Nigerian troops recovered weapons in raids on suspected Boko Haram bases in two northern cities, officials said Saturday.
A raid in Tudun Bayero, some 10 kilometres from Kano, northern Nigeria's largest city, was carried out early Saturday after a tip-off, Kano State director of State Security Service (SSS) Basil Etang told AFP.
He said items recovered included 33 improvised explosive devices, nine rifles, 139 rounds of ammunition, ammonia fertiliser and nitric acid.
"We also discovered some military uniforms being used by the terrorist elements to commit their crimes", he said, adding that three suspects were arrested.
The raid in Kano came two days after another cache was discovered in Maiduguri, another hotbed of the Islamists, where four AK-47 assault rifles, a machine gun and ammunition was recovered, another security official said.
Nigerian soldiers have stepped up their crackdown on members of Boko Haram which launched an uprising in 2009 which was brutally put down, leaving hundreds dead.
The group has killed more than 1,400 people since 2010 in attacks across northern and central Nigeria, according to a new toll released this week by Human Rights Watch.
LONDON (AP) ? Five things to know about Sunday, the last and 16th day of the London Olympics:
?LeBron leads U.S. to gold over Spain.
?The Who closes rocking closing ceremony.
?Jake Varner wins wrestling gold for U.S.
?Joshua lands Britain's third boxing gold.
?Uganda's Kiprotich cruises to marathon victory.
___
LeBron James stood with both arms in the air, then hugged Kevin Durant before they headed to the bench.
They were quite the combination all day long.
James had a huge dunk and a 3-pointer in the final 2:50 and Durant scored 30 points, helping the U.S. win its second straight Olympic title with a 107-100 victory over Spain on the final day of the London Games.
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy. We didn't want it easy," James said. "A lot of teams have won gold easy. We didn't want it that way. We're a competitive team and we love when it gets tight. That's when our will and determination kind of shows. It was the same way in '08."
Mike Krzyzewski, who has said he's retiring as U.S. coach, emptied his bench in the final minute Sunday, then embraced James after the final horn sounded. The Americans hugged at midcourt, with guard James Harden holding a doll of the Olympic mascot.
Four years after beating Spain 118-107 in the Beijing final, the U.S. found itself in another tight one, unable to truly slow the Spanish down until the closing minutes.
James had 19 points on a day he joined Michael Jordan as the only players to win the NBA title, regular-season MVP, NBA Finals MVP and Olympic gold in the same year.
For Kobe Bryant, it was his last Olympic moment.
"This is it for me," said Bryant, who scored 17 points and now has a second gold medal to go with his five NBA championships. "The other guys are good to go."
The Who, the surviving members of Queen and the Spice Girls helped draw the curtain on the Summer Games when the closing ceremony turned Olympic Stadium into one big rock 'n' roll party.
Prince William's wife, Kate, and Prince Harry took seats next to Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee. They sang along to "God Save the Queen."
The Olympic flag was handed from London to organizers of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. Rio then staged an eight-minute segment that showcased the Brazilian city, the first in South America to host the Olympics, featuring an appearance by soccer great Pele.
Britain finished its home Olympics with its biggest medal haul since 1908, but the top of the table belonged to the United States. The Americans topped the chart with 46 golds and 104 overall, easily clearing China's second-place total of 87.
Part of the U.S. winning total belonged to the men's wrestling team, which had multiple gold medalists for the first time since 1996.
Jake Varner got the second one when he won four straight matches to take the 96-kilogram freestyle, beating Valerie Andriitsev of Ukraine 1-0, 1-0 in the final.
Varner fell to his knees once the clock ticked to zero, soaking in the fact he had just accomplished the biggest goal of his life. He soon found Cael Sanderson, a gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics who helped coach him to the title, and thanked him with a a leaping bear hug.
Britain's final gold of the games went to super heavyweight Anthony Joshua, who rallied from a late deficit to upset defending champ Roberto Cammarelle of Italy on a tiebreaker.
