WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An IRS official effectively waived her right not to testify about the tax agency's targeting of conservative groups, a Republican-led congressional committee concluded on Friday in a vote that cleared the way for Congress to hold her in contempt.

Lois Lerner, former head of the Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt division, angered Republicans last month when she invoked her constitutional right not to answer their questions at a hearing.

The committee is investigating the IRS's admission that it subjected applications for tax exempt status from groups with "Tea Party" or "Patriot" in their names to special scrutiny.

By reading a statement telling lawmakers that she did "nothing wrong" before invoking her Fifth Amendment protections, some Republicans said that Lerner waived her rights.

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives approved on a party-line vote a Republican resolution on Friday saying that Lerner did waive her Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

"That is the not the way the Fifth Amendment works. You don't get to tell your side of the story," and then avoid cross examination, said Republican Trey Gowdy. "She sat there and could have said nothing."

The vote could clear the way for Republicans to haul Lerner back before the committee, where she would likely again invoke her Fifth Amendment rights. That would likely lead to a vote to hold her in contempt of Congress, Republican aides said.

A contempt of Congress vote could lead to her being prosecuted in a court and subject her to a maximum $1,000 fine and potential 12-month prison sentence. Lerner is now on administrative leave and has been replaced in her post.

The Republican-controlled Oversight Committee is leading a congressional probe of IRS agents in Cincinnati from early 2010 to early 2012 singling out applications for tax-exempt status from conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

The controversy led President Barack Obama's ouster last month of the IRS's chief and an FBI probe.

IRS officials in Washington, including some who reported to Lerner, were aware of the practices carried out in Cincinnati almost from the start, according to interviews with IRS officials that have become public.

Some Republicans have tried to link the affair to the Democratic president, but no evidence yet supports that claim.

Democrats on the panel said they want to hear from Lerner, but that she is within her rights to not testify. They said the vote reflects the partisan path Republicans have taken with the investigation.

"This back and forth political bickering is an embarrassment ... This resolution is completely improper and is nothing more than an opportunity to grandstand," said Democrat Steven Horsford.

Lerner's attorney, William Taylor, said this week that protesting innocence and invoking the right not to answer questions is not a waiver of constitutional rights.

(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Doina Chiacu)

The firm said it would work on three oncology projects with Cancer Research UK and the University of Cambridge's department of oncology at Addenbrooke's Hospital, located next to the site for its new research center and headquarters.

The projects include using blood tests to monitor tumors instead of biopsies, potential drugs for prostate cancer, and new approaches for pancreatic cancer, which has a very poor prognosis and few treatments available, the company said on Tuesday.

AstraZeneca's move to Cambridge is the centerpiece of $2.3 billion restructuring plan unveiled by new chief executive Pascal Soriot in March. It confirmed last month that it would be based at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

Susan Galbraith, head of AstraZeneca's Oncology Innovative Medicines Unit, said it was fitting that the first collaborations since announcing the move were in cancer because its Cambridge facility will become its largest center for oncology research.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle. Editing by Jane Merriman)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Khaled Hosseini's first novel in six years echoes the themes of family relationships explored in his previous novels, but the multigenerational saga weaves together more characters and locales than the author has tackled previously.

Anchored by the story of two young siblings separated in early 1950s Afghanistan, "And the Mountains Echoed" features a patchwork of characters navigating familial relationships, histories and obligations over the next half century in places ranging from Greece to Paris to Northern California.

Hosseini, who was born in Kabul and has lived in Northern California since 1980, is also the author of the best-selling novels "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns," both set in Afghanistan.

"I had more or less kept Afghanistan as the home base for my previous two books, but I did want to write about different parts of the world as well and expand the social milieu of my characters and their cultural backgrounds," Hosseini, 48, told Reuters in an interview.

The broader scope of "And the Mountains Echoed," published by Riverhead Books, has drawn praise as well as readers since its release in late May. Riverhead is a division of Penguin Group USA, which is co-owned by Bertelsmann and Pearson PLC,

The book currently holds the No. 3 spot on the New York Times best-seller list for print and e-book fiction and was named one of Amazon's Best Books of 2013. It has also garnered kudos from the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, and the Daily Beast.

