Millions of dollars in drugs seized, 70 arrested in Arizona

At least 70 suspected drug smugglers with alleged ties to the powerful Sinaloa cartel have been arrested in Arizona, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
The massive take-down of the drug trafficking network in Arizona included arrests of Mexican and U.S. suspects who allegedly smuggled more than 330 tons of illegal narcotics a year through Arizona.
More than 20 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were involved in the 17-month multiagency investigation called Operation Pipeline Express. Speaking at a news conference Monday in Phoenix, law enforcement officials said the organization was responsible for smuggling more than $33 million worth of drugs a month.
"Today, we have dealt a significant blow to a Mexican criminal enterprise that has been responsible for poisoning our communities with the distribution of millions of dollars' worth of marijuana, cocaine and heroin," Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said. "I find it completely unacceptable that Arizona neighborhoods are treated as a trading floor for narcotics."
Officials say the ring, organized around cells based in the Arizona communities of Chandler, Stanfield and Maricopa, used backpackers and vehicles to move loads of marijuana and other drugs from the Arizona-Mexico border to a network of "stash" houses in the Phoenix area. After arriving in Phoenix, the contraband was sold to distributors from multiple states nationwide.
Law enforcement officials seized thousands of pounds of marijuana, cocaine and heroin in a series of raids. They also seized more than 100 weapons, including multiple assault rifles and ammunition.
Authorities say the organization has been around for at least five years. According to a news release, officials say they "conservatively estimate the ring has smuggled more than 3.3 million pounds of marijuana, 20,000 pounds of cocaine and 10,000 pounds of heroin into to the United States, generating almost $2 billion in illicit proceeds."
for more detail visit cnn.news.com

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Various '7 billionth' babies celebrated worldwide

MANILA, Philippines Countries around the world marked the world’s population reaching 7 billion Monday with lavish ceremonies for newborn infants symbolizing the milestone and warnings that there may be too many humans for the planet’s resources.
While demographers are unsure exactly when the world’s population will reach the 7 billion mark, the U.N. is using Monday to symbolically mark the day. A string of festivities are being held worldwide, with a series of symbolic 7-billionth babies being born.
The celebrations began in the Philippines, where baby Danica May Camacho was greeted with cheers and an explosion of photographers’ flashbulbs at Manila’s Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital. She arrived two minutes before midnight Sunday, but doctors say that was close enough to count for a Monday birthday.
The baby received a shower of gifts, from a chocolate cake marked “7B Philippines” to a gift certificate for shoes.
source:taiwannews.com.tw

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3 young men killed in Kansas grain elevator blast

Unstable concrete, hanging steel beams and other damage caused by a powerful explosion that ripped through a Kansas grain elevator are complicating efforts to find three more people likely killed in the blast.

Crews were hoping to stabilize the debris and resume their search Monday in the Bartlett Grain Co. facility in Atchison, about 50 miles northwest of Kansas City. The bodies of three other workers were recovered after the Saturday blast, and two people are hospitalized with severe burns.

The explosion was a harrowing reminder of the dangers workers face inside elevators brimming with highly combustible grain dust at the end of harvest season. The blast fired an orange fireball into the night sky, shot off a chunk of the grain distribution building directly above the elevator and blew a large hole in the side of a concrete silo.

The search for three people presumed dead — another worker and two grain inspectors — was temporarily halted Sunday because of fears that the building could fall on rescuers. Local officials met with victims' families to explain why crews pulled back, but understood they wanted their loved ones found, Atchison City Manager Trey Cocking said.

"Uncertainty is always the worst for folks," he said late Sunday, as candlelight vigils were held near the still smoldering building.

The three Bartlett workers whose bodies have been recovered were identified as Chad Roberts, 20; Ryan Federinko, 21; and John Burke, 24. Bartlett officials said the three others are presumed dead and search crews have a good idea where they were at the time of the explosion.

Among the missing was Travis Keil, a war veteran who had served as a site inspector for 16 years. His parents, Gary and Ramona Keil, drove from Salina to Atchison to wait with his three children — ages 8, 12 and 15 — as crews searched.

"We have all our prayers working for him," Gary Keil said. "It's a parent's worst nightmare to go through this."

for more detail visit usatoday.com

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Tanker explodes near U.S. base in Afghanistan, killing 10

At least 10 people died and 35 others were injured Wednesday when a tanker filled with tons of fuel and strapped with a mine exploded near a U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan, a government official said.
"The tanker driver wanted to detonate the explosive device inside Bagram Air Base, but before reaching his goal, the explosive device was detonated," said Roshan Khalid, spokeswoman for the governor of Parwan province.
"In a first small explosion, the tanker fuel poured in the street. When the local people gathered to collect the fuel, the second explosion happened."
The tanker was carrying 18 tons of fuel, according to Khalid.
"In the past, Afghan security forces were able to discover and dismantle explosive devices in three tankers which had planned to enter into Bagram Air Base and detonate their explosives there," she said.
The base is the nerve center of American military operations in Afghanistan and is frequently targeted by militants.
for more detail visit cnn.news.com

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Gaddafi buried in unknown location

The Libyan government buried Muammar Gaddafi in an unknown location at dawn on Tuesday, al-Jazeera television reported, citing a source in the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC).
Officials from the interim government had said earlier that the ousted Libyan leader would be buried in a secret desert grave, ending a wrangle over his rotting corpse that led many to fear for the country's governability.
Government forces had put the body on show in a cold store in Misrata while they argued over what to do with it, until its decay forced them to end the display on Monday.
The killing of the 69-year-old in his hometown of Sirte brought to a close eight months of war, finally ending a nervous two-month hiatus since anti-Gaddafi fighters overran the capital, Tripoli.
But it also threatened to lay bare the regional and tribal rivalries that present the NTC with its biggest challenge.
NTC officials had said negotiations were going on with Gaddafi's tribal kinsmen from Sirte and within the interim leadership over where and how to dispose of bodies – Gaddafi's son Mutassim was also on display in Misrata – and over what rebel leaders in possession of corpses might receive in return for co-operation.
"No agreement was reached for his tribe to take him," an NTC official told Reuters.
With the decay of the body forcing the NTC leadership's hand, it appeared to have decided that an anonymous grave would at least ensure the plot did not become a shrine.
An NTC official told Reuters several days ago that there would be only four witnesses to the burial, and all would swear on the Qur'an never to reveal the location.
NTC fears that Gaddafi's sons might mount an insurgency have largely been allayed by the death of two of those who wielded the most power, military commander Khamis and Mutassim, the former national security adviser.
Mutassim was captured along with his father in Sirte and killed in similarly unclear circumstances. The NTC official said he would be buried in the same ceremony on Tuesday. Khamis was killed in fighting earlier in the civil war.
But the official said Gaddafi's long-time heir apparent Saif al-Islam was in the remote southern desert and set to flee Libya, with the NTC powerless to stop him.
"He's on the triangle of Niger and Algeria. He's south of Ghat, the Ghat area. He was given a false Libyan passport from the area of Murzuq," the official added.
He said Muammar Gaddafi's former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi who, like Saif al-Islam, is wanted by the international criminal court, was involved.
"The region is very, very difficult to monitor and encircle," he said. "The region is a desert region and it has … many, many exit routes."
for more detail visit guardian.co.uk

