Urinary retention due to benign enlarged prostate treated differently in 15 countries

Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
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Contact: Annette Whibley
annette.wizard@gmail.com
Wiley-Blackwell

Study covered more than 6,000 men with urological emergency

Men who experience a sudden inability to pass urine because of a non-cancerous enlarged prostate are hospitalised and treated differently depending on where they live, according to an international study published online by the urology journal BJUI.

The paper, which will appear in the January issue, reports on how nearly 1,000 clinicians in 15 countries responded to this urological emergency in more than 6,000 men.

"Acute urinary retention (AUR) is a severe complication of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) characterised by a sudden and painful inability to urinate" explains lead author Professor John Fitzpatrick from Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and University College, Dublin, Ireland. "As well as being extremely distressing, and a major public health issue, it can also lead to an increased risk of ill health and even death.

"Our study shows that prescribing the patient with an Alpha-1 Blocker before providing further treatment without a catheter is the most successful route. It also demonstrates that prolonged catheterisation is association with increased ill health."

The study comprised 6,074 men with AUR, who were treated by 953 urologists from public, private and mixed health care practices over a four-year period. Of these, 2,618 were from France, 1,727 were from Asia (Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam), 883 were from Latin America (Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela), 755 from Algeria and 91 from the Middle East (Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates).

Key findings of the study included:

• Most of the men (71%) had spontaneous AUR, a natural result of their enlarged prostate, while 29% had precipitated AUR following a trigger event. Causes included local or general anaesthesia (28.5%) and excessive alcohol intake (18%). Precipitated AUR was lowest in Algeria (12%) and highest in Latin America (44%), mainly due to excessive alcohol intake in the latter.
• AUR predicted the presence of BPH in 44% of men. Hospitalisation for AUR varied between countries, ranging from 1.7% in Algeria to 100% in France. A urethral catheter was inserted in just under 90% of cases, usually followed by treatment without a catheter (TWOC) after a median of five days, averaging from three days in France to eight days in Algeria. TWOC was successful in 61% of cases.
• Most men (86%) received an Alpha-1 Blocker (mainly alfuzosin) before catheter removal and this led to consistently higher TWOC success rates, regardless of age and the type of AUR. Multivariate regression confirmed that prescribing an Alpha-1 Blocker before TWOC increased the success rate by 92%.
• TWOC failure was most common if men were 70 years plus, had a prostate size of 50 g or higher, severe lower urinary tract symptoms, drained volume at catheterisation of 1000 mL or more and spontaneous AUR.
• Keeping patients catheterised for three days or more did not influence TWOC success, but it was associated with increased ill health and prolonged hospitalisation for adverse events.
• Just under half of the men who experienced TWOC failure (49%) were recatheterised and had BPH surgery. A further 43.5% tried another TWOC, with an overall success rate of 29.5%, ranging from 20% in Algeria to 44% in Asia.
• Just over 13% of men received prolonged catheterisation followed by programmed surgery, with the highest rates in France (18%) and Latin America (15%). Immediate surgery was less common at 7%, ranging from 0.5% in Algeria to 13% in Asia.

"This large cross-sectional survey of a urological emergency in a wide range of healthcare systems shows that urethral catheterisation followed by a TWOC is the standard practice worldwide and that prescribing an Alpha-1 Blocker before TWOC doubles the chance of success" concludes Professor Fitzpatrick.

"However, it also highlights important differences between countries regarding hospitalisation rates, duration of catheterisation and management of TWOC outcome, mainly due to the lack of guidelines for AUR management.

"It also identifies a number of variables, including age and prostate size, that predict the risk of recurrent AUR and surgery after a successful TWOC. These could be used to identify patients that cannot be managed by medical therapy alone and should rapidly undergo surgery."

###

Professor Fitzpatrick, who led an international research team of authors from France, Algeria, Mexico, Korea, Pakistan and Thailand, is also Editor-in-Chief of BJUI.

The paper is free online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2011.10430.x/pdf

Notes to editors

• Management of acute urinary retention: a worldwide survey of BJUI. Fitzpatrick et al. Online early ahead of print publication in the January issue. doi:10.1111/j.1464-410X.2011.10430.x
• Established in 1929, BJUI is edited by Professor John Fitzpatrick from Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and University College Dublin, Ireland. It provides its international readership with invaluable practical information on all aspects of urology, including original and investigative articles and illustrated surgery. http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/BJU
• Wiley-Blackwell is the international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, with strengths in every major academic and professional field and partnerships with many of the world's leading societies. Wiley-Blackwell publishes nearly 1,500 peer-reviewed journals and 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols. For more information, please visit www.wileyblackwell.com or our new online platform, Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), one of the world's most extensive multidisciplinary collections of online resources, covering life, health, social and physical sciences, and humanities.

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

Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Annette Whibley
annette.wizard@gmail.com
Wiley-Blackwell

Study covered more than 6,000 men with urological emergency

Men who experience a sudden inability to pass urine because of a non-cancerous enlarged prostate are hospitalised and treated differently depending on where they live, according to an international study published online by the urology journal BJUI.

The paper, which will appear in the January issue, reports on how nearly 1,000 clinicians in 15 countries responded to this urological emergency in more than 6,000 men.

"Acute urinary retention (AUR) is a severe complication of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) characterised by a sudden and painful inability to urinate" explains lead author Professor John Fitzpatrick from Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and University College, Dublin, Ireland. "As well as being extremely distressing, and a major public health issue, it can also lead to an increased risk of ill health and even death.

"Our study shows that prescribing the patient with an Alpha-1 Blocker before providing further treatment without a catheter is the most successful route. It also demonstrates that prolonged catheterisation is association with increased ill health."

The study comprised 6,074 men with AUR, who were treated by 953 urologists from public, private and mixed health care practices over a four-year period. Of these, 2,618 were from France, 1,727 were from Asia (Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam), 883 were from Latin America (Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela), 755 from Algeria and 91 from the Middle East (Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates).

