UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Facing defeat by a rival rebel and fearing death at the hands of Rwandan troops, Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda quietly slipped into Rwanda on a small path with a single escort to turn himself in at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, according to a U.N. report.
Details of the March 18 surrender of Ntaganda, who evaded arrest on international war crimes charges for seven years, were contained in the confidential interim report by the U.N. Group of Experts to the Security Council's Congo sanctions committee. The report was seen by Reuters on Friday.
Ntaganda, a Rwandan-born Tutsi rebel known as "the Terminator," is accused of murder, rape, sexual slavery and recruiting child soldiers during 15 years of rebellion in resource-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
It was not known how Ntaganda made his way from eastern Congo to the Rwandan capital, where he had simply walked into the U.S. Embassy and asked diplomats to transfer him to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The U.N. experts said his secret three-day journey followed after a violent split in the M23 rebel group weeks earlier. Ntaganda's defeat by rival M23 commander Sultani Makenga was aided by Rwandan officials and demobilized Rwandan soldiers, said the report.
Ntaganda "clandestinely crossed the border into Rwanda using a small path in the Gasizi area with one escort," it said.
"He reached Kigali with the help of his family and arrived at the United States Embassy on 18 March where he requested to be transferred to the ICC without prior knowledge of Rwandan authorities," according to the 43-page report.
Rwanda subsequently arrested an individual accused of helping Ntaganda escape and interrogated the warlord's wife and brother, the experts said.
The career of Ntaganda, who has fought for rebels, militias and armies in both Rwanda and Congo in the last 20 years, reflects the tangled and shifting allegiances of a territory that has been repeatedly traumatized by genocide and violence.
Ntaganda said he was not guilty of war crimes during his first appearance at the International Criminal Court in March.
M23 is a Tutsi-dominated group of former Congolese soldiers that has demanded political concessions from President Joseph Kabila's government.
M23 CRIPPLED AFTER NTAGANDA DEFEAT
The U.N. experts report in October named Ntaganda as the leader controlling the M23 rebellion on the ground and added that he and other commanders received "direct military orders" from senior Rwandan military figures acting under instructions from Defense Minister James Kabarebe.
Rwanda vehemently denied supporting the M23, accusing the world of trying to blame it for Congo's unremitting troubles.
The latest experts report found "continuous - but limited - support to M23 from within Rwanda" and cooperation between elements of the Congolese military and a Rwandan Hutu rebel group against the M23 rebels.
Ntaganda had a network of contacts within Rwanda that he used to support his M23 faction against Makenga after the pair had disagreed over the management of M23, the experts said.
"To halt Ntaganda's activities, Rwandan authorities arrested some of the individuals who were part of this network," the experts said.
"Some Rwandan officers also provided limited material support to Makenga as he sought to defeat Ntaganda," found the report. "While some Rwandan officers had ensured Ntaganda of their assistance, in reality they had decide to support Makenga.
"Rwandan officers also fed disinformation to Ntaganda which precipitated his defeat. Former M23 soldiers who fought alongside Ntaganda reported that soldiers of the (Rwandan Defense Force) special forces that were deployed along the border provided Ntaganda with ammunition at the outset of fighting, which made him believe that he enjoyed RDF support."
As his troops began to run low on ammunition after two weeks of fighting, Ntaganda fled into Rwanda, where he feared Rwandan soldiers deployed on the border would kill him. The U.N. experts said that Makenga had also ordered his troops kill Ntaganda.
It was estimated that about 200 rebels from both sides were killed during the M23 split, the report said. Almost 800 rebels loyal to Ntaganda also fled into Rwanda after their defeat. The experts said Makenga was left with some 1,500 fighters spread across a 270 square mile area (700 sq km).
"Moreover M23 has lost the support of leaders and communities which had supported Ntaganda in northern Rwanda and stopped benefiting from the recruitment and financial networks he had established," the report said.
"The movement is unable to control its entire territory and suffers from poor morale and scores of desertions," it said.