Among the book's characters are an Afghan socialite who flees to Paris to become a successful yet troubled poet, a doctor whose childhood on a Greek island leads him to a job in a Kabul hospital, and a wealthy pair of brothers trying to reconcile their family history in Afghanistan with their suburban lives in California.

Hosseini said he wrote each character's story separately, but strived to connect them all to the original pair of young siblings, which he wrote first.

"It was a matter of remembering that these other characters were simply branches that had come off the main tree trunk, which was the story between the two children at the very outset of the book," he said. "Each chapter reveals something about something you've read previously."

SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS

Though the characters' lives unfold on different continents and often in different decades, many wrestle with the rewards and sacrifices of sibling relationships.

"All sibling relationships are fascinating because inside them there's this push and pull ... it's a relationship that's full of conflict," said Hosseini, who is the oldest of five children. "People who absolutely love each other can also be terribly cruel to each other."

While these dynamics persist across generations and cultures, he noted that there are different approaches to family in the United States than in Afghanistan, where he spent much of his childhood.

"In the U.S., we feel at our most natural when we're alone. We have something called downtime where we can be by ourselves and unwind," he said.

"It's kind of the opposite of the way I was raised, which was downtime was when you had 15 people sitting around - cousins, aunts, uncles."

These days, Hosseini spends his downtime as an advocate for refugees via his role as a goodwill envoy for the United Nations, as well as through his own charitable foundation.

(Reporting by Andrea Burzynski; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and David Brunnstrom)

TORONTO (AP) -- A mobile game for Google Android devices lampoons Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and the purported video that appears to show him smoking crack cocaine.

In "Stay Mayor!," by Toronto based app developer Extra! Extra! Games, the player controls a cartoon mayor being pursued by a pack of "bloodthirsty" reporters and cameramen. Players must dodge crack pipes littered on the ground while being chased by the media.

The player's mission is to collect $201,255 to buy the alleged video before gossip website Gawker does.

In May, Gawker sought $200,000 in donations to buy the video. The money was raised but the website has been unable to obtain it.

Gawker's editor and two Toronto Star reporters said they viewed the video.

Ford says the video doesn't exist and has refused to resign.

The Senate voted 29-12 for the measure that would direct state health regulators to change abortion clinic rules so they're similar to those for ambulatory surgery centers.

More than 500 opponents of the legislation mostly women and many wearing pink organized quickly to gather at the Legislative Building after Senate GOP leaders late Tuesday added several abortion-related provisions to an unrelated bill and won quick approval in a committee and in an initial Senate vote.

Even Republican Gov. Pat McCrory criticized the rushed legislative process in a statement Wednesday but was silent on the contents of the bill, which would still need House approval again before it goes to his desk. The General Assembly won't take up legislation again until early next week.

"Regardless of what party is in charge or what important issue is being discussed, the process must be appropriate and thorough," McCrory, who was elected last year, said. When McCrory was asked last fall during a debate which additional abortion restrictions he would agree to sign into law, he responded, "None."

More than 100 protesters in the atrium outside the full gallery above the Senate floor chanted "Shame!" after Wednesday's vote. One woman was arrested by General Assembly police after yelling "Shame on you!" before the daily session ended. Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who presided over the nearly two-hour debate, warned the crowd several times about their debate outbursts before clearing the gallery before adjournment.

The bill, which received initial approval Tuesday night, could force abortion clinics to close and would effectively limit the rights of women to obtain an abortion in the state, according to its opponents. There are 16 licensed abortion clinics in the state but only one ambulatory surgical center that performs the procedure, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

"If they can restrict access to abortion, they can officially take away that right and it's really distressing," said Maria Lynn of Chapel Hill, a former nurse and one of the protesters.

