Kerry said the U.S. has expressed concerns about what such defensive systems in Syria would mean for Israel's security. He wouldn't address what the missiles might mean for Syria's civil war.

He spoke to reporters in Rome after the Wall Street Journal reported that Russia was preparing to sell the weapons to President Bashar Assad's regime.

Coming just days after Kerry hailed what he described as a U.S.-Russia breakthrough on Syria, the report suggested Moscow may already be angling to further strengthen the Assad regime two years into a war that has killed more than 70,000 people.

"We have previously stated that the missiles," Kerry said, "are potentially destabilizing with respect to the state of Israel."

"We have made it crystal clear that we prefer that Russia would not supply them assistance," Kerry told reporters alongside new Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino. "That is on record. That hasn't changed."

White House spokesman Jay Carney, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, said, "We have consistently called on Russia to cut off the Assad regime's supply of weapons," including air defense systems that destabilize the region.

"The provision of additional weapons to the regime will not hasten a political solution," Carney said.

Israeli officials said they have asked Russia to cancel the imminent sale to the Assad regime of advanced ground-to-air missile systems.

Such weapons would enhance the Syrian government's defensive ability and make it even harder for the U.S. and other governments to consider even the possibility of trying to enforce a no-fly zone in the country or otherwise intervening militarily.

Russia rarely comments publicly on arms sales or transfers, and there has been no official word on the deal in Moscow.

Even before Syria's 2011 uprising, the Israelis warned about a sale of S-300 batteries which can target manned planes, drones and incoming missiles. Moscow had held off on the deal under persistent U.S. and Israeli pressure.

The S-300 would be a state-of-the-art upgrade for Syria's aging Soviet-supplied defense system, which was easily circumvented in 2007 when Israeli jets bombed a suspected nuclear reactor site along the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria.

And it would only add to reservations in the United States and other Western nations about a more forceful, military intervention to end the war. With the advanced aircraft interception technology, Syria would be able to present a far more robust defense than Moammar Gadhafi's Libya offered two years ago.

The Wall Street Journal put the deal at $900 million for a package of four batteries, six launchers and 144 operational missiles. The missiles have a range of 125 miles, it reported, citing the Israeli-provided information, adding that the materiel would start arriving over the next three months.

Russia remains the Syrian government's most powerful international ally.

Kerry met earlier this week with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow to find a path forward. Kerry and Lavrov announced afterward that they would convene an international conference in the coming weeks to try to bring representatives of the Assad regime and the opposition to the negotiating table.

The enhanced Russian military support, if confirmed, would fly in the face of American claims that Moscow is demonstrating a new cooperativeness.

Moscow, with China, has repeatedly foiled Washington on Syria, blocking three U.N. Security Council resolutions against the Assad regime. It's unclear how its recent calculus has changed, even as U.S. officials point to statements by Lavrov and other Russian officials showing less support for Assad's continued leadership.

Kerry, however, offered only strong praise for Russia and said the focus now needed to be on how to corral the warring parties into peace talks and not on which governments are providing which sides with weaponry.

He said he was "grateful" for Putin's "willingness to try to move to a new paradigm" of peace talks between the Assad regime and the Syrian opposition.

Lavrov, Kerry added, made a "very important" statement by declaring that Russia isn't tied to "any one person" in Syria, suggesting it was comfortable seeing Assad leave power.

Syria "needs to emerge from the war in an inclusive, pluralistic democratic government that is protective of minorities and the rights of all Syrians," Kerry said.

"The current path in Syria is simply unsustainable," Kerry said. "The current path will only lead to greater bloodshed, greater destruction, greater instability, a greater humanitarian crisis, a greater challenge for stability of neighboring states, with the potential of extremists becoming stronger and with the potential of chemical weapons falling into the hands of dangerous people."

Those worst-case scenarios should motivate everyone to return to the negotiating table, he told reporters.

Moscow has been the source of most of Syria's military hardware since Assad's father and predecessor, Hafez, courted the Kremlin decades ago.

