Five Yemeni soldiers killed in suicide attack on military base

(Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least five Yemeni soldiers on Friday in a suspected Islamist militant attack on a military base in the south of the country, a Yemeni military official said.
Militants linked to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are increasingly targeting Yemeni army facilities in the U.S.-allied state, which shares a long border with Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and flanks major shipping lanes.
The military official said the bomber drove a car laden with explosives and blew himself up at the gate of the army camp in Ahwar, an area in the southern province of Abyan.
Other militants attacked soldiers in the camp with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), the source said, adding that 15 soldiers were wounded in the clashes.
The military official gave no detail on any casualties among the militants, but said the fighting was still going on.
Local witnesses said a helicopter, apparently belonging to the Yemeni army, was circling in the vicinity.
AQAP is regarded by the United States as one of the most active wings of the militant network, posing a serious threat to Western interests including oil tanker traffic in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
Last month, dozens of militants stormed and captured the headquarters of the Yemeni army's Second Division in the eastern coastal city of al-Mukalla and seized some military personnel. Military officials said four Yemeni soldiers were killed and nine wounded in a counter-strike to retake the base.
AQAP said in a statement last week that the September 30 attack targeted an operations room used by the United States to direct drone strikes against militants. This was denied by a Yemeni official, who said the facility contained a counter-piracy room for monitoring and securing shipping routes in the Arabian Sea.
Yemen's state news agency Saba reported on Thursday that a soldier was killed and two injured in militant attacks in al-Bayda province, south of the capital Sanaa. Saba said al Qaeda fighters suffered heavy losses and were forced to flee, but provided no details.
Militants took advantage of political chaos in Yemen during the Arab Spring uprising in 2011 to seize control of some towns in the south of the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state.
They were subsequently beaten back by Yemeni armed forces, with assistance from the United States, and dispersed into smaller groups spread across the arid, rugged south.
But they have since carried out a series of attacks on important military and civilian targets, killing hundreds of soldiers and some senior officers, including Major General Salem Qatan, the Yemeni army commander in south Yemen.

Read More : http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/18/us-yemen-attacks-idUSBRE99H09Y20131018

Angela Ahrendts to leave Burberry for Apple

Ahrendts has been named senior vice president for Apple retail and online stores. She will start at the technology giant in mid-2014.
The move comes as Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) attempts to ramp up its push into China, a market in which Ahrendts has had great success in the past.
American-born Ahrendts, who was appointed Burberry (BBRYF) chief executive in 2006, has been credited with turning around the luxury fashion brand and expanding its presence in Asia. Part of her success has been driven by embracing digital and social media to attract a youthful following to the label.
Ahrendts was the highest paid CEO in the U.K. last year and is one of the country's highest profile female executives.
Christopher Bailey will become Burberry's new chief executive officer, in addition to current responsibilities as chief creative for the fashion brand.
Burberry investors reacted badly to the news, with shares slumping nearly 4% in early London trading.

Read More : http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/15/news/companies/apple-burberry-ahrendts/