The updated bill also would prohibit gender-selective abortions, restrict abortion insurance coverage and require a physician to be physically present during an entire surgical abortion and when a woman takes an abortion-inducing drug such as RU-486.

Social conservatives pushed the bill, and backers say it would make abortion procedures safer for women in the light of recent problems with some clinics, bringing them in line with other medical facilities.

Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke, who is shepherding the bill through the Senate, referred to the abortion doctor in Philadelphia convicted recently of killing live babies at a clinic that prosecutors labeled "a house of horrors" in pushing the bill. Another senator read a newspaper story about a Charlotte clinic that was forced to close briefly this spring after state officials determined staffers were improperly administering a drug to induce abortions.

The legislation comes as Republican-led legislatures in North Carolina and several other states including Ohio and Texas work to place new restrictions on abortion, in some cases effectively limiting their availability. The North Carolina General Assembly passed abortion restrictions in 2011, but some were struck down by a federal court.

Sen. Angela Bryant, D-Nash, equated the bill with "enslavement and domination of me and my body and my uterus ... and my human and constitutional rights to health care." But Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said this bill does not attempt to overturn the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

"We have an obligation to protect the health of the people the women that go to these clinics," Berger said. "Anyone who is interested in having safe abortions in North Carolina has nothing to fear from this bill."

The swift Senate action on the bill further energized abortions rights groups, many of which already have participated in weekly protests at the Legislative Building against Republican policies on health care, voting rights and other matters. The GOP took control of the legislature after the 2010 elections. Those protests, which have led to nearly 700 arrests, are expected to resume Monday with a focus on the abortion bill.

The Senate leadership knew "they couldn't pass these sweeping restrictions by playing by the rules. It is shameful that they chose to stoop to these underhanded tactics," said Melissa Reed of Planned Parenthood Health Systems, which runs clinics that provide reproductive health care services, including abortions.

Senate Rules Chairman Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, said Democrats had rammed their own legislation through the chamber for years, and more debate wouldn't have changed the outcome. But McCrory said in his statement the legislative procedure "was not right then and it is not right now."

Lalitree Darnielle of Durham, who stood outside the Senate gallery with 22-month-old son Roman in his stroller, came Wednesday because she said the public should have had more advance notice. "For them to sneak something like this into a vote without public input is disingenuous," she said.

Abortion opponents praised the bill. "We think it's a great victory for the unborn and for women," said Tami Fitzgerald with the North Carolina Values Coalition. "Abortion clinics in North Carolina have problems ... this bill fixes some of those problems."

As for whether the bill becoming law, Fitzgerald said she and allies "would expect the governor to sign the bill."

The bill may be tricky for House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, who is running for Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan's seat in 2014; his spokesman said he had no comment on the legislation Wednesday. The issue could become an issue in any primary race he has.

Hagan criticized the state Senate's move as "shameful." If legislative "leaders think they can pull a fast one on women's health right before a holiday, they are wrong," Hagan tweeted. "Women are watching."

The bill also contains provisions that already passed the House. Those would outlaw or limit abortion-related services from health insurance plans offered through exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act or by cities and counties. Conscientious refusals to participate in an abortion would be expanded beyond doctors and nurses to any medical professional.

__

Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker contributed to this report.

The return of 53-year-old Abu Qatada was viewed as a victory in Jordan, whose 2001 extradition request was blocked in British and European courts for more than a decade over human rights concerns. Britain and Jordan ratified a treaty on torture aimed at easing those worries, clearing the way for his deportation.

Jordan convicted Abu Qatada in absentia on terrorism charges and sentenced him to life in prison in 1999, but that has been lifted now that he faces a new trial.

Jordanian Information Minister Mohammed Momani said the kingdom "is keen on credibility and transparency" in handling Abu Qatada, whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman. The deportation of the Palestinian-born Jordanian cleric, Momani said, "sends a message to all fugitives that they will face justice in Jordan."

