Man 'wearing Afghan army uniform' kills two NATO troops

A man wearing an Afghan army uniform on Thursday shot dead two members of NATO's US-led International Security Assistance Force, military officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack which they said targeted French troops in Kapisa province, which is east of the capital Kabul.

"An individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon against two International Security Assistance Forces service members in eastern Afghanistan, today, killing both service members," a coalition statement said.

ISAF said it was investigating but did not identify the nationality of the victims in line with policy.

"This morning one Afghan soldier named Ebrahim killed three French soldiers. He was also martyred," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

The Taliban frequently exaggerate their claims.

He said the incident took place in Tagab district in Kapisa province, which is part of the volatile east of the country.

There have been several incidents over the past year in which Afghan government security forces -- or those purporting to be -- have turned their weapons on foreign troops.

On Christmas eve an Afghan soldier was killed after opening fire on US troops in southwestern Farah province.

Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

Source: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.d0714ba0d0186c4659fa08ce083e7ccc.a1&show_article=1

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US seals $3.48B missiles, technology sale to UAE

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The United States has reached a deal to sell $3.48 billion worth of missiles and related technology to the United Arab Emirates, a close Mideast ally, as part of a massive buildup of defense technology among friendly Mideast nations near Iran.

Pentagon spokesman George Little announced the Christmas Day sale on Friday night. He said the U.S. and U.A.E. have a strong defense relationship and are both interested in "a secure and stable" Persian Gulf region.

The deal includes 96 missiles, along with supporting technology and training support that Little says will bolster the nation's missile defense capacity.

The deal includes a contract with Lockheed Martin to produce the highly sophisticated Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, weapon system for the U.A.E.

Tom McGrath, vice president and program manager for Lockheed Martin's THAAD program in Dallas, said in a statement it was the first foreign military sale of the THAAD system.

THAAD interceptors are produced at Lockheed Martin's Pike County Facility in Troy, Alabama. The launchers and fire control units are produced at the company's Camden, Arkansas, facility.

Wary of Iran, the U.S. has been building up missile defenses of its allies, including a $1.7 billion deal to upgrade Saudi Arabia's Patriot missiles and the sale of 209 Patriot missiles to Kuwait, valued at about $900 million.

On Thursday, the Obama administration announced the sale of $30 billion worth of F-15SA fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

Under the fighter jet agreement, the U.S. will send Saudi Arabia 84 new fighter jets and upgrades for 70 more. Production of the aircraft, which will be manufactured by Boeing Co., will support 50,000 jobs and have a $3.5 billion annual economic impact in the U.S.

All the sales are part of a larger U.S. effort to realign its defense policies in the Persian Gulf to keep Iran in check.

The announcement came as U.S. officials weighed a fresh threat from Tehran, which warned this week it could disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital Persian Gulf oil transport route, if Washington levies new sanctions targeting Iran's crude exports.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, the third-ranking U.S. diplomat, will travel to Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. next week to discuss "ongoing developments" in the region with senior officials of the two nations, the State Department said Friday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-31-US-UAE-Missile%20Sale/id-3acb6f93bde04700802417a845afdc90

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Newly released files detail Thatcher's 1981 crisis (AP)

LONDON ? Rioting on Britain's streets and criticism from colleagues during an economic crisis tested the mettle of Margaret Thatcher. Government documents released Friday detail how early challenges shaped the woman who dominated the country's political life for 11 years.

Official records for 1981 released by the National Archives depict a prime minister grappling with violent dissent, rising tensions in Northern Ireland and sharp criticism from her own allies. The papers were being made public just five days before the London premiere of "The Iron Lady," the film about Thatcher's career starring Meryl Streep.

The documents were made public under Britain's policy of withholding sensitive official documents for 30 years.

Elected in 1979, Thatcher ? now aged 86 ? early on cut public spending and prioritized efforts to tame Britain's rocketing inflation rate, bringing a dramatic fall in industrial output and pushing unemployment to 2.5 million. In London's ethnically diverse Brixton neighborhood, and in the impoverished Toxteth suburb of the northern city of Liverpool, anger over joblessness helped fuel the country's worst riots in decades.

Undeterred, the government's March budget had introduced a new financial squeeze, with Treasury chief Geoffrey Howe announcing plans to raise taxes.

That led to a crisis July 23 Cabinet meeting in which Thatcher was confronted by internal critics ? known as the "wets" after the private school slang for "weak" ? who advocated an abrupt change of economic policy to appease public anger. According to minutes of the meeting, Thatcher's critics, many of them supporters of her predecessor Edward Heath, laid out a detailed attack.

"With unemployment totals rising to 3 million later in the year, and following the recent rioting in a number of cities, the tolerance of society was now stretched near to its limit," the critics argued, according to the note.

"To give people renewed hope and confidence for the future, it was essential to take new and constructive action urgently," the document said the leader was told.

Thatcher's combative press secretary Bernard Ingham fired off a memo warning his boss that she led "a manifestly divided and warring Cabinet."

In her memoirs, Thatcher described the meeting as "one of the bitterest arguments on the economy, or any subject, that I can ever recall taking place at Cabinet."

She was not deterred.

Thatcher fired education secretary Mark Carlisle; Christopher Soames, the leader of the House of Lords; and Ian Gilmour, a senior foreign office minister. She switched Jim Prior, then the employment secretary, to the Northern Ireland Office, to stifle his influence over economic policy.

The move calmed loyalists who had feared that Thatcher could be swayed by her opponents.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_thatcher

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Meth Hype Could Undermine Good Medicine

News | Mind & Brain

Overstating the dangers of methamphetamine may impede treatment of drug abusers, asserts a review by Columbia University researchers

December 27, 2011

Crystal methamphetamine Image:

The 1936 film Reefer Madness developed a cult following because of its over-the-top depiction of the evils of marijuana. Getting stoned and going to a midnight showing became a ritual for many college students.

The recognition that pot is not a direct route to an asylum for the criminally insane, as it was for one character in the film, fueled the hilarity for late-night moviegoers. The divergence between perception and reality has become an issue in recent years for other recreational drugs.

