Bloomberg cancels marathon amid outcry

RT @YahooSportsNBA: Jeremy Lin and James Harden are the NBA’s best backcourt. Do not argue. http://t.co/zsGlGTgp via @YahooBDL

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Songs offer messages of hope at Sandy benefit show

NEW YORK (AP) — From “Livin’ on a Prayer” to “The Living Proof,” every song Friday at NBC‘s benefit concert for superstorm Sandy victims became a message song.

New Jersey‘s Jon Bon Jovi gave extra meaning to “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.” Billy Joel worked in a reference to Staten Island, the decimated New York City borough. The hourlong event, hosted by Matt Lauer, was heavy on stars and lyrics identified with New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area, which took the brunt of this week’s deadly storm. The telethon was a mix of music, storm footage and calls for donations from Jon Stewart, Tina Fey, Whoopi Goldberg and others.

The mood was somber but hopeful, from Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” and a tearful Mary J. Blige’s “The Living Proof,” her ballad of resilience with the timely declaration that “the worst is over/I can start living now.” Joel rocked out with “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway),” a song born from crisis, New York City‘s near bankruptcy in the 1970s, while Jimmy Fallon endured a faulty microphone and gamely led an all-star performance of the Drifters’ “Under the Boardwalk” that featured Joel, Bruce Springsteen and Steven Tyler. The Aerosmith frontman then sat behind a piano and gave his all on a strained but deeply emotional “Dream On.” Sting was equally passionate during an acoustic, muscular version of The Police hit “Message In a Bottle” and its promise to “send an SOS to the world.”

The show ended, as it only could, with Springsteen and the E Street Band, tearing into “Land Of Hope and Dreams.”

“God bless New York,” Springsteen, New Jersey‘s ageless native son, said in conclusion. “God bless the Jersey shore.”

The stable of NBC Universal networks, including USA, CNBC, MSNBC, E! Entertainment, The Weather Channel and Bravo, aired the concert live from the NBC studios in Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan, several blocks north of where the city went days without power. Millions of people for whom the benefit was organized couldn’t watch the event because they had no electricity.

NBC Universal invited other networks to televise the event, but not everyone signed on.

That might have something to do with network rivalries.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the networks organized a benefit together behind the scenes and it was televised on more than 30 networks simultaneously, including all the big broadcasters.

After Hurricane Katrina, NBC televised its own benefit before the other broadcasters, one that became best known for Kanye West’s off-script declaration that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” The other broadcasters cooperated on their own telethon a week later, and NBC televised that one, too.

Also this year, NBC organized and scheduled a telethon and gave others the chance to air it.

Others declined to televise Friday’s telethon, even though ABC parent Walt Disney Co. said it would donate $ 2 million to the American Red Cross and various ABC shows will promote a “Day of Giving” on Monday. The CBS Corp., Viacom Inc., parent of “Jersey Shore” network MTV, Fox network owner News Corp. also announced big donations to the Red Cross.

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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U.S. jury awards troops $85 million over Iraq chemical exposure

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) – An Oregon jury awarded 12 Army National Guardsmen $ 85 million in damages from defense contractor KBR Inc. on Friday after finding that the company failed to protect them from exposure to cancer-causing chemicals when they served in Iraq.

Each Guard soldier was awarded $ 850,000 in non-economic damages and another $ 6.25 million in punitive damages for “reckless and outrageous indifference” to their health in the trial in U.S. District Court in Portland.

“Justice was definitely served for the 12 of us,” Guardsman Rocky Bixby said, adding that two of his children were about to enter the military. “It wasn’t about the money, it was about them never doing this again to another soldier.”

The Oregon Guardsmen were providing security for civilian workers restoring an oil industry water plant in 2003 in southern Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. The plant water was used to push oil to the surface.

The plant was contaminated with sodium dichromate, a chemical used to fight corrosion. Sodium dichromate contains hexavalent chromium, the toxic chemical made famous in the film “Erin Brockovich” starring Julia Roberts.

The chemical was blowing around the plant known as Qarmat Ali, the soldiers’ lawyers told the court.

Geoffrey Harrison, lead trial attorney for KBR, said the contractor would appeal.

“We believe the trial court should have dismissed the case before trial,” he said. “KBR did safe and exceptional work in Iraq under difficult circumstances, and we believe the facts and law ultimately will provide vindication.”

The soldiers had also claimed that KBR committed fraud, but jurors rejected that claim.

The 12 Guardsmen in the suit have suffered various illnesses and disabilities and are at risk for various kinds of cancer, their lawyers said. Hexavalent chromium is “a highly potent carcinogen,” they said.

