Gorillas grin 'to reassure pals'

31 January 2012 Last updated at 02:22 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature

Gorillas bare their teeth in a playful "grin" to reassure one another during play, scientists have discovered.

This "flash of teeth" seems to let their playmate know that they do not intend to harm them.

The researchers, from the University of Portsmouth, study the facial expressions of primates to uncover the evolutionary origins of human smiling and laughter.

They published their findings in the American Journal of Primatology.

Lead researcher Dr Bridget Waller explained that non-human primates have two expressions "that shed light on our smiling".

Their "playface", she explained, appears to be a foundation of human laughter.

Dr Waller told BBC Nature: "[During play, gorillas] open their mouths and cover their teeth as if to say, 'I could bite you but I'm not going to'."

Another expression the primates use, where they reveal both rows of "sparkly white teeth" is believed to show one of the origins of human smiling.

Smiling signal

This is not a playful expression, Dr Waller said. "It's a greeting; a subordinate display."

The different contexts in which gorillas use these facial expressions reveals that smiling and laughing are probably rooted in very different "ancestral displays", as Dr Waller explained.

Continue reading the main story

The gorillas would play for longer when they "grinned"

"People think we smile when we're happy, but that's not true," she told BBC Nature.

"You smile when its appropriate in a situation. You smile at someone in the corridor - you don't laugh at them."

Dr Waller and her colleagues wanted to find out more about the contexts in which these two expressions combined; when gorillas flashed their upper teeth as they played.

Watching the animals revealed that they would do this during particularly "rough" and intense play and they would play for longer when they bore their teeth.

"It's possibly because, when play gets rough, you need an extra signal to show each other that [you're] just playing," Dr Waller said.

The findings, she said, showed the foundation of people's social laughter; when humans laugh along in conversation to put one another at ease.

"I always think of facial signals as about reducing uncertainty," said Dr Waller. "We use [these] non-verbal signals all the time."

Prof Richard Byrne, an expert on primate communication and behaviour from the University of St Andrews said it was interesting to study the facial expressions of non-human primates because most of our our own expressions "seem to be 'primitive', in the main".

"Superficially [their] expressions may look a bit different because the ape or monkey faces are so different to our own," he said.

"But when examined properly, most human expressions have proved to be shared with quite distantly related primate species - and therefore must derive from an ancient shared ancestor."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16758464

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150 arrested in daylong Occupy Oakland protests (AP)

OAKLAND, Calif. ? Oakland police say they arrested a total of about 150 people Saturday as protesters spent a portion of the day trying to get into a vacant convention center, and later broke into City Hall and tried to occupy a YMCA.

Police spokesman Jeff Thomason says most of the arrests came around 8 p.m. That's when police took about 100 protesters into custody as they marched through the city's downtown, with some entering a YMCA building.

About 20 demonstrators were arrested earlier in the afternoon, after police say they threw rocks, bottles and other objects at officers and tore down fencing.

Police say three officers were injured. Officers used tear gas and "flash" grenades on the protesters after they refused to leave.

Authorities were still tabulating the exact number of arrests late Saturday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Police were in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters for failing to disperse Saturday night, hours after officers used tear gas on a rowdy group of demonstrators who threw rocks and flares at them and tore down fences.

Police Sgt. Christopher Bolton said the arrests came after protesters marched through downtown Oakland a little before 8 p.m. Saturday, with some of them entering a YMCA building.

Meanwhile, about 100 police officers surrounded City Hall while others were swept the inside of the building to see if any protesters broke in.

More help from other police agencies was also on the way, with busloads of Alameda County sheriff's deputies arriving in the downtown area late Saturday.

The nighttime arrests came after 19 people were taken into custody in Occupy Oakland protests hours earlier.

Police used tear gas and "flash" grenades on the group Saturday afternoon after some demonstrators threw rocks and other objects at them. Police said three officers were hurt, but they released no details.