Talks to avert San Francisco rail strike continue through night

Oct 15 (Reuters) - Talks to avert a potentially crippling San Francisco area rail strike failed to produce a deal by a Monday midnight deadline, but the sides will continue to meet through the night and trains will run on Tuesday, a federal mediator said.
Unions representing Bay Area transit workers spent the day negotiating with management, with union leaders saying only an 11th-hour "hail Mary" would likely stop a walkout.
But a federal mediator involved in the talks said early on Tuesday some "constructive and productive progress" had been made.
"Because of all of our concern about the public's interest, I am authorized to announce that trains will run tomorrow (Tuesday)," George Cohen, director of the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, told reporters. About 400,000 passengers use the rail system every day.
More than 2,000 drivers and other employees at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) have been working without a contract since June 30, and two unions representing them had promised to walk off the job on Tuesday if no deal was reached.
Management has offered a 12-percent pay raise over four years for workers, who they say make an average of $79,000 plus benefits. The unions peg the average worker salary lower at $64,000, excluding manager pay.
"We think we have a great offer on the table. We don't think a strike is necessary. We don't think a strike is smart," said Tom Radulovich, president of the BART board of directors. "So far they're not excited about our last, best and final (offer), but they are talking to us."
Peter Castelli, executive director of Service Employees International Union local 1021, has said negotiators were close to a deal but time was running out. He said unions had made a counter offer, but the details were under wraps.
Should a strike halt the BART trains, riders would be forced to turn to the bus system for public transit options. However, a union representing workers at the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit Agency, the third largest in the Bay Area, on Monday notified its management they could strike as soon as Thursday.
HIGH COST OF LIVING
Partly because BART worker pay is considered by many to be generous - and considerably higher than the median U.S. salary of about $50,000 - the potential strike comes against an unusual backdrop of public discomfort with a possible labor action in a typically pro-union region.
"The Bay Area traditionally is a very pro-labor part of California. But this go-round the issue seems to be framed differently," said Larry Gerston, a retired professor of political science at San Jose State University.
"The relatively high salaries of BART employees, the overtime they routinely get in conjunction with lots of sick time, and that's against a backdrop of a public that's just recovering now from a recession where every dollar meant a whole lot."
The unions point out that San Francisco and nearby Oakland are both among the 10 most expensive U.S. cities. Because the management offer also includes a demand that employees pay a portion of their medical and retirement benefit costs, some of the 12 percent offered in raises would be immediately swallowed up by those contributions.
The unions had initially asked for a three-year contract, with a 3.75 percent raise in each of the first two years and a 4 percent raise in the last year.
BART spokesman Rick Rice has said the transit system wanted workers to contribute to pensions, starting at 1 percent in the first year and growing to 4 percent in the fourth. The agency also wanted a cap on its healthcare costs, he said.
Bay Area commuters had a taste of the havoc a transit strike could bring in July, when BART employees walked off the job after their contract first expired. A strike was again threatened in August before Democratic Governor Jerry Brown intervened to seek a 60-day cooling-off period, now expired.
Melvin Mendoza, 31, had to take three days off from his job as a technical support specialist at a San Francisco law firm during the July action.
"Transportation last time was just a nightmare," said Mendoza, a father of two whose wife uses the family's only car to get to her job. "The way this is going, it's putting a bad taste in my mouth both on the part of BART and with my concept of the unions." (Writing and additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

SOURCE : http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/15/usa-bart-sanfrancisco-idUSL1N0I509A20131015

Record number of runners at Chicago Marathon despite heightened security

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon was run without incident Sunday as tighter but by no means suffocating security did little to scare off runners or subdue the raucous street party bubbling along the 26.2-mile racecourse.
Police and event organizers instituted new safety measures after the bombings that marred April's Boston Marathon, but the essential character of the race remained unchanged. Some runners and spectators said they were grateful for the heightened scrutiny, while others said they barely noticed it.
"It's good that you don't see the presence because that makes people uncomfortable," said Kelly Kane, who was cheering on runners in Old Town with few uniformed police officers in sight.
As of Sunday evening, Chicago police had reported no serious trouble during the bright and brisk morning. George Chiampas, the race's medical director, said 750 people requested medical attention and 26 were transported to hospitals, though none appeared to be critical.
The marathon's safeguards were evident before the race even began, with a sign near the runners' check-in cautioning participants not to wear "costumes covering the face or non-formfitting bulky outfits."
Runners had to carry their belongings in clear plastic bags provided by race organizers, and police set up watchtowers near Buckingham Fountain to keep an eye on the record 40,230 athletes assembling in Grant Park.
Shannon Seiferth, of Chicago, said she had thought about the Boston bombings before arriving at the starting gate but had full confidence that she would be safe.
"I think the security measures are in place, and I think people are going to be on high alert," she said.
Rolling Meadows resident Michelle Thomas, who was in her first marathon after taking up running in January, said she, too, was at peace.
"I prayed this morning," she said. "(With the) security that I've seen throughout the entire week, I feel very comfortable. So this is for Boston."
Once the race began at 7:30 a.m., the runners wound through city streets guarded by police officers in neon yellow vests, FBI agents in military-style fatigues and undercover cops. Police were especially noticeable in the Loop, with at least one officer at every intersection, a show of force that reassured spectators like Belinda Musgrave.
"You always think about safety because you never expect (violence), but I haven't felt uncomfortable at all," said Musgrave, who had come from Houston to cheer on her friend Rhonda Kersgieter. "They seem to have everything under control."
Other precautions were also evident. Newspaper boxes vanished in some parts of the city, and the large, compacting trash cans in the Loop were sealed shut, leading spectators to pile their coffee cups on top. A police dog, wearing a patch that read, "DO NOT PET," patrolled the finish line with an officer from the Department of Homeland Security.
But the strictness of course security varied by neighborhood. In Greektown, crowd control barriers prevented spectator Maxine Jones, of Country Club Hills, from jogging alongside friends in the race.
"It wasn't so secured" in years past, Jones said. "(Now) you can't run out and say, 'Hi.'"
In Old Town, though, no barriers prevented onlookers such as Kristi Summers from weaving through groups of runners to cross the street, or from briefly joining friends on the course.
"We've totally done that at least three times," she said.
That pointed to what some security experts have called the impossibility — and undesirability — of completely buttoning down a sprawling, urban marathon route. Police asked spectators and runners alike to be vigilant, but that didn't appear to alter the spirit of the race, embodied in people such as Aimee Shuey.
The New Orleans resident had come with more than a dozen others to join a 61-year-old friend who was running her first marathon. Doing a high-profile race in the shadow of Boston made Shuey a little anxious, but she said her friend wasn't fazed at all.
"She's nervous about finishing the race more than anything," Shuey said at the 12-mile mark.

