EPA on Friday proposed new regulations to require refineries to make cleaner gasoline. The cost? EPA says less than a penny a gallon. Oil industry says nine cents a gallon ? and higher gas prices.
By Ron Scherer,?Staff writer / March 29, 2013
Suzanne Meredith, of Walpole, Mass., gases up her car at a Gulf station in Brookline, Mass., July 2012. Reducing sulfur in gasoline and tightening emissions standards on cars beginning in 2017, as the Obama administration is proposing, would come with costs as well as rewards.
Steven Senne/AP/File
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The Obama administration proposed on Friday new ? and more costly ? regulations of the refining industry to produce cleaner gasoline and clearer skies.
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If the new rules are implemented as scheduled in 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says, they will spare thousands of people from premature death and prevent respiratory problems in tens of thousands of children. The cost: on average less than a penny gallon.
Not so, says the oil industry, which has been battling the EPA over the proposed rules. The new rules will add as much as nine cents a gallon to the cost of making fuel and will produce ?ambiguous? results, says The American Petroleum Institute.?API, the industry?s lobbying arm in Washington, refers to the proposed new rules as part of a ?tsunami of regulations? the industry faces this year that could add as much as 65 cents to the cost of producing a gallon of fuel in the future.
Gasoline prices are politically sensitive. Consumers often know how much they have paid for a gallon of gasoline compared with their prior fill-up. When pump prices are rising, consumers grumble and, if prices get high enough, cut back on other discretionary purchases. As a result, economists refer to rising fuel prices as a tax on the economy.
But will Americans pay more for fuel and smile about if they believe it will result in cleaner air?
?Some will, but the majority won?t,? answers Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at GasBuddy.com. ?There is a sense among a lot of people that we are entitled to cheaper fuel prices than the rest of the world.?
The proposed changes would make US standards the same as most of Europe, Japan, and South Korea, Mr. Kloza says. ?We would be joining 45 other countries with tougher fuel standards,? he says.
Republicans quickly attacked the proposed regulation. ?The Obama Administration is modeling our regulations after California, which has the worst economy in the nation, and today?s announcement is essentially a guaranteed energy tax hike and unfortunately is just one of many radical policies coming out of this Administration that will deal a heavy blow to middle-class families and small businesses,? said Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, in a statement.??
In January, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, often associated with Democratic issues, conducted what it termed a ?bipartisan survey? of 800 registered voters for the American Lung Association on whether Americans favored tougher fuel regulations and improved antipollution laws. It found 62 percent of voters supported new gasoline and vehicle standards, and 32 percent opposed them.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela is comfortable and able to breathe without problems as he continues to respond to treatment in hospital for a recurrence of pneumonia, President Jacob Zuma's office said on Saturday.
After the revered 94-year-old statesman and former South African president spent a third night in hospital, the presidency said doctors had drained excess fluid from his lungs to tackle the infection.
"This has resulted in him now being able to breathe without difficulty. He continues to respond to treatment and is comfortable," the statement added.
In the first detailed mention of his medical condition since his latest hospitalisation, the third in four months, the presidency said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate had "developed a pleural effusion which was tapped".
Previous bulletins since he was taken to hospital late on Wednesday have reported him responding well, in "good spirits".
They have appeared to indicate that the recurrence of the lung infection afflicting Mandela is being successfully treated.
Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president in 1994 and stepped down five years later, has been mostly absent from the political scene for the past decade. But he remains an enduring and beloved symbol of the struggle against racism.
Global figures such as U.S. President Barack Obama have sent get well messages and South Africans have included Mandela in their prayers on the Easter weekend, one of the most important dates of the Christian calendar.
Mandela is revered at home and abroad for leading the struggle against white minority rule, then promoting the cause of racial reconciliation when in power.
His fragile health has been a concern for years as he has withdrawn from the public eye and mostly stayed at his affluent homes in Johannesburg and in Qunu, the rural village in the destitute Eastern Cape province near where he was born.
"FATHER OF THE NATION"
South Africans of all ages and walks of life have been following the official medical bulletins closely.
"He is the father of the nation, our Abraham Lincoln, our George Washington," said South African economics student Curtis Richardson, 19, as he visited Nelson Mandela Square in an upscale Johannesburg shopping mall with friends.
Mandela remains an inspirational figure worldwide.
"If he dies, it will be a tragedy, because he's such a symbol," said Kagisho Paterson, 19, a visitor from Britain, snapping photos near a towering statue of Mandela in the square.
English Premiership League soccer team Sunderland AFC designated Saturday "Nelson Mandela Day" to kick off its new deal supporting the ex-president's charitable foundation. The partnership would start with fundraising efforts during the team's home clash with Manchester United, Sunderland added.
Mandela's ruling African National Congress (ANC) is still the dominant force in South African politics, but critics say it has lost the moral compass bequeathed it by the previous generation of anti-apartheid freedom fighters.
Under such leaders as Mandela and the late Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo, the ANC gained wide international respect when it battled white rule.
Once the yoke of apartheid was thrown off in 1994, it began governing South Africa in a blaze of goodwill from world leaders who viewed it as a beacon for a troubled continent and world.
Almost two decades later, this image has dimmed as ANC leaders have been accused of indulging in the spoils of office, squandering mineral resources and engaging in power struggles.
Mandela was in hospital briefly earlier this month for a check-up and spent nearly three weeks in hospital in December with a lung infection and after surgery to remove gallstones.
He has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis as a political prisoner.
