NEW YORK (Reuters) - Powerful earthquakes thousands of miles away can trigger swarms of minor quakes near wastewater-injection wells like those used in oil and gas recovery, scientists reported on Thursday, sometimes followed months later by quakes big enough to destroy buildings.

The discovery, published in the journal Science by one of the world's leading seismology labs, threatens to make hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," which involves injecting fluid deep underground, even more controversial.

It comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducts a study of the effects of fracking, particularly the disposal of wastewater, which could form the basis of new regulations on oil and gas drilling.

Geologists have known for 50 years that injecting fluid underground can increase pressure on seismic faults and make them more likely to slip. The result is an "induced" quake.

A recent surge in U.S. oil and gas production - much of it using vast amounts of water to crack open rocks and release natural gas, as in fracking, or to bring up oil and gas from standard wells - has been linked to an increase in small to moderate induced earthquakes in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Ohio, Texas and Colorado.

Now seismologists at Columbia University say they have identified three quakes - in Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas - that were triggered at injection-well sites by major earthquakes a long distance away.

"The fluids (in wastewater injection wells) are driving the faults to their tipping point," said Nicholas van der Elst of Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, who led the study. It was funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Fracking opponents' main concern is that it will release toxic chemicals into water supplies, said John Armstrong, a spokesman for New Yorkers Against Fracking, an advocacy group.

But "when you tell people the process is linked to earthquakes, the reaction is, 'what? They're doing something that can cause earthquakes?' This really should be a stark warning," he said.

Fracking proponents reacted cautiously to the study.

"More fact-based research ... aimed at further reducing the very rare occurrence of seismicity associated with underground injection wells is welcomed, and will certainly help enable more responsible natural gas development," said Kathryn Klaber, chief executive of the Marcellus Shale Coalition.

'DYNAMIC TRIGGERING'

Quakes with a magnitude of 2 or lower, which can hardly be felt, are routinely produced in fracking, said geologist William Ellsworth of the U.S. Geological Survey, an expert on human-induced earthquakes who was not involved in the study.

The largest fracking-induced earthquake "was magnitude 3.6, which is too small to pose a serious risk," he wrote in Science.

But van der Elst and colleagues found evidence that injection wells can set the stage for more dangerous quakes. Because pressure from wastewater wells stresses nearby faults, if seismic waves speeding across Earth's surface hit the fault it can rupture and, months later, produce an earthquake stronger than magnitude 5.

What seems to happen is that wastewater injection leaves local faults "critically loaded," or on the verge of rupture. Even weak seismic waves from faraway quakes are therefore enough to set off a swarm of small quakes in a process called "dynamic triggering."

"I have observed remote triggering in Oklahoma," said seismologist Austin Holland of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, who was not involved in the study. "This has occurred in areas where no injections are going on, but it is more likely to occur in injection areas."

Once these triggered quakes stop, the danger is not necessarily over. The swarm of quakes, said Heather Savage of Lamont-Doherty and a co-author of the study, "could indicate that faults are becoming critically stressed and might soon host a larger earthquake."

For instance, seismic waves from an 8.8 quake in Maule, Chile, in February 2010 rippled across the planet and triggered a 4.1 quake in Prague, Oklahoma - site of the Wilzetta oil field - some 16 hours later.

That was followed by months of smaller tremors in Oklahoma, and then the largest quake yet associated with wastewater injection, a 5.7 temblor in Prague on November 6, 2011.

That quake destroyed 14 homes, buckled a highway and injured two people.

The Prague quake is "not only one of the largest earthquakes to be associated with wastewater disposal, but also one of the largest linked to a remote triggering event," said van der Elst.

The Chile quake also caused a swarm of small temblors in Trinidad, Colorado, near wells where wastewater used to extract methane from coal beds had been injected.

On August 22, 2011, a magnitude 5.3 quake hit Trinidad, damaging dozens of buildings.

The 9.1 earthquake in Japan in March 2011, which caused a devastating tsunami, triggered a swarm of small quakes in Snyder, Texas - site of the Cogdell oil field. That autumn, Snyder experienced a 4.5 quake.

The presence of injection wells does not mean an area is doomed to have a swarm of earthquakes as a result of seismic activity half a world away, and a swarm of induced quakes does not necessarily portend a big one.

