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  • How the US oil, gas boom could shake up global order


    Without fanfare, China passed the United States in December to become the world's leading importer of oil – the first time in nearly 40 years that the U.S. didn’t own that dubious distinction. That same month, North Dakota, Ohio and Pennsylvania together produced 1.5 million barrels of oil a day -- more than Iran exported.
    America’s drive for energy independence

    As those data points demonstrate, a dramatic shift is occurring in how energy is being produced and consumed around the world – one that could lead to far-reaching changes in the geopolitical order.

    U.S. policy makers, intelligence analysts and other experts are beginning to grapple with the ramifications of such a change, which could bring with it both great benefits for the U.S. and potentially dangerous consequences, including the risk of upheaval in countries and regions heavily dependent on oil exports.

    But many experts say the U.S. would be the big winner, in position to reshape its foreign policy and boost its global influence.

    "People already are looking at the U.S. differently, seeing the U.S. as much more competitive in the world,” said energy analyst and author Dan Yergin, saying that he first noticed the change in the world view of the U.S. at the World Economic Forum in January in Davos, Switzerland.
    Slideshow: Drilling down and out in Texas

    Watch a drilling crew at work near the small town of Garden City, Texas, as they drill an oil well that eventually will extend more than a mile deep and a mile sideways in the Permian Basin.

    As detailed in the first two installments of Power Shift, an NBC News/CNBC special report, the United States is reaping the benefits of an energy boom created by new drilling technologies that have unlocked vast domestic oil and natural gas reserves. Coupled with decreasing demand due to energy efficiency and continued cultivation of alternative energy sources, an increasing number of experts believe the U.S. could achieve energy independence by the end of the decade – realizing a dream born during the gas crisis of 1973.

    But who would be the global winners and losers in such a scenario?

    Most U.S. policy makers and experts agree that the U.S. and its allies – particularly its North American neighbors -- would be the biggest beneficiaries.

    Boom helps Iran sanctions stick
    In fact, they say, the West already has realized one major benefit: the success of international sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

    Carlos Pascual, the State Department’s coordinator for international energy affairs, noted last month at the CERAWEEK energy conference in Houston that increased U.S. oil production, coupled with a boost in exports from Iraq and Libya, has kept oil prices stable despite the loss, because of sanctions, of up to 1.5 million barrels a day in Iranian exports.

    “What this has taught us, and helped underscore, is that within the world we live in today, hard security issues and energy policy issues have become fundamentally intertwined,” he said.

    Authorities say 4 hurt when driver crashes into Calif. Walmart, assaults people in store

    A man in a large red sedan hit two cars in the parking lot of a San Jose Walmart before ramming the car through the front of the store then assaulting customers inside, officials said. The attack injured four people, one of them seriously.

    The man crashed the Oldsmobile Cutlass through the storefront near the pharmacy Sunday and collided with a beer display before stopping, police and witnesses said.

    The unidentified driver then got out of his car and used a blunt object to attack people, San Jose police Officer Albert Morales said. The driver was arrested when officers arrived.

    Investigators have not determined how fast the driver -- described as a man in his 30s -- was going at the time of the crash but the car went about 20 feet into the Walmart Supercenter that had about 70 people inside in San Jose, Morales said.

    One person suffered what Morales described as serious injuries. He did not know the extent of the injuries to the three other people but said they were not life-threatening. The injured included a store employee.

    There was no immediate word about what motivated the suspect.

    Customer Sharon Kaye told the San Jose Mercury News the driver sideswiped her car as he made several runs around the parking lot before driving between poles at the entrance and crashing into the store.

    "At first, I thought I may have done something to anger him while driving," she said. "But then I realized he was out to get into the store."

    After the crash, the entrance to the Walmart was roped off with yellow police tape, and workers put up large boards covering the automatic doors where the car had entered.

    A Walmart spokeswoman told the Mercury News that the store remained shut down for several hours, and an employee was among those hurt.

    American Idol 2013: Kree Harrison Shows She’s an Idol Queen

    In an attempt to also challenge herself on American Idol, Kree Harrison took on the Aretha Franklin hit “Don’t Play that Song.”

    Smoky Robinson was so impressed he said he was going to make sure Aretha tuned in to see her rendition. The performance wasn’t flawless, but Kree showed that she can do many things with her talent. The judges thought it was risky, but a great choice.

    More Kree? Check out Kree’s performance from last week - With A Little Help From My Friends by The Beatles

        Randy Jackson: We’ve got that Kree love up in here. To take on the queen of soul is a very tough thing.. You one of the best in the competition. This was not a perfect performance tonight..but you are definitely here to stay..

        Mariah Carey: When I heard you were doing that song, I thought it was going to be interesting.

    There was a slightly country infusion. This was a song I sang when I first started out with a piano. I commend you for doing this song, we need to keep doing these things so people remember people like Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul.

        Keith Urban: I love that you keep reminding people of the blues and soul roots in country. I love that you do an Aretha song, but you don’t try to be Aretha. You are Kree.
        Nicki Minaj: Something has to be said when you do queen songs.. Your confidence never waivers.

