Bird’s eye view video shows installation of One World Trade Center spire

May 13 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $5,849,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,388,064 3. Kevin Streelman $2,572,989 4. Billy Horschel $2,567,891 5. Matt Kuchar $2,493,387 6. Phil Mickelson $2,220,280 7. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,207,683 8. D.A. Points $2,019,702 9. Steve Stricker $1,977,140 10. Graeme McDowell $1,910,654 11. Jason Day $1,802,797 12. Webb Simpson $1,759,015 13. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 14. Hunter Mahan $1,682,939 15. Charles Howell III $1,561,988 16. Russell Henley $1,546,638 17. Martin Laird $1,531,950 18. ...

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Vet, 90, gets back dog tag he lost during World War II

File photo of a dog tag (Thinkstock)

Willie Wilkins served in France during World War II, where he worked in the Army's Quartermaster Graves Registration Units. His job entailed retrieving the bodies of American soldiers. At some point, he lost his dog tag.

NJ.com reports that Wilkins, 90, recently had his dog tag returned to him from a woman who found it in France back in 2001.

Anne-Marie Crespo was digging near a tree in her yard more than a decade ago when she discovered the small metallic tag. She assumed the soldier had died. It wasn't until recently that a neighbor convinced her to track down Wilkins.

Crespo contacted her government, which reached out to the U.S. Army. The Army tracked down Carol Wilkins, daughter of Willie.

Following the dog tag's return, Wilkins was honored with a ceremony at Newark City Hall, attended by Mayor Cory Booker and Bertrand Lortholary, the French Consul General in New York City. According to NJ.com, Lortholary praised American soldiers like Wilkins, who helped to liberate France during the end of World War II. "We will never forget what you did for us," he said.

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Step into the shadowy world of Espionage! SPY: The Secret World of Espionage Opens Saturday at The Franklin Institute

PHILADELPHIA, May 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Franklin Institute's newest exhibition, SPY: The Secret World of Espionage opens to the public on Saturday, May 4, for a limited time.  Extraordinarily rare treasures drawn from world's leading intelligence agencies -- the CIA, the FBI, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), as well as the immense private collection of intelligence historian H. Keith Melton, will be unlocked and on exhibit – many for the first time ever - in the Mandell Center at The Franklin Institute through October 6.  PECO is the Presenting Sponsor of the SPY exhibition, which grants unprecedented access into the highly-secreted world of the CIA and features over 200 historical artifacts and authentic espionage-related gadgets, including the scripts and studio documents from the real life mission that inspired the Academy Award winning film, Argo. To coincide with the Philadelphia premiere of SPY: The Secret World of Espionage, Melton has just published S py Sites of Philadelphia, which takes readers through two and a half centuries of Espionage in the City of Brotherly Love. 

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"Philadelphia has long been a hotbed of spy activity over the years, and even today our fascination with the mysterious world of espionage continues," said Dennis M. Wint, President  & CEO of The Franklin Institute. "The extensive collection of artifacts, documents, tools and interactive displays in SPY so vividly tell the intriguing and important tales of espionage that have shaped our world today."

Drawn from the recently de-classified collection of the CIA are objects ranging from a saddle used by a CIA team member in Afghanistan, following the attacks of 9/11 to the Cockpit of the A-12 Oxcart Spy Plane from 1962, one of only nine remaining in the world.  The exhibit also features highlights from the 10,000-plus personal artifact collection of H. Keith Melton, including the actual Ice Axe used to kill Leon Trotsky, one of the founders of the Russian revolution. Visitors to SPY will discover the real-life evolution of spy technology and experience life as a spy by navigating through an actual laser field, using voice altering technologies to conceal their voice and creating their very own spy disguise. 