Last month four scientists from Columbia University published an analysis of previous studies on methamphetamine use that called into question some of the purported damaging effects of the drug on brain functioning. The review in Neuropsychopharmacology found that short-term effects of the drug actually improve attention, as well as visual and spatial perception, among other things.

Moreover, chronic users?the ones who would be expected to suffer most?remain largely unimpaired. The researchers found that they experience brain and cognitive changes ?on a minority of measures? in brain imaging and psychological tests. ?Cognitive functioning overwhelmingly falls within the normal range,? the report states, while adding that researchers? pre-existing assumptions about meth's detrimental effects "should be reevaluated to document the actual pattern of cognitive effects caused by the drug."

While recognizing the potential for abuse, the researchers emphasize that misinterpretations of the scientific evidence can wrongly stigmatize drug abusers and lead to misguided policymaking. One study, for instance, asserted that meth abusers might be too cognitively damaged to benefit from rehabilitative treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapies. ?Findings from this review argue that such concerns are unwarranted,? the researchers state.

In Thailand, efforts to stem meth use have gone as far as banning all amphetamines, a class of drug that is used medically for treatment of ADHD and other conditions. ?My main goal really was to make sure that we are rigorous in the science before we are political,? says Carl Hart, a substance abuse researcher at Columbia who was the lead author on the Neuropsychopharmacology paper. ?I think, with meth, we have been political.? (Neuropsychopharmacology is part of Nature Publishing Group, which also includes Scientific American.)

The article asserts that some of the misconceptions surrounding meth go beyond findings on mental functioning. Drug education campaigns often publish photographs of ?meth mouth,? severe tooth decay among users because of the lack of saliva. But dry mouth is a condition common to other drugs, such as the prescription antidepressant Cymbalta and the ADHD medication Adderall.

Hart says he was impelled to do the research because of distortions of the evidence for harm from crack cocaine. During the crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s, pronouncements about lasting prenatal harm to children whose mothers used the drug turned out to be overblown: long-term effects on brain development and behavior were fairly small, and children were sometimes ostracized or received medical diagnoses that were mistakenly attributed to effects from the drug.

The review by Hart and colleagues elicited a firm counterpoint from National Institute on Drug Abuse director Nora Volkow, some of whose research is critiqued in the Neuropsychopharmacology paper. ?Because of the far-reaching public health implications of this issue, it is essential not to forget what we do know about meth-induced neuropathology, which is plenty troubling,? she says. Volkow points out that the vascular effects of meth can lead to strokes and hemorrhages. The drug, she notes, has also been shown to produce inflammation, atrophy and structural changes in brain tissue. ?Similarly worrisome is a recent report of increased incidence of Parkinson?s diseases among individuals with a past history of methamphetamine abuse [compared with] the general population,? she says, adding that meth abuse can be ?neurotoxic to the human brain.?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=faae37cb9d33a64066c2fee377e40548

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Video: 2012 Outlook: Euro Fears Will Continue

Discussing why European fears will continue into the first six months of the new year, with Constance Hunter, AXA Investment Managers deputy chief investment officer, who sheds light on whether Russia will be the next shoe to drop.

Related Links:

Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45795200/

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Fox Sports: No. 14 Xavier tops S. Illinois in Hawaii

Updated?Dec 25, 2011 5:30 PM ET

?

HONOLULU (AP)

Tu Holloway was feeling the Christmas spirit.

Sporting green and white shoes with red laces, Holloway poured in 21 points to lead No. 14 Xavier to a 87-77 victory over Southern Illinois on Sunday in the seventh-place game of the Diamond Head Classic.

Before a sparse, morning crowd on Christmas Day, the Musketeers snapped a three-game skid, winning for the first time since Dec. 10, when they beat Cincinnati in a game cut short in the closing seconds by brawling and mayhem on the court.

''That was as good a game as we played offensively all year,'' Xavier coach Chris Mack said. ''On the defense end, we need to get back to being a team that keeps teams to a low field-goal percentage.''

It was the first three-game losing streak for Xavier under Mack and first since the 2007-08 season.

Mark Lyons had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Musketeers (9-3). Andre Walker and Travis Taylor added 13 apiece for Xavier, which made 36 of 48 free throws. Walker also had 10 rebounds.

The Salukis (3-8), losers of three in a row, were led by Dantiel Daniels with 22 points.

''We really needed this one,'' Lyons said. ''We got the W. That's what matters.''

Southern Illinois drew to 68-64 at 8:45 after a 3-point play by Daniels, but an 8-1 run gave the Musketeers a comfortable cushion. Holloway's two free throws with a minute to go gave the Musketeers their largest lead, 83-69.

Holloway finished 14 of 15 from the line. He took just six shots from the field, making three, including 1 of 2 3-pointers. He also had seven assists.

''I try to do that every game,'' Holloway said. ''Today my teammates were finishing a lot. I'm the point guard of the team, so that's where it starts for us, passing the ball and sharing the ball.''

The senior point guard, third-team AP All-American last season, said he was waiting for the perfect occasion to unveil the festive shoes.

''Since I've been in college this is the first time playing on Christmas Day,'' Holloway said. ''I had a pair of Nikes that match the Christmas colors, green and white. I wanted to wear them on Christmas Day and dedicate (the game) to everybody back home for Christmas.''

SIU coach Chris Lowery had high praise for Holloway.

''Tu Holloway is an NBA guy,'' Lowery said. ''That's the difference between their club and our club. Their thinker is an NBA guy. He never wavered (or) got shook up, and he ran the team.''

Daniels shot 7 of 8 from the field and made all eight free throws. He scored 13 of his 22 points in the second half.

Mamadou Seck had 12 points with 10 rebounds, Kendal Brown-Surles hit three 3-pointers to finish with 12 points, and T.J. Lindsay added 11 for the Salukis.

Xavier scored 17 points off 11 SIU turnovers. SIU shot 40 percent and made just 5 of 20 from behind the arc. The Musketeers led 42-36 at halftime.

This was the second meeting between the schools and first since SIU beat Xavier in 1972. The Musketeers lost at home to Oral Roberts a week ago before dropping their first two games in Honolulu, against Long Beach State and Hawaii. The Salukis also lost earlier in the week to Kansas State and Clemson.