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Gadhafi killed in crossfire after capture, Libyan PM says

Libyans cheered the fate of ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi into the early hours of Friday after his death in what Libya's transitional prime minister described as a crossfire that followed his arrest by revolutionary forces.
"This is a time to start a new Libya, with a new economy, with a new education and with a new health system -- with one future," Mahmoud Jibril, Libya's transitional prime minister, said after proclaiming Gadhafi's death.
Gadhafi was captured alive and unharmed as troops from the National Transitional Council overran his hometown of Sirte on Thursday, Jibril said. But a gunbattle erupted between transitional council fighters and Gadhafi's supporters as his captors attempted to load him into a vehicle, Jibril said, leaving Gadhafi with a wound to his right arm.
More shooting erupted as the vehicle drove away, and Gadhafi -- who ruled Libya for nearly 42 years before rebel forces overthrew him in August -- was hit in the head, Jibril said, Gadhafi died moments before arriving at a hospital in Misrata, Jibril said, citing the city's coroner.
Grainy video broadcast on Arabic satellite networks captured some of the onetime Libyan strongman's last moments, as the bloodied but still-alive Gadhafi was being hauled onto a truck. Another video showed a dead Gadhafi with what appeared to be a head wound.
According to Ali Aujali, Libya's ambassador to the United States, troops found Gadhafi in a large drainage pipe. Daily Telegraph reporter Ben Farmer in Sirte old CNN's Anderson Cooper the pipe is about 3 feet wide and filled with trash and sand.
The phrases "The place of the rat Gadhafi" and "You scum" were painted around its exterior, apparently after the capture.
Jibril said Gadhafi was carrying a gun but did not resist his captors. Jibril said DNA samples confirmed Gadhafi's identity, and the International Criminal Court -- which had issued an arrest warrant for the ousted dictator on war-crimes charges -- has agreed to allow Gadhafi's burial.
Aujali said the National Transitional Council and the Libyan people wanted Gadhafi to be taken alive to answer for his crimes. In one video from the scene, a voice can be heard shouting, "No, no, we want him alive, we want him alive."
for more detail visit cnn.news.com

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Judge moves to revoke Lindsay Lohan's probation

Lindsay Lohan was jailed briefly Wednesday after a judge admonished — and occasionally mocked — the actress for "blowing off" her court-ordered community service, but there are doubts she will spend additional time behind bars despite her numerous probation violations.

L.A.'s jails are increasingly being filled with felons because of a controversial new law under which convicts who normally would be housed in state prisons are locked up locally instead.

"The jails are going to be filled with felons," said Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner, noting that because of jailhouse crowding that might not be a good option.

Sautner sought to revoke Lohan's probation Wednesday after she was kicked out of a community service program at a downtown women's shelter for repeatedly failing to show up.

The actress was taken away in handcuffs after Sautner launched into Lohan for her casual attitude toward her assigned community service. Lohan has completed only 21 hours of the 360 hours she was ordered to serve at the women's shelter. Lohan also was ordered to complete 120 hours of service at the county morgue.

Aware that Lohan probably would post her $100,000 bail, Sautner ordered the actress to immediately begin community service at the county morgue. Lohan must work there at least two days a week pending a Nov. 2 probation revocation hearing.

Lohan's attorney said her client would be at the morgue starting Thursday.

Sautner hinted that with jail overcrowding and the increase in felons being returned to local jails, where Lohan has served four short stints only to be released early each time, putting her behind bars might not be a good solution.

When Sautner gave Lohan a 120-day jail sentence for shoplifting early this year, she ended up serving only 35 days under house arrest because of jail overcrowding.

"If jail meant something in the state of California now, maybe I'd put her in jail," Sautner said.Sautner blasted Lohan during the 40-minute hearing, taking note that the actress had told probation officials that she did not find the work at the women's shelter to be "fulfilling."

"Her words: 'The service was not fulfilling.' Is that what a sentence is about? To fulfill the defendant?" Then she answered her own question: "No."

The judge also questioned how Lohan complied with her court-ordered weekly psychological counseling when she was working in Europe from Sept. 9 to Oct. 5.

Lohan's attorney, Shawn Holley, said the actress "had to earn a living to support herself and her family" and her opportunities are in Europe. Overall, Holley said, the actress' probation report was positive.

"We are dealing with someone on probation," Holley said. "Most people on probation don't always do things perfectly."
Source: latimes.com

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Wall Street protests hitting home with everyday Americans

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrators have been criticized for being permanent protesters, hippies and excitement seekers who can be ignored because they have no specific agenda.

But when I went to Zuccotti Park to listen to them, I heard something familiar: the same anger, betrayal and distrust of Wall Street that I am hearing broadly from readers of my column. And while it might make the financial industry more comfortable to portray the protesters as outside the mainstream, they and millions of Americans with the same gripes are having an impact. People are yanking money from stocks and mutual funds, dumping their brokers and their banks, and closing credit cards in disgust.Astute bankers, fund managers and financial advisers understand this, or at least they should. While the protesters in New York, Chicago and elsewhere may look like scenes out of the Vietnam War protest era, and include more than their share of '60s activists, they are tapping into a deeply rooted sentiment with repercussions for society and the financial business.

As you enter the Zuccotti Park, you meet a senior citizen strumming protest songs he says he's been singing at demonstrations for five decades. And next to him is Fran Geteles, in a green T-shirt from the women's movement. "I'm so happy we found our voice" after a long drought in activism since the Vietnam War, she said.

But alongside these longtime protesters are everyday Americans like Sean Higgins, who worries about the financial stress he's seen in his home as well as his own potentially bleak future. As he finishes creating a sign saying, "When your credit runs out you will march with us," he explains that he's been working full time while going to college, because his mother hasn't been able to find a job for two years and his father has struggled with a small business.

