Wimbledon's stolen hawk, Rufus, found safe and well

Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

Imogen Davis poses with Rufus the Hawk on day seven of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships on Monday.

By ITV News

Rufus, the Wimbledon hawk stolen by thieves during the first week of the tennis tournament, has been found safe and well, police in London said late Sunday.

The American Harris hawk, who deters pigeons from the All England Club, was stolen along with his box overnight between Thursday and Friday.

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He was handed in to an office of the national animal charity RSPCA in Putney, south west London, and is back in his owners' hands, police said.

Ian Walton / Getty Images, file

Rufus the resident Harris Hawk keeps the courts pigeon free on Day Seven of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in this 2009 file photo.

Read more at ITV News

Hopes were raised of finding him safe after the box was spotted abandoned just north of the tennis venue on Sunday afternoon.

The news was confirmed on Rufus? personal Twitter feed, which has been silent since his disappearance except for appeals for information.

He was taken from a car parked on a private drive in a nearby residential street, with the rear window open for ventilation.

Owner Imogen Davis said that she "could not believe" that the Hawk had been found and thanked everyone for returning him safely.

Hawking was first introduced to the All England Club in 1999 as an environmentally-friendly method of pest control.

Pigeons are not the Harris Hawk's natural prey, and they are trained not to attack but to circle and fly around the courts to scare the birds.

Rufus is flown each morning and evening of the championships before and after play, but not during, to avoid any distraction.

ITV News is the UK partner of NBC News.

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Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/02/12518325-wimbledons-stolen-hawk-rufus-found-safe-and-well?lite

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New World Bank chief open to advising rich nations

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kim-pledges-help-poor-takes-world-bank-reins-153717885.html

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Boxee, Comcast agree to a workaround for encrypted basic cable channels on third party boxes

Boxee usually doesn't get along with the existing media / pay-TV conglomerates, but now it's telling the FCC it has come to an agreement with Comcast. The solution agreed to lets live TV-friendly Boxee access encrypted basic cable channels thanks to a DLNA-controlled high definition digital transport adapter that would connect to the box via Ethernet, with an eye towards no longer requiring an adapter at all down the road. Multichannel News quotes Boxee CEO Avner Ronen as saying it was "good to work with Comcast" on a deal that gives third parties like his company continued access to basic cable. The benefit for Comcast and other cable companies is that they could progress with encrypted all-digital solutions that would open up bandwidth for things like higher speed internet, something Boxee was arguing against previously. What this means for existing standards like CableCARD or the long awaited AllVid is unclear, but if it's one step closer to a legitimate option to ditching the cable box, we'll take it.

Boxee, Comcast agree to a workaround for encrypted basic cable channels on third party boxes originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Multichannel News  |  Letter to FCC from Comcast / Boxee  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/OMEmiIRSvDc/

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Iran pledges to counter "malicious" oil embargo

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-pledges-counter-malicious-oil-embargo-102839265.html

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Rusty memories rejuvenated in elderly mice

Forgetfulness that accompanies the march of time may be reversible ? in mice at least. Elderly mice have had their faltering memories restored after receiving extra amounts of an enzyme that switches genes on or off in the brain.

"We found they performed just like young animals," says Hilmar Bading of the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

He and his colleagues injected a virus directly into the brain's hippocampus ? an area responsible for memory. The virus contained extra copies of a gene that makes an enzyme called DNA methyltransferase (Dnmt3a2). This enzyme alters gene activity through methylation, the addition of chemical methyl groups to DNA.

The team then gave the mice a series of memory tasks. They were presented with an object, then a day later they were presented with the same object and a novel one. Because young mice remember seeing one of the objects before, they spent more time investigating the novel one. Elderly mice generally spent the same amount of time on each.

When elderly mice were given the virus, they matched the young mice in the task, spending 70 per cent of their time investigating the new object.

When the researchers used similar techniques to halve the amount of Dnmt3a2 that young mice produce, their performance deteriorated to that of non-treated elderly mice. "Clearly, if you have too little of the enzyme, your memory works less well," says Bading.

As yet, there is no drug that could boost levels of Dnmt3a2 in the human brain, but Bading says that more of it gets made naturally when the brain is active.

So while his team intend to investigate possible memory-enhancing treatments, his advice to people as they age is to keep their brains and bodies as active as possible.

Journal reference: Nature Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1038/nn.3151

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Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/20e621f9/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cdn219980Erusty0Ememories0Erejuvenated0Ein0Eelderly0Emice0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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Parent: Students watched porn in classroom

SAN DIEGO -- The parent of a middle school child is calling for action in the wake of an alleged incident that happened in a seventh-grade classroom.

The San Diego Unified District confirms nine male students from Bell Middle School were suspended in May, but legally could not say why the students were suspended.

Now, a parent is telling NBC 7 San Diego the students were allegedly watching pornography on their cell phones during English class and masturbating.

---

See the original report at NBCSanDiego.com

The teacher in the classroom at the time, Ed Johnson, allegedly did nothing to stop the incident, only saying he would give students referrals if he caught them. Sources said Johnson then continued reading to students while at his desk.

The parent, Edith Duran, said she had a meeting with the vice principal who told her about the sexual activity.

Duran says her son was not involved in the incident, but was in the classroom at the time, afraid to speak up for fear of being bullied.

?When I send my child to school I want to feel he's safe. I don't send him to sit in a classroom next to boys watching porn, explicit porn which [the] vice principal did tell me [was] very explicit,? she said.

?I asked the vice principal how is it this was going on under his nose, a group of boys huddling around a cell phone watching porn; how is it this was going on and he had no idea??
According to Duran, the vice principal had no answer for that question, but said this about the teacher's reaction.

