U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul leaves the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow, Russia, May 15 2013.
By Jim Maceda, Correspondent, NBC News
MOSCOW -- As fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden evaded capture in Hong Kong and fled to Moscow, disappearing in an airport transit lounge, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul was on the front lines of efforts to arrest him.
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According to multiple accounts, McFaul tirelessly worked the phones and social media, focusing pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to "do the right thing" and hand over the 29-year-old?former NSA-contractor. Putin ? typically defiant ? refused.
It was an odd, confrontational role for a diplomat ??but then again, McFaul isn't a typical one.
Ever since the former Stanford University academic and Russia expert arrived?? about a year and a half ago ??in the Spaso House, the traditional residence for U.S. ambassadors, McFaul has been a lightning rod for Russian anger against the West, and specifically, America.
McFaul, a laid-back, 49-year-old Californian as fluent in Los Angeles Lakers basketball as he is in strategic nuclear arms, likes to say he is "no Cold War soldier."
But he hadn't even unpacked his bags when Russia?s main, Kremlin-controlled TV station Channel One ran a lead story about a group of opposition leaders lining up outside Spaso to meet the man who wrote a book titled "Russia?s Unfinished Revolution."
The reporter suggested McFaul had been appointed by President Barack Obama to finish that business.
McFaul has taken it all in stride: the angry chants of "Down with the U.S. Embassy" at pro-Putin demonstrations; the growing anti-Americanism of Putin?s third term as president; his crackdown on U.S. institutions like USAID and Voice of America; the evisceration of the anti-Putin movement and the jailing of its key leaders.
Recently, there has also been a?tit-for-tat over human rights, with Russians accused of abuses being banned from travel to the United States and Americans prohibited by the Kremlin from adopting Russian children.
Above it all is Russia?s military and financial support for Syrian strongman President Bashar Assad.
But, while many in the Obama administration have been criticized for doing little in the face of Putin?s surge, McFaul has turned into a prodigious blogger and tweeter, slowly winning over the hearts and minds of young Russians with his jovial chatter ??he often tweets in Russian.
For example, the tweet below in Russian says: "President Putin on Snowden: 'the faster he chooses the final destination point, the better it will be for us and for him.'"
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At the same time, McFaul also knows how to pick his fights. When a group of so-called "private security" agents raided the offices of the non-governmental organization For Human Rights and forcibly evicted 71-year-old activist Lev Ponomaryov, leaving him covered in cuts and bruises, McFaul took to Twitter and called the move "another case of intimidation of civil society."
The Putin regime has responded in kind. In May, just as the U.S. ambassador had launched the#AskMcFaul hashtag, a question-and-answer session on Twitter, he was bombarded with questions -- too many to be unplanned -- about the news that Russian authorities had detained a U.S. Embassy employee named Ryan Christopher Fogle.
Fogle allegedly tried to recruit a Russian intelligence agent for the CIA. McFaul managed to ignore the online harassment and focus for a full hour on the positive: good cooperation in law enforcement; the "reset" in U.S.-Russia relations; and his love of the opera. Fogle was later released.
And, this week, even as his boss, Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, was named point man for U.S. efforts to arrest Snowden, McFaul has unleashed his rapid-fire tweeting during the latest stand-off over Snowden?s fate. ?
Reacting to Putin?s claim that he couldn't extradite the American because there was no such treaty between the United States and Russia, McFaul fired off this reminder: "Over last 5 yrs US has returned 1,700 Russian citizens to Russia w/ 500+ of them being criminal deportations" ??a?shrewd talking point followed by more chatter about basketball.
In the end, Snowden may well escape, finding asylum in Ecuador or elsewhere. But it won?t be for lack of effort from America?s unlikely man in Moscow, battling ??and taking the knocks ??from behind the scenes.
Jim Maceda is an NBC News correspondent based in London, currently on assignment in Moscow.?
Russian authorities have ordered a six-month suspension for the independent election monitoring group Golos, the first of dozens of "political" nongovernmental organizations to be cited for refusing to register as "foreign agents" under a new law.
A statement by the Ministry of Justice Wednesday says the group's six-month shutdown applies to all activities, and if it does not register within that period it will proceed to the next step, which involves criminal penalties and permanent closure.
"Under the federal law on NGOs, an organization acting as a foreign agent whose operations have been suspended also faces the suspension of its rights as a founder of mass media sources. It is also banned from holding rallies or public events and from using bank accounts except for payments pertaining to economic operation, work compensation, damages, taxes, duties and fines," the statement says.
