SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - An alleged leader of the New York arm of a global cyber crime ring, which stole $45 million from two Middle Eastern banks, was shot dead during an attempted robbery in the Dominican Republic last month, Dominican police said on Friday.

Alberto Lajud-Pena, 23, was killed on April 27 in a house in the city of San Francisco de Macoris about 100 miles northeast of the capital, Santo Domingo, according to police.

Investigators found $100,000 in cash in the house, as well as an M-16 assault rifle, two 9 mm pistols, a revolver, ammunition clips and a telescopic sight. The money and weapons belonged to Lajud-Pena, police said.

Lajud-Pena was one of eight men that U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday were part of the New York cell of an international criminal syndicate that perpetrated one of the biggest bank heists in the world.

The crime ring hacked into the networks of two credit card processing companies in December 2012 and February 2013, respectively, to steal prepaid debit card data which they used to fraudulently withdraw money from cash machines in 27 countries over a matter of hours.

The U.S. Justice Department said the New York group was led by Lajud-Pena and pulled $2.4 million from almost 3,000 ATMs in the city during the space of 10 hours in February. Lajud-Pena's alleged co-defendants are all Hispanic men who were arrested in Yonkers, a New York City suburb that is home to a large Dominican population, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday.

Lajud-Pena was shot and killed by a gang of three men, of whom the leader was Carlos Manuel Jimnez, alias "La Vaca Loca" (Mad Cow), according to police in the Dominican Republic. Jimnez and the two men were in custody, police said.

It was not immediately clear if the gang or the $100,000 found at the house were linked to the cyber theft. U.S. prosecutors have said that $2 million in cash is still missing from the heists.

The global ringleaders of the cyber theft are believed to be outside the United States though prosecutors declined to give details, citing the continuing investigation. Arrests in the case have also been made in Germany, according to the Dsseldorf prosecutor's office.

The hackers are alleged to have increased the available balance and withdrawal limits on prepaid MasterCard debit cards issued by Bank of Muscat of Oman, and National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah PSC (RAKBANK) of the United Arab Emirates.

They then distributed counterfeit debit cards to "cashers" around the world, enabling them to siphon millions of dollars from cash machines in a matter of hours, the prosecutors said.

(This story is corrected with a word in paragraph 4, "perpetrated")

(Writing by David Adams; Editing by Tom Brown, Tiffany Wu and Leslie Gevirtz)

The technology builds upon the advances of , a technique that has been used to build box shapes, DNA scissors and other materials. Now, bioengineers have produced a single-stranded coil of protein that spontaneously sprang into a pyramid shape. While just an early demonstration, the technique could someday be used to make vehicles for drug delivery or to catalyze reactions.

"It is a piece of great work in the field of programmed biomacromolecular self-assembly," said chemist Chengde Mao of Purdue University in Indiana, who was not involved in the study. "The beauty of the strategy is its simplicity." []

are the molecular building blocks that carry out a host of vital functions in cells. They are composed of long chains known as polypeptides, which coil and fold to form complex 3D structures.

The idea with protein origami is to create rigid segments that can self-assemble in a modular fashion, like LEGO bricks. The segments are "smart" materials, because they contain all the information for the final structure inside them.

For the bricks, researchers designed well-studied structures called "coiled-coil segments" a combination of two or more helices that intertwine. They then made a chain of 12 of these segments stitched together on flexible hinges, which self-assembled into a pyramidlike shape known as a . Each edge of the tetrahedron was bounded by two of the segments.

"The shape is completely different from anything natural," said senior study author Roman Jerala, a synthetic biologist at the National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Jerala and his colleagues confirmed the tetrahedron's formation using several kinds of microscopy. Each tetrahedron was only about 5 nanometers on an edge, about one ten-thousandth the width of a human hair.

Right now, it's just a proof of principle, Jerala told LiveScience. But ultimately, protein origami could be used to , for instance, to allow their controlled release. Or these structures could act as catalysts for reactions, much like enzymes in living cells.