Key findings of the study included:

• Most of the men (71%) had spontaneous AUR, a natural result of their enlarged prostate, while 29% had precipitated AUR following a trigger event. Causes included local or general anaesthesia (28.5%) and excessive alcohol intake (18%). Precipitated AUR was lowest in Algeria (12%) and highest in Latin America (44%), mainly due to excessive alcohol intake in the latter.
• AUR predicted the presence of BPH in 44% of men. Hospitalisation for AUR varied between countries, ranging from 1.7% in Algeria to 100% in France. A urethral catheter was inserted in just under 90% of cases, usually followed by treatment without a catheter (TWOC) after a median of five days, averaging from three days in France to eight days in Algeria. TWOC was successful in 61% of cases.
• Most men (86%) received an Alpha-1 Blocker (mainly alfuzosin) before catheter removal and this led to consistently higher TWOC success rates, regardless of age and the type of AUR. Multivariate regression confirmed that prescribing an Alpha-1 Blocker before TWOC increased the success rate by 92%.
• TWOC failure was most common if men were 70 years plus, had a prostate size of 50 g or higher, severe lower urinary tract symptoms, drained volume at catheterisation of 1000 mL or more and spontaneous AUR.
• Keeping patients catheterised for three days or more did not influence TWOC success, but it was associated with increased ill health and prolonged hospitalisation for adverse events.
• Just under half of the men who experienced TWOC failure (49%) were recatheterised and had BPH surgery. A further 43.5% tried another TWOC, with an overall success rate of 29.5%, ranging from 20% in Algeria to 44% in Asia.
• Just over 13% of men received prolonged catheterisation followed by programmed surgery, with the highest rates in France (18%) and Latin America (15%). Immediate surgery was less common at 7%, ranging from 0.5% in Algeria to 13% in Asia.

"This large cross-sectional survey of a urological emergency in a wide range of healthcare systems shows that urethral catheterisation followed by a TWOC is the standard practice worldwide and that prescribing an Alpha-1 Blocker before TWOC doubles the chance of success" concludes Professor Fitzpatrick.

"However, it also highlights important differences between countries regarding hospitalisation rates, duration of catheterisation and management of TWOC outcome, mainly due to the lack of guidelines for AUR management.

"It also identifies a number of variables, including age and prostate size, that predict the risk of recurrent AUR and surgery after a successful TWOC. These could be used to identify patients that cannot be managed by medical therapy alone and should rapidly undergo surgery."

###

Professor Fitzpatrick, who led an international research team of authors from France, Algeria, Mexico, Korea, Pakistan and Thailand, is also Editor-in-Chief of BJUI.

The paper is free online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2011.10430.x/pdf

Notes to editors

• Management of acute urinary retention: a worldwide survey of BJUI. Fitzpatrick et al. Online early ahead of print publication in the January issue. doi:10.1111/j.1464-410X.2011.10430.x
• Established in 1929, BJUI is edited by Professor John Fitzpatrick from Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and University College Dublin, Ireland. It provides its international readership with invaluable practical information on all aspects of urology, including original and investigative articles and illustrated surgery. http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/BJU
• Wiley-Blackwell is the international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, with strengths in every major academic and professional field and partnerships with many of the world's leading societies. Wiley-Blackwell publishes nearly 1,500 peer-reviewed journals and 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols. For more information, please visit www.wileyblackwell.com or our new online platform, Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), one of the world's most extensive multidisciplinary collections of online resources, covering life, health, social and physical sciences, and humanities.

---

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/w-urd112811.php

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Patients requiring transfer to another facility for percutaneous coronary intervention rarely meet recommended guidelines for transfer to treatment times

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2011) ? Among patients requiring transfer to another hospital for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries), the estimated time from arrival to transfer rarely meets recommended guidelines of 30 minutes or less, according to a report in the Nov. 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"Delays in treatment time are commonplace for patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction [STEMI] who must be transferred to another hospital for percutaneous coronary intervention," the authors write as background information in the article. "Experts have recommended that door-in to door-out (DIDO) time (i.e., time from arrival at the first hospital to transfer from that hospital to the percutaneous coronary intervention hospital) should not exceed 30 minutes."

Jeph Herrin, Ph.D., of Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., and colleagues examined national DIDO times for patients who presented at an emergency department with STEMI and who required transfer to another hospital for PCI. The authors examined data on all patients reported by hospitals with five or more eligible transfer patients between January 1, and December 31, 2009.

Of the 13,776 patients from 1,034 hospitals included in the analysis, 1,343 patients (9.7 percent) had a DIDO time within 30 minutes while DIDO time exceeded 90 minutes for 4,267 patients (31 percent). After adjusting for patient and hospital characteristics, women had a mean (average) estimated time 8.9 minutes longer than men; African Americans had an estimated time 9.1 minutes longer than those patients reported as white; patients age 18 to 35 years had an estimated time significantly longer than that for all patients except those older than 75 years of age, with a time 18.3 minutes longer relative to patients age 46 to 55 years.

"Among patients presenting to emergency departments and requiring transfer to another facility for percutaneous coronary intervention, the DIDO time rarely met the recommended 30 minutes," the authors conclude. "DIDO time may be a key component of treatment delays in patients with STEMI who are transferred for PCI; improvement efforts should focus on understanding and reducing this delay."

Additionally, in a research letter published Online First, Eric A. Secemsky, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues examined whether creation of a 24-hour cardiac catheterization laboratory (CCL) was associated with improved revascularization times among patients with STEMI presenting at a public hospital previously reliant on transferring patients for PCI.

The authors enrolled patients between April 2005 and October 2008 with a clinical diagnosis of STEMI, successful transfer for angiography and available data for all time intervals. The authors found that among transfer patients, median (midpoint) door-to-catheterization (DTC) and door-to-balloon (DTB) times were 184 minutes and 200 minutes, respectively, with no patients revascularized in less than 90 minutes. Among patients treated after creation of the 24-hour PCI facility, median DTC and DTB times decreased to 50 minutes and 84 minutes, respectively, with 65 percent of patients revascularized in less than 90 minutes.

"Creation of a CCL successfully improved median DTB times to less than 90 minutes, and currently, nearly 90 percent of patients with STEMI are revascularized in less than 90 minutes," the authors conclude.

Editorial: Reconsidering Transfer for PCI Strategy

In an editorial published Online First, Archives editor Rita F. Redberg, M.D., M.Sc., of the University of California, San Francisco, writes, "primary PCI [pPCI] is resource intensive and therefore not widely available. Of the nearly 5,000 acute care hospitals in the United States, less than one-fourth have PCI capability and even less can provide 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-per-week (24/7) PCI."

"Despite years of hard work and noble efforts by many individuals and professional organizations... to enable hospitals to either provide pPCI or reduce door-in to door-out (DIDO) time in transferring to a facility that does, results have been disappointing," writes Dr. Redberg. "After years of well-intentioned arduous efforts to decrease TTT, it is time to consider other strategies."