    Taylor Swift ‘desperate' to meet Prince Harry

    Swift, who currently dates English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, is keen to be included on guest lists for the Prince’s royal state visit to the US next month, according to British newspaper The Sun.

    A source said: "Taylor’s desperate to get her name added on to the VIP lists of stars being lined up to meet Harry. She loves everything about him - especially his ginger hair and English accent"

    Swift has previously dated actors Jake Gylllenhall and Taylor Lautner, plus One Direction singer Harry Styles and John F Kennedy descendent, Conor Kennedy.

    Prince Harry is thought to have a ‘type’ - blondes - and perhaps Swift does, too. Sheeran has told how he was mistaken for the prince by Harry’s own cousins Beatrice and Eugenie, while performing at a wedding in the Caribbean.

    The prince already has meetings lined up with other US celebrities, including Vanessa Hudgens, Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Lawrence at parties in Washington and New York.

    Swift will be taking her 'Red' tour to Washington in May, with Sheeran as her support act. They also sing together in the show.

    South Korea vows fast response to North; U.S. deploys stealth jets

    South Korea will strike back quickly if the North stages any attack on its territory, the new president in Seoul warned on Monday, as tensions ratcheted higher on the Korean peninsula amid shrill rhetoric from Pyongyang and the U.S. deployment of radar-evading fighter planes.

    North Korea says the region is on the brink of a nuclear war in the wake of United Nations sanctions imposed for its February nuclear test and a series of joint U.S. and South Korean military drills that have included a rare U.S. show of aerial power.

    North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea in response to what it termed the "hostile" military drills being staged in the South. But there have been no signs of unusual activity in the North's military to suggest an imminent aggression, a South Korean defense ministry official said last week.

    "If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations," President Park Geun-hye told the defense minister and senior officials at a meeting on Monday.

    The South has changed its rules of engagement to allow local units to respond immediately to attacks, rather than waiting for permission from Seoul.

    Stung by criticism that its response to the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010 was tardy and weak, Seoul has also threatened to target North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and to destroy statues of the ruling Kim dynasty in the event of any new attack, a plan that has outraged Pyongyang.

    Seoul and its ally the United States played down Saturday's statement from the official KCNA news agency as the latest in a stream of tough talk from Pyongyang.

    North Korea stepped up its rhetoric in early March, when U.S. and South Korean forces began annual military drills that involved the flights of U.S. B-2 stealth bombers in a practice run, prompting the North to puts its missile units on standby to fire at U.S. military bases in the South and in the Pacific.

    The United States also deployed F-22 stealth fighter jets on Sunday to take part in the drills. The F-22s were deployed in South Korea before, in 2010.

    On its part, North Korea has cancelled an armistice agreement with the United States that ended the Korean War and cut all hotlines with U.S. forces, the United Nations and South Korea.

    NUCLEAR WEAPONS "NOT A BARGAINING CHIP"

    Park's intervention came on the heels of a meeting of the North's ruling Workers Party Central Committee where leader Kim Jong-un rejected the notion that Pyongyang was going to use its nuclear arms development as a bargaining chip.

    "The nuclear weapons of Songun Korea are not goods for getting U.S. dollars and they are ... (not) to be put on the table of negotiations aimed at forcing the (North) to disarm itself," KCNA news agency quoted him as saying.

    At the meeting, Kim appointed a handful of personal confidants to the party's politburo, further consolidating his grip on power in the second full year of his reign.

    Pyongyang took part in nuclear disarmament talks for five years aimed at paying it off in return for abandoning its atomic weapons program. Those talks fell apart in 2008. Some experts say the talks gave the North grounds to pursue a highly enriched uranium program that took it closer to owning a working arsenal.

    Saudi Arabia to allow women's sports clubs - paper

     Saudi Arabia is to license women's sports clubs for the first time, al-Watan daily reported, in a major step for an ultra-religious country where clerics have warned against female exercise.

    Last year the conservative Islamic kingdom, where women must have permission from a male relative to take many big decisions, sent women athletes to the Olympics for the first time after pressure from international rights groups.

    Until now, women's exercise facilities, including gyms, have had to be licensed by the Health Ministry and designated as "health centres".

    Last April Watan, owned by a Saudi prince, reported the government had set up a ministerial committee to allow women's sports clubs. The General Presidency of Youth Welfare, which functions like a sports ministry, only regulates men's clubs.

    In 2009 a member of the country's highest council of clerics said girls should not play sports lest they "lose their virginity" by tearing their hymens. State-run girls' schools do not have exercise classes.

    Watan said on Friday the Interior Ministry had decided to allow women's sports clubs after reviewing a study that showed flaws in the existing system.

    In August two Saudi women, a judoka and a sprinter, became the first to compete for their country in the Olympics. At least one had trained abroad.

    Saudi women are barred from driving and must seek the permission of a male "guardian", usually a father, husband or brother, to marry, travel abroad, open a bank account, work or have some forms of elective surgery.

    In January King Abdullah named 30 women to the Shura Council, an appointed body that debates future legislation and then gives non-binding advice to the government.

