Winona State University senior running back Chichi Ojika took a handoff on the second play from scrimmage Saturday and found space up the sideline for an 82-yard touchdown.
It was a sign of things to come, as the 5-foot-8, 185-pounder and the Winona offense routinely gashed Minot State University for big gains.
Ojika carried the ball 18 times for 242 yards and WSU averaged more than 10 yards per play as the Warriors crushed MSU 49-14 in front of a homecoming crowd of 3,036 at Herb Parker Stadium.
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Mike Kraft/MDN Winona State defensive end Anthony Frisby,left, forces a fumble by Minot State University tight end Kwajo Bonsu on Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium.
"That kid was a Minnesota (high school) 200-meter champ kid, so he can run," Winona coach Tom Sawyer said of Ojika. "You just need a little bit of space when you're a small kid like that."
The Warriors' big-play ability made the difference in a sloppy game. MSU (1-3) fumbled the ball eight times - losing three - before intermission. The Beavers finished with nine fumbles, with four resulting in turnovers.
Winona quarterback Jack Nelson threw both of his interceptions in the first half and the Warriors (2-2) also lost two fumbles before the break.
"There wasn't much flow to the whole game when it's back and forth like that," MSU coach Paul Rudolph said. "A fumble here and pick there, and a fumble here and a pick there - it was kind of give it away, take it away. There wasn't a real good rhythm. I thought it was kind of an ugly football game all around."
WSU opened the game with 28 straight points. Nelson had a hand in the three scores following Ojika's early TD. The 6-4 freshman scrambled in from 17 yards out to make it 14-0 and then tossed long touchdown passes on the next two scores.
MSU got on the board with 3 minutes, 21 seconds left in the second quarter. MSU sophomore quarterback Zac Cunha tossed a jump ball to wideout Porter Sturm from 17 yards out. The athletic sophomore rose above a Winona defensive back to haul in the reception.
In the second half, Ojika continued to burst into the MSU secondary for large chunks of yardage. He reeled off a 27-yard run on Winona's first offensive play of the third quarter, then exploded for a 43-yard touchdown two plays later for a 35-7 advantage.
Junior college transfer Kwajo Bonsu scored his first MSU touchdown with 5:12 remaining in the third quarter to make it 35-14. The 6-foot-7, 275-pound tight end snagged the over-the-middle pass in traffic and took a couple of lumbering steps into the end zone.
Nelson threw for another score and found the end zone on a 1-yard sneak to account for the final margin.
The game lasted 3 hours, 20 minutes as both teams racked up more than 140 yards in penalties.
Cunha completed 28 of 52 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns, but said the Beavers made too many mistakes to compete. Cunha was sacked eight times, including seven in the first half.
"We were good through the air today, but we fumbled the ball," he said. "You can't win with that."
Sturm caught five passes for 91 yards and senior Wayne Peters had a game-high nine receptions for 75 yards.
Redshirt freshman Jarvis Mustipher became the first MSU runner this season to break the 100-yard mark, carrying 16 times for 113 yards.
But Mustipher also fumbled the ball twice - including once after a 41-yard gain - and Rudolph wasn't optimistic about his performance.
"It's never positive when you put the ball on the ground," he said. "We don't protect the ball well enough, so it's tough to find too many positives when you don't protect the football."
MSU travels to in-state rival University of Mary (2-2) on Saturday for the teams' first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division matchup. The Beavers beat the Marauders 32-21 last season.
Daniel Allar covers Minot State University athletics. Follow him on Twitter @DAllar_MDN.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Flavorful World food and drink blog. because eating well is living well. Skip to content. Home · Cooking · Food Essays ... I'm grateful to Azita, not only for talking with me on subjects like seasonal cooking and raising U.S. appreciation for Persian cuisine, but also for introducing me to several recipes that I must soon attempt, and for having given me reason to pick up my poetry-reading again. Flavorful World: You've lived in New York for a number of years. Which New ...
The man who oversees the listings business at transatlantic stock exchange?Nasdaq OMX?is not giving up on attracting Twitter?s initial public offering.
In an interview with sister title Financial News today, Bruce Aust, the head of the global corporate client group at Nasdaq, said the exchange still wants to add Twitter to its stable of technology companies, which also includes the giant tech stocks of?Google?and?Apple. It did, of course, have a very public glitch this summer, and then of course, there?s that Facebook IPO.
Financial News asked Mr. Aust whether, in the light of reports that the smart money may be betting Twitter would choose to list on NYSE Euronext, would he still be working on attracting the listing?
?We?ll do everything we can to win that listing. We?re the natural home for technology companies and we?ve got the largest tech companies in the world listed on Nasdaq so I think we would be the natural home for them.?
The rest of Mr. Aust?s interview, in which he talks about nine new Nasdaq listings through Thursday this week, the European market and the exchange?s private company trading platform, can be read over at Financial News.
