When We Stand Together

ADJOINT MODEL APPLICATIONS IN DYNAMIC METEOROLOGY

2012-03-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

Adjoint models are powerful, but still underutilized, tools for efficiently estimating sensitivities of aspects of model output with respect to small but significant perturbations of model input. Their potential applications include all problems for which reliable estimates of sensitivity would be useful. In dynamic meteorology, these applications include data assimilation, stability analysis, ensemble forecasting, observation targeting, synoptic studies, and parameter estimation, among others. In order to encourage their use, teach their proper interpretation and development, and provide a public forum for evaluating their works, a series of "adjoint workshops" devoted to these and …

Blast Kills 2 at Restaurant in Islamabad

2012-03-15T04:11:00.000-07:00

A bomb exploded in the back garden of an Italian restaurant popular with foreigners in Pakistan's capital Saturday night, killing two people and wounding nine, police said.

It appeared to be the first attack targeting foreigners in a recent wave of violence.

Police have not determined whether the bomb was planted in the Luna Caprese's back garden or whether a suicide bomber attacked the restaurant, said police officer Irshad Abro. Two people were killed and nine hurt, he said.

The blast rang out across downtown Islamabad around 8:45 p.m. local time. The restaurant was crowded with a group of Americans and Chinese nationals, said restaurant …

Pack allows Freeman to talk trade

2012-03-15T01:50:00.000-07:00

The Green Bay Packers have granted veteran wide receiver AntonioFreeman permission to discuss trade possibilities with other teams,his agent said Saturday.

Freeman, who is under contract through the 2005 season, was givenpermission in a letter dated April 2. It allows Freeman and agentJoel Segal to visit teams, undergo physicals and discuss trade andcontract parameters.

This provides us the opportunity to pursue other avenues whilekeeping lines of communication open with the Packers,'' Segal said.

Such permission is rare in the NFL. It's even rarer to see tradescompleted under such circumstances. Because of salary-cap concerns,the Packers probably could not …

Dimock's teen health clinic focuses on youths' needs

2012-03-14T23:27:00.000-07:00

Dimock's teen health clinic focuses on youths' needs

The Adolescent Services Department at Dimock Community Health Center in Roxbury recently celebrated the opening of the Teen Health Clinic, specially designed to offer young people primary care and risk-reduction education in a youth-friendly environment. The Teen Health Clinic is an important component of Dimock's comprehensive programming for youth.

"Keeping young people connected to vital health and mental services has always been difficult," says Dr. Jocelyn Joseph, who heads the Teen Health Clinic team. "One of the best ways to do it is to offer those services in a place where they feel …

Giants' Posey out for season after surgery

2012-03-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

MILWAUKEE (AP) — San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey is out for the season after having surgery Sunday to repair three torn ligaments in his ankle sustained in a collision at home plate last week.

"He's not going to be back this season," head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner said in a conference call with reporters. "He will have another surgery somewhere in the 8- to 10-week mark to take out some of that hardware that the doctors put in. That's already determined. ... Add that to rehab time, and I don't see him making it back this season."

Groeschner said Posey had two screws inserted into his lower leg to stabilize the ankle over a surgery that lasted about 90 minutes …

China, SKorea earn 1st golds at East Asian Games

2012-03-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

China and South Korea opened their East Asian Games campaigns on Saturday by each earning two gold medals, with the Chinese winning in snooker and cycling and the Koreans finding success in shooting and English billiards.

In an all-Chinese men's snooker final, Tian Pengfei beat Yu Delu 4-2. Also, Ma Liyun crossed first in the women's BMX cycling finals, finishing in 35.746 seconds. Ma finished just ahead of Ayaka Miwa of Japan and more than three seconds ahead of Jiang Nannan of China.

South Korea's reigning 50-meter pistol Olympic champion Jin Jong-oh scored 685.8 points in the 10-meter competition, narrowly beating teammate Lee Dae-myung by 0.4 points. …

U.S. tests new inflation index

2012-03-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON The Labor Department Thursday introduced anexperimental consumer price index that supports warnings of FederalReserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and other economists: Thegovernment's main inflation gauge exaggerates the cost of living.

Under the new index, prices Americans pay for goods and servicesrose by about 3 percent in 1996, down from 3.3 percent as measuredusing the current formula. That translates roughly to an annual 0.25percentage point overstatement of inflation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics "has received a lot of blame forputting out an index that is not accurate," said Asha Bangalore, aneconomist at Northern Trust Co. in Chicago.The …

Donna Karan sneaks in rest during Fashion Week

2012-03-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (AP) — New York's Fashion Week is so hectic that no one expects to take a moment to breathe. So Donna Karan surprised herself when she actually managed to get a few moments of rest.

