Friday, May 31, 2013

LG Optimus G Pro gets wider Asian launch

Optimus G ProLG 5.5-incher to hit Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia

As expected, LG has announced wider Asian availability for its high-end, big-screened handset, the Optimus G Pro. The G Pro, which is already available in Korea, Japan and the U.S., will hit Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia throughout the next month. The version going on sale in these countries will be the 5.5-inch model, as opposed to the 5-incher released in Japan earlier in the year.

Besides that massive 1080p screen, the Optimus G Pro features a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD, a 13-megapixel camera and a whopping 3140mAh battery. For more on the Optimus G Pro, be sure to check out our reviews of the Korean and AT&T versions.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/sbj3wiSYNlE/story01.htm

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Earthlings Expect Massive Asteroid Flyby Friday (Voice Of America)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/309567329?client_source=feed&format=rss

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EFF Launches Full-Court Press To Bust Podcasting Patent ...

San Francisco - The patent trolls have gone far enough: Starting today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is mounting a new, focused campaign to bust the dangerous patent that a Texas company has been using to shakedown podcasters. EFF intends to challenge the original grant of that patent before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by proving that the company, Personal Audio, did not really invent anything new.

Claiming it owns the patent that broadly covers podcasting technology, Personal Audio is the classic example of a patent troll that neither makes nor sells anything, but uses its patent as a weapon to threaten lawsuits and extort settlement fees. This particular troll has bullied prominent podcasts and podcasters, including How Stuff Works and Adam Carolla, in addition to smaller podcasters working out of their own homes.

"Patent trolls have been wreaking havoc on innovative companies for some time now," said EFF Staff Attorney Julie Samuels, who also holds the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents. "But this particular breed of troll?targeting end users, small businesses, startups, and even individuals like podcasters for simply using everyday products?is a disturbing new threat."

EFF is partnering with the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society to use a new legal tool against this patent called the "inter partes review," which was introduced by the America Invents Act. The first step is to identify "prior art," or published examples of similar or identical ideas, that existed before October 2, 1996. EFF is putting out a call today to the podcasting community to spread the word and help us collect the prior art we need to fight this dangerous patent. EFF is also looking for financial support to take on this challenge, which?even with pro bono help?will likely cost nearly $30,000.

"A podcaster working out of a garage is unlikely to have the financial resources to fight a lawsuit," said EFF Staff Attorney Daniel Nazer. "Patent trolls like Personal Audio know this and use the threat of ruinous litigation costs as a weapon. Defeating this patent at the PTO would put an end to Personal Audio's campaign."

Because of the deep and systemic problems in the American patent system, EFF is spearheading the Defend Innovation project to advocate for reform. EFF is asking the public to sign on to our petition at defendinnovation.org and to comment on seven recommended proposals we think would make the broken system work better for software. In the meantime, EFF is doing its best to rid the world of one more bad patent in the hands of a patent troll and help out podcasters who find themselves staring down the barrel of a gun.

For more on the Save Podcasting campaign:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/help-save-podcasting

For technical details of the search for prior art:

http://patents.stackexchange.com/questions/3884/call-for-prior-art-system-for-disseminating-media-content-representing-episodes

Donate to fund this campaign:

https://supporters.eff.org/donate/save-podcasting

Julie Samuels
?? Staff Attorney and The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents
?? Electronic Frontier Foundation
?? julie@eff.org

Daniel Nazer
?? Staff Attorney
?? Electronic Frontier Foundation
?? daniel@eff.org

Source: https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-launches-full-court-press-bust-podcasting-patent

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Watch Brian Eno Describe How He Bridges Time With Sound and Light

Brian Eno has always been a prolific artist, whether as a pop star or an ambient composer. But 77 Million Paintings, one of Eno?s more recent releases, is his most expansive: a series of almost 300 individual music and lightworks that combine in an infinite array of randomized variations. But where did the idea for the genre-bridging work come from? Eno himself talks about his inspiration in this mind-bending short film.

77 Million Paintings extends Eno's ideas about generative music?which uses computer programs to generate sound?into visual art. It's not a new exhibit, but this video, which was filmed with RGB+D cameras, is really cool. Why? Because the legendary Eno is notoriously reclusive and never talks about his work! To hear what inspires the dynamic piece makes it even more interesting. Intrigued? If you happen to be in New York, you can check it out through June 2. [Red Bull Music Academy]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/watch-brian-eno-describe-how-he-bridges-time-with-sound-510454044

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Appeals court allows drug tests for some Florida state workers

By Bill Cotterell

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - A federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday that Florida Governor Rick Scott cannot require all state employees to take random drug tests and told the state to identify which government workers it believes should undergo periodic testing.

Scott, a Republican, issued an executive order in March 2011 ordering drug testing for all state employees, regardless of whether they were suspected of drug use, arguing the measure was similar to financial disclosures required for some workers.

He later suspended the order, which has been challenged in court by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The decision by the three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sends the case back to a U.S. District Court in Miami for further consideration.

In a ruling last year, U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro tossed out Scott's executive order, saying random drug tests of the state's 85,000 state workers violated the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches.

Scott appealed the decision and argued that "state employees possessed a diminished privacy interest." A state law Scott supported requiring drug tests for welfare recipients has also been tied up in the courts.

The federal appeals court ruled that Scott's drug testing order "almost certainly sweeps far too broadly." But it said that Ungaro's order knocking it down also invalidated longtime drug testing requirements for police, prison guards, pilots and operators of heavy machinery.

State worker unions did not challenge the constitutionality of random testing of law enforcement and workers in safety-sensitive jobs.

