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Nelson hits 3 at buzzer to give Magic dramatic win

Jameer Nelson swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to give the Orlando Magic a dramatic 85-82 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.

The Magic led most of the final period, but struggled at the line and let the Nuggets tie the game with 5.7 seconds to play.

Dwight Howard led five Magic players in double figures with 16 points and 18 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu had 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Nelson, Brandon Bass and Jason Richardson all added 13 points.

Wilson Chandler scored 20 points, Danilo Gallinari added 17 and Nene 14 for the Nuggets, who had a four-game winning streak snapped and lost for the 17th time in their last 18 trips to Orlando.

The Magic survived poor shooting and a plethora of turnovers to take a four-point edge into the final period.

Orlando didn't shoot particularly well from the outside all night, but it found its range late. The problem was, so did the Nuggets.

Back-to-back jumpers by Chandler and a pair of free throws by Gallinari made it 72-71 with 6:02 left. Richardson nailed a 3 to put Orlando back up four, before Chandler answered with another jumper to make it 75-73 and forced a Magic timeout.

A runner in the lane by Kenyon Martin pulled Denver within 77-75 before Turkoglu drained a deep 3 to put the Magic up five with just 3:01 left.

Another 3 by Chandler made it 80-78 and the Magic went inside to Howard, who was fouled and hit 1 of 2 free throws to push the lead back to 81-78.

It continued to be a free-throw contest the rest of the way.

Orlando failed to capitalize on a Denver turnover and Nene's two free throws cut the lead to a point. Bass was fouled underneath on the ensuing possession and like Howard could only convert on 1 of 2 to make it 82-80.

Turkoglu came up with an errant Nuggets' pass and was fouled in the frontcourt by Chandler with 14.2 seconds to play. But he missed both free-throw attempts and Denver called timeout after grabbing the rebound.

Turkoglu was then called for a foul on Gallinari with 5.7 left as he drove to the basket. He hit both ensuing free throws to set up the Magic's final shot.

The first half was a sluggish affair throughout, with both teams never quite able to sustain lengthy offensive runs.

The Nuggets led by as many as six points, thanks to a solid effort by Nene (eight points) and Gallinari off the bench with nine. Orlando also didn't help its cause with 10 turnovers that led to 13 Denver points.

The Magic trailed by three points at the end of the first quarter, before finally getting a late second-quarter burst and took a 47-42 lead into halftime.

Denver led 33-28 with 5:14 left in the half before being outscored 19-9 the rest of the period.

Richardson led the Magic with 10 points, followed by Bass with eight. Turkoglu was also active with seven of Orlando's 11 assists.

Notes: Magic guards Gilbert Arenas and J.J. Redick both sat out Friday night. Arenas was out with a sore left knee and Redick with a lower abdominal strain. It was the sixth game Arenas has missed due to injury this season. Before Friday, Arenas had last missed a game on March 1 with the same condition. Redick missed his fifth straight game with the abs injury and sat out for the 11th time this season. ... Gallinari played for the first time since sustaining a left big toe fracture Feb. 25 during Denver's one-point loss at Portland. He had missed consecutive eight games. ... Denver coach George Karl said that he will have minor surgery next week to remove a filter in his chest that prevents blood clots from going into his heart and lungs. Karl, whose throat and neck cancer is currently in remission, said he's been told by his doctors that it's not a serious procedure. "They feel I'm healthy enough and said that it's a positive thing because they feel I'm healthy enough for them to take it out," Karl said during the pregame Friday. "So that's what we're gonna do next week. A 30-minute procedure. No problem."

Japan mulls reactor covers in nuclear crisis

Japan was weighing Wednesday a series of solutions to its unfolding nuclear disaster, from draping reactors with special fabric to sending in military robots to do the risky work.

Pressure to come up with fresh ideas intensified as Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which operates the crippled Fukushima plant, admitted it had no idea when the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl would be under control.

"Key factors are still unknown, such as how the nuclear incident will come to an end... In a word, the very difficult situation is expected to continue," TEPCO chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata told reporters.

One stop-gap measure reported by the local media involved covering three badly damaged outer reactor buildings with special fabric caps and fitting air filters to limit radiation.

Another plan was to anchor an empty tanker off reactor two, so that workers can pump several Olympic swimming pools' worth of highly-radioactive runoff water into its hull, media said.

