WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate confirmed Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, on Wednesday as President Barack Obama's next U.S. ambassador to Japan, the first woman to fill the post.
Kennedy was unanimously approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on September 30, but final approval of her nomination was held up by wrangling in Congress over how to end a funding battle that partly shut down the government and threatened to force Washington to default on its debts.
The unanimous voice vote in the Senate late on Wednesday came shortly after the Senate approved legislation ending the crisis.
Kennedy, a lawyer and president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, sailed through a friendly confirmation hearing last month. Members of the Foreign Relations Committee spoke fondly of her father and uncles, who served in the Senate.
Kennedy's appointment lends the prestige of a storied political dynasty to the U.S. relationship with Japan, a particularly close and important ally. Many past ambassadors have been well-known political figures, including former Vice President Walter Mondale.
Kennedy, 55, was an early and prominent supporter of Obama in his initial quest for the presidency in 2008.
She noted during her confirmation hearing on September 19 that her father had hoped to be the first sitting U.S. president to make a state visit to Japan.
John F. Kennedy, a World War Two veteran who had fought against Japan in the Pacific, was felled by an assassin's bullet when she was a young girl, as was her uncle Robert, a U.S. senator and former attorney general.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Stacey Joyce)
Common Kanye's Right, Chicago's Ultra-Violent ... But We're Changing That
Exclusive
Kanye West wasn't exaggerating when he said people from Chicago aren't afraid to get violent -- and it's become a DEADLY problem in the Windy City ... so says Common.
The rapper-slash-"Hell On Wheels" star was out in NYC yesterday when we asked about Kanye's comments on Jimmy Kimmel -- when KW implied that he's not afraid to fight because he's from Chi-town (the actual quote was "Never think that I'm not from Chicago for one second.").
But Common tells TMZ ... Chicago's violent reputation isn't something K should be bragging about -- it's something that needs to change, stat.
"You see what's going on with the young people right now, there's a lot of death and violence going on in Chicago ... but we're gonna make change."
There's something special about that moment when you discover a new song or artists to love. Now, perhaps as a way to make more of these moments possible, Google is bringing a feature dubbed "I'm feeling lucky radio" to its Play Music website and Android app. The search giant says it "gives you music you love at the push of a button" -- essentially, it creates a radio station that chooses songs for you based on previous listening history. It's worth mentioning this instant mix tool appears to be limited to All Access subscribers at the moment. And fret not if you're not seeing the "I'm feeling lucky" option right now; it's just started rolling out and it might be a little while before it shows up on your account.
Is there anything James Franco can't do? During an Oct. 7 photo shoot at a private Beverly Hills home, the actor-writer-director-professor became a heartbreak hero.
Greta Pasqua, 15, whose dad owns the residence, "was really depressed because her boyfriend had just broken up with her," a source exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly. "James caught wind of it and gave her a pep talk."
The star, 35, even helped Pasqua exact some sweet revenge. After learning the girl's ex is Franco-obsessed, the source tells Us, he took a huggy photo with her. "He said, 'Post it on Facebook and tell him to eat his heart out!'"
The plan worked. Says the source, "Her ex is all of a sudden starting to think he made the wrong decision!"
As for Franco's love life, the This is the End star is currently on the market after splitting from girlfriend Ahna O'Reilly in 2011 after five years of dating. In October 2012, he denied rumors that he was dating Twilight actress Kristen Stewart and Spring Breakers costars Ashley Benson and Selena Gomez. In a blog post for the Huffington Post, he claimed he never asked Stewart out on a date and added, "As for Gomez and Benson, those are [Justin's] Bieber's girls and I wouldn't dare tangle with the Biebs."
Narrow-spectrum UV light may reduce surgical infections
Public release date: 16-Oct-2013 [
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Contact: Elizabeth Streich eas2125@cumc.columbia.edu 212-305-3689 Columbia University Medical Center
Destroys drug-resistant bacteria but safe for human exposure
NEW YORK, NY Despite major efforts to keep operating rooms sterile, surgical wound infections remain a serious and stubborn problem, killing up to 8,200 patients a year in the U.S. A study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers suggests that narrow-spectrum ultraviolet (UV) light could dramatically reduce such infections without damaging human tissue. The study, conducted in tissue culture, was published today in the journal PLOS ONE.
Approximately 200,000 to 300,000 patients suffer surgical wound infections in the U.S. each year, accounting for $3 billion to $10 billion in health-care expenditures, the researchers report. Patients with surgical wound infections, compared with those without such infections, are 60 percent more likely to spend time in an ICU, are five times as likely to be readmitted to the hospital, have twice the mortality rate, have longer hospital stays, and have roughly double the total health-care costs.
Scientists have known for many years that UV light from a standard germicidal lamp (which emits a broad spectrum of wavelengths, from about 200 to 400 nanometers [nm]) is highly effective at killing bacteria; such lamps are routinely used to decontaminate surgical equipment.
"Unfortunately, this UV light is also harmful to human tissue and can lead to skin cancer and cataracts in the eye," said study leader David J. Brenner, PhD, the Higgins Professor of Radiation Biophysics, professor of environmental health sciences, and director of the Center for Radiological Research at CUMC. "UV light is almost never used in the operating room during surgery, as these health hazards necessitate the use of cumbersome protective equipment for both surgical staff and patients."