"No matter how much Governor Scott wants people to believe otherwise, the fact remains that people don't have to give up their privacy, dignity and constitutional protections in order to serve our communities," said Alma Gonzalez, a lawyer for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Scott said in a statement that he would continue to argue that all state workers should be tested for drug use.

"Many Floridians are required to take drug tests in their workplace and it is only right for state workers paid with taxpayer funds to be required to do the same," he said.

"We will go forward in arguing this case in both the appellate and trial courts in order to ensure that taxpayer funds are safeguarded from misuse by ensuring our state workforce is drug free," Scott added.

(Editing by Kevin Gray and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/appeals-court-allows-drug-tests-florida-state-workers-221737614.html

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Sen. Paul: Helping Syrian rebels a risk (CNN)

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Gumroad Launches A Simple And Cheap Platform For Selling Streaming Videos

gumroad logoHey, aspiring filmmakers! Gumroad, the crazy simple platform for selling digital goods, is rolling out a pretty big new feature for you this morning: on-demand video streaming. You upload your video, name a price, and they'll handle all the legwork involved with accepting payments and streaming the content. This move pits Gumroad head-to-head with some pretty huge contenders, placing them squarely in a space among the likes of Amazon and iTunes.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/UQCZNCtgkm8/

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Obama to Nominate Comey as FBI Director (WSJ)

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Notes to Obama, NYC mayor had gun threats

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A suspicious letter mailed to the White House was similar to two threatening, poison-laced letters on the gun law debate sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the nation's most potent gun-control advocates, officials said Thursday.

The Secret Service said the letter was addressed to President Barack Obama and was intercepted by a White House mail screening facility. Two similar letters postmarked in Louisiana and sent to Bloomberg in New York and his gun control group in Washington contained traces of the deadly poison ricin.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the letter sent to Obama contained ricin. It was turned over to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force for testing and investigation.

The two Bloomberg letters, opened Friday in New York and Sunday in Washington, contained an oily pinkish-orange substance.

New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday that all three letters apparently came from the same machine or computer and may be identical but referred specific questions to the FBI.

The FBI said in a statement that field tests on the letters were consistent with the presence of a biological agent, and the letters were turned over to an accredited laboratory for the kind of thorough analysis that is needed to verify a tentative finding. "More letters may be received," the statement said, without elaboration.

The body of the letter mailed to New York was addressed to "you" and referenced the gun control debate. Kelly said the unsigned letter says, in so many words: "Anyone who comes for my guns will be shot in the face." He refused to quote directly from the letter, saying he didn't want to do the author's bidding.

Bloomberg has emerged as one of the country's most important gun-control advocates, able to press his case with both his public position and his private money.

The New York letter was opened at the city's mail facility in Manhattan in a biochemical containment box, which is a part of the screening process for mayor's office mail.

"In terms of the processes and procedures that are in place now we think they worked," Kelly said. "This is sort of an effect of the post-9/11 world that we live in that these checks and facilities are in place and the system worked."

The second letter was opened Sunday by Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the Washington-based nonprofit Bloomberg started.

The letter Glaze opened tested positive for ricin initially. The other letter to Bloomberg at first tested negative but tested positive at a retest Wednesday.

The postal workers union, citing information it got in a Postal Service briefing, said the letters bore a Shreveport, La., postmark. Kelly would not comment on the origin of the letter.

Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Julie Lewis said state authorities have deferred to the FBI and have not opened an investigation. The Shreveport postal center handles mail from Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, so the letter could have come from any of those states, Lewis said.

The people who initially came into contact with the letters showed no symptoms of exposure to the poison, but three officers who later examined the New York letter experienced minor symptoms that have since abated, police said. The mayor visited the mailroom on Thursday but made no public comments on the topic.

On Wednesday, he said he didn't know why they were sent.

One of the letters "obviously referred to our anti-gun efforts, but there's 12,000 people that are going to get killed this year with guns and 19,000 that are going to commit suicide with guns, and we're not going to walk away from those efforts," said Bloomberg, adding that he didn't feel threatened.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ricin is a poison found naturally in castor beans. Symptoms can include difficulty breathing, vomiting and redness on the skin depending on how the affected person comes into contact with the poison.

The letters were the latest in a string of toxin-laced missives, but authorities would not say whether the letters to Bloomberg and Obama were believed to be linked to any other recent case.

In Washington state, a 37-year-old was charged last week with threatening to kill a federal judge in a letter that contained ricin. About a month earlier, letters containing the substance were addressed to Obama, a U.S. senator and a Mississippi judge. One of the letters postmarked in Memphis, Tenn., was traced back to Tupelo, Miss., and a Mississippi man was arrested.

Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which now counts more than 700 mayors nationwide as members. It lobbies federal and state lawmakers, and it aired a spate of television ads this year urging Congress to expand background checks and pass other gun-control measures after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. The background check proposal failed in a Senate vote in April, and other measures gun-control advocates wanted ? including a ban on sales of military-style assault weapons ? have stalled.

Separately, Bloomberg also has made political donations to candidates who share his desire for tougher gun restrictions. His super PAC, Independence USA, put $2.2 million into a Democratic primary this winter for a congressional seat in Illinois, for example. Bloomberg's choice, former state lawmaker Robin Kelly, won.

___

Associated Press Writers Jennifer Peltz and Frank Eltman in New York, Holbrook Mohr in Jackson, Miss., and Pete Yost in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-police-notes-obama-mayor-had-gun-threats-174236953.html

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'A Cheat is a Cheat'?Yahoo! readers discuss infidelity

TV evangelist Pat Robertson caused a stir this month when he told a female caller on "The 700 Club," who had been cheated on by her husband, that she should "stop talking about the cheating" and focus on why she's likely at fault for his infidelity.

