Breast Cancer Stories: Me, My Mom and Flo

To mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Yahoo News asked women who have had breast cancer or are going through treatment to write about the people in their lives who stood by them and cared for them. Here’s one story.

FIRST PERSON | Before I had breast cancer, I was a massage therapist at Mills Health Center in San Mateo, Calif. Many of our clients came from the community. One of my regular clients was Flo, who sought treatment regularly to keep her shoulders loose and manage her stress.

One day, when I went to greet her for her regular session, she told me she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She would receive aggressive treatment — massage once a week for the duration of her treatments.

I was there through it all. She got through it and got back to her life, and I saw her less frequently. But I was so grateful to have been able to make a difference for her.

The day I got the dreaded call from the radiologist confirming that I had cancer, I ran into Flo. We were driving side by side on El Camino Real, a busy thoroughfare in San Mateo, of all places.

I rolled down the window and shouted the bad news.

She shouted back, “Call me! I’m your buddy!”

She was. I had inflammatory breast cancer. My treatment was aggressive. I started dose-dense chemotherapy on March 3, 2007, 10 days after my ultrasound clued in my radiologist that I “very probably” had cancer. I had eight infusions, two weeks apart. I had all the same drugs Flo had received, plus Herceptin. She took me to my appointments. She brought me Jamba Juice on chemo days and let my call her up and cry. She knew what to say when I told her my veins felt like they were full of Drano. She reassured me that the rotten way I felt was normal, and told me how long it would last and what would help me. Her husband Don also jumped in. They came and took out my daughter and son, ages 7 and 9, so I could rest. Whenever I was on the phone with Flo, Don would shout, “Tell her to remember, this is TEMP-O-RA-RY!”

Flo’s partner in crime was my mom, Anne. They conferred together on the phone, about everything from my prognosis (scary, but they didn’t tell me) to my boyfriend (wouldn’t last; it didn’t.). Mom was in Seattle. She relied on Flo to know how I was doing, and when Mom came to help when I had surgery, she and Flo were already fast friends.

Flo and I drifted back into our own very different lives after the journey, as she told me we would. We drop each other a line every so often. My gratitude to her is beyond words. I couldn’t have done it without her.

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Minister: Germany close to balanced budget in 2013

BERLIN (AP) — Germany‘s finance minister says the government will come close to balancing its budget next year as economic growth outpaces public spending.

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has been working toward a target of fully balancing its budget in 2016. On Friday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that “must be our essential aim, because we have this obligation toward our children and grandchildren.”

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble indicated in an article for the Tagesspiegel newspaper released Saturday that the government is ahead of target. He said the federal government expects a “near-balanced budget” in 2013.

Schaeuble said Germany’s budget deficit will fall below 0.5 percent this year. Last year, it was 1 percent.

The country’s healthy public finances have been helped by a robust economy that has produced increases in tax income.

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Amnesty Int: Ivory Coast torturing detainees

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast security officials are torturing dozens of detainees by administering electric shocks and other forms of abuse, Amnesty International alleged Friday.

The victims include people charged with endangering state security in the wake of a recent spate of attacks targeting military installations. Since early August, unknown gunmen have carried out roughly 10 attacks at checkpoints, military bases and other installations throughout the country, including in the commercial capital of Abidjan.

United Nations officials have said that more than 200 people have been detained on suspicion of involvement in the attacks, and that torture has been documented at multiple detention facilities.

Gaetan Mootoo, West Africa researcher for Amnesty, said an investigation team received reports of a range of abuses during a recent month-long visit.

“We were able to meet dozens of detainees who told us how they have been tortured by electricity or had molten plastic poured on their bodies,” Mootoo said. “Two of them have been sexually abused. Some have been held for many months denied contact with their families and access to lawyers.”

Army spokesman Cherif Moussa denied the torture allegations Friday. “Our camps are not concentration camps,” he said.

However, he acknowledged the possibility that individual soldiers may occasionally “go beyond what they are allowed to do” when dealing with inmates.

He added that the government tried to ensure that inmates’ rights were respected. “We want to prove that we are not abusing people’s rights,” he said. “We’re working for the state’s security. We’re working for the people’s security.”

Earlier this month, the Associated Press interviewed former detainees at a military camp in the southwestern port town of San Pedro who described widespread beatings as well as the use of electric shocks. A guard at the camp corroborated most of the claims, though camp commanders denied them.

