In Flex We Trust ? Tech Talk Gaming: Action Games of 2012

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First-person shooters, dance games, role-playing fantasies? All games involve some type of ?action,? yes, but not all of them fall into the?Action/Adventure?genre. Action/Adventure games aren?t laser-focused on specific activities like shooting, solving puzzles, or racing, although they may explore those mechanics. It?s a broad genre with a proud history reaching back to gaming?s infancy in arcades. Notable examples we would classify as action/adventure games include The Legend of Zelda, Grand Theft Auto, and Batman: Arkham City.

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With that in mind, we thought it time to take a look at the big action games headed our way over the next 12 months. Behold: your year in fist fights, sword clashes, and explosions.

Capcom?supports the genre well. For fans of undead nightmares, three different Resident Evil games are coming in 2012:?Resident Evil Revelations?(3DS, February 7), Operation Raccoon City (360/PS3, March 20), and?Resident Evil 6?(360/PS3/PC, November 20). Capcom also has a potential surprise hit up its sleeve with?Asura?s Wrath?(360/PS3, February 21). That game is bananas. Casting you as an immortal muscle head battling demigods as big as the galaxy,?Asura?s Wrath?delivers action on a scale that dwarfs most other games.

Of course, exciting games can come in small packages. February 22 will bring to us a new portable system, the PlayStation Vita, and along with it an original entry in one of our most beloved modern action franchises ??Uncharted: Golden Abyss. It?s the full cinematic Uncharted experience, now conveyable and boasting clever touch controls.

An upcoming action game that?might?not be providing the full experience fans were hoping for is?Ninja Gaiden III?(360/PS3, March 20). The series is known for being arduous and ultra violent. But from our time with?Ninja Gaiden III?so far, developer?Team Ninja?seems to have eased up on the difficulty and the ability to decapitate and delimb our enemies has been completely removed. The Team insists Ninja Gaiden III will let players feel what it?s like to slice through a person to the bone, so here?s hoping it ends up being that visceral. Perhaps a new adversarial multiplayer mode will make appease the bloodthirsty fans.

Prototype 2?(360/PS3/PC, April 24) is a sequel with the opposite problem of Ninja Gaiden III ? instead of potentially scarring a cherished series, it has the unenviable task of improving on an original that received mixed reception in 2009. While Prototypesold well enough to warrant a sequel, it is sometimes considered the lesser companion to Infamous, a similar open-world action game. Lucky for?Prototype 2, it doesn?t have to directly contend with Infamous this year. When you come home from a rough day at school or the office and want to unwind by destroying a few tanks,?Prototype 2?could be your game.

While there are usually games planned to support the release of big action movies, the confusingly-named?The Amazing Spider-Man: The Movie?(every platform, July 3) is the only one announced so far for this year. Despite the subtitle, it?s a game that goes back to the open-world web slinging of Spider-Man 2 ? and that has us excited.

If summer ends up being light on games based on movies, there will still be several action games keeping our consoles hot.Darksiders II?(360/PS3/PC, summer) will finally deliver another dose of M-rated, Zelda-style adventuring. Also,?Anarchy Reigns(360/PS3, summer), from the developer of Vanquish and Bayonetta, should live up to its name with what it is calling ?Super Sexy Fists of Fire.?

And, as is to be expected, the year?s biggest action/adventure games will arrive in the fall. Suda 51?s?Lollipop Chainsaw(360/PS3, Fall) should satisfy the Grindhouse/exploitation movie fans out there with its nubile cheerleader chainsawing her way through an undead outbreak.

Speaking of nubiles, Lara Croft is getting a long overdue makeover when?Tomb Raider?(360/PS3/PC, fall) is rebooted late this year. Borrowing elements from Dead Space and Assassin?s Creed, it?s a cinematic action game of survival. A 21-year old Lara Croft is shipwrecked on a hostile island where she must transform from a vulnerable, inexperienced young woman into the badass treasure hunter we know her to be. Action/adventure game of the year? Possibly?

Below we?ve put together a road map of all the big action games of 2012. There are sure to be more announced, but this is what we?ve got to look forward to so far. What action/adventure games are at the top of your list? Let us know so we can start planning hot coverage for you.

[IGN]

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Source: http://www.inflexwetrust.com/2012/01/29/tech-talk-gaming-action-games-of-2012/

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Gingrich says commission should look at in vitro clinic management of embryos (Star Tribune)

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Occupy protest resurfaces in Oakland after lull

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan surveys damage to City Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Oakland, Calif., following an Occupy Oakland protest Saturday. After a confrontation with police, demonstrators gained entrance to City Hall where they burned an American flag, broke glass and toppled a model of City Hall. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan surveys damage to City Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Oakland, Calif., following an Occupy Oakland protest Saturday. After a confrontation with police, demonstrators gained entrance to City Hall where they burned an American flag, broke glass and toppled a model of City Hall. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Occupy Oakland protestors burn an American flag found inside Oakland City Hall during an Occupy Oakland protest on the steps of City Hall, Saturday, January 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

A defaced bust of former city councilmember Frank Ogawa sits outside Oakland, Calif., City Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, following an Occupy Oakland protest Saturday. After a confrontation with police, demonstrators gained entrance to City Hall where they burned an American flag, broke glass and toppled a model of City Hall. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Police officers stand near graffiti while guarding Oakland, Calif., City Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, following an Occupy Oakland protest Saturday. After a confrontation with police, demonstrators gained entrance to City Hall where they burned an American flag, broke glass and toppled a model of City Hall. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Police move in on Occupy Oakland protesters on Oak Street and 12th Street as tear gas gets blown back on them in Oakland, Calif. on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. An unlawful assembly was declared as occupiers planned to take over an undisclosed building. (AP Photo/The Tribune, Bay Area News Group) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) ? It started peacefully enough: A midday rally at City Hall and a march. But as the day wore on, Oakland was hit by the most turbulent protests in weeks as Occupy demonstrators clashed repeatedly with police, leaving more than 400 people arrested.