Police said the group assembled at a downtown plaza Saturday morning, with demonstrators threatening to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center. The group then marched through the streets, disrupting traffic.

The crowd grew as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging from about 1,000 to 2,000 people.

The protesters walked to the vacant convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and "destroying construction equipment" shortly before 3 p.m., police said.

Police said they issued a dispersal order and used smoke and tear gas after some protesters pelted them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects.

Most of the arrests were made when protesters ignored orders to leave and assaulted officers, police said. By 4 p.m., the bulk of the crowd had left the convention center and headed back downtown.

The demonstration comes after Occupy protesters said earlier this week that they planned to move into a vacant building and turn it into a social center and political hub. They also threatened to try to shut down the port, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.

In a statement Friday, Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana said the city would not be "bullied by threats of violence or illegal activity."

Interim police Chief Howard Jordan also warned that officers would arrest those carrying out illegal actions.

Oakland officials said Friday that since the Occupy Oakland encampment was first established in late October, police have arrested about 300 people.

The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately.

Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.

In Oakland, the police department received heavy criticism for using force to break up earlier protests. Among the critics was Mayor Jean Quan, who said she wasn't briefed on the department's plans. Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_us/us_occupy_oakland

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Official: Yemen president in US for treatment (AP)

NEW YORK ? The embattled president of Yemen arrived Saturday in the United States for medical treatment for burns he suffered during an assassination attempt in June.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh arrived at an unspecified location in the United States, according to the country's foreign press office. His journey had taken him from Oman, through London.

The one-line Yemeni statement said Saleh was in the U.S. for a "short-term private medical visit." His staff has said he is in the United States to be treated for injuries suffered during the assassination attempt. He was burned over much of his body and had shards of wood embedded into his chest by the explosion that ripped through his palace mosque as he prayed.

After months of unrest, Saleh agreed in November to end his 33-year-rule of the Arabian state.

His trip to the U.S. comes as Yemen, a key counterterrorism partner, prepares for an election on Feb. 21 to select his successor.

Human Rights Watch, which says it has documented the deaths of hundreds of anti-government protesters in confrontations with Saleh's security forces, was outraged by the Yemeni president's travel to the U.S. for medical treatment.

"It's appalling that President Saleh arrives here for first-rate medical treatment while hundreds of Yemeni victims, assaulted by his security forces have neither proper medical care nor justice for the crimes they've suffered," Balkees Jarrah, international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, said in an emailed statement. "The Obama administration should insist those responsible for atrocities in Yemen be brought to the dock."

Maneuvering and manipulation had been reliable tactics for Saleh throughout his rule over mountainous, semi-desert Yemen, mired in poverty and divided among powerful tribes and political factions. But his room to maneuver steadily narrowed when the Arab Spring revolts swept into Yemen last year. From late January 2011, hundreds of thousands of Yemeni marched in the streets nearly every day, despite crackdowns. After a particularly bloody shooting of protesters in Sanaa, many ruling party members, lawmakers, Cabinet ministers and, most importantly, powerful military generals and tribal leaders abandoned him, siding with the opposition.

It is unclear how long Saleh intends to remain in the U.S. In a speech before he left Yemen for Oman a week ago, he promised to return home before the election, but the U.S. and its allies have pressured Saleh to leave Yemen for good.

American officials don't wish him to settle in the U.S., however, over concerns that it would be seen as harboring an autocratic leader accused by many of his countrymen of using violence to remain in power. Opponents have accused him of trying to interfere in Yemen's new unity government, even after he supposedly relinquished authority two months ago. He spent three months previously in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, only to return to Yemen, prompting more protests.

Saleh's travel plans in the United States have not been disclosed for security reasons. It wasn't clear where he intended to stay while in the country, or where he would be receiving medical care.

He had been traveling on a chartered Emirates plane with a private doctor, several armed guards and relatives, according to an official in the Yemeni president's office who spokes with the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the details.

