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Monday, April 8, 2013

In slap at South, NKorea suspends work at factory

A South Korean military vehicle passes by gates leading to the North Korean city of Kaesong at the customs, immigration and quarantine office near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Monday, April 8, 2013. A top South Korean national security official said Sunday that North Korea may be setting the stage for a missile test or another provocative act with its warning that it soon will be unable to guarantee diplomats' safety in Pyongyang. But he added that the North's clearest objective is to extract concessions from Washington and Seoul. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A South Korean worker, left, who arrives with electronic products from North Korea's Kaesong is helped by a South Korean woman who greeted him at the customs, immigration and quarantine office near the border village of Panmunjom, that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Monday, April 8, 2013. A top South Korean national security official said Sunday that North Korea may be setting the stage for a missile test or another provocative act with its warning that it soon will be unable to guarantee diplomats' safety in Pyongyang. But he added that the North's clearest objective is to extract concessions from Washington and Seoul. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2012 file photo, 2012, two North Korean men working for ShinWon, a South Korean clothing maker, prepare garments for production at a factory in Kaesong, North Korea. North Korea says it will recall 51,000 North Korean workers and suspend operations at a factory complex that is the last major symbol of co-operation with its southern rival. Pyongyang's statement Monday, April 8, 2013, comes amid weeks of war threats and other efforts to punish South Korea and the U.S. for ongoing joint military drills. (AP Photo/Jean H. Lee, File)

A South Korean worker, left, who arrives with electronic products from North Korea's Kaesong, is helped by a South Korean woman who greeted him, after returning from the North at the customs, immigration and quarantine office near the border village of Panmunjom, that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Monday, April 8, 2013. A top South Korean national security official said Sunday that North Korea may be setting the stage for a missile test or another provocative act with its warning that it soon will be unable to guarantee diplomats' safety in Pyongyang. But he added that the North's clearest objective is to extract concessions from Washington and Seoul. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A South Korean soldier salutes a military vehicle as it leads South Korean vehicles from the North Korean city of Kaesong at the customs, immigration and quarantine office near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Monday, April 8, 2013. A top South Korean national security official said Sunday that North Korea may be setting the stage for a missile test or another provocative act with its warning that it soon will be unable to guarantee diplomats' safety in Pyongyang. But he added that the North's clearest objective is to extract concessions from Washington and Seoul. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korea said Monday it will suspend operations at a factory complex it has jointly run with South Korea, pulling out more than 53,000 North Korean workers and moving closer to severing its last economic link with its rival as tensions escalate.

The Kaesong industrial complex just north of the Demilitarized Zone is the biggest employer in North Korea's third-largest city. Shutting it down, even temporarily, would show that the destitute country is willing to hurt its own economy to display its anger with South Korea and the United States.

Pyongyang's move follows weeks of threatening rhetoric and provocations aimed at Seoul and its U.S. ally following U.N. sanctions punishing the North for its third nuclear test, on Feb. 12. In recent days there have also been worries in Seoul of an even larger provocation from Pyongyang, including another possible nuclear test or rocket launch.

The point of the threats and possible future provocations, analysts say, isn't a full-scale war, which North Korea would certainly lose. It's seen instead as an effort to force new, Pyongyang-friendly policies in South Korea and Washington and to boost domestic loyalty for Kim Jong Un, the country's young, still relatively untested new leader.

The statement about Kaesong came from Kim Yang Gon, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It did not say what would happen to the 475 South Korean managers still at the Kaesong industrial complex. The statement also did not say whether the North Korean workers would be recalled immediately, and a South Korean manager at Kaesong said he had heard nothing from the North Korean government.

"North Korean workers left work at 6 o'clock today as they usually do. We'll know tomorrow whether they will come to work," said the manager, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. North Korea had asked South Korean managers to say when they intended to leave by Wednesday; the manager said he did not know whether he and his South Korean colleagues now will be forced to leave.

Kim's statement said North Korea will now consider whether to close the complex permanently. "How the situation will develop in the days ahead will entirely depend on the attitude" of South Korean authorities, it said.

Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea expert at Korea University in South Korea, said the North probably will close the park. "North Korea will wait to see what kind of message we will send ... but there is no message that we can send to North Korea," he said.

Yoo said he expects the South Korean managers will be deported, Pyongyang will convert the park for military use, and the fates of the North Korean workers and their families will not be considered. "It's a wrong decision but they won't change it because it's not their top priority," he said.

Another analyst, however, believes North Korea will reopen the complex after South Korea-U.S. drills end in late April. Cheong Seong-chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea said the complex depends on raw materials and even electricity from South Korea. He also noted that workers at the complex are paid in U.S. dollars that North Korea would have a hard time replacing because of international sanctions.

Cheong also thinks that although North Korea would put recalled workers on other projects, it would "face a burden that it has to provide the similar quality of livelihood to them. ... There would be voices calling for the normalization of the Kaesong complex."

