McConnell takes on group for criticizing wife

WINCHESTER, Ky. (AP) ? Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell lambasted a liberal group on Saturday for criticizing the Asian heritage of his wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, calling its Twitter messages "racial slurs" and "the ultimate outrage."

"They will not get away with attacking my wife in this campaign," McConnell told about 100 home-state supporters at a Republican dinner in Winchester.

"This woman has the ear of (at)McConnellPress ? she's his (hash)wife," the group Progress Kentucky tweeted on Feb. 14. "May explain why your job moved to (hash)China!"

McConnell forcefully defended Chao, who was born in Taiwan and who moved to the U.S. as an 8-year-old with her family aboard a freight ship.

"Elaine Chao is just as much an American as any of the rest of them," McConnell said. "In fact, she had to go through a lot more to become an American."

McConnell's aides had already criticized the tweets.

"Secretary Chao and her family are shining examples of the American dream: salt-of-the-earth folks who escaped oppression, came here with nothing, joined our great melting pot, worked exceptionally hard to build a thriving business, and then dedicated so much of their lives to giving back," said Jesse Benton, manager of McConnell's re-election campaign. "It is unconscionable that anyone would use blatant race-baiting for political gain."

Progress Kentucky removed the offending comments from Twitter after Louisville public radio station WFPL-FM aired reports about them. And the group issued two apologies over the past week for what they described as "inappropriate tweets sent by our organization."

"Those tweets did not reflect our values, and we are committed to making sure nothing like that happens again," executive director Shawn Reilly said in a statement posted on the group's website. "We also apologize to our many supporters, and all Kentuckians working for change in 2014, for those communications. Comments with references to race, ethnicity or sexual orientation have no place in any debate, and we are deeply embarrassed by such a mistake."

Reilly said the volunteer who posted the comments no longer is affiliated with the group.

Criticism of the group wasn't limited to McConnell and his supporters. Numerous Democratic leaders, including actress Ashley Judd, who is considering a challenge to McConnell in next year's election, spoke up, too.

"Whatever the intention, whatever the venue, whomever the person, attacks or comments on anyone's ethnicity are wrong & patently unacceptable," she wrote in a Twitter message last Sunday.

Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Dan Logsdon said the comments were "deplorable" and "have absolutely no place" in Kentucky politics.

McConnell and his wife have faced similar slights in the past. In 2001, former state Democratic Party chairwoman Nikki Patton apologized for saying that McConnell "passed up some good Kentucky pork to chow down at the Chinese money buffet."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mcconnell-takes-group-criticizing-wife-020757436--election.html

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Heavy fighting over police academy in north Syria

Free Syrian Army fighters, take their positions as they observe the Syrian army forces base of Wadi al-Deif, at the front line of Maarat al-Nuaman town, in Idlib province, Syria, Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. Syrian rebels battled government troops near a landmark 12th century mosque in the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday, while fierce clashes raged around a police academy west of the city, activists said. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Free Syrian Army fighters, take their positions as they observe the Syrian army forces base of Wadi al-Deif, at the front line of Maarat al-Nuaman town, in Idlib province, Syria, Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. Syrian rebels battled government troops near a landmark 12th century mosque in the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday, while fierce clashes raged around a police academy west of the city, activists said. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian government forces fought fierce clashes with rebels attacking a police academy near the northern city of Aleppo on Friday, while the bodies of 10 men ? most of them shot in the head ? were found dumped along the side of a road outside Damascus, activists said.

Rebels backed by captured tanks have been trying to storm the police academy outside Aleppo since launching a new offensive on the facility last week. The school, which activists say has been turned into a military base used to shell rebel-held neighborhoods in the city and the surrounding countryside, has become a key front in the wider fight for Aleppo.

The Syrian state news agency said Friday that government troops defending the school had killed dozens of opposition fighters and destroyed five rebel vehicles.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group also reported heavy fighting Friday around the school, and said there were several rebel casualties without providing an exact figure.

Syria's largest city and former commercial hub, Aleppo emerged as a major battleground in the country's civil war after rebels launched an offensive there in July 2012. Since then, the rebels and regime troops have fought street by street for control of Aleppo in a grinding contest that has laid waste to much of the city, considered one of Syria's most beautiful.

The Observatory said clashes were still raging around Aleppo's landmark 12th century Umayyad Mosque in the walled Old City, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mosque was heavily damaged in October 2012 just weeks after a fire gutted the old city's famed medieval market.

