This undated image provided by Caltech shows new Caltech president-elect Thomas F. Rosenbaum, who is currently the provost and John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago. Caltech said Thursday Oct. 24, 2013, that the 58-year-old Rosenbaum will succeed Jean-Lou Chameau, who served as president from 2006 to 2013.(AP Photo/Caltech)
This undated image provided by Caltech shows new Caltech president-elect Thomas F. Rosenbaum, who is currently the provost and John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago. Caltech said Thursday Oct. 24, 2013, that the 58-year-old Rosenbaum will succeed Jean-Lou Chameau, who served as president from 2006 to 2013.(AP Photo/Caltech)
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — The California Institute of Technology has announced the appointment of physicist Thomas F. Rosenbaum as its new president.
Rosenbaum is currently the provost and John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago.
Caltech said Thursday that the 58-year-old Rosenbaum will succeed Jean-Lou Chameau, who served as president from 2006 to 2013.
Rosenbaum is an expert on condensed matter physics. He received his bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University and both a master's degree and doctorate in physics from Princeton University.
Rosenbaum will take over at Caltech on July 1, 2014, from interim president and provost Edward Stolper.
Rosenbaum's spouse, Katherine T. Faber, will join the Caltech faculty. She's currently the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University.
Though, it can't have been recently since APPARENTLY the two Twilight stars just spent the night together!
Unless, of course, the email is what caused the reunion!?!
Sources said:
“[Kristen] wasn’t happy…that Rob’s been dating other girls so soon after they split. She told him he was cheapening everything they’d had between them.”
WHOA! So she decides to send him an angry email?? Why not just call him up and tell him? Or… you know… move on… since you guys are broken up?
Just sayin'!!
Other sources, however, are reporting that all of these reunion rumors are "not true" which makes us wonder what is ACTUALLY happening!
These two are so up and down we can barely keep up!
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama called on Congress Thursday to finish work on an immigration overhaul by the end of the year, a lofty goal that will be difficult to meet given the staunch opposition of many House Republicans.
While immigration remains one of Obama's top second term priorities, the issue has been overshadowed for months, most recently by the 16-day partial government shutdown. The president's shift to a greater focus on immigration came as the White House was seeking to shift the conversation away from the deeply problematic rollout of Obama's health care law.
During remarks at the White House, Obama insisted that Congress has the necessary time to finish an immigration bill by the end of the year. The Senate passed sweeping legislation this summer that would provide an eventual path to citizenship for some 11 million immigrants living here illegally and would tighten border security. But the measure has languished in the GOP-led House.
"It doesn't get easier to put it off," Obama said, during an event in the East Room.
The White House was buoyed by comments this week from House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who said he was optimistic his chamber could act on immigration by year's end. But Boehner has long had trouble rallying support from the conservative wing of his caucus and it's unclear whether he can get their backing for the comprehensive bill Obama is seeking.
Most House Republicans have said they prefer a piecemeal approach to fixing the nation's fractured immigration system.
Immediately following Obama's remarks, a spokesman said Boehner was opposed to "massive" legislation that no one understands.
"The House is committed to a common sense, step-by-step approach that gives Americans confidence that reform is done the right way," spokesman Brendan Buck said. "We hope that the president will work with us — not against us — as we pursue this deliberate approach."
Obama, along with some Republican leaders, had hoped that the growing political power of Hispanics would clear the way for an immigration overhaul, a goal that has long eluded Washington. No sweeping immigration legislation has been passed since a bill co-sponsored by Wyoming Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, more recently co-chairman of the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission, was enacted in 1986.
Obama won an overwhelming majority of Hispanic voters in the 2012 presidential election and some political analysts believe that the country's shifting demographics will make it difficult for Republicans to win the White House without boosting their appeal to the Latino community.
But most tea party-backed Republicans oppose measures that would grant legal status to people already in the country illegally, even with the fines and long waiting period that would be imposed by the Senate measure. The recent shutdown and debt ceiling fight also fueled deeper resentment toward Obama among those lawmakers, who got virtually nothing out of the deal that was reached to reopen the government and lift the borrowing limit.
In the wake of that messy stretch for Congress, Obama urged lawmakers to see immigration has an opportunity to show the public that government can work.
"Rather than create problems, let's prove to the American people that Washington can actually solve some problems," Obama said.
NPR's correspondents in Shanghai and New Delhi, Frank Langfitt and Julie McCarthy, talk with Steve Inskeep about a recent summit between Indian and Chinese leaders. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signed an agreement on border cooperation, but had little else of significance to show at the end of their meeting.
And now let's turn to the world's two giants: China and India. China is the world's most populous country. India is projected to become the most populous country before long. Yesterday, their leaders met in Beijing and signed an agreement to ease tensions on the long border that they share. That agreement comes after an incident this spring when India accused Chinese soldiers of crossing the border.
We're going to hear now from both sides of the border. NPR's Frank Langfitt is on the line from Shanghai. Hi, Frank.
FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: And NPR's Julie McCarthy is in New Delhi. Hi, Julie.
JULIE MCCARTHY, BYLINE: Hi there.
INSKEEP: And Julie, let's start with you. What do Indians think about when they peer across the 2500-mile border?
MCCARTHY: Well, it's changed rather dramatically in recent years. The recent polling shows that Indians have shifted their attitude, and see China really as a potential security threat, even more so than Pakistan. And so that is a significant difference.
That said, I think the Indian government doesn't consider China as a friend. It doesn't look to it as a friend, but nor does it want it as a rival, Steve, so there needs to be this fine balance that you have to strike here and all that, you know, so you've got economics and how they're going to finesse India's yawning trade imbalance with China.
You've got water wars about rivers being dammed in China. You've got the Chinese diplomatic embrace of Pakistan, which is all very troubling to them. So there's a lot on their plate as they move forward and increasingly they're wary.
INSKEEP: Okay. The two largest countries in the world and a lot of complex issues. And Frank Langfitt, do the Chinese see India in any way as a threat?
