States fear losing aid for 'uninsurables'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Thousands of people with serious medical problems are in danger of losing coverage under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul because of cost overruns, state officials say.

At risk is the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, a transition program that's become a lifeline for the so-called uninsurables ? people with serious medical conditions who can't get coverage elsewhere. The program helps bridge the gap for those patients until next year, when under the new law insurance companies will be required to accept people regardless of their medical problems.

In a letter this week to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, state officials said they were "blindsided" and "very disappointed" by a federal proposal they contend would shift the risk for cost overruns to states in the waning days of the program. About 100,000 people are currently covered.

"We are concerned about what will become of our high risk members' access to this decent and affordable coverage," wrote Michael Keough, chairman of the National Association of State Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans. States and local nonprofits administer the program in 27 states, and the federal government runs the remaining plans.

"We fear...catastrophic disruption of coverage for these vulnerable individuals," added Keough, who runs North Carolina's program. He warned of "large-scale enrollee terminations at this critical transition time."

The crisis is surfacing at a politically awkward time for the Obama administration, which is trying to persuade states to embrace a major expansion of Medicaid under the health care law. One of the main arguments proponents of the expansion are making is that Washington is a reliable financial partner.

The root of the problem is that the federal health care law capped spending on the program at $5 billion, and the money is running out because the beneficiaries turned out to be costlier to care for than expected. Advanced heart disease and cancer are common diagnoses for the group.

Obama did not ask for any additional funding for the program in his latest budget, and a Republican bid to keep the program going by tapping other funds in the health care law failed to win support in the House last week.

Brian Cook, a spokesman for the HHS agency overseeing the health care law, took issue with idea that thousands of people could lose coverage, though he did not elaborate.

"These actions are part of our careful management of the program to ensure that there is a seamless transition ... for enrollees, and that funding is spent appropriately," he said in a written statement.

The administration has given the state-based plans until next Wednesday to respond to proposed contract terms for the program's remaining seven months.

Delivered last Friday, the new contract stipulated that states will be reimbursed "up to a ceiling."

"The 'ceiling' part is the issue for us," Keough said in an interview. "They are shifting the risk from the federal government, for a program that has experienced huge cost overruns on a per-member basis, to states. And that's a tall order."

State officials say one likely consequence of the money crunch will be a cost shift to people in the program, resulting in sudden increases in premiums and copayments. Many might just drop out, said Keough.

If a state and HHS can't come to an agreement, the federal government will take over that state's program for the rest of this year. Amie Goldman, director of the Wisconsin program, said that would be an unneeded and possibly risky disruption for patients who'll have to change insurance next year anyway, when the pre-existing conditions plan formally ends.

Goldman said in her state, for example, the University of Wisconsin hospital isn't part of the federal government's provider network. "My colleagues in other states have similar concerns about holes in the network," she said. "I think it puts people at medical risk."

At his news conference this week, Obama acknowledged the rollout of his health care law wouldn't be perfect. There will be "glitches and bumps" he said, and his team is committed to working through them. However, it's unclear how the pre-existing conditions plan could get more money without the cooperation of Republicans in Congress.

The program got off to a slow start, partly because insurance isn't cheap. It offers policies at market rates, and that can mean premiums of $500 a month for someone in their 50s. The first inkling of financial problems came in February, when HHS announced a freeze on new applications.

The plan was intended only as a stopgap until the law's main push to cover the uninsured starts next year. Subsidized private insurance will be available through new state-based markets, as well as an expanded version of Medicaid for low-income people. At the same time, virtually all Americans will be required to carry a policy, or pay a fine.

States are free to accept or reject the Medicaid expansion, and the new problems with the stopgap insurance plan could well have a bearing on their decisions.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/states-fear-losing-aid-uninsurables-144535417.html

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States fear losing aid for 'uninsurables'

FILE - In this April 30, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama answers questions during his new conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. State officials say thousands of people with medical problems are in danger of losing coverage as the Obama administration winds down one of the earliest programs in the federal health care overhaul. At risk is the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, a transition program that has turned into a lifeline for the so-called ?uninsurables? _ people with serious medical conditions who can't get coverage elsewhere. The health care law capped spending on the program, and now money is running out. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - In this April 30, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama answers questions during his new conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. State officials say thousands of people with medical problems are in danger of losing coverage as the Obama administration winds down one of the earliest programs in the federal health care overhaul. At risk is the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, a transition program that has turned into a lifeline for the so-called ?uninsurables? _ people with serious medical conditions who can't get coverage elsewhere. The health care law capped spending on the program, and now money is running out. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - In this April 12, 2013 file photo, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. State officials say thousands of people with medical problems are in danger of losing coverage as the Obama administration winds down one of the earliest programs in the federal health care overhaul. At risk is the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, a transition program that has turned into a lifeline for the so-called ?uninsurables? _ people with serious medical conditions who can't get coverage elsewhere. The health care law capped spending on the program, and now money is running out. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Thousands of people with serious medical problems are in danger of losing coverage under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul because of cost overruns, state officials say.

