Jocelyn Noveck, AP National Writer

Smith won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2008 as part of a career that also included stints with the Philadelphia Eagles and the St. Louis Rams. The Buccaneers signed him as a free agent last month.

Drafted by New York in the second round in 2007, Smith had his best season in 2009, setting a Giants single-season record with 107 receptions, second-most in the NFL that year.

During the past three years, knee injuries limited Smith to playing in only 27 of 48 games.

(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

VIRGINIA WATER, England, May 25 (Reuters) - Sergio Garcia spoke of his unending gratitude to the Wentworth galleries after soaring into title contention at the PGA Championship with a sizzling four-under-par 68 in Saturday's third round.

The 33-year-old Spaniard was embroiled in a racism row with Tiger Woods earlier this week and had to issue an unreserved apology after making a "fried chicken" jibe at the world number one.

Garcia was almost lost for words as he was asked to describe the reaction he had received from the crowd at the European Tour's flagship event.

"It's getting better every day, there's no doubt everybody has made it so much easier for me," he told reporters after finishing with a five-under total of 211.

"The crowds here, I don't have words to explain what I feel towards them. They have been amazing, every single tee, every single green, cheering me on, and I can never pay them back."

Garcia said former world number one Lee Westwood had also made a remark to him about how good the fans had been to the Spaniard.

"I think Lee was playing behind on Thursday and he said to me, 'I don't think I've ever heard a roar like that for anybody going on to the first tee here', said the Ryder Cup stalwart. "That was very nice.

"I love playing here and I love playing in the UK. I've always said it, in my mind, these are the best crowds we have - they really understand the game of golf and what it's all about."

This week is Garcia's first appearance at the PGA event since 2000 but it does not sound as though it will be the last.

"I would love to, for sure, come back as many times as possible," he said.

The warmer weather, after two days of eight-degree Celsius temperatures, persistent rain and bone-chilling winds, also contributed to Garcia's sunny outlook after he mixed six birdies with two bogeys.

"It must be at least 12 or 13 degrees warmer today," said the world number 14. "I hit a lot of good shots but I didn't really putt that well.

"I'm struggling a little with the pace of the greens and missed a couple of short putts. After the rain the greens get a little bit bumpy, sometimes you hit good putts that don't go in and I hit a couple of bad ones that didn't go in.

"With weather like yesterday, probably at home you won't even go out of the house, but we had to put the rain gear on and go out there and try our best." (Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

We have been through a lot, including my struggle with various health issues. Throughout this he has become an insensitive person who treats me like garbage. There has been a lot of emotional abuse happening, and it has taken me quite a while to be able to see it.

The other night I was about to break up with him. Then he suddenly changed his tune. He said: "I'm listening. You're right. I need to change. I love you."

Abby, at this point I really don't care, but I gave him another chance. Was I wrong to do that? He has changed for now -- quite drastically -- but I know he could easily go back.

I no longer love him. I also no longer find him attractive, and I actually think he's immensely annoying. He's trying to get me to fall back in love with him, but I really don't want to. So do I stay or do I go? -- WAVERING IN CANADA

DEAR WAVERING: Re-read the last paragraph of your letter, and you will see in your own words why it's time for you to go. He may be trying, but frankly, it is too late. Pack your bags. There's nothing deader than a dead romance.

DEAR ABBY: A friend recently shared some great advice. Her mom is 86 and in poor health, so my friend put together an emergency information briefcase for the trunk of her car and another one by the front door.

If anyone needs to take her mother to the ER, all her important information is in two places. This includes medications, doctors, insurance cards, Living Will, power of attorney and family emergency numbers.

I took my friend's advice, and it turned out to be a godsend when I had to take my 79-year-old mother to the ER after a serious fall. The admitting clerks said they wished everyone would do this. (I also included $100 in cash in a small envelope.) I hope you think her idea is worth sharing. -- GLAD I DID IN ALABAMA

DEAR GLAD: If the admitting clerks said they wished everyone would do this, then it's worth a mention in my column. Readers, advance planning such as this could save precious minutes in an emergency.

