Chimps, gorillas, other apes being lost to trade

FILE - In this Saturday, April. 30, 2005 file photo, an infant Bonobo looks on while the substitute mothers Marthe Mianda, left, and Michelline Mzozi, right, spend time with baby Bonobos at the Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary around fifty kilometers outside of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Endangered chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos are disappearing from the wild in frightening numbers, as private owners pay top dollar for exotic pets, while disreputable zoos, amusement parks and traveling circuses clamor for smuggled primates to entertain audiences. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

FILE - In this Saturday, April. 30, 2005 file photo, an infant Bonobo looks on while the substitute mothers Marthe Mianda, left, and Michelline Mzozi, right, spend time with baby Bonobos at the Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary around fifty kilometers outside of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Endangered chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos are disappearing from the wild in frightening numbers, as private owners pay top dollar for exotic pets, while disreputable zoos, amusement parks and traveling circuses clamor for smuggled primates to entertain audiences. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

FILE - In this July 18, 2012 file photo provided by the Chicago Zoological Society shows Maggie, a Bornean orangutan who lives in Brookfield Zoo?s Tropic World exhibit, relaxing on her 51st birthday in Brookfield, Ill. Endangered chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos are disappearing from the wild in frightening numbers, as private owners pay top dollar for exotic pets, while disreputable zoos, amusement parks and traveling circuses clamor for smuggled primates to entertain audiences. (AP Photo/Chicago Zoological Society, Jim Schulz, File)

In this photo taken Feb. 19, 2013, a baby chimp lounges with its mother at Chimp Haven in Keithville, La. One hundred and eleven chimpanzees will be coming from a south Louisiana laboratory to Chimp Haven, the national sanctuary for chimpanzees retired from federal research. More than 22,000 great apes are estimated to have been traded illegally over a seven-year period ending in 2011. That's about 3,000 a year; more than half are chimpanzees, the U.N. report said. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)

FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2011 file photo, chimpanzees sit in an enclosure at the Chimp Eden rehabilitation center, near Nelspruit, South Africa. A paramedic official says chimpanzees at a sanctuary for the animals in eastern South Africa bit and dragged a man at the reserve, badly injuring him. More than 22,000 great apes are estimated to have been traded illegally over a seven-year period ending in 2011. That's about 3,000 a year; more than half are chimpanzees, the U.N. report said. (AP Photo/Erin Conway-Smith, File)

FILE - In this May 2, 2012 file photo, Moka, an endangered western lowland Gorilla, carries her unnamed 3-month-old baby on her back at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium in Pittsburgh. Endangered chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos are disappearing from the wild in frightening numbers, as private owners pay top dollar for exotic pets, while disreputable zoos, amusement parks and traveling circuses clamor for smuggled primates to entertain audiences. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

BANGKOK (AP) ? The multibillion-dollar trade in illegal wildlife ? clandestine trafficking that has driven iconic creatures like the tiger to near-extinction ? is also threatening the survival of great apes, a new U.N. report says.

Endangered chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos are disappearing from the wild in frightening numbers, as private owners pay top dollar for exotic pets, while disreputable zoos, amusement parks and traveling circuses clamor for smuggled primates to entertain audiences.

More than 22,000 great apes are estimated to have been traded illegally over a seven-year period ending in 2011. That's about 3,000 a year; more than half are chimpanzees, the U.N. report said.

"These great apes make up an important part of our natural heritage. But as with all things of value, great apes are used by man for commercial profit and the illegal trafficking of the species constitutes a serious threat to their existence," Henri Djombo, a government minister from the Republic of Congo, was quoted as saying.

The U.N. report paints a dire picture of the fight to protect vulnerable and dwindling flora and fauna from organized criminal networks that often have the upper hand.

Apes are hunted in their own habitats, which are concentrated in central and western Africa, by sophisticated smugglers who transport them on private cargo planes using small airstrips in the African bush. Their destination is usually the Middle East and Asia.

In countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Lebanon, great apes are purchased to display as show pieces in private gardens and menageries.

In Asia, the animals are typically destined for public zoos and amusement parks. China is a main destination for gorillas and chimpanzees. Thailand and Cambodia have recorded cases of orangutans being used for entertainment in "clumsy boxing matches," the report said.

