Friday 2 August 2013

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

US issues global travel alert, citing Al Qaeda threat

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States issued a global travel alert Friday, citing an al-Qaida threat that also caused the State Department to close its embassies Sunday around the Muslim world.The State Department warned American citizens of the potential for terrorism particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, with a possible attack occurring or coming from the Arabian Peninsula.Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August, the statement said.The alert asks American travelers to take extra precautions when traveling overseas and suggests they sign up for State Department alerts and register with consulates or embassies in the countries they are visiting.The alert was posted a day after the U.S. announced it would close diplomatic facilities on Sunday because of an unspecified threat. Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the department acted out of an abundance of caution and that some missions may stay closed for longer than a day. Sunday is a business day in Muslim countries.Rep. Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Friday the embassy threat was linked to al-Qaida and focused on the Middle East and Central Asia.Weve had a series of threats, Royce told reporters. In this instance, we can take a step to better protect our personnel and, out of an abundance of caution, we should.Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel, also supported the departments decision to go public with its concerns.The most important thing we have to do is protect American lives, he said, describing the threat as not the regular chit chat picked up from would-be militants on the Internet or elsewhere.The State Department issued a major warning last year informing American diplomatic facilities across the Muslim world about potential violence connected to the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.Dozens of American installations were besieged by protests over an anti-Islam video made by an American resident.In Benghazi, Libya, the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed when militants assaulted a diplomatic post, but the administration no longer says that attack was related to the demonstrations.Fridays alert warned that al-Qaida or its allies may target U.S. government or private American interests. It cited dangers involved with public transportation systems and other prime sites for tourists, noting that previous terrorist attacks have centered on subway and rail networks as well as airplanes and boats.U.S. citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling, the department said. It recommended that American traveling overseas register with consular authorities on a travel registration website.The alert expires on Aug. 31.Ruppersberger said the U.S. has invested greatly in research and protection system for U.S. embassies and citizens since the Benghazi attack.Intelligence is probably the best defense against terrorist attacks, he said. Intelligence isnt always an exact science, but you have to react and you have to prepare. So we put people on notice and we also put the other side on notice.

Kerry tries to clarify comment on Egypt

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LONDON (AP) - Secretary of State John Kerry sought Friday to clarify controversial remarks he made about the crisis in Egypt.Kerry said in a TV interview Thursday the Egyptian military did not take over when it ousted President Mohammed Morsi. Kerry told Geo TV in Pakistan the military was restoring democracy in Egypt.The Egyptian military threw out Morsi, the countrys first democratically elected president, in a coup on July 3. The military has established a civilian government and called elections for next year.Kerrys comment was seen by some as a signal the U.S. was siding with the military, even though the State Department has repeatedly said the U.S. is not taking sides.A spokesman of Egypts Muslim Brotherhood, Gehad el-Haddad, denounced Kerrys remarks.Does Secretary Kerry accept Defense Secretary (Chuck) Hagel to step in and remove (US President Barak) Obama if large protests take place in America? El-Haddad said.Kerry said Friday in London that all of the parties the military as well as pro-Morsi supporters should be inclusive and work toward a peaceful resolution of the crisis.The last thing that we want is more violence, he said. The temporary government has a responsibility with respect to demonstrators to give them the space to be able to demonstrate in peace. But at the same time, the demonstrators have a responsibility not to stop everything from proceeding in Egypt.Egypts state television says security authorities will impose a siege over the protest camps of deposed President Mohammed Morsis supporters, a step before clearing them.

Officials: Attacks kill 8 people in Iraq

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BAGHDAD (AP) - Authorities in Iraq say shootings and bombings targeting security forces have killed eight people in northern Iraq.Police officials say that the deadliest attack occurred Friday afternoon when gunmen opened fire on an army checkpoint near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, killing five soldiers. Officials say two police officers were killed when a roadside bomb exploded by their car on a road near the northern city of Mosul. In another attack in Mosul, authorities say gunmen killed an officer at a checkpoint.Medical officials confirmed the death toll for all attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media.Violence has been on the rise in Iraq during the past few months. Security forces are a favorite target for insurgents.

