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AFP Syria army recaptures rebel bastion Yabrud

Yabrud (Syria) (AFP) - Syria's army and Lebanon's Hezbollah seized full control of rebel bastion Yabrud on Sunday, dealing the opposition a strategic blow in the Qalamoun region along the Lebanese border.

An AFP reporter entered the town after the army declared it had captured the opposition stronghold north of Damascus, in a symbolic victory a day after the third anniversary of the outbreak of Syria's conflict.

Exhausted Syrian soldiers sat in the streets after seizing the town in fierce clashes with the support of battle-hardened fighters from Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah and pro-regime militiamen.

"It was a very difficult battle, possibly the most difficult we have faced," a soldier who identified himself as Abu Mohammed told AFP in Yabrud's central square between puffs from a water-pipe.

Earlier, the army announced it had "returned security and stability" to the town and its surroundings.

"This new success... is an important step towards securing the border area with Lebanon, and cutting off the roads and tightening the noose around the remaining terrorist cells in Damascus province," the military added, using the regime's term for rebels.

While scores of soldiers and fighters wearing different kinds of uniforms were seen in Yabrud, not one civilian could be spotted anywhere.

Graffiti in the colours of the pro-revolt flag still adorned the heavily damaged town's walls, while fighter jets were heard overhead.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group relying on a network of contacts inside Syria, said Hezbollah had led the operation and that fighting was ongoing on the outskirts of the town.

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Syria army in full control of rebel town Yabrud: state TV

The Missing Malaysia Aircraft Challenges CCP Censorship
Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/cnforbiddennews Like us on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/chinaforbiddennews During the annual Communist party co...

By: ChinaForbiddenNews

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The Missing Malaysia Aircraft Challenges CCP Censorship - Video

During the last generation of consoles, I preferred to watch movies on my PlayStation 3 thanks to its awesome first-party Bluetooth remote control. When I disconnected my PS3 and 360 after buying my new consoles, I was disappointed to have to return to controller-based navigation. As soon as I heard Microsoft would be putting out a relatively inexpensive ($25) official media remote, I put my pre-order in. It arrived today, and I had a chance to test it out a bit this afternoon.

I flipped through the brief manual at first to see if there were any sync instructions for the device, but found none. Thinking there might be a sync button on the remote itself, I looked there to no result. I assumed that Id need to go through some of the device settings on the Xbox One itself, so I headed into the conference room to turn it on.

Out of habit, I pressed the guide button on the remote despite not doing anything to sync it. To my surprise, it immediately worked and turned on the Xbox One and the television. Navigating around the dashboard worked as youd expect with the circular direction buttons, and I started a Blu-Ray movie (Bruce Almighty, which we had in the vault for some dumb reason).

I expected all of the media controls to work for the Xbox Ones built-in Blu-Ray player, and it functioned as advertised. You have to make sure youre pointing the remote at the console, but its quick and easy to pause, play, and go through various fast-forward and rewind speeds.

My question was whether or not the controls would cross over to third-party apps like Netflix and Hulu Plus. Thankfully, it functioned exactly the same as it did for the Blu-Ray player. Personally, Im hoping its the same case when the WWE Network app launches later this year on Xbox One.

The remote itself is lightweight, small, and automatically lights up the buttons when you pick it up. I really like the feel and function of it, and Im looking forward to not having to drain my game controllers battery when Im just watching Hulu or Netflix. From my brief time with the Xbox One Media Remote today, Id recommend it to anyone that wants a dedicated device for media control.

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Testing The New Xbox One Media Remote

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will visit the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., on the afternoon of Monday, March 17, for demonstrations of and briefings on select aeronautics and space research activities performed at the center.

Media are invited to attend Boldens tour of the laboratory used for research on volleyball-sized free-flying satellites called Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES, which are currently aboard the International Space Station. SPHERES are used on the space station to conduct experiments in space robotics, as well as spacecraft guidance navigation, control and docking. The satellites provide opportunities to affordably test a wide range of hardware and software.

Interested media may also attend Boldens tour of the center's high-fidelity airport control tower simulator, dubbed Future Flight Central, where the administrator will be briefed on research underway in support of next-generation air traffic management. NASA is collaborating with the Federal Aviation Administration and industry partners to develop several advanced automation tools that provide air traffic controllers, pilots, and other airspace users with more accurate real-time information about the nations air traffic flow, weather and routing.

Following the tours and briefings, Bolden will be available for a question-and-answer session with attending media. News media interested in attending should contact Sharon Lozano atsharon.k.lozano@nasa.govor 650-604-4789 by 9 a.m. PDT Monday, March 17, to register.

Registered news media may arrive as early as 11:45 a.m. March 17 at the Visitor Badging Office located at the main gate. Government-issued photo ID is required to obtain a visitor badge. News media will be escorted to and from the event Media arriving early will have an opportunity to interview SPHERES experts before Boldens arrival. All media must be at the main gate by 12:30 p.m.

For more information about Ames, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ames

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Media Invited to Tour Ames Research Center with NASA Administrator

Media companies plan to press Comcast Corp for higher fees in the coming year, seeing an opportunity to squeeze better terms from the U.S. cable company as regulators review its planned takeover of Time Warner Cable Inc.

Comcast and Time Warner Cable paid nearly $14 billion to content companies last year for rights to distribute their films, television shows and sporting events.

Broadcasters and cable television networks have "assignment clauses" in their contracts with Time Warner Cable that require the networks to sign off before Comcast can merge the two cable operators' agreements, according to people who have negotiated agreements in the past.

Media executives say most programmers will push for higher rates in return for expanding their deals to cover digital distribution of their content. They declined to give specifics, citing confidential contracts.

"Media companies selling programming can be expected to leverage the policy and politics surrounding the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger to extract sizeable and unusual concessions," said Jimmy Schaeffler, chairman of pay TV consultant firm The Carmel Group.

Comcast is expected in March to formally request a Federal Communications Commission review of the $45.2 billion Time Warner Cable deal. The combined company will control almost 30 percent of the U.S. pay television video market and about a third of the high-speed Internet market.

While content providers are broadly concerned about the long-term negotiating clout of the new company, many of them are looking for immediate ways to benefit from the merger, according to media executives who requested anonymity because their negotiations with Comcast will be private.

Media companies see increased value for their content following a recent deal by satellite operator Dish Network Corp to pay Walt Disney Co for the rights to stream ESPN, ABC and other programs over the Internet.

Analysts say Disney likely pocketed higher subscriber fees from Dish for channels such as ESPN and Disney Channel. In 2013, ESPN was paid an industry average fee of $5.54 per subscriber per month while Disney Channel received $1.15 per subscriber per month, according to SNL Kagan.

CBS Corp CEO Leslie Moonves hinted at an investor conference this week that he would push for better terms from Comcast.

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Media Companies Could Leverage Comcast Deal