Lax enforcement and corruption make it easy to smuggle the animals through African cities like Nairobi, Kenya, and Khartoum, Sudan, which are trafficking hubs. Bangkok, the Thai capital, is a major hub for the orangutan trade.

Conditions are usually brutal. In February 2005, customs officials at the Nairobi airport seized a large crate that had arrived from Egypt. The crate held six chimpanzees and four monkeys, stuffed into tiny compartments. The crate had been refused at the airport in Cairo, a well-known trafficking hub for shipment to the Middle East, and returned to Kenya. One chimp died of hunger and thirst.

The proliferation of logging and mining camps throughout Africa has also increased the demand for primate meat. Adults and juveniles are killed for consumption, and their orphans are captured to sell into the live trade. Villagers also pluck primates out of rural areas to sell in the cities.

Humans also have been encroaching upon and destroying the primates' natural habitats, destroying their forest homes to build infrastructure and for other purposes. That forces the animals to move into greater proximity and conflict with people.

Sometimes animals are even the victims of war.

Arrests are rare largely because authorities in Africa, where most great apes originate, do not have the policing resources to cope with the criminal poaching networks. Corruption is rampant and those in authority sometimes are among those dealing in the illegal trade. Between 2005 and 2011, only 27 arrests were made in Africa and Asia.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) regulates the trade of animals and plants to ensure their survival. Under the agreement, trade in great apes caught in the wild is illegal. But traffickers often get around that by falsely declaring animals as bred in captivity.

The orangutan is the only great ape found in Asia. One species, the Sumatran orangutan, is critically endangered, with its population having dropped by 80 percent over the last 75 years. Their numbers are in great peril due to the pace of land clearance and forest destruction for industrial or agricultural use.

The report estimates that nearly all of the orangutan's natural habitat will be disturbed or destroyed by the year 2030.

"There are no wild spaces left for them," said Douglas Cress, a co-author of the report and head of a U.N. sponsored program that works for the survival of great apes. "There'll be nothing left at this rate. It's down to the bone. If it disappears, they go, too."

___

Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson

Associated Press

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Gonzalez, Besler show value of Klinsmann's camp

updated 5:21 a.m. ET March 27, 2013

MEXICO CITY, March 27 (Reuters) - United States central defenders Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler went into Tuesday's game against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium with just two World Cup qualifying starts between them, but looked like they had been alongside each other for years in a spirited 0-0 draw.

Gonzalez, making his third start in a qualifier and Besler making his first, held Mexico at bay in front of more than 95,000 fans as the U.S earned just their second point ever at the home of their arch-rivals.

Besler only found out for sure he was starting on the morning of the game after Clarence Goodson, who featured in the 1-0 win against Costa Rica on Friday, told coach Juergen Klinsmann he wasn't ready for 90 minutes due to a hamstring injury.

For Klinsmann, the performance of the pair, who both play in Major League Soccer, was largely due to the time they spent together during the January off-season when he brought in MLS players to a training camp in Los Angeles.

"I think we got to give credit a little bit to our January camp," Klinsmann told reporters.

"That gave us a chance actually to have Omar and Matt working day by day, basically side by side.

"There was already a very good understanding from them because they trained a month long together.

"So we were very calm and knew that once Clarence couldn't go, that this is the next move. It was a logical move and a move we made with a lot of trust and belief in Matt," he said.

DOMINANT FIGURE

Gonzalez in particular was a dominant figure at the back, reading the game well, making timely interceptions and, impressively for a 24-year-old, organising the defence.

The L.A. Galaxy defender agreed with his coach that the January camp had paid dividends when it mattered.

"That was really huge. For me personally, it was a lot about getting to know Klinsmann because I was injured and hadn't spent the time with the team -- I didn't really know him at all."

Of Besler he said: "Tonight we looked like we had been playing a long time together and I thought that it all felt pretty natural."

Mexican-American Gonzalez is in the final year of his contract with L.A. Galaxy and has been closely watched by Mexican team Club America but his recent displays may attract attention from Europe.

U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley, not known for showering teammates with compliments, was full of praise for Gonzalez and 2012 MLS Defender of the Year Besler.

"I thought they both did really well, they are two guys that we have a lot of confidence in. Going forward they are going to be really important for us.

