FDA will investigate added caffeine in foods

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Trail mix. Potato chips. And now gum.

With a growing number of foods boasting added caffeine for an energy boost, the Food and Drug Administration says it's time to investigate their safety.

The FDA's new look at added caffeine and its effects on children and adolescents is in response to a caffeinated gum introduced this week by Wrigley. Called Alert Energy Gum, it promises "The right energy, right now." The agency is already investigating the safety of energy drinks and energy shots, prompted by consumer reports of illness and death.

Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner of foods, said Monday that the only time FDA explicitly approved the added use of caffeine in a food or drink was in the 1950s for colas. The current proliferation of caffeine added to foods is "beyond anything FDA envisioned," Taylor said.

"It is disturbing," Taylor said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We're concerned about whether they have been adequately evaluated."

Taylor said the agency will look at the potential impact these "new and easy sources" of caffeine will have on children's health and will take action if necessary. He said that he and other FDA officials have held meetings with some of the large food companies that have ventured into caffeinated products, including Mars Inc., of which Wrigley is a subsidiary.

Wrigley and other companies adding caffeine to their products have labeled them as for adult use only. A spokeswoman for Wrigley, Denise M. Young, said the gum is for "adults who are looking for foods with caffeine for energy" and each piece contains about 40 mg, or the equivalent amount found in half a cup of coffee. She said the company will work with FDA.

"Millions of Americans consume caffeine responsibly and in moderation as part of their daily routines," Young said.

Food manufacturers have added caffeine to candy, nuts and other snack foods in recent years. Jelly Belly "Extreme Sport Beans," for example, have 50 mg of caffeine in each 100-calorie pack, while Arma Energy Snx markets trail mix, chips and other products that have caffeine.

Critics say it's not enough for the companies to say they are marketing the products to adults when the caffeine is added to items like candy that are attractive to children. Major medical associations have warned that too much caffeine can be dangerous for children, who have less ability to process the stimulant than adults. The American Academy of Pediatrics says caffeine has been linked to harmful effects on young people's developing neurologic and cardiovascular systems.

"Could caffeinated macaroni and cheese or breakfast cereal be next?" said Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which wrote the FDA a letter concerned about the number of foods with added caffeine last year. "One serving of any of these foods isn't likely to harm anyone. The concern is that it will be increasingly easy to consume caffeine throughout the day, sometimes unwittingly, as companies add caffeine to candies, nuts, snacks and other foods. "

Taylor said the agency would look at the added caffeine in its totality ? while one product might not cause adverse effects, the increasing number of caffeinated products on the market, including drinks, could mean more adverse health effects for children.

Last November, the FDA said it had received 92 reports over four years that cited illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths after consumption of an energy shot marketed as 5-Hour Energy. The FDA said it had also received reports that cited the highly caffeinated Monster Energy Drink in several deaths.

Agency officials said then that the reports to the FDA from consumers, doctors and others don't necessarily prove that the drinks caused the deaths or injuries but said they were investigating each one. In February, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg again stressed that reports to the agency of adverse events related to energy drinks did not necessarily suggest a causal effect.

FDA officials said they would take action if they could link the deaths to consumption of the energy drinks, including forcing the companies to take the products off the market.

In 2010, the agency forced manufacturers of alcoholic caffeinated beverages to cease production of those drinks. The agency said the combination of caffeine and alcohol could lead to a "wide-awake drunk" and has led to alcohol poisoning, car accidents and assaults.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fda-investigate-added-caffeine-foods-205546269.html

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Gay Catholic school teacher in Ohio fights firing

A gay teacher who said she was fired by an Ohio Catholic school after her mother's published obituary included the name of her partner is fighting to get her job back.

Carla Hale said she was told she was being let go because her relationship is against teachings of the church.

She plans to file a complaint this week with the city of Columbus, which prohibits firings based on sexual orientation, her attorney said Monday. She already filed a grievance that is now in the hands of a union representing teachers in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus.

Some current and former students have rallied behind the physical education teacher, staging a protest outside the diocese headquarters and starting an online petition that has collected about 100,000 supporters.

Hale, 57, said she was fired during Holy Week in March after an anonymous letter sent to school administrators drew attention to the obituary published in The Columbus Dispatch.

A copy of the letter provided by her attorney was signed "a concerned parent."

"My daughter came home and told me that one of the gym teacher's mother had died," the letter said. "She asked me to pray for her. When we looked in the obituaries, I was shocked by what I saw. It had her teacher's name and that of her 'spouse' listed. It was two females!"

Hale, who is Methodist, was informed about two weeks after her mother's death that the school was investigating, but she never had a chance to discuss it with school leaders, said attorney Thomas Tootle.

Hale, who had spent 19 years teaching at Bishop Watterson High School, said the decision to acknowledge her partner was not immoral.

"It's kind of baffling that someone would take an obituary and use it, to me, in such a mean-spirited manner," Hale said at a news conference last week.

The Diocese of Columbus would not comment directly about the firing, but it said school employees can't go against teachings of the church.

"All Catholic school personnel at the outset of their employment agree that they will abide by the rules, regulations and policies of the Catholic Diocese, including respecting the moral values advanced by the teachings of Christ," the diocese said in a statement.

Hale's attorney said he will file a complaint Tuesday with a Columbus community relations board, arguing that the firing violates the city ordinance on employers discriminating based on sexual orientation. Another option is a wrongful termination lawsuit, Tootle said.

He said some courts have allowed religious groups exemptions to similar discrimination laws but he thinks the case is similar to one in Cincinnati, where a teacher challenged her firing by the archdiocese over her use of artificial insemination to become pregnant. A federal judge has allowed that lawsuit to continue.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-catholic-school-teacher-ohio-fights-firing-165345910.html

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T-Mobile Galaxy S4 now available online

$149.99 up-front, then $20 per month on 24-month not-a-contract

Following AT&T and Sprint's launch last week, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is now available from T-Mobile USA. Right now the device is only available online -- brick-and-mortar stores won't begin stocking the T-Mobile Galaxy S4 until May 8.

T-Mo's GS4, which comes with 16GB of storage in "white frost" and "black mist" color options, will run you $149.99 up-front, followed by installments of $20 for the next two years. That's a total of $629.99, and under the carrier's new pricing arrangements, you'll need to add a service plan on top of that.

Naturally, the Galaxy S4 also includes support for T-Mo's burgeoning 4G LTE network in addition to its more widespread 42Mbps DC-HSDPA.

