Wall Street ends up as Fed stimulus seen intact

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rebounded on Thursday on tepid economic data that eased concerns the Federal Reserve would begin to gradually decrease its policies to stimulate growth.

Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 23.26 points, or 0.15 percent, at 15,326.06. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 6.16 points, or 0.37 percent, at 1,654.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 23.78 points, or 0.69 percent, at 3,491.30.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/futures-flat-selloff-ahead-data-111021496.html

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International crew blasts off for space station

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Tue May 28, 2013 5:17pm EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A veteran Russian cosmonaut, a rookie Italian astronaut and an American mother on her second flight blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday for a six-hour ride to the International Space Station.

The Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off at 4:31 p.m. EDT, streaking through clear, pre-dawn skies in Kazakhstan as it headed into orbit, a NASA TV broadcast showed.

In command of the Soyuz capsule was cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, 54, who already has made two long-duration flights aboard the space station and one aboard NASA's now-retired space shuttle.

He was joined by Luca Parmitano, 36, a major in the Italian Air Force. Parmitano, who initially studied political science and international law at the University of Naples, and will be the first Italian to live aboard the station, a $100 billion project of 15 nations.

"This is very momentous," Parmitano said in a preflight NASA interview.

NASA allotted the crew slot to the Italian Space Agency as part of a barter agreement for cargo carriers that were taken to the station aboard the shuttles. One module was converted into a storage closet and left aboard the station.

Rounding out the crew is NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, a 43-year-old mechanical engineer who has one previous spaceflight on her resume, a two-week shuttle mission. She leaves behind her astronaut husband, Doug Hurley, and their 3-year-old son, Jack.

"Time for me to 'unplug!' Thanks everyone for well wishes and great interest in what our nations do in space," Nyberg wrote on Twitter seven hours before liftoff.

The crew is expected to reach the space station, which orbits about 250 miles above Earth about six hours after launch, an expedited trip that has been made by only one other previous crew.

Awaiting their arrival are station commander Pavel Vinogradov and flight engineers Alexander Misurkin and Chris Cassidy. The men are two months into a planned six-month mission.

The combined crews will oversee more than 100 research experiments and technology tests currently under way aboard the station. Nyberg, an avid quilter, said she also was bringing along sewing supplies, a sketch book and pencils.

"I'm really hoping to spend some of my free time drawing," Nyberg said in a preflight interview.

"I used to mostly draw portraits, and gave them to friends, but I haven't done it in a long time. I am hoping I can get back to some of that while I am in space," she said.

(Editing by Jane Sutton and Sandra Maler)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/kthPj2OVuX4/story01.htm

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Storyboards reveal the amazing Star Wars prequel you never saw

We had no idea the Star Wars prequels could have been this good! A brand new book of Star Wars storyboards maps out a much darker origin story for Luke and Leia Skywalker. Everything is darker, worlds are destroyed, characters die and Qui-Gon Jinn HAS A MOHAWK. Here's the amazing detailes we spotted in Star Wars Storyboards, a new book put together by the artists behind the prequels.

---

First up, we think it's important to point out that Qui-Gon Jinn HAD A MOHAWK. And in the very first storyboards for Episode I: The Phantom Menace both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui Gon Jinn were similar in age. And Qui-Gon had a mohawk with two dangly pieces of hair that kind of remind us of sidelocks. Anyway, he looks amazing.

---

Here's another illustration of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon in action. As you can see they look basically the same age, and like they mean business. Look at those space yoga cowboy business faces! This is the scene where they go in for "negotiations" which turn into a the Trade Federation just trying to poison them with gas.

Instead of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan just immediately knowing there's poison gas in the air, the original boards had a pair of birds dying first. And just imagine what sort of shit show CG monster birds those COULD have been! Dragon birds with 9 heads! Birds that squawked unnecessary songs. The green screen sky is the limit! These Phantom Menace boards are absolutely littered with little embellishments like this. Most likely because this was where the idea for the film started to gel. Actors had yet to be cast, concept art was still rolling out, Anakin wasn't a baby. The storyboards and characters in the second and third films obviously look a lot like the actors who played them. And perhaps this is why we had a lot more fun pilfering through the Phantom Menace pages. Plus dead weirdo birds!

---

And take a look at the early concept ideas for the Trade Federation crew members. These aliens are gorgeous monsters.

---

Yes, this guy still exists, but wait there's a whole insane alien physiognomy to Jar Jar Binks that we never got to see.

---

According to Iain McCaig, turns out Jar Jar's bones were made of elastic. Which means when he went into an atmosphere with heavy gravity or high pressure, he would transform into Jar Jar Binks form of BLOB! The illustrators hoped this bodily reaction would exaggerate his reactions a bit more. But instead the final film went with screaming.

---

And while we're on the topic of Gungans, there's a lot of Gungan world-building we missed out on in the final cut. We already know that the walls of the underwater city Otoh Gunga were made of water, but if a little fishy got too close they would flop over into the hallways. This little scene shows a Gungan placing the struggling fish back into the wall of sea.

---

Oh and the city is totally destroyed later, as opposed to being abandoned, leaving Jar Jar to think all his people had been killed. Darkness!

---

Other altered characters include young Anakin. Instead of a little kid who runs around bleating "yippeeeee" the storyboard version was a bit more charismatic. Here he is sneaking a kiss from Padme. Iain McCaig explained that he modeled young Anakin after James Robinson, the little William Wallace in Braveheart. Alas, they couldn't cast him as he was too tall by production, and who knows if George Lucas would even want him. Either way, it's kind of nice to get a glimpse of the Anakin we could have had.

---

Spotted these guys in the boards too; glad to see they made the cut.

---

The final fight between Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui Gon Jinn is much different in the boards. For starters, Darth Maul's Dark Side force gave him the powers of astral projection, which, okay, that's new. Plus, it's Qui Gon Jinn who is originally separated from Maul, and he watches in horror as Maul beats the bejeezus out of Obi-Wan. This leads to the calamity of fighting inside a giant droid pit, but the end results are the same.

---

Another little news gem reveals in this book is the fact that Maul could have been a lady. At one point Lucas considered changing Darth Maul into a woman character. And Maggie Cheung's photo was hung on the casting wall.

---

Moving on to Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Storyboards indicates the Lucas added the droid factory action scene during the film's postproduction. I don't think anyone is surprised by this. The boards were done by Industrial Light and Magic.

