Facebook really is everywhere. Budweiser Brazil has announced the creation of a Facebook-enabled glass called the Buddy Cup.
Here's how it works: When two Buddy Cup-holding revelers toast each other by tapping their cups, they become Facebook friends through a chip that's embedded in the cups.
According to the promotional video, the cup is being tested in Brazil. A message in the clip's YouTube description says, "Soon you will also be able to make friends with just a toast in the Budzone of Budweiser major events. Stay tuned!"
So, what's the point? TheDrum.com reports that the "aim of the 'Buddy Cup' is to enhance brand activation and increase the interaction between Budweiser consumers attending the brand?s sponsored parties, concerts and festivals." Or, in noncorporate speak, to make money.
The online feedback is mixed so far. Tech blog BetaBeat writes, "In the olden times, clinking your beers together with a stranger was a sign of celebration?a mutual agreement that things were about to get weird. The fact that you?d never have to see them again or explain why you puked down the front of your shirt was a significant part of the appeal. Now, Budweiser is about to destroy that sacred experience with the introduction of the Buddy Cup."
But Gadget Review thinks the idea might have merit. The blog calls the Buddy Cup "an interesting idea, and one that could actually work in bars."
LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Arsenal will keep with tradition and form a guard of honour for new Premier League champions Manchester United when the sides meet at The Emirates on Sunday. "That is part of the tradition of English football and I want that, of course, to be respected," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told a news conference on Friday. "I'm French, I work in England and the English tradition should be respected. When you work somewhere abroad you have to respect the culture of the country," he added. ...
In this March 20, 2013 photo, a North Korean flag hangs inside the interior of Pyongyang?s Supreme Court. North Korea says it will soon deliver a verdict in the case of detained American Kenneth Bae it accuses of trying to overthrow the government, further complicating already fraught relations between Pyongyang and Washington. The announcement about Bae comes in the middle of a lull after weeks of war threats and other provocative acts by North Korea against the U.S. and South Korea. Bae, identified in North Korean state media by his Korean name, Pae Jun Ho, is a tour operator of Korean descent who was arrested after arriving with a tour on Nov. 3 in Rason, a special economic zone bordering China and Russia. (AP Photo)
In this March 20, 2013 photo, a North Korean flag hangs inside the interior of Pyongyang?s Supreme Court. North Korea says it will soon deliver a verdict in the case of detained American Kenneth Bae it accuses of trying to overthrow the government, further complicating already fraught relations between Pyongyang and Washington. The announcement about Bae comes in the middle of a lull after weeks of war threats and other provocative acts by North Korea against the U.S. and South Korea. Bae, identified in North Korean state media by his Korean name, Pae Jun Ho, is a tour operator of Korean descent who was arrested after arriving with a tour on Nov. 3 in Rason, a special economic zone bordering China and Russia. (AP Photo)
In this March 20, 2013 photo, a North Korean flag hangs inside the interior of Pyongyang?s Supreme Court. North Korea says it will soon deliver a verdict in the case of detained American Kenneth Bae it accuses of trying to overthrow the government, further complicating already fraught relations between Pyongyang and Washington. The announcement about Bae comes in the middle of a lull after weeks of war threats and other provocative acts by North Korea against the U.S. and South Korea. Bae, identified in North Korean state media by his Korean name, Pae Jun Ho, is a tour operator of Korean descent who was arrested after arriving with a tour on Nov. 3 in Rason, a special economic zone bordering China and Russia. (AP Photo)
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ? North Korea announced Saturday that an American detained for nearly six months is being tried in the Supreme Court on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, a crime that could draw the death penalty if he is convicted.
The case involving Kenneth Bae, who has been in North Korean custody since early November, further complicates already fraught relations between Pyongyang and Washington following weeks of heightened rhetoric and tensions.
The trial mirrors a similar situation in 2009, when the U.S. and North Korea were locked in a standoff over Pyongyang's decision to launch a long-range rocket and conduct an underground nuclear test. At the time, North Korea had custody of two American journalists, whose eventual release after being sentenced to 12 years of hard labor paved the way for diplomacy following months of tensions.
Bae was arrested in early November in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea's far northeastern region bordering China and Russia, according to official state media. In North Korean dispatches, Bae, a Korean American, is called Pae Jun Ho, the North Korean spelling of his Korean name.
The exact nature of his alleged crimes has not been revealed, but North Korea accuses Bae, described as a tour operator, of seeking to overthrow North Korea's leadership.
"In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK with hostility toward it," the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Saturday. "His crimes were proved by evidence. He will soon be taken to the Supreme Court of the DPRK to face judgment."
DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. No timing for the verdict issued at the austere Supreme Court in Pyongyang was given.
Friends and colleagues described Bae as a devout Christian from Washington state but based in the Chinese border city of Dalian who traveled frequently to North Korea to feed the country's orphans.
At least three other Americans detained in recent years also have been devout Christians. While North Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, in practice only sanctioned services are tolerated by the regime.
Under North Korea's criminal code, crimes against the state can draw life imprisonment or the death sentence.
In 2009, American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to hard labor for trespassing and unspecified hostile acts after being arrested near the border with China and held for four months.