LANGFITT: To some extent, yeah. I mean since we're talking polls, there was a Pew poll last year that saw a rise in which about a quarter people in China saw India as their - the growth of their economy as a bad thing. But you know, you've got to remember, the gap between these countries is really big. We often talk of them maybe in the same sentence, but China's the world's second largest economy. India is the 10th largest. China more than four times the size of India's economy. Also, India has a growing trade deficit with China. It's now over $40 billion. And I know we often harp on this, but the infrastructure difference between the two countries is really staggering. I routinely now report by bullet train, and certainly when I have some Indian friends who come to visit, they see a huge difference.
INSKEEP: You mentioned Indian friends coming to visit. How much traffic is there going back and forth? How much tourism? How much business between the two countries?
LANGFITT: There's not that much, but I - when I talk to Indian friends, they often ask me a lot about China and they always make comparisons. And they despair, frankly, that in China the infrastructure is pretty extraordinary, as you know. And they still feel that India is lagging behind.
INSKEEP: Julie McCarthy, is that part of the reason that India would see China as a threat? Its economy is more advanced at this point.
MCCARTHY: Well, you know, it's interesting. I often encounter Indians who believe very fervently that India is on par in just about every arena with China, and then you ask them if they've been there. And the answer is invariably no. So there is this huge disconnect between what people see as themselves and how they project themselves and what really is a rather stark difference between the two.
INSKEEP: This 2,500 mile border, can you give me a picture of it? It's mostly in the mountains, is that right?
MCCARTHY: Well, it's the Himalayas, so yes. A great deal of it is in mountainous regions and other conflicting areas where you've got rivers that the two countries share, and then you have a whole issue of damming water. So along the border there are these very tricky places, and you know, since 1962, where there was a small war between the two, you get these incursions and disputed territory and a disputed border that still needs to be settled.
INSKEEP: Can I just ask, Frank Langfitt, because the United States has sometimes seen India as an ally and a potential counterweight to China in Asia. Does the United States have anything to worry about when India and China get together and sign cooperation agreements as they've done here?
LANGFITT: China is definitely concerned that India can be a counterweight to China in terms of its relationship with the U.S. India isn't entirely convinced that the U.S. can be counted on. There's a concern that because the economic between China and the U.S. is so strong that push comes to shove, actually the U.S. will throw in with China.
So everybody, as they look across this region, they're kind of hedging. They're watching. They're trying to put chips on different parts of the table to try to cover themselves, depending on how things turn out.
INSKEEP: Frank, thanks very much.
LANGFITT: Happy to do it, Steve.
INSKEEP: That's NPR's Frank Langfitt in Shanghai. NPR's Julie McCarthy is in New Delhi. Julie, thanks to you.
MCCARTHY: You're welcome.
INSKEEP: And you hear both of them right here on MORNING EDITION from NPR News.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
Contact: Jane E. Rubinstein jrubinstein@rubenstein.com 212-843-8287 Neuropsychoanalysis Foundation
Lessons from the treatment battlefield and new research
New York, New YorkThe Neuropsychoanalysis Association (NPSA) is hosting a conference for researchers and clinicians on depression, "Towards a Real Understanding of Depression: Lessons from the Treatment Battlefeld and New Research," on Friday, November 1, 2013 from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, The Bonnie and Kenneth Davis Auditorium, 1470 Madison Avenue (between 101st and 102nd Streets) in New York City. Recent meta-analyses have indicated that SSRIs, although extremely effective for some, have not fulfilled their original promise of being a broadly successful anti-depressant. This full day program will be an interdisciplinary event focusing on pioneering work in biological psychiatry, basic neuroscience and other fields aimed at discovering new treatments for depression, including what have we learned so far, future directions; and how to use the data from new treatment research to hone in on the core pathophysiology of depression and models of brain organization which underlie approaches to treatment.
Featured keynote speakers include Steven Paul (Cornell), "Why we need new and better antidepressants: lessons from the treatment and clinical research battlefield;" and Jaak Panksepp (Washington State University), "Pre-clinical affective neuroscience modelling of depression, and evaluation of three new antidepressant strategies."
WHAT: Towards a Real Understanding of Depression: Lessons from the Treatment Battlefield and New Research
WHEN: Friday, November 1, 2013
9:00 am 6:00 pm
WHERE: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Bonnie and Kenneth Davis Auditorium
1470 Madison Avenue (between 101st and 102nd Streets), NYC
REGISTRATION: Addavail Coslett, Associate Dir. Programming & Development acoslett@npsafoundation.org or 212-572-3693
PROGRAM SPEAKERS:
Maggie Zellner, The Neuropsychoanalysis Foundation
Ronald Duman (Yale), Neurobiology of stress, depression and antidepressants: Remodeling synaptic connections
James Murrough (Mt Sinai), Ketamine as a fast-acting antidepressant
Elizabeth Fitelson (Columbia), Estrogen and other hormones in depression
Dan Javitt, (Columbia), Depression from a glutamatergic perspective: the interaction of neuromodulation and brain glutamatergic systems
Wayne Goodman (Mt. Sinai), DBS treatment for depression
Dan Iosifescu (Mt. Sinai School of Medicine), Non-invasive neurostimulation for the treatment of major depression
Cori Bargmann (Rockefeller), The BRAIN Initiative: Understanding brain circuits as a foundation for accelerating human neuroscience
Baruch Fishman (New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell), CBT perspectives on depression and treatment
Mark Solms (University of Cape Town), Psychoanalytic perspectives on depression and the panic-shutdown hypothesis
Andrew Gerber (Columbia), Empirical outcome studies of psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral therapies, and brain effects of treatment
###
The Neuropsychoanalysis Association (NPSA)
Bringing the brain and mind sciences together, the Neuropsychoanalysis Association has been working to bridge the gap between neuroscience and the psychotherapeutic approaches to mental health for over two decades. Fostering discussion, funding new research and making crucial scientific and theoretical connections, this interdisciplinary alliance plays an essential role in advancing our understanding of the human psyche. For more information visit http://www.npsafoundation.org/
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Towards a real understanding of depression
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
23-Oct-2013
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]
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Contact: Jane E. Rubinstein jrubinstein@rubenstein.com 212-843-8287 Neuropsychoanalysis Foundation
Lessons from the treatment battlefield and new research
New York, New YorkThe Neuropsychoanalysis Association (NPSA) is hosting a conference for researchers and clinicians on depression, "Towards a Real Understanding of Depression: Lessons from the Treatment Battlefeld and New Research," on Friday, November 1, 2013 from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, The Bonnie and Kenneth Davis Auditorium, 1470 Madison Avenue (between 101st and 102nd Streets) in New York City. Recent meta-analyses have indicated that SSRIs, although extremely effective for some, have not fulfilled their original promise of being a broadly successful anti-depressant. This full day program will be an interdisciplinary event focusing on pioneering work in biological psychiatry, basic neuroscience and other fields aimed at discovering new treatments for depression, including what have we learned so far, future directions; and how to use the data from new treatment research to hone in on the core pathophysiology of depression and models of brain organization which underlie approaches to treatment.
