Canonical partners with Microsoft to support Ubuntu on Azure

Microsoft revealed yesterday that its Azure cloud computing service is extending support to the open source Linux operating system. And in a blog entry this afternoon, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth announced that Canonical is working with Microsoft to support the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution on the Azure platform.Canonical will supply official Ubuntu images for Azure and will provide its commercial support services to customers that are deploying Ubuntu in Microsoft’s cloud. After an Azure update that is coming in the fall, users will be able to Dame Nike Free Run 3 purchase a Canonical support contract directly through Microsoft’s Azure Gallery. Cloud computing is an important market for Canonical, which has been trying to boost its visibility in the server market. Canonical has recently focused on increasing Ubuntu’s suitability for adoption in cloud environments with projects like the Metal as a Service provisioning tool and the Juju service orchestration framework. The company has also worked to build a presence in private clouds by working to support OpenStack and Eucalyptus. It’s unsurprising that Canonical is trying to get a good foot in the door for Ubuntu on Azure. Microsoft will also benefit from having partners in the Linux ecosystem as it works to make Azure a competitive offering compared to the cloud services offered by rivals such as Amazon. In a blog entry about Canonical’s partnership with Microsoft, Shuttleworth described Azure as an "impressive new entrant" in the hosted cloud computing market. He also praised the Azure team, saying that they possess a "sophisticated understanding of Ubuntu and Linux in general." Canonical and Microsoft have had little interaction in the past. Ubuntu’s symbolic Bug #1, which was filed by Shuttleworth himself, declares that putting an end to Microsoft’s dominant position in the PC market is one of the Ubuntu project’s chief goals. In his blog post about partnering with Microsoft to support Ubuntu on Azure, Shuttleworth emphasizes that the relationship will not conflict with Ubuntu’s values. "I know there will be members of the free software community that will leap at the chance to berate Microsoft for its very existence, but it’s not very Ubuntu to do so: let’s argue our perspective, work towards our goals, be open to those who are open to us, and build great stuff," he wrote. "There is nothing proprietary in Ubuntu-for-Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Azure, and no about-turn from us on long-held values." From a business standpoint, the relationship will be mutually beneficial for Microsoft and Canonical. Although some Linux enthusiasts might not be happy about seeing Canonical officially support Microsoft’s cloud offering, the reality is that Ubuntu will benefit from being able to run in that environment. If Azure support helps strengthen Ubuntu’s enterprise clout, it could help bring more resources and adopters to the Ubuntu ecosystem.

The US/NATO War on Syria and Iran likely in Spite of Security Council Veto

A nsnbc source within U.S.-Special Forces at Ft.Bragg, NC gave already in August 2011 evidence that US Special Forces were on the ground in Syria and that a war against Syria, Lebanon and Iran was actively prepared and implemented.(1) Frequent nsnbc readers are aware of that NATO has planned and prepared for a war on Syria and Iran for years. That active operations with special forces on the ground have been carried out since 2011.Last years chance to initiate an attack on Syria before September/October was missed. The heated diplomatic positioning games, the increased violence and brutality of the conflict, that is cynically provoked and utilized for manufacturing public and political support.The regular attack scares against Syria and Iran shall prepare a pretext for a long planned war; the waters are tested, the waters are heated, and the only questions that seem to remain are, how long time will the covert war, the terror against Syrians, the murder NFL Jerseys Cheap on Iranian nuclear scientists and other tactics be used before an overt aggression.How precisely will an overt NATO aggression be initiated. When will it be initiated, since it is unlikely that NATO will let the time line of August-September pass without an attack one more time. How will NATO try to diplomatically outflank Russia and China, and what will the consequences of a NATO attack be in terms of regional and global implications.After the abuse of the UNSC Resolution 1973-2011 on Libya, Russia and China drew a clear line in the Syrian Sand.