Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/152278072?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, October 24, 2011
Turkey quake toll exceeds 260 dead, hundreds missing (Reuters)
ERCIS, Turkey (Reuters) ? Rescuers clawed through rubble on Monday to free people trapped by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 264 people and wounded more than 1,000 in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey.
Hundreds more were feared dead, as Turkey's most powerful quake in a decade toppled remote villages of mud brick houses.
As some desperate survivors cried for help from beneath mounds of smashed concrete and twisted metal, earthmoving machines and soldiers joined the search after Sunday's 7.2 magnitude quake struck the city of Van and the town of Ercis, some 100 km (60 miles) to the north.
"Be patient, be patient," rescuers told a whimpering boy, pinned under a concrete slab with the lifeless hand of an adult, with a wedding ring, visible just in front of his face.
A Reuters photographer saw a woman and her daughter being freed from beneath a concrete slab in the wreckage of a building that had once been six stories tall.
"I'm here, I'm here," the woman, named Fidan, called out in a hoarse voice. Talking to her regularly while working for more than two hours to find a way through, rescuers cut through the slab, first sighting the daughter's foot, before freeing them.
Standing by a wrecked four-storey building one woman told a rescue worker she had spoken to her friend, Hatice Hasimoglu,on her mobile phone six hours after the quake trapped her inside.
"She's my friend and she called me to say that she's alive and she's stuck in the rubble near the stairs of the building," said her friend, a fellow teacher. "She told me she was wearing red pajamas," she said, standing with distraught relatives begging the rescue workers to hurry.
In Van, an ancient city of one million on a lake ringed by snow-capped mountains, cranes shifted rubble from a collapsed six-storey apartment block where 70 people were feared trapped.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan flew swiftly to Van to assess the scale of the disaster in a quake-prone area that is a hotbed of activity for Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.
Erdogan said he feared for the fate of villages which rescue teams had yet to reach. "Because the buildings are made of mud brick, they are more vulnerable to quakes. I must say that almost all buildings in such villages are destroyed," he told an overnight news conference in Van.
NTV broadcaster quoted Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin as saying the death toll had reached 264. Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay, speaking in Van, said more than 1,300 were injured. The interior minister said hundreds more were unaccounted for, many believed buried under rubble.
Newspapers said trauma had been piled on trauma in the southeast, where a PKK attack killed 24 Turkish soldiers in Hakkari, south of Van, last week. "Homeland of Pain. Yesterday terrorism, today earthquake," said Radikal newspaper.
Erdogan earlier flew by helicopter to Ercis, a town of 100,000 that was harder hit than Van, with 55 buildings flattened, including a student dormitory. "We don't know how many people are in the ruins of collapsed buildings," he said.
At one crumpled four-storey building in Ercis, firemen from the major southeastern city of Diyarbakir tried to reach four missing children. Aid workers carried two black body bags, one apparently containing a child, to an ambulance. An old woman wrapped in a headscarf walked alongside sobbing.
A distressed man paced back and forth before running toward the rescue workers on top of the rubble. "That's my nephew's house," he sobbed as workers tried to hold him back.
A group of women, some with faces covered by headscarves, wept as they looked on under a chilly blue sky.
COLD NIGHT IN OPEN
Nearby, aid teams handed out parcels of bread and food, while people wrapped in blankets huddled around open fires after spending a cold night on the streets.
Rescue efforts were hampered by power outages after the quake toppled electricity cables to towns and villages across much of the barren Anatolian steppe near the Iranian border. It also damaged the main Van-Ercis road, CNN Turk reported.
More than 200 aftershocks have jolted the region since the quake struck for around 25 seconds at 1041 GMT (6:41 a.m. EDT) on Sunday.
"I just felt the whole earth moving and I was petrified. It went on for ages. And the noise, you could hear this loud, loud noise," said Hakan Demirtas, 32, a builder who was working on construction site in Van at the time.
"My house is ruined," he said, sitting on a low wall after spending the night in the open. "I am still afraid, I'm in shock. I have no future, there is nothing I can do."
The Red Crescent said about 100 experts had reached the earthquake zone to coordinate rescue and relief operations. Some 5,000 tents and 11,000 blankets, stoves and food were being distributed and mobile kitchens were set up to feed those made homeless. Sniffer dogs had joined the quest for survivors.
At Van airport, a Turkish Airlines cargo plane unloaded aid materials onto waiting military vehicles for distribution.
Workers set up a tent city in the Ercis sports stadium, as ambulances, sirens wailing, ferried the injured to hospital.
Dogan news agency reported that 24 people were pulled from the rubble alive in the two hours after midnight.
Erdogan later returned to Ankara for a cabinet meeting to discuss the response to the disaster. He said Turkey could cope by itself, but thanked nations offering help, including Armenia and Israel, which both have strained relations with Ankara.