"With the opportunity to play in a game like this, the experience that you get, the confidence you can take away, they can both walk away feeling really proud of what they gave.

"They can walk away from here feeling that if they continue to improve and show their quality they are going to be two very important guys for us". (Reporting By Simon Evans; Editing by Ossian Shine)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Click For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

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Bit of skill, bit of luck

PST: No question, the United States earned its scoreless draw with Mexico at Estadio Azteca on Tuesday. But they have a bit of luck to thank, as well.

Y! Sports: US draw at Azteca?equals win

Yahoo! Sports: Brad Guzan and the U.S. defense held firm in the face of sustained pressure, earning the Americans' first point in World Cup qualifying on Mexican soil in more than 15 years.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51344558/ns/sports-soccer/

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Wells Fargo bank site attack disrupts service

Suzanne Choney , NBC News ? ? ? 6 hrs.

Wells Fargo's online banking site was experiencing problems Tuesday, with a denial-of-service attack likely the reason behind the slowdowns for some customers trying to access the site.

"Today we?ve seen an unusually high volume of website traffic which we believe is a denial of service attack," a bank spokesperson told NBC News. "The vast majority of customers are not impacted and customer information is safe."

Customers who are having problems logging on are encouraged to do keep trying, "as the disruption is usually intermittent," the spokesperson said. "We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience."

This isn't the first time the bank site has been under a denial-of-service attack, where hackers inundate a website with traffic to delay or disrupt it.

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Ally Financial, and regional bank BB&T have also been hit with attacks in the past year. Sources have previously told NBC News and Reuters that the attacks may be part of an effort by Iranian hackers against major U.S. financial institutions and other corporate entities.

Last fall, a financial services industry group, the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, issued an alert about the attacks to members, raising the threat level from "elevated" to high," because of "credible intelligence" about the potential for such attacks.

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Study: Health law to raise claims cost 32 percent

FILE - In this March 23, 2010 file photo, Marcelas Owens of Seattle, left, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., right, and others, look on as President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Medical claims costs _ the biggest driver of health insurance premiums _ will jump an average 32 percent for individual policies under President Barack Obama?s overhaul, according to a study by the nation?s leading group of financial risk analysts. Recently released to its members, the report from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a big headache for the Obama administration at a time when many parts of the country remain skeptical about the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this March 23, 2010 file photo, Marcelas Owens of Seattle, left, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., right, and others, look on as President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Medical claims costs _ the biggest driver of health insurance premiums _ will jump an average 32 percent for individual policies under President Barack Obama?s overhaul, according to a study by the nation?s leading group of financial risk analysts. Recently released to its members, the report from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a big headache for the Obama administration at a time when many parts of the country remain skeptical about the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Map shows projected change in medical claim costs by

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A new study finds that insurance companies will have to pay out an average of 32 percent more for medical claims under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

What does that mean for you?

It could increase premiums for at least some Americans.

If you are uninsured, or you buy your policy directly from an insurance company, you should pay attention.

But if you have an employer plan, like most workers and their families, odds are you don't have much to worry about.

The estimates from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a political headache for the Obama administration at a time when much of the country remains skeptical of the Affordable Care Act.

The administration is questioning the study, saying it doesn't give a full picture ? and costs will go down.

Actuaries are financial risk professionals who conduct long-range cost estimates for pension plans, insurance companies and government programs.

The study says claims costs will go up largely because sicker people will join the insurance pool. That's because the law forbids insurers from turning down those with pre-existing medical problems, effective Jan. 1. Everyone gets sick sooner or later, but sicker people also use more health care services.

"Claims cost is the most important driver of health care premiums," said Kristi Bohn, an actuary who worked on the study. Spending on sicker people and other high-cost groups will overwhelm an influx of younger, healthier people into the program, said the report.

The Obama administration challenged the design of the study, saying it focused only on one piece of the puzzle and ignored cost relief strategies in the law, such as tax credits to help people afford premiums and special payments to insurers who attract an outsize share of the sick.

The study also doesn't take into account the potential price-cutting effect of competition in new state insurance markets that will go live Oct. 1, administration officials said.

