Wednesday, July 31, 2013

To catch a thief: Masked man hunted after $53M Cannes jewel heist

In a brazen heist, a masked man allegedly armed with a pistol walked into the legendary Carlton Hotel in Cannes, France, and stole about $53 million of jewels that were being set up for display. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.

By Michelle Kosinski and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News

CANNES, France - Police were looking Monday for a man in a mask who stole $53 million worth of diamonds and other jewels from a glamorous French Riviera hotel in one?of Europe's biggest and boldest jewelry heists in recent years.

The audacious raid prompted one security expert to speculate that the notorious "Pink Panther" jewel thief gang was "on the warpath again."

The lone robber walked into the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes late morning Sunday and demanded to be handed several bags containing jewels and diamond-encrusted watches.

"Everything happened very quickly," a judicial source told Reuters, adding that there was no violence.

The hotel, a haunt of the rich and famous, was where Alfred Hitchcock filmed scenes from the 1955 film "To Catch a Thief", starring Cary Grant as burglar alongside Grace Kelly.

It was hosting a temporary jewelry exhibit over the summer from the prestigious Leviev diamond house, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev.

The heist came two months after two smaller jewelry robberies hit the annual Cannes film festival, where many of the world's top movie stars are lent gowns and gems to parade on the red carpets and at glamorous parties.

The crime follows recent jail escapes by Pink Panther gang members.

Jonathan Sazonoff, U.S. editor for the Museum Security Network website and an authority on high-value crime, told The Associated Press that police would likely probe whether the heist is linked to the escapes.

On Thursday, gang member Milan Poparic escaped his Swiss prison after accomplices rammed a gate and overpowered guards with bursts from their AK-47s.

"The brazen drama of it is their style... The possibility of the reemergence of the Pink Panther gang is very troubling and taken seriously by law enforcement worldwide," Sazonoff said. "The theft of high value diamonds is exactly what they do, so it's not a great leap to assume they are on the warpath again. They are a crime wave waiting to happen."

France has seen only one theft larger than this one ? the raid of a store in Paris in 2008 that netted more than $100 million worth of gems and jewelry.

"It's a huge theft,? Sazonoff told The AP. ?Anytime you talk about a heist with many millions of dollars it turns heads and feeds the imagination.?

In a statement seen by Reuters, Leviev said: "Company officials are cooperating with local authorities investigating the loss and are relieved that no one was injured in the robbery."

?There are three types of jewel thieves,? said financial crime author Jeffrey Robinson. ?There?s the idiot who walks into a jewelry store with a shotgun smashes and grabs and gets caught, then there?s the people who break into your home and try to steal a wedding ring.

?But then this third type - and this is the important one - he is the professional businessman. And his business is jewel thievery.?

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663309/s/2f4b8c52/sc/8/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A70C290C197538750Eto0Ecatch0Ea0Ethief0Emasked0Eman0Ehunted0Eafter0E53m0Ecannes0Ejewel0Eheist0Dlite/story01.htm

drew brees usps Ola Ray Ginobili miley cyrus miley cyrus game 7

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Can Muslims write about Christianity?

A Fox television host finds something suspect about Reza Aslan's new book on the historical Jesus.

By Dan Murphy,?Staff writer / July 28, 2013

Naga Hamadi in Upper Egypt.

Ann Hermes

Enlarge

American public discourse about Islam is filled with essentialist paranoia, fear, and the commentary of people who not only don't know much about the topic but are often dismissive of people who do.

Skip to next paragraph Dan Murphy

Staff writer

Dan Murphy is a staff writer for the Monitor's international desk, focused on the Middle East.?Murphy, who has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and more than a dozen other countries, writes and edits Backchannels. The focus? War and international relations, leaning toward things Middle East.

Recent posts

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; // google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

But the reception that scholar Reza Aslan received on Fox last Friday was a new twist: Muslim views of Christianity are inherently suspect, it seems. Mr. Aslan, who has a PhD in the sociology of religion from UCSB and a masters in theological studies from Harvard, is promoting his new book "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" and was on with Fox religion correspondent Lauren Green to talk about it. He was born in Iran, his family fled the Islamic Revolution there in 1979, and he grew up in the US where he converted to Christianity as a teen and later converted back to the faith he was raised in.