---

If you were disappointed by Padme's absent "slave Leia" moment, just know the illustrations planned on showing a lot more skin as opposed to the side flap that was ripped off by the Nexu monster.

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Additional shot of the much less clothed Padme kicking ass on Geonosis.

---

Remember that giant, bad ass lizard Obi-Wan rides into battle? That thing had a name and a personality. Here's a illustration of Young Ben using the Force to bond with his delightful ride called Boga.

---

Here's a new dark twist that was left out of the final film ? the death of Padme's bodyguard Typho. In the original film you just see this character waving goodbye, but in the storyboarded version he's gunned down by droidekas. It seems that a lot of characters' violent ends were edited, but hey at least they filmed Shaak Ti's death (which was also included in the storyboards).

---

And finally the big death in the end. This new storyboard shows a much more violent Anakin, which was cut down because Lucas deemed it excessive. But the illustrators had an even more aggressive plan for Padme in the end. One idea had Padme concealing a knife in her clothes, ready to kill Anakin for his crimes, but upon their kiss she drops the weapon, unable to kill her love.

---

Overall, the book gave us a new appreciation for what could have been. And now that so much time has passed, the wounds don't hurt when you think about that possibilities. Plus it's exceptionally gorgeous, and you should check it out.

Illustrations and character designs by Ed Natividad, Iain McCaig, Benton Jew, Paul Topolos and Marc Thompson.

Source: http://io9.com/storyboards-reveal-the-amazing-star-wars-prequel-you-ne-510134498

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With youth pounding at kingdom's gates, Saudi Arabia begins religious police reform

Saudi Arabia's religious police force is infamous for patrolling streets and shopping malls to enforce Islamic conduct.?With an eye to restless youth, the kingdom's aging king has ordered reform.?

By Louise Lief,?Contributor / May 23, 2013

Saudis stroll in a shopping mall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in this file photo.

Hasan Jamali/AP/File

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You may have heard about the case last month of three young men from the United Arab Emirates deported from Saudi Arabia for being ?too handsome.?

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The kingdom?s religious police, the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice, made that call.

Known to most Saudis simply as the?Hai?a, or ?the commission?, its employees, called ?Hai?a men,? patrol Saudi streets, shopping malls, and other public spaces in their short white?robes,?untrimmed beards, and traditional Saudi headdresses to ensure that businesses close five times a day during prayer time, that women do not drive or mingle with unrelated men, and to enforce a host of other religious edicts that characterize Saudi Arabia?s Wahhabi Islam.?

As 89-year-old Saudi King Abdullah celebrates his eighth year on the throne (according to the Islamic calendar), one of his most challenging tasks is to reform and modernize the Hai?a.

Like other countries in the region, Saudi Arabia?s bulging youth population is pounding at the gates, concerned about jobs, education, and housing. Two-thirds of the kingdom?s subjects are under 29, and they are more willing to challenge authority?than the generations before them.?In recent years, there have been an increasing number of confrontations between Hai?a men and Saudi youth. A number of physical assaults and fatalities attributed to Hai?a men, widely publicized on Twitter and Facebook, have inflamed public opinion.

Shortly after Arab Spring revolutions overthrew several neighboring governments, King Abdullah decided that, along with a $130 billion stimulus package, he would appoint a new head to reform the Hai?a and improve its public image.?

He chose Sheikh Abdul Latif bin Abdel Aziz Al al-Sheikh, a direct descendant of the 18th?century theologian who founded Wahhabi Islam and established its alliance with the House of Saud.?

Refocusing

Sheikh Abdul Latif was an unusual choice.?Though other members of the Al al-Sheikh family occupy many of the kingdom?s top religious posts, he is considered to be a liberal. He has been active in?the?campaign to end child marriages. His wife works in the health ministry, his sister is dean of the women's section at Riyadh?s King Saud University and his daughter goes to university, unusual roles for female Wahhabi aristocrats.?

Relative Sheikh Abdel Aziz ibn Abdullah Al al-Sheikh, the kingdom?s grand mufti and highest religious authority, is more typical. He has stated that girls are ready to marry by age 10, and that all churches on the Arabian peninsula should be destroyed.

Sheikh Abdul Latif holds the rank of cabinet minister and reports directly to the king. His agency employs more than 4,000 ?field officers? and is said to have another 10,000 administrative personnel. His 2013 budget is $390 million, an increase of $35 million from 2012.?The task of bringing change to the police force is likely to be formidable:?His?reform-minded predecessor lasted less than three years.?

Since taking office, Sheikh Abdul Latif has identified five areas the?religious police?should focus on: preserving Islam, preventing blackmail, combating sorcery, fighting human trafficking, and ensuring that no one disobeys the country?s rulers.

One of his first moves was to announce that community volunteers could no longer join Hai?a men on their rounds. Volunteers used to join Hai'a officials as they pursued, chastised, and interrogated miscreants, considering it a religious duty.?

He has also encouraged his?stern and sometimes menacing field officers to ?approach people with a smile.? Hai?a men may no longer use their private e-mails, cellphones, or social media accounts to receive and act on anonymous tips.? He also created a ?Human Rights Division??within the police force?to respond to complaints, with a link on the Hai?a website to an online incident form. The link does not appear to work.

He affirmed that one of the?police force's?most important functions remains rooting out sorcerers. A white phone on the Hai?a homepage?links to 41 hotlines dedicated to reporting black magic. Saudis are serious about this, as numerous beheadings prove.

The website lists dozens of tip lines in each province, has online forms for the public to report un-Islamic behavior, and uses Facebook. It also used Twitter until last week, when Sheikh Abdul Latif?declared?that anyone using Twitter ?has lost this world and the afterlife,? the latest in a series of attacks by Saudi government officials on the social networking site. Hai?a webmasters are still removing Twitter?s blue bird logo from the website.

Entrenched support

Despite these initiatives, it?s not clear that Sheikh Abdul Latif controls his notoriously recalcitrant agency. Last spring he banned Hai?a men from conducting high-speed car chases in pursuit of violators, long a sore point with the Saudi public. But several months later, Hai?a men caused the death of a young father and badly injured his wife and children doing just that.

One problem is the Hai?a does not have a?procedural?manual. In fact, Saudi Arabia has no written penal code. Saudi judges interpret broad principles of Islamic law as they see fit.?