RECOMMENDED: Do you know anything about Russia? A quiz.
Golos was the first NGO to be prosecuted under the law, which prescribes an escalating sequence of fines followed by forced closure for groups that receive any degree of foreign funding and that refuse to don the "foreign agent" label ? which, critics say, is effectively a poison pill that implies "spy" and nothing else in the Russian language.
Lined up behind Golos, there are currently over 60 NGOs at various stages along the route to mandatory closure if they continue to reject the self-incriminating "foreign agent" registration.
The pro-Kremlin parliamentarians who drafted the law a year ago explicitly targeted Golos, and a few other groups, which they claimed were deceiving the Russian public by working on behalf of foreign interests under the guise of legitimate civil-society activity.
But activists argue the explanation for putting Golos at the head of the list is simpler: It was some 50,000 citizen election monitors, trained by Golos, who collected overwhelming evidence of mass electoral fraud in December 2011 polls ? which elected the current State Duma ? and in taking aim at the group the pro-Kremlin majority is seeking both revenge and the destruction of Russia's best organized grassroots machine for exposing electoral fraud in the future.
Activists with Golos say they are considering various response strategies, among which is a risky plan to officially disband the organization and recreate it under a new name.
"We are working on what to do," says Grigory Melkonyants, deputy director of Golos.
"We realize that just paying the fines that have been levied on us won't stop the authorities from closing down Golos and prosecuting its leaders. We are suing the prosecutor's office and the Justice Ministry, and we will take that all the way to the Constitutional Court if necessary. We're going to launch an appeal to the European Court," he says.
"But there is no doubt that the closure of Golos is a signal to the whole NGO community. The goal is to scare them," and make them stop any activities that irritate the authorities, in Moscow and around the country, he says.
So far no leading organization has agreed to wear the "foreign agent" badge, which all say would discredit them with the public and close the doors of officialdom to any kind of interaction ? which is the raison d'?tre of most civil society groups.
Among the NGOs on the list and facing suspension in coming weeks are some obvious Kremlin irritants, such as Russia's largest human rights organization Memorial; the Russian branch of the global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International; the legal activist group Lawyers for Constitutional Rights and Freedoms, JURIX; the Nizhni Novgorod-based Interregional Committee Against Torture, which deals mainly with allegations of police brutality; and the Goldman Prize-winning Baikal Environmental Wave, one of the country's most effective grassroots ecological groups.
But it's harder to explain why some completely non-political groups also seem to find themselves in the authorities' sights. These include the St. Petersburg Side-by-Side LGBT film festival; the Yaroslavl Regional Hunters and Fishermen Society; the Saratov-based Center For Social Policy and Gender Studies; the Kostroma branch of the Soldiers' Mothers, a group that has been praised both in Russia and abroad for its work on the painful issues of conscription and military reform; and the country's only independent pollster, the Levada Center.
"This campaign against NGOs is sadly predictable, and its effects are probably irreversible," says Dmitry Oreshkin, head of the Mercator Group, an independent Moscow-based media consultancy.
"The authorities are aiming to discredit, frighten, destroy, and compel obedience from all far-flung sectors of society," he says.
But the net effect of the campaign will be to build up anger and resentment in the public, and remove the very civil society groups that should be dealing with problems at the grassroots level and mediating between authorities and society, he adds.
Mr. Melkonyants says a lot of social progress that's taken place in Russia since the USSR collapsed 22 years ago is being undone in a fit of bureaucratic pique.
"The worst thing here is that the state is driving a wedge between NGOs and society, and trying to convince the public that groups like ours are evil, the devil incarnate," he says. "Many Russian NGOs have worked for dozens of years to gain public trust, and now it's being swept away in a wave of official disinformation. They are making people look at us with suspicion, as though we are Western mercenaries."
RECOMMENDED: Do you know anything about Russia? A quiz.
SANFORD, Fla. (AP) ? A friend of Trayvon Martin's who was on the phone with him shortly before his fatal fight with George Zimmerman testified Thursday that she thought the encounter was racially charged.
Rachel Jeantel testified for the second day in a row, saying she thought race was an issue because Martin told her he was being followed by a white man.
"He was being followed," Jeantel said.
Her answer came in response to questioning from defense attorney Don West about why she had given differing accounts about what she had heard over the phone when Martin first encountered Zimmerman on a rainy night on Feb. 26, 2012, at the Retreat at Twin Lakes townhome complex.
