Spain denies robbery was linked to team party

FORTALEZA, Brazil (AP) ? Spain has acknowledged six of its players were robbed during the first week of the Confederations Cup, but is denying the theft took place at a team party.

The Spanish Football Federation, which had previously declined to give specifics, issued a statement on Tuesday responding to reports in the Brazilian media that the theft was connected to a team party following a 2-1 victory over Uruguay in Recife nine days ago.

The federation "categorically denies" the reports and called the allegations damaging to "the honor of the players and their family and friends."

Brazilian media, citing employees of the hotel and security officials, reported that women from outside the Spanish traveling party and alcohol were involved in the party at the team hotel.

The Spanish federation said that "Six national team players were the subject of a robbery at the team's hotel in Recife during the stay for the game between Spain and Uruguay in the Confederations Cup. This was reported in a timely manner to the Brazilian police.

"This statement is not an attack against the organizing committee, nor against FIFA, nor the country of Brazil, which has welcomed the Spanish team. An event like this could take place anywhere in the world, including Spain.

"Since then, a series of verbal attacks on our players has been published, which the RFEF totally rejects and profoundly condemns. They damage the honor of the players and their family and friends."

The statement ended by saying the aim of the reports was to "cause harm to the good name of the players on the team, who have demonstrated good conduct, professionalism and exemplary behavior for many years."

Defender Gerard Pique, one the players reported by Brazilian media to have been involved, called the reports "a total lie."

Spain faces Italy on Thursday in the Confederations Cup semifinals, looking to reach the final on Sunday and win the only major tournament title it lacks. Spain won the 2010 World Cup and the last two European championships.

Security has long been a problem in Brazil, where muggings, carjackings and armed robberies are common. It's a concern leading up to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Last Wednesday, the wife of Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar said she was robbed at gunpoint in Fortaleza, where Brazil played Mexico that day. In the capital Brasilia, the hotel room of at least one journalist was robbed before the opening match of the Confederations Cup.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spain-denies-robbery-linked-team-party-125955098.html

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Two mutations triggered an evolutionary leap 500 million years ago

June 24, 2013 ? Evolution, it seems, sometimes jumps instead of crawls. A research team led by a University of Chicago scientist has discovered two key mutations that sparked a hormonal revolution 500 million years ago.

In a feat of "molecular time travel," the researchers resurrected and analyzed the functions of the ancestors of genes that play key roles in modern human reproduction, development, immunity and cancer. By re-creating the same DNA changes that occurred during those genes' ancient history, the team showed that two mutations set the stage for hormones like estrogen, testosterone and cortisol to take on their crucial present-day roles.

"Changes in just two letters of the genetic code in our deep evolutionary past caused a massive shift in the function of one protein and set in motion the evolution of our present-day hormonal and reproductive systems," said Joe Thornton, PhD, professor of human genetics and ecology & evolution at the University of Chicago, who led the study.

"If those two mutations had not happened, our bodies today would have to use different mechanisms to regulate pregnancy, libido, the response to stress, kidney function, inflammation, and the development of male and female characteristics at puberty," Thornton said.

The findings were published online June 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Understanding how the genetic code of a protein determines its functions would allow biochemists to better design drugs and predict the effects of mutations on disease. Thornton said the discovery shows how evolutionary analysis of proteins' histories can advance this goal, Before the group's work, it was not previously known how the various steroid receptors in modern species distinguish estrogens from other hormones.

The team, which included researchers from the University of Oregon, Emory University and the Scripps Research Institute, studied the evolution of a family of proteins called steroid hormone receptors, which mediate the effects of hormones on reproduction, development and physiology. Without receptor proteins, these hormones cannot affect the body's cells.

Thornton's group traced how the ancestor of the entire receptor family -- which recognized only estrogens -- evolved into descendant proteins capable of recognizing other steroid hormones, such as testosterone, progesterone and the stress hormone cortisol.

To do so, the group used a gene "resurrection" strategy. They first inferred the genetic sequences of ancient receptor proteins, using computational methods to work their way back up the tree of life from a database of hundreds of present-day receptor sequences. They then biochemically synthesized these ancient DNA sequences and used molecular assays to determine the receptors' sensitivity to various hormones.