A Nigerian visitor to Johannesburg, civil engineer Gregory Osugba, 35, called Mandela "an icon of greatness and freedom" for the entire African continent and the world.
"When he goes ... the symbol will remain," he said.
A NASA spacecraft scanning for the most powerful explosions in the universe has captured a photo of Comet ISON, an icy wanderer that could potentially dazzle stargazers when it swings close to the sun later this year.
NASA's Swift satellite, which is typically used to track intense gamma-ray bursts from distant stars, photographed Comet ISON on Jan. 30, with the space agency unveiling the photo today (March 29). By tracking the comet over the last two months, Swift has allowed astronomers to learn new details about how large the comet is and how fast it is spewing out gas and dust.
"Comet ISON has the potential to be among the brightest comets of the last 50 years, which gives us a rare opportunity to observe its changes in great detail and over an extended period," said Lead Investigator Dennis Bodewits, an astronomer with University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP) who helped obtain the new image.
Some astronomers have predicted that ISON could be the "Comet of the Century" when it makes its closest approach to the sun in late November. But a recent analysis found that the comet is not brightening as expected, and may have a ways to go to meet such expectations.
Comet ISON was first discovered in September 2012 by Russian astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok using the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) located near Kislovodsk. The comet's official designation is Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON). [See more photos of Comet ISON]
Swift's Comet ISON view
Bodewits and his university colleagues teamed up with the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz., to capture new views of Comet ISON using the Swift spacecraft. The satellite's Jan. 30 photo shows the comet as a bright, fuzzy white ball. At the time, Comet ISON was about 375 million miles (670 million kilometers) from Earth and 460 million miles (740 million km) from the sun.
"Using images acquired over the last two months from Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT), the team has made initial estimates of the comet's water and dust production and used them to infer the size of its icy nucleus," NASA officials wrote in a statement.
Swift's observations revealed that Comet ISON is currently shedding about 112,000 pounds (51,000 kilograms) of dust and about 130 pounds (60 kg) of water every minute, an odd mismatch for such an anticipated comet.
All comets are made of dust and frozen gases that mix together to form a sort of "dirty snowball" in space, NASA officials explained. Water ice in comets typically stays frozen until the comet approaches within three times the Earth's distance to the sun, at which time the water ice heats up and changes directly into gas (a process called sublimation), creating jets of material that can brighten the comet.
"The mismatch we detect between the amount of dust and water produced tells us that ISON's water sublimation is not yet powering its jets because the comet is still too far from the sun," Bodewits said. "Other more volatile materials, such as carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide ice, evaporate at greater distances and are now fueling ISON's activity."
Currently, Comet ISON is about 5,000 times fainter than the dimmest object the human eye can see.
NASA's Comet ISON campaign
NASA's Swift spacecraft is one of several satellites and probes to observe Comet ISON as it passes through the inner solar system. The space agency has formed the Comet ISON Observing Campaign (CIOC) to make the most of the comet's visit.
On Oct. 1, the comet will pass within 6.7 million miles (10.8 million km) of Mars, and may be spotted by orbiters around the Red Planet. [Comet ISON's Path Through Solar System (Video)]
"During this close encounter, Comet ISON may be observable to NASA and ESA spacecraft now working at Mars," said Michael Kelley, a UMCP astronomer and also a Swift and CIOC team member. "Personally, I'm hoping we'll see a dramatic postcard image taken by NASA's latest Mars explorer, the Curiosity rover."
On Nov. 28 ? 58 days after swing close by Mars ? Comet ISON will make its closest approach to the sun, flying within 730,000 miles (1.2 million km) of the star's surface during the encounter. Several sun-watching observatories will be tracking the comet at that time, and ISON may even become visible in the daytime sky to observers who block the sun's light with their hand, NASA officials said.
The comet will make its closest approach to Earth on Dec. 26, coming with 39.9 million miles (64.2 million km) of the planet as a late Christmas present.
But whether Comet ISON will live up to its celestial hype or fizzle out in a whimper still remains to be seen, astronomers warned. The comet must still survive the approach into the inner solar system, as well as its close encounter with the sun.
"It looks promising, but that's all we can say for sure now," Matthew Knight, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory said. "Past comets have failed to live up to expectations once they reached the inner solar system, and only observations over the next few months will improve our knowledge of how ISON will perform."
Editor's note: If you snap an amazing photo of Comet ISON or any other celestial object, and you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please send images and comments, including location information, to Managing Editor Tariq Malik at?spacephotos@space.com.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him?@tariqjmalik?and?Google+. Follow us?@Spacedotcom,?Facebook?and?Google+.?Original article on?SPACE.com.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of people holding candles turned out at Rome's Colosseum to see Pope Francis mark the first Good Friday of his pontificate with a traditional "Way of the Cross" procession around the ancient amphitheatre.
Francis, who was elected on March 13, sat under a red canopy on Rome's Palatine Hill as representatives of the faithful from around the world alternated carrying a wooden cross on the day Christians commemorated Jesus's death by crucifixion.
"Sometimes it may seem as though God does not react to evil, as if he is silent," the Argentine pope said, speaking slowly in Italian and in a somber voice at the end of the evening service.
"And yet, God has spoken, he has replied, and his answer is the Cross of Christ: a word which is love, mercy, forgiveness. It is also reveals a judgment, namely that God, in judging us, loves us," he said.
"Christians must respond to evil with good," he said, urging them to beware "the evil that continues to work in us and around us".
The meditations for the 14 "stations of the cross" which commemorate events in the last hours of Jesus's life - from when Pontius Pilate condemned him to death to his burial in a rock tomb - were written by young people from Lebanon.
