Jarrett, Braxton among 2014 NEA Jazz Masters

NEW YORK (AP) ? Pianist Keith Jarrett says "only music excites me, and awards and ceremonies do not." But the pianist says he feels honored to receive the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award, joining many past recipients who've influenced him.

The NEA announced Thursday that its 2014 Jazz Masters ? the nation's highest jazz honor ? also include avant-garde saxophonist-composer Anthony Braxton, bassist-educator Richard Davis, and educator Jamey Aebersold.

Jarrett was cited by the NEA for his work in both the jazz and classical fields. His latest release, "Somewhere," marks the 30th anniversary of his trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette. His recording of J.S. Bach's "Six Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard" with violinist Michelle Makarski is due out in September.

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Online:

www.arts.gov/honors/jazz

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jarrett-braxton-among-2014-nea-jazz-masters-184947735.html

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Cruz gets big hit again, Rangers beat Cardinals

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? After rookie Martin Perez silenced the St. Louis Cardinals, his manager was non-stop with praise.

"I've always seen the stuff, but tonight was the first time I think he showed he's a big-league pitcher," Ron Washington said after the Texas Rangers' 4-2 victory Saturday night. "It can be a huge step, he just beat a pretty good team.

"He should be proud. I know we are."

Nelson Cruz got the decisive hit for the second straight game with a two-run homer in the third inning for the Rangers, who have won four of five after losing six in a row.

Fellow rookie Shelby Miller (8-5) allowed two homers for the second time in three starts and didn't make it out of the sixth against the team the Cardinals beat in the 2011 World Series, Texas was making its first regular-season visit to Busch Stadium.

"I'm not saying that if I make a better pitch I get them out, but both pitches were right down the middle, perfect pitches to hit," Miller said. "The first one was supposed to be in and the other one was supposed to be away, and both kind of ended up right down the middle of the plate."

A.J. Pierzynski also hit a two-run homer for Texas, which goes for a three-game sweep on Sunday night with Nick Tepesch (3-6, 4.84) facing Adam Wainwright (10-4, 2.37). The first two games have been sellouts and the finale was supposed to be a matchup of aces, but the Rangers are saving Yu Darvish for the Yankees Tuesday in New York.

They didn't want Perez to come up in New York, either.

Perez (1-1) was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock where he was 5-1 with a 1.75 ERA. The lefty allowed a run in each of the first two innings but gave up just two hits the next five innings and retired the last 10.

Though perhaps the Rangers' top prospect, Perez entered 1-5 with a 5.40 ERA with seven starts.

"I just had to do the same job I'm doing at Triple-A," Perez said. "The first two innings I missed a couple pitches but after that I just said 'OK, this is my game.'"

Joe Nathan wrapped up a game that had all of the scoring in the first three innings with a perfect ninth for his 24th save in 25 chances. The start of the game was delayed by rain 66 minutes. It was the second such delay this week.

Earlier Saturday, Washington said he felt good about Cruz's tiebreaking two-run single in the ninth on Friday because the Rangers need wins, and not because Cruz needed redemption. The Rangers were an out away from taking the '11 Series when Cruz misplayed David Freese's game-tying triple in Game 6.

Cruz snapped a 2-2 third-inning tie with a two-run homer, his 19th of the season to the opposite field in right. He also singled and has four hits and five RBIs the first two games of the series.

Miller departed after bouncing a throw to first on a sacrifice bunt by Perez that loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth. Fellow rookie Seth Maness got Ian Kinsler on a groundout to end the sixth.

Miller is 3-2 this month, the other loss coming when he gave up two homers and four runs on the road against the Mets. Manager Mike Matheny couldn't find fault with pitches that the right-hander left up.

"He lives there, that's where his success is, so that's one of those two-edged swords," Matheny said. "Most of the guys in the league have a tough time catching up to him. You don't see many guys that see him the first time able to square balls up the first pitch they see on the top of the zone."

