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[unable to retrieve full-text content]JOHANNESBURG ? On Sunday the South African Revenue Service (Sars) revealed that it will focus more of its attention on the construction industry, transfer pricing by large business, abuse of trusts by wealthy South Africans ...

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FARC hostage release: Columbian rebels free 10 captives

Colombia's FARC rebels on Monday released four soldiers and six police officials held hostage in jungle prison camps for more than a decade.

Colombia's FARC rebels on Monday freed 10 members of the armed forces held hostage in jungle prison camps for more than a decade, the last of a group of captives the drug-funded group has held as bargaining chips to pressure the government.

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The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia released four soldiers and six police officials to a humanitarian mission led by the International Red Cross.
"This operation in a single day allowed ten families to be reunited after being apart for so many years," said Jordi Raich, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation.

"Today the agony of these families ends, and that gives us great satisfaction."

The release could signal a tentative step toward peace negotiations to end Latin America's oldest insurgency after five decades of killing civilians and destroying infrastructure.

But many Colombians remain skeptical that the guerrilla group, which is still believed to be holding some 700 civilian hostages, will lay down its weapons after having taken advantage of previous peace talks to strengthen their forces.

The freed captives were picked up in a helicopter supplied by Brazil and flown from a remote area that straddles the southern provinces of Meta and Guaviare, according to the Red Cross. They will be flown to the city of Villavicencio, in central Meta province, before heading to Bogota.

They were seized at the end of the 1990s when the FARC was at its strongest and formed part of a group known as "canjeables," or exchangeables, used to pressure the government for political concessions rather than for ransom payments.

Their release followed a series of messages from the FARC's leadership, including a promise in February to stop kidnapping for ransom, that may indicate it wants some sort of peace talks.

"This is a gesture that shouldn't be underestimated," said local conflict analyst Juan Carlos Palou.

"The promise that they will no longer kidnap for ransom implies to me that the government really should take it as a sign that the FARC really is interested in talks and move ahead with a process to end the conflict," said Palou.

President Juan Manuel Santos, who is under pressure to end a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, has demanded that the FARC free all its prisoners and cease attacks on civilian and military targets before any talks could take place.

Some analysts have called the FARC's promise to halt kidnappings for ransom as a ploy to garner international support and shed their image as terrorists while raising funds for war through other means such as extortion.?

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Readers Respond to "The Death of Preschool"--and More

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Black holes grow big by eating stars

Public release date: 2-Apr-2012
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Contact: Christine Pulliam
cpulliam@cfa.harvard.edu
617-495-7463
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Most galaxies, including the Milky Way, have a supermassive black hole at their center weighing millions to billions of suns. But how do those black holes grow so hefty? Some theories suggest they were born large. Others claim they grew larger over time through black hole mergers, or by consuming huge amounts of gas.

New research by astronomers at the University of Utah and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) shows that supermassive black holes can grow big by ripping apart double-star systems and swallowing one of the stars.

"Black holes are very efficient eating machines," said Scott Kenyon of the CfA. "They can double their mass in less than a billion years. That may seem long by human standards, but over the history of the Galaxy it's pretty fast."

"I believe this has got to be the dominant method for growing supermassive black holes," added lead author Benjamin Bromley of the University of Utah. The study was published in the April 2 online edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Their work follows up on the 2005 discovery, by a team of CfA astronomers led by Warren Brown, of hypervelocity stars - stars that were flung out of the galactic center by gravitational forces and are traveling fast enough to escape the Milky Way.

Hypervelocity stars originate from a binary star system that wanders too close to the Milky Way's central black hole. Tidal forces capture one star and eject the other. The star that is captured into orbit around the black hole later becomes fodder for the galactic monster.

"We put the numbers together for observed hypervelocity stars and other evidence, and found that the rate of binary encounters [with our galaxy's supermassive black hole] would mean most of the mass of the galaxy's black hole came from binary stars," Bromley says. "We estimated these interactions for supermassive black holes in other galaxies and found that they too can grow to billions of solar masses in this way."

