France defends interest in blocking Yahoo deal

French Minister for Industrial Renewal, Arnaud Montebourg gestures with the media as he leaves after the weekly cabinet meeting in Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday May 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

French Minister for Industrial Renewal, Arnaud Montebourg gestures with the media as he leaves after the weekly cabinet meeting in Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday May 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

PARIS (AP) ? The French government has defended its veto over Yahoo Inc.'s attempted takeover of video sharing website Dailymotion, even as the move draws jeers for discouraging much needed foreign investment.

Yahoo this week abandoned plans to take a 75 percent stake in Dailymotion, a deal sought by the managements of both companies, after the government blocked it.

In an interview, Arnaud Montebourg, the minister for industrial renewal, said Thursday that the government's ownership stake in Dailymotion's parent company, France Telecom, gave it the right to overrule a deal if it deemed it unfair.

"We are a shareholder in France Telecom so it's natural that we bring up" questions of the company's strategy, Montebourg told The Associated Press.

Montebourg also rejected accusations that the deal's collapse signaled France was pulling in the welcome mat to foreign investors. Montebourg said Yahoo was "welcome" as long as it accepted a 50-50 split with France Telecom.

France Telecom says it will continue searching for "a solid strategic partner outside Europe" and declined to comment on specifics surrounding the breakdown of talks with Yahoo or Montebourg's reaction.

French governments of all political stripes have a long history of intervening in the affairs of private companies in which it owns stakes, such as Airbus parent EADS, carmaker Renault, and Air France.

While France's strategic interest in a website used for sharing funny cat videos and the like may not be obvious, Montebourg insisted it was in the state's interest to keep Dailymotion from falling into foreign hands.

"Across the European Union governments are sensitive to online content businesses," the minister said to explain France's interest in keeping a hand in Dailymotion.

"I told the boss of Yahoo that to guarantee balance we wanted a 50-50 split" between Yahoo and France Telecom. "We want to respect the company's identity and for its development to be win-win."

Dailymotion declined to comment.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-05-02-France-Yahoo/id-50fd26d7d23f41c7b84fb8fdba1d9b14

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Jurors hear voicemail saying Jackson was sick

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Five days before Michael Jackson died, his manager called the singer's doctor, told him Jackson was sick, and implored him to have blood tests done, according to a voicemail played Thursday in court.

The message left by Frank DeLeo was retrieved by police from the cellphone of Dr. Conrad Murray and played during the trial of a negligence lawsuit filed by Jackson's mother against concert promoter AEG Live.

"I'm sure you're aware he had an episode last night," the message said. "He's sick ... We gotta see what he's doing."

Plaintiff's lawyer Brian Panish acknowledged outside court that the episode occurred on the day Jackson was told by Kenny Ortega, the director of his "This is It" concert, to go home from a rehearsal because he was pale and shivering.

Panish suggested that if DeLeo was aware of the incident, so were AEG executives.

The lawsuit claims AEG didn't properly investigate Murray, who was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors said he gave Jackson a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol.

Jurors were not given any further details on the episode.

Katherine Jackson and her daughter Rebbie sat in a front row of the courtroom during testimony.

AEG denies it hired Murray, and it is likely to blame Jackson for insisting on having Murray as his doctor because of his dependence on propofol, which Jackson used to sleep.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-02-US-Jackson-AEG-Suit/id-ba333f382fe049abad6585435dff2dd1

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The Atlantic Ocean Off the East Coast Was the Warmest Ever Recorded in 2012

RELATED: Global Warming Makes It Rain More, Except Where It Makes it Drier

During the second half of last year ??the hottest recorded year in U.S. history ? ocean temperatures off the East Coast hit their highest temperatures in the 150 years measurements have been kept. It's not a comforting record.

RELATED: Why Americans Stopped Believing in Global Warming

Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that during 2012, ocean temperatures hit 14 degrees Celsius, or 57.2 degrees Fahrenheit, the highest ever recorded. Over the past thirty years, the temperature was typically under 12.4 degrees. "The Northeast Shelf?s warm water thermal habitat was also at a record high level during 2012," the report states, "while cold water habitat was at a record low level."

