# data[].attributes.headline
Michael Phelps Receives Suspended Sentence in Drunk Driving Case

# data[].attributes.subject
Michael Phelps Receives Suspended Sentence in Drunk Driving Case

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2014/12/19/michael-phelps-drunk-driving-court-decision-bob-bowman/20606839/

# data[].attributes.body
Trash from Japan!!!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Part of the over one million tons of debris dispersed in the Pacific, the trash island is located northeast of the Hawaiian Islands

The first documented tsunami debris to reach California arrived in April 2013

Boats, a dock, a soccer ball, and motorcycle have all been identified on the West Coast as confirmed tsunami debris

A floating island of debris the size of Texas has been crossing the vast Pacific Ocean to the western shores of the Americas since a devastating tsunami inundated Japan in 2011, says a new study.

Five million tons of wreckage - the remains of homes, boats, and other remnants of shattered lives in eastern Japan - were swallowed by the ocean that day in March, and more than one million tons of flotsam continues to head towards the west coast of the US.

While the first documented debris from the tragedy has already been found in California, scientists fear these new findings mean there could be a lot more to come and it might arrive all at once.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) released its updated findings last week, which show the huge island floating northeast of the Hawaiian Islands.

NOAA scientists add that a larger and less-concentrated debris field stretches from Alaska to the Philippines.

JAPANESE TSUNAMI DEBRIS ISLAND STEADILY FLOATS TO U.S.

Some of the more mobile items have been documented as washing up on the coast of California as early as 2011.

In April, a 20ft boat ran aground at Crescent City, California. It was formally identified as a boat that belonged to the marine sciences program at Takata High School in the city of Rikuzentakata.

In all, 27 items from among more than 1,600 reports of debris have been firmly traced back to the tsunami, NOAA spokeswoman Keeley Belva said.

The confirmed items include a small boat found in Hawaii waters, large docks that have washed ashore in Washington state and Oregon, and a motorcycle that washed ashore off the coast of British Columbia.

A soccer ball found on an Alaska island with a student's name on it was also traced to the city of Rikuzentakata.

But distinguishing everyday trash from tsunami debris has proven difficult in most other cases.

Items that are confirmed as having come from the tsunami, like the soccer ball and boat, tend to have unique markings. It's far more difficult to distinguish between domestic and Japanese everyday wooden debris, for instance.

Geiger counters, which detect radiation, are no help in identifying debris. It was initially thought that the instruments might be able to pick up traces of radiation from the still-leaking nuclear reactor at Fukushima, but none of the floating debris has any detectable radioactivity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Texas-sized debris island from Japanese tsunami headed for the US

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Part of the over one million tons of debris dispersed in the Pacific, the trash island is located northeast of the Hawaiian Islands The first documented tsunami debris to reach California arrived in April 2013 Boats, a dock, a soccer ball, and motorcycle have all been identified on the West Coast as confirmed tsunami debris A floating island of debris the size of Texas has been crossing the vast Pacific Ocean to the western shores of the Americas since a devastating tsunami inundated Japan in 2011, says a new study.

# data[].attributes.body
"California's egg ban ruffles the feathers of six states"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | California's egg ban ruffles the feathers of six states

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The six states are going back to court to fight a California law that goes into effect Jan. 1, 2015. The law bans the sale of all eggs from hens kept in cramped cages.

# data[].attributes.body
"Umbrella ban in rainy Macau as China’s president Xi Jinping arrives for visit"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Xi Jinping has visited a drizzly Macau for the 15th anniversary of its return to China with onlookers barred from using umbrellas - the emblem of democracy protests in nearby Hong Kong.

The Chinese president's two-day trip to the former Portuguese enclave comes just days after Hong Kong police cleared the last of three camps where protesters had spent nearly three months demanding free leadership elections for the city.

But in the spirit of Hong Kong's Occupy movement which gripped the city from late September, hundreds of pro-democracy protesters are planning a march on Saturday from Macau's historic city centre.

Authorities were on guard on Friday for signs of dissent, with reporters at the airport waiting for Xi not allowed to hold umbrellas, and handed raincoats instead.

"They said you couldn't open umbrellas at the airport because it would affect the flights," said a Hong Kong-based reporter who was among up to 40 journalists at the scene.

Another reporter said airport authorities had explained it was too windy to safely unfurl an umbrella.

Despite the light rain, no one in the official receiving party used them either.