FILE - In this May 20, 2010 file photo, Lance Armstrong bleeds from a cut under his left eye after crashing during the fifth stage of the Tour of California cycling race in the outskirts of Visalia, Calif. The dirty past of the Tour de France came back on Friday, June 28, 2013, to haunt the 100th edition of cycling's showcase race, with Lance Armstrong telling a newspaper he couldn't have won without doping. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
FILE - In this May 20, 2010 file photo, Lance Armstrong bleeds from a cut under his left eye after crashing during the fifth stage of the Tour of California cycling race in the outskirts of Visalia, Calif. The dirty past of the Tour de France came back on Friday, June 28, 2013, to haunt the 100th edition of cycling's showcase race, with Lance Armstrong telling a newspaper he couldn't have won without doping. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS, JUNE 22-23 - FILE - In this May 20, 2010 file photo, Lance Armstrong bleeds from a cut under his left eye after crashing during the fifth stage of the Tour of California cycling race in the outskirts of Visalia, Calif. The Tour de France, which starts next Saturday, June 29, 2013, remains a fantastic idea, not old even as it is put into practice for the 100th time. Asking riders to pedal around Western Europe's largest country and up and down some of its tallest mountains for three weeks is zany and whimsical enough to always be interesting. But is the Tour still worth taking seriously as a sports event? (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
PORTO VECCHIO, Corsica (AP) ? Lance Armstrong made himself the uninvited guest at the Tour de France on Friday, coming back to haunt the 100th edition of the race and infuriating riders both past and present by talking at length in a newspaper interview about doping in the sport.
Armstrong told Le Monde that he still considers himself the record-holder for Tour victories, even though all seven of his titles from 1999-2005 were stripped from him last year for doping.
He said his life has been ruined by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigation that exposed as lies his years of denials that he and his teammates doped. He also took another swipe at cycling's top administrators, darkly suggesting they could be brought down by other skeletons in the sport's closet.
None of those comments broke new ground, but in answering questions from Le Monde ? a newspaper he scorned when he was still competing ? Armstrong ensured that his views on doping at the Tour would have maximum impact in France and couldn't easily be written off as sour grapes being hurled at the race from afar. The respected daily is very much France's newspaper of record. Its interview with the rider and his assertion that doping won't be eradicated from cycling dominated French airwaves ahead of the race start on Saturday, causing dismay and anger in the sport desperate to prove that it has turned the page on his era of serial cheating.
The Tour's director, Christian Prudhomme, suggested Armstrong was milking the race's notoriety to further his own agenda.
"This is a very big tournament, just look around: There are 2,300 accredited journalists here, there are cameras everywhere. So if someone wanted to transmit a message, this is the time obviously, especially since everyone likes this kind of controversial statements," he said.
Armstrong's comments and the consternation they caused highlighted cycling's dilemma: It is a sport fighting to give itself a cleaner, brighter future by combating drug cheats but much of that good work is being overshadowed by the dirty secrets of dopers from the past.
Pre-Tour, a drip-drip-drip of doping confessions and revelations about the Armstrong era have rained on the sport. Armstrong's former rival on French roads, 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich, admitted to blood-doping for the first time. French media also reported that a Senate investigation into the effectiveness of anti-doping controls pieced together evidence of drug use at the 1998 Tour by Laurent Jalabert, a former star of the race now turned broadcaster.
Armstrong's claim that it was "impossible" to win the Tour without doping in his era echoed what he already told U.S. television talk show host Oprah Winfrey in January, when he finally confessed. Then, he said doping was "part of the job." The banned hormone erythropoietin, or EPO, wasn't detectable by cycling's doping controls until 2001 and so was widely abused because it prompts the body to produce oxygen-carrying red blood cells, giving a big performance boost to endurance athletes.
"The Tour is a test of endurance where oxygen is decisive," Le Monde quoted Armstrong as saying. It published the interview in French.
Asked later by The Associated Press to clarify his comments, Armstrong confirmed on Twitter he was talking solely about the period from 1999-2005. He indicated that doping might not be necessary now.
"Today? I have no idea. I'm hopeful it's possible," Armstrong tweeted.
Still, his comments touched a nerve ? both because cycling has since spent heavily on a pioneering anti-doping program and because Armstrong, once very much a boss of the peloton, is now a pariah.
"Those were cursed years for the Tour de France," Prudhomme said. "When Armstrong said it was impossible to win the Tour during those years without doping, he is probably trying to find excuses for himself and say implicitly that there was nothing else he could have done."
Jean-Rene Bernaudeau, manager of the Europcar team, likened Armstrong to a robber who tells a bank how it should be run.
"I don't think it is nice that a guy who embodies a decade we should completely forget gives us lessons on how we should behave, while we were the ones who suffered during that time. It is almost surreal," he said. "This is unacceptable."
In a statement issued in the name of competitors at the 100th Tour, a union representing European professional riders said: "Enough is enough!"
