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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ? A burgeoning population of huge pythons ? many of them pets that were turned loose by their owners when they got too big ? appears to be wiping out large numbers of raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals in the Everglades, a study says.
The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that sightings of medium-size mammals are down dramatically ? as much as 99 percent, in some cases ? in areas where pythons and other large, non-native constrictor snakes are known to be lurking.
Scientists fear the pythons could disrupt the food chain and upset the Everglades' environmental balance in ways difficult to predict.
"The effects of declining mammal populations on the overall Everglades ecosystem, which extends well beyond the national park boundaries, are likely profound," said John Willson, a research scientist at Virginia Tech University and co-author of the study.
Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons, which are native to Southeast Asia, are believed to be living in the Everglades, where they thrive in the warm, humid climate. While many were apparently released by their owners, others may have escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and have been reproducing ever since.
Burmese pythons can grow to be 26 feet long and more than 200 pounds, and they have been known to swallow animals as large as alligators. They and other constrictor snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and suffocating it.
The National Park Service has counted 1,825 Burmese pythons that have been caught in and around Everglades National Park since 2000. Among the largest so far was a 156-pound, 16.4-foot one captured earlier this month.
For the study, researchers drove 39,000 miles along Everglades-area roads from 2003 through 2011, counting wildlife spotted along the way and comparing the results with surveys conducted on the same routes in 1996 and 1997.
The researchers found staggering declines in animal sightings: a drop of 99.3 percent among raccoons, 98.9 percent for opossums, 94.1 percent for white-tailed deer and 87.5 percent for bobcats. Along roads where python populations are believed to be smaller, declines were lower but still notable.
Rabbits and foxes, which were commonly spotted in 1996 and 1997, were not seen at all in the later counts. Researchers noted slight increases in coyotes, Florida panthers, rodents and other mammals, but discounted that finding because so few were spotted overall.
"The magnitude of these declines underscores the apparent incredible density of pythons in Everglades National Park," said Michael Dorcas, a professor at Davidson College in North Carolina and lead author of the study.
Although scientists cannot definitively say the pythons are killing off the mammals, the snakes are the prime suspect. The increase in pythons coincides with the mammals' decrease, and the decline appears to grow in magnitude with the size of the snakes' population in an area. A single disease appears unlikely to be the cause since several species were affected.
The report says the effect on the overall ecosystem is hard to predict. Declines among bobcats and foxes, which eat rabbits, could be linked to pythons' feasting on rabbits. On the flip side, declines among raccoons, which eat eggs, may help some turtles, crocodiles and birds.
Scientists point with concern to what happened in Guam, where the invasive brown tree snake has killed off birds, bats and lizards that pollinated trees and flowers and dispersed seeds. That has led to declines in native trees, fish-eating birds and certain plants.
In 2010, Florida banned private ownership of Burmese pythons. Earlier this month, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a federal ban on the import of Burmese pythons and three other snakes.
Salazar said Monday that the study shows why such restrictions were needed.
"This study paints a stark picture of the real damage that Burmese pythons are causing to native wildlife and the Florida economy," he said.
___
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updated 5:58 p.m. ET Jan. 28, 2012
LONDON - Liverpool reached the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday at the expense of its fiercest rival, a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Manchester United leaving the famous competition without the English Premier League's top two teams.
While Chelsea progressed with a 1-0 win at Queens Park Rangers thanks to Juan Mata's second-half penalty, Netherlands forward Dirk Kuyt scored the winner for Liverpool in the 88th minute at Anfield.
United earlier dumped out neighbor Manchester City ? the Premier League leader and defending FA Cup champion ? in the fourth round, leaving the world's oldest club knockout competition wide open this year.
Second-tier Brighton beat Premier League Newcastle 1-0 at Amex Stadium in another Cup match that Magpies defender Mike Williamson will want to forget.
Williamson deflected in Will Buckley's close-range effort for the only goal 14 minutes from time. The defender also scored an own goal last season when Newcastle lost to then League Two side Stevenage in the third round of the competition.
Bolton beat Swansea 2-1 and Norwich won by the same scoreline at West Bromwich Albion in the other all-Premier League matchups, while Stoke ? which lost the 2011 final to Man City ? also progressed with a 2-0 win at Derby.
