Death Toll In Philippines Quake Jumps To 93

CEBU, Philippines (AP) — The death toll from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the central Philippine island of Bohol on Tuesday rose to 93, as rescuers struggled to reach patients in a collapsed hospital. Centuries-old stone churches crumbled and wide areas were without power.

Bohol police chief Dennis Agustin said 77 of the deaths came from the province. At least 15 others died in nearby Cebu province and another on Siquijor Island.

The quake struck at 8:12 a.m. and was centered about 33 kilometers (20 miles) below Carmen city, where many small buildings collapsed.

Many roads and bridges were reported damaged, making rescue operations difficult. But historic churches dating from the Spanish colonial period suffered the most. Among them was the country's oldest, the 16th-century Basilica of the Holy Child in Cebu, which lost its bell tower.

Nearly half of a 17th-century limestone church in Loboc town, southwest of Carmen, was reduced to rubble.

The highest number of dead — 18 — were in the municipality of Loon, 42 kilometers (26 miles) west of Carmen, where an unknown number of patients were trapped inside the Congressman Castillo Memorial Hospital, which partially collapsed. Rescuers were working to reach them, said civil defense spokesman Maj. Reynaldo Balido.

As night fell, the entire province was in the dark after the quake cut power supplies. Windy weather and rain also forced back a military rescue helicopter.

Authorities were setting up tents for those displaced by the quake, while others who lost their homes moved in with their relatives, Bohol Gov. Edgardo Chatto said.

Extensive damage also hit densely populated Cebu city, across a narrow strait from Bohol, causing deaths when a building in the port and the roof of a market area collapsed.

The quake set off two stampedes in nearby cities. When it struck, people gathered in a gym in Cebu rushed outside in a panic, crushing five people to death and injuring eight others, said Neil Sanchez, provincial disaster management officer.

"We ran out of the building, and outside, we hugged trees because the tremors were so strong," said Vilma Yorong, a provincial government employee in Bohol.

"When the shaking stopped, I ran to the street and there I saw several injured people. Some were saying their church has collapsed," she told The Associated Press by phone.

As fear set in, Yorong and the others ran up a mountain, afraid a tsunami would follow the quake. "Minutes after the earthquake, people were pushing each other to go up the hill," she said.

But the quake was centered inland and did not cause a tsunami.

Offices and schools were closed for a national holiday — the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha — which may have saved lives.

The earthquake also was deeper below the surface than a 6.9-magnitude temblor last year in waters near Negros Island, also in the central Philippines, that killed nearly 100 people.

Aledel Cuizon said the quake that caught her in her bedroom sounded like "a huge truck that was approaching and the rumbling sound grew louder as it got closer."

She and her neighbors ran outside, where she saw concrete electric poles "swaying like coconut trees." It lasted 15-20 seconds, she said.

Cebu city's hospitals quickly moved patients into the streets, basketball courts and parks.

Cebu province, about 570 kilometers (350 miles) south of Manila, has a population of more than 2.6 million people. Cebu is the second largest city after Manila. Nearby Bohol has 1.2 million people and is popular among foreigners because of its beach and island resorts and famed Chocolate Hills.

President Benigno Aquino III said he would travel to Bohol and Cebu on Wednesday.

Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda said he recalled soldiers from holiday furlough to respond to the quake. He said it damaged the pier in Tagbilaran, Bohol's provincial capital, and caused some cracks at Cebu's international airport but that navy ships and air force planes could use alternative ports to help out.

The Philippine archipelago is located in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. A magnitude-7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people on the northern island of Luzon in 1990.

___

Associated Press writers Hrvoje Hranjski, Oliver Teves, Teresa Cerojano and Jim Gomez in Manila contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=234501180&ft=1&f=
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Berlin museum seeks return of ancient gold tablet

A Holocaust survivor's family urged New York's highest court Tuesday to let them keep an ancient gold tablet that their late father somehow obtained in Germany after World War II.