"It is disgraceful to be systematically dragged through the mud and be denigrated by people aiming to make money off our backs or seeking notoriety," said the French wing of the union, the CPA.
A group of riders also asked for and were granted a meeting with the French sports minister before the start of Saturday's first stage, so they can voice their unhappiness.
The renewed pre-Tour focus on cycling's past has led to renewed appeals from some involved in the sport for a "truth and reconciliation" process ? where those involved in doping past and present could air what they know once and for all, so cycling can then move forward
"Having it come out in dribs and drabs: You know, Laurent Jalabert this week, this guy (another week) ? is ridiculous and painful and unnecessary," Jonathan Vaughters, a former Armstrong teammate and manager of the Garmin-Sharp team, said this week before Le Monde's interview.
"I really wish that we could get on with the truth and reconciliation committee. ... Let's just move the sport forward, let's get it out, let's deal with it, let's recognize it, let's own it, let's learn from it."
Armstrong told Le Monde he would be prepared to appear before such a committee.
"The whole story has still not been told," he was quoted as saying. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigation that unmasked him as a serial doper "did not paint a faithful picture of cycling from the end of the 1980s to today. It succeeded perfectly in destroying one man's life but did not benefit cycling at all."
He argued that doping would never be eradicated.
"I did not invent doping," Le Monde quoted Armstrong as saying. "And nor did it end with me."
Perhaps what was most interesting about Armstrong's interview was the choice of newspaper: It was Le Monde that reported in 1999 that corticosteroids were found in the American's urine as he was riding to the first of his Tour wins. Armstrong complained back then he was being persecuted by "vulture journalism, desperate journalism."
Now seemingly prepared to let bygones be bygones, Armstrong was asked whether, when he raced, it was possible to succeed without doping.
"That depends on which races you wanted to win. The Tour de France? No. Impossible to win without doping," Le Monde quoted him as saying.
After Armstrong retired for the first time in 2005, cycling pioneered a so-called "biological passport" program, introduced in 2008, that monitors riders' blood readings for tell-tale signs of doping. Riders in the top tier of teams were tested an average of nearly 12 times in 2012.
Pat McQuaid, president of cycling's governing body, the UCI, called the timing of Armstrong's interview "very sad."
"The culture within cycling has changed since the Armstrong era and it is now possible to race and win clean," McQuaid said in a statement.
___
AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire, AP writer Jamey Keaten and AP video journalist Ben Barnier contributed from Porto Vecchio.
MILAN, Italy - A court convicted former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi Monday of paying for sex with an under-age prostitute during infamous "bunga bunga" parties at his villa and then using his influence to try to cover it up.
Berlusconi, 76, was sentenced to seven years in prison and barred from public office for life ? although with two more levels of appeal before the sentence can become final, he is unlikely to serve a sentence anytime soon.
The ban on holding office could, however, mean the end of Berlusconi's two-decade political career.
Berlusconi holds no official post in the current Italian government, but remains influential in the uneasy cross-party coalition that emerged after inconclusive February elections.
Both he and the Moroccan woman at the center of the scandal have denied ever having sex.
Related:
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to a seven year jail sentence for abuse of office and paying for sex with a minor.??Berlusconi does not have to serve any jail time before he has exhausted an appeals process? -- that could take years.??ITV's James Mates reports.???
?
This story was originally published on Mon Jun 24, 2013 6:23 PM EDT
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
June 24, 2013 ? The brain's pleasure response to tasting food can be measured through the eyes using a common, low-cost ophthalmological tool, according to a study just published in the journal Obesity. If validated, this method could be useful for research and clinical applications in food addiction and obesity prevention.
Dr. Jennifer Nasser, an associate professor in the department of Nutrition Sciences in Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions, led the study testing the use of electroretinography (ERG) to indicate increases in the neurotransmitter dopamine in the retina.
Dopamine is associated with a variety of pleasure-related effects in the brain, including the expectation of reward. In the eye's retina, dopamine is released when the optical nerve activates in response to light exposure.
Nasser and her colleagues found that electrical signals in the retina spiked high in response to a flash of light when a food stimulus (a small piece of chocolate brownie) was placed in participants' mouths. The increase was as great as that seen when participants had received the stimulant drug methylphenidate to induce a strong dopamine response. These responses in the presence of food and drug stimuli were each significantly greater than the response to light when participants ingested a control substance, water.
"What makes this so exciting is that the eye's dopamine system was considered separate from the rest of the brain's dopamine system," Nasser said. "So most people- and indeed many retinography experts told me this- would say that tasting a food that stimulates the brain's dopamine system wouldn't have an effect on the eye's dopamine system."
