Boston fans mourn, then cheer as sports return

A Boston Bruins jersey with the number of Boston's area code and the words "Boston Strong" hangs in the locker of Bruins player Jay Pandolfo at TD Garden in Boston, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, after an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres in the aftermath of Monday's Boston Marathon bombings. (AP Photo/Jimmy Golen)

A Boston Bruins jersey with the number of Boston's area code and the words "Boston Strong" hangs in the locker of Bruins player Jay Pandolfo at TD Garden in Boston, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, after an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres in the aftermath of Monday's Boston Marathon bombings. (AP Photo/Jimmy Golen)

Members of a Boston Fire Department honor guard hold flags during the singing of the national anthem at TD Garden in Boston, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, during a pregame ceremony in the aftermath of Monday's Boston Marathon bombings. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Members of a Boston Fire Department honor guard hold flags during the singing of the national anthem at TD Garden in Boston, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, during a pregame ceremony in the aftermath of Monday's Boston Marathon bombings. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Fans react with flags after the singing of the national anthem at TD Garden in Boston, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, during a pregame ceremony in the aftermath of Monday's Boston Marathon bombings. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Boston Bruins hockey starters, including defenseman Dennis Seidenberg (44), stand next to a ribbon projected onto the ice at TD Garden in Boston, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, during a pregame ceremony in the aftermath of Monday's Boston Marathon bombings. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

BOSTON (AP) ? Emerging from a moment of silence with a deafening cheer, fans at Wednesday night's Bruins game paid tribute to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing with a stirring a cappella national anthem and thunderous chants for their city, their country and their team.

Taking over the "Star-Spangled Banner" when longtime Garden troubadour Rene Rancourt signaled for them to sing, the sold-out crowd at Boston's first major sporting event since Monday's attack electrified the arena and spurred the Bruins to an early goal. Even after Buffalo tied it in the final minute and won in a shootout, 3-2, the Bruins fans departed with one final chant of "U.S.A.!"

"That's what Boston is all about," Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron said. "The city's a winner, for sure. It was something very special to be a part of. It's one of those games you really wanted to get ? not only for the team, but for the city."

Two days after a pair of bombs at the marathon finish line killed three people and wounded 170 others, fans lined up for metal-detecting wands and random car inspections to get into the TD Garden. Once inside, they watched a somber video with scenes from the marathon that ended with the words, "We are Boston, We are Strong."

The players on the ice for the opening faceoff banged their sticks in the traditional hockey salute, drifting back off the blue lines so that they, too, could see the video. The Boston Fire Department Honor Guard brought out the U.S. flag to honor the first responders who rushed to the aid of the injured.

Rancourt took his place for the "Star-Spangled Banner," but he sang only the first few lines, allowing the crowd to carry the tune while he pumped his fist to keep time.

"It was extremely emotional. I was definitely fighting back tears," Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. "It's something that we'll never forget. For everyone to show their respect and obviously give their thoughts and prayers for everyone, it's great that everyone is kind of coming together at this time and helping each other out."

It was a touching return to normal life for the city, which has been dazed by the attacks on one of its signature and most beloved events. Monday's scheduled NHL game against Ottawa was rescheduled, and Tuesday night's Celtics game was canceled outright.

"We understood what it meant to Boston," said Buffalo's Ryan Miller, who was the starting goalie on the 2010 U.S. Olympic team. "You're really a citizen of the world and this is an attack on a free country. ... It's emotional for us, too. It's a scary situation. We're happy to see from all this terribleness that Boston has pride, Boston cares and people are coming together."

Players on both teams wore "Boston Strong" decals on their helmets, and the Garden was illuminated outside in blue and yellow, the colors of the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the marathon. Another thunderous cheer welcomed the first responders from the state and local police were recognized in the second period.

Bruins players and staff collected 80 tickets to the game to donate to the first responders. Forward Brad Marchand raffled off his own suite for the team's first playoff game, with the proceeds to go to the family of 8-year-old Martin Richards, who was killed in the blast.

Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs pledged $100,000 to The One Fund Boston, the charity established to help families affected by the bombing; the Garden, the NHL and the players association pledged $50,000 each. Ads on the dasher boards and the video screens gave the website address for the fund.

During the game's first break, public address announcer Jim Martin asked any runners from Monday's race to stand up; many were wearing their finishers' medals. He then asked for applause for anybody who has ever run; by the time he recognized anyone who has ever volunteered or watched the race, virtually the entire crowd was standing.

"It was tough to come to the rink and focus on hockey, but I think the guys did a good job," forward Shawn Thornton said. "You feel like you should be doing more than getting ready for a hockey game. But if we can take people's minds off it for a few hours, great."

That was already accomplished 5:45 into the first period, when Daniel Paille's goal to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead over the Buffalo Sabres brought a raucous chant of "We are Boston!" The chant was repeated in the final three minutes but interrupted by Cody Hodgson's power-play goal with 26.6 seconds left in regulation that sent the game into overtime tied 2-2.

The Sabres won in the shootout, but Bruins earned one point for the overtime loss ? enough to clinch a playoff spot. After the game, the players came off the bench and went to center ice, raising their sticks to the fans, who began another "U.S.A.!" chant.

"I am sure the score will be the last thing I think about in 10 years," Bruins forward Chris Kelley said afterward in the team's dressing room, where a jersey reading "Boston 617 Strong" hung in the locker belonging to forward ? and Boston University graduate ? Jay Pandolfo.

"We wanted to win the hockey game for the city and ourselves. We had a chance to do something ? it might be a small thing, but something ? that would put a smile on a few peoples' faces. That's the reason why all of us wanted to go out there and win."

Cars were searched inside and out before entering the arena's underground garage, with guards using a mirror on a pole to check the undercarriage. Fans were waved with a metal-detecting wand when entering the arena.

Pandolfo said at the morning skate that the added security reminded him of the Sept. 11 attacks. He was playing in the New York area, for the New Jersey Devils, at the time.

"It brings back memories you don't want," he said. "It's something you don't want to think about. You want to go ahead with your life. You don't want to live in fear."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-17-HKN-Marathon-Bombing-Sports-Return/id-57ee12ce917145f295ed0900f3010387

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Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/jenelle-evans-journal-stolen-posted-by-james-duffy/

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'Avengers' Cast 'Really Proud' Of Big Movie Awards Night

Director Joss Whedon and Earth's mightiest actors weigh in on superhero movie's massive night at the MTV Movie Awards.
By Josh Wigler, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston and Joss Whedon wins at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705690/avengers-joss-whedon-movie-awards.jhtml

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Broad risk flight; gold eyes worst two days since 1983

By Veronica Brown and Barani Krishnan

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold headed for its biggest two-day drop in 30 years on Monday and oil, copper and grains prices also tumbled as investors fled most financial markets after disappointing Chinese economic data underscored global growth worries.

With U.S. stocks on track for their first two-day losing streak in a month and Treasuries prices near flat, few assets appeared to be taking in new money amid growing caution the world economy was headed for another recession.

"I think everyone's going cash. People are either not deploying capital or just taking profit," said Sean McGillivray, vice president of asset allocation at Oregon's Great Wealth Pacific Management, a commodities-focused asset manager.

Commodities-linked currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars declined more than 1 percent against the U.S. currency, weighing further on energy, metals and crop prices.

"Nearly every commodity has taken a hit today. The only markets in the world that have been kind of detached from this are the German and French stock markets and U.S. large cap stocks," said James Dailey at Pennsylvania-based TEAM Financial Asset Management.

The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a globally watched indicator, fell 2 percent and headed for its sharpest one-day loss since mid-September. The index hit its lowest level since the end of June.

GOLD TUMBLES

Gold, which dropped 5 percent on Friday, sunk nearly 8 percent more on Monday, sliding deeper into bear territory. The precious metal's spot price fell over $30 in a matter of minutes at one point, breaching support at $1,400 per ounce.

