Hong Kong says Snowden has left for third country

HONG KONG (AP) ? A former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday.

Hong Kong's government did not identify the country. Snowden, who has been in hiding in Hong Kong for several weeks since he revealed information on the highly classified spy programs, has talked of seeking asylum in Iceland.

However, Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency cited an unidentified Aeroflot official as saying Snowden would fly from Moscow to Cuba on Monday and then on to Caracas, Venezuela. The WikiLeaks anti-secrecy group tweeted that Snowden was "over Russian air space" and later said in a statement he was bound for an unnamed "democratic nation via a safe route for the purpose of asylum."

The White House had no immediate comment about the departure, which came a day after the United States made a formal request for his extradition and gave a pointed warning to Hong Kong against delaying the process of returning him to face trial in the U.S.

The Department of Justice said only that it would "continue to discuss this matter with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr. Snowden may be attempting to travel."

The Hong Kong government said in a statement that Snowden left "on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel."

It acknowledged the U.S. extradition request, but said U.S. documentation did not "fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law." It said additional information was requested from Washington, but since the Hong Kong government "has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr. Snowden from leaving Hong Kong."

The statement said Hong Kong had informed the U.S. of Snowden's departure. It added that it wanted more information about alleged hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by U.S. government agencies which Snowden had revealed.

WikiLeaks said it was providing legal help to Snowden at his request and that he was being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from the group. Its founder, Julian Assange, who has spent a year inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning about sex crime allegations, told the Sydney Morning Herald that his organization is in a position to help because it has expertise in international asylum and extradition law.

Snowden's departure eliminates a possible fight between Washington and Beijing at a time when China is trying to deflect U.S. accusations that it carries out extensive surveillance of American government and commercial operations. Hong Kong, a former British colony, has a high degree of autonomy and is granted rights and freedoms not seen on mainland China, but under the city's mini constitution Beijing is allowed to intervene in matters involving defense and diplomatic affairs.

Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the U.S., but the document has some exceptions, including for crimes deemed political.

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

Snowden's departure came as the South China Morning Post released new allegations from Snowden that U.S. hacking targets in China included the nation's cellphone companies and two universities hosting extensive Internet traffic hubs.

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

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

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

The Chinese government has not commented on the extradition request and Snowden's departure, but its state-run media have used Snowden's allegations to poke back at Washington after the U.S. had spent the past several months pressuring China on its international spying operations.

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

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

____

Sylvia Hui in London and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hong-kong-says-snowden-left-third-country-081745849.html

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WikiLeaks Helping Snowden Get Asylum (ABC News)

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Junior dos Santos questions Cain Velasquez?s power

UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez has stopped ten of the twelve opponents he?s beaten with strikes. However, in the opinion of top contender Junior dos Santos (16-2), Velasquez?s power is nothing to fear. And, after a five-round drumming in their December match-up that never saw JDS go down for the count, he certainly has the experience to back up his claims.

Dos Santos recently spoke with Brazilian radio show Panico where he made a bold comparison when discussing Velasquez?s ability to finish foes with a single shot.

?He hits like a girl,? said Dos Santos. ?He hit me a lot during the five rounds, but did not open any cuts, although I was very swollen and had to go to the hospital.?

While ?Cigano? may not be concerned about Velasquez?s power, he clearly understands the danger involved when it comes to the title-holder?s stand-up. As alluded to, Dos Santos was badly beaten in their bout even if his lights were never turned out.

No date has been set for their next meeting though it is believed to be taking place in October at UFC 166.

Front-Page Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2013/06/19/junior-dos-santos-questions-cain-velasquezs-power/

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Current global food production trajectory won't meet 2050 needs

June 19, 2013 ? Crop yields worldwide are not increasing quickly enough to support estimated global needs in 2050, according to a study published June 19 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by research associate Deepak Ray and colleagues from the Institute on the Environment (IonE) at the University of Minnesota.

Previous studies estimate that global agricultural production may need to increase 60-110 percent to meet increasing demands and provide food security. In the current study, researchers assessed agricultural statistics from across the world and found that yields of four key crops -- maize, rice, wheat and soybean -- are increasing 0.9-1.6 percent every year. At these rates, production of these crops would likely increase 38-67 percent by 2050, rather than the estimated requirement of 60-110 percent. The top three countries that produce rice and wheat were found to have very low rates of increase in crop yields.

"Particularly troubling are places where population and food production trajectories are at substantial odds," Ray says, "for example, in Guatemala, where the corn-dependent population is growing at the same time corn productivity is declining."

The analysis maps global regions where yield improvements are on track to double production by 2050 and areas where investments must be targeted to increase yields. The authors explain that boosting crop yields is considered a preferred solution to meet demands, rather than clearing more land for agriculture. They note that additional strategies, such as reducing food waste and changing to plant-based diets, can also help reduce the large estimates for increased global demand for food.

"Clearly, the world faces a looming agricultural crisis, with yield increases insufficient to keep up with projected demands," says IonE director Jon Foley, a co-author on the study. "The good news is, opportunities exist to increase production through more efficient use of current arable lands and increased yield growth rates by spreading best management practices. If we are to boost production in these key crops to meet projected needs, we have no time to waste."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/CuioDIM_HG4/130619195135.htm

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Cory Booker talks urban policy, Senate run

Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a top contender for New Jersey's vacant Senate seat, joined a panel of urban policy experts on Monday night to discuss national politics and local problem-solving.

George Stephanopoulos, the ABC news analyst and former adviser to President Bill Clinton, moderated the discussion at New York's 92nd Street Y. It was one of Booker's first major public outings since announcing his candidacy to succeed Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died earlier this month.