The demonstrations in downtown Oakland broke a lull that had seen just a smattering of people taking to Oakland's streets in recent weeks for occasional marches that bore little resemblance to the headline-grabbing Occupy demonstrations of last fall.

That all changed Saturday with clashes punctuated by rock and bottle throwing by protesters and volleys of tear gas from police, and a City Hall break-in that left glass cases smashed, graffiti spray-painted on walls and an American flag burned.

AP photos showing the flag burning ? including images of masked protesters touching off the blaze, a woman urging protesters not to burn it, and another of an officer stomping out the fire ? drew attention on social networking sites.

At least three officers and one protester were injured. Police spokesman Sgt. Jeff Thomason said there were more than 400 arrests on charges ranging from failure to disperse to vandalism,

On Sunday, Oakland officials vowed to be ready if Occupy protesters try to mount another large-scale demonstration. Protesters, meanwhile, decried Saturday's police tactics as illegal and threatened to sue.

Mayor Jean Quan personally inspected damage caused by dozens of people who broke into City Hall. She said she wants a court order to keep Occupy protesters who have been arrested several times out of Oakland, which has been hit repeatedly by demonstrations that have cost the financially troubled city about $5 million.

Quan also called on the loosely organized movement to "stop using Oakland as its playground."

"People in the community and people in the Occupy movement have to stop making excuses for this behavior," she said.

Saturday's protests ? the most convulsive since Oakland police forcefully dismantled an Occupy encampment in November ? came just days after the announcement of a new round of actions. The group said it planned to use a vacant building as a social center and political hub and threatened to try to shut down the Port of Oakland for a third time, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.

After the mass arrests, the Occupy Oakland Media Committee criticized the police's conduct, saying that most of the arrests were made illegally because police failed to allow protesters to disperse. It threatened legal action.

"Contrary to their own policy, the OPD gave no option of leaving or instruction on how to depart. These arrests are completely illegal, and this will probably result in another class action lawsuit against the OPD," a release from the group said.

Deputy Police Chief Jeff Israel told reporters late Saturday that protesters gathered unlawfully and police gave them multiple verbal warnings to disband.

Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests. Police officials say they were in "close contact" with the federal monitor during the protests.

The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately. Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.

Caitlin Manning, an Occupy Oakland member, believes that Saturday's protest caught the world's attention.

"The Occupy movement is back on the map," Manning said Sunday. "We think those who have been involved in movements elsewhere should be heartened."

In Oakland, social activism and civic unrest have long marked this rough-edged city of nearly 400,000 across the bay from San Francisco. Beset by poverty, crime and a decades-long tense relationship between the police and the community, its streets have seen clashes between officers and protesters, including anti-draft protests in the 1960s that spilled into town from neighboring Berkeley.

Dozens of officers, who maintained guard at City Hall overnight, were also on the scene Sunday.

"They were never able to occupy a building outside of City Hall," Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said Sunday. "We suspect they will try to go to the convention center again. They will not get in."

Jordan defended his officers' response to the protesters on Saturday.

"No we have not changed our tactics," Jordan said. "The demonstrators have changed their tactics, which forces us to respond differently."

Quan, who faces two mayoral recall attempts, has been criticized for past police tear-gassing, though she said she was not aware of the plans. On Saturday, she thought the police response was measured.

She also said she hopes prosecutors will seek a stay-away order against protesters who have been arrested multiple times.

"It appears that most of them constantly come from outside of Oakland," Quan said. "I think a lot of the young people who come to these demonstrations think they're being revolutionary when they're really hurting the people they claim that they are representing."

Saturday's events began when a group assembled outside City Hall and marched through the streets, disrupting traffic as they threatened to take over a vacant convention center.

The protesters then walked to the convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and "destroying construction equipment" shortly before 3 p.m., police said. The number of demonstrators swelled as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging up to 2,000 people, although city leaders say that figure was much closer to several hundred.

A majority of the arrests came after police took scores of protesters into custody as they marched through downtown, with some entering a YMCA building, Thomason said.

One of those taken into custody at the facility was KGO radio reporter Kristin Hanes.

Though she was released after about 25 minutes, Hanes said she was "angry that they put a reporter in zip-tie handcuffs."

