Exclusive: Google Ventures beefs up fund size to $300 million a year

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google will increase the cash it allocates to its venture-capital arm to up to $300 million a year from $200 million, catapulting Google Ventures into the top echelon of corporate venture-capital funds.

Access to that sizeable checkbook means Google Ventures will be able to invest in more later-stage financing rounds, which tend to be in the tens of millions of dollars or more per investor.

It puts the firm on the same footing as more established corporate venture funds such as Intel's Intel Capital, which typically invests $300-$500 million a year.

"It puts a lot more wood behind the arrow if we need it," said Bill Maris, managing partner of Google Ventures.

Part of the rationale behind the increase is that Google Ventures is a relatively young firm, founded in 2009. Some of the companies it backed two or three years ago are now at later stages, potentially requiring larger cash infusions to grow further.

Google Ventures has taken an eclectic approach, investing in a broad spectrum of companies ranging from medicine to clean power to coupon companies.

Every year, it typically funds 40-50 "seed-stage" deals where it invests $250,000 or less in a company, and perhaps around 15 deals where it invests up to $10 million, Maris said. It aims to complete one or two deals annually in the $20-$50 million range, Maris said.

LACKING SUPERSTARS

Some of its investments include Nest, a smart-thermostat company; Foundation Medicine, which applies genomic analysis to cancer care; Relay Rides, a carsharing service; and smart-grid company Silver Spring Networks. Last year, its portfolio company HomeAway raised $216 million in an initial public offering.

Still, Google Ventures lacks superstar companies such as microblogging service Twitter or online bulletin-board company Pinterest. The firm's recent hiring of high-profile entrepreneur Kevin Rose as a partner could help attract higher-profile deals.

Soon it could have even more cash to play around with. "Larry has repeatedly asked me: 'What do you think you could do with a billion a year?'" said Maris, referring to Google chief executive Larry Page.

(Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Read More..

Phase 4 Films Acquires “Precious” Producer’s Directorial Debut “Long Time Gone”

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Phase 4 Films has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to Sarah Siegel-Magness‘ “Long Time Gone,” a drama starring Virginia Madsen, Amanda Crew and Zach Gilford.

Connecticut resident who has a nervous breakdown after discovering her husband is having an affair. Her son tries to comfort her with the help of his older brother (Gilford) and live-in girlfriend (Crew).

Anthony LaPaglia and Eva Longoria also star in the directorial debut of Siegel-Magness, who produced “Precious.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Sarah on her directorial debut after her past success as a producer,” Phase 4 president and CEO Ben Meyerowitz said in a statement. “We cannot wait until audiences see the great performances by Virginia Madsen and the rest of the wonderful cast involved.”

Phase 4 will release the film day-and-date in theaters and across all VOD and digital platforms Spring 2013.

“I am thrilled to have Phase 4 release my directorial debut. From the very start, they understood and appreciated our film and their enthusiasm has us very excited to move forward in the next chapter of our film’s journey,” Siegel-Magness said in a statement. “Their understanding of the ever changing landscape of the marketplace has us feeling confident that our film is in the right hands.”

Movies News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Genital injuries send 16k people to ERs each year

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Bicycles, furniture and clothing are all items blamed for causing genital injuries, which send almost 16,000 men and women to U.S. emergency rooms every year, according to a new study.

“To put this in perspective, the yearly incidence of these (injuries) is almost twice as much as dental injuries, and about the same of electrical and chemical burns,” said the study’s senior author Dr. Benjamin N. Breyer, an assistant professor of urology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Though television shows and viral videos may portray people getting hit in the crotch as comical, it’s a serious issue. Breyer said that genital injuries can go on to cause people physical, psychological and reproductive problems later on.

In the past, most research looked at severe genital and urinary tract injuries caused by major trauma, such as car accidents. For the new study, however, Breyer and his colleagues decided to look at those injuries thought to be caused by common consumer products.

The team, which published its findings in The Journal of Urology, analyzed a national database of ER visits for injuries caused by consumer products.

For their search, the researchers identified all genital injuries to men and women 18 years old and older between 2002 and 2010. The injured body parts included – among other things – penises, testicles, bladders, kidneys and external female genitalia, such as the clitoris and labia.

Overall, 142,143 injuries sent people to an ER over the nine-year period, which worked out to about 15,794 per year – a number that didn’t seem to change over time.

And with sporting items blamed for about 30 percent of the ER visits, they were the most common cause of injuries among people of all ages. The culprit sporting goods included bicycles as well as basketball, soccer, football and baseball equipment.

Breyer said one example of damage from a sporting item is people falling forward on their bicycle and landing on the center bar. He added that padding or cushioning that bar could help prevent injuries.