West suggested in his cross-examination that 18-year-old Jeantel had raised the racial issue in some accounts but not others. In some accounts, West implied, Jeantel said Zimmerman responded one way when he first encountered Martin, but in other accounts she said he responded another way. Jeantel gave her version of events in a deposition, in a letter to Martin's mother and in a recorded interview with an attorney for the Martin family.
Jeantel is one of the prosecution's most important witnesses because she bolsters the contention that Zimmerman was the aggressor. She was on the phone with Martin moments before he was fatally shot.
Jeantel testified Wednesday that her friend's last words were "Get off! Get off!" before the phone went silent. But on Thursday, under cross-examination, she conceded that she hadn't mentioned that in her account of what happened to Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton.
Jeantel recounted to jurors on Wednesday how Martin told her he was being followed by a man as he walked through the Retreat at Twin Lakes townhome complex on his way back from a convenience store to the home of his father's fiancee.
She testified that Martin described the man following him as "a creepy-ass cracker" and that he thought he had evaded him. But she said Martin told her a short time later the man was still behind him, and she told him to run.
Martin said Zimmerman was behind him and she heard Martin ask: "What are you following me for?"
In one account, according to West, she said Zimmerman responds, "What are you doing around here?" In another account, according to West, she says Zimmerman said, "What are you talking about?"
She then heard what sounded like Martin's phone earpiece dropping into wet grass, and she heard him say, "Get off! Get off!" The phone then went dead, she said.
Later, she bristled and teared up when West asked her why she didn't attend Martin's funeral and about lying about her age. She initially told Martin's parents she was a minor when she was 18. She said she didn't want to get involved in the case.
The exchanges also turned testy, including one moment when she urged West to move on to his next question: "You can go. You can go." And she gave him what seemed like a dirty look as he walked away after he had approached her on the stand to challenge her on differences between an initial interview she gave to Martin family attorney, Benjamin Crump, and a later deposition with the defense. Jeantel explained it by saying she "rushed" the interview with Crump because she didn't feel comfortable doing it.
And when the judge asked if both sides wanted to break for the day, prosecutors said they'd like to continue, believing the testimony could take another two hours, to which Jeantel reacted with surprise, repeating, "Two hours?" Instead, the judge decided to continue the cross examination Thursday, carefully instructing Jeantel to return at 9 a.m. and not discuss her testimony with anyone.
Jeantel's testimony was more subdued on Thursday and West took note of her calmer demeanor.
Zimmerman, 29, could get life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. Zimmerman followed Martin in his truck and called a police dispatch number before he and the teen got into a fight.
Zimmerman has said he opened fire only after the teenager jumped him and began slamming his head against the concrete sidewalk. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic and has denied the confrontation had anything to do with race, as Martin's family and their supporters have claimed.
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Polymer coatings a key step toward oral delivery of protein-based drugsPublic release date: 27-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Orenstein david_orenstein@brown.edu 401-863-1862 Brown University
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] For protein-based drugs such as insulin to be taken orally rather than injected, bioengineers need to find a way to shuttle them safely through the stomach to the small intestine where they can be absorbed and distributed by the bloodstream. Progress has been slow, but in a new study, researchers report an important technological advance: They show that a "bioadhesive" coating significantly increased the intestinal uptake of polymer nanoparticles in rats and that the nanoparticles were delivered to tissues around the body in a way that could potentially be controlled.
"The results of these studies provide strong support for the use of bioadhesive polymers to enhance nano- and microparticle uptake from the small intestine for oral drug delivery," wrote the researchers in the Journal of Controlled Release, led by corresponding author Edith Mathiowitz, professor of medical science at Brown University.
Mathiowitz, who teaches in Brown's Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biotechnology, has been working for more than a decade to develop bioadhesive coatings that can get nanoparticles to stick to the mucosal lining of the intestine so that they will be taken up into its epithelial cells and transferred into the bloodstream. The idea is that protein-based medicines would be carried in the nanoparticles.
In the new study, which appeared online June 21, Mathiowitz put one of her most promising coatings, a chemical called PBMAD, to the test both on the lab bench and in animal models. Mathiowitz and her colleagues have applied for a patent related to the work, which would be assigned to Brown University.
In prior experiments, Mathiowitz and her group have shown not only that PBMAD has bioadhesive properties, but also that it withstands the acidic environment of the stomach and then dissolves in the higher pH of the small intestine.
