NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 closing at new all-time highs as comments from Federal Reserve officials eased some concerns that the central bank could start reducing its stimulus program.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 52.30 points, or 0.35 percent, to end unofficially at a record 15,387.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> added 2.87 points, or 0.17 percent, to finish unofficially at a record 1,669.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> rose 5.69 points, or 0.16 percent, to close unofficially at 3,502.12.
(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)
JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel's air force chief warned Wednesday that tensions with Syria could escalate into a "surprise war" and that Israel needs to be ready.
The remarks by Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel Wednesday echoed statements by Israel's military chief of staff a day earlier.
"A surprise war could take shape today in many configurations," Eshel said at a strategy conference in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv. "Isolated incidents can escalate very quickly and require us to be prepared in a matter of hours to operate throughout the entire spectrum ... to utilize all the capabilities of the air force," he said.
He said Russian S-300 air defense systems are "on their way" to Syria, though Israel asked Russia not to supply the advanced air defense system to Syria.
Israel has been warily watching the Syrian civil war since it broke out in March 2011, concerned that the conflict could spill across its borders at any time.
Syrian and Israeli forces briefly exchanged fire on the Golan Heights border Tuesday, prompting Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, to accuse Syrian President Bashar Assad of encouraging and directing operations against Israel and warning he would "bear the consequences" of escalation.
Tensions have been rising between Israel and Syria in recent weeks. Israel is believed to have carried out airstrikes said to be aimed at weapons meant for the Lebanese Hezbollah. Israel has not confirmed carrying out the attacks.
Israel has warned it will not tolerate fire from Syria or transfer of advanced weapons to militants. Israel is concerned that Syria's arsenal, including chemical weapons, anti-aircraft systems and sophisticated missiles, could be transferred to Hezbollah or fall into the hands of rebel groups linked to al-Qaida.
"Syria is changing before our eyes. If tomorrow it collapses, we could very quickly find that great arsenal dispersed and directed at us," Eshel said.
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ATLANTA, May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ ? ;TheU.S. Small Business Administration reminds Private Non-Profit Organizations (PNPs) in Alabama that June 21is the deadline to submit Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications. ; These loans are available from the SBA for damages caused by Hurricane Isaac between Aug. 26 and Sept. 5, 2012.
PNPs located in the following counties that provide non-critical services are eligible to apply: Baldwin, ; Covington, ; Dallas, ; Geneva, Mobile, ; Monroe, ; Perry and ; Pickens. Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers and colleges.
The SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs such as ongoing operating expenses for eligible non-critical PNP organizations. ; This assistance is available regardless of whether the organization suffered any physical property damage. ; Loan amounts can be up to $2 million, and interest rate of 3 percent with terms up to 30 years. ; The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant?s financial condition.
To apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA), visit the SBA?s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.
Disaster loan information and application forms may also be obtained by calling the SBA?s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. ; Loan applications can also be downloaded from www.sba.gov. ; Completed applications should be mailed to: ; U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
The filing deadline to return economic injury applications is June 21, 2013.
For more information about the SBA?s Disaster Loan Program, visit our website at www.sba.gov.
We've already spent some quality time with Nokia's handsome Lumia 925 and while it's no secret the company's Windows Phone flagship is coming to the US courtesy of T-Mobile, we'd never actually seen the carrier-branded model -- until now, that is. Nokia brought T-Mobile's version of the handset to CTIA 2013 where we took it for a brief spin. As you'd expect, the phone is identical to its global twin save for the operator's logo below the capacitive button and the radios which support T-Mobile's bands. Unfortunately, the Lumia 925 we played with was not final, so the software was off limits. In terms of hardware, it features the same 4.5-inch 1,280 x 768 AMOLED screen, 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 1GB RAM and 8.7-megapixel camera with OIS. This is definitely one of Nokia's most attractive designs yet, and we're looking forward to getting our hands on a review unit soon. In the meantime, why not check out the gallery below?
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A Senate panel voted on Tuesday to provide weapons to rebels battling the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the first time lawmakers have endorsed the aggressive U.S. military step of arming the opposition in the 2-year-old civil war.
With a degree of trepidation, the Foreign Relations Committee voted 15-3 for a bill that would provide lethal assistance and military training to vetted rebel groups, and would slap sanctions on anyone who sells oil or transfers arms to the Assad regime such as Iran and Russia. The measure also establishes a $250 million fund to aid in the transition if and when Assad falls.
An intense committee debate over the bill underscored congressional fears about greater U.S. military involvement in a Mideast war after more than a decade of American combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also exposed divisions within the Republican Party about U.S. foreign policy that will remain well into the 2016 GOP presidential nomination fight.
The fate of the bill is uncertain, with opposition among several senators and far less enthusiasm in the House for stepped-up U.S. military action. The legislation does send a strong message as the Obama administration mulls its next step.
