Tahminah blog

U.S. lays out strategy double exports in 5 years

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration laid out details of a strategy to double U.S. exports over five years on Thursday, recommending ways to boost commerce but steering clear of timetables for advancing stalled free-trade agreements.

The release of the National Export Initiative report, produced by President Barack Obama's "export promotion cabinet" of top advisers and government agencies, sought to highlight the administration's efforts to support the struggling economy and create jobs, the top issue before the November 2 elections.

"Exports are actually leading our economic recovery," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke told reporters on a conference call before the report's release. He noted that exports were up roughly 18 percent over the same period last year.

"The more that American companies export, the more they produce. The more they produce, the more people they hire. And that means more jobs," he said.

U.S. officials said opening markets and enforcing existing trade pacts were part of the process of increasing exports. But the report did not lay out a timeline for wrapping up free-trade pacts with Colombia and Panama, an omission that congressional Republicans criticized.

Obama has said he wants to resolve outstanding concerns over a free-trade agreement with South Korea by November so he can submit it to Congress by early next year.

"On Panama and Colombia, (Obama) has similarly said that we hope to be able to resolve the outstanding issues and bring them forward whenever that's feasible," White House deputy national security adviser Michael Froman said on the call.

"The report does not specify a timetable beyond that."

Republicans on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee said the lack of deadlines for approving the Panama and Colombia agreements and finishing negotiations on a new Transpacific Partnership Pact raised questions about the likelihood of Obama's goal of doubling exports.

"If the President is serious about creating jobs by increasing exports, we must be much more ambitious than what is laid out in this report. The President has allowed the Colombia and Panama agreements to languish for far too long. It is time we start work on those agreements, while we continue to prepare the US-South Korea agreement for final approval," Representative Dave Camp said.

Obama has made expanding trade a priority among his limited tools to jump-start economic growth and battle nearly double-digit unemployment, factors that could cost his Democrats their majorities in one or both houses of Congress in November elections.

U.S. exports would need to grow from $1.57 trillion in 2009 to $3.14 trillion by 2015 to meet Obama's goal of doubling over five years, the report said.

The report's recommendations include:

* An "outreach campaign" to raise awareness among small and medium sized companies about export opportunities and available government assistance.

* Implementing a "government-wide export promotion strategy" for markets in Colombia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and Vietnam.

* Increasing U.S. trade missions abroad.

* Bringing more international buyers to U.S. trade shows and boosting participation of U.S. companies in international trade shows.

(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Philip Barbara)

NBA star Nash introduces film on his Canadian hero

TORONTO (Reuters) – Steve Nash, a master director on the basketball courts of the National Basketball Association, could have a second career in the making as one behind the camera.

A point guard with the NBA's Phoenix Suns and two-time league most valuable player, Nash ventured into film to tell the story of Terry Fox, a cancer sufferer who inspired Nash and others with his attempt to run across Canada in 1980, despite an amputated leg, to raise funds for cancer research.

"Into the Wind", which was met with a standing ovation and few dry eyes in its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, follows Fox, then 22, as he ran a marathon's distance a day after he had his right leg amputated six inches above the knee.

An artificial limb made of steel and fiberglass was attached to the stump.

Interviews with family and friends and television footage, are interspersed with narrated entries from Fox's journals.

The film, produced by U.S. sports broadcaster ESPN, is intended to bring a new generation of Americans to Fox's story.

"The opportunity to tell it to a relatively new audience was very powerful," Nash said after the screening.

"Most of all, for me, it would just be great if the film can help Terry inspire people like he inspired me," he said. Nash was six years old and growing up in Canada at the time of Fox's "Marathon of Hope."

Initially mostly ignored by the media when he set off from Canada's east coast, Fox's run gained momentum as he pushed westward. Eventually crowds lined the roads to watch the man with the hop-step running gait that has since become ingrained in Canada's national psyche.

After 143 days and 5,373 kilometers (3,339 miles), two-thirds of the way to his goal, Fox was forced to stop running just outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario. His cancer had come back and spread to his lungs. He had raised around C$2 million ($1.9 million).

Fox died nine months later. He is now hailed a Canadian hero and an icon in cancer research.

Nash co-directed the film with his cousin, Ezra Holland. Previously the pair have worked on viral videos for brands such as Nike and online content for CBS Sports.

Nash, who ranks among top players in NBA history for total assists, three-point shooting, does not intend this foray into film to be a one-off.

He and Holland are working on another documentary, this time about Brazilian soccer legend Pele.

The short film will be broadcast on ESPN on September 28. In Canada, it will air on Sunday to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the annual charity run, which is held in more than 40 countries. To date, the Terry Fox Foundation has raised C$500 million worldwide for cancer research.

($1=$1.03 Canadian)

(Editing by Ka Yan Ng)

Egypt probes posters backing spy chief for president

CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian police are investigating an anonymous poster campaign backing intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to take over the presidency from veteran incumbent Hosni Mubarak, an officer said on Saturday.

