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Negative emotions are emotional states that tend to limit your personal perspective, decrease your ability to think rationally and increase your overall level of mental unease or distress. Current evidence indicates that negative emotional responses to stressful situations can significantly increase your risks for eventually developing a diagnosable case of the serious mental health disorder called major depression. According to the results of a study published in 2012 in the journal Psychological Science, people already affected by major depression can lose their ability to tell the difference between various types of negative emotion. In turn, this inability can prolong or reinforce a depressed state of mind.
Negative Emotion Basics
Emotional states commonly viewed as ?negative? include anger, frustration, sadness, anxiousness, guilt, disgust and shame. All of these emotions fall within the normal realm of human experience, and their presence doesn?t indicate a problem in and of itself. However, people who tend to call forth these emotions frequently while under stress can increase their long-term chances for developing a diagnosable mental health problem, according to the results of a study released in 2012 by a multi-university research team. Mental health professionals sometimes refer to this repeated involvement in negative states of mind as a personality trait called neuroticism/negative emotionality.
Importance of Identifying Negative Emotions
The ability to properly distinguish between different types of negative emotion can help depressed people limit those emotions? effects and improve their overall state of mind, the authors of the study published in Psychological Science report. Conversely, people with major depression who can?t correctly identify their negative emotions may unintentionally extend or solidify depressed states of mind. During their research, the authors examined the ability of 53 people affected by depression to tell the difference between their negative emotions, then compared that ability to the ability of 53 people unaffected by depression. All study participants were adults with a minimum age of 18 and a maximum age of 40.
The researchers concluded that, compared to people who don?t have major depression, people affected by the disorder have a much greater tendency to report the simultaneous presence of two different negative emotional states. Depressed people also have a much harder time distinguishing between the negative emotions they report feeling. The study?s authors believe that this inability to tell the difference between negative emotions decreases depressed individuals? knowledge about their own states of mind, and therefore limits the self-awareness necessary to effectively participate in depression recovery.
Self-Distancing Skills in Depressed People
One of the critical skills for maintaining emotional stability is the ability to step back from oneself and objectively examine stressful or ?negative? experiences. People who have this self-distancing ability tend to diminish the long-term impact of negative experiences; conversely, people who lack this self-distancing skill tend to ruminate on unpleasant experiences and increase those experiences? long-term influence on mental health. In a study published in 2012 in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, a team of researchers from the University of Michigan compared the self-distancing abilities of 51 people diagnosed with major depression to the abilities of 45 people unaffected by depression. All of the study participants were asked to analyze their responses to a negative situation.
After reviewing their findings, the authors of the study concluded that depressed people have just as much inherent ability to self-distance themselves from negative experiences as people without depression. However, while people unaffected by depression tend to access their self-distancing skills when analyzing their situations, people with depression tend not to do so. When depressed people in the study did access their self-distancing skills, they typically lowered their participation in negative thinking and other aspects of neuroticism/negative emotionality. In addition, they increased their sense of self-awareness and gained a perspective that allowed them to minimalize the effects of stressful or negative situations.
Considerations
The authors of the study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that people unaffected by depression tend to improve their emotional states whenever they start questioning themselves in the aftermath of stressful or negative events. However, depressed people may improve or diminish their mental states when they start self-questioning. If this questioning process remains immersed in a depressed person?s everyday perspective, it will likely contribute to a continuing depressed state of mind. However, if this questioning is done from a distanced perspective, it can help reduce the effects of depression and contribute to a more balanced state of mind.
DETROIT (AP) ? Eminem's song publisher is suing Facebook and an ad agency, saying they copied music from one of the rapper's songs.
Eight Mile Style filed a federal lawsuit in Detroit on Monday alleging that a 30-second Facebook ad broadcast online last month copied music from Eminem's 2000 song "Under the Influence."
The Detroit Free Press (http://on.freep.com/10LFB2N ) reports that the ad was featured in a webcast by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to announce Facebook Home, an interface for Android phones.
The complaint says Portland, Ore., ad agency Wieden+Kennedy copied Eminem's music "in an effort to curry favor" with Facebook by catering to Zuckerberg's personal likes and to "invoke the same irreverent theme" of the song.
Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes declined comment. A message seeking comment was left Tuesday with the ad agency.
May 21, 2013 ? Imagine a pharmaceutical prevention, treatment or even cure for Alzheimer's disease.
It is almost impossible to overstate how monumental a development that would be and how it would answer the prayers of millions.
Though science isn't there yet, a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience spearheaded by USC Davis School of Gerontology researchers offers a tantalizing glimpse of potential solutions.
"Our data suggests the possibility of drugs that can prevent and treat Alzheimer's," said lead author, professor and lab principal Christian Pike of USC Davis. "It's just mouse data but extremely encouraging mouse data."
The team studied the effects of a class of drugs called TSPO ligands on male mice that were genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer's disease, known as 3xTg-AD mice. Because a key mechanism of TSPO ligands is to increase production of steroid hormones, it was important to ensure that the mice had low levels of testosterone and related hormones before treatment. Younger mice were castrated while, in older mice, the decrease occurred as a normal consequence of aging.
"We looked at the effects of TSPO ligands in young adult mice when pathology was at an early stage and in aged mice when pathology was quite severe," Pike said. "TSPO ligands reduced measures of pathology and improved behavior at both ages."
The most surprising finding for Pike and his team was the effect of TSPO ligands in the aged mice. Four treatments -- one per week over four weeks -- in aged 3xTg-AD mice resulted in significant lowering of Alzheimer's-related pathology and improvements in memory behavior. This finding suggested the possibility that TSPO ligands can reverse components of Alzheimer's and thus have the potential to be useful in treatment.
For humans, these findings may indeed be quite significant.
"TSPO ligands are currently used in humans in certain types of neuroimaging. Newer TSPO ligands are at the clinical trials stage of development for treatment of anxiety and other conditions," Pike said. "There is a strong possibility that TSPO ligands similar to the ones used in our study could be evaluated for therapeutic efficacy in Alzheimer's patients within the next few years."
