Adele Feeling 'Positive' After Throat Surgery

Singer says she's 'on the mend.'
By Gil Kaufman

Adele
Photo: Andreas Rentz/ Getty Images

Adele is on the road to recovery after her recent throat surgery. The British singer posted a note to fans on Monday in which she gave them an update on the procedure to remove a benign polyp from her vocal cords.

"Sorry I haven't written for a while. Thank you for all your positive thoughts and get well wishes," she wrote. "I'm doing really well, on the mend, super happy, relaxed and very positive with it all. The operation was a success and I'm just chilling out now until I get the all clear from my doctors."

Last week the doctors who performed the procedure gave an update on the surgery. "Adele underwent vocal cord microsurgery by Dr. Steven Zeitels to stop recurrent vocal cord hemorrhage (bleeding) from a benign polyp," read a statement from Massachusetts General Hospital, where the surgery took place. "This condition is typically the result of unstable blood vessels in the vocal cord that can rupture. Based on the advice of her doctor and voice therapist in the United Kingdom, Adele came to Boston to consult and undergo corrective voice surgery with Dr. Zeitels, the Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Center. ... Dr. Zeitels expects Adele to make a full recovery from her laser microsurgery."

scrapped all her remaining 2011 performances and appearances on doctor's orders.

The vocal problems were the latest hiccup in the 23-year-old singer's plans to tour the U.S., which were previously derailed when she had to call off a string of gigs due to a bout of laryngitis.

While fans won't be able to catch Adele live anytime soon, they can check out her first live concert film, "Live at the Royal Albert Hall," which hits stores on November 29. The nearly 90-minute event focuses on her singing, eschewing the typical backstage vignettes, interviews with fans and confessional moments.

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• Adele

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1674453/adele-throat-surgery-recovery.jhtml

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Patients with severe sepsis and new-onset atrial fibrillation at increased risk of in-hospital stroke, death

ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2011) ? Patients hospitalized with severe sepsis who experience new-onset atrial fibrillation have an associated increased risk of in-hospital stroke and death, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common arrhythmias among critically ill patients. "Previous studies have demonstrated that 6 percent to 20 percent of patients with severe sepsis develop new-onset AF, suggesting that severe sepsis may be a predisposing factor for new-onset AF," according to background information in the article. "Chronic AF is a known risk factor for stroke and death, but the clinical significance of new-onset AF in the setting of severe sepsis is uncertain."

To examine the association of new-onset AF during severe sepsis with adverse outcomes of in-hospital mortality and ischemic stroke, Allan J. Walkey, M.D., M.Sc., of the Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues conducted a study that included administrative claims data from the California State Inpatient Database from nonfederal acute care hospitals for January 1 through December 31, 2007. Data were available for 3,144,787 hospitalized adults. The researchers identified 49,082 cases of severe sepsis that met qualifying criteria for the study. New-onset AF was defined as AF that occurred during the hospital stay, after excluding AF cases present at admission.

New-onset AF occurred during 20,608 hospitalizations (0.65 percent; including sepsis and nonsepsis) and during 2,896 hospitalizations (5.9 percent) of patients with severe sepsis, with analysis indicating that 14 percent of all hospital-associated new-onset AF occurred in the context of severe sepsis. Compared with hospitalized patients without severe sepsis, patients with severe sepsis had a nearly 7 times the odds of having new-onset AF. Factors associated with increased risk of new-onset AF during severe sepsis included demographics (increasing age, male sex, and white race), comorbidities (history of heart failure, obesity, malignancy, and stroke), and various acute factors (such as increasing number of organ failures, respiratory failure and renal failure).

Among individuals with severe sepsis, new-onset AF was associated with increased adjusted risks of in-hospital ischemic stroke. In contrast, patients with severe sepsis and preexisting AF did not have an increased risk of in-hospital ischemic stroke compared with those with severe sepsis and no AF. In patients with severe sepsis, in-hospital ischemic stroke occurred in 75 of 2,896 individuals (2.6 percent) with new-onset AF compared with 57 of 9,986 (0.57 percent) with preexisting AF and 249 of 36,200 (0.69 percent) without AF.