"The reports by Herrin et al and Wang et al show us that DIDO time remains much slower than benchmarks," Dr. Redberg concludes. "For low- and intermediate-risk patients, there is no mortality advantage to pPCI over thrombolytic therapy...It is time to reconsider transferring patients with STEMI for pPCI. Timely reperfusion by thrombolytics, not late pPCI via transfer, will save lives."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by JAMA and Archives Journals.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal References:

1. J. Herrin, L. E. Miller, D. F. Turkmani, W. Nsa, E. E. Drye, S. M. Bernheim, S. M. Ling, M. T. Rapp, L. F. Han, D. W. Bratzler, E. H. Bradley, B. K. Nallamothu, H. H. Ting, H. M. Krumholz. National Performance on Door-In to Door-Out Time Among Patients Transferred for Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2011; 171 (21): 1879 DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.481
2. Eric A. Secemsky; David Lange; Jennifer E. Ho; Kimberly Brayton; Peter A. Ganz; Genevieve Farr; John S. MacGregor; Priscilla Y. Hsue. Improvement in Revascularization Time After Creation of a Coronary Catheterization Laboratory at a Public Hospital. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2011; DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.564
3. Rita F. Redberg. Reconsidering Transfer for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Strategy: Time Is of the Essence. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2011; DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.566

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/vMvvh3Q9CMg/111128183340.htm

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Jamie Chung Talks The Man with the Iron Fists

by Hunter Daniels????Posted:November 28th, 2011 at 6:00 am

While on the set of Takashi Shimizu?s upcoming aviation thriller 7500 I got to sit down with a few other journalists and Jamie Chung to discuss her role. We?ll have the full interview and a set visit write up closer to the film?s release. Today we have a short update from Chung on Wu-Tang Clan?s RZA and his Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino produced Kung-Fu film, The Man with the Iron Fists. The movie takes place in feudal China and centers on a small village?s weapon-maker who must defend its peoples. RZA wrote the pic alongside Roth, and the cast also includes Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, and Pam Grier. Chung discussed the film?s original four-hour cut, the idea of splitting it in half, RZA?s famous obsession with obscure Asian action films and reveals that they?re eyeing an August 2012 release. Hit the jump to see what she had to say.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about The Man with the Iron Fists?

Chung: The original cut was four hours long and RZA was like, ?Let?s turn it into two movies!? and Eli [Roth] was like, ??No?? so they?re really excited and I have complete faith in RZA. He?s a complete genius when it comes to these things and he knows the genre so well. So it?s cut down to an hour and a half and it?s picture locked and now he?s working on the music. So I?m pretty exited and everyone?s pretty stoked. But it will have that kind of cult feel. I don?t think everyone loved, you know, 36 Chambers of Shaolin or?is it Five Deadly Venoms? It?s definitely a delicacy. It?s still fun and awesome and Russell Crowe?s doing some crazy things that you would never think you?d see him do [?] and I think it may come out in August.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924021/news/1924021/

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Analysis: Iran adopts "wait and see" policy on Syria's crisis (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Iran, its crucial anti-Israel alliance with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at risk from an uprising against his rule, has chosen a "wait and see" policy driven in part by concern not to alienate anyone who might succeed him, analysts say.

A downfall of Assad could deal a strategic blow to Shi'ite Muslim-dominated Iran, where confrontation toward Israel remains one of its overriding foreign policy principles.

Iran has used various regional cards, including fears it could unleash militant proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas against Israeli and U.S. interests, to deter foreign intervention in Syria, making it harder for protesters to overthrow Assad.

But analysts say the Iranian-Syrian axis now faces a serious dilemma: Should Iran stick with Assad -- whose family has ruled Syria for 41 years -- at any cost or should it jettison the Islamic Republic's most important Middle East ally?

"Iran's policy is to wait and see ... We need to be patient as the situation is very unclear and very sensitive in Syria. We hope for the best possible outcome for everyone," said an Iranian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"(But although) Assad helped Iran play a leading role in its fight against the Zionist regime (Israel) ... now it is unwise for Iran to take sides."

Iran will be hard-pressed to find Arab allies to replace Syria so it will be naturally keener to ensure Assad -- whose minority Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam -- can ultimately vanquish the revolt by majority Sunni Muslims.

"A weak Assad is no longer an effective regional ally for Iran ... But it is better to have a weak ally rather than a Sunni (Muslim) leader in power in Syria," said Iranian analyst Hamid Farahvashi.

WARY OF "BACKING THE WRONG HORSE"

However, Iranian leaders are also worried that siding too emphatically with Assad could undermine their chances of establishing a beneficial relationship with any new Syrian government, analysts say.

"Iranians do not want to back the wrong horse ... It is a very sensitive period and any wrong move could have negative consequences," said Farahvashi.

There are rumors in Tehran suggesting that Iranian officials have met members of the Syrian opposition in an effort to probe the possibility of forming future alliances.

"We do not want to be seen as betrayers of our ally ... but like all other countries, Iran's priority is to preserve the country's interests," said the Iranian official.

The Syrian crisis has added to pressures on Iran's clerical elite, ranging from tightening international sanctions imposed over Iran's disputed nuclear work, high inflation, long queues of jobless and investors keeping a tight hold on their purses.

Betraying frayed nerves about the possibility of government change in Syria, Tehran has called the unrest against Assad an "American-Zionist" conspiracy. Whether Tehran has contingency plans for any overthrow of Assad remains unclear.

"Everything will happen behind the scenes. Iran might get closer to Lebanon's Hezbollah or other Shi'ite militant groups in the region to preserve its influence in the region," said an Asian diplomat in Tehran, speaking on ground rules of anonymity.

The United States says Iran's policy toward the Syrian crisis has included financial and military aid. Iran denies any involvement in matters of the Syrian state.

Iranian officials still hope Assad will outlast the revolt. "Assad can bring millions of his supporters into the streets ... He enjoys support of his nation in big cities as we have seen in pro-government rallies in Syria," the government official said.

Iranian leaders hope international efforts to unseat Assad will ultimately be undone by concerns not to ignite broader sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims that could destabilize the wider region.

Saudi Arabia, which shares U.S. fears that Iran is covertly seeking nuclear arms, has long accused Tehran of trying stir up its Shi'ite minority. Analysts say Syria might become the focal point of an Iranian-Saudi battle for regional dominance.

"Syria might become a ground for America and Saudi Arabia to settle scores with Tehran ... Further pressure on Assad might cause sectarian violence in Lebanon, Iraq and many other parts of the region where Iran has influence," said political analyst Mansour Marvi.

IRAN EYES TURKEY IN SYRIAN CRISIS

With Turkey's condemnation of its erstwhile ally Assad over his military crackdown on protesters that has left thousands dead, Iran has become more cautious in its approach to Syria's crisis, condemning his use of violence and calling on his government and the opposition to reach an "understanding."

Turkey and Iran are competing for influence in the new Middle East and each presents a model -- one Islamic, the other secular and democratic -- for Arab revolutionaries.

Iranian leaders view Ankara as a key cog in what they see as a U.S. scheme backed by Gulf Arab states to contain Tehran's ambitions to be the Middle East's dominant power and undermine its Islamic Revolution.

