LONDON (AP) ? A British newspaper says it has seen evidence that the phone-hacking scandal rocking the U.K. media establishment extends well beyond journalists to include other industries.
The hacking scandal has rocked Britain with revelations that journalists routinely intercepted voicemails, bribed public officials, and hacked into computers in their search for scoops.
The Independent says that a leaked report from Britain's Serious and Organized Crime Agency ? often described as the U.K.'s version of the FBI ? shows that authorities were aware of a much wider circle of organizations employing many of the same methods.
The paper said law firms, debt collectors and others also made use of hacking to get an edge over rivals.
SOCA did not immediately return Associated Press messages seeking comment Saturday.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) ? Law student Aminata Kande stepped out in a $25 blue wax print dress to watch lanky models storm a makeshift runway wearing pieces that cost ten times that amount.
Dakar Fashion Week, an 11-year-old institution birthed in the posh hotels of this West African culture hub, took its act to Guediawaye, one of the most downtrodden neighborhoods of this seafacing capital. While organizer Adama Ndiaye affectionately described the area as "the 'hood," the northern suburb has repeatedly been the scene of violent riots over problems ranging from power cuts to seasonal flooding in this nation that consistently ranks in the bottom tier on global development reports.
The show was part of a six-day event featuring 18 designers, seven from Senegal and others from as far away as Germany and Brazil. Shows were scheduled to be held in three different locations throughout Dakar.
Ndiaye said she hoped staging a show in a working-class suburb would make high fashion as accessible to students like Kande as it is for the wealthy.
"It is very important to show that beautiful things are not only for rich people," said Ndiaye, who shows under the name Adama Paris. She said that the clothes she displayed in Guediawaye were of the same quality __ and cost __ as those that were to be featured later in the weekend at a luxury seaside hotel.
"I want this neighborhood to see what we have, and if it's a gown for 1,000 euros, then who cares? You don't have to be rich to like Dior," she said while prepping the staging area behind the runway, which was assembled on a sandy clearing normally used as a marketplace.
But a show in the suburbs is not exactly like a show downtown. Senegalese designer Ramsen, who specializes in dark, loose dresses adorned with foot-long feathers and other unusual accents, said she left some of her pricier pieces at home both to accommodate the crowd and to protect her more delicate creations.
"This is the suburbs, so people don't have the same financial means," she said. "Also, as you can see, there is a lot of sand out here."
The runway scene was also far rowdier than shows in the capital, Dakar. Thousands of Senegalese, who don't necessarily work in fashion, were vocal about their opinions. They cheered lustily at a leggy model wearing hot pink shorts by German designer Kathrin Huschka, and dozens of men jostled for better views from parked minivans on a road overlooking the runway.
The loudest reactions were reserved for the more famous models, especially actress Diarra Thiam, who was greeted to rapturous chants of her nickname, "Lissa." The presenter later brought her out to blow kisses to the crowd, which nearly toppled the control barrier on one side of the T-shaped runway.
For designer Tapha Fall, the show was a kind of homecoming. As a boy growing up in Guediawaye, he developed a love for clothes while helping out his father, a tailor. He said the decision to stage a show in the suburb would expose residents to global trends they might not otherwise encounter.
"The people here already have their own style -- urban, a mix of American and French," he said. "But now they will see what's going on in the rest of the world."
But Yannick Minko, an assistant to Lebanese designer Enzo Itzaky, said designers could look to Guediawaye for inspiration.
"Style begins in the street," he said. "You look at designers in America, they are getting their inspiration from the Bronx, from Brooklyn. So why can't it be the same here in Senegal?"
After the show, law student Kande suggested that inspiration might come full circle. Though many of the items were outside her budget, she said she had snapped a few photos of dresses she might want to wear. And as is common in Dakar, she said she planned to take advantage of cheap labor to add some approximations of the outfits to her wardrobe.
"I'll see if maybe my tailor can make them," she said.
In a June 20 ?The Kids,? Melinda Wenner Moyer misstated that the Honest company promised her an interview. While Moyer corresponded with an Honest representative about the prospect of an interview, one was never promised. Moyer also incorrectly wrote that Honest diapers contain several nut oils. They do not.
In a June 20 "Technology," Farhad Manjoo misstated?in a joking reference?how much better than Vine that Facebook aimed to make Instagram. By increasing video length from 6 seconds to 15 seconds, Facebook seemingly makes Instagram 150 percent better, not 250 percent better.
In a June 20 "XX Factor" blog post, Amanda Hess misspelled Robbie Myers? last name.
In a June 19 "Bad Astronomy" blog post, Phil Plait wrote that all major components of the James Webb Space Telescope were manufactured by Ball Aerospace. Ball made the mirrors on JWST, but other companies are involved in building the observatory as well.
