DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The World Food Prize Foundation on Wednesday took the bold step of awarding this year's prize to three pioneers of plant biotechnology whose work brought the world genetically modified crops.

The private nonprofit foundation, which is in part funded by biotechnology companies, refused to shy away from the controversy surrounding genetically modified crops that organic food advocates say are harmful to people and the environment.

"If we were to be deterred by a controversy, that would diminish our prize," said the foundation's president, Kenneth Quinn, a retired U.S. diplomat.

This year's award goes to Marc Van Montagu, founder and chairman of the Institute of Plant Biotechnology Outreach at Ghent University in Belgium; Mary-Dell Chilton, founder and researcher at Syngenta Biotechnology; and Robert Fraley, chief technology officer at Monsanto.

Van Montagu and Chilton independently developed the technology in the 1980s to stably transfer foreign genes into plants, a discovery that set up a race to develop tools to genetically engineer plants. It allowed other scientists to incorporate genetic traits in plants to better withstand drought, extreme heat and to fight off pests and disease. Fraley was the first to successfully transfer immunity to specific bacteria into a plant.

Fraley genetically engineered the first herbicide-resistant soybean in 1996.

The foundation lists Monsanto and Syngenta Foundation among its annual donors, along with other agribusiness corporations such as DuPont Pioneer, Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Cargill.

The award drew immediate condemnation from opponents of corporate farming.

"We could not ask for a better poster child for what's wrong with the prize than the recipients of this year's World Food Prize," said Frank Cordaro, who organized an Occupy World Food Prize protest last year. "It's all part of the very same system of the corporate elite. The problem is not with the recipients, the problem is with the system that gives the 1 percent all the power and corporate agriculture is built on that system."

Genetically enhanced crops are grown on more than 420 million acres in nearly 30 countries by over 17 million farmers worldwide, the foundation said. More than 90 percent are small, resource-poor farmers in developing countries.

Many U.S. farmers credited genetic modifications in corn with saving last year's crop from all but total devastation as half of the nation endured the worst drought in 60 years. Modern corn plants are more stable and can withstand a wider variety of climate conditions because of genetically improved leaves, roots and reproductive capability.

Fraley said biotechnology will enable the farming industry to meet the needs of a growing global population.

"We know we need from a demand perspective to double food production around the world in the next 30 years," he said.

Some organic farmers warn that widespread planting of genetically modified crops could contaminate organic and traditional crops, destroying their value. Others are concerned about the uncharted long-term impact for those who eat products such as milk and beef from animals raised on genetically modified plants.

"GMO crops have led to the loss of food security worldwide and for small farmers, they have led to the development of factory farms and have destroyed biodiversity in food we do produce and consume," said David Goodner, a community organizer for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, an environmental and human rights activist group that opposes corporate farming. "The World Food Prize by selecting these people to honor shows that it cares more about corporate profits than it cares about truly feeding the world with healthy food."

Van Montagu said the food prize award should raise understanding of the safety of genetically modified crops.

"We just have to explain to society the science fact and that is not the slightest risk has been identified. These crops are as safe, if not safer, than food that comes from traditional agriculture," he said. "If somebody denies that we bluntly can say they are misinformed."

The World Food Prize was created in 1986 by Norman Borlaug, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to fight hunger. Borlaug was honored in 1970 for work that boosted agricultural production in what has become known as the "Green Revolution."

Recipients will receive the prize, which includes $250,000, at a ceremony in October at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines attended by hundreds of scholars and agribusiness leaders from around the world.

ZURICH (Reuters) - The bitter battle for the presidency of cycling's governing body took another twist on Friday as the two candidates, incumbent Pat McQuaid and challenger Brian Cookson, were involved in another angry exchange.

McQuaid, bidding for a third mandate as president of the International Cycling Union (UCI), angrily hit out at suggestions that he had broken the rules governing the nomination of candidates, describing the claim as "outrageous."

Cookson, head of British Cycling and the only challenger so far, replied that McQuaid's remarks were "another attempt to denigrate the current presidential process."