They were freed later that year to former President Bill Clinton, who flew to Pyongyang to negotiate their release in a visit that then-leader Kim Jong Il treated as a diplomatic coup.
Including Ling and Lee, Bae is at least the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009. The others eventually were deported or released.
"For North Korea, Bae is a bargaining chip in dealing with the U.S.," said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, South Korea. "The North will use him in a way that helps bring the U.S. to talks when the mood slowly turns toward dialogue."
As in 2009, Pyongyang is locked in a standoff with the Obama administration over North Korea's drive to build nuclear weapons.
Washington has led the campaign to punish Pyongyang for launching a long-range rocket in December and carrying out a nuclear test, its third, in February.
North Korea claims the need to build atomic weapons to defend itself against the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea and over the past two months has been holding joint military drills with South Korea that have included nuclear-capable stealth bombers and fighter jets.
Diplomats from China, South Korea, the U.S., Japan and Russia have been conferring in recent weeks to try to bring down the rhetoric and find a way to rein in Pyongyang before a miscalculation in the region sparks real warfare.
South Korean defense officials said earlier in the month that North Korea had moved a medium-range missile designed to strike U.S. territory to its east coast.
The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the three-year Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. Because Washington and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations, the Swedish Embassy in North Korea represents the United States in legal proceedings.
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Associated Press writers Jean H. Lee in Pyongyang, and Sam Kim and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report. Follow Lee, AP's Korea bureau chief, at www.twitter.com/newsjean and Sam Kim at www.twitter.com/SamKim_AP.
This morning, payments startup Ribbon announced support for "in-stream" payments on Twitter.com, allowing users to click a button directly within a tweet in order to make a purchase without having to leave the Twitter.com website. However, it appears that Twitter has already shut this feature down - almost immediately after its public debut.
LONDON (Reuters) - A selloff in the yen paused on Tuesday as it neared 100 to the dollar, while a firm start to the U.S. corporate earnings season and a fall in Chinese inflation lifted share markets.
The Japanese currency hit 99.67 to the dollar in Asian trading, the greenback's strongest level versus the yen since May 2009, before the selloff ran out of steam. The euro stopped at a peak last seen in January 2010 of 129.94 yen.
The dollar has gained about 7 percent against the yen since the Bank of Japan (BOJ) unveiled a massive stimulus programme last Thursday involving large purchases of long term Japanese government bonds (JGBs).
"Markets are increasingly focused on the notion that larger JGB purchases, at longer maturities, by the BOJ could push Japanese domestic long-term investors elsewhere," said Vassili Serebriakov, strategist at BNP Paribas.
In early European trading the dollar was at 98.91 yen, down 0.4 percent, while the euro was down 0.25 percent on the day at 128.93 yen.
The BOJ's bold measures are also having a major effect on the world's main bond markets by sending Japanese government yields down sharply and spurring a search for higher-yielding assets, sending yields lower on U.S. and euro zone debt.
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes stood at 1.74 percent, little changed from late U.S. trade on Monday, although not far from a four-month low of 1.677 percent.
German government 10-year bonds were steady at 1.24 percent having hit 1.2 percent on Friday, their lowest levels since mid-2012 when the European Central Bank promised to do whatever it took to save the euro.
EARNINGS LIFT
European equity markets rose in early trading, led by mining stocks as investors hoped for more accommodative monetary policy from China following benign inflation data, and after U.S. firm Alcoa posted solid earnings.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.5 percent at 1,170.30 points. London's FTSE 100, Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX all opened as much as 0.7 percent higher.
U.S. stock futures were also firmer, suggesting a firm Wall Street open.
Earlier, the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 1 percent, led by Australian shares which gained 1.4 percent on rises in blue chip financials and miners.
China's annual consumer inflation cooled in March as food prices eased from nine-month highs and producer price deflation deepened, data showed on Tuesday, leaving policymakers room to keep monetary conditions easy and nurture a nascent recovery.
Alcoa Inc , the largest U.S. aluminium producer, kicked off U.S. earnings on Monday, reporting an increase in quarterly profit and easing concerns about corporate results in the first three months of 2013.
U.S. crude futures rose 0.2 percent to $93.54 a barrel and Brent rose 0.15 percent to $104.83.
Crude oil prices have seen some support from tensions on the Korean peninsula after words from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un about the prospect for war with the south.
(Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi. Editing by David Stamp)
Alexei Oreskovic and Sinead Carew, Reuters? ? ?2 hrs.
Google said Tuesday it plans to bring its ultra high-speed Internet and television service to Austin, Texas, next year, prompting AT&T to reveal its own plans to follow suit ? if it gets the same terms from local authorities.
AT&T appeared to be making a political point to highlight the heavy regulations that encumber traditional phone companies, analysts said.
Google promised to begin connecting homes in Austin by the middle of 2014 with a 1-gigabit-per-second Internet service, roughly 13 times faster than the speediest service AT&T had previously committed to offering and about three times faster than the zippiest available from Verizon Communications.
The Austin launch would be Google's first move to expand its "Google Fiber" service beyond Kansas City, Missouri, introduced last year. Google says the Fiber Internet service is 100 times faster than today's average broadband performance.
