(Reuters) ? Pfizer said on Tuesday it was recalling about 1 million packets of birth control pills in the United States because they may not contain enough contraceptive to prevent pregnancy.
Pfizer said the birth control pills posed no health threat to women but it urged consumers affected by the recall to "begin using a non-hormonal form of contraception immediately."
The drugmaker said the issue involved 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets.
It said an investigation had found that some blister packs of the oral contraceptive might contain an inexact count of inert or active ingredients in the tablets.
The pills were manufactured by Pfizer and marketed by Akrimax Pharmaceuticals and shipped to warehouses, clinics and retail pharmacies nationwide, the company said.
(Reporting by James Kelleher; Editing by Greg McCune)
BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? EU leaders will sign off on a permanent rescue fund for the euro zone at a summit on Monday and are expected to agree on a balanced budget rule in national legislation, with unresolved problems in Greece casting a shadow on the discussions.
The summit - the 17th in two years as the EU battles to resolve its sovereign debt problems - is supposed to focus on creating jobs and growth, with leaders looking to shift the narrative away from politically unpopular budget austerity.
The summit is expected to announce that up to 20 billion euros ($26.4 billion) of unused funds from the EU's 2007-2013 budget will be redirected toward job creation, especially among the young, and will commit to freeing up bank lending to small- and medium-sized companies.
But discussions over the permanent rescue fund, a new 'fiscal treaty' and Greece will dominate the talks.
Negotiations between the Greek government and private bondholders over the restructuring of 200 billion euros of Greek debt made progress over the weekend, but are not expected to conclude before the summit begins at 9:00 a.m. EST.
Until there is a deal between Greece and its private bondholders, EU leaders cannot move forward with a second, 130 billion euro rescue program for Athens, which they originally agreed to at a summit last October.
Instead, they will sign a treaty creating the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a 500-billion-euro permanent bailout fund that is due to become operational in July, a year earlier than first planned. And they are likely to agree the terms of a 'fiscal treaty' tightening budget rules for those that sign up.
PERMANENT RESCUE FUND
The ESM will replace the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a temporary fund that has been used to bail out Ireland and Portugal and will help in the second Greek package.
Leaders hope the ESM will boost defenses against the debt crisis, but many - including Italian premier Mario Monti, IMF chief Christine Lagarde and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner - say it will only do so if its resources are combined with what remains in the EFSF, creating a super-fund of 750 billion euros ($1 trillion).
The International Monetary Fund says an agreement to increase the size of the euro zone 'firewall' will convince others to contribute more resources to the IMF, boosting its crisis-fighting abilities and improving market sentiment.
But Germany is opposed to such a step.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will not discuss the issue of the ESM/EFSF's ceiling until leaders meet for their next summit in March. In the meantime, financial markets will continue to fret that there may not be sufficient rescue funds available to help the likes of Italy and Spain if they run into renewed debt funding problems.
"There are certainly signals that Germany is willing to consider it and it is rather geared toward March from the German side," a senior euro zone official said.
The sticking point is German public opinion which is tired of bailing out the euro zone's financially less prudent. Instead, Merkel wants to see the EU - except Britain, which has rejected any such move - sign up to the fiscal treaty, including a balanced budget rule written into constitutions. Once that is done, the discussion about a bigger rescue fund can take place.
After nearly three years of crisis, some economists believe the combination of tighter budget rules, a bigger bailout fund and a commitment to broader structural reforms to boost EU productivity could help the region weather the storm.
"The fiscal compact and the ESM will shape a better future," said Carsten Brzeski, a euro zone economist at ING.
"Combined with ongoing austerity measures and structural reforms in peripheral countries, and, of course, with a lot of ECB action, the euro zone could master this stage of the crisis."
Economists say the pivotal act in recent months was the European Central Bank's flooding of the banking sector with cheap three-year money, a measure it will repeat next month.
GREEK DEAL?
While EU leaders are managing to put together pieces of legislation and financial barriers that might help them stave off a repeat of the debt crisis, immediate concerns - especially over Greece and potentially Portugal - remain.
By far the most pressing worry is the seven-month-long negotiation over private sector involvement in the second Greek rescue package. A deal in the coming days may help restore investor confidence, although Greece will still struggle to reduce its debts to 120 percent of GDP by 2020 as planned.
"If there is a deal, the heads of state and government can endorse it, welcome it and say that now it is up to Greece to agree to and deliver on reforms to get the second financing package," the euro zone official said.
