India to buy 126 Rafale fighter jets in $11B deal (AP)

NEW DELHI ? India is buying 126 French-made combat aircraft in a massive $11 billion deal that will increase the might of the world's fourth largest air force with the first exported Rafale jets, officials said Tuesday.

India has become the world's biggest arms importer as an economic boom has allowed it to push modernization of its military, and major arms manufacturers are wooing the country as it replaces its obsolete Soviet-era weapons and buys new equipment.

Dassault Aviation said it was honored to extend cooperation with India, which has a fleet of its older Mirage jets, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy welcomed India's decision.

Dassault snapped up the euro8.4 billion deal with the lower bid in a two-way competition against the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, said an Indian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters about the sensitive defense deal.

India's air force has around 700 fighter aircraft and is exceeded in size by the United States, Russia and China.

Growing worries about China's fast-expanding military and the decades-old mistrust of Pakistan have fueled India's impetus to add heft to its defense forces.

"India needs to bolster its fighting capabilities, particularly with long-range strike aircraft," said Rahul Bedi, a defense analyst in New Delhi.

"India's concern is not just Pakistan, but the longer term threat posed by an aggressive China," Bedi said.

The Indian agreement is the first foreign deal for Dassault's Rafale fighter jets. Planes from Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin of the United States and from Russian and Swedish makers were dropped from consideration earlier for technical reasons.

Eighteen fighter aircraft will be delivered in "fly away" condition within three years and the remaining 108 are to be built by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. through technology transfers.

Defense ministry experts were still fine-tuning pricing details, including the cost of on-board weaponry and royalties for producing the aircraft in India. Sarkozy said contract negotiations will begin "very soon."

The French have for years been trying to get an export deal. Just last month, French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet warned the Rafale program could be stopped if foreign buyers don't materialize.

Longuet maintained the Rafale is an "excellent plane" but acknowledged it is handicapped by its price.

The Rafale, in service for the French Air Force since 2006, has been flying air support roles in Afghanistan since 2007, and was a big part of the NATO air campaign against Moammar Gadhafi's forces in Libya in 2011.

For years, political leaders from different countries had made a strong pitch for their aviation companies at meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders.

"The reported $5 million difference between the candidates is exceptionally small, and indicates this was a very close race ? practically a photo finish," said Endre Lunde, a consultant with IHS Jane's Defence Weekly.

French political backing was essential in strengthening the French bid, and the Rafale win is therefore also a major victory for President Nicholas Sarkozy, Lunde said.

He described the deal as a "major win for France, and a major loss for the UK."

Indian analysts said it was ultimately India's familiarity with French fighter jets such as the Mirage that swung the deal in Dassault's favor.

Dassault won a $1.4 billion contract to upgrade India's Mirage fleet last year.

Klaus Eberhardt, head of Aerospace and Defense Industries Association of Europe, said the fact that India shortlisted two European aircraft while eliminating the U.S. candidates showed that European defense firms could successfully compete with Boeing and Lockheed Martin because they were better at technological innovation.

"Where are the U.S. giants in that competition?" Eberhardt told a conference of European defense officials and industry representatives.

Analysts still cautioned the deal could yet unravel as both sides pore over the fine print on pricing.

"This is just the first step ? Rafale has been selected as preferred bidder but any student of Indian procurement knows that this means nothing until the contract is physically signed," said James Hardy, Asia Pacific Specialist at IHS Jane's Defence Weekly.

Financial pressures on India's government could seriously complicate the chances of a contract being signed any time soon, he said.

"That, and the standard contractual wrangling that occurs during Indian procurement deals could cause delays stretching to years," he said.

Bedi said the price of the aircraft was likely to go up significantly.

"Given India's current financial difficulties with the rupee and the political wobbliness of the Indian system, the government would hesitate to sanction such a huge amount," Bedi said.

The Rafale has struggled to find an export market because of its high cost and complexity ? a marked shift from France's last big-name fighter jet, the Mirage, whose Mirage 2000 model was a strong export. Competitors from the United States and Russia ? such as the General Dynamics F-16, McDonnell Douglas F-15 and the Sukhoi Su-27 ? also have grabbed a large slice of the market.

In 2007, the French bungled talks with Morocco, which instead opted to buy an F-16 from Lockheed Martin Corp. The same year, Libya's Moammar Gadhafi himself began exclusive talks with France to purchase 14 Rafales.

The French jet is also competing against Sweden's Gripen NG from Saab AB and U.S.-based Boeing Co.'s F-18 Super Hornet for a planned $5 billion purchase by Brazil ? though that order is being delayed by budget cuts. The United Arab Emirates has approached French officials about the possible purchase of 60 Rafales, and Switzerland is considering the purchase of 22 fighters ? either Rafales or Saab's Gripen.

___

Associated Press writers Greg Keller and Jamey Keaten in Paris and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_bi_ge/as_india_fighter_aircraft

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Obama meets Georgia leader amid Russia dispute (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama offered encouragement Monday for the former Soviet republic of Georgia's hopes for a preferential trade agreement with the United States, but said the country has a way to go in its economic reforms.

Obama praised visiting Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili and said there is a "possibility" of a free trade agreement that is a top priority for Georgia. Obama said the U.S. will help Georgia strengthen its free market system with high-level dialogue, but did not address when or under what conditions that might expand.

Saakashvili thanked Obama for the possible free trade agreement.

"That's going to attract lots of additional activity to my country," he said.

Georgia's leverage in asking for trade advantages grew last year, when it quietly dropped objections to Russian membership in the World Trade Organization. Georgia is probably the most hostile toward Moscow of the now-independent nations that were once part of the Soviet Union.

Russian WTO membership was part of Obama's efforts to repair relations with Russia that hit a low point following the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia over a territorial dispute.

Sitting with Saakashvili following an Oval Office meeting, Obama said the two discussed the importance of protecting minorities and the rule of law, an apparent reference to alleged political power plays by Saakashvili's party and the recent arrest of journalists and others on allegations of spying for Georgia's rival Russia. But Obama praised Georgia as an example of democracy in the former Soviet region.

Obama said scheduled democratic elections, in which Saakashvili intends to step aside, "will solidify many of the reforms that are taking place."