Irishman McQuaid, who has been president since 2005, failed to win the backing of his own country's Irish Cycling federation but received nominations from the federations of Switzerland, Thailand and Morocco.

However, he later received a letter from British Cycling's lawyers which suggested the UCI had accepted his nominations from the Thai and Moroccan federations after the closing date, McQuaid said.

"That is an outrageous suggestion," said McQuaid in a statement.

"Brian must immediately make a statement on whether he believes that to be true and if he believes otherwise he has duty to ensure that this allegation is publicly withdrawn."

McQuaid confirmed that the Swiss, Thai and Moroccan nominations were all received before the deadline in accordance with the UCI rules.

"As the president of British Cycling, Brian Cookson must explain his decision to allow his federation - that is funding his campaign - to behave in this way and to use its considerable financial clout to employ lawyers to challenge issues in the election," said McQuaid.

"I do not fear an open election and I am not at all concerned by my ability to secure the support and votes that I require to be re-elected as UCI President," he added.

"While it would appear that Brian has lost confidence in his own ability, I continue to challenge him to allow the UCI Congress and its voting delegates to decide."

RULE BENDING

Cookson, who has been president of British Cycling since 1997, quickly hit back with a statement of his own.

"Sadly today we have seen yet another attempt by the existing UCI President, Pat McQuaid, to denigrate the current presidential election process," he said.

"I want nothing more than an open and properly conducted democratic election and vote for the UCI presidency. To suggest otherwise is nonsense.

"It is also true that I, and many in our sport, have legitimate and growing concerns about the retrospective rule bending and attempted manipulation that is taking place at present.

"In my view it is therefore absolutely correct that British Cycling and others have raised concerns regarding proposed rule changes which have a direct impact on the election process now under way. These concerns need to be addressed.

"Far from ducking these issues, for the good of cycling and the reputation of the UCI, it is critical that openness and transparency guide our procedures and not desperate maneuvers and outbursts by Mr McQuaid."

Cookson has based his candidacy on restoring trust and credibility in the UCI as the organization struggles to deal with the aftermath of the Lance Armstrong doping scandal and allegations it did not do enough to catch the American, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles last year.

McQuaid has already described Cookson's election manifesto as "half-baked, fundamentally flawed and financially impractical". The election is scheduled to take place in September.

(Reporting By Brian Homewood, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

The country has a long and storied boxing tradition and is usually a force at international amateur tournaments. This move represents a big step for the island's Communist authorities, who long ago decided pro sports were not in keeping with Marxist social ideals.

The new format, the World Series of Boxing, consists of 12 squads from across the globe that square off in a series of five fights using a point system similar to the pros.

The World Series of Boxing is organized by the international boxing association known as AIBA. The competition begins in November.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Cuba to World Series of Boxing," AIBA President C.K. Wu said in a statement. "With a total of 116 World medals and 67 Olympic ones, Cuban boxers have always lived at the pinnacle of our sport. ... We are convinced that this new franchise will bring WSB to an even higher level."

In addition to the salaries, boxers in the series can make $500 to $2,000 bonuses, although it's not immediately clear how, or how much, the Cubans will be paid.

They still stand to receive a big raise from their current salaries, which are close to the $20 a month that most Cuban workers earn. The best boxers, those who win medals at major tournaments, are granted lifetime stipends of up to $300 a month.

Wu visited the island in January for talks with local sports officials about adding Cuba to the series. The nation's fighters have expressed great excitement about the prospect. Boxers in the World Series will compete for 30 automatic bids to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

"It is our duty to help our athletes develop their careers as far as possible," Cuban Boxing Federation President Alberto Puig de la Barca was quoted as saying by AIBA. "Our best boxers will compete in WSB over seven months against the world's cream of the crop. This will offer them the chance to get a taste of the styles of other world-class athletes and thus be better prepared to face them in the Olympic Games, Pan American, Central American and world championships."

"We are pleased to join," he added.

Fidel Castro banned professional sports in 1961, two years after the Cuban Revolution.

"Sport is not just another instrument of the market ... nor of profit for promoters, agents and all manner of parasites that feed off the athlete's hard work," Castro said in 2005.

