Swiss gunman kills 3 people, had troubled history

Policemen investigate the house of the gunman and the shooting scene after a shooting in Daillon, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. A man shot and killed three people and wounded another two in the Swiss village, and was then arrested by officers who shot and injured him, police said Thursday. Police in the southern canton (state) of Valais said they were alerted to the shooting in the village of Daillon just before 9 p.m. (20:00GMT) Wednesday. Three of the victims died at the scene and the two injured people were taken to hospitals. A police statement early Thursday gave no detail on their injuries. (AP Photos/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)

Policemen investigate the house of the gunman and the shooting scene after a shooting in Daillon, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. A man shot and killed three people and wounded another two in the Swiss village, and was then arrested by officers who shot and injured him, police said Thursday. Police in the southern canton (state) of Valais said they were alerted to the shooting in the village of Daillon just before 9 p.m. (20:00GMT) Wednesday. Three of the victims died at the scene and the two injured people were taken to hospitals. A police statement early Thursday gave no detail on their injuries. (AP Photos/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)

Police vehicles in the village of Daillon after a shooting, in Switzerland, early Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. A man shot and killed three people and wounded another two in a Swiss village, and was then arrested by officers who shot and injured him, police said Thursday. Police in the southern canton (state) of Valais said they were alerted to the shooting in the village of Daillon just before 9 p.m. (20:00GMT) Wednesday. Three of the victims died at the scene and the two injured people were taken to hospitals. A police statement early Thursday gave no detail on their injuries. (AP Photos/Keystone, Olivier Maire)

A view of the village of Daillon after a shooting, in Switzerland, early Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. A man shot and killed three people and wounded another two in a Swiss village, and was then arrested by officers who shot and injured him, police said Thursday. Police in the southern canton (state) of Valais said they were alerted to the shooting in the village of Daillon just before 9 p.m. (20:00GMT) Wednesday. Three of the victims died at the scene and the two injured people were taken to hospitals. A police statement early Thursday gave no detail on their injuries. (AP Photos/Keystone, Olivier Maire)

Police patrol in the village of Daillon after a shooting, in Switzerland, early Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. A man shot and killed three people and wounded another two in a Swiss village, and was then arrested by officers who shot and injured him, police said Thursday. Police in the southern canton (state) of Valais said they were alerted to the shooting in the village of Daillon just before 9 p.m. (20:00GMT) Wednesday. Three of the victims died at the scene and the two injured people were taken to hospitals. A police statement early Thursday gave no detail on their injuries. (AP Photos/Keystone, Olivier Maire)

GENEVA (AP) ? A shooting in southern Switzerland has left three women dead, two men wounded and raised questions about how a troubled suspect was able to go on a rampage with an old military rifle.

The shooting ? which came on the eve of students' return to classes in Newtown, Connecticut, after a horrific school shooting ? also highlighted the easy access to firearms in gun-loving nations.

The suspect, a 33-year-old unemployed man living on disability payments, fired about 20 shots Wednesday night in the village of Daillon, authorities in the Swiss canton (state) of Valais said Thursday.

He opened fire from his apartment and pursued people in the street, police said. Armed with a Swiss military rifle and a handgun, he then threatened to shoot the officers sent in to stop him, police said.

"The shooter pointed his weapon at our colleagues, so they had to open fire to neutralize him, to avoid being injured themselves," police spokesman Jean-Marie Bornet told Swiss radio.

The suspect, who police did not identify, was arrested and taken to the hospital with serious wounds. Bornet said he lived in Daillon but the motive for the shooting was unclear.

Guns are popular among the Swiss ? the Alpine country has at least 2.3 million weapons among a population of less than 8 million. Many rural areas have gun clubs, with children as young as 10 taking part in shooting competitions.

The suspect was using a military rifle that was once standard issue in the Swiss army, interim cantonal police chief Robert Steiner said.

Prosecutor Catherine Seppey said the suspect was unemployed and had been receiving psychiatric care since at least 2005, when he was first admitted to a psychiatric hospital. He was currently under the care of the cantonal agency for the disabled, she said.

