BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Car bombs in busy Shi'ite Muslim areas of southern Iraq killed at least 18 people on Monday, medics and police sources said, taking the week's death toll to nearly 200 as sectarian violence intensifies.
Militant attacks have increased as the civil war in neighboring Syria puts further strains on fragile Sunni-Shi'ite relations, and tensions are at their highest since U.S. troops left Iraq more than a year ago.
Security forces' raid on a Sunni protest camp near Kirkuk last Tuesday triggered clashes that quickly spread to other Sunni areas in western and northern provinces.
The first of two blasts in Amara, 300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad, ripped through a market where people were meeting to eat breakfast, and the second hit an area where laborers were gathering to look for daily work.
At least nine people were killed and 40 wounded in the Amara explosions, the sources said.
Another car bomb exploded in a market in Diywaniya, 150 km south of Baghdad, killing two people, police said.
"I was preparing to go to work when a big explosion shook my house and broke the glass in all the windows," said Woody Jasim. "I ran outside, the explosion was near my house and bodies were everywhere," he said.
A bomb in a parked car went off near a busy market in Kerbala, killing at least three people and a further four people were killed in an explosion near a Shi'ite worship site in Mahmudiya, about 30 km south of Baghdad.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but car and suicide bombings are trademarks of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda's Iraq wing, the Islamic State of Iraq.
Sunnis have been protesting since December against what they see as marginalization since the U.S.-led invasion overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003 and empowered majority Shi'ites.
The demonstrations had eased in the past month, but this week's army raid on a protest camp in Hawija, near Kirkuk, 170 km north of Baghdad, stoked Sunni anger and appears to have given insurgents more momentum.
(Reporting by Aref Mohammed in Basra, Kareem Raheem in Baghdad and Emad al-Khuzaie in Diywaniya; Writing by Suadad al-Salhy; Editing by Louise Ireland and Isabel Coles)
NEW YORK (AP) ? JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Sunday that one of its co-chief operating officers is leaving the company, marking the latest high-profile departure since the bank's massive trading loss last year.
Frank Bisignano will become CEO of payment processor First Data Corp. on Monday. Matt Zames, who was co-chief operating officer with Bisignano, will become the sole COO of JPMorgan Chase effective immediately.
First Data said Bisignano, 53, succeeds Ed Labry, who has been interim CEO and president of Retail and Alliance Services since Jan. 28. Labry will continue as president of Retail and Alliance Services.
Bisignano and Zames were named co-chief operating officers in a management reshuffle in July after JPMorgan Chase revealed a trading loss of about $6 billion. The massive loss became a focus of the risky bets taken at large banks and oversight of traders who make those bets. It also prompted congressional hearings, as well as investigations by international regulators.
Others called for the resignation of CEO Jamie Dimon, who initially called the trade a "tempest in a teapot." Dimon later backtracked and apologized several times for the mischaracterization after the scope of the loss was revealed.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Bisignano would be the ninth executive in the past year and a half to leave Dimon's operating committee of key decision makers.
Dimon and Bisignano have known each other since the 1980s, according to the Journal, and worked together at Citibank.
Before he was named co-chief operating officer this summer, Zames had taken over as chief investment officer for Ina Drew, who resigned in the days after the big trading loss was revealed.
JPMorgan also said Sunday that Paul Compton will become chief administrative officer. He is currently co-chief administrative officer of the Corporate & Investment Bank and deputy head of operations for JPMorgan Chase.
Louis Rauchenberger, who shares Compton's current role, will become sole chief administrative officer of the Corporate and Investment Bank.
If an 8-inch stylus-enabled Galaxy Note wasn't your cup of tea, perhaps Samsung's new 7-inch model will hit your screen-size sweet spot. The Galaxy Tab 3 has gone official and the third iteration of the company's first Android tablet arrives with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 8GB or 16GB of storage (with expansion up to 64GB), a 3- and 1.3-megapixel camera array and a substantial 4,000mAh battery. That 7-inch WSVGA (1,024 x 600) TFT display suggests it's likely to be a keenly-priced slate, although we're still waiting to hear on specifics. Samsung's loaded up the Galaxy Tab 3 with Android 4.1 and says that the WiFi version will launch "globally" in May, while an incoming 3G model (no LTE at this point, but it'll be able to make calls) will follow in June.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Sunday Matt Zames will fully assume the role of chief operating officer as his former partner in the job leaves, which was part of the latest management shakeup at the biggest U.S. bank.
Zames, who has been seen as a strong candidate to succeed the bank's Chief Executive and Chairman Jamie Dimon, had been co-chief operating officer with Frank Bisignano, the New York-based bank said in a statement.
In the latest move, Zames now has sole responsibility in another critical senior post at JPMorgan.
As well as being a co-chief operating officer, the 42-year old Zames has been its chief investment officer since May. The former hedge fund trader replaced Ina Drew - a three-decade veteran at the bank - who retired following a costly trading debacle.