Dr. Brenner and his team hypothesized that a very narrow spectrum of UV lightaround 207 nmmight be capable of destroying bacteria while leaving human tissue unaffected. Because UV light at this wavelength is strongly absorbed by proteins, it is expected to be safe for two reasons: At the cellular level, it cannot reach the nucleus of human cells, and at the tissue level it cannot reach the sensitive cells in the skin epidermis and the eye lens. But because bacteria are much smaller than human cells, this UV light can reach their DNA. "What this means is, if you shone 207-nm light on human skin or eyes, you would not expect to see any biological damage," said Dr. Brenner, "but it should kill any airborne bacteria that land on a surgical wound."
To test this hypothesis, Dr. Brenner and his colleagues exposed MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus) bacteria, a common cause of surgical wound infections, and human skin cells to a krypton-bromine excimer lamp (also known as a KrBr excilamp), which emits UV light only at 207 nm, as well as to a standard germicidal UV lamp.
The researchers found that 207-nm UV light was as effective at killing MRSA bacteria as a conventional UV lamp. However, the 207-nm light resulted in 1,000-fold less killing of human skin cells than did the standard UV light.
In another experiment, the researchers tested the two UV lamps on a standard tissue-culture model of human skin (which includes the major skin layers, the epidermis and dermis). Exposure to a standard UV lamp caused extensive precancerous changes in the epidermis, while exposure to the same level of 207-nm light did not.
"Our results to date suggest that 207-nm UV light may be an effective add-on to current infection-control measures, without the need for protective equipment for staff or patients," said Dr. Brenner. "We need all the tools we can get to reduce surgical wound infections, especially those involving drug-resistant strains of bacteria, which have become increasingly common."
According to Dr. Brenner, a main route to surgical infection is through the air. "Despite every possible effort to promote sterility, MRSA and other bacteria are essentially raining down on the wound during the entire surgery," he said. "If this UV lamp were continuously shone on the wound during surgery, the bacteria would be killed as they landed." The lamps, known as excimer lamps, are small, rugged, inexpensive, and long-lived, the researchers noted.
"These findings have important clinical significance for mitigating surgical infections," said K.S. Clifford Chao, MD, the Chu H. Chang Professor of Radiation Oncology and chair of radiation oncology at CUMC and professor and chair of radiation oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College. "Right now, incidental infections occur unexpectedly. But with the use of narrow-spectrum UV light, surgical care may be improved at an affordable cost."
The researchers are now conducting in vivo tests of the 207-nm lamp.
###
The paper is titled, "207-nm UV LightA Promising Tool for Safe Low-Cost Reduction of Surgical Site Infections. I: In-Vitro Studies." The other contributors are Manuela Buonanno, Gerhard Randers-Pehrson, Alan W. Bigelow, Sheetal Trivedi, Franklin D. Lowy, Henry M. Spotnitz, and Scott M. Hammer (all at CUMC).
Columbia University has filed international patent applications for a method for generating a narrow wavelength of UV radiation that can selectively affect and/or kill bacteria. The authors declare no financial or other conflicts of interests.
The study was supported in part by a grant from the Columbia-Coulter Translational Research Partnership.
A video is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M65kmB8Svy4#t=30
Description for video: Dr. David J. Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Medical Center, explains the significance of a single-wavelength UV light which can kill bacteria but remain safe for humans.
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org.
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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.
Narrow-spectrum UV light may reduce surgical infections
Public release date: 16-Oct-2013 [
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: Elizabeth Streich eas2125@cumc.columbia.edu 212-305-3689 Columbia University Medical Center
Destroys drug-resistant bacteria but safe for human exposure
NEW YORK, NY Despite major efforts to keep operating rooms sterile, surgical wound infections remain a serious and stubborn problem, killing up to 8,200 patients a year in the U.S. A study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers suggests that narrow-spectrum ultraviolet (UV) light could dramatically reduce such infections without damaging human tissue. The study, conducted in tissue culture, was published today in the journal PLOS ONE.
Approximately 200,000 to 300,000 patients suffer surgical wound infections in the U.S. each year, accounting for $3 billion to $10 billion in health-care expenditures, the researchers report. Patients with surgical wound infections, compared with those without such infections, are 60 percent more likely to spend time in an ICU, are five times as likely to be readmitted to the hospital, have twice the mortality rate, have longer hospital stays, and have roughly double the total health-care costs.
Scientists have known for many years that UV light from a standard germicidal lamp (which emits a broad spectrum of wavelengths, from about 200 to 400 nanometers [nm]) is highly effective at killing bacteria; such lamps are routinely used to decontaminate surgical equipment.
"Unfortunately, this UV light is also harmful to human tissue and can lead to skin cancer and cataracts in the eye," said study leader David J. Brenner, PhD, the Higgins Professor of Radiation Biophysics, professor of environmental health sciences, and director of the Center for Radiological Research at CUMC. "UV light is almost never used in the operating room during surgery, as these health hazards necessitate the use of cumbersome protective equipment for both surgical staff and patients."
Dr. Brenner and his team hypothesized that a very narrow spectrum of UV lightaround 207 nmmight be capable of destroying bacteria while leaving human tissue unaffected. Because UV light at this wavelength is strongly absorbed by proteins, it is expected to be safe for two reasons: At the cellular level, it cannot reach the nucleus of human cells, and at the tissue level it cannot reach the sensitive cells in the skin epidermis and the eye lens. But because bacteria are much smaller than human cells, this UV light can reach their DNA. "What this means is, if you shone 207-nm light on human skin or eyes, you would not expect to see any biological damage," said Dr. Brenner, "but it should kill any airborne bacteria that land on a surgical wound."
