Richard Branson

Notre Dame pounds Wake Forest

Label: World

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Out he came with a double-tap to his chest and a finger pointed to the sky. Then Manti Te'o ran on to the field one last time, spinning around with his arms open to a Notre Dame Stadium crowd madly waving green and white leis for him and him alone.

As he approached midfield, the Irish linebacker ripped his helmet off before a bear hug from his father, who told his son he loved him, how proud of him he was. Everyone cried. And then Te'o was alone, off to a corner of the field, to blow kisses to the student section before going to work.

After No. 3 Notre Dame mushroom-clouded its way to a 38-0 obliteration of Wake Forest and its first 11-0 start in 23 years, Te'o wound up chin-deep in leis, made of everything from flowers to beef jerky packets. He received a standing ovation, he heard his name chanted, and his skin tingled.

"Just magic," Te'o said. "There are no words to describe this place and how I felt at that time. Just joy. Pure joy."

To think it was only the beginning of the end. The exhilarating run arrives in southern California next weekend, one game against punch-drunk rival USC, one game for a possible chance at a national title and a gilded page in the densest college football history tome there is.

Only, in essence, the most important game they ever have played.

"We're going to be more focused than ever," said receiver John Goodman, who had a 50-yard touchdown catch. "The program is at an all-time high. It's something we want to keep going. We won't let USC get in our way. We just know we have one more, and we're good to go for a national championship, hopefully."

As for this Saturday, the celebration raged on after Senior Day festivities ended. Quarterback Everett Golson's 20-for-30, 346-yard, three-touchdown day spurred 584 yards of offense and the defense's first shutout since the 2009 opener turned Wake Forest (5-6) into dust.

Four plays in, tailback Cierre Wood was in the end zone after a 68-yard run. Then came Golson's three scoring tosses: A 2-yarder to Tyler Eifert, the bomb to Goodman and a 34-yard floater to TJ Jones.

The Irish were up 31 at halftime. Notre Dame won five previous home games by 23 points, total. Wake Forest was rendered indistinguishable from the marshmallows squished on the sideline after the students hurled them from the stands.

"I thought everything came together," Golson said. "My head is down, my foot's on the gas. I'm never going to look up and lose focus."

So here comes USC, hated USC, the Trojans either swashbuckling in pursuit of ruining their rivals' dreams … or devastated as a season of disappointment grinds to a close.

"Our guys know what's at stake now," Irish coach Brian Kelly said. "This is about an undefeated season. They cannot do anything else but beat USC. The rest is up to other people to decide."

It all comes to an end for the Irish, one way or another. Early in the fourth quarter Saturday, at a timeout that became a send-off, Te'o followed seniors Kapron Lewis-Moore and Zeke Motta to the sideline. Te'o pounded his chest, then screamed and punched the night air all the way there.

One of the best nights of their lives, and here comes the biggest.

bchamilton@tribune.com

Twitter @ChiTribHamilton

Exclusive: Facebook offering e-retailers sales tracking tool

Label: Technology

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc wants more credit for making online cash registers ring.

Facebook will begin rolling out on Friday a new tool which will allow online retailers to track purchases by members of the social network who have viewed their ads.

The tool is the latest of the new advertising features Facebook is offering to convince marketers that steering advertising dollars to the company will deliver a payoff.

Facebook, with roughly 1 billion users, has faced a tough reception on Wall Street amid concerns about its slowing revenue growth.

"Measuring ad effectiveness and outcomes is absolutely crucial to all types of businesses and marketers," said David Baser, a product manager for Facebook's ads business who said the "conversion measurement" tool has been a top customer request for a long time.

The sales information that advertisers receive is anonymous, said Baser. "You would see the number of people who bought shoes," he said, using the example of an online shoe retailer. But marketers would not be able to get information that could identify the people, he added.

The conversion tool is specifically designed for so-called direct response marketers, such as online retailers and travel websites that advertise with the goal of drumming up immediate sales rather than for longer-term brand-building.

Such advertisers have long flocked to Google Inc's Web search engine, which can deliver ads to consumers at the exact moment they're looking for information on a particular product.

But some analysts say there is room for Facebook to make inroads if it can demonstrate results.

"The path to purchase" is not as direct on Facebook as it is on Google's search engine, said Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with research firm eMarketer. But she said that providing information about customer sales conversion should help Facebook make a stronger case to online retailers.

"It lets marketers track the impact of a Facebook ad hours or days or even a week beyond when someone might have viewed the ad," said Williamson. "That allows marketers to understand the impact of the Facebook ad on the ultimate purchase."

Marketers will also have the option to aim their ads at segments of Facebook's audience with similar attributes to consumers that have responded well to a particular ad in the past, Baser said.

Online retailer Fab.com, which has tested Facebook's new service, was able to reduce its cost per new customer acquisition by 39 percent when it served ads to consumers deemed most likely to convert, Facebook said. Facebook defines a conversion as anything from a completed sale, to a consumer taking another desired action on a website, such as registering for a newsletter.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Shares of Facebook, which were priced at $38 a share in its May initial public offering, closed Thursday's regular session at $22.17.

In recent months, Facebook has introduced a variety of new advertising capabilities and moved to broaden its appeal to various groups of advertisers.

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in October that Facebook saw multi-billion revenue opportunities in each of four groups of advertisers: brand marketers, local businesses, app developers and direct response marketers.

Facebook does not disclose how much of its ad revenue, which totaled $1.09 billion in the third quarter, comes from each type of advertiser. Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser estimates that brand marketers and local businesses account for the bulk of Facebook's current advertising revenue.

Earlier this year, Facebook introduced a similar conversion measurement service for big brand advertisers, such as auto manufacturers, partnering with data mining firm Datalogix to help connect the dots between consumer spending at brick-and-mortar and Facebook ads.

And Facebook has rolled out new marketing tools for local businesses such as restaurants and coffee shops, including a revamped online coupon service and simplified advertising capabilities known as promoted posts.

The new conversion measurement tool is launching in testing mode, but will be fully available by the end of the month, Facebook said.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; editing by Carol Bishopric)

No. 6 Buckeyes beat Wisconsin in OT, 21-14

Label: Sports

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Ohio State clinched one title, and kept its slim hopes for another alive.

The sixth-ranked Buckeyes won the Leaders Division crown outright Saturday, beating Wisconsin 21-14 on Carlos Hyde's 2-yard scoring run in overtime. Buckeyes safety Christian Bryant batted down Curt Phillips' pass on fourth down to preserve the win.

Ohio State (11-0, 7-0 Big Ten) is ineligible for the postseason as part of its punishment for NCAA violations under former coach Jim Tressel. The best the Buckeyes can hope for is to finish the regular-season unbeaten, then have the teams above them all lose at least once to give them a shot at playing spoiler for The Associated Press title.

"We have a saying, 'A team that refuses to be beat won't be beat,'" Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. "Somehow, someway."

Wisconsin, meanwhile, blew its chance to show it deserves its spot in next month's Big Ten title game. The Badgers (7-4, 4-3) are third in the Leaders Division, but they'll be playing for a trip to the Rose Bowl because neither the Buckeyes nor Penn State are eligible for the postseason. No one else in the division will even finish with a winning record.

"I'm sure winning in Indy and going to the Rose Bowl and winning there would erase all the losses we've had," Montee Ball said. "Because that's our goal."

At least the Wisconsin fans got to see Ball get the major college record for career touchdowns in his final home game. Or, part of the record anyway. Ball scored his 78th TD in the second quarter, tying the mark set by Travis Prentice of Miami (Ohio) in 1999.

But he fumbled what would have been the record-breaker with 2:46 left in regulation. Ball held the ball in front of him as he leaped over the pile on the goal line, and Buckeyes linebacker Ryan Shazier met him with both fists and punched the ball loose.

"That's a dumb decision on my part," Ball said. "But I just felt like I needed to get the ball in the end zone."

And the Buckeyes felt just as strongly that they needed to keep him out.

"We knew that he needed two to break the record," Shazier said. "We were not going to allow him to break it on us."

Ball finished with 191 yards on a career-high 39 carries.

The Ohio State-Wisconsin rivalry hasn't reached the heights of "The Game" between the Buckeyes and Michigan. But it is not exactly warm and fuzzy, either, especially not after the previous two games.