Zames "is a proven business executive, who has performed exceptionally well since coming into his corporate role in May of last year. He'll continue to have an important impact on our company," Dimon said in a statement.
As earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal, Bisignano will leave JPMorgan's senior ranks to head payroll processor First Data Corp . Bisignano played a major role in the bank's effort to get back on track after suffering a loss of more than $6 billion due to soured, risky bets.
Bisignano was the ninth executive to leave the bank's operating committee in the past 1-1/2 years, according to the paper.
First Data announced Bisignano's appointment as its chief executive officer effective Monday, after the Journal report.
Of Bisignano, Dimon said, "I have worked with Frank for many years, and he has proven himself time and again as a highly talented executive willing to take on difficult challenges and get the job done."
Other changes in the bank's latest management shuffle involved the co-chief administrative officers of corporate and investment banking, which have been held by Paul Compton and Louis Rauchenberger.
Compton will become the chief administrative officer of JPMorgan Chase and report to Zames, while Rauchenberger will become the sole chief administrative officer of corporate and investment banking, the bank said.
(Additional reporting by David Henry; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock market finished lower on Friday as natural resource stocks slumped and market sentiment soured following U.S. economic growth data that fell short of expectations. U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5 percent rate, an increase from the fourth quarter's dismal 0.4 percent pace but shy of the 3 percent growth analysts were hoping for. The weaker-than-expected data in Canada's biggest trading partner weighed on Canadian stocks.
Ethiopian Airlines first to fly 787 Dreamliner since grounding
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopian Airlines on Saturday became the world's first carrier to resume flights with Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner passenger jets, a Reuters witness said, three months after they were grounded over battery meltdowns. U.S. regulators approved a new battery design last week, clearing the way for installation and a resumption of Dreamliner flights by international carriers.
Italy court rejects seizure of Nomura assets in Monte Paschi probe: sources
SIENA, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian judge has rejected an order to seize around 1.8 billion euros ($2.3 billion) of assets from Nomura as part of a probe into suspected fraud involving troubled lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena, a judicial and a legal source said on Saturday. Prosecutors in Siena are investigating risky derivatives trades that have endangered the survival of Monte Paschi, the world's oldest bank.
Vodafone investors want bigger bid or full takeover by Verizon
LONDON (Reuters) - Six major Vodafone investors said $100 billion was not enough for the British company's stake in its U.S. joint venture with Verizon Communications , and urged the latter to come up with an offer of at least $120 billion. Their comments followed a Reuters report on Wednesday that Verizon had hired advisers to prepare a possible $100 billion bid to buy Vodafone's 45 percent stake in their Verizon Wireless joint venture, likely to be structured as a roughly 50:50 cash and stock bid.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Global miner Vale SA signed an agreement with the Argentine government on Friday that will allow the Brazilian company to leave the $6 billion Rio Colorado potash mining project, a company spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday. The agreement could put an end to months of uncertainty for Vale , which suspended work on the fertilizer project in December and announced its intention to pull out in March.
Boeing ready to build seven Dreamliners a month by mid-year
TOKYO (Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Saturday it is ready to build seven 787 Dreamliners a month from mid-year and is still on course for 10 per month by the end of the year. On Friday, Japanese authorities gave Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways the green light to fly the grounded Dreamliner following U.S. approval.
Renault hopes to have approval for Chinese plant by summer: CEO
PARIS (Reuters) - Renault-Nissan hopes to receive final approval from Beijing by the summer to build its first Renault plant in China, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said on Saturday. Ghosn had said last month he expected final government approval for the plant by the end of the year.
TransCanada sees Keystone XL delayed till second-half 2015
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp , Canada's No. 2 pipeline company, said on Friday the long wait for U.S. government approval of its controversial Keystone XL project will further delay completion of the pipeline and push its cost above the company's $5.3 billion estimate. TransCanada, which reported a 27 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Friday, is waiting for the Obama administration to issue a presidential permit for construction of the line, which is designed to carry 830,000 barrels a day of Canadian and U.S. crude oil to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico coast.
U.S. sues Novartis over kickbacks
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday announced its second civil fraud lawsuit against Novartis AG in four days, accusing a unit of the Swiss drugmaker of paying multimillion-dollar kickbacks to doctors in exchange for prescribing its drugs. Authorities said the Basel-based company for a decade lavished healthy speaking fees and "opulent" meals, including a nearly $10,000 dinner for three at the Japanese restaurant, Nobu, to induce doctors to prescribe its drugs.
Volkswagen committed to European plants: CEO
VIENNA (Reuters) - German carmaker Volkswagen will keep its plants in Europe despite weak markets in the region that will require flexible manufacturing and could entail cuts to temporary staff, Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said. Winterkorn had told shareholders in Europe's top carmaker on Thursday to brace for a tough year given faltering European consumer demand that is punishing the sector.