?Why run for Senate?? Stephanopoulos asked Booker, a Democrat in his second term in the mayor's office. ?What can you do in Washington??

?We need to get more folks in Washington to start changing that spirit to get back to a way of thinking that?s not this short-term, heavily partisan, zero-sum-game politics," Booker said.

The Senate hopeful also talked about using his candidacy to bring a national focus to poverty, one of the major topics of the evening.

?One of the reasons why I want to go to the U.S. Senate is that nobody wants to talk about poverty in the United States,? he said. ?The challenge is that we?re not unified as a country to deal with issues like the crushing impact of poverty.?

Polls show Booker with a wide lead over both Republican and Democratic rivals vying for the Senate seat. Both parties will select a candidate in a primary Aug. 13 to compete in a special election Oct. 16.

Booker, who has gained national attention for his hands-on approach to his troubled city's challenges, spoke about the importance of urban leadership not just in the mayor?s office but on all fronts.

?What we knew when we started talking to folks that gave us a detailed analysis of not just Newark but of the region was that there was an incredible set of cards that we could play,? said Booker. ?I believe that every city has a competitive advantage if they can pull all sectors together.?

While the focus of the talk was on local leadership, Washington's role loomed large in the discussion. According to panelist Bruce Katz of the Brookings Institution, cities and metropolitan areas have been forced to step up where the federal government is failing.

?They?re investing in infrastructure. They?re making manufacturing a priority,? said Katz of urban hubs. ?Leadership is pushing down from the federal and state governments to the cities and metros.?

Booker said he was optimistic about the future of American cities, suggesting the next phase of this country will be in urban centers. Katz said much the same, noting that local leaders like Booker "put place over party" and "just want to get things done."

Also present at the event were Jennifer Bradley of Brookings and Judith Rosen, president of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/cory-booker-talks-urban-policy-senate-run-142255760.html

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Nuevas pistas sobre el iPhone 5S de Apple

En medio de tanta espera por el nuevo smartphone de Apple,?se revelan nuevos aspectos que tendr? el iPhone 5S, uno de los tel?fonos inteligentes m?s esperados en todo el mundo, a parte de que sus usuarios est?n muy entusiasmados que ?ste sobrepase todas sus expectativas por ser el buque insignia de la empresa.

Sabemos que Apple ha tenido varios retrasos sobre el proyecto del iPhone 5S, e incluso se hab?a corrido el rumor de que no habr?a un iPhone 5S y que se Apple saltar?a este a?o directamente al iPhone 6, sin embargo, si la informaci?n filtrada resulta ser cierta, podr?amos ver que el iPhone 5S es una realidad.

Unas de las innovaciones que tendr? el nuevo iPhone 5S es la introducci?n de una c?mara capaz de grabar v?deo no s?lo en alta definici?n, sino que lo har?a a una velocidad total de 60 frames por segundo, una mejor?a muy notoria sobretodo a la hora de hacer grabaciones en camara lenta.

Otro aspecto que har? la diferencia en ?ste nuevo equipo ya mencionado en la presentaci?n de el nuevo iOS 7, es el inclin?metro, que aunque por el momento no tengamos una idea algo clara de como es que se podr?a implementar, seguro deber? de ser muy ?til en el iPhone 5S, como a la hora de jugar videojuegos con realidad aumentada para medir inclinaci?n o elevaci?n de pendientes.

Otra noticia filtrada es que el iPhone 5S estar? disponible en varios tipos de colores, e incluir? una pantalla m?s grande que sus antecesores, a parte, el iPhone 5S se podr? cargar de forma inal?mbrica, cosa que ya anteriormente se ha prometido para este tipo de dispositivos.

Esperemos tener m?s noticias sobre el iPhone 5S de Apple, ya que sabemos que ser? un smartphone muy innovador si lo que quiere es dejar claro a Samsung y su Galaxy S4 quien es el l?der en este tipo de dispositivos.

- Publicidad -

Autor: I. Aguilar Amante de la tecnolog?a, el cine, videojuegos y otro tipo de menesteres que alimentan la mente.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/geekets/~3/x1avBo7g6hk/story01.htm

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It's the way you tell em': Study discovers how the brain controls accents and impersonations

June 18, 2013 ? A study, led by Royal Holloway University researcher Carolyn McGettigan, has identified the brain regions and interactions involved in impersonations and accents.

Using an fMRI scanner, the team asked participants, all non-professional impressionists, to repeatedly recite the opening lines of a familiar nursery rhyme either with their normal voice, by impersonating individuals, or by impersonating regional and foreign accents of English.

They found that when a voice is deliberately changed, it brings the left anterior insula and inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) of the brain into play. The researchers also discovered that when comparing impersonations against accents, areas in the posterior superior temporal/inferior parietal cortex and in the right middle/anterior superior temporal sulcus showed greater responses.

"The voice is a powerful channel for the expression of our identity -- it conveys information such as gender, age and place of birth, but crucially, it also expresses who we want to be," said lead author Carolyn McGettigan from the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway.

"Consider the difference between talking to a friend on the phone, talking to a police officer who's cautioning you for parking violation, or speaking to a young infant. While the words we use might be different across these settings, another dramatic difference is the tone and style with which we deliver the words we say. We wanted to find out more about this process and how the brain controls it."

While past work has found that listening to voices activates regions of the temporal lobe of the brain, no research had explored the brain regions involved in controlling vocal identity before this study.

"Our aim is to find out more about how the brain controls this very flexible communicative tool, which could potentially lead to new treatments for those looking to recover their own vocal identity following brain injury or a stroke, " said Carolyn.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/u1LhKPniwTY/130618113854.htm

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