Democrats defend Obama administration over bungled gun sting (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday sought to blunt political attacks on the Obama administration over a botched gun sting operation, finding that the idea of allowing weapons to go across the border to Mexico came from field agents and prosecutors.

Democrats issued the report just two days before Republicans on the same panel plan to grill Attorney General Eric Holder about the most recent operation, dubbed "Fast and Furious" in which as many as 2,000 guns may have been trafficked to Mexican drug cartels.

President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats issued an 89-page report that said the operations and strategies dated back to the Bush administration and were the brainchild of field agents and prosecutors, not officials at the upper levels of government.

"Unfortunately this strategy failed to include sufficient operational controls to stop these dangerous weapons from getting into the hands of violent criminals, creating a danger to public safety on both sides of the border," Representative Elijah Cummings, the senior Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a letter accompanying the report.

Two guns from the Fast and Furious operation were found at the scene where a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, was killed during a shootout with illegal immigrants. It was not clear, however, if those weapons fired the fatal shots.

That operation ran from late 2009 to early 2011 out of the Phoenix offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Attorney. The goal was to try to track guns being smuggled from the initial purchaser to senior drug cartel members.

However, in most cases ATF agents did not follow the guns beyond the initial buyer. Republicans have questioned who in the administration knew about and approved the operation and its tactics and when. They have issued subpoenas for documents and for witnesses to testify.

Mexican authorities have complained about the flood of weapons coming into their country from the United States and contributing to the deadly war with the drug cartels.

OFFICIALS SAY THEY DID NOT KNOW

The Obama administration has admitted that the operation and its tactics were unacceptable, but senior Justice Department and ATF officials have denied that they knew of the specific tactics until early 2011 - after it was over.

Republicans have expressed doubts about those assertions and some have demanded Holder's resignation as well as that of his senior aide, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who runs the Justice Department's criminal division.

"Contrary to repeated claims by some, the committee has obtained no evidence that Operation Fast and Furious was a politically-motivated operation conceived and directed by high-level Obama Administration political appointees at the Department of Justice," Cummings said.

Republican Senator Charles Grassley, who has been spearheading a probe in the Senate, said that Obama officials did not have "clean hands" and that it "will take a lot more than a knee-jerk defense from their political allies in Congress to restore public trust in the leadership of the Justice Department."

Republicans have been particularly incensed about the Justice Department providing incorrect information a year ago to the House Oversight Committee when officials initially asserted that guns were not allowed to be smuggled to Mexico.

"Fast and Furious" has claimed the jobs of several high-ranking officials, including the senior federal prosecutor in Arizona, Dennis Burke, who resigned. Several senior ATF officials have been either sidelined or re-assigned.

The report said that during "Fast and Furious", agents first sought to bring charges for smaller cases involving the gun buyers, known as straw purchasers, but that senior prosecutors wanted to wait to see if they could bring bigger cases.

It also revealed that authorities in the United States and Mexico had recovered 567 weapons from the botched operation as of January 2011, almost two-thirds of which were found in the United States.

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/pl_nm/us_usa_mexico_guns

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NKorea's young leader gets rock star treatment (AP)

SEOUL, South Korea ? North Korea's young new leader gets rock star treatment when he visits his troops ? just as his father did. But while the late Kim Jong Il mostly stayed aloof in dark shades, his son holds hands and hugs his soldiers.

Kim Jong Un seems to want to bond with his country's people.

The style harkens back to Kim Il Sung, his grandfather and revered founder of the country and ruling dynasty, and may reflect an attempt to turn a corner on the periods of hardship and famine under Kim Jong Il, analysts say. Kim Il Sung's image as a daring young general fighting Japanese colonial troops is powerfully engraved in the minds of North Koreans.

Cheers, applause and calls of "Hurrah!" greet Kim Jong Un as he examines the heating systems of soldiers' quarters, the pressure of their water faucets, the books stacked in their libraries ? even the taste of their food.

The North Korean state media reports and video footage of such "guidance visits" provide rare windows into the personalities of North Korea's leaders for outsiders and for the country's people alike. Few North Koreans, for instance, even knew what the elder Kim's voice sounded like, analysts say, despite his ruling for 17 years until his death Dec. 17.

In visits made so far by Kim Jong Un, believed to be in his late 20s, North Korea specialists have detected more warmth in his approach than the dour tours made in recent years by Kim Jong Il.

The younger Kim may be trying to emulate Kim Il Sung and move away from his father, who ruled during a famine in the mid- to late-1990s that killed hundreds of thousands, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea professor at Seoul's Dongguk University. North Korea also has faced international condemnation and sanctions for its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

"He'll try to look comfortable among the masses. He'll try to form an intimacy with the people, perhaps more than his father did," Koh said.

Imitating Kim Il Sung is a "positive for Kim Jong Un, because memories of his father Kim Jong Il aren't very good among ordinary people," Koh said. "People fondly remember the days of Kim Il Sung."

Kim Il Sung often was pictured surrounded by children, and Kim Jong Un resurrected that image during a recent visit to the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School.

As children in military uniforms cheered and clapped, a documentary on state TV showed Kim embracing one child's face with his hands. During lunch, Kim patted students in encouragement and watched with a grin as two women ladled out soup for students; he poured a drop of sauce on his thumb so he could taste it.

His main emphasis, however, has been on military posts ? with seven such reported visits since the New Year. They seek to show citizens that their new leader is firmly in command of the country's most important institution, its 1.2 million-strong military, and that he is loved and respected by young troops and elderly generals alike.

While Kim Jong Il had two decades to prepare for leadership, Kim Jong Un was only publicly unveiled as heir in 2010, and outside observers have raised doubts about Kim Jong Un's ability to lead a country locked in a nuclear standoff with its neighbors and Washington and with a history of attacking South Korea.

Animosity is still high between the Koreas. Six decades after the Korean War, the peninsula remains in a state of war because the 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to deter potential North Korean aggression.

Bloodshed spiked in 2010 when a South Korean warship exploded in disputed waters, killing 46. South Korea said the North torpedoed the warship; the North denied the allegation. North Korea also attacked a front-line South Korean island, killing four.

Kim Jong Un clearly has made attempts to appear active and engaged with his soldiers, and this "helps raise troops' morale and his profile," said Kim Yeon-su, a North Korea expert at Korea National Defense University. "North Korea is telling its people that Kim Jong Un is capable of doing all these military activities himself."