The wooden cross was passed from one group and person to another - including a person in a wheelchair. Those who carried it came from Italy, India, China, Nigeria, Syria, Lebanon and Brazil.
Several of the meditations, read by actors, referred to conflict in the Middle East and the suffering of its people.
One meditation called the Middle East "a land lacerated by injustice and violence".
Francis praised those Lebanese Christians and Muslims who tried to live together and who, he said, in doing so gave a sign of hope to the world.
Prayers were read out for exploited and abused children, refugees, the homeless and victims of religious intolerance, war, violence, terrorism, poverty, injustice and drug addiction.
There were also prayers against abortion and euthanasia.
Good Friday is the second of four hectic days leading up to Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Christian liturgical calendar.
On Holy Thursday, two young women were among 12 people whose feet the pope washed and kissed at a traditional ceremony in a Rome youth prison, the first time a pontiff has included females in the rite.
After celebrating an Easter eve service, on Easter Sunday he will deliver his first "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message in St. Peter's Square.
(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Michael Roddy)
This week we dealt with life's annoying people, delved into the mysteries of Bitcoin, picked a new antivirus app for Windows, and put XBMC and Plex into the media center thunderdome. Here's a look back.
Top 10 Ways to Deal with Life's Most Annoying People
Let's level for a second: there are some people in the world that are just plain annoying. From the guy that parks in your spot all the way up to the boss that does everything he can to make your life miserable, we all have to deal with horrible people once in awhile. More ?
What Is Bitcoin and What Can I Do With It?
Dear Lifehacker, Everywhere I go, I see Bitcoin popping up more and more. Many web services accept payments in the form of Bitcoin, and some even sell their homes for the stuff. More ?
Get a Round Egg on Any McDonald's Breakfast Sandwich
If you enjoy McDonald's breakfast sandwiches, this may be life-changing information: You can get a real egg-not that inferior folded egg patty-on any breakfast sandwich (including the biscuit ones) just by asking for it. More ?
The Best Antivirus App for Windows [UPDATED]
Windows has more antivirus programs than we can count, and none of them are quite perfect. Right now, we recommend Avast Free Antivirus for the best balance between protection, ease of use, and cost. More ?
Declutter in Your Life and Embrace Minimalism This Weekend
We all like our stuff, and probably do not want to live out of a suitcase, but there's something to be said for cutting out the unnecessary. You don't have to go full-blown minimalist, but take a little time this weekend and audit what you own and what you do. More ?
Should I Use Plex or XBMC for My Home Theater PC?
Dear Lifehacker, I want to make the perfect home media center but I've come across a very tough decision: should I use Plex or XBMC? I've heard great things about both platforms, and don't know the main differences. More ?
Five Best Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras
Mirrorless cameras, (also known as MILCs: Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras), offer a great compromise between size, features, image quality, and price. More ?
How Many Times Do You Wear Clothes Before Washing Them?
Washing your clothes too often can wear them out quickly, but washing them rarely just gets you dirty clothes. We're wondering how many times you wear your clothes before washing. More ?
Pack Multi-Layered Meals in Mason Jars for a Grab-and-Go Lunch You Can Make in Advance
Finding time to pack a lunch ahead so you can eat well and save a bit of cash can be tricky. Thankfully the solution to making a healthy, tasty lunch that you can grab in the morning on the way to work or school may be in your pantry already: More ?
MacGyver Challenge Winner: Build a Custom IKEA Workspace
In this week's MacGyver Challenge, we asked you to share your best IKEA hack. We received some great entries, but the winning hack shows us a custom workspace built from several IKEA products. More ?
How to Build Your Own Syncing RSS Reader with Tiny Tiny RSS and Kick Google Reader to the Curb
Yes, Google Reader is going away, and yes, there are great alternatives. However, if you're tired of web services shutting down on you, why not take matters into your own hands? More ?
A CPA Reveals the 10 Biggest Tax Mistakes People Make
1040, 1040A, 1040EZ, Schedule C, Schedule B, 1099, W-2?doing taxes is like trying to speak a foreign language that you've never taken a course in. Given how complicated the tax code is, it's not surprising that people mess up when filing their returns-and those mistakes can cost people... More ?
Brush Your Teeth Before Breakfast (or 30 Minutes Afterward) for Stronger, Healthier Teeth
Common sense would tell you that brushing your teeth after eating breakfast is good, because you clean off all the gunk from your meal, right? Sometimes, though the opposite is true: More ?
One Day, You're Going to Die. Here's How to Prepare for It
It's a fact of life that we're all going to die at some point. While it's not something you probably want to think about, you can make things a lot easier on yourself (and your family) if you get everything in order now. More ?
OTTAWA ? Thank factory workers and hockey players for no-small economic favours.
Canada began the new year with better-than-expected growth, supported by stronger manufacturing output and the return of National Hockey League games following a long labour dispute.
Adding to that, after three straight monthly declines, real estate agents and brokers were also back in play, although that could prove temporary.
Gross domestic product rose 0.2% in January, after contracting 0.2% in December and managing a 0.3% advance the month before that, Statistics Canada said Thursday. Most economists had expected an increase of just 0.1% GDP in January.
It was mostly manufacturing and a hockey lockout story
?It was mostly manufacturing and a hockey lockout story,? said Douglas Porter, chief economists at BMO Capital Markets.
Manufacturing rebounded with growth of 1.2% in the first month of 2013 ? accounting for about half of all of January?s output. That followed a see-saw performance in the last half of last year, which ended with a drop of 1.9% in December.