Adhere, absorb, arrive
The newly published results focused on the question of how many particles, whether coated with PBMAD or not, would be taken up by the intestine and distributed to tissues. For easier tracking throughout the body, Mathiowitz's team purposely used experimental and control particles made of materials that the body would not break down. Because they were "non-erodible" the particles did not carry any medicine.
The researchers used particles about 500 nanometers in diameter made of two different materials: polystyrene, which adheres pretty well to the intestine's mucosal lining, and another plastic called PMMA, that does not. They coated some of the PMMA particles in PBMAD, to see if the bioadhesive coating could get PMMA particles to stick more reliably to the intestine and then get absorbed.
First the team, including authors Joshua Reineke of Wayne State University and Daniel Cho of Brown, performed basic benchtop tests to see how well each kind of particles adhered. The PBMAD-coated particles proved to have the strongest stickiness to intestinal tissue, binding more than twice as strongly as the uncoated PMMA particles and about 1.5 times as strongly as the polystyrene particles.
The main experiment, however, involved injecting doses of the different particles into the intestines of rats to see whether they would be absorbed and where those that were taken up could be found five hours later. Some rats got a dose of the polystyrene particles, some got the uncoated PMMA and some got the PBMAD-coated PMMA particles.
Measurements showed that the rats absorbed 66.9 percent of the PBMAD-coated particles, 45.8 percent of the polystyrene particles and only 1.9 percent of the uncoated PMMA partcles.
Meanwhile, the different particles had very different distribution profiles around the body. More than 80 percent of the polystyrene particles that were absorbed went to the liver and another 10 percent went to the kidneys. The PMMA particles, coated or not, found their way to a much wider variety of tissues, although in different distributions. For example, the PBMAD-coated particles were much more likely to reach the heart, while the uncoated ones were much more likely to reach the brain.
Pharmaceutical potential
The apparent fact that the differing surface properties of the similarly sized particles had such distinct distributions in the rats' tissues after the same five-hour period suggests that scientists could learn to tune particles to reach specific parts of the body, essentially targeting doses of medicines taken orally, Mathiowitz said.
"The distribution in the body can be somehow controlled with the type of polymer that you use," she said.
For now, she and her group have been working hard to determine the biophysics of how the PBMAD-coated particles are taken up by the intestines. More work also needs to be done, for instance to demonstrate actual delivery of protein-based medicines in sufficient quantity to tissues where they are needed.
But Mathiowitz said the new results give her considerable confidence.
"What this means now is that if I coat bioerodible nanoparticles correctly, I can enhance their uptake," she said. "Bioerodible nanoparticles are what we would ultimately like to use to deliver proteins. The question we address in this paper is how much can we deliver. The numbers we saw make the goal more feasible."
Another frontier for the delivery of nanoparticles is devising a safe method to make nanoparticles, Mathiowitz said, but, "we have already developed safe and reproducible methods to encapsulate proteins in tiny nanoparticles without compromising their biological activity."
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In addition to Reineke, Cho, and Mathiowitz, other authors on the paper are Yu-Ting Liu Dingle, Stacia Furtado, Bryan Laulicht, Danya Lavin, and Peter M. Cheifetz, all of Brown University during the research.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Polymer coatings a key step toward oral delivery of protein-based drugsPublic release date: 27-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Orenstein david_orenstein@brown.edu 401-863-1862 Brown University
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] For protein-based drugs such as insulin to be taken orally rather than injected, bioengineers need to find a way to shuttle them safely through the stomach to the small intestine where they can be absorbed and distributed by the bloodstream. Progress has been slow, but in a new study, researchers report an important technological advance: They show that a "bioadhesive" coating significantly increased the intestinal uptake of polymer nanoparticles in rats and that the nanoparticles were delivered to tissues around the body in a way that could potentially be controlled.
"The results of these studies provide strong support for the use of bioadhesive polymers to enhance nano- and microparticle uptake from the small intestine for oral drug delivery," wrote the researchers in the Journal of Controlled Release, led by corresponding author Edith Mathiowitz, professor of medical science at Brown University.
Mathiowitz, who teaches in Brown's Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biotechnology, has been working for more than a decade to develop bioadhesive coatings that can get nanoparticles to stick to the mucosal lining of the intestine so that they will be taken up into its epithelial cells and transferred into the bloodstream. The idea is that protein-based medicines would be carried in the nanoparticles.
