SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd launched its first OLED TV on Thursday, taking the ultra-thin technology into a nascent market despite tenacious production challenges that keep costs high while prevailing LCD screens only get better and cheaper.

The world's biggest TV manufacturer has staked its display future on OLED - organic light emitting diode - technology and its success with smaller screens has bolstered its smartphone market share and earnings. But big screens are likely to take a much slower road to profits.

OLED technology is widely believed to offer the potential for better picture quality than standard liquid crystal display screens, with crisper picture resolution, faster response times and high-contrast images. It also allows for curved televisions, which manufacturers say offer a more immersive experience.

But production constraints are a key problem.

Samsung is producing OLED screens for TVs from a small pilot line and some analysts estimate the yield at just 30 percent - with seven out of 10 screens from the line faulty, largely due to difficulties in spreading organic light emitting materials evenly across large screens.

Although many industry experts believe OLED will eventually be the next big thing, they do not think it will manage to do to LCDs what LCDs did to bulky cathode ray tube sets: almost completely replace them in the space of just several years.

"They are not sufficiently transformational to trigger a complete switch-over from LCDs," said Eo Kyu-jin, an analyst at IBK Securities, adding that for now OLED televisions would represent less than 1 percent of the 200 million-plus global TV market.

Samsung's $13,000 price tag on its curved 55-inch OLED television is the same as similar offerings from LG Electronics Inc, some five times more than popular LCD equivalents.

Samsung itself took a cautious tone, warning that industry forecasts for sales growth were a bit too optimistic.

"We have just introduced our first OLED TV and have to see consumer response to gauge overall market demand," Kim Hyunsuk, a Samsung executive vice president, told reporters.

Research firm DisplaySearch has forecast global industry-wide sales of OLED televisions at 50,000 this year and 600,000 next year, with rapid growth thereafter to reach 7 million in 2016.

LG, which currently offers both curved and non-curved 55-inch screens, is estimated to have only sold a few hundred screens so far after starting sales earlier this year.

LCD technology is also getting better and this is where many of Samsung's and LG's rivals, which lack their South Korean rivals' deep pockets, are concentrating their efforts.

"OLED demand is likely to pick up strongly only after 2015. It has a long way to go to improve picture quality to the level of ultra-high definition and to lower production costs sharply," said Chung Won-suk, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities.

Samsung, seeking to avoid putting all its eggs in one basket, also unveiled on Thursday 55-inch and 65-inch ultra-high definition (UHD) TV sets which offer crisper LCD picture resolution. Sony Corp and Chinese manufacturers are aggressively marketing that technology.

As market dynamics remain uncertain, manufacturers' investment plans have so far been modest.

LG Display, which is also working from a pilot line, has just started investing 706 billion won ($611 million) this year in large OLED panels. Samsung Display has yet to announce its capital investment plan for production of large OLED screens.

Samsung said it will begin selling its curved OLED televisions outside South Korea from July but did not specify which countries. It has no plans to offer non-curved OLED screens this year.

($1 = 1154.5000 Korean won)

(Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Experts are reluctant to paint a broad picture of future fire risk because fires vary so drastically among regions ain high-elevation Colorado, for example, is vastly different than coastal, chaparral-fed flames in California. But many fire scientists agree the doomsday scenario of massive fires that wreak death and destruction can be quashed through smarter development.

"Fire is usually coupled in withlike there's an equal sign between them, but it's much more complicated and interesting than that," said Max Moritz, who directs a fire research and outreach lab at the University of California, Berkeley. "There's a lot we can learn about the science of fire and climate, but how and where we build on the landscape is a huge, huge part of why we have a problem in this country to begin with."

There are three important types of factors controlling . The first are climate-controlled fire triggers, such as drought, scorching temperatures and winds. The second are shifts in plant communities, including desertification. Lastly, and perhaps most important, is the human factor.

"Although there is evidence to say fires might get worse with climate change, the bigger problem is that the fire impacts are getting worse," said Alexandra Syphard, an ecologist at the Conservation Biology Institute in La Mesa, Calif. "It's really because of development patterns and the increasing number of homes that are placed in wildland vegetation." []

Warmer, drier, more tinder

Climate change has already brought drought and higher temperatures to the western U.S., thus increasing fire frequency by drying and warming landscapes. Currently, more than 44 percent of the contiguous United States is in moderate to exceptional drought conditions. Theis partly due to a climate pattern called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which also triggered severe droughts in the 1930s and the 1950s.