It has provided Syria with 36 Pantsyr mobile surface-to-air missile systems and at least eight Buk-M2E mobile SAMs. The Pantsyrs are considered particularly effective against attacking aircraft and feature a combination of 30mm cannons paired with a radar and anti-aircraft missiles on the same vehicle.

And other obsolete systems have been upgraded, and Kerry's predecessor, Hillary Rodham Clinton, sparked controversy last year when she accused the Russians of preparing to deliver attack helicopters.

Russians officials have insisted to their American counterparts that they are only honoring old contracts that are nearing expiration.

First, lets look over the AP findings. Its pretty amusing, really, because this is one of those cases where the interpretation and implied lesson depends wholly on whos writing it up. At HuffPo, the headlineBlack Voter Turnout Rate Passes Whites in 2012 Election, which is pretty neutral and straightforward, but if anything I suppose is designed to make your average HuffPo reader think: good.

Whereas at The Daily Caller, the hed was Report: 2004 turnout numbers would have elected Romney, which of course was designed (whether intentionally or not) to make your average Caller reader resent the march of time and its ineluctable effects on the body politic. There is also the implication in Caller-style packaging that Republicans dont need the brown people. Just nominate someone who can crank up the white community, and problems solved. Well be hearing more, I suspect, from that faction as the months and years propel us toward 2016.

In any case. African American turnout, the AP reported, was just slightly higher than white turnout. Now I wouldnt deny that Obama had a lot to do with this. Thats just the way it works. Ethnic or racial groups who dont normally have a chance to vote for one of their own for president tend to come out in pretty big numbersGreeks in 1988, for example. So theres basic pride. Additionally, there can be no serious question that African Americans watched the Republicans barely sane thrusts and parries against Obama, the birtherism and the Kenyan socialist meme and all the rest, and thought, What a bunch of racist loons, thus resolving even more deeply to get to the polls.

But this went well beyond Obama. How to explain the story of the elderly African American man in Florida, which made the rounds right after the election, who stood in line until 1 am, I think it was, to cast his vote? In other words, it was well after Obama had been declared the victor. He wasnt voting just for Obama (assuming he did). He was likely also voting to say stuff it to Rick Scott and the rest of the states GOP, which tried to pass an incredibly regressive voting law that a federal judge threw out.

We are in agreement in our collective memory that Richard Nixons Southern Strategy, to win the white votes of the South by playing to the collective majority animosity toward blacks, was a shameful thing. Only Nixon, we think; the thug. Then, of course, at the local level, we have had what might be called the Intimidation Strategy, the anonymous handbills and fliers distributed in black and brown neighborhoods telling people they couldnt vote if they hadnt paid their electric bill or all their back parking tickets.

But the Southern Strategy and the Intimidation Strategy were nothing compared to what the Republican Party is doing today. Todays effort to keep African Americans, and to a considerable extent Latinos, from voting is not regional and subterranean; it is national, and it is official, with the weight of governors and legislators from across the country behind it. Lest you think this is going away, that 2012 represented some kind of crest, I am here to tell you that you are woefully incorrect. Ari Berman of The Nation tracks these things more closely than any other journalist I know of. Here is , as of a month ago, of voter-suppression laws being pushed around the country:

Do Republicans really think black and brown (but especially black) people just wont notice all this? I suppose they must. They think that people wont see whats right in front of their nose. And of course, Republicans dont actually talk to black peoplewell, they talk to black Republicans, but that is sort of like evangelicals talking to Jews for Jesus and thinking theyve gauged Jewish opinionso they have no way of knowing how disingenuous they look.

The Republican Party is thus more officially racist than it was in Nixons day. Back then, at least they had Jackie Robinson and Sammy Davis Jr. And at least, back then, the Republican Party did these things in code, and not via the law. It was not so brazen as to think it could on the one hand be waging efforts in half the states to keep black people from voting and on the other be improving its outreach. The black vote will dip a bit when Obama retires, but as long as Republicans insist on these tactics, they will be doing more than they know to keep turnout high and keep hope alive.

Related from The Daily Beast

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LONDON (Reuters) - Alex Ferguson, Britain's longest-serving and most successful football manager, will retire at the end of the season after more than 26 years spent decorating Manchester United's trophy room with silverware.