Yahoo News asked women and men who have been cheated on (and who have cheated) to tell their stories and consider Robertson's remarks. Here are some excerpts from their first-person accounts they shared with us.

***

'A cheat is a cheat': In 2009, the job market was terrible in the United States, so my wife suggested I go back overseas. I had just come home from time in Iraq, and I didn't relish the idea of leaving my family again. But a man does what he has to. Feeding a family of eight isn't cheap.

We had been married for more than 20 years, and I trusted my wife. I knew she had cheated on me once in the time we had been married, but I had forgiven and moved on. I was a fool. A cheat is a cheat.

Six weeks before things fell apart, I had left the United States for a position in Kuwait. Then I got a phone call from my wife. She was filled with remorse. She told me she had not only cheated again but was in love and was going to see a lawyer about a divorce. She was sorry, never meant to hurt me, and it had just happened?all the usual stuff.

I listened to Pat Robertson's advice to a woman who called him about a cheating husband. In my educated opinion (my ex-wife educated me), Robertson's advice borders on insanity. His telling her to move on and forget may work (though I have doubts) if the marriage is important enough to both of them. His advice to make home so nice he won't do it again is lunacy. It's akin to your dog biting you, and you pet it and give it treats as a reward for misbehaving. Try this method and see if you don't get bit again. I did.

? Gregory Lovvorn, Alabama

***

Marriage now stronger after facing its ugly side: Pat Robertson says you should stop talking about adultery. Men are men and they will stray, and it is my job as a wife to keep them from straying.

Do I agree? In a way, I do agree with him. I do not agree that men are wanderers and we must entice them, but I do agree that it is important to stop talking about adultery.

I believe this because my husband cheated on me. I know the pain of betrayal, the embarrassment of being ashamed, and the anger that someone I loved could stab me in the back.

I remember the day I found out my husband had cheated on me. It was 1999, and I was 21, living in Joplin, Mo., and seven months into my first pregnancy. It was Thanksgiving night and I was forced to work. I do not remember the man's name, or even what he looks like. However, I will never forget what he said to me. I was working in a convenience store and he was a regular customer. He walked up to the counter and said, "You have always been so nice to me I feel I need to tell you the truth. My girlfriend is pregnant and your husband is the father."

That was what being nice got me?pain like I never knew. I felt as if I had been punched in the gut.

After I left Missouri with our 6-month-old son, I came to realize that I was also to blame. My husband felt as if he had failed me. His belief led him to wonder. We got back together in 2007. Accepting the truth, I was able to forgive him and trust him. I may never forget the pain I felt but I can say with all my heart that neither he nor I ever want to feel that pain again. Our marriage is stronger now because we faced the ugly side of life.

? Teresa McLaughlin, Missouri

***

Robertson's remarks are an embarrassment: First loves last forever, as far as I was concerned. It was 1980, and I was 16 and in love with a handsome 18-year-old Cuban. It seemed like a dream come true.

No hot steamy novel could compare to this. He was beyond handsome, with black soft curly hair, tanned skin that people pay for and a love of the wild side of life. As a quiet Catholic School girl who never indulged in the fast life or boyfriends, I thought there was no doubt he had my attention.

But since Day One, he had a roaming eye; his attitude was that a woman should only have one man, but a man?especially a Latin one?should have girlfriends on the side. It was almost like the "Goodfellas" movie in which the wife stays home with the kids and the hubby gets to go handle business with the "boys"?no questions asked.

So I asked no questions.

He roamed. I did not want to ever face the fact. He loved me too much, I thought. In his mind, he thought he was doing the right thing, the manly thing. It is a sad mindset that men to this day carry and share.

So, no, Pat Robertson, it was not my fault getting up every morning at 5 a.m. and cooking three squares, while taking care of two kids. I still can't figure out why he had to roam.

I am now happily married to a fireman. He has never given me any reason to doubt his fidelity or love. It is a relief to have him come straight home and not wander. It is a joy to have that romance in my life.

Robertson, shame on you; it's not the woman's fault. It's the fault of the cheater, who cannot keep his vows. Vows, to me, mean two people growing old together with no secrets and all loyalty and trust.

Robertson's remarks are an embarrassment to himself and to "The 700 Club." Still today it is perceived the little woman should remain home and not wonder, question, or think about where her husband is. After all, he is providing?or trying to in some cases. And if he happens to have a roaming eye or wanders, it's not his libido? It's something the little woman has done at home?

What rubbish!

? Tonimarie Perna, Florida

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cheat-cheat-other-readers-stories-infidelity-193100383.html

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Cut deductions to lower tax rates? Easier said than done.

A major challenge facing tax reform that reduces itemized deductions to help pay for lower tax rates is that lots of middle-income people would lose at least some benefits, Gleckman writes.?

By Howard Gleckman,?Guest blogger / May 28, 2013

The exterior of the Internal Revenue Service building is shown in Washington. It is hard to imagine any base-broadening, rate-cutting tax reform plan that doesn?t include some cuts in preferences for middle-income taxpayers, Gleckman writes.

Susan Walsh/AP/File

Enlarge

Two interesting new papers from the Congressional Research Service highlight a?major challenge faced by?any tax reform that reduces itemized deductions to help pay for lower tax rates?lots of middle-income people would lose at least some benefits from scaling back those deductions.

