This striking iOS 8 concept reinvents the homescreen

Before iOS 7, the weather icon on the iPhone's home screen always read 73 degrees and sunny, and none of the app icons sprung to life at all. Not much changed with the redesigned iOS 7, with the exception of an animated clock icon, but designer Jay Machalani has created a concept that overhauls this static experience and transforms the app icons that fill the iPhone’s home screen. Machalani’s vision for fixing Windows 8 turned out to be remarkably similar to what Microsoft eventually said it would do to the Start Menu, and it even earned him a visit to the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Seattle. Now the 20-year-old self-taught user-experience designer has turned his sights to Apple’s iOS mobile operating system, and he has big ideas.

he key to changing anything with iOS is minimalism, consistency, and refinement. Apple is the master of refinement: a company that often borrows ideas from rivals that haven’t been implemented well and makes them shine. iOS 7 introduced sharper, flatter icons, and slimmer fonts alongside some new features, but the overall functionality was very similar to iOS 6. It made longtime iPhone users comfortable, but it hasn’t changed the fundamental UI of rows of app icons on the home screen. Machalani thinks he has the answer, and he’s using ideas from Google and Microsoft to make it happen. The concept is an approach that attempts to mix the best of Android’s widgets system with the design and functionality of Windows Phone’s Live Tiles. "iOS Block" is the result, a method to turn a simple app icon into a larger block that’s animated and interactive. "You can interact with a Block and actually do stuff with it," explains Machalani. "But, you can also access the application directly from the Block since it is the app itself, not a separate entity." "If Apple were to add home-screen widgets to iOS, this way would make a lot of sense" Instead of completely redesigning the iOS home screen with an unfamiliar interface, Machalani is simply refining it and offering some customizations for those who want more than just icons. It’s the kind of evolutionary design that might make sense for Apple to bring to life at some point in future, and work on the concept has been carried out over the past several months ahead of a rumored debut of iOS 8 at Apple’s WWDC developer conference next week. It looks natural and in keeping with the design and functionality of iOS as it stands today, and looking at "iOS Block" for the first time you might be forgiven for thinking it’s a leaked feature from iOS 8. The concept works by expanding your fingers on an existing app icon to get a Block with information like weather forecasts, calendar appointments, and music controls. You can then pinch it back to a normal icon, or place it permanently alongside other icons on the home screen. Machalani has created three sizes: iPhone, iPad in portrait, and iPad in landscape orientation. You can have multiple Blocks on a home screen, and the iPad versions leverage the additional space on a tablet display. Each Block is interactive, delivering live information from your text message history on the Messaging app, or appointments for the Calendar app. Machalani has also created a "swiping and consulting zone" inside each Block that lets you swipe across horizontally to see more information, and tapping on an icon in the lower-left corner of each Block will take you directly into the app. It’s really designed to let iPhone and iPad users see the information contained within apps at a glance. "This would only be the first step to really push iOS forward, but a crucial one to really offer a better solution than opening and closing every single application," says Machalani. Machalani’s concept is very much a work in progress. The blocks take up roughly the space of 2 x 2 icons on the iPhone and iPad, and it’s not clear how Block creation would affect and push down other icons and Blocks on a home screen. There’s also a control or tap zone next to the icon on a Block, allowing developers to add tiny buttons or controls for music apps like Spotify where you could potentially control song playback from the home screen. Both of these aspects could be disorientating or frustrating, and Machalani is now inviting developers to imagine what they would want from a Block. He has some guidelines set up to maintain the iOS consistency, but it’s clear this isn’t the ideal solution just yet. "Machalani’s concept is very much a work in progress" Until Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off next week, it’s impossible to know whether the iPhone maker is even considering such a plan for iOS 8. With constant rumors of a larger iPhone 6, "iOS Blocks" might seem like a logical way to make use of a bigger display. Apple could also wait for the next iOS iteration, or overhaul its home screen in different ways, but hopefully it is planning something. iOS is comfortable and a little stale, and a boost to the main way you interact with apps could be just what it needs.

This massive 3D-printed model shows off San Francisco in amazing detail

An overhead view of one of San Francisco's fastest-growing areas. Market Street cuts through the map on the right of this photo.

Virtual 3D models of cities are nothing new, but bringing one into the physical world is a bit more challenging. AutoCAD maker Autodesk and creative marketing agency Steelblue did just that, however, with this massive, incredibly detailed 3D print of San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood. All told, it encompases more than 115 city blocks, mainly in the northeast part of San Francisco’s 7-by-7 mile footprint. The map covers a number of the city’s landmarks, including AT&T Park (home of the Giants), the Bay Bridge, and the San Francisco Ferry Building — but perhaps more importantly, it covers what is probably the city’s most rapidly changing area in terms of real estate. The 3D print was designed for real estate developer Tishman Speyer to help the company with urban planning and construction decisions — each block of the map can be picked up and replaced to help developers see exactly what new construction will look like in the context of the neighborhood. In fact, a section of the map shows SOMA not as it is now, but as it’ll look in 2017 when a number of major construction projects are finalized. The model becomes really useful with the addition of a projector mounted over the map: developers can overlay data like street maps, future subway lines, traffic patterns, or simply color outlines to highlight different parts of the city. Right now, that involves a pretty elaborate setup, with the projector mounted high above on the ceiling, but Autodesk and Steelblue also built a translucent prototype, which would allow images to be projected from below the map. Beyond its utility for developers and urban planners, the map is an impressive piece of art in its own right — there’s an incredible amount of detail in each of the dozens of blocks that make up this part of San Francisco. I happen to live in an area captured by the map, and the amount of detail poured into the buildings that I see every day when walking around the city truly brings the model to life. The print was done at a resolution of 16 microns, which made reproducing minute details possible — you can pick out individual seating sections in AT&T Park, for example. Right now, there’s only one copy of the map, and it’ll be in possession of the real estate developer whom it was built for — but Autodesk plans to print another and have it available for viewing at its gallery. Steelblue and Autodesk also have plans to print other cities — and possibly expand on the San Francisco map, as well. We’ll have to see how they’ll tackle the city’s famous up-and-down topography, however — most neighborhoods in San Francisco are a lot hillier than SOMA.

Arizona wants to watch Mexico with an army of radar towers

Department of Homeland Security truck sits at the border between Arizona and Mexico near the port of entry in Nogales, Arizona.