In its statement Friday, Amnesty described how one detainee, a police officer, had died as a result of the torture he endured at the San Pedro camp.

“Serge Herve Kribie was arrested in San Pedro on August 21 by the national army and interrogated about recent attacks,” Amnesty said. “He was stripped naked, tied to a pole, had water poured on his body, and was then subjected to electric shocks. He died a few hours later.”

Amnesty said that some detainees were only released after ransoms were paid. One detainee told the rights group: “My parents first paid 50,000 CFA (a little under US $ 100) and then after my release, my jailers went at my house and demanded a higher sum. I told them that I couldn’t pay such an amount and they agreed to receive 20,000 CFA more (about US$ 40).”

The government has blamed the attacks on allies of former President Laurent Gbagbo, who was arrested in April 2011. Gbagbo’s refusal to cede office after losing the November 2010 election to now-President Alassane Ouattara sparked six months of violence in which at least 3,000 were killed.

Amnesty researchers also met with some of the more than 100 Gbagbo allies – including his wife, Simone – who are being detained on charges stemming from the post-election violence.

“Some of them told us that despite the fact that they have been held since April 2011, they only saw an investigating judge twice for less than a few hours,” Mootoo said.

Despite widespread evidence that forces loyal to Ouattara also committed atrocities during the violence, none have been arrested or credibly investigated, sparking allegations of victor’s justice.

Also Friday, in Amsterdam, judges at the International Criminal Court rejected a request for release by former president Gbagbo, who is being detained on suspicion of crimes against humanity.

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German publisher Burda bids for social network Xing

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German publisher Burda has bid to take over professional social network Xing AG as it further reduces its dependence on traditional printed media.

Privately held Burda said it had raised its stake in Xing to 38.89 percent, exceeding a legal threshold, which triggered the mandatory offer.

Burda is offering 44 euros per share for the remaining stake, valuing Xing at 240 million euros ($ 311.03 million), a 20 percent premium to Thursday’s closing price.

Commerzbank analyst Heike Pauls advised shareholders against tendering their shares as the offer values Xing at less than 8 times 2012 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).

“Too cheap for a growth stock with consolidation upside. We still think LinkedIn may come forward with a better offer at some point in time.”

Burda has been Xing’s main shareholder since 2009 as part of an overhaul of its business to cope with declining revenues from print titles such as magazines “Bunte” and “Focus”.

Xing, which connects professionals seeking jobs and companies looking for employees, said on Friday it would study the offer. It added that Burda so far has been a good strategic investor and that it was looking forward to this being the case in the future.

The network competes with U.S. peer LinkedIn and privately held Viadeo from France, and it makes money selling premium subscriptions and advertising.

Xing shares were up 18.2 percent at 44.10 euros at 1032 GMT, reflecting shareholders hopes for a better offer.

Xing has 12.4 million members worldwide of which 5.7 million are in German-speaking countries.

LinkedIn has 175 million members globally but still lags Xing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where it had about 2 million members at the end of June.

($ 1 = 0.7716 euros)

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, Harro ten Wolde and Peter Maushagen; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)

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German composer Hans Werner Henze dies at 86

BERLIN (AP) — German composer Hans Werner Henze, whose prolific and wide-ranging work included a wealth of operas and 10 symphonies, died Saturday, his publisher said. He was 86.

Henze died in the eastern German city of Dresden, longstanding publisher Schott Music said in a statement, calling him “one of the most important and influential composers of our time.” It didn’t disclose the cause of death.

Henze’s work over the decades straddled musical genres. He composed stage works, symphonies, concertos, chamber works and a requiem, and once said that “many things wander from the concert hall to the stage and vice versa.”

His operas ranged from the 1950s “Ein Landarzt” (“A Country Doctor”), based on a story by Franz Kafka, to “L’Upupa,” written in 2002 and the only opera for which Henze wrote his own libretto. Other works included the musical dramas “Elegy for Young Lovers” and “The Bassarids,” and the oratorio “The Raft of the Medusa” — dedicated to the Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara.

The Semperoper opera house in Dresden recently kicked off a tribute to Henze with a performance of his antiwar drama “We come to the River,” produced in collaboration with writer Edward Bond and first performed in London in 1976.

Henze was born July 1, 1926 in Guetersloh in western Germany and grew up as the Nazis tightened their grip on the country. After studying and starting his career in music and theater in West Germany, he left the country in 1953 and went to live in Italy.