?We?ve started to see a little improvement in things like auto production and exports in recent months. And there are some signs the worst of the soft patch may be over in the Canadian economy,? Mr. Porter said.
The resumptions of NHL games after the player lockout boosted the arts, entertainment and recreation sector by 4.1% in January, pumping $441 million ? based on 2007 values used by Statistics Canada ? into the Canadian economy.
In the real estate market, meanwhile, output grew by 0.3% in January. Within that group, agents and brokers contributed 0.4% growth to the economy.
?I certainly wouldn?t hang my hat on the real estate sector leading us out of this,? Mr. Porter said.
?Where we can look for some support here is anything that?s levered to the U.S. economy, and manufacturing obviously fits that bill. And hockey, or course.?
Also Thursday, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development offered its assessment of Canada?s prospects, saying growth will be limited to 1.1% in the first three months of this year ? below forecasts for the U.S. and weaker than the average of all Group of Seven nations.
The Paris-based economic think-tank, however, said growth in Canada should pick up in the second quarter by as much as 1.9%.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in his Budget 2013 that GDP would expand 1.6% for all of 2013. That is down from the minister?s previous estimate of 2% this year.
The budget forecasts growth of 2.5% next year, followed by 2.6% in 2015, before slowing to 2.4% in 2016.
Given the still-weak GDP growth, most economists do not expect the Bank of Canada to begin lifting its trendsetting interest rate from its current near-record low 1% until mid-2014.
Emanuella Enenajor, an economist at CIBC World Markets, said there is ?no need for the Bank of Canada to strengthen its barely-there bias for rate hikes.?
The bank will announced its next rate decision on April 17, along with its spring MPR economic and policy outlook.
By Martyn Herman LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Whether by design, necessity, self-interest or because of all three, nurturing youngsters has become fashionable for England's elite with no expense spared in the hunt for the new Wayne Rooney or Steven Gerrard. The length and breadth of the country, scouts from top clubs are hoovering up promising footballers barely old enough to tie their bootlaces in a bid to unearth the 30 million pounds ($45.40 million) treasures of the future. ...
More virtual cookbook than app, what The Photo Cookbook- Tapas lacks in features, it more than makes up with tasty images.
Offering a veritable feast of delicious looking Tapas recipes, The Photo Cookbook ? Tapas is a delightful continuation of an already popular series of apps.
The Photo Cookbook ? Tapas keeps its interface very simple. There?s no superfluous inclusion of a Shopping List feature, or anything needless like that. While users can favorite recipes, add notes and email them to others, that?s about as complex as the features get. The focus is very much on the recipes and photos of the meals. I say meals, Tapas is all about creating numerous smaller dishes to work together with one another. There?s certainly enough here to tantalize the tastebuds.
Divided into relevant sections of small plates, vegetarian, fish & seafood and meat, users can skim through the various ideas by sliding through the photos. Think of it as a casino fruit machine of delicious treats. Tap on a photo that looks appealing and the app opens up to some clear and concise instructions. Quantities are clearly described (although restricted to grams and pounds, not cups) with users simply scrolling down to learn more. Each step of the way, photos are offered showing how something should look at that stage, with a final photo demonstrating the final results. It?s an immensely attractive way of doing it. Tap the favorite button and the recipe is always easily checked up on via the Search button, with the layout remaining the same so users can remember at a glance, what kind of food the recipe relates to.
With 60 recipes in all, The Photo Cookbook ? Tapas has plenty to keep aspiring chefs happy. It?s simply done but by doing so, everything looks achievable. A simple search function is all that?s needed to round off the package, ensuring the focus is forever on the quality of the food. Foodies will enjoy this.
Posted in: Food & Drink, iPad Apps and Games, iPad Food & Drink, iPhone Apps and Games, Reviews
Review disclosure: note that the product reviewed on this page may have been provided to us by the developer for the purposes of this review. Note that if the developer provides the product or not, this does not impact the review or score.
BAHIR DAR, Ethiopia (Reuters) - Ethiopia's ruling coalition re-elected Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn as chairman on Tuesday, completing a smooth transition after the death last year of his predecessor Meles Zenawi who kept a tight grip on power for 21 years.
Hailemariam, 47, was appointed premier in September, a month after the death of Meles, who was praised for steering economic growth into double figures but drew criticism from his opponents and rights groups for squeezing out dissent.
Meles's death raised questions about whether his Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of four ethnic and regional based parties, would hold together or could come under strain as groups jostled for influence.
Opponents say there is infighting behind the scenes, but there was no indication of major rifts in the four-day meeting of the congress in the northern city of Bahir Dar. Some delegates questioned government policies before a 180-member coalition council voted behind closed doors for Hailemariam.
"The transition has gone smoothly - the first peaceful transition in the history of modern Ethiopia," said J. Peter Pham, director of the U.S.-based Michael S. Ansari Africa Centre at the Atlantic Council think tank.
"Whatever his faults, Meles gave Ethiopia a long period of stability and sustained economic growth," he said, adding there was no evidence of tensions that could break up the coalition.
Meles's policies often involved a heavy role for the state and have delivered strong growth. The economy of east Africa's most populous country is expected to expand by 8.5 percent in the 2012/2013 financial year.
"With the principles set forth by our late prime minister, we will carry on with our efforts to develop Ethiopia," Hailemariam told delegates, sporting a baseball cap emblazoned with the coalition's emblems.
