The government unveiled the goal as part of wider plans to reduce divisions in what remains a profoundly polarized society 15 years after the Good Friday peace accord.

First Minister Peter Robinson, a Protestant, and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, a Catholic, said 10,000 people aged 16 to 24 who were out of school and unemployed would be offered one-year paid placements involving cross-community work designed to help them build friendships with peers from the other side. They said 100 summer camps would bring together younger children from across the divide.

And Robinson and McGuinness said 10 new neighborhoods would be built that recruit balanced numbers of Protestant and Catholic families, a rarity in a land where nine-tenths of residential areas are overwhelmingly one side or the other.

The headline-grabber was their aim to remove the dozens of security fences that scar the urban landscape of Belfast. The biggest of the barriers date to 1970 after the British territory's sectarian conflict roared to life with major Catholic-Protestant street battles.

The walls have kept growing in number and size during the past two decades of relative peace, and surveys suggest that people living in front-line communities least want to see them disappear because of periodic rioting and a persistent threat of vandalism.

Robinson said no walls would come down until years of patient community work reassured residents on both sides that their homes would be safe from attack. Homes nearest the walls have windows covered with wire grills to prevent them from being shattered by thrown objects.

"Nobody has anything to fear. The bulldozers will not be arriving in the morning to take down any of the peace walls," he said.

Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord did pave the way for major peacemaking achievements, including the creation of a unity government, reform of a mostly Protestant police force, and disarmament of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and other outlawed paramilitary groups. Politically motivated killings that once averaged 100 a year have reduced to virtually zero.

But the persistence, and relative popularity, of peace lines reflect the reality that communities in the most impoverished, embittered pockets of Belfast do have deep-seated reasons to fear each other.

Belfast suffered significant intercommunal clashes in December and January, with mob violence focused on some peace lines, and police fear the same could happen again in July during the territory's annual parades by Protestant hard-liners.

Despite their respective injury concerns, they will meet for the 16th time in a championship. Nadal leads 8-7 in their finals.

"I am not the kind of player who is stupid and says, 'I want to play against the best,'" Nadal said joking, added he would rather face an easier opponent on Sunday.

Nadal can improve upon his formidable record on the Monte Carlo red clay winner of the last eight titles and 46 consecutive match victories. He defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the semifinals on Saturday to set up a rematch with Djokovic.

The Spaniard has reached five successive finals since returning from a seven-month layoff for a left knee injury. He will go for his fourth title of the season against Djokovic, who cruised past unseeded Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-2, 6-1.

The No. 1 player showed no sign his right ankle was bothering him, two weeks after twisting it during a Davis Cup match against the United States.

"At the start of the week, the way I felt in the first match, if somebody told me I'd be playing finals, I'd be very happy to hear that," Djokovic said. "I'm handling it much better than I was at the start of the week. It has been improving and the pain has been decreasing. It's much, much less than before."

Djokovic and Nadal have not played against each other since last year's French Open final, which Nadal won. He has won their last three encounters, after Djokovic took the previous seven all of which were tournament finals. Nadal leads their head-to-head contests 19-14.

"I need to have a very optimistic mindset," Djokovic said. "I'm not going out there to play my best; I'm going out there to win. That's how I'm going to feel tomorrow."

Nadal has been on a winning roll at Monte Carlo since 2005. His last loss here was to former French Open champ Guillermo Coria in 2003, and he missed the following year because of injury.

He insists he's still some way from full fitness, despite dropping only one set so far.

"I know I need time to be 100 percent fit," said Nadal, adding he thinks Djokovic's injury was tame by comparison. "He stopped for, what, a few days for his ankle?"

Their finals have gone in cycles: Nadal won the first five; Djokovic the next seven; Nadal the following three.

"I know what I need to do," Djokovic said. "Of course, it's easier said than done."

In Grand Slam finals, Djokovic leads 3-2.

The sixth-seeded Tsonga saved four match points and he rallied back from 5-1 down to force a second-set tiebreaker before Nadal clinched the victory with a forehand winner.

"My feeling was I played a solid first set without doing anything special, but with no mistakes," said Nadal, adding that he was hampered by the windy conditions. "It's true that for me it's better if we see a little bit more sunshine."

