pivotal. Griffiths once said he liked playing Uncle Vernon "because that gives me a license to be horrible to kids."

But Radcliffe recalled Griffiths' kindness to the young star.

"Richard was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career," said Radcliffe, who in 2007 starred with Griffiths in a London and Broadway production of "Equus."

"In August 2000, before official production had even begun on 'Potter,' we filmed a shot outside the Dursleys', which was my first ever shot as Harry. I was nervous, and he made me feel at ease.

"Seven years later, we embarked on 'Equus' together. It was my first time doing a play, but, terrified as I was, his encouragement, tutelage and humor made it a joy."

Earlier, Griffiths was the louche, lecherous Uncle Monty to Richard E. Grant's character Withnail in "Withnail and I," a low-budget British comedy about two out-of-work actors that has become a cult classic. Years after its 1987 release, Griffiths said people would regularly shout Monty's most famous lines at him in the street.

"My beloved 'Uncle Monty' Richard Griffiths died last night," Grant tweeted Friday. "Chin-Chin my dear friend."

A huge stage presence with a grace rendered all the more striking by his physical bulk, Griffiths created roles including the charismatic teacher Hector at the emotional heart of Alan Bennett's school drama "The History Boys." He won an Olivier Award for the part in London and a Tony for the Broadway run, and repeated his performance in the 2006 film adaptation.

National Theatre artistic director Nicholas Hytner, who directed "The History Boys," called Griffiths' performance in that play "a masterpiece of wit, delicacy, mischief and desolation, often simultaneously."

Griffiths also played poet W.H. Auden in Bennett's "The Habit of Art," a hugely persuasive performance despite the lack of physical resemblance between the two men.

Griffiths was born in northeast England's Thormaby-on-Tees in 1947 to parents who were deaf and mute ? an experience he and his directors felt contributed to his exceptional ability to listen and to communicate physically.

"The first language he learned was sign. And therefore his ability to listen to people with his eyes as well as his ears is incredible," Thea Sharrock, who directed "Equus," told The Associated Press in 2008.

Griffiths left school at 15 but later studied drama and spent a decade with the Royal Shakespeare Company, making a specialty of comic parts such as the buffoonish knight Falstaff.

On television, he played a crime-solving chef in 1990s' British TV series "Pie in the Sky," and he had parts in movies ranging from historical dramas "Chariots of Fire" and "Gandhi" to slapstick farce "The Naked Gun 2 ?."

Known for his sense of humor, large store of rambling theatrical anecdotes and occasional bursts of temper, Griffiths was renowned for shaming audience members whose cell phones rang during plays by stopping the performance and ordering the offender to leave.

Griffiths' last major stage role was in a West End production of Neil Simon's comedy "The Sunshine Boys" last year opposite Danny DeVito. The pair had been due to reprise their roles in Los Angeles later this year.

Theater director Trevor Nunn, who as head of the Royal Shakespeare Company was one of the first to spot Griffiths' talent, said he was "an actor of rare emotional and indeed tragic power."

"Richard inspired great love and spread much happiness, and as the Shakespeare he loved put it, 'There's a great spirit gone,'" Nunn said.

Griffiths is survived by his wife, Heather Gibson.

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/harry-potter-actor-richard-griffiths-dies-65-102210345.html

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East: Syracuse tops Indiana 61-50; Marquette next

Indiana forward Cody Zeller (40) is trapped between Syracuse guard Brandon Trich, left, and forward Rakeem Christmas (25) during the first half of an East Regional semifinal in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Indiana forward Cody Zeller (40) is trapped between Syracuse guard Brandon Trich, left, and forward Rakeem Christmas (25) during the first half of an East Regional semifinal in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Indiana guard Remy Abell, center, shoots over Syracuse center Baye Keita (12) as forward C.J. Fair (5) and Indiana guard Victor Oladipo (4) watch during the first half of an East Regional semifinal in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Syracuse center Baye Keita (12) walks across the court after receiving a cut on his forehead after a fall during the first half of an East Regional semifinal in the NCAA college basketball tournament against Indiana, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Syracuse guard Brandon Triche (20) keeps the ball away from Indiana guard Jordan Hulls (1) during the first half of an East Regional semifinal in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Syracuse forward C.J. Fair (5) heads toward the basket under pressure from Indiana forward Cody Zeller (40) and guard Yogi Ferrell (11) during the first half of an East Regional semifinal in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim knows full well that one of the secrets to success for his team's 2-3 zone defense is the way it confounds opponents who aren't used to playing against that suffocating system.

