Shell

Sprouted-grain bread offerings in the market have been slowly but steadily on the uptick of late, and a number of health claims have attached themselves to the spongy, nutty-tasting loaves: more digestible, richer in protein and higher in vitamins and minerals compared with other breads. But are the claims true? Yes -- and no. Sprouted-grain products have distinct nutritional advantages over white breads, but when compared to other whole-grain breads, they're usually nutritionally comparable -- although nutrient contents can vary, depending on the sprouts included.

Shell casings and signals from one of the victim's cellphones led police to arrest two men in the slayings of two USC graduate students from China - a botched robbery that focused a harsh global spotlight on the campus that is a magnet for foreigners. At a news conference Friday evening, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck identified the suspects as Bryan Barnes, 20, of Los Angeles and Javier Bolden, 19. Barnes was taken into custody Friday afternoon by a team of LAPD SWAT officers, along with FBI and other federal agents, who raided an apartment near the USC campus.

First of three parts Tiffany Lee wanted a car. She was weary of the two-hour bus ride to her job at a UCLA Health System clinic. She hated having to ask friends to drive her 7-year-old son to his asthma treatments. But as a single mother with three children, bad credit and a $27,000-a-year salary, she couldn't find a bank or dealership willing to give her a loan. Then a friend steered her to Repossess Auto Sales in Hawthorne. Another buyer might have balked at the deal she was offered.

BEIRUT - The United States and European Union slapped Syria with additional sanctions Monday, as international pressure and a United Nations-backed peace plan have failed to quell the violence in a 13-month uprising. Despite the presence of U.N. monitors in the country, President Bashar Assad's forces have continued to shell cities and shoot at protesters, killing dozens of people Monday, activists said. A day after a small team of observers visited the city of Hama, tanks shelled neighborhoods while security forces and snipers opened fire in other areas where there were protesters.

They're not as menacing as Burmese pythons proliferating in the Everglades, but giant African snails are targets of the government too. The invasive mollusks are considered a major plant pest and a potential public health threat because they can spread diseases, including meningitis. Now federal and state authorities are seeking to prevent the large, slimy, shell-toting snails from reestablishing themselves in Florida. Once established, agricultural officials said, the mollusks "can create a giant swath of destruction."

Move over, SpongeBob SquarePants. Some mutant ninja turtles are headed your way. Viacom Inc.'s kids' cable network Nickelodeon has struck a $60-million deal with Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment Inc. to acquire the rights to "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," which was one of the biggest children's shows of the 1980s and even spawned a successful movie franchise. Nickelodeon will produce a new cartoon series that it hopes to premier in 2012, and sister studio Paramount Pictures will release a new feature based on the series.

Facing last-minute questions over its plan to launch exploratory oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, Shell Oil Co. pledged Monday to deploy a prefabricated coffer dam ready for "immediate" use in the event of a blowout, with a full-scale oil spill response within an hour. In a letter intended to reassure federal officials that offshore drilling can safely begin in the fragile Arctic in July despite the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Shell said it also would be ready to apply dispersant immediately underwater near the source of any oil flow and would have a remotely operated submersible and trained divers at the drilling site.

Re your April 29 article on oil exploration in the Niger River Delta: Shell official Basil Efoise Omiyi's bragging about the progressive community support the company has "gone out of its way" to give to residents of the Niger Delta is the cheapest of PR tactics. The community projects, like the flowers an abusive man brings after beating his spouse to a pulp, are inadequate compensation and irrelevant to recovery. Omiyi concludes with the disingenuous pronouncement, "To expect us to change the government is something you shouldn't expect from a corporate body."

Huntington Beach Councilman Peter M. Green's July 30 letter is way off the mark. His argument that the Shipley Nature Center has been left out of the Little Shell debate is ludicrous. He claims that Little Shell, a saltwater wetland, is a nonfunctioning site. He is wrong. Little Shell is a functioning wetland. The water from the larger wetland on the other side of Beach Boulevard flows through a pipe under the boulevard to replenish Little Shell with each high tide. As a biology teacher he should know that you can't duplicate a saltwater wetland four miles away at the nature center or anywhere out of the coastal zone.

A tortoise's zookeepers in Cleveland are the ones feeling slow after discovering after more than 50 years that "Mary" is actually a male. Officials at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo say it can be tough to establish the sex of a Aldabra giant tortoise because the reproductive organs normally aren't visible. But Mary's maleness was revealed this month during a routine exam. A spokesman says the zoo is renaming the tortoise Terry. When the reptile arrived at the zoo in 1955, it was assumed he was a she because of a flatter shell, shorter tail and smaller size than most males.

