Sunday, March 31, 2013

L.A. police ID suspect in girl's abduction case

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Police on Saturday released the name of a man suspected in the abduction of a 10-year-old girl who was snatched from her San Fernando Valley home before dawn last week and abandoned hours later in front of a hospital.

Tobias Dustin Summers, a 30-year-old man who was recently released from prison, was identified as a "child-kidnapping suspect," Los Angeles police said. Summers has a lengthy criminal record, having been arrested in the past for robbery, grand theft auto and kidnapping, according to authorities.

Dozens of detectives worked around the clock looking for clues since the girl was abducted from her home on Wednesday. She was found hours later, wandering near a Starbucks several miles from her home.

The girl was barefoot, scratched and not wearing the same clothes she had on when she vanished. She told the police two men she didn't recognize had taken her from her home.

Investigators have said they believe the girl was driven around the San Fernando Valley in a couple of cars and taken to at least two locations, including a storage facility, before she was released.

A passer-by who recognized her picture from media reports saw her outside the Starbucks and called police. The girl had wandered there from the hospital where she had been dropped.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/la-police-id-suspect-girls-abduction-case-223900956.html

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Report: Saudi Arabia may try to end anonymity for Twitter users

Saudi Arabia may try to end anonymity for Twitter users in the country by limiting access to the site to people who register their identification documents, the Arab News daily reported on Saturday.

Last week, local media reported the government had asked telecom companies to look at ways they could monitor, or block, free internet phone services such as Skype.

Twitter is highly popular with Saudis and has stirred broad debate on subjects ranging from religion to politics in a country where such public discussion had been considered at best unseemly and sometimes illegal.

Early this month, the security spokesman for Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry described social networking, particularly Twitter, as a tool used by militants to stir social unrest.

The country's Grand Mufti, Saudi Arabia's top cleric, last week described users of the microblogging site as "clowns" wasting time with frivolous and even harmful discussions, local newspapers reported.

"A source at (the regulator) described the move as a natural result of the successful implementation of (its) decision to add a user's identification numbers while topping up mobile phone credit," Arab News reported.

That would not necessarily make a user's identity visible to other users of the site, but it would mean the Saudi government could monitor the tweets of individual Saudis.

The English-language daily and sister paper to the Saudi-owned pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper did not explain how the authorities might be able to restrict ability to post on Twitter. Both newspapers belong to a publishing group owned by the ruling family and run by a son of Crown Prince Salman.

Internet service providers are legally obliged to block websites showing content deemed pornographic.

One of the big investors in Twitter is Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of King Abdullah who also holds significant stakes in Citi Group, News Corp and Apple through his Kingdom Holding Company.

The country's telecom regulator, Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) did not immediately responded to requests for comment on the report. Last week it did not comment on the report it was seeking to restrict Skype use.

A spokeswoman for Kingdom Holding said Prince Alwaleed was not available to comment.

"There are people who misuse the social networking and try to send false information and false evaluation of the situation in the kingdom and the way the policemen in the kingdom are dealing with these situations," said Major General Mansour Turki, the security spokesman, at a news conference on Mar 8.

At a separate interview with Reuters this month, Turki argued that a small number of supporters of al Qaeda and activists from Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite minority used social media to stir wider sympathy for their goals and social unrest.

However, he also argued against banning the site.

Two weeks ago one of Saudi Arabia's most prominent clerics, Salman al-Awdah, who has 2.4 million followers on the site, used Twitter to attack the government's security policy as too harsh and call for better services. He warned it might otherwise face "the spark of violence".

Two leading Saudi human rights activists were sentenced to long prison terms this month for a variety of offences including "internet crimes" because they had used Twitter and other sites to attack the government.

Some top princes in the monarchy now use Twitter themselves and Crown Prince Salman, King Abdullah's designated heir and also Defence Minister, recently opened an official account.

(Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a29c693/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Ctechnolog0Creport0Esaudi0Earabia0Emay0Etry0Eend0Eanonymity0Etwitter0Eusers0E1C9144293/story01.htm

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Earning Extra Money Online From Home | Content for Reprint

Author: Mike Zupp | Total views: 115 Comments: 0
Word Count: 952 Date:

Are you on a quest to unravel the mystery of how to earn instant online profits? There are all sorts of ways to do this, however the most sure-fire way is most likely by getting involved in Affiliate Marketing.

A normal person can get into Affiliate Marketing using his or her own advertising efforts as an Affiliate to bring people to the Affiliate Vendor's internet site. The Affiliate gets paid a commission when that visitor purchases the Vendor's item. Often, commissions are earned just by the Affiliate entering their name and email address into a Vendors online form!

As soon as you select which item to advertise, you acquire what's called an "affiliate link". This stringy link contains your Affiliate ID so that, when clicked on during the purchase process, the Affiliate Vendor knows to pay you your commission. The most widely known Affiliate Marketing sites are Amazon, Clickbank, Ebay Partner Network and Commission Junction, to name a few. These business have a multitude of products in several niches for your choosing.

Nonetheless, in order to figure out how to earn instant online profits with Affiliate Marketing, you need to know where to take the initial step.

The first move is to choose a niche that you would like to sell in. Ideally, select a specific niche that you are passionate about; a subject that you might be able to discuss all day, since it's easier to advertise things that interest you. Some good examples of prevailing niches are Relationships, E-Business & Marketing and Health & Fitness, to name but a few.

You'll need to google the "Google Keyword Tool" and "Google Trends" to research your niche and product in a strategic, insightful manner. Google Trends will tell you if your niche is still in the mainstream and you can use the Google Keyword Tool to see if your chosen niche keywords are getting a decent amount of search traffic every month.

Next comes your affiliate product selection. Only pick high-grade products whose Vendors can demonstrate their successful sales record. You need that special something that's going to rid your buyer of their pain and solve a huge problem they've been faced with that has kept them up at night worrying!