The Obama administration agreed last week to allow Saleh to come to the U.S. temporarily for the medical treatment, a move aimed at easing the political transition in Yemen.

Saleh initially requested a U.S. visa in December, putting the Obama administration in the awkward position of either having to bar a friendly president from U.S. soil or risking appearing to harbor an autocrat with blood on his hands.

U.S. officials believe Saleh's exit from Yemen could lower the risk of disruptions in the lead-up to presidential elections there.

The Yemeni embassy in Washington has said Saleh planned to return home in February to attend a swearing-in ceremony for the country's newly elected president.

___

AP correspondent Jill Lawless in London and Ahmed Al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_us/us_yemen

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Jasmine Whitbread: Will Inequality Finally Top the Agenda at Davos?

As the global elite gathers for the World Economic Forum this week, the "Occupy" igloos popping up around Davos, Switzerland should serve as a great visual reminder that inequality can no longer be ignored.

For the last several years I ticked the box "Inequality" in the pre-Davos survey checking out what participants are most concerned about -- while fervently wishing (though doubting) it would then appear as a major trend in the summarized results. Before and after the crash of 2008, other issues topped the agenda, but last year, for the first time, a majority of invitees shared disquiet about the rising levels of inequality in the world. Of course, this might be because the captains of industry and world leaders attending were probably not the ones dutifully filling out surveys, but still...

Last year was also the first year that an issue more squarely in the sights of global development organizations -- cutting maternal and child mortality rates -- finally made it to the main stage (the norm being that health, education, and poverty discussions take place in the margins). It was great to see government and business leaders pounding fists over real life-and-death issues that affect millions of too-often-unheard women and children at the bottom of the economic scale. This helped set the agenda for the win later in the year, when funding pledges for the (at-the-time-ailing) Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunization actually exceeded the target. And that primed the pump for a much-needed push toward universal coverage to guard against killer diseases such as measles, even in the poorest communities.

At the same time, it was disappointing how poorly the world's elite grasped the significance of what was then unfolding in Tunisia. I recall the words of a young Iranian-American woman I met, who promised that this was the kick-off and that momentum was building right across the Arab world -- but no one was listening to her then. Given the tumultuous year that followed, it's no surprise that the theme for this year's forum, "The great transformation -- shaping new models," virtually admits that last year's challenge to agree on "shared norms for the new reality" was pretty much overtaken by events.

In the run-up to this year's conference, the issue of inequality has gone mainstream in a big way -- at least it seems that way in London, where the media, the politicians, and even some brave bankers are vying to respond to the sense of injustice and inequality permeating the economic gloom. But will this translate in the global arena? Despite the Occupy movement, the discourse was quite different in the United States when I visited last month, and I notice many more U.S. companies signed up for Davos this year, for some reason. Brazil, Russia, India, and China -- those large, emerging economies known as the BRICs -- will see it differently, too. But the truth is, inequality is a major problem in all these countries. And as UNICEF's 2011 report on global inequality demonstrated, "inequality is also strongly associated with political instability."

However, even if the argument to address inequality is well-made at Davos, many will argue that the priority has to be growth, and that development assistance can't be afforded in a downturn, or that increased domestic investment in social sectors needs to wait for growth. I'll be arguing for health and education investments in the next generation, not just as a moral obligation or a political necessity but because it's smart economics. The evidence is there: between 30 and 50 percent of Asia's growth between 1965 and 1990 has been attributed to improvements in reproductive health and to reductions in child mortality and fertility rates, and malaria alone is estimated to cost Africa $12 billion a year in lost revenue. It's one thing when Save the Children makes this argument, but fortunately, an increasing number of business leaders are getting behind the message. They are responding to what their employees and customers are looking for: a more holistic interpretation of their mission and a more intuitive sense that building a fairer world has got to be good for business.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jasmine-whitbread/davos-inequality_b_1235591.html

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Russia says U.N. Syria draft unacceptable: Itar-Tass (Reuters)

MOSCOW (Reuters) ? A Western-Arab draft United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria is unacceptable for Russia in its current form because it does not take Moscow's position into account, Itar-Tass news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying on Friday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov's remarks were the latest sign that Russia, a veto-wielding Security Council member, will push hard for changes in the draft, which supports the Arab League's call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside.

