5 Lifestyle Activities That Can Get You Fired

Can having a bacon double cheeseburger and a cigarette put your job at risk? Maybe. It may sound surprising, but many off-the-job actions and lifestyles could put your job in jeopardy.

Fair Game?

Employment experts point out five key areas that a company may scrutinize:

* Smoking, drinking, and overeating. Due to the cost of health insurance, more and more employers view "unhealthy" habits as a threat to their bottom line.
* Risky behavior. Likewise, a company might see your bungee jumping hobby as a liability.
* Speech. Will your employer consider your blogging to be destructive griping?
* Romantic relationships. Dating someone at a competitor's company has landed employees in hot water. And some employers might take issue with unmarried coupling or even same-sex relationships (federal law doesn't protect employees from discrimination based on real or perceived sexual orientation).
* Political activity. Volunteering for Obama could be trouble if you have a pro-McCain boss, and vice versa.

Job- or industry-specific behaviors can lead to termination as well. A Ford worker who drives a Toyota is probably safe -- unless he or she is president of Ford. But a bank employee who bounces a personal check could get the boot.

Cause or Just Because

If these reasons for termination seem unfair, they must be illegal, right? Not necessarily. Just because most employers don't let valued employees loose for off-the-job activities and lifestyles, doesn't mean they can't.

"Most workers in the private sector don't understand that, unless they live in Montana and Arizona, their job is at-will," Paul Secunda, an assistant professor of law at the University of Mississippi, told Yahoo! HotJobs. "At-will means an employee can be fired for good cause or no cause at all," Secunda said.

Federal job protections include gender, race, religion, and national origin, as well as disability. "Some state laws forbid discrimination on other bases, including sexual orientation, or status as a smoker," said Rick Bales, a professor at Northern Kentucky University/Chase College of Law. Smokers in the tobacco-growing state of Kentucky, for example, are safe from termination, he said.

Don't Be Fooled

Although union members and public sector (government) workers generally have more protections, employees in the private sector -- the bulk of the U.S. workforce -- can be fired at any time, and usually without recourse.

"Unless you were fired because you are a member of a protected class under federal law, or under another state statute, it's likely not illegal," said Kimberly Malerba, an associate who litigates employment cases with Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C., a law firm on Long Island, New York.

The good news is that most companies don't go out of their way to snoop into employees' lives, Malerba told Yahoo HotJobs. "A company is most concerned with (off-the-job) behaviors that directly conflict with business interests."

5 Tips to Consider

Legal experts have advice for protecting your job from unexpected dangers:

* Understand the concept of at-will employment. Don't assume that termination must be illegal just because you think it was unfair.
* Be fully aware of your company's policies and terms of employment. Read the employee handbook, and ask HR if you have any questions.
* Be familiar with the company's internal dispute mechanisms (if any) for filing grievances.
* Think before you act. Could your employer see your actions off the job as potentially destructive to the company?
* Don't disclose. "You don't have to disclose lifestyle choices or off-the-clock activities unless there is a clear link to your ability to perform the job," Secunda said.

"My general advice is, don't do anything on your own time that, if reported in the local paper, would reflect poorly on you or your employer," Bales told Yahoo! HotJobs.

Oil climbs to record above $141 in Asia

SINGAPORE - Oil prices climbed to a record above $141 a barrel in Asian trading Friday as the dollar's protracted slump prompted investors to flock to oil as a hedge against inflation.
Prices were also lifted Thursday after OPEC's president said crude prices could rise well above $150 a barrel this year and Libya said it may cut oil production.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose as high as $141.71 a barrel before pulling back to $141.10, up $1.46 in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midafternoon in Singapore. The contract Thursday rose $5.09 to settle at a record $139.64.

The previous trading record for a front-month contract was $139.89, set on June 16.

On Thursday, the dollar slipped against key currencies as U.S. data showed sluggish economic growth and pointed to a struggling labor market. Oil is priced in dollars, and some investors buy oil contracts to protect the value of their assets against accelerating inflation when the dollar falls.

"The dollar movements caused the surge in oil pricing and the bullish trend remains intact," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "The oil market is subject to further spikes in the coming weeks."

On Friday, the dollar slipped to 106.42 yen from 106.91 yen Thursday; the euro was trading at $1.5738, down from $1.5751.

Crude futures were also driven higher after Chakib Khelil, president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said he believes oil prices could rise to between $150 and $170 a barrel this summer. Khelil also said prices will decline later in the year, and aren't likely to reach $200 a barrel.

Khelil joined a long list of forecasters who have made bold oil price predictions this year. Each new forecast — such as Goldman Sachs' recent prediction that prices could rise as high as $200 — causes a jump in prices as speculative buyers are drawn into the market.

Meanwhile, the head of Libya's national oil company said the country may cut crude production because the oil market is well supplied, according to news reports.

Addison Armstrong, director of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut, said in a research note that Shokri Ghanem, the nation's top oil official, has declined to say when a decision would be made on whether to lower production, or give any indication of the size of the cut under consideration.

But analysts expressed skepticism over the comments out of Libya, saying the current level of oil prices provides an incentive for producers not to cut output.

"I doubt that any real effort in cutting output would be forthcoming, considering that pricing continues to hit new records," Shum said. "There's no economic reason to cut output at this time so it's just talk."

Oil prices have more than doubled over the past year on concerns about rising demand in fast-growing economies such as China and India, and supply disruptions in the Middle East and Nigeria.

Analysts have also attributed oil's rapid climb to speculative buying, with traders jumping into the market purely on the expectation that futures will continue to rise.

"Even though we have continued to see weakening demand in the U.S., other markets in the developing world still show growth," Shum said. "The tight market has empowered speculators to invest in oil and the oil market is subject to further spikes in the coming weeks."

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 0.71 cent to $3.8905 a gallon while gasoline prices lost 0.68 cent to $3.5045 a gallon. Natural gas futures declined 1.7 cents to $13.231 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent crude futures rose 17 cents to $140 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

20 cancer-fighting foods to eat all summer

A healthy, balanced diet is key, experts say, but these foods may have an extra punch.

Leafy greens: Deep green leafy vegetables are packed with lutein, vitamin A and folate, nutrients that may help prevent colon and ovarian cancer.

* Spinach
* Kale
* Collard greens
* Arugula
* Dandelion greens


Curry: Yellow curry contains cur-cumin, a pungent spice that may help prevent melanoma and other types of cancer cells from proliferating.

Cruciferous veggies: These contain phytochemicals that may cut the risk of stomach, breast and skin cancers.

* Broccoli
* Broccoli sprouts
* Cabbage
* Bok choy
* Cauliflower
* Watercress
* Swiss chard


Berries: These fruits contain antioxidants such as polyphenols, which counteract and repair cell damage.

* Blueberries
* Blackberries
* Raspberries
* Strawberries
* Cranberries
* Red grapes


Tomatoes: Studies suggest that having a tomato-rich diet may help lower the risk of developing both lung and stomach cancer.

North Korea hands over nuclear declaration

(NECN/ABC) - President Bush said today he will remove North Korea from the U.S. terrorism blacklist. It is a sharp reversal of policy towards a country he once branded part of the "axis of evil." Mr. Bush acted after North Korea agreed to take the first steps towards dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

For years, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il has defied U.S. demands to give up his nuclear weapons program. Today, concessions from both sides.

President Bush: "Today we have taken a step, and it is a very positive step but there are more steps to be done."

Click here to watch the news conference President Bush held after learning the news.

In a deal reached between North Korea and the U.S., China, Russia, South Korea and Japan, North Korea agreed to provide details of its nuclear facilities.

It will also reveal how much plutonium, the key ingredient to making a nuclear bomb, it has.