Kim Jong Un's first reported military visit after his father's death came on New Year's Day. He appeared at ease, laughing and clapping, pulling officers close to give them words of advice, inspecting bunks and testing water faucets.

On Tuesday, state media reported that Kim visited the family of an air force commander after inspecting his unit and apologized for showing up during meal preparations.

State television has also played a documentary on Kim Jong Un meant to highlight his military experience, showing him in the cockpit of a tank, galloping by on horseback and poring over documents at night.

Despite his youth, Kim Jong Un often plays the part of a solicitous father during his meticulously documented military tours.

Wearing a dark overcoat similar to one Kim Il Sung favored as a young man or a light-colored parka like the one Kim Jong Il wore, he exchanges handshakes with cheering soldiers and takes group photos, often holding hands with the officers on either side of him.

He asks about the soldiers' warmth, their eating and sleeping arrangements, listens with apparent enjoyment to their musical performances, observes their "militant spirit of training," offers guidance to officers and takes "care of the soldiers' living as their real father would do," according to state media.

He even tastes their bean paste.

___

Associated Press writer Sam Kim contributed to this report from Seoul. Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/samkim_ap and twitter.com/APklug.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_re_as/as_nkorea_leader_s_visits

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Brad Pitt: Kids Want Me To Buy Mommy A Ring (VIDEO)

Brad Pitt: Kids Want Me To Buy Mommy A Ring (VIDEO)

In his interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Brad Pitt reveals his six children are putting on the pressure for him to propose to his longtime [...]

Brad Pitt: Kids Want Me To Buy Mommy A Ring (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

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Karen Dalton-Beninato: Brad Pitt and the Business of Making it Right (PHOTOS)

"Blogger Karen Dalton-Beninato sent me this beautiful picture of the project Brad Pitt is working on..."

Five years ago, Arianna Huffington posted my husband's photo of pink tents in a planned green community in New Orleans. That was two years post Hurricane Katrina levee failures, and it often felt like New Orleans was stuck in neutral.

It was 2007 and the 9th Ward still looked like an overgrown prairie strewn with concrete slabs, all that was left of most houses near the Industrial Canal. Residents were coming back to FEMA trailers, if they could get one, and gutted out homes. In the years since then, Make It Right NOLA has assembled a living study in sustainable architecture for returning residents.

"After Hurricane Katrina, many people said the Lower 9th Ward could not be rebuilt, but the spirit of the Lower Ninth and its residents is vibrant and resilient," Brad Pitt recently said through his Foundation. "Today, the neighborhood is growing and alive with new homes, playgrounds, gardens and block parties. With the help of generous partners like Hyatt, Make It Right will fulfill our goal of building 150 sustainable homes for those in this community who lost everything in the storm." Pitt is hosting a March 10th MIR benefit at the newly reopened Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, and the Hyatt is underwriting the cost of the event so proceeds go to rebuilding. Pitt also took to Google + to announce the event.

Why the focus on New Orleans, and Pitt and Jolie's move to the French Quarter? Robert Kinney described it as well as anyone in his 1941 guidebook, The Bachelor in New Orleans: "New Orleans is the lotus land, to which all travelers return - once visited, it haunts you, calling your blood always."

"I'm from New Orleans, I love New Orleans and I love that Make It Right continues to help the people there rebuild their beautiful city," event co-chair Ellen DeGeneres said of the project. "Brad Pitt is amazing - not only for what he started, but also because, who else can make a hard hat look like a jaunty fall fashion accessory?"

DeGeneres will be joining my friend Mac Rebennack a/k/a Dr. John, and other NOLA natives Wendell Pierce and Mayor Mitch Landrieu at the benefit. And they will be joined by Seal, Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Randy Jackson, Josh Brolin, Chris Paul, Djimon Hounsou, Spike Lee, Blake Lively, Sean Penn, and Kevin Spacey, with dinner prepared by chefs John Besh, Giada DeLaurentiis and Emeril Lagasse. Aziz Ansari of Parks and Recreation is hosting the after-party. With all the celebrities expected, it would probably be shorter to list who's not coming.

The event will sprint the project to its final goal of 150 platinum LEED certified homes in its 16-block neighborhood, and eventually help Make it Right move into helping Pitt's home territory of Joplin, Missouri with what they've learned from rebuilding green in New Orleans.

Steve Ragan is MIR's Development Director, and he walked us through the neighborhood's homes. We started out at the one that was built to float, designed by Tom Mayne of Morphosis Architects. Modular construction was assembled at UCLA, shipped to New Orleans and reassembled as the first home in the United States permitted for a floating foundation. All the connections to utilities are flexible tubing and piping, and if the home did begin to float they would be safely cut leaving its two masts to support it, Ragan explained. "It's probably our most cutting edge design. If we opened our program up to young hipsters, it would have sold quickly." The home eventually sold to an older man who needed a smaller space than the multi-generational homes occupied by many of his neighborhood.

"The most important thing is the immediate good for people who live here," Ragan says. "Second most important is advancing construction of energy efficient homes. Third, if you can imagine, is having the final neighborhood of 150 homes designed by 21 of the greatest architects in the world. In 20 years the people who will be touring the homes hopefully won't be thinking of them as advanced technology any more, but because they're architecturally significant."

Landscaping is largely made up of indigenous plants that help soak up water. Make it Right has patented a permeable concrete with 100 percent drainage throughout the development, and Ragan pours his coffee onto the surface to show us how quickly it disappears. That drainage also helped along with gray water collected beneath the homes. One of MIR's contractor was at a funeral and thought of using concrete crypts under the residents' homes to collect gray water. It's the right size, half the cost of building a container and feels appropriate in a city where dancing at funerals is not out of the norm.

Homes are built at least 4 feet off the ground, but MIR encourages residents to go higher. Residents have skin in the game, typically paying $75,000 with the rest of the $150,000 subsidized with a forgivable mortgage. With solar panels, Energy Star appliances and every possible new green technology on hand, only two homes in the development regularly use more energy than they produce, and those are multi-generational.

"If we had not focused on one area, we would have been able to build faster but people would have been pioneers sitting on their own," Ragan said. He's seen the crawfish boils, family reunions and arrivals of other developers as the area came to life. The 9th Ward was at 80 percent home ownership before Katrina, families who had lived there before the Industrial Canal was built and passed their homes down through generations. Some former residents are now back home, with green rooftop decks offering a view across the river.