At risk is the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, a transition program that's become a lifeline for the so-called uninsurables ? people with serious medical conditions who can't get coverage elsewhere. The program helps bridge the gap for those patients until next year, when under the new law insurance companies will be required to accept people regardless of their medical problems.

In a letter this week to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, state officials said they were "blindsided" and "very disappointed" by a federal proposal they contend would shift the risk for cost overruns to states in the waning days of the program. About 100,000 people are currently covered.

"We are concerned about what will become of our high risk members' access to this decent and affordable coverage," wrote Michael Keough, chairman of the National Association of State Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans. States and local nonprofits administer the program in 27 states, and the federal government runs the remaining plans.

"We fear...catastrophic disruption of coverage for these vulnerable individuals," added Keough, who runs North Carolina's program. He warned of "large-scale enrollee terminations at this critical transition time."

The crisis is surfacing at a politically awkward time for the Obama administration, which is trying to persuade states to embrace a major expansion of Medicaid under the health care law. One of the main arguments proponents of the expansion are making is that Washington is a reliable financial partner.

The root of the problem is that the federal health care law capped spending on the program at $5 billion, and the money is running out because the beneficiaries turned out to be costlier to care for than expected. Advanced heart disease and cancer are common diagnoses for the group.

Obama did not ask for any additional funding for the program in his latest budget, and a Republican bid to keep the program going by tapping other funds in the health care law failed to win support in the House last week.

Brian Cook, a spokesman for the HHS agency overseeing the health care law, took issue with idea that thousands of people could lose coverage, though he did not elaborate.

"These actions are part of our careful management of the program to ensure that there is a seamless transition ... for enrollees, and that funding is spent appropriately," he said in a written statement.

The administration has given the state-based plans until next Wednesday to respond to proposed contract terms for the program's remaining seven months.

Delivered last Friday, the new contract stipulated that states will be reimbursed "up to a ceiling."

"The 'ceiling' part is the issue for us," Keough said in an interview. "They are shifting the risk from the federal government, for a program that has experienced huge cost overruns on a per-member basis, to states. And that's a tall order."

State officials say one likely consequence of the money crunch will be a cost shift to people in the program, resulting in sudden increases in premiums and copayments. Many might just drop out, said Keough.

If a state and HHS can't come to an agreement, the federal government will take over that state's program for the rest of this year. Amie Goldman, director of the Wisconsin program, said that would be an unneeded and possibly risky disruption for patients who'll have to change insurance next year anyway, when the pre-existing conditions plan formally ends.

Goldman said in her state, for example, the University of Wisconsin hospital isn't part of the federal government's provider network. "My colleagues in other states have similar concerns about holes in the network," she said. "I think it puts people at medical risk."

At his news conference this week, Obama acknowledged the rollout of his health care law wouldn't be perfect. There will be "glitches and bumps" he said, and his team is committed to working through them. However, it's unclear how the pre-existing conditions plan could get more money without the cooperation of Republicans in Congress.

The program got off to a slow start, partly because insurance isn't cheap. It offers policies at market rates, and that can mean premiums of $500 a month for someone in their 50s. The first inkling of financial problems came in February, when HHS announced a freeze on new applications.

The plan was intended only as a stopgap until the law's main push to cover the uninsured starts next year. Subsidized private insurance will be available through new state-based markets, as well as an expanded version of Medicaid for low-income people. At the same time, virtually all Americans will be required to carry a policy, or pay a fine.

States are free to accept or reject the Medicaid expansion, and the new problems with the stopgap insurance plan could well have a bearing on their decisions.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-04-Health%20Overhaul-Uninsurables/id-86b5e27b33434f3e92bbcef0c707eedb

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Vimeo to exclusively carry new Kristen Bell movie the same day as theaters

The concept of a movie launching online alongside its theatrical debut isn't new; we've seen a few (usually independent) movies reach iTunes that way, for example. Streaming service arrivals are still rare, however, and Vimeo On Demand just boosted its street cred with plans to carry Some Girl(s) on June 28th, the same day that the movie gets a wider theatrical release. Vimeo will be the exclusive online home of the Adam Brody and Kristen Bell picture, and production house Leeden Media takes a populist bent in explaining why: as with Bell's return to Veronica Mars, it wants to cut out the usual in-between distributors. We're sure that Vimeo's tinier-than-usual 10 percent revenue cut and relatively uncrowded marketplace play a part, too. There's no guarantee that other notable movies will follow suit, but it's an important coup for an online service that's not even two months old.

