The biggest bang for shopping bucks

Research finds BHP Billiton boss Marius Kloppers is the nation's highest-paid CEO, earning $11.8m last year.

Aquila Resources executive chairman Tony Poli. Source:Supplied

THE country's top 10 bosses earned almost $90 million last year, while the founder and executive chairman of a lowly miner received almost $170 million as its share price soared.

Aquila Resources' Tony Poli, who has an annual salary of $572,000, scored a mammoth $169.9 million pay packet, driven by share options granted in 2005 which rose to almost 14 times their original worth during 2011.

And almost 90 per cent of Australia's top 200 chief executives received bonus payments in 2011, despite falling profitability and widespread job cuts.

A new report from the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors shows executive pay is still rising but the rate of growth is slowing as board's lower bonuses to try and meet shareholder

The average bonus in 2011 dropped to $1.25 million its lowest level since 2004.

But angry shareholders are expected to use the coming AGM season to increase the pressure to directly link long-term bonuses to shareholder returns as part of a campaign to put greater scrutiny on fat cat wages as profits slip.

The ACSI report shows the biggest bonus was $3.3 million paid to Commonwealth Bank's outgoing boss Ralph Norris.

BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers was the top earner at more than $17 million in realised pay for 2011, which includes almost $12 million in share options and holdings.

Frankfurt lufthavn rammes af strejke

De kabineansatte i det tyske luftfartsselskab Lufthansa indleder fredag morgen deres strejke i Frankfurt.

Det oplyser de kabineansattes fagforening UFO.

Al trafik med Lufthansa-fly vil være ramt fra kl. 05.00 til 13.00 i Frankfurt lufthavn, der er en af Europas største.

Strejken ventes at medføre store forstyrrelser i flytrafikken.

Både korte og lange flyrejser er berørt af arbejdsnedlæggelsen.

Lufthansa har i tidsrummet mellem kl 05.00 og 13.00 to afgange fra Københavns lufthavn, men det er ikke oplyst, om de er omfattet af strejken.

Foreløbig er det kun Frankfurt lufthavn, der er berørt.

Det er et sammenbrud i forhandlinger mellem Lufthansa og de 19.000 kabineansatte tirsdag, som nu fører til den første arbejdsnedlæggelse.

Stewarderne og stewardesserne har krævet en fem procents lønforhøjelse, men Lufthansa siger, at konkurrencen på det internationale flymarked er så hård, at man ikke kan honorere kravet.

Entire History of the Internet on One Facebook Timeline

We’ve seen companies and people do some inventive things with Facebook’s Timeline feature, but this project may take the cake.

Grovo, a company looking to better educate people about common web and mobile products, has curated the entire history of the Internet on one single Facebook Timeline.

Many important dates in the development of the Internet are honored with milestones on the company’s page, from recent social media launches like Instagram, to way back in 1536, which is the first known use of the @ symbol.

Check out the many cool happenings of the 1990s in particular — the good old dot-com days. Also, can you believe the U.S. military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was founded in 1958? The agency has done lots of truly mind-boggling research in those fifty-some years. And it only took six years after the invention of email in 1972 for spam emails to show up.

James Franco takes the role of Galaxy Note 10.1 spokesman

It seems to make sense that actor, director, short story writer, and Ph.D. candidate for Yale's English program James Franco would be the new spokesman for

Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1. The company is aiming to show that while Franco is a man of many talents, the device can also accomplish many tasks at once.

In a new TV ad for the device, which Franco claims to have directed himself, the actor is seen walking around his house using his Note to look up information

with the touch pad, write down messages with the S pen stylus, and check out other features of the device. All the while, he touts his many skills.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 was launched earlier this month as a potential competitor to Apple's iPad. The device comes with a 10.1-inch screen, 1.4GHz quad-core

processor and Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The device also comes with Samsung's S Pen stylus, allowing users to "write" all over the screen.
For now, only a Wi-Fi model is available, but a Wi-Fi and LTE option are expected to be launching later this year.

Apple has also rolled out celebrity spokespeople in its Siri ads this past summer. Actors including Samuel L. Jackson, Zooey Deschanel, and John Malkovich,

along with director Martin Scorsese, are shown using the iPhone voice chat feature to ask questions, schedule appointments, and check local traffic.

LeBron James' Image May Be the Biggest Winner in the Dwig

LeBron James went from one of the most beloved NBA players to one of the most scrutinized after leaving Cleveland for Miami in 2010.

However, after a year of taking on the villain role, James was able to get back in his own skin this year, winning his first NBA championship, a Finals MVP

Award, his third NBA MVP Award and an Olympic gold medal this year.

And though it was "The Decision" that ignited the downward spiral of James' popularity among the masses, it could be Dwight Howard's indecision this past

year that helps propel James back to fan favorability.

Talks were abuzz at the beginning of the 2011-12 season about Howard wanting a trade from the Orlando Magic. 

In March, ESPN's Chris Broussard reported that within a matter of days, Howard said he would waive his early termination option—which could have otherwise

allowed him to opt out of his contract—before deciding not to do so, only to then end up waiving it, ensuring that he would remain with the Magic through

the 2012-13 season.
However, even after waffling with his opt-out clause, Howard never agreed to sign an extension to stay past the 2012-13 season, leaving the Magic stuck

between a rock and a hard place. Orlando was left deciding whether to keep Howard through next season and risk watching him walk away for nothing, or trade

him for players and draft picks to help rebuild the franchise.

Then in July, Broussard again reported on Howard, except this time it was on his demand to be traded.

Howard dragged his team through the mud and claimed he wanted to be in Orlando before and after asking to be traded. He eventually wound up on the team that

most outside of Los Angeles love to hate: the Lakers.
The timing of Howard's lack of commitment couldn't be more perfect for James, as he had the best year of his life.

On top of the achievements mentioned earlier, James also recorded Team USA's first ever triple-double in Olympic play, became Team USA's all-time leading

scorer and was named to the NBA's All-Defensive First Team.
Off the court, James proposed to his longtime girlfriend—and mother of his children—before the start of the 2011-12 season, tuned out the negativity that

was being spewed about him, surrounded himself with only those who would challenge him and did a ton of soul searching in hopes of maturing and winning a

championship, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN wrote about in June.

And though James' move to Miami was undoubtedly ill-received, James never publicly said a word about leaving Cleveland during his tenure there.

He also made sure to fulfill his entire contract before eventually leaving as an unrestricted free agent—a move he had every right to make.

And it appears that his move has worked out quite well for him.
James is a champion. James is a two-time gold medalist. James is a three-time NBA MVP.

His performance over the past year has re-ignited the Michael Jordan comparisons.

He's matured, held himself accountable and finally shown that he can win when it matters.

James has even admitted he would change the way he handled his free agency two years ago.  
Small-market teams are having a harder time keeping their stars, so Howard's trade demands and switching of teams may move him to the top of the NBA's most

hated list at a time when the current most hated—and former small-market betrayer—is proving his detractors wrong with his demeanor and play on the

hardwood.

As James heads into what may be the best stretch of his career, Howard's drama could be enough of a distraction to help James gain back some of the fans who

stopped rooting for him two years ago.