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which is responsible for relations with the North, issued a statement saying South Korea will act "calmly and firmly" and will make its best efforts to secure the safety of South Koreans at Kaesong.

The Kaesong complex is the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement projects from previous eras of cooperation. Other projects such as reunions of families separated by war and tours to a scenic North Korean mountain became stalled amid confrontation between the rival Koreas in recent years.

Last month, North Korea cut the communications with South Korea that had helped regulate border crossings at Kaesong, and last week it barred South Korean workers and cargo from entering North Korea. Operations continued and South Koreans already at Kaesong were allowed to stay, but dwindling personnel and supplies had forced about a dozen of the more than 120 companies operating at Kaesong to close by Sunday.

Kim, the party secretary, visited the complex Monday. He said in remarks carried by the Korean Central News Agency that Kaesong "has been reduced to a theater of confrontation."

South Korea's Unification Ministry estimates 53,000 North Korean workers in Kaesong received $80 million in salary in 2012, an average of $127 a month.

The Unification Ministry says Kaesong accounted for nearly all two-way trade between the Koreas. Cross-border trade, including supplies entering Kaesong and finished products coming out, approached $2 billion annually.

North Korea objects to portrayals in the South of the zone being crucial to the impoverished country's finances. Kim said North Korea "gets few economic benefits from the zone while the south side largely benefits from it." North Korea has also expressed outrage over South Korean discussion of military rescue plans in the event Pyongyang held the managers hostage.

South Korea's finance minister, Hyun Oh-seok, said the government is looking at ways to help Kaesong firms. South Korea offers insurance to the companies in the event of a shutdown or war.

Daemyung Blue Jeans Inc., which does business in Kaesong, is trying to get in touch with its managers in Kaesong and hadn't spoken with them since Monday morning, CEO Choi Dongjin said. "We have seven (South Korean) workers in Kaesong. We don't know what to do about them," he said by phone from Seoul.

North Korea has unnerved the international community by orchestrating an escalating campaign of bombast in recent weeks. It has threatened to fire nuclear missiles at the U.S. and claimed it had scrapped the 1953 armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War.

Last week it told foreign diplomats based in Pyongyang that it will not be able to guarantee their safety as of Wednesday. Embassy workers appeared to be staying put as of Monday.

North Korea has found itself increasingly isolated. China, its most important ally, expressed unusual disappointment when Pyongyang announced last week that it was restarting a plutonium reactor to produce more nuclear-bomb fuel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a visit to Germany, praised the U.S. for postponing a missile test in California that had been set for this week, in the name of lowering tensions. Putin said at a news conference that a conflict on the Korean Peninsula would make the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl "look like a children's story."

The North's threats against the United States are widely dismissed as hyperbole. North Korea is believed to have a few relatively crude nuclear weapons, but analysts say they've seen no evidence it can build a warhead small enough to put on a missile that could hit the U.S. mainland. A direct attack on the U.S. or its allies would result in retaliation that would threaten the existence of the ruling Kim family in Pyongyang, but there are fears the North might launch a smaller-scale attack.

Another possibility is a fourth nuclear test, or a missile test.

The South Korean defense minister said Thursday that North Korea had moved a missile with "considerable range" to its east coast, possibly to conduct a test launch.

Pyongyang's warning to diplomats prompted South Korean President Park Geun-hye's national security director to say Sunday that North Korea may be planning a missile launch or another provocation around Wednesday, according to presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing.

The possibility of a fourth North Korean nuclear test has existed for some time. South Korea has long said the North prepared two tunnels for a nuclear test, but used only one Feb. 12.

Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae generated confusion about South Korean intelligence on the issue Monday in a parliamentary session. When a lawmaker asked whether there have been increased personnel and vehicles at the North's nuclear test site, and whether that is an indication of nuclear test preparation, Ryoo said "there is such an indication."

After Ryoo's initial comments, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said no increase in activity has been detected at the site, though he added that North Korea can conduct a nuclear test anytime if decides to do so.

The comments in a parliamentary session were recorded on video, but Ryoo later told lawmakers he couldn't remember making them and didn't mean to say them. He said he was "startled" by reports carrying his earlier comments.

___

AP Business Writer Youkyung Lee in Seoul and AP researcher Zhao Liang in Beijing contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-08-Koreas-Tension/id-03104863733741769108bfa50b5aba1a

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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Final chapter to 60-year-old blood group mystery

Public release date: 7-Apr-2013
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Contact: Aileen Sheehy
press.office@sanger.ac.uk
44-012-234-96928
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Gene underlies Vel blood group and influences red blood cell traits will lead to safer blood transfusion

Researchers have uncovered the gene at the root of a human blood group that has remained a mystery for the past 60 years. They showed that a genetic deletion on this gene is responsible for the lack of this blood group in some people.

