Small bomb breaks windows at Chilean newspaper (AP)

SANTIAGO, Chile ? A Chilean newspaper says a small bomb has exploded outside its building in the capital, breaking several large windows but causing no injuries.

The newspaper La Tercera says on its website that witnesses report that the explosives set off early Tuesday appeared to have been hidden in a plastic piggy bank. The paper says no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The newspaper sits on one of Santiago's main boulevards and police have closed the street while investigating the blast.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111101/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_chile_newspaper_bombing

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US to test anthrax vaccine in children... maybe

The US National Biodefense Science Board has told the US government that to prepare for a bioterrorist attack it should test a decades-old anthrax vaccine in children, as its effects in the young are unknown.

In the event of an anthrax attack, the oral antibiotic ciprofloxacin can save lives by killing anthrax bacteria in the lungs. But a few anthrax spores may lurk and germinate weeks later, so people must stay on the drug for 60 days ? and this can result in nasty side effects.

Vaccinating people immediately after exposure also kills late-germinating spores, so permits shorter antibiotic treatments. The US has stockpiled anthrax vaccine for precisely this purpose ? but no one has ever tested what vaccine doses are effective and safe in children. A quarter of the US population is aged under 18.

The National Biodefense Science Board was asked last April to advise whether the existing anthrax vaccine should be tested in children before any attack, or simply given as an emergency measure if needed, while data is gathered on safety and response. They voted for the first option last week.

Ethical move

The government says it will carry out an ethical study of the situation, however, before deciding on the tests. Much may depend on whether anthrax is still perceived as a real risk, after 10 years without a repeat of the 2001 anthrax attack.

No one is talking about routine anthrax vaccination in childhood, especially as current vaccines confer immunity for at most a few years. Vaccination would be needed immediately after an attack. "Best is to vaccinate and give everyone 10 days of antibiotics", which should fend off the bacteria while vaccination takes effect, says Martin Hugh-Jones of the University of Louisiana at Baton Rouge. As an anthrax researcher, he is regularly vaccinated. "Then you repeat that, after 10 days, while watching for symptoms," he says.

"The real problem is ethical, because all vaccines carry some degree of risk, and that must be balanced against the very small chance that these children will ever encounter the disease," says Les Baillie of Cardiff University in the UK, who has carried out anthrax vaccine research for both the US and UK military.

The proposal is to vaccinate children and measure their immune response, but no one knows what level of immunity will protect humans against infection. "What will these tests show?" Baillie asks.

Perhaps more usefully, Baillie and colleagues from Turkey and Georgia are studying what immune responses are protective in the Caucasus, where the disease is endemic. The team is comparing the immunity elicited by the existing US, UK and Russian anthrax vaccines there ? in adults. It would make more sense to test vaccines in such places, where people are at real risk of contracting anthrax, says Baillie.

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Square?s Card Case iOS App Adds Support For Hands-Free Payments, Twitter Integration For Merchants

Earlier this year, Square debuted a virtual card case that consumers fill with ?cards? of all the merchants they visit and buy from who accept Square. These mobile cards include locations, merchant contact info, coupons, order and purchase history and more. One of the more interesting features was the ability to ?pay with your name.? In a merchant?s card within the case, you can press a ?use tab? button which allows the frequent customer to essentially put a purchase on their virtual tab with Square at the merchant. Today, Square is launching a new version of its Card Case iOS app that integrates iOS5 support for geofencing. So once you opt-in one time to the geofencing feature in the app, when you (and your phone) are within 100 meters of a Square merchant you can simple walk into the store, say your name at checkout and you are good to go with the payment. You don't need to pull your phone out at all or open the app.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/4MwP27dn5V0/

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Why Obama is sending troops to Africa ??? a closer look (The Christian Science Monitor)

Nairobi, Kenya ? Earlier this month, President Obama sent a letter to Congress explaining why he had approved sending 100 US military advisers to fight a shadowy rebel group in central Africa.

The reason, President Obama wrote, is that the Lord???s Resistance Army ??? a brutal rebel group with a mixture of Christian fundamentalist and African traditional beliefs ??? is a threat to regional security in central Africa, and thus a threat to the interests of the US government and its strategic partners.