(2) While Russia was supportive of the Syrian Peoples legitimate aspirations towards political reforms, which as we see later have taken place in an unprecedented manner compared to other Arab countries, Russia as well as China vehemently opposed and oppose foreign intervention and the use of NATO led terrorist death squads and mercenaries.Form the very beginning of what was and is being sold as popular uprising in the Syrian conflict by Western politicians and main stream media, it was obvious that there was a strong foreign element at play.The Saudi Lebanese billionaire Saad Hariri, a stern Saudi, US, and not so openly Israeli ally became implicated in arming and financing the Saudi and GCC-backed insurgents. (3) The ongoing spill-over of the Syrian conflict to Lebanon and the fighting in Lebanon can not be understood without taking into account that Hariri and his “Future Movement” have been fermenting a Syrian as well as Lebanese civil war as part of a plan to destabilize the region sufficiently to mandate a UN-sanctioned NATO intervention or to create other pretexts for a military intervention without the sanction of the Security Council.Also the leader of the Lebanese Druze community and chairman of Lebanons Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, who has been strongly opposed to Syrian influences in Lebanon since the protracted civil war is actively involved in arming NATO and Israeli backed insurgents in Syria.In a previous nsnbc article we informed that Jumblatt, according to sources with ties to Jordanian Intelligence, has been implicated in a shipment of 50 Tons of Israeli military equipment worth over 650 million USD, that arrived at Erbil Airport in Kurdistan. The weapons have reportedly been paid for by the Israeli “Rafael Industries”. The shuttling of Jumblatt, just prior to the shipment, to Qatar, Iaqi Kurdistan and Turkey have been tied to the arms delivery as well.(4) The vehicle for bringing about the intervention would be created by a relentless terror campaign with the use of Al-Qaeda mercenary forces from Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and other. A nsnbc article by Christof Lehmann from September 2011 described the strategy as modified Chechnyan model.(5) Others, like Prof. Michel Chossudovsky of the Center for Research on Globalization likened the situation to the Death Squads in El Salvador. (6)The fact that NATO was not able to intervene in Syria latest August or September last year is caused by the fact that the people of Syria in spite of their ethnic and religious diversity are extremely coherent, that the Syrian government has managed to fight the insurgency rather successfully, that the Syrian government has managed to implement unprecedented political reforms that have been endorsed by the majority of the population, and that Russia and China so far have blocked for an overt NATO aggression at the Security Council.The successful establishment of and referendum for a new Syrian constitution that emphasizes Syria´s definition of itself as Arab State within an Arab Nation, a constitution that provides more safeguards and guaranties for freedom, democracy, protection of minorities than any of it´s neighbors, a constitution that embraces diversity in unity and solidarity, and in particular, a constitution that defines Syria as a nation that has rid itself from colonialism in the region was a direct slap into the face of both NATO, the GCC member states, Jordan, and not least Israel. (7)nsnbc has published the full text of the draft constitution. (8) The constitution was endorsed by a majority of the Syrian people, and the mere fact that the referendum could be held without major disturbances was a victory of the people of Syria against the foreign aggression. (9) Non of these developments have been reported in a fair and balanced manner in Western Media. Neither was it reported that parliamentary elections have been held in Syria.So far, Syria has in spite of the onslaught and immense suffering kept the upper hand on all but one front, which is that of Public Relations. It has not effectively countered an aggressive Western media campaign directed against Syria and Iran which makes it relatively easy for NATO and allied countries to convince the Western populations that another “humanitarian War” must be waged to protect the people of Syria.The Cognitive Manipulation of the Western Public into accepting another NATO-led “Humanitarian War”.Complicit Western media continue with their cognitive manipulation of the public to accept yet another UN-US/NATO military aggression under the pretext of Human Rights and the “responsibility to protect”. The responsibility to protect and interventionism, Libya-Style have become part of official NATO doctrine at the 25th NATO Summit in Chicago this year. (10)Western media follow suit and close ranks without questioning the concept while perpetuating often fraudulent reports that sale a NATO Narrative about a horrific Syrian Regime that butchers it´s citizens. The reports about the recent massacre in al-Houla are but one of thousands of examples that could be documented where false reports, fabricated images and video have been sold as news. The BBC went so far as to recycle images from Iraq. (11)One-sided reports blame the violence on Assad and the Syrian Government. While Western media maintain that the Syrian Military was responsible for the massacre, and while many reports consequently maintain the narrative that the military was shelling the civilian area with artillery, the report shows a quite different picture. In spite of the preliminary report, the narrative that people died at the hands of the military is perpetuated in media as well as at the UN. The report states:The majority of the homicides were committed with small arms and at close range, many of them execution style. The majority of the victims were families who refused to endorse the war on the Syrian government and who opposed the involvement of foreign al-Qaeda fighters, armed Muslim Brothers, and other mercenary forces.The overwhelming majority of the murders were committed by foreign and foreign backed terrorists. (12)Regardless the evidence to the opposite, the Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby told media at a Pentagon press briefing, “We remain deeply troubled and concerned by the ongoing violence in Syria and by the horrific acts of the Assad regime against its own people,” Kirby also reiterated that Iran was helping the Syrian “regime”, and most likely to counter pertinent questions, he stated that al-Qaeda was in Syria for it´s own purposes.Navy Capt. Kirby has most likely had advise of a skilled spin-doctor to find semantic twists about al-Qaeda´s own purposes. NATO has it´s own purposes, and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group or Tripoli Military Council, the Omar Brigade, and other al-Qaeda fractions that are controlled by NATO Intelligence, Saudi Intelligence, Muslim Brothers controlled by MI6 and Qatar naturally have their own and specific utilities too. Thus Capt. Kirby is telling the truth while misinforming the public.Kirby also positioned Iran as potential and legitimate target for US/NATO-aggression, stating that ” we have certainly seen reports and have reason to believe that Iran continues to assist the Assad regime in committing these acts of atrocities against the Syrian people“. I would say, I have seen “reports of Alien Bases and heard of Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Alien abduction cases“. So, because Kirby states that “we have seen some reports” we are all expected to wear alien costumes, right”?In other words, the Pentagon is covering over the well established fact that NATO Special Forces are liaison to, supervising, and co-operating with al-Qaeda units in Syria, including the at least 18.000 al-Qaeda mercenaries under command Tripoli Military Governor and al-Qaeda Commander Abdelhakim Belhadj.(13) The Pentagon also positions Iran as legitimate target for NATO aggression because it has “certainly seen reports and have reason to believe” that Iran supports Assad. Now if Iran supports Assad or Syria, it is supporting them in their battles against the NATO led al-Qaeda units that have committed the atrocities that are blamed on “the Assad Regime”.Another manufacturing of public consent is the recent release of a report that states that Obama had vetoed a French-Saudi plan to attack the Governmental Palace of Syria to decapitate the regime. Let alone the fact that such action would be a serious war crime, which NATO obviously does not care about, the main function of “leaking” such information via DEBKA File is to prepare the Western Public for a war. Other functions will be related to intelligence gathering as well as that of adding pressure on Russia and China at the Security Council – and beyond.

Restaurant owner fears potential rise in cocktail prices

Vancouver restaurant and lounge owner Chuck Chronis believes the state's newly enacted system of private liquor sales will drive up the price of cocktails in Clark County's already competitive bar scene.But local bar owner Steve Deans thinks he is better off under the new system, passed in November by voters as Initiative 1183, which took Washington out of the business of selling bottled liquor on June 1. The transition ended the 73-year reign of a state enterprise that promoted, distributed and sold liquor through a string of state-owned stores and other ones that were owned by entrepreneurs who contracted to sell liquor for the state. Under the new law, bars and restaurants — from tiny taverns to concept dining chains — will likely have to monitor the prices offered by distributors instead of taking for granted the across-the-board uniform prices formerly offered at state liquor stores.Vancouver restaurateur Mark Matthias thinks time will tell whether the new law, which adds a dizzying array of new distributors, will boost the price of a happy hour martini, margarita or Cheap Baseball Jerseys Manhattan."The good news is you can negotiate with different vendors for product and pricing," said Matthias, owner of Beaches Restaurant & Bar in Vancouver. But he and other bar owners expect higher prices to replace the introductory offers now being marketed by distributors."They (distributors) have to figure in their profit and the extra cost to distribute," which could increase personnel costs, said Chronis, owner of Chronis' Restaurant and Lounge at 819 Main St. in downtown Vancouver. He expects prices to increase gradually over the next few days and weeks, unlike the sticker shock revealed to retail consumers on Friday, the first day of privatized liquor sales.Liquor sales in the grocery store surprised buyers who found they were charged the already existing 20.5 percent liquor sales tax and $3.77 per liter tax, which had previously been incorporated into the shelf price, at the checkout counter. In addition, many consumers may not even have realized in advance that two new state fees would be included in the price of a bottle — a wholesalers' fee of 10 percent and a 17 percent retailers' fee.Bar operators have always paid lower sales and per-liter taxes and can now expect a similar reduction. In addition to a 15 percent pretax break on purchases, they only pay 13.77 percent sales tax (compared with 20.5 percent tax on retail purchases) and a tax of $2.44 per liter (compared with $3,77).And unlike the retail consumers, bars that make liquor purchases from a distributor will be exempt from the 17 percent distribution fee, although the new 10 percent wholesalers' fee still applies."I would imagine those who buy volume will tend to get a better deal," said Brian Smith, spokesman for the