7 hostages reported dead in 'final assault' on Algerian refinery

CAIRO — Algerian troops raided a remote natural gas refinery Saturday, killing 11 Islamic militants but not before extremists executed seven hostages who for days had been trapped in a deepening international crisis, according to media reports.

Algerian state media described the army mission as the “final assault” to end a hostage ordeal that began in the predawn Wednesday at a gas compound on the Algerian-Libyan border. It was not clear if the hostages killed were Algerians or foreigners.

"It is over now, the assault is over, and the military are inside the plant clearing it of mines," a local source familiar with the operation told Reuters.

The fate of as many as 30 foreign hostages, including an estimated seven Americans, remained unknown. Algerian forces discovered 15 burned bodies as they swept through the compound Saturday to rout heavily armed militants. The militants threatened to blow up the facility and a number of hostages were reported earlier to have been forced to wear explosive belts.  

The Algerian government had refused to negotiate with the extremists, who were linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and appear to include Algerians, Libyans, Egyptians and at least one commander from Niger.

Algeria’s state-run media earlier reported that 12 refinery workers, including Algerians and foreigners, had been killed since a government operation to retake the plant began Thursday. Unconfirmed media reports suggested that as many as 35 foreign captives may have been killed, including some struck by gunfire from the Algerian military.

The militants, some dressed in fatigues, were armed with machine guns and rocket launchers. The compound is encircled by army tanks, troops and special forces. A Mauritanian news agency that has been in contact with the extremists said the captors were holding two American, three Belgians, one Japanese and one Briton.

The Algerian government on Friday said 573 Algerians and nearly 100 of an estimated 132 foreign hostages had been freed or had escaped. But the chaotic scene at the gas compound at In Amenas has frustrated international officials who complained they were not consulted about the Algerian military’s operations at the plant.   

The natural gas refinery at In Amenas is also jointly operated by BP; Statoil, a Norwegian firm; and Sonatrach, the Algerian national oil company.

ALSO:

Bolshoi artistic director attacked with acid

Pentagon planning to ferry more French troops, gear to Mali

Algeria: Accounts emerge as nearly 100 foreigners reported freed

jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com

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Social media dispute resolution stumps some companies

(Reuters) – If HBO cuts out on you in the middle of the latest “Girls” episode, and you have Charter Communications Inc as your cable provider, don’t try tweeting your dismay to their customer service department. Nobody will hear your lament.

Charter, the fourth largest cable provider in the U.S. with 5.2 million customers across 25 states, closed up its social-media based customer service team in December. “Umatter2Charter,” as it was known, had been taking customer complaints over Twitter and Facebook and trying to resolve them, but the company says it is now done with working out customer service issues in social media forums.

The move, which might seem to conflict with the growth of social media, highlights the difficulty some businesses are having with free-flowing, round-the-clock social media, its public nature and the expectation of immediate responses.

With Facebook users numbering about a billion and Twitter drawing 200 million, it might be hard to believe that any retail enterprise would drop out of the fray, but Charter isn’t the only major company to announce such a move. Also in December, the largest single grocery store in New England – the Wegmans in Northborough, Massachusetts – shuttered its Facebook page despite having some 8,000 fans.

“It’s a tough sport,” says J.D. Peterson, vice president of product marketing for San Francisco-based Zendesk, which helps companies manage customer service. “The real-time nature of it – at times the volume that can come from it – it’s very new and different for businesses.”

While Peterson’s company recommends going where the customers are – and a big chunk are clearly on social media – Peterson says not all businesses share the same philosophy or have the ability to engage those consumers in these open forums. But any company that has a significant online presence doesn’t really have a choice, he says, working with consumers through social media is expected of them.

Advocates for the use social media say the challenge actually presents an opportunity for businesses – showing they are responsive to complaints and care about their customers can bring in revenue.

“I have seen this time and time again, and the end result is that the interaction often turns an irate customer into an advocate for the brand. And that is worth it’s weight in gold,” says Mike Rowan, chief marketing office for Atlanta-based Swarm, which manages social media for companies.

That’s certainly the way retailer Lands’ End, a division of Sears Holdings Corp, sees it.

“When we started using social media tools like Facebook and Twitter in early 2009, it gave us a new opportunity to do what we’ve done for 50 years, which is connect with our customers,” says Michele Casper, Lands’ End’s senior director of public relations. “Whether it is through social media, our call centers or online, we offer the same level of customer service through each channel.”