But as Google unveiled its plans at an event in Austin that featured Texas Governor Rick Perry, Austin's mayor and other city officials, AT&T issued a challenge to the city to provide a more level playing field.
"AT&T's expanded fiber plans in Austin anticipate it will be granted the same terms and conditions as Google on issues such as geographic scope of offerings, rights of way, permitting, state licenses and any investment incentives," AT&T said in a statement.
The No. 2 U.S. telecommunications firm did not provide a time frame for its own planned Gigabit network, which it said would not materially alter its anticipated 2013 capital expenditures.
"AT&T is making the point that they could make a lot more investments in many of their communities, absent the regulatory burdens which every community puts on providers," said Raymond James analyst Frank Louthan.
While James said he did not know what the terms of Google's Austin deal were, he pointed out that Google received various benefits in Kansas City, including preferential right-of-way access, access to data centers, and reduced pole access rates.
"This immediately puts the city of Austin in a box," said Louthan. "They realize that if they actually give that to AT&T and build it, Google may not come."
Austin City spokesman Doug Matthews had no immediate comment on AT&T's statement, referring calls to Rondella Hawkins, the director of the city's telecommunications and regulatory group, who was not immediately available.
Google, the world's No. 1 Internet search engine, launched its first Google Fiber service in Kansas City in November. The company initially billed the service as a test project to spur development of new Web services and technology but now says it views Google Fiber as a viable business.
The ultra high-speed connections and television offerings are aimed at surpassing those of current providers, such as cable and telecommunications companies, such as AT&T and Time Warner Cable Inc.
As in Kansas City, consumers in Austin will be able to get standalone Gigabit Internet service or a bundle that includes nearly 200 high-definition television channels. Pricing in Austin is still to be determined, Google said.
Google said it will also offer Austin residents free Internet service, at a slower 5 megabit per second rate for seven years, provided they pay a one-time construction fee that was not specified. In Kansas City, the fee is $300.
Those in Austin can learn more about Google Fiber here.
(Additional reporting by Corrie MacLaggan in Austin)
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea intensified threats of an imminent conflict against the United States and the South on Tuesday, warning foreigners to evacuate South Korea to avoid being dragged into "thermonuclear war".
The North's latest message belied an atmosphere free of anxiety in the South Korean capital, where the city center was bustling with traffic and offices operated normally.
Pyongyang has shown no sign of preparing its 1.2 million-strong army for war, indicating the threat could be aimed partly at bolstering Kim Jong-un, 30, the third in his family to lead the country.
The North, which threatens the United States and its "puppet", South Korea, on a daily basis, is marking anniversaries this week that could be accompanied by strong statements or military displays.
The warning to foreigners in the South, reported by the KCNA news agency, said once war broke out "it will be an all-out war, a merciless, sacred, retaliatory war to be waged by (North Korea).
"It does not want to see foreigners in South Korea fall victim to the war," the agency quoted the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee as saying.
"The committee informs all foreign institutions and enterprises and foreigners, including tourists...that they are requested to take measures for shelter and evacuation in advance for their safety."
None of the embassies in Seoul appeared to have issued any directives to their nationals and airlines reported no changes in their schedules. Schools catering to foreign pupils worked without interruption.
The warning, read out on North Korea's state television in a bulletin that interrupted normal programming, was the latest threat in weeks of high tension following U.N. sanctions slapped on Pyongyang for its latest nuclear arms test.
It followed the North's suspension of activity at the Kaesong joint industrial park just inside North Korea, all but closing down the last remnant of cooperation between the neighbors. North Korean workers failed to turn up on Tuesday.
North Korea had said South Korea was trying to turn the Kaesong complex into a "hotbed of war".
Speculation remained high that the North may launch some provocative action this week - perhaps a missile launch or a nuclear arms test.
In a previous appeal, its authorities urged diplomats in Pyongyang to leave on grounds their safety could not be assured beyond Wednesday. None appeared to have taken any such action.
"VERY DANGEROUS" SITUATION
Also featured in broadcasts were country-wide reports of celebrations marking Saturday's 20th anniversary of the current leader's father, Kim Jong-il, taking over North Korea's leadership and next Monday's birth date of his grandfather, post-World War Two state founder Kim Il-Sung.
A spokeswoman for South Korea's presidential Blue House dismissed the warning, saying no one felt under threat.
North Koreans attend a rally held to gather their willingness for a victory in a possible war against the United States and South Korea in Nampo, North Korea, April 3, 2013 in this picture released by... more? North Koreans attend a rally held to gather their willingness for a victory in a possible war against the United States and South Korea in Nampo, North Korea, April 3, 2013 in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang on Wednesday. REUTERS/KCNA (NORTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A RVICE TO CLIENTS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS less? ?
"We understand that not only South Koreans, but also foreigners residing here remain unfazed as they have great trust and confidence in our military and the Republic of Korea," Yonhap news agency quoted Kim Haing as saying. She was referring to South Korea by its official name.
A government source in Seoul said a North Korean medium-range missile, reported to have been shunted to the east coast, had been tracked and was believed to be ready for launch.