Two years ago, Wisconsin ended Ohio State's hopes of a making a run at the national title, handing the then-No. 1 Buckeyes their first loss at Camp Randall. (Ohio State's 2010 season was later erased by the NCAA sanctions.) Last year it was the Buckeyes stunning the Badgers, with Braxton Miller dancing around like a jitterbug before launching a 40-yard, game-winning heave with 20 seconds left.

Though there wasn't any obvious chippiness Saturday, the brutal physicality of the game left no doubt the teams have begun to use each other as a measure. Wisconsin's defense was downright nasty, limiting the high-powered Buckeyes to a mere 236 yards of offense, more than 200 yards below their average. The Buckeyes crossed the midfield only once after halftime, and the Badgers largely kept the dynamic Miller in check.

But Miller made plays when he needed to, and Hyde continued to impress.

"We're certainly not a finished product on offense, and it showed," Meyer said. "But to come down in that overtime. I think we need to give (Hyde) the ball a little bit more."

After Ball's goal-line fumble, the Badger defense came up with one more big stop, a quick three-and-out that ensured the offense would have good field position. It was the first two-minute drill for Curt Phillips, the third-string quarterback who was making his second start, and he got off to a rough start, sacked on the first play.

He settled down from there, though, converting a fourth down with a 14-yard pass to Jared Abbrederis and finding him for another long gain to set up Jacob Pedersen's 5-yard scoring catch that tied the game with eight seconds left.

"Everybody kept the faith. We drove right down and scored," Phillips said. "I was very confident going into the overtime."

But overtime was all Buckeyes. Hyde ripped off a run of 11 yards on the first play and, two plays later, strolled virtually untouched into the end zone for the go-ahead score.

He also had a 15-yard scoring run in the second quarter, and finished with 87 yards on 15 carries. Miller was 10 of 18 passing for 97 yards, and had another 48 yards rushing. He also was sacked three times for a loss of 27 yards.

"We just wanted to pound the ball and give the ball to Carlos and let the O-line block for Carlos because we knew it was over," said Corey "Philly" Brown, who returned a punt 68 yards for a score. "That O-line is something else. We don't think there is any D-line that can stop them when you have a back like Carlos running the ball."

The Badgers have a good back of their own, but the Buckeyes knew the game was theirs.

"We knew that if our offense scored, we were going to win," cornerback Bradley Roby said. "The touchdown they scored (at the end of regulation) gave us motivation to win it in overtime."

Ball gained 6 yards on Wisconsin's opening play, but that was all the Badgers would get. Phillips threw an incompletion, Ball was hauled down for a loss and Bryant batted down a Phillips pass intended for Pedersen to end the game.

"We still have another game to go and obviously it's the biggest one," Brown said. "It's our last, so we're going to make it count."

EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

Label: Health

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

Lady Gaga tweets some racy images before concert

Label: Entertainment

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Lady Gaga's tweets were getting a lot of attention ahead of her Buenos Aires concert Friday night.

The Grammy-winning entertainer has more than 30 million followers on Twitter and that's where she shared a link this week to a short video showing her doing a striptease and fooling around in a bathtub with two other women.

She told her followers that it's a "surprise for you, almost ready for you to TASTE."

Then, in between concerts in Brazil and Argentina, she posted a picture Thursday on her Twitter page showing her wallowing in her underwear and impossibly high heels on top of the remains of what appears to be a strawberry shortcake.

"The real CAKE isn't HAVING what you want, it's DOING what you want," she tweeted.

Lady Gaga wore decidedly unglamorous baggy jeans and a blouse outside her Buenos Aires hotel Thursday as three burly bodyguards kept her fans at bay. Another pre-concert media event where she was supposed to be given "guest of honor" status by the city government Friday afternoon was cancelled.

After Argentina, she is scheduled to perform in Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; and Asuncion, Paraguay, before taking her "Born This Way Ball" tour to Africa, Europe and North America.

Chocolatier finds sweet spot in Belize

Label: Business

Katrina Markoff, the founder of high-end Chicago chocolatier Vosges Haut-Chocolat, is nearing completion on two high-profile projects: a winery-style chocolate facility in Logan Square and an education center at a cacao plantation and eco-lodge in Belize.

Markoff isn't ready to talk about the Logan Square project, her spokeswoman said. But in an interview last week, she said she hopes the Belcampo farm in Belize will become the source of a majority of Vosges' cacao once its plants mature.

The project means Markoff will soon play a role in every aspect of production from seed selection through packaging without having to assume the financial risk of owning a tropical plantation.

Belcampo Group CEO Anya Fernald said the education center that Markoff helped design will open in mid-December, and Markoff will teach her first "master class" on cacao to guests at the 12-room lodge April 23-27. In exchange for her time and expertise, Markoff will receive a better price on the beans.

"I've always wanted to be involved through the full vertical, from actually growing the varietals of cacao I want, and being particular about how they're grown and harvested and fermented and dried," she said.

Once the farm reaches full yield in about five years, Fernald estimated it will produce 250,000 pounds of cacao annually. Already, with only 60 acres planted so far — all under a rain forest canopy — Fernald said Belcampo is already Belize's largest cacao plantation.

"The integrity of that project is really, really unique and special," Markoff said. "Typically when people buy beans to make chocolate, they just buy whatever is available in the commodity market. There's not a lot of control over how it's grafted, where it's planted, how it's nurtured, who's taking care of it. You just don't get that kind of control."

Bluhm continues gambling push

Chicago real estate and gambling executive Neil Bluhm is entering the race to build one of four planned casinos in Massachusetts and has launched an online gaming division in Chicago, said Greg Carlin, chief executive of Bluhm's Rush Street Gaming.

Earlier this year Rush Street hired Richard Schwartz from Waukegan-based WMS Industries and appointed him president of Rush Street Interactive, its new online gaming division.

"We think (Internet gaming) is going to be eventually legalized throughout the country, or in jurisdictions that have bricks-and-mortar casinos," Carlin said. "Illinois is actually a leader in selling lottery tickets online and could be a leader in Internet gaming as well if they get ahead of the curve and pass legislation before some of the other states."

Nevada and Delaware have legalized some forms of Internet gambling.

In recent years, Bluhm has built three casinos: Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, one in Pittsburgh and another in Philadelphia. In October, Bluhm sold his first U.S. casino, Riverwalk Casino and Hotel, in Vicksburg, Miss., for $141 million in cash to Churchill Downs Inc. (Bluhm held a 70 percent stake in Riverwalk.)

Churchill Downs, a horse racing and wagering company, also owns Arlington Park in Arlington Heights. Its largest shareholder is Duchossois Group, founded by Arlington Park Chairman Richard "Dick" Duchossois.

Duchossois has been trying to persuade the Illinois Legislature to approve slots at racetracks, which, if successful, would make Arlington Park a competitor of Bluhm's Des Plaines casino.

As for the Massachusetts casino, the gambling commission there will weigh applications for casino licenses well into 2013.

Alvarez joins Culloton

Public relations firm Culloton Strategies has hired Michael Alvarez, a commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, as senior vice president for public affairs.

As the Sun-Times reported in January, Alvarez, 32, has worked for Barack Obama, Rod Blagojevich and Richard M. Daley — while he has close ties to Ald. Richard Mell, Blagojevich's father-in-law.

In addition to his $70,000 annual salary at the water district, Alvarez has a $60,000-a-year public relations contract with the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority and a "fast-growing" lobbying practice, the Sun-Times reported.

Former Bears coach Mike Ditka suffers 'very minor stroke'

Label: World

Former Bears coach and Hall of Fame tight end Mike Ditka was hospitalized Friday after suffering what he said doctors told him was a "very minor stroke."

Contacted Friday evening, Ditka said, "I feel good right now and it's not a big deal."

Ditka was at a suburban country club playing cards Friday when he noticed his hands "weren't working quite right," and then he had a problem speaking.

Ditka, 73, has not had any major health problems in recent years. But in 1988 when he was coaching the Bears he suffered a heart attack.

These days, Ditka spends his time doing broadcast work for ESPN, tending to his restaurant Ditka's on East Chestnut in the Tremont Hotel, making appearances and golfing.

An ESPN producer tweeted that Ditka will not fulfill his ESPN duties from Bristol, Conn., this weekend.

After he suffered his heart attack at 49, he was back in the office eight days later and back on the sidelines in 11 days against doctor's orders.

At the time, Ditka said he was "embarrassed" by the heart attack, and he reflected on his mortality when he returned to Halas Hall.

