Seventy lead codices turned up five years ago in a remote cave in eastern Jordan, a region where early Christian believers may have fled after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. The codices appear to date from the 1st century CE, which may include key clues to the last days of Jesus' life. Some are heralding the discovery as the most significant find in Christian archeology since the Dead Sea scrolls in 1947.
The U.S. government said Wednesday that traces of radiation have been found in milk in Washington state, but said the amounts are far too low to trigger any public-health concern.
J.P. Morgan Chase [JPM 46.249
-0.201 (-0.43%)
] and other banks are trying to recoup approximately $30 billion a year in lost overdraft fee income by testing $5 ATM fees, Consumer Action spokesman Joe Ridout told CNBC.
These banks have "historically been reliant on overdraft fees," he said, so they're "coming up with new ways to make up the difference." He said higher ATM fees and other rising costs penalize small depositors.
Nessa Feddis, spokeswoman with the American College of Consumer Financial Services, agreed there are "enormous pressures on banks because of lost revenue."
Google is exercising more control over what partners and carriers can do to the Android mobile operating system, reports Bloomberg Businessweek after speaking with a dozen or so executives of key companies in the Android ecosystem. Going forward, all licensees will have to submit their plans for Google's approval, including those for new partnerships, plans for interface changes, the addition of new services and other code changes. Failure to do so will mean losing early access to the most recent updates to the mobile software, which can greatly affect time to market, and therefore, the companies' bottom line.
Workers at the disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan say they expect to die from radiation sickness as a result of their efforts to bring the reactors under control, the mother of one of the men tells Fox News.
The so-called Fukushima 50, the team of brave plant workers struggling to prevent a meltdown to four reactors critically damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, are being repeatedly exposed to dangerously high radioactive levels as they attempt to bring vital cooling systems back online.
Ever since Google introduced the Android mobile OS to the world in the fall of 2008, the company has advocated an open-source approach to its development and implementation. On one hand, this attitude helped fuel Android's auspicious growth. On the other hand, it also resulted in a fragmented OS. Now, Google is beginning to rein in the rampant tweaking of the software, in an effort aimed at uniformity.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports that Google over the last few months has sent this message to the major carriers and device manufacturers that support Android: Playtime is over. Google, particularly Android head Andy Rubin, will have oversight of any future Android partnerships, and anyone who wants early access to the latest iteration of the software will need to seek permission from Rubin himself.
(CBS/AP)Libya's rebel forces continued to struggle against Muammar Qaddafi's superior firepower on the ground, as the United States and other allies consider whether to supply them with weapons.
The rebels have given up nearly all the ground they have gained after allied airstrikes took out some of Qaddafi's heavy weapons. Now government forces are changing tactics, leaving behind the armed military vehicles and moving in armed pickup trucks like the opposition does, reports CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark. That makes it difficult for coalition forces overhead to distinguish who's who on the ground.
Faced with a series of setbacks after recent gains, the rebels now are starting to show their combat fatigue, reports Clark Outgunned and often outflanked in the field, they lack any sort of military strategy or leadership. They are eager to take ground, but are quick to flee when they face any real fighting. The reality is that a rebel military victory seems increasingly unlikely.
U.S. forces handed over command of air operations in Libya to NATO early Thursday, just as reports emerged that Central Intelligence Agency operatives are on the ground there gathering intelligence for air strikes and on the rebels fighting against Muammar Qadhafi’s regime.
The official transfer of leadership puts in NATO’s hands control of the no-fly zone over Libya, an arms embargo and “protecting civilians and civilian-populated areas against the threat of attack,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement.
MANDURIA, Italy — Under dark rain clouds on Tuesday afternoon, a group of about 10 immigrants hopped the thin wire fence surrounding the makeshift tent camp here and made a run for it into a silvery olive grove and the freedom of Italy beyond.
More than a year after Google said it would build a network in one lucky community that would be 100 times faster than what is available for many users today, the Internet search giant just announced its selection: Kansas City, Kan.
A Yahoo Research study found that only 20,000 people are pretty much responsible for half of all tweets on Twitter. How many of those people actually make up Twitter's user base? Less than one percent.
Shares of homebuilders slipped Tuesday after a closely watched housing index showed that home prices are falling in most major U.S. cities.
Analysts expect further price declines heading into the summer season, which could further slow the recovery for an industry which is coming off the worst two years for home construction dating to 1959.
MONTGOMERY, ALA. — Nine Alabama hospital patients who were treated with contaminated intravenous feeding bags have died and the maker has pulled the product off the market, state health officials said Tuesday.
Ten others treated with the bags that provide nutrients through IV tubes also were sickened by the outbreak of serratia marcescens bacteria, health officials said. However, officials have not definitively tied the deaths to the bacterial outbreak at six hospitals, State Health Officer Donald Williamson said.
There could be less than 49 years of oil supplies left, even if demand were to remain flat according to HSBC’s senior global economist Karen Ward.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Consumer confidence experienced its biggest decline in more than a year, falling sharply in March because of growing concerns about rising prices and stagnant incomes, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The nonprofit Conference Board said its consumer-confidence index dropped to 63.4 in March from a revised 72.0 in February, marking the biggest one-month decline since February 2010. The index had risen five straight months until backtracking in March.
Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi are in heated battles with rebels trying to advance west toward Gadhafi's hometown and stronghold of Sirte.Foreign journalists said an onslaught Tuesday by the pro-Gadhafi fighters forced the rebels to retreat farther east. They reported rocket and machinegun fire near the town of Bin Jawad where rebels are scrambling.
The battles came after pro-government forces drove the rebels back with heavy tank and artillery hits late Monday.
It’s no secret that the mobile Internet – smart cellphones and tablets – is a hothouse blossoming with innovation. Every day these devices become more useful (some argue “essential”).
The wireless future isn’t largely about voice calls: It’s about reading (books, newspapers, magazines), shopping, and staying in touch with social networks. Coming soon will be communicating with other devices (such as a car) and even replacing a credit card to make on-the-spot retail purchases.
That’s why federal regulators must take a long, thoughtful look at the proposed merger of wireless carriers AT&T and T-Mobile proposed last week. The merger could threaten the very competition that has benefited consumers and created new opportunities for countless startup companies.
After absorbing T-Mobile, now owned by Deutsche Telekom, AT&T would become the largest cellphone carrier in the US with nearly 40 percent of the market. The current No. 1 carrier, Verizon Wireless, would drop to No. 2 with just over 30 percent.
Harry & David Holdings Inc., the specialty gourmet fruit retailer known for its gift baskets, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Burdened by nearly $200 million in short- and long-term obligations, Harry & David has been battered in the recession, with customers cutting back on luxury items like gift baskets of fruits and snacks. The retailer, which recently breached terms on a revolving credit line and skipped an interest payment due bondholders, had been working with creditors on a plan to restructure, and The Wall Street Journal had reported over the weekend that a bankruptcy filing was imminent.
Harry & David posted weak holiday results that left it unable to borrow money under the terms of its revolving credit line. The inability to borrow meant Harry & David couldn't continue to adequately fund operations or make looming debt payments. In a regulatory filing, the company had raised doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.
By SAM DAGHER And STEPHEN FIDLER
Rebels fighting Col. Moammar Gadhafi's regime saw a revival in their fortunes Sunday as international airstrikes that started more than a week ago helped them regain territory previously lost to government forces.
The turnaround came the same day the North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed to take full command from the United Nations of all international military operations in and around the country.
Coming one day ahead of President Barack Obama's speech on Monday to address U.S. involvement in Libya, the NATO decision frees up the U.S. to play a more subordinate role in the operations. The decision extends NATO's responsibilities to cover the protection of civilians beyond its existing task of enforcing a no-fly zone and an arms embargo. But it doesn't change the nature of the military mission in Libya.
The hope for the West is that a continuation of military pressure on Col. Gadhafi's forces, even at somewhat lower levels in coming days, combined with continued forward movement by the rebels, will be enough to make the Libyan army either buckle or turn on the Libyan leader. That would produce the outcome the West hopes for—the removal of Col. Gadhafi—but one that isn't the explicit goal of the military operation.
Libya's revolutionaries reach the oil town of Brega, while newly released footage shows coalition forces bombarding government forces, aiding the rebels' advance. Video courtesy of Reuters.
Rebels Regain Control
AFP/Getty ImagesLibyan tribesmen gathered Sunday on the remains of a pro-government ammunition convoy bombed by coalition forces near Ajdabiya.
The U.S. involvement in the allied offensive over Libya is attracting criticism from conservatives and liberals alike, with many wondering what the U.S. is trying to achieve in the north African nation. WSJ's Neil Hickey reports from Washington.
On Edge in Libya
Track the latest events in the fight for Libya.
Moammar Gadhafi's Libya
See some key dates in Col. Gadhafi's nearly 42-year reign.
Middle East Turmoil
Track daily events in Middle Eastern countries.
In Tripoli, massive explosions rocked the city starting about 9:15 p.m. local time as fighter jets were heard over the city, suggesting that air strikes had resumed on targets in the capital after a lull since Friday. Libyan state television said both Tripoli and the city of Sirte, about 285 miles to the east, were being hit by a "Crusader imperialist bombardment."
Meanwhile, rebels coming from the eastern gateway city Ajdabiya, which they recaptured on Saturday, took control of the strategic oil towns of Brega and Ras Lanuf on Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
A correspondent with Al-Jazeera International, who was accompanying the rebels, said they have pushed further west and have retaken Ben Jawad, which they lost to Col. Gadhafi's forces in a bloody battle in early March, and were now camped in Al-Nawfaliyah.
Their next target, Sirte, Col. Gadhafi's birthplace, may prove to be a formidable challenge for the ragtag rebel forces.
A person close to the Libyan military command said reinforcements were already sent from the southern towns of Sebha, Waddan and Al-Jufra to Sirte.
European Pressphoto AgencyLibyan rebels flash the victory sign and celebrate in front of a hotel in the town of Ras Lanuf on Sunda.
Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim downplayed the rebels' gains. "I assure you that we are still strong on the ground and we are still holding locations," he said.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Robert Gates underplayed Libya's role in U.S. affairs, even as he and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought to defend U.S. military action there.
"I don't think it's a vital interest of the United States, but we clearly have an interest there," Mr. Gates said in an appearance on the NBC News program, "Meet the Press" as part of a round of appearances on Sunday morning talk shows. He said he couldn't be sure NATO would have finished its mission by the year-end, saying: "I don't think anybody knows that."
