Hedgehog Alert! Prickly pets can carry salmonella

NEW YORK (AP) — Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick.

In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria, and one person died in January. The illnesses were linked to contact with hedgehogs kept as pets, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials on Thursday say such cases seem to be increasing.

The CDC recommends thoroughly washing your hands after handling hedgehogs and cleaning pet cages and other equipment outside.

Other pets that carry the salmonella bug are frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, lizards, chicks and ducklings.

Seven of the hedgehog illnesses were in Washington state, including the death — an elderly man from Spokane County who died in January. The other cases were in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon.

In years past, only one or two illnesses from this salmonella strain have been reported annually, but the numbers rose to 14 in 2011, 18 last year, and two so far this year.

Children younger than five and the elderly are considered at highest risk for severe illness, CDC officials said.

Hedgehogs are small, insect-eating mammals with a coat of stiff quills. In nature, they sometimes live under hedges and defend themselves by rolling up into a spiky ball.

The critters linked to recent illnesses were purchased from various breeders, many of them licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CDC officials said. Hedgehogs are native to Western Europe, New Zealand and some other parts of the world, but are bred in the United States.

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Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr

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Man fell in love with Manti Te'o, pretended to be girlfriend

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

For the last two weeks, the story of Manti Te’o’s fake girlfriend has unraveled one layer at a
time.

The Notre Dame linebacker spoke, then a
Long Beach woman whose pictures were used in the ruse came forward. But the
biggest questions could be answered only by a
22-year-old man from Palmdale -- the man Te’o and the woman alleged was the
mastermind behind the hoax.

Now Ronaiah Tuiasosopo has broken his
silence publicly, saying he fell “deeply, romantically in
love” with the Heisman Trophy runner-up in an interview with Dr. Phil McGraw
set to air later this week.

“Here we have a young man that fell deeply,
romantically in love,” McGraw told the “Today” show Wednesday. “I asked him straight up,
‘Was this a romantic relationship with you?’ And he says, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Are
you then, therefore, gay?’ And he said, ‘Well, when you put it that way, yes.’
And then he caught himself and said, ‘I am confused.’”

The new revelations come a day after
Tuiasosopo’s attorney, Milton Grimes, told The Times his client “feels as
though he needs therapy and part of that therapy is to come out of the closet,
so to speak, and tell the truth.” Grimes said Tuiasosopo is seeing a medical
professional.

“His point is that he wants to heal,”
Grimes said. “He knows that if he doesn’t come out and tell the truth, it will
interfere with him getting out of this place that he is in.”

The comments add another twist to a story
so bizarre, reporters from across the country
bombarded Tuiasosopo’s family and friends after Deadspin.com revealed earlier
this month that Te’o’s girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, did not exist.

Tuiasosopo, the report said, was the
mastermind behind the hoax and used photos from an old high school classmate
and social media to connect Kekua with Te’o.

Te’o repeatedly spoke to the media,
including The Times, about his girlfriend, the car accident that left her
seriously injured and the leukemia that led to her September death. The tale
became one of the most well-known stories of the college football season as
Te’o led his team to an undefeated season and championship berth.

Te’o has denied any role in the ruse,
saying he spent hours on the phone with a woman he thought was Kekua.

Grimes confirmed his client pretended to be
Kekua, insisting it was possible that Tuiasosopo disguised his voice to sound
like a woman, similar to role-playing or method-acting techniques.

“I don’t think it’s so unusual that a
person could imitate that voice of a person of a different sex,” Grimes said.

Grimes offered no explanation as to why his
client hatched the plan but said he never wanted to hurt Te’o.

“He did not intend to harm him in any way,”
Grimes said. “It was just a matter of trying to have a communication with
someone.”

Those who know Tuiasosopo said they were
baffled when they learned of his involvement in the hoax. Neighbors and former
high school coaches described him as popular, faith-driven and family-oriented.

“I’ve done a lot of thinking about it,”
said Jon Fleming, Tuiasosopo’s former football coach at Antelope Valley High.
“It’s all speculation. He’s goofy just like any other kid. The question that comes
up in my mind is: ‘What could he possibly gain from doing something like this?’
It would really surprise me. What would he gain?”

Grimes said he warned his client that he
could face legal consequences for admitting that he falsified his identity on
the Internet. But Tuiasosopo insisted that going public was something he had to
do.