After some 90 minutes of discussion ? and rejection of several amendments to undercut the measure, a bipartisan argument for increased U.S. action in Syria swayed lawmakers.
"The greatest humanitarian crisis in the world is unfolding in and around Syria," said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the committee chairman. "Vital U.S. interests are at stake including the stability of the Middle East, loose chemical weapons, and the danger that Syria becomes a safe haven for extremists. The United States must play a role in tipping the scales toward opposition groups and working to build a free and democratic Syria."
Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the panel's top Republican, implicitly criticized the Obama administration as he joined Menendez in embracing the measure.
"Much of the policy on Syria has been done on an ad hoc basis," Corker said. "This bill lays out a strategy."
The United Nations estimates that more than 70,000 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced after two years of fighting between Assad forces and rebels. The Obama administration has provided millions of dollars in humanitarian assistance but has been wary of calls to arm the rebels or launch military strikes despite recent evidence that Assad has used chemical weapons on his people.
The administration is mulling its next step as Secretary of State John Kerry pursues a diplomatic solution.
Opposing the legislation were Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a potential presidential candidate in 2016, and Democratic Sens. Tom Udall of New Mexico and Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
Udall questioned whether the United States would know what rebel groups it was arming as it introduced more lethal weapons into a chaotic situation while Murphy argued that the U.S. hasn't learned from history.
"We have failed over and over again in our attempts to pull the strings of Middle Eastern politics," he said.
Paul said the U.S. is war weary and reluctant to get involved in a murky conflict with so many factions. He said there is no assurance that the weapons would end up in the hands of "liberty-loving, Jeffersonian-type of democrats."
"It's impossible to know who are friends are," he said.
His arguments put him at odds with another potential White House candidate ? Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who backed the legislation and insisted that it was critical to help groups battling the well-armed, pro-Assad forces and radical jihadists.
The committee turned back two amendments sponsored by Paul, one saying the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force does not allow intervention in Syria and another that barred weapons to Syria.
Paul pointed out the irony that one of the most effective rebel groups fighting Assad is Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaida-affiliated group. The goal of the legislation is to ensure that the rebel groups meet a certain criteria with no links to terrorism.
The panel also rejected a Udall amendment that would have limited the weapons to .50-caliber arms and smaller. The senator warned that heavier weapons could end up in the hands of U.S. enemies.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a fierce proponent of aggressive U.S. military might against Syria, pointed out that Assad's forces have used helicopter gunships, tanks, Scud missiles and heavy artillery.
"The senator wants to use shotguns against Scud missiles," McCain said derisively.
Udall said Saudi Arabia and Qatar are providing weapons to the opposition forces. The United States, he said, "could turn over the weapons we're talking about and next day they end up in the hands of al-Qaida."
On Wednesday, Kerry will meet with 10 of America's closest Arab and European allies in Jordan. Officials said the gathering has two aims: to change Assad's calculation, only fortified by his recent military successes, that he can win the war militarily, and to persuade both the government and the opposition to attend peace talks next month in Geneva.
____
Associated Press writer Bradley Klapper in Muscat, Oman, contributed to this report.
FILE - This Sept. 13, 2012 file photo shows a cameraman filming one of U.S. consulate burnt out offices after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens on the night of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012, in Benghazi, Libya. The U.S. has identified five men they believe might be behind the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year, and have enough evidence to justify seizing them by military force as suspected terrorists _ but not enough proof to try them in a U.S. civilian criminal court, the process the Obama administration prefers, U.S. officials said. (AP photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
FILE - This Sept. 13, 2012 file photo shows a cameraman filming one of U.S. consulate burnt out offices after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens on the night of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012, in Benghazi, Libya. The U.S. has identified five men they believe might be behind the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year, and have enough evidence to justify seizing them by military force as suspected terrorists _ but not enough proof to try them in a U.S. civilian criminal court, the process the Obama administration prefers, U.S. officials said. (AP photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. has identified five men who might be responsible for the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year, and has enough evidence to justify seizing them by military force as suspected terrorists, officials say. But there isn't enough proof to try them in a U.S. civilian court as the Obama administration prefers.
The men remain at large while the FBI gathers evidence. But the investigation has been slowed by the reduced U.S. intelligence presence in the region since the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks, and by the limited ability to assist by Libya's post-revolutionary law enforcement and intelligence agencies, which are still in their infancy since the overthrow of dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
The decision not to seize the men militarily underscores the White House aim to move away from hunting terrorists as enemy combatants and holding them at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The preference is toward a process in which most are apprehended and tried by the countries where they are living or arrested by the U.S. with the host country's cooperation and tried in the U.S. criminal justice system. Using military force to detain the men might also harm fledgling relations with Libya and other post-Arab-Spring governments with whom the U.S. is trying to build partnerships to hunt al-Qaida as the organization expands throughout the region.