"I slept yesterday. I fell asleep during the afternoon, which I have never done. I mean never. I really actually stopped," the designer said Thursday during her final fashion week show, where she featured her DKNY resort collection.

Karan says she depends on juicing, yoga and meditation to keep her energy up during fashion week, which actually spans almost two weeks. She says it's important because for her, the festivities are about more than fashion.

"Not only do I have to take care …

Iran rejects CIA claim on nuclear ambitions

2012-03-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

Iran has rejected as "psychological warfare" assertions by the U.S. intelligence chief that Tehran has enough uranium for two nuclear weapons.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Monday the remarks by the CIA chief were aimed at creating a "negative perception" of Iran's peaceful nuclear program.

On Sunday, Leon Panetta …

Ex-Black Eagle Montgomery scores 26 for Huskies

2012-03-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville women's basketball Coach Tom Collenknew he had to make some tough choices when getting ready for No. 4Connecticut.

One of those choices included laying off UConn freshman guardRenee Montgomery and instead focusing on some of the Huskies' moreexperienced players.

After watching former South Charleston High star Montgomery pourin a career-high 26 points Tuesday night in a 75-68 win, don't expectCollen and the Cardinals to make the same mistake again.

Montgomery made all the plays that mattered down the stretch forthe Huskies (20-2 overall, 9-0 Big East) after Louisville (13-6, 4-4) rallied from a 17-point deficit to tie the game at …

Thailand to give tax incentives to Suzuki, Nissan for eco-car projects

2012-03-14T07:04:00.000-07:00

Thailand will grant tax incentives to Suzuki Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. for plants to produce small, fuel-efficient automobiles in Thailand, the country's deputy prime minister and industry minister said Friday.

Thailand, already a major pickup truck hub for Japanese automakers, is aiming to also become a manufacturing center for so-called eco-cars, and the Board of Investment has offered tax breaks to companies that will produce the vehicles.

The engine size of eco-cars must not exceed 1,300 cubic centimeters if they are gasoline-fueled and is limited to 1,400 cubic centimeters if they are diesel-powered. Also, they must not consume more than one 1 …

US Democrats to push ahead on health care

2012-03-14T04:44:00.000-07:00

Democratic congressional leaders vowed Friday to resurrect their long-stalled health care legislation, with or without Republican suggestions or even their votes.

One day after an unprecedented health care summit that brought together President Barack Obama and lawmakers of both parties, the leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said the nationally televised event showed Republican lawmakers are "accepting of the status quo" in which insurance companies mistreat consumers.

She told reporters at a news conference there are "good prospects for passing" health care legislation along the lines Obama has outlined, even if …

Hawaii tourism board to pay disgraced ex-CEO $290K

2012-03-14T02:01:00.000-07:00

The state agency that promotes tourism to Hawaii said Tuesday it would pay its disgraced former president more than $290,000, most as a "resignation payment," after he was heavily criticized for forwarding offensive e-mails to friends from his work computer.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority's board agreed to the payment to avoid a possible lawsuit, chair Kelvin Bloom said. The board also was concerned a pay dispute with Rex Johnson, who resigned last month, would distract the agency.

"The board did consider the alternative of potential litigation and the fees and costs associated with that," Bloom said. "On balance, the board believed this was a reasonable compromise."

Bloom said $208,000 equals the salary Johnson would have received through August if he had been fired without cause. The rest of the payment is for his unused vacation time.

A phone number listed for Johnson was busy Tuesday. In a statement he issued when he resigned, Johnson thanked the community, staff, and friends and said he intended to continue supporting Hawaii tourism.

Johnson was one of the highest paid and most powerful state employees with a four-year contract worth $240,000 annually _ more than double the salary of Gov. Linda Lingle.

His troubles began after a state audit found 23 pornographic e-mails on his government computer. That led the board to reprimand Johnson, cut his salary to $200,000, and shrink the term of his contract to one year from four years.

Then, about a month later, it became known Johnson had also received and forwarded e-mails with racist and sexist jokes from his government computer. One e-mail from March 22 referred to Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton with derogatory words.

Lingle, civil rights groups and others swiftly demanded Johnson's ouster. The board accepted his resignation on Oct. 8.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority is solely funded by the 7.25 percent transient accommodations tax imposed on hotel rooms and rental contracts lasting less than 180 days.

