Saturday, December 31, 2011

Poland announces amnesty for illegal immigrants (Reuters)

WARSAW (Reuters) ? Thousands of illegal immigrants will be allowed to stay and work in Poland under an amnesty unveiled on Thursday that highlights the country's transformation into a regional economic powerhouse from communist-era basket case.

Traditionally a country of emigration, Poland has become an increasingly attractive magnet for immigrants, especially from neighboring former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Belarus, as it notches up high rates of economic growth.

Under the amnesty, economic migrants and unsuccessful asylum seekers will be able from January 1 to receive a resident card for two years that will allow them to work legally in Poland.

"Poland is becoming a more attractive country for foreigners because its growing economic position is leading it to become a destination country and not just a transition country as it has been so far," said Rafal Rogala of the immigration office.

Legalizing the immigrants will benefit the Polish economy by turning them into taxpayers, he said.

The amnesty will apply to undocumented immigrants who arrived in Poland before December 20, 2007, and to asylum seekers who were denied refugee status before January 1, 2010, provided that they have continuously resided in Poland.

The campaign is expected to be more successful than previous amnesties implemented in 2003 and 2007 because there are fewer restrictions, said Rogala.

"The idea is to reach the largest number of foreigners in order to regularize this situation in the widest possible manner," he added.

Most economic migrants entered Poland legally but overstayed their visas, officials say.

More than two thirds of the illegal immigrants in Poland are believed to live in Warsaw and the surrounding Mazowsze region. Some 7,000 of these people probably fulfill the criteria of the amnesty, said Jacek Kozlowski, governor of Mazowzse.

LABOUR SHORTAGES

Apart from Ukrainians, Belarussians and other former Soviet citizens, members of Poland's ethnic Vietnamese community are expected to be among the main beneficiaries.

Eurostat figures show only 0.1 percent of people in Poland were born abroad, the lowest figure in the European Union. That looks set to change thanks to a buoyant economy and labor shortages exacerbated by the emigration of many Polish workers to western Europe since Poland joined the EU in 2004.

Even as much of Europe slows sharply due to the euro zone debt crisis, Poland's economy is expected to grow by 4 percent this year. It was the only member of the 27-nation EU to avoid recession during the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

Unemployment in Poland is currently around 12 percent but is much lower in Warsaw and some other big cities, which have seen a big building boom and are preparing to host the Euro 2012 soccer championship next summer.

In the last two years, the number of applications for work permits in Poland has doubled, with Ukrainians accounting for a majority of the requests.

The government has also implemented six-month work visas for Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians, Georgians and Moldovans.

Rogala said Poland wanted to attract not only seasonal workers employed in such sectors as construction and farming but also highly-skilled workers.

(Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111229/wl_nm/us_poland_immigrants

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U.S. Fifth Fleet says won't allow disruption in Hormuz (Reuters)

DUBAI (Reuters) ? The U.S. Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday it will not allow any disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran threatened to stop ships moving through the strategic oil route.

"The free flow of goods and services through the Strait of Hormuz is vital to regional and global prosperity," a spokesperson for the Bahrain-based fleet said in a written response to queries from Reuters about the possibility of Iran trying to close the waterway.

"Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated."

Asked whether it was taking specific measures in response to the threat to close the Strait, the fleet said it "maintains a robust presence in the region to deter or counter destabilizing activities," without providing further detail.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Andrew Hammond; Writing by Joseph Logan; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111228/wl_nm/us_iran_us_hormuz

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Russia Slams U.S. Human Rights Record

MOSCOW ? Russia's Foreign Ministry has attacked America's human rights record in its first report on injustice elsewhere in the world, offering examples such as the Guantanamo Bay prison and wrongful death row convictions to paint the U.S. as hypocritical for lecturing other nations on the subject of rights.

"The situation in the United States is a far cry from the ideals that Washington proclaims," says the report released Wednesday.

Moscow has previously reacted angrily to the accusations of human rights breaches that the U.S. State Department has leveled at Russia in its annual reports. The State Department has expressed concern about the violent attacks on rights activists and journalists in Russia, most of which go unpunished. It also has criticized abuses in Russia's Caucasus, including extrajudicial killings, kidnappings and torture.

The 90-page Russian report slams EU nations, Canada and Georgia, but reserves its longest section of 20 pages for what it says are violations by the United States. The report does not cover Asia, Africa or the Middle East, other than a five-page section criticizing the NATO operation in Libya.

Moscow laments the ongoing operation of the "notorious" prison in Guantanamo Bay, where terrorism suspects have been held since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and criticizes President Barack Obama for "legalizing indefinite and extrajudicial custody and the return of court martials."

The report accuses the U.S. of prying into citizens' personal lives and violating the rights of Muslim Americans in the fight against terrorism. It also points to errors made by American courts.

"Judicial errors are the Achilles heel of American justice as concerns capital punishment," the report argues. It notes the roughly 130 people sentenced to death in the past 30 years who were later cleared of the charges, some after they were executed.

The Foreign Ministry also struck back at international criticism of Russia's recent parliamentary election, which independent observers said involved widespread fraud. Outrage over the vote set off a spate of protests led by citizens unhappy with Vladimir Putin's rule.

The report accuses the U.S. of blocking independent candidates from elections and criticizes the practice of allowing governors to nominate senators when a Senate seat is vacated, as when Obama became president. It refers to the conviction this year of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was accused of trying to auction off Obama's Senate seat.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/russia-us-human-rights_n_1172877.html

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Multifamily Insurance Trips and Traps | Multi-Housing News Online

By Keat Foong, Executive Editor

Surely every property owner?s nightmares must include finding out in the aftermath of a hurricane, fire or a lawsuit that insurance does not cover the costs. What a disaster! Apartment owners must be very careful to risk-manage properly and make sure their assets have the correct insurance policies.

Experts? advice for ensuring proper insurance protection for apartment properties typically fall into three categories: Making sure that the right type of insurance is purchased, ensuring that enough coverage is purchased and selecting the right insurance broker.

