Global stocks recover after oil price decline (AP)

LONDON – Stocks recovered their poise Friday following the previous day's sharp drop in oil prices on hopes that Saudi Arabia could make up for any shortfall in crude production from Libya.

The catalyst to Thursday's decline in oil prices was the expectation that Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, could pump more oil out to make up for lost supplies from Libya, which is effectively split into two after a popular uprising.

Under normal circumstances, Libya produces about 1.6 million barrels of crude per day, but its output has been heavily affected by the violence that has caused nearly 300 deaths, according to a partial count by Human Rights Watch.

In London, a barrel of Brent crude was up 15 cents at $111.51 a barrel, still $8 or so below its high point on Thursday. Meanwhile, the equivalent New York rate was down 7 cents at $97.23 a barrel, again around $5 down from the previous day's peak.

The knock-on effect on stocks has been positive as investors appeared releived that the recent sharp rise in oil prices has come to a halt, however briefly — the fear is that sky-high oil prices will choke the fragile economic recovery around the world.

In Europe, Germany's DAX closed up 0.8 percent at 7,185.17 while the CAC-40 in Paris rose 1.5 percent to 4,070.38. Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading British shares ended 1.4 percent higher at 6,001.20 after trading resumed following an earlier technical glitch that closed the market for about four hours.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.4 percent at 12,114 around midday New York time while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 0.8 percent to 1,316.

Libya was likely to continue to dominate sentiment as the trading week comes to a nervous end.

With reports indicating an escalation in the violence in the capital city of Tripoli, and large parts of the country under the control of opposition groups, there are fears that longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi may be preparing for a bloody showdown.

Autocratic leaders in Tunisia and Egypt have already had to quit this year following massive popular uprisings.

The biggest worry in the markets is not Libya but whether the crisis spreads through the Persian Gulf's bigger energy producers. Already Bahrain's government is facing daily protests and there are fears that Saudi Arabia's royal family may be next in line to face the wrath of its people. The announcement of a massive $36 billion package of benefits earlier this week was seen as an attempt by Saudi King Abdullah to ease popular discontent.

"If the political unrest was to spread to the world's largest oil producer, markets would have to discuss the possibility of a new oil crisis and its consequences for the global economy," said Ashley Davies, an analyst at Commerzbank.

If the crisis spreads there, experts say oil prices could reach $200 a barrel, potentially tipping the world economy back into recession.

The fragility of the global recovery was underlined by the fact that Britain contracted by a greater than anticipated 0.6 percent in the final three months of 2010, while the annualized growth rate in the U.S. for the same period was revised down to 2.8 percent from the initial estimate of 3.2 percent.

As elsewhere, the main focus in the currency markets was on events in Libya and the easing in the oil price from its most elevated levels gave the dollar a lift despite the lower-than-expected U.S. growth figures.

Elsewhere, the euro was 0.4 percent lower at $1.3756 while the dollar fell 0.2 percent to 81.75 yen.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.7 percent to close at 10,526.76 and South Korea's Kospi also added 0.7 percent, to 1,963.43. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.8 percent to 23,012.37.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was virtually unchanged at 2,878.57, and down 0.7 percent for the week, while the Shenzhen Composite Index edged up less than 0.1 percent to 1,280.30 in lackluster trading.

____

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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Global stocks recover after oil price decline (AP)

LONDON – Stocks recovered their poise Friday following the previous day's sharp drop in oil prices on hopes that Saudi Arabia could make up for any shortfall in crude production from Libya.

The catalyst to Thursday's decline in oil prices was the expectation that Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, could pump more oil out to make up for lost supplies from Libya, which is effectively split into two after a popular uprising.

Under normal circumstances, Libya produces about 1.6 million barrels of crude per day, but its output has been heavily affected by the violence that has caused nearly 300 deaths, according to a partial count by Human Rights Watch.

In London, a barrel of Brent crude was up 15 cents at $111.51 a barrel, still $8 or so below its high point on Thursday. Meanwhile, the equivalent New York rate was down 7 cents at $97.23 a barrel, again around $5 down from the previous day's peak.

The knock-on effect on stocks has been positive as investors appeared releived that the recent sharp rise in oil prices has come to a halt, however briefly — the fear is that sky-high oil prices will choke the fragile economic recovery around the world.