The agency received about one-third of the $224.9 million in transient accommodations tax revenues the state collected last year, with the rest going to Hawaii's four counties and a convention center enterprise fund.

Regional U.S. health director resigns

2012-03-13T23:09:00.000-07:00

Regional U.S. health director resigns

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) director Hannah Rosenthal this week confirmed she has resigned from the largest region in the U.S., effective Jan. 31, 2000.

In an interview with Poverty Issues...Dateline Illinois' editor Doug Dobmeyer and later with the Chicago Defender, Rosenthal, who over saw the six-state Region V for HHS, said she's leaving the agency to become vice president for Wisconsin Physicians Service (WPS).

She will be the first woman to hold that position.

A resident of Wisconsin, Rosenthal will be working for the largest non-profit health care provider in the U.S.

The company is based in Madison and administers Medicare contracts in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan.

Asked if health care will be a litmus test during the presidential election, she said: "The candidates of either party haven't been specific. Health care is a lot of money and it scares people."

When asked are the states up to meeting the health care needs of people, she stated: "The political reality is there are competing pressures on state budgets."

Rosenthal said her greatest achievements have been her work on the tobacco and gun wars.

"I've been commuting. My family lives in Wisconsin.

I decided after four years of proudly serving President Clinton, it was time for me to go home and be with my husband and our empty nest," Rosenthal said.

Article Copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.

Toyota delivers vehicles on time with new production system

2012-03-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Revising repair process to reflect Japanese model cuts cycle time in half

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. is finalizing the details for the national rollout of its production system that allows technicians to repair a vehicle and reduce cycle time by nearly 50 percent-without technicians actually working any faster.

Toyota has developed the On-Time Collision Repair System, which is designed to help shops increase productivity by streamlining their production systems. For example, the system recommends that technicians complete repairs as a team and that they wait until all parts are in before beginning a repair. "(Repairers] are not working faster," says Randy Profeta,Toyota's collision repair business expansion manager. "We're doing nothing more than efficient, lean production."

Essentially, the workflow is more organized because of thorough planning, which enables technicians to produce nearly twice as much as before. "The real secret is pre-managing the job," he says. "You need to evaluate the damage from the top to bottom, identify what you need to replace and make sure all the parts are on hand before you begin the repair process: This type of system takes a "whole new level of management to ensure a complete and accurate parts order" and to have all of the parts in the shop before repairs begin, says Roger Foss, Toyota's national dealer development manager.

The On-Time process is being tested at three Toyota Certified Collision Repair Center pilot locations. Fred Haas Toyota in Houston began as a pilot facility in October 1998. Maroone Toyota in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. began participating in July 1999, and Lancaster Toyota/LTM Collision Center in Lancaster, Pa. entered as a test shop in April.

If everything stays on track, Toyota plans to begin working with other certified dealers by Nov 1. When implemented nationwide, the On-Time program will be offered to Toyota Certified Collision Centers that have met baseline standards for equipment to become certified. For example, Toyota requires shops to have a downdraft spray booth that can be dedicated to the On-Time production team, and the booth must be in a drive-through configuration.

Under the pilot program only two technicians are dedicated to this system, and they are working in four to six stalls, including a spray booth. But Profeta says Toyota is confident that the production capability could be increased with the addition of a third technician, preferably an apprentice.

"Production will only be limited by the slowest single operation, which is the top coat application and the total processing time within the spray booth," he says. Most of the paint vendors Toyota has spoken with agree that the average in-booth time is about 80 minutes. Using this as the base, production will be limited to about six to seven vehicles per normal working day, Profeta says. At present, the pilot shops are producing four to five vehicles per day.

Larry Cummings, body shop manager of Maroone Toyota, says the facility's production has increased about 40 percent since it implemented the program. It has enabled the shop to repair nearly 1,000 vehicles with an average cycle time of 1.2 days per car. He says the shop absolutely "will not go back to business the way it was," and he believes the entire industry has to move in this direction. "(The industry) has to streamline the repair process to be competitive in today's market," he says. "It's ridiculous what we put some of our customers through."

The On-Time Collision System is based on the Japanese Toyota Production System (TPS) manufacturing principles, but it has been adapted to U.S. culture. For example, in Japan, it is common for repairers to work as a team on a vehicle, but in the United States, the shop environment tends to be more independent. The Toyota production system differs in that it follows a linear repair process in which multiple technicians play a role. Using a team approach helps to eliminate "muda," the Japanese word for waste.