Simply opting for the policy with the lowest premium ?just because they are trying to save money? is one of the most common pitfalls of apartment owners, says Carlton Einsel, executive vice president of The Donaldson Group, a third-party apartment manager. ?But people do that,? he adds.

According to attorney Barry Fleishman, partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, the most typical missteps apartment companies can make include not adequately understanding the coverage, not reviewing the actual policy terms with their brokers and legal counsel, and failing to compare losses in the past to their current coverage. Insurance is a very difficult and complex field, says Fleishman, and the risk manager or CFO should work closely with the broker and/or an insurance attorney to make sure there are no unintended gaps in the protection.

What type of insurance to purchase

First, apartment owners need to ensure the correct type of insurance is acquired. Experts advise that owners purchase all-risk?rather than named-peril?insurance, whether the insurance is third-party property insurance or general liability insurance. This is because named-peril insurance covers only risks that are specifically named, whereas all-risk insurance covers all risks except those explicitly excluded. Property owners should also be careful to have policies that reimburse at replacement cost?and that cover business interruption.

?Buy broad, all-risk, policies, rather than named-peril policies,? says Steve Cataldo, director of risk management at Greystar, which oversees insurance for a management portfolio of more than 48,000 apartment units.

Property insurance coverage generally applies to ?all risks,? such as? fire, explosions, earthquakes, tornados and hurricanes, with the exception of specific exclusions. Fleishman, a legal specialist in policyholder insurance coverage, says it?s important that the apartment company review the risk history of the property and the areas in which losses were suffered in the past, and then ensure that none of these exposures are excluded from coverage.

The terms of the insurance, naturally, will be influenced by the location of the property. If the apartment asset is close to a disaster prone area, such as a flood or an earthquake zone, the insurance policy will likely contain sublimits that may be much lower than the coverage for the basic perils.

Certain perils such as windstorms and earthquakes may also carry higher deductibles, depending on the location of the asset, adds Derek Ramsey, Greystar CFO. The apartment owner needs to determine its ability to fund the deductible if a loss occurs. If available cash will be insufficient to meet that deductible, then the owner may want to consider paying a higher premium in order to obtain a lower deductible, he points out.

If coverage for particular risks-?such as flood, pollution or earthquakes in certain regions?is not found in traditional types of policies, the property owner may be able to look to alternative instruments for managing risks. These alternative instruments, which can be very sophisticated, include specialty risk policies (such as pollution liability policies), catastrophe bonds, self-insurance supported by re-insurance, or industry risk retention pools, says Fleishman.

As regards both liability and property insurance, Fleishman advises that apartment owners ensure that all layers of insurance?primary, umbrella and excess?be consistent with each other. For example, property owners should make sure that certain excluded losses in primary layers are not also excluded in umbrella or excess layers. In such cases, there would be a gap in coverage.

?Sit with your broker (or attorney) and go through the policy page by page(it takes one day or so), and understand what is in the policy: what is covered and what is excluded,? he says. ?The broker should make sure the policy is consistent in each layer of insurance or tell the client where it is not.?

The hazards of replacement
cost insurance

Property owners should also be careful to obtain insurance that will reimburse them for the replacement, rather than acquisition, cost of the assets. Inadequate limits of insurance can present a problem even if the property owner believes he or she is obtaining full replacement-cost insurance coverage, notes Greystar?s Cataldo. Cataldo says that property insurance carriers commonly issue full replacement-cost insurance, but impose separate sublimits on certain perils, including floods, windstorms and earthquakes.

Even if there are no sublimits on the replacement cost proceeds, Cataldo advises property owners to try to insure their properties at the full replacement cost. It is very important that the owner knows accurately what the cost to replace the asset is, and what the insurance limit is on the property. One reason is that if the property owner insures the property for materially less than the full replacement cost of the property?whether to save money on premiums or for other reasons?and the full replacement cost turns out to be greater than the insured amount, the policy holder may only be entitled to collect the lower amount from the insurance company, notes Cataldo.

Furthermore, in many cases in which there is a material loss, the mortgage lender is entitled to receive the insurance proceeds and may not be required to advance them to the owner to repair or rebuild the asset if there is a difference between the cost to replace and the insurance proceeds, Cataldo explains.

Other than insuring for replacement costs, apartment owners must also remember to establish business interruption insurance, not just first-party property damage insurance. According to Fleishman, business interruption insurance is normally included in the property insurance policy. However, the property owner should understand limits and restrictions on the insurance, he says. There may be time restrictions, for example. Apartment companies need to really understand business interruption insurance, says Fleishman. ?You need to go over the terms with your broker.?

The other broad category of insurance is general liability insurance, which covers claims brought against the policy holder for third-party property damage or bodily injury. Overseers of apartments need to make sure the liability insurance they acquire does not exclude certain activities currently taking place on the property, such as methamphetamine-producing laboratories. ?If the activity happens to be one, then the policy will exclude damage from that type of property,? says Cataldo.

Under liability insurance, most defense costs do not fall under the insurance limits, says Fleishman. However, it is important to understand that for certain policies, such as directors? and officers? policies, defense costs are subject to the insurance limits, and can ?eat up? the insurance, Fleishman says. That is why the determination of how much coverage to purchase needs to be fully reviewed by purchasers.

Finding the right middle-man

Selecting the correct broker is also a part of getting the right insurance coverage. In this regard, The Donaldson Group?s Einsel says that it is easiest for brokers to go to market with
the information supplied by the client, but
most difficult to find brokers who can obtain the best policies and who have the best process to handle claims.

?If you have a claim, you do not want to waste weeks and months arguing [with the broker],? says Einsel, who advises that the owner should select brokers they know would handle claims quickly.

Sources interviewed all agree that property owners need to ask their brokers whether they have any existing relationships with carriers. Cataldo says risk retention groups do establish pools of sponsored programs, and the insurance broker may participate in the underwriting profits and incomes or obtain a commission. He notes that such arrangements are acceptable to the apartment company, but they need to be disclosed. Einsel agrees. ?If you do not know,? he explains, ?you could end up buying the policies when you are really being steered to that carrier because the broker is getting fees out of it.?