"I don't know what I experienced," he said at the time. "I think I almost experienced embarrassment. It kind of was embarrassing that it happened to me. I mean, how could this ever happen to me? That's the way I felt in the beginning, and then it didn't matter. I mean it was so bad at a certain point that I knew that we're just mortals. I mean, we're here for a while and then we're gone. It can happen to anybody at any time. It was a very humbling feeling after that, believe me."

The Bears made Ditka the fifth overall pick in the 1961 draft out of Pittsburgh. He was rookie of the year and went to five straight Pro Bowls for the Bears. As a pass catching tight end, he helped redefine the position.

Ditka eventually ran afoul of owner-coach George Halas and was traded to the Eagles in 1967. He finished up his playing career with the Cowboys.

In 1982, Halas hired Ditka to coach his team. Ditka was coach of the year in 1985, when the Bears won the Super Bowl, and in 1988. After going 5-11 in 1992, Ditka was fired.

He coached the Saints for three seasons, retiring with a record of 121-95, before settling into his broadcasting career.
Ditka is one of only two men, Tom Flores being the other, to win a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

dpompei@tribune.com

Twitter@dan pompei

Exclusive: Facebook offering e-retailers sales tracking tool

Label: Technology

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc wants more credit for making online cash registers ring.

Facebook will begin rolling out on Friday a new tool which will allow online retailers to track purchases by members of the social network who have viewed their ads.

The tool is the latest of the new advertising features Facebook is offering to convince marketers that steering advertising dollars to the company will deliver a payoff.

Facebook, with roughly 1 billion users, has faced a tough reception on Wall Street amid concerns about its slowing revenue growth.

Such advertisers have long flocked to Google Inc's Web search engine, which can deliver ads to consumers at the exact moment they're looking for information on a particular product.

But some analysts say there is room for Facebook to make inroads if it can demonstrate results.

Marketers will also have the option to aim their ads at segments of Facebook's audience with similar attributes to consumers that have responded well to a particular ad in the past, Baser said.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Shares of Facebook, which were priced at $38 a share in its May initial public offering, closed Thursday's regular session at $22.17.

In recent months, Facebook has introduced a variety of new advertising capabilities and moved to broaden its appeal to various groups of advertisers.

The new conversion measurement tool is launching in testing mode, but will be fully available by the end of the month, Facebook said.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; editing by Carol Bishopric)

No. 4 Stanford women upset No. 1 Baylor 71-69

Label: Sports

HONOLULU (AP) — Brittney Griner and Baylor were rarely challenged during a 42-game winning streak that included a national title and a quick start to this season.

But the unfamiliar scene of Hawaii and an eager opponent in No. 4 Stanford — keen on avenging a loss in the Final Four — were too much for the top-ranked Lady Bears on Friday, who fell 71-69 to the fourth-ranked Cardinal.

Griner scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half, helping the Lady Bears rally from a 14-point deficit in the first half. Her shot at the buzzer bounced off the rim and Stanford celebrated the victory. It was the Lady Bears' first defeat since losing to Texas A&M in the regional finals of the 2011 NCAA tournament. Baylor went 40-0 last year with no team coming within five points of the Lady Bears.

"You don't ever want to lose. You're in Hawaii, you're not under the normal circumstances of a regular practice schedule. You're enjoying the beach and not having as much time to prepare," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "We played Kentucky and had a quick tunaround to come here. It's a great schedule for us to prepare for another national championship."

Chiney Ogwumike scored 18 points to lead the fourth-ranked Cardinal (3-0), who lost to Baylor in the national semifinals last season by 12 points. Her reverse layup gave Stanford a four-point lead with 22 seconds left, after Joslyn Tinkle broke the tie with a layup with just under 1 minute.

Destiny Williams responded with the first 3-pointer of her career to pull Baylor (2-1) within one.

Toni Kokenis made one of two free throws. Baylor got the rebound and advanced the ball to halfcourt before calling timeout to set up the final play.

Griner caught the ball in the low block and with three players draped on her, the 6-foot-8 star's shot fell harmlessly off the rim setting off a wild celebration by the Cardinal at midcourt.

"We knew where the ball was going — it's a matter if we're able to make the play. It's hard to make a play on Griner," Ogwumike said. "You knew it was going to Griner and she was going to turn around and shoot."

Baylor's run was the fifth-longest winning streak in NCAA women's history. Stanford also ended UConn's NCAA record 90-game run in 2010.

Baylor was the heavy favorite to repeat as champion with their entire starting lineup back from last season. The Lady Bears cruised to an easy 89-51 victory over No. 6 Kentucky on Tuesday before heading to Hawaii for the three-game Rainbow Wahine tournament.

Mulkey said that Baylor wasn't used to playing close games during its streak.

"We didn't respond very well, we got back in the game but we didn't execute some things and we didn't do some things defensively," Mulkey said.

While the Lady Bears returned so much, Stanford was without graduated All-American center Nnemkadi Ogwumike.

The untelevised, afternoon game in Honolulu was played in a mostly empty Stan Sheriff Center, an arena modeled after Baylor's home floor in Waco, Texas.

Baylor had to play the last 35 minutes of the game without preseason All-America guard Odyssey Sims, who strained her hamstring early in the first half.

"You lose your All-American point guard that early in the game, it kind of takes you out of flow of things," Mulkey said.

Without their playmaker, the Lady Bears fell down by 14 points before rallying to 31-29 at the break. Stanford focused on Griner on defense and took advantages of missteps by Baylor on the other end to get second chances and open looks.

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said the Cardinal came in knowing they needed to limit Griner and play better than they did in the NCAA tournament loss.

"Our game plan was never let Brittney Griner be one on one," she said. "We were doubling her as hard as we could."

Griner was dominant in the second half, scoring 10 of Baylor's first 12 points and just under half its points for the final half. The Lady Bears gave up on 3-pointers while allowing Griner to carry them, attempting only three after ending the first half 1-for-11.

Baylor took a 55-54 lead with 7:11 left in the game on a layup from Destiny Williams. It was the Lady Bears first since early in the first half. They extended it to 4 points before Stanford rallied back behind Kokenis, who made two free throws and a jumper to tie it at 60.

The game was back and forth until the final minute when Tinkle and Chiney Ogwumike gave Stanford the lead for good.

Chiney Ogwumike was one of four Stanford players to score in double digits. Taylor Greenfield had 16 points, Kokenis had 15 and Tinkle had 11.

Mulkey said it wasn't a well-played game.

"It's been a long time since that bunch lost. I hope they feel like anybody or any competitor feels after a game that you lose," Mulkey said. "I hope they don't forget it and it bothers them."

Griner said the lesson is clear.

"We haven't faced adversity like we did. We'll learn from it," she said.

___

Oskar Garcia can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oskargarcia .

EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

Label: Health

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

Lady Gaga tweets some racy images before concert

Label: Entertainment

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Lady Gaga's tweets were getting a lot of attention ahead of her Buenos Aires concert Friday night.

She told her followers that it's a "surprise for you, almost ready for you to TASTE."

"The real CAKE isn't HAVING what you want, it's DOING what you want," she tweeted.

After Argentina, she is scheduled to perform in Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; and Asuncion, Paraguay, before taking her "Born This Way Ball" tour to Africa, Europe and North America.

Sources: Liguori planned as next Tribune CEO

Label: Business

When Tribune Co. emerges from bankruptcy, the new owners plan to name television executive Peter Liguori as the company's chief executive, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Liguori is a former top TV executive at Fox and Discovery. The decision to name him Tribune's CEO ends months of speculation and will usher in a new era for the Chicago media company, which owns newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, and television stations.

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday signed off on waivers needed to transfer Tribune Co.'s broadcast properties to the new ownership, the final significant hurdle before the company can emerge from its long-running stay in Chapter 11.

While a date for emergence is not set, the new ownership group controlled by senior creditors Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and JP Morgan Chase, will likely take the reins by the end of the year. An initial step for the owners will be to appoint a board of directors. It will have final say on who becomes CEO, but sources say the owners have chosen Liguori.

"The decision has been made," one of the sources said.

Los Angeles Times publisher Eddy Hartenstein has been CEO of Tribune Co. since May 2011. A Tribune Co. spokesman declined comment.

