It's been just over a year since the nail-biter of a day when Felix Baumgartner jumped out of a shimmering weather balloon 127,852 feet in the air and reached a top speed of Mach 1.25. And now you can watch it from his point of view—and several others. Fair warning: it's still nerve-wracking. It feels like he's going to miss Earth. [Red Bull Stratos]
Here you will train to control your powers and to love
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hey guys and gals c: just summited a character and is wondering if it will be accepted(Jashmir)? Hope to have fun RPing with you~
%Eurico(Jashmir)
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George Zimmerman arrives in the courtroom for his trial at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, in Sanford, Fla., Friday, July 12, 2013. Zimmerman is charged in the 2012 shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)
George Zimmerman arrives in the courtroom for his trial at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, in Sanford, Fla., Friday, July 12, 2013. Zimmerman is charged in the 2012 shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)
George Zimmerman wipes his face after arriving in the courtroom during his trial at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, in Sanford, Fla., Friday, July 12, 2013. Zimmerman is charged in the 2012 shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)
FILE - This undated file family photo shows Trayvon Martin. Trayvon, 17, was slain in a 2012 shooting in Sanford, Fla., by neighborhood crime-watch captain George Zimmerman. Zimmerman's defense attorney began his final arguments Friday, July 12, 2013, trying to convince six jurors that the neighborhood watch volunteer acted in self-defense when he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Martin Family, File)
George Zimmerman wipes his face after arriving in the courtroom for his trial at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, in Sanford, Fla., Friday, July 12, 2013. Zimmerman is charged in the 2012 shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)
Assistant state attorney Bernie de la Rionda shows George Zimmerman's gun to the jury while presenting the state's closing arguments against Zimmerman during his trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Fla. Thursday, July 11, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Gary W. Green, Pool)
SANFORD, Fla. (AP) ? The jury in George Zimmerman's murder trial began a second day of deliberations Saturday morning, weighing whether the neighborhood watch volunteer committed a crime almost a year and a half ago when he fatally shot Trayvon Martin.
Jurors reconvened in the courtroom at 9 a.m. Saturday. A few smiled as the judge addressed them before they left the courtroom to continue their discussions.
The jury began deliberations Friday afternoon as police and civic leaders in this Orlando suburb went on national television to plead for calm in Sanford and across the country, no matter what the verdict.
"There is no party in this case who wants to see any violence," Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said. "We have an expectation upon this announcement that our community will continue to act peacefully."
During closing arguments, the jury heard dueling portraits of the neighborhood watch captain: a cop wannabe who took the law into his own hands or a well-meaning volunteer who shot Martin because he feared for his life.
Zimmerman's lawyers put a concrete slab and two life-size cardboard cutouts in front of the jury box in one last attempt to convince the panel Zimmerman shot the unarmed black 17-year-old in self-defense while his head was being slammed against the pavement.
Attorney Mark O'Mara used the slab to make the point that it could serve as a weapon. He showed the cutouts of Zimmerman and Martin to demonstrate that the teenager was considerably taller. And he displayed a computer-animated depiction of the fight based on Zimmerman's account.
He said prosecutors hadn't met their burden of proving Zimmerman's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead, he said, the case was built on "could've beens" and "maybes."
"If it hasn't been proven, it's just not there," O'Mara said. "You can't fill in the gaps. You can't connect the dots. You're not allowed to."
In a rebuttal, prosecutor John Guy accused Zimmerman of telling "so many lies." He said Martin's last emotion was fear as Zimmerman followed him through the gated townhouse community on the rainy night of Feb. 26, 2012.
"Isn't that every child's worst nightmare, to be followed on the way home in the dark by a stranger?" Guy said. "Isn't that every child's worst fear?"
One juror, a young woman, appeared to wipe away a tear as Guy said nothing would ever bring back Martin.
The sequestered jury of six women ? all but one of them white ? will have to sort through a lot of conflicting testimony from police, neighbors, friends and family members.