El papa Francisco saluda a un grupo de j?venes en Cagliari, Italia, el 22 de septiembre del 2013. El 23, Genoa, el club m?s antiguo de Italia, enviar? una delegaci?n para visitar al papa Francisco como parte de sus celebraciones del aniversario (AP Foto/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Francis
En esta fotograf?a del mi?rcoles 18 de septiembre de 2013, se ve al papa Francisco sentado durante su audiencia general semanal en la Plaza de San Pedro, en el Vaticano. (Foto AP/Riccardo De Luca)
Pope Francis
El papa Francisco saluda desde el papam?vil mientras cruza la Plaza de San Pedro para encabezar su audiencia general semanal en el Vaticano, el mi?rcoles 18 de septiembre de 2013. A la izquierda, una persona ondea una bandera argentina. (Foto AP/Riccardo De Luca)
El Papa Francisco recibi? en audiencia privada en El Vaticano al presidente de Honduras Porfirio Lobo Sosa, el viernes 20 de septiembre de 2013. (Foto de AP/Claudio Peri, Pool)
Pope Francis
El papa Francisco bendice a los fieles al final de su audiencia general semanal en la Plaza de San Pedro en el Vaticano el mi?rcoles, 18 de septiembre del 2013. En un radical cambio en el tono del Vaticano, el papa dijo el jueves que la Iglesia Cat?lica se ha vuelto obsesionada con ?reglas mezquinas? acerca de c?mo ser fiel y que los pastores deber?an en lugar de ello enfatizar compasi?n en lugar de condena cuando discuten temas sociales divisivos como aborto, homosexualidad y anticoncepci?n. (Foto AP/Riccardo De Luca)
El papa Francisco pronuncia un discurso durante una vigilia por la paz para Siria en la Plaza de San Pedro en el Vaticano, el s?bado 7 de septiembre de 2013. (AP Foto/Riccardo De Luca)
El papa Francisco saluda a los feligreses a su llegada a la Plaza de San Pedro para su audiencia general semanal el mi?rcoles 4 de septiembre de 2013. (Foto AP/Riccardo De Luca)
El papa Francisco desciende de su avi?n procedente de R?o de Janeiro en el aeropuerto militar de Ciampino, en las afueras de Roma, el lunes 29 de junio del 2013, tras pasar una semana en Brasil. (Foto AP/Riccardo De Luca)
El papa Francisco se despide al abordar el avi?n que lo lleva de regreso a Roma, en el aeropuerto internacional de R?o de Janeiro el domingo 28 de julio de 2013. (Foto AP/Andre Penner
El papa Francisco (centro) se reuni?, de izquierda a derecha, con la presidenta brasile?a Dilma Rousseff; el vicepresidente de Uruguay, Danilo Astori; el presidente de Bolivia, Evo Morales, y la presidenta argentina, Cristina Fernandez, en una imagen cedida por la la Oficina de Prensa de la Presidencia de Brasil el domingo 28 de julio de 2013, en R?o de Janeiro, Brasil. (Foto AP/Oficina de Prensa de la Presidencia de Brasil, Roberto Stuckert Filho)
El papa Francisco se acerca a un ni?o para besarlo a su llegada a la Bas?lica de Aparecida en Aparecida, Brasil, el mi?rcoles 24 de julio de 2013. (Foto AP/Domenico Stinellis)
En esta toma de video el papa Francisco porta un tocado ind?gena que le dieron los representantes de una de las tribus aut?ctonas de Brasil, durante un reuni?n en el teatro Municipal en R?o de Janeiro, Brasil, el s?bado 27 de julio de 2013. (Foto AP/TV Pool)
En esta im?gen tomada de un video el papa Francisco usa un sombrero de plumas que representantes de una de las tribus de Brasil le dieron durante una reuni?n frente al Teatro Municipal en Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, el s?bado 27 de julio del 2013. El papa Francisco se encuentra en su sexto d?a de un viaje a Brasil para participar en el D?a Mundial de la Juventud. (AP foto/TV Pool)
El papa Francisco es recibido por obispos a su llegada a una misa en la catedral de Rio de Janeiro, el s?bado 27 de julio del 2013. El Papa ret? a los obispos de todo el mundo a que salgan de sus iglesias y prediquen y que tengan el valor de ir a los m?s lejanos m?rgenes de la sociedad para encontrar a los fieles. El papa Francisco se encuentra en el sexto d?a de su viaje a Brasil donde participa en el D?a Mundial de la Juventud en Rio de Janeiro. (AP Foto/Domenico Stinellis)
El papa Francisco saluda a peregrinos cuando participa en el V?a Crucis en la playa de Copacabana en Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, el viernes 26 de julio del 2013. (AP foto/Luca Zennaro, Pool)
El papa Francisco manda un beso desde su papam?vil al llegar a la misa del viacrucis en la playa Copacabana en R?o de Janeiro, Brasil, el viernes 26 de julio de 2013. (Foto AP/Silvia Izquierdo)
Una ni?ita reacciona cuando es tomada por un guardia de seguridad del papa Francisco en el suburbio de Gloria cuando iba en el papa-movil hacia el palacio arzobispal en Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, el viernes 26 de julio de 2013. . (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
ARCHIVO - En esta foto de archivo del jueves 25 de julio de 2013 proporcionada por L'Osservatore Romano, el peri?dico del Vaticano, el papa Francisco se re?ne con residentes de la comunidad de Varginha en R?o de Janeiro. El papa Francisco introdujo un tema sorprendente durante un evento dedicado a inspirar a los j?venes en su visita a Brasil: ha elogiado en repetidas ocasiones a las personas mayores como contribuyentes valiosos para el futuro de la iglesia. (AP Foto/L'Osservatore Romano, Archivo)
El papa Francisco bendice a un ni?o mientras recorre con su papa m?vil el barrio Gloria camino al palacio del arzobispado en R?o de Janeiro, Brasil, el viernes 26 de julio de 2013. (AP foto/Felipe Dana)
El papa Francisco con una camiseta ol?mpica con su nombre que le entregaron en R?o de Janeiro, Brasil, el jueves 25 de julio de 2013. El pont?fice bendijo la bandera ol?mpica, visit? una favela y se dirigir? a miles de j?venes cat?licos en la playa de Copacaba el mismo jueves. La camiseta se la entreg? Carlos Arthur Nuzman, presidente del Comit? Ol?mpico de Brasil. (Foto AP/Luca Zennaro, Pool)
El Papa Francisco hace una pausa tras imponer el palio a 35 arzobispos durante una misa en la Bas?lica de San Pedro el s?bado 29 de junio de 2013. (Foto AP/Gregorio Borgia)
Monse?or Mario Aurelio Poli, arzobispo de Buenos Aires, Argentina, saluda al papa Francisco luego de recibir el palio durante una misa celebrada en la Bas?cila de San Pedro, en el Vaticano, el s?bado 29 de junio de 2013. (Foto AP/Gregorio Borgia)
El papa Francisco habla en la Plaza de San Pedro del Vaticano en su audiencia general semanal el mi?rcoles, 26 de junio del 2013. (Foto AP/Alessandra Tarantino)
En esta foto destribuida por el diario vaticano L'Osservatore Romano, el papa Francisco, posa desde la derecha, con el sacerdote de la di?cesis de Formosa, Francisco Nazar; el l?der de la comunidad Qom, F?lix Diaz, su esposa Amanda Asijak, y el premio Nobel de la paz, el argentino Adolfo P?rez Esquivel, durante una audiencia privada en el Vaticano, el lunes 24 de junio de 2013. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)
El papa Francisco conversa con el presidente salvadore?o Mauricio Funes frente a un relicario que contiene un fragmento de la sotana que vest?a el arzibispo Oscar Romero cuando fue asesinado. El tema principal de la audiencia privada en el Vaticano el jueves 22 de mayo de 2013 fue la beatificaci?n de Romero. (AP Foto/Alessandro Bianchi, Pool)
El papa Francisco se retira al termino de su audiencia general semanal en la Plaza de San Pedro en el Vaticano, el mi?rcoles 22 de mayo de 2013. (AP Foto/Alessandra Tarantino)
En esta fotograf?a proporcionada por el peri?dico del Vaticano L'Osservatore Romano, el papa Francisco bendice a una monja de las Misioneras de la Caridad en el Vaticano, el martes 21 de mayo de 2013. El pont?fice expres? el martes su ?cercan?a con las familias de todos los que murieron en el tornado de Oklahoma", con una preocupaci?n especial por ?las que perdieron a ni?os peque?os?. (Foto AP/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)
En esta imagen tomada de un video proporcionado por APTN, el papa Francisco coloca sus manos sobre la cabeza de un hombre joven el domingo 19 de mayo de 2013, tras celebrar misa en la Plaza de San Pedro. (Foto AP/APTN)
El papa Francisco recibe a la canciller federal alemana Angela Merkel en audiencia privada en el Vaticano el 18 de mayo del 2013 (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool)
EL papa Francisco bendice a los fieles durante su audiencia general de los mi?rcoles en la plaza de San Pedro, El Vaticano, el mi?rcoles 15 de mayo de 2013. Los interesados en la vida del papa Francisco pueden conocer sus facetas m?s humanas en un circuito tur?stico por el barrio de Buenos Aires, Argentina, donde transcurri? su infancia, incluso la vieja peluquer?a en la cual se cortaba el pelo.