The Cardinals have opened the scoring both games and took the lead on Allen Craig's RBI single in the first with Carlos Beltran just beating the relay to the plate from center fielder Leonys Martin.

The Rangers answered when Adrian Beltre doubled to open the second and Pierzynski lined the next pitch into the right field seats for his seventh homer. The Cardinals tied it in the bottom half when Freese tripled off the top of the wall in right-center and scored on Shane Robinson's sacrifice fly.

NOTES: St. Louis Rams general manager Les Snead threw the ceremonial first pitch. ... Tepesch is 0-2 with a 9.77 ERA in his last three starts, and Washington said he needs to develop trust in all of his pitches. ... Wainwright has worked at least seven innings six straight starts, going 5-1. ... Cardinals RHP Michael Blazek made his major league debut and struck out two in a perfect ninth. ... Yadier Molina was 0 for 4 to end a seven-game hitting streak, dropping his league-leading average to .366. He batted .423 (11 for 26) during the streak. ... Craig has 21 RBIs this month, his best month ever. ... Cruz has 11 RBIs the last six games with a .400 average (10 for 25).

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cruz-gets-big-hit-again-rangers-beat-cardinals-040419308.html

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Kenny Rogers to join Country Music Hall of Fame

By Vernell Hackett

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Veteran singers and songwriters Kenny Rogers, Bobby Bare and "Cowboy" Jack Clement will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, organizers said on Wednesday, achieving one of the highest honors in the music industry.

Rogers, 74, the husky-voiced three-time Grammy winner best known for songs like The Gambler" and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town," will be inducted in the "Modern Era" category, the Country Music Association announced.

"Everything pales in comparison to this," Rogers said, tearing up because the honor came in his lifetime.

"My older sons thought I was already in here. Maybe now I can really impress them," he told Reuters, referring to his 8-year-old twin sons from his fifth marriage.

Rogers, a country-pop crossover artist who scored a big hit with the 1983 duet "Islands in the Stream" with Dolly Parton, has charted hit singles in each of the past six decades, and is due to play at the Glastonbury pop music festival in England in June.

Wednesday's three new inductees will bring membership of the Country Music Hall of Fame to 121 since its creation in 1961, including the likes of Parton, Elvis Presley, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Glen Campbell and Willie Nelson.

Bare, 78, was born in Ohio and moved to California, where he had a hit with "The All American Boy" in the pop field in 1959. He later moved to Nashville, was signed to a record deal by guitar player Chet Atkins, and went on to have hits with "Detroit City," and "500 Miles Away From Home."

"This is real huge," Bare said on Wednesday. "This is the culmination of a 19-year-old boy's dream who left Ohio to be a singer."

Clements, 82, is a producer and songwriter from Texas who moved to Memphis just as Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis, whom he discovered, were breaking into the music scene in the mid-1950s.

He persuaded George Jones to record one of his early hits, "She Thinks I Still Care," and also persuaded a record label to sign Charley Pride, one of the few African-American singers to make it big in the country music scene.

Clement, who also produced tracks in Memphis for U2's "Rattle and Hum" album, will be inducted as a non-performer in the ceremony to be held later this year at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kenny-rogers-join-country-music-hall-fame-185012854.html

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Sudan's army says kills 15 rebels, retakes part of South Darfur

CAIRO (Reuters) - Sudanese forces retook a southern part of the country's Darfur region after clashing with insurgents, killing 15, a military spokesman said on Tuesday, while rebels claimed victory in fighting in northern Darfur.

Spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid Saad said the army had repulsed an attack by rebels loyal to veteran fighter Minni Minawi on the Dubu area in South Darfur state, and the state news agency SUNA said government forces had reasserted control over the area.

Separately, a spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction led by Abdel Wahed Mohamed al-Nur told Reuters that rebels had stormed and seized three military camps in North Darfur state, killing 64 soldiers.

Events in Darfur are hard to independently verify because of restrictions on media access to the region.