Compared with severe sepsis patients without new-onset AF, patients with new-onset AF had a greater risk of in-hospital mortality (1,629 [56 percent] vs. 18,027 [39 percent] deaths).

The researchers speculate that several potential mechanisms might explain the increased ischemic stroke risk in patients with severe sepsis and new-onset AF. "Severe sepsis alone may be associated with an increased risk of stroke through hemodynamic [blood circulation] collapse, increased systemic inflammation, and coagulopathy [clotting/bleeding disorder]. New-onset AF may simply be a marker for greater severity of illness and, thus, greater stroke risk."

"Given projected estimates of severe sepsis incidence in 1 million Americans in 2011, it is likely that new-onset AF occurs in more than 60,000 patients with severe sepsis in the United States each year," the authors write. "Current guidelines do not address AF that occurs in the setting of severe sepsis or acute infection, suggesting that new-onset AF that occurs during severe sepsis is an underrecognized public health problem. If our findings of increased stroke and death in the setting of AF and severe sepsis are replicated in other data sets, then it will be important to examine management strategies that might diminish the risk of adverse outcomes associated with AF during severe sepsis."

Editorial: Is Severe Sepsis Associated With New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke?

In an accompanying editorial, Christopher H. Goss, M.D., M.Sc., of the University of Washington, and Shannon S. Carson, M.D., of the University of North Carolina. Chapel Hill, write that an important question is whether the findings of this study should lead clinicians to intervene with stroke prevention therapy, such as with acute cardioversion (a method to restore an abnormal heart rhythm back to normal), anticoagulation, or both.

"It is difficult to maintain successful cardioversion as long as severe sepsis persists, perhaps because acute risk factors such as high catecholamine [any of several compounds occurring naturally in the body that serve as hormones or as neurotransmitters in the sympathetic nervous system] states have not yet resolved. Anticoagulation presents additional risks for patients with severe sepsis due to coagulation abnormalities and frequent invasive procedures. Given the limitations of these observational data, current practice should not change in favor of interventions that could involve additional risk. Given the small event rate, a randomized trial of anticoagulation for new-onset atrial fibrillation in severe sepsis would be logically difficult. However, further observational studies with large databases assessing how interventions might modify the risk of stroke could provide more useful information."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by JAMA and Archives Journals.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal References:

1. A. J. Walkey, R. S. Wiener, J. M. Ghobrial, L. H. Curtis, E. J. Benjamin. Incident Stroke and Mortality Associated With New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Hospitalized With Severe Sepsis. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2011; DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1615
2. C. H. Goss, S. S. Carson. Is Severe Sepsis Associated With New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke? JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2011; DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1730

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/PvaBkJXB1a8/111116051228.htm

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"Descendants:" uproarious comedy about grief and loss (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? In the same way that "aloha" can be used for either hello or goodbye, the Hawaii-set "The Descendants" contains its own contradictions -- it's an uproarious comedy about grief and loss, and a reminder that hell can exist quite comfortably in paradise.

Attorney Matt King (George Clooney) has a full plate, and it's not because he's at a luau. A descendant of one of the islands' original colonists who married into Hawaii's royal family, he is overseeing the sale of a huge chunk of family property, the last undeveloped beach in the state.

But it's not just his money-hungry cousins and the voracious developers keeping him hopping; his wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) was injured in a boating accident and now lies comatose in a hospital. Her absence forces Matt, who calls himself "the back-up parent, the understudy," to deal with their two daughters: troubled 10-year old Scottie (Amara Miller) and rebellious teen Alexandra (Shailene Woodley).

The last time Alexandra spoke with her mother, the two fought; when Matt brings her home for Elizabeth's impending death, his daughter informs him that Elizabeth was cheating on him with another man.

So even with his wife being taken off life-support and the property sale just around the corner, Matt takes his family to the island of Kauai to track down his wife's lover (Matthew Lillard) to let him know that she's dying. Or maybe to punch him in the face. It could go either way.

With just a handful of films -- shockingly, this is only his fifth feature -- Payne has proven himself a master of a uniquely American brand of comedy. His characters lead lives of quiet desperation, only to find themselves blurting out buried, uncomfortable truths at the least likely moments.