EL papa Francisco seca su frente y cabeza durante su audiencia general de los mi?rcoles en la plaza de San Pedro, El Vaticano, el mi?rcoles 15 de mayo de 2013. Los interesados en la vida del papa Francisco pueden conocer sus facetas m?s humanas en un circuito tur?stico por el barrio de Buenos Aires, Argentina, donde transcurri? su infancia, incluso la vieja peluquer?a en la cual se cortaba el pelo. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
En esta foto difundida por el diario del vaticano L'Osservatore Romano, el papa Francisco libera a una paloma que le fue entregada durante su audiencia general de los mi?rcoles en la plaza de San Pedro, El Vaticano, el mi?rcoles 15 de mayo de 2013. Los interesados en la vida del papa Francisco pueden conocer sus facetas m?s humanas en un circuito tur?stico por el barrio de Buenos Aires, Argentina, donde transcurri? su infancia, incluso la vieja peluquer?a en la cual se cortaba el pelo. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)
el papa Francisco deja en libertad a dos palomas durante su audiencia general de los mi?rcoles en la Plaza de San Pedro en el Vaticano el 15 de mayo del 2013. Mientras recorr?a la plaza en el papam?vil, alguien entre el p?blico le ofreci?una jaula con las palomas y el pont?fice, sin vacilar, abri? la puertecilla de la jaula y las dej? en libertad (AP Foto/Alessandra Tarantino)
El papa Francisco es saludado por el presidente colombiano Juan Manuel Santos al concluir una ceremonia de canonizaci?n de varios nuevos santos, incluida una de Colombia, en la Plaza de San Pedro en el Vaticano, el domingo 12 de mayo de 2013. (Foto AP/Alessandra Tarantino)
Centenares de personas asisten a la Plaza de San Pedro durante una misa de canonizaci?n oficiada por el papa Francisco, el domingo 12 de mayo de 2013, en el Vaticano. (Foto AP/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis
El papa Francisco besa una cruz que contiene las reliquias de Mar?a Guadalupe Garc?a Zavala, de M?xico, durante una ceremonia de canonizaci?n en la Plaza de San Pedro, el domingo 12 de mayo de 2013, en el Vaticano. (Foto AP/Alessandra Tarantino)
El papa Francisco, derecha, y el patriarca Teodoro II de la Iglesia Ortodoxa Copta, segundo de izquierda a derecha, intercambian regalos durante su audiencia privada en la biblioteca del pont?fice, en el Vaticano, el viernes 10 de mayo de 2013. (Foto AP/Andreas Solaro, pool)
El papa Francisco intercambia gorros con una joven en la Plaza de San Pedro en el Vaticano, el mi?rcoles 8 de mayo de 2013. (AP Foto/Alessandra Tarantino)
El papa Francisco se retira en su papam?vil de la Plaza de San Pedro, en el Vaticano, tras celebrar una misa por las confraternidades, el domingo 5 de mayo de 2013. En su pr?xima vista de una semana a Brasil, en julio, Francisco visitar? una favela en R?o de Janeiro, anunci? el Vaticano, el martes 7 de mayo. (AP Foto/Andrew Medichini)
El papa Francisco, a la derecha, recibe al pont?fice em?rito Benedicto XVI que lleg? a lo que ser? su casa de retiro, un monasterio, en el interior del Varicano, el jueves 2 de mayo de 2013. (AP Foto/Osservatore Romano)
Pope Francis
El papa Francisco llega a la Plaza de San Pedro en el Vaticano para celebrar una misa el domingo 28 de abril de 2013. (Foto AP/Andrew Medichini)
En esta foto del 23 de marzo del 2013 sumiistrada por el peri?dico del Vaticano L'Osservatore Romano, el papa Francisco, derecha, y el papa em?rito Benedicto XVI se re?nen en Castelgandolfo (AP Foto/Osservatore Romano, HO)
Pope Francis, Javier Zanetti
Javier Zanetti muestra su camiseta del Inter durante una audiencia privada con el papa Francisco el 26 de abril del 2013. Al d?a siguiente, el argentino se rompi? el tal?n de Aquiles. Zanetti se oper? el martes 30 de abril de 2013 y el cirujano que lo trat? predijo que el capit?n del Inter volver? a jugar f?tbol. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)
El papa Francisco sale de la Plaza de San Pedro, en el Vaticano, despu?s de celebrar la santa misa el domingo 28 de abril de 2013. Francisco, un nuevo papa de Am?rica Latina que desea crear "una Iglesia para los pobres", est? alimentando esperanzas entre los defensores de la teolog?a de la liberaci?n, un movimiento de activismo social que alarm? a otros papas al desplazarse a tendencias izquierdistas. (AP foto/Andrew Medichini)
En esta fotograf?a proporcionada por el peri?dico del Vaticano L' Osservatore Romano, el papa Francisco se re?ne con el primer ministro saliente de Italia, Mario Monti, en una audiencia privada en el Vaticano, el viernes 26 de abril de 2013. (Foto AP/Osservatore Romano, HO)
El papa Francisco llega a su audiencia general semanal en la Plaza de San Pedro en el Vaticano, el mi?rcoles 17 de abril de 2013. (Foto AP/Alessandra Tarantino)
El papa Francisco se acomoda los lentes durante su audiencia semanal en la Plaza de San Pedro, en Roma, el mi?rcoles 17 de abril de 2013. (Foto AP/Alessandra Tarantino)
En esta foto provista por el diario del Vaticano, L'Osservatore Romano, el jueves 18 de abril del 2013, El monse?or Delgado Galindo le obsequia una camiseta del astro de f?tbol argentino Lionel Messi al papa Francisco en el Vaticano el mi?rcoles 17 de abril del 2013. El Vaticano anunci? el jueves que el papa Francisco, conocido por su estilo frugal, decidi? que el personal del Vaticano no recibir? las bonificaciones que tradicionalmente recibe con la elecci?n de un nuevo papa. (Foto AP/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)
El papa Francisco, centro, recibe una camiseta de la selecci?n espa?ola de f?tbol durante una audiencia privada con el presidente del gobierno espa?ol Mariano Rajoy y su esposa Elvira Fern?ndez Balboa, derecha, en el Vaticano el lunes 15 de abril del 2013. (Foto AP/Alessandra Tarantino)
El papa Francisco celebra una misa en San Pedro, afuera de los muros de la bas?lica, en Roma, el domingo 14 de abril de 2013. (AP foto/Gregorio Borgia)
En esta fotograf?a del mi?rcoles 10 de abril de 2013, el papa Francisco encabeza su audiencia general semanal en la Plaza de San Pedro en el Vaticano. (Foto AP/Alessandra Tarantino)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) ? The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday night to secure and destroy Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, a landmark decision aimed at taking poison gas off the battlefield in the escalating 2 1/2-year conflict.
