BAGHDAD (AP) ? Many of Iraq's Sunnis are holding a day of civil disobedience to protest the Shiite-led government's policies they perceive as being discriminatory against their minority.
The protest is underway in the provinces of Anbar, Salahuddin and Ninevah, where many schools, markets and government offices shut down on Monday. However, Sunni areas in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, did not join the action.
The organizers say the protest is a warning to the government, which has failed to meet the demands of the Sunnis who have been staging weekly protests since late last year.
The list of Sunni demands also includes the release of Sunni detainees from Iraqi jails and the cancellation of tough counter-terrorism laws and other policies that they believe overwhelmingly target their minority.
On Monday, Connecticut-based Foxwoods Resort Casino announced a partnership with GameAccount Network to deliver online gaming opportunities to the United States market.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (MPTN), which owns and operates Foxwoods, said it would initially focus on play-money games until legislation allows real-money wagering in the U.S. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval, but MPTN said it would release a play-for-fun gaming site at some point this year.
The agreement includes business-to-business (B2B) operations and will provide turnkey online gaming solutions for other Indian casinos and gaming operators.
According to the tribe, Foxwoods.com attracts one million unique monthly visitors.
As of yet, Connecticut legislation has not discussed the allowance of real-money online gaming within the state, nor has the state indicated whether the issue would be brought into discussion within the future.
New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada are the only states that regulate online wagering in the U.S. New Jersey and Delaware offer casino games; Nevada only allows online poker.
Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation commented, ?The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is thrilled to announce our proposed partnership with GameAccount. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe has long been a leader in brick-and-mortar casino operations, and with the help of GameAccount, we aim to take the same leadership position in regulated online gaming in the US. Our shared vision unites GameAccount's technical capabilities with our Foxwoods brand and our leadership in casino management.?
GameAccount is an online gaming software supplier focusing its efforts on regulated markets. The company offers a fully-integrated online gaming platform of casino and mobile skill games, as well as the ability to convert land-based slots into online games.
?As one of the first European Internet gaming system suppliers that moved into the United States in advance of intra-State regulation in 2011, we have developed the specialist experience, expertise and technical functionality required to serve Foxwoods from a hardware platform located on-property in Connecticut," said Dermot Smurfit, GameAccount's CEO. "We're delighted that this experience and our unique capabilities will support our new strategic partner Foxwoods as they build a new Internet gaming business in one of the World's most exciting emerging regulated Internet gaming markets."
Monday's agreement comes just a few months after Foxwoods? southeastern Connecticut rival, Mohegan Sun, signed a deal with Amaya Gaming (now owned by Bally Technologies) to provide free-play online poker. That deal, made in November last year, was the first agreement of its kind made by an East Coast casino bringing online gaming and poker to the U.S.
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Hepatitis c-like viruses identified in bats and rodentsPublic release date: 22-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Timothy S. Paul tp2111@columbia.edu 212-305-2676 Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Discovery opens avenues to developing new treatments
As many as one in 50 people around the world is infected with some type of hepacivirus or pegivirus, including up to 200 million with hepatitis C virus (HCV), a leading cause of liver failure and liver cancer. There has been speculation that these agents arose in wildlife and jumped species to infect humans; however, little was known about their distribution in other species.
In two new papers published in the journals mBio and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigators at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health report the discovery of hepaciviruses and pegivirusesclose relatives of HCVin rodents and bats. The viruses are similar to those that infect humans and may therefore provide insights into the origins of HCV, as well as the mechanisms behind animal-to-human transmission. It may also enable development of new animal systems with which to model HCV pathogenesis, vaccine design, and treatment.
Both discoveries were made using high-throughput sequencing and other molecular methods for pathogen discovery pioneered at CII. Both represented multicenter global efforts.
As reported in mBio, Amit Kapoor, PhD, and colleagues screened more than 400 wild-caught rodents. Molecular analysis revealed the presence of hepaciviruses and pegiviruses closely related to those found in humans. "Importantly, the rodent hepaviviruses contained sequences that are thought to play a role in liver infection in HCV," says Dr. Kapoor, lead author of the study and assistant professor of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University Medical Center. "We also found instances of a single animal infected with multiple hepaciviruses."
Such co-infections have also been observed with HCV in humans, suggesting that the immune response to HCV is different than with most viral infectionsa finding that has implications for vaccine design. "It also supports the potential use of rodent hepaciviruses in developing models for human disease," says W. Ian Lipkin, MD, John Snow Professor of Epidemiology and director of the CII.
Researchers from Rockefeller University, University of Edinburgh, University of Copenhagen, University of New Mexico, North Carolina College of Veterinary Medicine, Pennsylvania State University and the National Institutes of Health contributed to the study. Results appear online in mBio.
In a second study led by P. Lan Quan, PhD, molecular assays of 1,615 bats collected worldwide led to the identification of 83 novel hepaciviruses and pegiviruses, representing an infection rate of nearly 5%. "The broad prevalence, unprecedented diversity, and worldwide distribution of these novel viruses suggest that bats are a major and ancient reservoir for both hepaciviruses and pegiviruses, and provide insights into the evolutionary history of HCV and human pegiviruses," says Dr. Quan, associate research scientist at the Center for Infection and Immunity.
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Researchers from EcoHealth Alliance, Centers for Disease Control, University of Pretoria, University of Kinshasa, Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico, Ahmadu Bello University, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, University of Kisangani, National Museum of Kenya, and the University of Sydney contributed to the study. Results appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The work reported in these two papers was supported by awards from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Agency for International Development (PREDICT), the Centers for Disease Control, and the Department of Defense.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Hepatitis c-like viruses identified in bats and rodentsPublic release date: 22-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Timothy S. Paul tp2111@columbia.edu 212-305-2676 Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Discovery opens avenues to developing new treatments
As many as one in 50 people around the world is infected with some type of hepacivirus or pegivirus, including up to 200 million with hepatitis C virus (HCV), a leading cause of liver failure and liver cancer. There has been speculation that these agents arose in wildlife and jumped species to infect humans; however, little was known about their distribution in other species.
