Bombing at Moscow airport called terrorist attack

Terrorists struck again in the heart of Russia, with a suicide bomber blowing himself up Monday in Moscow's busiest airport and turning its international arrivals terminal into a smoky, blood-spattered hall of dismembered bodies, screaming survivors and abandoned suitcases. At least 35 people were killed, including two British travelers.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast at Domodedovo Airport that also wounded 180 people, although Islamic militants in the southern Russian region of Chechnya have been blamed for previous attacks in Moscow, including a double suicide bombing on the capital's subway system in March 2010 that resulted in 40 deaths.
The Interfax news agency said the head of the suspected bomber had been found.
President Dmitry Medvedev called it a terrorist attack and immediately tightened security at Moscow's two other commercial airports and other key transportation facilities.
It was the second time in seven years that Domodedovo was involved in a terrorist attack: In 2004, two female suicide bombers penetrated the lax security there, illegally bought tickets from airport personnel and boarded planes that exploded in flight and killed 90 people.
Medvedev canceled plans to travel Tuesday to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he aimed to promote Russia as a profitable investment haven to world business leaders.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered the health minister to send her deputies to hospitals to make sure the injured were getting the medical care they needed.
Russians still look to the tough-talking Putin as the leader they trust to guarantee their security, and Monday's attack was likely to strengthen the position of the security forces that form part of his base.
Large-scale battles in Chechnya ended years ago, following two devastating wars that Russia waged with the republic's separatists, but Islamic militants have continued to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks. Most have been in Chechnya and other predominantly Muslim provinces in the southern Caucasus region, but some have targeted Moscow, including its subways, trains and even a theater.


In Washington, President Barack Obama condemned the "outrageous act of terrorism" and offered any assistance. Those comments were echoed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who spoke with Medvedev and assured him of his complete support.
Monday's attack was most likely carried out by a suicide bomber and "attempts were being made to identify him," Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said, adding that the attacker appeared to have been wearing the explosives on a belt.
The blast came at 4:32 p.m., when hundreds of passengers and workers were in a loosely guarded part of the terminal. They were sprayed with shrapnel of screws and ball bearings, intended to cause as many casualties as possible.
The terminal filled with thick smoke as witnesses described a scene of horror.
"There was lots of blood, severed legs flying around," said Yelena Zatserkovnaya, a Lufthansa official.
Airport workers turned baggage carts into makeshift stretchers to wheel the wounded to ambulances outside, she said.
Amateur video showed a pile of bodies on the floor, with other dead scattered around. Luggage also was strewn around the terminal and several small fires burned. A dazed man in a suit pushed a baggage cart through the haze.
Driver Artyom Zhilenkov said he was standing just a few yards (meters) away from a man who may have been the suicide bomber. He saw an explosion on or near the man, whose suitcase was on fire.
Zhilenkov said he initially thought he himself had been injured, but doctors said he was just coated in the blood of others.
"The guy standing next to me was torn to pieces," he said.
Car rental agent Alexei Spiridonov, 25, was at his desk when the blast struck about 100 yards (meters) away and "threw me against the wall," he said.
"People were panicking, rushing out of the hall or looking for their relatives. There were people just lying in blood," Spiridonov said.
Sergei Lavochkin, who was waiting for a friend to arrive from Cuba, told Rossiya 24 television: "I heard a loud bang, saw plastic panels falling down from the ceiling and heard people screaming. Then people started running away."
The Emergencies Ministry said 35 people were killed, 86 hospitalized with injuries and 94 were given medical treatment. Among the dead were two British travelers, Markin said.
Domodedovo was briefly closed to air traffic immediately after the blast, but soon reopened. Hours later, passengers arriving for their flights lined up outside waiting to pass through metal detectors that had been installed at the entrances.
Aviation security experts have been warning since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that the crowds at many airports present tempting targets to suicide bombers. Arrivals halls are usually open to anyone.
"Airports are by their nature crowded places, with meeters, greeters, commercial businesses, and so on," said Philip Baum, the editor of Aviation Security International, a London-based publication.
The attack also called into question Russia's ability to safely host major international events like the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2018 World Cup.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter was in St. Petersburg over the weekend to formally award Russia the 2018 World Cup. Prior to the signing, Blatter told Putin that he was certain FIFA had made the right choice.
Built in 1964, Domodedovo is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) southeast of Moscow and is the largest of the three major airports that serve the capital, handling more than 22 million people last year. It is generally regarded as Moscow's most modern airport, but its security has been called into question.
The airport insists security is one of its top priorities, saying on its website that its "cutting-edge operations technology guarantees the safety of passengers' and guests' lives."
It says 77 airlines offer regular flights to Domodedovo, serving 241 international and national routes

BBC to dump websites

Britain's state-backed public broadcaster the BBC said today it will close 200 websites over the next two years in a drive to slash costs and reshape online content.
The move, which includes the loss of 360 jobs, is part of a raft of cost-cutting measures following a reduction in its negotiated licence fee funding which was chopped by a fifth last October.
The corporation said the cuts were needed to meet a planned reduction of 25%, or 34 million pounds, in online content.
The group has been criticised in the past by competitors and legislators for expanding aggressively using taxpayer monies, while commercial firms struggle in the downturn.


Sites to go include more obscure domains like skills website "RAW", teen sites "Switch" and "Blast", documentary website "Video Nation" and community sites like "h2g2" and "606". The BBC iPlayer message board will also close.
BBC Director General Mark Thompson said its online service remained at the heart of organisation's digital future, but said it was in need of an overhaul to improve quality.
"BBC Online is a huge success, but our vast portfolio of websites means we sometimes fall short of expectation," he said in a statement.
The BBC said editorial focus would be on high-quality news, with up-to-the minute news updates with rich multimedia content woven in.
It also said show-business news, blogs and message boards would be cut, while Sports news and live sports sections would also be pared down.