Another 22 Oregon soldiers or their widows have sued KBR Inc. in Portland. More than 100 soldiers from other states have sued the company in Houston, where the company is based.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb, Cynthia Johnston, Doina Chiacu)

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Google's Android software in 3 out of 4 smartphones

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Canada will push to keep bank capital rules on schedule

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada will urge all countries to stick to the agreed schedule for implementing tougher bank capital rules at a November 4-5 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 nations, a senior finance ministry official said on Thursday.

The so-called Basel III rules are the world’s regulatory response to the financial crisis, forcing banks to triple the amount of basic capital they hold in a bid to avoid future taxpayer bailouts.

They were to be phased in from January 2013 but areas such as the United States and the European Union are not yet ready and U.S. and British supervisors have criticized them as too complex to work.

The Canadian official, who briefed reports ahead of the meeting on condition that he not be named, said it was imperative that the rules, the timelines and the principles behind them be respected and said Finance Minister Jim Flaherty would make that view known to his G20 colleagues.

Canada sees the European debt crisis as the biggest near-term risk to the global economy, and it also expects the U.S. debt crisis to be top of mind at the talks, the official said.

But the meeting takes place just before the U.S. presidential election and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will be absent, so it remains unclear how much the G20 can pressure Washington on that front.

Some other countries have also scaled back their delegations, raising doubts about how meaningful the meeting will be.

The official dismissed that argument, saying high-level officials substituting for their ministers allowed for extremely important issues to be addressed anyway.

He said holding each country around the table accountable to its past commitments helped keep the momentum going toward resolving global economic problems.

(Reporting by Louise Egan; Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by M.D. Golan)

Canada News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Fuel scarce as East Coast struggles to recover

NEW YORK (Reuters) - From New York City's Staten Island to the popular beach towns of the Jersey Shore, rescuers and officials on Friday faced growing evidence of widespread destruction wrought by superstorm Sandy, mounting anger over delayed relief and a rising death toll.

The total killed in one of the biggest storms to hit the United States jumped by a third on Thursday alone, to 98. In New York City, 40 people have been found dead, half of them in Staten Island, which was overrun by a wall of water on Monday.

Among the dead in Staten Island were two brothers, aged 2 and 4, who were swept from their mother's arms after her car stalled in rising flood waters. Their bodies were found near each other in a marshy area on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator Richard Serino planned to visit Staten Island on Friday amid angry claims by some survivors that the borough had been ignored.

Scenes of angry storm victims could complicate matters for politicians, from President Barack Obama just four days before the general election, to governors and mayors in the most heavily populated region in the United States. Obama visited New Jersey on Wednesday and has received praise for his handling of Sandy.

"They forgot about us," said Theresa Connor, 42, describing her Staten Island neighborhood as having been "annihilated." "And (Mayor Michael) Bloomberg said New York is fine. The marathon is on!"

Fury has been escalating throughout New York at Bloomberg's decision to proceed with the world's largest marathon on Sunday, vowing the event - which attracts more than 40,000 runners - would not divert any resources storm victims.

"If they take one first responder from Staten Island to cover this marathon, I will scream," New York City Councilman James Oddo said on his Twitter account. "We have people with no homes and no hope right now."

Staten Island, which lies across New York Harbor from lower Manhattan, is home to about 500,000 residents, many blue-collar workers whose families have lived there for generations.

CRIME FEARS

In New Jersey, entire neighborhoods in oceanside towns were swallowed by seawater and the Atlantic City boardwalk was destroyed. At least 13 people were killed in New Jersey and the toll was not only financial, but heavily emotional as well.

"There's nothing more precious to people than their homes. Those are where their families are, their memories and possessions of their lives, and there's also a sense of safety to home," New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said late on Thursday.

"That sense of safety was violated with water rushing into people's homes at an enormous rate of speed and people having to literally swim, climb, jump for their lives," he said.

The financial cost of the storm promised to be staggering. Disaster modeling company Eqecat estimated Sandy caused up to $20 billion in insured losses and $50 billion in economic losses, double its previous forecast.

At the high end of the range, Sandy would rank as the fourth costliest U.S. catastrophe ever, according to the Insurance Information Institute, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the September 11, 2001, attacks and Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

About 4.5 million homes and businesses in 15 U.S. states were still without power, down from a record high of nearly 8.5 million.

In blacked-out New York City neighborhoods, some residents complained about a lack of police and expressed fears about an increase in crime. Some were also concerned about traffic safety. New York police officials were not immediately available to comment.