Featured keynote speakers include Steven Paul (Cornell), "Why we need new and better antidepressants: lessons from the treatment and clinical research battlefield;" and Jaak Panksepp (Washington State University), "Pre-clinical affective neuroscience modelling of depression, and evaluation of three new antidepressant strategies."
WHAT: Towards a Real Understanding of Depression: Lessons from the Treatment Battlefield and New Research
WHEN: Friday, November 1, 2013
9:00 am 6:00 pm
WHERE: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Bonnie and Kenneth Davis Auditorium
1470 Madison Avenue (between 101st and 102nd Streets), NYC
REGISTRATION: Addavail Coslett, Associate Dir. Programming & Development acoslett@npsafoundation.org or 212-572-3693
PROGRAM SPEAKERS:
Maggie Zellner, The Neuropsychoanalysis Foundation
Ronald Duman (Yale), Neurobiology of stress, depression and antidepressants: Remodeling synaptic connections
James Murrough (Mt Sinai), Ketamine as a fast-acting antidepressant
Elizabeth Fitelson (Columbia), Estrogen and other hormones in depression
Dan Javitt, (Columbia), Depression from a glutamatergic perspective: the interaction of neuromodulation and brain glutamatergic systems
Wayne Goodman (Mt. Sinai), DBS treatment for depression
Dan Iosifescu (Mt. Sinai School of Medicine), Non-invasive neurostimulation for the treatment of major depression
Cori Bargmann (Rockefeller), The BRAIN Initiative: Understanding brain circuits as a foundation for accelerating human neuroscience
Baruch Fishman (New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell), CBT perspectives on depression and treatment
Mark Solms (University of Cape Town), Psychoanalytic perspectives on depression and the panic-shutdown hypothesis
Andrew Gerber (Columbia), Empirical outcome studies of psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral therapies, and brain effects of treatment
###
The Neuropsychoanalysis Association (NPSA)
Bringing the brain and mind sciences together, the Neuropsychoanalysis Association has been working to bridge the gap between neuroscience and the psychotherapeutic approaches to mental health for over two decades. Fostering discussion, funding new research and making crucial scientific and theoretical connections, this interdisciplinary alliance plays an essential role in advancing our understanding of the human psyche. For more information visit http://www.npsafoundation.org/
[
| E-mail
Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
This Sept. 2013 image provided by Patricia Cassidy shows her dog Doodles, while he was sick right before his Sept. 9, death, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Doodles is believed to be one of 580 dogs in the U.S. that have died in the past six years from eating pet jerky from China. Baffled by the cause and seeing another surge in illnesses, the Food and Drug Administration reached out to owners and veterinarians Tuesday to help it find the poison behind the sickening of at least 3,600 dogs and 10 cats since 2007. (AP Photo/Patricia Cassidy)
This Sept. 2013 image provided by Patricia Cassidy shows her dog Doodles, while he was sick right before his Sept. 9, death, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Doodles is believed to be one of 580 dogs in the U.S. that have died in the past six years from eating pet jerky from China. Baffled by the cause and seeing another surge in illnesses, the Food and Drug Administration reached out to owners and veterinarians Tuesday to help it find the poison behind the sickening of at least 3,600 dogs and 10 cats since 2007. (AP Photo/Patricia Cassidy)
This July 2013 image provided by Patricia Cassidy shows her dog Doodles, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Doodles is believed to be one of 580 dogs in the U.S. that have died in the past six years from eating pet jerky from China. Baffled by the cause and seeing another surge in illnesses, the Food and Drug Administration reached out to owners and veterinarians Tuesday to help it find the poison behind the sickening of at least 3,600 dogs and 10 cats since 2007. (AP Photo/Patricia Cassidy)
This July 2013 image provided by Patricia Cassidy shows Cassidy with her dog, Doodles, at the veterinarian in Chattanooga, Tenn., after doodles had been diagnosed with kidney failure. Doodles is believed to be one of 580 dogs in the U.S. that have died in the past six years from eating pet jerky from China. Baffled by the cause and seeing another surge in illnesses, the Food and Drug Administration reached out to owners and veterinarians Tuesday to help it find the poison behind the sickening of at least 3,600 dogs and 10 cats since 2007. (AP Photo/Courtesy Patricia Cassidy)
This Sept. 2013 image provided by Patricia Cassidy shows an impression of her dog Doodles' paw print. Doodles is believed to be one of 580 dogs in the U.S. that have died in the past six years from eating pet jerky from China. Baffled by the cause and seeing another surge in illnesses, the Food and Drug Administration reached out to owners and veterinarians Tuesday to help it find the poison behind the sickening of at least 3,600 dogs and 10 cats since 2007. (AP Photo/Patricia Cassidy)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — All that's left of Doodles are his ashes, a clay impression of his paw and a whole lot of questions owner Patricia Cassidy has about his mysterious death.
Doodles is believed to be one of 580 dogs in the U.S. that have died in the past six years from eating pet jerky from China. Baffled by the cause and seeing another surge in illnesses, the Food and Drug Administration reached out to owners and veterinarians Tuesday to help it find the poison behind the sickening of at least 3,600 dogs and 10 cats since 2007.