In Europe, Germany's DAX closed up 0.8 percent at 7,185.17 while the CAC-40 in Paris rose 1.5 percent to 4,070.38. Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading British shares ended 1.4 percent higher at 6,001.20 after trading resumed following an earlier technical glitch that closed the market for about four hours.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.4 percent at 12,114 around midday New York time while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 0.8 percent to 1,316.

Libya was likely to continue to dominate sentiment as the trading week comes to a nervous end.

With reports indicating an escalation in the violence in the capital city of Tripoli, and large parts of the country under the control of opposition groups, there are fears that longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi may be preparing for a bloody showdown.

Autocratic leaders in Tunisia and Egypt have already had to quit this year following massive popular uprisings.

The biggest worry in the markets is not Libya but whether the crisis spreads through the Persian Gulf's bigger energy producers. Already Bahrain's government is facing daily protests and there are fears that Saudi Arabia's royal family may be next in line to face the wrath of its people. The announcement of a massive $36 billion package of benefits earlier this week was seen as an attempt by Saudi King Abdullah to ease popular discontent.

"If the political unrest was to spread to the world's largest oil producer, markets would have to discuss the possibility of a new oil crisis and its consequences for the global economy," said Ashley Davies, an analyst at Commerzbank.

If the crisis spreads there, experts say oil prices could reach $200 a barrel, potentially tipping the world economy back into recession.

The fragility of the global recovery was underlined by the fact that Britain contracted by a greater than anticipated 0.6 percent in the final three months of 2010, while the annualized growth rate in the U.S. for the same period was revised down to 2.8 percent from the initial estimate of 3.2 percent.

As elsewhere, the main focus in the currency markets was on events in Libya and the easing in the oil price from its most elevated levels gave the dollar a lift despite the lower-than-expected U.S. growth figures.

Elsewhere, the euro was 0.4 percent lower at $1.3756 while the dollar fell 0.2 percent to 81.75 yen.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.7 percent to close at 10,526.76 and South Korea's Kospi also added 0.7 percent, to 1,963.43. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.8 percent to 23,012.37.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was virtually unchanged at 2,878.57, and down 0.7 percent for the week, while the Shenzhen Composite Index edged up less than 0.1 percent to 1,280.30 in lackluster trading.

____

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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New Zealand Miracle: Woman Saved After Spending 27 Hours Under Earthquake Rubble (Time.com)

New Zealand rescuers pulled out a woman alive who had been trapped in rubble for over 24 hours after a massive 6.3 Christchurch earthquake left at least 75 people dead on Tuesday. (Read more about the intial reports from the disaster.)
Ann Bodkin was rescued from the collapsed Pyne Gould Corporation building in the early afternoon, approximately 27 hours after the earthquake struck the city. She had been trapped under her desk, and luckily, had no injuries.
Originally, rescuers thought Bodkin was another victim, an Australian woman named Ann Voss, who has been in contact with people under the rubble on her cell phone. Voss, however, has not been found. Approximately 300 people remain missing on Wednesday as rescuers continue their work. (Read about more about the recent Christchurch earthquake.)
It took three hours for rescuers to reach Bodkin through the debris of the four-story building, guided by her tapping through a wall. Her husband was waiting next to the debris when they managed to pull her out. "I was told to get myself down here because she was asking for me. I didn't break any speed limits but I got here pretty quickly," he told Shepparton News. (See pictures of the earthquake damage in Christchurch.)
Yesterday's earthquake comes close on the heels of another major quake in Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island just five months ago. Though that earthquake, which struck near dawn in September, was stronger, no one was killed; the high number of fatalities in this week's unfolding tragedy have been attributed to the fact that it occurred in the late morning on a weekday.
The September earthquake is estimated to have caused over $3 billion in damages. There is no official figure yet about the cost of this week's disaster, but New Zealand Prime Minister's estimates that it will be at least another $3 billion in damages, while Australian companies are estimating the final tally will be closer to $12 billion. (See pictures of the damage from the September 2010 Christchurch earthquake.)
New Zealand's deadliest earthquake was the Hawke's Bay earthquake in 1931. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed 256 people on the nation's North Island. The more recent Christchurch earthquake happened along a fault line that was previously unknown until recently.
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Yemen separatist leader held, two die after protests (Reuters)