In the new study, which appeared online June 21, Mathiowitz put one of her most promising coatings, a chemical called PBMAD, to the test both on the lab bench and in animal models. Mathiowitz and her colleagues have applied for a patent related to the work, which would be assigned to Brown University.
In prior experiments, Mathiowitz and her group have shown not only that PBMAD has bioadhesive properties, but also that it withstands the acidic environment of the stomach and then dissolves in the higher pH of the small intestine.
Adhere, absorb, arrive
The newly published results focused on the question of how many particles, whether coated with PBMAD or not, would be taken up by the intestine and distributed to tissues. For easier tracking throughout the body, Mathiowitz's team purposely used experimental and control particles made of materials that the body would not break down. Because they were "non-erodible" the particles did not carry any medicine.
The researchers used particles about 500 nanometers in diameter made of two different materials: polystyrene, which adheres pretty well to the intestine's mucosal lining, and another plastic called PMMA, that does not. They coated some of the PMMA particles in PBMAD, to see if the bioadhesive coating could get PMMA particles to stick more reliably to the intestine and then get absorbed.
First the team, including authors Joshua Reineke of Wayne State University and Daniel Cho of Brown, performed basic benchtop tests to see how well each kind of particles adhered. The PBMAD-coated particles proved to have the strongest stickiness to intestinal tissue, binding more than twice as strongly as the uncoated PMMA particles and about 1.5 times as strongly as the polystyrene particles.
The main experiment, however, involved injecting doses of the different particles into the intestines of rats to see whether they would be absorbed and where those that were taken up could be found five hours later. Some rats got a dose of the polystyrene particles, some got the uncoated PMMA and some got the PBMAD-coated PMMA particles.
Measurements showed that the rats absorbed 66.9 percent of the PBMAD-coated particles, 45.8 percent of the polystyrene particles and only 1.9 percent of the uncoated PMMA partcles.
Meanwhile, the different particles had very different distribution profiles around the body. More than 80 percent of the polystyrene particles that were absorbed went to the liver and another 10 percent went to the kidneys. The PMMA particles, coated or not, found their way to a much wider variety of tissues, although in different distributions. For example, the PBMAD-coated particles were much more likely to reach the heart, while the uncoated ones were much more likely to reach the brain.
Pharmaceutical potential
The apparent fact that the differing surface properties of the similarly sized particles had such distinct distributions in the rats' tissues after the same five-hour period suggests that scientists could learn to tune particles to reach specific parts of the body, essentially targeting doses of medicines taken orally, Mathiowitz said.
"The distribution in the body can be somehow controlled with the type of polymer that you use," she said.
For now, she and her group have been working hard to determine the biophysics of how the PBMAD-coated particles are taken up by the intestines. More work also needs to be done, for instance to demonstrate actual delivery of protein-based medicines in sufficient quantity to tissues where they are needed.
But Mathiowitz said the new results give her considerable confidence.
"What this means now is that if I coat bioerodible nanoparticles correctly, I can enhance their uptake," she said. "Bioerodible nanoparticles are what we would ultimately like to use to deliver proteins. The question we address in this paper is how much can we deliver. The numbers we saw make the goal more feasible."
Another frontier for the delivery of nanoparticles is devising a safe method to make nanoparticles, Mathiowitz said, but, "we have already developed safe and reproducible methods to encapsulate proteins in tiny nanoparticles without compromising their biological activity."
###
In addition to Reineke, Cho, and Mathiowitz, other authors on the paper are Yu-Ting Liu Dingle, Stacia Furtado, Bryan Laulicht, Danya Lavin, and Peter M. Cheifetz, all of Brown University during the research.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government slashed its estimate for first-quarter economic growth on Wednesday, offering a cautionary note on the recovery as the Federal Reserve ponders curtailing its monetary stimulus.
Gross domestic product expanded at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the quarter, the Commerce Department said in its final estimate. The economy was previously reported to have grown at a 2.4 percent pace after a near stall-speed advance of 0.4 percent in the final three months of last year.
Details of the report showed downward revisions to almost all growth categories, with the exception of home construction and government. The biggest surprise came in consumer spending, which grew at a 2.6 percent pace, not the 3.4 percent rate previously estimated.
Economists cautioned against reading too much into the data given its backward-looking nature.
"We ended the quarter and started the year much weaker than previously thought," said Millan Mulraine, senior economist at TD Securities in New York.
"That said we still have a fairly constructive outlook. If you look at the confidence numbers, that suggests that we might be in for a fairly decent rebound in spending activity, maybe not this quarter but certainly in the months ahead."