MELES' FOOTSTEPS
The post of chairman usually lasts about two or two and a half years, depending on when the congress is called. Hailemariam had been elected to serve out Meles' remaining months as chief of the EPRDF. Tuesday's re-election formalises his position.
The prime minister's post runs for five years with the next election due in 2015. But the 547-seat parliament has only one seat held by an oppositon politician and the EPRDF's opponents say they continue to be pushed to the sidelines of politics.
Four region-based parties make up the EPRDF - the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the Oromo People's Democratic Movement (OPDM), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) and the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM).
Critics pointed to signs of discontent when it took a month after Meles's death to appoint Hailemariam, who also heads SEPDM. They also said his decision to appoint deputies from the three other parties was a ploy to ease ethnic rivalries.
Ruling party members dismissed those accusations.
"The EPRDF is a solid and cohesive party - cohesive in terms of leadership, cohesive in terms of having very clear political and economic programmes," said Abraham Tekeste, state minister at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.
Between the Kinect and Leap Motion, gesture control's on just about everyone's minds these days. There's still a ways to go, certainly, before such devices become a mainstream method for interfacing with our PCs, but they've already become a ripe source of inspiration for the DIY community. Duo's hoping to further bridge the gap between the two, with a "the world's first 3d motion sensor that anyone can build." The desktop sensor features two PS3 Eye cameras that can track hands and objects for a more natural interface with one's computer. Duo's unsurprisingly looking to crowdfund its efforts. A pledge of $10 or more will get you early access to the company's SDK. For $40 you'll get the case and instruction. Add $30 to that number, and you've got yourself the kit, which includes everything but the camera ($110 will get you all that). Check out the company's plea after the break, and if you're so inclined you can pledge at the source link below.
Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...
KABUL (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met again Tuesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a day after they put on a show of unity as they tried to end recent bickering over anti-American comments made by the Afghan leader.
Kerry also met Tuesday at the American Embassy in Kabul with participants in a U.S.-backed women's entrepreneurship program. He heard a succession of concerns from businesswomen fearful of what the 2014 transition will mean for not only for women and girls but for Afghanistan's commerce in general.
Many advocates for women's rights worry that the departure of international troops will lead to a deterioration in conditions for women, who were denied basic rights such as education under Taliban rule.
"After the transition happens, we are hoping for the same attention" as we get now, said Hassina Syed, who runs catering, construction and transportation firms. With the transition approaching "there is a lot of negative effect on the business sector," she told Kerry.
Kerry also spoke with civic leaders preparing for Afghanistan's 2014 elections, telling them he wanted to pay the "respects of everybody in America for the journey that you are on and for the great contribution you're making to your country and the efforts you're making to develop this democracy."
"You're engaged in a remarkable effort and the whole world is watching," Kerry said.
Kerry arrived Monday in Kabul amid concerns that Karzai may be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with his rhetoric. Karzai infuriated U.S. officials earlier this month by accusing Washington of colluding with Taliban insurgents to keep Afghanistan weak even as the Obama administration pressed ahead with plans to hand off security responsibility to Afghan forces and end NATO's combat mission by the end of next year.
After a private meeting, Kerry said he had asked Karzai about the comments and was very satisfied with the president's explanation. He said the two countries were on the same page as international forces prepare to end combat operations in 2014.
At a joint news conference after his talks with Kerry, Karzai told reporters his comments in a nationally televised speech had been misinterpreted by the media. Kerry demurred on that point but said people sometimes say things in public that reflect ideas they have heard from others but don't necessarily agree with.
"I am confident the president (Karzai) does not believe the U.S. has any interest except to see the Taliban come to the table to make peace and that we are completely cooperative with the government of Afghanistan with respect to the protection of their efforts and their people," Kerry said.
For his part, Karzai said he had been trying to make the point in his speech that if the Taliban really wanted foreign troops out of Afghanistan they should stop killing people. On Tuesday, eight suicide bombers attacked a police headquarters in the eastern city of Jalalabad, killing five officers and wounding four, police said. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attacks.
One of the female entrepreneurs Kerry met Tuesday was Afghan Women's National Soccer team captain Zahra Mahmoodi, who tries to promote gender equality through sports. She said that even with the presence of the international forces and aid groups that focus on women's rights, it is still a struggle to persuade traditional conservative families to allow their daughters to play.
Mahmoodi also had a more pressing request for Kerry: a field on which to play. Women's teams used to use the International Security Assistance Force's pitch for games, but it has been turned into a helicopter landing pad. Kerry promised he would look into the matter.