"What we have done is look at the reasons for the delays within the typical repair shop and design a system to overcome these deficiencies," Profeta says. For example, he says, in the majority of shops, work is assigned to technicians as long as there are enough parts on hand to "start the job."The technician may work on a car for an hour or two before discovering that additional parts and/or labor will be needed to complete the repair. At this point, many shops ask the technician to write the supplement.

This introduces another problem. The vehicle now cannot be completed until the technician obtains more parts as well as any necessary authorizations from the customer and the insurer. Consequently, the shop owner, manager or technician may decide to move the vehicle out of the shop and bring another one in, which further lengthens the cycle time.

"It's not uncommon to have technicians working on a batch of six or seven cars at one time," Profeta says. "Cycle time for each one of the cars in this example then goes up considerably. At the end of the week, the technician may have produced a considerable number of labor hours, but [he or she) has not completed a single vehicle."

With the Toyota system, the start-andstop process is eliminated, and the technicians are taught to focus on one car at a time. They as well as the estimators, are taught that single-piece production is more productive and effective than batch processes. At Maroone Toyota, productivity has increased 31 percentage points.

Shop layout also plays a role in the program. At least three flat stalls are required to be in line with the spray booth and, ideally an additional cooldown stall is used immediately after a vehicle leaves the booth. "The production process is unidirectional and linear," Profeta says. "No vehicles move backwards or sideways:'

Tom Parker, an On-Time body technician at Lancaster Toyota/LTM Collision Center in Lancaster, Pa., says the system has improved his productivity because having all of the parts enables him to ` just do the job and get it out the door." He adds that the entire shop benefits from the increased efficiency and reduced cycle time that come as a result of the program. "If you have all the jobs lined up, you wouldn't need as big a shop," he says, "because you wouldn't need room for a car that would normally sit in a bay torn apart:'

Jan Jurell, body shop manager at Lancaster Toyota/LTM Collision Center, says this type of system is the wave of the future, and working to increase efficiency isn't exclusive to the collision repair industry. "Everyone is looking to streamline," Jurell says. "Toyota is on the cutting edge with this."

Long term, Toyota is looking to use its On-Time System to coordinate vehicle repairs with parts ordering and procurement and to have that tied together with delivery and communication with the customer, Foss says. The carmaker wants to automate the repair process so each stage is documented and so the customer is notified of progress with the repair. If the customer is kept informed, the technicians at each stage are obligated to begin work immediately, which eliminates lag time. "If you're not a lean producer today, you either will become one or be out of business," Profeta says. "If you can't go to a team system and produce cars in a reasonable amount of time, you won't be able to compete."

Today in History

2012-03-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

Today is Saturday, July 24, the 205th day of 2010. There are 160 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 24th, 1959, during a visit to Moscow, Vice President Richard Nixon engaged in his famous "Kitchen Debate" with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

On this date:

In 1783, Latin American revolutionary Simon Bolivar (see-MOHN' boh-LEE'-vahr) was born in Caracas.

In 1847, Mormon leader Brigham Young and his followers arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley in present-day Utah.

In 1862, the eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren, died in Kinderhook, N.Y.

In 1866, Tennessee became the first state to be readmitted to the Union after the Civil War.

In 1929, President Herbert Hoover proclaimed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which renounced war as an instrument of foreign policy.

In 1937, the state of Alabama dropped charges against four of the nine young black men accused of raping two white women in the "Scottsboro Case."

In 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts _ two of whom had been the first men to set foot on the moon _ splashed down safely in the Pacific.

In 1974, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Richard Nixon had to turn over subpoenaed White House tape recordings to the Watergate special prosecutor.

In 1975, an Apollo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific, completing a mission which included the first-ever docking with a Soyuz capsule from the Soviet Union.

In 1980, comedian-actor Peter Sellers died in London at 54.

Ten years ago: President Bill Clinton continued to mediate the Camp David Mideast summit. Michael Stone, a pro-British paramilitary member, was freed from prison as part of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord after serving 11 years of a life sentence for murder. (Stone received a 16-year sentence in 2008 for attempting to kill Catholic politicians in a televised one-man attack on the Northern Ireland legislature.) Georgia's Democratic former governor Zell Miller was appointed to the late Republican Paul Coverdell's Senate seat.

Five years ago: Lance Armstrong won his seventh consecutive Tour de France. Sir Richard Doll, the British scientist who first established a link between smoking and lung cancer, died in Oxford, England, at age 92.

One year ago: Trying to tamp down a national uproar over race, President Barack Obama acknowledged using unfortunate words in declaring that Cambridge, Mass., police had "acted stupidly" in arresting black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., adding he'd invited the Harvard professor and Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer, for "a beer here in the White House."