Attorney Steven Schlesinger argued that the estate of Riven Flamenbaum has a legal claim, whether the native of Poland bought the relic from a Russian soldier or simply took it to compensate for losing his family at Auschwitz, the concentration camp where he spent several years.

"Under the Soviet rules at the time, there was permission to pillage and plunder," Schlesinger said. "My client could have taken it in retribution."

The tablet was in the collection of the Vorderasiatisches Museum, a branch of the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, before the war. The family argued that the museum's failure to reclaim the tablet for 60 years was an unreasonable delay, undercutting its claim. Schlesinger said Flamenbaum had been told by Christie's in 1954 that the small tablet was a fake and kept it at home. It's now in a safety deposit box on Long Island.

Museum attorney Raymond Dowd said the absence of the 3,200-year-old relic was quickly noted by the museum, later reported by scholars and widely known.

"There's no such thing as a right of pillage," Dowd said. "Reparation has nothing to do with this case."

Who gets it is up to New York's Court of Appeals, where the seven judges grilled both lawyers Tuesday. A ruling is expected next month.

The 9.5-gram tablet was excavated a century ago by German archaeologists from the Ishtar Temple in what is now northern Iraq. It went on display in Berlin in 1934, was put in storage as the war began and later disappeared.

"It could fit in the palm of your hand," said Hannah Flamenbaum. "We played with it as children."

Her father met her mother, another Holocaust survivor, at a relocation camp after the war. By his accounts he traded cigarettes or a salami for it. The couple came to the U.S., where her father went to work for a Manhattan liquor store and later bought the store, settling in Brooklyn, raising three children and later moving to Long Island, she said.

"He never tried to sell it. ... This was sort of the legacy of his suffering in the camps," she said. "The thought was if we're allowed to retain it, put it on display in one of the museums, whether down here in Battery Park City in Manhattan or even in Israel. Use it as a way to talk about the Holocaust ... and my parents' story."

According to court documents, the tablet dates to 1243 to 1207 B.C., the reign of King Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria. Placed in the foundation of the temple of a fertility goddess, its 21 lines call on those who find the temple to honor the king's name.

The tablet was excavated by German archaeologists from about 1908 to 1914 in what was then the Ottoman Empire, with Germany giving half the found antiquities to Istanbul, Raymond Dowd, the museum's lawyer, said. The modern state of Iraq has declined to claim it, he said.

In 1945, the Berlin museum's premises were overrun, with many items taken by Russia, others by German troops and some pilfered by people who took shelter in the museum, Dowd said. The museum director was not in a position to say who took it, only that it disappeared.

One recent estimate put its value at $10 million, Schlesinger said.

Lower courts in New York were split on the decision, leading to the latest appeal.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/berlin-museum-seeks-return-ancient-gold-tablet-051519395.html
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Fey and Poehler will host Globes for next 2 years

Celebs

Ree Hines
TODAY contributor

2 hours ago

Paul Drinkwater / AP

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will take the Golden Globes stage again for the 2014 and 2015 awards shows.

They wowed the Golden Globes crowd at the 2013 awards show, and in news that sure to please viewers, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will have the opportunity to do so again — and again.

The pair has signed on to host NBC's coverage of the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 12, 2014, and as it that weren't enough, they've also made a deal to return for the following year.

“Tina and Amy are two of the most talented comedic writer/performers in our business and they were a major reason the Golden Globes was the most entertaining awards show of last season,” Paul Telegdy, president of alternative and late night programming for NBC, said in a statement. “We’re elated they wanted to host together again and that they committed for the next two years.”

Theo Kingma, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — the organization behind the Globes — said that the return of Fey and Poehler "ensures that the Golden Globes will once again be the biggest, best and most entertaining awards celebration of the year.”

