Throwback look: seniors lead way to nation’s top-tier teams

The old guys are back in charge in college basketball this season.

After recent years with the focus locked on one-and-done talent, it’s the seniors — guys like No. 1 Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine, No. 3 Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield and No. 5 Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon — leading some of the nation’s best teams.

It’s created a throwback look to when upperclassmen stuck around elite programs instead of bolting early for the NBA, not to mention did more than just handle the dirty work behind some headline-grabbing youngsters.

Coaches are loving the dynamic.

“You’d always rather have experienced leadership than not, of course,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said.

“Always, the message goes out when it goes from player to player as opposed to coach to player, it’s more effective.”

In this week’s Top 25, six top-10 teams and 14 teams in the poll have seniors as leading scorers — and in some cases there’s more than one in a leading role.

Compare that to last year’s final AP Top 25 of the season, when three top-10 teams and eight ranked squads had seniors as leading scorers. And this week’s totals are higher than for any of the final AP polls dating to at least the 2007-08 season, according to STATS.

The best example of that senior success has been Michigan State’s Valentine, who has grown from a complimentary scorer for a Final Four team to a candidate for national player of the year.

The 6-foot-5 guard, who will miss the next 2-3 weeks due to minor knee surgery announced Monday, is averaging 18.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists. He’s also had two triple-doubles this year, including a 29-point, 12-rebound, 12-assist performance to hand No. 2 Kansas its only loss.

“I can get a lot better,” Valentine said earlier this month. “I need to work on my defense. And, I need to make the most of every possession.”

This senior-led formula has worked well for coach Tom Izzo before. His 2000 national championship team had strong leadership with seniors Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson, while touted freshman Jason Richardson took a supporting role.

“I like the one-and-dones because they’re pretty talented,” Izzo said. “(Seniors), they bring a lot to your team. They really do.

“I won a championship with a couple of redshirt seniors. That’s very important, because you’ve always got someone to go to. And we go to ‘Zel a lot.”

The signs were there to start the year that seniors were poised for a big impact. Three — Hield, No. 11 Iowa State’s Georges Niang and Gonzaga’s Kyle Wiltjer — were named to the five-man AP preseason all-America team, the most in five seasons.

Hield, a 6-4 guard, entered the week ninth nationally in scoring at 23.5 points per game, up about a half-dozen from last year.

Niang, a 6-8 forward, entered the week averaging 18.7 points and is one of three seniors averaging in double figures for the Cyclones — an experienced group together so long that new coach Steve Prohm has largely stuck with former coach Fred Hoiberg’s playbook.

Wiltjer, a 6-10 forward who spent a year at Kentucky, guided the Zags to the NCAA Elite Eight last year and entered the week averaging 20.6 points.

Then throw in guys like Brogdon, who has earned the nickname “Uncle Malcolm” from Virginia teammates. Or No. 7 North Carolina’s returning all-Atlantic Coast Conference senior duo of Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson — who are the top two scoring options for the preseason No. 1 Tar Heels.

Eighth-ranked Arizona added a No. 1 scorer in Boston College transfer Ryan Anderson, No. 9 Butler’s offense is at its best when high-scoring guard Kellen Dunham is hot and No. 13 Miami’s seniors have already led the Hurricanes on an impressive three-game romp through last month’s Puerto Rico Tipoff.

“When you look at our league this year, Kansas is a much older team, Iowa State’s a much older team, we’re a much older team,” Kruger said of the Big 12. “That’s kind of rare in teams that are ranked in the top 10 or top 15.”

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AP Sports Writer Cliff Brunt in Norman, Oklahoma; Jimmy Golen in Boston; Hank Kurz in Charlottesville, Virginia; Larry Lage in East Lansing, Michigan; and Luke Meredith in Ames, Iowa; contributed to this report.
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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap and the AP’s college basketball site at http://collegebasketball.ap.org
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BlackBerry quarterly revenues top expectations; shares rally

By Euan Rocha and Alastair Sharp

TORONTO (Reuters) – BlackBerry Ltd reported a smaller-than-expected fiscal third-quarter loss on Friday and its first quarter-to-quarter revenue gain in over two years, indicating turnaround efforts may be gaining traction.

The better-than-expected results, driven by higher hardware and software revenues, sent BlackBerry shares up 5 percent in early trading in New York and Toronto.

“I’m pleased with our progress and the growth in Q3,” said Chief Executive Officer John Chen, on a conference call. “Our results demonstrate that we’re executing on the turnaround.”

In the quarter ended Nov. 28, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company reported a loss of $ 89 million, or 17 cents a share. That compared with a year ago loss of $ 148 million, or 28 cents a share.

