U.S. asked Ecuador not to give Snowden asylum: Correa

By Brian Ellsworth

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said on Saturday the United States had asked him not to grant asylum for former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden in a "cordial" telephone conversation he held with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

Correa said he vowed to respect Washington's opinion in evaluating the request. The Andean nation says it cannot begin processing Snowden's request unless he reaches Ecuador or one of its embassies.

Snowden, who is wanted by the United States for leaking details about U.S. communications surveillance programs, is believed to still be at the Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow after leaving Hong Kong.

Praising Biden's good manners in contrast to "brats" in the U.S. Congress who had threatened to cut Ecuador's trade benefits over the Snowden issue, Correa said during his weekly television broadcast: "He communicated a very courteous request from the United States that we reject the (asylum) request."

Biden initiated the phone call, Correa said.

"When he (Snowden) arrives on Ecuadorean soil, if he arrives ... of course, the first opinions we will seek are those of the United States," Correa said.

A senior White House official traveling with President Barack Obama in Africa on Saturday confirmed the conversation had taken place.

The case has been a major embarrassment for the Obama administration, which is now facing withering criticism around the world for the espionage program known as Prism that Snowden revealed.

A German magazine on Saturday, citing secret documents, reported that the United States bugged European Union offices and gained access to EU internal computer networks, which will likely add to the furor over U.S. spying efforts.

Correa has for years been at loggerheads with Washington on issues ranging from the war on drugs to a long-running environmental dispute with U.S. oil giant Chevron.

A leftist economist who received a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Correa denied he was seeking to perturb relations and said he had "lived the happiest days of my life" in the United States.

But he said the United States has not heeded Ecuador's request to extradite citizens sought by the law, including bankers he said have already been sentenced.

"There's a clear double standard here. If the United States is pursuing someone, other countries have to hand them over," Correa said. "But there are so many fugitives from our justice system (in the United States) ... and they don't return them."

TRAVEL DOCUMENT CONFUSION

Correa said Ecuador's London consulate issued Snowden an unauthorized safe-passage document, potentially as a result of communication with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is living in the London embassy after receiving asylum last year.

Assange said on Monday that Snowden had received refugee papers from the Ecuador government to secure him safe passage as he fled Hong Kong for Russia. Correa's government had originally denied this.

A "safe-pass" document published by U.S. Spanish-language media network Univision which circulated widely online purported to offer Snowden safe passage for the purpose of political asylum. The United States has revoked his passport.

"The truth is that the consul (overstepped) his role and will face sanction," Correa said during the broadcast.

The decision was "probably in communication with Julian Assange and out of desperation that Mr. Snowden was going to be captured, but this was without the authorization of the Ecuadorean government."

Correa's critics have in recent days accused him of letting Assange take charge of crucial foreign policy matters.

Assange, who is wanted in Sweden for questioning over sexual assault allegations, has not been able to leave the London embassy because Britain will not give him safe passage.

Snowden's lack of a valid travel document appears to be one of the primary obstacles to his leaving the transit area of the Moscow international airport. Without a passport, he cannot board a commercial flight or move through airport immigration, according to diplomacy experts.

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino declined on Thursday to comment on whether Ecuador would send a government plane to pick Snowden up. But Correa has indicated he does not have plans to provide Snowden with transport to an embassy.

Correa scoffed at reports that he himself had been aware that the document was issued or was involved in the decision.

"They think I'm so dumb that I ordered our consul in London to write a safe passage document for a U.S. citizen traveling from Hong Kong to Russia. That's simply absurd," he said.

(Additional reporting by Mark Felsenthal in Johannesburg; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Vicki Allen and Sandra Maler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/biden-spoke-ecuadors-correa-snowden-white-house-180538899.html

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Huawei to launch a Google Edition smartphone

Four people who were on the ground the night of the Benghazi attacks last year are writing a book about their experience, and they're getting a $3 million advance from Twelve Books to do it. The authors are unnamed, according to New York Post's Keith J. Kelly, who describes them as "members of the elite security team from the annex of the US Embassy." That annex, we now know, was the CIA annex, which makes this book deal really fascinating. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/huawei-launch-google-edition-smartphone-223031089.html

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Kerry meeting with Palestinian president

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, Jordan, on Friday, June 28, 2013. It is Kerry's fifth visit to the region since becoming secretary of state in February to try to restart peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, which broke down in 2008. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, Jordan, on Friday, June 28, 2013. It is Kerry's fifth visit to the region since becoming secretary of state in February to try to restart peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, which broke down in 2008. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, speaks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry before their dinner meeting in Jerusalem on Friday, June 28, 2013. Kerry shuttled between Israelis and Palestinians Friday in his latest diplomatic mission to coax the two sides back to the negotiating table and revive the Mideast peace process. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry invites Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sit at a table with him as they meet for the second time on Kerry's fifth Mideast trip in Jerusalem on Friday, June 28, 2013. Kerry shuttled between Israelis and Palestinians Friday in his latest diplomatic mission to coax the two sides back to the negotiating table and revive the Mideast peace process. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

JERUSALEM (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the second time in two days as he continues a rushed round of shuttle diplomacy to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Kerry flew to Amman, Jordan, in a helicopter Saturday morning to meet with Abbas at the same place they had lunch on Friday. He's flying back to Jerusalem later in the day for more talks with Israeli officials.

Kerry is trying to coax both sides to restart talks, which broke down in 2008, and negotiate a two-state solution to their long-running conflict.

Kerry added a stop in Abu Dhabi to his two-week swing through the Mideast and Asia, then canceled it because of his ongoing meetings on the Mideast peace process.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-29-Kerry/id-609c801326624ce390175051e1c26bed

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SKorean president in Beijing for summit with Xi

BEIJING (AP) ? The South Korean president's visit to China's capital Thursday brought together North Korea's archrival and its biggest ally for meetings that will put Pyongyang under greater pressure to rejoin nuclear disarmament talks.

President Park Geun-hye arrived in Beijing for a four-day visit that marks the first formal discussions between her and the new Chinese administration led by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

Park, a self-taught Mandarin speaker, has said she is keen to enlist the Chinese leaders in the drive for new North Korean denuclearization discussions that also would include the U.S., Russia, and Japan.