Skip to next paragraph Howard Gleckman

Howard Gleckman is a resident fellow at The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, the author of Caring for Our Parents, and former senior correspondent in the Washington bureau of Business Week. (http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org)

Recent posts

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It isn?t a new lesson, but it is one that bears repeating. For instance,?a March 21 CRS paper?shows that in 2010 about 40 percent of all deductions were claimed by households making between $20,000 and $100,000, with 28 percent going to those making between $50,000 and $100,000. Nearly half of tax filers making between $50,000 and $100,000 claimed deductions for mortgage interest and charitable giving, and more than half deducted state and local taxes.

Those three deductions alone represent more than two-thirds of all itemized deductions. Thus, it is hard to imagine any base-broadening, rate-cutting reform plan that doesn?t include some cuts in those preferences. And taking that step threatens to make a lot of middle-income taxpayers very unhappy. As Bruce Bartlett (who tipped me off to the CRS papers in his?New York Times blog?this morning) notes, this may explain why so few tax reform plans ever identify a single tax preference they would target.

Of course, higher income people disproportionately benefit from many deductions. For instance, the Tax Policy Center?estimates?that households making $500,000 or more represent less than 1 percent of all taxpayers. Yet, CRS estimates they claim about 15 percent of all deductions.?

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Syria fighting rages, more chemical attacks reported

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Heavy fighting raged on Monday around the strategic border town of Qusair and the capital Damascus, amid renewed reports of chemical weapons attacks by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Opposition activists said Syrian troops backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters were advancing in areas around Qusair, pressing a sustained assault on a town long used by rebels as a way station for arms and other supplies from Lebanon.

For Assad, Qusair is a crucial link between Damascus and loyalist strongholds on the Mediterranean coast. Recapturing the town, in central Homs province, could also sever connections between rebel-held areas in the north and south of Syria.

Syrian government offensives in recent weeks are an apparent attempt to strengthen Assad's negotiating position before peace talks next month sponsored by the United States and Russia.

Assad's forces now hold about two-thirds of Qusair, said one activist who asked not to be named. Rebel reinforcements from elsewhere in Syria were trying to relieve the pressure, but their attacks had bogged down on the outskirts.

"So far they are just fighting and dying, their assault hasn't resulted in much yet unfortunately," the activist said.

Fierce clashes cut the highway running north from Damascus to the central city of Homs and shook the eastern outskirts of the capital, where dozens of people were suffering the effects of an apparent chemical attack, opposition sources said.

VICTIMS IN OXYGEN MASKS

Video posted online from the eastern suburb of Harasta showed lines of victims lying on the floor of a large room, covered in blankets and breathing from oxygen masks.

Both sides in the conflict, now in its third year, have accused each other of using chemical weapons. France's Le Monde newspaper published first-hand accounts on Monday of apparent chemical attacks by Assad's forces in April.

Another video from Harasta overnight showed at least two fighters being put into a van, their eyes watering and struggling to breathe while medics put tubes into their throats.

It was not possible to verify the videos independently, given the difficulties of media access in Syria.

A doctor interviewed in another video said the alleged chemical attack in Harasta was revenge for a rebel raid on nearby military checkpoints. He complained of a severe shortage in staff and medical supplies to treat such victims.

"We have dozens of wounded from another chemical gas bomb attack ... As you can see there are many people here just lying on the floor with no one to treat them," said the doctor, who did not give his name.

Many of the fighters affected by the attack, according to one opposition group, had recovered sufficiently to return to battle, suggesting its severity had been limited.

"Praise God, all our wounded men are in a stable condition," said the Harasta Media Group in a statement on Skype. "They are doing well and many have even returned to the frontline."

(Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-fighting-rages-amid-reports-chemical-attacks-105151844.html

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Japanese politician apologizes for sex comment

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto listens to a reporter's question during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto listens to a reporter's question during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, second right, walks off after a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, center in background, speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, May 27, 2013. The outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another controversial remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

(AP) ? An outspoken Japanese politician apologized Monday for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce sex crimes, but defended another inflammatory remark about Japan's use of sex slaves before and during World War II.

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who is also the co-head of an emerging nationalistic party, said his remarks two weeks ago rose from a "sense of crisis" about cases of sexual assaults by U.S. military personnel on Japanese civilians in Okinawa, where a large number of U.S. troops are based under a bilateral security treaty.

"I understand that my remark could be construed as an insult to the U.S. forces and to the American people" and was inappropriate, he said at a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Tokyo. "I retract this remark and express an apology."

Hashimoto had created an uproar with comments to journalists two weeks ago about Japan's modern and wartime sexual services. They added to recent anger in neighboring countries that suffered from Japan's wartime aggression and have complained about the lack of atonement for atrocities committed during that time.

Hashimoto said on May 13 that on a recent visit to the southern island of Okinawa, he suggested to the U.S. commander there that the troops there "to make better use" of the legal sex industry. "If you don't make use of those places you cannot control the sexual energy of those tough guys," he said.

He also said that Japan's wartime practice of forcing women from across Asia but mostly from South Korea and China to work in front-line brothels was necessary to maintain discipline and provide relaxation for soldiers.

He didn't apologize for those comments Monday, and insisted that Japan's wartime government did not systematically force girls and women into prostitution.

"If only Japan is blamed because of the widely held view that the state authority of Japan was intentionally involved in the abduction and trafficking of women, I will have to inform you that this view is incorrect," he said.

Hashimoto also urged the government to clarify Japan's landmark apology in a 1993 statement by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, and clearly state that Japan's government did not systematically force women into prostitution for its wartime military. Hashimoto has previously supported the view by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government denying official proof of coercion but open to further investigation.

