ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG posted an 8 percent rise in third-quarter sales and confirmed its outlook for rising sales and profit this year as its new breast cancer drugs picked up momentum.
The world's largest maker of cancer drugs said quarterly sales rose to 11.57 billion Swiss francs ($12.63 billion), compared with the average analyst forecast of 11.54 billion francs in a Reuters poll.
Roche's drugs business has so far been shielded from a wave of patent expiries that have hit rivals, as most of its top-selling medicines are biotech drugs consisting of proteins derived from living organisms that are hard to copy and command higher prices.
Sales of its older cancer medicines Rituxan and Herceptin continued to gain momentum in the quarter, rising 12 percent and 7 percent respectively, while Avastin benefited from increased use in ovarian and colorectal cancer.
This helped to offset weaker sales of hepatitis C treatment Pegasys, which tumbled 16 percent.
The Basel-based drugmaker has developed follow-on medicines - improved versions of its top-sellers - which it hopes will help it fend off anticipated competition from so-called biosimilar copies when its older drugs go off patent.
Among those newer drugs, Roche said sales of Kadcyla, a treatment for an aggressive form of breast cancer which won U.S. approval in February, were 156 million francs in the first nine months of the year, up from 83 million in the first half.
The company plans to use Kadcyla with fellow new medicine Perjeta, which has sales of 186 million francs.
The Basel-based firm reiterated its expectation for full-year sales to grow in line with 2012, when they rose 4 percent in local currencies, and core earnings to rise ahead of revenues. It also expects to further increase its dividend in 2013.
Roche, which does not detail quarterly profits, is the first European drugmaker to report this quarter. ($1 = 0.9160 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by David Cowell)
American Geosciences Institute Center for Geoscience Education and Public Understanding
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
16-Oct-2013
[
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: Ann Benbow aeb@agiweb.org 703-379-2480 x245 American Geosciences Institute
Comprehensive clearinghouse for earth and space science education launches with thousands of resources
Alexandria, VA -- Today, a national center focused on the geosciences launches the world's most comprehensive and up-to-date online clearinghouse for Earth and space science information and educational resources, ranging from high school curricula and classroom activities to video collections, career resources, and national research reports.
The first such clearinghouse of its scope and type, the Center for Geoscience Education and Public Understanding's searchable web site http://www.geocntr.org provides the geoscience community, schools, and the general public with an extensive collection of resources and research from reliable science and education organizations.
"Teachers, media, families, and policy-makers should bookmark this site as the starting point for research about Earth and space science education," said Ann Benbow, director of the Center. "We have collected and organized resources that provide a variety of perspectives on important issues, and the site expands daily."
The Center's new site currently provides access to resources from nearly 700 organizations. These include universities, museums, federal and state agencies, media groups, AGI, and its member organizations and publishers. Approximately 2,000 annotated and searchable resource entries are available on the site, and this number includes many collections and galleries, each with hundreds of individual items such as photographs, videos, and presentations.
A sample of materials on the site: Earth science curricula; Earth science classroom activities; Teacher professional development programs; Science-topic presentations; Animation, video collections/still galleries; Virtual field trips; State science/Earth science organizations; Funding sources for teachers; Teaching award information; Earth science outreach programs.
###
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), the Center's parent organization, is a nonprofit federation of geoscientific professional associations representing more than 250,000 Earth scientists. The Center web site is being launched as part of Earth Science Week, the international celebration of the Earth sciences that is organized by AGI and reaches over 50 million people with geoscience resources and information each year.
AGI's Center for Geoscience Education and Public Understanding is a unique clearinghouse for Earth Science educational materials, information on "hot topics," geoscience career information, and geoscience educational research. The Center produces and releases national reports on the state of geoscience education, as well as examines implementation of new science education standards.
[
| 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.
American Geosciences Institute Center for Geoscience Education and Public Understanding
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
16-Oct-2013
[
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: Ann Benbow aeb@agiweb.org 703-379-2480 x245 American Geosciences Institute
Comprehensive clearinghouse for earth and space science education launches with thousands of resources
Alexandria, VA -- Today, a national center focused on the geosciences launches the world's most comprehensive and up-to-date online clearinghouse for Earth and space science information and educational resources, ranging from high school curricula and classroom activities to video collections, career resources, and national research reports.
The first such clearinghouse of its scope and type, the Center for Geoscience Education and Public Understanding's searchable web site http://www.geocntr.org provides the geoscience community, schools, and the general public with an extensive collection of resources and research from reliable science and education organizations.
"Teachers, media, families, and policy-makers should bookmark this site as the starting point for research about Earth and space science education," said Ann Benbow, director of the Center. "We have collected and organized resources that provide a variety of perspectives on important issues, and the site expands daily."
The Center's new site currently provides access to resources from nearly 700 organizations. These include universities, museums, federal and state agencies, media groups, AGI, and its member organizations and publishers. Approximately 2,000 annotated and searchable resource entries are available on the site, and this number includes many collections and galleries, each with hundreds of individual items such as photographs, videos, and presentations.
A sample of materials on the site: Earth science curricula; Earth science classroom activities; Teacher professional development programs; Science-topic presentations; Animation, video collections/still galleries; Virtual field trips; State science/Earth science organizations; Funding sources for teachers; Teaching award information; Earth science outreach programs.
###
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), the Center's parent organization, is a nonprofit federation of geoscientific professional associations representing more than 250,000 Earth scientists. The Center web site is being launched as part of Earth Science Week, the international celebration of the Earth sciences that is organized by AGI and reaches over 50 million people with geoscience resources and information each year.