In exchange, the U.S. will drop North Korea from the State Dept. list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

It will also lift some politically significant sanctions, but hold onto its leverage.

President Bush: "The two actions the US is taking will have little impact on North Korea's financial and diplomatic isolation. North Korea will remain one of the most heavily sanctioned nations in the world."

Massive Asteroid Caused Mars to Appear Deformed Forever

Boston (dbTechno) - According to a series of new studies released on Wednesday, a massive asteroid slammed into Mars 4.4 billion years ago. The impact from the asteroid caused Mars to take its deformed shape it currently has today.

Three studies in total were released on Wednesday speaking about the asteroid and how it changed the red planet forever.

Mars is about half of the size of Earth, but when you look at its shape you realize that it has a very strange, split appearance to it.

The northern part of Mars appears extremely smooth, while the south is a whole different story.

Scientists have speculated in the past why Mars looks like this, with many blaming a volcano or something of that nature.

In one of the three studies, a team was led by Jeffrey Adnrews-Hanna from MIT.

They used gravity observation to remove any type of volcanic deposits. Once this was done, what they found was that there was an area where you could see an impact occured which stretched 6,600 miles.

The shape of the hole was smooth and elliptical according to the study.

They also managed to find low-altitude gravity measurements in the southern half of Mars, meaning that they found cracks there from the impact in the north.

Though this has yet to be fully proven, it could be true that Mars was hit the hardest in our solar system by an asteroid.

Francis Nimmo of the University of California-Santa Cruz led one of the studies in the journal Nature, and stated it was a bad day for Mars to say the least.

North America's 10 Sexiest Beaches

Dreams of barefoot strolls and barely-there beachwear help coax us through the gray days of winter. You know how it is. On a clear summer night, when the warm wind kisses your skin and the sun slips down into the sea, even the most jaded city slicker starts to feel the sap rising. So break out the bikinis and bring on the heat. Summer is here, and it’s time for a little reckless abandonment.

While some of the beaches on our list are family-friendly, we focused on places where adults get to play in a giant sandbox.

In Pictures: North America's Sexiest Beaches

For many urban jungle dwellers, the stimulation of breathtaking scenery and perfect temperatures is enough to kick-start the libido. The topographically-blessed states of California and Hawaii offer perhaps the most gratifying combination of untamed nature and unrestrained sexiness. Picture yourself cavorting among hula dancers in the lush tropical wonderland of Maui’s stunning Kaanapali Beach. Or perhaps you’d rather be frolicking with ripped surf kings beneath the rainbow-laced mountains of Kauai’s Hanalei Bay.

California’s La Jolla Cove, with its rugged sandstone cliffs, is another one of those pinch-me beautiful places etched into our minds from countless movies and postcards. These are places that demand we peel back as many layers of prudery — and clothing—as we dare.

Maybe you prefer your own private paradise? Two of our top picks boast special temptations for those vacationing as couples. Amid the lavish resorts of Mexico’s Playa del Carmen, couples indulge in massages surrounded by lush, fragrant gardens. Private infinity pools, secret dining spots, and Mayan saunas right on the beach are all here for the taking. Laguna Beach, a coastal jewel set between Los Angeles and San Diego,, offers hidden coves beyond the more scene-y stretches where you and your amour can steal away from prying eyes. For adults-only romance, Miami’s South Beach delivers plenty of sexy hotels where you can lounge on secluded beach-beds.

If you’re ready to keep up with the best, Cabo San Lucas is world-famous for attracting thirsty college kids, cruise ship revelers and fashionable party people from every corner of the world. From a casual beach-bar refreshment to a full-throttle dance-a-thon, Cabo delivers an endless array of sensual summer entertainment. For a très chic party-scene, South Beach scores again with its jet-setting sun worshippers from near and far who don’t know the meaning of the word “no.” Deco and decadence go hand-in-hand in this haven for fun-loving models and flamboyant beach boys.

California’s Manhattan Beach and Pacific Beach are the best places to check out the buff boys and girls of summer as they glide along on rollerblades and leap gracefully among volleyball nets. If the golden SoCal scenery wasn’t enough, PB’s tanned, twenty-something surfers and MB’s well-muscled professional volleyball players are attractions that no summer pleasure-seeker should miss. Their enviable physical perfection urges you strike a pose on a surfboard and take a turn at wind-surfing, sailing, or sea kayaking. You not only feel sexy, you look sexy, too, and that’s half the game. No skills? No problem. Get a local beach babe to show you the ropes.

Finally, some may call it swimming with the sharks, but there are people who like a little bling-bling with their bikini. Main Beach, East Hampton, is the most happening section of the fabled Long Island playground where the rich and famous gather every summer. Each way you turn, A-listers, celebrities, trust-fund bunnies and house-sharers are blowing off serious steam. Chasing hot Hamptonistas in velvet-roped clubs is certainly not a sport for the timid, but there are plenty of seaside bars for more low- key flirting. Of course, if you’re ensconced in one of the multi-million-dollar mansions that line the beach, the party will be coming to you. Bonus: East Coast surfers flock to the Hamptons to pick up swells.

Of course, the only way to be sure which beach is the sexiest is to get out there and try them all. That’s a summer assignment we highly recommend.

World's ugliest dog is all winner

Petaluma: Gus the dog has three legs, one eye, skin cancer and no hair, except for a white tuft on the top of his head. He's a real winner.

The pedigree Chinese crested won the World's Ugliest Dog contest on Saturday at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Northern California.

His owner, Jeanenne Teed, brought Gus all the way from St. Petersburg, Florida, to compete for the dubious distinction.

She said she would spend the $1,600 prize on treatment for Gus's skin cancer.

After the excitement of the moment, Teed characterised her dog's reaction, "Well, I think right now he's ready for a nap."

The Chinese crested breed is a popular choice in this annual contest. Last year's champ, Elwood, was a Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix.

'Hospital risk' from radio tags

Lifesaving equipment in hospitals may be switched off by radio-frequency devices used to track people and machines, Dutch scientists claim.

Radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) are on the rise in healthcare, helping identify patients, and reveal the location of equipment.

The Journal of the American Medical Association study found they could interfere with machines.

But NHS computer specialists said RFIDs could eventually make patients safer.


Even the most seductive technology will interact in the tightly-coupled healthcare world in ways physicians and other members of the healthcare team had better understand, or they and their patients may pay a dear price
Dr Donald Berwick
Institute for Healthcare Improvement

There are two types of RFID, one which transmits information, and another, "passive", device which can be "read" by a powered machine when it is held nearby.

They are small and cheap enough to be in everyday use in society, in everything from security and travel cards - such as London Transport's Oystercard, to anti-theft devices on goods in shops, and hospitals are starting to become aware of their potential.

At Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham, patients heading for the operating theatre wear an RFID wristband, so that even when anaesthetised, their full identity, including a picture, can be downloaded into a PDA held nearby.

Turned off

The latest research, conducted at Vrije University in Amsterdam, tested the effect of holding both "passive" and powered RFIDs close to 41 medical devices, including ventilators, syringe pumps, dialysis machines and pacemakers.

A total of 123 tests, three on each machine, were carried out, and 34 produced an "incident" in which the RFID appeared to have an effect - 24 of which were deemed either "significant" or "hazardous".

In some tests, RFIDs either switched off or changed the settings on mechanical ventilators, completely stopped the working of syringe pumps, caused external pacemakers to malfunction, and halted dialysis machines.

The device did not have to be held right up to the machine to make this happen - some "hazardous" incidents happened when the RFID was more than 10 inches away.

Patient safety

Dr Donald Berwick, from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said: "Design in isolation is risky - even the most seductive technology will interact in the tightly-coupled healthcare world in ways physicians and other members of the healthcare team had better understand, or they and their patients may pay a dear price."