Echoes of Lebanon civil war as Syrian turmoil spreads

Beirut. Tit-for-tat kidnappings by Syrian rebels and Lebanese Shi'ite gunmen have escalated tensions in Lebanon, where the spectre of contagion from Syria's conflict is alarming the fractured and war-scarred Mediterranean nation, Reuters reports.
Despite government efforts to insulate it from turmoil in its once dominating neighbour, Lebanon has seen armed clashes in its two largest cities, and last week authorities said they uncovered a Syrian plot to destabilise the country.
The sight of masked gunmen in Beirut on Wednesday claiming the capture of 20 Syrians, and the kidnapping in broad daylight of a Turkish businessman near the airport, was another dramatic sign of Syria's crisis spilling over into Lebanon.
While they may not herald an imminent slide towards conflict in Lebanon, the incidents highlight the weak and tenuous authority of Lebanon's state institutions and point to future instability in the country of four million.
"This will have a negative impact on state authority, the military and the business environment in Lebanon" said Ayham Kamel of the Eurasia Group consultancy. "The likelihood of civil war right now remains low, but reaching this stage is a very alarming development".
To the outside world, kidnapping foreigners was a defining feature of Lebanon's civil war, and the brazen public appearance by the masked gunmen this week - unchallenged by security forces - echoed the chaos of the 1975-1990 conflict.
"This ...brings us back to the days of the painful war, a page that Lebanese citizens have been trying to turn," said Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose policy of 'dissociation' from Syria's conflict next door has come under growing strain.

Notable & Quotable

 Editor Josh Kraushaar blogging at National Journal, Aug. 13:

Watching Mitt Romney on the campaign trail this weekend after he tapped Paul Ryan as his running mate, it was hard not to be struck by how significantly the

candidate's message and delivery improved. Romney was newly energized, almost sounding like an evangelist preacher as he preached the merits of capitalism

and the free market.

His rhetoric was sharp and specific as he contrasted his policy vision with that of President Obama's. With Ryan, he looked confident in his sit-down

interview with CBS' Bob Schieffer.

It was as if the ghost of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie entered the cautious, often-awkward pol's body, to great effect. (Indeed, like Christie, he even

challenged a heckler at last night's event in Waukesha County, Wisconsin.)

This is the type of change that's very tough to measure in even the best polls and focus groups. Romney overruled his top consultants in picking Ryan; they

wanted him to go with a more cautious choice, like Tim Pawlenty.

But Romney clearly felt a kinship with the younger Ryan, and the chemistry was undeniable on their first couple of days on the campaign trail. Romney felt

unshackled, and felt free to play to his biggest political asset—a fiscal conservatism that's been the one consistent hallmark of his career, from working

at Bain Capital to the Salt Lake City Olympics to his tenure as governor of Massachusetts.

This carries risk, of course. Romney's hallmark of his campaign so far has been his cautiousness. . . .
Even Christie, known as the blunt political truth-teller to his fans in New Jersey, was a much more cautious pol when he ran against Gov. Jon Corzine in

2009. Indeed, his campaign was rapped for not offering specific plans, resorting to anti-incumbent generalities. It wasn't until he was elected that he

developed his persona as a straight-talking reformer.

In a sense, Romney is one-upping Christie, and placing the even riskier bet that calling for major changes is a political winner in the middle of a heated

presidential race. High-risk, high-reward, indeed.

Sun Storm VIDEO: Magical-Looking Solar Eruption, Sunspots Captured By NASA

 The sun fired off a spectacular eruption last weekend, and a NASA spacecraft captured amazing video of the violent solar outburst.

A super-hot solar filament erupted in grand style Saturday (Aug. 4), arcing into space and connecting two huge sunspots. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

(SDO) spacecraft had a front-row seat for the action, and its video footage of the sun eruption  is both bizarre and beautiful.

The filament appears pinkish-purple through SDO's ultraviolet filters, and it stands out against a solar surface of mottled green, yellow and dark purple

hues.

The tendril's hot plasma snakes between the sunspots AR 1538 and AR 1540. Sunspots are temporary blotches on the sun that appear dark because they're cooler

than the rest of the solar surface. Solar flares and massive blasts of plasma called coronal mass ejections (CMEs) often erupt from sunspots, which can be

many times larger than the Earth's diameter.

The Aug. 4 outburst also propelled an enormous CME into space. CMEs that hit Earth directly can wreak havoc, temporarily disrupting GPS communications,

satellite navigation and power grids. But Saturday's solar storm shouldn't pose any serious problems, scientists said.
 "The cloud is not heading directly toward Earth, but it could deliver a glancing blow to our planet's magnetic field on August 7/8," the website

Spaceweather.com wrote. "High-latitude skywatchers should be alert for auroras on those dates."

The sun is currently in an active phase of its 11-year solar cycle, and it should continue to fire off big storms for a while yet. Experts expect the current

cycle, known as Solar Cycle 24, to peak in 2013.

The $850 million SDO spacecraft, which launched in February 2010, is the first in a fleet of NASA efforts to study our sun. The probe's five-year mission is

the cornerstone of a NASA science program called Living with a Star, which aims to help scientists better understand aspects of the sun-Earth system that

affect our lives and society.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Afghanistan attacks kill dozens of civilians

KABUL, Afghanistan — In one of the year's deadliest days for Afghan civilians, at least 39 people were killed and more than 100 hurt Tuesday in attacks that

spanned the country from north to south, including the brutal tactic of a suicide bombing staged at a hospital where victims of an earlier blast were being

treated.

The more lethal of the two blasts in Nimruz province involved nearly a dozen would-be bombers, authorities said, although all but three were arrested or

killed before or during the attack. Nonetheless, it showed the insurgents' willingness to sacrifice large numbers of fighters in a single operation and their

continuing wherewithal to stage complex and coordinated attacks.

The blasts also reinforced a pervasive sense of insecurity felt by many Afghans. Civilian war casualties fell by 15% in the first half of the year compared

with the same period in 2011, the United Nations reported this month, but the advent of the warm-weather "fighting season" has seen an increase in violence

across Afghanistan.

Most of those killed in the triple suicide bombing in Nimruz province, in southwestern Afghanistan, and a remote-controlled blast in Kunduz province in the

north were people out shopping for their nightly iftar, the meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and for the

holiday feast beginning this weekend that marks Ramadan's end.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. The Taliban at times refrains from acknowledging having carried out suicide bombings and

other strikes that kill large numbers of civilians.

Insurgents often stage near-simultaneous bombings and have sometimes targeted medical facilities. However, the notion of deliberately hitting a hospital to

which injured people were being taken was shocking to most Afghans, even by this war's grim standard. The bombings were widely condemned, with Gen. John

Allen, the U.S. commander of the Western military in Afghanistan, calling them "intentional mass murder."

The spasm of bloodshed comes at a time when the NATO force is preparing to wind down its combat role and hand over responsibility for securing the country to

the Afghan police and army by the end of 2014, raising troubling new questions as to whether the insurgency can be contained when foreign troops depart.

The first of the two attacks took place in the town of Zaranj, the capital of Nimruz. There, explosions tore through a bustling bazaar and two nearby sites,

including the entrance to the city's main hospital. The second early-evening strike took place in Kunduz's Dasht-e Archi district, where a bomb attached to a

motorcycle killed at least 10 civilians and injured more than two dozen in a shopping area, said Enaytullah Khaleeq, a provincial spokesman.

The carnage in Nimruz could have been even worse, given that police arrested several would-be bombers in raids before the attack and killed or detained

several more during it, said Abdul Majid Latifi, the provincial deputy police chief. Latifi said most of the 29 victims were civilians but included four

police officers.

In Nimruz and Kunduz, the targets were civilian areas, distant from any military installation. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization force is not even

deployed in Nimruz, which borders Iran and volatile Helmand province. Last weekend, a policeman in the province turned his weapon on fellow officers, killing

10 of them.