At a White House briefing Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said some of what passes for health insurance today is so skimpy it can't be compared to the comprehensive coverage available under the law. "Some of these folks have very high catastrophic plans that don't pay for anything unless you get hit by a bus," she said. "They're really mortgage protection, not health insurance."

Sebelius said the picture on premiums won't start coming into focus until insurers submit their bids. Those results may not be publicly known until late summer.

Another striking finding of the report was a wide disparity in cost impact among the states.

While some states will see medical claims costs per person decline, the report concluded that the overwhelming majority will see double-digit increases in their individual health insurance markets, where people purchase coverage directly from insurers.

The differences are big. By 2017, the estimated increase would be 62 percent for California, about 80 percent for Ohio, more than 20 percent for Florida and 67 percent for Maryland. Much of the reason for the higher claims costs is that sicker people are expected to join the pool, the report said.

Part of the reason for the wide disparities is that states have different populations and insurance rules. In the relatively small number of states where insurers were already restricted from charging higher rates to older, sicker people, the cost impact is less.

The report did not make similar estimates for employer plans that most workers and families rely on. That's because the primary impact of Obama's law is on people who don't have coverage through their jobs.

A prominent national expert, recently retired Medicare chief actuary Rick Foster, said the report does "a credible job" of estimating potential enrollment and costs under the law, "without trying to tilt the answers in any particular direction."

"Having said that," Foster added, "actuaries tend to be financially conservative, so the various assumptions might be more inclined to consider what might go wrong than to anticipate that everything will work beautifully." Actuaries use statistics and economic theory to make long-range cost projections for insurance and pension programs sponsored by businesses and government. The society is headquartered near Chicago.

Bohn, the actuary who worked on the study, acknowledged it did not attempt to estimate the effect of subsidies, insurer competition and other factors that could offset cost increases. She said the goal was to look at the underlying cost of medical care.

"We don't see ourselves as a political organization," Bohn added. "We are trying to figure out what the situation at hand is."

On the plus side, the report found the law will cover more than 32 million currently uninsured Americans when fully phased in. And some states ? including New York and Massachusetts ? will see double-digit declines in costs for claims in the individual market.

Uncertainty over costs has been a major issue since the law passed three years ago, and remains so just months before a big push to cover the uninsured gets rolling Oct. 1. Middle-class households will be able to purchase subsidized private insurance in new marketplaces, while low-income people will be steered to Medicaid and other safety net programs. States are free to accept or reject a Medicaid expansion also offered under the law.

___

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-27-US-Health-Overhaul-Costs/id-40c501e6e64b440493e74febc620bd88

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The secret to women's health | Body Health ? Bodybuilding ...

Key T? Health Lies In Y??r Pancreas

A? women, w? know a lot ?f things! W? wear many hats ?n? through th? ups ?n? downs ?f day-t?-day life, w? learn something n?w ??? th? time. Knowledge ?? indeed power, ??t wh?n ?t comes t? ??r body, w? don?t always know th? keys t? ??r health ?n? wellness. One secret t? health th?t many ?f ?? don?t know ?? ?f th? role ?f th? pancreas. B?t w??re going t? change th?t r??ht now. Here?s h?w th? health ?f ???r pancreas ?? key t? ???r overall health.

Wh?t ?? th? pancreas?

Th? pancreas ?? a ??tt??-known ?r -th???ht-?b??t gland th?t lies behind th? stomach, below th? sternum (breast bone) ?n? plays a crucial role ?n weight, health ?n? illness. A? a registered nurse ?n? certified health counselor, I h??? seen th? effects ?n unhealthy pancreas ??n h??? ?n ??r overall health ?n? I h??? m??? ?t m? mission t? educate ?n? h??? others understand th? importance ?f th? pancreas ?n? h?w w? ??n take control.

Pancreatic abuse contributes t? chronic disease

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such ?? type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, cancer ?n? respiratory illness, t? name a few, ?r? global health issues, ?n? ??? ?f th?m ??n stem fr?m pancreatic abuse.
Pancreas ?n? weight gain

Th? pancreas produces ?n? secretes insulin. Insulin ?? a hormone th?t lowers ???r blood glucose b? acting ?? a key t? open th? door t? ???r cells, allowing fuel (glucose) t? enter th? cell ?? ?t ??n function, repair itself ?n? ?r??t? ?th?r cells. T?? much glucose causes th? pancreas t? overwork ?n? manufacture t?? much insulin. Th? result? Insulin becomes ineffective (?t ??n?t open th? cell door t? allow th? fuel ?nt? th? cell) ?n? th? result ?? excess insulin ?n? glucose coursing through ???r body, contributing t? weight gain ?n? inflammation th?t ?r??t?? havoc ?n ???r vessels ?n? ??? ?f ???r vital organs. Th??? ?r? th? fundamentals.

