On Thursday (May 9), astronautsin a loop that cools the power system attached to one of the orbiting lab's eight huge solar arrays. The six-person crew is in no danger, NASA officials say, but the leak could cause the loop to shut down in the next day or so, potentially shutting off power generation from the affected array.

"It is a serious situation, but between crew and experts on the ground, it appears to have been stabilized. Tomorrow we find out for certain," space station commander Chris Hadfield of Canada wrote Thursday via Twitter, where he posts updates as @Cmdr_Hadfield.

The current problem is not unprecedented. NASA and itspartners first noticed a leak in this same cooling loop back in 2007, but the rate of ammonia loss was so low back then that immediate action was not required.

Astronauts aboard therecharged the coolant system with 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) of ammonia in 2011. Then, last November, two crewmembers of the station's Expedition 33 attempted to isolate and repair the leak.

During the course of a 6.5-hour spacewalk on Nov. 1, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese spaceflyer Akihiko Hoshide reconfigured some coolant lines and deployed a spare radiator, because officials thought the original radiator may have been damaged by micrometeoroid strikes.

This fix seemed to do the trick. But a reassessment is now in order afterHadfield and his Expedition 35 crewmates reported seeing flakes of frozen ammonia streaming from the very same cooling loop Thursday.

It's unclear at the moment if the space station has sprung a new leak, or if the old one has just gotten worse, NASA officials said.

Astronauts had to deal with another cooling-system issue in 2010. In late July of that year, an electrical short shut down one of the two 780-pound (353 kilograms) pumps that move liquid ammonia through the orbiting lab's pipes.

The station's cooling system limped along at half-strength for two weeks, until astronauts replaced the pump during a series of tricky spacewalks.

Meanwhile, Hadfield and two crewmates, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, are preparing to return to Earth on Monday (May 13) to wrap up a five-month mission to the space station. Mission Control told the crew to continue with that plan for now as engineers assess the situation.

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As far as pricing goes, Thurrott says that the Xbox will cost $299 up front if users sign a two-year service agreement for an Xbox LIVE Gold membership that will cost $10 per month. If users dont want to pay for a Gold membership, they can buy the standalone Xbox for $499. Thurrott also says that the next Xbox will require a connection to the Internet to use, although he cautions that this feature . And finally, Thurrott says that Microsoft has for now ditched the idea of releasing an entertainment-only Xbox that would function more like a television set-top box and wouldnt have any gaming capabilities.

This article was

"We'll be supplying an extra set of prototype hard compound tyres for free practice, which will hopefully ensure that all the cars run throughout these sessions," said motorsport director Paul Hembery in a preview of Sunday's race in Barcelona.

"It's something we wanted to do to encourage all the teams to run as much as possible right from the start, especially with the rookie drivers, to give fans the spectacle they deserve to see," he added.

Spectators watching the first practice session on Friday have had to endure long periods with no track action as drivers opt to save their quick-wearing tyres.

Pirelli said the extra hard tyres would be a specially-created compound, made to last much longer and different to the regular orange-marked hards available for the rest of the weekend. They will carry no colour markings.

The initial suggestion had been for the extra set to be made available for young drivers only, or to be used in the first half hour of practice on Friday, but that met opposition from top teams unwilling to put rookies into their cars at a grand prix weekend.

Each driver currently has 11 sets of dry weather tyres for a weekend - six of the harder 'prime' and five of a softer 'option'.

They must hand back one set of the prime tyres before second practice and one set of each before the third session and before qualifying. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Justin Palmer)

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The Catholic Church has excommunicated a Brazilian priest after he defended homosexuality, open marriage and other practices counter to Church teaching in online videos.

In a statement released late on Monday, the priest's diocese said Father Roberto Francisco Daniel, known to local parishioners as Padre Beto, had "in the name of 'freedom of expression' betrayed the promise of fealty to the Church."