Excluding a noncash credit tied to a change in the value of debentures, restructuring charges and other one-time items, the company posted a loss of $ 15 million, or 3 cents a share.

Quarterly revenue fell 31 percent to $ 548 million from a year earlier, but rose 12 percent from the prior quarter, after nine consecutive quarters of declines.

Analysts, on average, expected BlackBerry to post a loss of 14 cents a share on revenue of $ 489 million.
Software revenue, a metric being closely watched by analysts as BlackBerry pivots to focus on that segment, more than doubled to $ 162 million from a year earlier.

“BlackBerry hit a software number that investors have been looking for them to hit for quite some time,” said Morningstar analyst Brian Colello.

Year-to-date software revenue is about $ 362 million, within striking range of the company’s forecast target of $ 500 million for the current fiscal year ending Feb. 29, 2016.

Revenue from smartphone sales also rose for the first time in four quarters to $ 214 million from $ 201 million in the second quarter.

It sold 700,000 devices in the latest quarter down from about 800,000 in the prior period, but average selling prices (ASPs) on devices jumped to $ 315 from $ 240.

The ASP increase came after BlackBerry recently rolled out the Priv, its first device powered by Alphabet Inc’s Google Android operating system. BlackBerry said it sees its hardware arm possibly returning to breakeven operating profit in the current quarter.

Significantly, gains in software revenue more than offset a decline in BlackBerry’s legacy system access fees this quarter. BlackBerry said it expects the trend to continue, helping it beat both top-line and bottom-line Wall Street expectations in the ongoing quarter.

BlackBerry stock was up 63 cents to $ 8.43 in New York and 96 Canadian cents to C$ 11.85 in Toronto.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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Austrian university strips Nobel Prize winner of honors

VIENNA (AP) — An Austrian university has posthumously stripped Nobel Prize-winning scientist Konrad Lorenz of his honorary doctorate due to his fervent embrace of Nazism.

The University of Salzburg cites Lorenz’s 1938 application for membership in Hitler’s Nazi party in its decision made public Thursday.

Lorenz describes himself as “always a National Socialist.”. He says his work “stands to serve National Socialist thought.”

The university says Lorenz spread “basic elements of the racist ideology of National Socialism” in his work.
The late Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist was one of three winners of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

He is known for his study of instinctive behavior in animals.

Lorenz only acknowledged being a member of the Nazi party after his membership application turned up long after World War II.

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Sudan refugee ordained as Episcopal deacon in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A man who was one of thousands of children in Sudan forced to flee or be inducted into the army during the country’s civil war was ordained recently as a deacon by the Episcopal Diocese of Utah.

For Gabriel Garang Atem, 36, the achievement marked another step on a long road where his faith has sustained him as he navigated the dangers of a war in Sudan, famine and life in refugee camps.
As an orphan in 1987, he and thousands of other young children were forced to flee Sudan on foot to Ethiopia.

Thousands of the children, mostly boys, lost their lives as they faced attacks from rebels and wild animals, drowned in rivers, or succumbed to malnourishment, dehydration and exposure to the elements.

“It was not safe for us because there was no way you can protect yourself. You do not have weapons. You are not grown up enough so that you can defend yourself. It wasn’t really a good life for us,” Atem said.
His unwavering faith in God, Atem said, helped him as he and the other boys faced the possibility that they may not survive.

“It wasn’t I worried about what will I eat tomorrow. It was ‘Will I wake up tomorrow?'” he said. “‘Am I going to be able to make it to walk thousands of miles? Am I going to make it to get water? I’m thirsty and I need water. Am I going to get it?'”

He maintained his hope and strength by telling himself that he would be a better person one day if he stayed alive. Now that he’s become a deacon and is on a path to the faith’s priesthood, Atem said that day has come.

He said he was called by God to become an Episcopal priest. He can apply for that opportunity now that he’s been made a deacon.

“When God called me, I accept the call because since I was a little boy, I knew I wasn’t going to live on my own without the help of God through people,” he said.

Atem said he’s one of only a handful of Lost Boys of Sudan who have gone on to become ordained ministers in the U.S.

Atem was resettled from Kenya to Virginia in 2001. He moved to Utah about a decade ago.
He soon earned a high school diploma, went to college and began serving as a lay pastor, leading worship services in the Dinka language.

Atem has since returned to Africa to visit family, and he married a woman there in 2006. By 2009, he was a United States citizen and was able to bring his wife to the U.S. They now live in Salt Lake City with twin boys.

Atem told the Deseret News (http://bit.ly/21PQT4X) that the Episcopal Diocese and Utah have warmly embraced the Sudanese community and refugees.