Mr. Gates' comments on Sunday could provoke more questioning from Capitol Hill about U.S. objectives in Libya. "I was startled to hear Secretary Gates say that Libya was not in our vital interest," said Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I personally don't think we should be engaged in a Libyan civil war."
Reducing the U.S. military footprint is a key goal of the Obama administration, which insisted its role would be circumscribed and employed in concert with international allies. The White House has been wary about embarking on a third war and wanted to avoid being seen as fighting in another Muslim country. The relatively quiet U.S. leadership has led many on Capitol Hill, including some Democrats, to question the seemingly ambitious goals—removing Col. Gadhafi—with the limited use of U.S. forces.
More
- NATO to Take Total Libya Control
- Protesters: 'We Want Something Like Tunis and Cairo'
- Civilian Casualties in Question at Tripoli Funeral
- Russia's Former Libyan Ambassador: Gadhafi's Time Is Limited
- Allies Target Gadhafi's Ground Forces
- Obama Bets on a Limited Engagement
- U.S. Prods Egypt for More Time Before Polls
- Yemen's President Gets New Powers
- Deadly Force Used in Syria to Quell Uprising
- In Tripoli, Fear and Despair Mount
- Arab Wavering Confounds Mission
- Conflict Divides Parties in the U.S.
- Opinion: Air Power Could Be Enough
- Opinion: The Stability Dilemma
Mr. Gates said on NBC Sunday that the president wouldn't take out Col. Gadhafi using military means, but stressed that the U.S. and allied countries are employing other measures, including economic sanctions, to pressure the regime. The hope is that these measures, combined with NATO air power, will be enough to turn the tide militarily. The lack of professionalism in the Libyan military, and especially its banishment from the corridors of power after an abortive 1993 coup attempt, raise the possibility of further defections by senior commanders, which could speed the regime's demise.
Associated PressA Libyan rebel gestures with a machete after capturing men believed to be loyal to Gadhafi's forces.
U.S. officials acknowledge the limits of airpower in fighting such a battle. Slobodan Milosevic withstood 78 days of NATO bombardment largely intact. Saddam Hussein endured a no-fly zone and a no-drive zone in large parts of Iraq for more than a decade after the 1991 war, and stayed firmly in power.
British defense secretary Liam Fox told the BBC that targeting Col. Gadhafi wasn't part of the mission. "Losing Gadhafi is an aspiration. It's not part of the UN resolution," he said.
In Mr. Obama's address Monday night, he is expected to discuss why the situation required U.S. intervention, as well as what level of involvement American forces will maintain in the future. Mr. Obama will also try to convince the public that there is an end game in Libya, an administration official said Sunday.
Speaking after the NATO decision to take command on Sunday, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary-General, said the alliance's actions would be guided by the United Nations Security Council resolution passed on March 17 to defend civilians.
Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesA Libyan rebel stands on a Western-led air strikes site in the strategic oil town of Ajdabiya after defensive positions previously held by pro-Gadhafi forces.
But a senior U.S. official said civilians would be protected whether they were being threatened by government forces or by the opposition, potentially putting NATO in the position of defending government forces from rebel attack.
Libyan officials in Tripoli said little about Sunday's developments, focusing instead on a regime-organized event they have dubbed "the national reunion march" to the rebel-stronghold of Benghazi in the east. Participants were congregating in Sirte. Hundreds of men, women and children and some tribal elders, almost all of them regime loyalists, were sent to Sirte by coach buses and boat from Tripoli and other western cities.
Libyan officials have portrayed the march as a neutral effort by tribal elders in the west to start peace talks with their counterparts in the east and have expressed fears that these "civilians" might be attacked by rebels and coalition forces.
The fate of Sirte, analysts say, will help clarify what happens next in Libya. If rebels can push through the town, they will have a relatively clear road to Tripoli. A defeat in Sirte, on the other hand, could lead to stalemate.
In the besieged city of Misrata, about 125 miles east of Tripoli, rebels said allied forces bombarded early on Sunday several locations for Col. Gadhafi's troops around the city but couldn't provide details.
A rebel, who only gave his first name, Ahmed, said Col. Gadhafi's forces continued their push to make inroads into the city center, triggering sporadic clashes with rebels especially on the western side. "We are hoping for the best," he said.
Foreign journalists have been prevented from going to Misrata, Libya's third-largest city and a key commercial hub. The government says it controls much of the city and that it is fighting a band of extremists who have wedged themselves among civilians. Coalition forces have repeatedly hit the air-force academy and airport south of the city where a large contingent of government troops was based.
In Tripoli, the mood was mixed on Sunday with many residents bracing for the worst. Although the government has assured residents that the country's largest refinery at Zawiya was operating normally, there were long lines at most gasoline stations. Residents reported waiting for at least two hours to fill up.
Mr. Ibrahim, the government spokesman, said fuel truck deliveries from the refinery have been curtailed because of the coalition strikes.
One resident said food prices have also doubled as people rushed to stock up on essentials like oil, rice and pasta. He said one kilogram (2.2 lbs) of rice cost now 2 dinars compared to 0.75 dinars before the start of the current crisis. The Libyan dinar hovered at about 2.15 to the dollar compared with 1.25 a few weeks ago.