The No. 4-seeded Orange won't have that element in their favor in the NCAA tournament's East Regional final.

That's because Syracuse will face a familiar foe Saturday with a Final Four berth at stake: Big East rival Marquette, the East's No. 3 seed.

"We're much better when we play teams that don't know us," Boeheim said. "Marquette knows us. They know how to play against us, so it will be very difficult."

Paced by Michael Carter-Williams' 24 points, Syracuse reached the round of eight with some dominant defense during a 61-50 victory over top-seeded Indiana in the regional semifinals Thursday night. The Orange forced 19 turnovers, blocked 10 shots, and limited the Hoosiers to 33 percent shooting while holding them to their lowest scoring output of the season.

"Our perimeter defense was tremendous," Boeheim said in an arena hallway afterward, his arms crossed across his purple tie, the way he stood for much of the lopsided game. "This is one of our best defensive teams ever. They play it well."

There's an understatement.

"In practice, it's hard to simulate how tall they really are," said Indiana's Jordan Hulls, a 6-foot senior who was at least 4 inches shorter than the players usually guarding him and went 0 for 6 on 3-point tries. "We had the right game plan. We prepared really well. But we had too many turnovers."

Three more, in fact, than shots made (16).

"Let's face facts. We haven't seen a zone like that," Indiana coach Tom Crean said. "They're very good. They're where they're at for a reason."

Next up is Marquette (26-8), which beat No. 2 seed Miami 71-61 in Thursday's first game in Washington.

Syracuse (29-9), heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference this summer, lost at Marquette 74-71 during the Big East regular season on Feb. 25.

That was part of a stretch in which Syracuse lost four of five games. Since then, though, the Orange are 6-1, with the only loss coming against Louisville in the conference tournament final. In that game, Syracuse fell apart in the second half, going from a 16-point lead to trailing by 18 in a 13-minute span.

The Orange built an 18-point lead in the first half against Indiana, and while that dwindled to six early in the second half, Boeheim's squad never let it get closer than that.

The last time these two schools faced off in the NCAA tournament, Indiana won the 1987 championship on a late shot ? and it took winning the 2003 national title with Carmelo Anthony for Boeheim to get over it. That decade-old group was also Syracuse's last visit to the Final Four.

Less than a half-minute into Thursday's game, as Indiana star Victor Oladipo headed to the free-throw line, the arena's overhead scoreboard showed a replay of "The Shot," as it's come to be known ? Keith Smart's baseline jumper in the final seconds that lifted Bob Knight's Hoosiers past Boeheim's Orange.

Boeheim entered Thursday with 50 wins in the tournament, fourth-most in history, and more than 900 victories overall, with so much of that success built on his unusual zone defense, 40 minutes of a puzzle for opponents to try and solve.

Indiana (29-7), like most teams outside the Big East, isn't used to seeing that sort of thing, and it showed right from the outset. Didn't matter that Indiana ranked third in the country this season in scoring, putting up 79.5 points per game ? and never fewer than 56 ? while making 48.6 percent of its shots.

"Not too many teams are used to our zone," said Brandon Triche, who scored 14 points Thursday and whose uncle, Howard, was on Boeheim's 1987 squad. "That's what we play. Other teams that play zone, they (also) play man, they switch up defenses. But our main (thing) is zone. ... We're very long, and we're very active, and when we're active like we were today, we're hard to score on."