Other accidents involved clothing items, shaving items and bathing products – including men catching their penises in zippers or people cutting themselves while trying to shave their pubic hair.

“I was surprised to find how many injuries from bicycles, personal grooming and bathrooms there were. Those to me were unexpected,” said Breyer.

AGE, SEX DIFFERENCES

Types of injuries also differed by age and sex.

Men were injured the most – accounting for about two thirds of the ER visits.

When the researchers looked at age, young people were the most often injured, with 18 to 28 year olds making up roughly 40 percent of the visits.

Older people sustained only about eight percent of the injuries, but were more likely to hurt themselves during everyday activities, such as taking a shower.

That finding suggests fall prevention may be the best way to prevent these injuries in the elderly, the authors write.

Older people were also admitted to the hospital more often than any other age group, which, according to Breyer, could reflect that age group’s overall health and the severity of their injuries.

“The next step is to get a little more information on the actual injuries, what happens to the patients and the mechanism of how it happened,” said Breyer.

Ultimately, he said the information can be used to craft strategies or programs to prevent genital injuries.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/VTxWtb The Journal of Urology, online November 5, 2012.

Seniors/Aging News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Merkel says Germany, Britain must work together on EU

LONDON (Reuters) – Germany and Britain must cooperate to work round their differences on the European Union‘s long-term spending plans, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.

“Despite differences that we have it is very important for me that the UK and Germany work together,” Merkel said through a translator before a meeting in London with Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss the EU‘s 2014-2020 budget.

“We always have to do something that will stand up to public opinion back home. Not all of the expenditure that has been earmarked has been used with great efficiency … We need to address that,” she said.

EU leaders meet in Brussels on November 22-23 to try to secure a seven-year budget for the 27-nation bloc amid signs of differences of opinion over what action should be taken.

(Reporting by Peter Griffiths; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Europe News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Boehner: House GOP will work with Obama