Tuesday also brought a continuation of an ominous and increasingly common trend: assassinations of district officials. Two officials, including a district

chief, and two of their bodyguards were killed in an insurgent ambush in Badakhshan province in the country's north as they were traveling home for this

weekend's Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Ryan Has Kept Close Ties to Donors on the Right

This month, as a handful of Republicans auditioned at town halls and on bus tours to be Mitt Romney’s running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan joined a

private conference call. For 20 minutes, he walked through his plan to cut government spending and bashed President Obama for weakening welfare work

requirements.
 His audience: Several hundred field organizers for Americans for Prosperity, the Tea Party-inspired group founded by the billionaire conservative

philanthropists Charles and David Koch.

When Mr. Romney announced that Mr. Ryan would be his running mate, his campaign emphasized the congressman’s detailed knowledge of the federal budget and

his chemistry with Mr. Romney. Less well-known are Mr. Ryan’s close ties to the donors and activists who have channeled Tea Party anger into a $400 million

political machine, financed by a network of conservative and libertarian donors that now rivals, and occasionally challenges, the Republican establishment

behind Mr. Romney.

Mr. Ryan is one of a very few elected officials who have attended the Kochs’ biannual conferences, where wealthy donors sit in on seminars on runaway

government spending and the myths of climate change.

He is on first-name terms with prominent libertarians in the financial world, including hedge fund billionaires like Cliff Asness and Paul Singer, and spent

his formative years immersed in the Republican Party’s supply-side wing, working for lawmakers and conservative policy advocates like Jack Kemp.

He has appeared for years at rallies, town hall meetings, and donor briefings for groups like the Club for Growth, which spends millions to defeat

Republicans deemed squishy on taxes and spending, and Americans for Prosperity, a grass-roots group focused on economic and budget issues that is now trying

to channel Tea Party energy into a permanent electoral force. Its fourth chapter was founded in Mr. Ryan’s home state, Wisconsin.

Now Mr. Ryan could provide Mr. Romney with a critical political and intellectual bridge to the rising conservative counterestablishment represented by the

Kochs and their allies, who are planning to spend hundreds of millions of dollars and deploy thousands of volunteers to defeat Mr. Obama. Should Mr. Romney

and Mr. Ryan win in November, a constituency that has for years fulminated against the failure of Republicans to live up to their own principles could soon

have a close — and powerful — friend in the White House.

“There’s three guys that we courted for president: Paul Ryan, Mitch Daniels, and Mike Pence,” said Matt Kibbe, the president of FreedomWorks, a national

advocacy group closely allied with the Tea Party, who worked alongside Mr. Ryan when both were staff aides on the House Budget Committee. “Up until

yesterday, there was a 100 percent commitment to fire Obama. There was not a lot of enthusiasm about Romney.” Mr. Daniels is the governor of Indiana, and

Mr. Pence is a congressman from Indiana.

Mr. Kibbe added, “From a Tea Party perspective, the overwhelming response on all of our networks has been extremely positive.”

Mr. Ryan’s ties to that world began with a job at Empower America, a group founded by Mr. Kemp that ran “candidate schools” for aspiring conservatives and

advocated for a flat tax and lower spending. As a rank-and-file congressman during the presidency of George W. Bush, Mr. Ryan advocated for the privatization

of Social Security, helping push the idea toward the Republican mainstream and cementing his reputation as a conservative intellectual.

Privately, Mr. Ryan would later say, he was also stewing over what he and other conservatives viewed as the Bush administration’s fiscal profligacy and

ideological drift, including the addition of a drug benefit to Medicare and, later, a bank bailout plan, the Troubled Asset Relief Program. (Mr. Ryan voted

for both.)

That dissatisfaction was shared by the Kochs, who in the middle of the last decade began organizing conferences of like-minded donors and founded Americans

for Prosperity.

Mr. Ryan, who became House budget chairman in 2006, began attending and speaking at Americans for Prosperity events. In 2008, the Wisconsin chapter gave Mr.

Ryan its annual “Defender of the American Dream” award. Mr. Ryan also began attending the Kochs’ annual donor seminars. Last spring, Mr. Ryan was a

speaker at a “Hands Off My Health Care” rally organized by Tea Party leaders outside the Capitol, drawing enthusiastic applause.

In Congress, he emerged as a skeptic of mainstream climate change theory — opposition to which has been a top priority of Koch-affiliated activists and

research groups — and a reliable vote against energy efficiency standards, including a House vote to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from

regulating greenhouse gases.

The relationship helped Mr. Ryan’s campaign coffers as well as his career: the Koch Industries PAC has donated more than $100,000 to Mr. Ryan’s campaigns

and his leadership PAC, more than has any other corporate PAC, according to a New York Times analysis of campaign records.

Mr. Ryan has also developed relationships with other people in the Koch orbit, like Mr. Asness, a libertarian-minded financier known for his open letters

blasting Mr. Obama, and Kenneth Griffin, a Chicago hedge-fund executive: wealthy donors whose taste for number-crunching and policy minutiae match Mr. Ryan’

s own.

Mr. Griffin and his wife, Anne, introduced Mr. Ryan to Chicago’s deep-pocketed Republican donor circle — he has raised more money there this campaign than

any other city — and promoted his budget proposals, including arranging a speech last year at the Economic Club of Chicago.

But it was Mr. Ryan’s aggressive promotion of his budget plan that has cemented his place the counterestablishment’s rising star. Mr. Ryan’s plan, viewed

warily in its early form by other Republican leaders on the Hill, became an organizing document for the Tea Party’s Beltway wing, particularly the dozens of

Tea Party-inspired freshman lawmakers who arrived on Capitol Hill after the 2010 elections. Many of them came to rely on Mr. Ryan for counsel on whether to

accept budget compromises with Mr. Obama.

Outside political groups and research organizations praised Mr. Ryan’s plan, one of the few comprehensive conservative budget proposals detailed enough to

be scored by the Congressional Budget Office, as rigorous and credible.

“Paul was one of the first guys that we looked at and said, ‘Hey, that young guy could be the guy,’ ” said Tim Phillips, Americans for Prosperity’s

president. “And when he put out the budget and defended it, that’s when they said, ‘He could go all the way.’ ”

Officials with several outside groups that had been skeptical of Mr. Romney in the past said that the selection of Mr. Ryan had assuaged some of their

doubts.

More important, they said, Mr. Ryan would fire up their grass-roots members, some of whom had doubted Mr. Romney’s commitment to cutting the size of

government. Last week, before the announcement, Americans for Prosperity announced that it had begun its largest ever ad campaign against Mr. Obama, a $25

million broadside in 11 battleground states.

And on Monday, Romney officials said that the campaign had raised millions of dollars in the wake of Mr. Ryan’s selection, not only from grass-roots small

donors, but from the many big donors who rank among his fans.

Bring on Rio! With a pop extravaganza, Britain closes a ‘happy and glorious’ Olympics

With a little British pomp and a lot of British pop, London brought the curtain down on a glorious Olympic Games on Sunday in a spectacular, technicolor

pageant of landmarks, lightshows and lots of fun.

The closing ceremony offered a sensory blast including rock ‘n’ roll rickshaws, dustbin percussionists, an exploding yellow car and a marching band in red

tunics and bearskin hats.


The Spice Girls staged a show-stopping reunion, and Monty Python’s Eric Idle sauntered through “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” — accompanied by

Roman centurions, Scottish bagpipers and a human cannonball.

It all made for a psychedelic mashup that had 80,000 fans at Olympic Stadium stomping, cheering and singing along. Organizers estimated 300 million or more

were watching around the world.

