Flu season strikes early and, in some places, hard


NEW YORK (AP) — From the Rocky Mountains to New England, hospitals are swamped with people with flu symptoms. Some medical centers are turning away visitors or making them wear face masks, and one Pennsylvania hospital set up a tent outside its ER to deal with the feverish patients.


Flu season in the U.S. has struck early and, in many places, hard.


While flu normally doesn't blanket the country until late January or February, it is already widespread in more than 40 states, with about 30 of them reporting some major hotspots. On Thursday, health officials blamed the flu for the deaths of 20 children so far.


Whether this will be considered a bad season by the time it has run its course in the spring remains to be seen.


"Those of us with gray hair have seen worse," said Dr. William Schaffner, a flu expert at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.


The evidence so far points to a moderate season, Schaffner and others say. It looks bad in part because last year was unusually mild and because the main strain of influenza circulating this year tends to make people sicker and really lay them low.


David Smythe of New York City saw it happen to his 50-year-old girlfriend, who has been knocked out for about two weeks. "She's been in bed. She can't even get up," he said.


Also, the flu's early arrival coincided with spikes in a variety of other viruses, including a childhood malady that mimics flu and a new norovirus that causes vomiting and diarrhea, or what is commonly known as "stomach flu." So what people are calling the flu may, in fact, be something else.


"There may be more of an overlap than we normally see," said Dr. Joseph Bresee, who tracks the flu for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


Most people don't undergo lab tests to confirm flu, and the symptoms are so similar that it can be hard to distinguish flu from other viruses, or even a cold. Over the holidays, 250 people were sickened at a Mormon missionary training center in Utah, but the culprit turned out to be a norovirus, not the flu.


Flu is a major contributor, though, to what's going on.


"I'd say 75 percent," said Dr. Dan Surdam, head of the emergency department at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, Wyoming's largest hospital. The 17-bed emergency room saw its busiest day ever last week, with 166 visitors.


The early onslaught has resulted in a spike in hospitalizations. To deal with the influx and protect other patients from getting sick, hospitals are restricting visits from children, requiring family members to wear masks and banning anyone with flu symptoms from maternity wards.


One hospital in Allentown, Pa., set up a tent this week for a steady stream of patients with flu symptoms. But so far "what we're seeing is a typical flu season," said Terry Burger, director of infection control and prevention for the hospital, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.


On Wednesday, Boston declared a public health emergency, with the city's hospitals counting about 1,500 emergency room visits since December by people with flu-like symptoms.


All the flu activity has led some to question whether this year's flu shot is working. While health officials are still analyzing the vaccine, early indications are that it's about 60 percent effective, which is in line with what's been seen in other years.


The vaccine is reformulated each year, based on experts' best guess of which strains of the virus will predominate. This year's vaccine is well-matched to what's going around. The government estimates that between a third and half of Americans have gotten the vaccine.


In New York City, 57-year-old Judith Quinones suffered her worst case of flu-like illness in years and was laid up for nearly a month with fever and body aches. "I just couldn't function," she said.


She decided to skip getting a flu shot last fall. But her daughter got the shot. "And she got sick twice," Quinones said.


Europe is also suffering an early flu season, though a milder strain predominates there. Flu reports are up, too, in China, Japan, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Algeria and the Republic of Congo. Britain has seen a surge in cases of norovirus.


On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.


Flu usually peaks in midwinter. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people also suffer vomiting and diarrhea, and some develop pneumonia or other severe complications.


Most people with flu have a mild illness and can help themselves and protect others by staying home and resting. But people with severe symptoms should see a doctor. They may be given antiviral drugs or other medications to ease symptoms.


Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone 6 months or older. Of the 20 children killed by the flu this season, only two were fully vaccinated.


___


AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.


___


Online:


CDC flu: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/index.htm


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Wall Street rises after Alcoa reports earnings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Wednesday, rebounding from two days of losses, as investors turned their focus to the first prominent results of the earnings season.