Conflict has torn Darfur since 2003 when mainly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Arab-led government, accusing it of politically and economically marginalizing the region.

Violence has subsided from its peak in 2003 and 2004, but a surge has forced more than 130,000 people to flee their homes since the start of this year, according to the United Nations.

In 2008, the United Nations said about 300,000 people may have died in Darfur's war, a figure some activists said was too low. The Khartoum government has put the death toll at about 10,000.

(Writing by Maggie Fick; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sudans-army-says-kills-15-rebels-retakes-part-185031921.html

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Xiaomi Phone 2S and 2A announced with MIUI v5, the former entering Hong Kong and Taiwan

After selling 7.19 million phones in China last year, Xiaomi is now one step closer to world domination with a new device that'll take it to new territories: the Xiaomi Phone 2S (or MI-2S). As the name and look (pictured left) suggest, this is pretty much the same device as the 4.3-inch Xiaomi Phone 2, except it comes with Qualcomm's newer Snapdragon 600 quad-core chip clocked at 1.7GHz, plus a beefed up camera of 13-megapixel resolution (with F2.2 aperture) on the 32GB model. The 16GB 2S, on the other hand, gets the same old 8-megapixel F2.0 imager. The rest of the hardware is the same old: 2GB RAM, 2,000mAH removable battery, 720p IPS display, dual-mic noise cancellation, 2-megapixel front-facing camera and WCDMA 850/1900/2100MHz radio (there's also a CDMA version for China Telecom).

Unlike the previous launch, the 16GB flavor of this phone is already in stock on the day of announcement and is ready for purchase in China today for ¥1,999 or about $320 unsubsidized. Actually, strike that -- apparently the first lot of 200,000 units promptly sold out (likely thanks to scalpers). Luckily, Xiaomi is finally tapping into the Hong Kong market via its xiaomi.hk website starting April 23rd, so chances are genuine buyers in Hong Kong won't have to compete against the machines from mainland China; and Taiwan customers will also be able to buy a 2S from either local carrier Far Eastone towards the end of this month, or from xiaomi.tw starting next month. No word on the availability of the 32GB model just yet, but it's already priced at ¥2,299 or about $370 unsubsidized.

Gallery: Xiaomi Phone 2A

Gallery: Xiaomi Phone 2S

Gallery: Xiaomi Fans Carnival 2013

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: Engadget Chinese (2S), (2A)

Source: Xiaomi (2S), (2A)

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Armenian opposition cries foul as president is re-installed

By Hasmik Mkrtchyan

YEREVAN (Reuters) - Thousands of Armenians protested in Yerevan on Tuesday against the inauguration of President Serzh Sarksyan for a second term, saying that his re-election had been fixed.

Across town, Sarksyan said in his inauguration speech that developing the economy, ensuring the rule of law and deepening democracy were his top priorities, along with the peaceful resolution of a long-standing territorial dispute with Azerbaijan.

European monitors had said the February 18 election was generally well conducted, but bemoaned a lack of competition after leading opposition candidates pulled out fearing the outcome would be rigged. Sarksyan's tally of 58.6 percent was in line with opinion polls.

Tuesday's peaceful crowd of some 12,000 was the biggest of the intermittent protests since the election.

Demonstrators led by Raffi Hovannisian rallied in Yerevan's central Freedom Square as the inauguration was held a few kilometers (miles) away. Hovannisian came second to Sarksyan according to the official count, but insists he won the vote.

"We say 'No' to false oaths, 'no' to false presidents," Hovannisian, a U.S.-born former foreign minister, told supporters.

With security tight, demonstrators marched through the city after the rally but were stopped by police when they tried to approach the presidential administration building and turned back toward Freedom Square.

Late in the evening, Hovannisian and some 100 supporters were allowed to march towards Sarksyan's administration complex, but promised police not to spend long there. He said he would hold another protest on Friday.