His weapons were confiscated and destroyed in 2005, she said, "and currently no arms register showed he had a weapon. The inquiry will have to determine where the weapons came from."

Buying a firearm in a Swiss shop requires a permit, a clean criminal record and no psychiatric disability, but buying a firearm from another person is less restrictive and old-style Army rifles are often sold at military surplus markets.

Most types of ammunition can be bought, while automatic firearms generally require a special police permit.

Seppey said the shooter knew several of the victims but "he was not known for making threats."

The victims were three women aged 32, 54 and 79 who died at the scene, and two injured men, aged 33 and 63, who were taken to the hospital, Seppey said. The two youngest victims were a couple with small children.

"We have no words to express ourselves after an event like this," Christophe Germanier, head of the Conthey district where the shooting occurred, told a news conference.

Daillon is near some of Switzerland's most popular ski resorts, such as Verbier and Crans-Montana, and is in the country's main wine-producing region. The area also boasts a sizeable share of the country's federally protected hunting reserves.

Authorities say firearms are involved in nearly a quarter of the 1,100 suicides a year in Switzerland ? which don't include another 300 cases a year of assisted suicide ? but shooting rampages are rare in peaceful, prosperous Switzerland.

A gunman who killed 14 people at a city meeting in Zug in 2001 was the nation's worst rampage, leading to calls to tighten national gun-buying laws. Friedrich Leibacher used a commercial version of the Swiss army's SG 550 assault rifle for the rampage, then killed himself.

All able-bodied Swiss men who are required to perform military duty often take their army-issued rifle home with them after completing military service. In 2007, the government began requiring that nearly all army ammunition is kept at secure army depots.

Many in Switzerland believe that distributing guns to households helped dissuade a Nazi invasion during World War II. In 2011, Swiss voters rejected a proposal to tighten gun laws.

"This is part of Switzerland's self-defense, where the entire army can be mobilized in 24 hours," said Daniel Warner of the Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces. "I don't think (the latest shooting) is going to cause a change in attitude here."

___

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-03-Switzerland-Shooting/id-8c0a79abf2c44b16921e23d129258bff

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Tide, Irish go old school on way to title game

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) ? The BCS championship is going old school.

In this era of wide-open, pass-happy offenses, college football's ultimate prize will be decided Monday night by two throwback teams, No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Alabama.

The Fighting Irish (12-0) have run for nearly has many yards as they've managed through the air. The Crimson Tide (12-1) is coming off a dominant performance on the ground in the Southeastern Conference championship.

"Alabama is that kind of team where you just know they're going to run the football," Notre Dame defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore said Thursday. "The whole world knows they're going to run the football. Just try to stop us ? that's their mentality. It's really kind of cool to see. There's not going to be any tricks or trick plays or anything like that."

The same could be said of the Irish, who are dominant on defense but a bit erratic when they drop back to throw.

While coach Brian Kelly might technically operate out of a modern spread offense, he's scaled back his desire to pile up the points and the passing yards like he did in his previous tenure at Cincinnati. Notre Dame has relied on a running back-by-committee approach and quarterback Everett Golson to wear down opponents, averaging more than 202 yards rushing per game.

Theo Riddick has gained 880 yards and five touchdowns, Cierre Wood has 740 yards and four TDs, while George Atkinson III has chipped in with 361 yards, five TDs and a team-leading 7.1 yards per carry. Golson is also a threat to tuck the ball and run, gaining 305 yards and scoring five times.

"Coach Kelly is known to sling the ball around, but this year we've kind of done both," Lewis-Moore said. "We've run the ball very well with Theo, Cierre and George. We're kind of like a three-headed monster."

If that's the case, then Alabama is a two-headed beast.

Junior Eddie Lacy and freshman T.J. Yeldon have both rushed for 1,000 yards and combined for a staggering 27 touchdowns, taking advantage of what is generally regarded as the best offensive line in the nation.

"It's like old-school football," Lacy said. "We line up in the I-formation and pound it. A lot of teams are in the spread and things like that. We like to keep it old school around here. The old-fashioned way still works."

Indeed, it does.