Some diplomats and analysts disagree, however.

"More than having influence, Iran is wisely using regional conflicts, like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, to its own benefit," said an Asian diplomat in Tehran. "Americans credit Iran for their mistakes in the Middle East."

Iran's hardline rulers were quick to put a positive spin on the Arab Spring uprisings against autocratic rulers, saying it will spell the end of U.S.-backed governments in the region.

While analysts abroad have said the Arab Spring has been largely secular in nature, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has dubbed it the "Islamic Awakening," saying it was inspired by Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution that replaced the U.S-backed Shah with a Muslim theocracy.

The government's Syria policy has angered President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rivals, deepening a political rift within the conservative elite dating to the 2009 presidential election that the opposition says was rigged to secure his return to power.

Some politicians, including legislators, say Iran should side with the Syrian opposition and not "a figure (Assad)."

"Iran could have mediated and controlled the crisis in Syria if Ahmadinejad's government had a better position in the international community," moderate former deputy foreign minister Mohammad Sadr was quoted as saying by some pro-reform Iranian websites.

Iran's reformist opposition has watched with admiration as popular revolutions have toppled several Arab dictators.

But despite divisions within Tehran conservative ruling elite, opposition leaders looks incapable for now of resuming serious street protests quelled by Revolutionary Guards two years ago in the wake of Ahmadinejad's re-election.

(Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111127/wl_nm/us_iran_syria_policy

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Samsung Galaxy S II LTE arrives in Japan, NTT DoCoMo offers up its first course of 4G phones

Japan has got it's first taste of an LTE smartphone, and this one's Galaxy-flavored. Oh yes, Samsung's Galaxy S II LTE has made an appearance on NTT DoCoMo, running on the Japanese carrier's next-generation Xi network and promising top download speeds of around 37.5Mbps. The latest member to the carrier's top-drawer Next series will set you back around $260 (¥20,000) on a two-year contract. DoCoMo is aiming to reach the hands of 30 million customers by 2015, with another as-yet unnamed 4G device already penned for release before the end of the year. Perhaps the pair of data-loving handsets will help to fill that iPhone-shaped hole in the carrier's phone catalog.

Samsung Galaxy S II LTE arrives in Japan, NTT DoCoMo offers up its first course of 4G phones originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 06:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge, Asahi Shimbun (translated)  |  NTT DoCoMo  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/26/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-lte-arrives-in-japan-ntt-docomo-offers-up-i/

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Climate negotiations open, focus on emissions cuts

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks during a climate justice rally held in Durban, South Africa, Sunday, Nov 27, 2011, ahead of the official start or a two-week international climate conference with about 190 countries beginning upcoming Monday. The U.N.'s top climate official, Christiana Figueres said Sunday she expects governments to make a long-delayed decision on commitments to reduce emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases, amid fresh warnings of possible climate-related disasters in the future.(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks during a climate justice rally held in Durban, South Africa, Sunday, Nov 27, 2011, ahead of the official start or a two-week international climate conference with about 190 countries beginning upcoming Monday. The U.N.'s top climate official, Christiana Figueres said Sunday she expects governments to make a long-delayed decision on commitments to reduce emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases, amid fresh warnings of possible climate-related disasters in the future.(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, center, listens as former Irish President Mary Robinson speaks during a climate justice rally in Durban, South Africa, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Amid fresh warnings of climate-related disasters in the future, delegates from about 190 countries were gathering in Durban for a two-week conference beginning Monday.(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

DURBAN, South Africa (AP) ? Global warming already is causing suffering and conflict in Africa, from drought in Sudan and Somalia to flooding in South Africa, President Jacob Zuma said Monday, urging delegates at an international climate conference to look beyond national interests for solutions.

"For most people in the developing countries and Africa, climate change is a matter of life and death," said the South African leader as he formally opened a two-week conference with participants from 191 countries and the European Union.

The conference is seeking ways to curb ever-rising emissions of climate-changing pollution, which scientists said last week have reached record levels of concentration in the atmosphere.

Seasoned nongovernment observers said the outcome of the conference, which ends Dec. 9, is among the most unpredictable since the annual all-nation meetings began following the conclusion in 1992 of the basic treaty on climate change.

"Everything seems to be fluid. Everything is in play," said Tasneem Essop, of WWF International.

The main point of contention is whether industrial countries will extend their commitments to further reduce carbon emissions after their current commitments expire next year. Most wealthy countries have said their agreement is conditional on developing countries like China, India and Brazil accepting that they, too, must accept legally binding restrictions on their own emissions.

Zuma said Sudan's drought is partly responsible for tribal wars there, and that drought and famine have driven people from their homes in Somalia. Floods along the South African coast have cost people their homes and jobs, he said.

"Change and solutions are always possible. In these talks, states, parties, will need to look beyond their national interests to find a solution for the common good and human benefit," he said.

The U.N.'s top climate official, Christiana Figueres, said future commitments by industrial countries to slash greenhouse gas emissions is "the defining issue of this conference." But she said that is linked to pledges that developing countries must make to join the fight against climate change.

She quoted anti-apartheid legend and former President Nelson Mandela: "It always seems impossible until it is done."

One of the greatest threats of global warming is to food supplies, which new studies by the United Nations and independent agencies show already are under stress.

In its first global assessment of the planet's resources, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that farmers will have to produce 70 percent more food by 2050 to meet the needs of the world's expected 9 billion-strong population.

But most available farmland is already being farmed, and in ways that decrease productivity through practices that lead to soil erosion and wasting of water, the FAO said in a report released Monday in Rome.

Climate change compounded problems caused by poor farming practices, it found. Adjusting to a changing world will require $1 trillion in irrigation water management alone for developing countries by 2015, the FAO said.

The authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said changing weather patterns will make farming more unpredictable and make water supplies more unreliable. Global warming is increasing the frequency of droughts and floods, and could create a catastrophic rise of sea levels if mountain and Arctic glaciers continue to rapidly melt.

The international aid agency Oxfam also released a report Monday showing that extreme weather events are driving up food prices, and the world's poorest peoples already spend 75 percent of their income on food.

In the last 18 months, Russia lost 13.3 million acres of crops, or about 17 percent of its production, due to a months-long heat wave. Drought in the Horn of Africa has killed 60 percent of Ethiopia's cattle and 40 percent of its sheep. Floods in September have raised the price of rice by 25 percent in Thailand and 30 percent in Vietnam, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2011-11-28-AF-Climate-Conference/id-f76715a5f7bf41c48f3510ef11673e2c

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NBA Amnesty Clause Could Lead To Wild Shake-Ups With Bid System

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canberratimes: Manager of The London hits out at the October police raid, calling it an "outright attack" on the restaurant http://t.co/mNfDADgP

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Manager of The London hits out at the October police raid, calling it an "outright attack" on the restaurant bit.ly/uUoziU Il y a environ 4 heures via TweetDeck Retweeted by 2 people

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Tom Wicker Dead: Former NYT Columnist, Author Dies

MONTPELIER, Vt. ? Tom Wicker, the former New York Times political reporter and columnist whose career soared following his acclaimed coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, died Friday at his home in Rochester, Vt. He was 85.