The sharp selloff in gold came as an "unexpected event" to many hedge funds, said long-time gold investor John Burbank, who runs San Francisco-based hedge fund Passport Capital.

Oil fared scarcely better than gold, sliding nearly 3 percent. Other precious metals were caught in the downdraft, with silver briefly dropping 10 percent. Industrial metals plummeted, with copper at its lowest price in over a year.

Wheat led the decline in grains, falling nearly 3 percent. In other crops, arabica coffee plumbed a near 3-year low.

Both oil and gold have been under substantial selling pressure since last week. Bullion has come off the most, shedding around 9.5 percent since last Monday's close, while crude has lost about 3.5 percent.

Gold was under pressure from a variety of factors, including a proposed sale of Cypriot gold holdings, and more fund-based investors headed for the exits after China's data on Monday.

China's economy grew 7.7 percent in the first quarter, undershooting market expectations for an 8.0 percent expansion and frustrating investor hopes that the world's No. 2 economy would rebound after posting its weakest growth in 13 years in 2012.

CHINA DEEPENS SELLOFF

The weaker-than-forecast GDP growth was backed by slower increases in China's industrial production and fixed-asset investment, despite strong lending growth in March. Besides being the world's No. 2 economy, China is the biggest buyer of industrial metals and many other commodities.

"If you want to be worried about China, there's plenty to keep you awake at night," said Sean Corrigan, chief investment strategist at Diapason Commodities Management in Switzerland.

By 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT), spot gold hovered around $1,365 an ounce, after hitting a two-year low at $1,384.69. The liquidation in gold was widespread, with selling pressure coming from exchange-traded funds to even physical buyers in China and India, who have long supported the shiny metal.

"This is a market that has only got one thing on its mind ... get me out," said David Govett, head of precious metals at Marex Spectron in London.

Brent crude oil sank below $101 a barrel to a nine-month low and was threatening to break below $100 for the first time since early July. It was down about 15 percent from this year's peak of $119.17 reached in early February.

Prior to the latest Chinese and U.S. data, the International Energy Agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had already lowered their global oil demand growth for 2013.

FED EXTENDS WORRY

Aside from worries over the economy, investors were also spooked by thoughts that the U.S. Federal Reserve may end sooner rather than later its bond-buying binge that has supported commodity and stock prices for over two years now. The Fed started the stimulus action to help the economic recovery after the financial crisis.

"What we now see is panic selling, perhaps triggered by the Fed's stimulus view," said Dominic Schnider, an analyst at UBS Wealth Management.

Minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's March policy meeting released last week showed some officials keen on ending the stimulus this year, though the minutes predated last month's poor non-farm payrolls data and Friday's weak retail sales.

In copper, the benchmark three-month contract in London fell to its lowest level in 1-1/2 years to $7,085 a tonne, while aluminum hit a 3-1/2 year low.

(Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr in Singapore and Eric onstad in London; Editing by Jane Baird and Jim Marshall)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gold-set-worst-two-day-loss-since-1983-134909062--finance.html

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Prisoners, guards clash over Guantanamo Bay raid

MIAMI (AP) ? Months of increased tension at the Guantanamo Bay prison boiled over into a clash between guards and detainees Saturday as the military closed a communal section of the facility and moved its inmates into single cells.

The violence erupted during an early morning raid that military officials said was necessary because prisoners had covered up security cameras and windows as part of a weekslong protest and hunger strike over their indefinite confinement and conditions at the U.S. base in Cuba.

Prisoners fought guards with makeshift weapons that included broomsticks and mop handles when troops arrived to move them out of a communal wing of the section of the prison known as Camp 6, said Navy Capt. Robert Durand, a military spokesman. Guards responded by firing four "less-than-lethal rounds," he said.