The priest "injured the Church with grave statements counter to the dogma of Catholic faith and morality." The actions amount to "heresy and schism," the statement said, the penalty for which is excommunication, or expulsion from the Church.

The rare punishment follows what Daniel's bishop and the priest himself said were repeated rebukes about the videos and other public activities, such as a radio broadcast and local newspaper column, in which he challenged Church doctrine.

The 47-year-old cleric, who studied theology in Germany, is popular in the southeastern city of Bauru, where he has been a priest since 2001. He is known for his rock T-shirts, a silver stud pierced through his right ear and his habit of posing, as on his official Facebook page, with a glass of beer.

On Facebook and Twitter, Daniel posted a brief statement about the excommunication: "I feel honored to belong to the long list of people who have been murdered and burned alive for thinking and searching for knowledge."

SPREAD OF MODERATE VIEWS

Daniel's excommunication, which prompted headlines across Brazil and protests in social media, illustrates the rising influence of more moderate social views in Brazil, Latin America's biggest country, and much of the rest of the region.

Progressive stances on sexuality, birth control, scientific research and other delicate topics for the Church are increasingly common in Latin America, home to 42 percent of the world's Catholics, more than any other region worldwide.

The shifting views are among the many challenges faced by Pope Francis, an Argentine who ascended in March to become the first Latin American pope in history.

The excommunication comes just two months before Francis is scheduled to attend World Youth Day, expected to attract as many as 2 million young Catholics to Rio de Janeiro.

Though Francis is known to be a traditionalist on social issues and Church doctrine, his appointment raised hopes that the first non-European pope in 13 centuries would do more than his predecessors to modernize Catholicism.

But Daniel's beliefs clearly went too far for church leaders.

In one of the recent videos he posted on YouTube.com and his own Website, the priest said a married person who chose to have an affair, heterosexual or otherwise, would not be unfaithful as long as that person's spouse allowed it. "If someone is in an extramarital relationship and that relationship is accepted by the spouse, then faithfulness still exists there," he said.

A "REBEL SON"

In a telephone interview, Daniel said his statements "are personal reflections that should be considered and discussed in the dialogue of the church." The excommunication, he said, is "the sad act of a lukewarm and disengaged church that is out of touch with today's society."

The diocese retained a church expert in canonical law to oversee the excommunication process. The diocese also initiated a separate process at the Vatican through which Daniel will be stripped of clerical authority.

Last Tuesday, Bishop Caetano Ferrari gave Daniel a letter asking him to take the videos offline and publicly retract his statements. In an interview posted on the diocese Web site shortly afterward, Ferrari called Daniel "brilliant," but characterized him as a "rebel son" who "crosses the line."

On Monday, Daniel said he went to the diocese headquarters planning to renounce his clerical duties rather than retract any of his comments. But before he had a chance, the bishop and canonical expert made him face a committee of Church officials.

"It was a trial," Daniel said. "I told them I was not there to be tried, that I had not been indicted."

Shortly afterward, the Church issued the statement announcing his excommunication.

(Editing by Todd Benson and Cynthia Osterman)

No one saw a parachute Thursday, and if Kurt Ruppert, 29, of Lake City, Fla., survived the jump and was caught in a tree or lost in the forest, he likely died of hypothermia, a King County sheriff's sergeant said.

"We just don't think he survived at this point," Sgt. Cindi West said Monday.

Dozens of searchers were out four days "calling and calling," West said. "If he survived he wasn't conscious enough to yell to us."

It snowed Thursday night and temperatures have been in the 30s and 40s around Mount Si, a steep and heavily forested 4,200-foot peak about 30 miles east of Seattle.

Searchers covered 9 square miles before the ground search was suspended Sunday. Fog on Monday prevented a helicopter search.

Ruppert was taking turns with two friends who were waiting at the grassy landing zone when he jumped out of a helicopter at 6,500 feet and disappeared.

The webbed wing suit allows a skydiver to glide at up to 100 miles per hour, so Ruppert could have covered a lot of ground, West said.