It's no wonder the deal with the comedy duo is getting such raves from those involved. The 2013 show proved to be the highest-rated Golden Globes in six years.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/tina-fey-amy-poehler-host-golden-globes-next-two-years-8C11396354
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BBC to Name Head of VOD Service, Treat It Like Fifth TV Channel

LONDON – The BBC is planning to name a controller of its VOD service, the BBC iPlayer, to effectively establish it as a fifth network of the U.K. public broadcaster, director of television Danny Cohen said here Tuesday evening.

His comments came during a Royal Television Society event following a big vision speech last week, in which new BBC director general Tony Hall outlined his strategy and priorities.

Cohen, who previously ran flagship network BBC One and now oversees all TV output of the broadcaster except for news, on Tuesday discussed the implications of Hall's plans.

In his first major speech since taking charge of the BBC in April, Hall had pledged to  enhance the iPlayer on-demand and catch-up service, which is available online and on TV platforms, and simplify management structures, among other things. Hall was appointed last fall, less than two weeks after George Entwistle abruptly resigned as director general after only 54 days amid the fallout from the growing Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.

Cohen said he would create a controller post for the iPlayer for an executive who will "sit alongside" the heads of the BBC's four TV channels. He added that he expects to know more about the role by January, with the BBC planning to "begin to see the iPlayer as our fifth channel."

Asked about Hall's plans to offer original content and channels on the iPlayer, Cohen said "we'll do a combination of permanent online channels and pop-up online channels." Pop-up channels would be tied to big events, such as the Wimbledon tennis tournament and the Glastonbury music festival, he explained. BBC's Radio 1 channel and arts could get a permanent channel on the iPlayer.

Original content on the iPlayer will come in the form of short-form content, mostly for younger audiences, among other things, Cohen said.

He said the need for original content on the iPlayer became apparent during a recent trip that Hall made to Silicon Valley. Executives from such tech giants as Facebook and Google told him that the BBC had the best video player in the world. But to retain that position in the coming years was key, Cohen explained. "Part of the answer is partly how we curate it," he said.

The BBC's head of television was also questioned where the broadcaster would cut costs to reach a target of $160 million (100 million pounds) in annual savings mentioned by Hall. Cohen said the broadcast department and BBC News would be key areas of costs, but added that he had no details to share yet.

Will broadband delivery of content  supersede broadcast delivery in Britain any time soon? Cohen said he expects a hybrid model in the coming years, but "I think it will eventually." But he argued that would only happen in 10 years, maybe even more.

Asked about the state of U.K. TV dramas amid the popularity of Danish shows, such as The Bridge and Borgen, and U.S. hits, such as Breaking Bad, he said Britain has Sherlock, Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey and other hits.

Americans also often tell him that they find British drama great. Cohen argued that the debate about the health of drama in various countries seemed to be a case of the grass always seeming greener on the other side.

Asked about the ratings struggle of The Voice UK on BBC One on Saturdays, Cohen said the first two seasons both saw audience drops during the live stage of the singing competition. Still, the ratings have made it the BBC's biggest entertainment show launch since Strictly Come Dancing. Plus, the show attracts young audiences.

"It's bloody, bloody good for us," Cohen concluded. I have no particular concerns about The Voice."

Asked about commercial rival ITV, which has such hits as Downton Abbey, Broadchurch and The X Factor, Cohen said: "I think it's in fantastic shape." But he said that BBC One is also doing really well.

With both networks getting up to 10 million viewers for big shows despite a much smaller population in the U.K. than the U.S., the two broadcasters compare well to U.S. networks, he said. And he said the strength of both makes both more competitive. "It is definitely good for the BBC to have a strong ITV," Cohen argued.

The BBC TV boss was also quizzed about Tuesday morning's news that hit baking competition The Great British Bake Off would next season move from BBC Two to the flagship BBC One network. When shows get a certain audience size, they can get even more viewers on BBC One, Cohen explained. The same phenomenon happens when an Andy Murray tennis match moves from BBC Two to BBC One, he said.

"They tend in general to be bigger" in terms of audience reach when moving to BBC One, Cohen said. "Channels do still matter. I don't know why that is still the case. It is just a click of a button."