In a June 19 ?Culturebox,? Erik Sofge misstated that C-3PO and R2-D2 secretly followed Luke Skywalker. R2-D2 left his post to look for Obi-Wan.
In a June 19 ?Faith-Based,? Rebecca Finkel misspelled the name of the Hasidic sect Lubavitch.
In a June 19 "Foreigners," Dahlia Lithwick misspelled the Hebrew spelling for thank you. It is todah rabbah, not todah tabbah.
In a June 19 ?Sports Nut,? John Dickerson initially misspelled the name of reader Jon Berry.
In a June 19 "Weigel" blog post, Emma Roller wrote that Tea Party Patriots gave one-day notice of a Tea Party rally on June 19. They announced the rally in an email on June 6.
In a June 18 ?Double X,? Katy Waldman misattributed a comedy video about Bitchy Resting Face to the website Funny or Die. It was created by Taylor Orci.
In a June 18 "Vault" blog post, Rebecca Onion mistranscribed the name of an actor mentioned as a potential cast member in the movie version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? He was George Grizzard, not George Grippards.
In a June 18 ?Weigel? blog post, David Weigel misquoted a Politico story about the Massachusetts Senate race. A quote said Republican candidate Gabriel Gomez, ?has been complaining,? not ?keeps complaining.?
In a June 17 "Brow Beat" blog post, Torie Bosch misspelled the last name of the actress who plays Zoey on Nurse Jackie. It is Wever, not Weaver.
In a June 17 Mad Men ?TV Club? post, Paul Ford misidentified the company for which Peggy and Ted are creating a campaign. It is St. Joseph?s children?s aspirin.
In a June 17 ?Weigel? blog post, David Weigel originally wrote that his friend returned from Iran with a cable, not a candle. Also, he misspelled the first name of Soli Shavar.
In a June 17 ?XX Factor? blog post, Amanda Marcotte misspelled Miss USA judge NeNe Leakes' first name.
In a June 17 ?XX Factor? blog post, Daniel Bergner misspelled former Playgirl editor in chief Ronnie Koenig's last name.
In the June 15 ?New Scientist,? Sara Reardon wrote that Mary-Claire King discovered both the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer genes. She discovered BRCA1.
In a June 14 "Culturebox," Michelle Orange attributed the line ?We?ve been growing apart for years,? from This Is the End, to Seth Rogen. It is spoken by Jay Baruchel.
In a June 14 ?Medical Examiner? speculating that Superman?s Clark Kent disguise succeeds because everyone who works at the Daily Planet suffers from prosopagnosia, or face blindness, Kyle Hill wrote that most people who suffer from the disorder acquire it through brain trauma. However, it is more common for people to have prosopagnosia their entire lives, in some cases never noticing the condition.
In a June 14 "Weigel" blog post, Emma Roller misspelled Daniel Ellsberg's last name.
Slate?strives to correct all errors of fact. If you've seen an error in our pages, let us know at?corrections@slate.com. General comments should be?posted?in our Comments sections at the bottom of each article.
The Guardian published a new batch of secret leaked FISA court and NSA documents yesterday, which detail the particulars of how government has been accessing Americans? emails without a warrant, in violation of the Constitution. The documents lay bare fundamental problems with the ineffectual attempts to place meaningful limitations on the NSA?s massive surveillance program.
DoD-funded research: Can climate change heat up conflict?Public release date: 21-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Neil Tickner ntickner@umd.edu 301-405-4622 University of Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, Maryland A University of Maryland-led team of policy experts and scientists is seeking to understand how the impacts of climate change could affect civil conflicts. The team will develop new models of the relationship between conflict, socio-economic conditions and climate. They will use these to project future conflict and develop interventions.
The U.S. Department of Defense is funding the research through a new three-year, $1.9 million grant part of its highly selective Minerva program of social science research.
"It's likely that physical and economic disruptions resulting from climate change could heighten tensions in sensitive areas of the world," says lead researcher Elisabeth Gilmore, an assistant professor in the University of Maryland's (UMD) School of Public Policy. "We hope to develop an integrated model to help researchers and policy makers better anticipate civil conflict under a range of climate change scenarios."
For example, Gilmore says that in a region with ongoing conflicts such as sub-Saharan Africa, additional changes in food and water availability, public health crises, and disruptive migration could further destabilize civil order.
The team will use statistical models and case studies to identify the best predictors of climate-related conflict. It will then use this data and a novel simulation method to generate forecasts of conflict over a range of socio-economic and climate change scenarios. Finally, the project will identify a range of military and policy interventions that could reduce the occurrence of civil conflict under climate change.
In addition to Gilmore, the research team includes John Steinbruner, director of UMD's Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM); Halvard Buhaug, research director at the Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO); Havard Hegre, research professor at PRIO; Katherine Calvin, research scientist at the Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI), a UMD collaboration with the Department of Energy; and Stephanie Waldhoff, scientist at JGCRI.