—Jon Hilsenrath and Keith Johnson contributed to this article.Write to Sam Dagher at sam.dagher@wsj.com
MIAMI – Roberto Carmona sneaked away from his superiors disguised as a South African cowboy. While working in Namibia, the doctor donned boots and a big hat so he could slip out to the American Embassy, where he asked about qualifying for a special program for Cuban physicians that he hoped would let him defect to the U.S.
Nearly a year later, he was accepted, just days before his overseas job ended. Carmona fled to Tampa, but escaping his homeland turned out to be the easy part.
Carmona and a number of other Cuban physicians who defected while on overseas assignments have confronted a frustrating contradiction in American medicine: They were allowed into the U.S. because they are doctors. But, once here, they cannot treat patients because Cuba has refused to release or certify their academic records.
Without transcripts, it's nearly impossible for the doctors to take the required medical board exams and to get approval from the U.S. group that accredits foreign physicians.
"To come to this country, we have to spend so much time demonstrating to U.S. immigration officials we are doctors and show them so many documents," Carmona said. "Then why is it once we are here, they don't believe us and make it so difficult for us to work in our profession?"
NEW YORK – After finishing medical school in Bogota, Colombia, Maria Anjelica Montenegro did it all — obstetrics, pediatrics, emergency medicine, even surgery. By her estimate, she worked with thousands of patients.
None of that prepared her for the jobs she's had since she moved to the United States: Sales clerk. Babysitter. Medical assistant.
That last one definitely rubbed raw at times.
"I know I was working in my field," the 34-year-old New York resident said. "But that is medical assistant. I'm a doctor."
Montenegro is hardly unique, given the high U.S. unemployment rate these days. Her situation reflects a trend that some researchers call "brain waste" — a term applied to immigrants who were skilled professionals in their home countries, yet are stymied in their efforts to find work in the U.S. that makes full use of their education or training.
Most of these immigrants wind up underemployed because of barriers like language, lack of access to job networks, or credentialing requirements that are different from those in other countries. Some are held back even further because they're also in the U.S. illegally.
BOSTON -- The first woman to run for U.S. vice president on a major party ticket has died. Geraldine Ferraro was 75.
Ferraro died at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was being treated for blood cancer. She died just before 10 a.m., said Amanda Fuchs Miller, a family friend who worked for Ferraro in her 1998 Senate bid and was acting as a spokeswoman for the family.
An obscure Queens congresswoman, Ferraro catapulted to national prominence at the 1984 Democratic convention when she was chosen by presidential nominee Walter Mondale to join his ticket against incumbents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.
DAKAR, Senegal — At least 700,000 people have fled their homes in Ivory Coast’s main city, Abidjan, to escape the increasing violence and collapsing economy stemming from the nation’s political crisis, the United Nations said Friday.
More than 27,000 people are officially dead or missing after the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on March 11th.According to the National Police Agency, 9,811 people are confirmed dead as of 9 PM on Thursday.
The agency says it has received reports of 17,541 people missing.
Most of the dead and missing are from the 3 hardest hit prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima.
The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.
Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.
That may be hard to fathom for the millions of American business owners and households now preparing their own returns, but low taxes are nothing new for G.E. The company has been cutting the percentage of its American profits paid to the Internal Revenue Service for years, resulting in a far lower rate than at most multinational companies.
Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by a bow-tied former Treasury official named John Samuels, is often referred to as the world’s best tax law firm. Indeed, the company’s slogan “Imagination at Work” fits this department well. The team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.
While General Electric is one of the most skilled at reducing its tax burden, many other companies have become better at this as well. Although the top corporate tax rate in the United States is 35 percent, one of the highest in the world, companies have been increasingly using a maze of shelters, tax credits and subsidies to pay far less.
In a regulatory filing just a week before the Japanese disaster put a spotlight on the company’s nuclear reactor business, G.E. reported that its tax burden was 7.4 percent of its American profits, about a third of the average reported by other American multinationals. Even those figures are overstated, because they include taxes that will be paid only if the company brings its overseas profits back to the United States. With those profits still offshore, G.E. is effectively getting money back.
Such strategies, as well as changes in tax laws that encouraged some businesses and professionals to file as individuals, have pushed down the corporate share of the nation’s tax receipts — from 30 percent of all federal revenue in the mid-1950s to 6.6 percent in 2009.
Yet many companies say the current level is so high it hobbles them in competing with foreign rivals. Even as the government faces a mounting budget deficit, the talk in Washington is about lower rates. President Obama has said he is considering an overhaul of the corporate tax system, with an eye to lowering the top rate, ending some tax subsidies and loopholes and generating the same amount of revenue. He has designated G.E.’s chief executive, Jeffrey R. Immelt, as his liaison to the business community and as the chairman of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, and it is expected to discuss corporate taxes.
“He understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy,” Mr. Obama said of Mr. Immelt, on his appointment in January, after touring a G.E. factory in upstate New York that makes turbines and generators for sale around the world.
A review of company filings and Congressional records shows that one of the most striking advantages of General Electric is its ability to lobby for, win and take advantage of tax breaks.
Over the last decade, G.E. has spent tens of millions of dollars to push for changes in tax law, from more generous depreciation schedules on jet engines to “green energy” credits for its wind turbines. But the most lucrative of these measures allows G.E. to operate a vast leasing and lending business abroad with profits that face little foreign taxes and no American taxes as long as the money remains overseas.