U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation. "He expresses his heartfelt sympathies to the government and people of Turkey at this time of loss and suffering," a U.N. statement said.
Major geological fault lines cross Turkey, where small tremors occur almost daily. Two large quakes in 1999 killed more than 20,000 people in the northwest.
The quake had no impact on Turkish financial markets as they opened on Monday. Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said Van benefit from tax exemptions.
In Van, construction worker Sulhattin Secen, 27, said he had first mistaken the quake's rumble for a car crash.
"Then the ground beneath me started moving up and down as if I was standing in water. May God help us. It's like life has stopped. What are people going to do?"
(Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay in Istanbul; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Ibon Villelabeitia and Daren Butler; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
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Sunday, October 23, 2011
APNewsBreak: UK prison loses set of keys (AP)
LONDON ? The inmates are locked up, but where's the key?
A Birmingham Prison officer's set of keys has gone missing and now every lock at one of the country's largest prisons must now be replaced, a union official said Friday.
Terry Fullerton of the Prison Officers Association said he's been told the set went missing a couple days ago and an investigation is under way.
"Nobody knows how the keys have gone missing," he told The Associated Press. "They were there at one particular key check, then they were gone."
Fullerton described the security implications as "vast," saying the keys could have been stolen and copied.
"You wouldn't want someone coming into possession of a set of security keys," he said.
He said its not the first time he's heard of keys going missing, but he's learned it will take three weeks for all of the locks ? including cell locks ? to be replaced. It wasn't immediately clear how much it would cost to replace the locks.
Birmingham Prison became the first U.K. prison to be privatized when security firm G4S took it over this month.
G4S said it doesn't comment on security matters and would not elaborate on the situation beyond a brief statement.
"All prisons have well-established contingency plans to deal with incidents of this nature," the company said in a statement. "There is no risk to public safety."
A spokeswoman declined to specify the details of what happened and would not be drawn on if the inmates are currently locked into their cells or in public areas.
Birmingham Prison houses around 1,400 "category B" prisoners ? the second most serious class of offender.
G4S would not say how many prison officers work in the facility, exactly what keys had been lost and what those keys unlocked.
It was also not immediately clear if the keys had been found.
"Contingency measures are being followed," G4S said.
___
Cassandra Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd
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Conservative Romney alternatives vie for Iowa edge (AP)
DES MOINES, Iowa ? Evangelical activists, Iowa's most potent conservative voting bloc, are sharply divided barely 10 weeks away from the state's leadoff presidential caucuses, and are weighing a number of GOP hopefuls competing hard to emerge as the more conservative alternative to early front-runner Mitt Romney.
A half-dozen GOP contenders sought Saturday to sharpen their Christian conservative credentials, and at times allay doubts, in an effort to gain any edge with this influential group before the state's Jan. 3 caucuses.
Businessman Herman Cain sought to clarify his position on abortion to about 1,000 of Iowa's most devout social conservatives, after suggesting this week the issue was a matter of choice.
"I believe abortion should be clearly stated as illegal across this country," Cain said during the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition's presidential forum.
Cain has risen sharply in the polls recently, stirring the interest of tea party activists and Republicans drawn to the former Godfather's Pizza CEO's business background and outsider status.
But he has also drawn new scrutiny, and came under attack by some of his fellow Republican candidates after comments in a CNN interview this week.
"What I'm saying is it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make," Cain told CNN host Piers Morgan.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry first took a veiled jab at Romney, who had supported abortion rights but declared his opposition during his term as Massachusetts governor as he was weighing a presidential bid.
"Pro-life is not a matter of campaign convenience," said Perry, who has stepped up his attacks on Romney's conservative profile.
But Perry also noted "It is a liberal canard to say I am personally pro-life but government should stay out of that decision," an indirect shot at Cain.
Cain said Perry's comments were aimed at falsely painting him as an abortion-rights supporter.
"That is just an attempt to try to discredit me," Cain said later. "I am pro-life from conception. No abortions, no exceptions."
Evangelical conservatives have yet to rally around any single candidate aggressively courting them, seeking the kind of lift that carried former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to victory in the leadoff caucuses in 2008.
"I don't see anyone galvanizing people like they did for Mike Huckabee," said Steve Scheffler, president of the event's sponsor and a leading social conservative activist in Iowa. "And I'd be lying if I told you that can change in one event."
Activists attending the coalition's forum at the Iowa State Fairgrounds weighed pitches from three candidates who have made the most aggressive appeals so far ? including former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Rep. Michele Bachmann and Perry as well as Cain, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
Bachmann, who won the Iowa GOP straw poll in August with help from Iowa's politically active network of evangelical pastors, proclaimed her support for a constitutional amendment making abortion illegal.
"I believe that the government must intervene and I stand for a federal constitutional amendment to protect life from conception until natural death," Bachmann told the audience, prompting cheers.
