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Sunday, January 8, 2012

Suspended Mexican soccer goalie detained in kidnap

Suspended first-division soccer goalkeeper Omar "El Gato" Ortiz, arrested for alleged participation in a kidnapping ring, is guarded by state police during a presentation to the press in Monterrey, Mexico, Saturday Jan. 7, 2012. Ortiz, whose nickname means "The Cat'' has been under suspension after testing positive for steroids in April 2010, when he was playing with the Rayados of Monterrey. Police say that said Ortiz's job within the kidnapping ring was to select wealthy victims because he moved in the same social circles. (AP Photo/Hans Maximo Musielik)

Suspended first-division soccer goalkeeper Omar "El Gato'' Ortiz, right, arrested for alleged participation in a kidnapping ring, is escorted by state police along with alleged accomplice Hector Eduardo Trevino Urbano, left, as they are presented to the press in Monterrey, Mexico, Saturday Jan. 7, 2012. Ortiz, whose nickname means "The Cat'' has been under suspension after testing positive for steroids in April 2010, when he was playing with the Rayados of Monterrey. Police say that said Ortiz's job within the kidnapping ring was to select wealthy victims because he moved in the same social circles. (AP Photo/Hans Maximo Musielik)

Suspects Luis Alberto Tamez Hernandez, left, Cesar Acosta Canchola, second from left, Omar "El Gato" Ortiz, third from left, and Hector Eduardo Trevino Urbano, arrested for alleged participation in a kidnapping ring, are presented to the press as they are guarded by state police in Monterrey, Mexico, Saturday Jan. 7, 2012. Suspended first-division soccer goalkeeper Ortiz has been under suspension after testing positive for steroids in April 2010, when he was playing with the Rayados of Monterrey. Police say that said Ortiz's job within the kidnapping ring was to select wealthy victims because he moved in the same social circles. (AP Photo/Hans Maximo Musielik)

FILE - In this April 9, 2005 file photo, Jaguares goalkeeper Omar Ortiz signals to Chivas fans as he celebrates his team's second goal at a Mexican soccer league match in Guadalajara City, Mexico. Police in northern Mexico have arrested suspended first-division soccer goalie Omar "El Gato" Ortiz for alleged participation in a kidnapping ring. Security spokesman for Nuevo Leon state Jorge Domene said on Saturday Jan. 7, 2012 that Ortiz's job was to select the victims. Ortiz is under a suspension after testing positive for steroids in April 2010. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias, File)

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) ? Suspended first-division soccer goalkeeper Omar "El Gato" Ortiz has been arrested for alleged participation in a kidnapping ring, Mexican police announced Saturday.

Ortiz, whose nickname means "The Cat," has been under a suspension after testing positive for steroids in April 2010, when he was playing with the Rayados of Monterrey.

Jorge Domene, the security spokesman for Nuevo Leon state, where Monterrey is located, said Ortiz worked with a gang responsible for at least 20 kidnappings.

Domene said Ortiz's job was to select wealthy victims because he moved in the same social circles.

The gang's victims allegedly included the husband of pop singer Gloria Trevi. Trevi has avoided commenting on the abduction, which reportedly occurred in October, but comments by Domene and state Attorney General Adrian de la Garza appeared to confirm that kidnapping. Her husband was apparently quickly freed.

The officials said Ortiz and three alleged accomplices were arrested earlier this week. They appeared to have no lawyer of record.

Ortiz is alleged to have become active in kidnappings that occurred in the second half of 2011. The gang allegedly demanded around 1 million pesos ($72,000) for the release of each victim.

Some local media in Monterrey had speculated that Ortiz himself had been abducted after he disappeared from view Wednesday. But prosecutors said he had been arrested at his home in a Monterrey suburb that day after two kidnapping suspects were detained Monday and implicated him in the crimes.

Prosecutors said that the suspects confessed to the abductions and that four criminal complaints had been filed against the gang. If convicted, Ortiz and the others could face prison sentences of up to 50 years.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-07-LT-Mexico-Soccer-Kidnapper?/id-b0f3fa39a9eb4d98a1578ecbae23e45f

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Blast kills 2 Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad

Religious flags of Shiite Imams waves while relative of Qssim Abbas, 48, who was killed in a bomb attack take his body for burial in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. On Thursday a series of bombings targeting members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)

A man inspects the scene of a bomb attack in Kazimiyah in the north of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. On Thursday a series of bombings targeting members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A roadside bomb targeting Shiite pilgrims killed two people and wounded eight others south of Baghdad on Saturday, Iraqi officials said.

