Scientology ad crossed the line

The Church of Scientology is also at fault for thinking the advertorial would survive The Atlantic readers' scrutiny, Ian Schafer says.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Atlantic published and pulled a sponsored Scientology "story"


• Ian Schafer: On several levels, the ad was a mistake


• He says the content was heavy-handed and comments were being moderated


• Schafer: Experimenting to raise revenue makes sense, but standards should be clear

Editor's note: Ian Schafer is the founder and CEO of a digital advertising agency, Deep Focus, and the alter ego of @invisibleobama. You can read his rants on his blog at ianschafer.com.

(CNN) -- "The Atlantic is America's leading destination for brave thinking and bold ideas that matter. The Atlantic engages its print, online, and live audiences with breakthrough insights into the worlds of politics, business, the arts, and culture. With exceptional talent deployed against the world's most important and intriguing topics, The Atlantic is the source of opinion, commentary, and analysis for America's most influential individuals who wish to be challenged, informed, and entertained." -- The Atlantic 2013 media kit for advertisers

On Monday, The Atlantic published -- and then pulled -- a story titled "David Miscavige Leads Scientology to Milestone Year." This "story" went on to feature the growth of Scientology in 2012.

Ian Schafer

Any regular reader of The Atlantic's content would immediately do a double-take upon seeing that kind of headline, much less the heavy-handed text below it, shamelessly plugging how well Scientology's "ecclesiastical leader" Miscavige has done in "leading a renaissance for the religion."

This "story" is one of several "advertorials" (a portmanteau of "advertising" and "editorials") that The Atlantic has published online, clearly designated as "Sponsor Content." In other words, "stories" like these aren't real stories. They are ads with a lot of words, which advertisers have paid publications to run on their behalf for decades. You may have seen them in magazines and newspapers as "special advertising sections."

The hope is that because you are already reading the publication, hey, maybe you'll read what the advertiser has to say, too -- instead of the "traditional" ad that they may have otherwise placed on the page that you probably won't remember, or worse, will ignore.

There's nothing wrong with this tactic, ethically, when clearly labeled as "sponsored" or "advertising." But many took umbrage with The Atlantic in this particular case; so many, that The Atlantic responded by pulling the story from its site -- which was the right thing to do -- and by apologizing.

At face value, The Atlantic did the right thing for its business model, which depends upon advertising sales. It sold what they call a "native" ad to a paying advertiser, clearly labeled it as such, without the intention of misleading readers into thinking this was a piece of journalism.

But it still failed on several levels.

The Atlantic defines its readers as "America's most influential individuals who wish to be challenged, informed, and entertained." By that very definition, it is selling "advertorials" to people who are the least likely to take them seriously, especially when heavy-handed. There is a fine line between advertorial and outright advertising copywriting, and this piece crossed it. The Church of Scientology is just as much at fault for thinking this piece would survive The Atlantic readers' intellectual scrutiny. But this isn't even the real issue.

Bad advertising is all around us. And readers' intellectual scrutiny would surely have let the advertorial piece slide without complaints (though snark would be inevitable), as they have in the past, or yes, even possibly ignored it. But here's where The Atlantic crossed another line -- it seemed clear it was moderating the comments beneath the advertorial.

As The Washington Post reported, The Atlantic marketing team was carefully pruning the comments, ensuring that they were predominantly positive, even though many readers were leaving negative comments. So while The Atlantic was publishing clearly labeled advertiser-written content, it was also un-publishing content created by its readers -- the very folks it exists to serve.

It's understandable that The Atlantic would inevitably touch a third rail with any "new" ad format. But what it calls "native advertising" is actually "advertorial." It's not new at all. Touching the third rail in this case is unacceptable.

So what should The Atlantic have done in this situation before it became a situation? For starters, it should have worked more closely with the Church of Scientology to help create a piece of content that wasn't so clearly written as an ad. If the Church of Scientology was not willing to compromise its advertising to be better content, then The Atlantic should not have accepted the advertising. But this is a quality-control issue.

The real failure here was that comments should never have been enabled beneath this sponsored content unless the advertiser was prepared to let them be there, regardless of sentiment.

It's not like Scientology has avoided controversy in the past. The sheer, obvious reason for this advertorial in the first place was to dispel beliefs that Scientology wasn't a recognized religion (hence "ecclesiastical").

Whether The Atlantic felt it was acting in its advertiser's best interest, or the advertiser specifically asked for this to happen, letting it happen at all was a huge mistake, and a betrayal of an implicit contract that should exist between a publication of The Atlantic's stature and its readership.

No matter how laughably "sales-y" a piece of sponsored content might be, the censoring of readership should be the true "third rail," never to be touched.

Going forward, The Atlantic (and any other publication that chooses to run sponsored content) should adopt and clearly communicate an explicit ethics statement regarding advertorials and their corresponding comments. This statement should guide the decisions it makes when working with advertisers, and serve as a filter for the sponsored content it chooses to publish, and what it recommends advertisers submit. It should also prevent readers from being silenced if given a platform at all.

As an advertising professional, I sincerely hope this doesn't spook The Atlantic or any other publication from experimenting with ways to make money. But as a reader, I hope it leads to better ads that reward me for paying attention, rather than muzzle my voice should I choose to interact with the content.