A senior administration official said the FBI has identified a number of individuals that it believes have information or may have been involved, and is considering options to bring those responsible to justice. But taking action in remote eastern Libya would be difficult. America's relationship with Libya would be weighed as part of those options, the official said, speaking only on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the effort publicly.
The Libyan Embassy did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Waiting to prosecute suspects instead of grabbing them now could add to the political weight the Benghazi case already carries. The attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans weeks before President Barack Obama's re-election. Since then, Republicans in Congress have condemned the administration's handling of the situation, criticizing the level of embassy security, questioning the talking points provided to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice for her public appearances to explain the attack and suggesting the White House tried to play down the incident to minimize its effect on the president's campaign.
The FBI released photos of three of the five suspects earlier this month, asking the public to provide more information on the men pictured. The images were captured by security cameras at the U.S. diplomatic post during the attack, but it took weeks for the FBI to see and study them. It took the agency three weeks to get to Libya because of security problems, so Libyan officials had to get the cameras and send them to U.S. officials in Tripoli, the capital.
The FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies identified the men through contacts in Libya and by monitoring their communications. They are thought to be members of Ansar al-Shariah, the Libyan militia group whose fighters were seen near the U.S. diplomatic facility prior to the violence.
Republican lawmakers continue to call for the Obama administration to provide more information about the attack. The White House released 99 pages of emails about the talking points drafted by the intelligence community that Rice used to describe the attack, initially suggesting they were part of a series of regional protests about an anti-Islamic film. In those emails, administration officials agreed to remove from the talking points all mentions of terror groups such as Ansar al-Shariah or al-Qaida, because the intelligence pointing to those groups' involvement was still unclear and because some officials didn't want to give Congress ammunition to criticize the administration.
U.S. officials say the FBI has proof that the five men were either at the scene of the first attack or somehow involved because of intercepts of at least one of them bragging about taking part. Some of the men have also been in contact with a network of well-known regional Jihadists, including al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
The U.S. has decided that the evidence it has now would be enough for a military operation to seize the men for questioning, but not enough for a civilian arrest or a drone strike against them, the officials said. The U.S. has kept them under surveillance, mostly by electronic means. There was a worry that the men could get spooked and hide, but so far, not even the FBI's release of surveillance video stills has done that.
FBI investigators are hoping for more evidence, such as other video of the attack that might show the suspects in the act of setting the fires that ultimately killed the ambassador and his communications specialist, or firing the mortars hours later at the CIA base where the surviving diplomats took shelter ? or a Libyan witness willing to testify against the suspects in a U.S. courtroom.
But Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he is concerned the Obama administration is treating terrorism as criminal actions instead of acts of war that would elicit a much harsher response from the United States.
"The war on terror, I think, is a war and at times I get the feeling that the administration wants to treat it as a crime," McKeon said Tuesday.
Administration officials have indicated recently that the FBI is zeroing in.
"Regardless of what happened previously, we have made very, very, very substantial progress in that investigation," Attorney General Eric Holder told lawmakers last week.
That echoed comments made by Secretary of State John Kerry to lawmakers last month.
"They do have people ID'd," Kerry said of the FBI-led investigation. "They have made some progress. They have a number of suspects who are persons of interest that they are pursuing in this and building cases on."
But options for dealing with the men are few and difficult, U.S. officials said, describing high level strategy debates among White House, FBI and other counterterror officials. Those confidential discussions were described on condition of anonymity by four senior U.S. officials briefed on the investigation into the attack.
The U.S. could ask Libya to arrest the suspects, hoping that Americans would be given access to question them and that the Libyans gather enough evidence to hold the men under their own justice system. Another option is to ask the Libyans to extradite the men to the U.S., but that would require the U.S. to gather enough solid evidence linking the suspects to the crime to ask for such an action.
Asking other countries to detain suspects hasn't produced much thus far. In this case, the Egyptian government detained Egyptian Islamic Jihad member Muhammad Jamal Abu Ahmad for possible links to the attack, but it remains unclear if U.S. intelligence officers were ever allowed to question him.
Tunisia allowed the U.S. to question Tunisian suspect Ali Harzi, 28, who was arrested in Turkey last October because of suspected links to the Sept. 11 Benghazi attack, but a judge released him in January for lack of evidence.
Finally, the U.S. could send a military team to grab the men, and take them to an offsite location such as a U.S. naval ship ? the same way al-Qaida suspect Ahmed Warsame was seized by special operations personnel in 2011 in Somalia. He was then held and questioned for two months on a U.S. ship before being read his Miranda rights, transferred to the custody of the FBI and taken for trial in a New York court. Warsame pleaded guilty earlier this year and agreed to tell the FBI what he knew about terror threats and, if necessary, testify for the government.