"Homeowners choose their home as long as it's something that through our assistance they can afford. They're treated with the same respect, able to make the same decisions about design as a private developer would," Ragan said. "You can see some differences between first of the homes and later. We've managed as we've gone along with every iteration of homes to increase energy efficiency and lower costs. It's great when you can get an academic architect to take pause and say, 'how did you do that?"

It's something to see, and the visitors are coming in ever-increasing numbers. "I counted tour buses one day, and we were at 48," Ragan said. That number will only grow, with the Hollywood of the South bringing even more tourists to New Orleans. The Pugh Scarpa home we walked through had far more natural light than you would expect from the exterior view. Window direction adds to passive heating and cooling technologies, much like early Creole homes in the French Quarter. In the morning, the home is flooded with light. But by afternoon, the side with fewer windows, all hurricane resistant, cools the home down. Wireless lighting systems save on wiring costs, and directed vents at the top of the wall where hot air rises help cool the house faster. The architects are clearly familiar with Louisiana summers. Floors are reclaimed pine, and all the paint in the home is VOC-free. "We haven't had hard data, but anecdotally children who suffer from asthma have fewer problems once they move in." Architects meet with stakeholders early on, and the project has focused on residents who had lived in the Lower 9th Ward. One of the main design alterations requested has been larger porch and terrace areas for neighborhood socializing.

"I just love to come out here on a Saturday," Ragan said. "You've got construction crews working, you've got homeowners socializing, this neighborhood has come back to life. Architects talk about how architecture engages people. Tourists come outside, and a homeowner will come out and start explaining the home to them. Then another will come out and say, let me tell you about mine."

Plantings and mulch are available to community members. And the Make it Right playground, made of recycled materials, has wi-fi installed so children can compete with children in a playground on the other side of the world with the same system installed. Bayou Bienvenue backs up to the development, but its original cypress trees were killed off years ago as canals brought saltwater intrusion from the Gulf to the city. An older man walks up and reminisces about the years when the bayou was fresh water and the cypress trees grew. He talks about trapping and walking through the bayou, pointing to the stumps that now exist.

We meet Robert Green, a Make it Right resident and its unofficial ambassador. "I've been fortunate enough to be here when most people come by," he said. Green asked for the Waiting for Godot sign from the 9th Ward production starring Pierce, so the front of his house greets visitors with words by Samuel Beckett. Green often takes people into his home to show them construction, which he's proud of. His was the second lot in the program, and he bought the adjacent lot through the city's Lot Next Door program. He's considered putting in a gazebo.

Green was sent back from the Superdome when they couldn't offer adequate help to his mother who had Parkinson's Disease. So the family returned home, and the next day the water started rising. Green saved two of his granddaughters, but he lost his mother and granddaughter in the floodwaters that came through the broken levee on August 29, 2005. A marker for each rests in front of his home, under his Waiting for Godot sign.

A country road. A tree. Evening.

Details on A Night to Make It Right are available at: nighttomakeitright.com

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British police arrest 5 in tabloid bribery probe (AP)

LONDON ? British police searched the offices of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers Saturday after arresting a police officer and four current and former staff of his tabloid The Sun as part of an investigation into police bribery by journalists.

The arrests spread the scandal over tabloid wrongdoing ? which has already shut down one paper, the News of the World ? to a second Murdoch newspaper.

London's Metropolitan Police said two men aged 48 and one aged 56 were arrested on suspicion of corruption early in the morning at homes in and around London. A 42-year-old man was detained later at a London police station.

Murdoch's News Corp. confirmed that all four were current or former Sun employees. The BBC and other British media identified them as former managing editor Graham Dudman, former deputy editor Fergus Shanahan, current head of news Chris Pharo and crime editor Mike Sullivan.

A fifth man, a 29-year-old police officer, was arrested at the London station where he works.

Officers searched the men's homes and the east London headquarters of the media mogul's British newspapers for evidence.

The investigation into whether reporters illegally paid police for information is running parallel to a police inquiry into phone hacking by Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World.

Police said Saturday's arrests were made as a result of information provided by the Management and Standards Committee of Murdoch's News Corp., the internal body tasked with rooting out wrongdoing.

News Corp. said it was cooperating with police.

"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated," it said in a statement.

Thirteen people have now been arrested in the bribery probe, though none has yet been charged.

They include Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of Murdoch's News International; ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson ? who is also Prime Minister David Cameron's former communications chief; and journalists from the News of the World and The Sun.

Two of the London police force's top officers resigned in the wake of the revelation last July that the News of the World had eavesdropped on the cell phone voicemail messages of celebrities, athletes, politicians and even an abducted teenager in its quest for stories.

Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old tabloid amid a wave of public revulsion, and the scandal has triggered a continuing public inquiry into media ethics and the relationship between the press, police and politicians.

An earlier police investigation failed to find evidence that hacking went beyond one reporter and a private investigator, who were both jailed in 2007 for eavesdropping on the phones of royal staff.

But News Corp. has now acknowledged it was much more widespread.

Last week the company agreed to pay damages to 37 hacking victims, including actor Jude Law, soccer star Ashley Cole and British politician John Prescott.

The furor that consumed the News of the World continues to rattle other parts of Murdoch's media empire.

As well as investigating phone hacking and allegations that journalists paid police for information, detectives are looking into claims of computer hacking by Murdoch papers.

News Corp. has admitted that the News of the World hacked the emails as well as the phone of Chris Shipman, the son of serial killer Harold Shipman. And The Times of London has acknowledged that a former reporter tried to intercept emails to unmask an anonymous blogger.

News Corp. is preparing to launch a new Sunday newspaper ? likely called the Sunday Sun ? to replace the News of the World.

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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Kindle Sales Growing Faster Than The Nook?s

Barnes & Noble may be challenging Amazon's dominance of the e-book world, but the Kindle sales are still growing faster than the Nook's ? at least if you connect the dots between some of the numbers included in a recently-published article by The New York Times.

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Davos 2012: Attendees Looking To China To Prop Up Global Economy

DAVOS, Switzerland -- Chinese investors are trying to follow the rules when spending money abroad, the head of one of China's biggest private equity firms said Thursday, as global leaders increasingly look to the country to prop up the world economy.

Worries that Europe's slowdown would hurt stronger economies are overshadowing discussions at this week's World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Attention turned Thursday to how China can help, even as some remain wary about its growing dominance.