Bob Worsley’s first run for elected office might as well have been rigged. As the founder of SkyMall — the catalog tucked into airline passenger-seat pockets — he was wealthy enough to loan nearly $200,000 to his Republican primary campaign. He also had the advantage of an unpopular foe: his opponent, former Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, had passed one of the most controversial (and, according to the ACLU, racially motivated) immigration laws in United States history. So when Worsley coasted to a Republican primary victory in August 2012 — and then trounced his Democrat challenger during the general election — it wasn’t much of a surprise. But once Worsley took his seat as senator for Arizona’s 25th District in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, he had a daunting task ahead of him: improving upon his predecessor’s disastrous immigration legacy. In February, Worsley proposed his solution: a series of mobile, wide-area radar surveillance towers stretching nearly 400 miles along Arizona’s border with Mexico. The proposal is essentially a shadow border, meant to evaluate the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) performance — and then improve it. “My argument,” he tells me from his high-ceilinged corner office, about 20 miles east of downtown Phoenix, “is that you can’t get anywhere without securing the border once and for all.” This shadow border is his way of beginning that process, and would cost $30 million to set up. Reactions to the proposal have been mixed. Senators in border states — and Worsley’s constituents — are listening. But no one’s clamoring to throw him money to get it started. And two big questions remain: Why is a surveillance program the best alternative to a problematic immigration law? And what makes Worsley think he can change the debate with a new kind of radar? That anyone’s listening at all is an accomplishment for Worsley. The soft-spoken freshman senator has never worked in security or surveillance. Instead, Worsley took the fortune he made with SkyMall to start land development and renewable energy companies. Though he campaigned as a volunteer for both of Mitt Romney’s presidential bids, Worsley had no interest in entering politics until that controversial immigration law pushed him to take a stand in 2012, when he was 56 years old. The law is SB1070, which Pearce wrote and passed in 2010. It mandated that any immigrant in the US longer than 30 days needed to carry immigration papers when they were in Arizona. The policy also required Arizona police officers, during any "lawful contact," to ask for papers if they suspected that a person might be undocumented. That meant officers were required to make racial profiling part of their day-to-day tasks, requesting papers on the slimmest of hunches. After several legal challenges, much of the law is still intact, but its impact is unclear. An Arizona Daily Star investigation found that agencies reported more immigration cases to border patrol in the year before the law was passed than the year after; it also found that arrests decreased between 2007 and 2013. "Officers were required to make racial profiling part of their day-to-day" Regardless, Worsley says the law had a huge impact on his community. A Mormon pastor in a Spanish-speaking church, he says SB1070 sent some members of his congregation fleeing. "We and the local Catholic church saw a third of our congregations disappear," Worsley says. "This all happened in less than a year after SB1070. Maybe 250,000 people, in total — they just left." To Worsley, that exodus — which reports put closer to 100,000 — was a sobering sign. Arizona voters seemed to agree. Soon after SB1070’s passage, it was revealed that Russell Pearce had crafted much of the bill with helpful suggestions from both the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an organization designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Corrections Corporation of America, a private prison company that stood to profit from the detention of undocumented immigrants. In 2011, a recall election for Russell Pearce’s senate seat was approved after a successful local petition gathered more than 18,000 signatures. Fifteen months later, Pearce was out and Worsley was in. ‘Almost too easy’ On a cloudless morning last month, I traveled to the southwestern outskirts of Tucson to see the technology Worsley is touting. Acres of desert terrain were pockmarked with Saguaro cacti and jagged rocks. Far off, a mobile-home park, the only evidence of civilization, was barely visible. Brad Solomon and Mike Thompson met me there. Solomon is a field application engineer with SpotterRF, a Utah-based company that specializes in small radar systems. Thompson is vice president of business development and marketing with ADSS, Inc., which provides portable platforms for surveillance systems like the ones made by SpotterRF. Both companies would see a huge windfall if Worsley’s proposal gets funding; they would lead the $30 million project, and likely be tasked with ensuring the systems don’t degrade in the Arizona desert — a contract worth millions in recurring revenue. When I meet them, Solomon and Thompson are standing by a white pickup with a 4-foot-high cap on the bed. Next to the truck sits a platform with a 30-foot white tower pointing toward the sky. After some chit-chat, Solomon asks Thompson: "Wanna go take a walk?" Thompson does, alone, out into the brush. Solomon opens the back of the truck cap to reveal two laptops connected to a pile of orange extension cords and black wires. He taps briefly on the keyboards, then explains the setup. On top of the white tower, a high-definition video camera is mounted alongside a SpotterRF C550 sensor. The sensor — a small rectangular cube — detects movement anywhere within a 550,000-square-meter range. Worsley’s plan would stretch 300 of these along the 387 miles of Arizona’s border with Mexico. When Thompson is far beyond eyeshot, Solomon points to a laptop screen, showing me the feed broadcasted by the tower-mounted camera. He calls Thompson’s cellphone to make sure he’s still walking. With Thompson holding on the line, Solomon tells me, "See if you can find him." It’s difficult. The controls to adjust the camera’s orientation are awkward and sensitive, and though I’m generally aware of Thompson’s location, it takes at least a minute to scroll the camera and find him amid the rocks and dust. Over the phone, Solomon tells Thompson to change course. While we wait, Solomon explains that SpotterRF’s radar systems are designed for Army Rangers, who monitor their surroundings at night in Middle Eastern desert environments. The goal is not only to pick up anomalous movements in pitch blackness or inclement weather, but to have that capability in a relatively inexpensive system that’s easy to transport. He calls Thompson back. "You still walking?" He is. Solomon looks at me and says, "Watch this." He presses a letter on the keyboard. In an instant, the feed zooms in on Thompson, walking slowly in the distance. It takes the system about a second to do what took me a minute. Without the SpotterRF system, he says, someone monitoring surveillance would use only their eyes — like I did in this simulation — to locate border crossers in the distance. Now imagine that procedure with hundreds of cameras installed over about 400 miles; you’d need eyes on each of those cameras, 24 hours a day, scanning for movement. Using SpotterRF, computers plugged into a central server would receive a video feed of the crosser’s presence, eliminating the need for those hundreds of sets of eyes. Solomon also says the system can differentiate human from animal movement, and other anomalies like tumbleweeds blowing across the desert border. "You see that?" he says. "It’s almost too easy." ‘Our Ellis Island’ Problem is, it’s not easy at all. The technology is impressive. And with these devices and cameras in place, it’s conceivable that a person will never cross Arizona’s US–Mexico border again without Senator Worsley’s constituents — and the federal government — knowing. When the system senses movement, it’ll send notifications to border patrol and video to a central server, which would be public. (Worsley says this is integral to the project; a way to "bring the public in" to bureaucratic discussions.) But it can be difficult to follow Worsley’s logic about why such an elaborate system is necessary in the first place. He explains it this way: in 1986, President Ronald Reagan passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act. This law made it illegal for any employer to hire an undocumented immigrant, but also provided legal immigration status for more than 3 million people. Worsley believes that a similar law needs to be passed today. But Reagan’s act didn’t stem the tide of new immigrants entering the country illegally: since 1990, their population has nearly quadrupled. If you provide a path to citizenship for the 12 million people in the country without papers, Worsley says, but the flow of undocumented immigrants continues, the US will soon be back where it is now. "We don’t want to close the border," he says. "We want to make sure people come through our Ellis Island — through our approved ports of entry." ""We want to make sure people come through our Ellis Island."" Today, 21,391 agents work for federal Border Patrol, and 18,611 of them are based in the southwest US. These agents rely on less-than-strict protocols: 30-foot-high walls near high-traffic entry points; surveillance cameras; and tips from citizens and law enforcement agencies. DHS keeps estimates on the success of these protocols and the frequency of illegal border crossings, but the numbers are questionable: a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that of 873 total miles of southwest borderland, only 129 were considered "controlled." That’s a 15 percent success rate. Worsley’s plan with SpotterRF is to gather data — to double-check DHS’s numbers — and then work with them to agree on how the border should be monitored. Once the border is "controlled," he says, "then we can fix the bigger problems that really need to be solved." A failed argument Worsley’s plan, however, strikes some as tone-deaf. "It’s not just one group of people that’s part of this situation. It’s not just politics. It’s not just numbers. It’s business, and it’s human rights, and it’s public safety, and it’s humanitarian aid," says Margi Ault-Duell, education director at BorderLinks, a Tucson-based nonprofit that arranges educational border tours. "At the end of the day, we’re talking about human beings who make the difficult decision to cross, whose lives are impacted by every decision we make about immigration policy." Those who do cross the border, says Ault-Duell, are taking a significant risk. If someone headed north across the US–Mexico border, their primary option would be to walk at least 60 miles north, through brutal desert heat over 100 degrees, before hitting Tucson. A study released last June from the University of Arizona’s Binational Migration Institute showed that 2,238 dead bodies found in the desert had been categorized as undocumented immigrants between 1990 and 2012. "The first answer isn’t about securing the border," Ault-Duell says. "We need to first deeply understand why so many people are crossing the border and risking their lives in the first place. "Surveillance might be able to increase the number of people who are caught. But it doesn’t go after the root causes." Art del Cueto, president of the Border Patrol Union Local 2544, takes a similar view. He cites reports of tunnels dug underneath the border fence and helicopters flying above it. "Just because you can point out that someone’s crossing the border with your super surveillance equipment," he says, "that doesn’t mean anyone’s for sure getting caught." ""We need to first deeply understand why so many people are crossing the border."" "You want better control of the border?" del Cuerto asks rhetorically. "Hire more officers." Whether or not that’s the right approach, there’s plenty of reason for skepticism about Worsley’s plan. After all, similar surveillance systems have failed before. In her recent book, Border Insecurity: Why Big Money, Fences, and Drones Aren’t Making Us Safer, former US Air Force officer and special agent Sylvia Longmire points to SBInet — the multibillion-dollar radar surveillance program launched in 2006 to do basically what Worsley is proposing, but with older, more expensive technology. (In 2011, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano officially killed SBInet after a billion-dollar, 28-mile prototype failed to meet expectations.) SBInet was "a program that, in theory, would bring together the brightest minds and best border technology available to create a network of surveillance platforms along the unfenced parts of the border," Longmire writes. "The program was soon commonly known as the virtual fence, and was doomed to become the most colossal failure in the history of US border security efforts." A ‘gridlocked dance’ Last month, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a bill allowing Worsley’s plan to go forward — but didn’t set aside money to fund it. And US Senator John McCain has all but called Worsley’s plan a waste of time. US Congress Senate Bill 744 has set aside $8 billion dollars for "surveillance using drones, towers, and other technological means to get our border secure," he told a local television news station — meaning that Worsley’s plan could be redundant before it’s built. Worsley is undeterred. The federal government has failed so miserably to do its job at the border, he says, that voters in his district would rather pretend it’s not doing anything. "Many of my constituents — and state senators [in Arizona] and in Texas — just don’t trust that the federal program can do what it says it can do," Worsley tells me. He’s convinced he can bring the program’s price tag down, in part by leasing units from SpotterRF and lobbying DHS to pick up part of the tab, and plans to bring it back to his legislative colleagues for another vote next year. "There has to be something — not qualitative, but quantitative — to prove that the border is secure. And without some state monitoring of some kind that we can afford, we will never get to an answer. And we’ll continue to dance this vitriolic, unproductive, gridlocked dance on immigration. "I can’t sit idly by and watch that," he says. "I just can’t."