As he completes a journalism and sociology degree at Westfield State University in Massachusetts, he wonders how he will cover $20,000 in college loans when there are so few jobs.
source: chicagotribune.com

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Obama jobs roadshow seeks to tap anti-Wall St anger

President Barack Obama will seek to tap into public anger at Wall Street excess to turn up the heat on congressional Republicans as he embarks on a campaign-style bus tour on Monday to rally support for his stalled jobs package.
Hitting the road for the next three days, Obama heads to North Carolina and Virginia, both vital to his 2012 re-election chances, with an increasingly populist approach aimed at winning passage of at least parts of his $447 billion jobs plan.
His visits to two pivotal Southern states come against the backdrop of protests against corporate greed and economic inequality that began weeks ago in New York and have spread to other cities, inspiring global "Day of Rage" demonstrations against the world financial system over the weekend.
Obama -- whose poll numbers have fallen over his handling of the stagnant economy and high unemployment -- has voiced sympathy with the grievances of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement but has done so cautiously, not least because of his own economic team's ties to the financial industry.
"The president will continue to acknowledge the frustration that he himself shares about the need for Washington to do more to support our economic recovery and to ensure that the interest of the 99 percent of Americans is well-represented," spokesman Josh Earnest said when asked whether Obama would offer a message for Wall Street protesters on his trip south.
The Democratic president wants to step up the pressure
on Republicans as he tries to push through his jobs package piece by piece, starting this week after his full plan went down to defeat in Congress last week.
With election races looming, Obama's strategy is to force Republicans to give ground or be painted as obstructionists more interested in shielding "millionaires and billionaires" -- "the 1 percent" -- from paying their fair share of taxes.
Republicans say Obama's original package was laden with wasteful spending and job-killing tax hikes for wealthy Americans. They have accused him of demonizing them and promoting "class warfare" instead of working with them to find areas of agreement.
In the Republicans' weekend radio address, Representative Kevin McCarthy urged Obama to "come off the campaign trail and get to work."
The deadlock over the jobs bill has raised concerns that political dysfunction in Washington will prevent any major steps to spur hiring before the November 2012 elections.
source: reuters.com

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Shahrukh Khan's Ra.One creates many record before release

Shahrukh Khan's Ra.One  creates many record in Bollywood before release on October 26, 2011. Ra.One's television broadcasting rights had been sold to Star India for a record sum of 40 crore (US$8.92 million), surpassing the previous record of 3 Idiots for 33 crore (US$7.36 million). The film's music rights were bought by T-Series for 15 crore (US$3.35 million) whilst the distribution rights were acquired by Eros Entertainment for 77 crore (US$17.17 million).
The producers of Ra.One set a record marketing budget of around 52 crore (US$11.6 million), of which 15 crore (US$3.35 million) had been used for online promotion, making it the highest ever for a Bollywood film. Ra.One set several records among Indian films for the volume of theatrical release, both in India and worldwide. Nationally, Ra.One will release in 3,000 screens, breaking the record of Bodyguard which released in 2,600 screens. Overseas, the film is currently scheduled to release in 500 screens, including 20 screens in Germany (in the dubbed version), 200 screens in South Korea and 25 screens in Taiwan. International screens is expected to go up to 1,000 as the date of the film's release nears. Ra.One will release in 3D in 550 select screens around the world.
The first international premiere of Ra.One will be held in Dubai on October 24, 2011. Additional premieres are expected to take place in London on October 25, New York and Toronto.
It should be noted that Ra.One  is a science fiction superhero film written and directed by Anubhav Sinha, and starring Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in the lead roles. It also stars Shahana Goswami, Dalip Tahil and Chinese-American actor Tom Wu in supporting roles, along with Rajinikanth, Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra in guest appearances. The film is jointly produced by Eros International and Khan's production company, Red Chillies Entertainment . It  is now set to have a worldwide release during the Diwali weekend of October 26, 2011. It is its dubbed versions in Tamil, Telugu and German. Ra.One is currently India's most expensive film to date and will be released in both 2D and 3D formats across 3,500 screens worldwide.
The soundtrack of Ra.One was composed by Vishal-Shekhar whilst the lyrics were penned by Atahar Panchi, Vishal Dadlani and Kumaar. Director Anubhav Sinha announced that the soundtrack would also feature two songs recorded by Senegalese American R&B singer Akon.
Cast
Shah Rukh Khan
Kareena kapoor
Arjun rampal
Master armaan verma
Shahana goswami
Tom wu
Dalip tahil
Suresh menon
&
Satish shah
Special appearance
Sanjay dutt as the villianous villan - khalnayak
Priyanka chopra as the damsel in distress.
Director
Anubhav sinha
Producer
Gauri khan
Associate producer
(our own super hero)
Sanjiv chawla
Story
Anubhav sinha
Screenplay
Kanika dhillon
David benullo
Mushtaq sheikh
Anubhav sinha
Dialogue
Kanika dhillon
Niranjan iyengar
Director of photography
Nicola pecorini
Uk production coordinator
Mohammed tariq
Production designer
Sabu cyril
Marcus wookey (uk)
Film editor
Martin walsh
Sanjay sharma
Lead vfx supervisor
Jeffery klieser
Vfx supervisor
Haresh hingorani
Vfx producer
Keitan yadav
Vfx studios
Redchillies.vfx
Associate director
Vaibhav misra
First assistant director (uk)
Terry bamber
Second assistant director (uk)
David cain
First assistant director (india)
Sagar shirgaonkar
Jignesh rathod
Executive producer
Anil sable
Rajan vanmali
Swapna david (uk)
Prashant shah (usa)
Line producer
Sameer yusuf khan
Re-recordist
Anoop dev
Sound designer
Resul pookutty (cas, mpse)
Action coordinator
Andy gill & spiro razatos
Stunt co-ordinator (india)
Parvez & feroz
Additional stunts
Kanal kannan
William ong
Music
Vishal & shekhar
Background music
Vishal & shekhar
Lyricists
Atahar panchi
Vishal dadlani
Kumaar
Choreographer
Ganesh hegde
Feroz khan (family song)
Additional cinematography
V.manikandan
Operative cameraman
Onofrio nino pansini
Graham albert hall
Costumes
Anaita shroff adajania
Manish malhotra
(kareena kapoor)
Naresh rohira, masculine
Robert lever (uk)
Ra.one & g.one suits
Robert kurtzman
Costume design
Tim flattery
Producer's consultant (u.k)
Firuzi khan
P.r consultant
Nilufer qureshi (hype)
Film marketing
Karuna badwal
Cfo
Blesson oommen
Publicity designer
Rahul nanda
&
Himanshu nanda
Digital marketing, merchandising & licensing
Shailja gupta
source: orissadiary.com

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US drone strikes kill 4 in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Missiles from US drone aircraft killed four people in a northwestern Pakistani region controlled by the Haqqani militant network yesterday, a day after a similar attack there killed a top commander of the group, Pakistani officials said.