For more on the Galaxy S4, be sure to read our full review. And if you're ordering a T-Mobile Galaxy S4 today, shout out and make yourself known in the comments.

Source: T-Mobile

More: Samsung Galaxy S4 review

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/c-UJDP2TP7k/story01.htm

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'Iron Man 3' rules world, 'Pain & Gain' takes US

This film image released by Paramount Pictures shows, from left, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie and Mark Wahlberg in a scene from "Pain and Gain." (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Jaime Trueblood)

This film image released by Paramount Pictures shows, from left, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie and Mark Wahlberg in a scene from "Pain and Gain." (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Jaime Trueblood)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? "Iron Man 3" is the heavy-lifter at theaters with a colossal overseas debut that overshadows a sleepy pre-summer weekend at the domestic box office.

The superhero sequel starring Robert Downey Jr. got a head-start on its domestic launch next Friday with a $195.3 million opening in 42 overseas markets.

Sunday studio estimates show director Michael Bay's true-crime tale "Pain & Gain" muscled into first-place domestically with a $20 million debut.

The movie starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie knocked off Tom Cruise's sci-fi adventure "Oblivion" after a week in the No. 1 spot. "Oblivion" slipped to second-place with $17.4 million, raising its domestic total to $64.7 million.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-04-28-US-Box-Office/id-1928f604bc1f439e83aa2bec3cfe65cc

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Analysis: U.S. emergency care cost estimates are too low

Apr. 29, 2013 ? U.S. emergency care costs may be more than twice previously published estimates, according to a new analysis that critiques those estimates, argues for improved accounting, and suggests considering the value of emergency care as well as total spending.

Alternately praised in the aftermath of horrible tragedies as a heroic service and lamented in policy debates as an expensive safety net for people without primary care, emergency medicine is often a hot topic. Despite that importance, an analysis published online April 26 in the Annals of Emergency Medicine finds that national expenditures on emergency care are likely significantly higher than previously thought.

"The ER has become increasingly important as a place where people go for acute unscheduled care, however there has been little rigorous analysis of its cost structure," said paper lead author Dr. Michael Lee, assistant professor of emergency medicine in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a physician at Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital.

Lee, who had a prior career in economics and finance before training in emergency medicine, co-wrote the analysis with Dr. Brian Zink, professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Alpert Medical School, and Dr. Jeremiah Schuur, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and director of quality and patient safety for the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital.

The challenge of properly accounting for the costs of emergency care, Lee said, becomes crucial as health care financing moves from a fee-for-service model to bundled payments for patient populations or episodes of care.

Clarifying costs

The analysis first examines current estimates of aggregate spending on emergency department (ED) care. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) estimates $48.3 billion of spending on emergency care in 2010, or 1.9 percent of the nation's total health care expenditures of $2.6 trillion. With the message that "The total cost is small relative to the entire health care system," the American College of Emergency Physicians has embraced the AHRQ figure in its "Just 2 percent" public relations campaign.

How big a part of the whole bill?

A new cost analysis suggests that emergency care accounts for far more than the commonly accepted 1.9 percent of the nation's $2.6-trillion annual health care bill. It's more likely between 4.9 and 5.8 percent -- possibly as high as 6.2 to 10 percent.But Lee and his co-authors point out, based on data from other studies, that MEPS undercounts the number of ED visits and the number of ED patients who are admitted to hospitals. Adjusting for those discrepancies using data from a variety of other published sources, the authors estimate that ED costs are between 4.9 percent to 5.8 percent of total health care spending.

The authors went beyond national data sets, including the National Emergency Department Sample, to review ED spending data from a different source: a major national private insurer. The data included charges from doctors and hospitals for imaging, testing, and other procedures. But again there were accounting differences between admitted and discharged patients and a need to account fully for spending from Medicare and Medicaid. The authors' estimate based on this data is ED spending that is 6.2 to 10 percent of total health care spending.

Much of the debate in the academic literature around the expense of ED care has to do with whether the bulk of costs are fixed (e.g., expensive equipment and continuous staffing) or marginal (e.g., flexible staff time, expendable supplies). According to Lee, the cost structure of the ED remains poorly understood and is significantly more complex than what is modeled in existing studies.

As with assessments of total costs, the authors report, the studies vary widely even after adjusting for inflation. Across four major studies over the last three decades, the average cost per patient of an ED visit in 2010 dollars ranged from only $134 to more than $1,000, Lee and colleagues found. Meanwhile, the marginal cost of an ED visit (factoring out the fixed costs), ranged from $150 to $638.

Alternative accounting

The authors instead argue for an accounting based approach to ED costs using a methodology known as "Time-Driven Activity Based Costing (ABC)," which has been applied to health care by Robert Kaplan and Michael Porter, professors at the Harvard Business School.

The method maps all clinical, administrative, and diagnostic steps in a patient encounter and assigns costs to each activity, explicitly accounting for the time spent on each task.

ABC accounting might provide a more realistic and transparent measure of ED costs, Lee said, because the emphasis on time is particularly relevant for emergency medicine.

"The real cost of providing emergency care has to do with accurately measuring the resources that are used, and time is an important variable to take into account," he said.

The authors envision using the methodology to measure the cost of common ED processes or chief complaints, and to compare this to alternative sites such as primary care offices or clinics, he said. They also point out that ABC accounting gives "gives ED managers specific data they can use to improve the value of care by identifying high-cost steps in the process."

Emphasize value, not just cost

The authors acknowledge that an outcome of their analysis reporting higher overall costs for emergency care, may invite further criticism that the expense of emergency care represents unnecessary, inefficient care.

"However, we offer a more sanguine interpretation -- the high share of spending affirms the importance of emergency medicine within the health care system," they wrote. "With 130 million visits, 28 percent of all acute care visits, and accounting for nearly half of all admissions, emergency medicine should be expected to represent a large share of health care spending."

And Lee cautions, based on other studies, that efforts by private and government payers to divert ER care may not lead to large aggregate savings.

"Diverting nonemergency care may simply shift costs onto primary care offices and clinics which may not have the infrastructure to accommodate a large volume of unscheduled care," Lee said.

Instead there may be more potential for cost savings by focusing on reducing unnecessary diagnostic testing in the ED or unnecessary admissions that originate from the ED.

Lee and his co-authors call for the debate to include value, not just cost.

"More attention should be devoted to quantifying the value of specific aspects of emergency care," they wrote. "Rather than minimize the issue of cost, we should recognize the economic and strategic importance of the ED within the healthcare system and demonstrate that costs are commensurate with value.

