McCourt, MLB agree to process to sell Dodgers (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Embattled Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Major League Baseball reached an agreement late Tuesday to sell one of the sport's most storied franchises, ending a seven-year run that included four trips to the postseason before recently becoming mired in legal troubles capped by a filing for bankruptcy protection.

A joint statement said there will be a "court-supervised process" to sell the team and its media rights to maximize value for the Dodgers and McCourt. The Blackstone Group LP will manage the sale, which could include Dodger Stadium and the surrounding parking lots.

The announcement came as the Dodgers and MLB were headed toward a showdown in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware at the end of the month as mediation between both sides was ongoing.

McCourt and baseball Commissioner Bud Selig have traded barbs since MLB took control of day-to-day operation of the team in April over concerns about the team's finances and the way it was being run. McCourt apparently realized a sale of the team he vowed never to give up was in his best interest and that of the fans.

"There comes a point in time when you say, `It's time,'" said a person familiar with the situation who requested anonymity because details of the negotiations had not been made public. "He came to that realization at the end of today."

McCourt filed for bankruptcy protection in June after the league rejected a 17-year TV contract with Fox, reported to be worth up to $3 billion, that he needed to keep the team afloat. Selig noted that almost half of an immediate $385 million payment would have been diverted from the Dodgers to McCourt.

The franchise's demise grew out of Frank McCourt's protracted divorce with Jamie McCourt and the couple's dispute over the ownership of the team. The divorce, which played out in public in court, highlighted decadent spending on mansions and beach homes and using the team as if it were their personal credit card. They took out more than $100 million in loans from Dodgers-related businesses for their own use, according to divorce documents.

In bankruptcy filings, attorneys for MLB said McCourt "looted" more than $180 million in revenues from the club for personal use and other business unrelated to the team.

"The Dodgers are in bankruptcy because Mr. McCourt has taken almost $190 million out of the club and has completely alienated the Dodgers' fan base," the baseball attorneys wrote.

As the former couple continued to fight over ownership of the team, the Dodgers' home opener against the rival San Francisco Giants kicked off a year of even worse publicity. A Giants fan, Bryan Stow, was nearly beaten to death in the parking lot. Stow's family has sued the Dodgers, and his attorney said medical bills could reach $50 million.

In the outpouring of public sympathy, attention focused on cutbacks in security at Dodger stadium and fans turned their animosity toward Frank McCourt. Scores of police were dispatched to patrol the stadium after the attack.

Dodgers attorneys claimed Selig deliberately starved the club of cash and destroyed its reputation in a bid to seize control of the team and force its sale.

"As the commissioner knows and as our legal documents have clearly shown, he approved and praised the structure of the team about which he belatedly complains," the team said in a statement.

The team was asking Judge Kevin Gross in Delaware to approve an auction of the team's television rights as the best path to exit bankruptcy. But the league wanted to file a reorganization that called for the team to be sold.

Last month, Jamie McCourt cut a deal with her ex-husband to settle their dispute over ownership of the team they bought in 2004 for about $430 million.

The terms of the settlement between the McCourts weren't disclosed publicly, but a person familiar with it who requested anonymity because it's not meant to be public told The Associated Press that Jamie McCourt would receive about $130 million. She also would support the media rights deal worth up to $3 billion.

That removed her from the number of opponents Frank McCourt was facing in bankruptcy court because Jamie McCourt had initially lined up behind MLB and Fox in asking the bankruptcy court to reject his bid to auction Dodgers television rights.

All the bad publicity appeared to drive fans away. There was a 21 percent drop in home attendance from last season and it was the first time in a non-strike year since 1992 that the Dodgers drew fewer than 3 million people.

A new owner would be the third since Peter O'Malley sold the team to News Corp. in 1998. The Dodgers had remained in the O'Malley family since Walter O'Malley moved the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958.

The Dodgers finished this season with an 82-79 record.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111102/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbn_dodgers_bankruptcy

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Three-horse race for Venezuela's anti-Chavez ticket (Reuters)

CARACAS (Reuters) ? The race to be the presidential candidate of Venezuela's opposition coalition has come down to three challengers who all hope their youth and experience in office make them the best bet to unseat President Hugo Chavez.

Less than a year ahead of the South American OPEC member's October 7 vote, politics are dominated by two issues: the health of socialist leader Chavez after cancer treatment, and who will win the Democratic Unity coalition's February primary.

The three frontrunners in the opposition tussle ahead of the February primary are state governors Henrique Capriles Radonski and Pablo Perez, and former district mayor Leopoldo Lopez.

With ages ranging from 39 to 42, they have successfully presented themselves as the "new guard" of Venezuela's opposition, pushing out traditional party heavyweights with poor records against Chavez.

"The doors are opening to a new way of doing politics," said Lopez, flanked by his wife and cheering supporters as he formally registered for the primary this week.