Within hours of eating the suspect jerky, pets lost their appetite, became lethargic, vomited and had diarrhea and other symptoms. The strips made of chicken, duck, sweet potatoes or dried fruit were sold under a variety of brand names.
There was a decrease in 2007 after some products were voluntarily removed from the market, but the FDA said it didn't want to conduct a recall without a definitive cause. Those products included Milo's Kitchen Chicken Jerky Treats and Chicken Grillers, made by Del Monte, and Waggin' Train and Canyon Creek Ranch dog treats, made by Nestle Purina.
But in the years since, the FDA has gotten complaints from pet owners and veterinarians who have seen repeated cases of kidney failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, and a rare kidney disorder, the FDA said.
The FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine has run more than 1,200 tests, visited pet treat manufacturing plants in China and worked with researchers, state labs and foreign governments but hasn't determined the exact cause of the illness.
Testing is complicated because the poison may have come from the manufacturing plant, shipping, transportation or anywhere along the way. Scientists have to know what they're looking for to test for it.
"I grew up watching 'Quincy' and 'CSI' and they have given us this look at forensics — you put samples in and answers come out the other end," said Dr. Tina Wismer, medical director of the Animal Poison Control Center of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It doesn't work that way."
That's little consolation to Cassidy in Chattanooga, Tenn. Doodles died Sept. 9 at the age of 6. In just three months, he turned from a vibrant 16-pound shih tzu into a frail, 6-pounder who couldn't eat or drink and had so little left in him he could only vomit yellow bile.
"He was such a loving little guy and so cute. Every day my daughter will say, 'Mom, I don't know when the holes in our hearts will be repaired.'"
Cassidy promised Doodles she would wage war as long as it took to get the products off store shelves or, at the very least, labeled so people know it might be deadly.
The jerky mystery is the worst case of tainted pet food from China since 2007 when there was a nationwide recall of food made by Menu Foods and 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs died. Kidney failure caused all of those pet deaths and the poison was found to be tainted melamine from plastic packaging in the wheat gluten. About 150 brands of dog and cat food were recalled and included some of the biggest names in pet food.
A federal grand jury indicted two Chinese nationals and the businesses they operate, as well as the U.S, company ChemNutra Inc. and its CEO for their roles in importing the poisonous products. A class-action lawsuit awarded more than $12.4 million in compensation to pet owners whose pets died from the poisoned food.
Veterinarians can only tell pet owners they don't know what's causing their animals to get sick and that's hard to do, said Dr. Karl Jandrey, an emergency and critical care vet at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of California, Davis. They have treated several dogs for what they believe was poisoning from the treats, but no patient has died, he said.
Dexter, a 3-year-old, 19-pound miniature schnauzer also survived, but it cost owner Rich Phillips of North Richland Hills, Texas, about $1,200, he said.
In April, Dexter started throwing up and couldn't stop. He spent the night at an emergency clinic and the next day at the vet's. Test after test was inconclusive. The dog was given an IV and anti-nausea medicine and sent home. That's when Phillips saw the package of chicken jerky treats and knew that was the cause. "We were lucky we caught him quick," Phillips said. Dexter had only had about two of the treats and has been fine ever since that night.
No one knows how many treats a pet has to eat before it starts getting sick, said Dr Amy Bowman, regional medical director for Banfield Pet Hospital in Reston, Va.
"Some say it's a single serving, some say the whole bag," she said. Her advice is to avoid jerky treats if the label says it comes from China. There are all kinds of healthy treat substitutes, including apples, uncooked green beans and carrots, she added.
A lot of pet owners transfer food and treats into other containers at home to keep pets and pests out, but Wismer suggested keeping labels with lot numbers and manufacturers.
Imported pet food is inspected when it arrives in the United States but only randomly and to check for things like mold, Wismer said.
Dr. Barry Kellogg, senior adviser to the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, called for increased testing and stricter guidelines on labeling of imports. If only part of a product is from China and it is put together here, labels don't have to say made in China, he said.
___
Writer Mary Clare Jalonick reported on this story from Washington.
___
Online:
Food and Drug Administration statement http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm371413.htm
Shazam's TV syncing has largely been passive so far, but it's about to become more of a two-way street. App users who watch The X Factor from November 6th onwards will get to both vote for acts during the broadcast and submit those choices as soon as final voting begins. As you'd expect, viewers ...
Abuja – The House of Representatives has mandated its committees to invite the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, over continuous devaluation of the Naira.
The CBN governor and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy are expected to brief the committees on the measures being taken to curb the ugly trend of devaluation of the Naira.
The committees are Finance, Banking and Currency, National Planning and Economic Development and are expected report back to the House within six weeks.
The resolution followed a motion entitled: “Need to Check the Continuous Devaluation of the Naira” sponsored by Rep. Odebunmi Olusegun (ACP-Oyo), which was adopted without debate by the House.
Olusegun had, while moving the motion, said that the Naira and Kobo were introduced in 1973 with Naira as an equivalent of 10 shillings and Kobo which serves as a minor currency.
“Then, Naira was more than US dollars in value and a bit less than the United kingdom Pound Sterling,” he said.
He said that there has been a continuous decrease in the value of the Naira over the years against major currencies in the world.
“There has been a continuous decrease in the Naira value over the years against major currencies in the world and a critical look at these years, taking the US dollar as a basis for comparisons, shows that.
“Around 1990 to 1993 it was about N28 to a Dollar, around 1994 to 1996 it was about N40 to a dollar, 1996 to 1999 it was about N80 to a Dollar, around 1999 to 2007 it was about N140 to a Dollar”.
He expressed concern that if the downward trend persisted, it would affect Nigeria’s economy and the future of the country in general.
The lawmaker urged his colleagues to support the motion to check the continuous devaluation of the Naira.
The motion, which was not opposed, was referred to the relevant committees for more inputs.
Meanwhile, the House during the consideration of reports, adopted the recommendations of its committees on Justice and Aviation on the urgent need to investigate the justification and circumstances surrounding the controversial grounding of Rivers State Government-owned Bombardier B700.