"People feel safe during the day but as soon as the sun sets, people are extremely scared. The fact that Guardian Angels are on the streets trying to restore law just shows how out of control the situation is in lower Manhattan," said Wolfgang Ban, a restaurant owner in Manhattan's Alphabet City neighborhood.

The Guardian Angels are a group of anti-crime volunteers.

Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro directed his anger over relief efforts at the American Red Cross. "I have not seen the American Red Cross at a shelter, I have not seen them down on the south shore where people are buried in their homes, they have nothing to drink and nothing to eat," he said.

The American Red Cross said it was doing everything it could to aid those affected by the storm as quickly as possible and that help was on the way to Staten Island, usually reached by a 25-minute ferry ride from Lower Manhattan.

ANGER OVER SCARCE GAS

Also among the dead in New York City were a 13-year-old girl, whose body was found amid the debris of a Staten Island house, while in Brooklyn a 24-year-old man and woman were killed by a falling tree.

The hunt for gasoline added to a climate of uncertainty as Sandy's death toll and price tag rose. In the New York City borough of Queens a man was charged with threatening another driver with a gun after he tried to cut in on a line of cars waiting for gas, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Sandy started as a late-season hurricane in the Caribbean, where it killed 69 people, before smashing ashore in the United States with 80-mile-per-hour (130-kph) winds. It stretched from the Carolinas to Connecticut and was the largest storm by area to hit the United States in decades.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency agreed to cover 100 percent of emergency power and public transportation costs through November 9 for affected areas of New York and New Jersey, up from the traditional share of 75 percent.

New Jersey natives Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi will headline a benefit concert for storm victims Friday on NBC television, the network announced.

The presidential campaign has returned to full swing after being on hold for several days because of the storm. Obama, locked in a tight race with Republican challenger Mitt Romney head of next Tuesday's election, appeared to gain politically from his disaster relief performance.

Christie, a vocal Romney supporter, praised Obama, and Bloomberg, a political independent, endorsed Obama on Thursday.

In New York, U.N. headquarters suffered severe damage and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered recovery help to the United States and Caribbean nations affected by the storm.

(Writing by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Eric Walsh; editing by Mary Milliken)

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Blake Shelton dominates Country Music awards

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – Blake Shelton dominated the Country Music Association awards on Thursday, taking home three trophies, including the coveted entertainer of the year prize, on country music‘s biggest night.

Shelton, 36, whose popularity has rocketed since he became a judge in 2011 on the TV singing contest “The Voice,” also won male vocalist of the year for a third time.

Shelton shared song of the year honors with his wife, Miranda Lambert, for the emotional ballad “Over You”, while Lambert took home the female vocalist prize, also for the third time.

Shelton looked stunned as he accepted the biggest award of the night, beating out recent arrivals Jason Aldean, country-pop crossover sensation Taylor Swift and veterans Brad Paisley and Kenny Chesney. He has not released an album since “Red River Blue” in July 2011.

“Man! Entertainer of the year? What are you talking about?” he said. “I know I am not out there on the road as much. I don’t know how this happened. I freaking love it though.”

“I know I have a side job,” he said, referring to his TV gig, “but country music is still what I love doing.”

Swift, who won entertainer of the year last year and in 2009, and Aldean both came away empty-handed. Eric Church, who went into Thursday’s awards show with a leading five nominations, went home with one award – album of the year for “Chief.”

“I spent a lot of my career wondering where I fit in – country or rock? I want to thank you guys for giving me somewhere to hang my hat,” said Church, 35, sporting a baseball cap and sunglasses.

Church, who got his first CMA nomination just a year ago, told reporters backstage that he never thought he could win a CMA award. “I can distinctly remember playing for about eight people in Amarillo, Texas, about four years ago and to get from there to here is surreal,” he said.

REMEMBERING VICTIMS OF SANDY

The awards show, broadcast live from Nashville, kicked off with a shout-out to those affected on the U.S. East Coast by Hurricane Sandy, and included appeals to viewers to donate to the Red Cross during the show.

“Country music has always lifted people up in tough times, and we hope to do that tonight,” said co-host Carrie Underwood.

The country world paid tribute to singer and songwriter Willie Nelson, 79, and his storied career, presenting him with the inaugural Willie Nelson lifetime achievement award.

Nelson performed his signature 1980 song “On the Road Again,” while Lady Antebellum, Shelton, Keith Urban, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw did the honors with a medley of his hits “Crazy,” “Whiskey River” and “Good Hearted Woman.”