Stocks had retreated at the start of the week from the S&P 500's highest point in five years, hit last Friday, on worries about possible earnings weakness.


Shares of Alcoa Inc were down 0.5 percent to $9.08 after early gains, following the company's earnings release after the bell on Tuesday. The largest U.S. aluminum producer said it expects global demand for aluminum to grow in 2013.


Herbalife Ltd stock rose 4.2 percent to $39.95 in its most active day of trading in the company's history after hedge fund manager Dan Loeb took a large stake in the nutritional supplements seller. Prominent short-seller Bill Ackman had previously accused the company of being a "pyramid scheme," which Herbalife has denied.


Traders have been cautious as the current quarter shaped up like the previous one, with companies recently lowering expectations, said James Dailey, portfolio manager of Team Asset Strategy Fund in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Lower expectations leave room for companies to surprise investors even if their results are not particularly strong.


"The big question and focus is on revenue, and Alcoa had better-than-expected revenue," which calmed the market a little, Dailey said.


Overall, corporate profits were expected to beat the previous quarter's meager 0.1 percent rise. Both earnings and revenues in the fourth quarter are expected to have grown by 1.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 61.66 points, or 0.46 percent, to 13,390.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 3.87 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,461.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> gained 14.00 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,105.81.


Facebook Inc shares rose above $30 for the first time since July 2012, trading up 5.3 percent at $30.59. Facebook, which has been tight-lipped about its plans after its botched IPO in May, invited the media to its headquarters next week.


Clearwire Corp shares jumped 7.2 percent to $3.13 after Dish Network bid $2.28 billion for the company, beating out a previous Sprint offer and setting the stage for a takeover battle for the wireless service provider that owns crucial mobile spectrum.


Apollo Group Inc slid after heavier early losses, a day after it reported lower student sign-ups for the third straight quarter and cut its operating profit outlook for 2013. Apollo's shares were last off 7.8 percent at $19.32.


Volume was below the 2012 average of 6.42 billion shares traded per day, as 6.10 billion were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT and Nasdaq.


Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,014 to 963, while on the Nasdaq advancers beat decliners 1,603 to 859.


(Reporting by Gabriel Debenedetti; additional reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Nick Zieminski)



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Venezuela court endorses Chavez inauguration delay


CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's top court endorsed the postponement of Hugo Chavez's inauguration this week and ruled on Wednesday that the cancer-stricken president and his deputy would continue in their roles, despite a cacophony of opposition complaints.


Critics had argued the 58-year-old's absence from his own swearing-in ceremony on January 10 meant a caretaker president must be appointed. Chavez has not been seen in public nor heard from in almost a month following surgery in Cuba.


"Right now we cannot say when, how or where the president will be sworn in," Supreme Court Chief Judge Luisa Morales told a news conference.


"As president re-elect there is no interruption of performance of duties ... The inauguration can be carried out at a later date before the Supreme Court."


The decision opens the door in theory for Chavez to remain in office for weeks or months more from a Cuban hospital bed - though there is no evidence he is even conscious.


It leaves the South American country in the hands of Vice President Nicolas Maduro, as de facto leader of the government.


The opposition say that is a brazen violation of the constitution, and that Maduro should leave office on Thursday when the current presidential term had been due to expire.


They say National Assembly boss Diosdado Cabello, another powerful Chavez ally, should take over the running of the country while new elections would be organized within 30 days.


Maduro would be the ruling Socialist Party's candidate.


Government leaders insist Chavez, 58, is fulfilling his duties as head of state, even though official medical bulletins say he suffered complications after the surgery, including a severe lung infection, and has had trouble breathing.


His resignation or death would transform politics in the OPEC nation, where he is revered by poor supporters thankful for his social largesse, but denounced by opponents as a dictator.


RALLY PLANNED FOR THURSDAY


Moody's Investors Service warned on Wednesday that Venezuela's sovereign credit rating, already at junk status, faces short-term risks over any political transition.