To test this hypothesis, Dr. Brenner and his colleagues exposed MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus) bacteria, a common cause of surgical wound infections, and human skin cells to a krypton-bromine excimer lamp (also known as a KrBr excilamp), which emits UV light only at 207 nm, as well as to a standard germicidal UV lamp.
The researchers found that 207-nm UV light was as effective at killing MRSA bacteria as a conventional UV lamp. However, the 207-nm light resulted in 1,000-fold less killing of human skin cells than did the standard UV light.
In another experiment, the researchers tested the two UV lamps on a standard tissue-culture model of human skin (which includes the major skin layers, the epidermis and dermis). Exposure to a standard UV lamp caused extensive precancerous changes in the epidermis, while exposure to the same level of 207-nm light did not.
"Our results to date suggest that 207-nm UV light may be an effective add-on to current infection-control measures, without the need for protective equipment for staff or patients," said Dr. Brenner. "We need all the tools we can get to reduce surgical wound infections, especially those involving drug-resistant strains of bacteria, which have become increasingly common."
According to Dr. Brenner, a main route to surgical infection is through the air. "Despite every possible effort to promote sterility, MRSA and other bacteria are essentially raining down on the wound during the entire surgery," he said. "If this UV lamp were continuously shone on the wound during surgery, the bacteria would be killed as they landed." The lamps, known as excimer lamps, are small, rugged, inexpensive, and long-lived, the researchers noted.
"These findings have important clinical significance for mitigating surgical infections," said K.S. Clifford Chao, MD, the Chu H. Chang Professor of Radiation Oncology and chair of radiation oncology at CUMC and professor and chair of radiation oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College. "Right now, incidental infections occur unexpectedly. But with the use of narrow-spectrum UV light, surgical care may be improved at an affordable cost."
The researchers are now conducting in vivo tests of the 207-nm lamp.
###
The paper is titled, "207-nm UV LightA Promising Tool for Safe Low-Cost Reduction of Surgical Site Infections. I: In-Vitro Studies." The other contributors are Manuela Buonanno, Gerhard Randers-Pehrson, Alan W. Bigelow, Sheetal Trivedi, Franklin D. Lowy, Henry M. Spotnitz, and Scott M. Hammer (all at CUMC).
Columbia University has filed international patent applications for a method for generating a narrow wavelength of UV radiation that can selectively affect and/or kill bacteria. The authors declare no financial or other conflicts of interests.
The study was supported in part by a grant from the Columbia-Coulter Translational Research Partnership.
A video is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M65kmB8Svy4#t=30
Description for video: Dr. David J. Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Medical Center, explains the significance of a single-wavelength UV light which can kill bacteria but remain safe for humans.
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org.
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| 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.
Authorities in Moscow have rounded up more than 1,600 migrant workers after an ethnic riot took place over the weekend. Russian nationalists and soccer hooligans attacked a market area in a gritty industrial suburb of Moscow that's home to many migrant workers from the North Caucasus. The riot broke out after police announced that they were searching for a North Caucasian man suspected in the stabbing death of a young, ethnic Slav man. The situation highlights Russia's immigration problem — the country needs migrant labor, but fears what it perceives as foreign influence.
Apple is hiring Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts to lead its retail business, choosing someone from a fashion brand rather than from a consumer electronics retail chain.
Ahrendts will be joining Apple in a newly created position as senior vice president of retail and online stores. She will be a member of the executive team, reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook, Apple announced on Tuesday.
She will lead the strategic direction, expansion and operation of both Apple retail and online stores. Ahrendts, who also served as president of Donna Karan International, will join the company in the spring, Apple said.
Apple's previous -- and shortlived -- senior vice president of retail was only responsible for the physical stores. In January 2012, the company announced the hiring of John Browett, former CEO of European technology retailer Dixons Retail. He started in April that year, but lasted barely six months. Since then, the retail team has been reporting directly to Cook.
Ahrendts is Apple's second fashion executive hire in the last few months. In July, it recruited Paul Deneve, former CEO of French luxury brand Yves Saint Laurent as vice president for special projects, igniting speculation about possible new product launches including a TV and a smart watch.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is thanking Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate for passing a deal to end the partial government shutdown and avert a default.
Obama says if and when the House approves the bill, he'll sign it immediately. He says the U.S. will start reopening the government right away.
Obama says now it's time to win back the trust of Americans that's been lost during the crisis.
Obama spoke at the White House minutes after the Senate passed the measure. The bill calls for opening the government through Jan. 15 and extending the nation's borrowing authority through Feb. 7.
Obama says once these issues are resolved, he wants to move forward this year on immigration, farm legislation and a larger budget deal.
I admit it -- I'm suffering from Snowden fatigue. The sheer volume of revelations about how the surveillance industrial complex digs its blue latex-gloved fingers into every nook and cranny of our lives has me exhausted. And there seems to be no end in sight.
Take, for example, this week's revelation that the NSA routinely scrapes address books from popular Webmail services, looking for connections. Per IDG News:
On a typical day, the NSA collects about 500,000 buddy lists and inboxes (which seems to refer to address books), according to the documents. But the number is also sometimes higher. On one representative day mentioned in the documents, the NSA gathered 444,743 Yahoo address books, 105,068 Hotmail contact lists and 82,857 address books from Facebook, 33,697 from Gmail and 22,881 from other providers for a total of 689,246.