Oakland police didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about her arrest.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-30-Occupy%20Oakland/id-c86aa202319041168d3a3e917d44b4c7

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Santorum: Daughter with pneumonia recovering

FILE - In this June 6, 2011 file photo, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum holds his daughter Isabella before announcing he is entering the Republican presidential race, on the steps of the Somerset County Courthouse in Somerset, Pa. Santorum canceled his morning campaign events, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, and planned to spend time with his hospitalized daughter, Bella. Isabella Santorum has Trisomy 18, a genetic condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 18th chromosome. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

FILE - In this June 6, 2011 file photo, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum holds his daughter Isabella before announcing he is entering the Republican presidential race, on the steps of the Somerset County Courthouse in Somerset, Pa. Santorum canceled his morning campaign events, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, and planned to spend time with his hospitalized daughter, Bella. Isabella Santorum has Trisomy 18, a genetic condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 18th chromosome. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Sharon Irwin, holds a sign during a prayer for Bella, daughter of Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum during a campaign rally in a hanger at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in Sarasota, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, where Santorum was scheduled to appear. Santorum is staying home in Philadelphia to be with 3-year-old Isabella, who is hospitalized. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Elizabeth Santorum, eldest daughter of Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, campaigns for her father in a hanger at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in Sarasota, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Santorum is staying home in Philadelphia to be with his 3-year-old hospitalized daughter Isabella. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Sunday his daughter Bella remains in the hospital with pneumonia but is recovering after a rough 36 hours.

Santorum spoke with Florida supporters by telephone from 3-year-old Bella's hospital room and said doctors hope she can go home in the next few days.

The former Pennsylvania senator also said, "We're going to get out on the campaign trail later tomorrow ... heading out to the Midwest, and start campaigning in the next states as we move this campaign forward."

Santorum aides did not immediately provide details, but his advisers are looking at upcoming contests in Missouri and Minnesota, as well as Arizona and Colorado.

"I feel very, very good about where we are and where the campaign is going," the candidate said.

But during the call with Florida voters, Santorum opened his remarks with his daughter, who has a genetic condition known as Trisomy 18. The condition typically proves fatal and Santorum often says his daughter wasn't expected to live past 12 months.

"She without a doubt has turned the corner," he said.

Santorum called his daughter's recovery a "miraculous turnaround" after an unexpected detour from the campaign just days before Tuesday's Florida primary.

Santorum got to his home in Virginia around midnight Friday for a quick break to do his taxes, but found his daughter "was not doing well."

"I was up with her a lot of the night," he said. "By the end of the day, it was really, really clear she was struggling."

Saturday evening, Santorum aides announced Bella had been admitted to the hospital and they canceled his morning interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" and church services in Miami. His aides later canceled his trip to Florida and instead sent his 20-year-old daughter to campaign for him.

Santorum described the situation as a "very, very tough night last night" but said by late Sunday Bella was "alert and back to her own beautiful, happy girl."

"It's been a very hectic 36 hours," Santorum said. "Life in the Santorum family has dramatically improved since the late afternoon."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-29-US-Santorum-Daughter/id-4fa95143835b4fa6adf271f7285502ed

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TV Ratings: "Idol" and "Bang" tie, Fox wins top rating (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? CBS' "Big Bang Theory" pulled up to "American Idol" for a tie in the ratings Thursday night, while Fox was the highest rated and most-watched network as its new drama "The Finder" improved by 32 percent, according to preliminary numbers.

Fox's "Idol" at 8 p.m. drew a 5.4 rating/14 share in the adults 18-49 demographic and 16.9 million total viewers. It was even with CBS' "Big Bang Theory" in the demographic ratings but had the night's most total viewers. "The Finder" the following hour took a 2.9/7 in the demographic and 8.5 million total viewers. Over the night, the network averaged a 4.1/11 and 12.7 million total viewers.

On CBS, "The Big Bang Theory" at 8 posted a 5.4/15 in the demographic and 15.9 million total viewers. "Rob!' at 8:30 p.m. held steady with last week for a 3.5/9 in the demographic and 11.5 million total viewers. Repeats filled out the rest of the night. Overall the network averaged a 2.8/7 and 11.2 million total viewers.

NBC's "30 Rock" at 8 p.m. was flat with last week's season low, taking a 1.6/4 in the demographic and 3.8 million total viewers, while "Parks & Recreation" at 8:30 p.m. dipped 11 percent for a 1.7/4 in the demographic and 3.4 million total viewers. Another episode of "30 Rock" followed, dropping 37 percent from last week's episode of "The Office" in the same time slot to receive a 1.9/5 in the demographic and 3.9 million total viewers. A repeat of "Up All Night" aired at 9:30. At 10 p.m., "The Firm" had a 1.0/3 in the demographic and 3.7 million total viewers. It was up 11 percent from last week.

ABC ran repeats throughout the night.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/tv_nm/us_ratings

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Five dead in poll violence in India's Manipur state (Reuters)

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) ? Five people were killed in election related violence in India's isolated, northeastern state of Manipur, police said on Saturday.

Among those who died were a woman, a security guard and three election duty staff, when suspected tribal rebels attacked a polling booth in the state's Chandel district.

"The militants are suspected to be from the National Socialist Council of Nagaland faction," a police officer said.

No group, however, has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Strife-ridden Manipur, bordering Myanmar, is the first of five Indian states to go to polls in early 2012 to elect a state legislature.

The Congress party, which leads the federal coalition government, is expected to retain office.

CorCom, an alliance of seven separatist Manipuri groups who view India as a colonial power, blamed the Congress government for "degeneration of the Manipuri society ... to the present state of social, moral, economic and political bankruptcy."

"We are fighting against the Indian occupation of Manipur. So as a part of fighting Indian occupation we ban the Congress and their agents in Manipur," the alliance said in an e-mail received by Reuters late on Friday.

The group claimed responsibility for a grenade attack on a Congress candidate's home last week.