AAA??Apr. 27, 2013?11:58 PM ET PHOTOS: Politics, press and stars mix at dinner By The Associated Press??By The Associated Press
First lady Michelle Obama and late-night television host and comedian Conan O'Brien gesture to his tie at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
First lady Michelle Obama and late-night television host and comedian Conan O'Brien gesture to his tie at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Late-night television host Conan O'Brien, from left, first lady Michelle Obama, Michael Clemente, Executive Vice President of Fox News, and President Barack Obama attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Director Steven Spielberg uses his smart phone during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Christi Parsons, White House correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Tribune newspaper chain, from left, Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Michael Scherer, White House correspondent for TIME, late-night television host Conan O'Brien and first lady Michelle Obama attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
There were Republicans mixing with Democrats, journalists talking to Hollywood celebrities who play reporters or politicians and, of course, President Barack Obama. The president and headliner Conan O'Brien traded barbs about each other and many of those attending the annual star-studded White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Here are some images from the evening's festivities:
Many of the nation's 440 military bases were established in what were once sparsely populated hinterlands where soldiers trained without complaints from neighbors about the roar of warplanes and the sound of gunfire and explosions.
Now, with urban sprawl pushing up against perimeter fences, the U.S. Department of Defense has quietly become a major protector of wilderness and ranch lands. Working with conservation organizations and local governments, its Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative has helped buy nearly $1 billion worth of land to create buffer zones around 64 military bases where development threatened to encroach on combat training.
The program has been a boon for conservation, creating more than 260,000 acres of new sanctuaries ? off limits to development in perpetuity ? for some of the rarest plants and animals on earth: the California red-legged frog, the Pacific pocket mouse, the Chorro creek bog thistle and, in North Carolina, rare longleaf pine habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker.
"This is one of the fastest-growing federal conservation programs to protect habitat and land ? but that is not why we are doing it," said Nancy Natoli, spokeswoman for the program. "Our mission is to train war fighters."
Judged by its founding mission, the eight-year-old program has been a success. From Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Oceanside to Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Florida's northwest panhandle, military bases are transforming themselves into places where nature and combat training prosper.
Nationwide, the Defense Department has spent $300 million in cost-sharing agreements with partners who acquired land and conservation easements to protect military testing and training capabilities.
In California, recent acquisitions include hundreds of acres of untrammeled desert near the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center and Joshua Tree National Park. The land was needed to secure live-fire training.
Near Sacramento, the program obtained a cattle ranch outside Beale Air Force Base that had been targeted for a 5,000-home development. The Army's Camp Roberts in Central California partnered with the Ag Land Trust to acquire conservation easements on adjacent grazing lands and vineyards.
The Army's Camp San Luis Obispo has buffered itself from the growth of subdivisions in the nearby city of San Luis Obispo. The Pentagon's program helped buy 1,342 acres worth about $4.3 million, protecting habitat for endangered red-legged frogs and Southern steelhead trout.
At Vandenberg Air Force Base north of Santa Barbara, where the median home price is about $3 million, the military joined with the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County a year ago to buy 171 acres for $3.4 million. As a launch site for nuclear missiles and government satellites, the base faced issues including the possibility of errant launches, falling debris and toxic clouds.
Under terms of that agreement, the Santa Barbara County Parks Department owns the land, The Land Conservancy holds a conservation easement on the property and, on launch days, the military maintains the right to evacuate the area.
On a recent weekday, a group of conservationists gathered on a ridgeline. On one side stood Vandenberg's no-trespassing signs. The other side offered sweeping views of the old Tognazzini ranch, where it seems as though nothing has changed since it was homesteaded in 1897.
Long, lazy breakers crashed on the base of sandy bluffs and dunes. Streams spilled out of arroyos and into estuaries teeming with shorebirds. Swallowtail butterflies hovered over coastal sage scrub.
Without the Defense Department's contribution of about $890,000, "the transaction would not have been possible because we had exhausted our funding sources," said Kaila Dettman, executive director of The Land Conservancy. "So it's mission accomplished: there will never be homes, hotels or large structures of any kind on this land."
That is just what Herbert Tognazzini, who died a year ago at the age of 99, hoped would eventually become of the property that was once was a working cattle ranch.
"Dad always said, 'Susie, this land should belong to everyone; it should not be developed,'" recalled Susan Duran, 60, one of 42 family members who sold the property a year ago for its appraised value.
After the sale, Duran visited the area to relive cherished memories ? and deliver a message. Standing in a meadow bright with wildflowers, Duran looked out at the breakers and whispered, "Dad, it's saved. The land belongs to everyone."
