Earlier in the day, U.S. President Barack Obama had indicated he would block the pipeline if it significantly increased the problem of carbon pollution and said the net effects of its impact on the climate would be a critical factor.

"On a net basis, we don't see any increase in emissions as a result of the construction of the pipeline," Oliver told reporters in Toronto. He said at least 20 percent of the oil transported by Keystone would be lighter grades of crude that would not come from the tar sands and would therefore not be carbon intensive to produce.

(Reporting by Cameron French, writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Gary Hill)

RELATED:

According to the report from the  (based, of course, on unnamed sources), one of the rumored devices — which also includes a Nexus Q media-playing device — would be released this fall. But according to the Journal, it looks like the company might have another compelling reason for getting into the game on gaming, at least when it comes to competing with more traditional gaming console makers:  

"Games that run on Android software have proved particularly popular, and they are growing much more quickly than games made for the big-name consoles supplied by Microsoft Corp., Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. The appeal of such games has prompted the development of new devices aimed specifically for Android by other hardware companies." 

Google Play's store has over 100,000 games already loaded, so the companyif they did launch a console. They wouldn't, however, be the first Android-based console out there. The , which launched this week, runs a version of Android. 

The Fox action-comedy starring the funny ladies as mismatched detectives earned $40 million in second place in its opening weekend, topping the $25.7 million debut haul of Sony's "White House Down," according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Disney-Pixar animated prequel "Monsters University" remained box-office valedictorian in its second weekend, earning $46.1 million in first place.

As for "The Heat," employing two female leads to buck the male-dominated buddy-cop formula paid off in ticket sales.

"I think the fact that we have a female-centric movie standing out in a forest of giant tent-pole movies is phenomenal," said Chris Aronson, Fox's president of domestic distribution. "Audiences really responded. We positioned this to be a female event movie, and we got the opening that we were hoping for this weekend."

"White House Down," which features Tatum as a wannabe Secret Service agent and Foxx as the President of the United States of America, was inaugurated below expectations in fourth place. The film's White House takeover plot is strikingly similar to FilmDistrict's "Olympus Has Fallen," which opened in March and starred Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart.

"It turned out to be a very competitive weekend," said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of worldwide distribution. "We had hoped 'White House Down' did better, just from the standpoint that we love this film, but I feel very hopeful that with the July 4th holiday coming up, it will be the perfect film for audiences, and it'll really add up for us."

Meanwhile, Paramount's "World War Z" took another bite out of the box office in its second weekend domestically with $29.8 million. Overseas, the globe-trotting zombie thriller starring Brad Pitt cleared $70.1 million in 51 territories.

"I think the variety of films is what brought people out to the movie theaters," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "There's a G-rated movie at the top of the chart and an R-rated movie in second place. That says a lot about the summer marketplace and how a unique slate of films can propel the box office."

"Man of Steel" is still flying high in its third week, coming in fifth place with $20.8 million in North America and $52.2 million in such international markets as Australia, Sweden and China. The Warner Bros. retelling of Superman's origin passed the $500 million mark on Saturday.

Overall, Dergarabedian said revenue and attendance are now both down just 2 percent over last year, and this weekend's films grossed 8.5 percent less than last year when Universal's "Ted" opened with $54.4 million at the box office. He said those numbers could shift further next week when Disney's "The Lone Ranger" and Universal's "Despicable Me 2" debut.

___

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.

1. "Monsters University," $46.1 million ($44.2 million international).

2. "The Heat," $40 million.

3. "World War Z," $29.8 million ($70.1 million international).

4. "White House Down," $25.7 million ($6.8 million international.)

5. "Man of Steel," $20.8 million ($52.2 million international).

6. "This Is the End," $8.7 million.

7. "Now You See Me," $5.5 million ($5 million international).

8. "Fast & Furious 6," $2.4 million ($6.1 million international).

9. "Star Trek: Into Darkness," $2 million ($2 million international).