Lopez, who used to be mayor of Caracas' wealthy Chacao district and is known for his telegenic looks and charismatic oratory, is the most-recognized abroad of the three men because of his legal fight after being disqualified from politics.

After a regional human rights court ruled in his favor earlier this year, Venezuela's Supreme Court decreed that he could run for president -- but that he remained barred from holding office because of a pending graft investigation.

Lopez says Chavez is scared of him and the charges false.

ENERGETIC FRONT-RUNNER

Ahead of Lopez in all polls of the opposition field is Capriles, the governor of Miranda, Venezuela's second most populous state that includes parts of Caracas.

A keen basketball player, the energetic Capriles often rides a motorbike to work and -- in an echo of Chavez's pre-cancer style -- frequents shanty-towns to supervise projects and inquire about locals' problems. During floods, he was widely pictured wading up to his waist to visit victims.

"He is still the frontrunner by some distance. He's the guy most likely to unify the opposition, rally the 'NiNis' and beat Chavez," wrote pro-opposition blog Caracas Chronicles, using a local term for undecided or 'neither-nor' voters.

"The nomination is his to lose."

The third big opposition contender, among a large clutch of hopefuls, is Perez, governor of the oil-rich western state of Zulia, on the border with Colombia.

Last week he secured the important endorsement of Venezuela's largest opposition party, Democratic Action.

But while he may benefit from its formidable national political machinery, there could be a backlash among some voters given the party's sullied reputation from nepotism.

Beyond their opposition to Chavez and promises to unite behind whoever wins the primary on February 12, the three men have given few specific policy pledges and are trying to avoid political type-casting in Venezuela's polarized environment.

Analysts say Perez and Capriles -- who is an admirer of former Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- are broadly center-left, while Lopez is center-right.

To their nemesis, Chavez, however, they are all representatives of the "ultra-right," offspring of Venezuelan bourgeoisie who plan to dismantle his socialist policies at the behest of interests in Washington.

"Would that there were a candidate of one's own level to have a debate with, but none of them are fit to look in the face, pure mediocrity," Chavez said in one of his near-daily dismissals of the opposition.

Whoever wins in February faces a formidable battle against Chavez. His approval ratings have risen to near-60 percent on a sympathy bounce over his illness and he has accumulated a large election war-chest on the back of high oil revenues.

Chavez has declared himself cured of cancer after an operation to remove a tumor in his pelvic region and four rounds of chemotherapy. Yet doubts persist.

Doctors say it is impossible to have a clean bill of health until at least two years after cancer treatment, and the president said over the weekend he was "not in optimum physical condition" because of a cold he caught in the rain.

(Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago and Marianna Parraga; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111102/wl_nm/us_venezuela_opposition

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Chicago aldermen back marijuana decriminalization proposal (Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) ? A group of Chicago aldermen plan to introduce an ordinance at a Wednesday city council meeting that would decriminalize possessing small amounts of marijuana.

Supporters say the measure would help raise revenue for the city, save money and free up police to pursue more serious crimes.

Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey said the city's 23,000 annual arrests for small amounts of marijuana cost the county $80 million a year, even though 90 percent of the cases are thrown out.

"At a time when the city is searching for ways to maximize the resources of the police, it doesn't make sense to lose 80,000 man-hours a year for cases that are being dismissed," Fritchey said.

If the plan passes, people caught in Chicago with 10 grams or less of marijuana would get a $200 ticket, instead of facing a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to six months in prison.

Fourteen states and some U.S. municipalities, including Seattle, Washington, have already decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, according to Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML, a lobbying group working to legalize the drug.

"There's nothing aberrational about what Chicago is trying to do," said St. Pierre.

He said the recession is one reason marijuana reforms have become more popular, because of the amount of money local governments have to spend on enforcement.

Opponents of decriminalization believe it normalizes drug use, said Amy Ronshausen, manager of congressional and legislative affairs for the Drug Free America Foundation.

"If you're normalizing drug use, it means users are going to use it more," said Ronshausen. "It's not as harmless as the pro-drug lobby would have you believe."

She said decriminalization also results in loss of opportunity for intervention.

St. Pierre said Ohio decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana in the 1970s, and people there did not as a result use the drug more than the rest of the country.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was not immediately available for comment regarding the decriminalization proposal.

Chicago Alderman Proco "Joe" Moreno, a supporter of the proposed ordinance, said in a Huffington Post editorial that anti-marijuana laws are used against minorities in Chicago more than whites, though whites use the drug as much as African-Americans and Latinos.

(Editing by Jerry Norton)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111102/us_nm/us_chicago_marijuana_decriminalization

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Russian craft delivers supplies to space station (Reuters)

MOSCOW (Reuters) ? An unmanned Russian spacecraft delivered supplies to astronauts in orbit Wednesday after the crash of the previous cargo flight left the three-man crew on the International Space Station with dwindling rations.