"I will try to make cooperation between the two countries more substantial and harden Korea-China cooperation for the sake of attaining the goal of North Korea's denuclearization so as to make North Korea come forward for sincere talks," Park was quoted as saying earlier this week by South Korean media.

The China-hosted talks with Pyongyang have been stalled since 2009 over how to verify North Korea is fulfilling its commitments to dismantle its nuclear facilities.

Park was scheduled to meet with Xi later Thursday and with Li on Friday.

Teaming up with China offers some hope for success, with Beijing showing signs of frustration with its neighbor and longstanding communist ally. China was angered by the North's long-range rocket launch late last year and carrying out of a third nuclear test earlier this year, and it has since supported tightening U.N. sanctions, cracked down on North Korean banking activity and urged Pyongyang to return to disarmament talks.

"We hope all sides involved can continue to work toward returning to the six-party talks and make concrete efforts to resolve the relevant issues, achieve denuclearization, preserve peace and stability in the peninsula through dialogue and negotiation within the framework of the six-party talks," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Wednesday.

While China is North Korea's biggest source of diplomatic and economic support, their trade and other interactions dwarf those which China maintains with the South. Ordinary Chinese are also big fans of South Korean pop culture and high-tech wares, and there is a growing sentiment among urban intellectuals that China should not sacrifice international credibility for the sake of coddling Pyongyang.

However, corralling Kim Jong Un's mercurial North Korean regime into new talks will not prove easy.

When the top North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan visited Beijing earlier this month for talks, Chinese analysts said afterward that Pyongyang seemed more interested in improving its damaged ties with China than in swiftly moving toward new six-nation talks.

Park has said that any resumption of talks must be preceded by signs that the North is serious about following through on its disarmament commitments, echoing the position of the U.S. Washington does not want to be drawn into talks that serve only to relieve pressure on Pyongyang, provide it a platform to seek much-needed aid, and buy it more time to further its nuclear weapons program.

While Beijing has remained neutral over recent developments, Chinese scholars say Xi's government will seek an intermediary role to create conditions for a restoration of talks. They warn, however, that Beijing would oppose harsher sanctions or other measures that could spark a backlash from Pyongyang or further destabilize the regime of the young and inexperienced Kim, who took over following his father's death 18 months ago.

"It's very hard to say whether the meeting will produce any new proposals, but, following the third nuclear test, I think China and every other country involved realizes the seriousness of the need to get North Korea back into talks," said Zhang Liangui, a researcher with the ruling Communist Party's main research and training institute in Beijing.

While Pyongyang will be watching Park's Beijing interactions carefully, her visit is a "normal diplomatic activity" and North Korea has "neither the need, nor the right to cast aspersions" about it, Zhang said.

Park's visit should also help smooth over strains in ties between China and South Korea over China's refusal to criticize Pyongyang following the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in early 2010 and shelling of one of its islands by a North Korean artillery unit later that year.

Park's appreciation for Chinese culture should also help foster positive relations. The Beijing stage of her trip, which includes meetings with business groups and a speech to university students, is to be followed by an excursion to the ancient capital of Xi'an, a cultural hub that is also a favorite destination for South Korean investors.

Park is traveling with a record 71-strong business delegation, highlighting the close economic ties that have lifted China above the U.S. as South Korea's top trading partner. Two-way trade hit $215 billion last year, with South Korea's exports of semiconductors, mobile phones, cars and industrial products giving it a trade surplus of more than $50 billion.

Business delegates include leaders of South Korean industry, including the chairmen of Hyundai Motor Group and LG Group.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/skorean-president-beijing-summit-xi-045156659.html

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Microsoft Build 2013 event wrap-up

We came. We handled Windows 8.1. We grabbed news about the latest and greatest from Microsoft. We picked up a few new Steve Ballmer catch phrases ("touch touch touch touch!"). Then, we left. In a nutshell, this was our experience covering Microsoft Build 2013 this week at the Moscone Center, though it obviously was much more involved. Fortunately, we were able to bring you, dear reader, along for the action -- but in case you missed any of the excitement as it happened, you'll find a list of all of the announcements, hands-ons and other posts we covered during the event below the break. Feel free to also visit our Build event page for an extra visual oomph.

Filed under: Announcements, Microsoft

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/FG8GDkyE3dA/

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Army Network Tests Drive New Tactics: Officials | Defense Tech

The U.S. Army?s semi-annual network tests at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., are spurring soldiers to adopt new tactics for the battlefield, officials said.

The so-called Network Integration Evaluations give troops the opportunity to test new radios, smart phone-like devices, satellite communications networks, software and other gear in a combat-like environment, the officials said. They?re helping to refine the service?s so-called tactics, techniques and procedures, or TTPs, for using the technology, they said.

?Over the last few NIEs, the network has become much more stable than it was ? so we are able to get at the TTPs and figure out mission command and do all that kind of stuff much more now than we have in the past, when we were really just trying to figure out the architecture,? Col. Beth Bierden, chief of the Network Integration Division at Brigade Modernization Command, said in an interview.

For instance, a new tactic was developed for soldiers using Nett Warrior, a smart-phone like device that displays maps with icons showing the position of forces, as well as nearby terrain and other combat-relevant intelligence, Bierden said.

?Soldiers love the Nett Warrior,? she said.

The program links troops using a handheld device called the Rifleman Radio, a single-channel radio that transmits voice and data communications running a high-bandwidth software package called Soldier Radio Waveform, or SRW.

?They call it tethering where they can give a team leader direction over Nett Warrior and do so without having to issue orders or talk to them,? Bierden said.

Tethering allows users of the system to send so-called ?graphic control measures,? essentially icons imposed over a digital map showing where units are in relation to surrounding terrain, obstacles or enemy forces, Bierden said.

?From the platoon leader talking to the squad leaders and the team leaders, they call this leaving ?bread crumbs? ? where they could put graphic control measures down and leave their intent,? she said. ?The whole platoon could see them down to the platoon leader level and really do TTPs regarding how that platoon works together using the Nett Warrior,? she said. ?Working through these TTPs is giving all kinds of capability that did not exist before.?

The technology allows troops to make mission adjustments more quickly and efficiently, Bierden said.

?That whole platoon leadership is seeing the same picture on their Nett Warrior device as they are moving toward the objective or doing a search,? she said. ?That platoon leader can really direct his squads and teams wherever they want to go.?

