President Obama remarks on the situation with admitted NSA leaker Edward Snowden, saying he has no plans to disrupt relations with Russia and China, nor to scramble jets to capture the "29-year-old hacker."
By Jim Maceda, F. Brinley Bruton and Matthew DeLuca, NBC News
President Obama said he should not have to speak personally with the leaders of Russia and China regarding self-professed NSA leaker Edward Snowden, and said he was ?not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker? during a press conference in Senegal on Thursday.
The president was on the first leg of a trip to Africa when he struck the seemingly dismissive tone regarding the former defense contractor who claimed to have leaked details of two top-secret government data-gathering programs before initiating an international manhunt that has grown to involve the governments of China, Ecuador, and Russia.
Obama said that the revelations first published in British newspaper The Guardian and The Washington Post ? and the ensuing search for Snowden, who has been charged with theft of government property and two offenses of espionage statutes ? have the makings of a big-screen spy caper, but that he would not engage in ?wheeling and dealing and trading and a whole host of other issues, simply to get a guy extradited so he can face the justice system here in the United States.?
Snowden, 30, is believed to still be hiding at a Moscow airport awaiting a ruling on his request for asylum from the government of Ecuador. Snowden flew to Russia from Hong Kong over the weekend but has not been seen since his arrival. Russian officials told Reuters that he remains in a transit area at Sheremetyevo airport.
He was not aboard an Aeroflot flight that departed Moscow to Havana on Thursday, the first stop on an anticipated escape route to the South American country.
?Now I get why it?s a fascinating story from a press perspective and I?m sure there will be a made-for-TV movie somewhere down the line,? Obama said, adding that ?in terms of U.S. interests, the damage was done with respect to the initial leaks.?
Dolores Ochoa / AP
A man reads a newspaper with the Spanish headline "Snowden stuck at Moscow airport" in Quito, Ecuador, on Wednesday.
Snowden?s case resolved ?some pretty significant vulnerabilities? at the National Security Agency, Obama said. Snowden worked for defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton before being fired, and said in an interview with the South China Morning Post that he took the job to gain access to sensitive information. NBC News could not independently verify the report.
?There have been some useful conversations that have taken place between the United States government and the Russian government,? Obama said. ?And my continued expectation is that Russia ? there are other countries that have talked about potentially providing Mr. Snowden asylum ? recognize that they are part of an international community and that they should be abiding by international law.?
The U.S. is worried that Snowden might have other documents in his possession that he may ?dribble out,? Obama said.
?I continue to be concerned about the other documents that he may have. That?s part of the reason why we?d like to have Mr. Snowden in custody,? Obama said. ?But what I think we?re going to continue to do is make sure that we are following the various channels that are well established and the rules that are well established to get this thing done.?
Ecuador?s communications minister said on Thursday that his country renounced hundreds of millions of dollars in trade tariff benefits, the Associated Press reported. Communications Minister Fernando Alvarez said the trade benefits being considered for renewal by U.S. lawmakers had become an ?instrument of blackmail? as the country considered granting asylum to Snowden.
Ecuador ?does not accept threats from anybody, and does not trade in principles, or submit to mercantile interests, as important as they may be,? Alvarez said, according to the AP.
In Washington, the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has threatened to lead the effort to remove preferential trade treatment for Ecuadorian goods if the country decides to offer asylum to Snowden.?
"Edward Snowden is a fugitive who has endangered? the national security of the United States," Sen. Robert Menendez?said in a statement?released late on Wednesday.??"Trade preferences are a privilege granted to nations, not a right. ?I urge [Ecuadorean] President Correa to do the right thing by the United States and Ecuador, and deny Snowden's request for asylum."
In 2012, Ecuador exported some $5.4 billion worth of oil, $166 million of cut flowers, $122 million of fruits and vegetables and $80 million of tuna to the United States.?
Menendez said he would lead efforts to stop the renewal of Ecuador's duty-free access to America markets under the Generalized System of Preferences program, which expires on July 31.??He also said he'd try and block renewal of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, which also expires at the end of July.
The ongoing incident has also heightened tensions with China, as the country?s defense minister said that the U.S. Internet monitoring program revealed in documents leaked by Snowden ?has revealed the concerned country?s true face and hypocritical behavior.? Defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun did not explicitly name the United States in his comments, Reuters reported.