Mobile phone to be sent into space

A mobile phone run on Google's Android operating system will be sent into space by British engineers.
The team, at Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) in Guildford, want to see if the sophisticated capabilities in today's phones will function in the most challenging environment known, the BBC reported.
While mobile phones have been flown on high altitude balloons before, this would be the first time such a device will go into orbit above the planet.
The phone will be used to control a 30cm-long satellite and take pictures of the Earth in the mission, which will take place later this year.
The venture is part of the company's quest to find more inexpensive, off-the-shelf electronics that can be used to lower the cost of its spacecraft designs

Christina Aguilera to sing at Super Bow

Christina Aguilera will sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl this year, Fox television and the National Football League announced today.
"I have been performing the anthem since I was seven years old and I must say the Super Bowl is a dream come true," the five-time Grammy award winning singer-songwriter said in a statement. "I am really excited to be part of such an iconic event."
Aguilera, who made her movie debut in December as the star of the musical Burlesque and began singing professionally as a teenager, previously performed at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2000.
The performers at this year's halftime show will be The Black Eyed Peas.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl in Dallas on February 7 (NZT). The game is the most-watched event annually on US television and last year drew more than 153 million viewers.

Rental vacancies double as houses fail to sell

Rental vacancy rates are double what they were last year as house sales continue to dawdle, according to a nationwide firm of real estate agents.
First National Group's quarterly survey of its property managers from Northland to Southland shows an overall residential vacancy rate of over 6%, twice the 3% of January 2010.
General manager John Stewart said it was unusual to see a national vacancy rate this high in January with this level more likely in winter.
The group says it reflects the current low amount of sales and lower numbers of migrants coming to the country.
A high amount of unsold houses can lead to an oversupply of rental properties.
Economic forecasters Infometrics told TVNZ today that they see the property market as "stagnant" and badly affected by low confidence in the economy.
"Sales through the latter part of 2010 have been pretty weak and that is likely to flow through to a bit more downward pressure on prices yet (this year)," Infometrics' Gareth Kiernan said on AMP Business.
Kiernan said mixed jobs data is keeping buyers cautious and this will hurt prices.
"There's a lack of buyers out there so if people are looking to sell property, they need to be pretty realistic about the prices they can achieve."


He said a recovering economy should eventually mean higher prices but they consider property is still "pretty expensive" compared to income levels and rental costs.
Kiernan said that with the impact of tax changes still to fully flow through to the property market, they foresee a 4 to 5% drop in prices this year.
Region by region
First National Group's data shows there is still strong demand in Auckland for all types of properties and the vacancy rate is just 0.7%.
Rents in New Zealand's biggest city have crept up between 3% and 10% as ex-pats return home and immigrants from the United Kingdom and Asia fuel demand.
The Nelson Tasman region and the Bay of Plenty are also experiencing strong demand consistent with summer and anticipated economic growth in their regions.
Stewart said that in the late 1980s and again later in the 1990s similar drifts to those two regions occurred, often based on climate, lifestyle and aspiration rather than real work opportunities.
But at the other end of the spectrum, Wellington had unusually high vacancy rates.
Property managers in the capital are now reporting the highest vacancy rates in 20 years especially in upper end properties and apartments.
The rest of the country had more supply than demand but rents were mostly stable.
Rents dropped in some types of property in just 14% of locations, but were stable or rising in the remaining 86% of locations.
Marlborough continues to have high vacancy rates due to the ongoing challenges in the viticulture industry and rents had dropped an average 5 - 10%.

Woman survives fall from 23rd floor

An Argentine woman survived after jumping from the 23rd floor of a downtown Buenos Aires hotel today, landing on a taxi moments after the driver dashed to safety, the state news agency reported.
  
The 33-year-old woman was in the intensive care ward of a Buenos Aires hospital, the Telam agency said.
   
Taxi driver Miguel Cajal said he got out of his parked taxi and ran for safety when he saw a policeman looking up at the woman, who was on an upper floor of the Panamericano hotel.
   
"If I hadn't got out, I'd be dead," Cajal, 39, told local television, which showed pictures of his mangled vehicle, its windscreen and roof crushed by the impact of the woman's fall.

Suspect in Tucson shooting spree pleads not guilty

Tucson shooting rampage suspect Jared Lee Loughner pleaded not guilty on Monday to federal charges of attempting to assassinate U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and attempting to murder two of her staff members.
The 22-year-old college dropout is accused of opening fire on Giffords and a crowd of bystanders outside a grocery store on January 8, killing six people, including a federal judge, and wounding 13. Giffords was shot in the head but survived.
Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and wire-rimmed glasses, the hair on his shaved head starting to grow, Loughner said nothing as the not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf by the judge at his lawyer's request in a federal court in Phoenix.
The shackled defendant was earlier seen smiling, nodding and chatting quietly with his attorney, Judy Clarke, as the proceedings were about to begin. She patted Loughner on the shoulder as the hearing ended.


Authorities have said Giffords, who remains hospitalized, was his primary target.
The rampage renewed a national debate over gun control in the United States and whether the vitriolic tone of U.S. politics had encouraged violence against elected officials, though the motives for the attack remained unclear.
In the meantime, investigators for the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff's Department in Arizona are pressing ahead with parallel criminal investigations.
The plea of not guilty was entered for each of the three charges contained in a federal grand jury indictment returned last Wednesday -- the attempted assassination of Giffords and attempted murder of two aides who also were struck by gunfire.
Loughner could face up to life in prison for trying to kill the lawmaker and the other two attempted murder charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REVIEW
The indictment did not include any murder charges for two other federal employees who were slain -- Judge John Roll, the chief federal judge in Arizona who had stopped at the supermarket to talk to Giffords, or Gabe Zimmerman, the lawmaker's director of community outreach.
Before federal prosecutors can charge Loughner with murder, they must first seek a review of the case by the Justice Department, and ultimately by Attorney General Eric Holder, on whether to seek the death penalty.
U.S. District Judge Larry Burns set March 9 as the next court date in the federal case.
Prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst said evidence that included statements from some 250 interviews and dozens of tapes from Loughner's computer had been shared with the defense. The FBI has said investigators also have video of the rampage.
Burns, normally based in San Diego, California, was appointed to the case after Roll's colleagues on the Arizona federal bench recused themselves.
In a motion filed on Sunday, prosecutors sought to shift any future proceedings against Loughner to Tucson, citing the principle that defendants stand trial in the jurisdiction where their alleged crimes took place.
Prosecutors also argued that the 19 people struck by gunfire in the rampage, and the "vast majority" of witnesses to the shooting, all lived in the Tucson area.
Clarke said she did not object to moving the proceedings to Tucson but sought clarification on where Loughner would be housed.
Last Friday, Giffords was transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Houston, Texas, following life-saving surgery and intensive care at the University Medical Center in Tucson in the days after the shooting.
(Reporting by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Steve Gorman, Will Dunham and Paul Simao)

Teresa Scanlan of Nebraska crowned Miss America

Nebraska's 17-year-old Teresa Scanlan was named Miss America Saturday becoming the youngest winner ever in the pageant's history after a night of being judged for poise, talent, fitness and knowledge.