DIVERTING COURSE

Charter says it is not walking away completely from social media – just the idea of providing customer service via Twitter. The company says it has ample other avenues for consumers to get help – including telephone, customer service counters and live chat on its web page.

“We communicate with thousands of customers each day on the phone and in person, and that’s where we’ll focus our efforts,” says Charter spokeswoman Anita Lamont. “While social media is a method some consumers choose to seek help, Charter offers phone and web-based contact solutions where all customers can access resources to provide assistance.”

The abandonment of the Facebook page at the Massachusetts Wegmans store, which caused a great fuss among the store’s “fans,” was, in large part, due to the inability to respond quickly enough to consumers. Store personnel couldn’t break off enough time from their other roles to constantly monitor the page, Wegmans spokeswoman Jo Natale says, allowing comments to sit unanswered – a no-no in the world of social media.

“Our top priority has always been, and will continue to be, providing incredible service to customers who shop in our stores,” she says. “And it isn’t as though there aren’t other avenues for folks to connect with us if they have a question or concern.”

As much as customers expressed surprise and dissatisfaction at the decision, Natale says, it came down to a decision that if the store couldn’t serve the Facebook page at a level it felt was expected that it shouldn’t do it at all.

“They quickly discovered, once the store opened and got very, very busy, that it wasn’t so easy to stay on top of comments or to find the time to post,” Natale says. “In a retail operation like ours, there isn’t anyone sitting at a PC or checking a mobile device throughout the day. It’s a fast-paced business that requires our people to be on the floor serving customers.”

(The author is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own)

(Follow us @ReutersMoney or at http://www.reuters.com/finance/personal-finance; Editing by Beth Pinsker and Tim Dobbyn)

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Alicia Keys first Sundance as producer, composer

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — It's a busy week for Alicia Keys.

The singer-songwriter is set to perform at three events during Barack Obama's presidential inauguration on Monday. She'll sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl on Feb. 3. And meanwhile, she popped over to Park City, Utah, to debut her first film as executive producer and composer.

The 32-year-old entertainer is attending her first Sundance Film Festival to support "The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete," which premiered Friday. Directed by George Tillman, Jr., the film tells the story of two young boys who survive the streets of Brooklyn on their own.

Keys said she was drawn to the film because of its "authentic" story and its setting in her hometown of New York City.

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Business Briefing | Medicine: F.D.A. Clears Botox to Help Bladder Control

Botox, the wrinkle treatment made by Allergan, has been approved to treat adults with overactive bladders who cannot tolerate or were not helped by other drugs, the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. Botox injected into the bladder muscle causes the bladder to relax, increasing its storage capacity. “Clinical studies have demonstrated Botox’s ability to significantly reduce the frequency of urinary incontinence,” Dr. Hylton V. Joffe, director of the F.D.A.’s reproductive and urologic products division, said in a statement. “Today’s approval provides an important additional treatment option for patients with overactive bladder, a condition that affects an estimated 33 million men and women in the United States.”

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Cases of celebrities accused of financial crimes adding up

Call it the Securities and Exchange Commission's most wanted celebrities list.

Daniel Ruettiger, the Notre Dame football player made famous by the movie "Rudy," was on it. Baseball legends Eddie Murray and Doug DeCinces as well as football great Willie Gault made the list. Even good guy actor Larry Wilcox, better known as the motorcycle-riding officer in the TV series "CHiPs."

They are among the athletes and actors who have butted up against the nation's top securities cops in recent years. Experts say such high-profile cases send a message that nobody is above the law.

"Going after celebrities reinforces the view that our laws are being applied fairly, that the small investor has a champion to watch after him or her, and that those who cross the line will pay a heavy price if they do," said Harvey Pitt, a former SEC chairman who is now a private securities lawyer.

Since homemaking guru Martha Stewart's five-month stint in jail in 2004, there has been a steady stream of celebrities accused of financial chicanery. And most of the cases have played out in the media.

In November, DeCinces was indicted by a federal grand jury in California for alleged insider trading.

His troubles began in 2009 when a neighbor, James V. Mazzo, gave the former Angels third baseman a hot stock tip, authorities said. Mazzo, the chief executive of Advanced Medical Optics, allegedly told DeCinces that the Santa Ana company was going to be acquired by Abbott Laboratories.