The research grant was awarded by the Defense Department's Minerva Initiative, which aims to improve the department's basic understanding of the social, cultural, behavioral, and political forces that shape regions of the world of strategic importance to the United States. The UMD project is one of only 14 funded by Minerva from a total pool of 280.
UMD also won a Minerva grant in the previous round in 2012, supporting research into radicalization and de-radicalization.
###
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jonas Siegel
UMD School of Public Policy/CISSM
301-405-4020
jsiegel@umd.edu
Neil Tickner
UMD Communications
301-405-4622
ntickner@umd.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
DoD-funded research: Can climate change heat up conflict?Public release date: 21-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Neil Tickner ntickner@umd.edu 301-405-4622 University of Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, Maryland A University of Maryland-led team of policy experts and scientists is seeking to understand how the impacts of climate change could affect civil conflicts. The team will develop new models of the relationship between conflict, socio-economic conditions and climate. They will use these to project future conflict and develop interventions.
The U.S. Department of Defense is funding the research through a new three-year, $1.9 million grant part of its highly selective Minerva program of social science research.
"It's likely that physical and economic disruptions resulting from climate change could heighten tensions in sensitive areas of the world," says lead researcher Elisabeth Gilmore, an assistant professor in the University of Maryland's (UMD) School of Public Policy. "We hope to develop an integrated model to help researchers and policy makers better anticipate civil conflict under a range of climate change scenarios."
For example, Gilmore says that in a region with ongoing conflicts such as sub-Saharan Africa, additional changes in food and water availability, public health crises, and disruptive migration could further destabilize civil order.
The team will use statistical models and case studies to identify the best predictors of climate-related conflict. It will then use this data and a novel simulation method to generate forecasts of conflict over a range of socio-economic and climate change scenarios. Finally, the project will identify a range of military and policy interventions that could reduce the occurrence of civil conflict under climate change.
In addition to Gilmore, the research team includes John Steinbruner, director of UMD's Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM); Halvard Buhaug, research director at the Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO); Havard Hegre, research professor at PRIO; Katherine Calvin, research scientist at the Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI), a UMD collaboration with the Department of Energy; and Stephanie Waldhoff, scientist at JGCRI.
The research grant was awarded by the Defense Department's Minerva Initiative, which aims to improve the department's basic understanding of the social, cultural, behavioral, and political forces that shape regions of the world of strategic importance to the United States. The UMD project is one of only 14 funded by Minerva from a total pool of 280.
UMD also won a Minerva grant in the previous round in 2012, supporting research into radicalization and de-radicalization.
###
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jonas Siegel
UMD School of Public Policy/CISSM
301-405-4020
jsiegel@umd.edu
Neil Tickner
UMD Communications
301-405-4622
ntickner@umd.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Does Samsung's miniaturized Galaxy S4 live up to its name?
Each new generation of smartphones seems to bring with it ever larger screens. Just a couple of years ago a 4.3-inch screen was considered large -- unwieldy, even -- in the grand scheme of things. But as screens for flagship phones reach five inches and beyond, manufacturers seem to be realizing that big screens aren't for everyone. And the result of that realization is phones like the Galaxy S4 Mini.
Featuring a familiar chassis design and a "smaller" 4.3-inch display, the Galaxy S4 Mini seems to promise a high-end experience in a smaller body. And in part, it delivers -- the S4 Mini boasts much of the feature set of its full-size namesake. You'll get everything from S Health -- the food and weight tracking app -- to WatchON -- the IR blaster-based TV remote app. Full-screen multitasking is even supported through the "Multi-Window" feature.
Taylor Swift's loyal fanbase defended the singer's honor against Abercrombie & Fitch.
Don't mess with the Swifties!
Clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch learned this lesson the hard way when it debuted a T-shirt that poked fun at singer Taylor Swift's seemingly endless parade of beaus.
The shirt, which read "#more boyfriends than t.s." in silver lettering, infuriated the singer's rabid fan base (known as "Swifties"), and even caused one fan to create a petition on the website change.org to have the shirt removed from the store's shelves.
"Abercrombie & Fitch: Take away "#More boyfriends than t.s." t-shirt...Because it's hurtful to Taylor Swift and Swifties everywhere!" the petition read, alongside a photo of the offending tee with a slash through it.
While the petition only garnered 95 signatures, it was enough for the brand to take notice. The store removed the shirt from its collection and changed the greeting of its public relations phone line to address the plethora of calls from angry Swift fans.
"Thank you for calling Abercrombie & Fitch public relations. If you are calling regarding the Taylor Swift T-shirt, please note this is no longer available,? the current greeting states.
In addition, a pro-Taylor message was posted on the company's Twitter account.
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Public release date: 21-Jun-2013
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