The 71-year-old Scot ended intense speculation about his future at Old Trafford by confirming he would step aside after champions United's last game of the season at West Bromwich Albion on May 19 - his 1,500th in charge.

His decision brings the curtain down on a glittering era for the country's best-supported club which included 13 English league titles, two European Cups, five FA Cups and four League Cups as well as the FIFA Club World Cup.

Everton boss David Moyes, a Glaswegian like Ferguson, is strongly tipped to be United's next manager with one British bookmaker offering odds of 20-1 ON.

Former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho is also in the running to fill the void left by the retiring Scot and is priced at 10-1.

United chief executive David Gill told the club's in-house television channel MUTV they would move "relatively quickly" in naming a successor.

Ferguson arrived in Manchester in 1986 after Ron Atkinson was sacked and, after a difficult start, began building an empire that shows no sign of crumbling with the club recapturing the English title from Manchester City this season.

"The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time," Ferguson, who has won nearly 900 of his 1,498 matches in charge, said on United's website (www.manutd.com).

United said Ferguson, who is to undergo hip surgery during the off-season, would remain at the club as a director.

"It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so," added Ferguson who had announced he would retire after the 2001-02 season before changing his mind.

"Going forward, I am delighted to take on the roles of both director and ambassador for the club," he said.

"With these activities, along with my many other interests, I am looking forward to the future."

Ferguson, who in 2010 surpassed Matt Busby's as the longest-serving manager in United's history, had not hinted at retirement in his programme notes for Sunday's game against Chelsea, suggesting he was keen to continue.

Bobby Charlton, a member of Busby's side that won the European Cup in 1968 and still a director, said United's dominance of the English game was solely down to Ferguson.

"I am a director but I hardly do anything because we are winning all the time and it is all down to Alex Ferguson," Charlton said at a stamps launch at Wembley on Wednesday.

"He is such a fantastic manager. Everything he has done has been fantastic."

'MASSIVE SHOCK'

The suddenness of his decision left some who served under him in a state of disbelief.

"I'm shocked, it's a bombshell," said former United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, who was part of the 1998-99 team who won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

"I'm disappointed and very, very sad. He had always said he would retire when something in his life wasn't right, and it must be something we don't know about."

Former Manchester United midfielder and current Blackpool boss Paul Ince told Sky Sports: "I'm totally shocked. What he's done is unbelievable. You'll never see anyone of his kind again.

"Two weeks ago he was talking about staying on for another two years, so it's a massive, massive shock."

Bryan Robson, Ferguson's first captain, added: "He will always be the boss to me, you don't think of him as Sir Alex it has always been the boss."

FIFA president Sepp Blatter reacted to the news by describing Ferguson as one of "the greats".

"Will his longevity at the top ever be repeated?" the Swiss said on his Twitter feed.

Ferguson's long service in English football's top tier, where managers are hired and fired on a whim by success-hungry owners, is testament to his enduring passion for the game and his ability to cope with the demands of dealing with the brash young millionaires who populate the changing rooms.

He has seen off seven Liverpool managers since his arrival and 15 at Chelsea and only Arsene Wenger, who has been at Arsenal since 1996, and Moyes, at Everton for 11 years, are in Ferguson's league when it comes to staying power.

Even after his 70th birthday he remains as animated as ever, celebrating goals with the same boyish enthusiasm he brought from Aberdeen with whom he won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1983.

Chastened by losing the title to Manchester City, whom he once famously dubbed "noisy neighbours", in the dying seconds of last season, Ferguson, as he has always managed to do, raised the bar again, signing Arsenal's Robin van Persie.

In what proved to be Ferguson's transfer masterstroke, the Dutchman's 25 league goals helped United to a record 20th league title, two more than the 18 won by Liverpool whom Ferguson vowed to "knock off their perch" when he arrived in 1986.

Chief executive Gill, a loyal ally of Ferguson's for the past 16 years, said Ferguson's legacy would live on, whoever is named as his successor and that the outgoing manager would have a say on the new appointment.

"The qualities (of the next manager) are the ones that have been inherent within Manchester United for many years," he told MUTV.