The vote after two weeks of intense negotiations marked a major breakthrough in the paralysis that has gripped the council since the Syrian uprising began. Russia and China previously vetoed three Western-backed resolutions pressuring President Bashar Assad's regime to end the violence.
"Today's historic resolution is the first hopeful news on Syria in a long time," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council immediately after the vote.
Ban stressed, however, that eliminating chemical weapons from the Syrian conflict "is not a license to kill with conventional weapons."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the "strong, enforceable, precedent-setting" resolution shows that diplomacy can be so powerful "that it can peacefully defuse the worst weapons of war." Kerry said the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile will begin in November and be completed by the middle of next year.
For the first time, the council endorsed the roadmap for a political transition in Syria adopted by key nations in June 2012 and called for an international conference to be convened "as soon as possible" to implement it.
Ban said the target date for a new peace conference in Geneva is mid-November.
As a sign of the broad support for the resolution, all 15 council members signed on as co-sponsors.
The resolution calls for consequences if Syria fails to comply, but those will depend on the council passing another resolution in the event of non-compliance. That will give Assad ally Russia the means to stop any punishment from being imposed.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the resolution does not automatically impose sanctions on Syria.
The vote came just hours after the world's chemical weapons watchdog adopted a U.S.-Russian plan that lays out benchmarks and timelines for cataloguing, quarantining and ultimately destroying Syria's chemical weapons, their precursors and delivery systems.
The Security Council resolution enshrines the plan approved by Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, making it legally binding.
The agreement allows the start of a mission to rid Syria's regime of its estimated 1,000-ton chemical arsenal by mid-2014, significantly accelerating a destruction timetable that often takes years to complete.
"We expect to have an advance team on the ground (in Syria) next week," OPCW spokesman Michael Luhan told reporters at the organization's headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands immediately after its 41-member executive council approved the plan.
The recent flurry of diplomatic activity followed the Aug. 21 poison gas attack that killed hundreds of civilians in a Damascus suburb, and by President Barack Obama's threat of U.S. strikes in retaliation.
After Kerry said Assad could avert U.S. military action by turning over "every single bit of his chemical weapons" to international control within a week, Russia quickly agreed. Kerry and Lavrov signed an agreement in Geneva on Sept. 13 to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control for later destruction, and Assad's government accepted.
Tough negotiations, primarily between Russia and the United States, followed on how Syria's stockpile would be destroyed.
The U.N. resolution's adoption was assured when the five veto-wielding permament members of the Security Council ? Russia, China, the United States, France and Britain ? signed off on the text on Thursday.
Lavrov told the council that his country will participate in the destruction.
Russia and the United States had been at odds over the enforcement issue. Russia opposed any reference to Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows for military and nonmilitary actions to promote peace and security.
The final resolution states that the Security Council will impose measures under Chapter 7 if Syria fails to comply, but this would require adoption of a second resolution.
It bans Syria from possessing chemical weapons and condemns "in the strongest terms" the use of chemical weapons in the Aug. 21 attack, and any other use. It also would ban any country from obtaining chemical weapons or the technology or equipment to produce them from Syria.
Kerry stressed that the resolution for the first time makes a determination that "use of chemical weapons anywhere constitutes a threat to international peace and security," which sets a new international norm.
The resolution authorizes the U.N. to send an advance team to assist the OPCW's activities in Syria. It asks Secretary-General Ban to submit recommendations to the Security Council within 10 days of the resolution's adoption on the U.N. role in eliminating Syria's chemical weapons program.
"Syria cannot select or reject the inspectors," Kerry said. "Syria must give those inspectors unfettered access to any and all sites and any and all people."
The resolution requires the council to review compliance with the OPCW's plans within 30 days, and every month after that.
In an indication of the enormity of the task ahead, the OPCW appealed for donations to fund the disarmament, saying it will have to hire new weapons inspectors and chemical experts.
To that end, Britain's foreign minister announced after Friday's vote that the UK would donate $3 million to OPCW Syria Trust fund.
Earlier Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the U.N. General Assembly that China was prepared to help fund the disarmament mission.
___
Associated Press writers Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and Albert Aji in Damascus contributed to this report.
?The suspect was found with his computer systems open and logged on to various virtual systems and forums,? a document on the case seen by the Evening Standard said. ?The subject has a significant amount of money flowing through his bank account. Financial investigators are in the process of restraining monies.?
The boy, who has not been identified, is out on bail until later this year, the Standard reported. The London teenager was arrested by the National Cyber Crime Unit in an investigation codenamed Operation Rashlike.
As Mashable notes, the target of the Distributed Denial of Service attack was the Dutch anti-spam company Spamhaus, which targets email spammers by adding them to a blacklist and selling that information to Internet service providers.
The cyber attack, which happened in March, caused ?worldwide disruption of the functionality? of the Internet, according to the briefing note cited by the Standard.
The only other person arrested, and the accused mastermind of the attack, Sven Olaf Kamphuis, a 35-year-old Dutchman living in Spain, was arrested at the same time as the London teenager.
The New York Times reports that Kamphuis worked for Cyberbunker, a hosting company that says it will host any website ?except child porn and anything related to terrorism.? Cyberbunker was blacklisted by Spamhaus, which brought on the attack.
A DDoS attack takes place when hackers use an army of infected computers to send traffic to a server, causing a shutdown in the process.?According to Mashable, the typical DDoS attack happens at a rate of 50 to 100 gigabits per second. The DDoS attack on Spamhaus had a peak rate of 300 gigabits per second, which is the largest on record.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Among older Americans with heart disease or diabetes, blacks are still less likely to be on cholesterol medication than whites, despite federal prescription drug subsidies that lowered costs, according to a new study.
