HPV study finds 7% of U.S. teens, adults carry virus in mouths

Los Angeles Times

A new study showing an estimated 7% of American teens and adults carry the human papillomavirus in their mouths may help health experts finally understand why rates of mouth and throat cancer have been climbing for nearly 25 years. The evidence makes it clear that oral sex practices play a key role in transmission.

The new data, published online Thursday by the Journal of the American Medical Assn., are the first to assess the prevalence of oral HPV infection in the U.S. population. The findings indicate that the virus is not likely to spread through kissing or casual contact and that most cases of oral HPV can be traced to oral sex, which many Americans mistakenly view as a safe practice.

"There is a strong association for sexual behavior, and that has important implications for public health officials who teach sexual education," said Dr. Maura L. Gillison of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, who led the study and presented the findings Thursday at a meeting of head and neck cancer researchers and doctors in Phoenix.

Though herpes, HIV and other diseases can be transmitted via oral sex, the practice is often considered a safer alternative to sexual intercourse. A survey released last year by theU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that about 90% of adults have had oral sex, along with 27% of 15-year-old boys and 23% of 15-year-old girls.

"I don't think people think of oral sex in the same way they do with traditional intercourse," said Fred Wyand, director of the HPV Resource Center at the American Social Health Assn. in Research Triangle Park, N.C. "Sometimes younger people engage in oral sex so they don't have to worry about pregnancy. They may not even make the link between oral sex and STDs."

Suspicion among researchers that the behavior could cause oral cancers by transmitting HPV to the mouth has been mounting over the last decade. Initial studies found that patients with oral cancer were far more likely than healthy controls to have engaged in oral sex. And a 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the more oral sex partners a person has had, the greater their risk of developing throat cancer.

Most oral HPV infections are harmless, and oral cancers are still relatively uncommon. But given the new information, doctors should encourage their patients to use protection during oral sex, Dr. Hans Schlecht, assistant professor of medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, wrote in an editorial accompanying the study.

"It's something people are not comfortable talking about, but it is protective," he said in an interview. "If you are going to be intimate with someone, there are some adult conversations you need to have."

HPV is best known as the cause of cervical cancer, which kills 4,220 women in the U.S. each year, according to the National Cancer Institute. The virus can also cause vulvar, anal, penile and various head and neck cancers. A study published in October in the Journal of Clinical Oncology traced more than 70% of new cases of oral cancers to HPV infection, putting it ahead of tobacco use as the leading cause of such cancers.

If present trends continue, HPV will cause more cases of oral cancers than cervical cancer by 2020, according to the October study.

HPV infection is common ? an estimated 80% of Americans have contracted the virus, Gillison said. It usually produces no symptoms and is typically cleared from the body through natural processes.

But persistent infections can cause cancer. Vaccines are now available for children and young adults to prevent cervical and anal cancers caused by the most troublesome HPV strains.

To get a handle on HPV's role in oral cancers, Gillison and her colleagues analyzed data from 5,579 people ages 14 to 69 who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2009 and 2010. The survey includes a detailed questionnaire and a physical examination, including the first large-scale use of a 30-second oral rinse from which researchers were able to extract cells to test for HPV infection. The test, which can detect the virus in the mouth as accurately as in the cervix, was 10 years in the making.

Gillison's team found that the overall prevalence of oral HPV was 6.9% ? far less than the rate of genital HPV infection in reproductive-age women, which can be as high as 42% among women in their 20s.

The infection rate varied substantially among different groups. For instance, 10.1% of men in the study had oral HPV, compared with 3.6% of women. The reason for the difference is unknown but it could have to do with oral sex practices, Gillison said.

Among people who had more than 20 sexual partners, the prevalence of oral HPV was 20%. But the researchers found it in fewer than 1% of people who said they were virgins and in fewer than 4% of people who said they had never performed oral sex.

Researchers also noted age differences: Those in their early 60s had the highest prevalence at 11.4%. That's in marked contrast to cervical HPV infection, which is most common among women in their early 20s.

It's unclear why the prevalence of oral HPV peaks much later in life, Gillison said. One possibility is that the immune system weakens with age, making people more vulnerable to latent infections. Another theory is that study participants in their 60s grew up during an era of sexual permissiveness that preceded public health messages about safe sex.

"People who came of age during the sexual revolution may have had more sexual partners than other age groups, such as groups that came of age during the HIV epidemic," Gillison said.

The study also linked heavy smoking to oral infection. It's possible that smoking weakens the body's immune response, making it easier for an infection to persist.

The most common high-risk HPV strain, HPV-16, infected 1% of the participants. That strain raises the risk of oral cancer fiftyfold and accounts for most cases of squamous cell cancers of the mouth and pharynx. Squamous cell cancers, which arise in the mucous membranes that line the mouth and throat, are diagnosed in 2.6 per 100,000 people and are the most common type of oropharyngeal cancer.

Even with only 1% of people infected by HPV-16, that still translates to "hundreds of thousands of people" who will contract the virus and be unable to clear it, Schlecht said.

It's unclear whether the HPV vaccine will protect against oral cancers. That question that could take years to answer, experts said.

In the meantime, the new data should give parents more to think about as they consider whether to vaccinate their children ? especially their sons, Gillison said. HPV vaccination is recommended for females ages 9 to 26 and males ages 9 to 21.

"Some parents may have felt that the risk of HPV infection wasn't relevant to them," she said. "But this study shows 1 in 10 boys has an infection that can lead to a cancer."

shari.roan@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/X8KcBeMNx8U/la-he-oral-hpv-20120127,0,2252254.story

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Not Buying Health Insurance is Different from ... - American Spectator

The Spectacle Blog

Ann Coulter has offered a novel defense of Romneycare:

Whether you like a state-wide insurance mandate or not, it's a world of difference when the federal government does it. Conservatives, having read the Constitution, ought to understand this.

It was on account of the difference between state and federal powers that the Supreme Court overturned the federal Violence Against Women Act. The court was not endorsing rape, but reminding us that states make laws about rape, not Congress.

The powers the Constitution doesn't delegate to the federal government remain with the states and the people, so yes Massachusetts has police powers that the federal government doesn't have. But there is also a "world of difference" between the government prohibiting rape, an act of violence against another individual, and forcing an individual to purchase health insurance. The Violence Against Women Act was unconstitutional because it usurped legitimate state powers. The individual mandate is unconstitutional at the federal level, but I would argue that it isn't a legitimate use of state power either.

Coulter's reference to the Supreme Court striking down the Violence Against Women Act reminded me of her friend Joe Sobran's quip that "a narrow majority of the Court took the reactionary radical right-wing position that rape is not a form of interstate commerce." He also quoted a law professor who disagreed with the ruling as saying it is "hardly common sense that Congress's power to promote commerce is so limited that it cannot legislate against a practice that costs the national economy billions of dollars annually."

Wrongheaded as that argument is, it's the very same one that people use to insist that failure to purchase health insurance affects interstate commerce. It's more or less the same free rider argument Romney used to justify it being his state government's business whether an individual bought health insurance.

