Leading economic indicator rises in October

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A gauge of future U.S. economic activity rose marginally in October, pointing to modest growth in the near term.

The Conference Board said on Wednesday its Leading Economic Index increased 0.2 percent to 96.0 after advancing 0.5 percent in September. It was the second consecutive month of gains and was in line with economists’ expectations.

“Based on the trends, the economy will continue to expand modestly through the early months of 2013,” said Ken Goldstein, an economist at the Conference Board.

Goldstein said superstorm Sandy, which ravaged the East Coast at the end of October, was not yet fully reflected in the LEI data. He cautioned, however, that the storm could adversely affect consumer spending and home building in the short-term.

“In addition, the outcome of the fiscal cliff debates is another factor that could alter the outlook,” said Goldstein.

The fiscal cliff refers to automatic government spending cuts and higher taxes that could suck about $ 600 billion from the economy early next year. Business confidence has taken a dive in recent months on fears of tighter fiscal policy.

(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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Greek PM presses for deal on loan

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has reacted with dismay to the European Union‘s failure to agree to release vital rescue loan funds for the debt-ridden country, with the prime minister warning it was not just Greece’s future that hangs in the balance.

The delay prolongs uncertainty over the future of Greece, which faces a messy default that would threaten the entire euro currency used by 17 EU nations.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras stressed that Greece has done what its creditors from the EU and International Monetary Fund required. “Our partners, along with the IMF, also must do what they have committed to doing,” he said.

He said that “it is not just the future of our country, but the stability of the entire eurozone” that depend on the success of negotiations in coming days.

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Microsoft vs. Google trial over patents finishes up

SEATTLE (Reuters) – A Google expert witness testified on Tuesday that Microsoft will make roughly $ 94 billion in revenue through 2017 from its Xbox game console and Surface tablet that use Google‘s patented wireless technology.

Michael Dansky, an expert for Google‘s Motorola Mobility unit, testified on the last day of a high stakes trial over patents between Microsoft and Google in Seattle. The $ 94 billion figure he cited also includes a wireless adapter that Microsoft no longer sells. It was not clear how far back he was counting past revenues.

Microsoft declined comment on the figure.

The week-long trial in a Seattle federal court examined how much of a royalty Microsoft Corp should pay Google Inc for a license to some of Motorola‘s patents. Google bought Motorola earlier this year for $ 12.5 billion, partly for its library of communications patents.

Motorola had sought up to $ 4 billion a year for its wireless and video patents, while Microsoft argues its rival deserves just over $ 1 million a year.

If U.S. District Judge James Robart decides Google deserves only a small royalty, then its Motorola patents would be a weaker bargaining chip for Google to negotiate licensing deals with rivals.

The rapid rise of smartphones has sparked an explosion of litigation between major players disputing ownership of the underlying technology and the design of handsets.

Apple Inc and Microsoft have been litigating in courts around the world against Google and partners like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which use the Android operating system on their mobile devices.

Apple contends that Android is basically a copy of its iOS smartphone software, and Microsoft holds patents that it contends cover a number of Android features.

In return, Motorola and some other Android hardware makers launched countering legal action.

Before trial, Robart said testimony about patent license agreements between Microsoft, Motorola and other tech companies could be disclosed to the public, along with other sensitive financial information.

However, the judge reversed himself this week and said he was bound by appellate precedent to keep that information secret. On Tuesday he cleared the courtroom and heard two hours of testimony in secret.

During the open session, Dansky said Motorola‘s video patents are crucial to Microsoft and other tech companies, and deserve a high royalty.

“You will have a difficult time selling smart phones or tablets,” Dansky said, without Motorola‘s technology.

Robart is not expected to release a ruling for several weeks as both companies must file further legal briefs.

The case in U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington is Microsoft Corp. vs. Motorola Inc., 10-cv-1823.