Today's Birthdays: Movie director Peter Yates is 81. Actress Jacqueline Brookes is 80. Actor John Aniston (TV: "Days of Our Lives") is 77. Political cartoonist Pat Oliphant is 75. Comedian Ruth Buzzi is 74. Actor Mark Goddard is 74. Actor Dan Hedaya is 70. Actor Chris Sarandon is 68. Comedian Gallagher is 64. Actor Robert Hays is 63. Former Republican national chairman Marc Racicot (RAWS'-koh) is 62. Actor Michael Richards is 61. Actress Lynda Carter is 59. Movie director Gus Van Sant is 58. Country singer Pam Tillis is 53. Actor Paul Ben-Victor is 48. Actor Kadeem Hardison is 45. Actress-singer Kristin Chenoweth is 42. Actress Laura Leighton is 42. Actor John P. Navin Jr. is 42. Actress-singer Jennifer Lopez is 41. Basketball player-turned-actor Rick Fox is 41. Actor Eric Szmanda is 35. Actress Rose Byrne is 31. Actress Summer Glau is 29. Actress Elisabeth Moss is 28. Actress Anna Paquin is 28. Actress Mara Wilson is 23. TV personality Bindi Irwin is 12.

Thought for Today: "Everything has two sides _ the outside that is ridiculous, and the inside that is solemn." _ Olive Schreiner, South African author and feminist (1855-1920).

(Above Advance for Use Saturday, July 24)

Flesch's 65 gives him one shot lead

2012-03-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

Steve Flesch fired a seven-under-par 65 to take a one-shot leadafter the second round of the Turning Stone Resort Championship.

A 10-year veteran, Flesch won the Reno-Tahoe Open in August toclaim a third career title and is on track for another this weekendafter producing a stellar second round.

Flesch started on the back nine at Atunyote Golf Club, holingthree birdies and a three-shot eagle over his first five holes.

The Cincinnati native headed into the turn at 12-under overall andpicked up another stroke with a birdie on the par-four second hole.

Flesch carded five straight pars on the front nine before cardinga birdie at the par-five eighth to climb to 14-under overall.

But Flesch bogeyed his final hole to finish with an overall scoreof 13-under 131 to take a one stroke lead over American Jeff Gove andZimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge at the halfway point.

"I've always said my iron game is the strength of my game," saidFlesch. "If I get the ball on the fairway, I usually can find thepins with my irons."

Kiss says he'd rather run for Supreme Court in 2004

2012-03-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

House Speaker Bob Kiss told a radio talk show host that if he runsfor statewide office next year, he would rather run for Supreme Courtthan governor.

Kiss told MetroNews "Talkline" host Hoppy Kercheval today that thethings Kiss would like to see accomplished in the state would beaccomplished easier from the Supreme Court bench, not the governor'soffice.

"The Supreme Court (race) next year may be far more important thanthe governor," said Kiss, D-Raleigh, on the talk show. "I wish thatwasn't the case."

Kiss, who has been in the Legislature since 1989, said he might beready for a change.

"I never planned on staying in the Legislature," he said. "I'm ata crossroads."

Kiss would be taking on Justice Warren McGraw in the spring 2004Democratic Party primary as McGraw seeks re-election to a 12-yearterm. Some political observers predict it could be one of the mostexpensive Supreme Court races in state history.

Fundraising has already started in both camps, although Kisshasn't officially announced what elected position, if any, he willseek. Kiss told Kercheval today he plans to announce his intentionsno earlier than the end of this summer.

In the meantime, Kiss has been traveling the state gaugingsupport.

"I think my name recognition is higher than I thought," Kiss said,adding that it wouldn't match the well-known McGraw name.

Writer Deanna Wrenn can be reached at 348-1796 or by e-mail atdwrenn@dailymail.com.

Security officials: 1 killed, 28 wounded in bomb explosion in northern Lebanon

2012-03-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

A least one person was killed and 28 others were wounded early Saturday when an explosion ripped through an apartment building in the northern city of Tripoli, security officials said.

The explosion occurred in an area that was the scene of fierce sectarian fighting last week between government and opposition supporters in which nine people were killed and 44 others were wounded.

Saturday's explosion was caused by a 20-kilogram bomb placed in an elevator in a building in the Bab el-Tabaneh district whose Sunni Muslim residents support the government, said the officials in Beirut and Tripoli. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Some of the wounded were in critical condition, the officials said.

The explosion caused heavy damage to the building and nearby buildings, the state-run National News Agency reported. It said the sound of the blast forced hundreds of panicked residents out of their beds and into the street to help rescue efforts.