Scanlan wowed the judges wearing a stunning white evening gown and tickling the ivories on piano with rousing rendition of "White Water Chopped Sticks" in the talent competition.

In the final question, she was asked about the leaking of confidential government information by website WikiLeaks and whether U.S. security or the people's right to know sensitive information was more important.

Scanlan saw the leaks as a matter of espionage and said: "When it comes to the security of our nation, we have to focus on security first and then people's right to know ... We can't let things like that happen, and they must be handled properly, and I think that was the case."

The first runner-up, who will take Miss America's place in the case Scanlan can't perform her new role, was Miss Arkansas Alyse Eady.

Among other noteworthy contestants was Miss Delaware, Kayla Martell, who made it into the semifinals. Martell suffers from a disease, alopecia areata, that caused her to lose all her hair at age 10, and she competed in a wig.

This year marked the 90th pageant in the history of Miss America. The organization runs achievement programs and is a major provider of scholarship assistance for young women. In 2010, the group and its state and local affiliates helped give out more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance.

FROM 53 TO 1

Fifty-three women were chosen from states and territories across the country in local contests before they headed to Las Vegas and the final pageant Saturday.

As Miss America, Scanlan will take the next year to travel the United States and raise awareness about eating disorders.

Miss America 2010, Caressa Cameron from Virginia, 22, was a goodwill ambassador for the Children's Miracle Network, and she spent the year helping raise awareness for HIV/AIDS.

In the week ahead of Saturday's competition, contestants were judged in preliminary events for evening wear, fitness and swimsuits and answer questions in an interview.

From those events, 11 semifinalists were chosen to compete Saturday night. Joining them were four other contestants -- two picked by online voting and two others by the remaining young women in the pageant.

The 15 semifinalists were narrowed Saturday in contests that again include evening wear, fitness and swimsuits, talent and a final on-stage question for the top five women. Then, the top five were ranked to get to the new Miss America.

This year, seven panelists judged contestants in the final round as they answered their question in 20 seconds. The judges -- including TV talk show co-host Joy Behar, "Dancing With the Stars" professional dancer Tony Dovolani, and "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry, among others -- watched for confidence, knowledge and quick thinking in formulating an answer.

Joining Miss Nebraska and Arkansas among the five finalists were women from Hawaii, Washington and Oklahoma.

The show included a rousing opening musical number by all 53 contestants, and it was hosted by TV personalities Brooke Burke and Chris Harrison.

Doctors open breathing hole in Giffords' throat

Doctors performed a tracheotomy on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday, inserting a breathing tube through a hole in her neck and removing her from a ventilator, hospital officials said.
It was the first time Giffords was removed from the ventilator since last Saturday, when she arrived at University Medical Center after a gunman shot her through the head.
Giffords, 40, remains the only patient in critical condition from the shooting that wounded 12 others. Six more victims were killed in the rampage.
One patient was discharged on Saturday, and two remain hospitalized in good condition.
In the tracheotomy performed on Saturday, doctors replaced a breathing tube running down Giffords' throat with the tube inserted through a hole in her neck, the hospital said in a written statement.
A feeding tube also was inserted into Giffords, a practice not uncommon for patients in intensive care with brain injuries, the hospital said.


Doctors have expressed satisfaction with Giffords' recovery from the bullet wound.
In recent days the congresswoman has opened her eyes and is tracking movement of objects before her, and following simple commands, such as raising fingers and wiggling toes.
Giffords, a Democrat representing Tucson and southern Arizona, was just elected to her third term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Jared Lee Loughner, a 22-year-old college dropout, is charged as the lone gunman in the rampage.

Police raid homes to stub out smoking habit

Bhutan police can raid homes of smokers in a search for contraband tobacco and are training a special tobacco sniffer dog in a crackdown to honor a promise to become the world's first smoke-free nation.
Buddhist Bhutan, where smoking is considered bad for one's karma, banned the sale of tobacco in 2005, but with a thriving tobacco smuggling operation from neighboring India, the ban failed to make much of an impact.
But legislation passed in the new year, granting police powers to enter homes, is set to stub out the habit, threatening five years in jail for shopkeepers selling tobacco and smokers who fail to provide customs receipts for imported cigarettes.
Smoking in private is not illegal in the Himalayan kingdom, but as the sale of cigarettes is banned, smokers are restricted to 200 cigarettes or 150 grams of other tobacco products a month that can be legally imported. And they must provide a customs receipt when challenged by police.
The Bhutan Narcotic Control Agency has started raids, with officials allowed to enter homes if someone is seen smoking or if officials have reason to believe there is illegal tobacco there.


There has been widespread grumbling about the new rule.
"When it comes to the penalties in the tobacco control act, it is, in every sense of the word, draconian," the country's largest selling newspaper, Kuensel, said in an editorial.
The Tobacco Act was passed in a joint sitting of parliament, with opposition from only four of the 65 voting members.
"It's a new year. And I have a new year's wish: that the first person to be caught and jailed under the Tobacco Control Act is a member of parliament," opposition leader Tshering Tobgay wrote on his popular blog.
Illegal cigarette sales - previously a major source of income for small shops - have almost stopped as shopkeepers say it will be difficult to hide tobacco from the sniffer dog.
"The sniffer dog is being trained at the moment. The dog will be able to sniff out tobacco products," said Major Phub Gyaltshen of the Royal Bhutan Police.
Bhutan's prime minister said the law cannot be called draconian and it was passed in the "collective wisdom" of the members of parliament.
"It is cancerous, both in the literal and the metaphoric sense, cancerous to society and to individual and in many ways it is no different from psychotropic drugs, for which the penalty in certain countries is death," Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley said.

Office affair? Declare it in writing, says UK boss

A local authority in Britain was accused by union bosses on Tuesday of planning an "Orwellian dictat" by compelling staff to write to their manager to reveal any office romance they had with a co-worker.
The proposal is contained in a draft policy on relationships at work produced by human resources officials at Fenland District Council, which covers a rural area in central England north of Cambridge.
"Any employee who embarks on a close personal relationship with a colleague working in the same team must declare the relationship to his/her manager in writing," the document said, adding the details would go on the employees' personal files.
Furthermore, the policy warns that "intimate behavior during work time is not acceptable."
"This applies during all working time (not flexed off time), both on and off Council sites," the document added. "Any breach of this could be regarded as a disciplinary offence ... leading to disciplinary action."