AGI's Center for Geoscience Education and Public Understanding is a unique clearinghouse for Earth Science educational materials, information on "hot topics," geoscience career information, and geoscience educational research. The Center produces and releases national reports on the state of geoscience education, as well as examines implementation of new science education standards.
[
| 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.
Elephants have a mysterious and "tangible energy" according to South African photographer Greg Du Toit.
Now after a 10 year quest, his portrayal of this "energy" has been captured in an award-winning photo.
Titled "Essence of Elephants", the work has earned him the overall title in this year's Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
Preparation and passion, he says, were key to achieving the winning shot, taken from just over one metre away.
"There was one particular day when a baby elephant raced past right in front of my camera and I was ready. I had to be prepared for that moment," said Mr Du Toit.
He took the picture at a waterhole in Botswana's Northern Tuli Game Reserve from a hide (a sunken freight container) that provided a ground-level view. He had been going to the area five or six times a year for 10 years.
"I chose elephants because I feel a very special energy and connection when I'm around them," he told BBC News.
"But although you feel that energy it's very difficult to translate that into a camera because an elephant is such a big animal and they're not very charismatic, whereas a predator is far more charismatic."
Authentic moments
Using a very slow shutter speed on a wide angle lens "allowed all that energy to come into my camera" making him able to depict "these gentle giants in an almost ghostly way".
To achieve the cool blue hue he attached a polarising filter and set his white balance to a cool temperature.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) "means a lot to me for various reasons", said Du Toit, especially because photos were submitted anonymously, putting professionals and amateurs on an equal footing.
"In my mind it's one of the last places in the world you can actually look at a wildlife photo and trust that the moment is authentic."
Chair of the judging panel Jim Brandenburg said: "Greg's image immediately catapults us to African plains. This image stood out for both its technical excellence and the unique moment it captures - it is truly a once in a lifetime shot."
This year's Young Wildlife Photographer of the year is 14-year-old Udayan Rao Pawar from India.
His photo was of a fresh water crocodile with hatchlings on its head "kind of resembling a crown", explained Mr Pawar.
He crept up on the nestling colony of gharials on the banks of the Chambal River,
Grunting sounds
"When the dawn broke early in the morning I hid myself behind a rock, and when the morning light came I took those images.
"I could hear them making little grunting sounds. Very soon a large female surfaced near the shore, checking on her charges. Some of the hatchlings swam to her and climbed onto her head. Perhaps it made them feel safe."
Despite conservation efforts, the gharial fresh water crocodile is on the verge of extinction with an estimated 200 mating pairs remaining.
"The Chambal River is the gharial's last stronghold but is threatened by illegal sand-mining and fishing", added Udayan.
Wildlife photographer and Judge Tui De Roy said the composition and timing of the photograph was perfect.
"The mother's gaze seems directed at you, appealing to you to let her live and thrive in peace. This image is beautiful and thought provoking, but at the same time also wonderfully playful, making it a clear winner," he said.
WPY is one of the most prestigious competitions in world photography. Organised by London's Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine, it is now in its 49th year.
Images are submitted anonymously by professional and amateur photographers alike. They are selected for their creativity, artistry and technical complexity and must be submitted as a raw file with no manipulations.
The winners beat 43,000 entries submitted from 96 countries. You can see more images by clicking here. Some viewers may find the last photo in the gallery distressing.
The WPY exhibition opens on Friday 18 October at the Natural History Museum.
NBC is turning its lens to the mysterious world of pharmaceutical companies.
The network is teaming with Parenthood executive producer Lawrence Trilling and Shaun Cassidy for Empowered, a family thriller set in the pharmaceutical world that has received a script commitment from the network.
The drama revolves around Charlotte Davis, the public face of Omni Health, a massive pharmaceutical company with its tentacles in everything from bioengineering and nanotechnology to the U.S. military. When Charlotte's father is tragically killed and a mysterious stranger shows up on her doorstep claiming that Omni -- and Charlotte's husband -- are responsible, she finds herself torn between her search for the truth and the company that's always been her family. Against the backdrop of dangerous pharmaceutical experiments with far-reaching implications for everyone involved, Charlotte must risk everything she has left to uncover the truth.
Trilling will pen the script and direct should the drama move to pilot. He'll executive produce with Cassidy, with whom he worked on the latter's ABC drama Invasion. The drama marks the first sale for Cassidy under his new two-year overall deal with Universal Television.
Trilling's credits include exec producing and directing NBC's Parenthood; he also has directed Masters of Sex and was a co-EP on Pushing Daisies. He's repped by CAA and Jackoway Tyerman. Cassidy most recently was a consulting producer on CBS' Blue Bloods and developed the Western The Frontier for NBC via Sony Pictures Television. The drama from EP Thomas Schlamme was picked up to pilot but did not move forward in 2012. His credits also include Invasion, The Mountain and Cold Case. Cassidy is with CAA and Myman Greenspan.
AT&T has two new short-term data plans for tablet users — $5 for 250MB in a day, or $25 for 1GB over three months. These are in addition to the $10 a month customers pay to add a tablet to a shared plan. [9t05Mac]
World record: Wireless data transmission at 100 Gbit/s
Public release date: 14-Oct-2013 [
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: Monika Landgraf presse@kit.edu 49-721-608-47414 Helmholtz Association
This news release is available in German.