SpaceX's first manned spacecraft can carry seven passengers to the ISS and back

Elon Musk's SpaceX has revealed its first manned spacecraft at a live launch event in California. The Dragon V2 is capable of carrying seven astronauts for several days to and from the International Space Station, docking automatically with the station, and landing gently "almost anywhere on Earth" using its propulsion system. Musk said SpaceX designed the vehicle's surprisingly uncluttered interior to be "very simple and very clean." The craft's controls are mounted on a bank of screens that swing down over a set of black and beige bucket chairs. Critical controls, such as those needed in an emergency, have dedicated manual buttons in the center of the command console. Musk also pointed out the Dragon V2's "SuperDraco" thrusters, powerful engines that he said would be the first "fully printed" engines to be used for spacecraft.

Speaking at a question and answer session at the Dragon V2's launch event, Musk said he thinks that the vessel will be ready for manned flight in 2016. That's a whole year ahead of NASA's schedule — the space agency hoped to launch in 2017 or 2018 — but Musk said the first flights of the new craft will be unmanned. Those first test flights will simulate the presence of humans to ensure all systems are functional. The Dragon V2 was designed as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development program, which stipulates that competing firms develop craft capable of delivering four crew members into space, before returning them safely. Three other firms, Boeing, Blue Origin, and Sierra Nevada, also received funding from NASA to create their own vehicles. The US currently pays Russia $60 million per person to ship humans to the ISS, but increased tensions between the two countries over Russia's actions in Ukraine have led to questions about the future of their joint space projects. In April, NASA ended its communications with Russian government officials and scientists. In apparent retaliation, the Russian deputy prime minister said his country would block a US request to use the ISS after 2020. Referring to the apparent breakdown in relations, Musk said in April that now would be "a good time" for SpaceX to unveil its new vehicle.

Google's car could be the best thing ever for privacy on the road

On January 2nd, 2013, David Eckart lived through a nightmare. After being stopped in a Walmart parking lot, New Mexico police asked Eckart to step out of his car, and patted him down. They searched his car without his consent. He was handcuffed, arrested, and eventually a search warrant was issued that allowed police to search his body for drugs, even though nothing had been found in his vehicle. He was taken by police to two emergency rooms where, despite his protests, he was humiliated and coerced into intrusive medical procedures. Hospital staff X-rayed him, searched his cavities for drugs several times, gave him three enemas in the presence of police, and finally an invasive colonoscopy. No drugs were ever found. What happened to Eckart is a terrifying violation of dignity and privacy. And it all happened because police say he allegedly failed to yield at a stop sign. It may never have happened if a computer were driving the car. It’s ironic, but the future of privacy on America’s roadways could come from Google, a company that basically makes money from tracking everything you do on the web. This week Google showed off a bold vision for the future of cars; a custom-made driverless vehicle with no steering wheel and no pedals. You simply hop in the car, tell it where to go, and you’re off to your destination. It’s a crazy, amazing, optimistic bid for the future. It’s also controversial. Some observers have called self-driving cars "a privacy nightmare." Since driverless cars will likely talk to each other on the road and periodically report back to the mothership, that means they’ll collect a lot of data, and nobody really knows yet how that scheme will work. Will Google target ads to drivers based on where they roam? Will companies share your driving data with dubious marketers or sketchy data brokers? And what about the police? Will driverless cars be safe from the NSA? All of these concerns are valid, except that they don’t present a future that’s appreciably different from our present situation. We’re already living in a digital world where you’re tracked at every turn. If you log in anywhere on the mainstream web, you’re probably being tracked with cookies, and if you’ve got a device with GPS in your pocket, the police can already track your historical whereabouts by obtaining a warrant. But what if mass adoption of driverless cars actually increased the privacy of drivers more than any other roadway invention in history? Privacy is about more than just data collection. It’s also about feeling secure against someone searching through your belongings. While the Bill of Rights protects citizens against unreasonable searches, it’s no guarantee that your rights won’t be violated — just ask David Eckart. Eckart’s example is extreme, but the kind of traffic stops that led to his ordeal are very common. Forty-two percent of involuntary encounters with police in the United States happen in cars, and many of these encounters lead to searches. But even traffic stops that don’t result in searches can bring citizens unwanted attention or questioning. Whether they’re questions from police about where you’ve been and who you’ve been with, why you’re in a certain place, what you’re photographing, what’s in your bag, or anything else you might not want to tell an agent of the government, they pose a potential danger for people who don’t want officers prying into their lives. That’s not a paranoid view of police, it’s just a fact about risk: even if most police have your best interests in mind, the best way to avoid invasive searches is simply to never come in contact with officers unless you want to. These concerns are especially significant for minority groups that are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement for searches. According to data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 26.4 million people were subject to traffic stops in America in 2011. Of those stops, BJS data shows that a vast majority were violations based on the behavior and decisions of drivers. That includes speeding (46.5 percent of all stops), not wearing a seatbelt or talking on a phone (6.6 percent), illegal turns and lane changes (7.0 percent), stop sign or stop light violations (6.7 percent), and roadside sobriety checks (1.3 percent). Those are all legitimate reasons for police to stop people, but they can also lead to unwanted intrusions that have nothing to do with traffic violations. Of all the traffic stops in 2011, BJS says about 792,000 people (3 percent) were searched. The majority of those people didn’t believe the police had a legitimate reason to search them. "Human beings get pulled over because they're human" In total, violations based on driver behavior accounted for 68.1 percent of traffic stops by police. In other words, human beings were pulled over in most cases because they’re human: they break the rules of the road and sometimes make mistakes. In some cases, like obeying speed limits, there’s even a cultural expectation that most people will routinely break the law. As the ACLU's senior policy analyst Jay Stanley tells The Verge, this means that roads are quasi-authoritarian spaces that give police huge discretion in choosing who to punish. But in a world with self-driving cars, things would look much different. "The latitude of the police to pull people over would be much reduced," Stanley says. "People wouldn’t be subject to so much arbitrary enforcement." When humans become passengers instead of operators, moving violations would disappear as quickly as the steering wheel. Automated red-light and speeding cameras that ding drivers with robotic precision will become mostly obsolete. Self-driving cars won’t speed, they won’t make illegal turns, they won’t blow through stop signs, and they’ll safely ferry you home without incident if you’ve had too much to drink or if you’ve got a really important text message that can’t wait. That means police will either need a very good reason to pull you over, or a clearly bogus one; but either way, it’ll drastically lower the number of encounters people have with police. That’s not to say the road to a driverless future will be perfect. The first self-driving cars will probably be expensive and rare; hybrids and all-electric cars are still the exception to the cheap, reliable internal combustion engine. Wealthy people and those in cities with access to taxis will enjoy the benefits of self-driving cars first, even though the least privileged are searched most frequently. And taking the steering wheel away from privileged groups first (read: wealthy white families) may make those still driving traditional cars bigger targets for police in the interim before mass adoption. In the 2011 data from BJS, black drivers were relatively more likely to be pulled over in a traffic stop, and blacks and hispanics were more likely to be ticketed than white drivers. White drivers were both ticketed and searched at lower rates than black and hispanic drivers. Getting to scale won’t necessarily be pretty. But the wide adoption of self-driving cars could provide substantial benefits to everyone. A recent report from the Eno Center for Transportation notes that driverless cars could eliminate at least 40 percent of fatal crashes in the US, saving tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars every year. Our commutes to and from work could be smoother and safer. Lots of people who can’t drive, like the young, elderly, and disabled, would be given new freedom. And we probably won’t get pulled over by the cops.