Syrian rebel infighting kills 12 Al Qaeda fighters

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BEIRUT (AP) - Activists say latest clashes in northern Syria between Kurdish opposition fighters and rebels linked to Al Qaeda have killed 12 Islamic fighters.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that the clashes took place overnight in the northeastern Hassakeh province.The dead were all members of two Al Qaeda linked groups, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the Jabhat al-Nusra.The rebel-on-rebel violence turned into a war within a war earlier this week after a powerful Kurdish militia called on its supporters to fight Al Qaeda-affiliated groups to avenge a recent killing of a prominent political leader.

Federer withdraws from Rogers Cup in Montreal

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MONTREAL (AP) - After three consecutive tournament exits against low-ranked opponents, Roger Federer pulled out of next week's Rogers Cup without giving a reason Friday.The owner of a record 17 Grand Slam titles did recently complain about a bad back, however.Federer, who turns 32 next Thursday, made the unusual move of participating in a pair of minor clay-court tournaments in the period between playing on Wimbledon's grass and shifting to the North American summer hard-court season.A loss to 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round at the All England Club ended Federer's streak of reaching the quarterfinals at 36 consecutive major tournaments. It also marked Federer's earliest Grand Slam exit since 2003.Next came a semifinal loss on clay at Hamburg to 114th-ranked qualifier Federico Delbonis, followed by a defeat against 55th-ranked Daniel Brands in Federer's opening match on clay at Gstaad, Switzerland. In addition to his bothersome back, a recurring issue, Federer was experimenting with a new, larger racket at those tournaments.Still, those results are not the sort Federer usually produces. This has been a tough season by his standards: He is 30-10 with one title in 2013. After Wimbledon, Federer tumbled to No. 5 in the ATP rankings, the first time in a decade he's been that low.Missing Montreal limits his hard-court preparation for the U.S. Open, the year's last Grand Slam tournament, which begins Aug. 26.I am disappointed not to be playing in Montreal next week, Federer said in a statement released by the tournament, which starts Monday. It is a great tournament with amazing fans. I look forward to competing there in the future.He won the Rogers Cup when it was played in Toronto in 2004 and 2006. Federer lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2007 final at Montreal.Federer's withdrawal diminishes a Montreal field that already was missing No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and former top-10 player Mardy Fish.In addition, the tournament announced Friday that Viktor Troicki and Marin Cilic won't compete. Troicki was recently suspended for 18 months by the International Tennis Federation for failing to provide blood for a drug test. He is appealing that ruling. Cilic pulled out of Wimbledon, citing an injury; he reportedly is facing a doping suspension, but the ITF has not confirmed or denied whether that is true.Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Pablo Andujar of Spain were added to the Montreal field.

Tursunov, Petkovic reach Washington semi-finals

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Dmitry Tursunov of Russia overcame 13 double-faults with the help of 15 aces and beat a cramping Marinko Matosevic of Australia 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4) Friday at the Citi Open to reach his second semifinal this season.The 61st-ranked Tursunov made it to the semifinals at Washington's hard-court tournament for the first time since 2006. He will face No. 8-seeded John Isner or No. 16-seeded Marcos Baghdatis.Andrea Petkovic of Germany got to the women's semifinals with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Paula Ormaechea of Argentina. Petkovic, a former top-10 player whose career was sidetracked by injuries, had lost three of her previous four matches before arriving in Washington.The 64th ranked Petkovic will play No. 4 Alize Cornet or No. 5 Sorana Cirstea for a berth in the final.