Noting that Congress had passed the Lord?s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act in 2009, Mr. Obama wrote, ?I have authorized a small number of combat-equipped US forces to deploy to central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield.?

MONITOR QUIZ: weekly news quiz for Oct. 24-28, 2011

While tracking down unhinged African warlords may be the stuff of bad Hollywood movies, it generally has not been a plank in US foreign policy. But with the advent of the US military?s relatively new Africa Command (AFRICOM), headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, America?s military is working closer with its African partners to ensure regional security.

Viewed with suspicion by some African leaders as part of a larger ?neo-colonial? foothold on the African continent, it is seen as a boon by other US partner nations such as Uganda, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, who work closely with the US military on common issues such as counterterrorism and insurgencies.

Think you know Africa? Take our geography quiz.

In the current US AFRICOM operation, 100 Special Operations troops will travel with Ugandan People?s Defense Force (UPDF) soldiers trailing LRA leader Joseph Kony.

US to 'share lessons learned'A US diplomat with knowledge of the operation told the Monitor that US Special Forces soldiers will ?? share lessons learned from 10 years of fighting in a similarly rugged environment against small groups of people moving on foot,? such as the US military has faced in the Afghan war.

The US soldiers will not be ?hunting? Mr. Kony, the diplomat adds, and ?they will not take part in combat.?

?They will be helping the [Ugandan military] refine [its] operations by sharing tactics and procedures we have learned in 10 years of low intensity conflict while helping them look at the 'problem set' through fresh eyes. The [Ugandan military] is a professional force with a lot of combat experience, [and] embedded advisors will help them leverage their strengths.?

The Obama administration?s deployment has won some praise from activist groups like the Enough Project.

?President Obama should be lauded for deploying qualified military advisers to the region,? said Enough?s co-founder John Prendergast, adding that if the Obama administration ?helps generate multilaterally the necessary logistical and intelligence support for those troops, the LRA?s days will be numbered.?

But other humanitarian aid groups have been more cautious.

Concerns for civiliansNoah Gottschalk, a senior humanitarian policy advisor for Oxfam America, says that a military operation is just one of many potential tools for combating the LRA, and one that could put countless thousands of civilians in harm?s way.

?The truth is that the LRA are really good at evading military action,? says Mr. Gottschalk, noting that the area in which the LRA operate ? including northern Uganda, South Sudan, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic ? is about the size of California.

Think you know Africa? Take our geography quiz.

The Ugandan military has tried a military solution in dealing with the LRA in the past, Gottschalk said, most recently with their Operation Lightning Thunder at the end of 2008. ?That operation was designed to go after the LRA with the stated intent of making the LRA go away, but it left civilians a lot worse off.?

In the long run, the solution may be the boring work of development, Gottschalk says.

?The LRA goes to places where there is little development, they don?t go to places where there are big roads," he says. "So if you start to squeeze that area, building roads, bringing in infrastructure, you?re not only bringing development to the most neglected corners of Africa, you?re also reducing the territory that the LRA can operate in.?

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20111030/wl_csm/418375

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Allstate 3Q profit down 55 pct. on disaster claims (AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa ? Allstate Corp. said its third-quarter net income fell 55 percent after natural disasters cost the insurer $1.08 billion.

But Allstate said improved investment results and profit in its auto insurance segment helped offset some of the increased storm losses. Its net income was $165 million, or 32 cents per share, compared with $367 million, or 68 cents per share, a year ago.

The Northbrook, Ill.-based property and casualty insurer said its revenue rose 4.2 percent to $8.24 billion from $7.91 billion a year ago.

The company's adjusted operating income, which excludes capital gains and unusual items, was $84 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with $452 million, or 83 cents per share a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected 8 cents per share on revenue of $7.99 billion.

Before Monday's earnings, Allstate disclosed third-quarter pre-tax catastrophe losses of $1.08 billion, up significantly from the $386 million reported in the 2010 third quarter.

The company saw a significant improvement in its investments, seeing a gain of $264 million from capital gains compared with a loss of $144 million a year ago.

The company said it increased premium rates for home owners to help offset higher claims from violent storms. It also discontinued insurance coverage for homes that it believes are too risky to insure, CEO Thomas Wilson said in an interview.

Home insurance premiums are up about 5 percent compared with a year ago and there are about 4 percent fewer policies in force.