Prices of Venezuela's widely traded bonds have soared lately on Chavez's health woes, but dipped this week as investors' expectations of a quick government change apparently dimmed.


The president has undergone four operations, as well as weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, since being diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer in his pelvic area in June 2011.


He looked to have staged a remarkable recovery from the illness last year, winning a new six-year term at a hard-fought election in October. But within weeks of his victory he had to return to Havana for more treatment.


The government has called for a huge rally outside the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on Thursday, and allied leaders including Uruguay's Jose Mujica and Bolivia's Evo Morales have said they will visit - despite Chavez's absence.


Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, a close friend, has announced plans to visit Chavez in Cuba on Friday.


The unprecedented silence by Chavez, who is well known for his hours-long rambling speeches, has convinced many Venezuelans that his 14 years in power may be coming to an end.


Unlike after his previous operations in Cuba, no photographs have been published of him recuperating, and social media in Venezuela is buzzing with rumors he is on life support.


Cabello, the pugnacious head of the National Assembly, has repeatedly ruled out taking over as caretaker president to order a new presidential election, saying Chavez remains in charge.


"Tomorrow we will all go to the Miraflores palace," he told a televised Socialist Party meeting on Wednesday. "The people will be invested as president. We are all Chavez!"


(Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga and Diego Ore; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)



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Men and Women of (Limited) Letters: Must-Follow Twitter Accounts of 2013






Scientific American editors voted in recent weeks on the 20 most informative Twitter accounts to stay abreast of the latest ideas, issues and developments in science and technology. We weeded through hundreds of lists and feeds to select the most brilliant and engaging, as well as the quirkiest of the bunch.Our picks are often witty, sometimes eccentric and occasionally silly, but each brings valuable insights to his or her area of expertise. For the latest, greatest tweets on science, technology, journalism, astronomy, physics, mathematics and more, check out these top 20 Twitter accounts of 2013, listed here in alphabetical order.





 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts of 2013Next »
BBC Science
@BBCscience

 Pay attention to BBC Science for breaking science and environmental news from a global perspective. Tweets are most often serious, with the occasional story about whether a toilet seat really is the dirtiest item in the house. The BBC offers variety suitable to both the casual consumer and the diehard nerd.









« Previous
Intro
Must-Follow Twitter Accounts of 2013Next »
Deborah Blum
@DeborahBlum

Deborah Blum’s tweets about poison, murder and other interesting articles and quips aren’t all that make her Twitter feed unique. It also stands out for her insights into science journalism. Blum often posts jobs, tips and tricks of the trade that will motivate any aspiring science blogger to break out the laptop and start posting.
By day, Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist. By night he’s a “truth vigilante.” The Caltech researcher writes lofty pieces about eternity and dark matter, and tweets fascinating facts about his field.


 This NASA Twitter account gained notoriety when the car-size rover Curiosity landed on Mars in August 2012. With its witty persona, pop culture references and updates on its forays across the surface of the Red Planet, @MarsCuriosity is a must-follow for 2013—and the rest of its multiyear tour. Also check out the “Curiosity Explorer” badge on Foursquare and watch the rover’s New Year’s Eve message on YouTube
David Dobbs is an accomplished science journalist who is big on audience engagement in the new media milieu. His Twitter feed is punctuated with responses to readers weighing in on a wide variety of topics, especially cognitive science. Dobbs also tweets sporadically about his personal life and his work for Wired. He’s working on his fifth book.
Maryn McKenna, a specialist on food policy, public health and infectious disease, has built and cultivated a dedicated online following. Her tweets and posts are smart, quirky and highly informative. A seasoned science journalist, she uses social media to nerd out on a daily basis, so join in the geeky fun.
Former Scientific American special projects guru Christopher Mims isn’t shy. Opinionated and straightforward, the technology and sustainability journalist, now at QuartzNews, stays ahead of the pack. Mims frequently engages with his audience and uses crowd-sourcing to gather material for many of his stories.
Scientific American editors enjoy checking in on Nature News‘s hard-nosed, clever twitter feed.  One might suspect that our favor for it derives from the fact that Scientific American is also part of Nature Publishing Group, but we actually operate as editorially independent units. Follow Nature News especially for investigative reporting on science scandals and international science policy, as well as the latest important biomedical and physics news.


 Founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media Tim O’Reilly reports technology trends and comments on advocacy issues. His Twitter feed is dominated by references to Silicon Valley and e-book deals. Follow his tweets for insightful coverage of the technical world.
John Allen Paulos is a PhD with character. He’s wearing a bow tie in his profile picture, and his favored emoticon is a winking smiley face. Paulos’s tweets can be a tad cryptic for the layperson, but the mathematician has such a great sense of humor that you’re sure to laugh out loud at some point—even if you don’t quite understand the joke.
Accomplished blogger Phil Plait has just migrated his popular “Bad Astronomy” blog to Slate. The author, skeptic, father and punster primarily covers the ins and outs of the solar system. The best part about Plait’s Twitter feed is his daily #BAFact, wherein he throws strange-but-true scraps of science to his curious followers.


 Veteran science journalist Paul Raeburn has turned his eye in recent years to good-natured meta-media, covering science reporting itself for the Knight Science Journalism Tracker while also covering reseach on fatherhood. Raeburn takes reporters to task for sloppy thinking, points out inaccuracies and addresses ethical dilemmas. Follow his account just to read the back-and-forth between him and his targets.
Andy Revkin is a leader in the environmental reporting field, covering everything from fracking to global warming. Check out Revkin’s DotEarth blog in The New York Times too for his breaking news coverage—it’s all the environmental news that’s fit to cover.


 Science Friday, part of National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation radio program, packs its Twitter feed with tantalizing links that just beg to be clicked on. @SciFri looks at daily news through a scientific lens, including live tweets to provide context during the weekly broadcast. The result is an entertaining bundle of scientific discoveries, intrigues and debunkings.
Scientific American‘s contributors are a brilliant group of reporters, bloggers and commentators, if you’ll pardon this moment of pride. Creativity, skepticism and authoritative context are a big part of what makes our coverage so engaging and worthwhile. Check out this Twitter list and follow your favorites.
Nate Silver, the most celebrated political statistician of the 2012 election, started out as a forecaster of baseball player performance. When he turned his attention to U.S. presidential elections, using statistical models to accurately predict what was thought to be unpredictable, he became a sensation. Although this past year’s electoral frenzy is behind us, Silver is still at work making predictions we’d be foolish to ignore.
Steven Strogatz holds the esteem of math wunderkinds as well as those who are iffy on formulas. He’s hardly a typical numbers-cruncher. The Cornell University professor has a knack for taking on complex topics and making them interesting, even to full-on mathphobes. In his recent book, The Joy of X, discussions range from the number of people one should date before settling down to how HBO’s The Sopranos can help us understand calculus. His Twitter account is similarly entertaining.
Not following Neil DeGrasse Tyson on Twitter? Beware: science nerds who don’t wake up each morning to the rational witticisms of NGT in their feed risk losing all geek cred. If you fit this description, please remedy that situation—now.
Blogger Ed Yong diligantly weaves a love of data into his prose, while still managing to craft posts that are accessible to readers with little to no science background. By covering new findings skeptically and tweeting prolifically, he has built a readership that relies on him for science news. Join the club.
A self-described “champion of underappreciated life-forms,” Carl Zimmer tends to tackle stories about parasites, viruses and quantum earthworms. Follow his feed, probably the most followed of any science writer, for solid reporting and captivating writing.