Woods surges seven strokes clear at Firestone

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AKRON (Reuters) - Tiger Woods came close to shooting only the sixth 59 on the PGA Tour with an electrifying display in Friday's second round at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational before he ran out of steam.Needing two more birdies for the magical number with five holes to play, Woods narrowly missed a nine-footer at the 15th and a six-footer at the 17th on the way to a nine-under-par 61 at Firestone Country Club.His sizzling score equalled the course record, which he had previously tied in the second round in 2000, and gave him a commanding seven-shot lead with a 13-under total of 127.Woods, who has triumphed a record seven times in the elite World Golf Championships (WGC) event at Firestone, is bidding to win his fifth title on the PGA Tour this year as he builds momentum for next week's PGA Championship.I had a lot of control today from tee to green and obviously the way I putted, the American world number one told reporters after totalling only 22 putts. I felt I was in total control of my game.Obviously things like that don't happen every day, and it's fun when it all comes together and I was able to take advantage of it, especially on a golf course like this.Asked whether he was at all disappointed to fall short in his bid to fire a 59, Woods replied: Absolutely not, nope. 61 is pretty good. I'm not bummed.Would it have been nice to shoot 59? Yeah, it would have been nice. I certainly had the opportunity. I just had (to get) two more (birdies) out of five holes. I had two good chances at 15 and 17 to do it.But the par putt at 18 was even bigger, Woods said, referring to the 26-footer he sank from the back fringe to keep his card bogey-free, prompting him to raise his right arm skyward with a pointing finger in celebration.Defending champion Keegan Bradley and Englishman Chris Wood carded matching 68s on the challenging South Course to end the day tied for second, with Swede Henrik Stenson (70) and American Bill Haas (68) a further stroke back at five under.However, the tournament would now appear to be in Woods' hands to win or lose as he heads into the weekend at one of his favourite venues with a seven-shot advantage.

Lochte claims 2 golds on epic night of swimming

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BARCELONA (AP) - On a night when Missy Franklin finally lost, Ryan Lochte turned in an epic performance.Lochte swam three races in less than two hours at the world championships, coming away with two gold medals and the top time in an event hes competing in for the first time at a major international meet.Lochte won the 200-meter backstroke, posted the fastest time in the semifinals of the 100 butterfly, and put the Americans ahead to stay in the 4x200 freestyle relay. Not bad for a guy who says he didnt train as much as usual while filming a reality television show.Franklins winning streak ended after four straight golds. She finished fourth in the 100 freestyle behind gold medalist Cate Campbell of Australia.

Oil falls after data show tepid US jobs growth

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NEW YORK (AP) - The price of oil fell Friday after two days of big gains, as investors took profits following a report that showed job growth slowed in the U.S. last month.Benchmark crude for September delivery fell 95 cents to close at $106.94 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil still finished the week up $2.24 a barrel, or 2 percent, due to a gain of $4.81 over Wednesday and Thursday.U.S. employers added 162,000 jobs in July, the government said, a modest increase and the fewest since March. Although the unemployment rate dropped to a 4 1/2-year low of 7.4 percent, that was one of few hopeful signs in an otherwise lackluster report.Brent crude, traded on the ICE Futures exchange in London, fell 59 cents to finish at $108.95 per barrel. Brent gained $1.78 a barrel for the week.

WTO backs US in chicken trade dispute with China

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The World Trade Organization ruled in favor of the U.S. on Friday in a long-standing trade dispute over allegations China unfairly imposed anti-dumping tariffs that restricted American poultry exports.The U.S. appeal to the WTO dates back to 2011 after China said that America had engaged in dumping and had imposed tariffs on imports of so-called broiler products, which include most chicken products with the exception of live chickens. China said U.S. chicken producers benefited from subsidies and were exporting their goods to China at unfairly low prices.Countries are allowed to impose punitive tariffs to offset both practices, but U.S. officials said China did not follow proper procedures when it imposed them in September 2010. The U.S. also said tens of thousands of jobs were affected China was one of the two top markets for U.S. chicken exports before the tariffs.The ruling found that China breached its WTO obligations and recommended it comply with WTO rules. However it did not specify the actions China must take. China is entitled to a period of time to comply with the rules and can also appeal the rulingU.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the WTO ruling was a victory for the U.S. that he hopes will discourage further violations that hurt American exporters.WTO members must use trade remedies strictly in accordance with their commitments, he said.Officials at the Chinese Embassy in Washington could not immediately be reached for comment.The chicken dispute is part of a larger set of strains in the U.S.-China trade relationship.The U.S. and China are the worlds largest economies and the U.S. runs a larger trade deficit with China than with any other country in the world. The gap widened by 15.6 percent to $27.9 billion for the month of May alone the most recent figures available. That was more than half of the total U.S. trade deficit of $45 billion with the whole world for that month and close to an all-time monthly high set in November. So far this year, the U.S. deficit with China is running 3 percent higher than last year.One of the biggest disputes with China is over its currency. The U.S. accuses Beijing of under-valuing the yuan to gain a trade advantage by making its exports cheaper to drive up domestic growth rates.U.S. officials are pressing China to let the yuan exchange rate float freely against the dollar and shift more to an economy based on domestic consumption instead of relying on exports. They are also urging China to enforce intellectual property rights and roll back subsidies for Chinese state-owned enterprises.Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said agricultural exports are a strong and growing component of U.S. exports. Farm exports in fiscal year 2012 reached $135.8 billion and supported 1 million American jobs, he said, adding that more than $23 billion worth of those agricultural products went to China alone.But Chinas prohibitive duties on broiler products were followed by a steep decline in exports to China - and now we look forward to seeing Chinas market for broiler products restored, Vilsack said in a statement. This is an important victory today for the U.S. poultry industry, and for American farmers and ranchers.