A former advertising executive who transitioned into television more than two decades ago, Liguori, 52, is credited with turning cable channel FX into a programming powerhouse during his ascent to entertainment chief at News Corp.'s Fox Broadcasting. More recently, he served as chief operating officer at Discovery Communications Inc., where he helped oversee the rocky launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Liguori is considered by some observers to be a good fit for Tribune and its new owners. While the company's identity is closely connected to publishing, broadcasting is now its headline business and core profit center. One of Liguori's main jobs will be to help maximize TV ratings, advertising dollars and increasingly important affiliate fees for WGN America and Tribune Co.'s 23 local stations, according to industry insiders.

Liguori "is a very, very smart hire for Oaktree and the guys that run the company because I think what Tribune needs more than anything is somebody to kind of build the brands back and make it a true media company, as opposed to just a collection of businesses," said Jeff Shell, London-based president of NBCUniversal International, who worked with Liguori for six years at Fox beginning in 1996. Shell, whose name had once been floated as a candidate for Tribune CEO, spoke recently about his former colleague's potential value as head of Tribune Co.

Liguori, who could not be reached for comment, became president of Fox's FX Networks in 1998, when it was a small basic cable channel airing reruns of everything from "M*A*S*H" to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Elevated to CEO in 2001, he remade FX by offering edgy original programming. Starting with "The Shield" in 2002, Liguori rolled out "Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me," creating first-run successes that redefined FX, and perhaps basic cable, in the process.

"FX was a channel, when he took over, a little tiny cable channel losing a bunch of money," Shell said. "He made it into something big by imagining something different, and I think that's what Tribune needs."

Liguori became president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Co. in 2005, where he headed program development and marketing. Squeezed out in 2009, he then joined Discovery as chief operating officer, where one of his responsibilities was to oversee the nascent joint venture with OWN.

In May 2011, Liguori assumed the dual role as interim CEO of OWN after inaugural head Christina Norman was forced out at the struggling network. That added responsibility evaporated two months later when Winfrey made herself CEO of OWN. Liguori left Discovery in December and the company eliminated his COO position.

Liguori has been working since July as a New York-based media consultant for private equity firm, the Carlyle Group. He currently serves on the boards of Yahoo, MGM Holdings and Topps.

Tribune Co. has been operating under bankruptcy court protection for nearly four years, having buckled under the $13 billion in total debt it took on after its 2007 buyout. The company's stay in bankruptcy was prolonged by a drawn-out battle for control among creditors.

With the court having finally resolved the major ownership questions, the FCC's decision to grant waivers was the last major piece of the puzzle to come together.

The Federal Communication Commission's Media Bureau issued the waivers of its so-called cross-ownership rules for Tribune's media properties in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, South Florida and Hartford, Conn.

The waivers allow the agency to transfer TV and radio station licenses in those markets to Tribune's new owners, the group led by Oaktree Capital, Angelo Gordon and JPMorgan Chase.

The FCC granted Tribune a permanent waiver for the company's ownership of the Tribune and WGN-TV. The FCC also gave one-year waivers for the Tribune's ownership of the Los Angeles Times and KTLA-TV Channel 5 and for similar arrangements in New York, South Florida and Hartford.

The company would have one year in those four markets to sell either its newspapers or broadcast stations. But the FCC is in the process of considering loosening its media ownership rules to make it easier for companies to get waivers for newspaper and broadcast station combinations in the top 20 markets.

"We are extremely pleased with today's action by the FCC," Hartenstein said in a statement Friday. "This decision will enable the company to continue moving forward toward emergence from Chapter 11, a process we expect to complete over the course of the next several weeks."

Tribune Newspapers reporter Jim Puzzanghera contributed to this report

rchannick@tribune.com | Twitter @RobertChannick

3 killed, 1 wounded in separate shootings

Label: World

Authorities tonight were investigating the fatal shootings of three men, one of whom was killed by his father, police said.

Police were conducting a death investigation after a 24-year-old man was fatally shot by his father during a physical altercation, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro. Bryan Lopez, of the 4900 block of North Whipple Street, was pronounced dead at 11 a.m. at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Police were called to the home at about 10:50 a.m. after the shooting, said Alfaro. Area North detectives are conducting an investigation into the shooting, Alfaro said. No one has been charged. At about 5:40 p.m., a man was pronounced dead after he was shot on the 5900 block of South Richmond Street, Alfaro said.

The man was on the street when a male offender got out of a dark-colored SUV, went up to him and shot the victim in the throat and thigh, said Alfaro. The man, who appeared to be in his 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

At about 6:30 p.m., a 26-year-old man was killed in the 5100 block of West Thomas Street. The man’s car crashed into a tree on the block after he was shot in the shoulder. The bullet passed through his heart, police said, and he was pronounced dead at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. Police said the man’s wallet had been taken.

At about 7 p.m. another man was shot in the leg on the 8700 block of South Stony Island Boulevard, said Alfaro. The man's condition was not available.

csadovi@tribune.com

Apple, Samsung allowed to add products in U.S. patent lawsuit

Label: Technology

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge allowed Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to pursue claims the iPhone5 infringes its patents on Thursday, while also allowing Apple Inc to add claims that the Samsung Galaxy Note, Galaxy S III and the Jelly Bean operating system violate its patents.

The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal in San Jose, California, was the latest development in a continuing legal war by Apple against manufacturers like Samsung whose products use Google Inc's Android software.

Representatives for both Apple and Samsung declined comment.

The case is one of two patent infringement lawsuits pending in the U.S. District Court in San Jose by Apple against Samsung. An earlier lawsuit by Apple that related to different patents resulted in a $1.05 billion jury verdict against Samsung on August 24.

Apple filed the second lawsuit in February, alleging that various Samsung smartphone and tablet products including the Galaxy Nexus infringed eight of its patents.

Samsung denied infringement and filed a cross-complaint alleging that Apple's iPhone and iPad infringed eight of its patents.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh issued a preliminary injunction against pretrial sales of the Nexus in June. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned the sales ban on October 11.

Following the debut of the iPhone on September 21, Samsung sought to add it as an Apple product that infringed its patents. Apple moved likewise to add the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, Samsung Galaxy S III and the Jelly Bean operating system in connection with the Galaxy Nexus.

In his ruling Thursday, Grewal said Samsung acted with "reasonable diligence" in asking the court to allow it to add the iPhone 5 to the case.

Apple did not oppose adding the iPhone5. Nevertheless, Grewal warned Apple to "think twice before opposing similar amendments reflecting other newly released products — e.g. the iPad 4 and iPad mini — that Samsung may propose in the near future."

The case is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., et al., U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 12-cv-00630.

(Reporting By Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Richard Pullin)

Miguel Cabrera, Buster Posey win MVP awards

Label: Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Miguel Cabrera has a Most Valuable Player award to go with his Triple Crown. And Buster Posey has an MVP prize to put alongside his second World Series ring.

The pair of batting champions won baseball's top individual honors Thursday by large margins.

Cabrera, the first Triple Crown winner in 45 years, won the AL MVP by receiving 22 of 28 first-place votes and 362 points from a panel of Baseball Writers' Association of America.

The Detroit third baseman easily beat Los Angeles Angels rookie center fielder Mike Trout, who had six firsts and 281 points.

Cabrera hit .330 with 44 homers and 139 RBIs to become the first Triple Crown winner since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. Cabrera also led the league with a .606 slugging percentage for the AL champion Tigers.

Some of the more sabermetric-focused fans supported Trout, who hit .326 with 30 homers and 83 RBIs, and he led the majors with 129 runs and 49 steals and topped all players in WAR — Wins Above Replacement. Trout won AL Rookie of the Year earlier in the week.

"I was a little concerned. I thought the new thing about computer stuff, I thought Trout's going to win because they put his numbers over me," Cabrera said. "I was like relax. ... if he wins, it's going to be fair because he had a great season."

His victory is a win for the traditional statistics.

"At the end of the game, it's going to be the same baseball played back in the day," Cabrera said.

Posey, at a charity event at his mother's school in Leesburg, Va., followed the AL debate and Googled to find out the winner.

"I think it intrigued everybody," he said. "As a fan of the game, it was a fun race to watch."

With three fewer hits or two less homers, Cabrera would have fallen short of the Triple Crown. The last four Triple Crown winners have been voted MVP, including Mickey Mantle in 1956 and Frank Robinson in 1966.

"I think winning the Triple Crown had a lot to do with me winning this honor," he said.