In light of the findings, the team will next focus on understanding how TSPO ligands reduce Alzheimer's pathology. Building on the established knowledge that TSPO ligands can act protectively by reducing inflammation, shielding nerve cells from injury and increasing the production of neuroactive hormones in the brain, the team will study which of these actions is the most significant in fighting Alzheimer's so it can develop newer TSPO ligands accordingly.
While Pike and his team acknowledged that the findings represent an exciting possibility, the researchers also stressed that it is by no means a given.
"From the optimistic perspective, our data provide very promising findings with tangible potential benefits for both the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's," Pike said. "On the pessimistic side, research scientists have developed many interventions that cured Alzheimer's in mice but have failed to show significant benefits in humans. A critical direction we are currently pursuing is successfully translating these findings into humans."
Co-authors of the study were Anna Barron (former USC Davis postdoctoral student and Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan); Luis Garcia Segura (Instituto Cajal, Spain); Donatella Caruso and Roberto Melcangi (Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, Centre of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Milan); and Anusha Jayaraman and Joo Lee (USC Davis).
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health in support of the USC Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, directed by Helena Chui, professor of neurology and gerontology at USC.
(Reuters) - Dell Inc said in a letter to suitors Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management that the company would not provide more information about itself unless the board determined that their proposal was "superior" to founder Michael Dell's.
Earlier this month, Icahn and Southeastern offered $12 in cash per share or additional shares to existing investors as an alternative to Michael Dell's $24.4 billion bid to take the company private.
Dell's special committee of the board of directors said in a letter on Monday that Icahn's affiliates and representatives had made a number of requests for information, including a request for data room access for a potential lender.
"Please understand that unless we receive information that is responsive to our May 13 letter, we are not in a position to evaluate whether your proposal meets that standard," the special committee said.
The committee had on May 13 asked Icahn and his ally Southeastern for more details on their proposed offer.
It had said it was not clear Icahn intended to make "an actual acquisition proposal that the Board could evaluate" or if he intended his offer as an alternative in the event the pending sale to Silver Lake and Michael Dell is not approved.
Dell reported a 79 percent slide in quarterly profit last week as personal computer sales continued to shrink.
(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)
It's been eight years and nine days since Microsoft showed the world the Xbox 360 on May 12th, 2005. Today, we see what's next. The Xbox One.
We're on-site in at Microsoft's Xbox HQ in Redmond, Washington, to check out the new Xbox. You can watch the livestream here. (Refresh this page to update)
New consoles are exciting in a way that it's hard for other product releases to match, even anticipated ones like an iPhone, because they're so infrequent. This is at least a five-year bet on Microsoft's part about what the future of gaming will look like. We've already seen what Sony and Nintendo think. Now it's Microsoft's turn.
Microsoft can only hope it's half as right as it was last time around. The 360 was built to last. That eight-year stretch of dominance makes it the oldest of the current generation of systems, and the last to be cast off in favor of a new system. Over that time the Xbox has picked up new features, like the Kinect motion sensor and ever more media streaming capabilities, but its core has remained the same.
Today's event is only supposed to run for an hour?far shorter than the almost three hours the Sony crew was on stage for the PS4 event?which means it should have a bunch of information packed into a very short time. We'll have impressions from further sessions.
All-in-One Entertainment
We're underway, and the intro video for the new Xbox has users saying that the new Xbox is going to "recognize my name, my voice, my movies" and know what you like. That's a big cue that this generation is going to focus heavily on entertainment. Don Mattrick, President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, says that Xbox 360 is leading the industry in entertainment, because gamers are quick to adopt new tech.
The focus for the next gen is going to focus on different types of content, and use new tech, like cloud interfacing and streaming. It's the all-in-one home entertainment system.
New Controls
The console turns on just from you saying "Xbox on". It will launch into what you were doing last. This passive listening is a huge deal for natural interface. It seems incredibly responsive in the demo, but for now it's unclear if this is an actual demo or if it's being simulated.
It also integrates right into your TV. "Xbox, watch TV" drops you right into a live television feed. The amazing part of this is that you can switch quickly from movies, TV, games, a browser or anything else, just by saying "Xbox, go to", or even just "Go to movies".
Two at Once
You can also use Windows 8's snap mode (with one app "snapped" to the side of the screen" to run another app on the side of the screen while your movie, or TV or game is playing. This is kind of an amazing addition, not just for browsing movies while watching one, like an onscreen IMDB, which is what the demo is showing, but you can also, say, snap a walkthrough for a game you're playing.
Oh, and Skype! You can use Skype while watching a movie or playing a game, too.
Watching TV
Or! You can go to ESPN to watch sports ("Xbox, go to ESPN"), and get update cards in the top of your screen whenever one of your fantasy team scores or accumulates other stats (or just snap in the full panel).
Microsoft also added its own TV guide, with full voice Kinect voice controls (which seem FAR more accurate than current Kinect voice controls in this demo). You can go to any channel or program by telling the Xbox to go to it, or you can just go to a Trending page with the most popular content.
Hardware
There are three ways the Xbox One is upgraded. Hardware and new architecture, the new accessories like Kinect and SmartGlass, and a new Xbox Live.
The new architecture is what is responsible for the fast switching between apps and content. But it also means it's not backward compatible with older Xbox games. Microsoft did not address this at the show, but it's been speculated that it will use game streaming, like the PS4, to play older games on the new hardware. We'll update you once we get a chance to shake down some Microsoft employees.
Kinect is "complete redesigned" to respond to you and your voice, and is made to be more conversational. It picks up motion at 13 billionths of a second, the time it takes light photons to bounce off of you and make it back for the sensors.