The Hai?a acts similarly, but goes a step further. Hai?a men often invoke the Islamic legal concept of?sadd al-dhara?i, ?blocking the means to evil.?? According to this novel view, not only can Hai?a men intervene to stop un-Islamic behavior, they can stop acceptable behavior that might lead to un-Islamic behavior. Hence, men can be ?too handsome.?

An incident last year illustrates the pushback Hai?a men now get from Saudi youth. Hai?a men told a young woman to leave a Riyadh mall because she was wearing nail polish. She?scolded them, and uploaded a video of the incident to YouTube that garnered almost 3 million views.

But judging from the thousands of ?likes? and dislikes? on the video, public sentiment ran more than 3-to-1 against her. Many Saudis thought she was at fault.

Author and former freelancer for the Monitor Caryle Murphy, who published a book earlier thia year on Saudi youth, was surprised at how many young Saudis she met ? even those educated in th West ? who defended the Hai'a's mission.

"If it's gone, that means the country is Westernized, so we should keep it," one Saudi studying in the US told her. "But they should be nice to people."

The Saudi king showers the Hai?a with resources while seeking to rein it in. He is expanding the Hai?a?s staff, building expensive new ?guidance centers,? and purchasing fleets of new GMC SUVs for the Hai?a men. But in January, the Saudi cabinet ruled that ?Hai?a men may no longer interrogate suspects or determine the charges against them. They may still arrest people, though, for offenses like practicing witchcraft and consuming alcohol, and they continue to enforce the ban public entertainment, women driving, and other religious rulings.?

If women are ever permitted to drive in Saudi Arabia, an avalanche of new religious rulings for the Hai?a ?to enforce will almost certainly accompany the move. Already, King Abdullah?s 2012 decision to allow women to work in retail shops has increased the Hai?a?s workload. New regulations require all women working in stores to wear the?niqab, or face veil, and shops must erect a 5.25 foot partition separating male and female employees.

Partly to address all these new demands, Sheikh Abdul Latif has announced that for the first time in its history, the Hai?a will begin recruiting women ? a move that is sure to be interesting in an agency devoted to gender segregation.?

*Louise Lief, the former deputy director of the International Reporting Project, is a writer in Washington.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/od2E-0S5svc/With-youth-pounding-at-kingdom-s-gates-Saudi-Arabia-begins-religious-police-reform

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Tesla $465 million federal loan repaid early

Tesla $465 million loan was used to build two California plants. Raking in some $1 billion by selling stock and debt last week, Tesla repays its $465 million loan nine years early.

By Viknesh Vijayenthiran,?Guest blogger / May 23, 2013

Tesla workers cheer on the automaker's first Model S cars sold during a rally at the Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., in 2012. A Tesla $465 million loan from the Department of Energy has been repaid nine years early.

Paul Sakuma/AP/File

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Tesla has confirmed it has paid off the entire loan awarded to it by the Department of Energy back in 2010--a full nine years ahead of schedule. The Californian startup wired the remaining $451 million amount yesterday.

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The original loan?stood at $465 million, though with Tesla?s latest repayment, plus two previous payments made in 2012 and in the first quarter of this year, the government has received the original amount loaned to Tesla [NSDQ:TSLA] plus some interest. ?

The final loan repayment was made using a portion of the automaker's?approximate $1 billion in funds?raised during last week?s concurrent offerings of common stock and convertible senior notes.

For the first seven years since its founding in 2003, Tesla was funded entirely with private funds, led by co-founder and current CEO Elon Musk.

Applications for US unemployment aid fall to 340K

In this April 4, 2013 photo, people line up for entry to a job fair in Montpelier, Vt. Vermont's unemployment rate continues to decline. The seasonally adjusted rate dropped a 10th of a percentage point in April to 4 percent. That's the third lowest in the country. The national average was 7.5 percent, also down a 10th of a percentage point from March. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

In this April 4, 2013 photo, people line up for entry to a job fair in Montpelier, Vt. Vermont's unemployment rate continues to decline. The seasonally adjusted rate dropped a 10th of a percentage point in April to 4 percent. That's the third lowest in the country. The national average was 7.5 percent, also down a 10th of a percentage point from March. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell 23,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 340,000, a level consistent with solid job growth.

The less volatile four-week average ticked down just 500 to 339,500, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's close to the five-year low of 338,000 reached during the first week of May. The four-week average is 9 percent lower than in November.

"The underlying story in jobless claims continues to be one of gradual improvement," Bricklin Dwyer, an economist at BNP Paribas, wrote in a research report.

Unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. The decline in claims has coincided with steady job growth over the past six months. Since November, employers have added an average 208,000 jobs a month. That's up from just 138,000 jobs a month during the previous six months.

Still, much of the improvement has come from fewer layoffs, not robust hiring. Employers laid off just 1.7 million workers in March, only slightly above the 12-year low reached in January. Overall hiring, however, remains far below pre-recession levels.

More than 4.7 million Americans were receiving unemployment benefits the week that ended May 4, down 23 percent from nearly 6.2 million a year earlier.

The United States still has 2.6 million fewer jobs than it did when the recession began in December 2007. The unemployment has fallen to a four-year low of 7.5 percent, down from 10 percent in October 2009. Some of the decrease is because many people have given up looking for work. The government counts people as unemployed only if they are actively searching for a job.

For hiring to strengthen enough to lower the unemployment rate to a more normal level of between 5.5 percent and 6 percent, companies must gain more confidence in the economy. But some may be hesitant to add workers because of concerns of deep federal spending cuts and tax increases.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a congressional committee Wednesday that the job market is improving, but that higher taxes and government spending cuts likely will slow economic growth this year.

Bernanke said it was too early for the Fed to abandon its extraordinary efforts to boost economic growth. The Fed says it plans to keep its short-term interest rates near zero until unemployment is below 6.5 percent. And it is buying $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bonds to push down longer-term interest rates.

The Fed's low interest-rate policies are intended to encourage more borrowing and spending, which boosts economic growth.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-23-Unemployment%20Benefits/id-e644580d36ba4142a28100a730a835f7

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European commissioner promises single mobile market by 2015

Europe may be enjoying deeper and deeper integration, but that doesn't extend to mobile connectivity; citizens are still whacked with hefty roaming rates. European digital commissioner Neelie Kroes hopes to change this, telling business leaders that she's planning to push through a single mobile telecoms market before she retires in 2015. Speaking at the European Business Summit, she said she had "no intention to retire until [she'd] knocked down all the barriers to a single market," which was her "major priority" for the rest of her term. Hopefully those on that side of the pond will never again have to fork over $8 per day just to check Vine.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Source: EUObserver

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/20/neelie-kroes-single-eu-mobile-market/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Russian TV: American accused of spying flies out

MOSCOW (AP) ? The U.S. Embassy employee accused of spying in Moscow flew out of Russia on Sunday, five days after he was ordered to leave the country, NTV television reported.