This was the third day in a row in which bombers presumed to be Sunni insurgents have struck at members of the country's Shiite majority.

Over 80 people have been killed in a wave of violence which Iraqis fear will rekindle the large-scale sectarian bloodshed that brought the country to the edge of civil war several years ago.

Most of the attacks have aimed at Shiites commemorating the Arbaeen, a period ending 40 days of mourning following the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, a revered seventh-century figure.

Saturday's blast targeted pilgrims walking to the holy Shiite city of Karbala as they passed through the town of Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Baghdad, the officials said.

The police and hospital officials spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to brief the media.

A series of bombings targeting Shiites claimed the lives of at least 78 people on Thursday, marking the second large-scale attack by militants since U.S. forces pulled out last month. Two more Shiite pilgrims were killed Friday.

In the southern city of Basra, about 400 people staged a protest Saturday to denounce a decision by Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, to shelter the country's top Sunni politician after an arrest warrant was issued against him.

Iraq's Shiite-led government called for Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi's arrest on terrorism charges just as the last American troops were leaving last month.

The standoff over al-Hashemi is at the heart of an ongoing political crisis pitting the leaders of the country's mostly ethnic- and sectarian-based party blocs against each other.

The protesters demanded Talabani hand over his deputy so that he can stand trial.

Demonstrators hoisted Iraqi flags and banners reading "The Iraqi people demand a trial for al-Hashemi," and "Talabani is behind the sectarian turmoil" while chanting "No to Talabani" and "No to terrorism."

Al-Hashemi is staying in a guesthouse owned by Talabani in Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region in the north ? effectively out of reach of state security forces.

Some analysts fear that the political crisis, combined with the withdrawal of U.S. forces, will create an atmosphere in which radical armed groups can rebuild themselves.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-07-ML-Iraq/id-bac36328735c4dd8ab43ea2f10647ffd

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Saturday, January 7, 2012

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iPad users download 3 billion apps

Apple

By Suzanne Choney

Apple iPad users have downloaded 3 billion apps since the tablet was launched in the spring of 2010, and ABI Research, which released the stat, says while Android apps are way behind, things may change with the release of Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. Use of the latest version of the OS should "accelerate product development to close up the specifications gap" between the iPad and Android tablets like Amazon's Kindle Fire.

There are now more than 140,000 apps made especially for the iPad. The 3 billion download was reached in the first year-and-a-half of the iPad's release, ABI said; the iPhone "took as long as two years before being able to achieve this level of downloads ... In comparison, Android tablets only have around 440 million downloads thus far."

?Discounting all those apps that were originally developed for Android smartphones, Android still trails greatly behind the iPad in terms of its tablet app offerings,? said research associate Lim Shiyang in a press release. ?Many Android tablets in the market are still using older versions of Android, which disadvantages users from enjoying the better effects of apps produced from more advanced software development kits.?

ABI notes that it's not just the quantity of iPad apps, but the quality, "generally considered to be of a better quality compared to Android tablet-specific apps."

And, ?In terms of hardware, the iPad device still offers much more compared to the current crop of tablets in the market,? said Dan Shey, practice director, mobile services. ?Android is currently being used on many low end tablets that do not offer experiences anywhere near the iPad and this dampens the download momentum for users.?

We'll take another look at the numbers for Android in the coming months, especially as Ice Cream Sandwich gets spread around. ABI says that by 2016, Android app downloads for smartphones will hit 58 billion, compared to 27 billion for the iPhone.

Related stories:

Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on?Facebook,?and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/04/9949966-ipad-users-download-3-billion-apps

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Friday, January 6, 2012

Delaware wheelchair woman hit, killed by three cars that flee (Reuters)

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) ? A wheelchair-bound woman crossing a city street in Wilmington, Delaware, was struck and killed by a series of three vehicles that all fled the scene.

Police were hunting on Wednesday for three drivers wanted in the hit-and-run death of Edith McFarland, 58, of Wilmington.