DEAR ABBY: Due to an accident I had as a teenager, I can't father a child. How far into a relationship should I wait to tell a woman this? While I wouldn't mention it on the first date, I don't want someone to feel betrayed if she wasn't informed.

There's also the issue of finding a woman who's OK with it. So far, the ones I have dated ended the relationship because they couldn't accept being childless or adopting. -- GUY WHO NEEDS AN ANSWER

DEAR GUY: Mention it when the subject of children comes up. Not every woman wants children. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

P.S. If you include the fact that you can't father a child on your dating profile, it will filter out those women who do. I'm advising you to prepare for an avalanche.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Abby shares more than 100 of her favorite recipes in two booklets: "Abby's Favorite Recipes" and "More Favorite Recipes by Dear Abby." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $14 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Cookbooklet Set, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

After a four-month investigation, the Environmental Superintendent said all other construction work on Pascua-Lama must stop until Barrick builds the systems it promised to put in place beforehand for containing contaminated water.

The fines add up to 8 billion pesos about $16 million the highest possible under Chilean law.

Chile's regulator noted that while Barrick itself reported failures, a separate and intensive investigation already begun by the agency's own inspectors found that the company wasn't telling the full truth.

"We found that the acts described weren't correct, truthful or provable. And there were other failures of Pascua Lama's environmental permit as well," said the superintendent, Juan Carlos Monckeberg. "This the first sanction taken by this superintendency and it is the biggest one taken in the environmental history of this country."

Barrick said it accepts all aspects of the resolution.

"We deeply regret that Pascua Lama has suffered inconveniences in its construction and we'll do our best efforts to straighten the road ahead and meet the conditions stipulated in the approved project," said Eduardo Flores Zelaya, president of Barrick South America and Senior Vice President of Pascua Lama. "We respect the institutions of the countries where we operate therefore we will act according to the resolution."

Argentine authorities have insisted that Lama, their side of the bi-national project, will proceed with or without Chile, taking advantage of the infrastructure already in place for its Veladero mine, which is already producing ore just downhill.

But most of Pascua-Lama's 18 million ounces of gold and 676 million ounces of silver are in Chile, where Barrick warned shareholders earlier this year that it might abandon the project if production can't begin in 2013.

Monckeberg said the sanctions, the first since his agency gained enforcement power in December, were based on a thorough investigation by agency inspectors as well as government experts in mining, farming, and water

Pascua Lama was temporarily halted last month by an appeals court in the northern city of Copiapo after members of the Diaguita indigenous community complained that the project threatens their water supply and pollutes glaciers.

"This is what we have always been hoping for," said Maglene Campillay, a Diaguita Indian leader whose community downstream from the mine alleges that its river has been contaminated by the construction work. "Finally the state is showing its power. They never investigated this and now they're doing their job."

The regulator found 23 violations, and Barrick accepted all but one of them in a detailed response on April 29.

But the sanctions don't mean the end of Pascua-Lama far from it.

In its response, Barrick asked for permission to make $30 million in urgent repairs, saying "they turn out to be fundamental to keeping the first ice melts of this year from causing events that trigger effects or environmental contingencies." The environmental agency approved the remedial work on Friday, starting with temporary measures to contain any runoff while Barrick builds more permanent structures.

The violations include building some earthworks without prior approval, while failing to build others that were supposed to be in place before other construction began, so that rainfall wouldn't increase the runoff from mineral acids naturally released when rocks are broken. Instead, Barrick's bulldozers went ahead and moved mountaintops in preparation for a projected 25 years of gold and silver production.

The violations also include an "unjustified discharge coming from the acid treatment plant to the Estrecho river" that was "neither declared nor monitored," Barrick acknowledged.

Still, the Diaguita Indians, who live in small towns along rivers that flow down from the mine through an otherwise completely barren Atacama Desert, were feeling powerful on Friday.

"Even though we seem so small, we could beat Barrick, which is a giant," said Osvaldina Guzman Villegas, who lives in Diaguita community of Chipasse Tamaricunga. "And with the help of our ancestors, we're going to beat them."

President Sebastian Pinera's spokeswoman, Cecilia Perez, said the government is "very much in agreement" with the sanctions.

