BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Browsing through the racks of printed T-shirts and scarves, a handful of shoppers inspect the latest designs in what has become one of the most popular clothing stores in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.
One of them, Ali, a student, holds up a T-shirt printed with a popular Libyan expression "Grab what is new before it becomes old", one of the many catchphrases that adorn the designs in Boza, a small shop in an upmarket neighbourhood.
"I always bought clothes with English writing on them but now for the first time, I am buying a T-shirt with Arabic print," he said. "I am so happy."
Ali is one of the hundreds of Libyans who have flocked to Boza since it opened a few months ago, eager to get their hands on designs that have become a talking point among the youth in Benghazi's popular coffee shops.
Its name meaning "stylish", the store - the first of its kind in Libya according to its owners - sells T-shirts, bags, head and neck scarves printed with "Made in Libya", "Walk like a Libyan" or a jumble of letters spelling out Benghazi.
Some T-shirts are printed with "I love Cyrenaica", referring to Libya's eastern province where calls for more regional autonomy have heightened since Muammar Gaddafi's ouster in 2011.
Benghazi was the cradle of the Libyan revolt and discontent has mounted over continued neglect from Tripoli. Easterners say their oil-rich region was starved of cash under Gaddafi.
Other colourful T-shirts carry portraits of King Idris, whom Gaddafi ousted in his 1969 coup.
"Our designs have political messages, it is difficult to separate daily life from politics," Ahmed Benmussa, a 32-year old oil engineer and Boza co-owner, said.
"We take inspiration from Libyan heritage because we have a rich culture. Reviving history is one of our aims."
Some of the T-shirts tackle the serious issues plaguing post-war Libya - the mass of weapons on its streets and the armed militias which have hobbled governance.
"Better the devil you know" reads the message on one T-shirt accompanied by the drawing of a knife.
"Some of the messages are critical, perhaps in a more humorous way," Benmussa said. "This is how we express ourselves, unlike those who actually use weapons."
PERSONALISED DESIGNS
The shop itself is a mix between old and new. An old record player lies idle in the middle of the store while a large television screen beams Boza's latest designs.
Importing blank T-shirts and scarves from Turkey, its designers use a small printing machine to decorate the clothes and accessories. Customers can also personalise goods or propose new designs on a "suggestion wall" in the store.
Boza's T-shirts, which sell for around 50 Libyan dinars, are popular among Benghazi's youth who say the designs allow them to express themselves - a still relatively new freedom after Gaddafi's 42-year iron-fisted rule.
"This is a great way in which you can express yourself in a modern and fashionable manner," Alaa al-Baba, a 24-year old engineer, said. "It would be great if everybody could do that."
Boza's owners use social media site Facebook to promote the store, both at home and abroad, posting pictures of the owners' friends wearing designs around town like professional models.
"We have sent T-shirts to customers in Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, United States, Qatar, Ireland, France, Egypt and Spain," Benmussa said.
Capitalising on Boza's success in Benghazi, plans are now under way to open a branch in the capital.
"There will be a Boza in Tripoli in coming days," he said.
Video sharing site, Viki, is continuing its push into China with two new video distribution deals with Chinese video-on-demand sites, LeTV and Xunlei Kankan. This move follows its first distribution deal, set up last July, with Renren?also known as the Facebook of China. That deal with Renren was Viki’s first such agreement with a third party to serve videos on an external site, and saw Renren setting up a dedicated channel called VikiZone on its site. This new deal with LeTV and Xunlei Kankan will also have VikiZones created on the Chinese sites. Viki’s video community is quite unique, in that it puts users together in real-time so that they can help to translate videos on the site. The open-source style of working means hundreds of translators can lay subtitles on a video quickly. The company said in April this year that 30 percent of its views are now coming from mobile phones. It serves 1.5 billion videos to 22 million viewers a month, with over 320 million words translated. The startup was launched in 2007, and its founders moved the headquarters from the U.S. (at Harvard, to be specific) to Singapore in 2008, following a funding injection from Singapore-based Neoteny Labs. In its early days, the founders spent a lot of time setting up licensing deals in Korea, and started expanding that effort out to Bollywood movies and Japanese anime. Last year, Viki partnered with Indonesian telco Axis to deliver its apps to Axis subscribers’ phones. Viki also syndicates its content with crowd-sourced subtitles to sites like Hulu and Netflix. It also has an ad deal with the BBC. Viki raised a Series A round in 2010 of $4.3 million, and another round of $20 million in 2011. It has offices in Palo Alto and Seoul as well. Google invested $5 million in Xunlei Kankan in 2007, netting it 2.8 percent of the company. Xunlei Kankan was going to list on NASDAQ in mid-2011, but didn’t go through with it in the end. LeTV is listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange and recently started selling smart TVs.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) ? Laying bare a clash of cultures, President Barack Obama on Thursday urged African leaders to extend equal rights to gays and lesbians but was bluntly rebuked by Senegal's president, who said his country "still isn't ready" to decriminalize homosexuality.
Obama opened his weeklong trip to Africa one day after the U.S. Supreme Court expanded federal benefits for married gay couples. In his first in-person comments on the ruling, Obama said the court's decision marked a "proud day for America." He pressed for similar recognition for gays in Africa, wading into a sensitive area in a region where dozens of countries outlaw homosexuality and a few punish violations with death.
"When it comes to how the state treats people, how the law treats people, I believe that everybody has to be treated equally," Obama said during a news conference with Senegalese President Macky Sall at the grand presidential palace in Dakar.
But Sall gave no ground. Senegal is "very tolerant," he assured Obama, but is "still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality." Sall said countries make decisions on complex issues in their own time, noting that Senegal has outlawed capital punishment while other countries have not ? a pointed jab at the U.S., where the death penalty is legal in many states.
Obama's trip, which also includes stops in South Africa and Tanzania, marks the most extensive visit to Africa by the first black U.S. president since he took office. Many Africans have expressed disappointment over Obama's lack of direct engagement with affairs on their continent ? particularly given that his father was Kenyan and he has many relatives living in Africa ? yet he was still enthusiastically welcomed.
