The couple, Australian citizens from New South Wales state, were discovered missing Thursday morning after the Carnival Spirit docked at Sydney's Circular Quay, at the end of a 10-day journey, said New South Wales Police Superintendent Mark Hutchings.

He said surveillance camera footage showed that the couple a 30-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman whose names have not been released fell from the ship's mid deck Wednesday night, when the ship was about 120 kilometers (65 nautical miles) off the coast of Forster, a city 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Sydney.

"This is a tragic event at the moment, but we're holding out hope we might be able to find these people alive," Hutchings told reporters.

Investigators were having the video enhanced in a bid to determine whether the couple had jumped or had fallen by accident, Hutchings said.

The ship has around 600 surveillance cameras that are constantly monitored, although no one reported seeing the fall at the time.

No life preservers were missing from the ship, Hutchings said. A missing life preserver might have indicated that one of the missing passengers had attempted a rescue.

Jo Meehan, spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the search, said an airplane, a helicopter and police boats were searching a 1,000-square-kilometer (300-square-nautical mile) area of sea.

The couple and seven of their family and friends were among 2,680 passengers on a South Pacific cruise. The ship's last stop was Mare Island in New Caledonia, which it left on Monday, bound for Sydney. The couple were discovered missing as passengers disembarked, said Peter Taylor, spokesman for the ship's operator, Carnival Cruise Lines.

"The guests in question were traveling with family and friends, and initial reports indicate that the couple was last seen onboard the vessel last night," Taylor said in a statement.

"The ship immediately initiated standard missing person procedures, including a full search of the vessel, as per protocol," he said.

Police said in a statement there were alerted about two hours after the ship docked.

Carnival Cruise Lines is a subsidiary of Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator.

Carnival Corp. has been plagued by a series of high-profile problems in recent years. Last year, the Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people. Also last year, the Costa Allegra caught fire and lost power in the Indian Ocean, leaving passengers without working toilets, running water or air conditioning for three days. Costa is a division of Carnival Corp.

In February, passengers aboard the Carnival Triumph spent five days without power in the Gulf of Mexico after an engine-room fire disabled the vessel. Those on board complained of squalid conditions, including overflowing toilets and food shortages.

Carnival Corp.'s representative in the South Pacific region, Ann Sherry, is chief executive of Carnival Australia, which represents 80 percent of cruise lines in the region.

She told an Australian parliamentary inquiry into cruise ship safety in February that only two passengers had disappeared overboard from cruise ships in the South Pacific since she took her job more than five years earlier.

She said both disappearances had been fully investigated by authorities and there had been no suspicious circumstances in either case.

"We note concerns regarding reported irregularities in the conduct of the election, and believe it is important that Malaysian authorities address concerns that have been raised," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. "We look forward to the outcome of their investigations."

Prime Minister Najib Razak's Barisan Nasional coalition extended its 56-year rule but recorded its worst-ever election performance in Sunday's election. His party won 133 seats in Malaysia's 222-member parliament, seven fewer than in 2008 and short of the two-thirds majority it had hoped for.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's People's Alliance won 89 seats, a big increase from seven in 2008. Anwar has said the result was tainted by electoral fraud and scheduled a large rally in Kuala Lumpur to press for electoral reforms.

The Malaysian government rejected charges of electoral fraud and has accused Anwar of seeking to cause unrest with the rally.

The election was one of the most closely contested in Malaysia in years and Najib is expected to face a party leadership challenge that may cost him his leadership by the end of the year because of the weak showing.

He had hoped to strengthen the ruling coalition's majority in parliament with the help of a strong economy, reforms to roll back race-based policies and $2.6 billion in spending programs benefiting poor families.

Najib is now seeing as having a difficult time in persuading his allies to press ahead with economic reforms and the phasing out of policies favouring ethnic Malays over other groups.

(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; editing by Jackie Frank)

(Logo: )

The partnership, funded by SDL through a Reimbursable Space Act Agreement, allows for the joint development of a high-resolution cryogenic optical encoder an angular position sensor to be used in conjunction with the laboratory's large, evacuated Thermal and Optical Research (THOR) chamber. The period of performance is for one year from Oct. 10, 2012.