Company officials say that these measures are necessary for G.E. to compete against global rivals and that they are acting as responsible citizens. “G.E. is committed to acting with integrity in relation to our tax obligations,” said Anne Eisele, a spokeswoman. “We are committed to complying with tax rules and paying all legally obliged taxes. At the same time, we have a responsibility to our shareholders to legally minimize our costs.”
The assortment of tax breaks G.E. has won in Washington has provided a significant short-term gain for the company’s executives and shareholders. While the financial crisis led G.E. to post a loss in the United States in 2009, regulatory filings show that in the last five years, G.E. has accumulated $26 billion in American profits, and received a net tax benefit from the I.R.S. of $4.1 billion.
But critics say the use of so many shelters amounts to corporate welfare, allowing G.E. not just to avoid taxes on profitable overseas lending but also to amass tax credits and write-offs that can be used to reduce taxes on billions of dollars of profit from domestic manufacturing. They say that the assertive tax avoidance of multinationals like G.E. not only shortchanges the Treasury, but also harms the economy by discouraging investment and hiring in the United States.
Republicans and GOP-leaning independents are more likely to support Mike Huckabee than anyone else in the wide-open field of potential Republican presidential candidates, according to a Gallup poll out Friday.
Gallup listed a dozen potential candidates and asked which one respondents wanted to see as their party's nominee next year. Huckabee came out on top with 19 percent support. He appears to be on the rise - he had 12 percent support last September - even as signs suggest he may sit the race out.
Mitt Romney followed Huckabee with 15 percent support, though he is down from 19 percent last November. In third was Sarah Palin, who also saw her support fall -- from 16 percent last month to 12 percent today.
NEW DELHI — The billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett capped off a weeklong visit to India by doing one of the things he does best, after investing — doling out folksy sayings and sensible advice to an appreciative crowd.
(Reuters) - The early prison release on Friday of a man who fatally shot a high school valedictorian has prompted a public outcry and plans for protests against Mississippi's sentencing laws.
Joseph Burton Goff served just eight years of a 20-year sentence for manslaughter, shaving off some of his prison time by working on clean-up crews after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
"It is beyond me how a cold-blooded murderer can reduce his time spent in jail by doing things like cleaning up storm debris after a hurricane," Mississippi state Senator Michael Watson, a Republican, told Reuters.
Goff, now 28, was released from a prison in Columbia, Mississippi early on Friday and will remain on supervised release until January 2014.
In December 2001, he fired into the home of 18-year-old Kyle Todd, who was home from college on Christmas break. Hit in the heart, Todd ran to his mother's bedroom and died in her arms.
(Reuters) - Samuel Curtis Johnson III, a billionaire heir of the SC Johnson & Son fortune, has been charged with repeated sexual assault of his stepdaughter, officials said on Friday.
The child is now 15, and the alleged assault went on for "several years," according to Racine County District Attorney Michael Nieskes.
Johnson, 55, of Racine, Wisconsin, has been released on a $500,000 bond.
The charge involves 10 to 15 separate incidents, Nieskes said. If convicted, Johnson could serve up to 40 years in prison.
"Obviously, this is a personal matter for Curt, but allegations of this type are always deeply disturbing," said Harlan Loeb, spokesman for the Johnson family. "The family is distraught and hopes for the best for everyone involved."
Tokyo (CNN) -- Authorities in Japan raised the prospect Friday of a likely breach in the all-important containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a potentially ominous development in the race to prevent a large-scale release of radiation.
Contaminated water likely seeped through the containment vessel protecting from the reactor's core, said Hidehiko Nishiyama of the Japan nuclear and industrial safety agency.
Three men working inside the No. 3 reactor stepped into water this week that had 10,000 times the amount of radiation typical for that locale, Nishiyama said. That water likely indicates "some sort of leakage" from the reactor core, signaling a possible break of the containment vessel that houses the core.
But in more recent years, archaeologists have found more and more traces of even earlier people with a less refined technology inhabiting North America and spreading as far south as Chile.
And now clinching evidence in the mystery of the early peopling of America — Clovis or pre-Clovis? — for nearly all scientists appears to have turned up at a creek valley in the hill country of what is today Central Texas, 40 miles northwest of Austin.
The new findings establish that the last major human migration, into the Americas, began earlier than once thought. And the discovery could change thinking about how people got here (by coastal migrations along shores and in boats) and how they adapted to the new environment in part by making improvements in toolmaking that led eventually to the technology associated with the Clovis culture.
Archaeologists and other scientists report in Friday’s issue of the journal Science that excavations show hunter-gatherers were living at the Buttermilk Creek site and making projectile points, blades, choppers and other tools from local chert for a long time, possibly as early as 15,500 years ago. More than 50 well-formed artifacts as well as hundreds of flakes and fragments of chipping debris were embedded in thick clay sediments immediately beneath typical Clovis material.
“This is the oldest credible archaeological site in North America,” Michael R. Waters, leader of the discovery team, said at a news teleconference.
Dr. Waters, director of the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas A&M University, and his colleagues concluded in the journal article that their research over the last six years “confirms the emerging view that people occupied the Americas before Clovis and provides a large artifact assemblage to explore Clovis origins.”
If the migrations began at earlier, pre-Clovis times, moreover, extensive glaciers probably closed off ice-free interior corridors for travel to the warmer south. Archaeologists said this lent credence to a fairly new idea in the speculative mix: perhaps the people came to the then really new New World by a coastal route, trooping along the shore and sometimes hugging land in small boats. This might account for the relatively swift movement of the migrants all the way to Peru and Chile.