With another system called Warfighter Information Network ? Tactical Increment 2, or WIN-T, commanders were able to communicate while driving in armored trucks and other combat vehicles at a level that?s normally reserved for tactical operations centers.

The system is a mobile satellite communications and radio network engineered to integrate with tactical vehicles such as armored trucks, known as Mine Resistant Ambush Protected ? All Terrain Vehicles, or M-ATVs. It includes antennas and, in some cases, a small satellite dish mounted onto vehicles, giving commanders the ability to chat with other commanders, as well as digital maps and intelligence information, Bierden said.

The network system uses an application called Command Post of the Future, or CPOF, a constantly updated display showing pertinent combat and intelligence data. The application gives commanders the ability to lead missions while stopped or moving.

The system is designed to be ?self-healing,? meaning it can switch between a satellite connection to high-band radio as needed if, for instance, a line-of-sight connection is interrupted by terrain.

During testing, commanders had a soldier monitor the flow of data and alert the commander as needed, said Rickey Smith, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center ? Forward.

?There is a lot of complexity and challenge to mission command on the move,? he said. ?A commander?s got a lot going on. He?s got to know where his elements are and at the same time know what the enemy is doing. You have to manage the data elements in real time. One solution was to have another soldier take on the monitoring of the data and manage the data so that the commander is not stuck to the screen.?

After installing the second version of the system on wheeled vehicles, the Army plans to configure numerous tracked vehicles with the technology, Smith said.

The Army is developing another tactic to better unify operations and intelligence data, Bierden said. While much of the transitional work with this is still ongoing, the effort will more fully fuse technologies such as CPOF with the Army?s intelligence database called Distributed Common Ground System ? Army, or DCGS.

This effort involves moving toward what Bierden referred to as a web or cloud-based common operating environment, or COE. The term refers to a common set of standards so that emerging and new technologies can better integrate with existing systems. The effort will also integrate a host of web-applications and move operational and intelligence data onto a single server, she added.

The next evaluation, called 14.1 and slated for October of this year, will likely advance this effort in a substantial way, Bierden said.

?The TTPs will get better and they will be better integrated,? she said. ?We?re moving a lot of these operational applications onto one server to the intel standard, so that everything is integrated.?

Much of this gear is part of what the Army calls Capability Set 13, a suite of integrated networking technologies slated to deploy to Afghanistan this summer with the service?s 10th Mountain Division. Developers stay in close communication with the operational units receiving the gear so as to continually inform and refine TTPs, Bierden said.

?We will learn more TTPs from them [10th Mountain] and then incorporate that back into the process,? she said.

June 27th, 2013 | Comms, Gadgets and Gear, Ground, The Defense Biz | 1 Comment

Tagged as: Army, Nett Warrior, Network Integration Evaluation, NIE, Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, WIN-T

Source: http://defensetech.org/2013/06/27/army-network-tests-drive-new-tactics-officials/

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Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman Returning for Independence Day 2

After seventeen years of rumors, speculation, and false starts, director Roland Emmerich appears to finally have some traction for the long-awaited Independence Day follow-up, tentatively titled?ID Forever. If all goes according to plan, the sequel will actually be comprised of two feature length films ? Part I and Part II ? with the first installment tentatively scheduled for?July 3rd, 2015. The filmmaker has been busy promoting his soon-to-be-released thriller White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie?Foxx, which sees a hostile force take control of the White House and put the President?s life in jeopardy (not to be confused with Olympus Has Fallen).

Unsurprisingly, ID Forever has been a regular topic of conversation for Emmerich on the White House Down press tour and today we?ve got good news for fans of patriotic speeches and outer space cigar smoking ? as the director has confirmed that both Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman are expected to return for the sequel(s).

Speaking to Movies.com?in a New York City Q&A, Emmerich asserted that the actors, who played fan-favorite cable guy/computer hacker, David Levinson, and fighter pilot/President, Thomas J. Whitmore, are two returning faces set for?ID Forever. As we?ve previously reported, the sequel?s cast is expected to be a mix of familiar franchise participants and entirely new characters ? roughly a 50/50 blend for the main cast. Previously,?Goldblum and Pullman have expressed interest in the project, but this is the first report suggesting that Emmerich has included them in his plans for the film ? and that he expects they?ll reprise the roles. That said, the director does not outright say the actors have signed contracts ? meaning that, until we hear official confirmations, it?s still possible one or both of the characters might not make it into the final film.

Regardless, the most notable omission to the ID Forever?crew will be Will Smith?s Captain Steven Hiller?- who is not expected to return. In the new interview, Emmerich asserts that they simply cannot afford the actor but the filmmaker was quick to clarify that Smith has not yet read the final script and that a Hiller cameo is still possible ? if for no other reason than to ?pass the torch? to new cast members.

Regardless of how viewers might feel about Smith these days (considering the amount of backlash aimed at?After Earth), Hiller was a fan-favorite character responsible for many of the best (and most memorable) moments in Independence Day. As a result, a cameo by the actor would be a nice way to close-out the Hiller storyline ? without requiring the production to front a huge salary.

That said, if Smith opts to pass on Emmerich?s cameo ideas, there are still plenty of ways for the filmmaker to explain Hiller?s absence?- especially since early plot details suggest the movie will take place in real time, 20-25 years after the original alien invasion. That time jump (made possible by complicated space travel/wormhole physics) should also help provide Goldblum and Pullman with fun material for their characters ? since they?ll be playing much older versions of Levinson and Whitmore.

Even at the most basic level, a story about people who survived the first alien attack and then spent the next 20 years (possibly) preparing for a second wave is intriguing ? even before you consider the continued personal stories that will be included. For example: President Whitmore should no longer be President and his young daughter, Patricia (played by Arrested Development?s Mae Whitman),?will be in her twenties. Similarly, will Emmerich bring back Margaret Colin to reprise her role as?Levinson?s wife, Constance Spano? If so, it?s likely the pair could have decided to have their own children in the subsequent two decades.

Until we know more, let?s all keep our fingers crossed that ? since Goldblum is back -?Levinson?s father, Julius (portrayed by Judd Hirsch), will also make an appearance.

