KTRS News
CYPRIOT SAVINGS GRAB SHOCKS SAVERS ACROSS EUROPE
Monday, 18 March 2013 11:07 Published in National NewsA weekend agreement between Cyprus and its European partners called for the government to raid bank accounts as part of a €15.8 billion ($20.4 billion) financial bailout, the first time in the eurozone's crisis that the prospect of seizing individuals' savings has been raised.
Facing outrage, Cyprus' government delayed a parliamentary vote on the seizure and ordered banks to remain shut until Thursday while it tries to modify the deal to reduce the hit on people with small deposits.
Several hundred people gathered outside the vacant parliament building, with some chanting "thieves, thieves."
"We're very angry, betrayed, hurt and extremely disappointed," said protester Andriana Constantinou.
In order to get €10 billion ($13 billion) in bailout loans from international creditors, Cyprus agreed to take a percentage of all deposits — including ordinary citizens' savings. The surprise deal stoked fears that deposits in other countries could be targeted.
"The damage is done," said Louise Cooper of CooperCity, a financial research firm. "Europeans now know that their savings could be used to bail out banks."
The euro and stocks around the world took a hit even though the Cypriot economy accounts for only 0.2 percent of the combined output of the 17 European Union countries that use the currency.
The Cypriot government is now trying to modify the terms of the original plan and in particular to get a better deal for small savers with less than €100,000. The weekend deal foresaw a one-off charge of 6.75 percent on those savings, rising to 9.9 percent for those above the €100,000 mark.
While trying to make the package more appetizing for those with low savings, the government has to make sure that the total raised remains the same at €5.8 billion.
One solution doing the rounds is to make the tax more graduated: placing a one-time 3 percent levy on deposits below €100,000, rising to 15 percent for those above €500,000.
Still, the government has a battle to get a majority in the 56-member Parliament after some 25 lawmakers from communist AKEL, socialist EDEK and the Green party said they would vote down the levy that they have criticized as disastrous.
The stakes are high for the country of a million people, because a rejection of the package could see the country go bankrupt and possibly out of the common euro currency. Officials also fear a run on Cypriot banks no matter which way the voting goes.
UK STUDY: VIOLENCE MORE LIKELY AMONG VETS, TROOPS
Monday, 18 March 2013 11:04 Published in Health & FitnessThe research found that merely being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan made no difference in rates of violent crime later on. Instead, a key predictor was violent behavior before enlisting. Combat duty also raised the risk, as did witnessing traumatic events during deployment or misusing alcohol afterward.
Still, the vast majority - 94 percent - of British military staff who return home after serving in a combat zone don't commit any crimes, researchers told reporters at a briefing.
The study found little difference in the lifetime rates of violent offenses between military personnel and civilian populations at age 46 - 11 percent versus almost 9 percent. Among younger men, however, being in the military seemed to make a difference: Nearly 21 percent of the military group under age 30 had a conviction for a violent offense in their lifetime compared to fewer than 7 percent of similarly aged men in the general population, according to British crime statistics.
"The problem is that some of the qualities you want in a soldier are the same ones that get people arrested for violent behavior," said Walter Busuttil, director of medical services for Combat Stress, a British veterans' charity that was not part of the study. Busuttil said many of those recruited into the army are from disadvantaged backgrounds where violence is more common.
The research was published online Friday in the medical journal Lancet. Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London looked at data from more than 13,800 U.K. military personnel and veterans and compared that to records of violent crimes ranging from verbal threats to assaults and homicides. Some people were followed for up to seven years. Nearly 1,500 women were included, though they were mostly in noncombat roles.
Deirdre MacManus, the study's lead author, said combat experience seemed to matter when they compared violent crime rates among military personnel. "Being deployed in itself wasn't a risk factor for violent offenses but being exposed to multiple traumas, like seeing someone get shot, increased the risk by 70 to 80 percent," she said, compared to someone who hadn't witnessed such a harrowing ordeal.
Researchers said other studies have made similar findings.
Britain currently has some 5,000 soldiers in the NATO-led mission fighting in Afghanistan and it is the second-largest foreign contingent after the U.S. It withdrew its soldiers from Iraq in 2009 after six years. The U.K. Ministry of Defense has been under pressure to develop more mental health programs for veterans after reports of returning servicemen committing crimes, like the 2012 case of an ex-soldier in Leeds jailed for shooting his landlady after fighting in Afghanistan. He had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder but had not been monitored or treated.
In the U.S., there have been numerous cases of veterans committing violent crimes, including a Marine charged with killing six people in California last year. Soldiers from a single Army unit in Colorado killed 11 people over a few years after their return home. An Army report in 2009 placed part of the blame on the psychological trauma of fierce combat in Iraq. And this week, a U.S. Senate panel heard women in the military describe sexual assaults by fellow soldiers.
American researchers said it is possible the same links the British study found between fighting in a war and violent crime exist in the U.S. but that there isn't enough data yet.
"For some soldiers, it's hard to stop being a warrior," said Brett Litz, a psychology professor at Boston University who studies veterans' issues. "What happens during a war may be a prescription for a small percentage of men to get into trouble," he said. "They may find it very difficult to switch out of a wartime mindset."
But given the differences between Britain and the U.S., Litz said it was impossible to predict what effects would be seen in the United States. "Maybe the economy is better here, maybe the (department of defense) does a better job with transition, maybe (the) culture is different especially with respect to alcohol," Litz said.
"There will be a lot of returning soldiers who have to be reintegrated and unfortunately there is no quick fix," he said.
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OB/GYNS TOLD ROBOT HYSTERECTOMY NOT BEST OPTION
Monday, 18 March 2013 11:02 Published in Health & FitnessThe preferred method: Operate through the vagina, using standard tools rather than a robot, said Dr. James Breeden, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Increasingly, women are seeing ads that say a robot could help their doctor perform a hysterectomy more easily. And Breeden said doctors are reporting patients who demand that approach or say they'll take their business elsewhere.
But for routine hysterectomies, the vaginal method lets women leave the hospital just as quickly, without spending nearly as much money, Breeden said Thursday in a statement setting out the position of the nation's largest group of OB/GYNs.
When that's not possible, a laparoscopic hysterectomy - so-called keyhole surgery, operating through a few small incisions in the abdomen - is the second least invasive and costly option, he said.
"It is important to separate the marketing hype from the reality when considering the best surgical approach," Breeden said, adding: "There is no good data proving that robotic hysterectomy is even as good as, let alone better than, existing and far less costly minimally invasive alternatives."
The robotic method is similar to that keyhole operation except the doctor uses a computer to control robotic arms that hold the surgical tools, theoretically easier to move in tight quarters. Breeden said there may be advantages to robotic techniques for "unusual and complex clinical conditions," such as cancer operations that require extensive surgery to find and remove lymph nodes - but that needs additional research.
About 600,000 U.S. women a year undergo a hysterectomy. Traditionally, doctors removed the uterus through a large abdominal incision that meant a long recovery. Today, minimally invasive surgery is encouraged although many women still get the older open surgery for a variety of reasons.
Thursday's statement is sure to prove controversial with doctors who have embraced the technology. But it comes after a major study last month found robotic surgery adds at least $2,000 to the cost of a hysterectomy without improving outcomes. Breeden said another study found surgeons perform 50 to 90 robotic hysterectomies before becoming as good at it as they are with other minimally invasive methods.
Manufacturer Intuitive Surgical Inc. said its da Vinci robot system allows some women who otherwise would need an old-fashioned open hysterectomy - because of obesity, scarring or other complexities - to instead have a smaller operation.
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