The NSA nightmare -- told through pictures Fortunately, someone has built a life raft for those of us drowning in the tsunami of data about NSA spying. Last week the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan think tank and advocacy group, published a remarkably clear breakdown called "What the Government Does with Americans' Data." It should be required reading for anyone who cares about what's left of our Constitution, once the buffoons in our nation's capital have stopped using it as confetti. There's an 88-page report, a summary of the conclusions, chilling numbers to consider, and a handful of amazingly concise infographics. Start with the latter to get the gist, then go to the intro.
The tl;dr version: The NSA gathers a massive amount of information on people who are not in any way connected with any terrorist activity, then holds onto it for at least five years and often much longer. It also shares this information with 10 different federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and the FDA.
As one infographic explains, if the NSA happens to hoover up a U.S. citizen's data along with that of suspected foreign evil doers, it will hold onto it for up to six years to analyze whether it contains "significant foreign intelligence information" or "evidence of a crime that has been, is being, or is about to be committed."
In other words, if you get caught in a digital dragnet, the spooks will sift your data to see if you've been naughty. If you have, they send that information to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to travel to Brussels on Thursday to conclude a free trade deal with the European Union.
An EU official said the European Union and Canada hope to conclude the free trade deal in the "coming days."
"Discussions are indeed continuing at the highest level between the EU and Canada towards a comprehensive free trade deal (CETA) — with the hope to conclude the negotiations in the coming days," EU Trade spokesman John Clancy said in an email.
Harper posted on his official Twitter account that Canada will "soon" complete negotiations. A spokesman for Harper said the prime minister will fly to Brussels on Thursday. An agreement-in-principle is expected to be concluded Friday by Harper and European Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso.
Yves Leduc, director of international trade for the Dairy Farmers of Canada, said he's been told by a Canadian government official that an agreement in principle has been reached and that the European Union's 28 members and Canada's 10 provinces have to approve it.
Canada has agreed to permit a doubling of the EU quota on cheese exports to Canada in exchange for greater access for Canadian beef and pork producers. Leduc said Canada's cheese industry is angry because it threatens the fine cheese market in Canada.
"For the dairy farmers of Canada this is a deal that is unacceptable. We're more than disappointed," Leduc said. "It will allow significant access of high quality or fine cheeses into Canada, a segment that is supplied by the smaller or medium size cheese factories in Canada."
Harper has said that a free trade deal between his country and the European Union could help the EU establish a beachhead as they embark on separate free trade talks with the U.S. If a U.S.-EU trade deal is reached, it could be the world's largest free trade pact.
Canada hopes to diversify Canada's trade away from the U.S., the country's largest trading partner. Canada's finance minister has said despite Europe's struggles, Canada remains very interested because the EU is still the largest market in the world in terms of the size of its middle class. The Canada-EU deal would make it easier for Canadian companies to invest in, and sell to, the 17-member EU with its 500 million consumers.
In 2012, Canada was the EU's 12th most important trading partner, accounting for 1.8 percent of the EU's external trade. The EU was Canada's second biggest partner with about 9.5 percent of external trade.
The value of the bilateral trade in goods between the EU and Canada was $84 billion in 2012, according to the EU. The EU says machinery, transport equipment and chemicals dominate the EU's exports to Canada.
The trade agreement, on which talks were first launched in 2009, seeks to lower or erase tariffs and facilitate mutual market access for trade in goods, services and investment. It aims at making it easier for companies to bid for government contracts in the other economy.
The trade negotiations with the U.S., in turn, are still in an early stage and suffered a minor setback last week when the U.S. side had to cancel a long-planned negotiation round in Brussels because of the government shutdown. About 100 officials were set to travel to Belgium for the talks. The next round is likely to take place next month.
____
Associated Press reporter Juergen Baetz in Brussels contributed to this report.
My Monday here in Detroit was a very laid back one. I spent part of my afternoon hanging out with my parents and then spent the rest of the evening chillin’ at home with Sarah and Mark at their place. Because we HAD to watch Elizabeth Berkley perform on Dancing with the Stars last night, we loaded up on snacks and turned Sarah’s Den of SlackTM into the Den Of Snack :D We don’t have access do Detroit’s Better Made potato chips so it’s always a treat to indulge when I’m home again. So, yeah, I’m basically telling you that my night consisted of chips and DWTS. Woo! I go big here in Detroit Rock City.
We all enjoyed Elizabeth Berkley‘s ode to Saved By The Bell‘s Jessie Spano last night so I am not complaining about our relatively quiet night last night. I think we are going out to watch the Detroit Tigers play a game against the Boston Red Sox later today and I’m hoping that there will be sushi in my near future. The weather is a bit chilly here so I’m trying to acclimate as best as I can ;)
When David Goyer said that the still-untitled follow-up to this summer's Man of Steel was further along than most people realized, it provoked a lot of speculation about whether or not the screenplay had already been completed and pre-production was on the table. Turns out, things could be even further along than that, with one report suggesting that the movie will start shooting this weekend.
According to the East Los Angeles College Campus News (first spotted by Latino Review), three takes of a fictional football game between Gotham City University and Metropolis State University will be shot during the halftime of the real-life ELAC/Victor Valley College game this Saturday, October 19, with spectators temporarily becoming Gotham City supporters for the duration.
"Our visibility among the film community is higher than a lot of schools," ELAC’s College event and Venue Coordinator Ernest Burnett told the Campus News. "The experiences of the people that have come and shot here are very good." Burnett went on to say that the production chose the school because "they wanted to support the school," and called the shoot "a big opportunity for us."