“We feel welcome,” he said. “Being a stranger in the house of God is really a blessing. With the help of the diocese, they see us as their brothers and sisters in Christ.”

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Information from: Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com
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VTech hack exposes ID theft risk in connecting kids to Internet

By Jim Finkle and Jeremy Wagstaff

BOSTON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Parents who gave their child a Kidizoom smartwatch or a VTech InnoTab tablet may have exposed them to identity theft after Hong Kong-based VTech said hackers stole the personal information of more than 6 million children.

The breach underscores how digital products aimed at kids often have far weaker security than other computer products, and may pose a threat to a booming industry. Shipments of toys that connect to the Internet will rise 200 percent over the next five years, according to estimates by UK-based Juniper Research.

It’s not clear what the motive was for the VTech breach nor whether it has resulted in any identity theft so far. Still, it’s a warning for people who don’t understand how much data and sensitive information is in a child’s toy.

“The last thing you would ever imagine is that a toy manufacturer would lose your child’s identity,” said Liam O’Murchu, a Symantec Corp <SYMC.O> researcher known for his work dissecting complex malware produced by nation states. “This shows that it’s harder and harder to do things safely online,” he said.
In VTech’s case, buyers of the company’s cameras, watches and tablets are encouraged to provide names, addresses and birth dates when signing up for accounts where they can download updates, games, books and other content.

VTech said the hackers compromised its Learning Lodge app store, which provides content for children’s tablets, and its Kid Connect mobile app service that lets parents communicate with those tablets.

Toys that gather data on the user, like VTech’s line of cameras, watches and tablets and their associated websites, will grow by 58 percent annually, according to Juniper.

That category includes dolls like Mattel Inc’s <MAT.O> recently introduced Hello Barbie, which connects to home wireless networks and communicates with servers to enable conversations by uploading audio and getting responses from the cloud.

Mobile security firm Bluebox and independent security researcher Andrew Hay on Friday disclosed that they had jointly uncovered multiple vulnerabilities in iOS and Android apps that work with the device, as well as its cloud servers operated by technology partner ToyTalk.

Among their findings, they claimed that the app could be hacked to reveal passwords, could be tricked into connecting to hostile networks controlled by hackers and that the servers were vulnerable to some types of attacks.

Mattel spokesman Michelle Chidoni said that the toymaker and Hello Barbie technology partner ToyTalk have taken steps to ensure the products meets security and safety standards.

ToyTalk said in a statement that it had already fixed many of this issues raised.

It’s too soon to say if the breach will hurt VTech’s sales. Still, its stock fell 2.6 percent this week as it hired forensic experts, responded to government investigations on three continents and temporarily shut down more than a dozen websites, including a messaging service and kids’ app store.

Mark Stanislav, a researcher at the security firm Rapid 7 Inc <RPD.O>, whose wife is expecting their first child in a few weeks, began looking into problems with children’s products after hearing about security flaws in baby monitors, and he subsequently found such problems in products from eight baby monitor vendors.
After disclosing the flaws to the companies earlier this year, he said most have been fixed. He told Reuters he has since found problems in websites that connect other types of devices to kids, including one from a major manufacturer. He will go public with those findings next month after giving manufacturers time to fix the problems.

Identity thieves use compromised data to pose as their victims, get loans or credit cards or apply for services such as utilities. Other types of criminals assume stolen identities to evade capture by police.

CLEAN SLATES

Children offer credit slates to fraudsters that can be exploited for years without the victim’s knowledge, said Tom Kellermann, chief cybersecurity officer with Trend Micro Inc <4704.T>.

“Kids have a longer life in front of them and they have completely clean credit, which makes them more valuable,” Kellermann said.

A child’s name, birth date, email address and Social Security number are worth $ 30 to $ 40 on some underground markets, more than the $ 20 value of most adult profiles, he said.

Research by Carnegie Mellon University in 2011 found that more than 10 percent of a sample of stolen children’s social security numbers had some sort of fraudulent activity associated with them, a proportion 51 times higher than adults’.

A child might not find out that their identity had been stolen until they are in their late teens, said Michelle Dennedy, Cisco Systems Inc’s <CSCO.O> chief privacy officer who founded an identity-theft site for parents, theidentityproject.com.

“It’s a pain when you are an adult, but for a child it can have so much more harm,” said Dennedy. “Somebody might fail a background check for first job, or get arrested because a child molester stole their identity.”

Still, Vtech has some frustrated customers, even though cyber experts said the stolen VTech data has yet to turn up on forums where such information is sold.