A look at the high-speed, high-stakes underworld of tennis betting

Courtsiding, or the simple practice of sitting on the sidelines of tennis matches and relaying scores via phone to hungry gamblers, can be an incredibly lucrative business. For instance, Sporting Data Ltd, a UK-based private betting company, managed to rake in millions on the speedy fingertips of its young employees. The work, to hear the young men tell it, is good, too. You get to travel around the world following the major tennis tours, watch exciting matches, and make money just enjoying the game. But to call the business controversial would be to put it lightly, as it represents a shadow industry tennis officials are trying to shut down. Just ask Daniel Dobson: back in January, the 22-year-old courtsider was arrested at the Australian Open for violating the "integrity" of the sport. Since then, Sporting Data has shut down its courtsiding activities, and is speaking openly about the practice. Find out more about the tennis betting underworld at FiveThirtyEight.

Gunman kills Virginia police officer, teenager in shooting spree

Reuters) - A gunman in Norfolk, Virginia, shot a passing motorist to death and killed a police officer in a shooting spree before dying in a struggle with another officer on Friday night, authorities said on Saturday. James Brown, 29, fired randomly out of his vehicle on Friday night, striking Mark Rodriguez, 17, who died of his injuries at the scene, Norfolk Police Chief Michael Goldsmith said at a news conference. Brown kept firing randomly and police received several 911 calls, Goldsmith said. Police found Brown’s vehicle at his house and he began firing a high-powered weapon from inside the house, striking officer Brian Jones several times, Goldsmith said. Jones, who had worked for the department for five years, died at a hospital while an off-duty officer shot by Brown is expected to fully recover, Goldsmith said. Brown fled from the scene and crashed into another vehicle while speeding away from a pursuing police car, Goldsmith said. After the crash, he refused to give himself up, fought and tried to disarm a police officer, Goldsmith said. The officer shot and killed Brown, he said. (Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Jonathan Allen)

U.S. soldier freed in Afghanistan, five Taliban prisoners leave Guantanamo

. U.S. Army Private Bowe Bergdahl watches as one of his captors display his identity tag to the camera at an unknown location in Afghanistan in this July 19, 2009 file still image taken from video.

