US jails China engineer for exporting trade secrets

Liu Sixing, who formerly worked in US company L-3 Communications, was accused of taking information on US missile, rocket and drone technology to China.

He was convicted of exporting military information, possessing stolen trade secrets, and lying to the authorities.

Liu says he did not break the law, or intend to pass secrets to China.

Liu Sixing, who was also known as Steve Liu, worked in L-3 Communications' space and navigation unit in New Jersey from 2009-2010 as a senior engineer.

Prosecutors say he stole thousands of computer files in 2010, and took them to China on his personal computer, where he gave presentations about the technology he was working on to universities and conferences linked to the Chinese government.

Prosecutors say he transported the files, which included information on the performance and design of guidance systems for missiles, rockets and unmanned drones, in the hope that it would help him gain future employment in China.

Federal agents say they discovered the computer when Liu returned to Newark Liberty International Airport in November 2010. Liu was convicted in September 2012.

Technical military data covered by US export regulations cannot be taken out of the country without a license.

"Instead of the accolades he sought from China, Sixing Liu today received the appropriate reward for his threat to our national security: 70 months in prison," prosecutor Paul Fishman said.

Liu's lawyer, James Tunick, said that Liu had made "a terrible mistake" by having the files on his computer and taking them to China, but that "it didn't rise to the level of a criminal act."

"He never intended to harm anyone," he said.

Opportunity and Curiosity find similar rocks on Mars

The Opportunity rover is studying the most ancient rocks it has yet seen on Mars - and they resemble those found by its one-tonne cousin Curiosity.

The findings could help build a picture of early Mars - and whether it would have been amenable to primitive life.

The ancient rocks found by Opportunity occur as a light-toned outcrop known as Whitewater Lake.

The outcrop is thought to contain clays, similar to a rock recently drilled by Curiosity.

But there are other uncanny similarities between Whitewater Lake - which lies on the rim of a 22km-wide bowl called Endeavour Crater - and rocks from Gale Crater to the east, where Curiosity landed.

Opportunity's chief scientist Prof. Steve Squyres outlined details of the latest findings at the 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conferencein The Woodlands, Texas.

He said one of the factors that had drawn the science team towards Endeavour was the evidence gathered by Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) for the presence of phyllosilicates (clay-bearing rocks) along the crater's rim.

The Whitewater Lake outcrop coincides closely with the signature of smectite clays from MRO, Prof. Squyres, from Cornell University in Ithaca, US, explained.

It is very fine-grained, soft, similar in composition to the Martian soil and has fine ridges when seen in cross-section.

Snaking features

Whitewater Lake is "shot through" with light-toned, snaking features called veins, which appear to be filled with calcium sulphate. These are the result of water flowing through fractures in the rocks after the impact that carved out Endeavour Crater.

There are also numerous rounded structures called "spherules" embedded in the rock. Opportunity has seen similar small structures out on Mars' Meridiani plains, which the rover team nicknamed "blueberries".

"The spherules are for the most part distributed throughout the Whitewater Lake rocks, but there are places locally where we find incredible concentrations," Prof Squyres told the conference.

But the comparison to the blueberries, seen earlier in the mission, may only be superficial.

"There are a few small visual differences and then a big compositional difference. These do not have the very high iron content… to be the blueberries we see on the plains.

"They are hard on the outside and chewy on the inside… and the composition is different from the [rock] matrix."

Such spherules can form through the action of water, but a volcanic or impact origin is also possible.

Most habitable environment

Prof. Squyres added: "These Whitewater Lake materials are the oldest rocks yet explored by the Opportunity rover. They record an epoch before the Endeavour impact when there was aqueous activity at a near-neutral pH.

"They therefore represent the most habitable palaeo-environment found [by Opportunity]."

Previous sites explored by the rover are thought to have been shaped by the activity of acidic water, which would pose a more challenging proposition for any simple microbes that might have evolved on the early Mars.

They cannot put an exact age on the outcrop, but it could date to more than three billion years ago, when Mars was a wetter place.

Prof. Squyres showed a comparison of the Whitewater Lake outcrop and rocks found at the location Curiosity is exploring in Gale Crater. They showed many similarities, he said, including the spherules, calcium sulphate veins and fine-grained structure.

"Mars is telling us something. I'm not sure what it is because it's speaking Martian. But it's telling us something," he said.

Opportunity landed on the Red Planet in January 2004, about three weeks after its "twin", the Spirit rover. Spirit's mission ended after getting caught in soft soil in 2009 and succumbing to the Martian winter.