Whether or not this report turns out to be true -- if nothing else, the ELAC Campus News definitely seems to believe that is is -- one thing's for sure: Attendance at Saturday's game is likely to be far, far higher than usual levels, especially amongst the important "Just Hoping to Glimpse Zack Snyder at Work" demographic.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Citigroup said its earnings fell slightly in the third quarter after a $1 billion drop in revenue from its bond trading business and a slump in mortgage refinancing.
THE NUMBERS: Net income for the July-to-September period fell to $3.26 billion from $3.27 billion in the same period a year ago after excluding an accounting gain and other one-time items. The earnings amount to $1.02 per share compared with $1.06 per share a year earlier.
Revenue fell to $18.2 billion compared with $19.2 billion a year earlier.
THE DETAILS: The bank said that "significantly lower" mortgage refinancing business in the U.S. contributed to a 7 percent decline in Citi's consumer banking revenue. Rising interest rates this spring made it less attractive for consumers to refinance their mortgages.
The rising rates also hurt Citi's securities and banking unit. Revenues at Citi's bond trading unit slumped 26 percent in the third quarter, to $2.8 billion from $3.7 billion as bond yields climbed. Rates rose in anticipation that the Federal Reserve would start reducing the bond purchases that has been making to stimulate the economy.
Debt underwriting and advisory revenue also slumped.
THE MARKET REACTION: Citigroup's stock fell 55 cents to $49.05 in late afternoon trading. Wall Street analysts who follow the stock had predicted earnings of $1.05 for the quarter, according to data provider FactSet.
THE DEFAULT THREAT: Citigroup remains "hopeful" that lawmakers in Washington will be able to avert a potential U.S. default, said John Gerspach, Citi's Chief Financial Officer, on a call with reporters. The bank has been preparing for different contingencies over recent weeks and no longer holds any U.S. Treasury securities that mature on the Oct. 31, or earlier, the executive said.
England's Wayne Rooney celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup Group H qualification soccer match between England and Poland at Wembley stadium in London, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
England's Wayne Rooney celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup Group H qualification soccer match between England and Poland at Wembley stadium in London, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
England's Wayne Rooney celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup Group H qualification soccer match between England and Poland at Wembley stadium in London, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
England's Wayne Rooney, on the ground, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup Group H qualification soccer match between England and Poland at Wembley stadium in London, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
England's Steven Gerrard, right, scores the second goal of the game as Poland's Kamil Glik looks on during the World Cup Group H qualification soccer match between England and Poland at Wembley stadium in London, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Spain's Koke, left, and Juanfran celebrate their qualification for the 2014 World Cup at the end of their Group I qualifying soccer match against Georgia at the Carlos Belmonte stadium in Albacete, Spain, Tuesday Oct. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Fernando Bustamante)
England and defending champion Spain qualified for the World Cup on Tuesday night along with Russia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which earned its first berth as an independent nation.
Three more spots were at stake in late games in South and Central America, finalizing 21 of the 32 slots for the field in Brazil next June.
Wayne Rooney scored in the 41st minute and Steven Gerrard in the 88th to give England (6-0-4) a 2-0 win over Poland at London's Wembley Stadium and first place in Group H by one point over Ukraine (6-1-3). The Three Lions qualified for their 14th World Cup and fifth in a row.
Spain (6-0-2) won Group I with a 2-0 victory over visiting Georgia on goals by Alvaro Negredo in the 26th minute and Juan Mata on Juan Mata in the 61st. France (5-1-2) was second and will be in the playoffs despite defeating visiting Finland 3-0 on goals by Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema around Joona Toivio's own goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, Greece, Ukraine, Romania and Iceland also finished second in their groups, winding up in Monday's draw for the eight-team European playoffs next month along with Sweden and Croatia. The four playoff winners also will earn berths.
Denmark (4-2-4) had the worst record of the nine second-place teams and missed out.
Bosnia (8-1-1) won 1-0 at Lithuania on Vedad Ibisevic's 68th-minute goal to win Group G on goal difference over Greece (8-1-1), which beat visiting Liechtenstein 2-0 as Dimitris Salpingidis scored in the seventh minute and Giorgos Karagounis added a goal in the 81st.
Russia (7-2-1) won Group F with a 1-1 tie at Azerbaijan as Roman Shirokov scored in the 15th. Portugal (6-1-3) finished a point back after defeating visiting Luxembourg 3-0 on goals by Silvestre Varela, Nani and Helder Postiga.
Later Tuesday, Ecuador, Chile and Uruguay competed for South America's final two automatic berths, with Uruguay and Venezuala having a chance to finish fifth — which earns a playoff against Jordan.
In North and Central America and the Caribbean, Honduras was three points ahead of Mexico for the region's last automatic berth, and Mexico was three points ahead of Panama for fourth playoff and a playoff against Oceania champion New Zealand. The U.S., which clinched last month, was at Panama, while Mexico was at Costa Rica, and Honduras at Jamaica.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Cory Booker's path to Wednesday's U.S. Senate election has been bumpier than anticipated.
Even Republicans had expected Booker, a Democrat in a Democratic-leaning state, to cruise to victory by a wide margin over little-known Republican Steve Lonegan in the special election to replace former Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died in June.
While Booker holds a double-digit lead in most polls, the charismatic Newark mayor has faced sustained Republican criticism that has exposed vulnerabilities that could hamper him should he seek even higher office someday.