With the discovery of the gene behind the Vel blood group, medical scientists can now develop a more reliable DNA test to identify people who lack this group. This will reduce the risk of severe, and sometimes life threatening, destruction of the Vel-positive donor red blood cells in patients with antibodies against Vel.

The genetic basis of nearly all 34 blood group systems has been resolved over the past century, but identification of the underlying gene of the Vel blood group has withstood persistent attempts since it was first identified 60 years ago. It is estimated that one in 5000 people are Vel-negative, and routine blood transfusions for patients with antibodies against Vel can lead to kidney failure and even death.

"This is really exciting as it shows how the power of modern genomics technologies can directly benefit patient care," says Professor Willem Ouwehand , who heads one of the NHS Blood and Transplant research teams at both the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "This is also a milestone in blood group genetics and the end of long and astounding journey of discoveries in blood group genetics which started with Landsteiner from Austria and Fisher, Coombs and Morgan from England."

The discovery by the team would not have been possible without the colleagues from the blood transfusion services of Denmark, England and the Netherlands who undertook the Herculean effort of identifying the 65 individuals that lacked the Vel blood group by testing the red blood cells from nearly 350,000 donors with antibodies against Vel.

They then sequenced the coding fraction of the genomes of five donors who lack the Vel group to identify the underlying gene.

The team showed that the gene SMIM1 malfunctions in Vel-negative people. SMIM1 is found on chromosome 1 and specifies a small protein, five times smaller than the average human protein. This provides a direct explanation why a discovery by other routes has proven so challenging.

"It has been a remarkable feat to go from gene discovery to function in less than two months", continues Professor Ouwehand.

Current testing for Vel-negative people can be inaccurate but identifying this new role for the gene will make it easier to identify people who lack Vel. The Sanquin Blood Supply research laboratories in Amsterdam and the NHS Blood and Transplant Centre in Cambridge are currently working together to develop a new and affordable DNA test to efficiently identify people who lack the Vel group.

"We already knew of 75 genomic regions that are associated with the haemoglobin levels and other red blood cell traits, but we quickly realised that the SMIM1 gene identified in our study is the same as one of these associated regions," said Dr Pim van der Harst from Groningen University in the Netherlands who led the GWAS analysis for red cell traits in nearly 100,000 individuals. "We had already assumed that a gene in this region of chromosome 1 played a role in the life of red blood cells, but we now have conclusive evidence that it is SMIM1

"We have shown that this gene controls a protein in the membrane of red blood cells. Switching off the SMIM1 gene in zebrafish showed a remarkable reduction in the number of red cells formed and caused anaemia in the fish".

The team observed that the common variant identified by the red blood cell study has a strong effect on how well the SMIM1 gene functions. This not only explains why the level of the Vel blood group varies so extensively in the population, but is also makes it extremely plausible that the Smim1 protein influences haemoglobin levels of red blood cells.

A low haemoglobin level confers a risk of anaemia, which is one of the most frequent reasons for an individual to visit their doctor. The team are pursuing further research to deduce how Smim1 protein regulates red blood cell formation.

"As the molecular machinery underlying red blood cell formation has been researched for decades in fish, mice and man, our discovery that a gene which was considered hypothetical until recently actually controls a red blood cell membrane protein with an important role in the regulation of haemoglobin levels is astonishing," says Professor Ellen van der Schoot from the Sanquin research laboratories in Amsterdam. "A better understanding of how the SMIM1 gene is regulated is important and this effort will greatly benefit from the Blueprint project which will be releasing its results on the biology of blood cells and their precursors this year."

"We have worked for nearly a decade to identify the donors across England that lack the Vel blood group so that we can provide matched and safe blood to patients with antibodies against Vel" says Mr Malcolm Needs from NHS Blood and Transplant in Tooting, London. "The discovery of the SMIM1 gene was achieved so quickly and it is truly amazing to see how medical genomics is changing the care landscape for NHS patients."

###

Notes to Editors

Publication Details

Ana Cvejic, Lonneke Haer-Wigman, Jonathan C Stephens et al. (2013) 'SMIM1 underlies the Vel blood group and influences red blood cell traits' Published in Nature Genetics online 07 April 2013. doi:10.1038/ng.2603

Funding

This study was supported by the British Heart Foundation, European Commission, Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, NHS Blood and Transplant and the Wellcome Trust.