"We are in an unprecedented situation, so we need to think about different strategies, beyond what we normally think about," an official with the nuclear safety agency told AFP.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the government and nuclear experts were discussing "every possibility, including those mentioned in the press."

In the latest attempt to contain the disaster, workers will on Thursday begin to carpet two-thirds of the plant's 1.2 hectares (three acres) of grounds with a resin to trap the radioactive particles, the agency said later.

The United States has lent Japan robots of a model battle-tested in Iraq and Afghanistan that can navigate, film and clear rubble in the blast-hit reactor buildings, which humans cannot enter because of very high radiation levels.

US President Barack Obama vowed continued help as he talked to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan for the third time since the disaster, which has left over 11,000 confirmed dead and more than 16,000 listed as missing.

"The United States is determined to support the people of Japan in their efforts to deal with the devastating effects of this tragedy, both in the short and the long term," Obama said according to the White House.

Smoke was on Wednesday seen at another TEPCO-run nuclear plant 10 kilometres (six miles) from the stricken plant.

The company later said it came from an electric distribution switchboard and was not due to a fire.

The strain of the crisis appeared to have taken a toll on TEPCO's president Masataka Shimizu, 66, who was hospitalised Tuesday evening with high blood pressure and dizziness, having not appeared in public for over two weeks.

The company's shares have plunged to about a fifth of pre-quake levels amid heavy criticism, most recently over news that it ignored expert warnings on the threat of a tsunami before a giant wave crashed into the plant on March 11.

TEPCO chairman Katsumata said he saw little chance that the four stricken reactors in the six-reactor complex could ever resume operations.

For now Japan faces a dilemma in containing the nuclear crisis: it must pump water into reactors to stop them from overheating, even as highly radioactive runoff leaks out, halting crucial repair work and threatening the environment.

Iodine-131 detected in Pacific Ocean water near the plant site surged to a new high of 3,355 times the legal limit, officials said -- compared to the previous top level of 1,850 times the legal maximum taken days ago.

"The figures are rising further," said nuclear safety agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama. "We need to find out as quickly as possible the cause and stop them from rising any higher."

With crucial control room functions still disabled, experts are not sure what exactly is happening inside the reactors -- and some international experts have issued dire warnings that a meltdown may already be in progress.

One of them is Richard Lahey, who was head of safety research for boiling-water reactors at General Electric when it installed the Fukushima units, and who was quoted by Britain's Guardian newspaper.

Available reactor and radiation data from the troubled unit two "suggest that the core has melted through the bottom of the pressure vessel" and onto the concrete floor, he was quoted as saying by the daily.

"I hope I am wrong, but that is certainly what the evidence is pointing towards."

Greenpeace radiation expert Jan van de Putte urged the Japanese government to take more aggressive measures to evacuate people near the plant, warning of long-term consequences for public health.

"Exposing a large number of people to this level of radiation creates a collective risk which is very significant over a long term, in terms of years. Our main concern is an increased incidence of cancer," he told reporters.

Meanwhile the EU said it may strengthen controls on imports of Japanese food to include checks on the presence of plutonium.

The Vienna Boys' Choir, one of Austria's best-selling musical exports, said Wednesday it would "very likely" cancel an upcoming tour of Japan in view of the unfolding nuclear catastrophe while the 2011 Tour of Japan has also been cancelled.

Oscar Nominated Actor Edward James Olmos Headlines Stellar Cast of Hispanicize 2011 Keynoters and Entertainers

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., March 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Oscar Nominated Actor Edward James Olmos, one of the nation's most admired Latinos in Hollywood and one of the best known advocates for education, will headline the stellar cast of keynoters speaking at Hispanicize 2011, the 2nd Annual Hispanic PR & Social Media Conference, April 6-8.

Olmos, who in addition to being nominated for an Academy Award for "Stand and Deliver" was most recently Adm. William Adama in the just concluded "Battlestar Galactica" series, will deliver the breakfast keynote address of Friday, April 8.