New pope, Jorge Bergogolio, adopts the name Francis

 Pope Francis, the first non-European pontiff of the modern era, revealed himself to the world from a balcony at the Vatican on Wednesday.

Jorge Bergogolio, who served as archbishop of Buenos Aires, took the name Francis shortly after being elected by cardinals in what was apparently the fifth round of voting on the second day of the conclave.

"As you know, the duty of the conclave was to appoint a bishop of Rome," Francis told a cheering crowd of thousands packed into St. Peter's Square.

"It seems to me that my brother cardinals have chosen one who is from faraway. ... Here I am. I would like to thank you for your embrace."

The new pope called on the thousands packed into the square -- and those watching around the world -- to pray for him before he delivered a blessing.

Bergogolio, 76, is the first pope to take the name after St. Francis of Assisi, revered among Catholics for his work with the poor.

The new pontiff is considered a straight shooter who calls things as he sees them, and a follower of the church's most conservative wing.

As cardinal, he clashed with the government of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner over his opposition to gay marriage and free distribution of contraceptives.

With its approximately 480 million adherents, Latin America is home to an overwhelming plurality of the world's Catholics. By choosing him, the cardinals sent a strong message about where the future of the church may lie.

According to a profile by CNN Vatican analyst John Allen and published by the National Catholic Reporter, Francis was born in Buenos Aires to an Italian immigrant father.

He is known for his simplicity. He chose to live in an apartment rather that the archbishop's palace, passed on a chauffeured limousine, took the bus to work and cooked his own meals, Allen wrote.

Francis has a reputation for being a voice for the poor.

Facebook 'likes' can reveal your secrets, study finds

Your Facebook "likes" might be revealing more than you know about your private life.

It is possible to predict potentially private traits such as a person's sexual orientation, political leanings, religion, intelligence, emotional stability and even if they abuse drugs or alcohol, just by analyzing their Facebook likes, according to a new study out of the University of Cambridge.

Liking something on Facebook is a simple, almost mindless way to pass time on the social networking site, which says it has more than a billion users worldwide. With one click, people can "like" pages -- for brands, public figures, memes, music and groups -- as well as articles, photos or status updates from their friends. But that quick action can be a powerful statement.

"Facebook likes have a meaning that we can use to understand the psychology behind what people do," says David Stillwell, a co-author of the study.

Researchers looked at the Facebook profiles and likes, along with surveys and personality tests, for 58,466 individuals. Using that data, they developed a model that predicts personal attributes from Facebook likes with impressive accuracy. It has the best luck categorizing people as Caucasian or African-American (95% accuracy), followed by gender, male sexuality, Democratic or Republican leanings, and detecting Christians and Muslims.

One of more unusual categories was whether a person's parents had split before they turned 21, which had a relatively low 60% level of accuracy (still high enough to benefit advertisers, noted the researchers). These people were more more likely to like statements about relationships, such as "If I'm with you then I'm with you. I don't want anybody else," and "I'm sorry I love you."

"It gives us a poignant insight into the effects that parental breakup has on children even after they grow up," says Stillwell.

The likes themselves are a combination of obvious and baffling. Liking "Kathy Griffin," "Juicy Couture," or the musical "Wicked" were found to be strong indicators that a man was gay, while liking sports-related topics, "Bruce Lee" and "Being Confused After Waking Up From Naps" were more popular with straight men, according to the the study.

A person's Facebook likes can also be used to predict intelligence, say the researchers. Liking "The Daily Show," "science," "Morgan Freeman's Voice" and the mysterious "Curly Fries" indicates someone is highly intelligent. Lower intelligence was suggested by likes for "Clark Griswold," "Harley-Davidson" and "Bret Michaels," according to the study.

Likes for "beerpong," "Chris Tucker" and "cheerleading" were strong predictors of an extrovert while "role playing games," "Anime" and "Voltaire" pointed to introverted personality types. "Kurt Donald Cobain" and "Vampires Everywhere" indicated neurotic personalities, "Wes Anderson" and "serial killer" were liked by spontaneous people, and competitive types liked "Sun Tzu" and "I hate everyone."

Researchers are opening up the tool to everyone so they can get a peek at their own personal results. People can check out what their Facebook likes say about them by visiting YouAreWhatYouLike.comand logging in with their Facebook profile. The site does an instant personality test and rates how open, stable, agreeable, extroverted and conscientious a person is. While the data is analyzed by researchers to improve the overall test, any personal information is stripped out.