The Trades Union Congress, Britain's union umbrella body, condemned the proposal, saying workers should not have to disclose details about their private lives outside office time, which their bosses probably did not want to know about either.
"It's quite common for relationships to start in the office, but having to declare your feelings via the HR department is hardly the most romantic way to make a move," said Sarah Veale, TUC Head of Employment Rights.
"Whilst it's important for employers to tackle inappropriate behavior at work, laying down Orwellian dictats about people's personal lives will simply generate resentment among staff."
The draft policy is due to be discussed by councilors later this month.

Homeless man with "golden voice" questioned by police

A homeless former radio announcer who became a YouTube sensation for his "golden voice" has been questioned by police after a disturbance at his Hollywood hotel.
Los Angeles police said two people were taken to the Hollywood station on Monday night to be interviewed following an incident at the Renaissance Hotel.
A police spokesman, Richard French, declined to identify the two people because they were not arrested or charged and would not elaborate on the disturbance.
"Hollywood patrol officers responded to a disturbance at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood at about 9 o'clock last night," French said.
"There was an investigation conducted there," he said. "Officers took 2 people back to Hollywood Station for further questioning. Those individuals were later released. There was booking, no arrest, no charges filed."
But local media and celebrity web sites reported that Ted Williams, 53, and his daughter were questioned after getting into an argument at the hotel.


Williams, a former radio announcer who became homeless after battling drugs and alcohol, attracted millions of YouTube hits last week after The Columbus Dispatch newspaper posted a video of him panhandling using radio emcee imitations.
He has since appeared on morning news programs including "The Today Show" to talk about new voice-over job offers with the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team and foodmaker Kraft and his stunning instant rise from begging on the streets.

Unusual birthdays stir the Web

Most birthdates are pretty ordinary, but some can be real conversation starters. For example, anyone born this past Tuesday will always have a go-to story to break the ice. After all, a 1/11/11 birthday is pretty cool.
Vanessa Doyle hopes that day was lucky, too. She and her husband chose to deliver their new son Dalton on January 11, 2011. Quite impressive but, with apologies to Dalton, we know of something even cooler: being born at exactly 11:11 on 1/11/11.
A buzzy article from the AP explains that Jared and Leslie Marx of Meridian, Idaho welcomed their new baby boy, Tyler, to the world at 11:11 a.m. on January 11, 2011. The article mentions that proud father Jared is currently in Iraq serving in the armed forces. He watched the birth over the Web. Tyler's well-timed arrival isn't the family's first: His older sister was born on 9/9/09.
But that ain't all. Over in Minnesota, Flora Mensah made her big debut at exactly 1:11 a.m. on 1/11/11. Mensah's mom, Amy Zeller, gave birth the all-natural way. In an article from TwinCities.com, the new mom insists that it just sort of happened. "I didn't hold back," she said. "And I didn't switch the clock... There was no fudging at all." The new parents aren't going to press their luck, though. They said they have no plans to have another kid on November 11.


While Dalton, Tyler, and Flora have their entire lives ahead of them, Inez Harries and Venice Shaw have already lived 100 years. Well, almost. The twin sisters were born on January 15, 1911 in sunny Pasadena, California. According to a profile in The Los Angeles Times, the spunky pair did everything together as kids. And even now, they share many of the same hobbies and interests. "Both say Carol Burnett is their favorite entertainer, 'Jeopardy' and 'Wheel of Fortune' are their favorite TV shows and the Bible is their favorite book," the L.A. Times reports.
The sisters will celebrate their birthday this Sunday in San Fernando with friends and family. And, in case you're wondering, they don't feel 100. Harries remarked that she feels like she's still in her 80s. We know plenty of 50-year-olds who would say the same thing.

Flying drunk proves fatal for bird flock

There was nothing mysterious about the death of a flock of birds in Romania last week -- they were simply drunk, veterinarians said.
Residents of the Black Sea city of Constanta alerted authorities on Saturday after they found dozens of dead starlings, fearing they may have been infected with bird flu, which triggered mass deaths in avian populations in 2004-2006.
"Tests on five birds showed gizzards full of grape marc which caused their death," Romeu Lazar, head of the city's veterinary authority told Reuters, referring to a pulpy residue which is a by-product of winemaking.
"This also applies to two dead crows we tested," Lazar said. Birds are not used to alcohol but harsh winter and snow had prevented birds from finding food. Had they been able to eat some seeds, this would have diluted the poison."
The grape marc was presumed to have come from a winery, but the veterinary chief said he did not know where.


There have been a series of unexplained mass bird deaths in several countries across the globe in the last few weeks, including in the United States and Sweden.
Hundreds of dead birds were discovered in Louisiana this month and 5,000 in Arkansas at New Year. Swedish authorities have also been investigating the deaths of 100 jackdaws found in a street in Falkoping. Experts say storms, hail, lightning or collisions with airplanes or power lines are among the possible causes of bird deaths.

Breast implants catch eye of tax agents

Breast implants, a luxury cruise ship and bank robbery victims have become the latest targets of Argentine tax inspectors battling rampant evasion in the South American country.
Argentines are notorious for evading taxes, and it is common to pay for everything from new cars and houses to breast enlargements with wads of cash, while savers stash their money in off-shore bank accounts or undeclared in safety deposit boxes.
Tax inspectors, who have previously targeted modeling agencies and soccer players, have turned their attention to the booming trade in breast augmentation -- counting the number of imported breast implants to calculate surgeons' earnings.
"According to a preliminary assessment, the companies and self-employed people working in the business are suspected of evading 40 million pesos ($10 million) in income tax," the AFIP tax agency said in a statement.


Some 125,000 breast implants worth $15 million were imported in 2008 and 2009, when women spent an estimated $170 million on breast enlargement surgery, the agency said.
But it's not just plastic surgeons who are catching the attention of the AFIP inspectors.
They seized television sets and video players from a luxury cruise ship when it docked in Buenos Aires in December, while AFIP chief Ricardo Echegaray called last week for victims of a daring bank robbery to face inspections over the contents of 136 safety deposit boxes stolen in the raid.

Phone chats plus web program help smokers quit: study

Trying to quit smoking as part of New Year's resolutions? Personalized phone counseling along with web-based guidance may help, according to a study.

