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Saturday, April 27, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Kerry: NATO needs plan for Syrian chemical weapons
Greek Foreign Minister Dimitrios Avramopoulos, left, talks with Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, during a NATO foreign ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the situation in Syria and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
Greek Foreign Minister Dimitrios Avramopoulos, left, talks with Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, during a NATO foreign ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the situation in Syria and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, talks with Italy's Foreign Minister Mario Monti, during a NATO foreign ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the situation in Syria and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, talks with Italy's Foreign Minister Mario Monti, during a NATO foreign ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the situation in Syria and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
Greek Foreign Minister Dimitrios Avramopoulos, center, talks to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, as they pose for a group photo, during the NATO-Russia Council during a NATO foreign ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
Italy's Foreign Minister Mario Monti, left, talks with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle prior to the NATO-Russia Council during a NATO foreign ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
BRUSSELS (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged NATO on Tuesday to prepare for the possible use of chemical weapons by Syria on the same day that a senior Israeli military intelligence official said Syrian President Bashar Assad had used such weapons last month in his battle against insurgents.
It was the first time Israel had accused the embattled Syrian leader of using his stockpile of nonconventional weapons.
The assessment, based on visual evidence, could raise pressure on the U.S. and other Western countries to intervene in Syria. Britain and France recently announced that they had evidence that Assad's government had used chemical weapons.
President Barack Obama has warned that the use of chemical weapons by Assad would be a "game changer" and has hinted that it could draw intervention.
But White House spokesman Jay Carney said while the administration is continuing to monitor and investigate whether the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons, it has "not come to the conclusion that there has been that use."
"But it is something that is of great concern to us, to our partners, and obviously unacceptable as the president made clear," Carney said.
Despite the deteriorating situation, NATO officials say there is virtually no chance the alliance will intervene in the civil war. More than 70,000 people have died in the conflict, according to the United Nations. The violence also has forced more than 1 million Syrians to seek safety abroad, and more are leaving by the day, burdening neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.
On Tuesday, Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, the head of research and analysis in Israeli military intelligence, told a security conference in Tel Aviv that Assad had used chemical weapons multiple times. Among the incidents were attacks documented by the French and British near Damascus last month.
He cited images of people hurt, but gave no indication he had other evidence, such as soil samples, typically used to verify chemical weapons use.
"To the best of our professional understanding, the regime used lethal chemical weapons against the militants in a series of incidents over the past months, including the relatively famous incident of March 19," Brun said. "Shrunken pupils, foaming at the mouth and other signs indicate, in our view, that lethal chemical weapons were used."
He said sarin, a lethal nerve agent, was probably used. He also said the Syrian regime was using less lethal chemical weapons. And he appeared to lament the lack of response by the international community.
"The fact that chemical weapons were used without an appropriate response is a very disturbing development because it could signal that such a thing is legitimate," he said.
Israel, which borders Syria, has been warily watching the Syrian civil war since fighting erupted there in March 2011. Although Assad is a bitter enemy, Israel has been careful not to take sides, partly because the Assad family has kept the border with Israel quiet for 40 years and partly because of fears of what might happen if he were toppled.
Israeli officials are concerned that Assad's stockpile of chemical weapons and other advanced arms could reach the hands of his ally, the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, or Islamic extremist groups trying to oust him from Syria.
Kerry, attending his first meeting of NATO's governing body, the North Atlantic Council, as America's top diplomat, said contingency plans should be put in place to guard against the threat of a chemical strike. Turkey, a member of the military alliance, borders Syria and would be most at risk from such an attack. NATO has already deployed Patriot missile batteries in Turkey.
"Planning regarding Syria, such as what (NATO) has already done, is an appropriate undertaking for the alliance," Kerry told NATO foreign ministers. "We should also carefully and collectively consider how NATO is prepared to respond to protect its members from a Syrian threat, including any potential chemical weapons threat."
Speaking at a news conference after the meeting, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance is "extremely concerned about the use of ballistic missiles in Syria and the possible use of chemical weapons." However, he also noted that NATO has not been asked to intervene.
"There is no call for NATO to play a role, but if these challenges remain unaddressed they could directly affect our own security," he told reporters. "So we will continue to remain extremely vigilant."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in Brussels to talk with his counterparts from NATO countries, said Russia would want any investigation of whether chemical weapons have been used to be conducted by experts and concern only the specific report being investigated.
Speaking through a translator in a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Lavrov said that, in March, after each side in Syria's civil war accused the other of using chemical weapons in northern Aleppo province, the U.N. investigation became politicized and overly broad. Instead of sending experts to study the specific area and the specific allegation, Lavrov said investigators demanded access to all facilities in the country and the right to interview all Syrian citizens.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman George Little said the U.S. "continues to assess reports of chemical weapons use in Syria."
"The use of such weapons would be entirely unacceptable," he added.
Later in the day, Kerry appeared to try to soften his earlier remarks, saying he had no way of knowing what the facts were.
"I didn't ask for additional planning," he said. "I think it might have been the secretary general or somebody who commented that we may need to do some additional planning. But there is no specific request. What there was from me was a very clear statement about the threat of chemical weapons and the potential for chemical weapons generically to fall into bad hands."
He also said the Obama administration is "looking at every option that could possibly end the violence and usher in a political transition" and that plans need to be made now to ensure that there is no power vacuum when that takes place. He said increasing aid to the Syrian National Coalition and its military command, the Supreme Military Council, would be critical to that effort.
Many of NATO's 28 members also belong to the European Union, which on Monday lifted its oil embargo on Syria to provide more economic support to the rebels and is now considering easing an arms embargo on the country to allow weapons transfers to those fighting the Assad regime.
Kerry did not mention the possible easing of the EU embargo but he did say that NATO should begin to think about taking on a larger role in planning for a post-Assad Syria, particularly in dealing with the country's chemical weapons stockpiles.
The NATO ministers were also working Tuesday on defining how the alliance would support Afghan forces after 2014, when NATO will no longer have a combat role.
With next year's transition date looming, Kerry will host three-way talks in Brussels on Wednesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and top Pakistani officials aimed at speeding possible reconciliation talks with the Taliban and improving trust and cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On the sidelines of the NATO meeting, Kerry met Lavrov to discuss a range of issues, including Syria. He also thanked Lavrov for Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement of condolence to the U.S. for last week's bombings at the Boston Marathon blamed on two ethnic Chechen brothers.
___
Associated Press writers Ariel David in Tel Aviv, Peter James Spielmann at the United Nations, and Kimberly Dozier and Julie Pace in Washington contributed to this report.