The Kremlin-loyal TV station broadcast video Sunday evening showing Ryan Fogle going through passport control and security at Sheremetyevo International Airport. He also was pictured in the company of embassy staff as he wheeled a suitcase into the Moscow airport, which is used by Delta Air Lines for its direct flights to New York.

Russian security services announced Tuesday that Fogle, a 29-year-old third secretary in the U.S. Embassy, had been caught trying to recruit a Russian counterterrorism officer. Fogle, who was accused of working for the CIA, was widely shown on Russian television wearing a blond wig.

The U.S. Embassy on Sunday again refused to comment on the case.

The attention given to the Fogle case in Russia contrasts with recent moves by Washington and Moscow to develop closer cooperation on counterterrorism in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15.

The bombing suspects ? Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his elder brother, Tamerlan, who was killed by police ? have roots in the Russian republic of Chechnya. Tamerlan spent six months last year in neighboring Dagestan, now the center of an Islamic insurgency, and U.S. investigators have been working with the Russians to try to determine whether he had established any contacts with the militants.

Little is known publicly about Fogle's duties and activities in Russia.

The U.S. State Department confirmed that Fogle worked as an embassy employee but would give no details about his job. The CIA declined comment.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-tv-american-accused-spying-flies-160938921.html

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Marchand lifts Bruins, 3-2 in OT over Rangers

BOSTON (AP) ? Good things happen for the Bruins in overtime. Even for Brad Marchand.

Boston's leading goal-scorer during the regular season scored his first of the postseason with 4:20 left in the first overtime and the Bruins beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Thursday night in the first playoff game in 40 years between the Original Six teams.

"It's always frustrating" not to score, Marchand said, "but there's so many other areas of the game. It's always nice to get the first one and you hope you just keep going."

The win was Boston's third straight in overtime, and New York's third straight loss in extra time.

"I thought it was pretty even going into the overtime," Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "But we got spanked in the overtime."

Both teams advanced with Game 7 victories Monday night. The Rangers beat the Washington Capitals 5-0 behind Henrik Lundqvist's second consecutive shutout. The Bruins overcame a three-goal deficit with 11 minutes left in regulation and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Patrice Bergeron's goal in overtime.

"I really thought our guys turned the page on that historical game," Bruins coach Claude Julien said.

Marchand scored on a pass from Bergeron. Marchand had carried the puck up the right side, passed it to Bergeron and kept going toward the net. Bergeron passed across the slot and Marchand tipped it past Lundqvist from the left side of the crease.

"I told Marchand when we were pretty close to each other on the wall to go back door," Bergeron said. "It was good to see him score because I thought he had some pretty good looks tonight."

Boston outshot New York 16-5 in overtime.

"I kind of knew he was coming in the middle, but I was just too locked in on the puck," Lundqvist said. "Sooner or later when you face a lot of chances like that, you're going to make a mistake."

The Bruins carried the play throughout overtime. They applied constant pressure, but couldn't score during a power play when Derek Dorsett was penalized for interference at 2:20 of overtime.

Boston nearly won in regulation, but Johnny Boychuk's shot from the right point clanged off the left post with one-tenth of a second remaining. Then he hit the left post at the other end of the ice at 6:34 of overtime.

Zdeno Chara gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 12:23 of the second before Ryan McDonagh tied it with 1.3 seconds left in the period. Derek Stepan put the Rangers ahead 2-1 just 14 seconds into the third period, and Torey Krug tied it on a power play with his first NHL goal in four career games.

"For his first goal, he couldn't have asked for better timing," Julien said.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals is set for Sunday night in Boston.

On Thursday, the Bruins played without three injured veteran defensemen: Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden. Three rookies started on defense: Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski and Krug, who was called up from Providence of the AHL after Seidenberg was hurt early in the first period Monday night.

The Bruins ended Lundqvist's shutout streak at 152 minutes, 23 seconds when he gave up a Chara's soft goal. Lundqvist appeared to have a good view of the 50-foot slap shot from just in front of the middle of the blue line and got a piece of the puck, but it trickled by him.

That lead nearly held up through the second period. But when Boychuk passed it from in front of his net to Tyler Seguin in the right circle, Rick Nash hit Sequin's stick and the puck went to McDonagh at the left point.

McDonagh's rising slap shot soared over the right arm of goalie Tuukka Rask. Stepan then made it 2-1 on a 30-foot shot from the slot through Rask's legs, two goals in 15.3 seconds.

Krug tied the game with teammate David Krejci in front of the net trying to screen Lundqvist. The shot from just inside the top of the left circle went under Lundqvist's left arm.

Then Marchand beat Lundqvist to win in the extra session.

"It was a tough overtime period for us. They came hard," Lundqvist said. "My record is terrible in overtime, but I've just got to stick with it, play my game and hopefully it'll turn around."

Notes: Stepan's goal was the sixth against the Bruins in the first two minutes of a period in their eight playoff games. ... The teams last met in the playoffs in 1973 when the Rangers won the first-round series in five games. The previous year, they faced each other in the Stanley Cup finals, and the Bruins won in six. ... Both teams' leading goal scorers in the regular season had no goals in eight playoff games heading in. New York's Nash stretched that unwanted string to nine, but Marchand's goal won the game. . ... Boston's Jaromir Jagr, a former Ranger, is the only player on either team who had been born the last time the teams met in the playoffs on April 10, 1973.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/marchand-lifts-bruins-3-2-ot-over-rangers-030802773.html

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Apple Patent Would Turn Your Friend's iPhones Into a Lighting Kit

If you've ever been on the set of a professional photography shoot, you'll notice the photographer doesn't just rely on a single camera-mounted flash. Instead, they use a series of strategically positioned flashes, all tethered together so they function as one, to precisely control where and how much light is hitting the subject. And that approach is very similar to a patent Apple originally filed back in 2011 that could dramatically improve your iPhone's photography prowess.

But instead of wirelessly connecting the phone to a series of dedicated external flashes, the patent actually sees the iPhone connecting and controlling the flashes on other nearby iPhones. So not only would it increase the amount of light available to an iPhone photographer depending on how many other phones are around, but it could also let them get more creative with their shots.

