Wars always raise questions about which novel equipment will outlive the fighting that spawned them, and among the survivors of the war in Afghanistan could be the Iridium satellite radios rushed there starting in 2010.
ITT Exelis' Iridium radio. (Credit: U.S. Navy)
ITT Exelis received a $5 million contract from the Defense Information Systems Agency last month to show how the Iridium-based Distributed Tactical Communications System ? also known as Netted Iridium ? could be expanded globally and with a shorter voice latency.
Iridium is best known as a satellite telephone service for rich yachters, but when troops and operatives in Afghanistan needed to talk in rugged terrain, the Pentagon was desperate. ITT ? now ITT Exelis ? was hired to manufacture simple, push-to-talk radios that could communicate over the commercial Iridium constellation.
Today, DTCS radio networks can be set up regionally to provide communications out to ranges of 250 to 500 miles. The first networks were set up in Afghanistan, but the radios have also been used in Africa and the Pacific Command area.
By reprogramming the radios, ITT Exelis thinks it can give users global reach and open the door to lots of new applications. Unattended ground sensors could be linked to data networks; GPS locations could be transmitted to track supplies; the locations of DTCS users could be displayed to commanders or intelligence managers thousands of miles away.
The company will have a chance to prove at least some of those capabilities in a series of demonstrations next year at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va. The dates for the demos are to-be-decided, DISA said in prepared statement that did not spell out what would be done in the demos.
If all goes as planned, users in remote locations ? say, somewhere in the Pacific Command region ?- could communicate with their bosses back in the continental U.S. ?They can reach out, they can talk. They would be netted,? said Dario Valli, a retired Marine and business development manager for specialty applications at ITT Exelis Electronic Systems in Dulles, Va.
Then there?s the latency issue. Right now, someone pushes a button and speaks into a DTCS radio, and the user on the other end hears the voice about 1.5 seconds later. ITT Exelis wants to get that down to a second or less.
DTCS was rushed to the field as a quick answer to a joint urgent operational needs request from commanders in Afghanistan. Leaders of small military units and intelligence operatives were frustrated they couldn?t communicate reliably in the remote places they were doing their counter-insurgency work. Mountains or structures blocked terrestrial radio signals, and the Taliban made it all but suicidal to stand on a ridge pointing an antenna at a geosynchronous satellite parked high over the equator.
Iridium?s 66 satellites circle from pole to pole in low-Earth orbit. ?Now it?s the satellites that are moving around (users) as they maneuver and operate in a variety of environments,? Valli explained. Comms will be there ?as long as they have a view to the sky,? he said.
Engineers had to figure out how to make one Iridium satellite hand-off radio voice comms to the next as it moved across the sky. That was possible because the satellites already have communications crosslinks.
ITT Exelis has made about 8,000 of the radios at a cost of about $4,500 each. If the demonstration goes well, new software would be installed in these radios in the field to give them global connectivity.
Exelis calls the devices RO Radios, which is short for Radio Only. Valli said that?s an anachronism given that the radios also feed position locations to the military?s force tracking network.
Other changes could also be in store. DISA has insisted on an open standards going forward, which means other companies could end up making new handsets or other kinds of devices. ?There?s a host of applications beyond just the tactical radio that can take advantage of this architecture that DISA is developing,? Valli said.
DTCS isn?t meant for broadband communications, so it couldn?t be an alternative to the constellation of Mobile User Objective System geosynchronous satellites the Navy is setting up for the military services and the intelligence community. Neither would it supplant smartphones and deployable cell networks on the battlefield.
It?s main purpose is a specific one: To let users venture deep into the field with nothing more than what?s on their backs: ?You can plan your operations only as far as you can command and control,? Valli said.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - SunGard Data Systems Inc, the computer software maker that was taken private in 2005 for $11.4 billion, is exploring a sale of its data managing operations that could fetch up to $2 billion, several people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The business for sale, which offers data center space and technology infrastructure to clients looking to safeguard their data, has earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of around $200 million, the people said.
