Taliban hit NATO supply compound in Kabul, kill 7

Smoke rises from a NATO compound following a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Militants blew up a suicide car bomb at the gate to the NATO compound in Kabul early Tuesday and attacked guards with small-arms fire, killing four guards and two civilians, police said. All four suicide attackers were also killed. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Smoke rises from a NATO compound following a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Militants blew up a suicide car bomb at the gate to the NATO compound in Kabul early Tuesday and attacked guards with small-arms fire, killing four guards and two civilians, police said. All four suicide attackers were also killed. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

An injured man remains at the scene of a suicide bombing at the gate to a NATO compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Militants blew up a suicide car bomb at the gate to the NATO compound in Kabul early Tuesday and attacked guards with small-arms fire, killing four guards and two civilians, police said. All four suicide attackers were also killed. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan men assist an injured man after a suicide bombing at the gate to a NATO compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Militants blew up a suicide car bomb at the gate to the NATO compound in Kabul early Tuesday and attacked guards with small-arms fire, killing four guards and two civilians, police said. All four suicide attackers were also killed. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan security officers stand at the entrance gate to a NATO compound following a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Militants blew up a suicide car bomb at the gate to the NATO compound in Kabul early Tuesday and attacked guards with small-arms fire, killing four guards and two civilians, police said. All four suicide attackers were also killed. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan security forces arrive near the entrance gate of the NATO compound following a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Militants blew up a suicide car bomb at the gate to the NATO compound in Kabul early Tuesday and attacked guards with small-arms fire, killing four guards and two civilians, police said. All four suicide attackers were also killed. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Taliban suicide attackers blew up a truck bomb early Tuesday at the gates of a NATO supplier's compound in Kabul and sprayed gunfire at security personnel, killing five guards and two civilians, Afghan officials said.

The morning attack was the latest in a series targeting high-profile locations in the Afghan capital. The attacks have made clear the Taliban have no intention of ending the violence, even as they say they are willing to enter peace negotiations.

The U.N. deputy chief, Jan Eliasson, who was in Kabul wrapping up a five-day trip to Afghanistan when the attack took place, said continued violence could only harm the Taliban's own cause.

"I would hope that there would be steps taken by the leadership of the Taliban to realize that the tool of violence in any case cannot instill confidence in the population," he said. "There's been too much suffering there and there are too many widows, too many father-and-motherless children in Afghanistan and I think we need to instill a sense of calm."

But the Taliban showed no signs of backing off, telling The Associated Press by phone that Tuesday's attack was part of its offensive started in the spring to target military and diplomatic sites with suicide bombers.

"This has no link to the peace process," the militants' spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said. "It will continue all over the country occupied by the foreigners."

The attack started before dawn, when a suicide bomber drove a small truck to the outer gate of the logistics center used to supply NATO troops and detonated it. The explosion made a massive crater in the ground and damaged a guard tower, said Kabul provincial police chief Mohammad Ayuob Salangi.

Two truck drivers waiting nearby to enter the compound were also killed in the blast, along with the bomber.

Four gunmen then stormed into the breach and battled with security guards, and an Afghan police special response team that was called in, for about an hour before being killed, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. One Afghan and four Nepalese guards were also killed, the ministry said.

Mujahid quickly claimed responsibility for the assault, saying it was "a very effective attack that embarrassed the enemy."

In a statement on the Taliban website, Mujahid said only three militants were involved in the "attack on a big foreign base important for NATO logistics," and listed them by name.

The Taliban last month opened a new political office in the Gulf nation of Qatar, and indicated that they were prepared to enter into Afghan peace talks, but at the same time did not renounce violence.

The following week, Taliban suicide attackers were able to get past preliminary security checks and open fire on guards at a gate to the presidential palace in a bold attack at the heart of the Afghan government.

Earlier in June, heavily armed fighters launched a failed assault on NATO's operational headquarters at Kabul's international airport and blew up a car bomb outside Afghanistan's Supreme Court.

Eliasson said if U.N. support was needed to help start the peace process, he was glad to provide it ? but only if requested by the Afghan government.

"The reconciliation process must be, if it is to be successful, Afghan-led," he said. "What I hope will take place is, of course, contacts between the two parties ... and as long as those contacts continue, there's no specific need for the United Nations to be involved."

