Kevin Costner downplays Stephen Baldwin's role in oil business venture

Costner, dressed in a tan suit, at times seemed critical of himself. "Gosh I'm terrible," he said as he struggled to articulate the company's financial workings.

Costner and Baldwin have largely ignored each other in the courtroom during the trial, which started on Monday.

But the star snapped at Baldwin from the witness box as he recalled being frustrated by how the press portrayed his efforts to sell the centrifuges to BP while the oil giant was scrambling to stop the flow of oil from its blown-out well.

"I had to get over the mythology of Kevin and his crazy machine," Costner said, a remark that apparently drew a reaction from Baldwin, who was seated at the plaintiffs' table with his back to the courtroom gallery.

Costner the stared at Baldwin and asked: "Are you amused at this?" Baldwin's lawyer James Cobb asked: "Are you talking to me?"

"No, I was looking at your client, Mr Baldwin," said Costner, 57, the star of Field of Dreams, The Untouchables and The Bodyguard.

US District Judge Martin Feldman told Costner to stop talking to Baldwin.

Baldwin, 46, has yet to testify in the case, which is expected to last another week.

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Apple iPhone 5 leak: rendered in video

We've all see the iPhone 5 leaked back plate on video, now we've got a CAD rendering of the iPhone 5 chassis based on the leak created by Blackpool Creative. The iPhone 5 is the phone on the tip of everyone's tongue now that the Samsung Galaxy S3 has been unveiled and released and it will need to be pretty spectacular if it's going to topple Samsung's supremacy as our smartphone of the moment.

If these renders brought to the surface by 9to5mac are anything to go by, it looks an awful lot like the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S off the bat. Look closely however and you'll be able to make out the suspected 4-inch screen and its longer aspect ratio than that of all other iOS devices. Suggested to come in at 640 x 1136 - near 16:9, that will give it a pixel density of 326 and retaining the Retina Display levels of sharpness held by its predecessor.

As for the body, we can see a physical home button below the screen, an in-call speaker and front-facing camera above. To the right is what looks like a micro-pin slot for the suspected nano-SIM tray. Around the back of the render is the camera and LED flash. With the aluminium backing, iPhone 5 users should be able to expect a less breakable phone, with the back sporting what looks like attractive blasted detailing upon it. This will include an Apple insignia and information as found on the back of a current gen iPhone. Finally to the left are the volume buttons and the lock slider.

We aren't treated to the top and bottom of the iPhone 5 in the render, but we already know from the leaked chassis that the bottom will now house the headphone jack and a smaller proprietary charging port. Up top will therefore just be a lone power button. The iPhone 5 is expected to land around September, but anyone who wants to get an idea of some of the perks inside Apple's next iPhone should stay tuned at the end of the month for Apple's WDC where the Cupertino company will likely unveil iOS 6. Here's our iOS 6 rumour round-up to whet your appetite, and if you have any thoughts on the new iPhone 5 renders in the video below just fire us a comment.

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Odebrecht Sues State of Florida Over Anti-Cuba Law

Image courtesy Fla. Dept. of Transportation

Odebrecht Construction states that the new law would prevent the firm from further pursuing the $2.1-billion Interstate 4 reconstruction project planned for Orlando.

Photo courtesy Odebrecht USA

Odebrecht says the final completion for its $1.1-billion North Terminal contract at Miami International Airport is set for February 2013.

----- Advertising -----

Odebrecht Construction on June 5 filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Florida over its new law that bars the awarding of public contracts to firms that have business interests in Cuba or Syria. Widely viewed as a specific target of the new state law, the Coral Gables, Fla.-based contractor asserts that the act is unconstitutional because it conflicts with federal law and attempts to enact foreign policy.

The company issued a public statement that read in part: ?The law targets U.S. companies (such as Odebrecht USA) that have foreign affiliates operating in Cuba. We strongly believe that this new Florida law violates the United States Constitution.?

The Odebrecht suit names state transportation secretary Ananth Prasad as defendant. According to Odebrecht?s legal filings to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the new law would prevent the firm from winning any future contracts with the Florida Dept. of Transportation. The contractor further states that it is currently pursuing future FDOT contracts valued at more than $3.4 billion, including the $2.1-billion reconstruction of Interstate 4 through Orlando, and an $870-million Interstate 75 managed-lanes project in Miami-Dade County.

Odebrecht?s statement addressed targeting FDOT with its suit. ?Though we certainly would prefer to never litigate against any public agency?particularly one with which we have worked so successfully in the past?Odebrecht USA filed suit in U.S. District Court against the Florida Dept. of Transportation simply to defend our right to serve the state of Florida and its local governments,? it read.

Gov. Rick Scott (R) signed the law into effect during a May Day ceremony in Miami. Nearly simultaneously, the governor also quietly issued a signing statement that indicated the law would not be enforced, citing the U.S. Supreme Court?s 2000 decision in Crosby v. National Federal Trade Council. That case involved a Massachusetts law that barred agencies from buying goods or services from firms with business in Burma, also known as Myanmar. In its unanimous decision, the Supreme Court cited the constitution?s Supremacy Clause, which holds that federal law supercedes state legislation.

Once promoters of the anti-Cuba law learned of the signing statement, however, a political backlash ensued, and the next day Scott backtracked and stated that Florida would, in fact, enforce the law.

In reaction to the lawsuit, agency spokesperson Dick Kane stated: ?FDOT intends to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.?

In ENR Southeast?s most recent Top Contractors survey, Odebrecht reported $122.7 million in 2011 revenue from Florida projects. The lawsuit reports the firm?s overall 2011 revenue at just under $214.6 million.