Thousands of people gathered on the roadways near the presidential palace as Obama's motorcade sped through the coastal city, many in the crowds wearing white to symbolize peace. Some waved homemade signs welcoming Obama, while those gathered near the palace entrance sang and played drums, the rhythmic beats audible from inside the gates.
At Goree Island, the former slave trading post Obama visited later Thursday, local residents waited under scorching sun for hours to catch a glimpse of the president. They sang a song about his return to his ancestral homeland and broke into jubilant cheers as Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walked over to shake hands.
Looming over the festive atmosphere were concerns over former South African leader Nelson Mandela. Obama is due to arrive in South Africa on Friday, though Mandela's precarious condition adds some uncertainty to the agenda.
Obama spoke reverently about the impact that Mandela's struggle against apartheid had on his own activism, as well as about the 94-year-old's influence in Africa and around the world.
"If and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages," said Obama, who has sometimes been linked to Mandela given their shared status as their nations' first black presidents.
Mandela's democratic influence in Africa is at the core of Obama's trip. The three countries he will visit were selected as a signal of U.S. support for African nations that have embraced democracy in a region where the legacy of corruption and authoritarianism have been difficult to overcome.
Sall, for example, won the presidency in Senegal last year by ousting an incumbent president who attempted to change the constitution to make it easier for him to be re-elected and for his son to succeed him.
Africa's democratic movements have not been accompanied in most places by equal rights for gays and lesbians. A report Monday by Amnesty International said 38 African countries criminalize homosexuality. In four of those ? Mauritania, northern Nigeria, southern Somalia and Sudan ? the punishment is death.
Discrimination against gays is the norm. In Uganda, evictions of homosexuals by landlords occur regularly, says the Amnesty report. Vigilante groups in several countries have posted the names of homosexuals online or denounced them on the radio, forcing them to go into hiding to avoid mob violence. In Senegal, suspected homosexuals who were buried in Muslim cemeteries were disinterred in several towns and villages, and their corpses were dragged through the streets.
On another subject, Obama was pressed in his news conference about the status of former government contractor Edward Snowden, who has acknowledged leaking highly classified documents detailing sweeping U.S. government surveillance programs. The Chinese government let Snowden leave Hong Kong, where he had been hiding, to travel to Russia, where he is now believed to be holed up in the transit zone at Moscow's airport.
Obama dismissed the notion of deploying U.S. military resources to detain Snowden, saying "I'm not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker."
On still another topic, the president had harsh words for the Supreme Court on its ruling this week that overturned key elements of the Voting Rights Act. Obama declared the decision "a mistake."
"I might not be here as president had it not been for those who courageously helped to pass the Voting Rights Act," Obama said.
The president is being accompanied throughout his trip by wife, daughters Malia and Sasha, and mother-in-law Marian Robinson. Following the president's meetings with Sall, the family boarded a ferry bound for Goree Island, which by some accounts was the center of the Atlantic slave trade.
The Obamas were given a tour of the salmon-colored House of Slaves where Africans were held before being sold into slavery. The president then peered out into the vast Atlantic through the Door of No Return, where shackled men, women and children left Africa, inching across a plank to the hull of a waiting ship.
"Obviously, for an African-American, an African-American president, to be able to visit this site, I think, gives me even greater motivation in terms of human rights around the world," Obama said after his tour.
The president's stop on Goree Island was the first of two visits on the trip highlighting racial change in Africa. The second is scheduled for Sunday at South Africa's Robben Island, where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison.
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Associated Press writer Nedra Pickler, Rukmini Callimachi and Robbie Corey-Boulet in Dakar contributed to this report.
Governor-General Quentin Bryce, left, poses with newly commissioned Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, second from left, his wife Therese Rein, right, and his granddaughter Josephine Tse, at Government House in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, June 27, 2013. Rudd was sworn in as prime minister three years and three days after he was ousted from the same job in an internal government showdown. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Governor-General Quentin Bryce, left, poses with newly commissioned Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, second from left, his wife Therese Rein, right, and his granddaughter Josephine Tse, at Government House in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, June 27, 2013. Rudd was sworn in as prime minister three years and three days after he was ousted from the same job in an internal government showdown. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, right, with her former deputy Wayne Swan, arrive in chambers at parliament for question time for what is likely to be its last day before elections, in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, June 27, 2013. Gillard was dumped in a party ballot and Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australian prime minister three years and three days after he was ousted from the same job in an internal government showdown. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Governor-General Quentin Bryce, right, commissions Kevin Rudd with in half an hour of Parliament resuming for what is likely to be its last day before elections, in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, June 27, 2013. Rudd is sworn in as Australian prime minister three years and three days after he was ousted from the same job in an internal government showdown. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Kevin Rudd signs his commission at Government House within half an hour of Parliament resuming for what is likely to be its last day before elections, in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, June 27, 2013. Rudd is sworn in as Australian prime minister three years and three days after he was ousted from the same job in an internal government showdown. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, second from left, is congratulated by opposition leader Tony Abbott, left, deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop, right, and shadow treasurer Joe Hockey just before Rudd addresses Parliament for what is likely to be its last day before elections, in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, June 27, 2013. Rudd was sworn in as Australian prime minister three years and three days after he was ousted from the same job in an internal government showdown. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) ? Dubbed "Recycled Rudd" in newspaper headlines, Kevin Rudd returned as Australia's prime minister Thursday, reviving his party's hopes of avoiding an election massacre but giving voters few clues where he plans to take the country.
Rudd was sworn in a day after wrenching the job back from Julia Gillard, his former deputy, who took over through her own internal coup three years ago but had a strained relationship with Australian voters from the start.
He is seen as more charismatic than Gillard, though his abrasiveness toward his fellow lawmakers helped lead to his 2010 downfall. In Parliament on Thursday, he urged lawmakers to be "a little kinder and gentler" toward each other following Gillard's ouster.
With Gillard as leader, the ruling center-left Labor Party had appeared headed for an overwhelming election defeat at the hands of the conservative coalition opposition, but Rudd's supporters said they now have a chance to win.