« Previous
Ed Yong
@EdYong209
Must-Follow Twitter Accounts of 2013Restart the list »
Introduction

Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs.Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
© 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.
Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Zoë Saldana Takes Post-Split Stroll with Mugsy















UPDATED
01/09/2013 at 04:00 PM EST

Originally published 01/09/2013 at 03:30 PM EST







Zoë Saldana and dog Mugsy


Cousart/JFXimages/WENN


For newly single Zoë Saldana, it seems like dogs really are a woman's best friend.

After calling it quits with on-and-off-again beau Bradley Cooper just before New Year's, the actress stepped out Tuesday near her Silver Lake, Calif., home to walk her new rescue pooch, Mugsy.

"She's adorable and super smart," Saldana Tweeted on Dec. 12 after bringing home the wiry-haired pup, whom a friend helped name.

While Cooper may no longer be apart of the star's life, her decision to adopt Mugsy could have been influenced by the actor. In November, Saldana scored some bonding time with her then-boyfriend's beloved chow/retriever mix Charlotte on a Thanksgiving day dog walk.

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Retooling Pap test to spot more kinds of cancer


WASHINGTON (AP) — For years, doctors have lamented that there's no Pap test for deadly ovarian cancer. Wednesday, scientists reported a tantalizing hint that one day, there might be.


Researchers are trying to retool the Pap, a test for cervical cancer that millions of women get, so that it could spot early signs of other gynecologic cancers, too.


How? It turns out that cells can flake off of tumors in the ovaries or the lining of the uterus, and float down to rest in the cervix, where Pap tests are performed. These cells are too rare to recognize under the microscope. But researchers from Johns Hopkins University used some sophisticated DNA testing on the Pap samples to uncover the evidence — gene mutations that show cancer is present.


In a pilot study, they analyzed Pap smears from 46 women who already were diagnosed with either ovarian or endometrial cancer. The new technique found all the endometrial cancers and 41 percent of the ovarian tumors, the team reported Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine.


This is very early-stage research, and women shouldn't expect any change in their routine Paps. It will take years of additional testing to prove if the so-called PapGene technique really could work as a screening tool, used to spot cancer in women who thought they were healthy.


"Now the hard work begins," said Hopkins oncologist Dr. Luis Diaz, whose team is collecting hundreds of additional Pap samples for more study and is exploring ways to enhance the detection of ovarian cancer.


But if it ultimately pans out, "the neat part about this is, the patient won't feel anything different," and the Pap wouldn't be performed differently, Diaz added. The extra work would come in a lab.


The gene-based technique marks a new approach toward cancer screening, and specialists are watching closely.


"This is very encouraging, and it shows great potential," said American Cancer Society genetics expert Michael Melner.


"We are a long way from being able to see any impact on our patients," cautioned Dr. Shannon Westin of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She reviewed the research in an accompanying editorial, and said the ovarian cancer detection would need improvement if the test is to work.


But she noted that ovarian cancer has poor survival rates because it's rarely caught early. "If this screening test could identify ovarian cancer at an early stage, there would be a profound impact on patient outcomes and mortality," Westin said.


More than 22,000 U.S. women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, and more than 15,000 die. Symptoms such as pain and bloating seldom are obvious until the cancer is more advanced, and numerous attempts at screening tests have failed.


Endometrial cancer affects about 47,000 women a year, and kills about 8,000. There is no screening test for it either, but most women are diagnosed early because of postmenopausal bleeding.


The Hopkins research piggybacks on one of the most successful cancer screening tools, the Pap, and a newer technology used along with it. With a standard Pap, a little brush scrapes off cells from the cervix, which are stored in a vial to examine for signs of cervical cancer. Today, many women's Paps undergo an additional DNA-based test to see if they harbor the HPV virus, which can spur cervical cancer.


So the Hopkins team, funded largely by cancer advocacy groups, decided to look for DNA evidence of other gynecologic tumors. It developed a method to rapidly screen the Pap samples for those mutations using standard genetics equipment that Diaz said wouldn't add much to the cost of a Pap-plus-HPV test. He said the technique could detect both early-stage and more advanced tumors. Importantly, tests of Paps from 14 healthy women turned up no false alarms.