After all, what more could a publication or advertiser ask for than for content to be so interesting that someone actually would want to comment on (or better, share) it?

(Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said native advertising accounts for 59% of the Atlantic's ad revenue. Digital advertising, of which native advertising is a part, accounts for 59% of The Atlantic's overall revenue, according to the company.)

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ian Schafer.

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Man killed after high school game ends in melee

The Simeon and Morgan Park High School basketball teams ended their game at Chicago State University with a melee between players on the court. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune)

Staff report

12:17 a.m. CST, January 17, 2013

A 20-year-old man was shot and killed outside a Chicago Public Schools high school basketball game at Chicago State University Wednesday night after a melee broke out in a handshake line after the game.

The man was taken in serious condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

The shooting happened about 9:20 p.m. outside the campus gymnasium near 95th Street and King Drive, said police News Affairs Officer Daniel O’Brien. He was pronounced dead at Christ hospital Wednesday night.

Chicago State Police put out a quick message to nearby officers, asking them to watch for a jeep that was pulled over east of the school a short time later, police said, citing early reports. Two people were taken into custody and police found a gun inside the jeep.

The game was between Simeon Career Academy and Morgan Park High School, both schools located on Vincennes Avenue about 30 blocks apart, at 81st and 111th Streets.

An argument in a handshake line after the game preceeded the shooting, police said. The gym was tense and word spread through the gym that someone had been shot.

Police said the argument spilled into the parking lot and someone pulled out a weapon and shot the 20-year-old.

Each team was held for longer than normal in the locker rooms after the game. Nothing outside ordinary bumps and physical contact happened during the game.

Chicago police responded to the scene but are not involved with the investigation, O'Brien said.

Chicago State Police refused to comment about the incident and city police referred inquiries to them and Illinois State Police, who said they were not involved in the investigation.

Check back for details.

Contributor Mike Helfgot and Tribune reporters Peter Nickeas, Rosemary Regina Sobol and Jeremy Gorner contributed to this story.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com
Twitter: @chicagobreaking

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Sahara hostage siege turns Mali war global

ALGIERS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Islamist fighters have opened an international front in Mali's civil war by taking dozens of Western hostages at a gas plant in the Algerian desert just as French troops launched an offensive against rebels in neighboring Mali.

Nearly 24 hours after gunmen stormed the natural gas pumping site and workers' housing before dawn on Wednesday, little was certain beyond a claim by a group calling itself the "Battalion of Blood" that it was holding 41 foreign nationals, including Americans, Japanese and Europeans, at Tigantourine, deep in the Sahara.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed one Briton had been killed and "a number" of others were being held hostage. Algerian media said an Algerian was killed in the assault. Another local report said a Frenchman had died.

"This is a dangerous and rapidly developing situation," Hague told reporters in Sydney on Thursday, adding Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron had spoken with the Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

"We have sent a rapid deployment team from our Foreign Office in order to reinforce our embassy and consulate staff there. The safety of those involved and their co-workers is our absolutely priority and we will work around the clock to resolve this crisis."

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a daily briefing after a government emergency meeting that: "Japan will work to secure the release of Japanese citizens as soon as possible in close cooperation with other involved nations."

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in Vietnam on the first leg of a Southeast Asian tour, told reporters that "Japan will never tolerate such an act", according to the Jiji news agency.

One thing is clear: as a headline-grabbing counterpunch to this week's French buildup in Mali, it presents French President Francois Hollande with a daunting dilemma and spreads fallout from Mali's war against loosely allied bands of al Qaeda-inspired rebels far beyond Africa, challenging Washington and Europe.

A French businessman with employees at the site said the foreigners were bound and under tight guard, while local staff, numbering 150 or more, were held apart and had more freedom.

Led by an Algerian veteran of guerrilla wars in Afghanistan, the group demanded France halt its week-old intervention in Mali, an operation endorsed by Western and African allies who fear that al Qaeda, flush with men and arms from the defeated forces of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, is building a haven in the desert.

Hollande, who won wide praise for ordering air strikes and sending troops to the former French colony, said little in response. In office for only eight months, he has warned of a long, hard struggle in Mali and now faces a risk of attacks on more French and other Western targets in Africa and beyond.

The Algerian government ruled out negotiating and the United States and other Western governments condemned what they called a terrorist attack on a facility, now shut down, that produces 10 percent of Algeria's gas, much of which is pumped to Europe.

The militants, communicating through established contacts with media in neighboring Mauritania, said they had dozens of men at the base, near the town of In Amenas close to the Libyan border, and that they were armed with mortars and anti-aircraft missiles.

They said they had repelled a raid by Algerian forces after dark on Wednesday. There was no government comment on that. Algerian officials said earlier about 20 gunmen were involved.

LIVES AT RISK

The militants issued no explicit threat but made clear the hostages' lives were at risk: "We hold the Algerian government and the French government and the countries of the hostages fully responsible if our demands are not met and it is up to them to stop the brutal aggression against our people in Mali," read one statement carried by Mauritanian media.

The group also said its fighters had rigged explosives around the site and any attempt to free the hostages would lead to a "tragic end." The large numbers of gunmen and hostages involved pose serious problems for any rescue operation.