Washington State Liquor Control Board.The changes could force higher prices on smaller, mom-and-pop bars while giving a break camiseta España to larger enterprises, said Chronis, who operates a single-owner establishment. "Some of the distributors have a three to five case special (price). But sometimes you don't want or need certain kinds of liquor and I'm not into warehousing it for them," he said.Chronis also said he couldn't justify tying up his small operation's extra money — up to $2,000 — to have an added inventory of liquor sitting in the back room. He estimated his hard liquor costs have gone up by at least 15 percent.The additional cost can be offset elsewhere at other bars, said Deans, the co-owner of downtown Vancouver's Brickhouse Bar and Grill."It's become much more convenient," he said. "It's going to cut back on our labor costs."Deans previously scheduled staff to fill out orders and pick up the liquor from state stores, a task now largely overseen by the distribution companies. However, Deans and other bar owners complained they will have to work with more than one distributor, since most do not carry a wide enough variety of items.Whether the price of a bar beverage will rise is something "we're all going to know very quickly," Matthias predicted. "There's so many people distributing now."Some bars that carry small quantities might even gravitate back to the former state-contracted liquor stores to keep plenty of booze and bar supplies on hand, said Shelby Piersol, a liquor merchant whose formerly state-contracted store has now lost the guarantee of its state-assigned sales to local bars and restaurants.Those sales previously made up about 15 percent of her business, said Piersol, who now operates the store as a privately owned shop.Under the old state system, Piersol's store regularly supplied a handful of Washougal businesses."We had little taverns and seven or eight restaurants, a golf course and a few pubs," she said.Piersol doubts some of those bars will make large orders with the new distributors."Some are so tiny, they just need about 15 bottles," she said.

Idaho has long history of execution witnesses

Editor’s note: Reporter Betsy Z. Russell, president of the Idaho Press Club, researched the issue of media witnesses to executions both for this article and for the news media’s court challenge. BOISE – As Idaho’s news media spar with the state in federal court over limits on access to executions, the case has turned a spotlight on Idaho’s long and consistent history of media witnesses attending its state executions to serve as the eyes and ears of the public.Media witnesses have been present for all but one Idaho execution since 1901 and published detailed accounts of them.“The body swung not to the right and left, the rope made not a single twist, but facing the sun in the eastern sky, like one standing erect, all that was mortal of Ed Rice was there before his Real Madrid Camiseta fellows, while the tide of life fast ebbed away,” the Idaho Daily Statesman reported in 1901, recounting the first state execution held at Idaho’s state prison.Prior to 1901, executions were conducted at the county level in Idaho, and most were public, with hundreds attending.Idaho’s news media, including the Associated Press, The Spokesman-Review, the Idaho Press Club and more than a dozen other news outlets and organizations, are suing in federal court over Idaho’s current execution procedures. Witnesses are barred from the first portion of the lethal injection procedure, when the condemned prisoner is strapped down to a gurney and IVs are inserted.The media have been in discussions with the state over the issue since before Paul Ezra Rhoades was executed in November, but the state has refused to change its procedure. Now, Richard Leavitt is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 12.The lawsuit cites a 2002 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that held it was a violation of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to exclude media witnesses, and by extension the public, from the full procedure, from the moment the condemned person enters the execution chamber to the time of death. That case was brought by the news media in California. However, only two states in the 9th Circuit – California and Nevada – have been complying with the 2002 decision. U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge is now considering arguments from the media and from the state, which has defended its procedures; he is expected to rule shortly. The state has argued that allowing witnesses to view the first portion of the procedure would violate the condemned prisoner’s privacy, could impact other Death Row inmates, would cause suffering for the prisoner’s family and friends, and could identify or stress members of the execution team. However, the team is masked and wears surgical garb.The media, in legal papers filed Monday, argued that 1st Amendment concerns outweigh those issues, and that inmates’ privacy rights are limited.