___
Don Melvin can be reached at https://twitter.com/Don_Melvin
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Monday, April 22, 2013
Parents of Boston suspect describe his Russia trip
FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. The FBI says the two brothers are the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, and are also responsible for killing an MIT police officer, critically injuring a transit officer in a firefight and throwing explosive devices at police during a getaway attempt in a long night of violence that left Tamerlan dead and Dzhokhar captured, late Friday, April 19, 2013. The ethnic Chechen brothers lived in Dagestan, which borders the Chechnya region in southern Russia. They lived near Boston and had been in the U.S. for about a decade, one of their uncles reported said. Since Monday, Boston has experienced five days of fear, beginning with the marathon bombing attack, an intense manhunt and much uncertainty ending in the death of one suspect and the capture of the other. (AP Photo/The Lowell Sun & Robin Young, File)
FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. The FBI says the two brothers are the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, and are also responsible for killing an MIT police officer, critically injuring a transit officer in a firefight and throwing explosive devices at police during a getaway attempt in a long night of violence that left Tamerlan dead and Dzhokhar captured, late Friday, April 19, 2013. The ethnic Chechen brothers lived in Dagestan, which borders the Chechnya region in southern Russia. They lived near Boston and had been in the U.S. for about a decade, one of their uncles reported said. Since Monday, Boston has experienced five days of fear, beginning with the marathon bombing attack, an intense manhunt and much uncertainty ending in the death of one suspect and the capture of the other. (AP Photo/The Lowell Sun & Robin Young, File)
This June 2012 booking photo released by the Natick, Mass., police shows Zubeidat K. Tsarnaeva, mother of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the two men who set off bombs near the Boston Marathon finish line Monday, April 15, 2013 in Boston. Zubeidat Tsarnaeva was arrested in June 2012 on a shoplifting charge at a Lord & Taylor store in Natick. (AP Photo/Natick Police Department)
The father of the Boston bomb suspects, Anzor Tsaraev, speaks to the media at his home in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic in southern Russia, Friday, April 19, 2013. The two ethnic Chechen brothers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, turned suspects in US marathon bombing, one dead, one still alive and at large on Friday, came from Dagestan, a Russian republic bordering the province of Chechnya. (AP Photo/Kurban Labazanov)
MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) ? The parents of Tamerlan Tsarnaev insisted on Sunday that he came to Dagestan and Chechnya last year to visit relatives and had nothing to do with the militants operating in this volatile part of Russia. But the Boston bombing suspect could not have been immune to the attacks that savaged the region during his six-month stay.
Tsarnaev , 26, and his 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are accused of setting off the two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15 that killed three people and wounding more than 180 others.
Three days later, investigators say they killed a university police officer, carjacked a man and led police on a chase that resulted in a shootout that left Tamerlan Tsarnaev dead. His younger brother escaped, but was captured the next day, alive but badly wounded.
When the two ethnic Chechen suspects were identified, the FBI said it reviewed its records and found that in early 2011, a foreign government ? which law enforcement officials confirmed was Russia ? had asked for information about Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The FBI said it was told that Tsarnaev was a "follower of radical Islam" and was preparing to travel to this foreign country to join unspecified underground groups.
The FBI said that it responded by interviewing Tsarnaev and family members, but found no terrorism activity.
No evidence has emerged since to link Tsarnaev to militant groups in Russia's Caucasus. And on Sunday the Caucasus Emirate, which Russia and the U.S. consider a terrorist organization, denied involvement in the Boston attack.
But a trip Tsarnaev made back to Russia in January, 2012, has raised questions.
His father said his son stayed with him in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, where the family lived briefly before moving to the United States a decade ago. The father had only recently returned.
"He was here, with me in Makhachkala," Anzor Tsarnaev told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He slept until 3 p.m., and you know, I would ask him: 'Have you come here to sleep?' He used to go visiting, here and there. He would go to eat somewhere. Then he would come back and go to bed."
He said his son went to the mosque for prayers, but would not have come under the influence of radical imams, who he said stay up in the mountain villages.
A woman who works in a small shop opposite Tsarnaev's apartment building said she only saw his son during the course of one month last summer. She described him as a dandy.
"He dressed in a very refined way," said Madina Abdullaeva. "His boots were the same color as his clothes. They were summer boots, light, with little holes punched in the leather."
Anzor Tsarnaev said they traveled together to neighboring Chechnya. "He went with me twice, to see my uncles and aunts. I have lots of them," the father said.
He said they also visited one of his daughters, who lives in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan with her husband. His son-in-law's brothers all work in the police force under Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, he said.
Moscow has given Kadyrov a free hand to stabilize Chechnya following two wars between federal troops and Chechen separatists beginning in 1994, and his feared police and security forces have been accused of rampant rights abuses.
What began in Chechnya as a fight for independence has morphed into an Islamic insurgency that has spread throughout Russia's Caucasus, with the worst of the violence now in Dagestan.
In February, 2012, shortly after Tamerlan Tsarnaev's arrival in Dagestan, a four-day operation to wipe out several militant bands in Chechnya and Dagestan left 17 police and at least 20 militants dead. In May, two car bombs shook Makhachkala, killing at least 13 people and wounding about 130 more. Other bombings and shootings targeting police and other officials took place nearly daily.
The Caucasus Emirate said Sunday that its mujahedin are not fighting with the United States. "We are at war with Russia, which is not only responsible for the occupation of the Caucasus, but also for heinous crimes against Muslims," it said in a statement on the Kavkaz Center website.
The group suggested that Russia's secret services would have had a greater interest in carrying out the attack in Boston.
Despite the violence in Dagestan, Anzor Tsarnaev said Sunday that his son did not want to leave and had thoughts on how he could go into business. But the father said he encouraged him to go back to the United States and try to get citizenship. Tamerlan Tsarnaev returned to the U.S. in July.
His mother said that he was questioned upon arrival at New York's airport.
"And he told me on the phone, 'imagine, Mama, they were asking me such interesting questions as if I were some strange and scary man: Where did you go? What did you do there?,' " Zubeidat Tsarnaeva recalled her son telling her at the time.
Both parents insist that the FBI continued to monitor Tamerlan Tsarnaev and that both of their sons were set up.
Their mother went so far on Sunday to claim that the FBI had contacted her elder son after the deadly bombs exploded at the marathon. If true it would be the first indication that the FBI considered him a suspect before Boston descended into violence on Thursday.