The encoder will be used to very accurately measure the pointing angle of a large, high precision mirror in a second vacuum chamber connected to THOR. Using this encoder technology, the Space Dynamics Laboratory expects to reduce uncertainties in the performance and calibration of space-based sensor systems and to increase efficiency of sensor calibrations they perform for NASA and the Department of Defense programs. NASA Goddard's Doug Leviton invented and patented this encoder technology.

For more information on NASA Goddard's Innovative Partnerships Office, please visit:

For more information on the Space Dynamics Laboratory, please visit:

For more information on NASA, please visit:

SOURCE NASA

In the statement, IAUofficials said that planet-naming schemes have "no bearing on the official naming process," and stressed the importance of having a unified procedure, even though its members welcome the public's interest. The IAU did not mention the space science funding company Uwingu (whose name means "sky" in Swahili)by name, referring only to a "recent name-selling campaign." But the young Uwingu did launch an initiative last month calling on the public to name the nearest Alpha Centauri Bb an4.3 light-years from Earth as part of a fundraising campaign.

Projects like Uwingu'sseek to at least informally replace official planet names like HD 85512b or Gliese 667Cc with more playful nicknames. The initiative by Uwingu a company that aims to raise money for space research, exploration and education lets you add a nomination to the planet name registry for 99 cents. []

And for another 99 cents, you can vote for your favorite name on the list. In March, Uwingu started an offshoot contest, which runs through April 15, to, the newfound Earth-sized planet in the star system closest to our own.The company will use the money raised by the project to support research efforts like SETI's (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Allen Telescope Array in California, as well as space launches and science outreach.

Uwingu CEO Alan Stern, a planetary scientist who also leads NASA's New Horizons spacecraft's mission to Pluto, said the IAU's claim to naming rights in space is a self-proclaimed one, and likened Uwingu's effort to a People's Choice endeavour.

"The IAU can't prohibit what it does not control. People's Choice naming contests and the colloquial naming of objects in space are unrelated to the IAU's purview of specifying nomenclature for astronomers," Stern told SPACE.com in an email. "The IAU no more owns the right to control the naming of objects in space for popular purposes than does a county that controls street naming have the right to deny people in the county who the right to adopt a mile of highway in someone's honor."

In thecampaign, the names Ron Paul, Heinlein, Sagan, Asimov and Pele are currently among some of the more popular monikers that have been proposed so far. Official exoplanet names, often made up of a string of letters and numbers, may look dull and unmemorable in comparison, but IAU officials defended their process.

"Whileexoplanetnames such as 16 Cygni Bb or HD 41004 Ab may seem boring when considering the names of , the vast number of objects in our universe galaxies, stars, and planets to name just a few means that a clear and systematic system for naming these objects is vital," IAU officials explained. "Any naming system is a scientific issue that must also work across different languages and cultures in order to support collaborative worldwide research and avoid confusion."

To be clear, Uwingu has said the nominations in its Baby Planet Name Book won't be official. But the organization had hoped astronomers might come around and consider using the names on the list to refer to new planets informally.

"At Uwingu, we're for opening up the naming of celestial bodies to as wide a spectrum of the public as possible, the IAU seems to want to go the opposite way," Stern said. "We think open-source naming it the future, and we're excited that so many in the public agree."

The International Astronomical Union was founded in 1919 to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy through international cooperation. The organization is the same one that officially demoted Pluto from a full-fledged planet to its current dwarf planet status in 2006.

For more information on the planet-naming contest,.

This story was updated on April 13 to include new comments from Uwingu CEO Alan Stern.

Follow Megan Gannon onand. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter. We're also onand.

The first lady is asking children ages 8 to 12 and their parents to create nutritious lunch recipes that represent each of the food groups for "The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge."

Winners will travel to Washington to sample some of the original dishes at the second White House kids' "state dinner" luncheon this summer.

The deadline to submit recipes is May 12. Last year's challenge received more than 1,200 entries.

The contest, created by Epicurious.com, is a partnership among the food website, Mrs. Obama and the departments of Education and Agriculture.

