Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Uncle arranging Boston bomb suspect's burial rites

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) ? The uncle of a Boston Marathon bombing suspect killed in a gun battle with police arrived at a funeral home Sunday to prepare his body for burial.

Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., and three other men met with Worcester funeral home director Peter Stefan. The men who accompanied Tsarni plan to wash and shroud the body of 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev according to Muslim tradition, the uncle said.

Tsarnaev, who had appeared in surveillance photos wearing a black cap and was identified as Suspect No. 1, died days after the April 15 bombing, which killed three people and injured more than 260 others.

Tsarni told reporters that he is arranging for Tsarnaev's burial because religion and tradition call for his nephew to be buried. He said his friends came along to help him prepare Tsarnaev's body and he understands that "no one wants to associate their names with such evil acts."

Stefan said he has received calls from people criticizing him and calling him "un-American" for being willing to handle Tsarnaev's funeral.

"We take an oath to do this. Can I pick and choose? No. Can I separate the sins from the sinners? No," he said. "We are burying a dead body. That's what we do."

A half dozen protesters gathered outside the funeral home Sunday holding signs and American flags and chanting "USA!" One sign read: "Do not bury him on U.S. soil." Several people drove by the funeral home earlier Sunday and yelled, including one man who shouted, "Throw him off a boat like Osama bin Laden!"

Stefan said he hasn't been able to find a cemetery in Massachusetts willing to take the body, but he has received offers to provide a grave and to contribute money toward the funeral expenses from people in other states. Stefan said he plans to ask the city of Cambridge, where Tsarnaev lived, to provide a burial plot, and if Cambridge turns him down, he will seek help from state officials.

Stefan said Tsarnaev's uncle told him he is anxious to bury his nephew.

"They just want to get it over with. They want to get him buried," Stefan said.

The state medical examiner ruled that Tsarnaev died from gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and torso. Stefan said Sunday that the family won't request that an independent medical examiner perform a second autopsy, but representatives from the family's legal team might photograph Tsarnaev's body before it's washed.

Tsarni has denounced the acts that his nephews ? Tamerlan and younger brother Dzhokhar ? are accused of committing and has said they brought shame to the family and the entire Chechen ethnicity. The brothers are ethnic Chechens from Russia who came to the United States about a decade ago with their parents. Both parents returned to Dagestan last year.

Dzhokhar, 19, is in a prison hospital, facing a potential death sentence if convicted of the terrorism plot.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uncle-arranging-boston-bomb-suspects-burial-rites-163554313.html

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Childhood disability rate jumps 16 percent over past decade

May 5, 2013 ? More children today have a disability than a decade ago, and the greatest increase is among kids in higher-income families, according to a study to be presented Sunday, May 5, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC.

The study also found that disabilities related to physical health conditions have decreased, while disabilities due to neurodevelopmental and mental health problems have increased greatly.

"Nearly 6 million kids had a disability in 2009-2010 -- almost 1 million more than in 2001-2002," said lead author Amy J. Houtrow, MD, PhD, MPH, chief, Division of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and pediatrics at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Dr. Houtrow said previous studies have indicated that the prevalence of childhood disability is increasing. She and her colleagues wanted to look more closely at the conditions and socio-demographic factors associated with disabilities.

The researchers analyzed data from the National Health Interview Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2001-2002 and survey data from 2009-2010. A total of 102,468 parents of children ages 0-17 years participated in the surveys.

Parents were asked whether their child had any limitations in play or activity, received special education services, needed help with personal care, had difficulty walking without equipment, had difficulty with memory or had any other limitation.

If they answered yes to any of those questions, they were asked whether their child's limitations were due to a vision or hearing problem; asthma or breathing problem; joint, bone or muscle problem; intellectual deficit or mental retardation; emotional or behavior problems; epilepsy; learning disability; speech problems; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; birth defect; injury or other developmental problem.

Researchers classified conditions into three groups: physical, neurodevelopmental/mental health and other.

Results showed that the prevalence of disability increased 16.3 percent from 2001-2002 to 2009-2010.

While neurodevelopmental and mental health-related disabilities increased, those due to physical conditions decreased. This trend was most notable among children under 6 years of age whose rate of neurodevelopmental disabilities nearly doubled over the study period from 19 cases to 36 cases per 1,000 children.

"The survey did not break out autism, but we suspect that some of the increase in neurodevelopmental disabilities is due to the rising incidence or recognition of autism spectrum disorders," Dr. Houtrow said.

The data also showed that children living in poverty experienced the highest rates of disability at both time periods but not the highest growth. The largest increase was seen among children living in households with incomes at or above 300 percent of the federal poverty level (about $66,000 a year for a family of four).

"We are worried that those living in poverty may be having problems with being diagnosed and getting services," Dr. Houtrow said.