He left office in 2006 because of a near-fatal intestinal ailment, and brother Raul has been in charge since. The younger Castro has since instituted a number of social and economic reforms that have brought significant change to the country's socialist model.

___

Follow Anne-Marie Garcia on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AnneMarie279

The Yosemite Valley, the part of the park frequented by tourists and known around the world for such iconic sights as the Half Dome and El Capitan rock formations and Yosemite falls, remained open, clear of smoke and free from other signs of the fire that remained about 20 miles away.

But the blaze was reverberating around the region. It brought a governor's declaration of emergency late Friday for San Francisco 150 miles away because of the threat the fire posed to utility transmission to the city, and caused smoke warnings and event cancellations in Nevada as smoke blew over the Sierra Nevada and across state lines.

And the fire had established at least a foothold in Yosemite, with at least 17 of its 196 square miles burning inside the park's broad borders, in a remote area near Lake Eleanor where backpackers seek summer solace.

Park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said that the park had stopped issuing backcountry permits to backpackers and had warned those who already had them to stay out of the area.

She emphasized that the skies over Yosemite Valley were "crystal clear," however.

"Right now there are no closures, and no visitor services are being affected in the park," Cobb said. "We just have to take one day at a time."

The blaze did, however, pose a threat to the lines and stations that pipe power to the city of San Francisco, so Brown, who had declared an emergency for the fire area earlier in the week, made the unusual move of doing the same for the city across the state.

San Francisco gets 85 percent of its water from the Yosemite-area Hetch Hetchy reservoir that is about 4 miles from the fire, though that had yet to be affected. But it was forced to shut down two of its three hydroelectric power stations in the area.

The city has so far been able to buy power on the open market and use existing supplies, but further disruptions or damage could have an effect, according to city power officials and the governor's statement.

The declaration frees funding and resources to help the city and makes it eligible for more federal funds to help with power shortages and outages or water problems.

The 196-square-mile blaze was 5 percent contained and more than 2,000 firefighters were on the lines.

It continued to grow in several directions, although "most of the fire activity is pushing to the east right into Yosemite," said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The Nevada smoke forced officials in several counties to cancel outdoor school activities and issue health advisories, especially for people with respiratory problems.

The fire was threatening about 5,500 residences, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The blaze has destroyed four homes and 12 outbuildings in several different areas.

The blaze closed a 4-mile stretch of State Route 120, one of three entrances into Yosemite on the west side. Two other western routes and an eastern route were open.

Officials issued voluntary evacuation advisories for two new towns Tuolumne City, population 1,800, and Ponderosa Hills, a community of several hundred which are about five miles from the fire line, Forest Service spokesman Jerry Snyder said.

A mandatory evacuation order remained in effect for part of Pine Mountain Lake, a summer gated community a few miles from the fire.

"It feels a little bit like a war zone, with helicopters flying overhead, bombers dropping retardant and 10 engine companies stationed on our street," said Ken Codeglia, a retired Pine Mountain Lake resident who decided to stay to protect his house with his own hoses and fire retardant system. "But if the fire gets very hot and firefighters evacuate, I will run with them."

Officials previously advised voluntary evacuations of more than a thousand other homes, several organized camps and at least two campgrounds in the area outside the park's boundary.

More homes, businesses and hotels are threatened in nearby Groveland, a community of 600 about 5 miles from the fire and 25 miles from the entrance of Yosemite.

Usually filled with tourists, the streets are now swarming with firefighters, evacuees, and news crews, said Doug Edwards, owner of Hotel Charlotte on Main Street.

"We usually book out six months solid with no vacancies and turn away 30-40 people a night. That's all changed," Edwards said. "All we're getting for the next three weeks is cancellations. It's a huge impact on the community in terms of revenue dollars."

The fire is raging in the same region where a 1987 fire killed a firefighter, burned hundreds of thousands of acres, and forced several thousand people out of their homes.