Tsonga started strong but missed three break chances in the fourth game including one which left him shaking his head in disbelief after Nadal scooped the ball off his ankles and whipped it back down the line. The flustered Frenchman made 17 unforced errors in the first set compared to four for Nadal.

"I always try to be aggressive when I play him. It's the only way for me. If I stay back, there's no way I can win," Tsonga said. "But I can't rush to the net either because otherwise he hits a passing shot, and 90 percent of the time I lose the point. So I have to have the right mix between patience and aggressiveness."

Fognini made 26 unforced errors against Djokovic and was jeered off the court after losing his first Masters semifinal in 52 minutes.

The Italian called for a trainer at 4-1.

But he looked demoralized and at the next changeover he called for the trainer again, pointing to his left shin as the trainer sprayed and taped it. He said he hurt it playing football tennis with his coach.

Manning, who had challenged errors involving evidence analysis, was originally set to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. CDT at the state prison in Parchman. But with mere hours remaining, the high court blocked the execution until it rules further in the case.

Manning was convicted in 1994 in the shooting deaths of two Mississippi State University students, Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller. Their bodies were found in a rural area in December 1992.

The FBI has said in recent days that there were errors in agents' testimony about ballistics tests and hair analysis in the case.

Manning's lawyers had argued in recent filings before the Mississippi Supreme Court that the execution should be blocked based on the U.S. Justice Department's disclosures about testimony that it says exceeded the limits of science.

The court ruled 8-1 on Tuesday for a stay. The court had previously split 5-4 in decisions in the case.

An FBI letter, sent late Monday, said there was incorrect testimony related to tests on bullets found in a tree by Manning's house that were compared to bullets found in the victims.

That kind of examination "is not based on absolute certainty but rather a reasonable degree of scientific certainty," the letter said.

Manning's girlfriend had testified that days before the slayings, Manning had been firing a handgun at a tree behind their house, according to court records. An FBI expert had testified that bullets from the tree matched those recovered from the scene of the crime.

Last week, the FBI said in a letter that its microscopic analysis of evidence, particularly of hair samples found in a car belonging to one of the victims, contained erroneous statements.

Manning's lawyers seized on that as a key to seeking a stay of execution. The defense lawyers ask the high court to block the execution for additional testing.

In dueling court filings Monday and Tuesday, Manning's attorneys said new DNA testing could exonerate the inmate, but the Mississippi attorney general's office argued that there was overwhelming evidence of Manning's guilt.

On Tuesday, Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps said Manning had expressed optimism to him and the guards outside his holding cell that the execution would be stopped.

"He said he had faith in God and all was in His hands. He said he had faith," Epps said.

Epps said officials had contacted members of Tiffany Miller's family about the stay. They had planned to witness Tuesday's scheduled execution and were already en route.

___

Associated Press writer Holbrook Mohr contributed to this report from Jackson, Miss.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Kids and teens who are born abroad and immigrate to the United States are about half as likely to have asthma and allergies as those who are born in the U.S., according to a new study.

Researchers surveyed the parents of 80,000 children in one of six languages and found that association held even after they took into account where families lived and how often they moved, as well as their race and income.

"This is definitely something we see clinically and we're trying to better understand, what is it in our environment that's increasing the risk of allergic disease?" said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, who studies allergies at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago but wasn't involved in the new research.

"Food allergies have increased tremendously," she told Reuters Health. "We do see people who come from other countries don't tend to have it, but immigrants who are maybe second generation, they're identical (to U.S.-born people)."

It's not obvious what explains that pattern, researchers said.

According to Gupta, two possible culprits are the so-called hygiene hypothesis - which suggests kids in the U.S. are too clean, and their immune systems never get exposed to common allergens - or the poor quality of American diets.

Lead researcher Dr. Jonathan Silverberg from Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York said climate, obesity and various infections might also be playing a role.

"The results of the study suggest that there are environmental factors in the U.S. that trigger allergic disease," he told Reuters Health in an email.

"Children born outside the U.S. are likely not exposed to these factors early in life and are therefore less likely to develop allergic diseases."

Surveys were completed by parents of kids and teens in 2007 and 2008. Just over 20 percent of children born outside the U.S. had any type of allergic disease - including asthma, eczema, hay fever or food allergies - compared to between 34 and 35 percent of those born in the U.S.