The first of the distinctive Clovis projectile points represented advanced skills in stone technology. About a third of the way up from the base of the point, the artisans chipped out shallow grooves, called flutes, on both faces. The bifacial grooves probably permitted the points to be fastened to a wooden spear or dart.
Other archaeologists pointed out that the Buttermilk Creek dates, more than 2,000 years earlier than the Clovis chronology, are not significantly older than those for other sites challenging the Clovis-first hypothesis. In recent years, early human occupation sites have been examined coast to coast: from Oregon to Wisconsin to western Pennsylvania and from Maryland and Virginia down to South Carolina and Florida.
James M. Adovasio, an archaeologist who found what appears to be pre-Clovis material at the Pennsylvania site known as Meadowcroft Rockshelter, was not involved in the Buttermilk Creek excavations but has visited the site and inspected many of the artifacts. These pre-Clovis projectile points were also bifacial but not as large and well turned as the later technology. The most striking difference was the absence of the characteristic fluting.
Dr. Adovasio, a professor at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., said some of the Buttermilk Creek material resembled tools at his site and others at Cactus Hill, Va., and Miles Point, Md.
“It would appear the assemblage of artifacts is enough different from typical Clovis to be a distinct technology,” Dr. Adovasio said in an interview. “But it is not as much different as not to be ancestral to Clovis material.”
That is another likely implication of the new findings, also noted by Dr. Waters and his team. It would appear that the Clovis technology was not an Asian import; it was invented here.
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Google has quietly launched its own full-length online magazine, a quarterly publication whose aim is to create a “breathing space in a busy world.”
The first edition of Think Quarterly, based out of the U.K., is a 68-page dive into the world of data and its impact on business. The first thing most people will notice is that it’s a visually stunning piece of work. It’s a rich Flash app with Google’s quirky sensibilities and the in-depth writing you might find in BusinessWeek or Salon. Google’s quarterly magazine is edited and designed by creative agency The Church of London.
The articles themselves are thought pieces about major business and technology topics from a variety of freelancers and contributors. Google was able to snag Simon Rogers (editor of The Guardian‘s Datablog), Ulrike Reinhard (editor of WE Magazine), and other journalists for the project. Many of Think Quarterly‘s articles feature interviews with Google executives and technology leaders. Some of the people featured include Vodafone U.K. CEO Guy Laurence, Google chief economist Hal Varian and famed psychologist Peter Kruse.
“At Google, we often think that speed is the forgotten ‘killer application’ – the ingredient that can differentiate winners from the rest,” Matt Brittin, Google’s managing director of U.K. and Ireland operations, said in Think Quarterly‘s introduction. “We know that the faster we deliver results, the more useful people find our service.
“But in a world of accelerating change, we all need time to reflect. Think Quarterly is a breathing space in a busy world. It’s a place to take time out and consider what’s happening and why it matters.”
It’s unclear whether the new online magazine is another sign that Google is entering the media business or whether it’s just a project to feed the company’s intellectual curiosity. Google doesn’t describe its newest project as a magazine or a publication. Instead, Google calls it a book on its website and a “unique communications tool” on its Twitter account.
Regardless of what you call it, Think Quarterly is an interesting and informative experiment by the search giant.
Update: Google says that Think Quarterly is designed as useful information for its business customers. Here’s the company’s statement:
“Like most companies we regularly communicate with our business customers via email newsletters, updates on our official blogs, and printed materials. This short book about data was sent to 1,500 of our UK partners and advertisers.
“There are only a limited number of copies, and they aren’t for sale or designed for anyone other than our partners – but anyone who’s interested can visit the companion website at www.thinkquarterly.co.uk.”
British-born child actor Elizabeth Taylor arrives in America at the age of seven. Archive Photos/Getty Images
Elizabeth Taylor feeding a horse for the film 'National Velvet' in 1944. Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Elizabeth Taylor and her first husband hotel heir Conrad Hilton at the Savoy Hotel in London, on June 14, 1950. She would go on to marry seven more times, including actor Richard Burton twice. Photo: Keystone/Getty Images
Elizabeth Taylor, the violet-eyed beauty whose hectic off-screen love life often eclipsed her most sultry film roles, has died. She was 79.
She died today at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CNN reported, citing a statement from her publicist. She was hospitalized six weeks ago for congestive heart failure.
The former child actress grew into a voluptuous and jewel- drenched movie star, making headlines with stormy love affairs and eight marriages. Her husbands included actor Richard Burton (twice), singer Eddie Fisher, U.S. Senator John Warner and producer Mike Todd.
“I never planned to acquire a lot of jewels or a lot of husbands,” she said in an interview with Kim Kardashian posted by Harper’s Bazaar on Feb. 9. “For me, life happened, just as it does for anyone else. I have been supremely lucky in my life in that I have known great love, and of course I am the temporary custodian of some incredible and beautiful things.”
Though critics panned many of Taylor’s performances, the actress and her fans proved she could strike gold at the box office. In 1963, she signed a then-record $1 million contract to appear in “Cleopatra” with Burton -- and earned $6 million more because of delays in filming.
Over the years, she won two Academy Awards, for playing a call girl in “Butterfield 8” and a shrewish professor’s wife opposite Burton in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” She also received Oscar nominations for three other films.