(Reuters) - The last U.S. prisoner of war held in Afghanistan was handed over to U.S. Special Operations forces on Saturday, in a dramatic swap for five Taliban detainees who were released from Guantanamo Bay prison and flown to Qatar. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl had been held for nearly five years by Afghan militants and his release, following years of on-and-off negotiations, suddenly became possible after harder-line factions of the Afghan Taliban apparently shifted course and agreed to back it, according to U.S. officials. Bergdahl, 28, was handed over about 6 p.m. local time on Saturday, a senior official said. The U.S. forces, who had flown in by helicopter, were on the ground very briefly, said the officials, who would not specify the precise location of the handover. A U.S. defense official said Bergdahl was able to walk and became emotional on his way to freedom. "Once he was on the helicopter, he wrote on a paper plate, 'SF?'" the official said, referring to the abbreviation for special forces. "The operators replied loudly: 'Yes, we've been looking for you for a long time.' And at this point, Sergeant Bergdahl broke down." President Barack Obama hailed the release in a brief appearance with Bergdahl's parents, Bob and Jani, in the White House Rose Garden, saying that "while Bowe was gone, he was never forgotten". Bergdahl was on his way to an American military hospital in Germany, a U.S. defense official said. Another defense official said it was expected that after treatment in Germany he would be transferred to a military medical facility in San Antonio, Texas. U.S. special forces took custody of Bergdahl in a non-violent exchange with 18 Taliban members in eastern Afghanistan, senior U.S. officials said, adding that he was believed to be in good condition. Before leaving for Germany, he received medical care at Bagram Air Base, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan. Within hours of his release, a second U.S. defense official said the five Taliban detainees, now formally in Qatari custody, had departed the Guantanamo prison. They were aboard a U.S. military C-17 aircraft and en route to the Gulf emirate. The prisoner swap comes as America is winding down its long war in Afghanistan, and raises the question of whether this could lead to broader peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government for a negotiated end to the conflict. "We do hope that having succeeded in this narrow but important step, it will create the possibility of expanding the dialogue to other issues. But we don’t have any promises to that effect," said one senior U.S. official deeply involved in the diplomacy. TOUGH RECOVERY PROCESS Bergdahl, who is from Idaho, was the only known missing U.S. soldier in the Afghan war that was launched soon after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States to force the Taliban - accused of sheltering al Qaeda militants - from power. He was captured under unknown circumstances in eastern Afghanistan by militants on June 30, 2009, about two months after arriving in the country. His recovery after long years in captivity could be difficult. At the White House, Bergdahl's father began his words speaking a Muslim prayer and said his son was having difficulty speaking English. He asked for patience from the media as the family helped him re-adjust. A U.S. defense official said Bergdahl would continue treatment at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, including the start of his "reintegration process". "That includes time for him to tell his story, decompress, and to reconnect with his family through telephone calls and video conferences," the official said. Bergdahl's release could be a national security boost for Obama, whose foreign policy has been widely criticized in recent months. But some members of Congress have worried in the past over the potential release of the five Taliban detainees, particularly Mohammed Fazl, a "high-risk" detainee held at Guantanamo since early 2002. Fazl is alleged to be responsible for the killing of thousands of Afghanistan's minority Shi'ite Muslims between 1998 and 2001. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the five men as Fazl, Mullah Norullah Noori, Mohammed Nabi, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Abdul Haq Wasiq. Pentagon documents released by the WikiLeaks organization said all five were sent to Guantanamo in 2002, the year the detention facility opened. They were classified as "high-risk" detainees "likely to pose a threat" to the United States, its interests and allies. U.S. officials referred to the release of the Taliban detainees as a transfer and noted they would be subject to certain restrictions in Qatar. One of the officials said that would include a minimum one-year ban on them traveling outside of Qatar as well as monitoring of their activities. Bergdahl's freedom followed a renewed round of indirect U.S.-Taliban talks in recent months, with Qatar acting as intermediary, the officials said. The U.S. had been trying diplomacy to free Bergdahl since late 2010, but talks had been complicated, U.S. officials said, by an internal split between Taliban factions willing to talk to Americans and those staunchly opposed. That changed in recent weeks - the exact time-frame is unclear - when Taliban hardliners reversed position, officials said. The swap also comes days after Obama said he would keep 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, mostly to train Afghan forces, after NATO combat operations end at the end of 2014. The last soldiers, aside from a small presence at U.S. diplomatic posts, will leave at the end of 2016. A U.S. official said he did not think there was a link with the announcement on Tuesday of the troop withdrawal timetable. "This discussion predates the decision on troops," he said. "This is just a matter of things coming together with the help of the Qataris and the Taliban realizing that we were serious." FAMILY, HOMETOWN CELEBRATE The Bergdahl family was in Washington, D.C., when informed by Obama of the release. The parents said in a statement they were "joyful and relieved," adding: "We cannot wait to wrap our arms around our only son." Bergdahl's hometown of Hailey, Idaho, also began celebrating. "Once we heard about it. We were pretty excited," said 17-year-old Real Weatherly, who was making signs on Saturday and blowing up balloons to hang outside the shop where she works. The Afghan Taliban confirmed on Saturday it had freed Bergdahl. "This is true. After several rounds of talks for prisoners' swap, we freed U.S. soldier and our dear guest in exchange of five commanders held in Guantanamo Bay since 2002," a senior Taliban commander said. The Taliban commander said Bergdahl had mostly been held in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan after what he termed his "dramatic" kidnapping from Afghanistan's Paktika province in June 2009. Reuters first reported the potential deal involving the five Taliban detainees in December 2011. While U.S. and Taliban envoys have met directly in the past, there were no direct U.S.-Taliban contacts during the most recent negotiations, U.S. officials said. Messages were passed via Qatari officials. The final stage of negotiations, which took place in the Qatari capital, Doha, began one week ago, the U.S. officials said. Obama and Qatar's emir spoke on Tuesday and reaffirmed the security conditions under which the Taliban members would be placed, they said. (Additional reporting by Missy Ryan, Roberta Rampton, Mark Hosenball, Will Dunham, David Brunnstrom, Elvina Nawaguna and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Frances Kerry, Peter Cooney and Alex Richardson)

Pirate Bay co-founder arrested in Sweden to serve copyright violation sentence

Fredrik Neij (R) and Peter Sunde (C), two co-founders of the file-sharing website, The Pirate Bay, arrive at the Swedish Appeal Court in Stockholm on September 28, 2010.

(Reuters) - One of the founders of file-sharing website Pirate Bay has been arrested in southern Sweden to serve an outstanding sentence for copyright violations after being on the run for nearly two years, Swedish police said on Saturday. Peter Sunde had been wanted by Interpol since 2012 after being sentenced in Sweden to prison and fined for breaching copyright laws. "We have been looking for him since 2012," said Carolina Ekeus, spokeswoman at the Swedish National Police Board. "He was given eight months in jail so he has to serve his sentence." Ekeus said Sunde had been arrested on Saturday in the southern Swedish county of Skane but she was not able to provide further details. Four men linked to Pirate Bay were originally sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 32 million crowns ($4.8 million). An appeals court later reduced the prison sentences by varying amounts, but raised the fine to 46 million Swedish crowns ($6.9 million). In September, 2012, Cambodia arrested and deported another Pirate Bay co-founder at Sweden's request. Swedish media reported on Saturday that Sunde may have been living in Germany in recent years and that Sweden's Supreme Court had as recently as May rejected an appeal from him. "He is extremely talented and I still think that the judgment was wrong," Peter Althin, who defended Sunde during the trial, was quoted as saying by Swedish news service TT. "It's about being on the cutting edge if one is going to be successful... But if one is too far ahead it is not always about success. Peter fought for file-sharing and in 10 years I think it goes without saying that file-sharing for one's own needs will be allowed." Pirate Bay, launched in 2003, provided links to music and movie files that were stored on other users' computers. Swedish subsidiaries of prominent music and film companies had taken the company to court claiming damages for lost revenue. Despite the Swedish court case, the website is still functioning. On its website, Pirate Bay says it is now run by a different organization and is registered in the Seychelles. ($1 = 6.6797 Swedish Kronas)

Before Nevada stand-off, a collision between ranchers and tortoises

Rancher Cliven Bundy stands near a metal gate on his 160 acre ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada May 3, 2014.