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Flowers placed by well-wishers surround a portrait of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher outside her home in Belgravia, London, Monday, April 8, 2013. Margaret Thatcher, the combative "Iron Lady" who infuriated European allies, found a fellow believer in Ronald Reagan and transformed her country by a ruthless dedication to free markets in 11 bruising years as prime minister, died Monday. She was 87 years old. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Flowers placed by well-wishers surround a portrait of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher outside her home in Belgravia, London, Monday, April 8, 2013. Margaret Thatcher, the combative "Iron Lady" who infuriated European allies, found a fellow believer in Ronald Reagan and transformed her country by a ruthless dedication to free markets in 11 bruising years as prime minister, died Monday. She was 87 years old. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Israel's President Shimon Peres, right, meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the President's residence in Jerusalem, Monday, April, 8, 2013. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is looking to breathe new life into dormant Mideast peace talks in meetings Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli and Palestinian officials, amid talk of modifying a decade-old Arab plan that's long been greeted with skepticism by the Jewish state. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, Pool)
FILE - This 1955 file photo provided by Walt Disney Co., shows Annette Funicello, a "Mouseketeer" on Walt Disney's TV series the "Mickey Mouse Club." Walt Disney Co. says, Monday, April 8, 2013, that Funicello, also known for her beach movies with Frankie Avalon, has died at age 70. (AP Photo/Walt Disney Co., File)
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday:
1. HOW THATCHER WILL BE REMEMBERED
During 11 remarkable years, she imposed her will on a fractious, rundown Britain ? leaving behind a leaner government and a more prosperous nation.
2. A BIG WEEK FOR OBAMA
Gun control, immigration and the administration's long-delayed budget plan are in the spotlight on Capitol Hill.
3. WHICH AIRLINE IS FLYING HIGHEST
Virgin America did the best job for its customers among leading U.S. airlines last year, a report says.
4. KERRY: GIVE PEACE A CHANCE
Traveling in the Mideast, the secretary of state pitches a new and ambitious peace plan to Israel and the Palestinians.
5. TROUBLE AT GUANTANAMO
Lawyers say most of the 166 prisoners there have joined a months-long hunger strike. U.S. officials put the number at 42, with 11 being force-fed.
6. BID TO ARM TEACHERS STALLS
Since the Connecticut massacre, only South Dakota has passed a law allowing school personnel to carry guns.
7. WHERE ASSAD IS DRAWING THE LINE
The regime rejects a U.N. request to investigate alleged chemical weapons attacks by both sides ? not just the opposition ? in Syria's civil war.
8. 'ALARM FATIGUE' CAN BE DEADLY
Caregivers often stop paying attention to the constant beeps from devices that monitor vital signs, a hospital group warns.
9. ANNETTE FUNICELLO DIES AT 70
"The Mickey Mouse Club" child star gained fame in such fun-in-the-sun '60s movies as "Beach Blanket Bingo."
10. FOR COLLEGE HOOPS, ONE UGLY SEASON
Scoring hasn't been this low in decades, notes the AP's Eddie Pells. And foul calls are way down, which can turn games into unwatchable wrestling matches.
With remembrances of the late prime minister dominating the press, it is easy to forget the economic woes and issues of identity that gripped Britain in the years preceding her rule.
By Ryan Lenora Brown,?Correspondent / April 9, 2013
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reviews the honor guard at the White House in Washington, as President Jimmy Carter follows, in December 1979.
Gerald Penny/AP/File
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?BRITAIN AT THE CROSSROADS,? blared a Monitor headline in July 1978, less than a year before Margaret Thatcher became the country?s prime minister. ?Are law and order wilting??
Skip to next paragraph Ryan Lenora Brown
Correspondent
Ryan Brown edits the Africa Monitor blog and contributes to the national and international news desks of the Monitor. She is a former Fulbright fellow to South Africa and holds a degree in history from Duke University.?
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?Political, labor storms grow louder in Britain,? warned another, in January 1979.
?Britons? patience ? wears thin,? read a third.
As both tributes to Mrs. Thatcher and attacks on her leadership have poured in since her death, it is easy to forget the near-crisis that gripped Britain in the years preceding her rule, as the economy sagged under the weight of rampant inflation and broad unemployment. During the winter of 1978-79, just before the Tories swept to power, strikes rippled across the public sector ? the infamous British ?Winter of Discontent? ?? ?in response to a government wage cap.
Meanwhile, as nationalist rumblings rose in Scotland and parliament debated stricter limits on immigration, England seemed to be descending into a crisis of confidence about its very Englishness.
As a look through Monitor archives show, this was the deeply divided Britain that Thatcher and her Conservative Party took control of in May 1979 ? beleaguered and world-weary, its patience for government tanking and its economy on shaky ground. ?
As the Monitor?s Takashi Oka reported, ?
In London?s Golden Square, behind fashionable Regent Street, a gardener lovingly tends his neatly trimmed rosebushes surrounding an Everest-high pile of black plastic rubbish bags. A cleaner from one of the smart offices surrounding the square drags over a roll of carpeting to add to the base of the towering pyramid.
Two weeks? worth of uncollected garbage is the most visible sign of the labor discontent that grips strike-weary Britain this winter.? With hundreds of schools closed, more than a thousand hospitals reduced to emergency operations only, and wage demands spreading on numerous fronts, the hard-pressed Labour government, with traditionally close ties to the unions, is facing an increasingly embittered public.
What is the government doing about all this? Why must it mollycoddle the trade unions so? Why doesn?t it show some firmness for a change?