"What this fundamentally does is put us in a position where we can win the next election, and no one would have been talking about that even at the beginning of this week," said Richard Marles, a Rudd supporter who quit as a junior minister in March after an aborted leadership challenge by Rudd.
"We were looking at a very bad defeat. We were not in the contest," he added.
Gillard had set elections for Sept. 14, though Rudd can now decide to hold them as early as Aug. 3. Rudd on Thursday refused to commit to a date but said "there's not going to be a huge variation" from Sept. 14.
Rudd has said he will perform with renewed "energy and purpose," but has yet to spell out what will be different under his leadership. His government remains in a state of confusion, with a Cabinet yet to be named.
Marles said he expects Rudd will "reset some policies" in the next two weeks, including on the unpopular carbon tax levied on Australia's largest polluters and on how Australia deals with a growing number of asylum seekers reaching the country by boat.
"He's the best communicator that exists in Australian politics today," Marles said. "People just love him; they really relate to him and react to him and there is part of that I think is an intangible."
Successive opinion polls have suggested that the government would be more popular with Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat, at the helm than Gillard, a former lawyer and political staffer who was Australia's first female prime minister.
A poll by market researcher Nielsen published last week in Fairfax Media newspapers found that Labor under Rudd would be on equal pegging with the opposition at 50 percent voter support. Under Gillard, Labor trailed with only 43 percent of voter support, compared to 57 percent support for the opposition.
The poll was based on a random nationwide telephone survey of 1,400 voters on June 13-15 and had a 2.6 percent margin of error.
Nielsen director John Stirton was skeptical that the poll would translate to an election victory for Labor, saying that would assume a smooth leadership transition to Rudd, the party uniting behind him and his public popularity enduring until the election.
Under Gillard, polls had suggested that Labor could lose between 30 and 35 of their 71 lawmakers in the 150-seat House of Representatives, where parties form government.
Rudd forced Gillard out in nearly the same way she ousted him in 2010. Each faced a party leadership vote in the face of a revolt from Labor lawmakers, but while Rudd did not contest Gillard's earlier challenge, she went ahead with a vote that she lost 57-45.
Gillard tendered her resignation Wednesday night, and Governor-General Quentin Bryce commissioned Rudd as prime minister on Thursday.
Anthony Albanese was sworn in as deputy prime minister and Chris Bowen was sworn in as treasurer during the same ceremony. Rudd has yet to say when he will announce his complete Cabinet after seven ministers resigned following Gillard's ouster.
Since it holds fewer than half of the seats in Parliament, the Labor Party has required support from independent lawmakers and the minor Greens party to hang on to power. Those lawmakers were not obliged to support Rudd, though at least some of them did.
The opposition could have challenged Rudd's control of the government with a no-confidence motion, but it did not. Parliament was adjourned Thursday and it will not reconvene until after the elections.
The bitter rivalry and infighting between the Gillard and Rudd camps has damaged Labor's image. Rudd had tried twice previously to oust Gillard, last year and in February. Many took the fact that he never posed for a Parliament House portrait, as other former prime ministers had done, as a sign that he never gave up on returning.
"As we all know in this place, political life is a very hard life; a very hard life indeed," Rudd told Parliament before it adjourned. "Let us try ? just try ? to be a little kinder and gentler with each other in the further deliberations of this Parliament."
Opposition leader Tony Abbott demanded an explanation from Rudd of why Gillard was deposed with elections looming. Abbott also called for an election date to be confirmed.
"Politics is a tough business and sometimes it is far more brutal than it needs to be," Abbott said.
"This is a fraught moment in the life of our nation. A prime minister has been dragged down; her replacement owes the Australian people and the Australian Parliament an explanation," he added.
DUBLIN (AP) -- Ireland will pay several hundred former residents of Catholic-run Magdalene laundries at least 34.5 million euros ($45 million) to compensate them for their years of unpaid labor and public shame, the government announced Wednesday following a decade-long campaign by former residents of the workhouses.
Justice Minister Alan Shatter apologized to the women ? an estimated 770 survivors out of more than 10,000 who lived in the dozen facilities from 1922 to 1996 ? that it had taken so long for them to receive compensation. The move marked the latest step in a two-decade effort by Ireland to investigate and redress human rights abuses in its Catholic institutions.
Shatter's decision came four months after a government-commissioned probe found that women consigned to the laundries were broadly branded "fallen" women, a euphemism for prostitutes. The investigation found that few actually were, while most instead were victims of poverty, homelessness and dysfunctional families in a state lacking the facilities to care for them.
In remarks to former Magdalenes, some of them in the press-conference audience, Shatter said he hoped they would accept the compensation plans as "a sincere expression of the state's regret for failing you in the past, its recognition of your current needs, and its commitment to respecting your dignity and human rights as full, equal members of our nation."
And in a challenge to the four orders of nuns that ran the workhouses, Shatter called on them to help pay the bill.
The orders ? the Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge, the Sisters of Charity, and the Good Shepherd Sisters ? all issued statements welcoming the payments plan. None offered any pledge to contribute and insisted their staff had done the best they could at the time, given the state's own inability to care for the women.
The nuns noted that they still were providing homes to more than 100 former laundry workers who chose to remain in church care when the last of the laundries closed, while virtually none of the nuns involved in running the workhouses was still alive today.
"We wish we had provided a better and more comprehensive service and shown more empathy, but we were also part of a system that had little comprehension or understanding of how to truly care for these women," said the Good Shepherd Sisters, who ran four laundries in Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford. "We always acted in good faith and many of our sisters dedicated their entire lives to this work."
Shatter said the total cost of payments could reach 58 million euros ($75.5 million) if the maximum number of eligible women worldwide applies. The tax-free payments would range from 11,500 euros ($15,000), for women who spent less than three months working in a laundry, to up to 100,000 euros ($130,000) for those who spent 10 years or more there.
As part of the plans, former Magdalenes also will receive state-funded retirement pensions and free medical care at state-funded facilities.
Activists representing the so-called "Maggies" had demanded justice and state compensation since 2002, when a previous government launched a compensation fund for people abused in Catholic-run orphanages and workhouses for children.