Finally, another important consideration for the apartment owner when purchasing insurance is the ability and/or willingness of the insurance company to pay claims when there is an expensive disaster, such as an earthquake in California, Cataldo points out. Not all insurance companies are created equal. And for apartment owners that do not have mortgages on their properties and therefore lender guidance on buying insurance, it is important to remember to check on the Standard & Poor?s or A.M. Best ratings of the insurance company.

?Ask the insurance agent or broker who
places the insurance what the insurance company?s rating is before the coverage is placed,? Cataldo advises.

As Einsel says, ?Very often, we do not go with the lowest cost provider. If the insurance carrier is not as strong, we may decide on a higher-priced carrier.? For example, The Donaldson Group has a lot of policies with Travellers, even though it can obtain lower-cost policies with other companies. But, Einsel adds, Travellers is a very solid company with a long history.

Related Posts:

Source: http://www.multihousingnews.com/features/multifamily-insurance-trips-and-traps/1004046511.html

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Constitutionality of home insurance laws questioned | House Keys ...

FL-hurricane-discounts-tips-shutters.jpgA local public insurance adjuster and the president of a home inspectors group allege that parts of property insurance laws passed this year and last hurt their industries and are unconstitutional.

Public adjuster restrictions

In a lawsuit filed this month in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, Eduardo Rodriguez is suing the state over changes made by a a sweeping law this year that prevent public adjusters who represent state-backed Citizens Property Insurance policyholders from getting paid for their services until the insurer makes an offer. The law also limits what they can charge after that.

Public adjusters are hired by policyholders to prepare, file or complete claims. The new law restricts fees for public adjusters representing Citizens policyholders to 10 percent over the original amount the insurer offered for a claim.

Rodriguez, president of Expert Claims Adjusters in Miami, notes in the suit that the law doesn't define an original offer but documents from Citizens imply it's a written offer after the insurer has adjusted and investigated the claim. He said the time before that is critical because a policyholder may make decisions that affect how much money they'll receive such as finding all the damages and preserving evidence.

The law "does not allow a public adjuster remuneration for performing inherent and necessary tasks until Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has made a nebulous, vague and undefined 'original offer,'" according to the suit. That violates a public adjuster's "right to contract and [other rights] such as the right to be rewarded for industry."

The same restriction doesn't apply to private insurers' policyholders: State law caps their public adjusters' fees at 10 percent for hurricane claims made during the first year and 20 percent for all other claims.

Home inspector restrictions

Steve Taylor, president of the Florida chapter of the American Society of Home Inspectors, wrote a letter to state officials recently saying changes that allow licensed contractors or engineering firms to hire unlicensed people to do inspections to verify hurricane insurance discounts but bar home inspection firms from doing the same violate unfair trade practice regulations.

"The contractor and engineer business owner can hire a non-licensed individual at a much lower wage than the other business entities who can only hire licensed individuals...As a result, the contractor and engineer business owner can deliver the wind mitigation service to the consumer at a much lower fee than the other business entities, thus creating an unfair market advantage," Taylor wrote to the Financial Services Commission, which is made up of the Cabinet.

Regulators made changes to a form used to verify hurricane insurance discounts based on changes required by a 2010 law. Despite the letter from Taylor, the Florida Cabinet approved the new form this month.

The state Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on a lawsuit alleging a 2009 law barring public adjusters from soliciting business right after a disaster violates free speech.

Photo: An employee of Category 5 Hurricane Shutters installs shutters on a home in Delray Beach. (Jim Rassol, Sun Sentinel)

Source: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/housekeys/blog/2011/12/public_adjusters_and_home_insp.html

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Adele sells most albums in a year since 2004

That Adele's "21" will rank as the year's top-selling album is no surprise ? the English singer-songwriter's hits "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You" dominated playlists in 2011. What is surprising is that "21," released by independent British label XL Recordings, sold more than 5 million copies.

The last time an album topped the year-end chart with more than 5 million copies sold was in 2004, when Usher's "Confessions" moved 7.9 million, according to Nielsen Soundscan, which supplied all sales data for this story.

Indeed, music sales overall are expected to end 2011 up more than 3 percent from last year. Not coincidentally, the last time overall music sales rose by so much was in 2004 as well.

The resurgence in sales is welcome news for the music industry. A meager 1 percent increase in digital sales last year created widespread panic that the format had already plateaued.

Nielsen analyst David Bakula attributed the rebound to a strong release slate, plus retailers getting more aggressive with pricing and promotions.

For instance, Lady Gaga's album "Born This Way" was priced at 99 cents ? less than one-tenth the price of most albums ? in a special deal, helping drive sales beyond her core fans, he said. The promotion on Amazon.com angered other retailers who were selling the album at full price, however.

"In 2004, you had one massive album driving sales," said Bakula, senior vice president of entertainment analytics for Nielsen. "This year is similar in that you have one really great story that everyone is talking about."

Digital sales are expected to end 2011 close to 10 percent higher, prompting Bakula to proclaim the sales performance "a great resurgence."

Physical albums still outsell digital albums by a 2:1 margin. But total music sales, which would include digital singles, are now split 50-50 between physical and digital.

Topping 5 million
To put Adele's sales figures in context, the more than 3.5 million physical albums she sold this year would have been good enough to take the top spot in each of the last three years without even adding in digital sales. Album sales include LPs, compact discs and digital albums.

Figures for the year's best-selling album declined every year from 2004 to 2008. They hit an all-time low in 2008 when Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" took the top spot with sales of just 2.9 million, the first time an album claimed the best-seller title with sales of less than 3 million.

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Since 2008, however, sales of the top-selling album of the year have increased, though not by much. Taylor Swift took the top spot in 2009, selling 3.2 million copies of "Fearless." Eminem's "Recovery" finished 2010 as the year's best-seller with 3.4 million copies.

"Adele's performance this year shows the demand for great original music," Bakula said. "Here's an artist that had moderate success before, but nothing of this magnitude, and she's doing it all on two singles."