The draft, which was expected to be distributed to the Security Council later on Friday, contains "no fundamental consideration of our position" and is missing "key aspects that are fundamental to us," Itar-Tass quoted Gatilov as saying.

"The draft is unacceptable for us in this form," he said.

Gatilov suggested Russia was unhappy that the draft included no clause ruling out military intervention, and that it made a reference to sanctions that have already been imposed on Syria by the Arab League.

Russia has warned it would not let any resolution endorsing military intervention pass in the Security Council, where it has veto power as a permanent member, and has also said it will not retroactively support Western or Arab sanctions on Syria.

Gatilov said Russia was concerned by a clause saying the Security Council would review Syria's implementation of the resolution after 15 days and "adopt further measures" if it has not complied.

"What measures? That is our question," he said.

Russia has urged Assad to implement reforms faster to end 10 months of bloodshed, but says his opponents share much of the blame for violence and has refused to join other nations calling for him to step down.

Russia has been increasingly isolated in its support for Assad's government, and is still delivering Syria arms in defiance of U.S. calls for a moratorium on weapons sales to Damascus.

Russia joined China in October in vetoing a European-drafted Security Council resolution condemning Assad's government for a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that the United Nations says has killed more than 5,000 people, mostly civilians.

Gatilov said Russia's own draft resolution, which it submitted last month and revised earlier this month, remained on the table, suggesting it must not be superseded by the Western-Arab draft.

Western diplomats have said Russia's draft was too easy on Assad's government.

(Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/wl_nm/us_syria_russia

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Divorce and Pets | More People Choose Animals Over Money ...

Parents of people children know that they have a 50% chance of needing a ?What happens if we split? plan. They may not discuss it, they may not let themselves think about it, but I bet you, in the back of every parent?s mind is the ?What happens if?.? thought.

Personally, I don?t think that it?s all that crazy. Again, the divorce rate is roughly 40-50% in our country. I have friends who state, prior to marriage, that their future spouse is ?The one or the first one.? If you ignore marital status and just look at long-term committed relationships, chances are you still have roughly the same potential split rate. There?s just no getting around it anymore, any relationship has a roughly 50% chance of ending.?

Pet parents also may not discuss or let themselves think about ?What if?? but I promise you, it?s there. According to a survey of 1,500 pet owners by PetMD, ?90% of pet owners would fight more passionately for their pets than for money in a divorce.? Even more telling is this information released by?Michigan State University College of Law:??Because pets are becoming such a big part of our lives, some courts ? ?are willing to treat pets more like children? Courts have considered the best interest of the pets in determining who gets custody of them. They have also awarded shared custody, visitation, and alimony payments to the owners.?

What about you?? As pet owner (or pet parent, if you prefer), a people parent, or both, what do you think about having a ?What if?? plan?? Do you have one?? Have you and your spouse or significant other discussed ?What if??

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Tags: Cristin Hipke, divorce, featured, pets

Category: Features, Pets

Source: http://www.primeparentsclub.com/2012/01/27/divorce-and-pets-more-people-choose-animals-over-money/

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Calif. poised to vote on new 'clean car' regs

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? California is poised to vote on new rules that would require automakers to build cars and trucks by 2025 that emit about three-quarters less smog producing pollutants and also mandate that one of every seven new cars sold in the state be a zero emission or plug-in hybrid vehicle.

The California Air Resources Board will begin hearing testimony Thursday in Los Angeles on its "Advanced Clean Car" program, and is expected to continue on Friday.