Just ask Georgia, which lost to Alabama in a thrilling SEC title game.

Facing a defense that might have two players selected in the first round of the NFL draft ? and includes several other pro prospects ? the Crimson Tide ran wild in its 32-28 victory. Alabama piled up a championship game record with 350 yards rushing, led by Lacy with 181 yards and two scores. Yeldon was nearly as good, tacking on 153 yards and a TD.

From Bob Diaco's perspective, it all starts up front. Notre Dame's defensive coordinator knows he must find a way to cope with the Tide's offensive line, which includes two first-team All-Americans (center Barrett Jones and left guard Chance Warmack) and a second-teamer (right tackle D.J. Fluker). Everyone across the front line weighs more than 300 pounds, and they all play with a bit of a nasty streak.

"They're the finest collection, tackle to tackle, that we've faced so far," Diaco said. "It's not another happy-go-lucky group of offensive linemen. This is an angry, aggressive, intense group of players that plays hard and finishes blocks."

They won't in any way be intimidated by Notre Dame's impressive defensive front, which has allowed only two rushing touchdowns all season.

"The backs are really the battery of that team, the battery of that offense," Diaco continued. "But they're facilitated by the offensive line. The offensive line is really the marquee position group of that pretty marquee offense."

No wonder the Crimson Tide feels no great urge to throw the ball. The team is way down in the NCAA stats when it comes to passing yards ? 84th at 214.5 per game ? but highly effective when it does go to the air. AJ McCarron is the nation's highest-rated passer, set a school record with 26 touchdown passes, and was intercepted only three times.

Alabama is the more likely team to break off a big play in the passing game, especially with another super freshman, Amari Cooper, averaging nearly 17 yards per catch and hauling in nine touchdown passes.

But it's all set up by the ground game. The Tide has run the ball an eye-popping 525 times, averaging 40 carries a game and far more than its 300 passing attempts. In only one game ? a last-minute victory at LSU ? has Alabama thrown the ball more than its run it.

Notre Dame is a bit more likely to go to the air, but not by much. The Irish rank 75th in passing yards with an average of 218.3.

"You have to adapt," Kelly said. "That's how we came up the formula this year to play the way we played."

In a triple-overtime victory over Pittsburgh, the Irish threw it 53 times. They would prefer a performance more in line with the regular-season finale against Southern Cal, in which Notre Dame displayed almost perfect balance (222 yards rushing, 217 yards passing).

Of course, it will be much tougher to run against Alabama's defense, which leads the nation with an average of just under 80 yards per game. But, regardless of what happens Monday, Kelly has done a masterful job of breaking in a new quarterback while winning every game.

"I didn't believe, nor did I want, to use this year as a bridge year, a transition year," the coach said. "We had to find a way to win those games. Manage those games. Limit possessions. Hold onto the football."

No doubt about it.

This BCS title game is going old school.

___

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tide-irish-old-school-way-title-game-212337660--spt.html

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DoubleLine launches stock management division

NEW YORK (Reuters) - DoubleLine Capital LP, the $53 billion firm run by star bond investor Jeffrey Gundlach, said on Wednesday that it is now managing stock portfolios in a new division called DoubleLine Equity LP.

The firm, which surpassed $50 billion in bond assets last year after launching in 2009, said in a news release that it has tapped former TCW Group portfolio managers Brendt Stallings and Husam Nazer to expand its stock division.

Gundlach, DoubleLine's chief executive officer and chief investment officer, hinted at the firm's move into stocks in a webcast on September 11, citing the broad disinterest in equities and their potential as a hedge against inflation.

The firm's flagship DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund earned a return of 9.2 percent in 2012, beating 97 percent of other U.S. mortgage-focused funds, according to Lipper. The fund, which oversees $37.1 billion, took in $19.7 billion last year, making it the most popular mutual fund by asset growth.

Pacific Investment Management Co., the world's largest bond fund manager with $1.92 trillion in assets as of September 30, 2012, began moving into equities when it launched its first actively managed stock mutual fund in 2010.