"Technically, they can launch it as early as tomorrow," the source said.
But a U.S. embassy official in Seoul said a directive issued last week saying there was no imminent threat to Americans in South Korea remained valid. "Our workers are in all our offices today," he said. "We have not evacuated anyone."
Stocks, which had fallen 4 percent over the past four days, edged higher on Tuesday despite the warning. The won currency moved little, dipping slightly after the North Korean statement.
World leaders have expressed alarm at the crisis and the prospect of a conflict involving a country claiming to be developing nuclear weapons.
China, the North's sole diplomatic and financial ally, issued a new call for calm and restraint, though Beijing's leaders have shown increasing impatience with Pyongyang.
A Russian foreign ministry spokesman, in a statement on the ministry's website, said Moscow was in solidarity with all G8 industrialized countries "as regards the rejection of Pyongyang's current provocative and bellicose line of conduct".
An official from the 27-nation European Union said Pyongyang "looks calm", but acknowledged there was a "limited risk...of an armed conflict".
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, speaking in Rome, described the situation as "very dangerous. A small incident caused by miscalculation or misjudgment may create an uncontrollable situation".
The North is also angry at weeks of joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises off the coast of the peninsula, with B-2 stealth bombers dispatched from their U.S. bases.
But the United States announced the postponement last weekend of a long-planned missile launch, a move officials said was aimed at easing tensions on the peninsula. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits Seoul this week.
Employers at the Kaesong complex faced uncertainty as the 53,000-strong North Korean workforce stayed away. A spokesman for textile company Taekwang Industrial and at least two other firms said production had stopped.
South Korean figures said 406 South Koreans remained in Kaesong on Tuesday after 69 left the complex, which generates $2 billion in trade for the impoverished North.
Addressing a cabinet meeting, South Korean President Park Geun-hye described the suspension of Kaesong as "very disappointing" and said investors would now shun the North.
South Korean companies are estimated to have invested around $500 million in the park since 2004.
North Korean workers at the park have appeared increasingly agitated in recent days, refusing to talk to their colleagues.
Many Southerners connected with the park bedded down at budget hotels in a nearby South Korean town in the hope that an order would come from the North to re-open.
(Additional reporting by Ju-min Park in PAJU, Jack Kim in Seoul, Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Manuel Mogato in Manila and Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Nick Macfie)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Afghanistan's Interior Ministry says a French freelance photographer kidnapped nearly four months ago in Kabul has been freed.
Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi on Monday confirmed the release of 30-year-old Pierre Borghi, but provided no other details.
He referred all questions to the French government. There was no immediate comment from the Foreign Ministry in Paris.
Unknown gunmen kidnapped Borghi in late November in a residential area of the Afghan capital, Kabul. A French aid worker was later kidnapped in the same area but was subsequently freed.
It was unclear if Borghi had been taken by insurgents, the Taliban or criminal gangs.
Kidnappings, mostly of wealthy Afghans, have been on the rise around the country, and foreigners living in Kabul also are seen as targets.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky will be the first potential 2016 Republican contender to touch base in all three of the states hosting the earliest nominating contests, revealing raw electoral ambitions to surpass his father?s standing as a leader of the tea-party movement.
Paul already visited South Carolina in January, when he addressed a group of Republican business leaders, and he?s planning to return this summer to headline a state GOP event. He?s also scheduled to deliver keynote speeches at the annual dinners hosted by the state Republican parties in Iowa and New Hampshire on May 10 and May 20, respectively. While in New Hampshire, he and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus are planning to hold a roundtable meeting with tea-party activists.
The first-term senator?s pace exceeds those of any of his possible rivals at this early stage. His father, former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, cultivated a loyal following in the early-primary states but never scored the first-place finish that could have made him a viable candidate. The libertarian ex-lawmaker shied from the conventional political circuit that is leading his son to make the joint appearance with the party chairman, an address at the Reagan Library on May 31, and speeches to large Hispanic and African-American audiences.
?He?s taking his dad?s network and building on top of that,? said GOP strategist Jesse Benton, who helped Paul get elected to the Senate in the tea party wave of 2010. ?Early investments in time and attention to the activists and grassroots leaders and other folks crucial to winning early primaries are going to pay big dividends.?
Paul?s early outreach is key, considering that the potential 2016 field includes Republicans with higher national profiles, stronger connections to big donors and less baggage from out-of-the-mainstream policy positions. Among them are Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida ? the first possible contender to visit Iowa in mid-November ? Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, and Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Chris Christie of New Jersey. ?The second tier includes former candidate and ex-Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who is addressing the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Iowa on April 15; Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who is slated to headline a Republican Party dinner in South Carolina on May 3; and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who will deliver the keynote at the Polk County Republican Party dinner on May 23.
?If you?re running for president, [Paul?s] schedule is exactly the kind you would want to keep,? said Iowa-based Republican consultant Dave Kochel, who steered Mitt Romney to victory in the 2012 caucuses. ?Senator Paul has an existing infrastructure from his father, so it makes sense to do some care and feeding of the organizations already in place. The question is, how much can he grow outside the base of committed tea-party activists and usual Ron Paul suspects??