“My concern is: Myself and other unlucky parents out there buying these products during the holidays and have no warning that they may not be able to use these products now or in the future,” said Sarah Brace, a Canadian who commented on VTech’s Facebook pages.

And it may attract U.S regulatory scrutiny. U,S. rules enforced by the Federal Trade Commission limit how personal information collected online from children under age 13 is treated. That information can include photos, videos and chat logs, just the sort of data that appears to have been collected by VTech, said Phyllis Marcus, a former FTC official now at the law firm Hunton & Williams LLP.

The FTC declined to confirm or deny any probe of VTech. Authorities in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and the U.S. states of Connecticut and Illinois have said they are looking into the breach.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle and Jeremy Wagstaff. Additional reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington and Subrat Patnaik in Bangalore. Editing by Jonathan Weber and John Pickering)
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Facebook’s CEO and wife to give 99 percent of shares to their new foundation

By Yasmeen Abutaleb

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Mark Zuckerberg will put 99 percent of his Facebook Inc <FB.O> shares, currently worth about $ 45 billion, into a new philanthropy project focusing on human potential and equality, he and his wife said Tuesday in a letter to their newborn daughter.

The plan, which was posted on the Facebook founder and chief executive officer’s page, attracted more than 570,000 “likes,” including from singer Shakira, former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Melinda Gates, wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The Gates and other high-profile billionaires such as Warren Buffett have set up foundations of their own to dedicate their massive fortunes to philanthropic endeavors.

Zuckerberg, 31, who will control the new initiative jointly with his wife, Priscilla Chan, while remaining in charge of the world’s largest online social network, said he would sell or give up to $ 1 billion in shares in each of the next three years.

Zuckerberg will keep a controlling stake in Facebook, valued at $ 303 billion as of Tuesday’s close, for what the company called the “foreseeable future.” According to Facebook’s most recent proxy statement, Zuckerberg owned 4 million Class A shares and 422.3 million Class B shares, which have 10 times the voting power of A shares. Combined he held 54 percent of the voting power of the company’s shares.
Zuckerberg said he plans to remain CEO of Facebook for “many, many years to come.”

Zuckerberg’s new project, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, is not his first in the world of philanthropy. When he was 26, he signed the Giving Pledge, which invites the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to commit to giving more than half of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes over their lifetime or in their will.

“Mark and Priscilla are breaking the mold with this breathtaking commitment,” Buffett said on Facebook. “A combination of brains, passion and resources on this scale will change the lives of millions. On behalf of future generations, I thank them.”

Melinda Gates chimed in, “The first word that comes to mind is: Wow. The example you’re setting today is an inspiration to us and the world.”

Buffett himself pledged shares of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc <BRKa.N> company that were then worth $ 31 billion to Gates’ foundation in 2006, and at the time ranked as the largest single gift.

A YOUNG PHILANTHROPIST

Zuckerberg is relatively young to commit so much of his wealth. Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O> co-founder Gates was 45 in 2000, the year he and his wife founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett was 76 in 2006 when he committed to give away all of his Berkshire Hathaway stock to philanthropic organizations.

About $ 350 billion is given away each year in the United States by charities, said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. She said Zuckerberg and his wife’s announcement was remarkable not just because of the size of the donation, but because of their ages.

“Our lists of the top donors are usually dominated by people in their 70s or 80s,” she said. “This is a message to other young people who are deciding what to do with their great wealth.”

In welcoming the birth of his first child on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg posted a photo of himself, his wife and their daughter, Maxima, nicknamed Max, along with a post entitled “A letter to our daughter.”
(http://on.fb.me/1MVnGOj)

In the 2,220-word letter, Zuckerberg and Chan, a pediatrician, touched on issues including health, education, Internet access and learning before announcing the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which aims to “advance human potential and promote equality.”

They plan to give away 99 percent of their Facebook shares over their lifetimes to advance the initiative, which was formed as a limited liability company. It will begin by focusing on curing disease, Internet connectivity, community building and personalized learning – the idea that technology can help students learn at different paces.

Maxima Chan Zuckerberg was born early last week — though Facebook did not specify her birth date — and weighed 7 lbs 8 ounces (3.4 kg) at birth. Last month, Zuckerberg announced he would take two months of paternity leave after the birth.

Chan and Zuckerberg have so far committed $ 1.6 billion to their philanthropy. They have given several donations this year, including to public schools, initiatives to bring better wireless Internet access and to San Francisco General Hospital, where Chan works as a pediatrician.

Zuckerberg and Chan said they will share more details when they return from their maternity and paternity leaves.

Zuckerberg has started his leave, a Facebook representative said, and will be available if “absolutely needed.” Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer, and Mike Schroepfer, chief technology officer, will run the company in Zuckerberg’s absence.


(Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Abhirup Roy in Bengaluru; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Stephen R. Trousdale, Bill Rigby, Lisa Shumaker and Leslie Adler)
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Hamstrung by Congress, Obama tries to clinch climate pact

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is trying to negotiate a legacy-making climate change pact this coming week in Paris with one hand tied behind his back. Congress can’t even agree whether global warming is real.

Scientists point to the global agreement, years in the making, as the last, best hope for averting the worst effects of global warming. Obama has spent months prodding other countries to make ambitious carbon-cutting pledges to the agreement, which he hopes will become the framework for countries to tackle the climate issue long beyond the end of his presidency in early 2017.

But Republicans have tried to undermine the president by sowing uncertainty about whether the U.S. will make good on its promises. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other GOP leaders have warned other countries not to trust any deal Obama may strike; other GOP allies are working to nullify Obama’s emissions-cutting steps at home.

“America is extremely divided, and there doesn’t seem to be any prospect that’s going to change at least in the next year or two,” Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif., who is attending the talks, said in an interview. “America’s leadership is not as great as it should be given the recalcitrance and the continuing obstructionism of the opposition party.”

About 150 heads of state are set to join Obama for talks on Monday and Tuesday as the deal nears the finish line. The goal is to secure worldwide cuts to emissions of heat-trapping gases to limit the rise of global temperatures to about another 2 degrees from now.

With little room for error, leaders have tried to avoid the pitfalls that undercut global climate negotiations in the past — specifically, those in Kyoto, Japan, in the early 1990s and in Denmark during Obama’s first term.

The deal in Kyoto — which the U.S. never ratified — spared developing countries such as China and India from mandatory emissions cuts, causing resentment in the U.S. and other industrialized countries. The Paris agreement would be the first to involve all countries.

In Copenhagen in 2009, leaders managed only to produce a broad-strokes agreement that fell far short of intended goals.

The concept behind a Paris pact is that the 170 or so nations already have filed their plans. They would then promise to fulfill their commitments in a separate arrangement to avoid the need for ratification by the Republican-run Senate. That dual-level agreement could be considered part of a 1992 treaty already approved by the Senate, said Nigel Purvis, an environmental negotiator in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.

 

But it’s not just about whether or not to ratify.

In the United States, the talks are entangled in the debate about whether humans really are contributing to climate change, and what, if anything, policymakers should do about it. Almost all Republicans, along with some Democrats, oppose the steps Obama has taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions, arguing they will hurt the economy, shutter coal plants and eliminate jobs in power-producing states.

Half the states are suing the administration to try to block Obama’s unprecedented regulations to cut power plant emissions by roughly one-third by 2030. These states say Obama has exceeded his authority and is misusing the decades-old Clean Air Act. If their lawsuit succeeds, Obama would be hard-pressed to deliver the 26 percent to 28 percent cut in overall U.S. emissions by 2030 that he has promised as America’s contribution.

Opponents also are trying to gut the power plant rules through a rarely used legislative maneuver that already has passed the Senate. A House vote is expected while international negotiators are in Paris.

Senate Republicans are working to block Obama’s request for the first installment of a $ 3 billion pledge to a U.N. fund to help countries adapt to climate change, a priority for poorer countries. What’s more, the Republicans running for president are unanimous in their opposition to Obama’s power plant rules; many say that if elected, they immediately would rip up the rules.

“In the end, we will not get to climate safety without the legislative branch participating,” said Jeffrey Sachs, an economist who heads Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

Obama’s aides say commitments from China to curb emissions show that developing nations are finally on board. Republicans had argued that U.S. action would be irrelevant as long as major emitters such as China were still polluting, while India and other developing countries tried to hide behind China’s inaction and said they bore less responsibility because they historically have emitted less than the U.S.

The Obama administration mostly has acted through executive power: proposing the carbon dioxide limits on power plants, which mostly affect coal-fired plants; putting limits on methane emissions; and ratcheting up fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, which also cuts down on carbon pollution.

All of that is ambitious and serious, but probably not enough, said Jennifer Morgan of the nongovernmental organization World Resources Institute.

“There are players in the United States that want to hold on to the current energy system that we have,” such as oil and coal companies, Morgan said. “They tend to be quite powerful in our system.”

The White House says Obama plans to highlight how developing countries are stepping up when he meets on the sidelines of the Paris talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Obama also expects to talk with the leaders of island nations at risk from rising seas and warmer temperatures.

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Follow Josh Lederman at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP and Seth Borenstein at http://twitter.com/borenbears
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