U.S. stocks opened higher, although the data limited the gains, while prices for longer-dated U.S. government bonds rallied, with the 30-year bond rising a full point. The dollar was up modestly against a basket of currencies.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected first-quarter GDP growth would be left unrevised at 2.4 percent. When measured from the income side, the economy grew at a 2.5 percent rate, slower than the fourth-quarter's brisk 5.5 percent pace.
The downward revision to consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, largely reflected weak outlays on health care services. Despite the downward revision, the pace of consumer spending picked up from the fourth quarter even as households faced higher taxes.
EXPORTS, BUSINESS INVESTMENT WEAK
Exports, previously reported to have grown, actually contracted at a 1.1 percent pace in the first quarter, cutting 0.15 percentage point from GDP growth. That likely reflects a slowdown in the global economy.
Business spending barely grew, with investment on nonresidential structures declining more sharply than previously reported. The drop in spending on nonresidential structures was the first in two years.
The pace of inventory accumulation was revised marginally down, adding more than half a percentage point to GDP growth. Excluding inventories, GDP grew at a 1.2 percent rate, the slowest in two years.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week that the economy appeared strong enough for the central bank to start scaling back on its bond-buying stimulus later this year. He said the program could likely come to a close by mid-2014.
Those comments sent stocks markets tumbling around the world and pushed yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note up to a near two-year high.
The run-up in bond yields lifted home mortgage rates to their highest level in nearly two years last week.
Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota said on Wednesday the magnitude of the run-up in bond yields was a surprise.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Tim Ahmann)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? After delays, Samsung Electronics Co. rolled out Thursday a curved TV that uses an advanced display called OLED.
The 55-inch TV will sell for 15 million won ($13,000) in South Korea, more than five times the cost of LCD televisions of the same size.
But Kim Hyunsuk, the executive vice president of Samsung's TV division, said the company is optimistic about demand for the high-end TV.
"OLED is about picture quality," Kim told reporters. "We are sure that we realized the perfect picture quality."
It remains to be seen if consumers will be willing to pay a premium for enhanced imagery. The TV industry has been struggling to excite interest with its latest technologies. In recent years, attempts to boost sales by introducing 3-D TVs and TVs that are connected to the Internet have failed to end the downturn in the TV industry.
Samsung is not the first to introduce a curved TV using OLED. In May, its rival LG Electronics Inc., the second-biggest TV maker, launched a 55-inch curved TV in South Korea.
LG's model, which also sells for 15 million won, is not sold outside South Korea.
LG spokesman Kenneth Hong said the company will ship curved OLED TVs to other countries in the near future.
Samsung will ship its curved OLED TVs to overseas markets starting July, Kim said. The company does not plan to manufacture flat OLED TVs this year, he said.
The concave display gives viewers a sense of being immersed in the images, according to Samsung.
Samsung and LG, which are the only TV makers in the world to begin commercial sales of OLED TVs, had promised to launch them in 2012 but delayed the launch to this year.
The two South Korean TV giants tout OLED, short for organic light-emitting diode, as the next-generation display technology that will eventually replace older displays. But mass producing OLED displays still faces many challenges, leading to high prices.
In addition to curved OLED TVs, Samsung launched two ultra-HD TVs, with about four times the resolution of regular high-definition TVs.
NEW YORK (AP) ? Judging by the television ratings, one place where chef Paula Deen is welcome is on the "Today" show.
The NBC morning show beat its rivals at ABC's "Good Morning America" with a Thursday episode that featured Matt Lauer's interview with the celebrity chef. Deen is trying to keep her career cooking following admissions that she had used a racial slur.
The Nielsen company says that "Today" had just under 4.8 million viewers on Thursday, while "GMA" had 4.63 million. It was the first time "Today" had a bigger audience since November during the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
On average, the ABC show beat "Today" by 900,000 viewers a day last week.
Sony's rumored to be unveiling two new point-and-shoots later this month, but a pair of leaked press shots at least spoil how both cameras are going to look. First up, the RX100MII, rumored to pack an updated 20-megapixel sensor and Zeiss lens as well as tilt-screen and WiFi connectivity, has a relatively simple face dominated by that aforementioned Carl Zeiss glass. Meanwhile, the RX1R, a refresh of Sony's full-frame RX1, arrives with a new focus settings dial and hot-shoe fitting all visible in its initial press shot reveal. We're sure Sony will fill us in on all the remaining details soon.