Jurors deliberated for three and a half hours when they decided to stop Friday evening. About two hours into their discussions, they asked for a list of the evidence. They will resume deliberations Saturday morning.
Witnesses gave differing accounts of who was on top during the struggle, and Martin's parents and Zimmerman's parents both claimed that the voice heard screaming for help in the background of a 911 call was their son's.
Zimmerman, 29, is charged with second-degree murder, but the jury will also be allowed to consider manslaughter. Under Florida's laws involving gun crimes, manslaughter could end up carrying a penalty as heavy as the one for second-degree murder: life in prison.
The judge's decision to allow the jury to consider manslaughter was a potentially heavy blow to the defense: It could give jurors who aren't convinced the shooting amounted to murder a way to hold Zimmerman responsible for the killing.
To win a manslaughter conviction, prosecutors must show only that Zimmerman killed without lawful justification.
O'Mara dismissed the prosecution's contention that Zimmerman was a "crazy guy" patrolling his townhouse complex and "looking for people to harass" when he saw Martin. O'Mara also disputed prosecutors' claim that Zimmerman snapped when he saw Martin because there had been a rash of break-ins in the neighborhood, mostly by young black men.
The defense attorney said Zimmerman at no point showed ill will, hatred or spite during his confrontation with Martin ? which is what prosecutors must prove for second-degree murder.
"That presumption isn't based on any fact whatsoever," O'Mara said.
In contrast, prosecutors argued Zimmerman showed ill will when he whispered profanities to a police dispatcher over his cellphone while following Martin through the neighborhood. They said Zimmerman "profiled" the teenager as a criminal.
Guy said Zimmerman violated the cornerstone of neighborhood watch volunteer programs, which is to observe and report, not follow a suspect.
Zimmerman's account of how he grabbed his gun from his holster at his waist as Martin straddled him is physically impossible, Guy said.
"The defendant didn't shoot Trayvon Martin because he had to; he shot him because he wanted to," Guy said. "That's the bottom line."
But to invoke self-defense, Zimmerman only had to believe he was facing great bodily harm, his attorney said. He asked jurors not to let their sympathies for Martin's parents interfere with their decision.
"It is a tragedy, truly," O'Mara said. "But you can't allow sympathy."
With the verdict drawing near, police and city leaders in Sanford and other parts of Florida said they have taken precautions for the possibility of mass protests or even civil unrest if Zimmerman, whose father is white and whose mother is Hispanic, is acquitted.
There were big protests in Sanford and other cities across the country last year when authorities waited 44 days before arresting Zimmerman.
About a dozen protesters, most of them from outside central Florida, gathered outside the courthouse as the jury deliberated. Martin supporters outnumbered those for Zimmerman.
___
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Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP
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CAIRO (AP) ? Islamist lawmakers in Egypt's disbanded upper house of parliament demanded Saturday the army reinstate ousted President Mohammed Morsi, and called on other legislatures around the world not to recognize the country's new military-backed leadership.
Morsi's supporters, including his Islamist allies, remain steadfast in their rejection of the military coup that toppled the president nearly two weeks ago after millions took to the street to demand his ouster. They have staged a series of mass protests in Cairo to push their demands, and are vowing to stay in the streets until he is returned to office.
Speaking at a mass rally staged by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo, the two dozen former parliamentarians, all Islamist members of the Shura Council that was dissolved by court order after the coup, accused the military of attempting to restore a "corrupt and dictatorial" regime.
The Brotherhood's website published a statement by the former lawmakers, in which they said the Shura Council's dissolution was invalid and claimed to have held a session at the rally.
Morsi was Egypt's first freely elected president, succeeding longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak who himself was toppled in 2011.
The military has brushed aside the Brotherhood's demands, while the new army-backed administration of interim President Adly Mansour has forged ahead with a swift timetable to amend the now suspended constitution, drafted under Morsi, and to hold parliamentary and presidential elections by early next year.
Local media have reported that a new Cabinet could be named next week. On Saturday, Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr submitted his resignation ahead of the expected shake-up.
