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Sky Combat Ace invites thrill-seekers to experience aerial joyrides high above Nevada desert

LAS VEGAS , May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Enjoy the adventure-of-a-lifetime with Sky Combat Ace (SCA) as you suit up for a wild aerobatic flight of non-stop spins, barrel rolls, hammerheads and loops high above Las Vegas. With the glittering Strip and desert mountains as a backdrop, SCA is the nation’s ultimate flight experience.

Guided by an expert aerobatic pilot, take the controls and live out your “Iceman” or “Maverick” fantasies with the Top Gun package; or take on the extreme (and aptly named) Adrenaline Rush, combining world-class aerobatics with air-to-air dog fights. Not for you? Ditch the tricks and enjoy a sightseeing adventure in an open-cockpit biplane for incomparable views of the Hoover Dam and Red Rock Mountains, or a night flight over the bright city lights.

Pull down your goggles and step into SCA’s brand new Extra 330LC; or turn back the clock and become a WWII airman in SCA’s authentic T-6 Texan Warbird; or fly like the Red Baron in the Waco Classic YMF-5C open cockpit biplane.

SCA delivers something for everyone with five types of experiences, whether for a first-time flight fanatic or advanced aviator:

• Aerobatic Flights – Star in your very own air show! Become wingman to one of SCA’s 10 professional fighter pilots and learn the art of basic flight maneuvering. You fly the plane under the supervision of SCA’s pilots to execute loops, rolls, hammerheads and spins.
• Aerial Dogfighting – Reenact your favorite “Top Gun” moment as you chase your opponent through the Nevada skies like a real fighter pilot. Feel the thrill of “the kill” as you aim

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Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) is joining the ever-growing gluten-free movement, saying it will start offering pizzas with glutenless crusts in most of its U.S. stores.

The crust, Domino’s said in a press release, is “appropriate for those with mild gluten sensitivity,” but it’s not recommended for people who have celiac disease. Domino’s consulted with National Foundation for Celiac Awareness on the new recipe, which will be available on the small, 10-inch pizzas and cost about $3 more, USA Today reports. The pizza chain has almost 5,000 stores in the U.S.

The NFCA says that one out of every 133 Americans has celiac disease, or about 3 million in all. Another 18 million have a less serious “sensitivity” to gluten, the organization says. Gluten is found in wheat, barley and rye. Celiac disease is a condition in which the immune system responds to gluten intake by damaging the small intestine. In turn, that can inhibit the absorption of various nutrients.

Gluten avoiders should be aware that the crust will be prepared in the same kitchen as the regular, gluten-containing crusts, so some risk of gluten exposure will remain, the company said. Even so, the NFCA said it was happy to have Domino’s on board.

“The NFCA is thrilled that Domino’s Pizza has developed a product that will improve the quality of life for many of the estimated 18 million Americans who are gluten sensitive,” said Alice Bast, the group’s founder and president. “Not only is Domino’s Gluten Free Crust a huge win for much of the gluten free community who can now get pizza delivered to their door, it’s also delicious. Customers aren’t going to believe they’re eating a pizza made on a gluten free crust when they try it. And the variety of fresh toppings that are available is a giant leap ahead.”

The amount of gluten out there in pizza crusts is potentially significant. Domino’s says it delivered some 400 million pizzas last year. In the U.S., about 3 billion pies are sold every year, according to data from the National Association of Pizza Operators.

In addition to Domino’s, several other chains have at least a few options for diners who want to avoid gluten, including Carrabba’s Italian Grill, P.F. Chang’s (PFCB) and Legal Sea Foods, and even at independent restaurants it’s becoming more common to see menu sections detailing gluten-free meals.

Domino’s, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., says it’s the first national delivery chain to provide the choice of gluten-free crusts with its pizzas. Pizza Hut, part of Yum! Brands (YUM), is the largest pizza seller in the U.S., followed by Domino’s. Papa John’s (PZZA) is No. 3, according to PMQ Pizza Magazine. All told, the magazine says pizza in 2010 was a $35 billion business in the 50 states.

Would you eat a gluten-free pizza crust? Or do you think the gluten-free movement is bound to fade? Are fast-food chains doing the right thing by aiming to have healthier menu options? Weigh in below.

By Alissa de Carbonnel

MOSCOW |
Fri May 4, 2012 6:52am EDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian billionaires are famous for being big buyers of contemporary art, bolstering sales in capitals across the West, but at home it’s a different story.

Dejected by Vladimir Putin’s return to power, many of Russia’s glitterati have left, turning their backs on a fledgling modern art market that may now have to seek help from the state – the people who scared off its potential patrons.

“These collectors who left en masse, they are people who saw that not only is there a suffocating situation but that it will continue for a minimum of six years,” gallery owner Marat Gelman said, referring to Putin’s return to the Kremlin for a third term. “They are not seeing their future in Russia.”

Gelman was at the forefront of a movement to pioneer Moscow’s first contemporary galleries in the 1990s, setting up his Gelman gallery alongside the Aidan and XL galleries to cater to the rich and famous seeking trophies of their wealth.

But those trailblazers now say their regulars have largely left Russia, leaving their luxury market in the hands of rich bureaucrats, who neither want to draw attention to their wealth or spend on art that is often critical of the Kremlin.

“When the richest people are bureaucrats – deputy ministers, the children of governors, the wives of mayors – then these people are ashamed of their wealth,” Gelman said. “They would rather buy some expensive yacht far from everyone.”

Each of the three trendsetting galleries is changing in its own way to respond to plummeting

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WASHINGTON, May 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, today issued the following statement on the U.S. Export-Import Bank reauthorization agreement:

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111201/DC15444LOGO )

“We appreciate the hard work of Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Democratic House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, who negotiated a bipartisan agreement that ensures increased transparency in the Ex-Im bank’s lending practices, calls for greater economic impact analysis of loans and would implement other important reforms, and we urge passage of the agreement,” said A4A President and CEO Nicholas Calio.

ABOUT A4A

Annually, commercial aviation helps drive more than $1 trillion in U.S. economic activity and nearly 10 million U.S. jobs. A4A airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and y cargo traffic. For more information about the airline industry, visit www.airlines.org and follow us on Twitter @airlinesdotorg.

 

 

 

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By Simon Akam

FREETOWN |
Thu May 3, 2012 10:31pm EDT

FREETOWN (Reuters) – Scattered across Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown stand ageing wooden houses, some of which look more like they belong on the east coast of 18th century America than in a steamy West African city.

Others look like they may have been built hundreds of years ago in the islands of the Caribbean, another reflection of Sierra Leone’s history as a colony established for freed slaves.

For Lucy Senessie, a 24-year-old who lives in one of the West Indies-influenced board houses in Freetown – known as ‘bode ose’ in the krio vernacular – the city’s unique architecture is a living link to its past.

“It is very important for people to see what has been there before,” she said, standing outside her wooden house in Freetown’s Murray Town neighbourhood. “The time when they colonise this country, there is only board houses in this country, but now things have changed.”

Isa Blyden, a documentary producer who has researched Freetown architecture, sees the origin of the houses in the arrival of the ‘Nova Scotians’ to Sierra Leone.

These former American slaves and free blacks sought refuge with the British during the American Revolutionary War. After the British defeat they were evacuated to Nova Scotia in Eastern Canada, and in 1792 a contingent came to Sierra Leone.

Blyden sees the original single-storey Freetown Board House as a reconstruction of the cabin-like structures built a little earlier on the American eastern seaboard.

“The style of house was being built in America in 1776,” Blyden said.

There were some modifications though, notably a three-foot base

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