Shares of the medical device maker skyrocketed 143% after the deal was announced. DeCinces pocketed more than $1.7 million in profit when the stock he snapped up soared.

Along the way, DeCinces also shared the inside information with friend and former teammate Murray, who used it to make more than $235,000 on the stock, the SEC said.

Both men denied wrongdoing and settled their cases with the SEC. They declined to comment for this story.

"Celebrities have developed the mentality that they're above the crowd and the rules don't apply to them," said Boyd Page, a partner at Atlanta law firm Page Perry, which represents investors in litigation. "Think about these guys, Eddie Murray, Doug DeCinces, to their entourage, they're gods. No one questions them."

Daniel M. Hawke, chief of the SEC's market abuse unit, said that celebrity status plays no role in the agency's decision to pursue charges.

He said the agency pursues cases based on an analysis of the evidence, and if the regulator would have a good case.

"We do not single people out based on their profile," he said. "We go where the evidence leads."

In August, the agency accused former football coach Jim Donnan of helping run an $80-million Ponzi scheme that involved other college coaches and former players as victims. The former University of Georgia coach allegedly promised investors they could earn substantial profits by buying leftover merchandise from retailers and then reselling it to discount retailers.

However, the SEC alleged, Donnan and his business partner pocketed a majority of the money, and the remaining cash was used to pay fake returns to early investors.

Gault, the former NFL wide receiver and Olympic sprinter, was accused of a "pump-and-dump" scheme in 2011. The SEC contended that he took part in a plan to artificially inflate the stock of a medical-device company at which he served as an executive.

The agency said in a complaint that Gault hyped millions of dollars in fake sales orders for Studio City-based Heart Tronics from 2006 to 2008. That good news sent the stock skyrocketing, and Gault was accused of sharing part of an $8-million profit from stock transactions. He denied wrongdoing in the case.

The agency went after Wilcox a few years ago for allegedly paying kickbacks to investors in classic pump-and-dump schemes: The cooperating investors would buy shares of the promoters' thinly traded penny stocks, with the goal of driving up the prices in hopes of luring other investors into the shares.

Wilcox, who lives in the West Hills area of L.A., eventually settled with the SEC. He declined to comment.

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Obama aides launch Organizing for Action to back his agenda

WASHINGTON -- Leaders of President Obama's reelection campaign announced Friday that they are launching a permanent advocacy organization called Organizing for Action that will enlist his supporters to fight for his policy agenda.
 
Calling it "the next phase of this movement," former campaign manager Jim Messina described the new group as an extension of Obama's successful bid for a second term, which used technology to engage volunteers at a new level in their communities.
 
"If we can take the enthusiasm and passion that people showed throughout the campaign and channel it into the work ahead of us, we will be unstoppable," Messina, who will be the chairman of the new group, wrote in an email to campaign donors early Friday morning.
 
The launch, which the Los Angeles Times wrote about Thursday, was the subject of chatter among Democratic activists and strategists, who predicted that it could upend the party's power structure.
 
If it is able to sustain the intensive volunteer effort that propelled Obama twice into the White House, Organizing for Action could outstrip the role played by traditional interest groups, such as organized labor and the environmental movement -- and challenge the party itself as a center of influence.
 
To accomplish that, however, the organization must avoid the fate of a similar effort Obama officials made in 2009 to extend his first presidential campaign into a permanent advocacy force. That project, Organizing for America, largely failed to turn grass-roots support into a political force from within its confines at the Democratic National Committee.
 
On Friday, Messina wrote that the new organization would be driven by supporters  and would hew to the campaign's principles: "respect, empower, include."
 
"We'll work on the key battles of our generation, train the next generation of grassroots organizers and leaders, and organize around local issues in our own communities," Messina wrote. "We'll continue to support the President in creating jobs and growing the economy from the middle out, and in fighting for issues like immigration reform, climate change, balanced deficit reduction, and reducing gun violence."
 
The new group is being organized under the tax code’s section 501(c)4 as a nonprofit social welfare organization, which cannot have politics as its primary purpose, limiting its ability to coordinate with the party or candidates.
 
In setting the group up as a 501(c)4, Obama aides chose the same structure as conservative advocacy groups, such as Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity, which the president has lambasted for not disclosing their donors. It remains to be seen whether Organizing for Action will voluntarily reveal information about its financial backers.