Joshua's big finish in the tournament's glamour division allowed him to match the titles won by bantamweight Luke Campbell and women's flyweight Nicola Adams, part of Britain's five-medal boxing haul that included Freddie Evans' welterweight silver from Sunday.
Also winning divisions were: Ukrainian lightweight Vasyl Lomachenko, flyweight Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba, welterweight Serik Sapiyev of Kazakhstan and Russian light heavyweight Egor Mekhontsev. Sapiyev was honored as the tournament's best boxer.
Uganda picked up its first and only medal of the games when Stephen Kiprotich easily captured the Olympic marathon.
Kiprotich finished in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 1 second, holding off the Kenyan duo of Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang. Kirui finished 26 seconds behind Kiprotich, while Kipsang, the leader much of the race, faded late but held on for bronze just ahead of American Meb Keflezighi.
On an extremely warm afternoon, the marathoners wound their way through a scenic route packed with swarms of fans. Kiprotich had such a big lead near the finish that he grabbed a flag from the stands and wore it on his way to the finish.
The rest of the Olympic action Sunday:
VOLLEYBALL
Russia won its first men's volleyball gold in 32 years by rallying past Brazil in five sets.
Second-ranked Russia dropped the first two sets and faced two match points before putting together an impressive comeback in a 19-25, 20-25, 29-27, 25-22, 15-9 victory, paced by 7-foot-2 middle blocker Dmitriy Muserskiy's 31 points.
The Russians thought they had won it on Muserskiy's kill in the fifth set and began to celebrate, but the officials awarded the point to top-ranked Brazil. After regrouping, Muserskiy came right back to spike match point.
It was Russia's fourth gold medal in the event, most of any nation.
Italy won its fourth men's volleyball medal in the last five Olympics by beating Bulgaria in four sets for the bronze.
GYMNASTICS (RHYTHMIC)
The Russians won their fourth straight Olympic gold medal in the group event, easily beating Belarus. With Evgeniya Kanaeva winning the individual all-around Saturday, Russia has now won both rhythmic titles at every Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Games.
The Russians didn't even bother waiting for the final standings, exchanging hugs and blowing kisses at the camera before the score of Ukraine, the last team to perform, was announced.
Italy was third after appearing to make mistakes on both its routines.
The group event involves five gymnasts using two sets of apparatuses ? five balls, and three ribbons and two hoops ? in routines designed to showcase unison, flexibility and artistic skill.
CYCLING (MOUNTAIN BIKE)
World champion Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic won a two-man sprint to take the gold medal in the men's mountain bike race.
Kulhavy made the most of a final steep ascent on the technical circuit in the English countryside to move ahead of Nino Schurter of Switzerland and then sprinted to the line.
Schurter won the silver medal and Marco Aurelio Fontana of Italy took bronze.
Kulhavy, whose sole objective this season was the Olympic gold, put his hands on his head as if he couldn't believe he won. He then tied a Czech flag around his neck like a cape while Schurter, a bronze medalist in Beijing four years ago, collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.
ELSEWHERE IN LONDON
France won its second consecutive Olympic gold medal in men's handball with a 22-21 win over Sweden. ... Croatia won its first Olympic gold in men's water polo, pulling away from Italy for an 8-6 win. The U.S. lost 10-9 to Australia to drop to eighth place. ... Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu topped the men's 66-kilogram freestyle wrestling division, beating Sushil Kumar of India to give the Japanese their first Olympic title in the sport in 24 years. ... Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania captured the women's modern pentathlon. Samantha Murray of Britain was second and Brazil's Yane Marques won the bronze.