The U.S. has made preparations for raids to grab the Benghazi suspects for interrogation in case the administration decides that's the best option, officials said. Such raids could be legally justified under the U.S. law passed just after the 9/11 terror attacks that authorizes the use of military force against al-Qaida, officials said. The reach of the law has been expanded to include groups working with al-Qaida.
The option most likely off the table would be taking suspects seized by the military to Guantanamo Bay, the facility in Cuba that Obama has said he wants to close.
"Just as the administration is trying to find the exit ramp for Guantanamo is not the time to be adding to it," said Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor for Guant?namo.
Beyond being politically uncomfortable, it's less effective, he said. "There've been a total of seven cases completed since 2001," with six of them landing in appeals court over issues with the legitimacy of the charges.
___
Associated Press writer Richard Lardner contributed to this report.
___
Follow Dozier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kimberlydozier or http://bigstory.ap.org/tags/kimberly-dozier
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India and China will study new ways to ease tensions on their ill-defined border after an army standoff in the Himalayas, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday on his first official foreign trip.
The number two in the Chinese leadership offered New Delhi a "handshake across the Himalayas" and said the world's most populous nations could become a new engine for the global economy if they could avoid friction on the militarized border.
"Both sides believe that we need to improve the various border-related mechanisms that we have put into place and make them more efficient. We need to appropriately manage and resolve our differences," Li said at a joint news conference with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The two men appeared smiling and relaxed. India's Foreign Ministry said they got on well. There were small breakthroughs on trade, but no major agreements were signed.
China and India disagree about large areas of their 4,000 km (2,500 mile) border and fought a brief war 50 years ago.
Among the measures being looked at to reduce the risk of confrontation is allowing higher level meetings between regional military commanders, an Indian official said.
While there has not been a shooting incident in decades, the long-running dispute gets in the way of improving economic relations between the neighbors, who account for 40 percent of the world's population and whose fast growing markets stand in contrast to the stagnant economies of the West.
TRADE GAP
Bilateral trade reached $66 billion last year but both sides believe the potential is much greater. India runs a $29 billion deficit with China, a sore point that they sought to address in a joint statement, with specific reference to pharmaceuticals, IT services and agriculture.
However, similar promises made in previous joint statements failed to slow the ballooning trade gap.
India's Essar Group conglomerate is nonetheless set to sign a $1 billion loan deal with China's China Development Bank and China's largest oil and gas producer PetroChina during the trip, sources said. They said the loan would be backed by the supply of refined products to PetroChina.
After a welcome ceremony at India's presidential palace, Li said he wanted to build trust and cooperation.
"World peace and regional stability cannot be a reality without strategic mutual trust between India and China. And likewise, the development and prosperity of the world cannot be a reality without the cooperation and simultaneous development of China and India," he said.
Li said he chose New Delhi as his first destination on his four-nation tour to show how important India is for China and also because he had fond memories of visiting as a Communist youth leader 27 years ago.
Srikanth Kondapalli, an academic and expert on China said progress was at best incremental, despite the warm words from Li and a media campaign around his trip apparently aimed at cooling Indian public anger following the three-week standoff on the Himalayan plateau that ended on May 3.
"There was a lot of hype created before this visit, but the new leadership didn't show many new ideas," Kondapalli said.
EARLY SOLUTION?
While most observers think it will take years to resolve the border dispute, recent statements suggest China's new leaders would like to speed things up, perhaps to shift its attention to disputes elsewhere in Asia, including the South China Sea.
Singh said negotiators would meet soon to seek an early agreement on a framework to settle the border, a goal that has eluded representatives in 15 rounds of high level talks.
The stand-off on the border was the latest reminder that sensitivity runs high. It distracted diplomats' attention from talks on investment and trade ahead of Li's trip and soured public opinion toward China in India.
The disagreement over who owns barren patches of the Ladakh plateau and the entire Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh means there is almost no road or rail connectivity between the giants.
At a meeting with Singh in Durban this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the two countries should seek a solution "as soon as possible" - a departure from previous language. His urgency was echoed in Delhi last week by foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang, who said the two sides needed to "redouble efforts" to reach a solution at an "early date".
It would be politically difficult for an Indian politician to concede territory to China. Protests by nationalist groups in Delhi and the northern state of Kashmir on Monday against Li's visit highlighted anti-China feeling among some Indians.
Prior to Monday's meetings, a senior official at the Foreign Ministry said India was skeptical of recent overtures and would wait to see if China would bring anything new to the table.
After India, Li is due to visit Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany and is likely to carry a message that China wants more open foreign relations and should not be seen as a threat.