Coulter continues: "the nation's leading conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, helped draft Romneycare. Indeed, Bob Moffit, Heritage's senior fellow on health care issues, can be seen in the picture of the bill-signing ceremony, standing proudly behind Romney." Well, if you've seen the picture, Teddy Kennedy is standing proudly behind Romney too. But this just illustrates the larger problem: many of the national scholars, conservative and otherwise, who advised Romney on Romneycare favored the individual mandate as federal policy, not just as a state law. Newt's dalliance with a federal mandate, mentioned by Coulter, came from similar influences.

Obamacare and Romneycare are so tightly linked that not even a polemicist as gifted and persuasive as Coulter can separate them.

Source: http://spectator.org/blog/2012/01/26/not-buying-health-insurance-is

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AP Exclusive: New taste for Thai elephant meat (AP)

BANGKOK ? A new taste for eating elephant meat ? everything from trunks to sex organs ? has emerged in Thailand and could pose a new threat to the survival of the species.

Wildlife officials told The Associated Press that they were alerted to the practice after finding two elephants slaughtered last month in a national park in western Thailand.

"The poachers took away the elephants' sex organs and trunks ... for human consumption," Damrong Phidet, director-general of Thailand's wildlife agency, said in a telephone interview. Some meat was to be consumed without cooking, like "elephant sashimi," he said.

Poachers typically just remove tusks, which are most commonly found on Asian male elephants and fetch thousands of dollars on the black market. A market for elephant meat, however, could lead to killing of the wider elephant population, Damrong said.

"If you keep hunting elephants for this, then they'll become extinct," he said.

Consuming elephant meat is not common in Thailand, but some Asian cultures believe consuming animals' reproductive organs can boost sexual prowess.

Damrong said the elephant meat was ordered by restaurants in Phuket, a popular travel destination in the country's south. It wasn't clear if the diners were foreigners.

The accusation drew a quick rebuttal from Phuket Governor Tri Akradecha, who told Thai media that he had never heard of such restaurants but ordered officials to look into the matter.

Poaching elephants is banned, and trafficking or possessing poached animal parts also is illegal. Elephant tusks are sought in the illegal ivory trade, and baby wild elephants are sometimes poached to be trained for talent shows.

"The situation has come to a crisis point. The longer we allow these cruel acts to happen, the sooner they will become extinct," Damrong said.

The quest for ivory remains the top reason poachers kill elephants in Thailand, other environmentalists say.

Soraida Salwala, the founder of Friends of the Asian Elephant foundation, said a full grown pair of tusks could be sold from 1 million to 2 million baht ($31,600 to $63,300), while the estimated value of an elephant's penis is more than 30,000 baht ($950).

"There's only a handful of people who like to eat elephant meat, but once there's demand, poachers will find it hard to resist the big money," she cautioned.

Thailand has fewer than 3,000 wild elephants and about 4,000 domesticated elephants, according to the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.

The pachyderms were a mainstay of the logging industry in the northern and western parts of the country until logging contracts were revoked in the late 1980s.

Domesticated animals today are used mainly for heavy lifting and entertainment.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_elephants

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Proposal made for sweeping data protection in EU (AP)

BRUSSELS ? Applying the same standards to protect personal data in all 27 European Union countries will save businesses billions, a senior European Union official said Tuesday, launching a proposal for reforms she said would also safeguard individual privacy.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding's proposal also included a "right to be forgotten" that would mean if a Facebook user wants to take down photos or posts, the company will also have to delete them from its database.

Reding said if enacted the reforms would save businesses operating in the EU about euro2.3 billion ($2.99 billion) a year as they would have just one set of rules to follow rather than the 27 member countries' different sets.

Rule breaches could be punished by fines of up to euro1 million ($1.3 million), or up to 2 percent of the company's annual turnover, she said.

In addition, she asserted that giving consumers increased confidence about the security of their personal information would boost online business in the EU.

"The protection of personal date is a fundamental right for all Europeans, but citizens do not always feel in control of their personal data," Reding said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_hi_te/eu_eu_data_protection

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Okla. hospital must pay $1M to Garth Brooks

Country singer Garth Brooks leaves a courtroom during a civil trial at the Rogers County Courthouse in Claremore, Okla. on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. Brooks says an Oklahoma hospital pledged to name a women's center for his late mother in return for $500,000, but a deposition unveiled Monday showed that, after filing a lawsuit, the country singer couldn't remember what he had been promised. (AP Photo/Tulsa World, Matt Barnard)

Country singer Garth Brooks leaves a courtroom during a civil trial at the Rogers County Courthouse in Claremore, Okla. on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. Brooks says an Oklahoma hospital pledged to name a women's center for his late mother in return for $500,000, but a deposition unveiled Monday showed that, after filing a lawsuit, the country singer couldn't remember what he had been promised. (AP Photo/Tulsa World, Matt Barnard)

CLAREMORE, Okla. (AP) ? An Oklahoma hospital that failed to build a women's health center in honor of Garth Brooks' late mother must pay the country singer $1 million, a jury has ruled.

Jurors on Tuesday evening ruled that the hospital must return Brooks' $500,000 donation plus pay him $500,000 in punitive damages. The decision came in Brooks' breach-of-contract lawsuit against Integris Canadian Valley Regional Hospital in Yukon. Brooks said he thought he'd reached a deal in 2005 with the hospital's president, James Moore, but sued after learning the hospital wanted to use the money for other construction projects.

Jury member Beverly Lacy said she voted in favor of Brooks because she thought the hospital went back on its word. As far as the punitive damages, she said: "We wanted to show them not to do that anymore to anyone else."

The hospital argued that Brooks gave it unrestricted access to the $500,000 donation and only later asked that it build a women's center and name it after his mother, Colleen Brooks, who died of cancer in 1999.

"Obviously we are disappointed, particularly with the jury's decision to award damages above and beyond the $500,000," Integris spokesman Hardy Watkins said. "We're just glad to see the case come to a resolution."

Brooks called the jurors "heroes" and said he felt vindicated by their verdict.

"I no longer feel like I'm crazy," he said.

During the trial, Brooks testified that he thought he had a solid agreement with Moore. Brooks said the hospital president initially suggested putting his mother's name on an intensive care unit, and when Brooks said that wouldn't fit her image, Moore suggested a women's center.

"I jumped all over it," Brooks told jurors in tearful testimony. "It's my mom. My mom was pregnant as a teenager. She had a rough start. She wanted to help every kid out there."

His attorney told the jury during closing arguments that Brooks kept his end of the agreement.

"This case is about promises: promises made and promises broken," lawyer John Hickey told jurors shortly before they started deliberating. "Mr. Brooks kept his promise. Integris never intended to keep their promise and never built a new women's center."

But hospital attorney Terry Thomas said Brooks' gift initially came in anonymously and unrestricted in 2005. He also noted that Brooks couldn't remember key details of negotiations with the hospital's president ? including what he'd been promised ? when questioned during a deposition after filing his lawsuit in 2009.

"At most, it was a misunderstanding between these two," Thomas told jurors during his closing argument. "Am I calling Mr. Brooks a liar? Absolutely not. It's perfectly understandable that he does not remember these events."

The jury began deliberating Tuesday afternoon in Rogers County District Court, and the judge told jurors she wanted them to work as late as midnight to come to a decision.

Before the verdict was read, Brooks said the day had been emotional. The country music star said he was simply trying to honor his mother.