Boehner: No mandate for raising tax rates","date":"Tue, Nov 6, 2012 10:37 PM EST","credit":"","byline":null,"provider":"FOX News Videos","photo_title":"House remains in Republican hands","pivot_alias_id":"house-remains-republican-hands-033725649","plink":"\/video\/house-remains-republican-hands-033725649.html","plink_vita":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/video\/house-remains-republican-hands-033725649.html","srchtrm":null,"revsp":"","rev":null,"videoPlayerData":"[{\"id\":\"41fd04e0-cca9-3eb5-bb8a-7fbf3ccea6fd\",\"title\":\"House remains in Republican hands\",\"embedCode\":\"\",\"shareUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/news.yahoo.com\\\/video\\\/house-remains-republican-hands-033725649.html\",\"licenseId\":\"a0770000002lmbdAAA\",\"images\":{\"large\":\"http:\\\/\\\/l2.yimg.com\\\/bt\\\/api\\\/res\\\/1.2\\\/VbZv10JgDqB.WUYs61M0ZA--\\\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTM2MDtxPTg1O3c9NjQw\\\/http:\\\/\\\/media.zenfs.com\\\/en-US\\\/video\\\/video.fbc.news.com\\\/3182cb79246d69cda1c18ec62e829d68\",\"medium\":\"http:\\\/\\\/l.yimg.com\\\/bt\\\/api\\\/res\\\/1.2\\\/fD0KWW3ppnWsmA1uhlINOQ--\\\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIyMDtxPTg1O3c9MjMw\\\/http:\\\/\\\/media.zenfs.com\\\/en-US\\\/video\\\/video.fbc.news.com\\\/3182cb79246d69cda1c18ec62e829d68\"},\"description\":\"Boehner: No mandate for raising tax rates\",\"embeddable\":false}]","duration":"3:02","surl":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/HghKDMkr78sB6LHijfv.NA--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD01NjtxPTc5O3c9MTAw\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en-US\/video\/video.fbc.news.com\/3182cb79246d69cda1c18ec62e829d68","swidth":100,"sheight":56}]};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs['d99c431109644b5109bb82cc7ecaae6b'] = {"spaceid":"2145892301","ult_pt":"story-lightbox","darla_id":"","images_total":0,"xhr_url":"\/_xhr\/related-article\/lightbox\/?id=6c59b8e3-e04e-3ae8-982f-65deb7803b30","xhr_count":20,"autoplay_if_first_item_is_video":true};
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.RelatedArticle({count:"2",start:"1",
mod_total:"10", total:"1",
content_id:"6c59b8e3-e04e-3ae8-982f-65deb7803b30",
spaceid:"2145892301",
related_count:"-1"
});
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {(function(d){
d.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(d.createElement('script')).src='http://d.yimg.com/oq/js/csc_news-en-US-core.js';
})(document);
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {
if(!("Media" in YAHOO)){YAHOO.Media = {};}
if(!("ugcrate" in YAHOO.Media)){YAHOO.Media.ugcrate = {};}
if(!("Media" in Y)){Y.namespace("Media");}
YAHOO.Media.ugcrate.ratings_240cf625f097ce0da50503e11394e761 = new Y.Media.UgcRate({"context_id":"9563d0d6-df7d-4726-8e78-0957e6a90a3c","sCrumb":"a.vXUiIgrXy","containerId":"yom-sentimentrate-240cf625f097ce0da50503e11394e761","rateDimensions":"d1","appLang":"en-US","sUltSId":"2145892301","sUltProperty":"news-en-US","sUltCampaign":"","sUltPlatform":"ugcwidgets","sUltIntl":"US","sUltLang":"en-US","selfPageUrl":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/blogs\/ticket\/trump-election-meltdown-twitter-obama-march-washington-054449245--election.html?_esi=0","artContentId":"bd702bbb-0007-3479-8380-6084fb2a2998","sUltQstnTxt":"Are you optimistic about President Obama\\'s second term?","artContentTitle":"Trump\u2019s Twitter rant after Obama win: \u2018We should march on Washington and stop this\u2019","artContentDesc":"Donald Trump, the impossibly coiffed real estate mogul and de facto leader of the \\\"birther\\\" movement, had something of a Twitter meltdown in the wake of President Barack Obama\\'s projected victory in Tuesday\\'s election. \\\"Well, back to the drawing board!\\\" Trump tweeted shortly after several networks, including Fox News, called Ohio in the president\\'s favor, [...]","sUltBucketId":"test1","sUltSection":"sentirating","sUltBeaconUrl":"","sUltRecordPageviews":"1","sUltBeaconEnable":"1","serviceUrl":"\/_xhr","publisherContextId":"","propertyId":"2fcd79b5-b3a3-333e-b98e-722536a6698f","configurationId":"435db9ee-c55e-3766-b20d-c8ad3ff889d1","graphId":"","labelLeft":"Yes","labelRight":"No","labelMiddle":"","itemimg":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/a\/i\/ww\/met\/yahoo_logo_us_061509.png","selfURI":"","aggregateRatingCount":"826182","aggregateReviewCount":"0","leftBlocksNum":"455585","rightBlocksNum":"370589","leftBlocksPerCent":"55","rightBlocksPerCent":"45","ugcrate_apihost":"api01-us.ugcl.yahoo.com:4080","publisher_id":"news-en-US","yca_cert":"yahoo.ugccloud.app.trusted_proxies","timeout_write":"5000","through_proxy":"false","optionStats":"{\"s1\":377011,\"s2\":23974,\"s3\":18062,\"s4\":16833,\"s5\":19705,\"s6\":370589,\"s7\":0,\"s8\":0,\"s9\":0,\"s10\":0}","l10N":"{\"FIRST_TO_READ\":\"You are first to read this. Share your feelings and start a conversation.\",\"SHARE_YOUR_FEELINGS\":\"You too can share your feelings and start a conversation!\",\"HOW_YOUR_FRIENDS_THINK\":\"Share your response with your friends on Facebook\",\"PRE_SHARE_MSG\":\"Your Facebook friends on Yahoo! can see how you responded. To share your response on Facebook, click on the Facebook share option.\",\"START_THE_CONVERSATION\":\"Share\",\"THANKS_FOR_SHARING\":\"Your response has been shared with your friends on Facebook\",\"POLL_HEADER\":\"SOCIAL SENTIMENT\",\"SERVER_ERROR\":\"Oops there seems to be some error, please try again later\",\"LOADING\":\"Loading...\",\"SHARE_AFTER_COMMENT\":\"Your response has been shared on Facebook.\",\"UNDO\":\"Undo\",\"UNIT_PEOPLE\":\"People\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_DISAGREE\":\"disagree with your opinion.\",\"READ_MORE_TEXT\":\"Read what they have to say.\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"WHAT DO YOU THINK?\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_VERB_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"DRAG\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_THANKS_VOTING\":\"Thanks for voting\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 826,182 people have responded\",\"ONE_PERSON_ANSWERED\":\" 1 person has responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"TWO_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 2 people have responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED_AND_SHARED\":\" 826,182 people have responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s1\":377011,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s2\":23974,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s3\":18062,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s4\":16833,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s5\":19705,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s6\":370589,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s7\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s8\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s9\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s10\":0}","fbconfig":"{\"message\":\"undefined\",\"name\":\"undefined\",\"link\":\"\",\"source\":\"\",\"picture\":\"http:\\\/\\\/l.yimg.com\\\/a\\\/i\\\/ww\\\/news\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/27\\\/yahoo-tc.jpg\",\"description\":\"\",\"captionLeft\":\"undefined\",\"captionRight\":\"undefined\",\"app_id\":\"196660913708276\",\"redirect_uri\":\"\\\/_xhr\\\/ugcratefbredirect\\\/\"}","template_id":"LONG_SLIDER_SOUTH","obj_id":"ratings_240cf625f097ce0da50503e11394e761","opt_count":"6","opt_color1":"","opt_color2":"","template_html":"

Read More..