(Reuters) - When the U.S. government declared the Mojave desert tortoise an endangered species in 1989, it effectively marked the cattle ranchers of Nevada's Clark County for extinction. Rancher Cliven Bundy once had neighbors on the range: when the tortoise was listed, there were about 50 cattle-ranching families in the county. Some of them fought court battles to stay, rejecting the idea their cattle posed a danger to the tortoises. But, one by one, they slowly gave up and disappeared. Bundy has proven himself one of the most tenacious of this vanishing breed. Backed by armed militiamen, the rancher forced federal agents to stop rounding up his cattle in April, which were grazing illegally on public lands shared by the tortoises. Bundy initially joined his neighbors in their legal fight to stay but then took a more hardline stance, refusing to recognize federal authority over the land. In 1993, he stopped paying grazing fees and his permit was canceled. In 1998, when authorities banned grazing on much of the federal range, he ignored a court order to move. In its years-long dispute with Bundy, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has portrayed the rancher as a scofflaw, free-riding on the backs of roughly 16,000 ranchers on BLM allotments across the United States who pay their grazing fees. They say he now owes $1 million, most of it fines. But interviews with some of Bundy's former rancher neighbors and ex-BLM officials suggest the reality is more complex: in Clark County, at least, the BLM no longer wanted the ranchers’ fees. It wanted them off the range to fulfill its legal obligation to protect the tortoises living on its land. To achieve this, it joined forces with the county government. Clark County is not an isolated case. Disputes over land rights are playing out in many Western states, especially in rural areas, where some residents and lawmakers question the legitimacy of the federal government's claim to swathes of land. In New Mexico, a county government is arguing with federal land managers over whether a rancher can take his cattle to a fenced-off watering hole. In Utah, protesters have been defiantly driving all-terrain vehicles down a canyon trail closed by the U.S. government. In Clark County, it was rancher versus tortoise. "When they got the turtles listed as endangered ... they pushed to get the cattle off," said Melvin Hughes, who once ranched alongside Bundy on the Bunkerville allotment, one of a dozen or so large federal grazing areas in Clark County. The rationale for ending grazing cited by federal government agencies was plausible but, the agencies conceded, unproven: that livestock grazing harms desert tortoise populations, in part because they compete for the same foods, such as grasses and the new spring growth of cacti. "They said the cattle was eating the feed from the turtles," said Hughes. "Hogwash!" When the tortoise was listed in 1989, Las Vegas, the county seat, was one of the fastest-growing U.S. cities. For Vegas to spread even an inch farther into the tortoise-filled desert risked a federal offense under the Endangered Species Act. The county successfully sought a permit that would allow development that inadvertently killed tortoises in some parts of the county if they funded conservation efforts in other parts. To get the permit, the county made numerous commitments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help the desert tortoise thrive. One of those promises was to pay willing ranchers to give up their grazing rights. "Clark County made a choice: urban development is far more important to us than ranchers on the periphery of the county,” said James Skillen, author of a book about the BLM called “The Nation’s Largest Landlord." "The BLM is part of that larger tension between a kind of urban and environmentally conscious West and a traditional resource West," he said. "Those conflicts are just going to keep going and the Endangered Species Act is going to continue to be a mechanism of that conflict." Clark County officials did not respond to interview requests. TORTOISE WARS Bundy's refusal to recognize federal authority over the range has made him a folk hero in some conservative quarters. His two-bedroom home, in which he raised 14 children, sits south of a spill of lush grasses and reeds along the Virgin River. Wise-cracking militia men with holstered handguns check the identities of visitors to guard against intrusion by federal agents. Although Bundy's popularity was badly dented by his widely reported remarks in which he wondered whether black people were worse off now than under slavery, dozens of supporters remain in camps on his property. Bundy maintains the BLM’s aim from almost the moment the tortoise was listed was to drive the ranchers out of Clark County on a pretext he dismissed as "wacko environmental stuff." "I could tell that the BLM was trying to manage us out of business," Bundy told Reuters, explaining his decision to stop paying grazing fees. His critics say he is ignoring laws that do not suit him and treating public land as if it is his own private range.The BLM said it could not answer specific questions about the Clark County disputes. One of Bundy’s former neighbors is his cousin Kelly Jensen, a fourth-generation cattleman who owned a 40-acre ranch and grazed his cattle on the public lands around it. Life as a rancher was not a lucrative business, Jensen recalled. Most of the Bunkerville allotment’s 160,000 acres is arid brown-dusted desert. He estimated the profit on a cow sold for slaughter was about $50. Still, he said, ranching was “in the blood,” and he liked its self-sufficiency: if you needed a new fridge, you just sold a couple of cows. Desert tortoises, which can live more than 60 years, have always been part of the landscape. They face myriad threats: development, disease and a huge explosion in the population of ravens, which prey on young tortoises. People sometimes shoot tortoises or crush them in their cars. In its 1989 listing of the tortoise, the Fish and Wildlife Service named all those threats and more, including livestock grazing. But in 1994, it acknowledged in its Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan that the "extremely controversial" question of whether cattle harmed tortoise populations was not settled. In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a report that the evidence for the harm done by cattle was "not overwhelming." William Boarman, the biologist who wrote the report, said he was not aware of subsequent studies showing a strong link. Still, the Fish and Wildlife Service said in its recovery plan, until it could be proved beyond doubt that the two species could get along, grazing should be banned in critical tortoise habitat. LEGAL BATTLES Soon after the tortoise was listed, the BLM issued an emergency rule requiring the ranchers to remove their cattle from the range, according to the ranchers. A group of them hired a lawyer and asked for a hearing before an administrative law judge to overrule the order. "Our argument was that livestock grazing on these allotments in these circumstances is not harming the desert tortoise," said Karen Budd-Falen, the lawyer the ranchers hired. "The court ruled from the bench: the cows can stay, the BLM is wrong." About a year later, the BLM again issued a clearance order, and the ranchers won a second victory in court. It didn't matter in the long term: the BLM began tightening grazing rules and working with Clark County to convince the ranchers to leave. "We won the case, but we still have to get off the range," rancher Jensen said. Bob Abbey, who was the BLM's Nevada director for much of this period, acknowledged that the steps taken by the BLM to protect the tortoise had made life difficult for some ranchers. "When you limit grazing in such a prescriptive nature many ranchers feel they cannot make a living," he said. Abbey said the BLM worked with Clark County to offer payments to the ranchers because it was the "fairest way of resolving" the issue. Some ranchers seemed happy with the money they were offered, said Budd-Falen, the lawyer. But ranchers interviewed by Reuters said that given the choice they were presented with, their sales were hardly willing. "We had no say in what we were going to get," said Calvin Adams, who also ranched on the Bunkerville allotment. About seven years after first fighting the BLM before a judge, he accepted $75,000 to give up his grazing rights. "I couldn't afford to pay the lawyers when they just keep taking you to court," he said. It is not clear how many ranchers accepted a buyout and how many left for other reasons. Either way, the efforts of Clark County and the BLM were effective: it took many years, but eventually more than 1 million acres of federal rangeland was emptied of cattle apart from those belonging to Bundy. TOO SOON TO TELL Clark County has spent millions of dollars of developers' money on conservation efforts, from signage to studies, and relocated thousands of tortoises that were in the way of development projects into conservation areas. But the development allowed by the county's permit has killed hundreds of tortoises, too. A 2001 report by the county estimated that upwards of 400 tortoises were killed each year in building projects after it dropped a mandatory requirement to relocate tortoises before construction began. It is still too soon to tell whether the tortoise population is recovering, or at least holding stable, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service and biologists. Meanwhile public land in Clark County's Dry Lake Valley has been zoned for solar energy development. For any projects to proceed, developers would have to balance the damage by conserving tortoise habitat elsewhere. The BLM says it has found a perfect swathe of land for these conservation efforts, pending final approval. There is one problem: it is home to hundreds of Bundy's trespassing cattle. Bundy may soon find he is in the way all over again. (Additional reporting by Jennifer Dobner in Salt Lake City; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Ross Colvin)

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Big B, Aamir to launch Dilip Kumar's biography

Mumbai, May 31 (PTI) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan and actor Aamir Khan will launch legendary actor Dilip Kumar's biography next month.

The biography 'Substance and Shadow', authored by Uday Tara Nayar, was earlier scheduled to release on Kumar's 91st birthday last year, but will be now unveiled on June 9.

Writer Uday Tara Nayar is also a close family friend of the Bollywood thespian.

Candidates title morale-booster for Carlsen rematch: Anand

Mumbai, May 31 (PTI) Viswanathan Anand feels winning the Candidates title has given him fresh motivation needed to avenge last year's loss to world number one Magnus Carlsen, when the two meet in the World Chess Championship title clash later this year.

Five-time world champion Anand registered three victories in 14 games without a defeat en route his Candidates victory to earn a rematch against Norwegian Carlsen.

No decision yet on new CEO, search still on: Infosys

New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) Country's second largest software services firm Infosys today said it is yet to take a decision on its next CEO and MD and the search process is still on.

The remark from the Bangalore-based company comes in the wake of reports suggesting that Infosys' search for the new CEO, who would succeed S D Shibulal, is in final rounds.

British tourist missing in Malaysian jungle

Kuala Lumpur, May 31 (AFP) Malaysian police today were looking for a British man who went missing when hiking in the jungle on a popular resort island four days ago.