Former Magdalene residents were declared ineligible, as the government contended that the laundries were privately run institutions with negligible state involvement. Taxpayers since have paid more than 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to more than 13,000 people who suffered sexual, physical and psychological abuse in the children's residences.
A government-commissioned investigation in February found that the state was legally responsible for overseeing the laundries, too. Prime Minister Enda Kenny offered an official apology for what he called "a cruel, pitiless Ireland" that had abused the women with " untrue and offensive stereotypes."
Investigators trawling through decades of the laundries' residency records found that more than a quarter of women were directly committed to the laundries by public officials, such as judges or truancy officers, and all residents spent their days in menial labor without access to education.
Most did laundry for hotels, hospitals and prisons, while others scrubbed floors or made rosary beads for the church's profit.
The report found that the average length of stay was just seven months, not the lifetime imprisonment commonly depicted in fictional works. It said 14 percent stayed more than five years, and 8 percent more than a decade.
Many hundreds checked into the facilities repeatedly for short periods, reflecting their poverty and the Irish state's inadequate facilities for homeless women. And until the 1970s, judges often ordered women guilty of crimes ranging from shoplifting to infanticide into the laundries rather than Ireland's male-dominated prison system.
The report did dispute depictions in popular culture of physical beatings in the institutions, noting that many Magdalene residents had transferred there as teenagers from Catholic-run industrial schools where such violence was common, and some survivors in their adult recollections failed to distinguish between the two. It found no evidence of such attacks in the nuns' care and, specifically, no complaints of sexual abuse by the nuns.
Flush from launching in the US in a Google-heavy iteration, HTC is rewarding its UK fans with a sultry "glamour red" option of the One smartphone. It'll arrive at retailer Phones 4U in mid-July, although there's no specifics yet on storage (16 or 32GB?), or whether there will be any price difference between the new colorful hue and existing silver and black options.
Update: Phones4U has confirmed it'll be selling this boudoir of a phone starting at £33 per month on contract.
June 26, 2013 ? The appearance of cutlery can affect perception of a food's taste, reports BioMed Central's open access journal Flavour. Food tastes saltier when eaten from a knife, and denser and more expensive from a light plastic spoon. Taste was also affected by the color of the cutlery.
The crockery we use has been shown to alter our perception of food and drink. Beverages in cold colored glasses were rated more refreshing and the weight and color of a plate can alter how dense, salty or sweet food tastes. In this study, researchers from the University of Oxford demonstrated that cutlery can also have an impact on how we experience food.
They found that when the weight of the cutlery confirms expectations (e.g. a plastic spoon is light), yoghurt seemed denser and more expensive. Color contrast is also an important factor: white yoghurt when eaten from a white spoon was rated sweeter, more liked, and more expensive than pink-colored yoghurt. These effects were reversed for yoghurt tasted from a black spoon, which suggests that color contrast mediates the effects of cutlery on flavor perception. Similarly, when offered cheese on a knife, spoon, fork or toothpick, the cheese from a knife tasted saltiest.
Dr Vanessa Harrar and Prof Charles Spence, who performed this study, explain, "How we experience food is a multisensory experience involving taste, feel of the food in our mouths, aroma, and the feasting of our eyes. Even before we put food into our mouths our brains have made a judgment about it, which affects our overall experience."
Vanessa Harrar continued, "Subtly changing eating implements and tableware can affect how pleasurable, or filling, food appears. So, when serving a dish, one should keep in mind that the color of the food appears different depending on the background on which it is presented (plate or cutlery) and, therefore, tastes different. This may also be used to help control eating patterns such as portion size or how much salt is added to food. Alternatively, people may be able to make better food choices if their ingrained color associations are disrupted by less constant advertising and packaging."
Mornings are rough. And depending how many special adult beverages you imbibed the night before, mornings can be very, very rough. Which is exactly why we love Morning for iPad. It gives you a bright, friendly look at all the info you need to start your day, so you can be prepared even when you feel like crap.
What does it do?
Provides a customizable dashboard with six panels of varying sizes, which you can fill with whatever intel you most need as soon as you pop (or roll) out of bed. Choose from date, weather, stocks, news, to-do lists that integrate with your Reminders and Calendar apps, event countdown timers, and traffic information. Within each individual panel, you can swipe and browse to see moe info and change the current view or color with a pull-down toolbar.
Why do we like it?
Admittedly, all this information is already sitting in your phone or iPad, but it's lying scattered amongst your various apps and screens, forcing you to go on a hunt for what you need. Normally you wouldn't think twice about opening a few apps and extra swipes, but not only are you often time crunched in the morning?chances are your mind isn't totally there yet when you first wake up. Because you can arrange what you'll be seeing the night before, this makes sure that you're reminded of what's coming that day and fully prepared to take it on.
Black Sabbath, a heavy metal band, has their first No 1 album in the US Billiboard 200 chart. The new album is? titled "13." is the19th studio album from Black Sabbath.
By Piya Sinha-Roy,?Reuters / June 25, 2013
Singer Ozzy Osbourne, right, and musician Geezer Butler of the rock band Black Sabbath posing for a portrait in Los Angeles.
(Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP)
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Veteran heavy-metal band Black Sabbath landed its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 album chart this past Wednesday, more than four decades after the rockers debuted their first album in the United States.
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"13," the 19th studio album from Black Sabbath, sold 155,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, knocking last week's No. 1 album by Queens of the Stone Age off the top spot on the weekly U.S. album chart.
But the album fell one spot to second place on the British charts this week. Black Sabbath, an English rock band fronted by lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, released their debut self-titled album in North America in 1970, but were never able to notch the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart in a career spanning 43 years.
"The news is absolutely amazing - we couldn't have imagined this would happen," guitarist and founding member Tony Iommi said in a statement. Osbourne added, "to finally have our first No. 1 album in the U.S. is another incredible milestone for Black Sabbath."
French electronic duo Daft Punk held steady for the second week at No. 2 with "Random Access Memories," which has sold 543,000 copies since its release on May 18.
Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience" saw a surge in sales last week after the album was discounted for Father's Day, with 35,000 copies sold and climbing from No. 9 to No. 3.