Creating similar shapes using DNA origami is cheaper and easier to handle than proteins, said Paul Rothemund of Caltech, who was not involved in the study. But protein origami lets you make them much finer. "Making structures out of DNA is like building molecular structures out of DUPLO blocks [giant LEGOs]," Rothemund said, but "working with proteins, on the other hand, is sort of like working with adult LEGOs they have a much smaller intrinsic resolution."

Scientists have created small objects out of proteins before, but these had to be symmetrical shapes, Jerala said. Using protein origami, "we can take natural elements and do something completely different that does not exist in nature," Jerala said. "Nature just didnt explore all the possibilities."

The findings were detailed today (April 28) in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

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LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's policymakers are starting to recognize chronic unemployment as a crisis in its own right, rather than something that will resolve itself when the economy improves.

Compared with the United States, where the labor market is a key determinant of economic policy, European authorities have been more passive in their approach to jobs for many years.

But the depth of the jobless epidemic, especially in euro zone countries like Spain and Italy, means their rhetoric is at least changing.

Friday's spring economic forecast from the European Commission was a case in point.

Invoking European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's pledge to protect the euro, the European Union's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said the EU would do "whatever it takes" to overcome the jobless crisis.

In previous forecasts, Rehn mentioned reducing unemployment mainly as something that would only come further down the line, after the completion of painful reforms.

Jobs data from across the Atlantic, also released on Friday, contrasted starkly. The United States added 165,000 non-farm jobs in April, while the unemployment rate there fell to 7.6 percent, its lowest since December 2008.

Business surveys on Monday will reveal more about the pace of job losses in the euro zone, where the jobless rate hit a new record 12.1 percent in March, meaning more than 19 million euro zone citizens are out of work.

"At some point they're going to have to change tack, and maybe 12.1 percent unemployment is the time," said David Blanchflower, economics professor at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and formerly a Bank of England policymaker.

He noted ECB President Draghi did not mention the labor market at all in his economic analysis of the euro area last week, after cutting interest rates to a new record low of 0.5 percent.

"If you see the latest minutes from the (U.S. Federal Reserve), they really are targeting unemployment, as they should be. They really do take it seriously," he said.

NO QUICK FIX

Even if Europe's politicians increasingly recognize joblessness as a crisis that must be fought actively, little exists that could spur a quick change in fortunes.

"There are always measures which the authorities can take to get the labor market going," said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec in London.

"The problem is, given the depth of the crisis, they're unlikely to make a material, positive impact for quite some time. There is absolutely no quick fix to the problem."

Given how Europe has dragged on global economic growth for the last few years, officials there have had no shortage of advice from politicians around the world.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew last month said a rush towards fiscal austerity in Europe had worsened the economic situation in some countries, arguing that there is a need to assess the impact of budget cuts on growth and employment.

He and his G7 finance minister counterparts meet on Friday in London, and although the agenda focuses on fighting tax evasion, the event will provide another chance to discuss how Europe can return to prosperity.

Ultimately, the solution lies in the structural reforms that are already slowly taking place, and also in the restoration of Europe's banking system.

Shaw cited the fact U.S. banks recapitalized earlier than their European peers, particularly in the euro zone, as one of many reasons why the American economy has performed better, therefore creating more jobs.

"(U.S.) unemployment peaked in double digits back in 2009. Looking at a snapshot now, the U.S. seems to have less of an unemployment issue than continental Europe," said Shaw.

"However, that hides the fact it's been a long, hard grind getting the jobless rate down in the U.S."

And even a return to sustained economic growth might not be enough to guarantee European unemployment will fall significantly, said Blanchflower.

He co-authored a study, released last week, showing how the statistics showing an apparently resilient jobs market failed to cover a sharp rise in the number of people working less than they would like.

"If any recovery comes, presumably it's going to come by the incumbent (employees) working more hours, which means the unemployment rate doesn't come down as fast as you'd have thought," said Blanchflower.

"So it looks like we're going to be stuck with high unemployment for a long time."

(Editing by James Jukwey)

MONTE CARLO (Reuters) - World number one Novak Djokovic will make a late decision about whether to play in this week's Monte Carlo Masters as he struggles to overcome an ankle injury.