Lee acknowledges that this remains a challenge for the field of emergency medicine. "The core of our business is ruling out critical diagnoses. Many of the things we look for are low probability but highly dangerous conditions. The big question is how do you quantify value when your work is often focused on trying to demonstrate the absence of something?"

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Brown University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Michael H. Lee, Jeremiah D. Schuur, Brian J. Zink. Owning the Cost of Emergency Medicine: Beyond 2%. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2013.03.029

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/-2Lv_P_FvXM/130429130514.htm

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The Captain's Journal ? Dangerous Old Guys

The Baltimore Sun:

Besides drinking beer, there are two other pastimes that Bavarians love: driving and sport-shooting, including hunting. Bavarians build BMW?s ?Ultimate Driving Machines.? Bavarians? national dress is hunter green. No one who visits Munich is likely to miss the German Hunting and Fishing Museum in the middle of the main shopping street. When in Munich, I saw the world?s best-known opera devoted to shooting and hunting, Carl Maria von Weber?s ?Der Freisch?tz? (?The Marksman?), with its unforgettable Hunters? Chorus singing, ?What on earth can equal the pleasure of hunting??

Nationwide in Germany, there are hundreds of Sch?tzenvereins (shooting clubs) with thousands of members. At fairs and festivals, members march through village streets sporting their weapons. In the 19th century, German immigrants brought Schuetzenvereins to the United States, including one in Baltimore in the 1850s; some of the descendants of those immigrants are core supporters of shooting and hunting. At brewing beer, driving cars and shooting guns, Bavarians are world class.

When individual Bavarians want to own and operate Ultimate Driving Machines, they don?t think twice about getting licenses to drive and registrations to own these vehicles. They don?t think twice that they have to be of the legal age to drive, have to show that they know the traffic laws, have to show that they know how to operate these machines safely and have to present liability insurance in case their Ultimate Driving Machines injure anyone.

It?s no different in America. Those who want to own and operate a car are not troubled that they must show that they are of legal age, must demonstrate that they know the traffic laws, must show that they can operate cars safely and must maintain liability insurance on the cars they own. They do not think of licensing as a limitation on their freedom but as a protection for us all against potentially dangerous use of driving machines.

Just as Bavarians accept that they must be licensed to own and operate their Ultimate Driving Machines, so too do they accept, without objection, that they must be licensed to own and shoot firearms. What are these requirements? They are similar to those for cars.

Applicants must show that they are of legal age. They must show that they are ?reliable,? i.e., that they have not recently been convicted of certain crimes. A background check is required. Applicants must have ?personal aptitude? ? they are not mentally ill or substance abusers. They must pass a test that shows that they have ?specialized knowledge.? They must maintain liability insurance.

Sounds oh so reasonable, right?? Wait for the next part.

Finally, applicants must show that they have a ?need? to own a gun. The law defines ?need? broadly to include ?personal or economic interests meriting special recognition, above all as a hunter, marksman, traditional marksman, collector of weapons or ammunition, weapons or ammunition expert, endangered person, weapons manufacturer, weapons dealer or security firm ?? Licensing their use of firearms is no more an imposition on their freedom than is licensing the use of Ultimate Driving Machines.

Trust the government, says the commentary.? If you want a weapon it?s virtually the same thing as needing a weapon.? We really do want to serve you.? Trust us.

Do I seem like a guy who is amenable to these ?reasonable? proposals???WRSA notes that I?m?a dangerous old guy.? Don?t try to sell a pack of lies to dangerous old guys.? After all, we have guns, and we?re dangerous.? We just want to be left alone.

Source: http://www.captainsjournal.com/2013/04/28/dangerous-old-guys/

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Dinosaur predecessors gain ground in wake of world's biggest biodiversity crisis

Apr. 29, 2013 ? Many scientists have thought that dinosaur predecessors missed the race to fill habitats emptied when nine out of 10 species disappeared during Earth's largest mass extinction, approximately 252 million years ago. The thinking was based on fossil records from sites in South Africa and southwest Russia.

It turns out that scientists may have been looking for the starting line in the wrong places.

Newly discovered fossils from 10 million years after the mass extinction reveal a lineage of animals thought to have led to dinosaurs taking hold in Tanzania and Zambia in the mid-Triassic period, many millions of years before dinosaur relatives were seen in the fossil record elsewhere on Earth.

"The fossil record from the Karoo of South Africa remains a good representation of four-legged land animals across southern Pangea before the extinction event. But after the event animals weren't as uniformly and widely distributed as before. We had to go looking in some fairly unorthodox places," said Christian Sidor, University of Washington professor of biology. He's lead author of a paper appearing the week of April 29 in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The new insights come from seven fossil-hunting expeditions since 2003 in Tanzania, Zambia and Antarctica, funded by the National Geographic Society and National Science Foundation, along with work combing through existing fossil collections. The researchers created two "snapshots" of four legged-animals about 5 million years before and again about 10 million years after the extinction event at the end of the Permian period.

Prior to the extinction event, for example, the pig-sized Dicynodon -- said to resemble a fat lizard with a short tail and turtle's head -- was a dominant plant-eating species across southern Pangea. Pangea is the name given to the landmass when all the world's continents were joined together. Southern Pangea was made up of what is today Africa, South America, Antarctica, Australia and India. After the mass extinction at the end of the Permian, Dicynodon disappeared and other related species were so greatly decreased that newly emerging herbivores could suddenly compete with them.

"Groups that did well before the extinction didn't necessarily do well afterward," Sidor said. "What we call evolutionary incumbency was fundamentally reset."

The snapshot 10 million years after the extinction event reveals, among other things, that archosaurs were in Tanzanian and Zambian basins, but not distributed across all of southern Pangea as had been the pattern for four-legged animals prior to the extinction. Archosaurs are the group of reptiles that includes crocodiles, dinosaurs, birds and a variety of extinct forms. They are of interest because it is thought they led to animals like Asilisaurus, a dinosaur-like animal, and Nyasasaurus parringtoni, a dog-sized creature with a five-foot tail that scientists in December 2012 announced could be the earliest dinosaur, or else the closest relative found so far.

"Early archosaurs being found mainly in Tanzania is an example of how fragmented communities became after the extinction event," Sidor said. And the co-authors write: "These findings suggest that . . . archosaur diversification was more intimately related to recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction than previously suspected."

A new framework for analyzing biogeographic patterns from species distributions, developed by co-author Daril Vilhena, a UW biology graduate student, provided a way to discern the complex recovery, Sidor said.