What a way to end a games far more successful than many Londoners expected. Security woes were overcome, and traffic nightmares never materialized. The

weather held up, more or less, and British athletes overachieved.

It all came with a price tag of $14 billion — three times the original estimate. But nobody wanted to spoil the fun with such mundane concerns, at least not

on this night.

“We lit the flame, and we lit up the world,” said London organizing committee chief Sebastian Coe. “When our time came, Britain, we did it right.”

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge declared the Olympics over with praise for the athletes.

“Through your commitment to fair play, your respect for opponents, and your grace in defeat as well as in victory, you have earned the right to be called

Olympians,” he said, adding: “These were happy and glorious games.”

But the night was about splash more than speeches.

Festive and fast-moving, the ceremony opened with pop bands Madness, Pet Shop Boys and One Direction, a shout-out to Winston Churchill and a tribute to the

Union Jack — the floor of Olympic Stadium floor arranged to resemble the British flag.

Monochrome recreations of London landmarks were covered in newsprint, from Big Ben’s clock tower and Tower Bridge to the London Eye ferris wheel and the

chubby highrise known as the Gherkin.

Street percussion group Stomp built the noise into a frenzy, and dancers brandished brooms, in a nod to the spontaneous popular movement to clean up London

after riots shook neighborhoods not far from Olympic Stadium just a year ago.

Liam Gallagher performed “Wonderwall,” a 1990s hit by his former band, Oasis, Muse rocked the house with the hard-edged Olympic anthem “Survival,” and

Queen guitarist Brian May was joined by singer Jessie J for a crowd-pleasing “We Will Rock You.”

The headline performers were each paid a pound, a little more than $1.50.

The night ended with the extinguishing of the multi-petaled Olympic cauldron and a supercharged rendition of “My Generation” and other classics by The Who

that had the crowd dancing in the aisles. Confetti rained down, and fireworks lit up the sky.

Prince William’s wife, Kate, and Prince Harry took seats next to Rogge. They sang along to “God Save the Queen.” There was no sign of the queen herself,

who made a memorable mock parachute entrance at the July 27 opening ceremony.

‘Romney Girl’ video lampoons candidate’s wealth and offshore accounts

Meet the Romney Girl – a Swiss caricature lampooning Mitt Romney over his wealth, Bain Capital tenure and resistance to outside pressure to release his tax

records before 2010.

“I’m a Romney girl, in a Romney world. Life is taxless. It’s fantastic,” sings the fictitious Miss Swiss, a former tax consultant for offshore bank

accounts at a major bank in Geneva, Switzerland. “Silver tip your hair, tax shelters everywhere. Outsource nation, Bain is his creation,” she continues.
Miss Swiss is the secret source, as the satirical Romney Girl website indicates, behind an allegation that has been circulating in real-life Washington D.C.

politics that Mr. Romney used his Swiss account to avoid paying any income tax for a decade.

The song is set to the music and lyrics of Barbie Girl by the Danish-Norwegian pop group Aqua. The Agenda Project Action Fund is behind the joke video. The

group’s founder, Erica Payne, worked with the Democratic National Committee during the 1996 re-election campaign.
The actual presidential campaigns have not exactly been taking the higher ground in a deeply negative election campaign. This week, they hit a few low – and

arguably silly – notes.

Campaigning in Connecticut yesterday, President Barack Obama described his opponent’s tax plan policy as “Romney Hood.”

“It’s like Robin Hood in reverse,” said Mr. Obama.

Responding during a Fox News interview, Mr. Romney described the allegation as “Obamaloney.”

Mr. Obama has not escaped ridicule in song format.

This parody of Gotye’s hit song Somebody That I Used to Know by JustNew Productions takes a dig at Mr. Obama and the disappointment felt by many in his

presidency.

“You took Obamacare so far. But you left me like a dog strapped on Romney’s car,” sings the disillusioned Obama supporter in the song Obama That I Used to

Know.

Gemalto gets NFC gig: Singapore punters will all bonk the same way

Operators, banks and loyalty schemes in Singapore can now use a common API to interact using short-range radio tech Near Field Communications, while in

Europe similar schemes continue to flounder.

The scheme was commissioned by the Infocomm Development Authority, a department of the Singapore government, which has asked Gemalto to run the hosting

servers. Those servers provide APIs open to any bank, network operator or other party wanting to join the NFC bandwagon, though the company admits that

neither PayPal nor Google are likely to sign up any time soon.
For paying-by-bonk – the NFC application that most interests web players and bankers – to achieve any success, standard platforms are needed. This is why

the UK mobile network operators launched Project Oscar – but the EU is still deciding if Oscar can be allowed to exist. Google and PayPal have argued that

the overwhelming market presence of the UK operators would make it impossible for them to compete, so Oscar remains stalled while the EU ponders the matter.

In the US, Google Wallet has been launched, but the Chocolate Factory has found it almost impossible to convince banks, and loyalty schemes, to port their

applications onto its proprietary secure element. That's forced Google to try a cloudy solution, but schemes like the one being deployed in Singapore, and

Project Oscar – if it is adopted – should make that easier (for those interested in open platforms).

The Singapore system, in common with Oscar, uses a secure element embedded in the SIM and thus under the control of the network operators, which is what

upsets Google and PayPal so. The market for NFC payments is still tiny, but anyone who grabs control now will likely hold onto it for decades so the matter

is far from academic.

The public, meanwhile, have shown little interest in paying for things with a bonk of the phone. Orange Quick Tap has been around in the UK for over a year

without taking the country by storm, but the infrastructure to accept bonking payments is steadily rolling out and almost all the new plastic cards being

issued support pay-by-bonk functionality.

Cards are, of course, less secure than NFC phones as they can't be remotely managed or display their status. Google Wallet is playing to security fears by

requiring a PIN to be entered before every transaction, though in the UK transactions under £20 can be completed without a PIN (which, perhaps importantly,

means they can be done without power too), but we're still some way from finding out what's acceptable to the end user.

Even in Singapore they accept that mass-transit ticketing will probably be the killer application for NFC, but are still trying to get the Land Transport

Authority on board, so perhaps there's still room for Google et al to get involved.

Stocks higher...Justice wants info from HCA...Bleacher Report added to Time Warner line-up

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks closed the session higher in the face of no fresh economic news. The Dow was up 21 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,118. The S&P

was up 3 points, while the Nasdaq added 22 points.

UNDATED (AP) — HCA Holdings says the Justice Department wants information about heart procedures performed at some of its facilities. The nation's biggest

hospital operator also said in an unusual posting on its website that The New York Times may soon run news stories on patient care at its hospitals. The

Times declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press. HCA runs 163 hospitals and 110 free-standing surgery centers.

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Best Buy were up 13 percent today. Best Buy's co-founder has offered to take the electronics seller private only months after

leaving as the company's chairman.

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil rose above $92 per barrel for the first time in more than two weeks. Oil has gained nearly 20 percent since hitting a low of $77.69 in

late June.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting System says that it has bought sports news website Bleacher Report in a strategic move meant to help

sell more ads and cover the cost of sports programming. Having Bleacher Report will give Turner more outlets to show video from those games and make money

through ads. Levy said Bleacher Report expands Turner's ability to sell ad packages that cover not just TV but websites and mobile properties as well. Terms

of the deal were not announced.