This study was a small-scale demonstration of the concept, with only nine participants. Most participants were overweight but none had eating disorders. All fasted for four hours before testing with the food stimulus.
If this technique is validated through additional and larger studies, Nasser said she and other researchers can use ERG for studies of food addiction and food science.
"My research takes a pharmacology approach to the brain's response to food," Nasser said. "Food is both a nutrient delivery system and a pleasure delivery system, and a 'side effect' is excess calories. I want to maximize the pleasure and nutritional value of food but minimize the side effects. We need more user-friendly tools to do that."
The low cost and ease of performing electroretinography make it an appealing method, according to Nasser. The Medicare reimbursement cost for clinical use of ERG is about $150 per session, and each session generates 200 scans in just two minutes. Procedures to measure dopamine responses directly from the brain are more expensive and invasive. For example, PET scanning costs about $2,000 per session and takes more than an hour to generate a scan.
All Critics (76) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (73) | Rotten (3)
Stories We Tell is not just very moving; it is an exploration of truth and fiction that will stay with you long after repeated viewings.
Part of the movie's pleasure is how comfortable the "storytellers" are with their director; you get a sense of a complicated but tight-knit family, going along with Sarah's project because they love her.
Never sentimental, never cold and never completely sure of anything, Polley comes across as a woman caught in wonder.
After you see it, you'll be practically exploding with questions - and with awe.
Stories We Tell is just the latest reminder of nonfiction film's current, endlessly innovative state. That's a story worth savoring.
Honestly, it's one of the best things you'll see this year.
Polley's fearless personal journey is a huge achievement, a genuine revelation - but the less detail you know beforehand, the better. Go in cold, come out warmed.
Sarah Polley is often referred to in Canada as a 'national treasure'. She's far more than that. She's a treasure to the world - period. And so, finally, is her film.
An absorbing exercise not only in documentary excavation but in narrative construction.
Sarah Polley's exploration of her tangled family history is a complex and thoroughly fascinating inquiry into the nature of truth and memory -- and, inevitably, into Polley herself.
This is simply a gorgeously realised and warmly compiled family album, which lingers with us not because its subjects are so unusual and alien, but because they feel so close to home. What a success.
Sarah Polley's personal "documentary" suffers from one additional emotional beat too many. Otherwise, it's mesmerizing.
Polley interviews her family and acquaintances with remarkable candor and intimacy, perhaps as a method of catharsis, but it never feels like a vanity project or a simple airing of dirty laundry.
The great conceit of Polley's theories of perspective and truth is that she, as director, ultimately controlled everyone's memories because she arranged them on film.
As with her other films, when Sarah Polley takes it upon herself to tell us a story, you can bet it's a tale well-told and one that you'll want to hear.
What Stories We Tell does so brilliantly is both tell the story and tell about how we tell our stories. The truth may not be out there.
This is a warm, brave and thought-provoking piece of autobiography.
Stories We Tell shows us that the truth and the way its told are two very different things. Polley's wonderful documentary honors both by preferring neither.
No quotes approved yet for Stories We Tell. Logged in users can submit quotes.
BOSTON (AP) ? Two goals. Seventeen seconds apart. A second Stanley Cup victory in four seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Seventy-six seconds away from defeat and a trip home for a decisive seventh game, Bryan Bickell tied it. Then, while the Bruins were settling in for another overtime in a series that has already had its share, Dave Bolland scored to give Chicago a 3-2 victory in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night.
The back-to-back scores in about the time it takes for one good rush down the ice turned a near-certain loss into a championship clincher, stunning the Boston players and their fans and starting the celebration on the Blackhawks' bench with 59 seconds to play.
"We thought we were going home for Game 7. You still think you're going to overtime and you're going to try to win it there. Then Bolly scores a huge goal 17 seconds later," said Chicago forward Patrick Kane, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason's most valuable player. "It feels like the last 58 seconds were an eternity."
The team that set an NHL record with a 24-game unbeaten streak to start the lockout-shortened season won three straight games after falling behind 2-1 in the best-of-seven finals, rallying from a deficit in the series and in its finale. Corey Crawford made 23 saves, and Jonathan Toews returned from injury to add a goal and an assist in the first finals between Original Six teams since 1979.
"I still can't believe that finish. Oh my God, we never quit," Crawford said. "I never lost confidence. No one in our room ever did."