Stallings and Nazer were previously Group Managing Directors at TCW Group Inc., the highest title for managers at the firm, where they oversaw $5 billion in assets in stock portfolios.

Gundlach started DoubleLine in December of 2009 shortly after being fired as chief investment officer of TCW. TCW sued Gundlach after firing him, claiming that he stole trade secrets and violated his fiduciary duty to the firm. Gundlach responded with a countersuit and won $66.7 million in wages from TCW.

Private equity firm Carlyle Group struck a deal last August to buy a 60 percent stake in TCW from French bank Societe Generale. TCW management and employees will own the remaining 40 percent stake in the Los Angeles-based bond fund manager, which has $135 billion in assets.

DoubleLine, which is also based in Los Angeles, employs more than 80 people. Stallings and Nazer plan to hire at least five investment professionals this year, the release said.

(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/doubleline-launches-stock-management-division-161433235--sector.html

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Sleep apnea may offer unusual protection for heart attack patients

Jan. 2, 2013 ? People who suffer from breathing disorders such as sleep apnea are usually at higher risk for cardiovascular disease. But an intriguing new study from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology scientists suggests that some heart attack patients with these conditions may actually benefit from mild to moderate sleep-disordered breathing.

Apnea and other types of sleep-disordered breathing can boost the numbers and functions of rare cells that help to repair and build new blood vessels, according to the Technion's Dr. Lena Lavie and her colleagues. They say the findings could help predict which patients are at a greater health risk after a heart attack, and may even suggest ways to rebuild damaged heart tissue.

Sleep-disordered breathing is characterized by cycles of apnea-induced hypoxia, where the sleeper experiences a temporary drop in oxygen levels. It occurs in about 5 to 10% of the general adult population, but is extremely common in patients with cardiovascular diseases -- somewhere between 40-60%. Many studies have shown that sleep apnea is a risk factor for everything from high blood pressure to chronic heart failure, Lavie noted. Earlier studies by the Technion scientists suggest apnea increases oxygen-related stress and inflammation in the heart and blood vessels.

The scientists' study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (vol. 187, no. 1) could help resolve a puzzling medical issue. If sleep disordered breathing is associated with cardiovascular disease, why is it that people who suffer from breathing disorders in sleep seem to do as well as healthy sleepers after a heart attack?

Lavie, along with researchers Dr. Slava Berger, Prof. Doron Aronson and Prof. Peretz Lavie, looked for clues to this puzzle in 40 male patients -- a mix of healthy sleepers and those with sleep disordered breathing, who had had a heart attack just a few days earlier.

Blood samples drawn from these patients revealed that the sleep disordered breathing patients had markedly higher levels of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which give rise to new blood vessels and repair the injured heart, than the healthy sleepers. They also had higher levels of other growth-promoting proteins and immune cells that stimulate blood vessel production.

The Technion researchers were able to trigger a similar increase in vessel-building activity in vascular cells taken from a second set of twelve healthy men and women, by withholding oxygen from the cells for short periods. "Indeed, our results point at the possibility that inducing mild-moderate intermittent hypoxia may have beneficial effects," Lena Lavie said.

In an accompanying editorial in the journal, Dr. Leila Kheirandish-Gozal of the University of Chicago and Prof. Ramon Farr? of the Universidad de Barcelona said the Technion study moves toward reconciling the ideas that apnea can stress the heart but also "pre-condition" it for repair.

Patients with sleep-disordered breathing, they noted "are essentially better prepared to harness the recruitment of EPCs when [a heart attack] comes knock at the door."

"Heart attack is a potent stimulus for EPC mobilization," said Aronson, who is also affiliated with RAMBAM Medical Center. He also explained that the cells move from bone marrow to the heart to repair damaged tissue after a heart attack.

"The field of cell-based cardiac repair has struggled to find the best approach to enhance recruitment of EPCs to the heart following myocardial infarction," said Aronson. The Technion findings, he said, suggest that intermittent periods of oxygen deprivation in heart attack patients "provides a simple and powerful means to boost EPC mobilization."

"It should be further investigated if inducing intermittent hypoxia immediately after a heart attack, in patients without sleep disordered breathing, will also have such an effect," Lena Lavie said.