(Additional reporting by Satarupa Bhattacharjya, Annie Banerji and Anindito Mukherjee in NEW DELHI; Michael Martina and Sui-Lee Wee in BEIJING; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Alison Williams)
May 20, 2013 ? Parents who share a bed with their breastfed baby could face a fivefold increase in the risk of crib death, even if the parents do not smoke, according to a new study. The research was led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and is published in BMJ Open.
Crib death -- also known as cot death or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDs) -- remains a major cause of death among babies under 1 year of age in high income countries. There is already a general consensus that sleeping with a baby increases the risk of cot death if the parents smoke or if the mother has been drinking alcohol or taking drugs. However, there are conflicting opinions as to whether bed sharing in general represents a risk when these factors are not present.
Some countries, including the US and the Netherlands, advise all parents against sharing a bed with their baby for the first 3 months. The UK currently only advises certain groups, including parents who are smokers, not to bed share.
The new study is the largest ever analysis of its kind. Researchers examined the individual records of 1,472 cot death cases and 4,679 control cases across five major studies. They found that the risk of cot death among breastfed babies under 3 months increased with bed sharing, even when the parents did not smoke and the mother had not consumed alcohol or drugs. This fivefold increase was in comparison to room sharing, where a baby slept in a cot in the parents' room.
The researchers estimate that 81% of cot deaths among babies under 3 months with no other risk factors could be prevented if they did not sleep in the same bed as their parents. The study also showed that the risk associated with bed sharing decreases as a baby gets older, and that the peak period for instances of cot death was between 7 and 10 weeks.
Professor Bob Carpenter from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine who was lead author on the study said: "Currently in the UK more than half of cot deaths occur while a baby is sleeping in the same bed as its parents. Although it is clear that smoking and drinking greatly increase the risk of cot death while bed sharing, our study shows that there is in fact an increased risk for all babies under 3 months who bed share, even if their parents do not smoke or drink.
"If parents were made aware of the risks of sleeping with their baby, and room sharing was instead promoted in the same way that the 'Back to Sleep' campaign was promoted 20 years ago to advise parents to place their newborn infants to sleep on their backs, we could achieve a substantial reduction in cot death rates in the UK. Annually there are around 300 cot death cases in babies under a year old in the UK, and this advice could save the lives of up to 40% of those. Health professionals need to make a definite stand against all bed sharing, especially for babies under 3 months."
The authors state that babies can still be brought into the parents' bed for comfort and feeding during the night, but that they should be placed in a cot next to the parents' bed to sleep.
Kudos to Apple's finance lawyers, who are the Cirque Du Soleil of legal contortionism. On the eve of live testimony from CEO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and Phillip Bullock, head of Apple's tax operations, a scathing congressional investigation of Apple's tax dodging strategy reveals how the computer giant avoided $13.8 billion in taxes through a clever labyrinth of offshore tax havens, shell corporations, and paper shuffling.
Planting a new tree in your yard is half the work. The other half is ensuring that it grows and thrives where you planted it. That?s a task that won?t ever be completed as trees need regular maintenance including pruning and watering.
Cooperative Extension Service
Your nursery and your state?s cooperative extension service are excellent places to turn for information on how to maintain your newly planted tree. The first source sold you the tree and can advise you on its care. The second source can do likewise with both imparting care information that can help your tree not just survive, but thrive.
1. Water on schedule. New trees require regular watering as the root system must be given time to develop and spread. Figure that for the first two to three years following planting you will need to provide water, ensuring that the soil around the tree is moist, but not soaked through. Local soil conditions are a factor too as clay and silt surfaces need less water while sandy soil will require more.
2. Provide mulch. You have seen your neighbor apply mulch early every spring and building it up to a thick layer around the tree. There is a problem with this approach: too much mulch and too often. Mulch helps restrict grass and weed growth, and can help your trees avoid damage from your lawn mower or weed whacker. Remove the mulch every other year and replenish it with a three-inch layer.
3. Prune with care. Give your tree time to grow before bringing out the pruners and then prune with extreme care. You can remove dead or broken branches at any time, but otherwise allow your tree to become established before pruning. If you want to shape a shade tree, remove the lowest branches to encourage growth.
4. Remove assisting devices. Young trees are usually planted with wires and ties in place. As soon as possible remove these to help your tree stand on its own. Typically, three months after a tree has been planted, your tree should be able to stand erect. If upon removing a stake it leans over, then restake it and wait a few more months. You can also put in place a protective barrier to ring the tree in an effort to protect its trunk from lawn equipment and other hazards.
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5. Apply fertilizer and keep an eye out for pests. Homeowners may choose to fertilize a tree in a bid to increase its growth rate. Normally, fertilizer is not necessary as the tree gets enough nutrients from the surrounding soil. Check with your cooperative extension system office to determine how to fertilize and what to use. Learn how to apply nitrogen to encourage growth. You can also consult with your garden center or extension service for the best approach for handling pests.