The Movies.com interview also (casually) suggests that Emmerich is still interested in a Stargate sequel, and that it might be next on the filmmaker?s schedule after ID Forever Part I and II. However, that appears to only be speculation at this point ? as Emmerich collaborator Dean Devlin already mentioned they were interested in returning to the Stargate franchise in the future. As a result, Emmerich?s comment is merely confirmation that the pair could return to their other beloved sci-fi property at some point.

___

ID Forever: Part I?invades theaters on July 3rd, 2015.

Follow me on Twitter?@benkendrick?for more on?ID Forever as well as future movie, TV, and gaming news.

Source: Movies.com

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927745/news/1927745/

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NFL criminal cases put focus on vetting

Two felony charges in one day were more than a bump in the NFL's offseason. They pointed to an ongoing problem for the league ? players who wind up at the center of criminal cases.

Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts, accused of murdering his friend Odin Lloyd. Also Wednesday, Browns rookie linebacker Ausar Walcott was charged with attempted murder in New Jersey.

Both players were cut later in the day by their teams. On Thursday, the league said any club that now wants to sign Hernandez will face a hearing with Commissioner Roger Goodell first.

The question now is whether the veteran tight end and the rookie should have been in the league at all.

"It is difficult, it's always a balancing act," says Tony Dungy, who won a Super Bowl as Colts coach and has served as a mentor to players since leaving the NFL, including Michael Vick after the quarterback served federal prison time for dogfighting. "The league has a security department that sends out information, and every team is different in terms of how much its scouting department does and what areas are concentrated on most.

"It's really a matter of what you do with the information and what your organization feels is important. One thing you have to keep in mind is a lot of the (negative) things that happen come when they are 15 or 17 or 19 years old."

According to FBI statistics cited by the league, the incidence of NFL players getting arrested is much lower in than the general public. The average annual arrest rate of NFL players is roughly 2 percent of about 3,000 players who go through the league each year, including tryouts and minicamps. That's about half the arrest rate of the general U.S. population, the league says. The NFL notes the disparity becomes even more dramatic when the group is narrowed to American men ages 20-34.

But Jeff Benedict, author of several books on athletes and crimes, including "Pros and Cons, The Criminals Who Play In The NFL," believes the FBI statistics are a bad gauge.

"The danger of doing comparisons with the general public is, if you look at these people and their backgrounds, how many of those guys who have been arrested in the FBI numbers have been to college, make a lot of money like NFL players do, and live in safe, good neighborhoods?" Benedict says. "The issue is why any of these guys are doing this when they have all these good things going on in their lives."

The San Diego Union-Tribune, which has tracked NFL arrests "more serious than speeding tickets" dating back to 2000, has listed 36 this year, including Hernandez and Walcott and three players who were charged twice.

By comparison, the NBA says six players of its players have been arrested since last July 1, and Major League Baseball says it's aware of three cases this year worse than a speeding ticket: two DUIs and a misdemeanor drug charge.

While granting that NFL rosters are far bigger than those in the NBA or MLB, Benedict says, "You can't take these tiny snap shots and say the NFL is low."

Of course, even a few cases such as Hernandez's or that of Jovan Belcher ? the Kansas City player who shot his girlfriend to death last December, then committed suicide in front of his coach and general manager ? can create a widespread negative image.

And anyone who has suited up for an NFL team will face extra public scrutiny for even minor transgressions.

That, in turn, puts more pressure on the league's vetting process.

Dungy stresses that the amount of homework teams do is critical because they don't get all that much one-on-one time with prospective players. Some clubs do psychological analyses, even hiring outside agencies to handle them. Though others like the approach, Dungy is not a fan of it and always believed in his gut feeling about a player.

"You have to find out if they have grown from the issues, or there seems to be a pattern, or will these issues always be there," he says.

Bill Polian, who built the Bills, Panthers and Colts into Super Bowl teams as one of the NFL's most successful general managers and team presidents, strongly maintains that the league's vetting process is solid. It delves into players' histories from high school and college before they enter the league. Those investigations have become more sophisticated through the years; background checks include not only public records such as court documents and arrest data, but talking to teammates and coaches, high school principals and other people who have been a part of a player's life and development.

"It uncovers a fair amount of information," Polian says. "It is not designed to uncover information that is usable in court, but it is a process by which the clubs try to ascertain a clear picture of the individual that they are thinking about taking."

But there's no way of knowing how playing football for a living will change a young man.

"First of all, it is important to remember that no team is immune from having a player run afoul of the law, whether it's a speeding ticket up to what we have seen in the Hernandez and Belcher cases, which are as serious as is possible to be," Polian says.

"There's no magic wand a team can wave and change that player who has had serious problems. It's no different than any other workplace in America, just more publicized."

Benedict agrees that teams perform due diligence on draft prospects and they know what they are getting ? or avoiding ? in their draft rooms when it comes to skills or 40-meter dash times or health issues.

"The hardest thing they deal with on draft day is the character question," he says. "That is what keeps them up at night."

Former Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist says the vetting process wasn't particularly thorough for many of his years in the NFL ? he left after the 2007 season ? but he's certain it is more efficient now.

"I think Michael Vick was the turning point on the timeline," Sundquist says. "He was right in their backyard and they didn't know it was going on, an example of a team that had not had a handle on what players were doing."

Sundquist believes teams could get a better handle on developing problems by hiring security firms that are available around the clock to keep watch on players already in the league, even though the NFL's personal conduct policy is very direct in saying it expects "lawful, ethical and responsible" behavior.

"It's better to have a system in place that can monitor or check that guy, a security firm that is part of these guys' lives, not just vetting them," he says. "They are tied to the hip with these guys. I think that investment is well worth it."

Ultimately, if the public grows tired of player misconduct, regardless of the low percentages, it could become a huge problem for the NFL. And it could change how the teams approach player procurement.

"As these issues become a much more public situation in a business that relies upon the public for its goodwill," Polian says, "you are more and more concerned about taking chances on individuals ? no matter what the talent ? if they have problems in their background."