A spokesman for NHS Connecting for Health, which manages various IT projects across the health service, said that RFIDs had the potential to deliver big improvements in patient safety, reducing mistakes caused by the wrong identification of patients.

She said: "Any product such as this which is for use in a healthcare setting has to meet a standard which means it is very unlikely to interfere with medical equipment.

"This risk is more likely to come from RFID tags from other sources - such as a travel card, a tag on clothing, or on another retail item."

A spokesman for the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said that, as for mobile phone use, individual Trusts needed to make risk assessments about the use of RFIDs.

He said: "Despite much debate in the literature on the subject of electromagnetic interference (EMI) of medical devices by mobile telephones and other sources of radiofrequency transmission, the MHRA has received very few reports of adverse events caused by this problem over the last seven years or so.

"Of those incidents reported, only a very small number have been proven to be as a direct result of EMI."

Sunshine Vitamin Linked To A Longer Life

New York - According to a new study, people with lower levels of vitamin D in their blood are more likely to die from any cause during the next eight years than those with the highest levels of vitamin D.

An Austrian study found the link to heart-related deaths especially strong.

“This is the first association study that shows vitamin D affects mortality regardless of the (primary) reason for death,” said Dr Harald Dobnig of the University of Graz, who led the study.

Researchers are still unsure how vitamin D effects heart related deaths and other illnesses. However the sunshine vitamin has been shown to help regulate the body’s ability to combat illness through improving the immune system.

Experts warn that this study doesn’t mean people should start spending hours under the hot sun or popping vitamin D pills.

The study which included more than 3,200 men and women can be found in the latest issues of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Bill Clinton 'committed to' Obama

Former US President Bill Clinton has announced for the first time that he is backing fellow Democrat Barack Obama to win the US presidential election.

Mr Clinton's wife Hillary was Mr Obama's biggest rival for the party nomination, and he was often critical of Mr Obama on the campaign trail.

Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton are set to hold a joint rally on Friday.

Mr Clinton will be in Europe to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday and will not attend the rally.

"President Clinton is obviously committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do to ensure Senator Obama is the next president of the United States," said spokesman Matt McKenna.

Not talking

The Obama campaign welcomed Mr Clinton's declaration of support, saying: "A unified Democratic Party is going to be a powerful force for change this year and we're confident President Clinton will play a big role in that."

Relations between Mr Clinton and Mr Obama have been "frosty" since Mrs Clinton suspended her campaign, and the two men have not spoken, the Associated Press news agency reported.

During the primary battle between Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton, Mr Clinton made the headlines when he described Mr Obama's record of opposition to the Iraq War as a "fairy-tale", and when he accused Mr Obama of "playing the race card".

Observers say Mr Obama is making efforts to heal the divisions within the party and win over Democrats who supported Mrs Clinton in the primaries.

To this end, the Obama-Clinton rally on Friday will be held in the town of Unity, New Hampshire, where Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton both received 107 votes in the New Hampshire primary.

You don't still use a screen saver, do you?

I'm happy that at this stage in my career I often find myself writing articles about energy-efficient ways to use computers, peripherals, gadgets, and consumer electronics. It makes me feel so, you know, virtuous.

Whenever I crank out a list of helpful hints, one of the first items I include is this obvious but often overlooked gem of advice: Kill your stupid screen saver. In the good old days of tube monitors, screen savers such as those unforgettable flying toasters were invented to prevent burn-in, a permanent shadow branded into the phosphors of your monitor by a static image of, say, a spreadsheet that you left on your screen all weekend.

Well, flat-screen LCD monitors don't burn in, so if you still have flying toasters or an endlessly looping slide show of your adorable niece and nephew, you're behind the times. When you're not sitting in front of your monitor it should be off off off.

It warmed my heart to read at Green Daily that Telstra, the biggest phone company in Australia, has removed all the corporate screen savers from the 36,000 computers in its offices. What will happen? The change will cut tons of CO2, which they claim will be the equivalent of taking 140 cars off the road for a year. Good on ya, mate. Follow Telstra's example. Let your flying toasters crash and burn.

New clue to Alzheimer's found

WASHINGTON (AP) — Researchers have uncovered a new clue to the cause of Alzheimer's disease.

The brains of people with the memory-robbing form of dementia are cluttered with a plaque made up of beta-amyloid, a sticky protein. But there long has been a question whether this is a cause of the disease or a side effect. Also involved are tangles of a protein called tau; some scientists suspect this is the cause.

Now, researchers have caused Alzheimer's symptoms in rats by injecting them with one particular form of beta-amyloid. Injections with other forms of beta-amyloid did not cause illness, which may explain why some people have beta-amyloid plaque in their brains but do not show disease symptoms.

The findings by a team led by Dr. Ganesh M. Shankar and Dr. Dennis J. Selkoe of Harvard Medical School were reported in Sunday's online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.

The researchers used extracts from the brains of people who donated their bodies to medicine.

Forms of soluble beta-amyloid containing different numbers of molecules, as well as insoluble cores of the brain plaque, were injected into the brains of rats. There was no detectable effect from the insoluble plaque or the soluble one-molecule or three-molecule forms, the researchers found.

But the two-molecule form of soluble beta-amyloid produced characteristics of Alzheimer's in the rats, they reported.

Those rats had impaired memory function, especially for newly learned behaviors. Studies were also done on mice and when their brains were inspected, the density brain cells were reduced by 47 percent. The beta-amyloid seemed to affect synapses, the connections between cells that are essential for communication between them.

The research, for the first time, showed the effect of a particular type of beta-amyloid in the brain, said Dr. Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, director of the division of neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the research.

It was surprising that only one of the three types had an effect, she said in a telephone interview.

Morrison-Bogorad said the findings may help explain the discovery of plaque in the brains of people who do not develop dementia. For some time, doctors have wondered why they find some brains in autopsy that are heavily coated with beta-amyloid, but the person did not have Alzheimer's.

The answer may lie in the two types of beta-amyloid that did not cause symptoms.

Now, the question is why one has the damaging effect and not others.

"A lot of work needs to be done," Morrison-Bogorad said. "Nature keeps sending us down paths that look straight at the beginning, but there are a lot of curves before we get to the end."

Dr. Richard J. Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, said that "while more research is needed to replicate and extend these findings, this study has put yet one more piece into place in the puzzle that is Alzheimer's."

In addition to the Institute on Aging, the research was funded by Science Foundation Ireland, Wellcome Trust, the McKnight and Ellison foundations and the Lefler Small Grant Fund.

NASA Mars Lander To Dig As Team Probes Flash Memory

NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission generated an unusually high volume of spacecraft housekeeping data on Tuesday causing the loss of some non-critical science data. Phoenix engineers are analyzing why this anomaly occurred.

The science team is planning spacecraft activities for Thursday that will not rely on Phoenix storing science data overnight but will make use of multiple communication relays to gain extra data quantity.

"The spacecraft is healthy and fully commandable, but we are proceeding cautiously until we understand the root cause of this event," said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Usually Phoenix generates a small amount of data daily about maintaining its computer files, and this data gets a high priority in what gets stored in the spacecraft's non-volatile flash memory.

On Tuesday, the quantity of this data was so high that it prevented science data from being stored in flash memory, so the remaining science data onboard Wednesday, when the spacecraft powered down for the Martian night after completing its 22nd Martian day, or sol, since landing, was not retained. None of that science data was high-priority data.

Almost all was imaging that can be retaken, with the exception of images taken of a surface that Phoenix's arm dug into after the images were taken.

To avoid stressing Phoenix's capacity for storing data in flash memory while powered off for overnight sleeps, the team commanded Phoenix Tuesday evening to refrain from any new science investigations on Wednesday and to lower the priority for the type of file-housekeeping data that exceeded expected volume on Tuesday.