SunGard, owned by private equity groups Bain Capital LLC, Blackstone Group LP, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners LP, KKR & Co LP , Providence Equity Partners Inc, Silver Lake and TPG Capital LP, is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc on the possible sale, the people said.
The people asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. SunGard officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment while representatives of the private equity owners either declined to comment or were not immediately available to comment. Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
The assets for sale are referred to as "managed services" and are within what SunGard calls its "availability services" business, which has helped customers recover data following major disasters such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
The exploration of the sale comes amid SunGard's challenges in competing with rivals such as IBM Corp . Moody Investors Service Inc said in February that SunGard's availability services business "has not executed effectively in a recovery/business continuity industry that is otherwise showing growth."
Availability services accounted for a third of SunGard's $4.26 billion revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $1.25 billion in 2012. The company's other main business, which it calls "financial systems" and which provides software and technology applications to financial services professionals, accounted for 62 percent of the revenue and 60 percent of the EBITDA.
Despite a torrent of private equity-backed initial public offerings that have capitalized on the strong stock market this year, SunGard has held back on seeking a flotation. Moody's has argued that SunGard will have to show sustained organic revenue growth in its core financial systems business and stabilize the availability services business before it launches an IPO.
The seven private equity firms carried out their first dividend recapitalization of the company last year, paying themselves a $720 million dividend by borrowing the money.
Nevertheless, the company managed to cut its total debt to $6.7 billion as of the end of 2012, a decline of $1.2 billion from the end of 2011.
It is not clear to what extent the buyout firms would use proceeds from the sale of the managed services business to deleverage SunGard versus paying themselves another dividend. At the end of 2006, SunGard had a ratio of total debt to adjusted EBITDA of 5.9 times. At the end of March, this ratio had improved to 4.8 times.
(This version of the story corrects the financial systems EBITDA percentage in paragraph 7.)
(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and Soyoung Kim in New York.; Editing by Gunna Dickson)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, before a Joint Economic Committee hearing on "The Economic Outlook". Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to end its extraordinary stimulus programs. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, before a Joint Economic Committee hearing on "The Economic Outlook". Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to end its extraordinary stimulus programs. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Federal Reserve offered a hint Wednesday that it's moving closer to slowing its bond-buying program, which is intended to keep long-term interest rates at record lows.
The Fed said it will maintain the pace of its bond purchases for now. But it offered a more optimistic outlook for the U.S. economy and job market.
Its brighter view of the economy could be a signal that the Fed's bond purchases may soon be scaled back. But the statement issued after the Fed's two-day policy meeting gave no indication of when that might happen.
Investors reacted initially by selling both stocks and bonds. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 70 points shortly after the statement came out; minutes earlier, it had been down just 16. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note shot up to 2.27 percent from 2.21 percent just before the statement came out.
In the statement, the Fed says the economy is growing moderately. And for the first time it said the "downside risks to the outlook" had diminished since fall.
Timothy Duy, a University of Oregon economist who tracks the Fed, calls the statement "an open door for scaling back asset purchases as early as September."
The fact that the Fed foresees less downside risk to the job market "gives them a reason to pull back" on its bond purchases, Duy says.
The Fed says it will keep buying $85 billion a month in bonds until the outlook for the job market improves substantially. The goal is to lower long-term interest rates to encourage borrowing, spending and investing. It hasn't defined substantially.
The central bank also said that it would maintain its plan to keep short-term rates at record lows at least until unemployment reaches 6.5 percent.
The Fed also said that inflation was running below its 2 percent long-run objective, but noted that temporary factors were partly the reason.
The Fed also released its latest economic projections on Wednesday, which predicted that unemployment will fall a little faster this year, to 7.2 percent or 7.3 percent at the end of 2013 from 7.6 percent now. It thinks the rate will be between 6.5 percent and 6.8 percent by the end of 2014, better than its previous projection of 6.7 percent to 7 percent.