Adapting the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings with Groundlings vets Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (Payne's usual co-writer Jim Taylor is one of the film's producers), Payne gets into Matt's head and finds the humor in his suffering and his unexpected personal development with the same sure hand he brought to "Sideways" and "About Schmidt."

Many filmmakers might not have thought of Clooney as the right guy to bring this cuckolded, grief-stricken dad to life on the screen, but the actor once again proves adept at constantly finding new colors in his paintbox. You think you know exactly how this work-distracted father is going to reconnect with his daughters, and what obligatory moments the movie will provide, but both the script and the stars are too smart for that.

Clooney is simply extraordinary, juggling a panoply of emotions while completely inhabiting the persona of this hard-working and harried regular guy. (He has a dorky style of running that reminded me of Cary Grant's twitterpated body language in "Bringing Up Baby.") He's ably supported by youngsters Miller and Woodley, who offer deeply felt work that never gives off the "cute kid" stink.

Payne shoots Hawaii in a way that we've rarely seen on film -- it's one of the most beautiful places on earth, yes, but in this movie we believe that people actually live there -- and he provides many moments for his talented ensemble to shine, from Robert Forster as Elizabeth's embittered father to Mary Birdsong and Rob Huebel as friends who kept Elizabeth's secrets from Matt.

Deserving special attention is Judy Greer, one of this generation's great comedic character actresses, who takes a three-scene performance as the wife of Elizabeth's lover and plays it for both laughs and heartache. It's the sort of underappreciated, extraordinary turn that Thelma Ritter used to knock out of the park.

Neither the laughs nor the tears ever feel forced in "The Descendants," and Payne masterfully elicits both along the way. Like Sid (Nick Krause), Alexandra's goofy but stealth-smart boyfriend who accompanies the family on their adventures, the film's charms and its intelligence sneak up on you subtly, making you glad to be along for the ride.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111115/film_nm/us_reviews_film_thedescendants

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EU adopts guidelines on airport body scanners

BRUSSELS?? The European Union adopted new guidelines Monday on using body scanners at airports, hoping to address the privacy concerns that have delayed their implementation across the continent.

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Siim Kallas, the EU commissioner responsible for transport, said under the rules the technology will only be used with strict safeguards to protect health and fundamental rights.

"Security scanners are not a panacea but they do offer a real possibility to reinforce passenger security," he said.

The scanners, some of which produce nude-like images of passengers, are already used in the United States and elsewhere as a more effective screening of passengers than metal detectors.

Scanner technology is developing rapidly and has the potential to significantly reduce invasive pat-downs. The latest machines are equipped with software that displays a generic outline of a human body, with a red box around the area where a passenger may be concealing an object.

Small airports getting full-body scanners

EU member states and airports do not have an obligation to deploy security scanners, but if they decide to use them, they will have to comply with the EU-wide operational standards.

Under the new EU law, security scanners must not store or copy any of the images, and the security staff analyzing the images will be in a room separate from where the actual screening is conducted. In addition, passengers must be informed and be given the right to choose an alternative method of screening.

And in order not to risk citizens' health and safety, only security scanners that do not use X-ray technology can be used at EU airports.

Scientists question cancer risks of full-body scanners

"The most important provision is that every passenger has the right to opt out and ask for the use of an alternative method," said Helen Kearns, spokeswoman for the transport commission.

EU states have been mulling the use of security scanners ever since Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 24-year-old Nigerian, attempted in 2009 to blow up a plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit with plastic explosives he had hidden in his underwear.

Until now, security scanners were used in a limited way under a patchwork of different national operational procedures. The scanners have tested in France, Italy, Finland and other countries, and been used at airports in Britain and the Netherlands.

But the whole body imaging machines have sparked outrage among some passengers and privacy advocates because the explicit images they display. Germany has already said it won't introduce them.

Authorities tested the scanners at Hamburg airport for 10 months on passengers who volunteered. Among the findings, they said the machines' software proved too sensitive to things such as creases in suits.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45286987/ns/travel-news/

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A decade on, terrorism tribunals are bogged down (Reuters)

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) ? The beige-carpeted room where an al Qaeda chief appeared last week charged with blowing a hole in the side of an American warship looks like any modern court, with pop-up computer screens at lawyers' tables and a judge in black robes presiding from the bench.