So, will Bake Off top its current 7 million or so viewers once it airs on BBC One? "I think it has a very good chance of doing that," Cohen said, citing the success of past moves to the flagship channel of such shows as  The Apprentice and MasterChef.

Was BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow sad or mad about the show's move? "No channel controller likes it when that happens," Cohen said. "That's part of being a team player."

But he vowed not to dilute the show's voice and feel by moving it to the broader-based channel. "Our plan is not to change Bake Off at all," Cohen said.

E-mail: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai

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O2 and HTC partner to give away 18ct gold HTC One

O2 HTC One customers who buy between Oct. 17 and 20 will be eligible to win

Remember that 18 carat gold-plated HTC One produced to celebrate the 18th MOBO awards — of which there are just five in existence? Well, HTC UK has partnered with British carrier O2 to give the £2,750-value handset away to one lucky customer. In a post on its official promotional site, HTC reveals that the blinged-out smartphone will be given away to one lucky customer who buys the HTC One from O2 between Oct. 17 and Oct. 20. One of the remaining four will be given away to the winner of the MOBO for best newcomer on Oct. 19.

As we saw during our time with the gold HTC One at a recent event in London, this is a really, really gold HTC One. But we suppose at least the winner will have their other HTC One for situations that demand a less lustrous smartphone.

More: Hands-on with the real gold HTC One

Source: HTC

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U.S. justices to hear race case; one side has two voices

By Joan Biskupic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will delve into a decades-old debate over university admissions policies that favor racial minorities, hearing a Michigan case that picks up where the justices left off last session in a dispute from the University of Texas.

Unlike the Texas case that tested a specific affirmative action practice, this new dilemma revolves around a broad state constitutional amendment.

In a twist, the two groups in the Michigan case that favor affirmative action to help minorities have put forward divergent views. They will split their side's half hour of oral argument, each taking a different tack in hopes of influencing a court dominated by ideologically conservative justices.

They so differentiated their positions in filings to the court last month that the justices took the rare step of granting a request for divided argument at the court's lectern.

Michigan, where voters in 2006 approved a ban on all "preferential treatment" based on race in education, will have the other half hour to itself.

The country's struggle with the issue traces back to the early 1960s when President John Kennedy first told federal contractors to take "affirmative action" to hire minorities.

The Supreme Court has been the arbiter of disputes over universities' consideration of applicants' race since the groundbreaking Bakke case in 1978, when it forbade quotas but said schools could weigh race with other factors.

The new Supreme Court case does not directly test Bakke, but it could determine how easily states can end the affirmative action that the 1978 case endorsed. A ruling could affect bans in place in Michigan and seven other states: Arizona, California, Florida, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington.

While they vary in the breadth and tone of their arguments, those challenging the Michigan ban say it unconstitutionally altered the state political process related to admissions policies along racial lines.

Specifically, challengers say that because of the ban, advocates for racial preferences in admissions may not directly lobby universities the way those seeking to employ other advantages, such as family alumni status, can. Rather, such advocates must first undertake to win a new amendment to the state constitution, reversing the 2006 one.

It is difficult to predict how the justices might rule, but their acceptance of Michigan's appeal of a lower-court decision relying on the political-process theory and their increasing rejection of racial policies suggests they might be poised to uphold the ban.

DIVERGENT APPROACHES

One group opposed to the ban, from the University of Michigan, employs measured rhetoric, relies on more recent cases joined by conservative justices and tries to assure the court it can rule narrowly when striking down the Michigan ban.

The other group, a long-standing Detroit-based coalition advocating for minority rights, is pushing a more expansive legal rationale and, in more impassioned rhetoric, invokes the orations of two late champions of racial justice in the 1960s, Martin Luther King and President Lyndon Johnson.

The twin approaches offer a window into strategies used to address a court majority increasingly skeptical of racial-based remedies.