Paul?s presumed inheritance of his father?s grassroots network is ?a double-edged sword," Kochel added. ?You couldn?t find anybody who thought Ron Paul was a viable presidential candidate in terms of winning the nomination, so [Rand Paul] has to break that perception sooner rather than later.?
Interviews with Ron Paul supporters in the three early-voting states found them inclined to support his son, and they noted the senator's willingness to cooperate more with the Republican establishment. Some tea-party activists bristled when the younger Paul endorsed Romney and spoke at his nominating convention and, more recently, when he threw his support behind Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a fellow Kentuckian.
?It?s a delicate balancing act for Rand, and quite frankly, there?s a split in the 'liberty movement' right now between those who revere his father and those who are a bit disappointed at what they see as his son compromising or selling out,? said Tom Davis, a state senator in South Carolina and the first elected official in the state to endorse Ron Paul in 2012. ?I don?t agree. I think you have to play the game, build alliances, and build relationships with senior members of your party.?
In a clear sign he is looking for a broader audience, Paul recently endorsed legalizing the millions of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. in a speech to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He is slated to visit historically black Howard University on April 10.
?These are not places that Republicans go often,? said Paul's?chief of staff, Doug Stafford. ?If you want to be a national leader, you have to be out there.?
Two recent polls show the 2016 field to be wide open. A Quinnipiac University survey found Paul receiving 15 percent of the Republican vote, trailing Rubio and Ryan. A new McClatchy-Marist poll showed Christie running the strongest against Democrats former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden.
Last time we heard that Rihanna and Chris Brown broke up, it was a false alarm. So should we believe this latest report? According to E! News, the controversial couple has gone their separate ways. "Per the insider, RiRi will always love Chris but has moved on and is reshifting her focus to her career and business ventures," says the entertainment channel's source. Shall we look at the evidence and see if it holds up?
LONDON (Reuters) - Denmark's Lundbeck got a fresh boost for its experimental antidepressant Brintellix on Monday when a clinical trial showed benefits over another medicine called agomelatine that some doctors use when cheap generic pills fail.
Lundbeck and its Japanese partner Takeda submitted Brintellix, also known as vortioxetine, for regulatory approval in the United States and Europe at the end of last year.
Industry analysts at Deutsche Bank see the new drug having sales potential in excess of $1.5 billion and possibly up to $3 billion a year, although consensus forecasts for 2016 are a more modest $500 million, according to Thomson Reuters Pharma.
In the latest study, Lundbeck said that after four weeks of treatment Brintellix proved significantly more effective than agomelatine, which is sold as Valdoxan by private French drugmaker Servier.
Current antidepressants are mainly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, and many are widely available as cheap generics, including Prozac.
A large number of patients, however, do not respond adequately to SSRIs or another class of antidepressants known as serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), prompting doctors to seek alternatives.
It is this market in "second-line" treatments that Lundbeck aims to tap into with Brintellix.
"This latest study clearly demonstrates that patients who have not had an adequate response on SSRIs or SNRIs can be switched to Brintellix and get a treatment effect - which is the relevant question for physicians," Lundbeck R&D head Anders Gersel Pedersen said in an interview.
Agomelatine was approved in Europe in 2009, making it the most recent new antidepressant to reach the market, although it is not sold in the United States.
Lundbeck hopes the new antidepressant will provide a new source of revenue as its existing antidepressant, Cipralex, sold as Lexapro in the United States and Japan, comes off patent protection.
Lundbeck also reported more positive clinical trial results for Selincro, its alcohol dependence drug. Selincro was recently approved in Europe, but is seen by analysts as a relatively modest seller.
Shares in the Danish group were 1.3 percent higher by 4:00 a.m. EST.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)
President Barack Obama speaks at the Denver Police Academy in Denver, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Ratcheting up pressure for Congress to limit access to guns, Obama said that steps taken recently by Colorado to tighten its gun laws show "there doesn't have to be a conflict" between keeping citizens safe and protecting Second Amendment rights to gun ownership. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Barack Obama speaks at the Denver Police Academy in Denver, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Ratcheting up pressure for Congress to limit access to guns, Obama said that steps taken recently by Colorado to tighten its gun laws show "there doesn't have to be a conflict" between keeping citizens safe and protecting Second Amendment rights to gun ownership. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
FILE - In this March 6, 2011 file photo, Denis McDonough speaks in Sterling, Va. President Barack Obama?s budget proposal will include an additional $2.5 billion to attack a growing backlog of veterans disability claims, a problem officials said is likely to worsen in coming months. White House chief of staff Denis McDonough told reporters Friday that more money for the VA in tight budgetary times reflects Obama's commitment to veterans. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2013 file photo, Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks in Philadelphia. President Barack Obama?s budget next week will steer clear of major cuts to Medicaid, including tens of billions the administration proposed only last year. The White House is holding harmless the federal-state health care program for low-income people while wooing financially skittish states to expand Medicaid coverage to millions now uninsured. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says his soon-to-be released budget, already criticized by friends and foes, is not his "ideal plan" but offers "tough reforms" for benefit programs and scuttles some tax breaks for the wealthy.
That's a mix, he contends, that will provide long-term deficit reduction without harming the economy.