'Kristen Stewart' Finally Tells Robert Pattinson Why She Cheated in Video Parody

"Kristen Stewart" has finally broken her long silence. For the first time since her well-rehearsed—er—heartfelt public apology to Robert Pattinson, the

disgraced Twilight heroine enumerated point by point what caused her to hook up with Rupert Sanders. And what's more, she recorded her hilarious—er—heart-

rending confession on video for Rob's eyes only, plus anyone else who happens to run across the video on YouTube.
Okay, okay. The confession wasn't really KStew's. It was a video parody, called Kristin Stewart Explains Cheating, done by actress Laura McDonald whose

impression of La Stewart is absolutely perfect—right down to the Snow White and the Huntsman star's speech patterns, incessant hair flipping, and other

annoyingly fidgety mannerisms. Even La Stewart would have to agree.

As you can see on the video below, which, as "KStew" explains, was posted online so that "only [RPattz] can could see it," McDonald's KStew tells Rob she

cheated on him with her "Snow White and the Thor director, Rupert Sanders, for a variety of 'really good reasons.'"

For one thing, Sanders convinced her that all great directors have sex with their stars, and since he is a great director, he naturally does the same. In

fact, "KStew" prattles, "Martin Scorz did the same thing with Goodfellas which is why they were so good."

An even better, or at least totally necessary, reason was the time she and Sanders had to have sex to save his life. A large snake somehow ran amok on the

set, and it sank its poisonous fangs into the director's "wiener." What was "KStew" supposed to do, just stand there and let him die? Of course not. She

dropped to her knees and sucked the poison out. Anyone else would have done the same.

To top it all off, "Kristen" rattles off her hysterical confessions as movers collect and take away a large pile of boxes stacked behind her. All the cartons

bear labels like, "RPattz Fan Mail, RPattz Hair Products, RPattz Hoodies, and RPattz Sunscreen."

Wonder if the real Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson will find McDonald's video funny? You can watch and enjoy it below. What do you think?

Frustrated Annan quits as Syria peace envoy

(Reuters) - Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is quitting as international peace envoy for Syria, frustrated by "finger-pointing" at the United

Nations while the armed rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad becomes increasingly bloody.

As battles raged on Thursday in Syria's second city, Aleppo, between rebel fighters and government forces using war planes and artillery, U.N. Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon announced in New York that Annan had said he would go at the end of the month.

"Kofi Annan deserves our profound admiration for the selfless way in which he has put his formidable skills and prestige to this most difficult and

potentially thankless of assignments," Ban said. Talks were under way to find a successor.

Annan's mission, centered on an April ceasefire that never took hold, has looked irrelevant as fighting has intensified in Damascus, Aleppo and elsewhere.

Annan blamed "finger-pointing and name-calling" at the U.N. Security Council for his decision to quit but suggested his successor may have better luck.

Russia, the United States, Britain and France began pointing fingers at one another over who was responsible for Annan's sudden announcement he would depart.

One senior council diplomat said it was now time to acknowledge the "utter irrelevance of an impotent Security Council" on Syria.

Syria expressed regret that Annan was going.

Annan suggested that the continued arming of all sides in the conflict and the Security Council deadlock had undermined his ability to pursue a diplomatic

solution.

"The increasing militarization on the ground and the clear lack of unity in the Security Council, have fundamentally changed the circumstances for the

effective exercise of my role," Annan told reporters.

In an editorial published on the Financial Times' website, Annan said Russia, China and Iran "must take concerted efforts to persuade Syria's leadership to

change course and embrace a political transition" -- meaning the departure of Assad.

"It is clear that President Bashar al-Assad must leave office," Annan said.

Annan wrote that Western powers, the Saudis and Qatar must start "pressing the opposition to embrace a fully inclusive political process - that will include

communities and institutions currently associated with the government."

Ban's spokesman, Martin Nesirky, declined to comment on who might replace Annan but said a decision could come soon.

BLAME GAME

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a strong supporter of Assad, said he regretted Annan's decision to step aside and referred to him as a "brilliant diplomat.

Moscow's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, suggested to reporters in New York that Western powers that had opposed "reasonable and balanced proposals" in the

Security Council had undermined Annan's peace efforts from the start.

The White House pinned the blame squarely on Moscow and Beijing, which together vetoed three resolutions intended to increase the pressure on Assad, thereby

undercutting Annan.

"Annan's resignation highlights the failure at the United Nations Security Council of Russia and China to support resolutions, meaningful resolutions,

against Assad that would have held Assad accountable," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague echoed that view.

"We understand Annan's frustration that, due to vetoes in the Security Council, the international community was unable to give him the support that he needed

and requested," Hague said in a statement.

Hague reiterated that Annan's six-point peace plan for Syria was still the best option for securing an end to the conflict. French Ambassador Gerard Araud,

Security Council president this month, shared that view.

Washington, U.N. diplomats say, has been convinced that the Security Council cannot play a meaningful role in the Syria crisis since Russia and China first

vetoed a Western- and Arab-backed resolution in October. But it reluctantly supported European efforts to try to get the council to take action.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice issued a statement that made no mention of the United Nations playing a role in resolving the Syria conflict.

"We will continue to work urgently with our partners in the international community — including the over 100 countries in the Friends of the Syrian People

— to accelerate the transition, provide support to the opposition, and meet the increasingly grave humanitarian needs of the Syrian people," Rice said.

Council diplomats have said privately the United States and Gulf Arab states have become increasingly frustrated in recent weeks with what they saw as

Annan's dogged commitment to diplomacy at a time when they believe all avenues for dialogue with Assad have been exhausted.

France's U.N. envoy, Araud, said the council appeared to be "irreconcilably" deadlocked but that it would be dangerous for countries to go outside the United

Nations to resolve the Syria conflict.

But that is already happening. The United States, other Western powers, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are increasing support for the rebels, U.N. diplomats say, and

are reconciling themselves to the view that Syria's civil war will be long and bloody.

Separately, Araud said the U.N. observer mission would likely "disappear" on August 19, the day its recently renewed mandate expires.

BATTLE FOR ALEPPO RAGES

In Syria, the fight for Aleppo, the latest battlefield, intensified. Rebels turned the gun of a captured tank against government forces, shelling an air base

north of the city.

Assad's troops bombarded the strategic Salaheddine district in Aleppo itself with tank and artillery fire supported by combat aircraft, while rebels tried to

consolidate their hold on areas they have seized.

In the capital, Damascus, troops overran a suburb on Wednesday and killed at least 35 people, mostly unarmed civilians, residents and activist organizations

said.

The fighting for Syria's two biggest cities highlights the country's rapid slide into full-scale civil war 17 months after the peaceful street protests that

marked the start of the anti-Assad uprising.

The head of the U.N. peacekeeping department, Herve Ladsous, confirmed to reporters on Thursday that Syria's rebels now had heavy weapons.

World powers have watched with mounting concern as diplomatic efforts, including Annan's mediation effort, have faltered, and violence that has already

claimed an estimated 18,000 lives worsens.

About 60 people were killed in Syria on Thursday, 43 of them civilians, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Also on Thursday, activists and residents in the central city of Hama said Syrian forces killed at least 50 people during clashes with rebels there.

The rebels' morale was boosted when they turned a government tank's gun on the Menakh airfield 35 km (22 miles) north of Aleppo, a possible staging post for

army reinforcements and a base for war planes and helicopter gunships.

Reuters correspondents heard heavy weapons fire on Thursday morning from Salaheddine in southwest Aleppo, a gateway to the city that has been fought over for

the past week.

Heavily armed government troops are trying to drive a force of a few thousand rebel fighters from the city in battle whose outcome could be a turning point

in the conflict.