"The more upbeat tone and the change in the unemployment forecast will only encourage expectations for action soon," Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a research note. "We continue to believe that tapering could start at the Sept. 17-18 meeting."
The Fed said inflation could run as low as 0.8 percent this year. But the Fed predicts it will pick up next year to between 1.4 percent and 2 percent.
The statement was approved on a 10-2 vote. James Bullard, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, objected for the first time this year, saying he wanted a stronger commitment from the Fed to keep inflation from falling too low.
Esther George objected for the fourth time this year, again voicing concerns about inflation rising too quickly.
The ultra-low rates engineered by the Fed have helped fuel a housing comeback, support economic growth, drive stocks to record highs and restore the wealth America lost to the recession.
Financial markets have been gyrating in the four weeks since Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress the Fed might scale back its effort to keep long-term rates at record lows within "the next few meetings"? earlier than many had assumed.
Bernanke cautioned that the Fed would slow its support only if it felt confident the job market would show sustained improvement. And he also told lawmakers that the Fed must take care not to prematurely reduce its stimulus for the still-subpar economy.
The Fed announced after its September meeting that it would purchase $40 billion a month in mortgage bonds for as long as it deems necessary. And in December, the Fed expanded the program to $85 billion a month, adding $45 billion a month in Treasury bond purchases. The Treasury purchases replaced an expiring bond-purchase program.
Job growth picked up after the Fed announced the latest round of bond purchases. Since October, the economy has added an average of 196,500 jobs a month, up from 157,000 a month in the previous eight months.
Last month, the U.S. economy added a solid 175,000 jobs. But the unemployment rate is still high at 7.6 percent. Economists tend to regard the job market as healthy when unemployment is between 5 percent and 6 percent.
Crawley, UK-- New data, published today in Menopause International, suggests that post-menopausal women in Britain are experiencing less sex, and less satisfying sex compared to their European and North American counterparts1, because they are considerably less likely to access appropriate treatment for a common, taboo condition called vaginal atrophy1.
The first-of-its-kind study, called the CLarifying vaginal atrophy's impact On SEx and Relationships (CLOSER) study, showed that British post-menopausal women with vaginal atrophy are more likely to experience less sex1, and less satisfying sex, compared to other women in Europe and North America (67% and 61% vs 58% and 49% overall, respectively)1. Fear of painful sex was one of the main reasons women avoided intimacy (63%)1, with almost one third of women (30%) and male partners (29%) saying that vaginal discomfort had caused a "big problem" for their sex lives1.
Despite over one and a half million women across the UK potentially experiencing this problem2,4, British women in CLOSER were 50% less likely (21% versus 41% overall) to receive local oestrogen treatment, compared to women from other countries1.
"Given the obvious impact of vaginal atrophy on women in the UK, and their partners, it is very sad to learn that we are lagging behind other Western countries in terms of ensuring appropriate access to treatment," commented Dr Heather Currie, co-author of the study and Associate Specialist Gynaecologist at the Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, founder of menopausematters.co.uk and Honorary Secretary of the British Menopause Society. "It is our hope that the CLOSER study will encourage our fellow medical professionals, and women themselves, to routinely raise the topic of post-menopausal vaginal health, thereby facilitating appropriate diagnosis and treatment."
Vaginal atrophy is a chronic condition caused by a drop in oestrogen levels, with symptoms including vaginal dryness, itching and painful intercourse5. The condition can have a significant emotional impact, as well as on quality of life, and can lead to serious long-term urogenital problems if left untreated (e.g. incontinence)6.
Local oestrogen, the preferred treatment for vaginal atrophy according to The British Menopause Society7, is applied directly to the vagina while, in systemic hormone therapy, the hormones travel around the entire body7. As vaginal atrophy is a chronic condition, treatment needs to be continued to maintain the benefits7.