Shortly after the blast, three people were hit by sniper's fire in the pro-government district, the security officials said. The source of the fire came from the pro-opposition neighborhood, they said.

Sunni Muslim government supporters from the Bab el-Tabaneh district and Alawite followers of the Hezbollah-led opposition in the nearby Jabal Mohsen neighborhood fought last week for two days before the army and police deployed Monday to quell violence.

Despite the army and police presence, tension has been rising between the two sides. About 20 houses in both neighborhoods were torched this week in apparent acts of revenge. Hours before Saturday's bomb blast, two men were wounded when a hand grenade was thrown at the motorbike they were riding in the pro-government district, the officials said.

The violence in the north comes as Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora is having trouble forming a national unity Cabinet in line with an Arab deal that ended an 18-month political crisis that nearly plunged Lebanon into a new civil war.

Located 50 miles north of Beirut, Tripoli is Lebanon's second largest city and is predominantly Sunni Muslim, a majority of which support the government. But it is also home to Alawites, a small offshoot of Shiite Islam that is allied with Syria and the Lebanese opposition, led by the Shiite militant Hezbollah group.

The same area had witnessed heavy fighting last month, when pro-government gunmen and militias loyal to the opposition clashed after Hezbollah militants overran streets in Beirut.

The violence in May killed 81, and was Lebanon's worst since the 1975-90 conflict.

It prompted rival factions to agree to the Arab-brokered plan signed May 21 in Doha, Qatar that calls for the forming of a 30-member Cabinet in which Hezbollah and its allies have veto power over government decisions. Former army chief, Michel Suleiman, was elected by parliament as a consensus president May 25.

Suleiman blamed political tensions between the pro-government parliamentary majority and the opposition for the outbreak of sectarian violence in the country. He called for the formation of a national unity Cabinet in the next 48 hours.

"There is no reason for a national unity Cabinet not to be formed," Suleiman said in a statement released by his office Saturday. "All (factions) must facilitate this and anyone who does not facilitate will be committing a big mistake against the country."

A similar call for a quick formation of the Cabinet also came from Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, the spiritual leader of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims, to deal with the "grave situation" in the country. Kabbani denounced the bomb explosion in Tripoli as "a criminal act," saying it was designed to inflame sectarian strife.

Obama adviser: Afghanistan gov't must do better

2012-03-13T04:28:00.000-07:00

Afghanistan is not in imminent danger of falling to the Taliban, President Barack Obama's national security adviser said Sunday as he downplayed worries that the insurgency could set up a renewed sanctuary for al-Qaida.

Retired Gen. James Jones also emphasized Pakistan's campaign against insurgents in safe havens along the border, suggesting that those efforts could provide a key shift in the war.

At the same time, Jones said the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai must improve and give hope to the people of Afghanistan. He added that he believes the government has a chance to succeed, with the aid of a strong effort by the U.S. to train the Afghan army and police.

"I don't foresee the return of the Taliban. Afghanistan is not in imminent danger of falling," Jones said.

"The al-Qaida presence is very diminished," he said. "The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or our allies."

Jones' view differs from that of the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal has called for an infusion of thousands more U.S. troops, saying that insurgents are gaining strength in Afghanistan and that the U.S. is in danger of failing if more forces are not sent to the fight.

Underscoring those concerns was a deadly battle Sunday near the Pakistan border, where several hundred militant fighters streamed from an Afghan village and a mosque and attacked a pair of remote outposts. Eight U.S. soldiers were killed and as many as seven Afghan forces in one of the fiercest battles of the eight-year war.

However, Jones said the Pakistani government and army have done much better in recent months to root out militants in the mountainous border region.

"We hope that will lead to a campaign against all insurgents on that side of the border, and if that happens, that's a strategic shift that will spill over into Afghanistan," he said.

On the Afghan side, Jones said the Karzai government must achieve progress on economic development and must show it can govern without corruption and follow the rule of law.

Obama is considering a range of ideas for changing course in Afghanistan, including pulling back, staying put and sending more troops to fight the insurgency.

Jones said Obama has now received McChrystal's request for additional troops, and the force numbers will be part of a larger discussion that will include efforts to beef up the size and training of the Afghan army and police, along with economic development and governance improvements in Afghanistan.

"It would be, I think, unfortunate if we let the discussion just be about troop strength. There is a minimum level that you have to have, but there's, unfortunately, no ceiling to it," he said.

Jones spoke on CNN's "State of the Union" and CBS' "Face the Nation."