Today, The Guardian reported that the Obama administration has permitted the NSA to collect large amounts of Americans' online data -- including email records -- for more than two years. The government's metadata-collection program, first started during the Bush presidency, was discontinued in 2011, but it appears that information-monitoring processes have since been going strong.
This news comes courtesy of "secret documents" obtained by the publication, and the source indicates that the NSA specifically collected information involving "communications with at least one communicant outside the United States or for which no communicant was known to be a citizen of the United States," though the agency eventually received the green light to tap US residents as well.Earlierthis month, reports surfaced claiming the NSA has been snooping on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon customers, and this latest leak only confirms what many already suspected: that there's still plenty we don't know about the details -- and the extent of -- the government's surveillance activities.
SAO PAULO (AP) ? Protesters gathered for a new wave of massive demonstrations in Brazil on Thursday, extending the protests that have sent hundreds of thousands of people into the streets since last week to denounce poor public services and government corruption.
Police cordoned off Rio de Janeiro's iconic Maracana Stadium blocking access to protesters during the Spain-Tahiti Confederations Cup game. Only ticket-holders were allowed to enter.
The biggest of the more than 80 demonstrations was expected in Rio de Janeiro, where thousands of protesters waving flags and carrying banners demanding quality public services blocked several streets and avenues in a peaceful demonstration.
Thousands of people of all ages, many of them draped in flags or with stripes of Brazil's national green, yellow and blue painted onto their cheeks, gathered in front of the majestic domed Candelaria church in downtown Rio.
Several percussion groups pounded out Carnival rhythms and other groups chanted slogans targeting Rio's governor as the crowd thickened.
Vendors circulated among the mass, hawking popcorn, soft drinks, churros and even hot dogs grilled on the spot over smoldering charcoal. Men and women who make their living by collecting and selling recyclables darted about snatching up crumpled tin cans from under the protesters' feet. Groups of friends snapped pictures of one another striking poses with homemade signs.
Similar scenes were seen in Sao Paulo, Recife, Salvador and other cities where store and bank windows were boarded up in case the protests turned violent.
In the northeastern city of Salvador, police shot tear gas canisters and rubber bullets to disperse a small crowd of protesters trying to break through a police barrier blocking one of the city's streets. One woman was injured in her foot.
Elsewhere in Salvador some 5,000 protesters gathered in Campo Grand Square.
"We pay a lot of money in taxes, for electricity, for services, and we want to know where that money is," said Italo Santos, a 25-year old student as he walked with five friends toward the square.
Several city leaders have already accepted protester demands to revoke an increase in bus and subway fares and hope that anti-government anger cools.
In Sao Paulo, where demonstrators blocked Paulista Avenue, one of the city's main thoroughfares, organizers said they would turn their demonstration into a party celebrating the lower transit fares. But many believe the protests are no longer just about bus fares and have become a cry for systemic changes in a country that's otherwise seen a decade-long economic boom.
The U.S. Embassy in Brazil wasn't taking any chances: It warned its citizens to stay away from the flurry of protests nationwide.
"It's not really about the price anymore," said Camila Sena, an 18-year-old university student at a Wednesday protest in Rio de Janeiro's sister city of Niteroi. "People are so disgusted with the system, so fed up that now we're demanding change."
Sena added that seeing money poured into soccer stadiums for the current Confederations Cup and next year's World Cup only added fuel to people's anger.
"It's not that we're against the World Cup, not at all. It will bring good things for Brazil. It's just that we're against the corruption that the World Cup has become an excuse for," she said.
Mass protests are rare in this 190 million-person country, with demonstrations generally attracting small numbers of politicized participants.
Many now marching in Brazil's streets hail from the growing middle class, which government figures show has ballooned by some 40 million people over the past decade amid a commodities-driven boom.
While the complaints of protesters are wide-ranging, there have been few answers about how to turn the disgruntlement into a coherent list of demands for the government.
In announcing the reversal of the fare hike, Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad said it "will represent a big sacrifice and we will have to reduce investments in other areas." He didn't give details on where other cuts would occur.
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes also said his city's fare increase would be rescinded.
Despite that, scattered street demonstrations sprang up Wednesday in some parts of Brazil, including well into the night in Niteroi, as protesters continued to call for better public services in return for high taxes and rising prices.