"We can continue doing science that does not rely on non-volatile memory," Goldstein said.

Most science data collected during the mission has been downlinked to Earth on the same sol it has been collected, not requiring overnight storage, but on some sols the team has intentionally included imaging that yields more data than can fit in the afternoon communication passes.

This has been done in order to take advantage of the capacity to downlink additional data during communications passes on the following Martian mornings. In the short term, while the root cause of the unexpected amount of housekeeping data is being determined, the science team will forgo that strategy of storing data overnight.

Meanwhile, extra communication-relay opportunities have been added to Thursday's schedule, so the science plan for the day will be able to generate plentiful data without needing overnight storage. Trench-digging, imaging and weather monitoring are in the plan.

Oil rises on modest Saudi increase, Nigeria

NEW YORK - Oil prices rose Monday on disappointment over Saudi Arabia's modest production increase and concerns that output from Nigeria will decline. Retail gas prices, meanwhile, inched lower overnight, but appear unlikely to change much as long as oil prices remain stuck in their recent trading range.
Saudi Arabia said Sunday at a meeting of oil producing and consuming nations that it would turn out more crude oil this year if the market needs it. The kingdom said it would add 200,000 barrels per day in July to a 300,000 barrel per day production increase it first announced in May, raising total daily output to 9.7 million barrels.

But that pledge at the meeting held in the Saudi city of Jeddah fell far short of U.S. hopes for a larger increase. The United States and other nations argue that oil production has not kept up with increasing demand, especially from China, India and the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries say there is no shortage of oil and instead blame financial speculation and the falling U.S. dollar.

"The Jeddah meeting became a non-event," said Linda Rafield, senior oil analyst at Platts, the energy research arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. "There was no surprise."

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $1.20 to $136.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Saudi Arabia did say it would work to boost its long-term production capacity.

"Obviously, the Saudis are concerned, and that could be a bearish factor," said Andrew Lebow, senior vice president at MF Global LLC in New York.

But any longer-term production increases are years away, Rafield said.

"The oil summit really has not done much to temper oil pricing," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "It was a modest output increase and hardly really compensates for the disruption out of Nigeria."

Concerns about Nigerian production also boosted prices Monday. Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it cannot meet contractual obligations to export oil from a Nigerian oil field following a militant attack Thursday, and news reports say Chevron Corp. has been forced to shut down a Nigerian oil facility following a militant attack.

Those production outages appeared to overshadow Sunday's ceasefire declaration by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, the main militant group in Africa's largest oil producing nation. Attacks by MEND have sliced about one quarter from Nigeria's normal oil daily oil output, helping buoy crude prices in international markets.

Despite the ceasefire, investors are not convinced that lost Nigerian oil production will resume any time soon, analysts say.

Keeping a lid on oil's gains Monday was the dollar, which rose against the euro. When the dollar gains ground, investors who bought commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation tend to sell. Also, a stronger greenback makes oil more expensive to overseas investors. Many analysts believe the dollar's protracted decline has been one of the main reasons oil has nearly doubled in value over the past year.

At the pump, meanwhile, the average national price of a gallon of regular gas slipped a tenth of a cent overnight to $4.072, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices have changed little since reaching a record of $4.08 one week ago.

Analysts think gas prices are unlikely to change much as long as oil prices remain stuck in their recent trading range between roughly $130 and $140 a barrel. Oil futures are unlikely to break out of that range without major news concerning supply and demand, or the dollar, analysts said.

"There's a general uncertainty," Lebow said. "There are forces on both sides," aiming to push prices higher and lower.

In other Nymex trading Monday, July gasoline futures rose 1.58 cents to $3.455 a gallon, and July heating oil futures rose 3.27 cents to $3.8044 a gallon. July natural gas futures rose 16.5 cents to $13.159 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Melanoma Treated By Blood Cell Therapy

New Process Shows Patient Recovery May Be Possible

Seattle,WA-One patient that had late stage skin melanoma cancer was successfully treated and is now in remission using an experimental process of treatment.

The process is experimental and controversial, but has shown progress and possible promise for use with other patients across the United States.

The patient was treated by tinkering with his own infection body defenses, using a blood cell therapy that has been examined in the past, but has also been the subject of much controversy.

The new study is being published in this Weeks issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and it talks about using the 30-year-old historical field of the usage of the body’s own defenses to fight cancer and abnormal cell growth.

The process is often referred to as “Adoptive immunotherapy,” and is traced back to the 1980s when it was first used.

Transferring this process from theory to actual usage has been slow. The treatment involves using the patient’s own white blood cells that have been reproduced in a petri dish outside the body, then giving them back to the patient.

It is considered the ultimate in personalized medicine, but it is surrounded with a lot of controversy on both sides.

House easily passes compromise surveillance law

WASHINGTON - The House Friday easily approved a compromise bill setting new electronic surveillance rules that effectively shield telecommunications companies from lawsuits arising from the government's terrorism-era warrantless eavesdropping on phone and computer lines in this country.
The bill, which was passed on a 293-129 vote, does more than just protect the telecoms. The update to the 30-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is an attempt to balance privacy rights with the government's responsibility to protect the country against attack, taking into account changes in telecommunications technologies.

"This bill, though imperfect, protects both," said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., and a former member of the intelligence committee.

President Bush praised the bill Friday. "It will help our intelligence professionals learn enemies' plans for new attacks," he said in a statement before television cameras a few hours before the vote.

The House's passage of the FISA Amendment bill marks the beginning of the end to a monthslong standoff between Democrats and Republicans about the rules for government wiretapping inside the United States. The Senate was expected to pass the bill with a large margin, perhaps as soon as next week, before Congress takes a break during the week of the Fourth of July.

The government eavesdropped on American phone and computer lines for almost six years after the Sept. 11 attacks without permission from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the special panel established for that purpose under the 1978 law. Some 40 lawsuits have been filed against the telecommunications companies by groups and individuals who think the Bush administration illegally monitored their phone calls or e-mails.

The White House had threatened to veto any surveillance bill that did not also shield the companies.

The compromise bill directs a federal district court to review certifications from the attorney general saying the telecommunications companies received presidential orders telling them wiretaps were needed to detect or prevent a terrorist attack. If the paperwork were deemed in order, the judge would dismiss the lawsuit.

It would also require the inspectors general of the Justice Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies to investigate the wiretapping program, with a report due in a year.

Critics of the bill say dismissal is a foregone conclusion.

"These provisions turn the judiciary into the administration's rubber stamp," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. She opposes the bill.

Opponents of immunity believe civil lawsuits are the only way the full extent of the wiretapping program will ever be revealed.

Key senators voiced strong opposition to the compromise, although they're unlikely to have the votes to either defeat or filibuster the bill. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, condemned the immunity deal. He said that nothing in the new bill would prevent the government from once again wiretapping domestic phone and computer lines without court permission.

Specter said the problem is constitutional: The White House may still assert that the president's Article II powers as commander in chief supersede statutes that would limit him actions.

"Only the courts can decide that issue and this proposal dodges it," Specter said.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of California disputed that, saying FISA would from now on be the authority for the government to conduct electronic surveillance.

"There is no inherent authority of the president to do whatever he wants. This is a democracy, not a monarchy," she said.

Some civil liberties and privacy groups are also opposing the bill. They object not only to the immunity provision but to what they consider the weakening of the FISA court's oversight of government eavesdropping. For example, the government can initiate a wiretap without court permission if "important intelligence" would otherwise be lost. It has a week to file the request for approval with the court, and the court has 30 days to act on it. But if the court objects to how the government is carrying out the wiretap, it could be weeks before those methods are changed or stopped.

