RIO DE JANEIRO: Felipe Scolari will be named for a second spell as coach of the Brazilian national side on Thursday, press reports said on Wednesday.
"The Brazil Football Federation has already chosen its new coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari will replace Mano Menezes," the GloboEsporte website said.
An official announcement is expected on Thursday.
Scolari, who previously coached Brazil to World Cup glory in Japan in 2002, will be charged with bringing further success on home soil in 2014.
- AFP/fa
Li, addressing Indian media on China's once-in-a-decade leadership change, said talks on the border issue between the two countries had helped to bring in more understanding.
He said "unhappy and unfortunate incidents in the past" over the border have "hindered further development" in relations between the two countries. Five decades of the 1962 India-China war were marked in October-November this year.
But putting behind the past both countries "should open a new page as soon as possible", said Li. This, he added, "will benefit people of both countries".
Li said he was "happy to see that we are engaged in negotiations, and though a breakthrough yet remains, we have more understanding of each other."
He was referring to the joint mechanism set up on the border issue. India's National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon is to meet China's special representative Dai Bingguo in Beijing later this month to take forward the boundary talks, their 16th such.
The top Chinese expert said both sides "should make compromises... meet each other half way for early settlement of the border issue."
"I believe when it (border issue) is solved, there will be nothing in the way of China-India relations."
He said China and India relations are very important and the Chinese see Indians as friends.
"We are two large developing countries.. exchanges between the two countries will benefit both sides and contribute to peace in the world."
The two-way trade between India and China can touch $100 billion by 2015, if both sides "work harder and find ways to boost trade", said Li.
The two-way trade has grown from $4.9 billion in 2000 to $73.9 billion last year.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had met outgoing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Phnom Penh Nov 19, which was their 14th meeting in eight years. During their 45-minute bilateral talks, Wen had told Manmohan Singh he was "very happy they had been able to develop an equation".
The two countries are holding a "strategic economic dialogue" at the end of November in New Delhi. The Indian side would be led by Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia, while China is to send a large economic delegation, comprising economic experts.
CHICAGO (AP) — They may be a big hit at kids' birthday parties, but inflatable bounce houses can be dangerous, with the number of injuries soaring in recent years, a nationwide study found.
Kids often crowd into bounce houses, and jumping up and down can send other children flying into the air, too.
The numbers suggest 30 U.S. children a day are treated in emergency rooms for broken bones, sprains, cuts and concussions from bounce house accidents. Most involve children falling inside or out of the inflated playthings, and many children get hurt when they collide with other bouncing kids.
The number of children aged 17 and younger who got emergency-room treatment for bounce house injuries has climbed along with the popularity of bounce houses — from fewer than 1,000 in 1995 to nearly 11,000 in 2010. That's a 15-fold increase, and a doubling just since 2008.
"I was surprised by the number, especially by the rapid increase in the number of injuries," said lead author Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
Amusement parks and fairs have bounce houses, and the playthings can also be rented or purchased for home use.
Smith and colleagues analyzed national surveillance data on ER treatment for nonfatal injuries linked with bounce houses, maintained by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Their study was published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
Only about 3 percent of children were hospitalized, mostly for broken bones.
More than one-third of the injuries were in children aged 5 and younger. The safety commission recommends against letting children younger than 6 use full-size trampolines, and Smith said barring kids that young from even smaller, home-use bounce houses would make sense.
"There is no evidence that the size or location of an inflatable bouncer affects the injury risk," he said.
Other recommendations, often listed in manufacturers' instruction pamphlets, include not overloading bounce houses with too many kids and not allowing young children to bounce with much older, heavier kids or adults, said Laura Woodburn, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials.
The study didn't include deaths, but some accidents are fatal. Separate data from the product safety commission show four bounce house deaths from 2003 to 2007, all involving children striking their heads on a hard surface.
Several nonfatal accidents occurred last year when bounce houses collapsed or were lifted by high winds.
A group that issues voluntary industry standards says bounce houses should be supervised by trained operators and recommends that bouncers be prohibited from doing flips and purposefully colliding with others, the study authors noted.
Bounce house injuries are similar to those linked with trampolines, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended against using trampolines at home. Policymakers should consider whether bounce houses warrant similar precautions, the authors said.
___
Online:
Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org
Trade group: http://www.naarso.com
___
AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner
The jackpot for Wednesday's Powerball drawing now stands at $425 million -- the richest Powerball pot ever -- and it's likely to get even sweeter.
"Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," says Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman for the Iowa lottery. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots."
It's proved true. The total, she says, "has been taking huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." (The most recent drawing, on Saturday night, produced no winning numbers.)
