Pat Riley wins Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award
By Ben Bolch June 19, 2012
MIAMI -- Pat Riley, who won four of his five NBA titles as a coach with the Lakers, received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award before Game 4 of the Finals on Tuesday.
“The Lakers years made me,” said Riley, who won 1,210 games in 24 years as a coach with the Lakers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat and is now President of the Heat. “I didn’t know what I was doing in the ‘80s, and they waited for me to become a good coach, and I thank Magic Johnson for that and Jerry West and Jerry Buss. They had tremendous patience with me the first three or four years.”
June 19, 2012
By FRANK LOVECE. Special to Newsday After issuing a denial and lambasting the media last month for reporting that he and partner Vanessa Paradis were splitting after 14 years, Johnny Depp Tuesday confirmed the couple's breakup.
"Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis have amicably separated," his publicist said in a statement to "Entertainment Tonight." "Please respect their privacy and, more importantly, the privacy of their children."
In January, People magazine reported Depp, 49, and French actress-singer Paradis, 39 -- the mother of their children Lily-Rose, 13, and Jack, 10 -- were on the verge of breaking up. The couple has not appeared together on a red carpet for more than a year, and Depp has gone solo to several events including the Golden Globe Awards and the Paris premiere of his film "The Rum Diary."
Paradis denied breakup rumors in January, telling the British newspaper The Sun, "Yes, they are false."
The couple began dating in 1998, shortly after Depp, in France shooting Roman Polanski's "The Ninth Gate," saw Paradis in a hotel lobby and the two recalled
Facebook Will Allow App Developers to Offer Subscriptions
By Cameron Scott, IDG News Jun 19, 2012
Facebook said on Tuesday that it would begin allowing app developers on its platform to charge users for subscriptions but would require them to stop using Facebook Credits for in-app purchases, according to a blog post.
By Alina Selyukh
WASHINGTON | Wed Jun 20, 2012 (Reuters) - The Super PAC backing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Tuesday it would launch a $7.6 million television ad sweep across nine states, its latest contribution to the growing media presence of outside spending groups in the U.S. election.
The purchase comes after weeks of silence from Restore Our Future, the independent spending group that emerged as the deep-pocketed heavyweight that barraged Romney's Republican competitors in the race to become their party's nominee.
By JAMES KANTER and PAUL GEITNER Published: June 19, 2012
BRUSSELS — As Greece’s political parties maneuvered to form a new government Tuesday, the country’s creditors were signaling a willingness to discuss revised terms for Greece’s bailout package to reflect its rapidly deteriorating economy. The newfound willingness to talk, while probably requiring Greece to stick to long-range targets for reducing its debt and making structural changes in its economy, follows the elections Sunday in which the center-right party New Democracy, led by Antonis Samaras, won a narrow victory over the hard-left Syriza party. Syriza had demanded a complete renegotiation of the bailout deal Greece struck this year with a trio of international institutions.
The prospect that Mr. Samaras would lead the new government brought a sigh of relief in Brussels, as he had pledged to stick in principle to the bailout deal, averting an imminent and messy Greek exit from the euro zone. But Mr. Samaras has also made it clear that he will seek some concessions on the terms of the €130 billion, or $165 billion, rescue his country secured in March from the so-called troika of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Tue Jun 19, 2012
* Euro rises against the dollar as Fed awaited
* European stocks shrug off weak ZEW index
* Brent crude touches 16-month lows on demand outlook
By Richard Hubbard
LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - The euro rose against the dollar and shares gained on Tuesday as Europe's worsening debt crisis and its impact on global growth encouraged talk of a policy response by the world's major central banks.
The U.S. Federal Reserve begins a two-day policy setting meeting later in the day, with attention focused on whether it will unveil any more stimulus to support a flagging recovery.
Hamas claims responsibility for firing rockets at Israel
June 19, 2012
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Hamas has claimed responsibility for firing at least three rockets into southern Israel.
The rockets fired late Monday night landed in Ashkelon, but did not cause any damage or injuries. The Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported that the rockets fired by Hamas's armed wing, Izzaddin al- Kassam, were targeting a nearby military base. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip.
Following the attack, the Israeli Air Force fired early Tuesday morning on what it called a terrorist cell planting explosives near Israel's border with Gaza; Ma'an reported that two 16-year-old boys were killed in the strike.