John Zhao, CEO of Hony Capital, said foreign prejudice about Chinese investments is unfair, but acknowledged that some companies are still learning a game that much of the world has been playing for decades.

Chinese companies and government funds have been using vast reserves of cash to buy up foreign companies and invest in foreign government bonds in recent years. But with billions of dollars in Chinese investments pouring into their countries, some governments have accused China of seeking to exploit the economic weakness of others to grab valuable natural and technological resources at rock bottom prices.

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has also repeatedly accused China of breaking global trade rules by giving unfair protection to its companies and domestic workers.

"The vast majority of Chinese companies are trying to follow the rules as they understand it," said Zhao, whose company controls PC maker Lenovo, which bought IBM's computer division in 2005. "But many Chinese companies are still trying to learn the rules."

The director general of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy, said China will continue to face "public perception problems" from its investments abroad.

"We will see in the years to come, as China's investments grow and grow. ... We will have the same sort of political turbulences as we have had on trade for the last 10 years," he said.

One way for China to ease the rest of the world's fears about its extravagant corporate shopping sprees is be more open about its vast poverty problem at home, said Lamy.

"In order for this to result in a win-win game a number of public perception issues have to be addressed," he said.

Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld reminded listeners that China's companies aren't the only ones with a reputation problem.

"We in the Western world have had a long tradition of corporate misdeeds," he said, citing Enron in the United States and Parmalat of Italy ? both of which collapsed after years of hiding massive holes in their accounts.

Yale President Richard C. Levin suggested the rest of the world could be grateful for China's investment interest, as eventually the country of over 1 billion people will have to start spending more of its cash on problems at home, including the lack of proper social security for an aging population.

"Some fraction of these trillions could be used domestically," he said.

The head of the Asian Development Bank said Asia has already been affected by the ongoing European financial crisis in two ways ? through the withdrawal of credit in Asia by many European banks and financial institutions and a drop in trade, which will impact China because Europe is its largest export market.

"I really hope that the European financial crisis can be overcome," Haruhiko Kuroda said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The Davos forum, where business and political leaders gather every year in an invitation-only event, is under growing criticism by those who feel it's too removed from the real world.

Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and other leaders brought any sense of euphoria crashing back down to earth, appealing for the millions of people who do not have enough food to eat.

"The world can feed itself. Africa can feed itself. The problem is we have vulnerable populations who do not have access," Okonjo-Iweala said.

Malnourished people, particularly kids, are more susceptible to dying from malaria and other diseases in Africa, said Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose philanthropy has mainly focused on promoting health.

Gates also rode to the rescue of a beleaguered health fund by pledging $750 million to fight three of world's killer diseases. A donor backlash over losses at the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria forced it to cancel more than $1 billion in new spending last year. The fund's executive director said Tuesday he is resigning.

Leaders at the Davos forum are looking later Thursday at challenges to democratic institutions around the world, including protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street.

Activists from Occupy Davos are camping out in igloos and yurts to call attention to income inequality.

"With 50 million people going below the poverty line, and over 200 million becoming unemployed with the recent crisis, it's stopped being a question of hardship and starting to become an issue of human rights violations," said Salil Shetty, the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

"This is a man-made crisis and the people who have caused the crisis, many of whom are in Davos, should be held to account," he told The Associated Press.

___

John Heilprin and Edith M. Lederer in Davos contributed to this story.

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Pinch-screen puts all your fingers in control

PICK up a tablet computer or smartphone and you may find you naturally cradle it in your hands, with both thumbs poised to tap away at the touchscreen. Banging out emails or navigating a music library this way may seem like a breeze, but what if we could bring our other eight digits in on the act?

Katrin Wolf of the Deutsche Telekom Laboratories at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, has done just that. She has built a device that exploits our thumbs' natural ability to line up with our fingers even when we can't see them - a talent known as proprioception.

Wolf attached two iPads back-to-back to create what she calls a PinchPad. It can sense when a user's fingers and thumbs make a pinching motion with the two tablets sandwiched in between.

For example, touching your thumb to your index finger on opposite sides of the PinchPad can be interpreted as a "select" or "undo" command, while sweeping the thumb from one finger to the next could adjust volume or brightness, Wolf says. And moving the thumb in little circles over each finger can let you manipulate on-screen dials. Wolf will present her work next month at the TEI conference in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

This is not the first device with a touch-sensitive back, says Chris Harrison at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Microsoft once built a prototype device called Nano Touch with this feature, and the next version of Sony's handheld PlayStation console, the Vita, will have it too. Harrison says Wolf's work is useful because of the novel gestures it offers. "And you get extra buttons for free without having to put anything on screen," he says.

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Venezuela leaving World Bank's arbitration body

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Venezuela has formally begun its withdrawal from a World Bank-affiliated arbitration body, the government announced Wednesday, a decision made by President Hugo Chavez as cases have accumulated against the country's seizures of companies and their assets.

Chavez and his allies say that disagreements with foreign companies operating in Venezuela should be settled with local authorities and within its judicial system.

The Foreign Ministry announced Venezuela's withdrawal from the Washington-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, known by its initials as ICSID, in a statement, calling the government's decision "irreversible." It suggested the arbitration center unfairly favors foreign companies.

The ICSID's website lists 18 pending cases against Venezuela, while top government lawyer Carlos Escarra said recently that Venezuela faces a total of 28 arbitration cases, many of them before the ICSID.

The cases include multimillion-dollar claims by the Houston-based oil company ConocoPhillips Co., U.S. glass manufacturer Owens-Illinois Inc. and Canadian mining company Crystallex International Corp.

Diego Moya-Ocampos, an analyst with the IHS Global Insight consulting firm in London, said Venezuela's withdrawal from the center would not affect pending cases.

But he said the move could scare off foreign investors, particularly oil companies with potential interest in forming joint ventures with the state-run oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela in the Orinoco Oil Belt, which holds vast deposits of extra-heavy crude.

Studies confirming those deposits in a swath flanking the Orinoco River have allowed Venezuela to surpass Saudi Arabia as the nation with the world's biggest proven reserves, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

But Venezuela urgently needs cash to develop its industry in the Belt.

Leaving the ICSID "could seriously affect foreign investment, especially in the Orinoco region," Moya-Ocampos said in a telephone interview. "It could also affect Venezuela's credibility in international market and increase the cost of borrowing."

Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has ordered the takeover of hundreds of properties, including major international investments as well as cattle ranches, farms and, recently, parking lots and junkyards to pave the way for public housing projects.

Russ Dallen, a financial analyst in Caracas, also said Venezuela's decision would probably spook many potential investors.

"I think that Chavez's withdrawal from ICSID will have a chilling effect on what is left of the companies still thinking about investing in Venezuela," Dallen said. "Chavez has already shown his willingness to expropriate businesses as he sees fit."

The Foreign Ministry said the 1966 treaty that established the ICSID undermines Venezuela's sovereignty and contradicts the country's constitution.

Government officials who signed the agreement in 1993 were "pressured by traditional economic groups that participated in the dismantling of Venezuela's national sovereignty," it said.

Under the terms for withdrawal, there is a six-month month period during which more cases can be filed, said Marcos Carrillo, a professor of arbitration and conflict resolution at the Andres Bello Catholic University and IESA business school in Caracas.

If a state-run or private company refuses to comply with the center's decision, winners of ICSID rulings often seek to recover lost assets by seeking an embargo on the sale of assets owned by the defendant, Carrillo said.

Referring to Venezuelan officials, he said: "When there's an ICSID decision, they have two options: Either they voluntarily comply with it or it's enforced."

If Venezuela were to "refuse to participate or recognize any future awards, the convention makes any award in those cases enforceable in any of the 140 jurisdictions that are members of ICSID," Dallen said.

Venezuela's attorney general, Carlos Escarra, suggested last year that Venezuela should consider abandoning the ICSID, following the example of leftist governments in Ecuador and Bolivia, which pulled out in the past several years.

Escarra, a close ally of Chavez, died of a heart attack on Wednesday.

___

Associated Press writer Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-25-LT-Venezuela-Arbitration/id-e02c5a3ca36349fabead2ada9ae0f087

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Ancient tulip-like creature had bizarre gut

The animal was a filter feeder, with a tulip-shaped body and a stem that anchored it to the seafloor.

A weird tulip-shaped creature discovered fossilized in 500-million-year-old rocks had a feeding system like no other known animal, researchers reported today (Jan. 18).

Skip to next paragraph

The animal was a?filter feeder, with a tulip-shaped body and a stem that anchored it to the seafloor. Named?Siphusauctum gregarium, the creature was about the length of a dinner knife at 8 inches (20 cm) and had a bulbous structure that contained its feeding system and gut.

The fossil was discovered in a rock layer called the Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies.

"Most interesting is that this feeding system appears to be unique among animals," study researcher Lorna O'Brien, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto, said in a statement. "Recent advances have linked many?bizarre Burgess Shale animals?as primitive members of many animal groups that are found today, but?Siphusauctum?defies this trend. We do not know where it fits in relation to other organisms."

Siphusauctum?lived in gardenlike clusters on the seafloor, with some fossil slabs containing the remains of more than 65 individuals. Researchers have discovered more than 1,100 individual specimens, earning the fossil area the nickname "the tulip beds."

You can follow?LiveScience?senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter?@sipappas.?Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter?@livescience?and on?Facebook.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/LKce_1hc9D8/Ancient-tulip-like-creature-had-bizarre-gut

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Positions of the Republican candidates, in brief

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks at a campaign town hall in Northfield, N.H. Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks at a campaign town hall in Northfield, N.H. Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

In this photo taken Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012, Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Salem, N.H. Conservative leaders are encouraging their brethren to rally behind Rick Santorum or perhaps another conservative to counter Mitt Romney?s rise in the presidential race. Virtually silent on the rollicking contest until now, these leaders of the GOP base burned up the phone lines and cyberspace Wednesday, energized by Santorum?s single-digit loss to the well-funded Romney in Iowa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, speaks at his caucus night rally, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, in Ankemy, Iowa. Paul's wife, Carol, is at left.(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A look at where the 2012 Republican presidential candidates stand on a selection of issues.

They are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

___

ABORTION:

Gingrich: Platform calls for conservative judges and no subsidies for abortion but not a constitutional abortion ban.

Paul: Says federal government should have no authority either to legalize or ban abortion.

Romney: Says Roe v. Wade should be reversed by a future Supreme Court and states should decide their own abortion laws.

Santorum: Favors constitutional abortion ban and opposes abortion, including in cases of rape.

___

DEBT:

Gingrich: As House speaker in 1990s, engineered passage of a seven-year balanced-budget plan. It was vetoed but helped form a bipartisan balanced budget later.

Paul: Would eviscerate federal government, slashing nearly half its spending, shut five Cabinet-level agencies, end spending on existing conflicts and on foreign aid.

Romney: Defended financial sector bailout, criticized GM and Chrysler bailout. Cap federal spending at 20 percent of GDP.

Santorum: Freeze social and military spending for five years to cut $5 trillion from federal budgets.

___

ECONOMY:

Gingrich: Repeal the financial industry regulations that followed the Wall Street meltdown. Restrict the Fed's power to set interest rates artificially low.

Paul: Return to the gold standard, eliminate the Federal Reserve, eliminate most federal regulations.

Romney: Lower taxes, less regulation, balanced budget, more trade deals to spur growth. Replace jobless benefits with unemployment savings accounts. Repeal new financial-industry regulations.

Santorum: Eliminate corporate taxes for manufacturers, drill for more oil and gas, and slash regulations.

___

EDUCATION:

Gingrich: Shrink Education Department. But supported Obama administration's $4 billion Race to the Top grant competition for states.

Paul: Abolish the Education Department and end the federal role in education.

Romney: Supported No Child Left Behind law. Once favored shutting Education Department, later saw its value in "holding down the interests of the teachers' unions."

Santorum: Voted for No Child Left Behind law, now regrets vote. Wants "significantly" smaller Education Department but not its elimination.

___

ENERGY:

Gingrich: Let oil and natural gas industries drill offshore reserves now blocked from development, end restrictions on Western oil shale development.

Paul: Remove restrictions on drilling, coal and nuclear power, eliminate gasoline tax, provide tax credits for alternative fuel technology.

Romney: Supports drilling in the Gulf, the outer continental shelves, Western lands, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore Alaska; and exploitation of shale oil deposits.

Santorum: Favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, scaling back "oppressive regulation" hindering drilling elsewhere, and eliminating energy subsidies in four years.