Trailing 2-1, Crawford went off for an extra skater and the Blackhawks converted when Toews fed it in front and Bickell scored from the edge of the crease to tie the score.
Perhaps the Bruins expected it to go to overtime, as three of the first four games in the series did. They sure seemed to be caught off-guard on the ensuing faceoff. Chicago skated into the zone, sent a shot on net and after it deflected off Michael Frolik and the post it went right to Bolland, who put it in the net.
The Blackhawks on the ice gathered in the corner, while those on the bench began jumping up and down. It was only a minute later, when Boston's Tuukka Rask was off for an extra man, that Chicago withstood the Bruins' final push and swarmed over the boards, throwing their sticks and gloves across the ice.
"It's unbelievable, man," Crawford said. "So much hard work to get to this point. Great effort by everyone on the team."
The Bruins got 28 saves from Rask, who was hoping to contribute to an NHL title after serving as Tim Thomas' backup when Boston won it all two years ago.
"It's obviously shocking when you think you have everything under control," Rask said quietly, standing at his locker with a blue baseball cap on backward and a towel draped over his shoulders.
The sold-out TD Garden had begun chanting "We want the Cup!" after Milan Lucic's goal put the Bruins up 2-1 with eight minutes left, but it fell silent after its team coughed up the lead. The team came out to salute its fans as they streamed out of the building for the last time, from the air conditioning into the summer air.
"Probably toughest for sure, when you know you're a little bit over a minute left and you feel that you've got a chance to get to a Game 7," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "And then those two goals go in quickly."
The arena was almost empty ? except for a few hundred fans in red Blackhawks sweaters who filtered down to the front rows ? when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman handed the 35-pound Cup to Toews, who left Game 5 with an undisclosed injury and wasn't confirmed for the lineup until the morning skate.
The Chicago captain skated the Cup right over the crease in which the Blackhawks mounted the comeback and in front of the fans in Blackhawks sweaters who lined the front row behind the net. Toews banged on the glass while the remaining Bruins fans headed up the runways.
He then continued the tradition of handing it from player to player before the team settled to the side of the faceoff circle for a picture with the trophy they will possess for the next 12 months.
Just like in 2010, they won it in a Game 6 on the road.
"In 2010, we didn't really know what we were doing. We just, we played great hockey and we were kind of oblivious to how good we were playing," said Toews, who scored his third goal of the playoffs to tie it 1-1 in the second period, then fed Bickell for the score that tied it with 76 seconds to play.
"This time around, we know definitely how much work it takes and how much sacrifice it takes to get back here and this is an unbelievable group," Toews said. "We've been through a lot together this year and this is a sweet way to finish it off."
The Blackhawks opened the season on a 21-0-3 streak and coasted to the Presidents' Trophy that goes to the team with the best regular-season record. But regular-season excellence has not translated into playoff success: Chicago is the first team with the best record to win the Cup since the 2008 Detroit Red Wings.
The Blackhawks went through Minnesota in five games and Detroit in seven, rallying in the Western Conference semifinals from a 3-1 deficit and winning Game 7 in overtime. They got through the defending NHL champion Los Angeles Kings in five games to return to the Cup finals, where Boston was waiting.
Chicago won the first game at home in three overtimes but dropped Game 2 ? another overtime ? and fell behind 2-1 in the series when it returned to Boston.
After that, it was all Blackhawks.
The tightly contested finals ? with three games going a total of five overtimes ? may help fans forget the lockout that shortened the season to 48 games and pushed back the opener to Jan. 19. That left the teams still playing ice hockey on a 95-degree day in Boston on June 24, matching the latest date in NHL history.
Fans in their Bruins sweaters filtered into the TD Garden to see the last game in Boston for the season with the hope there would be one more in Chicago: a seventh game just like two years ago, when the Bruins rallied from a 3-2 deficit, then won in Vancouver for their first NHL championship since 1972.
Both teams were bolstered by the return of star forwards, Selke Trophy winner Toews of Chicago and Patrice Bergeron, who was a finalist for the award given to the top defensive forward in the league. Both returned after missing the end of Game 5, but only Toews showed up in the box score.
Bergeron said afterward that he had a broken rib, torn cartilage in muscles, and added to that a separated shoulder on Monday night.
"It's the Stanley Cup Final. Everyone is banged up," Bergeron said. "It's tough to put words to describe how we're feeling right now. You work so hard just to get to this point and give yourself a chance to get the Cup. You feel like you're right there and you have a chance to force a Game 7, and definitely it hurts."