Cody Zeller was held to 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting. Oladipo scored 16 for Indiana, none easily.

"Credit them," Oladipo said, his head bowed and voice hushed. "They did a great job with their zone. They're well-coached."

Boeheim looked on calmly, occasionally resting his chin on his right fist while seated. He seemed something like an interested observer rather than active participant in the proceedings.

Sure must have liked what he saw, though.

"They never really succeeded in getting the ball in the right places," Boeheim said about the Hoosiers. "And it's not that easy, but it can be done. But they didn't know how to do that."

___

Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-29-BKC-NCAA-Syracuse-Indiana-Folo/id-452a1b9c05d54ce3993212e1b1015c48

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Mandela hospitalized again, South Africa leader asks world to pray for him

The 94-year-old former South African president has been admitted with a recurrence of the lung infection he suffered in December. NBC's Rohit Kochroo reports.

By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News

Nelson Mandela suffered a recurrence of his lung infection and was taken to a hospital late Wednesday.

In a statement, the current South African President Jacob Zuma said ?we appeal to the people of South Africa and the world to pray for our beloved Madiba [a nickname for Mandela] and his family and to keep them in their thoughts.?

?We have full confidence in the medical team and know that they will do everything possible to ensure recovery," he added. ?The Presidency appeals once again for understanding and privacy in order to allow space to the doctors to do their work.?

Mandela, 94, was taken to a hospital just before midnight local time (6 p.m. ET).

The statement said that Mandela had the ?best possible expert in medical treatment and comfort.?

?I can?t say how serious it is,? a presidential spokesman said. ?I know [doctors] will call me if there is an upturn or a downturn.?

/

View images of civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, who went from anti-apartheid activist to prisoner to South Africa's first black president.

Mandela spent nearly three weeks in a hospital in December for treatment of a lung infection and gallstone surgery.

This was his longest time he had been hospitalized since being released from captivity as a political prisoner in 1990.

He was also hospitalized earlier this month for what was described as a "scheduled medical checkup."

Mandela was president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, the first president of the country to be elected following the fall of the apartheid system.

NBC News' Matthew DeLuca and Rohit Kachroo contributed to this report.

Related:

Secrecy over Mandela's health fuels concern for South Africa icon

'Who is my Mandela?' South Africans consider icon's place in a changing world

This story was originally published on Thu Mar 28, 2013 3:26 AM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/2a14691f/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C280C174965220Emandela0Ehospitalized0Eagain0Esouth0Eafrica0Eleader0Easks0Eworld0Eto0Epray0Efor0Ehim0Dlite/story01.htm

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Thursday Scoop

Thursday Scoop

Kelly Osbourne Going Over to the Dark Side?[The Frisky] One Direction Releases New Video?[HollyWire] Kailyn Lowry Expecting Baby Boy?[Right Celebrity] Ashley Judd Not Running for Senate?[The Celebrity Cafe] Halle Berry Spotted in Hawaii?[The Blemish] Jessica Brown Findlay Regrets Nude Scene?[The Huffington Post] Kelly Brook Models in Bikini?[Drunken Stepfather] Kim Kardashian Trying to Change Her Skin ...

Thursday Scoop Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/03/thursday-scoop-4/

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Artist paints history of Florida | StAugustine.com

St. Augustine Record

You can sit in front of painter Christopher Still?s ?La Florida? triptych and get a pretty fair idea of Florida?s history. It pays, however, to have the artist as guide.

On Wednesday night, an audience in the Flagler Room at Flagler College got to hear from the artist and watch a video on what it took to create the three paintings which took four years and trips to Spain, Cuba and various locations in the state, including St. Augustine.

Still, who had already signed the paintings, added the March 27, 2013, date as the audience watched.

?People wanted to know why I was so insistent about March 27,? Still said. ?That was the day Easter fell on in 1513.?

As any Florida fourth grader can tell you, on April 2, 1513, Spaniard Ponce de Leon discovered the landmass he named La Florida. And, the name, Still explained, ties directly into the Easter season, what the Spanish termed Pascua Florida or Festival of Flowers.