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Soccer league hires security after punch on ref

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? The Utah soccer league that saw one of its referees punched by a teen player and sent into a coma plans to play on ? but with security present at games and without the player's team, its president said Friday.

Mario Vasquez, president of La Liga Continental de Futbol, said he'll hire off-duty police officers to watch over games, which will resume this weekend at a middle school in a Salt Lake City suburb. The 17-year-old's team has been expelled from the league.

The referee, Ricardo Portillo, 46, remains in a coma with his family praying for a miracle. The teenager, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, is in juvenile detention on suspicion of aggravated assault. The charges could be amplified if Portillo dies.

Portillo's oldest daughter said Thursday her father had been attacked before while refereeing ? even having his ribs and leg broken. But Vasquez said those incidents didn't happen in his league.

"We've never seen something like that before," Vasquez said. "We are still in shock. We can't believe it happened."

The unaffiliated Hispanic soccer league will have to be on its best behavior moving forward or risk losing the field it plays on each Saturday. The school district that has rented it two soccer fields at Eisenhower Junior High School for the past three years has sent the league a formal warning.

The letter cites Saturday's assault and previous complaints that the league didn't clean up trash and violated the ban on drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. Teachers at the school say they recently found water bottles, beer cans, cigarette butts and a dirty diaper on the field following the games.

"In addition, as you know, Eisenhower was mentioned in the news as a result of the player's assault on the referee," wrote Granite School District director Bryce Holbrook. "This situation only adds more cause to warn you in the hopes that your soccer events will be positive and civil activities."

Vasquez said he created the youth league in 2009 to give Latino children in the Salt Lake City area a place to play soccer, and for their family and friends to gather, socialize and have fun. These types of leagues are common in major U.S. cities, especially among Spanish-speaking immigrants who often barbecue there and play music in a de facto celebration of the Latin American passion for soccer.

But that passion became a flash of rage last Saturday in the goalie box at an Eisenhower field in Taylorsville, a Salt Lake City suburb about 10 miles southwest of downtown.

Accounts from Vasquez, Portillo's daughter and a police report released Friday offer a detailed narrative of what happened.

The teenager was playing goalie when Ricardo Portillo issued him a yellow card for pushing an opposing forward trying to score a goal. In soccer, a yellow card is given as a warning to a player for an egregious violation of the rules. Two yellow cards lead to a red card and expulsion from the game.

The teenager, quite a bit heavier than Portillo, began arguing with the referee, then unleashed a punch to his face. Portillo seemed fine at first, then asked to be held because he felt dizzy. He sat down and started vomiting blood, triggering his friend to call an ambulance.

When police arrived around noon, the teenager was gone and Portillo was laying on the ground in the fetal position. Through translators, Portillo told EMTs that his face and back hurt and he felt nauseous. He had no visible injuries and remained conscious. He was considered to be in fair condition when they took him to the Intermountain Medical Center.

But when Portillo arrived to the hospital, he slipped into a coma with swelling in his brain. Portillo's daughter Johana Portillo called detectives to let them know his condition had worsened.

That's when detectives intensified their search for the goalie. By Saturday evening, the teenager's father agreed to bring him down to speak with police.

Vasquez said he doesn't know much about the player, but said the league has had no problems with him before.

The league, which has 100 children, is not affiliated with the popular Utah Youth Soccer Association or any city or town recreation department. Utah Youth Soccer Association CEO Andrew Hiatt has called it a "rogue league," saying there usually are at least three of these leagues in the Salt Lake City area at any given time. They come and go, he said, due to a lack of organization.

Vasquez, however, said his league has rules and protocols, and that every player is informed about the code of conduct. Vasquez and Portillo have been friends for many years, having refereed together in other Hispanic leagues. Vasquez has been visiting Portillo every day in the hospital.

On Friday, the league's Facebook page featured a picture of Portillo in an orange referee uniform, along with the words, "Estamos contigo," or "We're with you."

Johanna Portillo said she and her sisters begged their father to stop refereeing because of the risk from angry players, but he continued because he loved soccer.

"It was his passion," she said. "We could not tell him no."