Extension of cable-based telecommunication networks requires high investments in both conurbations and rural areas. Broadband data transmission via radio relay links might help to cross rivers, motorways or nature protection areas at strategic node points, and to make network extension economically feasible. In the current issue of the nature photonics magazine, researchers present a method for wireless data transmission at a world-record rate of 100 gigabits per second. (doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2013.275)
In their record experiment, 100 gigabits of data per second were transmitted at a frequency of 237.5 GHz over a distance of 20 m in the laboratory. In previous field experiments under the "Millilink" project funded by the BMBF, rates of 40 gigabits per second and transmission distances of more than 1 km were reached. For their latest world record, the scientists applied a photonic method to generate the radio signals at the transmitter. After radio transmission, fully integrated electronic circuits were used in the receiver.
"Our project focused on integration of a broadband radio relay link into fiber-optical systems," Professor Ingmar Kallfass says. He coordinated the "Millilink" project under a shared professorship funded by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Since early 2013, he has been conducting research at Stuttgart University. "For rural areas in particular, this technology represents an inexpensive and flexible alternative to optical fiber networks, whose extension can often not be justified from an economic point of view." Kallfass also sees applications for private homes: "At a data rate of 100 gigabits per second, it would be possible to transmit the contents of a blue-ray disk or of five DVDs between two devices by radio within two seconds only."
In the experiments, latest photonic and electronic technologies were combined: First, the radio signals are generated by means of an optical method. Several bits are combined by so-called data symbols and transmitted at the same time. Upon transmission, the radio signals are received by active integrated electronic circuits.
The transmitter generates the radio signals by means of an ultra-broadband so-called photon mixer made by the Japanese company NTT-NEL. For this, two optical laser signals of different frequencies are superimposed on a photodiode. An electrical signal results, the frequency of which equals the frequency difference of both optical signals, here, 237.5 GHz. The millimeter-wave electrical signal is then radiated via an antenna.
"It is a major advantage of the photonic method that data streams from fiber-optical systems can directly be converted into high-frequency radio signals," Professor Jrg Leuthold says. He proposed the photonic extension that was realized in this project. The former head of the KIT Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics (IPQ) is now affiliated with ETH Zurich. "This advantage makes the integration of radio relay links of high bit rates into optical fiber networks easier and more flexible." In contrast to a purely electronic transmitter, no intermediate electronic circuit is needed. "Due to the large bandwidth and the good linearity of the photon mixer, the method is excellently suited for transmission of advanced modulation formats with multiple amplitude and phase states. This will be a necessity in future fiber-optical systems," Leuthold adds.
Reception of radio signals is based on electronic circuits. In the experiment, a semiconductor chip was employed that was produced by the Fraunhofer Institute of Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) within the framework of the "Millilink" project. The semiconductor technology is based on high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMT) enabling the fabrication of active, broadband receivers for the frequency range between 200 and 280 GHz. The integrated circuits have a chip size of a few square millimeters only. The receiver chip can also cope with advanced modulation formats. As a result, the radio link can be integrated into modern optical fiber networks in a bit-transparent way.
Already in May this year the team succeeded in transmitting a data rate of 40 gigabits per second over a long distance in the laboratory using a purely electronic system. In addition, data were transmitted successfully over a distance of one kilometer from one high-riser to another in the Karlsruhe City center. "The long transmission distances in "Millilink" were reached with conventional antennas that may be replaced by fully integrated miniaturized antenna designs in future compact systems for indoor use," says Professor Thomas Zwick, Head of the KIT Institut fr Hochfrequenztechnik und Elektronik (Institute of High-Frequency Technology and Electronics). The present data rate can be still increased. "By employing optical and electrical multiplexing techniques, i.e., by simultaneously transmitting multiple data streams, and by using multiple transmitting and receiving antennas, the data rate could be multiplied," says Swen Knig from the KIT Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics (IPQ), who conceived and conducted the recent world-record experiment. "Hence, radio systems having a data rate of 1 terabit per second appear to be feasible."
The "Millilink" project (March 2010 to May 2013) was funded with a total budget of EUR 2 million by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the program "Broadband Access Networks of the Next Generation". Apart from the research institutions of Fraunhofer IAF and KIT, the industry partners Siemens AG, Kathrein KG, and Radiometer Physics GmbH participated in the project. The project focused on integrating wireless or radio links into broadband optical communication networks for rapid internet access in rural areas in particular. Other possible applications are indoor wireless local area networks (WLAN), wireless personal area networks (WPAN), and intra-machine and board-to-board communication. In the recent experiment, the originally purely electronic "Millilink" concept was extended by a photonic transmitter. At KIT, work is now continued under the Helmholtz International Research School of Teratronics (HIRST), a graduate school focusing on the combination of photonic and electronic methods for signal processing at highest frequencies.
###
Reference: Wireless sub-THz communication system with high data rate. S. Koenig, D. Lopez-Diaz, J. Antes, F. Boes, R. Henneberger, A. Leuther, A. Tessmann, R. Schmogrow, D. Hillerkuss, R. Palmer, T. Zwick, C. Koos, W. Freude, O. Ambacher, J. Leuthold, and I. Kallfass. nature photonics. doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2013.275, http://www.nature.com/nphoton/index.html.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation according to the legislation of the state of Baden-Wrttemberg. It fulfills the mission of a university and the mission of a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. Research activities focus on energy, the natural and built environment as well as on society and technology and cover the whole range extending from fundamental aspects to application. With about 9000 employees, including nearly 6000 staff members in the science and education sector, and 24000 students, KIT is one of the biggest research and education institutions in Europe. Work of KIT is based on the knowledge triangle of research, teaching, and innovation.
This press release is available on the internet at http://www.kit.edu.
The photos of printing quality may be downloaded under http://www.kit.edu or requested by mail to presse@kit.edu or phone +49 721 608-4 7414. The photos may be used in the context given above exclusively.
[
| 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.