Guy, Arkansas; Jones, Oklahoma; and Youngstown, Ohio, have all experienced moderate induced quakes due to fluid injection from oil or gas drilling. But none has had a quake triggered by a distant temblor.

Long-distance triggering is most likely where wastewater wells have been operating for decades and where there is little history of earthquake activity, the researchers write.

"The important thing now is to establish how common this is," said Oklahoma's Holland, referring to remotely triggered quakes. "We don't have a good answer to that question yet."

Before the advent of injection wells, triggered earthquakes were a purely natural phenomenon. A 7.3 quake in California's Mojave Desert in 1992 set off a series of tiny quakes north of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, for instance.

Now, according to the Science paper, triggered quakes can occur where human activity has weakened faults.

Current federal and state regulations for wastewater disposal wells focus on protecting drinking water sources from contamination, not on earthquake hazards.

(Reporting by Sharon Begley; Additional reporting by Edward McAllister; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Xavier Briand)

The Blue Jays delighted a sellout crowd of 45,766 on Canada Day with their 11th victory in 13 games at Rogers Centre.

Coming off his two-hit shutout against Tampa Bay, Dickey (8-8) was sharp and won for the third time in four starts. The knuckleballer allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings, striking out four and walking one.

Reyes hit a leadoff shot in the third against Tigers rookie Jose Alvarez (1-2). For Reyes, it was his third homer of the year and second in two days.

DeRosa added a three-run drive in the fourth off reliever Luke Putkonen.

Interested in how regional climate affectssize, biologist Joseph Craine of Kansas State University collected body mass data for more than 250,000 bison across the country. He found that herds from hot, dry regions tend to weigh less than those from cooler, wetter regions. The average South Dakota adult male bison, for example, weighed roughly 1,900 pounds (860 kilograms), whereas the average Oklahoma adult bison subject to hotter conditions weighed closer to 1,300 pounds (590 kg), Craine reported last week in the journal PLOS ONE.

"The difference in temperature between those two states is around 20 degrees Fahrenheit [11 degrees Celsius], which is about three times the projected increase in temperatures over the next 75 years," Craine said in a statement. "That's a pretty extreme difference and beyond the worst-case scenario. But it is a clear indicator that long-term warming will affect bison, and is something that will happen across the U.S. over the next 50-75 years."

Craine thinks this size discrepancy results from differences in grass quality. Grasses in warm, dry regions tend to contain less protein than those in cooler, wetter regions. Protein deficiency slows bison growth early in life, resulting in smaller adults.

Other grazers, like cattle, will likely face similar changes in a , Craine said. Though more work is needed to predict the extent of warming on the prairie, Craine suggests that the cattle industry could face losses of more than $1 billion within the next 75 years as a result of degrading grass quality.

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A deal proposed by the district would require teachers to prepare lesson plans containing various mandatory details such as learning objectives and pacing references,the Eagle.

The current labor contract requires teachers to make lesson plans “only in sufficient detail to provide guidance to the teacher,” which leaves room for a range of different planning methods. Teachers must also provide their lesson plans and other teaching materials to school principals if asked.

Leaders of United Teachers of Wichita, which represents some 4,000 currently vacationing teachers, call compulsory daily lesson plans “busy work.”

“That’s going to take away the art of teaching, and it almost becomes like they’re doing cookie-cutter lessons,” Randy Mousley, president of the teachers union, told the Eagle.

“Good instruction starts with good planning. We’re not going to deny that,” the union leader said. “But there’s only so many hours in a day.”

Mousley argues that the requirement to create formal lesson plans on a daily basis adds unnecessary red tape that does nothing for students.

“You’ve got to decide which is most important: Is it to produce a piece of paper to satisfy a principal? Or is it putting stuff down — your thoughts about what you’re going to do to impact students in a positive way?”

John Allison, superintendent of Wichita Public Schools, disagrees.

“I don’t want to get on a plane and have my pilot not have done his checklist and be prepared,” Allison told the Eagle. “That’s very intentional and specific, and education is no different.”

The superintendent suggested that a number of teachers are already doing what the proposal mandates.

Also, as EAGnews.org, a school reform advocacy website, , teachers typically aren’t recreating the wheel each year. They can save effective lesson plans on their computers and use them again and again.

Wichita is no stranger to unhappy teachers. Last year, a federal mediator had to intercede to bring labor peace between the union and the school district. The resulting contract gave teachers their first salary increase in four years.