While the presidency has floated offers of reconciliation with the Brotherhood, authorities are simultaneously clamping down on the group. So far, five of its top leaders have been arrested, and arrest warrants have been issued against the group's top leader and nine other Islamists. Islamist TV networks, meanwhile, have been shuttered.
Prosecutors on Saturday said they are looking into new complaints against Morsi, a number of Brotherhood leaders, including the group's Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, and a number of their supporters. Spokesman for the prosecutor's office Adel al-Saeed said the complaints filed include collaborating with foreign bodies to harm national interests, the killing of peaceful protesters, possession of weapons and explosives, assaults on military barracks and damaging the state of the economy.
It was not immediately known who filed the complaints. State prosecutors investigate numerous complaints daily, and many do not result in charges being brought to court.
Prosecutors also continue to investigate allegations that Morsi and 30 other Brotherhood leaders escaped from prison in 2011 with help from the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Jailbreaks occurred amid the uprising that toppled Mubarak and led to the release of thousands of inmates.
Street violence has largely ceased since Monday's deadly clashes that left more than 50 Muslim Brotherhood supporters dead and hundreds wounded after they were holding a sit-in in front of Republican Guard forces club. The Brotherhood accuses the military of opening fire on protesters, while the army says Morsi supporters instigated the violence.
The Brotherhood has remained adamant in its opposition to the new political landscape, and shows no sign of backing down in its showdown with the military-backed interim leadership.
Mohammed el-Beltagy, a leading Brotherhood member and among those wanted by police, told thousands of the group's supporters overnight Friday that "for those who want reconciliation, our arms are open ... but those who want reconciliation do not fire bullets."
Morsi's supporters have pledged to keep protesting until the military meets their demands ? the reinstatement of Morsi, the Islamist-drafted constitution and the Islamist-dominated legislature ? and leading Brotherhood member Essam el-Arian called for another mass rally on Monday.
The deposed president's supporters have been holding a sit-in in front of the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque in eastern Cairo for two weeks. The rally has taken on a more permanent air, with tents going up as well as bathrooms being constructed behind brick walls to provide some privacy. Army soldiers stand guard from a relative distance, staking out positions about a kilometer (half-mile) away to try to avoid any direct confrontation.
On Friday, tens of thousands of Morsi supporters, many of them from provinces outside Cairo, turned out for a mass protest in front of the mosque, filling up the large intersection and spilling some ways down the boulevards. Witnesses said that military helicopters dropped leaflets on the crowd just before dawn encouraging them to leave the sit-in.
"The measures which have been taken were not targeting you and were not meant to belittle your role and your status," the leaflets said. "We assure to you that there will be no manhunt for those who want to end the sit-in and return to his home."
It also warned them not to approach nearby military buildings.
The Brotherhood responded to the flyers, saying that "the leaders of the coup are not keen on the stability of Egypt" and questioned the military's promise not to go after protesters.
"Egyptian people are not naive and cannot be bitten twice," the group said in a statement.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-islamist-lawmakers-demand-morsis-return-151458157.html
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GRAND RAPIDS ? Several events scheduled for this weekend in Grand Rapids will honor the centennial anniversary of President Gerald Ford's birth on July 14, 1913.
Historian Jon Meacham will speak Saturday about Ford's legacy.
On Sunday, a presidential wreath-laying ceremony will take place at Ford's tomb. And later in the day, a ceremony will be held to unveil a model of the USS Gerald R. Ford in the lobby of the Ford Presidential Museum.
Meanwhile, PBS stations in Michigan on Sunday will broadcast a documentary that chronicles the documentary, "Black and Blue: The Story of Gerald Ford, Willis Ward and the 1934 Michigan-Georgia Tech Football Game."
The film chronicles the Georgia Tech football team's refusal to take the field at Michigan because the Wolverines had a black player who was Ford's friend.
In addition, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum in Ann Arbor will debut a new exhibit focusing on President Ford's youth on Monday.
The exhibit will feature documents and artifacts that follow Ford from his birth in 1913 through his childhood in Grand Rapids to his graduation from the University of Michigan.