[More from BGR: ]

Theis basically that it needs to engage in a race to the bottom to keep up its market share edge over dirt-cheap Android vendors such asXiaomi and Micromax. Given that these companies are releasing phones with strong specs at seemingly crazy price points theXiaomi Hongmi phone, for instance, is priced at $130 and features a quad-core 1.5GHz processor, a 4.7-inch display with a pixel density of 312 pixels-per-inch, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a2,000 mAh battery it can be hard for even Samsung to keep pace.

[More from BGR: ]

This type of margin-destroying competition goes a long way toward explaining why : Companies have to be very careful when they engage in price battles with cheapvendors if they dont want to see their profits shrivel up. With the iPhone 5C, Apple is taking a calculated risk that the device will draw enough consumers in emerging markets to help it shore up its market share without doing too much damage to the companys bottom line.

This article was

JINAN, China (Reuters) - Fallen politician Bo Xilai put up a feisty defense on Thursday as he faced China's most political trial in decades, saying he was framed in bribery charges against him and had admitted to them under psychological pressure during interrogation.

The 64-year-old former Communist Party chief of the southwestern city of Chongqing has been charged with illegally taking almost 27 million yuan ($4.41 million), corruption and abuse of power and will almost certainly be found guilty.

Bo's denial of the charges and strong language as he made his first public appearance since being ousted early last year were unexpected. But observers said he could have agreed to choreographed proceedings that would show authorities in an impartial light in exchange for a pre-arranged sentence.

President Xi Jinping is seeking unstinted support from the party as he seeks to push reforms that will rebalance the economy, and will want Bo's trial to be finished quickly and with a minimum of fuss.

"He (Bo) is clearly going along with this trial," said Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch. "The outcome has been already decided. There's probably an agreement already between Bo and the party as to what the outcome will be."

Bo's downfall has pitted supporters of his Maoist-themed egalitarian social programs against the capitalist-leaning economic road taken by the leadership in Beijing, exposing divisions within the ruling party as well as Chinese society.

Bo was one of China's rising political stars and his trial in the eastern city of Jinan marks the culmination of the country's biggest political scandal since the 1976 downfall of the Gang of Four at the end of the Cultural Revolution.

Television pictures showed a somber-looking, clean-shaven Bo, whose hair looked like it was still dyed black, in the dock without handcuffs. He was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and stood with his hands crossed in front of him, flanked by two policemen.

Foreign media were not allowed to attend the trial and Bo's remarks were carried on the court's official microblog, so are likely to have been edited. Still, the transcripts provided by the court mark a level of openness that is unprecedented for a trial in China.

"Regarding the matter of Tang Xiaolin giving me money three times, I once admitted it against my will during the Central Discipline Inspection Commission's investigation against me," Bo said, referring to the party's top anti-graft body.

"(I'm) willing to bear the legal responsibilities, but at that time I did not know the circumstances of these matters: my mind was a blank," he added.

"MAD DOG"

Bo was charged with receiving about 21.8 million yuan ($3.56 million) in bribes from Xu Ming, a plastics-to-property entrepreneur who was a close friend and is in custody, and Tang, the general manager of Hong Kong-based export company Dalian International Development Ltd, the court said.

Bo called Tang "a mad dog" who wanted to "frame me out of consideration for his own interests".

"This evidence has little to do with my criminality," Bo said. "I was just hoodwinked. I thought it was all official business."

Bo said he had previously admitted taking some bribes from both Xu and Tang as he had been "under psychological pressure" during the party's earlier investigation against him.

But Bo denied receiving the 21.8 million yuan from Xu or knowing of a villa in France that Xu, who was in court, said he helped buy for Bo's wife, Gu Kailai.

"I am completely unaware of the property in Nice in France. The entire process is fabricated," Bo said.

Some of the funds from Xu and Tang were given to Gu and the couple's son, Bo Guagua, the court said, citing both the indictment and Xu himself.

It was the first time that authorities had named the younger Bo in the case against his father. Guagua is now in the United States, pursuing a law degree at Columbia University, and was not immediately available for comment.

Tang's whereabouts are unclear. A secretary at Dalian International's office in Hong Kong said she had not seen Tang since May or June last year. There was also no one at his last known residential address in Hong Kong.

Written evidence from Gu was provided to the court in which she said she had seen a large amount of cash in safes at two of their residences, money which matched the amount allegedly given to Bo by Tang.