There were conflicting reports about whether the rebels had managed to sweep regime troops out of the mosque and take full control of the holy site.

Mohammed al-Khatib of the Aleppo Media Center activist group said the Great Mosque was indeed in rebel hands, although clashes were still raging in the area.

"The regime forces left lots of ammunition in it (the mosque) with guns and rocket-propelled grenades," he said via Skype.

Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said rebels have been in control of at least half of the mosque for days, but he could not confirm that they now had captured the entire grounds.

The Observatory also said that at least eight people were killed in a government airstrike on the rebel-held Hanano neighborhood of the city. It said three children were among the dead.

The 10 bodies were discovered on a roadside between the Damascus suburbs of Adra and Dumair, said Abdul-Rahman.

All of the bodies were of men who appeared to be between the ages of 30 and 45, he added. One of the men had been decapitated. Their identities were not immediately known.

___

Associated Press writer Ben Hubbard contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-01-Syria/id-e221a7c6f0834ef28c24b88cdb2345ac

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Investing in Dividend Aristocrats, Where Have All The Bargain ...

Companies / Dividends Mar 02, 2013 - 12:16 PM GMT

By: Charles_Carnevale

By now, it should be no secret to anyone that the stock market has been on a nice run of late. Moreover, this Bull Run has conjured up a lot of discussions that might lead one to believe that stocks in general are overvalued.? There are even some that want to play the bubble card because they argue that the S&P 500 and/or the Dow Jones Industrial Average are both approaching all-time highs. However, I believe these extremists are confusing value with price.

Investors need to understand and recognize that both a company and/or an index can be trading at an all-time high price, while at the same time be trading at a reasonable or even a low valuation.? Additionally, there can be more than one reason for this to occur. For example, if earnings are at an all-time high, the price can also be at an all-time high while the PE ratio is lower than historical norms. Another iteration can manifest because the stock or index was once previously trading at an extreme overvaluation, while it is now fairly valued.

My point is that it is not logical to automatically assume that a stock is overvalued because it is trading at its highest price ever.? If earnings growth has also been strong, it is possible that even at its current highest price ever, that the stock is undervalued or fairly valued. For the sake of their long-term performance, it is important that investors understand this distinction, recognize it, and make investment decisions based more on true value than on price.

Currently, I can cite four high profile Dividend Aristocrats that are in this situation: 1. Franklin Resources (BEN) 2.? Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 3.? Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 4.? 3M Corp. (MMM). ?The following historical earnings and price correlated FAST Graphs? on Franklin Resources illustrates my point. Franklin Resources is trading close to its highest price ever, but its current PE ratio of 15 indicates that it is currently fairly valued. In 2007 when its stock price was over $145 per share, its PE ratio was also over 20, and one of the highest PEs that Franklin Resources has ever been awarded.

The Relative Valuation of the Prestigious Standard & Poor?s Dividend Aristocrats

With this article, I am going to review the prestigious Standard & Poor?s Dividend Aristocrats list comprised of 51 blue-chip companies that have increased their dividend every year for 25 or more consecutive years. Furthermore, all of the Dividend Aristocrats are also included in David Fish?s Dividend Champions list comprised of 105 companies that likewise have increased their dividends every year for 25 consecutive years. An update of David?s CCC list can be found here.

However, the reason I chose the Dividend Aristocrats list is simply because not only is it a smaller list, but because I also believe it represents the cr?me de la cr?me of companies with a long streak of dividend increases.? But even more importantly, I believe this blue-chip list of dividend growth stocks represents the foundational choices that dividend growth investors in or contemplating retirement can depend on as income producers that offer the potential for a raise in pay each year.

Moreover, there have been two strong factors that cause me to generally favor these prestigious blue-chip dividend growth stocks since the great recession of 2008.? First of all, after the recession, most of these companies became historically undervalued even though their earnings held up for the most part, and of course their dividends continued to grow.? This created a real opportunity for the dividend growth investor to receive an above-average total return, and an above-average current dividend yield while simultaneously enjoying a higher margin of safety than normal valuations typically provide.

Although the recent run-up in stock prices over the past few years has partially closed this incredible window of opportunity, it has not completely slammed it shut.? As I will illustrate, extreme bargains are now harder to come by than they were just a few years ago, but there still are bargains to be had if investors are willing to dig deep enough. On the other hand, there are not as many bargains to be found today as there were just a few years ago. But this does not mean that there are not any good investments available. Companies that can be purchased at fair value are also good investments.