Arsenal hosts Aston Villa on Sunday.
Liverpool and United met for the first time since the unsavory race row between Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra erupted in a Premier League match between them in October.
Evra, United's captain on Saturday, was booed throughout while Suarez watched from the stands as he served the seventh of his eight-game ban for repeatedly racially abusing the France defender.
The match passed without trouble, however, with United manager Alex Ferguson saying: "The players showed great respect to each other ? there wasn't a bad tackle in the game."
Denmark center back Daniel Agger's opener for Liverpool in the 21st minute was canceled out by United's Park Ji-sung six minutes before the break in a first half edged by the visitors, despite being without a raft of key players including the injured Wayne Rooney.
Kuyt settled the match when he ran to a flick-on by Andy Carroll and beat United goalkeeper David de Gea at the near post.
___
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Three days after Barcelona ended its Copa del Rey title defense, Real Madrid came from behind to beat last-place Zaragoza 3-1 on Saturday as its campaign rolled on to break its fierce rival's hold on the Spanish league title.
Three days after Barcelona ended Real Madrid's Copa del Rey title defense, the Spanish champions' own hopes of a fourth successive league dimmed after a 0-0 draw at Villarreal on Saturday.
Barcelona's slip let Madrid move seven points clear of its fierce rival just past the season's midway point through its earlier 3-1 comeback win over last-place Zaragoza.
Lionel Messi missed with a chip shot early, and Cesc Fabregas hit the crossbar late in Barcelona's best scoring chances.
Zaragoza, which upset Madrid at home late last season, started well with Angel Lafita scoring an 11th-minute opener.
But Kaka leveled for Madrid in the 32nd, and Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Oezil added two more shortly after halftime at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Ronaldo has scored in each of Madrid's last four games, and his 24 league goals are best in Spain, two ahead of Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who was playing later Saturday against Villarreal.
Madrid has won nine of 10 league home games this season, with its only home loss to Barcelona in December.
"Every game is tough. Zaragoza is a good team and they showed it with a quick goal," Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero said. "But we gave it our all and were able to turn it around."
After his team's strong performance in its closely fought elimination by Barcelona on Wednesday, Madrid coach Jose Mourinho opted again for an attack-minded starting 11 with rarely used Granero and Kaka in midfield behind Oezil and scoring pair Karim Benzema and Ronaldo.
Fernando Llorente scored a hat trick to give Athletic Bilbao a 3-2 win at Rayo Vallecano.
After Miguel "Michu" Perez's opener for Rayo, Llorente headed in a free kick to level in the 16th minute, and added a second when he controlled a pass with his chest, spun and fired from the edge of the area in the 23rd.
Alejandro Arribas drew Rayo even moments later, but Llorente headed home Gaizka Toquero's cross for the 68th-minute winner and his 11th league goal of the season.
Bilbao, which plays third-tier Mirandes in the Copa del Rey semifinals this week, moved into sixth place.
Also, Espanyol edged 10-man Mallorca 1-0 to climb level on points with fourth-place Levante.
___
BERLIN (AP) ? Bayern Munich beat Wolfsburg 2-0 to remain top of the Bundesliga on goal difference, just ahead of Borussia Dortmund and Schalke.
All three are tied at 40 points, but Bayern will be looking nervously over its shoulder after Dortmund brushed Hoffenheim aside 3-1 and then Schalke came from behind to win 4-1 in Cologne.
American Fabian Johnson scored his second goal of the season for Hoffenheim, and his first in the Bundesliga since Dec. 5, 2009. His other goal this season was in the German Cup last July 31.
Dortmund was already 3-0 up at home through two goals from Shinji Kagawa and another from Kevin Grosskreutz, before league scoring leader Mario Gomez's 60th-minute strike allowed Bayern a sigh of relief.
Dutch winger Arjen Robben sealed the points in an edgy win for Bayern with a goal in injury time.
"We had a lot of chances and for me this win is fully deserved," Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said. "The win gives us security so we can continue like this in the coming weeks."
Werder Bremen drew 1-1 with Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburger SV won 2-1 at Hertha Berlin, and Augsburg and Kaiserslautern played out a 2-2 draw in a relegation battle.