"This little pistol, she deserves nothing but good," Brooks said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-25-People-Garth%20Brooks/id-19107cba6c4946d6bee262c9deafef8b

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Ne-Yo Aims To Revitalize Motown To Its 'Original Glory'

'I was just flattered that they thought me worthy of such a responsibility,' Ne-Yo tells MTV News of his new SVP role.
By Rob Markman

Ne-Yo
Photo: WireImage

Ne-Yo never sought to be a music executive, but when Motown approached him to become the senior vice president of A&R, he couldn't say no.

"Sometimes the music that feeds your soul isn't necessarily the music that feeds your family. So I never envied those cats who had to make those types of decisions," Ne-Yo told MTV News.

On Tuesday, news broke that Ne-Yo made a move from Def Jam, where he started his career, to Motown, where he will now record and help to develop new talent. The Grammy Award-winning singer explained to MTV News that he still has close ties to Def Jam, which like Motown falls under the Universal umbrella. It was Universal Republic and Island Def Jam Motown chairman/CEO Barry Weiss and senior vice president of Motown Ethiopia Habtemariam who were instrumental in bringing Ne-Yo over in an effort to re-brand the storied label that Berry Gordy started back in 1959.

"They sat me down and talked to me about the whole revitalization of Motown, bringing Motown back to its original glory," Ne-Yo said. "I gotta say, beyond anything else, I was just flattered that they thought me worthy of such a responsibility."

Music legends like Diana Ross, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson all at one time recorded for Motown. "It's great big shoes to fill. I was told at one point the title that I now hold is the title that Smokey Robinson held when he was there," he said.

Yes, he's been named an executive, but the "So Sick" singer has not lost his passion for music. His upcoming fifth album, which was originally titled The Cracks in Mr. Perfect, has now taken a new turn. Though fully confident in his new material, Ne-Yo said he's undecided on a title. For now, he is just creating.

"As I'm writing and recording records, the project would take on a whole new personality within itself. That's just the creative process," he said. "So as of right now, there is no title for the album. I'm still working on that ... the running title was The Cracks in Mr. Perfect, but I'm in a whole 'nother head space now."

Related Artists

• Ne-Yo

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677920/ne-yo-motown-svp.jhtml

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State of Union: Obama to take on economic anxiety (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Eager to command center stage in a year dominated by Republican infighting, President Barack Obama is polishing a State of the Union address that will go to the heart of Americans' economic anxiety and try to sway voters to give him four more years. He will speak Tuesday to a nation worried about daily struggles and unhappy with his handling of the economy.

Obama's 9 p.m. EST address before a politically divided Congress will be built around ideas meant to appeal to a squeezed middle class. He is expected to urge higher taxes on the wealthy, propose ways to make college more affordable, offer new steps to tackle a debilitating housing crisis and try to help U.S. manufacturers expand hiring.

Designed as a way for a president to update the nation and recommend ideas to Congress, the State of the Union address has become more than that, especially during that one window when the address falls during the re-election year of an incumbent. It is televised theater ? and Obama's biggest, best chance so far to offer a vision for a second term.

He will frame the campaign to come as a fight for fairness for those who are struggling to keep a job, a home or college savings and losing faith in how the county works.

The speech will be principally about the economy, featuring the themes of manufacturing, clean energy, education and American values.

No matter whom Obama faces in November, the election is likely to be driven by the economy, and determined by which candidate wins voters' trust on how to fix it. More people than not disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy.

The overarching political goal is to give voters a contrast between his vision of a government that tries to level the playing field and those office-seekers who, in his view, would leave people on their own. Without naming them, Obama has in his sights those after his job, including Republicans Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.

The presidential campaign sets an unmistakable context for the speech, right down to the nation's income gap between haves and have-nots. Obama will speak on a few hours after Romney, a former governor and businessman whose wealth is the hundreds of millions of dollars, will release tax records for 2010 and 2011.

The lines of argument between Obama and his rivals are already stark, with America's economic insecurity and the role of government at the center.

The president has offered signals about his speech, telling campaign supporters he wants an economy "that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few." Gingrich, on the other hand, calls Obama "the most effective food stamp president in history." Romney says Obama "wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society."

Obama's tone will be highly scrutinized given that his address falls smack in the middle of a fierce and frenzied Republican presidential nomination process. He will make bipartisan overtures to lawmakers but will leave little doubt he will act without opponents when it's necessary and possible, an approach his aides say has let him stay on offense.

The public is more concerned about domestic troubles over foreign policy than at other any time in the past 15 years, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. Some 81 percent want Obama to focus his speech on domestic affairs, not foreign ones; just five years ago, the view was evenly split.

On the day before Obama's speech, his campaign released a short Web ad showing monthly job losses during the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration, with positive job growth for nearly two Obama years. Republicans assail him as failing to achieve a lot more.

House Speaker John Boehner, responding to reports of Obama's speech themes, said it was a rehash of unhelpful policies. "It's pathetic," he said.

Obama will offer economic proposals for this year, despite long odds against getting the help he would need from Republicans.

Presidential spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that Obama is not conceding the next 10 months to "campaigning alone" when people need economic help. On the goals of helping people get a fair shot, Carney said: "There's ample room within those boundaries for bipartisan cooperation and for getting this done."

For three days following his speech, Obama will promote his ideas in five states key to his re-election bid: Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan. He speaks on Friday about college affordability at the University of Michigan.

Meanwhile, the Republican race is suddenly a race again, given Gingrich's resounding win in the South Carolina primary over the weekend. Romney, who appeared the strong front-runner coming into that primary, is now focusing on Gingrich more than Obama as the GOP contest unfolds in Florida.

Vice President Joe Biden, in an interview with radio host Ryan Seacrest, said Monday there is no ideological difference between any of the Republicans seeking to challenge Obama. He said the campaign will offer the clearest choice in which direction to take the country since the era of the Great Depression.

Polling shows Americans are divided about Obama's overall job approval but unsatisfied with his handling of the economy.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_state_of_the_union

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Rep. Giffords to resign Monday from Congress, focus on recovering from shooting injuries (Star Tribune)

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Second body found aboard capsized cruise ship

As the death toll rises from the Costa Concordia, the ship's captain is fighting back against allegations that he abandoned his post. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.

By NBC News and msnbc.com news services

Published at 10:40 a.m. ET: GIGLIO, Italy -- Unregistered passengers might have been aboard the stricken cruise liner that capsized off this Tuscan island, a top rescue official said Sunday, raising the possibility that the number of missing might be higher than the 20 previously announced.

Divers, meanwhile, pulled out a woman's body from the capsized Costa Concordia on Sunday, raising to 13 the number of people dead in the Jan. 13 accident. Italian Coast Guard divers on Saturday found a woman's body in a corridor of a submerged section of the ship.

Civil protection official Francesca Maffini told reporters the victim found on Sunday was wearing a life vest and was found in the rear of a submerged portion of a ship by a team of fire department divers. The unidentified body was being removed from the ship.

Earlier, Italian authorities raised the possibility that the real number of the missing was unknown because some unregistered passengers might have been aboard. As of Sunday, 19 people are listed as missing, but that number could be higher.