But global warming means the West is also experiencing warmer, earlier springs and . With less snow to melt, the sun bakes the ground and heats the air making the mountain forests hotter and drier, and raising the risk of wildfires, reported a 2006 study in the journal Science. It also leads to a longer fire season 2.5 months longer, according to a 2010 report by the National Research Council.

More fires will also increase the speed at which plant communities respond to changing temperatures and precipitation, by opening up space for new vegetation to grow, Moritz said.

But not all areas of the West will see more wildfires, Moritz said. In California, a 1.8-degree Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) increase in average temperature will cause more fires in the mountains, such as the Sierra Nevada. But the fire frequency in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts is projected to decrease, according to a 2012 report Moritz prepared for the California Energy Commission. That's because the deserts could become even drier, with less biomass to burn.

Decades of fire suppression also plays a role in the severity of some forest fires, but is less clear in other types of ecosystems. This includes California's chaparral, where research indicates that prescribed burns are not necessary, and may leave the landscape vulnerable to takeover by incredibly flammable, invasive species such as cheatgrass. [Related: ]

Into the wildfire

One of the biggest reasons wildfires are becoming more severe in the West is that more people are moving into the "wildland-urban interface," Syphard said. Many of the new developments feature scattered homes that are hard to reach and difficult for firefighters to defend against encroaching flames. This focuses money and time on saving homes, not preventing fires.

"One of the things that keeps coming out of my studies is that fire frequency tends to be highest when there's low to medium housing density and when homes are scattered in isolated clusters of development," Syphard said. "Something like climate change can really only add insult to injury and make the problem worse."

But with better planning, such asand building codes, the country could lower its risks and its fire losses, experts say.

"The notion of flood plains has been wildly successful, and we keep hoping that something like that could be put into place with fire as well," Syphard said.

Understanding wind

In California, researchers hope local planners will prevent new homes from crawling up canyons in severe wind corridors. The state's seasonal hurricane-force winds, such as the , carry fire embers for miles. Recent studies found the gusts race through narrowly defined zones, which means developers could avoid building on these hazardous slopes.

Fierce winds also caused many of the terrible fire losses in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona in recent years. The investigation continues into the June 30 deaths of 19 firefighters in Yarnell, Ariz., but the fire was spread by gusting winds. Learning how to predict these chaotic winds could prevent loss of life and property.

"Winds are one of the missing pieces of the puzzle," Moritz said. "We focus on climate, temperature and precipitation, but actually, the biggest losses we see are during these days was when there were these horrendous wind gusts. We have major gaps in our knowledge about wind-driven fire weather patterns."

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[More from BGR: ]

We wanted to create a device that is low-power, portable and simple enough for anyone to use, to give people the ability to see through walls and closed doors, Katabi . We had to come up with a technology that could cancel out all these other reflections, and keep only those from the moving human body.

[More from BGR: ]

The system uses two antennas to transmit the signal and a single receiver to read the waves that return. The signal from the second antenna is the inverse of the first, allowing the two signals to interfere with each other and cancel out. This allows only reflections that change between the two signals, such as reflections from moving objects, to reach the receiver.

So, if the person moves behind the wall, all reflections from static objects are cancelled out, and the only thing registered by the device is the moving human, Adib explained.

The researchers believe the Wi-Vi system can be utilized to aid search-and-rescue teams in finding trapped survivors during natural disasters. It could also be used to help police officers identify criminals hiding in buildings and help them avoid walking into an ambush.

This article was

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday, hitting a one-week high, as positive U.S. economic data lifted investor sentiment and higher oil prices boosted shares of energy producers.

Toronto stocks climbed for the third straight session and caught up with global equities after the Canada Day holiday on Monday.

The gains however were capped by a decline in the materials sector and in BlackBerry .

Investors were encouraged by data showing new orders for U.S. factory goods rose for a second straight month in May, adding to tentative signs of stabilization in manufacturing after a recent slowdown.

The numbers followed positive economic data out of the United States and Europe on Monday that buoyed global markets.

"There seems to be a growing feeling of optimism about where we're headed," said Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod.

"I wouldn't say that global economies are on fire, but they certainly are on the positive side," he added. "That positive move in economic growth, as modest as it is, is still growth, and it is moving markets up."