Thornton's team narrowed down the time range during which the capacity to recognize non-estrogen steroids evolved, to a period about 500 million years ago, before the dawn of vertebrate animals on Earth. They then identified the most important mutations that occurred during that interval by introducing them into the reconstructed ancestral proteins. By measuring how the mutations affected the receptor's structure and function, the team could re-create ancient molecular evolution in the laboratory.

They found that just two changes in the ancient receptor's gene sequence caused a 70,000-fold shift in preference away from estrogens toward other steroid hormones. The researchers also used biophysical techniques to identify the precise atomic-level mechanisms by which the mutations affected the protein's functions. Although only a few atoms in the protein were changed, this radically rewired the network of interactions between the receptor and the hormone, leading to a massive change in function.

"Our findings show that new molecular functions can evolve by sudden large leaps due to a few tiny changes in the genetic code," Thornton said. He pointed out that, along with the two key changes in the receptor, additional mutations, the precise effects of which are not yet known, were necessary for the full effects of hormone signaling on the body to evolve.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/eBlUGA6HrNo/130624152617.htm

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Televangelist Joel Osteen: The Titanic sank, but Noah?s Ark floated, so something (Americablog)

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South Africa:Nelson Mandela in critical condition

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? Nelson Mandela's health has deteriorated and he is now in critical condition, the South African government said.

President Jacob Zuma visited the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader at a hospital Sunday evening and was informed by the medical team that Mandela's condition had become critical in the past 24 hours, the president's office said in a statement.

"The doctors are doing everything possible to get his condition to improve and are ensuring that Madiba is well-looked after and is comfortable. He is in good hands," Zuma said in the Sunday statement, using Mandela's clan name.

Zuma also met Graca Machel, Mandela's wife, at the hospital in Pretoria and discussed the former leader's condition, according to the statement. Zuma was accompanied on the visit by Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy president of the country's ruling party, the African National Congress.

Mandela was jailed for 27 years under white racist rule and released in 1990. He then played a leading role in steering the divided country from the apartheid era to democracy, becoming South Africa's first black president in all-race elections in 1994. He was hospitalized on June 8 for what the government said was a recurring lung infection.

In Sunday's statement, Zuma also discussed the government's acknowledgement a day earlier that an ambulance carrying Mandela to the Pretoria hospital two weeks ago had engine trouble, requiring the former president to be transferred to another ambulance for his journey. Pretoria, South Africa's capital, lies about 50 km (30 miles) from Johannesburg, where Mandela has been living.

"There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period. He had expert medical care," Zuma said. "The fully equipped military ICU ambulance had a full complement of specialist medical staff including intensive care specialists and ICU nurses. The doctors also dismissed the media reports that Madiba suffered cardiac arrest. There is no truth at all in that report."

Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is seen by many around the world as a symbol of reconciliation, and Zuma appealed to South Africans and the international community to pray for the ailing ex-president, his family and the medical team attending to him.

The ruling party expressed concern about the deterioration in Mandela's health.

"We welcome the work being done by The Presidency to ensure that South Africans and people of the world are kept informed on the state of Madiba's health," the party said. "The African National Congress joins The Presidency in calling upon all of us to keep President Mandela, his family and his medical team in our thoughts and prayers during this trying time."

In Washington, the White House National Security Council spokeswoman noted the latest reports from the South African government about Mandela's worsening condition.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with him, his family and the people of South Africa," said spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.

Prior to Zuma's statement late Sunday, reports from the government, former President Thabo Mbeki and a grandson of Mandela had indicated that the health of Mandela was improving, even though he has been in the hospital for treatment several times in recent months. In the days following his latest hospitalization, Zuma's office described his condition as serious but stable. Family members have been seen making daily visits to the hospital where Mandela is being treated.

Mandela, who has become increasingly frail in recent years, last made a public appearance at the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament, which was hosted by South Africa. He didn't deliver an address on that occasion and was bundled against the cold in a stadium full of fans.

On April 29, state television broadcast footage of a visit by Zuma and other leaders of the African National Congress to Mandela's home. Zuma said at the time that Mandela was in good shape, but the footage ? the first public images of Mandela in nearly a year ? showed him silent and unresponsive, even when Zuma tried to hold his hand.

Between hospital stays in recent months, Mandela has been staying at his home in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Houghton, where he has received what the government described as "home-based high care" by a medical team. On April 6, he was discharged from a hospital after treatment for pneumonia, which included a procedure in which doctors drained fluid from his lung area.