“This is part of my public healing,” Grimes
quoted Tuiasosopo as saying.

In a short clip of the TV
interview obtained by The Times, McGraw asks Tuiasosopo why he ended
his relationship with Te’o.

“For many reasons,” Tuiasosopo said. “There
were many times where Manti and Lennay had broken up before.... They would
break up, and then something would bring them back together, whether it was
something going on in his life or in Lennay’s life -- in this case, in my
life.”

ALSO:

Listen to Lennay Kekua’s voicemails for Manti Te’o

Lance Armstrong and Manti Te'o get trapped in a good story

Manti Te'o hoax: Diane O'Meara says she was hounded for photos

--Matt Stevens, Kate Mather and Ann Simmons

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Transcript of Guantánamo Hearing Points to Outside Censors

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department released a transcript on Wednesday of what it said was an exchange that had been censored from the public video feed of a military tribunal at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, this week. A military judge had ordered the excerpt made public.

The blocked comments came during a pretrial motions hearing on Monday in the case against Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other detainees accused of aiding the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The episode was the first public indication that censors outside the courtroom were monitoring the live video from the tribunal and that they could cut the feed, which is delayed by 40 seconds before it can be viewed by the public and reporters.

During the censored portion, according to the transcript, David Nevin, a defense lawyer, was discussing whether arguments over a motion “will turn out to be closed or secret” regarding the preservation of evidence “at a detention facility,” an issue he said was “a critical matter to Mr. Mohammed” and “central to the case as far as he is concerned.”

The lawyers then became aware that a red light had gone on, indicating that the courtroom had been closed. But the button in the courtroom had not been hit by the only previously known censor, a security officer who sits near the judge, Col. James Pohl of the Army.

Mr. Nevin was apparently referring to the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret prisons in countries like Romania and Thailand where the agency once held the Sept. 11 defendants; the defense plans to argue that its clients should be spared execution because the C.I.A. tortured them. But Mr. Nevin did not mention such details, and his motion “to preserve evidence at any existing detention facility” was unclassified, Colonel Pohl said.

“If some external body is turning the commission off under their own view of what things ought to be, with no reasonable explanation,” the judge told government lawyers, “we are going to have a little meeting about who turns that light on or off.”

On Tuesday, Colonel Pohl read a government statement that said an “original classification authority” — apparently a reference to the C.I.A. — was also monitoring for disclosures of classified information. He insisted that the judge decided whether to close the courtroom.

It was not clear whether the offstage censors were at the base or watching remotely; the public feed is shown to reporters at Fort Meade in Maryland.

A military spokesman declined to comment.

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Rape trial of teenaged football players to be open to public: Ohio judge

(Reuters) – The controversial trial of two high school football players accused of raping a classmate will remain open to the public and will not be relocated to another town, an Ohio judge ruled on Wednesday.

Prosecutors and an attorney representing the accuser had sought a closed trial, arguing that public access to the juvenile trial would subject the accuser to unwanted publicity and make potential witnesses reluctant to testify.

Visiting Hamilton County Judge Tom Lipps said the presence of the media would prevent inaccurate reporting and enhance public confidence in the juvenile justice system, according to his written ruling, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

“An open hearing is especially valuable where rumors, mischaracterizations and opinions unsupported by facts have reportedly been repeated in social media postings and other published outlets,” Lipps wrote. “An open hearing will diminish the influence of such postings and publications.”

Prosecutors have accused Ma’Lik Richmond and Trent Mays, both 16, of raping a classmate at a party attended by many teammates last August in Steubenville, a close-knit city of 19,000 near the Pennsylvania border.

The case attracted national attention after the hacker activist group Anonymous publicized a picture of two young men carrying a girl by her wrists and ankles and released a video showing other young men joking about the alleged assault.

Richmond’s lawyer, Walter Madison, said previously on CNN that his client was one of the young men in the photograph – which he said was taken out of context – but does not appear in the video. A lawyer for Mays has not publicly commented on the postings.

Community leaders have accused authorities of protecting the school’s popular football program by not charging more players who could have prevented the alleged attack.

Lipps also ruled on Wednesday that the trial will remain in Steubenville. He set a trial date for March 13.

Reuters generally does not identify people who say they have been victims of sex crimes.