10. "The Internship," $1.4 million ($3.6 million international).

___

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "World War Z," $70.1 million.

2. "Man of Steel," $52.2 million.

3. "Monsters University," $44.2 million.

4. "Despicable Me 2," $41.5 million.

5. "The Hangover Part III," $7.7 million.

6. "Fast & Furious 6," $6.1 million.

7. "Epic," $5.1 million.

8. "Now You See Me," $5 million.

9. "The Internship," $3.6 million.

10. "The Great Gatsby," $3.3 million.

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.

(Reuters) - U.S. cable companies and satellite TV providers, locked in battle with broadcasters and online sites for advertising, are taking a page from Google Inc by using data on their subscribers' tastes to serve up tailored commercials.

In Los Angeles, a 35-year-old female DirecTV subscriber with a cat might get a spot promoting cat food, while the satellite provider would beam a car advertisement to her next door neighbor, a bachelor watching the same channel.

DirecTV combines data it collects from viewing habits from its customers' digital video recorders with information from third-party market researchers in categories such as income, gender, age and buying habits. This is how it figures out how to send the right ad to the person on the other end of the pitch.

"We can target based on demographics, household income, geo-targeting, home owners versus rental - a wide variety," said Paul Guyardo, chief revenue and marketing officer for DirecTV.

This makes commercials more relevant to customers and "can move dollars back into national television because we can provide the same targeting as online ads," Guyardo said.

DirecTV said it keeps this data anonymous and in "aggregate form" so it does not invade its customers' privacy.

Dish Network Inc and cable providers Comcast Corp and Cablevision Systems Corp also let advertisers create "addressable" ads, using third-party data on demographics and buying patterns to aim for certain types of subscribers.

DirecTV and the other providers said they do not target ads based on the specific programs their customers are watching.

Part of the information DirecTV uses comes from data on which customers pay for premium subscriptions, watch shows on demand or how much they spend on movies.

Dish's senior vice president of media sales Warren Schlichting said his company is taking a more conservative approach than DirecTV by choosing not to target ads based on behavioral viewing habits. He said this is because Dish does not want to make any customers uncomfortable.

As it relates to privacy, "the rules need to be worked out as companies and viewers get used to this new approach in advertising," Schlicting said.

Comcast declined to comment about why the company does not use TV viewing data to tailor ads and Cablevision did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pay television providers say the data they use is kept anonymous and aggregated, which blocks them from connecting a name and address with specific details about a household, and that customers can opt out from receiving targeted ads.

Even so, some consumer advocates bristle at the amount of data TV providers can use to target ads to viewers.

"They have more information today through your TV viewing than they have ever had before," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. "Consumers are getting little in return except an invasion of privacy."

TWO COMMERCIALS PER HOUR

Technology to deliver customized ads is widely used online by companies such as Google and Facebook Inc, but is only now starting to get a foothold among TV providers.

In January, DirecTV allowed 40 of its advertisers, including Allstate and Volkswagen, use its addressable technology to send ads.

DirecTV's agreements with the cable channels allow the satellite operator to intercept and replace an average of two minutes every hour with its own commercials on such heavily watched channels as Walt Disney Co's ESPN and AMC Networks Inc. It can beam addressable commercials for those advertisers to 12 million of its subscribers who have digital video recorders.

DirecTV is on track to generate more than $60 million in revenue from those ads by year's end, according to a person familiar with the matter. That figure is up from zero a year ago and growing by a double-digit percentage.

In March, premium movie channel Starz tested addressable advertising for five days by targeting ads using data from DirecTV to pinpoint movie fans between the ages of 35 and 54 who also were subscribers of rival HBO. Those customers got an ad tailored for them promoting the Starz service for $12.99 per month.

Starz saw a "huge lift" in sales, according to Ed Huguez, president of affiliate distribution at premium movie channel Starz. Sales jumped 49 percent among the targeted viewers compared with another group who were less likely to watch movies that Starz approached with a more general offer.