It revealed that before the extinction event 35 percent of four-legged species were found in two or more of the five areas studied, with some species having ranges that stretched 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers), encompassing the Tanzanian and South African basins. Ten million years after the extinction event, the authors say there was clear geographic clustering and just 7 percent of species were found in two or more regions.

The techniques -- new ways to statistically consider how connected or isolated species are from each other -- could be useful for other paleontologists and modern day biogeographers, Sidor said.

In the early 2000s Sidor and some of his co-authors started putting together expeditions to collect fossils from sites in Tanzania that hadn't been visited since the 1960s and in Zambia where there'd been little work since the '80s. Two expeditions to Antarctica provided additional materials, as did long-term efforts to examine museum-held fossils that had not been fully documented or named.

Other co-authors from the UW are graduate students Adam Huttenlocker and Brandon Peecook, post-doctoral researcher Sterling Nesbitt and research associate Linda Tsuji; Kenneth Angielczyk of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago; Roger Smith, of the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town; and S?bastien Steyer from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

Funding was also received from the Evolving Earth Foundation, the Grainger Foundation, the Field Museum/IDP Inc. African Partners Program and the National Research Council of South Africa.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Washington. The original article was written by Sandra Hines.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Christian A. Sidor, Daril A. Vilhena, Kenneth D. Angielczyk, Adam K. Huttenlocker, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Brandon R. Peecook, J. S?bastien Steyer, Roger M. H. Smith, and Linda A. Tsuji. Provincialization of terrestrial faunas following the end-Permian mass extinction. PNAS, April 29, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1302323110

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/t4B8Gs8a5mE/130429154059.htm

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Bangladesh united in grief over a failed rescue from collapsed factory

Many hundreds have been rescued so far. But a fire broke out today amid the rubble of the collapsed building, ending hopes of saving a known survivor named Shahinur.

By Saad Hammadi,?Correspondent / April 28, 2013

Rescue workers search Sunday for survivors in the remains of a collapsed garment factory in Bangladesh.

Wong Maye-E/AP

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She was the last person located and known to still be alive inside a garment factory building that collapsed last week in Bangladesh. But before rescuers could save Shahinur, who went by only one name, a fire broke out in the rubble today and the woman who captured the attention of the nation perished. The death toll now stands at 378.

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Bangladesh is passing through one of its gloomiest national moments. Civilians extending help in the rescue effort were anxiously looking forward to Shahinur?s rescue, as were those away from the site, who remained glued to television and mobile phones.

Firefighters made three foxholes in the area where Shahinur was stuck and almost managed to get her out. In the meantime, public hope for her rescue led the army to hold off on its plans this morning to start using heavy equipment to clear more of the rubble, according to Masudur Rahman Akand, a deputy assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defense.

When the fire broke out, the failure brought tears to the eyes of many. With the fourth day of search and rescue coming to a close, victims are reluctant to give up hope, and a nation remains, for a time, united in grief and anger.?

According to information provided by relatives of those who worked in the factories, about 761 persons are still missing. A security guard rescued last night has said that a person on the seventh floor of the squeezed building was still alive.

?There could be few more people still surviving inside the wreckage,? says a local journalist present at the site.

However, preparations are underway to begin the second phase of recovery by using cranes and other heavy equipment. ?According to our estimates possibly there is no more persons alive,? says a lieutenant colonel with the Bangladesh Army. ?With [only] light equipment we cannot remove all the rubble.?

The rescue efforts have transfixed Bangladeshis, overshadowing the Shahbag protests that began in February to insist on tough punishments for Islamist leaders who committed war crimes during the 1971 war for independence. The protests spawned a broader secular movement, and touched off political tensions about the role of Islam in politics.?

For now, those tensions have receded. Bangladeshis from all walks of life, besides extending their support to the rescue efforts, are largely united in calling for the maximum punishment for the owner of the building and the factory owners ??for what many call a ?mass murder.?

Despite instructions to keep the building closed on Tuesday after an inspection team comprising of engineers identified cracks, the building owner kept it open. Factory owners threatened they would dock workers' pay unless they went to work.

Bangladesh?s elite crime busting agency Rapid Action Battalion on Sunday arrested Sohel Rana, owner of Rana Plaza ? the eight-story commercial complex ? that housed five factories, a few shops, and a private bank. Mr. Rana was arrested from Benapole, one of the border crossings Bangladesh shares with India.?

?All agencies were alerted about Rana. We were finally able to arrest him,? said Mukhlesur Rahman, director general of the Rapid Action Battalion. He had traveled to more than one district in the last four days, he added.?

Bangladesh police have also arrested four of the owners of the five factories: Mahmudur Rahman Tapas of New Wave Bottoms, Bazlus Samad Adnan of New Wave Styles, Aminul Islam of Phantom Apparels and Phantom Tac Limited, and Anisur Rahman of Ether Tex.

Yet political disagreements are already on the horizon. Bangladesh?s right-wing opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has called for a countrywide shutdown on May 2, protesting the deaths at Savar.

A BNP official noted that the day of the factory collapse, the party had called for a nationwide general strike, or hartal, on unrelated matters. Abdul Moyeen Khan, standing committee member of the BNP, implied that workers in the cracked building were forced to come to work in a political bid to prove that people defied the hartal.?

?Work was called off the day cracks were identified. What turned so important for the workers to gather during a?hartal?? he said.?You must have noticed that several survivors said that they were threatened that their pay will be docked.?

The government is now faced with trying to manage anger from a second major factory disaster within the past half year. In November, a fire broke out in a factory on the outskirts of the capital, killing more than 100 people.

So far, the government has highlighted the rescue efforts as a major success, with as many as 2,400 rescued. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said: ?This has perhaps never happened in the history that so many lives were rescued after such a disaster.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/FoZDiDr7eao/Bangladesh-united-in-grief-over-a-failed-rescue-from-collapsed-factory

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Video: Conan O'Brian to host the White House Correspondents' Dinner (cbsnews)

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Lack of Sleep May Harm Men's Sperm

Not getting enough sleep may harm men?s sperm, a new study from Denmark says.

Men who slept poorly had lower sperm counts and fewer sperm that had formed correctly, compared with men who slept better.

"Given the facts that approximately 20 percent of all young men may have reduced semen quality, and that sleep disturbances are common and increasing in industrialized countries, the results of this study may have important public health implications," the researchers wrote in their article.

Future studies should look at whether interventions aimed at improving sleep might also improve semen quality, they said.