Until now, the biggest Powerball pot on record -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers.
In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners
Lottery officials in Iowa, where Powerball is headquartered, have started getting phone calls from all around the world. "When it gets this big," says Neubauer, "we start getting inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money."
Don Smith/The Record (Bergen County)/AP Photo
The answer she has to give them, she says, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location."
About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one.
Asked if there's anything players can do to improve their odds of winning, Neubauer says no -- apart from buying a ticket, of course.
Lottery officials put the odds of winning Wednesday's Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you are 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.
Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provides additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he says; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery.
Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi notes that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy.
"But let's suppose, however, that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born," Garibaldi says. The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning Wednesday.
Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi says he'll usually play the lottery. "When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets. It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy."
So will he be purchasing two tickets for Wednesday's Powerball? "I can't," he tells ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball.
SINGAPORE : More global private equity firms have been setting up offices in Southeast Asia, and the funds raised in the region are expected to grow at an annual rate of 30 per cent over the next three years.
Private equity investors are also likely to cast the spotlight on Singapore, Indonesia and China.
Things are heating up in Singapore's private equity space.
Singapore-based venture capital and private equity firms managed a total of S$26.5 billion last year, according to a survey by the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Out of this, S$2.3 billion was invested in Singapore.
US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) opened its Singapore office in October, with plans to inject more than US$1 billion in Southeast Asia over the next five years.
Indonesian private equity firm Northstar Group has also made its first foray into the Singapore market.
It recently acquired a 50 per cent stake in Nera Telecommunications, through its newly-incorporated unitE, Asia Systems.
Northstar has invested close to US$2 billion with co-investors in the Southeast Asian region.
Experts have said Singapore's location makes it a natural platform for global investors to set up base.
Eugene Wong, chairman of the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, said: "Singapore is becoming like the Asia equivalent of NYC and Silicon Valley, so we can play the role of a New York for private equity, the big M&A private equity players, and the Silicon Valley tech region for high-tech high-growth companies. So for players in Singapore, one advantage is that we can also invest in China, Korea, and New Zealand. "
While private equity transactions in Southeast Asia have totalled US$3.6 billion so far this year, investing in this region is not without its challenges.
Jack Wang, a partner at Lexico, said: "US private equity firms are familiar with corporate governance. And in Asia, personal relationships are the predominant factors when it comes to deal sourcing and deal execution, so a change in mindset, lots of focus on the personal element...this is particularly true in Indonesia, most of the existing companies are owned by family business, and in China as well, politics is a big factor. "
According to research by the Singapore Venture Capitalist Association, approximately US$6.4 billion worth of funds will be raised in Southeast Asia by the end of 2012. And with the rising affluence in this region, market watchers have said they expect more private equity firms from the US to invest in the telecoms, commodities and consumer sectors in Southeast Asia.
- CNA/ms
An earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale was felt for some seconds around 5.45 pm in the state, including in Shimla and Solan districts, an official at the state meteorological office here said.
He said the epicentre was in Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand.
Last month, Himachal twice felt earthquakes of light intensity. The epicentre of both quakes was on the border of Chamba and Lahaul and Spiti districts.
CHICAGO (AP) — They may be a big hit at kids' birthday parties, but inflatable bounce houses can be dangerous, with the number of injuries soaring in recent years, a nationwide study found.
Kids often crowd into bounce houses, and jumping up and down can send other children flying into the air, too.
The numbers suggest 30 U.S. children a day are treated in emergency rooms for broken bones, sprains, cuts and concussions from bounce house accidents. Most involve children falling inside or out of the inflated playthings, and many children get hurt when they collide with other bouncing kids.
The number of children aged 17 and younger who got emergency-room treatment for bounce house injuries has climbed along with the popularity of bounce houses — from fewer than 1,000 in 1995 to nearly 11,000 in 2010. That's a 15-fold increase, and a doubling just since 2008.
"I was surprised by the number, especially by the rapid increase in the number of injuries," said lead author Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
Amusement parks and fairs have bounce houses, and the playthings can also be rented or purchased for home use.
Smith and colleagues analyzed national surveillance data on ER treatment for nonfatal injuries linked with bounce houses, maintained by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Their study was published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
Only about 3 percent of children were hospitalized, mostly for broken bones.
More than one-third of the injuries were in children aged 5 and younger. The safety commission recommends against letting children younger than 6 use full-size trampolines, and Smith said barring kids that young from even smaller, home-use bounce houses would make sense.
"There is no evidence that the size or location of an inflatable bouncer affects the injury risk," he said.