New Kinect
The new Kinect has a 1080p sensor, and captures videos at 60fps and far finer detection. It detects the twist of a wrist, or how balanced you are. it can read your heartbeat while watching you exercise. This is next level stuff. The sensor field is expanded by 60 percent, and uses a modulated IR beam, and uses "time-of-flight" tech to measure the time it takes photos to travel back to the Kinect. Microsoft claims it works in complete darkness.
The controller has a ton of new features, too, like the ability for designers to send feedback right into the triggers.
SmartGlass also gets a ton of upgrades, because it's going to be treated as a native part of the platform, and not just an add-on, as it previously was.
Xbox Live is getting a massive overhaul as well. It currently runs on 15,000 servers, but it's going to go to 300,000 this year. Insane. You'll be able to access your movies, music, games, and saves from anywhere. The Xbox One is NOT always online. But developers will be able to use Microsoft's Azure computing (perform rendering tasks remotely), which would require even single player games to be online if those are used. Those aren't mandatory, but Microsoft hopes developers use them.
It also seems the new online gaming feature will restrict your ability to use used games, since they will be tied to your specific used Xbox Live account once activated online.
It will have a native editing and sharing DVR tool to snap highlights of your gameplay, and share them. Matchmaking is also more advanced, to hopefully make sure you're not repeatedly sent up against the same jerk who wipes out your whole party before they even get out of the APC. And it's going even further globally, so hopefully bring in more people to the games (though it's unclear how latency plays into this).
EA Partnership
EA's making an effort to use the new innovations from Microsoft and Xbox Live especially with a roster of new titles. FIFA 14, Madden 25, NBA Live 14, and UFC will all launch in the next 12 months, and EA promises that they will all change the way you play. They'll be powered by a new game engine called EA Sports Ignite, unveiled today.
EA Sports Ignite is supposed to make decision making and contextual contact more realistic. It will supposedly have 10 times more animation detail, called "True Player Motion", and the crowds are 3D, with dynamic sidelines. Basically, everything's going to look even more realistic.
Oh, and FIFA 14's Ultimate Team mode, the most popular mode, is exclusive to the new Xbox.
Watching the demos of the new engine on Xbox One, where you really see the detail is in the lighter contacts, like a defensive lineman trying to slip a block, or Lionel Messi shedding a tackler trying to drag him down by the arm. You can really see intricate movements and motions in a way you can't on current hardware.
Exclusive Games
Obviously, there will be some exclusive games through Microsoft Studios. It will release 15 games in the first year of the Xbox One, eight of which will be brand new franchies. Microsoft is trying to focus on new ways to play games. We got to see Forza Motorsport 5 running on the Xbox One, and the reflections, textures of the materials, and lighting looked awesome, but driving game eye porn always looks great in the cinematic cuts.
We also got a look at a new game from Remedy, responsible for the Max Payne series, called Quantum Break. It will let the choices you make affect the entire world around you. The preview was deeply confusing, with some adults talking to a little girl, a cut to a boat tearing through a bridge, the tagline "Time is the fire", and a character landing in the wreckage.
All Call of Duty downloadable content (DLC) will launch first on Xbox One.
(EA also showed new Call of Duty Ghosts features, which you can check out in full over at Kotaku, but let us just say YOU GET YOUR OWN WAR DOG WHO FOLLOWS YOU AROUND. A WAR DOG. FOR YOU. YOUR WAR DOG.)
Original Xbox Content
Xbox One wants to be immersive, personal (with smart recommendations), and social. The Studios are going to use the immersive capabilities to do new stuff with comedy, drama, sports, and all the rest of the stuff you watch on TV. It's starting with Halo.
343 Studios announced a new live-action HALO TV show created by Steven Speilberg. So, like, holy holy holy crap. Microsoft and 343 promise this will be a premium show, on par with Game of Thrones, which is mighty big talk, but we'll see.
There's also a new NFL partnership with exclusive content for the Xbox, but it seems like some in-depth fantasy stats and the ability to use natively formatted apps next to live broadcasts. Nice, but not as groundbreaking as Microsoft is making it out to be.
The New Future
This is what we were hoping Microsoft would show us. We saw a new and massively updated Kinect. New game engines, with improved graphics (but still such cold, dead eyes). There are new entertainment, and even some original content. Some issues, like backwards compatibility and streaming games, we hope will be cleared up throughout the day of events.
The Xbox One will be available "later this year," which almost certainly means in time for the holiday shopping season. For some frame of reference, the Xbox 360 was announced in May of 2005 and went on sale six months later.
Check back for more impressions and hands on later in the day.
Donald Trump sizes up the "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice" finalists while boardroom advisor Joan Rivers looks on.
They started out as teammates on "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice," but on Sunday night, Penn Jillette and Trace Adkins faced off in a final battle for boardroom bragging rights. And the winner is ? a big guy with a ponytail.
But which one?
"I think I delivered the best ice cream, I made the best commercial, I put on the best show, I brought in the biggest celebrities and I raised the most money," Trace told Donald Trump just before the big boss made his call.
Trump just couldn't argue those points, so he named the country crooner the best of the all-star bunch (and awarded his charity, the American Red Cross, $250,000, while sponsor Walgreens kicked in $100,000 more).
As for Jillette, he had a couple of victories of his own. Although he didn't raise as much money as Adkins in the final challenge, his ice cream actually sold more pints when it hit store shelves. If that mini-win wasn't enough, the sponsor then awarded Jillette's charity, Opportunity Village, $100,000.
But there were a few people in the boardroom who didn't win anything on Sunday night -- the fired players who came back to watch the finale showdown. That group included dueling divas Omarosa and La Toya Jackson, who, thankfully, had a Gary Busey buffer between them.
What did you think of the "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice" results?
From Bat suit to leisure suit: Behold, Christian Bale and some other guys who have at times been labeled sexier than everyone else, captured in full 1970s glory while filming "American Hustle" in New York City.
Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner sport the bad suits, bad ties, bad hair, and good sense to star in the next project from director David O. Russell ("Silver Linings Playbook," "The Fighter"). Bale won an Oscar for "The Fighter" and Cooper was nominated for one for "Playbook."
Aby Baker / Getty Images
Suck in that gut. Christian Bale, left, and Jeremy Renner in New York on May 18.
Jennifer Lawrence (who won an Oscar for "Playbook") and Amy Adams (nominated for an Oscar for her role in "The Fighter") are also on board. The film focuses on the true story of the FBI's Abscam operation of the late '70s.
Aby Baker / Getty Images
I'm walkin' here! Bradley Cooper films "American Hustle" in New York.
Aby Baker / Getty Images
With his comb over and rose-tinted glasses, Bale's "American Hustle" is a long way from his "American Psycho."
"American Hustle" is reportedly set for a Christmas release in theaters -- just in time for awards season.
Surely Selena Gomez knew all eyes would be on her at the Billboard Music Awards. While the whole world wondered why the singer would be seated next to her on-again, off-again boyfriend, we were a little more distracted by her outfit.
Selena showed up in a skintight white Atelier Versace gown... accessorized with glow sticks? On closer inspection, we realized Gomez' dress featured neon trim, perhaps a nod to the DayGlo brights she sported in March's "Spring Breakers" -- and her ponytail and flyaway strands would certainly be welcome on the beach. A sheer panel cut from collarbone to hip added requisite sex appeal, and zipper embellishments toughened up the look.
What do you think of Selena's "Spring Breakers"-esque Billboard Awards dress?
PHOTOS:
See all the looks from the Billboard Awards 2013 blue carpet:
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift arrives at the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, May 19, 2013 in Las Vegas. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)
Taylor Swift in Zuhair Murad
Miley Cyrus in Balmain
Emmy Rossum in Zuhair Murad
Kelly Rowland in Rami Al Ali
Jenny McCarthy
Jennifer Lopez in Zuhair Murad
Ke$ha in Givenchy and Palladium
Alyssa Milano in Emilio Pucci
Chad Kroeger, Avril Lavigne
Chad Kroeger, left, and Avril Lavigne arrive at the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, May 19, 2013 in Las Vegas. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)
Selena Gomez in Atelier Versace
Selena Gomez in Atelier Versace
Shania Twain
Chloe Moretz
Jennifer Nettles in Edition by Georges Chakra
Hayden Panettiere
Jennifer Morrison in Kristian Aadnevik
Psy
Z LaLa
Carly Rae Jepsen
Nayer
Amber Rose
Lecrae
Neil Perry, Kimberly Perry & Reid Perry
Audrina Partridge
Roshan Fagan
Shaun Robinson
Sky Blu
Sky Blu arrives at the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, May 19, 2013 in Las Vegas. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)
Megan Wollover & Tracy Morgan
Cathy Guetta & David Guetta
Kacey Musgraves
Ariana Grande
Rocsi Diaz
Keaton Stromberg, Drew Chadwick, and Wesley Stromberg of Emblem3
Renee Bargh
Gabriel Mann
will.i.am
Jason Derulo
Chris Brown
Stana Katic
Ed Sheeran
Chandler Parsons
Brian Kelley & Tyler Bubbard of Florida Georgia Line
Tracy Morgan Exclusive Interview?: Billboard Music Awards Cover Shoot 2013?
Billboard takes you behind the scenes of Tracy Morgan's cover shoot. Tracy will host the 2013 Billboard Music Awards, live from Las Vegas at the MGM Grand on Sunday, May 19, airing on ABC.
Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram at @HuffPostStyle. -- Do you have a style story idea or tip? Email us at stylesubmissions@huffingtonpost.com. (PR pitches sent to this address will be ignored.)
(Reuters) - Hope is fading for a global deal to regulate the airline industry's greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a fall deadline, even though failure could push the industry back to the brink of a trade war over the European Union's emissions trading system.
Last November the EU suspended its controversial scheme to force all airlines to buy carbon credits for any flight arriving in or departing from European airspace.
The scheme had pitted European states against China, the United States, India and others, who said it violated their sovereignty. The EU said it had to act, after more than a decade of inaction on the environmental impact of aviation.
European officials gave the United Nations' agency that governs aviation, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), more time to craft a compromise in the form of a global regulatory regime.
They have vowed to bring their own program back into force unless they see real progress by the ICAO assembly, which runs September 24 to October 4. The assembly, which would have to approve any global regime, meets only once every three years.
But there is still disagreement on how to charge for emissions from flights that cross borders; how to deal fairly with developing countries; and whether airlines, states or both should be subject to regulation.
All those issues have stalled efforts to reach a compromise.
"Think of aviation as a microcosm of the big geopolitical process," said Paul Steele, executive director of the industry group Air Transport Action Group and one of the technical experts who has advised ICAO on the issue.
The group, a coalition of some 50 plane makers, airlines and narrower associations like Airports Council International, wants a global emissions regime, not a messy and expensive "patchwork" of systems around the world.
Steele said lack of progress on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the U.N.'s main climate treaty and home of the Kyoto Protocol, may be holding back talks at ICAO. That treaty and ICAO's process are legally independent, but inevitably, they are linked by politics.
Take "common but differentiated responsibilities," an argument that developed countries should shoulder most of the burden of cutting emissions. That has been a key sticking point at ICAO, as Reuters first reported last year.
Steele said some countries fear that if they compromise at ICAO, it will prejudice broader talks ahead of 2015, when climate negotiators hope to clinch a new deal to cut emissions under the U.N. Framework Convention.
And so, even as aviation industry leaders urge ICAO to hammer out a deal, talks at a high-profile ICAO committee have effectively broken down, and a key member of the agency's governing council has said a resolution may not be ready in time for the assembly.
That could escalate the conflict, especially since a U.S. law signed in November prohibits any U.S. airline from complying with the EU law. And while China partially lifted a retaliatory blockade of some $11 billion in Airbus jet orders last month, a new chapter in the conflict could put those orders at risk.