Alongside his operas, Henze was known for his symphonies, among them “Sinfonia N. 9,” finished in 1997 — a choral symphony based on Anna Seghers’ novel “The Seventh Cross” that reflected his anti-fascist convictions.

His final symphony, “Sinfonia No. 10,” completed in 2000, was premiered by Sir Simon Rattle with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

As well as composing, Henze took teaching assignments in Austria, the U.S., Cuba and Germany. He served as composer-in-residence at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood, Massachusetts, and at the Berlin Philharmonic, Schott Music said.

Henze founded the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte festival and summer school in Montepulciano, Italy, in 1976.

Information on survivors and funeral arrangements was not immediately available.

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Lull in fighting between Israel, Gaza militants

JERUSALEM (AP) — A flare-up in fighting between Israel and militants from Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement has subsided.

Both sides say the government in Egypt helped to restore calm.

Israeli defense official Amos Gilad told Army Radio on Thursday that Egyptian security forces have “a very impressive ability” to convey to the militants that it is in their “supreme interest not to attack.”

Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha says Egypt conveyed Israel’s desire to contain the violence. He says Hamas told Egyptian that militants would cease fire if Israel would.

The Israeli military says militants haven’t attacked southern Israel since Wednesday night. It says the military hasn’t struck Gaza since Wednesday morning.

Militants fired some 80 rockets and mortars at Israel on Wednesday and Israeli aircraft struck four times.

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Consumers seen lifting GDP despite business caution

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. economic growth likely picked up a bit in the third quarter as a last minute burst in consumer spending offset cutbacks in investment by cautious businesses.

The stronger pace of expansion, however, is still expected to fall short of what is needed to make much of a dent in unemployment, and will offer little cheer for the White House ahead of the closely contested November 6 presidential election.

Gross domestic product probably expanded at a 1.9 percent annual rate, according to a Reuters survey of economists, accelerating from the second quarter’s 1.3 percent pace. A pace in excess of 2.5 percent would be needed over several quarters to make substantial headway cutting the jobless rate.

“Two percent growth is still significantly weaker than what would be necessary to make and sustain a successful transition to a more self-sustaining recovery,” said Millan Mulraine, senior economist at TD Securities in New York.

The Commerce Department will release the third-quarter GDP report at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, a little more than a week before the election in which President Barack Obama is trying to fend off Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Since climbing out of the 2007-09 recession, the economy faced a series of headwinds from high gasoline prices to the debt turmoil in Europe and, lately, fears of U.S. government austerity. It has struggled to exceed a 2 percent growth pace and remains about 4.5 million jobs short of where it stood when the downturn started.

Consumers appear, however, to have largely shrugged off the impending sharp cuts in government spending and higher taxes, which are due at the start of the year absent congressional action. Indeed, they went on a bit of a shopping spree as the quarter wound down, buying a range of goods — including automobiles and Apple Inc’s iPhone 5.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, is expected to have grown at a rate of at least 2 percent in the third quarter after increasing at a 1.5 percent pace in the prior period.

CAUTIOUS ON SPENDING

High stock prices and firming house values have made households a bit more willing to take on new debt, supporting consumer spending. A mild increase in wages has also helped.

But with about 23 million Americans either out of work or underemployed, there are fears the current pace of spending will not be sustained, especially if gasoline prices maintain their recent upward march and families get a higher tax bill in 2013.

“We remain cautious on consumer spending as real disposable income growth remains weak and we could see some pullback over concerns on the fiscal cliff and potentially higher tax rates next year,” said Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The so-called fiscal cliff refers to automatic tax hikes and government spending cuts that will drain about $ 600 billion out of the economy next year absent congressional action.

Fiscal cliff fears have already hammered business spending, which is expected to have contracted in the third quarter for the first time since the first three months of 2011.

Much of the drag in business investment, which had been a source of strength for the economy, is expected to come from weak outlays on equipment and software.

Spending on nonresidential structures is also expected to have contracted after five straight quarters of growth.

In contrast, home building is expected to have posted double-digit growth, thanks in large part to the Federal Reserve’s ultra accommodative monetary policy stance, which has driven mortgage rates to record lows.

Inventories could also be a source of growth in the third-quarter, but they are a bit of a wild card.

A drought in the country’s Midwest has decimated grain and corn crops. In the second quarter, the drought reduced farm inventories. But nonfarm businesses might have been reluctant to add to much to their stocks given the uncertain domestic outlook.