That prompted Starz to invest a "meaningful amount of money" in a two-week campaign in June to use commercials promoting different offers tailored to its target audience. For instance, discounts were offered to consumers that Starz considered less likely to subscribe.

"We have multiple offers based on who we know will get that commercial," Huguez said. "If you're going to spend tens of millions of dollars to promote and drive your business, you want those dollars to be spent on those who have the highest probability of buying."

Dish Network, DirecTV's satellite TV rival, is signing six and seven figure deals with advertisers for its addressable technology, which now reaches 7 million homes, according to Dish's Schlichting.

Cable provider Comcast also has started offering addressable options to advertisers. One credit card provider used data from market research firm Experian to send TV commercials to Comcast customers in zip codes with a larger number of households earning $150,000-plus and credit scores over 700.

Online credit card applications in those areas more than doubled, said Andrew Ward, a group vice president for Comcast Spotlight, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable.

Comcast plans to use the technology to make its own TV advertising more efficient by avoiding ads that promote its "triple play" offer, combining phone, Internet and cable services in a single package, to subscribers who already have it. Instead, those customers might get a pitch for Comcast's home security offering.

The ads have potential, but there are hurdles before the technology becomes widespread, said Jeff Minsky, director of emerging media at media agency OMD.

Buying the custom ads currently requires an extra step of signing an agreement with a cable or satellite operator and prices still run high, said Minsky, who has some deals for tailored ads in the works.

"I would like to have that personal conversation with the consumer, but sometimes it's more cost-effective to just have a mass-market, national commercial," Minsky added.

(Reporting By Liana B. Baker in New York and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Edited by Ron Grover, Leslie Gevirtz and Andre Grenon)

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The climax of a major international soccer tournament that provided the backdrop for the biggest mass protests to sweep Brazil in 20 years was set to kick off late Sunday as scattered demonstrations proceeded amid an otherwise festive feel.

A deployment of about 10,000 police and other security forces was largely idle before game time as Brazil, playing in Rio's Maracan stadium, geared up to play Spain, the reigning world champions, in the final of the Confederations Cup.

The tournament, which began two weeks ago, is a warmup to the World Cup, which Brazil will host next year.

Ticket holders, revelers and curious onlookers converged on the stadium despite a few small demonstrations that are part of an ongoing wave of protests in Latin America's biggest country.

After a decade-long economic boom that has now cooled, Brazilians have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest against poor public services, inflation, rising crime and a host of other ills.

The marches, which drew over a million protesters in more than 100 cities at their peak this month, have used the ongoing soccer tournament as a stage from which to vent their grievances. Many Brazilians are outraged that the country is spending about $14 billion to host the World Cup at a time when schools, hospitals, roads and public security are in dire need of investment.

President Dilma Rousseff, whose approval ratings have plunged since the protests began, was initially expected to attend Sunday's game - a major event in soccer-crazed Brazil. But, taking note of the discontent of voters, she decided not to attend after she was booed at the tournament opener in Brasilia.

On Saturday, polling firm Datafolha said Rousseff's approval rating sank by 27 percentage points in the last three weeks. Though the numbers fell from what had been consistently high ratings previously, the precipitous drop suggested that the demonstrations could pose a serious threat to her likely re-election bid next year.

Early on Sunday afternoon, a group of about 5,000 protesters marched peacefully near the Maracan stadium. Other groups also marched later in the day.

(Writing by Paulo Prada; editing by Todd Benson and Christopher Wilson)

RELATED:

RELATED:

Bonkers, right? All that violence, all that weird stuff with feet, organizing a 140-character army from his million-plus followers — you would have thought this reporter stepped on Baldwin's dog or, considering Baldwin's past, . But Stark, whose beat seems to revolve around  and , just reported that Hilaria Baldwin had been busy tweeting next to her husband from inside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine during the otherwise very for the Sopranos actor on Thursday morning.  

