Report: Syrian journalist dies of wounds

A child uses a megaphone to lead others in chanting Free Syrian Army slogans during a demonstration in the neighborhood of Bustan Al-Qasr, Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. The U.N. said Wednesday that more than 60,000 people have been killed since Syria's crisis began in March 2011 ? a figure much higher than previous opposition estimates. (AP Photo/Andoni Lubaki)

A child uses a megaphone to lead others in chanting Free Syrian Army slogans during a demonstration in the neighborhood of Bustan Al-Qasr, Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. The U.N. said Wednesday that more than 60,000 people have been killed since Syria's crisis began in March 2011 ? a figure much higher than previous opposition estimates. (AP Photo/Andoni Lubaki)

A Syrian man uses his mobile phone to capture a child using a megaphone to lead others in chanting Free Syrian Army slogans during a demonstration in the neighborhood of Bustan Al-Qasr, Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. The U.N. said Wednesday that more than 60,000 people have been killed since Syria's crisis began in March 2011 ? a figure much higher than previous opposition estimates. (AP Photo/Andoni Lubaki)

Syrians stomp on a portrait during a demonstration in the neighborhood of Bustan Al-Qasr, Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. The U.N. said Wednesday that more than 60,000 people have been killed since Syria's crisis began in March 2011 ? a figure much higher than previous opposition estimates. (AP Photo/Andoni Lubaki)

BEIRUT (AP) ? A Syrian journalist for a pro-government television station died of wounds sustained in a shooting attack in the suburbs of Damascus, state media said Saturday, as rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad pressed ahead with an offensive on the capital.

The SANA state news agency said that Suheil al-Ali, who worked for the private, pro-regime Dunya TV station, died Friday, four days after a "terrorist" opened fire on him as he was returning home from work. The government refers those trying to topple Assad as "terrorists."

Al-Ali is the latest of several journalists working for pro-government media in Syria to have been killed. A cameraman for Syrian state TV and a reporter for the state newspaper Tishrin were among others slain in recent months in killings the Assad regime has blamed on rebels.

Fighting has raged for weeks in the neighborhoods and towns around Damascus that have been opposition strongholds since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011. The revolt started with peaceful protests but morphed into a civil war that has killed more than 60,000 people, according to a recent United Nations recent estimate.

Rebels are trying to push through the government's heavy defenses in Damascus, the seat of Assad's power. The regime has responded with a withering

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels and government troops clashed Saturday in suburbs south of Damascus, including Harasta and Daraya. The Observatory, which relies on reports by activists on the ground, said government troops had arrested several residents in raids in the suburb of Qatana.

The Syrian military launched an offensive in a bid to dislodge rebels holed up in Daraya, which is located just a few kilometers (miles) from a strategic military air base west of the capital, and the army has dispatched reinforcements to the suburb in an effort to expel opposition fighters, the Observatory said.

Regaining control of Daraya would provide a boost to the regime's defense of Damascus.

Fighting was also reported on the road to the Damascus International Airport, the Observatory said. The airport has not been functioning since last month when clashes erupted on the airport road, and international airlines have not yet resumed flights to the Syrian capital. Airport officials have said the facility is open, but have not said which flights are operating.

Rebels frequently target government officials for assassination, and have killed several regime figures. The most dramatic attack took place in July when they detonated explosives inside a crisis meeting in Damascus, killing four senior officials including Assad's brother-in-law and the defense minister.

Large bombings have been a trademark of Islamic radicals fighting alongside the Syrian rebels, raising concerns about the extremists' role in the civil war.

Last month, a suicide bomber wounded Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar in an attack on his ministry building. After the Dec. 12 attack, al-Shaar was secretly sent to neighboring Lebanon for treatment of a back injury, but was rushed out of a Beirut hospital and back home two weeks later for fear of being arrested by Lebanese authorities.

On Saturday, SANA denied reports that al-Shaar had died, saying the minister is "in good health and recovering."