Mandela has been vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during his imprisonment under apartheid. Most of those years were spent on Robben Island, a forbidding outpost off the coast of Cape Town.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-africa-nelson-mandela-critical-condition-065338979.html

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AP sources: Obama to limit carbon at power plants

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama's national plan to combat climate change will include the first-ever regulations to limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, as well as increased production of renewable energy on public lands and federally assisted housing, environmental groups briefed on the plan said Monday.

In a major speech Tuesday at Georgetown University, Obama will announce that he's directing his administration to allow enough renewables on public lands to power 6 million homes by 2020, effectively doubling the capacity from solar, wind and geothermal projects on federal property. He'll also say the U.S. will significantly expand production of renewable energy on low-income housing sites, according to five individuals briefed on the plan, who were not authorized to discuss it publicly ahead of Obama's announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The far-reaching plan marks Obama's most prominent effort yet to deliver on a major priority he laid out in his first presidential campaign and recommitted to at the start of his second term: to fight climate change in the U.S. and abroad and prepare American communities for its effects. Environmental activists have been irked that Obama's high-minded goals never materialized into a comprehensive plan.

In taking action on his own ? none of the steps Obama will announce Tuesday require congressional approval ? Obama is also signaling he will no longer wait for lawmakers to act on climate change, and instead will seek ways to work around them.

The lynchpin of Obama's plan, and the step activists say will have the most dramatic impact, involves limits on carbon emissions for new and existing power plants. The Obama administration has already proposed controls on new plants, but those controls have been delayed and not yet finalized. Tuesday's announcement will be the first public confirmation that Obama plans to extend carbon controls to coal-fired power plants that are currently pumping heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.

"This is the holy grail," said Melinda Pierce of Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy group. "That is the single biggest step he can take to help tackle carbon pollution."

Forty percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, and one-third of greenhouse gases overall, come from electric power plants, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department's statistical agency.

Obama is expected to lay out a broad vision Tuesday, without detailed emission targets or specifics about how they will be put in place. Instead, the president will launch a process in which the Environmental Protection Agency will work with states to develop specific plans to rein in carbon emissions, with flexibility for each state's circumstances. Under one scenario envisioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, states could draw on measures such as clean energy sources, carbon-trapping technology and energy efficiency to reduce the total emissions released into the air.

Obama also will announce more aggressive steps to increase efficiency for appliances such as refrigerators and lamps, according to people briefed on the plan. Another component of Obama's proposal will involve ramping up hydropower production from existing dams.

Heather Zichal, Obama's senior energy and climate adviser, told environmental groups Monday that Obama is working with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan on a target for renewable energy to be produced at federally assisted housing projects.

She framed the Obama's efforts in the U.S. as part of a broader, global movement to combat climate change, trumpeting the role the U.S. can play in leading other nations to stem the warming of the planet.

Paul Bledsoe, who worked on climate issues in the Clinton White House, said Zichal renewed a pledge Obama made in in his first year in office, during global climate talks in Copenhagen, to cut U.S. carbon emissions by about 17 percent by 2020, compared to 2005 levels.

"This is a policy fulfillment of what the president has been talking about and trying to accomplish for five years or more," said Bledsoe, now a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

One key issue Obama is not expected to address Tuesday is Keystone XL, a pipeline that would carry oil extracted from tar sands in western Canada to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast. A concerted campaign by environmental activists to persuade Obama to nix the pipeline as a "carbon bomb" appears to have gained little traction. The oil industry has been urging the president to approve the pipeline, citing jobs and economic benefits.

Obama raised climate change as a key second-term issue in his inaugural address in January, but has offered few details since. In his February State of the Union, he issued an ultimatum to lawmakers: "If Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will."

The poor prospects for getting any major climate legislation through a Republican-controlled House were on display last week when Speaker John Boehner responded to the prospect that Obama would put forth controls on existing power plants by deeming the idea "absolutely crazy."

"Why would you want to increase the cost of energy and kill more American jobs?" said Boehner, R-Ohio, echoing the warnings of some industry groups.

Sidestepping Congress by using executive action doesn't guarantee Obama smooth sailing. Lawmakers could introduce legislation to thwart Obama's efforts. And the rules for existing power plants will almost certainly face legal challenges in court. The Supreme Court has upheld the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, but how the EPA goes about that effort remains largely uncharted waters.