"What should happen is that until they remedy all the requirements of the environmental permit, fix all the issues that the Environmental Superintendent is asking for, and finally until this is decided by the Supreme Court, they cannot keep operating," she said.

The sanctions also were praised by independent mining experts, who noted that the containment structures Barrick failed to build were fundamental to obtaining environmental approval.

"Twenty years ago, maybe nobody would have required these fixes, and perhaps wouldn't even have required the canal to divert rainwater, but today it's necessary, more than anything because there's agriculture down below," said Gustavo Lagos, mining professor at Santiago's Universidad Catolica.

The strong sanctions show the mining industry that Chile's independent environmental regulator intends to use its new enforcement powers, he said: "This sets a tough example and I think it should show other companies, not just in mining but in all industries, that this is becoming serious."

How the ruling might affect the bottom lines of many other international mining companies in Chile also wasn't immediately clear, but Lagos said it sends a good message.

"It shouldn't be forgotten that new environmental institutions were required of Chile as a condition for its entry into the OECD," he said, referring to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which represents the world's leading economies. "It's a good signal to the world that in Chile there are controls, that there's a new institutionality that is working."

Environmentalists say regulators have been much less demanding on the Argentina side of the project, where mining is regulated at the provincial level. Barrick and other pro-mining groups obtained injunctions to block enforcement of a national glacier protection law passed in 2010 in response to the Pascua-Lama project.

"In Argentina, despite public statements that the house is in order, we are beginning to reveal serious environmental flaws regarding dozens and dozens of glaciers that have been unaccounted for in Barrick's environmental impact studies. The Glacier Law further complicates Pascua-Lama," said Jorge Daniel Taillant, director of the Center for Human Rights and the Environment, which tracks environmental compliance by mining companies.

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Associated Press Writers Michael Warren in Buenos Aires and Eva Vergara in Santiago contributed to this report.

__

Luis Andres Henao on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LuisAndresHenao

In rooms where corporate philanthropists brainstorm solutions for the continents problems, another use of the term is batted around: African orphan crops. Its a phrase that refers to a group of staple foodsfoods that help to feed more than one billion Africansthat the international community deems neglected or orphaned because they are not economically important on the global market.

That definition comes from a recent press release from Mars, Incorporateds , which announced that it plans to release the genome sequencing of 100 such crops to the public. AOCC hopes that the open-source genetic data will lead to higher nutritional content for society over the decades to come, thanks to plant scientists, breeders and farmers working with the genetic information and resulting hybrid and transgene plant varieties.

The globalization of agriculture, particularly as it relates to similar efforts to plant GE crops in developing nations, has led to cries of neocolonialism from some corners. In countries like Mexico, where corn was first domesticated and continues to be fundamental to sustenance farmers,are caught up in anxieties about not only individual livelihoods, but also regional economic struggles and national and ethnic identities tooits fraught stuff.

The AOCC efforts, unlike the situation in Mexico, are not strictly commercial, and Howard-Yana Shapiro, Mars chief agriculture officer, is calling on the notoriously protective biotech industry to share information on the 100 orphan crops. In light of that request,asks the obvious question: Can the kings of agricultural intellectual-property technology get onboard with open source agricultural information for Africa?

As criticisms of GMOs go, the economic argument is one of the most compellingand it is thoroughly substantiated too. In the United States, the cost of planting a single acre of soybean has risen 325 percnt between 1995 and 2011, according to the . If sustenance farmers are compelled to buy into the seed-licensing model that patented GMO crops necessitate, how will they afford to plant the crops they depend upon to survive? Crops developed specifically with the dietary concerns of the developing world in mind, like , have attempted to sidestep that issue by subsidizing the licensing fees for farmers in Southeast Asia with money paid by growers in developed countries. For some, this more altruistic model, which is a far cry from the , is far more palatable.

But orphan crops? AOCC references marula, Ethiopian mustard, baobab, African eggplant, egusi, amaranth, bananas and moringa as a few of its crops targeted for improvement, which, sure, were largely unfamiliar with. But is it fair to say that theyve been so thoroughly neglected by the global markets that they should be deemed orphans? Certainly not in the case of bananas. If youre of the mind that genetic engineering is the key to solving hunger problems in Africa, plant scientists in Uganda are already working on disease-resistant transgene variety, as thereported in 2008.