(Editing by Paul Thomasch, Bernard Orr)

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Jason London Suffered 'Brutal Attack' While Being Arrested: Rep

By Maggie Coughlan and Ken Lee

01/30/2013 at 08:30 PM EST

After being arrested following a bar fight in Scottsdale, Ariz., over the weekend, Jason London insists the incident isn't what it seems.

"The details of the events leading up to the incident are still being worked out with the help of many eyewitness testimonies; people who were there with Jason for the duration of the evening and with the recollection Jason does have. We will undoubtedly get to the bottom of the specifics. Neither Jason nor any of the witnesses we have spoken to have any recollection of anything even feeling like it was going south," according to a statement released by London's rep.

The statement claims that "excessive force" was used by the four bouncers during the altercation at the Martini Ranch.

The statement continues: "Bars are institutions where there are drunk people who are sometimes inappropriate and even violent. It is the bouncers' job to remove the problem and if it is necessary, to use force in order to secure the safety of the establishment and patrons. It is not acceptable to retaliate with brutality once that has been accomplished."

London's injuries include "a right orbital fracture, a right maxillary sinus fracture, multiple contusions, multiple hematomas and concussion."

But the cause of the scuffle remains unclear: "In the midst of having a good time, Jason does remember one of the guys saying something about Jason looking at his friend's girl wrong and grabbing and dragging him. The next thing Jason remembers was coming to with the cops arresting him," the statement reads.

Following his arrest, the actor – who is best known for his role in Dazed and Confused – allegedly intentionally defecated in the backseat of a patrol car, the police report claims.

The report also states that the twin brother of Jeremy London continually cursed at the officer, dropping a homophobic slur and telling the officer to "look me up" because "I'm rich" and "a famous actor."

Managers for the Martini Ranch weren't immediately available for comment.

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Sex to burn calories? Authors expose obesity myths

Fact or fiction? Sex burns a lot of calories. Snacking or skipping breakfast is bad. School gym classes make a big difference in kids' weight.

All are myths or at least presumptions that may not be true, say researchers who reviewed the science behind some widely held obesity beliefs and found it lacking.

Their report in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine says dogma and fallacies are detracting from real solutions to the nation's weight problems.

"The evidence is what matters," and many feel-good ideas repeated by well-meaning health experts just don't have it, said the lead author, David Allison, a biostatistician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Independent researchers say the authors have some valid points. But many of the report's authors also have deep financial ties to food, beverage and weight-loss product makers — the disclosures take up half a page of fine print in the journal.

"It raises questions about what the purpose of this paper is" and whether it's aimed at promoting drugs, meal replacement products and bariatric surgery as solutions, said Marion Nestle, a New York University professor of nutrition and food studies.

"The big issues in weight loss are how you change the food environment in order for people to make healthy choices," such as limits on soda sizes and marketing junk food to children, she said. Some of the myths they cite are "straw men" issues, she said.

But some are pretty interesting.

Sex, for instance. Not that people do it to try to lose weight, but claims that it burns 100 to 300 calories are common, Allison said. Yet the only study that scientifically measured the energy output found that sex lasted six minutes on average — "disappointing, isn't it?" — and burned a mere 21 calories, about as much as walking, he said.

That's for a man. The study was done in 1984 and didn't measure the women's experience.

Among the other myths or assumptions the authors cite, based on their review of the most rigorous studies on each topic:

—Small changes in diet or exercise lead to large, long-term weight changes. Fact: The body adapts to changes, so small steps to cut calories don't have the same effect over time, studies suggest. At least one outside expert agrees with the authors that the "small changes" concept is based on an "oversimplified" 3,500-calorie rule, that adding or cutting that many calories alters weight by one pound.

—School gym classes have a big impact on kids' weight. Fact: Classes typically are not long, often or intense enough to make much difference.

—Losing a lot of weight quickly is worse than losing a little slowly over the long term. Fact: Although many dieters regain weight, those who lose a lot to start with often end up at a lower weight than people who drop more modest amounts.

—Snacking leads to weight gain. Fact: No high quality studies support that, the authors say.

—Regularly eating breakfast helps prevent obesity. Fact: Two studies found no effect on weight and one suggested that the effect depended on whether people were used to skipping breakfast or not.

—Setting overly ambitious goals leads to frustration and less weight loss. Fact: Some studies suggest people do better with high goals.