The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy has been hosting events throughout the year to celebrate Ford's 100th birthday.
AnnArbor.com intern Chelsea Hoedl contributed to this report.
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Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke
| credits: File copy
Crude oil theft, which is denying Nigeria about $7bn in revenue annually, has shown no sign of easing despite stakeholders? efforts to stop it.
In view of its effects on revenue generation and budget implementation, our correspondent learnt on Friday that the Federal Government had become frustrated and was considering a new approach to tackle the problem.
President Goodluck Jonathan has thus directed governors in oil producing states, service chiefs and multinational companies to work out an aggressive approach.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, confirmed this, lamenting the high rate of oil theft was adversely affecting the country?s revenue.
She said, ?Crude oil theft at this point in time has become quite critical to the point that it is affecting our excess crude and revenue accruing to the federation account from the proceeds of our output.
?Mr. President has called governors of affected states, all the multinationals, all the service chiefs as well as Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and other ministers who are related stakeholders.?
Diezani had in 2012 said the country was losing approximately 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily to oil theft.
?Of course, to the nation, if you look at the international cost for a barrel, it will be estimated at $7bn yearly,? she said.
The International Energy Agency also said Nigeria was losing about $7bn annually to oil theft.
?Oil bunkering, or theft, costs the government an estimated $7bn in lost revenue per year,? the agency said, adding that theft and sabotage often led to pipeline damage, causing oil firms to cut output.
Already, the Federal Government had lost N191bn ($1.23bn) to oil theft and vandalism in the first quarter of the year as crude theft continued to flourish.
The Acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Ms. Tumini Green, said there had been a significant drop in crude oil production for the first quarter of 2013 due to incessant crude oil theft and vandalism along the major pipelines within the Niger Delta.
She said daily crude oil production during the period fluctuated between 2.1 million and 2.3 million barrels per day compared with the projected estimate of 2.48mbpd.
?Expectedly, this fall between actual production and forecast in the first quarter 2013 has resulted in a drop in crude oil revenue of about $1.23bn (N191bn) that should have accrued to the Federation Account,? Green noted.
Despite the loss of N191bn to oil theft in the first quarter, experts lamented that oil theft had continued to increase while the government appeared unable to stop it.
The NNPC also said the country would have lost about $554m (equivalent to N83bn) in May and April, 2013 as a result of the shutting in of 150,000bpd following the vandalism of the 97-kilometre Nembe Creek Trunkline.
This made the NNPC/Shell Petroleum Development Company Joint Venture to declare a force majeure on Bonny Crude in April, citing the incessant crude oil theft as the reason.
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited last week shut the Trans Niger Pipeline, following an explosion and fire at a crude theft point on the 28? section of the facility at Bodo West in Ogoniland.
The implication of this development, according to SPDC, is that some 150,000 barrels of oil per day will be deferred from the closure of the TNP.
Prior to the incident, the Managing Director, SPDC, and Country Chair, Shell companies in Nigeria, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, had said that SPDC shut down the 28? TNP to remove crude oil theft connections.
?This is another sad reminder of the tragic consequences of crude oil theft,? Sunmonu said.
Similarly, an explosion at the Atlas Cove last Wednesday was caused by pipeline vandals who ruptured NNPC pipeline to siphon fuel.
The Federal Government had earlier said it would set up committees to look into how to tackle the rising oil theft in the country.
Already, there are fears that the Federal Government might not meet its N11.34tn revenue target for the 2013 fiscal year due to crude oil theft among other factors.
A former international relations advisor to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr Patrick Cole, who spoke under the aegis of ?Stop the Theft Foundation, an organisation registered in the United Kingdom, had called on the G8? country to help Nigeria to tackle the oil theft threat.
He said if G8 was to truly deliver on its objectives and improve transparency in the extractive industries sector, oil theft must be on its agenda.
Source: http://www.punchng.com/business/oil-thieves-frustrate-efforts-to-curb-7bn-revenue-loss/
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