A method for capturing an image with an image capture device, such as a camera or mobile electronic device. The method includes initiating a master-slave relationship between the image capture device and at least one secondary device. Once the master-slave relationship is initiated, remotely activating one of an at least one light source of the at least one secondary device.

The patent goes one step further describing tools that automatically analyze the lighting in a sample shot, and then tweaking the intensity or timing of the flashes on the other iPhones to improve the photos. It even suggests a method of passing along instructions to people holding the other iPhones as to where they should move or stand to improve the overall lighting.

Of course, the patent doesn't necessarily mean we'll be seeing this technology included on the next iPhone?or any iPhones down the line for that matter. As with most patents it's most likely a move by Apple to control another technology or feature?whether they intend to implement it themselves one day, or go to court when another company tries to. [US Patent & Trademark Office via AppleInsider]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/if-youve-ever-been-on-the-set-of-a-professional-photogr-507459191

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Instabeat Is Revolutionary HUD For Swimming Goggles You Can Back On Indiegogo

While the world goes gaga for Google Glass, a small startup has come up with an intriguing new take on a device which can display information before your eyes. Instabeat is head-up display unit which attaches to swimming goggles and monitors your heart rate, calories, laps and turns during your swim. It's been live on crowd funding platform Indiegogo for a few days and is already poised to reach its modest funding target ($29,326 raised, with $35,000 being the goal), meaning the product will almost certainly ship.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/7S1DIg8jWa0/

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PFT: Arrest warrant issued for Chad Johnson

AP

New Jets running back Chris Ivory was happy to get out of New Orleans, if only for the opportunity.

Thanks to the events of today, that opportunity might be even bigger.

Prior to the arrest of running back Mike Goodson on drug and gun charges, Ivory said he looked forward to the increased work the Jets could offer, after being caught in the traffic of a busy Saints backfield.

?I think it does give me a better opportunity,? Ivory said Thursday, via Jane McManus of ESPNNewYork.com. ?It was just a tough situation over there. We all had our roles. It?s just tough to fit four backs in a system.?

No one knows what the Jets are going to do about Goodson, who was signed to a three-year, $6.9 million deal prior to Ivory being acquired in a traded with the Saints. They haven?t gone beyond the obligatory ?we?re aware, take this seriously, investigate, blah blah blah? statement at the moment.

But even if Goodson stays, Ivory has a chance unlike before.

In New Orleans, where he was forced to share the ball with Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram and Darren Sproles, Ivory never had much of a chance to shine. His carries dropped steadily until he had just 40 last year, but that won?t be the case in New York.

Ivory figured to be the more physical component to the run game (Goodson?s an outside speed runner, best-used in space), but now might get a chance to do more.

He only caught three passes in three seasons with the Saints, but when your options include Marques Colston, Jimmy Graham and Sproles, why would you throw it to Ivory?

?People say I can?t catch,? Ivory said. ?But how many times have these people seen me receive a pass out the backfield??

Thanks to some apparent poor decision-making by a teammate, he might get to do more than he imagined.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/16/arrest-warrant-issued-for-chad-johnson/related/

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Sharp HT-SB60 Sound Bar Home Theater System

Most soundbars are built for HDTVs in the 40-inch screen size range. This means if you have a big 60-inch HDTV, your new soundbar won't quite produce a stereo sound field that encompasses the size of the screen. It'll sound nice, but you won't get proper imaging that matches the picture. Sharp has an alternative in the HT-SB60. This massive soundbar is built for 60-inch HDTVs, and produces a wide, rich sound field. It's also pricey at $499.99 (list) and doesn't have Bluetooth, so you might want to pause and think before you get this beefy, great-sounding speaker system for your big screen. If you don't have a 60-inch HDTV, though, the Editors' Choice Sony HT-CT260 is available for less than half the price, offers similarly good sound, and has the added benefit of Bluetooth support.

Design
The extremely wide (54.5-inch) HT-SB60 main speaker measures 2.8 inches tall and 2.7 inches deep, weighs 7.9 pounds, and has a distinct look. The bottom two thirds of the front are finished in brushed black plastic and the top third is finished in glossy black. The glossy black plastic strip holds an alphanumeric blue LED display flanked by Power, Source, and Pairing buttons on the left and Sound Mode and Volume Up/Down buttons on the right. Two midrange drivers and a tweeter sit on either end of the soundbar, unprotected by grilles. The back of the soundbar holds two HDMI inputs, a 3.5mm audio input, an optical audio input, and an HDMI output. The 13.4-pound subwoofer is surprisingly tall and thin, measuring 16.9 by 12.1 by 5.7 inches (HWD). Besides HDMI passthrough, the soundbar is relatively feature-free, lacking Bluetooth like the HT-CT260 or media hub features like the?LG NB3730A.

The HT-SB60's remote is plain, black, and simple. It has Volume Up/Down and Subwoofer Up/Down buttons arranged in a direction pad around a Source button, plus AV Sync Up/Down, Bass, and Treble buttons sitting at the corners. Above them sit Channel Up/Down, Volume Up/Down, Power, and Input buttons for HDTV control, and above that a handful of soundbar-specific buttons, including six quick mode buttons. It feels very flat, making it hard to get a feel for what you're pressing without looking at it. The buttons are not backlit.

Performance
Music on the HT-SB60 sounds rich and deep, but overly bright on the treble. It passed our bass test track, The Knife's "Silent Shout," with flying colors, shaking the room with the track's deep low-end notes without distorting even at high volumes. For more subtle, acoustic music, it sounds very good in the midrange. Jonathan Coulton's "Baby Got Back (In the Style of Glee)" sounded full and clear. The acoustic version of Bad Religion's "Sorrow" also came through well, but the guitar sounded overly bright.

The larger size of the soundbar really pays off when watching movies. One of the biggest problems of 40-inch soundbars is their limited ability to produce a wide sound field. With the left and right channels about a foot and a half further apart than it is on most other models, they can create a much more compelling sense of space, even without rear-channel speakers. This helped in Jurassic Park 3D, where the famous tyrannosaurus scene was greatly enhanced by both the wide soundbar and the slightly bright high end. The raindrops on the roof of the jeep sounded forceful and textured, and the periodic thunder claps shook the test room. When the dinosaur appeared and roared, it encompassed my viewing position with a compelling sound field that felt like I was in the jeep with them.