But it sits in a warehouse-like building on an abandoned airfield at the Guantanamo Bay Navy base in southeast Cuba, ringed by barbed wire and nestled among rows of khaki tents and trailers in an "expeditionary" compound that was never meant to be permanent.

A decade after President George W. Bush authorized military tribunals for terrorism suspects, the Obama administration is plodding forward with new tribunals at a glacial pace, hampered by persistent political and legal arguments over the procedures and principles involved.

"I think we've botched this so bad that we're past the point of redemption," said retired Air Force Colonel Moe Davis, a former chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo tribunals and now one of their strongest critics. He quit because of what he called political meddling and pressure to use evidence obtained through methods he considered torture.

The tribunals authorized by Bush in an executive order on November 13, 2001, were set up to try non-U.S. citizens on terrorism charges outside the regular U.S. federal and military courts.

Those who plotted the hijacked plane attacks of September 11, 2001, were neither civilians nor warriors and did not deserve the legal protections granted to either, Bush argued.

Ten years and three major revisions later, the tribunals remain largely untested.

Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, arraigned last week in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen, would be only the second prisoner to get a fully contested trial at Guantanamo. His case is not expected to be ready for trial for at least another year and his lawyers are questioning what legal precedents apply.

"One might say there are certain gaps that are not present in other more developed systems ...." the chief judge in the Guantanamo tribunals, Army Colonel James Pohl, said during the arraignment. "I think we all know the uniqueness of the system," replied Richard Kammen, Nashiri's lawyer.

NOT MEANT TO BE PERMANENT

The Supreme Court struck down the original version of the tribunals in 2006, ruling that the president had no power to create a court system. It said that authority rested with Congress, which created a new version of the tribunals in 2006 and then revised them at the behest of the Obama administration in 2009 to grant the defendants more rights.

Congress in recent months added a new wrinkle, with proposals that the military courts be expanded to try U.S. citizens, a prospect that horrifies civil rights advocates.

"Don't make our armed forces judge, jury and jailer for terrorism suspects," said Heather Hurlburt, executive director of the nonprofit National Security Network. "The military is completely unequipped for it."

The Guantanamo tribunals are not strictly military.

Justice Department lawyers are included in the prosecution teams -- an assistant attorney from Kansas is leading the case against Nashiri -- while civilian lawyers from many top U.S. firms bolster the defense.

Kammen, a civilian attorney from Indianapolis, was brought in on the Nashiri case because he has experience handling death penalty cases, something most military lawyers lack. Nashiri, a round-faced 46-year-old Saudi merchant and alleged al Qaeda chieftain, could be executed if convicted of masterminding the bombing that killed 17 sailors.

The prosecution of five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks is currently on hold while the government conducts extensive security reviews of civilian lawyers chosen to join their defense teams as "learned counsel" with death penalty experience.

Prosecutors have asked to try those five, including self-described mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, on capital charges. President Barack Obama planned to send them to New York for trial in federal courts but Congress has blocked the transfer of Guantanamo prisoners to U.S. soil for any reason.

FROZEN AND THAWED

Shifting political winds have complicated the trials.

Obama froze the tribunals upon taking office in 2009 and ordered the Guantanamo detention operation shut down by January 2010. But Congress blocked his efforts to make civilian courts the preferred venue for terrorism trials, so Obama thawed the Guantanamo courts and allowed new cases to proceed this year.

Nashiri's lawyers questioned whether he could be held forever even if acquitted. The Bush and Obama administrations have both said the law of war allows them to hold Guantanamo prisoners indefinitely, until the end of hostilities in the war against terrorism.

Six cases have been completed in the Guantanamo court. But four defendants pleaded guilty in exchange for leniency and one was convicted in a trial in which no defense was presented because the defendant said the tribunal lacked legitimacy.

Of the 171 prisoners remaining at Guantanamo, the United States wants to try about three dozen but Nashiri is the only one currently facing charges.

"These are extremely complicated cases," a lawyer involved in the prosecution said.

Critics of the Guantanamo tribunals point out that the U.S. federal courts have tried more than 400 people on terrorism charges in the last decade. The post-World War Two Nuremberg tribunals managed to try more than 200 Nazi leaders and other accused war criminals in four years.