___
MILAN (AP) ? Juventus' charge towards the Serie A title gathered pace with a 2-1 win over third-place Udinese in falling snow on Saturday.
Alessandro Matri scored either side of Antonio Floro Flores' equalizer to help unbeaten leader Juventus move four points clear of second-placed AC Milan, which faces Cagliari on Sunday.
Udinese was two points further back and could be caught by Inter Milan, which visits Lecce on Sunday.
"I was worried a lot about this game because Udinese is a team which plays very interesting football and has a lot of talented players who make up a great team," Juve coach Antonio Conte said.
"Towards the end we were obviously tired after the Italian Cup, but we controlled the game well and got an important win. However, today we lost too many balls in midfield and so gave Udinese too much space to counterattack."
Catania was held to 1-1, a result which did neither team any favors in the standings.
Gonzalo Bergessio gave Catania a deserved lead shortly after the half-hour mark, but Francesco Modesto leveled 10 minutes later.
The tie left Parma nine points above the relegation zone before the rest of the weekend's fixtures. Catania, which has won only one of its past seven games, was tied with Cagliari a point further back.
___
PARIS (AP) ? Big-spending Paris Saint-Germain needed a scrappy 1-0 win over Brest to keep a three-point lead over Montpellier at the top of the French league.
PSG defender Milan Bisevac flicked home a corner from Christophe Jallet in the sixth minute.
Brest lost its first home match this season while PSG has now won all four games under coach Carlo Ancelotti, who replaced Antoine Kombouare last month.
Also Saturday, it was: Nice 0, Montpellier 1; Lyon 3, Dijon 1; Toulouse 1, Caen 0; Lorient 1, Sochaux 1; and Auxerre 1, Nancy 3.
Lille hosts Saint-Etienne later Saturday.
___
ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Olympiakos closed within two points of Greek league leader Panathinaikos by defeating stubborn visitor Ergotelis 3-0.
Ergotelis ended the game with nine players, as Mario Hieblinger and Andreas Bouhalakis were shown second yellow cards for rough challenges in the 56th and 60th minutes, respectively.
Also, OFI beat Xanthi 1-0 and Panionios defeated Kerkyra 2-0.
Panathinaikos travels to last-place Drama on Sunday.
___
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) ? Rangers kept the pressure on Scottish Premier League leader Celtic with a 4-0 thrashing of 10-man Hibernian.
Captain Steven Davis scored two goals.
Celtic, whose lead was trimmed to one point, was not in league action this weekend. Instead, Neil Lennon's team will face Falkirk in the semifinal of the Scottish League Cup on Sunday.
Motherwell tightened its grip on third place, six points ahead of Hearts, by beating St. Johnstone 3-2.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsThe U.S. women's soccer team booked their way to London on Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament.
??Euro roundup: Liverpool reaches the 5th round of the FA Cup, beating rival Manchester United 2-1.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46175745/ns/sports-soccer/
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Monday, January 09, 2012
IRISH economic growth in 2012 could be hampered by increasing oil prices ? fuelled by US growth and growing tensions in the Middle East ? made worse by a weakening euro.
The latest Bord G?is Energy Index shows that while a decrease in gas and electricity prices caused the index to fall 1% for the month of December, the index now stands at 143 ? 5% higher than in December 2010.
Bord G?is energy trader John Heffernan said Irish energy consumers face a triple threat of price increases in 2012, as demand for oil could increase from a US economy firmly back in growth mode and threats to supply from the Middle East, compounded by a weakening euro.
Oil is sold in US dollars and a weak euro pushes up energy costs. Oil prices hit a 150-year high in 2011, according to Mr Heffernan.
Economists are already downgrading Ireland?s growth prospects for 2012. Irish gross domestic product will rise by 1% in 2012, according to the median estimate of 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. This is well below Finance Minister Michael Noonan?s forecast of 1.3% expansion in 2012, on which budget calculations are based.
Any rise in energy costs will hurt Irish consumers and manufactures, eroding Irish growth prospects in 2012.