However, dozens of enthusiastic elementary school pupils braved the cold weather to wave Chinese and Macau flags, and posies of flowers, to greet Xi.

The president's visit is intended to drive home the message that the semi-autonomous territory needs to diversify away from casinos, which have seen revenues dive owing to a national anti-corruption drive and a stuttering economy

"I believe that under the one country two systems and the basic law, Macau definitely will be increasingly stable and better as time passes," Xi told reporters after stepping off the plane, referring to the territory's semi-autonomous status.

He also gave his backing to Hong Kong's leader, Leung Chun-ying, pledging "full trust" in him.

A handful of protesters holding umbrellas were stopped by police in the afternoon when they attempted to walk to where Xi was staying.

"Why does such a powerful authority have to be afraid of a simple symbol of the yellow umbrella?" pro-democracy activist Jason Chao said.

Around a dozen police officers, some on motorcycles had kept watch on the four umbrella-wielding protesters.

Several Hong Kong activists including veteran lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung were reportedly turned back at Macau's ferry terminal as they held up yellow umbrellas and a large yellow banner which read "I want real universal suffrage, have you received the message, Xi Jinping?"

Macau is the only part of China where casino gambling is legal, and after the sector was opened up to foreign competition in 2002 it became a paradise for high rollers, overtaking Las Vegas as the world's gaming capital in terms of revenue.

But casinos saw their worst drop ever in October as China's big spenders are hit by a corruption crackdown, as well as a slumping mainland economy.
Topics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Umbrella ban in rainy Macau as China's president Xi Jinping arrives for visit

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Xi Jinping has visited a drizzly Macau for the 15th anniversary of its return to China with onlookers barred from using umbrellas - the emblem of democracy protests in nearby Hong Kong.

# data[].attributes.body
"Children stabbed to death in the Cairns suburb of Manoora"

# data[].attributes.body
"A glimpse of self-driving reveals a creeping revolution"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.body
Death of Rare White Rhino Leaves 5 in the World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When an elderly northern white rhinoceros died Sunday at the San Diego Zoo, he left behind just five of his kind on Earth. As for the chances of any more being born, scientists say, there is limited hope.

The rhino, named Angalifu, was 44 years old and under veterinary care for a variety of ailments at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, mammal curator Randy Rieches said in a statement. The death, he added, "is a tremendous loss to all of us."

The remaining animals, all captive, include a female at the San Diego Zoo, a female in a zoo in the Czech Republic, and two females and a male at Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy, which is part of a last-ditch effort to breed the extremely rare subspecies.

In October, a 34-year-old male, Suni, died at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, which has not been successful in breeding the remaining animals. Suni was one of just two breeding males left, a count that did not include Angalifu, since he was unable to breed. (Related: " Czech Zoo Sends Four Rare White Rhinos to Kenya.")

The southern white rhino, a related subspecies, is considered near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but lately has rebounded to about 20,000 individuals, according to the nonprofit group WWF. Many rhinos have declined in recent decades due to poaching caused by demand for their horn, which people in Asia use for traditional medicine. (See " 1,000+ Rhinos Poached in 2013: Highest in Modern History.")

Since Angalifu was old and not breeding, "I wouldn't say the [northern white] subspecies is closer to extinction as a result of this death, but it's in dire shape, and it has been for a long time," said Matthew Lewis, senior program officer for African species conservation at the WWF.

"The only chance we're going to have full northern white offspring is artificial insemination," said Lewis. But so far, this method has proved to be very difficult in rhinos.

The San Diego Zoo has preserved semen and testicular tissue from Angalifu, "with the hope that new reproductive technologies will allow recovery of the species," according to the statement.

In general, all species of rhinos breed well in the wild but not in captivity-as is the case at Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
Interbreeding to Save Genes
But there is another option, Lewis noted: breeding the remaining northern white females in Kenya with southern white rhino males.

Though the pure northern white subspecies would be lost, this approach would preserve some of the northern white's genetic material in the offspring-which is better than nothing. (Read "Rhino Wars" in National Geographic magazine.)

Lewis suspects that the northern white/southern white offspring would have no trouble adjusting to life in the wild, in part because rhinos are generally adaptable when they're reintroduced.

Northern white rhinos have been "absent from the wild for a number of years, and having them back would be good for the ecosystem," he added.

Indeed, rhinoceroses are key to keeping grasslands healthy, as they eat-and keep in check-particular species of savanna plants.