What's more, the risk of allergies increased with the more time foreign-born children spent in the U.S., Silverberg and his colleagues wrote in JAMA Pediatrics.

For example, 27 percent of foreign-born kids who had immigrated more than a decade earlier had any type of allergy, according to their parents' reports, versus 17 to 18 percent of those who had moved to the U.S. within the past two years.

"You acclimate to wherever you are and you pick up whatever is going on there," Gupta explained. "The findings here are very interesting - and not surprising."

Silverberg said he hoped the results would lead to further discoveries of what puts U.S. kids at risk for allergies and how to prevent them.

For now, Gupta recommended parents make sure their children eat a diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables. And allowing them to play in the mud a little bit probably wouldn't hurt, she said - with proper hand-washing afterward, of course.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/KEGTVv JAMA Pediatrics, online April 29, 2013.

Monday, April 8

Djurgarden 0 Mjallby AIF 3 awd.

IFK Norrkoping 2 Gefle 1

Osters IF1 Helsingborg 1

StandingsP W D L FAPts

1Helsingborg7 5 1 1 17 516

-------------------------

2Malmo7 4 3 0 10 415

3IFK Gothenburg 7 4 2 1 11 514

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4Elfsborg Boras 7 3 4 0 11 613

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5Mjallby AIF7 4 0 3 12 912

6Kalmar 7 2 4 1 7410

7Haecken7 3 1 3 9910

8IFK Norrkoping 7 3 1 3 11 13 10

9AIK Stockholm7 2 3 2 10 99

10 Atvidabergs FF 7 2 2 3 878

11 OEsters IF 7 2 2 3 798

12 Halmstad 7 1 4 2 797

13 Gefle7 2 1 4 711 7

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14 Syrianska FC 7 2 1 4 487

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15 Brommapojkarna 7 1 2 4 612 5

16 Djurgarden 7 0 1 6 219 1

1: Champions League preliminary round

2-3: Europa League

4: Europa League depending on domestic cup

14:Relegation play-off

15-16: Relegation

Ford Motor Co was the top-seller in Canada in April, when sales rose 15.5 percent to 27,907 vehicles.

Chrysler Group LLC was second, at 25,745 vehicles, up 5 percent, barely edging out General Motors Co at 25,071 vehicles, up 19 percent.

Ford, Chrysler and GM are the top three automakers in Canada by sales.

Ford reported gains of 53 percent for its F-150 pickup truck, and a rise of 38 percent for the F-Series lineup of pickups.

Chrysler, majority owned by Italy's Fiat, said sales of its Ram pickup trucks were nearly a third of its overall sales at 8,020, up 31 percent.

For General Motors, large pickup trucks gained 15 percent, and acconted for more than a third of the company's Canadian sales.

The trend in Canada for strong pickup truck sales matched that of the U.S. market for April. In the U.S. market, boosted by strong pickup truck and sport-utility sales, the three Detroit automakers each showed sales gains in April.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

PARIS (Reuters) - US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) president Travis Tygart accused the International Cycling Union (UCI) on Thursday of failing in its promise to deal with the consequences of the Lance Armstrong scandal.

Speaking before a French Senate investigation committee on doping, Tygart, the man behind Armstrong's fall, said the governing body had taken no action after the cyclist was banned for life for doping his way to seven Tour de France titles.

"It is unacceptable for the UCI to have accepted our reasoned decision, publicly announced that 'decisive action was needed' and simply have done nothing," Tygart said in a 15-minute speech.

The USADA CEO reminded committee members that the UCI had said that only "a transparent and decisive examination of the past would answer the critics".

"Well, the only decisive action came a few weeks later when UCI disbanded the established independent commission when it actually started to act independently by taking off the handcuffs and removing the blindfolds that the UCI had placed on it from the onset," he said.

On January 28, the UCI disbanded the Independent Commission which was investigating the Armstrong affair in favor of a Truth and Reconciliation process -- which has yet to start.

"The UCI's current strategy is to play a stall game, let the cycling season start, let another Tour de France occur, let another six months go by and people will forget," said Tygart.

"Stall or delay yourself out of the problem."

UCI president Pat McQuaid had described Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis, who testified against Armstrong, as "scumbags" after the UCI had ratified the USADA's decision to strip Armstrong of his seven Tour titles last October.