HIGH LEVEL FIZZLE
ICAO has quietly set standards and rules on everything from cargo safety to air traffic control since 1944, reaching deals between countries that may agree on very little, aside from the value of keeping planes in the sky.
But on climate change, the diplomats posted to Montreal are part of a fraught and complex geopolitical conflict that has little to do with planes. They seem to have recognized as much last fall, when talks at ICAO's governing council stalled.
Seeking to break the impasse, they convened a new group, which Kerryn Macaulay, Australia's council representative, recently said was to include "some of the decision-makers in government" who might be able to hash out compromises.
It was the creation of that "high-level group" that the EU cited when it suspended its scheme. It was just a new committee, but it was seen as a sign of good faith, and an opportunity to get a deal.
But as Macaulay told a conference hosted by the Air Transport Action Group in Montreal on May 13, the high-level group made little progress. Quite the opposite: "In some areas there has been a risk of reopening old issues that the council in fact was recently settled on."
It is not clear if the high-level group will meet again, and the ICAO governing council is now working on a draft resolution in which very little has been agreed.
"We will continue to work on that resolution, if and when necessary up to the day before the assembly," Macaulay said, adding that it still may not be ready in time.
"NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED" -EU
But even if a resolution is ready for the assembly, it may attempt to rein in the EU system, rather than establishing a global alternative, as European officials had hoped.
ICAO's process is split into two threads: looking for a global "market-based measure" to cut emissions, like a cap and trade system or carbon offsetting; and a "framework" document that lays out how market-based measures should be implemented.
Some see a "framework" only governing local or regional systems like the EU's, and not resolving any disputes on how to implement a global scheme. A draft framework proposed by the United States early this year, and obtained by Reuters, would limit the geographical reach of emissions systems.
Lourdes Maurice, executive director for environment and energy at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, said last week that the United States wants the framework to take a "national or regional airspace approach," where countries or blocs would only regulate emissions in their own airspace.
That would put about 80 percent of emissions from aviation out of reach of national or regional carbon taxes, Macaulay said, as many flights are over international waters.
But Elina Bardram, responsible for carbon markets in the aviation and maritime sectors for the European Commission's climate division, said a proposal that did not do anything meaningful to protect the environment is "not what we expected."
(Reporting by Allison Martell in Montreal; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Janet Guttsman and Tim Dobbyn)
NEW YORK (AP) ? A couple of stars from TV's "Chuck" and "Smash" will soon be dating on Broadway.
Producers said Monday that Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez will headline the new romantic musical comedy "First Date" by "Gossip Girl" writer Austin Winsberg.
The music and lyrics are by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner.
"First Date" centers on an uptight young investment banker who meets a serial-dater at a local bistro. A chorus of diners become various characters ? family members, clergy and old lovers.
The show will be seen at The Longacre Theatre beginning July 9 with an opening set for Aug. 8.
The rest of the cast includes Sara Chase ("Arrested Development"), Kristoffer Cusick ("Wicked"), Blake Hammond ("Sister Act"), Kate Loprest ("Boardwalk Empire," and Vicki Noon ("Wicked").
The show, co-produced by The 5th Avenue Theatre, played at A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle last year. It will be directed by Bill Berry, the producing director of The 5th Avenue Theatre.
Levi, who will be in the film "Thor: The Dark World," follows fellow "Chuck" alum Yvonne Strahovski to make his Broadway debut. She made a strong impression in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of Clifford Odets' "Golden Boy."
Rodriguez, who plays Ana Vargas on "Smash," was last on Broadway in "The Addams Family," originating the role of Wednesday Addams alongside Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. She also was in the original Broadway casts of "In the Heights," ''Spring Awakening" and "Good Vibrations."
AMMAN (Reuters) - About 30 fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and 20 Syrian soldiers and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were killed in heavy fighting with rebels in the town of Qusair, Syrian activists said on Monday.
Opposition sources and state media gave sharply differing accounts of the outcome of Sunday's ferocious battles in the town, long used by rebels as a supply route from the nearby Lebanese border to the provincial capital Homs.
The assault on Qusair appeared to be part of a campaign by Assad's forces to consolidate their grip on Damascus and secure links between the capital and the government strongholds on the coast via the contested central city of Homs.
State news agency SANA said the army had "restored security and stability to most Qusair neighborhoods" and was "chasing the remnants of the terrorists in the northern district".
However, opposition activists said rebels in Qusair, about 10 km (six miles) from the Lebanese border, had pushed back most of the attacking forces to their original positions in the east of the town and to the south on Sunday, destroying at least four Syrian army tanks and five light Hezbollah vehicles.
The activists did not give a figure for the number of rebel fighters and civilians killed in the clashes. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 48 rebels had been killed, as well as four civilians, three of them women.
The Observatory's director, Rahim Abdurahman, put Hezbollah casualties at 23 dead and 70 wounded. Lebanese security sources said at least 12 Hezbollah fighters had been killed.
Tareq Murei, a local activist, said troops backed by Hezbollah had "made incursions into Qusair but they are now basically back to where they started at the security compounds in east Qusair and at a ... roadblock to the south."
"Hezbollah's multiple rocket-launchers are now hitting Qusair from Syrian territory west of the Orontes river, along with Syrian army artillery. Six people have been killed since the morning," he told Reuters on Monday.
Video footage purportedly showed a Syrian tank at a street corner in the town on fire. In another video a warplane was shown flying over the town amid the sound of explosions.
Syrian government restrictions on access for independent media make it hard to verify such videos and accounts.
(Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Amman newsroom; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
CANNES, France (AP) ? The magic and glamour of Cannes can be hard to spot on a day when rain is lashing the palm trees, roiling the gray Mediterranean and pooling in puddles along the Croisette.
But the world's leading film festival can transform careers ? something no one knows that better than actors Berenice Bejo and Tahir Rahim, stars of director Asghar Farhadi's festival entry "The Past."