Some things may not have the strongest evidence for preventing obesity but are good for other reasons, such as breastfeeding and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, the authors write. And exercise helps prevent a host of health problems regardless of whether it helps a person shed weight.

"I agree with most of the points" except the authors' conclusions that meal replacement products and diet drugs work for battling obesity, said Dr. David Ludwig, a prominent obesity research with Boston Children's Hospital who has no industry ties. Most weight-loss drugs sold over the last century had to be recalled because of serious side effects, so "there's much more evidence of failure than success," he said.

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Online:

Obesity info: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

New England Journal: http://www.nejm.org

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Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

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GOP legislators propose California school districts arm teachers

SACRAMENTO — A group of Republican state lawmakers Wednesday proposed allowing school districts to spend education funds to train teachers, administrators and janitors in gun use.

Responding to last month's mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the lawmakers said arming school personnel would help protect campuses against violent intruders.

"The idea is to create essentially an invisible line of defense around our kids," said Assemblyman and tea party adherent Tim Donnelly of San Bernardino. He and one of his coauthors announced the proposal at a Capitol news conference.

Donnelly, who is exploring a run for governor, said his bill was an alternative to a dozen introduced by Democrats to impose tighter gun controls, some of which he called a violation of the right to bear arms. He invoked the name of Sandy Hook teacher Victoria Soto, who was killed trying to protect her students.

"We have a moral obligation that the next Vicki Soto who is faced with inexplicable evil … not be left defenseless," he said. If she were armed, "she would have the ability to stop or at least slow down the killer."

He said the proposal, AB 202, is modeled after the federal air marshal program, which assigns armed, plainclothes officers to many commercial flights to guard against terrorism.

Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), a former school psychologist, said the bill would face insurmountable opposition in the Legislature.

"With all due respect to my Republican colleagues, that [bill] is just absolutely ludicrous," Yee said. "I don't know of any educator who would be interested in packing a gun into a school."

Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), who has introduced legislation requiring every school to have a safety plan for emergencies, said Donnelly's bill goes in the wrong direction.

"The goal of school safety is not to see who can win a gunfight," Lieu said. "It is to prevent shootings in the first place and keep guns out of schools."

Donnelly, who was once fined more than $2,200 for taking a loaded gun to Ontario International Airport, said the school marshal program would ensure that those carrying concealed weapons have permits and training. No one outside the school administration would know the identity of marshals on campus.

Teachers don't want to assume a role outside their expertise, said Dean Vogel, president of the giant California Teachers' Assn. Campus police trained in firearms tactics are better suited for the job, he said.

"Putting more guns in schools is really not the way to go," Vogel said. "Armed security should be left to the experts."

Supporters of the bill include Republican Assembly members Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, Curt Hagman of Chino Hills, Diane L. Harkey of Dana Point, Brian Jones of Santee and Donald P. Wagner of Irvine, as well as Republican Sen. Stephen Knight of Palmdale.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

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Egyptian Army Chief Warns of Collapse Amid Chaos

Tara Todras-Whitehill for The New York Times

An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister during clashes with riot police in Cairo on Tuesday.

CAIRO — As three Egyptian cities defied President Mohamed Morsi’s attempt to quell the anarchy spreading through their streets, the nation’s top general warned Tuesday that the state itself was in danger of collapse if the feuding civilian leaders could not agree on a solution to restore order.

Thousands of residents poured into the streets of the three cities, protesting a 9 p.m. curfew with another night of chants against Mr. Morsi and assaults on the police.

The president appeared powerless to stop them: he had already granted the police extralegal powers to enforce the curfew and then called out the army as well. His allies in the Muslim Brotherhood and their opposition also proved ineffectual in the face of the crisis, each retreating to their corners, pointing fingers of blame.

The general’s warning punctuated a rash of violent protests across the country that has dramatized the near-collapse of the government’s authority. With the city of Port Said proclaiming its nominal independence, protesters demanded the resignation of Mr. Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, while people across the country appeared convinced that taking to the streets in protests was the only means to get redress for their grievances.

Just five months after Egypt’s president assumed power from the military, the cascading crisis revealed the depth of the distrust for the central government left by decades of autocracy, two years of convoluted transition and his own acknowledged missteps in facing the opposition. With cities in open rebellion and the police unable to tame crowds, the very fabric of society appears to be coming undone.