Apple slides to five-month low, uncertainty grows

'},"otherParams":{"t_e":1,".intl":"US"},"events":{"fetch":{lv:2,"sp":"97570179","ps":"LREC,MON","npv":true,"bg":"#FFFFFF","em":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'6fc6e2e9-b163-3060-b8dd-69df1e64d440\' sensitivity=\'0\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' ctopid=\'1499989;1550500;2299500;1507989;1506989;1542500;1550000;1507489;1577000\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}'),"em_orig":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'6fc6e2e9-b163-3060-b8dd-69df1e64d440\' sensitivity=\'0\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' ctopid=\'1499989;1550500;2299500;1507989;1506989;1542500;1550000;1507489;1577000\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}')}}};var _createNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);var nodeHTML;if(center && !node){nodeHTML=_conf.nodes[nId];center.insert(nodeHTML);};};};var _prepareNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-ad-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);if(center && node){center.set("innerHTML","");center.insert(node);node.setStyle("display","block");};};};var _darla;var _config=function(){if(YAHOO.ads.darla){_darla = YAHOO.ads.darla;_createNodes();};};var _fetch=function(spaceid,adssa,ps){
if (typeof(ps)!='undefined')
_conf.events.fetch.ps = ps;if(typeof spaceid != "undefined") _conf.events.fetch.sp=spaceid;adssa = (typeof adssa != "undefined" && adssa != null) ? escape(adssa.replace(/\"/g, "'")) : "";_conf.events.fetch.em=_conf.events.fetch.em_orig.replace("ADSSA", adssa);if(_darla){_prepareNodes();_darla.setConfig(_conf);_darla.event("fetch");};};Y.on("domready", function(){_config();});;var that={"fetch":_fetch,"getNodes":_conf.nodes,"getConf":_conf};return that;}();/* Backwards compatibility - Assigning the latest instance to the main fetch function */YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.fetch=YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.photoslightboxdarla.fetch;
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {YAHOO.namespace('Media.Social').Lightbox = {};
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.Media.Article.init();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.AuthorBadge();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.Branding();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.on("load", function () {
YUI.namespace("Media.SocialButtons");

var instances = YUI.Media.SocialButtons.instances || [],
globalConf = YAHOO.Media.SocialButtons.conf || {},
vplContainers = [];

Y.all(".ymsb").each(function (node) {
var id = node.get("id"),
conf = YAHOO.Media.SocialButtons.configs[id],
instance;

if (conf) {
instance = new Y.SocialButtons({
srcNode: node,
config: Y.merge(globalConf, conf.config || {}),
contentMetadata: conf.content || {},
tracking: conf.tracking || {}
});
vplContainers.push(
{
selector: "#" + id,
callback: function(node) { instance.render(); instance = conf = id = null; }
});

if (conf.config && conf.config.dynamic) {
instances.push(instance);
}
}
});

Y.Global.Media.ViewportLoader.addContainers(vplContainers);
YUI.Media.SocialButtons.instances = instances;
});
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {if (!Y.Media) {

return;

}

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_whitelist = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_whitelist || {};


Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets['lightboxfb11463e5e719400ca18bc98b9778ce3'] = {"lightboxId":"cdb195a8f28db8cb968141f778323a6b","pivotId":"94bf589f-afdb-3d01-8984-fc68fffb427d"};


Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset['cdb195a8f28db8cb968141f778323a6b'] = {"spaceid":"97570179","total":1,"photoby":"Photo By","xhrtype":"slideshow","videoconf":{"autoplay":true,"continuousPlay":true,"mute":false,"volume":"1.00","lang":"en-US","site":"news","region":"US","jurisdiction":"US","YVAP":{"accountId":"145","playContext":"default"},"pageSpaceId":"97570179","comscoreC4":"US News","comscoreC6":"","showEmbedCode":true,"showShareUrl":true,"expName":"MediaArticleRelatedLightbox","expType":"inline","apiEnv":"prod"},"slideshow_id":null,"slideshow_title":null,"slideshow_title_baked_html":null,"slideshow_desc":null,"slideshow_rev":null,"slideshow_plink_vita":null,"photos":[{"type":"image","url":"http:\/\/l2.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/o7g52ZfQO2z79PRDnwNuug--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zMTI7cT03OTt3PTQ1MA--\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/Reuters\/2012-11-07T221353Z_4_CBRE8A61BIA00_RTROPTP_2_USA.JPG","width":450,"height":312,"uuid":"94bf589f-afdb-3d01-8984-fc68fffb427d","caption":"The Apple logo hangs in a glass enclosure above the 5th Ave Apple Store in New York, September 20, 2012. Apple's iPhone 5 goes on sale tomorrow. REUTERS\/Lucas Jackson","captionBakedHtml":"