The researchers used data from 953 young men who were mostly in their late teens and early 20s. They asked the men how well they had slept in the previous four weeks, conducted blood tests to measure their hormone levels and analyzed their semen.

The researchers found that 15 percent of the men said they had found it difficult to fall asleep, and 13 percent of the men reported sleeping restlessly.

In general, the worse that men slept, the poorer the quality of their semen was. For instance, the men who had slept the poorest had a 25 percent reduction in sperm count, and had 1.6 percent fewer sperm that were morphologically normal, compared with men who reported low levels of sleep disturbances. The researchers accounted for factors that could affect the results, such as men's alcohol consumption, smoking and age.

There were no differences in hormone levels across the groups, the researchers said.

The study found an association, and does not prove that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between sleep quality and sperm counts.

However, there are plausible ways to explain the link, the researchers said. It may be that sleep disturbances alter nighttime testosterone rhythms, without affecting overall testosterone levels, the researchers said. However, lifestyle factors not accounted for in the study could explain both the poor sleep and lowered semen quality, they noted.

The study was published online April 7 in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Pass it on: Lack of sleep may harm men's sperm.

Follow Karen Rowan?@karenjrowan. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily?@MyHealth_MHND, Facebook?&?Google+.

Copyright 2013 MyHealthNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lack-sleep-may-harm-mens-sperm-155006187.html

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Two arrested in Al Qaeda US-Canada train plot ? directed from Iran (+video)

Canadian police thwarted a terrorist attack on a US-Canada train by two men directed by Al Qaeda in Iran. Yes, Al Qaeda in Iran, say police.

By David Clark Scott,?Staff writer / April 22, 2013

RCMP Assistant Commissioner James Malizia said on Monday in Toronto, that police had arrested and charged two men with an Al Qaeda-supported plot to derail a VIA passenger train.

Aaron Harris/Reuters

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Two men were arrested Monday and charged with plotting a "major terrorist attack" on a Canada-US passenger train.

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David Clark Scott leads a small team at CSMonitor.com that?s part Skunkworks, part tech-training, part journalism.

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Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, who live in Montreal and Toronto, were acting alone, but were operating with support from Al Qaeda in Iran, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Al Qaeda in Iran?

Assistant RCMP Commissioner James Malizia, the officer in charge of federal policing operations, said the plot was supported by ?Al Qaeda elements in Iran.?? He also said that Al Qaeda provided "direction and guidance" to the alleged plot.

The link to Iran is a curious one. Al Qaeda leaders and Iran's leaders have not been known allies. Al Qaeda is a Sunni-based movement. Iran is predominantly Shiite. Canadian officials made clear that they weren't connecting the alleged plot to the Iranian government. But the presence of Al Qaeda leaders, who fled from Afghanistan to Iran after September 11, 2001, has been known for some time.

As Peter Bergen, wrote for CNN last month, "According to US documents and officials, in addition to [Suleiman] Abu Ghaith, other of bin Laden's inner circle who ended up in Iran include the formidable military commander of al Qaeda, Saif al-Adel, a former Egyptian Special Forces officer who had fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan, as well as Saad bin Laden, one of the al Qaeda's leader older sons who has played some kind of leadership role in the group."

What prompted the Bergen "Strange Bedfellows: Iran and Al Qaeda" article was the recent capture of Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law, Suleiman Abu Ghaith. As Reuters reported, "he was captured on Feb. 28 and brought secretly to the?United States?... Law enforcement sources say he was detained in?Jordan?by local authorities and the FBI after was believed to have been expelled from?Turkey." But for most of the past decade Abu Ghaith had been living in Iran.

"Current and former US officials said that group, known to US investigators as the Al Qaeda "Management Council," was kept more or less under control by the?Iranian government, which viewed it with suspicion."

Bergen describes the life of Al Qaeda members in Iran is a loose form of house arrest.? They are allowed to go out shopping, for example, but with restrictions.

This latest example of an Al Qaeda-Iran tie will raise some eyebrows.

And how serious was this latest terrorist threat in Canada?

Charges include conspiring to carry out an attack against, and conspiring to murder persons unknown for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group, according to the RCMP press release. "It was definitely in the planning stage but not imminent," RCMP chief superintendent Jennifer Strachan told reporters. But she declined to give more details.

Neither men were Canadian, and Canadian law enforcement officials did not state their nationality, but some media reports described them as Tunisians.

US officials?told Reuters that the attack plotters were targeting a rail line between New York and Toronto, but Canadian police did not publicly confirm which route was the target.

Canadian law enforcement officials praised the cooperation between various agencies, including the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Canada Border Services Agency, and various local Canadian police departments.

The CBC News says that it's "highly placed sources" tell them that the suspected terrorists have been under surveillance for more than a year in Quebec and southern Ontario.

The two men are reportedly to appear in a Toronto court Tuesday, and more details may be forthcoming in that hearing.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/aHsKGCVC0Ow/Two-arrested-in-Al-Qaeda-US-Canada-train-plot-directed-from-Iran-video

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Egypt president invites judges to discuss judicial reform crisis

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has invited senior figures from the judiciary to discuss a crisis triggered by proposed reforms that would push out thousands of judges, state media said on Saturday.

Islamist lawmakers have put forward a bill that would force out more than 3,000 judges by lowering the retirement age, causing a revolt among the judiciary and widening political divisions in the country more than two years after a popular uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptian judges - along with the country's secular, leftist and liberal opposition - say the law aims to cement the authority of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood rather than stamp out corruption.

Mursi's legal adviser and the justice minister resigned in protest over what they said were attempts to curtail judicial independence.

The bill was proposed by the moderate Islamist Wasat Party, an ally of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party.

The state newspaper Al-Ahram reported the president had invited heads of judicial bodies including the High Constitutional Court and the Court of Cassation to meet him in the presidential palace on Sunday to discuss the crisis.

On Friday, the deputy leader of the Brotherhood's political arm argued the Islamist-dominated parliament must move quickly to adopt the reforms.

In a further sign of the country's febrile politics, several opposition groups said earlier on Saturday they had filed a case against the government to press it to publish details of the state budget.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-president-invites-judges-discuss-judicial-reform-crisis-082218482.html

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A GATHERING OF PRESIDENTS

We needed this past week, with its moments of introspection, its reflections on national purpose, its symbols of national concord. Many of them, of course, occurred in Boston, site of terrorism in 2013. One of them occurred in Dallas, site of tragedy in 1963.

