Sims's six-month-old gets an adorable earful in Los Angeles. Plus: David Arquette, Naomi & Sasha, Reese Witherspoon and more
Credit: Michael Simon/StarTraks
Published: Monday Jan 14, 2013 | 05:00 PM EST
CHICAGO (AP) — Patients can refuse a flu shot. Should doctors and nurses have that right, too? That is the thorny question surfacing as U.S. hospitals increasingly crack down on employees who won't get flu shots, with some workers losing their jobs over their refusal.
"Where does it say that I am no longer a patient if I'm a nurse," wondered Carrie Calhoun, a longtime critical care nurse in suburban Chicago who was fired last month after she refused a flu shot.
Hospitals' get-tougher measures coincide with an earlier-than-usual flu season hitting harder than in recent mild seasons. Flu is widespread in most states, and at least 20 children have died.
Most doctors and nurses do get flu shots. But in the past two months, at least 15 nurses and other hospital staffers in four states have been fired for refusing, and several others have resigned, according to affected workers, hospital authorities and published reports.
In Rhode Island, one of three states with tough penalties behind a mandatory vaccine policy for health care workers, more than 1,000 workers recently signed a petition opposing the policy, according to a labor union that has filed suit to end the regulation.
Why would people whose job is to protect sick patients refuse a flu shot? The reasons vary: allergies to flu vaccine, which are rare; religious objections; and skepticism about whether vaccinating health workers will prevent flu in patients.
Dr. Carolyn Bridges, associate director for adult immunization at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says the strongest evidence is from studies in nursing homes, linking flu vaccination among health care workers with fewer patient deaths from all causes.
"We would all like to see stronger data," she said. But other evidence shows flu vaccination "significantly decreases" flu cases, she said. "It should work the same in a health care worker versus somebody out in the community."
Cancer nurse Joyce Gingerich is among the skeptics and says her decision to avoid the shot is mostly "a personal thing." She's among seven employees at IU Health Goshen Hospital in northern Indiana who were recently fired for refusing flu shots. Gingerich said she gets other vaccinations but thinks it should be a choice. She opposes "the injustice of being forced to put something in my body."
Medical ethicist Art Caplan says health care workers' ethical obligation to protect patients trumps their individual rights.
"If you don't want to do it, you shouldn't work in that environment," said Caplan, medical ethics chief at New York University's Langone Medical Center. "Patients should demand that their health care provider gets flu shots — and they should ask them."
For some people, flu causes only mild symptoms. But it can also lead to pneumonia, and there are thousands of hospitalizations and deaths each year. The number of deaths has varied in recent decades from about 3,000 to 49,000.
A survey by CDC researchers found that in 2011, more than 400 U.S. hospitals required flu vaccinations for their employees and 29 hospitals fired unvaccinated employees.
At Calhoun's hospital, Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, Ill., unvaccinated workers granted exemptions must wear masks and tell patients, "I'm wearing the mask for your safety," Calhoun says. She says that's discriminatory and may make patients want to avoid "the dirty nurse" with the mask.
The hospital justified its vaccination policy in an email, citing the CDC's warning that this year's flu outbreak was "expected to be among the worst in a decade" and noted that Illinois has already been hit especially hard. The mandatory vaccine policy "is consistent with our health system's mission to provide the safest environment possible."
The government recommends flu shots for nearly everyone, starting at age 6 months. Vaccination rates among the general public are generally lower than among health care workers.
According to the most recent federal data, about 63 percent of U.S. health care workers had flu shots as of November. That's up from previous years, but the government wants 90 percent coverage of health care workers by 2020.
The highest rate, about 88 percent, was among pharmacists, followed by doctors at 84 percent, and nurses, 82 percent. Fewer than half of nursing assistants and aides are vaccinated, Bridges said.
Some hospitals have achieved 90 percent but many fall short. A government health advisory panel has urged those below 90 percent to consider a mandatory program.
Also, the accreditation body over hospitals requires them to offer flu vaccines to workers, and those failing to do that and improve vaccination rates could lose accreditation.
Starting this year, the government's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is requiring hospitals to report employees' flu vaccination rates as a means to boost the rates, the CDC's Bridges said. Eventually the data will be posted on the agency's "Hospital Compare" website.