?? Ponce de Leon would have just celebrated Easter before he named Florida,? explained Still as he and friends Ray Poynor and Don Dohrman put the finishing touches on the exhibit late Wednesday morning. Poynor designed the wooden showcase that unites the paintings.

?You can have ideas. My friends make it happen,? Still said of the finishing piece for his vision.

His work of art is a nod to Florida?s history as well as painting techniques from the 1500s to present. A triptych consists of three pieces and the form goes back to early Christian art. Those folding triptychs often served as altar pieces.

Still?s paintings are separate in this triptych, but the box setting draws them together. On the left and right ?where paintings of saints would normally go,? Still placed a kneeling Ponce de Leon on one panel and Susie Henry, the daughter of Seminole Indian medicine man Bobby Henry, on the other. The center painting features items that tie into the state and 500 years of history.

When friends joked the painting took 500 years to paint, Still replied it ?wouldn?t have been possible without these 500 years.?

For the Seminoles and other Indians, the arrival of Ponce de Leon wasn?t much of a cause for celebration, Still noted. The walls that form the background in the painting of Henry are modeled on those in the cell in the Castillo where Seminole leader Osceola was held prisoner.

The triptych now goes to Tallahassee and the governor?s mansion. It will be there during the month of April, as the state celebrates the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon?s discovery. Eventually the triptych will end up in a private collection, although it may make an appearance at several locations around the country.

Now that the appraisals have been done, Still admitted he?s having some second thoughts about additional travel for the paintings. And no matter what the value, he said, the paintings ?couldn?t be redone.?

?

Art matters

Art has always mattered to Still who was born in Clearwater and grew up in colleges around Florida and Georgia as his father pursued academic degrees.

He was in the second- grade when he entered his first show. That was with other children; by the age of 17 he held his first one-man show. He won a full scholarship to Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and served an apprenticeship in traditional techniques in Florence, Italy. That training and attention to detail show through in his work, including his rich use of color and intricate compositions.

The three paintings that make up ?La Florida? are smaller than usual for Still. His murals hang in the Florida House among other places.

?La Florida? is about half-life size and that, he said, made painting more difficult as he worked out the details.

?

Connections

Those details feature several salutes to St. Augustine including maps, a coin the citizens of St. Augustine gave Henry M. Flagler and an alligator, the models for which were courtesy of the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park.

St. Augustine and Flagler College also solved one of his painting problems.

Still?s original plan was for the background of the middle painting to feature a window with a view. But what could he use for the view without slighting another part of the state?

Then he saw a half-circle Tiffany glass that was part of the original decoration at the Ponce de Leon Hotel, now Flagler College. He used that for the background. If you look carefully at the window, you can make out a very light shadow in the shape of the Castillo de San Marcos.

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In Heade?s Studio

When artist Christopher Still came to St. Augustine he painted in the same ?cottage? once used by Martin Johnson Heade, one of the artists Henry Flagler set up in a studio on the grounds of his Ponce de Leon Hotel.

Heade, who died in St. Augustine in 1904, is now considered one of the major contributors to American representational art. Flagler College now maintains the studio.

Seminole Susie Henry posed in the studio for Still as he worked on one of the panels of his triptych ?La Florida.? He also used her as one of his models for his 2012 entry into the Viva Florida 500 poster contest.

His was the winning submission for the contest.

In 2010, Still was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. In 2012, the Tarpon Springs artist was designated artist in residence of the Florida Legislature.

***

Getting It Right

For Christopher Still, his ?La Florida? was a chance to accurately portray the state?s natural elements.

Often, he notes, artists who have come to Florida quickly painted their pictures and then moved on, not always getting the details right.

Still went out of his way to get those details right. The green manchineel tree apple in his painting featuring Ponce de Leon was painted from nature. He went to the Everglades to get the poisonous apple and has the ?burn? marks on his left wrist to prove it.