Djokovic, who lives in Monaco and lost to eight-times champion Rafa Nadal in last year's final at the first big claycourt event of the season, sprained his ankle playing for Serbia in the Davis Cup last weekend.

He has practised for the last two days but has not fully recovered.

"I can't still 100 per cent guarantee that I'll be on the court on Wednesday," the top-seeded Djokovic told a news conference on Sunday.

"I'll decide on Tuesday, at least to give time to another player just in case I don't play," he added.

"Strenghthening my ankle is still in the process. Things are looking good, better than I expected it to be.

"But I have to be realistic and cautious and see on some practices in the next few days, when I push myself to the limits, if I'm going to have any discomfort. It'll be an indication that I should not play."

Twice runner-up to Nadal at the glamourous event by the Mediterranean, Djokovic said he would not take any risks.

"Let's be honest, it's a very strong tournament and I think there's no room for any compromise," he said.

"It's a new surface, a new start of the season and, in order to compete on such a high level, I need to be 100 percent, no question about it."

SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP

But he realises that his special relationship with the tiny principality could help overcome his physical problems.

The Serbian proved it last season when he battled to the final although he was emotionally exhausted following the death of his grandfather during the tournament's early stages.

"I'm always feeling very inspired and motivated to perform my best in this tournament because I live in Monaco and I spend the majority of my time, when I'm not in tournaments, here in this club, practising on these courts," Djokovic said.

"There's extra motivation and inspiration for me to try to be fit and ready to perform," he added.

Djokovic, who won his third consecutive Australian Open title in January, said the injury would not prevent him from playing in the next claycourt events.

A six-times grand slam champion, the 25-year-old Djokovic is bidding to complete his collection with a French Open title, the only major trophy he has not won.

"I'm more than sure that there's not any danger for what's coming up next - Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros," he said.

Briton Andy Murray is confident he is fitter than last year, when he struggled with back problems and was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Czech Tomas Berdych.

"I'm in better shape. My back's not an issue like it was, so I feel better than I did coming to Monte Carlo last year," said second seed Murray.

The Scot, who was close to pulling out of the tournament before reaching the semi-finals of last year's French Open, said he had learnt to deal with the demanding tour schedule.

"Rafa has problem with his knees, Roger (Federer) has problem with his back ... I've been playing tennis for a long time, you pick up things. You have to manage your body," he said.

"You have to make sure it's a not a problem during matches. The back's not been doing this since the grasscourt season last year, so I'm not worried about that," added Murray.

"It's the movement that's been the thing I needed to improve on the clay and I feel like I'm moving better this year," he said.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

It stationed fans to blow directly onto their busy interns' office -- and made a fascinating live feed out of it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Using trains to move heavy crude oil out of Western Canada would be a poor alternative to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, Canada's top energy official said on Wednesday, and a rail-only plan would likely dent future oil sands development.

U.S. officials are weighing whether to approve construction of the proposed Keystone pipeline that could deliver as much as 830,000 barrels a day of mostly Canadian and some U.S. crude oil to refiners in Texas and Louisiana.

Joe Oliver, Canada's natural resources minister, said costs and logistical challenges make crude-by-rail a poor second choice for oil sands producers trying to reach the U.S. Gulf Coast.

"I don't think anybody feels that it could be a substitute for pipelines," Oliver told Reuters.

In a report that weighed the environmental impacts of the Keystone pipeline, the U.S. State Department concluded that blocking the 1,200 mile project would do little to slow the oil sands sector since crude-by-rail was such a close second choice.

"Limitations on pipeline transport would force more crude oil to be transported via other modes of transportation, such as rail, which would probably (but not certainly) be more expensive," the State Department said in the report released in early March.

But Oliver said pipelines reliably beat crude-by-rail which "is more expensive for longer hauls than pipelines."

"It is a good supplement but not the longer-term solution," he said. "I don't think anybody would suggest it is."

Industry officials, energy analysts and recent data raise questions about whether the industry is really eager to adopt crude-by-rail should the U.S. government rule against the TransCanada Corp pipeline.