The Sharp HT-SB60 sounds great for movies, but it's not quite balanced enough for music. It also lacks features like Bluetooth, which makes its $500 price tag harder to justify than if it was included. However, for movie-watching the HT-SB60 offers one of the most immersive sound fields and deep audio we've heard in a simple soundbar-and-wireless-subwoofer combination, and it's one of the few models built for 60-inch or larger HDTVs. It's not for everyone, but if you have a big screen you should definitely consider the investment.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/H_rZ2DSbj80/0,2817,2418656,00.asp

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Expert questions US public health agency advice on influenza vaccines

May 16, 2013 ? The United States government public health agency, the CDC, pledges "To base all public health decisions on the highest quality scientific data, openly and objectively derived." But Peter Doshi, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, argues that in the case of influenza vaccinations and their marketing, this is not so.

Promotion of influenza vaccines is one of the most visible and aggressive public health policies today, writes Doshi. Today around 135 million doses of influenza vaccine annually enter the US market, with vaccinations administered in drug stores, supermarkets -- even some drive-throughs.

This enormous growth has not been fuelled by popular demand but instead by a public health campaign that delivers a straightforward message: influenza is a serious disease, we are all at risk of complications from influenza, the flu shot is virtually risk free, and vaccination saves lives.

Yet, Doshi argues that the vaccine might be less beneficial and less safe than has been claimed, and the threat of influenza appears overstated.

To support its case, the CDC cites two studies of influenza vaccines, published in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals and carried out by academic and government researchers with non-commercial funding. Both found a large (up to 48%) relative reduction in the risk of death.

"If true, these statistics indicate that influenza vaccines can save more lives than any other single licensed medicine on the planet," says Doshi. But he argues that these studies are "simply implausible" and likely the product of the 'healthy-user effect' (in this case, a propensity for healthier people to be more likely to get vaccinated than less healthy people).

In addition, he says, there is virtually no evidence that influenza vaccines reduce elderly deaths -- the very reason the policy was originally created.

He points out that the agency itself acknowledges the evidence may be undermined by bias. Yet, he says "for most people, and possibly most doctors, officials need only claim that vaccines save lives, and it is assumed there must be solid research behind it."

He also questions the CDC's recommendation that beyond those for whom the vaccine is contraindicated, influenza vaccine can only do good, pointing to serious reactions to influenza vaccines in Australia (febrile convulsions in young children) and Sweden and Finland (a spike in cases of narcolepsy among adolescents).

Doshi suggests that influenza is yet one more case of "disease mongering" -- medicalising ordinary life to expand markets for new products. But, he warns that unlike most stories of selling sickness, "here the salesmen are public health officials, worried little about which brand of vaccine you get so long as they can convince you to take influenza seriously."

But perhaps the cleverest aspect of the influenza marketing strategy surrounds the claim that "flu" and "influenza" are the same, he concludes. "All influenza is "flu," but only one in six "flus" might be influenza. It's no wonder so many people feel that "flu shots" don't work: for most flus, they can't."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/kVfi7vUGd5c/130516215453.htm

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Cameron survives humbling EU revolt in parliament

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron suffered an embarrassing blow in parliament on Wednesday when more than a third of his Conservative MPs voted against him in protest at his stance on Britain's membership of the European Union.

Though the revolt was defeated, it could undermine Cameron's leadership, as scores of his own party's MPs took the highly unusual step of voting to criticise his government's legislative plans, a week after they were first put before parliament.

The rebels are angry that the government's policy proposals did not include steps to make Cameron's promise of a referendum on Britain's EU membership legally binding.

The party turmoil has fuelled talk of Britain sliding towards the EU exit and has stirred memories of Conservative infighting that contributed to the downfall of former prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major.

While the vote was non-binding, the scale of the mutiny, less than two years before the next parliamentary election, will embolden eurosceptics pushing him to take a harder line on Europe.

A total of 130 MPs supported an amendment expressing regret that the EU referendum was left out of the government's agenda. Of those, 114 of the Conservatives' 305 members of parliament voted against Cameron.

Senior Conservatives put on a brave face after the largely symbolic ballot, stressing that they had allowed their members to vote freely on the issue, except for government ministers.

"This was a free vote," Foreign Secretary William Hague said. "When all the dust has settled, there is one essential fact: one party, the Conservative Party, is committed to a referendum on leaving or staying in the European Union, and the other parties are not."

Just before the parliamentary ballot, Cameron played down its significance, saying he was "extremely relaxed".

However, the opposition Labour Party said the revolt showed Cameron was losing control.

"This vote is a further devastating blow to the prime minister's authority," Labour foreign affairs spokesman Douglas Alexander said. "Cameron has managed to turn a Europe issue into a leadership issue."

CAMERON'S DILEMMA

Cameron had hoped to end party squabbling over Europe in January when he promised to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU and hold a referendum on its membership before the end of 2017, provided he wins the next general election in 2015.

But Conservative eurosceptics soon began pushing for a law before 2015 to guarantee the referendum would take place. Some even called for an earlier referendum.

Cameron's offer on Tuesday of draft legislation that would make his pledge legally binding received a lukewarm reception. Rebels say it will be blocked by the Conservatives' coalition partner, the pro-EU Lib Dems.

Wednesday's parliamentary vote underscored how Cameron is boxed in over Europe.

Keen to avoid a rift with the Lib Dems, he must also avoid alienating Conservative eurosceptics who see the EU as an over-mighty "superstate" that threatens Britain's sovereignty.

The success of the anti-EU UK Independence Party in local elections this month only intensified Conservative pressure for Cameron to go further on Europe. A YouGov poll in April put support for withdrawal at 43 percent, with 35 percent wanting to stay in.

Conservative lawmaker Nadine Dorries, who was punished by her party last November when she left parliament to appear on a reality television show, said she was considering standing as a joint Conservative-UK Independence Party candidate at the next election.

She said some Conservatives had a "huge amount of empathy with UKIP".

Cameron responded by saying "the party doesn't do pacts and deals".