The endometrial cancers may have been easier to find because cells from those tumors don't have as far to travel as ovarian cancer cells, Diaz said. Researchers will study whether inserting the Pap brush deeper, testing during different times of the menstrual cycle, or other factors might improve detection of ovarian cancer.


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Wall Street slips as earnings season gets under way

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Tuesday, retreating from last week's rally on the "fiscal cliff" deal in Washington, as companies started to report results for the fourth quarter.


After a 4.3 percent jump in the two sessions around the close of the fiscal cliff negotiations, the S&P has declined a bit, with investors finding few catalysts to extend the rally that took the benchmark to five-year highs.


"We had a brief respite, courtesy of what happened on the fiscal cliff deal and the flip of the calendar with new money coming into the market," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.


Shares of AT&T Inc dropped 1.7 percent to $34.35, making it one of the biggest drags on the S&P 500, after the company said it sold more than 10 million smartphones in the quarter.


This figure beat the same quarter in 2011, but also means increased costs for the wireless service provider. Providers like AT&T pay hefty subsidies to handset makers so that they can offer discounts to customers who commit to two-year contracts.


Fourth-quarter profits are expected to beat the previous quarter's lackluster results, but analyst estimates are down sharply from October. Quarterly earnings are expected to grow by 2.7 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. Dow component Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, reported results after the closing bell.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> dropped 55.44 points, or 0.41 percent, to 13,328.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> fell 4.74 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1,457.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> lost 7.01 points, or 0.23 percent, to 3,091.81.


"The stark reality of uncertainty with regard to earnings, plus the negotiations on the debt ceiling, are there and that doesn't give investors a lot of reason to take bets on the long side," Hellwig said.


With AT&T's fall, the S&P telecom services index <.gspl> was the worst performer of the 10 major S&P sectors, down 2.7 percent.


Sears Holdings shares dropped 6.4 percent to $40.16 a day after the company said Chairman Edward Lampert would take over as CEO from Louis D'Ambrosio, who is stepping down due to a family member's health issue. The U.S. retailer also reported a 1.8 percent decline in quarter-to-date sales at stores open at least a year.


Markets went lower as some of the first reported earnings were weak.


"It doesn't seem to be bouncing back, it might stay here or sell off a little further," said Stephen Carl, head of U.S. equity trading at The Williams Capital Group in New York.


Shares of restaurant-chain operator Yum Brands Inc fell 4.2 percent to $65.04 a day after the KFC parent warned sales in China, its largest market, shrank more than expected in the fourth quarter.


GameStop was one of the worst performers on the S&P 500 as shares slumped 6.3 percent to $23.19 after the video game retailer reported low customer traffic for the holiday season and cut its guidance.


Shares of Monsanto Co gained 2.5 percent to $98.42 after reaching a more than four-year high at $99.99. The world's largest seed company raised its earnings outlook for fiscal year 2013 and posted strong first-quarter results.


Volume was below the 2012 average of 6.42 billion shares traded per day, as 6.19 billion were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT and Nasdaq.


Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,495 to 1,458, while on the Nasdaq decliners beat advancers 1,305 to 1,158.


(Reporting by Gabriel Debenedetti; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Nick Zieminski)



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U.S. does not rule out complete pullout from Afghanistan after 2014


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration does not rule out a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan after 2014, the White House said on Tuesday, just days before President Barack Obama is due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai.


The comments by U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes were the first signal that, despite initial recommendations by the top military commander in Afghanistan to keep as many as 15,000 troops in the country, the final decision may be to remove everyone, as happened in Iraq in 2011.


Asked about consideration of a so-called zero-option once the NATO combat mission ends at the end of 2014, Rhodes said: "That would be an option that we would consider."