The State Department on Monday closed a public comment period on Keystone with the Environmental Protection Agency criticizing officials' conclusion that crude-by-rail is a likely alternative to Keystone.

The State Department should conduct a new study of crude by rail, the EPA says, and "include further investigation of rail capacity and costs, recognizing the potential for much higher per barrel rail shipment costs."

The State Department said this week it would hold another public comment period after it decides, with the help of federal agencies including the EPA, whether the pipeline is in the national interest.

Oliver said advocating for Keystone is one of his top priorities. He is in Washington this week to meet with lawmakers and other officials. Asked if a rail-only scenario would put a dent in oil sand production, he said "Yes, I would say it would. But we don't see that happening."

Foes of the Keystone pipeline argue that extracting oil sands crude out of Western Canada emits more carbon dioxide than conventional drilling in a process that worsens global warming.

The EPA, which has warned that oil sands production could worsen climate change, suggested that the State Department work with Canadian officials to curb pollution.

Oliver said he expected to see more cross-border efforts to curb climate change and that Canadian officials could boast significant gains in promoting clean energy.

Canada is developing rules that would aim to curtail pollution in the country's oil and gas sector.

"We are going to have those rules soon," he said. "It is going to be helpful."

(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Bob Burgdorfer)

BOSTON (Reuters) - Writer Dan Baum, a self-described Jewish liberal Democrat and a gun enthusiast since childhood, strapped a revolver to his side in 2009 and set off on an 18-month, 15,000 mileexploration of the U.S. firearms culture.

His book, "Gun Guys: A Road Trip," was released this month amid a gun-control debate rekindled by the December 14 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Baum, who lives in Boulder, Colorado, says it was a challenge to write for two polarized audiences: liberals and fiercely protective gun lovers.

He spoke to Reuters about America's gun culture, semi-automatic weapons and what he learned about himself from writing the book.

Q: Are you a gun guy, or were you acting?

A: I'm a gun guy, and I live in a world of anti-gun people. Being a liberal Democrat, my whole social world is among people who dislike guns and dislike gun people.

Q: What should gun-control advocates know about America's gun culture?

A: Guns are cool; they're fun; they're mechanically gorgeous; they last forever.

But the really deep stuff is - we have a lot of freedom in this country to own guns. Our gun laws bespeak a trust in the people. And for the gun guys, this is really what America is about.

The ones who mostly buy guns are straight, white, middle-aged men, rural, who have not finished college, and that is a demographic that has seen their world collapse in all kinds of ways. The NRA (National Rifle Association) comes along and whispers in their ear, "Yeah, you're pissed, you know why? Because the liberals want to take away your guns."

Gun guys derive tremendous pride from being able to manage these incredibly dangerous devices safely, and then along come these pointy-headed urban liberals who have never had any guns, and they want to tell you that you can't be trusted with this device. It is unimaginably offensive.

I'm not asking you to like these people. But I'm asking you to listen to them. They are not just testosterone-poisoned death freaks.

Q: And what can the 100 million U.S. gun owners do to lower the temperature?

A: Gun guys have to get serious about locking up their guns. Most of the bad (stuff) that happens with guns in the United States happens with guns that some law-abiding gun owner left unattended.

The problem is, gun guys do not see themselves as responsible for gun violence. Gun guys have to accept, I have to accept, that my guns affect you.

Q: You quote a prediction that President Obama would push for gun control if re-elected.

A: I lost a $100 bet with a guy. I said there's no way that the Democrats are going to make another serious run at gun control. I think they're going to pay big time. Until the gun-control push after Sandy Hook, we had a chance of taking the House (of Representatives) ... Now we have no chance.

Q: Is it wrong to focus on controlling semi-automatic rifles, particularly the AR-15.?

A: It's ignorant. The gun-control world is trying to pass off the AR-15 as some kind of bizarre outlier of the gun world, when in fact it's all anybody wants to shoot.

Q: What did you learn about yourself through this book?.