Joining Olmos as keynoters are:

Javier Farfan, Director of Cultural Marketing for Pepsico. Farfan will open the conference with a breakfast keynote on April 7.Rosanna Fiske, CEO/Chair of the 20,000-member Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), will provide the lunch keynote of April 7 sponsored by the Walt Disney Company. Fiske is the first Latina ever elected Chair of PRSA.Rick Wion, Social Media Director for McDonald's Corporation, will keynote the lunch of April 8. Returning for this year's comedy routine titled "Latino Bloggers and Weird PR People" will be renowned comedian/screenwriter Rick Najera. Najera will share his comic madness during the dinner reception of April 7.L.A.'s signature hotspot The Conga Room at L.A. Live will host the official After Party of Hispanicize 2011, a Hollywood affair co-sponsored by Buick/OnStar. Buick will be driving many of the conference attendees to what promises to be an incredible party/networking event. The after party DJ will be the multi-talented Rikki Rincon of the Dallas-based R2Latino and The Global Cafe.

Co-presented by the(HPRA),and thein partnership with the(PRSA), the conference now features more than 33 professional development opportunities and more than 80 speakers focused on Latino social media, blogging, PR best practices and diversity.

The most updated version of the conference schedule can be viewed at .

CONFERENCE SPONSORS

The Walt Disney Company, Disney Parks and Buick/OnStar are platinum sponsors of the conference. The Advertising Agency Partner of the conference is The Sensis Agency and the Latino Social Media Agency partner of Hispanicize 2011 is . The Technology sponsor is the Ford Motor Company. The Electronics partner of the conference is Sony. For the second year in a row the official airline partner of the conference is Southwest Airlines. Other sponsors include Walmart, Clorox, Sprint, Kolcraft, Lowe's, McDonald's, Que Rica Vida (General Mills), UnitedHealthcare, VPE Public Relations, TeleNoticias, Business Wire, The Axis Agency, PR Newswire, The Zocalo Group, Super Boleteria, , Stone Crossing Solutions, the California Milk Processing Board, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Los Angeles and Survey.com.

Conference sponsorship information is available by contacting .

About the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA)

HPRA was founded in 1984 as a non-profit organization to establish a network of Hispanics employed in the public relations profession. HPRA has more than 250 members representing public relations, marketing and advertising professionals from agencies, government, non-profit and corporate companies. HPRA is dedicated to the advancement of Hispanic professionals and provides educational seminars and workshops throughout the year.

The organization has awarded more than $220,000 in scholarships to Latino students pursuing a career in communications during the last 25 years. HPRA strives to be a resource for communications professionals and for those seeking insights into the Hispanic market. For more information visit .

About Hispanicize

Co-headquartered in New York City and Miami, Hispanicize is the complete resource for Latino social media marketers and bloggers. The company was co-founded by Latino social media thought leaders Manny Ruiz, founder of the Hispanic PR Blog, PapiBlogger and the Annual Hispanic PR & Social Media Conference, Louis Pagan, Co-Founder of LATISM and Migdalia Rivera, founder of Latina on a Mission.

Hispanicize regularly features in-depth industry news, webinar trainings, technology guides, online forums and a comprehensive directory and networking service for brands and Latina/o bloggers.

To follow Hispanicize.com on its Facebook fan page, visitor on Twitter @Hispanicize.

SOURCEHispanic Public Relations Association

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Daughter of Malcolm X arrested in NC on NY charges

The daughter of Malcolm X was being held in a North Carolina jail and could be extradited to New York to face charges on several outstanding warrants, authorities said Monday.

Malikah Shabazz was arrested Friday night after authorities responded to a call to a Mars Hill home, said Chief Deputy Michael Garrison of the Madison County Sheriff's Office. Investigators found that the 45-year-old had several outstanding warrants from Queens, N.Y., that include charges for grand larceny, forgery and identity theft.

Garrison and her lawyer, Sean Devereux, said Shabazz is the daughter of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X, who is also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. She was born months after Malcolm X was assassinated exactly 46 years ago Monday.

Shabazz is scheduled to appear for an extradition hearing Tuesday.

Devereux said the warrants appear to be from 2009 but that she was never served with the papers. Her attorneys are not sure about the circumstances of the charges. He said prosecutors in New York have known her most recent address in South Carolina, where she owned a home and had a driver's license.

"The notion that she fled New York is really not the case," Devereux said.

Devereux said Shabazz is not fighting extradition and is eager to go to New York and deal with the matter. She's mostly concerned about her 13-year-old daughter, who was in the custody of the local Department of Social Services, Devereux said.