Usually when there are multiple parties on one side of a dispute, only one lawyer from their combination gets to argue, such as during last term when several civil rights groups were defending U.S. voting rights law and, in a separate case, challenging an Arizona measure that required people seeking to register to vote to prove citizenship.

In last term's affirmative action case, brought by a white student who asserted she was rejected at the University of Texas while minority students with lower scores were admitted, the justices sidestepped the constitutional challenge by a vote of 7-1. They returned the case to a lower court for review under a somewhat tougher standard for universities trying to justify giving blacks and Hispanics a boost in admissions.

The new case, like last term's, will be heard by only eight of the nine justices. Elena Kagan, who before her 2010 court appointment was the U.S. solicitor general and handled some affirmative action litigation, is not participating.

A ruling in the case, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, is expected before the term ends in June 2014.

NEARLY 50 YEARS

Picking up the mantle of the assassinated Kennedy, Johnson in 1964 sought to counter the effects of long-standing race discrimination in America with executive orders and by signing several milestone laws including that year's groundbreaking Civil Rights Act.

As such measures proliferated, whites who believed they were rejected because of "reverse discrimination" sued. In the Supreme Court's first review of campus affirmative action, brought by white aspiring medical student Allan Bakke against the University of California, Davis, the court forbade racial quotas but said that universities could weigh race with other factors in admissions.

Three decades later, that legacy is on shaky political and judicial ground. Chief Justice John Roberts, now leader of the five-justice wing on the court's right, wrote in 2007 that "the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."

Tuesday's dispute goes back a decade, to a 2003 Supreme Court decision upholding the University of Michigan's use of affirmative action. To try to stop the university's practices, voters then adopted Proposal 2, which among its sweeping prohibitions, targets "preferential treatment ... on the basis of race" in education.

The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, a Detroit-based group led by lawyer George Washington, who acknowledges a "militant" approach to preserve racial policies, immediately sued. A second group, made up of University of Michigan students and faculty, known by the lead plaintiff Chase Cantrell, also sued.

After the cases were combined, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled against Michigan, declaring Proposal 2 violates equality rights by changing the political process for minorities. In a broadly written opinion, the appeals court relied on Supreme Court decisions from 1969 and 1982 involving racial bias and political rights.

The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action is seeking a sweeping decision along the lines of the appeals court, arguing that Proposal 2 broadly deprives blacks, Latinos and other minorities of their rights. In an interview, Washington said his group was trying to reach audiences beyond the marble-columned courthouse.

Several busloads of students will be traveling from Detroit for the case Tuesday, Washington said. "I think (the justices) have to understand that people feel very, very passionately about their own futures and their children's futures."

The Cantrell plaintiffs, represented by Mark Rosenbaum of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, stressed in an interview that he will not ask the court to focus on blacks or Latinos hurt by the amendment, but rather to focus on the inequality of the process itself. In another difference, he emphasizes recent Supreme Court precedent targeting government use of race as a "predominant factor," for example, in drawing congressional districts deemed unconstitutional.

Michigan solicitor general John Bursch, who will present the state's side Tuesday, will argue that the state amendment does not advantage or disadvantage any race in the admissions process: "It prohibits making a racial classification in the first place."

(Reporting by Joan Biskupic; Editing by Howard Goller, Amy Stevens and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-justices-hear-race-case-one-side-two-050729792.html
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Apple hires Burberry CEO to spruce up its retail operation

Cupertino's latest hire is an interesting one, especially when we think that about all those cool wearables that could one day take pride of place in Apple's online and physical stores. Angela Ahrendts, currently CEO of Burberry, has been recruited to fill a position that will be created just for ...

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Anthony Hopkins writes 'Breaking Bad' love letter

TV

Kurt Schlosser
TODAY

6 hours ago

Getty Images, AMC

British actor Anthony Hopkins, left, has heaped high praise on Bryan Cranston for his work as Walter White on "Breaking Bad."

Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins is no slouch in the acting department, but after binge-watching all six seasons of "Breaking Bad" recently, he couldn't resist writing a letter to star Bryan Cranston to tell him it was the best acting he had seen — ever.

The letter showed up Sunday on the Facebook page of actor Steven Michael Quezada, who played DEA agent Steve Gomez on the AMC hit. It was quickly picked up across the web, but on Monday the post, along with a tweet about it from Quezada, disappeared.

Arnold Robinson, a publicist for Hopkins, confirmed to TODAY on Monday that the letter was indeed real. And a source at United Talent Agency, which represents both Hopkins and Cranston, told TODAY that Hopkins wanted to write Cranston because he admired his work so much. Hopkins was complimentary of the entire cast, and the UTA source said Cranston shared it, not expecting the letter to go viral.

Hopkins writes that he was compelled to reach out after what he refers to as two weeks of "addictive" viewing.

I have never watched anything like it. Brilliant!

Your performance as Walter White was the best acting I have seen — ever.

I know there is so much smoke blowing and sickening bull---- in this business, and I've sort of lost belief in anything really.

But this work of yours is spectacular — absolutely stunning. What is extraordinary, is the sheer power of everyone in the entire production. What was it? Five or six years in the making? How the producers (yourself being one of them), the writers, directors, cinematographers.... every department — casting etc. managed to keep the discipline and control from beginning to the end is (that over used word) awesome.

Hopkins is no stranger to portraying crafty monsters — he won his Academy Award for the role of Hannibal Lecter in 1991's "The Silence of the Lambs."

"Thank you," the 75-year-old actor writes. "That kind of work/artistry is rare, and when, once in a while, it occurs, as in this epic work, it restores confidence. You and all the cast are the best actors I've ever seen."

Cranston, 57, won three Emmys for his work as the high-school-teacher-turned-meth-kingpin Walter White. Last month he lost out to Jeff Daniels of HBO's "The Newsroom," but "Breaking Bad" won the Emmy for best drama series.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/anthony-hopkins-binges-breaking-bad-writes-bryan-cranston-glowing-letter-8C11390530
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Officials: Attacks across Iraq kill at least 42

A young woman sweeps debris from the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. A string of bombings in mostly Shiite-majority cities across Iraq on Sunday killed and wounded dozens of people, officials said, a grim reminder of the government's failure to stem the uptick in violence that is feeding sectarian tensions in the country.(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

A young woman sweeps debris from the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. A string of bombings in mostly Shiite-majority cities across Iraq on Sunday killed and wounded dozens of people, officials said, a grim reminder of the government's failure to stem the uptick in violence that is feeding sectarian tensions in the country.(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

An Iraqi soldier inspects the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. A string of bombings in mostly Shiite-majority cities across Iraq on Sunday killed and wounded dozens of people, officials said, a grim reminder of the government's failure to stem the uptick in violence that is feeding sectarian tensions in the country.(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

Civilians and security forces inspect the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. A string of bombings in mostly Shiite-majority cities across Iraq on Sunday killed and wounded dozens of people, officials said, a grim reminder of the government's failure to stem the uptick in violence that is feeding sectarian tensions in the country.(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

Security forces inspect the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. A string of bombings in mostly Shiite-majority cities across Iraq on Sunday killed and wounded dozens of people, officials said, a grim reminder of the government's failure to stem the uptick in violence that is feeding sectarian tensions in the country.(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

People and security forces inspect the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. A string of bombings in mostly Shiite-majority cities across Iraq on Sunday killed and wounded dozens of people, officials said, a grim reminder of the government's failure to stem the uptick in violence that is feeding sectarian tensions in the country.(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

BAGHDAD (AP) — A string of bombings Sunday across Iraq, many in Shiite-majority cities, killed at least 42 people and wounded dozens, officials said, a grim reminder of the government's failure to stem the uptick in violence that is feeding sectarian tensions in the country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attacks, but waves of bombings are frequently used by al-Qaida's Iraq branch.