In other words, I believe there are still plenty of reasonably priced Dividend Aristocrats available.? Although we all love a bargain, we also have to realize that regarding investing in common stocks, we also have to accept what the marketplace is offering us in present time.? Nevertheless, I must admit to lamenting about all of the great bargains disappearing.? Today, I have to be willing to accept sound investments, also known as fairly valued investments, to invest current monies. To repeat, the truth is that if a company is at fair value it may not be a great bargain, but it still can be a sound and attractive investment.

In order to come to these conclusions, I have reviewed all of the 51 Dividend Aristocrats, one company at a time, in order to ascertain the relative valuation of each individual Dividend Aristocrat.? My research came up with seven companies out of the 51 that I considered bargains.? I felt that 16 were fairly valued, with an additional 18 that I considered only moderately overvalued.

It?s important to state here that valuation is not a precise measurement.? Therefore, I?m comfortable in saying that 31 of the 51 Dividend Aristocrats could be potential candidates for current investment. However, more comprehensive due diligence is indicated.? Also, I wrote extensively on the subject of sound valuation in my last article found here. ?

Additionally, I took some solace in the fact that my research only uncovered 10 Dividend Aristocrats that I considered dangerously overvalued. This is important, because a strong market like we have recently experienced can easily convince people that stocks have become overvalued. I believe it is vitally important to make investment decisions based on fact rather than innuendo. The key is to make the distinction between price and value.

Aristocrat Bargains

The following lists the seven Dividend Aristocrats that statistically appear to be trading at bargain valuations.? One way to measure this, as I have done in the following table, is to compare the current P/E ratio of the company to its historical normal P/E.?? However, as I will soon illustrate, statistics do not always tell the whole story, and sometimes not even enough of the story to make a rational decision.

Pitney Bowes Inc. (PBI) a Bargain or a Trap?

Statistically speaking, Pitney Bowes Inc. looks like a screaming bargain.? Its current PE ratio of 6.6 is less than half of its normal PE ratio of 14.3.? Moreover, its current dividend yield is over 11%.? Remember, this is a Dividend Aristocrat that has increased its dividend every year for 25 consecutive years (30 to be exact). These are all great statistics.? However, a closer look reveals some significant potential dangers that are lurking.

The moral of the story is that I believe prudent investing must go beyond gazing at spreadsheets or simply reviewing data points. It is possible, that Pitney Bowes is capable of turning its business around.? However, there is no substitute for comprehensive due diligence. Regarding Pitney Bowes, an article in Barron?s entitled Pitney Bowes' Enticing 10.8% Yield, may shed some light on this company?s future.

Aristocrats at Fair Value

This next table lists the 16 Dividend Aristocrats that appeared to be currently fairly valued.? Statistically speaking, each of the 16 candidates appears to be reasonably valued.? However, it?s important to remember that rather than a precise measurement, valuation is always indicated as a range of reasonableness.? Moreover, I consider fair valuation a measure of soundness and not necessarily an indicator of a high future return.

Consolidated Edison (ED) versus Family Dollar Stores (FDO)

The following specific examples from my fair value list illustrate how two companies that are both fairly valued can potentially offer entirely different potential future returns.? Consolidated Edison is a very slow growth utility stock that offers an attractive dividend yield but very little capital appreciation potential.

The following estimated earnings and return calculator based on the consensus of 13 analysts reporting to Capital IQ indicate that Consolidated Edison?s 5-year estimated total return would be 6.7%. ?However, it?s important to point out that the majority of this return would come from dividends, not growth.

In contrast, Family Dollar Stores is a Dividend Aristocrat that can be purchased at a lower PE ratio than Consolidated Edison and also offers a much lower yield.? However, the major differentiator with Family Dollar versus Consolidated Edison is Family Dollars? historical and future growth potential.

The consensus forecast earnings growth by 27 analysts reporting to Capital IQ is 13% per annum. ?This number is very consistent with the company?s historical growth rate which might indicate that it is at least possible. Consequently, assuming that the company achieves this forecast earnings growth rate and trades at a fair value PE ratio, its future five-year estimated total return would be 14.6%.