Bejo shimmered on-screen in Cannes two years ago in "The Artist," her director husband Michel Hazanavicius' vivacious silent homage to Hollywood's Golden Age. It went on to win five Academy Awards, including best picture.
Rahim was the breakout star of the 2009 festival in Jacques Audiard's poetic and brutal prison drama "A Prophet," as a youth growing to manhood behind bars.
Cannes exposure helped boost both performers onto the international stage. While once most European actors could choose between stay at home and playing Hollywood villains, their paths suggest a more globalized movie world.
"It was quite a miracle for me," Bejo said Saturday, as rain drummed remorselessly on a Cannes rooftop lounge. "Two years ago my life changed a little bit in Cannes.
"I don't think Asghar Farhadi would have cast me in this movie if I hadn't done 'The Artist.'"
It's hard to think of two movie styles further apart than the flamboyant artifice of "The Artist" and the anatomically detailed domestic drama of "The Past"
Bejo plays Marie, a harried Frenchwoman with two children, a new boyfriend with a young son, and an Iranian ex who has returned after four years to finalize their divorce. Rahim is her boyfriend Samir, a man with complex family ties of his own.
All the characters are trying to move on ? but the past keeps dragging them back.
Bejo said she did a screen test for Farhadi, then didn't hear from him for a month, so initially thought she hadn't got the part.
"He said to me, I was looking into your face if I could see the doubt," she said. "I guess because he saw me in movies where I was quite positive, quite sunny, quite glamorous. He needed to see if I could show another part of myself ? and I guess he found it."
For Bejo, as for Rahim, working with the Iran director was a dream come true. "The Past" is the first film Farhadi has shot outside his homeland, and the actors say they loved his working methods ? two months of rehearsal to delve into character, break down barriers and forge bonds, followed by a four-month shoot.
With its Iranian director and largely French cast, it's one of several border-hopping movies at Cannes this year. French director Arnaud Desplechin's made-in-America "Jimmy P.: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian" stars France's Mathieu Amalric and Puerto Rican actor Benicio Del Toro. Another French filmmaker, Guillaume Canet, has a multinational cast including Clive Owen, Billy Crudup and Marion Cotillard in his New York crime drama "Blood Ties."
It's a trend Bejo is happy to embrace.
"In America you have Christoph Waltz, you have Marion Cotillard," she said. "In France we have Italian and Spanish actors. ... I think it's great. We are used to strangers and foreign accents, and it's great that we can see that in our movies now."
Both she and Rahim have been busy since their Cannes breakthroughs. Bejo recently made French heist movie "The Last Diamond" and soon starts filming Hazanavicius' next project, a war movie set in Chechnya.
Rahim's projects include the English-language Roman-era adventure "The Eagle" and another movie appearing at Cannes this year, the nuclear power plant romance "Grand Central."
Coming up, he plays a cop in the French movie "The Informant," and is currently shooting a globe-spanning 1920s-set drama with Turkish-German director Fatih Akin, another pillar of culture-crossing cinema.
Despite the busy international career ? and post-"Prophet" expressions of interest from the United States ? Rahim says Hollywood remains a hard nut to crack for non-Anglophone actors.
"It's not what you expect at first," Rahim said. "You'd like to be with Michael Mann or (directors) like this, but you don't have those parts that easily. Because first you have to speak English, you have to erase your accent."
For now, he's just happy to be back in Cannes, an experience that is easier the second time around.
"The difference is that now I'm not afraid when I come here," he said. "I'm (saying) 'OK I'm going to take every good vibe and keep it.'"
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Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless
Google Glass is a lot of things, but it's hardly a superstar when it comes to the world of sports. Though we've seen proof it is at least water resistant, it doesn't feel particularly durable and isn't entirely well-suited to wearing while, say, sweating profusely during a lengthy climb on a road bike. Recon Instruments has what it thinks is a solution: the Jet. It's a pair of sporting sunglasses with an integrated, Android-powered display that could make things like running and cycling far more exciting -- or at least far more information-packed. Join us after the break for our impressions.
The defending American League champions took down the Astros 6-2 on Tuesday night in Detroit. The Astros are now 0-for-6 against the Tigers this season.
The Astros (10-30) actually took an early lead on Tuesday night. They scored two runs in the top of the second and held that lead until the bottom of the fifth. ? Starting pitching: Lucas Harrell started off strong but found trouble in the fifth and sixth innings. He gave up three in the fifth and two in the sixth before leaving after not recording an out in the sixth.
He gave up seven hits, walked three, struck out one and threw 98 pitches. He's now 3-4 on the season.
Tigers' starter Doug Fister gave up two runs early but really settled in. He gave up five hits, struck out seven and didn't walk one in seven innings of work.
Bullpen: The Astros bullpen let up one run but kept the deficit pretty much where it was.
Hector Ambriz let up a run in 1/3 of an inning. Wes Wright and Travis Blackley each pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless ball. ? At the plate: The Astros scored early but then struggled to string together hits.
The Astros scored two in the second. Chris Carter led off with a single. Carlos Pena then singles and J.D. Martinez hit a double. Jimmy Paredes hit a sac fly. Martinez went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
For the Tigers, Miguel Cabrera went 2-for-3 with a homer.
Up next: The Astros have one more game in Detroit to try to pick up a win. They play a 12:05 p.m. game in the series finale. The Astros have a day off on Thursday before heading to Pittsburgh for a three-game series against the Pirates.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Cyprus may finally get its piece of the moon.
Some 40 years ago, the Mediterranean island nation was supposed to receive a 1.1 gram piece of moon rock from the United States. The rock was one of 270 such lunar samples U.S. astronauts brought back from Apollo moon missions in 1969 and 1972 that the Nixon administration gave as gifts to foreign countries.
But the item vanished ? allegedly taken by a relative of an American diplomat. And with Cyprus reeling from war and internal strife in 1974, the year the U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Rodger P. Davies assassinated, the rock was never presented to the tiny country.