At FBI headquarters in Washington, spokesman Michael Kortan stood by the bureau's public statement of two days ago in which the bureau described a 2011 FBI interview of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Kortan said the 2011 interview was the only FBI contact with Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The FBI statement from two days ago says that the FBI did not learn of the identity of Tamerlan and his brother until Friday after the gun battle in which Tamerlan was killed.
The mother's claim could not be independently confirmed, and she has made statements in the past that appeared to show a lack of full understanding of what occurred in Boston.
Investigators released photos and video of the two Tsarnaev brothers on Thursday afternoon, but at that point their identities were not known. By late that night Tamerlan Tsarnaev was dead.
Tsarnaeva said her elder son told her by telephone that the FBI had called to inform him that they considered him a suspect and he should come in for questioning.
She said her son refused. "I told them, what do you suspect me of?" Tsarnaeva quoted her son as saying. "This is your problem and if you need me you should come to where I am."
He then told her he was going to drive his younger brother to the university, she said, speaking by telephone from Chechnya. Tsarnaeva claimed that her son later called his wife to tell her they were being chased and fired upon.
___
Associated Press writer Lynn Berry contributed from Moscow.
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Big scramble seen in open Senate seat in Georgia
ATLANTA (AP) ? A rare open U.S. Senate seat in Georgia promises a scrambled 2014 campaign that already has some Republicans quietly nervous about retaining it.
Democrat Barack Obama lost the state in both of his White House races, and it's a seat that Republicans cannot afford to lose as they try to regain a Senate majority for the final two years of his presidency.
The question is whether a bruising party primary becomes a liability, particularly if voters nominate U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, who once called evolution and the Big Bang Theory "lies straight from the pit of hell."
Broun and U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, both conservative physicians, are the only Republicans to announce officially since incumbent Saxby Chambliss said he will retire. But the GOP primary field eventually could include as many as a half-dozen candidates with a credible shot at a runoff spot.
Broun, whose district includes the University of Georgia in Athens, drew national headlines last year for that science commentary he delivered at a church. He's flouted GOP leaders on recent fiscal votes, saying the party's position wasn't conservative enough.
In a recent fundraising letter, he boasted that he was the first member of Congress to call Obama "a socialist who embraces Marxist-Leninist policies."
That makes Broun a tea party and evangelical favorite. To other Republicans, however, such comments stir memories of 2012 losses in Senate races in Missouri and Indiana where the GOP nominees, Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock, made controversial comments about women, rape and abortion.
"There's no question that the Republican Party in Georgia and the nation are concerned that we could have another Todd Akin-type scenario here," said Heath Garrett, a Republican campaign consultant and former top aide to U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson.
Democrats control 55 seats in the Senate, and Republicans would need to hang on to the ones they control now and pick up six more next year to take control for the first time since 2006.
At least one more Georgia congressman is likely to jump in, and a trio of Washington outsiders is considering the race: a wealthy Atlanta businesswoman who helped bankroll a Mitt Romney's presidential campaign; the former Susan G. Komen Foundation executive who took on Planned Parenthood; and the cousin of former Gov. Sonny Perdue.
"It's going to be a free-for-all with a lot of dominoes," said Sue Everhart, the head of the state GOP.
Isakson said he's neutral in the primary.
National conservative groups FreedomWorks and Club for Growth, which have helped tea party candidates such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas win high-profile races, say many candidates have talked to them about support. For now, both groups say they're watching the field develop. It would be a blow to Broun if he can't harness the support of either.
Democrats believe they can tap into the Missouri-Indiana playbook, particularly if U.S. Rep. John Barrow, a moderate from Augusta, runs. Barrow has survived consecutive elections as one of national Republicans' top House targets.
The state Democratic chairman, Mike Berlon, said Barrow has detractors among core Democrats for his vote against Obama's health care law, but said he'd expect enthusiasm at any opportunity to win back Chambliss' seat.
Berlon said the congressman is an ideal candidate to assemble a majority coalition of African-Americans, white urban liberals, suburban moderates and just enough rural conservatives. "We're already close," he said, noting that Obama got 47 percent in 2008 and 45.5 percent in 2012 "without the national party lifting a finger."
Garrett said that "if the Republican nominee scares suburban whites, John Barrow becomes a very formidable candidate."
Barrow has held meetings with major Democratic donors in Georgia and talked with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee leaders, but has not announced his intentions.
The only other Democrat making strong overtures is Michelle Nunn, a not-for-profit executive who's the daughter of former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga.
Berlon said he expects Nunn and Barrow to meet soon to "talk about who's going to run."
On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston of Savannah is expected to enter the race soon. He raised $843,000 in the first three months of the year, about 10 times what he collected during the same span two years ago when he was preparing only for an easy re-election to his 11th term.
Rep. Tom Price, vice chairman of the House Budget Committee, has said he won't make a move until after Congress passes a budget. But he's also got to consider that many high-profile GOP donors and strategists are lining up behind Gingrey or Kingston.
The longer Price waits, the more likely it is that Karen Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state, will run. The two are close friends.
After losing the 2010 Republican primary runoff for governor, Handel worked for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. She resigned amid controversy over her push to dissociate the organization from Planned Parenthood, a provider of women's health care and abortion services.
Two electoral newcomers would bring their personal wealth to the campaign.
Businessman David Perdue also has name ID as the cousin of a popular former governor.
Kelly Loeffler is a co-owner of the Atlanta-based company that recently bought the New York Stock Exchange and Atlanta's professional women's basketball team. She's never run for office but is one of the top fundraisers for Romney last year. She's been increasingly active in Georgia Republican political circles.
Chip Lake, a paid strategist for Gingrey, said the uncertainty makes it difficult to handicap the race.
Against Broun alone, Gingrey is a mainstream social and fiscal conservative, but he also caught heat earlier this year when he defended Akin.
Gingrey apologized, calling his own remarks "stupid." In a three-man race, Kingston becomes a favorite of many Chamber of Commerce Republicans. But Kingston also is from south Georgia, far from the population center of Atlanta, where Gingrey has won elections for decades.
Broun has just $217,000 in his campaign account, about one-tenth of his House rivals and not enough for one week of television ads in Atlanta. But he's also got a strong grass-roots following.
Handel can capitalize on experience in government, while still being an outsider to an unpopular Congress. She could be a particularly strong candidate if she's the only woman in the race.
But Loeffler could neutralize any gender advantage. Handel can use the Planned Parenthood flap to boost her conservative credentials, but she's had run-ins with staunch anti-abortion groups because she supports policy exceptions for rape, incest and to allow for in-vitro fertilization.