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“This is absolutely compelling evidence and it’s highly relevant,” argued Zimmerman attorney Don West Tuesday evening.

Orlando-based computer forensics expert Richard Connor was able to unlock data contained in Martin’s cell phone. Connor used Cellebrite software to delve into Martin’s phone and access “secret text messages,” including .bin files which contain “all the data, all the files” in a cell phone’s memory. That data was not reported in the analysis of Martin’s cell phone turned over by the state.

Connor testified that according to the text messages, “Mr. Martin was either trying to purchase or sell a handgun.” Connor said that Martin was looking to purchase a gun between February 18 and February 22, days before he left to visit his father in the Sanford, Florida neighborhood where he was shot on February 26.

He said Martin was attempting to obtain a gun from a person going by the name “Diamond” — a known nickname for Rachel Jeantel, the young woman who was on the phone with Martin moments before he was shot.

West pointed out that Jeantel had made inconsistent statements about her knowledge of Martin’s interests in fighting. She initially said that she did not know about Martin’s past history of fighting but later changed her statements. Her text messages with Martin suggest that they had discussed his penchant for fighting.

Connor also said he discovered a text message sent to Martin from his half-brother Demetrius Martin asking, “When you going to teach me how to fight?” West argued that that was evidence that Martin was good at fighting.

State attorney John Guy objected to the motion on the grounds that Martin could not be identified as the author of the messages. “We don’t know who typed these messages, we don’t know if they’re connected,” he argued.

One of the people who contacted Martin about his fighting now denies that he was involved in an altercation. Dominique Clarke sent a Facebook message to Martin on November 26, 2011 asking “who u fought?”

Clarke now tells the Daily Caller “he didn’t fight.” “I thought he did because of a rumor going on but it wasn’t the Trayvon I thought it was,” she told TheDC last week.

Judge Nelson said she will wait until Wednesday to rule on the admissibility of the cell phone evidence.

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The 36-year-old welterweight - considered the best defensive boxer of his generation - topped the magazine's Fortunate 50 list, issued on Wednesday. Mayweather also took the top spot last year, earning an estimated $85 million, again from just two fights, the magazine reported.

Miami Heat basketball star LeBron James, 28, a four-time National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player, came in this year in the number two slot, earning a total of $56.5 million.

The list is calculated by combining estimated salary, winnings and endorsements. Mayweather's total earnings are even more impressive considering he received no endorsement money either this year or last.

James' $56.5 million income combines a $17.5 million salary with an additional $39 million in endorsements.

Golfer Tiger Woods, the highest paid U.S. athlete from 2004, when the list was first published, through 2011, dropped to the No. 5 slot on this year's list, earning $40.8 million.

Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano came in as the 50th highest-paid U.S. athlete with an estimated $18.2 million.

Candidates for the list must be U.S. citizens and compete in a U.S.-based league.

Internationally, soccer great David Beckham is estimated to earn more than $48 million, landing him the top spot on the magazine's annual list of highest-paid athletes worldwide, The International 20.

(Reporting by Chris Francescani; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Tim Dobbyn)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Internal Revenue Service and two technology firms are fighting in court over tax bills from a 2004 corporate tax holiday, with other multinationals watching closely for a result that could come any day, said tax lawyers.

In separate cases, BMC Software Incand Analog Devices Incare challenging IRS demands that the companies pay more tax, arguing the agency's claim breaches the controversial tax holiday law Congress enacted nine years ago.

The two cases are believed to be the first U.S. Tax Court tests of the tax holiday - an idea some businesses in 2011 pushed the government to try again, but without success.

BMC, a Houston, Texas, systems company and the IRS went to trial in May 2012, with a decision due any day. Massachusetts-based Analog, a circuit-maker, is set for a trial in November.

Both companies and the IRS declined to comment. BMC has agreed to be bought by a private-equity group led by Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital. Bain declined to comment.

The cases are seen by lawyers as tests of the scope of the 2004 tax break - made law during the administration of President George W. Bush - that let multinational businesses bring profits earned abroad into the United States at a reduced tax rate.

Under law, U.S. corporations that make profits overseas can put off paying tax on them as long as they are not brought into the United States. This is known as offshore corporate income tax deferral. Companies often take advantage of this law to reduce their tax bills by leaving foreign profits overseas.

