Anderson Cooper Is Temporarily Blinded
Label: Lifestyle
TV Watch
Anderson Cooper can see once again after a temporary – and painful – bout of blindness.
Cooper posted a picture of himself on Instagram Tuesday sporting a white gauze patch over his right eye. "Temporarily blinded last week while on assignment," he said. "UV light bouncing off water. Much better now. Details today on #andersonlive."
On Anderson Cooper Live, he explained how he went blind over the weekend while filming a story for 60 Minutes on the coast of Portugal.
"I wake up in the middle of the night and it feels like my eyes are on fire," he said. "It turns out I have sunburned my eyeballs and I go blind. I went blind for 36 hours. I took this picture of me after I went to the hospital."
He then showed his audience his photo and joked, "That's my new Match.com profile picture, by the way."
But the potential damage he faced is no laughing matter, and Cooper had NBC's chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, on to warn viewers about eye protection.
Snyderman said that the light reflected off the water burned his retinas, but that the hospital visit could have easily been avoided.
"It's a reminder that frankly everyone needs sunglasses," she advised. And to Cooper, she added, "Fortunately for you you're going to be fine, but it's a real reminder."
CDC says US flu season starts early, could be bad
Label: HealthNEW YORK (AP) — Flu season in the U.S. is off to its earliest start in nearly a decade — and it could be a bad one.
Health officials on Monday said suspected flu cases have jumped in five Southern states, and the primary strain circulating tends to make people sicker than other types. It is particularly hard on the elderly.
"It looks like it's shaping up to be a bad flu season, but only time will tell," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The good news is that the nation seems fairly well prepared, Frieden said. More than a third of Americans have been vaccinated, and the vaccine formulated for this year is well-matched to the strains of the virus seen so far, CDC officials said.
Higher-than-normal reports of flu have come in from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. An uptick like this usually doesn't happen until after Christmas. Flu-related hospitalizations are also rising earlier than usual, and there have already been two deaths in children.
Hospitals and urgent care centers in northern Alabama have been bustling. "Fortunately, the cases have been relatively mild," said Dr. Henry Wang, an emergency medicine physician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Parts of Georgia have seen a boom in traffic, too. It's not clear why the flu is showing up so early, or how long it will stay.
"My advice is: Get the vaccine now," said Dr. James Steinberg, an Emory University infectious diseases specialist in Atlanta.
The last time a conventional flu season started this early was the winter of 2003-04, which proved to be one of the most lethal seasons in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths. The dominant type of flu back then was the same one seen this year.
One key difference between then and now: In 2003-04, the vaccine was poorly matched to the predominant flu strain. Also, there's more vaccine now, and vaccination rates have risen for the general public and for key groups such as pregnant women and health care workers.
An estimated 112 million Americans have been vaccinated so far, the CDC said. Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone 6 months or older.
On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.
Flu usually peaks in midwinter. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people also suffer vomiting and diarrhea, and some develop pneumonia or other severe complications.
A strain of swine flu that hit in 2009 caused a wave of cases in the spring and then again in the early fall. But that was considered a unique type of flu, distinct from the conventional strains that circulate every year.
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Online:
CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly
Decapitated body of man found at hospital
Label: BusinessAbout L.A. Now
L.A. Now is the Los Angeles Times’ breaking news section for Southern California. It is produced by more than 80 reporters and editors in The Times’ Metro section, reporting from the paper’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters as well as bureaus in Costa Mesa, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Riverside, Ventura and West Los Angeles.
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Yes. The city desk number is (213) 237-7847.
Royal Baby a ‘Delight,’ Especially to Britain’s Tabloids
Label: World
LONDON — The speculation began virtually the moment Kate Middleton said “I will” to Prince William in April 2011, saddling an industry full of tabloid newspapers and gossip magazines with a big black hole where the wedding coverage used to be.
Why, they asked, was the former Ms. Middleton, now the duchess of Cambridge, drinking water instead of wine at an official dinner, in what appeared to be a deliberate manner? And those photographs in which her stomach seemed microscopically less flat than normal, what was that all about?