Participating centres

Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.
Department of Experimental Immunohaematology, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Landsteiner Laboratory, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Cambridge, UK.
National Health Service (NHS) Blood and Transplant, Cambridge, UK. 7
European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.
Department of Hematopoiesis, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
NHS Blood and Transplant, Tooting, London, UK.
Department of Cardiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Houghton St, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA.
Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
International Blood Group Reference Laboratory, NHS Blood and Transplant, North Bristol Park, Northway, Filton, Bristol, UK.
Medical Research Council (MRC) Biostatistics Unit, Institute of Public Health, Cambridge, UK. 16Department of Clinical Immunology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. 17
Department of Experimental Hematology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Department of Stem Cell Biology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Laboratory of Genetic, Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Professor van der Schoot is a consultant to the Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation in the Netherlands which ensures the safe and efficient blood and platelet supply for the Dutch Healthcare system. Sanquin also develops and produces pharmaceutical products, conducts high-quality scientific research, and develops and performs a multitude of diagnostic services. http://www.sanquin.nl

Professor Ouwehand is a consultant Haematologist for NHS Blood and Transplant.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is a joint England and Wales Special Health Authority. Its remit includes the provision of a reliable, efficient supply of blood and associated services to the NHS in England and North Wales. It is also the organ donor organisation for the UK and is responsible for matching and allocating donated organs. Eight research themes make up NHSBT's planned Research & Development Strategy. The main research sites, in collaboration with University partners, are Cambridge, Oxford, London and Bristol, with specialist activity in Birmingham and Liverpool. NHSBT, http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/

The mission of the University of Cambridge is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. It admits the very best and brightest students, regardless of background, and offers one of the UK's most generous bursary schemes. The University of Cambridge's reputation for excellence is known internationally and reflects the scholastic achievements of its academics and students, as well as the world-class original research carried out by its staff. Some of the most significant scientific breakthroughs occurred at the University, including the splitting of the atom, invention of the jet engine and the discoveries of stem cells, plate tectonics, pulsars and the structure of DNA. From Isaac Newton to Stephen Hawking, the University has nurtured some of history's greatest minds and has produced more Nobel Prize winners than any other UK institution with over 80 laureates. http://www.cam.ac.uk

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, which receives the majority of its funding from the Wellcome Trust, was founded in 1992. The Institute is responsible for the completion of the sequence of approximately one-third of the human genome as well as genomes of model organisms and more than 90 pathogen genomes. In October 2006, new funding was awarded by the Wellcome Trust to exploit the wealth of genome data now available to answer important questions about health and disease. http://www.sanger.ac.uk

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. We support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. Our breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. We are independent of both political and commercial interests. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk

Contact details

Don Powell Media Manager
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
Tel +44 (0)1223 496 928
Mobile +44 (0)7753 7753 97
Email press.office@sanger.ac.uk

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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.

Final chapter to 60-year-old blood group mystery

Public release date: 7-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: Aileen Sheehy
press.office@sanger.ac.uk
44-012-234-96928
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Gene underlies Vel blood group and influences red blood cell traits will lead to safer blood transfusion

They then sequenced the coding fraction of the genomes of five donors who lack the Vel group to identify the underlying gene.

"It has been a remarkable feat to go from gene discovery to function in less than two months", continues Professor Ouwehand.

###

Notes to Editors

Publication Details

Funding

This study was supported by the British Heart Foundation, European Commission, Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, NHS Blood and Transplant and the Wellcome Trust.

Participating centres

Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.
Department of Experimental Immunohaematology, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Landsteiner Laboratory, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Cambridge, UK.
National Health Service (NHS) Blood and Transplant, Cambridge, UK. 7
European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.
Department of Hematopoiesis, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
NHS Blood and Transplant, Tooting, London, UK.
Department of Cardiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Houghton St, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA.
Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
International Blood Group Reference Laboratory, NHS Blood and Transplant, North Bristol Park, Northway, Filton, Bristol, UK.
Medical Research Council (MRC) Biostatistics Unit, Institute of Public Health, Cambridge, UK. 16Department of Clinical Immunology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. 17
Department of Experimental Hematology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Department of Stem Cell Biology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Laboratory of Genetic, Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Professor Ouwehand is a consultant Haematologist for NHS Blood and Transplant.

Contact details

Don Powell Media Manager
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
Tel +44 (0)1223 496 928
Mobile +44 (0)7753 7753 97
Email press.office@sanger.ac.uk

[ | E-mail |

Share ]

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/wtsi-fct040513.php

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Sweeping anti-abortion bill goes to Kansas gov.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) ? Kansas legislators gave final passage to a sweeping anti-abortion measure Friday night, sending Gov. Sam Brownback a bill that declares life begins "at fertilization" while blocking tax breaks for abortion providers and banning abortions performed solely because of the baby's sex.

The House voted 90-30 for a compromise version of the bill reconciling differences between the two chambers, only hours after the Senate approved it, 28-10. The Republican governor is a strong abortion opponent, and supporters of the measure expect him to sign it into law so that the new restrictions take effect July 1.

In addition to the bans on tax breaks and sex-selection abortions, the bill prohibits abortion providers from being involved in public school sex education classes and spells out in more detail what information doctors must provide to patients seeking abortions.