Country band Florida Georgia Line also benefited from Father's Day promotion sale prices, as their album "Here's to the Good Times" climbing back into the top 10 at No. 5.
Black Sabbath was one of five new debut albums in the top ten this past week.
Boy band Big Time Rush came in at No. 4 with "24/Seven," alternative-rockers Goo Goo Dolls landed at No. 8 with their latest record "Magnetic," and movie score maestro Hans Zimmer's soundtrack for Superman movie "Man of Steel" flew into No. 9.
Comedy trio The Lonely Island, fronted by former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Andy Samberg, rounded out the top 10 with their latest collection of parodies, "The Wack Album."
Overall album sales totaled 5.25 million for the week ending June 16, down 10 percent from the comparable sales week in 2012, according to Billboard.
This week's chart is likely to see a high debut from rapper Kanye West, who released his latest record "Yeezus" this past week and is currently at the top of the iTunes album chart.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - French actor Gerard Depardieu was involved in a car accident in Moscow on Tuesday when a taxi rammed into a Mercedes carrying him in his adopted homeland of Russia, where he is filming a movie.
The 64-year-old star of films such as "Green Card" and "Cyrano de Bergerac" was unhurt and posed for photos with Russian traffic police in footage shown by tabloid portal Lifenews.ru.
Depardieu, who was granted Russian citizenship by President Vladimir Putin in January after criticizing a planned 75-percent tax on millionaires in France, appears not to have been behind the wheel during the Moscow accident.
He was banned from driving for six months by a French court earlier this month, after he was found to be three times over the alcohol limit when he fell from a scooter last year.
France's best-known actor, whose lifestyle and outlandish behavior has made more headlines than his film career in recent years, was bitterly criticized for abandoning his homeland when he received a hug and a passport from Putin. But Depardieu, who owns a vineyard in the Loire valley, has said he did not leave for tax reasons.
Last year's scooter fall came a few months after a car driver filed a suit against Depardieu for assault and battery following an altercation in Paris.
A year earlier, Depardieu outraged passengers by urinating in the aisle of an Air France flight as it prepared to take off.
Depardieu is currently filming a thriller called "Turquoise" in Moscow and Russia's southern province of Chechnya with British actress Elizabeth Hurley.
(Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel, editing by Paul Casciato)
The US government?has formally asked Hong Kong authorities to extradite NSA leaker Edward Snowden to the US for prosecution of espionage charges. But appeals of extradition requests can last years.
By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / June 22, 2013
A TV screen shows the news of Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping US surveillance programs, at a shopping mall in Hong Kong.
Kin Cheung/AP
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The world knows that NSA leaker Edward Snowden is somewhere in Hong Kong ? not in the luxury hotel where he was videotaped talking about his bombshell revelations regarding top secret National Security Agency surveillance programs gathering telephone and Internet metadata from millions of individuals, but ?in a safe place,? the South China Morning Post reported Saturday.
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Earlier reports had put Mr. Snowden in a safe house under police protection.
But wherever he is for the moment, ?experts say time is running out for Snowden if he intends to leave Hong Kong and seek asylum elsewhere,? the English-language newspaper reported. ?His fate may depend on when the Hong Kong police seek a provisional warrant for his arrest from a local court in light of charges in the United States, a legal procedure the?Post?understands was still being worked Saturday night.?
Meanwhile, White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon told CBS News Saturday that the US has formally asked Hong Kong authorities to extradite Snowden.
"We believe that the charges presented, present a good case for extradition under the treaty, the extradition treaty between the United States and Hong Kong," Mr. Donilon told CBS Radio News White House correspondent Mark Knoller. "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."
Michael di Pretoro, a retired 30-year veteran with the FBI who served from 1990 to 1994 as the legal liaison officer at the American consulate in Hong Kong, said "relations between US and Hong Kong law enforcement personnel are historically quite good."
"In my time, I felt the degree of cooperation was outstanding to the extent that I almost felt I was in an FBI field office," Mr. di Pretoro told the Associated Press.
The United States and Hong Kong have a standing agreement on the surrender of fugitives. However,?Snowden's appeal rights could drag out any extradition proceeding.
Targeted viral therapy destroys breast cancer stem cells in preclinical experimentsPublic release date: 24-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Wallace wallacej@vcu.edu 804-628-1550 Virginia Commonwealth University
A promising new treatment for breast cancer being developed at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) has been shown in cell culture and in animal models to selectively kill cancer stem cells at the original tumor site and in distant metastases with no toxic effects on healthy cells, including normal stem cells. Cancer stem cells are critical to a cancer's ability to recur following conventional chemotherapies and radiation therapy because they can quickly multiply and establish new tumors that are often therapy resistant.
The study, published in the International Journal of Cancer, focuses on a gene originally cloned in the laboratory of primary investigator Paul B. Fisher, M.Ph., Ph.D. The gene, melanoma differentiation associated gene-7 (mda-7), also known as interleukin (IL)-24, has been shown to directly impact two forms of cell suicide known as apoptosis and toxic autophagy, regulate the development of new blood vessels and also play a role in promoting cancer cell destruction by the immune system. In the present study, the researchers used a recombinant adenovirus vector, an engineered virus with modified genetic material, known as Ad.mda-7 to deliver the mda-7/IL-24 gene with its encoded protein directly to the tumor.
"Therapy with the mda-7/IL-24 gene has been shown to be safe in a phase I clinical trial involving patients with advanced cancers, and prior studies in my laboratory and with collaborators have shown that the gene could also be effective against breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, ovarian, pancreatic and brain cancers," says Fisher, Thelma Newmeyer Corman Endowed Chair in Cancer Research and co-leader of the Cancer Molecular Genetics program at VCU Massey, chairman of VCU School of Medicine's Department of Human and Molecular Genetics and director of the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine. "Our study demonstrates that this therapy may someday be an effective way to eradicate both early and advanced stage breast cancer, and could even be used to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence."