Nearly a decade ago, with U.S. corporations' offshore profit piles rising fast and the economy sluggish, Bush and Congress enacted a 'holiday' that let those profits come into the country at a reduced tax rate - 5.25 percent, instead of 35 percent.

The measure was billed as a stimulus, but studies later showed it had little impact on boosting jobs and capital investment. In any case, more than 800 companies brought home $362 billion in overseas income. In 2005, Analog repatriated $1 billion; BMC, $717.2 million.

At around the same time, both companies were fighting with the IRS over transfer pricing practices. This is an area of frequent dispute involving companies' tax transactions for capital and assets among their subsidiaries in different countries.

Both BMC and Analog settled their disputes with the IRS. Those settlements boosted both companies' domestic profits subject to the full corporate income tax, while reducing the amount of profits they could repatriate at the holiday tax rate.

BMC got a $12.9 million tax bill in 2011, while Analog got a $26 million bill in 2012, according to court filings. Both companies promptly sued the IRS in Tax Court, arguing that the settlements had no connection to the repatriations.

Given the language of IRS rules for repatriation and transfer pricing, Analog does not "have much grounds for being surprised," by the IRS's tax bill, said David Rosenbloom, a tax lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale who has reviewed the documents.

Cym Lowell, a lawyer with McDermott Will & Emery, said the IRS's tax bill to Analog was overly aggressive. "The taxpayer should win the case," he said.

The cases are docket No. 017380-12 Analog Devices Inc & Subsidiaries v Commissioner of Internal Revenue; No. 015675-11 BMC Software Inc. v Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Doina Chiacu)

The increase along with a jump in homebuilder confidence this month suggests the housing market continues to recover.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales rose 2.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million. That's up from 4.69 million in September, which was revised lower.

The sales pace is roughly 11 percent higher than a year ago. But it remains below the more than 5.5 million that economists consider consistent with a healthy market.

As the economy slowly recovers, more people have started looking to buy homes or rent apartments. Prices are steadily climbing, while mortgage rates have been low all year. At the same time, rents are rising, making the purchase of a single-family home or condominium more attractive.

"Altogether, the report is encouraging," said Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital. "Our view is that housing is in a recovery phase," he added, though it will be restrained by limited credit and modest job gains.

A separate report Monday showed confidence among homebuilders rose this month to its highest level in six and a half years. The increase was driven by strong demand for newly built homes and growing optimism about conditions next year.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index increased to 46, up from 41 in October. Readings below 50 suggest negative sentiment about the housing market. The index last reached that level in April 2006. Still, the index has been trending higher since October 2011, when it stood at 17.

The Realtors' group said Superstorm Sandy delayed some sales of previously occupied homes in the Northeast. Sales fell 1.7 percent there, the only region to show a decline. Those sales will likely be completed in future months, the group said.

The median price for previously occupied homes increased 11.1 percent from a year ago to $178,600, the Realtors' said.

A decline in the number of homes available for sale is helping push prices higher. There were only 2.14 million homes available for sale at the end of the month, the lowest supply in 10 years. It would take only 5.4 months to exhaust that supply at the current sales pace. That's the lowest sales-to-inventory ratio since February 2006.

Prices are also benefiting from the mix of homes being sold. Sales of homes priced at $500,000 and above have jumped more than 40 percent in the past year. Sales of homes and condominiums that cost less than $100,000 fell 0.6 percent.

There have been other positive signals from the housing market. Applications for mortgage loans to buy homes jumped 11 percent in the week ended Nov. 9, compared with a week earlier, the Mortgage Bankers' Association said last week. Purchase applications are up 22 percent in the past year.

Foreclosures are slowing. The number of properties that began the foreclosure process in the first 10 months of the year fell 8 percent compared with the same period last year, RealtyTrac said last week.

And builders broke ground on new homes and apartments at the fastest pace in more than four years in September. The jump could help boost the economy and hiring.

Still, the market has a long way back to full health. Many potential home buyers cannot meet stricter lending standards or produce larger down payments required by banks.

That can be a particular problem for first-time homebuyers. They accounted for 31 percent of sales in October, down slightly from September and below the 40 percent that is common in a healthy market.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that banks' overly tight lending standards may be preventing sales and holding back the U.S. economy.

___

Veiga reported from Los Angeles.