So now that your niche and product selection process is done, it's time to discover how to earn instant online profits by putting the following handy tips into action:

You can start off by building a product review site. Basically, you summarize the pros and cons of the product in a short article that needs to appear unbiased. Thus, it would be a good idea to actually purchase the item so you can put forward your opinion in a thorough, honest manner. However, in these tough economic times you may have to opt instead for looking around forums and other testimonial sites of your particular product to gather enough information for your review. Always remember to sprinkle your affiliate link throughout your review post, of course!

You can also jump on the social media band wagon by setting up either a Facebook fan page or a tab on your current business page. This should distinctively display your sales item in a monetized fashion or at least bring your fans right to your affiliate sales form.

You've probably heard mention of "squeeze" or "landing" pages before, right? Well, their purpose is to "squeeze" information, like names and email addresses, out of prospects and they can be built right inside Facebook or take the form of a one page website. You then take that assembled information and put it all into an autoresponder system. "AWeber" is an excellent place to open one of these types of accounts. What happens next is that your prospective clients get a series of email messages in their inbox automatically over the course of a week or two. The first emails should be "warm and friendly" since you'll need to build a relationship with your readers to get them to know and like you. After a while, you'll hopefully build up enough trust that your audience will click on your cleverly inserted links in the later emails and end up as paying customers!
Of course, the option is always there to put your affiliate product in the limelight by posting a quick review on your personal blog that contains your affiliate link, of course.

You can also harness the power of YouTube by creating personal video reviews of your affiliate product and uploading them to your YouTube channel. Better still, you can embed the videos into your product review site! This could also increase your search engine ranking, as Google owns YouTube and loves it when videos are featured in blogs.

Another effective approach would be to join online forums that are relevant to your chosen niche. Don't just go in there and start selling your product right away: Instead, participate in conversations and answer questions to help people out, at first. Then, after some time, you can start mentioning your product, showing the forum members how it can solve their problems or meet their needs.

The above pointers are simply a few ideas to illustrate how to earn instant online profits. You can mix and match these different approaches to suit your particular product-and throw in any other new techniques you come across as well, of course!
I hope you obtained some useful insight into the Realm of Affiliate Marketing by reading this. There's nothing to stop you from immediately launching your affiliate product promotion now!

For more information about making money online check out the Instant Online Profits Review. I'm sure you'll be quite impressed with it!

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1: Understanding Online Business Success

Starting a home based business to earn income online takes a significant amount of time and energy upfront to get things going. Not seeing results immediately can be discouraging and cause people to give up too early. In this article, we look at the process of starting a home based business and working through the frustrations to be there when the sales come flowing in.

2: Why You Need To Build Multiple Streams of Income For Yourself

Being an entrepreneur and earning multiple streams of income is a dream that many have, but in reality it does take some initial hard work to achieve this. Earning multiple streams of income is the wave of the future, and here are some tips and advice for you when you are looking for ways in which to do this for yourself.

3: Article Marketing Strategy: Putting Together a "Class Schedule" For Your Article Topics

Businesses go to so much trouble when there is one sure-fire, simple, very inexpensive way to attract new clients to a business: Teach a free class. That is what article marketing is like. Your articles are just like free classes. You teach your target readers something helpful in your article. Your resource box then says, "If you enjoyed this article you can visit my website and apply what you have learned."

4: What is Cyber Marketing And Why It Is So Important For The Success Of Your Website

Cyber marketing has now become an indispensable segment of e-commerce as well as the internet and World Wide Web related topics. Cyber marketing simply refers to a technique of attracting potential customers by advertising your products or services through such means as websites, emails, and banners.

5: The Best Way To Optimise Your Website SEO For Google Panda

If you want your SEO to work you now need to concentrate on appeasing Google Panda, and to do this you need to know what Google Panda's spiders/bots will be looking for. Find out here how to search engine optimise your website for the latest Google Panda algorithm, and achieve the success you deserve.

Source: http://www.content4reprint.com/internet-marketing/earning-extra-money-online-from-home.htm

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A New Week in Gaming Apps for an All-New Kotaku

This week's special late edition of the Week in Gaming Apps is brought to you by leaning how to use an entirely new publishing system on the fly. It's a learning experience. Oh my goodness these images are so big.

Fortunately many of this week's gaming apps were big as well. We've got Magicka on iPad now! Ms. Splosion Man isn't just for Xbox Live Arcade anymore! Dungeon Hearts arrived! And hey, we've got a jousting game now! I am going to run out of exclamation points.

Yep, ran out.

While I go order more, go look at...

What We Played This Week

S

Grow, Dammit! - iOS - $1.99

The classic tale of a space plant trying to save his seedling nephews from the dark corners of planetoids by manipulating sunlight. Yeah, that old trope.

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Pili Pili Rush - iOS, Android - Free

A colorful cartoon puzzle platformer about egg gathering, from the makers of The Flying Hamster and several non-hamster games. Quite lovely, though I still prefer the hamster.

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Ms. Splosion Man - iOS - $2.99

Twisted Pixel's hilarious Xbox Live Arcade platformer debuted on PC and iPad this week, bringing the joy of Ms. Splosion to the masses. She's my new girlfriend. And hey, another iOS Microsoft game!

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Lie Swatter - iOS - Free

From Jellyvision, the makers of You Don't Know Jack, comes this turn-based quiz game that challenges players to sort truth from lies. It's pretty damn entertaining, and informative!

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Quantum Legacy HD Turbo - iOS - $1.99

Arcade space battles narrated by the worst voice acting ever. I think it's all tongue-in-cheek. Pretty sure. Neat combat, and the Star Trek references are a plus.

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Knight Storm - iOS - Free

Mother-loving jousting, dammit. There's a little castle-building and maintenance here, plus the odd melee battle, but the reason for Knight Storm is jousting, and it's so good.

S

Dungeon Hearts - iPad - $2.99

Devolver Digital delivers a truly unique puzzle role-playing experience. Might look like a rhythm game, but this is a match-explosion title with a scrolling playfield. It's urgent and wonderful.

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Fantasy Quest - iOS - Free

This week Gamevil released an odd little turn-based role-playing/kingdom builder/online multiplayer battle game. Actually they do that a lot. Worked out well this time.