The chaos has also for the first time touched pillars of the long-term health of Egypt’s economy, already teetering after two years of turbulence since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. While a heavy deployment of military troops along the Suez Canal — a vital source of revenue — appeared to insulate it from the strife in Port Said, Suez and Ismailia, the clashes near Tahrir Square in Cairo spilled over for the first time into an armed assault on the historic Semiramis InterContinental Hotel, sending tremors of fear through the vital tourism sector.

With the stakes rising and no solution in sight, Gen. Abdul Fattah el-Sisi, the defense minister, warned Egypt’s new Islamist leaders and their opponents that “their disagreement on running the affairs of the country may lead to the collapse of the state and threatens the future of the coming generations.”

“Political, economic, social and security challenges” require united action “by all parties” to avoid “dire consequences that affect the steadiness and stability of the homeland,” General Sisi said in an address to military cadets that was later relayed as public statement from his spokesman. And the acute polarization of the civilian politics, he suggested, had now becoming a concern of the military because “to affect the stability of the state institutions is a dangerous matter that harms Egyptian national security.”

Coming just months after the military relinquished the power it seized at the ouster of Mr. Mubarak, General Sisi’s rebuke to the civilian leaders inevitably raised the possibility that the generals might once again step into civilian politics. There was no indication of an imminent coup.

Analysts familiar with General Sisi’s thinking say that unlike his predecessors, he wants to avoid any political entanglements. But the Egyptian military has prided itself on its dual military and political role since Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser’s coup more six decades ago. And General Sisi insisted Tuesday it would remain “the solid mass and the backbone upon which rest the Egyptian state’s pillars.”

With the army now caught between the president’s instructions to restore order and the citizens’ refusal to comply, he said, the “armed forces are facing a serious dilemma” as they seek to end the violence without “confronting citizens and their right to protest.”

The attack on the Semiramis Hotel, between the American Embassy and the Nile in one of the most heavily guarded neighborhoods of the city, showed how much security had deteriorated. And it testified to the difficult task that the civilian government faces in trying to rebuild public security and trust.

Kareem Fahim and Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting from Cairo.

Kareem Fahim and Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting from Cairo.

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BlackBerry 10 said to be inadequate for helping RIM overcome its ‘demons’

After hitting a seven-year low of $ 6.22 this past summer, shares of Research in Motion (RIMM) have rebounded and climbed more than 100% in the past six months. The company that was previously written off by Wall Street investors has seen a significant boost in recent months as anticipation grows for its BlackBerry 10 operating system. But while a number of analysts have voiced their support for RIM, not everyone is convinced.

[More from BGR: Apple’s 128GB iPad shows the world exactly what Apple does best]

Jan Dawson of Ovum explained, per Benzinga, that RIM continues to “face the twin demons of consumer-driven buying power and a chronic inability to appeal to mature market consumers,” and he believes BlackBerry 10 won’t change this. The analyst said that due to a strong user base of 79 million subscribers and profitability still in the black, the company will remain for years to come. He was quick to note, however, that its glory days are in the past and “it is only a matter of time before it reaches a natural end.”

[More from BGR: Apple unveils new 128GB iPad]

Dawson previously wrote that RIM’s strategy seems to be focused on building the best devices for current BlackBerry users “rather than something that will necessarily win converts from other platforms.”

“The points of differentiation RIM has focused on in teasers for the new platform confirm this – better multitasking, productivity, email, contacts and calendar applications and so on, rather than a better gaming, content consumption or social networking experience,” he said.

Shares of RIM are down more than 6% on Monday, a day before the company is set to unveil its BlackBerry 10 operating system.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Ashley Judd Splits from Husband Dario Franchitti

01/29/2013 at 08:05 PM EST

Ashley Judd and Dario Franchitti

Robin Marchant/Wireimage

Ashley Judd and Dario Franchitti are splitting after more than a decade of marriage.

"We have mutually decided to end our marriage. We'll always be family and continue to cherish our relationship based on the special love, integrity, and respect we have always enjoyed," Judd, 44, and Franchitti, 39, tell PEOPLE exclusively in a statement on Tuesday.

After being engaged for about two years, the Missing star and the racecar driver tied the knot in a highly private ceremony in Scotland in 2001.

Judd's sister, Wynonna Judd, served as maid of honor, while the groom's brother Mario was the best man. – Julie Jordan

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