Before taking office in December Abe had advocated revising the Kono statement, but has said recently he stands by that statement and won't revise it.

He said the murkiness of the Kono statement has contributed to longstanding disputes between Japan and South Korea. "We should bring an end to irrational debate."

Hashimoto did call the use of so-called comfort women an "inexcusable act that violated the dignity and human rights of the women, in which large numbers of Korean and Japanese were included."

Still, he claimed he had been quoted out of context to say that he personally believed that the use the system was necessary. He was trying to say that armed forces of nations around the world "seem to have needed women" in past wars and also violated women's human rights during wartime.

Singling out Japan was wrong, as this issue also existed in the armed forces of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the former Soviet Union during World War II, he alleged, without elaborating.

"Based on the premise that Japan must remorsefully face its past offenses and must never justify the offenses, I intended to argue that other nations in the world must not attempt to conclude the matter by blaming only Japan and by associating Japan alone with the simple phrase of 'sex slaves' or 'sex slavery,'" Hashimoto said in the statement.

Hashimoto said any forms of sexual exploitation of women at conflict, whether it is commercial or military run, is inexcusable.,

Historians say up to 200,000 women, mainly from the Korean Peninsula and China, were forced to provide sex for Japanese soldiers in military brothels. While some other World War II armies had military brothels, Japan is the only country accused of such widespread, organized sexual slavery.

Hashimoto, 43, has become well-known in recent years for his outspokenness. Last year, he formed a conservative party, the Japan Restoration Party, with former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, a strident nationalist. The party is now an opposition party in the parliament.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-27-Japan-Sex%20Slaves/id-86f5e1dea101471ba3222c446087fd2e

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Difficult to Broach (talking-points-memo)

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Monday, May 27, 2013

Kenya: UK soldier killing suspect arrested in 2010

FILE - Michael Adebolajo, front, shouts slogans as Muslims march in London in a protest against the arrest of 6 people in anti-terror raids, in this Friday April 27, 2007 file photo. Adebolajo has been identified as one of the two men who attacked and killed a British soldier on a street in south London on Wednesday May 22 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, file) MAGAZINES OUT

FILE - Michael Adebolajo, front, shouts slogans as Muslims march in London in a protest against the arrest of 6 people in anti-terror raids, in this Friday April 27, 2007 file photo. Adebolajo has been identified as one of the two men who attacked and killed a British soldier on a street in south London on Wednesday May 22 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, file) MAGAZINES OUT

In this undated image released Thursday May 23, 2013, by the British Ministry of Defence, showing Lee Rigby known as ?Riggers? to his friends, who is identified by the MOD as the serving member of the armed forces who was attacked and killed by two men in the Woolwich area of London on Wednesday. The Ministry web site included the statement "It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce that the soldier killed in yesterday's incident in Woolwich, South East London, is believed to be Drummer Lee Rigby of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers." (AP Photo / MOD)

People heckle the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, not pictured, as he leaves the scene of a terror attack in Woolwich, southeast London, Thursday, May 23, 2013. A member of armed forces was attacked and killed by two men on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

The mother of killed Drummer Lee Rigby, Lyn Rigby, centre, holds onto a teddy bear as she joins his stepfather Ian, and other family members looking at floral tributes outside Woolwich Barracks as they visited the scene of his murder in Woolwich, south-east London, Sunday May 26, 2013. Family members laid flowers at the Woolwich Barracks where the 25-year-old soldier of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Lee Rigby who was attacked and killed by two men in broad daylight Wednesday May 22, and where hundreds of floral tributes have been left by public well wishers. (AP Photo / John Stillwell, PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES

The mother of killed Drummer Lee Rigby, Lyn Rigby, centre, holds onto a teddy bear as she joins his stepfather Ian, and other family members looking at floral tributes outside Woolwich Barracks as they visit the scene of his murder in Woolwich, south-east London, Sunday May 26, 2013. Family members laid flowers at the Woolwich Barracks where the 25-year-old soldier of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Lee Rigby was attacked and killed by two men in broad daylight Wednesday May 22, and where hundreds of floral tributes have been left by public well wishers. (AP Photo / John Stillwell, PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES

(AP) ? A suspect in last week's savage killing of a British soldier on a London street was arrested in Kenya in 2010 while apparently preparing to train and fight with al-Qaida-linked Somali militants, an anti-terrorism police official said.

Michael Adebolajo, who was carrying a British passport, was then handed over to British authorities in the East African country, another Kenyan official said Sunday.

The information surfaced as London's Metropolitan Police said specialist firearms officers arrested a man Sunday suspected of conspiring to murder 25-year-old British soldier Lee Rigby. Police gave no other details about the suspect, only saying he is 22 years old.

The arrest brought to nine the number of suspects who have been taken into custody regarding Rigby's horrific killing in London. No one has been charged in the case.

The British soldier, who had served in Afghanistan, was run over, and then, witnesses say, was stabbed with knives by two men in the Woolwich area in southeast London on Wednesday afternoon as he was walking near his barracks.

Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, are the main suspects in the killing and remained under armed guard in separate London hospitals after police shot them at the scene.

In 2010, Adebolajo was arrested with five others near Kenya's border with Somalia, Kenya's anti-terrorism police unit chief Boniface Mwaniki told The Associated Press. Police believed Adebolajo was going to work with Somali militant group al-Shabab.

A video clip from a local TV station shows a man appearing to be Adebolajo speaking during a court hearing in the Kenyan city of Mombasa on Nov. 23, 2010. He says, "These people are mistreating us. We are innocent. Believe me," shortly before leaving the court with five other suspects.