These questions, in essence, sum up the opposition Conservative Party?s challenge to Prime Minister James Callaghan and his Labour Cabinet.?(?Britons? patience with strikes wears thin,? Feb. 8, 1979)
The strikes were just the last spasm of the economic malaise of 1970s Britain, which featured high unemployment and double-digit inflation. In Sept. 1976, Mr. Oka noted that nearly 1.5 million Britons ? 6.2 percent of the working population ? were unemployed (?Soaring joblessness challenges Britain,? Sept. 22, 1976), a number that held roughly as national elections approached (?more than 1.5 million? in ?Sunny Jim and Iron Lady about to face off in Britain,? Sept. 7 1978). Inflation averaged around 13 percent throughout the ?70s, peaking at 25 percent.
Meanwhile, as the parties debated across the aisle in Parliament, Britain also revisited its own place in Europe.
Hamilton, Scotland ? The integrity of the United Kingdom is being challenged.
It is under attack from within by the Scottish and Welsh nationalists and, in a somewhat different context, by the Northern Ireland Unionists.
It is also under attack from without, as the sovereignty of the traditional nation-state is eroded in small ? but not insignificant ? chunks by membership in the nine-nation European Community (EC). ?
Is this old continent, where the modern nation-state was born and where it fought some of mankind?s most disastrous wars, to see its gradual transformation into something neither fish nor fowl, a kind of hybrid in which the trappings of sovereignty remain but much of the content is gone.
And if such a transformation does take place, what will this do to the Britishness of Britain, the Englishness of England??(?Britain at the Crossroads: Nationalist pressure,? July 10, 1978)
If those were the looming questions that faced Thatcher as she took office, however, she had also already earned some of the fierce loyalty that still characterizes her supporters. As Oka reported shortly after Thatcher became head of the Conservative Party in 1975,
The constituency chairman?s voice range out across the hall filled to bursting with Conservative Party faithful.
"Paraphrasing William Blake," as he put it, he began with familiar words, "I will not cease from mental fight, nor shall my sword sleep in my hand.? ?
Then, swelling to a climax, ?till Margaret Thatcher is in power,? he thundered, ?in England?s green and pleasant land.?
Cheers, laughter, and applause. All eyes were riveted on the blue-eyed, golden-haired woman in turquoise-blue dress standing beside the chairman.?
?It has been said that we are a middle-class party,? she said ? ?We?re not, you know ? We?re the party of all the people who believe in independence and freedom, who believe in living up to the best of Britain and not the worst.?
?More cheers and applause,? Oka went on. ?It was a rousing partisan speech, as it was meant to be.??
8 April 2013Last updated at 20:31 ETBy Michelle RobertsHealth editor, BBC News online
Men with prostate cancer and an inherited gene mutation have the worst form of the disease, research reveals.
The BRCA2 gene is linked to hereditary breast cancer, as well as prostate and ovarian cancer.
Now scientists say that as well as being more likely to get prostate cancer, men with BRCA2 are also more likely to develop aggressive tumours and have the poorest survival rates.
They say these men should be treated quickly to save lives.
Continue reading the main story
?Start Quote
This study shows that doctors need to consider treating men with prostate cancer and a faulty BRCA2 gene much sooner than they currently do, rather than waiting to see how the disease develops?
End QuoteProf Ros Eeles Lead researcher
Around one in every 100 men with prostate cancer will have the BRCA2 mutation.
These men might benefit from immediate surgery or radiotherapy, even if their disease is at an early stage and would normally be classified as low risk, according to the latest work in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Diverse disease
Prostate cancer can grow extremely slowly or very quickly, and this is something that is hard to predict early on.
Some men may live symptom-free for a lifetime, despite having this cancer.
For many, treatment is not immediately necessary.
But researchers say men with BRCA2 and prostate cancer should be treated early and aggressively because their tumour is more likely to spread.
Prof Ros Eeles and colleagues at The Institute of Cancer Research in London and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust found prostate cancers spread more quickly and were more often fatal in men who had inherited a faulty BRCA2 gene than in men without the faulty gene.
Continue reading the main story
Prostate cancer
The prostate is a small gland in the pelvis found only in men. It's job is to make the fluid part of semen that sperm swim in
Prostate cancer does not normally cause symptoms until the cancer has grown large enough to affect surrounding structures like the urethra that carries urine from the bladder
This can lead to problems passing urine - needing to pee more often or difficulty starting to urinate
Prostate cancer can be diagnosed by taking a biopsy (a small tissue sample of the prostate gland)
Some men may be advised to delay having treatment if the tumour is very slow growing and not causing any problems
Others may want to have surgery to remove the entire prostate
For some, treatment may offer the best chance of cure but it can cause serious side effects including impotence and incontinence
They looked at the medical records of prostate cancer patients which included 61 men with BRCA2, 18 men with a similar gene mutation called BRCA1, and 1,940 men with neither mutations.
Patients with BRCA2-mutations were significantly less likely to survive their cancer, living an average of 6.5 years after diagnosis compared with 12.9 years for non-carriers. They were also more likely to have advanced disease at the time of diagnosis.