___

ENVIRONMENT:

Gingrich: Convert EPA into "environmental solutions agency" devoted to research and "more energy, more jobs and a better environment simultaneously." Once backed tougher environmental regulation.

Paul: Previously said human activity "probably does" contribute to global warming; now calls such science a "hoax." Says emission standards should be set by states or regions.

Romney: Acknowledged that humans contribute to global warming, but later said "we don't know what's causing climate change." Cap and trade would "rocket energy prices."

Santorum: The science establishing human activity as a likely contributor to global warming is "patently absurd" and "junk science."

___

GAY MARRIAGE:

Gingrich: If the Defense of Marriage Act fails, "you have no choice except a constitutional amendment" to ban gay marriage.

Paul: Decisions on legalizing or prohibiting gay marriage should be left to states.

Romney: Favors constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, says policy should be set federally, not by states.

Santorum: Supports constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, not leaving decision to states. "We can't have 50 marriage laws."

___

HEALTH CARE:

All would seek repeal of Obama's health care law.

Gingrich: Prohibit insurers from cancelling or charging hefty increases to insurance holders who get sick. Offer "generous" tax credit to help buy insurance. Previously supported mandatory coverage.

Paul: Opposes compulsory insurance and all federal subsidies for coverage.

Romney: Opposes federal mandate to obtain coverage; introduced mandate in Massachusetts. Proposes "generous" subsidies to help future retirees buy private insurance instead of going on Medicare.

Santorum: Would seek to starve Obama's health care law of money needed to implement it. Supported Bush administration's prescription drug program for the elderly, now regrets doing so.

___

IMMIGRATION:

Gingrich: In contrast to most rivals, supports option of giving legal status to illegal immigrants with deep roots in the U.S. and who have lived otherwise lawfully. Supports path to citizenship for illegal immigrants' children who perform U.S. military service. Make English the official language. Divert more Homeland Security assets to at Mexican border.

Paul: Do "whatever it takes" to secure the border, end right to citizenship of U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants, no social services for illegal immigrants, aggressive deportation.

Romney: Would veto legislation that seeks to award legal status to some young illegal immigrants who attend college or serve in the armed forces. Favors complete U.S.-Mexico border fence, opposes education benefits to illegal immigrants.

Santorum: Supports complete border fence, opposes education benefits to illegal immigrants.

___

SOCIAL SECURITY:

Gingrich: Give younger workers the option of diverting Social Security taxes to private retirement accounts.

Paul: Says younger workers should be able to opt out of Social Security taxes and retirement benefits; benefits for today's retirees should be protected.

Romney: Starting with workers now under 55, raise age to qualify for full benefits, and limit inflation increases for wealthier beneficiaries. Protect status quo for people 55 and older.

Santorum: Proposes immediate steps to lower benefits for wealthier retirees, raise the age to qualify for full benefits and restrict inflation increases in benefits, both for current and future retirees. Supports option of private retirement accounts.

___

TAXES:

All support eliminating the estate tax and keeping Bush-era tax cuts.

Gingrich: Choice of filing under current system or paying a 15 percent tax, preserving mortgage interest and charitable deductions. Cut corporate tax to 12.5 percent.

Paul: Eliminate the federal income tax and the IRS, and defund close to half the government.

Romney: No one with adjusted gross income under $200,000 should be taxed on interest, dividends or capital gains. Cut corporate tax rate to 25 percent.

Santorum: Triple the personal exemption for dependent children, reduce the number of tax brackets to two ? 10 percent and 28 percent, exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the top rate for other business.

___

TERRORISM:

Gingrich: Supports extending and strengthening investigative powers of Patriot Act. Supports continued use of Guantanamo Bay detention for suspected terrorists. Supported creation of Homeland Security apparatus. In 2009, said of waterboarding: "It's not something we should do."

Paul: Opposes Patriot Act as an infringement on liberty. Says terrorists would not be motivated to attack America if the U.S. ended its military presence abroad. Says: "Waterboarding is torture. And it's illegal under international law and under our law. It's also immoral."

Romney: No constitutional rights for foreign terrorism suspects. Campaign says he does not consider waterboarding to be torture.

Santorum: Defends creation of Homeland Security Department. Voted to reauthorize Patriot Act. Says airport screeners should employ profiling; "Muslims would be someone you'd look at, absolutely." Supports continued use of Guantanamo Bay detention but says Americans accused of being enemy combatants should have right to challenge indefinite detention in court. Says waterboarding has proved effective.

___

WAR:

Gingrich: Supported Iraq war and opposed early withdrawal. Said U.S. forces should not have been used in Libya campaign, after he had called for such intervention. Opposes "precipitous" pullout from Afghanistan.

Paul: Bring most or all troops home from foreign posts "as quick as the ships could get there." Opposed U.S. intervention in Libya. Cut Pentagon budget.

Romney: Has not specified the troop numbers behind pledge to ensure the "force level necessary to secure our gains and complete our mission successfully" in Afghanistan.

Santorum: Says he would order bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities unless they were opened for international arms inspectors. Proposes freezing defense spending for five years.

___

Associated Press writers Brian Bakst and Chris Tomlinson contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-23-Where%20They%20Stand-Abridged/id-67f0aacde71f42a3812e68adb3fbec03

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LA detective in Simpson-Goldman murders dies at 70

LOS ANGELES?? Philip Vannatter, the Los Angeles police detective who served as a lead investigator in the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, has died in Southern California, according to his brother. He was 70.

Vannatter died Friday at a Santa Clarita hospital of complications from cancer, his brother Joe Vannatter told The Associated Press on Sunday.

He was among the first detectives on the scene at former football star O.J. Simpson's mansion in June 1994, following the stabbing deaths of Simpson's wife Nicole and her friend, Ron Goldman. Vannatter testified at the murder trial, at which Simpson was acquitted.

In 1977, Vannatter conducted the investigation that led to the arrest of film director Roman Polanski on charges he drugged and had unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

A 28-year veteran with the LAPD, where he spent most of his career as a homicide detective, Vannatter retired from the force in 1995 but continued on as a consultant for cold case murders.

"He was a very devoted detective," Joe Vannatter said, adding his brother worked some 250 murder cases in his career. "The last time I saw him he had gotten a call from LAPD that they solved a homicide he was involved in 30 years ago. He took great pride in that."

Vannatter arrested Polanski in the lobby of the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills, kicking off an international legal saga that escalated when the director fled to France after he was convicted. As he put the cuffs on, Vannatter said he found Polanski was clutching a Quaalude, the drug he was accused of giving his young victim.