Also Tuesday, in the eastern province of Paktika, local police commander Azizullah Karwan said six Taliban militants were killed in a clash with one of his patrols.

He said no police were killed or injured.

In Ghazni, the neighboring province to the west, three local police were killed and three wounded in a gunbattle with the Taliban around midday, said district police chief Kasim Desiwal. Four Taliban fighters were killed, he said.

___

Associated Press writer David Rising contributed to this report from Kabul.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-07-02-Afghanistan/id-5d9c6803138d41a4922db2eb70a2d8f0

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ReadKit for Mac keeps your reading together in one fast, stylish place

The Google Reader apocalypse sent many of us scrambling for replacements on both our iOS devices and our Macs. Some of the more popular options, such as Reeder, haven't updated in time for the Mac, or perhaps our new RSS service of choice isn't supported by our most used application. The scramble settled, eventually, and I found myself on Newsblur which then lead me to ReadKit for Mac. ReadKit goes far beyond just RSS, though, it'll pull in most of the popular reading services too. Let's take a look.

The main interface is pretty clean, and pretty stylish. The largest portion of the window is dedicated to the content you want to read, as it should be. The list of articles and sources is off to the left, ordered with Smart Folders at the top, then alphabetically by source below this. Smart Folders default to RSS News and Read Later, helping you keep your daily news feeds separated easily from any more involved content you've lockered to read. With only two sources as I have, Smart Folders are a little lost, but they come into their own when you up the numbers.

And, up the numbers you can. ReadKit supports 10 different input sources: Instapaper, Pocket, Readability, Pinboard, Delicious, Newsblur, Fever, Feed Wrangler, Feedbin and local RSS. Impressive. That covers a decent amount of the more popular RSS providers, the three big read later services and a couple of things you might not have thought of before. Suddenly, those Smart Folders look pretty useful should you start adding accounts from all of these.

The final thing to note in the interface is the reading view. This strips away all your folders and feeds and just leaves you with the one, important window; what you're reading. It's nice to have, but honestly, ReadKit looks nice enough that distractions aren't really an issue. Folders and feeds just blend in to everything else, and read articles fade away. You can theme it up how you like too, with four different color schemes to choose from, including a light and a dark theme, and there's a bunch of nice looking fonts to choose from as well.

While good looks are one thing, without performing where it matters it would be a total dud. Thankfully, ReadKit does have it where it matters, and the 5 minute auto-sync intervals are enough to please even the power users. Coupled with Newsblur pushing my RSS feeds, ReadKit is about as speedy as I've ever wanted, or needed my RSS feeds at my disposal. If you want to keep all your stuff, that's fine, you can customize how long you want to keep read items, and if you read a lot of image heavy material then set ReadKit to cache the images locally for you.

Truth be told, there are plenty of settings to help tailor ReadKit to your own tastes, right down to using the default browser on your Mac to open hyperlinks. There's a lot to like, and almost nothing to complain about.

The good

• Looks great, nice themes and font selections
• Covers most of the major RSS and read later services
• Plenty of settings to customize your experience
• Notification Center integration
• Fast, 5 minute auto-sync is plenty quick enough for most

The bad

• Read articles can hang around faded out among unread articles. Can be a little confusing

The bottom line

Until Reeder was pulled with the demise of Google Reader, I was happy. But now, I'm even happier, because I started using ReadKit. As you can imagine, a lot of the working day at Mobile Nations involves reading news feeds, and ReadKit makes that job not only easier, but also a pleasure. Apps like this are what keeps me using native apps over a web browser. A job very well done.

• $4.99 - Download Now

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/rxXLgDF_uvc/story01.htm

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Firefighters look for weather break in deadly Arizona wildfire

By Tim Gaynor

PRESCOTT, Arizona (Reuters) - Weary crews on Tuesday looked for a break in the weather to gain ground against a fierce Arizona wildfire that has already killed 19 of their fellow firefighters in the worst wildland fire tragedy in 80 years.

Fire managers say the so-called Yarnell Hills fire, which has already charred nearly 8,400 acres of tinder-dry chaparral and grasslands northwest of Phoenix, was zero percent contained as darkness fell on Monday evening.

