SANFORD, Fla. (AP) ? George Zimmerman's attorneys are finishing up their defense of the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing Trayvon Martin, though the judge first must rule on two requests by defense attorneys.
Zimmerman, so far, hasn't testified. But jurors saw repeated video recordings of Zimmerman telling his side of the story to police investigators. The defense started its case last Friday. If it keeps to the schedule anticipated by defense attorney Mark O'Mara, its presentation will take about half of the time of the prosecution and call on about half as many witnesses.
Judge Debra Nelson still has to decide on two requests by the defense. One is whether to allow jurors to view an animation that depicts Zimmerman's fight with Martin, the teenager killed in a gated community in Sanford, Fla., last year. The second issue is whether she will allow Martin's text messages that purportedly deal with fighting. The judge said she would rule on both matters Wednesday.
Martin was unarmed and returning from a store when he was fatally shot by Zimmerman on a dark, rainy night in February 2012. Martin was black and Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic. Some civil rights activists argued that the initial delay in charging Zimmerman was influenced by Martin's race.
Prosecutors opposed the introduction of the animation, which shows Zimmerman's version of the confrontation, saying it was inaccurate and would confuse jurors. Prosecutors also don't want jurors to learn about the texts, claiming they are misleading and prejudicial.
Defense attorney Don West argued late Tuesday that the texts were relevant because "it relates to his physical capabilities, his knowledge of fighting."
As an evidence hearing with jurors out of the courtroom dragged past 10 p.m. Tuesday, defense attorney Don West complained that the defense hadn't been given Martin's cellphone data by prosecutors in a timely manner, which would have allowed them to authenticate the messages.
"It's simply unfair for Mr. Zimmerman not to be able to put on his defense because of these tactics," West said.
When a frustrated Nelson abruptly told the attorneys that she would rule Wednesday, West continued to address her after she'd officially adjourned court for the evening. He complained about a schedule that had lawyers working weekends and taking multiple depositions during the trial, for which jurors have been sequestered.
Prosecutor John Guy said jurors shouldn't be presented with the text messages and photos of a gun found on Martin's phone, as well as a Facebook posting from a half-brother asking Martin when he was going to teach him how to fight.
Jurors spent a significant part of Tuesday listening to a defense expert on gunshot wounds testify that the trajectory of the bullet and gunpowder on Martin's body support Zimmerman's account that the teenager was on top of the defendant when he shot and killed Martin.
Dr. Vincent DiMaio, the forensic pathologist, also used photographs of Zimmerman to point out where he appeared to have been struck. Defense attorneys were hoping DiMaio's testimony would help convince jurors of Zimmerman's claims that he shot Martin in self-defense.
DiMaio said the muzzle of Zimmerman's gun was against Martin's clothing and it was anywhere from 2 to 4 inches from Martin's skin.
"This is consistent with Mr. Zimmerman's account that Mr. Martin was over him, leaning forward at the time he was shot," said DiMaio, the former chief medical examiner in San Antonio.
DiMaio testified that lacerations to the back of Zimmerman's head were consistent with it striking a concrete sidewalk, as the defendant has claimed. Later, when looking at photos of Zimmerman's injuries taken the night of the shooting, DiMaio identified six separate impacts to Zimmerman's face and head. He said he believed Zimmerman's nose had been broken.
"It's obvious he's been punched in the nose and hit in the head," he said.
Under cross-examination, DiMaio conceded that the gunshot could also be consistent with Martin pulling away from Zimmerman, and that he reached his conclusion without factoring in statements from some neighbors who say Zimmerman was on top of Martin. DiMaio, who has testified at high-profile trials including that of record producer Phil Spector, said witness accounts are often unreliable. The pathologist said he had been paid $2,400 by the defense.
DiMaio's testimony also addressed the difference between Zimmerman's account that he had placed Martin's arms out to his sides and a photo taken after the shooting that shows Martin's arms under his body. The pathologist said Martin would have been conscious for 10 to 15 seconds after the shooting as a reserve supply of oxygen ran out of his body, and during that time he could have moved his arms.
After DiMaio testified, the 911 calls that captured sounds of the fatal encounter were discussed again. Defense attorneys called Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte to the witness stand to describe the circumstances of how Martin's family came to hear the 911 tapes. Bonaparte said he played the 911 tapes while members of Martin's family sat together at City Hall. He played them as a courtesy before they were released publicly.
Defense attorneys are trying to show that Martin's family members may have influenced each other in concluding the screams are those of the Miami teen. Police officers testified for the defense that it's better for someone who is trying to identify a voice to listen to it alone.
Convincing the jury of who was screaming for help on the tape has become the primary goal of prosecutors and defense attorneys because it would help jurors evaluate Zimmerman's self-defense claim. Relatives of Martin's and Zimmerman's have offered conflicting opinions about who is heard screaming.
Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and says he shot Martin in self-defense during a scuffle in the townhome complex where he lived. Martin was there visiting his father and his father's fiancee.
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Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://twitter.com/khightower .
Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP .
The AFL players' union says it was aware of Collingwood defender Harry O'Brien's personal issues before he revealed them publicly.
And it has backed Collingwood's leaders to help O'Brien deal with his demons and return to the field at the right time.
O'Brien says he has been wading through serious issues related to depression, sexual abuse and suicide.
The revelations emerged several days after O'Brien did not play in the Pies' victory over Carlton.
He had been involved in a disagreement with coach Nathan Buckley, while the club said he also had an ankle injury.
AFL Players' Association (AFLPA) chief executive Matt Finnis said his organisation had been helping the 26-year-old before the events of recent days.
O'Brien's Magpies teammate Luke Ball is president of the AFLPA.
"They weren't a shock because I've been aware that Harry's had some personal issues he's been dealing with for some time now," Finnis said on Wednesday.
"Our association's been supporting him with that ... players are not immune from any of the vulnerabilities and fallibilities that you or I might suffer in society.
"What's best for Harry will be worked out between Harry and the experts around him and the footy club.
"One thing I am very confident of is that in a person like Nathan Buckley as coach, with peers like Luke Ball and (Magpies captain) Nick Maxwell, I'm sure Harry will get the support around him to make sure he's best placed to both deal with the issues off the field and get back to playing the great footy he has been."