Gareth Huntley, 34, did not return Tuesday from a waterfall trek on the island of Tioman off Malaysia's east coast.

A group of 10 policemen were combing the jungle today to look for the tourist, said district police chief Johari Jahaya.

"We are still searching for him.

"Ex-comfort women' demand apology from Japan

Tokyo, May 31 (AFP) Six former "comfort women" joined an international activist meeting in Tokyo today to demand Japan formally atone for sexual slavery in its wartime military brothels, an emotive legacy still haunting the country.

The Asian Solidarity Conference has been held 12 times since 1992 to press the Japanese government to admit responsibility for allegedly coercing thousands of women into providing sex to Japanese imperial army soldiers across the region.

B'desh PM Hasina: No further action against Jamaat

Dhaka, May 31 (PTI) Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said legal obstacles barred her government from pursuing further charges against the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami for crimes during the 1971 war as she backed her law minister, under fire for going soft on the Islamists.

Obama to unveil norms to reduce carbon pollution

Washington, May 31 (PTI) Aimed at reducing dangerous carbon pollution, US President Barack Obama today said he would unveil a new set of environmental guidelines that would build a low-carbon, clean energy economy.

In his weekly address to the nation, Obama discussed new actions by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cut hazardous carbon pollution, a plan that builds on the efforts already taken by many states, cities and companies.

45 dead due to Friday evening storm, lightning

45 dead due to storm, lightning New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) At least 45 people were killed in North and Eastern parts of the country due to massive storm and lightning, while accompanying rains brought down mercury in many places reeling under heat wave. At least 14 people were killed in Delhi and the NCR region and over two dozen injured in incidents of falling trees, collapse of walls and electrocution.

Malaysian teenager gang-raped by 38 men: media

(Reuters) - Malaysian police have detained 13 men and are looking for other suspects following allegations that a 15-year-old girl was raped by 38 men in an abandoned hut, media said on Friday. Astro Awani television and The Star daily reported that the assault took place in the northern state of Kelantan on May 20 when the girl met a girlfriend and was lured to an empty hut reported to be a local drug haunt. The men took turns to rape her for hours. Police were also investigating whether her 17-year-old friend was also raped. The alleged attack, one of several brutal cases this week underscoring the violence to which women are being subjected across Asia, sparked outrage among women's groups. Politicians from a Muslim party running the region said their proposal to introduce Islamic hudud law, with harsh penalties, would deter offenders. State and federal police officers either declined comment or could not be immediately reached. Media accounts, quoting information from district police chief Azham Otham, said 38 men were involved. Several of those detained had tested positive for amphetamine, the reports said. The New Straits Times said a man and his two teenage sons were among those detained. Police said action could have been taken had villagers reported the addicts’ presence. "It is very disturbing to me that no one in the village was even suspicious when the closest neighbor was a mere 20 meters away," police chief Azham told The Star. Almost 3,000 rapes were reported to the police in 2012, of which 52 percent involved girls aged 16 and below, according to police statistics. Convicted rapists face up to 30 years in prison and whipping, but many on Internet sites wanted stricter punishment. "We are seeing a prevalence in rape cases because boys are raised in an environment where they think it is okay to use violence," Suri Kempe of Sisters in Islam told Reuters. Awareness of rape in Asia was heightened by the fatal gang rape of a physiotherapy student on an Indian bus in 2012. Several grisly attacks on women took place this week. In the Pakistan city of Lahore, a pregnant woman was bludgeoned to death by her family in front of a top court for marrying against the wishes of her parents. And in India's Uttar Pradesh state, two teenage cousins from a low caste were gang-raped and then hanged from a tree. (Editing by Ron Popeski)

Xi says China won't stir trouble in South China Sea

China's President Xi Jinping delivers a speech to the media during the fourth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit, in Shanghai May 21, 2014.

(Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed not to stir up trouble in the South China Sea but said China would react "in the necessary way" to provocations by other countries, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The comments come at a time of deep tension between China and Vietnam over Beijing's decision in early May to move an oil rig into disputed waters between the Paracel islands and the Vietnamese coast. Days after China deployed the rig, the Philippines accused Beijing of reclaiming land on a disputed reef in the Spratlys to build what would be its first airstrip in the South China Sea. "We will never stir up trouble, but will react in the necessary way to the provocations of countries involved," Xinhua quoted Xi late on Friday as saying in a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia, which is also embroiled in a long-running maritime dispute with China. Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts of the potentially oil- and gas-rich South China Sea. China has become increasingly willing and able to assert its claims over disputed waters, causing concern among the other parties to the disputes, analysts say. The decision to deploy the oil rig enraged Vietnam and sparked anti-China rioting. Scores of Vietnamese and Chinese ships continue to square off around the rig and a Vietnamese boat sank this week after a collision that both sides blamed on the other. Xi told Najib the situation in the South China Sea was "stable in general, but signs deserving our attention have also emerged". China and Malaysia should "work together to strengthen dialogue and communication, advance maritime cooperation and joint development to maintain peace and stability on the South China Sea", Xinhua quoted him as saying. Southeast Asian nations with maritime claims have been slow to band together against China, but last week Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Philippine President Benigno Aquino made a rare joint denunciation of China. To try to keep pressure on Beijing, diplomats said Vietnam might host a meeting with Philippine and Malaysian officials at the end of the month to discuss how to respond to China. A senior Malaysian diplomatic source told Reuters two weeks ago that China's assertiveness had given momentum to the three-way talks and "brought us together", but he played down the discussions as little more than "chit chat" at this stage. (Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Matt Driskill)

U.S. institutions honor late poet Maya Angelou with exhibits, film

Oprah Winfrey (R) laughs with poet Maya Angelou during the taping of 'Oprah's Surprise Spectacular' in Chicago May 17, 2011.

(Reuters) - Institutions as diverse as the New York Public Library and Major League Baseball paid homage on Friday to African-American poet and author Maya Angelou, who died in her North Carolina home this week at the age of 86. The New York Public Library opened an exhibit featuring letters between Angelou and civil rights activist Malcolm X, the handwritten manuscript to her groundbreaking memoir "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and school assignments dating back to 1937. "We're hoping that by looking at this, people will see a broader scope of her hopes of her accomplishments but also her concerns and her interests," said Mary Yearwood, a curator at the library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Also on Friday, Major League Baseball will show a video featuring Angelou as part of its planned Civil Rights Game festivities in Houston, league spokesman Steven Arocho said. The video, filmed last week at her home, shows Angelou accepting one of MLB's Beacon Awards, given to people whose actions have been emblematic of the civil rights movement. Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928. During a traumatic childhood, she was rendered mute for six years. At a young age, she began the autobiography that chronicled the first 17 years of her life and covered the racism she faced in the 1930s and '40s. The book, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings," was ultimately published in 1969. She changed her name to Maya Angelou while working as a singer and dancer. She also worked as an actor, with credits that included a role in the ground-breaking television mini-series "Roots" and she wrote the script and score for the movie "Georgia, Georgia." She was a Grammy winner for three spoken-word albums. In 1993, she read her poem, "On the Pulse Of Morning," at the inauguration of former President Bill Clinton, who called it "electrifying." Angelou, who never went to college, collected more than 30 honorary degrees. Friday's events honoring Angelou's eclectic life followed a public memorial service held at the Mount Zion Baptist church in Winston Salem, North Carolina, where she was a longtime member. Angelou's grandson, Collin Johnson, spoke at the service. "She had a way. How do you describe someone in one word?" Johnson told the church gathering which was monitored a local TV feed. "How do you tell them how she made you feel because she made you feel different things?" On Friday, the family of the author, known for her lyrical prose and regal speaking voice, was still arranging details of her funeral service. Wake Forest University in North Carolina, where Angelou had worked for three decades, was still developing its plan to honor her, said spokeswoman Katie Neal. (Reporting by Laila Kearney; editing by Daniel Grebler and David Gregorio)