Fox has been filled with Christian and Jewish commentators explaining Islam to their audience over the years. Daniel Pipes has been one of them. As has Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim who became an atheist (an earlier version of this story incorrectly described Ms. Ali as a Christian) and who describes Islam as fundamentally violent and has written books attacking the faith. As have Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, who both describe Islam as inherently violent. In the past, it's even had conspiracy theorist Glenn Beck give long expositions of the essence of Islamic law as he sees it.

None of those people are Muslims, yet as far as I'm aware their comments have never been questioned on the network as suspect since they came from non-Muslims. Yet his faith was a major talking point for Ms. Green in their interview. Her first question? "You're a Muslim, so why did you write a book about the founder of Christianity?"

He responds: "Well to be clear, I am a scholar of religions with four degrees ? including one in the New Testament, and fluency in biblical Greek, who has been studying the origins of Christianity for two decades ? who also just happens to be a Muslim. So it?s not that I?m just some Muslim writing about Jesus, I am an expert with a PhD in the history of religion..."

At this point Ms. Green breaks in: "But it still begs the question though of why you'd be interested in the founder of Christianity?"

Does it really beg that question? Not to me. And Green, a Christian, doesn't seem to think there's anything wrong about expressing her own opinions about Islam.

She wrote in 2011: "My area is religion, not politics. So my queries about Islamic terrorism tend to break the question down theologically and ask the question:"

is there something in Islam itself that makes believers more susceptible to radicalization?... I believe essentially there are three things that may make Islam more prone to radicalization. One is the Koran itself. The fact that it's not a narrative makes it easier to pick and choose verses to fit your interpretation. Two, the Prophet Mohammed's own words and deeds. In Islam's early days, Mohammed spread the faith with the sword. Three, Islam was introduced into a world rife with tribalism; a shame and honor culture which revered and respected power. Much of what's going in Libya and what went on under Saddam Hussein, are extensions of that tribalism.?

Green has a right to her opinions, of course. But they are ill-informed.

On her first point, while it's true that elements of the Quran have been emphasized at the expense of others by various Muslim schools and sects, that's also happened with Christianity. Elements of the Bible about slavery, the role of women, giving of alms, sexuality, and even snake handling and the speaking in tongues have been seized upon by various Christians down the centuries.

To say that Islam was spread by the sword is a gross oversimplification. While Mohamed and his followers conquered Mecca by force in 630, the earliest years of the faith were focused on peaceful proselytization. While Islamist conquests spread Islam throughout the Arab world after his death, Islam spread largely through trade and cultural contacts in strongholds of the faith like India, Pakistan, and Indonesia.

Her third point is particularly incoherent. While it's true that Islam, founded in the 7th century AD, "was introduced into a world rife with tribalism" the same is true for the advent of Christianity six hundred years earlier.

I'm interested in this topic because as someone who lived in Muslim majority countries from 1993 to 2008, I find the level of hostility to Islam back here in the US to be deeply frustrating. I have known Muslims with a wide range of political views. I have met some who I'd describe as terrorists, others whose political views, informed by their faith, I find profoundly regressive and disrespectful of fundamental individual rights ??and many more who were thoughtful, open-minded and respectful of other creeds.

Yet frequently the US mass media places Muslims all in one box and it's not only inaccurate, but also harmful to a real understanding of the world and its problems.

Ms. Green's interview with Aslan is a premier example. Her first question clearly implies that Aslan ??whose book is controversial ? has some kind of agenda, something suspicious. His answer to her, expounding on his academic credentials and the fact that as a scholar he's interested in religions (plural), not just his own faith, is spot on.

He tells her: "It would be like asking a Christian why they would write a book about Islam.... I've been obsessed for Jesus for 20 years." He also points out that his wife and his mother are Christians, and says that "anyone who thinks this book is an attack on Christianity has not read it yet."

But Green presses on, quoting a Fox op-ed by Christian pastor John S. Dickerson, who wrote: "Media reports have introduced Aslan as a 'religion scholar' but have failed to mention that he is a devout Muslim."?

Really? On July 16, the excellent WNYC host Brian Lehrer had Aslan on and mentioned his faith before asking the first question: "Just some background on you first. You come from Iran originally, you've been through Christianity and Sufi Islam among your personal beliefs. Are you a practicing anything today?" Aslan responded: "Yeah, I'm definitely a Muslim and Sufism is the tradition within Islam that I most closely adhere to."?