Clarke, Siddle put Aussies in charge of 3rd test

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MANCHESTER (AP) - Australia assumed total command of the third Ashes test on Friday, reducing England to 52-2 after compiling a formidable 527-7 declared on the back of Michael Clarke's brilliant 187 on the day two.Peter Siddle removed Joe Root (8) and nightwatchman Tim Bresnan (1) in the space of 12 balls as England, needing a draw to win a third straight series against its old rival, struggled during a testing two-hour spell after tea and still requires 276 runs to avoid the follow-on.Clarke played with a swagger to post his highest score outside Australia, adding 62 runs to his overnight score before becoming Stuart Broad's 200th test victim by chopping a rising ball onto his stumps with a fifth double hundred in sight.Steve Smith missed a golden opportunity to reach his first test century by throwing his wicket away but a late bombardment by Brad Haddin (65 not out) and Mitchell Starc (66 not out) tormented England's tired attack on another draining day in the Manchester sun.With Alastair Cook (36) and Jonathan Trott (2) the not-out batsmen, the hosts have their two most obdurate players out in the middle. Cook, though, had issues with his back and received pills from England's medical team.It has taken one sublime knock from Clarke his highest against England to swing the momentum Australia's way and restore some belief within the embattled tourists after demoralizing losses at Trent Bridge and Lord's left them 2-0 behind in the five-match series.As their one standout superstar batsman, he was probably due a score, said England spinner Graeme Swann, who claimed 5-159 but not the prized wicket of Clarke.Clarke cut loose Friday in a manner that suggests he is back to his aggressive best after a below-par start to the series, displaying his full repertoire of strokes that included a measured slog through mid-on and a back-foot drive through point in successive shots off Tim Bresnan, pushing him past his best previous score against England (136, at Lord's in 2009).Clarke was given a standing ovation by spectators, with his 314-ball knock containing 23 fours surely one of the most important of his nine-year test career.How good was my innings? Ask me in three more days, Clarke said. If we win, then it's a good innings. If not it's a waste of time.Steve Smith recklessly gave his wicket away by top-edging a slog-sweep off Swann to Jonny Bairstow, ending an Old Trafford-best 214-run stand for a fourth wicket with Clarke. It was a gift for England and Smith whacked his pads with his bat in annoyance as he walked off.In came David Warner, who received a hostile welcome by heckling England fans in his first match for Australia since returning from a suspension for punching England's Joe Root in a late-night bar incident during the Champions Trophy in June.Warner only lasted 10 balls, though, before edging Swann onto the left thigh of wicketkeeper Matt Prior and up to Jonathan Trott at first slip. Warner inexplicably asked for the DRS, perhaps mindful of the spate of baffling DRS judgments this series, but he was sent on his way and received more barracking.David has stepped into that pantomime villain role that Ricky Ponting has left behind, Swann said. The English crowd are always going to look for someone to boo and take out all their Antipodean antipathy, and David is obviously the man after his earlier antics on tour.The entertaining Haddin-Starc combination removed any faint hope England had of winning this test, with pace bowler Starc in particular producing a string of graceful shots worthy of his side's specialist batsmen to reach his half-century off 53 balls.England's batsmen were under real pressure for the first time this series and the openers made painstaking progress in the reply, with Root taking just a single in his first 40 balls and Cook tying himself in knots up against Nathan Lyon's nagging accuracy and turn.Root was looking secure until he rocked back and edged Siddle behind to Haddin, with the Australian team erupting with joy at removing England's in-form batsman.Bresnan went the same way, although replays showed the ball clipped the top of his trousers rather than the edge of his bat. He will regret declining a review.We will bat all day tomorrow into day four, get a lead then bowl them out, Swann said. I see you laughing but I don't see why we should approach this with any fear.