Mwaniki said that Adebolajo was deported from Kenya after his arrest in 2010. Kenya's government spokesman said he was arrested under a different name, and taken to court before being handed to British authorities.

"Kenya's government arrested Michael Olemindis Ndemolajo. We handed him to British security agents in Kenya, and he seems to have found his way to London and mutated to Michael Adebolajo," spokesman Muthui Kariuki said. "The Kenyan government cannot be held responsible for what happened to him after we handed him to British authorities."

Kariuki said Adebolajo was traveling on a British passport, but he could not confirm if it was authentic.

When asked whether British security agents and embassy officials had handled Adebolajo in Kenya, a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said in a brief statement: "We can confirm a British national was arrested in Kenya in 2010. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided consular assistance as normal for British nationals." She did not elaborate and said she did not have information about what had happened to Adebolajo then.

Rigby's grieving family visited the scene of his killing in London on Sunday, pausing for a few moments in reflection and laying flowers to join the hundreds of floral tributes already left at the nearby Woolwich Barracks by well-wishers.

The soldier's gruesome slaying has horrified Britain, partly because it was captured by witnesses' cellphones. A video picked up by British media showed one of the suspects ? identified by hardline Muslim leaders as Adebolajo ? with bloodied hands, making political statements and warning of more violence as the soldier lay on the ground behind him.

The killing has also fed a spike in anti-Muslim sentiment, with police, politicians, and activists reporting a surge in hate crimes, including violence and vandalism.

A mosque in the northern England town of Grimsby was firebombed Sunday night, according to chairman Diler Gharib, who told a local newspaper he was discussing how to thank his neighbors for the support they had shown his community in the past days when the building was hit with gasoline bombs.

"We have all been feeling on edge and now this has happened," he told the Grimsby Telegraph. Local police said they had made two arrests in connection with the incident.

Adebolajo has been described by his associates as a convert to Islam who used to take part in London demonstrations organized by British radical group al-Muhajiroun. The group catapulted to notoriety after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by organizing an event to celebrate the airplane hijackers, and was banned in Britain in 2010.

More than 20 supporters of the group have been arrested over terrorism offenses, including a foiled plot to blow up central London nightclub Ministry of Sound and a bomb attack on London's Territorial Army base.

Abu Nusaybah, a friend of Adebolajo's, has asserted in a BBC interview that Adebolajo became withdrawn after he allegedly suffered abuse by Kenyan security forces during interrogation in prison there. Nusaybah was arrested by counter-terrorism police outside the BBC's London studios Friday night immediately after recording the interview, and police said Sunday his detention has been extended to May 31.

Anti-terrorism chief Mwaniki on Sunday rejected Nusaybah's allegations. Mwaniki said at the time there were no indications of torture or abuse, but that the unit would further investigate.

Mwaniki said dozens of foreign youth are arrested every year attempting to cross the Kenyan border to join al-Shabab, which claims to be fighting a jihad, or holy war, against the Somali government and African Union forces.

Al-Shabab controlled the Somali capital, Mogadishu, from roughly 2007 to 2011. The group still dominates most of south central Somalia but has seen its territory reduced after military pushes by African Union and Somali forces.

According to an August U.S. State Department report on terrorism, al-Shabab continues to maintain training camps in southern Somalia for young recruits, including Americans who have traveled there from Somali communities in the United States.

The camps have churned out dozens of bombers who've launched attacks in and outside Somalia.

Al-Shabab boasts several hundred foreign fighters, mostly East African nationals and veterans from the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars.

British officials have been on the lookout for security threats originating from Somalia for some years.

In a speech in 2010, Jonathan Evans, then head of Britain's MI5 domestic security service, warned that "a significant number" of British residents were training in al-Shabab camps to fight in the insurgency there.

"I am concerned that it is only a matter of time before we see terrorism on our streets inspired by those who are today fighting alongside al-Shabab," he said.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne, head of Scotland Yard's counterterrorism command, said officers are pursuing CCTV, social media, forensic and intelligence leads in the Rigby investigation. He appealed for anyone who knew the two attackers to contact police with information.

British officials said Sunday they are also setting up a new terrorism task force to tackle radical preachers and extremism. Home Secretary Theresa May said the group will look at whether new powers and laws are needed to clamp down on religious leaders and organizations who promote extremist messages and who target potential recruits in British jails, schools and mosques.

___

Hui reported from London. Producer Khaled Kazziha in Nairobi and Raphael Satter in London also contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-27-Britain-Attack/id-8660e4707ebe4f348871c10102b5bb6e

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Abidjan 'Web Mayor' Dreams of Online El Dorado (Voice Of America)

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Serbia holds funeral for Yugoslavia's last king

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) ? Serbia held a funeral on Sunday for Yugoslavia's last king, Peter II Karadjordjevic, who had fled the country at the start of World War II and died in the U.S. in 1970.

The former king's remains, and those of his wife, mother and brother, were interred in the family tomb at St. George church in Oplenac, central Serbia, in a ceremony aired live on the state television.

The funeral was attended by top state officials, who described it as an act of reconciliation and unity.

After fleeing Yugoslavia during its Nazi occupation, the former king never returned because Communists took over the country at the end of the war and abolished the monarchy.

He died in exile at the age of 47 and was buried at a Serbian Orthodox Church monastery in Libertyville, Illinois ? the only European monarch laid to rest on U.S. soil.

"We can no longer afford any divisions and injustice," President Tomislav Nikolic said in a speech at Sunday's ceremony.