I'm sure other interviews and reviews have failed to mention his faith. But, well, so what? This is a classic case of attacking the man, and not the argument.

Make no mistake Aslan does have an agenda. He has written a book about the historicity of Jesus, and attempts to locate Jesus as a figure of historical study have always been profoundly controversial, particularly for people who believe in Jesus Christ, the son of God and savior of mankind. Will there be scholarly criticisms of the book, saying he's gotten it wrong? Inevitably. His book is just the latest entry into the scholarly debate over the historical Jesus.

Green appears confused ??or perhaps angry about ??the separation of scholarship and belief (she herself is a devout Christian who was brought up in the African Methodist Episcopal Church).

"You're promoting yourself as a scholar and I've interviewed scholars who have written books on the resurrection, on the real Jesus ... who are looking at the same information that you're saying is somehow different from theirs is really not being honest here," she charges.

Aslan answers back: "I think it's unfair to just simply assume because of my particular faith background that there is some agenda on this book ??that would be like saying a Christian who writes about Muhammad is by definition not able to do so because he has some bias against it."

Green responds: "I believe you've been on several programs and have never disclosed that you're a Muslim and I think that there's an interest in full disclosure." To that he said: "Ma'am, the second page of my book, the second page of my books says I'm a Muslim ... it's simply incorrect that media isn't saying I'm a Muslim."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/n2MryKvKz58/Can-Muslims-write-about-Christianity

acm passover recipes 2012 kids choice awards kansas ohio state wrestlemania results womens final four josh hutcherson

Facebook Feedback Time! The Auburn Public Theater is hosting the premier of a ne...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/NewsChannel9/posts/10151776892690351

shepard fairey is snooki pregnant snooki pregnant gbc hedy lamarr kowloon walled city ronda rousey vs miesha tate

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Empowering your customers? Think twice about social media campaigns

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Companies that empower consumers by involving them in important processes such as product development shouldn't also try to influence them through social media, according to a new study.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/GTn-BH2ciBk/130726131253.htm

santa Capital STEEZ George Bush After Christmas Sales 2012 Charles Durning Webster Ny Mcdonalds

You asked for it, ladies | A Voice for Men

No, this isn?t a post about rape. In fact, it?s about the opposite. It?s about walking away, maybe running away. Specifically, it?s about the right to run?specifically, men?s right to decline to trust, to, eschew focus on relationships, and to refuse to open themselves to women beyond anything but the most superficial levels of interaction.

Why?

Because of the folks who dismiss or advocate for false accusers (you know, the people who rail against due process for men in criminal or family court) while claiming both moral superiority and their own right to turpitude with impunity, push men around, knock them to the ground, step on them, and kick them when they?re down. Those same folks have the screaming audacity to act shocked and appalled when men feel maligned, get fed up, pick themselves up, turn their backs, and walk away.

My opinion of your sniffing response at men who don?t want any part of you anymore is simple: Kwitcherbitchen, ladies. It?s your own damned fault. You have no business complaining.

In recent weeks, there have been more than a few volatile discussions on the topic of the MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way) movement. I?ve been part of similar discussions in the past, and what I learned is that other women with any real understanding of the evolution of Men Going Their Own Way, and women who are willing to acknowledge why we women may not be justified in complaining about it, are few and far between.

At best, what I?ve heard from other women on this topic is often hypocritical, considering the decades we?ve had of feminists teaching women to hate and fear all men on the chance that some might be dangerous. Admonitions? like ?not all women are like that,? and ?don?t let a few bad eggs spoil your opinion,? are empty when offered to male survivors of habitual or chronic abuse by women, or on women?s behalf.

At worst, there is a hurling of denial, accusation, and resentment, with complex versions of ?how dare you withdraw respect,? ?how dare you reject our judgement? and ?how dare you deny our control,? all of which are nothing more than a demand that men not learn from experience. Most of these responses stem from a sense of ownership?an ownership which feminist advocacy seems to feel it is entitled to in the realm of relationships, social interaction between sexes, and most emphatically, over sexual interaction.