Although both of the above sample companies are fairly valued, the potential future returns are materially different.? Fair valuation is a very important component of soundness and future return.? However, the primary driver of total future return, if fair value is in effect, will be the future earnings (and dividend) growth rate of the respective individual company.

Aristocrats Moderately Overvalued

The following group of 18 Dividend Aristocrats I considered moderately overvalued still represent a potentially fertile field of investment choices.? First of all, what appears to be moderate overvaluation may, in fact, be fair valuation if forecasts for future growth are too conservative or understated. Of course, the opposite could also be true.

The next reason I believe this list could prove to be fertile ground is because even a small pullback in the share prices of most of these companies could easily move them back into fair value territory. Consequently, it would be in the best interest of prospective investors to look deeper into the possibilities of any of these apparently moderately overvalued Dividend Aristocrats.

Emerson Electric (EMR)

A review of the following earnings and price correlated graph on Emerson Electric shows that the price is just barely above the orange earnings justified valuation line.? Consequently, prospective investors could perhaps comfortably start building positions at these levels, or perhaps wait for a small pullback. Nevertheless , Emerson Electric is far from being dangerously overvalued.

McDonald?s Corp. (MCD)

McDonald?s Corp. is a perennial favorite of the dividend growth investor.? Note by reviewing the following earnings and price correlated graph that this blue-chip Dividend Aristocrat often trades at a premium to its earnings justified valuation (the orange line). Consequently, this presents a dilemma for the dividend growth investor with money to invest.? Should I wait for a pullback, or should I go ahead and start building a position now before the price completely runs away from me?

I believe that it is important to point out that McDonald?s still represents a potentially attractive long-term investment even at its current moderately overvalued level. The consensus of 28 analysts reporting to Capital IQ, expect McDonald?s to grow earnings at 9.7% per annum over the next five years.? Since this number is only slightly lower than McDonald?s historical normal growth, it also seems plausible.?

Therefore, a five-year estimated total return of 9.4% should satisfy most investors.? Moreover, this return assumes those earnings achievements are reached, and that McDonald?s trades at a fair value PE of only 15, which is lower than its current PE of 17.5.

Aristocrats Dangerously Overvalued

As previously mentioned, I only came across 10 of the 51 Dividend Aristocrats that I considered dangerously overvalued.? To me this means that the potential losses that would occur if the company?s share price moved back into fair value range are too high to absorb or be mitigated by any potential dividend increases. Another way that I think of this is to calculate how many years that I feel the stock price is ahead of current earnings.? I?ll illustrate this point more clearly later.

There is also a very interesting twist that I observed with several of these so-called overvalued Dividend Aristocrats. Only 5 of the 10 Dividend Aristocrats that I consider dangerously overvalued are priced above what the market has normally valued their shares at.? These are: 1.? McCormick & Co. (MKC) 2.? Sherman-Williams Co. (SHW) 3.? Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) 4. W.W. Grainger (GWW) 5. Brown-Foreman CL B (BF.B).

The other five Dividend Aristocrats are companies that the market has historically priced at a premium valuation.? Currently, these companies are trading at their normal premium valuation.? Therefore, an argument could be made that these companies are actually fairly valued on that basis.? Later I will provide an earnings and price correlated graph on Ecolab Inc. (ECL) that shows that this highly valued company may actually be slightly undervalued based on historical norms.

Ecolab ? overvalued or undervalued?

The earnings and price correlated graph on Ecolab Inc. clearly shows that the market has historically valued the shares at a normal PE ratio of 26.7 (the blue line) which is significantly above the earnings justified valuation PE of 15. In truth, a case could also be made that the company is currently undervalued based on its current PE of 24.7, which is below its normal PE of 26.7.

Nevertheless, this is a fact that could be taken into consideration by prospective investors that are really fond of this high-quality above-average dividend growth stock.? On the other hand, more cautious investors, like yours truly, would never be willing to pay up even for the consistency and quality that this company possesses. These kinds of judgments are left up to the individual investors? own risk tolerances and beliefs. On the other hand, making the decision with your eyes wide open based on the facts as presented is rational, if not prudent.

McCormick & Co. Inc. Clearly Dangerously Overvalued

When you review the earnings and price correlated graph on McCormick & Co. you also discover that the market has often placed a premium valuation on its shares. However, current valuation is clearly above even the premium valuation that the market has often applied.? Therefore, I believe that new purchases in McCormick & Co. should be avoided unless the shares pull back.