Bo said that testimony was "laughable".

KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT TO SAY

"He knows exactly what to say and what not to say," said Zhang Sizhi, who defended Mao Zedong's widow Jiang Qing during the Gang of Four trial in 1980. "It seems some sort of understanding was reached ahead of time."

Bo's trial will last for two days and the verdict is likely to be in early September, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Court spokesman Liu Yanjie said Bo was "emotionally stable and physically healthy" during the trial.

The Jinan Intermediate Court said on its microblog feed that five of Bo's family members attended the hearing. In another picture published by the court, Bo's siblings appeared to be in court. The court said over 100 people filled the courtroom.

Underscoring popular support for Bo, a handful of supporters protested outside the courthouse for a second day to denounce what they said was politically motivated persecution. Police, who had blocked off the courthouse, hustled them away.

Bo also embezzled 5 million yuan from a government project in the northeastern city of Dalian, where he served as mayor, the court said.

The charge of abuse of power against Bo relates to the murder case involving Gu, the court said. Bo was a rising star in China's leadership circles when his career was stopped short last year by the scandal involving Gu, who was convicted of the November 2011 murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, a business partner and family friend.

Bo's former police chief in Chongqing, Wang Lijun, has also been jailed for trying to cover up the case. Bo was furious with Wang when he was told that his wife was a murder suspect, and sacked him despite not having party authority to do so, sources with knowledge of the case have said.

Neither did he report the matter to his bosses in Beijing, all of which led to the abuse of power charge, they said.

Bo could face the death sentence, though a suspended death sentence is more likely, which effectively means life imprisonment, or a 20-year term.

His guilt is an almost foregone conclusion given that prosecutors and courts come under Communist Party control.

(Additional reporting by Judy Hua in JINAN; Sui-Lee Wee, Hui Li, Megha Rajagopalan and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; and James Pomfret in HONG KONG; Writing by Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

The corn was planted in June at the Stony Hill Farm in Chester.

Owner Dale Davis tells Newark's The Star-Ledger newspaper (http://bit.ly/13Fl0kE ) he chose the maze to get people interested. He says everybody recognizes Christie but he doesn't know whether a lot of people would recognize gubernatorial rival Sen. Barbara Buono (BWOH'-noh).

Christie is far ahead of Buono in public polls and leads among nearly every demographic group. He's seen as a viable contender for the 2016 Republican nomination for president.

The Morris County maze will open to the paying public Aug. 31. The election is Nov. 5.

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Information from: The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger, http://www.nj.com

On Tuesday (Aug. 20), nicknamed the "Eight Balls" were formally welcomed to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they're set to begin two years of basic training.

"For more than 50 years, from the early days of Gemini and the Apollo moon landings to the historic achievements of the 30-year space shuttle era and today's International Space Station, the Johnson Space Center has been home to America's human spaceflight program," Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator and a former astronaut, said Tuesday morning at a press conference. []

"The today are critical to achieving our ambitious goals," Bolden added. "They will help us continue to lead the world in exploration, and they'll become role models for boys and girls, men and women, from all over the world. Their journey begins now and the nation, as it always has, will be right beside them reaching for the stars."

Chosen in June from an applicant pool of more than 6,000, includes four men (Josh Cassada, Victor Glover, Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan) and four women (Christina Hammock, Nicole Mann, Anne McClain and Jessica Meir).

"These next generation American astronauts will...have an opportunity to fly on new commercial space transportation systems that are now under development," Bolden said. "More importantly, they will be among those who plan and perhaps carry out first-ever human missions to an asteroid and on to ."

"Of course, it all begins with preparing them for missions to the ," he said.

The first lady will speak during Saturday's festivities, the unofficial kickoff to the U.S. Open, tennis' last Grand Slam tournament of the year. She'll join defending women's champ Serena Williams, former champions Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (NOH'-vak YOH'-koh-vihch), along with celebrities including singer Ariana Grande, who has the hit song "The Way."

Mrs. Obama participated in activities at the event, held in Flushing, N.Y., in 2011.