Also on Thursday, a government official in Switzerland said the country still has questions about Snowden's time?working in Geneva as a CIA operative, Reuters reported. Swiss?Foreign Minister?Didier Burkhalter said they received a "diplomatic" response from the U.S. to questions about Snowden's time in the country from 2007 and 2009, but "have decided to discuss these points further in the future with the Americans."
NBC News' Ghazi Balkiz and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related:
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This story was originally published on Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:02 AM EDT
Human-caused global warming played a role in making this past summer Australia's hottest on record, a new study suggests.
The summer of 2012-2013 probably won't retain its title for long; researchers say record-breaking scorching summers are five times more likely to occur now in Australia due to climate change.
"Our research has shown that, due to greenhouse gas emissions, these types of extreme summers will become even more frequent and more severe in the future," study author Sophie Lewis of the University of Melbourne said in a statement.
Australia's summer occurs from December to February, during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. In those three months between 2012 and 2013, the country's average temperature was 83.5 degrees Fahrenheit (28.6 degrees Celsius), 2 degrees F (1 degree C) above normal, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. It broke the previous summer temperature record, set in the 1997-1998 season, by 0.18 degree F (0.1 degree C).
Unusually high temperatures gripped nearly the entire country, with just three percent of Australia experiencing below-normal temperatures. Bush fires and flooding, combined with the extreme heat, prompted Australians to call it the "angry summer."
Lewis and colleagues looked at climate observations and more than 90 climate model simulations of summer temperatures in Australia over the past 100 years. They found that human influences likely stoked the record heat during a summer when Australians may have otherwise expected cooler temperatures.
"This extreme summer is not only remarkable for its record-breaking nature but also because it occurred at a time of weak La Ni?a to neutral conditions, which generally produce cooler summers," Karoly said. "Importantly, our research shows the natural variability of El Ni?o Southern Oscillation is unlikely to explain the recent record temperatures." The El Ni?o Southern Oscillation is a climate cycle that can impact weather and cliamte systems around the globe; it's El Ni?o phases features warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, while the La Ni?a phase features cooler-than-normal temperatures.
Climate describes weather that occurs over long periods, such as decades, centuries or millennia, and scientists are typically quick to point out that no individual storm, heat wave or unusual season can be directly blamed on climate change. But researchers have said that global warming can make some events, on average, more severe and more frequent than they would have been in the past.
The research has been accepted for publication in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Today we have a guest blog from Jennifer Young who has created the skin care collection Defiant Beauty?which she created for people who have been diagnosed with cancer.? The changes to your skin after cancer treatment can be quite dramatic, and Jennifer?s blog below sheds some light on why this may happen and what we can do to minimise the effects.
Over to you Jennifer...
Our clients tell us that travelling after treatment for cancer is very different to holidays ?before?. Not only is travel insurance that covers cancer more of an issue but their skin isn?t the same and their tolerance to heat seems to have changed as well. The body goes through a lot during treatment for cancer and there are many reasons for those changes. A lot of the chemotherapy drugs used in the treatment of cancer are known to cause skin-related side effects in some individuals. Radiation treatment also impacts skin health, both at the time of treatment and post treatment 1 Clients tell us of problems being exacerbated by exposure to the sun and describe their skin reaction as an extreme photosensitivity resulting in a red rash and then dry and scaly skin. There are a number of things that can be done to help with this skin condition, ranging from avoiding the sun to protecting the skin when in the sun. Here are a few ideas for your holidays (I am so British- it?s my assumption that there?s no sun without travel). ????????? Make sure you know that where the shade is/will be and when ????????? Keep your sensitive areas covered with loose fitting, light cotton or bamboo clothing ????????? Don?t use heavily fragranced body care products ????????? Use UV protection ????????? Keep your skin moisturised
Moisturising the skin may be trickier than it at first appears. Often Skin becomes extra sensitive after and during treatment for cancer. The majority of our clients tell us that they are no longer able to tolerate the skin care brands that they used to love and they now wish to avoid ingredients that they now discover are included in many skincare ranges.? On average, creams and lotions have about 5 times the number of ingredients used in oils and balms, so that?s five times as many ingredients for sensitive skinned cancer patients and survivors to react to. Our Defiant Beauty products are oil-based, we have no water containing products such as creams or lotions. This is for very good reason. In order to make a cream or lotion, water and oil must be mixed and emulsified in order for the cream or lotion to form. This emulsification process requires the addition of emulsifiers to the formulation. Preservatives are also needed as water is included and so bacteria, moulds and fungus could and will grow if they are not included. There are many more ingredients that need to be added to the formulation so that the oil/water mix feels soft and smooth on the skin and has an appropriate pH.? Water is a useful ingredient but oils are more moisturising and easily absorbed, therefore those ingredients best known to be soothing and healing are oils. Furthermore sensitive skin is not only a problem for those who have had treatment for cancer, many medications can affect the balance of the skin, we tend to forget that the skin is an organ too, and therefore the above advice can apply to anyone who is experiencing skin sensitivity due to their medication. 1.???? Shamban, A., 2011.Heal Your Skin. John Wiley and Sons Inc New jersey