The House recommended that the Rivers Government should be allowed to comply with the necessary conditions for granting of all required permits and licences.
It also recommended that the Committee on Aviation be mandated to scrutinise the reason for rampant foreign registration of aircraft by their owners.
It further recommended that the committee be mandated to also investigate all private aircraft operating in the country with a view to sanitising their operation and ensuring enforcement of the law governing their operations. (NAN)
UCSB anthropologist examines the motivating factors behind hazing
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
23-Oct-2013
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Contact: Andrea Estrada andrea.estrada@ia.ucsb.edu 805-893-4620 University of California - Santa Barbara
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) It happens in military units, street gangs and even among athletes on sports teams. In some cultures, the rituals mark the transition from adolescence to adulthood. And in fraternities and sororities, it's practically a given.
With a long history of seemingly universal acceptance, the practice of hazing is an enduring anthropological puzzle. Why have so many cultures incorporated it into their group behavior? Aldo Cimino, a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at UC Santa Barbara, seeks to answer that question. His work is highlighted in the online edition of the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
"Hazing exists in radically different cultures around the world, and the ethnographic record is replete with examples of initiation rites that include hazing," said Cimino. "It is a practice that cultures continually rediscover and invest themselves in. The primary goal of my research is to understand why."
One hypothesis Cimino is exploring involves evolved psychology. "The human mind may be designed to respond to new group members in a variety of ways, and one of those ways may be something other than a hug," he said. "I'm not claiming that hazing is inevitable in human life, that everyone will haze, or that nothing will reduce hazing. But I am suggesting that the persistence of hazing across different social, demographic and ecological environments suggests that our shared, evolved psychology may be playing a role."
Hazing and bullying have a lot in common individuals who possess some kind of power abuse those who don't but what makes hazing strange, according to Cimino, is that it's directed at future allies. "It's very rare for bullies to say, 'I'm going to bully you for three months, but after that we're going to be bros,' but that's the sort of thing that happens with hazing."
Cimino suggested that in some human ancestral environments, aspects of hazing might have served to protect veteran members from threats posed by newcomers. "It's almost as though the period of time around group entry was deeply problematic," he said. "This may have been a time during which coalitions were exploited by newcomers. Our intuitions about how to treat newcomers may reflect this regularity of the past. Abusing newcomers hazing may have served to temporarily alter their behavior, as well as select out uncommitted newcomers when membership was non-obligatory."
Cimino performed a study on a representative sample of the United States, in which participants imagined themselves as members of hypothetical organizations. Organizations that participants believed had numerous benefits for newcomers (e.g., status, protection) were also those that inspired more hazing. "In my research I've found that group benefits that could quickly accrue for newcomers automatic benefits predict people's desire to haze," he said.
"This isn't the only variable that matters there's some effect of age and sex, for example but the effect of automatic benefits suggests that potential vectors of group exploitation alter people's treatment of newcomers in predictable ways," Cimino continued.
He cautioned that scientists are a long way from understanding hazing completely. "Hazing is a complex phenomenon that has more than one cause, so it would be a mistake to believe that I have solved the puzzle. However, every study brings us a little closer to understanding a phenomenon that seems increasingly visible and important," he said.
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UCSB anthropologist examines the motivating factors behind hazing
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
23-Oct-2013
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Contact: Andrea Estrada andrea.estrada@ia.ucsb.edu 805-893-4620 University of California - Santa Barbara
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) It happens in military units, street gangs and even among athletes on sports teams. In some cultures, the rituals mark the transition from adolescence to adulthood. And in fraternities and sororities, it's practically a given.
With a long history of seemingly universal acceptance, the practice of hazing is an enduring anthropological puzzle. Why have so many cultures incorporated it into their group behavior? Aldo Cimino, a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at UC Santa Barbara, seeks to answer that question. His work is highlighted in the online edition of the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
"Hazing exists in radically different cultures around the world, and the ethnographic record is replete with examples of initiation rites that include hazing," said Cimino. "It is a practice that cultures continually rediscover and invest themselves in. The primary goal of my research is to understand why."
One hypothesis Cimino is exploring involves evolved psychology. "The human mind may be designed to respond to new group members in a variety of ways, and one of those ways may be something other than a hug," he said. "I'm not claiming that hazing is inevitable in human life, that everyone will haze, or that nothing will reduce hazing. But I am suggesting that the persistence of hazing across different social, demographic and ecological environments suggests that our shared, evolved psychology may be playing a role."
Hazing and bullying have a lot in common individuals who possess some kind of power abuse those who don't but what makes hazing strange, according to Cimino, is that it's directed at future allies. "It's very rare for bullies to say, 'I'm going to bully you for three months, but after that we're going to be bros,' but that's the sort of thing that happens with hazing."
Cimino suggested that in some human ancestral environments, aspects of hazing might have served to protect veteran members from threats posed by newcomers. "It's almost as though the period of time around group entry was deeply problematic," he said. "This may have been a time during which coalitions were exploited by newcomers. Our intuitions about how to treat newcomers may reflect this regularity of the past. Abusing newcomers hazing may have served to temporarily alter their behavior, as well as select out uncommitted newcomers when membership was non-obligatory."
Cimino performed a study on a representative sample of the United States, in which participants imagined themselves as members of hypothetical organizations. Organizations that participants believed had numerous benefits for newcomers (e.g., status, protection) were also those that inspired more hazing. "In my research I've found that group benefits that could quickly accrue for newcomers automatic benefits predict people's desire to haze," he said.
"This isn't the only variable that matters there's some effect of age and sex, for example but the effect of automatic benefits suggests that potential vectors of group exploitation alter people's treatment of newcomers in predictable ways," Cimino continued.
He cautioned that scientists are a long way from understanding hazing completely. "Hazing is a complex phenomenon that has more than one cause, so it would be a mistake to believe that I have solved the puzzle. However, every study brings us a little closer to understanding a phenomenon that seems increasingly visible and important," he said.
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LONDON (AP) — Dressed in a lace and satin gown designed in the 1840s, Britain's 3-month-old future monarch, Prince George, was christened Wednesday with water from the River Jordan at a rare gathering of four generations of the royal family.