The measure's language that life begins "at fertilization" had some abortion-rights supporters worrying that it could be used to legally harass providers. Abortion opponents call it a statement of principle and not an outright ban on terminating pregnancies.

"The human is a magnificent piece of work at all stages of development, wondrous in every regard, from the microscopic until full development," said Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, a Leavenworth Republican who supported the bill.

Abortion opponents argue the full measure lessens the state's entanglement with terminating pregnancies, but abortion-rights advocates say it threatens access to abortion services.

The declaration that life begins at fertilization is embodied in "personhood" measures in other states. Such measures are aimed at revising their constitutions to ban all abortions, and none have been enacted, though North Dakota voters will have one on the ballot in 2014.

But Kansas lawmakers aren't trying to change the state constitution, and the measure notes that any rights suggested by the language are limited by decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. It declared in its historic Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that women have a right to obtain abortions in some circumstances, and has upheld that decision while allowing increasing restrictions by states.

Thirteen states, including Missouri, have such language in their laws, according to the National Right to Life Committee.

Sen. David Haley, a Kansas Democrat who opposed the bill, zeroed in on the statement, saying that supporters of the bill were pursuing a "Taliban-esque" course of letting religious views dictate policy limiting women's ability to make decisions about health care and whether they'll have children.

And in the House, Rep. John Wilson, a Lawrence Democrat, complained that the bill was "about politics, not medicine."

"It's the very definition of government intrusion in a woman's personal medical decisions," he said.

Brownback has signed multiple anti-abortion measures into law, and the number of pregnancies terminated in the state has declined 11 percent since he took office in January 2011.

The governor said he still has to review this year's bill thoroughly but added, "I am pro-life."

This year's legislation is less restrictive than a new North Dakota law that bans abortions as early as the sixth week of pregnancy and a new Arkansas law prohibiting most abortions after the 12th week. But many abortion opponents still see it as a significant step.

"There is a clear statement from Kansas with respect to the judgment on the inherent value of human life," said Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee Chairwoman Mary Pilcher-Cook, a Shawnee Republican and leading advocate for the measure.

The bill passed despite any solid data on how many sex-selection abortions are performed in Kansas. A 2008 study by two Columbia University economists suggested the practice of aborting female fetuses ? widespread in some nations where parents traditionally prefer sons ? is done in the U.S. on a limited basis.

But legislators on both sides of the issue said the practice should be banned, however frequent it is.

The bill also would require physicians to give women information that addresses breast cancer as a potential risk of abortion. Advocates on both sides acknowledge there's medical evidence that carrying a fetus to term can lower a woman's risk for breast cancer, but doctors convened by the National Cancer Institute a decade ago concluded that abortion does not raise the risk for developing the disease.

The provisions dealing with tax breaks are designed to prevent the state from subsidizing abortions, even indirectly. For example, health care providers don't have the pay the state sales tax on items they purchase, but the bill would deny that break to abortion providers. Also, a woman could not include abortion costs if she deducts medical expenses on her income taxes.

"Every taxpayer will be able to know with certainty that their money is not being used for abortion," Pilcher-Cook said.

But Jordan Goldberg, state advocacy counsel for the New York City-based Center for Reproductive Rights, called the tax provisions "appalling and discriminatory."

"It's probably, if not definitely unconstitutional, and it's incredibly mean-spirited," she said.

___

The anti-abortion legislation is HB 2253.

___

Associated Press Writer Maria Fisher in Kansas City, Mo., also contributed to this report. Follow John Hanna on Twitter at www.twitter.com/apjdhanna

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sweeping-anti-abortion-bill-goes-kansas-gov-055505494.html

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'She was doing what she loved': Young diplomat among 6 Americans killed in Afghanistan

Diplomat Anne Smedinghoff was among the six Americans killed in two separate attacks in Afghanistan on Saturday -- the deadliest day for Americans in that country since August. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

By Marian Smith, NBC News

Family, friends and State Department colleagues on Sunday were mourning the first death of an American diplomat on duty since Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11 last year.

Anne Smedinghoff, 25, was one of five Americans killed in a car bomb attack on Saturday in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday. Three of the dead were U.S. service members and the fifth a civilian employee of the Defense Department, Kerry said.

They had not been named as of Sunday morning.

Several Afghans and four other State Department employees were injured, one critically.

A sixth American civilian working with the U.S. government was killed in a separate attack in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, ISAF said in a statement.

"It's a grim reminder to all of us, though we didn't need any reminders, of how important and also how risky carrying the future is with people who want to resist," Kerry told State Department employees on Sunday during a visit in Istanbul, Turkey.

Smedinghoff and the other Americans were traveling in a convoy to southern Afghanistan to deliver textbooks to children in Qalat, Kerry said.?

Buzkashi Boys is an intense, gritty film made in Afghanistan about two street children. After numerous international awards, the movie is now eligible to be nominated for an Academy Award. ITN's Emma Murphy reports.