The identities of the dead in the North Waziristan region were not known, the officials said.

The four were riding in a car close to Miran Shah town, the main base of the Haqqani network, when two missiles struck, said the officials, who did not give their names because they were not allowed to brief reporters.

US intelligence believes the Haqqanis are the top threat to security in Afghanistan and that they enjoy the support of the Pakistani Army.

It wants the army to sever its ties and attack the group, something that the government refuses to do. The issue is a main cause of tensions between the two countries.

On Thursday, a missile attack close to Miran Shah killed Janbaz Zadran, who US officials said was a top commander in the network who helped orchestrate attacks in Kabul and southeastern Afghanistan.

They said he was the most senior Haqqani leader in Pakistan to be killed.
source: boston.com

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Occupy Wall Street braces for showdown

Reporting from New York—Wall Street protesters were preparing Thursday for a confrontation with authorities who are expected to enforce new rules in the Lower Manhattan park where the demonstrators have been camped out for almost a month.

The protesters were told to clear out while Brookfield Office Properties Inc., the owner of Zuccotti Park, power-washes the area Friday morning. But company representatives — accompanied by police — handed out leaflets Thursday notifying the protesters that they could return only if they abide by new rules, which include no tents, tarps or sleeping bags on the ground, no lying on benches and no storing of personal property on the ground.

A confrontation also appeared to be brewing in San Diego, where police ordered protesters to remove tents and other property from the plaza behind City Hall by midnight Thursday or face arrest.

Occupy Wall Street's website sent supporters a call for help.

"For those of you who plan to help us hold our ground — which we hope will be all of you — make sure you understand the possible consequences," the post said. "Be prepared to not get much sleep. Be prepared for possible arrest.... We are pursuing all possible strategies; this is a message of solidarity."

The protesters also accused Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of using the cleaning as a ruse to shut down their activity.

A protest spokesman emailed supporters urging them to show up at 6 a.m. Friday "to defend the occupation from eviction."

Some had already tried Thursday to do their part to clean up, washing down benches and the stone flooring and replanting trampled flower beds.
for more detail visit latimes.com

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Train crash in Calif. station injures 16 people

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – An Amtrak train crashed into another train unloading passengers in an Oakland station late Wednesday, injuring 16 people, authorities said.

The train was traveling an estimated 15 to 20 miles per hour when it struck the stationary Amtrak passenger train about 10 p.m., said Oakland Fire Department battalion chief Emon Usher.

Most of the injuries were minor, but several people were taken to local hospitals, Usher said.

Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole described the crash as it as a "low speed" collision between Amtrak's "San Joaquin," a train that operates between Bakersfield to Oakland, and the Coast Starlight, a train from Los Angeles to Seattle

He said the wheels of each lead engine went off the track.

Authorities said there were injured on both trains, but there was no breakdown on how many from each.

Alton Smith, a passenger on one of the trains, told television station KTVU that he felt "an awful jolt" from the impact.

About two hours after the crash, about 50 passengers were gathered inside the train terminal, talking to Amtrak officials, while Amtrak and local officials inspected the two trains.

There was no immediate word on what caused the crash, which is under investigation.

Amtrak officials said train traffic has been temporarily suspended at the station.

Passengers who paid for travel on canceled trains can contact Amtrak to receive refund without fee or penalty, according to Amtrak.

The crash is the second significant incident in two weeks in the San Francisco East Bay area where there were injuries to Amtrak passengers.

source: usatoday.com

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Gunman kills 8 at Seal Beach salon

A gunman apparently enraged over a custody dispute walked into a crowded Seal Beach hair salon where his former wife worked and opened fire, killing eight people and critically wounding another person in the deadliest shooting in Orange County history.

The attacker sprayed Salon Meritage with gunfire Wednesday afternoon as victims fell to the floor and those who could escape ran onto the street or hid in neighboring businesses in the bustling area of trendy restaurants and shops along Pacific Coast Highway, authorities and witnesses said. The gunman continued firing outside, where he shot one man who apparently tried to flee in a Range Rover.

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President Obama jobs bill fails to pass Senate

President Obama loses job bill vote: Sen. Ben Nelson arrives at the Capitol for the vote on President Barack Obama's jobs bill, which later failed in the Democrat-controlled Senate at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday. Nelson did not support the President Obama on the bill.
Senate Republicans voted Tuesday night to kill the jobs package President Barack Obama had spent weeks campaigning for across the country, a stinging loss at the hands of lawmakers opposed to stimulus-style spending and a tax increase on the very wealthy.
The $447 billion plan died on a 50-49 tally that garnered a majority of the 100-member Senate but fell well short of the 60 votes needed to keep the bill alive. The tally had been 51-48, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid switched his vote to "nay" so that he could force a future revote.
The demise of Obama's jobs package was expected, despite his campaign-style efforts to swing the public behind it. The White House and leaders in Congress were already moving on to alternative ways to address the nation's painful 9.1 percent unemployment, including breaking the legislation into smaller, more digestible pieces and approving long-stalled trade bills.
source: csmonitor.com

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£101 million lottery prize won by Cambridgeshire couple

A couple from Cambridgeshire have won the UK's third biggest lottery prize of over £101 million and will go public this afternoon, Camelot said.

The win of £101,203,600.70 makes the couple better off than Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne (£95 million), and Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin (£48 million).

A National Lottery spokesman said they were looking forward to welcoming the winner to the millionaires' club.

The biggest-ever EuroMillions prize was a £161 million jackpot won by Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs, Scotland, earlier this year. In October 2010 an anonymous British winner scooped £113 million in the draw.

The winning numbers were 18, 26, 34, 38 and 42. The Lucky Star numbers were 8 and 5.
source : telegraph.co.uk

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Thousands in Chicago protest financial industry

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Thousands of people including teachers, religious leaders and union workers marched in downtown Chicago on Monday to voice mounting anger over joblessness and income inequality in protests that snarled rush-hour traffic.
Chanting "We are the 99 percent" and "Tax, tax, tax the rich," some demonstrators marched on Michigan Avenue and gathered outside the Chicago Art Institute where a U.S. futures industry trade group was holding an evening cocktail reception.
Others marched outside a luxury hotel near to where the American Mortgage Bankers Association was holding a meeting downtown.
Five separate "feeder marches" -- which converged into one giant march up Michigan Ave -- were inspired by, but not formally affiliated with, the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York last month and sparked smaller protests nationwide.
Police estimated a crowd of around 3,000 protesters at the events, organized by the "Stand Up Chicago" coalition with the stated goal of reclaiming "our jobs, our homes and our schools," according to the group's website.
"We really want to highlight the role the financial industry has played," said Adam Kader of Arise Chicago, an interfaith workers' rights group and part of the coalition.
"They're here in our backyard, so this is the time to send a message about how we're really hurting," he added, saying the demonstration would focus on foreclosures, unemployment and lack of municipal funding for key services.
Police arrested 26 demonstrators, many wearing Chicago Teachers Union T-shirts, who linked arms and sat down in Monroe Street as they chanted "Save our schools, save our homes!" They were ticketed and released. Another demonstrator was arrested and faces a charge of battery on a police officer.
source: ca.reuters.com

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Space-obsessed teenagers sought by YouTube

YouTube is asking space-obsessed teenagers to come up with ideas for science experiments to be carried out in space. Two lucky winners will have their experiments carried out by astronauts on the International Space Station.