About one in five adults in the U.S. smokes, and about half of those who don't quit will die from the habit, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventing, which also estimates that smoking costs the economy $183 billion each year.

Smokers who got phone calls from experienced counselors and took part in a web-based cessation program had nearly double the quit rates after 18 months of smokers who just used the web program, according to a study led by Amanda Graham, director for research development at the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at the American Legacy Foundation.

"This is one of the few large trials that have looked at the internet and telephone counseling combined," Graham told Reuters Health in an interview about the study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

U.S. smoking rates have declined dramatically, from about 30 percent of the population in 1985, but most smokers still make multiple attempts before quitting successfully.

Of all the people who try to quit without medication or counseling, fewer than 5 percent actually succeed, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Telephone counseling has proved to be one of the more helpful interventions, the study authors noted, and many phone counseling programs now offer an internet component.

The current study used QuitNet.com, a website established in 1995 that has more than 60,000 monthly users. While basic membership is free, the premium version is $99.95 a year. One of the study's authors was a consultant to the site's owner.

Researchers randomly assigned about 2,000 smokers to one of three groups - those who'd receive phone counseling plus a premium QuitNet membership that let them set quit dates and track their motivations, those who got just the premium QuitNet membership, and those who used a static website created for the study that offered general advice on quitting.

After 18 months, 15 percent of the phone and premium net program participants reported not smoking since the start of the study, compared to 8 percent of the premium program users and 6 percent of the basic program users.

"These were significant differences, even though they may look small," said Victor Strecher, professor of public health at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who was not involved in the study.

In the study, five calls from a telephone counselor were concentrated during the first month of the smokers' attempt to quit, a time when they were most prone to relapse.

Strecher said he thought that having to attending counseling sessions in person or receiving too many phone calls might be off-putting, but that the targeted calls provided just enough extra encouragement.

"Smokers tend to be mavericks," he said, noting that for this reason they often don't respond to an overly aggressive quitting program. But being able to use the web at will, along with an occasional phone call, seems to work well.

"I do think that smokers are very receptive to this kind of intervention," he said.

Kama Sutra Trojan Virus Anything But Sexy

Looking for sex online? Don't download a PowerPoint presentation promising lessons on Kama Sutra positions - you might just end up with he digital equivalent of a sexually transmitted disease.
A new malware campaign is camouflaging its dangerous payload in the guise of a PowerPoint presentation showing 13 explicit Kama Sutra sexual positions, according to the security firm Sophos. With names like "The Frog," "Wheelbarrow" and "Lyons Stagecoach," the PowerPoint is certainly not safe for work.
Nor is it safe for your computer.
Users whose curiosities are so aroused that they download the sexual slideshow - titled "Real kamasutra.pps.exe" - are taken to an actual presentation, so for the moment, things seem to check out.


But while they're viewing the provocative pornographic pics, a backdoor Trojan called "Troj/Bckdr-RFM" is hard at work, automatically and inconspicuously planting malicious software on the victim's system. Once a computer has been corrupted with the devious Trojan, hackers can gain remote access to it and steal the user's identity, or even enlist the machine as part of a zombie army of infected computers used to launch mass denial-of-service attacks.

• Suckers! A Decade of Successful Internet Scams
• Internet Filter Software Review
• Security and Privacy Software Reviews

• Original Story: Kama Sutra Trojan Virus Anything But Sexy

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Credit Protection: Bouncer's cards stop knife blows

A wallet stuffed with 20 plastic cards and a stroke of luck saved a pub doorman in western Germany from serious injury during a knife attack.
A customer ejected from the pub in the city of Witten on Sunday stabbed its 31-year-old doorman four times in the chest with a knife, police said. But a fat wallet in the bouncer's breast pocket stopped the blade from piercing his body.
"The wallet and cards acted as a protective vest and prevented a more serious incident," chief inspector Volker Schuette told Reuters without naming the bouncer or attacker.
"Everyone at the police station checked their wallets and no one had 20 plastic cards," he said, adding that the doorman's wallet had a plethora of cards for video rental stores along with credit and bank cards.


Schuette said that a wallet with fewer cards in it would not have been enough protection against the attack and that lady luck had also been smiling on the doorman that day.
"He said that he usually doesn't carry his wallet with him when he works."

Three in 10 Americans commit financial infidelity?

Three in 10 Americans commit "financial infidelity" by lying to their spouses about money, sometimes suffering consequences such as separation or divorce, according to a new survey.
The Harris Interactive online poll of 2,019 adults released on Thursday showed 31 percent of American couples who have combined finances were not truthful about issues such as hiding cash or a bank account or about debt or earnings.
"Financial infidelity may be the new normal," said Forbes.com, which commissioned the survey with the National Endowment for Financial Education.
One-third of respondents also say they have been deceived, and both sexes lie to their partners about money in equal numbers.


"These indiscretions cause significant damage to the relationship," said Ted Beck, chief executive of the National Endowment for Financial Education.
Sixteen percent of couples affected by financial infidelity said the deception led to a divorce and 11 percent said it caused a separation. Sixty-seven percent said it led to an argument and for 42 percent it lessened trust in the relationship.
The most common lie, at 58 percent, was hiding cash. Fifty-four percent of respondents admitted hiding a minor purchase, 30 percent hid a bill, 16 percent did not disclose a major purchase and 15 percent hid a bank account.
Eleven percent lied about debt and an equal number were untruthful about earnings, the survey showed.

Trapped burglars call police for help

Two would-be thieves called in their own crime to police in Germany after they could not escape from a broken-down elevator over the weekend, police said in a statement.
"This sounds really dumb," one of the thieves told police in Cologne over the elevator's emergency phone, "But I'm afraid that we wanted to break in and the elevator has gotten stuck."
When police arrived they found the two thieves aged 31 and 37 stuck in the elevator of an office building.


The thieves allegedly broke into the building and were attempting to reach a higher floor when the elevator became stuck, the police said.
They decided to phone for help when one thief injured his hand attempting to pry open the door.
Firemen eventually freed the men and they were arrested.

Thieves make BMW hottest car at auto show

When carmakers like BMW say they hope people find their next car at auto shows like the one in Detroit this week, this wasn't exactly what they meant.
Two thieves drove away in a brand new $94,000 BMW 750i xDrive Sedan on Wednesday night that was left idling outside the Westin Book Cadillac, one of Detroit's major hotels.
The car was one of more than a dozen BMW sedans used to ferry executives and guests around town during the show.