Friends in Florida say Ruppert had been skydiving seven or eight years and was experienced in a wing suit.

There's a record of Ruppert's cellphone signal until he went up in the air and jumped or shut it off, West said. That information led to an extensive search of a quarter-square mile area, which found no sign of him.

Outlying areas where Ruppert might have landed are heavily wooded or mountain cliffs.

Ruppert carried a blue parachute in a black pack. He was dressed in a tan and green wing suit, which would make him hard to spot in the woods.

Friends of Ruppert's were with ground searchers over the weekend, but did not want to talk with reporters, West said.

"People that are out there are having a little memorial today on the mountain," said a friend in Florida, Skydive Palatka owner Art Shaffer.

"There's a lot of sad people here," he said Monday.

DENVER (AP) -- Seven weeks after a tragedy on the snowmobile course marred the Winter X Games, ESPN decided to scrap the best trick competition, saying it was a move the network had been considering before Caleb Moore's death in Aspen, Colo.

Moore, a 25-year-old from Krum, Texas, died from injuries he sustained when his 450-pound sled rolled over him after a backflip gone wrong during a freestyle competition, which will remain part of the X Games program. In this year's best trick contest, a rider lost control of his machine after falling off and it veered into the netting close to fans.

ESPN spokesman Danny Chi explained to The Associated Press in an email Tuesday that the elimination of the best trick discipline was being contemplated before Aspen and that "our review of snowmobile freestyle continues."

"We will focus on motor sports disciplines that engage athletes who consistently compete in multiple global competitions reflective of the global reach of X Games," Chi wrote in the email.

In a statement, ESPN said the change "reflects our decision to focus on motor sports disciplines which feature athletes who also compete in multiple, world-class competitions (e.g., professional events and tours) reflecting the highest degree of athlete participation, competitive development and the global nature of our X Games franchise."

The Summer X Games will eliminate a similar competition Moto X best trick. Other motorcycle competitions will still be held.

The safety of snowmobiles came under scrutiny after the two accidents last January.

Moore stayed down for quite some time after his crash before walking off with help and being taken to a hospital to be treated for a concussion. He developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to a hospital in Grand Junction for surgery. The family later said that Moore also had a complication involving his brain.

He died Jan. 31, a week after his accident. It was the first death in the 18-year history of the X Games.

In the best trick event, Summer X Games motocross champion turned snowmobile newcomer Jackson Strong tumbled off his machine after a failed maneuver, only to have the throttle stick when it landed and the snowmobile swerve toward the crowd as fans scrambled to get out of the way. No one was seriously injured.

Winter X officials recently scratched a snowmobile freestyle demonstration set for later this month in Tignes, France, so organizers could review safety protocols.

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ESPN is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

LeMond spoke Monday night at a University of Texas symposium on doping in sports. Despite more than a decade of clashes with Armstrong in a feud that he said pushed him out of cycling, LeMond was restrained in his criticism of the rider who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles in a doping scandal.

Armstrong was just beginning his run of seven consecutive victories when LeMond publicly criticized his relationship with Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari. Ferrari is now a central figure in the Armstrong case for his involvement in the U.S. Postal Service doping program, and has been banned from sports for life.

"I have no vendetta against Armstrong," LeMond said.

He also said "I don't rejoice" over Armstrong being stripped of his victories, even though it means LeMond is now recognized as the only American winner of cycling's most prestigious race. LeMond won the Tour de France in 1986, 1989 and 1990.

Joining LeMond for the two-hour panel was his wife, Kathy, Betsy Andreu, a key witness against Armstrong and the wife of former Armstrong teammate Frankie Andreu, and Bill Bock, attorney for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which investigated Armstrong.

Armstrong did not attend the symposium in the city where he lives and declined comment when reached by The Associated Press.

Betsy Andreu said she tried to meet with Armstrong, but he refused.

"He didn't trust me," she said.