"If you look at what has happened with the two most successful eras - Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex - they are managers who got involved in the whole aspect of the club, whether it be from the youth team up to the first team.

"Clearly he has to have the requisite football experience, both in terms of domestic and European experience, so I think it's a small pool but we'll move forward."

Former chairman Martin Edwards, the man responsible for hiring Ferguson, said the club owed a debt of gratitude.

"The success in 1990 revived everything. It saved us really," he said. "He's a workaholic. He's got such a great knowledge of football. I don't think you'll ever see anyone managing Man United for 27 years again."

Ferguson, a horse-racing enthusiast and wine connoisseur, was not an overnight success, however, experiencing some difficult years before landing the FA Cup in 1990 and the Cup Winners' Cup the year after.

Ending United's 25-year wait for the English title in 1992-93 proved to be the catalyst for two decades of domination despite the challenges of Arsenal, then Chelsea and more recently Manchester City.

Famous for his so-called "hair dryer" outbursts of rage at high-profile players, his manic gum-chewing and unbridled joy at every goal scored, Ferguson established an attacking style fitting for the Theatre of Dreams.

His faith in young players launched the careers of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs while his signings of players such as Eric Cantona, Rio Ferdinand, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney made sure that United, for the most part, remained ahead of their rivals.

Since the advent of the Premier League, United have never once finished outside the top three.

Off the field, Ferguson, who received a knighthood in 1999, proved himself the perfect ambassador and diplomat as the club controversially passed into the ownership of the American Glazer family in 2005.

"Alex has proven time and time again what a fantastic manager he is but he's also a wonderful person," co-chairman Joel Glazer, son of owner Malcolm, said in the club statement.

(Editing by Clare Fallon and Sonia Oxley)

Paolini, who rides for Katusha, broke away toward the end of the final descent to complete the 222-kilometre leg from Sorrento to Marina di Ascea in five hours 43 minutes 50 seconds.

Cadel Evans beat Canadian defending champion Ryder Hesjedal in a bunch sprint for second place, with both finishing 16 seconds behind. Overall favourite Bradley Wiggins finished eighth on the stage and is second in the general standings, 17 seconds behind Paolini. Main rival Vincenzo Nibali is fifth, 14 seconds further back.

Paolini timed his break to perfection on the descent of the Sella Di Catona, attacking 6.5 kilometres (four miles) from the finish.

Hesjedal attacked several times on the second and final classified climb but could not build up enough of an advantage and was caught each time. The Victoria native's third-place finish moved him into seventh in the overall classification, 34 seconds behind Paolini.

The third stage took the peleton along the picturesque Amalfi coast, and featured an early breakaway by seven riders who built up a lead of more than seven minutes at the midway point.

But the Sky riders, who won the team trial in the second stage on Sunday, was in control of the peleton and the gap slowly began to shrink as they approached the start of the first climb of the day, up the San Mauro Cilento. At the summit, the leaders had an advantage of just over four minutes.

Fabio Taborre made a solo break away from the leading group with 50 kilometres to go, but the peloton again picked up the pace and swallowed up the chasers before catching the Italian.

Hesjedal then attacked with 25 kilometres remaining, was caught and broke again together with Valerio Agnoli and Paolini.

The group was again back together 14 kilometres from the finish before Paolini's attack on the final part of the twisting descent to the finish.

The three-member National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel unanimously upheld all penalties levied against the organization, including defending champion Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, over confiscated parts in the rear suspensions of the drivers' Fords. NASCAR chief appellate officer John Middlebrook will hear Penske's final appeal next Tuesday.

"Obviously a disappointing outcome with the panel," Penske said. "We have a good case and we are allowed under the NASCAR rules in the rule book to appeal this to the next level. We've notified NASCAR that we will appeal this ruling today to the next level."

Penske declined to discuss much of the case because the team will argue again Tuesday before Middlebrook. But he has previously said the team was working in a gray area of the rule book when NASCAR confiscated the parts. NASCAR docked both drivers 25 points, fined the two crew chiefs $100,000 each and suspended seven Penske team members.