The Apple logo hangs in a glass enclosure above the 5th Ave Apple Store in New York, September 20, 2012. Apple's iPhone 5 goes on sale tomorrow. REUTERS\/Lucas Jackson","date":"Wed, Nov 7, 2012 5:38 PM EST","credit":"Reuters","byline":"LUCAS JACKSON","provider":"Reuters","photo_title":"The Apple logo hangs in a glass enclosure above the 5th Ave Apple Store in New York","pivot_alias_id":"apple-logo-hangs-glass-enclosure-above-5th-ave-photo-170604491","plink":"\/photos\/apple-logo-hangs-glass-enclosure-above-5th-ave-photo-170604491.html","plink_vita":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/photos\/apple-logo-hangs-glass-enclosure-above-5th-ave-photo-170604491.html","srchtrm":"The Apple logo hangs in a glass enclosure above the 5th Ave Apple Store in New York","revsp":"","rev":"d8572ae0-292b-11e2-9df6-ca0851fb565a","surl":"http:\/\/l2.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/SFfjn7JLYfdmmNshb8PUtA--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD01NjtxPTc5O3c9ODE-\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/Reuters\/2012-11-07T221353Z_4_CBRE8A61BIA00_RTROPTP_2_USA.JPG","swidth":81,"sheight":56}]};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs['cdb195a8f28db8cb968141f778323a6b'] = {"spaceid":"97570179","ult_pt":"story-lightbox","darla_id":"","images_total":0,"xhr_url":"\/_xhr\/related-article\/lightbox\/?id=6fc6e2e9-b163-3060-b8dd-69df1e64d440","xhr_count":20,"autoplay_if_first_item_is_video":true};
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.RelatedArticle({count:"2",start:"1",
mod_total:"10", total:"0",
content_id:"6fc6e2e9-b163-3060-b8dd-69df1e64d440",
spaceid:"97570179",
related_count:"-1"
});
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {(function(d){
d.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(d.createElement('script')).src='http://d.yimg.com/oq/js/csc_news-en-US-core.js';
})(document);
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {
if(!("Media" in YAHOO)){YAHOO.Media = {};}
if(!("ugcrate" in YAHOO.Media)){YAHOO.Media.ugcrate = {};}
if(!("Media" in Y)){Y.namespace("Media");}
YAHOO.Media.ugcrate.ratings_5edd788e9527897897ec94abed6516ae = new Y.Media.UgcRate({"context_id":"09a9faf4-1bcc-43ad-ac6a-bd9f23f9f173","sCrumb":"uvaE\/bywCHt","containerId":"yom-sentimentrate-5edd788e9527897897ec94abed6516ae","rateDimensions":"d1","appLang":"en-US","sUltSId":"97570179","sUltProperty":"news-en-US","sUltCampaign":"","sUltPlatform":"ugcwidgets","sUltIntl":"US","sUltLang":"en-US","selfPageUrl":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/apples-shares-slide-4-percent-five-month-low-170604771--sector.html","artContentId":"6fc6e2e9-b163-3060-b8dd-69df1e64d440","sUltQstnTxt":"How confident are you that your privacy is being protected when you browse the internet?","artContentTitle":"Apple slides to five-month low, uncertainty grows","artContentDesc":"SAN FRANCISCO\/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of Apple Inc slid almost 4 percent on Wednesday to a five-month low as investors grew more uncertain about its ability to fend off unprecedented competition and untangle a snarled iPhone 5 supply chain. Apple\\'s slide outpaced the S&P 500\\'s drop of about 2.4 percent the day after the U.S. election, putting the world\\'s most valuable technology company into bearish territory. Long a mainstay of many fund portfolios, Apple on Wednesday lost 20 percent - $130 billion of its market value - since hitting a record high in September. ...","sUltBucketId":"test1","sUltSection":"sentirating","sUltBeaconUrl":"","sUltRecordPageviews":"1","sUltBeaconEnable":"1","serviceUrl":"\/_xhr","publisherContextId":"","propertyId":"2fcd79b5-b3a3-333e-b98e-722536a6698f","configurationId":"435db9ee-c55e-3766-b20d-c8ad3ff889d1","graphId":"","labelLeft":"Not at all confident","labelRight":"Completely confident","labelMiddle":"","itemimg":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/a\/i\/ww\/met\/yahoo_logo_us_061509.png","selfURI":"","aggregateRatingCount":"44693","aggregateReviewCount":"0","leftBlocksNum":"42350","rightBlocksNum":"2342","leftBlocksPerCent":"95","rightBlocksPerCent":"5","ugcrate_apihost":"api01-us.ugcl.yahoo.com:4080","publisher_id":"news-en-US","yca_cert":"yahoo.ugccloud.app.trusted_proxies","timeout_write":"5000","through_proxy":"false","optionStats":"{\"s1\":33800,\"s2\":3633,\"s3\":1659,\"s4\":1658,\"s5\":1600,\"s6\":2342,\"s7\":0,\"s8\":0,\"s9\":0,\"s10\":0}","l10N":"{\"FIRST_TO_READ\":\"You are first to read this. Share your feelings and start a conversation.\",\"SHARE_YOUR_FEELINGS\":\"You too can share your feelings and start a conversation!\",\"HOW_YOUR_FRIENDS_THINK\":\"Thank you for sharing your feeling on this article!\",\"PRE_SHARE_MSG\":\"Your Facebook friends on Yahoo! can see how you responded. To share your response on Facebook, click on the Facebook share option.\",\"START_THE_CONVERSATION\":\"Start the Conversation\",\"THANKS_FOR_SHARING\":\"Sure, that's how you feel... But what do your friends think?\",\"POLL_HEADER\":\"SOCIAL SENTIMENT\",\"SERVER_ERROR\":\"Oops there seems to be some error, please try again later\",\"LOADING\":\"Loading...\",\"SHARE_AFTER_COMMENT\":\"Your response has been shared on Facebook.\",\"UNDO\":\"Undo\",\"UNIT_PEOPLE\":\"People\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_DISAGREE\":\"disagree with your opinion.\",\"READ_MORE_TEXT\":\"Read what they have to say.\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"WHAT DO YOU THINK?\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_VERB_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"DRAG\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_THANKS_VOTING\":\"Thanks for voting\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 44,693 people have responded\",\"ONE_PERSON_ANSWERED\":\" 1 person has responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"TWO_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 2 people have responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED_AND_SHARED\":\" 44,693 people have responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s1\":33800,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s2\":3633,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s3\":1659,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s4\":1658,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s5\":1600,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s6\":2342,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s7\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s8\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s9\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s10\":0}","fbconfig":"{\"message\":\"undefined\",\"name\":\"undefined\",\"link\":\"\",\"source\":\"\",\"picture\":\"http:\\\/\\\/l.yimg.com\\\/a\\\/i\\\/ww\\\/news\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/27\\\/yahoo-tc.jpg\",\"description\":\"\",\"captionLeft\":\"undefined\",\"captionRight\":\"undefined\",\"app_id\":\"196660913708276\",\"redirect_uri\":\"\\\/_xhr\\\/ugcratefbredirect\\\/\"}","template_id":"LONG_SLIDER_SOUTH","obj_id":"ratings_5edd788e9527897897ec94abed6516ae","opt_count":"6","opt_color1":"","opt_color2":"","template_html":"