Buckley and the Magpies have expressed their support for O'Brien and he has stepped down from the club's leadership group - with no firm date set for him to return to playing football.
O'Brien will not play in Collingwood's clash with Adelaide at the MCG on Friday night.
Magpies star Scott Pendlebury said all at the club were behind O'Brien as he battled his personal demons, and hinted a return in a fortnight for the backman was a possibility.
"He's got a week of training (next week) and hopefully, that Gold Coast game in two weeks, he can get back and be ready for," Pendlebury said.
"We know Harry is a person first and a footballer second.
"I think everyone now understands that you've got to respect him and give him his space. He's going through some pretty serious stuff."
Victoria's police chief says there have been no requests from Brazil to probe O'Brien over one of his revelations - that he witnessed a murder there.
However Chief Commissioner Ken Lay says police will probably have a talk with Collingwood about claims O'Brien watched a man die in Rio de Janeiro two years ago.
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 and MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.
The first member of the British royal family has joined Twitter, but it's not who you might think.
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, became the first of the royals to open a personal account, offering his official Tweets @TheDukeOfYork with the initials: AY, the BBC reports. Unsigned Tweets from his account will come from his staff.
So far, has amassed nearly 5,000 followers.
His first Tweet: "Welcome to my Twitter account ? AY." He also has added a couple of photos.
The Duke, 53, has a lot of catching up to do with his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, who also boasts her own Twitter account @SarahTheDuchess.
She has been actively Tweeting for some time and has more than 62,000 followers.
Andrew, who is the second son of Queen Elizabeth and father of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, is fourth in line to the throne.
Like his nephew Prince Harry, he served as a helicopter pilot, working for the British Navy for 22 years.
He left his most recent job as U.K. trade envoy in 2011.
We?re looking for an experienced web developer with an impeccable eye and a passion for front/backend coding. As a part of the team, you will participate in the entire website/software development life-cycle, working with latest technologies to deliver high performance, scalable applications and error free results.
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Be self-motivated, with a positive attitude and strong communication skills Possess strong conceptual and design skills and be able to work effectively with a designer and business manger in improving the conceptual, technical and creative performance of online presence. Able to juggle multiple projects, work efficiently, and meet deadlines. Assist in project planning, provide reports and updates on a regular basis.
We work in Fast paced IT environment and ensure extensive learning opportunities.You would be offered attractive salary package along with other benefits and flexible working environment.
Do not make any payment to any company, a genuine employer will never ask you to pay in any case. (read more)
German tabloid Bild has confirmed that Fiorentina have agreed to a fee to bring Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez to Florence.
After weeks of negotiations, the two clubs have reached an agreement whereby Gomez will head to Florence on a four year deal that for a?total fee of??20 million ($25.7m).
The first??16 million?($20.6m) of that fee will be?immediately paid to Munich while an additional ?4 million?($5.1m)?will follow in the coming years.
Gomez had been conspicuously absent?from Bayern?s most recent friendly matches, which the club had officially reported was due to a knock he received to his foot. Bild is now reporting that the decision to hold Gomez out was actually a security measure to preserve the player?s health before his transfer to the Serie A club.
The deal had been a long time in the making.?Following Bayern?s 3-2 victory over Stuttgart in the DFB-Pokal Final, where Gomez scored two goals, the 27 year old announced to his teammates: ?That was my last game for Bayern.?
Gomez joined the Bavarian giants from Stuttgart in 2009 for a then record fee of ?30 million ($38.5m). After a slow start saw him punch 10 goals in 29 league matches, Gomez exploded in his sophomore season at the Allianz Arena, scoring 28 goals in 32 Bundesliga appearances. He impressed again in 2012-13, grabbing 26 goals in 33 matches.
Problems arose when Bayern signed Mario?Mandzukic last summer and Gomez was forced to play second fiddle, appearing in only 21 league contests but managing to score 11 times during that span. With no sign of the situation changing under Pep Guardiola and Gomez eager to solidify his spot on the German National Team ahead of Brazil 2014, both Bayern and the striker were happy for a move to transpire.
Bayern?s major issue was ensuring they received fair value for a striker who many still consider to be one of the world?s best.?Fiorentina had been pushing hard to get the deal done for ?15 million but Bayern held firm in their resistance, unwilling to give up Gomez for under ?20 million.
It is a fee that many consider to be a bargain. How or why no Premier League club ? Chelsea or Manchester City, specifically ? came in with a firm offer for Gomez? services is quite surprising. Although not the most skillful striker in the world, he is physically gifted, remains a lethal finisher inside the box, and, at 27 years of age, still has good mileage left in the tank.
With Gomez? move to Fiorentina look to see whether?Viola now turn around and push for the sale of Montenegrin striker Stevan Jovetic, who has been on the radar of a number of clubs including Real Madrid, Arsenal and Chelsea.
The Center for Investigative Reporting has discovered that the California Department of Corrections wrongly sterilized almost 150 women between 2006 and 2010.
CIR reporter Corey G. Johnson obtained a database of contracted medical procedures that showed 148 women who were confirmed to have been given tubal ligations, but the report noted that there may be another 100 or more dating back to the 1990s.
Advocates for female prisoners in the state told Johnson that most of the sterilizations were coerced and inmates thought most likely to be jailed again were targeted?
Johnson also discovered that the procedures were carried with no official sanctions, in spite of a state law that requires individual approval by state medical officials.
The state formally banned the widespread practice of sterilizing repeat offenders and the mentally handicapped in 1979.
In an attempt to improve safety and reduce the number of accidents on the world's curviest roads, Ford has developed an experimental brake light that lets vehicles behind you know there's slow traffic ahead, even if they can't see your lights.
The enhanced brake lights include a wireless transmitter that sends a signal to following vehicles which activates a light on their dashboard indicating there's slow traffic ahead. It's less useful on straight stretches of road where you can see an upcoming traffic jam well before you have to slow down, but when visibility's limited due to bad weather, or on twisty roads where there could be stopped traffic just around the next bend, it gives drivers ample time to ease off the accelerator instead of having to suddenly slam on the brakes.