"What we have here is the opportunity for the government to commit mass untargeted surveillance," said Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Opponents also contend the privacy of Americans who communicate with people overseas is not adequately protected. The bill would allow the government to tap the foreigner's calls without court approval, and critics contend that innocent American conversations can be swept up in that.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendment bill also would:

_Require FISA court permission to wiretap Americans who are overseas.

_Prohibit targeting a foreigner to secretly eavesdrop, without court approval, on an American's calls or e-mails.

_Require the government to protect American information or conversations that are collected when in communications with targeted foreigners.

_Allow the FISA court 30 days to review existing but expiring surveillance orders before renewing them.

_Allow eavesdropping in emergencies without court approval, provided the government files required papers within a week.

_Prohibits the president from superseding surveillance rules in the future.

PC World Former 'spam King' Must Pay MySpace $6 Million Former 'spam King' Must Pay MySpace $6 Million

A Colorado man has been ordered to pay US$6 million in damages and legal fees for spamming thousands of MySpace.com users.
Scott Richter of Westminster, Colorado, must pay MySpace $4.8 million in damages and $1.2 million in legal fees, a court-appointed arbitrator ruled on Thursday.

Richter, who was once accused of pumping out more than 100 million spam messages per day, had been sued by MySpace in January 2007 in connection with an August 2006 campaign in which MySpace members were hit with unsolicited messages promoting a Web site called Consumerpromotionscenter.com. The messages were sent from phished MySpace accounts, according to the findings of Philip Boesch, the court-appointed arbitrator in the case.

The messages were sent to a MySpace community that was ill-equipped to deal with any security problems. At the time, "MySpace only employed two relatively junior staff employees to deal with these issues," Boesch wrote. The company's security staff has now grown to about 40, he added.

MySpace had been seeking a court ruling in the case, but in August 2007, U.S. District Judge George King of the Central District of California granted Richter's request to assign the matter to arbitration. Terms of the award were made public on Monday.

In a statement, Richter said that he and his company, Media Breakaway, were happy to have this matter behind them, noting that the arbitrator's award was 95 percent less than the amount sought by MySpace.

"We respect the decision of the arbitrator and we're not going to appeal it," said Steven Richter, the president and general counsel of Media Breakaway and father of Scott Richter. "We're going to pay the money he awarded."

This is not the first time a Scott Richter company has had to cough up millions of dollars to fight spam charges. In 2005, his previous company, Optinrealbig.com, paid $7 million to settle similar charges brought by Microsoft.

Scott Richter was removed from anti-spam organization Spamhaus' list of known spammers that same year.

Media Breakaway, which has no other spam cases pending, is doing everything it can to build a compliance team and make sure it is acting within the law, Steven Richter said.

MySpace said the Richter award was the latest in a series of steps it has taken to combat abuse on its Web site. In May, the company was awarded a $230 million antispam judgment against Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines.

"This award reflects MySpace's continued momentum and holistic approach to ridding the site of spammers and phishers," MySpace said in a statement. "We will continue to do our part in cleansing the Internet of this invasive onslaught of spam."

Bush urges Congress to lift offshore drilling ban

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, saying the United States needs to increase its energy production.

"There is no excuse for delay," the president said in a statement. With the presidential election on the horizon, Bush blamed Democratic lawmakers for opposing his energy policies and for high gasoline costs, now topping US$4 a gallon (3.8 liters) in the U.S. His proposal echoed a call by Republican presidential candidate John McCain to open the Continental Shelf for exploration

"Families across the country are looking to Washington for a response," Bush said.

He said that offshore drilling could yield up to 18 billion barrels of oil over time, although it would take years for production to start. Bush also said offshore drilling would take pressure off prices over time.

There are two prohibitions on offshore drilling, one imposed by Congress and another by executive order. Bush is not lifting the executive order, saying he wants Congress to take the first step. He said he will lift the executive ban once Congress lifts its moratorium.

Before Bush spoke, the House Appropriations Committee postponed a vote it had scheduled for Wednesday on legislation doing the opposite of what the president asked _ extending Congress' ban on offshore drilling. Lawmakers said they wanted to focus on a disaster relief bill for the flood-battered Midwest.

Bush also proposed opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for drilling, lifting restrictions on oil shale production in the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming and easing the regulatory process to expand oil refining capacity.

With Americans deeply pessimistic about the economy, Bush tried to put on the onus on Congress. He acknowledged that his new proposals would take years to have a full effect, hardly the type of news that will help drivers at the gas stations now. The White House says no quick fix exists.

Still, Bush said Congress was obstructing progress _ and directly contributing to consumers' pain at the pump.

"I know the Democratic leaders have opposed some of these policies in the past," Bush said. "Now that their opposition has helped drive gas prices to record levels, I ask them to reconsider their positions."

Bush said that if congressional leaders head home for their July 4 holiday recess without taking action, they will need to explain why "US$4 a gallon gasoline is not enough incentive for them to act. And Americans will rightly ask how high gas prices have to rise before the Democratic controlled Congress will do something about it."

See a Huge Moon Illusion Wednesday

As the full moon rises this Wednesday evening, June 18, many people will be tricked into thinking it's unusually large
The moon illusion, as it's known, is a trick in our minds that makes the moon seem bigger when it's near the horizon. The effect is most pronounced at full moon. Many people swear it's real, suggesting that perhaps Earth's atmosphere magnifies the moon.

But it really is all in our minds. The moon is not bigger at the horizon than when overhead.

The illusion will be particularly noticeable at this "solstice moon," coming just two days before summer starts in the Northern Hemisphere. The reason, according to NASA, lies in lunar mechanics: The sun and full moon are like kids on a see-saw; when one is high, the other is low. This week's high solstice sun gives us a low, horizon-hugging moon and a strong, long-lasting version of the illusion.

If it's any consolation, space station astronauts report the same effect.

Here's how it works: Your mind believes things on the horizon are farther away than things overhead, because you are used to seeing clouds just a few miles above, but the clouds on the horizon can indeed be hundreds of miles away. So if we think something (such as the moon) is farther away, and it's not, then it seems larger.

If you remain doubtful, test the idea yourself. Go out at moonrise with a small object, perhaps a pencil eraser. Hold it at arm's length as the moon rises and compare the sizes of the moon and the eraser, then repeat the experiment an hour or two later when the moon is high in the sky. A rolled up tube of paper works well, too.

Moonrise times vary by location. On Wednesday, it will come up at these local times at these locations, according to NASA: New York City, 8:58 p.m.; Miami, 8:35 p.m.; Seattle, 9:51 p.m.

The moon rises about 50 minutes earlier Tuesday night, when the effect will also be noticeable because the moon will be nearly full. Oh, and that raises another fallacy: There's no such thing as a full moon.

Additional moonrise times for your location are available from the U.S. Naval Observatory Web site.

F.D.A. Takes Aim at Herbal Cancer ‘Cures’

With ingredients like bloodroot, shark cartilage and Cat’s Claw and assertions like “causes cancer cells to commit suicide,” it’s no wonder the Food and Drug Administration is taking notice.

On Tuesday, the agency warned 23 American companies and 2 foreign ones to stop claiming to prevent or cure cancer with their various “tablets, teas, tonics, black salves, and creams.”

Here are a few of the claims the agency cited:

– “Treats all forms of cancer”
— “80 percent more effective than the world’s number one cancer drug”
— “Skin cancers disappear”
— “Target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone”
— “Shrinks malignant tumors”
— “Avoid painful surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or other conventional treatments”

All told, 125 products were identified on the agency’s web site, www.fda.gov. Legal notices were sent to the companies urging prompt corrective action, which were also posted on the Web.

In the agency’s letter to Herbs for Cancer, an Arizona company that markets teas for more than a dozen cancers — from bladder and bone to malignant lymphoma — the agency shreds the company’s claims one by one. It also scolded that firm and others for deceptively spreading word about their products on the Web:

These claims are supplemented by use of the word “cancer” in most of your product names, as well as in the URL address for your website. Furthermore, the metatags used to bring consumers to your website include “cancer,” “herbs for cancer” and “fight-cancer.”

The site, herbsforcancer.com, has apparently been shut down, for unstated reasons.

In a matter of hours, the F.D.A.’s warnings have invaded Google search results, providing clear expressions of caution for anyone seeking more information on individual products like “C-Cell 4 Destroyer” and subjects like “herbs for cancer.”

Indeed, the effort was a strong sign that the agency was moving even more aggressively to counter fraud in the booming market for health advice and treatments on the Web. “Although promotions of bogus cancer ‘cures’ have always been a problem,” Margaret Glavin, the agency’s regulatory chief, said, “the Internet has provided a mechanism for them to flourish.”

Obama holds on to small lead over McCain

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama opens the US general election campaign with a narrow lead over Republican John McCain but the two score near even among independent voters, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, Obama leads McCain by 48 percent to 42 percent among all adults, while McCain has picked up support from independents who could be key to deciding the November election. Independents see McCain, an Arizona senator, as more credible on fighting terrorism and are split evenly on who is the stronger leader and better on the Iraq war, the Post reported. McCain has a 14-point lead over Obama, an Illinois senator, on the issue of dealing with terrorism and a narrow edge on who is best equipped to handle international affairs, the poll found. On Iraq, 47 percent of all respondents said they trust McCain more and 46 percent said they have faith in Obama. Independents were 45 percent for McCain to 43 percent for Obama on the question of Iraq, according to the poll.

Experience appears to be Obama's clearest weakness, the newspaper said. The poll found that just 50 percent of Americans said Obama has the necessary experience to be president, almost unchanged since early March. Fifty-six percent said McCain was a safe choice, while 52 percent said that of Obama. The two candidates were evenly matched on the question of who is the stronger leader, with 46 percent of respondents rating each as top. McCain was in a far weaker position on domestic issues with Obama leading by 16 points on the economy, which continues to top the list of the campaign's most important issues, the Post reported. The poll of 1,125 adults was conducted by telephone on June 12-15 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

On Monday, Obama said he plans to visit Iraq and Afghanistan before November's election and was encouraged by a recent reduction in violence in Iraq. Obama, who later picked up the endorsement of former Vice President Al Gore at a Detroit rally on Monday night, spoke by telephone with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari and reiterated his support for a pullout of US troops.

Da Vinci Code movie banned from filming in church

Rome's diocese said Monday it has barred the producers of "Angels & Demons" from filming in two churches for the prequel to the "The Da Vinci Code" the popular book and film that angered many Catholic leaders.

Producers of the film, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, were turned down because the movie "does not conform to our views," said Monsignor Marco Fibbi, a spokesman for the diocese.

The crew had asked to film in the churches of Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria, two architectural jewels in the heart of Rome that include paintings by Caravaggio, sculptures by Bernini and a chapel designed by Raphael.
Permission was denied in 2007, but the issue surfaced only now that filming is ongoing in Rome, Fibbi said. The Sony-produced film was put on hold during the Writers Guild of America strike that ended in February and is now scheduled for release in May 2009.

Fibbi's comments first were reported this week by the Italian entertainment magazine "TV Sorrisi e Canzoni." "It's a film that treats religious issues in a way that contrasts with common religious sentiment," Fibbi told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "We would be helping them create a work that might well be beautiful but that does not conform to our views."

Fibbi acknowledged that the controversy over writer Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" and its blockbuster movie version had weighed on the decision.

The story drew anger and prompted calls for boycotts by church leaders worldwide with the idea that Jesus married and fathered children and by depicting the conservative Catholic movement, Opus Dei, as a murderous cult.

"This is a prequel to 'The Da Vinci Code' and it's clear that the theme is similar," Fibbi said. He added that the ban would not stop the crew from filming the exterior of the churches.

Brown's "Angels and Demons" is a religious thriller combining an ancient secret brotherhood called the Illuminati, code-cracking, a papal conclave and a high-tech weapon threatening to destroy the Vatican.

It features Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon of "The Da Vinci Code" fame, played by Hanks in the movie.

NBC's Tim Russert Dies From Sudden Heart Attack

June 16 2008 - The sudden death of famous journalist Tim Russert this past Friday has shocked everyone, and is gotten people talking about the risks of heart attacks for men over the age of 50.

Russert, 58 had previously been diagnosed with a couple of the enormous risk factors for heart attacks for men over the age of 50, them being coronary artery disease and diabetes.

Russert, was an employee of NBC and according to reports suffered a sudden heart attack away from the hospital.

Co-workers did their best to revive him while medics were called but to know avail.

They also tried using a defibrillator once the ambulance arrived on the scene.

According to the American Heart Association, each year in the US more than 300,000 deaths are caused by sudden heart attacks.

Flooding in Iowa Reaches Record Levels

"We made the decision to evacuate our patients into what we consider to be a safer environment," Mercy Medical Center's President Tim Charles said, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette. "We were concerned with the possibility of the flood breaching the facility that our backup power system could be compromised.

"Quite frankly, if that were to occur, that would be catastrophic for our patients. We wanted to ensure their safety."

The city has been particularly hard hit. The Associated Press has reported that more than 3,000 homes have been emptied amid a city in which more than 400 blocks remain underwater.

No deaths or serious injuries were reported in Iowa, but one man was killed in southern Minnesota after his car plunged from a washed-out road into floodwaters, according to news agencies.

Officials said they expect the Cedar River to crest late in the day Friday, at about thirty-two feet, dramatically higher than the last major flood which reached only 19 feet.

Throughout the state, the governor of Iowa has said nine rivers have reached or are near record levels and 83 of 99 counties in the state are currently classified as disaster areas.

Parts of Cedar Rapids also faced shortages of drinking water with only one of the city's six wells in proper functioning order.

"If we lost that one we would be in serious trouble. Basically we are using more water than we are producing," Dave Koch, a spokesman for the Cedar Rapids fire department, said. "We really need to reduce the amount of water we are using ... even using paper plates, hand sanitizer."

In other parts of the state, like Des Moines, citizen volunteers and National Guard members have been doing everything possible to shore up vulnerable levees to prevent any major flooding, including adding 60,000 sandbags to a particularly weak spot along the levee wall protecting a neighborhood in the city.

A similar situation is being played out on the Fond du Lac River in Iowa, the Fox River in northern Illinois and along the northern areas of the Missouri River. All are facing the prospect of rising water from rivers that can no longer contain the rush of water as these rivers crest, starting Friday, and continuing into early next week.

While Cedar Rapids may be facing the worst trial of the flood late Friday, the prospect of a flooding Missouri river this weekend and the possibility of the Mississippi flooding next week is stirring continued concern over the spate of weather problems.

People in several northern Missouri communities piled up sandbags to prepare for possible Missouri River flooding over the weekend, with a more significant rise in the Mississippi River expected Wednesday.

FDA: J&J’s Psoriasis Drug Might Raise Cancer Risk

Johnson & Johnson’s experimental drug, ustekinumab appears to be effective in treating psoriasis, but its long-term use could slightly increase cancer risks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wrote in an analysis released on Friday, a few days before an advisory panel would discuss the drug’s efficacy and dosing.

Centocor Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, is seeking approval for the drug to treat adults with chronic moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Psoriasis, a skin disorder that causes scaly red patches, affects an estimated 7.5 million Americans.

Ustekinumab injections work by blocking an inflammation-causing protein called tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Animal studies showed suppression of these proteins raised the chances of developing cancer, the FDA reviewer said.

An advisory panel is scheduled to discuss on Tuesday ustekinumab’s potential dangers that may arise in people taking the drug without medical supervision. Also the FDA will ask the panel whether or not to put animal data (highlighting the cancer risk) on the label of the drug or whether the company should do more research on the safety issue.

If approved, ustekinumab would compete fierce competition from other leading injectable drugs like Amgen Inc and Wyeth’s Enbrel and Abbott Laboratories Inc.’ Humira, as well as Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade, administered by intravenous infusion.

The FDA is expected to make its decision on whether to approve ustekinumab for sales in the U.S. in September.

Flood Waters Still A Problem For Cedar Rapids

The dark, filthy water that inundated the entire downtown of Iowa's second-largest city was receding Saturday after forcing 24,000 people to flee, but those who remained were being urged to take draconian measures to avoid overwhelming the city's only remaining drinking water source.

A sandbagging siege saved the last of the city's four collection wells from contamination by the record flood. But officials warned that if people didn't cut back on flushing toilets, taking showers and other nonessential uses, the town would be out of potable water within three to four days.

``Water is still our primary concern,'' said Pat Ball, the city's utilities director. ``We're still using water at a greater rate than we're producing.''

More than 400 city blocks and 3,900 homes were flooded in Cedar Rapids, where early estimates put property damage at $736 million, according fire department spokesman Dave Koch.

While the Cedar River ebbed in hard-hit Cedar Rapids, a levee breach in the state capital of Des Moines flooded a neighborhood of more than 200 homes, a high school and about three dozen businesses.

More than 200 homes were evacuated in Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, as a flood crest headed down the Iowa River. The Iowa City crest isn't expected until Monday or early Tuesday.

``This is our version of Katrina,'' Johnson County Emergency Management spokesman Mike Sullivan said of Iowa City. ``This is the worst flooding we've ever seen.''

At least two deaths in Iowa have been attributed to the flooding, which has prompted the governor to issue disaster proclamations for 83 of the state's 99 counties.

Elsewhere, Illinois emergency authorities said a levee along the Mississippi River in far western Illinois burst Saturday morning and voluntary evacuations were under way in Keithsburg, a town of about 700 residents.

``The levee broke in two places,'' Keithsburg Alderman George Askew, 76, said of the town some 35 miles southwest of Moline.
``We're getting under water.''

Parts of southern Wisconsin have been dealing with flooding for days. West of Milwaukee in Summit, authorities on Saturday found the body of a 68-year-old man near his vehicle on a flooded road.

Iowa's worst damage so far was in Cedar Rapids, where the Cedar River crested Friday night at nearly 32 feet, 12 feet higher than the old record set in 1929.

Murky, petroleum- and garbage-choked water inundated three collection wells and threatened the fourth before several hundred volunteers staged a last-ditch sandbagging operation. The collection wells are fed by a network of four dozen smaller wells.

Water lapped to within 3 feet of the improvised, 4-foot-high wall surrounding the brick pumping station before it began to recede. Two portable generators, one as big as a semitrailer, roared around the clock to keep the three pumps inside running.

``It's the little engine that could,'' said Ron Holtzman, one of several people who came to watch the operation Saturday from a nearby foot bridge.

The pumps were drawing at near capacity of 15 million gallons a day. But that's not enough for the city of around 120,000-plus residents and the suburbs that depend on its water system.

Officials estimate it could be four days before the river drops enough for workers to begin pumping out flooded portions of the city.

Since June 6, Iowa has gotten at least 8 inches of rain, and that followed a wet spring. As of Friday, nine rivers were at or above historic flood levels. More thunderstorms are possible in the Cedar Rapids area during the weekend, but next week is expected to be sunny and dry.

Microsoft offered $1 bln for Yahoo search - source

SEATTLE/SAN FRANCISCO, June 13 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) offered Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $1 billion in cash to buy its search business in a deal that would have delivered $1 billion in additional annual operating income to Yahoo, a source familiar with Microsoft's thinking said on Friday.

In an alternative to a full acquisition, Microsoft would have taken control of Yahoo's search business, delivering the company better rates for advertisements tied to its search results than Yahoo's current Panama advertising system, the source said.

Microsoft would have also paid $8 billion to take a 16 percent stake in Yahoo, which would have valued the company's stock at $35 a share, the source said.

Talks between the two companies broke down after Yahoo entered into an advertising agreement with Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). Microsoft is still open to discussing its proposal despite Yahoo's agreement with Google, the source said.

Yahoo had no immediate comment. (Reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi in Seattle and Anupreeta Das in San Francisco, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Rising water forces evacuation of hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; 100 city blocks underwater

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - Rising river water forced the evacuation of a Cedar Rapids hospital Friday after residents of more than 3,000 homes fled for higher ground. A railroad bridge collapsed, and 100 city blocks were under water as America's Midwest struggled through a spate of bad weather that killed at least seven
people this week.
The hospital's 176 patients, including about 30 patients in a nursing home facility at the hospital, were being evacuated to other hospitals in the region. The evacuation started late Thursday night and continued Friday morning in the Iowa city of 124,000 residents.
«Some are frail and so it's a very delicate process with them,» said Karen Vander Sanden, a hospital spokeswoman.
Dave Koch, a spokesman for the Cedar Rapids fire department, said the river will crest Friday at about 31.8 feet (9.7 meters). It was at 30.9 feet (9.4 meters) early in the morning. In a 1993 flood, considered the worst flood in recent history, it was at 19.27 feet (5.9 meters).
No deaths or serious injuries were reported in Iowa on Friday, but one man was killed in southern Minnesota after his car plunged from a washed-out road into floodwaters. Late Wednesday, a tornado tore through a Boy Scout camp in the remote hills of western Iowa, killing four teenagers, while other tornadoes killed two people in Kansas.
In Wisconsin, amphibious vehicles that carry tourists on the Wisconsin River were used to evacuate homes and businesses in Baraboo, north of Madison. Hundreds more in the region were urged to evacuate.
People in several northern Missouri communities, meanwhile, were piling up sandbags to prepare for flooding in the Missouri River, expected to crest over the weekend, and a more significant rise in the Mississippi River expected Wednesday.

Amtrak's California Zephyr railway line was suspended across Iowa because of flooding along the BNSF Railway.
Gov. Chet Culver declared 83 of the state's 99 counties as state disaster areas. Nine rivers are at or above historic flood levels.
In Des Moines, about 300 volunteers and members of the Iowa Army National Guard worked late Thursday into Friday to shore up a levee showing some soft spots north of downtown. The levee protects a neighborhood along the rising Des Moines River.
There are about 200 homes in the neighborhood, which is under a voluntary evacuation.

Mars Microbes Could Survive with Natural Antifreeze

More than 30 years ago, NASA's Viking life-detection experiments on Mars returned inconclusive results, and controversy surrounds the Viking data to this day.

The Phoenix mission now on Mars may collect data that will help answer questions raised by Viking, but to do so researchers will need to be able to spot the difference between chemical and biological signatures on Mars.

In the mid 1970s, NASA's Viking Landers analyzed material from the Martian surface in the hopes of finding signatures of life. The Viking life-detection experiments indicated the presence of oxidized organic material near the surface. At first, researchers on the instrument team believed this was evidence of biological activity on Mars.

However, other scientists immediately criticized the results. Eventually, the scientific community decided that it was more likely the organic material had been oxidized by the chemical hydrogen peroxide, which was detected at the surface by the Viking Gas Exchange experiment.

Not everyone is satisfied with this explanation. There are still questions about where hydrogen peroxide on Mars comes from, how long it can naturally remain stable at the surface and how much is actually present.