She was trying to get across South Market Street, a busy road near the Fairview Inn, where she had been living for the past three months, when she was struck at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday, Delaware State Police said.

"After the impact, McFarland was ejected from her wheelchair into the southbound lanes of South Market Street, where she was then struck by two additional vehicles," investigators said in a statement.

Police said the disabled woman was hit first by a gold truck or SUV. All three drivers fled the scene without stopping.

McFarland was pronounced dead at the scene in the state's first fatal accident of the year, police said.

Hotel security officer William Cox said she will be missed.

"She was nice, very particular about paying her rent," Cox told Reuters on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Dave Warner; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Peter Bohan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120104/us_nm/us_crime_wheelchair

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Suicide bomb kills 26 in Syria: interior minister (Reuters)

BEIRUT (Reuters) ? A suicide bomber killed 26 people and wounded 63 in Damascus on Friday, Syria's interior minister said, vowing an "iron fist" response to the carnage in the heart of the Syrian capital after similar attacks two weeks ago.

The blast came two days before an Arab League committee was due to discuss an initial report by Arab observers who are checking Syria's compliance with an Arab plan to halt President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on nearly 10 months of unrest.

The meeting may decide whether to continue the mission or to refer Syria to the United Nations Security Council, perhaps paving the way for some form of international action, a scenario that many Arab countries are keen to avoid.

Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said he was sending a message with Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, asking the Syrian government to work "with integrity" to halt the violence.

Interior Minister Ibrahim al-Shaar, quoted by state television, said 26 people had been killed in the blast in the Maidan district of Damascus, including 15 who could not be identified because their bodies had been shredded in the blast.

"We will strike back with an iron fist at anyone tempted to tamper with the security of the country or its citizens," he said. He said that about 63 people had been wounded.

Some in the opposition said the government itself had staged the attack to try to show that it is fighting blind violence rather than a pro-democracy movement.

State television showed body parts, bloodstains and broken glass from the explosion. Several riot police shields were shown near a wrecked bus that was among several damaged vehicles.

On December 23 at least 44 people were killed by what Syrian authorities said were two suicide bombings that targeted security buildings in the Syrian capital, one day before the head of the Arab League observer mission arrived there.

GRISLY FOOTAGE

Syrian television footage of Friday's blast showed yellow caution tape stretched around the wrecked bus and cars with smashed windows in a street. People collected body parts on blue plastic sheets amid pools of blood and scattered shoes.

Arab monitors in white baseball caps and orange vests inspected the area, taking notes and filming. A local police station was visible, apparently untouched by the explosion.

The TV showed crowds of angry locals gathered at the scene, chanting "God, Syria and Bashar only" and "God protect the army" and "With blood and soul we sacrifice for you Bashar."

The monitors confirmed they had visited the scene. "We are only here to observe and document," one of them told Reuters by telephone.

Syria bars most independent journalists from the country, making first-hand reporting impossible.

However, a BBC Arabic service reporter was able to accompany three Arab monitors on a five-hour visit to the town of Irbine, on the outskirts of Damascus, the BBC reported.

It was the first time foreign media were known to have been able to cover the activities of the monitors directly, although media access was a condition stipulated by the Arab League.

The BBC said it had been able to film, unhindered by the security forces, an anti-Assad protest in Irbine.

Protesters and residents told the observers, all Algerian diplomats, of harsh treatment at the hands of the security forces. The observers then witnessed a demonstration in which the crowd demanded Assad's execution, the BBC said.

The League's special committee on Syria is due to meet in Cairo on Sunday to debate the initial findings of the observer mission, which has been criticized by Syrian activists who question its ability to assess violence on the ground.

Arab states are wary of instability in Syria, which the Arab League has suspended for failing to honor its first peace plan. Syria has been a major regional player, allied with Iran and the Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah group.

Hezbollah, a political and militant group that fought a war with Israel in 2006, blamed the United States for the blast.

"This is a second step in the plan by evil American forces and those under its control in our region to punish Syria for its firm support of resistance forces against the Zionist enemy (Israel) and the West," it said on its website.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that, as with previous attacks, Syria had blamed "just about everybody" - the opposition, al Qaeda and the United States - while the opposition, including the Free Syrian Army (FSA), had denied being behind the attacks and accused the authorities.