Critics have accused Saakashvili of trying to engineer constitutional reforms that would allow him to pull strings from offstage, in the manner of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, after he leaves office in 2013. Saakashvili denies it.

Obama appeared to make an oblique reference to that debate by saying that he was "anticipating fair and free elections" and "the formal transfer of power" in Georgia.

Saakashvili, who has been president since 2004, has sought to steer Georgia toward joining the European Union and NATO. He has been credited with economic and anti-corruption reforms, but opponents have accused him of stifling media freedom and sidelining the opposition, and criticized his handling of the disastrous 2008 war with Russia.

Obama did not mention that war, or the underlying dispute, during brief remarks to reporters following Monday's meeting.

Earlier, however, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama would reaffirm U.S. support for Georgia's "territorial integrity" within internationally recognized borders. That's a reference to the dispute over a breakaway region of Georgia that prompted the war.

Obama said the two leaders discussed security issues, and he thanked Saakashvili for Georgia's contribution of troops to the war in Afghanistan.

Georgia is looking to Obama for a road map to NATO membership, something Russia opposes.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_georgia

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SAG Award Winners 2012 & Red Carpet Photos!

SAG Award Winners 2012 & Red Carpet Photos!

The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards took place last night in Hollywood at the Shrine Auditorium. As most of you know, the SAG Awards [...]

SAG Award Winners 2012 & Red Carpet Photos! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stupidcelebrities/~3/hTTIpb0ZvOk/

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Could A Club Drug Offer 'Almost Immediate' Relief From Depression?

Huw Golledge/flickr

Ketamine has been used as an anesthetic for decades. It's also a widely popular but illegal club drug known as "Special K." When administered in low doses, patients report a rapid reduction in depression symptoms.

There's no quick fix for severe depression.

Although antidepressants like Prozac have been around since the 1970s, they usually take weeks to make a difference. And for up to 40 percent of patients, they simply don't work.

As a result, there are limited options when patients show up in an emergency room with suicidal depression.

The doctors and nurses at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston say they see this problem every day.

You can get a sense of what they're up against by visiting the cavernous, bustling emergency center at Ben Taub, which is part of the massive Texas Medical Center. More than 100,000 patients a year get emergency care here and about 5,000 of them need psychiatric evaluation.

Enlarge Ben Taub General Hospital

Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston sees 100,000 emergency patients a year, 5,000 of whom need psychiatric evaluation.

Ben Taub General Hospital

Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston sees 100,000 emergency patients a year, 5,000 of whom need psychiatric evaluation.

?

The hospital's 24-hour Psychiatric Emergency Center gets a steady stream of people with suicidal depression, says Charlzta McMurray-Horton, who is in charge of mental health nursing.

"If the police bring them in, they're going to come through this door," McMurray-Horton says, pointing to one entrance. "If the ambulance brings them in, they're going to come through this door," she says, pointing to a different entrance.

And one of the challenges in treating these severely depressed patients is that there simply isn't any drug that provides quick relief, says Anu Matorin, medical director of the Psychiatric Emergency Center.

Matorin talks about one recent patient. The woman had suffered bouts of depression since college, Matorin says. But after she had a baby, it became severe. She stopped eating and sleeping. She began to think about suicide.

Finally, the woman made a desperate call to her mother, Matorin says.

"She was very emotional, very tearful, not making sense," Matorin says. "She says, 'I just can't take it anymore. I don't know how to feed the child.' The mother could hear the infant crying in the background."

The family called 9-1-1 and the woman arrived at the hospital with a police escort. Matorin says she evaluated the woman and put her on antidepressants.

Then came the hard part, Matorin says. She knew the drugs might help the woman eventually. But they weren't going to do anything about her suicidal thoughts during the next few critical days.

So Matorin did the only thing she could for her patient. She admitted her to the hospital's locked inpatient unit.

I ask to see the facility, so McMurray Horton takes me there.

'Keep Them Safe, Keep Them Alive'

The unit can handle 20 patients, and its main room is warmer, softer and more colorful than you might expect. Think Holiday Inn, without any sharp objects or hard edges.

But there's no avoiding the fact that this is a place where safety is paramount and privacy isn't, says McMurray-Horton. Shatterproof plastic windows around the nurses' station provide unobstructed sight-lines to pretty much everywhere.

"Patients don't want to be here," says McMurray-Horton, explaining that about three-quarters of them are in the unit because they have been deemed a threat to themselves or someone else.

So it's not surprising that our tour of the unit is interrupted by the loud protests of one enraged patient.

Units like this are necessary in part because drugs for depression don't work fast enough to help someone in the early days of a crisis, Matorin says.

And McMurray-Horton says staff members here have a simple goal for patients in crisis: "Keep them safe, keep them alive until they're in a different space."

Counseling can help, McMurray-Horton says. So can family. And she says most people in crisis just start to feel better after a few days in a place where staff make sure that "they stay in and the world stays out."

That was certainly true of the depressed young mother that Matorin admitted. She got better and went home several days later.

But that woman probably could have skipped the hospital stay altogether if the drugs used to treat depression were as quick and effective as, say, painkillers, Matorin says.

If drugs were more effective, "I think it would transform psychiatric care and really eliminate some of the stigma and fear and concern about treatment," she says.

'A Completely Different Mechanism'

A growing number of scientists think it won't be long before psychiatric care is transformed.

Traditional antidepressants like Prozac work on a group of chemical messengers in the brain called the serotonin system. Researchers once thought that a lack of serotonin was the cause of depression, and that these drugs worked simply by boosting serotonin levels.

Recent research suggests a more complicated explanation. Serotonin drugs work by stimulating the birth of new neurons, which eventually form new connections in the brain. But creating new neurons takes time ? a few weeks, at least ? which is thought to explain the delay in responding to antidepressant medications.

Ketamine, in contrast, activates a different chemical system in the brain ? the glutamate system. Researcher Ron Duman at Yale believes that ketamine rapidly increases the communication among existing neurons by creating new connections. This is a quicker process than waiting for new neurons to form and accomplishes the same goal of enhancing brain circuit activity.

To study how ketamine might work, Duman turned to rats. The first image below shows the neuron of a rat that has received no ketamine treatment. The small bumps and spots on the side of the neuron are budding connections between neurons.