Lonegan has hammered Booker on Newark's economic troubles, tax increases, and violent crime. The GOP also has assailed him over a 2008 statement that a drug dealer he called a friend was actually an "archetype"; his G-rated Twitter exchanges with a Portland, Ore., stripper; his out-of-state fundraising trips; and a Washington Post interview where Booker, who talks about past girlfriends but prefers to keep his personal life private, said he "loves" when people on Twitter say that he is gay and asked, "so what does it matter if I am?"
After weeks of mostly ignoring Lonegan, the sustained assault has gotten Booker's attention.
He has aggressively hit back in the past several weeks, castigating Lonegan seemingly at every turn, using the brass-knuckled political skills he learned in the rough-and-tumble world of Newark politics.
"Sending him to Washington would be like pouring gasoline on a fire," Booker said, calling Lonegan a member of the "tea party fringe" that "hijacked" the government and caused a shutdown.
In a debate last week, Booker said the former mayor of Bogota, a small borough in Bergen County, "ran his city into a ditch" and asked for a state bailout. He painted Lonegan as an extremist, and said sending another Republican who supports the government shutdown to Washington would hurt the country.
Before deciding to return heavy fire, Booker had focused more on policy differences with Lonegan on issues like child poverty and criminal justice reforms, painting himself as a political uniter, while promoting Newark's growth. He told Lonegan to "bring on your wrecking ball" after the primary, but almost immediately shifted toward highlighting policy differences, fundraising and disregarding attacks. Booker largely avoided local media interviews, but held regular "run with Cory" events, where a group of supporters jogged a mile with the mayor.
For most of the campaign, Lonegan has gotten little help from Republicans outside the state, save for endorsements from Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, both tea party favorites. The Senate Republican campaign arm hasn't sent any staffers into New Jersey — a standard practice in competitive races — and hasn't spent money on radio or television ads.
Booker had raised $11.2 million for his campaign through early October, compared to Lonegan's $1.4 million, according to campaign finance reports reviewed by the Newark Star-Ledger.
In an 11th hour push for Lonegan, tea party leaders have begun coordinating phone banks and a get-out-the-vote effort. The nation's largest tea party political action committee — the Tea Party Express — brought former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in to campaign for the GOP nominee last weekend.
Tea party supporters dream of another surprise upset like Republican Scott Brown's unexpected victory in Democratic-leaning Massachusetts in a 2010 special election to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Democrats in Washington mostly stayed out of the race until the final week. President Barack Obama released a video Monday urging voters to cast ballots for Booker and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz stumped with Booker on Sunday. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a longtime Booker supporter, spent $1 million on a television ad for Booker.
Booker campaign officials say they expected all along that the race would tighten, because no New Jersey Democrat running statewide has won with more than 60 percent of the vote in a generation. But they say they're confident that the double digit lead in the polls will be borne out on Election Day.
"We knew there would be a narrowing," Booker said in an interview with The Associated Press, "and so far the election has gone for us exactly according to plan."
Still, Republicans in Washington say they're pleased that Booker has had to work harder than anyone imagined. They're privately cheering the tea party's involvement.
And they suggest that Booker is making mistakes that could come back to haunt him as he eyes his political future. Some Democrats have mused about the possibility that Booker — a gifted public speaker who is young at age 44 — could make an attractive vice presidential candidate in 2016.
There's little doubt that Booker has national aspirations. He's spent a chunk of his mayoral tenure traveling the country, meeting with big Democratic donors and raising money in places like Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Hollywood star Matt Damon helped organize one Booker fundraiser in California.
Booker advisers suggest that the aggressive fundraising schedule has dual benefits, generating resources quickly for the special election, while giving Booker a head start for his next election. If he wins on Wednesday, he'll have to defend his seat next November.
Lonegan, however, says his campaign is "cresting."
"It's not a longshot," he told the AP. "We're going to win on Wednesday."
If you had any second thoughts about how Apple sees itself as a high-end fashion brand in the consumer electronics world, doubt no more: today the company announced that it is appointing Angela Ahrendts, currently the CEO of Burberry, as its SVP of retail and online stores. This is a new position at the company that will report directly to Tim Cook, and it takes effect in the Spring of 2014. At the UK-based fashion house, she is getting succeeded by designer Christopher Bailey. Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/9JdcKBEaUq8/ Similar Articles: Cleveland IndiansDumb and Dumber 2serena williamsWhat Is Labor DayMoto X
Elderly parents in China can now sue their grown children for both financial and emotional support.
The changes in the law in China reflect an increasingly urgent dilemma across the world: As populations age faster than ever before, families and governments are struggling to decide who will protect and provide for the old. Too often, the answer is nobody.
The Associated Press spent months reporting across formats on population aging and the growing problem of elder abuse and neglect for an occasional series, Old World. Here are five things to know about the situation in China, where filial piety, or respect for one's parents, was once a given:
HONOR THY FATHER AND MOTHER - IT'S THE LAW
A handful of countries, such as China, India, France and Ukraine, require adult children to financially support their parents. Similar laws are in place in 29 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and most of Canada, but they are rarely enforced because government aid helps support the old. In Singapore, adult children who do not give their parents an allowance can face six months in jail.
HONEY, SO NICE THAT YOU CAME
More than 1,000 parents in China have sued their children for financial support over the last 15 years. But the law now goes further to require that adult children regularly visit their parents. Employers are required to give workers time off to do so, although that provision may be hard to enforce.