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite indexwas up 37.92 points, or 0.31 percent, at 12,167.03.

Eight of the 10 main sectors on the index were higher.

Shares of energy producers added 0.6 percent. They were helped by a jump in the price of oil, which rose on supply worries in the Middle East and Africa.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltdgained more than 1 percent to C$29.98, and Enbridge Incwas up 1.7 percent at C$44.97.

Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, rose 0.3 percent.

Toronto Dominion Bank

But the materials sector, which includes mining stocks, gave back 0.8 percent. The group was dragged down by a more-than 1 percent drop in gold-mining shares as the bullion price slipped.

Barrick Gold Corplost 6 percent to C$15.60. The miner was also hit by its plans to slow construction at its severely-delayed Pascua-Lama gold project in South America, as it looks to rein in spending.

BlackBerry extended its decline after a disappointing quarterly report on Friday, with several brokerages cutting their ratings and price targets on the stock in the last two days.

The stock stumbled 4.1 percent to C$10.63.

(Editing by Chris Reese)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The biggest operator of Blue Cross Blue Shield health plans is teaming up with the largest U.S. Spanish-language media network to explain Obamacare to Hispanics in California, New York, Colorado and Georgia.

A partnership announced on Thursday by WellPoint Inc, Univision Communications Inc and healthcare marketer HolaDoctor Inc will include 70 town hall meetings in the four states, 30-second TV and radio ads, regular newscast segments devoted to subject and an online insurance center to guide consumers through the intricacies of coverage.

The initiative, one of many outreach efforts expected in the coming months to help explain President Barack Obama's healthcare law, will begin next month and run through March.

America's 52 million Hispanics are a main audience for the roll-out of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which will offer health coverage to millions of uninsured people through new online insurance exchanges in all 50 states and expanded Medicare coverage in about half the country.

U.S. Census data show that about one in three Hispanics lacks health coverage, while many have low-to-moderate incomes that could qualify for Medicaid or federal subsidies to help pay for private insurance. In California alone, about half of the 2.6 million people with incomes low enough to qualify for subsidies are Hispanic, according to the administration.

But experts say most Hispanics are unfamiliar with the health benefits under Obamacare, which comes into full force on January 1.

"You really have to start at that square one. People need to first understand what the value of health insurance is and then what's coming under healthcare reform," said Robyn Gilson, WellPoint's staff vice president for multicultural marketing.

WellPoint is expected to become one of the biggest participants in the new insurance marketplaces, which are slated to begin enrolling consumers on October 1. The Indianapolis-based insurer currently sells health plans under the Blue Cross Blue Shield license in 14 states.

Gilson said WellPoint turned to Univision's television and radio operations as a trusted voice in the Hispanic community. New York-based Univision has two broadcast TV networks, 10 cable networks, 62 local TV stations and 69 radio stations.

California, Colorado, New York and Georgia are all WellPoint markets with large Hispanic populations.

Depending on the success of the initiative, Gilson said the outreach effort could be expanded to more areas.

(Reporting by David Morgan.; Editing by Caroline Humer and Andre Grenon)

The new strategy, which was revealed before an audience at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., identifies three key objectives: cut the amount of , prepare the country for the effects of a warming planet and lead global efforts to combat climate change.

The measures "should send a strong signal to the world that America intends to take bold action to reduce carbon pollution," Obama said in his address. []

LiveScience asked several experts, analysts and industry members about their thoughts on the . Here are their responses and official statements:

Christine McEntee, executive director and CEO of the American Geophysical Union

"We are pleased to see that President Obamas commitment to addressing the growing impacts of climate change is coming to fruition. When it comes to climate change, its causes and its impacts, the science is clear and the scientific community is in agreement. We cannot continue to delay action. The costs are too high.

Addressing this critical challenge requires a global commitment from all stakeholders, including the business community, the energy industry, and national, regional, and local governments, and a willingness to embrace both mitigation and adaptation strategies. Difficult decisions will have to be made at all levels. However, we know that those decisions have the potential to open up new avenues for economic growth and developmentboth now and in the future.

The scientific community, including AGU and its members, are committed to providing the scientific facts that will enable well informed decision-making for addressing the growing challenge of . We look forward to working with all stakeholders to begin building a foundation for a more sustainable future."