Other recommendations, often listed in manufacturers' instruction pamphlets, include not overloading bounce houses with too many kids and not allowing young children to bounce with much older, heavier kids or adults, said Laura Woodburn, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials.
The study didn't include deaths, but some accidents are fatal. Separate data from the product safety commission show four bounce house deaths from 2003 to 2007, all involving children striking their heads on a hard surface.
Several nonfatal accidents occurred last year when bounce houses collapsed or were lifted by high winds.
A group that issues voluntary industry standards says bounce houses should be supervised by trained operators and recommends that bouncers be prohibited from doing flips and purposefully colliding with others, the study authors noted.
Bounce house injuries are similar to those linked with trampolines, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended against using trampolines at home. Policymakers should consider whether bounce houses warrant similar precautions, the authors said.
___
AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner
Nov 26, 2012 6:45am
Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo
As President Obama prepares for his second term, preparations have begun for the traditional shuffling of the Cabinet.
Top priority for the president: filling slots for those top officials heading — if not running — for the door: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner.
To replace Clinton, Democratic insiders suggest that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Susan Rice is the frontrunner, with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., also a viable candidate.
Rice has been harshly criticized by Republicans for the erroneous comments she made on Sunday news talk shows after the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, comments that were based on intelligence reports that falsely blamed the attack on a protest against an anti-Muslim video. When the president, during his recent press conference, offered a vociferous defense of Rice, many of those close to him began to suspect he was tipping his hand as to what he might decide.
To replace Geithner at Treasury, White House chief of staff Jack Lew is thought to have the inside track if he wants it, with other possibilities including Neal Wolin, the current deputy secretary of the Treasury and Lael Brainard, current under secretary of the Treasury for international affairs.
Other informed sources suggest that there is consideration being given to a business/CEO type such as investor Roger Altman, former Time/Warner chair Richard Parsons, and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg.
Those are the two most pressing jobs to fill, with Clinton exhausted from a long stretch in government — eight years as first lady, eight as senator, and four as secretary of state — and the president having personally promised Geithner’s wife that he could leave as soon as possible after the election.
Any of the business/CEO types being discussed for treasury secretary could also serve as secretary of commerce, a position that for the Obama administration has proved as troublesome as the role of drummer in Spinal Tap. Jeff Zients, the acting director of the Office of Management & Budget, is said to be under consideration.
It’s too flip to refer to it as a consolation prize, but informed sources say that — with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also planning on leaving — Kerry could be offered the position secretary of defense if he wants it, though the Massachusetts senator has suggested he only wants State. Another option, Michelle Flournoy, a former under secretary of defense for Policy, would be the first female to serve in that position. There was some discussion of National Security Adviser Tom Donilon moving across the river, but it seems clear, sources say, that he’s staying where he is.
If Lew leaves to take the position at Treasury, some possible replacements for him as chief of staff include deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough or Vice President Biden’s former chief of staff Ron Klain. Tom Nides, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, has also been discussed.
President Obama’s senior adviser David Plouffe has also long discussed leaving the White House. There are many options to fill his shoes, including the elevation of communications director Dan Pfeiffer. Also possible: bringing back former press secretary Robert Gibbs, or former deputy chief of staff/campaign manager Jim Messina. Another option might be to bring in some of the people who were part of the messaging shop in the campaign — David Simus, who served as director of opinion research for the campaign, or Larry Grisolano, who did ads for campaign.
– Jake Tapper
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi meets senior judges on Monday to try to defuse a crisis over his seizure of new powers which has set off violent protests reminiscent of the revolution last year that led to the rise of his Islamist movement.
The justice minister said he believed Mursi would agree with the country's highest judicial authority on its proposal to limit the scope of the new powers.
But the protesters, some camped in Cairo's Tahrir Square, have said only retracting the decree will satisfy them, a sign of the deep rift between Islamists and their opponents that is destabilizing Egypt two years after Hosni Mubarak was ousted.
"There is no use amending the decree," said Tarek Ahmed, 26, a protester who stayed the night in Tahrir, where tents covered the central traffic circle. "It must be scrapped."
One person has been killed and about 370 injured in clashes between police and protesters since Mursi issued the decree on Thursday shielding his decisions from judicial review, emboldened by international plaudits for brokering an end to eight days of violence between Israel and Hamas.
The stock market is down more than 7 percent.
Mursi's political opponents have accused him of behaving like a dictator and the West has voiced its concern, worried by more turbulence in a country that has a peace treaty with Israel and lies at the heart of the Arab Spring.