World record: Wireless data transmission at 100 Gbit/s
Public release date: 14-Oct-2013 [
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: Monika Landgraf presse@kit.edu 49-721-608-47414 Helmholtz Association
This news release is available in German.
Extension of cable-based telecommunication networks requires high investments in both conurbations and rural areas. Broadband data transmission via radio relay links might help to cross rivers, motorways or nature protection areas at strategic node points, and to make network extension economically feasible. In the current issue of the nature photonics magazine, researchers present a method for wireless data transmission at a world-record rate of 100 gigabits per second. (doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2013.275)
In their record experiment, 100 gigabits of data per second were transmitted at a frequency of 237.5 GHz over a distance of 20 m in the laboratory. In previous field experiments under the "Millilink" project funded by the BMBF, rates of 40 gigabits per second and transmission distances of more than 1 km were reached. For their latest world record, the scientists applied a photonic method to generate the radio signals at the transmitter. After radio transmission, fully integrated electronic circuits were used in the receiver.
"Our project focused on integration of a broadband radio relay link into fiber-optical systems," Professor Ingmar Kallfass says. He coordinated the "Millilink" project under a shared professorship funded by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Since early 2013, he has been conducting research at Stuttgart University. "For rural areas in particular, this technology represents an inexpensive and flexible alternative to optical fiber networks, whose extension can often not be justified from an economic point of view." Kallfass also sees applications for private homes: "At a data rate of 100 gigabits per second, it would be possible to transmit the contents of a blue-ray disk or of five DVDs between two devices by radio within two seconds only."
In the experiments, latest photonic and electronic technologies were combined: First, the radio signals are generated by means of an optical method. Several bits are combined by so-called data symbols and transmitted at the same time. Upon transmission, the radio signals are received by active integrated electronic circuits.
The transmitter generates the radio signals by means of an ultra-broadband so-called photon mixer made by the Japanese company NTT-NEL. For this, two optical laser signals of different frequencies are superimposed on a photodiode. An electrical signal results, the frequency of which equals the frequency difference of both optical signals, here, 237.5 GHz. The millimeter-wave electrical signal is then radiated via an antenna.
"It is a major advantage of the photonic method that data streams from fiber-optical systems can directly be converted into high-frequency radio signals," Professor Jrg Leuthold says. He proposed the photonic extension that was realized in this project. The former head of the KIT Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics (IPQ) is now affiliated with ETH Zurich. "This advantage makes the integration of radio relay links of high bit rates into optical fiber networks easier and more flexible." In contrast to a purely electronic transmitter, no intermediate electronic circuit is needed. "Due to the large bandwidth and the good linearity of the photon mixer, the method is excellently suited for transmission of advanced modulation formats with multiple amplitude and phase states. This will be a necessity in future fiber-optical systems," Leuthold adds.
Reception of radio signals is based on electronic circuits. In the experiment, a semiconductor chip was employed that was produced by the Fraunhofer Institute of Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) within the framework of the "Millilink" project. The semiconductor technology is based on high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMT) enabling the fabrication of active, broadband receivers for the frequency range between 200 and 280 GHz. The integrated circuits have a chip size of a few square millimeters only. The receiver chip can also cope with advanced modulation formats. As a result, the radio link can be integrated into modern optical fiber networks in a bit-transparent way.
Already in May this year the team succeeded in transmitting a data rate of 40 gigabits per second over a long distance in the laboratory using a purely electronic system. In addition, data were transmitted successfully over a distance of one kilometer from one high-riser to another in the Karlsruhe City center. "The long transmission distances in "Millilink" were reached with conventional antennas that may be replaced by fully integrated miniaturized antenna designs in future compact systems for indoor use," says Professor Thomas Zwick, Head of the KIT Institut fr Hochfrequenztechnik und Elektronik (Institute of High-Frequency Technology and Electronics). The present data rate can be still increased. "By employing optical and electrical multiplexing techniques, i.e., by simultaneously transmitting multiple data streams, and by using multiple transmitting and receiving antennas, the data rate could be multiplied," says Swen Knig from the KIT Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics (IPQ), who conceived and conducted the recent world-record experiment. "Hence, radio systems having a data rate of 1 terabit per second appear to be feasible."
The "Millilink" project (March 2010 to May 2013) was funded with a total budget of EUR 2 million by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the program "Broadband Access Networks of the Next Generation". Apart from the research institutions of Fraunhofer IAF and KIT, the industry partners Siemens AG, Kathrein KG, and Radiometer Physics GmbH participated in the project. The project focused on integrating wireless or radio links into broadband optical communication networks for rapid internet access in rural areas in particular. Other possible applications are indoor wireless local area networks (WLAN), wireless personal area networks (WPAN), and intra-machine and board-to-board communication. In the recent experiment, the originally purely electronic "Millilink" concept was extended by a photonic transmitter. At KIT, work is now continued under the Helmholtz International Research School of Teratronics (HIRST), a graduate school focusing on the combination of photonic and electronic methods for signal processing at highest frequencies.
###
Reference: Wireless sub-THz communication system with high data rate. S. Koenig, D. Lopez-Diaz, J. Antes, F. Boes, R. Henneberger, A. Leuther, A. Tessmann, R. Schmogrow, D. Hillerkuss, R. Palmer, T. Zwick, C. Koos, W. Freude, O. Ambacher, J. Leuthold, and I. Kallfass. nature photonics. doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2013.275, http://www.nature.com/nphoton/index.html.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation according to the legislation of the state of Baden-Wrttemberg. It fulfills the mission of a university and the mission of a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. Research activities focus on energy, the natural and built environment as well as on society and technology and cover the whole range extending from fundamental aspects to application. With about 9000 employees, including nearly 6000 staff members in the science and education sector, and 24000 students, KIT is one of the biggest research and education institutions in Europe. Work of KIT is based on the knowledge triangle of research, teaching, and innovation.