“How many push-ups can you do with that one?” joked Nelson as he accepted the huge trophy. “Thank you all out there. Appreciate it.”

Alabama quartet Little Big Town scooped up two awards, winning vocal group of the year, and single of the year for the group’s hit record “Pontoon.”

The band, which started out in 1998 but did not begin to make an impact until 2005, was ecstatic. “This has been a 13-year journey. Nashville, you have made us your band,” said singer Kimberley Schlapman.

The show also saw performances by Swift, debuting her new single, Dierks Bentley, The Band Perry, Aldean, the Zac Brown Band and Kelly Clarkson.

Husband-and-wife team Thompson Square took home the prize for best vocal duo, and Louisiana native Hunter Hayes, 21, was named best new artist.

“Can you believe we were singing for tips for eight years down on Broadway and now we’ve won this award? It’s one of the most wonderful nights of our lives so far,” Keifer Thompson of Thompson Square told reporters backstage.

(Writing by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Australia gives $104 million to fighting malaria

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia will spend more than 100 million Australian dollars ($ 104 million) over the next four years to help reduce deaths from malaria in the Asia-Pacific region.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced at a malaria conference in Sydney on Friday the money would support several country and regional programs. They include a program that aims to control drug-resistant malaria along the lower Mekong River and anti-malaria efforts in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

The World Health Organization says the region had more than 30 million malaria cases and around 42,000 deaths in 2010.

Most malaria deaths occur in Africa, but 64 percent of the Asia-Pacific population is exposed to the mosquito-borne illness.

Diseases/Conditions News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Apple rolls out iPad mini in Asia to shorter lines

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Apple fans lined up in several Asian cities to get their hands on the iPad mini on Friday, but the device, priced above rival gadgets from Google and Amazon.com, attracted smaller crowds than at the company's previous global rollouts.

Apple Inc's global gadget rollouts are typically high-energy affairs drawing droves of buyers who stand in line for hours. But a proliferation of comparable rival devices may have sapped some interest.

About 50 people waited for the Apple store in Sydney, Australia, to open, where in the past the line had stretched for several blocks when the company debuted new iPhones.

At the head of Friday's line was Patrick Li, who had been waiting since 4:30 am and was keen to get his hands on the 7.9-inch slate.

"It's light, easy to handle, and I'll use it to read books. It's better than the original iPad," Li said.

There were queues of 100 or more outside Apple stores in Tokyo and Seoul when the device went on sale, but when the company's flagship Hong Kong store opened staff appeared to outnumber those waiting in line.

The iPad mini marks Apple's first foray into the smaller-tablet segment, and the latest salvo in a global mobile-device war that has engulfed combatants from Internet search leader Google Inc to Web retailer Amazon.com Inc and software giant Microsoft Corp.

Microsoft's 10-inch Surface tablet, powered by the just-launched Windows 8 software, went on sale in October, while Google and Amazon now dominate sales of smaller, 7-inch multimedia tablets.

POSITIVE REVIEWS

Unveiled last week, the iPad mini has won mostly positive reviews, with criticism centering on a screen considered inferior to rivals' and a lofty price tag. The new tablet essentially replicates most of the features of its full-sized sibling, but in a smaller package.

"Well, first of all it's so thin and light and very cute - so cute!" said iPad mini customer Ten Ebihara at the Apple store in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district.

At $329 for a Wi-Fi only model, the iPad mini is a little costlier than predicted but some analysts see that as Apple's attempt to retain premium positioning.

Some investors fear the gadget will lure buyers away from Apple's $499 flagship 9.7-inch iPad, while proving ineffective in combating the threat of Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7, both of which are sold at or near cost.

Also on Friday, Apple rolled out its fourth-generation iPad, with the same 9.7-inch display as the previous version but with a faster A6X processor and better Wi-Fi. Both devices were going on sale in more than 30 countries.

Apple will likely sell between 1 million and 1.5 million iPad minis in the first weekend, far short of the 3 million third-generation iPads sold last March in their first weekend, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

"The reason we expect fewer iPad minis compared to the 3rd Gen is because of the lack of the wireless option and newness of the smaller form factor for consumers," Munster said in a note to clients. "We believe that over time that will change."

Reviewers have applauded Apple for squeezing most of the iPad's features into a smaller package that can be comfortably manipulated with one hand.

James Vohradsky, a 20 year-old student who previously queued for 17 hours at the Sydney store to buy the iPhone 5, only stood in line for an hour and a half this time.