Amy Winehouse's death from alcohol poisoning in July also factored into Adele's sales performance. Bakula said the attention Winehouse's death received stoked interest among fans to sample other soulful, jazz-infused female British singer-songwriters, like Adele and Duffy. As a result, in addition to buying "21," consumers dipped into Adele's back catalog, making her prior release, "19," one of the year's top 25 best-sellers.

Still, Adele's sales total is less than half of the more than 11 million copies that "No Strings Attached" from N'Sync sold in 2000. That year marked the last time the top spot featured an album that sold in excess of 10 million, underscoring the dramatic impact that legitimate digital distribution channels like Apple's iTunes and illegal file-sharing sites such as Limewire have had on the music industry.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45798815/ns/today-entertainment/

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Finest News Source just rubbing it in (Unqualified Offerings)

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Japan probe finds nuclear disaster response failed (AP)

TOKYO ? A Japanese government report has found that the response to the nuclear crisis that followed the March 11 tsunami was confused and filled with errors.

The report submitted Monday outlined a government investigation into the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The investigation will be finished by mid-2012.

The report found workers at Tokyo Electric Power Co. were untrained to handle emergencies like the power shutdown that struck when the tsunami destroyed backup generators ? setting off the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

It also found that workers had mistakenly assumed an emergency cooling system had been working.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_nuclear

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Missouri beats UNC 41-24 in Independence Bowl (AP)

SHREVEPORT, La. ? Missouri made sure its final football game as a member of the Big 12 was decided early.

James Franklin ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, and the Tigers easily beat North Carolina 41-24 in the Independence Bowl on Monday night.

Missouri (8-5) ends the season on a four-game winning streak for the first time since 1965. The Tigers will join the Southeastern Conference next fall and showed one reason they should be a factor immediately: The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Franklin, a sophomore who generally did as he pleased in both the running and passing games.

Franklin, named the game's offensive Most Valuable Player, rushed for 142 yards and threw for 132 despite less than ideal conditions in the cold and rain at Independence Stadium. He led the Tigers to 31 first-half points ? an Independence Bowl record.

For North Carolina (7-6), a season that started with a promising 5-1 record ends with a lopsided loss. The Tar Heels lost five of their final seven under interim coach Everett Withers, who leaves to become defensive coordinator at Ohio State under Urban Meyer.

North Carolina had the Atlantic Coast Conference's second-best rushing defense, giving up just 106.2 yards per game. But the Tigers found plenty of running room with Franklin and Kendial Lawrence, repeatedly gashing the Tar Heels for big gains.

Lawrence rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers racked up 337 yards on the ground.

North Carolina's poor defense wasted a productive game by quarterback Bryn Renner, who threw for 317 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

Missouri's mascot ? Truman the Tiger ? shattered most of the original Independence Bowl trophy before the game started in a pre-game accident. The Tigers were more than happy to claim the replacement.

North Carolina scored first, with Renner hitting Dwight Jones for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 12:12 left in the first quarter. That would be the high point for the Tar Heels.

Missouri responded with a 40-yard touchdown pass from receiver T.J. Moe to Wes Kemp after a lateral from Franklin. Moe hadn't thrown a touchdown pass since his days as a high school quarterback in suburban St. Louis, and it was just his second complete pass of the season.

The Tigers scored again on Franklin's 2-yard run to take a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter. The touchdown was set up by Franklin's 16-yard pass to L'Damian Washington that put the Tigers at the 2-yard line. Washington grew up in Shreveport, just a few miles from Independence Stadium.

And Missouri just kept piling on.

The Tigers scored two touchdowns and a field goal during the second quarter to take a 31-10 halftime lead.

North Carolina had a glimmer of hope late in the third when Jheranie Boyd caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from Renner to pull the Tar Heels to 34-17. But Missouri responded minutes later with Franklin's second touchdown run of the night and the rout continued.

_____

Follow David Brandt on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111227/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/fbc_independence_bowl

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Monday, December 26, 2011

Police find 7 dead in Fort Worth-area apartment

Grapevine police investigate the scene where they found seven people dead outside Dallas in Grapevine, Texas, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. Four women and three men who police believe to be related were found apparently shot to death, and authorities said they believe the shooter is among the dead. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)

Grapevine police investigate the scene where they found seven people dead outside Dallas in Grapevine, Texas, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. Four women and three men who police believe to be related were found apparently shot to death, and authorities said they believe the shooter is among the dead. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)

Police tape hangs in front of an apartment complex where 7 people were found dead, Sunday Dec. 25, 2010, in Grapevine, Texas. Four women and three men who police believe to be related were found apparently shot to death, and authorities said they believe the shooter is among the dead (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)

Police tape stretches through a Grapevine, Texas, apartment complex where police found seven people dead in an apartment on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011 in Grapevine, Texas. Four women and three men who police believe to be related were found apparently shot to death, and authorities said they believe the shooter is among the dead. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)

Police line tape lines the scene where police found seven people dead in an apartment on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011 in Grapevine, Texas. Four women and three men who police believe to be related were found apparently shot to death, and authorities said they believe the shooter is among the dead. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Scott Goldstein) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT; AP MEMBERS ONLY

Grapevine police investigate the scene where they found seven people dead outside Dallas in Grapevine, Texas, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. Four women and three men who police believe to be related were found apparently shot to death, and authorities said they believe the shooter is among the dead (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Michael Ainsworth) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT;

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) ? Seven people believed to be related had opened their Christmas gifts and started cleaning up the wrapping paper when they were shot to death in a suburban Texas apartment, police said Sunday.

Authorities said they believe the shooter is among the dead, but got a warrant before doing a full search on the small chance that it was otherwise.

Four women and three men, aged 18 to 60, were found in an adjoining kitchen and living room area when police entered the apartment around midday, said Police Sgt. Robert Eberling. Two handguns were found near the bodies in the apartment that was decorated for the holiday with a tree, he added.

"It appears they had just celebrated Christmas. They had opened their gifts," Eberling said.