The Guantanamo tribunals have proceeded so slowly largely because of legal challenges to the system.

NEW RULES

The tribunal rules are still being tweaked. Two days before Nashiri's arraignment, the Pentagon released 202 pages of new rules, bolstering criticism that it's an ad hoc system with rules made up on the fly.

Army Brigadier General Mark Martins, the sixth Guantanamo chief prosecutor in seven years, said the changes were largely administrative and dealt with procedures such as travel reimbursement and how the lawyers would be paid.

"None of these is unfair to the accused," Martins said.

The Guantanamo tribunals have many fans in Congress, where Senate Republicans inserted provisions into a 2012 defense authorization bill that would require military detention and military tribunals for anyone accused of terrorist acts, including U.S. citizens.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would block consideration of the defense bill until those provisions were changed. Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson said they would "overmilitarize" U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

In an editorial published last month in the Chicago Tribune, three former federal judges said the "deeply disturbing" provisions could limit trial options and strip the FBI and local and state law enforcement agencies of the ability to gather intelligence from terrorism suspects.

"Not only would such an effort ignore 200 years of legal precedent, it would fly in the face of common sense," they said. "Such an effort to restrict counterterrorism efforts by traditional law enforcement agencies would sadly demonstrate that many members of Congress have very little faith in America's criminal justice system."

(Editing by David Storey)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111113/ts_nm/us_guantanamo

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Italy's new premier Monti rushes to build new govt

Italy's new premier-designate economist Mario Monti leaves the hotel to start talks with parties' representatives in Rome, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011. Italian borrowing costs are well below dangerous levels Monday, as markets express confidence in the prospect that leading economist Mario Monti will form a new government without politicians. Italian president Giorgio Napolitano tapped Monti on Sunday to create a government of experts to implement structural economic reforms aimed at bringing down Italy's stubbornly high public debt. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Italy's new premier-designate economist Mario Monti leaves the hotel to start talks with parties' representatives in Rome, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011. Italian borrowing costs are well below dangerous levels Monday, as markets express confidence in the prospect that leading economist Mario Monti will form a new government without politicians. Italian president Giorgio Napolitano tapped Monti on Sunday to create a government of experts to implement structural economic reforms aimed at bringing down Italy's stubbornly high public debt. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Italian right wing parties supporters hold a banner which partially reads: "No to Monti" as they stage a protest outside the Lower chamber demanding for general elections, in Rome, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011. Italy's premier-designate Mario Monti began talks on Monday to create a new government of non-political experts tasked with overhauling an ailing economy to keep market fears over the country from threatening the existence of the euro.Investors initially cheered Monti's appointment, following quickly on Silvio Berlusconi's weekend resignation, though concern lingered about the sheer amount of work his new government will have to do to restore faith in the country's battered economy and finances. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

People stop and look at stock market indices on a monitor outside a bank in Milan, Italy, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011. Italy's premier-designate Mario Monti began talks on Monday to create a new government of non-political experts tasked with overhauling an ailing economy to keep market fears over the country from threatening the existence of the euro. On Monday, Italy easily raised euro 3 billion ($4.1 billion) in the sale of five-year bonds, though at a higher cost. Investors demanded an interest rate of 6.29 percent for the bonds, the highest level since 1997, compared with 5.32 percent at a similar auction a month ago. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

A man looks at stock market indices on a monitor outside a bank in Milan, Italy, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011. Italy's premier-designate Mario Monti began talks on Monday to create a new government of non-political experts tasked with overhauling an ailing economy to keep market fears over the country from threatening the existence of the euro. On Monday, Italy easily raised euro 3 billion ($4.1 billion) in the sale of five-year bonds, though at a higher cost. Investors demanded an interest rate of 6.29 percent for the bonds, the highest level since 1997, compared with 5.32 percent at a similar auction a month ago. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

A graffiti reading: "Berlusconi Gone!!!" is seen near a bar in Rome, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011. Italy's premier-designate Mario Monti began talks on Monday to create a new government of non-political experts tasked with overhauling an ailing economy to keep market fears over the country from threatening the existence of the euro. Investors initially cheered Monti's appointment, following quickly on Silvio Berlusconi's weekend resignation, though concern lingered about the sheer amount of work his new government will have to do to restore faith in the country's battered economy and finances. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

ROME (AP) ? Italy's premier-designate Mario Monti began talks on Monday to create a new government of non-political experts tasked with overhauling an ailing economy and keeping market fears over the country from threatening the existence of the euro.