Several protesters were briefly detained but there has been no repeat of the violence that erupted after round-the-clock protests following Sarksyan's first election in 2008. Eight activists and two police were killed in those demonstrations.

Foreign governments are watching for signs of instability in mostly Christian Armenia, a nation of 3.2 million that hosts a Russian military base and is at odds with its oil-rich, mainly Muslim neighbor Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The mountain territory is in Azerbaijan but has been controlled by ethnic Armenians since a war that ended in 1994 with a shaky truce.

There is still sporadic shooting and Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that an Azeri officer had been shot dead on Monday evening by a sniper near the "line of contact".

A military spokesman in the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh government called the Azeri statement "disinformation" and denied violating the truce.

Sarksyan said a peaceful settlement of the issue "will remain our priority for as long as necessary to arrive at a final solution", while also promising to "enhance the level of our security".

Years of mediation led by France, Russia and the United States have failed to resolve the dispute, and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has not ruled out eventually resorting to force.

(Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/armenian-opposition-cries-foul-president-installed-193135784.html

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Syrian official: Car bomb in Damascus kills 15

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? A car bomb rocked a busy residential and commercial district in central Damascus on Monday, killing at least 15 people and sending a huge cloud of black smoke billowing over the capital's skyline, Syrian state-run media said.

The explosion came as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said inspectors were ready to deploy within 24 hours to Syria to investigate reports of chemical weapon attacks but have not yet received permission from President Bashar Assad's government.

Monday's blast, described by state-run Syrian TV as a terrorist suicide bombing, went off near the Sabaa Bahrat Square, one of the capital's biggest roundabouts. The Syrian central bank, the state-run investment agency, a mosque and a school are located nearby.

The explosion also wounded at least 53 people, according to Syrian state TV.

It was the latest in a series of car bombs and suicide bombings to hit the Syrian capital in recent months as the two-year civil war becomes increasingly chaotic. The U.N. says the conflict has killed more than 70,000 people.

TV images showed thick black smoke billowing in a wide street with several cars on fire. At least six bodies were seen lying in the pavement. Paramedics carried a young woman lying on a stretcher, her face bloodied, into an ambulance.

Shaken teenage students holding their backpacks were seen walking away. The TV said the blast occurred near the Bukhari School.

According to the footage, the dead included a young man whose face was blown off by the force of the blast. Shortly after, another man is seen covering the victim's head with his T-shirt.

Nearby, several men are seen twisting the wreckage of a car, trying to rescue a man who appears motionless in the back seat of a car.

Fire fighters struggled to extinguish flames that engulfed the two buildings near the site of the explosion as well as a row of cars near the roundabout.

The last large explosion in central Damascus was on Feb. 22, when a suicide car bombing near the ruling Baath Party headquarters killed 53 people and wounded more than 200, according to state media.

Anti-regime activists at the time put the death toll at 61, which would make it the deadliest bombing in the capital in the two-year Syrian civil war.

Last month, a suicide bomb ripped through a mosque in the heart of the capital, killing a top Sunni Muslim preacher and outspoken supporter of Assad and 41 others in one of the most stunning assassinations of the war.

The violence has shattered the sense of normalcy that the Syrian regime has desperately tried to maintain in Damascus, a city that was until recently mostly insulated from the bloodshed and destruction that has left other urban centers in ruins.

The anti-Assad rebels launched an offensive on Damascus in July after a stunning bombing on a high-level government crisis meeting that killed four top regime officials, including Assad's brother-in-law and the defense minister. Following that attack, rebel groups that had established footholds in the suburbs pushed in, battling government forces for more than a week before being routed and swept out.

Since then, government warplanes have pounded opposition strongholds on the outskirts, and rebels have managed only small incursions on the city's southern and eastern sides.

Assad's government has asked the U.N. chief to investigate an alleged chemical weapons attack by rebels on March 19 on a village in northern Syria. Both the rebels and the regime traded blame for the alleged attack, which has not been confirmed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-official-car-bomb-damascus-kills-15-124221599.html

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