A more thorough list of orphan crops fromfeatures far less obscure plants, including peanuts, quinoa and sorghum; the latter is the dietary staple of more than 500 million people around the world. And, thinking in the terms of groups like AOCC, DuPont has already developed and patented a transgene variety with improved nutritional valuesa variety the chemical company donated to the African Biofortified Sorghum initiative.

The poor soil, draught, low yields, vitamin deficiencies and other agriculture and dietary concerns that are common throughout Africa are issues of undeniable importance. Addressing them in a manner that doesnt smack of paternalismwhite, American philanthropists as adoptive parents of African agricultureat best, and neocolonialism at worst would be a far better way to debate the solutions, whether they involve GMOs or not.

Critics said the dark mysteries, mind-bending codes and history-laced tourism in "Inferno" will thrill Brown devotees, but panned the U.S. author for passages they said were more suited to a Hollywood film script than a novel.

Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon returns in this latest sequel to the blockbuster book and film franchise to follow a trail of clues about 14th century Italian poet Dante Alighieri across Florence, Venice and Istanbul in a race to save the world from a deadly artificial plague.

New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin said the novel has a shaky opening that appears to put Brown's "brainiac franchise" in trouble, but recovers swiftly.

"To the great relief of anyone who enjoys him, Mr. Brown winds up not only laying a breadcrumb trail of clues about Dante (this is "Inferno," after all) but also playing games with time, gender, identity, famous tourist attractions and futuristic medicine," she wrote.

Sales of the book reached the highest level of customer pre-orders at retailer Waterstones since the release of Harry Potter author JK Rowling's adult fiction "The Casual Vacancy" last year.

The Independent newspaper's Boyd Tonkin called the novel "clunky but clever" in a review that asks whether Brown can make a go of one of the oldest plots in fiction - mad scientist threatens world with doom machine.

"Can Brown re-engineer these over-familiar devices of outbreak, pestilence and contagion into a viable organism? However clunkily, he can," Tonkin writes.

But Financial Times reviewer AN Wilson panned "Inferno" as a "nonsensical story" loaded with "scientific gobbledygook" and pointing out Brown's repetitive reliance on the fame of every historical site Langdon comes across.

"The prof and his doctor race past 'Florence's famed Cathedral', and Vasari's 'famed Studiolo', not forgetting the 'world-famous Uffizi Gallery'," Wilson wrote.

"Inferno reads less like a novel than a 'treatment' for a thriller film."

Back in America, USA Today's Brian Truitt offers Brown's novel three and a half stars out of four in a review that calls the book "one hell of a good read".

"Brown has a definite formula in place for putting Langdon through his paces, but watching him go through hell is about as close as a book can come to a summertime cinematic blockbuster," Truitt wrote.

Brown's religion-themed mystery novel "The Da Vinci Code," was published in 2003 and was made into a hit film starring Tom Hanks. It spent more than a year at the top the New York Times bestseller list.

(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang; Writing by Paul Casciato; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

[More from BGR: ]

James Clancey is the man behind gMusic, the most popular Google Music app on iOS. Clancy sprung into action after hearing Googles announcement, determined to bring the subscription music streaming service to iPhone and iPad users. He submitted an updated version of his app to Apple on Monday, and it will hopefully be available shortly.

[More from BGR: ]

For iOS users looking to access Googles new streaming music service, gMusic is available for $1.99 in the App Store for devices running iOS 5 or higher.

This article was

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The parents of an American engineer found dead in Singapore last year said on Wednesday they will not take part in the rest of a coroner's inquiry into his death, which they say was linked to a project involving the transfer of sensitive technology to China.

In a statement, Rick and Mary Todd said they had lost confidence in the system investigating the death of their 31-year-old son, Shane, who was found hanging from a door in his Singapore apartment last June.

"What has made us say that we can no longer stay here is the testimony from the beginning saying they are always only looking at suicide, never murder," Rick Todd told Reuters Television. "The outcome was pre-determined."

The parents did not appear in court on Wednesday, the day after a U.S. medical examiner they had hired retracted an earlier statement that Todd had been garroted.