Older blacks are also less likely than whites to have their cholesterol under control, researchers found.
Because black patients are more likely to skip doses or to not take expensive medications at all for cost reasons, the Medicare Part D program that started in 2006 was expected to close a racial gap in the number of Americans with heart disease taking statins.
Since the medication gap has not closed after Part D, "It would appear that more than money is involved," said Joseph Hanlon, a professor of geriatric medicine at the University of Pittsburgh who led the study.
"Racial differences in medication use are only partially explained by health insurance," he told Reuters Health. "Differences in quality of care, health status, patient preferences and other factors may also play a role."
Hanlon and his coauthors compared the health data of 1,091 adults over age 70 with coronary heart disease or diabetes receiving Medicare benefits from year to year, checking in every six months from 1998 to 2008.
The data they looked at included cholesterol levels, use of cholesterol controlling drugs like the statin Lipitor and whether cholesterol levels were under control - meaning that low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, "bad" cholesterol was under 130 milligrams per deciliter.
Before 2006, 33 percent of black participants and 49 percent of whites were taking cholesterol medication. That rose to 48 percent and 65 percent, respectively, after 2006, so the gap did not change.
Before Medicare Part D, 55 percent of blacks and 62 percent of whites reported having prescription drug coverage, and that rose to 75 percent and 82 percent after Medicare Part D.
Average LDL cholesterol levels did not seem to improve either, increasing from 107 to 109 milligrams per deciliter for blacks and from 95 to 96 milligrams per deciliter for whites, according to the study results published in the American Heart Journal.
Diligent use of statins by people younger than 80 with heart disease can lower the risk of heart attack, stroke and death, the authors point out. But there is little evidence for benefits over age 85, and at that age the risks of cognitive damage and death due to the medication increase.
Since Lipitor went generic in 2011, it now costs about 50 cents per pill, and some retailers actually offer it for free with a prescription.
Even though cholesterol control didn't appear to change over time, that doesn't mean Medicare Part D had no effect on that health risk factor in the population, said Dr. Walid Gellad, a staff physician at the Pittsburgh VA Medical Center who was not involved in the study.
Just because people reported that they were taking statin drugs doesn't mean that they were taking them often enough, or correctly, Gellad told Reuters Health by email.
Dr. Jennifer G. Robinson, director of the Prevention Intervention Center at the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, expected Medicare Part D to have had more of an effect.
"More recent studies have found the disparities in prevention and treatments have been narrowing between whites and blacks," she said.
The results may not reflect the effect of Medicare Part D in the nation as a whole, since medication use varies widely by region, Robinson noted. And the apparent overall increase in cholesterol medication use is encouraging, she said.
"It is critically important nationally for more people to achieve lipid control," Gellad said. "However, as the authors explain, it is not so clear how important it is to achieve lipid control for individuals once they reach 80, especially if they have evidence of limited life expectancy."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/18QTulH American Heart Journal, online August 27, 2013.
NEW YORK (AP) -- While the iPhone 5S includes a handful of new features that set it apart from Apple's previous model, the actual cost to make the phone hasn't changed very much, according to a new study.
An IHS Inc. teardown of the new smartphone found that the components that make up a 16-gigabyte iPhone 5S cost $190.70. Manufacturing costs add another $8, bringing the total production cost to $198.70.
In comparison, the iPhone 5, which hit the market a year ago, cost $197 to make.
Andrew Rassweiler, IHS' senior director for cost benchmarking services, noted that the 5S includes features new to the smartphone world, such as a 64-bit apps processor and a fingerprint identification sensor, without a significant jump in costs.
The research firm also dissected a 16-gigabyte iPhone 5C, a cheaper version of the 5S, and put its total production cost at $173.45, including $7 in manufacturing costs.
Rassweiler said the 5C is basically an iPhone 5 wrapped in plastic, noting that it has basically the same features, but benefits from typical component price drops, along with its cheaper plastic enclosure.
The 5C has a starting sticker price of $549, but will sell for $99 with a two-year wireless contract. It's Apple's least-expensive iPhone ever and is an effort to boost sales in China and other areas where people don't have as much money to spend on new gadgets as they do in the U.S. and Europe. But critics have said that the phone is still too expensive to sell well in emerging markets.
IHS said that while it costs substantially less to produce an iPhone 5C than it did an iPhone 5, those costs are still on the high side.
It added that in order to merit the low-end smartphone pricing of $400 that many industry observers had expected, while maintaining typical Apple profit margins, the company would need to reduce its 5C production costs to about $130.
Monday Apple reported that it sold 9 million of the two new models since their launch on Friday - its strongest iPhone launch ever - and that demand was exceeding supply.
In midday trading, shares of the Cupertino, Calif., company slipped $5.98 to $483.12.
The terror group that stormed the Westage Mall killing over 60 civilians and wounding about 200 others have claimed that the about 137 hostages that were still in the Mall have been buried in the rubble of the collapsed building.
The Al-Qaeda-linked fighters, in a message posted on Twitter, said "137 hostages who were being held by the mujahedeen" had died. In another treet, the terror group has accused the Defence Forces of using projectiles containing chemical agents. They then claim that the government forces then demolished the building in a bid to cover up the evidence killing the remaining hostages.
The Government of Kenya has however denied the claims saying that Al-shabaab has been known for making wild allegations.
"Al-Shabaab is known for wild allegations and there is absolutely no truth to what they're saying," said the government spokesman Manoah Esipisu.
Officials however agree that the death toll is likely to rise once the mall is cleaned out.
Fitocracy, the fitness gamification network with over 1 million users andmore user engagement than Twitter, is today launching a group fitness pilot in a big move towards monetization. A big part of Fitocracy's core offering is a community-driven encouragement platform. At first, users come to the app and get hooked because of the gamification and quantification of the user's own fitness data.
Contact: Lyndsay Meyer lmeyer@osa.org 202-416-1435 The Optical Society
Scientists find a potential new use for old music CDs: Coating disks in photocatalytic compounds and spinning them to clean water
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2013 Audio CDs, all the rage in the '90s, seem increasingly obsolete in a world of MP3 files and iPods, leaving many music lovers with the question of what to do with their extensive compact disk collections. While you could turn your old disks into a work of avant-garde art, researchers in Taiwan have come up with a more practical application: breaking down sewage. The team will present its new wastewater treatment device at the Optical Society's (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2013, being held Oct. 6-10 in Orlando, Fla.
"Optical disks are cheap, readily available, and very commonly used," says Din Ping Tsai, a physicist at National Taiwan University. Close to 20 billion disks are already manufactured annually, the researchers note, so using old disks for water treatment might even be a way to cut down on waste.
Tsai and his colleagues from National Taiwan University, National Applied Research Laboratories in Taiwan, and the Research Center for Applied Sciences in Taiwan used the large surface area of optical disks as a platform to grow tiny, upright zinc oxide nanorods about a thousandth the width of a human hair. Zinc oxide is an inexpensive semiconductor that can function as a photocatalyst, breaking apart organic molecules like the pollutants in sewage when illuminated with UV light.
While other researchers have experimented with using zinc oxide to degrade organic pollutants, Tsai's team is the first to grow the photocatalyst on an optical disk.
Because the disks are durable and able to spin quickly, contaminated water that drips onto the device spreads out in a thin film that light can easily pass through, speeding up the degradation process.
The Taiwanese team's complete wastewater treatment device is approximately one cubic foot in volume. In addition to the zinc oxide-coated optical disk, the device consists of a UV light source and a system that recirculates the water to further break down the pollutants.
The research team tested the reactor with a solution of methyl orange dye, a model organic compound often used to evaluate the speed of photocatalytic reactions. After treating a half-liter solution of dye for 60 minutes, they found that over 95 percent of the contaminants had been broken down. The device can treat 150 mL of waste water per minute, the researchers say.
The spinning disk reactor is small, consumes little power, and processes contaminated water more efficiently than other photocatalytic wastewater treatment methods, Tsai says. The device could be used on a small scale to clean water contaminated with domestic sewage, urban run-off, industrial effluents, and farm waste.
Going forward, the team is also working on ways to increase the efficiency of the reactor, and Tsai estimates that the system could soon be improved to work even faster, perhaps by creating layers of stacked disks.
Presentation FW1A, "Zinc Oxide Nanorod Optical Disk Photocatalytic Reactor for Photodegradation," takes place Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 8:15 a.m. EDT at the Bonnet Creek Ballroom, Salon IV at the Hilton Bonnet Creek in Orlando, Fla.
###
EDITOR'S NOTE: Images and a video demonstration of the system are available to members of the media upon request. Contact Lyndsay Meyer, lmeyer@osa.org.
PRESS REGISTRATION: A press room for credentialed press and analysts will be located in the Hilton Bonnet Creek, Sunday through Thursday, Oct. 6-10. Those interested in obtaining a press badge for FiO should contact OSA's Lyndsay Meyer at 202.416.1435 or lmeyer@osa.org.
About the Meeting
Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2013 is the Optical Society's (OSA) 97th Annual Meeting and is being held together with Laser Science XXIX, the annual meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Laser Science (DLS). The two meetings unite the OSA and APS communities for five days of quality, cutting-edge presentations, fascinating invited speakers and a variety of special events spanning a broad range of topics in optics and photonicsthe science of lightacross the disciplines of physics, biology and chemistry. An exhibit floor featuring leading optics companies will further enhance the meeting. More information at http://www.FrontiersinOptics.org.
About OSA
Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional society for scientists, engineers, students and business leaders who fuel discoveries, shape real-world applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership programs, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of professionals in the optics and photonics field. For more information, visit http://www.osa.org.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Lyndsay Meyer lmeyer@osa.org 202-416-1435 The Optical Society
Scientists find a potential new use for old music CDs: Coating disks in photocatalytic compounds and spinning them to clean water
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2013 Audio CDs, all the rage in the '90s, seem increasingly obsolete in a world of MP3 files and iPods, leaving many music lovers with the question of what to do with their extensive compact disk collections. While you could turn your old disks into a work of avant-garde art, researchers in Taiwan have come up with a more practical application: breaking down sewage. The team will present its new wastewater treatment device at the Optical Society's (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2013, being held Oct. 6-10 in Orlando, Fla.
"Optical disks are cheap, readily available, and very commonly used," says Din Ping Tsai, a physicist at National Taiwan University. Close to 20 billion disks are already manufactured annually, the researchers note, so using old disks for water treatment might even be a way to cut down on waste.
Tsai and his colleagues from National Taiwan University, National Applied Research Laboratories in Taiwan, and the Research Center for Applied Sciences in Taiwan used the large surface area of optical disks as a platform to grow tiny, upright zinc oxide nanorods about a thousandth the width of a human hair. Zinc oxide is an inexpensive semiconductor that can function as a photocatalyst, breaking apart organic molecules like the pollutants in sewage when illuminated with UV light.
While other researchers have experimented with using zinc oxide to degrade organic pollutants, Tsai's team is the first to grow the photocatalyst on an optical disk.
Because the disks are durable and able to spin quickly, contaminated water that drips onto the device spreads out in a thin film that light can easily pass through, speeding up the degradation process.
The Taiwanese team's complete wastewater treatment device is approximately one cubic foot in volume. In addition to the zinc oxide-coated optical disk, the device consists of a UV light source and a system that recirculates the water to further break down the pollutants.
The research team tested the reactor with a solution of methyl orange dye, a model organic compound often used to evaluate the speed of photocatalytic reactions. After treating a half-liter solution of dye for 60 minutes, they found that over 95 percent of the contaminants had been broken down. The device can treat 150 mL of waste water per minute, the researchers say.
The spinning disk reactor is small, consumes little power, and processes contaminated water more efficiently than other photocatalytic wastewater treatment methods, Tsai says. The device could be used on a small scale to clean water contaminated with domestic sewage, urban run-off, industrial effluents, and farm waste.
Going forward, the team is also working on ways to increase the efficiency of the reactor, and Tsai estimates that the system could soon be improved to work even faster, perhaps by creating layers of stacked disks.
Presentation FW1A, "Zinc Oxide Nanorod Optical Disk Photocatalytic Reactor for Photodegradation," takes place Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 8:15 a.m. EDT at the Bonnet Creek Ballroom, Salon IV at the Hilton Bonnet Creek in Orlando, Fla.
###
EDITOR'S NOTE: Images and a video demonstration of the system are available to members of the media upon request. Contact Lyndsay Meyer, lmeyer@osa.org.
PRESS REGISTRATION: A press room for credentialed press and analysts will be located in the Hilton Bonnet Creek, Sunday through Thursday, Oct. 6-10. Those interested in obtaining a press badge for FiO should contact OSA's Lyndsay Meyer at 202.416.1435 or lmeyer@osa.org.
About the Meeting
Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2013 is the Optical Society's (OSA) 97th Annual Meeting and is being held together with Laser Science XXIX, the annual meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Laser Science (DLS). The two meetings unite the OSA and APS communities for five days of quality, cutting-edge presentations, fascinating invited speakers and a variety of special events spanning a broad range of topics in optics and photonicsthe science of lightacross the disciplines of physics, biology and chemistry. An exhibit floor featuring leading optics companies will further enhance the meeting. More information at http://www.FrontiersinOptics.org.