Space-obsessed teenagers will be interested in this one. YouTube is working with Chinese computer company Lenovo to give teenagers aged between 14 and 18 the opportunity to have their science experiments live streamed from the International Space Station, 250 miles above Earth.
The competition, called YouTube Space Lab, has been launched by Google-owned YouTube and will be judged by NASA chiefs, astronauts and Professor Stephen Hawking.
Six regional finalists will be brought to Washington, DC in March next year where, in recognition of their efforts, they’ll get to experience a thrilling (and possibly stomach-churning) zero-G weightless flight. They’ll also receive a Lenovo IdeaPad.
At the special event in DC, the two best science experiment ideas will be chosen by the panel of judges. The two winners will have their experiments carried out by astronauts on the International Space Station.
And there are more goodies in store for the two global winners – they can either enjoy a trip to Tanegashima Island in Japan to watch their science experiment blast off in a rocket heading for the International Space Station, or travel to Star City in Russia to take part in an astronaut training session alongside Russian cosmonauts.
YouTube says it hopes the competition will “inspire a new generation of space enthusiasts by allowing them the extraordinary opportunity of becoming real scientists whose research is conducted in space.”
for more detail visit digitaltrends.com

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Former Washington Gov. Rosellini dies at age 101

Former Washington Gov. Albert Rosellini, a son of Italian immigrants who became the oldest living former governor in America, died Monday. He was 101.

A Democrat who always wore a rosebud on his lapel, Rosellini served as governor for eight years ending in 1965. His tenure in office was defined by efforts to reform state prisons and modernize mental health institutions while shepherding through the creation of the 520 floating bridge that now bears his name.

Rosellini's daughter, Lynn, recalled how he was able to connect with voters so quickly because of his ability to identify with average people and his interest in their concerns.

"He always said if he shook somebody's hand it was a vote," Lynn Rosellini said. "He would look at you like there was nobody else in the room."

The family said Rosellini's health had declined in recent weeks because of pneumonia. He died at a retirement community in Seattle.

Albert Dean Rosellini was born in Tacoma in 1910 and developed his characteristic work ethic as a child. He remembered selling newspapers at age 9 while also doing odd jobs for a woman for a penny a day.

He was a boxer in college and took three jobs to put himself through school, working as a butcher in Pike Place Market, working on an Alaska steamer and law clerking.

source: blueridgenow.com

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Apple's future: Trying to outlive an icon

Steve Jobs is gone, leaving behind a void at the company he founded similar to the gaps left by other American visionaries like Walt Disney, Sam Walton, Henry Ford and Ray Kroc upon their passings.
That kind of genius is never replaced -- but companies that lost an iconic leader must decide how to move on.

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The best course of action is not always apparent. The list of companies that lost their way following the exit of a visionary founder is a long one.
Walt Disney Productions, now known as The Walt Disney Co. (DIS, Fortune 500), actually left its founder's desk vacant for years following his 1966 death. The company stayed in the family, and the question, "What would Walt do?" permeated every strategic discussion. Afraid to do anything new, the Disney family unsuccessfully attempted to replicate Walt Disney's vision for two decades.
for more detail visit money.cnn.com

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Wall Street protesters disgusted with both parties

NEW YORK -- Although their main concern is Wall Street practices and economic inequality, some demonstrators in New York and across the U.S. say politicians from both major parties are to blame for policies they say protect corporate America at the expense of the country's middle class.
"At this point I don't see any difference between George Bush and (Barack) Obama. The middle class is a lot worse than when Obama was elected," said John Penley, an unemployed legal worker from Brooklyn.
The Occupy Wall Street movement, which began last month with a small number of young people pitching a tent in front of the New York Stock Exchange, has expanded nationally and drawn a wide variety of activists, including retirees, union members and laid-off workers. As new groups continue to organize, demonstrators Thursday marched in Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Anchorage, Alaska, carrying signs with slogans such as "Get money out of politics" and "I can't afford a lobbyist."
The protests are in some ways the liberal flip side of the tea party movement, which was launched in 2009 in a populist reaction against the bank and auto bailouts and the $787 billion economic stimulus plan.
But while tea party activists eventually became a crucial part of the Republican coalition, the Occupy Wall Street protesters are cutting President Barack Obama little slack. They say Obama failed to crack down on the banks after the 2008 mortgage meltdown and financial crisis.
"He could have taken a much more populist, aggressive stance at the beginning against Wall Street bonuses, and exacting certain change from bailing out the banks," said Michael Kazin, a Georgetown University history professor and author of "American Dreamers," a history of the left. "But ultimately, the economy has not gotten much better, and that's underscored the frustration on both the right and the left."
source: www.forbes.com

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Rescuers find 18 bodies in Indonesia plane crash

The bodies of all 18 people who were on board a plane that crashed into the jungle-covered mountains of western Indonesia were recovered from the wreckage Saturday, rescuers said.

The Spanish-designed CASA C-212 lost contact with air traffic control early Thursday while flying from North Sumatra to Aceh province. Minutes later, it sent out a distress signal, then dropped off the radar.

Rugged, forested terrain and bad weather had prevented rescuers from reaching the crash site by foot, and the wreckage was spotted from a helicopter Friday in the Leuser mountains at an altitude of 5,000 feet (1,524 meters).

Early Saturday, 13 rescuers were lowered from a helicopter by rope to the crash site, following two others who had reached the site just before darkness fell Friday.

"They found the bodies still tied with the seat belt on their seats," Sunarbowo Sandi, head of the local search-and-rescue team, told The Associated Press from his monitoring post in a village near the crash site in the Bahorok region, about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Jakarta.

The bodies included all 14 passengers and four crew members. Four of the dead were children.

Hopes had been raised that there may be survivors after the aircraft was spotted intact with one of its doors open, and rescuers dropped food and medicine down to the crash site.