(Reporting by Lisa Dembiczak; Writing by Dan Levine; Editing by Richard Pullin)

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Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne to reprise roles for “Insidious” sequel

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – FilmDistrict, Alliance Films and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions will bring “Insidious Chapter 2,” the sequel to last year’s hit film “Insidious,” to U.S. theaters on August 30, 2013, the companies announced Monday.

Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye and Ty Simpkins will reprise their roles in the film, which “Insidious” director James Wan will direct from a script written by Leigh Whannell who also wrote the first film.

Jason Blum, who produced “Insidious,” is producing the low-budget sequel through his Blumhouse Productions. Brian Kavanaugh Jones, Oren Peli, Steven Schneider, and Charles Layton are executive producing. Production on the sequel is set to begin on January 15 in Los Angeles.

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired the U.S. rights to the film in conjunction with FilmDistrict. The film is being financed by Alliance Films. FilmDistrict will distribute the film theatrically in the United States, with Sony handling the majority of ancillary rights in the U.S.

Alliance Films will distribute in Canada, the U.K. (via its Momentum Pictures subsidiary) and Spain (via Aurum), and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions will distribute in all other international territories.

Peter Schlessel, FilmDistrict’s CEO, said: “We are all very excited to see the next chapter of James and Leigh’s vision of the Further. It’s great to be in business again with Blumhouse, Alliance and Sony.”

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Rockets hold up aid for Gaza from Israel

TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Hamas rockets forced the closure of the main crossing point for humanitarian aid from Israel to Gaza on Tuesday, holding up the transfer of more than 100 truckloads of food and medical supplies including anesthetics, Israeli officials said.

Despite the fact its air force is bombarding the coastal enclave, Israel is trying to maintain the essential daily flow of basic foodstuffs into the Gaza Strip where most of 1.7 million Palestinians are dependent on aid.

A Twitter message from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that “120+ trucks of supplies from Israel are waiting at Gaza border crossing. Hamas is firing rockets at the crossing. Trucks can’t enter now”.

Israel says it launched its military offensive a week ago to halt increasing Islamist militant rocket fire on southern Israeli communities close to the Gaza Strip.

The Kerem Shalom crossing at the extreme south of the Israel-Gaza border, next to Egyptian territory, is the only freight passage into the blockaded territory.

No comment was available from Hamas. But a Palestinian liaison official said the crossing was closed after some mortar bombs landed at Kerem Shalom and work was suspended after just one hour of operations. The western-backed Palestinian Authority liaises with Israel on Kerem Shalom transfers.

For security reasons, it operates on a back-to-back system: trucks go in from Israel and offload within the protective concrete walls of the terminal, then trucks come in from the Gaza end and load up.

Since the start of the latest round of violence, now in its seventh day, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), says it has let in 123 trucks loaded with food, medicine and fuel, including 43 that passed on Tuesday before rockets started to fall.

The rest of the transfer included 16 truckloads of medical equipment “specifically vital equipment, such as medicines, anesthetics and disposable medical equipment”, COGAT said.

The main Israeli fortified crossing-point at Erez was opened to permit the exit of 26 patients and their escorts into Israel in order to receive medical treatment, the authority added.

“While Israel is committed to providing continued assistance, it is subject to the limitations created by continuous rocket fire and attacks on the part of Hamas and other extremists groups in Gaza,” COGAT said.

“Rocket attacks endanger the staff manning the crossing and often hinder or prevent the transfer of goods,” it added.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) says 1.2 million Gazans rely on UNRWA assistance, which enters the territory via Israel.

“UNRWA will continue to provide food aid to more than 800,000 refugees in the Strip. Our schools are providing a place of safe shelter. Our health clinics remain open and ready to bring medical care to the children, the sick, and the elderly,” the agency said in its latest update on the crisis.

In relatively normal times about 130 truckloads of aid — mainly bulk staples — go through the Kerem Shalom crossing daily.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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The New York Times’ Murdoch Moment

Why is Mark Thompson increasingly reminding us of James Murdoch?