Even if legal and political obstacles are overcome, it will take years for the new measures to be put in place, likely running up against the end of Obama's presidency or even beyond it. White House aides say that's one reason Obama is ensuring the process starts now, while there are still more than three years left in his final term.

Under the process outlined in the Clean Air Act, the EPA cannot act unilaterally, but must work with states to develop the standards, said Jonas Monast, an attorney who directs the climate and energy program at Duke University. An initial proposal will be followed by a months-long public comment period before the EPA can issue final guidance to states. Then the states must create actual plans for plants within their borders, a process likely to take the better part of a year.

Then the EPA has another four months to decide whether to approve each state's plan before the implementation period can start.

Associated Press Writer Matthew Daly contributed to this story.

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-sources-obama-limit-carbon-power-plants-235342639.html

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Obama to tout economic impact of immigration

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama will convene a meeting of CEOs and business leaders to tout what the White House says are the economic benefits of a landmark immigration bill.

The afternoon meeting is scheduled just hours before the Senate holds a key test vote on a border security amendment. The measure could help the bill garner more Republican support.

Obama is expected to highlight new estimates about the bill's impact on the national deficit. The Congressional Budget Office says the bill would reduce the deficit by about $200 billion over the next 10 years and by about $700 billion over the following decade.

The bill would provide a pathway to citizenship for many of the 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-tout-economic-impact-immigration-073015611.html

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Snowden says US targets included China cell phones

HONG KONG (AP) ? A former National Security Agency contractor says that U.S. hacking targets in China included the nation's mobile-phone companies and two universities hosting extensive Internet traffic hubs in the latest allegations as Washington pushes Hong Kong to extradite the ex-contractor.

The latest charges from Edward Snowden came in a series of reports published over the weekend by the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's leading English-language daily. The newspaper, which appears to have access to Snowden, said Saturday he is still in Hong Kong and not in police custody.

On Saturday, the Obama administration warned Hong Kong against dragging out the extradition of Snowden, reflecting concerns over a possible long legal battle before he ever appears in a U.S. courtroom to answer espionage charges for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs.

A formal extradition request would also pit Beijing against Washington at a time China is trying to deflect U.S. accusations that it carries out extensive surveillance on American government and commercial operations.

The U.S. has contacted authorities in Hong Kong to seek Snowden's extradition, the National Security Council said Saturday in a statement. The NSC advises the president on national security.

Snowden told the South China Morning Post that "the NSA does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cellphone companies to steal all of your SMS data." It added that Snowden said he had documents to support the hacking allegations, but the report did not identify the documents. It said he spoke to the paper in a June 12 interview.

With a population of more than 1.3 billion, China has massive cell-phone companies. China Mobile is the world's largest mobile network carrier, with 735 million subscribers, followed by China Unicom with 258 million users and China Telecom with 172 million users.

Snowden said Tsinghua University in Beijing and Chinese University in Hong Kong, home of some of the country's major Internet traffic hubs, were targets of extensive hacking by U.S. spies this year. He said the NSA was focusing on so-called "network backbones" in China, through which enormous amounts of Internet data passes.

Snowden is believed to be hiding in an unknown location in Hong Kong, where he has been holed up since admitting to providing information to the news media about highly classified NSA surveillance programs. He has not been seen publicly since he checked out of a Hong Kong hotel on June 10.

The newspaper reports came after a one-page criminal complaint against Snowden was unsealed Friday in federal court, revealing he had been charged with espionage and theft.

The Obama administration on Saturday warned Hong Kong against slow-walking his extradition, with White House national security adviser Tom Donilon saying in an interview with CBS News: "Hong Kong has been a historically good partner of the United States in law enforcement matters, and we expect them to comply with the treaty in this case."

Some Hong Kong lawmakers have called on Beijing to intervene and instruct the Hong Kong government on how to handle the situation before his case goes through the courts, but Beijing has yet to comment. The Hong Kong government has also not commented.

But China's state-run media have used the case to poke back at Washington after the U.S. had spent the past several months pressuring China on its international spying operations..

A commentary published Sunday by Xinhua News Agency said Snowden's disclosures of U.S. spying activities in China have "put Washington in a really awkward situation."

"Washington should come clean about its record first. It owes ... an explanation to China and other countries it has allegedly spied on," it said. "It has to share with the world the range, extent and intent of its clandestine hacking programs."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/snowden-says-us-targets-included-china-cell-phones-073119007.html

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