On Thursday morning, police said they were still looking for the gray four-door BMW.
Police said the car was dropped off by a valet to be loaded onto a transport truck to take it back to BMW's North American headquarters in New Jersey when two men jumped into the car and drove away.
BMW, which featured its glitzy 650i convertible at the Detroit auto show, said it remains committed to the event.
"It's just an unfortunate incident," BMW spokeswoman Stacy Morris said.

Son suggests Reagan had Alzheimer's as president

Ronald Reagan's son suggests in a new book that his father suffered from the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease while he was still in the White House.
The memoir quotes excerpts from Ron Reagan's book "My Father at 100," published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA).
Reagan's son writes that he believes his father would have left office before his second term ended in 1989 had the disease been diagnosed then. U.S. News & World Report was the first to break the publishing embargo.
"I've seen no evidence that my father (or anyone else) was aware of his medical condition while he was in office," Reagan writes. "Had the diagnosis been made in, say 1987, would he have stepped down? I believe he would have."
Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1994, five years after leaving office. The popular Republican president died in 2004 at age 93 from complications of the disease.
The younger Reagan recalls how his father became uncharacteristically lost for words and looked "lost and bewildered" during the 1984 presidential debates with Democratic rival Walter Mondale. He says his father may have suspected the onset of Alzheimer's in 1986 when he was flying over familiar canyons north of Los Angeles and became alarmed that he could no longer remember their names.
But Reagan says the issue of his father's health should not tarnish his legacy as the nation's 40th president.


"Does this delegitimize his presidency? Only to the extent that President Kennedy's Addison's disease or Lincoln's clinical depression undermine theirs," Reagan writes. "Better, it seems to me, to judge our presidents by what they actually accomplish than what hidden factors may be weighing on them."
He continues: "That likely condition, though, serves as a reminder that when we elect presidents, we elect human beings with all their foibles and weaknesses, psychological and physiological."

Bookseller Borders hires restructuring lawyers: report

Bookseller Borders Group Inc (BGP.N), which is in talks to secure a $500 million credit line, has hired bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Citing people familiar with the matter, WSJ said on its website that Borders has chosen law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman to advise on its current refinancing efforts. Kasowitz's instructions are to keep the company out of bankruptcy court, the report said, citing one of the sources.

Kasowitz met on Thursday with publishers to pitch them on a plan to defer payments and is talking with GE Capital about providing a new revolving credit facility that would replace existing debt, the source said.

The new credit line would provide about $500 million in fresh capital and perhaps more, allowing Borders to repay some $220 million in current outstanding senior debt, the newspaper said. Borders hopes the new financing can provide a bridge for the company over the next six to 12 months while it rearranges its business, the source said.

"The Social Network" Sweeps National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Awards

Not only is Facebook the biggest social networking site in the world, but the breakout hit film chronicling its rapid rise, "The Social Network," was also the biggest winner at the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Awards Gala held in New York on Tuesday, Jan. 11.
Sweeping the top three categories, "The Social Network," took home the award for "Best Film," David Fincher won "Best Director," and star Jesse Eisenberg, who portrayed Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, won "Best Actor." The film's writer Aaron Sorkin also won "Best Adapted Screenplay."


The "Best Actress" honors went to Lesley Manville for "Another Year."
A bearded Ben Affleck, whose film "The Town," which he directed and starred in, picked up the award for "Best Ensemble Cast," attended the gala with his wife and actress Jennifer Garner. Garner donned a vibrant pink dress by Roland Mouret that brightened up the frigid evening that kicked off with the start of a winter snowstorm. Blake Lively, who also starred in the film, also attended to show her support and share in the celebration of the cast's accolades.
Other winners included Christian Bale for "Best Supporting Actor" in "The Fighter," Jacki Weaver, "Best Supporting Actress" in "Animal Kingdom," and Sofia Coppola, who won the "Special Filmmaking Achievement Award" for writing, directing and producing "Somewhere."
The first of the major awards this season given for films released last year, the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Awards are determined by a body of 110 film critics, academics, filmmakers and students in the New York metro area.

"Spider-Man" musical delayed again

Broadway's costly "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has been delayed again to March 15 to "fine-tune" the high-tech production and work on a new ending even as it proves a hit at box offices in previews.
Producers made the announcement late on Thursday following a series of accidents during preview performances of the $65 million show -- Broadway's most expensive ever -- that has injured four actors, as well as reports of new staging and music from director Julie Taymor and U2's Bono and The Edge.
But even in previews, fans have turned out in droves for the production that is based on the crime-fighting comic book hero who has the powers of a spider.
Separately on Thursday, The Broadway League said "Spider-Man" was the best-selling production of the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve, raking in $1.588 million at its box office.
"We are so grateful for the enthusiastic audiences who have been coming to see 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' and we are dedicated to giving them the very best show we can," Taymor said in a statement.
Producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris said the new delay, which pushes back the opening from a previous date of February 7, was done to "fine-tune aspects of the show, including the new ending." Cohl said the date should give the creative team plenty of time to ensure a good show and added this new delay will be "the final postponement."


"We are looking for the extraordinary here, we are nearly there," Bono and The Edge added in a joint statement.
The show features massive sets and numerous stunts in which cast members soar through the air above the audience. But all the high-tech wizardry has not been without problems.
Four actors have been injured. Most recently, actor Christopher Tierney, 32, fell 30 feet from a platform and broke his ribs. He was hospitalized and had to have surgery. Following Tierney's injury, producers canceled two performances while checking safety measures.
The show had been delayed four times. Before the February 7 date, it had been set to open on January 11. Preview performances began on November 28.
Taymor and the producers have noted that many shows work out kinks and problems during previews, and "Spider-Man" is no exception. So far, audiences haven't seemed to mind.
The show's recent best-selling box office tally just beat the ticket sales of long-running musical "Wicked," which also took in $1.588 million, when numbers are rounded up, but it was $58 shy of the "Spider-Man" figure, according to the Broadway League.
"Wicked," still holds the box office record for the highest grossing show in a single week, $2.22 million in the most recent week between Christmas and New Year's Eve.
(Reporting by Basil Katz in New York and Bob Tourtellotte in Los Angeles; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

Groups map "necessary" conditions for Comcast/NBCU

Industry and public interest groups this week stressed the need to rein in Comcast Corp's power over programing and pricing if it is allowed to buy a majority stake in General Electric Co's NBC Universal.
In a letter to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Media Access Project's Andrew Jay Schwartzmann detailed "necessary" conditions on the proposed merger that public interest groups, companies and trade associations presented to FCC Commissioner Michael Copps this week.
They urged Copps to address competitors' need to carry programs from Comcast-NBCU as well as companies with distribution deals with Comcast.
"It is not enough to provide that Comcast may not withhold programing from competitors," the letter said, noting that limiting access to certain content through periods of exclusivity and other methods would also disadvantage competitors.
They also advocated for conditions to ensure fair carriage of content from independent programmers.
Comcast is awaiting approval from the U.S. Justice Department and FCC to complete the merger, which would create a combined broadcast, cable, movie studio and theme parks business.