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Insurancewith is a trading name of Infinity Insurance Solutions a division of Travel Insurance Facilities Group who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority Insurancewith travel insurance policies are administered through Travel Administration Facilities a division of Travel Insurance Facilities Group. ? Infinity Insurance Solutions, Suite 1, 2nd Floor 7 York Road Woking GU22 7XH. All rights reserved
Nurse practitioners can boost quality of care for older patients with chronic conditionsPublic release date: 26-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Enrique Rivero erivero@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2273 University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
U.S. residents today are living longer than previous generations, thanks to improved public health and medical treatment. But they're also living longer with chronic geriatric health conditions like dementia, urinary incontinence, depression and debilitating falls, which often require complex medical care.
Doctors spend significant time and resources treating individuals with chronic conditions, and the average family physician can become severely overtaxed managing care for such patients. The picture becomes even worse with chronic geriatric conditions.
Several heath care treatment models have been designed over the years to improve medical care for chronic geriatric ailments. One model, for instance, helped improve patient care by teaming geriatricians in an academic medical center setting with nurse practitioners to co-manage care. But can the same model work in community-based primary care settings?
The answer is yes, according to a UCLA-led study published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study's findings highlight the crucial role nurse practitioners can play in treating chronic geriatric conditions.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that care of chronic geriatric conditions is better when it's done in teams," said the study's lead author, Dr. David Reuben, chief of the geriatrics division in the department of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "There are some things that nurse practitioners do better than doctors and some things that doctors do better than nurse practitioners."
Reuben noted that while doctors are generally good at treating acute medical conditions and those requiring highly complex decision-making, some chronic conditions tend to be "swept by the wayside" because physicians either don't have the time or are simply not as skilled in dealing with them.
In addition, doctors often can't make the time to deal with both patient symptoms and the management of chronic illnesses that may not have acute symptoms. "There just isn't enough time in the office to do both," Reuben said.
For the current study, researchers screened 1,084 patients at two primary care facilities in Southern California for four chronic geriatric conditions: falls, urinary incontinence, dementia/Alzheimer's disease, and depression. Of those patients, 658 had at least one condition; 485 of the 658 patients were then randomly selected for medical review.
Of those 485 patients, 237 (49 percent) were seen by a nurse practitioner, for co-management with a primary care physician of at least one condition. The rest were seen only by a primary care physician.
The researchers examined whether a set of measures known as "quality indicators" were performed for each condition. For example, if a patient had a history of falls, did the care provider assess whether the patient might be taking medications that increase the risk of falls and assist the patient in reducing or stopping the use of that drug?
The study authors found that the percentage of quality indicators that were satisfied for patients whose cases were co-managed by a nurse practitioner and a physician was higher than for those seen only by a physician.
For falls, 80 percent of quality indicators were satisfied for co-managed cases, compared with 34 percent for physicians alone; for urinary incontinence, 66 percent of indicators were satisfied, compared with 19 percent; for dementia, 59 percent were satisfied, compared with 38 percent; and for depression, 63 percent were satisfied, compared with 60 percent.
Much of the difference was due to the fact that the nurses were likely to take far more detailed patient histories and to perform other assessments. For instance, the pass rates that is, whether the measure was performed for taking a patient's history of falls was 91 percent for co-managed cases, versus 47 percent; vision testing was 87 percent, versus 36 percent; and discussion of treatment options for urinary incontinence was 79 percent, versus 28 percent.
The findings were limited by several facts, the researchers said. Some cases that primary care physicians considered "mild" were not referred for co-management, the study was conducted in only two facilities within a single geographic area, and it was a one-time intervention with minor revisions as the study went along rather than a longer, continuous learning process.