A: I am no less a Democrat, I am no less an Obama supporter. But I really understand the conservative lament that we are becoming a nation of weak, disrespected, over-managed individuals.

Q: You depicted conversations and scenes at which you were not present. How did you come about your story-telling style.?

A: I ask a lot of questions. If I can go see the place where it happened I do that. I try to talk to as many people who were there as I can. It takes time to get that out of people. I'm writing about ordinary people and I try very hard to portray them the way they want to be portrayed.

Q: You've also written about the drug wars. How does the gun-control effort compare?

A: The gun issue, like the drug issue, is used to avoid talking about all kinds of stuff that's much more central. We have gone out of our way to avoid having any sense of collective care. If we have people wigging out and killing people, maybe it's because we have created a society where everybody is extremely alienated and extremely stressed. And it's getting more so, because the one percent are getting an increased amount of wealth, leaving less for the rest of us.

(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Paul Simao)

But an exhibition here at the Danzinger Gallery called "Darkened Cities" may help New Yorkers see what the truly dark night sky might look like in their own backyard. Artist Thierry Cohen takes city skylines and meticulously transforms them into something impossible to view today, yet still scientifically sound.

By combining two images, Cohen reveals the cosmic wonders hidden beneath the light pollution that masks the world's biggest cities.

"He photographs the worlds major cities, seeking out views that resonate for him and noting the precise time, angle, and latitude and longitude of his exposure," Danziger Gallery officials wrote in a press release. "As the world rotates around its axis, the stars that would have been visible above a particular city move to deserts, plains and other places free of ."

Over the course of three years, Cohen photographed cities and remote areas of the world by night.

He tracked the rotation of the Earth to seek out the same piece of sky he had shot above a city when it appeared over clear, light pollution-free places like Joshua Tree National Park, the Mojave Desert and Death Valley Desert in California, Black Rock Desert in Nevada and the .

Cohen then combined the two photos to create a unique view of what the world could look like if free from human-made light.

"Compositing the two images, Cohen creates a single new image full of resonance and nuance," Danziger Gallery officials wrote. "The work is both political and spiritual, questioning not only what we are doing to the planet but drawing unexpected connections between disparate locations."

Cohen's photos vacillate between extremes. Some look almost post-apocalyptic, others are simply surreal and beautiful, while a few find the sweet spot in between.

The highways of Shanghai look spooky when empty at night, but there might not be anything more surprising than seeing starlight shine through the windows of the Empire State Building. In a photo of Los Angeles, some of the stars are blotted out by the Sierra Nevada Mountain range in the distance, but the clouds of the Milky Way still crowd above the city.

All of the photos, from a starscape prominently featuring theover the Brooklyn Bridge to the southern sky over Sao Paulo, are evocative in their own ways.

"Cities that never sleep are made up of millions of individuals breaking natural cycles of work and repose," officials from the New York gallery wrote. "Cohen's photographs attempt to restore our vision, and in beautifully crafted prints and images offer the viewer a possibility to re-connect us to the infinite energy of the stars."

Cohen's photos will be on display at the Danziger Gallery until May 4.

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That's when the 75-year-old Oscar winner will place her hand and footprints next to her father's in the concrete shrine to celebrity outside Hollywood's Chinese Theatre. Then she'll present a special screening of the film she made with her dad, 1981's "On Golden Pond." The cement and cinematic tribute is part of the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival, which is honoring Jane Fonda.

"I am very, very excited," Fonda said in an interview this week. "I thought probably I would die and this would never happen. I'm just really thrilled that it actually is happening and not only that, but I get to put my hand and footprints right next to my father. ... I'm just so happy I'll probably cry."

The honor inspired Fonda to reflect on her career, which hasn't slowed since she returned to acting in 2005 after a 15-year hiatus.

"I've made some really good films. There's also a lot of films I wish I could do over again," she said. "But I've been lucky: I've worked with some great directors, and I feel like I'm still a work in progress as an actor. I feel like I'm still learning."

After her guest-starring stint on "The Newsroom," she's more interested than ever in television.

"I'd love to have a television series of my own," Fonda said. "I'm hoping that might happen."