She became an early AIDS activist, raising millions for research and treatment. She also supported a number of charities and, in a business venture, sold perfumes and scents under her name. In 1999, she was made a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
‘Seeing People Suffer’
“Acting is, to me now, artificial,” she told the Associated Press at an AIDS clinic dedication in 2005. “Seeing people suffer is real.”
Her movies, public dramas and health problems made Taylor a frequent topic of cover stories in Life, People and other magazines. By the time she won her first Oscar at age 28, Taylor had been married five times. “What do you expect me to do? Sleep alone?” she said.
Aside from her many love interests, Taylor was known as a loyal friend. She met Montgomery Clift early in her career and remained a lifelong friend. She was a steadfast ally of her friend Michael Jackson, speaking out on his behalf after he was charged with child abuse. Jackson died of an overdose of prescription drugs in June 2009.
Rock Hudson’s Death
When Rock Hudson died of AIDS in 1985, Taylor became one of the first figures in Hollywood to raise money and campaign against the disease. And she stayed the course, helping establish the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985 and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991.
Taylor battled health issues throughout her career, as well as drug and alcohol abuse that landed her in the Betty Ford Clinic, where she met her seventh husband, construction worker Larry Fortensky.
Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born on Feb. 27, 1932, to American parents living in London. In 1939, at the outset of World War II, her mother Sara, a former actress, took Elizabeth and brother Howard to California. By 1943, Elizabeth was in “Lassie Come Home” and the following year attained stardom in “National Velvet.”
“She wasn’t a kid,” recalled “Velvet” co-star Mickey Rooney on a CNN program. “She had the essence of a growing, beautiful child who was going to be more beautiful every day.”
Her early movies tracked the young star’s life: “Life With Father” (1947) and “A Date With Judy” (1948) led to “Little Women” (1949) and “Father of the Bride,” which came out in 1950, the year of her first marriage, to Conrad Hilton Jr.
Romantic Roles
Early romantic roles included “A Place in the Sun” (1951) and “Giant” (1956), followed by her first Oscar nomination for “Raintree County” (1957). She was nominated and again failed to win for well-regarded performances in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958) and “Suddenly, Last Summer” (1959), before scoring in “Butterfield 8” (1960).
In her movies, Taylor sometimes revealed a character’s unexpected vulnerability by a familiar catch in her throat, a portrayal that seemed to echo her real-life dramas.
A pattern was established by the 18-year-old Taylor, whose marriage to hotel heir Hilton began with a three-month honeymoon and ended in divorce nine months later.
She then married actor Michael Wilding, whom she divorced in 1957 after five years and two children. Three days later she married producer Mike Todd, who died in a plane crash a year later.
Love Again
“I never thought I’d love again” after Todd died, Taylor said, according to CNN. “It was a disaster.”
Still, love again she did. A year after Todd’s death, Taylor married Fisher, Todd’s best friend. When Fisher met Taylor, he was married to actress Debbie Reynolds. “In the old days, if Elizabeth saw a man she wanted, she got him, no matter who she stepped over,” Reynolds told Hello! magazine in 2001.
Even as her movies proved her box office luster, Taylor was beset by health crises. (Her Oscar for “Butterfield 8” came after she underwent a widely reported tracheotomy.)
Fisher and Taylor divorced after she and Burton -- who was also married -- began their much-publicized love affair on the set of “Cleopatra” in Rome. The shoot ran well over budget, almost bankrupting 20th Century-Fox, and the torrid affair brought unneeded publicity to an already troubled film. Overtime due to various delays earned Taylor $7 million for the movie.
Big Box Office
Taylor became seriously ill during production and director Joseph L. Mankiewicz neared a nervous breakdown, but, after three directors, five writers and a cast of literally thousands, the picture was finished -- and then smashed box-office records even as it failed to impress the critics.
Taylor and Burton shed their old mates and were married in 1964. They made 11 more pictures together, most memorably “Virginia Woolf.” None gained the notoriety of “Cleopatra” even as Taylor’s and Burton’s relations grew more tempestuous in the course of a 10-year marriage that ended in divorce in 1974. They remarried in 1975, then divorced again 10 months later. Burton died in 1984.
In November 2004, Taylor said she’d been diagnosed with congestive heart failure but would continue raising money for AIDS research. Among other contributions, she auctioned a diamond-and-emerald engagement ring Burton had given her. Earlier she sold a $1 million diamond from Burton to fund a hospital in Botswana.
In addition to breaking her back several times, which hobbled her over the years, she was hospitalized in February 1997 for removal of a brain tumor. The tumor proved benign but she suffered a seizure six days after her discharge and had to be re-hospitalized.
AIDS Research Fund
In early November 2005, wearing a billowy black pantsuit and much jewelry, Taylor appeared in a wheelchair to help dedicate a UCLA clinical research and education center. With bracelets dangling from her arms and a huge diamond on her left hand, the 73-year-old actress announced creation of the Elizabeth Taylor Endowment Fund to support AIDS research.
Aside from her charities, Taylor over the past two decades promoted a line of scents and perfumes with such names as Passion, White Diamonds, Black Pearls, and Diamonds and Rubies, thus playing off her well-known romance with costly jewelry.
She had two sons, Michael and Christopher, with Wilding; a daughter, Elizabeth, with Todd; and a daughter, Maria, whom she and Burton adopted.