"It's clear we have a process, and I am better off to wait to see that conclude and at that point I can make any other personal comments I want to make about this," Penske said. "All I can say about the process is that I think it's fair and equitable and we had the opportunity to explain the case and situation in detail and obviously the information we were able to demonstrate to the panel, they determined they would uphold the appeal."

The decision was not surprising. Since NASCAR began keeping records in 1999, the panel has upheld 106 of 150 appeals.

Keselowski seemed to hint he'd already accepted his fate when he tweeted earlier Wednesday from a tire test at Indianapolis: "Inner peace is easily achievable once you realize that sometimes all you can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. (hashtag)Appeal."

Middlebrook, a former General Motors executive, heard two cases last year. He reduced similar penalties against Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Chad Knaus after the initial appeals board upheld his punishment. Middlebrook lifted the suspension and reinstated Jimmie Johnson's points, but left intact the $100,000 fine NASCAR levied against Knaus for altering sheet metal on the car before inspection at the season-opening Daytona 500.

Middlebrook upheld penalties on Richard Childress Racing for modifications made to Paul Menard's frame rails when they appealed to him last year.

Penske said Wednesday's appeal lasted between four and five hours. It was heard by Paul Brooks, former NASCAR senior vice president and president of NASCAR Media Group; Brandon Igdalsky, president of Pocono Raceway; and Dale Pinilis, operator of Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem.

"We take our inspection process very seriously, we believe we do a strong and credible job with it and the level playing field in the garage is the best it's ever been," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said. "As the sanctioning body, we've got to uphold the rules and regulations. That's part of our job. The inspection process we believe in very, very strongly."

The three panel members have administrative and operations backgrounds, but were not among the former crew chiefs or car owners on the list of 49 potential people who could have heard the appeal and might have had a better understanding of the inspection process. Tharp said panel members are often picked based on availability.

"A lot of times it's based on being able to get here in the time frame we are looking at," he said. "The people on the panel come from a wide variety of backgrounds and that is a positive for them because they are hearing from experts on both sides, from Penske and NASCAR. They do their best to make an equitable and fair decision."

Presenting the case for NASCAR was Sprint Cup Series director John Darby.

Penske had six people on hand for its presentation, which was headed by the team owner. Also present was senior executive Walt Czarnecki, who is listed as the car owner for Logano, team President Tim Cindric, competition director Travis Geisler and crew chiefs Paul Wolfe and Todd Gordon.

Geisler, Wolfe and Gordon are among the seven suspended for the infraction, along with car chiefs Jerry Kelley and Raymond Fox and engineers Brian Wilson and Samuel Stanley. All are suspended six races but were allowed to work at the track while waiting for the appeal to be heard.

Middlebrook will allow them to work this weekend at Talladega while waiting for the next phase of the appeals process.

NASCAR has already scheduled Joe Gibbs Racing's appeal to the three-member board for next Wednesday. JGR is appealing the severity of the penalties levied against Matt Kenseth, crew chief Jason Ratcliff and team owner Joe Gibbs for an illegal part being found inside Kenseth's race-winning engine from Kansas.

The Delphi Academy of Los Angeles, a nondenominational school that offers preschool through high school, lives up to the standards the President calls for.

Academically, the school excels, with SAT scores 320 points above the national average, an average senior class GPA of 3.87 and an average schoolwide exam score of 94.8 percent.

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF)—the largest high school sports league in California—awarded Delphi Los Angeles their “CIF Academic Challenge Award” for the school’s varsity soccer team, which had the highest Grade Point Average of any CIF school in California.

Providing a drug-free environment is another area where the school excels. The 2012 back-to-school teen survey by the Columbia University Center on Addiction and Drug Abuse revealed that 86 percent of American high school students say that some classmates are taking drugs, drinking and smoking during the school day and almost half know a student who sells drugs at their school. In sharp contrast to that national norm, for this year’s National Red Ribbon Week, the high school student government challenged middle and Delphi L.A. high school students to participate in voluntary drug testing. All high school students and 93 percent of the middle school students participated. (The only middle school students who did not were simply not able to obtain parental permission.) Every one of them tested drug free.