Not long ago, Thompson and Murdoch were rivals of sorts. Murdoch was the head of News International in London. Thompson was the head of the BBC. Sometimes they took turns criticizing each other’s media operations in public.

Then scandals hit both organizations. And in the aftermath, as they have both repeatedly explained how the problems might have occurred on their watch without them knowing, as they have tried to distance themselves from widening probes and allegations of corporate cover-ups, and as they left London for new jobs in New York, the two rivals have started to sound a lot alike.

Recall Murdoch’s situation first.

In the summer of 2011, revelations of widespread phone hacking at News International triggered a huge wave of public outrage in the U.K., a range of public investigations, and allegations of a company cover-up on Murdoch’s watch.

In the immediate aftermath of the revelations, Murdoch said repeatedly that he was not part of any alleged cover-up; that for a long time he had been led to believe the phone hacking had been limited to a single “rogue” reporter; and that he had never been made aware of any allegations of widespread phone hacking taking place at News International until after the whole thing had erupted in public.

But then a correspondence involving lawyers for Murdoch surfaced, raising questions about those claims.

In the e-mail chain, an editor for one of News International’s papers updated Murdoch on a union official who was suing the company, noting that the situation “is as bad as we feared.” He also forwarded Murdoch two e-mails from company lawyers, one of which explained that the union official was eager to show that phone hacking was “rife” at News International and not limited to a single “rogue” reporter. The e-mail was sent to Murdoch well before the scandal erupted publicly—which seemed to cast serious doubt on his claims that he had been kept in the dark about the possibility of a broader problem.

But even after the e-mail surfaced, Murdoch stood firm.

He explained that when he had originally received the correspondence, he had just returned from overseas, was in the company of his young children, and so he might not have read to the bottom of the e-mail chain. Thus, he had apparently failed to absorb its meaning.

This past week, Thompson offered up a story reminiscent of Murdoch’s.

In October, allegations that the late Jimmy Savile, the former BBC star, had used his position to sexually abuse a large number of minors over the years triggered a huge wave of public outrage in the U.K., touched off multiple investigations, and raised allegations that a company cover-up had taken place on Thompson’s watch.

Like Murdoch, Thompson has denied that he was part of a cover-up. He explained that he had never been made aware of any allegations of sexual abuse until after the whole thing erupted in public.

“During my time as director general of the BBC, I never heard any allegations or received any complaints about Jimmy Savile,” Thompson  told the New York Times in mid-October.

Then a correspondence involving lawyers for Thompson emerged, casting doubt on those claims.

The Times reported that 10 days before Thompson left the BBC in September 2012, lawyers representing him threatened in a letter to sue a newspaper in London that was preparing to publish an article suggesting, among other things, that Thompson had been involved in killing a BBC news investigation into Savile. “Interviews show that the letter included a summary of the alleged abuse, including the allegation that some abuse might have occurred at the BBC,” reported the Times.

Even after the Times broke the news of the letter’s content, however, Thompson stood firm.

An aide to Thompson explained to the Times that while Thompson had “orally authorized the sending of the letter” he might not have read its content—in part, because he had recently been traveling on vacation. In any case, he had apparently failed to absorb its meaning.

In February, Murdoch stepped down as the head of News International and relocated to New York for a job overseeing News Corp.’s (NWSA) international TV businesses. The ongoing investigations into wrongdoing at News International have raised questions about the future of his leadership role at the company. “I look forward to expanding my commitment to News Corporation’s international television businesses and other key initiatives across the Company,” said Murdoch at the time of his announced relocation to New York.

Recently, Thompson relocated to New York to become the new chief executive officer of the New York Times Co. (NYT). The ongoing investigations into wrongdoing at the BBC have raised questions about the future of his leadership role at the company. Last week, on his first day at work, camera crews greeted him outside his new office. A reporter asked if the crisis at the BBC would impact his role at the Times.  ”No,” said Thompson. “I believe that it will not in any way affect my new job, which I’m starting right now.”