App Reviews for the Week of 3/25 - 3/29

Red, green and blue ? these are the primary colors, which can be mixed together in varying amounts to create every color of the visible spectrum. I learned this in my grade school art program. At the time I was convinced the teacher made it up to cover for the fact that they only had enough money in the budget for three colors of bulk paint. What good is mixing colors when you can just buy a box of assorted pre-rendered crayons, markers or paints? Read?

You could search the iTunes app store for days and not come close to finding a game with the charm and polish of Big FishGames' Fetch. It's an animated movie come to life, an adventure riddled with arcade action wrapped around a warm beating heart. It's the story of a boy and his dog. Read?

When developer First5 Games were looking for a fresh method of movement for their new platforming game, they found inspiration in those old Wacky Wall Crawler toys you'd get for a quarter out of supermarket vending machines as a kid. You know, the ones with all the sticky legs? I used to tear off their limbs. I consider Cling!payback. Read?

Back in January, Square Enix released Final Fantasy: All the Bravest,a game about getting as many Final Fantasy character sprites on the screen at one time while finding creative new ways for players to pay for things. It wasn't a very good game. What Square Enix should have done was make Nimble Quest, the latest from the creators of Tiny Tower. Read?

As promised last month, Paradox Interactive and mobile developer Ludosity have teamed up to deliver a little cross-platform Magickamayhem for the iPhone and Android. Magicka: Wizards of the Square Tablet is nowhere near as deep and destructively satisfying as its PC inspiration, but it's got the right idea. the right idea, by the way, is killing your friends with magic. Read?

Red, green and blue ? these are the primary colors, which can be mixed together in varying amounts? Read?You could search the iTunes app store for days and not come close to finding a game with the charm? Read?When developer First5 Games were looking for a fresh method of movement for their new platforming? Read?Back in January, Square Enix released Final Fantasy: All the Bravest, a game about getting as many? Read?If you're looking for a mildly interactive trip through the history of the Final Fantasy? Read?As promised last month, Paradox Interactive and mobile developer Ludosity have teamed up to deliver ? Read?One of PC gaming's finest co-op experiences is coming to a rectangular productivity-enhancing? Read?

Source: http://kotaku.com/a-new-week-in-gaming-apps-for-an-all-new-kotaku-463154291

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Book Your Cheap International Holiday Packages With Leisures

The Leisures was founded in the year 2006 in Chennai, India. The Leisures is one stop travel house. We are all independent owner-managed businesses. we are not a large, faceless corporation. We are passionate about travel and about providing superior customer service. At Leisures you are about to deal with professionals who are travel enthusiasts and who have a real interest in your Travel, rather not with people for whom this is just another job. It is our proud privilege to inform that The Leisures is keen only in customer satisfaction, making your Dream Destination in to Reality. We are a reputed and professionally managed company, which has been in the business of Travel and Entertainment for over 6 years.

The Leisures offer a wide range of budget and last minute holiday packages making it as a luxury holiday for everyone, which includes all-inclusive holidays, and family holidays to your favorite destination. Exploring the world can be one of the most rewarding experiences in life. However, planning a trip can be extremely frustrating especially when one doesnt know where to start. We understand your travel needs and deliver the best through meticulous planning.

We bring together a highly trained team of individuals with a combined management experience of over ten decades in the travel industry. A team which is confident and expertise to handle the most complex and challenging tasks. Our rich experience helps us to understand your needs and give you a package that suits your requirement. Our links in the travel domain ensure that we provide our travelers and corporate clients with the best deals.

The Leisures Pvt. Ltd. is one of the leading Time Share services company located in Chennai.

We The Leisures have been recognized as the peoples best travel companion. We have excelled in providing travel related services to domestic & International tourists and Corporate Packages. We make your way to go around the world at any point of time with unique life style.

Hill stations, Beach Resorts, pilgrimages, adventures, cultural and historical places, cheap international holiday packages, manali shimla holiday packages we The Leisures specialize in organizing comfortable holidays all over India & International. Hotels, Tour Operators and other Industry giants find our travel portal theleisures.in an important medium to promote their offers. We have tie-ups with all leading Airlines and Chain of Hotels to offer the best deal ever in the industry. Our Portal www.theleisures.in provides in-depth travel information that attracts ten million travellers, who use the same to plan and book their travel.

Our valued customer reviews:
1. We are very much satisfied with your service that is accomdation food and side seeing which we never imagined.In future holidays also would expect same service from your team - R. Natarajan

2. Recently i had traveled along with my family & sister's family to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore through the tour conducted by your organisation.Thank you for arranging such excellent tour and we have enjoyed thoroughly.we also like to thank your staff specially Mr.karthick[customer care person] .please convey our special regards and thanks to him for making our holidays memorable we wish you all the success - Baby sudha

3. During our stay we were very comfortable. The entire staff was very helpful and co-operative,we were always greeted with smiles.House keeping,clean and neat,through the blankets are very old and require immediate replacement ,otherwise ok.the staff was very alert and responsive.thanks for everything and your enquiring about us for any problem .This time the restaurant served us with good dishes though without wine we enjoyed the food .we had very good time and it was worth travelling all the way from chennai to delhi and to ladak - Rajesh

For North India Holidays, Cheap international Holiday Packages, Manali Shimla Holiday Packages Call us now at 91 44 65511031 and 65511032 or email us to info@theleisures.in to book your holidays and make your dream destination in to reality, please visit to Theleisures website http://www.theleisures.in/.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Book-Your-Cheap-International-Holiday-Packages-With-Leisures/4510358

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Paying the Costs of Iraq, for Decades to Come (Atlantic Politics Channel)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295362847?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Blink-182 'Going Hard In The Paint' To Win Musical March Madness

The second round of MMM is winding down, but Blink-182 are just getting started.
By James Montgomery


Blink-182's Mark Hoppus
Photo: Chiaki Nozu/ WireImage

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704503/blink-182-musical-march-madness.jhtml

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How to Source Affordable Car Insurance in 3 Easy Steps - Auto Candy

Posted by Rob on March 28, 2013

While experts continue to suggest that the UK economy is experiencing turbulence, the countries automotive trade is continuing to boom. As a result of this, it remains a vital part of wider economic growth, with an estimated ?50 billion generated in turnover every single year.