What had already been a physical series continued to take its toll, with Jaromir Jagr ? the NHL's active playoff scoring leader ? and Andrew Shaw both going to the dressing room during the first period. Jagr's injury was not known, but Shaw deflected a slap shot from Shawn Thornton off his own right cheek and crumpled to the ice, leaving behind a pool of blood when he skated off.
Both returned, but Jagr again disappeared from the Boston bench in the second. Crawford also forced a stoppage of play when his mask came off following David Krejci's slap shot off his shoulder; the Chicago goalie appeared to need a little time to recover, but he stayed in the game.
"The whole playoffs. It wasn't just Chicago. It's going to be physical, grinding the whole playoffs," said Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, the 2009 Norris Trophy winner who was on the ice for 10 of the last 12 Chicago goals. "I think that first game we played them we knew it would be a close series. We just had that feeling. It went all the way to triple overtime. It was physical. It was close. At times a very fast game, (but) it was very, very even."
The Bruins, who never led in Games 4 and 5, took the lead seven minutes into the game when Tyler Seguin gloved a pass from Daniel Paille and controlled it, then backhanded it across the middle to Chris Kelly. He beat Crawford on the glove side to make it 1-0.
But the Blackhawks tied it early in the second when, as a Bruins power play was ending, Toews broke into the Boston zone on the right side. He had Kane in the middle and Shaw coming out of the box, but didn't need either one, rattling it in off the right post to make it 1-1.
It stayed that way until Lucic put Boston ahead with 7:49 left in the third.
The final series seemed headed for a Game 7 for the sixth time in 10 years before Bickell and Bolland turned it around.
"Dave Bolland, what else can you say about that guy?" Kane said. "He just shows up in big playoff games."
NOTES: The Blackhawks are 2-5 against the Bruins in playoff series. This was the teams' first matchup in the finals. ... Bolland missed the entire first-round series with an injury. ... Kane and Toews had no goals in the first three games. ... Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs in the Boston Marathon bombing, was honored before the game. He went onto the ice with a walker and stood up to receive cheers from the crowd.
Skateboarding's earliest shredders cut their teeth in empty pools and drainage pipes, but extreme sport-boardin' has come a long way in the years since. There are plenty of devoted skateparks out there now, but this one in Denmark goes back to those roots by doubling as a functional drainage system.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? The Afghan defense minister has urged a group of new soldiers to show unity and pride as part of the army that is taking over the lead from international troops in fighting the Taliban insurgency.
Gen. Bismullah Khan Mohammadi told 3,000 graduates of Afghan National Army training Saturday that the upcoming transfer of security responsibility nationwide is a day the "Afghan people have been waiting for years."
The minister praised the army for recruiting soldiers from all of Afghanistan's ethnic groups, noting that a single battalion had ethnic Tajiks, Pashtuns, Hazaras and Uzbeks. He urged the graduates to unite to fight insurgents.
Worries of Afghan security forces fragmenting along ethnic lines have been one of many concerns about the Afghanistan's future without foreign combat troops who are leaving next year.
Google is experimenting with balloons that beam the Internet from the sky.
WHAT? The helium-filled balloons are made from a thin polyethylene film and are 15 meters (49 feet) in diameter when fully inflated.
WHERE? They float in the stratosphere about 20 kilometers (12 miles) above the Earth.
HOW? The balloons would sail on the stratosphere's winds in a continuous circuit around the globe. The balloons come equipped with flight computers, and Google would control the balloons' altitude from the ground, keeping them moving along a desired channel by using different winds at different heights.
A BREAKTHROUGH? Google says past attempts to control balloons have involved tethering them or using expensive motors to keep them in place. They say simply sailing with the winds was one of the company's breakthrough ideas.
THE ADVANTAGE? Google says the balloons have the potential to provide Internet access far more cheaply, quickly and widely than traditional underground fiber cables. One downside is that computer users on the ground would need to install a receiver to get the signal.
THE REACH? The transmitter on each balloon would beam down the Internet to an area about 1,250 square kilometers (780 square miles) ? twice the size of New York City.
THE CHALLENGE? Managing the flight of just one balloon in our complex and ever-changing atmosphere is a huge challenge. Trying to harmonize an entire fleet of thousands of them will be mind-boggling.
Partial livers from deceased donors saving the lives of infantsPublic release date: 10-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dawn Peters sciencenewsroom@wiley.com 781-388-8408 Wiley
New research reveals that transplantation of partial livers from deceased adult and teen donors has become less risky for infants and young children, helping to save these young lives. Findings published online in Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, indicate that risk of organ failure and mortality from partial or split liver transplant was comparable to whole organ transplant in this pediatric population.