Cabrera became the second straight Detroit player voted MVP, following pitcher Justin Verlander in 2011, and was the first Venezuelan to earn the honor. Countryman Pablo Sandoval took home World Series MVP honors last month.

Before the season, Cabrera switched from first base to third to make way for Prince Fielder, who signed with Detroit as a free agent.

"I focused too much in spring training about defense, defense, defense," Cabrera said. "I forgot a little bit about hitting, about getting in the cage like I normally do."

In spring training, Posey's focus was just to get back on the field. His 2011 season was cut short by a collision with the Marlins' Scott Cousins on May 25 that resulted in a fractured bone in Posey's lower left leg and three torn ankle ligaments.

Posey not only returned, he became the first catcher in 70 years to win the NL batting title and helped San Francisco win its second World Series championship in three seasons.

"I definitely have a deeper appreciation for being able to play baseball," he said. "I've seen that it can be taken away quick."

The first catcher in four decades to win the NL award, Posey got 27 of 32 firsts and 422 points to outdistance 2011 winner Ryan Braun of Milwaukee, who was second with 285 points.

Pittsburgh outfielder Andrew McCutchen (245) was third, followed by St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina (241).

Posey, a boyish-looking 25, was the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year as the Giants won their first World Series since 1954. This year he set career highs with a .336 average, 24 homers and 103 RBIs as San Francisco won again.

Posey took the NL batting title after teammate Melky Cabrera requested a rules change that disqualified him. Cabrera, who hit .346, missed the final 45 games of the regular-season while serving a suspension for a positive testosterone test and would have won the batting crown if the rule hadn't been changed.

Ernie Lombardi had been the previous catcher to capture the NL batting championship, in 1942.

"I think anybody that has caught before understands the grind of catching, not only the physical, the nicks, the wear and tear of squatting for nine innings night in, day out, but just the mental grind of working a pitching staff," Posey said. "It's demanding."

NOTES: In his first season with the Angels, Albert Pujols didn't finish among the top 10 for the first time in his career. While with St. Louis, he won three times, was second four times and also finished third, fourth, fifth and ninth. ... Catchers have won the NL MVP just eight times, with Posey joining Gabby Hartnett (1935), Lombardi (1938), Roy Campanella (1951, 1953, 1955) and Johnny Bench (1970, 1972). Posey became the first Giants player to win since Barry Bonds was voted his record seventh MVP award in 2004. ... Cabrera earned a $500,000 bonus, Adrian Beltre $150,000 for finishing third in the AL and Josh Hamilton $50,000 for fifth place. Braun gets a $75,000 bonus, and McCutchen and Molina $50,000 each. The Yankees' Derek Jeter finished seventh in the AL, one place below the level where his 2014 player option would have increased by $2 million to $10 million.

Diabetes rates rocket in Oklahoma, South

Label: Health

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's diabetes problem is getting worse, and the biggest jump over 15 years was in Oklahoma, according to a new federal report issued Thursday.

The diabetes rate in Oklahoma more than tripled, and Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama also saw dramatic increases since 1995, the study showed.

The South's growing weight problem is the main explanation, said Linda Geiss, lead author of the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

"The rise in diabetes has really gone hand in hand with the rise in obesity," she said.

Bolstering the numbers is the fact that more people with diabetes are living longer because better treatments are available.

The disease exploded in the United States in the last 50 years, with the vast majority from obesity-related Type 2 diabetes. In 1958, fewer than 1 in 100 Americans had been diagnosed with diabetes. In 2010, it was about 1 in 14.

Most of the increase has happened since 1990.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body has trouble processing sugar; it's the nation's seventh leading cause of death. Complications include poor circulation, heart and kidney problems and nerve damage.

The new study is the CDC's first in more than a decade to look at how the nationwide boom has played out in different states.

It's based on telephone surveys of at least 1,000 adults in each state in 1995 and 2010. Participants were asked if a doctor had ever told them they have diabetes.

Not surprisingly, Mississippi — the state with the largest proportion of residents who are obese — has the highest diabetes rate. Nearly 12 percent of Mississippians say they have diabetes, compared to the national average of 7 percent.

But the most dramatic increases in diabetes occurred largely elsewhere in the South and in the Southwest, where rates tripled or more than doubled. Oklahoma's rate rose to about 10 percent, Kentucky went to more than 9 percent, Georgia to 10 percent and Alabama surpassed 11 percent.

An official with Oklahoma State Department of Health said the solution is healthier eating, more exercise and no smoking.

"And that's it in a nutshell," said Rita Reeves, diabetes prevention coordinator.

Several Northern states saw rates more than double, too, including Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Maine.

The study was published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

___

Associated Press writer Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

___

Online:

CDC report: http://tinyurl.com/cdcdiabetesreport

Andre 3000 isn't in a rush to record new album

Label: Entertainment

NEW YORK (AP) — In order to capture his best version of Jimi Hendrix for an upcoming biopic, Andre 3000 said he had to think of him as a regular dude and not a rock star.

"I didn't look at him as an icon because when you're in it, you don't know you're an icon. You don't know you're an icon until another people say you're an icon," the 37-year-old said in an interview Tuesday.

"So I had to take it as a person, you know what I mean? And I just tried to say, 'Well, what would Jimi want people to know that they can't get off of YouTube?' And that's how I approached it," he said.

Hendrix died at age 27 in 1970. He was ranked No. 1 on Rolling Stone magazine's greatest guitarists of all-time list. His band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, is known for iconic albums such as "Electric Ladyland" and "Are You Experienced."

"All Is by My Side," which focuses on the early days of Hendrix's career, will be released next year. Andre 3000 is excited to see the film, which he's finished shooting in Ireland. He believes the public "will be pleased."

Andre 3000, one-half of OutKast with Big Boi, has been out of the music scene in recent years, although he's been featured on songs by Beyonce, Frank Ocean, Rick Ross, Ke$ha and Young Jeezy.

OutKast's 2006 platinum-selling album, "Idlewild," which accompanied a film of the same name starring the duo, was their last album. Their 11-time platinum "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" won the 2004 Grammy Award for album of the year.

Big Boi, who released a solo album two years ago to welcoming reviews, will release a new solo disc, "Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors," next month.

But Andre 3000 isn't in a rush to record an album.

"Some days I feel like I'll do it, some days I don't. Some days I feel like I don't need to, some days I feel like I want to do it before I die. So, I don't know where to fall. I am just hoping one day I get that inspiration," he said at an event for Gillette's eMO'gency Styler Tour, which supports men's health and prostate cancer programs. The tour kicked off in New York, with stops scheduled in Chicago and Houston.

"It's a feeling for me. Like, I can't just throw out an album to be rapping," he said. "And I don't even know if it will be rap. I don't even know what it will be."

However, he could find the inspiration and complete an album in just a few days: "It could be a rush situation. Like if I feel that feeling and I record an album in three days and I'm like, 'This is what I want to say right now' — that can happen, too."

He also says he's constantly writing songs.

"I write all the time. ... I actually stopped typing it in my phone because like a cloud is basically reading every thought that I have and I don't like that," he said. "So I went back to my paper and started writing."

He's not sure fans want a new OutKast album for the right reasons.

"Man, we've had a great ride. ... Like when we got into it when we were high school kids and we just wanted to do something fun and push it, and if it's not that then why do it?" he said.

"I'm not the type that prescribes to nostalgia, and most people say they want an OutKast album because they used to love it. Y'all don't even know if y'all still love it. You just know you used to love it. But you may not like it now, who knows?"

___

Follow Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter at http://twitter.com/musicmesfin

Latest glitch hits United a week before holiday crush

Label: Business

A massive computer outage at United Airlines early Thursday stranded passengers across the country.A spokesperson for United tells WGN-TV that the airline is up and running again.

United Airlines, just a week before the year's busiest travel period, experienced yet another major computer problem Thursday morning that delayed hundreds of flights across the country, mostly on the East Coast. Some airline industry observers called for "heads to roll" at the world's largest airline.

The latest glitch involved the dispatch system software that enables Chicago-based United to communicate with airplanes before departure, delivering information on the plane's weight and balance, number of passengers and baggage, said United spokesman Charlie Hobart.

Flights of United's regional jet service United Express were not affected.

The outage occurred from about 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Thursday and resulted in 257 delays directly attributable to the outage and more through the day, along with about 10 cancellations. The airline said it had a total of 636 delays on Thursday, far more than its usual number of about 300. The delays affected a relatively small number of the airline's 5,500 daily flights — fewer than 5 percent, Hobart said.