Ford hasn't said if or when it plans to implement the new technology in upcoming models, but it's a step towards vehicle-to-vehicle communications which will assist in everything from improved traffic and weather reports, to new forms of anonymous road rage. Exciting times. [Ford via PSFK]
Gay rights advocate Vin Testa waves a rainbow flag in front of the Supreme Court at sun up in Washington, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Justices are expected to hand down major rulings on two gay marriage cases that could impact same-sex couples across the country. One is a challenge to California's voter-enacted ban on same-sex marriage. The other is a challenge to a provision of federal law that prevents legally married gay couples from receiving a range of tax, health and pension benefits. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Gay rights advocate Vin Testa waves a rainbow flag in front of the Supreme Court at sun up in Washington, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Justices are expected to hand down major rulings on two gay marriage cases that could impact same-sex couples across the country. One is a challenge to California's voter-enacted ban on same-sex marriage. The other is a challenge to a provision of federal law that prevents legally married gay couples from receiving a range of tax, health and pension benefits. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - This Nov. 2, 2008 file photo shows supporters of Proposition 8, the state?s measure that banned same sex marriages, in front of city hall during a Yes on Prop. 8 rally in Los Angeles. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling that will determine the fate of California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages on Wednesday morning, June 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2008 file photo, Joni Boettcher, left, kisses her roommate Tika Shenghur during a protest march down Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood , Calif. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling that will determine the fate of California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages on Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court is meeting to deliver opinions in two cases that could dramatically alter the rights of gay people across the United States.
The justices are expected to decide their first-ever cases about gay marriage Wednesday in their last session before the court's summer break.
The issues before the court are California's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which denies legally married gay Americans a range of tax, health and pension benefits otherwise available to married couples.
The broadest possible ruling would give gay Americans the same constitutional right to marry as heterosexuals. But several narrower paths also are available, including technical legal outcomes in which the court could end up saying very little about same-sex marriage.
If the court overturns California's Proposition 8 or allows lower court rulings that struck down the ban to stand, it will take about a month for same-sex weddings to resume for the first time since 2008, San Francisco officials have said.
The high court rulings are arriving amid rapid change regarding gay marriage. The number of states permitting same-sex partners to wed has doubled from six to 12 in less than a year, with voter approval in three states in November, followed by legislative endorsement in three others in the spring.
At the same time, an effort to legalize gay marriage in Illinois stalled before the state's legislative session ended last month. And 30 states have same-sex marriage bans enshrined in their constitutions.
Massachusetts was the first state to allow same-sex couples to marry, in 2004. Same-sex marriage also is legal, or soon will be, in Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Roughly 18,000 same-sex couples got married in California in less than five months in 2008, after the California Supreme Court struck down a state code provision prohibiting gay unions.
California voters approved Proposition 8 in November of that year, writing the ban into the state's constitution.
Two same-sex couples challenged the provision as unconstitutional and federal courts in California agreed.
The federal marriage law, known by its acronym DOMA, defines marriage as between a man and a woman for the purpose of deciding who can receive a range of federal benefits. Another provision not being challenged for the time being allows states to withhold recognition of same-sex marriages from other states.
DOMA easily passed Congress and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, the year of his re-election.
Several federal district and appeals courts struck down the provision. In 2011, the Obama administration abandoned its defense of the law but continued to enforce it. House Republicans are now defending DOMA in the courts. President Barack Obama subsequently endorsed gay marriage in 2012.
The justices chose for their review the case of 83-year-old Edith Windsor of New York, who sued to challenge a $363,000 federal estate tax bill after her partner of 44 years died in 2009.
Windsor, who goes by Edie, married Thea Spyer in 2007 after doctors told them Spyer would not live much longer. She suffered from multiple sclerosis for many years. Spyer left everything she had to Windsor.
Windsor would have paid nothing in inheritance taxes if she had been married to a man.
Policy issues plague hydropower as wind power backupPublic release date: 25-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: A'ndrea Elyse Messer aem1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State
Theoretically, hydropower can step in when wind turbines go still, but barriers to this non-polluting resource serving as a backup are largely policy- and regulation-based, according to Penn State researchers.
"We have a very clear realization that we need to make energy systems more sustainable," said Seth A. Blumsack, assistant professor of energy policy. "We want to reduce the environmental footprint -- carbon dioxide and conventional pollutants."
Americans also expect to have the system continue to work exactly as it is without blackouts and with low cost electricity. While wind and solar power are emission-free once installed, they are also subject to the whims of nature. The wind can suddenly cease to blow and an area can have minimal sunlight for days.
"Wind is the fastest growing renewable energy source in the U.S.," said Alisha R. Fernandez, graduate student in energy and mineral engineering.
The U.S. Department of Energy recently examined the feasibility of producing 20 percent of U.S. electricity from wind by 2030.
"Texas is either there or close," said Blumsack. "During certain periods, as much as 30 percent of their energy is generated by wind."
Reliance on wind requires that there be some backup technology to fill in when the wind does not blow. The technology has to be capable of coming on line quickly. Two types of electrical generation that fit this bill are natural gas and hydropower, but natural gas is not carbon neutral.
The researchers looked at the Kerr Dam in North Carolina as a case study. They report their results in a recent issue of Environmental Research Letters. The power produced by the Kerr Dam goes into the PJM segment of the electric grid -- Pennsylvania through Virginia on the East Coast, west to Indiana and also includes the Chicago area -- but agreements made before establishment of the PJM market mean that the Kerr Dam also supplies other local outlets.
Hydroelectric dams cannot simply release water to meet some electricity demand or hold back water when electricity is in low demand. Plants operate using guide curves that consider not only electric production, but also drinking water needs, irrigation, fish and wildlife requirements, recreation and minimum levels for droughts. These guide curves are created by the government agencies regulating the particular dam -- in the case of Kerr, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- but in other places it could be the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Colorado River Authority or other entities. In practice, the guide curves are currently based on one-week weather forecasts and their parameters take into account the requirements of a large variety of interested parties.
The researchers determined that the Kerr Dam could accommodate the unexpected variations in wind energy, but only if those operating the dam were allowed to meet the guide curve requirements over a two-week rather than one-week period of time.