Wicker died after an apparent heart attack Friday morning, his wife Pamela said.

"He'd been ill with things that come from being 85," she said. "He died in his bedroom looking out at the countryside that he loved."

Wicker grew up in poverty in Hamlet, N.C., and wanted to be a novelist, but pursued journalism when his early books didn't catch fire. He worked at weekly and daily newspapers in North Carolina before winning a spot as a political correspondent in the Times' Washington bureau in 1960.

Three years later, he was the only Times reporter to be traveling with Kennedy when the president was shot in Dallas.

Gay Talese, author of the major history of The New York Times, wrote of Wicker's coverage: "It was a remarkable achievement in reporting and writing, in collecting facts out of confusion, in reconstructing the most deranged day in his life, the despair and bitterness and disbelief, and then getting on a telephone to New York and dictating the story in a voice that only rarely cracked with emotion."

One year later, Wicker was named Washington bureau chief of the Times, succeeding newspaper legend James Reston, who had hired Wicker and called him "one of the most able political reporters of his generation."

In 1966, Wicker began his "In the Nation" column, becoming, along with colleague Anthony Lewis, a longtime liberal voice on the Op-Ed page. Two years later he was named associate editor of the Times, a post he held until 1985.

He ended his column and retired to Vermont in 1991 but continued to write. He published 20 books, ranging from novels about gritty, hard-scrabble life in the South to reflections on the presidents he knew.

Among his books was "A Time to Die," winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1976, which recounted Wicker's 1971 experience as an observer and mediator of a prison rebellion at New York's Attica prison.

Wicker, the son of a railroad man, started in journalism in 1949 at the weekly Sandhill Citizen in Aberdeen, N.C., where he was paid $37.50 a week to report on such local news stories as the discovery of "the first beaver dam in anyone's memory on a local creek."

He moved on to a local daily and then to the larger Winston-Salem Journal, where he worked for most of the 50s, with time out in 1957-58 to serve as a Nieman fellow at Harvard University. He went to work for the Nashville Tennessean in 1959 but then a year later was hired by Reston.

In mid-1961, when Times veteran Bill Lawrence abruptly quit his post as White House correspondent in a dispute with management, Wicker got the assignment. He said it was a dream assignment ? "sooner or later most of the government's newsworthy business passes through the White House" ? and especially covering the excitement of the Kennedy era.

On Nov. 22, 1963, Wicker was in the first press bus following the Kennedy motorcade when the president was assassinated. He would later write in a memoir that the day was a turning point for the country: "The shots ringing out in Dealey Plaza marked the beginning of the end of innocence."

At that moment, however, all he knew was that he was covering one of the biggest stories in history. "At first no one knew what happened, or how, or where, much less why," he later wrote. "Gradually, bits and pieces began to fall together."

Wicker dictated his story from phones grabbed here and there, with most of his writing done at a desk in the upper level of the Dallas airport. "I would write two pages, run down the stairs, across the waiting room, grab a phone and dictate," Wicker later wrote. "Dictating each take, I would throw in items I hadn't written, sometimes whole paragraphs."

Although Wicker didn't even have a reporter's notebook that day and scribbled all of his notes on the backs of printed itineraries of the presidential visit, his story captured the detail and color of the tragic events.

Describing the president's widow as she left the hospital in Dallas, Wicker wrote: "Her face was sorrowful. She looked steadily at the floor. She still wore the raspberry-colored suit in which she greeted welcoming crowds in Fort Worth and Dallas. But she had taken off the matching pillbox hat she had worn earlier in the day, and her dark hair was windblown and tangled. Her hand rested lightly on her husband's coffin as it was taken to a waiting hearse."

In 1966, Wicker was named a national columnist, replacing retiring Times' icon Arthur Krock, who had covered 10 presidents. Wicker's first column reported on a political rally in Montana. He would later say that it was a huge step to move from detached observer to opinion holder ? and especially in the times he was writing.

"My own transition from reporter to columnist coincided roughly with the immense American political re-evaluation that sprang in the sixties from the Vietnam War and the movement against it, from the ghetto riots in the major cities, and from the brief flowering of the counterculture," Wicker wrote in his 1978 book, "On Press."

Wicker was not lacking in opinions, though, and over the years took strong and sometimes unpredictable stands, emphasizing such issues as the nation's racial divide.

On race, he said in a 1991 interview in the Times: "I think the attitudes between the races, the fear and the animosity that exist today, are greater than, let us say, at the time of the Brown case, the famous school desegregation decision in 1954."

Although Wicker was attacked by President Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew for his negative coverage during the Nixon administration, he argued in a 1991 book, "One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream," that Nixon accomplished much in his presidency and deserves a high ranking in history.

In his final column, published Dec. 29, 1991, Wicker commented on the fall of the Soviet Union and urged President George H.W. Bush to "exercise in a new world a more visionary leadership" on non-military issues like the environment.

"As the U.S. did not hesitate to spend its resources to prevail in the cold war, it needs now to go forward as boldly to lead a longer, more desperate struggle to save the planet, and rescue the human race from itself," he wrote.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/25/tom-wicker-dead-_n_1113548.html

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Portugal lowered to junk status as big strike hits (AP)

LISBON, Portugal ? Portugal's efforts to climb out of its economic crisis suffered a double setback Thursday as its credit rating was downgraded to junk status and a major strike gave voice to broad public outrage over austerity measures that have squeezed living standards.

Portugal's deepening plight underlined Europe's difficulties in finding a way out of the continent's government debt crisis which has recently shown alarming signs of spreading to bigger nations, most notably Italy.

Like others in the 17-country eurozone, Portugal has embarked on a big austerity program to make its debts sustainable. Earlier this year, Portugal followed Greece and Ireland in taking a bailout to avert bankruptcy.

As in Greece, though, the government's tough medicine, which is required by international creditors in return for the euro78 billion ($104 billion) in bailout money, is unpopular. The strike had a huge turnout, making it possibly the biggest walkout in more than 20 years.

"They are trying to destroy the national health service, and salaries haven't gone up since 2004," striking doctor Pilar Vicente told Associated Press Television News.