U.S. seeks to return Tyrannosaurus skeleton to Mongolia
June 19, 2012
By Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley, CNN
(CNN) -- Federal authorities have filed a civil complaint seeking the forfeiture of a stolen dinosaur skeleton and its return to Mongolia, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus bataar was looted from Mongolia's Gobi Desert and brought to the United States illegally, the U.S. Attorney's Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a joint statement Monday.
The Associated Press Posted: Jun 19, 2012 LeBron James arrived for practice Monday wearing lime-green sneakers, a highly fluorescent shade.
It was the fashion statement du jour for the NBA's three-time most valuable player, much like the eyeglass frames he's been sporting after games throughout this post-season. But those sneakers probably would have remained tucked away in the drawer beneath his locker during last year's NBA finals since very little about James' game would be considered glowing or luminous during those two weeks.
Roundup: Mets’ R.A. Dickey hurls another one-hitter
FRom bostonglobe.com
Yankees top Braves for 10th straight
ASSOCIATED PRESS JUNE 19, 2012
R.A. Dickey’s impeccable control with that dancing knuckleball has made him the most dominant pitcher in baseball.
Dickey became the first major league pitcher in 24 years to throw consecutive one-hitters and Ike Davis hit a grand slam to lead the New York Mets past the Baltimore Orioles, 5-0, Monday night at Citi Field.
Coming off a one-hitter against the Rays last Wednesday, the knuckleballer struck out a career-high 13 and allowed only Wilson Betemit’s clean single in the fifth inning. He has not permitted an earned run in 42 2/3 innings, the second-longest stretch in club history behind
By Bob Velin, USA TODAY Jun 18, 2012
Floyd "Money" Mayweather's nickname fits his new title to a tee: The world's highest-paid athlete.
Forbes.com named Mayweather its highest-paid athlete over the last year. Mayweather earned $85 million, knocking golfer Tiger Woods out of the top spot that he has held since 2001. Woods fell to third behind another boxer, Manny Pacquiao, who earned $62 million. Woods took home $59.4 million.
Mayweather, who is currently serving an 87-day jail sentence in Las Vegas, earned his $85 million for a little more than an hour's work in the ring. He knocked out Victor Ortiz in the fourth round last September, earning $40 million, then dispatched Miguel Cotto by a unanimous 12-round decision on May 5, taking home $45 million.
Stratford, Ont.-born superstar releases third album today By Andre Mayer, CBC News Posted: Jun 19, 2012
Justin Bieber, the Stratford, Ont.-born music superstar, is releasing his third album today. Believe is more than just a collection of frothy tunes — it’s part of his evolution from squeaky-voiced tween idol to adult pop artist.
Here’s a look at some of the milestones that have marked Bieber’s growing “maturity.”
1. He’s ditched the Bieber cut.
Gone is the shaggy coif that galvanized hair salons and confounded the parents of teenage sons. In its place is a sculpted up-do that defies gravity and comprehension. (No word yet on whether he’s capable of growing facial hair.)
2. His voice has broken.
Between the release of Bieber’s squeaky 2010 hit Baby and his breathy 2012 single Boyfriend, something big happened. No, not megastardom — puberty.
By STEPHEN CASTLE and RAPHAEL MINDER June 19, 2012
Spain was forced to pay significantly more to raise short-term money Tuesday, a day after its long-term borrowing costs rose to a record high — increasing fears that the crisis in the euro zone was entering another critical phase.
The Spanish Treasury sold €2.4 billion euros, or $3 billion, of 12-month bills at a yield, or interest rate, of 5.074 percent. compared with 2.985 percent at a similar auction last month. It also sold 640 million euros of 18-month debt with a yield of 5.107, compared with 3.302 percent last month.
June 19, 2012 From Fox news
WASHINGTON – For the first time, the influx of Asians moving to the U.S. has surpassed that of Hispanics, reflecting a slowdown in illegal immigration while American employers increase their demand for high-skilled workers.