In two new papers published in the journals mBio and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigators at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health report the discovery of hepaciviruses and pegivirusesclose relatives of HCVin rodents and bats. The viruses are similar to those that infect humans and may therefore provide insights into the origins of HCV, as well as the mechanisms behind animal-to-human transmission. It may also enable development of new animal systems with which to model HCV pathogenesis, vaccine design, and treatment.
Both discoveries were made using high-throughput sequencing and other molecular methods for pathogen discovery pioneered at CII. Both represented multicenter global efforts.
As reported in mBio, Amit Kapoor, PhD, and colleagues screened more than 400 wild-caught rodents. Molecular analysis revealed the presence of hepaciviruses and pegiviruses closely related to those found in humans. "Importantly, the rodent hepaviviruses contained sequences that are thought to play a role in liver infection in HCV," says Dr. Kapoor, lead author of the study and assistant professor of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University Medical Center. "We also found instances of a single animal infected with multiple hepaciviruses."
Such co-infections have also been observed with HCV in humans, suggesting that the immune response to HCV is different than with most viral infectionsa finding that has implications for vaccine design. "It also supports the potential use of rodent hepaciviruses in developing models for human disease," says W. Ian Lipkin, MD, John Snow Professor of Epidemiology and director of the CII.
Researchers from Rockefeller University, University of Edinburgh, University of Copenhagen, University of New Mexico, North Carolina College of Veterinary Medicine, Pennsylvania State University and the National Institutes of Health contributed to the study. Results appear online in mBio.
In a second study led by P. Lan Quan, PhD, molecular assays of 1,615 bats collected worldwide led to the identification of 83 novel hepaciviruses and pegiviruses, representing an infection rate of nearly 5%. "The broad prevalence, unprecedented diversity, and worldwide distribution of these novel viruses suggest that bats are a major and ancient reservoir for both hepaciviruses and pegiviruses, and provide insights into the evolutionary history of HCV and human pegiviruses," says Dr. Quan, associate research scientist at the Center for Infection and Immunity.
###
Researchers from EcoHealth Alliance, Centers for Disease Control, University of Pretoria, University of Kinshasa, Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico, Ahmadu Bello University, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, University of Kisangani, National Museum of Kenya, and the University of Sydney contributed to the study. Results appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The work reported in these two papers was supported by awards from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Agency for International Development (PREDICT), the Centers for Disease Control, and the Department of Defense.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (AP) ? Worried that long-seething rifts could escalate over the South China Sea, Southeast Asian leaders are expected this week to press China to agree to start negotiations on a new pact aimed at thwarting a major clash in one of the world's busiest waterways.
Concern over North Korea's latest threats is also expected to gain attention over economic issues in the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, being held Wednesday and Thursday in Brunei's capital of Bandar Seri Begawan.
The 10-nation bloc is scrambling to beat a deadline to transform the strikingly diverse region of 600 million people into a European Union-like community by the end of 2015.
About 77 percent of the work to turn the bustling region into a single market and production base, first laid out in a 2007 blueprint, have been done, according to a draft statement to be issued after the summit. The document did not detail what still needed to be done.
The statement, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press on Monday, would reaffirm the ASEAN leaders' commitment to ensure the peaceful resolution of South China Sea conflicts in accordance with international law "without resorting to the threat or use of force."
They would call for "the early adoption of a code of conduct in the South China Sea," referring to a legally binding pact ASEAN would like to forge with China to replace a 2002 nonaggression accord that has failed to stop territorial skirmishes.
China, Taiwan and ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have overlapping claims across the South China Sea, which Beijing claims in its entirety. The Philippines and Vietnam in particular have been at odds with China over the region in recent years, with diplomatic squabbles erupting over oil and gas exploration and fishing rights.
A tense standoff last year between Chinese and Filipino ships over the fishing-rich Scarborough Shoal is unresolved.
The Philippine vessels withdrew, but China has refused to pull out its three surveillance ships and remove a rope blocking Filipino fishermen from a Scarborough lagoon.
In January, the Philippines challenged China's massive territorial claims before an arbitration tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in a daring legal step that China has ignored. The tribunal has to appoint three more of five arbiters by Thursday, then start looking into the complaint if it decides it has jurisdiction.
A pre-summit meeting by ASEAN foreign ministers in Brunei two weeks ago was dominated by concerns over the territorial disputes and ended with a call for an early conclusion of a nonaggression pact with China, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said.
But Chinese officials have not clearly indicated when they would be ready to discuss the proposed accord.
The territorial issue has threatened ASEAN's unity. Cambodia, a China ally, refused to have the issue mentioned in a post-ministerial statement when it hosted the meetings last year. That drew protests from Vietnam and the Philippines, and ASEAN ended up not issuing an after-conference communique for the first time in the bloc's 45-year history.
China has steadfastly refused to bring the disputes to the international arena, preferring to negotiate one on one with each rival claimant. It has also warned Washington not to intervene in the disputes.
ASEAN, founded in 1967 as a bulwark against communism in the Cold War era, has often been caught in the crosscurrents of major conflicts. Currently, the bloc is walking a tightrope between a rising China and an America that is reasserting its status as an Asia-Pacific power.
Both wield tremendous influence on ASEAN, which has become a battleground for political and security clout and export markets.