Loeffler can sell her success story and roots on an Illinois farm. But she'd still have to introduce herself to small town and rural Georgia as a millionaire from Atlanta.
___
Follow Barrow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillBarrowAP
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/big-scramble-seen-open-senate-seat-georgia-114950175--election.html
Sunday, April 21, 2013
What's Happening for April 20 - Happening - The Olympian ...
Modified April 20, 2013
Saturday
Olympia Downtown Cleanup: 8:30 a.m.-noon, various streets and sidewalks in downtown Olympia. Volunteers clean up for spring Arts Walk. Sponsored by the Olympia Downtown Association in cooperation with the city of Olympia. To volunteer or for more information, email odaevent@tss.net.
Norway Day: Norway Day is a Norwegian festival filled with music, fjord horses, elkhounds, Norwegian history, genealogy and food. The festival kicks off at 10 a.m. at the Expo Center at the Thurston County Fairgrounds, 3054 Carpenter Road SE, Lacey. Admission is $3; children younger than 12 get in free.
Volunteer at Rainier Vista Park: Join volunteers and staff from Lacey Parks and Recreation for an Earth Day work party from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Rainier Vista Community Park, 5475 45th Ave. SE, Lacey. All are welcome, but volunteers younger than 14 must be accompanied by an adult. Bring weather-appropriate clothing, work gloves and sturdy shoes or boots and water. Local high schools are challenged by Alpine Experience to compete for a cash reward for their school by signing the largest number of volunteers. Students should register by April 18. Go to ci.lacey.wa.us/parks-volunteers for registration, waiver forms and additional information. Call 360-491-0857.
Work Party at Schafer State Park: Friends of Schafer and Lake Sylvia has invited the public to help prepare the park for the centennial season from 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. The group will meet at the campground at Schafer State Park, 1365 Schafer Park Road W, Elma. Bring rakes, gloves and tools. Call Ranger Arnold Hampton at 360-482-3852 with questions.
Tuesday
?Spring Into Action: Paths to the Future?: The YWCA of Olympia will host its annual benefit luncheon to celebrate Girls Without Limits and Girls Circle programs. The luncheon will run from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at Indian Summer Golf & Country Club, 5900 Troon Lane SE, Olympia. Tickets are $35 each or $280 for a table of eight. They can be purchased through the YWCA by calling 360-352-0593 or at ywcaofolympia.org under the special events page.
April 24
Arbor Day program: The Olympia Garden Club invites the public to its annual program that features guest speakers at 11 a.m. at Priest Point Park, 2600 East Bay Drive, Olympia. Coffee and cookies will be served; everyone will receive a plant to take home.
April 26-27
Spring Arts Walk: Various locations in downtown Olympia. Includes visual and performing arts in more than 100 businesses, hands-on family activities, demonstrations, street performances. Sponsored by the Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation Department and the Olympia Arts Commission. Call 360-709-2678 or go to sjohnso1@ci.olympia.wa.us.
April 27
Mothers Day Bazaar: Sponsored by the VFW Auxiliary No. 318, a Mother?s Day bazaar will kick off at 9 a.m. and wrap up at 4 p.m. at the VFW Hall, 2902 Martin Way E., Olympia. Also, enjoy a bake sale, sandwich kitchen and used treasures tables. Proceeds will assist the VFW Auxiliary No. 318 veterans and nursing home programs. Call Carole Jones at 754-7676 with questions.
Source: http://www.theolympian.com/2013/04/20/2513286/news-brief-20ohappenb.html
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Friday, April 19, 2013
Baghdad suicide bomb blast at Internet cafe kills 27
By Kareem Raheem
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew himself inside a Baghdad cafe popular with young people using the Internet, killing a least 27 and wounding dozens more in one of the worst single attacks in the Iraqi capital this year.
The late evening blast in west Baghdad came just two days before provincial elections that will be a major test of Iraq's political stability more than a year after the last American troops left the country.
Police and witnesses said emergency workers struggled to extricate victims trapped when the blast collapsed part of the building that also housed a shopping center below the Dubai cafe which was on the third floor.
"It was a huge blast," a police official at the scene said. "Part of the building fell in and debris hit people shopping in the mall below."
Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion, Sunni Islamists linked to al Qaeda carry out at least one major attack a month, but insurgents have stepped up suicide attacks since the start of the year as part of a campaign to provoke confrontation between the country's Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims.
More than 30 people were killed in a series of bombings across Iraq on Monday and more than a dozen election candidates have been killed in the run-up to the vote.
Security officials have been expecting more attacks before Saturday's ballot for provincial councils that will be a measure of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's political muscle before the parliamentary vote in 2014.
A surge in violence in Iraq has accompanied the political crisis in the Shi'ite premier's government, where Shi'ite, Sunni and ethnic Kurds share posts in a fragile power-sharing deal that has been mostly paralyzed since U.S. troops left in December 2011.
Al Qaeda's local wing, Islamic State of Iraq, has said it will keep up attacks and security officials say the group is gaining ground and recruits in the western desert bordering Syria, thanks in part to a boost from the flow of insurgents and funds into the neighboring country's war.
(Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Editing by Michael Roddy; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Michael Roddy)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suicide-bomber-kills-23-baghdad-cafe-officials-195431550.html
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An unexpected hero in Boston relief efforts: Reddit
Reddit provided a forum coordinate aid for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. Overnight, thousands donated everything from pizzas to transportation to housing.
A candlelight vigil honors the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing in Boston Public Garden, April 16, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. In the immediate aftermath of Monday's explosions, Reddit emerged as a tool for coordinating relief efforts.
Ann Hermes/The Christian Science Monitor
EnlargeThe power of social media was revealed when Redditors rallied to provide aid to victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. Overnight, heroes were recognized and thousands donated everything from pizzas to places to take a hot shower or just recharge a cellphone.
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Food, shelter, transportation donations pour in
By early on the evening of April 15, a post by user superdude4agze's had risen close to the top of the subreddit "inthenews." The post provided essential resources offered by Redditors, including offers of places to stay, rides, food and hundreds of thousands of frequent flyer miles for those who needed to leave Boston and to victims' family members who needed a flight into the city.
Reddit was uniquely prepared to get food out to those in need. Through its subreddit "Random Acts of Pizza," where users can send each other pizzas just to be nice, rescue workers and those who had been hospitalized were the beneficiaries of?Redditor generosity . Restaurant Anytime Pizza is leading the effort.