Peter was born into a royal family, and his godfather was Britain's King George VI, but his life was often tragic and chaotic.

He was only 11 years old when his father, King Alexander I, was assassinated in 1934 in Marseilles, France. For the next six years the boy's powers were in the hands of a three-man regency headed by his uncle, Prince Paul.

In March 1941, Prince Paul was overthrown in a military coup after signing a pact with Germany.

Peter, then 17, was made the king by the Serb anti-fascists. But when Germany invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941, Peter was forced to flee, first to Greece, then to Egypt, then to Britain, where he headed the government-in-exile. He later lived in France and ended up in the U.S.

History books portray him as a figurehead leader and a victim of cunning politicians.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/serbia-holds-funeral-yugoslavias-last-king-143032643.html

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Venus Williams loses to Radwanska sister at French

PARIS (AP) ? Grimacing after some poor shots, leaning forward with hands on knees while catching her breath after others, Venus Williams left the French Open after the first round for the first time since 2001.

Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player seeded 30th at Roland Garros, felt hampered by a bad back, had problems with her serve ? all sorts of strokes, actually ? and lost 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-4 Sunday to 40th-ranked Urszula Radwanska of Poland, who never has been past the second round of a major tournament.

Inflammation in her lower back limited Williams to two matches over the previous 1? months, preparation she called, with a chuckle, "extremely unideal."

"I can't really serve very hard. It's painful when I do that. But I'm getting better. I just, you know, ran out of time to get better for this tournament," said Williams, broken 11 of the 17 times she served Sunday. "My strategy was more or less to put the ball in, and that's very difficult for me, too, because that's not who I am. But that's all I had."

Her quick exit came a year after she lost in the second round at Roland Garros to Radwanska's older sister, Agnieszka, the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up.

"Yeah, of course, I was talking with Aga about Venus," Urszula said. "I was well-prepared for this match, and I knew she was a great fighter, so I should be focused the whole match."

Williams, naturally, also knows a thing or two about having a more successful tennis-playing sibling, and her short stay in Paris comes a year after younger sister Serena, who owns 15 Grand Slam titles, was upset in the first round at Roland Garros. Serena made a fluent return to the clay-court tournament in the early afternoon Sunday, overwhelming 74th-ranked Anna Tatishvili 6-0, 6-1 ? and then addressing an appreciative audience at Court Philippe Chatrier in the local language.

Magnifique!

"I have been speaking French for years and years, but I don't really have a lot of confidence," Serena said later, in English. "It's way, way more nerve-racking than playing tennis."

On this day, for her, absolutely.

With shadows creeping across the court in the early evening, Venus had a much tougher time against Urszula, who is far-less-accomplished than Agnieszka, the French Open's fourth seed.

Truth be told, this result really was not nearly as stunning as Serena's French Open loss last year to 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano, who also won Sunday. That remains Serena's only first-round departure in 51 appearances at Grand Slams, and she rebounded by winning Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the London Olympics.

Venus, 32 and still learning to live with an energy-sapping autoimmune disease, now has two first-round losses in the past four Grand Slam tournaments. Her defeat at Wimbledon last June was the first time she'd left a major championship that early since she lost in the first round of the Australian Open 6? years earlier.

"With what I've gone through, it's not easy. But I'm strong and I'm a fighter. You know, I don't think I'm just playing for me now. I think I'm playing for a lot of people who haven't felt well," Venus said. "I think for me today it's a positive to be able to play three hours. I'm constantly finding ways to get better and to feel better."

The only other seeded player to lose on Day 1 was No. 11 Nadia Petrova of Russia, who was defeated by Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Otherwise, results went to form, with 17-time major champion Roger Federer picking up a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 victory over a guy making his Grand Slam debut, Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, while No. 4 David Ferrer, No. 14 Milos Raonic of Canada and No. 18 Sam Querrey of the United Sates also were among the winners.

In an intriguing encounter filled with momentum swings, No. 15 Gilles Simon of France overcame a two-set deficit for the first time in his career to edge two-time major champion Lleyton Hewitt 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5.

The 32-year-old Hewitt, who won the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002, was asked Sunday whether he'll be back at the French Open and replied: "Don't know. Haven't even thought about it."

A similar question was put to Venus, who sounded bothered by the topic.

"If it's the last match, I'll let you know," she answered. "That's pretty much how it works."

The Williams sisters completely changed the way women's tennis was played in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with 120 mph serves, stinging forehands and fantastic court coverage. They faced each other in eight Grand Slam finals, including the 2002 French Open, which Serena won.

Neither Williams has enjoyed much success in Paris after that championship match, where the clay tends to dull the strength of their swings and the footing can give them problems. Venus hasn't been past the quarterfinals since 2002, while Serena hasn't since 2003.

"I just keep trying, and it hasn't been working out for me," Serena, who is ranked and seeded No. 1, said after stretching her career-best winning streak to 25 matches. "I may have gotten nervous in the past or may have basically choked a few matches away."

She won the first nine games against Tatishvili, and 30 of the first 37 points. On her serve, the final count was 28 of 33 points, bolstered by eight aces.

"I've played a lot of players who have very good serves, but hers is consistently good, so you always feel pressure when you're returning," Tatishvili said. "I wasn't really surprised, because I've watched her so much, you know? It's Serena Williams; you watch her always on TV or at tournaments. But it's the first time I felt what I had seen."

She probably saw plenty of Venus on television, too, but the older Williams is no longer the same player.