The general social and legal treatment of males?has begun to remind me of a book I studied in a high school literature class: Richard Wright?s Black Boy. The passage that comes to mind as a highlighting parallel is the recounting of Wright?s first job interview.

?Do you want the job?? the woman asked.

?Yes, ma?am,? I said, afraid to trust my own judgment.

?Now, boy, I want to ask you one question and I want you to tell me the truth,? she said.

?Yes, ma?am,? I said, all attention.

?Do you steal?? she asked me seriously.

I burst into a laugh, then checked myself? I had made a mistake during my first five minutes in the white world. I hung my head.

?No, ma?am.? I mumbled. ?I don?t steal.?

She stared at me, trying to make up her mind.

?Now, look, we don?t want a sassy nigger around here.?

?No, ma?am.? I assured her. ?I?m not sassy.?

Wright goes on to describe his incredulity at the senselessness of the woman?s expectation that he would honestly answer such a question, but I remember at the time that I read the story feeling outraged at the woman?s implied assumptions in asking. The question suggested that being black meant he was suspect. The rest of the discussion demonstrated that sense of superiority among racist whites which lead to the treatment of?all blacks as children, as mentioned in the text following the?conversation. Further, the candid presentation of the insult represented by the initial?question, ?Do you steal?? struck me in its callousness, cruelty, and elitism. This woman felt entitled to treat Wright as an inferior being simply because of the darkness of his skin. To her, his ability to form and adhere to a moral code was questionable, and his emotional response to mistreatment and misjudgment irrelevant, all for no better reason than because he was black. After reading Wright?s recounting of the discussion, I felt a sense of impotent disgust and anger at the folks who chose to embrace such a heartless, barbaric outlook. I wondered: what the hell was wrong with these people, that they could live this way, think this way, talk this way, right to the faces of their fellow human beings?

In the past, the treatment of our fellow human beings in this manner was widespread and overt, supported in society by political writing full of made-up reasoning and lame excuses, well exemplified in a quote from John C. Calhoun?s February 6, 1837 Senate Speech.

I may say with truth, that in few countries so much is left to the share of the laborer, and so little exacted from him, or where there is more kind attention paid to him in sickness or infirmities of age. Compare his condition with the tenants of the poor houses in the more civilized portions of Europe?look at the sick, and the old and infirm slave, on one hand, in the midst of his family and friends, under the kind superintending care of his master and mistress, and compare it with the forlorn and wretched condition of the pauper in the poorhouse?

The statement overflows with condescension. The hypocrisy of a politician in the service of a nation begun with one group?s quest for freedom from the control of others who viewed them as inferior, arguing for the control of others he views as inferior, shines a glaring light on the arrogance and pomposity of the culture of supremacy. One must assume oneself to be?grand before one may consider one?s acts of aggression against and oppression of others to be a kindness. One must fully immerse oneself in the murky bog of intellectual bigotry before one may presume to hold others with such falsely ?benevolent? contempt.

I see the same thing in today?s feminist attitude toward men, shown by the treatment of?them as borderline animals with violent tendencies and barely contained sexual impulses, instead of as fully established human beings. Wright?s white employer treated him as dishonest, stupid, and lacking in either the emotional makeup to be?offended at the assumption, or the right to act on it. Despite their frequent denials, Feminism almost universally paints men with equally sweeping, bigoted generalities. Males are treated?as potential criminals: batterers, muggers, mashers, molesters, rapists, murderers; portrayed as inept, as deadbeats, as lacking emotional maturity and sensitivity, and as intellectually inferior, all to excuse subjecting them to the very same disdainful and authoritarian treatment from which the civil rights movement has actively sought to relieve minorities throughout history. Even those feminists who don?t talk this way overtly still fervently deny the existence of, obfuscate, and/or give cover to the ones who do.