On Monday, everyone who had incorrectly guessed what was going on before could now finally claim to be right. Yes, St. James’s Palace announced, the duchess had become pregnant.
The royal family is not known for its effusions of public emotion, but in statements posted on the royal Web site, the duke and duchess of Cambridge said they were “very pleased,” while the queen and other family members went with “delighted.”
On Twitter, Prime Minister David Cameron declared that he, too, was delighted.
The pregnancy is in its very early stages and has not yet reached the three-month threshold that would normally have prompted the announcement. But the duchess is in the hospital suffering from “acute morning sickness,” the palace said, and hospitalizations are hard to keep secret.
“Her royal highness is expected to stay in hospital for several days and will require a period of rest thereafter,” the palace said.
There are many interesting things about this possible future royal baby. First, it will be third in line to the throne, even if it is a girl; the laws of succession were recently changed for this very reason. Second, its presence would make the chances of the current No. 3, Prince Harry, becoming king ever more remote, barring some bizarre development in which four generations of his family — his grandmother, his father, his brother and his future niece or nephew — all stepped aside.
Also, it gives Britain something to be excited about at a time when life here has not been so exciting, what with austerity and widespread flooding across huge parts of England after a period of nearly biblical rainfall.
“A royal baby is something the whole nation will celebrate,” the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, observed on Twitter. “Fantastic news for Kate, William and the country.”
In addition to being delighted, the prime minister revealed that in his opinion, the duke and duchess of Cambridge would be “wonderful parents.”
But few people could be more excited than the editors of the newspapers and magazines that cover the royal family, who with any luck will have months of things to write about: What will it be, boy or girl? How fat will the duchess look in her pregnancy clothes? What is happening behind closed doors?
Already, The Daily Mail has revealed a gaggle of purportedly insider-ish details about what is really going on, including the news that the duchess began feeling sick over the weekend and was “unable to keep any food or water down.”
It continued, “Sources suggested that the duchess was hooked up to an intravenous drip to increase her fluid and nutrient levels.”
The papers have also made much of a retrospectively significant incident from last Wednesday, when a member of the public handed Prince William a baby outfit decorated with a helicopter and the words “Daddy’s little co-pilot” — and William smiled as he accepted it.
Obama Is Taking Himself and #My2K to Twitter This Afternoon
Label: TechnologyWhat a day for Twitter! First the Pope, then the Royal Baby, and now President Obama will come online to answer questions about the fiscal cliff. A @WhiteHouse tweet with the distincitive “-bo” signature, announced not long ago that the big guy himself will be taking questions online, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Good to see lots of folks on twitter speaking out on extending middle class tax cuts. I’ll answer some Qs on that at 2ET. Ask w/ #My2k –bo
— The White House (@whitehouse) December 3, 2012
Unfortunately, he’s sticking with the troublesome #My2K hashtag that conservatives have already seized upon in a back-and-forth battle for messaging. Trying to mobilize your supporters through social media is all well and good, but the problem with any genuinely open town hall, is that anyone can invite themselves—even those who disagree with you and might be louder than your friends. (Plus, any reasonably popular hashtag moves much to fast for anyone to follow it or have an actual conversation on Twitter anyway.)
RELATED: Don’t Expect Too Much From Social Media Town Halls
But ask away! Maybe you’ll get luck and get RT’d by the President himself. And then find yourself becoming the next conservative meme as soon as the hashtag-averse pundits start making fun of your question. Should be a fun afternoon.
Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Congressman Joseph Kennedy III Marries Lauren Birchfield
Label: LifestyleJoseph Kennedy III and Lauren Anne Birchfield
Victor Sizemore Photography
Happy news for the Kennedy family: Congressman-elect Joe Kennedy III is a married man.
The newly-elected politician wed fiancée Lauren Birchfield on Saturday at the Community Church in Corona del Mar, Calif., his office tells NBC News. The ceremony was officiated by her father, the Rev. Jim Birchfield.
Kennedy, 32, and Birchfield, 28, met at Harvard Law School, and they were married in front of family and friends.
"The bride and groom are extremely grateful for all the well wishes and for the outpouring of support and friendship they have received this year," the newlyweds say in a statement to NBC News.