The BBC said in February that members of Cupid's online dating services suspected fake "flirtatious" messages had been used to encourage free users to sign up for paid subscriptions.

Cupid, which operates the benaughty.com and flirt.com websites, on Monday said it is making changes to the structure and approach of its "motivation team" so that Cupid staff will be clearly identified when interacting with customers.

Shares in the company were up 6 percent at 77 pence at 0825 GMT (4.25 a.m. EDT) on Monday on the London Stock Exchange. They have lost roughly two-thirds of their value so far this year.

The conclusion of the review is also expected to help the company in the sale of its casual dating business. Cupid had said last month that it had received several interests from potential buyers for its casual dating sites.

"People who are potential buyers in the business, and who may have seen risks around the practices should be reassured. That means the businesses are easier to sell and may get a higher price depending on individual negotiations," Peel Hunt analyst Stephen Yau told Reuters.

Cupid markets to people of different age groups, cultures and social interests, from its mature relationship website loveagain.com to its cheeky girlsdateforfree.com.

(Reporting by Tasim Zahid in Bangalore; Editing by Supriya Kurane)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Steve Carell has inhabited many different roles, from a 40-year-old virgin, a bumbling office manager and a Vegas magician, but it is an evil villain in animated film "Despicable Me 2" where he finds a close connection as a real-life dad.

Carell, 50, who appears again as Gru in "Despicable Me 2," and as a dysfunctional dad in independent comedy "The Way, Way Back," both out in theaters this week, is also exploring new challenges in his career with the hopes of more dramatic roles.

The actor talked to Reuters about his similarities to Gru, not getting pigeon-holed and donning suits for "Anchorman 2."

Q: Now that he's a dad, was there any fear that Gru wasn't going to be quite as despicable as the first film?

A: I feel like you still see that dark side of him and when push comes to shove, he is an evil mastermind and he always will be. He's reformed, he can't be that anymore because he has kids. His career has to change but his sense of self doesn't really.

Q: Which part of Gru's story did you relate to in this film?

A: I have two little kids so I don't really relate to him as a super spy, but I do relate to him as a dad for sure, and the fact that he has a daughter that's getting to the age that she's interested in boys and dating, I have a daughter that is just on the verge of that age, so I think I related to that most of all.

Q: Are your priorities changing in your career now that you're getting older and your kids are getting older?

A: I've been doing some more dramatic work, I'm writing something now and eventually I might direct something. I've got some other things in the fire, but that's just to keep it interesting and exciting.

It's interesting how this movie mirrors what a lot of parents go through when they have kids, because initially, when you have kids, the focus becomes the kids. I know that became the case with my wife and I, almost at the expense of everything else, it became all about our kids. Which is fine, but within that, you can't lose your sense of self, you can't lose your career and what motivates you and what nourishes you. I think that's the character of Gru, he's at odds with himself, so he needs to find something that's not being a villain but is equally satisfying.

Q: Were you ever concerned you could get pigeonholed into a certain character from your comedy roles?

A: I've done big commercial movies and little independent movies, and I've played jerks and suicidal Proust scholars, and I feel like I've been really lucky to play all the different types of characters I play, so no, I don't worry about that. If I do get pigeonholed, it's nothing I can really control.

Q: You recently returned to "The Office" for the finale in May, was it difficult saying goodbye second time round?

"I feel like I really said goodbye to it the first time. When I came back, it was primarily to honor the show and out of respect for all of my friends and the people who created it, I just wanted it to be a simple tip of the hat to the show and not to take away from the goodbye and the farewell that all of those people were having, because I felt like I already had mine and I didn't want to step on their moments."

Q: Your upcoming film "Anchorman 2" has been getting a lot of attention. How is it getting back into the suits?

A: So much fun. It felt the same. The first time around, none of us knew what we were doing or whether it would be funny. We thought it would be funny, but you never know...if it's going to work or why it works necessarily, but that one we all felt like it could be really funny, and this, we have the same feeling about. It was just fun to do, it was ridiculous, we laughed until we cried everyday.

Q: How do you pay homage to the first film and also take the storyline forward with a sequel?

A: I think if you like the first one, you'll like this one as much. I don't want to oversell it, I don't want to hype it too much, I haven't seen it, I've just shot it. But based on what we've filmed, it seems like it's going to be a truly funny movie.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Paul Casciato)