The occasion had historic overtones: the presence of Britain's 87-year-old monarch and three future kings, Princes Charles, William and, of course, little George.
Queen Elizabeth II, usually the center of attention, quietly ceded the spotlight to her rosy-cheeked great-grandson, who seemed to wave at her when he arrived — an illusion created by his father, Prince William, playfully moving the infant's arm.
The private affair at the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace was also attended by Prince Charles, next in line to the throne, and the queen's 92-year-old husband, Prince Philip, who has shown remarkable stamina since returning to the public eye after a two-month convalescence following serious abdominal surgery.
All told, it was an exceptional day for a monarchy that seems to be basking in public affection since the 2011 wedding of William and Kate Middleton and the maturing of Prince Harry, who appears to have put his playboy days behind him.
George, who was born on July 22, wore a replica of an intricate christening gown made for Queen Victoria's eldest daughter and first used in 1841.
When William was christened in 1982, he wore the original gown — by then well over a century old — but the garment has become so fragile that a replica was made.
The infant, who will head the Church of England when he becomes king, was christened with water from the River Jordan by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
He arrived at the chapel in his father's arms with his mother by their side.
Kate, smiling broadly on her way into the chapel, wore a cream-colored Alexander McQueen dress and hat by milliner Jane Taylor, with her long hair brushed to the side. William wore his customary dark suit and tie as he proudly carried their first child.
Kate's parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, and her sister, Pippa, and brother, James, were also at the ceremony.
Pippa Middleton read from the Gospel of St. Luke and Prince Harry read from the Gospel of St. John. The two hymns were "Breathe on Me, Breath of God" and "Be Thou My Vision."
The chapel has a strong connection to William's mother, the late Princess Diana, whose coffin was laid before the chapel's altar for her family to pay their last respects in private before her 1997 funeral.
Baby George has seven godparents, among them William's cousin, Zara Phillips, daughter of Princess Anne and a close friend of the couple.
They also include Oliver Baker, a friend from William and Kate's days at St. Andrews University; Emilia Jardine-Paterson, who went to the exclusive Marlborough College high school with Kate; Hugh Grosvenor, the son of the Duke of Westminster; Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, a former private secretary to the couple; Julia Samuel, a close friend of Princess Diana, and William van Cutsem, a childhood friend of William's.
Palace officials said water from the River Jordan — where Christians believe Jesus Christ was baptized — was used for the christening.
In the West Bank, hours before the christening, busloads of Russian tourists descended on Qasr el-Yahud to immerse themselves in the river. The site, five miles (eight kilometers) east of Jericho, is considered Christianity's third-holiest site after Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
The river's waters have often been used to make the sign of the cross on the heads of royal infants.
Some royal watchers camped outside the palace for more than 24 hours to obtain a good vantage point to watch the guests arrive, but the ceremony was private.
William and Kate hired photographer Jason Bell to take official pictures, which are expected to include a historic multigenerational photograph of the queen with the three future kings.
FILE - In this April 13, 2013 file photo, Gregg Allman performs at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 at Madison Square Garden, in New York. On Friday, January 10, 2014, music stars and friends will join together for “All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman,” a special concert in honor of the legendary singer, songwriter and musician. The star-studded concert will take place at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, file)
FILE - In this April 13, 2013 file photo, Gregg Allman performs at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 at Madison Square Garden, in New York. On Friday, January 10, 2014, music stars and friends will join together for “All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman,” a special concert in honor of the legendary singer, songwriter and musician. The star-studded concert will take place at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, file)
ATLANTA (AP) — The Allman Brothers, Sam Moore, Taj Mahal, Warren Haynes, Eric Church and several others have signed on to pay tribute in concert to Gregg Allman early next year.
"All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman" will be held Jan. 10 at Atlanta's Fox Theatre. The concert will be filmed and released later.
Others on the eclectic list of performers include Natalie Cole, Jackson Browne, John Hiatt, Pat Monahan of Train, Martina McBride, Trace Adkins and John Hiatt. Special guests and more performers will be announced soon. Tickets go on sale Nov. 1 at the Fox Theatre box office.
Don Was will lead an all-star band lined up to help celebrate Allman, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Here's the good news: UFC 166 is easily one of the best MMA and UFC events ever. I don't know if it is the best, but it's certainly in the discussion.
Here's the crazy news: there's Bellator 105 on Friday, UFC Fight Night 30 on Saturday during the afternoon or morning and WSOF 6 on Saturday.
If you want to find yourself sick of watching fights by Sunday morning, saddle up from 7pm ET on Friday and don't stop until the post-fight WSOF 6 presser is over. Unless you simply can't tell good fights and fighters from bad, you'll want a break from fisticuffs for quite some time.
And then next Saturday is Bellator's pay-per-view.
There's a lot going on, so join me today to discuss all of this and more. In terms of today's chat, anything is up for discussion, but I will lead with this and it all kicks off at 1 p.m. ET.
As is customary, I'll post the video window here as the event draws near and I'll answer any questions you may have if you post them in the comments section below. Be sure that you click the 'rec' button for those comments/questions you believe most deserve a response.
Be sure to link this page and use the hashtag #chatwrappers on Twitter or even Facebook when you're watching this to let everyone know you're taking part is this activity of ours.
TV ads for medication are as relentless as political ads during a campaign. But surely drug ads couldn't be as disingenuous as political ads.
It's illegal for companies to make blatantly false claims about a drug. Nevertheless, a study shows that six out of 10 prescription drug ads are misleading—as were eight out of 10 ads for over-the-counter drugs.
Researchers analyzed 168 ads for medication that aired on nightly news. They assessed each commercial’s main claim. Their finding: only about a third of the ads made statements that were "objectively true." And more than half were potentially misleading, meaning they exaggerated claims, omitted important information, made unreasonable links to lifestyle improvement or conveyed opinion rather than fact. The study is in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. [Adrienne E. Faerber and David H. Kreling, Content Analysis of False and Misleading Claims in Television Advertising for Prescription and Nonprescription Drugs]
TV viewers might see as many as 30 hours of these ads each year. Perhaps the part to pay the most attention to is when they say, “Talk to your doctor."