Enlarge Ronald Duman/Yale University

Ronald Duman/Yale University

Just hours after giving the rats doses of ketamine, Duman saw a dramatic increase in the number of new connections between brain cells. This increase in neuronal connectivity is thought to relieve depression.

Enlarge Ronald Duman/Yale University

Ronald Duman/Yale University

And they are particularly excited about an experimental drug that's being tried over in the NeuroPsychiatric Center next to Ben Taub Hospital.

It's here that drug researchers are studying a drug that's unlike anything now used to treat depression. And they're giving it to patients who haven't done well on existing drugs.

One of these patients is Heather Merrill, who speaks to me in a small conference room that's part of the large and very busy outpatient clinic.

Merill is 41, with three kids and nice house in the suburbs.

"I've suffered from depression for most of my adult life," she says. "It got to the point where I kind of felt like there wasn't going to be anything that was going to be able to help me."

At times her depression gets so bad she can't take care of her family or even herself, she says. And that's how she was feeling the day before, she says, when doctors placed an IV in her arm and began to administer a drug.

Because it was part of an experiment, there were two possibilities. The drug could have been just a sedative. Or it might have been something called ketamine.

Ketamine has been used for decades as an anesthetic. It's also become a wildly popular but illegal club drug known as "Special K."

Mental health researchers got interested in ketamine because of reports that it could make depression vanish almost instantly.

In contrast, drugs like Prozac take weeks or even months. And the frustrating thing is that depression medications really haven't changed much since Prozac arrived in the 1970s, says Sanjay Mathew from Baylor College of Medicine, who is in charge of the ketamine study at Ben Taub.

"Everything since then has been essentially incremental," he says. "There have been tweaks of existing molecules."

But ketamine represents much more than a tweak, Mathews says.

"It's a completely different mechanism," he says. "And the focus is on really rapidly helping someone get out of a depressive episode."

'No More Fogginess. No More Heaviness'

Heather Merrill says she's pretty sure it was ketamine that flowed into her veins 24 hours earlier.

"It was almost immediate, the sense of calmness and relaxation," she says.

Some of the doctors think she might be right.

"Her demeanor has changed tremendously," says Dr. Asim Shah, who directs the mood disorder program at Ben Taub. "She looks like a happy person who is genuinely happy, whereas before the study, she looked very down, very withdrawn, sort of almost tearful."

But of course, nobody knows whether Merrill actually got ketamine. That information will be kept secret until the study is done, months from now.

So I decide to see how Merrill's experience compares with those of people who definitely took ketamine for depression.

I talk to Carlos Zarate, who does ketamine research at the NIH and has never met Merrill. Zarate says patients typically say, "'I feel that something's lifted or feel that I've never been depressed in my life. I feel I can work. I feel I can contribute to society.' And it was a different experience from feeling high. This was feeling that something has been removed."

I compare this to what Heather Merrill said about her experience: "No more fogginess. No more heaviness. I feel like I'm a clean slate right now. I want to go home and see friends or, you know, go to the grocery store and cook the family dinner."

The similarities are hard to ignore.

And researchers say the consistent patient reactions have actually made it more difficult to do good studies of ketamine. The drug's effects are so powerful and distinctive, they say, it's hard to prevent doctors and patients in an experiment from figuring out who got the drug and who didn't.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/01/27/145992588/could-a-club-drug-offer-almost-immediate-relief-from-depression?ft=1&f=1007

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Statins May Stave Off Liver Cancer in People With Hepatitis B (HealthDay)

THURSDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Popular cholesterol-lowering statins may also lower risk for liver cancer among people with hepatitis B, a new study shows. Hepatitis B, an inflammation of the liver due to the hepatitis B virus, is one of the main causes of liver cancer.

This is not the first time that statins have shown promise in reducing risk for cancer. Other studies have hinted that these drugs may play a role in preventing certain types of cancer, including breast cancer.

In the new study of more than 33,000 individuals with hepatitis B followed from 1997 to 2008, those who took a statin were less likely to develop liver cancer, when compared to participants who were not prescribed statins. What's more, the longer a person took statins, the greater the liver-cancer risk reduction. Study participants were prescribed the statins to treat high cholesterol levels. Overall, 1,021 people developed liver cancer during the study period.

More research is needed to see how statins may lower liver cancer risk among people with hepatitis B, the researchers said.

"Statins have potential protective effects against cancers [and] carriers of hepatitis B virus infection have a substantial risk of [liver] carcinoma," said Dr. Pau-Chung Chen, a professor of environmental medicine and epidemiology at National Taiwan University, in Taipei. "Statin use is not only a benefit to preventing cardiovascular diseases, but also an additional, convenient and acceptable strategy for preventing hepatocellular carcinoma," or liver cancer, Chen said.

However, statins can cause a potentially dangerous rise in liver enzymes and liver damage. Regular liver function tests are required for all people who take statins.

The study appeared online Jan. 23 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

"This is exciting and unequivocally solid research," said Dr. Eugene Schiff, a professor of medicine and director of the Center for Liver Diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

"One of the issues is that statins are relatively contraindicated in people with liver disease," Schiff said. But "the take-home message for people with hepatitis B or anybody with liver disease is that statins are safe. This re-emphasizes the point that if someone has chronic hepatitis B and there is an indication for statins, they should get them and they may be beneficial far beyond lowering cholesterol: They may also reduce their risk for liver cancer."

Dr. David Bernstein, chief of hepatology at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Manhasset, N.Y., is more cautious. "In almost all other liver conditions, cirrhosis must be present before [liver cancer] develops," he said. During cirrhosis, scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue. "Statins must be used with caution in patients with cirrhosis, which can limit their use in patients with liver disease at risk of developing liver cancer," he said. "Further studies are needed in this patient population to confirm these findings."

More information

For information on hepatitis B, visit the U.S. National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120128/hl_hsn/statinsmaystaveofflivercancerinpeoplewithhepatitisb

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Leadership scramble: GOP rivals vie for title (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Republican presidential contenders are making a pitch to voters that sounds a lot like a children's game: Follow the leader.

When Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich aren't puffing up their own leadership credentials, they're running down the leadership skills of one another and President Barack Obama.