The lightning-sparked blaze, which broke out on Friday afternoon near the community of Yarnell, has torched some 200 structures, most of them homes.

On Sunday, an elite squad of 19 firefighters died in the fire after they were outflanked and engulfed by wind-whipped flames in seconds, before some could scramble into cocoon-like personal shelters.

Details of Sunday's deaths of all but one member of the specially trained, 20-man Granite Mountain Hotshots were still sketchy as an investigation was launched into how the disaster unfolded. Information about the survivor, including his identity and how he escaped death, was not immediately released.

The remains of his co-workers were borne away on Monday in a cortege of 19 white coroner's vans to Phoenix for autopsies. The solemn procession from the team's home base in the town of Prescott was received by a police and firefighter honor guard.

A memorial service on Monday drew at least 1,800 people to a sports hall at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on the outskirts of Prescott. A lone piper played Amazing Grace, as friends and relatives wept and hugged.

Fire officials said the fallen men, most in their 20s were victims of a highly volatile mix of erratic, gale-force winds, low humidity, a sweltering heat wave and thick, drought-parched brush that had not burned in some 40 years.

They were trapped as a wind storm kicked up and the fire suddenly exploded on Sunday, said Peter Andersen, a former Yarnell fire chief who was helping the firefighting effort.

"The smoke had turned and was blowing back on us," Andersen said. "It looked almost like a smoke tornado, and the winds were going every which way."

'NOTHING THEY COULD DO'

The powerful gusts abruptly split the fire, driving it in two directions, then pushing flames back in on the hotshot crew, who were working on one flank of the fire front, he said.

Sunday's disaster in Arizona marks the highest death toll among firefighters from a U.S. wildland blaze since 29 men died battling the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

Wildfires have grown more intense in recent years at a time when U.S. firefighting resources have diminished. Since 2000, U.S. wildfires have burned an average of 7 million acres (2.8 million hectares) a year, up from an average of 3.3 million acres (1.3 million hectares) in the 1990s, according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).

Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service's Fire and Aviation Management Budget was cut by 5 percent in fiscal 2013, reducing the number of firefighters to 10,000 from 10,500, NIFC spokeswoman Jennifer Jones said. And the budget for eliminating dry brush and other types of fuel has fallen each of the last three years, from $350 million in 2010 to $301 million in 2013, she said.

In Sunday's deadly blaze, the firefighters deployed their personal shelters, capsule-like devices designed to deflect heat and trap breathable air, in a last-ditch effort to survive, officials said.

Andersen said some of the men on the ground made it into their shelters, according to an account relayed by a ranger helicopter crew flying over the area.

"There was nothing they (helicopter crew) could do to get to them," he said.

The deaths brought an outpouring of tributes from political leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, who is on an official trip to Africa. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer called the deaths "one of our state's darkest, most devastating days" and ordered state flags flown at half staff through Wednesday.

Authorities who ordered the evacuation of Yarnell and the adjoining town of Peeples Valley say they were proceeding cautiously following Sunday's tragic events and hoped that strong winds that have driven the blaze would diminish on Tuesday.

"We need the winds to not pick up enough so we can safely move crews around," fire spokeswoman Carrie Templin said.

The Yarnell Hills blaze was one of dozens of wildfires in several western U.S. states in recent weeks in what experts say could be one of the worst fire seasons on record.

The fallen firefighters were identified as Andrew Ashcraft, 29; Robert Caldwell, 23; Travis Carter, 31; Dustin Deford, 24; Christopher MacKenzie, 30; Eric Marsh, 43; Grant McKee, 21; Sean Misner, 26; Scott Norris, 28; Wade Parker, 22; John Percin, 24; Anthony Rose, 23; Jesse Steed, 36; Joe Thurston, 32; Travis Turbyfill, 27; William Warneke, 25; Clayton Whitted, 28; Kevin Woyjeck, 21; and Garret Zuppiger, 27.