Government spending is expected to have been a drag on growth for a ninth straight quarter.

In addition, slowing global demand, particularly weakness in Europe and China, probably undercut U.S. exports. That likely left a trade deficit that weighed on GDP growth.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Neil Stempleman)

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Swedish princess engaged to New York banker

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Another royal wedding beckons in Europe: This time it is Sweden‘s Princess Madeleine who is getting ready to tie the knot.

Madeleine and her U.S.-British boyfriend Christopher O’Neill announced their engagement on the royal palace website on Thursday.

The 30-year-old Madeleine is the youngest of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia‘s three children and is fourth in line to the throne.

The tabloid Expressen reported early Thursday that O’Neill, a 38-year-old financier she met in New York, had proposed to the princess, and the couple confirmed the news in a brief video clip posted on the royal website.

“Chris proposed to me in New York at the start of October, and we are very happy,” Madeleine said in the video, which was recorded Wednesday at the Drottningholm Palace outside Stockholm.

“Madeleine and I have known each other for two years and I recently summoned up the courage to ask her to marry me. Thankfully she said yes,” O’Neill said in English with a British accent. He added a few words in Swedish, saying he was trying to learn the language “but it is difficult.”

Madeleine said the wedding would take place in Sweden in the summer of 2013, and that more details would be released later.

Madeleine lives in New York where she works for the World Childhood Foundation, a nonprofit founded by her mother.

In 2010, she broke off an earlier engagement after media reports that her then-fiancé had cheated on her.

O’Neill was born in London and holds dual American and British citizenship, according to a CV released by the royal palace. He studied at a boarding school in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Boston University and a master’s degree from Columbia Business School in New York.

O’Neill now works as a partner and head of research at Noster Capital, a hedge fund with offices in London and New York. His interests include Alpine skiing, tennis, golf, music, arts and the Chelsea Football Club in London, the palace said.

Madeleine’s elder sister, Crown Princess Victoria married her former fitness trainer Daniel Westling at a lavish ceremony in Stockholm in 2010. The couple had a baby, Princess Estelle, this year. O’Neill accompanied Madeleine to Estelle’s baptism ceremony in May.

The Swedish royal family has only ceremonial duties, such as attending award ceremonies, promoting Swedish businesses abroad and supporting charities and foundations. As the head of state, the king also receives foreign dignitaries on formal visits to Sweden.

News of Princess Madeleine and O’Neill’s engagement comes just days after another royal union was celebrated in Europe. Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg and Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy were married Saturday in the tiny duchy’s Notre Dame Cathedral.

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Economy is healing – Chancellor Osborne

LONDON (Reuters) – Chancellor George Osborne said on Thursday the latest GDP data showed the economy was on the mend but there were still challenges ahead due to weak data coming from the euro zone.

Figures released on Thursday showed Britain pulled out of recession in the third quarter, posting its strongest quarterly gross domestic product growth in five years.

“There is still a long way to go, but these figures show we are on the right track,” Osborne said in a statement. “This (is) another sign that the economy is healing …”

He added however: “Yesterday’s weak data from the euro zone were a reminder that we still face many economic challenges at home and abroad.”

The Office for National Statistics said Britain’s gross domestic product rose by 1.0 percent between July and September, beating forecasts for a 0.6 percent gain, after shrinking by 0.4 percent between April and June.

On the year, the economy was flat, better than expected.

(Reporting By Maria Golovnina; editing by Steve Addison)

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“American Idol”, “Touch”, “The Following” get premiere dates

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Fox released its midseason premiere dates Wednesday, announcing the returns of “American Idol” and the Kiefer Sutherland drama “Touch,” as well as the debut of the Kevin Bacon thriller “The Following.”

“American Idol” will kick off its 12th season, with new judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban, with a two-night premiere on Wednesday, January 16 and Thursday, January 17 at 8 p.m.

“The Following,” which was created by “The Vampire Diaries” and “Scream” vet Kevin Williamson, will premiere Monday, January 21 at 9 p.m. The series stars Kevin Bacon as a former FBI agent who’s drawn out of retirement to track down a serial murderer who leads an expanding web of killers.

“Touch,” which had its Season 2 premiere bumped from October 26 in order to afford the show better promotional opportunities, will now return on Friday, February 1 at 9 p.m.

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