The computer problems, especially with the reservation system, have had Jeff Smisek, CEO of United's parent company United Continental Holdings, making public apologies since March. He conceded to Wall Street analysts that operational problems hurt the airline's third-quarter profits as many customers fled to competitors. However, he said during an earnings call with analysts in late October that those problems were behind the airline and that he was confident United would perform well during the heavy holiday travel season.

Aside from weather-related delays, such as Hurricane Sandy and a snowstorm on the East Coast, that seemed true until Thursday. Even on Thursday, United's on-time performance for all of its operations was about 80 percent, meeting its target, a spokesman said.

"It was a software issue that we found and fixed in that two hour period," United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said. "It will not happen again."

But some industry observers said United is out of excuses.

"It is flat-out unacceptable," said Henry Harteveldt, co-founder of Atmosphere Research Group. "This makes United a laughingstock among airlines."

He said airline computer systems are complex and Thursday's problem might be a one-time issue, but the repeated failures are not only embarrassing for United, they also "undermine trust in the airline" and "demoralize employees."

"There are clearly failures in the airline's strategy and the airline's execution, and heads need to roll," he said. "United's [chief information officer] should resign or be dismissed."

Hobart, the United spokesman, pointed out that the airline has improved recently. "Since this summer, we've significantly improved our operational performance, with nearly 85 percent of our flights on-time so far this month and nearly 80 percent of flights arriving on-time in October, despite operational challenges like Hurricane Sandy," he said. "We understand this outage was frustrating for our customers, and we are enabling them to rebook without penalty and receive a full refund of their flights were delayed by at least two hours."

Hobart said he did not have details about what went wrong with the dispatch system Thursday.

Joe Brancatelli, a business-travel writer at JoeSentMe.com, said the failures point to a larger problem.

"Mostly what it says is that [airlines] have got to stop looking at mergers as two route maps you can smash together," he said. He contends the United-Continental merger was not planned properly. "There are too many things going wrong," he said. Blame rests with "the guys running the show," he said of United's top executives. "The fish stinks from the head."

gkarp@tribune.com

'Jihad' ads on CTA buses cause controversy

Label: World

The controversial ads unveiled on the back of 10 CTA buses Wednesday read, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.” They conclude with the words, “Support Copts. Defeat Jihad.”

Within hours of the buses' first runs, messages appeared on Facebook and Twitter denouncing the campaign. Many said degrading a spiritual tenet of Islam -- one that refers to a Muslim's personal quest to become a better person -- amounts to hate speech.

“This whole campaign insinuates Muslims are violent,” said Asaf Bar-Tura, programs director for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, which protested the ads on social media Wednesday. “If it's within their legal powers, (CTA) should either not put it up because they incite hate and stereotypical thinking or put a label next to each sign saying `The CTA disagrees with this ad.’ ”

So far, federal judges have sided with the advertisement's sponsor, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which sued transit authorities in New York City and Washington, D.C., when they initially rejected the ads. Those judges ruled that public forums such as buses and trains can't bar advertising entitled to First Amendment protection.

Pamela Geller, executive director of the initiative, said she believes the Jewish Council has good intentions, but denies that her ad qualifies as hate speech.

"There’s nothing hateful about it," she said in an e-mail. "9/11 was hate. 3/11 in Madrid was hate. ... The Christmas underwear bomber was hate. ... Pushing back against such hate is not hate."

"Perhaps this is the strangest thing of all: their utter lack of awareness, or denial, of the barrel pointed straight between their eyes," Geller said. "It is an odd combination of naivete, brainwashing and self-loathing that I will never comprehend."

Although Geller posted on her blog "Atlas Shrugs" a letter from her lawyer threatening legal action against CTA if they didn’t place the ads, Brian Steele, a spokesman for the CTA, denied that the CTA was threatened with a lawsuit. But the precedents did deter the CTA from rejecting the ads, which are expected to run on different routes each day for the next four weeks.

“While those courts agreed that the AFDI ads violate anti-disparagement or anti-demeaning standards similar to CTA's, that violation in and of itself did not remove AFDI's First Amendment protection to place the ads,” Steele said in a statement.

“CTA understands that this ad may be offensive to our customers,” he added. “While the courts have ruled this ad is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, we object to its divisive message.”

The estimated ad revenue is about $4,500, a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, said the group expects to launch its own nationwide ad campaign next week. As part of the campaign called “My Jihad,” individual Muslims define what the spiritual concept means for them.

“I don't feel the urge to fight … I'd rather put out the alternative,” Rehab said. “People can decide what racism is.”

mbrachear@tribune.com
Twitter: @TribSeeker

Texas Instruments cuts 1,700 jobs, winds down tablet chips

Label: Technology

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Texas Instruments is eliminating 1,700 jobs, as it winds down its mobile processor business to focus on chips for more profitable markets like cars and home appliances.

Texas Instruments said in September it would halt costly investments in the increasingly competitive smartphone and tablet chip business, leading Wall Street to speculate that part of the company's processor unit, called OMAP, could be sold.

The layoffs are equivalent to nearly 5 percent of the Austin, Texas-based company's global workforce.

"A sale would have been better than a restructuring but a restructuring is certainly better than nothing," Sanford Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said.

TI has been under pressure in mobile processors, where it has lost ground to rival Qualcomm Inc. Leading smartphone makers Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd have been developing their own chips instead of buying them from suppliers like TI.

Instead of competing in phones and tablets, TI wants to sell its OMAP processors in markets that require less investment, like industrial clients like carmakers.

TI is expected to continue selling existing tablet and phone processors for products like Amazon.Com Inc's Kindle tablets for as long as demand remains, but stop developing new chips.

"This year, the Kindle runs on the OMAP 4 and next year's Kindle is slated, we believe, for OMAP 5. We believe that program is well along to completion and do not expect that the termination of OMAP will disrupt those plans," said Longbow Research analyst JoAnne Feeney.

Amazon had reportedly been in talks to buy the mobile part of OMAP.

TI said it expects to take charges of about $325 million related to the job cuts and other cost reduction measures, most of which will be accounted for in the current quarter. Its previously announced financial targets for the fourth quarter do not include these costs, TI said.

The company, which has 35,000 employees around the world, expects annualized savings of about $450 million by the end of 2013 from the action.

TI shares rose to $29 in after-hours trading after closing at $28.76, down 2 percent on Nasdaq.

(Reporting By Sinead Carew in New York and Noel Randewich in San Francisco; editing by Carol Bishopric)

Jets' Ryan angered by anonymous rips of Tebow

Label: Sports

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Rex Ryan doesn't mind his New York Jets players saying what's on their minds. Just as long as they put their names to their comments.

An angry Ryan addressed his team Wednesday for some anonymous quotes by players and members of the organization ripping backup quarterback Tim Tebow in a newspaper report.

"If you're not going to put your name to it, I think that's about as cowardly of a thing there is," Ryan said. "I don't want to get into specifics of what I said, but I did address it with our football team. If you're searching for things to try to drive a wedge through the team, my thing is, I believe in this team.

"I believe this team is (together), will continue to be and maybe even become tighter. I'm confident that will be the case."

A report in the Daily News on Wednesday said that more than a dozen players and members of the Jets organization believe there's no chance Tebow could overtake Mark Sanchez for the starting quarterback job — with one saying of the backup: "He's terrible."

"We never say that it always has to be a bed of roses," said Ryan, who encourages his players and coaches to "be yourself" in interviews. "But again, put your name to it. I think people would respect you a lot more for it."

Tebow was acquired from Denver in a stunning trade in March, with the Jets envisioning using the popular player in key spots on offense. Instead, he has had little impact through nine games, rushing 27 times for 92 yards and completing five of his six passes for 40 yards. Tebow also has not scored with the Jets, and the wildcat package he was supposed to be such a large part of has been inconsistent and mostly ineffective.

Ryan and the Jets insist he has made a difference on special teams, though, as New York's personal punt protector because opponents have been forced to account for him since he has pulled off a handful of fakes.

"We asked him, a former Heisman Trophy winner, first-round pick, a quarterback who led his team to a playoffs that, 'You know what? We want you to be our personal protector,'" Ryan said. "Everything we've asked him to do, he's done."