"More than two-thirds (68%) of British women in CLOSER used lubricants and moisturisers to treat their vaginal symptoms, but these are not as effective as oestrogen therapy as they do not treat the underlying cause," explained Dr Nick Panay, co-author and Consultant Gynaecologist, Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea and Chelsea & Westminster Hospitals, London, and Immediate Past Chair of the British Menopause Society. "Local oestrogen offers women a well-tolerated and effective solution to vaginal atrophy which, as the CLOSER study illustrates, can significantly disrupt many relationships."
British women who had tried local oestrogen treatment for vaginal atrophy reported beneficial effects such as less painful sex (58%)8, more satisfying sex for their partner (42%)8 and themselves (40%)8, feeling closer and less isolated from their partner (33%)8, having sex more often (27%)8, and saying that they now look forward to having sex (26%)8.
###
A new study in Menopause International reveals how the sex lives of post-menopausal women in Britain are under threat from a common and simple-to-treat symptom of the menopause
The CLOSER study showed how British women with vaginal atrophy were more likely to say they had less sex and found it less satisfying compared to their European and North American counterparts1
British women were 50% less likely to receive appropriate therapy for vaginal atrophy1, with just one in five women (21%) with the condition accessing local oestrogen treatment1
Vaginal symptoms will affect almost half (45%) of all women when they are post-menopausal2, but only a quarter will seek medical advice3
Study authors call for increased awareness and routine discussion1
Julian Butler
Novo Nordisk FemCare AG
+41 43 222 4331 jbut@novonordisk.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the CLOSER research
The CLOSER research was an online survey conducted by StrategyOne (partnering with Ipsos MORI) between 13 December 2011 and 7 February 2012. The survey was completed by 4,100 post-menopausal women, aged between 55-65 who had ceased menstruating for at least 12 months and have experienced vaginal atrophy, and 4,100 male partners of post-menopausal women aged 55-65 who have ceased menstruating for at least 12 months and have experienced vaginal atrophy. The participants were located across nine countries: US, UK, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Italy and France.
The objectives of this research were to better understand the impact that vaginal atrophy has on intimacy and relationships, both physically and emotionally, and to find out how to encourage positive conversations among men and women about this topic. The research also looked at the positive impact that local oestrogen treatment can have on the sufferer's relationship. The global results were first presented at the European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS) in March 2012 and the UK data was first presented at the British Menopause Society (BMS) Annual Conference in July 2012.
About vaginal atrophy
Vaginal atrophy, a chronic condition, is the thinning and inflammation of the vaginal wall which occurs when there is a reduction in levels of oestrogens5. Oestrogen, produced by the ovaries, is responsible for maintaining the structure and function of the vaginal wall, elasticity of the tissues around the vagina and production of vaginal fluid. If left untreated, vaginal atrophy can have long-term urogenital effects, including incontinence6.
About Novo Nordisk
Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with 89 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. The company also has leading positions within haemophilia care, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy. For more information, visit novonordisk.co.uk
References
1. Domoney C, Currie H, Panay N, Maamari R, Nappi RE. The CLOSER survey: impact of postmenopausal vaginal discomfort on women and male partners in the UK. Menopause International. June 2013; 19(2):69-76.
2. Nappi RE, Kokot-Kierepa M. Vaginal health: Insights, Views and Attitudes (VIVA) results from an international survey. Climacteric. February 2012;15:36-44.
3. Cardozo L, Bachmann G, McClish D, Fonda D, Birgerson L. Meta-analysis of estrogen therapy in the management of urogenital atrophy in postmenopausal women: second report of the Hormones and Urogenital Therapy Committee. Obstet Gynecol 1998;92:722-7.
4. Office for National Statistics. Table 1 2011 Census: Usual resident population by five-year age group and sex, United Kingdom and constituent countries. Last accessed: May 2013.
5. Simon J, et al. Effective Treatment of Vaginal Atrophy With an ultra-Low-Dose Estradiol Vaginal Tablet. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2008; 112(5):1053-1060.