The victims' relatives, who had been waiting for information, broke down in tears when they learned that their loved ones were found dead.

Read More: chron.com

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Using Twitter to track people's moods

There's a lot you can read about on Twitter — including, it now appears, the patterns of human moods.
After analyzing two years' worth of tweets by 2.4 million people around the world, researchers at Cornell University have concluded that individuals wake up happy but that their mood deteriorates as the day progresses.
That discovery, among others reported Thursday in the journal Science, will interest researchers who are trying to understand how circadian rhythms and other natural influences shape our states of mind. But the study's primary significance may have more to do with its methods than its results.
"We now have the ability to view societies at a massive scale using the Internet," said study leader Scott Golder, a graduate student in sociology at Cornell. "This will open up opportunities for social scientists."
Golder said he intended to use Twitter to study behavior, not emotion. He and a fellow graduate student wrote a computer program that sampled all Twitter user accounts created between February 2008 and April 2009, collecting up to 400 messages from each account.
The program compiled more than half a billion Twitter messages, none longer than 140 characters. Most were written by English speakers and deemed good candidates for analysis with other software. The researchers looked at keywords in the tweets to figure out what people were doing and used timestamps embedded in the tweets to peg those activities to particular times of day and locations around the world.
They surmised that bacon is more popular than sausage (but eaten at the same time of day) and that a television show about someone named "Oprah" aired at 4 p.m. on weekdays. They estimated that it takes seven hours to become inebriated, based on the lag between tweets about "beer" and tweets about being "drunk."
They also figured out that they could search for mood-oriented keywords just as easily as they searched for behavior-oriented ones, Golder said.
The team employed a well-known text analysis program that is often used by researchers to sort words based on their emotional content; it seeks out words such as "happy," "awesome" and "fantastic" that have positive overtones as well as words like "afraid," "remorse" and "fury" that have negative ones. Sure enough, patterns emerged.
More Read: articles.latimes.com

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California man is found alive by his children after wreck

David Lavau’s children drove slowly along the mountain road, stopping to peer over the dropoffs and call out for their missing father.
Then finally a faint cry: “Help! Help!” The voice not only let Lavau’s children find him, it may have resolved another missing-person case.
Six days after his car plunged 200 feet into a ravine, Lavau, 68, was rescued Thursday by his three adult children, who took matters into their own hands after a detective told them his last cellphone signal came from a section of the Angeles National Forest.
And near him they found a body in another car that belonged to a man reported missing 10 days earlier.
As Lavau lay injured in the woods next to his wrecked car, he survived by eating bugs and leaves and drinking creek water, a doctor said.
Lavau was in serious but stable condition Friday at a hospital with three rib fractures, a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm and fractures in his back.
Ranbir Singh, the hospital’s trauma director, said Lavau told him he was driving home on the evening of Sept. 23 when he was temporarily blinded by the headlights of an oncoming car. He braked but failed to gain traction. The car flipped and plunged down the embankment.
It landed near a car belonging to Melvin Gelfand, 88, whose family had reported him missing on Sept. 14. The body found inside could not be visually identified due to decomposition. Gelfand’s son-in-law Will Matlack said the family had been contacted by the coroner’s office, which was trying to match fingerprints or dental records to make a positive identification.
Lavau spent the night in his wrecked car and crawled out in daylight. He found a stream nearby and ate ants, the doctor said. He also found a flare in the other car and tried to light it, but it was expired. He also couldn’t find his cellphone.

Read more: kansascity.com

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Ceremony honors old, new Joint Chiefs chairmen

With full military fanfare -- gun salutes, fife and drum corps, brass bands, a flyover and presidential praise -- the nation bid farewell to its top military man and honored his successor Friday.
Adm. Mike Mullen has been Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, the president's top military adviser, since October of 2007.
Army Gen. Marty Dempsey takes his place.
"As the new secretary of defense, I am confident of the future because we have the strongest military force in our history -- and it is strong because we can replace one great warrior with another," Leon Panetta said during the 90-minute Hail and Farwell ceremony on the Fort Myer parade ground across the river from Washington..
It wasn't just the October sun that brightened the day for Mullen. It was also the lengthy praise from the president and from the military he had served for 43 years, as well as the day's latest success in the terrorism fight -- the successful take-down of al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki.
Obama pointed to Mullen's leadership, from all the advice he provided in the Oval Office about the nation's two wars, to his crucial testimony to Congress that the country should end its ban on gays and lesbians serving open in the military. "Mike, as you look back at your four consequential years as chairman and your four decades in uniform, be assured: Our military is stronger and our nation is more secure because of the service that you have rendered."
Mullen, the son of a Hollywood publicist, is a master of self-deprecating humor. He drew laughter from the crowd when he told a story of how he had been mistakenly identified at a party as the former general, and now CIA director, David Petraeus. And he said that White House meetings went better if participants didn't criticize the president's baseball team, the Chicago White Sox.
"And he really likes it when you laugh at his jokes. It just makes the meeting go better." Mullen said.
Mullen never misses a chance to make a point, hammering a favorite theme, that the American public must become more connected to its military personnel when they come home, giving them a chance, a job, an education.
"Welcome them back to those places, not with bands and bunting or yellow ribbons, but with the solemn recognition that they have done your bidding, they have represented you well, they have carried the best of you and of this country into battle," Mullen said. "They have done things and seen things and bear things in their souls that you cannot know."
Panetta praised Mullen's hard work and dogged persistence. "His leadership, his influence, his honest candor, his compassion and his outspoken concern for our troops have set an exceptionally high standard for the responsibilities and performance of a chairman of the Joint Chiefs," Panetta said.
for more detail visit cnn.com

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Bilal Sharif Birthday Party

لاہور کے معروف بزنس مین اور ہاٹی ناٹی ویب ساٹس کے مالک اور ریکارڈ یافتہ رکشہ چیکر ڈیز مسٹر بلال شریف عرف بلا ھوشاری آج اپنے پیارے اور خیر خواہ دوستوں کے ہمراہ اپنی سالگرہ منایں گے۔ جس میں تمام زند دلان لاہور کو دعوت عام دی جاتی ہے کہ وہ آج  پانچ بجے گلشن پارک کے وسیع و عریض گھاس والے پلاٹ  میں جمع ہو جایں۔اور اپنے ساتھ تحفے تحاف ضرور لے کر آیں۔ لنگر کا وسیع انتظام ہو گا۔ مہمان خصوصی لاہور کے معروف فنکارطاہر چمٹے والا شرکت فرمایں گے اور اپنے جوشیلے انداز سے فن کا مظاہرہ کریں گے۔ وقت کی پابندی کا خیال رکھیں۔ اور یاد رہے اس پارٹی میں لاہور کے معروف بزنس مینز تشریف فرما رہے ہیں