Among the extraordinarily rare items are:

From the CIA Museum:

• Insectothopter, the world's first insect-sized unmanned aerial vehicle used to gather intelligence-from the air   
• Charlie the Catfish, one of two CIA Robotic Catfish, used to explore the use of unmanned underwater vehicles for aquatic missions
• Pigeon camera, a camera small and light enough to be carried by a pigeon
• Cockpit of the A-12 Oxcart Spy Plane, one of only nine remaining in the world
• An original Presidential Daily Brief Binder

From the collection of H. Keith Melton:

• Enigma Machine, a cipher machine used to develop nearly unbreakable codes by the German Army during WWII  which led to the development of the world's first super computer
• "Sleeping Beauty" motorized semi-submersible from WWII 
• Wel-Bike-a rapid deployment collapsible motorcycle used by Allied forces during WWII
• Picasso Lithograph of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, 1952
• Dead Drop Rat, used during the Cold War to hold a wad of money or roll of film

Hi-resolution exhibit and artifact images are available for download at: http://www.fi.edu/press/spy/ ?
User: press; Password: espionage

SPY: The Secret World of Espionage at The Franklin Institute
May 4, 2013 – October 6, 2013

TICKET INFORMATION
EXHIBIT HOURS

Sunday - Wednesday: 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
-Last admission 3:30 p.m.

Thursday – Saturday: 9:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
-Last admission 7:00 p.m.

TICKET PRICES
Daytime Admissions

Adult: $28.00; Children ages 3-11: $19.00
Daytime tickets also include museum general admission.

Evening Admissions
Thursday - Saturday only | 5:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Adult: $18.00; Children ages 3-11: $13.00

Evening tickets include admission to SPY only.

Tickets are timed and dated, and advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended.  For more information on purchasing individual or discounted group tickets please call 215-448-1200 or visit www.fi.edu. 

BASE Entertainment (Producer) BASE develops, produces and manages intellectual properties generated for live entertainment stages in North America, Asia and Brazil. BASE's current production activity in Las Vegas includes the following:  Rock Of Ages at the Venetian,  Peepshow at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Jersey Boys at The Paris, Absinthe at Caesars Palace, Defending the Caveman and Million Dollar Quartet (opening February 2013), at Harrah's.  BASE also presented an exclusive holiday engagement of the all new Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Spectacular production at The Palazzo. Previous production activity in Las Vegas includes: Phantom at The Venetian, Wayne Brady - Making It Up at The Venetian, and Stomp Out Loud at Planet Hollywood.  In addition, BASE operates the Showroom and PH Live at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.  At Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, BASE programs both the Grand Theater, previously home to both The Lion King and Wicked, and the Sands Theater, where Jersey Boys is currently playing (in partnership with Dodger Properties and Showtime).  In Brazil, BASE, in partnership with Geo Eventos, recently produced Priscilla Queen of the Desert in Sao Paulo in March 2012.  Spy: The Secret World of Espionage represents the premiere museum quality exhibition developed and presented by BASE.  BASE Entertainment's headquarters are in New York, and its founders include industry veterans Brian Becker and Scott Zeiger.  For more information please visit www.BASEentertainment.com.

About the Franklin Institute 
Located in the heart of Philadelphia, The Franklin Institute is a renowned and innovative leader in the field of science and technology learning, as well as a dynamic center of activity. Pennsylvania's most visited museum, it is dedicated to creating a passion for learning about science by offering access to hands-on science education. For more information, visit www.fi.edu.

SOURCE The Franklin Institute

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AJC Urges U.S., World Powers: Tell Iran It Cannot Try to Run Out the Clock by Endless Talks

NEW YORK, April 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC urged the P5+1 -- the five UN Security Council permanent members and Germany -- to make clear to Iran that it cannot drag out negotiations endlessly, while simultaneously pushing ahead with its nuclear program. The latest round of talks in Almaty ended today in stalemate.

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"The P5+1 have tried innumerable ways, including all-important direct negotiations, to stop Iran's drive for nuclear-weapons capability. Iran has consistently frustrated these overtures," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "The disappointing, but not surprising, outcome of the Almaty talks on Iran's nuclear program further underscores the need to convince Iran that trying to run out the clock won't work."

In advance of the Almaty talks, Iran indicated it would present a new proposal to resolve the issue of its controversial nuclear program. But Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief who has led the negotiations with Tehran, said after this round of talks that the sides "remain far apart on the substance."

The Almaty negotiations was a follow-up round to the meetings in the Kazakhstan capital in February, and of technical experts in Istanbul last month.

Among those world leaders most suspicious of Iran's intentions is IAEA Director Yukiya Amano, who told the Associated Press days before the Almaty talks of his concerns. "We have information indicating that Iran is engaged in activities relevant to the development of nuclear explosive devices, and continues to deal with that," said Amano.