Fitch blamed Portugal's "large fiscal imbalances, high indebtedness across all sectors, and adverse macroeconomic outlook" for its decision to cut the country's rating by one notch to BB+. Rival Moody's already rates Portuguese bonds as junk but Standard & Poor's rates them one notch above.

Fitch's decision to cut Portugal to a non-investment grade will likely mean it's even more difficult for the country, which is already mired in a deep recession and is witnessing rising levels of unemployment, to return to bond markets by its 2013 goal. That raises the unappetizing prospect that Portugal, like Greece, may need a second bailout.

"Portugal's downgrade goes to show how hard it will be for troubled economies to pull themselves out of the crisis and how long this will take," said Sony Kapoor, managing director of Re-Define, an economic think tank. "The Portuguese downgrade highlights the limits of austerity policies both domestically in Portugal and in the wider euro area."

The 24-hour walkout came as Portugal, one of western Europe's smallest and frailest economies, endures increasing hardship as it tries to get its borrowing levels down.

The strike was called by Portugal's two largest trade union confederations, representing more than 1 million mostly blue-collar workers. Much of the private sector remained open for business though a huge Volkswagen car plant south of Lisbon, which accounts for 10 percent of Portuguese exports, decided to shut down production for the day because of problems facing its suppliers.

Much of the disruption was centered on the transport sector. Airlines canceled hundreds of international flights, and the airports of Lisbon, Porto and Faro were mostly empty as tens of thousands of workers walked off the job. Commuters had to get to work without regular bus or train services. The Lisbon subway was shut, and police said roads into the capital were more congested than normal.

Few staff were working at government offices, local media reported. Many medical appointments, school classes and court hearings were canceled, while mail deliveries and trash collection were said to be severely disrupted.

An unsustainable debt load and feeble economic growth over the past 10 years pushed Portugal towards bankruptcy earlier this year, forcing it to ask for a financial rescue.

In return for the aid, Portugal agreed to cut its debt burden to a manageable level by 2013. That goal requires it to enact deep spending cuts and hike taxes. Income tax, sales tax, corporate tax and property tax are all being increased. At the same time, welfare entitlements are being curtailed. Falling living standards have stoked outrage at the austerity measures.

"All the sacrifices the Portuguese are making today will prove worthwhile in the future," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Miguel Relvas told reporters.

A key difference from Greece is that the markets have not given up completely on Portugal. Though Portugal's key ten-year borrowing rate in the market stands at a still-exorbitant 12 percent, it's way below the 30 percent or so Greek equivalent. The aim is to eventually get that rate down below the 7 percent threshold that eventually proved to be the trigger for this year's bailout.

The Portuguese government, which came to power in June, has already conceded that its deficit reduction efforts have gone "off track" this year but says one-off measures, such as a 50 percent tax on Christmas bonuses and transferring banks' pension funds to the Treasury, will ensure Portugal achieves its 2011 budget deficit goal of 5.9 percent. That is down from 9.8 percent in 2010.

Debt is also expected to surpass 100 percent of GDP this year and peak at 106 percent in 2013 before retreating.

The austerity drive is hitting the real economy hard. Unemployment is up to 12.4 percent and is forecast to hit 13.4 percent next year. The European Commission predicts the Portuguese economy will contract by 3 percent in 2012 ? the worst performance in the eurozone.

Fitch said that the recession is making it more "challenging" for the government to achieve its deficit-reduction plan and will negatively impact bank asset quality. However, Fitch said the center-right government's commitment to the debt-reduction program was "strong."

Portugal has so far witnessed none of the violent demonstrations seen in Greece, though police said three Lisbon tax offices were vandalized Wednesday night.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_portugal_financial_crisis

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Marines to wind down Afghan combat in 2012 (AP)

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan ? U.S. Marines will march out of Afghanistan by the thousands next year, winding down combat in the Taliban heartland and testing the U.S. view that Afghan forces are capable of leading the fight against a battered but not yet beaten insurgency in the country's southwestern reaches, American military officers say.

At the same time, U.S. reinforcements will go to eastern Afghanistan in a bid to reverse recent gains by insurgents targeting Kabul, the capital.

Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, said in an Associated Press interview that the number of Marines in Helmand province will drop "markedly" in 2012, and the role of those who stay will shift from countering the insurgency to training and advising Afghan security forces.

The change suggests an early exit from Afghanistan for the Marine Corps even as the prospects for solidifying their recent successes are uncertain.

"Am I OK with that? The answer is `yes,'" Amos said. "We can't stay in Afghanistan forever."

"Will it work? I don't know."

At stake is President Barack Obama's pledge to win in Afghanistan. He said during his 2008 campaign that the war was worth fighting and that he would get U.S. forces out of Iraq.

Facing a stalemate in Afghanistan in 2009, Obama ordered an extra 30,000 U.S. troops to the country, including about 10,000 Marines to Helmand province, in the belief that if the Taliban were to retake the government, al-Qaida soon would return to the land from which it plotted the Sept. 11 attacks.

Also at stake are the sacrifices of the nearly 300 Marines killed in Afghanistan over the past three years.

Weighing against prolonging the conflict is its unsustainable cost and what author and former Defense Department official Bing West has called its "grinding inconclusiveness."

In a series of pep talks to Marines in Helmand this past week, Amos said the Marine mission in Afghanistan would end in the next 12 months to 18 months. That is as much as two years before the December 2014 deadline, announced a year ago, for all U.S. and other foreign troops to leave the country.

"Savor being out here together," Amos told Marines on Thanksgiving at an outpost along the Helmand River called Fiddler's Green, "because it's going to be over" soon.

He was referring only to the Marines' role, which is limited mainly to Helmand, although there also are Marine special operations forces in western Afghanistan. The U.S. military efforts in Kandahar province and throughout the volatile eastern region are led by the Army, along with allied forces.

For the past two years, Helmand and neighboring Kandahar have been the main focus of the U.S.-led effort to turn the tide against a resilient Taliban. In that period, the Taliban and other insurgent networks have grown bolder and more violent in the eastern provinces where they have the advantage of sanctuary across the border in Pakistan and where U.S. and NATO forces are spread more thinly than in the south.

During two days of visiting Marine outposts throughout Helmand this past week, Amos cited progress against the Taliban and was told by Marine commanders that plans are well under way to close U.S. bases, ship war equipment home and prepare for a major drawdown of Marines beginning next summer.

Amos declined to discuss the number of Marines expected to leave in 2012, but indications are that 10,000 or more may depart.

There are now about 19,400 Marines in Helmand, and that is due to fall to about 18,500 by the end of this year.

On Saturday, he told Marines on board the amphibious warship USS Bataan in the Gulf of Aden that Marines in Helmand now "smell success" and that their numbers in Helmand will drop "pretty dramatically" next year.