___

Associated Press Writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-05-ML-Syria/id-c82438f5472a4df0b0fbae419c0e7155

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Curiosity rover spots 'flower' on Mars

NASA / JPL-Caltech / Ken Kremer / Marco Di Lorenzo

A photographic mosaic shows the Curiosity rover's surroundings at a Martian location known as Yellowknife Bay. This view has been assembled from black-and-white images captured by the rover's navigation camera on Sol 132 (Dec. 19). Gaps in imagery of the Martian sky have been filled in, and the whole scene has been colorized. Click here or on the image to see the complete 360-degree panorama.

By Alan Boyle

The cameras on NASA's Curiosity rover have been clicking away over the holidays ??gathering enough pictures for a 360-degree panorama of its rocky surroundings at Yellowknife Bay, plus a close-up view showing a "Martian flower" seemingly sprouting from the surface.

The panorama was assembled from pictures snapped by the rover's navigation camera system on the 132nd Martian day of Curiosity's mission on the Red Planet, also known as Sol 132 or Dec. 19.

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In this case, the folks doing the assembling are Ken Kremer, a New Jersey-based journalist, research chemist and photographer; and Marco Di Lorenzo, a physicist who's a high-school educator and photographer in Italy. They stitched together the black-and-white images, filled in the gaps in the Martian sky and colorized the scene to reflect what an observer on Mars might see.

We've featured the efforts of Kremer and Di Lorenzo several times before: They're part of an active online community that makes use of the raw images provided by Curiosity and other Mars probes, and then shares them via websites such as UnmannedSpaceflight.com. Even now, the folks at UnmannedSpaceflight are posting plenty of amazing pictures from Yellowknife Bay, including a must-see, zoomable GigaPan version.?

Another picture from Sol 132 has stirred up some buzz at the Above Top Secret discussion forum. The picture focuses in on a bright, crumpled object that's sitting on a Martian outcrop, as seen by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI. The translucent shape is reminiscent of a flower's pistils, which led one of the forum's members to call it a "Martian flower." ??

NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

An anomalous bit of bright material can be seen left of center in this view captured by Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager on Sol 132 of the mission (Dec. 19).

Update for 8:30 p.m. ET: I initially suspected that the flower was a tiny shred of plastic from the rover itself. Such a shred popped up in October.?At that time, experts at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory surmised that the plastic may have been a bit of wrapping that was knocked loose from the Mars Science Laboratory's descent stage during the spacecraft's August landing. The plastic was thought to have fallen on top of the rover, and then dropped to the ground weeks later.

That's what led me to go with the plastic-scrap hypothesis. However, some of the folks commenting on the pictures noted that the object seemed to be embedded in the rock ? which would argue against my hypothesis. So I put in an inquiry with Guy Webster, who serves as JPL's main spokesman for NASA's Mars missions.

A couple of hours later, Webster emailed me the verdict:?"That appears to be part of the rock, not debris from the spacecraft."

Mystery solved? It's certainly an intriguing bit of mineral that stands out prominently in the MAHLI picture. If I find out anything more, I'll be sure to pass it along. And if it turns out that flowers are really sprouting up on Mars, you'll know it's time to cue up the "X-Files" theme. Either way, the truth is out there.??

More pictures from Kremer and Di Lorenzo:

More about Martian anomalies:

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Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/03/16329185-curiosity-rover-studies-rocks-and-a-flower-on-mars?lite

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Japan's Nikkei soars on 1st trade day of the year

BANGKOK (AP) ? Japan's benchmark stock index soared on its first trading day of the new year Friday, as investors reacted to a weakening yen and Washington's temporary skirting of the so-called fiscal cliff.

But other Asian markets stalled as enthusiasm faded over the last-minute budget deal reached in Washington to avoid steep, automatic tax increases and spending cuts that would have taken effect Tuesday. The measure, however, was largely seen as crisis avoidance ? and puts off hard decisions about how to reduce government spending and deal with America's massive debt.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo jumped 2.8 percent to 10,690.79. Earlier in the morning, the benchmark reached 10,734.23, an intraday level not seen since March 4, 2011. Much of the enthusiasm for Japanese shares comes with the steadily weakening currency, a big help to Japanese companies that sell abroad.