In addition to seeking to have the courts declare the law unconstitutional, Odebrecht is asking the Miami federal court to issue an injunction and prevent the measure from going into effect on July 1.

This file was updated to remove inaccurate information..

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Kraft moves blue chip listing to Nasdaq

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Potential Link Between Fungi, Crohn's Disease: Study

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Obama prods Europe to fix economies _ for US' sake

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Europe's economic crisis could send shock waves roaring across the Atlantic that would drag down the fragile U.S. economy and threaten President Barack Obama's hopes for a second term. The president demonstrated Friday just how deeply he's worried about that ? and how little he can do to prevent it.

Obama used an impromptu news conference to prod European leaders to quickly and vigorously deal with their crisis. Along with that rare cross-Atlantic jawboning, he accused congressional Republicans at home of holding back a U.S. rebound.

The president held forth, unprompted, on what European leaders could and should do to fix their economic woes, though he insisted he was not "scolding them or telling them what to do."

He never mentioned his election opponent, Republican Mitt Romney. But the campaign seemed to be an important factor in the day's events.

Powerless to take on the economic mess overseas by himself, Obama tried to show Americans he was nonetheless engaged in trying to help by offering ideas and advice. At the same time, he was sending a message to his European peers to be resolute and move firmly.

"Now, the good news is there is a path out of this challenge," Obama said. "These decisions are fundamentally in the hands of Europe's leaders, and, fortunately, they understand the seriousness of the situation and the urgent need to act."

Demonstrating his limited direct influence in Europe at the same time he's being thwarted at home by Republicans on his domestic agenda could reinforce a sense of presidential powerlessness ? not an image an incumbent seeking re-election wants to project.

But Obama tried to tie the two issues together to his advantage.

Along with a specific recommendation that Europe inject much-needed money into its banking system, he said European leaders must focus on economic growth and job creation, not just "cutting and cutting and cutting" spending to deal with debt problems. That's the same point he's trying to make to Congress ? and to voters ? back home.

Obama did not go as far as to say Republican lawmakers were rooting for economic failure to undermine him, as his aides have suggested. But he did suggest they may be stalling on his jobs proposals simply because it's an election year.

American voters will decide whether Obama or Romney will be the next president for the next four years. But they're not the only ones.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who leads Europe's strongest economy and needs to be part of any major rescue effort; will be a factor, too. And, here at home, so will Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.

Boehner has presided over a GOP majority which time after time has torpedoed Obama's economic and jobs legislation, even bills that have garnered some bipartisan support in the Senate. Obama says one reason more jobs haven't been produced in this country is because of this GOP roadblock.

Boehner sees it differently. He says, "What's going on in Greece, and the effect it's having in Spain ... it's quite likely that this contagion is going to continue." He contends those problems overseas are because European countries "waited too long to deal with their debt problem and their spending problem," a notion that Romney embraces on the campaign trail.

That runs directly counter to arguments by Obama and many European leaders that the austerity programs forced in place in countries like Greece only made matters worse, adding to joblessness, further suppressing growth and arousing voter anger.

It all mirrors the split in the United States between Republicans who want deep spending cuts and Democrats including Obama who want to promote more growth ? even if it temporarily means more government spending ? until the economy recovers enough to move to serious deficit-reduction.

"Europe has clearly proven that austerity was the wrong policy to pursue during a recession," says Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey, D-N.Y., a member of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee. "I'm surprised that with such strikingly different recoveries occurring between the United States and Europe that so many United States lawmakers will continue to support the same types of policies that are utilized by Europe."

Many European countries have already slipped back into recession.

Greece's June 17 election could result in the country quitting the euro. International economists are not sure what would happen next.

The economy of Greece is tiny, and its withdrawal alone would not have much impact on the global economy. On the other hand, it could trigger investor panic into pulling money out of bonds of other weak European countries such as Spain, Portugal, even Italy.

"Europe is on the precipice. And the odds are uncomfortably high they go over the ledge," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. He's hopeful European countries will bury their differences and work together to keep the eurozone from shattering. "But if they don't, then the European economy will sink deep in recession and take the rest of the global economy with it, including our own."

The European Union, composed of the 17 countries that use the euro and 10 others, is the world's biggest trading entity, bigger than either the United States or China, the world's two biggest single economies.

And that could have dire consequences for Obama and other incumbents running for re-election.

Michael Froman, Obama's adviser for international economic affairs, said he's optimistic some consensus can be reached that doesn't emphasize austerity as much as measures to "spur on further demand to help make sure that the recovery is secured."

He said the eurozone crisis is sure to be a top topic at a summit of the world's 20 leading economies in Mexico later this month. He said he expects to see there "an overwhelming consensus that the focus is on growth."

Obama said Friday he has been in constant contact over the past two years with Merkel and other European leaders about the crisis. But there are no immediate plans for any influx of American cash.

Romney and his campaign aides agree that Europe is in bad shape, but they say it's due to excessive spending on social programs and not enough fiscal discipline. Obama's policies on spending and taxes will "take America on the path to Europe," Romney tells campaign audiences.

"It's not that we don't think that this president is trying. I think he is. It's just that his policies are not working," said Romney campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom.

___

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum

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Google Gets Better At Detecting Hacked Pages, Adds Golf Search Feature & More

Instead of announcing every one of its many search tweaks individually, Google has lately taken to announcing all the changes it has made to its search engine once per month. Today, the company released a list of the 39 previously unannounced changes it made in May. Among these changes are basic tweaks to its search algorithm, including changes to its so-called Penguin algorithm, a change that should improve the relevancy of news content in Google's main search results, and some tweaks that will help the company detect link schemes that are meant to spam its search results pages.

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