Marine Gen. John Allen, the top overall commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was ordered by Obama last summer to pull out 10,000 U.S. forces by the end of this year and 23,000 more by the end of September 2012. That has driven the move to accelerate a transition to Afghan control.

Allen said in an interview Thursday that winding down the Marine combat mission in Helmand makes sense because security "has gotten so much better now." He said the pullout of 23,000 U.S. forces in 2012, including an unspecified number of Marines, probably will begin in the summer, which historically is the height of the fighting season in Afghanistan.

Allen said Afghan security forces, often criticized for weak battlefield performance, desertion and a lack of will, are closer to being ready to assume lead responsibility for their nation's defense than many people believe.

"The Afghan national security forces are better than they thought they were, and they're better than we thought they were," Allen said.

That is why he thinks it's safe to lessen the Marine's combat role in Helmand, reduce their numbers and put the Afghans in charge.

That approach also allows Allen to build up elsewhere. He said that in 2012 he will put more U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan, increase the number of U.S. special operations forces who are playing an important role in developing Afghan forces, and add intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance resources. He said he plans to add "several battalions" of U.S. forces in the east. He gave no specific troop number, but a battalion usually totals about 750.

"I'm going to put a lot more forces and capabilities into the east," he said. "The east is going to need some additional forces because our intent is to expand the security zone around Kabul."

The top Marine in Helmand, Maj. Gen. John Toolan, said he is not convinced that 2012 is the best time to shift the focus to eastern Afghanistan, where the Haqqani network has taken credit for a series of spectacular attacks recently, including suicide bombings inside Kabul, the heavily secured capital.

He said he believes the Taliban movement in southern Afghanistan is still the biggest threat to the viability of the central government.

Toolan said the Marines continue to make important progress against a Taliban whose leaders are showing signs of frustration and division.

"They're starting to break up," Toolan said. "There's still a lot to be done to see that these insurgents stay on their backs."

Stephen Biddle, a defense analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations who recently visited U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said there is a risk to putting the Afghans in the lead role in Helmand as early as 2012.

"If you throw them into the deep end and put them in the lead in really tough neighborhoods you run the risk that they get their noses bloodied early in ways that could make it hard for them to recover because they lose confidence," Biddle said in an interview in Washington. On the other hand, if the U.S. and its allies wait until 2013 or 2014 to hand off to the Afghans in the most challenging areas, there would be less chance to bail them out.

"It's a dilemma with no obvious solution to it," he said.

___

Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_as/as_afghan_war_strategy

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Retailers look to keep Black Friday momentum going (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? With the intensity of Black Friday shopping starting to fade, store chains know they are under pressure to keep the sales momentum going as they enter the next phase of a competitive holiday shopping season.

Chains such as Macy's Inc, Target Corp and Best Buy reported large crowds this year on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that sees millions of Americans start shopping more intensely for the holiday season.

With the National Retail Federation only expecting retail sales to rise a modest 2.8 percent this year, store chains say it is risky to take their foot off the pedal, even with a month to go, including an extra Saturday on the calendar this year.

"Everyone is trying to get the edge to get the people who need to spread their dollars," said Kevin Regan, a senior managing director at FTI Consulting.

After very deep discounts on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, retailers were still offering deep bargains on Saturday morning.

A Gap Inc store in New York's Times Square was boasting of 60 percent off everything. Aeropostale Inc shouted out on its website that everything was 50 percent to 70 percent off in its "Saturday Blowout."

Retailers know that consumers are struggling in the face of higher gas prices than last year and a tough job market.

While they try to keep the shopping interest up, hopefully they will not see the riotous crowds that brawled on Friday over video games, waffle irons and towels.

One of the most outrageous incidents of the day was in the Los Angeles area, where up to 20 people were injured after a woman at a Walmart used pepper spray to get an edge on other shoppers in a rush for Xbox game consoles.

The tough economy, coupled with smart phones leading to highly sophisticated price-comparison habits, mean the pressure to offer consumers something special and affordable is intense, even during the lull that often follows the long holiday weekend.

"We have put together an entire promotional program for the whole season. So we don't shoot all our bullets on the day after Thanksgiving," Jamie Brooks, SVP Retail Services for Sears Holdings told Reuters on Friday.

Deep discounts alone may not be enough.

Macy's Black Friday campaign featured an ad with teen entertainer Justin Bieber. And Macy's Chief Executive Terry Lundgren said on Friday the chain's roster of exclusive products would be a centerpiece of its holiday promotions.

Those efforts, in addition to the requisite deals, must be part of any retailer's strategy to stand apart.

"That's the name of the game now, promote promote promote," said AlixPartners managing director David Bassuk. "They've got to keep it coming."

Retailers are also trying to strike the right balance between not having too much inventory - and having to sell it at massive profit-sapping discounts - while making sure they do not run out of popular items and anger customers.

"The most important thing to our customers is when we see something in an ad and come into the store, we have to have it," said J.C. Penney Co Inc executive Mike Thielmann.

Online shopping soared on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday, suggesting that Cyber Monday - the biggest online shopping day of the year - could be a banner day for retailers with the right mix of discounts, special offers and the now commonplace free shipping.

"The big question for all of us is, will consumers continue to come out through the rest of the season," said John Squire, chief strategy officer of IBM Smarter Commerce.

His firm said online sales soared 39.3 percent on Thanksgiving and 24.3 percent on Black Friday versus last year, with robust growth in searches and sales on mobile phones and tablet computers.

Many executives sounded a cautious note about the economy, despite the promising Black Friday. But they are taking nothing for granted, given the tepid outlook for consumer spending.

"The customer is clearly looking for value, that is something that is going to be with this consumer for a long, long time," Lundgren said on Friday.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York and Jessica Wohl in Chicago; additional reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; editing by Philip Barbara)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111126/bs_nm/us_usa_retail_saturday

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Poll predicts Putin's party to get just 53 percent (AP)

MOSCOW ? A poll released Friday predicts that Vladimir Putin's party will receive 53 percent of the vote in Russia's parliamentary election, now a little over a week away.

While still a majority, this would be a significant drop for United Russia and deprive it of the two-thirds majority that has allowed it to amend the constitution without seeking the support of the three other parties in parliament.

United Russia dominates political life in Russia and has received more favorable coverage during the campaign, but it is increasingly disliked by those who see it as representing the interests of a corrupt bureaucracy.

The new poll by the independent Levada Center put the Communists in second place with 20 percent, a boost that suggests they may benefit from the protest vote on Dec. 4.

But many Russians have become disillusioned with the electoral process. Only parties that have the Kremlin's approval are allowed to field candidates, and past elections have drawn strong accusations of vote rigging.