Smaller hostage-taking incidents have been common in the Sahara and financial gain plays a part in the actions of groups whose members mingle extremist religious aims with traditional smuggling and other pursuits in the lawless, borderless region.

Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia said the raid was led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who fought Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s and recently set up his own group in the Sahara after falling out with other local al Qaeda leaders.

A holy warrior-cum-smuggler dubbed "The Uncatchable" by French intelligence and "Mister Marlboro" by some locals for his illicit cigarette-running business, Belmokhtar's links to those who seized towns across northern Mali last year are unclear.

French media said the militants were also demanding that Algeria, whose government fought a bloody war against Islamists in the 1990s, release dozens of prisoners from its jails.

AMERICANS

The militants said seven Americans were among the 41 foreign hostages - a figure U.S. officials said they could not confirm.

Norwegian energy company Statoil, which operates the gas field in a joint venture with Britain's BP and the Algerian state company Sonatrach, said nine of its Norwegian employees and three of its Algerian staff were being held.

Japanese engineering firm JGC Corp. said in a statement it was cooperating with the government but that it would not comment the number of its employees kidnapped or the location of the incident. According to Japanese media reports, five of the firm's employees were among the hostages.

Also reported kidnapped, according to various sources, were a French national, an Austrian, an Irishman and the Britons.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said: "I want to assure the American people that the United States will take all necessary and proper steps that are required to deal with this situation."

He said he lacked firm information on whether there were links to the situation in Mali. Analysts pointed to shifting alliances and rivalries among Islamists in the region to suggest the hostage-takers may have a range of motives.

In their own statements, they condemned Algeria's secularist government for "betraying" its predecessors in the bloody anti-colonial war against French rule half a century ago by letting French warplanes fly over its territory to Mali. They also accused Algeria of shutting its border to Malian refugees.

Panetta said Washington was still studying legal and other issues before providing more help to France in the war in Mali.

Hollande has called for international support against rebels who France says pose a threat to Africa and the West, and admits it faces a long struggle against well-equipped fighters who seized Timbuktu and other oasis towns in northern Mali and have imposed Islamic law, including public amputations and beheading.

Islamists have warned Hollande that he has "opened the gates of hell" for all French citizens.

Some of those held at the facility, about 1,300 km (800 miles) inland, had sporadic contact with the outside world.

The head of a French catering company said he had information from a manager who supervises some 150 Algerian employees at the site. Regis Arnoux of CIS Catering told BFM television the local staff was being prevented from leaving but was otherwise free to move around inside and keep on working.

"The Westerners are kept in a separate wing of the base," Arnoux said. "They are tied up and are being filmed. Electricity is cut off, and mobile phones have no charge.

"Direct action seems very difficult. ... Algerian officials have told the French authorities as well as BP that they have the situation under control and do not need their assistance."

MALI OFFENSIVE

French army chief Edouard Guillaud said ground forces were stepping up their operation to engage directly "within hours" the alliance of Islamist fighters, grouping al Qaeda's North African wing AQIM and Mali's home-grown Ansar Dine and MUJWA.

West African military chiefs said the French would soon be supported by about 2,000 troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger and other states - part of a U.N.-mandated deployment that had been expected to start in September before Hollande intervened.

Chad's foreign minister, Moussa Faki Mahamat, told Radio France International his country alone would send 2,000 troops, suggesting plans for the regional force were already growing.

In Mali, residents said a column of some 30 French Sagaie armored vehicles had set off toward rebel positions from the town of Niono, 300 km (190 miles) from the capital, Bamako.

A Malian military source said French special forces units were taking part in the operation. Guillaud said France's strikes, involving Rafale and Mirage jet fighters, were being hampered because militants were sheltering among civilians.

Many inhabitants of northern Mali have welcomed the French attacks, although some also fear being caught in the cross-fire.

Hollande said on Tuesday that French forces would remain in Mali until stability returned to the West African nation.

The conflict, in a landlocked state of 15 million twice the size of France, has displaced an estimated 30,000 people and raised concerns across mostly Muslim West Africa of a radicalization of Islam in the region.

But many who have lived for many months under harsh and violent Islamist rule said they welcomed the French.

"There is a great hope," one man said from Timbuktu, where he said Islamist fighters were trying to blend into civilian neighborhoods. "We hope that the city will be freed soon."

(Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher and Andrew Callus in London, Balazs Koranyi in Oslo, Laurent Prieur in Nouakchott, Daniel Flynn in Dakar, John Irish, Catherine Bremer and Nick Vinocur in Paris, David Alexander in Rome, Andrew Quinn in Washington, Jane Wardell in Sydney and Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Peter Cooney and Michael Perry)

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Asian shares fall on growth caution, Nikkei hit as yen gains

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares fell on Wednesday as cautious investors waited for crucial economic data from China later this week, while the yen's extended gains spurred profit taking in Japanese equities after their recent rally.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei average <.n225> shed 2.6 percent for its largest daily decline in eight months, sharply reversing Tuesday's rally that lifted the index to a 32-month closing high, as the yen paused from its recent heavy selling and extended gains for two days in a row. <.t/>

The weak yen has been a catalyst for the Nikkei's 24 percent gain over the past two months.