The researchers found that infection of human breast cancer cells with the adenovirus decreased the proliferation of breast cancer stem cells without affecting normal breast stem cells. It was also shown to induce a stress response in the cells that led to apoptosis by disrupting Wnt/B-catenin signaling, a process cells rely upon to transmit signals that initiate biological functions critical to survival. In mouse models, the therapy profoundly inhibited the growth of tumors generated from breast cancer stem cells and also killed cancer cells in distant, uninjected tumors.
Since discovering the mda-7/IL-24 gene, Fisher and his team have worked to develop better ways to deliver it to cancer cells, including two cancer "terminator" viruses known as Ad.5-CTV and Ad.5/3-CTV. Cancer terminator viruses are unique because they are designed to replicate only within cancer cells while delivering immune-modulating and toxic genes such as MDA-7/IL-24. Coupled with a novel stealth delivery technique known as ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD), researchers can now systemically deliver viruses and therapeutic genes and proteins directly to tumors and their surrounding tissue (microenvironment) at both primary and metastatic tumor sites. UTMD uses microscopic, gas-filled bubbles that can be paired with viral therapies, therapeutic genes and proteins, and imaging agents and can then be released in a site and target-specific manner via ultrasound. Fisher and his colleagues are pioneering this approach and have already reported success in experiments utilizing UTMD technology and mda-7/IL-24 gene therapy in prostate and colorectal cancer models.
"We are hopeful that this targeted gene therapy could be safely combined with conventional chemotherapies to significantly improve outcomes for patients with breast cancer and potentially a variety of other cancers," says Fisher. "When paired with promising new delivery techniques such as UTMD, physicians may one day be able to better target site-specific cancers and also monitor the effectiveness of these types of therapies in real time."
###
Fisher collaborated on this study with Paul Dent, Ph.D., member of the Developmental Therapeutics program at VCU Massey, professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at VCU School of Medicine and member of VIMM; Xiang-Yang Wang, Ph.D., member of the Cancer Molecular Genetics program at VCU Massey, associate professor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics and associate scientific director of immunology and infectious diseases of VIMM; Devanand Sarkar, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., Harrison Scholar and member of the Cancer Molecular Genetics program at VCU Massey, associate professor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at VCU School of Medicine, and associate scientific director of cancer therapeutics at VIMM; Belal Azab, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Menezes, Ph.D., both postdoctoral scientists from the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at VCU School of Medicine; and Sujit K. Bhutia, Ph.D., Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at VCU School of Medicine, now an assistant professor in the Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India.
This study was supported by National Cancer Institute grants R01 CA097318 and P01 CA104177.
The full manuscript of this study is available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.28289/abstract;jsessionid=EAF95F3253E44B492D50B8E862E1F55E.d03t03
News directors: Broadcast access to VCU Massey Cancer Center experts is available through VideoLink ReadyCam. ReadyCam transmits video and audio via fiber optics through a system that is routed to your newsroom. To schedule a live or taped interview, contact John Wallace, (804) 628-1550.
About VCU Massey Cancer Center
VCU Massey Cancer Center is one of only 67 National Cancer Institute-designated institutions in the country that leads and shapes America's cancer research efforts. Working with all kinds of cancers, the Center conducts basic, translational and clinical cancer research, provides state-of-the-art treatments and clinical trials, and promotes cancer prevention and education. Since 1974, Massey has served as an internationally recognized center of excellence. It has one of the largest offerings of clinical trials in Virginia and serves patients in Richmond and in four satellite locations. Its 1,000 researchers, clinicians and staff members are dedicated to improving the quality of human life by developing and delivering effective means to prevent, control and ultimately to cure cancer. Visit Massey online at http://www.massey.vcu.edu or call 877-4-MASSEY for more information.
About VCU and the VCU Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located in downtown Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 222 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-six of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU's 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the nation's leading academic medical centers. For more, see http://www.vcu.edu.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Targeted viral therapy destroys breast cancer stem cells in preclinical experimentsPublic release date: 24-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Wallace wallacej@vcu.edu 804-628-1550 Virginia Commonwealth University
A promising new treatment for breast cancer being developed at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) has been shown in cell culture and in animal models to selectively kill cancer stem cells at the original tumor site and in distant metastases with no toxic effects on healthy cells, including normal stem cells. Cancer stem cells are critical to a cancer's ability to recur following conventional chemotherapies and radiation therapy because they can quickly multiply and establish new tumors that are often therapy resistant.
The study, published in the International Journal of Cancer, focuses on a gene originally cloned in the laboratory of primary investigator Paul B. Fisher, M.Ph., Ph.D. The gene, melanoma differentiation associated gene-7 (mda-7), also known as interleukin (IL)-24, has been shown to directly impact two forms of cell suicide known as apoptosis and toxic autophagy, regulate the development of new blood vessels and also play a role in promoting cancer cell destruction by the immune system. In the present study, the researchers used a recombinant adenovirus vector, an engineered virus with modified genetic material, known as Ad.mda-7 to deliver the mda-7/IL-24 gene with its encoded protein directly to the tumor.
"Therapy with the mda-7/IL-24 gene has been shown to be safe in a phase I clinical trial involving patients with advanced cancers, and prior studies in my laboratory and with collaborators have shown that the gene could also be effective against breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, ovarian, pancreatic and brain cancers," says Fisher, Thelma Newmeyer Corman Endowed Chair in Cancer Research and co-leader of the Cancer Molecular Genetics program at VCU Massey, chairman of VCU School of Medicine's Department of Human and Molecular Genetics and director of the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine. "Our study demonstrates that this therapy may someday be an effective way to eradicate both early and advanced stage breast cancer, and could even be used to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence."
The researchers found that infection of human breast cancer cells with the adenovirus decreased the proliferation of breast cancer stem cells without affecting normal breast stem cells. It was also shown to induce a stress response in the cells that led to apoptosis by disrupting Wnt/B-catenin signaling, a process cells rely upon to transmit signals that initiate biological functions critical to survival. In mouse models, the therapy profoundly inhibited the growth of tumors generated from breast cancer stem cells and also killed cancer cells in distant, uninjected tumors.