Defense forces from all of ASEAN, along with eight other countries that include the United States and China, would hold for the first time three-day disaster response drills in Brunei in June to foster confidence among the multinational troops, the draft summit statement said.
Brunei's publicity-shy leader, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, has led the tedious legwork to avoid any major hitch in the ASEAN summits his tiny but oil-rich kingdom hosts this year.
He has separately met with President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping ahead of this week's summit. Last week, Bolkiah flew to Manila, partly to discuss the summit agenda with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.
When his gleaming Royal Brunei Air plane taxied to a red-carpet welcome at Manila's airport, Philippine officials saw Bolkiah, who also heads his country's defense forces, at the pilot's seat.
Microsoft has finally responded to a study claiming that Bing?s search results delivered five times as much malware than Google?s, and its answer is simple: the study is flawed.
Last week, AV-TEST conducted a malware study that analyzed millions of websites and found that Bing was showing much more malware to users than its more popular rival (see graph below).
But David Felstead, Senior Development Lead at Bing, responded in a blog post Friday, writing that the study made a mistake by using a Bing API instead of examining the searches directly from Bing.com. This method, Bing says, resulted in misleading results because the API results bypassed its warning system and does not show warning labels.
?Bing actually does prevent customers from clicking on malware infected sites by disabling the link on the results page and showing the below message to stop people from going to the site,? he wrote.
But why does Bing even show them at all if they could be infected?
?We don?t explicitly remove malicious sites from the index because most are legitimate sites that normally don?t host malware but have been hacked,? Felstead writes. ?Our research shows that if sites like this remain infected for a long period of time, their ranking will naturally fall because customers won?t click on them.?
While he did say that ?this is a highly complex problem that all engines are constantly working to solve,? Felstead pointed out how a Google search of ?vacation hotline,? doesn?t give a malware warning, but Bing does.
He added that users will see the warning only once per 10,000 searches on Bing.
?In any case, the overall scale of the problem is very small,? Felstead wrote.
Russian search engine company Yanax also questioned the validity of AV-TEST?s study.
The monthly U.S. search stats from comScore came out for March last week and it showed Google with 67.1 percent of the search market share. Microsoft only has 16.9 percent, a number that?s been growing, albeit slowly.
Microsoft, meanwhile, continues to bash Google with its ?Scroogled? campaign, with the latest bombardment focusing on privacy issues with the Google Play Store.
Reach GeekWire staff reporter Taylor Soper at taylor@geekwire.com or on Twitter at @Taylor_Soper.
Three people were injured by gunshots fired at the 4/20 marijuana celebration in Denver Saturday. While there is growing acceptance of marijuana use, the issue remains politically controversial with federal law at odds with the decriminalization trend among some jurisdictions.
By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / April 21, 2013
People run from the gun shots at Civic Center Park after the 4/20 pot rally Saturday in Denver. Gunfire erupted at a pot celebration, injuring three people and scattering a crowd of thousands.
Joe Amon/The Denver Post/AP
Enlarge
What started out as a mellow day to celebrate marijuana in Denver ? one of many such annual ?4/20? gatherings around the world ? turned violent Saturday with gunshots fired, three people wounded, and thousands of revelers running for cover.
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With the Boston Marathon?s recent experience in mind, there had been increased police presence as tens of thousands of pot smokers and others gathered in Denver?s Civic Center for the worldwide event held every April 20th.
"It was peaceful; everybody was having fun," Laura Forduno told the Denver Post. "And then you heard the shots. Pow, pow, pow, pow."
None of those shot was seriously injured. Police are looking for two suspects ? both described as black men.
Denver police are asking witnesses to come forward with information, Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. "Everybody fled. That's the problem.?
The larger-than-usual crowd in Denver Saturday was tied to Colorado?s recent passage (along with Washington State) of a ballot measure legalizing recreational use of marijuana.
Organizers expected record crowds, and the tens of thousands of people who packed into the downtown park did not disappoint, the Denver Post reported.
"This is what freedom smells like," marijuana attorney Rob Corry shouted to the crowd. "You are standing on some of the freest ground in the world."
Marijuana remains a controversial political issue.
Critics see it as a ?gateway drug? to other illegal substances, particularly among younger users drawn to the cannabis culture.
?Adolescent marijuana use increases the odds of other illicit substance use two to three times by young adulthood,? reports Arapahoe House, a drug-treatment facility in Colorado.
While there has been a de facto decriminalization of personal marijuana use and possession in small quantities, it remains illegal under federal law.
In this undated photo provided by the Oklahoma Legislative Services Bureau, state Rep. Joe Dorman, R-Rush Springs, speaks on the floor of the Oklahoma House in Oklahoma City. Dorman said he had grown tired of seeing Oklahoma spending millions of dollars defending its proposed laws in the courts and he suggested a tax form "check off" as a way to draw voters? attention to the costs of legal action. (AP Photo/Oklahoma Legislative Services Bureau)
In this undated photo provided by the Oklahoma Legislative Services Bureau, state Rep. Joe Dorman, R-Rush Springs, speaks on the floor of the Oklahoma House in Oklahoma City. Dorman said he had grown tired of seeing Oklahoma spending millions of dollars defending its proposed laws in the courts and he suggested a tax form "check off" as a way to draw voters? attention to the costs of legal action. (AP Photo/Oklahoma Legislative Services Bureau)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? Oklahoma residents might soon be able to direct a portion of their state income tax refunds to defend its laws against federal constitutional challenges, an ironic and unintended consequence of a lawmaker's tongue-in-cheek skewering of the cost of such court fights.
Rep. Joe Dorman, a Democrat from Rush Springs, said he had grown tired of seeing Oklahoma spending millions of dollars defending its proposed laws in the courts, and suggested a tax form "check-off" as a way to draw voters' attention to the costs of legal action.