"It's a correction. Some exporters' gains are legitimate, but others aren't, so I am selling exporters which have gained while their fundamentals are still poor such as Panasonic," said Makoto Kikuchi, Chief Executive of Myojo Asset Management in Tokyo.

Many other markets which had rallied opted to trim long positions ahead of a slew of reports due on Friday from China, the world's second-largest economy and top consumer of most commodities.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> wiped out earlier modest gains to fall 0.4 percent, dragged lower by a 1.5 percent drop in the index's worst performer, Shanghai shares <.ssec>. Hong Kong shares <.hsi> shed 0.6 percent.

Bucking the risk-off trend, Australian shares and Brent futures gained, encouraged by Tuesday's stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales data in December.

European markets are seen rising modestly, with financial spread-betters predicting London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> would open up as much as 0.3 percent. A 0.2 percent fall in U.S. stock futures hinted at a weak start on Wall Street. <.l><.eu><.n/>

Data showing China's foreign direct investment inflows falling by a smaller percentage in December than the month before helped trim losses in Chinese stocks, ahead of fourth-quarter GDP and December industrial output, retail sales and house price data expected on Friday.

The data from China will be keenly watched by investors for clues on the health of the Asia's biggest economy and global growth prospects.

Being Asia's sole outperformer, Australian shares <.axjo> advanced 0.5 percent, led by banks and defensives after Wall Street posted modest gains on the retail sales data.

"It would appear that a number of traders are waiting to see how Friday's Chinese GDP data pans out before buying with more conviction and this is particularly true of the mining sector," said Tim Waterer, senior trader at CMC Markets in Sydney.

Selling in the dollar and the euro against the yen in what traders say is a short-term corrective move was sparked by a Japanese official on Tuesday warning of damage from excessive yen weakness through rising import prices.

The yen had steadily fallen over the past two months on expectations the new government would embark on aggressive fiscal stimulus while pushing the Bank of Japan to take bold monetary easing steps.

Data on Wednesday showed Japan's core machinery orders rose 3.9 percent in November from October, exceeding a forecast 0.3 percent rise, but another report showed consumer confidence worsened in December.

The dollar fell 0.7 percent to 88.13 yen, after scaling its peak since June 2010 of 89.67 on Monday.

The euro slumped 0.9 percent to 117.09 yen, after surging to its highest since May 2011 of 120.13 yen on Monday.

REALLOCATION UNDERWAY?

The euro eased 0.2 percent against the dollar to $1.3281, after reaching an 11-month high of $1.3404 on Monday.

The euro was pressured by a weak economic report from Germany as well as comments from the chairman of the euro zone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, who on Tuesday said the euro was "dangerously high" without elaborating.

The single currency eased 0.1 percent against the Swiss franc at 1.2385, off Tuesday's 13-month high of 1.2413 francs. The Swiss franc has been hit by receding safe-haven bids as falling yields in deeply indebted countries such as Spain and Italy eased concerns about the euro zone's debt crisis.

Reversals in the strengthening trend for the Swiss franc and the yen may suggest asset reallocations are taking place.

"Old regimes are dying and FX is the first sign of this process. We are seeing this in JPY, are starting to see this in CHF," Sebastien Galy, strategist at Societe Generale, said in a note to clients.

Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,681.55 an ounce, underpinned by wariness about U.S. default risks.

But platinum fell 0.7 percent to $1,666.75 an ounce after hitting a three-month high of $1,699.50 on Tuesday on supply fears. It traded at a premium to gold on Tuesday for the first time since March 2012.

The benchmark gold futures contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange hit a record high for a third consecutive session, rising to 4,828 yen a gram.

U.S. crude was up 0.2 percent to $93.44 a barrel while Brent was up 0.3 percent to $110.61.

A falling stock market weighed on Asian credit markets, pushing the spread on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index wider by 2 basis points.

(Additional reporting by Ayai Tomisawa in Tokyo and Thuy Ong in Sydney; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

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Anti-doping officials want Armstrong under oath

A televised confession by Lance Armstrong isn't enough.

Anti-doping officials want the disgraced cyclist to admit his guilt under oath before considering whether to lift a lifetime ban clouding his future as a competitive athlete. That was seconded by at least one former teammate whom Armstrong pushed aside on his way to the top of the Tour de France podium.

"Lance knows everything that happened," Frankie Andreu told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "He's the one who knows who did what because he was the ringleader. It's up to him how much he wants to expose."

Armstrong has been in conversations with U.S. Anti-Doping Agency officials, touching off speculation that he may be willing to cooperate with authorities there and name names.

Interviewer Oprah Winfrey didn't say if the subject was broached during the taping Monday at a downtown Austin hotel. In an appearance on "CBS This Morning," she declined to give details of what Armstrong told her, but said she was "mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers."

Asked whether the disgraced cyclist appeared genuinely contrite after a decade of fierce denials, Winfrey replied, "I felt that he was thoughtful, I thought that he was serious, I thought that he certainly had prepared for this moment. I would say that he met the moment."

She was promoting what has become a two-part special, Thursday and Friday, on her OWN network.

Around the same time, World Anti-Doping Agency officials issued a statement saying nothing short of "a full confession under oath" would cause them to reconsider Armstrong's lifetime ban from sanctioned events.