If anyone missed Monday's conference call from the Romney campaign about Gingrich's record as a "failed leader," not to worry. They could have tuned in to Tuesday's conference call. Or Wednesday's. Or Thursday's. Or checked out the "unreliable leader" banner splashed across a Romney news release that labeled Gingrich "unhinged." Romney's political biography, meanwhile, is all about his leadership as a businessman, Massachusetts governor and savior of the 2002 Olympic Games.

It's hard to miss Gingrich's frequent broadsides at Romney, meanwhile, for failing to provide consistent, visionary leadership. Or the former House speaker's pronouncements that he, by contrast, offers "exactly the kind of bold, tough leader the American people want." Or Gingrich's muscular descriptions of all that was accomplished in his four years as speaker in the 1990s.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, lagging them in the polls, keeps trying to muscle his way into the leader palooza by offering himself as the steady bet who can be counted on to offer more reliable conservative leadership than "erratic" Gingrich or "moderate" Romney.

In a race where all the candidates are trying to out-conservative one another, stressing leadership credentials gives the GOP rivals a way to try to distinguish themselves. And in a year when Obama's own leadership skills are seen as one of his weakest qualities, it gives the Republicans another arrow in their quiver as they argue over who would be most electable in a matchup with Obama come November.

Leadership is always a part of the equation in presidential elections. In 2008, for example, the candidates all were abuzz with claims that they offered "transformational" leadership. Obama announced he was running by declaring, "I want to transform this country."

This year, leadership is getting an extra dose of attention, perhaps because of statistics such as this: The share of Americans who view Obama as a strong leader slipped from 77 percent at the start of his presidency to 52 percent in a Pew Research Center poll released this month. And among Republicans, only about a fourth of those surveyed in the most recent poll viewed Obama as a strong leader, compared with 80 percent of Democrats.

At a campaign debate last week in Tampa, Fla., Gingrich and Romney both turned a question about electability into an answer about the L-word.

"This is going to come down a question of leadership," Romney said. Then the former Massachusetts governor recited his track record as a leader in business and government and took a dig at Gingrich for having to "resign in disgrace" when he was speaker in the 1990s.

Gingrich, answering the same question, aligned himself with the leadership record of conservative hero Ronald Reagan and offered himself as someone "prepared to be controversial when necessary" to bring about great change.

The answers offer a window into how differently the two candidates define leadership ? Romney more as a manager with business school credentials, Gingrich more as a big-thinking visionary.

The leadership argument is a particularly potent campaign weapon for Romney because a number of Republicans who served in Congress with Gingrich have been happy to describe his shortcomings in running the House.

"If you were somebody trying to serve with him, you were always sort of left standing with your hands empty in terms of moving forward with an actual plan or putting a plan to paper," Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., said of Gingrich on a Romney campaign conference call on Thursday. "So for me, it's an example that he's just not an effective leader. I think Mitt has the temperament and the ability to lead."

Gingrich, who resigned after a spate of ethics problems and a poor showing for House Republicans in the 1998 elections, managed to turn even his resignation as speaker into evidence that he's a strong leader.

"I took responsibility for the fact that our results weren't as good as they should be," he said in the Tampa debate. "I think that's what a leader should do."

As for the turbulence of his tenure as speaker, Gingrich casts that, too, as evidence of his bold leadership.

"Look, I wish everybody had loved me, but I'd rather be effective representing the American people than be popular inside Washington," he said earlier in the campaign.

Stephen Wayne, a presidential scholar at Georgetown University, said the harsh judgment of Obama's presidential leadership by Republicans and even some Democrats in part is due to the high hopes that he raised during the 2008 campaign. Obama the president has been measured against the words of Obama the candidate ever since.

Now that it's campaign season again, says Wayne, "he's not competing against his own image, he's competing against a real life person that has frailties. ... In a sense, that lowers the bar for Obama."

___

AP Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

___

Follow Nancy Benac at http://www.twitter.com/nbenac

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_follow_the_leader

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Wii U controller to pack NFC, says Iwata, create new gameplay options

Aching for more details on Nintendo's elusive Wii U console? Let Satoru Iwata scratch your itch -- quarterly reports aren't just for reporting losses and announcing new networks, after all. Boss hog Iwata told investors that Nintendo is spicing up their next console's tablet-esque controller with a little NFC magic. Nintendo's President briefly entertains the possibilities of a console controller rocking near field communication, suggesting that Skylander-like figurines or NFC enabled cards could be created to present a "new play format in the video game world." He even says the technology might be used to implement micropayments. Sounds neat -- but will you be able to buy DLC with your Google Wallet?

Wii U controller to pack NFC, says Iwata, create new gameplay options originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/27/wii-u-controller-to-pack-nfc-says-iwata-create-new-gameplay-op/

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Jon Gosselin and Ellen Ross: It's Over!

Jon Gosselin and Ellen Ross have split up after nearly two years together.

It's unclear exactly why the ex-husband of Kate Gosselin split with his lady friend, but reports say Ellen's distaste for the media was the final straw.

"Ellen didn't like the media attention and other things that came with the relationship," a source said. "That's one of the main reasons they broke up."

Wait ... we still pay attention to Jon Gosselin? Besides right now? Who knew!

According to an insider, the twosome broke up more than a week ago, but it wasn't until Friday that Jon Gosselin confirmed the breakup on Twitter:

"Recently, after much thought and discussion, Ellen and I have decided to end our relationship. It was a mutual decision and we are both happy."

"We will remain best friends. We both plan to move forward and focus on our separate lives. We ask that you please respect our privacy at this time."

So far, no word from Ellen Ross personally, except a denial earlier this week that was debunked when Jon spilled the beans on Twitter. Whoops.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/jon-gosselin-and-ellen-ross-its-over/

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2012 BlackBerry roadmap leaks, reveals pile of Curves and 3G PlayBook

We've heard some rumors about what RIM had in store for its beleaguered BlackBerry brand, but we're just now seeing some evidence to support those claims. The fine folks over at BGR have gotten their hands on what appears to be a copy of the company's 2012 roadmap, as well as a handful of slides detailing some upcoming products. It looks like an HSPA+ equipped PlayBook is in the works, packing both NFC and a 1.5GHz CPU for good measure, as well as a pile of Curves aimed at the entry-level market. Something new those cheapo handsets will be bringing to the table is a dedicated BBM button, which should make addicts of the messaging service quite happy. Sadly, it also looks like the first BlackBerry 10 (formerly BBX) device may have suffered a slight delay and may not land till October or November. Hit up the source link for all the nitty gritty details.