Moreover, President Barack Obama reiterated last month during his Middle East visit that "all options are on the table" to stop Iran from achieving nuclear-weapons capability.

"With no date set for another round of talks, and Iran advancing its nuclear program, the U.S., together with the other five powers, must consider what additional concrete actions are necessary to underscore their resolve, and to convince the Iranian regime of the dire consequences of continued non-cooperation," said Harris.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

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New World School of the Arts Dancers Perform the Work of Merce Cunningham at the 92 Y

MIAMI, April 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --  New World School of the Arts  (NWSA) college dancers will perform a Cunningham MinEvent as part of the Fridays At Noon series entitled: Merce Cunningham: New Perspectives, A Living Legacy, in New York City.

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Constructed expressly for the NWSA college dancers by Patricia Lent, Trustee and Director of Licensing for the Merce Cunningham Trust, in the form of a MinEvent, the work includes material from Cunningham's Roaratorio (1982), Enter (1992), and Fabrications (1987). The MinEvent will also be offered to the South Florida community during NWSA's College Spring Dance Concert from April 25 through April 28.

Fridays At Noon: Merce Cunningham will be presented on April 5, at 7:30 PM. Harkness Dance Center of the 92^nd Street YM-YWHA. Buttenwieser Hall, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street, New York City.

Mary Lisa Burns, Dean of Dance at New World School of the Arts, and a former Cunningham Studio Faculty Member and Director of Education for the Cunningham Dance Foundation states:  "We are thrilled to be included in this important program at the 92^nd Street Y, which is providing an opportunity for audiences to see the work of Merce Cunningham as it is embodied by these outstanding young dancers. It is wonderful to see the ways in which Merce's legacy lives and remains vital and relevant to the dance training of today."

"Learning Merce Cunningham's work was exhilarating and challenging. Performing for the MinEvent at the New World Symphony and seeing how enthusiastically the audience received the work was everything we could have asked for. It was an honor doing Merce Cunningham's work -- the opportunity of a life time," said Katelynn Draper, a sophomore from the NWSA Dance Division who will be participating in the performance.

The cast, which performed this work at Miami's New World Symphony's John Cage Festival on February 8^th will include: Leon Cobb, Katelynn Draper, Angela Fegers, Christine Flores, Stephanie Fuentes, Claudia Lezcano, Melanie Martel, Marcus McCray, and Johan Rivera.  

Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed noted of the Cage Festival performance, "A conducting fellow, Joshua Gersen . . . gave striking point and character to excerpts from . . .  "Sixteen Dances," which included . . . Cunningham dances that were compellingly performed by students from New World School of the Arts."

Fridays At Noon: Merce Cunningham will also include a performance of August Pace (1989) MinEvent staged by Jean Freebury on the Conservatory of Dance students at Purchase College, as well as a panel by former members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

NWSA Dean of Dance, Mary Lisa Burns, was a dancer in the companies of Kenneth King, Brenda Daniels, Gina Gibney and others. Burns was a faculty member for twenty-three years at the Merce Cunningham Studio and served as the Cunningham Dance Foundation's Director of Education prior to joining New World School of the Arts as Dean of the Dance Division in 2011.  She holds an MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts/NYU and currently serves as Board Member and Secretary for the National Association of Schools of Dance. 

The NWSA Dance program is grounded in classical ballet and modern dance techniques. Supporting studies include choreography, music, dance history, anatomy and kinesiology, movement analysis and dance production. Through our progressive program, dance majors participate in intense technical training grounded in classical ballet and modern dance techniques, which leads to jazz and ethnic dance studies as well as exposure to newer dance forms. Guest artists from across the country teach master classes in every dance form, from ballet to hip hop. Our program allows students to sharpen their ability to reproduce movement with speed, accuracy and adaptability, to experience a wider range of techniques, and to establish ties with a variety of dance professionals. Students have opportunities to perform with the New World Dance Ensemble, a touring company, whose repertory includes works in all the dance disciplines. Recent examples of masterworks performed include those of Robert Battle, Martha Graham and George Balanchine.

New World School of the Arts was created by the Florida Legislature as a center of excellence in the performing and visual arts. It is an educational partnership of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Miami Dade College and the University of Florida.

More information about the Dance Division at New World School of the Arts is available at 305-237-3582 or at nwsa.mdc.edu

SOURCE New World School of the Arts

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