The International Cycling Union also urged Armstrong to tell his story to an independent commission it has set up to examine claims that the sport's governing body hid suspicious samples from the cyclist, accepted financial donations from him and helped him avoid detection in doping tests.

The ban was only one of several penalties handed to Armstrong after a scathing, 1,000-page report by USADA last year. The cyclist was also stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, lost nearly all of his endorsements and was forced to cut ties with the Livestrong cancer charity he founded in 1997.

The report portrayed Armstrong as the mastermind of a long-running scheme that employed steroids, blood boosters such as EPO, and a range of other performance-enhancers to dominate the tour. It included revealing testimony from 11 former teammates, including Andreu and his wife, Betsy.

"A lot of it was news and shocking to me," Andreu said. "I am sure it's shocking to the world. There's been signs leading up to this moment for a long time. For my wife and I, we've been attacked and ripped apart by Lance and all of his people, and all his supporters repeatedly for a long time. I just wish they wouldn't have been so blind and opened up their eyes earlier to all the signs that indicated there was deception there, so that we wouldn't have had to suffer as much.

"And it's not only us," he added, "he's ruined a lot of people lives."

Armstrong was believed to have left for Hawaii. The street outside his Spanish-style villa on Austin's west side was quiet the day after international TV crews gathered there hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Nearby, members of his legal team mapped out a strategy on how to handle at least two pending lawsuits against Armstrong, and possibly a third.

The AP reported earlier Tuesday that Justice Department officials were likely to join a whistleblower lawsuit against Armstrong by former teammate Floyd Landis, citing a source who works outside the government and requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record about the matter.

The lawsuit by Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title after testing positive, alleges that Armstrong defrauded the U.S. government by repeatedly denying he used performance-enhancing drugs. The deadline to join the False Claims Act lawsuit, which could require Armstrong to return substantial sponsorship fees and pay a hefty penalty, is Thursday.

Landis is hardly the only one seeking money back from Armstrong.

During his long reign as cycling champion, Armstrong scolded some critics in public, didn't hesitate to punish outspoken riders during the race, and waged legal battles against still others in court.

The London-based Sunday Times has already filed a lawsuit to recover about $500,000 it paid Armstrong to settle a libel case, and Dallas-based SCA Promotions, which tried to deny him a promised bonus for a Tour de France win, has threatened to bring another lawsuit seeking to recover more than $7.5 million awarded by an arbitration panel.

In Australia, the government of the state of South Australia said it will seek the repayment of several million dollars in appearance fees paid to Armstrong for competing in the Tour Down Under in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

"We'd be more than happy for Mr. Armstrong to make any repayment of monies to us," South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill said.

___

Litke reported from Chicago, Vertuno from Austin, Texas. Pete Yost in Washington and John L. Mone in Dearborn, Mich., also contributed to this report.

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Big Strides Made in Tracking Near-Earth Asteroids, NASA Scientist Says

NEW YORK — Humanity has made substantial progress in the hunt for near-Earth asteroids that could potentially pose a grave threat to the planet, NASA‘s chief space rock hunter said Monday (Jan. 14).

Don Yeomans, head of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program, told a crowd here at the American Museum of Natural History that it is the smaller asteroids, not giant space rocks, that are difficult to spot.

“It’s unlikely that we’d miss a big one,” said Yeomans, who has written a new book on near-Earth asteroids “Near Earth Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us” (Princeton University Press 2013). “It’s the small ones that sneak up on us.”

Yeomans’ office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is devoted to finding near-Earth objects (which includes asteroids and comets) and plotting their positions over time. A few of the more notable asteroids NASA has placed on the “cleared” list in the past year include such high profile space rocks as the asteroid Apophis, which will swing extremely close to Earth in 2029 and return in 2036. All told, astronomers have found 90 percent of the large asteroids whose orbits bring them close to our planet.

Apophis was cleared of concern last week when it made a distant flyby of Earth, which allowed astronomers to make new observations that helped complete rule out an impact threat in 2036. Previous observations had already ruled out the 2029 flyby.  [See Photos of Giant Asteroid Apophis]

In the near-future, as in this year, there will be other asteroids giving the Earth a close shave, said Yeomans.

On Feb. 15, the 164 foot (50 meters) asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass the Earth at a range of about 17,200 miles (27,680 kilometers), well inside the orbit of geosynchronous GPS navigation and communications satellites that fly about 22,370 miles (36,000 km) above the planet. Asteroid 2012 DA14 also poses no threat of impacting Earth during the flyby.

Yeomans and his colleagues can take close looks at near-Earth objects using advanced radar technology. By sending a beam in the general direction of an asteroid or comet, researchers can measure how long it takes for the beam to leave and then eventually be sent back, to the receiver. Scientists then analyze the reflected signal to determine exactly how far away an asteroid is and gain a sense of the its structure.

From there, NASA researchers enlist the help of amateur astronomers for follow-up observations to determine the orbit of a newfound asteroid, paying particular attention to how close the orbit track comes to the Earth.

“We observe where these objects are in the sky and project their orbits on years into the future,” Yeomans said.

If Yeomans and his team did see an asteroid headed for the planet, there are a few courses of action available to them. Landing a small probe on the asteroid to nudge it slightly off course could be one way, while other have suggested impacting the crater with a probe that would drastically change its orbit, he said.