—Katherine Harmon
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]
Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
Have you ever felt like you were stuck in another dimension? One week of my career was like that, when I put in a short stint on a job that was full of unanswered questions.
On a crisp fall Monday, I arrived for my first day on the new job. In HR, I filled out the usual forms, was introduced to the timekeeping system, listened to explanations of health care plans and the company 401(k), and watched a video about this amazing, fast-growing contractor. Yes, this would be a great company to work for.
After lunch, I reported back to HR as instructed. Someone was waiting for me -- but it wasn't the hiring manager who had interviewed me. HR introduced me to "Phil," another manager. I was told that Phil had requisitioned me for an emergency assignment. I would help him out for two or three weeks, then join the department I'd been hired for.
Phil briefed me on the nature of the new task, which sounded challenging and engaging. My new company had won a support contract away from a competitor, and we needed to prep an office on the client's site as soon as possible so that they could fill out their staff for two dozen available positions. My job was to assess the condition of computers, files, software tools, and security. I was sent home and told to report to the client site the next morning.
All is not what it seems It sounded straightforward, but Tuesday brought a string of strange experiences. First of all, I had trouble getting into the building because the receptionist didn't know to expect me and Phil wasn't around. Finally, after a couple of phone calls and half an hour of waiting, I was given a badge and sent upstairs.
The next sight that greeted me didn't bode well, either. The previous contractor had dedicated a large open room to its operations. About 20 workstations adorned this stark space. It looked deserted, as if an alien mothership had abducted all the people, leaving behind their artifacts: open books, stacks of papers, folders of reports, and three-ring binders. Notably, there were no disks anywhere. In fact, there was no media at all except a few DATs stacked up on one of the desks. I got an eerie feeling about the situation but soldiered on, introducing myself to the one person who was in the room. He turned out to be "Harry," another one of Phil's employees.
We had a brief conversation to help me get oriented. I'd expected to meet Phil there and get my assignment, but Harry said he had no idea when or if the boss would show up. He pointed to a cluster of workstations along one side of the room and recommended I dig in, take inventory, and start recording my findings.
I did so, even as my uneasiness continued to grow. As I began reverse-engineering years of the client's work, I felt like an archaeologist on a dig. What lost civilization was here? How were these pyramids built?
By the end of the day, I had documented four workstations. I understood how to recompile everything the client had been working on and had a written inventory to add to the one occupying Harry's time. Harry had made his way through another three or four workstations. Neither of us had heard from Phil.
Naughty Dog, the Sony-exclusive development house behind the Uncharted, Crash Bandicoot, and Jax and Daxter series, has created what many have hailed as "the last great PlayStation 3 game." Considering The Last of Us's exquisite gameplay and narrative design, and the fact that the PlayStation 4 is on-deck for a November 15th, 2013 release, that sentiment may very well be true.
The Last of Us combines action and survival gameplay to tell a character-driven tale about a world destroyed by the Cordyceps fungus, a growth that transforms humanity into zombie-like monsters (the fungus, in fact, is one that appears in the real world and has unsual effects on its hosts). The zombie-like creatures roam the land, while survivors battle the creatures, and one another, to stay alive.
The story focues on Joel (voiced by Troy Baker), a hardened survivor, and Ellie (voiced by Growing Pains' Ashley Johnson), an optimistic teenage girl who work together to trek across the wastleands that are the remains of the United States. The A.I.-controlled Ellie assists the player-controlled Joel by, for example, shouting out the direction from which enemies approach or by helping Joel break free from an infected human's grasp. She's far more useful than BioShock Infinite's A.I.-controlled Elizabeth.
Joel and Ellie's relationship is what gives The Last of Us its heart. The excellent script sees the two very different people affect one another in surprisingly subtle ways. I grew to care about the characters, which is a rare occurrence.
Unlike many of the other big franchises in the survival-horror genre (Dead Space, Resident Evil), The Last of Us isn't just about headshots and re-ups. Supplies are scarce, so stealth is just as important as the ranged and melee combat. There's a crafting system, too; you can, for example, combine a rag and alcohol into a Molotov cocktail.
The Last of Us also features Naughty Dog's "Balance of Power" adaptive artificial intelligence system. It lets enemies react realistically to situations by attacking when you're low on ammo, or calling for help when you're overpowering them. As a result, you must mind your surroundings.
The Last of Us, unfortunately, falls into the same action-adventure puzzle-solving trap as many other games of its ilk. These moments causes the game to lose its way a bit, and takes away the brutal, hard-hitting combat. The Last of Us can sometimes telegraph enemy encounters; when you walk into an area where there are conveniently placed items that can serve as cover, you know that it's time to break out the weaponry. It breaks the element of surprise to some degree.
Still, The Last of Us is an excellent, must-play title for survival horror fans. In fact, the script is so good, I'd recommend The Last of Us to gamers who aren't fans of the genre. The PlayStation 3 will soon begin to fade into the background, but The Last of Us will be remembered as one of the best games that the video game medium has ever produced.
In the office, people still prefer Microsoft Office.
Yes, despite threats from rivals that are open source, cheaper, fully cloud-based or more mobile-friendly, Microsoft Office's desktop suite reigns over the workplace productivity software kingdom.
That's the conclusion Forrester Research reached after recently polling 155 enterprise IT professionals with decision-making power over their company's choice of office software suites.
"Things haven't really changed," said Forrester analyst Philipp Karcher, who authored the report. "Office still has a stranglehold in this market."
While IT departments may grumble that Office has more features than most people need and that it's costly, the suite has been around so long that it owns the hearts of employees, who also use it at home for personal matters, the study found.
In that way, Office has benefitted all along from what is known today as the "consumerization of IT" trend, where people's choice of software and computing devices at home helps influence the IT tools companies offer them at work, Karcher said. Office is by far the market leader for office suites among consumers.
"People like Office. They're familiar with it at home and at work," he said. "Thus, it's hard to displace."