"It sends a strong and frightening message to others: you'd better not come forward," Tygart said.

It is time for those who love the sport to finally know the whole truth, Tygart added.

"But for clean athletes and those who share the Olympic values, now is the time for the truth," he said.

"We cannot wait any longer if we mean what we say by Olympic values, about clean play, fair play. The UCI must follow through on what they announced: decisive action."

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Sonia Oxley)

The owner of Europe's largest film studio, Pinewood said on Monday it would develop 288 acres of land south of Atlanta, Georgia, for a studio facility in a joint venture with River's Rock LLC, an independently managed trust of the Cathy family.

The Cathy family owns the Atlanta-based fried chicken chain Chick-fil-A. It is believed to be their first significant media investment, but no one from Chick-fil-A was available for comment.

Atlanta-area lawyer Douglas Warner, attorney for River's Rock, declined to comment.

Attracting Pinewood is the latest victory for Georgia as it builds itself into a major U.S. production destination. Figures shows that 333 productions were shot in the state last year, boosting public coffers by $3.1 billion, with recent films including "Flight", "X-Men: First Class", and "Fast Five".

Filmmaker and television producer Tyler Perry has a studio in Atlanta, and the popular zombie-themed AMC cable network series "The Walking Dead" is filmed in the southern U.S. state.

Pinewood already owns studios in Canada and Germany and is building facilities in Malaysia and the Dominican Republic. Earlier this month the studio signed a joint venture with Chinese media group Seven Stars, run by media entrepreneur Bruno Wu, to expand its production services into China.

"Georgia has excellent fiscal incentives and a great crew base," Pinewood CEO Ivan Dunleavy said in a statement. "With River's Rock we have a well-resourced partner that is committed to building a first-class studio facility."

Producers can qualify for state income tax credits of up to 30 percent for certain production expenses, according to the Georgia film office.

Under the deal, the land and studio construction costs will be funded by equity from River's Rock and a debt facility from Synovus Bank, with building to begin immediately.

Pinewood will provide the sales and marketing services and own 40 percent of the joint venture that will operate under the Pinewood trademark and be called Pinewood Atlanta.

The Pinewood studio, based outside of London, has been dubbed the home of James Bond with most of the 23 films featuring British spy 007 shot there over the past half century, including last year's box office hit "Skyfall".

Recent films shot at Pinewood include "Jack Ryan" starring Kevin Costner and Chris Pine, and Angelina Jolie's new film "Maleficent". Whether Pinewood might shoot future James Bond films in Georgia was not known.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith and David Beasley; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Chris Reese)

LONDON (Reuters) - King Edward VIII may be best known for giving up the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, but it wasn't the first time his love affairs posed a threat to the British monarchy.

A new book by British barrister and former judge Andrew Rose unearths a little-known affair with a French courtesan 20 years before Edward's abdication, which ended in a rigged trial at the behest of the British establishment trying to protect a future king's reputation.

"The Prince, The Princess, and The Perfect Murder" details how the then-Prince of Wales's first great love, French courtesan Maggie Meller, blackmailed him to avoid the gallows after murdering her playboy Egyptian prince husband.

Meller was acquitted in a high profile trial at London's Old Bailey in 1923 despite the evidence stacked against her.

Rose said the acquittal was a shock but his research has now revealed an extraordinary story involving the murder trial, a secret cache of vanished letters and a cover-up to save the reputation of the future king.

Six years before her trial, Meller had an affair with the British prince. She used evidence from that relationship to force the royal household to lean on the establishment in an effort to get her off the hook and cover up the scandal, Rose told Reuters.

"This affair had been carefully airbrushed from history so the connection between the murder and the Prince of Wales was never drawn," Rose told Reuters.

"The royal household took steps to make sure that the prince's name did not come out in the trial to protect the reputation of the future king. It is amazing that she got away with it."

Rose's book, published by Coronet this week forms the basis of a TV documentary, "Edward VIII's Murderous Mistress", on Britain's Channel 4 later this month.

The latest book was a follow-on work from Rose's book about the trial, "Scandal at the Savoy", published in 1991.