New answers

An answer may be on the horizon.

NASA's Phoenix Lander touched down on Mars on May 25. Onboard is an instrument called the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA), which will be used to analyze soil and ice samples on Mars. The instrument could help explain the puzzling Viking results.

In order to prepare for the Phoenix experiments, a team of researchers performed a series of tests. They simulated the experiments to be conducted by Phoenix to determine what the results would look like if microbes were present in martian soil. Researchers inoculated simulated martian soil with known Earth-organisms that can survive in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. (On Earth, some microbes produce hydrogen peroxide and others are able to utilize it.)

Unique Mars microbes

Mixtures of water and hydrogen peroxide freeze at much lower temperatures than water alone. The researchers theorize that microbes might be able to use hydrogen peroxide to survive at lower temperatures. The idea is based on Earth microbes that use salts in a similar way, providing them with an "antifreeze" that keeps them alive in cold environments. If microbes on Mars adapted to use hydrogen peroxide in a similar way, it may mean that the Viking results need to be reinterpreted.

By testing the simulant Martian soil with the TEGA instrument, the research team was able to identify signatures that indicated microbes. Specific chemicals that can be detected by TEGA can now serve as biomarkers for possible life on Mars.

The simulated experiments provide an important test for chemical versus biological responses in the Phoenix mission. In other words, the Phoenix mission could provide definitive answers to the questions posed by Viking, and may even tell us if life exists on Mars.

Tornado kills four at US scout camp

Four people have been killed and up to 40 injured when a tornado ripped through a boy scout camp in the US state of Iowa.

More than 120 scouts and leaders were staying at the Little Sioux camp near Des Moines when the tornado struck.

They had been attending the annual Pohuk Pride week-long junior leader training event at the 1,800-acre ranch, which has four cabin shelters, a 15-acre lake, a rifle range and six hiking trails.

Iowa Governor Chet Culver said: "We are profoundly saddened...our heart goes out to all of the families and the children affected by this horrific tragedy."

At least two tornado warnings were issued for the Little Sioux area before the twister struck. However, state officials said they did not know if there were any warning sirens operating at the camp.

The twister was one of more than 30 moving across eastern Kansas into Nebraska, Iowa and into Minnesota which were accompanied by baseball-sized hail and vicious winds, and came in addition to rampant flooding that has forced hundreds from their homes in Iowa.

In Kansas, at least two people died after tornadoes ripped through neighbour hoods in in the northeastern part of that state. One woman was found dead in the yard outside her home in Chapman and a man was later found dead outside a mobile home in Soldier.

The Kansas twisters injured dozens and destroyed at least 60 homes, authorities said.

Mr Culver has declared 54 of Iowa's 99 counties disaster areas due to damage from the flooding and tornadoes.

And the violent weather is continuing in the region, with tornado watches issued for areas of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa and Kansas.

Fed brushes past Berrer

Roger Federer started to place his French Open disappointment behind him by defeating Germany's Michael Berrer 6-4 6-2 to reach the second round of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

Three days after Rafael Nadal scored a straight-sets win in the final at Roland Garros, the Swiss star looked relaxed and needed just 61 minutes to record his 55th consecutive victory on grass.

Federer conceded just one point on his serve in the first set and eventually broke Berrer in the ninth game.

He then broke his opponent again in the first and fifth games of the second set before saving one sole break point at 4-1.

Federer wrapped up the one-sided encounter with his 11th ace to move into the second round, where he will face Czech qualifier Jan Vacek on Thursday.

Berdych "not in the match"

However, defending champion Tomas Berdych has been sent packing, the Czech player going down 6-2 7-5 to Sweden's Robin Soderling.

"This was not one of my best days," Berdych said.

"I was not in the match and lost the first set easy.

"His game was solid and I couldn't stay close to him - he has a great serve and the grass court suits his game."

Fact Sheet & Background: Roadrunner Smashes the Petaflop Barrier

ARMONK, NY -- 06/09/08 -- In 2006, the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration selected Los Alamos National Laboratory as the development site for Roadrunner and IBM as the computer's designer and builder. Roadrunner, named after the New Mexico state bird, cost about $100 million, and was a three-phase project to deliver the world's first "hybrid" supercomputer -- one powerful enough to operate at one petaflop (one thousand trillion calculations per second). That's twice as fast as the current No.1 rated IBM Blue Gene system at Lawrence Livermore National Lab -- itself nearly three times faster than the leading contenders on the current TOP 500 list of worldwide supercomputers.

Oil soars on dollar, Energy Department report

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices regained their stunning upward momentum Wednesday, soaring as crude's biggest drivers -- a weak dollar and supply concerns -- brought buyers back in force. At the pump, gas prices rose to a new record over $4.05 a gallon.
The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said oil inventories fell by 4.6 million barrels last week. Analysts surveyed by energy research firm Platts expected a much smaller decline of about 1.4 million barrels; any sign that oil supplies are falling has tended to send oil climbing.

Light, sweet crude rose $5.07 to settle at $136.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier trading as high as $138.30. Oil shot up more than $16 over the course of last Thursday and Friday, reaching a trading record of $139.12 before pulling back this week.

The dollar's travails also sent oil prices rising. The euro bought $1.5571 in late afternoon trading, up from $1.5449 Tuesday. Oil prices have closely tracked dollar moves; prices rose sharply last week when the dollar fell, then retreated more than $7 earlier this week as the dollar gained ground.

"It's been hand in hand with what the dollar's been doing," said James Cordier, president of Tampa, Fla.-based trading firms Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com.

Many investors buy commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation when the dollar falls. Also, a weaker greenback makes oil less expensive to investors dealing in other currencies. Many analysts believe the dollar's protracted decline is the primary reason oil prices have doubled over the past year.

Energy investors are betting that the European Central Bank will raise interest rates later this summer, and that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold rates steady until this fall, Cordier said. If rates rise in Europe but remain unchanged in the U.S., the dollar will likely fall further against the euro.

"That's going to really fuel the (investment) funds back into the long side of crude oil," Cordier said.

Other elements of the EIA's report were considered bearish for prices. Supplies of gasoline and distillate fuels such as diesel and heating oil both rose last week, and demand for gasoline fell by 1.3 percent.

But traders chose to focus on the big drop in crude supplies and the weaker dollar, propelling prices higher. Crude inventories have fallen by 23.6 million barrels over the past four weeks.

"If crude inventories were seriously in surplus, I think that would start to override the effects of the dollar," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research Inc. in Winchester, Mass.

Retail gas prices, meanwhile, reached another record Wednesday, rising 0.9 cent overnight to a national average of $4.052, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices continue rising, despite falling demand, because the price of oil keeps moving higher.

While oil prices have slipped some from last week's record, analysts say gas prices still have some catching up to do, and could rise another nickel or so. Of course, if oil futures blast past that record and reach new highs, gas prices will likely rise even higher.

EIA chief Guy Caruso on Wednesday said motorists should expect gasoline prices to remain close to $4 a gallon through next year. On Tuesday, the EIA predicted that gas pries will peak at a monthly average price of $4.15 in August. Cordier thinks gas prices could reach $4.25 by the Fourth of July if oil remains near $140 a barrel.

Oil prices were also supported Wednesday by reports that Chinese fuel imports rose more than expected over the first 5 months of the year, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC's decision to extend force majeure on some Nigerian oil shipments. The legal declaration that means the company can't meet contractual obligations to supply some customers. The company first made the declaration following a militant attack in April.

In other Nymex trading Wednesday, July gasoline futures rose 14.65 cents to settle at $3.4658 a gallon, and July heating oil futures rose 16.24 cents to settle at $3.9748 a gallon.