(Additional reporting by William James and Costas Pitas in London and Andrew Osborn in New York; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Will Waterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-cameron-faces-parliamentary-revolt-over-europe-135912515.html

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Blatter attacks tiny Roma fine for racism

FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter speaks during AFC conference at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Thurday, May 2, 2013. Sheik Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain won a landslide victory to be elected president of the Asian Football Confederation on Thursday, replacing longtime rival Mohamed bin Hammam. A half hour later, he also won the vote for the vacant seat on FIFA's executive committee, inflicting defeat on Qatar World Cup organizing chief Hassan Al Thawadi, taking 28 votes against 18 for his rival. Blatter suggested that Sheik Salman's second victory was required by protocol, rather than a snub for Qatar. (AP Photo/Simon Yap)

FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter speaks during AFC conference at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Thurday, May 2, 2013. Sheik Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain won a landslide victory to be elected president of the Asian Football Confederation on Thursday, replacing longtime rival Mohamed bin Hammam. A half hour later, he also won the vote for the vacant seat on FIFA's executive committee, inflicting defeat on Qatar World Cup organizing chief Hassan Al Thawadi, taking 28 votes against 18 for his rival. Blatter suggested that Sheik Salman's second victory was required by protocol, rather than a snub for Qatar. (AP Photo/Simon Yap)

Roma and AC Milan players stand after referee Gianluca Rocchi stopped the match for a few minutes because of racist chanting directed at Italy striker Mario Balotelli by the visiting Roma fans during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Roma at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, May 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

ZURICH (AP) ? FIFA President Sepp Blatter says he will protest to Italian soccer authorities over a decision to only fine Roma the equivalent of $65,000 after their fans racially abused AC Milan players.

Play was stopped for almost two minutes during the second half of Sunday's game when visiting Roma supporters would not stop chanting at Milan players Mario Balotelli and Kevin-Prince Boateng.

Warnings issued over the stadium speaker system went unheeded, leading to a Serie A match being suspended due to racism for the first time.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has put renewed vigor into the fight against racism since Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng led his teammates off the pitch when he was racially abused during an exhibition game against an Italian fourth-tier side in January.

Blatter is unhappy that the latest case was so quickly wrapped up by Italian soccer officials, while branding "small fines for racist abuse unacceptable."

"What is surprising and is not understandable for me, is that the disciplinary committee of the Italian Football Federation has taken a decision, not even 24 hours after the event, by just imposing a fine," Blatter said Tuesday on FIFA's website. "They have not made any investigation of what happened. And just to give a pecuniary sanction is not valid, that is not acceptable. You will always find money.

"What is 50,000 euros for such an incident? I'm not happy and I will call the Italian Federation. That's not a way to deal with such matters."

The Boateng incident in January followed a spate of racial-abuse cases in England and prompted Blatter to establish a task force to propose stricter sanctions.

In plans being presented to the FIFA Congress later this month, teams face being thrown out of competitions or even relegated if their players, officials or fans are found guilty of any form of discrimination.

"In this resolution, there are foreseen sanctions ? and these sanctions must be applied all around the world," Blatter said. "That's why we need the congress's decision. That will bind together all the 209 associations.

"I'm looking forward to that and I do hope, that there we will be no other incidents until the 30 May, when we will deal with this matter in Mauritius ... I appeal to everybody for a little more discipline and respect."

UEFA, at its congress in London next week, will ask its 53 members to adopt a series of tougher racism sanctions.

UEFA wants a partial stadium closure to be imposed on clubs if there is racism in the stands ? rather than just a fine for a racist offense. If there are further incidents, UEFA is advocating clubs being forced to play matches behind closed doors.

A 10-game minimum ban for players found guilty of racist abuse is also being proposed.

The English Football Association is looking to push through its own plans for a five-game minimum ban for racist abuse at its own annual general meeting this week.

In England in recent years, Liverpool striker Luis Suarez received an eight-match ban for racially abusing an opponent and Chelsea captain John Terry was suspended for four matches.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-14-SOC-Italy-Racism/id-14b21a9cc3484e4ba8faea96d540d37b

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Video: Holder: Reported Targeting By IRS 'Outrageous' & 'Unaccep...

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/51882679/

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Two extraordinary African women tell their stories

As disabled women refugees, Dahabo Hassan Maow and Aitm Caroline Ogwang faced tremendous obstacles. But they've overcome every one and now advocate for other women in need.

By Gregory M. Lamb,?Staff writer / May 13, 2013

Dahabo Hassan Maow (left) from Somalia and Aitm Caroline Ogwang from South Sudan have overcome their disabilities and status as refugees to become advocates for women in need. In May they were honored in New York City by the Women's Refugee Commission.

Courtesy of the Women's Refugee Commission

Enlarge

Being forced by war or natural disaster to become a refugee presents huge challenges. Just finding food, water, and shelter is a major accomplishment. But if you are a woman, and have a disability as well, these challenges can multiply until they seem insurmountable.

Skip to next paragraph Gregory M. Lamb

Senior editor

Gregory M. Lamb is a senior editor and writer.

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But two young women honored in New York in early May by the Women's Refugee Commission show that anything is possible. Their lives make two important points: As disabled women African refugees they represent remarkable stories of perseverance and courage as they lifted themselves out of dire circumstances. And to top that, they have now taken on a second role, as advocates for the many other disabled women refugees still in desperate need of help.

Dahabo Hassan Maow, from Somalia, first lost her parents and then, at age 14, one of her legs when she was caught in the middle of a firefight on her way home from a market in that war-torn country. She later moved from refugee camp to refugee camp trying to find help.

"When I came to the camp, I couldn't find anyone that I knew," she said in a recent interview with the Monitor. "I couldn't fetch water. I couldn't stand in line for food or wood. I had crutches. I didn't have a safe area to sleep."

She made her way to Nairobi, Kenya, and through the United Nations High Commission on Refugees office there she was connected with the aid group Heshima Kenya.

"[Before Heshima] I would cry every day and every night," she says. "I was thinking, 'How can I change my life?' A lot of people didn't even understand what I was talking about [her special challenges as a disabled person]. The most I could get was 'I'm sorry.' "

Everything changed once she found Heshima. "They started to educate me," she says. "They taught me a trade, how to tie-and-dye clothing, how to sew clothes.

"After that I became a teacher myself, I was teaching others," she says. Today 25 girls in Kenya use her designs.

"Heshima Kenya was my first family, along with the others girls that were living there," says Ms. Maow, who now is married, living in Minneapolis, and expecting a child next month.

?Displaced persons with disabilities remain invisible in so many ways,? says Sarah Costa, executive director of the Women's Refugee Commission. ?They are socially isolated and rarely consulted when humanitarian programs are designed and implemented."