There were no serious injuries from the rounds, which included a modified shotgun shell that fires small rubber pellets as well as a type of bean-bag projectile, said Army Col. Greg Julian, a spokesman for Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the prison at the U.S. base in Cuba.

"I know for sure that one detainee was hit but the injuries were minor, just some bruises," Julian said.

The confrontation came a day after a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross finished a three-week visit to Guantanamo to meet with prisoners and assess conditions.

"The ICRC continues to follow the current tensions and the hunger strike at Guantanamo very closely and with concern," spokesman Simon Schorno said. "If necessary, an ICRC team will in coming days return to Guantanamo to assess the situation of the detainees on hunger strike in view of this latest development."

Camp 6 had previously been a section of the camp reserved for detainees who followed prison rules. In exchange they were allowed to share meals and pray together, have nearly round-the-clock recreation time as well as access to satellite TV, computer games and classes. It held a majority of the 166 prisoners at the base before the hunger strike began, but the military said the number was down to fewer than 70 on Saturday.

Prisoners in the communal section had access to materials with which to make some of the improvised weapons used in the clash with guards. Durand said troops were confronted with batons made with tape and plastic water bottles, about three to four feet long and "as big around as a broomstick," he said.

The guards moved the hunger strikers and all other detainees at the communal section to single cells in a separate wing of Camp 6 around 5 a.m. Prisoners will eventually be allowed back into communal living conditions in the future if they follow rules. Hunger strikers will be allowed back into the communal section eventually as well if they follow the rules, Durand said.

"For now, housing detainees in individual cells will enable us to observe them more closely," he said. He said one of the concerns of military officials was that some prisoners might have been coerced into participating in the hunger strike.

Tensions had been high at the prison for months. Lawyers for prisoners said a hunger strike began Feb. 6 in protest over their indefinite confinement and what the men believed were tighter restrictions and intrusive searches of their Qurans for contraband. Prisoners offered to give up the Muslim holy book that each one is issued by the government but officials refused, considering it a tacit admission of wrongdoing.

"This is exactly the opposite of what they should be doing," Carlos Warner, a federal public defender in Ohio, said of the decision to move prisoners into single cells instead of negotiating an end to the strike. "The military is escalating the conflict."

The military said 43 prisoners were classified as hunger strikers under a definition that includes missing nine consecutive meals. Lawyers for prisoners have insisted the strike is much more widespread and say almost all of the men are refusing to eat.

Officials were also concerned that some men were surreptitiously starving themselves to avoid being classified as hunger strikers and force fed. The military said it was conducting individual assessments of all the prisoners.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/prisoners-guards-clash-over-guantanamo-bay-raid-214116253.html

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Anti-euro party a wildcard in German elections

BERLIN (AP) ? It's a spectacle that Germans are getting tired of: southern European protesters burning their flags and waving placards comparing Chancellor Angela Merkel to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, all in reaction to Berlin's insistence on reforms and austerity in return for bailout funds.

And it's enough to make people such as Berlin businessman Horst Freiberg, who never felt much love for the euro currency, pine more than ever for the return of the German mark.

"I'd immediately vote for a party that wants to abolish the euro," said Freiberg, who has run a small business selling ink stamps in central Berlin for more than 40 years. "How can you have one currency with banana republics like Cyprus and Greece? And they always accuse us of being Nazis. It's sick."

Such sentiments are still the exception in Germany, where a sense of obligation to help fellow Europeans in distress is rooted in shame for the crimes of the Third Reich. But a new political party hopes to capitalize on simmering fears that the euro crisis could deepen and drag down Europe's biggest economy. It aims to garner enough votes from people like Freiberg in September elections to reach the 5 percent minimum needed for seats in Parliament.

Called Alternative for Germany, the main goal of the party founded by academics and economists is the "orderly dissolution" of the euro, said Frauke Petry, a business owner and party spokeswoman.

The stance puts the party in sharp opposition to Merkel's position that there can be no Europe without the preservation of the single currency, with her repeated insistence that "if the euro fails, Europe will fail." While still a fledgling movement, the new party could hurt Merkel by sapping support from her main coalition partner ? which she has relied on for a stable government.