(Additional reporting by David Schwartz and Dan Whitcomb; Writing by Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Sofina Mirza-Reid)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/deadly-fire-engulfed-arizona-firefighters-seconds-001115768.html

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Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 review: one giant smartphone for mankind

Godzilla, Frankenstein's monster and Bigfoot are mythical creatures that don't exist (although you might dispute the latter). But now, an equally beastly smartphone -- one seemingly designed specifically for them -- is available to buy. The Samsung Galaxy Mega is a 6.3-inch woolly mammoth of a handset, and it reigns as the largest of its kind, even if only for a brief period of time; the title will soon be taken over by the Sony Xperia ZU once it hits the market. We were curious to see how a phone of its size would hold out during regular use, so our friends at Negri Electronics -- an online retailer which currently sells the Mega for $570 or $600 (8GB and 16GB, respectively) -- were kind enough to let us take one for a test drive for a few days. Is the phone's magnitude a benefit or hindrance to the user experience? Is it even worth considering if you don't need the largest possible screen? Find out as we dissect it after the break.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 review

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Wireless, Mobile, Samsung, Google

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Inuyasha and the Army of Yamashita

I haven't even looked, I am that excited for this RP. If sesshomaru is open, I would like to reserve. I will take a look at everything now.. so if there was some super secret hidden word in the Rules, I will find it shortly.

EDIT: Nope, didn't find anything. I am rewatching the Inuyasha series now, funny enough. I will play Sesshomaru as faithfully as possible, and I will have the sheet up soon, assuming he is not already taken by someone.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/8mYmR8yKhxg/viewtopic.php

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Court wins draw big crowds to gay pride parades

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Gay rights supporters crowded parade routes in San Francisco, New York and other major U.S. cities Sunday to celebrate what once was unimaginable ? two Supreme Court victories on same-sex marriage.

The high court gave celebrants one more reason to cheer Sunday when Justice Anthony Kennedy rejected a last-ditch effort by opponents to stop gay marriages in California.

Among the thousands at San Francisco's event, now in its 43rd year, were scores of teenage girls, opposite-sex couples and families with children.

"You can feel the smiles," Graham Linn, 42, of Oakland said as he stood on a three-foot-tall building ledge surveying crowds 10-deep on the sidewalks. "All around you there is a release. There is a vindication, and you can feel it."

The biggest applause went up for the two newlywed couples whose legal challenge of Proposition 8 made it possible for Californians to wed.

The couples ? Kris Perry and Sandy Stier of Berkeley, and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo of Burbank ? waved from convertibles as a group of people carried cartoon-style signs that read, "Prop. 8-Kapow!"

Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, who orchestrated the lawsuit, and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who won an Academy Award for the movie about the slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk, marched with them.

"It's so historic," Jeff Margolis, 58, said. "So many of us could never imagine this would happen, that people would be able to do what they want for the rest of their lives."

Loud cheers went to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General Kamala Harris ? straight politicians who have been vocal advocates of same-sex marriage.

San Francisco's parade lineup illustrated how mainstream support for same-sex marriage has become. Companies such as Facebook and supermarket chain Safeway were represented. Police officers and sheriff's deputies marched while holding hands.

There was also a group that called itself "Mormons for Marriage" that drew enthusiastic applause. The Mormon Church was one of the main sponsors of Proposition 8, the 2008 voter initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down Proposition 8 and also invalidated part of a 1996 federal law that denied spousal benefits to gay couples. On Sunday morning, Justice Kennedy denied a last-ditch request from the sponsors of Proposition 8, who argued that a lower court on Friday prematurely allowed gay marriages to continue in the nation's most populous state before the high court finalized its ruling.

Ron Prentice, chief executive of the California Family Council, a Proposition 8 sponsor said its legal team will continue to fight to keep marriage between a man and a woman.

"Last week's Supreme Court decision against the federal Defense of Marriage Act has encouraged same-sex 'marriage' supporters across the country who believe it is now 'open season' on marriage in every state," he said in a written statement. "The team continues to work around the clock to identify the best legal strategies to limit same-sex 'marriage' in California, and nationally."

San Francisco City Hall remained open on Sunday so couples who wanted to marry could obtain their licenses. Every other clerk in California's 58 counties will be required to issue same-sex marriage licenses starting Monday.

Parade organizers planned to hold a VIP reception for the newlyweds following the parade.

The parade in New York City, where the first pride march was held 44 years ago to mark the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots that kicked off the modern gay rights movement, also was a sort of victory lap for Edith Windsor, the 84-year-old widow who challenged the federal Defense of Marriage Act after she was forced to pay $363,053 on the estate of her late wife.