“Witness attendance at an execution assures public involvement in the process, and transparency fuels informed public debate, which is the main purpose behind granting a right of access to governmental proceedings,” wrote the news media’s attorney, Charles Brown of Lewiston.No such questions were raised in the early days of Idaho executions.In 1901, an Idaho Daily Statesman reporter, Fred Flood, wrote that he and other newsmen were ushered into Rice’s cell to hear the death warrant read to the condemned man.They then followed the prisoner to the gallows where he would be hanged, and reported in detail on the entire procedure, up to when guards placed the body in a coffin and carried it away.Similar detailed, firsthand accounts were published in the newspapers of the day of executions carried out at the Idaho State Penitentiary in 1904, 1906, 1909, 1924 and 1926.In 1909, the Idaho Nike Free Sko Daily Statesman published a photograph of a handwritten, elaborately lettered invitation/ticket the newspaper had received the day before from Warden John W. Snook, stating, “Admit Reporter Boise Statesman to the execution of Fred Seward, May 7th, at 8 o’clock a.m.” The warden signed his name at the bottom with a flourish.The only state execution at which members of the Idaho news media weren’t present was a hurry-up double hanging in the middle of the night in 1951, when a frightened prison warden who feared inmate riots refused all requests from outside witnesses, had the gallows erected starting at 5 p.m. for the midnight execution, and had all traces of them removed by morning. At Idaho’s last hanging in 1957, several newspaper reporters were present but declined, at the final moment, to enter the observation room at the new indoor gallows.Idaho has conducted two executions since 1957, both by lethal injection. At each of those, media witnesses were admitted to the execution chamber and documented what they sawAssociated Press reporter Bob Fick was among the witnesses at the execution of Keith Eugene Wells in 1994. In a 2011 National Public Radio interview, he remembered the lethal injection procedure as “sterile and antiseptic,” in contrast to Wells’ crime, in which Wells beat his two victims to death with a baseball bat at a Boise bar.In November of 2011, Idaho executed triple murderer Paul Ezra Rhoades. Four media witnesses attended and shared their observations with other reporters and the public. Idaho Press-Tribune reporter Nate Green said the procedure was “very quiet and somber.” He also reported that once Rhoades was dead, a friend of one of Rhoades’ victims muttered, “The devil has gone home.”

Creative City: Hong Kong’s only design & culture-focused guide-map offers a new way to explore the city

An eloquently designed, and uniquely tailored guide-map, Creative City provides an indispensable and thoroughly insightful view of Hong Kong’s best places to ‘stash, see and savour’. Inspired from a first-person perspective of the local creative community, the ‘map with a twist’ is ideal for locals and tourists alike. Conceived and developed by prominent creative entrepreneurs Danielle Huthart of Whitespace and Lancashire Road's Louise Wong, Creative City celebrates Hong Kong's cultural heart and is flush with industry insider information. With visually striking infographics, colour-coded maps highlighting Nike Free Run Dame must-see districts, and a full spread feature on the best cafes in which to hone creativity over a cup of coffee, the second edition of Creative City is an essential pocket companion to discover both the traditional and emerging culture of Hong Kong. The link between coffee and creativity is honoured in this edition: “Why coffee? The coffee scene has really taken off since our first edition, in a way that's unlike before," said Danielle Huthart. "There's a link between creativity and coffee, or at least the culture of socialising and discussing ideas. It's a trend we welcome and hope will continue." For those who seek to immerse themselves in cultural epicentres or simply prefer to take the path less travelled, Hong Kong’s creative side is now easy to explore thanks to Creative City. The second installment of Hong Kong’s indigenously conceived arts and culture guide-map, which hits book shelves this month, is published by two of Hong Kong’s top creative minds, and expands upon their critically acclaimed inaugural edition released in 2011. Large maps of the must-see districts around both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, are colour-coded and numbered with street-level detail. Amongst the highlighted feature destinations are galleries, markets, boutiques, restaurants, architectural gems and cafe hideouts where many a creative can be spotted hatching a plan. For this edition's six district maps, Creative City collaborated with Hong Kong-based design collectives including Graphic Airlines, Shanghai Street Studios, Savannah College of Art and Design as well as Daydream Nation. "The idea of the 'district curators' is to share an intimate look at the surroundings from people España camiseta most familiar with the areas," said Louise Wong. "There are 188,000 creative practitioners living and working in Hong Kong and what inspires them may be surprising and sometimes, unexpected." "We are not trying to provide a comprehensive guide to every secret location in the city but we hope that people feel encouraged and excited to explore and experience Hong Kong in their own way," said Louise Wong. This second design-led edition is curated by local artisans and presented in one of four limited edition sleeves by Hong Kong resident artists. Graphic Airlines, Don Mak, French illustrator Emilie Sarnel and American artist Emily Eldridge, offer their visuals that highlight the diversity of Hong Kong’s creatives. Each sleeve draws inspiration from the city, depicting it in whimsical, colourful and sometimes political ways.