___

AP Sports Writers Dennis Waszak Jr., Brian Mahoney and Ronald Blum contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nfl-criminal-cases-put-focus-vetting-221910656.html

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Jackson's teenage son describes upbringing, death

FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2011 file photo, Prince Michael Jackson appears on stage at the Michael Forever the Tribute Concert, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. An attorney for Michael Jackson?s mother, Katherine Jackson, says the singer?s eldest son, Prince, will testify in a Los Angeles courtroom in the negligent hiring case against AEG Live LLC on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Prince, 16, is a plaintiff in the case against concert promoter AEG Live. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File) *Editorial Use Only*

FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2011 file photo, Prince Michael Jackson appears on stage at the Michael Forever the Tribute Concert, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. An attorney for Michael Jackson?s mother, Katherine Jackson, says the singer?s eldest son, Prince, will testify in a Los Angeles courtroom in the negligent hiring case against AEG Live LLC on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Prince, 16, is a plaintiff in the case against concert promoter AEG Live. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File) *Editorial Use Only*

FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2011 file photo, Prince Michael Jackson appears on stage at the Michael Forever the Tribute Concert, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. An attorney for Michael Jackson?s mother, Katherine Jackson, says the singer?s eldest son, Prince, will testify in a Los Angeles courtroom in the negligent hiring case against AEG Live LLC on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Prince, 16, is a plaintiff in the case against concert promoter AEG Live. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File) *Editorial Use Only*

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Michael Jackson's oldest son described the frantic efforts to revive his father to a jury, a scene of tears and agony that ended a dozen idyllic years being raised by one of pop music's superstars.

Michael Joseph "Prince" Jackson Jr. told the panel Wednesday how he knew there was trouble in the singer's rented mansion when heard screaming upstairs and went into his father's bedroom. His father was laying halfway off the bed, eyes rolled up into the back of his head as his physician tried CPR.

His sister Paris screamed for her father and Prince, now 16, told jurors that he was crying. On the ride to a hospital, the teenager recounted how he tried to calm the fears of his sister and younger brother by telling them that angels were watching over their father and everything would be fine.

It wasn't until his father's doctor, Conrad Murray, came out of the emergency room and said he had died that Prince knew his father was gone.

"Nothing will ever be the same," the teenager told jurors. He said while his younger brother doesn't totally realize the loss, his sister has had the hardest time of them all and he has had many sleepless nights since his father died four years ago.

His voice wavered at times and tears appeared to form in his eyes, but Prince remained composed as he publicly recounted for the first time what he saw the day his father died.

The re-telling of the scene in Jackson's bedroom came after nearly an hour of Prince describing happier times, showing photos of him and his sister when they were younger and a series of videos of the children filmed by their father.

He testified in a lawsuit accusing concert promoter AEG Live LLC of negligently hiring Murray, who was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter for giving Jackson an overdose of the anesthetic propofol.

AEG denies it hired the physician or bears any responsibility for the entertainer's death.

Wearing a black suit with a dark grey tie and his long brown hair tucked behind his ears, Prince testified that he saw AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips at the family's rented mansion in a heated conversation with Murray in the days before his father died. The teenager said Phillips grabbed Murray's elbow.

Phillips "looked aggressive to me," Prince testified.

His father wasn't at home at the time and was probably rehearsing, he said.

He said he saw his father cry after phone conversations with Phillips, and wanted more time to rehearse and was unhappy with pressure to perform his 50 scheduled comeback concerts titled "This Is It."

Murray's attorney Valerie Wass and AEG defense attorney Marvin S. Putnam later denied outside court that the meeting Prince described ever happened.

Putnam said Prince would be re-called to the witness stand during the defense case later in the trial.

"I think as the testimony will show when he is called in our defense that's not what happened," Putnam said. "He was a 12-year-old boy who has had to endure this great tragedy."

The testimony began with the teenager showing jurors roughly 15 minutes of private family photos and home videos.

He described growing up on Neverland Ranch and narrated videos of the property's petting zoos, amusement park and other amenities. After his father's acquittal of child molestation charges, Prince described living in the Middle East, Ireland and Las Vegas.

Prince is the first Jackson family member to testify during the trial, now in its ninth week. On Thursday his cousins, TJ and Taj Jackson, who are Tito Jackson's sons, will take the witness stand.

Prince Jackson, his sister Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson and brother Prince Michael "Blanket" Jackson are plaintiffs in the case against AEG, which their grandmother and primary caretaker filed in August 2010.

Another image showed Michael Jackson playing piano with his son while Prince was still a toddler.

Plaintiffs' attorney Brian Panish asked Prince whether he was interested in pursuing a career in music. "I can never play an instrument and I definitely cannot sing," Prince said to laughter from the jury.

He said he wanted to study film or business when he goes to college.

His testimony also included details that AEG's lawyers will likely point to later in the case to bolster their contention that Jackson was secretive about using propofol as a sleep aid.

Prince said none of the household staff were allowed upstairs at the mansion, and the singer kept his bedroom locked while receiving treatments from Murray.

During cross-examination, Putnam played a clip from a deposition of Prince in which the teen said he discovered the bedroom was locked when he and his siblings were playing hide-and-seek and couldn't get inside.

Prince also said his father gave him and his sister Paris a stack of $100 bills on a few occasions to give to Murray. He said his father told him that Murray wouldn't take the money from him, and the doctor wouldn't take the full amount from the children.

The teenager said his understanding was that the money was meant to tide Murray over until he got paid by AEG Live.

He never saw or knew how Murray was treating his doctor.

"I was 12. To my understanding he was supposed to make sure my dad stayed healthy," Prince testified.

___

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-06-27-Jackson-AEG%20Suit/id-ed52f0c960714b789e379df501d078d8

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Obama making plans to tackle global warming

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is planning a major push using executive powers to tackle the pollution blamed for global warming in an effort to make good on promises he made at the start of his second term. "We know we have to do more ? and we will do more," Obama said Wednesday in Berlin.

Obama's senior energy and climate adviser, Heather Zichal, said the plan would boost energy efficiency of appliances and buildings, expand renewable energy and use the Environmental Protection Agency's authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Zichal, speaking at a forum hosted by The New Republic in Washington, said that none of the proposals would require new funding or action from Congress. It has shown no appetite for legislation that would put a price on carbon dioxide after a White House-backed bill to set up a market-based system died in Obama's first term with Democrats in charge.

The plan, with details expected to be revealed in coming weeks, comes as Obama has been under increasing pressure from environmental groups and lawmakers from states harmed by Superstorm Sandy to cut pollution from existing power plants, the largest source of climate-altering gases. Several major environmental groups and states have threatened to sue the administration to force cuts to power plant emissions. And just last week, former Vice President Al Gore, a prominent climate activist and fellow Democrat, pointedly called on Obama to go beyond "great words" to "great actions."