Source: http://www.bbstate.com/news/443408

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Israel Is Wide Awake as Decision Time Approaches on Nuclear Iran

While David Miliband and Nader Mousavizadeh warn that "war talk" regarding Iran's nuclear programme may become a "self-fulfilling prophecy" (see "The Risks of Sleepwalking into a War with Iran," December 2), Israel has been publicly debating the wisdom of a military strike on Iran's programme. But it is not "sleepwalking" into a war.

Israel perceives a nuclear Iran as a potentially existential threat. The possible combination of extreme Islamism, a messianic leadership calling to "wipe Israel off the map" and nuclear weapons is deeply sobering. Given Israel's collective memory of the Holocaust and its hostile surroundings, Israelis take this threat especially seriously.

When Israel defines a nuclear Iran as "unacceptable," it means it. But it suspects that for the rest of the world, "unacceptable" really means "undesirable." Mr. Miliband and Mr. Mousavizadeh admit that the price of a nuclear-armed Iran would be "unacceptably high" but fail to say what should be done if non-military pressures fail.

The Israeli discourse is not mere sabre-rattling. It is a real debate driven by the feeling that Iran's nuclear project is advancing, international resolve is insufficient and regime change does not look imminent. Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, recently implied that the critical decision point, between "bomb" and "bombing" before it is too late, would be reached in under a year.

Either choice comes with a heavy price. Even assuming Iran can be deterred from using a nuclear bomb, a nuclear Iran will dramatically upset the strategic balance in a region undergoing revolutionary transition. Having defeated international pressure and acquired a nuclear umbrella, Iran will be emboldened as a radical regional pole.

A nuclear Iran will overshadow the calculations of regional actors, trigger a regional nuclear arms race, destroy the non-proliferation treaty and increase the danger of miscalculation towards a nuclear crisis. Iran will escalate its destabilising power projection, threatening Israel and moderate Arab regimes, undermining any peace process, manipulating energy markets and posing as guardian of certain Muslim communities even beyond the Middle East. Over time, one cannot rule out proliferation to non-state actors. Containment and deterrence will do little to offset these severe consequences.

A military strike, on the other hand, could entail serious unintended consequences. Iran will respond violently, both directly and through proxies such as Hizbollah, which has more than 40,000 rockets aimed at Israel. The conflict could escalate into a regional war. Iran may act aggressively in the straits of Hormuz, leading to a spike in oil prices, although disrupting oil exports would be self-defeating.

Michael Herzog, a retired brigadier general in the Israel Defense Forces, is The Washington Institute's Milton Fine international fellow, based in Israel.

The above article was first published in ft.com and was published in washingtoninstitute.org on December 22nd, 2011.

Continue reading

Source: http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=345650

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Letter: Economy not GOP?s fault

In William Lyons? Dec. 15 letter, he laments congressional partisanship and implies Republicans are responsible ? plus they blocked the magnitude of the Obama stimulus package.

How? Democrats were in complete control of all branches of government when the stimulus was created.

President Roosevelt did engage in modest deficit spending, but realized financial integrity/security means a balanced budget.

Apparently President Obama rejects this fact and believes that overspending and borrowing more money will end a depression. Why did the Great Depression last so long ? 1929 to 1940? How long will the current depression last?

For both, the answer is ? and was ? end federal intervention. The private sector provides jobs and job creation. Excessive regulations and uncertain tax policies prevent this.

How much longer can President Bush be blamed for the current mess?
Warren G. Harding presided over the 1920-21 Depression. He did nothing but cut federal spending. Unemployment went from 11.7 percent to 6.7 percent to a low of 1.8 percent.

Do we really want to repeat the Great Depression but this time on steroids?
Partisanship is a two-way street. A close look will reveal partisan Democrats and President Obama do not want compromise.

It?s either their misguided way or the highway.

?? Bill Megan, Rockford

Source: http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/whatyouresaying/x1569722195/Letter-Economy-not-GOP-s-fault

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Columbia graduate students work with American College Cricket

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Kalpesh Patel, a Columbia graduate student at SEAS, probably loves cricket more than you. Okay, that might not be fair?I have no idea how much you love cricket?but he?s sure done a lot for the sport and its exposure in America.

Patel pretty much established the first team to play in the first ever American College Cricket (ACC) season at the University of Miami. Since then, he?s seen the game spread itself across the US.

?I have seen the game grow from a league with only five American Colleges in 2008, to one with over 60 North American Colleges (in the United States and Canada),? he wrote in an email to Spectrum.

Patel wanted to do more, however. After this first season, he maintained a relationship with the company?s management because he wanted to use his finance, math, and engineering background to expand cricket even further. A class at Columbia?Studies in Operations Research?helped him come up with something concrete with a team of other students over a period of three months.

?We developed a series of quantitative rankings for the company to use, and also built linear programming models to help the company to pick/choose different schedules based on a number of different parameters,? he wrote. These parameters included costs, number of teams, number of fields, and the number of games each team wanted to play.

Even though the first semester of the class is over, the project isn?t. Now, though, there are more students?around eight?working on the programming models and rankings.

?The plan is that we will continue to work with ACC over the next semester as part of two classes: ?Studies in Operations Research? and also ?Operations Consulting.??

Patel hopes that Columbia will be remembered for its (as well as his) contributions to making cricket a mainstream college sport in North America, especially as there are plans to move forward in the project?s efforts.

?The future work planned involves the implementation of the rankings alongside a database which will keep track of all ACC games, and provide statistics for teams players etc. We will also assist management with developing an infrastructure for providing live scores of games on the company?s website, generating revenue from this feature, as well as marketing and promoting the game of cricket across college campuses in the United States and Canada,? he wrote.

Even if you you have limited exposure to cricket (like me), you have to admit it?this is pretty awesome. Who knows? Maybe soon Columbia will have a cricket team?to cheer on to call its own.

Source: http://spectrum.columbiaspectator.com/sports/columbia-graduate-students-work-with-american-college-cricket

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UPS Will Deliver 26 Million Packages Today [Factoid]

UPS says it expects to make 120 million deliveries this week, and today will be its busiest day of the year. The shipping giant says it plans to make 26 million deliveries—that's roughly 300 deliveries per second. UPS is adding 400 flights just to keep up. Whoa. How much fruitcake?[AuctionBytes] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/R2o1Iuku8uI/ups-will-deliver-26--million-packages-today

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Vaclav Havel and Kim Jong-il ? moral opposites

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel was a victim of communist dictatorship; North Korean leader Kim Jong-il? was a communist dictator. It is time to correct a historic injustice and award Havel the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously for his lifetime achievements.