"Changing guide curves is complex, time-consuming and may even require an act of Congress," said Blumsack. "Another problem is that two weeks is at the outer margin of weather prediction."
If hydro plants do not pledge to sell their electricity to make up for the variability of wind energy, they sell their excess on the spot market. The researchers found that changing the pricing of electricity so that backing up wind is more lucrative than the spot market would not make these multipurpose hydro facilities more prone to supply backup to wind power.
"Operational conflicts may be significantly reduced if the time length of the guide curve schedule was altered, yet such regulatory changes prove quite challenging given the institutional barriers surrounding water rights in the U.S.," said the researchers, who also include Patrick M. Reed, professor of civil engineering, Cornell University.
###
The National Science Foundation supported this research.
[ | 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.
Policy issues plague hydropower as wind power backupPublic release date: 25-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: A'ndrea Elyse Messer aem1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State
Theoretically, hydropower can step in when wind turbines go still, but barriers to this non-polluting resource serving as a backup are largely policy- and regulation-based, according to Penn State researchers.
"We have a very clear realization that we need to make energy systems more sustainable," said Seth A. Blumsack, assistant professor of energy policy. "We want to reduce the environmental footprint -- carbon dioxide and conventional pollutants."
Americans also expect to have the system continue to work exactly as it is without blackouts and with low cost electricity. While wind and solar power are emission-free once installed, they are also subject to the whims of nature. The wind can suddenly cease to blow and an area can have minimal sunlight for days.
"Wind is the fastest growing renewable energy source in the U.S.," said Alisha R. Fernandez, graduate student in energy and mineral engineering.
The U.S. Department of Energy recently examined the feasibility of producing 20 percent of U.S. electricity from wind by 2030.
"Texas is either there or close," said Blumsack. "During certain periods, as much as 30 percent of their energy is generated by wind."
Reliance on wind requires that there be some backup technology to fill in when the wind does not blow. The technology has to be capable of coming on line quickly. Two types of electrical generation that fit this bill are natural gas and hydropower, but natural gas is not carbon neutral.
The researchers looked at the Kerr Dam in North Carolina as a case study. They report their results in a recent issue of Environmental Research Letters. The power produced by the Kerr Dam goes into the PJM segment of the electric grid -- Pennsylvania through Virginia on the East Coast, west to Indiana and also includes the Chicago area -- but agreements made before establishment of the PJM market mean that the Kerr Dam also supplies other local outlets.
Hydroelectric dams cannot simply release water to meet some electricity demand or hold back water when electricity is in low demand. Plants operate using guide curves that consider not only electric production, but also drinking water needs, irrigation, fish and wildlife requirements, recreation and minimum levels for droughts. These guide curves are created by the government agencies regulating the particular dam -- in the case of Kerr, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- but in other places it could be the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Colorado River Authority or other entities. In practice, the guide curves are currently based on one-week weather forecasts and their parameters take into account the requirements of a large variety of interested parties.
The researchers determined that the Kerr Dam could accommodate the unexpected variations in wind energy, but only if those operating the dam were allowed to meet the guide curve requirements over a two-week rather than one-week period of time.
"Changing guide curves is complex, time-consuming and may even require an act of Congress," said Blumsack. "Another problem is that two weeks is at the outer margin of weather prediction."
If hydro plants do not pledge to sell their electricity to make up for the variability of wind energy, they sell their excess on the spot market. The researchers found that changing the pricing of electricity so that backing up wind is more lucrative than the spot market would not make these multipurpose hydro facilities more prone to supply backup to wind power.
"Operational conflicts may be significantly reduced if the time length of the guide curve schedule was altered, yet such regulatory changes prove quite challenging given the institutional barriers surrounding water rights in the U.S.," said the researchers, who also include Patrick M. Reed, professor of civil engineering, Cornell University.
###
The National Science Foundation supported this research.
[ | 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.
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia regards the involvement of Iran and Hezbollah in Syria's civil war as dangerous and believes the rebels must be offered military aid to defend themselves, the kingdom's foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a news conference with U.S. Secretary John Kerry in Jeddah, Prince Saud al-Faisal added that Saudi Arabia "cannot be silent" about Iranian intervention and called for a resolution to ban arms flows to the Syrian government.
"The kingdom calls for issuing an unequivocal international resolution to halt the provision of arms to the Syrian regime and states the illegitimacy of the regime," Prince Saud said.
Kerry has returned to the Middle East after a two-day visit to India, and will continue efforts to strengthen the Syrian opposition and revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
In Jeddah, Kerry is holding discussions with Prince Saud and Saudi Arabian intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who coordinates the kingdom's efforts to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The discussions include Washington's plans for providing direct military support to General Salim Idriss of the Supreme Military Council, the military wing of Syria's main civilian opposition group.
Prince Saud said the world's top oil exporter "cannot be silent" at the intervention of Iran and Hezbollah in the Syrian conflict and renewed calls to arm the opposition and bar weapons sales to President Bashar al-Assad.
"The most dangerous development is the foreign participation, represented by Hezbollah and other militias supported by the forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard," said.
"There is no logic that allows Russia to publicly arm the Syrian regime and the foreign forces that support it," he added.
U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will arm the rebels but has not disclosed what type of assistance he will provide. Kerry is trying to ensure that the aid to the rebels is properly coordinated among the allies, in part out of concern that weapons could end up in the hands of extremist groups.
A meeting between Kerry and European and Arab counterparts in Doha last week agreed to increase support for Syria's rebels although there was no consensus among the foreign ministers over providing arms, with Germany and Italy strongly opposed to the move.
More than 93,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, which began as a popular protest movement against President Bashar al-Assad but has descended into a civil war with sectarian overtones.
Nearly 1.7 million refugees have fled into neighboring countries, including Lebanon, where clashes between armed groups supporting opposing sides in Syria have fuelled fears of a lapse back into sectarian civil war.
Saudi Arabia has become more actively involved in the Syrian crisis in recent months, expanding the flow of weapons to the rebels to include anti-aircraft missiles.