Pro and anti-Syrian groups clash in north Lebanon

Security officials say clashes between pro and anti-Syrian groups in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli have killed at least one person and wounded five. The officials say the fighting started shortly before midnight Friday and continued Saturday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, which are easily enflamed. Clashes in Tripoli last month killed at least eight people in a spillover of the conflict in Syria. The split is between Sunni Muslims who support Syrian rebels trying to oust Nike Free 2012 Mænd President Bashar Assad and members of the tiny Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Alawites are Assad's most loyal supporters. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. BEIRUT (AP) — The U.N.'s top human rights body voted overwhelmingly Friday to condemn Syria over the slaughter of more than 100 civilians last week, but Damascus appeared impervious to the crescendo of global condemnation following a string of horrific massacres. Syria's most important ally and protector, Russia, voted against the measure by the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. Russia has refused to support any move that could lead to foreign intervention in Syria, Moscow's last significant ally in the Middle East. New bloodshed was reported across Syria on Friday, with troops firing on protesters and more execution-style killings coming to light, while U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan urged Syrian President Bashar Assad once again to stop the violence. As Russian diplomats in Geneva dismissed the resolution as "unbalanced" and voted against the text, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to press the Syrian government for an end to the violence and insisted a political solution was still possible despite mounting frustration over the lack of diplomatic progress. "It requires a certain professionalism and patience," Putin said in Germany. Russia, along with China, has twice used its veto power to shield Syria from U.N. sanctions. Although Syria has come under deep international isolation since its forces launched a ferocious crackdown on dissent nearly 15 months ago, the May 25 massacre in a cluster of villages known as Houla has brought a new urgency in calls to the crisis. "Syria is on the edge, it is on the edge of a catastrophic situation, if we can imagine one even worse than the current situation," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on the sidelines of a conference in Turkey. A majority of countries in the 47-nation rights council supported a U.S.- and Arab-led resolution condemning the "outrageous use of force against the civilian population" in Houla. "We believe that the acts committed by the Syrian regime may amount to crimes against humanity and other international crimes, and demonstrate a pattern of widespread and systematic attacks against civilian populations," Hague said. He said evidence from U.N. observers and independent witnesses confirmed that security forces shelled Houla and that "government militia then went house to house slaughtering entire families without compassion or mercy." New satellite images posted on the website of U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford showed signs of what look like freshly dug mass graves. A senior intelligence official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do so publicly, confirmed the authenticity of the images. Only Russia, China and Cuba voted against the resolution, with Uganda and Ecuador abstaining. The Philippines was absent. The resolution blamed "pro-regime elements" and government troops for the massacre. But Moscow echoed the Syrian government's explanation for the killings, blaming rebels that the Kremlin says are trying to stir up a civil war. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said the Houla massacre was a well-planned attempt to thwart a political solution to the crisis and "lead the situation in Syria to a new circle of gory violence." Moscow's pro-Syria stance is motivated in part by its strategic and defense ties to Damascus, including weapons sales. Russia also rejects what it sees as a world order dominated by the U.S. Speaking late Friday in Paris, Putin said Russia was not backing the Syrian regime, but trying to "reduce the violence to a minimum." "We are not for Bashar Assad or for his adversaries. We want to arrive at a situation where the violence is ended and the possibility of a civil war is completely avoided," he said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she