"There could have been X persons who we don't know about who were inside, who were clandestine" passengers aboard the ship, Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the rescue effort, told reporters at a briefing on the island of Giglio, where the ship, with 4,200 people aboard rammed a reef and sliced open its hull on Jan. 13 before turning over on its side.

Gabrielli said that relatives of a Hungarian woman have told Italian authorities that she had telephoned them from aboard the ship and that they haven't heard from her since the accident. He said it was possible that a woman's body pulled from the wreckage by divers on Saturday might be that of the unregistered passenger.

But in addition to the body recovered on Sunday, the body found on Saturday and those of three men found a few days earlier, have yet to be identified, because the corpses were badly decomposed after so much time in the water. Gabrielli said they have identified the other eight bodies: four French, an Italian, a Hungarian, a German and a Spanish national.

Until Sunday, authorities had said that 20 people are still missing.

Seemingly minute shifts in the position of the cruise ship that partially sank in an Italian port is hampering the underwater search for 21 passengers and crew missing for more than a week. NBC's Michelle Kosinki reports from Giglio, Italy.

Holding out hope
Meanwhile, family members of a couple from the state of Minnesota still missing after last week's cruise ship wreck say they've been meeting in Italy with rescue workers.

In an email statement sent Saturday night to news organizations, relatives of Jerry and Barbara Heil say the captain in charge of the operation indicated he wasn't ready to give up hope that the missing can be found.

The family members say they and relatives of others missing from the Costa Concordia accident were taken out near the ship and allowed to place flowers in the water honoring their loved ones. They say the workers stopped what they were doing and saluted during the tribute.

The Heil family says it's grateful for the efforts from the workers trying to find the missing.

The search had been halted for several hours early Sunday, after instrument readings indicated that the Concordia has shifted a bit on its precarious perch on a seabed just outside Giglio's port. A few yards away, the sea bottom drops off suddenly, by some 65-100 feet, and if the Concordia should abruptly roll off its ledge, rescuers could be trapped inside.

DigitalGlobe

The Costa Concordia ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy, resulting in the evacuation of thousands of passengers as the ship began heavily listing.

The effort to find survivors and bodies has postponed an operation to remove heavy fuel in the Concordia's tanks; specialized equipment has been standing by for days.

Light fuel, apparently from machinery aboard the capsized ship, was spotted in nearby waters, authorities said Saturday.

Searching for evidence
Meanwhile, police divers, carrying out orders from prosecutors investigating Captain Francesco Schettino for suspected manslaughter and abandoning the ship, swam through the cold, dark waters to reach his cabin. State TV and the Italian news agency ANSA reported that the divers located and remove his safe and two suitcases. His passport and several documents were also pulled out, state media said.

Searchers inspecting the bridge Saturday also found a hard disk containing data of the voyage, Sky TG24 TV reported.

The captain of the cruise ship told magistrates he informed the ship's owners of the accident immediately, denying he had delayed raising the alarm, judicial sources said on Saturday.

Schettino has been blamed for causing the accident. He is under house arrest, accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship before all passengers were evacuated.

His statements to prosecutors investigating the disaster, reported in the Italian press and confirmed by judicial sources, underline the growing battle between him and Costa Cruise Lines which operates the 114,500 ton vessel.?

According to transcripts of his questioning by prosecutors leaked to Italian media, he said that immediately after hitting the rock he sent two of his officers to the engine room to check on the state of the vessel.

As soon as he realized the scale of the damage, he called Roberto Ferrarini, marine operations director for Costa Cruises.

"I told him: I've got myself into a mess, there was contact with the seabed. I am telling you the truth, we passed under Giglio and there was an impact," Schettino said.

"I can't remember how many times I called him in the following hour and 15 minutes. In any case, I am certain that I informed Ferrarini about everything in real time," he said, adding he had asked the company to send tug boats and helicopters.

Costa Cruises Chief Executive Pier Luigi Foschi says Schettino delayed issuing the SOS and evacuation orders and gave false information to the company headquarters.

"Personally, I think he wasn't honest with us," Foschi told Corriere della Sera Friday. He said the first phone conversation between Schettino and Ferrarini took place 20 minutes after the ship hit the rock.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/22/10210202-second-body-found-aboard-capsized-cruise-ship

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Hospital confirms Paterno died of spreading cancer | The Associated ...

The Pennsylvania hospital where Joe Paterno died confirms that the cause was a spreading lung cancer.
Mount Nittany Medical Center says in a statement that Paterno died at 9:25 a.m. Sunday of "metastatic small cell carcinoma of the lung." Metastatic indicates an illness that has spread from one part of the body to an unrelated area.
The hospital says Paterno was surrounded by family members, who have requested privacy.
Paterno's son had said in November that his father had been diagnosed with a treatable form of lung cancer during a follow-up visit for a bronchial illness.

Source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/news/health/2012/01/hospital-paterno-died-spreading-lung-cancer

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HRW calls on West to accept Islamist rise to power (AP)

CAIRO ? The United States and other Western governments must accept the new reality that Islamists have emerged to fill the power vacuum in the Arab world after a wave of popular uprisings, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report Sunday.

The New York-based group also urged Islamist parties, which have emerged as the biggest winners in recent elections in Tunisia and Egypt and are expected to fare well in Libya, to respect the rights of women and religious minorities, saying they cannot "pick and choose" when it comes to human rights.

Islamist parties are "genuinely popular" in the Arab world, said HRW's executive director, Kenneth Roth, warning that "ignoring that popularity would violate democratic principles."

"Being a political Islamic government should not be a reason to turn a government into a pariah," Roth told reporters in Cairo, where the group released its annual report.

The Arab Spring revolts began in Tunisia in late 2010 and quickly spread to Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain, deposing or challenging authoritarian rulers as citizens who long seemed incapable or unwilling to rise against decades of repression took to the streets in a stunning awakening.

Since the collapse of the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia a year ago, Islamist groups once largely confined to the political sidelines, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, have formed parties and contested parliamentary polls, winning the greatest share of seats.

Even the ultraconservative Salafis, who abstained from politics under Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak, have fared well, winning more than 20 percent of the vote in the country's first post-uprising ballot.

Roth was cautious when asked about concerns about potential human rights violations under Islamist rule. He said that so far, Islamists have said "a lot of right things," but said the true test will be how they deal with the full sweep of human rights once in power.

"These are the big questions," he said.

The Muslim Brotherhood, for example, has been most interested in political freedoms, but Roth noted that "it is very difficult to secure political freedom if you are not respecting religious and women rights."

In some ways, the unexpected Arab uprisings have amounted to a slap to the United States and other Western governments, which had supported autocratic regimes that served as bulwarks against Islamists hostile to the West and appeared to offer stability in a volatile region.

"The West backed an array of autocrats as long as they, in turn, supported Western interests," Roth said. "The West is still adjusting to this historic transformation."

He added that the wave of uprisings "show that the forced silence of people living under autocrats should never have been mistaken for popular complacency."

Roth acknowledged Western governments were re-evaluating their policies as new governments emerge in the region.

Western nations have been accused of being selective in supporting the protesters, with NATO airstrikes proving key to the ouster of slain Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi. Meanwhile, the West has stood largely on the sidelines amid continued crackdowns in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria.