While the automotive trade may be booming, however, the task of sourcing affordable car insurance remains extremely challenging. This is especially true if you are purchasing your first car, as you will be faced with the prospect of high premiums and significant annual outgoings.

Obtaining Affordable Car Insurance: 3 Steps to Success

?With this in mind, what practical steps can you take to minimise the cost of first time car insurance? Consider the following: -

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  • Choose a Viable and Affordable Model of Car: Before you even begin to compare insurance prices, you can strive to minimize potential costs by finding a suitable and affordable model of car. While this may mean striking a compromise between your desired vehicle and something that is more practical, it still affords you the opportunity to take control of your financial situation. Less costly and powerful cars often incur higher insurance premiums, especially if you are purchasing one as a newly qualified driver.

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  • Think Outside of Price Comparison Sites: While price comparison websites are often marketed as the ideal medium through which to find cheap insurance providers, this is not necessarily the case. In fact, a growing number of the market?s leading firms now choose not to advertise their rates on comparison sites, as this ensures that they are able to gain a critical advantage. As a result, you must commit to searching both price comparison resources and independent websites, as this will help you to target the best possible deal.
  • Add an Experienced Driver to your Claim: When you process your claim, there are innovative and thoughtful ways through which you can lower your annual liability. If you are keen on a time effective solution, however, then you should consider adding an experienced driver to your insurance claim. So long as they are qualified to drive within the UK and a clean points history, then their addition as a second driver could trim the cost of your monthly repayments. While this may save you pence rather than pounds each month, it certainly adds up over a period of two to three years.

?The Bottom Line

Purchasing your first car can be a difficult challenge, especially if you are hoping to keep your insurance premiums to a minimum. With this in mind, you will need to access a host of online resources and visit sites such as www.carshop.co.uk in order help minimise your overall cost.


Source: http://www.auto-candy.com/how-to-source-affordable-car-insurance-in-3-easy-steps/

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Pope washes feet of young detainees in ritual

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis washes the foot of an inmate at the juvenile detention center of Casal del Marmo, Rome, Thursday, March 28, 2013. Francis washed the feet of a dozen inmates at a juvenile detention center in a Holy Thursday ritual that he celebrated for years as archbishop and is continuing now that he is pope. Two of the 12 were young women, an unusual choice given that the rite re-enacts Jesus' washing of the feet of his male disciples. The Mass was held in the Casal del Marmo facility in Rome, where 46 young men and women currently are detained. Many of them are Gypsies or North African migrants, and the Vatican said the 12 selected for the rite weren't necessarily Catholic. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis washes the foot of an inmate at the juvenile detention center of Casal del Marmo, Rome, Thursday, March 28, 2013. Francis washed the feet of a dozen inmates at a juvenile detention center in a Holy Thursday ritual that he celebrated for years as archbishop and is continuing now that he is pope. Two of the 12 were young women, an unusual choice given that the rite re-enacts Jesus' washing of the feet of his male disciples. The Mass was held in the Casal del Marmo facility in Rome, where 46 young men and women currently are detained. Many of them are Gypsies or North African migrants, and the Vatican said the 12 selected for the rite weren't necessarily Catholic. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis kisses the foot of an inmate at the juvenile detention center of Casal del Marmo, Rome, Thursday, March 28, 2013. Francis washed the feet of a dozen inmates at a juvenile detention center in a Holy Thursday ritual that he celebrated for years as archbishop and is continuing now that he is pope. Two of the 12 were young women, an unusual choice given that the rite re-enacts Jesus' washing of the feet of his male disciples. The Mass was held in the Casal del Marmo facility in Rome, where 46 young men and women currently are detained. Many of them are Gypsies or North African migrants, and the Vatican said the 12 selected for the rite weren't necessarily Catholic. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis, with back to camera at right, washes the foot of an inmate at the juvenile detention center of Casal del Marmo, Rome, Thursday, March 28, 2013. Francis washed the feet of a dozen inmates at a juvenile detention center in a Holy Thursday ritual that he celebrated for years as archbishop and is continuing now that he is pope. Two of the 12 were young women, an unusual choice given that the rite re-enacts Jesus' washing of the feet of his male disciples. The Mass was held in the Casal del Marmo facility in Rome, where 46 young men and women currently are detained. Many of them are Gypsies or North African migrants, and the Vatican said the 12 selected for the rite weren't necessarily Catholic. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis washes the foot of an inmate at the juvenile detention center of Casal del Marmo, Rome, Thursday, March 28, 2013. Francis washed the feet of a dozen inmates at a juvenile detention center in a Holy Thursday ritual that he celebrated for years as archbishop and is continuing now that he is pope. Two of the 12 were young women, an unusual choice given that the rite re-enacts Jesus' washing of the feet of his male disciples. The Mass was held in the Casal del Marmo facility in Rome, where 46 young men and women currently are detained. Many of them are Gypsies or North African migrants, and the Vatican said the 12 selected for the rite weren't necessarily Catholic. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

Pope Francis waves from his car as he arrives at the juvenile detention center of Casal del Marmo to celebrate the rite of the washing of the feet, in Rome, Thursday, March 28, 2013. Previous popes have celebrated the Holy Thursday ritual, which re-enacts Christ's washing his disciples feet before being crucified, but they have done so washing the feet of priests in one of Rome's most ornate basilicas, St. Peter's Basilica, not a jail. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

(AP) ? Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of a dozen inmates at a juvenile detention center in a Holy Thursday ritual that he celebrated for years as archbishop and is continuing now that he is pope. Two of the 12 were young women, a remarkable choice given that the rite re-enacts Jesus' washing of the feet of his male disciples.

The Mass was held in the Casal del Marmo facility in Rome, where 46 young men and women currently are detained. Many of them are Gypsies or North African migrants, and the 12 selected for the foot-washing rite included Orthodox and Muslim detainees as well, news reports said.

Because the inmates were mostly minors ? the facility houses inmates aged 14-to-21 ? the Vatican and Italian Justice Ministry limited media access inside. But Vatican Radio carried the Mass live, and Francis told the detainees that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion in a gesture of love and service.