GOING GRAY BEFORE GETTING RICH
China is not yet wealthy enough to keep up with its rapidly aging population. It is projected to have 636 million people over age 50 by 2050, or nearly 49 percent of the population — up from 25 percent in 2010. Although a recent expansion of the medical system covers most Chinese, reimbursement rates remain low and out-of-pocket costs high. Many rural families cannot afford hospitals' huge up-front deposits.
THE FIRST AMONG 100 VIRTUES
A Chinese proverb calls filial piety, or respect for one's parents, "the first among 100 virtues." The ancient philosopher Confucius credited it as the bedrock of social harmony, and a popular song urges grown children to visit their parents often. Communities hold "best children" contests, complete with cash prizes. One county even made filial piety a condition for the promotion of local officials. And generations of Chinese have read the classic morality guide, "The Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars," where sons strangle tigers, let mosquitoes feast on their blood and proudly scrub bedpans for the sake of their parents.
AT HOME OR AWAY
Nursing homes are not an option for most Chinese. The few nursing homes in China supply only 22 beds for every 1,000 seniors, and most are too expensive for the average family. Even children who can afford nursing homes fear sending their parents away will mark them as un-filial.
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2013 file photo, women walk past the aftermath of a car bomb attack in the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah in southeastern Baghdad, Iraq. Al-Qaida has come roaring back in Iraq since U.S. troops left in late 2011 and now looks stronger than it has in years. The terror group is capable of carrying out mass-casualty attacks several times a month, driving the death toll in Iraq to the highest level in half a decade. It sees each attack as a way to maintain an atmosphere of chaos that weakens the Shiite-led government’s authority. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2013 file photo, women walk past the aftermath of a car bomb attack in the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah in southeastern Baghdad, Iraq. Al-Qaida has come roaring back in Iraq since U.S. troops left in late 2011 and now looks stronger than it has in years. The terror group is capable of carrying out mass-casualty attacks several times a month, driving the death toll in Iraq to the highest level in half a decade. It sees each attack as a way to maintain an atmosphere of chaos that weakens the Shiite-led government’s authority. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
In this Oct. 11, 2013 photo, Nasser Waleed Ali talks during an interview with the Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq. First came the ball of fire, the man recalled, then the victims’ screams. The suicide bomb blast that knocked him to the ground, peppered him with shrapnel, and killed over 50 was just one of many bearing the stamp of al-Qaida. Aiming to sow instability and looking stronger than in years, the group relentlessly carries out mass-casualty attacks several times a month. Recent prison breaks have bolstered its ranks, and the chaos caused by the civil war in neighboring Syria is fueling its comeback. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
The Tigris River snakes its way through Baghdad, Friday, Oct. 11, 2013. Long a place to relax in crowded Baghdad before the war, the Tigris today runs past the heavily fortified Green Zone and the sprawling U.S. Embassy inside, and memories of bodies dumped in it at the height of the sectarian killings remain fresh. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Qasim Ahmed Tahan carries the dead body of his 5-year-old son, Walid, who was killed in a bombing on Monday, before burial in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Violence has spiked in Iraq during the past few months. More than 4,000 people have been killed between April and August, a level of carnage not seen since the country was on the brink of civil war in 2006-08. (AP Photo/Jaber al-Helo)
People inspect the site of a double suicide bomb attack in the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr city in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013. Two suicide bombers, one in an explosives-laden car and the other on foot, hit a cluster of funeral tents packed with mourning families in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad, the deadliest in a string of attacks around Iraq that killed scores on Saturday. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
BAGHDAD (AP) — First came the fireball, then the screams of the victims. The suicide bombing just outside a Baghdad graveyard knocked Nasser Waleed Ali over and peppered his back with shrapnel.
Ali was one of the lucky ones. At least 51 died in the Oct. 5 attack, many of them Shiite pilgrims walking by on their way to a shrine. No one has claimed responsibility, but there is little doubt al-Qaida's local franchise is to blame. Suicide bombers and car bombs are its calling cards, Shiite civilians among its favorite targets.
Al-Qaida has come roaring back in Iraq since U.S. troops left in late 2011 and now looks stronger than it has in years. The terror group has shown it is capable of carrying out mass-casualty attacks several times a month, driving the death toll in Iraq to the highest level in half a decade. It sees each attack as a way to cultivate an atmosphere of chaos that weakens the Shiite-led government's authority.
Recent prison breaks have bolstered al-Qaida's ranks, while feelings of Sunni marginalization and the chaos caused by the civil war in neighboring Syria are fueling its comeback.
"Nobody is able to control this situation," said Ali, who watches over a Sunni graveyard that sprang up next to the hallowed Abu Hanifa mosque in 2006, when sectarian fighting threated to engulf Iraq in all-out civil war.
"We are not safe in the coffee shops or mosques, not even in soccer fields," he continued, rattling off some of the targets hit repeatedly in recent months.
The pace of the killing accelerated significantly following a deadly crackdown by security forces on a camp for Sunni protesters in the northern town of Hawija in April. United Nations figures show 712 people died violently in Iraq that month, at the time the most since 2008.
The monthly death toll hasn't been that low since. September saw 979 killed.
Al-Qaida does not have a monopoly on violence in Iraq, a country where most households have at least one assault rifle tucked away. Other Sunni militants, including the Army of the Men of the Naqshabandi Order, which has ties to members of Saddam Hussein's now-outlawed Baath party, also carry out attacks, as do Shiite militias that are remobilizing as the violence escalates.