The Calusa Indians used the sap and bark from the tree to coat their weapons. An arrow coated with the poisonous sap eventually caused Ponce de Leon?s death in 1521.

Source: http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2013-03-27/artist-paints-history-florida

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Mets say Santana likely will miss season again

FILE - In this March 17, 2013, file photo, New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana, left, and third baseman David Wright watch from the dugout during a spring training baseball game against the Atlanta Braves in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Santana knows he won't be pitching when the Mets start their season April 1. He doesn't know when he'll take the mound again. The 33-year-old left-hander was scheduled to throw on flat ground from 90 feet Saturday, up from 60 feet a week ago. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

FILE - In this March 17, 2013, file photo, New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana, left, and third baseman David Wright watch from the dugout during a spring training baseball game against the Atlanta Braves in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Santana knows he won't be pitching when the Mets start their season April 1. He doesn't know when he'll take the mound again. The 33-year-old left-hander was scheduled to throw on flat ground from 90 feet Saturday, up from 60 feet a week ago. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The New York Mets say Johan Santana has injured his left shoulder again and likely will need surgery and miss the 2013 season.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner missed the 2011 season following shoulder surgery in September 2010, then returned last year and pitched the first no-hitter in the team's history. He hasn't pitched in an exhibition game this year because of arm weakness.

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said Thursday that an MRI in New York a day earlier showed a "probable" re-tear of Santana's left shoulder capsule.

Alderson said Santana's $25 million salary this year is not covered by insurance. The Mets will also owe him a $6 million buyout after this season.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-28-BBN-Mets-Santana/id-de98a07740bb4decafc5023056c6d130

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Family Tree DNA's Genomics Research Center Facilitates Discovery ...

The surprising findings were published in the report "An African American Paternal Lineage Adds an Extremely Ancient Root to the Human Y Chromosome Phylogenetic Tree" in The American Journal of Human Genetics earlier this month.? The study was conducted by a team of top research scientists, including lead scientist Dr. Michael F. Hammer of the University of Arizona, who currently serves on Gene By Gene's advisory board, and two of the company's staff scientists, Drs.Thomas and Astrid-Maria Krahn.

The DNA sample had originally been submitted to National Geographic's Genographic Project, the world's largest "citizen science" genetic research effort with more than 500,000 public participants to date, and was later transferred to Family Tree DNA's database for genealogical research.? Once in Family Tree DNA's database, long-time project administrator Bonnie Schrack noticed that the sample was very unique and advocated for further testing to be done.

"This whole discovery began, really, with a citizen scientist ? someone very similar to our many customers who are interested in learning more about their family roots using one of our genealogy products," said Gene By Gene President Bennett Greenspan.? "While reviewing samples in our database, she recognized that this specific sample was unique and brought it to the attention of our scientists to do further testing.? The results were astounding and show the value of individuals undergoing DNA testing so that we can continue to grow our databases and discover additional critical information about human origins and evolution."

The discovery took place at Family Tree DNA's Genomic Research Center, a CLIA registered lab in Houston which has processed more than 5 million discrete DNA tests from more than 700,000 individuals and organizations, including participants in the Genographic Project.? Drs. Thomas and Astrid-Maria Krahn of Family Tree DNA conducted the company's Walk-Through-Y test on the sample and during the scoring process, quickly realized the unique nature of the sample, given the vast number of mutations.? Following their initial findings, Dr. Hammer and others joined to conduct a formal study, sequencing ~240 kb of the chromosome sample to identify private, derived mutations on this lineage, which has been named A00.

"Our findings indicate that the last common Y chromosome ancestor may have lived long before the first anatomically modern humans appeared in Africa about 195,000 years ago," said Dr. Michael Hammer.? "Furthermore, the sample, which came from an African American man living in South Carolina, matched Y chromosome DNA of males from a very small area in western Cameroon, indicating that the lineage is extremely rare in Africa today, and its presence in the US is likely due to the Atlantic slave trade.? This is a huge discovery for our field and shows the critical role direct-to-consumer DNA testing companies can play in science; this might not have been known otherwise."