RELATED: New Yeti Crabs; A Real Life Invisibility Cloak

The NOAA's Kevin Friedland provided us with the temperatures since 1854.

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As the chart shows, the temperature in 2012 passed the previous high, recorded in 1951.

Of the four sections of the ocean tracked by the NOAA ? Mid-Atlantic Bight, Southern New England, Georges Bank, the Gulf of Maine ? the northern three saw all-time highs.

There are a number of implications of this temperature rise. One of the most immediate, as the NOAA notes, is to sealife, populations of which are moving further north on the Continental Shelf ??possible bad news for fishermen and lobster-lovers.

Temperature is ? affecting distributions of fish and shellfish on the Northeast Shelf. The advisory provides data on changes in distribution, or shifts in the center of the population, of seven key fishery species over time. The four southern species - black sea bass, summer flounder, longfin squid and butterfish - all showed a northeastward or upshelf shift. American lobster has shifted upshelf over time but at a slower rate than the southern species. Atlantic cod and haddock have shifted downshelf.

Warmer ocean water can also disrupt energy production. Last August, a nuclear power plant in Connecticut was forced to shut down a reactor after the water used to cool it was too warm to do the trick.

Perhaps most alarming (particularly in light of our story earlier today), warmer seas are higher seas. Like every other fluid, water expands as it warms. And since water can't expand down, it expands up, raising sea levels. A report last summer indicated that levels on the East Coast were already rising three to four times faster than the rest of the world. Only part of that is due to temperature differences.

After the temperature spike in 1951, it's worth noting, temperatures eventually went back down. How much of last year's increase might be part of a cycle isn't clear. NOAA scientists seem inclined to think that it's not.

Photo: A resident of New Jersey walks through a Sandy-flooded street. (AP)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/atlantic-ocean-off-east-coast-warmest-ever-recorded-185445567.html

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A terrorist sleeper cell dismantled in Mali

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? Police in Mali's capital have dismantled a terrorist cell belonging to the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO, three officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The presence of the cell confirms fears that the jihadist groups, which sprang up last year in northern Mali, have succeeded in travelling past the numerous roadblocks to the country's most populous city.

The cell was first discovered more than a month ago, Sougalo Togola, press officer for the Ministry of Internal Security, told The Associated Press by telephone. The information was confirmed by an intelligence official involved in the case, as well as by a member of the capital's gendarmerie, or paramilitary police. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

"There was indeed a MUJAO cell in Bamako and it's been dismantled," said the intelligence agent.

Photographs of the seven suspects were published Tuesday on Maliweb.net, an online news portal which often publishes messages from the military. All seven have the last name "Diallo," indicating they're from the Peul ethnic group.

MUJAO is led by commanders who splintered from al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the al-Qaida affiliate in North Africa. For years the fighters operated out of bases at the feet of the Sahara desert in the remote northern triangle of Mali. Then in March 2012, after a coup in Mali's capital, they pushed south and succeeded in taking the important provincial capital of Gao, located 1,200 (750 miles) northeast of the capital.

The jihadists actively recruited locals, including from the Peul ethnic group, from the villages around Gao, an area of the country where some communities were already practicing a more conservative form of Islam, known as Wahabism. Although the cell dismantled in Bamako was in its early stages, experts have long warned that Mali's central government is too weak to stop the movement of potential jihadists to the capital.

Security at even the most crucial buildings in the capital, like the National Assembly, is lax and if a mature cell was able to take hold in Bamako, the damage they could do could be substantial, say experts.

MUJAO, and the two other Islamic extremist groups controlling northern Mali, were ousted from the main cities in January, after a full-on military intervention by over 2,000 French troops. They have not succeeded, however, in flushing out entrenched cells in rural areas and since the French-led intervention there have been repeated suicide bombings in Gao, as well as in the other two major northern cities ? Kidal and Timbuktu.