"For us, the euro is at the heart of many problems," Petry told The Associated Press. "The way decisions are being made in Europe right now shows that many democratic mechanisms don't work anymore," she said. Alternative for Germany wants to introduce Swiss-style national referendums so voters can have a say on important matters ? including economic rescue packages.

On Sunday, Alternative for Germany held its founding congress to adopt a program and vote for a party board. More than 1,500 members filled two spacious halls at the city's upscale Intercontinental Hotel in Berlin, most of them elderly men.

Many expressed anger about what they said have been unfair money transfers from German taxpayers to help bail out countries such as Cyprus and Greece.

"This party has good ideas," said Andreas Fluegge, 49, a software specialist from Limburgerhof in the country's southwest. "The euro is a big problem for us. Since we have had the euro I'm making less money and paying more taxes for things I don't understand. I hope these politicians will change this."

For all the talk about what it doesn't like, however, the party has been short on what it does like, and its leaders were slammed in an editorial this week in the top-selling Bild newspaper as "political amateurs."

The conservative tabloid has never shied away from accusing southern Europeans of being lazy, nor has it stopped deploring the cost Germany shoulders to bail out other nations, but turning against the euro itself remains unthinkable.

"They can craftily explain what is wrong with rescuing the euro, but they have no concept on how the future of Europe should look," Bild wrote.

Experts believe the party has little chance of garnering enough of the protest vote to reach the 5 percent threshold. But it could draw enough voters away from Merkel's center-right coalition to force her into an alliance with the opposition or give the opposition an outright majority.

"There is space for an anti-euro party in Germany," said Oskar Niedermayer, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. "So far this position hasn't really been represented in the German party system."

Underlining the potential appeal, a recent poll showed that even though 69 percent of Germans now back the euro ? up from about 50 percent last year ? a significant minority of 27 percent said they'd like to see a return to the mark. The survey of 1,003 people was conducted April 2-3 for the business daily Handelsblatt. The poll had an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Abandoning the euro currency would have significant costs, especially for Germany as a heavily export-oriented economy. According to analysts' estimates, it could easily knock down the country's annual output by a double digit percentage figure.

"I think the Germans know, and to some extent accept, that they have to pay the bill for saving the euro," said Ursula Weidenfeld, an economist and author. "They just want to make sure that they aren't paying more than necessary."

Other nations such as the Netherlands, Austria and Finland have also insisted on the same austerity measures that Germany has demanded in exchange for European bailouts, but as the bloc's largest economy and the largest single contributor to the funds, most of the anger has been directed at Germany and Merkel.

Some of Merkel's voters are now beginning to wonder whether their country ? and their savings ? should be tied to the struggling euro project, and Weidenfeld said support for the euro "could quickly change if a new rescue package has to be negotiated."

Should the eurozone's woes spread to fully engulf Italy or Spain ? the bloc's third- and fourth-largest economies ? and require them to ask for a bailout, German voters could panic, said Niedermayer.

In Germany's election in September, the issue poses the greatest threat to the Free Democratic Party, Merkel's junior coalition partner which has a pro-business platform. Because the party has polled only slightly above five percent, even the loss of a few thousand voters could mean disaster.

"It's not impossible that this new party could sap half a percent from the FDP and thereby kick them out of parliament," said Niedermayer. That could create a huge headache for Merkel, who may find it hard to form a workable majority in parliament without the FDP.

Merkel's own party, too, could suffer if conservative voters see Alternative for Germany as a credible way to express their frustration about her leadership.

Economist Rudolf Hickel told Germany's Deutsche Welle, however, that even though there is anti-euro sentiment out there, Alternative for Germany doesn't have broad enough appeal to effectively tap it.

"They are professors and frustrated economists," he said. "If the party were headed by a populist, I'd consider them dangerous."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/anti-euro-party-wildcard-german-elections-060420112.html

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