Last weekend saw the deaths of two historic figures on opposite ends of the world?s moral spectrum, a communist dictator and a victim of communist dictatorship.

Skip to next paragraph

Headlines around the world featured the demise of Kim Jong-il, the bizarre and reclusive head of North Korea?s maniacally despotic regime.

Subordinate coverage noted the passing of Vaclav Havel. This dissident Czech writer suffered years in prison because of his fight for national freedom from authoritarianism under the Soviet empire before his elevation to the presidency of a liberated nation.

One man headed half of a divided country that went to war to unite North and South Korea under communist rule, while permitting no domestic challenge to his monolithic power in the Democratic People?s Republic.

The other led a true democratic people?s republic and resigned rather than see Czechoslovakia split into Czech and Slovak entities; he later yielded to popular demand and agreed to serve as president of the Czech Republic.

The contrast in their rule and the nature of the governments they headed reflect the character of the governments that supported them.

North Korea?s sole ally and its chief sponsor and protector was and is the People?s Republic of China. The two communist states joined in the invasion of South Korea in 1950 for which they were condemned as aggressors by the United Nations when Kim?s father, Kim Il-sung, was in power.

Ever since, they have proclaimed themselves ?as close as lips and teeth.? Beijing has provided the government in Pyongyang with the material, political, and diplomatic support essential to keeping it in power. China has used its position on the UN Security Council to insulate North Korea from meaningful international sanctions as it built its nuclear weapons and missile programs. The two countries have also cooperated in fostering a network of nuclear and missile proliferation.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/zrU07AZWfpw/Vaclav-Havel-and-Kim-Jong-il-moral-opposites

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Washington Flails as Chaos Threatens Iraq: Will Iran Stoke or Douse the Fires? (Time.com)

Vice President Joe Biden has been on the phone to Baghdad and Erbil this week, frantically trying to coax Iraq's main political players back from the brink of a new sectarian confrontation less than a week after the last U.S. troops departed. But Iraq's political leaders paid little heed to Washington's advice and entreaties when the U.S. had 140,000 troops there; they're even less likely to comply now. Biden reportedly sought to persuade Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to back away from a warrant issued by his government for the arrest of Iraq's most senior Sunni politician, Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi, on allegations that he was involved in a bomb plot for which members of his security detail have been detained. But Iraq's Sunni leadership sees the warrant as part of Maliki's authoritarian crackdown against his opponents, with senior Sunni leaders systematically targeted for arrest by the Shi'ite-led government in recent months.

Al-Hashimi dodged arrest by fleeing to Erbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish zone in northern Iraq, from where he denounced the arrest warrant as a political plot and accused Maliki of amassing power in his own hands and destroying prospects for inter-sectarian accord. He also offered to stand trial on the allegations, but only in Erbil -- the implication being that he didn't believe he'd get a fair trial in Baghdad. However, there was little sign of Maliki heeding Biden's call for restraint, or calls by Kurdish leaders for an urgent national conference to discuss the widening sectarian schism in Iraqi politics. The Iraqi Prime Minister declared on TV Wednesday: "I do not allow myself and others to bargain over Iraqi blood." He demanded that the Kurdish authorities hand over al-Hashimi. "If they will not hand him over or let him flee or escape, this will lead to problems," Maliki added ominously. (See the ten grim lessons from the Iraq war.)

The move against al-Hashimi coincides with the withdrawal from parliament of the predominantly Sunni Iraqiya bloc, prompting Maliki to urge the legislature to pass a vote of no confidence in deputy prime minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, the Sunni faction's most senior figure in the legislature. And, Maliki warned, the boycott of parliament would result in Iraqiya cabinet ministers losing their positions, ending the inter-party accord that formed the basis of the agreement to seat his government. Iraqiya, whose future participation in what had been envisaged as a consensus government but has in practice been run almost entirely by Maliki's faction, now appears in doubt, accused Maliki of being "the main cause of the crisis," and urging his Shi'ite-dominated bloc to put forward an alternative candidate for prime minister.

Many of the Sunni leaders, including al-Hashimi, now support a bid by three Sunni provinces -- Anbar, Diyala and Salahuddin -- to band together into an autonomous zone on the lines that the Kurds have done. That's an outcome Maliki is determined to avoid, seeing it as strengthening a beachhead in Iraq of regional forces antagonistic to his rule. Indeed, a union of three provinces that had been the cradle of the Sunni insurgency, and which abut Syria, would strengthen the strategic challenge to Maliki in Baghdad -- even more so if President Bashar al-Assad were overthrown by Syria's Sunni majority. Sunni leaders in those provinces have spoken of Sunni insurgencies on both sides of the Syria-Iraq border amplifying one another.

The power struggle between Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish political factions has been waged in different forms since Saddam's fall, but it appears to have entered a new phase in recent years, once the clock began ticking down towards the U.S. withdrawal. Maliki has been widely accused of steadily amassing power, particularly through his control over the security forces, and demonstrating his intent to suppress domestic challenges to his increasingly authoritarian rule. (Read "Iraq After the War: Maliki's Attack on Sunni Leaders Suggests a Dark, Divided Future.")

The Prime Minister's attack on the Sunni political class signals a new round of political brinkmanship, with the danger of a relapse into civil war exacerbated by regional tensions, particularly between Iran -- the main outside patron of Maliki's government -- and Saudi Arabia, which has always backed the Sunnis. Those two are at loggerheads in political standoffs throughout the region, from Syria and Lebanon to Bahrain, but Turkey's growing regional influence has also antagonized Tehran. Ankara has taken a leading role in putting pressure on Iran's ally in Damascus, President Assad, over his brutal crackdown on a popular rebellion. And last year, Turkey also played a major role in creating and backing the Iraqiya bloc.