___
Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap
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Celebrates American figure skating while commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1961 U.S. World Figure Skating Team that perished in a plane crash on its way to the World Championships in Prague. Produced and directed by 16-time Emmy Award winners Lookalike Productions, Hope Springs documents the sports? growth in popularity over the years and features various luminaries of American figure skating. Proceeds from Hope Springs will be used to further the mission of U.S. Figure Skating?s Memorial Fund, which was established on Feb. 23, 1961, as a living legacy of those who lost their lives. The film?s Feb. 17, 2011, premiere coincides with the 50th anniversary of the tragedy
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Celebrates American figure skating while commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1961 U.S. World Figure Skating Team that perished in a plane crash on its way to the World Championships in Prague. Produced and directed by 16-time Emmy Award winners Lookalike Productions, Hope Springs documents the sports? growth in popularity over the years and features various luminaries of American figure skating. Proceeds from Hope Springs will be used to further the mission of U.S. Figure Skating?s Memorial Fund, which was established on Feb. 23, 1961, as a living legacy of those who lost their lives. The film?s Feb. 17, 2011, premiere coincides with the 50th anniversary of the tragedy
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Download Hope Springs movie ? ?Hope Springs? inhales clean air into everlasting conflict
(Reuters) - Global pressure on the United States to relax its ethanol quota mounted on Thursday as the top United Nations food official said an "immediate, temporary suspension" of the mandate could help head off another world food crisis.
As the surge in corn prices revives a fierce food versus fuel debate, Jos? Graziano da Silva, the director-general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, wrote in the Financial Times newspaper that competition for a U.S. corn crop that has been decimated by drought was only going to intensify.
"Much of the reduced crop will be claimed by biofuel production in line with U.S. federal mandates, leaving even less for food and feed markets," he wrote in an op-ed just a day before the U.S. government issues a pivotal crop report that is expected to show U.S. corn output falling to the smallest in six years and stockpiles at near record lows.
"An immediate, temporary suspension of that mandate would give some respite to the market and allow more of the crop to be channeled towards food and feed uses," he wrote in a high-profile, yet indirect, message to Washington.
Under the five-year-old Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), U.S. fuel companies are required to ensure that 9 percent of their gasoline pools are made up of ethanol this year, which means converting some 40 percent of the corn crop into the biofuel.
Silva joins a growing and diverse chorus of people calling for an unprecedented waiver or suspension of the RFS. This week, 25 U.S. Senators urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adjust the mandate, while the chief executive of grains giant Cargill said the free market should dictate biofuels use.
Livestock producers, which are forced to bid against ethanol producers to secure costlier grain for feed, were first to ask for relief. However, the EPA has yet to receive an official petition for a waiver, which can only come from a fuel blender or a state governor, according to the legislation.
Silva said that the world food system had not yet reached a crisis point, but reiterated warnings against the kind of export restraints and panic buying that extended the surge in 2008.
"Countries and the UN are better equipped than in 2007-08 to face high food prices," he said. "However, risks are high and the wrong responses to the current situation could create it."
WHY, WHY NOT
While the RFS program faces growing critics, it also has strong support from Farm Belt politicians in an election year and has been a core part of President Obama's "all of the above" energy plan. Some say suspending it would do little to relax demand.
For one thing, the RFS already offers a degree of flexibility to blenders, who can purchase or borrow bankable credits known as Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs, if they aren't able to buy enough physical ethanol to meet their requirements.
For another, experts say refiners would likely continue buying almost as much ethanol even without the RFS since they use it as an additive to make the cleaner-burning fuel required in most of the country.
And waiving the mandate could have several unintended effects, such as dampening investment in cellulosic and other advanced biofuels that could cut dependence on food crops for making fuel, or damage the market for dried distillers' grains, an ethanol byproduct sold as a livestock feed.
In 2008, Texas Governor Rick Perry petitioned the EPA to cut the mandate in half for that year. The EPA refused, but in doing so it made clear that future petitions would have to prove that the RFS itself was causing severe economic harm and not just contributing to any such condition.