Commenting on the Bord G?is Energy Index for December, Mr Heffernan said: "The index recorded a 1% drop for December; however the impact of the decrease in fuel commodity prices was offset as the euro weakened over the month. This meant that in euro terms, oil and coal prices increased over the month."
Mr Heffernan said the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis, fears about global economic growth in 2012 and a mild start to the winter across Ireland, Britain and Europe, all contributed to put downward pressure on gas and electricity prices: "There are a number of strong influences that are putting downward pressure on fuel commodities including: the European debt crisis, fears of a slowing global economy in 2012 and mild weather across Europe.
"Should the euro continue to weaken versus the US dollar, eurozone buyers will not benefit fully from any price falls and would have to pay even more should prices increase."
"The average price of Brent crude oil posted a record high in 2011 as daily oil demand hit a new high of 89 million barrels per day, as growing demand from the emerging market countries continued. Prices were also supported by concerns about supply from the Middle East and North Africa," he said.
Mr Heffernan disclosed that the electricity element of the index was down 4% to 118.
"The average wholesale Irish electricity price for December closed 4% lower than its November equivalent, as unseasonably mild weather and reduced demand for electricity pushed prices downwards. In addition, as the cost of gas and carbon reduced in the month, the cost of producing electricity fell. The availability of hydro and wind power put additional downward pressure on prices," he said.
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Source: www.nytimes.com --- Sunday, January 08, 2012
Moving to China was the best decision I ever made. ...
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NEW YORK ? Jerome Rubin, who helped bring to market the commercial online research database today known as LexisNexis and the display technology behind millions of Amazon Kindles and other e-readers, has died in New York. He was 86.
Rubin died of a stroke at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan on Monday, said his children.
Rubin was trained as a physicist and attorney, but in the 1970s was hired by an Ohio-based company to make commercially viable what was then a novel product ? a computer "search and retrieval system" or database of state case law.
Rubin helped lead the launch of the database in 1973, initially built to run on customized terminals. It was joined a few years later by Nexis, focused on news, including wire service and newspaper articles.
Bob Bennett, 74, of Utah, who worked with Rubin during the development of LexisNexis, said the system was initially designed by lawyers for lawyers.
"We were building something new. It didn't exist," he said. "It was the first that was on any large scale and successful. There were some things that existed. They were very small."
Rubin later worked as an executive at the Times Mirror Co., in a specialized publishing division, before retiring in the early 1990s and joining the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Laboratory, where he led a consortium called "News in the Future." It was out of this work that he helped co-found E Ink in 1997, a company devoted to developing electronic paper for publishing, said Russ Wilcox, who founded E Ink with Rubin and three others.
"At an age when most men would be relaxing on the golf course, Jerry felt nothing could be more fun for him than to start a brand new company with cutting edge technology poised to change the world," Wilcox said. "He saw business as an adventure and he inspired others around him to dream big."
In an interview published in Harvard Magazine in 2000, Rubin talked about having an electronic newspaper, "one broadsheet, the size of the New York Times" on the breakfast table.
"It would look like an ordinary sheet of paper," he said. "You'll turn a little switch at one corner of it as you begin to pour your orange juice and, within a second or two, the front page of the Times ? or the Harvard Crimson or whatever you want ? will pop up. They are all delivered wireless."
"He could see much further in the distance than pretty much anybody," said Linda Gras, who was his assistant from 1984 to 1992, in a phone interview Wednesday.