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy has already embarked on this strategy, which they call Plan B. Earlier this year, conservationists introduced a "fine and fertile" southern white male from the neighboring Lewa Wildlife Conservancy to the northern white females' enclosure.

Though the females haven't gotten pregnant yet, in March the conservancy said that the male is interested in one of the females, and that "partial mating" had occurred.

"Although these animals will not be 100 [percent] northern white rhinos, they will be conserving the important locally adapted genes for the habitats and environment that the northern white rhino was adapted for and evolved within," the Ol Pejeta Conservancy said in a statement.

Lewis pointed out in a previous interview that the northern white rhinoceros is a "victim of evolution"-it was a remnant population cut off from the southern white rhinoceros by the Great Rift Valley and the dense forests of Central Africa.

Already isolated and occurring in low numbers, the northern subspecies got caught up in political turmoil in Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda, and its numbers quickly dwindled because of poaching and habitat loss. (Related: " Why African Rhinos Are Facing a Crisis.")

Whatever happens to the northern white rhinoceros, conservationists should avoid letting the captive population of any species get so small, Lewis said.

It's the "worst-case scenario," he said, and "a fantastic lesson on what not to do."
Follow Christine Dell'Amore on Twitter and Google+.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Death of Rare White Rhino Leaves 5 in the World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When an elderly northern white rhinoceros died Sunday at the San Diego Zoo, he left behind just five of his kind on Earth. As for the chances of any more being born, scientists say, there is limited hope.

# data[].attributes.body
"Hunger Games" salute now banned by Thailand's military leaders

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.body
- President Barack Obama of the U.S. decided to end a 50 year embargo with Cuba. Cuba is a communist country that the U.S. once saw as threatening. The new talks could open travel and trading

# data[].attributes.body
'The Interview': FBI Links North Korea to Sony Hacking

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The U.S. government has taken the big step of publicly branding the North Korean regime as the driving force behind the massive cyber-attack on Sony Pictures that has paralyzed the film company and raised fears of terrorist attacks inside the United States.

Interested in ?

Add as an interest to stay up to date on the latest news, video, and analysis from ABC News.

In a rare, official statement issued today, the FBI said it "now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions."

" North Korea 's actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves" and seek economic and social prosperity," according to the FBI statement. "Such acts of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior."

The statement lays out at least some of the evidence the U.S. government has uncovered tying North Korea to the attack.

The FBI says analysis of the malicious software used in the attack shows it is linked "to other malware that the FBI knows North Korean actors previously developed."

"The FBI also observed significant overlap between the infrastructure used in this attack and other malicious cyber activity the U.S. Government has previously linked directly to North Korea," the FBI statement continues. "Separately, the tools used in the [Sony] attack have similarities to a cyber attack in March of last year against South Korean banks and media outlets, which was carried out by North Korea."

This comes as a source close to Sony confirms that company executives received a new message laden with threats, saying, "Now we want you never let the movie released, distributed or leaked in any form of, for instance, DVD or piracy."

On Nov. 21, Sony executives received an email warning them not to release their new "movie of terror," referring to the comedy "The Interview," which depicts a fictional assassination of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Soon thereafter, Sony was hit with the now-infamous cyber-attack, crippling its computer network and flooding the Internet with embarrassing internal emails and employees' personal information.

Earlier this month, a North Korean official denied allegations that the government was involved in the hacking, calling it "wild speculation." Still, the official described the attack as a "righteous deed," according to a North Korean state news agency.

Then, on Tuesday, a message posted online warned of a 9/11-style attack on theaters showing the film. Sony then decided not to release the movie at all.

Identifying exactly who executed the attack has been a challenging and painstaking task for federal investigators. Based on evidence collected so far, federal sources told ABC News, they believe an individual or small group stationed outside North Korea may have punched the computers keys that launched the attack, which was then likely routed through at least six countries overseas -- Singapore, Thailand, Italy, Bolivia, Poland and Cyprus -- before hitting its target in the United States.

A group calling itself "Guardians of Peace" has claimed responsibility.

Last week, the head of the Justice Department's National Security Division, John Carlin, said the Sony hack "has our full attention." Two days later, FBI officials held a meeting in New York with executives from across the entertainment industry to brief them on cyber-related threats to their companies, sources told ABC News.

In addition, just hours before Sony's decision on Wednesday to pull the plug on its Christmas Day release of the movie, the FBI issued its first official message about the Sony hack to joint terrorism task forces across the country -- comprised of federal, state and local officials that the FBI describes as "our nation's front line on terrorism."