'More deadly type'
Prof Eeles said: "It is clear from our study that prostate cancers linked to inheritance of the BRCA2 cancer gene are more deadly than other types.
"It must make sense to start offering affected men immediate surgery or radiotherapy, even for early-stage cases that would otherwise be classified as low-risk.
"We won't be able to tell for certain that earlier treatment can benefit men with inherited cancer genes until we've tested it in a clinical trial, but the hope is that our study will ultimately save lives by directing treatment at those who most need it."
More than 40,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year.
Men with a significant family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer in addition to prostate cancer can be offered BRCA1/2 testing at diagnosis, but it is not routinely offered to all patients diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK.
Dr Julie Sharp of Cancer Research UK, said: "This study shows that doctors need to consider treating men with prostate cancer and a faulty BRCA2 gene much sooner than they currently do, rather than waiting to see how the disease develops.
"We knew that men who inherit a faulty BRCA2 gene are at a greater risk of developing prostate cancer but this is the largest study to show that the faulty gene also makes the disease more likely to develop quickly and spread."
Global solar photovoltaic industry is likely now a net energy producerPublic release date: 8-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mark Golden mark.golden@stanford.edu 650-724-1629 Stanford University
The rapid growth of the solar power industry over the past decade may have exacerbated the global warming situation it was meant to soothe, simply because most of the energy used to manufacture the millions of solar panels came from burning fossil fuels. That irony, according to Stanford University researchers, is coming to an end.
For the first time since the boom started, the electricity generated by all of the world's installed solar photovoltaic (PV) panels last year probably surpassed the amount of energy going into fabricating more modules, according to Michael Dale, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford's Global Climate & Energy Project (GCEP). With continued technological advances, the global PV industry is poised to pay off its debt of energy as early as 2015, and no later than 2020.
"This analysis shows that the industry is making positive strides," said Dale, who developed a novel way of assessing the industry's progress globally in a study published in the current edition of Environmental Science & Technology. "Despite its fantastically fast growth rate, PV is producing or just about to start producing a net energy benefit to society."
The achievement is largely due to steadily declining energy inputs required to manufacture and install PV systems, according to co-author Sally Benson, GCEP's director. The new study, Benson said, indicates that the amount of energy going into the industry should continue to decline, while the issue remains an important focus of research.
"GCEP is focused on developing game-changing energy technologies that can be deployed broadly. If we can continue to drive down the energy inputs, we will derive greater benefits from PV," she said. "Developing new technologies with lower energy requirements will allow us to grow the industry at a faster rate."
The energy used to produce solar panels is intense. The initial step in producing the silicon at the heart of most panels is to melt silica rock at 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit using electricity, commonly from coal-fired power plants.
As investment and technological development have risen sharply with the number of installed panels, the energetic costs of new PV modules have declined. Thinner silicon wafers are now used to make solar cells, less highly refined materials are now used as the silicon feedstock, and less of the costly material is lost in the manufacturing process. Increasingly, the efficiency of solar cells using thin film technologies that rely on earth-abundant materials such as copper, zinc, tin and carbon have the potential for even greater improvements.
To be considered a success or simply a positive energy technology PV panels must ultimately pay back all the energy that went into them, said Dale. The PV industry ran an energy deficit from 2000 to now, consuming 75 percent more energy than it produced just five years ago. The researchers expect this energy debt to be paid off as early as 2015, thanks to declining energy inputs, more durable panels and more efficient conversion of sunlight into electricity.
Strategic implications
If current rapid growth rates persist, by 2020 about 10 percent of the world's electricity could be produced by PV systems. At today's energy payback rate, producing and installing the new PV modules would consume around 9 percent of global electricity. However, if the energy intensity of PV systems continues to drop at its current learning rate, then by 2020 less than 2 percent of global electricity will be needed to sustain growth of the industry.
This may not happen if special attention is not given to reducing energy inputs. The PV industry's energetic costs can differ significantly from its financial costs. For example, installation and the components outside the solar cells, like wiring and inverters, as well as soft costs like permitting, account for a third of the financial cost of a system, but only 13 percent of the energy inputs. The industry is focused primarily on reducing financial costs.
Continued reduction of the energetic costs of producing PV panels can be accomplished in a variety of ways, such as using less materials or switching to producing panels that have much lower energy costs than technologies based on silicon. The study's data covers the various silicon-based technologies as well as newer ones using cadmium telluride and copper indium gallium diselenide as semiconductors. Together, these types of PV panels account for 99 percent of installed panels.
The energy payback time can also be reduced by installing PV panels in locations with high quality solar resources, like the desert Southwest in the United States and the Middle East. "At the moment, Germany makes up about 40 percent of the installed market, but sunshine in Germany isn't that great," Dale said. "So from a system perspective, it may be better to deploy PV systems where there is more sunshine."
This accounting of energetic costs and benefits, say the researchers, should be applied to any new energy-producing technology, as well as to energy conservation strategies that have large upfront energetic costs, such as retrofitting buildings. GCEP researchers have begun applying the analysis to energy storage and wind power.
