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US lawmakers blame China over maritime disputes

WASHINGTON (AP) ? U.S. lawmakers Wednesday accused China of bullying its neighbors to press territorial claims in the South China Sea but also raised questions about America's capacity to police the region.

Three congressional panels this week are scrutinizing what they consider to be the security threat posed by China and its human rights record.

With the presidential election two months away, Republican nominee Mitt Romney has accused President Barack Obama of being soft on China, particularly on trade issues, as he has tried to cultivate ties with the emerging superpower. But criticism dished out by members of the House Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday was directed squarely at Beijing.

The committee's Republican chairwoman, Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, said China was a "schoolyard bully towards its maritime neighbors" that aspired to be the dominant power in Asia, controlling vital sea lanes that could be used to choke off commerce and oil shipments. She said the U.S. would stand by its allies, the Philippines and Japan.

"Other global crises must not distract from our vital national interests in the South China Sea and the western Pacific," she told a hearing addressing the issue.

The committee's top Democrat, California Rep. Howard Berman, said the Obama administration has repeatedly made clear to Beijing that the U.S. will not allow China to assert hegemony over the region. He said the U.S. must continue to press China to resolve its claims peacefully.

China and five of its neighbors, including the Philippines and Vietnam, have overlapping claims to several small, but potentially energy-rich areas of the South China Sea that have become an increasing focus of bickering and confrontation. In July, China upped the ante when it created a city and military garrison on a remote island to strengthen its control over disputed islands.

The United States criticized that as undermining efforts to manage and resolve disputes through diplomacy. That angered China, which says it has no aggressive intent.

The U.S. says it does not take a position on the competing territorial claims, but has a national security interest in the maintenance of peace and stability in the region. On Tuesday it urged "cooler heads to prevail" in a separate island dispute between Japan and China in the East China Sea.

Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., questioned the ability of an indebted U.S. to sustain its military presence across the world, and suggested China was now "the toughest guy in the neighborhood" that would call the shots on policy there.

"At some point we better wake up and smell the coffee," Kelly said. "We have a diminished influence because we really don't have the ability at times to do what we say we are going to do."

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., said U.S. allies needed to bear more of the security burden, as during the Cold War against the Soviet Union.

"Those nations in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly those that have concerns with China's expansionary claims, ought to be devoting a reasonable portion of GDP to their own naval defense," he said.

On Thursday, the House Intelligence Committee will question executives of two major Chinese technology companies as it probes allegations that the firms' involvement in the U.S. market could pose a national security risk.

Also Wednesday, another House panel examined allegations of human organs of religious and political dissidents being harvested by Chinese authorities.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., alleged that kidneys, livers, lungs, hearts and corneas were taken from recently deceased prisoners and that China's military doctors also may be harvesting organs from live prisoners. He conceded that much of the evidence is circumstantial, but decried the harvesting as a "barbaric practice that must be stopped."

In an annual human rights review this year, the State Department cited reports of organ harvesting in China, particularly from practitioners of the banned religious sect, Falun Gong, and the Uighur ethnic minority.

Chinese state media have reported that two-thirds of transplant organs in China come from prisoners. In March, its health ministry said it planned to abolish organ harvesting of death-row inmates within the next five years.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-09-12-US-US-China-Congress/id-0c1c5978df744bcbb17842cca2f1e0da

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One man traveling cross-country using only bacon as barter

Josh Sankey is hoping America's love of bacon will pay for his cross-country journey (Twitter)America's love affair with bacon is being put to the test, with one man traveling across the U.S. using only bacon as money in exchange for food, gas and lodging.

"I need your help. I'm driving from NY to LA with no cash and no cards ? just a trailer full of Butcher Thick Cut Bacon to barter with you for food, lodging and everything else I need," actor Josh Sankey writes on his website. "It's all to find out if America loves this bacon as much as money!"

Still, there's one major caveat: actor Josh Sankey isn't just doing this on impulse. It's part of a coordinated effort by Oscar Mayer to promote their new line of bacon.

As part of the challenge, Sankey is required to travel across 12 U.S. cites, taking him from New York City to his final stop in Los Angeles on September 23.

And while the BBC reports on Wednesday that there could be something of a "bacon shortage" next year because of rising pork prices, Sankey will not experience such limitations. That's because he is traveling with no less than 3,000 pounds of bacon in his specially equipped Oscar Mayer truck.

Sankey is chronicling his voyage on his Twitter account and on the "Bacon Barter" site. On Wednesday, he arrived in Louisville, KY where he successfully bartered some bacon for a night in a man's basement. His host even got himself a bacon-themed tattoo to support the cause.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/one-man-traveling-cross-country-using-only-bacon-002702345.html

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Michael Vick, Ryan Tannehill Among Worst Performances Of NFL Week 1

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White was so disappointed with his performance in Week 1 that he felt compelled to apologize on Twitter to anyone who had been relying on him in fantasy football. Despite having six catches for 87 yards, White failed to find the endzone as the Falcons offense hung 40 points on the Kansas City Chiefs in an impressive Week 1 win.

Clearly, White holds himself to a high standard. If he considers his outing a disappointment, then how is anyone who participated in the shoving match between the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles supposed to feel about what they accomplished? No Browns player managed half as many receiving yards as White. On the other sideline, only the Eagles' top passing option put up marginally better numbers (and managed a score).

Not surprisingly, the Browns-Eagles matchup featured two of the lousiest quarterback performances in Week 1. Michael Vick and rookie Brandon Weeden each had four interceptions as Philadelphia barely escaped with an ugly 17-16 win. Under pressure and out of sorts, Vick became the first Eagles quarterback with four interceptions in season opener since 1941, per ESPN Stats & Info. Weeden looked even worse, only tallying 118 passing yards on 12-of-35 passing, resulting in a measly quarterback rating of 5.1.

But they weren't the only quarterbacks who looked bad. There were six of them who were picked off at least three times in Week 1, with only two actually winning their games.

While it's understandable for a rookie to struggle in his NFL debut, there were duds turned in by players with far more experience and responsibility. There was no dancing for Victor Cruz, as the Giants receiver dropped a few key passes in a loss. Buffalo's Mario Williams was named more in this post then he was in the Bills' loss to the Jets. And whoever picked Chris Johnson in their fantasy drafts is probably already regretting it far more than those who tapped White.

But who put on the absolute worst performance of Week 1? Scroll down below to vote. Did we forget someone who earned inclusion in this list?

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/12/michael-vick-ryan-tannehill-worst-nfl-week1_n_1869584.html

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Apple's Rolling Out New Headphones That Might Not Be Crap [Headphones]

Apple made a historic and much-needed step forward today; it's finally putting its old, terrible headphones to rest. The new ones, dubbed "EarPods" mark a bit of a shift, but still retain their iconic, white, hey-look-at-me-I've-got-an-iPhone-in-my-pocket color. Unlike the previous 'phones, these guys are the in-ear type, and will hopefully sound and fit a little better than the good old-fashioned kind. They'll be coming bundled with iPhone 5, the iPod Touch, and the iPod nano, and are also available separately starting now, and cost $29. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/eKH6cUGDYU8/apples-rolling-out-new-headphones-that-might-not-be-crap

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Insecticide resistance caused by recombination of 2 genes

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 12-Sep-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Prof. David G. Heckel
heckel@ice.mpg.de
49-364-157-1500
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

Novel enzyme makes cotton bollworm resistant against pyrethroids

This release is available in German.

Helicoverpa armigera: a global pest

Larvae of the cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) are dreaded pests all over the world. They have a very wide host range: About 200 different plant species are known as potential food for the voracious insect. The herbivore attacks crops in Africa, South Europe, India, Central Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. Nearly 30% of all globally used insecticides ? Bt toxins as well as pyrethroids ? are applied to protect cotton and other crops against the bollworm.

Resistance to pyrethroids

Pyrethroids are synthetic substances based on compounds of the natural insecticide pyrethrum in Tansy flowers (Tanacetum). They have been successfully applied in fruit, vegetable and crop farming for decades. In cotton bollworms, development of resistance to the particularly effective pyrethroid fenvalerate was observed in Australia since 1983. In 1998, David Heckel, who became director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in 2004, mapped the location of the resistance gene in the genome of the insect for the first time. This gene locus was later found to encode a P450 monooxygenase enzyme. These so-called cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are also known in human medicine, because they can render toxins or pharmaceuticals ineffective by metabolizing the active molecule.

Nicole Jouen, scientist at the institute and expert on P450 enzymes, studied the Helicoverpa armigera strain "TWB" resistant to fenvalerate. She could identify the P450 monooxygenase in this strain, suspected to mediate pyrethroid resistance. After cloning larger genome regions, DNA sequencing, and performing crossing experiments as well as biochemical analyses, she was surprised to find that of the seven P450 enzymes only one, CYP337B3, hydroxylates the fenvalerate molecule to 4'-hydroxyfenvalerate. This chemical reaction increases the resistance to this toxin 42-fold: A LD50 value of 1.9 g of fenvalerate was measured in resistant TWB larvae, whereas half of the non-resistant caterpillars died after intake of only 0.04 g of the toxin.