Since discovering the mda-7/IL-24 gene, Fisher and his team have worked to develop better ways to deliver it to cancer cells, including two cancer "terminator" viruses known as Ad.5-CTV and Ad.5/3-CTV. Cancer terminator viruses are unique because they are designed to replicate only within cancer cells while delivering immune-modulating and toxic genes such as MDA-7/IL-24. Coupled with a novel stealth delivery technique known as ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD), researchers can now systemically deliver viruses and therapeutic genes and proteins directly to tumors and their surrounding tissue (microenvironment) at both primary and metastatic tumor sites. UTMD uses microscopic, gas-filled bubbles that can be paired with viral therapies, therapeutic genes and proteins, and imaging agents and can then be released in a site and target-specific manner via ultrasound. Fisher and his colleagues are pioneering this approach and have already reported success in experiments utilizing UTMD technology and mda-7/IL-24 gene therapy in prostate and colorectal cancer models.
"We are hopeful that this targeted gene therapy could be safely combined with conventional chemotherapies to significantly improve outcomes for patients with breast cancer and potentially a variety of other cancers," says Fisher. "When paired with promising new delivery techniques such as UTMD, physicians may one day be able to better target site-specific cancers and also monitor the effectiveness of these types of therapies in real time."
###
Fisher collaborated on this study with Paul Dent, Ph.D., member of the Developmental Therapeutics program at VCU Massey, professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at VCU School of Medicine and member of VIMM; Xiang-Yang Wang, Ph.D., member of the Cancer Molecular Genetics program at VCU Massey, associate professor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics and associate scientific director of immunology and infectious diseases of VIMM; Devanand Sarkar, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., Harrison Scholar and member of the Cancer Molecular Genetics program at VCU Massey, associate professor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at VCU School of Medicine, and associate scientific director of cancer therapeutics at VIMM; Belal Azab, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Menezes, Ph.D., both postdoctoral scientists from the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at VCU School of Medicine; and Sujit K. Bhutia, Ph.D., Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at VCU School of Medicine, now an assistant professor in the Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India.
This study was supported by National Cancer Institute grants R01 CA097318 and P01 CA104177.
The full manuscript of this study is available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.28289/abstract;jsessionid=EAF95F3253E44B492D50B8E862E1F55E.d03t03
News directors: Broadcast access to VCU Massey Cancer Center experts is available through VideoLink ReadyCam. ReadyCam transmits video and audio via fiber optics through a system that is routed to your newsroom. To schedule a live or taped interview, contact John Wallace, (804) 628-1550.
About VCU Massey Cancer Center
VCU Massey Cancer Center is one of only 67 National Cancer Institute-designated institutions in the country that leads and shapes America's cancer research efforts. Working with all kinds of cancers, the Center conducts basic, translational and clinical cancer research, provides state-of-the-art treatments and clinical trials, and promotes cancer prevention and education. Since 1974, Massey has served as an internationally recognized center of excellence. It has one of the largest offerings of clinical trials in Virginia and serves patients in Richmond and in four satellite locations. Its 1,000 researchers, clinicians and staff members are dedicated to improving the quality of human life by developing and delivering effective means to prevent, control and ultimately to cure cancer. Visit Massey online at http://www.massey.vcu.edu or call 877-4-MASSEY for more information.
About VCU and the VCU Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located in downtown Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 222 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-six of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU's 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the nation's leading academic medical centers. For more, see http://www.vcu.edu.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
This year's supermoon ? it's also a strawberry moon ? will be (slightly) larger and brighter than others, because its full phase comes as the orb makes its closest approach to Earth.
By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / June 21, 2013
A 'supermoon' rises behind the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, Greece. The phenomenon occurs when the moon passes closer to Earth than usual. The event this Sunday will make the moon appear larger than normal, but the difference is so small that most skywatchers won?t notice.
Dimitri Messinis/AP/File
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It's bigger than a bleached beach ball, able to orbit Earth in 27.3 days ? it's supermoon! And it's coming to a night sky near you on June 23.
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It will be bright, beautiful, but definitely not "five times bigger" than usual, as some widely circulating web alerts suggest. More like 12 percent larger than average ? a difference too small to detect by eye without help from a camera.
Take a picture of Sunday's full moon high in the sky, then take a picture of another full moon of your choosing ? at roughly the height above the horizon using the same magnification. Set the two white disks side by side, and the difference is easier to see ? but nowhere near a five-fold difference.
Still, what can be finer on an early summer's night (or winter's night in the Southern Hemisphere) than sitting on the front porch or back deck and enjoying Earth's companion, weather willing?
In fact, it's a two-fer. The first full moon in June is called a strawberry moon, marking the harvest of strawberries after their short growing season ends, according to that annual compendium of weather prognostications, recipes, and lore, the Old Farmer's Almanac.
Supermoons occur once a year. This month's super-strawberry moon will be (slightly) larger and brighter than others because its full-moon phase comes as the moon makes its closest approach to Earth.
The moon's orbit around the third rock from the sun traces an elliptical path.? At closest approach, or perigee, the moon swings to within 362,570 kilometers (224,793 miles) of Earth, while its most-distant point, or apogee is 405,410 km. But those are averages.
Sunday night, the moon's perigee will come within 356,989 km of Earth, about 2 percent closer than average. And the moon reaches full status about 20 minutes after perigee.
As Phil Plait, an astronomer who pens the "Bad Astronomy" blog over at Slate.com puts it: "That's pretty nifty timing."
As with any full moon, Sunday's supermoon will appear unusually large when it's close to the horizon. In one sense, that makes any full moon super to view. But don't be fooled. As the late, great 18-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant noted: "The astronomer cannot prevent himself from seeing the moon larger at its rising than some time afterwards, although he is not deceived by this illusion."
If you miss this supermoon, it's not too early to mark your calendar for the next one. It should show up Aug. 10, 2014. And it's free!
MOSCOW (AP) ? Anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks says a former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing highly classified surveillance programs is going to Ecuador to seek asylum.
The group said in a statement Sunday that Edward Snowden is "bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks."