Rubin was born March 9, 1925, and lived in Manhattan. He is survived by his children, Richard Rubin, 48, and Alicia Yamin, 46. His wife, Ida Ely Rubin, preceded him in death.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel got used to spending time together in 2011. This year's unlikely to be much different and in their first meeting of 2012, they discussed how to boost growth and jobs in the euro zone in the wake of the ongoing debt crisis. Merkel had a warning for Greece. SOUNDBITE: German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, saying (German): "The voluntary debt restructuring of Greece must be pushed forward and in our opinion, the second Greek rescue package, including the restructuring, must be quickly realised, otherwise it will not be possible to pay out the next tranche to Greece, which we want to be able to do. We want Greece to stay in the euro zone." Berlin and Paris want to speed up payments into the euro zone's permanent bailout scheme. And get a new EU treaty to introduce closer fiscal union signed as soon as possible. SOUNDBIT?: French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, saying (French): "We hope that the intergovernmental treaty is decided in the next few days, that the negotiations be concluded in the next days and that the treaty will be signed on the first of March. The Chancellor and I want Europe to make a decision as quickly as possible." Sarkozy is also aggressively pushing for a new levy on financial transactions, or "Tobin tax" - which Britain opposes, afraid of its effect on the City of London. He's up against the clock to get that passed before France's two-round presidential election in April and May. He's trailing in the polls at a time when French unemplyoment is at its highest level in 12 years and the country is on course for a record trade deficit in 2011. That contrasts with the German economy, which keeps showing it can withstand the crisis - as data released on Monday showed exports rose by 2.5 percent in November. There wasn't much news from the summit to boost the euro, which is hovering around a 16-month low against the dollar, but is expected to fall further on concerns about euro debt, especially the situation in Italy and Spain. And it won't be long until Merkel and Sarkozy meet again - they're holding talks with Italian Prime Minister on the twentieth of January, and will attend an EU summit at the end of the month. Joanna Partridge, Reuters
Jan. 9 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy met for the first time this year to discuss boosting growth and jobs in the crisis-hit euro zone, and also warned Greece to speed up debt restructuring. Joanna Partridge reports.?( Transcript )
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Binges and weekend blowouts are so widespread in 'Booze Britain,' according to a new report, that Parliament has tried to define 'sensible' drinking.
It is nice to hear that the British Parliament?s Science and Technology Committee today?recommended that Brits lay off the drink twice a week, even if that solution?might seem a little like trying to bail out a brewery with a thimble.
Skip to next paragraphA number of establishments in Britain, no doubt, will respond to the report with hearty agreement followed by toasts all around.
But the prevalence of a drinking problem in what the report calls ?booze Britain? is so manifest that the members of Parliament felt it incumbent to take an official look at what ?sensible drinking" might mean.
British media have howled about the negative effects of destructive?binge drinking among youth for years, without much result. Brits are notorious in Europe for taking cheap flights en masse to Krakow or the Spanish shore or the Canary Islands ? to spend 48 hours getting smashed and irritating the locals. And that is just the beginning on the long list of heavy drinking?excesses.?
The report was issued the same day?as a?Daily Mail report that binges and weekend blowouts are now so acceptable and regularized in Britain that, ?Two-day hangovers have become the norm for office workers as staff relieve stress ? with marathon alcohol binges, which start on Thursday night and continue until Sunday evening.? The new normal for a hangover is one that doesn?t dissipate until Tuesday afternoon, the piece continues.?
So it is not surprising to find a government body arguing for moderation, which is certainly a better concept of ?sensible.? The findings of the study urge men and women to cut back from previous recommended ?maximum drinking? levels, and the report recommends that women in particular reduce their totals, and that pregnant women abstain.
But some alcohol and drinking support groups, and even the report itself, questions whether the idea that one should cut drinking two days a week and adhere to daily totals actually promotes the idea of regular drinking, and is confusing.
A public health professor, Alan Maryon-Davis, told the BBC that "Broadly speaking [alcohol guidelines] are fit for purpose, but they need a bit of clarification. The word 'daily' I would object to. It gives the impression that it is a good idea to drink every day, which clearly it isn't."
The members of the parliamentary committee argue at the outset of the guidelines that, ?There is a lack of consensus amongst experts over the health benefits of alcohol, but it is not clear from the current evidence base how the benefits of drinking alcohol at low quantities compare to those of lifelong abstention.?
It might be interesting to one day clarify that question. But as pastors, doctors, Alcoholics Anonymous, and many others who have seen the negative effects of drinking and other drugs have argued for many years (and often without being sanctimonious), addressing the causes of use or abuse are the most salutary measures.
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One lonely night when I was fifteen, I sat on my bed, surrounded by the few clothes that I owned. As I tried on each of my ?outfits?, I looked at my image in the mirror and rated myself on a scale of one to ten. I never scored myself above three. I felt worthless. For me, this was an exercise in assigning my value to society. Fortunately, a few hours later that night, I pondered why I was doing this to degrade myself. I snapped out of it in that moment. For how much longer was I going to value myself based on my family?s material circumstances, which I could do little to change at that time? For how much longer was I going to brood over my situation? That night, I vowed to live life based on what I could contribute to the world and not on what value I perceived to be projected onto me by others.