Aleppo had long stayed aloof from the uprising, but many of its 2.5 million residents are now caught up in battle zones, facing shortages of food, fuel,

water and cooking gas. Thousands have fled and hospitals and makeshift clinics can barely cope with casualties after more than a week of combat.

The U.N. World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization said up to 3 million Syrians were likely to need food, crop and livestock aid in the next

12 months as the conflict has prevented farmers harvesting crops.

In New York, the U.N. General Assembly was expected to vote on Friday on a resolution drafted by Saudi Arabia that backs the rebels.

Russia, which has consistently supported Syria at the United Nations, said it would not back the resolution because it was unbalanced and would encourage

rebels to keep fighting.

(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon in Aleppo, Dominic Evans amd Mariam Karouny in Beirut, Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow, Stephen Addison in London, Tom

Miles in Geneva; Writing by Giles Elgood and Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Michael Roddy and Peter Cooney)

Selena Gomez Says She's 'Lucky' To Have Justin Bieber

Contrary to the breakup rumors that flooded the Internet earlier this month, Selena Gomez is perfectly happy with pop-star boyfriend Justin Bieber.

He's just one of a few topics the VMA nominee chatted about with Teen Vogue for a September cover story. Gomez also discussed her aspirations to take acting to a whole new level and her dreams to make music with another Justin.

Describing her relationship with Bieber as "really fun," Gomez told the mag she feels "lucky" to have the young singer by her side. "I'm 20. I don't take anything in my personal life too seriously," she says. "I have great friends and a solid group of people I love. I feel like everything else will come organically."
Unlike fellow Disney alum Miley Cyrus, the pint-size pop star isn't interested in walking down the aisle anytime soon, saying, "Marriage and all that other stuff I think will happen once I feel accomplished in every other aspect of my life."

But if there's one thing Gomez is pushing for it's her long-term goal to shake off her predictable good-girl reputation. One major step in making her Mickey Mouse days a distant memory is her girls-gone-wild adventure flick "Spring Breakers," which hits theaters in early 2013. She tells the magazine that after she read the script for the Harmony Korine-directed film, she took a plane to the director's home in Nashville to convince him that she would "work really hard."

And while she describes her role in 2011's "Monte Carlo" as "a good step for me at the time," Gomez said she would never want to do something like that again. "I don't necessarily feel accomplished. I want to create a whole different persona when it comes to acting," she explained.

Gomez is also planning to take her music to the next level too, and there's one star she's dying to hit the studio with. "I don't think he ever would — I don't even think he's doing music anymore — is Justin Timberlake," she said, gushing, "Just 'cause I love his music sooo much."

Syria crisis: Tremseh 'massacre' - Friday 13 July 2012

• More than 200 Syrians, mostly civilians, were massacred in Tremseh, near Hama, when it was bombarded by helicopter gunships and tanks and then stormed by militiamen who carried out execution-style killings, opposition activists said.

• The UN's monitoring mission in Syria confirmed the use of heavy weapons in Tremseh including tanks and helicopters, before the alleged massacre took place. General Robert Mood, the head of the mission, said military operations were continuing and his monitors had been prevented from entering Tremseh.

• International envoy Kofi Annan said the Syrian government's use of heavy weapons in Tremseh was a violation of its apparent commitment to his peace plan. He said he was "shocked and appalled" by reports from Tremseh. Annan is due to hold talks with Russia on Monday.

• The Syrian government blamed the killings on "terrorists". The state news agency accused elements of the media of spreading "lies and fabrications" as a way of prompting foreign intervention against Syria.

• The opposition Syrian National Council has repeated its call for the UN security council to pass a binding resolution against the Assad government in the wake of the killings. Britain's foreign secretary William Hague said diplomats in New York will continue to press for a Chapter VII resolution in the face of repeated objections from Russia.

• Firas Tlass, the businessman brother of defected general Manaf Tlass, still sees a role for Bashar al-Assad in Syria. In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat he said the most suitable solution for Syria would be for Assad to hand power to a joint council ... "which is what we might call a mixture of the Egyptian and Yemeni solutions".

• A Russian cargo ship carrying military helicopters and air-defence equipment for the Syria government, is on the move again after being forced to turn back last month when a British company revoked its insurance, the New York Times reports. The Alaed is heading south off Norway's northern coast.

5.05pm: Mousab al-Hamadee an opposition activist who lives 20km north of Tremseh has an account of the alleged massacre in the village based on the ordeal of his sister who fled Tremseh morning.

People from a neighbouring opposition village travelled to Tremseh to warn villages of a possible attack by shabiha militia from al-Safsafeyeh, a nearby Alawite village, he via Skype. They urged women and children to flee Tremseh, he said.

Today more than 70 people were buried, he claimed "The rest of the martyrs are still left in the fields, they couldn't reach them until now," he said.
Hamadee said:

    A big number of the young men were killed in the field when they were trying to escape the army attack. Helicopters targeted them by heavy machine guns while they were driving their motorcycles - while they were fleeing the village.

    Today the people of Tremseh opened a house that was burned by troops. They found two people who were burned alive. My sister told me that the only two doctors in the village were targeted by mortar shells. Both doctors were killed in their houses.
Hamadee claimed gunmen executed wounded people found in house. They then shot the man who was looking after the wounded in front of his family, he claimed. "After that they burnt his corpse in front of his wife," he said.

Hamadee claimed 150 armoured vehicles were used in the attack.

Shelling started at dawn and continued until the afternoon, but shelling "with clever mortars" of specific houses continued afterwards.

He said: "Between 3pm and 8pm troops and shabiha searched the houses of civilians, made arbitrary arrests, made field executions of some people inside the village."

The troops arrested Hamadee's brother-in-law, who is a lawyer. "They said 'you have a computer in your house, you must be an activist'.

Hamadee's sister said the shelling of the area was "very heavy".

Hamadee said:

    She said many houses were levelled to the ground. She said one shell killed a father in a neighbouring house."

    She said one soldier tried to assure her, he said 'we are not shabiha, we are soldiers from the Syrian army. But later came a new group which contained many members of the shabiha [including the group who arrested her husband].


Today helicopters passed over Tremseh, but they didn't shell it, Hamadee said.

He claimed Tremseh did not have a strong presence of rebel troops, but it did include troops who had defected.

Rural areas around Hama are largely liberated, he said, but the government forces control the checkpoints.

    These checkpoints are very fortified. The regime can at any time bring reinforcements to these checkpoints and can move its vehicles in order to attack any village.

The Free Syrian Amry can't defend the villages because it only has light weapons. "That's why we see such horrible massacres," he said.

Asked about his sister, Hamadee said:

    In the beginning she was very scared. We saw fear in her eyes. And we saw horror and fear in the eyes of her child. Right now she is OK.

5.00pm: The Syrian government news agency has a little more detail about the car bomb in Damascus earlier today (see 1.59pm). It says the vehicle, a Mercedes, was parked at the roadside and the bomb was detonated remotely.

3.44pm: France will soon start supplying communications equipment to the Syrian opposition, Reuters reports citing a foreign ministry spokesman.

    Paris has previously said it would consider the measure so that activists could organise better, avoid attacks and keep a record of events for the outside world.

    "Regarding communications material we are going to start rolling it out," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters. "We are working on that."

    Western powers are reluctant to provide arms to rebels whose ranks include anti-western Islamists, but the United States has said it is already providing communications equipment.