Tele selling is an significant avenue for sales for most business establishments in the present time eventuality. While most people make use of tele selling, there are just 1 or 2 who?re profitable. In case you wish to be productive too, make sure that you abide by the provided tips.
Smile, when you?re tele selling your goods. While the person on the other end of the phone may not observe your facial expression, he or he?s going to definitely feel it. Smiling not only makes you more confident however additionally gives your voice a pleasing undertone. Moreover, when you smile, you?re bound to feel relaxed and that will also reflect in your voice. So, when you sound confident, pleasant and chilled, the individual you?re calling is certain to be more willing to lend an ear to what you are saying.
Learn to listen to your clients. Most tele executives are more engaged in narrating their part of the tale than listening to what the customer has to say. This disposition may merely frustrate the receiver of your call and so you must make it a point to hear what the other person is saying before continuing with what you ought to say. Do not multitask when on a call as you might not be able to listen to what?s being stated. By lending a patient and alert ear, you will be able to make your discussion more productive.
To make sure that you have an engaging and smooth conversation, include various open ended investigations in the call. This can give a chance to the receiver to speak his/her mind. In reality it?s much better in case the prospective customer is at the speaking end more than you. Purpose being this creates a comfortable atmosphere for the recipient. This may aid you coax the person to go ahead with the purchase.
Come in rhythm to the recipient?s style of talking. In case the person at the other end of the phone speaks softly and carefully, try to take up the same speaking style. As the pace plus the style of speaking reaches a common zone, the chances of successful chat raises manifolds. The recipient develops an affinity with the caller and thereby strikes an engaging chat.
Besides the above mentioned tips, you could also look at recording your calls to increase your success quotient. Recording your calls and listening to them will aid you understand the areas where you could improve. You may wish to say ?Hi? in a distinct tone all together. Or you might realize that your articulation is not very apparent to the other person. Work on your flaws and you will manage to collect success for sure.
So, in case you desire your tele selling to bring the preferred revenue and profits, it makes sense to take on the given tips at the earliest.
Here Is Some More Information On Juvenile Diabetes And Treadmill Maintenance.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nominee to become the top U.S. diplomat in East Asia delivered pointed comments about China in his confirmation hearing Thursday, saying there's no place for "coercion and bullying" in the region's seas.
Danny Russel told a Senate panel that he'll do everything in his power to "lower the temperature" in territorial disputes in the South and East China seas and push claimants including China toward diplomacy.
He also said it was "unacceptable" for China to demand only bilateral negotiations with the other claimants and voiced strong U.S. support for efforts by Southeast Asia to negotiate as a bloc and frame a "code of conduct" to manage the disputes ? an issue to be taken up at regional security talks in Brunei later this month.
Russel is currently White House senior director for Asian affairs. He is nominee to become assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, replacing Kurt Campbell, who resigned in February to enter business.
Russel is a 28-year career diplomat, less ebullient than Campbell, with long experience in Japan and Korea. His association with Asia began in his 20s when he spent three years studying martial arts in Japan.
He has played a central role in the Obama administration's strategic "pivot" to Asia. That's seen the U.S. stake out a diplomatic position on maritime issues that has irked Beijing, with Washington saying it has a national interest in the peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea.
Six governments have overlapping claims to tiny reefs and islands across those resource-rich waters, with China claiming it has sovereignty over virtually all of it. While the U.S. itself is not a claimant, it says it has a stake in the freedom of navigation in its busy sea lanes, which are crucial to world trade.
"I certainly will do everything in my power to try to lower the temperature, push claimants including China into a diplomatic track and continue to warn them that the region in which China will flourish is a region of law, a region of order and a region of respect for neighbors, not one in which there is space for coercion and bullying," Russel said.
He said that President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have raised the issue of China's behavior on the seas with its leaders, and the Chinese "are in no doubt that America stands by our allies."
The most volatile maritime disputes involving China in the past couple of years have involved U.S. treaty allies, the Philippines and Japan ? nations which Beijing has blamed for triggering tensions.
While acknowledging U.S.-China competition, Russel said the U.S. supports the rise of a China that is stable, prosperous and abides by international rules and norms. He said the U.S. seeks "practical cooperation" that benefits both countries and the region.
He said positive cooperation with China would be "essential" in getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons.
Russel confirmed that he has visited Pyongyang during his time at the White House. He said helping to achieve a halt or rollback in the North's atomic program would be a top priority if he becomes assistant secretary of state.
Video sharing site, Viki, is continuing its push into China with two new video distribution deals with Chinese video-on-demand sites, LeTV and Xunlei Kankan. This move follows its first distribution deal, set up last July, with Renren?also known as the Facebook of China. That deal with Renren was Viki’s first such agreement with a third party to serve videos on an external site, and saw Renren setting up a dedicated channel called VikiZone on its site. This new deal with LeTV and Xunlei Kankan will also have VikiZones created on the Chinese sites. Viki’s video community is quite unique, in that it puts users together in real-time so that they can help to translate videos on the site. The open-source style of working means hundreds of translators can lay subtitles on a video quickly. The company said in April this year that 30 percent of its views are now coming from mobile phones. It serves 1.5 billion videos to 22 million viewers a month, with over 320 million words translated. The startup was launched in 2007, and its founders moved the headquarters from the U.S. (at Harvard, to be specific) to Singapore in 2008, following a funding injection from Singapore-based Neoteny Labs. In its early days, the founders spent a lot of time setting up licensing deals in Korea, and started expanding that effort out to Bollywood movies and Japanese anime. Last year, Viki partnered with Indonesian telco Axis to deliver its apps to Axis subscribers’ phones. Viki also syndicates its content with crowd-sourced subtitles to sites like Hulu and Netflix. It also has an ad deal with the BBC. Viki raised a Series A round in 2010 of $4.3 million, and another round of $20 million in 2011. It has offices in Palo Alto and Seoul as well. Google invested $5 million in Xunlei Kankan in 2007, netting it 2.8 percent of the company. Xunlei Kankan was going to list on NASDAQ in mid-2011, but didn’t go through with it in the end. LeTV is listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange and recently started selling smart TVs.
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Public release date: 24-Jun-2013
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