By Mohammed Mukhashaf and Mohammed Ghobari Mohammed Mukhashaf And Mohammed Ghobari – Sun Feb 20, 6:19 pm ET
ADEN/SANAA (Reuters) – The leader of Yemen's secessionist Southern Movement was arrested and shots were fired on the ninth day of demonstrations in the capital Sanaa on Sunday.
A male protester and a young girl died in a hospital in the southern city of Aden, after being wounded, apparently by stray bullets, during protests on Saturday in a nearby town, a doctor told Reuters. Their deaths brought the toll from the past two days to seven.
Thousands of people staged sit-ins in the cities of Ibb and Taiz, as well as in two districts of Aden, to demand the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who renewed an offer of dialogue to opposition parties.
Saleh, a U.S. ally battling a resurgent al Qaeda wing based in Yemen, has held power for 32 years in the poor Arabian Peninsula state, which faces soaring unemployment, dwindling oil and water reserves, and chronic unrest in northern and southern provinces.
Security in Aden was stepped up on Sunday, with tanks and armored vehicles out on main streets.
Hasan Baoum, head of the secessionist Southern Movement, was arrested by an "armed military group" in an Aden hospital where he was being treated, his son Fadi Hasan Baoum told Reuters.
Baoum was also arrested in November last year, accused of planning illegal demonstrations.
CALL FOR DIALOGUE
Saleh renewed his call for dialogue with opposition parties and blamed the latest protests on "elements outside the system and the law."
"Dialogue is the best way. Not sabotage. Not blocking the roads," he told tribal, military and civil leaders in Sanaa.
But the coalition of main opposition parties, including the Islamist Islah and the secular Socialist Party, said there could be no dialogue with "bullets and sticks and thuggery," or with a government "which gathers mercenaries to ... terrorize people."
Around 50 government supporters tried to break up a demonstration outside Sanaa University by 1,000 protesters.
A Saleh supporter fired shots from an assault rifle but there were no reported casualties and the government supporters soon dispersed, while the protesters chanted, "Leave, Ali!"
Both sides fired weapons on Saturday outside the university -- the first reported use of firearms by demonstrators. Several protesters were hurt in those clashes.
PROTESTS AND SIT-INS
Protests have taken place across Yemen, a country of 23 million which borders the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
In the southern city of Ibb, around 1,000 protesters set up camp in Freedom Square waving banners which read "Leave" and "The people want the fall of the regime," witnesses said.
In Taiz, thousands continued a sit-in for a ninth day. Hundreds launched new sit-ins in the Mansoura and Crater districts of Aden.
Twelve Yemeni human rights groups demanded in a statement that security officials in Aden, Sanaa and Taiz be put on trials over attacks on protesters.
On Saturday, Saleh blamed a "foreign agenda" and a "conspiracy against Yemen, its security and stability" for the protests against poverty, unemployment and corruption which have gained momentum since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
Saleh is facing an al Qaeda branch that has launched attacks at home and abroad. He is also confronted by a separatist revolt in the south and trying to maintain a shaky truce with Shi'ite Muslim rebels in the north.
(Additional reporting Mohamed Sudam; writing by Jason Benham, Dominic Evans and Firouz Sedarat; editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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Libya city burying more dead after security crackdown (Reuters)

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Mourners in Libya's second city of Benghazi were on Saturday burying some of the dozens of protesters shot dead by security forces in the worst unrest of Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power.

Human Rights Watch said 35 people were killed in the city late on Friday, adding to dozens who had already died in a fierce crackdown on three days of protests inspired by uprisings in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia.

Friday's deaths in Benghazi happened when security forces opened fire on people protesting after funeral processions for victims of earlier violence, the group said.

The New York-based watchdog said the killings on Friday took to 84 its estimate for the total death toll after three days of protests focused on the restive region around Benghazi, 1,000 km (600 miles) east of Tripoli.

Asked by Qatar-based Al Jazeera television how many people were to be buried on Saturday, Benghazi cleric Abellah al-Warfali said he had a list of 16 people, most with bullet wounds to the head and chest.

"I saw with my own eyes a tank crushing two people in a car," he said. "They didn't do any harm to anyone."

The private Quryna newspaper, which is based in Benghazi and has been linked to one of Gaddafi's sons, said 24 people were killed in Benghazi on Friday.

It said security forces opened fire to stop protesters attacking the police headquarters and a military detachment where weapons were stored. "The guards were forced to use bullets," the paper said.

The government has released no casualty figures, nor made any official comment on the violence.