Windsor, who was picked as a grand marshal of New York's parade months before she won her case before the Supreme Court last week, walked up Fifth Avenue during the event and recalled watching it on television in past years with her wife, Thea Spyer, before Spyer died in 2009.

"I love it obviously," she said. "If someone had told me 50 years ago that I would be the marshal of New York City gay pride parade in 2013 at the age of 84, I never would have believed it."

In Seattle, the two women who were the first same-sex couple to be granted a marriage license in Washington state after same-sex marriage became legal there last year, Jane Abbot Lighty and Pete-e Petersen, helped raise a giant marriage equality sign featuring a red equal sign on top of the city's iconic Space Needle for the first time.

In another first, the Seattle Mariners flew a rainbow flag ? the symbol of gay pride first unfurled during San Francisco's parade in 1978 ? during their game Sunday against the Chicago Cubs.

The Supreme Court wins motivated many first-time pride parade spectators, including Michael Pence, 53, and John Moehnke, 46, of North Carolina. The couple, who are engaged and plan to marry in New York in the fall, attended Chicago's annual Pride Parade with a church group, saying they were thrilled about the court decisions and want to see gay marriage extended to Illinois and other states.

"We have such a long way to go but we're ready for the fight," Moehnke said.

Efforts to legalize gay marriage in Illinois have stalled. Advocates started the year with intense momentum and received backing from President Barack Obama and Illinois' top political leaders. The measure cleared the Illinois Senate on Valentine's Day, state Rep. Greg Harris, the bill's sponsor, decided not to call a vote in the House because he didn't have the needed support.

Harris was one of several politicians at the parade Sunday. He said he would bring back the issue in the fall, adding that the Supreme Court's rulings have resonated with his colleagues in the Illinois House.

"Illinois is in a truly second-class status until we pass marriage equality," Harris said.

___

Associated Press writers Sophia Tareen in Chicago, AP Radio Correspondent Julie Walker in New York and AP Photographer Elaine Thompson in Seattle contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-wins-draw-big-crowds-gay-pride-parades-002804140.html

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Cher talks nerves, loves and 'horrendous' self

Music

Ree Hines TODAY contributor

10 hours ago

After five decades on stage and with one farewell tour long behind her, Cher will soon embark on what she's called her "last" farewell tour. But will the Never Can Say Goodbye shows really be her goodbye?

"Probably not," the 67-year-old icon admitted during an interview with Savannah Guthrie which aired Monday on TODAY.

Cher plans to hit the TODAY concert stage in September to show fans what they can expect to see this time during the "probably not" farewell tour, but they already had a sneak peek of what's to come last month during "The Voice" finale.

"It was frightening," the veteran performer said of the reality show set. "I tried to explain this to my mother. She said, 'Sweetheart, what's the matter? ... You're so good, and this is so easy. You've done this all your life.' And I said, 'Mom, this is how it goes. In three minutes, I'm either the greatest reincarnation of myself, or I'm get-yourself-to-a-home-you're-too-old.'"

As it turned out, viewers -- and one happy "Voice" coach -- were thrilled with those three minutes. In fact, the only part of her "Voice" appearance that received a mixed review was her towering, tri-colored wig.

"My friend said it was my 4-H chicken," Cher laughed. "It was beautiful. I'm not gonna make any apologies for it. You know, art is supposed to provoke conversation, and it did what it was supposed to do."

Cher, who's well known for her conversation-provoking looks, already has fans talking again -- and it has nothing to do with her fashion choices. Instead, it's her recent reveal that she counts actor Tom Cruise among her top five lovers that has tongues wagging this time.

"I only care what I know," she said of her confession. "You know, I only care what I've experienced. And that was my experience."

But don't expect any other tidbits about her "experience."

"The moment someone finds out about what's going on in my love life, it's a nightmare. ... I have no peace, I have no privacy. It's really difficult to keep an affair going. So I try to keep it down low as long as I can."

That's because being in the constant spotlight -- being Cher -- isn't easy. But what's even tougher for her is not being Cher.

"Cher -- it's very difficult to get away from her," she insisted with a smile. "She's just such a horrendous bitch that follows me everywhere."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/cher-talks-nerves-loves-her-horrendous-self-6C10501507

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