The dollar rose to the upper 87 yen range in Tokyo on Friday morning, its highest level since July 2010, Kyodo News Agency said. Investors have high hopes that new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies, centered on loose monetary policy and public spending, will wrest the world's third-largest economy out of the doldrums.

Export shares boomed. Suzuki Motor Corp. soared 8.1 percent, Nikon Corp. advanced 5.3 percent and Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 5.4 percent.

Elsewhere, however, investor fervor wilted. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.7 percent to 23,231.88. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.8 percent to 2,004.35, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4 percent to 4,723.80. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and mainland China fell. Markets in Indonesia and the Philippines rose.

Wall Street stocks tumbled on Thursday after a transcript of the last meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve unveiled a divided opinion among central bankers over how long the Fed should keep buying bonds to support the economy.

The losses came despite a monthly employment survey by payroll provider ADP showing businesses added 215,000 jobs last month, the most in 10 months and much higher than November's total of 148,000.

"Risk assets largely weakened overnight as the less dovish FOMC minutes more than offset earlier gains triggered by a good job report. Indeed, better-than-expected improvement in the job market may fan expectation for an earlier removal of quantitative and monetary easing," analysts at Credit Agricole CIB said in a market commentary.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.2 percent to 13,391.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 0.2 percent to 1,459.37, while the Nasdaq composite index lost 0.4 percent to 3,100.57.

Investors will keep an eye on the U.S. monthly jobs report due later in the day. The figures often move markets because they are a key indicator for the health of the U.S. economy, which has struggled to accelerate in recent months.

Benchmark oil for February delivery fell 68 cents to $92.24 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract ended the day down 20 cents at $92.92 per barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3034 from $1.3062 in late trading Thursday. The dollar rose to 87.73 yen from 87.18 yen.

___

Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japans-nikkei-soars-1st-trade-day-025116562--finance.html

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That Is Not an Ear Infection

A middle ear infection in children can be hard to detect, and overdiagnosed

iStockphoto/Thinkstock.

Last March, while on vacation in Florida, my 11-month-old came down with a fever. We took him to a local pediatrician who quickly diagnosed him with a middle ear infection and prescribed him a 10-day course of antibiotics. Two days later, back home in New York, our pediatrician said our son probably never had an ear infection, and that regardless, he should stop taking the drugs.

At the time, I was exceptionally annoyed?goddamn podunk doctor. What irked me wasn?t just the misdiagnosis; it was that he had recommended unnecessary drugs that may have upset my baby?s stomach and potentially, research suggests, increased his risk for asthma and irritable bowel disease. But it turns out Dr. Florida?s actions were less the exception than the rule: Many U.S. pediatricians overdiagnose and overtreat ear infections, in part because of how difficult it is to accurately perform ear exams and in part because doctors feel you breathing down their stethoscope-adorned necks for the meds.

To make things even more complicated, the microbes that cause ear infections are changing: Vaccines have shifted the microbial flora blooming in American children, and thanks in part to routine antibiotic overuse, some bugs have become much harder to treat.

Common in the wintertime, middle ear infections?technically called acute otitis media, not to be confused with outer ear infections (swimmer?s ear) or rare inner ear infections?aren?t a big deal. Nearly 80 percent of American kids have had one by the time they turn 3; many seem to battle them constantly?perhaps yours? No one knows why some kids are more prone to them than others, but some research suggests that genetics plays a role, and environmental factors such as day care, exposure to tobacco smoke, and formula feeding are known to boost the risk as well. Ear infections can, however, be more than just a painful, oozing nuisance: They sometimes cause fluid to build up in the middle ear, leading to long-term hearing loss and language and literacy problems (and maybe even picky eating, as I discussed in my last column). Serious infections, left untreated, can also cause meningitis or mastoiditis, an infection of the mastoid bone in the skull, which requires surgery.