Family Tree DNA recently dramatically reduced the price of its basic Y-DNA test by approximately 50%.? By offering the lowest-cost DNA test available on the market today, Gene By Gene and Family Tree DNA are working to eliminate cost as a barrier to individuals introducing themselves to personal genetic and genomic research.? They hope that expanding the pool of DNA samples in their database will lead to future important scientific discoveries.

About Gene By Gene, Ltd.
Founded in 2000, Gene By Gene, Ltd. provides reliable DNA testing to a wide range of consumer and institutional customers through its four divisions focusing on ancestry, health, research and paternity.? Gene By Gene provides DNA tests through its Family Tree DNA division, which pioneered the concept of direct-to-consumer testing in the field of genetic genealogy more than a decade ago.? Gene by Gene is CLIA registered and through its clinical-health division DNA Traits offers regulated diagnostic tests.? DNA DTC is the Research Use Only (RUO) division serving both direct-to-consumer and institutional clients worldwide.? Gene By Gene offers AABB certified relationship tests through its paternity testing division, DNA Findings. The privately held company is headquartered in Houston, which is also home to its state-of-the-art Genomics Research Center.

Source: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2013/03/family-tree-dnas-genomics-research-center-facilitates-discovery-of-extremely-ancient-root-to-the-hum.html

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HostPapa eShops Review - Best Web Hosting in Canada

There is no question that online shopping represents a huge opportunity for a business to market to the masses in an affordable way. The first step for entrepreneurs seeking to sell products via the Internet is to decide how best to create an online store that meets their security and marketing needs and that is both affordable and easy to use. Compatibility is also a concern for entreprenuers seeking to integrate the store with their other marketing strategies and tools.

HostPapa eShops are worth serious consideration for the reasons listed below. HostPapa eShops are:

• Customizable;
• Comprehensive;
• Secure;
• Flexible;
• Affordable;
• SEO-friendly;
• Responsive.

HostPapa eShops Compared with Hosted Shopping Carts

Major players using the hosted shopping cart business model include Yahoo, Volusion and Shopify. While they offer a shopping cart that can be used to process payments, customers are forced to conform with their website builder and are limited in design options as a result. In addition to the learning curve associated with using these hosted shopping carts, there are also hidden fees and transaction fees to be evaluated as a part of the true cost of using these services.

HostPapa eShops Compared with Well-known Private Stores

Most notably, Amazon and eBay stores offer another option for companies seeking to sell online. One complaint that online entrepreneurs have about this type of partnership is that they must use an eBay or Amazon URL instead of establishing a Internet identity separate from these Internet giants. Companies that decide to work with these stores also find that they have very little flexibility building the site since they are limited by eBay or Amazon tools and regulations.

HostPapa eShops as a Flexible and Customizable Answer

The beauty of HostPapa eShops is that any website currently being used can be transformed into an online shopping venue with a few simple steps. For this reason, online entrepreneurs interested in integrating a store with other viable marketing tools already in place, are satisfied with HostPapa eShops flexibility. This hosting company also allows its business partners the advantage of customizing the site according to the marketing vision of the company without sending a mixed message or limitations imposed by overbearing partners with other agendas.

Another nice feature worth mentioning is how a HostPapa eShop can be created using WordPress, Blogger, or any other platform. This is a great news for website owners already familiar with a specific platform. Saving time by utilizing familiar tools to get an online store up and running in a short period of time definitely puts smiles on the face of webmasters.

HostPapa eShops Prices and Packages

Estimating the cost of using a service should not be difficult. Hidden fees and transaction fees can really start adding up. This is one huge reason why HostPapa eShops is so well received. There are three basic packages to choose from, with three low monthly fees. These fees are determined by the monthly sales volume. The Starter package is $9.99 and allows for up to $1000 in sales. The second package which is called the Advanced option costs $19.99 and allows for up to $10,000 in sales. The final Ultimate package costs $49.95 and allows for an unlimited sales volume.