Texas women sue 'Fifty Shades' publisher for royalties, advances

(Reuters) - Two Texas women, who said they were part of the original publishing team for "Fifty Shades of Grey," have filed a lawsuit seeking money from the global best-seller that they allegedly were tricked into surrendering by their Australian partner. Jennifer Lynn Pedroza and Christa Beebe filed suit in a Tarrant County court in Texas on Thursday against Amanda Hayward and The Writers Coffee Shop publishing company seeking what they consider a fair share of the advances and royalties from the "Fifty Shades of Grey" erotic trilogy. The Writers Coffee Shop (TWCS), where Hayward is chief executive, was not immediately available for comment. The suit alleges that Hayward cut the two Texas women out of money generated by the novels through an agreement with Random House, which saw payments flow to Hayward and not her partners. "She then fraudulently induced Pedroza and Beebe into signing 'service agreements' with TWCS, and subsequently terminated both of them," the lawsuit said. The "Fifty Shades of Grey" series from British author E.L. James has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, its American publisher Vintage Books said in February. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Casey Kasem's daughter granted visits with ailing radio personality

U.S. television and radio personality Casey Kasem appears on the ''American Top 40 Live'' show in Los Angeles April 24, 2005.

(Reuters) - A Washington state judge ordered that the daughter of Casey Kasem be allowed daily visits with the ailing radio personality as she spars with his wife over his care, a family spokesman said on Friday. Kitsap County Judge Jennifer Forbes ruled on Friday that Kerri Kasem be granted a one-hour visitation each day with her 82-year-old father, beginning on Friday afternoon, spokesman Danny Deraney said. Kasem suffers from Lewy body disease, a form of dementia, and his children have been involved in a legal tussle with their stepmother, Jean Kasem, over visitation and caretaking for the radio personality. Deraney said Friday's visit would mark the first time father and daughter had seen each other since she and her sister filed court papers earlier this month saying they did not know his whereabouts. Several days later, sheriff's deputies in Kitsap County located the former DJ and his wife Jean. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge subsequently ruled that Kerri Kasem could travel to Washington state and make medical decisions on his behalf. A Los Angeles-based attorney for Jean Kasem declined to comment on Friday's court action. Further proceedings are scheduled for late June in the legal battle over care of Kasem, best known for his weekly top 40 countdown show and for being the voice of Shaggy on the "Scooby-Doo" cartoons. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Johnston

Brad Pitt's Ukrainian attacker pleads no contest to battery

Cast member Angelina Jolie and actor Brad Pitt pose at the premiere of ''Maleficent'' at El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, California May 28, 2014.

(Reuters) - The Ukrainian prankster who struck actor Brad Pitt in the face at the Los Angeles premiere of the movie "Maleficent" was ordered to stay away from celebrity events as he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge on Friday. Vitalii Sediuk, a 25-year-old Ukrainian TV personality infamous for pulling pranks on celebrities at events, was charged with four misdemeanor counts of battery, assault, unlawful activity and interference at a theatrical event. He pleaded no contest to battery and unlawful activity, and the rest of the counts were dismissed as part of his plea deal. Sediuk was sentenced to 20 days of community service and 36 months on probation. He was ordered to stay 500 yards (about 460 meters) away from all celebrity events including awards shows and premieres, and to stay away from Pitt and his partner Angelina Jolie, Los Angeles City Attorney spokesman Rob Wilson said. He was also ordered to 52 sessions of psychological counseling. He is due back in court for a hearing on July 8. Sediuk jumped across a fence and onto the red carpet at Wednesday's "Maleficent" premiere in Hollywood, where Pitt had joined Jolie, the film's star, to sign autographs for fans. Police said Sediuk struck Pitt in the face, and was arrested immediately. Pitt was not seriously hurt and continued to sign autographs for fans after the incident, but was issued a restraining order against Sediuk. In previous exploits, Sediuk tried to climb under actress America Ferrera's dress as she posed for photographers at the Cannes Film Festival, stormed the stage during singer Adele's Grammy acceptance speech, and was slapped by Will Smith after kissing the actor at a Moscow premiere. (Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Eric Kelsey and Richard Chang)

Despite opposition, Russia bans smoking in restaurants and bars

A man smokes a cigarette at a cafe in central Krasnoyarsk in Siberia January 24, 2013.

(Reuters) - Russia risks igniting the ire of its 44 million smokers when it extends bans on cigarettes to restaurants and bars on Sunday as part of a battle to break the habit in one of heaviest-smoking countries in the world. The ban is the latest measure under President Vladimir Putin to promote healthy lifestyles - which goes hand in hand with his support for what he calls traditional values - and stem a population decline that began after the Soviet breakup. Putin's government hopes to reduce the share of the adult population that smokes from 39 percent, one of the highest rates in the world, to 25 percent by 2020. "Thanks to this law people understand that smoking is bad and that smoking around others is a crime," said Sergei Kalashnikov, head of the Public Health Committee in the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. "The point has been forcefully made and people will be punished for ignoring the law," said Kalashnikov, who represents the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party. Russia began introducing tougher controls on smoking last summer, banning smoking in government buildings and advertising by tobacco companies. From June 1, smoking will also be banned in bars, restaurants, hotels and on trains, and cigarettes will no longer be on display in shops or sold in kiosks. Many other nations already have similar restrictions. "We relied on U.S. and European research for this law. In this respect, we completely trust our colleagues in the West," Kalashnikov said, adding that foreign tobacco firms - which control about 90 percent of the $20 billion Russian market - had lobbied intensely against the law. STRINGENT REGULATION International tobacco companies, whose dwindling sales in Western markets have been offset for years by hefty Russian consumption, say the new rules go too far. Alexander Lyuty, communications director at British American Tobacco in Moscow, said data showing that Russia's tobacco market shrank 7 percent last year failed to take account of surging contraband imports from other Soviet republics. "Cigarette prices are rising faster than consumers' disposable incomes. This triggers an inflow of contraband and reduces sales of legal cigarettes in the market," he said. Kalashnikov said the government was planning a further hike in excise taxes, which have already risen sharply this year, to increase pressure on smokers to quit. Excise taxes typically account for 60 percent of the price of a pack of cigarettes in Europe, while in Russia they still only make up 17 percent of the cost, he said. Roman Grinchenko, an analyst at Investcafe, said tougher regulation was likely to apply "significant pressure" to tobacco producers but that its financial impact was hard to quantify. FEWER CUSTOMERS Bar and restaurant owners are fiercely opposed, fearing bans will cut business. Egor, 24, a barman working in central Moscow, said: "People are going to think: Why should I go to bars if they're not going to let me smoke there?" According to a recent poll by independent Russian pollster Levada Centre, 82 percent of Russian restaurateurs expect customer numbers to drop from Sunday. The World Health Organization says that smoking kills 5.4 million people worldwide every year. But for Russia's hardened smokers, the ban is nothing short of discrimination. "I can understand those who want to prevent young people smoking. But when a law is passed which is in essence a law on the genocide of smokers - that I can't understand," said Mikhail Barshchevsky, a lawyer, at a recent smokers' rights conference. "The law is senseless and won't be observed." (Reporting by Alexander Winning; editing by Steve Gutterman and Alister Doyle)