Feminist advocacy has pushed men into a corner, restricting them to narrowly defined, impossible to fulfill roles. In conflicts between men and women, men are designated?by various laws as perpetrators, presumed guilty until proven innocent. In family court, men have become nonpersons, nonparents, interlopers begging for any share in the existence of?their children ? for crumbs from the table of parental involvement ? seen as undeserving of regard or relationship, yet fully responsible for the well-being of the families from which they have been expelled. In education and the workplace, males of all ages are targets for both harassment and persecution, using female-centered human resource and behavioral policy to give women control over even the most minute aspects of interaction. Literally, everything men say, and everything they do not say, can and will be held against them. In daily life, men are subjected?to disparaging humor of a type which women need not tolerate, and men are routinely treated with suspicion which women would not abide. Men are treated to shaming of natural behavior in ways which women have fought to escape, objectification which women refuse to accept, and pressure to conform to standards of instinct-control and self-denial which women have been protesting for generations. Every exposure to female scrutiny and behavior, from the simplest everyday interaction to the complexities of various relationships, presents men with the threat of unwarranted censure under the feminist rules of intersex engagement.

The widespread female attitude of superior contempt, combined with activism which has successfully advocated the bypassing of human rights for men in the pursuit of female interests, and the application of double standards in every aspect of male-female interaction, has pushed some men beyond the point of reasonable tolerance. In response, they (and they are growing in number) have chosen to withdraw from the arena of male-female relationships in every way, opting out of collaborative personal investment in any woman. Such vulnerability could result in being used, abused, accused, adjudged, and enslaved. Why face the risk?

Now, after heaping pressure, resentment, bitterness, anger, hatred, blame, shame, and lies upon men as a group, after bawling first for equality, then for preferential treatment, now for absolute power, after shoving men to the side in the pursuit of self-interest, the femosphere has the gall to be?offended at the rejection represented by MGTOW.

The basis for protest seems to be the assertion that, just by virtue of our existence, men owe women some level of regard. It?s not supposed to matter that women are currently abusing feminist-won power, successfully using various false allegations as a weapon in disputes as a means of shutting down fathers who seek to maintain family relationships following divorce or separation, and even absent these gross abuses still routinely, even unthinkingly, use it as a tool to control every minor interaction with men?even, most ironically of all, using it as a means of?garnering attention and sympathy from other women.

Men are expected?to ignore not just the very real danger of being subjected to anything from public censure to prosecution and imprisonment with no recourse, but to everyday maligning of their character and unthinking, axiomatic expectation that they must ?prove? themselves to be ?good? men in the face of possible lies and other misconduct toward them.

Even though men are treated as perpetual suspects, and despite abuses they may have encountered in past interactions, they?re supposed to presume innocence for every woman they meet. Even though men have collectively been objectified, marginalized, and devalued, they?re expected to offer social respect for our sex, acting on the assumption of?altruistic nurturing and higher moral disposition, with no supporting evidence other than the difference in genitalia. After decades of feminist protest against traditional relationship roles and demands for sexual equality, men are required to accept a set of rules of engagement imposed for the purpose of treating female sexuality as a commodity, while simultaneously ignoring the mercenary, exploitative motive behind the hoops through which they?re being ordered to jump.

Somehow, despite feminist assertion that women are entitled?to pursue sexual gratification with the same enthusiasm and indifference they?ve attributed to men, men are still expected to make all of the effort, leaving women free to approach interaction with the attitude of, ?What?s in it for me?? While feminist advocacy has fought to free women from the presumption of female sexual consent within a relationship, the same group continues to assert the demand for male consent to sexual interaction?if he doesn?t want it he?s inferior and if you push it on him he was, what, asking for it?

The choice of men to ignore these expectations, to refuse to cater to the rapacious nature of female dating criteria, flies in the face of the existing entitlement franchise women have seized. Far from acknowledging the iniquitous degree to which women, under modern social norms, have taken all this as if it were their birthright, feminist advocates treat this resistance by men as a form of insubordination, claiming that by withdrawing their much-abused trust and intimacy men are somehow denying women control over our own sexuality. The argument, reduced to its basest level, is that in order to?ensure?female sexual freedom, men cannot be allowed equal right to say no. Feminists claim total, uncompromisable?proprietary ownership and control of consent agency.

This, broken down to its simplest form, is a demand that straight men submit to women?s will and become nothing more than slaves.

Ladies, what honest, compelling reason can you offer to counter the existing circumstances which provoked this defensive movement? Would you seriously advise?anyone to place his heart back into the meat grinder that human courtship has become under the management and regulation of modern feminism? What reward potential can you possibly offer which has not been previously?ruined by other women? What protection can you assure which has not been eradicated by feminist activism? What comfort do you have that is more than lip service?