OIL CASH

Away from the eastern region, the country appeared calm. A government-run newspaper blamed the protests on Zionism and the "traitors of the West," while officials said foreign media were exaggerating the scale of the violence in the east.

Libya-watchers say an Egypt-style nationwide revolt is unlikely because Gaddafi has oil cash to smooth over social problems and he is also still respected in much of the country.

In London, British foreign minister William Hague said he had reports that heavy weapons fire and sniper units were being used against demonstrators. "This is clearly unacceptable and horrifying," he said in a statement.

A Benghazi resident, who lives near the city center, said shooting could be heard on Friday night and that protesters attacked and damaged the state-run radio station near his home.

"I heard shooting last night until midnight," the resident, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters. "The radio station has been attacked ... We do not know what we are going to do."

He said most people were staying inside their houses because they were too frightened to go out.

The security forces in the streets were wearing yellow hats, the witness said, which are not part of standard Libyan police or army uniform. "They are not Libyans," he said.

Another Benghazi resident told Reuters from the city: "There are still a large number of protesters standing in front of Benghazi court. They have decided they are not going to move."

POLICE STATIONS TORCHED

A security source said that there were still clashes going on in the region between Benghazi and the town of Al Bayda, about 200 km away, where local people said dozens have also been killed by security forces in the past 72 hours.

"The situation in the eastern area from Al Bayda to Benghazi is 80 percent under control ... A lot of police stations have been set on fire or damaged," the security source told Reuters. He also said: "Please do not believe what foreign radio and television are saying. Their information is not exact."

Foreign journalists have not been allowed to enter Libya since the unrest began, local reporters have been barred from traveling to Benghazi and mobile phone connections to towns in the east of the country have frequently been out of service.

Al Jazeera said its signal was being jammed on several frequencies and its website had been blocked in Libya.

The state-run Alzahf Alakhdar, or Green March, newspaper published an editorial under the title: "No leader except Gaddafi!" and sent a defiant message to opponents of his rule.

"Our people are today more determined to face their challenges and to confront all the dirty plans and the conspiracies designed by America and Zionism and the traitors of the West."

(Additional reporting by Souhail Karam in Rabat and Matt Falloon in London; Writing by Christian Lowe; editing by Alison Williams)

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After the carrot, Egypt military shows the stick (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt's military, after promising to deliver civilian rule in six months, warned workers using their new freedom to protest over pay that strikes must stop, in a move businessmen said on Saturday could have come sooner.

The military council, under pressure from activists to speed up the pace of reform, has adopted a softly-softly approach since taking power after the downfall of Hosni Mubarak, but said late on Friday that labor unrest threatened national security.

It issued the order, effectively banning strikes, after millions celebrated across Egypt with fireworks, dancing and music to mark a week since Mubarak, 82, was swept aside after 30 years, triggering a cascade of Middle East protests.

"I think it is a very late decision. The army should have given a firm statement for all kinds of sit-ins to stop, immediately after Mubarak stepped down," Sami Mahmoud, a board member of the Nile Company food distributor, said on Saturday.

"Though this statement should have come way earlier, I think the army was just allowing people to take their chance to voice their demands and enjoy the spirit of freedom," said Walid Abdel-Sattar, a businessman in the power industry.

"It's Not The Time For It," said Saturday's banner headline in the state-owned Akhbar Elyom newspaper, urging the nation to end work stoppages which were causing "a state of paralysis to our national economy" and losing Egypt crucial revenue.

Banks, which have been closed this week because of strikes that have disrupted business, are due to open on Sunday, the first day of the working week in Egypt. The military believes this is an important step toward restoring normality.

FREEDOM TO SPEAK OUT

Workers cite a series of grievances. What unites them is a new sense of being able to speak out in the post-Mubarak era.

The message to return to work was reinforced by influential preacher Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi at Friday prayers.

Most Egyptians, however, are keen to get back to normal, begin earning again and restart the damaged economy.

Life is far from normal in Egypt after the 18-day uprising erupted on January 25, with schools closed, tanks on the streets in major cities and nationwide public sector strikes.

In a sign of economic nervousness, Egypt's stock exchange, closed since January 27 because of the turmoil, said it would remain shut until it was sure banks were functioning properly.

Nine airlines canceled flights to and from Egypt's capital on Saturday, Cairo airport officials said. The unrest prompted foreign embassy travel warnings, hitting tourism.