The researchers would like to test this possibility in animal studies, as well as expand their studies of the underlying mechanisms that activate EPCs and other vessel-building factors.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Technion Society. The original article was written by Kevin Hattori.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. S. Berger, D. Aronson, P. Lavie, L. Lavie. Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Acute Myocardial Infarction and Sleep-disordered Breathing. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2012; 187 (1): 90 DOI: 10.1164/rccm.201206-1144OC

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/7UCTxOfRT5Q/130102161108.htm

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APNewsBreak: Mom: Boy didn't steal plane in crash

JASPER, Ala. (AP) ? A teen pilot killed along with two friends in an Alabama plane crash had his own key to the aircraft and had flown it many times, his mother said Wednesday, denying authorities' assertion that the plane had been taken without permission.

Sherrie Smith said her 17-year-old son Jordan Smith was the one flying the plane that went down in the Alabama woods Tuesday night, killing the him and two other male teens. The Federal Aviation Administration said the Piper PA 30 crashed less than a mile from the Walker County Airport in Jasper, which is northwest of Birmingham.

Smith says the owner of the plane had let her son fly it many other times and had given her son his own key.

"He had used the plane many times before," she said.

She said her son was a high school junior who fell in love with flying at an early age and was one test short of earning his private pilot's license.

Her son had left the house around 6 p.m. to meet some friends at another airport in the area, and she said she last spoke to him by cell phone about four hours later. One of her son's friends called later about reports of a plane crash, and she tried to reach Jordan again but couldn't.

Walker County sheriff's Chief Deputy James Painter said earlier Wednesday that authorities believed the three teenagers took off in the plane without permission.

"We don't know for sure but we think it was some teenagers who stole the plane and were sort of joyriding it," Painter told The Associated Press. "They got it in and took off and didn't go very far."

Authorities hadn't confirmed the names of the other two who were killed by late Wednesday.

The plane had departed from the small airport around 10:30 p.m. in overcast skies and a low cloud ceiling, airport manager Edwin Banks said.

"It was a student pilot flying an airplane without permission, an airplane that he was not qualified to fly at night," Banks said.

The teenage pilot had flown a single-engine airplane in the past "and he got in a double-engine at night in bad weather with a couple of his buddies," Banks said.

The Piper PA 30 is also called a Piper Twin Comanche. It is a low-wing plane with two propellers and can seat four to six, depending on the model.

The planes were built from 1963 until 1972, and were popular with flight schools because of their fuel efficiency and relatively inexpensive price tags, according to the International Comanche Society, an enthusiasts' group.

___

Associated Press writers Jeff Martin and Phillip Lucas in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-02-New%20Year's%20Plane%20Crash/id-542930d154f7405ca4c2a5158b866f15

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What health insurance am I eligible for?

I am currently 17 years old. I will be turning 18 in early November and my family does not have health insurance. I was wondering if I qualify for anything that will be able to get me low-cost braces or anything orthopedic. My family makes not that much money anf I am currwntly going to be a full-time college student. What insurance or health care would I qualify for? I have been needing braces for a while now and I am really self conscious about my teeth I hate to smile. Thank you on your help.

you can qualify for any private insurance you got money to pay for

Source: http://www.internationalstudenthealthinsurance.net/what-health-insurance-am-i-eligible-for/

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GOP leader Cantor opposes Senate 'cliff' bill

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The No. 2 Republican in the House leadership says he opposes a Senate-passed measure to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor told reporters after a two-hour closed-door meeting Tuesday with his GOP lawmakers that he did not support the bill.

He said House leaders were looking for "the best path forward" and that no decisions had been made.

The Senate passed the measure early Tuesday by a sweeping 89-8 vote. House passage of the measure would send it to President Barack Obama for his signature. The bill would increase taxes on family income exceeding $450,000 and delay across-the-board spending cuts for two months.

House GOP leaders were considering amending the measure and sending it back to the Senate, but that step could produce a deadlock.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gop-leader-cantor-opposes-senate-cliff-bill-203129679--politics.html

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