You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+. 

Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Prosecutors suspended in case of man who later burned family

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office suspended two attorneys who denied felony charges against a man who threatened to kill his family three months before setting them ablaze, killing himself and two others.

Anita Alvarez's office declined to file felony charges against 29-year-old Nathaniel Beller in a domestic violence case in Cicero in September. Beller is suspected of pouring gasoline on his two young children and wife, Taniya Johnson, 33, and igniting them on Dec. 29, shortly after his release from a mental health facility, officials said. Killed were Beller, his wife, and Neriyah, 4, his daughter. His son Naciere, 9, was critically injured

In the September case, Beller was accused of filling a bathtub with gasoline and threatening to kill his family, according to a Cicero police report, which stated prosecutors cited a "lack of evidence" in declining charges against Beller.

Alvarez released a statement after the news broke promising to investigate. Her office released another statement Tuesday.

“As promised, my office has conducted a complete review of this matter and as a result I have ordered the unpaid suspension of two Assistant State’s Attorneys who were ultimately responsible for the charging decision that was made,” according to a statement released by Spokeswoman Sally Daly on behalf of Alvarez.    

Cicero police officers in September had to force their way into an apartment after negotiating with Beller to release his two children. At one point, Beller lit a cigarette while in the apartment, according to a police report. 

Officers also inventoried gas cans and a lighter as evidence from inside the apartment, the report stated.

An Assistant State’s Attorney interviewed Beller at the hospital but after returning to the Cicero police department, informed police that no charges would be filed, according to a Cicero police report. A different attorney, according to the report, later cited a “lack of evidence” and Taniya’s lack of cooperation as reasons why he could not approve felonies.

At least one other attorney  was mentioned in the Cicero police report – it’s not clear which of the three were suspended.

Beller, his daughter and his wife died after the fire. The family was among a handful of people injured in the blaze, including upstairs neighbors of the brick home who suffered smoke inhalation.

The blaze brought dozens of firefighters to the home and extra ambulances as responding firefighters found more burn and smoke victims.

pnickeas@tribune.com
Twitter: @peternickeas

lford@tribune.com
Twitter: @ltaford

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France to stay in Mali until stability restored

BAMAKO/DUBAI (Reuters) - France pledged on Tuesday to keep troops in Mali until stability returned to the West African country, raising the specter of a long campaign against al Qaeda-linked rebels who held their ground despite a fifth day of air strikes.

Paris has poured hundreds of soldiers into Mali and carried out 50 bombing raids since Friday in the Islamist-controlled northern half of the country, which Western and regional states fear could become a base for terrorist attacks in Africa and Europe.

Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that, despite French air support, Malian forces had not been able to dislodge Islamist fighters from the central Malian towns of Konna or Diabaly, just 350 km (220 miles) northeast of Bamako.

A column of French armored vehicles rolled northward from the dusty riverside capital of Bamako towards rebel lines on Tuesday, the first major northward deployment of ground troops. A military official declined to comment on their objective.

Thousands of African soldiers are due to take over the offensive. Regional armies are scrambling to accelerate an operation which was initially not expected until September and has been brought forward by France's surprise bombing campaign aimed at stopping a rebel advance on a strategic town last week.

President Francois Hollande, on a visit to the United Arab Emirates during which he sought Gulf states' financial backing for the African-led mission, suggested France would retain a major role in its former colony for months to come.

"We have one goal. To ensure that when we leave, when we end our intervention, Mali is safe, has legitimate authorities, an electoral process and there are no more terrorists threatening its territory," Hollande told a news conference.

Paris has said it plans to deploy 2,500 soldiers to bolster the Malian army and work with the intervention force provided by West African states.

AFRICAN TROOPS

West African Defense chiefs met in Bamako on Tuesday to approve plans for the swift deployment of 3,300 regional troops, foreseen in a United Nations-backed intervention plan. After failing to reach a final agreement, they adjourned their talks until Wednesday.

Nigeria pledged to deploy soldiers within 24 hours, and Belgium said it was sending transport planes and helicopters to help, but West Africa's armies need time to become operational.

Mali's north, a vast and inhospitable area of desert and rugged mountains the size of Texas, was seized last year by an Islamist alliance combining al Qaeda's north African wing AQIM with splinter group MUJWA and the home-grown Ansar Dine rebels.

Any delay in following up on the French air bombardments of Islamist bases and fuel depots with a ground offensive could allow the insurgents to slip away into the desert and mountains, regroup and counter-attack.

The rebels, who French officials say are mobile and well armed, have shown they can hit back, dislodging government forces from Diabaly on Monday.

Residents said the town was still under Islamist control on Tuesday despite a number of air strikes that shook houses.

An eye witness near Segou, to the south, told Reuters he had seen 20 French Special Forces soldiers driving toward Diabaly.

In Konna, whose seizure on Thursday sparked French involvement, residents said Islamist fighters were camped just outside town. Army troops had also withdrawn after entering the town on Saturday.

Malians have largely welcomed the French intervention, having seen their army suffer a series of defeats by the rebels.

"With the arrival of the French, we have started to see the situation on the front evolve in our favor," said Aba Sanare, a resident of Bamako.