Since the study could not pinpoint why the disability rate is increasing, more research is needed, she concluded.

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://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/ze81aWPMLqM/130505073733.htm

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Sunday, May 5, 2013

Boston bomb suspect died of gunshots, blunt trauma

BOSTON (AP) ? A suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings died from gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and torso, his death certificate says.

Worcester funeral home owner Peter Stefan has 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body and read details from his death certificate on Friday. The certificate cites Tsarnaev's "gunshot wounds of torso and extremities," Stefan said.

Tsarnaev died last month after a gunfight with authorities a few days after the deadly marathon bombing. Police have said he ran out of ammunition before his younger brother dragged his body under a vehicle while fleeing the scene.

Tsarnaev's family was making arrangements for his funeral as investigators searched the woods near a college attended by his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, on Friday.

The funeral parlor in Worcester is familiar with Muslim services and said it will handle arrangements for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, whose body was released by the state medical examiner Thursday night.

The body was taken initially to a North Attleborough funeral home, where it was greeted by about 20 protesters. Stefan, owner of Graham Putnam and Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester, an hour's drive west of Boston, said everybody deserves a dignified burial service no matter the circumstances of his or her death and he is prepared for protests.

Tsarnaev died three days after the bombing in a furious getaway attempt in which authorities say he and his brother, ethnic Chechens from Russia who came to the United States about a decade ago, killed an MIT campus police officer and tossed homemade bombs and grenades at police. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, ran over his brother's body as he drove away from the scene to escape, authorities have said.

Meanwhile, two U.S. officials said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told interrogators that he and his brother initially considered setting off their bombs on July Fourth.

Boston police said they planned to review security procedures for the Independence Day Boston Pops concert and fireworks display, which draws a crowd of more than 500,000 annually and is broadcast to a national TV audience. Authorities plan to look at security procedures for large events held in other cities, notably the massive New Year's Eve celebration held each year in New York City's Times Square, Massachusetts state police spokesman David Procopio said.

Gov. Deval Patrick said everything possible will be done to assure a safe event.

"I think the most important thing is that we got them, and there's investigation continuing about where the other leads may lead," he said. "I can tell you, having been thoroughly briefed, that the law enforcement at every level is pursuing everything."

As part of the bombing investigation, federal, state and local authorities were searching the woods near the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a student. Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, could not say what investigators were looking for but said residents should know there is no threat to public safety.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was found hiding in a tarp-covered boat in a suburban Boston backyard, faces a charge of using a weapon of mass destruction to kill. Three of his college classmates were arrested Wednesday and accused of helping after the bombing to remove a laptop and backpack from his dormitory room before the FBI searched it.

The April 15 bombing, using pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails, ball bearings and metal shards, killed three people and injured more than 260 others near the marathon's finish line.

The brothers considered setting off their bombs on July Fourth but decided to carry out the attack sooner when they finished assembling the bombs, the surviving suspect told interrogators after he was arrested, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the investigation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Investigators believe some of the explosives used in the attack were assembled in Tamerlan Tsarnaev's home, though there may have been some assembly elsewhere, one of the officials said. It does not appear that the brothers ever had big, definitive plans, the official said.

The brothers' mother insists the allegations against them are lies.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security ordered border agents to immediately begin verifying that every international student who arrives in the U.S. has a valid student visa, according to an internal memorandum obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The new procedure is the government's first security change directly related to the Boston bombings.

The order from a senior official at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, David J. Murphy, was circulated Thursday and came one day after President Barack Obama's administration acknowledged that one of the students accused of hiding evidence, Azamat Tazhayakov, of Kazakhstan, was allowed to return to the U.S. in January without a valid student visa.

Tazhayakov's lawyer has said he had nothing to do with the bombing and was shocked by it.

A benefit concert featuring Aerosmith, James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett is scheduled for May 30 at the TD Garden in Boston. The proceeds will go to The One Fund, which has taken in more than $28 million for those injured and the families of those who were killed.

The fund's administrator, Kenneth Feinberg, said Friday he plans to hold meetings with victims next week and begin cutting checks by the end of June.