"The people driving the Arab Spring deserve strong international support to realize their rights and to build genuine democracies," Roth said in the group's annual report, which covers some 90 countries. He added that the Arab world is in a "transformative moment," and it will not be an easy one.

Human Rights Watch pointed to five main issues that dominated the relationship between Western governments and their Arab autocratic friends: the threat of political Islam, the fight against terrorism, support for Israel, protection of the oil flow and cooperation in stemming immigration.

Even after the leaders of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia were toppled, Western governments remained hesitant to lean too hard on other shaky authoritarian leaders, the group said. China and Russia acted "obstructionist," using their veto power at the U.N. security council to halt pressure on Syria to stop killings of protesters.

The popular uprisings also have alarmed other repressive regimes such as China, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan, where rulers were worried about facing similar fates.

"The worst response to the Arab Spring is the dictatorial world who are living in fear of the precedents set in this region," Roth said. "China greatly deepened its repression in an effort to avoid jasmine rallies."

Saudi Arabia also continues to discriminate against its citizens and workers, according to HRW, which said 9 million women, 8 million foreign workers and 2 million Shiite citizens are either suppressed or lacking rights in the country.

Outside the Arab world, the last year did not witness significant progress in countries with poor human rights records, including China and North Korea, according to the report.

Corruption, poverty and repression still prevail in Equatorial Guinea, the tiny, oil-rich nation off the western coast of Africa, which has been ruled by Africa's longest-serving ruler, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the group said.

Eritrea continues to be governed by "one of the world's most repressive governments," and its citizens are subjected to torture, detentions and restrictions on freedom of speech, HRW said.

It also cited Colombia, saying armed conflict in the South American country has displaced millions while paramilitary groups with ties to the security apparatus are on the rise.

Cuba, HRW said, remains "the only country in Latin America that represses virtually all forms of political dissent."

The group also claimed that even member states of the European Union have violated human rights through restrictive asylum and migration policies.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/human_rights_report

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Howard, Smith downplay trade ahead of Lakers game (AP)

ORLANDO, Fla. ? Magic fans will get a glimpse of the present and a possible future Friday when Orlando hosts the Los Angeles Lakers.

Center Dwight Howard's preseason trade request left fans bracing for the worst at the start of the regular season. Howard's agent Dan Fegan is permitted to explore trades with the Lakers, New Jersey and Dallas.

That puts a bigger spotlight on the matchup, given that the Lakers' Andrew Bynum has been the subject of speculation around a Howard trade.

Magic general manager Otis Smith remains adamant he's in no rush to deal Howard by the March 15 trade deadline. Smith said he and Howard haven't gotten in-depth about his trade request since training camp.

Smith expects Howard and Bynum to have their minds on the court and nothing else.

"I think both of those guys are probably the best two centers in the business right now and will be competing against each other, so I don't know if it's anything bigger than that," he said.

Howard said he's focused on improving the Magic's 10-4 record.

"This game is not about me and (Bynum), it's about our team trying to get better to win," Howard said. "That was a problem back when Shaquille O'Neal played. People tried to make it about me and him. That's not the case. We're just trying to play basketball and trying to win. The only thing that matters is who wins the game."

Provisions in the new CBA give the Magic the ability to offer Howard $30 million more than any other team. Orlando can offer him a five-year contract extension with 7.5 percent annual raises, while other teams are tapped out at offering a four-year pact with only 4.5 percent raises.

So the Magic could keep Howard through the deadline or sign and trade him to the team of their choice.

"Or he could still walk...with a $30 million dollar haircut," Smith said.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said he thinks Howard and Bynum are more than equipped for the trade spotlight. He noted Howard has dealt with it all season and Bynum handled it when Bryant flirted with a trade request in 2007.

Howard said he's focused on his job.

"I think most people wouldn't allow whatever their situation is ? especially what's going on with me ? to stop them from playing their normal way," he said. "It's just getting on the court and putting aside everything that's going on outside and what people are saying, trade rumors or what team I'm going to...Just put it away and go play basketball.

"So when I get out there on the court, it's go as hard as I can for as long as I can and trust my teammates when I get out there."

Smith said the real pressure may be on teammate Jameer Nelson. Howard previously noted a desire to play alongside other point guards, including Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

Nelson and Howard are friends, both entering the league in 2004.

But Nelson has struggled this season, averaging a career-low 8.3 points and shooting career-low 38 percent from the field.

"He has to play better, of course. But through all of this, he is the one taking the pounding," Smith said. "Right now, he's justifying the pounding because he's not playing well. But sometimes we forget in professional sports that they're people. Regardless of what we talk about, they're still human beings."

Smith said Nelson is injury-free, other than foot issues he's dealt with for several seasons.

"So as tough as he wants to be on the outside, on the inside ? all of them ? he's just a 30-year-old kid," he said. "He still has to work through the mental aspect of him taking a pounding. No, the center didn't come out and directly say it's on Jameer, but basically he has."

Even with needed improvements, Smith said he likes the direction so far.

"A real good team has to overcome a lot of things," he said. "A good team has to overcome a good player not being on par, a good team has to overcome a guy getting to the foul line a bunch of times and missing a lot of foul shots.

"So I imagine if we clear up those things, we'll be a much better basketball team."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_sp_bk_ne/bkn_magic_howard

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Sex Is Safe for Many with Heart Disease, Report Says

Image courtesy of iStockphoto/Yuri_Arcurs

Sex might seem like a risky occupation for the more than 27 million Americans who have been diagnosed with heart disease. But that?s not necessarily so, says a new report. The risk varies greatly depending on the severity of a person?s condition?as well as how stressful (or, perhaps, exciting) the sex is.

Cardiac patients whose condition is considered stable have a low risk of inducing further heart problems by having sex, according to the report, published online Thursday in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Of all people who die suddenly, only about 0.6 percent did so while engaging in sexual activity, according to previous research. If that still sounds a little risky, consider that three quarters of those people were sleeping with someone other than their spouse?most with a younger partner, at a location other than home, or were trying to perform ?after excessive food and alcohol consumption,? says report authors, led by Glen Levine, of the Baylor College of Medicine.

The researchers suggest that relatively healthy heart disease sufferers might do well to stress less about sex?and checking with their doctor is a good first step toward ensuring that it?s a safe endeavor. ?Changes in sexual activity after a cardiac event may impair the patient?s quality of life, negatively affect psychological health, and strain marital or other important intimate relationships, which in turn may lead to depression and anxiety,? according to the report. Research published last year found that sexual satisfaction might actually help protect against heart disease.

The report also concludes that cardiovascular drugs have minimal effect on sexual function, and the authors recommend patients continue to take their meds. They also advise talking these things over with a doctor of counselor. Most patients and their partners feel that ?they have been inadequately educated on this topic by healthcare providers and desire more information on how to resume their normal sexual activity,? the authors noted.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=75a1beb2ccfb691f5277a234240a8e80

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SC-2012 Primary: 32% Gingrich, 28% Romney, 13% Paul, 9% Santorum (We Ask America 1/19)

We Ask America
1/19/12; 988 likely voters, 3.1% margin of error
Mode: Automated phone
We Ask America release

South Carolina

2012 President: Republican Primary
32% Gingrich
28% Romney
13% Paul
9% Santorum
3% Huntsman
3% Perry
(chart)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/20/sc-2012-primary-32-gingri_n_1218537.html

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Prosecutors: 4th man recruited in NYC bomb plot (AP)

NEW YORK ? Federal prosecutors have quietly added a new wrinkle to their case against a New York City man charged in one of the most serious terror plots since the Sept. 11 attacks.