QUESTIONS OVER READINESS

Aboudou Toure Cheaka, a senior regional official in Bamako, said the West African troops would be on the ground in a week.

The original timetable for the 3,300-strong U.N.-sanctioned African force - to be backed by western logistics, money and intelligence services - did not initially foresee full deployment before September due to logistical constraints.

Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Guinea have all offered troops. Col. Mohammed Yerima, spokesman for Nigeria's Defense ministry, said the first 190 soldiers would be dispatched within 24 hours.

But Nigeria, which is due to lead the mission, has already cautioned that even if some troops arrive in Mali soon, their training and equipping will take more time.

Sub-Saharan Africa's top oil producer, which already has peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur and is fighting a bloody and difficult insurgency at home against Islamist sect Boko Haram, could struggle to deliver on its troop commitment of 900 men.

One senior government adviser in Nigeria said the Mali deployment was stretching the country's military.

"The whole thing's a mess. We don't have any troops with experience of those extreme conditions, even of how to keep all that sand from ruining your equipment. And we're facing battle-hardened guys who live in those dunes," said the adviser, who asked not to be named.

FRENCH LINING UP SUPPORT

France, which has repeatedly said it has abandoned its role as policeman of its former African colonies, said on Monday that the U.S., Canada, Denmark and Germany had also offered logistical support.

Fabius has said Gulf Arab states would help the Mali campaign, while Belgium said on Tuesday it would send two C130 transport planes and two medical helicopters following a request from Paris.

A meeting of donors for the operation was expected to be held in Addis Ababa at the end of January.

Security experts have warned that the multinational intervention in Mali, couched in terms of a campaign by governments against "terrorism", could provoke a jihadist backlash against France and the West, and African allies.

U.S. officials have warned of links between AQIM, Boko Haram in Nigeria and al Shabaab Islamic militants fighting in Somalia.

Al Shabaab, which foiled a French effort at the weekend to rescue a French secret agent it was holding hostage, urged Muslims around the world to rise up against what it called "Christian" attacks against Islam.

"Our brothers in Mali, show patience and tolerance and you will win. War planes never liberate a land," Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, al Shabaab's spokesman, said on a rebel-run website.

U.S. officials said Washington was sharing information with French forces in Mali and considering providing logistics, surveillance and airlift capability.

"We have made a commitment that al Qaeda is not going to find any place to hide," U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters as he began a visit to Europe. Panetta later said the U.S. had no plans to send troops to Mali.

One U.S. military source said the haphazard nature of French involvement reminded him of the U.S. entry into Afghanistan.

"I don't know what the French endgame is for this," the source said. "Air strikes are fine, but pretty soon you run out of easy targets. Then what do you do? What do you do when they head up into the mountains?"

(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Raissa Kasolowsky in Abu Dhabi, Felix Onuah in Abuja and Tim Cocks in Lagos, Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu, Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations,; Richard Valdmanis in Dakar, Joe Bavier in Abidjan, Jan Vermeylen in Brussels; Writing by Pascal Fletcher, Daniel Flynn and David Lewis; editing by Richard Valdmanis, Giles Elgood and Will Waterman)

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Apple drags on S&P, Nasdaq; Dell jumps after report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended lower on Monday as worries over demand for Apple products drove down its shares and investors braced for earnings disappointments.

Running counter to that was Dell Inc's stock which jumped 13 percent to about a five-month high at $12.29 after Bloomberg reported the No. 3 personal computer maker is in talks with private equity firms to go private. Dell's gains offset some tech-sector weakness.

Tech heavyweight Apple lost 3.6 percent to $501.75 and was the biggest weight on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 <.ndx> indexes after reports the company has cut orders for LCD screens and other parts for the iPhone 5 this quarter due to weak demand. The stock hit a session low of $498.51, the first dip below $500 since February 16.

"With Apple, it seems as if the sentiment has shifted from this being the one stock that everybody wanted to own to people beginning to look at it as a company (whose) business is slowing down somewhat," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer of North Star Investment Management Corp in Chicago.

Adding to investor unease, fourth-quarter earnings kick into high gear this week. Analyst estimates for the quarter have fallen sharply since October. S&P 500 earnings growth is now seen up just 1.9 percent from a year ago, Thomson Reuters data showed.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 18.89 points, or 0.14 percent, at 13,507.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was down 1.37 points, or 0.09 percent, at 1,470.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was down 8.13 points, or 0.26 percent, at 3,117.50.

Apple suppliers also lost ground, with Cirrus Logic off 9.4 percent at $28.62 and Qualcomm down 1 percent at $64.24.

The Dow fared better than the other two indexes, helped in part by Hewlett-Packard shares, which rose 4.9 percent to $16.95. The stock, up early in the session after JPMorgan upgraded its rating on the shares and raised its price target to $21 from $15, added to gains following the Dell report.

Tech has "become the arena for private equity or other capital-restructuring type of maneuvers because of the way their valuations and their balance sheets are," Kuby said.

Appliance and electronics retailer Hhgregg Inc slumped 5.7 percent to $7.44 after the company cut its same-store sales forecast for the full year.

Earnings reports are due this week from Goldman Sachs , Bank of America , Intel and General Electric , among other companies. Third-quarter reports ended with a gain of just 0.1 percent, the worst for an S&P 500 profit period in three years, according to Thomson Reuters data.