Abu Qatada arrived at Amman's civilian airport on a British aircraft and was whisked in a green SUV, escorted by a 12-car convoy, with masked anti-terrorism police to the nearby premises of the military State Security Court on the outskirts of the Jordanian capital. Police sealed off the street as the convoy drove against traffic to the court building, just across the street from the airport. A crush of journalists was kept at bay by armed policemen.

Abu Qatada's father, Mahmoud, and an unidentified relative stood at the entrance of the court building, but were not allowed to enter.

"I have nothing to say, except that my son is innocent and I hope the court will set him free," the father told the Associated Press.

The military prosecutor began questioning Abu Qatada on terrorism-related charges in the presence of his lawyer, Tayseer Thiab, according to one of the prosecutors involved. The military district attorney banned the publication of the prosecutors' names.

The prosecutor said he expected Abu Qatada to be detained for 15 days, pending further questioning.

No other details were immediately available.

In London, British Home Secretary Theresa May had announced Abu Qatada's departure in a statement, expressing confidence that the U.K. public would welcome the conclusion of efforts dating back to 2001 to remove the radical cleric.

"This dangerous man has now been removed from our shores to face the courts in his own country," May said. The Home Office then posted a picture on Twitter of Abu Qatada climbing the steps of a plane.

Britain had tried since 2001 to deport Abu Qatada, but courts had blocked extradition over concerns that evidence obtained under torture could be used against him.

After years of successfully fighting the numerous attempts to expel him from the U.K., Abu Qatada recently indicated he would voluntarily return to Jordan if it and Britain ratified a treaty on torture.

That treaty which explicitly bans the use of evidence "where there are serious and credible allegations that a statement from a person has been obtained by torture or ill-treatment" was ratified by Britain and Jordan last month.

It paved the way for the long-awaited removal of the man described in courts in Britain and Spain as a senior al-Qaida figure in Europe who had close ties to the late Osama bin Laden.

In 1999, a Jordanian military court sentenced Abu Qatada to death in absentia for conspiracy to carry out terror attacks, including a plot on the country's American school in Amman. But the sentence was immediately commuted to life in jail with hard labor.

In 2000, the same court sentenced him to 15 years for plotting to carry out terror attacks on Israeli and American tourists and Western diplomats during the country's millennium celebrations.

In both trials, Abu Qatada was in London, where he entered on a forged passport in 1993 and was granted asylum a year later.

Britain accused Abu Qatada of links with Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States over the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and with shoe bomber Richard Reid. Audio recordings of some of the cleric's sermons were found in an apartment in Hamburg, Germany, used by some of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

British authorities first tried to deport Abu Qatada in 2001, then detained him in 2002 under anti-terrorism laws, which at the time allowed suspected terrorists to be jailed without charge.

Though he was released in 2005 when the unpopular law was overturned, the cleric was kept under close surveillance and detained in various ways. He most recently was being held at London's Belmarsh prison after breaching a bail condition in March which restricted the use of mobile phones and communication devices.

The British home secretary acknowledged the delays in the legal process in her statement announcing that "at last" Abu Qatada had been deported, saying it is "clear that we need to make sense of our human rights laws and remove the many layers of appeals available to foreign nationals we want to deport."

___

Associated Press writer Cassandra Vinograd in London contributed to this report.

(Photo: )

For more than 130 years, lawyers have relied on the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating while searching for their own expert attorneys. Now anyone can make use of this trusted rating by looking up a lawyer's rating on Lawyers.com or martindale.com. The Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating is the highest possible rating for an attorney for both ethical standards and legal ability. This rating represents the pinnacle of professional excellence. It is achieved only after an attorney has been reviewed and recommended by their peers - members of the bar and the judiciary. Congratulations go to David I. Shiner who has achieved the AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

David I. Shiner commented on the recognition: "The Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating is a credential highly valued and sought after in the legal world. It used to be a sort of secret among attorneys who used the rating as a first screen when they needed to hire a lawyer they did not personally know. Now, thanks to the Internet, the Rating is a great way for anyone lawyers or lay people - to use to screen lawyers. I am thankful to my peers who nominated me for this distinction, and proud to have earned this, the highest possible Martindale-Hubbell rating."