###
Grants from the UniHealth Foundation; a Career Development Award from the Health Services Research and Development Service of the Veterans Affairs Health Administration (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) through the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence (Project # VA CD2 08-012-1); and the National Institute on Aging (5P30AG028748) funded this study.
Other researchers on this study included David A. Ganz, Heather E. McCreath, Karina D. Ramirez and Neil S. Wenger of UCLA, and Carol P. Roth of the RAND Corp. Ganz and Wenger are also associated with RAND, and Ganz is associated with Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.
The UCLA Division of Geriatrics within the department of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA offers comprehensive outpatient and inpatient services at several convenient locations and works closely with other UCLA programs that strive to improve and maintain the quality of life of seniors. UCLA geriatricians are specialists in managing the overall health of people age 65 and older and treating medical disorders that frequently affect the elderly, including memory loss and dementia, falls and immobility, urinary incontinence, arthritis, arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes. As a result of their specialized training, UCLA geriatricians can knowledgably consider and address a broad spectrum of health-related factors including medical, psychological and social when treating patients.
For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
Nurse practitioners can boost quality of care for older patients with chronic conditionsPublic release date: 26-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Enrique Rivero erivero@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2273 University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
U.S. residents today are living longer than previous generations, thanks to improved public health and medical treatment. But they're also living longer with chronic geriatric health conditions like dementia, urinary incontinence, depression and debilitating falls, which often require complex medical care.
Doctors spend significant time and resources treating individuals with chronic conditions, and the average family physician can become severely overtaxed managing care for such patients. The picture becomes even worse with chronic geriatric conditions.
Several heath care treatment models have been designed over the years to improve medical care for chronic geriatric ailments. One model, for instance, helped improve patient care by teaming geriatricians in an academic medical center setting with nurse practitioners to co-manage care. But can the same model work in community-based primary care settings?
The answer is yes, according to a UCLA-led study published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study's findings highlight the crucial role nurse practitioners can play in treating chronic geriatric conditions.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that care of chronic geriatric conditions is better when it's done in teams," said the study's lead author, Dr. David Reuben, chief of the geriatrics division in the department of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "There are some things that nurse practitioners do better than doctors and some things that doctors do better than nurse practitioners."
Reuben noted that while doctors are generally good at treating acute medical conditions and those requiring highly complex decision-making, some chronic conditions tend to be "swept by the wayside" because physicians either don't have the time or are simply not as skilled in dealing with them.
In addition, doctors often can't make the time to deal with both patient symptoms and the management of chronic illnesses that may not have acute symptoms. "There just isn't enough time in the office to do both," Reuben said.
For the current study, researchers screened 1,084 patients at two primary care facilities in Southern California for four chronic geriatric conditions: falls, urinary incontinence, dementia/Alzheimer's disease, and depression. Of those patients, 658 had at least one condition; 485 of the 658 patients were then randomly selected for medical review.
Of those 485 patients, 237 (49 percent) were seen by a nurse practitioner, for co-management with a primary care physician of at least one condition. The rest were seen only by a primary care physician.
The researchers examined whether a set of measures known as "quality indicators" were performed for each condition. For example, if a patient had a history of falls, did the care provider assess whether the patient might be taking medications that increase the risk of falls and assist the patient in reducing or stopping the use of that drug?
The study authors found that the percentage of quality indicators that were satisfied for patients whose cases were co-managed by a nurse practitioner and a physician was higher than for those seen only by a physician.
For falls, 80 percent of quality indicators were satisfied for co-managed cases, compared with 34 percent for physicians alone; for urinary incontinence, 66 percent of indicators were satisfied, compared with 19 percent; for dementia, 59 percent were satisfied, compared with 38 percent; and for depression, 63 percent were satisfied, compared with 60 percent.
Much of the difference was due to the fact that the nurses were likely to take far more detailed patient histories and to perform other assessments. For instance, the pass rates that is, whether the measure was performed for taking a patient's history of falls was 91 percent for co-managed cases, versus 47 percent; vision testing was 87 percent, versus 36 percent; and discussion of treatment options for urinary incontinence was 79 percent, versus 28 percent.
The findings were limited by several facts, the researchers said. Some cases that primary care physicians considered "mild" were not referred for co-management, the study was conducted in only two facilities within a single geographic area, and it was a one-time intervention with minor revisions as the study went along rather than a longer, continuous learning process.
###
Grants from the UniHealth Foundation; a Career Development Award from the Health Services Research and Development Service of the Veterans Affairs Health Administration (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) through the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence (Project # VA CD2 08-012-1); and the National Institute on Aging (5P30AG028748) funded this study.