Th? Pancreatic Oath

Wh?n m? ?wn young daughter w?? diagnosed w?th a series ?f chronic medical conditions, I ??t m? years ?f experience ?n? knowledge ?b??t th?? ?ft?n-discounted gland t? work ?n? ?r??t?? a pancreatic nutritional program t? h??? combat th? negative toll ??r b?? habits ??n h??? ?n th? pancreas. In ?n effort t? educate others ?n th? role th? pancreas plays ?n ??r overall health, I released th? information ?n m? book Th? Pancreatic Oath.

B? proactive w?th ???r health

Th? essence ?f Th? Pancreatic Oath ?? th? practice ?f self-health. Y?? ?r? ???r primary caregiver. Y??r physician ?? ???r secondary caregiver. Y?? play ?n integral ??rt ?n ???r health ?n? well-being. It ?? unfair t? expect ???r physician t? wave a magic wand ?n? erase years ?f poor diet ?n? abuse. Y?? m??t ?? ???r ??rt t? protect, improve ?n? sustain ???r health. Th?? ?? accomplished n?t b? counting calories, counting carbohydrates ?r working out ??k? a maniac, ?t ?? b? keeping ???r blood sugar between 70 ?n? 100. (Type 1 ?n? 2 diabetics ?h???? strive f?r numbers between 70 ?n? 120.) Th?? number ?? determined 90 minutes ?ft?r eating b? using a glucometer t? test ???r blood ? ?n? ?? n?t ?? difficult, ?r ?? scary ?? ?t m?? sound.

Protecting th? pancreas ?? even more ?m??rt?nt f?r cancer patients. Th?r? ?? nothing th?t cancer cells ???? more th?n glucose except insulin. Cancer treatment, b? ?t surgery, chemotherapy ?n?/?r radiation, ?? counter-productive ?f wh?t ??? eat increases ???r blood glucose ?n? stimulates ???r pancreas t? produce more insulin, wh??h results ?n a fertile ground f?r cancer cell growth.

Protect ???r pancreas

S? h?w ??n ??? protect ???r pancreas? B? staying away fr?m unfriendly pancreatic foods: sugars (real ?n? artificial), fruit juice ?r dried fruits, wr?n? food combining, processed foods/f??t foods, ?white? foods such ?? rice, potatoes, flour, bread. Y?? ??n ???? h??? b? eating pancreatic-friendly foods th?t keep ???r blood glucose between 70 ?n? 100. Listen t? ???r pancreas ?n? ???r body ? ???r health depends ?n ?t!

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SpaceX Dragon cargo ship splashes into Pacific

This image provided by NASA-TV shows the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft as it is backed away from the International Space Station early Tuesday March 26, 2013 by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm. The Dragon is expected to splash down in the eastern Pacific ocean approximately 246 miles off the coast of Baja Calif., later this morning. (AP Photo/NASA)

This image provided by NASA-TV shows the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft as it is backed away from the International Space Station early Tuesday March 26, 2013 by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm. The Dragon is expected to splash down in the eastern Pacific ocean approximately 246 miles off the coast of Baja Calif., later this morning. (AP Photo/NASA)

In this image provided by SpaceX, the Dragon capsule uses parachutes to descend to the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico's Baja Peninsula after leaving the International Space Station. The vehicle brought back more than 1 ton of science experiments and old station equipment. It's the only supply ship capable of two-way delivery. NASA is paying SpaceX more than $1 billion for a dozen resupply missions. (AP Photo/SpaceX)

This image provided by NASA-TV shows the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft after it was detached from the International Space Station early Tuesday March 26, 2013 by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm. The two spacecraft were traveling Canada at the time. The rising sun and the curvature of the earth can be seen behind the spacecraft. The Dragon is expected to splash down in the eastern Pacific ocean approximately 246 miles off the coast of Baja Calif., later this morning. (AP Photo/NASA)