RELATED:

"Hilaria posted tweets at 9.53am, 10.17am and 11.09am," . If you look on Hilaria Baldwin's , some of the tweets Stark cites actually show that they were posted after the funeral let out, around 1 p.m. This is the 10:17 a.m. tweet Stark cites, presumably the one that led launched the homophobic rant: 

RELATED:

RELATED:

So that sort of looks like Baldwin is somewhat right. But when you've got a history ofaltercation, angryfor your daughter, a racial  for a photographer, and Twitterwith the likes of Dean Skelos, well, let's just say nobody wins in a Twitter war about Twitter, and sometimes it's best to leave the attention on those resting in peace.

Aaron Hernandez ran around defenders after catching the ball. Rob Gronkowski ran over them.

Tight end was one position coach Bill Belichick could rely on.

Not anymore.

The Patriots cut Hernandez a few hours after he was arrested Wednesday. Later that day, he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in connection with the death of an acquaintance, Odin Lloyd, who, prosecutors said, was shot to death on June 17.

On June 18, Gronkowski underwent back surgery. He already had four operations on the left forearm he broke last November and may not be ready for the start of the season.

Tim Tebow might be.

There's a widespread feeling that the polarizing quarterback signed by the Patriots on June 11 can't play that position in the NFL. Tight end might be a different story.

"I thought if he was going to play in the National Football League, his position was going to be that of a tight end, H-back-type," NFL draft consultant and former Dallas Cowboys vice president of player personnel Gil Brandt said.

At 6-foot-3 and 236 pounds, Tebow has the size for the position, although he played only quarterback during the Patriots three-day minicamp, which began the day he signed. A strong, shifty runner, he could be successful catching quick-out passes from Tom Brady and taking off downfield. The speed and vertical jump he showed at the NFL combine before being drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2010 also are impressive, Brandt said.

"I'd like to have Tebow waiting in the wings to do something because past history says he can do it," Brandt said. "Coming out of Florida, I thought he was a quarterback. I don't think he is now."

Belichick was his usual uninformative self when Tebow signed when he was asked where the newcomer fits in.

"I don't know," he said. "We'll see."

Brady already was working with a revamped group of wide receivers after losing his top two pass catchers. Wes Welker had 118 receptions last season, then signed with Denver. Brandon Lloyd had 74, then was released.

The turnover is so thorough that the Patriots may open the season without Brady's top seven targets from last season. Five are no longer with the team and two Gronkowski and wide receiver Julian Edelman may not be healthy enough. Of the 402 passes caught by the Patriots last season, the recipients of only 101 remain. And that includes Gronkowski's 55.

In the offseason, the Patriots signed free agent wide receivers Danny Amendola, Michael Jenkins, Donald Jones and Lavelle Hawkins and drafted Aaron Dobson from Marshall and Josh Boyce from TCU to compete at that position.

"It takes a lot of time" to develop chemistry between a quarterback and his receivers, Brady said after the last minicamp practice on June 12. "Guys have been working pretty hard. We've been here the whole offseason to try to get up to speed."

Now he has to do that with his tight ends.

In 2011, Hernandez and Gronkowski set NFL records for tight ends on one team with 169 catches, 2,237 yards receiving and 24 touchdown receptions. The old record for touchdown catches? Hernandez, Gronkowski and Alge Crumpler set that in 2010 with 18 for New England.

Now the Patriots have just two healthy tight ends who caught passes for them last season Michael Hoomanawanui with five and Daniel Fells with four. Jake Ballard, the former New York Giant who spent all last season on injured reserve with the Patriots, could play a bigger role than either of them if he's healthy. They also have rookie free agents Zach Sudfeld and Brandon Ford.

The crop of free agent tight ends is meager Dallas Clark, Chris Cooley, Kevin Boss, Randy McMichael and former Patriots David Thomas and Visanthe Shiancoe.