The new emissions standards, which also include big cuts in greenhouse gas pollutants, would begin with new cars sold in 2015, and get increasingly more stringent until 2025. Generally, the regulations would require a 75 percent reduction in smog emissions in new cars by 2025, and a 34 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over roughly the same time.

The new rules will continue the state's first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks, which went into effect in 2009. This time, the greenhouse gas reduction element of the program was designed with the federal regulators so that it will match national standards expected to be passed later this year.

"When we did the first greenhouse gas standards, it was war," said Tom Cackette, deputy director of the board, referring to legal challenges from auto dealers and business groups after the state passed the initial greenhouse gas emissions limits.

"They sued us in two federal courts. Fortunately, from our viewpoint, they lost. Over that time, with the increase in gas prices, the shake-up in the auto industry brought new management which looked at the future. Where's our future? It's not profits next quarter but how do we make a sustainable business."

California's smog emissions standards are often more strict than federal ones, which means other states often adopt them as their own.

Fourteen other states, including Washington, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, have adopted California's current emissions goals, which is why the new regulations could have a wide-ranging effect. Of those states, 10 have also adopted the zero-emission vehicle standards as well.

In addition to new smog and greenhouse gas emissions limits, the regulations being voted on also includes a new zero-emissions vehicle mandate. The goal is to have 1.4 million zero-emission and plug-in hybrids on California roads by 2025. But the program also looks ahead to 2050, laying groundwork for a goal of having 87 percent of the state's fleet of new vehicles fueled by electricity, hydrogen fuel cells or other clean technologies.

"This regulation is planned over a 40-year horizon, and that is extremely unusual," said board spokesman David Clegern. "But it gives us time to put the pieces in place with no surprises. The individual companies can plan for changes and develop the technology, and over the long haul, it will shift us away from reliance on petroleum."

The board's meeting comes just three days after federal regulators met in San Francisco to hear public comment on the Obama administration's national fuel economy standards, the most far-reaching in history. If passed later this year, they would require the average passenger car to reach a 54.5-mph standard by 2025.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 13 automakers, CARB and others worked together so that when the federal government passes its greenhouse gas emissions limits later this year, they will match California's and create one national standard.

Some automakers said the market for clean car technology is already spurring the technology and innovation the regulations seek to influence.

"Yes, the cars will be lighter, compact, far more fuel efficient. That's what the mandate will be. It's not enforced by the government but really by the economics of the future," said Michael Dobrin, a spokesman for Toyota.

Yet some auto dealers have argued that the government's emphasis on strict pollution controls will result in much higher prices for consumers.

Forrest McConnell, director of the National Automobile Dealers Association, testified during the federal hearing Tuesday that tightening fuel efficiency standards will result in unaffordable cars.

"We all want better fuel economy, but it is not free. By adding $3,200, if not more, to the average cost of a car, over seven million Americans will be priced out of the market, fleet turnover will be reduced, and public policy benefits will be delayed," McConnell said.

Other dealers say consumer demand for electric and hybrid vehicles is not what the board hopes it is.

The California New Car Dealers Association says hybrid vehicles, which have been marketed and sold for 13 years, only make up 2.1 percent of the national market, and 4.1 percent of California's market. They say the goal of making one of every seven new cars sold in California a zero-emission vehicle in roughly the same amount of time is unrealistic.

"Rather than setting vehicle manufacturers, new car dealers, and alternative vehicles themselves up for another predictable failure, (the board) should adjust the mandate to reflect a goal that is realistic and attainable," said Jonathan Morrison, the state dealers' association's director of legal and regulatory affairs.

The air board's research and environmental advocates dispute those cost increase estimates, and say increases in hybrid and other sales continue to rise as more cars hit the market. They argue that fuel cost savings will make up for any vehicle price increase.

"Our research shows a $1,400 to $1,900 car price increase, but over the life of the vehicles, the owners save $6,000 in reduced fuel and maintenance costs," said Clegern.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-26-California%20Clean%20Car%20Standards/id-7c06e205717546a5a9492195e6337d73

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