He met the Illinois-native several weeks ago when she worked as his control officer during his recent trip to Afghanistan.?He described her as "vivacious, smart, capable."

"There are no words for anyone to describe the extraordinary harsh contradiction for a young 25-year-old woman, with all of her future ahead of her, believing in the possibilities of diplomacy to improve people's lives, making a difference, having an impact" to be killed, Kerry said.

He described Smedinghoff as "a selfless, idealistic woman who woke up yesterday morning and set out to bring textbooks to school children, to bring them knowledge."

Smedinghoff previously served in Venezuela.

In an email to the Washington Post, Smedinghoff's parents said their daughter "was always looking for opportunities to reach out and help to make a difference in the lives of those living in a country ravaged by war."

The two Afghan teens who starred in the short critically acclaimed film 'Buzkashi Boys' landed at LAX this week to attend the Oscars. It was a far cry from their home country, where one of the boys ? Fawad ? sold maps on the streets to help support his family. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.

They added: "We are consoled knowing that she was doing what she loved, and that she was serving her country by helping to make a positive difference in the world."

Smedinghoff recently helped NBC News coordinate a report on "Buzkashi Boys," the short film nominated for an Oscar starring an Afghan boy who was discovered on the streets of Kabul.

Local Afghan producer Khyber Shinwari described her as "a lovely lady, charming ? smiling on her face."

"She was very open and so helpful. So kind," he said. "She was here to help Afghans."

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Zabul attack in a text message Saturday. The assault came just three days after 54 people were killed in another Taliban attack on a courtroom in the western Farah province of Afghanistan.

The United Nations has said civilians are increasingly being targeted this year.

On his first day in office, Kerry said the safety of State Department employees was a top priority, in the wake of the attack that killed Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi. No one has been convicted as of yet.

NBC News' Jamieson Lesko, Kiko Itsaka and Catherine Chomiak, and The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

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54 killed, 90 wounded in attack on Afghan compound

Tears of joy: The moment an Afghan teen learned of Oscar nomination

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/2a6dc143/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C0A70C17640A3110Eshe0Ewas0Edoing0Ewhat0Eshe0Eloved0Eyoung0Ediplomat0Eamong0E60Eamericans0Ekilled0Ein0Eafghanistan0Dlite/story01.htm

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Friday, April 5, 2013

Japan PM's biggest test on economy still to come

TOKYO (AP) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is about to find out that bending central bankers to his will was the easy part of jolting Japan's economy out of its two decade slump.

Since taking office late last year, Abe has sauntered from strength to strength, ticking off the boxes of his policy wish-list while enjoying popularity ratings several times those of his predecessors.

On Thursday, his Liberal Democratic Party claimed its biggest coup since its December parliamentary election win when the central bank surprised markets by overhauling its monetary policy, pledging to double the money supply to achieve a 2 percent inflation target within two years.

The central bank acted "as I had expected," Abe told parliament Friday. "This is truly bold monetary easing on a different level, sending a clear message to markets."

By joining the U.S. Federal Reserve and other major central banks in soaking the economy with money, the Bank of Japan hopes to get corporations and consumers to begin spending more and end a long malaise.

More aggressive monetary easing to end years of deflation is a mainstay of the "Abenomics" platform, along with increased public spending to perk up demand and reforms to improve the long-term competitiveness of the world's third-largest economy.

Whatever deficit spending Japan dares to add to its record public debt already is in the pipeline. Abe has also committed to rebalancing the budget. Now, attention is turning to the toughest part of Abe's program: reforms to make aging Japanese industries and markets more competitive, loosen bottlenecks, and unleash pent-up dynamism and innovation.

Ever since its "Miracle Economy" bubble imploded over 20 years ago, Japan has failed to regain momentum despite lavish government spending and record low interest rates.

Abe's effort to turn the economy around has so far translated into a multi-month rally in the stock market. Investors reacted to the BOJ announcement by pushing the benchmark Nikkei 225 index to its highest level in more than four years Friday.

The Japanese yen, meanwhile, quickly weakened to 96 yen to the U.S. dollar, from around 92 - in line with Abe's push for a weaker currency that can help make Japanese exports more price competitive in overseas markets, while also raising import costs.

"Changing expectations, creating a more upbeat mood, that in itself is an accomplishment. People are feeling more optimistic and we see it. The stock market is up. The yen is down. Abe's popularity is soaring," said Gerald Curtis, a Japan expert at Columbia University.

Investors will be watching closely, though, for progress in ensuring future growth.

"The question is whether there is the political will and the political ability to get it done. I think Abe's done well but there's a degree of 'irrational exuberance' ... about so-called Abenomics," said Curtis.

So far, economic data have not reflected the optimism seen in the financial markets, though the economy did just barely emerge from recession in the last quarter of 2012.