Negotiators believe they have until mid-February to strike a deal. Failure to do so by then would likely force Greece to miss a 14.5 billion euro repayment on its debt due in mid-March.
Even if Athens can strike a deal with private bondholders to accept a 50 percent writedown on the nominal value of their bonds, it may still not be enough to close Greece's funding gap.
The IMF has suggested it may be necessary for public sector holders of Greek bonds - including the ECB and national central banks in the euro zone - to write off some of their holdings in order to close the gap.
Such a move would not necessarily involve the ECB or national central banks incurring losses, they would just be expected to forego any profit on the bonds they have bought.
But German ECB board member Joerg Asmussen told Reuters there was no possibility of the ECB taking part in the private-sector restructuring of Greece's debt.
(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski, editing by Mike Peacock)
BEIJING ? Clouds of smoke from Lunar New Year fireworks sent air pollution in Beijing soaring under a new more sensitive measurement system, reports said Sunday.
Readings of fine particulate matter called PM2.5 reached 1.593 milligrams per cubic meter on the Jan. 22 eve of the holiday, about 100 times worse than the amount considered good for 24-hour exposure, the city's environmental bureau said.
The reading drew wide publicity in the local media on Sunday. The popular Beijing Youth Daily praised the city government for taking a more critical look at air pollution, while urging residents to consider the environmental effects of setting off fireworks.
Readings on Saturday averaged around 0.07 before spiking again during the nightly new year fireworks barrage, hitting a height of 0.124 at 10 p.m.
Concern has grown over air pollution from automobiles and other sources, prompting the city this month to begin announcing measurements of PM2.5 ? particles less than 2.5 micrometers in size. That's about 1/30th the width of an average human hair.
Because of their small size, the particles can lodge deeply in the lungs and are believed to pose the greatest risk to health.
Beijing is frequently cloaked in yellow haze, with buildings a couple of blocks away barely visible. The city had previously only released readings of the coarser PM10 standard that indicated that pollution was "light," leading to accusations it was hiding the true extent of the problem.
The U.S. Embassy has been independently monitoring PM2.5 from a device on its rooftop and releasing the results via Twitter. Some residents even tested the air in their neighborhoods and posted the results online.
Beijing is now releasing hourly readings of PM2.5 that are taken from a monitoring site about 4 miles (7 kilometers) west of central Tiananmen Square.
LOS ANGELES ? The Screen Actors Guild national board of directors has voted to approve a plan to merge with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
In a statement, SAG says the board voted 87 percent to 13 percent Friday for the proposed merger at its meeting in Los Angeles.
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists' board is scheduled to meet Saturday for a vote on the package. If approved, a referendum will be sent out for a vote by members of both unions in the coming weeks.
The merger plan comes after two years of negotiations between the groups to join forces in a bid to gain more leverage in contract negotiations.
The TV and radio artists' group supported a merger with SAG in 1998 and 2003 only to see those efforts fail.
Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited (IRFC), the financing arm of Indian Railways, is proposing to issue Tax Free, Secured, Redeemable, Non-Convertible Bonds of face value of Rs. 1,000 each in the nature of Debentures, having benefits under Section 10(15)(iv)(h) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, as amended (?Bonds?)aggregating to Rs.3,000 crore with an option to retain oversubscription of upto the shelf limit of` Rs. 6,300 crore (?Issue?).
The application for subscription of Bonds should be for a minimum of 10 Bonds and in multiples of 5 Bonds thereafter. The Issue will open for subscription on January 27, 2012, and close on February 10, 2012, or earlier (subject to the Issue being open for a minimum period of 3 days), or extension by such period, upto a period of 30 days from the date of opening of the Issue, as may be decided by the Board of Directors or by a duly constituted committee of the Company. The Bonds shall carry a coupon rate of 8.00% p.a for 10 years (Series I) and 8.10% p.a for 15 years (Series II). An additional coupon rate of 0.15% p.a. and 0.20% p.a. on series 1 and series 2 respectively shall be available to Resident Indian individuals, Hindu Undivided Families through the Karta and Non Resident Indians on repatriation as well as non-repatriation basis, applying for an amount aggregating upto and includingRs.5lakhs across all Series in the tranche (available only to the original allottees). The Bonds are proposed to be listed on NSE and BSE.
The Bonds have been rated ?CRISIL AAA/Stable? by CRISIL, ?[ICRA] AAA? by ICRA and ?CARE AAA? by CARE, indicating highest degree of safety for timely servicing of financial obligations.
Investors will have an option to hold the bonds either in physical or in demat form.The Bonds will be secured by way of a paripassu charge on the movable assets of the Company comprising of rolling stock such as wagons, locomotives and coaches.
SBI Capital Markets Limited, A. K. Capital Services Limited and ICICI Securities Limited are the Lead Managers to the Issue. Indian Bank shall be the Trustee to the Issue.
The Company intends to utilize the Issue proceeds for financing the acquisition of rolling stock and financing the capacity enhancement works in the Indian Railways.
All investors proposing to participate in the Issue should invest only on the basis of the information contained in the Shelf Prospectus and the Prospectus Tranche-1, both dated January 19, 2012.
IRFC is the financing arm of the Indian Railways. 100% shareholding in IRFC is held by the President of India acting through Ministry of Railways. The Company has been notified as a Public Financial Institution under Section 4A of the Companies Act, 1956 and registered as a Non-Banking Finance Company without accepting public deposits (Infrastructure Finance Company) with the Reserve Bank of India. The Company?s principal business is borrowing funds from the commercial markets to finance the acquisition of new rolling stock which is then leased to the Indian Railways. IRFC is a consistently profit making Public Sector Undertaking that has funded rolling stock of book value of Rs.69,843 crore (5,567 locomotives, 33,856 passenger coaches, 14,90,300 freight wagons and 85 cranes and track machines) for Indian Railways (as on 30.09.2011). Net worth of IRFC as on 30.09.2011 stood at approximately Rs.4,487.50crores with Nil Non-Performing Assets. The Company recorded a net profit after tax of Rs.485.20 crore for year ended 31.03.2011 compared to Rs. 442.69 crore for year ended 31.03.2010.
A small, but growing trend of women in the US are choosing home births, a new government report finds. These mostly over 35, non-Hispanic white women are "consciously rejecting the system" of hospital deliveries, says the researcher.
Dealmaking on the studio's third installment in the raunchy comedy franchise is wrapping up after dragging on for months due in part to the salary demands of its three stars. Sources close to the negotiations say Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms are asking for $15 million each (against backend) to reprise their roles, and they now are likely to get it.
DORAL, Fla. ? Republican Newt Gingrich says Mitt Romney's call for self-deportation of illegal immigrants is an "Obama-level" fantasy that is inhumane to long-established families living in America.
The former House speaker ridiculed that part of Romney's immigration policy during a forum Wednesday with the Spanish-language network Univision. Gingrich laughed at the idea and said it wouldn't work.
Romney said during a recent debate that he favors what he calls "self-deportation" over policies that require the federal government to round up illegal immigrants and send them back to their home countries.
Gingrich says Romney's proposal reflects a candidate who lives, in his words, "in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts." That was a jab at Romney's wealth.
Romney was taping his own segment with Univision later Wednesday.
Iconic iPhone hacker George Hotz was hired at Facebook a while back. That didn't seem to work out very long as he's no longer there. What's he up to these days? It appears he's back to hacking and coding. This time he's with a brand new startup as well.
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ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2012) ? Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute have combined two fields -- quantum physics and nano physics -- and this has led to the discovery of a new method for laser cooling semiconductor membranes. Semiconductors are vital components in solar cells, LEDs and many other electronics, and the efficient cooling of components is important for future quantum computers and ultrasensitive sensors. The new cooling method works quite paradoxically by heating the material! Using lasers, researchers cooled membrane fluctuations to minus 269 degrees C.
The results are published in the journal Nature Physics.
"In experiments, we have succeeded in achieving a new and efficient cooling of a solid material by using lasers. We have produced a semiconductor membrane with a thickness of 160 nanometers and an unprecedented surface area of 1 by 1 millimeter. In the experiments, we let the membrane interact with the laser light in such a way that its mechanical movements affected the light that hit it. We carefully examined the physics and discovered that a certain oscillation mode of the membrane cooled from room temperature down to minus 269 degrees C, which was a result of the complex and fascinating interplay between the movement of the membrane, the properties of the semiconductor and the optical resonances," explains Koji Usami, associate professor at Quantop at the Niels Bohr Institute.
From gas to solid
Laser cooling of atoms has been practiced for several years in experiments in the quantum optical laboratories of the Quantop research group at the Niels Bohr Institute. Here researchers have cooled gas clouds of cesium atoms down to near absolute zero, minus 273 degrees C, using focused lasers and have created entanglement between two atomic systems. The atomic spin becomes entangled and the two gas clouds have a kind of link, which is due to quantum mechanics. Using quantum optical techniques, they have measured the quantum fluctuations of the atomic spin.
"For some time we have wanted to examine how far you can extend the limits of quantum mechanics -- does it also apply to macroscopic materials? It would mean entirely new possibilities for what is called optomechanics, which is the interaction between optical radiation, i.e. light, and a mechanical motion," explains Professor Eugene Polzik, head of the Center of Excellence Quantop at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.
But they had to find the right material to work with.
Lucky coincidence
In 2009, Peter Lodahl (who is today a professor and head of the Quantum Photonic research group at the Niels Bohr Institute) gave a lecture at the Niels Bohr Institute, where he showed a special photonic crystal membrane that was made of the semiconducting material gallium arsenide (GaAs). Eugene Polzik immediately thought that this nanomembrane had many advantageous electronic and optical properties and he suggested to Peter Lodahl's group that they use this kind of membrane for experiments with optomechanics. But this required quite specific dimensions and after a year of trying they managed to make a suitable one.
"We managed to produce a nanomembrane that is only 160 nanometers thick and with an area of more than 1 square millimetre. The size is enormous, which no one thought it was possible to produce," explains Assistant Professor S?ren Stobbe, who also works at the Niels Bohr Institute.
Basis for new research
Now a foundation had been created for being able to reconcile quantum mechanics with macroscopic materials to explore the optomechanical effects.
Koji Usami explains that in the experiment they shine the laser light onto the nanomembrane in a vacuum chamber. When the laser light hits the semiconductor membrane, some of the light is reflected and the light is reflected back again via a mirror in the experiment so that the light flies back and forth in this space and forms an optical resonator. Some of the light is absorbed by the membrane and releases free electrons. The electrons decay and thereby heat the membrane and this gives a thermal expansion. In this way the distance between the membrane and the mirror is constantly changed in the form of a fluctuation.
"Changing the distance between the membrane and the mirror leads to a complex and fascinating interplay between the movement of the membrane, the properties of the semiconductor and the optical resonances and you can control the system so as to cool the temperature of the membrane fluctuations. This is a new optomechanical mechanism, which is central to the new discovery. The paradox is that even though the membrane as a whole is getting a little bit warmer, the membrane is cooled at a certain oscillation and the cooling can be controlled with laser light. So it is cooling by warming! We managed to cool the membrane fluctuations to minus 269 degrees C," Koji Usami explains.
"The potential of optomechanics could, for example, pave the way for cooling components in quantum computers. Efficient cooling of mechanical fluctuations of semiconducting nanomembranes by means of light could also lead to the development of new sensors for electric current and mechanical forces. Such cooling in some cases could replace expensive cryogenic cooling, which is used today and could result in extremely sensitive sensors that are only limited by quantum fluctuations," says Professor Eugene Polzik.
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Journal Reference:
K. Usami, A. Naesby, T. Bagci, B. Melholt Nielsen, J. Liu, S. Stobbe, P. Lodahl, E. S. Polzik. Optical cavity cooling of mechanical modes of a semiconductor nanomembrane. Nature Physics, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nphys2196
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MADRID - Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho will not punish Pepe for stomping on the hand of Barcelona's Lionel Messi, saying that the defender's apology was sufficient.
The Portuguese manager said Saturday "the player has spoken and that is enough" after including Pepe in his squad for Sunday's home game against Athletic Bilbao.
Real Madrid lost 2-1 Wednesday to Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal. Mourinho said after the game if Pepe had stepped on Messi's hand intentionally it would be "punishable."
The following day Pepe issued a statement on Madrid's website saying the stomp was "unintentional."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Manchester City scored a dramatic 3-2 victory over Tottenham on Sunday, leaving Manchester United its only likely rival for the Premier League title.
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Hat trick
Clint Dempsey became the first American to score a hat trick in England's Premier League, helping Fulham rally from a halftime deficit to rout Newcastle 5-2 Saturday.
Levin says it is simply unconscionable for the Obama administration to mandate that private insurance provide contraception and the abortion pill for ?free?, which means insurance rates will go up and that all Americans will end up paying for it, no matter how disgusted you are by abortion. He says this is what Utopian tyranny looks like:
New submitter scibri writes "Researchers working on highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza have said they will stop work on the virus for 60 days, to allow them to explain the importance of their work to politicians and the public. Quoting: 'Despite the positive public-health benefits these studies sought to provide, a perceived fear that the ferret-transmissible H5 HA viruses may escape from the laboratories has generated intense public debate in the media on the benefits and potential harm of this type of research. We would like to assure the public that these experiments have been conducted with appropriate regulatory oversight in secure containment facilities by highly trained and responsible personnel to minimize any risk of accidental release.'" Reader Harperdog sends in a related article arguing that we shouldn't be having a debate about the censorship of research, but rather a debate over whether the research should have been allowed in the first place.
CAIRO (Reuters) ? Arab states, divided over how to handle the crisis in Syria, are likely to extend a peace mission there which critics say is handing President Bashar al-Assad more time to kill opponents of his rule.
Arab foreign ministers were gathering in Cairo on Sunday to debate the findings of the month-long monitoring mission, whose mandate expired on Thursday, and must decide whether to extend, withdraw or strengthen it.
Some want to crank up pressure on Assad to end a 10-month-old crackdown on a popular revolt in which, according to the United Nations, more than 5,000 people have died.
Others worry that weakening Assad could tip Syria, with its potent mix of religious and ethnic allegiances, into a deeper conflict that would destabilize the entire region, and some may fear the threat from their own populations if he were toppled.
The head of the monitoring effort, Sudanese General Mohammed al-Dabi, was in the Egyptian capital to present his report to ministers, who were due to meet after a gathering of the Arab League's Syria committee.
Hundreds of people have been killed during the monitoring mission, sent to assess Syria's implementation of the Arab plan, which was originally agreed in early November.
Syrian opposition activists said Assad's forces killed 35 civilians on Saturday and 30 unidentified corpses were found at a hospital in Idlib. The state news agency SANA said bombs killed at least 14 prisoners and two security personnel in a security vehicle in Idlib province.
STRONGER MISSION?
Maintaining the 165 monitors, and perhaps giving them a broader remit, could give Arab states more time to find a way out of the crisis.
The Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera, citing an unnamed source, said Dabi planned to tell ministers that the Syrian government had not done enough to respect the peace protocol and to request that the mission be extended.
The head of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, met several Arab officials on Saturday and a source close to the League said the ministers could decide both to extend the mission and to offer it additional support in the form of U.N. or military experts.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia, regional rivals of Syria and its ally Iran, are impatient for decisive action against Assad and Qatar has suggested sending Arab troops to Syria.
The League is due to discuss the suggestion but military action against Assad would need unanimous backing and several countries still believe in a negotiated solution, League sources say. Some of Assad's opponents say they gave up hope of help from Arab governments long ago.
On Saturday, the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) formally asked the Arab League to refer the Syrian crisis to the United Nations Security Council.
"We think that when the Arab League refers the case to the United Nations and to the Security Council the situation will change," SNC spokeswoman Bassma Kodmani said in Cairo.
But the Security Council is also split on how to address the crisis, with Western powers demanding tougher sanctions and a weapons embargo but Assad's ally Russia preferring to leave the Arabs to negotiate a peaceful outcome.
Suggestions to send in U.N. experts to support the Arab observers made little headway at the last meeting earlier this month and Damascus has said it would accept an extension of the observer mission but not an expansion in its scope.
Syria, keen to avoid tougher foreign action, has tried to show it is complying with the Arab peace plan, which demanded a halt to killings, a military pullout from the streets, the release of detainees, access for the monitors and the media, and a political dialogue with opposition groups.
This month the Syrian authorities have freed hundreds of detainees, announced an amnesty, struck a ceasefire deal with armed rebels in one town, allowed the Arab observers into some troublespots and admitted some foreign journalists.
Assad also promised political reforms, while vowing iron-fisted treatment of the "terrorists" trying to topple him.
SNC chief Burhan Ghalioun told reporters that the observers were not properly equipped to give a fair assessment of Syria's compliance with the Arab peace plan and his group would reject any findings that fell short of the Syrian people's aspirations.
(Reporting by Ayman Samir, Yasmine Saleh and Lin Noueihed; editing by Tim Pearce)
WASHINGTON ? Mitt Romney may be the front-runner for the GOP nomination for president, but he has yet to win over most of the national party leaders whose help he will need to defeat President Barack Obama in November.
The upside for Romney: They aren't supporting anyone else either.
The Associated Press has polled 87 members of the Republican National Committee who are to attend the party's national convention this summer as free agent delegates, able to support any candidate for president they choose, regardless of what happens in the primaries.
The results: Romney got support from 14, far more than anyone else but hardly a stampede of endorsements. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry got two each, while Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum each got one. The poll was completed before Perry dropped out of the race Thursday.
Sixty-seven of the RNC members contacted by the AP said they were undecided or simply waiting to see how the race plays out before making a public endorsement.
"If I thought there was someone who stood head and shoulders above everyone else, I would have endorsed," said Jeff Johnson, an RNC member and county commissioner from Minnesota. "I see pluses in all of them, but I decided not to come out in favor of anybody."
Pennsylvania GOP Chairman Robert Gleason said he saw no reason to endorse anyone because a competitive primary is good for the party and the eventual nominee by vetting the candidate while generating publicity and excitement about the race.
"It's working out great for us, and one of these people that is competing with (Romney) could end up being vice president," Gleason said. "I'm pleased with the way things are developing. We're getting all the publicity. It's been pretty favorable for us."
Romney appeared to finish slightly ahead of Santorum in the hours after the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3. However, the Iowa GOP certified vote totals Thursday showing Santorum ahead of Romney. The party decided not to declare a winner because of problems with a few precinct reports.
Romney won handily in New Hampshire last week, and he leads his Republican rivals in the polls nationally and in South Carolina, which votes Saturday. Still, the former Massachusetts governor has been unable to solidify support from many Republicans, some of whom question his conservative credentials.
Stephen Scheffler, an RNC member from Iowa, said he would support Romney if he were the nominee, but he's not excited about the prospect, despite Romney's finish in Iowa.
"He doesn't want to talk to certain segments of the Republican Party," Scheffler said of Romney. "If he's the nominee and they open all these victory offices across Iowa, it's going to be pretty challenging to find volunteers."
Each state plus the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories gets three members on the Republican National Committee. All of them are automatically invited to attend the party's national convention in Tampa, Fla., in August, with a few exceptions. The RNC members from New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan and Arizona have been excluded ? for now ? as part of the penalties they received for holding primaries earlier than party rules allowed.
In many states, RNC members must support the winner of primaries or caucuses in their states. The AP identified 37 states and territories in which the RNC members will be free to support any candidate they choose.
AP reporters started contacting the 111 RNC delegates from these states after Romney won the New Hampshire primary. They were able to reach nearly 80 percent of them.
The RNC delegates make up less than 5 percent of the 2,286 delegates slated to attend the GOP convention, giving them little power to determine the nominee. But these party leaders will be expected to provide manpower, money, local connections and expertise this fall, when the GOP nominee will rely on the party faithful to help defeat Obama.
It will take 1,144 delegates to win the GOP nomination. Romney now has 33 delegates, including those won in primaries and caucuses as well as endorsements from RNC members. Santorum is next with 13.
Joseph Trillo, a state lawmaker and RNC member from Rhode Island, said his support for Romney comes down to political pragmatism.
"He's the only one who I know can beat Obama," Trillo said.
Herbert Schoenbohm, the GOP chairman in the Virgin Islands, said that beating Obama is important, but his support for Romney goes much deeper.
"I'm for (Romney) because he has the best leadership skills," Schoenbohm said in a phone interview. "He made it work in Massachusetts, and that was hard to do in a Democratic state."
Lawrence Kadish, an RNC member from Long Island, N.Y., challenged that assessment, saying Gingrich "towers head and shoulders over those other candidates. I don't view Mr. Romney as having a deep rudder, but he's OK."
___
Lauren Johnert, Associated Press deputy manager for election research and quality control, contributed to this report, along with AP writers Pat Condon in St. Paul, Minn., Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pa., Mike Glover in Des Moines, Iowa, David Klepper in Providence, R.I., and George M. Walsh in Albany, N.Y.
Popular file-hosting site Megaupload, probably known to our readers for a variety of reasons, has been taken down after the FBI charged some of its staff with copyright infringement and "conspiracy to commit racketeering." Seven people have been charged, and four arrested (in New Zealand), and the site itself appears to be down as authorities around the world closed in on the site's resources. Bizarrely, it was also just revealed that the CEO of the company is none other than Swizz Beats, the husband of Alicia Keys. Clearly the rabbit hole goes much deeper than the FBI expected.
First-of-kind seminar teaches teamwork to varied medical professionalsPublic release date: 18-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Diana Torres-Bixby diana.torres@edelman.com 212-819-4895 Edelman Public Relations
CUMC's Program in Narrative Medicine, with $1 million Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Grant, to enroll students from nursing, dental, medical and public health schools in collaborative program
New York, NY, January 18 - Advances in medical technology, changes in health care delivery and an aging, ailing population have all made the practice of medicine increasingly dependent on clinical collaboration. Yet most health care students rarely gain understanding or even exposure to the many other types of specialists, professionals, administrators, or statisticians they will deal with in the real world. Today, Columbia University Medical Center's (CUMC) Program in Narrative Medicine is introducing a more collaborative approach to education with a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary, interprofessional seminar on teamwork in medicine.
The semester-long seminar is supported by a $1 million, four year grant from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation and includes four students each from the CUMC's College of Dental Medicine, College of Physicans & Surgeons, Mailman School of Public Health and the School of Nursing. Titled "The Cultures of Health, Illness and Health Care," the seminar will be co-taught by senior faculty from each of the four schools, using collaborative methods to equip the students with the skills to function effectively in multi-disciplinary health care teams.
Dr. Rita Charon, Executive Director of CUMC's Program in Narrative Medicine, will lead the seminar, which will use the social sciences, population studies, and the arts to develop in students a wide and deep comprehension of health, illness and care. Skills taught will include understanding and embracing the cultural diversity of patients and co-workers; communicating clearly to patients, families and other professionals; expressing opinions, knowledge and responsibilities clearly to patients, families and co-workers; and collaborating respectfully with other caregivers to ensure a common understanding.
"After this seminar, a nurse will have the confidence and skills to discuss a patient's fears about a risky treatment with the rest of the medical team. A dental student whose patient is on blood-thinning medication will understand the importance of coordinating care with the internal medicine physician, and be able to frame the conversation appropriately. A medical student will know to seek assistance from a nursing assistant about how best to communicate with a patient with little command of English," said Dr. Charon.
"The Cultures of Health, Illness and Health Care" is a follow-up to a 2010 Macy grant that funded a group of senior faculty members from CUMC's four schools - including associate deans, senior vice presidents, center directors, and full-time clinicians - to investigate the basic and applied sciences of health care team development in two-hour bimonthly seminar sessions. The result of these meetings is the development of a community of practice which fosters open dialogue and exploratory interdisciplinary work.
The seminar will also build on training already emphasized in The Program in Narrative Medicine, which helps doctors, nurses, social workers, therapists and others who work with ill patients and families improve the efficacy of care.
###
About CUMC's Program in Narrative Medicine
The Program in Narrative Medicine (PNM) was established in the Department of Medicine at Columbia University in 1996 to break down barriers in health care by providing practitioners with the clinical tools to listen, encourage patient stories, honor the meaning of their patients' and their own stories, and grant permission to share thoughts and concerns. Inaugurated and directed by Rita Charon, M.D., Ph.D. as an integrated program that transcends the divisions that separate Columbia's academic departments from one another, the PNM brings together health care professionals, patients, faculty and researchers in new and exciting ways. It unifies disciplines in a shared University goal improving health care using the power of the narrative. As a result, patients are treated more empathetically and have the opportunity to engage more fully with their own care; understanding and articulating it beyond a description of physical symptoms.
About the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
Since 1930, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation has worked to improve health care in the United States. Founded by Kate Macy Ladd in memory of her father, prominent philanthropist Josiah Macy Jr., the Foundation supports projects that broaden and improve health professional education. It is now the only national foundation solely dedicated to this mission.
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.
First-of-kind seminar teaches teamwork to varied medical professionalsPublic release date: 18-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Diana Torres-Bixby diana.torres@edelman.com 212-819-4895 Edelman Public Relations
CUMC's Program in Narrative Medicine, with $1 million Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Grant, to enroll students from nursing, dental, medical and public health schools in collaborative program
New York, NY, January 18 - Advances in medical technology, changes in health care delivery and an aging, ailing population have all made the practice of medicine increasingly dependent on clinical collaboration. Yet most health care students rarely gain understanding or even exposure to the many other types of specialists, professionals, administrators, or statisticians they will deal with in the real world. Today, Columbia University Medical Center's (CUMC) Program in Narrative Medicine is introducing a more collaborative approach to education with a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary, interprofessional seminar on teamwork in medicine.