(Reporting By Jonathan Leff; editing by M.D. Golan)
(This story corrects the lead to refer to United Nations (not World Bank)
On Friday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney answered questions from the press corps relating to the links between President Barack Obama?s campaign and the subject of a controversial ad put out by a pro-Obama Super PAC featuring a steelwork that lost his wife to cancer. Carney was asked why the Obama campaign initially denied knowing the ad?s subject, Joe Soptic, but campaign officials have recently acknowledged that they used Soptic?s story in official campaign communications. Carney responded to reporters? questions by saying that they cannot control the ads that PACs run and asked why reporters were not asking Mitt Romney to denounce dishonest ads run by PACs loyal to his campaign.
RELATED: NY Times Buries The Lede: Anderson Cooper?s Ratings Surge At 8PM
Fox News Channel?s Ed Henry asked Carney if he had ?any regret? that the Obama campaign said they had no first-hand knowledge of Joe Soptic?s story, despite the fact that Soptic was featured in an Obama campaign advertisement and was on a conference call with Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter.
?I think the campaign ads address this and I would refer you to their statement,? Carney replied.
Henry followed up by asking if it would be appropriate for Obama to distance himself from this ad, given how he campaigned in 2008 as seeking to change the tone of the dialogue in Washington.
?I understand your question, and I would simply say that I don?t imagine that you are asking the Romney campaign why they haven?t condemned the third-party ad that suggests the President may not be an American citizen,? Carney shot back. ?I think it should be understood that we are not in control of third-party ads.?
Carney went on to say that President Obama is not making the argument made in this particular ad, and that he is focusing on substantive policy proposals.
In a standup interview following the White House press briefing, Henry went on to outline how the Obama campaign belatedly acknowledged that they had utilized Soptic?s story on multiple occasions for official campaign activities.
Watch the segment below via Fox News Channel:
> >Follow Noah Rothman (@Noah_C_Rothman) on Twitter
Using Twitter for business has become quite prevalent in the social media. Many entrepreneurs used to think that Twitter was only for the big players in the online world. Little did they know that if there were anyone who would benefit more from the social networking site, it is the small business owners. It is now quite common that small entrepreneurs who may not even have their own website are greatly benefiting from tweeting about their business. In this article, let?s get to know more about the technique and how beneficial it can be in business promotion.
Before you can do anything in Twitter, you need to sign up for membership first. The instructions are easy and the process is fast. In a minute or two, you?d be ready to post your first tweet. A tweet can only be 140 characters in length or less, hence, if you have a long message, you should make it as concise as possible. Then, everyone connected with you, also known as your followers, will be able to read your update.
Twitter for business can be effective because it?s quite personal. It?s like word-of-mouth in digital version. If you have an announcement to make, a product or service to be launched, or an invitation to send, the site can be a convenient platform to use. Apart from these, there are other things that you can enjoy when using Twitter for business. Here?s a quick list:
First, the site allows you to break any communication barrier. Many people will not return calls but they will most likely reply to tweets. For some reasons, they feel that it?s a lot easier to talk through Twitter than other means.
Two, the social networking site allows you to perform better customer service. Because you?re reachable and people are already comfortable talking to you, you can serve them better. Whenever there are questions, apprehensions, suggestions, and the likes, the folks in your network can easily bring them up and let you know. In return, you can address their concerns immediately too. What an efficient way of serving your customers, right?
Third, you can monitor the performance of your offerings more easily through Twitter. Because it shows real-time posts and conversations, you can hear about customers? feedbacks as soon as they start utilizing your product or service. This is very advantageous because you will have an idea of how your offerings are fairing in the market. If they need any boost of some sort, you can give it readily on time. If they are just doing OK, then you can start drafting some next possible blog launches.
Four, using Twitter for business doesn?t just update you of your product?s performance but the latest news and trends too. Being up-to-date can be very helpful to your venture because it gives you a competitive weapon to thrive in the industry better. If you are always ahead of everyone, and the new craze is the name of your game, the public will certainly set their eyes on you. Now, any entrepreneur knows what this means and they would surely like to have it.