The cell dismantled in Bamako did not have the capacity to do significant damage, said the official with the gendarmerie in Bamako. "These are people who were based in the north and who received military training," he said. "When the war started, they got spooked and they fled south. They are not experienced fighters."

___

Associated press writer Rukmini Callimachi contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal.

___

Baba Ahmed can be reached at www.twitter.com/babahmed1

Rukmini Callimachi can be reached at www.twitter.com/rcallimachi

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/terrorist-sleeper-cell-dismantled-mali-132125664.html

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Andy Dick on his 'DWTS' score: 'It's not fair'

TV

Michael Maloney TODAY contributor

12 hours ago

ABC

Andy Dick and his "Dancing With the Stars" partner Sharna Burgess.

Sharna Burgess, Andy Dick?s pro partner on "Dancing With the Stars," is on fire both on and off the dance floor. She had enough of seeing her celebrity student treated poorly by the judges on the show. While Burgess appreciates instances constructive criticism, she feels that the digs, jabs and comparisons to octogenarian Cloris Leachman need to go.

?I take it personally, because I adore this man and we have become very close,? Burgess told TODAY.com after Monday?s live broadcast. ?To see Andy be the butt of the joke every week for absolutely no reason (is unacceptable). He works so hard, especially this week with shooting a sitcom pilot. To hear (a judge say) he?d rather forget the dance Andy did? That?s not constructive.?

Dick himself felt that Carrie Ann Inaba?s score of 5 for his rumba was unfair.

?I?m starting to feel Sharna?s anger,? he said. ?It?s not fair. Carrie Ann shouldn?t be comparing us to the others because we?re never going to be as good as, say, Zendaya is -- well, Sharna already is, but I?m saying that we should be compared this week to how we did lastweek. We are doing better, and I am more confident.?

?We got a 5 from Carrie, Ann and it wasn?t even our worst dance,? Burgess sighed. ?So how we got our worst score, I just don?t know.?

Recap: 'Dancing With the Stars' judges take the ballroom to the bathroom

Three-time mirror ball champion Derek Hough, who along with celeb partner Kellie Pickler are immune from Tuesday night's elimination based on their high scores, had words of support for Dick after the show.

?I told Andy that the judges? scores and their comments disappear after the show is over,? Hough said. ?The only thing that people who watch the show remember is the dance. I know it?s hard because he?s in the moment (of their criticisms), but the important thing is how he feels about his dance. I loved it.?

Unfortunately, Dick still might be going home Tuesday. He and Burgess received a total of only 17 for their rumba. And the couple failed to pick up extra points in the dance-off challenge.

?I do want to leave on a positive note, and we also very much appreciate what the judges say in terms of us being ?entertaining? and how we give it our all,? Dick hastened to add.

Related: 'Dancing With the Stars' to feature dancer injured in Boston bombings

?Absolutely,? Burgess concurred. ?I want to be clear -- I?m not angry at the judges all of the time. They do say wonderful things about Andy?but there is one judge that likes to make fun of him.?

It seems like they've all taken turns at that. But would Inaba and her fellow judges -- Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli -- be more constructive and compassionate with their comments if they had to experience what it was like to perform on the show?

?Next week is ?trio week? and they all need to do a dance for us,? Burgess suggested. ?That?s what I think.?

If that happens, then maybe the dancers and stars could get to hold the paddles and score the judges?

?Or I could just spank them on the butt with one,? Dick said.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/andy-dick-how-hes-ranked-dancing-stars-its-not-fair-6C9686434

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Khloe Kardashian Kovers Cosmo; Talks Body Issues, Kanye, Kim and More!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/khloe-kardashian-kovers-cosmo-talks-body-issues-kanye-kim-and-mo/

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Dancing With the Stars Results: Did Andy Dick Survive?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/dancing-with-the-stars-results-did-andy-dick-survive/

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