South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 12 runs in 1st T20

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COLOMBO (AP) - Jean-Paul Duminys allround performance with 51 runs and three wickets steered South Africa to a 12-run win over Sri Lanka in the first of the three-match Twenty20 series on Friday.Batting first after winning the toss, South Africa made 115 for six in 20 overs with Duminy top scoring. He hit a six and three boundaries during his 52-ball innings and added a crucial 56-run partnership with David Miller (25) for the fifth wicket.Duminy stood out with the ball too, taking 3-18 including two wickets in successive balls to help his team defend a modest score limiting Sri Lanka to 103 for nine in 20 overs.He was named player of the match.South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said he was proud of his team that played under pressure after losing the five-match one-day international series 4-1.I thought it was a good score on this wicket, I told them if we keep fighting, we will pull it through, he said.Duminy had Angelo Mathews (4) caught and bowled and Jeevan Mendis (0) caught in the deep with successive deliveries to reduce the Proteas to 62 for five.Kumar Sangakkara had two reprieves for his 59 not out and except for opener Kusal Perera (11), the other batsmen failed to reach double figures.Four batsmen Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake and tailender Lasith Malinga were dismissed without scoring.Sangakkara was dropped by Duminy on 12 off leg spinner Imran Tahir and on 24, Sri Lankan umpire Ranmore Martinesz turned down an appeal for caught behind off David Wiese. Television replays showed the ball brushing Sangakkaras bat before being caught by Quinton de Kock close to the stumps.Seamers Wayne Parnell and Morne Morkel took two wickets each.Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal said his players played too many rash shots.We have two more games and are looking forward to them, he said.Earlier, off-spin bowler Sachithra Senanayake returned 3-14 for Sri Lanka to help restrict South Africa after their captain du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat first.Senanayake trapped openers de Kock (5) and Henry Davids (1) lbw and then bowled du Plessis (8).Angelo Mathews accounted for AB de Villiers (15), who was caught by a diving Perera to leave South Africa struggling on 50-4 after which Duminy and Miller rebuilt the innings.Sri Lanka rested batsman Mahela Jayawardene, who also sat out the fifth and final one-day international against South Africa. Malinga was recalled to the Twenty20 side after the missing the fifth ODI.The second match will be played in Hambantota on Sunday.

BCCI to contest court order against probe panel

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NEW DELHI (AP) - The Board of Control for Cricket in India plans to appeal against a court order that declared its panel which is probing spot-fixing allegations in the Indian Premier League was illegally formed.The governing council (of the IPL) believes that the probe commission was properly constituted in accordance with the IPL operational rules, and has consequently decided that an appeal should be filed in the honorable Supreme Court, the BCCI said in a statement.The Bombay High Court declared the panel illegal and unconstitutional on Tuesday, saying it was not formed in line with the BCCI's own rules.The BCCI's two-member panel, comprising former judges Jayaram Chouta and R. Balasubramanian, cleared Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra of betting and keeping in touch with illegal bookmakers.The BCCI also said acting president Jagmohan Dalmiya would continue in the role since president Narainswamy Srinivasan stepped aside pending the probe due to a conflict of interest. Meiyappan is Srinivasan's son-in-law and the Chennai franchise is owned by India Cements company, of which Srinivasan is the managing director.Meiyappan spent nearly two weeks in jail while Kundra admitted only to betting and was never arrested.The spot-fixing controversy arose after the arrest of Rajasthan Royals players Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan by Delhi Police, who said they have proof the players conceded more than a specified number of runs per over in return for money from illegal bookmakers.Sreesanth and Chavan are out on bail but Chandila is in jail awaiting trial.The BCCI is investigating the allegations against the players separately.