This experience has inspired me to empower young people to view themselves as possessing the agency and responsibility to make a difference in their communities instead of brooding over their material, social or political circumstances. I consider this to be particularly important in my country, Zimbabwe, as young people are overwhelmed by a 95% unemployment rate and an unstable political environment, which have forced one in four Zimbabweans to live outside the country. I am intent on addressing the despair, despondency and lack of personal and collective responsibility among young people to address their own challenges and those of their communities in Zimbabwe.
This issue is particularly important for three main reasons: First, in Zimbabwe and Africa, there is need for interventions that address both the immediate needs of communities (such as the need for clean water) and the critical long-term need for building Africans? capacity to address their immediate challenges. This long-term need is built on the assumption that capacity can be built; that is, Africans can assume and exercise responsibility in addressing their own challenges ? it is important that Africans know that. I also believe that democratization cannot be achieved only through setting up mechanisms and institutions such as elections and parliament. Equally important, citizens need to actively participate in determining their livelihoods through active civic engagement. Unless young people believe that they can assume and exercise their responsibilities in shaping a democratic society invested in building its capacity for future progress, then the development of Africa is somewhat doomed. This is why addressing young people?s senses of despair, despondency and lack of responsibility is important.
Last year, I founded a nonprofit organization in Zimbabwe, Lead Us Today (LUT), whose mission is to inspire, mobilize and empower young people to work together beyond socioeconomic barriers so that they can lead community development efforts. At the core of our work is the ?community learning center?, a space that brings together community members so that they grapple with and address their problematic realities. This center is important as it enables the necessary learning for communities to build capacity. LUT empowers young people to lead learning processes through a leadership-training program in which we explore issues such as adaptive social change and community mobilizing. The students design and implement projects that address problematic realities with community members. We also work with students and communities in a fashion business, which leverages the talent of fashion designers and tailors in the communities. Through the sale of the clothing products, Lead Us Today builds student?s business skills, empowers local communities economically and ensures its financial sustainability. Indeed, all these various activities are uniquely designed to build young people?s and communities? capacity through various learning opportunities.
In eighteen months, we have provided leadership-training to 118 students from eight high schools in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Each school is home to a community learning center, all of which have mobilized over 400 community members to design and implement sixteen community development projects such as a fruit and vegetable garden benefiting HIV/AIDS patients with nutritional needs and sanitation campaigns orchestrated in partnership with corporations that have provided rubbish bins. Students in our program have invested over 15,000 hours in five communities and impacted close to 1,200 people. We have also provided internships for 20 students at the country?s top law firms and cultural centers. ?????? In my work with Lead Us Today, we are empowering young people to believe that they can and should make a difference, that the responsibility to do so lies in them. Through our work, we are working diligently towards creating a generation of engaged and socially responsible citizens in Africa and Zimbabwe who are spearheading development efforts today and will continue to do so in the future.
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TUCSON, Ariz (Reuters) ? Bells tolled, girls in white dresses danced and clergymen offered up prayers in Tucson on Sunday, one year after a shooting spree that left six people dead and 13 others wounded, among them Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Giffords herself, still recuperating from the head wound she suffered in the shooting, was expected to top off a daylong series of tributes and remembrances by attending a candlelight vigil with her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly.
Late on Saturday, the Arizona Democrat paid a surprise visit to the supermarket where a pistol-toting assailant opened fire on a crowd gathered for an outdoor "Congress On Your Corner" constituents meeting on January 8, 2011.
Nineteen people were struck by gunfire and six of them died, including a 9-year-old girl, a Giffords aide and a federal judge.
The accused gunman, Jared Loughner, a 23-year-old college dropout with a history of mental illness, is charged with 49 offenses stemming from the shooting rampage, including first-degree murder and the attempted assassination of Giffords.
Pat Maisch, an onlooker who wrenched a clip of bullets from the assailant's hand after he was tackled, was one of numerous speakers addressing more than 1,000 people who filled a University of Arizona auditorium for 90 minutes to hear reflections honoring those killed and wounded in the attack.