?She said he is in shock. Mr. Johnson is in shock, he can't believe this happened. That's what she said,? said Duran. ?Let this be a reality check that he needs to do a better job as far as teaching our children and not just sitting back reading and letting them do whatever it is they want to do.?

Watch US News videos on msnbc.com

In the end, Duran believes her son and other students in that class are victims.

?I do expect a phone call. I want therapy, I want some kind of counseling, not just for my son, but for other children victimized in this situation,? Duran told NBC 7 San Diego.

Duran said the school did initially promise therapy and counseling for the students in the classroom, but she has heard nothing from the administration, despite her attempts to follow-up.

She wants more Bell Middle School parents to reach out to her and join her in demanding something be done for the students in the class who she said were victimized by this inappropriate behavior.

The school district would not comment on whether that teacher is currently under investigation, but sources told NBC 7 San Diego a substitute teacher was placed in the classroom with the teacher following the incident until the end of the school year.

NBC 7 has been unable to reach the teacher for comment.

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Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/01/12503932-parent-students-watched-porn-in-classroom?lite

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Play suspended, fans kept from course

Workers use a golf cart to carry branches from a tree that fell onto the 14th fairway at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., Saturday, June 30, 2012, after a strong storm blew through overnight. The AT&T National golf tournament was postponed to allow workers to clear the course. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Workers use a golf cart to carry branches from a tree that fell onto the 14th fairway at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., Saturday, June 30, 2012, after a strong storm blew through overnight. The AT&T National golf tournament was postponed to allow workers to clear the course. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A worker uses a chainsaw to clear a tree that fell onto the 14th fairway at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., Saturday, June 30, 2012, after a strong storm blew through overnight. The AT&T National golf tournament was postponed to allow workers to clear the course. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A worker uses a chainsaw to clear branches from a tree that fell onto the 14th fairway at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., Saturday, June 30, 2012, after a strong storm blew through overnight. The AT&T National golf tournament was postponed to allow workers to clear the course. More than two million people across the eastern U.S. lost power after violent storms and two people died, including a 90-year-old woman asleep in bed when a tree slammed into her home, a police spokeswoman said Saturday. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A worker chainsaws a tree that fell onto a tee box on the the 12th hole at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., Saturday, June 30, 2012, after a strong storm blew through overnight. The AT&T National golf tournament was postponed to allow workers to clear the course. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) ? Even with Tiger Woods in the hunt, Saturday figures to be awfully quiet at Congressional for the third round of the AT&T National.

Because of a powerful storm that uprooted dozens of trees, including a 75-foot tree that crashed across the 14th fairway, the tournament was closed to spectators and volunteers for safety reasons. Mark Russell, the PGA Tour's vice president of rules and competition, could not remember another time when a tour event did not allow fans.

"It's too dangerous out here," Russell said. "There's a lot of hanging limbs. There's a lot of debris. It's like a tornado came through here. It's just not safe."

The first order of business was getting Congressional in shape for the players.

The third round was delayed six hours, with the hope it could start at 1 p.m. in threesomes going off both tees.

The storm was called "Derecho" because it packed straight wind that reached as strong as 80 mph. Stewart Williams, the PGA Tour's meteorologist, said it was capable of doing the same amount of damage as an F-1 tornado.

The storm itself lasted just under an hour and dumped barely more than a quarter-inch of rain on the course. But it took out power to more than 400,000 customers in the area, uprooted trees and blew away some of the smaller tents. Before workers could start cleaning up Congressional, they had to clear away four large trees blocking the entrance.

The maintenance crew worked through the night, with a shorter staff. At big PGA Tour events like the AT&T National, the course superintendent often relies on the staff from area golf courses to help out during the week. On Saturday, many of them had to tend to their own courses. Plus, the cleanup was slowed by not having power at Congressional.

At least 40 trees were uprooted, and limbs large and small were scattered along the golf course. The 11th fairway was littered with branches for some 300 yards.

That would be time-consuming to clear. The more jarring images were large trees that had been cracked at the trunk, some of them crashing on top of the ropes that had lined the fairways. The 75-foot tree on the 14th was about 75 yards beyond the area where players hit their tee shots. One worker arrived with three small chain saws in the back of his cart. Given the size of the tree, it was akin to bringing a garden hose to put out a bonfire.

On Friday, Woods played a risky shot off the pine straw around a 60-foot tree toward the green on the par-5 sixth. A day later, that tree was on its side, cracked at trunk.

The wood signs on nearly every tee box had been ripped from the sign posts, and the trailers that house the PGA Tour's communications system, such as Shotlink scoring, narrowly escaped severe damage. Workers had to repair cables that provide the wireless signal, which would have delayed the reporting of scores.

Television coverage was scheduled for its normal hours, though CBS Sports was not going beyond its 6 p.m. time slot, and Golf Channel could not pick up the rest of the third round because of its obligation to the LPGA Tour.

Hunter Mahan was at 7-under 135 and had a two-shot lead. Woods, who had a 68 on Friday, was five shots behind.

Several players were having breakfast in the dim clubhouse at Congressional, which was getting its power from a generator. Eighty players made the cut, though the tour hoped to be able to complete the third round.

Saturday tickets would be honored on Sunday.

Even so, it figured to be an eerie scene in the third round with Woods, Mahan, Adam Scott and Vijay Singh on the golf course, and hardly anyone watching them.

"It was an easy decision," Russell said of the plan to keep spectators away. "Everything inside the ropes was thrown outside the ropes."

The only other recollection of a tournament with no fans was in 2000 for a Champions Tour event in St. Louis, when Arnold Palmer played. The King can draw a gallery anywhere, but storms that week caused such a problem with traffic that no one could get to the golf course.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-06-30-ATandT%20National-Storms/id-0d325d25b1cf43c889f51817e3cbb827

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