"This is a symbol, it is a sign ? washing your feet means I am at your service," Francis told the youngsters. "Help one another. This is what Jesus teaches us. This is what I do. And I do it with my heart. I do this with my heart because it is my duty, as a priest and bishop I must be at your service."

Later, the Vatican released a limited video of the ritual, showing Francis washing black feet, white feet, male feet, female feet and even a foot with tattoos. Kneeling on the stone floor as the 12 youngsters sat above him, the 76-year-old Francis poured water from a silver chalice over each foot, dried it with a simple cotton towel and then bent over to kiss each one.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio would celebrate the ritual foot-washing in jails, hospitals or hospices ? part of his ministry to the poorest and most marginalized of society. It's a message that he is continuing now that he is pope, saying he wants a church "for the poor."

Previous popes would carry out the foot-washing ritual on Holy Thursday in Rome's grand St. John Lateran basilica and the 12 people chosen for the ritual would always be priests to represent the 12 disciples.

That Francis would include women in this re-enactment is noteworthy given the insistence of some in the church that the ritual be reserved for men only: The argument is that Jesus' disciples were all male, and the Catholic priesthood that evolved from the original 12 disciples is restricted to men.

"The pope's washing the feet of women is hugely significant because including women in this part of the Holy Thursday Mass has been frowned on ? and even banned ? in some dioceses," said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of "The Jesuit Guide."

"It shows the all-embracing love of Christ, who ministered to all he met: man or woman, slave or free, Jew or Gentile," he said.

After the Mass, Francis greeted each of the inmates and gave each one an Easter egg.

"Don't lose hope," he said. "Understand? With hope you can always go on."

Italian Justice Minister Paola Severino, who has made easing Italy's woefully overcrowded prisons a priority, attended the Mass.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-28-EU-Vatican-Pope/id-080041566854416e9dc64fd996a279f8

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Michigan, others may regulate amateur MMA fights

LANSING, Mich. (AP) ? Jerry "The Moose" Waterson fulfilled a dream last month by stepping into the ring for his first professional mixed martial arts fight, which he won.

His passion has become his full-time job, requiring 40 hours a week of training. But it took the 24-year-old Waterson four years of punching, kicking and grappling his way through Michigan's unregulated amateur system, where nearly anything goes and where fighters are often uninsured or could be infected with HIV or hepatitis.

"It's like the wild, wild west. It's crazy," Waterson said.

Michigan is among about a dozen states in which amateur MMA fights are legal but unregulated. That could soon change, however, as even lawmakers who recoil at the sport's brutality see the wisdom in setting ground rules.

"It is time to teach the beast some manners," said Democratic Rep. Harvey Santana, who is sponsoring legislation that would require promoters of amateur events to get licensed annually, carry up to $10,000 in health insurance for fighters and have a physician on site for fights.

MMA has exploded in popularity since the 1990s, led by its major brand, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and giving rise to an amateur industry that serves as the sport's minor leagues and offers fans a cheap night out or even the chance to get in the ring themselves. Combatants draw from various disciplines, including jiu jitsu, judo, boxing and wrestling, to try to knock out or subdue their opponents.

The sport's brutality ? choke holds are legal and bloodied faces are the norm ? has earned MMA its share of critics, including U.S. Sen. John McCain, who once likened it to "human cockfighting." South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard recently signed off on the establishment of a state commission to regulate MMA, boxing and kickboxing, despite reservations that doing so would legitimize the fights.

Michigan legalized MMA bouts in 2007, and today most states allow professional bouts. They remain illegal in Connecticut and New York, but the state Senate in New York, where amateur fights are legal, this month passed a measure to legalize and regulate the professional sport. When Michigan lawmakers legalized the sport, they stipulated that promoters must be licensed and carry insurance for fighters at pro events. But they didn't set requirements for amateur bouts.

No one tracks all Michigan's amateur fights, but Grand Rapids-area promoter and matchmaker Dru Gardner estimates that there 65 promoters in the state and that there are five events on any given weekend. Rob Fisk, a medic who works many of the fights, said the typical event draws from 500 to more than 2,000 spectators who plunk down $20 each to watch 20-or-so bouts.

While a pro fighter can earn $5,000 for a bout, amateur fighters earn nothing and compete for the thrill or because they harbor hopes of turning pro. In the meantime, amateurs put themselves at risk of serious injury or disease due to the lack of regulation, some lawmakers and promoters say.

Joe Battaglia, who runs a Michigan promotion company, said a fighter goes to the hospital at nearly every one of his events, and that broken noses, ribs and hands are among the most common injuries. Battaglia stopped fighting professionally after suffering a broken neck while training. Fortunately, he was insured.

Many promoters don't provide insurance and many fighters don't have their own, said Al Low, who co-owns the Fight Club Proving Ground gym with Battaglia. Amir Khillah, a pro fighter from Michigan, said he broke his arm in three places in his first bout in 2006. The promoter didn't carry insurance, so Khillah said he made himself a cast out of shin guards and duct tape. His arm is now crooked.

Lawmakers, fighters and promoters also point to a lack of pre-match blood testing, which puts combatants at risk of contracting HIV, hepatitis and other illnesses. The Association of Boxing Commissions, which is made up of the various state fighting commissions, has recommended that members ban amateur MMA fighters from Michigan, for fear of disease. And Bernie Profato, who heads the Ohio Athletic Commission, said he warns fighters that they won't be allowed to compete in Ohio if they fight in Michigan, for fear of spreading disease.

The lack of regulation means Michigan amateurs sometimes can't be protected from themselves. While the Association of Boxing Commissions keeps a database of fighters who have been suspended due to injury, a recent knockout or bad blood work, Michigan promoters aren't required to report to it.

"I know a guy who has been knocked out five times in the last year," said Gardner, the promoter. Someone getting knocked out that often "is a serious liability for the entire sport."