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This article was written by Mark Golden, Precourt Energy Efficiency Center at Stanford University.
Related Information:
Stanford on YouTube
http://youtu.be/t1tuzvT1hck
Global Climate and Energy Project
http://gcep.stanford.edu/
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Global solar photovoltaic industry is likely now a net energy producerPublic release date: 8-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mark Golden mark.golden@stanford.edu 650-724-1629 Stanford University
The rapid growth of the solar power industry over the past decade may have exacerbated the global warming situation it was meant to soothe, simply because most of the energy used to manufacture the millions of solar panels came from burning fossil fuels. That irony, according to Stanford University researchers, is coming to an end.
For the first time since the boom started, the electricity generated by all of the world's installed solar photovoltaic (PV) panels last year probably surpassed the amount of energy going into fabricating more modules, according to Michael Dale, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford's Global Climate & Energy Project (GCEP). With continued technological advances, the global PV industry is poised to pay off its debt of energy as early as 2015, and no later than 2020.
"This analysis shows that the industry is making positive strides," said Dale, who developed a novel way of assessing the industry's progress globally in a study published in the current edition of Environmental Science & Technology. "Despite its fantastically fast growth rate, PV is producing or just about to start producing a net energy benefit to society."
The achievement is largely due to steadily declining energy inputs required to manufacture and install PV systems, according to co-author Sally Benson, GCEP's director. The new study, Benson said, indicates that the amount of energy going into the industry should continue to decline, while the issue remains an important focus of research.
"GCEP is focused on developing game-changing energy technologies that can be deployed broadly. If we can continue to drive down the energy inputs, we will derive greater benefits from PV," she said. "Developing new technologies with lower energy requirements will allow us to grow the industry at a faster rate."
The energy used to produce solar panels is intense. The initial step in producing the silicon at the heart of most panels is to melt silica rock at 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit using electricity, commonly from coal-fired power plants.
As investment and technological development have risen sharply with the number of installed panels, the energetic costs of new PV modules have declined. Thinner silicon wafers are now used to make solar cells, less highly refined materials are now used as the silicon feedstock, and less of the costly material is lost in the manufacturing process. Increasingly, the efficiency of solar cells using thin film technologies that rely on earth-abundant materials such as copper, zinc, tin and carbon have the potential for even greater improvements.
To be considered a success or simply a positive energy technology PV panels must ultimately pay back all the energy that went into them, said Dale. The PV industry ran an energy deficit from 2000 to now, consuming 75 percent more energy than it produced just five years ago. The researchers expect this energy debt to be paid off as early as 2015, thanks to declining energy inputs, more durable panels and more efficient conversion of sunlight into electricity.
Strategic implications
If current rapid growth rates persist, by 2020 about 10 percent of the world's electricity could be produced by PV systems. At today's energy payback rate, producing and installing the new PV modules would consume around 9 percent of global electricity. However, if the energy intensity of PV systems continues to drop at its current learning rate, then by 2020 less than 2 percent of global electricity will be needed to sustain growth of the industry.
This may not happen if special attention is not given to reducing energy inputs. The PV industry's energetic costs can differ significantly from its financial costs. For example, installation and the components outside the solar cells, like wiring and inverters, as well as soft costs like permitting, account for a third of the financial cost of a system, but only 13 percent of the energy inputs. The industry is focused primarily on reducing financial costs.
Continued reduction of the energetic costs of producing PV panels can be accomplished in a variety of ways, such as using less materials or switching to producing panels that have much lower energy costs than technologies based on silicon. The study's data covers the various silicon-based technologies as well as newer ones using cadmium telluride and copper indium gallium diselenide as semiconductors. Together, these types of PV panels account for 99 percent of installed panels.
The energy payback time can also be reduced by installing PV panels in locations with high quality solar resources, like the desert Southwest in the United States and the Middle East. "At the moment, Germany makes up about 40 percent of the installed market, but sunshine in Germany isn't that great," Dale said. "So from a system perspective, it may be better to deploy PV systems where there is more sunshine."
This accounting of energetic costs and benefits, say the researchers, should be applied to any new energy-producing technology, as well as to energy conservation strategies that have large upfront energetic costs, such as retrofitting buildings. GCEP researchers have begun applying the analysis to energy storage and wind power.
###
This article was written by Mark Golden, Precourt Energy Efficiency Center at Stanford University.
Related Information:
Stanford on YouTube
http://youtu.be/t1tuzvT1hck
Global Climate and Energy Project
http://gcep.stanford.edu/
[ | 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.
Perhaps the last-minute opponent change was exactly what Gegard Mousasi needed. The former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion made his debut on Saturday and pulled out a decision over Ilir Latifi, a late replacement after Alexander Gustafsson was not cleared for the fight because of a cut. Mousasi pulled out the unanimous decision win, but shared afterwards that he was dealing with a knee injury.