He was intrigued by Marguerite Alibert, better known as Meller, who, dressed in a Chanel gown, shot her second husband, Egyptian Prince Fahmy Bey, at London's Savoy Hotel in 1923.

COVER UP FOR THE PRINCE

At the time her past reputation as a gold digger was brushed off and the focus was on her claim that she acted in self-defence to protect herself from her abusive husband.

But after his book was released, Meller's grandson contacted Rose, informing him of her affair with the prince, love letters between the two, and a memoir she wrote in 1934.

Rose said it took several years to trace the relationship, accessing unpublished documents in royal archives and private collections but also finding a trail of destroyed documents.

Rose said the prince's involvement came as a surprise but was in character as Edward, who abdicated in 1936 after less than a year on the throne, was a well-known womanizer.

"He was emotionally immature and feckless in his private life ... although he had enormous charm," said Rose.

"But you can be approachable and amusing and also neurotic, self-centred and unreliable. He spent his time chasing woman, had a string of love affairs and was always susceptible particularly to powerful women."

Rose said the prince's protectors were quick to move once Meller was arrested, negotiating with her to return the prince's letters that she had stored in Cairo.

The crucial part of the deal, however, was that she would not mention the prince in court and she stuck to that.

Her promiscuous past was never mentioned in court and the trial instead focused on the violent nature and perverted sexual tastes of her husband.

"Really this was a show trial," said Rose, "The authorities wanted Marguerite to be acquitted. A murder conviction would have been catastrophic for the Crown."

Meller was released and moved back to France where she lived the rest of her life in Paris, dying wealthy in 1971.

"This story really does show another side to Edward and how unsuitable he always was to be king," said Rose.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Paul Casciato)

I am heartbroken that she is being "marketed" this way and that her prospects for a life of achievement and happiness are zero. I have little to no contact with her because I have been put off by her mother's "street" attitude. If her lips are moving, the woman is lying. My granddaughter is disrespectful and ignorant.

What breaks my heart is that I had hoped to pass on to her items that have been in our family for generations, including a sizable inheritance. What can I do to salvage a relationship with a girl who wants nothing to do with me? Failing that, where can I turn to replace her with a more suitable heir? My son can't father any more children. -- SAD GRANNY IN FLORIDA

DEAR SAD GRANNY: Your granddaughter may be disrespectful because her mother dislikes you, and you haven't been around enough so the girl could really get to know you. Also, she is only 11. Her mother is presenting her on Facebook in an inappropriate manner (to put it mildly), and the result could be tragic.

Is it possible for your son to talk with a lawyer and seek custody? If it's not, he should contact child protective services. Rather than "replace" your grandchild, it would be better for all concerned to help her.

DEAR ABBY: Three years ago, I found out that my wife of 14 years was sneaking around behind my back with her high school sweetheart. I confronted both of them and it ended. I forgave her, but I still can't sleep at night because of something that's bothering me. His wife has no idea about the affair, and I feel guilty that I haven't told her about everything that happened.

Some of my friends say I should call her and tell her, but now it seems like it happened too long ago to bring it to her attention. Also, in an attempt to get her husband to come clean -- which he did -- I promised him I wouldn't tell his wife.

My wife and I have patched things up and we're having the best years of our life together. So the question is, should I break my word and possibly upset my new relationship with my wife so I can not feel this guilt? -- CAN'T SLEEP IN ILLINOIS

DEAR CAN'T SLEEP: Surely there's a better cure for your insomnia than causing needless pain to the wife. The affair ended years ago, and she is blameless in all this. Because you are still having trouble sleeping, talk to your doctor about it. Some sessions with a psychologist or a licensed family therapist may help you to assuage your guilt and find closure.

DEAR ABBY: I have had the same barber for several years and he is a good friend. While he was on vacation, I used another barber in the shop for a cut. I really like how he cut my hair. How can I change barbers without causing hurt feelings? -- LOOKIN' GOOD IN THE MIDWEST

DEAR LOOKIN' GOOD: Barbers are human like everyone else. If you announce that you want to make a change, there probably will be hurt feelings. The question you must ask yourself is, is your relationship with your barber/friend such a close one that you're willing to tolerate continuing to patronize him even though you think someone else can do a better job. (Now that's friendship!)

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.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more sociable person, order "How to Be Popular." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)