This image provided by NASA-TV shows the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft as it is backed away from the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm early Tuesday March 26, 2013 on it's return to earth. The Dragon is expected to splash down in the eastern Pacific ocean approximately 246 miles off the coast of Baja Calif., later this morning. (AP Photo/NASA)

This image provided by NASA-TV shows the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft after it was detached from the International Space Station at 4:10 a.m. EDT Tuesday March 26, 2013 by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm. The two spacecraft were traveling over the western edge of California at the time. The Dragon is expected to splash down in the eastern Pacific ocean approximatel 246 miles off the coast of Baja Calif. later this morning.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) ? The SpaceX Dragon capsule returned to Earth on Tuesday with a full science load from the International Space Station ? and a bunch of well-used children's Legos.

The privately owned cargo ship splashed down in the Pacific right on target, 250 miles off the coast of Mexico's Baja Peninsula, five hours after leaving the orbiting lab. The California-based SpaceX confirmed the Dragon's safe arrival via Twitter.

"Special delivery! Dragon now being recovered in the Pacific," the company said in a tweet.

The capsule brought back more than 1 ton of science experiments and old station equipment, as well as 13 toy sets of Lego building blocks that were used by space station crews over the past couple years to teach children about science.

It's the only supply ship capable of two-way delivery. With the space shuttles retired, NASA is paying SpaceX more than $1 billion for a dozen resupply missions.

The unmanned capsule will be shipped to Los Angeles ? arriving Wednesday night ? and then trucked to Texas for unloading.

Earlier in the day, astronauts released the unmanned capsule from the end of the space station's giant robot arm. The 250-mile-high parting was a poignant moment for the three space station's residents, who helped to snare the Dragon three weeks earlier.

"Sad to see the Dragon go," astronaut Thomas Marshburn told Mission Control. "Performed her job beautifully. Heading back to her lair. Wish her all the best for the splashdown today."

The Dragon used old-NASA-style parachutes to plop into the ocean; company officials indicated all appeared to go well during the re-entry.

SpaceX launched the capsule from Cape Canaveral at the beginning of March. Mechanical trouble delayed the capsule's arrival at the space station by a day. SpaceX flight controllers at company headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., managed to fix the problem within hours.

Bad weather at mission's end in the Pacific recovery zone kept it in orbit an extra day.

Once the Dragon pulls into port, NASA will retrieve the science samples meticulously collected over the weeks and months by space station astronauts, as well as experiments that flew up with Dragon, including hundreds of flowering weeds. Mouse stem cells stayed behind on the space station, at the request of the Japanese researchers.

Old space station equipment and other items aboard the Dragon will be removed by SpaceX in McGregor, Texas. In all, more than 1 ton of gear ? 2,668 pounds ? was loaded into the capsule.

SpaceX ? Space Exploration Technologies Corp. ? is run by billionaire Elon Musk, who made his fortune as a co-creator of PayPal. He also owns the electric car maker Tesla Motors.

This was the second flight of a Dragon to the space station under the $1.6 billion contract with NASA, and the third delivery mission altogether for SpaceX. The next flight is slated for late fall.

A competitor, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., plans a test flight of its Antares rocket and a dummy payload next month. That launch will be conducted from Wallops Island, Va. Orbital, too, has a NASA contract to deliver supplies.

Russia, Japan and Europe also periodically send up supplies, but SpaceX has the only craft capable of returning goods. All the others burn up upon re-entry.

Three astronauts are aboard the space station right now. They will be joined by three more following Thursday's Soyuz launch from Kazakhstan.

With its space shuttles now museum pieces, NASA is paying Russia to launch U.S. astronauts until SpaceX or another American company comes up with spaceships than can safely fly crews. Musk anticipates that happening by 2015 with a modified Dragon.

___

Online:

SpaceX: http://www.spacex.com

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Associated Press

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Kerry in Afghanistan to prod Karzai on future ties

KABUL (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry embarked on talks Monday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai amid concerns Karzai may be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with his anti-American rhetoric. The session came shortly after the U.S. military ceded control of its last detention facility in Afghanistan, ending a longstanding irritant in relations.