"Spoke with an Anytime Pizza employee (Perry) this morning. They pulled in their entire staff last night to cook and deliver pizzas," Redditor iamnotevenperturb, who moderates the pizza subreddit, reported. "You'll be happy to know, though, that they were getting police escorted around and were working straight through the night."
Heroes of Reddit
Perry, the pizza man of Anytime Pizza, is poised to become a?Reddit hero. He has said that regardless of donations, he will continue to deliver pizzas. This afternoon he will be sending them to shelters and fire stations.
"He could just post "Hi, I'm Perry" and provide proof and we would all probably piss ourselves," Redditor anotherguy2 posted, referring to another popular Reddit feature called IAMA, in which people come on Reddit to answer questions. Past participants include President Barack Obama and Bill Gates.
Today (April 16), the man who used a belt as a tourniquet for a victim whose leg had been blown off by the second bomb hosted an "IAMA" and has invited readers to "Ask Me Anything" ? AMA in Reddit shorthand.
The generosity of Redditors has made an impact and the effort continues. A ?Redditor wrote, "This is such a wonderful thing you are all doing for those affected. I've done all I can from here in FL, but this is actually bringing tears to my eyes to see how many people are doing so much!!"
Follow Leslie Meredith?@lesliemeredith. Follow us?@TechNewsDaily, on?Faebook?or on?Google+.
Copyright 2013 TechNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Mathematics provides a shortcut to timely, cost-effective interventions for HIV
Apr. 15, 2013 ? Mathematical estimates of treatment outcomes can cut costs and provide faster delivery of preventative measures.
South Africa is home to the largest HIV epidemic in the world with a total of 5.6 million people living with HIV. Large-scale clinical trials evaluating combination methods of prevention and treatment are often prohibitively expensive and take years to complete. In the absence of such trials, mathematical models can help assess the effectiveness of different HIV intervention combinations, as demonstrated in a new study by Elisa Long and Robert Stavert from Yale University in the US. Their findings appear in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, published by Springer.
Currently 60 percent of individuals in need of treatment for HIV in South Africa do not receive it. The allocation of scant resources to fight the HIV epidemic means each strategy must be measured in terms of cost versus benefit. A number of new clinical trials have presented evidence supporting a range of biomedical interventions that reduce transmission of HIV. These include voluntary male circumcision -- now recommended by the World Health Organization and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS as a preventive strategy -- as well as vaginal microbicides and oral pre-exposure prophylaxis, all of which confer only partial protection against HIV. Long and Stavert show that a combination portfolio of multiple interventions could not only prevent up to two-thirds of future HIV infections, but is also cost-effective in a resource-limited setting such as South Africa.
The authors developed a mathematical model accounting for disease progression, mortality, morbidity and the heterosexual transmission of HIV to help forecast future trends in the disease. Using data specific for South Africa, the authors estimated the health benefits and cost-effectiveness of a "combination approach" using all three of the above methods in tandem with current levels of antiretroviral therapy, screening and counseling.
For each intervention, they calculated the HIV incidence and prevalence over 10 years. At present rates of screening and treatment, the researchers predict that HIV prevalence will decline from 19 percent to 14 percent of the population in the next 10 years. However, they calculate that their combination approach including male circumcision, vaginal microbicides and oral pre-exposure prophylaxis could further reduce HIV prevalence to 10 percent over that time scale -- preventing 1.5 million HIV infection over 10 years -- even if screening and antiretroviral therapy are kept at current levels. Increasing antiretroviral therapy use and HIV screening frequency in addition could avert more than 2 million HIV infections over 10 years, or 60 percent of the projected total.
The researchers also determined a hierarchy of effectiveness versus cost for these intervention strategies. Where budgets are limited, they suggest money should be allocated first to increasing male circumcision, then to more frequent HIV screening, use of vaginal microbicides and increasing antiretroviral therapy. Additionally, they calculate that omitting pre-exposure prophylaxis from their combination strategy could offer 90 percent of the benefits of treatment for less than 25 percent of the costs.
The authors conclude: "In the absence of multi-intervention randomized clinical or observational trials, a mathematical HIV epidemic model provides useful insights about the aggregate benefit of implementing a portfolio of biomedical, diagnostic and treatment programs. Allocating limited available resources for HIV control in South Africa is a key priority, and our study indicates that a multi-intervention HIV portfolio could avert nearly two-thirds of projected new HIV infections, and is a cost-effective use of resources."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Springer Science+Business Media, via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Long, E.F. and Stavert, R.R. Portfolios of biomedical HIV interventions in South Africa: a cost-effectiveness analysis. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2013 DOI: 10.1007/s11606-013-2417-1
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/-ktXNjH2hcc/130415095941.htm
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Study identifies new gene variations associated with heart rate
Monday, April 15, 2013
Through a collaborative genome-wide study on individuals, researchers have discovered 14 new genetic variations that are associated with heart rate. Since heart rate is a marker of cardiovascular health, these findings could provide a better understanding of genetic regulation of heart beat and is a first step towards identifying targets for new drugs to treat cardiovascular disease.
The study, titled, "Identification of Heart Rate-Associated Loci and Their Effects on Cardiac Conduction and Rhythm Disorders," was published online this week in the April issue of Nature Genetics. Led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge, UK, the collaboration involved 268 researchers from 211 institutions, as well as six large research consortia joined forces.
In order to gain new insights into the genetic regulation of heart rate, Dr. Ruth Loos, Director of the Genetics of Obesity and Related Metabolic Traits Program at the Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine at Mount Sinai and honorary investigator at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit and her team, spent three years working on a genome-wide association study using data from 181,171 participants from 65 studies during 2009-2012. "Without any prior hypothesis, we studied the entire human genome hoping to identify new genetic variations that no one before had even imagined would play a role in the regulation of heart rate," said Dr. Loos, senior author of the study. "This discovery is just the beginning of something new and exciting and can hopefully be used to identify new drugs that can be used for the treatment of heart rhythm disorders."
In a follow-up study, experimental down-regulation of gene expression was then conducted on fruit flies and zebra fish, to better understand how genetic variations might affect heart rate. These experiments identified 20 genes with a role in heart rate regulation, signal transmission, embryonic development of the heart, as well as cardiac disorders, such as dilated cardiomyopathy, congenital heart failure and sudden heart failure. "Our findings in humans as well as in fruit flies and zebrafish provide new insights into mechanisms that regulate heart rate," said Dr. Marcel den Hoed, post-doctoral fellow at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit and lead author of the study.