SOURCE : http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-marathons-heightened-security-solidarity-keep-runners-afoot-20131013,0,4020904.story

Lauren Conrad engaged to boyfriend William Tell

Jerod Harris/WireImage

‘The Hills’ star Lauren Conrad is engaged to boyfriend William Tell, she announced on her personal website.

Lauren Conrad is over the hills in love!
The reality star turned fashionista and author is engaged to boyfriend William Tell, she confirmed on her blog site.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/lauren-conrad-engaged-boyfriend-william-article-1.1484187#ixzz2hhb493CX

Deadly hornets kill 42 people in China, injure over 1,500

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Swarms of aggressive hornets, in their fall mating season, are inflicting a deadly toll in a central Chinese province.

Hornets have killed 42 people and injured 1,675 people in three cities in Shaanxi province since July, according to the local government. Thirty-seven patients remain in critical or serious condition.

Over the summer and early fall, hornets have invaded schools full of children and descended upon unsuspecting farm workers in China.

One of them is Mu Conghui, a woman who was attacked in Ankang City while looking after her millet crop.

"The hornets were horrifying," she told Xinhua, the Chinese state-run news agency. "They hit right at my head and covered my legs. All of a sudden I was stung and I couldn't move.

"Even now, my legs are covered with sting holes."

Killer hornets sting nearly 600 people

Two months, 13 dialysis treatments and 200 stitches later, Mu still remains hospitalized and unable to move her legs.

The influx of venom to the human body can cause allergic reactions and multiple organ failure leading to death. Patients like Mu have been receiving dialysis to remove the toxins from her body. In photos, patients bore deep dark craters scattered across their limbs, the size of bullet wounds.

Government authorities say these attacks are from a particularly venomous species, the world's largest hornet, known as the Asian giant hornet or vespa mandarinia.

The giant hornet extends about 3.5 to 3.9 centimeters in length, roughly the size of a human thumb. It has an orange head with a black tooth used for burrowing, according to an animal database at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Wang Xue, director of the intensive care unit at First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University and an expert of the provincial hornet sting treatment guidance unit, warned in a Shaanxi government release that hornets tend to be aggressive and more active during September and October -- their breeding season. The hornets do not go into hibernation until December, according to local government authorities.

Local authorities have deployed thousands of police officers and locals to destroy the hives. So far, about 710 hives have been removed and at least 7 million yuan (about $1.1 million U.S.) sent to areas affected by hornets, according to a government press release.

The spate of attacks could be caused by the unusually dry weather in the area, authorities say. The arid environment makes it easier for hornets to breed. Urbanization could also be a contributing factor, as humans move into hornets' habitats.