This press release is available on the internet at http://www.kit.edu.
The photos of printing quality may be downloaded under http://www.kit.edu or requested by mail to presse@kit.edu or phone +49 721 608-4 7414. The photos may be used in the context given above exclusively.
[
| 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.
COLOGNE, Germany – We Are The Best!, the feel-good coming of age film from Swedish director Lukas Moodysson (Together) continues its sales streak, with TrustNordisk closing a series of new deals for the title, including ones for France (MK2), Russia (Caravella), Mexico (Cannibal Networks), Hungary (Vertigo), Greece (One from the Heart), Estonia (Estin Film) and Hong Kong (Edko).
We Are The Best! pre-sold to multiple territories, but the buying spree truly began after the film's screening at the Venice and Toronto film festivals, when Magnolia picked it up for North American release and Trust closed deals for territories such as Australia (NewVision Films) and Italy (Bim Distribuzione)
Adapted from a graphic novel by Lukas Moodysson's wife Coco, We Are The Best! follows three teenage girls living in 1980s Stockholm, who unite to form a punk band, even though everyone tells them punk is dead.
Critics have hailed the film as Moodysoon's return to the more crowd pleasing style of his earlier films such as Show Me Love (1998) and Together (2000).
Things may be looking up for Lamar Odom. On Tuesday, Oct. 15, the troubled athlete, 33, was spotted enjoying a long, leisurely lunch with friends in Glendale, Calif.
Dressed casually in a white shirt and sweats -- and with his wedding ring firmly in place on his left hand -- the NBA free agent spent five hours at Armenian eatery Gavar Cuisine. He was joined by a couple of close pals.
At one point during the meal, the star (married to Khloe Kardashian) was spotted cuddling a baby belonging to one of his companions. He also chatted briefly with the restaurant owner, whom he thanked before he left.
"He is trying to show Khloe that he's changing and he wants to make it work," a source tells Us Weekly of Odom, who made headlines this summer for his drug use and marriage troubles. "He is working out and looks really good and is happy again. It's so nice to see him getting better."
Indeed, the athlete had a lot of people really worried for a while. During a recent episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians -- filmed prior to Odom's estrangement from his wife, 29 -- Khloe expressed her concerns about her husband's well-being.
"There are a lot of emotional issues I think that Lamar has," she told sister Kylie. "I do want to help or cater to Lamar, but also, there is only so much anyone can take. Lamar is a very depressed person, which is sad but understandable with everything he has been through in his life."
BEIJING (Reuters) - Britain opened the door to investment from China in its nuclear sector on Thursday as finance minister George Osborne invited Chinese companies to take stakes in new nuclear projects.
During a visit to China, Osborne said the two countries had signed a memorandum of understanding on nuclear cooperation that included roles for British companies in China's nuclear sector.
"While any initial Chinese stake in a nuclear power project is likely to be a minority stake, over time stakes in subsequent new power stations could be majority stakes," a statement from the UK Treasury said.
The government said this week it was "extremely close" to a deal with French energy company EDF related to building Britain's first new nuclear power station since 1995.
China General Nuclear Power Group (CGNPG) is set to join the project.
Osborne's statement did not refer to the EDF project. He was visiting a nuclear plant at Taishan in southern China on Thursday that is a collaboration between EDF and CGNPG.
Britain aims to renew its fleet of ageing nuclear power plants but needs foreign investment to pay huge upfront costs.
A report for the prime minister warned on Thursday that Britain's shrinking power capacity could lead to blackouts during the winter of next year.
Last year, Japan's Hitachi bought a new nuclear joint venture company from Germany's RWE and E.ON for a hefty price tag, underlining interest from Asian firms in entering Britain's nuclear industry.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey said on Sunday he expected nuclear investments from South Korea as well as money from China, Japan and France.
Thursday's MOU announcement also covers training in Britain for Chinese technicians, the statement said.
"Investment from Chinese companies in the UK electricity market is welcome, providing they can meet our stringent regulatory and safety requirements," Ed Davey said in the statement.
China has 17 nuclear reactors in operation, accounting for about 1 percent of electricity production capacity. Another 28 nuclear plants are under construction.
Osborne is in China on a trade mission that this week saw Britain take a step closer to winning the battle to become the main offshore hub for trading in China's currency and bonds by offering less stringent rules for Chinese banks setting up in London.
(Reporting by Jonathan Standing; additional reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Karolin Schaps in London; editing by Alan Raybould and Jason Neely)
Visual effects vet Jeff Barnes — co-founder of CafeFX and The Syndicate and past Digital Domain vp — has formed a partnership with Portland, Ore.-based digital production and animation studio Bent Image Lab through which he will oversee the company’s new Digital Media Group.
In his role, Barnes will work with the Bent team to create content for cell phones, tablets and touch screens as well as special venue experiences implementing augmented reality, pixel mapping and other developing technologies. He also will manage the company’s visual effects division, whose credits include NBC’s Grimm and IFC’s Portlandia.
Bent began as a stop-motion, mixed-media and CGI studio and is expanding its new media division. “It is a whole new world of opportunity for unique ways of telling stories and promoting products through alternative viewing spaces,” Barnes said in a statement, adding that he has “known the team at Bent for years and has always been impressed with their high level of creativity and unique approaches to production.”
Barnes has worked on roughly 85 films, including Alice in Wonderland, Iron Man, Spider-Man 3, Pan’s Labyrinth and Sin City.