doesn't quite buy the claim that Moscow is neutral in the Syrian conflict, saying in Oslo that Russia is viewed in the United Nations, in Damascus and around the world "as supporting the continuity of the Assad regime." "The continued supply of arms from Russia has strengthened the Assad regime," and "that Russia has maintained this trade ... has raised serious concerns," she said. Activists say as many as 13,000 people have died in Assad's crackdown against the anti-government uprising, which began in March 2011 amid the Arab Spring. One year after the revolt began, the U.N. put the toll at 9,000, but many hundreds more have died since. Despite the relentless violence, the Houla massacre stands out for its sheer brutality. Many of the dead were women and children who were gunned down in their homes. Since then, two other mass killings were reported, both on Thursday. Thirteen bound corpses, many apparently shot execution-style, were found in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, near the Iraqi border. Gunmen also killed 11 people on their way to work at a state-owned fertilizer factory in the central province of Homs, activists said. There is no clear idea of who carried out the killings, although both sides traded blame. U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said the U.N. has sent two teams to the area of the reported killings. "We cannot yet confirm the reports but teams are right now working on this," del Buey said in New York. The violence has grown increasingly chaotic in recent months, and it is difficult to assign blame for much of the bloodshed as the country spirals toward civil war. The government restricts journalists from moving freely, making it nearly impossible to independently verify accounts from either side. While Putin urged patience in the crisis, Annan called for immediate action, saying Assad must take bold steps to end the violence. "I know we are all impatient, we are all frustrated by the violence, by the killings," Annan told reporters in Beirut. "We really want to see things move much faster." Annan is trying to salvage a peace plan that he initiated six weeks ago, which calls for a cease-fire by both sides. The plan has never really taken hold, but world leaders have pinned their hopes on it, since the U.S. and others are unwilling to get deeply involved in another Arab nation in turmoil. On Friday, activists said Syrian security forces fired on thousands of protesters in different parts of the country as crowds poured into the streets to mark the Houla massacre. An amateur video said to be taken in the posh Damascus neighborhood of Mazzeh showed scores of people inside a mosque chanting "Death is better than humiliation!" and accusing the Syrian army of being traitors. Protests erupted in the capital Damascus, the southern province of Daraa, the northern regions of Idlib and Aleppo, Latakia on the coast and Hama and Homs in central Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the shooting at protesters Nike Free tilbud occurred in Daraa, the suburbs of Damascus, and Aleppo, the country's largest city. Several people were reported killed, but there was no way to confirm the toll. On Friday, the Red Cross said thousands of people who have been displaced because of the Houla massacre need urgent help. "People left everything behind as they ran for their lives," said Marianne Gasser, the head of the ICRC delegation in Syria. "Most of the displaced are women and children." Many are taking shelter in schools and other public buildings in a nearby village. "There was not enough food, water and medicine for everyone, which put a great deal of pressure on the small village," she said. Del Buey, the U.N. deputy spokesman, said 210 detainees in Damascus and 13 in Daraa were released Thursday in the presence of U.N. military observers. He stressed that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Annan "have said repeatedly we must see the release of all detainees being arbitrarily held and that clearly many more must be released." Gen. Robert Mood, head of the U.N. mission, welcomed the release. "This is a positive act in these challenging times," Mood said in a statement. ___ AP writers John Heilprin and Frank Jordans in Geneva, Geir Moulson and David Rising in Berlin, Christopher Torchia in Istanbul, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations in New York, Nataliya Vasilyeva and Mansur Mirovalev in Moscow, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Kimberly Dozier in Washington, D.C., and Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.