(Reporting By Mahmoud Habboush and Lesley Wroughton, Editing by Angus McDowall and William Maclean)
NEW YORK (AP) ? The funeral for James Gandolfini will be held Thursday at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City.
An HBO spokeswoman speaking on behalf of Gandolfini's family says the funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m.
The 51-year-old star of "The Sopranos" died Wednesday in Rome. Family spokesmanMichael Kobold says Gandolfini died of a heart attack.
Port Authority of New York & New Jersey spokesman Steve Coleman tells the Star-Ledger of Newark that a Signature Airlines flight carrying Gandolfini's body arrived Sunday night at Newark Liberty International Airport from Rome. The body was taken from the airport around 11:20 p.m. but Coleman did not say where it went.
The actor had been headed to Sicily to appear at the Taormina Film Festival, which paid tribute to him Saturday.
For the beginning (or even experienced) cyclist, making your own bike repairs can seem like a daunting task. Most bike repair guides you'll find around the ol' internet can be complicated labyrinths of instruction that end up doing more harm than good. But taking your wheels to a pro can come with a major price tag. Bike Doctor wants to give you the knowledge you need to save a trip to the shop?but in an easy, digestible form that's useful to all walks of the bicycle world.
What does it do?
Gives you 42 guides for 42 common problems avid bike riders will come across. Everything from wheel punctures and squealing breaks to more advanced stuff like bleeding disk brakes gets the step-by-step treatment. There's also a set of preventative guides to make sure that you're giving your bike the necessary checkups and keeping it in tip-top shape.
Why do we like it?
The actual app was created by Andreas Kambanis, the founder of London bicycle blog londoncyclist.co.uk?so he knows what he's talking about. Plus, every instruction set has been explicitly tested on beginners to make sure that these repairs are approachable enough for anyone to handle. If you ride your bike with any frequency, this app is invaluable in the money it could potentially save you in costly bike repairs that you could just as easily do yourself. Plus, the app's newest incarnation runs on iPad, giving you an even clearer view every step along the way.
Bike Doctor, Download this app for: iOS, Android $5
Lowering costs for higher-cost medicare patients through better outpatient care may be limitedPublic release date: 24-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Marge Dwyer mhdwyer@hsph.harvard.edu 617-432-8416 The JAMA Network Journals
In an analysis that included a sample of patients in the top portion of Medicare spending, only a small percentage of their costs appeared to be related to preventable emergency department visits and hospitalizations, limiting the ability to lower costs for these patients through better outpatient care, according to a study in the June 26 issue of JAMA. The study is being released early to coincide with its presentation at the AcademyHealth annual research meeting.
"High and increasing health care costs are arguably the single biggest threat to the long-term fiscal solvency of federal and state governments in the United States. One compelling strategy for cost containment is focusing on the small proportion of patients in the Medicare programs who account for the vast majority of health care spending. We know from prior work that Medicare spending is highly concentrated: 10 percent of the Medicare population accounts for more than half of the costs to the program," according to background information in the article.
The biggest sources of spending among high-cost beneficiaries are those related to acute care: emergency department (ED) visits and inpatient hospitalizations. "As a result, many interventions targeting high-cost patients have focused on case management and care coordination, aiming to prevent ED visits and hospitalizations for conditions thought amenable to improvement through high-quality outpatient management programs. The premise behind these and related interventions is that high-quality outpatient care should reduce unnecessary hospitalizations for high-cost patients. However, there are few data on the proportion of inpatient hospitalizations among high-cost patients that are potentially preventable," the authors write.
Karen E. Joynt, M.D., M.P.H., of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues conducted a study to quantify the preventability of high-cost Medicare patients' acute care spending. The researchers summed standardized costs for each inpatient and outpatient service contained in standard 5 percent Medicare files from 2009 and 2010 across the year for each patient in their sample, and defined those in the top decile (one of ten groups) of spending in 2010 as high-cost patients and those in the top decile in both 2009 and 2010 as persistently high-cost patients. Standard algorithms were used to identify potentially preventable emergency department visits and acute care inpatient hospitalizations. A total of 1,114,469 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries 65 years of age or older were included.
The high-cost patient group, which included 10 percent of the patients in this sample, were older, more often male and more often black. This group was responsible for 32.9 percent of ED costs and 79.0 percent of inpatient costs. Within the high-cost group, 42.6 percent of ED visits were deemed to be preventable. These visits were associated with 41 percent of the ED costs within this group. The most common reasons for preventable hospitalization in high-cost patients were congestive heart failure, bacterial pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Within the high-cost group, 9.6 percent of hospital costs were attributable to preventable hospitalization. Within the non-high-cost group, though overall spending was significantly lower, a higher proportion of inpatient costs were potentially preventable (16.8 percent).
"Comparable proportions of ED spending (43.3 percent) and inpatient spending (13.5 percent) were preventable among persistently high-cost patients. Regions with high primary care physician supply had higher preventable spending for high-cost patients," the authors write.
"The biggest drivers of inpatient spending for high-cost patients were catastrophic events such as sepsis, stroke, and myocardial infarction, as well as cancer and expensive orthopedic procedures such as spine surgery and hip replacement. These findings suggest that strategies focused on enhanced outpatient management of chronic disease, while critically important, may not be focused on the biggest and most expensive problems plaguing Medicare's high-cost patients."
The researchers add that their "findings suggest that a complementary approach to saving money on acute care services for high-cost patients may be to additionally focus on reducing per-episode costs for high-cost disease entities through clinical innovation and care delivery redesign."
(JAMA. 2013;309(24):2572-2578; Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)
Editor's Note: This study was funded by the Rx Foundation and the West Wireless Foundation. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, etc.
Editorial: New Evidence Supports, Challenges, and Informs the Ambitions of Health Reform
Aaron E. Carroll, M.D., M.S., of the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, and Austin B. Frakt, Ph.D., of the VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Boston, comment on the findings of this study in an accompanying editorial.