But the idea of aiding Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt in his defense against constitutional challenges and fighting federal statutes has been a hit. Instead of being shuffled off to a committee where it wouldn't get a hearing, the measure sailed through the House last month on an 80-15 vote, and the Republican Senate sponsor said he intends to bring the bill to the full Senate for a vote ? perhaps this week, right before federal taxes are due.
"It's getting more momentum than I expected," Dorman, D-Rush Springs, said. "I honestly did not expect the bill to even get a hearing, and here it is flying right through.
"But people do realize that we're spending a lot of taxpayer dollars, millions of dollars in taxpayer money, fighting these lawsuits," he added. Recently challenged laws included restrictions on immigrants, abortion and the use of international law in state courts.
The bill, which Pruitt did not request, would create a special fund in the state treasury that the attorney general's office could access "for the purpose of defending the statutes of this state from constitutional challenges or challenging federal statutes." Oklahoma has more than 20 funds to which taxpayers can designate a portion of their state tax refund, including programs for wildlife diversity, food banks, abused children and breast cancer.
State attorneys general launching legal challenges against the federal government is nothing new, but the effort has particularly gained steam among Republican AGs during the Obama administration, said Jill Bader, a spokesman for the Republican Attorneys General Association.
"I think this trend is a direct result of this president's unprecedented federal overreach that is incredibly strong," Bader said. "This administration is constantly skirting the legislative process and going around Congress to use administrative agencies to push their federal agenda down onto the states."
Pruitt was elected during the 2010 GOP sweep of every statewide-elected office in Oklahoma, and certainly is no stranger to fighting against what he characterizes as an overreaching federal government.
After a campaign built around a pledge to fight the federal government's intrusion into states' rights, Pruitt created a federalism unit within his office that is currently challenging the tax penalty provisions of the federal health care law, Environmental Protection Agency regulations on regional haze and the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.
His office also has either filed or joined challenges on EPA's rules on air pollution and greenhouse gases, and on the contraception mandate in the federal health care bill.
"As an attorney general, our responsibility is to make sure that the rule of law is followed, and that as Congress has passed legislation, they have given certain authority to the states ... and often times, of late, agencies at the federal level and sometimes the administration itself, have acted in ways inconsistent with what the law says," Pruitt told The Associated Press. "It's very important, in fact I think it's my job, to make sure that as those things happen, we seek to enforce the rule of law to preserve our ability as a state to do that which Congress has authorized us to do. It's that simple."
The bill is likely to pass in the Senate, where Republicans enjoy a 36-12 edge over Democrats, and many GOP members campaigned on a pledge to oppose the Affordable Care Act and other federal mandates.
Republican Gov. Mary Fallin has not said whether she would sign the bill, but in the past has been critical of the Obama administration, saying it often oversteps boundaries when dealing with states.
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Online:
House Bill 2232: http://bit.ly/13EIGnS
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Sean Murphy can be reached at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy
LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 rose on Tuesday, led by miners as benign Chinese inflation data stoked expectations the world's biggest metals consumer's monetary stimulus will stay in place.
Helped also by the U.S. corporate earnings season getting off to a solid start, the FTSE 100 was up 17.28 points or 0.3 percent at 6,294.22 by 1154 BST, building on a 0.4 percent advance in the previous session.
U.S. aluminium group Alcoa kicked off U.S. earnings, unveiling higher-than-expected profits after Wall Street's closing bell on Monday, easing concerns about corporate results.
Other big U.S. companies are set to report results during the week - including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup - a particular focus for investors in British blue chips given the latter earn around a quarter of their revenues in North America.
Forecasts for first-quarter earnings have been trimmed since the beginning of the year, with profits seen rising just 1.6 percent from the year-ago quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data. In January, earnings were seen rising 4.3 percent.
"On the basis that expectations ... have been battened down, there is an opportunity especially for those quality blue chips to outperform expectations and that could actually provide something of a fillip for the market," Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown, said.
SOME VALUE
Aside from lifting broad sentiment, Alcoa's earnings helped lift miners 2.4 percent - up for a second day and recovering off seven-month lows set at the end of last week - with the firm viewed as a bellwether for the materials sector.
The sector has slid more than 10 percent in 2013 on concerns over falling demand and rising prices.
"The FTSE 350 mining sector index has really been hit hard this year ... If nothing else, this definitely suggests there's some value to be had in these stocks, so the rally is likely to continue," Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at Interactive Investor, said.
In general, cyclical sectors that rise with optimism over the economy outperformed those seen as defensive plays against economic uncertainty, with banks ahead 1 percent.
This counters the unusual theme which has characterised market trends so far this year, with defensive stocks outperforming cyclical counterparts in rising markets.
The beverage sector has risen some 14 percent, outperforming the FTSE's rise of nearly 7 percent. However, Tuesday saw a rotation out of highly-rated defensive stocks, with Diageo leading the fallers with a 2.4 percent drop.
"Woeful though they were, I think on reflection the markets realise that the non-farm figures on Friday were just one economic indicator," said Hargreaves Lansdown's Hunter, referring to weak U.S. employment data.
"Even though the U.S. economy is perhaps not growing at the speed that many would like, it is nonetheless maintaining its recovery."
(Additional reporting by Blaise Robinson and Alistair Smout; Editing by David Holmes)
Anthony Weiner, the former congressman who was forced out of office after he was busted sexting with women who were not his wife, says he?s considering a run for New York City mayor this year.
In an interview with the New York Times magazine, Weiner, who resigned under pressure in 2011, says he wants a ?second chance? from voters and calls the upcoming mayoral race a case of ?now or maybe never for me.?