The military statement also said that "some elements" were preventing state employees from working. Others were appropriating state land and building on farm land.

"The Supreme Council for the Armed Forces will not allow the continuation of those illegitimate practices," it said in the strongly-worded statement, without specifying precisely what steps would be taken against the perpetrators.

Protests, sit-ins and strikes have occurred at state-owned institutions across Egypt, including at the stock exchange, textile and steel firms, media organizations, the postal service, railways, the Culture Ministry and the Health Ministry.

The council understood workers' demands and had instructed the relevant state bodies to study and act on them, the military statement said. But citizens had a duty toward the state.

"It was also noted that the continuation of the state of instability and the consequences resulting from it will lead to damage in national security," the statement said.

Pro-democracy campaigners welcomed the army's suspension of the constitution, dissolution of parliament and a referendum on constitutional amendments but still want the immediate release of political prisoners and lifting of emergency laws.

A Cairo court on Saturday approved the establishment of an Egyptian political party that has been trying to secure an official license for 15 years.

The Wasat Party (Center Party) has applied four times for a license since the 1990s. Saturday's ruling made it the first party to gain legal status since Mubarak was toppled.

The ruling paves the way for the Wasat Party, founded by a former Muslim Brotherhood member, to take part in coming elections.

(Additional reporting by Sarah Mikhail, Edmund Blair, Sherine El Madany, Yasmine Saleh, Shaimaa Fayed, Marwa Awad, Dina Zayed, Tom Pfeiffer, Tom Perry, Patrick Werr, Alexander Dziadosz; Writing by Peter Millership; editing by David Stamp)

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Qantas in Rolls-Royce talks after new A380 problem (AFP)

SYDNEY (AFP) – Qantas said it was checking with Rolls-Royce after an oil problem with an A380 superjumbo's engine, but added the incident was not connected to November's mid-air blast.

A spokeswoman said the flagship Airbus craft was flying from Singapore to London on Tuesday when oil supplies dropped on one of its four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, but did not pose a safety problem.

"The crew detected a decrease in oil supply to the engine, so they just monitored it throughout the flight," she told AFP on Saturday.

"The engine was never shut down. There was no need for the flight to be diverted and it landed without any issue."

However, she added that power to the engine was reduced about two hours before landing "as a precautionary measure".

"We always work with Rolls-Royce when things like this happen to engines," the spokeswoman said.

"It has happened previously to another Trent 900 operator other than ourselves. We are obviously in talks with Rolls-Royce to see if this is something that needs a permanent fix."

On Thursday, Qantas estimated that it suffered an Aus$80 million (US$81.1 million) financial hit from November's blast, and said it was still discussing compensation with the British engine-maker.

On November 4, a Trent 900 engine exploded minutes into a flight from Singapore, forcing an emergency landing, in an incident that sent jitters through the industry and prompted Qantas to ground its A380 fleet.

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Libyan protesters take to streets after deaths (Reuters)

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Thousands of anti-government protesters were on the streets of Libya's eastern city of Benghazi early on Friday, a day after "day of rage" demonstrations led to fatal skirmishes with the security forces.

BBC radio, quoting a witness, said protesters against Muammar Gaddafi's four decades long rule had clashed with security forces, who were using guns, and doctors had counted the bodies of 10 people.

In the nearby eastern town of Al Bayda, where sources told Reuters earlier that five people had been killed, people were bringing tents to camp out on the streets, the BBC reported.

Funerals of those killed were expected in both Benghazi and Al Bayda on Friday. The funerals could act as a catalyst for more protests.

On Thursday, deadly clashes broke out in several towns after the opposition called for protests in a rare show of defiance inspired by uprisings in other Arab states and the toppling of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Tunisia's Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Political analysts say Libya oil wealth should give the government the capacity to smooth over social problems and reduce the risk of an Egypt-style revolt.

Tight controls on media and communications in Libya made it difficult to assess the extent of the violence, but on Friday unverified reports on social network sites said up to 50 people had died.

Gaddafi's opponents say they want political freedoms, respect for human rights and an end to corruption. Gaddafi says Libyans enjoy true democracy.

Pro-government supporters also were out on the streets early on Friday, according to CNN. The broadcaster said images transmitted on Libyan state television labeled "live" showed men chanting slogans in support of Gaddafi.