A quarterly central bank survey released Monday, known as the "tankan," showed business sentiment improving for the first time in nine months, though the gains were weaker than expected. So far, the consumer price index has not budged, despite daily newspaper reports of plans for increases in electricity rates, food prices and other daily necessities.

Abe and fellow LDP leaders must make more headway in reviving the economy before an upper house parliamentary election in July that will determine if they will have a strong enough mandate to pursue other goals, such as politically difficult economic and educational reforms and changes to the constitution to give Japan's military a higher profile.

Getting the economy rumbling again will require consumers to spend more. That depends on a "wealth effect" spilling over from the run-up in prices for shares and other assets, and on convincing people to buy and borrow now, at lower prices, to avoid higher prices later.

Making that will work will depend in part on whether families, whose purchasing power has been declining since 1997, feel they can afford to spend more. Higher wages would help, but salary increases this spring were modest. Companies need to be sure the market is turning around before they will boost hiring and wages.

Recent reports suggest some Japanese are stepping up purchases of luxury products at big department stores, but retail sales figures show no signs of a mass spending spree.

"The evidence is that the wealth effect is much more modest than most people would like to believe," said William Grimes, a professor at Boston University.

If fixing Japan's economy sounds a bit like a Rube Goldberg contraption, where everything has to be set up just right for the ball to wind its way toward its final destination, it probably is.

"This is sort of a social experiment," said Masamichi Adachi, an economist with JPMorgan in Tokyo. "If people believe tomorrow will be better than today, then they may start borrowing and spending. If people spend, then corporations will pay higher wages."

But he adds that, "Many people like myself feel this is still uncertain. Also this is a little dangerous to continue this policy because if people don't follow it then asset prices will collapse."

As the yen's value has declined following Abe's election, the surging cost of natural gas and crude oil imports to replace nuclear power generation suspended after the tsunami disaster in March 2011, has tipped Japan's trade balance into the red. For now, the country's current account remains robustly positive and most of Japan's massive mountain of public debt is owned by domestic investors. But if the deficits were to persist for too long, Japan could come to rely on foreign buyers to support its public debt, Adachi said.

"That would be the time many people would require risk premiums and that means interest rates would spike up," he said. "In the short term, it's under control."

In any case, Japan will need plenty of luck, including a stable world recovery, to succeed now where it has failed in the past, and in managing its fiscal balancing act.

Abe says he is determined to push ahead with various reforms to make Japan's economy more modern and competitive. One of the biggest initiatives is Japan's commitment, announced last month, to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an Asia-Pacific-wide trading bloc meant to open markets wider to trade among its dozen or so members, which range from Chile and tiny Brunei to the U.S. and, if all goes well, Japan.

The trade pact could lend some heft to reform efforts aimed at deregulating and opening the economy. But much wider reforms are needed to cope with Japan's fast-aging and shrinking population, its energy crisis and soaring public debt.

"We need a clear road map. Unlike in the past, we cannot keep things as they are," Norihiko Ishiguro, of the Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, told a recent forum organized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ishiguro said Japan wants to capitalize on its competitive strengths in technology and services and foster more innovation and entrepreneurship. However, apart from talk of speeding approvals for new pharmaceuticals and medical devices and expanding use of robots to help relieve a shortage of care workers, few details have emerged.

The reforms are "full of complicated issues," said Adachi. "Even if you succeed in some areas or all areas, there is no guarantee the economy will get better. Certainly the impact will not come in a short time," he said.

A similar set of reforms in Germany, launched in 2000, took a decade to bear results, said Grimes.

Japan needed these changes years earlier, he said. "We may be moving into the range where the opportunities have passed for having a really big impact."

Source: http://www.kboi2.com/news/business/Japan-PMs-biggest-test-on-economy-still-to-come-201623951.html

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Facebook aims to take centerstage on Android phones

By Gerry Shih

MENLO PARK, California (Reuters) - Facebook Inc on Thursday unveiled its most ambitious attempt yet to enter mobile computing without a phone of its own, introducing a new app that replaces the home screen on some Android smartphones.

Called "Home," the new software lets users comprehensively modify Android, the popular mobile operating system developed by Google, to prominently display their Facebook newsfeed and messages on the home screens of a wide range of devices - while hiding other apps.

"Why do we need to go into those apps in the first place to see what's going on with those we care about?" Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told the hundreds of reporters and industry executives gathered at the company's Menlo Park campus.

"We want to bring all this content to the front."

The "Home" software will be available for download for free from Google Play starting April 12. In addition, AT&T Inc has exclusive rights to sell for $100 the first handsets, made by Taiwan's HTC Corp, that come pre-installed with the software starting the same day. France Telecom's Orange will be offering the phone in Europe.

Shares in Facebook finished trading up 82 cents, or 3.1 percent, at $27.07; Google stock closed at $795.07, down $11.13 or 1.38 percent.