The images of what happened in Boston already have been seared into the national psyche. The image of what happened in Dallas Thursday is fresher, and while ceremonial rather than spontaneous, it was a powerful statement about the noblest American values: Duty. Service. Reconciliation. Unity.

It was there, in Dallas, that five presidents -- all the living chief executives -- gathered to dedicate the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. There is a liturgy to moments like this, carefully intertwined skeins of expressions and omissions: artfully crafted, sometimes stilted, speeches about the burden of office; exhortations of goodwill; eloquent things said and difficult things unsaid. "I like President Bush," Bill Clinton said that morning, and the remark carried the weight of the generous and the genuine.

That was all there, on the campus of Southern Methodist University, on a shiny afternoon when Barack Obama, who for years after his inauguration still pilloried the younger Bush, stood in presidential solidarity with his foil; when the man being honored warmly greeted Clinton, his remarks about how his predecessor had dishonored the White House long forgotten; when Clinton, who ran a tough race against the older Bush, stood beside the wheelchair carrying his 1992 rival, his body language displaying devotion, perhaps even love; and when Clinton and Obama, who cringe every time their names are in the same sentence with Jimmy Carter, nonetheless welcomed the 39th president as one of their own.

Because there, in one stunning Texas tableau, stood most of American history since 1977.

Missing, of course, was Ronald Reagan, who had a gift for conciliation and, despite his age in the White House, a vision sharper than any of those in attendance. In a way he was there as well. You could almost see the smile, which was genuine, and hear the stage laugh, which was not, and the love of country, which all of these men -- even the ones, like Clinton and Obama, who raged against it when young -- came to embrace in the office that Reagan once held.

What we saw there, too, was a portrait of a land locked in economic crisis, wracked with social divisions, jolted by terrorism at a precious regional ritual and saddened by the knowledge that its most precious conviction (social mobility and the sturdy belief that the children will surpass their parents) is in grave danger of becoming a myth.

Because these five men, makers of history but responders to history as well, represent so much of our national character.

Obama will never cease being a national symbol, even if his domestic initiatives are forgotten, if his health care initiative fails and if his legacy, like those of presidents between 1865 and 1893, are lost in a mist of memory. He still will be remembered as a pathfinder -- and a symbol of what a nation that yearns to leave its greatest wrong behind can do when the time comes, in the autumn every four years, to look forward and exercise its greatest right.

The younger Bush remains a historical work in progress, which is why some of Thursday's remarks made awkward swerves around the obstacles of Iraq, "enhanced interrogation techniques" and the economy.

Even so, the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll shows almost the same rate of approval of Bush's two terms (47 percent) as disapproval (50 percent). Two Democratic presidents Thursday saluted him for his commitment to Africa. And no one across this broad country will forget the image of Bush and his bullhorn -- and the moment in September 2001 when he spoke for America and, on a bully pulpit on a pile of New York rubble, symbolized the nation's resolve.

Then there is Clinton, impeached and disgraced, bowed and bloodied but never broken, resolute and resilient, a symbol, or maybe two, in his own right. Despite his riches today -- like Herbert Hoover, his life went from modesty to millions -- he was, and substantially is, the boy from Hope, the Arkansas town whose name in Clinton's 1992 campaign so satisfied an American hunger at a moment of economic distress.

But Clinton's 1996 campaign also offered powerful imagery of a different sort, for he portrayed his re-election bid as a "bridge to the 21st century." Only now, with former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton the consensus front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, do we see the full span of that bridge.

A moment here for the elder Bush, who spoke movingly of "our son." No longer the hyper-frenetic president but still a master of building coalitions, he now is the consensus elder statesman, the onetime symbol of privilege now an enduring and beloved symbol of the "kinder, gentler" values he spoke of in his 1988 acceptance speech.

And finally, Carter, in sunglasses last week. Hardly anyone contests that his was a fraught presidency, pockmarked by inflation, high interest rates, hostages in Iran, national malaise -- a word the president never used but seemed peculiarly suited to his era. But do not let it be forgotten Carter was an idealist, and he cleansed American politics of the rot of despair after Watergate.

Carter seems immune from revisionism -- the kindly gift from time bestowed on many presidents, Warren G. Harding and Hoover excepted. But like Hoover, Carter is a remarkable ex-president (a role Clinton plays with particular aplomb as well). A symbol of American virtue in hopeless corners of the globe, and a symbol of the ennobling value of democracy in places of tyranny, Carter's post-White House life has been as an ambassador for all seasons, to all continents.

The events marking the opening of the first presidential library of the century began with the Pledge of Allegiance, delivered by a female first lieutenant, herself an Army veteran of Iraq. At the library site are twisted girders from the Sept. 11 attacks. Thursday there were speeches, flags, anthems and patriot dreams, undimmed by human tears -- all a reminder of this: Presidential libraries, like presidents themselves, are not about individuals. They are about us all.

COPYRIGHT 2013 THE PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gathering-presidents-050118178.html

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House to Vote on FAA Bill (WSJ)

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Horford leads Hawks to 90-69 rout of Pacers

ATLANTA (AP) ? As Al Horford led a lumbering fast break, David West doled out a flagrant blow that sent the Atlanta center tumbling to the court.

This time, the Hawks didn't back down.

Jeff Teague came up from behind to give West a shove, a play that epitomized a resurgent team intent on making this a series. That the Hawks did, stunning the Indiana Pacers with a dominant first half on the way to a 90-69 rout in Game 3 on Saturday night.

Horford had 26 points and 16 rebounds to help the Hawks narrow the Pacers' lead to 2-1.

But everyone played with more energy that they did in two double-digit losses at Indianapolis.

"We wanted to show them we're here to play," Teague said. "We were not going to back down to them."

This one was over by halftime, the Hawks racing to a 54-30 lead that set a franchise record for fewest points allowed in the first half of a playoff game, and matching Indiana's worst effort in a postseason opening half.

Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Monday night in Atlanta, where the Hawks have won 12 straight over the Pacers dating to 2006.

"This team did something they've done all year long," coach Larry Drew said. "They responded."

The Hawks changed up their lineup ? inserting 7-footer Johan Petro at center and bringing 3-point specialist Kyle Korver off the bench ? after getting manhandled on the road. With more favorable matchups and a lot more energy, Atlanta suddenly looked like a team that can challenge the Pacers.

"We were ready to go," Drew said. "Before the game, I went in the locker room to give my speech and it was quiet in there. That told me they were focused."