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FBI's terrorism search goes undersea

They search the ocean depths hunting for evidence left by predators deadlier than great white sharks.
They are members of the FBI's Technical Dive Team, an elite group of special agents tracking terrorism underwater.
Starting next year, this 10-member team could be called on to search for evidence left behind by international terrorists in water contaminated by chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear waste.
"There have been enough scenarios recently," says team member Supervisory Special Agent James Tullbane, citing the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, which began when terrorists entered the port city by boat.
"If you look at Mumbai and you look at various international incidents that occurred where there's attacks on American civilians or attacks on American interests where water has been involved, ... we determined that we really do need to expand our capabilities."
A year ago, the FBI created the Technical Dive Team with a primary mission of gathering evidence after a terrorist attack to help find and prosecute those responsible.
The team's ability to operate in contaminated water and to dive at extreme depths sets these divers apart from the FBI's existing Underwater Search and Evidence Response Teams.
A large part of the Technical Dive Team's training is focused on diving in hazardous materials, Tullbane says. Instead of air tanks, the divers use a hose connected to a surface supply system.
"It not only provides the air, it collects the air that you exhale and brings it back to the surface," says Michael Tyms, the team's program manager.
for more deatai visit cnn.com

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Two-faced cat claims Record

We all know cats have nine lives, but ... two faces?

Meet Frank and Louie, a rare cat known as a Janus who has earned a place in the 2012 Guinness World Records book as the oldest-living two-faced feline. 
Luckily for Frank and Louie's owner, who according to media reports lives in Worcester, Mass., the cat has only one stomach and one brain, so he doesn't require extra food to fill two bellies and has no split personality issues. He eats with just one of two mouths and does not have to worry about his three eyes making life confusing. Only two of them -- one on each face -- work, while the middle one just stares ahead, giving Frank and Louie perfect vision despite the somewhat cyclops-like appearance.
But love is blind, and Frank and Louie's owner loves him -- or them -- so much that she may have contributed to the cat's unusually long life.
When she rescued Frank and Louie from being euthanized 12 years ago, Marty -- who asked not to have her last name published for privacy's sake -- was warned that such cats rarely survive long because of problems linked to their condition, which is the result of a congenital defect, according to various media reports. But she "stood by the cat, and I'm really glad she did because this cat really has fewer problems than many cats that have very normal anatomies," said Armelle deLaforcade, head of the emergency services section at Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, the Associated Press reported.

Marty was working there 12 years ago when the cat's owner brought the animal in to be euthanized. She brought him home and spent three months feeding him through tubes. As he grew, she said Frank and Louis developed a "very, very laid back" personality and is more dog-like than cat-like. He walks on a leash and loves riding in the car, she said while stroking the cat's silky coat. "Every day is kind of a blessing."
The technical term for the cat's condition is craniofacial duplication, or diprosopia, which can cause part or all of an individual's face to be duplicated. Such cats are called Janus, after the Roman god with two faces.
source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

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China's space ambition soars

China on Thursday launched its first space laboratory module, marking another step upward for its space program.
"We must soberly recognize that China's space-station technology is still in its initial stage, compared to those of the U.S. and Russia," said a commentary from the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
"But the launch of Tiangong-1 is the beginning of China's efforts to narrow the gap."
China-watchers agree.
"The test reflects China's technological advances, funded by its rapid economic growth and facilitated by the military's ballistic missile program," says Taylor Fravel, associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The unmanned space-lab is an 8-ton module named Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace." That's what the Chinese called outer space in ancient times.
Tiangong-1 is designed to stay in space for two years and is expected to dock with an unmanned spacecraft in November.
for more detail visit cnn.com

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Amazon unveils $199 Kindle Fire tablet and $79 e-ink Kindle

After months of speculation, it's here: Amazon's tablet, the $199 Kindle Fire, was unveiled Wednesday.
Smaller and cheaper than Apple's dominant iPad, the Kindle Fire has a 7-inch display and runs on a heavily customized version of Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) Android operating system. The tablet offers Wi-Fi connectivity, but no 3G or other cellular connection. It also lacks a camera and microphone, two features found in most rival tablets.

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But the Kindle Fire isn't trying to be an all-in-one computing device. Amazon's focus is on media consumption, like reading books and magazines as well as watching video and streaming music. The tablet includes a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime, the company's $79-a-year service that includes two-day shipping and some free streaming video access.
Priced at less than half the $499 starting price of an iPad, the Kindle Fire aims to undercut Apple's wildly popular tablet, which has sold 28 million units since its 2010 debut. The iPad's momentum is picking up: Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) sold a record 9.3 million iPads in its latest quarter.
Amazon will begin taking Kindle Fire orders on Wednesday, and will start shipping the device on November 15. At $199, the device will be slightly cheaper than Barnes & Noble's similar Nook Color, a $249 tablet that made its debut 11 months ago.
"We're making millions of these," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos told the audience at a New York City press conference.
for more detail visit cnn.com

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Saudi king revokes flogging of female driver

Saudi King Abdullah has revoked a flogging sentence for a woman who allegedly flouted the conservative kingdom's strict rules that prohibit women from driving a car, two sources with knowledge of the case said Wednesday.
Amnesty International said a Saudi woman was sentenced to 10 lashes for getting behind the wheel, and had urged the dismantling of the "whole system of women's subordination."
Authorities are not expected to release an official statement, but the woman will not be sentenced, according to a source close to the Royal Court.
A source connected to the country's Interior Ministry also confirmed the revocation.
The move comes just as the country's ruling elite promised greater political participation for women in the Islamic nation.
On Sunday, King Abdullah announced two changes for women that would be historic for Saudi Arabia. He said women will be allowed to serve as members of the Shura Council, the appointed consultative council that advises the king.
for more detail visit edition.cnn.com

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Why would anyone want to be president?