6. Hextall A. Oestrogens and lower urinary tract function. Maturitas. 2000;36:83-92
7.Panay N, Hamoda H, Arya R and Savvas M on behalf of The British Menopause Society. The 2013 British Menopause Society & Women's Health Concern recommendations on hormone replacement therapy. Menopause International. Published online before print May 2013;Accessble at: http://min.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/05/23/1754045313489645; doi: 10.1177/1754045313489645.
8. Domoney C, et al. Vaginal Health: When intimacy matters! British Menopause Society (BMS) Annual Congress, 2012.
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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.
British women 50 percent less likley to recieve treatment for common menopausal symptomsPublic release date: 19-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Crawley, UK-- New data, published today in Menopause International, suggests that post-menopausal women in Britain are experiencing less sex, and less satisfying sex compared to their European and North American counterparts1, because they are considerably less likely to access appropriate treatment for a common, taboo condition called vaginal atrophy1.
The first-of-its-kind study, called the CLarifying vaginal atrophy's impact On SEx and Relationships (CLOSER) study, showed that British post-menopausal women with vaginal atrophy are more likely to experience less sex1, and less satisfying sex, compared to other women in Europe and North America (67% and 61% vs 58% and 49% overall, respectively)1. Fear of painful sex was one of the main reasons women avoided intimacy (63%)1, with almost one third of women (30%) and male partners (29%) saying that vaginal discomfort had caused a "big problem" for their sex lives1.
Despite over one and a half million women across the UK potentially experiencing this problem2,4, British women in CLOSER were 50% less likely (21% versus 41% overall) to receive local oestrogen treatment, compared to women from other countries1.
"Given the obvious impact of vaginal atrophy on women in the UK, and their partners, it is very sad to learn that we are lagging behind other Western countries in terms of ensuring appropriate access to treatment," commented Dr Heather Currie, co-author of the study and Associate Specialist Gynaecologist at the Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, founder of menopausematters.co.uk and Honorary Secretary of the British Menopause Society. "It is our hope that the CLOSER study will encourage our fellow medical professionals, and women themselves, to routinely raise the topic of post-menopausal vaginal health, thereby facilitating appropriate diagnosis and treatment."
Vaginal atrophy is a chronic condition caused by a drop in oestrogen levels, with symptoms including vaginal dryness, itching and painful intercourse5. The condition can have a significant emotional impact, as well as on quality of life, and can lead to serious long-term urogenital problems if left untreated (e.g. incontinence)6.
Local oestrogen, the preferred treatment for vaginal atrophy according to The British Menopause Society7, is applied directly to the vagina while, in systemic hormone therapy, the hormones travel around the entire body7. As vaginal atrophy is a chronic condition, treatment needs to be continued to maintain the benefits7.
"More than two-thirds (68%) of British women in CLOSER used lubricants and moisturisers to treat their vaginal symptoms, but these are not as effective as oestrogen therapy as they do not treat the underlying cause," explained Dr Nick Panay, co-author and Consultant Gynaecologist, Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea and Chelsea & Westminster Hospitals, London, and Immediate Past Chair of the British Menopause Society. "Local oestrogen offers women a well-tolerated and effective solution to vaginal atrophy which, as the CLOSER study illustrates, can significantly disrupt many relationships."
British women who had tried local oestrogen treatment for vaginal atrophy reported beneficial effects such as less painful sex (58%)8, more satisfying sex for their partner (42%)8 and themselves (40%)8, feeling closer and less isolated from their partner (33%)8, having sex more often (27%)8, and saying that they now look forward to having sex (26%)8.