The posters, which showed the reticent spy chief waving, said he was the "real alternative" to lead the country, which is due to go to the polls for a presidential election next year.

The poster campaign in the capital mimicked a similar campaign last month in support of Mubarak's son and presumed preferred successor Gamal, carried out by a previously unknown group called the "Popular Campaign to Support Gamal Mubarak."

The police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the posters in support of Suleiman had been removed. Journalists at two independent newspapers said authorities told them not to publish reports about the poster campaign.

The officer said police had not yet identified the group behind it.

Suleiman, 74, is close to Mubarak and exerts immense influence through his General Intelligence agency. He also acts as the government's pointman on several key foreign policy issues.

Mubarak, 82, has not yet said whether he will stand in next year's election. He underwent gall bladder surgery in March which sparked a spate of rumours about his health that the authorities have struggled to quash.

The veteran president has never named a successor prompting feverish speculation about the political future.

His son, a former investment banker who holds a senior position in the ruling National Democratic Party, has never indicated whether he would like to take over what some fear could become a family dynasty.

Posters have also appeared in support of opposition champion and former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

ElBaradei, who has campaigned for constitutional reform, has called for a boycott of the presidential election.

FDA eyes Jazz Pharmaceuticals fibromyalgia drug

WASHINGTON – Shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped Wednesday after federal health officials said one of its drugs appears effective for treating a chronic pain disorder.

The Food and Drug Administration posted its review online, saying Jazz's drug sodium oxybate effectively treated pain from fibromyalgia in two company-run studies. However, regulators have concerns about the misuse and abuse of the drug, which has been used as an illegal stimulant and a date rape drug.

Fibromyalgia is characterized by widespread muscle pain and other symptoms including fatigue, headache and depression.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals, based in Palo Alto, Calif., already markets the drug under the brand name Xyrem, as a treatment for excessive sleepiness. Xyrem is considered a "controlled substance," by the U.S. drug enforcement regulators, and patients and doctors prescribing the drug must register with the government. Between 2002 and 2009, the FDA identified just five cases of misuse or abuse of the drug

But FDA reviewers cautioned that an approval for fibromyalgia would greatly expand the drug's patient population, making it harder to control. Drug reviewers recommended a strict distribution and monitoring plan "to positively identify and document cases of abuse, misuse, diversion and overdose."

On Friday, a panel of outside FDA experts will weigh in on whether the drug should be approved for fibromyalgia. The FDA is not required to follow the group's advice, though it often does.

WBB Securities analyst Andrew Forman notes that Jazz already has a solid track record for managing the drug's risks, since Xyrem has been on the market since 2002.

"Strong data from an already approved drug with a strong 'risk evaluation and mitigation' program that has worked for the past seven years should provide the panel with the comfort it needs for a favorable vote," Forman wrote in a recent analyst note.

The American College of Rheumatology estimates that between 6 million and 12 million people in the U.S. have fibromyalgia, more than 80 percent of them women.

Shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals rose 36 cents, or 3.5 percent, to close at $10.61 on Wednesday.

(This version CORRECTS that meeting of FDA panel is Friday)

India Said to Seek Google, Skype Call Interception

Google, Skype and other companies providing communications services in India will have to make provisions for interception of these communications by India's security agencies, Indian home secretary, G.K. Pillai, said in Delhi on Wednesday, according to reports.

A home ministry spokesman declined to provide further information, including whether a date had been fixed for issuing notices to the companies.

The development comes two days after the Indian government announced that it was giving Research In Motion an extension of 60 days to try out the solutions RIM had proposed to give Indian law enforcement agencies access to communications on its network.

The government had last month given service providers offering the BlackBerry service until Aug. 31 to provide access to BlackBerry corporate e-mail and messaging services or face a ban on these services.

On Monday, the Ministry of Home Affairs also said in a statement thatany communication through telecommunications networks should be accessible to law enforcement agencies and all telecom service providers including third parties had to comply.

India may ask Google and Skype and some other online services to make communications on their networks accessible by the country's law enforcement agencies, Rajesh Chharia, president of the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI), told IDG News Service last month.

Chharia said that at a meeting he attended over a month ago at the country's Department of Telecommunications, there was discussion of asking other online services besides RIM to provide access to India's security agencies.

The country wants to intercept mobile and online communications as its security agencies have found that terrorists are increasingly usingemail, instant messaging, and mobile phones to plan their attacks.

Under Indian law, service providers have to give law enforcement agencies access to communications on their networks, under certain conditions, including by providing decryption keys. The Indian government seems at this point to be targeting Google's Gmail and Skype's Internet telephony service, analysts said.

A Google India spokeswoman said on Wednesday that the company had not received any notice from the government, and would review and respond only if and when it does hear from those authorities.