Apple e-book price-fixing: US states propose remedy

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc deserves a five-year ban from entering anti-competitive e-book distribution contracts and should end its business arrangements with five major publishers with which it conspired to raise e-book prices, federal and state regulators said on Friday.The U.S. Department of Justice and 33 U.S. states and territories proposed those changes after U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan last month found in a civil antitrust case that Apple played a central role in a conspiracy with the publishers to raise e-book prices.Regulators also want Apple for two years to let retailers such as Amazon.com Inc and Barnes & Noble Inc provide links to make it easier for consumers to compare prices.They also want Apple to use an outside monitor to ensure that its internal antitrust compliance policies are strong enough to catch illegal conduct before consumers are harmed. The proposed changes require Cotes approval.Under the departments proposed order, Apples illegal conduct will cease, and Apple and its senior executives will be prevented from conspiring to thwart competition, said Bill Baer, head of the Justice Departments antitrust division.Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It has said it did not conspire to fix e-book prices and that it planned to appeal Cotes decision.Regulators accused Apple of conspiring to undercut Amazon.coms e-book dominance, causing some prices to rise to $12.99 or $14.99 from the $9.99 that Amazon.com was charging.They said the alleged collusion had begun in late 2009 and continued into early 2010, as Cupertino, California-based Apple was launching its popular iPad tablet.The publishers included Lagardere SCAs Hachette Book Group Inc, News Corps HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Pearson Plcs Penguin Group (USA) Inc, CBS Corps Simon & Schuster Inc and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbHs Macmillan.Only Apple went to trial, while the publishers agreed to pay more than $166 million for the benefit of consumers.A hearing to discuss remedies is scheduled for August 9. Cote has said she also plans to hold a trial on damages.The case is U.S. v. Apple Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-02826.

Healthy newborn size varies with ethnicity: study

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - For newborn babies, taking ethnicity into consideration may help determine how small is too small, according to Canadian researchers.They found that birth-weight standards based on population averages did not predict which babies born at or near full term were likely to suffer problems associated with being small for their gestational ages.The results are not necessarily surprising, but there has been controversy regarding whether customizing growth distributions is necessary, said lead author Gillian Hanley of the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.Based on these results, adjusting the standards may be necessary, she told Reuters. Many factors influence birth weight, including a mothers weight and height, whether she has given birth before and her ethnicity. Conditions that restrict a babys growth during pregnancy can also cause a newborn to be smaller than usual.Babies who are not premature, but still small compared to other full-term infants are at higher risk for longer hospital stays, infections and other problems.Hanley and her coauthor Patricia Janssen looked at data on more than 100,000 singleton babies born in Washington state between 2006 and 2008, 93,000 of whom were born at a healthy weight based on general population averages and ethnicity-specific standards. The infants belonged to white, Chinese or South Asian ethnic groups.The researchers used the babies weights to try to predict complications after birth, including an Apgar score - which measures heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflexes and color - of less than 7 out of 10 at five minutes after birth.They also examined admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit, the need for ventilation, extra long hospital stays, hypothermia, low blood sugar and infection, all of which indicate newborn distress.Newborns considered small at birth, meaning they were in the lowest 10 percent of birth weights for the whole group, tended to have the most problems in their first days, the team reports in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.But based on size alone, the researchers were only able to predict a babys risk of hypothermia and needing to stay in the intensive care unit after birth, whereas considering size in combination with ethnicity predicted all of the potential problems.Its now well known that ethnicity plays an important role in fetal growth and that weight references must be developed and adapted to local populations, said Cyril Ferdynus, a biostatistician in Reunion, France, who was not involved with the study but has researched this question.Special ethnicity-specific birth weight charts are already common in hospitals in some countries.In UK, over half of hospitals have already introduced customized charts, and more and more are coming on board, said Jason Gardosi, director of the Perinatal Institute in Birmingham, United Kingdom.But in the U.S., the specialized charts are only used in research and not yet in clinical care, which is largely because clinicians are slow to make changes to practice, Gardosi told Reuters Health by email.Other variables should be combined with ethnicity, he said, since mothers within specific ethnic groups also come in different shapes and sizes.Based on these results, if more U.S. hospitals incorporated ethnicity-specific ranges into charts, they could more accurately identify the infants that need to be watched more closely for complications, Hanley said.By more accurately identifying the babies at risk of these complications, hospitals could save resources (by not investigating small but healthy infants) and save a lot of parents the anxiety of being told that their small but healthy baby is small for gestational age, she said.
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