So, no, ear infections should not just be ignored. But a 2008 French study reported that one-fifth of ear infections diagnosed by general practitioners are in reality something else, like minor ear inflammation; 7 percent of the time, doctors deem perfectly healthy ears infected. Why is ear health such a medical mystery? Fevers, ear pulling, and ear pain don?t necessarily predict the presence of an infection, so doctors have to examine the middle ear to be sure?and that?s really hard to do to a sick child. Doctors typically have to insert an instrument into the kid?s ear, establish an airtight seal, squeeze a rubber bulb to release several bursts of air, and then watch to see how the child?s eardrum responds. Oh, and if there?s any earwax, the doc has to pluck it out with tweezers and try the whole thing again. As you can imagine, this doesn?t always go well, so many pediatricians end up just peering into your kid?s ear, seeing a little redness and guessing at a diagnosis instead.

Even if a doctor is certain of an infection, there?s the problem of knowing what kind of ear infection it is. Some are caused by viruses, which are immune to antibiotics, whereas others arise because a respiratory virus like the cold or flu made it easier for pre-existing bacteria to grow in the middle ear canal. (During a cold, mucus can block one or both Eustachian tubes, creating negative pressure inside the middle ear that pulls nearby bacteria in; at the same time, the plugged tube stops draining middle ear secretions into the throat, so the moisture-loving bacteria overgrow.) The only way a doctor can tell an infection?s microbial origin is by inserting a needle into a child?s eardrum and aspirating out some of the middle ear fluid, which (thankfully) few doctors do.

Problem is, without knowing what?s causing an infection, it?s very difficult to know how best to treat it. Since 2004, the American Academy of Pediatrics has advised doctors against giving antibiotics to kids over the age of 2 if their ear infections are not severe. (All children under 6 months should get antibiotics, and kids between 6 months and 2 years should get them only if the doctor is absolutely certain of the infection, which is apparently only half the time.) Under this ?watchful waiting? approach, doctors are supposed to re-examine the child a few days later to see if the infection is getting better; if it?s not, drugs then might be in order. (The AAP is expected to release new treatment guidelines sometime this year.)

There?s a good reason for this conservative approach: No matter what their cause, most ear infections go away on their own. In a 2011 clinical trial, University of Pittsburgh researchers reported that 74 percent of children under 2 who were suffering from ear infections got better after one week when they weren?t given any treatment; 80 percent of those who got antibiotics got better in the same time frame. Yet half of the kids treated with antibiotics in the study got bouts of diarrhea, compared with only 27 percent of the kids who didn?t take anything. (Ear tubes, which are sometimes surgically inserted in children who have recurring infections, can help but research suggests for only about six months.) So, yes, after a week on amoxicillin your son finally stopped wailing, waking in the night, and tugging at his ear. But that could very well have been just because time had passed and his immune system fought the bug off.

Unfortunately, most doctors prescribe antibiotics anyway. In a 2010 study, Boston University researchers surveyed 300 pediatricians and found that 85 percent of the time, when infections were minor, doctors ignored the AAP?s guidelines and prescribed drugs. Most of the doctors said they thought that the guidelines made good sense, but they felt pressured by parents to give out drugs anyway. This reckless overuse of antibiotics isn?t just expensive; it is believed to drive antibiotic resistance, too. In 2007, scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified a new form of Streptococcus pneumoniae called 19A that causes childhood ear infections and is resistant to every FDA-approved antibiotic. Now that?s a bug you don?t want your child to get.

Ear infections are changing in other ways, too. In 2000, a vaccine called PCV7, which protects kids against seven (out of a total of 93) subtypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae, became part of the standard U.S. vaccine schedule; in 2010, it was replaced with PVC13, which protects against five additional subtypes, including the drug-resistant 19A. As a result of these vaccines, overall ear infection numbers have dropped by 6 percent since 2000, but the types have now shifted in that more infections are now caused by Haemophilus influenzae or Moraxella catarrhalis than they used to be. Doctors disagree about what these changes mean, clinically speaking: On the one hand, the new vaccine protects against 19A and should therefore reduce the number of resistant 19A infections, but on the other hand, some strains of the now more common H. influenzae do not respond to first-line antibiotics.