All three packages accommodate an unlimited number of products and product categories. Other noteworthy features of all of the packages include multiple payment options with all credit cards accepted. Unlimited email accounts and web space is also offered by all three packages.

HostPapa eShops Customer Support

HostPapa eShops offers customer service and technical service 365 days a year, 24/7. They also offer this support with representatives that speak different languages. Since the Internet is a 24/7 shopping reality, the fact that business professionals can count on support whenever the need arises provides an extra level of comfort.

For more information about HostPapa?s eShops, visit www.hostpapa.ca

Source: http://www.webhostingratings.ca/hostpapa-eshops/

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Ashley Judd not running for Senate (cbsnews)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295078042?client_source=feed&format=rss

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?After Love?

Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Click the arrow on the audio player to?hear Alan Michael Parker read this poem. You can also download?the recording or?subscribe?to?Slate's Poetry Podcast on iTunes.

I wrote letters of introduction
and sent them to every embassy
of every future
just in case you need something
when you get there

including to all the outposts of wind-up afternoons
and to all the banquets where the gods disagree
and to all the bees muscling in all the flowers
and of course to every color.

In the letters I share a couple of our secrets
the story of our argument on the way to Toronto
how we drove by Toronto arguing
because you were wrong

and later the sweet closing of your body
on my Niagara Falls my Maid of the Mist my Sea World
and how in love
you breathe in as though you were laughing.
Your right hand rubs my scalp

scratching without thinking
after love
as though my head were your own.
I put that in a few of the letters.
I hope this is all okay.

Now wherever you go they?ll know you
and you?ll be asked to accompany
all of the presidents
every grain of blue
and all of the ministers
every knife of every poplar
and all of the other world?s ambassadors
every cogitating groundhog.
I wouldn?t mind being there
to see.

Although my first obligation is right here
as you rise after love
to dress back-lighted and so slowly

as each gesture rounds off
how the light feels about the room.

Everyone should know?I will tell everyone.
I can do this much.
I will write more letters more letters

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=f45d28ec40caba886dd13ecdbfbf2f95

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EU finance ministers approve Cyprus bailout deal

BRUSSELS (AP) ? Cyprus avoided bankruptcy, and potential turmoil across the eurozone, by securing a last-minute 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout with promises to sharply cut back its oversized banking sector and make large bank account holders take losses to help pay much of the bill.

Negotiations into early Monday ended with approval of the deal by the 17-nation eurozone's finance ministers. The European Central Bank had threatened to cut off crucial emergency assistance to the country's banks by Tuesday if no agreement was reached.

Without a bailout deal by Monday night, the tiny Mediterranean nation would have faced the prospect of bankruptcy, which could have forced it to become the first country to abandon the euro currency. That would have sent the region's markets spinning.

"It's not that we won a battle, but we really have avoided a disastrous exit from the eurozone," said Cyprus' Finance Minister Michalis Sarris.

The eurozone finance ministers accepted the plan after hours of negotiations in Brussels between Cypriot officials and the so-called troika of creditors ? the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the ECB.

"We believe that this will form a lasting, durable and fully financed solution," said IMF chief Christine Lagarde.

To secure the rescue loan package, the Cypriot government had to find ways to raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) on its own. The bulk of that money is now being raised by forcing losses on large bank deposit holders, with the remainder coming from tax increases and privatizations.

Cyprus must drastically shrink its banking sector, cut its budget, implement structural reforms and privatize state assets, said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the meetings of the eurozone's finance ministers. The country's second-largest bank, Laiki, will be restructured, with all bond holders and people with more than 100,000 euros in their bank accounts there facing significant losses.

The measures are likely to deepen the recession in Cyprus.

The cash-strapped island nation has been shut out of international markets for almost two years. It first applied for a bailout to recapitalize its ailing lenders and keep the government afloat last June, but the political negotiations stalled. After a botched agreement last week, the European Central Bank threatened to cut off emergency assistance to the country's banks.