The victims have not yet been identified, but Eberling said it appears they all died of gunshot wounds. He said authorities still don't know what sparked the incident.

Grapevine Police Lt. Todd Dearing said investigators believe that all the victims were related, but that some were only visiting and didn't live in the apartment. He said police are looking for other relatives to inform.

"Seven people in one setting in Grapevine, that's never happened before. Ever," Dearing said.

He said police were performing a "meticulous" search of the apartment and he expects them to be on the scene for many hours.

Police and firefighters first rushed to the Lincoln Vineyards complex after receiving an open-ended emergency services call at about 11:30 a.m., Eberling said.

"There was an open line. No one was saying anything," he explained.

So police went into the apartment, located in a middle-class, suburban neighborhood of Grapevine, not far from the upscale Fort Worth neighborhood of Colleyville. The apartment is at the back of the complex, overlooking the athletic fields of Colleyville Heritage High School.

But many of the nearby apartments are vacant, and police said no neighbors reported hearing anything on a quiet Christmas morning when many people were not around.

Jose Fernandez, a 35-year-old heavy equipment mechanic who moved to the complex with his family about six months ago, said he always felt safe in the area, but is now afraid to let his 10-year-old son play freely outside.

"This is really outrageous especially on Christmas," said Fernandez, who was visiting family for the holiday and returned to find several police cars parked outside his home.

"This has shocked everybody. It has scared everybody. I guess something like this can happen anywhere, but seven people dead. It's just very scary," he added.

Eberling agreed the area is fairly quiet, noting this would be the first homicide in Grapevine since 2010.

Christy Posch, a flight attendant who moved to the complex about six months ago so her son could attend the high school, said she lives a few buildings away and did not hear any gunshots.

"It's all families. That's why I moved here. No burglaries, no nothing," Posch said.

___

Associated Press writer Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-25-Texas-Bodies%20Found/id-b39dec08c23b4c94966e38a44afa6b22

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Tough choice looms on 9/11 health lawsuits

FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2001 file photo, firefighters make their way over the ruins of the World Trade Center through clouds of dust and smoke at ground zero in New York. More than 1,600 people suing over their exposure to World Trade Center dust must decide by Jan. 2 whether to keep fighting in court, or drop their lawsuits and apply for benefits from a government fund. (AP Photo/Stan Honda, Pool, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2001 file photo, firefighters make their way over the ruins of the World Trade Center through clouds of dust and smoke at ground zero in New York. More than 1,600 people suing over their exposure to World Trade Center dust must decide by Jan. 2 whether to keep fighting in court, or drop their lawsuits and apply for benefits from a government fund. (AP Photo/Stan Honda, Pool, File)

FILE - In this March 19, 2010 file photo, New York City resident Lori Angelone holds a banner describing her husband Louis' ailments outside Manhattan Federal Court in New York. More than 1,600 people suing over their exposure to World Trade Center dust must decide by Jan. 2 whether to keep fighting in court, or drop their lawsuits and apply for benefits from a government fund. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, File)

(AP) ? More than 1,600 people who filed lawsuits claiming that their health was ruined by dust and smoke from the collapsed World Trade Center must decide by Jan. 2 whether to keep fighting in court, or drop the litigation and apply for benefits from a government compensation fund.

For some, the choice is fraught with risk.

Federal lawmakers set aside $2.76 billion last winter for people who developed illnesses after spending time in the ash-choked disaster zone.

But to be considered for a share of the aid, all potential applicants must dismiss any pending lawsuits by the deadline and give up their right to sue forever over Sept. 11, 2001, health problems. Anyone with a lawsuit still pending on Jan. 3 is barred from the program for life.

The government program is attractive because it spares the sick from having to prove that their illness is related to Sept. 11, and that someone other than the terrorists put them in harm's way. But applicants won't know for months, or even years, how much money they might eventually receive from the program. That means some people may give up their lawsuits and find out later that they only qualify for a modest payment.

Others face a deeper problem. People exposed to trade center dust have blamed it for hundreds of illnesses, but currently the fund only covers a limited number of ailments, including asthma, scarred lungs and other respiratory system problems. That list does not currently include any type of cancer, which scientists have yet to link to trade center toxins.

But the very possibility that cancer could, someday, be covered has led some plaintiffs to drop their lawsuits anyway.

"In a sense, I've weighed my options and rolled the dice believing that the country I helped is not going to let me down," said former New York City police detective John Walcott, who retired after being diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia in 2003.

He decided a few days before Christmas to drop his case, saying he had come to believe he would never get anything out of the legal system.

"The court system was set up for attorneys to make a lot of money," he said. He added that at age 47, he is tired of a court fight that had no end in sight. "I'm done with 9/11. I can't go forward with my life and family and live in peace with this hanging over me."

The special master overseeing the compensation fund, Sheila Birnbaum, acknowledged that the deadline would put some people in a tight spot, especially if they have an illness that isn't currently covered by the fund.

"That is one of the dilemmas," she said.

Birnbaum noted, though, that the law gives her no wiggle room. Anyone who has a lawsuit active on Jan. 3 will be disqualified from consideration, she said, even if their illness is later deemed to be covered.

"It's a hard decision that they have to make," she said.

The lengthy application process for the fund began in October, and Birnbaum said she expected thousands to apply. She could not say how many might do so by the time the fund closes years from now.

Lawyers who represent people with pending cases said they have been going over the pros and cons with their clients for several months, to see which option might suit them better.

"It's a complicated analysis," said attorney Gregory Cannata, whose firm represents about 100 people, including laborers brought in to repair damaged buildings and cleaners who swept tons of dust from office suites.

Cannata said that for the most part, his clients have decided to stick with their lawsuits, in part because of the possibility of a larger payout than they might receive under the government program.

Police officers, firefighters and city contractors who cleared away the 9/11 rubble make up only a small slice of the people facing the dilemma. Most of the more than 5,000 city workers who filed lawsuits claiming that the city had failed to protect them from the dust settled their cases in 2010, before the compensation fund was created.