"I don't want to talk a lot about my injury, but I can tell that this injury, I'm pretty sure 95 percent wouldn't fight, from other fighters," Mousasi said in the postfight press conference.
"You know, I stepped up, I didn't cancel the show, you know, I don't know, we go from here, you know."
In other action, Ross Pearson notched a second-round TKO over Ryan Couture. Matt Mitrione stopped his losing streak with a 19-second KO of Philip de Fries. Brad Pickett won a split decision over Mike Easton in a bout that won Fight of the Night honors. Diego Brandao submitted Pablo Garza in the third round with an arm-triangle choke.
FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2013 file photo, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey takes part in news conference at the Pentagon in Washington. Dempsey traveled to Afghanistan Saturday, April 6, 2013 to meet U.S. and allied commanders and consult with Afghan officials on winding down the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2013 file photo, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey takes part in news conference at the Pentagon in Washington. Dempsey traveled to Afghanistan Saturday, April 6, 2013 to meet U.S. and allied commanders and consult with Afghan officials on winding down the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) ? A weekend visit to Afghanistan by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is aimed at assessing the type and level of additional training that U.S. troops could provide to Afghan defense forces after 2014.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, who arrived at Bagram Air Field on Saturday after an overnight flight, said that assessment will inform U.S. decisions about how many American troops should remain after the U.S. and NATO combat role ends in December 2014.
The U.S. is expected to keep between 9,000 and 10,000 in a residual force, but no final decision has been made.
Dempsey was expected to meet with U.S. and allied commanders, including the new overall commander of coalition forces, Gen. Joseph Dunford. He also planned to meet with Afghan officials and talk with soldiers in the field.
Dempsey said Friday in Stuttgart, Germany, that he would like to see how Afghan forces perform this summer before determining the size of a residual U.S. force. There are now about 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, down from a 2010 peak of about 100,000.
Among the key issues for Dempsey is the pacing of U.S. troop withdrawals this year and next, as well as the rate of improvement among Afghan security forces.
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HAGATNA, Guam (AP) ? C.J. Urquico has lived on Guam for 19 years so he's used to a military backdrop to everyday life. Navy ships visit, Air Force jets fly overhead and war games are played off the Pacific island's shores.
There soon will be another military element in this U.S. territory ? a defense system will be installed to shoot down incoming missiles and warheads. Its deployment comes amid intensifying threats from North Korea, which recently listed Guam among its targets for a nuclear attack on the United States.
That laid-back Guam is a named player in a nuclear showdown is the talk of the island. But at least for now, the population of about 180,000 is taking it in stride and not running for cover.
"The worst thing that can happen is we allow it to terrorize us," said Urquico, a 36-year-old creative director for a telecommunications company. And while "there's no real sinister feeling in the air," he added: "People are definitely paying attention. I mean, how many times do we ever trend on Twitter?"
The remote, 209-square-mile island in the Pacific is no stranger to international conflict. The island's waters are a graveyard for rusting equipment from World War II and the oldest residents remember living under Japanese occupation.
But many residents aren't taking the North Korean threat too seriously. The annual typhoon season may be a bigger concern.
"Fortunately everybody has concrete homes here so we're sort of a bunker already," joked Leonard Calvo, vice president of Calvo Enterprises, a firm that invests in insurance, real estate, media and retail and other businesses in Guam and other islands.
"I think this guy from North Korea is just puffing out his chest. A lot of people are numb to it."
The island's social media is abuzz with memes mimicking North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, with one joking that he is worried about "Guam bombs," a popular term for beat-up, used cars on the island.
Not everyone is taking the issue lightly. Headlines about the threats have flashed across the island's main news website for the past week, and some residents are brainstorming plans in case the worst-case scenario comes true.
Thomas Perez, an 18-year-old student at Guam High School, said he already has picked out a place to barricade himself in case the attack occurs.
"I could probably get there in 15 minutes," he said.
Guam Gov. Eddie Baza Calvo said the government is providing information to help residents prepare, including guidance for where to hide if radiation is in the air.
"As a governor and a father and a husband and a grandfather, I do have some concerns because of the proximity of Guam to North Korea," he said. "We are about a three hour flight away. That's about half the distance from Guam to Hawaii."
But he also stressed that an attack is a remote possibility and residents should go on with their daily lives.
The Pentagon system on its way to the island is part of a "layered" defense giving the military multiple opportunities to shoot down incoming missiles and warheads before they reach their targets. It's specifically designed to shoot down missiles during their final stage of flight, and is expected to arrive on Guam within the next few weeks.
Even if nothing more happens, for some residents, the international attention is significant in itself. University of Guam President Robert Underwood said the threat is an opportunity for students and educators to discuss Guam's role in global military strategy.
Urquico said the situation lets Guam's residents know they're not completely invisible to the rest of the world.
"I've never heard anyone make a direct threat to Guam," he said. "My response was: 'Wow, they can find Guam on the map? Most Americans can't.'"
___
AP writers Anita Hofschneider, Oskar Garcia and Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report from Honolulu.
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Public release date: 8-Apr-2013
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