via StreetInsider.com 

June 20, 2012 3:41 PM EDT

via  @Reuters on Twitter

NEW YORK — Call it compassionate, even political. But … scientific? Several experts say there’s no hard evidence to support the federal government’s declaration this month that 50 kinds of cancer could be caused by exposure to World Trade Center dust.

READ THE REST HERE AT MSNBC.COM

…

at the Windows Phone event, Microsoft announced the wallet feature that will be a part of Windows Phone 8. The wallet will support both credit and debit cards, and loyalty and membership cards.

Also supported will be saved deals, with third-party integration built-in, to allow for other services, such as frequent flier miles and other sorts of information.

NFC will also be baked in, bringing that technology to the Windows Phone line around the world. Orange, the carrier, is Microsoft’s lead carrier partner for this product.

Critically, Microsoft intoned on stage, its product is safe, and unlike products from Apple and Google, is end to end. Apple does loyalty, and Google does payments, but Microsoft does both.

READ THE REST HERE AT THENEXTWEB.COM

US teen survives spear through brain

A US teenager’s survival after a spear was shot through his brain is a miracle, doctors say.

Yasser Lopez, 16, is recovering after he was accidentally hit with a spear gun by a friend during a Florida fishing trip this month.

Medics at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami said the 3ft (90cm) projectile entered his brain over his right eye and went out the back of his head.

He is now out of bed and speaking following a three-hour operation.

Medics said he was awake as he arrived at hospital, and became “agitated”.

After sedating the teenager, part of the stainless steel spear had to be severed with a mechanical cutter so he could fit into the CT scanner.

The president is a lot more popular on Martha’s Vineyard than the men and women who guard him.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/19/exclusive-secret-service-agents-partied-like-rock-stars-on-obamas-vineyard-vacation/#ixzz1yGDGJld8

via TMZ.com

Things got physical between Alec Baldwin and a NY Daily News photographer today … as Alec was leaving a NY courthouse with his fiancee Hilaria Thomas.

According to the NY Daily News, Baldwin had just obtained a marriage license … when he got into it with one of their staff photographers, Marcus Santos.

Santos told the paper Baldwin was screaming for him and another Daily News photog to back up … and they obliged. But Baldwin kept coming — “He comes after me, starts shoving and punching me — one time, right in the chin.”

But sources connected with Alec tell TMZ … the photographer almost HIT HIM with the camera and while Alec pushed him away … he did not punch him.

READ THE REST HERE 

Phelps to enter seven events at Olympic qualifying

Michael Phelps is setting himself up for the possibility of 10 Olympic medals this summer.

 

CAPTION

By Kevin Jairaj, US Presswire

That is, if he swims in all seven events he’s entered in at next week’s U.S. Olympic swimming trials — which is a pretty big “if.”

According to the psych sheet released by USA Swimming, Phelps is entered in the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys, the 100 and 200 butterflys, the 100 and 200 freestyles and the 200 backstroke. Yahoo! Sports and The Baltimore Sun both initially reported that Phelps would compete in seven events.

If he swims all those events at the trials (and qualifies) and competes as a member of all three U.S. relay teams, he could have a chance to win 10 medals. Guess that’s the only way to top his eight gold medals from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing …

READ THE REST HERE AT USATODAY.COM

Sports: Webb Simpson wins the US Golf Open title –@nbcsports

Sports: Miami Heat edge OKC Thunder 91-85 to take 2-1 lead in NBA finals – @espn

via BreakingNews.com

at 8pm EST

via CNBC.com

…New Line/Warner Bros’ Rock Of Ages (3,470 theaters) fell to earth with a thud. Which Hollywood expected because the pic had been tracking poorly for weeks (and even went down at one point week to week). The studio felt the 1980s period piece was a hard sell to younger moviegoers…

via deadline.com – Read the rest here 

Sophisticated cameras and microphones will put passengers at the Ottawa airport under greater scrutiny than ever before.