    U.S. face-transplant recipient marries burn victim report

    Face-transplant recipient Dallas Wiens married a fellow burn victim on Saturday in the same church where his face was melted in an electrical accident, the Dallas Morning News reported.

    In 2011, Wiens received the first full face transplant ever performed in the United States.

    Wiens, 27, was married to Jamie Nash of Garland, Texas, at Ridglea Baptist Church in Fort Worth before 150 people, the newspaper said on its website.

    "I am blessed beyond measure that you have chosen me, and I love you with all of my heart," the daily quoted Wiens as telling Nash.

    Wiens, a Fort Worth native, met Nash in 2011 at Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital, where they attended the same support group for burn victims.

    Nash, 29, was burned over 70 percent of her body in a one-car accident in June 2010. Today she speaks at schools and churches about the perils of texting while driving.

    Wiens was in a cherry picker painting the Ridglea church in November 2008 when his left temple touched a high-voltage wire. His face was burned to the skull and he was left sightless.

    Wiens was unconscious at Parkland hospital for three months and underwent more than 20 major surgeries.

    It is the second marriage for both Wiens and Nash. Wiens has a 5-year-old daughter, and Nash has a 10-year-old daughter and a son, 6.

    Ireland Baldwin Can’t Stop Showing Off Model Figure

    Ireland Baldwin recently announced she’s signed a modeling contract, but in case anyone missed the news, she’s now proving it through photos.

    Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger’s 17-year-old daughter has taken to multiple branches of social media this month to show off her 6’2” fab figure. On Instagram there’s a selfie of the teen standing in her bathroom, donning just a cleavage-baring Nike sports bra and super-short spandex shorts. On Twitter, she’s got a shot of herself standing in her kitchen downing Cheerios while wearing nothing but (a different) sports bra on top. And just this week on her Tumblr account, Baldwin flaunted her toned bod in a super-sexy shot, standing at the ocean’s edge with wet hair in a skimpy bikini.

    It’s no surprise the celebrity offspring turned out to be a classic (and tall!) beauty. Mom Basinger rose to fame in the ‘80s playing plenty of the “leggy blonde” roles in films like “9 1Ž2 Weeks,” “Blind Date,” and “The Marrying Man,” which, ironically, introduced her to the man she’d eventually wind up marrying, Alec Baldwin.

    While she takes after her mother in the looks department, she takes after her father when it comes to oversharing on social media. Baldwin keeps his more than 1 million Twitter followers up to date on just about everything, from his confrontations with the paparazzi, to his battle with an American Airlines flight attendant, to the details of his wedding day when he married new wife Hilaria Thomas.

    Instagram But we’ve got to wonder what Basinger and Baldwin think of their teen daughter sharing the skimpy shots (not to mention posting pics of herself smooching a gentleman caller)? With a future modeling career ahead, they’re probably going to have to prepare themselves for even more risqué shots … and Ireland, it’s pretty clear, doesn’t seem the least bit concerned.

    'Iron Man 3' In China Alternate Version Of Marvel Blockbuster Headed To Chinese Theaters

    hinese film audiences will get to see "Iron Man 3," but not the version that screens in U.S. cinemas.

    On Friday, Marvel announced plans for the "Iron Man 3" China release, noting that the Shane Black film will "feature a special appearance of China’s top actress, Fan Bingbing, and will offer specially prepared bonus footage made exclusively for the Chinese audience."

    In addition to Bingbing's role, "Iron Man 3" also includes an appearance from Wang Xueqi, an acclaimed Chinese actor. Xuegi's role will also feature in the U.S. version of "Iron Man 3."

    This isn't the first time an American film has prepared an alternate version for Chinese audiences. Earlier this year, the teen comedy "21 and Over" went through similar modifications. From earlier coverage:

        According to The Los Angeles Times, the version of "21 and Over" that will premiere in China opens with [one character] attending a Chinese University, and then returning there after his birthday.

        "'21 & Over,' in China, is sort of a story about a boy who leaves China, gets corrupted by our wayward, Western partying ways and goes back to China a better person,” Lucas said to The Times.

    Films are sometimes edited down for Chinese release as well: 2012 releases "Skyfall" and "Cloud Atlas" were reportedly censored by the Chinese government because of content concerns. "Cloud Atlas," for instance, was apparently cut by 40 minutes to remove a section of the film that focuses on a same-sex couple.

    For more on the "Iron Man 3" China release, head over to Coming Soon.

    Madonna Without Makeup Doesn't Look Like Madonna

    Madonna, 54, stepped out in New York City this weekend looking like anyone but her usual glammed up self. The famed Material Girl was on her way to the Kabalah center in Midtown Manhattan with her kids David and Mercy in tow, reports New York Daily News.

    The Vogue singer went incognito in a heavy black coat, a black fedora with her hair tucked under it, black shades, black booties and black leather gloves.

    The former queen of style wore the same gloves to the GLAAD awards recently, complete with a Cub Scout uniform, where she presented Anderson Cooper with GLAAD's Vito Russo Award and lashed out against the Boy Scout's ban on gay members. "I think they should change their stupid rules," said the woman best known for her provocations.

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