In his first comments about the 2014 spending blueprint he's set to release Wednesday, Obama said he intends to reduce deficits and provide new money for public works projects, early education and job training.
"We don't have to choose between these goals ? we can do both," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, broadcast Saturday.
Obama's plan for the budget year that begins Oct. 1 calls for slower growth in government benefits programs for the poor, veterans and the elderly, as well as higher taxes, primarily from the wealthy.
Some details, made public Friday, drew a fierce response from liberals, labor unions and advocates for older Americans. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, was not impressed, either.
"It's a compromise I'm willing to accept in order to move beyond a cycle of short-term, crisis-driven decision-making, and focus on growing our economy and our middle class for the long run," Obama said.
Obama proposes spending cuts and revenue increases that would result in $1.8 trillion in deficit reductions over 10 years, replacing $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts that are otherwise poised to take effect over the next 10 years.
Counting reductions and higher taxes that Congress and Obama have approved since 2011, the 2014 budget would contribute $4.3 trillion to total deficit reduction by 2023.
The main deficit reduction elements of the plan incorporate an offer Obama made to Boehner in December when both sought to avoid automatic, across-the-board spending cuts and broad tax increases
Obama's plan includes $580 billion in new taxes that Republicans oppose. There's also a new inflation formula, rejected by many liberals, that would reduce the annual cost of living adjustments for a range of government programs, including Social Security and benefits for veterans.
In his address, Obama said he would achieve deficit reduction by making "tough reforms" to Medicare and enacting "common-sense tax reform that includes closing wasteful tax loopholes for the wealthy and well-connected."
Obama made no mention of the effect his budget would have on Social Security and other social safety net programs. That idea drew a hostile reaction from some of his most ardent political backers.
An Associated Press-GfK poll conducted late last year found that 49 percent of those asked were opposed to changing the way Social Security benefits are calculated to produce smaller annual increases and reduce the federal budget deficit.
The poll found 30 percent supported the idea and 15 percent were neutral. Of those opposed to a recalculation, 32 percent said they "strongly opposed" the change, compared with just 11 percent who strongly support it.
Obama rejected a House Republican plan that aims to balance the budget in 10 years with steep cuts in domestic spending.
His remarks reflected the White House's argument that Obama's blend of tax increases and spending cuts have widespread public support and will ultimately change the terms of the fiscal debate in Washington.
"My budget will reduce our deficits not with aimless, reckless spending cuts that hurt students and seniors and middle-class families, but through the balanced approach that the American people prefer, and the investments that a growing economy demands," he said.
Still, Obama has been unable to move House Republicans from their opposition to higher taxes, and his proposed reduction in the growth of benefits drew swift objections from allies.
"The president should drop these misguided cuts in benefits and focus instead on building support in Congress for investing in jobs," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement Friday.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback delivered the Republican radio and Internet address, arguing that "the ideas on how to fix the federal government are now percolating in the states."
"You see, you don't change America by changing Washington ? you change America by changing the states," he said. "And that's exactly what Republican governors are doing across the country ? taking a different approach to grow their states' economies and fix their governments with ideas that work.
Brownback, a former House member and senator, called for a "taxing structure that encourages growth, an education system that produces measurable results, and a renewed focus on the incredible dignity of each and every person, no matter who they are."
___
AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (AP) ? The United States accepts that a diminished but resilient Taliban is likely to remain a military threat in some parts of Afghanistan long after U.S. troops complete their combat mission next year, the top U.S. military officer said Sunday.
In an Associated Press interview at this air field north of Kabul, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he is cautiously optimistic that the Afghan army will hold its own against the insurgency as Western troops pull back and Afghans assume the lead combat role. He said that by May or June, the Afghans will be in the lead throughout the country.
Asked whether some parts of the country will remain contested by the Taliban, he replied, "Yes, of course there will be."
"And if we were having this conversation 10 years from now, I suspect there would (still) be contested areas because the history of Afghanistan suggests that there will always be contested areas," he said.
He and other U.S. commanders have said that ultimately the Afghans must reach some sort of political accommodation with the insurgents, and that a reconciliation process needs to be led by Afghans, not Americans. Thus the No. 1 priority for the U.S. military in its final months of combat in Afghanistan is to do all that is possible to boost the strength and confidence of Afghan forces.
Shortly after Dempsey arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday, the Taliban demonstrated its ability to strike.
It claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing that killed five Americans ? three soldiers and two civilians, including Anne Smedinghoff, a foreign service officer and the first American diplomat killed overseas since the terrorist attack Sept. 11 in Benghazi, Libya.
A fierce battle between U.S.-backed Afghan forces and Taliban militants in a remote corner of eastern Afghanistan left nearly 20 people dead, including 11 Afghan children killed in an airstrike, Afghan officials said Sunday.
There are now about 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. That number is to drop to about 32,000 by February 2014, and the combat mission is to end in December 2014. Whether some number ? perhaps 9,000 or 10,000 ? remain into 2015 as military trainers and counterinsurgents is yet to be decided.
Dempsey spent two days talking to senior Afghan officials, including his counterpart, Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi, as well as top U.S. and allied commanders.