The Sunni militant group and other Sunni extremists often targets Shiite civilians in an effort to undermine the Shiite-led government. Al-Qaida's extremist ideology considers Shiites heretics.

The deadliest of Sunday's attacks, many of which struck busy commercial areas, happened in the southern city of Hillah, 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad. Back-to-back car bombings hit an outdoor market there, killing eight people and wounding 22, police said.

Two parked car bombs ripped through a commercial area in the city of Suwayrah, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 14. Two other car bombs exploded simultaneously in the city of Kut, 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad, killing four and wounded 16, according to police.

In the nearby city of Samawah, 370 kilometers (230 miles) southeast of Baghdad, four people were killed and 13 wounded when two car bombs exploded. Two other car bombs killed three and wounded 13 in the city of Diwaniyah, 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the capital.

Samarra was struck twice Sunday, a day after a car bombing in the Sunni-dominated city left 17 dead. The memory of the 2006 bombing of the city's al-Askari Shiite shrine still haunts many Iraqis because it set off years of retaliatory bloodshed between Sunni and Shiite extremists.

Two people were killed and 15 were wounded in the morning when a car bomb exploded near a group of mourners at a funeral for some of the previous day's dead. A suicide bomber struck a security checkpoint near the shrine in the Sunni-dominated city later in the day, killing four and wounding 10, said Mizhar Fleih, the deputy head of the municipal council there.

In other violence Sunday, police reported five people killed and 34 wounded in the southern city of Basra and the central towns of Mahmoudiyah and Madain.

In the western Baghdad neighborhood of Sadiyah, police said a bomb went off near a row of shops, killing two people and wounding nine others. Three others were killed in a blast near a soccer field in Baghdad's mainly Shiite southeastern suburb of Nahrwan. Yet another bomb exploded in the western Amariyah neighborhood, killing two and wounding 10, police said.

Medical officials confirmed the causalities. The police and hospital officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

More than 5,000 people have been killed in Iraq since attacks began accelerating in April following a deadly security crackdown against a Sunni protest camp in the northern town of Hawija.

With today's death toll, at least 267 people were killed so far in October. The latest surge in violence has raised fears that Iraq could be returning to widespread sectarian killings similar to those that brought country to the edge of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

___

Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-10-13-ML-Iraq/id-6afecf9587ad4c37828ca9a45745caff
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FDA probing serious adverse events linked to Ariad's cancer drug

(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it is investigating an increasing number of reports of serious and life-threatening adverse events in patients taking Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc's leukemia drug, Iclusig.

Ariad's shares fell 7 percent in early trade on Friday.

In a safety notice posted on its website, the regulator advised patients taking Iclusig to seek immediate medical attention if they experience symptoms suggesting a heart attack.

The notice comes after Ariad disclosed on Wednesday that the FDA asked the company to stop enrolling patients in clinical trials of Iclusig. The agency had identified a number of patients who had experienced blood clots and heart damage after taking the drug.

Iclusig was approved by the FDA in December 2012 to treat adults with two rare types of blood cancers - chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The drug's label contains information about the risks of blood clots.

The company is testing the drug in seven mid-stage studies for lung cancer, thyroid cancer and another form of blood cancer.

The FDA said that the most recent clinical trial data Ariad had submitted showed at least 20 percent of patients developed blood clots or narrowing of blood vessels.

The agency also said it recently received reports showing that patients treated with Iclusig experienced serious eye problems, including decreased vision and clots in blood vessels of the eye. (http://r.reuters.com/cup73v)

Postmarket reports show that Iclusig patients experienced heart attacks resulting in death, worsening coronary artery disease, stroke, narrowing of large arteries of the brain among others, the FDA said.

The company's shares were down 4 percent at $5.18 at 10:20 a.m. ET, recouping from a low of $5.05.

Ariad's stock lost three-quarters of its value on Wednesday to trade at a three-year low.

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fda-probing-serious-adverse-events-linked-ariads-cancer-145043042--finance.html
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