Indiana, which was so dominant on its home court, was a totally different team after heading south. David West led the Pacers with 18 points. Paul George, who averaged 25 points in the first two games, was held to 16 on 4-of-11 shooting.

The Pacers connected on a dismal 27 percent (22 of 81) from the field. Taking Smith and George out of the mix, they were 11 of 56.

"We're a very young team," coach Frank Vogel said. "There's going to be some growing pains. We're going to feel this, experience this, and get better from it."

Josh Smith added 14 points for the Hawks, and Teague had 13. But that's only part of the story. Smith was able to take George out of his comfort zone, while Teague put the clamps on George Hill, who had surprisingly averaged 20 points in the first two games. The Pacers guard was held to three on 1-of-8 shooting.

"They came out with a lot of energy, put us on our heels early, and the rest is history," Hill said. "We turned the ball over a lot and we weren't getting to the places that we want to get to on offensive end."

Drew started the little-used Petro at center in hopes of cutting into the Pacers' size advantage, a move that had a ripple effect on Horford and Smith, providing more favorable defensive matchups all along the front line. Horford was able to shift to power forward, while Smith moved over to small forward.

But, after getting manhandled in the first two games at Indianapolis, the Hawks' turnaround wasn't really propelled by a great strategic move.

Petro played only 14 minutes. Korver, who started the first two games, still got the bulk of the playing time with 29 minutes. Instead, this was more about the Hawks coming out with a lot more passion, the very things Drew had been preaching since the start of the series.

"We were ready," Smith said.

After falling behind 8-1 in the opening minutes and calling a quick timeout, Atlanta dominated the rest of the opening half with a display that had the crowd on its feet time and time again, while the Pacers stood around in a state of shock.

As good as the Pacers were in the first two games, averaging 110 points and a 16-point margin of victory, they were that bad in Game 3. They made four of their first six shots ? then missed 30 of their next 36 before halftime, many of them the forced, ugly efforts of a team that turned increasingly desperate as the Hawks seemed to get to every loose ball just a little quicker.

Roy Hibbert missed all four of his shots in the first half. The backcourt duo of Hill and Lance Stephenson each went 1 of 6. The Atlanta defense, which was largely nonexistent in the first two games, contested every shot this time. Not only did Petro bring a more physical presence, Ivan Johnson came off the bench to provide plenty of bruising, quality minutes ? not to mention some fierce staredowns when Indiana did manage a rare basket.

But nothing was more telling that when Horford went down in the second quarter, and Teague came to his defense. After a bit more shoving and jawing, the teams were separated. The officials reviewed the video and stuck with their original call ? a flagrant foul on West, a technical on Teague.

"I don't think it was a dirty play. It was a hard foul. It's playoff basketball," Horford said.

Still, he was impressed by Teague's reaction.

"I was very surprised," Horford said. "I was like, 'Was that you?' I was happy. I was proud. He had my back out there."

For the most part, the game lived up to the nickname the Hawks' PR department has tried to push on the team for years. This was, indeed, the Highlight Factory ? most notably late in the first half, when Devin Harris took off on a fast break, glanced over his left shoulder and spotted Smith sprinting up from behind. Harris delivered a perfect behind-the-back pass, and Smith unleashed a thunderous left-handed slam that would've scored a perfect "10" in a dunk contest.

The Pacers, in fact, spent most of the night in a defensive fog. Stephenson fouled Harris on a desperation 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down, and the Atlanta player knocked down all three free throws. Then, after the Pacers made a couple of free throws with 6 seconds left in the half, Harris let the inbounds pass roll nearly to midcourt to save time, then scooped it up and took off for an uncontested layup that sent the Hawks to the locker room with their 24-point lead.

Notes: The Pacers' last win in Atlanta was a regular-season triumph Dec. 22, 2006. ... The Hawks missed six of their first 10 free throws, extending the troubles they had in the first two games. But they bounced back to make 14 of their last 18. ... Petro finished with six points and four rebounds.

___

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/horford-leads-hawks-90-69-rout-pacers-015137831.html

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Breyer has shoulder surgery after bike accident (The Arizona Republic)

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Big brands rejected Bangladesh factory safety plan

A Bangladeshi woman weeps as she holds a picture of her and her missing husband as she waits at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, April 26, 2013. The death toll reached hundreds of people as rescuers continued to search for injured and missing, after a huge section of an eight-story building that housed several garment factories splintered into a pile of concrete.(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

A Bangladeshi woman weeps as she holds a picture of her and her missing husband as she waits at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, April 26, 2013. The death toll reached hundreds of people as rescuers continued to search for injured and missing, after a huge section of an eight-story building that housed several garment factories splintered into a pile of concrete.(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

A Bangladeshi woman weeps as she holds a picture of her and her missing husband as she waits at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, April 26, 2013. The death toll reached hundreds of people as rescuers continued to search for injured and missing, after a huge section of an eight-story building that housed several garment factories splintered into a pile of concrete.(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

A Bangladeshi woman weeps as she waits at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, April 26, 2013. The death toll reached hundreds of people as rescuers continued to search for injured and missing, after a huge section of an eight-story building that housed several garment factories splintered into a pile of concrete.(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? As Bangladesh reels from the deaths of hundreds of garment workers in a building collapse, the refusal of global retailers to pay for strict nationwide factory inspections is bringing renewed scrutiny to an industry that has profited from a country notorious for its hazardous workplaces and subsistence level wages.

After a factory fire killed 112 garment workers in November, clothing brands and retailers continued to reject a union-sponsored proposal to improve safety throughout Bangladesh's $20 billion garment industry. Instead, companies expanded a patchwork system of private audits and training that labor groups say improves very little in a country where official inspections are lax and factory owners have close relations with the government.

In the meantime, the number of deaths and injuries has mounted. In the five months since last year's deadly blaze at Tazreen Fashions Ltd., there were 40 other fires in Bangladeshi factories, killing nine workers and injuring more than 660, according to a labor organization tied to the AFL-CIO umbrella group of American unions.

Wednesday's collapse of the Rana Plaza building that killed more than 300 people is the worst disaster to hit Bangladesh's fast-growing and politically powerful garment industry. For those working to overhaul conditions for workers who are paid as little as $38 a month, it is a grim reminder that corporate social responsibility programs are failing to deliver on lofty promises.

More than 48 hours after the eight-story building collapsed, some garment workers were still trapped alive Friday, pinned beneath tons of mangled metal and concrete. Rescue crews struggled to save them, knowing they probably had just a few hours left to live, as desperate relatives clashed with police.