Investors initially cheered Monti's appointment, following quickly on Silvio Berlusconi's weekend resignation, though concern lingered about the sheer amount of work his new government will have to do to restore faith in the country's battered economy and finances.

President Giorgio Napolitano tapped Monti on Sunday to create a government capable of implementing economic reforms aimed at reviving stagnant growth to bring down public debt, stuck near 120 percent of GDP.

Monti pledged to act "with a sense of urgency" to identify ministers in the new government but said he would also take the time necessary to secure a strong team. He was meeting various political parties throughout the day ahead of a confidence vote in Parliament later this week, possibly by Friday.

Some parties were looking to extract concessions in exchange for support to Monti's government.

That risks slowing the process of forming a government, after days in which Italy's political machinery ? under pressure from markets ? had moved with rare efficiency. Both houses passed fresh austerity and reform measures within two days, paving the way for Berlusconi's resignation.

Improving market confidence in Italy is crucial to the future of the eurozone as the country would be too expensive to rescue. A default on its euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) in debt would cause massive chaos in financial markets and shake the global economy.

Napolitano encouraged all sides to join forces to rescue Italy from its financial woes.

It is time to "unleash a collective effort which, unfortunately, has been lacking lately," he said in a speech, appealing for "maximum cohesion" so the country can rebound.

The pressure for Italy to reform its economy is huge as it has become clear that the European Central Bank is not shielding it from the bond market turmoil.

The central bank almost halved its purchases of government bonds last week to euro4.5 billion ($6.2 billion), effectively allowing investors to run Italy's bond yields higher. The purchases are aimed at keeping a lid on borrowing rates for Italy and other eurozone countries so they won't get frozen out of financial markets, as has happened to Greece.

But the ECB is reluctant to protect governments from the market pressure, saying it is up to governments to convince investors of their economies' worth.

That pressure no doubt helped accelerate the power shift in Rome, as it did in Greece, where a new government of technocrats also took over last week. The hope is that administrations of experts not affiliated to parties will be more willing to make the tough but necessary decisions that politicians have so far balked at.

But the fact that it will take time to shape up the battered economies of Italy and Greece kept investors on edge.

On Monday, the yield on Italy's benchmark 10-year bonds fell as low as 6.28 percent in early trading but soon rose again to 6.70 percent ? still uncomfortably high and not far from the 7 percent threshold that has pushed other eurozone countries to seek bailouts.

The longer these borrowing rates stay high, the more difficult it will be for Italy to reduce its huge debt pile.

That was apparent in a bond auction on Monday, when Italy raised euro3 billion ($4.1 billion) in the sale of five-year bonds at an interest rate of 6.29 percent, the highest level since 1997 and up from 5.32 percent at a similar auction a month ago.

Italy will need those borrowing rates to come down in coming months to avoid a big increase in its interest costs ? some euro200 billion ($273 billion) in public debt comes due through the end of April.

Analysts say Berlusconi's exit and Monti's new government will only be the start of a long process of change in Italy.

"It will take years of unprecedentedly tight fiscal policy to get the public finances on a stable footing," said Ben May, economist at Capital Economics.

Monti, a 68-year-old economics professor proved his mettle as European competition commissioner in the 1990s, has the support of investors and the EU, but several Italian parties were still attaching strings to their endorsement.

Berlusconi's party ? the largest in Parliament ? demanded that his government last only as long enough as it takes to heal Italy's finances and revive the economy. Berlusconi himself has pledged to continue playing a key role in Italian politics.

Antonio Di Pietro promised that his small Italy of Values party, which has been in the opposition to Berlusconi, "won't block the birth of a Monti government." But he made clear a commitment to make electoral reform a priority of the next government would weigh heavily when deciding whether to back Monti in the confidence vote.

He is also pushing for early elections once the electoral system is changed.

Some lawmakers, meanwhile, have been lobbying for representatives of all major parties to be part of the government, rather than having a Cabinet of technocrats.