The follow-up study also showed that a genetic susceptibility for higher heart rate is associated with altered cardiac conduction and a reduced risk of sick sinus syndrome, a common indicator for pacemaker implantation. "Our study tripled the number of genetic variations that are known to be associated with heart rate, some of which are also associated with other cardiovascular risk factors and with heart rhythm disorder," said Dr. Loos.
###
The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine: http://www.mountsinai.org
Thanks to The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine for this article.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127742/Study_identifies_new_gene_variations_associated_with_heart_rate
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Shifts in physiological mechanisms let male bats balance the need to feed and the urge to breed
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Public release date: 15-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Emily Murphy
emurphy@press.uchicago.edu
773-702-7521
University of Chicago Press Journals
As small and active flying mammals, bats have very high mass-specific energy requirements and as such continually adjust their rates of activity and metabolism in response to ambient temperature and other seasonal variation. In particular, during the autumn mating season, male bats must carefully balance time spent foraging (to gain enough fat to last the winter hibernation) with time spent finding a mate. Because both activities require significant effort, how do male bats do it? In an upcoming issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, Nina Becker and colleagues reveal that the answer lies in the bats' resting metabolic rate.
In their study, the group monitored the thermoregulation, energy intake, activity, and metabolism of free-ranging Daubenton's bats Myotis daubentonii during this insectivorous species' main activity period of the year (mid-April to mid-October).
Becker et al. found that during spring, when ambient temperatures are low, prey is scarce, and the male bats are reproductively inactive, M. daubentonii used daily torpor (decreased body temperature) to balance their energy budgets.
In summer, when temperatures and abundance of insects increase, bats shift their behavior away from long and frequent bouts of torpor and toward more intake of food. In males it is predicted that this increase in feeding is done in anticipation of the impending mating season, when energy requirements are high but low insect abundance and significant time spent finding a mate (and therefore not foraging) mean that food intake will be at its lowest during the animals' entire period of activity.
In autumn, for male M. daubentonii to accommodate the high energy demands of reproduction and low energy intake and also sufficiently prepare for hibernation, Becker and colleagues report that the bats do not increase torpor, as they do in spring, but instead employ metabolic compensation to reduce resting metabolic rate. In this way, energy expenditures are reduced and thus the low amount of food the bats consume is enough for them to survive the winter. The exact mechanism allowing this reduction in resting metabolic rate is still in question, but the authors speculate it is likely due to a decrease in activity of either the digestive system or the brain.
###
Becker, Nina I., Marco Tschapka, Elisabeth K. V. Kalko, and Jorge A. Encarnao. "Balancing the Energy Budget in Free-Ranging Male Myotis daubentonii Bats." Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 86:3 (May/June 2013).
Physiological and Biochemical Zoology (http://journals.uchicago.edu/PBZ) publishes original research in animal physiology and biochemistry, with a specific emphasis on studies that address the ecological and/or evolutionary aspects of physiological and biochemical mechanisms. Studies at all levels of biological organization from the molecular to the whole organism are welcome, and work that integrates levels of organization to address important questions in behavioral, ecological, evolutionary, or comparative physiology is particularly encouraged.
[ | 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.
Public release date: 15-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Emily Murphy
emurphy@press.uchicago.edu
773-702-7521
University of Chicago Press Journals
As small and active flying mammals, bats have very high mass-specific energy requirements and as such continually adjust their rates of activity and metabolism in response to ambient temperature and other seasonal variation. In particular, during the autumn mating season, male bats must carefully balance time spent foraging (to gain enough fat to last the winter hibernation) with time spent finding a mate. Because both activities require significant effort, how do male bats do it? In an upcoming issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, Nina Becker and colleagues reveal that the answer lies in the bats' resting metabolic rate.
In their study, the group monitored the thermoregulation, energy intake, activity, and metabolism of free-ranging Daubenton's bats Myotis daubentonii during this insectivorous species' main activity period of the year (mid-April to mid-October).
Becker et al. found that during spring, when ambient temperatures are low, prey is scarce, and the male bats are reproductively inactive, M. daubentonii used daily torpor (decreased body temperature) to balance their energy budgets.
In summer, when temperatures and abundance of insects increase, bats shift their behavior away from long and frequent bouts of torpor and toward more intake of food. In males it is predicted that this increase in feeding is done in anticipation of the impending mating season, when energy requirements are high but low insect abundance and significant time spent finding a mate (and therefore not foraging) mean that food intake will be at its lowest during the animals' entire period of activity.
In autumn, for male M. daubentonii to accommodate the high energy demands of reproduction and low energy intake and also sufficiently prepare for hibernation, Becker and colleagues report that the bats do not increase torpor, as they do in spring, but instead employ metabolic compensation to reduce resting metabolic rate. In this way, energy expenditures are reduced and thus the low amount of food the bats consume is enough for them to survive the winter. The exact mechanism allowing this reduction in resting metabolic rate is still in question, but the authors speculate it is likely due to a decrease in activity of either the digestive system or the brain.
###
Becker, Nina I., Marco Tschapka, Elisabeth K. V. Kalko, and Jorge A. Encarnao. "Balancing the Energy Budget in Free-Ranging Male Myotis daubentonii Bats." Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 86:3 (May/June 2013).
Physiological and Biochemical Zoology (http://journals.uchicago.edu/PBZ) publishes original research in animal physiology and biochemistry, with a specific emphasis on studies that address the ecological and/or evolutionary aspects of physiological and biochemical mechanisms. Studies at all levels of biological organization from the molecular to the whole organism are welcome, and work that integrates levels of organization to address important questions in behavioral, ecological, evolutionary, or comparative physiology is particularly encouraged.
[ | 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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/uocp-sip041513.php
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Saturday, April 13, 2013
Clues to heart disease in unexpected places
Apr. 12, 2013 ? A major factor in the advance of heart disease is the death of heart tissue, a process that a team of scientists at Temple University School of Medicine's (TUSM) Center for Translational Medicine think could be prevented with new medicines. Now, the researchers are one step closer to achieving that goal, thanks to their discovery of a key molecule in an unexpected place in heart cells -- mitochondria, tiny energy factories that house the controls capable of setting off cells' self-destruct sequence.
The study is the first to identify the molecule, an enzyme known as GRK2 (G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2), in mitochondria. It was led by Walter J. Koch, Ph.D., Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at TUSM, and Director of the Center for Translational Medicine at TUSM.