Kennedy III, the son of former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, and Robert F. Kennedy's grandson, represents Massachusetts's 4th Congressional District.
Fossil fuel subsidies in focus at climate talks
Label: HealthDOHA, Qatar (AP) — Hassan al-Kubaisi considers it a gift from above that drivers in oil- and gas-rich Qatar only have to pay $1 per gallon at the pump.
"Thank God that our country is an oil producer and the price of gasoline is one of the lowest," al-Kubaisi said, filling up his Toyota Land Cruiser at a gas station in Doha. "God has given us a blessing."
To those looking for a global response to climate change, it's more like a curse.
Qatar — the host of U.N. climate talks that entered their final week Monday — is among dozens of countries that keep gas prices artificially low through subsidies that exceeded $500 billion globally last year. Renewable energy worldwide received six times less support — an imbalance that is just starting to earn attention in the divisive negotiations on curbing the carbon emissions blamed for heating the planet.
"We need to stop funding the problem, and start funding the solution," said Steve Kretzmann, of Oil Change International, an advocacy group for clean energy.
His group presented research Monday showing that in addition to the fuel subsidies in developing countries, rich nations in 2011 gave more than $58 billion in tax breaks and other production subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. The U.S. figure was $13 billion.
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has calculated that removing fossil fuel subsidies could reduce carbon emissions by more than 10 percent by 2050.
Yet the argument is just recently gaining traction in climate negotiations, which in two decades have failed to halt the rising temperatures that are melting Arctic ice, raising sea levels and shifting weather patterns with impacts on droughts and floods.
In Doha, the talks have been slowed by wrangling over financial aid to help poor countries cope with global warming and how to divide carbon emissions rights until 2020 when a new planned climate treaty is supposed to enter force. Calls are now intensifying to include fossil fuel subsidies as a key part of the discussion.
"I think it is manifestly clear ... that this is a massive missing piece of the climate change jigsaw puzzle," said Tim Groser, New Zealand's minister for climate change.
He is spearheading an initiative backed by Scandinavian countries and some developing countries to put fuel subsidies on the agenda in various forums, citing the U.N. talks as a "natural home" for the debate.
The G-20 called for their elimination in 2009, and the issue also came up at the U.N. earth summit in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year. Frustrated that not much has happened since, European Union climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard said Monday she planned to raise the issue with environment ministers on the sidelines of the talks in Doha.
Many developing countries are positive toward phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, not just to protect the climate but to balance budgets. Subsidies introduced as a form of welfare benefit decades ago have become an increasing burden to many countries as oil prices soar.
"We are reviewing the subsidy periodically in the context of the total economy for Qatar," the tiny Persian gulf country's energy minister, Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, told reporters Monday.
Qatar's National Development Strategy 2011-2016 states it more bluntly, saying fuel subsides are "at odds with the aspirations" and sustainability objectives of the wealthy emirate.
The problem is that getting rid of them comes with a heavy political price.
When Jordan raised fuel prices last month, angry crowds poured into the streets, torching police cars, government offices and private banks in the most sustained protests to hit the country since the start of the Arab unrest. One person was killed and 75 others were injured in the violence.
Nigeria, Indonesia, India and Sudan have also seen violent protests this year as governments tried to bring fuel prices closer to market rates.
Iran has used a phased approach to lift fuel subsidies over the past several years, but its pump prices remain among the cheapest in the world.
"People perceive it as something that the government is taking away from them," said Kretzmann. "The trick is we need to do it in a way that doesn't harm the poor."
The International Energy Agency found in 2010 that fuel subsidies are not an effective measure against poverty because only 8 percent of such subsidies reached the bottom 20 percent of income earners.
The IEA, which only looked at consumption subsidies, this year said they "remain most prevalent in the Middle East and North Africa, where momentum toward their reform appears to have been lost."
In the U.S., environmental groups say fossil fuel subsidies include tax breaks, the foreign tax credit and the credit for production of nonconventional fuels.
Industry groups, like the Independent Petroleum Association of America, are against removing such support, saying that would harm smaller companies, rather than the big oil giants.