In a sign of the way things would develop, Venus was broken at love in the very first game. With Serena and their mother, Oracene Price, sitting in the stands ? both occasionally placing chin on hand, looking glum ? Venus kept missing the mark, finishing with 66 unforced errors to 40 for Urszula.

The match lasted 3 hours, 19 minutes, but it appeared ready to end much sooner, because Urszula took a 4-0 lead in the second-set tiebreaker, three points from victory.

Perhaps feeling some nerves, Urszula started missing more, and Venus sprinkled in the occasional winner, reeling off seven points in a row to even the match at a set apiece. But Urszula broke Venus to open the third set and moved out to a 4-0 edge. Venus made one last stand, getting within 5-4 ? a handful of fans in the nearly empty Court Suzanne Lenglen stands started a clap-accompanied chant of "Let's go, Venus, let's go!" ? she couldn't manage to pull even.

The match ended, fittingly, with one last miscue by Venus, a backhand she dumped into the net.

"I'm still shaking. Just a long match," Urszula told the crowd afterward. "It's an amazing feeling to beat her."

___

Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venus-williams-loses-radwanska-sister-french-202317837.html

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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Blackstone notifies Cohen's SAC it intends to pull money: pension consultant

By Matthew Goldstein

(Reuters) - Billionaire hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen is losing the financial support of Blackstone Group Inc, the largest outside investor in his embattled SAC Capital Advisors, which is yanking much of its client money, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.

A pension consultant, in a May 21 letter to clients, said Blackstone has notified Cohen that it intends to "fully redeem" a significant portion of the roughly $550 million the investment firm has invested with the $15 billion hedge fund. The letter from pension consulting firm Russell Investments said Blackstone submitted its redemption notice to SAC Capital sometime before May 15 because of ongoing concerns about the insider trading investigation that continues to engulf Cohen's fund.

Blackstone's investment with SAC Capital is through several investment funds known as hedge fund of funds and also through separately managed accounts it maintains for clients. The decision to redeem from SAC Capital impacts only client money invested in its hedge fund of funds, according to the letter. It's not clear how much of the $550 million is in those hedge fund of funds and it is not clear what Blackstone is advising clients who have money in separately managed accounts that is invested with SAC Capital.

Russell did say in the address to its pension clients that Blackstone "expects to receive 100 percent of investors' capital by year-end." Russell, which manages $173 billion in assets and oversees a number of index funds, also provides advice to pensions and institutional investors on where to invest their dollars in hedge funds.

The timing of Blackstone's request to withdraw money from SAC Capital is critical because it came before the hedge fund told investors on May 17 that its cooperation with federal authorities was no longer unconditional. Soon after, news broke that federal prosecutors had issued grand jury subpoenas earlier this month to Cohen and several of his top executives, seeking their testimony about insider trading at the hedge fund.

The decision by Blackstone, which has invested with SAC Capital for at least a decade, is a big blow to the 56-year-old fund manager, who is widely regarded as one of the most successful traders of his generation. Blackstone - which manages about $46 billion in hedge fund investments for public pensions, foundations, corporations and wealthy individuals - is seen as something of a bellwether for other investors in the $2.2 trillion hedge fund industry because of its stature.

Representatives for Blackstone did not immediately respond when asked for comment on Saturday. An SAC Capital spokesman declined to comment.

The letter from Russell Investments, which was reviewed by Reuters, made no mention of the subpoenas on Cohen and his executives and was sent after a Russell representative talked to a Blackstone executive about the redemption decision. The letter said Blackstone decided to submit a redemption notice to SAC Capital after reviewing the terms of a $616 million deal SAC Capital reached in March with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle allegations that the hedge fund's employees had engaged in insider trading in four stocks.

Blackstone, according to the letter, said the settlement with the SEC "did not give additional comfort that the issues at-hand were resolved."

A representative for Russell Investments did not respond to a request for comment about the letter from its Russell Research division.

Outside investors in SAC Capital like Blackstone, who account for roughly $6.75 billion of the $15 billion managed by Cohen, have until June 3 to decide whether to submit redemption notices for the second quarter. In the first quarter, outside investors notified Cohen they intend to withdraw about $1.7 billion of that $6.75 billion by year's end.

People close to SAC Capital said Cohen, who has roughly $8 billion of his money invested in SAC Capital, is bracing for another large round of redemption requests. The speculation is growing in the hedge fund world that if Cohen gets another large round of redemption requests, he may opt to return all the outside money and convert SAC Capital into a family office ? an unregistered firm that manages money just for himself and his friends and family.

SAC Capital is one of the world's larger hedge funds with 1,000 employees.

Blackstone's hedge fund of funds invests client money with more than four dozen hedge funds, including SAC Capital, Pershing Square Capital Management, Elliott Management and DE Shaw & Co, according to people familiar with the private equity firm's asset management business.

The decision by Blackstone to redeem comes after the private equity and investment firm has stuck with Cohen throughout the course of the long-running investigation that has so far resulted in nine one-time employees of the firm being charged or implicated in insider trading schemes.

Cohen himself has not been charged with wrongdoing, but the investigation is seen as increasingly focusing on him and his firm.

In late April, lawyers for Cohen and his firm met with federal prosecutors in Manhattan to make their best case argument about why the hedge fund billionaire and his SAC Capital Advisors should not be charged with criminal wrongdoing. But people familiar with that meeting said the lengthy presentation did not impress federal prosecutors, who are now considering whether to use a racketeering law aimed at prosecuting the Mafia and drug gangs to pursue a criminal case against Cohen's hedge fund.

(Editing by Martin Howell and Gunna Dickson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blackstone-notifies-cohens-sac-intends-pull-money-pension-154556025.html

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