?I don?t have this burning, overriding desire to go out and run for office,? Weiner tells the Times in an interview posted online early Wednesday. ?It?s not the single animating force in my life as it was for quite some time. But I do recognize, to some degree, it?s now or maybe never for me, in terms of running for something. I?m trying to gauge not only what?s right and what feels comfortable right this second, but I?m also thinking, how will I feel in a year or two years or five years? Is this the time that I should be doing it? And then there?s the other side of the coin, which is . . . am I still the same person who I thought would make a good mayor??
Weiner added, ?Also, I want to ask people to give me a second chance. I do want to have that conversation with people whom I let down and with people who put their faith in me and who wanted to support me. I think to some degree I do want to say to them, ?Give me another chance.??
But Weiner?s interview?his first major sitdown since being ousted from office two years ago?seems to contradict his claim that he doesn?t have a ?burning desire? to run for public office. It comes only weeks after word that he?d spent $100,000 polling New York City voters about whether they would accept him again. And in a sign of how serious he is, the Times article also includes comments from Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who married Weiner in 2010 who is not known for readily talking to reporters.
In the interview, Abedin recalls when her husband first told her of the brewing scandal, in which he was busted for sending lewd photos of himself to women he met on the Internet.
?Anthony said, ?I have something to tell you. I can?t lie to you anymore. It?s true. It?s me. The picture is me. I sent it. Yes, these stories about the other women are true.? And it was every emotion that one would imagine: rage and anger and shock. But more than anything else, in the immediate, it was disbelief,? Abedin tells the Times. ?The thing that I consciously remember saying over and over and over again is: ?I don?t understand. What is going on? What?s happening to our lives???
Two days after her husband held a press conference to admit the stories about his sexting were true, Abedin was on a plane to Abu Dhabi with Clinton when she says she broke down sobbing. Asked about whether Clinton--who stood by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, after he admitted to an inappropriate relationship with a former White House intern?offered her advice, Abedin suggests she did, but declines to say exactly what.
?We?ve had a lot of personal conversations, none of which I feel comfortable talking about. But what I will say about her, and for that matter her entire family, the unconditional love and support they have given me has been a real gift,? Abedin says. ?And I think she would be OK with me saying this, because I know she has said this before: at the end of the day, at the very least, every woman should have the ability and the confidence and the choice to make whatever decisions she wants to make that are right for her and not be judged by it.?
Abedin says she?s forgiven her husband, and both she and Weiner took great lengths to emphasize that after much counseling, he?s a changed man?more focused on their marriage and raising their 15-month-old son, Jordan.
Weiner says he has no timeline for when he?ll make a final decision about his possible mayoral bid. But he?d enter the race as a financial frontrunner, thanks to more than $4 million he raised for a possible mayoral bid back in 2009.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks to reporters traveling abroad with him shortly after finding out their aircraft had a mechanical problem before take off Saturday, April 6, 2013, at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. A backup aircraft was brought in to replace the plane. (AP Photo/Paul J. Richards, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks to reporters traveling abroad with him shortly after finding out their aircraft had a mechanical problem before take off Saturday, April 6, 2013, at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. A backup aircraft was brought in to replace the plane. (AP Photo/Paul J. Richards, Pool)
Passengers traveling abroad with Secretary of State John Kerry disembark after a mechanical failure of the plane Saturday, April 6, 2013, at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. A backup aircraft was brought in to replace the plane. (AP Photo/Paul J. Richards, Pool)
ISTANBUL (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Turkey early Sunday on the first leg of a 10-day trip to Europe and Asia that would also seek to unlock long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Kerry was expected to encourage Turkish leaders to continue improving ties with Israel. The two countries were once allies, but relations spiraled downward after Israel's 2010 raid on a Turkish flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip. Eight Turks and one Turkish-American died.
Hopes for rapprochement improved after Obama brokered a telephone conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while President Barack Obama was in Israel last month.
Kerry also will coordinate with Erdogan and other Turkish officials on efforts to halt the violence in neighboring Syria.
Kerry planned to fly from Turkey to Jerusalem for meetings with the presidents and prime ministers of both Israel and the Palestinians. He had accompanied Obama there and made a solo trip to Israel shortly after.
Though expectations are low for any breakthrough on Kerry's trip, his diplomacy represents some of the Obama administration's most sustained efforts for ending more than six decades of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Kerry probably will seek confidence-building measures between the two sides. Negotiators and observers see little chance right now for immediate progress on the big stumbling blocks toward a two-state peace agreement.
Kerry will also visit Britain and then South Korea, China and Japan, where talks will focus on North Korea's nuclear program and escalating threats against the U.S. and its allies.
He is scheduled to return to Washington on April 15.
In my day to day activities as an entrepreneur I have noticed and continue to take mental notes of my customer service techniques and skills. In the hustle and bustle of regular business activity, it is very easy to lose focus of what I believe is one of the most critical determinants of a business? success: customer service. I am not talking about the typical ?customer is always right? bullshit because I do not necessarily believe in that, what I am talking about is something much simpler than that: acknowledging that your customer is above all else, first and foremost a human being. This applies to business to business sales by the way as well, so for those of you in that area of entrepreneurship, there is no excuse for ignoring this sacred concept either.
Businesses have become so accustomed to going for the ?close? that everything else, including basic human decency and manners go out the window, and I believe that these next few decades will be dominated by those who truly embrace the customer service model that I am about to discuss.