Available livers for transplantation are in short supply, particularly size-matched organs for the youngest patient on the waitlist. While there is evidence that partial organs donated from living donors are superior to those from deceased donors, they accounted for less than 11% of pediatric liver transplants in 2010. Since 2002, studies show an eight-fold increase in the use of partial grafts from deceased donors, accounting for up to 32% of liver transplants in children.
"Infants and young children have the highest waitlist mortality rates among all candidates for liver transplant," explains senior author Dr. Heung Bae Kim, Director of the Pediatric Transplant Center at Boston Children's Hospital in Massachusetts. "Extended time on the liver transplant waitlist also places children at greater risk for long-term health issues and growth delays, which is why it is so important to look for methods that shorten the waitlist time to reduce mortality and improve quality of life for pediatric patients."
To further understand outcomes of using deceased donor partial livers in infants, the team identified 2,679 liver transplant recipients under the age of two in the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) database from 1995-2010. There were 1,114 partial livers and 1,565 whole organs from deceased donors that were used in the transplants analyzed. They examined mortality and graft survival over time.
Graft survival between partial and whole grafts were significantly different in 1995-2000, but comparable in 2001-2005 and 2006-2010, suggesting that transplants using partial livers became less risky over time. Adjusted risk of graft failure and mortality was similar for partial and whole organs in 2006-2010.
"Infants continue to have twice the mortality rate of adult candidates on the waitlist," concludes Dr. Kim. "Our study confirms that organ failure and mortality risk in the very young was similar for partial and whole organs from deceased donors. The transplant community must continue to look for ways to reduce mortality rates in pediatric patients and using partial livers from deceased, as well as living donors, may hold the key."
###
This study is published in Liver Transplantation. Media wishing to receive a PDF of the articles may contact sciencenewsroom@wiley.com.
Full citation: "Deceased Donor Liver Transplantation in Infants and Small Children: Are Partial Grafts Riskier Than Whole Organs?" Ryan P. Cauley, Khashayar Vakili, Kristina Potanos, Nora Fullington, Dionne A. Graham, Jonathan A. Finkelstein and Heung Bae Kim. Liver Transplantation; (DOI: 10.1002/lt.23667) Online Publication: May 21, 2013.
URL: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1022/lt.23667
Author Contact: Media wishing to speak with Dr. Kim may contact Keri Stedman with Boston Children's Hospital at +1 617-919-3114 or at keri.stedman@childrens.harvard.edu.
About the Journal
Liver Transplantation is published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society. Since the first application of liver transplantation in a clinical situation was reported more than twenty years ago, there has been a great deal of growth in this field and more is anticipated. As an official publication of the AASLD and the ILTS, Liver Transplantation delivers current, peer-reviewed articles on surgical techniques, clinical investigations and drug research the information necessary to keep abreast of this evolving specialty. For more information, please visit http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/lt.
About Wiley
Wiley is a global provider of content-enabled solutions that improve outcomes in research, education, and professional practice. Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners.
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE: JWa, JWb), has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's website can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com.
[ | 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.
Partial livers from deceased donors saving the lives of infantsPublic release date: 10-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dawn Peters sciencenewsroom@wiley.com 781-388-8408 Wiley
New research reveals that transplantation of partial livers from deceased adult and teen donors has become less risky for infants and young children, helping to save these young lives. Findings published online in Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, indicate that risk of organ failure and mortality from partial or split liver transplant was comparable to whole organ transplant in this pediatric population.
Available livers for transplantation are in short supply, particularly size-matched organs for the youngest patient on the waitlist. While there is evidence that partial organs donated from living donors are superior to those from deceased donors, they accounted for less than 11% of pediatric liver transplants in 2010. Since 2002, studies show an eight-fold increase in the use of partial grafts from deceased donors, accounting for up to 32% of liver transplants in children.
"Infants and young children have the highest waitlist mortality rates among all candidates for liver transplant," explains senior author Dr. Heung Bae Kim, Director of the Pediatric Transplant Center at Boston Children's Hospital in Massachusetts. "Extended time on the liver transplant waitlist also places children at greater risk for long-term health issues and growth delays, which is why it is so important to look for methods that shorten the waitlist time to reduce mortality and improve quality of life for pediatric patients."