Nicholas King was an actor and an assistant to renowned Hollywood photographer Bob Willoughby in the late 1950s when a close friend of Willoughby stopped by his home with intriguing news. The friend, film editor William Cartwright, had visited the famed Watts Towers for the first time and was surprised by what he saw. The unique work of folk art, created over 33 years by Italian immigrant Simon Rodia, had been abandoned since he moved away in 1954. His former house had burned down, the gates to the walled property were open and unguarded, and the grounds were littered with refuse left by unwanted visitors.

BEIRUT - The United Nations Security Council on Saturday authorized a full monitoring mission of up to 300 observers in Syria as the advance team visited the battered central city of Homs for the first time. Opposition activists said the bombardment of Homs, which has been shelled almost continuously for nearly three months, stopped before the monitors toured one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods, Khaldiyeh. State media reported that the team also toured the city's devastated opposition stronghold of Baba Amr, but activists could not confirm the visit.

BEIRUT — Large antigovernment demonstrations filled the streets of Syria on Friday despite reports of regime forces trying to prevent them from forming and, in other instances, shooting at protesters as an announced cease-fire continued to unravel. Activists said security forces fired bullets and tear gas at protesters in several areas across the country, ignoring the government's agreement to a peace plan that guarantees the right to demonstrate. Shelling also continued in Homs province, and at least 57 people were reported killed across the country.

Simona De Silvestro was among the most promising young drivers in IndyCar racing a year ago. Then she went to Indianapolis. As she made a practice lap for the Indianapolis 500 in May, the suspension on De Silvestro's car broke while she was traveling 220 mph. The car slammed into the wall and slid down the track, upside down and on fire. The Swiss driver was lucky to escape with only serious burns on her hands, and she later managed to qualify for the big race. But De Silvestro, who finished 31st in the 500, had sustained another injury: a crisis of confidence.

BEIRUT - Two days into a fragile truce, and the question many are asking is, when is a cease-fire no longer a cease-fire? On the second day of a United Nations-backed peace plan to end violence and unrest in Syria's 13-month uprising, mass protests returned to the streets and in some places were met with gunfire, killing at least eight people, according to activists. In other towns, soldiers and security forces stationed nearby allowed protesters to gather, but the very presence of armed government forces was a violation of the plan.

SANFORD, Fla. - The Trayvon Martin case took a bizarre turn Tuesday when George Zimmerman's attorneys quit, complaining that they had lost all contact with him and that he called the prosecutor and talked to a TV host after they told him not to speak to anyone. And late Tuesday, special prosecutor Angela Corey said she would announce “new information” about the controversial case within 72 hours. She did not elaborate. Attorneys Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig portrayed the former neighborhood watch volunteer as erratic and his mental state as shaky, and they expressed fear for his health under the pressure that has been building since he shot and killed Martin, an unarmed black teenager, on Feb. 26. "As of the last couple days he has not returned phone calls, text messages or emails," Sonner said at a news conference outside Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, Fla. "He's gone on his own. I'm not sure what he's doing or who he's talking to. I cannot go forward speaking to the public about George Zimmerman and this case as representing him because I've lost contact with him. " Uhrig added, "Whenever we call him, the call goes to voicemail.

The debut of the new $25-million Hollywood Bowl shell last season has opened a new chapter in the history of the landmark, retaining its iconic scalloped shape while incorporating a halo-like canopy into the design to improve acoustics. The new Bowl is the latest in a series of shells that date back to the early 1920s.

Elvis has returned. As a Raider. Suspended defensive back-special teams captain Elvis Patterson, his career as a Raider and perhaps in the NFL in jeopardy, has been reinstated by the Raiders. The 31-year-old Patterson was suspended by Coach Art Shell on July 31 after Patterson got into a dispute with defensive backfield coach Jack Stanton. That argument ended when Patterson body-slammed the 54-year-old Stanton to the ground. The incident occurred in Flagstaff, Ariz.

The score for Oscar Bettison's chamber concerto "Livre des Sauvages" ("The Book of Savages") should come with an IKEA-like warning: Some Assembly Required. The half-hour work, which will be given its premiere Tuesday at Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella new music series, employs a toy piano, hotel desk bells, melodicas (with foot pumps), tuned cowbells, tuning forks, conch shells and a "wrenchophone. " The concert, to be conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky, also will feature works by Stockhausen and Cage.

If you're a fan of soft-boiled eggs, or just like to enjoy your breakfast in the comfort of its own shell, you might consider splurging on an egg topper. Egg toppers are meant to cleanly remove the top of the tapered end of the egg. Properly executed, the shell pops off, revealing an opening just large enough to fit a small spoon. No mess, no problem. A spring-loaded topper looks a little like a mini-plunger, with a base that fits neatly over the egg. Pull the handle back, then release; the vibrations should cause the blade just inside the base to crack the top of the shell in a neat line.