"These findings certainly do not suggest abandoning efforts to reduce preventable emergency department use and hospitalizations. Joynt et al do not consider the social cost of this utilization. Even though avoiding some emergency department use and hospital admissions might not save much moneyand certainly not enough to declare victory in controlling health spendingpreventing such use when possible would be of substantial benefit to patients, both those who would otherwise use these services and those who have their care delayed because of overburdened emergency department and hospital resources. Even with no cost savings, reducing preventable use of high-intensity and capacity-constrained care would enhance efficiency. Improvements to quality are not always substantial cost savers but still may be worthwhile."
(JAMA. 2013;309(24):2600-2601; Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)
Editor's Note: The authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.
###
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Lowering costs for higher-cost medicare patients through better outpatient care may be limitedPublic release date: 24-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Marge Dwyer mhdwyer@hsph.harvard.edu 617-432-8416 The JAMA Network Journals
In an analysis that included a sample of patients in the top portion of Medicare spending, only a small percentage of their costs appeared to be related to preventable emergency department visits and hospitalizations, limiting the ability to lower costs for these patients through better outpatient care, according to a study in the June 26 issue of JAMA. The study is being released early to coincide with its presentation at the AcademyHealth annual research meeting.
"High and increasing health care costs are arguably the single biggest threat to the long-term fiscal solvency of federal and state governments in the United States. One compelling strategy for cost containment is focusing on the small proportion of patients in the Medicare programs who account for the vast majority of health care spending. We know from prior work that Medicare spending is highly concentrated: 10 percent of the Medicare population accounts for more than half of the costs to the program," according to background information in the article.
The biggest sources of spending among high-cost beneficiaries are those related to acute care: emergency department (ED) visits and inpatient hospitalizations. "As a result, many interventions targeting high-cost patients have focused on case management and care coordination, aiming to prevent ED visits and hospitalizations for conditions thought amenable to improvement through high-quality outpatient management programs. The premise behind these and related interventions is that high-quality outpatient care should reduce unnecessary hospitalizations for high-cost patients. However, there are few data on the proportion of inpatient hospitalizations among high-cost patients that are potentially preventable," the authors write.
Karen E. Joynt, M.D., M.P.H., of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues conducted a study to quantify the preventability of high-cost Medicare patients' acute care spending. The researchers summed standardized costs for each inpatient and outpatient service contained in standard 5 percent Medicare files from 2009 and 2010 across the year for each patient in their sample, and defined those in the top decile (one of ten groups) of spending in 2010 as high-cost patients and those in the top decile in both 2009 and 2010 as persistently high-cost patients. Standard algorithms were used to identify potentially preventable emergency department visits and acute care inpatient hospitalizations. A total of 1,114,469 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries 65 years of age or older were included.
The high-cost patient group, which included 10 percent of the patients in this sample, were older, more often male and more often black. This group was responsible for 32.9 percent of ED costs and 79.0 percent of inpatient costs. Within the high-cost group, 42.6 percent of ED visits were deemed to be preventable. These visits were associated with 41 percent of the ED costs within this group. The most common reasons for preventable hospitalization in high-cost patients were congestive heart failure, bacterial pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Within the high-cost group, 9.6 percent of hospital costs were attributable to preventable hospitalization. Within the non-high-cost group, though overall spending was significantly lower, a higher proportion of inpatient costs were potentially preventable (16.8 percent).
"Comparable proportions of ED spending (43.3 percent) and inpatient spending (13.5 percent) were preventable among persistently high-cost patients. Regions with high primary care physician supply had higher preventable spending for high-cost patients," the authors write.
"The biggest drivers of inpatient spending for high-cost patients were catastrophic events such as sepsis, stroke, and myocardial infarction, as well as cancer and expensive orthopedic procedures such as spine surgery and hip replacement. These findings suggest that strategies focused on enhanced outpatient management of chronic disease, while critically important, may not be focused on the biggest and most expensive problems plaguing Medicare's high-cost patients."
The researchers add that their "findings suggest that a complementary approach to saving money on acute care services for high-cost patients may be to additionally focus on reducing per-episode costs for high-cost disease entities through clinical innovation and care delivery redesign."
(JAMA. 2013;309(24):2572-2578; Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)
Editor's Note: This study was funded by the Rx Foundation and the West Wireless Foundation. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, etc.
Editorial: New Evidence Supports, Challenges, and Informs the Ambitions of Health Reform
Aaron E. Carroll, M.D., M.S., of the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, and Austin B. Frakt, Ph.D., of the VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Boston, comment on the findings of this study in an accompanying editorial.
"These findings certainly do not suggest abandoning efforts to reduce preventable emergency department use and hospitalizations. Joynt et al do not consider the social cost of this utilization. Even though avoiding some emergency department use and hospital admissions might not save much moneyand certainly not enough to declare victory in controlling health spendingpreventing such use when possible would be of substantial benefit to patients, both those who would otherwise use these services and those who have their care delayed because of overburdened emergency department and hospital resources. Even with no cost savings, reducing preventable use of high-intensity and capacity-constrained care would enhance efficiency. Improvements to quality are not always substantial cost savers but still may be worthwhile."
(JAMA. 2013;309(24):2600-2601; Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)
Editor's Note: The authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.
###
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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.
Zhejiang Medicine Co. (SHA: 600216, ZHEXY.PK) formed a collaboration with Ambrx of San Diego to develop an Ambrx molecule that targets Her2-positive breast cancer (see story). Ambrx genetically engineers proteins that contain new amino acids with different properties than those of the 20 natural-occurring amino acids. In return for China rights, Zhejiang will underwrite the costs of development, which will be carried out by WuXi PharmaTech (NYSE: WX).
Suzhou Ribo Life Sciences and Life Technologies (LIFE) of California have stuck a deal giving Ribo exclusive China rights to develop and manufacture siRNA therapeutics using Life's Invivofectamine? Rx delivery technology (see story). Life Technologies will receive milestones and royalties for each drug that Ribo develops. Ribo's first product will be a treatment for hepatitis B.
Shanxi CY Pharmaceutical (SHE: 300254) will purchase a stake of at least 80% in Hangzhou Baoling Group Co., Ltd. (see story). Baoling Group's main asset is a 75% ownership of Zhejiang Baoling Pharmaceutical Co., which produces healthcare and drug products for pregnant women. The purchase price was not disclosed.