2012 BlackBerry roadmap leaks, reveals pile of Curves and 3G PlayBook originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Deadline looming over Israel settlement evacuation (AP)

MIGRON OUTPOST, West Bank ? Religious nationalists living in a rogue settlement on a wind-swept West Bank hilltop are defying the Israeli government's plans to evict them, setting up a showdown that has threatened to rip the ruling coalition apart.

The outcome could hurt Israel internationally should it choose to again flout its 2003 promise to Washington to knock down Migron and other unauthorized settler enclaves built on land Palestinians claim for a future state.

The government says the settlers of Migron ? 100 adults and 200 children living in a jumble of cramped trailers ? seized the territory unlawfully in 2001 from private Palestinian landowners. Settlers deny the claim, saying Arab plaintiffs haven't been able to prove ownership of the land.

Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the government to remove them by March 31.

But with hardline lawmakers threatening to bolt Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition if Migron is dismantled, and a history of clashes with settlers in mind, officials are scrambling to find a solution that will satisfy both settlers and a court impatient with government delays.

Leaders insist they will carry out the court order if no compromise is reached.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who has tried for years to negotiate a solution with Migron leaders, said this week "it's out of the question" that settlers will remain on private Palestinian land. "It undercuts the rule of law and the supremacy of law and our position vis-a-vis the world, on the one hand, and our citizens on the other hand," he told Israel Radio.

The settlers believe it is their religious duty to settle this patch of the biblical Land of Israel and say they won't abandon their stronghold 10 miles (15 kilometers) north of Jerusalem, overlooking the main north-south road in the West Bank.

"It won't reach that point," Migron spokesman Itai Chemo said.

The international community opposes all Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. But Israel distinguishes between the 121 settlements established in accordance with official procedures and the more than 100 unauthorized "outposts" that skirted the process and are considered illegal.

Although the government did not officially approve the building of such enclaves, home to several thousand Israelis, the settlers have managed to work the system to their advantage to secure military protection or hook up their communities to utility grids.

Israeli governments have occasionally dismantled isolated structures in the enclaves, in some cases resulting in riotous confrontations with settlers and masses of supporters who flocked to the scene.

These standoffs chilled the government's ardor to evacuate the outposts it promised to dismantle, and years of negotiating with the settlers began. The negotiations have emboldened Migron's residents, who reject the state's claim that Palestinians own the land.

Migron is the largest outpost and has come to symbolize settler defiance.

A top security official told The Associated Press that the authorities are ready to take down Migron when the order comes. However, the official balked at the notion of blocking roads to the site to prevent mass disturbances, suggesting that would be considered too radical a step. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under military regulations.

For months, Migron's residents have been lobbying politicians to keep the outpost in place and searching for legal maneuvers to block an evacuation. They are also holding meetings to acquaint ordinary Israelis with their cause. Their Facebook page features a clock counting down to the evacuation deadline.

Chemo, the Migron spokesman, insists residents don't want violence, and predicts they will reach a compromise with the government.

"We will sit with the prime minister and find a solution to this story," said Chemo, a social worker who moved to Migron eight years ago.

On Sunday, the government proposed building them houses a mile (two kilometers) away, but settlers spurned that proposal, just as they rejected an earlier one to relocate to a nearby settlement.

Critics berated the government for offering Migron a new settlement instead of punishing it for its illegal actions.

If the government lets the March 31 deadline slide, it would embarrass leaders who profess to respect the rule of law.

"All governments have red lines that must not be crossed," said Talia Sasson, a former government prosecutor who compiled a 2005 report on Migron and other unauthorized settlement outposts. "A state has to follow the rulings of its courts. That's how things work in a democratic state."

A missed deadline would also deepen international skepticism over Israel's commitment to peacemaking.

"We believe that the failure of the Israeli government to evacuate even the settlements that they consider illegal is an indicator that the Israeli government is not serious," said Palestinian spokesman Ghassan Khatib.

In 2005, Israel forcibly evicted 8,000 settlers from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. The Gaza withdrawal, along with the smaller, violent evacuation of the Amona outpost in the West Bank the following year, are widely considered national traumas because of scenes of clashes between settlers and security forces.

Nahum Barnea, commentator for the Yediot Ahronot daily, thinks "it's hard to see a showdown over Migron."

"It's very difficult to evacuate settlements, outposts, whatever you call them, after they've struck root," he said. "No one in the coalition is pressing. ... There isn't even public pressure. They'll find a legal gimmick to put off a solution."

The current government, like its predecessors, has been sympathetic to the settler movement, which stretches back more than four decades.

Many coalition lawmakers want Migron legalized, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was reported telling political allies the ruling coalition would collapse if West Bank outposts come down.

On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom declared, "Migron is eternal. It came here to stay."

___

Dan Perry contributed reporting from Tel Aviv.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_settlement_showdown

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'Crony' of Mugabe to promote Thai national image (AP)

BANGKOK ? A Thai Cabinet member who was the target of U.S. sanctions for alleged business deals with Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe is now in charge of promoting Thailand's national image.

Nalinee Taveesin, previously Thailand's trade representative, was named a Cabinet minister in the Prime Minister's Office during last week's reshuffle of Yingluck Shinawatra's government.

The opposition expressed dismay over the appointment, questioning whether it violates the Thai constitution's ethics code for lawmakers.

Undeterred, Yingluck's office announced Tuesday that Nalinee's duties would include overseeing the National Identity Office, which according to the agency's website is responsible for promoting the "unique and noble values that distinguish Thailand."

The U.S. Treasury Department in 2008 named Nalinee a crony of Mugabe and said she had "facilitated a number of financial, real-estate and gem-related transactions" on behalf of Mugabe's wife and other figures in Zimbabwe.

"Ironically, Nalinee Taveesin has participated in a number of initiatives on corruption ... in Africa and Southeast Asia while secretly supporting the kleptocratic practices of one of Africa's most corrupt regimes," the Treasury Department said at the time.

It froze any potential U.S. assets and banned American citizens from doing business with her.