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U.S. fiscal impact of great concern to Canada: Canada’s Harper

TORONTO (Reuters) – Any fiscal problems that would significantly slow the U.S. economy would be of great concern to Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Monday.

The United States needed a credible medium-term fiscal plan, Harper said at a business forum in Ottawa, adding that he was following the U.S. fiscal debate with “great interest.”

(Reporting by Solarina Ho)

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N.Y. police officer says not guilty of plan to cook, eat women

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A New York City police officer pleaded not guilty on Monday to conspiring to kidnap, torture, cook and eat women.

Gilberto Valle, 28, of Forest Hills, Queens, was charged and arrested in October with conspiring to cross state lines to kidnap the women and with illegally accessing a federal database.

Prosecutors said some of the women were acquaintances of Valle but it was not clear if he knew or had met all of them. Valle, who an official said had no prior criminal record, was not charged with carrying out any of his suspected plans.

At a brief hearing Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Valle’s attorney, Julia Gatto, told the judge she would again seek to have her client freed on bail after two other judges previously denied her request.

Investigators uncovered a file on Valle’s computer containing the names and pictures of at least 100 women, and the addresses and physical descriptions of some of them, according to the criminal complaint. It said he had undertaken surveillance of some of the women at their places of employment and their homes.

Gatto argues that Valle, a 6-1/2 year NYPD veteran, was all talk and should be released on bail.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The case is U.S. v. Gilberto Valle, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 12-cr-847.

(Reporting by Basil Katz; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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Metal singer Aaron Lewis finds second home in country music

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – Aaron Lewis stands as one of the more unusual crossovers into country music, but the singer of the metal band Staind believes it was a fit made in the cradle.

“It’s been quite the pleasant eclectic mix of tattoos and black eyeliner, and Stetsons, cowboy boots and big shiny buckles,” Lewis said in an interview after the release of his first full-length country studio album, “The Road,” this week.

Lewis, 40, was raised on what he terms his grandfather’s country music: Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Charlie Daniels and George Jones. He collaborated with Daniels and Jones on his country EP, “Town Line,” released last year.

This made the transition from the angst-ridden world of metal to the laid-back country scene an easy step for him, but perhaps not so much for his head-banging fans.

“A few fans are really having a hard time with it,” Lewis said. “I can’t make everyone happy. Music is about making me happy first. For those who wish I would stick with Staind, they’ll get what they want, too.”

Lewis, who sold seven studio albums over a 17-year career with Staind, says he has two musical careers because he is “creatively bipolar” and suffers from attention deficit disorder.

“I need to switch it up a little bit,” he said. “It’s kind of nice to write a song about taking my daughters to the beach instead (of) about something that’s tearing me apart from the inside.”

For Lewis, each song on “The Road” is the opportunity to explore his creativity in music, while winding down a road filled with new country listeners and taking Staind fans along for the ride.

“The Road” includes “Forever,” a thoughtful song of life on the road, and “Endless Summer,” a simple track about digging up clams and casting for striped bass with his daughters.

“If we catch a keeper we throw it on the grill,” he says. “The beauty of the adventure that I’m on now is I can write songs about stuff like that. I could never bring a song like that to the table for Staind.”

He describes writing “Endless Summer” as a “refreshing and a nice change” from his metal past.

“I remember having a big smile on my face the whole time I was writing it,” he said. “In the past, what’s usually coming up for lyrics is not smiley material. The song wrote itself in 10 minutes.”

In contrast, “Party in Hell,” which has fans up and dancing, was the last song Lewis wrote for the album and was inspired by a stint in Las Vegas.

“Las Vegas really is, in a metaphorical sense, a party in hell; you can get into anything you want to,” he said. “It was like well, ‘OK, I’m going to hell, who else is going to be there? We might as well have a party with it.’”