BOSTON, March 22 (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed charging compounding pharmacies fees to pay for the oversight needed to prevent a recurrence of the meningitis outbreak that killed 50 people and sickened hundreds more. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in an official blog post on Friday that serious problems continue to take place at compounding pharmacies and she is hopeful that the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the issue "will yield strong legislation for patients across the nation." The post can be found at: http://blogs.fda.gov/fdavoice/index.php/2013/03/fda-must-have-new-authorities-to-regulate-pharmacy-compounding/?source=govdelivery Hamburg said a possible mechanism for funding the additional oversight could include registration or other fees of the kind Congress has authorized in other instances. Pharmaceutical companies, for example, pay fees to help fund the FDA's drug review process. Hamburg would like to explore more ideas with Congress, including requiring compounded drugs to have clear labels identifying the nature and source of the product. The meningitis outbreak was linked to a tainted steroid shipped last year by the New England Compounding Center (NECC), which filed for bankruptcy protection in December after U.S. authorities shut down its pharmacy operations in Framingham, Massachusetts. Since the NECC case came to light, the FDA has insisted that its authority over specialty pharmacies is too limited. "Even during this time of heightened awareness, our inspectors are being delayed in their work or denied full access to records at some of the facilities we are inspecting," Hamburg said. She added that serious problems at compounding pharmacies continue to occur. This week, there had been two recalls of sterile compounded and repackaged drug products. In one, the presence of floating particles later identified to be a fungus were reported in five bags of magnesium sulfate intravenous solution, resulting in a nationwide recall. In the other, all sterile drug products from a second pharmacy were recalled after reports that five patients suffered serious eye infections associated with a repackaged product. (Reporting by Tim McLaughlin in Boston, additional reporting by Toni Clarke in Washington; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
Cleverly designed vaccine blocks H5 avian influenza in modelsPublic release date: 25-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Garth Hogan ghogan@asmusa.org 202-942-9389 American Society for Microbiology
WASHINGTON, DC March 25, 2013 Until now most experimental vaccines against the highly lethal H5N1 avian influenza virus have lacked effectiveness. But a new vaccine has proven highly effective against the virus when tested in both mice and ferrets. It is also effective against the H9 subtype of avian influenza. The research is published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology.
The strength of the new vaccine is that it uses attenuated, rather than "killed" virus. (Killed viruses are broken apart with chemicals or heat, and they are used because they are safer than attenuated viruses.) Killed virus vaccines against avian influenza are injected into the bloodstream, whereas this vaccine is given via nasal spray, thus mimicking the natural infection process, stimulating a stronger immune response.
The danger of current attenuated virus vaccines is that they might exchange dangerous genetic material with garden variety influenza viruses of the sort that strike annually, potentially rendering a lethal but very hard to transmit influenza virus, such as H5, easily transmissible among humans. To mitigate those dangers, the study authors, led by Daniel Perez of the University of Maryland, came up with an ingenious design. Influenza viruses carry their genetic material in eight "segments," explains coauthor and University of Maryland colleague Troy Sutton. When viruses reassort, they exchange segments. But each segment is unique, all eight are needed, and the viruses are unfit if they contain more than eight segments.
The vaccine is based on an attenuated version of the H9 virus, with an H5 gene added into one of the H9 virus' segments, to confer immunity to the H5 virus. Segment 8, which is composed of the so-called NS1 and NS2 genes, was split apart, and the NS2 gene was moved into segment 2, adjacent to the polymerase gene, which copies the virus' genetic material during replication. Placing NS2 next to the polymerase gene slowed its function, interfering with the virus' replication. That makes the vaccine safer.
The next step was to engineer the H5 gene into the vaccine. It was inserted into segment 8, where the NS2 gene had been.
Another aspect of the new vaccine's design makes it safer still, by rendering successful reassortment less likely. Both NS1 and NS2 are needed for viral replication. Since the two genes are now separated into different segments, any reassortment will have to include both segments, instead of just segment 8, in order for a reassortant virus to be viable. This greatly reduced the probability of successful reassortment.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes avian influenza subtypes H5, H7, and H9 as potential pandemic viruses, because they all have in rare instances infected humans, and because they circulate in wild birds. Single reassortants could be sufficient to breach the species barrier, and since they do not circulate among us, we lack any immunity. Moreover, H5 is unusually lethal, having killed roughly half of those few it is confirmed to have infected.
###
A copy of manuscript can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0313d. The paper is scheduled for formal publication in the second May 2013 issue of the Journal of Virology.
(L. Pena, T. Sutton, A. Chockalingam, S. Kumar, M. Angel, H. Shao, H. Chen, W. Li, and D.R. Perez, 2013. Influenza viruses with rearranged genomes as live-attenuated vaccines. J. Virol. Online ahead of print, 28 February 2013, doi:10.1128/JVI.02490-12.)
Journal of Virology is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.
[ | 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.
Cleverly designed vaccine blocks H5 avian influenza in modelsPublic release date: 25-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Garth Hogan ghogan@asmusa.org 202-942-9389 American Society for Microbiology
WASHINGTON, DC March 25, 2013 Until now most experimental vaccines against the highly lethal H5N1 avian influenza virus have lacked effectiveness. But a new vaccine has proven highly effective against the virus when tested in both mice and ferrets. It is also effective against the H9 subtype of avian influenza. The research is published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology.
The strength of the new vaccine is that it uses attenuated, rather than "killed" virus. (Killed viruses are broken apart with chemicals or heat, and they are used because they are safer than attenuated viruses.) Killed virus vaccines against avian influenza are injected into the bloodstream, whereas this vaccine is given via nasal spray, thus mimicking the natural infection process, stimulating a stronger immune response.
The danger of current attenuated virus vaccines is that they might exchange dangerous genetic material with garden variety influenza viruses of the sort that strike annually, potentially rendering a lethal but very hard to transmit influenza virus, such as H5, easily transmissible among humans. To mitigate those dangers, the study authors, led by Daniel Perez of the University of Maryland, came up with an ingenious design. Influenza viruses carry their genetic material in eight "segments," explains coauthor and University of Maryland colleague Troy Sutton. When viruses reassort, they exchange segments. But each segment is unique, all eight are needed, and the viruses are unfit if they contain more than eight segments.
The vaccine is based on an attenuated version of the H9 virus, with an H5 gene added into one of the H9 virus' segments, to confer immunity to the H5 virus. Segment 8, which is composed of the so-called NS1 and NS2 genes, was split apart, and the NS2 gene was moved into segment 2, adjacent to the polymerase gene, which copies the virus' genetic material during replication. Placing NS2 next to the polymerase gene slowed its function, interfering with the virus' replication. That makes the vaccine safer.