A former senator and advisor to the Commerce Ministry, Nalinee also holds a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University, according to her website. She also served on the board of directors for several Thai companies.

Seeking to calm the criticism, Nalinee called a press conference over the weekend and said that she met Mugabe and his wife during an official visit to Thailand in 2002. On subsequent visits, she had "social relations" with the couple but "no business transactions at all."

"I never thought a friendship could have had such a tremendous impact on my life, especially when I stepped into the political arena," she said.

Nalinee is a member of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, which is led by Yingluck and closely allied to her brother, the deposed leader Thaksin Shinawatra. Critics say the current government is stacked with Thaksin's political and business allies and call Yingluck a proxy for her brother.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_national_image

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Rio buildings collapse, cause deaths

?

By msnbc.com news services

Felipe Dana / AP

Rescue workers search for victims Wednesday after a building collapses in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Two downtown buildings collapsed?Wednesday, leaving?at least two dead inside the wreckage.

Rescue crews pulled four people alive from the debris, officials said.

One building was?20 stories tall; the other, 10, Reuters reported.

A loud explosion preceded the collapse, witnesses said.

There was a strong smell of gas in the area, officials said. However, a gas leak likely didn't cause the blast, Rio's mayor said.?

Rubble was strewn across a wide area, covering cars and motorcycles, The Associated Press reported. Television showed at least two people on the?roof of a neighboring building where?they apparently awaited help from firefighters.

"It was like an earthquake. First some pieces of the buildings started to fall down. People started to run. And then it all fell down at once," a witness who identified himself as Gilbert told Reuters.

As many as 11 people could be trapped in the wreckage, cable broadcaster Gloominess said. City authorities are assessing the risk of collapse of a damaged adjoining building, local news services reported, without giving the source of the information.

"I ran down the stairs desperate to escape. Just when I left the building it collapsed. I escaped by the skin of my teeth - it's the work of God," Nelson Tomes, 38, an air conditioning technician, told iG news service.

Tomes, who was on the 10th floor of one of the buildings, said he rushed to the stairwell after he heard a "huge noise."

TV images showed cars covered with concrete and steel rods. Light, the electricity distribution company serving the city, cut power to the area to avert the possibility of fires after the gas smell was detected, the TV broadcasters said.

Rio de Janeiro is struggling to address concerns over poor infrastructure as it prepares to co-host the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games two years later.

The incident comes months after an explosion apparently caused by a gas leak ripped through a restaurant in downtown Rio, killing three people and igniting concerns over the state of the city's infrastructure.

Vanderlei Almeida / AFP - Getty Images

Firefighters look for victims amid the rubble of a building that collapsed Wednesday in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

?

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10238303-rio-buildings-collapse-cause-deaths

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Aretha Franklin calls off her wedding (AP)

NEW YORK ? Aretha Franklin won't be getting fitted for a wedding gown after all: She's called off her engagement.

A statement released Monday by her representative said Franklin's wedding to Willie Wilkerson wasn't going to happen.

"Will and I have decided we were moving a little too fast, and there were a number of things that had not been thought through thoroughly. There will be no wedding at this time," Franklin said. "We will not comment on it any further because of the very personal and sensitive nature of it. ?We appreciate all of the many well wishes from friends."

Franklin, 69, announced shortly after New Year's Day that she was getting married. In an interview with The Associated Press, the jovial Queen of Soul talked about getting fitted for gowns by designers including Vera Wang and Donna Karan, and said she hoped for a summer wedding in either Miami or the Hamptons on Long Island, N.Y.

Franklin said Wilkerson was the one for her and that the relationship was particularly strong because they had been friends first.

"We're very compatible, and he supports me and I support him a lot, and he has given me specialized attention that I don't think I've received from anyone else," she said.

It's unclear if the pair are still romantically involved.

___

Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP's music editor. Follow her at http://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi

?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_en_ot/us_people_aretha_franklin

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Evicted woman, 101, can't go home as promised

DETROIT?? The federal government now says a 101-year-old Detroit woman it promised could move back into her foreclosed home four months ago can't return because the building's unsanitary and unsafe.

Texana Hollis was evicted Sept. 12 and her belongings placed outside after her 65-year-old son failed to pay property taxes linked to a reverse mortgage, The Detroit News reported Sunday. Two days later, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said she could return.

But now, HUD said it won't let Hollis move back in because of the house's condition. She had lived there about 60 years.

"Here I am, 100 years old, and don't have a home," Hollis said, rounding off her age. "Oh Lord, help me."

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Department spokesman Brian Sullivan told The Detroit News that an inspection determined the house "was completely unsuitable for a person to live in."

"We can't allow someone to live in that (atmosphere) now that we are essentially the owners of the property," Sullivan said. "The home isn't safe; it's not sanitary. It's certainly not suitable for anyone to live in, especially not a 101-year-old mother."

HUD doesn't want to pay to fix up the house, but Sullivan said the department's seeking other agencies that might help with the work and get Hollis back into her home.

"We're not giving up," Sullivan said. "We're talking with anybody and everybody about solutions to this situation, but the condition of the property is a challenge."

After hearing about her longtime friend's eviction, Pollian Cheeks, 68, offered Hollis a room at her home within a mile of Hollis' house. Hollis, who once taught Cheeks in Sunday school at St. Philip's Lutheran Church, agreed to the invitation and has been staying at Cheeks' house in the meantime.

"Polly's just as nice to me as anybody could be. She goes out of her way to help me," Hollis said, holding back tears. "It's just like living at home, but it's not my home."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46093058/ns/us_news-life/

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Manning, Giants heading to Indy to face Pats again (AP)

Hey, Indianapolis. A Manning will be playing in your Super Bowl, after all.

No, not that one.

It'll be Eli Manning leading the New York Giants to a Super Bowl rematch against the New England Patriots ? and this time on older brother Peyton's home field.

"It doesn't matter to me where you're playing it or the fact that it's in Indianapolis," Eli Manning said. "I'm just excited about being in one."

And if the Giants can pull this one off, Eli will have sibling bragging rights with one more Super Bowl ring than Peyton, who missed this season for the Colts after having neck surgery.

It sure won't be easy for the Giants, though. Four years after New York stunned previously undefeated New England in the Arizona desert, they'll play a Super sequel.