He also visited a U.S. base in the volatile eastern province of Paktika for an update on how U.S. troops are balancing the twin missions of advising Afghan forces and withdrawing tons of U.S. equipment as the war effort winds down.
Paktika is an example of a sector of Afghanistan that is likely to face Taliban resistance for years to come.
Bordering areas of Pakistan that provide haven for the Taliban and its affiliated Haqqani network, Paktika has been among the more important insurgent avenues into the Afghan interior.
While the province has a functioning government, Taliban influence remains significant in less populated areas, as it has since U.S. forces first invaded the country more than 11 years ago.
"There will be contested areas, and it will be the Afghans' choice whether to allow those contested areas to persist, or, when necessary, take action to exert themselves into those contested area," he said.
Dempsey said he is encouraged by the recent development of coordination centers, including one in Paktika, where a wide range of Afghan government agencies work together on security issues. He called it a "quilt" of government structures that links Kabul, the capital, to ordinary Afghans in distant villages.
In some parts of the country, Afghan villagers have shown their dissatisfaction with Taliban influence by taking up arms against the insurgents, even without being pushed by the U.S. or by Kabul. This has happened in recent weeks in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province, a traditional stronghold of the Taliban. The Andar district of Ghazni province has seen a similar uprising.
"We should encourage it, but we shouldn't be seen as hijacking" these local movements, he said.
Dempsey said he discussed the uprisings with Karimi, the army chief, and the Afghan defense minister, Bismullah Khan Mohammadi. They told him they "appreciated that they should allow this to occur (and) they should probably nurture it. They don't necessarily feel at this point as if they should tangibly support it."
The Afghan government's concern, Dempsey said, is that influential warlords could embrace these local movements and eventually leverage them to threaten the armed forces of the central government.
In a separate interview Sunday with al-Hurra, the Arabic-language satellite TV channel funded by the U.S. government, Dempsey was asked whether he worries that Syria, in the midst of a civil war, could become another Afghanistan.
"I do. I have grave concerns that Syria could become an extended conflict" that drags on for many years, he said.
Widely used filtering material adds arsenic to beersPublic release date: 7-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6042
Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6293
American Chemical Society
NEW ORLEANS, April 7, 2013 The mystery of how arsenic levels in beer sold in Germany could be higher than in the water or other ingredients used to brew the beer has been solved, scientists announced here today at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. The meeting, which features almost 12,000 reports and other presentations, continues through Thursday.
Mehmet Coelhan, Ph.D., and colleagues said the discovery could be of importance for breweries and other food processors elsewhere that use the same filtering technology implicated in the elevated arsenic levels in some German beers. Coelhan's team at the Technische Universitt in Munich set out to solve that riddle after testing 140 samples of beers sold in Germany as part of a monitoring program. The monitoring checked levels of heavy metals like arsenic and lead, as well as natural toxins that can contaminate grain used in brewing beer, pesticides and other undesirable substances.
Coelhan explained that the World Health Organization uses 10 micrograms per liter of arsenic in drinking water as a limit. However, some beers contained higher arsenic levels. "When arsenic level in beer is higher than in the water used during brewing, this excess arsenic must come from other sources," Coelhan noted. "That was a mystery to us. As a consequence, we analyzed all materials, including the malt and the hops used during brewing for the presence of arsenic."
They concluded that the arsenic was released into the beer from a filtering material called kieselguhr, or diatomaceous earth, used to remove yeast, hops and other particles and give the beer a crystal clear appearance. Diatomaceous earth consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae that lived millions of years ago. It finds wide use in filtering beer, wine and is an ingredient in other products.
"We concluded that kieselguhr may be a significant source of arsenic contamination in beer," Coelhan said. "This conclusion was supported by analysis of kieselguhr samples. These tests revealed that some kieselguhr samples release arsenic. The resulting arsenic levels were only slightly elevated, and it is not likely that people would get sick from drinking beers made with this filtration method because of the arsenic. The arsenic is still at low levels the risk of alcohol poisoning is a far more realistic concern, as stated in previous studies on the topic."
Coelhan pointed out that beers produced in at least six other countries had higher arsenic amounts than German beers, according to a report published four years ago. He said that breweries, wineries and other food processors that use kieselguhr should be aware that the substance can release arsenic. Substitutes for kieselguhr are available, he noted, and simple measures like washing kieselguhr with water can remove the arsenic before use.
###
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Follow us: Twitter | Facebook
Abstract
The German Brewing industry has more than 1000 members and produces annually 100 million hectoliter beer. Although beer consumption in Germany per capita has been stagnating for many years, it is relatively high (around 100 liter) compared to many other countries. A large part of beer produced is exported. Brewers take a great deal of care to ensure that the beers they produce are entirely safe. Heavy metals are subject to stringent legislation under German and EU law. In addition to these requirements, contaminants are subject to monitoring organized by the Association of German Beer Brewers, in order to check for any adverse effects on malt or beer quality or other effect on processing before they are accepted for use on malting barley. Hence, a malt monitoring program was started 2011 in Germany to explore levels of heavy metals, mycotoxins, dioxins and dioxine-like PCBs, and a large number of pesticides.