Don't try judging friends based on individual likes, however. Researchers looked at all of a person's likes to make their predictions, and even then the tool isn't perfect.

"It's like meeting someone for a blind date: If you just ask one question then you can't make an accurate judgment about them. But once you've had an hour-long conversation about their favorite hobbies, interests, brands, and celebrities, then you can start to have some confidence in who they are," says Stillwell.

The more likes a person has made, the easier it is to accurately predict these larger nuggets of information about their personalities. Profiles used in this study had anywhere from one to 500 likes on the social network, though the average number of things people liked was 170. The data was collected by a site called myPersonality, which turns serious data gathering for academic research purposes into fun quizzes.

A similar MIT experiment in 2009 predicted whether people were gay based on who they had friended on Facebook. At the time, the concept of deducting potentially private information about someone was more shocking. These days, it's becoming more common and expected. Stillwell says companies are already using these kinds of machine-learning models to make connections, though the companies may not know that they're measuring IQ or extroversion.

Companies like Google and Facebook decide what ads to show people by using scraps of information they gather as users go about their regular browsing and clicking routines. Amazon recommends products by looking at a customer's Amazon browsing history and past purchases.

The next step is connecting all the dots and gathering clues about a person to create a more complete picture of who they are. There are potential positive benefits, such as custom recommendations for movies and restaurants based on your location and what you've enjoyed in the past, or ads that only pitch products you might actually want to buy.

But there is also a loss of privacy when data is collected about people without their permission. Gleaning potentially sensitive information about someone that isn't explicitly shared, such as sexual orientation or drug use, could be abused by companies as well as governments and potential employers.

"My biggest concern is that people do not realize what is possible, so they think that frivolous behaviors such as liking something cannot possibly say anything important about them," says Stillwell.

Obama signs order activating deep spending cuts

Politics trumped progress on Friday as President Barack Obama and Republican leaders traded blame for $85 billion in forced spending cuts after they failed to come up with a compromise to avert the harshest impacts.

The president signed an order required by law that set in motion the automatic, government-wide cuts.

Obama and congressional leaders from both parties met for about 45 minutes at the White House, but no agreement emerged to avert the cuts that both sides oppose.

After weeks of campaign-style events intended to inspire public outrage over the cuts, Obama sought to temper his description of their impact while making clear he thinks Republican intransigence prevented a deal to avoid the economic harm they'll cause

"We will get through this," he told reporters. "This is not going to be an apocalypse as some people have said. It's just dumb and it's going to hurt."

Still, a White House budget office report sent to Congress and released with Obama's order said the cuts would be "deeply destructive to national security, domestic investments, and core government functions."

The action was described in the report as "a blunt and indiscriminate instrument" that was "never intended to be implemented and does not represent a responsible way" for the country to realize deficit reduction.

In a sign of the potential impact, the Department of Justice sent furlough notices to employees that warned they may be forced to take days off without pay in coming months.

Similar furloughs, as well as reduced services, were expected at other agencies if the cuts don't get replaced or eliminated. Military leaders have warned of impaired readiness of U.S. forces.

However, the full impact of the cuts weren't expected until April at the earliest.

The cuts amount to roughly 9% for a broad range of non-defense programs and 13% for the Pentagon over the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30.

They were included in a 2011 deal to raise the federal borrowing limit as an unacceptable outcome if Congress failed to agree on a comprehensive deficit reduction plan.

However, the full impact of the cuts weren't expected until April at the earliest.

The cuts amount to roughly 9% for a broad range of non-defense programs and 13% for the Pentagon over the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30.

They were included in a 2011 deal to raise the federal borrowing limit as an unacceptable outcome if Congress failed to agree on a comprehensive deficit reduction plan.

Obama's press conference on spending cuts

However, election-year politics stymied progress on such a deal, leading to the situation Friday in which both sides acknowledged being unable to prevent something neither wanted.

"There are smarter ways to cut spending," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, after the meeting with Obama.

Boehner repeated his past assertion that the GOP-led House has offered proposals to replace the forced spending cuts while the Democratic-led Senate has not, as well as his party's opposition to any increased tax revenue to offset the forced spending cuts.

Others who also took part in the White House gathering were Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

In the White House briefing room, Obama told reporters that Republicans in Congress "allowed these cuts to happen because they refuse to budge on closing a single wasteful (tax) loophole to help reduce the deficit."

"As recently as yesterday, they decided to protect special interest tax breaks for the well off and the well connected and they think that that's apparently more important than protecting our military or middle class families from the pain of these cuts," Obama said.

