Police Lock Down High School After Food Fight Turns Into Brawl...

MINNEAPOLIS — A food fight quickly turned into a brawl involving hundreds of students in a Minneapolis high school on Thursday, forcing police to use chemical spray to break up the melee.

Four people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, including a staffer who was hit on the head with a bottle, according to the school and police.

The 15-minute fracas broke out during lunchtime in South High School. No weapons were used, but about 200 to 300 students were involved, Minneapolis police Sgt. Bill Palmer said.

Students were throwing food, plates, pop bottles — “anything they could get their hands on” — at school staff and police, Palmer said.

A dozen officers responded to the scene and used chemical spray to break up the fight, he added. School officials said police used chemical spray in the air above the crowd, though several students complained of the spray's effects.

Student Council President Connor Bass told the Star Tribune that the scene was “chaos,” with five or six fights going on simultaneously.

“When the cops came and started spraying Mace, it was just pandemonium with people trying to run away,” Bass said.

No arrests were made, but police plan to review surveillance video, which may lead to charges, Palmer said.

The school was put on lockdown after the fight, meaning students had to stay in their classrooms. The school dismissed at the regular time, and afternoon athletics went ahead as scheduled.

South High has about 2,000 students in ninth through 12th grades.

Read more: http://triblive.com/usworld/nation/3489175-74/police-students-fight#ixzz2KymKsiRx

NASA to Chronicle Close Earth Flyby of Asteroid

(NASA) NASA Television will provide commentary starting at 11 a.m. PST (2 p.m. EST) on Friday, Feb. 15, during the close, but safe, flyby of a small near-Earth asteroid named 2012 DA14. NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home planet from them. This flyby will provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study a near-Earth object up close.

The half-hour broadcast from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will incorporate real-time animation to show the location of the asteroid in relation to Earth, along with live or near real-time views of the asteroid from observatories in Australia, weather permitting.

At the time of its closest approach to Earth at approximately 11:25 a.m. PST (2:25 p.m. EST / 19:25 UTC), the asteroid will be about 17,150 miles (27,600 kilometers) above Earth’s surface.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/nasa-to-chronicle-close-earth-flyby-of-asteroid/#w8SGRx1jwy48ZDWB.99

Soros Said to Make $1 Billion Since November on Yen Bet

US hedge fund investor George Soros has gained about $1 billion since November betting against the yen, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people with knowledge of the firm’s position, reports Reuters.
The yen lost nearly 20 per cent against the dollar between November and early February, picking up speed as Japan’s new government put pressure on the Bank of Japan to ease monetary policy more aggressively to defeat deflation.

Soros Fund Management’s internal portfolio, which has been led by Scott Bessent since last summer, holds about 10 per cent Japanese shares, the paper reported, citing people close to the firm.

 Investors including David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, Daniel Loeb’s Third Point LLC and Kyle Bass’s Hayman Capital Management LP, also made big trading profits by riding the yen down, the Journal said.
The Journal did not say how much profit Greenlight, Third Point, and Hayman Capital made on yen trade.
‘We put the trades on about three years ago and the trade wasn’t fun for the first two years and number of months,’ Einhorn told the Journal, adding that he expects further weakness.

Investors have wagered against the yen in various ways, from complicated derivatives to simple put options, the kind that Einhorn bought, the Journal said.

Soros Fund, Third Point, Hayman Capital and Greenlight Capital could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters outside regular US business hours.