President Barack Obama warned Congress at a news conference on Monday that a refusal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling next month could mean a government shutdown and trigger economic chaos.

S&P futures had little reaction to comments after the bell by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who urged lawmakers to lift the country's borrowing limit to avoid a debt default.

Volume was roughly 5.6 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, compared with the 2012 average daily closing volume of about 6.45 billion.

Decliners were about even with advancers on the NYSE while decliners outpaced advancers on the Nasdaq by about 12 to 11.

(Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry, Nick Zieminski and Andrew Hay)

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AP source: Armstrong tells Oprah Winfrey he doped

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — After a decade of denial, Lance Armstrong has finally come clean: He used performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France.

The disgraced cyclist made the confession to Oprah Winfrey during an interview taped Monday, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the interview is to be broadcast Thursday on Winfrey's network.

The admission Monday came hours after an emotional apology by Armstrong to the Livestrong charity that he founded and took global on the strength of his celebrity as a cancer survivor who came back to win one of sport's most grueling events.

The confession was a stunning reversal, after years of public statements, interviews and court battles in which he denied doping and zealously protected his reputation.

Winfrey tweeted afterward, "Just wrapped with (at)lancearmstrong More than 2 1/2 hours. He came READY!" She was scheduled to appear on "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday to discuss the interview.

Even before the taping session with Winfrey began around 2 p.m., EST, Armstrong's apology suggested he would carry through on promises over the weekend to answer her questions "directly, honestly and candidly."

The cyclist was stripped of his Tour de France titles, lost most of his endorsements and was forced to leave the foundation last year after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency issued a damning, 1,000-page report that accused him of masterminding a long-running doping scheme.

About 100 staff members of the charity Armstrong founded in 1997 gathered in a conference room as Armstrong arrived with a simple message: "I'm sorry." He choked up during a 20-minute talk, expressing regret for the long-running controversy tied to performance-enhancers had caused, but stopped short of admitting he used them.

Before he was done, several members were in tears when he urged them to continue the charity's mission, helping cancer patients and their families.

"Heartfelt and sincere," is how Livestrong spokesman Katherine McLane described his speech.

Armstrong later huddled with almost a dozen people before stepping into a room set up at a downtown Austin hotel for the interview.

The group included close friends and advisers, two of his lawyers and Bill Stapleton, his agent, manager and business partner. They exchanged handshakes and smiles, but declined comment when approached by a reporter. Most members of that group left the hotel through the front entrance around 5 p.m., although Armstrong was not with them.

No further details about the interview were available immediately because of confidentiality agreements signed by both camps. But Winfrey promoted it as a "no-holds barred" session, and after the voluminous USADA report — which included testimony from 11 former teammates — she had plenty of material for questions. USADA chief executive Travis Tygart, a longtime critic of Armstrong's, called the drug regimen practiced while Armstrong led the U.S. Postal Service team, "The most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."

Armstrong also went after his critics ruthlessly during his reign as cycling champion. He scolded some in public and didn't hesitate to punish outspoken riders during the race itself. He waged legal battles against still others in court.

Betsy Andreu, the wife of former Armstrong teammate Frankie Andreu, was one of the first to publicly accuse Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs. She called news of Armstrong's confession "very emotional and very sad," and got choked up as well when asked to comment.

"He used to be one of my husband's best friends and because he wouldn't go along with the doping, he got kicked to the side. Lance could have a positive impact if he tells the truth on everything. He's got to be completely honest," she said.

At least one of his opponents, the London-based Sunday Times, has already filed a lawsuit to recover about $500,000 it paid him to settle a libel case, and Dallas-based SCA Promotions, which tried to deny Armstrong a promised bonus for a Tour de France win, has threatened to bring yet another lawsuit seeking to recover more than $7.5 million an arbitration panel awarded the cyclist in that dispute.

In addition, former teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping, has filed a federal whistle-blower lawsuit that accused Armstrong of defrauding the U.S. Postal Service. The Justice Department has yet to decide whether it will join the suit as a plaintiff.

The lawsuit most likely to be influenced by a confession might be the Sunday Times case. Potential perjury charges stemming from Armstrong's sworn testimony in the 2005 arbitration fight would not apply because of the statute of limitations. Armstrong was not deposed during the federal investigation that was closed last year.

Armstrong is said to be worth around $100 million. But most sponsors dropped him after USADA's scathing report — at the cost of tens of millions of dollars — and soon after, he left the board of Livestrong.

After the USADA findings, he was also barred from competing in the elite triathlon or running events he participated in after his cycling career. World Anti-Doping Code rules state his lifetime ban cannot be reduced to less than eight years. WADA and U.S. Anti-Doping officials could agree to reduce the ban further depending on what information Armstrong provides and his level of cooperation.

Whether his confession would begin to heal those ruptures and restore that reputation remains to be seen.

Diagnosed with testicular cancer in October 1996, the disease soon spread to his lungs and brains. Armstrong's doctors gave him a 40 percent chance of survival at the time and never expected he'd compete at anything more strenuous than gin rummy. Winning the demanding race less than three years later made Armstrong a hero.

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Jim Litke reported from Chicago.

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