To some, Shakespeare’s reference to Cleopatra seemed to fit Elizabeth Taylor as well: “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Felix Kessler in New York at fkessler1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Greiff at jgreiff@bloomberg.net
The buyout firm Leonard Green & Partners is weighing a possible acquisition of BJ’s Wholesale Club, the company said in a securities filing on Tuesday.
The disclosure follows the company’s announcement last month that it was exploring a sale of the company and had hired Morgan Stanley to run the sale.
Americans are divided in their views of how President Barack Obama is handling the crisis in Libya, two polls conducted since a coalition of international forces began attacking the country late last week suggest.
Half of those surveyed for a poll released Tuesday morning by CBS News, as well as half of those questioned for a CNN poll released Monday, said they approve of the way in which the president has managed the U.S. role in the military and diplomatic struggle to wrest control of Libya from its longtime leader, Muammar Qadhafi.
If approved by regulators, the merger would leave just three major cellular carriers in the United States, a development that consumer advocates warn could eventually lead to higher prices for a wide variety of services. For this reason the deal is likely to attract close scrutiny in Washington.
It is too early to say how much — or even whether — rates might rise for consumers, who on average pay $55 a month for their wireless plans, said Roger Entner, who tracks the wireless industry for the Nielsen Company. But while consumers may see some immediate benefits — in network quality, for example — they are not likely to benefit in the long run, some analysts and industry experts said.
The bottom line, they said, is that competition is likely to suffer, leading to higher prices and less innovation. That is because the deal would leave just AT&T, Verizon Wireless and the much smaller Sprint to divide up the voracious smartphone market — with the AT&T and T-Mobile union likely to dominate the market.
“Without some of the smaller competitors, you won’t have the competitive pressure that leads to lower prices and innovations and offerings among the carriers,” said Paul Reynolds, electronics editor at Consumer Reports.
AT&T maintains that the merger will be good for consumers.
“The benefits of this transaction are possible at this scale and on this timeline only from the combination of these two companies,” Randall L. Stephenson, chairman and president of AT&T, said in a call to investors and analysts on Monday. He added that the merger “will improve network quality” and “give more customers access to more services.”
Other analysts also had a rosier view, suggesting that AT&T may diversify its offerings if it acquires T-Mobile. T-Mobile has long built its reputation by offering affordable, low-rate cellphone plans, including ones that do not require annual contracts or a minimum voice plan.
“Having 30 million new subscribers might convince them to add more attractive data pricing,” said Chetan Sharma, an independent wireless analyst, referring to T-Mobile’s customer base. “Things like data family plans could become a reality.”
Whatever happens to prices, the availability of cellphone coverage in the United States is likely to expand, analysts said. AT&T and T-Mobile have invested in different parts of the country, and customers of the two companies would have access to a larger, combined network. Potentially, the acquisition of T-Mobile, with its additional wireless spectrum, could also help AT&T with the rollout of its next-generation wireless network, known as 4G.
Improved service and network quality could be another boon. T-Mobile and AT&T use the same underlying GSM cellphone technology, which should reduce any friction of blending the two networks. AT&T could take advantage of T-Mobile’s latest high-speed network, in which the company has invested millions to upgrade and bring online. By adding T-Mobile, AT&T will gain cell sites equivalent to the number it would have taken five years to build, experts say. All this means, in theory at least, that service should improve. But the cost to buy that coverage is likely to go up.
“Typically, the more competition there is, the faster prices drop,” Mr. Sharma said. “In a situation where there are two main carriers, pricing is not likely to move as much.”
One burning question raised by the potential of a merger with AT&T is what will happen to the wide range of inventive T-Mobile data plans, which are some of the lowest in the country, and have helped keep pressure on competitors. The company also offers a wider choice of smartphones for younger users, like the popular Sidekick line, which T-Mobile recently said it would revive.
AT&T is expected to honor contracts through their expirations, but it is unclear what will happen once those contracts expire.
“The prospect of having those kinds of options go away is a real concern,” said Mr. Reynolds of Consumer Reports. “It’s a welcome offering for people in this market that can be quite unaffordable otherwise.”
If approved, the merger is expected to save both companies $3 billion annually. That saving, Mr. Sharma said, along with the influx of millions of new consumers, might persuade the company to be more competitive in family data plans as a way to draw in new subscribers and increase competition with Verizon, the new company’s chief rival. If the merger is approved, AT&T would have about 129 million wireless customers and Verizon about 101 million. Sprint has about 50 million customers.
Another potential byproduct could be a drop in pricing for sleek, high-end smartphones. Hardware makers, for example, might offer AT&T a lower rate for bulk purchases of new smartphones and tablet computers.
“AT&T’s new scale would give them pricing advantage,” Mr. Sharma said. “You could end up seeing $100 or $150 smartphones for consumers in the future.” A typical smartphone can cost $200 with a contract. One constant in a consumer’s life could remain: frustrating experiences with customer service.
“In terms of customer satisfaction, AT&T was clearly in last place, below average in comparison to other carriers, including T-Mobile,” he said.
Although T-Mobile has historically performed well in the annual surveys conducted by Consumer Reports that rate satisfaction, in big takeovers the larger company typically tends to swallow the smaller one, he said.
“The overall consumer experience might become more like AT&T than T-Mobile,” Mr. Sharma said.
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