There are, of course, a number of domestic factors that might restrain Maliki from pushing the Sunnis over the edge. The Kurdish leadership is again trying to assume a mediating role whose spinoff is to strengthen the autonomy and boundaries of their de facto statelet in northern Iraq. Another key player could be Grand Ayatullah Ali Sistani, the most influential Shi'ite leader in Iraq, who has played a quiet but sometimes decisive role in shaping Iraq's post-Saddam political transition. Although Sistani comes from the "quietist" tradition that opposes Iran's system of clerical rule, he has been known to intervene in politics. Sistani forced the U.S. occupation authority to allow Iraqis to elect their own government in January of 2005, and then made sure the various Shi'ite factions didn't dilute their power by using his influence to corral them into a single political bloc. More recently, Sistani has been strongly critical of corruption and abuse of power in Maliki's government -- so much so that Maliki is reportedly colluding in efforts to install a top Iranian cleric in the Iraqi seminary city of Najaf as a counterweight to Sistani. Sistani remains the single most important leader among Iraqi Shi'ites, and he's unlikely to countenance a sectarian confrontation with the Sunnis.

The key variable, however, remains Iran. Tehran has been the biggest strategic beneficiary of the U.S. invasion, and it has been the most influential foreign power in Baghdad since the moment the U.S. allowed the Iraqis to choose their own government. (They've returned Iran-friendly Shi'ite governments at each election.) While he may be a Shi'ite partisan with an authoritarian streak, but -- contra the Saudi view -- Maliki is no puppet of Tehran. Still, he's unable to rule without Tehran's support; it was Iran's intervention that persuaded Sadr to throw his considerable parliamentary vote behind Maliki to give him the numbers necessary to keep Iraqiya out of power, after the Sunni-dominated bloc finished with more votes than any other list in the last election. (Read "U.S. Iraq Withdrawal a Gift to Iran? No, the U.S. Iraq Invasion Was the Gift to Iran.")

The question that may determine whether or not Iraq descends into sectarian confrontation, then, may be this: What does Iran want right now?

There may be an argument that stoking instability in Iraq suits Iran at a moment when Tehran is facing growing economic pressure and implied military threats over its nuclear program -- a tactic of starting fires in order to demonstrate its ability to cause problems for its adversaries. Yet, there may also be reason to believe that Iran could, in fact, decide to restrain Maliki should his actions appear to be raising the danger of renewed civil warfare. The reason is simple: The status quo put in place in Iraq by the U.S. invasion is a huge strategic gain for Tehran, which saw its most dangerous enemy -- Saddam Hussein -- replaced by an elected government dominated by its allies. The collapse of that political order in a new round of sectarian bloodshed puts Iran's post-Saddam gains at risk, also inviting its key regional opponent, Saudi Arabia, to intervene more aggressively to turn Iraq into a proxy battlefield.

Either way, Iran is unlikely to accept matters of such great strategic consequence to the Islamic Republic as a confrontation that could potentially draw in Iraq's major neighbors can be decided simply by the whims and narrow agenda of Prime Minister Maliki. At a moment when the fate of Iraq's key Arab partner, Syria's Assad, hangs in the balance, it would take a stupendous recklessness to roll the dice on its influence in Iraq, also, by encouraging Maliki to overplay his hand.

Indeed, in recent weeks, it has appeared as if Iran has been trying to ease tensions with the Saudis, sending its intelligence minister to Riyadh for talks over the alleged Washington embassy bombing plot, and backing down from opposing the Saudis' position on OPEC oil output quotas. Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Wednesday indicated a willingness to negotiate with Iran to improve recently frayed relations but also warned Iran, via a statement from the Gulf Cooperation Council, against "instigating sectarian strife" in the region.

Unless Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei is a more reckless gambler than most analysts know, Prime Minister Maliki may yet find the message he received from Biden discreetly but firmly reiterated by Tehran.

(See photos of the legacy of Ayatullah Khomeini.

See TIME's top 10 everything of 2011.

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Making Sense of Cancer Screening Updates (HealthDay)

TUESDAY, Dec. 20 (HealthDay News) -- As experts alter course on guidelines for cancer screenings such as mammograms and the prostate-specific antigen test, the general public is understandably confused.

Women at age 40 wonder if they should have a mammogram to look for breast cancer or wait until 50, as one U.S. organization suggests. Men of an age when prostate cancer develops may be told to forgo the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, contrary to standard past practice. And sexually active women may not feel safe from cervical cancer if they wait years between Pap tests.

"It's difficult to accept that having less testing is either as good or even better than having more," said Dr. Robert Mayer, faculty vice president for academic affairs at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Based on new research, some major cancer groups are advising the medical profession to be more judicious about who gets tested and when.

"I don't think the data are as conclusive that screening is as bad or as good as we had hoped," said Dr. David Penson, professor of urologic surgery and director of surgical quality and outcomes research at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Probably the most controversial recommendation came from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a government body that publishes screening guidelines. It set off a furor two years ago when it announced that mammograms may not benefit women in their 40s, while women aged 50 to 74 could safely undergo screening once every two years instead of annually.

This year, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care came out with similar recommendations on breast cancer screening, suggesting that women aged 40 to 49 at average risk for breast cancer not get routine mammograms.

This, of course, runs counter to long-standing conventional wisdom that all women over the age of 40 should undergo a yearly mammogram.

These organizations reasoned that mammograms can result in false positives and unnecessary biopsies, harm that in some instances may outweigh the benefits of this type of screening. Soaring health costs may also weigh in the decision-making.

However, the American Cancer Society and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists still advocate screening starting at age 40.

"I don't see a trend of backing away from endorsement for screening among many organizations," said Robert Smith, senior director of cancer control at the American Cancer Society. "Frankly, I see it in one."

But the medical establishment is backing away from PSA screening for prostate cancer, because the test is far from perfect, resulting in many unnecessary biopsies.

Increased PSA levels can indicate cancer, but they are not a foolproof measure. PSA levels rise naturally as men age, explained Mayer. Levels can also rise if men have had two or three sexual experiences in the prior few days.

"There are an enormous number of false positives," Mayer added. "How does one then say what's good for everybody?"

And not all prostate cancers are created equal, some being highly aggressive and others very slow-growing. Invasive treatment may be more harmful than watching and waiting, some doctors say.