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Weekend hospital stays prove more deadly than other times for older people with head traumaPublic release date: 9-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Stephanie Desmon sdesmon1@jhmi.edu 410-955-8665 Johns Hopkins Medicine
Johns Hopkins study finds higher mortality rate even among less severely injured patients
A Johns Hopkins review of more than 38,000 patient records finds that older adults who sustain substantial head trauma over a weekend are significantly more likely to die from their injuries than those similarly hurt and hospitalized Monday through Friday, even if their injuries are less severe and they have fewer other illnesses than their weekday counterparts.
The so-called "weekend effect" on patient outcomes has been well documented in cases of heart attack, stroke and aneurism treatment, Hopkins investigators say, and the new research now affirms the problem in head trauma care as well."
A report on the findings, published online in the Journal of Surgical Research, suggests that reduced staffing levels and/or lack of ready access to specialists are factors in the higher weekend death rates after head injury.
"There isn't a medical reason for worse results on weekends," says study leader Eric B. Schneider, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's Center for Surgical Trials and Outcomes Research. "It's more likely a difference in how hospitals operate over the weekend as opposed to during the week, meaning that there may be a real opportunity for hospitals to change how they operate and save lives."
Approximately 1.4 million Americans suffer head trauma that results in a hospital visit each year, the researchers say, and more than 50,000 die annually as a result of their injuries. An estimated 235,000 require inpatient care.
Schneider notes that unlike other forms of trauma that disproportionately affect young people, head trauma and mortality associated with it increase as people age, with the highest rates of hospitalization and death for such injuries occurring in people over 75.
Using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2006 to 2008, Schneider and his colleagues examined records from 38,675 people between 65 and 89 years of age admitted to U.S. hospitals with head trauma. In the study group, 9,937 admissions (or 25.6 percent) occurred on weekends.
Overall, the researchers found that weekend patients were 14 percent more likely to die from their injuries than weekday patients, even after accounting for other factors. For example, the ages of patients admitted on weekends were similar to those admitted on weekdays, and weekend patients had less severe head trauma and were less sick with other illnesses than weekday admissions. Cost of care, measured as charges to patients, were roughly the same, the investigators note, suggesting that weekend and weekday patients got similar treatments, however differences in the timing of treatments could not be examined in the available data.
The patients in the study were evaluated and treated at trauma centers, teaching hospitals and community hospitals, but the researchers could not tell from the available data which type of facility saw which patient. Other research, however, has found a diminished weekend effect in patients taken to Level 1 trauma centers, where highly specialized staff is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Johns Hopkins Hospital is a Level 1 trauma center.
Schneider speculates that in addition to having fewer experienced doctors and nurses working on weekends, some hospitals may also experience delays in getting such specialists such as neurosurgeons to the hospital on Saturdays and Sundays.
Schneider says one obvious solution is to staff every hospital on weekends at the same optimal level as weekdays, which he acknowledges may be impractical and too expensive. Another more practical approach, he says, might be for emergency medical personnel to transport older patients with head injuries directly to the nearest trauma center, and bypass closer facilities that cannot provide that level of care.
###
Other Johns Hopkins researchers involved in the study include Salman A. Hirani, B.A.; Hali L. Hambridge, B.S.; Elliott R. Haut, M.D.; Anthony R. Carlini, M.S.; Renan C. Castillo, Ph.D.; David T. Efron, M.D.; and Adil H. Haider, M.D., M.P.H.
For more information:
https://www.hopkinsresearch.org/JHH_Home.aspx
[ | 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.