The next step was to engineer the H5 gene into the vaccine. It was inserted into segment 8, where the NS2 gene had been.
Another aspect of the new vaccine's design makes it safer still, by rendering successful reassortment less likely. Both NS1 and NS2 are needed for viral replication. Since the two genes are now separated into different segments, any reassortment will have to include both segments, instead of just segment 8, in order for a reassortant virus to be viable. This greatly reduced the probability of successful reassortment.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes avian influenza subtypes H5, H7, and H9 as potential pandemic viruses, because they all have in rare instances infected humans, and because they circulate in wild birds. Single reassortants could be sufficient to breach the species barrier, and since they do not circulate among us, we lack any immunity. Moreover, H5 is unusually lethal, having killed roughly half of those few it is confirmed to have infected.
###
A copy of manuscript can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0313d. The paper is scheduled for formal publication in the second May 2013 issue of the Journal of Virology.
(L. Pena, T. Sutton, A. Chockalingam, S. Kumar, M. Angel, H. Shao, H. Chen, W. Li, and D.R. Perez, 2013. Influenza viruses with rearranged genomes as live-attenuated vaccines. J. Virol. Online ahead of print, 28 February 2013, doi:10.1128/JVI.02490-12.)
Journal of Virology is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.
[ | 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.
Caught on camera for the first time, this image shows the newly identified Marohita mouse lemur.
By Stephanie Pappas LiveScience
Two new species of lemurs look so similar that it's impossible to tell them apart without sequencing their genes.
David Haring of the Duke University Lemur Center
The grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus).
The itsy-bitsy primates are both mouse lemurs, which are tiny, nocturnal lemurs that measure less than 11 inches (27 centimeters) from nose to tail. The newly discovered Madagascar natives have gray-brown coats and weigh only 2.5 to 3 ounces (65-85 grams).
Study researcher Rodin Rasoloarison of the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar first captured specimens of the two new species in 2003 and 2007. He weighed the animals, measured them and took small skin samples for later analysis.
It was an analysis of these skin samples that revealed the two nearly identical lemurs are actually two different species. Researchers named one the Anosy mouse lemur (Microcebus tanosi) and the other the Marohita mouse lemur (Microcebus marohita). The Marohita mouse lemur was named after the forest where it was found. According to the researchers, the Marohita lemur is losing that forest and is threatened by that habitat loss. [Image Gallery: Leaping Lemurs!]
In fact, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared the Marohita mouse lemur "endangered" before scientists had even finalized and formalized its name and description. It's a fate shared by many lemurs in Madacasgar, where slash-and-burn agriculture is taking a toll on the forests.
"This species is a prime example of the current state of many other lemur species," said study researcher Peter Kappeler of the German Primate Center in Goettingen. Lemurs are the most endangered mammals on the planet, with 91 percent of known species threatened by extinction.
Researchers want to preserve lemurs not only for their own sake, but for humans' sake as well. As a primate, the mouse lemur is more closely related to humans than rats or mice, which are commonly used in medical research. The grey mouse lemur?(Microcebus murinus) develops a neurological disease much like Alzheimer's, making it an important model for understanding the human brain.
"Before we can say whether a particular genetic variant in mouse lemurs is associated with Alzheimer's, we need to know whether that variant is specific to all mouse lemurs or just select species," said Anne Yoder, the director of the Duke University Lemur Center. "Every new mouse lemur species we sample in the wild will help researchers put the genetic diversity we see in grey mouse lemurs in a broader context."
The researchers reported their findings Tuesday in the International Journal of Primatology.
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter?and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook?andGoogle+. Original article on LiveScience.com
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Secretary of State John Kerry walks to a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Monday, March 25, 2013. Kerry embarked on talks Monday with Karzai amid concerns Karzai may be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with his anti-American rhetoric. The session came shortly after the U.S. military ceded control of its last detention facility in Afghanistan, ending a longstanding irritant in relations. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, Pool)
Secretary of State John Kerry walks to a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Monday, March 25, 2013. Kerry embarked on talks Monday with Karzai amid concerns Karzai may be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with his anti-American rhetoric. The session came shortly after the U.S. military ceded control of its last detention facility in Afghanistan, ending a longstanding irritant in relations. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, Pool)
Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Monday, March 25, 2013. Kerry embarked on talks Monday with Karzai amid concerns Karzai may be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with his anti-American rhetoric. The session came shortly after the U.S. military ceded control of its last detention facility in Afghanistan, ending a longstanding irritant in relations. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, Pool)
Afghan President Hamid Karzai walks in the grounds of the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Monday, March 25, 2013, before the arrival of Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry embarked on talks Monday with Karzai amid concerns Karzai may be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with his anti-American rhetoric. The session came shortly after the U.S. military ceded control of its last detention facility in Afghanistan, ending a longstanding irritant in relations. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, Pool)
KABUL (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry embarked on talks Monday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai amid concerns Karzai may be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with his anti-American rhetoric. The session came shortly after the U.S. military ceded control of its last detention facility in Afghanistan, ending a longstanding irritant in relations.
During Kerry's 24-hour visit to the country ? his sixth since President Barack Obama became president but his first as Obama's secretary of State ? Kerry planned to meet with Karzai, civic leaders and others to discuss continued U.S. assistance to the country and how to wean it from such aid as the international military operation winds down, and upcoming national elections.