Three years ago, the moon rock was returned to NASA and locked up in a vault. On Wednesday, a Cyprus Foreign Ministry official said U.S. authorities are favorably considering a Cypriot request that the rock be handed over.
The official, who insisted on anonymity because he's not authorized to speak to the media, said it will still take some time before the rock reaches Cyprus because some bureaucratic hurdles are involved.
The lunar souvenir is encased in a plastic globe. An attached plaque reads, "This fragment is a portion of a rock from the Taurus Littrow valley of the Moon. It is given as a symbol of the unity of human endeavor and carries with it the hope of the American people for a world at peace."
Joseph Gutheinz, a University of Arizona instructor and U.S. former government investigator who has been tracking down missing moon rocks, told The Associated Press that the Cyprus moon sample was taken by a relative of a U.S. diplomat who had been posted to the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia at the time.
Gutheinz said that in 2009, he put pressure on the individual with the rock to "do the right thing" and return it, while urging U.S. authorities to reclaim it. The pressure worked, he said, and the individual returned the rock to NASA after a five-month-long negotiation.
Many lunar samples gifted to other nations have been stolen, were destroyed or went missing, Gutheinz said.
In this handout photo provided by the FSB, acronym for Russian Federal Security Service, a recruiting letter carried by a man claimed by FSB to be Ryan Fogle, a third secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, when he was detained, is shown in the FSB offices in Moscow, early Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Russia's security services say they have caught a U.S. diplomat who they claim is a CIA agent in a red-handed attempt to recruit a Russian agent. Ryan Fogle, a third secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, was carrying special technical equipment, disguises, written instructions and a large sum of money when he was detained overnight, the FSB said in a statement Tuesday. Fogle was handed over to U.S. embassy officials, the FSB, said. (AP Photo/FSB Public Relations Center)
In this handout photo provided by the FSB, acronym for Russian Federal Security Service, a recruiting letter carried by a man claimed by FSB to be Ryan Fogle, a third secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, when he was detained, is shown in the FSB offices in Moscow, early Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Russia's security services say they have caught a U.S. diplomat who they claim is a CIA agent in a red-handed attempt to recruit a Russian agent. Ryan Fogle, a third secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, was carrying special technical equipment, disguises, written instructions and a large sum of money when he was detained overnight, the FSB said in a statement Tuesday. Fogle was handed over to U.S. embassy officials, the FSB, said. (AP Photo/FSB Public Relations Center)
MOSCOW (AP) ? Russia's Federal Security Service has released a photograph of a letter that it claims contains instructions on spying for the United States. The FSB said the letter was found on a U.S. diplomat, who they claim is a CIA officer caught trying to recruit a member of one of Russia's special services. There was no immediate response from the U.S. State Department. This is the Associated Press' translation of the typewritten letter shown on Russian state television channels:
Dear friend,
This is an advance from someone who is very impressed by your professionalism and who would greatly value working together with you in the future. For us, your safety is of the utmost importance, so we have chosen this route to make contact with you. And we will continue to take steps to secure your safety and keep our correspondence secret.
We are prepared to offer you $100,000 and discuss your experience, expertise and cooperation, and your payment might be far greater if you are prepared to answer some specific questions. Additionally, for long-term cooperation we offer up to $1,000,000 a year with the promise of additional bonuses for information that will help us.
To contact us again, please open a new Gmail account, which you will use only for communicating with us, in an Internet cafe or a cafe with a WiFi connection. When signing up, do not use any personal information that could be used to identify you and the new account. So do not offer any real contact information, i.e. your telephone numbers or other email addresses.
If Gmail asks for your personal information, please, start the registration process again and try not to give them any information. After you register the new inbox, send an email to the address unbacggdA(at)gmail.com, and then check the inbox again exactly one week later to see if you have received our reply.
If you register the new email account in a cafe with a netbook or another device (for example, a tablet), then please do not use your own device with your own personal data on it. If possible, you should get a new device to connect with us, for cash. We will reimburse you for the purchase.
Thank you for reading this. We eagerly await the possibility of working with you in the near future.
All Critics (123) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (121) | Rotten (2)
Nichols has a strong feeling for the tactility of natural elements-water, wood, terrain, weather.
Nichols takes his time with the story, dwelling on how the boy is shaped by the killer's tragic sense of romance, yet the suspense holds.
"Mud" isn't just a movie. It's the firm confirmation of a career.
"Mud" unfolds at its own pace, revealing its story in slivers. The performances are outstanding, especially from Sheridan, who plays tough, sweet, vulnerable and confused with equal conviction.
The film is drenched in the humidity and salty air of a Delta summer, often recalling the musical, aphoristic cadences of Sam Shepard, who happens to appear in a supporting role.
A wonderful, piquant modern-day variation on "Huckleberry Finn.''
Beautifully acted, intellectually engaging, and dramatically satisfying, Mud deserves to rocket to the top of your must-see list.
Nichols is a gifted writer-director who knows how to get into the heads of his characters. And this film has superior actors who create people who are intriguing and hugely involving.
'Mud' is a standout film in this 'coming of age' genre mainly because of its central character, one tough, warm-hearted, stubborn little kid who believes in the power of love, above all else.
Other than pacing problems that needlessly stretch the film past the two-hour mark, 'Mud' slings the dirt and sweat with the best of them, as it both mourns and celebrates a way of life that's all but disappeared.
A sublime coming-of-age film, 'Mud' would be the offspring if 'Stand By Me' and 'Cape Fear' reproduced.
Mud is a movie of striking performances and memorable images and of people who seem to belong in rather than being imposed upon their environment.
A brilliant metaphor for how a child deals with divorce.
This might be Mud. But it deserves to stick.
This is a film that gives McConaughey the chance to be an actor rather than a star, and, not for the first time, he grabs the opportunity.