In a revised indictment filed last week in Brooklyn, Adis Medunjanin was hit with a new allegation that he ? along with former high school classmates Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay ? tried to recruit someone identified only as John Doe to travel to Pakistan "to wage violent jihad."

It was the first time the government has linked a fourth person in the U.S. to what evolved into an al-Qaida-sanctioned scheme to pull off what prosecutors call three "coordinated suicide bombing attacks" on Manhattan subway lines. Lawyers for Medunjanin are now demanding that the government reveal the identity of the man before he turns up as a possible witness at a trial set for March.

"We want to know who John Doe is," defense attorney Robert Gottlieb said Thursday.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled next week to take up the issue. The defense also plans to oppose a request by prosecutors for an anonymous jury, Gottlieb said.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn declined to comment Thursday.

Medunjanin, 27, has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, providing material support to a terrorist organization and other charges.

Prosecutors allege that Medunjanin, Zazi and Ahmedzay tried to recruit the fourth man before the three went to Afghanistan in 2008 to join the Taliban and fight U.S. soldiers. They instead were recruited by al-Qaida operatives, who gave them weapons training in their Pakistan camp and asked them to become suicide bombers, authorities say.

The new indictment doesn't say what became of the fourth man.

After returning, Zazi, a former Denver airport shuttle driver, cooked up explosives and set out for New York City around the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. After becoming suspicious he was being watched by law enforcement, he abandoned the plan and returned to Colorado.

Zazi and Ahmedzay have since admitted in guilty pleas that they wanted to avenge U.S. aggression in the Arab world by becoming martyrs. Both could testify against Medunjanin at trial.

In papers filed Wednesday, prosecutors argued that jurors at Medunjanin's trial should be kept anonymous for their safety.

"Given the nature of the allegations, the involvement of al-Qaeda, a foreign terrorist organization with global reach and a history of targeting civilians in New York City, and the virtual certainty of substantial media and public attention, a fair trial requires empaneling an anonymous jury and the other requested protective measures," prosecutors wrote.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_terror

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Gingrich angrily denies he sought open marriage

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich reacts to a question at the start of the Republican presidential candidate debate at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, S.C., Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Gingrich is denying that he ever asked his ex-wife for an open marriage and angrily denounced CNN's John King, moderator of Thursday night's Republican debate for raising the issue. Gingrich blasted what he called the "destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media." (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich reacts to a question at the start of the Republican presidential candidate debate at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, S.C., Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Gingrich is denying that he ever asked his ex-wife for an open marriage and angrily denounced CNN's John King, moderator of Thursday night's Republican debate for raising the issue. Gingrich blasted what he called the "destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media." (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich shakes hands with supporters while standing with his wife Callista Gingrich before speaking at Mutt's Barbeque in Easley, S.C. Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/The Independent-Mail, Nathan Gray) THE GREENVILLE NEWS OUT, SENECA NEWS OUT

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) ? Presidential contender Newt Gingrich on Thursday angrily denied that he asked his second wife for an "open marriage" that would allow him to have a mistress as she claims in an interview broadcast two days before the South Carolina primary.

"Let me be quite clear. The story is false," Gingrich said at a debate, without elaborating.

At the same time, his campaign released his tax returns, showing that he paid more than $994,000 in federal taxes on more $3.1 million in income in 2010.

It was a day of ups and downs for Gingrich, who picked up the endorsement for former rival Texas Gov. Rick Perry. The former House speaker is working to consolidate the support of conservatives behind his candidacy with polls showing him rising in his bid to overtake Republican front-runner Mitt Romney.

"Newt is not perfect but who among us is," Perry said as he bowed out of the race, seeking to provide Gingrich with some political cover in a state filled with evangelicals likely to cringe at Gingrich's two divorces and acknowledged infidelity.

Gingrich's ex-wife threatened to throw his campaign off course.

In excerpts the network released earlier in the day, Marianne Gingrich told ABC News in an interview being broadcast late Thursday that when she discovered Gingrich was having an affair with Callista Bisek, a congressional staffer, he asked his wife to share him.

"And I just stared at him, and he said, 'Callista doesn't care what I do,'" Marianne Gingrich told ABC News. "He wanted an open marriage, and I refused."

She confirmed to The Associated Press that the former speaker had asked her for an open marriage, but she refused his request. She declined to comment further.

At the debate Thursday, Gingrich forcefully denied his ex-wife's charges and castigated debate moderator ? CNN's John King ? for raising the issue at the start of the two-hour long event.

"I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office," Gingrich said. "And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that."

As he stood on stage in Charleston, his campaign released his 2010 income tax returns, which showed he paid roughly 31.6 percent of his adjusted income in taxes, giving about 2 percent to charity. Gingrich criticized rival Romney ? who is worth more than $250 million ? this week for saying he paid only 15 percent.

Gingrich gave $81,133 in cash or checks to charities, about 2.6 percent of his income. That is considerably less than the average of $259,692 that households earning at least $2 million a year gave to charities in 2009, according to research from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Personal financial disclosure forms filed last summer show Gingrich is worth more than $6.5 million. He reported at least $500,000 in assets from Gingrich Productions, his media company that produces books and films.

Two days before the pivotal South Carolina primary, Gingrich's political and private life were clashing just as new polls showed him rising as he looks to overtake Romney in the third state to weigh in on the presidential race. Gingrich has seen his crowds grow in recent days after a strong performance in a debate Monday.

It was unclear how the new revelations from Marianne Gingrich would play in a state where religious and socially conservative voters hold sway. The interview's mere existence shines a spotlight on a part of Gingrich's past that could turn off Republican voters in a state filled with religious and cultural conservatives who may cringe at his two divorces and acknowledged marital infidelities.

Marianne Gingrich has said Gingrich proposed to her before the divorce from his first wife was final in 1981; they were married six months later. Her marriage to Gingrich ended in divorce in 2000, and Gingrich has admitted he'd already taken up with Bisek, the former congressional aide who would become his third wife. The speaker who pilloried then President Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky was himself having an affair at the time.

Earlier in the day, a Gingrich spokesman suggested, like Gingrich's daughters did a day earlier, that Marianne Gingrich's comments may be suspect given the emotional toll divorce takes on everyone involved.

"Divorces are very tough and people have very different recollections of how things happen," R.C. Hammond said.

Equally uncertain was whether Gingrich would get a boost from Perry's endorsement, given that the Texas governor had little support in the state, and get conservative voters to coalesce behind his candidacy. Complicating Gingrich's effort is another conservative, Rick Santorum, who threatens to siphon his support.

A CNN/Time South Carolina poll released Wednesday showed Gingrich in second place with support from 23 percent of likely primary voters, having gained 5 percentage points in the past two weeks. Romney led in the poll with 33 percent, but he had slipped some since the last survey. Santorum was third, narrowly ahead of Texas Rep. Ron Paul and well ahead of Perry.