(Additional reporting and writing by Arup Roychoudhury in NEW DELHI; Editing by Ed Lane)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/wl_nm/us_india_election_manipur

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Group: Chinese police clash with Tibetans, 1 dead (AP)

BEIJING ? Chinese security forces fired at Tibetans, killing one and wounding several others, an activist group said Friday, in the third reported deadly clash in a politically sensitive Tibetan region in a week.

The Tibetans were trying to stop security forces in southwest China from detaining a youth who posted a leaflet saying that self-immolations wouldn't stop until Tibet is free, the International Campaign for Tibet said.

At least 16 Buddhist monks, nuns and other Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest in the past year, mostly in traditionally Tibetan areas of southwestern Sichuan province. Most have chanted for Tibetan freedom and the return of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled to India amid an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

The London-based group said a youth named Tarpa posted a leaflet in Sichuan's Aba prefecture "stating that the reason for the self-immolation protests was that Tibet must be free and the Dalai Lama must return, and until these demands were met, there was no way for the campaign to be stopped."

He wrote his own name on the leaflet and posted a photo of himself, saying that Chinese authorities could come and arrest him if they wished, group spokeswoman Kate Saunders said in an email.

Security forces arrested Tarpa about two hours later, Saunders said.

"As they were taking him away, people nearby tried their best to block the way, shouting slogans, and warning the police that if they arrested Tarpa they would provoke a mass protest. The police responded by firing into the crowd. According to our sources, one person was killed on the spot and several wounded."

Saunders said the Tibetan shot was a 20-year-old friend of Tarpa's, a student named Urgen. She said the area was under lockdown Friday.

The incident, as with most reported clashes in Tibetan areas, could not be independently verified because of a heavy security presence and lack of access for outsiders.

On Monday, several thousand Tibetans in Ganzi prefecture in Sichuan province marched to government offices and police opened fire into the crowd, killing up to three people, witnesses and activist groups said.

A day later, security forces opened fire on a crowd of protesters in another area of Ganzi, killing two Tibetans and wounding several more, according to the group Free Tibet. The Chinese government said a "mob" of people charged a police station and injured 14 officers, forcing police to open fire on them. The official Xinhua News Agency said police killed one rioter and injured another.

China says Tibet has been under its rule for centuries, but many Tibetans say the region was functionally independent for most of that time.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tibet

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Vucetich Discusses Long-Running Predator-Prey Study

Melissa Block speaks with John Vucetich, a wildlife ecologist from Michigan Technological University who is leading the wolf-moose winter study at Isle Royale National Park. The park is located in the northwest corner of Lake Superior. The study is in its fifth decade.

Copyright ? 2012 National Public Radio?. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Go up, up, up in Minnesota, up to the boundary waters with Canada. Then if the weather clears, hop onto a tiny research plane and fly 15 miles out across the ice of Lake Superior to the wilderness island of Isle Royale. That's where wildlife ecologist John Vucetich is now and where he's been going every winter for the last 12 years to study wolves and moose. He joins us from the researchers' bunkhouse on Isle Royale. John Vucetich, welcome to the program.

DR. JOHN VUCETICH: Yeah. Thank you.

BLOCK: You're involved - this is the longest running study I've read of any predator-prey system in the world, been going on for more than 50 consecutive years. Why are you studying wolves and moose there on Isle Royale? What's the goal?

VUCETICH: The goal is to basically understand how it is that wolf populations affect populations of their prey. In this case, it's moose and the reason we're interested in that is because wolves and humans sometimes conflict with one another. So this study, a lot of it is to understand how, in fact, it is that wolves affect their prey.

BLOCK: And how are you doing this? How do you track these populations on the island?

VUCETICH: Well, every year, we come out for about seven weeks in the wintertime and we'll fly every single day during this period that the weather will allow us to do so. And a couple of these wolves are radio-collared, so we can find their signals that way.

And much of the time, we're just flying over the island looking for tracks in the snow. And we find the tracks in the snow of these wolves and we follow those tracks until we find the wolves. And then, also, when we're following those tracks, next we can see where it is that they've killed the moose and - because that makes quite a scene on the snow, blood and hair and all that kind of thing. And when we know how often they're killing the moose, then that's a part of how we can figure out their impact.

BLOCK: Well, what have you been finding there in recent years in the work that you're doing?

VUCETICH: Yeah. Well, the wolf population has gone to really quite low numbers. Last year, when we counted them, there were 16 wolves. But maybe more surprisingly, the 16 wolves - only two were females. And if those two females go - you know, if they die before giving birth to more females, then that would be the end of the population. So what we're really keen to pay attention to now is to look for signs of mating.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

BLOCK: I almost hate to ask this, but if you're looking for signs of mating, is it pretty obvious what you're looking for, what those signs would be?

VUCETICH: It is, yeah. The males and females are very hierarchical. There's an alpha female and she's dominant over all the other females and similar for the males. That dominance behavior is real characteristic when both sexes are present.

And also, wolves - the physical appearance of them mating looks a lot like when dogs mate. So, we frequently see that. And it may sound peculiar, but it leaves a distinctive set of tracks in the snow and so we can tell from that, as well.

BLOCK: Wow. Wait, wait. You can see a distinctive set of tracks from an airplane that would tell you that wolves have been mating on the ground?

VUCETICH: Yeah. Well, what they do is, when a male and female wolf mate, we say that they're tied together. And when they're connected like that, they kind of wander around the snow a little bit. Not very far, but just wander around.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

VUCETICH: But, you know, you got eight legs instead of four, all connected, and they don't have a normal gait.