Analysts say should the new software take off, it may begin to draw users away from Google services. Offering Facebook messaging, social networking and photos on the very first screen that Android users see could divert attention from the panoply of services, such as search and email, which generate advertising revue for Google.

Instead of traditional wallpaper or a "lock screen," users with Home installed will see a new Facebook "cover feed" that displays a rolling ticker-tape of photos, status updates - and eventually, ads - from Facebook's network.

Facebook's executives, acknowledging that messaging and communications remain the most fundamental use for smartphones, also showed off a new "chat heads" messaging interface, which would combine SMS text messages and Facebook chat messages under one tool.

"On one level, this is just next mobile version of Facebook," Zuckerberg said. "At a deeper level, this can start to be a change in the relationship with how we use these computing devices."

People who used the software and the HTC phone on Thursday appeared impressed by the highly visual design and interface that featured a multitude of pictures. But analysts say the jury is still out on whether Home has appeal beyond habitual Facebook users.

Some were skeptical consumers would leap at the chance to make Facebook so central to their lives.

"Facebook thinks it's more important to people than it actually is," said Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research.

Golvin said that in markets like Spain and Brazil, mobile users spend far more time in messaging apps like Whatsapp compared to the Facebook app.

"For the vast majority of people, Facebook just isn't the be-all and end-all of their mobile experience. It's just one part," he said. "I see a more apathetic response among Facebook users than Facebook might be expecting."

COMPETITION WITH GOOGLE

Facebook's wide-reaching mobile strategy could heighten its competition with Google, the dominant Internet search engine and the developer of Android with whom it is locked in a battle for Internet users' time online and for advertising dollars. But if it proves to be popular among Android users, Home could also place the two companies in something of an uneasy partnership.

More than 750 million mobile devices featuring Android have been activated to date, according to Google, more than gadgets based on Apple Inc's iOS, the runner-up.

Zuckerberg downplayed the rivalry even as he praised Google's willingness to let other companies tinker with Android. He said he was confident Google would not make changes to Android that would hamstring Facebook.

"If 20 percent of time people are spending on their phones is in Home, I really think they're going to have a hard time making a rational decision" to limit Home's functionality, Zuckerberg told reporters.

Google issued a neutral statement, saying the new phone demonstrated Android's openness.

"The Android platform has spurred the development of hundreds of different types of devices," the company said. "This latest device demonstrates the openness and flexibility that has made Android so popular."

Not everyone is sure that Google will remain neutral.

"Google has made Android open, but as they release the next version, are they going to be as open?" said Simon Mansell, the chief executive of TBG Digital, an advertising technology provider. "Facebook is hiding all the Google stuff with their own stuff, and how Google will respond is interesting."

For Facebook - founded in Zuckerberg's dorm room in 2004 as a website - bolstering its mobile presence is critical. Nearly 70 percent of Facebook members used mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to access its service at the end of 2012, and 157 million of Facebook's roughly 1 billion users accessed the service solely on a mobile device.

The company has stepped up efforts to ensure that its revenue-generating ads can be viewed on mobile devices and Zuckerberg has said that the company's engineers are now focused on creating "mobile-first experiences."

Zuckerberg said features like cover feed will be ad-free initially, but he envisioned advertising as another form of content that will eventually be integrated. Analysts say the company treads cautiously when introducing ads into any of its services, wary of infuriating users.

"This is about becoming more deeply embedded in the operating system on mobile devices, and creating a broader platform," said Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst for the research firm Ovum. "It will allow Facebook to track more of a user's behavior on devices, and present more opportunities to serve up advertising."

But "that presents the biggest obstacle to success for this experiment: Facebook's objectives and users' are once again in conflict. Users don't want more advertising or tracking, and Facebook wants to do more of both."

Reports that Facebook was developing its self-branded smartphone have appeared sporadically and Zuckerberg has shot them down, as he did again on Thursday.

But with specialized software that adds a layer on top of Android, Facebook may get many of the benefits of having its own phone without the costs and risks of actually building a hardware device, analysts said.

"It's much lower risk than developing a phone or an operating system of its own, and if it turns out not to be successful, there will be little risk or loss to Facebook," Dawson said. "If it does turn out to be successful, Facebook can build on the model further and increase the value provided in the application over time."

(Writing by Edwin Chan; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-showcases-home-software-google-android-phones-172903514--sector.html

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Officer, murder suspect shot dead at police facility

DEAR ABBY: My husband, "Wade," and I went into a convenience store near our home that we frequent regularly. A new employee -- a pretty, much younger girl -- stared at Wade with an expression of recognition and surprise on her face. When I asked him what that was about, he laughed it off and said I was "imagining things."The next time we saw her, Wade acted nervous and started talking fast, as if trying to distract me. He seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her. She ignored me while obviously trying to lock eyes with Wade. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/officer-murder-suspect-dead-shooting-mississippi-police-facility-004735689.html

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