But with Sanchez mired in a dreadful slump in which he has thrown two touchdowns and three interceptions, lost three fumbles and been sacked 11 times in the Jets' last three games, Ryan remains committed to him as the starting quarterback. Many fans and media have been calling for Tebow to take over for Sanchez to, more than anything, provide a spark for the offense.

For now, though, this remains Sanchez's team. And Tebow will remain on the sideline for most games, aside from the seven or eight plays he averages.

"He's a football player and I said that from Day 1," Ryan said of Tebow. "We never brought him in to be the starting quarterback. We already had a starting quarterback in Mark Sanchez. I thought I was clear on that from the day we brought Tim in here."

Ryan did, in fact, insist since the offseason that Sanchez was his guy, and he has stuck to that. But the latest locker room chatter presents an issue that the Jets are all too familiar with. In-fighting helped sink New York's season a year ago, with Sanchez and Santonio Holmes at odds nearly throughout.

After the season ended, several anonymous players were quoted in a media report saying they were uncertain of Sanchez's leadership abilities and called for the Jets to make a hard push for Peyton Manning. Ryan insists keeping his locker room together, something he thinks was a bit exaggerated last year, won't be a problem this time around.

"This team, in my opinion, is not going to be pulled apart by outside people," Ryan said. "Inside the walls, we're going to be (together), and that's what's going to give us an opportunity. If I'm wrong on that, obviously, that's going to be a different issue. I don't believe that."

Some have speculated that the team's infrequent use of Tebow is a reflection of Ryan's true feelings about him, that perhaps he was never on board with bringing him to the Jets in the first place — and it's owner Woody Johnson who pushed for the popular backup to be here and drum up ticket sales.

General manager Mike Tannenbaum told The Associated Press during training camp that he and Ryan kicked around the idea while waiting for a flight, and the two — along with Johnson and offensive coordinator Tony Sparano — were excited about the prospect about bringing in Tebow.

"I absolutely wanted Tim here," Ryan said. "The reason I say that is for the things that we've talked about. I was very honest from Day 1, and I've never gotten off that."

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Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

BAFTA Shifts Corporate Sponsors for Film Awards

Label: Lifestyle

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – You can’t buy awards, but when it comes to the BAFTAs you can certainly sponsor them.

The British Academy of Film and Television is switching up its corporate partners for its annual film awards ceremony. That means it’s out with telecom company Orange, and in with broadband network EE.

The overhaul will require some rechristening of BAFTA‘s hardware. After 15 years with Orange in the title, the ceremony will now be known as the EE British Academy Film Awards. Moreover, its award for best newcomer will now be named the EE Rising Star Award.

The BAFTAs are the U.K. equivalent of the Oscars. EE is a sister company of Orange, so the shakeup is not seismic.

The EE British Academy Film Awards will be broadcast on the BBC on February 10, 2013 and will be hosted by satirist Stephen Fry.

TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News

New gene triples risk for Alzheimer's disease

Label: Health

Scientists have identified a new gene variant that seems to strongly raise the risk for Alzheimer's disease, giving a fresh target for research into treatments for the mind-robbing disorder.

The problem gene is not common — less than 1 percent of people are thought to have it — but it roughly triples the chances of developing Alzheimer's compared to people with the normal version of the gene. It also seems to harm memory and thinking in older people without dementia.

The main reason scientists are excited by the discovery is what this gene does, and how that might reveal what causes Alzheimer's and ways to prevent it. The gene helps the immune system control inflammation in the brain and clear junk such as the sticky deposits that are the hallmark of the disease. Mutations in the gene may impair these tasks, so treatments to restore the gene's function and quell inflammation may help.

"It points us to potential therapeutics in a more precise way than we've seen in the past," said Dr. William Thies, chief medical and scientific officer of the Alzheimer's Association, which had no role in the research. Years down the road, this discovery will likely be seen as very important, he predicted.

It is described in a study by an international group published online Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine.

About 35 million people worldwide have dementia, and Alzheimer's is the most common type. In the U.S., about 5 million have Alzheimer's. Medicines such as Aricept and Namenda just temporarily ease symptoms. There is no known cure.

Until now, only one gene — ApoE — has been found to have a big impact on Alzheimer's risk. About 17 percent of the population has at least one copy of the problem version of this gene but nearly half of all people with Alzheimer's do. Other genes that have been tied to the disease raise risk only a little, or cause the less common type of Alzheimer's that develops earlier in life, before age 60.

The new gene, TREM2, already has been tied to a couple other forms of dementia. Researchers led by deCODE Genetics Inc. of Iceland honed in on a version of it they identified through mapping the entire genetic code of more than 2,200 Icelanders.

Further tests on 3,550 Alzheimer's patients and more than 110,000 people without dementia in several countries, including the United States, found that the gene variant was more common in Alzheimer's patients.

"It's a very strong effect," raising the risk of Alzheimer's by three to four times — about the same amount as the problem version of the ApoE gene does, said Dr. Allan Levey, director of an Alzheimer's program at Emory University, one of the academic centers participating in the research.

Researchers also tested more than 1,200 people over age 85 who did not have Alzheimer's disease and found that those with the variant TREM2 gene had lower mental function scores than those without it. This adds evidence the gene variant is important in cognition, even short of causing Alzheimer's.

"It's another piece in the puzzle. It suggests the immune system is important in Alzheimer's disease," said Andrew Singleton, a geneticist with the National Institute on Aging, which helped pay for the study.

One prominent scientist not involved in the study — Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, a Harvard Medical School geneticist and director of an Alzheimer's research program at Massachusetts General Hospital — called the work exciting, but added a caveat.

"I would like to see more evidence that this is Alzheimer's" rather than one of the other dementias already tied to the gene, Tanzi said. Autopsy or brain imaging tests can show whether the cases attributed to the gene variant are truly Alzheimer's or misdiagnosed, he said.

___

Online:

Medical journal: http://www.nejm.org

Alzheimer's info: http://www.alzheimers.gov

Alzheimer's Association: http://www.alz.org

___

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

Erdrich wins National Book Award for fiction

Label: Entertainment

NEW YORK (AP) — Louise Erdrich's "The Round House" has won the National Book Award for fiction.

Katherine Boo's "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" won the nonfiction award Wednesday night at a New York ceremony. David Ferry's "Bewilderment" won for poetry, and William Alexander's "Goblin Secrets" won for young people's literature.

Winners each received $10,000.

Honorary prizes were given to novelist Elmore Leonard and New York Times publisher and chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr.

FCC recommends cross-ownership waivers for Tribune Co.

Label: Business

The staff of the Federal Communications Commission has recommended that the agency grant Tribune Co. waivers of so-called media ownership rules, paving the way for the company to emerge from its long-running bankruptcy.

The waivers -- the last major hurdle in the four-year case -- would take effect Friday as long as none of the five commissioners raise serious objections, according to a person at the FCC who wasn't authorized to speak and therefore did not want to be identified.

No vote is required for the waivers to take effect.

The waivers would set the wheels in motion to emerge from bankruptcy, something that can happen as soon as new ownership, a group led by senior creditors Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo Gordon & Co and JPMorgan Chase & Co., can complete the necessary paperwork.

The FCC staff is recommending that the agency grant a permanent waiver to Tribune's ownership of the Chicago Tribune and WGN radio and television stations and that it give one-year waivers for the Los Angeles Times ownership of KTLA-TV Channel 5 and for similar arrangements in three other markets.

The FCC also is circulating among commissioners a proposal for new media ownership rules that would ease restrictions on consolidations among newspapers and TV and ratio stations, according to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. That proposal is expected to come up for an agency vote at the next regular meeting.

Once the new rules are in effect, Tribune's new owners could seek permanent waivers in the Los Angeles, New York, Hartford, Conn., and South Florida markets.

Tribune Vice President Shaun Sheehan declined to comment.

Fla. socialite at center of scandal

Label: World

If you were to diagram the increasingly tangled sex scandal involving former CIA Director David Petraeus, nearly all lines would lead back to one person: Jill Kelley, a 37-year-old Tampa socialite who hosted parties for the nation's top military brass.

Kelley's complaint about anonymous, threatening email triggered the FBI investigation that led to Petraeus' downfall. And now she is at the center of an investigation of the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan over alleged "inappropriate communications" between the two.