LeMond said professional cycling won't clean up its doping problem until drug testing is run by someone other than the sport's governing body, the International Cycling Union known as UCI.

"Drug testing has to be separated from UCI," LeMond said. "It's not a game."

LeMond said riders don't trust the UCI, which has tried to defend itself against criticism that it helped Armstrong cover up doping offenses. LeMond noted that European legal authorities have pursued drug cheats in recent years.

"I want to see cycling get to where I can say I can see a real winner," LeMond said.

Bock noted that UCI was highly critical of the USADA investigation and tried to stop it.

"They demanded we drop the case," Bock said.

Andreu said doping in sports won't clean up until athletes face criminal charges for cheating. A federal criminal grand jury had investigated Armstrong but prosecutors dropped the case in February 2012 without explanation.

"Make doping a crime. Athletes don't want to face jail," Andreu said.

LeMond said he believes cycling can clean up.

"I'm hopeful," LeMond said. "I'm not optimistic with UCI involved ... I love cycling. I believe cycling is an incredible sport."

Bock said cycling should remain vigilant about catching cheaters and should not treat Armstrong's doping with his U.S. Postal Service team as an isolated case.

"The ultimate tragedy would be if this whole scenario would be viewed as the Lance Armstrong affair," Bock said.

Manufacturers shipped 216 million smartphones worldwide in the first three months of this year, compared with 189 million regular cellphones, according to a study IDC released late Thursday. IDC said smartphones made up 51.6 percent of the 419 million mobile phones shipped.

In the U.S., smartphones overtook regular cellphones in 2011. IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said Friday that the shift to a global majority of smartphones is now being driven by consumers in developing countries such as China, India and Indonesia.

Another firm, ABI Research, found that smartphones made up 49 percent of shipments in the first quarter. Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest phone maker, doesn't provide a breakdown of its phone shipments, and analysts vary in their estimates. Even going by ABI's numbers, it's clear that smartphones will solidly overtake the market this year.

The shift from phones primarily designed for calls, and perhaps texting, to ones with advanced operating systems and touch screens has roiled the cellphone industry. Finland's Nokia Corp. was for many years the world's largest maker of cellphones, but it has failed to translate that into success in smartphones. It's now the second-largest maker of phones overall, behind Samsung Electronics Co., but it falls far down the list of smartphone makers.

Cellphone pioneer Motorola Mobility, a U.S. company now owned by Google, has stumbled through the transition as well, while Apple Inc. has become the world's third-largest maker of cellphones, less than six years after launching the first iPhone. Samsung and Apple are the top makers of smartphones. LG Electronics Inc. of South Korea; HTC Corp. of Taiwan; and ZTE Corp. and Huawei Technologies Ltd. of China jostle for the No. 3 position.

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

First of all, in the unique presentation of her Le Moine Tricote collection via three different mediums in three different rooms: there were edgy photos, vintage-looking video projections, and the clothes themselves on mannequins.

If the designer's aim was to get home the idea that in fashion it's not what is worn, but how it's worn, that affects style, it was a success: Each of the 15 ensembles had a completely different look depending on the room.

Second of all, there were new ideas in the direction of the up-and-comer's knitwear line itself, which saw the repertoire this fall-winter 2013-14 spun out to include stricter woven fabrics. They provided a subtle but welcome contrast to the more feminine thick-knit tailored jackets in black, beige and gray.

"The idea was to complete the collection. Woven and knit is mixed," said Lemoine, walking in between mannequins. "I'm mentally double. The back side is woven, strict, the front side knit."

The strongest piece in the show was a fantastic black mid-length coat dress that had pockets, a lapel and sleeves in billowing wool to imitate fur.

Sporty flashes, like a streak of burgundy on a heavy knitted black dress, ticked the hip box.

But the collection overall remained thoroughly feminine, thanks to the natural roundness of the thick-knit silhouettes.

This season, ladylike is the name of the game.

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