But al-Qaida's indiscriminate waves of car bombs and suicide attacks, often in civilian areas, account for the bulk of the bloodshed.
At least 42 people were killed in new wave of bombings in mostly Shiite-majority cities on Sunday.
The group earlier this year renamed itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, highlighting its cross-border ambitions. It is playing a more active military role alongside other predominantly Sunni rebels in the fight to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, and its members have carried out attacks against Syrians near the porous border inside Iraq.
The United States believes the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is now operating from Syria.
"Given the security vacuum, it makes sense for him to do that," said Paul Floyd, a military analyst at global intelligence company Stratfor who served several U.S. Army tours in Iraq. He said the unrest in Syria could be making it even easier for al-Qaida to get its hands on explosives for use in Iraq.
"We know Syrian military stocks have fallen into the hands of rebels. There's nothing to preclude some of that stuff flowing across the border," he said.
Iraqi officials acknowledge the group is growing stronger.
Al-Qaida has begun actively recruiting more young Iraqi men to take part in suicide missions after years of relying primarily on foreign volunteers, according to two intelligence officials. They said al-Baghdadi has issued orders calling for 50 attacks per week, which if achieved would mark a significant escalation.
One of the officials estimated that al-Qaida now has at least 3,000 trained fighters in Iraq alone, including some 100 volunteers awaiting orders to carry out suicide missions. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to disclose intelligence information.
A study released this month by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said al-Qaida in Iraq has emerged as "an extremely vigorous, resilient, and capable organization" that can operate as far south as Iraq's Persian Gulf port of Basra.
The group "has reconstituted as a professional military force capable of planning, training, resourcing and executing synchronized and complex attacks in Iraq," author Jessica Lewis added.
The study found that al-Qaida was able to carry out 24 separate attacks involving waves of six or more car bombs on a single day during a one-year period that coincided with the terror group's "Breaking the Walls" campaign, which ended in July.
It carried out eight separate prison attacks over the same period, ending with the complex, military-style assaults on two Baghdad-area prisons on July 21 that freed more than 500 inmates, many of them al-Qaida members.
"It's safe to assume a good percentage of them ... would flow back into the ranks," boosting the group's manpower, said Floyd, the military analyst.
American troops and Iraqi forces, including Sunni militiamen opposed to the group's extremist ideology, beat back al-Qaida after the U.S. launched its surge strategy in 2007. That policy shift deployed additional American troops to Iraq and shifted the focus of the war effort toward enhancing security for Iraqis and winning their trust.
By 2009, al-Qaida and other Sunni extremist groups were "reduced to a few small cells struggling to survive and unable to mount more than token attacks," Kenneth Pollack, a Clinton administration official who is now a Middle East analyst at the Brookings Institution, noted in a report earlier this year.
Now there are fears that all the hard work is coming undone.
Iraqis, both Sunni and Shiite, say they are losing faith in the government's ability to keep the country safe.
"Al-Qaida can blow up whatever number of car bombs they want whenever they choose," said Ali Nasser, a Shiite government employee from Baghdad. "It seems like al-Qaida is running the country, not the government in Baghdad."
Many Sunnis, meanwhile, are unwilling to trust a government they feel has sidelined and neglected their sect.
Iraqi officials say that lack of trust has hampered intelligence-gathering efforts, with fewer Sunnis willing to pass along tips about suspected terrorist activities in their midst.
"During the surge, we helped build up the immune system of Iraq to deter these attacks. Now that immune system has been taken away," said Emma Sky, a key civilian policy adviser for U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno when he was the top American military commander in Iraq.
"Before you had the U.S. there to protect the political space and help move the country forward," she added. "How much longer can this go on before something breaks?"
___
Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.
___
Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at www.twitter.com/adamschreck.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force said Friday it fired the two-star general in charge of its nuclear missiles in response to an investigation into alleged personal misbehavior. It was the second sacking this week of a senior commander of nuclear forces.
Maj. Gen. Michael Carey was removed from command of the 20th Air Force, which is responsible for three wings of intercontinental ballistic missiles — a total of 450 missiles at three bases across the country, according to an Air Force spokesman, Brig. Gen. Les Kodlick.
The decision was made by Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. Kowalski is in charge of all Air Force nuclear weapons, including bombers. On Wednesday, the second-in-command at U.S. Strategic Command, Vice Adm. Tim Giardina, was relieved of command amid an investigation into alleged gambling issues. Strategic Command is responsible for all Air Force and Navy nuclear forces.
"It's unfortunate that I've had to relieve an officer who's had an otherwise distinctive career spanning 35 years of commendable service," Kowalski said in a written statement from his headquarters at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.
An internal email obtained by the AP on Friday said the allegations against Carey stem from an inspector general probe of his behavior while on an unspecified "temporary duty assignment." The email said the allegations are not related to the operational readiness of the ICBM force or recent failed inspections of ICBM units.
Kodlick said the investigation is not yet completed. He would not provide details about the alleged misbehavior by Carey except to say it does not involve sexual misconduct.
At a Pentagon news conference, Kodlick was asked whether Carey's dismissal was alcohol-related. He did not respond directly but said Carey is not an alcoholic.
Kowalski has selected the vice commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein, to temporarily replace Carey as head of 20th Air Force.
Carey began his Air Force career in the enlisted ranks in 1978. He was commissioned as an officer in 1983 and is a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He took command of the ICBM force, based at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., in June 2012.
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Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.
Follow Robert Burns on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/robertburnsAP
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