"I had an iPad 1 before, I kind of miss it because I sold it about a year ago. It's just more practical to have the mini because I found it a bit too big. The image is really good and it's got the fast A5 chip too," Vohradsky said.

The iPad was launched in 2010 by late Apple boss Steve Jobs and since then it has taken a big chunk out of PC sales, upending the industry and reinventing mobile computing with its apps-based ecosystem.

A smaller tablet is the first device to be added to Apple's compact portfolio under Cook, who took over from Jobs just before his death a year ago. Analysts credit Google and Amazon for influencing the decision.

Some investors worry that Apple might have lost its chief visionary with Jobs, and that new management might not be able to stay ahead of the pack as rivals innovate and encroach on its market share.

(Additional reporting by Mariko Lochridge in Tokyo, Stefanie McIntyre in Hong Kong and Miyoung Kim in Seoul; Writing by Noel Randewich and Edwin Chan in San Francisco; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Alex Richardson)

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Clinton calls for overhaul of Syrian opposition

ZAGREB (Reuters) – The United States called on Wednesday for an overhaul of Syria‘s opposition leadership, saying it was time to move beyond the Syrian National Council and bring in those “in the front lines fighting and dying”.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, signaling a more active stance by Washington in attempts to form a credible political opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said a meeting next week in Qatar would be an opportunity to broaden the coalition against him.

“This cannot be an opposition represented by people who have many good attributes but who, in many instances, have not been inside Syria for 20, 30, 40 years,” she said during a visit to Croatia.

“There has to be a representation of those who are in the front lines fighting and dying today to obtain their freedom.”

Clinton’s comments represented a clear break with the Syrian National Council (SNC), a largely foreign-based group which has been among the most vocal proponents of international intervention in the Syrian conflict.

U.S. officials have privately expressed frustration with the SNC’s inability to come together with a coherent plan and with its lack of traction with the disparate internal groups which have waged the 19-month uprising against Assad’s government.

Senior members of the SNC, Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other rebel groups ended a meeting in Turkey on Wednesday and pledged to unite behind a transitional government in coming months.

“It’s been our divisions that have allowed the Assad forces to reach this point,” Ammar al-Wawi, a rebel commander, told Reuters after the talks outside Istanbul.

“We are united on toppling Assad. Everyone, including all the rebels, will gather under the transitional government.”

Mohammad Al-Haj Ali, a senior Syrian military defector, told a news conference after the meeting: “We are still facing some difficulties between the politicians and different opposition groups and the leaders of the Free Syrian Army on the ground.”

Clinton said it was important that the next rulers of Syria were both inclusive and committed to rejecting extremism.

“There needs to be an opposition that can speak to every segment and every geographic part of Syria. And we also need an opposition that will be on record strongly resisting the efforts by extremists to hijack the Syrian revolution,” she said.

Syria’s revolt has killed an estimated 32,000. A bomb near a Shi’ite shrine in a suburb of Damascus killed at least six more people on Wednesday, state media and opposition activists said.

NEW LEADERSHIP

The meeting next week in Qatar’s capital Doha represents a chance to forge a new leadership, Clinton said, adding the United States had helped to “smuggle out” representatives of internal Syrian opposition groups to a meeting in New York last month to argue their case for inclusion.

“We have recommended names and organizations that we believe should be included in any leadership structure,” she told a news conference.

“We’ve made it clear that the SNC can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition. They can be part of a larger opposition, but that opposition must include people from inside Syria and others who have a legitimate voice which must be heard.”

The United States and its allies have struggled for months to craft a credible opposition coalition.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration has said it is not providing arms to internal opponents of Assad and is limiting its aid to non-lethal humanitarian assistance.

It concedes, however, that some of its allies are providing lethal assistance – a fact that Assad’s chief backer Russia says shows western powers are intent on determining Syria’s future.

Russia and China have blocked three U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at increasing pressure on the Assad government, leading the United States and its allies to say they could move beyond U.N. structures for their next steps.

Clinton said she regretted but was not surprised by the failure of the latest attempted ceasefire, called by international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi last Friday. Each side blamed the other for breaking the truce.

“The Assad regime did not suspend its use of advanced weaponry against the Syrian people for even one day,” she said.

“While we urge Special Envoy Brahimi to do whatever he can in Moscow and Beijing to convince them to change course and support a stronger U.N. action we cannot and will not wait for that.”

Clinton said the United States would continue to work with partners to increase sanctions on the Assad government and provide humanitarian assistance to those hit by the conflict.

(Additional reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; editing by Andrew Roche)

World News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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