"The FBI's investigative team believes these [latest threats] increase the threat level" inside the United States, according to the message. But, FBI officials emphasized, the threat to movie theaters was not deemed credible, and the message distributed Wednesday by the FBI was simply precautionary and informational.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The U.S. government has taken the big step of publicly branding the North Korean regime as the driving force behind the massive cyber-attack on Sony Pictures that has paralyzed the film company and raised fears of terrorist attacks inside the United States. In a rare, official statement issued...

# data[].attributes.body
"Bracing for a New Civil Rights Movement"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.body
- http://www.cbsnews.com/
- www.newsela.com

- www.CNN.com

- www.Foxnews.com

- www.NBCnews.com

- www.NationalGeographic.com
- www.cbsnews.com

- www.yahoonews.com
- www.ABCnews.com
- www.theWildlifenews.com

# data[].attributes.body
"Spanish man crashes car into Popular Party HQ"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A ruined Spanish businessman has driven a car carrying gas cylinders into the front of the ruling Popular Party's headquarters in Madrid, police say.

The car did not explode and no-one was hurt, but the attack triggered a major security alert.

The man, 37, was said to have blamed Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government for his problems.

The central Madrid street was cordoned off as police investigated whether explosives were inside the car.

The driver was arrested and a robot was used to examine his Citroen Xantia car.

Madrid Popular Party President Esperanza Aguirre told Spanish media that the car had been driven into the building in Genova Street "at incredible speed" and had nearly hit a cleaning lady.

Other reports cast doubt on the man's claims that he was a businessman at all.

Residents in the man's home village of Teruel in north-east Spain told ABC website he had suffered from psychiatric problems and had been unemployed for some time.

Spain has 5.4 million unemployed - a jobless rate of 24% - and almost half have been out of work for more than two years.

Mr Rajoy signed a deal this week to extend long-term unemployment benefits which are only available for up to two years.

Jobless people with families will now be able to receive €426 (£334, $522) a month for half a year after other unemployment benefits run out.

Spain's recession ended in 2013 and growth of 1.3% is expected this year. However Mr Rajoy acknowledged that the recovery "has not come to everyone, nor to everyone equally".

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A ruined Spanish businessman has driven a car carrying gas cylinders into the front of the ruling Popular Party's headquarters in Madrid, police say. The car did not explode and no-one was hurt, but the attack triggered a major security alert.

# data[].attributes.body
- Kenya sentences men to 40 years for killing Scottish geologist, Campbell Bridges.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/18/us-kenya-crime-bridges-idUSKBN0JW1BG20141218

# data[].attributes.body
Baby penguin meets man

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Joel Oleson from California was on a private chartered tour to Antarctica

The 41-year-old was taken to a rocky beach by a guide to view penguins

He lay down to look as small and approachable as possible to the birds

Oleson captures moment on film as bird climbs on him and pecks his head

Penguins are usual wary creatures but when Joel Oleson visited a beach in Antarctica he made a surprising new furry friend.

Oleson, 41 from California was on a private chartered tour to Antarctica when he caught on camera the intimate meeting between himself and a baby penguin.

The SharePoint expert for Microsoft was speaking at a series of technical conferences in Antarctica and South America when he had his unusual encounter.

On one day during the tour a guide took him to a large penguin rookery with thousands of penguins along a rocky beach.

Oleson says, 'Our guide explained that we should not approach the wildlife, but that if they approached us that was OK.

'He said, the smaller you appear to them, the less intimidating you'll be. So he said it was better to kneel or bend down. I thought if that was the case, then my best case would simply to be to lay down to make myself very small.

'As I lay there, the baby penguins became curious.'

In the footage - filmed by Oleson - a baby penguin approaches him and begins to peck at his head and face.

The penguin clambers over his neck and appears completely unfazed as his wing rests over his face and he shifts about, gently nuzzling him, before sliding back onto the rocky beach to continue pecking at his hat.

Oleson says of the experience, 'As they approached me, I was thinking I need to be very still so I don't scare them. They were so cute with the way they walk with their little wings held back as they waddled.

'As one approached my head and started pecking around I wondering how sharp their beak was. At one point a baby penguin was pecking my forehead and face. I was filled with feelings of wonder and awe.'

The US technology expert said that the adult penguins kept their distance but the babies were more curious and he didn't notice any hostile or agitated behaviour such as hissing or loud chattering.