Auto premiums were increased about 1 percent on average from a year ago, Wilson said.

Overall, premiums written fell to $6.43 billion from $6.50 billion.

Allstate's combined ratio was 104.8, reflecting the storm-related losses of $1.1 billion, which affected the ratio by 16.7 points. A ratio above 100 means that for every premium dollar taken in, more than a dollar went to cover claims and expenses. A figure below 100 means the company made a profit on its insurance operations.

Allstate said it experienced 23 catastrophe loss events, including Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

Excluding catastrophe losses and prior year reserve re-estimates, the combined ratio was 89.2 during the third quarter, consistent with the third quarter of 2010.

Shares fell 82 cents, or 3 percent, to close at $26.34 before the company reported results. In after-market trading shares rose $1.12, or 4.25 percent.

Shares are off 17.4 percent so far this year. They've traded as high as $34.40 in the past 52 weeks.

Allstate repurchased shares valued at $308 million in the quarter, completing a $1 billion share repurchase ahead of schedule, Wilson said.

It also completed on Oct. 1 the $1 billion acquisition of Esurance and Answer Financial from White Mountains Insurance Group. Esurance offers auto insurance direct to consumers online and through agents. While Answer Financial offers online price comparisons among insurance carriers for consumers.

Wilson said the companies offer a good growth market.

"This gives us the ability to leverage our insurance skills to different consumer groups to give them exactly what they want," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111031/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_allstate

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Bosnian court: Shooter on US embassy in custody (AP)

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina ? A court has ordered the gunman who fired an automatic weapon at the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo last week held in detention for a month while authorities investigate what they call a terrorist act.

The judge on Monday accepted the prosecution's argument that 23-year-old Mevlid Jasarevic could interfere with the investigation if not in custody.

Jasarevic is accused of shooting at the embassy building in Sarajevo for at least 30 minutes on Friday and injuring a policeman before a police sniper shot him in the leg.

Jasarevic said at the hearing that he does not recognize the court. His lawyer says his client is completely detached from reality and must be seen by a psychiatrist.

Jasarevic is a follower of the Sunni Muslim Wahhabi sect.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111031/ap_on_re_eu/eu_bosnia_embassy_attack

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Boeing to build spacecrafts at shuttle hangar

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) ? Boeing will announce an agreement with Space Florida on Monday to lease the hangar that housed the space shuttles to build similar craft that will bring people and cargo to space.

The deal with the state's space agency will create 140 jobs in the next 18 months and 550 jobs by 2015 in an area that's lost jobs as the space shuttle program was retired earlier this year, according to Gov. Rick Scott's office and President Barack Obama's administration.

"Florida has five decades of leadership in the space industry, which makes our state the logical place for the next phase of space travel and exploration," Scott said in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press. "Boeing's choice of Florida for its Commercial Crew program headquarters is evidence Florida has the world-class facilities and workforce expertise needed for aerospace companies to succeed."

Likewise, the Obama administration praised the agreement between the Chicago-based Boeing and Space Florida.

"The next era of space exploration won't wait, and so we can't wait for Congress to do its job and give our space program the funding it needs. That's why my administration will be pressing forward, in partnership with Space Florida and the private sector, to create jobs and make sure America continues to lead the world in exploration and discovery," Obama said in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press.

The reusable space capsules will be able to bring up to seven people into space. Right now, the United States doesn't have a way to transport people or cargo to the International Space Station.

Since phasing out the space shuttle program earlier this year, NASA is relying entirely on Russia to get American and other astronauts to the space station.

Obama's administration is criticizing Congress for not approving his request for $40 million in economic assistance for the region and $850 million for the Commercial Crew project.

"Neither NASA nor the Space Coast can afford to stand still. We must be aggressive in pursuing this next generation of space exploration ? and the jobs and innovation that will accompany it," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in prepared remarks.

Scott, however, is criticizing the Obama administration for letting NASA's manned space program lapse.

"Our country is now completely dependent on Russia for travel to and from space. A private business would never let any part of its operations be dependent on someone else. Fortunately, the space transportation systems being developed by private companies like Boeing will rocket the United States back to forefront of the space industry and help reignite job growth," Scott said in his remarks.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-10-31-Boeing-Space%20Craft/id-70b7b2e61ec547c696645787a1208eea

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