The loss of the Progress cargo flight on August 24 grounded all launches of Russia's workhorse Soyuz rocket over safety concerns and forced staffing levels to be cut on the space station.

But the latest mission's three-day automated flight and docking clears the way for a resumption of manned space launches. It may also soothe concerns about depending solely on Russia for flights to the orbital laboratory.

"The entire journey was automated and flawless," NASA TV said just after Progress docked at 1141 GMT, taking 2.8 tons of food, fuel, oxygen and other supplies to the station, a $100-billion project funded by 16 nations which orbits about 240 miles above Earth.

"We have been under some uncertainty," U.S. station commander Mike Fossum told NASA TV. "This is a huge step that helps clear the Soyuz rocket of any underlying problems."

After the crash, space officials said Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Japan's Satoshi Furukawa had plenty of food and water on board to last until their return to Earth on the Kazakh steppe on November 22.

At least one Soyuz capsule is always docked at the space station as an escape pod for emergencies.

A new crew is expected to fly to the space station on November 14, arriving two days later, for a six-day handover with the outgoing crew.

Since the U.S. mothballed its shuttle program this summer, Russia's Soyuz capsules are the only ships capable of flying crews to the station, a service that costs NASA about $350 million a year.

NASA is seeking $850 million this year to help U.S.-based private companies develop space taxis to end Russia's monopoly on station crew ferry flights by 2017.

(Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111102/sc_nm/us_russia_iss_docking

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Earthquake science takes to the air

Call it earthquake science from the air: A helicopter is swooping low over the ground in Colorado, scanning for ancient faults.

Researchers hope such flights, being conducted for four to six weeks, will enhance their knowledge about a vital aquifer, the potential for geothermal energy, and the likelihood of seismic hazards.

The San Luis Valley, in south-central Colorado, has an ancient history of seismic activity. It remains a mystery as to where the area's faults are buried and whether they act as a plumbing system for groundwater and geothermal hot springs.

To find out more, a helicopter under contract to the U.S. Geological Survey began scanning for hidden faults in the valley Oct. 24.

"There's a lot of mystery about what's down there, and we're getting information back about it," researcher Tien Grauch, a USGS geophysicist, told OurAmazingPlanet.

The copter has special equipment and is flying back and forth about 320 feet (100 meters) above the ground to measure variations in the Earth's magnetic field in the northern San Luis Valley. "The instrument looks like a big stinger in front of the helicopter," Grauch said.

The aim is to search for magnetic anomalies linked with faults below the Earth's surface. "This method can see down to kilometers deep," Grauch said.

In another assignment earlier in October, the helicopter carried a large, electrically charged hoop of metal? about 100 feet (30 meters) over the ground to map the area's sand and clay layers. The device projected an electrical field downward and measured the response from the ground below, which indicated the dominant material, as sand is more electrically resistive than clay.

"The clay layers have a large effect on the groundwater here," Grauch explained. Specifically, they confine groundwater coming from the neighboring mountains, pressurizing it within an aquifer. Due to concerns that wells are pumping water from this aquifer faster that nature is replenishing it, the state is strictly regulating how much water can be drawn from the aquifer. Improving the knowledge of where the clay lies could thus help manage this vital water, Grauch said.

After this assignment is completed, a third survey will start at the end of November to look for gravitational variations in the area. The strength of Earth's gravitational field on any point of the planet's surface varies on the density of the underlying rock.

"This is another way to look at faults, but this method looks at very big faults," Grauch said. "We're employing three different geophysical methods to look at different properties of the Earth to understand what the geology here is as best we can."

? 2011 OurAmazingPlanet. All rights reserved. More from OurAmazingPlanet.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45107213/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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China coal mine gas blast kills 29 workers

BEIJING?? A gas explosion at a coal mine in central China has killed 29 workers, Chinese authorities said Sunday.

Six other miners survived Saturday evening's blast at a state-owned coal mine in Hengyang city in Hunan province, China's State Administration of Work Safety said in a statement on its website. Five of the workers were rescued, while one climbed out of an air shaft, the statement said.

The work safety administration said rescue work was complete as no other miners were working at the time of the explosion.

It did not mention a cause for the blast. Such explosions are usually caused by the ignition of methane and other gases that accumulate in the shaft because of poor ventilation.

China's coal mines are the most dangerous in the world. Demand for coal induces many producers to sidestep safety regulations, although conditions have improved and a number of small, illegal mines have been shut. Annual fatalities are now about one-third of the high of nearly 7,000 in 2002.

The one in Hunan ? the Xialiuchong Coal Mine ? is a legally operating mine with more than 160 miners that has been around for 40 years, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45091258/ns/business-oil_and_energy/

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UN urges Libyan authorities to control weapons (Providence Journal)

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