Thanks to social media, blogging, and your customers? ability to effortlessly communicate not only with you but with other businesses and fellow customers as well, many sales opportunities will be lost to individuals and organizations that understand that customer service does not begin after a sales transaction has occurred, but rather that it actually can begin at any time, before your customer is actually your customer. At this stage of the sales cycle, many refer to these potential customers as prospects, and that is fine, but I truly believe that the business or entrepreneur that will eventually have this customer as an actual customer, should be providing real value to these people way before a sale is ever even considered by this prospect.
The sales and marketing industry has gotten way too noisy, and consumers have a very large amount of options to consider when they want to actually purchase something. So how does a business improve it?s chances of landing these customers? Is it by constantly bombarding their brand into their potential customer?s minds? That is one very expensive strategy, and even if one can afford that, we still end up competing with distractions such as mobile phones, tablets, dvr?s, etc. I believe the strategy to use is to out-hustle your competition by providing something valuable for your sales prospects before they ever buy anything from you. This value may come from information that your competitors may deem ?trade secrets?, or something as simple as a having a blog where your customers can interact with you and have some sort of context with your brand. I understand that many businesses won?t have time to invest in this type of customer service. Some don?t even invest in their customer service for interactions that occur after the sale. Case in point, being placed on hold for 20 minutes when calling your service provider for issues. In either case, the businesses that understand this concept and execute on it will win, and the others will lose out on tons of opportunities. What do you think?
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make "morning-after" emergency contraception pills available without a prescription to all girls of reproductive age, while blasting top Obama administration officials for interfering with the process.
The ruling in a Brooklyn court is the latest step in the years-long legal saga over the pill known as "Plan B," which has sparked political controversy.
Currently, only women age 17 or older can obtain emergency contraception pills without a prescription. Point-of-sale restrictions require that all women present identification to a pharmacist before obtaining the drug.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman said the FDA's rejection of requests to remove age restrictions was "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable."
FDA spokeswoman Erica Jefferson declined to comment on the ruling, saying it was an ongoing legal matter.
The Center for Reproductive Rights and other groups had petitioned the FDA to strike down age and access limits, saying there was no scientific proof that girls younger than 17 could not safely use the drug without supervision.
Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, hailed the ruling. "Women all over the country will no longer face arbitrary delays and barriers just to get emergency contraception," she said.
The ruling is also likely to be well received by medical groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, which recommended last year that pediatricians write advance prescriptions for patients under 17.
But opponents of abortion decried the ruling and warned that the pill's widespread availability could spur criminal activity.
"When these are right out there with the bubble gum, they're going to be part of the date rape cocktail," said Karen Brauer, president of Pharmacists for Life.
Some pharmacists across the United States have refused to dispense emergency contraceptives because it violates their religious faith. Making the pills available over the counter removes the pharmacist's role in dispensing the drug, which Brauer welcomed.
POLITICAL CONTROVERSY
Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd's Plan B in 1999 became the first emergency contraceptive available for prescription use in the United States. The company also markets Plan B One-Step, a one-pill version of Plan B.
"Teva has received the Court's decision and we are currently reviewing it," said company spokeswoman Denise Bradley. "We have no additional comment at this time."
Emergency contraceptives generally sell for $10 to $80. Although they can work as long as 120 hours after unprotected sex, they are most effective in the first 24 hours.
Sanford Bernstein analysts estimate Teva's 2013 sales for Plan B at just $1.5 million, though, because of generic competition like Next Choice from Actavis Inc.
In 2005 the FDA declined to approve over-the-counter sales of the drug, overruling its panel of outside experts as well as its own scientists.
In December 2011 the FDA reversed that stance and moved to approve over-the-counter sales with no age limits. But Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled it, ordering that girls under 17 could only get the pills with a prescription.
As a result of that policy, women well beyond their teens are often asked to present proof of age to show that they are old enough to purchase the pills without a prescription, Judge Korman said.
'QUESTION HER GOOD FAITH'
In his ruling on Friday, Korman said Sebelius' actions were clearly political.
"Nevertheless, even with eyes shut to the motivation for the secretary's decision, the reasons she provided are so unpersuasive as to call into question her good faith," he wrote.
Representatives of the Department of Health and Human Services were not immediately available to comment on the ruling.
One FDA veteran praised the decision, though.
"This has been a 10-year saga during which the FDA was not allowed to do its role properly, not allowed to make science-based decisions," said Susan Wood.
Wood resigned from the FDA as assistant commissioner for women's health in 2005 over its decision not to approve over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception. She is now director of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health at George Washington University in Washington.
"This decision gives the FDA the chance to reclaim its ability to make decisions based on science, medicine and evidence," Wood said, "not politics."
(Reporting by Jessica Dye in New York; Additional reporting by Sharon Begley in New York, Stephanie Simon in Boston and Toni Clarke in Washington; Writing by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Martha Graybow, Gerald E. McCormick and Lisa Von Ahn)
The largest-ever survey of social class by the BBC and two universities finds that there are still very rich and very poor ? but much more going on in the middle.?
By Ian Evans,?Correspondent / April 3, 2013
A new survey of 166,000 Britons found that instead of the three traditional classes ? upper, middle, and working ? that are prominent in shows like 'Downton Abbey,' shown at left, now there are seven distinct strata.
PBS/AP
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Britain's infamous class system has become fragmented and unrepresentative of the country?s new social and economic order, a new study has concluded.
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Instead of the traditional three groupings of upper, middle, and working class, the researchers argue there should now be seven strata, mainly because the center ground has become blurred.
The survey, by the BBC and sociologists from Manchester University and the London School of Economics, interviewed 161,000 people. After analyzing the results, the team claimed modern Britons should be divided into: Elite; Established Middle Class; Technical Middle Class; New Affluent Workers; Traditional Working Class; Emergent Service Workers, and Precariat, or "precarious proletariat."