SAME PROCESS

His previous country EP, “Town Line,” featured the gold-selling single “Country Boy,” a collaboration with Daniels and Jones that hit the top of the “Billboard” album charts and topped off at No. 7 on the Top 200.

“That’s crazy, right?” Lewis asks, shaking his head. “It was pretty amazing for me, pretty surreal. I was actually in the studio with Charlie, which was a lot of fun. We have become good friends.”

The writing process for country or rock is the same, according to Lewis.

“The music is always first, then the melody, and the lyrics third,” he said. “I need the music to know what the landscape is that I’m singing over, and I need the melody to fit the words in, and then the words come last.”

But the lyrics do not come while he is writing on a piece of paper. “They come with me standing in front of a microphone with the song playing in the background and singing,” he said. “It’s total improv, right off the cuff.”

As with recording, Lewis does not approach a rock performance differently from a country performance.

“I go out on stage and perform those songs I recorded to the best of my ability to sound just like the recording,” he said. “I have always tried to approach every show like it’s the only show that I have. That’s kind of how I’ve gone about this crazy career I’ve had now coming up on 15 years.”

(Reporting by Vernell Hackett; Editing by Christine Kearney and Lisa Von Ahn)

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Teens Turn to Protein Shakes to Pump Up

Teens may be chugging protein shakes and taking other muscle-enhancing supplements more often than previously thought, a new study found.

According to a self-reported survey conducted among adolescent males and females, nearly 35 percent said they used protein powders and shakes, while almost 6 percent reported using steroids, according to study author Maria Eisenberg of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and colleagues. Both both behaviors were more common among boys versus girls.

Read this story on www.medpagetoday.com.

In comparison, recent studies with population-based samples of U.S. youth have indicated that 8 percent of females and 10.2 percent of males reported the use of protein supplements.

Use of muscle-enhancing products or behaviors to bulk up, such as different eating habits or exercising more, were significantly associated with grade level, Asian race, body mass index, and sports team participation, the current authors wrote in Pediatrics online.

Women and how media images impact thinness and body image has been the subject of a great deal of research, but images of men depicted in the popular media show people who are increasingly large, lean, and muscular, the authors pointed out.

“Boys’ body dissatisfaction has simultaneously increased, and research has demonstrated that exposure to images of extremely muscular models contributes to body dissatisfaction and muscle dysmorphia in young men,” they wrote.

For the current study, they gathered data through the Eating and Activity in Teens (EAT 2010) study, a large, population-based study of weight status, dietary intake, physical activity, weight control behaviors, and related factors for adolescents from the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area during the 2009 to 2010 school year.

The study included a 235-question self-report survey and physical measurements of participants height and weight.

The authors focused on participant response to questions related to frequency of participation in any of five muscle-enhancing behaviors over the year prior to the survey, including altered eating behaviors and exercising more — considered “healthy” behaviors as well as use of protein powder or shakes, use of steroids, or use of other muscle-building substances, such as creatine, amino acids, or growth hormones, considered “unhealthy” behaviors.

Participants also reported their school level, gender, race, socioeconomic status based on parental educational attainment, body mass index (BMI), sports team participation, and weight status.

The study population consisted of 2,793 students with a mean age of 14.4 and almost equally divided among females (53.2 percent) and males (46.8 percent). Nearly 30 percent of the participants were black and about 20 percent were white or Asian.

Almost 60 percent of the study population played at least one after-school sport.

Among boys, the authors found that more than two-thirds reported changing their eating to increase their muscle size or tone, and 90 percent exercised more to increase their muscle mass or tone. In terms of the prevalence of “unhealthy” behaviors:

34.7 percent reported using protein powders or shakes

5.9 percent reported using steroids

10.5 percent reported using some other muscle-enhancing substance

Among the girls, 21.2 percent reported using protein powders, while 4.6 percent said they used steroids, and 5.5 percent used other muscle-enhancing substances.

The authors also found that overweight and obese girls had significantly greater odds of using protein powders or shakes than girls of average BMI.

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