Regardless of the South Carolina outcome, Gingrich was making plans to compete in Florida's primary on Jan. 31.

Confidence exuded from Gingrich, who rose in Iowa only to be knocked off course after sustaining $3 million in attack ads from an outside group that supports Romney. Gingrich posted dismal showings in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

By the time the race turned to South Carolina, he was back on course ? and criticizing Romney as a social moderate who is timid about attacking the nation's economic troubles.

___

Ray Henry in Atlanta and Jack Gillum in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-19-Gingrich/id-4d997a2f794b40c3929c385c796b8fa3

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Fatal shooting in hotel hosting US women's soccer

updated 5:26 p.m. ET Jan. 18, 2012

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A man was shot and killed in a restaurant of the hotel hosting the U.S. women's soccer team during the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Coach Pia Sundhage said none of her players witnessed the shooting and they were unaware of the incident until it was over. The U.S. is one of three soccer teams at the hotel.

"We were at a meeting. We were meeting and talking soccer," Sundhage said after Wednesday's practice session. "We're safe and secure."

Police were called to the Sheraton Wall Centre at about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday and found the body of a man dead from apparent gunshot wounds in a restaurant.

Teams from Cuba and the Dominican Republic also were staying at the hotel.

U.S. goalie Hope Solo tweeted: "Saved by our instant yoga session. Was about to walk to starbucks when all hell broke loose in the lobby of our hotel! Life is precious..."

Police had not identified the victim and had no information on a suspect. A cracked window and bullet hole could be seen from outside the hotel. It marked the city's first homicide of the year.

Richard Scott, with Soccer Canada, said CONCACAF officials went to the hotel after the shooting to confirm no one was injured.

"I would imagine that probably 99 percent of the athletes would have been in their rooms at that time," he said.

The eight-team CONCACAF tournament begins Thursday with Canada against Haiti. The U.S. team plays the Dominican Republic on Friday.

The tournament runs through Jan. 29.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46040521/ns/sports-olympic_sports/

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Nasdaq rises 1 percent (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? The Nasdaq advanced more than 1 percent while the Dow and S&P 500 added to gains on Wednesday as optimism about potential help from the International Monetary Fund for Europe.

Technology shares led the rise on the S&P 500, with the S&P technology index (.GPST) up 1.5 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was up 79.58 points, or 0.64 percent, at 12,561.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 10.66 points, or 0.82 percent, at 1,304.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 32.55 points, or 1.19 percent, at 2,760.63.

(Reporting By Caroline Valetkevitch; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Merkel to open Davos forum in Switzerland (AP)

GENEVA ? German Chancellor Angela Merkel will headline the annual elite gathering in Davos, Switzerland this month, underscoring the world's focus on the European debt crisis that for over two years has wreaked havoc on financial markets.

Organizers of the World Economic Forum said Wednesday that close to 40 heads of state and 18 of the world's central bankers will be among the expected 2,600 participants from nearly 100 countries, making it the biggest such gathering in four decades at the Swiss Alpine resort.

The exclusive, invitation-only meeting of government and business leaders and VIPs from all walks of life is held to foster debate on the world's most pressing problems. Participants' expertise ranges from technology to arts and sciences, from NGOs to media organizations.

"We are looking desperately around the world for people who can offer solutions," said the forum's founder Klaus Schwab.

Other public figures expected at the Swiss Alpine resort include British Prime Minister David Cameron, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby.

Kevin Steinberg, who heads the forum's U.S. operation, said this year's forum will see the strongest showing ever from the business community who see a greater need than ever before to engage with other sectors of society on global issues. "It's a combination of uncertainty and all of these challenges, and the fact that business and other constituents don't feel they can address or solve any of these issues alone," he told a news conference in New York.

Most of the more than 260 sessions are off-the-record discussions. But this year the forum is introducing a series of 29 on-the-record interviews with well-known figures such as Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who pioneered microcredit as a tool for development, and actress Michelle Yeoh.

Schwab said capitalism in its traditional form is no longer really working. The world's major economies are burdened by debt and have "failed to learn the lessons" from the 2008-2009 financial crisis, he said.

"We are in danger of completely losing the confidence of future generations," he said. "The question is what can we do, and what should we do, without looking for scapegoats and easy answers."

Merkel will kick off the annual meeting and South African Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu will speak at one of the first sessions "to add a values-based and moral-based" focus to the meeting, Steinberg said.

The five-day annual meeting will likely be dominated also by discussion of the wave of Arab Spring protests and comes just months ahead of Russian and French elections. Last year's forum was held just as Tunisia and Egypt were roiled by protests fueled by a lack of jobs and political inclusion.

Merkel's role as leader of Europe's largest economy will be much on display at the forum.

Germany has been paying the lion's share of the bailouts in Europe's debt crisis. But there are signs that even its economy, which has so far grown strongly throughout two years of financial turmoil, is slowing down. Some fear that could further temper the country's willingness to rescue fellow euro countries.

The German government cut the country's 2012 growth forecast to 0.7 percent from 1 percent on Wednesday. It predicts the country will avoid sinking back into recession, although the fourth quarter is expected to show economic contraction of up to 0.3 percent.

The Davos forum, which has been criticized for being a gathering of rich and powerful people disconnected from the world, will again see some protests.

Activists inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement have set up an igloo camp outside the meeting buildings. None of the protesters have been invited to the panels, but the Geneva-based forum's organizers say activists can join the public at certain parallel events being held.

Last week, the World Economic Forum said the financial crisis of the past few years is fueling resentment that could spark protectionism, nationalism and social unrest.

In a warning to government leaders, the Geneva-based international organization said leaders risk ushering in a "dystopian future" because of the impact of young people with few prospects, retirees dependent on debt-saddled states and an expanding gap between the rich and poor.

___

Associated Press Writer Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report from New York

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_davos_forum

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Captain's conduct blasted as divers find more dead

An Italian firefighter helicopter airlifts a rescued passenger from the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Firefighters worked Sunday to rescue a crew member with a suspected broken leg from the overturned hulk of the luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia, 36 hours after it ran aground. More than 40 people are still unaccounted-for. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

An Italian firefighter helicopter airlifts a rescued passenger from the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Firefighters worked Sunday to rescue a crew member with a suspected broken leg from the overturned hulk of the luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia, 36 hours after it ran aground. More than 40 people are still unaccounted-for. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Italian firefighters' scuba divers approach the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground a day earlier off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The incident sent water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forced the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Italian firefighters scuba divers approach the cruise ship Costa Concordia leaning on its side, the day after running aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. A helicopter on Sunday airlifted a third survivor from the capsized hulk of a luxury cruise ship 36 hours after it ran aground off the Italian coast, as prosecutors confirmed they were investigating the captain for manslaughter charges and abandoning the ship. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Italian firefighters' scuba divers approach the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A passenger from South Korea, top left, disembarks from an Italian Firefighter boat after being rescued from the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

GIGLIO, Italy (AP) ? Maritime authorities, passengers and mounting evidence pointed Sunday toward the captain of a cruise liner that ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan coast, amid accusations that he abandoned ship before everyone was safely evacuated and was showing off when he steered the vessel far too close to shore.