Bell & Howell chief pushing for innovation

2012-03-13T01:17:00.000-07:00

Donald N. Frey is thinking about retirement, about teaching andabout research, development and innovation.

He is 63 and has been chairman and chief executive officer ofBell & Howell Co. for a solid 15 years. Most of his energies overthat time have been spent refashioning Bell & Howell to round theturn into the new century.

As he comes up on the company's mandatory retirement age hewants to get in a few more licks for the company and also see what hecan do for Chicago in the way of promoting growth and technology.

Among other things, he's co-chairman of an effort to establish aCenter for Technology at Northwestern University. Chicago, he says,is "desperately short" when it comes to research aimed at developingadvanced technology for use in manufacturing, and it is worse off inthe alternative, the service sector. Frey is interested in buildingthe center to find technology that would generate efficiency andgrowth in the service businesses.

Frey also is establishing the Frey Exchange program betweenNorthwestern and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. "Thedetails haven't been ironed out as yet," he said, but there would bean exchange of faculty members and scientists between the twoinstitutions to further research in a number of fields.

Frey has visited Weizmann a few times and he'll be the honoredguest Sept. 14 when the American Committee for the Institute holdsits annual Chicago diner at the Hilton.

Named for Chaim Weizmann, the first president of Israel, theinstitute now has nearly 2,500 people at work on research ineverything from medicine to electronics and agriculture.

"It is a world class institution," Frey said. "One indication isthat a member of the team that went to the Soviet Union to doemergency bone marrow transplants after the nuclear accident was fromWeizmann."

Frey says he'll probably do some teaching at Northwestern,possibly at the Kellogg School of Management, when he reaches Bell &Howell's mandatory retirement age two years hence.

Innovation for growth is his thing and he has taught a fewcourses centered on that theme: how you find it and how you fosterit.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Bell & Howell was a leading innovator inmovie cameras but by the time Frey took over as chief executive in1971 it was the Japanese who were forging ahead and taking over inboth still and movie cameras.

"Pete Peterson, then head of the company, was well aware of theproblems when he left to go to Washington (where he became secretaryof commerce in the first Nixon administration), but he didn't havethe time to do much about the company's problems," Frey said.

"Most of my years at Bell & Howell have been spent trying to makesure the company could survive. We're out of the camera business nowand we have passed the survival stage. We no longer have to worryabout meeting the payroll.

"It took a strong stomach to do some of the things we did, but wehad to do them."

Born in St. Louis, Frey grew up in Detroit. He has threedegrees in engineering from the University of Michigan. He was avery young assistant professor at the University of Michigan when heleft to go to work for Ford Motor at double his university salary of$6,000 a year. At Ford he once worked for Lee Iacocca and was a vicepresident when he left in 1967 to become president of General CableCo.

Bell & Howell is now an advanced information company, Frey says,with something close to $800 million in annual sales. It is intoeducation (DeVry electronics and computer schools), textbookpublishing (Merrill), mail processing machines and computer-basedinformation storage and retrieval. Then there's the one that makes Frey chuckle. Bell & Howell is backin the home movie business. In a venture with Columbia andParamount, the company is the biggest thing there is in packingHollywood movies and educational films in videocassettes.

Price cutting has been vicious in the industry in the lastcouple of years, but Bell & Howell is now producing cassettes at arate of 30 million a year and Frey is delighted to say the company'stechnology enables it to beat the Japanese. That may be a firstin electronics.

Girl Fatally Stabbed, 4 Arrested in Ohio

2012-03-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

CLEVELAND - A 15-year-old girl who had been bullied by another teen was fatally stabbed by a group armed with stun guns and knives, authorities, witnesses and her family said. Four people were arrested, including a 17-year-old girl.

The girl, Demesha Sharp, was attacked Friday night at a street corner as she, her siblings and friends were headed to a bus stop. As the group was walking, a sport utility vehicle appeared and tried to run them down, witnesses said.

The 17-year-old girl was arrested on murder charges Sunday, while her mother, grandmother and a 19-year-old male relative were being held on felonious-assault charges. Their names were not available, and police had not established a motive in the stabbing, Lt. Thomas Stacho said.

The victim's mother, Shalinda Wagner, said her daughter was a high school freshman who wanted to be a cheerleader and had been bullied by the suspect. She did not know why her daughter was targeted.

"There was no reason why," she said. "A bully is a bully. ... She used to torture my daughter all the time."

Ice-Out Contest Nets Man $4,216

2012-03-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

WEST DANVILLE, Vt. - Spring arrived at Joe's Pond at exactly 4:45 p.m. Tuesday. That's when a 65-pound cinder block fell through the ice, earning a Montpelier man a cool $4,216.