During Kerry's 24-hour visit to the country ? his sixth since President Barack Obama became president but his first as Obama's secretary of State ? Kerry planned to meet with Karzai, civic leaders and others to discuss continued U.S. assistance to the country and how to wean it from such aid as the international military operation winds down, and upcoming national elections.

Karzai has infuriated U.S. officials by accusing Washington of colluding with Taliban insurgents to keep Afghanistan weak even as the Obama administration presses ahead with plans to hand off security responsibility to Afghan forces and end NATO's combat mission by the end of next year.

U.S. officials accompanying Kerry said he did not plan to lecture Karzai or dwell on the apparent animosity but would make clear once again that the U.S. did not take such allegations lightly, They said he would press Karzai on the need for May's elections to meet international standards and continue to stress the importance of Afghan reconciliation and U.S. support for a Taliban office in Qatar where talks could occur.

Karzai is expected to travel to Qatar within the week and some movement on the opening of an office is likely then.

Kerry, who arrived in Kabul from Amman, Jordan, had hoped also to travel to Pakistan on his trip to the region but put it off due to elections there. Instead, he met late Sunday in Amman with Pakistani army chief for Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, officials said.

The pair had a private dinner at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Jordan as Pakistan continued to seethe in the aftermath of the return from exile to the country of former president Pervez Musharraf, himself a former army chief.

Earlier Monday, the U.S. military ceded control of the Parwan last detention facility near the U.S.-run Bagram military base north of Kabul, a year after the two sides initially agreed on the transfer. Karzai demanded control of Parwan as a matter of national sovereignty.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Joseph Dunford, handed over Parwan at a ceremony there after signing an agreement with Afghan Defense Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi. "This ceremony highlights an increasingly confident, capable and sovereign Afghanistan," Dunford said.

The dispute over the center threw a pall over the ongoing negotiations for a bilateral security agreement that would govern the presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan after 2014.

An initial agreement to hand over Parwan was signed a year ago, but efforts to follow through on it constantly stumbled over American concerns that the Afghan government would release prisoners that it considered dangerous.

A key hurdle was a ruling by an Afghan judicial panel holding that administrative detention, the practice of holding someone without formal charges, violated the country's laws. The U.S. argued that international law allowed administrative detentions and also argued that it could not risk the passage of some high-value detainees to the notoriously corrupt Afghan court system.

An initial deadline for the full handover passed last September and another earlier this month.

The detention center houses about 3,000 prisoners and the majority are already under Afghan control. The United States had not handed over about 100, and some of those under American authority do not have the right to a trial because the U.S. considers them part of an ongoing conflict.

There are also about three dozen non-Afghan detainees, including Pakistanis and other nationals that will remain in American hands. The exact number and nationality of those detainees has never been made public.

A new agreement, or memorandum of understanding, was signed at the ceremony by Dunford and Khan, but the U.S. military said it will not be made public. The agreement supplants one signed last March, which had been made public.

The U.S. military said in a statement that the new agreement "affirms their mutual commitment to the lawful and humane treatment of detainees and their intention to protect the people of Afghanistan and coalition forces," an apparent reference to the release of detainees deemed to be dangerous.

There are about 100,000 coalition troops in Afghanistan, including about 66,000 from the United States. American officials have made no final decision on how many troops might remain in Afghanistan after 2014, although they have said as many as many as 12,000 U.S. and coalition forces could remain.

The U.S. started to hold detainees at Bagram Air Field in early 2002. For several years, prisoners were kept at a former Soviet aircraft machine plant converted into a lockup.

In 2009, the U.S. opened a new detention facility next door. The number of detainees incarcerated at that prison, renamed the Parwan Detention Facility, went from about 1,100 in September 2010 to more than 3,000.

After Monday's handover, it was renamed the Afghan National Detention Facility at Parwan and the U.S. military said it would provide the Afghan army with advisers and $39 million in funding.

The United States has spent about a quarter of a billion dollars to build the Bagram facility along with Kabul's main prison located in the capital.

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Patrick Quinn in Kabul and Rahim Faiez in Bagram, Afghanistan contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-afghanistan-prod-karzai-future-ties-122942652--politics.html

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