As many as 6.5 million of the world's 43.5 million people displaced by conflict live with disabilities, the World Health Organization estimates. Disabled women refugees face special challenges, including social exclusion based on cultural biases. They often are unable to take advantage of the humanitarian aid that is available because of their disabilities. Women and girls with disabilities are also four to 10 times more likely to be the victims of sexual violence than other women.

Aitm Caroline Ogwang was one of her mother's eight children. The family had moved from its native southern Sudan to Uganda to escape the fighting in Sudan. (South Sudan has since become an independent country.)

One day when she was five years old she wandered out of the refugee camp to search for food. As she was picking a mango from a tree an explosion occurred nearby, possibly caused by the Lord's Resistance Army fighters, who was marauding in the area. She immediately found herself deaf.

Ms. Ogwang also tells a frustrating and desperate tale of survival. She, too, ended up in Nairobi; at one point a British family was going to take her in, but they finally concluded that her handicap would be too much for them to deal with.

Ogwang's mother eventually committed suicide ? among other causes was her heartbreak at being unable to care for her daughter properly.

It was an aunt who gave Ogwang hope when she felt like she wanted to kill herself. "My aunt said, 'Never give up. Don't hurt yourself. There is a future. That's not God's plan for you,' " Ogwang said through a sign language interpreter in a Monitor interview.

At age 16 she found other deaf refugees from South Sudan that she could talk with using sign language.

"We'd talk about how to make a deaf organization," she says. In 2007 she founded the South Sudan Deaf Development Concern. It had four members, herself and three young deaf men. "We lobbied [the South Sudan] Parliament until they finally agreed to put civil rights for people with disabilities in the Constitution," she told the audience at the Women's Refugee Commission event May 2.

Her life proves that "one disabled woman can change the world," she says.

"I would like to advocate for these deaf refugees. They've been neglected. I'm advocating for equal rights for them. The first to be abducted are deaf girls. It's very important to get them to safe areas where they can be educated."

Ogwang's goal is to become a lawyer and be elected as the first deaf woman member of the South Sudan parliament. "We don't have much time on this earth," she says. "So I want to do what I can for future generations."

Liv Ullmann founded the Women?s Refugee Commission (WRC), now part of the nonprofit International Rescue Committee, nearly 25 years ago. After visiting refugee camps the Swedish actress and humanitarian discovered that although most refugees were women and children, little was being done to ask them about their needs. The mission of the WRC is "to improve the lives and protect the rights of women, children, and youth displaced by war, persecution, and natural disaster."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/g_jPgkqc7fs/Two-extraordinary-African-women-tell-their-stories

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Bangladesh to end search for collapse victims

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? Bangladesh's military is ending its search for bodies in the wreckage of an eight-story garment factory building that collapsed last month because no more victims are expected to be found, officials said Monday.

Also Monday, the government agreed to allow the country's garment workers to form trade unions without permission from factory owners as part of growing concessions for industry reform following the building collapse.

Soldiers and other workers have recovered 1,127 bodies from the April 24 collapse, making it the worst disaster in the history of the global garment industry. The last body was found on Sunday night.

"The possibility of getting more bodies is thin," said Brig. Gen. Mohammad Siddiqul Alam Shikder. He said the army will now turn the site over to civilian officials.

A special prayer service will be held Tuesday to honor the dead, he said.

The collapse of the Rana Plaza building has focused global attention on hazardous conditions in Bangladesh's powerful garment industry.

The Cabinet decision to allow trade unions came a day after the government announced a plan to raise the minimum wage for garment workers, who are paid some of the lowest wages in the world to sew clothing bound for global retailers. Both moves are seen as a direct response to the collapse of the building, which housed five garment factories.

Government spokesman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the Cabinet approved an amendment to the 2006 Labor Act lifting restrictions on forming trade unions in most industries. The old law required workers to obtain permission before they could unionize.

"No such permission from owners is now needed," Bhuiyan told reporters after the Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. "The government is doing it for the welfare of the workers."

Local and international trade unions have long campaigned for such changes.

Though the 2006 law technically allowed trade unions ? and they exist in many of Bangladesh's other industries ? owners of garment factories never allowed them, saying they would lead to a lack of discipline among workers.

Trade union leaders responded cautiously.

"The issue is not really about making a new law or amending the old one," said Kalpana Akter of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity, a group campaigning for garment workers' rights. "In the past whenever workers tried to form associations they were subjected to beatings and harassment," she said. "The owners did not hesitate to fire such workers."

In recent years the government has cracked down on trade unions attempting to organize garment workers. In 2010 Hasina's government launched an Industrial Police force to crush street protests by thousands of workers demanding better pay and working conditions.

That year police arrested at least six activists, including Akter, on charges of instigating workers to vandalize factories. They were later freed, but some charges are still pending.

The activists are also angry that police have made no headway in the investigation of the death of a fellow union organizer, Aminul Islam, who was found dead a day after he disappeared from his home in 2012.

"Islam's case is going nowhere even though police say they are investigating," said Akter.

On Sunday, the government set up a new minimum wage board that will issue recommendations for pay raises within three months, Textiles Minister Abdul Latif Siddiky said. The Cabinet will then decide whether to accept those proposals.

The wage board will include representatives of factory owners, workers and the government, he said.

Bangladesh is the third-biggest exporter of clothes in the world, after China and Italy. There are 5,000 factories in the country and 3.6 million garment workers.

But working conditions in the $20 billion industry are grim, a result of government corruption, desperation for jobs, and industry indifference. Minimum wages for garment workers were last raised by 80 percent to 3,000 takas ($38) a month in 2010 following protests by workers.

Since 2005, at least 1,800 garment workers have been killed in factory fires and building collapses in Bangladesh, according to research by the advocacy group International Labor Rights Forum.

In November, 112 workers were killed in a garment factory in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. The factory lacked emergency exits, and its owner said only three floors of the eight-story building were legally built.

The Rana Plaza owner and eight other people, including garment factory owners, have been detained in the collapse investigation. Authorities say the building owner added floors to the structure illegally and allowed the factories to install heavy equipment that the building was not designed to support.

Workers using hydraulic cranes, bulldozers, shovels and iron cutters have removed most of the ruins of the fallen building, where thousands were working at the time of the disaster.

On Friday, the search teams received a much-needed morale boost when they found a seamstress who survived under the rubble for 17 days on dried food and bottled and rain water.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bangladesh-end-search-collapse-victims-105742915.html

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