Mursi's administration has defended his decree as an effort to speed up reforms and complete a democratic transformation. Leftists, liberals, socialists and others say it has exposed the autocratic impulses of a man once jailed by Mubarak.
Mursi's office said he would meet Egypt's highest judicial authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, on Monday, and the council hinted at compromise.
Mursi's decree should apply only to "sovereign matters", it said, suggesting it did not reject the declaration outright, and called on judges and prosecutors, some of whom began a strike on Sunday, to return to work.
Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky, speaking about the council statement, said: "I believe President Mohamed Mursi wants that."
LIBERALS ANGRY
The protesters are worried that Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood aims to dominate the post-Mubarak era after winning the first democratic parliamentary and presidential elections this year.
A deal with a judiciary dominated by Mubarak-era judges, which Mursi has pledged to reform, may not placate them.
A group of lawyers and activists have also challenged Mursi's decree in an administrative court, which said it would hold its first hearing on December 4. Other decisions by Mursi have faced similar legal challenges brought to court by opponents.
Banners in Tahrir called for dissolving the assembly drawing up a constitution, an Islamist-dominated body Mursi made immune from legal challenge. Many liberals and others have walked out of the assembly saying their voices were not being heard.
Only once a constitution is written can a new parliamentary election be held. Until then, legislative and executive power remains in Mursi's hands, and Thursday's decree puts his decisions above judicial oversight.
One Muslim Brotherhood member was killed and 60 people were hurt on Sunday in an attack on the main office of the Brotherhood in the Egyptian Nile Delta town of Damanhour, the website of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said.
The party's offices have also been attacked in other cities.
One politician said the scale of the crisis could push opponents towards a deal to avoid a further escalation. Mursi's opponents have called for a big demonstration on Tuesday.
"I am very cautiously optimistic because the consequences are quite, quite serious, the most serious they have been since the revolution," said Mona Makram Ebeid, former member of parliament and prominent figure in Egyptian politics.
Mursi's office repeated assurances that the steps would be temporary, and said he wanted dialogue with political groups to find "common ground" over what should go into the constitution.
Talks with Mursi have been rejected by members of a National Salvation Front, a new opposition coalition that brings together liberal, leftist and other politicians and parties, who until Mursi's decree had been a fractious bunch struggling to unite.
MILITARY STAYING OUT
"There is no room for dialogue when a dictator imposes the most oppressive, abhorrent measures and then says 'let us split the difference'," prominent opposition leader and Mohamed ElBaradei said on Saturday. He has said he expected to act as the Front's coordinator.
The military has stayed out of the crisis after leading Egypt through a messy 16-month transition to a presidential election in June. Analysts say Mursi neutralized the army when he sacked top generals in August, appointing a new generation who now owe their advancement to the Islamist president.
Though the military still wields influence through business interests and a security role, it is out of frontline politics.
Egypt had hoped to stop the economic rot by signing an initial deal last week for a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. As well as tumbling share prices, yields at a Sunday treasury bill auction rose, putting even more pressure on the government that faces a crushing budget deficit.
"We are back to square one, politically, socially," said Mohamed Radwan of Pharos Securities, an Egyptian brokerage firm.
(Additional reporting by Tom Perry, Patrick Werr and Marwa Awad in Cairo; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Giles Elgood)
BANGKOK: The Thai government has lifted the Internal Security Act (ISA) invoked in some parts of the capital as the security situation returned to normalcy following an anti-government rally.
Government spokesman Tosaporn Sereerak said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra signed the order on Monday.
Initially, the ISA was invoked for nine days starting last Thursday in the Pranakorn, Dusit and Pomprabsattrupai districts, close to the Royal Plaza, following anticipation that violence may occur during the anti-government rally there last Saturday.
The rally, organised by the Pitak Siam group, however, attracted some 20,000 protesters, far short of the target of one million people.
Eighty-two people, consisting of protesters, policemen and a soldier, sustained minor injuries during the rally.
The invocation of the ISA, among others, allows the mobilisation of soldiers to help the police to control the security situation and imposition of curfew.
Police have already stopped blocking roads around Government House and Parliament.
But anti-riot police are still protecting Parliament, where a no-confidence debate against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra is into its second day.
The debates will run till Tuesday, to be followed by a no-confidence vote on Wednesday.
The opposition Democrat Party has accused Prime Minister Yingluck of allowing corruption, and of being a puppet for her fugitive brother, ousted premier Thaksin.
But the motions, which also target three other ministers, are not likely to pass, as the legislature is dominated by the ruling Puea Thai party and its coalition partners.
- BERNAMA/CNA/de
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