Bill Snape, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity

"Were happy to see the president finally addressing climate change, but the plain truth is that what hes proposing isn't big enough, and doesnt move fast enough, to match the terrifying magnitude of the climate crisis. []

The president, like all of us, needs to be able to look across the dinner table at his children and know hes doing all he can to ensure they inherit a planet thats healthy and livable. This plan is a small step in the right direction, but certainly begs for something bigger and bolder."

Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member

"The president is absolutely right to act now. We have a moral imperative to protect the environment for our children and future generations. We are at a crossroads. Every year we delay, the impacts will worsen and the costs will rise. But if we act now, we can lead the world in developing theof the future."

Lou Leonard, U.S. Vice President for Climate Change at the World Wildlife Fund

"Recognizing that the U.S. needs to meet its international commitments and strongly support robust international action is also crucial as the world works to forge a new global climate pact by 2015.

What we need next is a strategy that identifies our destination and how fast we will move to get there. We have the technology and the business case to meet science-based climate goals by the end of this decade, get off dirty fuels and move to 100 percent renewable energy today.As President Obama fills in the details of his plan, the best science should serve as his compass if we are to find the way to safer shores." []

Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association

"This is a watershed moment in our nations history. Today, climate change is a real and growing threat to America and the rest of the world. Its indisputable. Climate change threatens our economy, our future progress, our health and safety and even our way of life. Every day, the Earth suffers a little more from human neglect. We cant wish this problem away, and pointing fingers wont solve it, either.

This is our moment in time. Americasstands ready to do our part to help fight climate change and usher in a new era of clean energy in America and around the world. Despite what some critics say, this isnt a choice between clean energy and a robust economy. We can have both, and solar is showing how to make that possible."

Mark Tercek, president and CEO of the Nature Conservancy

"There are simply some effects of climate change that, sadly, we are already seeing today, such as sea level rise and more severe and erratic weather patterns that result in increased storms, heat waves, floods and droughts. We need to adapt to make our farms, forests and coasts more resilient. Whenever and wherever possible, we shouldsuch as the protection of natural floodplains, healthy forests and the restoration of coastal features like oyster reefs, marshes, sand dunes and wetlands that help reduce risks by acting as buffers to waves and higher tides. These natural defenses are often more durable and cost-effective than traditional infrastructure, and is a smart investment that will save government money in the long run.

We recommend some important next steps in the challenge to deal with climate change, such as putting a price on carbon;and keeping the carbon they store out of the atmosphere by reducing deforestation; investing in research and development that can lead to discoveries applicable in other countries like China and India; and coping with the impacts of climate change by promoting the use of natural defenses."

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.)

"Science tells us that climate change is real and it is among the biggest global threats facing us today. It is not only an environmental issue it is a public health issue, an economic issue, a national security issue. I applaud President Obamas decisive action on this critical challenge.

Clean air is good for the economy, as we have seen in Maryland, where our strong clean air rules have resulted in job creation and economic growth. Investing inand energy efficiency will not only result in cleaner, healthier communities, it will also create jobs and a more resilient economy. We know the results of inaction: deadlier storms, rising sea levels, and crippling droughts and wildfires, with taxpayers shouldering the skyrocketing costs of disaster recovery. As a nation, we must act now to avert the worst effects of climate change."

David Yarnold, president and CEO of the National Audubon Society

"It's high time for bold action on climate pollution. In fact, we're making up for lost time. The good news is this isn't a blue, red or purple state issue. It's a core value, particularly for young people, and it's a promise to our kids and their future. If we take advantage of this moment, it's a chance for America to come out of the climate closet and to lead the way America is supposed to do. Whether you're talking about birds,or people, this is the most significant threat we all face, and addressing it is the most important thing we can do."

Ned Helme, president of the Center for Clean Air Policy

"Targeting greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants is a game changer that shows the United States is serious about addressing climate change. But it is important that EPA be flexible about how utilities can comply. Combined heat and power technologies that produce electricity along with useful heat are promising and should be encouraged by the regulations. Another hopeful direction is increased reliance on abundant . By recommending a flexible approach, EPA's rules can reduce carbon pollution cost effectively and produce jobs that revitalize America's manufacturing sector. In fact, states in the industrial Midwest stand to benefit greatly despite what critics are saying. President Obama's announcement should be seized upon by the states as an opportunity to increase economic growth, not stifle it."