Walcott was one of a few who rejected the deal, worth more than $700 million. Under the law, people who settled previously will be allowed to apply for government benefits. Any award they receive will be reduced by whatever they got from the legal settlement.

The tough decisions won't end Jan. 2.

In addition to people with legal claims already pending, thousands more New Yorkers have become ill because of exposure to the dust. They will have to decide in the coming years whether to sue someone over their illness or try their luck in the government program.

If too many people apply for aid from the compensation fund ? including people with common illnesses that may, or may not, have anything to do with Sept. 11 toxins ? the nearly $2.8 billion set aside by Congress may get exhausted quickly. Adding just 1,000 people with cancer to the program could eat up $1 billion, said Noah Kushlefsky, an attorney with the firm Kreindler & Kreindler.

"The real question is, how many more cases are there out there?" Kushlefsky said.

Enough, it seems, to keep both the courts and the 9/11 fund administrators busy for some time yet.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2011-12-25-Sept%2011%20Victims%20Fund/id-7649ce9f7def4b97931944959557a2f4

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Did you get a new iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or Apple TV for Christmas? Here?s what you need next!

Were your stockings stuffed with iPhones and iPods? Did Santa leave an iPad or Apple TV beneath the tree? Well, once you’ve ripped off the wrapping paper, torn open the boxes, and powered everything up… you may be wondering just what to do next?! Don’t worry, TiPb’s here to...


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/noLUy41CMOg/story01.htm

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PFT: Adrian Peterson suffers torn ACL and MCL

San Diego Chargers v Detroit LionsGetty Images

Well, that was some Christmas Eve of football.

The Lions are headed to the playoffs. Tebowmania imploded. The Giants beat the Jets, which made Rex Ryan very unhappy and set up a Giants-Cowboys rematch?next Sunday night for the NFC East title.

So after all the fun, where do the playoff races stand? Let?s take a look.

Four spots remain.

The last wild card spot in both conferences remain up for grabs. So do the NFC East and AFC West division titles. One more spot could be decided Sunday night.

This Sunday night still matters.

With a late field goal, the 49ers narrowly?won in Seattle 19-17?to keep their hopes alive for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. That means Green Bay still has to go all out to beat Chicago on Christmas in order to clinch the top spot in the NFC.

San Francisco can clinch a playoff bye if they beat the Rams next week. (They can also get the bye if New Orleans loses one of their remaining two games. The Saints host the Falcons Monday night.)

A Packers win Sunday night would also clinch the final NFC wild card spot for the Falcons.

Only one NFC East team will make it in.

The Eagles are out. The winner of Cowboys-Giants gets a division title and a home playoff game. The loser is out of the playoffs. Simple.

Patriots clinch bye, have inside track for No. 1 seed.

New England?s 17-point comeback win over Miami puts them in good shape to have homefield advantage. The Patriots clinched a bye on Saturday, and they will get the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a home win over Buffalo next week.

The Ravens and Steelers still have a shot at the No. 1 seed. The winner of the AFC North will earn a bye. Speaking of which . . .

Ravens and the Bengals play the biggest AFC game next week.

If Baltimore wins in Cincinnati, the Ravens get a bye. If the Bengals win, they clinch the No. 6 seed in the AFC playoffs.

The Steelers will be rooting for Cincinnati to sneak in. Pittsburgh can still win the division and get a bye if they beat the Browns and the Ravens lose. The Steelers still have an outside shot for the No. 1 seed if they won and both the Ravens and Patriots lose.

All the AFC North games will be at 4:15 p.m. ET. If the Bengals lose, things get complicated. The Titans, Jets, and Raiders are also alive for the last wild card spot if Cincinnati falls. Oakland could also win the AFC West.

The Bengals could even lose and make the playoffs if they end up in a two-way tie with the Titans at 9-7.

The Jets need a miracle.

Rex Ryan?s crew doesn?t look like a team good enough to win in Miami next week. Even if the Jets win, they need a ton of help to get into the playoffs.

Here?s what needs to happen for the Jets to make it: They need to win and they need a Bengals loss, a Titans loss, and a Raiders or Broncos loss.

The Titans also need a complicated combination of events to make it. Their scenarios are listed right here.

Texans are the No. 3 seed in the AFC.

This much we know for sure. They will avoid the Ravens or Steelers in the first round.

It?s down to the Raiders and Broncos in the AFC West.

The Chiefs and Chargers are out after Saturday?s results. The Raiders and Broncos are both 8-7. The Broncos still hold the tiebreaker advantage over Oakland, so the Broncos still control their fate. They are in with a win next week against Kyle Orton and the Chiefs. How great a matchup is that?

The Raiders can win the division if they beat San Diego in Oakland and Denver loses to the Chiefs. ?Oakland also has a shot for the final wild card spot. It?s possible Oakland could win and still miss the playoffs.

To get the wild card, the Raiders would need a win, a Bengals loss, and a Titans loss. Or a win, a Bengals loss, and a Jets win.

Got all that?

Merry Christmas anyway.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/24/mri-confirms-acl-tear-for-peterson/related/

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Russian spacecraft delivers 3 to orbiting station (AP)

MOSCOW ? A Soyuz spacecraft safely delivered a Russian, an American and a Dutchman to the International Space Station on Friday, restoring the permanent crew to six members for the first time since September.

But just as concerns over the reliability of the Soyuz have eased, a different version of the Soyuz rocket failed Friday during an unmanned launch. It was the latest in a string of spectacular launch failures that have raised questions about the state of Russia's space industry.

The craft carrying mission commander Oleg Kononenko, NASA's Don Pettit and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers had traveled through space for two days after blasting off from Baikonur, the Russian-operated cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The ship docked at the orbiting station at 5:19 p.m. (1319GMT) Friday.

About two and half hours later, the three new crew members floated through an opened hatch to join NASA's Dan Burbank and Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin, who had arrived on the station in November.

"I can't think of a prettier picture than seeing all six back on board the space station," NASA's William Gerstenmaier told the assembled crew during a video linkup with Russian Mission Control outside Moscow.

Families of crew members, who had joined space officials to watch the docking, also sent their greetings, with Kuipers' young child singing him a song in Dutch.