Unequal Crossing-Over led to the formation of the CYP337B3 Gene

The CYP337B3 gene was formed in a very special way: by a process called "unequal crossing-over" by geneticists. If very similar DNA sequences, for example transposable elements, get in contact with one another during the division of cell nuclei, novel gene combinations occur. As a consequence, some of the genetic information is lost on one DNA strand, and new genetic information is inserted and sometimes even doubled on the other strand. This natural process is important for the evolution of gene families, as could now be observed in the case of the CYP337B3 gene. "For the first time, our results reveal a mutation mediating resistance to an insecticide, which is caused by a crossing-over event," says David Heckel. The scientists studied CYP337B3 and found that the gene consists of parts of two other P450 genes, B1 and B2, encoding enzymes neither of which can detoxify fenvalerate. The unique combination of parts of the B1 and B2 precursor genes in the chimeric B3 gene is responsible for the new capability of the P450 enzyme to bind, hydroxylate, and finally detoxify the insecticide.

Once the CYP337B3 gene was formed, spraying cotton bollworms with pyrethroids caused its frequency in the population to gradually increase. This resistance was successfully delayed in Australia by restricting the use of pyrethroids to once per year, and using other insecticides at other times. This contrasts with the situation in other cotton-growing countries, where pyrethroids were overused, resistance rapidly developed, and then pyrethroids became ineffective against the bollworm. [AO/JWK]

###

Original Publication:

Nicole Jouen, Sara Agnolet, Sybille Lorenz, Sebastian E. Schne, Renate Ellinger, Bernd Schneider, David G. Heckel (2012). Resistance of Australian Helicoverpa armigera to fenvalerate is due to the chimeric P450 enzyme CYP337B3. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Early Edition, 4. September 2012. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1202047109.

Further Information:

Dr. Nicole Jouen, njoussen@ice.mpg.de, +49-(0)3641-57 1552

Prof. Dr. David G. Heckel, heckel@ice.mpg.de, +49-(0)3641-57 1501

Picture Requests:

Angela Overmeyer M.A., +49 3641 57-2110, overmeyer@ice.mpg.de or download from http://www.ice.mpg.de/ext/735.html



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 12-Sep-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Prof. David G. Heckel
heckel@ice.mpg.de
49-364-157-1500
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

Novel enzyme makes cotton bollworm resistant against pyrethroids

This release is available in German.

Helicoverpa armigera: a global pest

Larvae of the cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) are dreaded pests all over the world. They have a very wide host range: About 200 different plant species are known as potential food for the voracious insect. The herbivore attacks crops in Africa, South Europe, India, Central Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. Nearly 30% of all globally used insecticides ? Bt toxins as well as pyrethroids ? are applied to protect cotton and other crops against the bollworm.

Resistance to pyrethroids

Pyrethroids are synthetic substances based on compounds of the natural insecticide pyrethrum in Tansy flowers (Tanacetum). They have been successfully applied in fruit, vegetable and crop farming for decades. In cotton bollworms, development of resistance to the particularly effective pyrethroid fenvalerate was observed in Australia since 1983. In 1998, David Heckel, who became director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in 2004, mapped the location of the resistance gene in the genome of the insect for the first time. This gene locus was later found to encode a P450 monooxygenase enzyme. These so-called cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are also known in human medicine, because they can render toxins or pharmaceuticals ineffective by metabolizing the active molecule.

Nicole Jouen, scientist at the institute and expert on P450 enzymes, studied the Helicoverpa armigera strain "TWB" resistant to fenvalerate. She could identify the P450 monooxygenase in this strain, suspected to mediate pyrethroid resistance. After cloning larger genome regions, DNA sequencing, and performing crossing experiments as well as biochemical analyses, she was surprised to find that of the seven P450 enzymes only one, CYP337B3, hydroxylates the fenvalerate molecule to 4'-hydroxyfenvalerate. This chemical reaction increases the resistance to this toxin 42-fold: A LD50 value of 1.9 g of fenvalerate was measured in resistant TWB larvae, whereas half of the non-resistant caterpillars died after intake of only 0.04 g of the toxin.

Unequal Crossing-Over led to the formation of the CYP337B3 Gene

The CYP337B3 gene was formed in a very special way: by a process called "unequal crossing-over" by geneticists. If very similar DNA sequences, for example transposable elements, get in contact with one another during the division of cell nuclei, novel gene combinations occur. As a consequence, some of the genetic information is lost on one DNA strand, and new genetic information is inserted and sometimes even doubled on the other strand. This natural process is important for the evolution of gene families, as could now be observed in the case of the CYP337B3 gene. "For the first time, our results reveal a mutation mediating resistance to an insecticide, which is caused by a crossing-over event," says David Heckel. The scientists studied CYP337B3 and found that the gene consists of parts of two other P450 genes, B1 and B2, encoding enzymes neither of which can detoxify fenvalerate. The unique combination of parts of the B1 and B2 precursor genes in the chimeric B3 gene is responsible for the new capability of the P450 enzyme to bind, hydroxylate, and finally detoxify the insecticide.