Weekend hospital stays prove more deadly than other times for older people with head traumaPublic release date: 9-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Stephanie Desmon sdesmon1@jhmi.edu 410-955-8665 Johns Hopkins Medicine
Johns Hopkins study finds higher mortality rate even among less severely injured patients
A Johns Hopkins review of more than 38,000 patient records finds that older adults who sustain substantial head trauma over a weekend are significantly more likely to die from their injuries than those similarly hurt and hospitalized Monday through Friday, even if their injuries are less severe and they have fewer other illnesses than their weekday counterparts.
The so-called "weekend effect" on patient outcomes has been well documented in cases of heart attack, stroke and aneurism treatment, Hopkins investigators say, and the new research now affirms the problem in head trauma care as well."
A report on the findings, published online in the Journal of Surgical Research, suggests that reduced staffing levels and/or lack of ready access to specialists are factors in the higher weekend death rates after head injury.
"There isn't a medical reason for worse results on weekends," says study leader Eric B. Schneider, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's Center for Surgical Trials and Outcomes Research. "It's more likely a difference in how hospitals operate over the weekend as opposed to during the week, meaning that there may be a real opportunity for hospitals to change how they operate and save lives."
Approximately 1.4 million Americans suffer head trauma that results in a hospital visit each year, the researchers say, and more than 50,000 die annually as a result of their injuries. An estimated 235,000 require inpatient care.
Schneider notes that unlike other forms of trauma that disproportionately affect young people, head trauma and mortality associated with it increase as people age, with the highest rates of hospitalization and death for such injuries occurring in people over 75.
Using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2006 to 2008, Schneider and his colleagues examined records from 38,675 people between 65 and 89 years of age admitted to U.S. hospitals with head trauma. In the study group, 9,937 admissions (or 25.6 percent) occurred on weekends.
Overall, the researchers found that weekend patients were 14 percent more likely to die from their injuries than weekday patients, even after accounting for other factors. For example, the ages of patients admitted on weekends were similar to those admitted on weekdays, and weekend patients had less severe head trauma and were less sick with other illnesses than weekday admissions. Cost of care, measured as charges to patients, were roughly the same, the investigators note, suggesting that weekend and weekday patients got similar treatments, however differences in the timing of treatments could not be examined in the available data.
The patients in the study were evaluated and treated at trauma centers, teaching hospitals and community hospitals, but the researchers could not tell from the available data which type of facility saw which patient. Other research, however, has found a diminished weekend effect in patients taken to Level 1 trauma centers, where highly specialized staff is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Johns Hopkins Hospital is a Level 1 trauma center.
Schneider speculates that in addition to having fewer experienced doctors and nurses working on weekends, some hospitals may also experience delays in getting such specialists such as neurosurgeons to the hospital on Saturdays and Sundays.
Schneider says one obvious solution is to staff every hospital on weekends at the same optimal level as weekdays, which he acknowledges may be impractical and too expensive. Another more practical approach, he says, might be for emergency medical personnel to transport older patients with head injuries directly to the nearest trauma center, and bypass closer facilities that cannot provide that level of care.
###
Other Johns Hopkins researchers involved in the study include Salman A. Hirani, B.A.; Hali L. Hambridge, B.S.; Elliott R. Haut, M.D.; Anthony R. Carlini, M.S.; Renan C. Castillo, Ph.D.; David T. Efron, M.D.; and Adil H. Haider, M.D., M.P.H.
For more information:
https://www.hopkinsresearch.org/JHH_Home.aspx
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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On Friday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney answered questions from the press corps relating to the links between President Barack Obama?s campaign and the subject of a controversial ad put out by a pro-Obama Super PAC featuring a steelwork that lost his wife to cancer. Carney was asked why the Obama campaign initially denied knowing the ad?s subject, Joe Soptic, but campaign officials have recently acknowledged that they used Soptic?s story in official campaign communications. Carney responded to reporters? questions by saying that they cannot control the ads that PACs run and asked why reporters were not asking Mitt Romney to denounce dishonest ads run by PACs loyal to his campaign. 
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Public release date: 9-Aug-2012
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