It was unclear whether the White House's plans would include controls on existing power plants. An administration official, who wasn't authorized to comment on the plan by name, said the White House was still weighing it. But since the administration has already proposed action on future power plants, the law would likely compel it to eventually tackle the remaining plants, or it would be forced to through litigation.

Obama's remarks in Berlin echoed comments he made in his State of the Union and inaugural speeches this year.

"This is the global threat of our time," Obama said Wednesday. "And for the sake of future generations, our generation must move toward a global compact to confront a changing climate before it is too late. That is our job. That is our task. We have to get to work."

Some environmentalists who cheered those remarks when they were made months ago, criticized them Wednesday.

"President Obama deserves praise for including climate change among the long-term threats facing us all," said Ned Helme, president of the Center for Clear Air Policy, an environmentally friendly think tank. "But he should do more than talk about the problem. The president needs to put the full force of his office behind new regulations that will truly curb greenhouse gas emissions. For too long now, he has produced little action. I'm encouraged that he will finally act and not just ask."

Meanwhile, the environmental community is growing impatient.

"I really can't understand why they haven't moved forward on this more quickly, and we hope that turns around," said Nathan Wilcox of Environment America.

An orchestrated and well-publicized campaign to persuade Obama to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would carry oil extracted from tar sands in western Canada to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast, appears to be an uphill battle.

Opponents call the $7 billion project a "carbon bomb" that would carry "dirty oil" and exacerbate global warming. But the State Department in an environmental evaluation concluded that other means of transporting the oil would be worse from a climate perspective.

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.

___

Follow Dina Cappiello's environment coverage on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dinacappiello

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-making-plans-tackle-global-warming-211211619.html

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Phillipsburg Town Council gives early support to distillery in Union Square

A Phillipsburg native came to town council tonight proposing plans for a liquor distillery that could bring new life to Union Square.

Nick Piperata asked for town council's support for his plans to manufacture Italian grappa at 11 1/2 Union Square. Piperata said he makes apple, grape and peach grappa, which is similar to rum, using local produce.

The distillery would occupy about 3,000 square feet of the building, Piperata said. He's looking for state grant money to help finance the distillery, and he has colleagues who possess skills that would cut down on the start-up costs. He hopes to open by apple harvest season, about the beginning of October, he said.

Eventually, he'd like the distillery to become a tourist destination. At other distilleries around the country, people can dine and lodge, he said.

"I'm mostly interested in revitalization of downtown and creating jobs," Piperata said.

Council unanimously voted to endorse the endeavor, without taking any other formal action to move the project forward. Council president Bernie Fey Jr. and James Stettner were absent.

Council Vice President Todd Tersigni said Piperata seemed very passionate about the distillery, and his enthusiasm is remarkable.

"We want to be business-friendly," Tersigni said after the meeting. "We support this endeavor, and we believe it will have a positive impact on the town of Phillipsburg."

Township attorney Richard Wenner said a distillery is not a permitted use with the current zoning. It was not immediately clear which town entities would need to give their approval to any zoning changes.

Wenner and the town's engineer, Stan Schrek, agreed to meet with Piperata before council's next meeting to work out the process Piperata would need to go through to get approval for the project.

Source: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/phillipsburg/index.ssf/2013/06/phillipsburg_town_council_give.html

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Military forces from the United States and Jordan have held war games in desert...

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/PRESSTV/posts/557842650924193

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Budget office view boosts Senate immigration bill

People shout out against the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act in the hall outside the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. The committee in the Republican-led House is preparing to cast its first votes on immigration this year, on a tough enforcement-focused measure that Democrats and immigrant groups are protesting loudly. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

People shout out against the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act in the hall outside the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. The committee in the Republican-led House is preparing to cast its first votes on immigration this year, on a tough enforcement-focused measure that Democrats and immigrant groups are protesting loudly. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

House Judiciary Committee members Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., sponsor of the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act, left, talks with Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, prior to the start of the committee's hearing to discuss the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act. The committee in the Republican-led House is preparing to cast its first votes on immigration this year, on a tough enforcement-focused measure that Democrats and immigrant groups are protesting loudly. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. speak on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, during the committee's hearing to discuss the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act. The committee in the Republican-led House is preparing to cast its first votes on immigration this year, on a tough enforcement-focused measure that Democrats and immigrant groups are protesting loudly. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The House Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, during the committee's hearing to discuss the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act. The committee in the Republican-led House is preparing to cast its first votes on immigration this year, on a tough enforcement-focused measure that Democrats and immigrant groups are protesting loudly. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Jackelin Alfaro, 4, in a t-shirt that reads "Don't Depart my Dad" sits in the hall with family members outside the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. The committee hearing will discuss the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act. The committee in the Republican-led House is preparing to cast its first votes on immigration this year, on a tough enforcement-focused measure that Democrats and immigrant groups are protesting loudly. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Supporters of a far-reaching immigration bill in the Senate see fresh momentum from a report by the Congressional Budget Office that says the measure would boost the economy and reduce federal deficits by billions of dollars.

Congress' nonpartisan scorekeeping agency said Tuesday that the immigration bill would decrease federal red ink by $197 billion over a decade and $700 billion in the following 10 years as increased taxes paid to the government offset the cost of benefits for newly legal residents.

The White House said the report was "more proof that bipartisan commonsense immigration reform will be good for economic growth and deficit reduction." Several members of the "Gang of Eight" senators who drafted the legislation also welcomed the news.

The CBO assessment came as the pace of activity increased at both ends of the Capitol on an issue that President Barack Obama has placed at the top of his domestic agenda.

Challenged by protesters chanting, "Shame, shame," House Republicans advanced legislation to crack down on immigrants living illegally in the United States, while the Senate lurched ahead on a dramatically different approach offering the hope of citizenship to the same 11 million people.

The bill approved late Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee on a 20-15 party-line vote would make being in the U.S. illegally a federal crime punishable by prison time, instead of a civil offense as it is now. It also would empower state and local law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration laws.

Republicans said the bill was needed to ensure enforcement of the law and said the legislation was a first step in an incremental approach toward solving the immigration issue, in contrast to the comprehensive approach being taken by the Democratic-led Senate. Many in the Republican-controlled House oppose tackling the immigration issue with a single, big bill.