3.39pm: Four news flashes from Reuters in quick succession relating to Tremseh:

    • Tremseh attack "assessed as an extension of a Syrian Arab Air Force operation – UN mission report

    • UN observers prevented from entering Tremseh, attempts to contact local military commander unsuccessful

    • Syrian Arab Air Forces "continue to target populated urban areas north of Hama city [on] a large scale"

    • UN Syria mission observed "ongoing military operation" around Tremseh, over 100 explosions heard – mission
3.08pm: Sami al-Hamwi (@HamaEcho) tweets that he has posted a list naming 103 people killed in Tremseh. He has also posted several other tweets about the casualties:
2.38pm: A leading member of the Syrian opposition claims the timing of the Tremseh massacre was aimed at boosting morale of Assad's armed supporters and scuppering attempts to find a political solution.

Khalid Saleh, executive member of the Syrian National Council, insisted the reported atrocities were well documented.

Asked why alleged massacres often coincide with UN security council meetings, he said:
From the Assad regime's perspective it is very clear that any political or international solution at this point will mean the end of the Assad regime. I think the Assad regime, in committing all these massacres, is really talking to [its] shabiha, to his forces on the ground. I think these massacres unfortunately increase the morale of the Assad gangs. It is the same thing when they shot down the Turkish airplane.

    Assad doesn't really care about the international community. What he is focused on is winning the battle on the ground, so he is doing all he can to raise the morale of his troops. Unfortunately it is a sad reality that committing massacres like these will increase the morale of the gangs ...

    The Syrian regime has made it very clear that they are killing any chance for a peaceful transition.
The Tremseh massacre is well documented and not being exaggerated by activists, Saleh insisted. He pointed out that the initial deathtoll came down from 250 to 200 because of a desire to record the casualties accurately.

    We would love for the international media to come and see the horrible massacres that are taking place. At this point in time the Syrian revolution is the most well document revolution - about 1.5 million videos - that have tracked every victim, his name, his family, where he lived. So it is difficult to say these are exaggerated.

Saleh was part of a SNC delegation that met Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, and his team in Moscow this Wednesday.

He said Russia's support for Assad was inconsistent and showing signs of wavering.

    The Russians are still talking about a dialogue with the Assad regime, this is not something that the forces on the ground, or Syrian National Council, are willing to accept.

    Although the Russians say they are not holding firmly to Assad, in one sentence, in the next sentence, they are asking us still to have a dialogue with him. They are giving us two different positions within 60 seconds.

Asked if the SNC left Moscow empty handed, he said:

    We made some progress ... it was semi-promising that the Russians are saying they are not holding firm to Assad and they are not insisting on him remaining in power.

    Some parts of the Russian delegation were more understanding than other parts. They understand that there is a very heavy price for their delay. They understand that their delaying tactics are really supporting the Assad [regime] and the killing of civilians.

The Tremseh massacre will put more pressure on Russia and China at the security council, but it is unlikely to shift their positions, Saleh said.

If the security council "fails to meet its legal and moral obligations" there will be more bloodshed in Syria, he said. But the revolution will go on with or without outside help, he claimed. He added: "At this point we don't believe that the Annan mission has any chance of succeeding."

1.59pm: There are reports that a car bomb has exploded in the Mezze district of Damascus, near the Iranian embassy.

No deaths have been reported, though Maya Naser of the Syria Politics blog tweets that three people were injured, one of them seriously.

Report: Brees 'Optimistic' About Reaching Deal

Quarterback Drew Brees said he's "optimistic" a deal can be reached with the Saints before Monday's deadline for players given franchise tags to sign multi-year contracts.

"I'm an eternal optimist, so I'm still very confident a deal will get done by Monday," Brees said at the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night, per the Times-Picayune.

"I think I've been around this league long enough to understand how this works at times. In a lot of cases, it does go down to the wire, and you need a stopping point in order to bring everyone together and make sure it can get done. That stopping point is Monday, so let's hope we get something done by then."
Brees plans to sit out training camp if a multi-year deal isn't reached, and the sides are believed to be about $10 million apart in guaranteed money, according to the paper.

Brees was given the Saints' exclusive rights free agent tender in March, kicking off more than three months of sometimes tense talks.

Brees faces the July 16 deadline -- the date for all franchise players to sign extensions or play the 2012 season under the franchise marker -- with the alternative being a one-year salary of $16.371 million, the franchise tender for his position.

Brees, as argued by the NFLPA in June, won a grievance the determined he will be owed a 44 percent raise up to $23.785 million if he's again named the Saints' franchise player in 2013.

While Brees is a three-time franchise player, only two of the instances came with the Saints. The other, in 2005, was his final season with the Chargers. Brees would have been owed a 20 -percent raise up to about $19.595 million had he lost the grievance.

Brees is coming off of a record-setting season in which he broke Dan Marino's record for passing yards with 5,476 and completed 71.2 percent of his passes, breaking his own record (70.6 in 2009). Brees and the Saints set a record for total offense, gaining 7,474 to beat the 2000 St. Louis Rams' mark of 7.075.

The Saints are thin at the quarterback position. Backup Chase Daniel (hairline fracture in his right thumb) was injured in practice on June 13 and might not be full strength at the start of training camp.

If Brees doesn't report, that could leave the Saints' first-team offense under the direction of Sean Canfield or veteran backup Luke McCown, who signed in June.

FDA approves new home-use HIV test

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter HIV test Tuesday, allowing people to test themselves in private at home and get preliminary results in less than 30 minutes.

"Knowing your status is an important factor in the effort to prevent the spread of HIV," Dr. Karen Midthun, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. "The availability of a home-use HIV test kit provides another option for individuals to get tested so that they can seek medical care, if appropriate."

The test, manufactured by OraSure, already had been approved for medical clinics. The new at-home test, called OraQuick, will be sold in supermarkets and pharmacies beginning in October.

Tests for the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS, have become increasingly simpler and quicker to use since their introduction in the 1980s. In 2002, the FDA approved the first on-the-spot tests for clinics. In 2005, the FDA began exploring the possibility of approving a home test.

The FDA emphasized that any results from a self-administered test, which works by detecting antibodies in a swab from the gums, should not be considered final. In trials, the test failed to detect HIV in 1 in every 12 patients known to be infected, and returned false positives in 1 in 5,000 cases. Anyone receiving a positive result should follow up with a medical provider, the agency said.

In May, an FDA advisory panel unanimously recommended that the test be approved, saying the benefits outweighed the risks. One concern has been that people who learn that they are infected may not have immediate access to counseling or support.

The agency said it hoped the new tests would reach people who were not getting tested, which, in turn, could lead to early treatment and reduce the transmission rate of the virus.

Previously, the FDA approved an HIV home test, but the samples had to be sent to a laboratory for analysis.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that of the 1.2 million people in the U.S. with HIV, 1 in 5 is not aware of the infection. And it says that a disproportionate number of the 50,000 new cases of HIV each year is linked to people who have not been tested.

OraSure has not said how much the test will cost, only that it will be more than the $18 cost for the professional kit.

Kevin Frost, chief executive of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome research group amfAR, said although he thought home testing was a good idea, a high price tag could put it beyond the reach of those who needed it most.

"If the people who go out and pay for this test end up being sorority girls who had a one-night stand and worry if they're infected, that's not going to be a net positive," he said.

Doug Michels, president of OraSure, acknowledged that pricing was a "fine balance," but said his company's product was not designed to replace other options.

Chip Lewis, a spokesman for Whitman-Walker Health, which provides AIDS care in Washington, said at-home testing could reach some people who didn't want to go to a clinic. But removing medical professionals from the process could cause problems, he said.

"It's not like a home pregnancy test," he said. "You need really a lot of information about how to read the test, how to use the test properly."