He was referring to a procedural vote on Thursday in which Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic proposal that called for eliminating some tax loopholes as part of a package with spending cuts.

Boehner and Republicans say the president and Democrats have yet to propose a serious plan to reduce spending, including costly entitlement programs, on a scale necessary to bring chronic federal deficits and debt under control.

Both Obama and Boehner foreshadowed the next major spending showdown - a March 27 deadline for Congress to authorize funding to keep the government running for the rest of the fiscal year.

4 myths about the spending cuts

Boehner told reporters that the House will take up a measure next week to authorize federal funding beyond that deadline.

"The president and leaders agreed legislation should be enacted this month to prevent a government shutdown while we continue to work on a solution to replace the" forced spending cuts, said a statement by Boehner's office.

Although the funding measure is unconnected to the spending cuts, Obama indicated he was open to a broader agreement that would resolve both issues.

"I do know that there are Republicans in Congress who privately, at least, say that they would rather close tax loopholes then let these cuts go through," said Obama in response to questions from reporters.

"... In the coming days and the coming weeks, I'm going to keeping on reaching out to them -- both individually and as groups of senators or members of the House -- and say to them, 'Let's fix this, not just for a month or two, but for years to come,' because the greatest nation on Earth does not conduct its business in month-to-month increments or by careening from crisis to crisis," Obama said.

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Syrian war is everybody's problem

Last week, a huge explosion rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing more than 50 people and injuring hundreds. The victims of the blast in a busy downtown street were mostly civilians, including schoolchildren. Each side in the Syrian civil war blamed the other.

In the northern city of Aleppo, about 58 people -- 36 of them children -- died in a missile attack last week. Washington condemned the regime of Bashar al-Assad; the world looked at the awful images and moved on.

Syria is ripping itself to pieces. The extent of human suffering is beyond comprehension. That alone should be reason enough to encourage a determined effort to bring this conflict to a quick resolution. But if humanitarian reasons were not enough, the international community -- including the U.S. and its allies -- should wWe've all heard the argument: It's not our problem. We're not the world's policeman. We would only make it worse.

This is not a plea to send American or European troops to fight in this conflict. Nobody wants that.

But before we allow this mostly hands-off approach to continue, we would do well to consider the potential toll ofcontinuing with a failed policy, one that has focused in vain over the past two years searching for a diplomatic solution.eigh the potential implications of allowing this calamity to continue.

U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry has just announced that the U.S. will provide an additional $60 million in non-lethal assistance to the opposition. He has hinted that President Obama, after rejecting suggestions from the CIA and previous Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to arm Syrian rebels, might be ready to change course. And not a day too soon.

The war is taking longer than anyone expected. The longer it lasts, the more Syria is radicalized and the region is destabilized.

If you think the Syrian war is the concern of Syrians alone, think about other countries that have torn themselves apart over a long time. Consider Lebanon, Afghanistan or Somalia; each with unique circumstances, but with one thing in common: Their wars created enormous suffering at home, and the destructiveness eventually spilled beyond their borders. All of those wars triggered lengthy, costly refugee crises. They all spawned international terrorism and eventually direct international -- including U.S. -- intervention.

The uprising against al-Assad started two years ago in the spirit of what was then referred to -- without a hint of irony -- as the Arab Spring. Young Syrians marched, chanting for freedom and democracy. The ideals of equality, rule of law and human rights wafted in the air.

Al-Assad responded to peaceful protests with gunfire. Syrians started dying by the hundreds each day. Gradually the nonviolent protesters started fighting back. Members of the Syrian army started defecting.

The opposition's Free Syrian Army came together. Factions within the Syrian opposition took up arms and the political contest became a brutal civil war. The death toll has climbed to as many as 90,000,according to Kerry. About 2 million people have left their homes, and the killing continues with no end in sight.

In fairness to Washington, Europe and the rest of the international community, there were never easy choices in this war. Opposition leaders bickered, and their clashing views scared away would-be supporters. Western nations rejected the idea of arming the opposition, saying Syria already has too many weapons. They were also concerned about who would control the weaponry, including an existing arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, after al-Assad's fall.

These are all legitimate concerns. But inaction is producing the worst possible outcome.

The moderates, whose views most closely align with the West, are losing out to the better-armed Islamists and, especially, to the extremists. Moderates are losing the ideological debate and the battle for the future character of a Syria after al-Assad.