As many as half of all stars are in binary pairs, so they are plentiful in the Milky Way and other galaxies.

The new study looked at each step in the process of a supermassive black hole eating binary stars, and calculated what would be required for the process to match observations. Their simulations accurately predicted the rate at which hypervelocity stars are produced (one every 1,000 to 100,000 years). The theory also fit the rate of "tidal disruption events" observed in other galaxies, which happen when stars are shredded and pulled into supermassive black holes.

Their theory shows that the Milky Way's supermassive black hole has doubled to quadrupled in mass during the past 5 billion to 10 billion years by eating stars.

"When we look at observations of how stars are accumulating in our galactic center, it's clear that much of the mass of the black hole likely came from binary stars that were torn apart," said Bromley.

###

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 2-Apr-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Christine Pulliam
cpulliam@cfa.harvard.edu
617-495-7463
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Most galaxies, including the Milky Way, have a supermassive black hole at their center weighing millions to billions of suns. But how do those black holes grow so hefty? Some theories suggest they were born large. Others claim they grew larger over time through black hole mergers, or by consuming huge amounts of gas.

New research by astronomers at the University of Utah and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) shows that supermassive black holes can grow big by ripping apart double-star systems and swallowing one of the stars.

"Black holes are very efficient eating machines," said Scott Kenyon of the CfA. "They can double their mass in less than a billion years. That may seem long by human standards, but over the history of the Galaxy it's pretty fast."

"I believe this has got to be the dominant method for growing supermassive black holes," added lead author Benjamin Bromley of the University of Utah. The study was published in the April 2 online edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Their work follows up on the 2005 discovery, by a team of CfA astronomers led by Warren Brown, of hypervelocity stars - stars that were flung out of the galactic center by gravitational forces and are traveling fast enough to escape the Milky Way.

Hypervelocity stars originate from a binary star system that wanders too close to the Milky Way's central black hole. Tidal forces capture one star and eject the other. The star that is captured into orbit around the black hole later becomes fodder for the galactic monster.

"We put the numbers together for observed hypervelocity stars and other evidence, and found that the rate of binary encounters [with our galaxy's supermassive black hole] would mean most of the mass of the galaxy's black hole came from binary stars," Bromley says. "We estimated these interactions for supermassive black holes in other galaxies and found that they too can grow to billions of solar masses in this way."

As many as half of all stars are in binary pairs, so they are plentiful in the Milky Way and other galaxies.

The new study looked at each step in the process of a supermassive black hole eating binary stars, and calculated what would be required for the process to match observations. Their simulations accurately predicted the rate at which hypervelocity stars are produced (one every 1,000 to 100,000 years). The theory also fit the rate of "tidal disruption events" observed in other galaxies, which happen when stars are shredded and pulled into supermassive black holes.

Their theory shows that the Milky Way's supermassive black hole has doubled to quadrupled in mass during the past 5 billion to 10 billion years by eating stars.

"When we look at observations of how stars are accumulating in our galactic center, it's clear that much of the mass of the black hole likely came from binary stars that were torn apart," said Bromley.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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Airlines' treatment of passengers slowly improves

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Flying is getting better. Honest.

For airline passengers grappling with fare increases, canceled routes and a seemingly endless parade of new fees, "better" may not be the first word that comes to mind. But based on more traditional yardsticks ? lost bags, delayed flights, lousy service and bumpings from full planes ? airlines are doing a better job, say private researchers who have analyzed federal data on airline performance.

Airlines are slowly, steadily recovering from their meltdown five years ago, when, under the strain of near-record consumer travel demand, their performance tanked. Industry performance for all four measurements was slightly better in 2011 compared with 2010, according to the report being released Monday.

"Airlines are finally catching up with what their promise is, which is getting you there on time 80 percent of the time with your bags," said Dean Headley, a business professor at Wichita State University who has co-written the annual report for 22 years.

"They realize that people are paying a lot more money, and the system is more complex than it was, and they have to do a better job," he said. "To their credit, I think they are doing a better job."

With higher fuel costs, airfares are trending up, although increases vary significantly depending on whether the passenger is flying between major airports, or is heading to or from a small or medium-sized airport, Headley said. As airlines cut back service to smaller airports, the cost of air travel in small and medium cities is increasing, he said.

"It really depends on the market you are in," Headley said, noting that in 2010 he paid $275 to fly round-trip from Wichita, Kan., to Washington, where he released that year's report. This year, the same trip cost him $360.

In judging quality of performance, low-cost carriers that mainly fly between large hubs tend to fare the best, Headley said. The large airlines that have been around since before airline deregulation in the early 1980s tend to fall in the middle. Regional airlines, which often fly smaller planes that have more difficulty avoiding storms, generally pull up the rear.

Airline performance last year was likely helped by a mild winter in much of the country despite an "October surprise" snowstorm that snarled the Northeast, he said.

Hawaiian Airlines did the best job of arriving on time with an average of 92.8 percent, while JetBlue Airways had the worst on-time performance, 73.3 percent. A flight is considered on time if it arrives within 15 minutes of when it was originally due.

Nearly half the 15 airlines improved their on-time arrival performance in 2011, and seven had an on-time arrival percentage over 80 percent ? Hawaiian, Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Mesa Airlines. The average on-time performance for the industry was 80 percent last year, just a tad better than 2010's average of 79.8 percent.

Mesa had the highest rate of passengers with tickets who were denied boarding, at 2.27 per 10,000 passengers. Such "bumpings" are usually due to overbooking. JetBlue had the lowest rate of bumped passengers, .01 per 10,000 passengers.

Ten airlines improved their denied boardings rate in 2011.

American Eagle, which is owned American's parent company, AMR Corp. of Fort Worth, Texas, recorded the largest improvement, and Atlantic Southeast Airlines had the largest decline. Jet Blue, with its near zero rate, and Hawaiian, with a rate of 0.11 per 10,000 passengers, were clearly the industry leaders in avoiding bumping incidents. Industry performance was better in 2011 with an average bumping rate of .78 per 10,000 passengers compared with 1.08 the year before.

AirTran had the best baggage handling rate, 1.63 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. American Eagle had the worst baggage handling rate, 7.32 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. That was more than double the industry rate of 3.35.

Seven airlines improved mishandled baggage rates in 2011: Alaska, American, Atlantic Southeast, Delta, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue and SkyWest Airlines. The mishandled baggage rate for the industry decreased from 3.49 per 1,000 passengers in 2010 to 3.35 last year.

Southwest Airlines once again had the lowest consumer complaint rate, 0.32 complaints per 100,000 passengers; United Airlines had the highest consumer complaint rate at 2.21.

Headley attributed United's high complaint rate to rough patches in the airline's merger with Continental. The airlines, which merged their reservation operations in March, now operate under the United name.

The overall rate of customer complaints was virtually unchanged, 1.19 in 2011 compared to 1.22 in 2010. Only five of 15 airlines improved their customer complaint rates for 2011 ? AirTran, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian and JetBlue.

The majority of complaints fell into four categories: flight problems, 34.9 percent; baggage, 14.3 percent; customer service, 12.1 percent, and reservations, ticketing and boarding, 11.2 percent.

The ratings are based on data submitted to the Transportation Department by the 15 airlines who carried the most passengers domestically last year ? AirTran, Alaska, American, American Eagle, Atlantic Southeast, Continental, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Mesa, SkyWest, Southwest, United and US Airways. Headley and Purdue University aviation technology professor Brent Bowen, co-writer of the report, are scheduled to release an overall ranking of performance on Monday. Their research is sponsored by Purdue, in Indiana, and Wichita State.

___

Follow Joan Lowy at http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Associated Press

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Mounted Memories New Orleans Saints Drew Brees Photo & Piece of Game-Used Football Collage - Ltd Edition

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Commemorate Drew Brees' record-breaking single season passing yardage of 5,476 with this New Orleans Saints photo and piece of game-used football collage from Mounted Memories?. This beautiful, limited edition NFL? collectible is double matted in team colors and framed in black wood.

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Fastest Expanding Businesses Are Proprietary Trading And Real ...

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