Consistent with full disclosure, we are long McCormick & Co.? Moreover, I submit that is one of my favorite dividend growth stocks for many reasons.? However, I was only willing to purchase this company when its stock price was trading at what I considered to be fair value.? The following graph is marked with a green dot where I purchased McCormick & Co., and the yellow line represents my cost basis.? Sadly, I?ve now placed McCormick & Co. on my potential sell list due to its high valuation.? This is one of those disappearing bargains that I lamented about earlier.

As promised earlier, the following estimated earnings and return calculator shows how I calculate how many years that I feel the current price is ahead of earnings justified levels. More clearly stated, if current earnings expectations are correct, future earnings would not justify today?s valuation until October or November of 2017.? Even though I could rationalize that the stock is only modestly ahead of its historically normal PE ratio, I am not willing to take that risk.

Summary and Conclusions

As I?ve written many times in the past, I am not too concerned with trying to forecast the stock market in the general sense.? I believe that it is a market of stocks, rather than a stock market.? Moreover, my observations spaning over many decades have provided me conclusive evidence that it is more rational to evaluate individual stocks than it is to worry about the general state of the market, or the economy for that matter. My experience has taught me that in every market, whether it be a bull market or a bear market, there will be individual stocks that are overvalued, fairly valued or undervalued.

Therefore, I believe that stock portfolios should be built one company at a time, and specifically based on the individual merits of each respective stock. As a result, I don?t worry too much about the markets or the economy in general, but instead I focus my energies and attention on analyzing each individual company that I may be interested in owning.? On the other hand, by assessing fair value within a reasonable degree of accuracy, I am relieved of the wasted effort of wasting my time on stocks that are clearly outside of my buying parameters.

As I write this article, I do believe that most of the great bargains created by the Great Recession of 2008 are now gone.? On the other hand, that doesn?t mean that there are no longer any good buying opportunities out there.? Quite the contrary, I continue to believe that the majority of the blue-chip Dividend Aristocrats are worthy of serious consideration.? Moreover, I believe that investors could get aggressive with these blue chips if any pullback were to occur.? This is especially true of companies whose earnings and dividends continue to advance in spite of falling stock prices.

Finally, I believe that investors need to always be making decisions that are as rational as they can be based on facts and not false assumptions.? This reminds me of a favorite Will Rogers? quote regarding how we learn.? He said there are three strategies people use to learn:? ?The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest that have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.?

Disclosure:? Long ITW, JNJ, MCD, EMR, MKC at the time of writing.

By Chuck Carnevale

http://www.fastgraphs.com/

Charles (Chuck) C. Carnevale is the creator of F.A.S.T. Graphs?. Chuck is also co-founder of an investment management firm.? He has been working in the securities industry since 1970: he has been a partner with a private NYSE member firm, the President of a NASD firm, Vice President and Regional Marketing Director for a major AMEX listed company, and an Associate Vice President and Investment Consulting Services Coordinator for a major NYSE member firm.

Prior to forming his own investment firm, he was a partner in a 30-year-old established registered investment advisory in Tampa, Florida. Chuck holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Finance from the University of Tampa. Chuck is a sought-after public speaker who is very passionate about spreading the critical message of prudence in money management. Chuck is a Veteran of the Vietnam War and was awarded both the Bronze Star and the Vietnam Honor Medal.

? 2013 Copyright Charles (Chuck) C. Carnevale - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

? 2005-2013 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.

Source: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article39276.html

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Fake identities: Manti Te'o scandal and 6 other Internet hoaxes

Former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o tells ABC-TV host Katie Couric during an interview for "Katie," in New York that he briefly lied about his online girlfriend after discovering she didn't exist. The interview will air on Thursday, Jan. 24. ((AP Photo/Disney-ABC, Lorenzo Bevilaqua) )

The more that the hoax behind Manti Te?o?s and his fake girlfiend, ?Lennay Kekua,? unravels, the more surreal it seems.

The Stanford University alumna fell in love with Mr. Te?o, survived a car accident, and died of leukemia months later. Also, she never existed. A Deadspin?report?from Jan. 16 details inconsistencies in the media about their love story, from when the two met to when exactly she died.?Using public records and social media sites, Deadspin revealed that Ms. Kekua was the creation of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a former high school quarterback from California who became a religious musician.