Last year, a 26-year-old South Dakota amateur fighter died a week after a bout from head injuries. Police said there wasn't enough evidence to conclude that the injury was suffered in the event.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's spokesman, Kurt Weiss, said in an email that Snyder supports making mixed martial arts safer and that the governor "will continue to work with the Legislature to find the right approach to ensure that any new regulation will be self-supporting and that need for public health and safety is addressed."

The promoters and amateur fighters calling for regulating the amateur fights made clear that it's for a love of the sport.

Low said many of the young fighters who have taken up MMA at his gym learn discipline, confidence and self-worth.

"I've seen kids coming in here heavy set, out of shape with their heads down and you could barely hear them talk," Low said. "Two years later, they are acting like they are Muhammad Ali."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/michigan-others-may-regulate-amateur-mma-fights-070325452.html

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

U.S. debates how severely to penalize Russia in human rights spat

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a controversy underscoring continued stresses in U.S.-Russia relations, Obama administration officials are debating how many Russian officials to ban from the United States under a new law meant to penalize Moscow for alleged human rights abuses.

The debate's outcome, expected in about two weeks, is likely to illustrate how President Barack Obama will handle what critics say is a crackdown on dissent in Russia and set the tone for Washington-Moscow relations in the president's second term.

The new law is named for Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old anti-corruption lawyer who died in his jail cell in 2009. It requires the United States to deny visas and freeze the U.S. financial assets of Russians linked to the case, or to other alleged violations of human rights in Russia.

The act was passed in December as part of a broader bill to expand U.S. trade with Russia, and Obama signed it December 14. But the White House was never keen on the rights legislation, arguing that it was unnecessary because Washington had imposed visa restrictions on some Russians thought to have played a role in Magnitsky's death. The United States has declined to name those people.

The Magnitsky Act says the president must publish by mid-April the list of accused human rights abusers - or explain to Congress why their names can't be published. The reasons for not publishing must be tied to national security.

U.S. officials said there are differences within the Obama administration over what kind of list to produce - short or long - or whether to even produce two lists, one for the visa bans and another for the asset freezes.

"The difference is essentially between those who don't want to piss off the Russian government any more than we absolutely have to, and those who don't want to piss off Congress any more than we have to," a State Department official said on condition of anonymity.

Magnitsky worked for the equity fund Hermitage Capital in Moscow and was arrested on tax fraud charges shortly after he leveled similar accusations against Russian state officials in 2008. Family and former colleagues say he was mistreated and denied medical care during his year in Russian jails.

His death spooked investors and blackened Russia's image abroad. The Kremlin's own human rights council aired suspicions that he was beaten to death. Magnitsky currently is being tried posthumously in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was angered by the Magnitsky Act, and Russia retaliated by banning U.S. adoptions of Russian children. Asked to comment this week, a spokesman for Russia's embassy in Washington pointed to warnings that Moscow may issue its own list of alleged U.S. human rights abusers.

The White House also is hearing warnings from Congress. One of the law's authors, Representative James McGovern, wrote to Obama on Monday to caution against abbreviating the list. McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, enclosed over 230 names he said could potentially be included - such as senior Russian interior ministry and law enforcement officials who investigated and detained Magnitsky and oversaw his treatment.

McGovern said he heard some U.S. officials favor a "lax" approach to enforcing the law. "I think this would be a terrible message for the administration to send at this point in time, especially with Russia cracking down on human rights organizations," the congressman said in a telephone interview.

In recent weeks, Russian authorities have been searching the offices of advocacy groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Russia's oldest rights group, Memorial, in what activists say is part of a state campaign to stifle dissent.

Putin on Thursday dismissed criticism of state inspections of non-governmental organizations, saying the office searches that have prompted charges of harassment and caused concern in the West were routine.

After improvements under a "reset" Obama initiated in 2009, U.S. ties with Moscow have been strained by differences over the civil war in Syria; Putin's charges of U.S. meddling in internal Russian affairs; and his treatment of opponents since returning to Russia's presidency last May.

'CREDIBLE INFORMATION'

McGovern said that Congress intended that the administration put people on the visa ban list if there was "credible information" that they have violated human rights.

But some administration officials favor only putting people on the list if the evidence against them meets the strict standards used by the Treasury Department for freezing assets, which would produce a shorter list, the State Department official said.

He said he expected the advocates of the shorter list to triumph initially, but noted that it could be updated later.

"I expect a fairly small list, in the 20-something range, will end up on this submission to Congress," he said, adding that he hoped it would go beyond the Magnitsky case to include names of some people involved in other alleged abuses in Russia.

The Treasury Department declined comment. "We will implement the law as required and make information available once we're in a position to do so," a White House spokeswoman said.

In addition to Magnitsky, the law lists other human rights cases it says illustrate the danger of exposing wrongdoing by Russian officials. The cases include Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative journalist who was shot to death in Moscow in 2006, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a jailed former oil tycoon.

The only Russian official directly named in the Magnitsky law for "wrongdoing" is Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia's Chechnya region. Kadyrov is not linked to the Magnitsky case, but the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently said he "stands accused of involvement in murders, torture and disappearances of political opponents and human rights activists". He denies wrongdoing.

Tom Malinowski, director of the Washington office of Human Rights Watch, said the credibility of the initial Magnitsky list won't be so much the number of names but "whether the list at least touches on some of the most important cases that have the greatest resonance among people in Russia who are concerned about the absence of the rule of law."

(Editing by Warren Strobel and Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-debates-severely-penalize-russia-human-rights-spat-220007116.html

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93% Lore

All Critics (87) | Top Critics (23) | Fresh (81) | Rotten (6)

It's a harrowing walk through the heart of darkness.

Saskia Rosendahl gives an impressively poised performance as the beautiful teenager, whose determination to protect her remaining family coincides with her growing revulsion toward her parents.

"Lore" is not a pretty story, but it is a good and sadly believable one.

"Lore" is not a love story, nor the story of a friendship. Rather, it's a story of healing and of how breaking, sometimes painfully, is often necessary before that process can begin.

A fiercely poetic portrait of a young woman staggering beyond innocence and denial, it's about the wars that rage within after the wars outside are lost.

Full of surprises, the movie draws a thin line between pity and revulsion - how would you feel if you had discovered your whole life had been based on lies?