___

Online:

http://www.recipechallenge.epicurious.com

The Royal & Ancient (R&A) and United States Golf Association (USGA) released a joint statement explaining in lengthy detail the controversial events that occurred during Woods's second round and sent the year's first major into a frenzy.

Woods controversially avoided disqualification from the Masters when, after failing to add strokes to his scorecard for an improper drop, officials used discretionary powers to hand him a two-stroke penalty.

The 14-times major champion, who draws massive TV ratings and was a hot favorite at Augusta National, earned his reprieve after a review by officials of a penalty drop he took during the second round at the par-five 15th last month.

Aided by a recently amended rule announced at the 2011 Masters, Woods was not disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard because his infringement was based on television evidence.

The R&A and USGA determined the original ruling was based on exceptional facts and officials were right not to disqualify Woods but stressed that players are still under an obligation to return a correct scorecard and understand the rules.

The sport's governing bodies also maintain that officials are under no obligation to make players aware of any possible rules infraction.

"The Woods ruling was based on exceptional facts, as required by Rule 33-7, and should not be viewed as a general precedent for relaxing or ignoring a competitor's essential obligation under the rules to return a correct score card," the R&A and USGA said in a statement.

"Further, although a committee should do its best to alert competitors to potential rules issues that may come to its attention, it has no general obligation to do so; and the fact that a committee may be aware of such a potential issue before the competitor returns his score card should not, in and of itself, be a basis for waiving a penalty of disqualification."

"Only a rare set of facts, akin to the exceptional facts at the 2013 Masters tournament ... would justify a committee's use of its discretion to waive a penalty of disqualification for returning an incorrect scorecard."

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Name: Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa

Born: 1965

Country: Bahrain

Roles:

Asian Football Confederation disciplinary committee chairman (2003-2009)

FIFA disciplinary committee deputy chairman (2003-2009)

FIFA 2014 World Cup committee member

Bahrain Football Association president (since 2002)

Bahrain Football Association vice president (1998-2002)

Bahrain Olympic Committee vice president (since 2009)

General secretary Supreme Council for Youth & Sports (since 2010)

Manifesto pledges:

- Reunite the Asian Football Community

- Safeguard the universality of the Laws of the Game

- Re-establish the relationship between FIFA and the AFC

- Ensure full financial transparency

- Guarantee equality in the fair distribution of AFC commercial revenues

- Improve the level of all AFC competitions

- Introduce technology at AFC competitions

- Reinforce the financial support available for both refereeing and coaching courses

- Ensure women's football receives the support it deserves

- Embrace the social responsibility the AFC has towards all members

Support

Backed by the powerful Olympic Council of Asia chief Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, Sheikh Salman was the favourite of the four candidates. (Compiled by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Peter Rutherford)

As European countries try to increase revenues to rein in heavy debts, the impetus to challenge tax havens as well as end company schemes structured to cut tax bills is growing.

Luxembourg said this month it would lift bank secrecy rules for EU citizens with savings there.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Luc Frieden also responded to criticism of schemes used to reduce corporate tax, saying the fight against tax evasion was top of the agenda and Luxembourg was willing to contribute to discussions about so-called tax-base erosion, or the avoidance tactics companies use.

"Whereas current tax structures are fully in line with international standards the move from double taxation to double non-taxation is, of course, of serious concern," he said.

Companies used to risk paying tax twice on cross-border deals, but more recently, groups such as Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Google have been able to capitalise on varying international rules to reduce taxes on profits. The groups say they abide by tax regulations in all the markets in which they operate.

Amazon minimises tax by channelling most of its European profits through a tax-exempt entity in Luxembourg.

The European Commission welcomed Frieden's comments.

"The statements we've seen from Luxembourg to go even further in transparency and information exchange are very welcome," said a spokeswoman for Algirdas Semeta, the EU commissioner in charge of tax policy.

Tax evasion and fraud are on the agenda for a summit meeting of EU leaders on May 22.

(Reporting By John O'Donnell; Editing by Helen Massy-Beresford)

The decision confirmed to Reuters by Italy's tax agency on Tuesday relates to payments the agency says should have been made when the designers sold their D&G and Dolce & Gabbana brands to their own Luxembourg-based holding company GADO in 2004.