"We know that less than 10 percent of men with prostate cancer ever die of the disease," Mayer said. "That's very different from colon cancer, where 40 to 50 percent die from it, or breast cancer, where 30 to 40 percent die from it."

The bottom line for both breast and prostate cancers: Check with your health care provider on what is the best screening schedule for you.

Cervical cancer screening guidelines have also evolved over the years.

In October, three groups, including the American Cancer Society, jointly created guidelines calling for women to get fewer cervical cancer screenings over their lifetime.

The guidelines also call for combination Pap testing and HPV (human papillomavirus) testing in women aged 30 and older, placing stronger emphasis on HPV testing than guidelines officially released at the same time from the USPSTF.

But the issue here is less controversial. "We have more sensitive tests in our ability to detect what is a slow-growing disease," said Smith.

More information

Visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute for more on cancer screening tests.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111221/hl_hsn/makingsenseofcancerscreeningupdates

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Hay brings same energy, drive to Canada's junior hockey team 17 years later

Asked to describe his coach in three words, Brendan Gallagher almost makes it.

"Competitive, knowledgeable, competitive," says Gallagher, then continues.

"He wants to win more than any other coach."

There is certainly a tirelessness about Don Hay, who coaches Gallagher on both the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants and the Canadian junior men's hockey hockey team.

During practice, Hay moves quickly, covers a lot of ice and continually bangs his stick on the ice. He reacts to his players' successes or failures during drills with a gesture or a grimace.

Seventeen years after coaching Canada to gold at the 1995 world junior championship in Red Deer, Alta., Hay is stepping behind Canada's bench again with the 2012 edition of the team.

Canada opens the world junior championship Sunday in Edmonton versus Finland.

Hay can join Brent Sutter, Craig Hartsburg and Terry Simpson as the only men to coach Canada to gold twice.

Those men did it in back-to-back years. The long interval between Hay's stints is by his own choosing.

A successful junior coach with three Memorial Cup titles, as well as some NHL coaching experience, Hay would have been a leading candidate for the job in recent years if he'd thrown his hat into the ring.

But Hay chose 2012, when the tournament returns to Alberta and the scene of his success in '95.

"Being in Canada first and foremost, I feel comfortable coaching in Canada and in a North American rink," Hay said.

"I still have a passion to coach and I really desired to coach Canada again. I thought it was the right opportunity. I'm not getting any younger."

He may not be, but Hay is a fit 57-year-old. He's an avid runner who enters the Vancouver half-marathon every year. Hay has also not tired of challenging teenage hockey players to become better.

"He loves to see improvements in his players and that I think, along with his conditioning, is why he always seems like he has energy," says Ryan Huska, who is both Hay's assistant coach on the Canadian team and a former player of Hay's on the Kamloops Blazers.

"He really does love teaching kids and young players," Huska continued. "He likes to get them to progress and challenges them to move on to the next level and that's what drives him."

Hay, a former minor pro player, left the Kamloops fire department to join the Blazers coaching staff as an assistant from 1986 to 1992. During that apprenticeship, he was an assistant to current Edmonton Oilers head coach Tom Renney.

"Hay is well organized, well prepared and very thorough," Renney said. "He's very demanding and tough, no question about that, but very fair and equitable in how he treats people.

"There are no hidden agendas. A player doesn't have to leave a conversation with Donny asking himself, 'What did he mean by that?' You're going to get the goods."

Hay became head coach of the Blazers in 1993. After winning back-to-back Memorial Cups in 1994 and 1995, as well as winning gold at the world juniors in '95, the natural progression for a successful junior coach is the NHL.

Hay coached the Phoenix Coyotes to a 38-37-0-7 record and got them into the first round of playoffs in 1996-97. But he was turfed after just one season.

After a couple of seasons back in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans, Hay's second NHL stint was even shorter. The Calgary Flames fired him just 68 games into the 2000-01 season.

Hay won't say the NHL didn't give him a legitimate chance, but recalls how shocked he was by the lack of patience he was shown.

"That was my hardest thing when I left juniors. I didn't understand that," he said. "And that really hurt I think because you think you did a good job.

"You think you're doing the right things and you should get rewarded for doing the right things, but you don't. I know the saying is 'A coach is hired to get fired' and it took me a while to figure that out."

He's not in a rush to try the NHL again and why should he? Hay has job stability as head coach of the Vancouver Giants, which is a model WHL franchise in a world-class city.

The Giants have never finished under .500 or out of the playoffs in Hay's seven seasons at the helm. They won the Memorial Cup in 2007 as hosts after finishing third in that tournament the previous year.

The franchise has a wealthy majority owner in Ron Toigo, and some famous minority owners in Gordie Howe, Pat Quinn and singer Michael Buble. The Giants extended Hay's contract last year until 2015.

Hay turned down an assistant coach's job with the Oilers last year. He didn't pursue the same opportunity with the Winnipeg Jets this year because he'd committed to coaching Canada at the world junior tournament.

"I think I'd like to have the opportunity to go back (to the NHL), but if it doesn't come it's not going to affect me," Hay said. "It's got to be a pretty good job to go to for me to leave this one."

Huska says a secret to Hay's success as a junior coach is developing leaders on his teams who set examples for young players.

"They would help pull the other guys along," Huska explained. "He always had a way to transition a new group up. They understood what he wanted and how he wanted his teams to play."

"If they didn't fit in or play the proper way, the room would take care of it and if it didn't, Don would."

Hay and his wife Vicki have three children. Darrell, a defenceman, tried out for the Canadian junior team in both 1999 and 2000, but didn't make the squad. He's currently playing hockey in the Czech Republic.

Their daughters Ashley and Angela are twins. Angela has two children and Hay counts spending time with his grandchildren as one of his favourite things to do away from the rink.

When Hay coached Canada in 1995, he had the best players in the land available to him because an NHL lockout extending into January. He famously cut Brett Lindros from the team because he felt the big forward wasn't the right fit for his team.

Hays says the players on the Canadian junior team today are the same as in '95. They grow up watching the tournament on television and seeing the emotion that so often drives Canada to gold. The players dream of doing the same.

And make no mistake, Hay wants the gold just as much in 2012 as he did in 1995.