Texture and detail embellish a provocative story

Child of Nazi parents faces an uncertain future

[Director Cate] Shortland directs with an almost hypnotic focus, favoring Lore's immediate experience over the big picture.

Rosendahl's performance is raw and compelling, as Lore fights for her siblings' survival and grows up in a hurry.

Lore and her siblings make a harrowing journey across Germany

Worthwhile, but so subtle that it's frustrating.

The Australian-German co-production takes an unconventional tale and turns it into a challenging, visually stunning and emotionally turbulent film experience.

Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go. Except this ain't no fairy tale... unless it is, perhaps, a hint of the beginnings of a new mythology of ... scary childhood and even scarier adolescence...

With a child's perspective on war, "Lore" deserves comparisons with "Empire of the Sun" and "Hope and Glory," and with a feisty female protagonist it stands virtually alone.

Rosendahl...provides both narrative and emotional continuity to a film whose deliberate pace and fragmented presentation of reality might otherwise prove exasperating.

A burning portrait of consciousness and endurance, gracefully acted and strikingly realized, producing an honest sense of emotional disruption, while concluding on a powerful note of cultural and familial rejection.

Although there are moments that push the story a bit beyond credulity, Shortland has created something remarkable by forcing us to find within ourselves sympathy for this would-be Aryan princess.

Stunning, admirable and indelible - truthfully chronicling the triumph of the human spirit - in a class with Michael Haneke's 'The White Ribbon.'

Can we spare some sympathy or hope for the children of villains, even if they too show signs of their parents' evil? Lore provides no easy answers.

The portrait is miniature and yet indelible, a ghostly reminder of the 20th century.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lore/

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Scientists find new gene markers for cancer risk

NEW YORK (AP) ? A huge international effort involving more than 100 institutions and genetic tests on 200,000 people has uncovered dozens of signposts in DNA that can help reveal further a person's risk for breast, ovarian or prostate cancer, scientists reported Wednesday.

It's the latest mega-collaboration to learn more about the intricate mechanisms that lead to cancer. And while the headway seems significant in many ways, the potential payoff for ordinary people is mostly this: Someday there may be genetic tests that help identify women with the most to gain from mammograms, and men who could benefit most from PSA tests and prostate biopsies.

And perhaps farther in the future these genetic clues might lead to new treatments.

"This adds another piece to the puzzle," said Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research U.K., the charity which funded much of the research.

One analysis suggests that among men whose family history gives them roughly a 20 percent lifetime risk for prostate cancer, such genetic markers could identify those whose real risk is 60 percent.

The markers also could make a difference for women with BRCA gene mutations, which puts them at high risk for breast cancer. Researchers may be able to separate those whose lifetime risk exceeds 80 percent from women whose risk is about 20 to 50 percent. One doctor said that might mean some women would choose to monitor for cancer rather than taking the drastic step of having healthy breasts removed.

Scientists have found risk markers for the three diseases before, but the new trove doubles the known list, said one author, Douglas Easton of Cambridge University. The discoveries also reveal clues about the biological underpinnings of these cancers, which may pay off someday in better therapies, he said.

Experts not connected with the work said it was encouraging but that more research is needed to see how useful it would be for guiding patient care. One suggested that using a gene test along with PSA testing and other factors might help determine which men have enough risk of a life-threatening prostate cancer that they should get a biopsy. Many prostate cancers found early are slow-growing and won't be fatal, but there is no way to differentiate and many men have surgery they may not need.

Easton said the prospects for a genetic test are greater for prostate and breast cancer than ovarian cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide, with more than 1 million new cases a year. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men after lung cancer, with about 900,000 new cases every year. Ovarian cancer accounts for about 4 percent of all cancers diagnosed in women, causing about 225,000 cases worldwide.

The new results were released in 13 reports in Nature Genetics, PLOS Genetics and other journals. They come from a collaboration involving more than 130 institutions in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. The research was mainly paid for by Cancer Research U.K., the European Union and the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Scientists used scans of DNA from more than 200,000 people to seek the markers, tiny variations in the 3 billion "letters" of the DNA code that are associated with disease risk.

The scientists found 49 new risk markers for breast cancer plus a couple of others that modify breast cancer risk from rare mutated genes, 26 for prostate cancer and eight for ovarian cancer. Individually, each marker has only a slight impact on risk estimation, too small to be useful on its own, Easton said. They would be combined and added to previously known markers to help reveal a person's risk, he said.

A genetic test could be useful in identifying people who should get mammography or PSA testing, said Hilary Burton, director of the PHG Foundation, a genomics think-tank in Cambridge, England. A mathematical analysis done by her group found that under certain assumptions, a gene test using all known markers could reduce the number of mammograms and PSA tests by around 20 percent, with only a small cost in cancer cases missed.

Among the new findings:

? For breast cancer, researchers calculated that by using all known markers, including the new ones, they could identify 5 percent of the female population with twice the average risk of disease, and 1 percent with a three-fold risk. The average lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is about 12 percent in developed countries. It's lower in the developing world where other diseases are a bigger problem.

? For prostate cancer, using all the known markers could identify 1 percent of men with nearly five times the average risk, the researchers computed. In developed countries, a man's average lifetime risk for the disease is about 14 to 16 percent, lower in developing nations.

?Markers can also make a difference in estimates of breast cancer risk for women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations. Such women are rare, but their lifetime risk can run as high as 85 percent. Researchers said that with the new biomarkers, it might be possible to identify the small group of these women with a risk of 28 percent or less.

For patients like Vicki Gilbert of England, who carries a variation of the BRCA1 gene, having such details about her cancer risk would have made decision-making easier.

Gilbert, 50, found out about her genetic risk after being diagnosed with the disease in 2009. Though doctors said the gene wouldn't change the kind of chemotherapy she got, they suggested removing her ovaries to avoid ovarian cancer, which is also made more likely by a mutated BRCA1.

"They didn't want to express a definite opinion on whether I should have my ovaries removed so I had to weigh up my options for myself," said Gilbert, a veterinary receptionist in Wiltshire. "...I decided to have my ovaries removed because that takes away the fear it could happen. It certainly would have been nice to have more information to know that was the right choice."