The pro-Gaddafi crowd was seen singing as it surrounded his limousine as it crept along a road in the capital packed with people carrying his portrait. Fireworks lit up the night sky. The worst clashes on Thursday appeared to have taken place in the eastern Cyrenaica region centered on Benghazi, where support for Gaddafi has historically been weaker than in other parts of the country.

Earlier, a resident in Al Bayda told Reuters by telephone: "The situation is still complicated ... The young people do not want to listen to what the elders say."

Phone connections to the town, which is 200 km (125 miles) from Benghazi, were not working on Thursday evening and officials were barring journalists from flying to Benghazi from Tripoli.

Libya's Quryna newspaper reported the regional security chief had been removed from his post over the deaths of protesters in Al Bayda. Rights watchdog Amnesty International said security forces opened fire on protesters in Al Bayda, killing a man identified as Nacer Miftah Gout'ani. (Writing by Matthew Jones; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Elderly get fewer antipsychotics after FDA warning (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – An official warning about newer antipsychotics in demented elderly people appears to have deterred some doctors from prescribing the drugs, a new U.S. study shows.

The so-called black box warning was issued by the Food and Drug Administration in 2005 after studies found elderly people on newer antipsychotics such as Janssen's Risperdal and AstraZeneca's Seroquel died sooner than those who didn't take the drugs.

"The black box warning is really the strongest warning that FDA has short of pulling the drug off the market," said Dr. Helen C. Kales, a psychiatrist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who worked on the study. "It looks like the warning did have its intended effect."

Some doctors use antipsychotics to control difficult behaviors in old people with dementia, although they haven't been specifically approved for the purpose.

More than one in ten Americans over 70 have dementia, and often that causes problems like frequent agitation, aggression, paranoia, and delusions.

"A lot of time and money are spent dealing with these things," Kales said.

Based on data in the national Veterans Affairs registries from more than 250,000 veterans, she and colleagues found the overall use of new and old antipsychotics in elderly patients with dementia dropped from nearly 18 percent in 1999 to 12 percent in 2007.

While doctors used the older drugs less and less over the entire period, the newer ones became increasingly popular until 2003, when early warnings began to circulate among healthcare providers.

Then in 2005, use of newer antipsychotics suddenly began dropping, too.

"We began to be aware that there was no free lunch," Kales told Reuters Health, noting that doctors had hoped initially that the newer medications -- also known as "atypical antipsychotic drugs" --would have fewer side effects than the older ones.

As it turned out, they replaced one set of side effects -- such as movement disorders -- with others, such as pronounced weight gain and diabetes.

Kales said antipsychotics might still have a place in treating some psychotic elderly patients, but they should be used cautiously.

For instance, simple things such as switching a male for a female caregiver might ease symptoms in some patients, whereas antidepressants may help others.

Kales also said she now discusses the risks and benefits of using antipsychotics with the family before putting a patient on the drug.

"The take-home message for me is we need to continue to look for better treatments, perhaps by studying behavioral interventions," Kales said. "There is still a group of patients out there who really need help."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/iiwWKH Archives of General Psychiatry, online February 7, 2011.

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Ore. man dies after hospital tells police call 911 (AP)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Coughing and unable to sleep, Birgilio Marin-Fuentes drove himself to the hospital after midnight earlier this week, but he crashed his car just shy of his goal.

By the time somebody noticed the accident in the Portland Adventist Medical Center parking garage and told police, about 20 minutes had gone by.

The 61-year-old Cuban immigrant eventually died, leaving his family in grief, police upset, and a congressman requesting an investigation. All are asking why a police officer was told to call 911 for a heart attack victim just outside the hospital door.

Marin-Fuentes had struck a pillar and wall early Thursday morning inside the first level of the garage under an "emergency parking only" sign about 125 feet from the emergency room entrance.

Police say officers Angela Luty and Robert Quick found him unconscious and unresponsive and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A third officer, Andrew Hearst, went to the ER intake desk and told them what was happening.

Police say that's when he was told to call the emergency line.

"The officers recognized this man needed medical attention immediately, and two officers began CPR immediately, and a third officer went to ask for assistance, and they were told they had to wait until an ambulance arrived," said Sgt. Pete Simpson, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman.

Judy Leach, a hospital spokeswoman, said emergency room staff was told it was a car crash and they were following the proper protocol by instructing police to summon an ambulance crew.