An expansive study by the Pew Research Center details what it describes as "the rise of Asian-Americans," a highly diverse and fast-growing group making up nearly 6 percent of the U.S. population. Mostly foreign-born and naturalized citizens, their numbers have been boosted by increases in visas granted to specialized workers and to wealthy investors as the U.S. economy
RIALTO, Calif. — Results from toxicology tests could as long as six weeks to gather before coroner's officials can determine how Rodney King died. King was pulled from the deep end of his pool early Sunday by police who were called to his home by his fiancee. Investigators conducted an autopsy on his body on Monday.
King became famous after he was severely beaten by Los Angeles police in 1991. The beating was captured on videotape and broadcast worldwide, as were photos of King's bloodied and bruised face. The more than 50 baton blows and kicks inflicted by officers left King with 11 skull fractures, a broken eye socket and facial nerve damage.
Fed Seen Twisting To Risk Management To Spur U.S. Growth
By Craig Torres - Jun 18, 2012
Federal Reserve officials must choose this week between their best estimates and their worst fears of what will happen to the U.S. economy.
Policy makers will bring new forecasts to their June 19-20 meeting and probably will mark down their April central-tendency estimate for growth of 2.4 percent to 2.9 percent this year. Lurking in the background is the risk of increasing financial stress in Europe and stubbornly high U.S. unemployment that has remained above 8 percent for 40 consecutive months.
All this could prompt them to move away from their outlook for moderate growth and tilt toward a “risk-management” strategy pioneered by former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, which puts more emphasis on tracking and containing high-cost threats. Both Janet Yellen, the Fed’s vice chairman, and William C. Dudley, head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, used the phrase in the past month.
NFL reveals 'overwhelming evidence' to reporters in Saints case
Peter King>INSIDE THE NFL June 18, 2012
NEW YORK -- As Mary Jo White, the former federal prosecutor who examined the evidence for the National Football League in its pay-for-performance/bounty case against the New Orleans Saints, went through reams of evidence Monday afternoon for 12 reporters in league offices, I had one overriding thought: All of this cannot be invented.
• The testimony from disgraced defensive coordinator Gregg Williams to the league, in which he said he knew the program "was rolling the dice with player safety and someone could have been maimed."
• The charge, from what the league said was a handwritten note from a Saints defensive coach, that the defense pledged $35,000 for a defender to knock Brett Favre out of the January 2010 NFC Championship Game -- including a $5,000 pledge to the kitty from current Saints interim coach Joe Vitt.
Katy Perry's 'Wide Awake' Video: Through The Looking Glass
Perry's fairy-tale clip closes the book on her Teenage Dream story and finds her living happily ever after. By James Montgomery Jun 18 2012
Katy Perry certainly isn't the first artist to get all Lewis Carroll-ian with a video — Tom Petty's iconic "Don't Come Around Here No More" certainly springs to mind — though, in some ways, her brand-new "Wide Awake" clip (which borrows from Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" book) does manage to cover new territory — namely by transforming the fantasy trope into a bit of an autobiography.
Google: government requests to censor content 'alarming'
From smh.com.au
June 19, 2012
Google has received more than 1000 requests from authorities to take down content from its search results or YouTube video in the last six months of 2011, the company said on Monday, denouncing what it said was an alarming trend.
In its twice-yearly Transparency Report, the world's largest web search engine said the requests were aimed at having some 12,000 items overall removed, about a quarter more than during the first half of last year.
Jun 18, 2012 By Fahmida Y. Rashid
Google released its latest Transparency Report, which provides insight into the types of data governments around the world have asked the company to scrub from the Internet. The latest report covers the last six months of 2011.
As PCMag.com reported earlier today, Google received 6,321 government requests for disclosure of user data in the U.S., and Google partially or completely complied with 93 percent of those demands in the last six months of 2011. That was up from 5,950 requests in the first half of the year, according to the Google Transparency Report.
Putin-Obama: results of talks on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit
Jun 19, 2012 gor Siletsky Bilateral meetings between the leaders of the G-20 have become, what might be called a prelude to the G-20 summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin is representing the Russian Federation at the forum which opened on June 18th in Los Cabos, Mexico. Politicians and journalists were especially looking forward to the outcome of talks and negotiations between Russia’s president and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama.
The White House called the talks between the two presidents one of the most important events of the American leader's visit to Mexico. The prospects evident in the dialogue between Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama have been discussed by press all over the world: after all, the U.S. and Russian leaders are meeting for the first time since President Putin's re-election.