Kelley is a close friend of the Petraeus family, and photographs circulating in the media show the dark-haired woman at parties with Petraeus, his wife, and Kelley's husband, Scott, a cancer surgeon. She served as a sort of unofficial social ambassador for U.S. Central Command in Tampa, holding gatherings for the general when he was commander there from 2008 to 2010.

She also met Gen. John Allen while he was at Central Command, and now investigators are looking at 20,000-plus pages of documents and emails between Kelley and Allen, some of which have been described as "flirtatious." The general has denied any wrongdoing.

For her part, Kelley has taken a low profile since Petraeus' affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, became public. The Kelleys have retained high-powered Washington lawyer Abbe Lowell, who did not immediately return a call.

On Tuesday, Kelley could be seen through the large windows of her South Tampa home, a stately, two-story brick house with a half-dozen white columns. In the driveway was a silver Mercedes with a license plate marked "Honorary Counsel." Kelley's identical twin sister, Natalie Khawam, also lives there.

In the afternoon, Kelley, wearing dark sunglasses, left through the front door and ignored reporters' questions as she drove off in the Mercedes.

South Tampa is a conservative Southern community of big houses, big bank accounts, garden clubs and wives who pride themselves on volunteer work. A lot of the brass from MacDill Air Force Base, where Central Command is headquartered, lives or socializes in South Tampa, and helping members of the military is a major volunteer activity.

Former Mayor Pam Iorio said that she went to several parties to benefit the military at the Kelleys' home, and they drew MacDill's top brass, including Petraeus. But they were by far not the only parties held around the city for MacDill's officers.

"Our community's relationship with MacDill is just multi-faceted," said Iorio, who later invited the Petraeuses over to her own home for dinner. "It's something that is generational. People sincerely care about the military."

Petraeus aides said Kelley took it to another level, winning the title of "honorary ambassador" for her extensive entertaining. Petraeus even honored Kelley and her husband with an award in a special ceremony at the Pentagon.

The Kelleys invited then-Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to their home, but he never accepted. Instead, he had dinner with the Kelleys at a steakhouse in Tampa with Petraeus.

"Lovely people. I remember I had a nice dinner with she and her husband and the general and his wife," Crist said.

Ken Walters, a neighbor, said he went to a party the couple had to celebrate their first son's baptism. The Kelleys have two other children.

"Natalie and her sister, they're certainly not shrinking violets," Walters said. He recalled that when the sisters first entered the South Tampa social scene, they "rubbed people the wrong way. I think they probably stepped on a couple of toes."

Petraeus' affair with Broadwell was discovered after Kelley told an FBI agent friend that she had received email warning her to stay away from Petraeus. The email turned out to be from Broadwell, who apparently regarded Kelley as a rival for Petraeus' affections. Kelley's family and Petraeus aides have said Petraeus and Kelley were just friends.

In another strange footnote to the scandal, long before the case involving Petraeus got under way, the FBI agent sent Kelley shirtless photos of himself, according to a federal law enforcement official.

Kelley's brother, David Khawam, told WPVI-TV in Philadelphia on Monday night that the allegations have spilled out quickly.

"It's a shock. We're trying to figure out where the pieces are falling right now," he said in an interview at his law office in Westmont, N.J.

He said that his family left Lebanon for suburban Philadelphia's Huntingdon Valley in the 1970s to escape the turmoil in their homeland. His parents opened a Middle Eastern restaurant in Voorhees, N.J., called Sahara.

"My family is very patriotic; we came from Lebanon at a young age," he said.

Kelley later married and moved to Florida with her husband, who works at a cancer clinic.

Jill and Scott Kelley have been involved in at least nine legal actions since arriving in Tampa, according to court records. Most involve real estate transactions, including one foreclosure and an $11,000 judgment against the couple in a Pennsylvania case.

In another twist in the scandal, court records indicate that Petraeus and Allen intervened two months ago in a messy custody dispute on behalf of Jill Kelley's sister. Both four-star generals wrote letters supporting Natalie Khawam.

The judge in the case awarded Khawam's ex-husband custody last year of their son. He also called Khawam dishonest and lacking in integrity.

Khawam is a lawyer who works on health care fraud and whistleblower cases, according to her LinkedIn profile, which has been removed from the professional networking site. The sisters also competed in a cook-off filmed for a Food Network show called "Food Fight" in 2003.

___

Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier and Pauline Jelinek in Washington, and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Fla., contributed to this report.

Exclusive: AMD hires bank to explore options - sources

Label: Technology

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co to explore options, which could include a sale, as the chipmaker struggles to find a role in an industry increasingly focused on mobile devices and away from traditional PCs, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

Sources told Reuters on Tuesday that an outright sale of the company is not the main option, and other choices could include a sale of its portfolio of patents.

The company's stock surged 18 percent on the news before ending up 5 percent at $2.09 on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares slipped further to $2.07 in extended trade after AMD said it was "not actively pursuing a sale of the company or significant assets at this time."

"AMD's board and management believe that the strategy the company is currently pursuing to drive long-term growth by leveraging AMD's highly-differentiated technology assets is the right approach to enhance shareholder value," spokesman Drew Prairie said in an email to Reuters.

When asked why AMD had hired JPMorgan, Prairie declined to confirm the engagement, saying the company does not comment on its relationship with investment banks.

A JPMorgan spokeswoman declined to comment.

One of Silicon Valley's oldest chipmakers, AMD is laying off engineers and some analysts are concerned it may not find new markets for its chips in time to reverse a declining cash reserve.

AMD's shares have fallen more than 60 percent this year, giving it a market value of about $1.4 billion. It also has long-term debt and capital lease obligations of about $2 billion.

Since the 1980s, AMD has competed with much larger Intel and at times has made inroads with its PC and server chips. But setbacks at AMD limited those gains and AMD now faces new competition from companies designing low-cost and power-efficient chips based on ARM Holdings' technology.

Like Intel, Sunnyvale, California-based AMD was caught flat-footed in recent years with the emergence and fast growth of mobile devices.

But while Intel has deep pockets to fund research on new products to catch up, AMD faces declining cash flows and a more modest balance sheet.

EMULATE APPLE

Some investors believe part or all of AMD could be bought by a technology company that might want to emulate Apple Inc's tight control of software and components, a strategy credited in part for the success of the iPad and iPhone.

One source described AMD as a "legacy company" and said it might prove difficult to sell because of its dependence on the PC industry and lack of strong mobile offerings.

Another source said AMD's game console chip and embedded chips businesses were growing and attractive.

Microsoft Corp, Google Inc, Samsung Electronics, Intel Corp and even Facebook Inc have been suggested by Wall Street analysts as potential suitors that could benefit from some of AMD's chip business, including its graphics division, PC processors and server chips.

Others say AMD's most valuable asset may be its deep bench of engineers or its patents.

Goldman Sachs analyst James Covello estimated in a recent note to clients the chances of AMD's PC processor business being sold are between 15 percent and 30 percent.

Rather than selling AMD, bankers could help the chipmaker strengthen its finances in order to acquire technology it believes it needs to tackle new markets, said Williams Financial analyst Cody Acree.

"Right now they don't have the currency on their balance sheet or their share price to make an acquisition (of another company) viable," Acree said.

UNDERESTIMATED CHANGE

Rory Read took over as AMD's CEO in 2011 promising to fix long-standing execution problems that have plagued the chipmaker. But AMD has continued to lose money as well as market share to Intel and graphic chip rival Nvidia.

AMD said last month it would slash 15 percent of its workforce, while devoting more resources to areas outside of its traditional PC business, including communications, industrial and gaming applications.

Last week, AMD said it added a second board member from its leading shareholder, Mubadala Development Co, which owns 15 percent of the chipmaker.

In October, Read told analysts on a conference call he had underestimated the speed of change in the PC industry and said AMD would move quickly to focus on selling chips for communications, industrial and gaming applications.

AMD recently announced it has licensed technology from ARM and will use it to build low-power chips for servers. But those products aren't expected to launch until 2014 and AMD is one of several companies vying for a microserver market that will be small compared to traditional servers that power most data centers.

With the company burning through cash, analysts have recently become concerned about future liquidity and say AMD needs to turn its business around sooner than later.

AMD's cash declined $279 million in the third quarter to $1.48 billion. AMD said it was reducing its "optimal" cash target to $1.1 billion from $1.5 billion due to the business' now smaller size.

(Reporting by Nadia Damouni and Noel Randewich; Editing by Paritosh Bansal, Gary Hill and Bernard Orr)

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