BioClinica?, a clinical trial services company headquartered in the US, has formed a strategic partnership with TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital (TICH) in Tianjin, China. The partnership will offer the company's cardiac safety monitoring services in Asia. BioClinica recently completed the first CFDA-requested Thorough QT (TQT) cardiac safety study in China for a domestic China company at the hospital.
Sichuan BoXin LaiTe Biotechnology and its major shareholder, Heracles International Investment Inc., have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a partnership with the Center for Blood Research (CBR) at the University of British Columbia. BoXin LaiTe and Heracles use their ability to validate the commercial and clinical of novel discoveries made at the CBR and accelerate their development for the China market.
Government and Regulatory
China's chief drug safety regulator, the CFDA, recently felt compelled to have a meeting with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) about product recalls. The problem was an article in a China newsletter alleging that J&J has recalled 51 products globally since 2005. But 48 of those products were not recalled in China, according to the publication. The apparent double standard required an explanation.
CINCINNATI (AP) ? A budget analyst with a daredevil streak, Jane Wicker knew she was taking a risk when she signed up to entertain thousands of spectators at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton.
She said in a TV interview she felt confident of her ability and said on her website that lots of practice makes her signature stunt a "managed risk." She planned to hang underneath the plane's wing by her feet and sit on the bottom of the airplane while it was upside-down.
It wasn't clear Saturday what went so wrong. The biplane glided through the sky, rolled over, then crashed and exploded into flames, killing the wing walker and the pilot, authorities said. No one else was hurt.
A video posted on WHIO-TV shows the small plane turn upside-down as the performer sits on top of the wing. The plane then tilts and crashes to the ground, erupting into flames as spectators screamed.
Ian Hoyt, an aviation photographer and licensed pilot from Findlay, was at the show with his girlfriend. He told The Associated Press he was taking photos as the plane passed by and had just raised his camera to take another shot.
"Then I realized they were too low and too slow. And before I knew it, they hit the ground," he said.
He couldn't tell exactly what happened, but it appeared that the plane stalled and didn't have enough air speed, he said. He credited the pilot for steering clear of spectators and potentially saving lives.
"Had he drifted more, I don't know what would have happened," Hoyt said. He said he had been excited to see the show because he'd never seen the scheduled performer ? wing walker Jane Wicker ? in action.
The show was canceled for the rest of the day, but organizers said events would resume Sunday and follow the previous schedule and normal operations. The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the crash.
On the video, the announcer narrates as the plane glides through the sky and rolls over while the stuntwoman perches on a wing.
"Now she's still on that far side. Keep an eye on Jane. Keep an eye on Charlie. Watch this! Jane Wicker, sitting on top of the world," the announcer said, right before the plane makes a quick turn and nosedive.
Federal records show the 450 HP Stearmans was registered to Wicker, who lived in Loudon, Va. A man who answered the phone at a number listed for Wicker on her website said he had no comment and hung up.
One of the pilots listed on Wicker's website was named Charlie Schwenker. A post on Jane Wicker Airshows' Facebook page announced the deaths of Wicker and Schwenker, and asked for prayers for their families.
A message left at a phone listing for Charles Schwenker in Oakton, Va., wasn't immediately returned.
Dayton International Airport spokeswoman Linda Hughes and Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Anne Ralston confirmed that a pilot and stunt walker had died but declined to give their names. The air show also declined to release their identities.
Another spectator, Shawn Warwick of New Knoxville, told the Dayton Daily News that he was watching the flight through binoculars.
"I noticed it was upside-down really close to the ground. She was sitting on the bottom of the plane," he said. "I saw it just go right into the ground and explode."
Thanh Tran of Fairfield said he could see a look of concern on the wing walker's face just before the plane went down.
"She looked very scared," he said. "Then the airplane crashed on the ground. After that, it was terrible, man ... very terrible."
Wicker's website says she responded to a classified ad from the Flying Circus Airshow in Bealeton, Va., in 1990, for a wing-walking position, thinking it would be fun. She was a contract employee who worked as a Federal Aviation Administration budget analyst, the FAA said.
She talked to WDTN-TV in an interview this week about her signature stunt.
"I'm never nervous or scared because I know if I do everything as I usually do, everything's going to be just fine," she told the station.
Wicker wrote on her website that she had never had any close calls.
"What you see us do out there is after an enormous amount of practice and fine tuning, not to mention the airplane goes through microscopic care. It is a managed risk and that is what keeps us alive," she wrote.
In 2011, wing walker Todd Green fell 200 feet to his death at an air show in Michigan while performing a stunt in which he grabbed the skid of a helicopter.
In 2007, veteran stunt pilot Jim LeRoy was killed at the Dayton show when his biplane slammed into the runway while performing loop-to-loops and caught fire.
Organizers were presenting a trimmed-down show and expected smaller crowds at Dayton after the Air Force Thunderbirds and other military participants pulled out this year because of federal budget cuts.
The air show, one of the country's oldest, usually draws around 70,000 people and has a $3.2 million impact on the local economy. Without military aircraft and support, the show expected attendance to be off 30 percent or more.
___
Thomas reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Kerry Lester in Chicago and Randy Pennell in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
HAILEY, Idaho (AP) ? The tearful mother of the only known U.S. prisoner of war said Saturday she's feeling "very optimistic" about his eventual release after his Taliban captors offered last week to exchange him for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's mother, Jani Bergdahl, spoke to about 2,000 people gathered in Hailey, his hometown, in a city park where he played as a toddler and little boy.
About 400 in the crowd arrived astride motorcycles, adorned in leather and patches commemorating America's military missing in action.
Bowe Bergdahl, 27, was taken prisoner in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009. First Jani Bergdahl, then his father, Bob Bergdahl, who accompanied the motorcycle procession on his son's 1978 dirt bike, spoke for a combined 15 minutes about rejuvenated hopes that their son's now-four-year ordeal will soon come to a joyful close.
"We are feeling very optimistic this week," his mother, before addressing her son directly. "Bowe, we love you, we support you, and are eagerly awaiting your return home. I love you my son, as I have, from the first moment I heard of you, the never-ending, unconditional love a mother has for her child."