Once the CYP337B3 gene was formed, spraying cotton bollworms with pyrethroids caused its frequency in the population to gradually increase. This resistance was successfully delayed in Australia by restricting the use of pyrethroids to once per year, and using other insecticides at other times. This contrasts with the situation in other cotton-growing countries, where pyrethroids were overused, resistance rapidly developed, and then pyrethroids became ineffective against the bollworm. [AO/JWK]

###

Original Publication:

Nicole Jouen, Sara Agnolet, Sybille Lorenz, Sebastian E. Schne, Renate Ellinger, Bernd Schneider, David G. Heckel (2012). Resistance of Australian Helicoverpa armigera to fenvalerate is due to the chimeric P450 enzyme CYP337B3. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Early Edition, 4. September 2012. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1202047109.

Further Information:

Dr. Nicole Jouen, njoussen@ice.mpg.de, +49-(0)3641-57 1552

Prof. Dr. David G. Heckel, heckel@ice.mpg.de, +49-(0)3641-57 1501

Picture Requests:

Angela Overmeyer M.A., +49 3641 57-2110, overmeyer@ice.mpg.de or download from http://www.ice.mpg.de/ext/735.html



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-09/mpif-irc091212.php

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How Drunk Will Woody Harrelson Act In 'Catching Fire'?

Woody Harrelson wants to go full drunk in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." MTV News had the chance to catch up with Harrelson at the Toronto International Film Festival and he said that he's going to shoot "The Hunger Games" sequel in little more than a week. Harrelson's had the chance to take a "gander" [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/09/12/woody-harrelson-catching-fire/

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Obama vows justice after U.S. envoy killed in Libya

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday to bring to justice the killers of the U.S. ambassador and three other diplomats in Libya as he sought to avoid election-year fallout from an attack that cast a spotlight on his administration's handling of "Arab Spring" unrest.

Standing in the White House Rose Garden, Obama condemned the attack in Benghazi as "outrageous and shocking" but insisted it would not threaten relations with Libya's new elected government, which took power in July after rebel forces backed by NATO air power overthrew Muammar Gaddafi.

The targeting of U.S. diplomats in deadly militant violence sparked by a U.S.-made film seen as insulting the Prophet Mohammad, could raise questions about Obama's policy toward Libya in the post-Gaddafi era as he seeks re-election in November.

Obama, apparently seeking to seize the initiative in the aftermath of the attack, pledged to work with the Libyan government to "see that justice is done for this terrible act."

"And make no mistake: justice will be done," Obama said, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at his side. He ordered increased security at U.S. embassies around the world, and a Marine anti-terrorist team was dispatched to boost security for U.S. personnel in Libya.

Ambassador Chris Stevens and three embassy staff were killed late on Tuesday when Islamist gun attacked the Benghazi consulate and a safe house refuge in the eastern city of Benghazi, the cradle of last year's uprising against Gaddafi's 42-year rule. Another assault was mounted on the U.S. embassy in Cairo.

Stevens, a 21-year veteran of the foreign service, was one of the first American officials on the ground in Benghazi during the uprising against Gaddafi last year.

Sean Smith, a foreign service information management officer, was identified as one of the diplomats killed. The names of the two others were withheld while the government notified their families.

LIBYA POLICY, CAMPAIGN IMPACT

Obama had hailed Libya's election in July as a milestone in its post-Gaddafi democratic transition and pledged that the United States would act as a partner even as he cautioned that there would still be difficult challenges ahead.

In the series of Arab Spring uprisings that shook the Middle East last year, Obama opted for a cautious strategy that steered clear of a dominant role for the U.S. military and drew criticism from Republican opponents at home for what was described as "leading from behind."

Before the full death toll and details of the Libya attack were known, Obama's Republican presidential challenger, Mitt Romney criticized the Obama administration's initial response and he repeated the charge on Wednesday.

"It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks," Romney told reporters in Florida.

Pushing back hard, Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt criticized Romney for making a "political attack" at a time when the country was "confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya," and Obama then reiterated condemnation of insults to the beliefs of others.

"We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others," he said. "But there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence."

Immediately after his speech, Obama, who was due to leave later in the day on a campaign trip to Nevada, visited the State Department to express solidarity with U.S. diplomats around the world.

The Libya crisis has come at a time when the spotlight was already on the Middle East amid escalating tensions between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how to deal with Iran's nuclear program.

Clinton said the Benghazi attack was the work of a "small and savage group" and that U.S.-Libyan ties would not suffer.

But she seemed to take note that Americans might resent such an attack on U.S. personnel in a North African country they helped to bring out from under long authoritarian rule.

"I ask myself, how could this happen? How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction?" Clinton said. "This question reflects just how complicated and, at times, how confounding the world can be."

(Additional reporting by Margaret Chadbourn, Mark Felsenthal, Paul Eckert, Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Bill Trott and David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-strongly-condemns-killing-u-envoy-libya-114055823.html

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