This despite advances in adoption of cloud email, which often comes bundled in with lightweight browser-based productivity suites, as in the case of Google Apps with Gmail and Docs, and Microsoft's own Office 365, which comes with Exchange Online and Office Web Apps.
The study found that 20 percent of surveyed companies are using cloud-based email and another 25 percent have plans to adopt it.
Currently, browser-based office suites, such as Google Docs, are mostly a complement to Office for employees who have "lightweight" needs, according to Karcher. Microsoft has responded to that use case with Office Web Apps, which offers a subset of the functionality of the full-featured desktop version.
The study also yielded surprising findings about what respondents find important about office productivity suites. Topping that list is compatibility with Microsoft Office file formats, followed by integration with the company's email system.
Also important, but not as much, are reduced license fees, compatibility with the company's existing macros and integration with its enterprise social collaboration platform.
Ranking on the low end of priorities are features that get a lot of attention in the market for their razzle-dazzle but apparently aren't very interesting yet in the real world. Those include the ability for multiple users to simultaneously co-edit documents, which is a big Google Docs feature, and mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, which indicates there isn't a lot of interest in using office suites with tablets just yet.
Another eye-opening finding is that while 90 percent of companies give every employee a copy of Office, only 6 percent also provide their users with an alternative suite.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, fourth from right, attends a meeting Tuesday Oct. 22, 2013, hosted by British Foreign Secretary William Hague, fourth from left, of the 'London 11', from the Friends of Syria Core Group, in Lancaster House, central London, aimed at ending the brutal civil war in Syria.(AP Photo/Oli Scarff, pool)
US Secretary of State John Kerry, fourth from right, attends a meeting Tuesday Oct. 22, 2013, hosted by British Foreign Secretary William Hague, fourth from left, of the 'London 11', from the Friends of Syria Core Group, in Lancaster House, central London, aimed at ending the brutal civil war in Syria.(AP Photo/Oli Scarff, pool)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets Syrian National Coalition President Ahmed al-Jarba at the U.S. Ambassador's residence in London Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013. How to persuade Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down will be part of the focus Tuesday at a London meeting of 11 nations from the West and Mideast seeking a negotiated settlement to the war. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool)
In this photo, which AP obtained from Syrian official news agency SANA and which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, President Bashar Assad gestures as he speaks during an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV, at the presidential palace in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Syria’s president said Monday that the factors that would allow a landmark conference aimed at ending the country’s civil war do not yet exist, throwing further doubt on international efforts to hold peace talks that have already been repeatedly delayed. (AP Photo/SANA)
LONDON (AP) — Moderate opposition leaders seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad from power have not yet committed to negotiations to create a new government, America's top diplomat said Tuesday, casting new doubt on flagging hopes to end the civil war as quickly as possible.
A refusal by the Syrian National Coalition to participate in the diplomatic talks would further delay attempts by most of Syria's regional neighbors and the West to stop the bloodshed that has so far killed 100,000 people over the last 2½ years. It also could boost the legitimacy of Assad, who after stonewalling has told allies he is prepared to negotiate — despite a near-certainty that he would be removed from power as a result of the talks.
At the close of diplomatic meetings on the issue in London, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he remains optimistic that the coalition would agree, potentially as soon as next week, to participate in talks tentatively set for late November in Geneva with members of Assad's government.
But he said the Western-backed Syrian opposition members have "to make up their own mind."
"None of us are going to pre-judge or pre-condition what they will choose to do in that process," Kerry said after the meetings of the diplomats from 11 Western and Mideast nations who are trying to broker a Syrian settlement.
Kerry's comments came after his meeting with the coalition's president, Ahmad al-Jarba, who attended the discussions.
Al-Jarba told reporters that the coalition does not want to negotiate with Assad directly or agree to negotiations without a set timetable. He also said he wanted only the SNC at the table to represent opposition — not extremist groups who have joined against Assad. And he objected to Iran's participation.
The diplomats also released a communique outlining goals for the negotiations' outcome. They include a mandatory requirement that Assad and his close aides will have no role in a new Syrian government.
Assad has shown no sign he is ready to give up power, and declined in an interview this week to rule out running for re-election next year. He also questioned the legitimacy of the opposition and said the factors needed for a proposed peace conference to succeed do not yet exist.
"Who are the groups that will participate? What is their relation with the Syrian people? Do they represent the Syrian people or they represent the country that made them?" Assad said during an interview with Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen TV. "There are many questions about the conference."
The process of removing Assad from office has been frustrated partly by a rise of violent extremists who have joined rebel groups and opposition leaders who are working to oust him.
U.S. officials say the extremists, including groups linked to al-Qaida, may instead have hurt negotiations and jeopardized foreign support. They argue it is difficult to identify moderate rebel groups and ensure that the weapons they are supplied with will not fall into al-Qaida hands.
Extremist groups, including the al-Qaida-linked cross-border Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, have damaged the credibility of the fractured opposition to Assad and drawn battle lines among once-allied rebel forces. As a result, that likely has boosted Assad's confidence to resist yielding at the negotiating table.
In comments to reporters after the talks, British Foreign Secretary William Hague has emphasized Western leaders' support for Syria's moderate opposition and stressed that efforts are being made to bring all sides to a negotiating table in Geneva.
Hague said the focus is on securing a transitional government for Syria, and said the opposition has the full support of Britain, the U.S. and the other leaders gathered in London. He urged the opposition to commit itself fully to talks.
Moderate groups affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, a loose coalition of rebel brigades, are in disarray. Last week, 65 rebel groups, including many linked to the FSA, announced they would not recognize the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition in what was widely seen as a rebuke to the West for failing to send more support.
It's also feared that Assad's recent willingness to let United Nations inspectors examine his government's chemical weapons stockpile — a cache that earlier this year he denied even existed — has helped his own credibility and worldwide image.
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Associated Press writer Diaa Hadid in Beirut contributed to this report.
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Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at https://twitter.com/larajakesAP
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Shazam's TV syncing has largely been passive so far, but it's about to become more of a two-way street. App users who watch The X Factor from November 6th onwards will get to both vote for acts during the broadcast and submit those choices as soon as final voting begins. As you'd expect, viewers ...