BLOCK: Well, I guess if you've been doing this as long as you have, you would know what that looks like, even without the wolves there.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

VUCETICH: Yeah, yeah.

BLOCK: What do you think accounts for the fact that the population has declined so much?

VUCETICH: Well, the wolf population is low right now, mainly because the moose are so low. There's a special kind of tick that bothers only the moose, and this tick has been quite abundant in recent years. And this tick is also tied to climate change. This tick does much better in warmer weathers and we've had increasingly warm weathers in this last decade.

And then, finally, moose are creatures of the North Country. They do best when it's cold. And these warm weathers are just tough for them. So, climate change is certainly a big, big suspect here.

BLOCK: Well, John Vucetich, enjoy the rest of your time there on Isle Royale this winter. Thanks for talking to us.

VUCETICH: You're welcome. It was great fun to share.

BLOCK: That's wildlife ecologist, John Vucetich, talking with us from Isle Royale, Michigan in Lake Superior. His blog posts are appearing on the New York Times website.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.

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Source: http://www.npr.org/2012/01/26/145923400/vucetich-discusses-long-running-predator-prey-study?ft=1&f=1007

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An electrical engineer and a biologist walk into a bar? (Unqualified Offerings)

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Upcoming Speaking Gigs in Nashville, D.C. (Theagitator)

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Cluttered cubicle may make you more organized

Anthony D'Ambrosio

A messy desks may lead to clearer, more organized thinking, a new study shows

By Linda Carroll , msnbc.com contributor

Attention bosses who harass employees to clean up their cluttered cubicles:?As it turns out, messy desks may lead to clearer, more organized thinking, a new study shows.

And this effect may not just be limited to the worker with the messy desk. The study results suggest that the mess-effect may impact all those sitting near the clutter, says Jia Liu, a researcher at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Conventional wisdom is that a messy desk leads to a messy mind, Liu says. But sometimes the mess sparks a desire for simplicity, making people to think in a more organized fashion, she adds.

Liu and her colleagues ran a series of experiments to determine how people react to clutter, according to the report published in the Journal of Consumer Research.

In one experiment, 49 college students were asked to sit at a cluttered cubicle, a tidy cubicle, or one that was in-between.?

After sitting at the desk, the volunteers were asked to rate on a scale of one to nine how well a series of statements fit them: ?It upsets me to go into complicated situations,? ?I would like to simplify my life as much as I can,? ?I would like to keep things simple,? and ?I am bothered by complicated things.?

Next the volunteers were given a test in which they needed to sort 33 products into groups ? the volunteers had to come up with an organizing principle themselves.

When the results were in, it was clear that people sitting at messy desks came up with much simpler organizing principles. They were also the ones who scored high on questions like, ?I would like to simplify my life as much as I can.??

Liu and her colleagues concluded: ?Opposite to conventional wisdom, we found that participants working at a messy desk displayed simpler cognitions. This is because messiness induces a need for simplicity.?

The study suggests that someone else?s mess might do just as well to spark a need for simplicity. ?Other people?s messy desks may indeed help us to organize things simply, as in our experiment the mess was not generated by the participants,? Liu says. ?They were placed in a messy environment.?

Does that mean bosses should maybe encourage employees to be messy?

Not so fast, Liu says.

?We?d be careful with making recommendations,? she explained. ?One reason is that simplification is not always desirable. In addition, we suspect that extreme mess certainly impairs efficiency.??

?

Source: http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10216893-cluttered-cubicle-may-make-you-more-organized

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New federal map for what to plant reflects warming

In this Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 photo, Manager Jerry Holub looks at seed packages on display at the Earl May Nursery and Garden Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The USDA announced Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 new maps for plant hardiness zones, a key to determine which plants can survive in what parts of the country. The government's official guide of colorful planting zones is being updated for a warmer 21st century. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 photo, Manager Jerry Holub looks at seed packages on display at the Earl May Nursery and Garden Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The USDA announced Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 new maps for plant hardiness zones, a key to determine which plants can survive in what parts of the country. The government's official guide of colorful planting zones is being updated for a warmer 21st century. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Map shows the USDA's new plant zone map

This Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 photo shows a tag on a tree on display at the Earl May Nursery and Garden Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The USDA announced Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 new maps for plant hardiness zones, a key to determine which plants can survive in what parts of the country. The government's official guide of colorful planting zones is being updated for a warmer 21st century. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 photo, Manager Jerry Holub looks at trees on display at the Earl May Nursery and Garden Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The USDA announced Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 new maps for plant hardiness zones, a key to determine which plants can survive in what parts of the country. The government's official guide of colorful planting zones is being updated for a warmer 21st century. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The government's colorful map of planting zones is being updated for a warmer 21st century.

The official guide for 80 million gardeners and a staple on seed packets reflects a new reality: The coldest day of the year isn't as cold as it used to be. So some plants that once seemed too vulnerable to cold can now survive farther north.

It's the first time since 1990 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has updated the map and much has changed. Nearly entire states, such as Ohio, Nebraska and Texas, are in warmer zones.

The new guide, unveiled Wednesday at the National Arboretum, also uses better weather data and offers more interactive technology.

"It truly does reflect state of the art," said USDA chief scientist Catherine Woteki.

Gardeners can register their zip code into the online map and their zone will pop up. It shows the exact average coldest temperature for each of the 26 zones, even though zones are based on five degree increments.