Said Bent CEO Ray Di Carlo of Barnes: “His experience and reputation in the visual effects space is among the highest in the industry. He will be invaluable to our studio for both the new venture and our growing visual effects efforts."
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius discusses the federal health care overhaul during a panel discussion at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Cincinnati. For the first month alone, the Obama administration projected that nearly a half million people world sign up for the new health insurance markets, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. But that was before the markets opened to a cascade of computer problems. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius discusses the federal health care overhaul during a panel discussion at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Cincinnati. For the first month alone, the Obama administration projected that nearly a half million people world sign up for the new health insurance markets, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. But that was before the markets opened to a cascade of computer problems. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius discusses the federal health care overhaul during a panel discussion at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Cincinnati. Administration officials projected nearly 500,000 people would sign up just this month in the new health insurance markets that opened to a cascade of computer problems, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. If the glitches persist and frustrated consumers give up trying, even that initial goal described as modest in the memo could slip out of reach. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, right, meets with Cincinnati State Technical and Community College President O'dell M. Owens, after they participated in a panel discussion on the federal health care overhaul, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, at the college in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first month alone, the Obama administration projected that nearly a half million people would sign up for the new health insurance markets, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. But that was before the markets opened to a cascade of computer problems.
If the glitches persist and frustrated consumers give up trying, that initial goal, described as modest in the memo, could slip out of reach.
The Sept. 5 memo, for Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, lists monthly enrollment targets for each state and Washington, D.C., through March 31, the last day of the initial open enrollment period under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
The new online insurance markets, called exchanges in some states, are supposed to be the portals to coverage for most of the nation's nearly 50 million uninsured people. Middle-class people without job-based coverage can shop for subsidized private plans, while low-income people are steered to an expanded version of Medicaid in states that have agreed to expand that safety net program.
Although the Oct. 1 launch of the markets was a top priority for the White House, the rollout was quickly overwhelmed by computer problems, and many potential customers still have not been able to enroll. Insurers say signups are coming through, but slowly. The administration has refused to release enrollment numbers.
A surge of interest by consumers going online appeared to trigger the problems, which also seem to involve underlying software flaws and design shortcomings undetected or overlooked in testing. The administration is holding the explanation close, while working feverishly to fix the glitches — with incomplete results so far.
In Cincinnati on Wednesday, Sebelius urged Americans to keep coming back to healthcare.gov if they can't get through. "Prices don't change and the product doesn't run out," she said.
In the memo, officials estimated that 494,620 people would sign up for health insurance under the program by Oct. 31. And that was portrayed as a slow start.
"We expect enrollment in the initial months to be low," said the memo titled "Projected Monthly Enrollment Targets for Health Insurance Marketplaces in 2014."
A big jump was expected after Thanksgiving, since Dec. 15 is the last day people can sign up so their coverage will take effect Jan. 1. Starting in the new year, the health care law requires virtually all Americans to have insurance or face fines. At the same time, insurance companies will be forbidden from turning away people in poor health.
The memo projected enrollment would reach 3.3 million nationally by Dec. 31.
Signups were expected to spike again in March, as procrastinators noticed the approaching end of open enrollment season. "We anticipate a surge of enrollment in December and March," the memo said.
By the end of March, total enrollment through the markets was expected to surpass 7 million, an estimate originally from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and then used by the administration as the foundation for its projections.
"These numbers are one projection of how the CBO's estimate of 7 million enrollees in year one could break down," HHS spokeswoman Joanne Peters said in a statement. "Projections are constantly changing based on experience. We are focused on reaching as many people as possible in each state."
The Obama administration has promised enrollment numbers by the middle of next month for the 36 states where the federal government is taking the lead in running the markets.
The 14 states running their own markets, along with Washington, D.C., have released some data. But it's hard to discern a clear pattern, since the reporting dates are different from state to state.
California reported 16,300 applications processed as of Oct. 5. The memo projects 91,000 people will enroll in the state by the end of the month.
Kentucky reported 18,351 applications processed as of Oct. 9. That would exceed the memo's projection of 15,400 for the month.
Washington state reported 24,949 applications processed as of Monday, a little more than the memo's October projection of 23,800.
Maryland reported 566 applications processed as of Oct. 6, compared with 10,500 projected for the month by the memo.
There are several reasons why enrollment numbers are important for the overall success of the law.
Most people spend relatively modest amounts on medical care each year, and a small proportion of patients accounts for the overwhelming majority of costs. Since older, sicker people are expected to enroll as the law lifts barriers that now keep them from getting insurance, premiums from lots of younger, healthier people are needed to help offset those costs.
Also, state numbers are as important as national totals. That's because each state's insurance market will remain separate under the law. "Obamacare" doesn't create a one-size-fits-all national program — like Medicare — but a bunch of state programs. That means lots of young healthy people signing up in California, for example, cannot cross-subsidize older, sicker people in another state.
"You can bust through these targets, but if it's mostly older and sicker people, then you are not in good shape," said Larry Levitt, a health insurance expert with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
___
Associated Press writer Lisa Cornwell in Cincinnati contributed to this report.
"Golden age of television" was the most overused term at the international TV confab MIPCOM in Cannes, France, that ended Oct. 16, as execs attempted to describe the unprecedented boom in high-end TV drama flooding the global market. Inspired by the critical and commercial success of the likes of Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, networks around the world are ramping up serious serialized drama.