New show gives close-up of women in wheelchairs

LOS ANGELES (AP) - In the opening moments of a new reality show, a pretty blonde pulls up to a gas station in her sporty Mustang. As she fills the tank, she catches the eye of a man across the station and smiles. Soon she drives away, waving to her admirer as she leaves. Another Kardashian-style series? Not quite. Around her fueling and flirting, we also see the woman assembling a wheelchair, popping herself into it and then disassembling the chair before driving off. The blonde is 28-year-old Tiphany Adams, one of the stars of "Push Girls," a Sundance Channel reality series premiering Monday that takes viewers into the lives of four beautiful wheelchair-bound women. All paralyzed through injury or illness, Adams and her three best friends - Mia Schaikewitz, 33, Auti Angel, 42, and Angela Rockwood, 36 - are shown navigating everyday challenges of all sizes, from putting on makeup to starting a family. It's an unprecedented look at the lives of disabled women, catheters and all, and either a new high or new low for reality TV. "As a community, we say we want to be treated like everyone else. Well, everyone else has a reality show," said Paul Tobin, president and chief executive of United Spinal Association, an advocacy organization for people with spinal cord injuries. "These aren't the 'Mob Wives.' ... My belief is that 'Push Girls' will help dispel Camiseta del FC Barcelona preconceived notions by showing people living their lives and enjoying the same things as everyone else, just a little bit differently." The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, another spinal cord injury advocacy group, is promoting "Push Girls" and joining with Sundance Channel to raise funds for research. Reeve Foundation president and chief executive Peter Wilderotter called the show "a media milestone." "It truly is reality and it's bringing home what it's like to live with a spinal cord injury," he said. "With these women's sense of style, sense of humor, and sense of who they are and what they're going through, the portrait is really important because I think most people don't really think about what life is like in a chair." "Push Girls" star Angel never did. A professional hip-hop dancer who toured with artists such as N.W.A. and LL Cool J, Angel's spinal cord was snapped in a 1992 car accident. She was paralyzed from the waist down and has used a wheelchair ever since. "Before my car accident, when I was an able-bodied person, I never met a person with a disability," she said. "So I would be in the same boat with the viewers, like wow, they can have kids? And they don't marry other people in wheelchairs?" Angel allows the cameras to eavesdrop on her private conversations with her husband about having a baby, one of the show's ongoing story lines. Producer Gay Rosenthal said she was inspired to make "Push Girls" after meeting Rockwood, a model and actress who became a quadriplegic after a 2001 car accident. "I was really taken with her," the producer said. Then she met Rockwood's best friends and "it changed my life." "This is why I do what I do," she said. "They're more able bodied than some able-bodied people. They're so inspirational." And their message is universal: "You watch just their spirit and how nothing stops them and how they live life, and it makes you think, 'I can get through my challenge, my obstacle and my adversity," said Rosenthal, also the executive producer of TLC's "Little People, Big World," a reality series about the everyday life of a family of little people. Rosenthal maintains that the show doesn't exploit its subjects. "Here's the thing: People are interested in how ("Little People" stars) Matt Cheap Jerseys and Amy do things differently," she said. "Just like Tiphany pumping gas, it's really interesting to see and it's no big deal for her." Schaikewitz said her paralysis at age 15 from a ruptured vessel in her spinal cord is "the best thing that ever happened to me, for reasons that I am able to open somebody's mind by doing an everyday normal activity. "I don't even have to converse with somebody," she said. "They see me pumping gas and that changes their day. To me, that is a huge gift." So is having the Sundance Channel and "Push Girls" to share her reality with others. "When I was first paralyzed, I always had this mission to open people's minds and get us a little more accessible to people who don't know our world because it would erase some fears, and I always thought the best way to do that would be through mass media," she said. "This is totally not exploitative. It's educational, but in a fun way; not like a public service announcement and not like preaching." The 14-episode series will follow the women as they work, swim, ski, date and relate with their families. Sundance Channel jumped on the chance to work with "Push Girls," said general manager Sarah Barnett. "This was a story that hadn't been told about four women in wheelchairs, and it really lifted the lid on a population that hasn't really been looked at on television," she said. "The show really does challenge some stereotypes (for those who) are really hungry and open to an authentic, honest discovery about something we haven't thought about before." For Tiphany Adams, the woman at the gas station, the series tells the world she still has what it takes. "It's about awareness. It's about showing you that we are courageous and we still have power and that enthusiasm for life," she said. "We still love shopping. We still love flirting our wheels off."