For example, Des Moines, Iowa, used to be in zone 5a, meaning the lowest temperature on average was between minus 15 and minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Now it's 5b, which has a coldest temperature of 10 to 15 degrees below zero.

"People who grow plants are well aware of the fact that temperatures have gotten more mild throughout the year, particularly in the winter time," said Boston University biology professor Richard Primack. "There's a lot of things you can grow now that you couldn't grow before."

He uses the giant fig tree in his suburban Boston yard as an example.

"People don't think of figs as a crop you can grow in the Boston area. You can do it now," he said.

An earlier effort to update the planting map caused a bit of an uproar when the USDA in 2003 decided not to use a map it commissioned that reflected warmer weather. The Arbor Day Foundation later issued its own hardiness guide that had the toastier climate zones. The new federal map is very similar to the one the private plant group adopted six years ago, said Arbor Day Foundation Vice President Woodrow Nelson.

In Des Moines, Jerry Holub, a manager for the Earl May Nursery chain, doesn't think the warmer zone will have much of an impact on gardeners. But he said this may mean residents can even try passion flowers.

"Now you can put them in safely, when you couldn't before," he said.

___

AP Writer Michael J. Crumb contributed to this report from Des Moines.

___

Online:

Plant map: http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-25-Planting%20Zone%20Map/id-224a385175e24e8c8fdecfb6fdfc21d0

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Tim Cook says Apple TV is still 'a hobby,' can't live without it

Looking forward to an update to your beloved Apple TV? It seems the company still fancies the device as well. On the quarterly numbers call today, Tim Cook quipped that "we still classify this as a hobby, but we continue to add things to it." He went on to say that the company will "continue to pull strings and see where we can take it." This comes on the heels of Cupertino seeing a record 1.4 million units sold last quarter.

Tim Cook says Apple TV is still 'a hobby,' can't live without it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/9oHl_LqzEkk/

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PSP games get ESRB rating for PlayStation certified devices, coming soon to Sony phones and tablets?

It looks like Sony's been reading our daily email missives, bemoaning the state of its PlayStation certified gaming selection. The message appears to be getting through, with several PSP titles getting spotted over at the Entertainment Software Rating Board with PlayStation certification. Ahead of any official fanfare, there's no big hitters here just yet, but titles like Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Daxter are likely to be more resonant with gamers than the pitiful offering we've seen so far from its PS Store app. Alongside Syphon Filter and Daxter, PS3 port Fl0w and Pinball Heroes were also spotted getting their contents okayed by the ESRB. Unsurprisingly, there's no detail here on release dates or technical requirements -- something that we reckon could be important, given the technical gap between the Xperia Play and the dual-cored innards of Sony's tablets. It's also worth noting that Pinball Heroes is already available on the Tablet P. Sorry Sony, but we'd still trade all of what's been leaked here for a portable version of the original Metal Gear Solid -- without hesitation.

PSP games get ESRB rating for PlayStation certified devices, coming soon to Sony phones and tablets? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

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The nation's weather (AP)

Weather Underground Forecast for Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012.

A winter storm was expected to continue affecting the eastern U.S. on Saturday, while rain and snow persisted across the Northwest. A low pressure system moved into the Ohio and Tennessee valleys. This was expected to push a series of frontal boundaries through the eastern U.S. As these systems pulled moisture onshore from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, this was expected to kick up a wide area of precipitation from the Gulf coast through the Appalachians, and into the Northeast. Areas of snow were expected to develop to the north and behind this system, while rain and freezing rain showers developed along this system and to the south. New York city may see up to 3 inches of snow, while the Washington D.C. area may see early morning flurries and freezing rain showers.

Meanwhile, in the West, a low pressure system was expected to move from the West Coast into the Northern Rockies, Great Basin, and Central Rockies. However, strong onshore flow was expected to persist, pushing ample moisture in from the Pacific Ocean. Moderate to heavy snow showers were expected to move into Utah and Colorado, while lighter and more widespread showers persisted in the Pacific Northwest, Northern Rockies, and northern California. Snowfall accumulations were expected to range from 3 to 7 inches in northern Utah, while 6 to 12 inches were likely in the Colorado Rockies. Meanwhile, another 3 to 6 inches were likely in the Sierra Nevadas.

Between these two systems, a ridge of high pressure was expected to build over the Plains and Midwest. This system was expected to move into the Great Lakes and Midwest throughout the day, allowing for dry and calm weather to return. However, the back side of this system was expected to see strong winds as the high pressure moves to the east and low pressure approached from the West. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Friday ranged from a morning low of -25 degrees at Tomahawk, Wis. to a high of 89 degrees at Brady, Texas.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_us/us_weatherpage_weather

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Video: MTP Political Minute: David?s analysis

South Carolina Analysis

High stakes in South Carolina, where Republicans there have picked the party?s eventual nominee for the last 32 years. We?ll have complete analysis of the crucial contest and breakdown the results, including what they will mean for the road ahead. Joining us: Host of MSNBC?s ?Morning Joe,? Joe Scarborough, Republican strategist Mike Murphy, the BBC?s Katty Kay, and NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/46072388#46072388

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Cuche wins record 5th WCup downhill; Miller 29th