"I don't think Clark can stay healthy anymore. He's 34," Brandt said. "The guy Shiancoe, they cut him last year so there really doesn't, on the surface, seem like there's any tight ends out there."

He likes Ballard "not the fastest guy in the world, but he knows how to catch the ball and he's a pretty good blocker."

Still, that's a steep drop from Hernandez, who had 175 catches for 1,956 and 18 touchdowns in the three seasons since the Patriots drafted him in 2010 in the fourth round, where he dropped because of character issues. They chose Gronkowski in the second round that year and he has 187 receptions for 2,663 yards and 38 touchdowns, plus one touchdown on the ground.

They played together in just five games last year. Hernandez missed six of the first 10 with a sprained right ankle, but still had 51 receptions. Then, Gronkowski sat out the next five with a broken left forearm before returning for limited action in the regular-season finale.

"The reason they were so successful is because it was such a matchup problem" when both were on the field, Brandt said.

Hernandez won't be there when the Patriots start the season in Buffalo on Sept. 8. Gronkowski might not, either.

But Tebow could be.

When he joined the Patriots this month, he was greeted by the tight end he threw to at Florida.

"How you doing, Tim?" Hernandez recalled saying.

He didn't know how Tebow would be used. That would be up to Belichick.

"I'm just worried about doing my job," Hernandez said, "and keep playing football."

Irina Shalmor, spokeswoman for McDonald's Israel, said the owners of a planned mall in the Ariel settlement asked McDonald's to open a branch there about six months ago. Shalmor said the chain refused because the owner of McDonald's Israel has a policy of staying out of the occupied territories. The decision was not coordinated with McDonald's headquarters in the U.S., she said. In an email, the headquarters said "our partner in Israel has determined that this particular location is not part of his growth plan."

The Israeli branch's owner and franchisee, Omri Padan, is a founder of the dovish group Peace Now, which opposes all settlements and views them as obstacles to peace. The group said Padan is no longer a member.

The decision by such a well-known multinational company to boycott the West Bank deals settlers an unwelcome blow.

It also adds the name of an important international brand to a movement that has urged businesses to stay out of the West Bank. International companies like Caterpillar, France's Veolia and others have faced pressure from a global network of pro-Palestinian activists to sever links with the settlements.

The activists have also pushed consumers to shun products made in settlements. Israeli academics and unions have also been boycotted because of Israel's settlement policies and European countries are considering stepping up efforts to label settlement-made products sold in Europe.

The Palestinians want the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, as part of their future state. Israel captured those areas, along with the Golan Heights, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians and most of the international community consider Israel's West Bank settlements illegal or illegitimate.

The mall's owners, settlers and politicians who back them chided McDonald's for its decision.

"McDonald's has gone from being a for-profit company to an organization with an anti-Israeli political agenda," said Yigal Dilmoni, a leader of the Yesha Council, a settler umbrella group. He urged Israelis to think twice before they buy a meal at McDonald's following its decision. Pro-settler lawmaker Ayelet Shaked said she would boycott the fast food chain.

Tzahi Nehimias, a co-owner of the Ariel mall, said an Israeli burger chain, Burger Ranch, had offered to take McDonald's spot. He also said Burger King had shown interest, but Miguel Piedra, a spokesman for Burger King Worldwide Inc. said the company had no plans to re-enter Israel. The company closed its restaurants in Israel in 2010 and turned them over to Burger Ranch.

Nehimias said other international companies who were asked to open a branch at the mall also declined, but none cited the mall's location in a settlement as a reason. He declined to identify the other companies. Some 19,000 Jewish settlers live in Ariel and it has a large student population.

Peace Now welcomed McDonald's decision.

"We totally understand and support people who think settlements are bad for Israel's interests," said Yariv Oppenheimer, who heads Peace Now. "They don't want to take an active role by opening a business there and helping to expand and to contribute to the settlement idea."

Rafeef Ziadah of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement said McDonald's move "will encourage other corporations to end their complicity in Israel's occupation."