Monti appeared to have the respect of many Italians, eager to see an end to the financial crisis that threatens their own well-being.

"In my opinion he will be better than what we had before, obviously. He seems to me to be a person who is serious, normal and with experience," said Bernardo Albrigo, in the Campo Dei Fiori open-air market in central Rome.

____

Barry reported from Milan.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-14-EU-Italy-Financial-Crisis/id-173c4de2c57742a2aeeaf4c4a69b3c58

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Obama, Hu pitching different trade agendas (Reuters)

HONOLULU (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama and China's Hu Jintao will pitch differing trade agendas on Saturday as an antidote to weak global growth, as they try to sidestep the European debt crisis looming over an Asia-Pacific summit.

The heads of the world's two biggest economies will address business leaders in back-to-back morning speeches at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO summit in Honolulu, and later meet face to face. But Obama and Hu do not see eye to eye on how best to promote transpacific trade.

Obama arrived in Hawaii late on Friday at the start of a nine-day Asian trip during which he will attempt to reassert U.S. influence over the region's course in economic and security affairs. An unstated goal is to ensure China does not muscle the United States aside from its traditional Pacific role.

Obama hopes to leave his native state with at least the outline of a final deal on the Transpacific Partnership, a regional trade pact being negotiated between the United States and eight other countries.

Japan enhanced the stature of the U.S.-led regional trade initiative by announcing on Friday that it was interested in joining the talks, and other countries including Mexico and Canada also have indicated they might like to participate.

China is not part of these trade talks, and views them warily.

The differing views were captured on Friday in a politely pointed public exchange between top American and Chinese trade officials.

Asked whether China would join the TPP, as the talks are known, a Chinese official, Assistant Commerce Minister Yu Jianhua, noted that no invitation had been sent to Beijing.

"If one day we receive such an invitation, we will seriously study" it, Yu said.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk responded that the trade deal "is not designed to be a closed clubhouse. All are welcome. But it is also not one where you should wait for an invitation."

China has been reluctant to sign trade deals that would subject it to U.S-led efforts to further open its economy to foreign players because that would put competitive pressure on its state-owned enterprises.

A commentary in China's state-owned news agency Xinhua said Washington was using the trade deal as a way to enhance its influence in Asia on its own terms.

"The United States' primary reason for actively promoting the development and expansion of the TPP is to raise its leadership in the Asia-Pacific region," Xinhua wrote.

"The United States does not want to miss a golden opportunity with the economic development in the Asia-Pacific, and at the same time it hopes to install a fixed set of rules to guide changes in the region's future political and economic structure."

Hu has touted trade with China as a way to boost U.S. growth and help Obama achieve his goal of doubling exports. With Europe edging toward a recession, fast-growing Asia -- led by China -- is vital to sustaining global economic growth.

Developing Asia is expected to grow 8 percent in 2012, roughly four times faster than the United States, according to International Monetary Fund forecasts.

"Currently, instability and uncertainty of world economic recovery are growing," Hu told business leaders here on Thursday. "Under this type of situation, we especially need the world to cross the river in the same boat, and respond hand-in-hand with a spirit of cooperation and mutual benefit."

Hu's speech on Saturday is expected to focus on steps China is taking to bolster domestic demand, and its desire for greater representation of developing economies in global forums, Chinese officials told reporters.

In another sign of tough talks ahead, trade ministers here said they were unable to agree on the terms of an initiative pushed by the United States to boost trade in clean energy and other environmentally friendly technologies. They referred the issue to APEC leaders, who will meet on Sunday.

APEC, made up of 21 economies representing more than half of global output, laid out an agenda that included promoting trade and green growth, but discussions this week invariably returned to Europe's debt troubles.

China, with its $3.2 trillion in reserves, has come under pressure to come to Europe's aid by buying more government debt. Two independent sources told Reuters that Europe had spurned one of China's key demands -- that it receive more IMF influence in return for increasing its support for Europe.

"Europeans have to ... provide a clear picture and provide a solution and put their hands around their own issues, and the international community is willing to help," said Zhu Min, the IMF's deputy managing director.

(Reporting by Reuters APEC team; Writing by Emily Kaiser. Editing by Warren Strobel and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111112/bs_nm/us_apec

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