___

Follow Brady McCombs at https://twitter.com/BradyMcCombs.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/utah-soccer-league-hiring-security-ref-hit-230734462.html

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Cruz Challenges Biden at NRA Forum (ABC News)

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For 3, bomb suspect's friendship leads to charges

This courtroom sketch signed by artist Jane Flavell Collins shows defendants Dias Kadyrbayev, left, and Azamat Tazhayakov appearing in front of Federal Magistrate Marianne Bowler at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The two college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and another man, were arrested and charged with removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins)

This courtroom sketch signed by artist Jane Flavell Collins shows defendants Dias Kadyrbayev, left, and Azamat Tazhayakov appearing in front of Federal Magistrate Marianne Bowler at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The two college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and another man, were arrested and charged with removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins)

This courtroom sketch shows signed by artist Jane Flavell Collins defendant Robel Phillipos appearing in front of Federal Magistrate Marianne Bowler at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The Phillipos, and two other college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, were arrested and charged with removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins)

This photo released May 1, 2013 by the U.S. Attorney's office in a federal criminal complaint, shows fireworks, which the complaint said federal agents recovered from inside a backpack belonging to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaeva, found in a landfill in New Bedford, Mass. Three men who attended the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth with Tsarnaeva, were charged Wednesday, May 1, 2013, in connection with the case. (AP Photo/U.S. Attorney's Office)

FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. The FBI says the two brothers are the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, and are also responsible for killing an MIT police officer, critically injuring a transit officer in a firefight and throwing explosive devices at police during a getaway attempt in a long night of violence that left Tamerlan dead and Dzhokhar captured, late Friday, April 19, 2013. The ethnic Chechen brothers lived in Dagestan, which borders the Chechnya region in southern Russia. They lived near Boston and had been in the U.S. for about a decade, one of their uncles reported said. Since Monday, Boston has experienced five days of fear, beginning with the marathon bombing attack, an intense manhunt and much uncertainty ending in the death of one suspect and the capture of the other. (AP Photo/The Lowell Sun & Robin Young, File)

Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston Field Office Richard DesLauriers departs after the arraignment of three college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, May 1, 2013. Dias Kadyrbayev, Azamat Tazhayakov and Robel Phillipos were arrested and charged with removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

BOSTON (AP) ? Just hours before one of the Boston Marathon suspects and his brother allegedly gunned down a campus police officer, authorities say he exchanged a series of text messages with a friend who'd become suspicious after seeing what looked like a familiar face being flashed on television.

Dias Kadyrbayev, a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, texted his college buddy Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, saying he looked like one of the bombing suspects.

"Tsarnaev's return texts contained 'lol' and other things Kadyrbayev interpreted as jokes such as 'you better not text me' and 'come to my room and take whatever you want,'" an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.

Those texts set off a series of events that on Wednesday led to Kadyrbayev and his roommate Azamat Tazhayakov, natives of Kazakhstan, being charged with conspiring to destroy emptied fireworks and other evidence linking their friend to the deadly April 15 blasts. Robel Phillipos, who graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School with Tsarnaev in 2011, was charged with lying to investigators about the April 18 visit to his friend's dorm room to retrieve the items.

Tazhayakov also told authorities that during a meal about a month before the terror attacks, Tsarnaev informed him and Kadyrbayev "that he knew how to make a bomb." That is significant because, before he was advised of his rights not to speak with authorities, the 19-year-old bombing suspect allegedly said that his older brother had only recently recruited him to be part of the attack.

Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said Thursday it was cooperating with the United States in the case.

"Both Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are cooperating with the investigative bodies and providing them assistance," the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "As we have repeatedly stressed, Kazakhstan strongly condemns any form of terrorism. The Kazakhstan side is cooperating with the U.S. law enforcement bodies in their investigation."

Three people were killed and more than 260 wounded on April 15 when two bombs exploded near the marathon's finish line. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died after a gunfight with police days later. Younger brother Dzhokhar was captured and remains in a prison hospital.

According to the FBI account, just hours after surveillance camera photos of the two suspects were flashed around the world April 18, Tsarnaev's friends suspected he was one of the bombers and removed the backpack along with a laptop from Tsarnaev's room at UMass Dartmouth.

One of them later threw the backpack in the garbage, and it wound up in a landfill, where it was discovered by law enforcement officers last week, authorities said. In the backpack were fireworks that had been emptied of their gunpowder.

Investigators have not said whether the pressure cooker bombs used in the attacks were made with gunpowder extracted from fireworks.

The lawyers for the Kazakh students said their clients had nothing to do with the bombing and were just as shocked by the crime as everyone else. Phillipos' attorney, Derege Demissie, said outside court: "The only allegation is he made a misrepresentation."