Photograph by: Mike Carroccetto , The Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA — Sections of the Ottawa airport are now wired with microphones that can eavesdrop on travellers’ conversations.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is nearing completion of a $500,000 upgrade of old video cameras used to monitor its new “customs controlled areas,” including the primary inspection area for arriving international passengers.

As part of the work, the agency is introducing audio-monitoring equipment as well.

Read more:http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Ottawa+airport+wired+with+microphones+Border+Services+prepares+record+travellers+conversations/6788759/story.html#ixzz1y4Rnnyk4

Greek Vote Too Close to Call, Exit Poll Shows

UPDATE:

Here is a more detailed breakdown of Greek exit polls, as broadbast by state-run NET TV

Political Party Percentage
New Democracy 27.5 – 30.5
Syriza 27 – 30
Pasok 10 – 12
Independent Greeks 6 – 7.5
Communist Party 5 – 6
Golden Dawn 6 – 7.5
Democratic Left 5.5 – 6.5

via Bloomberg.com 

via TMZ.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w-SP7iuM6k&feature=player_embedded

Famous tape of LAPD beating King which sparked riots in L.A. after not guilty verdicts of the police officers.

UPDATE 9:27 AM PT — According to our sources, King’s fiancée is telling friends King had been drinking and even smoked weed in the hours just before his death.

Rodney King — the man who was at the center of the infamous Los Angeles riots — was found dead this morning in Rialito, CA. He was 47.

According to our sources, King’s fiancée found him dead at the bottom of a pool.

Rodney King‘s fiancée is telling friends Rodney had been drinking all day Saturday … and had smoked weed in the hours leading up to his death … sources close to King tell TMZ.

According to our sources, King’s fiancée, Cynthia Kelley, is telling friends King was at the house all day drinking, and he smoked marijuana at some point, before she went to went to bed at 2:00 AM.

We’re told Kelley says she next saw King at around 5:00 AM when she was awoken by him screaming in the backyard. Our sources say Kelley found King naked, banging on the glass, and she called out to him, “What’s wrong, Rodney?”

SOURCE 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhgM5-mQCF8&feature=player_embedded

via NYPOST.com

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the US as children and have since led law-abiding lives. The election-year initiative addresses a top priority of an influential Latino electorate that has been vocal in its opposition to administration deportation policies.

The policy change, described to The Associated Press by two senior administration officials, will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants who have lived in fear of deportation. It also bypasses Congress and partially achieves the goals of the so-called DREAM Act, a long-sought but never enacted plan to establish a path toward citizenship for young people who came to the United States illegally but who have attended college or served in the military.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/immunity_offered_to_certain_immigrants_A3ugceO9Dr5pDjiCqLF9aP#ixzz1xsC2iknV

Developing…

(Reuters) – Central banks from major economies stand ready to take steps to stabilize financial markets and prevent a credit squeeze should the outcome of Greek elections on Sunday cause tumultuous trading, G20 officials told Reuters.

A senior U.S. official cautioned that the Greek election will not provide “the definitive signal on what happens next” in the euro zone debt crisis.

But if severe market strains emerge after an unusual confluence of three elections this weekend – there are important polls in Egypt and France as well – central bankers are on standby to ensure enough cash is flowing through the financial system.

“The central banks are preparing for coordinated action to provide liquidity,” said a senior G20 aide familiar with discussions among international financial diplomats. His statement was confirmed by several other G20 officials.

It could mark a dramatic backdrop to the G20 summit of world leaders who will gather in Los Cabos, Mexico, on Monday and Tuesday where Europe’s escalating crisis tops the agenda.

Leaders will be accompanied by finance ministers playing an advisory role. The ministers, who usually keep a low profile at these summits, have scheduled a working dinner on Monday and lunch on Tuesday.

Depending on the severity of the market response, an emergency meeting of ministers from the Group of Seven developed nations could be held on Monday or Tuesday in Los Cabos, with central bankers joining by phone, a second G20 official said.

via Cnbc.com

Stocks suddenly spiked in the final hour of trading Thursday after a report that central banks are preparing coordinated action to provide liquidity after the Greek election.