Public interest groups like Free Press and Public Knowledge had urged the Obama administration to reject the deal. They fear Comcast might charge other cable distributors higher fees to transmit NBC Universal-owned content, leading to higher cable bills, fewer independent programing choices and less competition.
But FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski circulated an order within the agency last month saying the deal would meet the required public interest standard, provided Comcast meets strict conditions meant to protect consumers and promote competition.
"We believe the draft FCC order as circulated ensures public interest benefits will be realized and will enable us to operate the NBC Universal and legacy Comcast businesses in an appropriate way," a Comcast spokesperson said.
The industry and public interest groups acknowledged that they were not privy to the details of the circulated order or its proposed conditions.
The meeting with Copps on Wednesday brought together public interest groups, the American Cable Association, Internet provider EarthLink and satellite TV providers DirecTV and DISH Network.
Attendees cited concerns that Comcast would have little incentive to promote Internet services not attached to higher-priced bundle packages with cable and telephone services.
"The merger will encourage and enable Comcast to raise the price of stand-alone broadband, which will harm consumers and threaten video competition unless a wholesale-based competitive offering is made available," the letter to the FCC said.
Wholesale broadband would require Comcast to make its broadband infrastructure available for rent to other companies which could then resell the Internet services.
But wholesale broadband, while a mechanism for ensuring competition, would not be a merger-specific issue as the deal would not affect Comcast's market share as an Internet provider.
An expedited process to file complaints was also noted by Schwartzmann as a must-have condition for the deal.
(Reporting by Jasmin Melvin; Editing by Richard Chang)

Kid Rock's 40th birthday bash includes 45K fans

Kid Rock took the stage in Detroit to a most fitting tune: "Birthday" by the Beatles.
Tens of thousands of fans weren't disappointed Saturday night as the hometown rocker brought in special guests to help celebrate his 40th.
More than 45,000 tickets sold out in only 19 minutes for the special birthday concert at Ford Field, the city's downtown NFL stadium, in honor of the man born Robert Ritchie.


Early in the show, fellow musician Uncle Kracker joined Rock on stage for "Good To Be Me." Talk show hosts Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno appeared on two oversized video screens on either side of the stage in taped messages wishing their friend a happy birthday.
O'Brien told Rock: "Happy 40th birthday ... and rock on Detroit!"

Golden Globes to launch Hollywood awards season

Hollywood's annual awards season is set to kick off as stars and filmmakers gather for the Golden Globes, with British historical drama "The King's Speech" hoping for a boost toward Oscars glory.
Starring Colin Firth as the stuttering King George VI, the movie is nominated in seven categories at the Globes, seen as a key pointer to who will win prizes at the Academy Awards next month.
Facebook blockbuster "The Social Network" is also up for top honors at the show, which gathers the multi-billion-dollar industry's A-listers for their first major gathering of the year in Beverly Hills.
The Globes' organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), suffered a legal blow on the eve of the event when a former publicist launched a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and bribery.
The lawsuit underlines the huge business side of the glitzy awards: a Globe this weekend or an Oscar on February 27 can give a huge shot in the arm for marketing the winners whose acceptance speeches are screened live around the world.
Hosted this year by British comic Ricky Gervais, the Globes are the first major show in a season that includes the Directors Guild awards on January 29 and the Screen Actors Guild gongs the following night.
"The King's Speech," starring Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, is nominated for best picture, director, actor, screenplay, score and supporting actor and actress.
The film was the surprise top nominee when the Globes short-listers were announced last month, having only just opened in the United States and taken a tiny fraction of the box office earnings of "The Social Network."


Some suggest this was a wily move by the Weinstein Company, behind the film, letting it slowly impress critics and audiences with a limited opening rather than others' blockbuster, head-on approach to seeking Oscar glory and fortune.
"The Social Network" is tipped for best picture, director and actor for Jesse Eisenberg's arresting performance as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, as well as best supporting actor and screenplay.
Best actor nominees for the drama category also include James Franco for Danny Boyle's latest movie "127 hours," Ryan Gosling for "Blue Valentine" and Mark Wahlberg for "The Fighter."
In other categories, best director nominations went to Darren Aronofsky ("Black Swan"), David Fincher ("The Social Network"), Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech"), Christopher Nolan ("Inception") and David Russell ("The Fighter").
One film's inclusion in the shortlist triggered smirks around Hollywood.
"The Tourist," starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, was critically panned but nominated surprisingly in the comedy or musical category, in what gossips suggested was a blatant bid to gets its A-list stars to attend Sunday.
That kind of surprise nomination underlines the questions raised by those behind the lawsuit filed three days before the show.
Michael Russell, who worked for the Globes' organizers for 17 years, wants at least two million dollars in damages and lost wages, accusing them of running a "payola" scheme, according to the lawsuit.
The 36-page legal document includes allegations that "HFPA members abuse their positions and engage in unethical and potentially unlawful deals and arrangements which amount to a 'payola' scheme."
Industry insiders point to the HFPA's relatively tiny voting body of 81 members, against the Academy Awards' more than 5,700, alleging that the Globes are too open to undue influence by movie companies.
The HFPA dismissed the lawsuit, calling the allegations "completely without merit."
"This is no more than the case of a disgruntled former consulting firm, whose contract was not renewed, attempting to take advantage once again of the Globe's international stage for their own gain," it said in a statement.
The three-hour Globes show starts at 5:00 pm Sunday (0100 GMT Monday).