Read More..

Controversial “SEAL Team Six” Film Gives Nat Geo Highest Ratings in a Year

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden” might have drawn cries of partisan bias, but despite the controversy – or perhaps because of it – the film about the killing of the terrorist leader yielded big numbers with its premiere on National Geographic Channel on Sunday night, handing the network its best ratings in more than a year, and the sixth-highest ratings in the network’s history.

Sunday’s premiere of “Seal Team Six,” which was initially slated for theatrical release before getting snapped up by National Geographic Channel, posted a 1.4 rating in the 25-54 demographic – four times the network’s average in the Sunday 8 to 10 p.m. timeslot this season. In total viewers, the military dramatization drew 4.7 million people, with an average 2.7 million tuning in throughout the premiere.

“SEAL Team Six” posted the highest performance in the demographic since the August 2011 special “George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview,” which drew a 1.7 in the 25-54 demo.

“We are overwhelmed that viewers across the country responded en masse to this socially relevant, factually based and entertaining film that highlighted the real inside story behind the manhunt for bin Laden and the heroes in our military and intelligence agencies,” said David Lyle, CEO National Geographic Channels. “It proved that no matter who Americans are planning to vote for, a good film is a good film, and we are happy to have had such success with our first original broadcast of a feature film inspired by real-life events.”