She called the people present in the grocery store parking lot that day her "new extended family," recounting how shoppers and other bystanders immediately rushed to render first aid, calm shocked victims and comfort the wounded until medical personnel arrived.
"These are our first, first responders -- ordinary citizens," she said.
BELLS MARK MOMENT OF BLOODSHED
The official anniversary memorials began with the citywide ringing of bells at 10:11 a.m. local time on Sunday, the exact moment that the shooting erupted one year ago.
Several hundred congregants, including survivors of the shooting and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, later gathered for a mid-day interfaith service at Tucson's St. Augustine Cathedral, presided over by Catholic priests, a rabbi and Buddhist monks.
A Navajo flutist performed and a group of young girls and teens dressed in white danced through the cathedral.
"It was a beautiful service," survivor Ron Barber, Giffords' district director, said afterward, as he leaned on a cane. "The dancing, the singing, the readings, they were kind of what the community was about, which is people all coming together in unity, compassion and love."
Later at the university campus, Barber recounted how bystander Dorwan Stoddard was killed while shielding his wife, Mavanell, with his own body. "She told me she saw a smile on his face as he lay dying, and she says this was a smile of love for her," Barber said.
Barber suffered wounds to his face and thigh in the shooting. Among those joining him at the cathedral was Daniel Hernandez Jr., the congressional intern credited with applying first aid that saved Giffords' life.
Gary Huckleberry, whose daughter was traumatized by having witnessed the shooting, emerged from an earlier service at St. Philip's in the Hills, an Episcopal parish near the scene of the rampage, saying he found the remembrances therapeutic.
"A lot of us have come a long way since that date a year ago. For some people it will take much more time to get over it, but having this service ... was healing," he said.
Accompanied by her spouse, Giffords made several unannounced visits around the city on Saturday, including the stop at the Safeway in northwest Tucson where she was shot.
"Gabby just visited the Safeway for the 1st time since 1/8/11," Kelly tweeted, adding, "It's been a tough year, but we're lucky to have so many people standing w/us."
Earlier in the day, Giffords hiked outside Tucson on a desert trail named for her slain aide, Gabe Zimmerman, and visited University of Arizona Medical Center staff who treated her and others for bullet wounds.
Giffords and Kelly were slated to attend a candlelight vigil at the University of Arizona Sunday evening, an event expected to draw thousands of residents of Tucson, a city of 520,000 people that many describe as a "small big town."
Loughner, who was arrested at the scene of the shooting, pleaded not guilty to the charges against him but was later confined to the psychiatric ward of a prison hospital after he was declared incompetent to stand trial.
(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Colleen Jenkins)
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By Bruna Nessif, E! Online
Summer's back!
Kinda. The "500 Days of Summer" costars have reunited on screen, except this time, instead of going through an emotional rollercoaster, Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt sing a sweet tune together.
The darling duo, looking casual and comfortable, sit in front of the camera with ukulele and guitar, ready to give us a mini performance. And we'll tell you right now, our hearts melted.
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Deschanel kicks off their cover of jazz singer Nancy Wilson's, "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" with her hypnotizing voice, which is soon followed by Gordon-Levitt sharing his singing chops (which only makes him that much sexier).
She & Him's female half posted the video on her website HelloGiggles, and wrote, "I have known Joe Gordon-Levitt for going on 12 years. We first met in the summer of 2000 while doing a tiny movie called Manic, where we bonded over a mutual appreciation for Harry Nilsson and Nina Simone and I have been lucky enough to call him one of my dearest friends ever since.
"When we did '500 Days of Summer' 8 years later, we spent every lunch hour dancing to Marvin Gaye in the hair and makeup trailer; we had loads of fun. I hope to do a thousand more movies with him because he's simply the best. But in the meantime, we made a little New Year's duet for all of you! The original?by Nancy Wilson. ENJOY! Don't forget to check out Joe's website http://hitrecord.org/"
We know 'New Girl' star Zooey just separated from her hubby?and who knows what J.G.L is up to with the ladies?these days, but deep inside, we kinda (and by kinda we mean really) hope that one day we'll write a "new couple alert" story on these two.
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