"Forgery, the semblance of a (political) struggle, this won't affect my life and will likely be unfair. This is a summary of a Russian citizen's attitude today to what is going on," Levada Center sociologist Boris Dubin said at the presentation of the polling data.

Nearly half of those surveyed said they expected the vote count to be manipulated.

Nikita Pasternak, a 26-year-old businessman, is among the many Russians who say they see no point in voting.

"Our votes mean absolutely nothing, everything has already been decided," he said. "Putin will be president and United Russia will win the election."

Putin, now prime minister after eight years as president, plans to run for a third term in March, an election he is considered certain to win.

In 2007, United Russia won more than 64 percent of the vote and was awarded 315 of the 450 seats in the State Duma, parliament's elected lower house. The higher percentage of seats is explained by votes that went to parties that failed to rise about the 7 percent threshold; these votes are then distributed to the parties that made it in.

The new poll predicts that the Communist Party's share of the vote will rise to 20 percent from less than 12 percent four years ago. The poll also shows an uptick for the two other smaller parties in parliament: the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party and Just Russia, a party established with Kremlin support to steal votes from the Communists.

The Levada poll was conducted Nov. 18-21 among 1,591 people across the country and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects that poll shows 53 percent not 56 for United Russia. Adds details, photo, byline.)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_election

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JK Rowling: UK press left me feeling under siege (AP)

LONDON ? Writer J.K. Rowling and actress Sienna Miller gave a London courtroom a vivid picture on Thursday of the anxiety, anger and fear produced by living in the glare of Britain's tabloid media, describing how press intrusion made them feel like prisoners in their own homes.

The creator of boy wizard Harry Potter told Britain's media ethics inquiry that having journalists camped on her doorstep was "like being under siege and like being a hostage." Miller said years of car chases, midnight pursuits and intimate revelations had left her feeling violated, paranoid and anxious.

"The attitude seems to be absolutely cavalier," Rowling said. "You're famous, you're asking for it."

The pair were among a diverse cast of witnesses ? Hollywood star Hugh Grant, a former soccer player, a former aide to supermodel Elle Macpherson and the parents of missing and murdered children ? who have described how becoming the focus of Britain's tabloid press wreaked havoc on their lives.

Rowling said she was completely unprepared for the media attention she began to receive when her first book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," became a sensation. The seven Potter books have sold more than 450 million copies, spawned a hit movie series and propelled Rowling from struggling single mother to one of Britain's richest people.

"When you become well-known ... no one gives you a guidebook," she said.

Prime Minister David Cameron set up the inquiry amid a still-unfolding scandal over illegal eavesdropping by the News of the World tabloid. Owner Rupert Murdoch closed down the newspaper in July after evidence emerged that it had illegally accessed the mobile phone voice mails of celebrities, politicians and even crime victims in its search of scoops.

More than a dozen News of the World journalists and editors have been arrested, and the scandal has also claimed the jobs of two top London police officers, Cameron's media adviser and several senior Murdoch executives.

It has also set off national soul-searching about the balance between press freedom and individual privacy.

Rowling, 46, said media interest in her began shortly after the publication of her first novel in 1997 and soon escalated, with photographers and reporters frequently stationed outside her home. She eventually moved after stories and photographs revealed the location of her house.

"I can't put an invisibility cloaking device over myself or my house, nor would I want to," Rowling said. But, she added, "it feels threatening to have people watching you."

Rowling said she had always tried to keep her three children out of the media glare, and was outraged when her eldest daughter came home from primary school with a letter from a journalist in her backpack.

"I felt such a sense of invasion," Rowling said. "It's very difficult to say how angry I felt that my 5-year-old daughter's school was no longer a place of complete security from journalists."

By the time her younger children were born in 2003 and 2005, Rowling said, the scrutiny was "like being under siege and like being a hostage."

She also described how, early on in their relationship, her now-husband Neil Murray gave personal details over the phone to a reporter who was pretending to be a tax official. An article about him duly appeared in a tabloid paper.

"That was a not-very-nice introduction to being involved with someone famous," Rowling said.

Rowling told the inquiry she had gone to court or to Britain's press watchdog more than 50 times over pictures of her children or false stories, which included a claim by the Daily Express that unpleasant fictional wizard Gilderoy Lockhart had been based on her first husband.

Before the final Potter book appeared in 2007, a reporter even phoned the head teacher of her daughter's school, falsely claiming the child had revealed that Harry Potter died at the end, in an apparent bid to learn secrets of the plot.

Miller, who became a tabloid staple when she dated fellow actor Jude Law, said the constant scrutiny left her feeling "very violated and very paranoid and anxious, constantly."

"I felt like I was living in some sort of video game," she said.

"For a number of years I was relentlessly pursued by 10 to 15 men, almost daily," she said. "Spat at, verbally abused.

"I would often find myself, at the age of 21, at midnight, running down a dark street on my own with 10 men chasing me. And the fact they had cameras in their hands made that legal."

The 29-year-old actress told the inquiry that a stream of personal stories about her in the tabloids led her to accuse friends and family of leaking information to the media. In fact, her cell phone voice mails had been hacked by the News of the World.

Miller, the star of "Layer Cake" and "Alfie," was one of the first celebrities to take the Murdoch tabloid to court over illegal eavesdropping. In May, the newspaper agreed to pay her 100,000 pounds ($160,000) to settle claims her phone had been hacked.

The newspaper's parent company now faces dozens of lawsuits from alleged hacking victims.

Also testifying Thursday was former Formula One boss Max Mosley, who has campaigned for a privacy law since his interest in sadomasochistic sex was exposed in the News of the World.

Mosley successfully sued the News of the World over a 2008 story headlined "Formula One boss has sick Nazi orgy with five hookers." Mosley has acknowledged the orgy, but argued that the story ? obtained with a hidden camera ? was an "outrageous" invasion of privacy. He said the Nazi allegation was damaging and "completely untrue."

Mosley said he has had stories about the incident removed from 193 websites around the world, and is currently taking legal action "in 22 or 23 different countries," including proceedings against search engine Google in France and Germany.

"Invasion of privacy is worse than burglary," Mosley said. "Because if somebody burgles your house ... you can replace the things that have been taken."

High-profile witnesses still to come include CNN celebrity interviewer Piers Morgan, who has denied using phone hacking while he was editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper.

The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, plans to issue a report next year and could recommend major changes to Britain's system of media self regulation.

Rowling said that she supported freedom the press, but that a new body was needed to replace the "toothless" Press Complaints Commission.

"I can't pretend that I have a magical answer," she said. "No Harry Potter joke intended."

___

Leveson Inquiry: http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/

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

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_en_mo/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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