Tree Considerations
The first two years of tree growth are the most intensive in its management. You will still need to employ regular maintenance and take a proactive approach to handling potential problems. With regular care your tree should provide the beauty that you want and even increase your home?s value while keeping it cool on those sultry summer days.
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The popularization of the language problem in kindergartens two weeks before the elections and without attracting experts is merely a political game, Reform Party believes (RP).
The matter of language use at kindergartens is mentioned now only because municipal elections will be held in two weeks. This creates tension within society. Only two political powers benefit from it ? the National Alliance and Harmony Centre, says RP Saeima faction?s press secretary Kaspars Odins.
Language education at kindergartens is, primarily, within the competency of experts and parents, the party believes.
On Monday, May 20, during the Coalition Parties Cooperation Council meeting, RP noted that the bill intended to amend the Education Law should first be presented to experts and responsible institutions for review.
?We expect our partners to show a responsible approach in the general legislation process as a whole and this specific matter. We have previously noted that the opinion of the ombudsman and international human rights experts is important not just in regard to limiting the authority of criminally prosecuted deputies?, ? RP Saeima faction?s chairman Edmunds Demiters comments.
According to him, RP requests first getting the opinions of the ombudsman and children?s rights specialists, psychologists and human rights experts on the proposed amendments. It is also necessary to acquire the conclusions of the Education and Science Ministry.
?It is vital to also secure the opinions of different municipalities as well, because they are the one that found pre-school education institutions and provide them with funding?, ? Demiters said.
It will be possible to look into this matter in detail once the conclusions of all aforementioned experts and institution are received, the party representative said.
On Wednesday, May 22, coalition partners will be discussing the initiative of the National Alliance to have pre-school education facilities switch to Latvian language only education.
It should be added that the new Education Minister Vyacheslav Dombrovskis believes that all residents of Latvia, regardless of their ethnicity, are required to know Latvian language. This is why the ministry is working on increasing the teaching of Latvian language at kindergartens of national minorities, LETA reports.
?At the same time, I am certain that multilingualism is Latvia?s national treasure. The more languages Latvian residents know, the larger the country?s economic competitiveness is?, ? the minister says.
After announcing its deal to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion, mostly in cash, Yahoo today started to lay out some of the details for how it intends to make use of the property while trying to stick to its promise "not to screw it up." Expect more advertising by next year as well as more Tumblr content on Yahoo properties, but more of a cautious step as to how Yahoo will deal with some of Tumblr's more NSFW content.
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis warned the Catholic Church to not close in on itself at a Mass to mark Pentecost Sunday attended by more than 200,000 people, urging the faithful to be open and present in a new and changing world.
The Church should ask itself daily whether it is resisting new challenges and remaining "barricaded in transient structures which have lost their capacity for openness to what is new," he said.
"Newness always makes us a bit fearful, because we feel more secure if we have everything under control," Francis said in his homily in front of a packed St. Peter's Square, adding that change can bring fulfillment.
The Pentecost Mass marks the day the Church says the Holy Spirit descended on Christ's apostles, or disciples, and is regarded as the birthday of the Church.
Francis warned of the threat of an institution which is "self-referential, closed in on herself," and spoke of the courage to "take to the streets of the world" and reach "the very outskirts of existence".
Later he toured the square in an open-top white vehicle, greeting cheering crowds and kissing young children.
Since his election in March as the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, Francis has been urging Church leaders to go out into their communities and help the poor and suffering, rather than focusing on internal politics.
Morale among the faithful has been hit by a widespread child sex abuse scandal involving Catholic priests and in-fighting and careerism in the Church government or curia.
The 76-year-old former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires has given clear signs he will bring a new broom to the papacy, favoring humility and simplicity over pomp and grandeur.
He has set up an advisory board of cardinals from around the world to help him reform a Vatican administration which has been held responsible for some of the mishaps and scandals that plagued the eight-year reign of his predecessor Benedict.
At a vigil on Saturday evening, Francis said Catholics must become courageous and seek out the people who need help the most rather than sitting around, dissecting theology.
(Reporting by Catherine Hornby; Editing by Jon Hemming)
Meeting the Dalai Lama can have sharp diplomatic and economic consequences with Beijing, as Britain's Prime Minister Cameron, who wants to lead a trade mission to China, has found out.
By Peter Ford,?Staff writer / May 13, 2013
The Dalai Lama answers questions during His Holiness the Dalai Lama Environmental Summit on "Universal Responsibility and the Global Environment" at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Saturday, May 11, 2013 in Portland, Ore.