Didier Cuche, of Switzerland, celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Kitzbuehel, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Didier Cuche won the classic World Cup downhill on the Streif course for a record fifth time on Saturday. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Didier Cuche, of Switzerland, celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Kitzbuehel, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Didier Cuche won the classic World Cup downhill on the Streif course for a record fifth time on Saturday. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Didier Cuche, of Switzerland, center, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, celebrates on the podium with second placed Austria's Romed Baumann, left, and third placed Austria's Klaus Kroell, in Kitzbuehel, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Bode Miller, of the United States, gets to the finish area after completing an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Kitzbuehel, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Didier Cuche, of Switzerland, celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Kitzbuehel, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Didier Cuche won the classic World Cup downhill on the Streif course for a record fifth time on Saturday. (AP Photo/Shinichiro Tanaka)

Switzerland's Didier Cuche is airborne on his way to win an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Kitzbuehel, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Didier Cuche won the classic World Cup downhill on the Streif course for a record fifth time on Saturday. (AP Photo/Shinichiro Tanaka)

KITZBUEHEL, Austria (AP) ? Didier Cuche of Switzerland used his last visit to the Streif on Saturday to earn a record fifth victory on one of the World Cup's most challenging downhill courses.

Bode Miller nearly crashed on an icy bump and finished 29th.

Cuche, who announced his retirement at the end of the season two days ago, overtook Austrian great Franz Klammer, who won the Hahnenkamm downhill four times in the 1970s and 80s.

"That record was my final thought before I left the start gate," Cuche said. "Somehow it helped me to relax a bit and to enjoy my run."

Cuche went down the mountain in 1 minute, 13.28 seconds in heavy snowfall to beat Austrian pair Romed Baumann and Klaus Kroell by 0.24 and 0.30 seconds, respectively.

In the finish area, Klammer was among the first to congratulate his Swiss successor.

"Cuche is now the Emperor of Kitzbuehel, I can live with that," said the 58-year-old Klammer, before joking, "I think he should have quit already before this season."

The snowfall became heavier during the race and slowed late starters. Many of the pre-race favorites battled with the conditions.

Cuche's teammate Beat Feuz finished 0.45 back in sixth to stay on top of the discipline standings with 300 points, leading Cuche by 23.

Miller barely avoided a crash in the icy lower section of the course, finishing 1.35 seconds behind the winner.

"These were less than ideal conditions," Miller said. "But it's no fluke that Didier won. For me, I was pushing pretty hard, I knew I had to take some risks."

Miller was relieved by his quick reactions.

"It feels good to make a save like that," he said. "Those are life-savers. One hundred points is great, but I always try to be at the finish with all my parts intact."

Cuche did not post the fastest intermediate times but chose the right line at the Hausbergkante for his trademark fast finish, which has earned him victory in four of the past five years.

"I lost the line several times but I got it just right in the final section," he said.

Cuche, who also won the first downhill of the season in November in Lake Louise, Canada, has 11 victories in the discipline and 19 overall.

After days of warm weather featuring heavy rain and wet snow, a 500-man crew worked through the night to get the fresh snow off the mountain.

But an hour before the start, an overhanging cloud cover and snowfall setting in again forced organizers to lower the starting gate to shorten the 3.3-kilometer course to 2 kilometers.

"It was not easy to race," Baumann said. "Your visibility was hampered by snow on your goggles. On such a shortened course, you can't allow yourself to make any mistake."

Baumann led Cuche by 0.25 at the last intermediate time but was not able to match the Swiss skier's outstanding finish, losing almost half a second there.

Kroell dropped behind Cuche earlier in the race, struggling in the middle part of the course.

"That's where I lost the race, but a podium in Kitzbuehel always makes you happy," Kroell said. "It's incredible what Cuche has done. It's maybe good for me, but a bummer for ski racing that he is not going to race here anymore."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-21-SKI-Men's-World-Cup/id-6e8d1a3cd1264c18b52a020791a17824

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Italy risks worst environmental disaster in 20 years (Reuters)

ROME (Reuters) ? Italy risks its worst environmental disaster in more than two decades if the 2,400 tonnes of thick fuel in the capsized Costa Concordia pollutes one of the Mediterranean's most prized and pristine maritime reserves.

Seven days after the 114,500 tonne liner capsized off the Tuscan coast, its vast wreck is shifting precariously on an undersea ledge, threatening to slide further and undermining plans to pump the oil out safely.

The ship keeled over after striking a rock and is now lying on its side on a shelf in about 20 meters of water off the little island of Giglio. Eleven people were killed and 21 are still unaccounted for.

With hopes of finding any survivors all but gone, experts warn that beyond the loss of lives, this could turn into Italy's worst maritime environmental emergency since the sinking of the Amoco Milford Haven, loaded with 144,000 tonnes of oil, off the coast of Genoa in 1991.

The clean up of that area was completed in 2008, 17 years after the accident, and the Haven shipwreck is still on the seabed, said Luigi Alcaro, head of maritime emergencies at ISPRA, Italy's government agency for the environment.

"If the Costa Concordia slides further down and the fuel begins seeping into the water, we could be talking years and dozens of millions of euros before it can be cleared up," Alcaro told Reuters.

The amount of fuel on board the Costa Concordia, 2,380 tonnes of heavy diesel fuel and lubricating oil, is comparable to that carried by a small oil tanker, Environment Minister Corrado Clini told parliament this week.

The fuel tanks appear to be intact for now.

HIGHLY TOXIC

Clini said even a contained leakage would be highly toxic for the flora and fauna in the area, a natural maritime park noted for its clear waters, varied marine life and coral.

The Giglio island is a renowned diving site and the surrounding archipelago is home to more than 700 botanical and animal species, including turtles, dolphins and seals.