My answer to all of the?above, the only honest answer I can form, is: none.

This is a bed women made, not a circumstance inflicted upon us by men. If women?s concern over the growing distance between the sexes is genuine; if they have any motivation?at all to regain the regard and interest of men; hell, if women want even the honest respect of men (as opposed to the genuflecting respect of sycophantic men who, if we were honest with ourselves, we?d admit we can?t stand)?if women want any of that, what women first need to realize that it?s not men?s job to address any of it. It?s on women.

If women don?t want men going their own way, women should quit pushing men around. If women can?t quit pushing men around, they?re going to have to accept that eventually, ?around? rightfully evolves into ?away.?

That?s the choice: Make the effort to earn back the regard, the trust, and the consideration to which past generations of women were accustomed? or accept the adversarial role?into which feminists have unceremoniously shoved us, but expect to give up the privileges previously associated with being ?the fair sex.?

Source: http://www.avoiceformen.com/sexual-politics/m-g-t-o-w/you-asked-for-it/

Adam Greenberg Fall Leaves Jim Lehrer 666 Park Avenue Kara Alongi Sahara Davenport Resident Evil 6

Friday, July 26, 2013

Sky launches ?9.99 Now TV set-top box bringing Movies and Sports to all

BRITISH SATELITTE BROADCASTER Sky has announced a ?9.99 Now TV set-top box to give any TV set direct access to its on-demand streaming service.

The box, which comes bundled with a remote control, connects any TV wirelessly to the internet. Once connected, the box gives viewers access to Now TV for a monthly fee or on a pay as you go basis, along with free access to BBC iPlayer, Demand 5, the BBC News App and Sky News.

The Now TV set top box with remote

Sky made its announcement just days after LG revealed a partnership with the British broadcaster to be the first manufacturer to bring Now TV to its Smart TV sets exclusively for at least 12 months. We can imagine that LG is not best pleased about Sky's set-top box, which brings the streaming service to any TV for just under a tenner.

Skys NOW TV set top box

Sky wouldn't respond to our question about why it would sign an exclusive deal with LG to bring the service exclusively to LG's Smart TV sets days before releasing a set-top box for all TVs, but it did say that the box is part of its goal to deliver the service to as many people as possible.

LG had not responded to request for comment by the time of publication.

For those who don't know how Now TV works, Sky's TV on-demand service offers non-Sky customers access to premium programming such as Sky Movies and Sky Sports for ?15 a month or on a pay as you go basis for immediate streaming with no need for a satellite dish, installation fee, contract or subscription.

Skys NOW TV interface?

The service is available through web browsers via PCs and Macs, on Xbox and PS3 consoles, Talktalk's Youview box, iOS devices, selected Android smartphones and tablets as well as Roku. Sky said that the addition of a set-top box brings the service directly to the main TV screen.

Customers can also access other popular online services such as Facebook and Spotify, all delivered over broadband internet connections.

Along with the announcement of the Now TV set-top box, Sky also released its full year results, boasting a five-fold year on year increase in TV on-demand downloads, which reached an average of 6.2 million per week.

The boasting broadcaster said that over the last 12 months there has been "an explosion" in the amount of content Sky customers have been watching using its TV on-demand services, with over a quarter or 2.7 million of its total customers connected their Sky+HD boxes to broadband for catch-up programming, an increase of 170 percent over last year.

To ensure that these TV on-demand figures will continue to grow, Sky said that over the next 12 months its connected customers will receive over 20 new channels on its Catch Up TV service.

"Sky will also make a significant investment in the quality and breadth of its TV Box Sets available on demand, increasing the hours of content available by around 50 percent," the firm bragged.

It also said that its mobile TV service Sky Go is now being used regularly by 3.3 million customers, who have collectively watched 600 million pieces of content over the last year. Its Sky Go customers will also receive more than 10 additional channels over the next year. ?

Source: http://feeds.theinquirer.net/c/554/f/434571/s/2f306173/sc/21/l/0L0Stheinquirer0Bnet0Cinquirer0Cnews0C22850A770Csky0Elaunches0Egbp9990Enow0Etv0Esettop0Ebox0Ebringing0Emovies0Eand0Esports0Eto0Eall/story01.htm

Jessica Ennis Aliya Mustafina Kirk Urso London 2012 Javelin roger federer Olga Korbut Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics

What's going on in Syria? A stepped-back look.