###
A new study in Menopause International reveals how the sex lives of post-menopausal women in Britain are under threat from a common and simple-to-treat symptom of the menopause
The CLOSER study showed how British women with vaginal atrophy were more likely to say they had less sex and found it less satisfying compared to their European and North American counterparts1
British women were 50% less likely to receive appropriate therapy for vaginal atrophy1, with just one in five women (21%) with the condition accessing local oestrogen treatment1
Vaginal symptoms will affect almost half (45%) of all women when they are post-menopausal2, but only a quarter will seek medical advice3
Study authors call for increased awareness and routine discussion1
Julian Butler
Novo Nordisk FemCare AG
+41 43 222 4331 jbut@novonordisk.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the CLOSER research
The CLOSER research was an online survey conducted by StrategyOne (partnering with Ipsos MORI) between 13 December 2011 and 7 February 2012. The survey was completed by 4,100 post-menopausal women, aged between 55-65 who had ceased menstruating for at least 12 months and have experienced vaginal atrophy, and 4,100 male partners of post-menopausal women aged 55-65 who have ceased menstruating for at least 12 months and have experienced vaginal atrophy. The participants were located across nine countries: US, UK, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Italy and France.
The objectives of this research were to better understand the impact that vaginal atrophy has on intimacy and relationships, both physically and emotionally, and to find out how to encourage positive conversations among men and women about this topic. The research also looked at the positive impact that local oestrogen treatment can have on the sufferer's relationship. The global results were first presented at the European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS) in March 2012 and the UK data was first presented at the British Menopause Society (BMS) Annual Conference in July 2012.
About vaginal atrophy
Vaginal atrophy, a chronic condition, is the thinning and inflammation of the vaginal wall which occurs when there is a reduction in levels of oestrogens5. Oestrogen, produced by the ovaries, is responsible for maintaining the structure and function of the vaginal wall, elasticity of the tissues around the vagina and production of vaginal fluid. If left untreated, vaginal atrophy can have long-term urogenital effects, including incontinence6.
About Novo Nordisk
Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with 89 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. The company also has leading positions within haemophilia care, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy. For more information, visit novonordisk.co.uk
References
1. Domoney C, Currie H, Panay N, Maamari R, Nappi RE. The CLOSER survey: impact of postmenopausal vaginal discomfort on women and male partners in the UK. Menopause International. June 2013; 19(2):69-76.
2. Nappi RE, Kokot-Kierepa M. Vaginal health: Insights, Views and Attitudes (VIVA) results from an international survey. Climacteric. February 2012;15:36-44.
3. Cardozo L, Bachmann G, McClish D, Fonda D, Birgerson L. Meta-analysis of estrogen therapy in the management of urogenital atrophy in postmenopausal women: second report of the Hormones and Urogenital Therapy Committee. Obstet Gynecol 1998;92:722-7.
4. Office for National Statistics. Table 1 2011 Census: Usual resident population by five-year age group and sex, United Kingdom and constituent countries. Last accessed: May 2013.
5. Simon J, et al. Effective Treatment of Vaginal Atrophy With an ultra-Low-Dose Estradiol Vaginal Tablet. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2008; 112(5):1053-1060.
6. Hextall A. Oestrogens and lower urinary tract function. Maturitas. 2000;36:83-92
7.Panay N, Hamoda H, Arya R and Savvas M on behalf of The British Menopause Society. The 2013 British Menopause Society & Women's Health Concern recommendations on hormone replacement therapy. Menopause International. Published online before print May 2013;Accessble at: http://min.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/05/23/1754045313489645; doi: 10.1177/1754045313489645.
8. Domoney C, et al. Vaginal Health: When intimacy matters! British Menopause Society (BMS) Annual Congress, 2012.
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?
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.
Editor's Note: Marc Young, an American journalist based in Berlin, is covering President Barack Obama's visit for Yahoo News. BERLIN?When Barack Obama last visited Berlin back in 2008, Constanze Fr?hlich felt like she was part of history. ?He was about to become the first black president?I wanted to support that,? the 35-year-old university researcher told [...]
AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian casualties treated in Turkey show signs of being victims of chemical weapons, the Turkish foreign minister said on Friday, adding to indications that President Barack Obama's "red line" on the use of such arms may have been crossed.
Wary of the false intelligence used to justify the 2003 war in Iraq, the United States says it wants proof that chemical weapons have been used before taking any action in Syria.