Some experts cited in Xinhua stated additional factors such as increased vegetation and a decrease in the hornets' enemies, such as spiders and birds because of ecological changes.

Humans can inadvertently irritate the hornet hives, as most are tucked away in secluded places, such as tree hollows or even underground.

The provincial government has warned residents to wear long sleeves when outdoors, and not to attempt driving away the swarms or removing their hives.

Vespa mandarinia are known as formidable, carnivorous killers, found in eastern and southeastern Asia, especially in Japan.

About 30 to 50 deaths are reported each year in Japan from such attacks, according to Japanese studies. Most of the deaths are due to allergies to the venom, said Shunichi Makino, director general of the Hokkaido Research Center for Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute.

"It's very difficult to prevent the attacks because hornet nests are usually in hidden sites," he said.

Makino, who specializes in entomology, warned that the sting from an Asian giant hornet was severe compared with those of other insects.

"The venom of an Asian giant hornet is very special compared with other hornets or yellow jackets," he said. "The neurotoxin -- especially to mammals including humans -- it's a special brand of venom."

The giant hornets are also destructive to western honey bees. Research in Japan suggests tens of thousands of honey bee hives are damaged by the giant hornets each year.

The species feed their young with the larvae of other insects and use their mandibles to sever the limbs and heads of their prey. The hornet's venom sting is a neurotoxin so powerful that it dissolves human tissue, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

The giant hornets are attracted to human sweat, alcohol and sweet flavors and smells. They are especially sensitive to when animals or people run, according to Xinhua.

One victim told local media earlier this month that "the more you run, the more they want to chase you." Some victims described being chased about 200 meters (656 feet) by a swarm.

Every breeding season, the giant hornets produce an average of 10,000 offspring. They feast on other insects such as wasps and bees, launching coordinated attacks on the hives of their prey.

SOURCE : http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/03/world/asia/hornet-attack-china

Exercise, weight control reduce risk of breast cancer

Breast cancer can be a devastating disease, but most women can take active steps to reduce their risk, say some of the nation's leading breast cancer experts.

Women shouldn't blame themselves for their illness, doctors say, noting that it's usually impossible to pinpoint what caused an individual woman's breast tumor.

But about 25% of all breast cancer cases in women of all ages could be avoided by maintaining a healthy body weight and doing regular physical activity, says internist Anne McTiernan, a researcher with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

"The greatest benefits for breast cancer reduction come from weight control and physical activity together," she says.

Alpa Patel, an American Cancer Society epidemiologist, agrees that these are "modifiable risk factors," along with limiting alcohol consumption.

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It may seem obvious, but being a woman is the main risk factor for developing breast cancer, the cancer society says. Men may also develop it, but the disease is about 100 times more common among women than men. This is likely because men have less of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone, which can promote breast cancer cell growth, the group says.

A woman's risk of developing breast cancer increases as she gets older. About one in eight U.S. women (12%) will develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetime, the cancer society says.

A large part of breast cancer risk is determined by women's lifetime exposure to estrogen, Patel says. Your risk increases if you begin your period early, if you go through menopause late, if you have fewer children or if you have them later in life. Those are considered non-modifiable risk factors, she says.

About 5% to 10% of breast cancer cases are thought to be hereditary, resulting directly from gene defects, called mutations, inherited from a parent, the cancer society says.

A small percentage of women, including Angelina Jolie, "have genes that put them at a very high lifetime risk," Patel says. Jolie opted for a preventative double mastectomy after learning that she carried a mutation in a gene called BRCA1, which gave her an 87% chance of breast cancer.

The most common cause of hereditary breast cancer is an inherited mutation in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, the cancer society says. Women with those genes need to be thinking of more intensive ways of reducing their risk, McTiernan says. "They need to be talking to a specialist."

But breast cancer that isn't linked to genes appears to be connected to lifestyle and environment, she says. Her studies show that weight loss and exercising regularly combined have the most impact on improving the biomarkers, including estrogen and insulin, for breast cancer risk.

Read More : http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/01/breast-cancer-exercise-weight-control/2795127/