"At the present time we can't say one way or the other how this happened but what we can say is that, obviously, we condemn the attack," she said.

The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed in the popular uprising against Assad. The government says "terrorists" have killed 2,000 members of the security forces during the revolt.

FATE OF ARAB MISSION

The monitors began work on the streets on December 26 to try to verify whether the government was keeping its promise to pull troops and tanks out of cities and free thousands of detainees.

The FSA, an armed opposition force composed mainly of army deserters, condemned the attack and blamed the authorities.

"This is planned and systematic state terrorism by the security forces of President Bashar al-Assad," FSA spokesman Major Maher al-Naimi said.

An opposition activist, who asked not to be named, said Islamist militants were taking hold in Syria and may have been behind the blast. "I think we will be seeing more of these attacks in the coming days, I am sorry to say," he said.

One Damascus resident, who gave her name only as Dima, said the city had been tense even before the blast. "Some friends who work in the security forces were warning my family since yesterday to stay at home," she said. "The streets were empty."

The violence in Syria has raged unabated since the Arab monitors arrived, with scores of people reported killed.

Security forces killed four protesters in Hama on Friday when they shot at people shouting anti-Assad slogans after weekly prayers, activists said.

Pro-Assad forces also wounded at least three protesters when they fired at a crowd at a Damascus mosque in a district where a security headquarters is located, a witness said.

The witness said pro-Assad militiamen and secret police agents fired water cannon and then assault rifles after the protesters in the Kfar Souseh district refused to disperse.

"I saw three people on the ground and I do not know if they are dead or alive," said the witness, who lives nearby.

Arab government sources said on Thursday the League monitors would pursue their mission in Syria, despite criticism from Qatar's prime minister that they had made mistakes.

Syrian activists say the Arab monitors have had inadequate access to trouble spots, a charge denied by Damascus.

(Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120106/wl_nm/us_syria

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TV's History channel sets ambitious miniseries (AP)

NEW YORK ? After its successful series on the history of America in 2010, television's History channel is setting its sights even higher.

The network said Tuesday that a 12-hour miniseries, "Mankind the Story of All of Us," will debut late this year. History, seen in more than 300 million homes worldwide, will offer different versions of the series in different parts of the world, the first time it has ever done that.

"America the Story of Us" hadn't even concluded when History executives, impressed by its ratings, began talking about what to do next, said Nancy Dubuc, the network's president and general manager.

"Rather than take a slice of the America story and do something more in depth on that, we decided to go bigger and broader," she said.

The "America" miniseries was the most-watched special ever on History, with 5.7 million people watching the first episode and nearly 40 million people in total watching some part of it, the Nielsen ratings company said.

The new series starts with the Big Bang and traces the development of humans on a planet where the vast majority of species go extinct, said Jane Root, the project's executive producer.

Root described it as a "real action-adventure" project, one that encompasses astronomy, geology and other sciences along with history. It will make liberal use of computer-generated recreations in its storytelling, she said.

The series traces the development of tools and the construction of the pyramids. Root said the production tries to make viewers aware of what it felt like, for instance, to set sail for distant lands on a ship when the common belief was the world was flat.

Root said she was surprised to discover the amount of connections among cultures in ancient times, like when Vikings visited China and fought with people in what is now Canada, each before the time of Christopher Columbus.

"We all grow up in a place where we learn just our history," she said. "You grow up in America, you learn American history. You grow up in France, you learn French history. To try to bring it all together and yet still make it a real exciting story of how humans made it is a real challenge."

History will offer companion material to schools interested in the project, although Root said it was "very important to us that this wasn't an educational mission. This is something you're going to watch like the best of a Hollywood superhero movie."

About a third of History's audience is in the United States. Worldwide, History is available in 150 countries, with India the biggest market, and in some 35 languages. Dubuc said the project would be localized in several markets with the inclusion of interviews with local historians.

Airdates have not been set for the series, which will stretch over six days, but it will be within the last three months of 2012, the network said.

___

The History channel is owned by A&E Television Networks.

___

Online:

http://www.history.com/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120103/ap_en_ot/us_tv_history_mankind

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