But if the evidence is confirmed it would increase the possibility of Western intervention against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop the two-year civil war, even as the United States and Russia try to bring the sides to peace talks.
Turkey confirmed last week it was testing blood samples from Syrian casualties brought over the border to determine whether they had suffered a chemical weapons attack.
"We have been making tests and we have some indications regarding chemical weapons being used, but in order to make sure and verify we are continuing these tests and will be sharing these tests with U.N. agencies," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in the Jordanian capital Amman on Friday.
"We know the Syrian regime has stocks .. And everybody knows the Syrian regime has this capacity," Davutoglu said. "Of course this has been one of our major concerns because chemical weapons are a threat against humanity and a crime."
Obama said in August he viewed the use of chemical weapons in Syria as a "red line". Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said that line had been crossed a "long time ago".
"There are patients who are brought to our hospitals who were wounded by these chemical weapons," he told NBC television. "You can see who is affected by chemical missiles by their burns."
Erdogan is due to meet Obama in Washington on May 16.
The U.S. president this week did not rule out action, military or otherwise, against Assad's government, but repeatedly stressed he would not be pressured prematurely into deeper intervention in Syria.
While Syria denies using chemical weapons, U.S. government sources said blood and soil samples indicate the use of the banned nerve agent sarin. It was not clear yet though whether local commanders or the government had ordered its use.
FEAR AS ASSAD MOUNTS OFFENSIVE
As the outside world deliberates, the conflict which has killed 70,000 people rages on unabated.
Twenty-five people were killed when the army shelled the central Syrian town of Halfayeh on Friday, opposition activists said. Video posted on the Internet showed panic-stricken residents attempting to cross a river to escape the bombardment.
What started as a series of peaceful protests against Assad spiraled into civil war pitting mainly Sunni Muslim insurgents against members of Assad's Alawite sect and other minorities.
Insurgents have seized many rural parts of Syria, most of the northern city of Aleppo and are pressing in on the capital Damascus, but Assad's forces have launched a fierce counter offensive in the past few weeks.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said on Friday she was concerned by reports of a major military build-up by army and pro-Assad militia around the town of Qusair, near the Lebanese border.
Pillay said residents in Qusair feared a possible repeat of last week's events in the coastal village of Baida and the town of Banias in which activists said more than 100 people, including small children, were killed in a government advance.
"I am appalled at the apparent killing of women, children and men ... which seem to indicate a campaign targeting specific communities perceived to be supportive of the opposition," Pillay said.
Russia has supported Assad's government and supplied it with weapons, but agreed with the United States this week to help bring the sides together for an international peace conference.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed on Friday to work towards a transitional government in Syria, despite acknowledging differences in their approach to the Middle Eastern country's civil war.
Cameron said international efforts envisaged "not just bringing the regime and opposition together at one negotiating table, but Britain, Russia, America and other countries helping shape a transitional government that all Syrians can trust to protect them."
Russia has been under pressure to cooperate more with Western powers at the U.N. Security Council to end the war.
"We have a common interest in the quickest end to the violence and the initiation of a peace process, and the preservation of Syria as a territorially whole sovereign state," Putin said after talks with the British prime minister.
(Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes in Beirut, Tom Miles in Geneva and Denis Dyomkon in Sochi; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Michael Roddy)
Your dog just wants to be free. But also? She totally can't be trusted. So the SUREswivel?an anchored leash that lets her wander around safely?is a good compromise for the two of you.
The SUREswivel has six nine-inch stakes to secure the module into the ground, as well as a loop for you to hook your dog's leash to. Unless your pooch is the canine equivalent of Houdini, she's not getting far, because the tether can apparently withstand 1000 pounds of pet pull force. And it's made so the pup can move in a 360-degree radius without getting tangled. The thing costs $70, and seems like a good solution for camping or picnicking. Besides, you can't really put a price on a dog that won't run away, right? Right? [Solutions.com]
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Public release date: 19-Jun-2013
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