About 200 people also blocked the Anchieta Highway that links Sao Paulo, the country's biggest city, and the port of Santos before heading to the industrial suburb of Sao Bernardo do Campo on Sao Paulo's outskirts. Another group of protesters later obstructed the highway again.
In the northeastern city of Fortaleza, 15,000 protesters clashed with police who kept them from reaching the Castelao stadium before Brazil's game with Mexico in the Confederations Cup.
"We are against a government that spends billions in stadiums while people are suffering across the country," said Natalia Querino, a 22-year-old student participating in the protest. "We want better education, more security and a better health system."
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Associated Press writers Ricardo Zuniga in Salvador, Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo, Marco Sibaja in Brasilia and Tales Azzoni in Fortaleza contributed to this report.
It's easy enough to describe the Galaxy S4 Zoom, since it's essentially a Galaxy S4 Mini with a 10x zoom lens stuck on the back. But that sort of summary doesn't do it justice. When you hold the phone-slash-camera and look at the optically stabilized image captured by its 16-megapixel, point-and-shoot grade sensor, you begin to realize that -- at least for those who do a lot of snapping and sending -- this combo of components holds some serious power.
Just like the first Galaxy Camera, it's all about fun and immediacy: the ability to edit, organize and share decent-quality images using Android apps and cellular data connectivity. The key advantages are that the GS4 Zoom can work as a regular phone for voice calls, and that it's just about portable enough to be used that way, whereas the Galaxy Camera was a lot bulkier. With these gains, the smaller zoom (10x instead of 21x) and lower-res screen (qHD instead of 720p) don't overly faze us, so long as the final selling price takes it all into account. Ultimately, our only hesitation is the impending arrival of the so-called Nokia EOS, likely due on July 11th, which takes a totally upside-down approach to smartphone photography and is likely to be much more pocketable as a result. Those are two devices we can't wait to put head-to-head, especially in terms of image quality, but our hands-on gallery (and impending video) might help to tide you over in the meantime.
Danielle Bradbery, seen here with "Voice" host Carson Daly, won the competition, but will she be a star?
?The Voice? host Carson Daly said he was ?feeling good? after the hit series crowned its fourth winner on Tuesday night.
?We got a young, great talent in Danielle Bradbery, who could really make a big change in music, and we're happy about it,? he told TODAY.com.
However, Daly said Bradbery's crowning is "bittersweet," since the 16-year-old is the show's first titleholder who wasn't a professional singer before the competition.
?Part of me says, ?Hey, it'd be nice if she had a little wear and tear on the tires? (because) I'm an old music guy,? Daly said. "But the other side is great potential. It's 2013. This is the new paradigm of the music business. Stars are launched from shows like this.?
The host and producer also addressed continuing criticism that ?The Voice? has yet to produce a winner ? or any artist ? who has gone on to make a major splash in the music industry, like ?American Idol? alums Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson have.
?It'd be naive to say we're not thinking about that,? Daly said. ?We'd like to have somebody that really pops in popular culture and makes it. (But) it's not the goal of the show. It doesn't drive the show. We're also on twice a year unlike other shows. We're putting on great television, great entertainment. That's half the battle.
?But the real question is, what do you think successful is?? he continued. ?Is someone successful when they sell a million records? Tell that to Norah Jones, who won a Grammy (but) who hasn't (sold that many records). There's different views of success. We think an artist can pop from ?The Voice? that's a great talent, that may not be commercially huge but is very successful.?
He?s says he's proud of the Emmy-nominated show he helped build just two years ago. ?Everybody's in it for the right reason. Nobody's just here to collect a paycheck. It's transparent, as a viewer when you watch the show," Daly said. "The minute we get a coach that's phoning it in, you'll know. What you see is what you get, and that's what America's loving. It'll be that way in season five, and we're looking forward to it.?
Daly will be guest-hosting TODAY all next week. ?The Voice? will begin its fifth season this fall.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Greece's borrowing costs have spiked to their highest level this year amid rising concerns over the future of the country's governing coalition.
The yield on the country's benchmark ten-year bond has spiked 0.80 percentage point Friday to 11.35 percent. That's the highest in 2013.
The latest pressure on the country comes after one of the junior partners in the coalition, the Democratic Left, rejected a compromise deal over last week's surprise decision by conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to close the public broadcaster. The other junior partner, socialist Pasok, accepted the deal.
The parties have been trying to cobble together a deal on the broadcaster after the high court ruled the decision to close it unlawful.
The conservatives and Pasok can govern together, but the majority would be small.
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Public release date: 27-Jun-2013
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