About David I. Shiner:a short profile by and about the honoree:

The Shiner Law Group is a boutique Personal Injury & Complex Business Litigation law firm located in Boca Raton. David Shiner prides himself on the quality of service and the intimate, one-on-one attention he provides each and every client. His law firm focuses on obtaining the best result for each individual client in an expedited manner. Our attorneys and staff are available to help you 24 hours a day 7 days a week, which means we respond immediately to any legal help you may need.

The plaquecommemorates David I. Shiner's recognition.

To find out more or to contact David I. Shiner of Boca Raton, FL, call 561-368-3363, or visit .

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This press release was written by American Registry, LLC, with approval by Martindale-Hubbell as well as approval and/or contributions from David I. Shiner; it was distributed by PR Newswire, a subsidiary of UBM plc.

Contact Information:David I. Shiner Phone: 561-368-3363Email Address: Website:

SOURCE American Registry

"Photograph," which will be released as an e-book on Apple's iBookstore on June 12, will coincide with a Grammy Museum exhibit on Starr, entitled "Ringo: Peace & Love," the book's publishers said on Wednesday.

A limited-edition hand-bound book signed by Starr will be available for purchase in December.

The book will include photographs from the musician's childhood in Liverpool, England, to his road to fame as part of the Fab Four, with Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison.

"These are shots that no one else could have," Starr, 72, said in a statement.

Highlights from the collection include behind-the-scenes candids of the Beatles in their daily lives and Starr's travel photography as the band toured the world.

Starr has also recorded videos featuring commentary to accompany the e-book.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Games publisher Zynga Inc has replaced chief executive Mark Pincus with Don Mattrick, the Microsoft Corp executive who headed the critical Xbox business, Zynga announced on Monday.

The news, reported first by AllThingsD, sent Zynga shares up more than 11 percent earlier in the day. The shares rose a further 3 percent to $3.17 when Zynga confirmed the appointment after the bell.

Pincus, 47, who controls a 61 percent voting stake in the gaming company he founded in 2007, will remain as the company's chairman and chief product officer after personally helping to recruit Mattrick from Microsoft.

"Don is unique in the game business," Pincus said in a statement. "He can execute in multiple domains - hardware, software and network, and he's been the person responsible for game franchises like 'Need for Speed,' 'FIFA' and 'The Sims.'"

Zynga's business model, which relied heavily on selling virtual goods to gamers on Facebook Inc's platform, began to disintegrate a year ago as users tired of Facebook games and shifted to playing on mobile devices.

The company's shares have hovered at just 25 percent of its $10 initial offering price in December 2011 as Pincus has struggled to turn around the company named after his pet bulldog.

Mattrick's new role leading a game maker that publishes social media-based titles and smartphone games will be a marked departure from the world of big-budget, packaged console games embodied by the Xbox and Electronic Arts Inc, the game publishing firm where he had worked for 15 years.

In a statement, Mattrick emphasized that Pincus willingly recruited him and described their working relationship as that of "partners."

"I joined Zynga because I believe that Mark's pioneering vision and mission to connect the world through games is just getting started," Mattrick said. "Zynga is a great business that has yet to realize its full potential. I'm proud to partner with Mark to deliver high-quality, fun, social games wherever people want to play."

Although Wall Street embraced Mattrick's appointment, many analysts said questions remained about Zynga's ability to produce hit games that could prop up its shrinking revenues.

"Bringing in someone who has worked at a larger company to assist in management duties I think is a relief right now," said Richard Greenfield, an analyst at BTIG Research.

"But Pincus is still the chief product officer. So the question is, what's actually changed day to day in terms of making hit games?"

XBOX TURN AROUND

Mattrick joined Microsoft in 2007 after spending 15 years at EA, where he worked under Bing Gordon, a well-known gaming industry executive who went on to join venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Pincus and Gordon, who sits on Zynga's board, led the effort beginning this spring to recruit Mattrick, who had expressed an interest in leaving Microsoft to lead a company, according to people familiar with the situation.