One family, worried because their seven-year-old had not yet started to read in public school, enrolled their son at Delphi L.A. After just one month, the child had read 19 books. In the video “A Day in the Delphi Academy Lower School,” which appears on the school’s website, another seven-year-old proudly displays the 700 books she has read since starting at Delphi in preschool.

The Delphi Academy of Los Angeles is licensed to use the educational services and materials of , a fully independent, nondenominational organization supported by the Church of Scientology and by Scientologists who are dedicated to raising educational standards throughout the world. Applied Scholastics works with hundreds of affiliated schools and educational programs, providing the effective learning tools developed by L. Ron Hubbard.

The Church of Scientology has published a new brochure, , one of a series of publications presented to meet requests for more information about the Scientology religion and its support of global humanitarian initiatives and social betterment programs. For more information, visit the Scientology website at .

Applied Scholastics International is a secular nonprofit public benefit corporation that addresses head-on the problem of illiteracy by making L. Ron Hubbard’s discoveries in the field of education and literacy broadly available. It has trained nearly 140,000 educators and has helped millions with Study Technology. The organization works with hundreds of affiliated schools and educational programs throughout the world, providing the effective learning tools developed by .

Press Contact: Karin Pouw

Tel: (323) 960-3500

eMail: MediaRelations(at)ChurchofScientology(dot)net

Karin PouwChurch of Scientology International(323) 960-3500

Vineland is talking about the reversal of fortunes that is playing out here at the start of theplayoffs. For years, it has been thedominating the postseason winning 11 championships since 1972, including a three-peat from 2001-03. And the Los Angeles Clippers have usually been in the cellar, the team that Lakers fans such as Vineland didnt ever watch on purpose and didnt even want even to admit was from the same city.

This year, the Lakers barely made it to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed and scored a piddling 79 points in losing the first game of their first-round series to the . Meanwhile, the Clippers are leading their playoff series with the , 2-0, and star guardmade the game-winning shot Tuesday night with 0.1 seconds remaining, bringing a bit of Laker "Showtime" to the Clip Joint.

As with the Roman Empire or a Hollywood starlet, sports runs through cycles in which those on the bottom rise to the top and those on the top fall. This is that time for Los Angeles.

The Lakers have been the shining star for decades, and the Clippers almost the laughing stock of the league, says Dan Lebowitz, president of the Center for the Study of Sports in Society at . Now the Clippers are the darlings of the league, the Cinderella team to watch. This is going to be good.

Lakers Superstar Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles tendon in a recent game and will be out for the remainder of the season at least and the Lakers have yet to figure out how to make up for Bryants 27.3-point-per-game average.

Theres one big, blistering question facing the Lakers, writessportswriter Mike Bresnahan, looking ahead to Wednesdays second playoff game against the Spurs. So, uh, whos going to score for you guys?

Watching Sunday's game from home, Bryant , such as how to buck up the defense and get the ball to seven-time all-star center . He reportedly got enough negative feedback that he will not be tweeting Game 2, though at least one teammate welcomes it.

I love when Kobe tweets, forwardin the L.A. Times. Kobe should tweet Game 2 the whole time, every possession, critique us, criticize us, chew us out.... I love Kobe. Kobe's great.

Bryant's absence merely punctuates the changing of the guard in Los Angeles. After all, its not just the teams that are shifting, but the key players who hold the spotlight.

When Paul was acquired in a 2011 trade, he gave the Clippers instant credibility. Some consider him to be the most dynamic point guard since . Besides Paul, the Clippers boast forward , whose super-athletic dunks and shot blocking have become the stuff oflegend.

Although the Lakers are not completely out of the running, sports analysts are saying Los Angeles's mantle of basketball greatness is being passed.

Kobe has been the face of basketball there for so long, it seems its time to pass it on, says Lebowitz, noting that the Clippers managed the draft well in recent years and made good trades. They created a great team with good chemistry between players.

And in the true measure of L.A. sports clout, celebrities are now as common a sight courtside at Clippers games as at Laker games. So L.A. can still be proud, just that it will be beaming from a different spotlight, he adds.

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