Bob Irvin, president of American Rivers

"Fighting climate change is not only our moral responsibility to our children and grandchildren, it is an opportunity to harness our countrys unique strengths to create a stronger economy, healthier environment, and a better world. President Obama is taking action because Congress has failed to do so. We applaud President Obama for his leadership on climate change and for outlining a bold vision to put our country on a better path to the future.

The presidents commitment to cut carbon pollution, help communities deal with the increasingly apparent , and to position America as the global leader in clean energy technology will have a positive impact on Americas rivers and the people who depend upon them. All of us at American Rivers look forward to working with the Obama Administration to implement the presidents vision outlined today."

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)

"For too long, the barricade of special interests in Washington has stopped Congress from acting against carbon pollution. President Obama knows that we cant wait to address this issue. Were already . Our oceans are warmer, more acidic, and rising; our seasons are shifting; and the dice are loaded for more frequent and more severe extreme weather events. I applaud President Obama for taking action today to protect the planet for future generations."

Alden Meyer, strategy and policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists

"President Obama has a little more than three years to cement a lasting legacy on climate change, and he'll need every last second. Americans are already dealing with worse droughts, wildfires and , and the practical realities of climate change are forcing political leaders to make this a priority.

The president is absolutely right to emphasize preparedness. Mayors and governors are becoming climate change first responders and they need all the help they can get. The federal government needs to more effectively deliver the scientific information and planning support that communities need to cope with a changing climate.Of course, we need to do more than help our communities prepare for climate change. We need to address its cause."

Follow Denise Chow on Twitter . Follow LiveScience , & . Original article on.

U.S., Israeli and Palestinian officials have declined to disclose details of the past three days of closed-door meetings, but Kerry's decision to fly from Jerusalem to Ramallah, West Bank, to see Abbas again before he leaves the region was an indication that the secretary believes there is a chance of bringing the two sides together.

There is deep skepticism that Kerry can get the two sides to agree on a two-state solution something that has eluded presidents and diplomats for years. But the flurry of meetings has heightened expectations that the two sides can be persuaded to at least restart talks, which broke down in 2008.

In the past, Abbas has said he won't negotiate unless Israel stops building settlements on war-won lands or accepts its 1967 lines before the capture of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in a Mideast war that year as a starting point for border talks. The Palestinians claim all three areas for their future state.

So far, there have been no public signs that the two sides are narrowing their differences.

Azzam al-Ahmad, an official with Abbas' Fatah movement who met with the Palestinian president Saturday night, was not optimistic.

He told the Voice of Palestine Sunday morning that no progress had been made in Kerry's efforts concerning the Palestinians demand that Israel freeze settlements in occupied areas, recognize the 1967 borders and release prisoners.

"Kerry is doing his best and we appreciate these efforts, but so far he didn't bring anything from the Israelis on our demands of the settlements freeze, recognizing the '67 borders and releasing the pre-Oslo prisoners," he said. He was referring to prisoners held since before the so-called Oslo Accords of the early 1990s, a peace effort that established the Palestinian Authority.

"President Abbas told Kerry he wants him to continue his efforts but we can't wait forever," al-Ahmad said.

Kerry has only uttered two words about his talks. "Working hard" is all Kerry would say when a reporter asked him at a photo-op whether progress was being made.

Despite the lack of readouts, there are several clues that the meetings have been more than routine chats.

Most of Kerry's meetings have lasted at least two hours and several of them were much longer. His initial dinner meeting Thursday night with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was clocked at four, and the one Saturday night in a hotel suite with the Israeli prime minister and his advisers lasted more than six hours.

After the meeting broke up past 3 a.m., Kerry took a pre-dawn stroll in Jerusalem with senior advisers. Kerry, the sleeves on his white shirt rolled up his arms, walked with a security escort to a park near the hotel, gesturing and talking with his top advisers on the Mideast peace process.

There were still more hints that Kerry's discussions might be gaining traction.

Legal, military and other officials accompanied Netanyahu at the meeting, perhaps an indication that discussions had reached a more detailed level.

Kerry canceled a visit to Abu Dhabi on his two-week swing through Asia and the Mideast because of his extended discussions on the Mideast peace process in Jerusalem and Amman, Jordan.

And just the sheer number of meetings since Thursday three with Netanyahu and soon-to-be three with Abbas could indicate that the two sides are at least interested in trying to find a way back to the negotiating table.