Todd's parents believe he was murdered over what they said was his involvement in a project between Singapore's Institute of Microelectronics (IME) and Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. Todd had previously worked for the institute.

During the inquiry, which began on May 13, Singapore government lawyers presented forensic reports that showed Todd died by hanging based on injuries around his neck.

Their findings were backed by two U.S. pathologists, who said the manner of death pointed to suicide. U.S. medical examiners, besides reporting on the injury, are also required to provide an opinion about the cause of death.

Singapore's foreign minister, K. Shanmugam, said "the state is committed to presenting all of the evidence" and the conclusions would be left to the coroner to decide.

"We hope that they (the Todds) will take part but, if they don't, it is regrettable," Shanmugam, who is also the law minister, told a news conference. "All of this has come after their primary witness has withdrawn his statements."

The Todds walked out of the hearing on Tuesday after the presiding coroner refused their request to delay testimony by a witness so that they could go through it.

COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION

Todd's death has become a political issue, with Senator Max Baucus, who represents his home state of Montana, pressing for more American involvement in the investigation.

"Our next step from today is using the court of public opinion," Rick Todd said. "If our government wants to talk about industrial espionage and murder, we're more than willing to help."

Under Singapore law, a coroner's inquiry is needed for deaths that are not a result of illness. The state presents evidence and family members are allowed to question witnesses either directly or through their lawyers.

Edward Adelstein, the U.S. medical examiner hired by the Todds, said during cross-examination on Tuesday he based his earlier finding of garroting on photographs from the parents.

Testifying via Skype, Adelstein said he had not physically examined the body and changed his mind about the cause of death after reviewing evidence provided by Singapore authorities showing no signs of broken blood vessels in the neck that would have been consistent with strangulation by a wire or cord.

Adelstein insisted Todd was probably dead before he was hanged after being "tasered" or strangled in a "carotid armlock" but acknowledged he could not show any evidence to support that.

The Todds' belief their son was murdered stemmed from documents on a hard disk drive they said they found in his apartment. He had been researching an advanced semiconductor material called gallium nitride (GaN).

Both Todd's former employer IME and Huawei have said they did not proceed beyond initial discussions into a possible project involving GaN, which can be used in equipment ranging from mobile phone base stations to military radars.

Huawei has been blocked from some projects in Australia and is deemed a security risk by the U.S. Congress on the grounds that its equipment could be used for spying.

(Additional reporting by John O'Callaghan and Joyce Lim; Editing by Paul Tait and Robert Birsel)

Following his acclaimed debut last year, the pressure has been stacked on the Belgian designer to deliver again in what is only his second ready-to-wear show in one of the most influential jobs in fashion. And Friday saw Simons live up to expectations.

He confidently evolved the angular portions of previous seasons' work into softer, more saleable silhouettes. The new Bar jacket, looser and in trendy wool denim, seemed to point to a man who's finally settled in to his role.

This season was the supplest fusion so far of his minimalism and the house's ultra-femininity and curves.

Fall-winter 2013-14 saw a parade of "memory dresses," some 48 looks that delved into the iconic houndstooth, peplums, and Monsieur Dior's original '40s designs. They hit the catwalk outside Paris' Hotel des Invalides, reimagined, alongside enormous mirror ball decor.

Like thought bubbles, the reflective spheres set the tone for the musing, which included an embroidered tulle bustier A-line dress, an archive piece called "Miss Dior 1949" reworked in hip embroidered black leather. Elsewhere, blown-up houndstooth had a surreal quality, in vertical slices down column silhouettes. It was a great re-working of the classic pattern first used by the house in the late '50s.

The more muted palette of black, white, pale pink and navy was further proof of his evolution. After all, while at Jil Sander, it was Simons who started the bright color trend.

There was plenty of imagination, like prints and embroideries of surreal eyes and tears that resembled ants, reminiscent of Salvador Dali. However, the show could have done without motifs by Andy Warhol, like a sparking stiletto print, which sometimes jarred as overly adolescent, and a tad tacky.

Overall, the show was a success; one step further on in Dior's mission statement for the designer, to "propel its iconic style into the 21st century."

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Thomas Adamson can be followed at http://Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP