MERS virus found in Qatar camels, linked to human spread

DOHA/LONDON - Scientists have found cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in camels in Qatar, health officials said on Thursday, fuelling speculation that camels might be the animal reservoir that allowed the virus to infect and kill humans.

The SARS-like coronavirus, which emerged in the Middle East last year and has killed almost 40 percent of the around 170 people so far infected, was found in three camels in a herd in a barn also linked to two human cases of MERS infection.

"The three camels were investigated among a herd of 14 camels, and the samples were collected as part of the epidemiological investigation," Qatar's Supreme Council of Health said in a statement.

It added that the two confirmed human cases linked to the barn had since recovered. Scientists around the world have been seeking to pin down the animal source of MERS virus infections since the first human cases were confirmed.

British researchers who conducted some of the very first genetic analyses on MERS last September said the virus, which is from the same family as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, was also related to a virus found in bats.

Confirming and commenting on the virus being found in camels in Qatar, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said there was still insufficient evidence to say for sure what the source of the human MERS infections was.

"Neither camels nor bats can yet be said to be reservoir of MERS," he said on the networking site Twitter.

Ab Osterhaus, a professor of virology at the Erasmus Medical Centre in The Netherlands that worked on the camel study, told Reuters the results were confirmed by a range of tests including sequencing and antibody testing.

Dutch scientists said in August they had found strong evidence that the MERS virus is widespread among one-humped dromedary camels in the Middle East - suggesting people who become infected may be catching it from camels used for meat, milk, transport and racing.

Saudi officials said this month that a camel there had tested positive for MERS a few days after its owner was confirmed to have the virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest MERS update on Nov. 22 that of the 176 laboratory-confirmed and probable reported human cases to date, 69 people had died.

Human cases of MERS, which can cause coughing, fever and pneumonia, have so far been reported in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Tunisia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Britain.

Osterhaus, whose team worked with Qatar's Health and Environment Ministries on the study, said that, at this stage, "no more details can be disclosed" about the findings since a scientific paper was in the process of being prepared and submitted for peer review and publication.

The Qatari health council said, however, as a precaution, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and respiratory illnesses should avoid any close animal contact when visiting farms and markets.  — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

New MRAM chips may boast 10x more speed than conventional DRAM

Coming soon to a smartphone or tablet near you: a memory chip that can make your device 10 times faster—but only a third as power-thirsty.

Japanese and United States companies are now working to create such a new memory chip dubbed magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), Nikkei reported.

But the new RAM may not likely reach the masses until at least 2018, it added.

Potentially, the new memory may have up to 10 times the capacity and writing speed of Dynamic RAM (DRAM), the present standard - while consuming only a third of the power requirement of DRAM.

This could boost standby time from "dozens of hours to a few hundred," the report said.

Researchers

Presently, at least 20 Japanese and US semiconductor firms are working to develop a way to mass-produce these chips.

Among the companies from Japan are:

Tokyo Electron, the world's third-biggest manufacturer of chipmaking equipment
Shin-Etsu Chemical, the top silicon wafer maker
chipmaker Renesas Electronics
electronics conglomerate Hitachi.

Meanwhile, the US is represented by Micron Technology, the world's second biggest producer of DRAM chips.

Nikkei reported the companies are to send a "few dozen" researchers to Tohoku University in northern Japan, and start development on MRAM by February 2014.

The team led by Tohoku University professor Tetsuo Endoh will seek to attract the support of US and European companies.

Mass production by 2018

However, MRAM may not likely reach the masses until at least 2018, as the companies are still figuring out how to mass-produce it.

Also, Nikkei noted other companies are working on the technology as well, including Toshiba and Korea's SK Hynix; and Samsung Electronics.

"All told, chipmakers controlling 90% of the global market are shifting to MRAM," it said. — TJD, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Screen time again linked to kids’ extra weight

NEW YORK - Children and teenagers who spend lots of time in front of screens—especially TVs—tend to gain more weight as they age, according to a new study.

The findings are consistent with research suggesting all that idle sitting and exposure to advertisements may fuel poor eating habits.

Many parents believe their children are getting a reasonable amount of recreational screen time, Mark Tremblay said. But most US and Canadian kids exceed the recommended two-hour maximum per day.

"We don't pay attention to the fact that it's half an hour here, half an hour there, an hour here, an hour there," Tremblay told Reuters Health. He is the director of Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa, Canada, and wasn't involved in the new study.




Researchers used data from a long-term study of kids who took surveys every other year. The surveys included questions about their height and weight as well as how much time they spent watching TV and DVDs and playing computer and video games.

Kids were between ages nine and 16 when the study started.

Out of about 4,300 girls in the study, 17 percent were overweight or obese. Twenty-four percent of the 3,500 boys were also above a healthy weight.

From one survey to the next, each one-hour increase in children's daily TV watching was tied to an increase of about 0.1 points on a body mass index (BMI) scale, which measures weight in relation to height. That's a difference of approximately half a pound per extra hour of TV.

Increases in total screen time between survey periods were linked with similar but smaller changes in BMI.

"The weight of the evidence is pretty strong that television viewing is related to unhealthy changes in weight among youth," Jennifer Falbe said.

But, she told Reuters Health, "It's important for parents to be aware of all the potentially obesogenic screens that they should really be limiting in their children's lives." Increases in DVD and video watching were tied to weight gain among girls, in particular.

Falbe led the study while at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. She is now at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

When kids watch TV, "There is more purposeful, deliberate exposure to eating options, commercials that come on that might cue you to go off to the pantry and grab a cookie or a soft drink," Tremblay said.

"Typically your hands are free when you're watching TV, so should that temptation capture you, you're able to sit there and munch on whether it's a healthy or an unhealthy snack."

What's more, he said, "You can get into a pretty much hibernative state on the couch." Even if kids are sitting down while playing a computer game, for instance, they might be a bit more active, Tremblay said.

The study didn't include many non-white or poor children, the researchers noted. So the findings may not apply to all US youth.

Another study of factors affecting childrens' weight published today in Pediatrics found that kids whose mothers and fathers reported consistent parenting—setting age-appropriate rules and expectations and following through on them—had a lower BMI than their peers. But those differences were small, Pauline Jansen from Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues wrote.

In a third report in the same journal issue, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracked 1.2 million children from low-income families in the US to see how their weight changed over time.

They found 11 percent of kids who were not obese before age two became obese over the next two to three years. Close to two-thirds of children who were initially obese as babies and toddlers were no longer obese a couple of years later. Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native children were more likely than white kids to become obese and less likely to stop being obese.

The study "underscores the importance of early life obesity prevention in multiple settings for low-income children and their families," according to researchers led by Dr. Liping Pan. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Google fixes security hole in GMail

Now it can be told. Google has fixed a potentially serious security hole in its Gmail email service, after a security researcher discovered the flaw.

The Internet giant fixed the flaw within 10 days of being informed by white-hat hacker Oren Hafif, who said the bug involved Gmail's password recovery mechanism.

"(I)f someone got access to your Gmail account, he can 'password recover' his way to any other web/mobile application out there," Hafif said in a blog post.

Hafif said an attacker can send a phishing email customized with the target Gmail user's email address in the URL, with the link referring to a site controlled by the attacker.

But he said Google's team acted swiftly, fixing the matter in 10 days.

"Google security team acted really fast. This issue was fixed in 10 days," he said.

Security researcher Graham Cluley noted the process of stealing the Google password starts with a "fairly normal looking phishing email, claiming to come from Google."

But the link really takes the intended victim to a website under the hacker’s control.

Cluley said the hacker's site quickly performs a Cross-site request forgery (CSRF), "launching a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack which fools Google into believing that the user has requested a password reset, as if they were having trouble logging in."

"Fortunately, Hafif is one of the good guys rather than a malicious attacker, and so he informed Google of the serious security hole," he said. — TJD, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Roach feels confrontation with Ariza was 'set up'

Days before the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios, Freddie Roach and Alex Ariza stole the spotlight as they figured in a scuffle highlighted by the latter kicking and mocking the former.

“I just wish it never happened, to be honest with you,” Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, said. “I think I was set up. They were on my time and they knew I was going to ask them to leave. They told me they weren’t leaving. Words were spoken, in which order I’m not sure.”


Robert Garcia, Roach's counterpart on the other side, and Brandon Rios had the gym from 9 to 11am, but the fighter’s interview with HBO went longer than expected. As a result, they were still there when Roach arrived in the gym.

“I thought they were disrespecting Manny by being there on his time,” Roach continued. “If they came to me and asked me for an extra half hour of course I would have said yes.”

Ariza’s camp said that Roach hurled racist remarks against them, but the American trainer claims he did nothing wrong. “I feel I have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who got kicked, by what felt like a girl. I’m sorry to the girls here; you guys kick harder than that I’m sure,” he japed. “I’m just not like that. If you came to my gym, I have the flags of all the countries that have been there.”

Roach added that he is expecting a signature Manny Pacquiao win on Sunday. “I’m very confident of a win. The reason I say that is because of the training we had and how he handled his sparring partners,” he said. “He had no distractions whatsoever, that’s why I was upset at myself because I felt I let Manny down by letting them get under my skin. It was really something that I’m embarrassed about, but it happened.”

Asked what pushed Ariza to kick him, Roach said “I guess he’s mad because Manny fired him or I fired him. And maybe he’s not happy where he’s at.”

Ariza was formerly the strength and conditioning coach of Pacquiao, until Roach let him go with Pacquiao's blessing.

After Pacquiao heard about the incident, he quickly talked to his long-time trainer. “Manny came to me and just shook his head. He told me to be calm, don’t let his happen again. Manny knows how to calm me down, he’s a very good guy and I respect him. He told me not to do this again and I won’t,” Roach said.

“If they walk by me and have something to say, I’m not going to say anything back because it’s really not worth it.” - AMD, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Naughty Dog reveals: Ellie returns in The Last of Us DLC, new Uncharted game for PS4

Naughty Dog has just revealed some exciting news regarding the much-anticipated downloadable content (DLC) for "The Last of Us,” and the long-awaited sequel to the mega-popular Uncharted franchise.

The announcements were made during the PlayStation 4 launch event on Spike TV, according to Arcade Sushi and Computer and Video Games.


Ellie returns in 'The Last of Us: Left Behind'

Those who fell in love with Ellie from The Last of Us will be happy to know that the indomitable Cordyceps apocalypse survivor is making a comeback in the new story DLC for the game, titled "Left Behind.”




“Ashley Johnson reprises her role as Ellie in The Last of Us: Left Behind single-player DLC,” stated Naughty Dog on the PlayStation blog. “Left Behind takes place while Ellie is attending a military boarding school in the Boston quarantine zone, prior to meeting Joel and the events in the main campaign of The Last of Us.”

Aside from Ellie herself, the video—shown during the launch event—also reveals her best friend Riley Abel, who was only briefly mentioned in the original game.

“Joining Ellie on this new adventure is Riley, her best friend and also a mentor of sorts at the military boarding school. Just as 'The Last of Us' focused on the bond between Ellie and Joel, 'Left Behind' explores the bond between Ellie and Riley through a series of events that will forever change both of their lives,” said the original game’s creative director and writer, Neil Druckmann.

Riley Abel also appeared in the comic book miniseries, “The Last of Us: American Dreams,” written by Druckmann himself, and published by Dark Horse Comics. The comics show how Ellie and Riley meet and become friends, and so serves as a canonical prequel to the events that will happen in Left Behind. Left Behind, in turn, is a prequel to The Last of Us.

Though both Ellie and Riley will play central roles in the DLC, it has yet to be announced whether only one or both of them will be playable in the game.

Druckmann also dropped some hints about a possible sequel for The Last of Us. “We’re playing with some ideas, but no direction has been set yet for the next game,” he said.

Though Sony has not yet announced an official release date, Left Behind is expected for release in early 2014.

New Uncharted game exclusive for the PS4

Fans of Naughty Dog’s other flagship title also have something to look forward to. Also revealed during the event was a teaser trailer for Sony’s seminal franchise, Uncharted.



“We have great news for all our Uncharted fans,” said Naughty Dog on the PlayStation blog. “Amy (Hennig), Justin (Richmond), and the team are hard at work on an amazing new installment of the Uncharted series to be released exclusively on the PlayStation 4 system. Our goal is to continue what we’ve done in previous console generations and once again deliver the best in storytelling, performance capture, technical innovation and graphics on the PS4.”

It is unclear from the video if Nathan Drake is coming back for the sequel, leaving some fans understandably worried that that the game will have a new protagonist. In fact the teaser shows very little about the actual game; only a voiceover and a map serve as clues as to what it will be about.

More news regarding both titles are expected to surface in the coming week. — VC, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Maria Bartiromo leaving CNBC for Fox Business, says source

Business television presenter Maria Bartiromo is leaving broadcaster CNBC after 20 years to take a job at rival Fox Business Network, according to a source familiar with the matter.

CNBC President and Chief Executive Mark Hoffman announced Bartiromo's departure in a memo to employees on Monday (Tuesday, PHL time) and said she will leave the company when her contract expires on November 24.

Hoffman did not say where Bartiromo was going, but a source familiar with the matter confirmed media reports that she was headed to Fox Business Network, the cable broadcaster founded six years ago by Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox Inc to take on CNBC, owned by Comcast Corp.

A Fox spokeswoman said she did not have any announcement to make on Bartiromo on Monday.

The Fox Business Network, launched in October 2007, become profitable in June but trails CNBC in the ratings.

Bartiromo, 46, is expected to also appear on sister network Fox News, the No. 1 cable news channel in the ratings, the source said.

Bartiromo joined CNBC in 1993 and became the first journalist to report daily live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Nicknamed the "Money Honey," she was the anchor on CNBC's "Closing Bell," which aired for two hours during the week, and a half-hour show on Sundays called "On the Money."

"She has been at the center of every major financial and business news story, working hard for CNBC, since her earliest days fighting it out on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in the mid-90s," Hoffman said in the memo obtained by Reuters.

Hoffman added that the network will use various anchors on an interim basis before it finds permanent replacements.

In 2007, Bartiromo was in the news for her ties to a senior Citigroup executive who spent $5 million of corporate funds to sponsor a show on the Sundance Channel that would include Bartiromo as a host. The executive later lost his job.

In July 2004, Bartiromo was criticized for interviewing Citigroup Chairman Sanford Weill while owning 1,000 shares of the bank's stock, which she disclosed at the beginning of the interview. CNBC later barred news staff and managers from owning individual stocks or corporate bonds.

Bartiromo has won two Emmy awards and written several books as well as columns for magazines and newspapers, including USA Today. She is married to Jonathan Steinberg, the CEO of ETF provider WisdomTree Investments and son of former corporate raider Saul Steinberg. – Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

World Bank Group earmarks $500-M loan to rebuild Yolanda-hit Central PHL

A $500-million in loan for reconstruction of areas struck by Typhoon Yolanda, the strongest to make landfall on record, is being mobilized by the World Bank Group.

The emergency loan, requested by the Philippine government, is being finalized to support reconstruction of typhoon-hit areas, the Washington-based lender said in a statement Monday.

The group is also “ready to provide” additional support, including through a conditional cash transfer program that provides funds to poor families, according to the World Bank.

Resources could also be directed to providing temporary shelters and to help with debris clean up, providing short-term jobs to poor families.

“We are committed to supporting the government in its effort to recover and rebuild, and to help Filipinos strengthen their resilience against increasingly frequent extreme weather events,” World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim said in the statement.

Moreover, the World Bank is deploying global disaster experts to help in rebuilding communities.

“Given the scale of this disaster, the country will need a long-term reconstruction plan. We can bring lessons learned from our work in reconstruction after disasters hit Aceh, Haiti, and other areas that might be helpful in the Philippines,” said Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank vice president for East Asia Pacific.

The World Bank is also providing technical assistance for design of public infrastructure that can withstand 250 to 280 kilometer per hour wind speed and resist sever flooding

“In the midst of this terrible tragedy, the Government is determined to build more resilience into homes, buildings and roads to reduce risks in the future, which is critical in a country that is subject to an increasing number of severe weather events,” said Motoo Konishi, World Bank Philippines country director.

Typhoon Yolanda barreled through central Philippines on November 8, flattening coastal towns and cities and killing thousands of people. – Sieg Alegado/VS, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Be cautious with antibiotics for kids: US pediatrics committee

NEW YORK - Pediatricians should carefully evaluate kids with ear infections, runny noses and sore throats before giving them antibiotics, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Infectious Diseases said Monday.

Antibiotics will only help shorten kids' sickness if their symptoms are caused by bacteria and not by a virus, it noted.

Still, studies show many children and adults are given the drugs for coughs and colds caused by viruses. That increases the risk of antibiotic resistance, without doing patients any good.

"People tend to not recognize how big of a problem this is," Dr. Theoklis Zaoutis said.

He is a member of the AAP committee and an infectious diseases specialist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 2 million Americans get infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year and 23,000 die as a result. Any antibiotic use—appropriate or not—contributes to the risk of resistance.

Antibiotics can also come with side effects like diarrhea and rashes, which account for more than 150,000 doctor visits among kids each year. And they occasionally cause severe allergic reactions.

Symptoms of bacterial and viral respiratory infections can overlap, the committee said. So pediatricians should use strict criteria to decide when antibiotics are warranted.

For ear infections, toddlers who have severe pain and infections in both ears are most likely to benefit from the drugs, the AAP said. But in most cases, symptoms will go away on their own - so a wait-and-see approach is an option for older kids who are not in a lot of pain.

Antibiotics for runny noses and coughs should be used when symptoms are severe, have been around for a long time or are getting worse. When kids have a sore throat, pediatricians should test only those who have certain symptoms—such as swollen lymph nodes or tonsils and a fever—for strep throat.

When antibiotics are justified, the committee recommended doctors prescribe amoxicillin or amoxicillin together with clavulanate to kids with ear infections and sinusitis.

The combination, in particular, causes diarrhea or other stomach problems among one-quarter to half of patients, Dr. Jeffrey Linder said.

"If you're going to take something that has that high a rate of adverse event, you should be pretty darn sure it's going to help you," he told Reuters Health. Linder, from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, has studied antibiotic prescribing but wasn't involved in the new research.

For strep throat, amoxicillin or penicillin is the best bet, the committee wrote Monday in Pediatrics, the journal of the AAP.

Newer, so-called broad-spectrum antibiotics are more likely to cause resistance.

"You want to use the antibiotic that has the narrowest spectrum, meaning it will kill the germs that are causing the infections but not have collateral damage on all the other bacteria within our bodies," Zaoutis told Reuters Health.

Linder said one thing doctors may need to work on is telling parents when they don't need to come to the office. For colds and other viruses—even those that last a long time—there's not much doctors can do except tell people to wait it out.

"We still have a lot, a lot of visits in healthcare for these acute respiratory infections and it's not clear to me that we as doctors are really helping patients, and we're wasting people's time and money," Linder said.

Parents can also play a role in making sure their kids don't get antibiotics unnecessarily, Zaoutis said.

"Talk to the doctor and say, ‘Do I really need that antibiotic? What are the risks and benefits of my child taking an antibiotic?'," he advised. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Beware of Android malware scam promising antivirus

Users of mobile devices running Google's Android were warned over the weekend against a new "malvertising" scam that promises an antivirus but instead subscribes them to premium ringtone and wallpaper services.

Security vendor Bitdefender said a banner delivered by an advertising SDK included in some legitimate apps was deploying a scareware-type attack.

"When users download an app containing the advertising module delivering this scam, an alarmist banner pops-up out of the blue on the handset screen, making users believe their devices are infected with malware and prompts them towards purchasing a useless disinfection tool," Bitdefender's Loredana Botezatu said in a blog post.

However, she said the providers of the advertising module may not be aware their service is delivering a malicious banner, and that it could have been "an invalidated ad that accidentally reached the market."

Botezatu said the scam involves a sudden pop-up message on Android devices, suggesting the device was infected with malware.

It then tells owners to test their devices for possible malware. When tapped, the ad redirects users to a web page that tells them to download a disinfection tool.

The user is told to enter his or her phone number in a form, then press Download, Botezatu said.

"But instead of getting the Android device cleaned up, they get signed up with a premium-rate ringtone and wallpaper service that charges €3.00 per week plus taxes until the user unsubscribes manually," she added.

Botezatu also said the webpage redirects are based on geolocation, "so the premium service partner is chosen from the ones available in the victim’s location."

This means that if a user in Spain installs the app, he will receive messages written Spanish, and if the user is in Germany or Australia, the banners will be in German and English, respectively, she said.

Botezatu advised Android users to unsubscribe immediately by sending a SMS message to the number in the "Terms and Conditions" section of the website.

She also suggested that the user "uninstall immediately the apps you downloaded recently." – KDM, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

LandBank allots P30B for victims of natural disasters

Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) on Thursday said it set aside P30 billion from the Calamity Rehabilitation Support program (CARES) to help Filipinos rebuild their lives in the aftermath of natural calamities.

“Through this program, LandBank helps those gravely affected by typhoons, floods, earthquakes, and other calamities get back on their feet and rebuild their lives,” President Gilda Pico said in a statement.

Present and new customers can also take out rehabilitation credits under the program, with local government units, home buyers, small and medium enterprises, cooperatives and NGOs, and countryside financial institutions considered as eligible clients.

“Affected SMEs in need of additional working capital or financial assistance for repair of existing facilities and purchase or acquisition of new ones may avail of loans under the Landbank CARES Program-Kaagapay sa Negosyo at a fixed interest rate of 6 percent per annum,” the bank said. – VS, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Photo of kids selling lemonade for Yolanda victims goes viral

A photo of two girls selling lemonade drinks in the US to help victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) in the Philippines went viral on social media recently.

YouScooper Shekinah Eden Pugh was driving down the street in Studio City, Los Angeles, California when she saw a couple of kids selling lemonade on the street last November 11.

"I was driving down my street on my way to a meeting... when i happened to look to my right and see these two precious little girls selling lemonade," Pugh said.

The stand would have been like any other lemonade stand and the two girls would have thought of selling lemonade and iced tea as any other activity.

However, this business they set up was different.

A sign attached on the table said "Lemonade Ice Tea To Help Typhoon Families."




The kids were selling lemonade and ice tea to neighbors and passersby. The profit they earn will be given to the victims of Typhoon Yolanda.

"And then i saw their sign, and it hit me like a ton of bricks and made me start crying. These two precious little girls were standing out there selling lemonade and ice tea to help the typhoon families, a cause very dear to my heart," Pugh said.

When she saw the two girls selling drinks for a good cause, she became emotional.

"It just restored my faith in humanity, that there are still people out there, young children, who love the way we are supposed to love, who are kind and thoughtful, and selfless," Pugh added.

Pugh stopped by twice; each time, she donated money. At her second visit, she took the photo of them alongside the stand, posing with pride.

Thereafter, Pugh shared the photo with YouScoop, the citizen journalism arm of GMA News. The photo went viral.

As of this posting, the photo gained 10,244 likes and 5,847 shares on Facebook. The photo also has 452 retweets and 329 favorites on Twitter.

Users were quick to praise the kids for their kindness.

source: gmanetwork.com

US sends planes, warships to assist Yolanda relief efforts

The Philippines' closest ally, the United States, has sent some of its aircraft and warships to augment the military's relief and rescue operations in the wake of super typhoon Yolanda.

Military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said the US has deployed two Osprey aircraft and nine C-130s to help deliver relief goods and rescue survivors, amid a slow trickle of relief from a government overwhelmed by the destruction by the world's strongest typhoon to hit land.

The Osprey aircraft, a hybrid of an airplane and helicopter, is capable of vertical take-off and landing, Zagala explained.

The Osprey has proven useful in ongoing relief efforts especially as roads in ravaged areas remained choked with debris and decomposing bodies, Zagala said.

"We have the stop-gap solution of bringing relief goods through helicopters. The Osprey has the same capability as the helicopter. It can vertically land in areas that are isolated, especially the islands," he said.

Meanwhile, US marines were also operating C-130 aircraft for humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations, Zagala said.

The C-130s are cargo aircraft useful for flying tons of relief goods to remote areas, Zagala said.

The country is also operating its three C-130s, "the workhorse in bringing relief goods," he added.





A "24 Oras" report aired Wednesday evening said at least nine US C-130s have been flying over Tacloban City.

Meanwhile, at least five US warships are on their way to the country to help in humanitarian operations, according to the report.

This includes the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which also has the capability to make sea water potable, the report said.

The official death toll due to Yolanda continues to rise, with 2,275 confirmed dead and 80 still missing, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Wednesday afternoon.

President Benigno Aquino III said the death toll from Yolanda may reach 2,000 or 2,500, lower than the 10,000 previously estimated, Reuters reported. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab/JDS, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Japan ready to send 1,000 troops to typhoon-hit Tacloban

Tokyo – Japan is ready to send as many as 1,000 troops to the typhoon-ravaged Philippines to help with relief efforts, a defense ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

The comments came a day after Tokyo dispatched 50 members of its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to assist in medical support and transport operations following Manila's request for assistance.

Three naval ships and an unspecified number of aircraft would accompany the proposed contingent, Jiji Press news agency reported.

"We will continue consulting with the Philippine government about the size of the deployment it may need," the defense ministry official said.

Their work would be focused on the devastated city of Tacloban, after one of the biggest storms in recorded history demolished entire communities across the central part of the island nation.

The provincial capital was the first Philippine city to be liberated from Japan's occupying forces by US troops in 1944 during World War II.

Thousands are feared dead in the Philippines while 660,000 have lost their homes, according to the UN.

If Tokyo sends a 1,000-troop contingent, it would be the largest single relief operation team sent abroad by the SDF, Japan's de facto military which must adhere to the country's post-war pacifist constitution.

The defense forces have helped in previous regional relief efforts including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

The Japanese government also said on Tuesday it would supply $10 million in grant aid to provide evacuees with emergency shelters and other help through aid organizations. – Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Early pieces by graffiti artist Banksy added to Los Angeles auction

LOS ANGELES - Four early works of elusive British artist Banksy will go on sale at an auction in December, joining the artist's "Flower Girl" piece, Julien's Auctions said on Monday.

The four graffiti works include "Happy Choppers," a 2002 mural that first appeared on a wall at the Whitecross Street Market in London and features a stenciled group of military helicopters, one adorned with a pink bow.

The piece is estimated to fetch between $150,000 and $200,000, and will join the sale of "Flower Girl," a stencil work that first appeared on a Los Angeles gas station wall. It is expected to fetch between $150,000 and $300,000.

Beverly Hills-based Julien's Auctions said the auction marked the first time that Banksy's public street art had gone on sale in the United States.

The works were all put up for sale by private owners whose identities remain confidential. The consignors to decide whether Banksy receives any part of the proceeds, Julien's said.

Also included in the sale are two other works from Banksy's 2003-2004 tour in Germany, which were discovered on walls in Berlin. "TV Girl" features a stencil of a girl holding a television set with an orange heart on the screen, while "Umbrella Rat" depicts a rat dressed in a bowler hat and tie, parachuting with an umbrella.

"TV Girl" is expected to fetch between $80,000 and $120,000 while "Umbrella Rat" is estimated between $40,000 and $60,000.

The final piece to be added to the collection is a 2003 work called "Black Bobby," from Banksy's tour in Sydney, Australia. It features a silhouette of a British policeman writing a ticket and is valued between $20,000 and $30,000.

Other works in the "Street Art" collection include canvases and paper pieces by artists Risk, Indie 184 and MearOne.

Banksy is the pseudonym of a graffiti artist who first emerged in Bristol, England, as part of an underground group. He hides his identity and real name, and his works have become collectors' items, prized for their trademark spray-paint stencils and offering social commentary.

The auction follows a month-long "street residency" by Banksy in New York through October, during which he placed murals, sculptures and artwork around the city.

One stunt included selling original canvas artwork for $60 at a street-side stall, with buyers having no idea they were purchasing Banksy originals. He also dropped off a painting at a Housing Works thrift shop, which funds charities for AIDS and the homeless, snubbing the art world. The thrift shop auctioned the painting, which fetched more than $600,000.

As Banksy's street work often appears on private property, it has brought up questions of ownership. This year, two of his murals were pulled from a Miami auction when questions arose about the ownership of one and how it had been obtained.

The work, "Slave Labour," eventually sold at a private auction in London for $1.1 million in June, a sign of growing demand, and prices, for a Banksy original.

The artist also appeared in the 2010 Oscar-nominated documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop" with his face obscured and voice altered. His works are verified through his website (www.banksy.co.uk). — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Vietnam begins mass evacuation as super typhoon looms

HANOI - Vietnam has started evacuating over 100,000 people from the path of Super Typhoon Haiyan, state media said Saturday, after the storm tore across the Philippines leaving scores dead and devastating communities.

Haiyan, one of the most intense typhoons on record, slammed into the Philippines Friday with maximum sustained winds of about 315 kilometers (195 miles) an hour. It is expected to make landfall in central Vietnam early Sunday.

Authorities have begun mass evacuations in central Danang and Quang Ngai provinces, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said, as the country goes on high alert in the face of the massive storm.

Many schools in the affected area have closed and people from vulnerable low-lying coastal villages are moving to temporary typhoon shelters set up in public buildings on high ground, state media said.

Although Haiyan is expected to weaken slightly, it is still considered a super typhoon with the potential for "complicated developments," said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at an urgent meeting Friday.

Dung, who is personally overseeing preparations for the super typhoon, has called all Vietnamese vessels back to shore and ordered hydropower reservoirs to step-up safety measures "to limit the consequences in terms of human and materials", a notice posted on the government's official website said.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has advised passengers to be prepared for flights to be interrupted or cancelled on Sunday.

The scale of the damage wrought by Haiyan in the Philippines was still emerging Saturday, with many of the worst-hit towns cut off from communications, but early reports suggested mass casualties.

Over a hundred bodies were visible around the airport in Tacloban, the capital of eastern island of Leyte, according to aviation authorities.

Huge waves whipped up by Haiyan were believed to have been one of the main causes for the deaths in Tacloban and the nearby coastal town of Palo, while communities across the central Philippines also believed to have suffered serious damage. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

UN disaster assessment team stunned by Yolanda-wrought devastation in Tacloban

A United Nations Disaster Assessment Coordination Team (UNDAC) arrived this morning in Tacloban City. Even such a hardened team of humanitarian workers were shocked upon witnessing the scenes of total devastation in the city where Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) first struck.

Helicopter is the only means of travel at the moment, as the roads are impassable from the airport to the town. Trees and telephone poles lie unmoved across many roads. Even motorcyclists decline the journey, and so many people walk aimlessly, in search of food for their bellies, warmth to keep close, and a place to lay their dead if only for a little while.


Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, head of the UNDAC team, reported this morning that there is an unprecedented level of destruction.

"The last time I saw something of this scale was in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami," according to Stampa. "This is destruction on a massive scale. There are cars thrown like tumble weed and the streets are strewn with debris."

The UNDAC team arrived to prepare the ground work for an inter-agency humanitarian
assessment. "There roads between the airport and the town are completely blocked and relief operations will be extremely difficult," he added.

The acting Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Philippines Dr. Julie Hall said. "We wish to extend our deepest sympathy to the Government and the people of the Philippines, who have been affected by this devastating typhoon which appears to have caused significant damage across a large tract of the Visayas."

She continued, "We are working very closely with the Government and are ready to respond in any way we can to this tragedy." — VC, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

UN draft stresses risk of global warming, from economy to health

OSLO - Global warming poses a mounting threat to health, economic growth, crops and water supplies, according to a draft report by top scientists that puts unprecedented emphasis on the risks of a changing climate.

A leaked 29-page draft by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), about the impacts of rising temperatures and due for release in March 2014, mentions "risk" 139 times against just 41 in its last assessment in 2007.

The increased stress on risk may make the case for cutting greenhouse gas emissions clearer both to policymakers and the public by making it sound like an insurance policy for the planet, analysts say.

Many governments, meeting in Warsaw from November 11-22 for UN talks on climate change, have long pleaded for greater scientific certainty before making billion-dollar investments in everything from flood barriers to renewable energies.

But certainty is elusive in climate science, as it is in predicting anything from the weather to Wall Street.

"The IPCC has transitioned to what I consider to be a full and rich recognition that the climate change problem is about managing risk," Christopher Field, co-chair of the IPCC group preparing the report, told Reuters.

The report, posted on a climate skeptical website "nofrakkingconsensus" on Nov. 1, resembles a previous draft that warns that parts of society and nature are more vulnerable than expected to climate change.

More certainty

Field, a professor at Stanford University, also said there was more certainty about many aspects of climate change than in 2007. He cautioned the draft was subject to change in editing.

It says, for instance, that a rise of temperatures of more than 2.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times could lead to economic losses of between 0.2 and 2.0 percent of global income.

It also says that warming will exacerbate threats to health, damage yields of major crops in many areas and lead to more floods. It could also exacerbate poverty and economic shocks that are root causes of violent conflicts.

"Responding to climate-related risks involves making decisions and taking actions in the face of continuing uncertainty about the extent of climate change and the severity of impacts in a changing world," the draft says.

The panel's credibility is under extra scrutiny, for its last report in 2007 wrongly exaggerated the melt of Himalayan glaciers. Several reviews said that this error, however, did not undermine the key findings in 2007.

James Painter, of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, said that the focus on risk may make the panel's message clearer.

"More risk language helps to shift the public debate away from the idea that decisions should be delayed until absolute certainty is obtained - something that may never be achieved."

He said politicians and businesses were used to making decisions based on risks. And many people insure their homes against fire even though the risks of a blaze are small.

Field said the report tries to capture a wide range of risks, including highly unlikely events that might have a major impact. "That's the way risk is generally formulated if you are an insurance company or figuring out an anti-terrorism policy."

The report is the second in a four-part IPCC assessment meant to guide governments that have promised to agree a pact in 2015 to slow climate change. The first, in September, raised the probability that most global warming is man-made to at least 95 percent from 90 in 2007. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Google pays tribute to psychiatrist Rorschach with inkblot test doodle

Google on Friday paid tribute to Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach on his 129th birth anniversary with an inkblot test doodle.

Visitors to Google's website were met with an interactive doodle that lets them share their interpretations of random inkblots, IBN Live reported.

The interpretations can be shared to social networks like Google+, Facebook, and Twitter, it added.

But as always, clicking on the spyglass icon will take the visitor to a Search Results page for Hermann Rorschach.




Rorschach was born in Zurich, Switzerland, on November 8, 1884.

He combined psychoanalysis and art to create the Rorschach Inkblot Test, introducing the "form interpretation experiment" in his book Psychodiagnostics in 1921, Biography.com said.

But he died at the young age of 37 on April 22, 1922, of peritonitis.

Rorschach was the first researcher to use inkblots to "analyze how patients projected their own associations onto seemingly random stimuli," Biography.com said.

He tested his system on 300 patients and 100 control subjects using 10 inkblot cards, half in color, and half black and white.

"Patients were shown one card at a time and asked to respond while Rorschach wrote down their answers. Afterward, Rorschach showed patients the cards again and prompted them to explain their answers. Rorschach evaluated test results based on the criteria of location, quality, content and conventionality. He used the data to draw conclusions about the patient's social behavior," it added. – KDM, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Too little sleep linked to heart disease risk

NEW YORK - In a large US study, people who tended to get less than six hours of sleep nightly were more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and to be obese.

The research is the first to look at differences in risk between racial and ethnic groups, and also finds the strongest effect among Black and Hispanic Americans.

"This is important, since racial minorities are generally at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity," Michael A. Grandner said. "And if they also tend to have more sleep difficulties, that could be making things worse."

Grandner led the study at the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Using nationwide survey data from 2008, researchers divided results from more than 5,000 respondents representing the US population into three groups. Very short sleepers got less than five hours per night, short sleepers got between five and six hours and long sleepers got more than nine hours.

Very short and short sleep were both linked to poor health, Grandner's team reports in the journal Sleep Medicine.

Very short sleepers were twice as likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, compared to people who slept around seven to eight hours. Very short sleepers were also 75 percent more likely to have diabetes and 50 percent more likely to be obese.

Short sleepers were about 20 percent more likely than normal sleepers to report high blood pressure and obesity.

Blacks were most likely to report sleeping less than five hours and very short sleep was most strongly linked to obesity among Blacks.

Short sleep was strongly linked to high blood pressure among Blacks, Whites and non-Mexican Hispanics, while people of Asian descent had the strongest link between short sleep and high cholesterol.

Long sleepers did not appear to experience any negative health effects once researchers adjusted for other factors.

There is no consensus on what the ideal minimum amount of sleep should be for good health, Kristen L. Knutson said.

Knutson studies sleep and heart health in different populations at the University of Chicago Department of Medicine. She was not involved in the new study.

There's no set number for sleep, in part "because there is likely to be some variability in how much sleep different people need," Knutson said. "Still, the majority of large studies have found that people who say they sleep between seven and eight hours are the healthiest."

Recommendations vary by age, with younger people generally needing more sleep than older people.

"Like most aspects of health, too little is bad for you and too much is also likely bad for you," Grandner said.

"It is hard to say that short sleep is worse than long—it's just that we currently have a better idea of why short sleep is detrimental to health," he said.

Quantity of sleep isn't the only important factor though, Grandner said. Insomnia, sleep apnea and waking frequently during the night may be related to heart disease, diabetes and obesity, he said.

"These data do suggest that short sleep, whatever the cause, is associated with important negative health outcomes," Knutson said.

Sleep and health are likely linked in a two-way relationship, Grandner said. Less sleep may negatively impact health, and certain health conditions like obesity might make sleep more difficult.

"Lack of sleep limits your body's ability to keep itself healthy, increasing risk for disease, which puts stress on the body, making sleep harder," he said. "It is likely a cycle like this." — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Marvel unveils Muslim superhero

NEW YORK - Move over Black Widow and step aside She-Hulk: Marvel Comics is introducing a new superhero—a 16-year-old Muslim-American girl named Kamala Khan, to reflect the growing diversity of its readers.

The character, who will be the new Ms. Marvel, lives with her conservative Pakistani parents and brother in New Jersey. She will make her debut in January and appear in a monthly series starting on Feb. 6.

"It is so important that we tell stories that reflect the ever-changing world that we live in and being a Muslim-American is so much a part of that," said Sana Amanat, the series editor, who also worked on Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men comic books.

Although the inspiration for the new series came from a desire to explore the Muslim-American experience, she said it isn't about what it means to be a Muslim, Pakistani or American.

"It is about a young girl who is figuring out who she is and what happens when these really extraordinary things happen to her," she added in an interview.

Khan is a big comic book fan and after she discovers her superhuman power - being a polymorph and able to lengthen her arms and legs and change her shape - she takes on the name of Ms. Marvel. The title had previously belonged to Carol Danvers, a character Khan had always had admired.

"It pays homage to the legacy character," said Amanat.




POSITIVE RESPONSE

The idea for the new superhero stemmed from a casual conversation Amanat had with her senior editor, Steve Wacker, about her own experiences growing up as a Muslim-American.

"He was interested in the dilemma I faced as a young girl and the next day he came in and said, 'Wouldn't it be great to have a superhero that was for all the little girls that grew up just like you, and who are growing up just like you are today, and to create a character they can be inspired by,'" Amanat said.

Writer G. Willow Wilson, a convert to Islam, and artist Adrian Alphona are the team working on the project, which started about 18 months ago.

Wilson said she wrote the character as a true-to-life person so that people, particularly young women, can relate to her.

Khan experiences the usual teenage angst, feelings of confusion and being an outsider, dealing with the expectations of her parents and problems at high school.

"It's for all the geek girls out there, and everybody else who's ever looked at life on the fringe," Wilson said in a statement.

Kahn is not the first Muslim-American character in the superhero world, which has been largely dominated by white males, but Amanat said she is being pushed to the forefront of the Marvel universe.

"People have been mostly positive about it," she said, adding that the real test will come early next year when the series begins.

Amanat believes the options for the new character, and others like her, are limitless.

"We are always trying to upend expectations to an extent but our point is to always reflect the world outside our window, and we are looking through a lot more windows right now," she said. (Editing by Mary Milliken and Eric Walsh. ) — Reuters

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/183024/marvel-comics-introduces-muslim-superhero

source: gmanetwork.com

Samsung aims to topple Apple as No. 1 in tablets

Seoul, South Korea – Samsung Electronics Co. has a new goal after overtaking Apple in smartphones: it wants to be world No. 1 in tablet computers.

A top executive, Shin Jong-kyun, told analysts on Wednesday that Samsung's tablet business is growing rapidly and the company will become the biggest maker of tablet computers. He didn't give a timeframe.

Shin said Samsung's tablet sales will exceed 40 million units this year, more than double sales in 2012.



Research group IDC estimates that Samsung sold 16.6 million tablets in 2012, lagging far behind Apple Inc. which sold 65.7 million iPads.

Apple had more than half of the global tablet market but its dominance has eroded as Samsung boosted sales with cheaper Galaxy Tab computers that offer many different screen sizes. – AP

source: gmanetwotk.com

Oil prices up in Asian trade

Singapore – Oil prices edged higher in quiet Asian trade Tuesday as dealers hunted bargains while keeping an eye on a supply glut in the United States, analysts said.

New York's main contract West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for December delivery gained four cents to $94.66 a barrel in mid-morning Asian trade, while Brent North Sea crude for December climbed nine cents to $106.32.

"Prices are relatively muted," Teoh Say Hwa, head of investment at Phillip Futures in Singapore, told AFP.

"The minimal movement could be due to investors staying on the sidelines before the release of the weekly EIA (Energy Information Administration) report which would give them more directions relating to the US stockpiles," she said.

Crude inventories in the United States have climbed for the past six weeks, to about 28 million barrels, raising concerns about oversupply in the world's largest economy and top crude consumer.

WTI is trading below the $95 threshold after falling for four consecutive sessions last week under pressure from the build up in crude stockpiles, before rising slightly on Monday.

The EIA will release its weekly inventory report on Wednesday.

Libyan oil production levels also remain in focus, analysts said. The Libyan state oil company said Monday that protesters had maintained their blockade of the main oil facilities in the country, where production has fallen 80 percent since July.

Mohamed al-Harairi, an official at the National Oil Corporation, told AFP exports from Al-Hariga terminal in eastern Libya, which the government had said would resume by Monday, had not gone ahead for logistical reasons.

Protesters demanding jobs have been blocking terminals since late July, causing around $13 billion in losses to Libya's oil-dependent economy, authorities say. – Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

With Rodgers sidelined, Bears beat Packers 27-20

GREEN BAY — The Chicago Bears have a better insurance policy than Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.

Josh McCown, playing in place of the injured Jay Cutler, threw for two touchdowns Monday  night (Tuesday, PHL time) as the Bears won 27-20 and ended a six-game skid to their NFC North rivals. The loss snapped Green Bay's four-game winning streak, but the far larger concern is the health of Rodgers, who hurt his left (non-throwing) shoulder when he was sacked on the first series by Shea McClellin.

Rodgers took a few warm-up throws with back-up Seneca Wallace but, after being examined by medical staff, ran into the Green Bay locker room. He wasn't seen again until midway through the third quarter, when he came back onto the field in sweats. Though he waved to fans with his right hand, and didn't appear to be wearing a brace, he kept his left hand jammed in his pocket.



"He has a shoulder injury," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "They want to run more tests. They don't have an exact diagnosis. We'll have more information, probably tomorrow."

Pressed for more information, McCarthy insisted there wasn't any.

"No timeline, no exact diagnosis," he said. "That's where we're at."

Alshon Jeffery had five catches for 60 yards, including a six-yard grab for the go-ahead touchdown at the end of the third quarter. Brandon Marshall, largely shut down in two games against Green Bay last year, had seven catches for 107 yards and a score. Matt Forte ran for 125 yards and a TD, and also had 54 yards receiving for the Bears, who pulled into a three-way tie for first in the NFC North with Green Bay and Detroit. All are 5-3.

The loss spoiled another big night by Green Bay rookie Eddie Lacy, who ran for 150 yards and a touchdown.

"It'd be hard to find one better than this," said McCown, who was coaching high school when the Bears signed him two years ago. "They're all special, but this is really neat because it means so much to our team."

Green Bay has been hit hard by injuries, with James Jones (knee) returning Monday night after a two-game absence and sackmaster Clay Matthews (thumb) and tight end Jermichael Finley still out. Wide receiver Randall Cobb (leg) is also on the injured list-designated to return, and offensive lineman T.J. Lang (concussion) and linebacker Andy Mulumba (ankle) left the game.

But there are injuries and then there are INJURIES, and a hurt Aaron Rodgers is Green Bay's ultimate nightmare.

With the 2011 NFL MVP almost as durable as predecessor Brett Favre — he hasn't missed a game due to injury since December 19, 2010 — the back-up quarterback has been little more than an afterthought in Green Bay.

"Aaron's a huge part of our offense," McCarthy said. "This is a thing that's been built over time with Aaron as the centerpiece. I don't think it's realistic to put anyone in there and expect him to perform [like Rodgers].”

But as the Bears know all too well, insurance policies are worth every penny when you need them.

After a series of forgettable backups under Lovie Smith — Caleb Hanie or Jonathan Quinn, anyone? — the Bears signed McCown when Cutler was hurt two years ago. He played well enough then to stick around, and his familiarity with his receivers and coach Marc Trestman's system was evident. McCown may not have been dazzling, going 22-for-41 for 272 yards. But he mixed his passes effectively to Marshall, Jeffery and Forte, and Forte ran roughshod on the Green Bay defense.

"You understand the nature of the game and the impact that [Rodgers] has on the game," McCown said. "So when that player's not on the field, your odds of winning probably increase."

Better yet, McCown didn't do anything to hurt the Bears, which is more than Wallace can say.

Wallace hadn't played a game since the 2011 season finale, and the rust was evident. He was intercepted on his very first series by Julius Peppers and was sacked twice, once by Peppers and once by McClellin. The Packers had a second-and-goal from the Bears 5 late in the third quarter and were forced to settle for Mason Crosby's 23-yard field goal after Wallace overthrew James Jones and Andrew Quarless. Green Bay would get no further than the Bears 39 the rest of the game.

Wallace finished 11-of-19 for 114 yards.

"Seneca, he needs to perform better and he'll definitely do that with a week of practice," McCarthy said. - AP

source: gmanetwork.com

Flaxseed may reduce blood pressure, early findings show

NEW YORK - Eating a bit of flaxseed each day might help lower high blood pressure, a new study suggests.

Researchers said it's too early to swap out blood pressure medication for the fiber-filled seeds just yet. But if future studies confirm the new results, flax might be a cheap way to treat high blood pressure, they added.

Flaxseed is well known as a plant source of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and lignans, a type of antioxidants.

But so far, its effect on high blood pressure, or hypertension, has been better studied among animals than humans.

"This is the first demonstration of the cardiovascular effects of dietary flaxseed in a hypertensive population," Grant Pierce told Reuters Health in an email. Pierce is the senior author on the study and executive director of research at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

One in three American adults has high blood pressure, considered 140/90 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and over, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Having high blood pressure increases a person's risk of heart disease and stroke. The condition costs the US billions of dollars each year, Pierce said.

"It is the number one reason for a person to visit a physician in the U.S. today," he said. "Understanding how to reduce blood pressure has become, therefore, a critical challenge."

His team's results were published in the journal Hypertension.

The trial included 110 people who had been diagnosed with peripheral artery disease, in which plaque builds up in arteries in the leg. Patients with the condition often have high blood pressure.

The participants were randomly assigned to either a flaxseed or comparison group.

People in the flaxseed group ate a variety of foods like bagels, muffins and pasta that contained 30 grams—about one ounce—of milled flaxseed every day for six months.

Those in the comparison group were given foods that tasted similar, but didn't contain any flaxseed.

The researchers had participants increase their dose of flaxseed gradually so they could become accustomed to the fiber load.

Still, one in five participants dropped out of each group during the trial. Some of that could have been due to stomach pain from the extra fiber, Pierce said.

People who had an initial systolic blood pressure—the top number in a blood pressure reading - of at least 140 mm Hg saw that figure drop by 15 mm Hg, on average, after six months of taking flaxseed.

Their diastolic blood pressure—the bottom number—also fell by 7 mm Hg. Blood pressure did not change among people with hypertension in the comparison group.

"These decreases in (blood pressure) are amongst the most potent dietary interventions observed and comparable to current medications," Pierce said.

There was no flaxseed-related benefit for people with normal blood pressure, however.

Flaxseed costs about 25 to 50 cents per ounce.

The new study was partially funded by the Flax Council of Canada. It wasn't originally designed to study blood pressure, which means the results have to be interpreted with more caution.

"The study results are indeed surprising—it is actually hard to imagine such huge reductions in blood pressure with flax seed mixed in food stuffs," Dr. William B. White told Reuters Health in an email.

White, from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, is also the president of the American Society of Hypertension. He was not involved in the new study.

He also expressed some concern that measuring blood pressure changes was not the initial reason for doing the study. And he said the way blood pressure was measured - during a single office visit - isn't as accurate as checking it at multiple points throughout the day.

"The results are preliminary—there is not enough information to justify people taking flax seed for the control of hypertension. A larger, more controlled trial with out-of-office blood pressure would be needed," White said.

According to Pierce, a new study is underway. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Imelda Marcos hospitalized

MANILA - The jet-setting former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos has been hospitalized after suffering "fatigue," an aide said Sunday.

The widow of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos had just returned to the capital after a lengthy road trip from the province of Ilocos Norte, over 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Manila, when she decided to check in to a hospital, said her media consultant Lito Gorospe.

"She was suffering from severe fatigue so she decided to be confined," he told AFP.

He declined to comment on the condition of the 84-year-old Marcos, who is a legislator representing the province of Ilocos Norte, home to her husband's family.

ABS-CBN, citing hospital officials, said that Marcos "came in for control of her blood sugar," and that she had checked in to the hospital on Saturday night.

Marcos rose to fame as the wife of Ferdinand Marcos, who was elected president in 1965.

She became widely criticized for her extravagant lifestyle, spending heavily on clothes and jewelry and amassing a massive collection of shoes, even as most Filipinos remained trapped in poverty.

Her husband declared martial law in 1972 and appointed her as a special envoy, as well as handing her several top government positions. Her widespread power further fuelled resentment over corruption and abuse under the Marcos regime.

A popular revolt toppled the president in 1986 and sent the family fleeing into exile.

After her husband died in Hawaii in 1989, Imelda Marcos was allowed to return to the Philippines where she made a political comeback, elected to the legislature repeatedly. — AFP

source: gmanetwork.com

Gerard De Villiers, prolific French spy author, dead at 83

PARIS - Prolific spy novelist Gerard De Villiers, the creator of the top-selling SAS series with a hero often described as France's answer to James Bond, has died aged 83 in Paris.

Friends and family said he had died on Thursday after being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

Never a darling of the critics, De Villiers was nonetheless a publishing phenomenon, claiming his thrillers sold up to 150 million copies worldwide.

The 200th book in the series—"SAS: The Kremlin's Revenge"—was released last month.




Instantly recognizable by their lurid covers inevitably featuring a femme fatale brandishing a handgun or assault rifle, his work was shunned by France's literary establishment.

But outside literary circles, De Villiers was often praised for his geopolitical insights and was known for cultivating a vast network of intelligence officials, diplomats, and journalists who fed him information.

In a profile early this year headlined "The Spy Novelist Who Knows Too Much," The New York Times said his books were "ahead of the news" and "regularly contain information about terror plots, espionage and wars that has never appeared elsewhere."

His death came as he seemed on the verge of realizing a long-cherished dream of breaking into the English-language market, with reports he was working on a deal with a major US publisher.

In an interview with newspaper Le Monde this summer, De Villiers said Random House had offered him $350,000 (260,000 euros) for the rights to five SAS books that would be translated into English. He said he hoped the deal would eventually lead to Hollywood films.

De Villiers gleaned much of his information from field trips around the world, giving credence to the exploits of his aristocratic Austrian hero, Malko Linge, who works as a freelance agent for the CIA to fund the restoration of his family chateau.

The books stuck to a well-trod formula—fast-moving plots, exotic locales, and generous doses of graphic sex.

"I never had any pretensions of being a literary writer," De Villiers told AFP in an interview this year. "I consider myself a storyteller who writes to amuse people."

He was also considered eerily prophetic, detailing a plot to kill the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat a year before his actual assassination in 1981 and describing a secret CIA command centre in the Libyan city of Benghazi in early 2012.

The true existence of the CIA site eventually came to light after an attack on US facilities in Benghazi in September 2012 that left four dead, including US ambassador Christopher Stevens.

His work was reportedly required reading in some intelligence circles and followed by spies far outside France.

"The (intelligence) services used SAS novels countless times to send messages to their counterparts," said De Villiers's longtime lawyer, Eric Morain.

Born in Paris on December 8, 1929, De Villiers was working as a journalist when he drew inspiration from the success of Ian Fleming's James Bond series to write his first novel, "SAS in Istanbul," in 1965.

He went on to publish an average of four SAS novels—so-called after Linge's honorific "Son Altesse Serenissime" (His Most Serene Highness)—every year, writing them over a month on an aged typewriter.

He was often lambasted for his right-wing views and his overtly sexual portrayals of women, and accused of racism.

But De Villiers was unapologetic.

"Some women are sexual objects in my books but others are beautiful, intelligent and brave. And I am always warmly welcomed in Africa, where I have very many readers," he said.

De Villiers's wife Christine said he had been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer since May.

"The last weeks he was conscious but very weak. He could not endure the chemotherapy," she told AFP. "It is exactly the death that he did not want." — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

India asks IBM to pay US$866 million in outstanding tax

Indian tax authorities have asked IBM's Indian unit to pay 53.57 billion rupees (US$866.20 million) in outstanding income tax on fiscal 2009 revenue, media reported on Saturday.

In an emailed statement, an IBM India spokeswoman confirmed the company had received a tax notice, but declined to comment on the amount of tax liability or the nature of the notice.

India's Income Tax office issued the company a notice for under-reporting revenue for fiscal 2009 by the Indian unit, the Business Standard newspaper said, citing a tax official.

"IBM does not agree with the tax department's claims and will aggressively defend itself through the appropriate judicial process," the IBM India spokeswoman said.

IBM has been locked in a tax dispute with authorities related to its 2009 reporting year income, media have reported previously.

Officials at India's income tax office were not available for comment on Saturday.

In its latest 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), IBM said it had recorded US$394 million in prepaid income tax in India "at" September 30, 2013. IBM said a "significant portion" of that amount was paid in order to reserve its right to appeal previous tax assessments in India, which it said it expects to win in appeal.

The tax office notice was a draft assessment order which can be challenged by IBM before the appellate authorities, the Business Standard said

The case comes as India is pursuing tax claims against several multinationals, with Royal Dutch Shell, and Vodafone Plc among several firms involved in tax disputes in the country. – Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Ford recalls 2,600 Focus Electric cars for potential power loss

DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. is recalling 2,618 Focus Electric cars because of potential loss of power to the wheels while driving.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker said nearly all the cars from model years 2012 to 2014 were sold in the United States. A spokeswoman said there was one crash and no injuries related to the issue.

Ford said the issue is caused by software anomalies associated with the power control module and is accompanied by a "Stop Safely Now" warning in the instrument cluster.

Should the issue occur, the car's braking and steering systems would continue to operate normally.

All the affected vehicles were built at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne from September 15, 2011 to August 8, 2013, Ford said. The recall affects 2,455 cars in the United States, with the rest in Canada and federalized territories.

Dealers will reprogram the powertrain control module, the company said. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com