About OSA
Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional society for scientists, engineers, students and business leaders who fuel discoveries, shape real-world applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership programs, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of professionals in the optics and photonics field. For more information, visit http://www.osa.org.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The Nation Ford Falcons volleyball team fell just short of winning the 12-team Nation Ford Invitational that the school hosted last weekend.
The Lady Falcons lost 2-1 (20-25, 25-23, 8-15) in the finals to Lexington. Nation Ford went 5-1 in the tournament, including 3-0 record in pool play before beating Byrnes and Northwestern to reach the finals.
?We just made too many errors,? Nation Ford coach Carrie Christian said.
Christian said she was proud of how her squad played throughout the tournament.
?We made a lot of improvements coming back and beating Northwestern,? Christian said.
Earlier in the week, Nation Ford lost to the Trojans 3-2 (26-28, 24-26, 25-23, 25-23, 11-15).
In the tournament semifinals, Nation Ford was able to grab a straight-set (25-23, 25-9) win in the best of three sets format.
The Falcons? Abby Wyman and Jessica Kemp were named to the All-Tournament team.
Nation Ford beat Lexington in two games to open pool play, the defeated Byrnes and Hickory Grove.
The Lady Falcons will face York and Clover this week in a return to Region III-AAAA play.
Fort Mill finished fifth in the tournament after going 2-2. Yellow Jackets finished second in pool play with a loss to Covenant Day and wins against Westwood and York. That put them in the gold bracket with a chance to advance to the finals, but they fell 2-1 to Northwestern.
?Some of it?s maturity on the part of the girls,? said Fort Mill coach Gina Farley. ?Some of the girls are playing on varsity for the first time. We are missing some consistency.?
Farley said the team is still trying to find and maintain its rhythm.
?Some of that comes with inexperience with the younger girls,? she said. ?We are improving as we go along.?
The Jackets? Gabby Seymore made the All-Tournament team.
Earlier in the week, Fort Mill beat Lancaster 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-18).
Fort Mill faces Northwestern and South Pointe this week.
It?s time again for another community news and announcement roundup. From time to time we bring you news from the small business community we think you may find interesting ? from new website launches and resources to the latest insights from entrepreneurs and small business owners.
We take the pulse of the small business community across the Web.
If you?d like to help, we?d love to hear about the kinds of stories and posts you think we should share with the community.?Check out the bottom of this post for more about how to get involved.
Now let?s get started.
Collect the Best Ideas From Your Team (EnMast)
Sometimes the best ideas are already floating around in your organization. Devan Perine explains how she decided to collect her team?s favorite tweets on small business and leadership. The result was a valuable monthly resource for all her site?s followers.
Add Value With Online Critiques(MyWifeQuitHerJob.com)
There are many ways to add value to your product or service. But one of the best values you can add is your expertise. Here Steve Chou explains how he created a video critique of eCommerce websites to add value to the training he offers. Those trying to start their own online stores need all the help they can get.
The Google Analytics Primer (Get Busy Media)
Many powerful resources for transforming your online business are absolutely free?for those who know how to use them. Google Analytics is probably the best example of these. Ricky Dawn gives an overview for the uninitiated.
There?s a Secret to Making Real Progress(Green Mango)
Except it?s not really a secret. It?s the result of that well-known mixture of patience, time and determination. Business consultant Roy Opata Olende likens it to a morning workout routine. Even if you do it everyday, getting in shape is a slow process.
Annie Cushing ? Ask Me Anything(Inbound.org)
Annie Cushing, who writes excellent pieces about using analytics and spreadsheets to understand data and use it better, has an ?Ask Me Anything? thread going on over at Inbound.org. ?She is essentially opening up for questions and giving answers. ?A lot of gems are in that thread. ?It?s technical stuff, but if you want to learn how to work your data better, this is a good start.
We?ve all heard about the importance of creating content, and lots of it, in an effort to market ourselves and our brands. But content that is not well researched and does not really teach readers anything ? or worse yet is unnecessary ? is simply a waste of resources. Kelvin Cech explains why.
Viral Content Isn?t Everything (Resonance)
Marketing consultant Rachel Parker talks about the myth of viral content in this podcast. Do you really need to create it? How much will it really help your business in the end? Rachel also adds this thoughtful comment about why viral content may not be the Holy Grail some online marketers suggest.
50 College Entrepreneurship Programs (Entrepreneur)
Increasingly, entrepreneurs are able to locate just about any resource they need online. And now that includes entrepreneurship programs at the college and university level. BizSugar member Ryan Donegan shares this interactive map of 50 top entrepreneurship programs in the U.S.
We hope you enjoyed another edition of the community news and announcement roundup. And now, how about taking a minute or two to help make things even better.
To suggest a story or link we should share, drop us a suggestion at sbtips@gmail.com or share it on the BizSugar community. If we think it?s worth a mention, you may see it here next week.
Suicide bombers have targeted an Anglican church in Pakistan's north-western city of Peshawar, in the deadliest attack on Christians in the predominantly Muslim country.
Medics at the Lady Reading Hospital said they counted 78 bodies.
"This figure may go up. Many injured are in a critical condition," said Iftikhar Ali, the head doctor.
Police said 145 people were injured.
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The two bombers blew themselves up seconds apart inside the All Saints Church as a service attended by 600 people drew to an end, Peshawar police chief Muhammed Noor said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pope Francis on Sunday condemned the hatred and violence behind attack.
"Today, in Pakistan, because of a bad choice of hatred and war, more than 70 people are dead. This path is not the right one, it leads nowhere," the pontiff told thousands of young faithful during a visit to the Italian island of Sardinia.
Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said 34 women and seven children were among the dead.
Two policemen who had been guarding the church were also killed, Noor said.
The bombing in the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province sparked protests in other parts of the country with a record of religious persecution.
Relatives of the victims blocked streets in Peshawar, chanting anti-government slogans.
In Karachi, police used teargas to disperse demonstrators.
Protesters blocked the main highway to the airport in the capital Islamabad.
The government declared three days of mourning and promised an investigation.
The Bishop of Karachi, Sadiq Daniel said, "All missionary educational and social services institutes will remain closed for three days to mourn the victims."
The head of the Christian Development Organisation, Shakeel Shahzad, said the attack illustrated the vulnerability of churches in the country.
The government is reportedly holding peace talks with Islamist militants operating in the north-western region.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged Thursday a sharp disagreement with China over how the international community should respond to the use of chemical weapons in Syria and urged Beijing to play a "positive" role in the U.N. Security Council on the issue.