Vannatter had planned to retire in late 1994 but instead spent more than a year in the middle of the Simpson trial. Along with fellow detective Mark Furman, Vannatter's name often featured in headlines and his face was a common sight on cable news shows.

Defense lawyers took aim at Vannatter's truthfulness, suggesting police set out to get Simpson as soon as his ex-wife was found slain.

The defense argued that the search of Simpson's estate was illegal and that all evidence seized ? including a bloody glove, bloody socks and bloody drops ? should be thrown out.

On the witness stand, Vannatter sharply defended the actions of detectives at the crime scene. Two judges upheld the search on the basis of Vannatter's and other detectives' testimony that they were trying to inform Simpson of the death and that it became an emergency after blood was discovered on Simpson's Bronco and they feared people in Simpson's house might be injured.

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"I don't think anybody's ever been in the news like that. ... It's history now. Obviously we're disgusted about what happened," Vannatter said in 1995 of Simpson's acquittal.

Joe Vannatter said his brother took the spotlight ? and the criticisms ? that came with the Simpson trial in stride.

"He was very upbeat and he knew he did the right thing," Joe Vannatter said about his brother's involvement in the case. "He had such thick skin. They felt that they had the right person that committed this horrendous crime."

During retirement Vannatter lived part time on a farm in Indiana, where he served for four years as a deputy sheriff in the town of Vevay, pop. 1,683.

Before joining law enforcement, the West Virginia native served in the U.S. Army.

Besides his brother, Vannatter is survived by his wife, Rita; their daughter, Donna; their son, Matthew, an LAPD officer; and five grandchildren.

Services are planned for Wednesday at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood. A fund has been established in Vannatter's name with the Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46091699/ns/us_news/

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HPV testing: Indications of a benefit in primary screening

Public release date: 24-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Anna-Sabine Ernst
presse@iqwig.de
49-221-356-850
Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care

Precursors of cervical cancer can be detected and treated earlier; risk of over-treatment

This release is available in German.

Studies currently available provide indications and a "hint" that precursors of cervical cancer can be detected and treated earlier, and consequently tumours occur less often, in women who underwent testing for human papillomavirus (HPV). In this context, an HPV test can be used alone or in addition to a Papanicolaou test (Pap smear). However, both screening procedures also carry a risk of harm in the form of unnecessary treatments after testing (over-treatment). This is the result of a final report published by the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) on 24th of January 2012.

HPV testing is not reimbursed by SHI funds

In screening for cervical cancer, the German statutory health insurance (SHI) funds currently offer an annual (cytologic) examination of mucosal cells from a smear taken from the neck of the womb (cervix). This test is called a Pap smear. Since it became known that infection with HPV is the main risk factor for developing cervical cancer, experts have been discussing whether HPV testing is also a suitable screening method or is even superior to a cytologic test.

The SHI funds currently only reimburse HPV testing in exceptional cases, for example, in cases where the result of a Pap smear is unclear. The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) therefore commissioned IQWiG to assess the benefit of HPV testing in primary screening and also to compare different screening strategies with each other.

Lower rates of cancers and their precursors are independent outcome criteria

Cancer screening is usually assessed by determining whether this procedure demonstrably contributes to the prevention of cancer-related deaths. However, in cervical cancer the fact whether or not fully developed (invasive) tumours occur less often can also be a criterion for a screening benefit. Similar to the case of colon cancer, screening for cervical cancer aims to detect and treat cellular changes (dysplasia) from which a cancerous tumour could develop, as treatment of such (advanced) precursors of cancer is far less burdensome for patients than later treatment of a tumour.

Studies with a total of 235,613 participants included

IQWiG searched for studies comparing primary screening strategies for cervical cancer based on different screening tests: a strategy including HPV testing alone or in combination with cytology-based testing and a strategy including cytology-based testing alone.

Six randomized controlled trials conducted in the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Italy were included in the assessment. A total of 235,613 women had been recruited for the studies in order to be examined for precursors of invasive cervical cancer in at least two screening rounds with an interval of at least three years. However, all of these studies were susceptible to bias, which limits their informative value.

Fewer cancer diagnoses in the second screening round

In the assessment IQWiG distinguished between different outcome criteria. The composite outcome "CIN3+" was analysed, which comprises both invasive cervical cancer and advanced precursors of cancer (high grade cervical intraepithelial dysplasia or in-situ cervical cancer, i.e. CIN3/CIS). In addition, the outcomes "invasive cervical cancer"- that is, not just the occurrence of a cancer precursor but of a tumour - as well as "CIN3/CIS" were analysed separately.

In the second screening round, the number of diagnoses for the two outcomes "CIN3+" and "invasive cervical cancer" was lower in the HPV group than in the group of women who had only been examined with a cytology-based screening strategy (e.g. Pap smear) in the first screening round. IQWiG therefore determined an indication of a benefit for these two outcomes.

If solely the advanced precursors of cancer are considered (CIN3/CIS), the data only provide a "hint" of a benefit. This is primarily due to a relatively large study that showed no difference between the HPV group and the comparator group. The new category "hint" expresses that certain minimum requirements for the available studies are fulfilled, but that conclusions on benefit and harm are only of low certainty.

No evaluable data on survival and quality of life

Conclusions on overall survival, mortality related to cervical cancer, and quality of life are not possible, as no data or no evaluable data were available for these outcomes.

Neither were evaluable data on potential screening-related harm available. For instance, unnecessary diagnostic procedures (e.g. biopsies) as a result of false-positive test results may harm patients. Moreover, the diagnosis itself can be a psychological burden, triggering anxieties or feelings of guilt.

Harm can also be caused by over-treatment. It is notable that women with moderate grade (CIN2) or sometimes even low grade cancer precursors were also treated in the included studies; in a great number of cases these precursors regress and only rarely progress into cancer. However, it cannot be estimated on the basis of these studies how often women who underwent HPV testing and/or a Pap smear were subjected to unnecessary treatment.

No recommendation for specific screening strategy possible

The complex screening strategies applied in the studies varied greatly and can therefore hardly be compared with each other. This applies to the participants' age and the intervals between follow-up examinations, as well as to the questions in which sequence or combination the HPV or cytology test should be applied and what measures should be undertaken after certain test results.