Other researchers on this study included David A. Ganz, Heather E. McCreath, Karina D. Ramirez and Neil S. Wenger of UCLA, and Carol P. Roth of the RAND Corp. Ganz and Wenger are also associated with RAND, and Ganz is associated with Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.
The UCLA Division of Geriatrics within the department of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA offers comprehensive outpatient and inpatient services at several convenient locations and works closely with other UCLA programs that strive to improve and maintain the quality of life of seniors. UCLA geriatricians are specialists in managing the overall health of people age 65 and older and treating medical disorders that frequently affect the elderly, including memory loss and dementia, falls and immobility, urinary incontinence, arthritis, arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes. As a result of their specialized training, UCLA geriatricians can knowledgably consider and address a broad spectrum of health-related factors including medical, psychological and social when treating patients.
For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.
[ | 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.
Supermoon: The moon will come within 222,000 miles of Earth and become a 'supermoon' (turn full) around 7:30 a.m. EDT Sunday.
By Associated Press / June 22, 2013
A 'supermoon' rises behind the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, Greece. The phenomenon occurs when the moon passes closer to Earth than usual. The event this Sunday will make the moon appear larger than normal, but the difference is so small that without magnification most skywatchers won?t notice.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
The biggest and brightest full moon of the year graces the sky early Sunday as our celestial neighbor swings closer to Earth than usual.
While the moon will appear 14 percent larger normal, skywatchers won't be able to notice the difference with the naked eye. Still, astronomers say it's worth looking up and appreciating the cosmos.
"It gets people out there looking at the moon, and might make a few more people aware that there's interesting stuff going on in the night sky," Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory said in an email.
What makes it a 'supermoon'? The Christian Science Monitor explains:
Supermoons occur once a year. This month's super-strawberry moon will be (slightly) larger and brighter than others because its full-moon phase comes as the moon makes its closest approach to Earth.
The moon's orbit around the third rock from the sun traces an elliptical path.? At closest approach, or perigee, the moon swings to within 362,570 kilometers (224,793 miles) of Earth, while its most-distant point, or apogee is 405,410 km. But those are averages.
Sunday night, the moon's perigee will come within 356,989 km of Earth, about 2 percent closer than average. And the moon reaches full status about 20 minutes after perigee.
Some viewers may think the supermoon looks more dazzling but it's actually an optical illusion. The moon looms larger on the horizon next to trees and buildings.
The moon will come within 222,000 miles of Earth and turn full around 7:30 a.m. EDT, making it the best time to view.
As in any supermoon event, high tides are forecast because of the moon's proximity, but the effect is expected to be small.
This supermoon is also a strawberry moon, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. The first full moon in June is called a strawberry moon, marking the harvest of strawberries after their short growing season ends.
But you can forget about the myths that swirl every time a supermoon appears. There's no link to higher crime or bizarre behavior. Scientists say that's just lunacy.
(Reuters) - Less than a week after the Federal Reserve set off a cascade of selling in global markets, two of its top officials downplayed the notion of an imminent end to monetary stimulus and said on Monday the market reaction was not yet cause for concern.
The Fed is center stage for investors after Chairman Ben Bernanke last week said the central bank expected to reduce its bond-buying later this year, and to halt the stimulus program altogether by mid-2014 if the economy improves as forecast.
Bernanke's road map to the end of the Fed's third round of quantitative easing, or QE3, left ample room for adjustment and interpretation - and his colleagues provided a bit of their own on Monday, appearing to try to assuage fears in the marketplace.
Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota said investors, who drove stock and bond prices lower in the last few days, were wrong to view the central bank as having become more keen to tighten policy than it was before last week's policy meeting.
"I thought there was a sense out there ... that the committee had taken more of a hawkish turn in terms of thinking about policy... I thought that was a misperception that should be clarified," Kocherlakota told reporters on a conference call.
Perhaps the most dovish of the Fed's 19 policymakers, he highlighted underlying messages in both Bernanke's comments and the Fed's policy statement that were "pretty accommodative," including the central bank's expectation that it will not sell off its mortgage bonds in the years ahead.
The resulting rise in longer-term bond yields is "not a cause for concern" so far, Kocherlakota added. "But obviously, if these higher yields were to harden over a longer period of time, that would be restrictive to economic conditions.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond eased slightly on Monday after flirting with a nearly two-year high, having posted last week its biggest weekly jump in a decade.