"Because again, the president does not view these negotiations as having a goal of keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan," he added, saying the objective was to ensure the training and equipping of Afghan forces and combating al Qaeda.


Rhodes, lowering expectations of any breakthrough in the talks with Karzai at the White House on Friday, said it would be months before a final decision is made on troop levels.


In Iraq, Obama decided to pull out all U.S. forces after failing in negotiations with the Iraqi government to secure immunity for any U.S. troops who would remain behind.


The Obama administration is also insisting on immunity for any U.S. troops that remain in Afghanistan, and that unsettled question will figure in this week's talks between Obama and Karzai and their aides.


Jeffrey Dressler, an Afghanistan expert at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War who favors keeping a larger presence in Afghanistan, questioned what battlefield conditions would allow for a complete U.S. pullout.


"I can't tell that they're doing that as a negotiating position ... or if it is a no-kidding option," Dressler said. "If you ask me, I don't see how zero troops is in the national security interest of the United States."


U.S. officials have said privately that the White House had asked for options to be developed for keeping between 3,000 and 9,000 troops in the country, a lower range than was put forward initially by General John Allen, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan.


Allen suggested keeping between 6,000 and 15,000 troops in Afghanistan.


(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and Phil Stewart; Editing by Eric Beech)



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Google offers New York City neighborhood free WiFi






(Reuters) – Google Inc and a New York redevelopment organization are providing a Manhattan neighborhood with free public WiFi Internet access, making it the largest area of coverage in New York City.


The search giant and the non-profit Chelsea Improvement Co are making Internet access available outdoors in Chelsea, which is home to Google’s New York offices and several technology start-ups.






The neighborhood is also home to many students, as well as residents of one of the city’s public housing developments.


Google does not plan to extend the program, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.


The company also provides free Internet access to the city of Mountain View, California, where its main campus is located.


New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer helped unveil the initiative.


(Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)


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Man Wins $1 Million Lotto - Then Dies of Cyanide Poisoning: Police















01/08/2013 at 04:45 PM EST







Urooj Khan


Illinois Lottery/EPA/Landov


Urooj Khan won a million dollar lottery, but he lost his life the day after collecting his winnings. Now, the authorities suspect that the Chicago man was the victim of foul play.

Pathologists initially believed Khan died of natural causes, but have since changed their minds after a relative asked them to re-examine his death and they detected lethal amounts of cyanide in his blood.

"We are investigating the incident as a murder and are working closely with the medical examiner," Chicago Police spokeswoman Melissa Stratton tells PEOPLE.

Khan, a 46-year-old hardworking entrepreneur from India, bought the two lottery scratch-off tickets at a convenience store near his home last June.

Moments after scratching off the second ticket, he reportedly jumped into the air and screamed, "I hit a million!" then handed the clerk a hundred-dollar bill out of gratitude.

On July 19, Khan cashed in his ticket and received a check (minus taxes) for $425,000, some of which he planned on donating to a local children's hospital.

The next day he was back at work at his string of dry cleaning businesses. But that evening, shortly after going to bed, he awoke shrieking in agony.

Shabana Ansari, 32, his wife of 12 years, telephoned paramedics and he was rushed to nearby St. Francis Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead several hours later.

Khan's blood sample showed no signs of carbon monoxide, opiates or alcohol. And because there were no visible signs of trauma to his body and no evidence of foul play, pathologists didn't believe an autopsy needed to be performed.

His death was attributed to hardening of the arteries and Khan was eventually buried at a local cemetery.

But before a week had passed, an unidentified relative telephoned the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, saying that he suspected foul play. A morgue worker took another look at Khan's blood sample and this time discovered lethal levels of cyanide.

"If a family member has a concern that seems valid, we take those seriously," Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina tells the Chicago Tribune. "We can't [ordinarily] look for every toxin under the sun like a CSI episode."

Homicide detectives are currently piecing together Khan's final days and deciding whether or not to exhume his body.

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