Divers searching the murky depths of the partially submerged Costa Concordia found the bodies of two elderly men still in their life jackets, bringing the confirmed death toll to five. At least 15 people were still missing, including two Americans.

The recovered bodies were discovered at an emergency gathering point near the restaurant where many of the 4,200 on board were dining when the luxury liner struck rocks or a reef off the tiny island of Giglio. The Italian news agency ANSA reported the dead were an Italian and a Spaniard.

Still, there were glimmers of hope: The rescue of three survivors ? a young South Korean couple on their honeymoon and a crew member brought to shore in a dramatic airlift some 36 hours after the grounding late Friday.

Meanwhile, attention focused on the captain, who was spotted by Coast Guard officials and passengers fleeing the scene even as the chaotic and terrifying evacuation was under way.

The ship's Italian owner, a subsidiary of Carnival Cruise lines, issued a statement late Sunday saying there appeared to be "significant human error" on the part of the captain, Francesco Schettino, "which resulted in these grave consequences."

Authorities were holding Schettino for suspected manslaughter and a prosecutor confirmed Sunday they were also investigating allegations the captain abandoned the stricken liner before all the passengers had escaped. According to the Italian navigation code, a captain who abandons a ship in danger can face up to 12 years in prison.

A French couple who boarded the Concordia in Marseille, Ophelie Gondelle and David Du Pays, told the Associated Press they saw the captain in a lifeboat, covered by a blanket, well before all the passengers were off the ship.

"The commander left before and was on the dock before everyone was off," said Gondelle, 28, a French military officer.

"Normally the commander should only leave at the end," said Du Pays, a police officer who said he helped an injured passenger to a rescue boat. "I did what I could."

Coast Guard officers later spotted Schettino on land as the evacuation unfolded. The officers urged him to return to his ship and honor his duty to stay aboard until everyone was safely off the vessel, but he ignored them, Coast Guard Cmdr. Francesco Paolillo said.

Schettino insisted he didn't leave the liner early, telling Mediaset television that he had done everything he could to save lives. "We were the last ones to leave the ship," he said.

Questions also swirled about why the ship had navigated so close to the dangerous reefs and rocks that jut off Giglio's eastern coast, amid suspicions the captain may have ventured too close while carrying out a maneuver to entertain tourists on the island.

The ship's owner, Costa Crociere SpA, issued a statement late Sunday saying it was working with investigators to determine "precisely what went wrong aboard the Costa Concordia."

"While the investigation is ongoing, preliminary indications are that there may have been significant human error on the part of the ship's master, Captain Francesco Schettino, which resulted in these grave consequences," the statement said. "The route of the vessel appears to have been too close to the shore, and the captain's judgment in handling the emergency appears to have not followed standard Costa procedures."

Residents of Giglio said they had never seen the Costa come so close to the dangerous "Le Scole" reef area.

"This was too close, too close," said Italo Arienti, a 54-year-old sailor who has worked on the Maregiglio ferry between Giglio and the mainland for more than a decade. Pointing to a nautical map, he drew his finger along the path the ship usually takes and the jarring one close to shore that it followed Friday.

The ship was a mere 150 yards (meters) from shore at the time of the grounding, ANSA quoted Grosseto prosecutor Francesco Verusio as saying.

Schettino insisted he was twice as far out and said the ship ran aground because the rocks weren't marked on his nautical charts.

However, he did concede he was maneuvering the ship in "touristic navigation" ? implying a route that was a deviation from the norm and designed to entertain the tourists.

"We were navigating approximately 300 meters (yards) from the rocks," he told Mediaset television. "There shouldn't have been such a rock. On the nautical chart it indicated that there was water deep below."

Costa captains have occasionally steered the ship near port and sounded the siren in a special salute, Arienti said. Such a nautical "fly-by" was staged last August, prompting the town's mayor to send a note of thanks to the commander for the treat it provided tourists who flock to the island, local news portal GiglioNews.it reported.

But Arienti and other residents said even on those occasions, the cruise ship always stayed far offshore, well beyond the reach of the "Le Scole" reefs.

"Every so often they would do a greeting, but not so close ? far away, safely," said resident Giacomo Dannipale.

Douglas Ward, a cruise expert and author of the 2012 Berlitz guide to cruises, said the waters around Giglio are too shallow for such maneuvers.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini said divers had recovered the so-called "black box," with the recording of the navigational details, from a compartment now under water, though no details were released.

Jorgen Loren, chairman of the Swedish Maritime Officer's Association, said the captain clearly deviated from the ship's intended route.

"It is remarkable because weather conditions were good and these cruise ships have the best and most modern technical equipment. All conditions were ideal," he said.

"These are well-known waters, ferries pass here every day going back and forward to the mainland," he said.

Meanwhile, rescue work continued into the night on the unsubmerged half of the Concordia, said firefighters spokesman Luca Cari. Sniffer dogs were being brought in, although it was unclear if they could adapt to working in an environment where the horizontal became the vertical, due to the 90-degree list of the ship.

Marini, the coast guard captain, held out hope there could still be survivors, perhaps holed up in the section still above water, or that some of the unaccounted passengers simply didn't report their safe arrival on land.

Earlier Sunday, a helicopter airlifted a cabin crew member from the capsized hulk just hours after South Korean honeymooners were rescued from their cabin when firefighters heard their screams.

A relative of the rescued crewman told reporters he had survived two nights in darkness and with his feet in water.

Besides the two dead discovered Sunday, the bodies of three other victims ? two French passengers and a Peruvian crewman ? were pulled out of the sea in the hours after the accident.

Survivors described a terrifying escape that was straight out of a scene from "Titanic." Many complained the crew didn't give them good directions on how to evacuate and once the emergency became clear, delayed lowering the lifeboats until the ship was listing too heavily for all to be released.

"We were left to ourselves," pregnant French passenger Isabelle Mougin, who injured her ankle in the scramble, told the ANSA news agency.

Another French passenger, Jeanne Marie de Champs, said that faced with the chaotic scene at the lifeboats, she decided to take her chances swimming to shore.

"I was afraid I wouldn't make the shore, but then I saw we were close enough, I felt calmer," she told Sky News 24.

Coast Guard diver Majko Aidone, interviewed by Sky TG24 TV after his dive, explained that the first task after gaining access to a submerged space, is to tie down large floating objects, like mattresses, which could turn into dangerous obstacles.

Then, in hopes of alerting any survivors to their presence, "we make noise," he said.

Crews in dinghies climbed on board the exposed hull of the ship and touched it, near the site of the 160-foot-long (50-meter-long) gash where water flooded in and caused the ship to topple on its side.

Earlier Sunday, at a Mass held in Giglio's main church, which opened its doors to the evacuees Friday night, altar boys and girls brought up a life vest, a rope, a rescue helmet, a plastic tarp and some bread.

Don Lorenzo, the parish priest, told the faithful that he wanted to make this admittedly "different" offering to God as a memory of the tragedy.

"Our community, our island will never be the same," he said.

___

Malin Rising in Stockholm, Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris and Victor L. Simpson and Frances D'Emilio in Rome contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-15-EU-Italy-Cruise-Aground/id-d79f399076d94797ad5e0be6bbdc63a5

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