Motoya Nakamura, The Oregonian/AP
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Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, has never had very good relations with the Chinese government. But now his personal envoy to Beijing is offering to help another British leader who seems to be even more firmly in the Chinese doghouse ? Prime Minister David Cameron.
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Peter Ford is The Christian Science Monitor?s Beijing Bureau Chief. He covers news and features throughout China and also makes reporting trips to Japan and the Korean peninsula.
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Mr. Cameron, who would dearly like to head a trade and investment mission to China, incurred Beijing?s wrath last May by meeting the Dalai Lama. The fact that it was a private meeting, on sacred ground in St. Paul?s cathedral, makes no difference. He will be persona non grata until he apologizes.
That status can be costly: A 2010 study by academics at the University of Gottingen in Germany found that countries whose top leadership received the Dalai Lama lost an average of 8.1 percent of their exports to China over the following two years, though the effect wore off after that punishment period.
Enter Sir David Tang, Hong Kong fashion tycoon and flamboyant London socialite, who also heads Prince Charles?s charitable foundation in Beijing. He told the Daily Telegraph?s gossip columnist over the weekend that he is ready to help defrost London?s diplomatic relations with Beijing.
?Look at the Prince of Wales,? he told the paper. ?He?s now very engaged with lots of Chinese people.?
?Twas not ever thus. The Prince?s stock here hit rock bottom in 2005 when somebody leaked the private diary he had kept in 1997, when he represented the Queen at the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. He famously described the assembly of top Chinese leaders at the ceremony as ?appalling old waxworks.?
In 2009, however, Prince Charles opened a Chinese branch of his international foundation, funding projects that build sustainable communities. That has helped, but he has still never visited mainland China.
Charles himself is close to the Dalai Lama, which makes him a suspicious character in Beijing?s eyes. The Chinese authorities go to extraordinary lengths to persuade foreign leaders not to meet the Tibetan leader, whom they accuse of being an anti-Chinese? ?splittist,? and when those leaders fail they grow very angry.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy?was subjected to such anger when he met the Dalai Lama.?
France emerged from such a period of diplomatic and trade punishment in 2009, only after it signed a joint statement with China clarifying that Paris ?fully appreciates the importance and sensitivity of the Tibet issue and reaffirms ? that Tibet is an integral part of Chinese territory.?
Since the Dalai Lama himself has also said, repeatedly, that Tibet is part of Chinese territory, and that he does not seek independence, French diplomats could argue that they were not conceding anything. But the symbolism of the statement was clear.
London appears to have escaped the export boycott: A British government spokesman pointed out that UK exports to China had climbed by 13.4 percent last year.
He also defended Cameron?s right to choose who he meets in private regardless of China?s feelings on the matter. ?It is entirely reasonable for the prime minister to decide who he meets,? the spokesman said.?
But no sooner had the queen finished her speech opening Parliament last Wednesday, than Cameron was offering olive branches to Beijing. A senior member of the ruling Conservative Party lobbed the prime minister a clearly pre-arranged question about Sino-British relations; Cameron lost no time in reassuring Parliament, and Beijing, of course, that ?we recognize Tibet as part of China. We do not support Tibetan independence and we respect China?s sovereignty.
?We do want to have a strong and positive relationship with China,? he stressed.
It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to placate Beijing.?
BAGHDAD (AP) ? A string of car bombs and shootings tore through Shiite and Sunni areas of Iraq on Monday, killing at least 57 people and escalating fears of a return to widespread sectarian bloodletting, officials said
The attacks, some of which hit market places and crowded bus stops during the busy morning hours, are the latest in a recent spike in violence in Iraq that has targeted both Sunni and Shiite civilians and pushed the death toll over the past week to more than 200 people. The scenes have been reminiscent of the retaliatory attacks between the two groups that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006-2007.
Tensions have been worsening since Iraq's minority Sunnis began protesting what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government. The mass demonstrations, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23.
Iraq's Shiite majority, which was oppressed under Saddam Hussein, now controls the levers of power in the country. Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to open warfare, they have largely restrained their militias over the past five years or so as Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaida have targeted them with occasional large-scale attacks.
But the renewed violence in both Shiite and Sunni areas since late last month has fueled concerns of a return to sectarian warfare.
The worst of Monday's violence took place in Baghdad, where nine car bombs ripped through open-air markets and other areas of Shiite neighborhoods, killing at least 33 people and wounding nearly 130, police officials said.
The surge in bloodshed has exasperated Iraqis, who have lived for years with the fear and uncertainty bred of random violence.
"How long do we have to continue living like this, with all the lies from the government?" asked 23-year-old Baghdad resident Malik Ibrahim. "Whenever they say they have reached a solution, the bombings come back stronger than before."
"We're fed up with them and we can't tolerate this anymore," he added.
