Archive for the ‘Reuters’ Category
(Reuters) From Google Health to Wii Fit, Americans have an increasingly wide array of tools for tracking their health backgrounds and statistics but their understanding of what that data means is poor, threatening their health and costing the economy billions of dollars.
Just 12 percent of American adults are health literate at a level that allows them to manage their care, the latest News and Numbers statement from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) showed.
The AHRQ release is based on information from the 2007 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report , which found that the majority of Americans lacked the skills required to correctly complete health care-related activities like reading a prescription bottle, figuring out medication dosage, filling out forms or calculating insurance coverage. That lack of literacy can negatively affect the quality of care a patient receives and costs the U.S. economy between $106 billion and $236 billion annually, the University of Connecticut said in a report last year. That’s enough to insure all of the more than 47 million Americans currently without coverage.
“There is a number of areas and ranges within the health care system where low health literacy really leads to vast inefficiencies and resource utilization,” said John Vernon, the report’s lead author.
A survey done in 2003 classified Americans into four health literacy categories: proficient, intermediate, basic and below basic. Twenty-two percent were classified as having basic health literacy while 14 percent were below basic. In other words, more than a third of the respondents likely couldn’t determine medication dosage from the instructions on a prescription bottle, said Cindy Brach , a health literacy expert with the AHRQ.
- In: Europe | first-quarter | GDP | Germany | in | Reuters | shines | stuns
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(Reuters) – Stunning German growth and a surge in France produced a defiantly healthy showing from Europe when estimates of economic growth for the first three months of 2008 were published on Thursday.
Economists said that may be the end of it as Europe succumbs to an international downturn, but the news showed that, thanks to business investment, the region started the year in much better form than the almost stagnating U.S. economy.
“Germany is doing quite well, and we should raise a glass of the fizzy stuff to celebrate it. But it is not quite a new ‘wunder’,” said Bank of America economist Holger Schmieding.
There were worry signs behind the headline results from both Germany and France, notably weak consumer demand as commodity price inflation pushed up the cost of fuel, food and the cost of living generally.
The attention-grabber though was that German gross domestic product rose 1.5 percent compared with the final three months of 2007 — twice the pace anticipated by economists, several of whom called the news as sensational, amazing or miraculous, on the face of it at least.
- In: entertainment | Gisele Bundchen | high-earning | list | Models | of | Reuters | tops
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(Reuters) – Brazilian Gisele Bundchen is the world’s top supermodel with estimated earnings of $35 million during the past year, according to new ranking released on Wednesday.
She more than doubled the estimated $14 million earned by Heidi Klum, who came in at No. 2 on the list by Forbes.com, followed by Kate Moss with $7.5 million, Adriana Lima with $7 million and Doutzen Kroes with $6 million.
Forbes.com said that although Bundchen finished her lucrative Victoria’s Secret contract last year, she continues to juggle 20 other modeling jobs.
“The 27-year-old continues to bag new contracts, noticeably with Pantene and a cosmetics giant yet to be named. Her face graces ads for Disney, Nivea, Vogue eyewear and Aquascutum, the U.K.-based luxury line,” Forbes.com said.
“Her line of Grendene sandals, Ipanema by Gisele, banks her about $6 million a year. And her romance with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady keeps her in the tabloids,” it added.
The web site said that while Klum is still a Victoria’s Secret model, the mother of three is “more of a media and retail mogul” these days with her U.S. “Project Runway” and “Germany’s Next Top Model” hosting duties and lines of jewelry, jeans and skincare.
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(Hollywood Reporter) – Scandal has always suited “American Idol.” From accusations of voting irregularities to the secret personal histories of contestants, Fox’s unequaled reality hit produces a flurry of new controversies every season.
Judge Paula Abdul alone has been responsible for countless woozy YouTube moments and at least one severe alleged infraction — a reported romantic relationship with a contestant during the show’s second season.
The more alarmed and critical the media headlines, the more “Idol” has thrived in the ratings.
“‘Idol’ is all about cast and controversy,” said Fox president of alternative entertainment Mike Darnell in a recent interview. “So as soon as you get the right ingredients, the ratings go up again.”
But with the show’s viewership levels currently at historic lows, will the latest “Idol” incident give the show a curiosity-driven viewership bump? Or further discourage its maturing audience?
On Tuesday’s episode, a last-minute procedural change resulted in the judges critiquing contestants’ first round of performances instead of waiting until the end of the second round. Abdul gave a negative review of contestant Jason Castro’s two songs.
- In: cheerleader | cover-up | cricket | in | Indian | Oddly Enough | Reuters
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(Reuters) – One Indian cricket team has withdrawn cheerleaders from matches while others are being told to cover up, after protests that their dances and skimpy outfits were offensive to conservative Indians.
Cheerleaders, many imported from abroad, were hired to liven up India’s new $900 million domestic cricket league in which eight teams play a shortened version of the traditional game.
But while drum players, blaring music and the presence of Bollywood stars cheering among spectators may have livened up stadiums, cheerleaders may be one spectacle too far.
“At the right time of course we will be open to this,” Vijay Vancheswar, vice-president of GMR group that owns the Delhi Daredevils, told local media on Wednesday.
“Having said that, it is a question of priorities and the priority now is to play cricket and there will be no cheerleaders for now,” he said.
The sight of many foreign women and Indians dancing in high boots and skimpy shorts sparked anger from both Hindu nationalists, who opposed their open sexuality, and some leftist parties who said it crudely copied Western culture.