'Social Network' best pic at Critics' Choice

"The Social Network" keeps making friends, winning the Critics' Choice award for best picture and three other prizes.
But "Inception" led all films Friday night with six awards total, all in technical categories.
Best actor went to Colin Firth for his portrayal of King George VI, who overcame a stammer with the help of an unconventional speech therapist, in "The King's Speech," while Natalie Portman won best actress for playing a ballerina who descends into madness in "Black Swan."
"The Social Network," which chronicles the origin of Facebook, also won for David Fincher's direction, Aaron Sorkin's adapted screenplay and the score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
The boxing drama "The Fighter" won in three categories: supporting actor Christian Bale, supporting actress Melissa Leo and best ensemble.
But from a numerical standpoint, "Inception" was the big winner of the night. Christopher Nolan's psychological dream thriller won for cinematography, art direction, editing, visual effects, sound and best action movie.
The Critics' Choice Movie Awards, bestowed by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, were given out at the Hollywood Palladium.


Among the other winners, "Toy Story 3" was named best animated film, "Waiting for 'Superman'" took the documentary prize, "Easy A" won best comedy and "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" was the foreign-language winner. Hailee Steinfeld won the best young actor or actress award for her film debut in the Coen brothers' version of "True Grit."
The front-runner this awards season, "The Social Network" has won top honors from several critics groups, including those in New York and Los Angeles and the National Society of Film Critics. It's up for six Golden Globe Awards Sunday night, while "The King's Speech" leads with seven nominations. Both are competing for best drama.

Swag suites kick into high gear for Golden Globes

Awards season is gifting season in Hollywood, and on Golden Globes weekend, swag suites are almost as common as celebrity sightings.
At least half a dozen such suites intended to lavish stars with gowns, jewels, vacations and other luxury fare are bustling around town in advance of Sunday's Globes ceremony.
Guests at GBK's gift lounge can walk away with a weeklong trip to a health retreat in Africa. Visitors to the HBO Luxury Lounge are given designer handbags and gym memberships. Another suite offers diamonds and trips to Fiji.
DPA's World Experience Gift Lounge at the L'Ermitage Hotel offers trips to Bora Bora, handmade handbags, Diane Von Furstenberg sunglasses, party dresses, cologne and more.
Sylvain Orebi, president of Kusmi Tea, is expanding his company from Paris to the United States, and he says presenting his green tea blends at a Golden Globes suite makes good business sense.


"We get to meet a lot of people this way," he says. "We need ambassadors (for our product), and all the people who come to the suite become ambassadors."
Other suites specialize in red-carpet jewelry — StyleLab's is staffed with an onsite expert to provide insight on the baubles and gems.
Roger Neal's Ultimate Beauty Suite offers pampering services to stars, from manicures and footrubs to massages and facials. Visitors leave with a swag bag filled with vacation vouchers, skincare products and other treats.
Adam Lambert and Jennifer Love Hewitt are among those taking part in the beauty treatments, Neal says, adding that offering such services helps distinguish his suite.
"Some stars get a little turned off and don't want to go to the suites because they're gifting suites," he says.
Gift suites have exploded in popularity in recent years. Most include a charity component to temper the appearance of greed, but free fancy stuff remains the main draw — so don't expect to see Angelina and Brad traipsing through with bulging tote bags.
Still, as Neal notes: "There are always new stars, or it's their first time being nominated, and they want the pampering and the whole experience."

FX drama 'Rescue Me' ends near somber anniversary

The FX firefighters' drama "Rescue Me" will end its seven-year run less than a week before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
FX President John Landgraf said Saturday that the Sept. 6 finale date was chosen intentionally. The series, with Denis Leary as the star and co-creator, is a story about New York firefighters dealing with the grief of losing friends and relatives in the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.
"It seemed appropriate not to air it on the day," he said, "because there are more solemn and appropriate things to do on the day. The weeks surrounding the day seemed to be the appropriate place to do it."
The end of the series will deal on some level with a catharsis that comes at the end of the grieving period, he said.


Leary's character Tommy, whose best-friend cousin died at ground zero, saw some of his wounds reopen at one point in "Rescue Me" when a journalist appeared to research the tragedy for a 10th anniversary book.
Landgraf said the series has been a real milestone for FX, which has only been around as a television network for a decade. Its quality and distinctiveness set a tone, he said.
"It's hard to find that kind of a show," he said.

Miss Nebraska wins 2011 Miss America pageant

A 17-year-old aspiring politician from Nebraska captured the Miss America crown on Saturday after beating 52 other young women from across the United States. Teresa Scanlan won a $50,000 scholarship and a yearlong run with the crown at the competition at the Planet Hollywood casino-resort in Las Vegas, giving the Cornhusker State its first-ever win at the pageant.

She's the youngest Miss America since the pageant implemented age limits in the 1930s.

Miss Arkansas Alyse Eady won $25,000 as first runner-up, while Miss Hawaii Jalee Fuselier won $20,000 for third place.

Scanlan, a recent high school graduate from the western Nebraska town of Gering, planned to study American politics at Patrick Henry College in Virginia after her reign as Miss America.

She also hoped to attend law school, become a judge and eventually a politician, according to her pageant biography.

Scanlan won after strutting in a black bikini and a white evening gown, playing "White Water Chopped Sticks" on piano and telling the audience that when it comes to the website Wikileaks, security should come before public access to government information.

"You know when it came to that situation, it was actually based on espionage, and when it comes to the security of our nation, we have to focus on security first and then people's right to know, because it's so important that everybody who's in our borders is safe and so we can't let things like that happen, and they must be handled properly," she said.

The contestants — from every state plus the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico — started the show by dancing up the aisles while wearing silver cocktail dresses.

A panel of seven judges eyed them for looks and fitness. The competition included evening gown, talent and interview portions, with eliminations for 15 finalists, then 12, then 10, five and finally the winner along the way.

The judges had picked Miss Oklahoma Emoly West; Miss Texas Ashley Melnick; Miss Rhode Island Deborah Saint-Vil; Miss Utah Christina Lowe; Miss Washington Jacquie Brown; Miss Arizona Kathryn Bulkley; Miss Virginia Caitlin Uze, and Miss California Arianna Afsar.

Fans voted in Miss New York Claire Buffie and Miss Delaware Kayla Martell.

And in a first-ever twist for the contest, the young women picked two finalists themselves, Miss Kentucky Djuan Trent and Miss Oregon Stephenie Denise Steers.

In her introduction to the audience, Bulkley dedicated her performance to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head last week in Tucson. Bulkley called Giffords her mentor.

The pageant celebrated its 90th anniversary this year.