The film’s premiere date – just two days before the election – drew suspicion from some of the more conspiracy-minded segments of the population, who suggested that the premiere might have been planned to boost President Barack Obama‘s chances in the election by reminding the public of one of his major accomplishments during his first term. The criticism was fueled by the fact that unabashed Obama supporter Harvey Weinstein served as an executive producer on the film.

The network denied the allegations, with Lyle telling TheWrap last month, “The movie itself is its own defense; it’s a perfectly straightforward dramatization of what happened.”

TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

FDA grants priority review to Roche’s breast cancer drug

(Reuters) – Roche, the world’s biggest maker of cancer drugs, said U.S. health regulators granted a priority review to its experimental breast cancer drug TDM-1, expediting the review process for the marketing application of the drug.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will announce its decision on the marketing approval by February 26, the Swiss drugmaker said.

The FDA grants priority reviews to medicines that are considered potentially significant therapeutic advancements over existing therapies.

Roche said its marketing application for the drug was accepted by European regulators.

TDM-1, or trastuzumab emtansine, is being developed with ImmunoGen, using ImmunoGen’s targeted antibody payload delivery technology.

Roche said in late-August that the drug significantly extended the lives of women with an aggressive type of breast cancer, compared with those receiving the standard drug cocktail.

(Reporting By Pallavi Ail in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Diseases/Conditions News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Officials: New mass graves found in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Up to 10 new mass graves have been discovered near the site of a July attack on a camp for displaced people, officials said Tuesday, amid allegations that initial casualty totals were downplayed to mask killings carried out by the national army.

Rights groups claim summary executions were carried out by the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast, known by its French acronym of FRCI. Last month, officials found six bodies in a well close to the former campsite in the western town of Duekoue.

Government, army and U.N. officials toured 10 more graves in the same area on Saturday, said Paul Mondouho, vice-mayor of Duekoue. He said the graves had first been identified by civilians, and that officials did not know the number of bodies they contained because they had not yet been properly exhumed.

“People were suspecting the presence of bodies in these graves because of the smell coming out of them and because of the shoes we saw nearby,” Mondouho said.

Prosecutor Noel Dje Enrike Yahau, who is based in the commercial capital of Abidjan, confirmed that multiple new graves had been discovered but could not provide details. U.N. officials and the local prosecutor in charge of investigating the suspected killings could not be reached Tuesday.

U.N. spokeswoman Sylvie van den Wildenberg confirmed that U.N. forces helped Ivorian authorities secure a perimeter around 10 wells “similar to the one in which six bodies were found,” and that “some of those wells are suspected mass graves.”

She stressed that Ivorian authorities were leading the investigation but that the U.N. was able to provide assistance.

Army spokesmen could not be reached Tuesday. The Justice Ministry has previously vowed to investigate the discovery of the initial grave.

On the morning of July 20, a mob descended on the U.N.-guarded Nahibly camp, which housed 4,500 people displaced by violence in Ivory Coast, burning most of the camp to the ground. Officials said at the time that six people were killed.

The attack was prompted by the shooting deaths of four men and one woman on the night of July 19, according to local officials and residents. In response a mob of some 300 people overran the camp on the morning of July 20 after the perpetrators of the shootings reportedly fled there.

The victims in the July 19 attack lived in a district dominated by the Malinke ethnic group, which largely supported President Alassane Ouattara in the disputed November 2010 election. The camp primarily housed members of the Guere ethnic group, which largely supported former President Laurent Gbagbo.

Gbagbo’s refusal to cede office despite losing the election to Ouattara sparked months of violence that claimed at least 3,000 lives.

Albert Koenders, the top U.N. envoy to Ivory Coast, said one week after the attack that U.N. security forces had been inside and outside the camp at the time but that no Ivorian security forces were present. He said the U.N. forces decided not to fire at a large group of people that were attacking the camp in order to avoid “a massacre.”

Several witnesses have said soldiers and traditional hunters, known as dozos, participated in the attack on the camp. Both military and dozo leaders have denied the claims, saying they had tried to protect the camp.

In a statement released Friday, the International Federation for Human Rights, known by its French acronym of FIDH, said it had information — including the preliminary results of autopsies — confirming that the six bodies found in October were men who had been summarily executed by the army.

“The disappearance of dozens of displaced persons after the attack, as well as confirmation of cases of summary and extra-judicial executions, suggest a much higher victim rate than the official figures report,” said the organization, which counts Ivorian civil society groups among its members.

Duekoue was one of the hardest-hit towns during the post-election violence. The U.N. has established that at least 505 people were killed in and around the town, including during a notorious March 2011 massacre that claimed hundreds of lives and was allegedly carried out by fighters loyal to Ouattara.