The six crew members will work together on the International Space Station until mid-March.

The failed launch of an unmanned Progress cargo ship in August had raised doubts about future missions to the station, because the Soyuz rocket that crashed used the same upper stage as the booster rockets carrying Soyuz ships to orbit.

The next manned launch was delayed until Russian space officials could determine the cause of the Progress failure and it went off without a hitch in November. The crew on that mission overlapped for eight days with the three crew members remaining on the station, who then returned to Earth later that month.

However, on Friday, a newer version of the Soyuz failed to put a Meridian communications satellite into orbit when launched from Russia's Plesetsk cosmodrome. Space agency head Vladimir Popovkin said the cause was engine failure.

"What happened today was a highly unpleasant situation," Popovkin was quoted by state news agencies as saying. "It confirms that the (aerospace) industry is in crisis and its weakest link is engine building."

The failures Friday and during the Progress launch in August both took place during the third stage. The Soyuz-2.1b that crashed Friday, however, has a different third-stage engine, the ITAR-Tass news agency said.

Friday's failed launch was the sixth in the past year.

Last December, Russia lost three navigation satellites when a rocket carrying them failed to reach orbit. A military satellite was lost in February, and the launch of the Express-AM4, described by officials as Russia's most powerful telecommunications satellite, went awry in August.

In November, Russia sent up its ambitious Phobos-Ground unmanned probe, which was to go to the Phobos moon of Mars, take soil samples and return them to Earth. But engineers lost contact with the ship and were unable to propel it out of Earth orbit and toward Mars. The craft is now expected to fall to Earth in mid-January.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111223/ap_on_sc/sci_space_station

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

fairydancer35: I entered the iPad2 Sweepstakes from E-Z Rent-A-Car for a chance to win Apple iPad2: http://t.co/X8toi9O2

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Friday, December 23, 2011

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College Football Bowl Schedule: Arizona State Vs. Boise State In Las Vegas Bowl Kick Off Pac-12 Postseason Action

This is starting to get ridiculous. The TCU Horned Frogs won the Poinsettia Bowl on Wednesday night but they failed to cover the spread, pushing me to 0-5 in the college football bowl season. But I plow forward, with the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl, the first bowl featuring a Pac-12 Conference team. Here are the particulars of Thursday night's game:

Teams: No. 8 Boise State Broncos (11-1, 6-1 in the Mountain West), Arizona State Sun Devils (6-6, 4-5 in the Pac-12)

Location: Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada

Time: 5 p.m.

Star-divide

TV: ESPN and ESPN3.com, with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Tom Rinaldi on the call.

Radio: Sports USA Radio

Players to Watch: Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting after throwing for 3,507 yards, 41 touchdowns, and just seven interceptions this season. Tailback Cameron Marshall ran for 1,038 yards and 18 touchdowns for Arizona State.

Point Spread: Boise State is favored by 14 points, per Odds Shark.

The Pick: Boise State got shafted out of a BCS bowl, so I will take the Broncos and give the points.

Source: http://losangeles.sbnation.com/2011/12/22/2655068/college-football-bowl-schedule-arizona-state-vs-boise-state-las-vegas-bowl-pac-12

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Vaclav Havel's coffin transported to Prague Castle (AP)

PRAGUE ? Thousands of Czechs joined Vaclav Havel's widow, relatives and friends in a somber procession through the capital Wednesday, paying their respects to the late Czech president. Thousands of others clapped as his casket rolled by.

The casket containing Havel's body was being transported from the Prague Crossroads, a former church Havel turned into a cultural center, to Prague Castle, the seat of the presidency, where the body will be on display until Friday's state funeral.

Many of those who lined the streets greeted the black car carrying the coffin with applause.

"He's a moral authority for me, an icon," said Jakub Sevcik, 35. "It's my last opportunity to say goodbye."

The presidents of France and Germany, Nicolas Sarkozy and Christian Wulff, as well as many other world leaders are expected to attend the funeral at the country's biggest and most famous church, St. Vitus Cathedral.

Thousands waited patiently for hours when the coffin with Havel's body went on display Monday to pay tribute to the former leader who died Sunday at age 75. Three days of national mourning began Wednesday.

Havel's flag-draped casket was placed on a historic caisson for the final part of the journey Wednesday and was escorted by an honor guard to the place where he spent more than 12 years as president. The caisson, drawn by six black horses, is the same that bore the coffin of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, Czechoslovakia's first president after it was founded in 1918, during his funeral in 1937.

Havel's successor and political archrival Vaclav Klaus, Prime Minister Petr Necas and other Czech leaders joined Havel's family, while thousands packed the square in front of the castle in the cold rain and applauded.

During an official memorial on Tuesday, Klaus called Havel "a brave man" who "was not afraid of making personal sacrifices for his views."

Havel was a dissident playwright who spent years in communist prisons before he led the 1989 peaceful revolution that ended more 40 years of communist rule.

"Our Velvet Revolution will be always connected with his name," Klaus said. "He contributed to the international prestige and authority of the Czech Republic in the world as no one else."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_re_eu/eu_czech_havel

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Cristiane Santos defends Strikeforce belt in 16 seconds

Cristiane Santos defends Strikeforce belt in 16 seconds

In her first fight in a year and a half, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos took no time to stop Hiroko Yamanaka and retain her belt at the Strikeforce fights in San Diego on Saturday night.

Santos landed a flush right to drop Yamanaka right off the bell. Yamanaka got back to her feet, but Santos inundated her with another flurry of shots. The fight was stopped at just 16 seconds in the first round.

[ Related: Gilbert Melendez holds onto belt with decision win ]

"I'm very happy. I trained hard for a year and a half, and I want to fight more. This was a Christmas gift for you guys," Santos said after the bout. Showtime commentator asked her about a bout with up-and-coming fighter Ronda Rousey.

"I think she speaks too much. I'm ready anywhere, any time."