To further understand outcomes of using deceased donor partial livers in infants, the team identified 2,679 liver transplant recipients under the age of two in the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) database from 1995-2010. There were 1,114 partial livers and 1,565 whole organs from deceased donors that were used in the transplants analyzed. They examined mortality and graft survival over time.
Graft survival between partial and whole grafts were significantly different in 1995-2000, but comparable in 2001-2005 and 2006-2010, suggesting that transplants using partial livers became less risky over time. Adjusted risk of graft failure and mortality was similar for partial and whole organs in 2006-2010.
"Infants continue to have twice the mortality rate of adult candidates on the waitlist," concludes Dr. Kim. "Our study confirms that organ failure and mortality risk in the very young was similar for partial and whole organs from deceased donors. The transplant community must continue to look for ways to reduce mortality rates in pediatric patients and using partial livers from deceased, as well as living donors, may hold the key."
###
This study is published in Liver Transplantation. Media wishing to receive a PDF of the articles may contact sciencenewsroom@wiley.com.
Full citation: "Deceased Donor Liver Transplantation in Infants and Small Children: Are Partial Grafts Riskier Than Whole Organs?" Ryan P. Cauley, Khashayar Vakili, Kristina Potanos, Nora Fullington, Dionne A. Graham, Jonathan A. Finkelstein and Heung Bae Kim. Liver Transplantation; (DOI: 10.1002/lt.23667) Online Publication: May 21, 2013.
URL: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1022/lt.23667
Author Contact: Media wishing to speak with Dr. Kim may contact Keri Stedman with Boston Children's Hospital at +1 617-919-3114 or at keri.stedman@childrens.harvard.edu.
About the Journal
Liver Transplantation is published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society. Since the first application of liver transplantation in a clinical situation was reported more than twenty years ago, there has been a great deal of growth in this field and more is anticipated. As an official publication of the AASLD and the ILTS, Liver Transplantation delivers current, peer-reviewed articles on surgical techniques, clinical investigations and drug research the information necessary to keep abreast of this evolving specialty. For more information, please visit http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/lt.
About Wiley
Wiley is a global provider of content-enabled solutions that improve outcomes in research, education, and professional practice. Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners.
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE: JWa, JWb), has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's website can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com.
[ | 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.
In just a short while, Microsoft is going to take the lid off of its remaining Xbox One secrets. While we've already gotten an in-depth look at the hardware, there's no telling what kind of game and Xbox Live goodies are in store. Fortunately, you can watch it all unfold right here, starting at 12:30 EDT/9:30PDT.
LONDON (Reuters) - British house prices rose at their fastest pace in nearly three years in May, a survey showed on Tuesday, as policies aimed at kick-starting the market attracted new buyers.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said that its seasonally adjusted house price balance for May came in at +5, meaning that slightly more of its members reported price rises rather than price falls in the preceding three months.
That was the strongest reading since June 2010, which also recorded +5, and beat the forecast for +4 in a Reuters poll. In April the balance stood at +1.
The balance has been in largely negative territory for the last three years, as the government's tough austerity measures, muted wage growth and difficult lending conditions have weighed on the housing market, with house prices still almost a fifth below their 2007 peak.
But new buyer enquiries were reaching 2009 levels last month, RICS said, as measures such as the Bank of England's Funding for Lending Scheme and the government's Help to Buy policy, aimed at loosening credit conditions, began to flow through the market.
RICS said its members sold 17.9 homes on average in the three months ending in May. While still low compared with the 2007 peak, it was the highest reading since January 2010.
The RICS survey chimes with house price data from mortgage lender Halifax, as well as wider economic surveys that suggest recovery is gathering pace.
"More people decided to get out there and view property, and more transactions went through than in quite some time," said Peter Bolton King, RICS global residential director, adding that the housing market was stabilising across the country, not just in the more affluent south-east.
"There is still a very long way to go until we see a full-scale recovery but green shoots are beginning to sprout."
The Funding for Lending scheme, launched last year, offers banks and building societies cheap finance to encourage them to lend more to households and businesses and has led to more affordable new mortgages.
The government's Help to Buy scheme commits funds to shared equity loans for new-build homes and from 2014 will guarantee mortgages, allowing buyers to purchase without large deposits.
(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Susan Fenton)
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_thSXYjaXJPctpWXHz-PihZ46H_0uQaxQnw4jkAVBjABq3pKwcM5ErUH10_LImV9QbdaZRzN-CP7MkyxIHV209ivqzP_yjx6MDjnYbEpzA=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 10-Jun-2013
Share ] 