Since then, Mr. Tuiasosopo has admitted to the hoax and said he fell in love with Te?o through the online persona. He even demonstrated what "Kekua" sounds like during an exclusive interview with Phil McGraw on the "Dr. Phil Show," Deadspin reports.

While both Tuiasosopo and Te?o maintain that the Notre Dame football star was not in on the hoax, questions remain about how much Te?o did know and when he found out. After Deadspin broke the story, Te'o said in a statement that he was a victim of an online hoax: he maintained an online relationship with "Kekua" ? never meeting her in person ? and discovered the truth about her identity in December.

In late January, Te'o?admitted?to ABC's Katie Couric that he lied to reporters shortly after he learned the truth.

When Ms. Couric asked Te'o in an interview why he lied to reporters, Te'o said "Katie, put yourself in my situation. I, my whole world, told me that she died on Sept. 12. Everybody knew that. This girl, who I committed myself to, died on Sept. 12 ...?Now I get a phone call on Dec. 6, saying that she's alive and then I'm going be put on national TV two days later. And to ask me about the same question. You know, what would you do?"

If Te'o is telling the truth about the scam, he would not the first person to be fooled by a fake identity on the Web. The Internet is loaded with fake personas, some with accounts on forums and social media platforms, others with blogs chronicling imaginary family struggles. Some are the result of people?feigning illness for attention. Whatever the method or cause, these scams have fooled many of people over the years.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/erxTUpc1nAc/Fake-identities-Manti-Te-o-scandal-and-6-other-Internet-hoaxes

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Cancer risks higher in worst hit Fukushima area: WHO

GENEVA (Reuters) - People in the area worst affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident two years ago have a higher risk of developing certain cancers, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday.

A 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, killed nearly 19,000 people and devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, triggering meltdowns, spewing radiation and forcing about 160,000 people to flee their homes.

"A breakdown of data, based on age, gender and proximity to the plant, does show a higher cancer risk for those located in the most contaminated parts," Dr. Maria Neira, WHO director for public health and environment, said in a statement.

In the most contaminated area, the WHO estimated that there was a 70 percent higher risk of females exposed as infants developing thyroid cancer over their lifetime. The thyroid is the most exposed organ as radioactive iodine concentrates there and children are deemed especially vulnerable.

The report concluded that for the general population inside Japan, the predicted health risks were low, but that one-third of emergency workers were estimated to have increased risk.

But there was no discernible increase in health risks expected outside Japan, the WHO in a 200-page report, which was based on a comprehensive assessment by international experts.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Jon Boyle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cancer-risks-higher-worst-hit-fukushima-area-093400519--finance.html

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Past Antarctic Warming Linked to Greenhouse Gas

Rising carbon dioxide levels may have caused Antarctic warming in the past, new research strongly suggests.

The findings, published today (Feb. 28) in the journal Science, just add to the body of evidence that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions will lead to climate change.

"It's new evidence from the past of the strong role of CO2 [carbon dioxide] in climate variation," said study co-author Fr?d?ric Parrenin, a climate scientist at the CNRS in France.

Past data

Eons of the Earth's climate history are revealed deep within ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic. The Antarctic ice traps gas bubbles from the climate that can reveal what the ancient atmosphere looked like, while the ice itself can reveal historical temperatures.

But gas bubbles from a given period get buried deeper than ice of the same period, making it hard to tie past temperatures with atmospheric changes.

In the past, scientists using older techniques found that increases in carbon dioxide happened after global warming, not the reverse. [Images of Melt: Earth's Vanishing Ice]

Past link

But Parrenin and his colleagues wondered whether that was actually the case. To answer that question, the team looked at five ice cores that had been drilled from Antarctica over the last 30 years.

They focused on ice from 20,000 to 10,000 years ago, which encompassed the last period when the planet warmed naturally and glaciers melted.

The team measured the concentration of nitrogen-15 isotopes, or atoms of the same element with different weights, at different depths throughout the ice cores. They compared the depth of that isotope with the ice composition for all the cores to determine the distance between ice bubbles and ice from the same period.

Global warming

The team found that global warming and a carbon dioxide increase happened at virtually the same time ? between 18,000 and 11,000 years ago.

"It makes it possible that CO2 was the cause ? at least partly ? of the temperature increase during the courses of the last glaciation," Parrenin told LiveScience.

And if increased carbon dioxide could lead to rising temperatures in the past, it also can in the present day, he said.