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Why Won’t the NRA Say Anything About Its (Possibly Fake) New Video Game?

If this app is, in fact, an unlicensed kind of hoax using the NRA acronym without permission, you’d think the NRA might want to squash the brand association quickly. Despite the gun lobby’s slow response to the Newtown massacre, the NRA isn’t afraid of issuing cease and desists or suing President Obama, the District of Columbia, or the Department of Justice.

RELATED: One Month After Newtown, NRA Releases First-Person Shooter Game with AK-47

What’s more, as ArsTechnica’s Kyl Orland points out, the NRA’s earlier efforts at officially licensed video games have been successful in the lobby’s seemingly unending efforts to the turn gun-violence debate away from guns and toward other industries accused of stoking violence. Orland writes:

So Practice Range fits right into the NRA’s arguments about video games’ insidious effects on our society. “There’s nothing wrong with guns in video games per se,” the organization seems to be saying; “the problem is the way those guns are used by most of the big-money game industry in service of ultra-violent revenge fantasies. If only the game industry could use its immense influence and power to promote responsible, safe use of guns, as we have with our humble app, the world might be a different place!”

If the app isn’t the NRA’s, then the app and the controversy surrounding it would seem to present an opportune time for NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre to hammer home his point about violence in video games. In his notorious post-Newtown press conference, LaPierre in the days following blamed the gaming industry for mass violence:

And here’s another dirty little truth that the media try their best to conceal: There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people.

The video-game industry has been reeling as it struggles to put together a lobbying defense of its own. Of course, all these theories would be moot if the app is indeed the NRA’s. As of today, the app is still up in the iTunes Store.

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Playwright Anna Deavere Smith wins Gish Prize

NEW YORK (AP) — Anna Deavere Smith has won one of the largest and most prestigious awards in the arts.

The committee that awards the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize announced Friday that the actress and playwright known for pioneering a form of theatrical journalism is this year's winner.

"Anna opens our eyes, ears and minds to some of the most challenging aspects of our lives, and in so doing helps give others the courage to do the same," said Darren Walker, of the Ford Foundation, who was on the selection committee.

The Gish Prize, now in its 19th year, recognizes leading artists in such fields as drama, music and dance, as well as literature. Smith joins past winners including Bob Dylan, Arthur Miller, Chinua Achebe and Robert Redford. The prize, from silent film stars Dorothy and Lillian Gish, comes with $300,000.

In a statement, Smith said: "I am deeply honored and can't imagine a greater honor than having my name linked with the incomparable Dorothy and Lillian Gish."

Smith creates one-woman documentary-style works such as "Fires in the Mirror" about a 1991 riot in New York and "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992," about the 1992 Rodney King case. She recently tackled health care in "Let Me Down Easy."

As an actress, Smith has appeared on TV in "Nurse Jackie" and "The West Wing" and in films including "The American President," ''The Human Stain," ''Life Support" and "Rachel Getting Married."

Among her other honors are a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," two Tony Award nominations, an Obie and a Drama Desk Award. Her writings include the book "Talk to Me: Listening Between the Lines and Letters to a Young Artist."

___

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The Neediest Cases: Medical Bills Crush Brooklyn Man’s Hope of Retiring

Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

John Concepcion and his wife, Maria, in their home in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. They are awaiting even more medical bills.

Retirement was just about a year away, or so John Concepcion thought, when a sudden health crisis put his plans in doubt.

For the past 100 years, The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund has provided direct assistance to children, families and the elderly in New York. To celebrate the 101st campaign, an article will appear daily through Jan. 25. Each profile will illustrate the difference that even a modest amount of money can make in easing the struggles of the poor.

Last year donors contributed $7,003,854, which was distributed to those in need through seven New York charities.

2012-13 Campaign

Previously recorded:

$6,865,501

Recorded Wed.:

16,711

*Total:

$6,882,212

Last year to date:

$6,118,740

*Includes $1,511,814 contributed to the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.

“I get paralyzed, I can’t breathe,” he said of the muscle spasms he now has regularly. “It feels like something’s going to bust out of me.”

Severe abdominal pain is not the only, or even the worst, reminder of the major surgery Mr. Concepcion, 62, of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, underwent in June. He and his wife of 36 years, Maria, are now faced with medical bills that are so high, Ms. Concepcion said she felt faint when she saw them.