Pincus, who joins Groupon's Andrew Mason among high-profile tech entrepreneurs who have relinquished their jobs as chief executives, publicly backed Mattrick's appointment.

"I've always said to Bing and our Board that, if I could find someone who could do a better job as our CEO, I'd do all I could to recruit and bring that person in," Pincus said. "I'm confident that Don is that leader."

At Microsoft, Mattrick helped turn the Xbox business into a profitable venture after years of losses, eventually propelling it into the No.1 selling console in the United States.

Mattrick's departure comes just as Microsoft gears up to launch the third version of its console, called the Xbox One. Unveiled in May and scheduled to hit stores later this year, the machine has already stirred controversy.

Gamers attacked the high price, Microsoft's plan to require an Internet connection at least once a day and attempts to limit the sharing of used games. Last month, Microsoft reversed its position on the Internet connection and said it would allow game sharing.

Mattrick has been rumored to be departing for months. After EA's CEO stepped down in March, industry sources speculated he was in the running to lead the top games publisher, where he previously held numerous leadership roles.

(Reporting by Malathi Nayak, Gerry Shih and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco and Bill Rigby in Seattle. Editing by Andre Grenon)

The American Medical Association last week declared obesity a disease. That's a step, doctors say, that will help medical professionals better treat a condition that affects 78 million adults and 12 million children. Yahoo News invited Americans who qualify as obese -- those with a BMI above 30 -- to share their story and perspective on the news. Here's one.

FIRST PERSON | Don't be alarmed, but I suffer from a chronic condition that, if left untreated, can lead to fatal complications. At 42, I am obese and, now, according to the American Medical Association, that means I have a disease.

Much as I love him, I have my toddler to blame.

Upon hearing , I plugged my height and weight into the . BMI stands for body mass index and is used to categorize people as underweight, normal, overweight, and obese. My beef? The BMI calculations don't distinguish between fat and muscle, which means a 250-pound weightlifter may fall into the obese category, along with someone like me, whose body composition is far... squishier.

Imagine my joy when I learned that, with a BMI of 32.6, I was considered obese. Since I'm 5 foot 4 and a half inches tall, I tried again, this time rounding up to 5 foot 5 inches. (Hey, I had to try.) My BMI was 31.6, a little lower but still obese. In fact, depending on which height I use, I'd have to lose 10 to 15 pounds just to be considered overweight.

While I'd like to believe I've got 15 pounds of muscle -- probably in my left arm and shoulder from carrying my 3-year-old boy -- I doubt that's true.

Until I got pregnant, I was a weight-loss success story; I lost 70 pounds over five years and kept it off. But I was not one of those pregnant women who look like a snake that swallowed a basketball; I packed on 58 pounds and became an ancient fertility figure.

Despite my efforts to lose my "baby fat," three years later, I'm only halfway there. It's hard to focus on your own health when you spend your waking hours dealing with someone else's physical and emotional needs. If only reading books aloud or changing diapers burned more calories.

After I gained my unofficial diagnosis, I began to worry. What will this new "disease" designation mean? Will people avoid me, fearing my fat is contagious?

It's also startling -- and annoying -- to learn I'm no longer considered healthy, especially when that isn't true. Two years ago, growing frustrated with the glacial pace of my postpartum weight loss, I consulted my physician. She ran a series of diagnostic tests that determined I was in the healthy range for everything she tested. Some obese people have associated health problems, but I'm not one of them.

On the brighter side, the AMA decision should mean expanded coverage for weight-loss treatments. Hopefully, it will also lead to better preventative programs being offered by employers and insurance companies. And even though the AMA's decision is not legally binding, maybe this will give people recourse if they are discriminated against for being overweight. Ultimately, I'm cautiously optimistic.

In the meantime, I'm going to work hard to lose those 15 pounds. Once I do, and my BMI clocks in below 30, I'm going to have a big party to celebrate being simply overweight.