Santos has cut through the women's featherweight division and doesn't have many other opponents of interest. Her last four fights have ended in a TKO or KO, and her record stands at 11-1. Yamanaka, who has spent most of her career in the Japanese promotion Jewels, is now 12-2.

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? Jeff Green has serious heart condition, will miss the season
? Penn State receiver hospitalizes Matt McGloin with locker room punch
? Which league has most to prove in bowls?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Cristiane-Santos-defends-Strikeforce-belt-in-16-?urn=mma-wp10866

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Hawaii parade honors Japanese-American WWII vets (AP)

HONOLULU ? Hundreds of Japanese-American veterans of World War II were honored Saturday with a parade in Honolulu ? nearly 70 years after they volunteered to fight for their country even as the government branded them "enemy aliens."

About 200 veterans rode in convertibles, troop carriers and trolleys past a cheering crowd of tourists, family and local residents. The event celebrates the Congressional Gold Medal the veterans received last month.

Thousands of Japanese-Americans served in World War II even as the government viewed them with suspicion because their ancestors were from the country that bombed Pearl Harbor. Some on the mainland enlisted from internment camps, where the federal government had imprisoned 110,000 Japanese-Americans.

Fragile health prevented many of the surviving veterans ? the youngest of whom are in their 80s ? from traveling to Washington, D.C., to attend a ceremony at which the medal was presented.

Two-thirds of the Japanese-Americans who served were from Hawaii. Many others were from California, Oregon and Washington state.

The medal recognizes the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion which together saw some of the most brutal fighting in the war as the soldiers pushed their way through Italy, France and Germany.

By the end of the war, the combined unit became the most highly decorated military unit in U.S. history for its size and length of service.

Those in the parade Saturday wore hats with the names of their units on them, and some included the saying "Go for Broke," which had been the motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat team.

The medal also honors Japanese-Americans who served as translators and interpreters against Japan, often on the front lines with Marines and soldiers fighting from island to island across the Pacific.

As members of the Military Intelligence Service, they deciphered key Japanese communications, including one that tipped off the U.S. to the flight plans of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto ? the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor ? in 1943. The U.S. shot down his plane, dealing a major blow to Japan.

The parade also honored members of the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion who were stationed on Oahu during the war.

The elite medal has been given selectively since 1776, when George Washington was awarded the first. Other honorees include the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, Rosa Parks and the Dalai Lama. The Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of black fighter pilots, received the medal in 2007.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_re_us/us_japanese_american_veterans

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Russian customs seize Iran-bound radioactive metal

(AP) ? Russia's customs agency said Friday that it seized radioactive metal from the luggage of an Iranian passenger bound for Tehran.

Spokeswoman Kseniya Grebenkina told The Associated Press that the luggage had been seized some time ago, but could not specify when. The Iranian hasn't been detained, she said.

The Federal Customs Service said in a statement that its agents found 18 pieces of metal at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport after a radiation alert went on. It says the gauges showed that radiation levels were 20 times higher than normal.

It was not immediately clear if the substance could have any use in Iran's controversial nuclear program.

The pieces contained Sodium-22, she said, a radioactive isotope of sodium that could be produced in a particle accelerator. Sodium-22 is a positron-emitting isotope that has medical uses, including in nuclear medicine imaging.

Grebenkina said prosecutors have launched a probe into the incident.

Sergei Novikov, spokesman for the Rosatom nuclear agency, told the AP that the pieces are highly unlikely to have come from Rosatom and said the isotope is produced by particle accelerators, not by nuclear reactors.

In Russia, universities, research institutes and big medical centers have the technology to produce it, he said.

"There is an extremely slim chance that it could have come from Rosatom," he said.

Novikov said that Rosatom has never sold Sodium-22 to Iran, but it has supplied it with other types of medical isotopes.

Grebenkina of the Customs Service insisted that the material seized is not highly radioactive.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday endorsed harsher sanctions against Iran aimed at derailing its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons. Iran denies Western allegations that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons.

Earlier this year, Atomstroiexport, a Rosatom subsidiary, launched Iran's first nuclear reactor in Bushehr.

Russian officials have insisted that the deal with Iran is in line with international agreements and will oblige Tehran to ship all the spent fuel from the plant back to Russia for reprocessing to avoid a possibility of it being used in a covert weapons program.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-16-EU-Russia-Iran/id-cd9e0d6740b240a69e18f8000ed96c14

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Roche melanoma drug wins European green light (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? European regulators have recommended approval of a targeted melanoma drug from Swiss group Roche Holding AG, opening the way to a new treatment option for patients with the deadliest form of skin cancer.

The green light for Zelboraf from the European Medicines Agency -- which Roche said on Friday it expected to be formally endorsed by the European Commission in February -- follows U.S. approval in August.

The new drug is given as a twice-daily pill and is designed to be used alongside a companion diagnostic test, also from Roche, that identifies which patients have a specific genetic mutation that means they will benefit from the treatment.

The London-based agency said the benefits of Zelboraf, particularly the improvements seen in terms of patients going longer before their disease progressed and overall survival, outweighed its potential risks.

Side effects from Zelboraf can include secondary growths, rash, slight hair loss, extreme photosensitivity and joint pain.

Zelboraf was developed in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo and became the second drug to be approved for melanoma in the United States this year, after Yervoy from Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Roche said in August that Zelboraf would cost just over $56,000 for a six-month course of treatment in the United States. It has yet to announce a price in Europe.

Analysts tracked by Thomson Reuters Pharma, on average, forecast annual sales of $930 million for the medicine by 2016, making it a useful addition to Roche's market-leading portfolio of cancer therapies.

Zelboraf, known clinically as vemurafenib, is targeted for patients with tumors that have a mutation in a gene known as BRAF that allows melanoma cells to grow. About half of all melanomas have the genetic aberration the drug targets.

The European drugs watchdog said it backed Zelboraf for treating patients with the BRAF mutation who suffered from metastatic or unresectable melanoma, meaning it cannot be removed by surgery.

Melanoma globally afflicts nearly 160,000 new people each year. It can spread quickly to internal organs and average survival is six to nine months.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/hl_nm/us_europe_medicines

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