The MIP halls usually are stuffed with posters promoting daytime soaps and cheap reality formats, but the focus this year was on pricey prestige fare like the swashbuckling adventure of Starz's pirate series Black Sails, the Minnesota noir of MGM's film-to-series adaptation Fargo, starring Billy Bob Thornton, the British crime procedural Broadchurch and the Turkish conspiracy thriller The End (the latter two of which are being adapted for the U.S.).
But while drama is hot, the sudden shift to serious TV has left many global broadcasters worried about a future lack of bread-and-butter programming: the sitcoms and nonserialized cop shows that make up the bulk of TV schedules worldwide.
"Networks are looking for comedies, but the hype is about drama now. Look at Modern Family -- that is changing the face of television, but dramas are getting all the attention," says Peter Iacono, international managing director at Lionsgate, which sells both top dramas such as Netflix's Orange Is the New Black and lowbrow comedy, including Charlie Sheen's Anger Management.
Despite the current focus on dark and complex, most mainstream channels worldwide like it simple and repeatable. By-the-book procedurals such as CSI, NCIS and The Mentalist are global ratings giants, as are laugh-track sitcoms in the vein of 2 Broke Girls and The Big Bang Theory. By contrast, the international market for a Breaking Bad or Black Sails is more niche, and selling to a pay-TV or a smaller digital network is more probable than scoring a lucrative primetime slot on one of the big free-TV broadcasters in France, Germany or Brazil.
"A show you can pop in and out of. Not too dark or gritty," says Christina Jennings, CEO of Canadian production house Shaftesbury, on the demands of international networks. Shaftesbury's light, mainstream procedural The Listener has sold in more than 120 territories.
Still, the MIP market is valued at around $4 billion, so there's plenty of money in play. And at the moment, the demand for high-end drama -- driven by an explosion of new digital, cable and VOD platforms worldwide -- continues to outstrip supply.
But as dark and gritty become commonplace, viewers worldwide may begin to cry out for less Walter White and more Sheldon Cooper.
England and defending champion Spain qualified for the World Cup on Tuesday night along with Russia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which earned its first berth as an independent nation.
Three more spots were at stake in late games in South and Central America, finalizing 21 of the 32 slots for the field in Brazil next June.
Wayne Rooney scored in the 41st minute and Steven Gerrard in the 88th to give England (6-0-4) a 2-0 win over Poland at London's Wembley Stadium and first place in Group H by one point over Ukraine (6-1-3). The Three Lions qualified for their 14th World Cup and fifth in a row.
Spain (6-0-2) won Group I with a 2-0 victory over visiting Georgia on goals by Alvaro Negredo in the 26th minute and Juan Mata on Juan Mata in the 61st. France (5-1-2) was second and will be in the playoffs despite defeating visiting Finland 3-0 on goals by Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema around Joona Toivio's own goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, Greece, Ukraine, Romania and Iceland also finished second in their groups, winding up in Monday's draw for the eight-team European playoffs next month along with Sweden and Croatia. The four playoff winners also will earn berths.
Denmark (4-2-4) had the worst record of the nine second-place teams and missed out.
Bosnia (8-1-1) won 1-0 at Lithuania on Vedad Ibisevic's 68th-minute goal to win Group G on goal difference over Greece (8-1-1), which beat visiting Liechtenstein 2-0 as Dimitris Salpingidis scored in the seventh minute and Giorgos Karagounis added a goal in the 81st.
Russia (7-2-1) won Group F with a 1-1 tie at Azerbaijan as Roman Shirokov scored in the 15th. Portugal (6-1-3) finished a point back after defeating visiting Luxembourg 3-0 on goals by Silvestre Varela, Nani and Helder Postiga.
Later Tuesday, Ecuador, Chile and Uruguay competed for South America's final two automatic berths, with Uruguay and Venezuala having a chance to finish fifth — which earns a playoff against Jordan.
In North and Central America and the Caribbean, Honduras was three points ahead of Mexico for the region's last automatic berth, and Mexico was three points ahead of Panama for fourth playoff and a playoff against Oceania champion New Zealand. The U.S., which clinched last month, was at Panama, while Mexico was at Costa Rica, and Honduras at Jamaica.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Denver Broncos coach John Fox is agitated with Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay for taking what he called a cheap shot at quarterback Peyton Manning.
Fox used his weekly SiriusXM NFL Radio appearance Tuesday to criticize the Colts' owner for sounding ungrateful for all Manning did for his team and city, including winning a Super Bowl in 2007.
Irsay told USA Today in an interview Tuesday that the Colts turned to Andrew Luck two years ago and fired Manning rather than pay him a $28 million roster bonus because they were looking for more playoff success.
Fox normally isn't one to criticize anyone in public, but Irsay's comments clearly struck a nerve.
The Broncos, who have won 19 of 23 games under Manning — but lost to Baltimore in the playoffs — visit the Colts on Sunday night in Manning's first return to Indianapolis as a visiting player.
Kirkuk (Iraq) (AFP) - A bomb ripped through a crowd of worshippers as they left a Sunni mosque in Iraq Tuesday, killing 12 people, as they marked the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Three children, a policeman and an army officer were among the dead from the blast in the northern city of Kirkuk, which also wounded 26 people, police and a doctor said.
Bodies, their clothes covered in blood, were placed in the back of a police pickup truck to be taken away, an AFP journalist reported.
Angry and grieving people railed against those who carried out the attack, shouting: "God take revenge on those who are evil!"
Worshipper Khalaf al-Obaidi said he narrowly avoided the blast because he had gone to greet one of his brothers inside the mosque instead of leaving.
"Then the bomb exploded," Obaidi said.
"You look and you see your friend or your brother or your relatives (on the ground). Even an infidel would not do this," he said. "God willing, there will be security and safety for this country and its poor people."