___

Associated Press writers Steve LeBlanc in Boston and Pete Yost, Eileen Sullivan and Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-bomb-suspect-died-gunshots-blunt-trauma-000018135.html

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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Fujifilm's Finepix JZ700 compact shoots for speed with 8 fps burst, 200 fps video

Fujifilm's JZ700 compact camera goes for performance with 8 fps shooting, 1080P video

Camera makers seem to be scrambling to equip their compact models with wireless options, all the better to work with the smartphones that are trying to replace them. Fujifilm's taking a different tack with the 14-megapixel FinePix JZ700 by going for raw performance instead, like 8 fps burst shooting and 1080/30p video, both quite rare in low-end compacts. You'll also get an 8x Fujinon lens equivalent to 24-192mm, optical image stabilization, a 2.7-inch, 230K-dot LCD, up to 3200 ISO sensitivity, numerous filters and, interestingly, 200 fps video capture -- though the resolution at that speed isn't specified and we can imagine it's pretty low. Still, the camera's already hit the streets for around £130 ($200) and we don't know of any other near time-stopping cameras you can grab for that sum.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/26/fujifilms-jz700-compact-camera/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Saturday, April 27, 2013

Japan's SMBC said in talks for TPG's Indonesia bank stake

By Denny Thomas and Taiga Uranaka

HONG KONG/TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp is in advanced talks to buy a $1.2 billion stake in BTPN, an Indonesian lender backed by TPG Capital, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

SMBC's pursuit of Indonesia's seventh-largest bank by market value is another example of a Japanese company seeking to grow in that country's fast growing financial services market. A sale by TPG would also provide another case of a U.S. private equity investor raking in a massive profit from an early investment in an Asian financial institution.

In 2008, TPG Capital Management LP acquired a 71.6 percent stake in the Indonesian pensioners' savings bank, named Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional Tbk PT (BTPN) , for $195 million. The private equity firm's stake dropped to 58.5 percent after a rights offering in 2010.

SMBC, a unit of Japan's third-largest lender by assets Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc , is currently negotiating to buy 40 percent of TPG's stake, allowing it to abide by Indonesia's new foreign ownership limits for banks, the people added. The stake is currently valued at $1.2 billion, based on Friday's stock price.

SMFG and TPG declined comment.

The sources declined to be identified as the discussions were confidential.

TPG executives were in Tokyo this week for another round of talks, one person with knowledge of the matter said. It was not immediately clear what TPG plans to do with its remaining 18.5 percent stake, although the buyout firm may sell the shares in the open market, people familiar with the matter said.

Established in 1958, BTPN now operates as a full-fledged commercial bank with a market value of $3 billion and has more than 19,000 employees and over 10,000 branches.

EXPENSIVE BANK

BTPN is the world's seventh-most expensive bank among lenders with a market value of $1 billion or above, according to Thomson Reuters data. It trades at a price-to-book (P/B) multiple of 3.81, up from 0.7 in December 2008, when TPG struck the deal.

TPG is expecting a 25 percent premium over the current market price for the stake, which would take the deal value to $1.5 billion, giving it a P/B multiple of around five, one person familiar with the talks said.

A successful deal would give SMBC a foothold in the rapidly growing Indonesian economy and an under-developed banking market, where just 20 percent of working age individuals have a bank account, compared with nearly 100 percent in Australia and New Zealand. Indonesia, which is Southeast Asia's biggest economy, is forecast to grow at 6.2 percent in 2013, fuelling demand for consumer and corporate loans.

NEW RULES

Last year, Indonesia issued new bank ownership rules that limit single ownership in local banks at 40 percent. The new rules have made it difficult for buyers such as SMBC to get control of a domestic bank.

The same rule has delayed the approval of Singapore's DBS Group Holdings Ltd $7.2 billion bid for PT Bank Danamon a year after it was launched. The Indonesian bank regulator is expected to make a final decision on the DBS-Danamon deal in May.

TPG and its Indonesian affiliate North Star agreed to a five year lock up when they acquired the stake in 2008. That lock up expired in March this year. Since then, several suitors have held informal talks to buy TPG's stake. SMBC's bigger rival, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc had also expressed interest buying the stake, but those talks have since discontinued, the people familiar with the matter said.

It was unclear whether TPG and SMBC would announce a deal before Indonesian bank regulator would make a final decision DBS-Danamon deal next month.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc , people familiar with the matter said.

Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

PROFITABLE EXITS

A successful sale to SMBC would be the latest lucrative exit from bank and insurance assets for private equity in Asia. Many of those investments were made around the mid-2000s as U.S. private equity firms in particular snapped up stakes in regional banks and insurers at low valuations following the Asian financial crisis that crippled many financial institutions across the region.

Earlier this year, private equity firm Carlyle Group LP sold its remaining stake in China's No.3 insurer China Pacific Insurance Co Ltd , raking in a total profit of more than $4 billion, its largest-ever dollar profit on an investment.

TPG's previous bank exits in Asia include the sale of an 18 percent stake in China's Shenzhen Development Bank, which the firm acquired in 2004. That generated a return of about 16 times the initial investment of $155 million, selling the stake in two blocks to Ping An Insurance for a total of around $2.4 billion in 2010.

(Reporting by Denny Thomas and Taiga Uranaka; Additional reporting by Stephen Aldred, Saeed Azhar and Janeman Latul; Editing by Michael Flaherty, Gary Hill and Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japans-smbc-said-talks-tpgs-1-2-billion-202802115.html

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