"You can just see how badly he wants to win," Gallagher says. "Whenever he's behind that bench, you sense it as players and it makes you want to win just as bad.

"When your coach is that competitive and he's trying just as hard for you, you want to do the same for him."

---

With files from Robin Brownlee in Edmonton.

Source: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=607633

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Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) comes to GSM / UMTS Nexus S starting today

You heard right -- Google itself has just affirmed on its own social networking branch that Android 4.0 will begin to hit GSM / UMTS (sorry, Sprint users!) Nexus S devices over the coming month, with the luckiest few to get it today. Outside of that, there's no more specific time table to be had, but if you're able to suck it down in the coming hours, definitely sound off on the improvements in comments below.

Update: Looks like the package is available to download and install (at your own risk, of course) for T-Mobile's Nexus S. Huzzah!

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) comes to GSM / UMTS Nexus S starting today originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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House approves $1T spending bill funding Cabinet agencies and averting government shutdown (Star Tribune)

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Obama stands by Medal of Honor award to Marine

In this Nov. 2, 2011 photo, Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer visits Fairview High School, in Westwood, Ky. Reports released Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011 suggests the U.S. Marine Corps may have embellished the accounts of Meyer's actions that earned him the medal. (AP Photo/John Flavell)

In this Nov. 2, 2011 photo, Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer visits Fairview High School, in Westwood, Ky. Reports released Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011 suggests the U.S. Marine Corps may have embellished the accounts of Meyer's actions that earned him the medal. (AP Photo/John Flavell)

In this Nov. 2, 2011 photo, Medal of Honor recipients Ernie West (Korea) and Dakota Meyer (Afghanistan) visit Fairview Elementary School n Westwood, Ky. Reports released Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011 suggests the U.S. Marine Corps may have embellished the accounts of Meyer's actions that earned him the medal. (AP Photo/John Flavell)

In this Nov. 2, 2011 photo, Medal of Honor recipients Ernie West, center, (Korea) and Dakota Meyer, right, (Afghanistan) visit Fairview Elementary School in Westwood, Ky. Reports released Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011 suggests the U.S. Marine Corps may have embellished the accounts of Meyer's actions that earned him the medal. (AP Photo/John Flavell)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) ? President Barack Obama is standing by his award of the Medal of Honor to a Marine in the Afghanistan war despite a published report Thursday charging exaggerations of the battle.

Obama presented the award to Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer three months ago, calling him the "best of a generation" that joined the military after 9/11. He described the day in 2009 when Meyer braved enemy fire in eastern Afghanistan to save U.S. and Afghan comrades.

McClatchy Newspapers reported that its review of documents turned up numerous "untrue, unsubstantiated or exaggerated" assertions about the firefight. The report by a McClatchy correspondent who was embedded with the military and witnessed the Sept. 8, 2009, battle, based the story on analysis of dozens of military documents, including sworn statements by Meyer and others involved.

The story also said Meyer displayed heroism that day and deserves the award.

Obama spokesman Jay Carney said the president "remains very proud" of Meyer and his "remarkable acts of bravery."

Meyer, a native of Green County, Ky., could not be reached for comment Thursday. He said on his Twitter page that he has received an outpouring of support since the report was published. He posted a picture of the front page of a newspaper that prominently displayed the story.

"I can't thank everyone enough for the support people on Twitter and other Americans are showing me. So Thank You all," Meyer tweeted.

A friend of Meyer's who attended the Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House on Sept. 15 said Meyer was frustrated by the report because he has used the medal to draw attention to fallen and wounded Marines and soldiers.

"He's been very clear in almost every interview, he didn't ask for this. But he now has learned that it's his responsibility," said Chris Schmidt, of Columbia, Ky.

Meyer's grandfather, Dwight Meyer, said he hadn't seen the story and didn't know what it was about.

"Dakota just doesn't talk about (the battle), because he's had so much on his mind about it, because it's affected him tremendously," Dwight Meyer said.

Meyer has been humble about receiving the honor, calling it "the worst day of his life" because his comrades died.

The Marines said in a statement they were very disappointed McClatchy published the story. The award investigation process used first-person, eye-witness accounts and supporting documents and that Meyer "rightly deserved the nation's highest military honor," the Marines said.

The Marines acknowledged that the process was not flawless.

"Because of the nature of the events supporting awards for valor, it is normal for minor discrepancies to appear when reviewing the source information and collecting eyewitness statements," it said.

The Marines also acknowledged that the public narrative of Meyer's actions on the battlefield, as it appeared on the Marine Corps website, was his personal account.

The military said Meyer saved 13 American and 23 Afghan soldiers' lives, and he "personally killed at least eight Taliban insurgents, while providing cover for his team to fight their way out."

The McClatchy report said that could not have happened because 12 Americans and the reporter were ambushed that day.

Four were killed, and a fifth would later die of injuries. The report also said there were no statements that credit Meyer with killing eight Taliban.

The Humvee driver with Meyer during the ambush, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, reported seeing Meyer kill one insurgent, according to the McClatchy story.

McClatchy's Washington bureau chief James Asher noted the Marines were not challenging the story.

"History isn't being well served by this, nor do I think Dakota Meyer is either," Asher said. "For reasons that are mystifying to me ... the Marine Corps wanted for some reason to make a better story."

Associated Press

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Man U eyes top spot

Jon Super / AP

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, left, is congratulated by teammates after scoring against Wolverhampton Wanderers during their English Premier League soccer match at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Saturday, Dec. 10.

By STUART CONDIE

updated 2:11 p.m. ET Dec. 16, 2011

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is too focused on this weekend's match against Queens Park Rangers to give too much thought to the January transfer window.

If Manchester City loses to an Arsenal side that has already won 5-3 at Chelsea this season, United could overhaul its rival with a victory on Sunday and go to the top of the Premier League for the first time since Oct. 14.

Ferguson has striker Dimitar Berbatov back from an ankle problem but will again be without captain Nemanja Vidic, striker Javier Hernandez and midfield duo Anderson and Tom Cleverly.

But Ferguson said Friday he will only splash the cash in January if a long-term target becomes available.

"I don't know why people keep going on about it," Ferguson said. "Unless someone we have always been interested in appears."