Trying to understand individual events in Syria's war is daunting. But looking for trends gives a sense of the state of play: Syrians are in for a long, brutal war.

By Tom A. Peter,?Correspondent / July 24, 2013

In this image taken from video, columns of smoke billowing as a result of heavy bombing, in the countryside outside of Aleppo Syria, Monday, July 22, 2013.

Shaam News Network via AP video/AP

Enlarge

With at least 1,200 rebel factions, an array of foreign actors backing the regime, and third parties on both sides driven by divergent motives, making sense of the war in Syria has become an overwhelming task.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; // google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

It is one of the worst humanitarian disasters in decades. The United Nations estimates that the conflict claims as many as 5,000 lives per month, nearly 1 in 3 Syrians are refugees or displaced inside the country, and there are 6.8 million Syrians in need of urgent assistance. Even the most devout newsreader can get lost in the flurry of statistics and layers of conflict.

The key to making sense of the situation in Syria may be focusing less on individual events, such as towns changing hands, and more on overall trends.

?There?s such a flood of information and little pieces of information. It is hard to make sense out of it,? says Jeffrey White, a defense fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. ?It?s really important to look at what?s happening over time and what the underlying dynamics are and see how those are changing, where the trends are going, and how the processes are changing.?

The stagnation of the battle lines makes it particularly difficult to understand who exactly is winning or even has momentum. While rebel and regime forces have traded control of several towns, some more important than others, none are important enough to give either side a clear-cut edge in the conflict, or to substantively change the fronts.?

?The two words that really describe Syria today are stalemate and deadlock,? says Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics. ?This is the worst scenario because what political deadlock and military stalemate mean is that it?s turning into a war of attrition, it?s a long war, it?s a costly war. Neither side has the means to deliver a decisive blow. What this means is more casualties, more escalation, and more suffering for the Syrian population.?

Although the US is increasing its involvement, it remains unlikely that it will take any action that could turn the tide of the war. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, outlined this week?the options for a potential US intervention, but it remains unclear which option the US will pursue, if it pursues any at all. The options ranged from providing arms and training to rebels to an air campaign to eliminate strategic targets inside Syria that would cost billions of dollars. Gen. Dempsey warned that an intervention was likely to have "unintended consequences" and draw the US further into the conflict.

It is clear from inside Syria that neither the fall of President Bashar al-Assad nor the defeat of the opposition are imminent. While the opposition has gained control of large swaths of northern Syria and?managed to make the?south an active front, the Syrian government appears to be focused on maintaining and solidifying its control of Damascus, Homs, and necessary supply routes.

?If you see gains being made by the opposition, you?ll find that they?re not being made in those areas. They?re being made in other areas ? where the regime is not pouring resources in there to hold them at all costs. Whereas around Homs they?ll put resources to fight at all costs and the same in Damascus,? explains Amr Al Azm, an associate professor of Middle East history and anthropology at Shawnee State University in Ohio who describes himself as an active member of the opposition.?

If opposition forces made significant progress in Damascus or Homs, or if they managed to lay siege to coastal areas loyal to Mr. Assad, this would be a significant development. If the government launched a major offensive and recaptured large parts of the north, this too would be a game-changing event.

But for now both sides are fighting either?to put themselves in a position of power should they sit down at the negotiating table or to be the eventual victor in a prolonged war of attrition. Even if Assad falls in the near future, it remains likely that fighting will continue among an opposition that remains deeply fragmented.

?You?re going to have multiple reversals. Just as the regime has learned and adapted, so too are opposition forces changing, but not in ways that are going to define the headlines,? says Aram Nerguizian, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

?I think we?ve reached a point in the Syrian conflict where if you don?t have a resolution in the short-term, and indications are that that?s a remote chance at best, you?re looking at a cycle where what will grab attention will be things like mass displacement, internally displaced persons, refugee pressures, the effect on countries around Syria in terms of how they try to fortify themselves."?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/LM2hmUFn9J8/What-s-going-on-in-Syria-A-stepped-back-look

greg smith catamount mike dantoni bulls heat goldman sachs brandon carr knicks coach