The predominantly Shiite city of Basra in southern Iraq was also hit Monday, with two car bombs there ? one outside a restaurant and another at the city's main bus station ? killing at least 13 and wounded 40, according to provincial police spokesman Col. Abdul-Karim al-Zaidi and the head of city's health directorate, Riadh Abdul-Amir.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but such large-scale bombings bear the hallmarks of al-Qaida in Iraq.
The violence also struck Sunni areas, hitting the city of Samarra north of Baghdad and the western province of Anbar, a Sunni stronghold.
A parked car bomb in Samarra went off near a gathering of pro-government Sunni militia who were waiting outside a military base to receive salaries, killing three and wounding 13, while in Anbar gunmen ambushed two police patrols near the town of Haditha, killing eight policemen, police and army officials said.
Also in Anbar, authorities found 13 dead bodies in a remote desert area, officials said. The bodies, which included eight policemen who were kidnapped by gunmen on Friday, had been killed with a gunshot to the head.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
___
Associated Press writer Nabil Al-Jurani in Basra contributed to this report.
This week on TechCrunch TV's Ask A VC show, we have Mayfield Fund's Managing Director Navin Chaddha in the studio. As you may remember, you can submit questions for our guests either in the comments or here and we?ll ask them during the show.
BEIRUT (AP) ? An international aid organization is appealing for more funds to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, saying warmer weather will increase health risks due to lack of shelter, water and basic sanitation.
Oxfam says it needs $53 million dollars to improve access to water and proper sanitation for Syrian refugees. So far the aid group has received $10.6 million dollars.
The Britain-based group said in a statement Monday that diarrhea and skin infections have already been noted among refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The two countries host the bulk of 1.5 million Syrians who have fled the civil war at home, seeking shelter in neighboring countries.
Oxfam says it needs the funds quickly as temperatures are expected to soar in the region in the coming weeks.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) ? The NHL fined the San Jose Sharks $100,000 on Saturday for general manager Doug Wilson's public comments about forward Raffi Torres' suspension.
The NHL said the fine was issued for violation of rules prohibiting formal team statements to the media during the 48-hour period following a disciplinary decision. The rule calls for an automatic $25,000 fine, and the Sharks were docked an additional $75,000 under an article in the league's constitution because of the "inappropriate nature of the comments."
Torres was suspended for the rest of San Jose's second-round playoff series against Los Angeles on Thursday for an illegal check to the head of Kings forward Jarret Stoll during Game 1. The Kings took a 2-0 lead into Game 3 on Saturday night in San Jose.
Wilson said Friday that the organization strongly disagreed with the NHL's decision to suspend Torres.
"It is abundantly clear that this was a clean hockey hit," Wilson said in a statement. "As noted by the NHL, Raffi's initial point of contact was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit on an opponent who was playing the puck. He did not leave his feet or elevate, he kept his shoulder tucked and elbow down at his side, and he was gliding ? not skating or charging."
It is the fourth career suspension for Torres, who is considered a repeat offender in dangerous hits under the league's collective bargaining agreement.
Stoll was bent forward while trying to play a bouncing puck when Torres approached him from the side for a violent hit in Game 1 on Tuesday night. Stoll's head snapped back violently before he fell forward onto the ice.
In an explanatory video released by Brendan Shanahan, the NHL's senior vice president of player safety, he said Stoll's head was "the principal point of contact" in the hit, creating grounds for suspension. Although Torres initially made contact with Stoll's right shoulder, Shanahan ruled that the shoulder hit was only a glancing blow, as evidenced by the direction both players traveled after the contact.
Wilson said the head must be targeted to violate Rule 48.1 and there is no evidence that Torres targeted Stoll's head. Wilson also said Stoll put himself in a vulnerable position just before the hit to play a bouncing puck.
"It appears that the NHL has not only made an inappropriate application of this rule but is trying to make an example out of a player who is being judged on past events, one who has changed his game dramatically this season and taken only six minor penalties in 39 games," Wilson said.
While playing for Phoenix last season, Torres received a 21-game suspension ? initially 25 games ? for a high hit on Chicago star Marian Hossa in the first round of the playoffs. Torres was suspended for two games in January 2012 for charging Minnesota defenseman Nate Prosser, and he sat out four games in April 2011 for a hit to the head of Edmonton's Jordan Eberle while playing for Vancouver.
Stoll missed Game 2 and there is no timetable for his return.
Kudos to Apple's finance lawyers, who are the Cirque Du Soleil of legal contortionism. On the eve of live testimony from CEO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and Phillip Bullock, head of Apple's tax operations, a 
The popularization of the language problem in kindergartens two weeks before the elections and without attracting experts is merely a political game, Reform Party believes (RP).
After 
This week on TechCrunch TV's Ask A VC show, we have Mayfield Fund's Managing Director