Gone is the rom-com character and emphasis on a toothy smile and six-pack abs. Matthew McConaughey is showing off some acting chops.
Mud is, perhaps, a little longer than it needed to be, but few sensitive viewers will begrudge Nichols his indulgence. This director is the real thing.
Writer-director Nichols continues to get inside the heads of his characters with this involving but overlong dramatic thriller.
McConaughey is terrific but the picture is really made by the fierce and unforgettable performance of Tye Sheridan as Ellis.
a film that demands a certain patience, which it rewards with various emotional payoffs that aren't ever quite what you expect
Somewhere in the dreams of Mud creator Jeff Nichols, Huckleberry Finn met Aguirre, Wrath of God.
Impressively directed and beautifully shot, this is an emotionally engaging and powerfully evocative coming-of-age drama with a superb script and terrific performances from a note-perfect cast.
This richly rewarding work lightly wears influences as disparate as Huckleberry Finn and The Hustler but ultimately emerges as the unmistakeable work of Nichols, one of the rare breed of genuinely exciting directors working in Hollywood today.
The disappointing denouement is far outweighed by the overall strength of the journey to that resolution.
Nichols keeps getting better, but his masterpiece is (excitingly) still to come.
Matthew McConaughey is as compelling as we've come to expect since The Lincoln Lawyer kicked off his 2010s hot streak, as Jeff Nichols ably combines elements of Terence Malick with an all-American rural yarn.
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Workers watch as the Jet Star roller coaster is torn down. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J.?They lined up by the dozens on Tuesday, cameras and iPhones in tow, taking their place along the balcony of a pizzeria recently reopened just off the beach. Nearby, construction workers hammered lumber into place to rebuild the boardwalk destroyed in October by Superstorm Sandy.
But just after noon, all work stopped and silence fell. A giant crane then tore into what has been the star attraction of this Jersey shore community in the six months since it was nearly destroyed by Sandy.
The Jet Star?the roller coaster submerged in the Atlantic Ocean since Oct. 29, when the massive storm surge sucked much of the pier and boardwalk here into the sea?was finally coming down. For many, it has been an icon of the devastation left in Sandy?s wake, a hauntingly beautiful reminder of everything the storm took from this working-class oceanfront community.
As a crane with a giant steel scoop struggled to rip apart the roller coaster's steel frame and tracks, the crowd took pictures.
?Here it goes,? one man said as the crane tore into the upper part of the coaster. ?Mark this time: 12:12 p.m. That?s when it was over.?
Some in the crowd talked about where they were when Sandy struck, and how some got off easy while others lost everything. Some merely offered color commentary, as if they had to verbalize the scene to make it true. ?It?s like dipping a fork into spaghetti,? one man said as the crane struggled to free a jagged piece of steel from the lower section of the coaster.
Camera crews, who had been told work would begin later in the afternoon, rushed to get the shot as, above them, a handful of news helicopters suddenly swooped in. A spokeswoman for Casino Pier, the coaster?s owner, later apologized for the early start, blaming an ?overzealous? crew that wanted to get to work as soon as possible.
?It?s an emotional moment,? Bill Akers, the mayor of Seaside Heights, told Yahoo News, as he stood on a newly built section of the boardwalk just a few yards down the beach. The boards we were standing on, Akers said, hadn?t been there the day before?a sign of how furiously the town is working to get its amusement area reopened before Memorial Day weekend, the official launch of the summer tourist season that is crucial to the city?s economy.
?It took us a little longer than we would have liked ? but we are very grateful to be at this point. Very very happy,? Akers said. ?We always believed it could happen. But a lot of things had to go well for us, including Mother Nature had to give us the opportunity to get to this point. ... I?m glad we are where we are.?
Click image to see more photos. (Mel Evans/AP)
There are still many unknowns, however, about what Seaside Heights will look like in two weeks?and whether tourists will truly come back in the volume this city needs to survive.
On Tuesday, Casino Pier said it hopes to open 18 rides this summer?about half as normal. The park is hoping that most of them will be open by Memorial Day?but the lower part of the pier, still under construction, needs to be rewired with electricity.
By July 4, the park hopes to open what will be the temporary replacement for the Jet Star?a new thrill ride the park is calling ?The Superstorm,? which will swing occupants on a giant pendulum. The ride, officials said, was named in honor of Sandy as a sign of the resilience of Seaside Heights. They rejected the idea that it might be considered in poor taste given how many people in the region were negatively affected by Sandy.
?This is a memorial to the strength and resiliency of this city,? Toby Wolf, a spokeswoman for Casino Pier, said.
But that won?t be the only memorial. Next summer, Casino Pier plans to install a piece of the Jet Star on what it says will be a pier fully rebuilt and back to normal by 2014.
It?s unclear where the rest of the coaster will go. Many who congregated here to see it come down suggested they wouldn?t mind owning a piece?but Casino Pier officials said it would not put any part of the ride up for sale.
The Jet Star dismantling?a process expected to take fewer than 48 hours?continued on into the afternoon. Officials said the crews planned to work at all hours until the job was finished.
Carmen Holster, who had driven from his home in Pompton Plains, in north New Jersey, to see the coaster demolished, said it was a trip he'd made every other week over the past six months. He visited, he said, to see the ride and to mark the progress of Seaside Heights, where he spends part of the summer every year.
He was sad to see the coaster being demolished. ?I?ve been on it. All my kids have been on it. We were hoping the grandkids would get to go on it, but they won?t,? Holster said with a shrug of his shoulders.
He said he wasn?t among those who had hoped the Jet Star would stay in the water longer as a reminder of Sandy?s wrath?suggesting it would have been hazardous. But he marveled at how long the coaster survived submerged in the sea.
?It?s amazing how it stayed together,? Holster said. ?Whoever did the construction job of bolting it did one heck of a job.?
As he spoke, the crane emitted puffs of black smoke as it tried to dismember another part of the Jet Star, which stubbornly refused to break.