Shabazz is being held at a jail in neighboring Haywood County because Madison County does not have facilities to hold women.

Devereux said she recently moved to the mountains of North Carolina to find a peaceful place to live. Authorities came to the house Friday night as social workers investigated a call that a child was not attending school, he said, noting that Shabazz's daughter is home-schooled.

Shabazz is not facing charges in North Carolina, Garrison said.

The Top 5 Reasons to Buy a Tablet

As one newannouncement after another surfaces these days, you may be asking yourself, "What does a tablet give me that I don't already get out of my computer or smartphone?"

At first, I didn't see why I would need a tablet. But after observing quite a few PCWorld editors using them around the office, I relented and picked up an iPad last summer. Initially I had purchased the device to browse my massive library of digital comic books, but soon I found it useful for other, more-practical tasks. I started taking the iPad to meetings and using it to do quick Web searches, and it became my preferred way to read and respond to e-mail.

With theand other -powered tablets in the works, and with HP announcing its , consumers will have a much bigger pool of devices to choose from. Although a tablet may not totally replace your PC anytime soon, using one has its benefits. Here are my top five.

Portability

Next to ordinary computers, tablets by design are comparatively lightweight and relatively easy to carry around. Many of them may still be too heavy to hold in one hand, but they're great in your lap or on a surface. Reaching for a tablet to browse the Web during TV commercials is much easier than getting up, going to your desk, and booting up your computer. Even laptops, which are supposed to be mobile devices, can take a while to start, and they often get uncomfortably hot after a short period of use.

As for using a smartphone, you do have easy access and instant-on, but it's nice to be able to view an entire Web page as opposed to the mobile site or an oddly rendered version on a smartphone's much smaller screen. Plus, there's something about being able to hold a Web page more naturally in your hand, as opposed to staring at it on a laptop screen or monitor. It makes you feel like the future is here.

Productivity

I don't expect anyone to type out a proposal using a tablet's virtual keyboard. However, a tablet in the workplace can be quite helpful for handling basic tasks, like checking e-mail or managing schedules. Here at work, I use a stand to hold my iPad up next to my monitor so that I can use it as a second screen. I leave the Mail app open, which lets me quickly see if I have new messages. For meetings you can jot down notes and download any relevant documents you may need to reference, into the tablet. That way, you won't have to shuffle through a pile of papers searching for a specific chart or diagram.

Students may also find the iPad useful, particularly if you have to carry several books on a day-to-day basis. If those books are offered digitally, you may save some money (and possibly your back) just by packing them into a tablet that also can double as a laptop.

Entertainment

Tablets are great for entertainment. Since a tablet is basically just a large screen, it's a stellar device for watching movies and TV shows. When you're trying to watch an epic movie like Inception, a 3.5-inch screen just doesn't cut it. With services such as , you don't even have to fill your tablet's internal memory with video files; instead, you can stream entire libraries of material directly to your device.

You can also find games to add to your fun. I think I've sunk more hours intothan I have into any other game I currently own. Having touch-based controls on a tablet forces developers to get creative, leading to truly unusual gaming.

Adaptability

Games are not the only thing you can download into your tablet. One of the beautiful things about tablets is that most of them--the ones worth the money you've paid, at least--have some sort of marketplace where you can purchase additional apps to give your device a whole new level of functionality. Love to read the news and stay on top of current events? Download a few news apps. Love to tweet and spend all day on Facebook? Grab some social networking apps to stay in contact with friends.

Although it's true that you can customize your computer as well, installing apps on a tablet is a much cleaner and simpler process. You don't have to deal with product keys or registration codes, and most apps download and install in seconds. Tablets also are a good tool for road warriors who need the functionality that their phone lacks but who don't want the size and weight of a laptop or netbook to slow them down.

Battery Life

One of the reasons I prefer carrying around a tablet as opposed to a laptop is the superior battery life you get from a tablet. My laptop can go for only about 2.5 hours before I have to plug it in, whereas I can get almost a full day's use out of a or an iPad. Even my HTCsmartphone needs to be plugged in at least twice a day, more if I've been browsing the Web with it. Having to carry a charger as well as a laptop (not to mention trying to find an available electrical socket) gets to be inconvenient.