"We have known that GRK2 is involved in the pathological development of certain heart diseases, such as chronic heart failure, and that its increased activity can lead to the death of heart cells. But its mechanism for the latter was unclear," Koch said. In addition, while the enzyme was known to be present in elevated levels in the hearts of patients with heart failure, the reasons for its rise were not fully understood.
Normally, GRK2 hangs out near the plasma membrane of heart cells, where it turns off certain signals transferred from the blood to the tissue. But the researchers at Temple found that it moves to mitochondria in response to two classic features of heart disease, ischemic insult and ensuing oxidative stress. These two processes, in which a momentary lapse in the delivery of oxygen-rich blood to diseased tissues causes a sudden increase in damaging reactive molecules, converge to stimulate the self-destruct program of heart cells. They ultimately cause whole sections of heart tissue to die, leaving behind scars that can severely compromise the ability of the heart to function properly.
Koch's team found that in ischemic heart cells the movement of GRK2 from the cell membrane to mitochondria is chaperoned by a substance called heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90), which is produced in cells in response to stress. By blocking Hsp90's ability to bind to GRK2, the researchers were able to prevent the enzyme's delivery to mitochondria.
They reached the same result after mutating a residue called Ser670 in the tail end of GRK2's amino acid structure. When the Ser670 residue is activated by a chemical signal, Hsp90 is nudged into action, attaching to GRK2 and carrying it to mitochondria. Mutation of Ser670 also resulted in a wholesale reduction in pro-death signaling in affected heart cells. The effects were observed in human heart muscle cells grown in the laboratory and in mice that had experienced induced heart attacks. The results are detailed in the April 12 issue of the journal Circulation Research.
Koch explained that the translation of the new findings to the clinic, where they would benefit patients, lies in developing new therapeutic approaches that are capable of limiting both the activity of GRK2 and its ability to associate with mitochondria.
"We have a great opportunity here to develop new medicines against heart failure and improve upon this significant disease syndrome," he said. He added that this will take some time but that molecular and pharmacological strategies against GRK2 are in the works. "We are developing a gene therapy tool known as the ?ARKct, which is a peptide inhibitor of GRK2, and are quite excited about a clinical trial."
Koch and his team have shown in pre-clinical studies that delivery of the ?ARKct to failing hearts can inhibit GRK2 and thereby protect the heart from death. In the new study, ?ARKct was found to block the enzyme's transit to mitochondria after ischemia, an important step now believed to contribute to the peptide's beneficial effects in heart failure.
There is much yet to learn about GRK2, however, according to Koch. "We still need to find out exactly what GRK2 is doing in the mitochondria," he said. "We need to figure out what it interacts with and specifically regulates."
What the team uncovers could solidify GRK2 as a key target for therapeutic strategies against heart disease.
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Temple University Health System, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- M. Chen, P. Y. Sato, J. K. Chuprun, R. J. Peroutka, N. J. Otis, J. Ibetti, S. Pan, S.-S. Sheu, E. Gao, W. J. Koch. Prodeath Signaling of G Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinase 2 in Cardiac Myocytes After Ischemic Stress Occurs Via Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase-Dependent Heat Shock Protein 90-Mediated Mitochondrial Targeting. Circulation Research, 2013; 112 (8): 1121 DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.112.300754
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/iZI7Xk1jWVw/130412132409.htm
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Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Southern California brushfire threatens 100 homes
By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News
A wind-whipped brushfire spread over 170 acres overnight in Ventura County, Calif., destroying two homes and threatening about 100 more, and was still not contained as of early Tuesday morning.
The fire began with a fire in a mobile home around 3:15 p.m. on Monday, fire officials said. That home sustained damage to its roof, but was not entirely destroyed. About 400 firefighters responded as the blaze spread, with officials saying that they hoped slackening winds overnight would help them control the flames.
?I can see flames and some smoke and helicopters coming in and dropping of their water,? Judi Ortiz, an employee at a local gas station, told NBCLosAngeles.com. ?You couldn?t see anything at the beginning but smoke. It?s horrific.?
Driven by 40-mph winds, the city engulfed an orchard near the city of Fillmore, north of Los Angeles.
?A couple years back we had some pretty bad fires, but nothing that came close to homes like this,? Fillmore Mayor Pro Tem Manuel Minjares told NBCLosAngeles.com. ?This is pretty significant.?
No injuries have been reported as a result of the fire. Authorities lifted a mandatory evacuation order on about 160 homes early on Tuesday morning, saying they hoped to have the fire contained by sun up.
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Gucci Mane Indicted On Assault Charge In Bottle Brawl Incident
Judge hits rapper with one count of aggravated assault for allegedly striking a soldier in the head with a bottle.
By Gil Kaufman
Gucci Mane booked in Atlanta on March 23
Photo: Getty Images
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705303/gucci-mane-indicted.jhtml
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Monday, April 8, 2013
Stocks lower after posting worst week of 2013
Stocks stumbled out of the gate Monday, after last week's worst weekly decline for major averages this year, ahead of earnings results from Alcoa after the close.
(Read More: Pisani: Market, Make Up Your Mind!)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tilted lower, dragged by Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq slipped. The Nasdaq declined to touch its one-month low. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded above 14.
Among key S&P sectors, telecoms dragged, while energy poked higher.
Aluminum producer and Dow component Alcoa is slated to post results after the closing bell, marking the unofficial start to first-quarter earnings season. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to post earnings of 8 cents a share on revenue of $5.88 billion.
Banking giants JPMorgan and Wells Fargo are scheduled to post earnings on Friday.
The earnings outlook for the current quarter is fairly weak, with growth expected to increase by just 1.6 percent, compared to 6.2 percent last quarter, according to Thomson Reuters. The quarter also has seen an unusually high number of negative warnings, with 107 negative revisions for companies in the S&P 500. Compared to positive revisions, it is the worst pace in 12 years, the news agency added.
(Read More: Now It's Earnings That Could Stall the Stock-Market Rally)
"Sometimes, earnings are a secondary trigger for markets ? it's been more news-based as we've seen recent market rallies have to do with economic indicators," said Christine Short, senior manager at S&P Capital IQ.
While S&P Capital IQ expects first-quarter 2013 earnings growth of 0.7 percent, Short noted that the final number usually ends up about 4 percent higher than initial estimates.
"So we could see this could be an earnings season of about 5 percent growth, which would be respectable," she said. "And if we do end up 4 percent higher, it should help give the markets a boost."
In corporate news, General Electricagreed to buy oilfield services giant Lufkin Industries for $3.38 billion in cash, or $88.50 a share. Lufkin surged nearly 40 percent following the news.