The study results therefore do not allow a recommendation for a specific screening strategy in the German health care system. The few common factors of the studies include the fact that the screening interval lasted at least three years and the screening programme was conducted in an organized population-based and quality assured context.

###

Procedure of report production

IQWiG published the preliminary results in the form of the preliminary report in June 2011 and interested parties were invited to submit comments. When the commenting procedure ended, the preliminary report was revised and sent as a final report to the contracting agency, the G-BA, in November 2011. The written comments were published in a separate document at the same time as the final report. The report was produced in collaboration with external experts.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 24-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Anna-Sabine Ernst
presse@iqwig.de
49-221-356-850
Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care

Precursors of cervical cancer can be detected and treated earlier; risk of over-treatment

This release is available in German.

Studies currently available provide indications and a "hint" that precursors of cervical cancer can be detected and treated earlier, and consequently tumours occur less often, in women who underwent testing for human papillomavirus (HPV). In this context, an HPV test can be used alone or in addition to a Papanicolaou test (Pap smear). However, both screening procedures also carry a risk of harm in the form of unnecessary treatments after testing (over-treatment). This is the result of a final report published by the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) on 24th of January 2012.

HPV testing is not reimbursed by SHI funds

In screening for cervical cancer, the German statutory health insurance (SHI) funds currently offer an annual (cytologic) examination of mucosal cells from a smear taken from the neck of the womb (cervix). This test is called a Pap smear. Since it became known that infection with HPV is the main risk factor for developing cervical cancer, experts have been discussing whether HPV testing is also a suitable screening method or is even superior to a cytologic test.

The SHI funds currently only reimburse HPV testing in exceptional cases, for example, in cases where the result of a Pap smear is unclear. The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) therefore commissioned IQWiG to assess the benefit of HPV testing in primary screening and also to compare different screening strategies with each other.

Lower rates of cancers and their precursors are independent outcome criteria

Cancer screening is usually assessed by determining whether this procedure demonstrably contributes to the prevention of cancer-related deaths. However, in cervical cancer the fact whether or not fully developed (invasive) tumours occur less often can also be a criterion for a screening benefit. Similar to the case of colon cancer, screening for cervical cancer aims to detect and treat cellular changes (dysplasia) from which a cancerous tumour could develop, as treatment of such (advanced) precursors of cancer is far less burdensome for patients than later treatment of a tumour.

Studies with a total of 235,613 participants included

IQWiG searched for studies comparing primary screening strategies for cervical cancer based on different screening tests: a strategy including HPV testing alone or in combination with cytology-based testing and a strategy including cytology-based testing alone.

Six randomized controlled trials conducted in the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Italy were included in the assessment. A total of 235,613 women had been recruited for the studies in order to be examined for precursors of invasive cervical cancer in at least two screening rounds with an interval of at least three years. However, all of these studies were susceptible to bias, which limits their informative value.

Fewer cancer diagnoses in the second screening round

In the assessment IQWiG distinguished between different outcome criteria. The composite outcome "CIN3+" was analysed, which comprises both invasive cervical cancer and advanced precursors of cancer (high grade cervical intraepithelial dysplasia or in-situ cervical cancer, i.e. CIN3/CIS). In addition, the outcomes "invasive cervical cancer"- that is, not just the occurrence of a cancer precursor but of a tumour - as well as "CIN3/CIS" were analysed separately.

In the second screening round, the number of diagnoses for the two outcomes "CIN3+" and "invasive cervical cancer" was lower in the HPV group than in the group of women who had only been examined with a cytology-based screening strategy (e.g. Pap smear) in the first screening round. IQWiG therefore determined an indication of a benefit for these two outcomes.

If solely the advanced precursors of cancer are considered (CIN3/CIS), the data only provide a "hint" of a benefit. This is primarily due to a relatively large study that showed no difference between the HPV group and the comparator group. The new category "hint" expresses that certain minimum requirements for the available studies are fulfilled, but that conclusions on benefit and harm are only of low certainty.

No evaluable data on survival and quality of life

Conclusions on overall survival, mortality related to cervical cancer, and quality of life are not possible, as no data or no evaluable data were available for these outcomes.

Neither were evaluable data on potential screening-related harm available. For instance, unnecessary diagnostic procedures (e.g. biopsies) as a result of false-positive test results may harm patients. Moreover, the diagnosis itself can be a psychological burden, triggering anxieties or feelings of guilt.

Harm can also be caused by over-treatment. It is notable that women with moderate grade (CIN2) or sometimes even low grade cancer precursors were also treated in the included studies; in a great number of cases these precursors regress and only rarely progress into cancer. However, it cannot be estimated on the basis of these studies how often women who underwent HPV testing and/or a Pap smear were subjected to unnecessary treatment.

No recommendation for specific screening strategy possible

The complex screening strategies applied in the studies varied greatly and can therefore hardly be compared with each other. This applies to the participants' age and the intervals between follow-up examinations, as well as to the questions in which sequence or combination the HPV or cytology test should be applied and what measures should be undertaken after certain test results.

The study results therefore do not allow a recommendation for a specific screening strategy in the German health care system. The few common factors of the studies include the fact that the screening interval lasted at least three years and the screening programme was conducted in an organized population-based and quality assured context.

###

Procedure of report production

IQWiG published the preliminary results in the form of the preliminary report in June 2011 and interested parties were invited to submit comments. When the commenting procedure ended, the preliminary report was revised and sent as a final report to the contracting agency, the G-BA, in November 2011. The written comments were published in a separate document at the same time as the final report. The report was produced in collaboration with external experts.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/ifqa-hti012412.php

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22 show horses killed in fast-moving NJ barn fire

LAFAYETTE, N.J.?? Authorities say a fast-moving fire destroyed a barn, killing 22 show horses owned by a noted New Jersey equestrian family and worth tens of thousands of dollars each.

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State Police Sgt. Brian Polite says the barn was engulfed in flames when troopers arrived around 2 a.m. Saturday in Lafayette. The blaze was soon extinguished, but all the horses inside were killed.

Polite says the animals were valued at $10,000 to $60,000 apiece.

Betty Hahn, whose family owns the horses, tells The Star-Ledger (http://bit.ly/xKriZi) that no hay or fuel was stored in the barn, so she's baffled about how the blaze began. Hahn says her family has competed and won awards in equestrian competitions along the East Coast.

___

Information from: The Star-Ledger, http://www.nj.com/starledger

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46082978/ns/us_news/

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