On Wednesday, the committee was to take up a bill creating a temporary agriculture worker program.

"There has to be a first step, Mr. Chairman, and enforcing the law seems to me a reasonable place to begin," said Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, who wrote the bill approved Tuesday.

Democrats called the bill a dangerous retread of a similarly tough enforcement measure that sparked mass protests around the country in 2006.

Reading the bill, "you would think there are 11 million criminals in the United States," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.

In the Senate, a bipartisan bill that Obama supports appeared on track for a final vote as early as July 4.

The CBO said in its report and accompanying economic analysis that the Senate legislation would raise economic activity in each of the next two decades, in part because of the legal immigration fostered by the measure and also because millions of workers currently in the country illegally would join the legal workforce and pay taxes.

The CBO said the bill would increase gross domestic product by 3.3 percent over the next 10 years compared with current law and by 5.4 percent over the following decade. The agency forecast that 8 million people now here illegally would gain legal status under the bill.

The CBO also said that average wages would decline through 2025 as a result of the bill and that unemployment would go up slightly.

One critic quickly seized on the impact on pay.

"It's going to raise unemployment and push down wages," said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. Supporters of the bill saw it differently.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat and a member of the Gang of Eight, said the CBO report "debunks the idea that immigration reform is anything other than a boon to our economy and robs the bill's opponents of one of their last remaining arguments."

The report was issued near the end of a day of skirmishing on the Senate bill, during which senators rejected two amendments delaying legalization until certain security provisions were in place. One would have required additional fencing and the other a new biometric system to track entries into the country and exits.

Those proposals were overshadowed by a larger debate over the legislation's border security requirements, which Republicans generally want to toughen.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., is working on an amendment requiring the government to demonstrate an ability to apprehend 90 percent of those attempting to enter the country illegally before anyone already present can get a permanent resident green card.

Democrats have been skeptical of proposals along those lines, arguing that they could postpone legalization for years. But after intense discussions on the Senate floor, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and others said they were hopeful of progress.

In addition to border security and a path to citizenship, the bill includes an expanded number of visas for highly skilled workers prized by the technology industry and a new program for low-skilled workers.

___

Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-19-Immigration/id-ef4cda51f0054533913e2548ae7286aa

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Now on WIndows Azure: Microsoft Dynamics NAV

18th of June we announced that Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 and Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 are now available from partners in the cloud hosted on Windows Azure! This means that starting now Microsoft Dynamics GP and NAV customers can take advantage of easy to use, quick to implement business solutions from Microsoft with the added benefit of knowing their solution is hosted on secure, enterprise-class cloud infrastructure from a trusted provider.

Read more about it on the Dynamics Community blog: http://community.dynamics.com/b/theedge/archive/2013/06/18/microsoft-dynamics-nav-and-microsoft-dynamics-gp-now-available-on-windows-azure.aspx?

Enjoy

Source: http://blogs.technet.com/b/dutchpts/archive/2013/06/19/now-on-windows-azure-microsoft-dynamics-nav.aspx

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U.S. in danger of losing humanities, social sciences edge: panel

By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is in danger of losing its advantage in the humanities and social sciences, just as China and other rivals move toward the U.S. model of a broad education in the liberal arts, a federal panel warned in a report to be released on Wednesday.

The congressionally mandated Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences said the embattled liberal arts sector needed support similar to the campaign to boost study of the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. STEM has the public support of President Barack Obama.

Bolstering the humanities and social sciences would strengthen civic ideals and U.S. economic competitiveness in a globalizing world, the panel said.

"At the very moment when China and some European nations are seeking to replicate our model of broad education in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences ... we are instead narrowing our focus and abandoning our sense of what education has been and should continue to be - our sense of what makes America great," the panel said.

The report proposed a 12-point program to shore up areas of learning that have lost their luster amid a slow economic recovery and rising college costs.

International affairs and intercultural skills, especially foreign languages, should be built in to school courses to reflect the United States' global reach and interconnectedness of ordinary Americans with the world, it said.

Civics courses are being cut, and the Department of Education said that only 45 percent of high school students in 2010 had at least a basic understanding of U.S. history.

The share of federal research money for the humanities, which include history, civics, philosophy and religion, has fallen for years and was lower in 2011 than in 2005.

To reverse course, the commission said in part, the United States must educate Americans in skills such as reading, writing and critical analysis.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences formed the panel in 2010 at the request of Congress. The chairmen were Richard Brodhead, the president of Duke University, and John Rowe, the former chairman and chief executive of Exelon Corp.

Members included jurists, academics and business executives, as well as cellist Yo-Yo Ma, film director George Lucas and Karl Eikenberry, the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-danger-losing-humanities-social-sciences-edge-panel-010651791.html

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DIY: Pig Planter

Domaine Home:

Who needs a run-of-the-mill clay pot when you have a customized animal-inspired vessel? Erica Domesek tells us how to create a verdant mascot.

Read the whole story at Domaine Home

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/17/diy-pig-planter_n_3456331.html

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PST: Dempsey talks life in London vs. Texas

Clint Dempsey will never be one of these American soccer exports who spirits off to England and lets a little too much ?England? creep into the voice and the lexicon.

The Tottenham Hotspur and U.S. international does acknowledge that his personal arsenal of, uh, ?big boy soccer words? may have expanded due to hanging out with so many passers and trappers from England and other lands. Their ?words of emphasis,? we?ll call them, are a little different than ours, you know.

Otherwise, Dempsey may live in London and play his gritty brand of soccer at White Hart Lane in the northern reaches of that wonderfully storied megacity, but never look for him to relinquish hold on his roots.

In time arranged by Spurs and the United States national team, I talked to Dempsey on Saturday. (This is the second of three parts of the interview.)

Q: You signed with Fulham early in 2007, so at this point you?ve spent the bulk of your adult life living in England. At this point, do you relate to things more like a Texan who takes long visits to England, or more like an Englishman who likes to visit Texas and the States?

Oh, no. The only thing that is difficult when I get back home is getting adjusting to that heat and humidity in Texas. When I get back home, around my family, and my fishing, I?m always a Texan. I?ve got a ?Texas? tatted on my elbow. I feel like I?ll be a Texan until I die. Definitely, and American too. I?m not switching up at all. ?I?m not going to have my accent change. And I?m definitely looking forward to going back to the States one day.