And Macy's and rival J.C. Penney are due back in court in their battle over Martha Stewart home goods after a month-long mediation effort appeared to have failed.
On Monday, Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto will be speaking, while Bernanke will be speaking on Monday evening on the topic of maintaining financial stability at a conference organized by the Atlanta Fed.
"The $3 trillion question for investors in the coming two to three years is what will happen to the Fed's balance sheet, and what the impact of any quantitative tightening (QT) will be on the economy and financial markets ? policymakers can probably continue to call the shots on the pace of QT as opposed to having it forced on them by markets (fingers crossed with respect to inflation, though). But don't expect the Fed's balance sheet to come down quickly anytime soon," Stuart Parkinson, strategist from Deutsche Bank. said in a note on Monday.
Traders will also be looking out for more clues over the future of quantitative easing in the coming week when the Federal Reserve releases minutes from its last meeting on Wednesday. There are also more than a half dozen appearances by Fed officials in the coming week, including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
In Europe, shares were higher, shrugging off negative news flow and Friday's weak employment numbers in the U.S. In Asia, too, markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong pared steep losses caused by worries over the Korean peninsula and fears of a new strain of avian flu in China.
Meanwhile, U.S.Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is starting a two-day trip to Europe for economic discussions with the region's officials and leaders. Lew is scheduled to meet with members of the European Commission in Brussels on Monday and will also travel to Frankfurt where he will meet with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
?By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)
? 2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved
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Best bets: Jackie Robinson movie hits home
By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, NBC News
It's a week for remembering -- remembering Jackie Robinson in the new biopic "42," remembering the importance of the 1980s in a National?Geographic?special, and remembering the movies of the past year at the MTV Movie Awards.
FRIDAY: '42'
The memorable life of baseball player Jackie Robinson was told in 1950's "Jackie Robinson Story," just three years after he broke the sport's color line with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In that movie, Robinson played himself, but in the new film "42," opening Friday, actor Chadwick Boseman will take on the role. Harrison Ford plays Branch Rickey, the Dodgers president and GM who signed Robinson, and Christopher Meloni is manager Leo Durocher, who famously told the other players that if they objected to Robinson, he'd see that they were traded. Play ball! (Opens April 5.)
SUNDAY: MTV Movie Awards
Sure, the MTV Movie Awards are no Academy Awards -- the gold and black popcorn trophy is nowhere as prestigious as Oscar. But they're fun to watch nonetheless. Where else would you see categories like "best scared as (expletive) performance," or "summer's biggest teen bad (expletive)"? Comedian and actress Rebel Wilson hosts, which should make for a lively night.
SUNDAY: 'The '80s: The Decade That Made Us'
The 1980s weren't all Rubik's Cubes and Pac-Man. The decade spawned a technological and cultural revolution that still affects us all today. Brat Packer Rob Lowe hosts a three-night look at the era that examines its politics, entertainment, cultural changes and more. ?(April 14, 8 p.m., National Geographic Channel.)
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Saturday, April 6, 2013
Remembering Apple's first iWatch: The 6th gen. iPod nano
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Friday, April 5, 2013
Hagel tells military to brace for further belt-tightening
By David Alexander and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned the military to brace for more belt-tightening on Wednesday as he conducts a review that could cut the number of generals, pare back the civilian workforce and stem the spiraling cost of new weapons.
Hagel, in his first major policy speech as Pentagon chief, told students at the National Defense University that the United States could not allow its current budget crisis to force it to retreat from the world. But he underscored the limits of U.S. military power.
"We need to challenge all past assumptions, and we need to put everything on the table," Hagel said. "Any serious effort to reform and reshape our defense enterprise must confront the principal drivers of growth in the department's base budget - namely acquisitions, personnel costs and overhead."
Hagel's remarks come as the Pentagon is struggling to deal with a $41 billion budget cut that went into effect on March 1, part of a $500 billion reduction that could slice defense spending by $50 billion a year for the next decade.
His comments marked a shift in tone at the Pentagon, which for months harbored hope that Congress and the White House would rescue it from spending reductions beyond a $487 billion cut approved in 2011.
"The speech ... represented a bit of a turning point for the Pentagon because he acknowledged that further cuts in defense spending are likely, if not inevitable, and that DoD should begin preparing for them," said Todd Harrison, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think tank.
Hagel, a Vietnam veteran who took office in late February, faced pointed questions from his audience.
One woman asked why the department was moving ahead with a decision to put civilian employees on unpaid leave later this year, essentially slashing their pay by 20 percent for 14 weeks as part of its effort to cut spending.
"In case your advisers haven't told you, it is affecting morale," she said.
Questioned about how soon defense personnel might face reductions in benefits, Hagel said the military would fulfill commitments it had made so far. But he also said the Pentagon would ask for higher fees on some benefits like healthcare, a move Congress has rejected in the past.
He emphasized that the system ultimately would have to change.
'I WISH IT WAS OTHERWISE'
"If you play this out over a 10-, 20-year period, we're not going to be able to sustain the current personnel costs and retirement benefits. There will be no money in the budget for anything else," he said.
"I'm sorry. I wish it was otherwise," Hagel said. "But that's a fact of life and the longer we defer these things, the worse it's going to be for all of us."
He said the department had to come to grips with factors that are driving up long-term costs, like a big bureaucracy, high personnel costs and unwieldy weapons-development programs.
"In many respects, the biggest long-term fiscal challenge facing the department is not the flat or declining top-line budget, it is the growing imbalance in where the money is being spent internally," Hagel said.
He expressed concern that the military was looking at "systems that are vastly more expensive and technologically risky than what was promised or budgeted for" as it attempts to modernize weapons.
While recognizing the sacrifices of troops and their families over nearly a dozen years of war, Hagel said "fiscal realities demand" the Pentagon take another look at the number and mix of military and civilian personnel it employs.
"Despite good efforts and intentions, it is still not clear that every option has been exercised or considered to pare back the world's largest back-office," Hagel said, referring to the Pentagon's bureaucracy.
He said the military's hierarchies needed re-examination as well.
"Today the operational forces of the military - measured in battalions, ships and aircraft wings - have shrunk dramatically since the Cold War era," he said. "Yet the three- and four-star command and support structures sitting atop these smaller fighting forces have stayed intact, with minor exceptions, and in some cases they are actually increasing in size and rank."
(Editing by Philip Barbara and Xavier Briand)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hagel-tells-u-military-brace-further-belt-tightening-230258216--business.html
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