Eli vs. Brady. Coughlin vs. Belichick. The Giants vs. the Patriots.

Sound familiar? Here we go again.

"It's awesome and we look forward to the challenge," Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. "They are a great football team. They have always been a great football team. We are looking forward to it, and it's going to be a great game."

Well, judging from the last time these teams met in the Super Bowl ? David Tyree's jaw-dropping, helmet-pinning catch and all ? it just might be.

"Being in this situation is a great moment," Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork said. "You have to cherish this moment."

New England (15-3) opened as a 3-point favorite for the Feb. 5 game against New York (12-7), but the Patriots know all about being in this position. They were favored by 12 points and pursuing perfection in 2008, but New York's defense battered Brady, and Manning connected with Plaxico Burress on a late touchdown to win the Giants' third Super Bowl.

That TD came, of course, a few moments after one of the biggest plays in playoff history: Manning escaping the grasp of Patriots defenders and finding Tyree, who put New York in scoring position by trapping the football against his helmet.

"Hopefully, we will have the same result," Umenyiora said. "We still have one more game to go, but this is truly unbelievable."

Especially since the Giants appeared on the verge of collapsing with Tom Coughlin's job status in jeopardy just a month ago, when they fell to 7-7 with an embarrassing loss to the Washington Redskins on Dec. 18.

"We've been here before," linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka said at the time, "and we'll get back."

Boy, was he right.

The Giants were facing elimination against the rival Jets and Rex Ryan, who boldly declared that his team ruled New York. Well, Coughlin's crew silenced Ryan with a 29-14 victory. The Giants followed that with a 31-14 win over Dallas in the regular-season finale to clinch the NFC East and get to the playoffs for the first time since the 2008 season.

New York dominated Atlanta at home in the opening round. Then came a stunner: a 37-20 victory at Green Bay ? knocking out the defending Super Bowl champions.

On Sunday, Manning extended the best season of his career with one more solid performance, and Lawrence Tynes kicked the Giants past the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in overtime for the NFC title.

"I'm just proud of the guys, what we've overcome this year, what we've been through," Manning said, "just never having any doubts, keep believing in our team that we could get hot and start playing our best football."

The Patriots are rolling into the Super Bowl having won 10 straight, with their last loss being to ? you guessed it ? the Giants, 24-20 back in early November.

"We know they're a great team," Manning said. "We played them already this year. They've been playing great football recently."

They sure have. And now Brady and the Patriots are in familiar territory, playing in the Super Bowl for the fifth time in 11 years ? and first since the stunning upset in Arizona.

New England hopes to avoid all that sort of drama this time around. Unless it goes in the Patriots' favor, as it did in the AFC title game.

Brady was unusually subpar in the Patriots' 23-20 victory over Baltimore, throwing for 239 yards with two interceptions and, for the first time in 36 games, no TD passes. But he got some help from the Patriots' much-maligned defense, which made some crucial stops down the stretch.

A few mistakes by the Ravens helped greatly, too, as Billy Cundiff shanked a 32-yard field goal attempt with 11 seconds left ? soon after Lee Evans had a potential winning touchdown catch ripped out of his hands in the end zone.

"Childlike joy. It's all about childlike joy," linebacker Jerod Mayo said. "Last night felt like the day before Christmas for me and I haven't had that feeling in a long time."

New England last won the Super Bowl in 2005, a long drought considering that the Patriots took home Lombardi trophies three times in four years. There are only a handful of players left from that team, with guys like Corey Dillon, Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison replaced by young up-and-comers such as Mayo, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

"It doesn't even feel right, especially playing with the veterans here," Gronkowski said. "I watched them go to the Super Bowl as I was growing up, and now I'm part of it? It is an unreal moment."

The constants, though, are Brady and Bill Belichick. And that's been a winning combination for New England, combining to become the first QB-coach combination to win five conference championships in the Super Bowl era.

Belichick did perhaps his finest coaching job this season, piecing together a defense that ranked second-to-last in the league during the regular season. That led to plenty of shootouts, and Brady was more than up to the task, throwing for a career-high 5,235 yards while tossing 39 touchdown passes.

"They're an amazing team," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said. "They're a great brotherhood; they're a family."

And they're all looking to lift another Super Bowl trophy together. Patriots-Giants. One more time.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_super_bowl

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Group settings can diminish expressions of intelligence, especially among women, study finds

ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2012) ? Research has found that small-group dynamics -- such as jury deliberations, collective bargaining sessions, and cocktail parties -- can alter the expression of IQ in some susceptible people.

In the classic film "12 Angry Men," Henry Fonda's character sways a jury with his quiet, persistent intelligence. But would he have succeeded if he had allowed himself to fall sway to the social dynamics of that jury?

Research led by scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute found that small-group dynamics -- such as jury deliberations, collective bargaining sessions, and cocktail parties -- can alter the expression of IQ in some susceptible people. "You may joke about how committee meetings make you feel brain dead, but our findings suggest that they may make you act brain dead as well," said Read Montague, director of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and Computational Psychiatry Unit at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, who led the study.

The scientists used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate how the brain processes information about social status in small groups and how perceptions of that status affect expressions of cognitive capacity.

"We started with individuals who were matched for their IQ," said Montague. "Yet when we placed them in small groups, ranked their performance on cognitive tasks against their peers, and broadcast those rankings to them, we saw dramatic drops in the ability of some study subjects to solve problems. The social feedback had a significant effect."

"Our study highlights the unexpected and dramatic consequences even subtle social signals in group settings may have on individual cognitive functioning," said lead author Kenneth Kishida, a research scientist with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. "And, through neuroimaging, we were able to document the very strong neural responses that those social cues can elicit."

The researchers recruited subjects from two universities and administered a standard test to establish baseline IQ. The results were not viewed until after a series of ranked group IQ tasks, during which test takers, in groups of five, received information about how their performances compared to those of the other group members.

Although the test subjects had similar baseline IQ scores -- a mean of 126, compared to the national average of 100 -- they showed a range of test performance results after the ranked group IQ tasks, revealing that some individuals' expressed IQ was affected by signals about their status within a small group.