Alcaro said the most optimistic scenario would be to stabilize the ship and pump the oil out through a technique known as "hot tap."

"The oil on the ship is very thick and sticky, so you'd have to drill a hole in the hulk and warm it up to make it more fluid and easier to extract," he told Reuters.

"That could be done in about a month for the 13 external tanks on the ship. There are another 10 tanks inside, and those are a lot more difficult to reach," he said.

But if the ship slips deeper underwater, it would actually be better if the tanks ruptured open and the fuel floated up to the surface, he said.

"There would be panic for a couple of weeks of course but a 'black sea' of fuel would make it visible and easier to recover. The very worst scenario is having oil slowly leaking out."

He pointed to the precedent of the cruise ship Sea Diamond, which sank off the Greek island of Santorini in April 2007, saying oil from the wrecked vessel kept seeping into the water for three years at the rate of 30 kg a day.

Tourism is the top industry on Giglio and locals are worried about the potentially devastating impact of pollution.

"If there's a massive fuel spill, we might as well close everything down, throw away the key and come back in 10 years," said Massimiliano Botti, 40, owner of the Porta Via restaurant along the Giglio quay. "Environmental damage is what concerns us most. If the oil pollutes the coast, we're ruined."

Giglio's mayor Sergio Ortelli said the recovery of the fuel was likely to start within the next 48 hours, but the wreck shifted further on Friday as the weather worsened, forcing a new suspension in the rescue work.

"We can only hope that the weather remains acceptable, that efforts to stabilize the wreck continue speedily, and that God gives us a hand to preserve what many consider a little Mediterranean paradise," Fulco Pratesi, founder of the conservation group WWF in Italy, wrote in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

(additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Giglio; Editing by Philip Pullella and Janet Lawrence)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/wl_nm/us_italy_ship_environment

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Ambush of police truck in Syria kills 14

Syrian army defectors stand guard in front of closed shops at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)

Syrian army defectors stand guard in front of closed shops at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)

Syrian army defectors gather at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)

A Syrian army defector stand guards in front of closed shops at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)

Anti-Syrian regime protesters hold up placards with the names of opposition detainees during a demonstration at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)

Anti-Syrian regime protesters gather at a square as they hold an Arabic banner, center, reading, "hey, the miserable, the tyrant, what else," during a demonstration at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)

BEIRUT (AP) ? A string of explosions struck a police truck transporting prisoners in a tense area of northwestern Syria on Saturday, killing at least 14 people, the country's state-run news agency and an opposition group said.

Troops fought intense battles against defectors elsewhere in northern Syria, activists said, leaving "dozens" of people wounded. The 10-month uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad has turned increasingly militarized and chaotic as more frustrated regime opponents and army defectors arm themselves and fight back against government forces.

SANA news agency blamed the attack on the police truck on "terrorists" and said it occurred on the Idlib-Ariha highway, an area near the Turkish border that has witnessed intense fighting with army defectors recently.

Four bombs that went off in "two phases" hit the truck, and then attackers targeted an ambulance that arrived to assist the wounded, SANA reported.

Six policemen who were accompanying the prisoners were also wounded, some of them in critical condition, it said.

The British-based opposition activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed the incident Saturday and said 15 prisoners were killed.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the group, said the truck was hit by several roadside bombs, but it was not clear who was behind the attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but members of the so-called Free Syrian Army are known to be active in the area.

A Syria-based activist said the area has several army encampments and is full of roadside bombs planted to target army tanks passing by, adding that the truck carrying prisoners may not have been the intended target.

The activist spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Abdul-Rahman and other activists in the country's northern Idlib province also reported heavy clashes between Syrian troops and defectors in the Jabal al-Zawiya region, along the Turkish border.

He said "dozens" of people from both sides were wounded in the fighting, some of them in serious condition.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network said five other people were killed in Syria Saturday, including three in the central city of Homs, one in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour and another in Douma, a suburb of the Syrian capital.

The conflict in Syria has marked the most serious challenge to Assad, who took over from his father in 2000. The U.N. estimates some 5,400 have been killed since March, when the uprising began.

The capital has seen three suicide bombings since late December which the government blamed on terrorist extremists.

The violence comes as the head of an Arab League observers mission was to submit his report to the League's Cairo headquarters. Foreign ministers for the Arab League will meet Sunday in Cairo to discuss the future of the mission, which expired Thursday.

Arab League officials said the organization is likely to extend its observer mission in Syria and increase its numbers, despite complaints from the Syrian opposition that it has failed to curb the bloodshed in the country.

Members of the Syrian opposition have said Arab observers in Syria have failed to curb the bloodshed and many have called for the dispatch of foreign troops to Syria to create safe zones for dissidents, or even a more wide-ranging military mission similar to the air campaign which helped Libyan rebels bring down dictator Moammar Gadhafi last year.

Burhan Ghalioun, head of the main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, was in the Egyptian capital Saturday for talks with Arab League officials ahead of Sunday's meeting.

Security officials in Lebanon meanwhile said the Syrian navy arrested three Lebanese fishermen and confiscated their boat Saturday in Lebanese waters off the northern town of Arida.

The two brothers and their nephew were taken after Syria soldiers aboard a naval vessel fired in the direction of the boat, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

After the incident, angry residents of Arida blocked the highway linking Lebanon and Syria for hours with burning tires.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-21-ML-Syria/id-87d65981c02a478981e5708e1fcee11e

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