Gilbert said knowing more about the genetic risks of cancer should be reassuring for most patients. "There are so many decisions made for you when you go through cancer treatment that being able to decide something yourself is very important," she said.

Dr. Charis Eng, chair of the Genomic Medicine Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, who didn't participate in the new work, called the breast cancer research exciting but not ready for routine use.

Most women who carry a BRCA gene choose intensive surveillance with both mammograms and MRI and some choose to have their breasts removed to prevent the disease, she said. Even the lower risk described by the new research is worrisomely high, and might not persuade a woman to avoid such precautions completely, Eng said.

___

AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng contributed to this report from London.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-gene-markers-cancer-risk-162853893.html

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Helen Mirren up for best actress at Olivier awards

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/helen-mirren-best-actress-olivier-awards-123053057.html

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Reminder: How Mexico Treats ?Undesirable? Foreigners (Michellemalkin)

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

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Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/ashley-greene-welcome-back-to-condo-sort-of-sucks-as-tenant/

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Berezovky's billions: How the tycoon lost so much

LONDON (AP) ? How do you burn through billions?

The unexplained death of Boris Berezovsky, whose body was found Saturday inside his upscale English home, has refocused attention on the fantastic wealth racked up by Russia's ruthless oligarchs ? and their propensity for spending it. Berezovsky, 67, had once been considered Russia's richest man ? but by this January, a British judge was wondering whether the tycoon would be able to pay his debts.

To understand how one man could lose so much money, it helps to see how he made it in the first place.

___

FOUNDATIONS OF A FORTUNE

Berezovsky, a mathematician, made his fortune in the 1990s during the catastrophic privatization of the Soviet Union's state-run economy. That era was marked by hyperinflation, contract killings and rampant corruption. As Russia's GDP crumbled, oligarchs leveraged their ties to ruthless criminals and crooked officials to tear off huge chunks of the country's assets for themselves, draining resources and stripping factories to build fabulous fortunes.

Berezovsky ? whose interests ran from automobiles to airplanes to aluminum ? was one of this dark period's primary beneficiaries. He became a political operator in Russian President Boris Yeltsin's inner circle, trading on his connections to rack up assets estimated by Forbes to be worth roughly $3 billion in 1997.

"No man profited more from Russia's slide into the abyss," author Paul Klebnikov wrote in a critical profile of Berezovsky titled "Godfather of the Kremlin."

Eventually, the abyss began threatening Berezovsky as well.

The tycoon had been instrumental in orchestrating the accession of Yelstin's successor, Vladimir Putin, but when the new leader and Berezovsky began to clash, his political cover disintegrated. Berezovsky then fled the country in 2000, eventually claiming political asylum in Britain.

___

LIVING LARGE IN LONDON

How much money Berezovsky really had ? and how much he was able to take with him from Moscow ? remains shrouded in uncertainty. Rich Russians at the time routinely stashed their money in labyrinthine offshore trusts or held assets under the names of associates or family members. Many deals weren't even put into writing.

What's clear is that the 1998 Russian financial crisis, coupled with Berezovsky's spectacular fall from political grace, had a big impact on his bottom line. Forbes estimated his post-Moscow fortune in the hundreds of millions. Rival oligarch Roman Abramovich testified in court that Berezovsky had been down to his last $1 million when he fled Russia.

If Berezovsky were strapped for cash, he didn't show it. He rode around London in a reinforced Maybach limousine and was often seen huddled with business contacts in the exclusive hotels that line London's Hyde Park. His string of oversize mansions in England, France and the Caribbean suggested he was a cut above the average millionaire.

Russian officials seemed to believe that Berezovsky had plenty of cash on hand, trying ? with mixed success ? to claw back some of the exile's assets. Charges are still pending against him in relation to the alleged embezzlement of some $13 million from Russia's now-defunct SBS-Agro bank. Berezovsky had also previously been convicted in absentia of bilking hundreds of millions of rubles from the airline company Aeroflot and the carmaker AvtoVaz.

___

THE BILLS PILE UP

Berezovsky often expressed a fondness for Britain's legal system, despite his frequent and expensive encounters with it. A search of British court records throws up roughly three dozen judgments ? libel, fraud, divorce, breach of contract ? involving the tycoon in some way.

Berezovsky sued a business associate over a fraudulent loan. Other business associates sued him over a botched oil deal. Berezovsky sued Forbes over an unflattering profile. He sued Russian television for suggesting he had a hand in the poisoning death of ex-Russian KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko. His second wife sued him for a divorce. His girlfriend sued him for a house he'd promised her. He sued the wife of his long-time partner, Badri Patarkatsishvili, in a complicated dispute over how to split the man's assets after his death.

The sums involved were staggering. The loan deal was worth $5 million. His second divorce settlement in 2011 reportedly cost him 100 million pounds (about $154 million at the time). Patarkatsishvili's assets could be worth hundreds of millions more. The biggest lawsuit of all, against Abramovich for breach of contract and blackmail, was for a mind-boggling $5.6 billion.

Berezovsky lost the lawsuit against Abramovich last year and the judge involved stopped just short of calling him a liar. He was stuck with tens of millions of pounds in legal bills.

___

A FORTUNE FALTERS

Whatever the extent of Berezovsky's wealth, his expensive divorce, Patarkatsishvili's death and his paper mountain of litigation left it much reduced.

In 2008, Berezovsky was forced to sell the Darius, a 110-meter (360-foot) -long custom-built yacht that many believed was an attempt to compete with an even larger ship, the Eclipse, being built for Abramovich.

Earlier this month, the Times of London reported that Berezovsky was downsizing his art collection, selling off his homes, firing staff and closing his office in London's upscale Mayfair district.

In a January ruling in a dispute between Berezovsky and his ex-girlfriend Helena Gorbunova, High Court Judge George Mann wrote that the oligarch's fortune appeared to have been spread thin.

"On the evidence, Mr. Berezovsky is a man under financial pressure," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/berezovkys-billions-tycoon-lost-much-162418962--finance.html

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