The semester-long seminar is supported by a $1 million, four year grant from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation and includes four students each from the CUMC's College of Dental Medicine, College of Physicans & Surgeons, Mailman School of Public Health and the School of Nursing. Titled "The Cultures of Health, Illness and Health Care," the seminar will be co-taught by senior faculty from each of the four schools, using collaborative methods to equip the students with the skills to function effectively in multi-disciplinary health care teams.
Dr. Rita Charon, Executive Director of CUMC's Program in Narrative Medicine, will lead the seminar, which will use the social sciences, population studies, and the arts to develop in students a wide and deep comprehension of health, illness and care. Skills taught will include understanding and embracing the cultural diversity of patients and co-workers; communicating clearly to patients, families and other professionals; expressing opinions, knowledge and responsibilities clearly to patients, families and co-workers; and collaborating respectfully with other caregivers to ensure a common understanding.
"After this seminar, a nurse will have the confidence and skills to discuss a patient's fears about a risky treatment with the rest of the medical team. A dental student whose patient is on blood-thinning medication will understand the importance of coordinating care with the internal medicine physician, and be able to frame the conversation appropriately. A medical student will know to seek assistance from a nursing assistant about how best to communicate with a patient with little command of English," said Dr. Charon.
"The Cultures of Health, Illness and Health Care" is a follow-up to a 2010 Macy grant that funded a group of senior faculty members from CUMC's four schools - including associate deans, senior vice presidents, center directors, and full-time clinicians - to investigate the basic and applied sciences of health care team development in two-hour bimonthly seminar sessions. The result of these meetings is the development of a community of practice which fosters open dialogue and exploratory interdisciplinary work.
The seminar will also build on training already emphasized in The Program in Narrative Medicine, which helps doctors, nurses, social workers, therapists and others who work with ill patients and families improve the efficacy of care.
###
About CUMC's Program in Narrative Medicine
The Program in Narrative Medicine (PNM) was established in the Department of Medicine at Columbia University in 1996 to break down barriers in health care by providing practitioners with the clinical tools to listen, encourage patient stories, honor the meaning of their patients' and their own stories, and grant permission to share thoughts and concerns. Inaugurated and directed by Rita Charon, M.D., Ph.D. as an integrated program that transcends the divisions that separate Columbia's academic departments from one another, the PNM brings together health care professionals, patients, faculty and researchers in new and exciting ways. It unifies disciplines in a shared University goal improving health care using the power of the narrative. As a result, patients are treated more empathetically and have the opportunity to engage more fully with their own care; understanding and articulating it beyond a description of physical symptoms.
About the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
Since 1930, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation has worked to improve health care in the United States. Founded by Kate Macy Ladd in memory of her father, prominent philanthropist Josiah Macy Jr., the Foundation supports projects that broaden and improve health professional education. It is now the only national foundation solely dedicated to this mission.
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.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) ? U.S. banking regulators have filed suit against the director of a Puerto Rican bank, alleging that reckless lending and improper management led to the April 2010 collapse that cost the deposit insurance fund nearly $1.5 billion.
Officers and directors of R-G Premier Bank failed to adequately supervise the huge increase in commercial lending during the housing boom and bust in the U.S. island territory, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in San Juan.
The suit seeks at least $257 million in damages and names 19 bank officials, including founder and CEO Victor Galan Alvarez. The suit also names the spouses of 17 of the directors and officers so that it can go after their assets to recover losses from the failure.
U.S. regulators have filed dozens of similar lawsuits over the past two years to recover losses from bank failures that regulators say resulted from negligence and misconduct. FDIC attorneys have been in settlement talks with many of the executives.
The FDIC says that directors of R-G Premier Bank didn't adequately supervise the chief loan officer, ignored warnings that should have led them to tighten control of their operations and made dozens of loans to developers who were already heavily in debt and were poor credit risks.
"Between November 2004 and December 2008 alone, the bank extended over $350 million in loans that any prudent banker should have known would probably never be repaid," the suit says. "The directors and officers also exacerbated and accelerated these losses by robotically approving virtually any loan request that crossed their desks, even though such loan requests had been processed through the obviously deficient lending structure they had created at the bank."
A lawyer for Galan, Mary Gill of Atlanta, Georgia, had no immediate comment but said the CEO may issue a statement later.
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Public release date: 18-Jan-2012
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