In Doha, Mohammed Adow, a climate activist with Christian Aid, called all fuel subsidies "reckless and dangerous," but described removing subsidies on the production side as "low-hanging fruit" for governments if they are serious about dealing with climate change.
"It's going to oil and coal companies that don't need it in the first place," he said.
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Associated Press writers Abdullah Rebhy in Doha, Qatar, and Brian Murphy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report
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Karl Ritter can be reached at www.twitter.com/karl_ritter
Girl, 12, held as sex slave, forced into prostitution by couple, police allege
Label: BusinessAn Oceanside couple are scheduled to be in court Monday to face accusations that they kept an underage
Mexican immigrant as a sex slave, forcing her into prostitution and
beating her severely.
Marcial Garcia Hernandez, 45, and Inez Martinez Garcia, 43, were
arrested Thursday on suspicion of 13 felony counts of aggravated sexual
assault of a child under age 14.
The girl had been smuggled into the U.S. at age 12, and the abuse by
Hernandez and Garcia occurred over a 21-month period, the Sheriff's
Department said.
Hernandez and Garcia forced the girl to care for their three children
and cook and clean for the family, as well as have sex with Hernandez,
according to Deputy G. Crysler, an investigator with the North County
Human Trafficking Task Force.
"When the girl victim refused to participate in the sex acts or did
not complete her tasks in a timely or correct manner, she was beaten,"
Crysler said.
The couple forced the victim into lying about her age so she could
work at a local restaurant, with Garcia and Hernandez keeping the money
she earned, according to the arrest documents. She was also forced into
having sex with older men, with Garcia and Hernandez keeping the money
paid by "johns," the documents said.
Authorities were called after the victim was allegedly beaten by
Garcia. Reunited with her family, she returned to Mexico. Recently,
she returned to the U.S. and is assisting in the criminal investigation,
according to the Sheriff's Department.
ALSO:
Lindsay Lohan is 'victim' despite criminal charges, lawyer says
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Inmate charged in 1991 slaying, rape of 16-year-old Compton girl
-- Tony Perry in San Diego
Tunnel Collapses Outside Tokyo, Trapping Motorists
Label: World
Kyodo News, via Associated Press
A surveillance camera within the Sasago tunnel showed rescue workers at the scene of a collapse on Sunday.
TOKYO — At least seven people were feared dead after a highway tunnel collapsed on Sunday in eastern Japan, trapping them in their vehicles and starting a fire that filled the passage with thick, black smoke.
Franck Robichon/European Pressphoto Agency
Fire fighters and rescue personnel gathered at the entrance to the Sasago tunnel, west of Tokyo.
Three vehicles appeared to have been crushed under concrete that fell from the ceiling of the three-mile Sasago Tunnel near the city of Otsuki in Yamanashi Prefecture, about 50 miles west of Tokyo, the national disaster management agency said. Officials from the agency and the police said it remained unclear why a section of the tunnel — 150 to 200 feet of eight-inch-thick concrete that weighed about 180 tons — suddenly fell.
A vehicle carrying six people caught fire, whose heavy smoke initially prevented firefighters from entering the tunnel. But even after putting out the blaze, rescuers had to temporarily suspend efforts to reach the vehicles inside because of the danger of a further collapse, officials said.
Rescue efforts resumed later in the day, though progress was slow.
A 28-year-old woman managed to escape from the vehicle that caught fire, officials said. She told firefighters that five other people remained inside. It was unclear how many people were in the other trapped vehicles besides the drivers.
One of the other vehicles appeared to be a truck belonging to a food wholesaler, officials said. The truck’s driver called his company right after the accident to ask for help, they said, but officials were later unable to reach him on his cellphone.
The operator of the highway, the Central Nippon Expressway, held a news conference to apologize for the accident. The police said they had opened an investigation into the cause of the collapse and about whether professional negligence by the operator was a factor.
The accident closed a section of the Chuo Expressway, which connects Tokyo to western Japan. Such long tunnels — usually lined with smooth, white concrete — are common on highways in the mountainous island nation.
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