“The manner in which semi-clad girls keep shaking their limbs is in bad taste,” Uddhav Thackeray, head of the hardline Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party was quoted as saying in the Times of India.
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(Reuters) – One Indian cricket team has withdrawn cheerleaders from matches while others are being told to cover up, after protests that their dances and skimpy outfits were offensive to conservative Indians.
Cheerleaders, many imported from abroad, were hired to liven up India’s new $900 million domestic cricket league in which eight teams play a shortened version of the traditional game.
But while drum players, blaring music and the presence of Bollywood stars cheering among spectators may have livened up stadiums, cheerleaders may be one spectacle too far.
“At the right time of course we will be open to this,” Vijay Vancheswar, vice-president of GMR group that owns the Delhi Daredevils, told local media on Wednesday.
“Having said that, it is a question of priorities and the priority now is to play cricket and there will be no cheerleaders for now,” he said.
The sight of many foreign women and Indians dancing in high boots and skimpy shorts sparked anger from both Hindu nationalists, who opposed their open sexuality, and some leftist parties who said it crudely copied Western culture.
“The manner in which semi-clad girls keep shaking their limbs is in bad taste,” Uddhav Thackeray, head of the hardline Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party was quoted as saying in the Times of India.
Bloggers abuzz about Miley Cyrus photo scandal | Entertainment | People | Reuters
Posted on: May 1, 2008
(Billboard) – Miley Cyrus is the only recent teen superstar who has had to manage career-endangering controversy in the midst of major success on several fronts.
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The wholesome 15-year-old singer apologized on Sunday for posing for sexually provocative pictures for Vanity Fair, and has taken a drubbing in the media. Everything had been going so well: She has three albums on the Billboard 200, a box office hit with a recent concert film, a sold-out 2007 tour, as well as a hugely popular television show.
The first measure of Cyrus’ album sales since the story broke won’t be available until May 7, but Nielsen BuzzMetrics, which measures blog traffic, shows a 150% spike in discussion about Cyrus’ album “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert” between April 27 and April 29.
That album was perched at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 last week. She also has two other albums on the chart: “Hannah Montana 2” (No. 34) and “Hannah Montana 2: Non-Stop Dance Party” (No. 141).
To date, the singer and star of the Disney Channel series “Hannah Montana” has sold nearly 7 million records in the United States between her two personas, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Other teen musicians touched by scandals in the rece
- In: $1.4 | million | Oddly Enough | Reuters | Robbers | steal | watches | Worth
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“(Reuters) – Armed robbers stole designer watches worth 700,000 pounds in simultaneous daytime raids on two upmarket department stores in Manchester on Wednesday, police said.
Two men carrying claw hammers smashed display cases at Selfridges, while a third filled a bag with watches worth 400,000 pounds.
At the same time, two men wearing motorcycle helmets attacked a security guard at the nearby Harvey Nichols store, broke cabinets with hammers and stole watches worth 300,000 pounds.
Both stores in the city’s Exchange Square shopping district were open at the time, but no customers were injured, police said.
The five men escaped in a stolen red Ford Transit van before switching to an unknown getaway car.
Detective Sergeant Dave Turner, of Greater Manchester Police, said: ‘This incident has left one man with minor injuries and a number of other people extremely distressed.”
- In: 72 | buyer | carat | diamond | for | No | Oddly Enough | Reuters
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“(Reuters) – Global auction house Sotheby’s failed to hammer off a 72.22-carat, ‘D’ flawless white diamond at its Asian sales last week in a possible sign of weakness in the global diamond trade.
The large diamond which had a pre-sale estimate of $10-12 million, attracted a final bid of HK$73 million ($9.24million) that fell short of the reserve price and went unsold, said Sotheby’s press officer Rhonda Yung.
The diamond was later sold to a private buyer for an undisclosed sum, Sotheby’s said. Yung added that several international buyers had bid for the stone but ‘confusion over exchange rates’ had caused the auctioneer to retract some bids and may have dampened buyer enthusiasm.
The Sotheby’s stone was the third largest ‘pear-shaped’ diamond ever auctioned globally, and was of exceptional quality given its size, symmetry and esteemed ‘Type IIA’ rating, given only to the most brilliant of white ‘D’ color diamonds.
Rare polished diamonds achieved all-time highs per carat at sales in Geneva late last year, fuelled by high commodity prices and strong demand in emerging economies like China and the Gulf States.
The poor Hong Kong result however suggests the market for top tier gems may be suffering from global economic weakness.
The stone was auctioned in Hong Kong on the back of”
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“(Reuters) – The Olympic torch landed amid tight security in the Thai capital of Friday, the latest leg of its world tour, with police saying they were ready to stop any attempt by anti-China activists to put out the flame.
Several groups angry at Beijing’s human rights record and its rule in Tibet are planning demonstrations in Bangkok, but will not face any opposition from police as long as they remain orderly, Thai Olympic chief General Yuthasak Sasiprapa said.
‘If they are peaceful, it’s OK,’ he told Reuters. ‘But we will not tolerate any violent or illegal protests. The torch and runners will be tightly escorted by police patrols and motorcycles all along the route.’
However, security concerns and anger at Beijing’s March crackdown on unrest in Tibet caused an iconic Buddhist temple in central Japan to pull out as the starting point of next week’s torch relay in that country.
Zenkoji temple, in Nagano, said it had received 1,000 letters from across Japan calling for its withdrawal from the April 26 parade after the crackdown in Buddhist Tibet, in which monasteries were raided and monks arrested.
‘We needed to think about security, being a temple with national treasures and many visitors,’ a temple official said.”
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