Rafael Da Silva and Darron Gibson could also be available for the match, but midfielder Darren Fletcher is missing with the digestive disorder that could rule him out for the foreseeable future.

"We spoke about a virus, to protect Darren but it got to the point people were delving," Ferguson said. "It was getting uncomfortable so we decided to make it public.

"He has been in hospital for a few days."

United can briefly forget about the transfer window, injury problems, Champions League elimination and its resurgent neighbor with victory on Sunday. But QPR has lost only twice at Loftus Road this season, with Chelsea, Newcastle and Aston Villa among the sides that have failed to win there.

"We have a good record there and I hope we can continue that," Ferguson said. "They've done well and given themselves a chance of staying in the league by investing and bringing in a few players. It's going to be a hard game."

United has not lost in seven trips to QPR since May 1989, but its last visit was in March 1996, just before QPR's 15-year absence from the topflight began with a demoralizing relegation.

QPR manager Neil Warnock guided his newly promoted side to a 1-0 win over Chelsea in October and saw his team go ahead against Manchester City last month before losing 3-2.

"Queens Park Rangers have invested the right way," Ferguson said. "Neil Warnock realized that when you get into the Premier League you need big players. That gives them a better chance because it's an unremitting league in terms of the demands.

"Strangely, Norwich, Swansea and QPR have done well and adapted to the demands of the league. The real test, though, is in the second half of the season."

But QPR will be without key defender Anton Ferdinand because of a hamstring problem.

City hosts Arsenal on Sunday with almost as much attention focused on striker Mario Balotelli as on his team's chances of winning.

Balotelli was again pictured fighting with a teammate this week, with defender Micah Richards the latest player to square up to the temperamental Italy international.

"He said it was because he didn't pass the ball to him," City manager Roberto Mancini said. "It was a really stupid thing. It was nothing. After 10 minutes it was finished. I was always involved in problems on the training ground, with Trevor Francis and Liam Brady. It happens.

"This has happened with Mario four times now. He is the king for this. But it has happened with other players. However, Mario should pay attention, not just about this, but in every situation."

Arsenal is on a run of seven wins from eight Premier League matches and has won four of its last five away matches in all competitions. But the Gunners are still without Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Andre Santos, Carl Jenkinson, Bacary Sagna, Lukasz Fabianski, Vito Mannone, Abou Diaby and Ryo Miyaichi.

Also Sunday, fourth-place Tottenham hosts Sunderland and Liverpool goes to Aston Villa.

On Saturday, it's: Blackburn vs. West Bromwich Albion; Everton vs. Norwich; Fulham vs. Bolton; Newcastle vs. Swansea; Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Stoke; and Wigan vs. Chelsea.

Chelsea will have David Luiz available after the defender was suspended for Monday's win over City - the leader's first league loss this season - for picking up a fifth yellow card of the campaign.

? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Man U eyes top spot

LONDON (AP) -Manchester United could briefly forget about injury problems, Champions League elimination and its resurgent neighbor on Sunday.

Mike Stobe / Getty Images

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45700245/ns/sports-soccer/

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Worker smashes coffee pot over head of Pa. robber

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Police say a worker at a drive-thru coffee shop near Pittsburgh smashed a glass pot over the head of a man who tried to climb through the window to rob the business.

Police in Ross Township have continued to look for the man who tried to rob the Island Bean coffee shop in Ross Township, north of the city. They also say the encounter was caught on surveillance video.

Police say workers at first fought back by throwing towels at the man Wednesday morning. When that didn't work, one worker hit him in the head with the pot.

Authorities believe the man sped away in a stolen car.

The workers were unhurt, and police are still investigating.

Associated Press

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Bayer: Threshold met for $750 million rice deal (AP)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? Rice growers met a threshold to move forward with a $750 million settlement over genetically modified rice, the company blamed for the problem said Thursday.

Bayer CropScience had agreed to the settlement this summer, five years after the company inadvertently introduced a strain of genetically altered long-grain rice into the U.S. market. As part of the settlement, Bayer set a threshold of 85 percent of rice acreage involved and could have opted out of the deal if enough farmers didn't sign up.

"Although Bayer CropScience believes it acted responsibly in the handling of its biotech rice, the company considered it important to resolve the litigation so that it can move forward focused on its fundamental mission of providing innovative solutions to modern agriculture," spokesman Greg Coffey said in a statement.

Farmers in Arkansas ? where about half of the nation's rice is produced ? as well as Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas, suffered economic losses after the German conglomerate developed an experimental strain of rice called LibertyLink to withstand its Liberty herbicide. Federal regulators had not yet approved it for human consumption when trace amounts were found mixed with conventional rice seed in storage bins.

No human health problems have been associated with the contamination, but that wasn't known at the time.

The fear that the rice was unsafe, along with the notion that genetically altered rice was somehow impure, quashed sales in major markets. The mistake also left growers with huge losses, since prices fell.

The settlement applies to long-grain rice, which is often used in pilaf or mixed with beans. It doesn't affect farmers who grow medium-grain rice, often used in sushi, or short-grain rice, found in cereal.

The deal will pay farmers for market losses based on acreage and how many years they grew rice. For example, a farmer who planted 500 acres of rice annually from 2006 to 2010 would receive an initial payment of $150,000, at a rate of $300 per acre. Such a farmer could receive more money per acre later on if there's enough money leftover in the pot. Plus, growers can collect more if they switched to crops that typically offer lower profits, such as wheat or soybeans.

Scott Powell, a Birmingham, Ala.-based lawyer who represents some of the farmers involved in the settlement, said most farmers should see payments in the first week of January.

"They've had a tough go of it for the last five years," Powell said Thursday. "It's a great day for them."

Arlon Welch, a 44-year-old farmer in northeast Arkansas, said he'll use the settlement money to pay off the debts he racked up after Bayer's strain of modified rice seeds contaminated the food supply and drove down crop prices.

"We've been dealing with this since 2006," said Welch, who said he doesn't know yet exactly how much he's getting. "We're still hurting."

But the settlement money isn't enough to restore his confidence in rice; Welch planted soybeans and wheat this year.

"We're a little bit nervous with the rice," he said.

___

Follow Jeannie Nuss at http://twitter.com/jeannienuss.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/biotech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_re_us/us_bayer_rice_settlement

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