China has strongly opposed strikes on Syria by the U.S. or its allies as a response to an Aug. 21 chemical attack near Damascus that the U.S. blames on government forces and says killed more than 1,400 people. In the council, where China holds veto power, it has joined with Russia in opposing action against Syria.
Kerry spoke at the State Department before a meeting and working lunch with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who reiterated the need for political talks to end the violence in the Middle Eastern nation that has killed an estimated 100,000 people and displaced 2 million more.
"While we appreciate China's support for a political solution ? the only solution we believe is ultimately available and possible ? we do have differences between our nations and have disagreed sharply over how the international community should respond to the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons," Kerry said.
"With negotiations ongoing at the Security Council, we look forward to China playing a positive, constructive, important role," he said, seeking support for strong resolutions to implement an agreement forged by the U.S. and Russia to put Syria's chemical weapons under international supervision.
Wang said China was keeping an "open mind" on issues up for discussion Thursday, including Syria, North Korea's nuclear program, climate change and cybersecurity, which is a thorny issue in U.S.-China relations.
He welcomed the agreement between the U.S.-Russia, which now needs to be endorsed by Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ? whose board is scheduled to meet on Sunday. Wang said the Security Council needs to recognize and support the organization's decision.
Thursday's discussions were the latest chapter in an effort to strengthen U.S.-China ties after a June summit in California between President Barack Obama and China's President Xi Jinping.
Despite U.S. reluctance to restart talks with North Korea before it recommits to nuclear disarmament, Wang sounded upbeat about the prospects for long-stalled international negotiations that were traditionally hosted by China, which is Pyongyang's only major ally.
Wang said he would discuss with Kerry how to relaunch the six-nation talks and push forward the denuclearization process. "I am confident that we will be able to reach new, important agreement," he said, without elaborating.
But afterward, there was no indication of progress.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the U.S. position has not changed. She said Kerry detailed to Wang "several disturbing developments" that indicate North Korea continues to flout its previous commitments to denuclearize.
Concerns over North Korea's nuclear program have deepened since it conducted its third underground atomic test in February. There are also signs it is restarting a plutonium reactor that can produce fissile material for bombs.
Pyongyang wants the nuclear talks to restart without preconditions.
A new pilot program is trying to reach farmers in India with information on weather, pests and climate change ? through their mobile phones. CIMMYT launched the ?Dissemination of climate smart agro-advisories to farmers in CCAFS benchmark sites of India? project on 15 August in four villages of the Karnal District in the State of Haryana and in the Vaishali District in the State of Bihar on 1 September. The project is led by CIMMYT?s Surabhi Mittal with IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited as the content partner and Kisan Sanchar as the dissemination and implementing agency.
The project has aims to help farmers clarify information about climatesmart technology; help them adopt technologies that could mitigate their risks due to climate change; and to measure how receiving information on mobile[...]
[Published in NonProfitBlogs - Read the original article]
"Pok?mon X & Y" is the first game in Nintendo's beloved series to offer fully-rendered 3D environments.
When it comes to video games, you'd be hard pressed to find a series that attracts the same level of fandom as Pok?mon. Second only to Mario in terms of the sheer size of the franchise and overall sales, Nintendo's critter-hunting universe has become a force unto itself in pop culture ever since the first "Pocket Monsters" debuted for the original Game Boy in 1996. But with more?compelling game and toy brands on the market than ever before, can the series that first told kids they've "Gotta Catch 'Em All" still capture its same audience?
With "Pok?mon X & Y," the first two installments in the sixth generation of the series, Nintendo and longtime "Pok?mon" developer Game Freak have responded to this increasing pressure with an evolution of the core handheld game series, if not a revolution. There are a number of standard tweaks to the core "Pok?mon" formula: The two games will bring the total number of Pok?mon critters to more than 700. A new power-up system known as "Mega Evolution" allows players to supercharge their critters on the fly during battles. And Game Freak has tweaked the multiplayer settings to allow for faster trading and battling with friends.
But the biggest improvement come in how the game looks. "X & Y" brings players into a fully rendered 3D environment for the first time, giving the game a lush texture never seen before in the series.
Junichi Masuda, a veteran "Pok?mon" developer and director on "X & Y," told NBC News that the new game was focused on three core themes: bonds ? both between different players and between the player and his or her critters, evolution, and beauty.
Thanks to the new 3D graphics, Masuda said, the Pok?mon "look more lively, like living creatures." He was inspired by French architecture when building to new setting for "X & Y," saying that the European country was the best place he could think of to fit with the theme of beauty.
Nintendo
The new game will introduce an undisclosed number of new critters such as Tyrantrum, pictured above. Masuda told NBC News that Game Freak and Nintendo are keeping the total number a secret to let players discover the full amount when the game launches and they can start hunting for the creatures amongst themselves.
The French connection has a more pragmatic influence on the game as well. Masuda said that when he travelled there with seven other Game Freak developers, he was struck by how much faster people seemed to be walking, something that helped him realize that he wanted "X &Y" to have a "much brisker pace" than previous Pok?mon games.
Playing through the early levels of "X & Y," I could see what he meant Whereas previous installments clogged up their introductions with long blocks of text and repetitive tutorials, within moments of choosing my player character (boy or girl) I was out battling with my first Pok?mon.
3D and all, "X & Y" still felt the same Pok?mon we all know and love, just with better graphics and clearer voices for all the critters (yes, Pikachu now speaks with the same voice from the anime series). But is that enough to keep Pok?mon at the top of its game?
"I think that Pok?mon's success as a franchise ? in terms of both unit sales and its ranges of merchandise ? speaks for itself," Steve Bailey, senior games analyst at IHS Electronics and Media, told NBC News in an email. "In terms of future growth, however, it?s perhaps Nintendo?s best chance for exploring new business models and/or new devices."
In terms of those new business models, however, Bailey said that the company is only making "some very slight inroads" so far. With the exception of "Pok?mon TV" on iOS, third party mobile devices have little to no access to the core games ? a detail that frustrates many analysts despite Nintendo's repeated insistence that its games only play well on the company's own hardware.
For Bailey, this uncompromising vision might be irritation for some, but it's also what made Pok?mon and Nintendo what they are today.
"In general, Nintendo tends to march to the beat of its own drum," Bailey said. "The upside of this is that, when successful, it can lead the agenda on innovations that revitalise the marketplace, with the Wii and DS being key examples. The downside is that it can be slow to respond to any wider-angle trends."
"Nintendo is obviously a phenomenon when it comes to hardware and software design ? and synergizing the two ? but there's more at play in the modern console landscape."
Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered technology and games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at?@YannickLeJacq and reach him by email at: Yannick.LeJacq@nbcuni.com.
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Public release date: 23-Sep-2013
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