The S&P 500 stock index <.spx> has fallen 5 percent over the last four sessions as investors consider how less Fed accommodation and a cash squeeze in China could hurt the U.S. economy.
If the strong selloff continues, there is the risk that tighter financial conditions could choke off the slow U.S. economic recovery that is showing signs of durability and even acceleration this year.
Richard Fisher, the hawkish head of the Dallas Fed, said of the market reaction that the "big money" investors appear cautious after a 30-year bull market in bonds, adding the strength of the U.S. dollar reflects confidence in the economy.
In a speech in London, Fisher strongly backed Bernanke's timetable for QE3, repeating the unprecedented stimulus should be slowly removed. He added that the Fed's ultimate "exit strategy" is still a ways out in the future.
"Even if we reach a situation this year where we dial back (stimulus), we will still be running an accommodative policy," he said. In a favorite line, Fisher repeated: "I'm not in favor of going from wild turkey to cold turkey overnight.
As it stands, the Fed is buying $85 billion in Treasury paper and mortgage-backed securities each month to stimulate investment, hiring and economic growth.
Since Bernanke's comments on Wednesday, financial markets have pulled forward the date when they expect the Fed to start raising interest rates, currently near zero, to around September 2014, even though a majority of Fed policymakers do not expect lift-off in rates until 2015.
In Basel, the influential head of the New York Fed, William Dudley, did not comment specifically on the current policy stance but spoke generally about the need for policies to be "more accommodative than otherwise" in the wake of financial crises.
The U.S. central bank must consider financial instability when formulating its policies, Dudley said in comments that gave a brief boost to U.S. bond markets in early trading.
"The stance of monetary policy needs to be judged in light of how well the transmission channels of monetary policy are operating," Dudley told the Bank for International Settlements.
"When financial instability has disrupted the monetary policy transmission channels, following simple rules based on long-term historical relationships can lead to an inappropriately tight monetary policy.
Dudley, who repeated that the Fed has fallen short of its employment and inflation objectives, is a close ally of Bernanke and a strong backer of the unprecedented efforts to accelerate the U.S. recovery from the 2007-2009 recession.
While neither Kocherlakota nor Fisher have votes on the Fed's policy committee this year, Dudley has a permanent vote.
(Additional reporting by Marc Jones and Francesco Canepa in London, and Alister Bull in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
FILE - This May 11, 2013 file photo shows actress Halle Berry at the 20th Annual EIF Revlon Run/Walk For Women in Los Angeles. Berry is scheduled to testify on Tuesday in favor of California legislation that would limit the ability of paparazzi to photograph the children of celebrities. The hearing before the Assembly Committee on Public Safety is set for midmorning, although it's not clear exactly when Berry is expected to speak. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, file)
FILE - This May 11, 2013 file photo shows actress Halle Berry at the 20th Annual EIF Revlon Run/Walk For Women in Los Angeles. Berry is scheduled to testify on Tuesday in favor of California legislation that would limit the ability of paparazzi to photograph the children of celebrities. The hearing before the Assembly Committee on Public Safety is set for midmorning, although it's not clear exactly when Berry is expected to speak. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, file)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? Actress Halle Berry is scheduled to testify on Tuesday in favor of California legislation that would limit the ability of paparazzi to photograph the children of celebrities.
The hearing before the Assembly Committee on Public Safety is set for midmorning, although it's not clear exactly when Berry is expected to speak.
She read a statement before Tuesday's hearing, saying she understands she must give up some privacy but felt she had to do something to allow her child to move around freely and safely.
Berry has tangled with paparazzi before. In April, she shouted and cursed at photographers at Los Angeles International Airport, telling them to get away from her young daughter, the Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/14mCKMV ).
The bill by state Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, would change the definition of harassment to include photographing or recording a child without the permission of a legal guardian, by following the child or guardian's activities or by lying in wait.
It also increases the penalties for people convicted of such behavior. The first conviction would require imprisonment of at least 10 days, up from the current five days.
The goal is also to protect the children of public officials, including judges and law enforcement, said Greg Hayes, spokesman for the senator.
Opponents, including The Motion Picture Association of America, say it infringes on free speech.
Jim Ewert, general counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, told the Times the bill could criminalize legitimate news gathering.
"It's what journalists do," he said. "They take pictures."
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Public release date: 26-Jun-2013
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