Schooling, type of housing, profession, and social habits once helped define where people stood in society?s pecking order. But other factors are now more important, according to Professor Fiona Devine from Manchester, who?told the BBC: ?What it allows us is to understand is a more sophisticated, nuanced picture of what class is like now."
"It shows us there is still a top and a bottom, at the top we still have an elite of very wealthy people and at the bottom the poor, with very little social and cultural engagement," she said. "It's what's in the middle which is really interesting and exciting, there's a much more fuzzy area between the traditional working class and traditional middle class.?
Britain?s class system has been the basis of countless books, films, music, and television ranging from Downton Abbey to the soap operas "Coronation Street" and "Eastenders."
But royal commentator Ingrid Seward, who edits Majesty magazine, says the stereotype is becoming hackneyed. ?I?m not sure how relevant the class system is today, especially among the younger generation," she argues. "They don?t seem worried about where they?ve come from but are more interested in where they?re going."
She cites the example of Kate Middleton. "She has what you could say is a working class background. Her brother James has a south London, Cockney accent whereas she has a more polished voice. Could you tell the difference between them, and does it matter??
Psychologist Cary Cooper, a professor at Lancaster University, says Britain?s class system had parallels with Japan but was alien to the United States, where status was based largely on money. ?It seems the survey has expanded the middle class section because that has become a gray area, with money allowing people to join the professional classes."
?Britain?s class system obviously stems from history, wealth, and lineage but also because it?s an island and people have to get on and need to know their place. That?s why Japan closely resembles the UK,? says Professor Cooper, who was born in Los Angeles and now holds dual citizenship.
?In the United States it?s about money and power, and people know you can have it one day and lose it the next. But in Britain it?s been about background, what?s school you went to, your job.
?I think in times of great uncertainty, like now, when we don?t know if the EU is going to collapse, the euro disappear, and if we?ll be dominated by India and China, we find comfort in the old class system in programs like Downton Abbey, where everyone knew their place. It might not be a good place for some, but there is certainty in that.?
From a single pumpkin seed to delicate butterfly wings, no canvas is too teeny for micro artist Hasan Kale. The talented -- not to mention patient -- artist paints realistic renderings of his hometown of Istanbul on unexpected objects.
Kale's unique oeuvre sets the artist apart from other miniature mavens dealing in more traditional canvases, like Joseph Martinez and Yuri Zupancic. In case you have your doubts as to whether these phenomenal little landscapes are actually handmade, watch their construction in the videos below.
You may want to whip out your reading glasses for this slideshow:
Turkish artist Hasan Kale paints what he calls "micro art" onto tiny objects. The paintings represent his homeland of Instanbul.
Kale commented on his art: "I enjoy doing micro art by using different techniques and variable objects from our daily lives, like a needle, a pasta or a butterfly to tell the distinguished cultures of Anatolia and Istanbul."
See more of Hasan Kale's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/microarthasankale/photos_stream" target="_blank">Micro Art here</a>.
See more of Hasan Kale's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/microarthasankale/photos_stream" target="_blank">Micro Art here</a>.
See more of Hasan Kale's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/microarthasankale/photos_stream" target="_blank">Micro Art here</a>.
See more of Hasan Kale's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/microarthasankale/photos_stream" target="_blank">Micro Art here</a>.
See more of Hasan Kale's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/microarthasankale/photos_stream" target="_blank">Micro Art here</a>.
See more of Hasan Kale's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/microarthasankale/photos_stream" target="_blank">Micro Art here</a>.
See more of Hasan Kale's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/microarthasankale/photos_stream" target="_blank">Micro Art here</a>.
See more of Hasan Kale's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/microarthasankale/photos_stream" target="_blank">Micro Art here</a>.
See more of Hasan Kale's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/microarthasankale/photos_stream" target="_blank">Micro Art here</a>.
See more of Hasan Kale's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/microarthasankale/photos_stream" target="_blank">Micro Art here</a>.
See more of Hasan Kale's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/microarthasankale/photos_stream" target="_blank">Micro Art here</a>.
DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit Electric, a startup electric-car maker reviving a brand that dates back more than a century, unveiled its first model on Wednesday: a $135,000, battery-powered sports car that is to go into limited production in August.
Founded more than five years ago, Detroit Electric enters a still-nascent market that is struggling to find buyers. One of its would-be rivals, Fisker Automotive, a hybrid-electric sports-car company that hasn't built a car since last summer, has hired a law firm to advise on a possible bankruptcy filing.
With a projected top speed of 155 mph, the Detroit Electric SP:01 is "the world's fastest pure-electric sports car," the company says, adding the two-seater has a range of "just under 190 miles" between charges.
The car will be built in the Detroit area at a dedicated plant with an annual capacity of 2,500, the company said Wednesday at a reception at its new headquarters in Detroit's historic Fisher Building.
Detroit Electric plans to build only 999 SP:01's, which it says will be followed by "a new family of all-electric production cars, including two other high-performance models that will enter production by the end of 2014."
The SP:01 appears to borrow heavily from the British-built Lotus Elise -- no surprise considering a number of Detroit Electric executives previously worked for various affiliates of Lotus Cars.
Versions of the Elise have been used by other low-volume carmakers, notably Tesla Motors, which based its $100,000-plus Roadster electric car on the Lotus chassis.
Detroit Electric said the SP:01 was being introduced "following a five-year development and road-test program."
The Detroit Electric brand had been dormant since 1939. Previously, it was used on a series of electric cars built in Detroit from 1907.
The brand was revived in 2007 as a joint venture between China's Youngman Automotive Group -- which tried unsuccessfully to acquire bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab in 2012 -- and a small California-based electric-car company called Zap.