Michels said OraSure's research showed that the vast majority of people receiving a positive result said they would seek medical advice. The FDA also required OraSure to run a call center to support users of the test. Michels said trained counselors would answer the calls.

Lenovo IdeaPad U310

The ultrabook revolution of 2011 has become a deluge in 2012, which means one thing: lower prices. If you were hunting for a reasonably thin Windows laptop with good battery life at a reasonable cost, you couldn't have picked a better time. The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 is a perfect example: it's an update of sorts to the IdeaPad U300s, one of the first Windows ultrabooks we reviewed last fall that carried a MacBook Air-like $1,195 price tag. This time, the cost is a mere $799 -- but, with some compromises made along the way.

The IdeaPad U310 is a different machine: it's got a significantly heavier and thicker chassis and a standard magnetic platter-type mechanical hard drive instead of a solid-state drive (SSD). However, its internal specs are very good, with a third-gen 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and all the ports you'd need (Ethernet, USB 3.0, SD card reader, HDMI). It's still an ultrabook by definition, but not quite as sleek a product.

It's a pretty similar package to what the identically priced Sony Vaio T offers, although the Vaio T is lighter and has a better battery life. It's also similar to what the new Dell Inspiron 14z offers, although the Inspiron 14z also has dedicated AMD graphics.
So, where does that leave the IdeaPad U310? It's not a bad deal for what's under the hood, but the U310 doesn't feel as surprising as last year's U300s. Nor is it. It's really the smaller cousin of the IdeaPad U400: a MacBook-like Lenovo laptop with a good keyboard, a solid set of features, and a pleasing design that could make an excellent back-to-school computer. Students should look into the IdeaPad U310, especially if it's on sale. You might want to comparison-shop the growing landscape of affordable ultrabook-alikes at the time of purchase and see if you can do better, but the bottom line is this: be happy. Ultrabooks have larger hard drives (without SSD), and are cheaper than ever. That's a good thing.
At 0.7 inch thick and 3.68 pounds, the IdeaPad U310 is thin and light, but not quite as thin and light as other 13-inch ultrabooks. It's somewhere between "normal" 13-inch laptop and ultrabook, and feels more like the former. It's heavier than the Sony Vaio T ultrabook, and lighter than the new Dell Inspiron 14z.

Unlike the sleek, black IdeaPad U300s, the U310 is both whitish and candy-colored. Its larger cousin that it looks the most like is the IdeaPad U400, a machine that was closer in size and function to a 13-inch MacBook Pro. The U310 is more backpack- and small-bag-friendly, but also ditches the slot-loading DVD drive in the process.
You'd better get used to hearing, "Hey, you've got a new white MacBook!" because you're going to hear it a lot at coffee shops. The IdeaPad U310 is MacBook-like, and there's no way around it. Sure, the outer wraparound Aqua Blue aluminum on the lid and underside (also available in Graphite Gray and Cherry Blossom Pink) is distinctive, but open the lid and the white surfaces, black raised keyboard, and large touch pad -- even the bezel around the screen and keyboard -- practically scream "MacBookalike." The anodized, colored-aluminum exterior sandwiches the slightly off-white plastic interior when closed, giving the laptop a two-tone look and a booklike profile.

It's a comfortable laptop to use, too: the palm rest is spacious, the multitouch clickpad gigantic, and the keyboard nearly as excellent as most Lenovo keyboards.

Why nearly? Because the keyboard's not backlit, and the keys themselves have an ever-so-slightly lower-quality feel compared with the high bar of ThinkPads. It's still good, but I found keys not registering every once in a blue moon, and the column of keys on the right side makes the Backspace key very hard to locate by touch. To make matters worse, the keyboard exhibited some flex on our review model. At least the function keys are reversed (the media-control buttons for volume and screen brightness work without the Fn key held down).
The very large touch pad is the same size as that on a MacBook, but not as good. Pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling are less instantly responsive and more prone to jumpiness. Chalk that up less to Lenovo than to Windows 7.

The audiovisual experience on the IdeaPad U310 is similarly adequate but not outstanding. A glossy 13.3-inch screen has an utterly normal 1,366x768-pixel resolution, but is prone to screen glare. The screen isn't all that bright at its highest setting, and off-axis viewing angles are poor. It's fine for a budget computer. The stereo speakers are louder than you'd expect from an ultrabook, but sounded hollow and flat when playing back music or movie trailers.

On the other hand, the included 720p Webcam looked sharp via the preinstalled Cybervision YouCam software.

Examining Virus Bacterium Associations

Virus-bacterium associations were examined in the natural environment of a termite's

hindgut. Three general scenarios were seen. In the first (1) there was a one-to-one

association: one type of virus matched one type of bacterium host. In the second (2) the

host bacterium was associated with a diverse group of viruses, indicating perhaps a more

ancient infection or a more susceptible host. In the third case (3) very similar viruses

were seen infecting several different types of bacterial hosts. This study tested methods

of examining virus-bacterium interactions in nature, rather than in vitro--from a culture.

It opens a new door to understanding the diverse and highly populated world of viruses and

bacteria that we know so little about. To learn more, see NSF press release "When Viruses

Infect Bacteria." Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation

Charu goes to Paris, Monapali stick to tradition

The girls in question were designer Charu Parashar's protagonists on Day 4 of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2012 who sought to bring out the "vintage, breezy nature of the eternal city of Paris" with her latest range.

Theme: Says Charu about her inspiration, "My collection is about a woman with a story to tell; someone who evokes poetic and sensual moods in the perfect Parisian settings."

Collection and detailing: The entire range was created on a black base with floral applique work on the hem and sleeves, or around the waist. It was an interesting display of floral print silk dresses worn with black leggings, kaftans and coats with floral patchwork, black capes with floral designs on the inside, asymmetrical flowy dresses and A-line skirt with warm woollen floral printed jacket. The collection introduced old metallic sequin shrugs with print detailing as the flavour of the season.

Fabrics: Flowy chiffons, woollen, tulle (net), satin and silks gave the collection a timeless feel while adding a modernist touch.

Colours: Charu who is otherwise known for her use of colours made an exception this time by limiting herself to monotones and somewhat making up for it with bright applique and motifs in floral prints. There were black with applique of coloured print, blood red, burnt oranges with accents of reds, golden and yellow among others.

Accessories: In keeping with the traditional Parisian style of dressing, accessories such as hats with floral appliques, scarves and satin sashes with floral applique for head gear were used.


Monapali

Sharing the same slot with Charu Parashar were designer duo Mona Lamba and Pali Sachdeva who suddenly brought an explosion of colours to the ramp with a touch of the sombre by using verses from Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan's Madhushala in Amitabh Bachchan's baritone voice as the background score.

Theme and collection: Titled 'Phirkee', the circle of life, the designers attempted to bring out "freedom, free-flow of thoughts and a life full of colours". It was a delightful canvas of lace, crochet, tape, applique, latticework and thread work fused into graphic patterns and prints to blend into an easy draped silhouette in soft sensual fabrics such as chiffon and satin. The most noticeable of them all were the tie up dress in satin with a detachable embroidered neckpiece, and the lattice edged oversized shrug with an asymmetrical embroidered detachable neckpiece set off with wide leg pants.

Trends to watch out for: The colourfully appliqued boot-cum-socks and the embroidered neckpieces which have been created as an extension of the outfit lend a light heartedness to the overall collection.

Fabric: Chiffon and satin have been used with lycra and constructed net fabric.

Colours: It was a vibrant palette all the way from red, pink, magenta and turquoise with highlights in shades of wine, blue, brown and purple.