The authorities ruled that the designers engineered the transaction to avoid paying taxes in Italy, where corporate tax rates are among the world's highest.

Dolce and Gabbana, known for their Sicily-inspired style, were not available for comment on Tuesday, though they have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

"GADO operated as an 'ad hoc' safe, an operation to carry out illicit international fiscal planning aimed at saving taxes," the Tax Commission said in its February ruling, which was filed on March 20 and first surfaced in the Italian media on Saturday.

The designers can ask to have the fine suspended until they exhaust the appeal process.

"The fact is that I didn't do anything!" Gabbana said on Twitter on Saturday.

Fans of the designers voiced their support on Twitter, some encouraging them to leave Italy, others urging them to fight to clear their names.

Dolce and Gabbana are also facing a separate criminal trial in Milan relating to the same case. Neither have yet appeared in court and the trial is expected to continue for months.

Italian authorities have intensified efforts to collect taxes in recent years, targeting groups such as jeweler Bulgari to check whether they have complied with fiscal rules.

Previous tax cases involving celebrities in Italy have led to out-of-court settlements.

In 2000 the late opera singer Luciano Pavarotti paid more than $12 million in back taxes, while former MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi agreed to pay $51 million to Italy's tax agency in 2008 after a lengthy investigation.

Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona recently denied that he owes Italian authorities 38 million euros in unpaid taxes.

(Reporting by Antonella Ciancio; Editing by David Goodman)

RELATED:

Perino's rap isn't creepy because she has no musical talent, or because she uses the term "funky fresh" like it's 1978. It's because she says, "I'm white like Casper." Why? What does whiteness have to do with Cuba? Her co-hosts on Fox's The Five were quite interested in that angle. "For a white girl from Colorado that's damn good," Bob Beckel said. "'White like Casper' -- I like that," Kimberly Guilfoyle added. It's enough to make you think their interest in Jay-Z and Beyonce's trip was based on something other than a foreign policy dispute.

RELATED:

Here's Perino's old colleague Karl Rove , playing along at the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association dinner when comedians Brad Sherwood and Colin Mochrie introduced him as "MC Rove." Rove played along, and danced embarrassingly. "" he said on cue. Why was this funny? The comedians rapped, "He can't be beat because he's so white from his head to his feet!" (Rove is putting his hands in the air, I think, at right.)

RELATED:

http://emileeqe.blog.free.fr/index.php?post/2013/04/30/Download-The-Lover-Hunt-e-book
http://blogs.rediff.com/karayplo/2013/05/01/arabic-and-judaeo-arabic-manuscripts-in-the-cambridge-genizah-collections-arabic-old-series-t-s-ar1a-54-cambridge-university-library-genizah-series-book/
http://chanuqiok.webs.com/apps/blog/show/26062617
http://doraeiapyo.webs.com/apps/blog/show/26062621
http://triciaaha.orbs.com/fast+algorithms%3A+a+multitape+turing
http://shaunuzmt.guildomatic.com/news/show/1579993
http://eqsqsrpy.blogdetik.com/european-telco-strategies-november-2006-download/
http://davidbou.jimdo.com/2013/04/30/the-2009-2014-outlook-for-pc-software-in-japan-e-book-downloads/
http://eldridgepua.skyrock.com/3159134124-Download-Gaff.html
http://vincentrudez.webs.com/apps/blog/show/26062629
http://boemnab.info/1/books/Dualidade%20da%20justi%26ccedila%20no%20Distrito%20Federal%20%28Portuguese%20Edition%29
http://blogs.rediff.com/curtisizic/2013/05/01/downloads-fundamentals-of-engineering-thermodynamics-e-book/
http://gilberteyvav.jimdo.com/2013/04/30/ill-seen-ill-said/
http://delorisdlkb.skyrock.com/3159134178-The-Future-of-Small-Scale-Mining-e-book-downloads.html
http://ioyaaoasa.altervista.org/training-children-to-be-strong-in-spirit-online/
http://nifapulp.deviantart.com/journal/Daddy-To-Be-Determined-Who-S-The-Daddy-Americ-368871530
http://beoaisauu.metroblog.com/the_crystal_spheres