Eid al-Adha, which commemorates the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) to sacrifice his son at God's command, is the biggest Muslim holiday of the year.
In Iraq, as around the Islamic world, people mark the holiday by slaughtering an animal, normally a sheep, and giving the meat to the poor.
As with various other religious occasions in Iraq, observance differs between Sunnis and Shiites.
Eid al-Adha begins for Sunnis on Tuesday this year, while most Shiites consider Wednesday to be the first of the holiday.
"We ask God to keep the ghost of sectarian strife... and civil war, on which those who sold their soul to the devil are insisting, away from our country," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in pre-recorded remarks broadcast on Tuesday.
"Our region today is in a storm of violence moved by sectarianism and terrorists, and our country is in the heart of this storm," he said.
On Monday, UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov had called for unity in Iraq on the occasion of the holiday.
“On this Eid and at this crucial time, I would like to plead for unity and understanding among all the Iraqis and their political, religious, and civil leaders," Mladenov said in a statement.
"It is only through working together that the people of Iraq can stand up to the violence that is tearing society apart."
Other attacks in Kirkuk, Nineveh and Baghdad provinces on Tuesday killed three people and wounded three more, officials said.
Almost nothing is safe from attack by militants in Iraq, and violence has reached a level not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict.
Secure targets such as prisons have been struck in recent months, along with cafes, markets, mosques, football fields, weddings and funerals.
Attacks on both Sunni and Shiite gatherings have raised fears of a relapse into the intense sectarian bloodshed that killed tens of thousands of people in 2006-2007.
Analysts say the Shiite-led government's failure to address the grievances of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority -- which complains of being excluded from government jobs and senior posts and of abuses by security forces -- has driven the surge in unrest.
Violence worsened sharply after security forces stormed a Sunni anti-government protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23, sparking clashes in which dozens died.
And while the authorities have made some concessions aimed at placating anti-government protesters and Sunnis in general, such as freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of Sunni anti-Al-Qaeda fighters, underlying issues remain unaddressed.
The government has enacted new security measures, stepped up executions and carried out wide-ranging operations against militants for more than two months, but has so far failed to curb the violence.
The latest unrest takes the number of people killed so far this month to more than 310, and to over 5,000 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.
At Microsoft's huge Xbox reveal last spring, the company made a big hubub about the 300,000 cloud servers it would be adding to help speed up GPU and CPU heavy tasks. But in an interview with Gizmodo, Xbox Live Lead Programmer John Bruno detailed how it could change the way we think about gaming in the future.
Powerful cloud computing lets developers offload tasks like graphics processing and AI computation from Xbox One's local resources. "There is s thrust to turn more things server-side," Says Bruno. "Looking for ways to expand the power of the box." As we've noted before, this lets game developers build games bigger than what the hardware can support on its own. But it could be so much more.
Dedicated servers for all
In large measure, Xbox Live is about multiplayer gaming, and in effort to make its offering competitive, Microsoft is offering the benefits of its scalable dedicated server resources to all developers for free. This sounds like a lot of techno-babble, but it's a big deal. "We want Xbox Live to be the best place to play multiplayer games," says Bruno.
How does the Xbox Live cloud help? As the developer of Tinfallexplained back in June, scalable, dedicated server resources vastly improve gaming experiences. They make multiplayer more reliable by preventing disconnects, and they also make sessions fair by eliminating any advantages a player hosting a game might have.
Big game studios can pay for their own server resources that are allocated regionally depending on who is logging on to play games where. Microsoft's offer of free cloud computing allows all developers to take advantage of big-ticket resources, even if they're not that big.
Games that evolve
The lofty potential of Xbox Live's Cloud Computing is that it allows developers to evolve games and experiences over time. In a commonly cited example, Forza studies your driving style over time to evolve its AI.
But according to Bruno, this is just the tip of the iceberg. "It could change the way developers think about their franchises and their intellectual property." What if a game purchase was a constantly evolving experience that grew over time—more like what we're used to from software these days. We're talking about more than just patches and stability improvements. Bruno declined to comment on the future of business models, but he did note that it would be interesting to see developers grow their games over time. Imagine a world without expansion packs.
Where does that leave us?
Bruno is obviously touting all of the benefits of Xbox Live's cloud in an effort to lure in both developers and customers. It remains to be seen how many people will actually take advantage of the possibilities on Xbox One. What' pretty certain, is that there's an opportunity, and that's always a good thing.
Former hot person Madonna has been banned from Texas theater chain The Alamo Drafthouse over being a bitch and texting during a movie. We told you the other day about an incident during a screening of 12 Years A Slave in which she was politely asked to quit texting and responded back, “It’s for business, ENSLAVER!”. The Alamo Drafthouse is famous for serving beer and grub during movies. You can get loaded, but you can’t fucking text. It’s all your personal freedoms not bleeding over into others.
“Until she apologizes to movie fans, Madonna is banned from watching movies @drafthouse.”
One theater chain banning the old crone may not affect Madonna’s behavior all that much. But what if she was banned from all theaters? What if Madonna were chased into the hills like the monstrous Gollum she is by angry cinephiles? Anyone who texts during a movie should be crucified in the parking lot as a warning for others. Please, Alamo, let the person she yelled at be the first to drive the nails into her frightening Middle Earth arms.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_t78scPCV5By9QsGnlqek7m1tWXaMJHL7RUh0MkQfgDqm-my04Hw1Af2dvct1Ia6dQ_aEVHLAKeZWw6GqoR7K2_nAW6WiUWrP1yJ-uHWTc=s0-d){kind=small}
Share
Source: 