"With an automobile accident you don't know if the patient needs to be extricated or transported," Leach said Friday. "There are protocols in place to ensure the right thing is done for the right patient at the right time."

She said hospital security officers equipped with a mobile defibrillator were dispatched, and a paramedic went outside to check on the situation.

But Simpson said officers did not receive any medical assistance and were left to fend for themselves until the ambulance arrived and the crew wheeled Marin-Fuentes the short distance to the emergency room aboard a gurney.

"It's a traumatic experience to give CPR and have a person not survive, especially to be that close to a hospital with trained medical personnel right there who could have assisted," Simpson said.

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer said Friday he has asked the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to conduct an independent investigation to make sure the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act approved in 1986 was followed.

The act requires all Medicare participating hospitals with emergency departments to treat any critically ill patients on their premises, including parking lots, Blumenauer said.

Blumenauer said he was "deeply concerned" about the way the incident was handled and has been in contact with both national and state hospital associations "to make sure everybody gets their signals straight."

Mark McDougal, a Portland attorney representing the family of Marin-Fuentes, said the family was pleased that Blumenauer has asked for a federal investigation.

"It is particularly disturbing that the hospital has given an account which is directly contradicted by the officers at the scene," McDougal said.

Efforts by The Associated Press to reach the victim's wife, Claudia Luis Garcia, on Friday were unsuccessful.

But she told The Oregonian she believes if she had insisted on driving with her husband to the hospital, he might still be alive.

"They left him to die," Luis Garcia said.

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After war, pilot's life takes downturn

The Air Force ordered Maj. Chad Bushman to have no contact with his wife and children for almost two years.Pilot faces military inquiry that may result in being dischargedHis wife detailed years of abuse upon her husband's return from dutyMilitary may have missed the early signs of PTSDBoard to determine whether it's in best interest of Air Force to keep the pilot in its ranks

San Francisco (CNN) -- Air Force Maj. Chad Bushman vividly remembers the worst day of his life, the sound of handcuffs gripping his wrists as six military officers took him away and told him he faced criminal charges for abusing his wife.

"It's shameful. There's no honor in it." Bushman said. "I'm very ashamed of how I had gotten."

What Bushman didn't know at that moment was that a military psychologist would soon determine that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and, he says, it led to years of abusing his wife. The diagnosis may have come too late, and the decorated pilot's military career could soon come to a disgraceful end. But Bushman says that he deserves a second chance and that the Air Force has let him down.

"I think they're trying to wash their hands of me," Bushman said. "Instead of looking at the whole picture of 'how did he get this way, and what could we have done to make him better or help him?' "

The secretary of the Air Force will ultimately decide whether Bushman can continue his career as a military pilot. This week, the case goes before a board of inquiry at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

How Bushman's career reached this point is a sad and often disturbing tale that raises questions about whether the military missed PTSD warning signs along the way.

I think they're trying to wash their hands of me instead of looking at the whole picture.
--Maj. Chad Bushman

In the years after September 11, Bushman piloted C-130 aircraft into the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Bushman says the missions were the most stressful days he'd ever had.

"I can remember seeing a missile streak come past the front of the aircraft. That was the most terrifying experience of my life," Bushman said.

In Bushman's mind, however, pilots didn't suffer from PTSD. That was for ground troops who got shot at. But at home, Bushman says, he couldn't handle being around crowds, and his temper erupted more often.

"I didn't think there was a problem. I could justify everything," Bushman said. "I was like, 'this is who I am. Deal with it.' "

After Bushman returned home from multiple deployments in 2004, his attorney says, the military made a critical mistake. Each servicemember who returns from war is required to fill out a Post Deployment Health Reassessment Survey. Among other things, it can help military psychologists figure out whether he or she is showing any symptoms of PTSD.

Bushman says he wasn't given the survey until January 2008, four years after returning from war duty and less than a year before his wife called police after another brutal day of abuse.

A military attorney familiar with the major's case says the Air Force doesn't dispute Bushman's claim. The attorney says that as soon as the Air Force discovered that the survey wasn't completed, it corrected the problem. But Bushman's attorney says the survey holds the first clues that the pilot was battling PTSD.

In the survey, Bushman admits having nightmares and feeling numb and detached from others. Dr. Heather Klempp, a psychologist at the U.S. Army Health Clinic in Presidio of Monterey, California, described Bushman as having PTSD, showing signs of "recurrent intrusive ideation of traumatic experiences ... frequent anger and irritability ... severe anxiety." His relationship with his wife also began to deteriorate.