In the present study results for arsenic levels are presented. Analyses revealed that particularly kieselguhr used for filtration of beers may be a significant source of arsenic contamination in beer.
[ | 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.
Widely used filtering material adds arsenic to beersPublic release date: 7-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6042
Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6293
American Chemical Society
NEW ORLEANS, April 7, 2013 The mystery of how arsenic levels in beer sold in Germany could be higher than in the water or other ingredients used to brew the beer has been solved, scientists announced here today at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. The meeting, which features almost 12,000 reports and other presentations, continues through Thursday.
Mehmet Coelhan, Ph.D., and colleagues said the discovery could be of importance for breweries and other food processors elsewhere that use the same filtering technology implicated in the elevated arsenic levels in some German beers. Coelhan's team at the Technische Universitt in Munich set out to solve that riddle after testing 140 samples of beers sold in Germany as part of a monitoring program. The monitoring checked levels of heavy metals like arsenic and lead, as well as natural toxins that can contaminate grain used in brewing beer, pesticides and other undesirable substances.
Coelhan explained that the World Health Organization uses 10 micrograms per liter of arsenic in drinking water as a limit. However, some beers contained higher arsenic levels. "When arsenic level in beer is higher than in the water used during brewing, this excess arsenic must come from other sources," Coelhan noted. "That was a mystery to us. As a consequence, we analyzed all materials, including the malt and the hops used during brewing for the presence of arsenic."
They concluded that the arsenic was released into the beer from a filtering material called kieselguhr, or diatomaceous earth, used to remove yeast, hops and other particles and give the beer a crystal clear appearance. Diatomaceous earth consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae that lived millions of years ago. It finds wide use in filtering beer, wine and is an ingredient in other products.
"We concluded that kieselguhr may be a significant source of arsenic contamination in beer," Coelhan said. "This conclusion was supported by analysis of kieselguhr samples. These tests revealed that some kieselguhr samples release arsenic. The resulting arsenic levels were only slightly elevated, and it is not likely that people would get sick from drinking beers made with this filtration method because of the arsenic. The arsenic is still at low levels the risk of alcohol poisoning is a far more realistic concern, as stated in previous studies on the topic."
Coelhan pointed out that beers produced in at least six other countries had higher arsenic amounts than German beers, according to a report published four years ago. He said that breweries, wineries and other food processors that use kieselguhr should be aware that the substance can release arsenic. Substitutes for kieselguhr are available, he noted, and simple measures like washing kieselguhr with water can remove the arsenic before use.
###
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Follow us: Twitter | Facebook
Abstract
The German Brewing industry has more than 1000 members and produces annually 100 million hectoliter beer. Although beer consumption in Germany per capita has been stagnating for many years, it is relatively high (around 100 liter) compared to many other countries. A large part of beer produced is exported. Brewers take a great deal of care to ensure that the beers they produce are entirely safe. Heavy metals are subject to stringent legislation under German and EU law. In addition to these requirements, contaminants are subject to monitoring organized by the Association of German Beer Brewers, in order to check for any adverse effects on malt or beer quality or other effect on processing before they are accepted for use on malting barley. Hence, a malt monitoring program was started 2011 in Germany to explore levels of heavy metals, mycotoxins, dioxins and dioxine-like PCBs, and a large number of pesticides.
In the present study results for arsenic levels are presented. Analyses revealed that particularly kieselguhr used for filtration of beers may be a significant source of arsenic contamination in beer.
[ | 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.
When you're at a job interview, it's important to meet all the listed requirements, but US News & World Report notes that it's just as critical to emphasize the "intangibles" needed to succeed.
Arnie Fertig at US News & World Report suggests making educated guesses at what these intangibles are based on the job's official duties.
If you take the time to closely read a job description, you can discern the competencies that are associated with a position's requirements. For example, one random job posted recently calls for someone to be a "liaison for?", "gain approval for?", "track success?", "contribute to?", "execute marketing activities?" and "ensure budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements."
Ask yourself what is required to attain success for each of these bullet points. To be a liaison and gain approval for things, one must have solid oral and written communication skills. To track success, you must be detail oriented, and likely have the ability to negotiate spreadsheets. To contribute, someone most likely requires a collegial, team-based approach to work. To keep budgets on track likely requires someone with a head for numbers.
I think this tip is perhaps best-suited for interviews where you don't have prior experience with certain job duties, and need to convey that you could learn them. Maybe you've never telecommuted before, but you could emphasize your written communication skills and ability to work independently if a job requires some remote work. If the position involves creating web traffic reports, but you never did that at your old job, you could highlight your quantitative reasoning skills and analytical mind.
Once you've identified the competencies you want to highlight, think up some good anecdotes from your previous work that demonstrate them. Depending on how subtle these qualities are, they might not explicitly come up during the interview, but you can work in references to them during your other answers. Check out the source link for some more job interview tips.
The Two Things Savvy Interviewers Are Looking For | US News & World Report
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When you're at a job interview, it's important to meet all the listed requirements, but US News & World Report notes that it's just as critical to emphasize the "intangibles" needed to succeed.