The venture hired Lotus Engineering in 2007 to provide contract design and technical services. In late 2007, Albert Lam, the chief executive of Lotus Engineering, joined the venture as chairman and was named CEO of Detroit Electric in 2008.
(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
MIAMI -- Carmelo Anthony released his final shot of the night then skipped backward, already knowing the outcome.
The shot was good.
For Anthony and the New York Knicks, the outcome was even better.
Relying entirely on jumpers, Anthony tied his career high with 50 points and the Knicks won their ninth straight game, topping the injury-depleted Miami Heat 102-90 on Wednesday night.
"I felt good tonight," Anthony said.
There was no arguing that.
Anthony finished 18 of 26 from the field, taking two dribbles to free himself from Shane Battier and make his last shot with 16.9 seconds remaining to get to 50 and send the Knicks' bench into hysterics. It was the third time he scored 50 in his career, and it came with Miami's LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers all sidelined by injuries.
"I think just from the start of the game, it's a feeling that you just have while you're out there on the court," Anthony said. "Sometimes you get off to a good start and then you get cold the rest of the game, but tonight wasn't one of those cases."
No, it was not.
He made his first seven shots, and the fact that he had 37 points before notching any other statistic of note ? no rebounds, assists, steals or blocked shots until the third quarter ? let everyone in the building know that he was all about a scoring spree.
And the Heat had no answers.
"It's an inopportune time to announce my candidacy for defensive player of the year," Battier said. "Carmelo had a hell of a game. ... That's a game that drives the analytics guys crazy because he didn't attempt a shot within 15 feet of the basket. Most nights, we'll take that every single time. And he made a ton of shots. Made a ton of shots. And that's to his credit."
J.R. Smith scored 14 and Raymond Felton added 10 for New York.
Chris Bosh scored 23 points for Miami, which beat San Antonio on Sunday without James, Wade and Chalmers, but managed only 32 second-half points against the Knicks. Mike Miller scored 18, Ray Allen finished with 16 and Norris Cole had 14 for the Heat, whose 17-game home winning streak was snapped.
The Knicks beat the Heat in three of their four regular-season matchups. They likely would not meet again before the Eastern Conference finals.
"I don't think that team will lack confidence against anybody," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "That's just the nature of who they are."
Miami's magic number for clinching home-court throughout the NBA playoffs remained at five, and the Heat already have the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference wrapped up. The Knicks now lead Brooklyn by five games in the race for the Atlantic Division title.
It was only Miami's second loss in its last 31 games.
Much of the star power was taken out of the equation more than eight hours before game time, when the Heat announced that James, Wade and Chalmers would not play. James has a sore hamstring, and Wade and Chalmers are dealing with ankle sprains.
All are listed as day-to-day.
"The No. 1 thing, obviously, is try to get as healthy as we can," Spoelstra said. "Obviously, that's a priority. From there, we have time to still try to improve ? not just stay in rhythm, but to improve, and also get these guys an opportunity that haven't been getting minutes to play in these meaningful minutes. We didn't script San Antonio or this like this to happen, but that's what this league is about. It's unpredictable."
Anthony surely did not mind their absences.
He made three shots, a combined 65 feet of swished jumpers, in the game's first 2:17 as the Knicks ran out to an 8-0 lead. Plenty of blue-and-orange shirts in the Miami crowd roared, and the early indications were that Anthony was on his way to a monster night and the Knicks were on their way to a blowout victory.
That assessment was half-right.
"Unbelievable," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "He just refused to let us lose."
Anthony came in averaging 27.5 points and was practically there by halftime with 27 on 9-for-12 shooting ? a display the Knicks absolutely needed, since Miami more than held its own without James, Wade and Chalmers.
After trailing by as many as nine early, Miami actually roared back to lead 58-50 at the half. Miller and Cole combined for 30 at the break; Miller's 18 were five more than he had scored in any game this season.
Anthony ? who had one more field goal than every other Knick managed, combined, in the first 24 minutes ? didn't exactly cool off at halftime. By the time the third quarter was 4 minutes old, Anthony was up to 37 points.
"We actually played pretty good defense on him," Miller said.
Anthony's first rebound came with 7:02 left in the third, and his first assist came as the clock was expiring to end the period, setting up Steve Novak for a 3-pointer from the right corner that allowed New York to take a 78-76 lead into the final 12 minutes.
Anthony actually went 10 minutes without scoring, then made two jumpers ? the second a 3-pointer ? 40 seconds apart, giving the Knicks a 95-88 lead with 3:32 left.
The Heat had tied the game twice in the fourth, but never led after Novak's 3 that closed the third.
"My thing is to try to be aggressive, make shots," Anthony said. "When you make shots, it makes the game so much easier."
NOTES: It was the fourth time in 25 career games, including playoffs, that Anthony eclipsed the 40-point mark against the Heat. ... Wade and James looked on intently as the Heat showed a video to promote the looming playoffs after the third quarter. Wade shimmied his shoulders a bit afterward, and James started to nod at one of the final images ? his sideline dance in the final seconds of Game 5's title-clinching win over Oklahoma City last June. ... Rapper Flo Rida was at the game, as was actor Andy Garcia and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. ... Of the Knicks' nine remaining games, six are against likely playoff-bound teams.
PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is out of the hospital after breaking his jaw Saturday.
The Penguins confirmed on their Twitter account Tuesday that Crosby had been released a day earlier. He will be out of the lineup indefinitely after undergoing surgery.
Crosby was hurt in the first period of the Penguins' 2-0 win over the New York Islanders when he was struck in the mouth by a puck from a deflected shot.
The Eastern Conference-leading Penguins, with 15 straight wins, play their first game without Crosby on Tuesday night at home against Buffalo.
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Public release date: 22-Apr-2013
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