Buses also brought POW-MIA activists to the event from as far as Elko, Nev., some 230 miles to the south.
Though yellow ribbons on Main Street trees and "Bring Bowe Home" placards in Hailey shop windows are a constant reminder of the 27-year-old Bergdahl's captivity, organizers of the event said the Taliban offer has lent an addition element of urgency ? and hope ? to Saturday's gathering.
Many in the crowd said they were Vietnam veterans; some of them supported the proposed prisoner exchange without reservation.
"Give them their guys and get our guy home," said David Blunt, of Elko, Nev., who said he served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam as a medic. "Bring our guy home. He's suffered enough."
Bergdahl is believed held somewhere in Pakistan, but the Taliban said they would free him in exchange for five of their most senior operatives at Guantanamo Bay, the American installation on the southeastern tip of Cuba that's housed suspected terrorists following the Sept. 11 attacks.
The militant group's exchange proposition came just days ahead of possible talks between a U.S. delegation and Taliban members.
Bergdahl's father, Bob Bergdahl, urged those gathered at Hailey's Hop Porter Park to remember everyone, regardless of nationality, who had suffered during the 12-year conflict in Afghanistan that began following the Sept. 11 attacks.
He described his son as "part of the peace process."
"I wish she was the only mother that was suffering in that way," Bob Bergdahl said of his wife. "Mothers all over the world are suffering because of this war, and I don't forget that for even one day."
He addressed his son's captors in Pashto, the Afghan language he's learned since Bowe Bergdahl went missing.
Bob Bergdahl, who has grown a beard and wore all black at Saturday's event, said that while he is physically in Idaho, he's living vicariously through his son, having set his cell phone to Afghan time, in a bid to share as much as he can his son's experience in exile.
Both mother and father talked of Bergdahl as an adventurer, a young man who once helped crew a sailboat through the Panama Canal, disembarked in San Francisco and then rode a bicycle south along the Pacific Ocean to meet family in Santa Barbara, Calif., 350 miles away.
He joined the military at 22 because "he honestly thought he could help the people of Afghanistan," Bob Bergdahl said.
On June 6, the family said it received its first letter from their son in his handwriting in four years, ferried through the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The circumstances of his capture aren't completely clear, though U.S. officials on July 2, 2009, told The Associated Press a soldier had been taken after walking off his base following his duty shift. For some of the motorcycle riders who participated Saturday, those details are something to be sifted through later, after Bergdahl is safely in the arms of his family.
"He didn't go over there on his own," said Randy Danner, a former U.S. Air Force member from Mountain Home, who rode his motorbike to Hailey with a group called the Green Knights. "No matter the circumstances, for our men and women over there who have put themselves in harm's way, we have a duty to support them in any way we can."
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Depositors and senior debt holders would be shielded from losses in any bank restructurings ordered by the European Commission, a senior Commission official said on Friday, the latest attempt to reassure savers that they would not be hit by bank problems.
Gert-Jan Koopman, deputy director-general for state aid at the EU executive body, said shareholders and junior debt holders would bear the burden under updated state aid rules that are set to come into force in August.
"If necessary, equity will be fully written down. The same goes for junior debt. But senior debt holders or depositors will not be required to be bailed in," Koopman told Reuters.
Concerns arose about whether depositors would be hit in bank rescues after Cyprus controversially forced savers to foot part of the bill for bailing out its banks.
Koopman said rescued banks, which need EU regulatory approval for their bailouts, would have to exploit their capital-raising ability to the maximum extent possible.
"Often banks have other means of contribution. One is to reduce their risk-weighted assets," Koopman said.
The European Commission is updating its rules governing when countries are allowed to assist banks in trouble. As regulator in such state-aid cases across the European Union, it has the power to set conditions, including the restructuring of a bank, or freezing dividend and coupon payments.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by John O'Donnell and Greg Mahlich)
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) ? Two young men received death sentences Friday over a fatal shooting that exposed class divisions in Pakistan and led to an unusual social media campaign demanding that the country's rich and powerful be held accountable.
The suspects, Shahrukh Jatoi and Nawab Siraj Talpur, come from two of the wealthiest families in Karachi, a violent metropolis of 18 million people on Pakistan's southern coast. They were convicted of killing 20-year-old Shahzeb Khan one late night in December after the university student had an argument with one of Talpur's servants.
Khan's family would likely have had little chance of getting justice in the past, though his father is a mid-ranking police officer. Pakistan's police and judges are notoriously corrupt and are often swayed by pressure from the country's elite.
After Khan's death, his father called his wife's brother-in-law, Nabeel Gabool, a member of the National Assembly, who said he had difficulty getting the police to register a case against the accused ? an allegation denied by the police.
But powerful Pakistanis and their offspring are now faced with a growing cadre of citizens ? often middle class or upper middle class ? who are increasingly fighting them with the help of the Internet, an activist Supreme Court and prominent political figures seeking to harness their anger.
Activists in Karachi sprang into action over Khan's death, holding protests, using Twitter and setting up a Facebook page, "In memory of Shahzeb Khan," to get word out about the case. Some of the protests were organized by the party of politician Imran Khan, a former cricket star.
Eventually, the Supreme Court demanded that police arrest the suspected killers in 24 hours, seize their property and freeze their bank accounts. Police detained Jatoi, Talpur, his brother Sajjad Talpur and his servant Mustafa Lashari. Jatoi was nabbed in Dubai, where he had tried to escape.
After the court announced its verdict and sentence Friday, Pakistani TV channels aired video showing Jatoi making a victory sign and smiling as police pushed him toward a prison van.
Defense lawyer Hummol Zubedi confirmed the court's decision but said that the defendants would appeal it. He added that the other two suspects were sentenced to life in prison.
Although Pakistan has many people on death row, the sentences are rarely carried out. Also, a life term usually translates to around 14 years in prison.
In a tearful interview broadcast on Pakistani TV channels, Khan's mother, Ambreen Aurangzeb, said she was satisfied with the court ruling, but added, "I miss my son day and night, and this court order cannot bring him back."
___
Associated Press Writer Munir Ahmed contributed to this report from Islamabad.
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