The findings may deflate some climate skeptics, who used the poor dating of ice cores to question the link between carbon dioxide and warming, said Robert Mulvaney, a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey, who was not involved in the study.

It also confirmed the view of most climate scientists that in the past, rising temperatures and carbon dioxide were locked in a feedback loop, where high temperatures led to more carbon dioxide being released from the deep oceans, which increased temperatures further, Mulvaney said.

But because predictions of future warming are based on recent carbon dioxide and temperature data, not historical models, "it hasn't really changed anything about our understanding of how climate change will change our modern environment." Mulvaney told LiveScience.

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter @tiaghoseor LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook?& Google+.?

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

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/past-antarctic-warming-linked-greenhouse-gas-195641461.html

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IOC panel sets off on visits to 2020 bid cities

LONDON (AP) ? Seven months before the vote, the International Olympic Committee is sending a panel of experts on a series of site-inspection visits that could prove influential in the race to host the 2020 Summer Games.

The IOC's evaluation commission is heading to Japan this week on the first leg of its three-city tour to examine the bids from Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul ? a key phase in assessing the pros and cons of the multi-billion dollar projects.

Chaired by IOC Vice President Craig Reedie of Britain, the 14-member panel will meet in each city with bid leaders, visit proposed venues and hone in on issues such as finances, accommodations, transportation, security and public support.

The commission will later compile a detailed technical report that will be submitted to the 100-plus IOC members who will select the host city by secret ballot Sept. 7 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

"The interesting thing about this one is that all three have been candidates before on a number of occasions," Reedie said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press before flying to Tokyo on Thursday.

Istanbul is bidding again after four unsuccessful attempts, Madrid is back for a third time in a row and Tokyo for a second consecutive try. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Olympics, and Spain held the games in Barcelona in 1992. Istanbul is seeking to bring the games to a new region and to a predominantly Muslim nation for the first time.

The IOC visits come with all three countries facing serious political or economic challenges.

"The whole evaluation process .... is in some ways a risk assessment," Reedie said.

Spain is still in a deep recession with 25 percent unemployment, and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been fending off allegations that he received money from a slush fund. Japan is trying to revive a stagnant economy and is engaged in a potentially volatile territorial dispute with China over uninhabited islands. Turkey is dealing with the spillover of the civil war in neighboring Syria, and the U.S. Embassy in Ankara was hit by a suicide bombing Feb. 1 that killed the attacker and a Turkish security guard.

At a time of continuing economic hardship around the world, financial issues will be examined closely by the IOC panel.

Istanbul, with the most to build, has a budget of $19.2 billion for infrastructure, compared to $4.9 billion for Tokyo and $1.9 billion for Madrid.

The commission's working meetings in Tokyo run from next Monday through Thursday. The panel will then visit Madrid from March 18-21 and Istanbul from March 24-27.

The panel's report will be written by the end of April and submitted to IOC members before a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, in early July, where the bid cities will make technical presentations and take questions. As in the past, the report will not rank the cities, providing mainly factual information and data to let the voting members make up their own minds in Buenos Aires.

"There is a narrow line between technical fact and personal opinion," Reedie said. "As individual members, we would want to resist personal opinions. We want to make sure this is the whole view."

How much difference the technical report will make in the end is uncertain. IOC votes are invariably swung by other factors, including politics, sentiment, geography, personal friendships and other intangibles.

Missing from the evaluation panel will be IOC sports director Christophe Dubi. Reedie said Dubi was asked to remain at IOC headquarters in Lausanne to work on the Olympic sports program, a decision made in the wake of the IOC executive board's decision to cut wrestling from the list for 2020.

Wrestling has a high profile in Japan and Turkey, and both countries would want the sport on the program if they get the games.

Reedie said his panel would be willing to meet with opposition groups during the visits if time permits and the requests are made through the bid committees. The Tokyo bid has been targeted by animal rights activists opposed to dolphin hunting and critics of the government's decision to scrap a tuition-waiver program for 10 pro-North Korea high schools.

Reedie said the IOC visit to London in 2005 was key in the British capital's winning bid for the 2012 Olympics.

"It was a seminal moment in terms of encouraging a slightly skeptical British media that this was serious and this was good," he said. "If we can do that in Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul, we serve the Olympic movement and the ambitions of these cities."

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Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stevewilsonap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ioc-panel-sets-off-visits-2020-bid-cities-143453218--oly.html

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