Mr. Concepcion, who is superintendent of the apartment building where he lives, began having back pain last January that doctors first believed was the result of gallstones. In March, an endoscopy showed that tumors had grown throughout his digestive system. The tumors were not malignant, but an operation was required to remove them, and surgeons had to essentially reroute Mr. Concepcion’s entire digestive tract. They removed his gall bladder, as well as parts of his pancreas, bile ducts, intestines and stomach, he said.

The operation was a success, but then came the bills.

“I told my friend: are you aware that if you have a major operation, you’re going to lose your house?” Ms. Concepcion said.

The couple has since received doctors’ bills of more than $250,000, which does not include the cost of his seven-day stay at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan. Mr. Concepcion has worked in the apartment building since 1993 and has been insured through his union.

The couple are in an anxious holding pattern as they wait to find out just what, depending on their policy’s limits, will be covered. Even with financial assistance from Beth Israel, which approved a 70 percent discount for the Concepcions on the hospital charges, the couple has no idea how the doctors’ and surgical fees will be covered.

“My son said, boy he saved your life, Dad, but look at the bill he sent to you,” Ms.  Concepcion said in reference to the surgeon’s statements. “You’ll be dead before you pay it off.”

When the Concepcions first acquired their insurance, they were in good health, but now both have serious medical issues — Ms. Concepcion, 54, has emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and Mr. Concepcion has diabetes. They now spend close to $800 a month on prescriptions.

Mr. Concepcion, the family’s primary wage earner, makes $866 a week at his job. The couple had planned for Mr. Concepcion to retire sometime this year, begin collecting a pension and, after getting their finances in order, leave the superintendent’s apartment, as required by the landlord, and try to find a new home. “That’s all out of the question now,” Ms. Concepcion said. Mr. Concepcion said he now planned to continue working indefinitely.

Ms. Concepcion has organized every bill and medical statement into bulging folders, and said she had spent hours on the phone trying to negotiate with providers. She is still awaiting the rest of the bills.

On one of those bills, Ms. Concepcion said, she spotted a telephone number for people seeking help with medical costs. The number was for Community Health Advocates, a health insurance consumer assistance program and a unit of Community Service Society, one of the organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. The society drew $2,120 from the fund so the Concepcions could pay some of their medical bills, and the health advocates helped them obtain the discount from the hospital.

Neither one knows what the next step will be, however, and the stress has been eating at them.

“How do we get out of this?” Mr. Concepcion asked. “There is no way out. Here I am trying to save to retire. They’re going to put me in the street.”

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Stocks flat; GE, Morgan Stanley up

A mixed batch of earnings reports from some of Corporate America's biggest names kept the stock market treading water in early trading Friday. General Electric and Morgan Stanley rose after turning in better report cards, while a 27 percent drop in earnings sank Intel's stock.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged down two points to 13,593 as of 10:33 a.m. EST.

GE led the 30 stocks in the Dow after the conglomerate reported stronger quarterly earnings, helped by orders from Brazil, Angola and other developing countries. Profits increased at all seven of its industrial segments, including oil and gas, energy management, aviation and transportation. GE rose 55 cents to $21.85.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell one point to 1,479 and the Nasdaq composite fell seven to 3,129.

The Dow and the S&P 500, a widely used benchmark for investment funds, are headed for their third straight week of gains. The Dow is up 0.8 percent and the S&P 0.5 percent.

Morgan Stanley's earnings surged across its many business lines, as more companies hired the investment bank to help it raise money and line up mergers. Morgan Stanley jumped 6 percent, rising $1.16 to $21.91.

Intel fell 6 percent, the biggest drop in the Dow. The world's biggest chipmaker said late Thursday that fourth-quarter net income fell 27 percent. A growing preference for smartphones and tablets, instead of personal computers and laptops powered by Intel chips, have made investors wary of the company's stock. It dropped $1.44 to $21.24.

American Express fell $1.73 to $59.01. Hefty charges tied to the credit card issuer's plan to cut jobs and reorganize some business lines hurt results, and revenue fell short of estimates.

Analysts forecast that companies in the S&P 500 will report a 3.2 percent increase in fourth-quarter earnings over the same period the year before. They expect banks and other financial firms along with consumer-discretionary companies to have the strongest profit growth of any industry, according to S&P Capital IQ.

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