Karzai has infuriated U.S. officials by accusing Washington of colluding with Taliban insurgents to keep Afghanistan weak even as the Obama administration presses ahead with plans to hand off security responsibility to Afghan forces and end NATO's combat mission by the end of next year.
U.S. officials accompanying Kerry said he did not plan to lecture Karzai or dwell on the apparent animosity but would make clear once again that the U.S. did not take such allegations lightly, They said he would press Karzai on the need for the April 2014 elections to meet international standards and continue to stress the importance of Afghan reconciliation and U.S. support for a Taliban office in Qatar where talks could occur.
Karzai is expected to travel to Qatar within the week and some movement on the opening of an office is likely then.
Kerry, who arrived in Kabul from Amman, Jordan, had hoped also to travel to Pakistan on his trip to the region but put it off due to elections there. Instead, he met late Sunday in Amman with Pakistani army chief for Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, officials said.
The pair had a private dinner at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Jordan as Pakistan continued to seethe in the aftermath of the return from exile to the country of former president Pervez Musharraf, himself a former army chief.
Earlier Monday, the U.S. military ceded control of the Parwan last detention facility near the U.S.-run Bagram military base north of Kabul, a year after the two sides initially agreed on the transfer. Karzai demanded control of Parwan as a matter of national sovereignty.
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Joseph Dunford, handed over Parwan at a ceremony there after signing an agreement with Afghan Defense Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi. "This ceremony highlights an increasingly confident, capable and sovereign Afghanistan," Dunford said.
The dispute over the center threw a pall over the ongoing negotiations for a bilateral security agreement that would govern the presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan after 2014.
An initial agreement to hand over Parwan was signed a year ago, but efforts to follow through on it constantly stumbled over American concerns that the Afghan government would release prisoners that it considered dangerous.
They have reason to worry. Zakir Qayyum ? a former Guantanamo detainee, was released into Afghan custody in 2007. He was freed four months later and rejoined the Taliban. He has reportedly risen to become the No. 2 in the Taliban.
A key hurdle was a ruling by an Afghan judicial panel holding that administrative detention, the practice of holding someone without formal charges, violated the country's laws. The U.S. argued that international law allowed administrative detentions and also argued that it could not risk the passage of some high-value detainees to the notoriously corrupt Afghan court system.
An initial deadline for the full handover passed last September and another earlier this month.
The detention center houses about 3,000 prisoners and the majority are already under Afghan control. The United States had not handed over about 100, and some of those under American authority do not have the right to a trial because the U.S. considers them part of an ongoing conflict.
There are also about three dozen non-Afghan detainees, including Pakistanis and other nationals that will remain in American hands. The exact number and nationality of those detainees has never been made public.
A new agreement, or memorandum of understanding, was signed at the ceremony by Dunford and Khan, but the U.S. military said it will not be made public. The agreement supplants one signed last March, which had been made public.
The U.S. military said in a statement that the new agreement "affirms their mutual commitment to the lawful and humane treatment of detainees and their intention to protect the people of Afghanistan and coalition forces," an apparent reference to the release of detainees deemed to be dangerous.
There are about 100,000 coalition troops in Afghanistan, including about 66,000 from the United States. American officials have made no final decision on how many troops might remain in Afghanistan after 2014, although they have said as many as many as 12,000 U.S. and coalition forces could remain.
The U.S. started to hold detainees at Bagram Air Field in early 2002. For several years, prisoners were kept at a former Soviet aircraft machine plant converted into a lockup.
In 2009, the U.S. opened a new detention facility next door. The number of detainees incarcerated at that prison, renamed the Parwan Detention Facility, went from about 1,100 in September 2010 to more than 3,000.
After Monday's handover, it was renamed the Afghan National Detention Facility at Parwan and the U.S. military said it would provide the Afghan army with advisers and $39 million in funding.
The United States has spent about a quarter of a billion dollars to build the Bagram facility along with Kabul's main prison located in the capital.
_____
Patrick Quinn in Kabul and Rahim Faiez in Bagram, Afghanistan contributed to this report.
If you fancy dusting off some old cartridges, taking Sonic for a spin, or giving Mario a run about, then the RetroN 5 could be for you.
Designed to let you play games created for five of your favourite retro games consoles, the clever box has five slots on the top, each accepting cartridges from different games. You can play SNES, NES, Game Boy Advance games, Sega and super Famicom titles.
And here's the twist: the system also includes an SD card slot for game saves and two controller ports for Bluetooth controllers. It even has a 720p capable HDMI out.
NSTC and PAL game support means you can import the rarer titles from abroad. No word on release date yet, but the RetroN 5 should appear after June, once Hong Kong-based Hyperkin is finished putting it together.
Bringing the controllers cross-platform play means they have?two bumpers, a pair of macro keys and six buttons to hit. That should keep every possible title covered nicely.
We can't wait to see what the RetroN 5 will look like with five catridges sitting inside. Switching from Sonic to Mario on the fly might also finally help answer the ultimate question: who's better - Mario or Sonic?
This week we dealt with life's annoying people, delved into the mysteries of Bitcoin, picked a new antivirus app for Windows, and put XBMC and Plex into the media center thunderdome. Here's a look back.
The Photo Cookbook ? Tapas keeps its interface very simple. There?s no superfluous inclusion of a Shopping List feature, or anything needless like that. While users can favorite recipes, add notes and email them to others, that?s about as complex as the features get. The focus is very much on the recipes and photos of the meals. I say meals, Tapas is all about creating numerous smaller dishes to work together with one another. There?s certainly enough here to tantalize the tastebuds.
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Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
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