Locals have been betting for 20 years on when the frozen northern Vermont lake breaks up for spring. A ticket to enter the contest, known as Joe's Pond Ice Out, costs $1.

Contestants guess the exact time the spring thaw comes each year, which is measured by the cinder block attached to an old-fashioned alarm clock. When the ice melts and the block falls through, the string tugs on the clock and stops it.

Dr. Robert Marshall was the winner this year with his guess of 4:36 p.m. on May 1, according to Jane Brown, secretary of the Joe's Pond Association. The next-closest guesses were 4:35 p.m. and 5 p.m.

The other half of the pot will go to the association to stage its annual fireworks show.

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On the Web:

Joe's Pond Ice-Out: http://www.joespond.com

Redding Helps Lady Vols Top La. Tech

2012-03-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

RUSTON, La. - Dominique Redding scored 13 points and Alberta Auguste added 11 to help No. 4 Tennessee beat Louisiana Tech 71-50 on Tuesday night.

Tennessee (6-0) dominated from the start, getting a double-digit lead less than 7 minutes into the game.

Candace Parker scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots, the last of which led to an easy layup by Auguste. Sidney Spencer also had 10 points.

At the half, the Lady Volunteers were up 42-15.

Amber Metoyer scored 13 points and had nine rebounds for Tech (2-4), while Jokierra Sneed and Shan Moore, each added 12.

This is Tennessee's seventh straight win over Louisiana Tech.

Dubai woes loom as Gulf leaders prepare to meet

2012-03-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

DUBAI, United Arab

Emirates (AP) _ Ongoing concerns about Dubai's financial woes could overshadow efforts to more closely align Gulf Arab nations' economies when the region's leaders meet Monday in Kuwait.

The annual gathering of top officials from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council economic bloc begins on the same day a closely watched $3.52 billion pile of Dubai debt comes due.

Investors are eagerly awaiting details on how, or indeed whether, Dubai will cover the payment, which is seen as a key test of the indebted city-state's broader credit worthiness.

"This is not a story that's going away," said Rachel Ziemba, a senior analyst at Roubini Global Economics who monitors Gulf economies. "This is the aftershocks, the reckoning after the credit crisis."

Dubai's unfolding credit problems have raised new concerns about a lack of transparency throughout the oil-rich Gulf's financial system, which was already rocked once this year by a rare public dispute over billions of dollars in debt by two of Saudi Arabia's most prominent family businesses.

That family feud, which spurred lawsuits in the U.S. and Britain, prompted lenders to reassess their exposure to the region's often secretive companies.

Now some analysts fear Dubai's debt problems could spill over to other Gulf states and make financing harder to secure throughout the region. Dubai is one of seven sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates.

While worries about Dubai continue to dominate headlines, the GCC's Kuwait hosts are calling for fresh talks on plans to forge a Gulf-wide monetary union that could pave the way for a common currency like the euro.

Efforts to create a single monetary bloc have been floated for years but have struggled to gain traction. All the Gulf states peg their currencies to the dollar except Kuwait, which relies on a basket of currencies.

Talks aimed at a monetary union faced their most serious setback in May when the UAE, the Arab world's second biggest economy, abruptly backed out of the plan. Oman had earlier said it would not join the union.

John Sfakianakis, chief economist at the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Banque Saudi Fransi-Credit Agricole Group, said more clarity is needed on how and when the process will move ahead.

"They will have to eventually come out with some kind of commitment to the union," he said. "That will give confidence to the market."

Kuwait Finance Minister Mustafa al-Shimali has urged the Emirates and Oman to reconsider membership in such a union, even if the creation of common currency could take a "number of years."

"This would strengthen the region's economies and make it an economic bloc that would be taken into account at a global level," al-Shimali told Kuwait's news agency KUNA on Friday.

Kuwaiti officials say other topics to be discussed include a common customs policy and electricity grid, the creation of a railway authority and regional political issues, including Iran's relations with the GCC and its nuclear program.

Also likely on the agenda, according to KUNA, will be talks aimed at addressing the deteriorating security situation in Yemen, where Shiite rebels have been fighting Yemen's central government.

Saudi Arabia began striking back at the rebels last month following an incursion by the fighters into the desert kingdom.

Last year's summit in Oman was ostensibly aimed at discussing details of a unified monetary pact, but leaders spent much of their time instead hammering out a condemnation of Israel's attacks on Gaza.

The GCC is made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.