This is not the first time McDonald's has stirred controversy in Israel. The company didn't open a branch in Israel until 1993 due to the Arab League boycott of the country.

A year later, McDonalds built a branch near a memorial to Israel's Golani military brigade, and Israelis objected to the large double arches sign there, saying it desecrated the site. The sign was later made smaller. In 2004, McDonalds was criticized for telling its Arabic and Russian speaking staff not to speak those languages at work.

___

Associated Press writers Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem and Candice Choi in New York contributed reporting.

The justices let stand an appeals court ruling striking down an Arizona law that made state employees in same-sex relationships ineligible for domestic partner benefits. The Nevada case was a challenge to the state's ban on same-sex marriage. The court did not elaborate on the reason for not taking up the cases.

The court's decisions on the two cases are not as sweeping as rulings Wednesday that made it a landmark week for gay rights. The Supreme Court issued decisions that struck down a provision that denies federal benefits to married gay couples and also cleared the way for state laws that recognize marriage equality.

In Arizona, the decision means dozens of same-sex state workers will be allowed to keep employee benefits. For the Nevada case, the gay marriage ban will remain intact, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco will decide the next step.

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer denied Thursday that Arizona had targeted gay couples and slammed the court for not recognizing the state's right to balance its budget by limiting employee benefits.

"This case has never been about domestic partners, same-sex or otherwise," Brewer said in a statement. "It is always been about the authority of elected state officials to make decisions with which we have been entrusted by the voters."

Arizona's constitution bans gay marriage and a 2009 law signed by Brewer repealed domestic partner benefits for state workers. Brewer said the state was in a fiscal crisis and couldn't afford to extend health care benefits to employees' dependents if they weren't married. She said the policy was legal because it applied to all employees, regardless of sexual orientation.

Gay marriage proponents counter that the policy was discriminatory because heterosexual couples may marry to obtain benefits, while gay couples can't under state law.

"The state is excluding only one group of employees from family coverage and that is lesbian and gay employees," said Tara Borelli, a lawyer for Lambda Legal in Los Angeles.

The conservative Center for Arizona Policy, which opposes gay marriage, had supported the state's position in court, and has vowed to fight any efforts to overturn the state's ban on gay marriage.

"The Legislature and the governor should have the authority to determine benefits for state employees," President Cathi Herrod said after the ruling.

The legal battle could soon be resolved by voters. Gay marriage proponents began gathering signatures Thursday to change the Arizona constitution and legalize gay marriage. The Equal Marriage Arizona campaign hopes to collect roughly 400,000 signatures to get its constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2014.

The Nevada case was originally filed on behalf of eight same-sex couples, and it argued that a 2002 state constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution by denying same-sex couples the same rights as married couples.

A federal judge in Reno ruled last year that the gay marriage ban was not a constitutional violation and it was upheld. The plaintiffs then appealed that decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals while the anti-gay marriage group requested the Supreme Court hear the appeal instead of the San Francisco court.

Borelli said Nevada law is questionable because the state grants domestic partners the same legal privileges afforded to married couples, while denying gays the right to marry. She said the state must rationalize the exclusion.

The Nevada Legislature recently approved a measure that would legalize gay marriage but changing the state constitution is a lengthy process. Lawmakers must pass the same resolution in 2015 before it goes to voters for final approval on the 2016 ballot. If it clears both hurdles, it would become law. If it fails at any stage, the five-year process must start over.

"We should just have a state law and be done with it," said Sen. Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas. "In the constitution we shouldn't be defining marriage, that's not what the constitution is for."

Not legalizing same-sex marriage will have consequences for Nevada over time, said Atkinson, who made national headlines earlier this year when he publicly announced that he was gay during the state Senate's debate on marriage equality.

"We are a tourism state and we do rely on folks visiting our state, so some may decide they're not going to come here because they don't have the same rights here," Atkinson said.