A senior U.S. State Department official said Kerry would travel to Ramallah on Sunday to meet Abbas. The U.S. official was not authorized to discuss the negotiations by name and requested anonymity.

The meeting, however, will further squeeze Kerry's itinerary. He's scheduled to be at a Southeast Asia security conference on Monday and Tuesday in Brunei some 5,400 miles from Israel. On the sidelines of the conference, Kerry is to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an exchange that likely will focus on National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. Kerry also is to have a trilateral discussion with Japanese and South Korean officials that likely will include the topic of North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

For now, however, Kerry has his head in the Middle East. Except for quick flights to meetings in Amman, Kerry mostly has been holed up on the upper floors of a hotel near Jerusalem's Old City engaged in deep, serious conversations about the decades-old conflict. On other floors, the hotel has been hosting large family gatherings, and noisy children in party clothes have been running up and down the hallways, oblivious to Kerry's presence.

Abbas made significant progress with Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, in talks in 2007 and 2008, but believes there is little point in negotiating with the current Israeli leader.

Netanyahu has adopted much tougher starting positions than Olmert, refusing to recognize Israel's pre-1967 frontier as a baseline for border talks and saying east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital, is off the table. Abbas and his aides suspect Netanyahu wants to resume talks for the sake of negotiating and creating a diplomatic shield for Israel, not in order to reach an agreement.

Abbas has much to lose domestically if he drops his demands that Netanyahu either freeze settlement building or recognize the 1967 frontier as a starting point before talks can resume. Netanyahu has rejected both demands. A majority of Palestinians, disappointed after 20 years of fruitless negotiations with Israel, opposes a return to talks on Netanyahu's terms.

While details of the ongoing discussions have remained closely held, it has not quelled speculation. Midday Saturday, news reports said a four-way meeting was going to be held in coming days with the U.S. Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians at the table.

"They're saying a four-way summit, did you hear that?" Netanyahu asked Kerry during a photo-op before his latest meeting with Kerry.

"I did," Kerry replied.

There is speculation that talks are going well and that they're headed nowhere.

Asked if the two sides were close to resuming negotiations, Israeli Cabinet Minister Gilad Erdan told Channel 2 TV: "Regrettably, so far, no."

___

Associated Press writer Karin Laub in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

WADA had expressed its disappointment with the judge's decision last month to order evidence including bags of blood to be destroyed, depriving the agency and other sports bodies of the chance to analyse them.

The Spanish doctor at the centre of the trial, Eufemiano Fuentes, had told the court that as well as cyclists his clients included athletes in sports such as soccer, athletics, tennis and boxing.

"The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is filing a declaration to appeal to the Criminal Court in Madrid in relation with the Operation Puerto," WADA said in a brief statement on their website (www.wada-ama.org).

"Following its policy, WADA will refrain from commenting further in order to protect the integrity of the process," the statement added.

WADA's appeal joins those already filed by the Spanish prosecutor and the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).

Other bodies including Spain's anti-doping agency (AEA) have said they will challenge the judge's ruling and have until the beginning of next month to file their appeals.

The judge's decision not to release the evidence for further investigation dented hopes that the case would unmask other athletes involved in doping and prompted widespread condemnation.

Spain hoped the trial would help dispel the impression that the nation was soft on doping and boost Madrid's bid to win the right to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

The country is pushing updated anti-doping legislation through parliament which the government says will bring Spain into line with international norms. (Reporting by Iain Rogers, editing by Toby Davis)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rose Kennedy's public image as the stoic matriarch of America's most famous political family is one that she carefully cultivated, but writer Barbara Perry reveals a more vulnerable side in "Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch."

The biography of Rose Kennedy, who lived to age 104, includes hundreds of details from her voluminous personal diaries and letters made public by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in 2006.

Perry, a senior fellow and associate professor in the Miller Center's Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia, has written other books, including "Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier."

Perry spoke to Reuters about her interest in the Kennedy family and her research process.

Q: What sparked your lifelong interest in the Kennedys?

A: My mother took me to a JFK rally in Louisville when I was four. On October 5, 1960, my mother piled me and my two older brothers into our '56 Chevy and drove to downtown Louisville. It helped me to understand his grip on the American people.

Q: Was there a process for deciding who would write Rose Kennedy's biography?