A fitness pioneer, Fonda continues to focus on health and wellness with a series of videos aimed at older exercisers. She also inspired countless Oscar watchers earlier this year with her fitted, bright yellow gown, and she serves as L'Oreal's oldest spokeswoman.

"When you're younger, you don't have to put so much time into it, but also I didn't care that much. I was an activist and I didn't think so much about how I appeared," she said. "As I've gotten older, I've paid more attention to how I dress, how I look, what makeup I use, what skincare products I use... I guess one reason that I put more effort into looking good now is because I think it gives hope to other women. It takes the edge off the fear that young people have of getting older."

The wisdom and openness that come with aging are easy to wear well, and Fonda said she's happier now than ever.

"This event that's coming up where I get to put my hand and shoeprints next to my dad in front of the Chinese Theatre, it's coming at a very happy time in my life," Fonda said, "and making it even happier."

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy.

___

Online:

http://filmfestival.tcm.com

With his younger brother following along and constantly pushing him, Moore became a rising talent in action sports.

The innovative freestyle snowmobile rider, who was hurt in a crash at the Winter X Games in Colorado, died Thursday morning. He was 25.

Moore had been undergoing care at a hospital in Grand Junction since the Jan. 24 crash. Family spokeswoman Chelsea Lawson confirmed his death, the first in the 18-year history of the X Games.

"He lived his life to the fullest. He was an inspiration," Lawson said.

A former all-terrain vehicle racer, Moore switched over to snowmobiles as a teenager and quickly rose to the top of the sport. He won four Winter X Games medals, including a bronze last season when his younger brother, Colten, captured gold.

Caleb Moore was attempting a backflip in the freestyle event in Aspen last week when the skis on his 450-pound snowmobile caught the lip of the landing area, sending him flying over the handlebars. Moore landed face first into the snow with his snowmobile rolling over him.

Moore stayed down for quite some time, before walking off with help and going to a hospital to treat a concussion. Moore developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to a hospital in Grand Junction for surgery. The family later said that Moore, of Krum, Texas, also had a complication involving his brain.

Colten Moore was injured in a separate crash that same night. He suffered a separated pelvis in the spill.

The family said in a statement they were grateful for all the prayers and support they have received from people around the world.

X Games officials expressed their condolences and said Moore, a four-time X Games medallist , would be remembered "for his natural passion for life and his deep love for his family and friends."

B.C. Vaught, Caleb Moore's agent for almost a decade, said he first saw Moore when he was racing an ATV in Minnesota and signed him up to star in some action sports movies.

Later, Moore wanted to make the switch from ATVs to snowmobiles and Vaught helped him. A natural talent, it only took Moore two weeks to master a difficult backflip.

Moore honed his skills in Krum, a town about 5,000 people 50 miles northwest of Dallas that rarely sees snow. Instead, he worked on tricks by launching his sled into a foam pit. After a brief training run on snow ramps in Michigan, he was ready for his sport's biggest stage the 2010 Winter X Games.

In that contest, Moore captured a bronze in freestyle and finished sixth in best trick. Two years later, his biography on ESPN said, "Caleb Moore has gone from 'beginner's luck' to 'serious threat.'"

That was hardly a surprise to Vaught, who said, "Whatever he wanted to do, he did it."

Vaught said Moore didn't believe his sport was too extreme, but rather "it was a lifestyle." He was good at it along with ATV racing as he accumulated a garage full of trophies.

Fellow snowmobile rider Levi LaVallee recently described Moore as a "fierce competitor."

"A very creative mind," LaVallee said. "I've watched him try some crazy, crazy tricks and some of them were successful, some of them not so much. But he was first guy to get back on a sled and go try it again. It shows a lot of heart."

X Games officials said in a statement that they would conduct a thorough review of freestyle snowmobiling events and adopt any appropriate changes.

"For 18 years, we have worked closely on safety issues with athletes, course designers and other experts. Still, when the world's best compete at the highest level in any sport, risks remain," they said, noting that Moore was hurt performing a move he had done several times before.