While Oleson was surprised how friendly the little penguin was it wasn't his first encounter with the flightless breed of bird.

'I'm lucky in that I've spent time with penguins including Jackass penguins near Capetown in South Africa, and on Philip Island with fairy penguins in Australia, so this wasn't my first time spending time with wild penguins.'

'The jackass penguins were very territorial and would nip at you and hiss if you got too close'

You can read more about Olseon on his travel blog at travelingepic.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Heart-melting moment a baby penguin meets a man in Antarctica

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Joel Oleson from California was on a private chartered tour to Antarctica The 41-year-old was taken to a rocky beach by a guide to view penguins He lay down to look as small and approachable as possible to the birds Oleson captures moment on film as bird climbs on him and pecks his head Penguins are usual wary creatures but when Joel Oleson visited a beach in Antarctica he made a surprising new furry friend.

# data[].attributes.body
"Where Has All the Plastic Gone?"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When Spanish scientist Andres Cozar Cabanas compiled the first ever global map of ocean trash last July, he inadvertently uncovered a mystery. Much of the plastic he expected to find bobbing in the oceans, given a quadrupling of plastic production in recent years, had "disappeared."

In a new study, published this week by the journal Royal Society Open Science, a British scientist reports the riddle of the "missing" plastic as solved: It sits in deep waters, broken down into tiny fibers and embedded in the sediment of the most remote places on Earth.

"The deep-sea floor appears to provide an answer to the question, where is all the plastic?" says Richard Thompson, a marine biologist at Plymouth University in the U.K.

The discovery of microplastic in such remote marine habitats raises new questions about the potential for plastic debris to contaminate the food chain. Scientists have already documented that fish, birds, turtles, and other marine animals eat plastic. Thompson and his team found an even greater accumulation of plastic than previously suspected. The more plastic there is, he says, the more potential for toxicity to marine life.

In the study, Thompson and his team concluded that every square kilometer of deep ocean contains about four billion plastic fibers-most are two to three centimeters in length and as thin as a human hair. The fibers are four times more abundant in the deep sea than in surface and coastal waters.

Chelsea Rochman, a marine ecologist at the University of California, Davis, who studies the effects of plastic retrieved from the stomachs of fish and shellfish, was not surprised that Thompson's team found the "missing" plastic in the deep sea.

"Every time they look somewhere for plastic debris, they find it. What is surprising is that what they are finding is that most of this is fibers."

Kara Lavender Law, an oceanographer at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, was also surprised that the fibers were so widespread. "The more we look, the more we find," she says. "I was surprised that they found microfibers in every core of all the regions sampled."

Thompson first called attention to ocean debris in 2004, when he concluded that most marine debris was plastic, overturning the general view that ocean trash consisted of wood, cloth, fishing gear, and other discarded items.

"Our results show evidence for a large and hitherto unknown repository of microplastics," Thompson wrote. "The prevalence of microfibers in all sediment cores and on all coral colonies examined suggests this contaminant is ubiquitous in the deep sea."

Lucy Woodall, a zoologist at the Natural History Museum in London and one of the study's authors, noted that the challenge for marine scientists has been to document the eventual resting place for ocean plastic. "It is alarming to find such high levels of contamination, especially when the full effect of plastics on the delicate balance of deep sea ecosystems is unknown," she says.

Thompson's team analyzed samples collected from 16 sites during seven research cruises between September 2001 and August 2012 in the Mediterranean Sea and in the southwest Indian and northeast Atlantic Oceans-a huge expanse that included subtropical to subpolar seas. The samples were collected by a remotely operated vehicle in submarine canyons, continental slopes, and basins. The scientists wore natural-fiber clothing to avoid contaminating their samples.

Samples collected from four locations in the Indian Ocean showed that microfibers had accumulated on the surface of coral. Most of the fibers were blue, black, green, or red, although Thompson noted that his team also collected pink, purple, and turquoise fibers.

Surprisingly, more than half of the fibers collected contained rayon, a man-made synthetic polymer that was more than twice as abundant as polyester, the next most prevalent fiber.
Follow Laura Parker on Twitter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Where Has All the (Sea Trash) Plastic Gone?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When Spanish scientist Andres Cozar Cabanas compiled the first ever global map of ocean trash last July, he inadvertently uncovered a mystery. Much of the plastic he expected to find bobbing in the oceans, given a quadrupling of plastic production in recent years, had "disappeared."