Tori Bushman laid out the years of abuse in painful detail in a five-page sworn statement the day her husband was arrested in November 2008. In the statement, Tori Bushman wrote that "there were several incidents of him holding me down, choking me, threatening to kill me and bury my body where nobody could find it."

Without getting into specifics, Col. Del Grissom, the staff judge advocate for Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, says the military is prepared to present witnesses at the board of inquiry challenging Bushman's assertion that he suffered from PTSD during the years he beat his wife.

Grissom says that in the four years after Bushman returned from duty, he never asked for help, never showed signs of psychological problems and performed his work duties well.

"We can't tolerate anyone beating their spouse," Grissom said. "The question is, is it in the best interest of the Air Force for him to continue as an officer?"

Originally, Bushman faced a court martial on the criminal abuse charges, but the military dropped the case because his wife refused to cooperate after learning that a military psychologist had diagnosed him with PTSD. For almost two years, the Air Force ordered Bushman to have no contact with his wife and two children.

The couple recently reunited for an emotional weekend in San Francisco. Tears swelled in Tori Bushman's eyes as she hugged her husband tightly. She later explained why, after enduring so many years of abuse, she was supporting him and fighting so hard to persuade the Air Force not to discharge him.

"He was sick, and he needed help," Tori Bushman said. "Now, they're just going to throw him away because of all the things that he's done. They should be able to look at what's going on here and help us."

At this week's board of inquiry, Bushman's attorney will present evidence and witnesses arguing why the veteran pilot should be allowed to keep flying. Military attorneys will put forward their case, arguing that it's no longer "in the best interest of the Air Force" to keep him in the ranks. It's the military's way of determining "non-judicial punishment."

Three colonels will hear Bushman's case and then offer up a recommendation to the secretary of the Air Force. The final decision is probably several months away.

Until then, Chad and Tori Bushman are bracing themselves for the worst news: the end of their days in the military.

"They seem pretty determined to kick him out, but that's OK," Tori Bushman said. "We'll pick up the pieces, and we're still going to be together. We're going to be a family, and that's most important."

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Korea talks stall after North delegation walks out

The two sides fail to reach an agreement on securing high-level military talksThe talks were the first of its kind since the Yeonpyeong island bombingThe bombing killed four South Koreans last November
Seoul (CNN) -- Talks between North and South Korea collapsed Wednesday after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on securing high-level military discussions during preparatory meetings held in the border area of Panmunjom.
The resumption of talks, the first of its kind since the Yeonpyeong island bombing that killed four South Koreans last November, signaled a change in atmosphere between the two Koreas. It led many to speculate that a consensus on holding higher-level military would be reached.
However, the North Korean delegation walked away from the negotiating table less than five hours after the second round of talks had begun, a move that was called "unilateral" by the South Korean Defense Ministry.
One of the issues that stalled talks was North Korea's demand for a comprehensive agenda from both sides on possible military actions, while the South pushed to limit the talks to the sinking of the Cheonan warship and Yeonpyeong Island attack, the South Korean Defense Ministry said.
The South and North ran into a similar deadlock while discussing the agenda of the high-level talks on the first day Tuesday. Seoul has demanded that North Korea apologizes for its military provocations carried out last year that also include the sinking of a warship that killed 46 sailors in March.
Pyongyang has denied involvement in the case.
South Korea emphasized Tuesday that it wants the agenda of the high-level talks to specify the island bombing and warship attack. The North argued back, saying that restricting the talks to those issues is "the equivalent of refusing to hold higher-level military talks," according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.
The resumption of humanitarian talks may also be in jeopardy because of the collapse in military talks.
Seoul earlier in the day sent a message to the North saying that it agreed in principal to hold humanitarian talks, in response to two requests Pyongyang had made this year, according to the Unification Ministry.
The South said it would be willing to discuss the details of the time and venue of the humanitarian talks after the high-level military talks are over. The Unification Ministry has not yet indicated whether the collapse of the military talks will push back or affect the resumption of the so-called Red Cross talks.
The Red Cross talks are used to facilitate reunions for families separated by the Korean War and for the North to receive humanitarian aid such as rice and fertilizer from Seoul.
CNN's Paula Hancocks and Jiyeon Lee contributed to this report.
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