She has been leading a national campaign to get kids more active and eating healthy meals.

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Online:

http://www.aakd.com

Interim enforcement chief Jonathan Duncan told The Associated Press he wants investigators to spend more time on college campuses so they can get a glimpse into the real-life challenges of running and policing athletic departments in today's work.

"One of the things I hear is that our staff sometimes lacks an understanding of what campus life is really like," Duncan said. "So we are piloting a program where our staff will work on campus with athletic directors, compliance staff members and coaches and walk in their shoes so that we have a true understanding of what goes on."

While the program is new, the concept is not.

School leaders frequently complain the NCAA rulebook is overloaded and outdated and sometimes brand NCAA officials as out-of-touch with the ever-changing, multimillion-dollar world of college sports. There are potential pitfalls everywhere on campuses that are largely open to the public and presumably open to troubling influences like associates of unscrupulous agents. Those contacts can jeopardize a player's eligibility and get coaches and programs in serious trouble.

The consequences are greater now that the new enforcement policies have officially taken effect. The new rules hold coaches more accountable for their actions and those of their staff. Rules violations could lead to suspensions of up to one year. To avoid potentially damaging and costly punishments, school leaders also will have an opportunity to demonstrate to the infractions committee what they did to create a culture of compliance on campus.

But Duncan wants his staff members to get a firsthand look at the new normal. Details of the plan are still being worked out.

"In the coming weeks and months, we will continue working and communicating with NCAA staff and the members," he wrote Friday in an email to the AP. "The program will place different levels of enforcement staff members on campus for varying amounts of time to provide a greater understanding of the campus experience."

That's not the only change Duncan has planned.

"There are those who believe in the membership that our staff members could benefit from better training in investigative techniques and interviewing techniques," Duncan said. "We are going to provide that training so that a good investigation will be done timely and professionally, though I'm not suggesting that doesn't happen now."

This new way of thinking is part of Duncan's broad plan to rebuild the enforcement staff's tattered reputation.

In January, NCAA President Mark Emmert announced a rogue enforcement official ignored the governing body's own policies and the advice of higher-ups to improperly collect evidence against the University of Miami. Emmert promised to scrub the investigation of any evidence obtained improperly.

In February, after releasing details of an external review into what happened, Julie Roe Lach was ousted as the NCAA's top cop and Duncan was appointed as interim chief. He's been given an 18-month trial run. It certainly hasn't been an easy transition for the former Kansas City attorney, who took over a department that needed a morale boost in mid-March.

"Certainly it's been a difficult time in enforcement," he said. "They are tough, hard-working, good people but they are human. I think morale is good and I think it will continue to improve."

There are plenty of questions, too.

Some wonder whether an NCAA outsider can be an effective enforcement leader during the turmoil, while others suggest the exodus of experienced staff members leaves the staff short-handed at a time rules violations appear to be increasing.

Duncan discounts both arguments, pointing out he has been doing NCAA work for years and that even at less than full staff, the enforcement division can function at full capacity. In fact, he's planning to bring in more staff members from campuses. He's also planning to hire a director of quality control, a newly-created position that will help the NCAA provide better service to schools.

"Of course it will be nice when we're fully staffed, but we are working hard," Duncan said, explaining he hopes to have all the replacements hired by the end of the year. "We work on cases as a team, and the work does continue. I know there are critics who doubt that, but they don't know what we're doing."

What Duncan has attempted to do is change the way the enforcement staff operates.

He has asked schools for suggestions, used technological advances to improve the process and update forms and attempted to give schools better "customer service."

What else? Well, he's had investigators combing through rulebooks.

"They do receive training on that, but it needs to be more intense and they have to have better access to real-time, more in-depth information about the bylaws," Duncan said. "Our staff is charged with enforcing all of the rules in the book, times three, because of Division I, Division II and Division III. That's a lot. The rules are different, and I don't think sometimes that people understand the breadth of the bylaws in all three divisions."

But the overall goal has not changed, and getting staff members back on campus could help.

"I think what membership wants," Duncan said, "is a strong, aggressive enforcement department that operates within the NCAA's beliefs."