Duekoue residents belonging to ethnic groups that supported Gbagbo have long complained about abuses carried out by the FRCI, with some pointing to the direct involvement of the local commander, Kone Daouda. FIDH said in its statement that Daouda had been transferred following the discovery of the grave in October, and called for him to be interrogated over the matter.

The group also said two FRCI members were being “actively sought” after failing to return to their barracks on Oct. 16, noting that they are believed to have fled to neighboring Burkina Faso.

Africa News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

If Obama wins, will he finally tell us his second-term agenda?

By Walter Shapiro

LIMA, Ohio—Speaking at a rally here last Friday afternoon, Barack Obama stressed his old-shoe familiarity: “After four years as president, you know me.” That’s a standard stump speech line, but the more than 3,000 Democrats in local high-school gym burst into cheers, brimming with confidence that they knew the Real Obama.

But does anyone outside his family and the inner sanctum of the White House staff really know Obama—or have a clear handle on what he would do with a second term? This question is not designed to feed any off-the-wall conspiracy theories about a secret second-term agenda. Rather, it’s designed to underscore the perception that Obama remains more opaque than most presidents.

During his speech in this blue-collar pocket of Ohio, the shirt-sleeved Obama waxed populist as he decried the way that the voices of the American people have “been shut out of our democracy for way too long by the lobbyists and the special interests.”

Referring to this us-versus-them rhetoric after the speech, a reporter friend, traveling with the president’s press corps, said, “That’s the real Obama.” But was it? Or was this just a president in a tight race harking back to the citizens-versus-lobbyists language that propelled him into the White House?

In his speeches, including the one in Lima, Obama talks about his second-term vision as he says, “I want to recruit 100,000 math and science teachers. I want to train two-million Americans at our community colleges.” Obama echoes this theme in a 60-second closing argument commercial heavily broadcast on Ohio television. In the ad, Obama implies that the money could come “from ending the war in Afghanistan so we can do some nation-building here at home.”

But there’s a major roadblock: The odds are very high that the Republicans will retain control of the House, even if Obama is reelected.

If that occurs, the Tea Party naysayers of 2010 almost certainly would feel emboldened by their personal electoral successes—and become even more obstinate in their resistance to new domestic spending. With the “fiscal cliff” end-of-the-year budget negotiations looming, a reelected President Obama will be hard-pressed to maintain even the current levels of educational spending let alone create new programs.

It’s politically telling that the president never mentions health care in his final TV ad and only flicked at the topic in his stump speech in Lima. But with the Democrats likely to hold the Senate, the reelection of Obama would all but guarantee that his signature domestic achievement will be fully implemented. As a result, tens of millions of Americans would never have to agonize about health insurance coverage again.

Reelected presidents, stymied by Congress, often turn their full attention to foreign affairs. While this single-mindedness can lead to unexpected breakthroughs (Richard Nixon and China), often it ends in the kind of frustration that Bill Clinton experienced over his failure to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement at Camp David in the waning days of his presidency.

The most likely flashpoint for the next president (whether Obama or Mitt Romney) is, of course, Iran. All occupants of the Oval Office and all who aspire to that job have unequivocally declared that a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable.

But what would that mean, in practice, in an Obama second term? Any temptation to categorize the president as a peacenik has to be squared against Obama’s enormous expansion of drone attacks against suspected terrorists. Even without a hawkish, even by Israeli standards, government in Jerusalem, the precise American response to a nuclear Iran would be hard for foreign-policy experts to game out in advance. For ordinary voters to do so at the frenzied end of a presidential campaign is well nigh impossible.

Maybe it’s unrealistic to expect a president running for reelection to be overly specific about his plans for a second term. Bill Clinton campaigned in 1996 on little more than the vague promise to build “a bridge to the 21st century.” And George W. Bush gave voters—and his fellow Republicans in Congress—little warning in 2004 that he intended to attempt to privatize Social Security in 2005.

Still, if Obama prevails on Tuesday (or survives a long count that stretches into Wednesday and beyond), I would be eager to read what he says in his post-election interviews. After a stealth reelection campaign, that might be the moment when we finally learn if Obama has fresh ideas for curbing the reign of special interest in Washington. Or how the soon-to-be two-term president intends to bridge the inevitably bitter stalemate in Congress.

In the end, it comes down to the elusive qualities of trust and character. Americans have had four years to make their own judgment about President Barack Obama. So, in fact, maybe we do know him as well as we ever will. Not as a friend or (in that awful cliché) a guy to have a beer with. But as a leader, who has sometimes stumbled but has mostly prevailed during four of the most arduous economic years in American history.

Read More..