By NICK WINGFIELD Published: June 18, 2012
LOS ANGELES — In its biggest-ever push into the hardware business, Microsoft on Monday unveiled a tablet computer called Surface that is designed to challenge Apple’s iPad.
At an event here, the company showed off the device, which is about the same weight and thickness as an iPad, with a 10.6-inch screen. The tablet has a built-in “kickstand” that will allow users to prop it up for watching movies, and a detachable cover that will serve double duty as a keyboard.
US Air Force's X-37B spaceplane ends secret mission
By William Harwood, CBS News, 18 June, 2012 NEWSAn unmanned Air Force spaceplane dropped out of orbit and glided to a computer-controlled California landing early on Saturday to close out a classified 469-day military mission.
The reusable Boeing-built X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle touched down on a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, at 5:48 am PDT (GMT-7). The US Air Force did not provide any advance warning of the re-entry and landing time and no technical details about the vehicle's performance were released.
But in a statement, the Air Force said the autonomous landing by the nation's "newest and most advanced re-entry spacecraft" was executed "safely and successfully".
Buffett Extends Real-Estate Bet With ResCap Pursuit: Mortgages
By Noah Buhayar and Dakin Campbell | Bloomberg Jun 18, 2012 Warren Buffett, whose prediction last year of a housing recovery was premature, is raising his bet on a rebound with his $3.85 billion bid for a mortgage business and loan portfolio from bankrupt Residential Capital LLC.
The offer "certainly indicates that he thinks the worst is behind us," Jeff Matthews, author of "Secrets in Plain Sight: Business & Investing Secrets of Warren Buffett," said in a phone interview. "Yes, he's been wrong about housing before. But if you look at any credit metric, if you look at any of the banks and what's happening in their loan portfolios, it's getting better."
Foreclosure filings in the U.S. have fallen on an annual basis for 20 straight months, according to
NEWARK -- Under cloudy skies with the sun peeking out occasionally, a crowd gathered Sunday on the west side of the Licking County Courthouse Square to hear Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.
Only people who had obtained free tickets were allowed inside roped-off area surrounding the west entrance of the courthouse. A large American flag was the backdrop to the small bleacher section the speakers and Romney stood in front of. The rest of the crowd was behind the bleachers and on the sides, under the shade of large trees.
By Christian Fraser BBC News, Paris 18 June 2012
The election was a ringing endorsement of the growth-led policies Francois Hollande has outlined.
Last night, his Socialist Party won more than 300 seats, an absolute majority in the lower house of parliament. It is the first time they alone have held the National Assembly in 30 years, since the days of Francois Mitterrand, and it underlines once again that across Europe people are turning against the austerity agenda.
"With a new, solid, large majority we can pass laws for change," said Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
By Gary Washburn | GLOBE STAFF JUNE 18, 2012 MIAMI - Perhaps the Oklahoma City Thunder are talented enough but just too young. When they needed someone to emerge down the stretch, to make solid decisions and clutch shots, no one assumed that role, not even three-time scoring champion Kevin Durant.
Holding a 10-point lead over the Heat with 4:33 left in the third quarter, the Thunder managed just 21 points the rest of the way, unable to run a cohesive offense and committing boneheaded turnovers as Miami won Game 3 of the NBA Finals, 91-85, at AmericanAirlines Arena by being the more efficient team.
Portugal, Germany advance to Euro 2012 quarterfinals
June 17, 2012
KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) | Cristiano Ronaldo finally found the form he was lacking at the European Championship, scoring twice Sunday to give Portugal a 2-1 win over the Netherlands and a spot in the quarterfinals.
The Real Madrid forward failed to sparkle in Portugal’s two previous matches but he was devastating against the Dutch. He produced an equalizer with his first goal of the tournament in the 28th minute and scored the winner in the 74th.
“Once again we showed how united we are as a team,” Portugal midfielder Miguel Veloso said. “It wasn’t easy to start with a defeat. The secret was our defending, our humility.”
Needing a win to have a chance at staying in the tournament, the disappointing Dutch fielded an impressive attacking lineup featuring Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie up front, but it wasn’t enough to keep them at Euro 2012.
June 19, 2012