The Kazakh students did not request bail at a court hearing and will be held for another hearing May 14. Phillipos was held for a hearing on Monday. If convicted, Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov could get up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Phillipos faces a maximum of eight years behind bars and a $250,000 fine.

The mother of the Tsarnaev brothers has said the allegations against her sons are lies.

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov have been in jail for more than a week on allegations they were in violation of their student visas, one because he was skipping classes, the other because he was no longer enrolled.

Tazhayakov was allowed to return to the U.S. from Kazakhstan in January despite not having a valid student visa, a federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press. His student visa status had been terminated because he was academically dismissed from the university, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.

All three men charged Wednesday began attending UMass with Tsarnaev in 2011, according to the FBI.

Kadyrbayev, an engineering major, said he and Tazhayakov hung out with Tsarnaev on and off campus. The three often spoke Russian among themselves.

He told authorities he became "better friends" with Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen, in spring 2012, and that he was a frequent visitor to the Tsarnaev home in Cambridge.

The FBI said that before Tsarnaev's roommate let the three friends into the room, Kadyrbayev received a text message from Tsarnaev that read: "I'm about to leave if you need something in my room take it," according to the FBI. When Tazhayakov learned of the message, "he believed he would never see Tsarnaev alive again," the FBI said in the affidavit.

It was unclear from the court papers whether authorities believe that was an instruction from Tsarnaev to destroy evidence.

Once inside Tsarnaev's room, the men watched a movie. At some point, they noticed a backpack containing more than a half-dozen fireworks, each about 8 inches long, according to the affidavit. The black powder had been scooped out.

The FBI said that Kadyrbayev knew when he saw the fireworks that Tsarnaev was involved in the bombings and decided to remove the backpack "to help his friend Tsarnaev avoid trouble."

Kadyrbayev also decided to remove Tsarnaev's laptop "because he did not want Tsarnaev's roommate to think he was stealing or behaving suspiciously by just taking the backpack," the FBI said.

After the three returned to Kadyrbayev's and Tazhayakov's apartment with the backpack and computer, they watched news reports featuring photographs of Tsarnaev. The FBI said Kadyrbayev told authorities the three men then "collectively decided to throw the backpack and fireworks into the trash because they did not want Tsarnaev to get into trouble."

Kadyrbayev said he placed the backpack and fireworks along with trash from the apartment into a large trash bag and threw it into a garbage bin near the men's apartment, according to court papers.

When the backpack was later found, inside it was a UMass-Dartmouth homework assignment sheet from a class Tsarnaev was taking, the FBI said.

The court papers do not say what happened to the laptop.

In a footnote, the FBI said: "Tazhayakov also informed the FBI agents that while eating a meal with Dzhokhar and Kadyrbayev approximately one month prior to the marathon bombing, Dzhokhar had explained to Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov that he knew how to make a bomb."

Robert Stahl, an attorney for Kadyrbayev, said his client "absolutely denies the charges" and didn't know that the backpack and fireworks were part of the bombing case. Kadyrbayev is "just as shocked and horrified by the violence in Boston that took place as the rest of the community is," the lawyer said.

He also denied that Kadyrbayev instantly recognized Tsarnaev's photo and said Kadyrbayev didn't know Tsarnaev was involved in the bombing: "His first inkling came much later," he said.

Tazhayakov's lawyer, Harlan Protass, said Tazhayakov "feels horrible and was shocked to hear that someone he knew at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth was involved with the Boston Marathon bombing."

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov lived at an off-campus apartment in New Bedford, about 60 miles south of Boston, and got around in a car registered to Kadyrbayev with a souvenir plate that read "Terrorista (hash)1." The car was pictured on Tsarnaev's Twitter feed in March.

The plate was a gag gift from some of Kadyrbayev's friends, meant to invoke his penchant for late-night partying rather than his political sentiments, Kadyrbayev's lawyer said last week.

___

Breed reported from Raleigh, N.C. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Bridget Murphy and Rodrique Ngowi in Boston and Michelle R. Smith in Providence, R.I.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-02-Boston%20Marathon-Explosions/id-87d05f12d4554239b97cedb72e5592b2

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Earthquake measuring 5.7 strikes northwest Pakistan: USGS

LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - For Rafael Nadal to bridge a 7,000-point gap with Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings looks like a tall order, even for a player of his qualities, yet he could still threaten the Serb's hopes of ending 2013 as world No.1. With the French Open looming large on the horizon, Nadal is back in the claycourt groove as he continues his comeback from a knee injury that sidelined him for seven months. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/earthquake-measuring-5-7-strikes-northwest-pakistan-usgs-073559420.html

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