The bottom line is that ear infections are beguiling, yet they are also less common than you might have been led to believe and more innocuous as well. This doesn?t mean you shouldn?t take your shrieking, ear-clawing child to the pediatrician. You should. But don?t pitch a fit while you?re there?what do you mean you?re not giving Lola antibiotics? She?s been screaming for 17 hours!?and if your doctor prescribes drugs without skipping a beat, consider asking if a watchful waiting approach might work instead. Then, pick up some pain relievers on the way home? a bottle of children?s Tylenol for her, and some chardonnay for you.

The Kids would like to thank Melinda Pettigrew at Yale University, Tumaini Coker at UCLA, and Itzhak Brook at Georgetown University.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=daa259709f324266b83c49504c280b5f

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Pregnant Kim Kardashian ?Feels Really Good? Celebrating New Year?s Eve with Kanye West

"I wish I could share a drink with you all, but I can't for a little while," she told the crowd at Mirage's 1 OAK just before leading a countdown to 2013.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/JS6agK8dlYs/

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Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Center ? 2013 OFAC Health & Fitness ...

Welcome to the 2013?OFAC Health & Fitness Challenge. Getting started is the hardest part ? congratulations to everyone for signing up!

This year, Dr. Philbin has put a challenge together that will help you accomplish your fitness goals, while also encouraging us to work together. ??Registration has been strong with over 130 participants joining us from around the country.

We?ve heard your feedback from past years and have tailored the 2013 challenge to better assist you in meeting your goals. It?s our goal to keep everyone updated on the weekly point totals throughout the challenge and improving the communication during the entire challenge.

There are 3 components to the challenge scoring ??Each is worth 1/3 of your total score.

1. BodPod ? Improvement in body composition. (percent change from weigh in to weigh out)

2. Weekly Challenges ? points will be given weekly for completing.

3. D1 Fitness Assessment ? Improvement in?times and reps for each combine task.

FOLLOW THESE STEPS AND GET ON THE ROAD TO WINNING!

1. Work on improving your body composition by managing your diet and increasing exercise.

2. Complete the weekly challenges. The weekly challenges are designed to introduce some variety into your routine. Every Sunday evening the weekly challenge for the week will be posted on the OFAC blog and announced on the OFAC Facebook page. Complete the weekly challenge, then post a picture of yourself completing the challenge on the OFAC Facebook page (this is very important to ensure proper scoring).

The first weekly challenge will be the?First on the First 5K. If you cannot join us, feel free to run a 5K (3.1 miles) on your own. Don?t forget to take a picture of yourself completing the challenge as well as document your time. We will be using that time for comparison at the end of the challenge (hint, for another weekly challenge).

3. Improve your D1 fitness assessment times and reps with exercise, conditioning and practice.

The OFAC Facebook page is challenge headquarters ? use the page to share your accomplishments, post comments, ask questions, and most importantly logging your weekly challenge results. We look forward to celebrating everyone?s?accomplishments and announcing the winner at the challenge weigh out party in April (date & location to be provided). The 2013 winner will receive a $300 gift certificate to FootSourceMD.com and will have their name immortalized on the OFAC Health & Fitness Challenge trophy!

Good luck to everyone and have fun with the challenge.

Dr. Terry Philbin & the OFAC Health & Fitness Challenge Team

Source: http://www.orthofootankle.com/2012/12/2013-ofac-health-fitness-challenge-things-to-do-to-win/

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Weddings & Babies! Celebs Settle Down in 2013

Will you be starting a new chapter in 2013? If so, you're in good company. The coming year promises major milestones for some of our favorite celebrities. Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian are starting families, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are (hopefully) walking down the aisle, and Jennifer Aniston -- well, she'll presumably keep us guessing!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/weddings-babies-celebs-settle-down-2013/1-a-511960?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aweddings-babies-celebs-settle-down-2013-511960

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