Santorum, who had been a leading abortion opponent in Congress, criticized Cain in a press release after his CNN interview, but did not attack him directly Saturday.
"I hear a lot of theory up here," Santorum said referring to his rivals' records compared to his own in Congress. "That's practice."
Candidates campaigned across Iowa Saturday, convening in Des Moines for the event, which was seen as a chance to leave a mark on this constituency.
But the forum didn't draw Romney, who has led national GOP polls all year and was in New Hampshire on Saturday. Despite an aggressive effort by the event's planners, he declined an invitation, in part because he is well-known in Iowa from his 2008 White House run and is skipping multicandidate gatherings in the state.
Romney has had a touchy relationship with evangelical conservatives, many of whom are leery of Romney's Mormon faith and his changed positions on social issues such as gay and abortion rights.
He has attended national meetings of conservatives, including the Values Voter Summit in Washington this month, but is emphasizing economic, rather than social issues.
That left the stage Saturday to candidates targeting voters who made up roughly half of GOP caucusgoers in 2008, according to exit polls.
However, influential pastors say their network of politically active clergy is divided. Likewise, Christian home-school activists, a well-networked group that worked behind the scenes for Huckabee, apparently have no preferred candidate.
Perry gained attention for a national day of prayer he hosted in Houston in August. But some of his luster with evangelical voters has faded in light of his 2007 executive order requiring school-age girls be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cancer.
Santorum, an anti-abortion leader while in the Senate, has impressed social conservative leaders in Iowa, but trails Perry and Bachmann in fundraising.
___
Online:
Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition: http://ffciowa.com
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HP?s Chief Strategy And Technology Officer Shane Robison To Step Down Nov. 1
HP has just announced that its executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer Shane Robison will be retiring, effective Nov. 1. Robison, an 11-year HP veteran, also served as a member of the company?s Executive Council. In his role, he was responsible for shaping HP?s corporate strategy and technology agenda. He helped lead HP's research and development and has led many of the company?s largest merger and acquisition activities. HP also announced that it will not be replacing the role of chief strategy and technology officer.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/hEYMgtcHhXQ/
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Nokia Sabre brandished ahead of launch, expected to unveil its Mango of steel next week?
Andy Lees mentioned at AsiaD that Nokia would be launching more than one Windows Phone at its London-based event next week, and there's a chance that the prototype you see above could be unveiled alongside the Nokia 800 Sea Ray. Pocketnow is referring to the Mr. Blurrycam-produced image as the Sabre, said to be running on a 1.4GHz single-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 3.5-inch WVGA display and a 5MP rear camera. The alleged price won't stab your wallet, as the source claims it'll cost somewhere between $410 and $480. Of course, there's less than a week before Nokia World begins and the speculation ends, and we'll be there to deliver the blow-by-blow action as it happens.
Nokia Sabre brandished ahead of launch, expected to unveil its Mango of steel next week? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mortgage insurer subsidiary seized by regulators (AP)
PHOENIX ? Insurance regulators in Arizona have seized the main subsidiary of private mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc., which will begin paying claims at just 50 percent.
The seizure follows heavy losses at PMI since the housing market bubble burst. Two months ago, state regulators ordered the Arizona-based subsidiary, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., to stop selling new policies after it came under scrutiny because it didn't have enough money on hand to meet the requirements of regulations in that state.
A statement on PMI's website says a court order, signed by an Arizona Superior Court judge on Thursday, gives Arizona's Department of Insurance full possession and control of the subsidiary. Beginning Monday, PMI says claims will be paid at just 50 percent, in lieu of a moratorium on claim payments. Meanwhile, PMI said it will "continue to support our customers' ongoing policy servicing needs, and loss mitigation programs."
Private mortgage insurance protects lenders from losses if a homeowner defaults and the lender doesn't recoup costs through foreclosure. The insurance costs the borrower a monthly fee, typically a set percentage of the total mortgage loan. Like other mortgage insurers, PMI has been able to sell profitable policies in recent years, but the gains from those sales hasn't outpaced losses from policies sold before the housing market collapsed. As flagging home prices have strapped borrowers, the company has had to pay more claims.
The company's shares have traded below $1 apiece since late July, closing on Friday at 31 cents apiece. PMI shares topped $50 in 2007. Since then, the Walnut Creek, Calif. company has posted more than $3.5 billion in losses due to claims paid out on foreclosed homes. That includes a loss of nearly $135 million for the second quarter. PMI hasn't yet reported third-quarter results.
PMI's CEO, L. Stephen Smith, told analysts in early August that that company has seen a sharp rise in the number of previously denied claims that banks appealed and were able to get reinstated by producing better documents to back up them up.
Smith said then that his company was working with a financial adviser to search for ways to raise capital.
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