"We've put an end to the uncertainty that has affected Cyprus and the euro area over the past week," Dijsselbloem said.

That uncertainty around the tiny nation of about 800,000 had shaken the entire eurozone of 300 million people, even though Cyprus only makes up less than 0.2 percent of the eurozone's economy.

Several national parliaments in eurozone countries such as Germany must also approve the bailout deal, which might take another few weeks. EU officials said they expect the whole program to be approved by mid-April.

The country's second-largest bank, Laiki, will be dissolved immediately into a bad bank containing its uninsured deposits and toxic assets, with the guaranteed deposits being transferred to the nation's biggest lender, Bank of Cyprus.

Dijsselbloem said it was not yet clear how severe the losses would be to Laiki's large bank deposit holders, but he noted that it is expected to yield 4.2 billion euros overall ? or much of the money that Cyprus needed to raise to secure the bailout. Analysts have estimated investors might lose up to 40 percent of their money.

Large deposits with Bank of Cyprus above the insured level will be frozen until it becomes clear whether or to what extent they will also be forced to take losses, the Eurogroup of finance ministers said in a statement.

Dijsselbloem defended the creditors' approach of making deposit holders take heavy losses, saying the measures "will be concentrated where the problems are, in the large banks."

The international creditors, led by the IMF, were seeking a fundamental restructuring of the country's outsized financial system, which is worth up to eight times the Cypriot gross domestic product of about 18 billion euros. They said the country's business model of attracting foreign investors, among them many Russians, with low taxes and lax financial regulation had backfired and needed to be upended.

The drastic shrinking of the financial sector, the wiping out of wealth through the losses on deposits, the loss of confidence with the recent turmoil and the upcoming austerity measures all mean that Cyprus is facing tough times.

"The near future will be very difficult for the country and its people," acknowledged the EU Commission's top economic official, Olli Rehn. "But (the measures) will be necessary for the Cypriot people to rebuild their economy on a new basis."

Cypriot banks have been closed this past week while officials worked on a rescue plan, and they are not due to reopen until Tuesday. Cash has been available through ATMs, but long lines formed and many machines have quickly run out of cash.

Amid fears of a banking collapse, Cyprus' central bank on Sunday imposed a daily withdrawal limit of 100 euros ($130) from ATMs of the country's two largest banks to prevent a bank run by depositors worried about their savings.

The Cypriot government also approved a set of laws over the past week to introduce capital controls, in order to avoid a huge depositor flight once banks reopen.

Creditors had insisted that Cyprus couldn't receive more loans because that would make its debt burden unsustainably high. The IMF's Lagarde said Cyprus would now reach a debt level of about 100 percent of GDP by 2020.

A plan agreed to in marathon negotiations earlier this month called for a one-time levy on all bank depositors in Cypriot banks. But the proposal ignited fierce anger because it also targeted small savers. It failed to win a single vote in the Cypriot Parliament.

Cyprus' bid to secure more financial aid from its long-time ally, Russia, then failed, forcing it to turn again to its European partners. Russia was expected, however, to extend a 2.5 billion euro emergency loan granted last year, also lowering the interest rate due and extending then repayment schedule.

___

Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros and Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this story.

______

Juergen Baetz can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz

Don Melvin can be reached at https://twitter.com/Don_Melvin

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-finance-ministers-approve-cyprus-bailout-deal-052358580--finance.html

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EU finance ministers approve Cyprus bailout deal

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Cyprus' Parliament president says a deal reached for his country to raise billions in order to qualify for an international bailout is a "painful one" for the island nation's people and a defeat for European solidarity.

Yiannakis Omirou said Monday that Cyprus must work fast to reform its economy and leave the bailout as soon as possible.

The deal reached in Brussels early Monday prevented Cyprus' imminent financial meltdown by securing a last-minute 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout on the condition that the country cut back its banking sector and force large losses on big deposits to help pay much of the bill.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-finance-ministers-approve-cyprus-bailout-deal-052358580--finance.html

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