I'm struck by one big question as I watch the Republican presidential candidates battle each other while President Obama tries to win re-election: Why does anyone want to be president?
It's like auditioning to be bandleader on the Titanic. And yes, I said bandleader and not captain because the captain of a ship has more of an impact on the direction of a voyage than President Obama, or any president who might follow him, can have in our hyperpolarized political climate.
With the onslaught of problems he faces today, I wouldn't be shocked if in the coming weeks President Obama appeared on national TV and declared: "I have an important announcement: I was actually born in Kenya. Joe Biden you take over, I'm outta here!"
But he won't quit. Instead, he will raise close to a billion dollars for his re-election campaign. Meanwhile, the Republican presidential candidates will viciously fight each other, like gladiators in the Roman Coliseum -- which, frankly, the past two Republican debates resembled. The audience jeered and booed, with some at times even applauding the death penalty and cheering the notion of allowing a person with no health insurance to die. All that was missing was a thumbs up or down from the crowd indicating if a candidate should be executed. (This, too, would undoubtedly have been met with cheers.)
for more detail visit edition.cnn.com

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Jennifer Lopez 'rising above' divorce, Randy Jackson says

Jennifer Lopez is back to work on "American Idol" -- and she's not letting personal drama get in the way.
"We've been doing auditions and she's rising above," Lopez's fellow judge Randy Jackson, 55, told PEOPLE Saturday at Las Vegas's iHeartRadio Music Festival, where both he and Lopez performed. "She's strong, she's a trooper, she's a great girl. She's amazing."
Since announcing her split with husband Marc Anthony, Lopez appears to be in good spirits, even recently joining Anthony poolside at Miami.
On Saturday, though, Lopez, 42, did what she does best: performing. During her 25-minute set, Lopez seemed energetic, jumping around the stage with her dancers and singing a medley of her hits.
"I don't want to see anyone trying to act cool around here," she told the crowd. "I want to see you dancing and jumping and singing and acting like a fool."
It certainly seems as though Lopez, who let loose later that night at Pure nightclub, is, indeed, enjoying the single life. But if she ever needs anything, Jackson said the Idol family always has her back.
"Whatever help we need to give, we'll give her," he said
for more detail visit edition.cnn.com

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More than 2,900 convicted criminal immigrants arrested, ICE says

In a huge, seven-day operation covering all 50 states and four U.S. territories, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested 2,901 convicted criminal immigrants as part of the "Cross Check" enforcement operation, ICE officials announced Wednesday.
ICE officials trumpeted the arrests at a news conference designed to highlight "the Obama administration's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators."
ICE Director John Morton said all those arrested had prior criminal convictions, including 1,282 who had multiple convictions. More than 1,600 of those arrested had felony convictions including manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, drug trafficking, child abuse, sexual crimes against minors and aggravated assault. Forty-two of them were gang members and 151 were convicted sex offenders, officials said.
ICE officials acknowledged that despite the large number of arrests, there were still an estimated 1 million convicted criminal aliens in the United States. Morton said one of the issues ICE is trying to deal with is the lack of notification to immigration authorities when offenders are released from jail.
Most of the people detained -- 2,642 -- were men. Those arrested came from 115 countries, with immigration fugitives accounting for 681 of those detained in the operation, Morton said. Of the people arrested, 386 were illegal re-entrants.
"The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE's ongoing commitment and focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens and those that game our nation's immigration system," Morton in a statement released before the news conference. "Because of the tireless efforts and teamwork of ICE officers and agents in tracking down at large criminal aliens and fugitives, there are 2,901 fewer criminal aliens in our neighborhoods across the country."
for more detail visit cnn.com

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Michael Jackson killed himself with drugs

Los Angeles: Jurors in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor Tuesday heard dramatic opening statements and a startling recording of the pop singer, his words slow and slurred as he talks about his planned comeback concerts.
Prosecutors portrayed Dr. Conrad Murray as motivated by money, while the defense contended Murray's superstar client self-administered a fatal mix of drugs. Witnesses gave varying accounts of Jackson's condition as he prepared for the shows in London.
Murray abandoned "all principles of medical care" in attending to Jackson, prosecutor David Walgren said in his opening statement.
Defense attorney Ed Chernoff countered, saying Jackson's death was "tragic, but the evidence will not show that Dr. Murray did it."
Murray acquired massive quantities of the powerful surgical anesthetic propofol to help Jackson sleep, giving him a final dose of the drug after a long, restless night when the singer begged for help sleeping, according to recordings played by prosecutors.
Murray gave in to Jackson's demands not because it was the right medical decision, but because he was motivated by a $150,000 a month contract to serve as Jackson's doctor, Walgren said.
"The evidence in this case will show that Michael Jackson trusted his life to the medical skills of Conrad Murray, unequivocally that that misplaced trust had far too high a price to pay," Walgren said. "That misplaced trust in the hands of Conrad Murray cost Michael Jackson his life."
for more detail visit cnn.com

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Health Insurance Costs Rising Sharply This Year in U.S.A.

The cost of health insurance for many Americans this year climbed more sharply than in previous years, outstripping any growth in workers’ wages and adding more uncertainty about the pace of rising medical costs.
A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit research group that tracks employer-sponsored health insurance on a yearly basis, shows that the average annual premium for family coverage through an employer reached $15,073 in 2011, an increase of 9 percent over the previous year.
“The open question is whether that’s a one-time spike or the start of a period of higher increases,” said Drew Altman, the chief executive of the Kaiser foundation.
The steep increase in rates is particularly unwelcome at a time when the economy is still sputtering and unemployment continues to hover at about 9 percent. Many businesses cite the high cost of coverage as a factor in their decision not to hire, and health insurance has become increasingly unaffordable for more Americans. Over all, the cost of family coverage has about doubled since 2001, when premiums averaged $7,061, compared with a 34 percent gain in wages over the same period.
How much the new federal health care law pushed by President Obama is affecting insurance rates remains a point of debate, with some analysts suggesting that insurers have raised prices in anticipation of new rules that would, in 2012, require them to justify any increase of more than 10 percent.
In addition to increases caused by insurers getting ahead of potential costs, some of the law’s provisions that are already in effect -- like coverage for adult children up to 26 years of age and prevention services like mammogram screening -- have contributed to higher expenses for some employers.
The Kaiser survey includes both big and small companies using employer-sponsored coverage representing about 60 percent of all insured Americans of working age. The annual growth in premiums, according to the survey, had slowed in recent years to 5 percent, rising just 3 percent in 2010, in part due to the lingering effects of the recession. After years of double-digit increases, the moderation was a welcome relief.
The unexpected increase in premiums raises questions about whether health care costs are, in fact, stabilizing at all, as people have postponed going to the doctor or dentist and have put off expensive procedures. “No one quite knows,” said Mr. Altman.
Throughout this year, major health insurers have defended higher premiums — and higher profits — saying that their expenses would rise once the economy recovered and people believed they could again afford medical care. The struggling economy will probably keep suppressing demand for medical care, particularly as people pay a larger share of their own medical bills through higher deductibles and co-payments, according to benefits consultants and others. About three-quarters of workers now pay part of the bill when they go see a doctor, and nearly a third have a deductible of at least $1,000 if they have single coverage, up from just one in 10 in 2006, according Kaiser.
for more detail visit nytimes.com

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