Radical Islamist groups have taken the lead. Young people are losing faith in moderation, lured by disciplined, devout extremists. Reporters on the ground have seen young democracy advocates turn into fervent supporters of dangerous groups such as the Nusra Front, which has scored impressive victories.

The U.S. State Department recently listed the Nusra Front, which has close ties to al Qaeda in Iraq and a strong anti-Western ideology, as a terrorist organization.

Meantime, countries bordering Syria are experiencing repercussions. And these are likely to become more dangerous.

Jordan, an important American ally, is struggling with a flood of refugees, as many as 10,000 each week since the start of the year. The government estimates 380,000 Syrians are in Jordan, a country whose government is under pressure from its own restive population and still dealing with huge refugee populations from other wars.

Turkey is also burdened with hundreds of thousands of refugeesand occasional Syrian fire. Israel has warned about chemical weapons transfers from al-Assad to Hezbollah in Lebanon and may have already fired on a Syrian convoy attempting the move.

Lebanon, always perched precariously on the edge of crisis, lives with growing fears that Syria's war will enter its borders. Despite denials, there is evidence that Lebanon's Hezbollah, a close ally of al-Assad and of Iran, has joined the fighting on the side of the Syrian president. The Free Syrian Army has threatened to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon if it doesn't leave Syria.

The possible outcomes in Syria include the emergence of a failed state, stirring unrest throughout the region. If al-Assad wins, Syria will become an even more repressive country.

Al-Assad's survival would fortify Iran and Hezbollah and other anti-Western forces. If the extremists inside the opposition win, Syria could see factional fighting for many years, followed by anti-democratic, anti-Western policies.

The only good outcome is victory for the opposition's moderate forces. They may not be easy to identify with complete certainty. But to the extent that it is possible, these forces need Western support.

They need training, funding, careful arming and strong political and diplomatic backing. The people of Syria should know that support for human rights, democracy and pluralism will lead toward a peaceful, prosperous future.

Democratic nations should not avert their eyes from the killings in Syria which are, after all, a warning to the world.

Dennis Rodman is North Korean leader's 'friend for life'

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman declared his eternal friendship with North Korea's supreme leader Thursday.

"You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim Jong Un after the two men sat next to each other watching an unusual basketball exhibition in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Photos of the event, published online by Vice magazine, show Rodman and Kim Jong Un sitting at court side, surrounded by an arena filled with dark-uniformed fans.

The North Korean leader, who is known to be a basketball fan, appears to be engrossed in the competition.

"To see everyone letting their hair down and getting into the match made it all the more worthwhile," said Vice founder Shane Smith. "At the reception afterward, many kind words were spoken and invitations offered."

The game involved a combination of three stars of the Harlem Globetrotters and members of North Korea's "Dream Team." The final score was a 110-110 tie.

When Kim joined the American group for supper, Vice correspondent Ryan Duffy invited the leader to visit the United States. "His invitation was met with laughter," according to a Vice statement.

The weeklong trip by these "basketball diplomats" is not an official U.S. mission, but for a TV documentary production. The video will be shown in an installment of a monthly series produced by Vice for HBO.

"I come in peace. I love the people of North Korea!"Rodman, 51, said on Twitter as he arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday.

The visit comes at a time of heightened tension between the United States and North Korea, a result of Pyongyang's pursuit of a nuclear program. Just days ago, North Korea threatened "miserable destruction" in response to routine military exercises planned between South Korea and the United States.

North Korea provoked Western condemnation earlier this month with an underground nuclear test that was preceded by the December launch of a long-range missile capable of transporting a warhead.

Could the connection between Rodman and Kim, who classmates said was a huge basketball fan as a teenager -- when Rodman was winning five NBA championships -- help cool down this international hotspot?

Rodman, whose nickname is "Worm," tweeted that he was "honored to represent The United States of America."

"I'm not a politician. Kim Jung Un & North Korean people are basketball fans. I love everyone. Period. End of story," he tweeted.

Kim, who is believed to be about 29 years old, assumed power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in late 2011.

North Korea's official news agency KCNA reported Thursday that Rodman's delegation was taken to visit the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where past supreme leaders lie in state.

"They paid high tribute to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il before their statues," KCNA reported.

It was unclear whether Rodman, who is accompanied by Globetrotters Bull Bullard, Buckets Blakes and Moose Weekes, will be taken to North Korea's countryside, where aid groups say malnutrition is rampant

According to Human Rights Watch, hundreds of thousands of people remain enslaved in prison camps, which are "notorious for horrific living conditions and abuse."