A: No. Presidential libraries are sponsored by the National Archives, in part, and they are public facilities. Anyone can go into the archive room at the library and say "I'm here to look at the Rose Kennedy papers."

In my case, I had to figure out how to narrow down from the 250 boxes what would be most useful. What was difficult was the sheer voluminous numbers of papers, and files, and photographs. She lived to 104 and kept everything.

Q: How did you work through the volumes of papers?

A: I decided to begin with her 1974 memoir, "Times to Remember." There's a huge component of Rose Kennedy's papers devoted to producing that book. Particularly, I was interested in her image creation.

I began combing through all of the things she collected to do that book and then very quickly got into what I will call the oral history - the many, many taped conversations that her ghost writer, Robert Coughlan, did with her and of her as they began to produce that book.

Q: Your book shows a less perfect side. What were you trying to do by bringing out those details?

A: First of all, let Rose be Rose. I just felt her voice had often been subsumed under the men's. That was one of my goals - to let her speak through her diary and through her letters, memos and oral history.

But it's not always an edifying message - because she could be a difficult woman, so caught up in this image making that I think she maybe sometimes lost the larger meaning of life or put people off in her own family. The concept of creating an image of oneself, or ones' family is going to involve some sleight of hand. I came across that on occasion.

Q: I really liked her bouffant hair.

A: Yes, that she was so proud of. She was pretty proud she didn't go gray, just like her mother.

On her travel list, I discovered a wig stand and a wig. Ladies like that had their hair done at least once a week and at least more often. I'd see in her date book - whenever she was about to do a big event, off to the hairdresser she would go, or the hairdresser would come to her home.

She was totally into the image thing. The matron of makeover.

(Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Dan Grebler)

Pheidole megacephala, more popularly known as the big-headed ant, has been classified as one of the world's 100 , found in every continent except Antarctica. A recent model, however, predicts global warming will slow the ants' march significantly by 2080.

"Ants, because they are a cold-blooded species, they are supposed to be very sensitive to small changes in temperature," said Cleo Bertelsmeier, a Ph.D. student at the University of Paris South. So Bertelsmeier used a model to look at how the species' distribution might change at the predicted levels of .

The results show the ant populations and territory beginning to decline as soon as 2020, and then losing as much as one-fifth of their potential roaming territory by 2080.

Ant invaders

Invasive species are among the top threats to , Bertelsmeier notes in her research paper. As trade and tourism reach more far-flung areas, accidental and deliberate introductions of species into new areas become more prevalent. The native species then get crowded out and, in many cases, go extinct. []

Because ants are small and colonial by nature, they are one of the best-equipped animals to take over a new area making them one of the world's most invasive creatures, according to multiple studies.

The big-headed ant is a particularly troublesome one that likely originated in Africa. .

"It has a lot of negative impacts on many other species native ants, other invertebrates and even on birds," Bertelsmeier told LiveScience. She added that although big-headed ants often eat bird hatchlings when attacking in groups, they have an even larger impact on other ants and invertebrates.

But the ants' footprint extends even further. "They also eat seeds, so they can have an impact on plant populations and also agriculture," Bertelsmeier said. "They [cause] quite a crisis in an invading area, some people are afraid of them."

To examine how the ants might be , Bertelsmeier and her colleagues created a model that took into account information from maps of the ants' potential range and climate scenarios based on reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Habitat decline

The range maps came from a New Zealand-based, publicly available database for ant distributions based on observational data sent in by students, private collectors, government agencies and biological researchers. Bertelsmeier's group further limited the data to remove instances where the ants were in greenhouses and other indoor areas.

Then, the researchers used a database called WorldClim to obtain climate information on which areas are most hospitable to ants both now and in the future. This project used data from the widely cited "IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007," which projected how the climate could change in the coming decades.

The models showed that currently, the ants have favorable climactic conditions in 18.5 percent of the global landmass; the best spots are in South America, Australasia and Africa. But this range will shrink by about one-fifth by 2080, according to the consensus model generated by the researchers.

Bertelsmeier said she hopes the current data on favorable habitats will assist in protecting native species from the invasive ant.

One key limitation in the data, though, is that the researchers aren't taking into account how thewhen hey arrive in a new area, Bertelsmeier said, adding that she's currently researching that interaction.

The research paper appeared online in the journal Biological Invasions in December 2012, and was released in print form in mid-June.

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