"Improvement is not happening," said Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Workers Federation in Bangladesh, who said a total of 600 workers have died in factory accidents in the last decade. "The multinational companies claim a lot of things. They claim they have very good policies, they have their own code of conduct, they have their auditing and monitoring system," Amin said. "But yet these things keep happening."

What role retailers should play in making working conditions safer at the factories that manufacture their apparel has become a central issue for the $1-trillion global clothing industry.

The clothing brands say they are working to improve safety, but the size of the garment industry ? some 4,000 factories in Bangladesh alone ?means such efforts skim the surface. That opaqueness is further muddied by subcontracting. Retailers can be unwittingly involved with problematic factories when their main suppliers farm out work to others to ensure orders are filled on time.

"We remain committed to promoting stronger safety measures in factories and that work continues," Wal-Mart said in a statement after the Rana Plaza collapse. The world's largest retailer says there was no authorized Wal-Mart production in the building.

Labor groups argue the best way to clean up Bangladesh's garment factories already is outlined in a nine-page safety proposal drawn up by Bangladeshi and international unions.

The plan would ditch government inspections, which are infrequent and easily subverted by corruption, and establish an independent inspectorate to oversee all factories in Bangladesh, with powers to shut down unsafe facilities as part of a legally binding contract signed by suppliers, customers and unions. The inspections would be funded by contributions from the companies of up to $500,000 per year.

The proposal was presented at a 2011 meeting in Dhaka attended by more than a dozen of the world's largest clothing brands and retailers ? including Wal-Mart, Gap and Swedish clothing giant H&M ? but was rejected by the companies because it would be legally binding and costly.

At the time, Wal-Mart's representative told the meeting it was "not financially feasible ... to make such investments," according to minutes of the meeting obtained by The Associated Press.

After last year's Tazreen blaze, Bangladeshi union president Amin said he and international labor activists renewed a push for the independent inspectorate plan, but none of the factories or big brands would agree.

This week, none of the large clothing brands or retailers would comment about the proposal.

Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner did not directly answer questions about the unions' safety plans in replies to questions emailed by The Associated Press. H&M responded to questions with emailed links to corporate social responsibility websites.

In December, however, a spokesperson for the Gap ? which owns the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic chains ? said the company turned down the proposal because it did not want to be vulnerable to lawsuits and did not want to pay factories more money to help with safety upgrades.

H&M also did not sign on to the proposal because it believes factories and local government in Bangladesh should be taking on the responsibility, Pierre B?rjesson, manager of sustainability and social issues, told AP in December.

H&M, which places the most apparel orders in Bangladesh and works with more than 200 factories there, is one of about 20 retailers and brands that have banded together to develop training films for garment manufacturers.

Wal-Mart last year began requiring regular audits of factories, fire drills and mandated fire safety training for all levels of factory management. It also announced in January it would immediately cut ties with any factory that failed an inspection, instead of giving warnings first as before.

And the Gap has hired its own chief fire inspector to oversee factories that produce its clothing in Bangladesh.

But many insist such measures are not enough to overhaul the industry that employs 3 million workers.

"No matter how much training you have, you can't walk through flames or escape a collapsed building," said Ineke Zeldenrust of the Amsterdam-based Clean Clothes Campaign, which lobbies for garment workers' rights.

Private audits also have their failings, she said. Because audits are confidential, even if one company pulls its business from a supplier over safety issues, it won't tell its competitors, who will continue to place orders ? allowing the unsafe factory to stay open.

The Tazreen factory that burned last year had passed inspections, and two of the factories in the Rana Plaza building had passed the standards of a major European group that does factory inspections in developing countries. The Business Social Compliance Initiative, which represents hundreds of companies, said the factories of Phantom Apparels and New Wave Style had been audited against its code of conduct which it said focuses on labor issues not building standards.

"The audits and inspections are too much focused on checklists," said Saif Khan, who worked for Phillips Van Heusen, the owner of brands Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, in Bangladesh until 2011 as a factory compliance supervisor.

"They touch on broader areas but do not consider the realities on the ground," he said.

___

Johnson reported from Mumbai, India. AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio in New York and AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-26-Bangladesh-Building%20Collapse-Inaction/id-8b75d4e25df8487b8e9adc577a90bae9

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Burger King 1Q earnings soar, revenue shrinks

Burger King's first-quarter earnings more than doubled even though revenue fell, as the fast-food chain trimmed several restaurant-related expenses.

The Miami-based company had warned earlier this month that sales at established restaurants were expected to fall during the quarter, and they wound up declining 1.4 percent. That includes a 3 percent drop in the United States and Canada.

Burger King Worldwide Inc. said Friday its net income rose to $35.8 million, or 10 cents per share, in the quarter that ended March 31. That's up from $14.3 million, or 4 cents per share, in the previous year's quarter when it was still private.

The company previously said adjusted earnings totaled 17 cents per share in the most recent quarter.

Revenue fell about 42 percent to $327.7 million. Analysts expected $305.8 million, according to FactSet.

Total restaurant expenses, which include things like food costs and payroll expenses, fell nearly 70 percent in the quarter to $108.1 million.

Burger King has been undergoing a revamp since it was purchased and taken private in 2010 by 3G Capital, a private investment firm run by Brazilian billionaires. The company has been selling more restaurants to franchisees, a move that lowers overhead costs. Instead of booking sales from those restaurants, that means Burger King would collect franchise fees instead.

In the first quarter, the company's restaurant revenues tumbled 69 percent to $121.1 million, but its franchise and property revenues rose 19 percent to $206.6 million.

Burger King's selling, general and administrative expenses also fell about 30 percent to $66.7 million in the quarter.

3G Capital also has slashed costs, signed international expansion deals and changed the U.S. menu to appeal to a wider audience. The moves came ahead of the company's return to public trading the New York Stock Exchange last June.

The company also is adjusting its strategy to focus on more menu deals, such as an offer for a $1.29 Jr. Whopper. McDonald's has been particularly aggressive in touting its Dollar Menu to boost traffic at a time when the restaurant industry is barely growing. Wendy's also revamped its value menu recently.

Burger King says its efforts to revamp the brand remain on track. But CEO Bernardo Hees, a 3G partner, is moving on later this year to head Heinz, another 3G investment. Chief Financial Officer Daniel Schwartz, also a 3G partner, will succeed Lees as CEO at Burger King.

Burger King shares finished at $18.06 on Thursday. They have traded between $12.91 to $20.20 since relisting.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/burger-king-1q-earnings-soar-revenue-shrinks-122545739.html

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