The researchers wanted to know what was happening in the brain during the observed changes in IQ expression. The subjects were divided into two groups based on the results of their final rank -- the high performers, who scored above the median, and the low performers, who scored at or below the median. Two of every group of five subjects had their brains scanned using fMRI while they participated in the task.

Among the researchers' findings:

1. Dynamic responses occurred in multiple brain regions, especially the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex, and the nucleus accumbens -- regions believed to be involved in emotional processing, problem solving, and reward and pleasure, respectively.

2. All subjects had an initial increase in amygdala activation and diminished activity in the prefrontal cortex, both of which corresponded with a lower problem-solving ability.

3. By the end of the task, the high-performing group showed a decreased amygdala activation and an increased prefrontal cortex activation, both of which were associated with an increased ability to solve more difficult problems.

4. Positive changes in rank were associated with greater activity in the bilateral nucleus accumbens, which has traditionally been linked to learning and has been shown to respond to rewards and pleasure.

5. Negative changes in rank corresponded with greater activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, consistent with a response to conflicting information.

6. Neither age nor ethnicity showed a significant correlation with performance or brain responses. A significant pattern did emerge along gender lines, however. Although male and female participants had the same baseline IQ, significantly fewer women (3 of 13) were in the high-performing group and significantly more (10 of 13) fell into the low-performing group.

"We don't know how much these effects are present in real-world settings," Kishida said. "But given the potentially harmful effects of social-status assignments and the correlation with specific neural signals, future research should be devoted to what, exactly, society is selecting for in competitive learning and workplace environments. By placing an emphasis on competition, for example, are we missing a large segment of the talent pool? Further brain imaging research may also offer avenues for developing strategies for people who are susceptible to these kinds of social pressures."

"This study tells us the idea that IQ is something we can reliably measure in isolation without considering how it interacts with social context is essentially flawed," said coauthor Steven Quartz, a professor of philosophy in the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory of Caltech. "Furthermore, this suggests that the idea of a division between social and cognitive processing in the brain is really pretty artificial. The two deeply interact with each other."

"So much of our society is organized around small-group interactions," said Kishida. "Understanding how our brains respond to dynamic social interactions is an important area of future research. We need to remember that social dynamics affect not just educational and workplace environments, but also national and international policy-making bodies, such as the U.S. Congress and the United Nations."

The research appears in the Jan. 23, 2012 issue of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B in the article, "Implicit signals in small group settings and their impact on the expression of cognitive capacity and associated brain responses," by Kenneth Kishida; Dongni Yang, a former postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine; Karen Hunter Quartz, a director of research in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies of the University of California, Los Angeles; Steven Quartz; and Read Montague, corresponding author, who is also a professor of physics at Virginia Tech. The research was supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust and the Kane Family Foundation to Montague and the National Institutes of Health to Montague and Kishida.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Virginia Tech, via AlphaGalileo.

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Journal Reference:

1. Kenneth Kishida et al. Implicit signals in small group settings and their impact on the expression of cognitive capacity and associated brain responses. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Jan 23, 2012

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120122201215.htm

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Etta James Dead At 73

Legendary singer, who influenced everyone from Janis Joplin to Beyoncé, died Friday after battle with leukemia.
By James Montgomery

Etta James in 1961
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives / Redferns

Etta James, the legendary singer whose career spanned six decades (and just as many musical genres) and whose voice has influenced everyone from Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt to Christina Aguilera and Adele, died Friday (January 20) after a lengthy battle with leukemia. She was 73 years old.

Best known for hits like "At Last," "All I Could Do Was Cry," "Tell Mama," "Something's Got a Hold on Me" and "Good Rockin' Daddy," James learned to sing in church, and first recorded professionally as a member of the all-girl doo-wop group the Peaches, with whom she'd score a #1 hit ("The Wallflower," an answer to Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie"). Soon after that song's success, James left the group and toured with the likes of Little Richard and Johnny "Guitar" Watson. She'd subsequently sign with Chicago's Chess Records in 1960, where her powerful contralto was featured on a string of crossover classics that spanned R&B, soul, gospel, blues and even rock. It was during that time that she also began a battle with heroin addiction, one that would lead to stints in rehabilitation facilities and stall her career's momentum.

James would continue to record for Chess until 1978, then, after a stint opening for the Rolling Stones, she'd spend the next decade largely adrift, before returning with her comeback album, 1989's Seven Year Itch, which reunited her with producer Jerry Wexler and began a period that saw her finally receive the acclaim she'd long deserved. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and, the following year, won her first-ever Grammy award. In subsequent years, she'd also be enshrined in both the Blues and Rockabilly Halls, earn a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys and continue to record a string of well-received blues and jazz albums.

Photos: The life and career of Etta James.

Her Chess Records period was brought to the big screen (with varying degrees of accuracy) in the 2008 musical biopic "Cadillac Records," with Beyoncé portraying James. Beyoncé's cover of "At Last" was released as the lead single off the film's soundtrack, and would go on to win a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance. Beyoncé would also perform the song at president Barack Obama's inaugural ball in January 2009, a move which led James to famously tell an audience in Seattle that B "has no business up there singing ... my song that I've been singing forever." She'd later explain to the New York Daily News that she was joking, but added that she could've performed the song better.

In recent years, with her status secured (and her addiction problems largely behind her), James continued to tour, and she's been championed by some of today's biggest contemporary stars, like Adele, Aguilera, Florence Welch, Paramore's Hayley Williams, Joss Stone and Jazon Mraz. She was also a particular favorite of the late Amy Winehouse, whose own battles with addiction sadly turned out differently than James'. And just this year, a sample of her "Something's Got a Hold on Me" was used to maximum effect by DJ Avicii on his international hit "Levels."

James' health had been in decline for several years. In 2010, her son Donto told reporters that James had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and in January 2011, court documents filed by her husband — who was seeking to take control of her finances, as she was extremely ill — revealed that she was also undergoing treatment for leukemia. In December, James' live-in physician told a California newspaper that the singer was "terminally ill" and asked "for the prayers of her fans and friends." James' final album, The Dreamer, was released in November.

Share your condolences with Etta James' family on our Facebook page.

Related Photos

• Etta James: A Life In Photos

Related Artists

• Etta James

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677610/etta-james-dead.jhtml

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