?Every now and then, there might be a word here or there, like some British cuss words that I may have picked up in the locker rooms. But for most part, I feel like I haven?t changed. I stay who I am.?

Q: It must be nice when some of your family gets over to England to see you play around White Hart Lane. How often does that happen?

They get to come up there a pretty good number of times. My mom and dad will come up two or three times a year, for about two weeks at a time. My brother and sisters, they?ll probably get to come up for a week every year. When I?m in North Carolina, they will come up for a week there. And when I?m in Texas, I get to see them four or five days, but it?s difficult with work and stuff like that. But we do our best to make sure we all see each other as much as possible.?

Q: You said earlier the schedule has you re-joining Spurs for that trip into Hong Kong around July 18 or so. You got into the team so late last summer, the thought of getting an entire preseason with manager Andr? Villas-Boas and all your Tottenham teammates must sound quite nice?

Oh, yeah. It?s always important to get a full preseason with the team and to get on the same page with each other. You want to start the season on a good note, try to get those wins, get yours stats up, because you want to start the season good individually and collectively ? I?m looking forward to that, getting into a team already kind of settled and not playing catch-up like last year, getting that full preseason under my belt and hitting the ground running right from the start of the season.?

(MORE: Part I looks at Dempsey?s summers away and his ?chill? time)

(MORE: Part III looks at Dempsey?s upcoming season with Spurs)

Source: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/17/three-good-questions-for-clint-dempsey-part-ii-london-calling/related/

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Yankees INF Youkilis needs surgery, Teixeira to DL

NEW YORK (AP) ? They come back for a bit, then they're gone again. So it goes for the New York Yankees and many of their ailing stars this season.

Kevin Youkilis needs back surgery and Mark Teixeira returned to the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with inflammation in his right wrist, the latest injury setbacks for the depleted Yankees.

And while the team hopes to have Teixeira back early next month, Youkilis will miss at least 10 to 12 weeks. The corner infielder has a herniated disk and is scheduled for surgery Thursday in California.

"It doesn't look like he will be a player for us until late September," manager Joe Girardi said Tuesday.

Tuesday night's game between the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers was postponed by rain. It will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader Wednesday.

Youkilis signed a $12 million, one-year contract with New York as a free agent in December to fill in at third base for Alex Rodriguez, who is recovering from hip surgery. But the three-time All-Star has played in only 28 games and is batting .219 with two home runs and eight RBIs.

"It's not how you draw it up, there's no doubt about that," general manager Brian Cashman said. "He looked great in the spring. We had high hopes. He obviously did so much for Boston over the years and he's the type of player that if you could draw it up, that's the type of player we would want: a gamer with power and plate discipline."

Youkilis was sidelined from April 28 to May 30 with a lumbar spine sprain. He returned for a couple of weeks before complaining of discomfort again after an 18-inning loss in Oakland last Thursday.

He went back on the disabled list Friday and was examined in California by Dr. Robert Watkins, a noted back specialist.

"He had played four days in a row and I think it was something he had and it just manifested itself," Girardi said.

An MRI showed the herniated disk, and Watkins will perform the operation.

"At least Dr. Watkins found what was ailing him," Cashman said, adding the club plans to go with what it has on the roster until Rodriguez is ready to play third again.

That means rookie David Adams is likely to get an extended opportunity at the hot corner. Adams is batting .213 with two homers and seven RBIs.

"The timetable for Alex was after the All-Star break and hopefully that is still the case. We just need people to step up in the meantime," Girardi said.

Of course, the Yankees also are missing injured shortstop Derek Jeter and his backup, Eduardo Nunez, along with outfielder Curtis Granderson, catcher Francisco Cervelli and pitcher Michael Pineda.

Granderson returned from a broken right wrist in mid-May only to get hit by another pitch days later and land on the DL on May 25 with a broken knuckle on his left hand.

New York has used the disabled list 16 times already this season, one shy of last year's total.

Teixeira missed the first 53 games because of a torn sheath in his right wrist. Both he and Youkilis returned from their previous DL stints on May 31.

The switch-hitting first baseman got off to an encouraging start when he came back but has slumped to a .151 average with three home runs and 12 RBIs in 53 at-bats.

"I believe he was healthy when he came back. It could have been just the swings, the games, that got to him a little bit," Girardi said. "There's not really hesitation in my mind that makes me believe that he won't be back when the 15 days is up."

Hoping to work his way out of his slump, Teixeira said he tried taking a few extra swings Saturday off a tee, which he hadn't been doing because the wrist was sore. After that, he said his wrist didn't feel right during the game. He left the team during its West Coast trip, went back to New York and received a cortisone shot Sunday.

"The MRI showed what I thought it was going to show," Teixeira said. "I didn't think it was re-torn. Something was just injured. When you gradually just get sore, you know, OK, I've got some inflammation in there, I'll need some time off. I was pretty sure that's what it was."

Cashman said Monday that Teixeira probably would be sidelined at least a week, and he was leaning toward putting the slugger on the DL.

Teixeira said he feels pretty good swinging from the right side, but he wouldn't want to be solely a platoon player. Instead, he'll try to let the injury heal without surgery and stick to switch-hitting.

Looking back to his rehab stint with Double-A Trenton, Teixeira said he played 19 out of 20 days.

"That's probably just too much. If maybe once a week I take a day off, just to let it rest, if I can do that all year that's great. Obviously 19 out of 20 is too much. We learned that the hard way," he said.

"That first week I felt great," Teixeira added. "I probably overdid it a little bit. It's something I might have to manage all year. ... We tried it, now we have to take a step back."

In other moves, the Yankees recalled outfielder Zoilo Almonte and right-hander Adam Warren from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Right-hander Chris Bootcheck was designated for assignment.

NOTES: LHP Ian Clarkin and the Yankees agreed on a $1,650,100 signing bonus, pending the results of his physical. That's the slot value assigned to the overall No. 33 pick, where Clarkin was selected in this month's draft out of James Madison High School in San Diego. During the draft, MLB Network showed a video in which Clarkin said he "cannot stand" the Yankees. He apologized the next day, saying the remarks were taken out of context and meant to tease his mother, a Yankees fan.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/yankees-inf-youkilis-needs-surgery-teixeira-dl-010121033.html

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