Several leading doctor groups support mandatory flu shots for workers. And the American Medical Association in November endorsed mandatory shots for those with direct patient contact in nursing homes; elderly patients are particularly vulnerable to flu-related complications. The American Nurses Association supports mandates if they're adopted at the state level and affect all hospitals, but also says exceptions should be allowed for medical or religious reasons.
Mandates for vaccinating health care workers against other diseases, including measles, mumps and hepatitis, are widely accepted. But some workers have less faith that flu shots work — partly because there are several types of flu virus that often differ each season and manufacturers must reformulate vaccines to try and match the circulating strains.
While not 100 percent effective, this year's vaccine is a good match, the CDC's Bridges said.
Several states have laws or regulations requiring flu vaccination for health care workers but only three — Arkansas, Maine and Rhode Island — spell out penalties for those who refuse, according to Alexandra Stewart, a George Washington University expert in immunization policy and co-author of a study appearing this month in the journal Vaccine.
Rhode Island's regulation, enacted in December, may be the toughest and is being challenged in court by a health workers union. The rule allows exemptions for religious or medical reasons, but requires unvaccinated workers in contact with patients to wear face masks during flu season. Employees who refuse the masks can be fined $100 and may face a complaint or reprimand for unprofessional conduct that could result in losing their professional license.
Some Rhode Island hospitals post signs announcing that workers wearing masks have not received flu shots. Opponents say the masks violate their health privacy.
"We really strongly support the goal of increasing vaccination rates among health care workers and among the population as a whole," but it should be voluntary, said SEIU Healthcare Employees Union spokesman Chas Walker.
Supporters of health care worker mandates note that to protect public health, courts have endorsed forced vaccination laws affecting the general population during disease outbreaks, and have upheld vaccination requirements for schoolchildren.
Cases involving flu vaccine mandates for health workers have had less success. A 2009 New York state regulation mandating health care worker vaccinations for swine flu and seasonal flu was challenged in court but was later rescinded because of a vaccine shortage. And labor unions have challenged individual hospital mandates enacted without collective bargaining; an appeals court upheld that argument in 2007 in a widely cited case involving Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle.
Calhoun, the Illinois nurse, says she is unsure of her options.
"Most of the hospitals in my area are all implementing these policies," she said. "This conflict could end the career I have dedicated myself to."
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Online:
R.I. union lawsuit against mandatory vaccines: http://www.seiu1199ne.org/files/2013/01/FluLawsuitRI.pdf
CDC: http://www.cdc.gov
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AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner
SYDNEY (Reuters) - The yen plumbed a 2-1/2 year low against the dollar on Monday as Japan's central bank faced relentless political pressure to deliver bold stimulus, while Asian stocks got off to subdued start with Tokyo closed for a public holiday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday said the Bank of Japan (BOJ) must set a 2 percent inflation target and make it a medium-term, not long-term, goal to show markets it was determined to pursue bold monetary easing to end nearly two decades of deflation.
His comments emboldened yen-bears, who took a fresh swipe at the currency. That saw the U.S. dollar hit a high of 89.67 yen, a level not seen since mid-2010, while the euro climbed as far as 119.84 yen, scaling a 20-month peak.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat in early dealings, but not far from a 17-month peak set on Friday. The index has gained more than 2 percent so far this year on growing optimism about the health of the global economy.
Australian's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.3 percent, while South Korea's KOSPI slipped 0.2 percent, partly weighed by lingering concerns about corporate earnings and a firming local currency.
Analysts at HSBC believe global developments this week will support demand for riskier assets, with U.S. and Chinese data likely to show further momentum in the world's two biggest economies.
"In addition, the Fed speaker calendar is dominated by doves in the early part of the week. These should provide reassurance that the Fed is in no rush to turn off the liquidity tap despite these early signs of encouragement on activity," they said in a client note.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak later on Monday at the University of Michigan and investors are eagerly waiting for clues on how long the Fed's latest bond purchase program will last.
Any signs that the Fed is in no hurry to end its quantitative easing program could see the U.S. dollar soften against higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar and those of faster growing emerging economies.
The Aussie dollar traded at $1.0531, still remaining within easy reach of a four-month high of $1.0599 set last week.
Against the euro, the greenback dipped to a fresh nine-month low. The single currency rose 0.1 percent to $1.3357, continuing to outperform after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi last week gave no indication the bank would ease monetary policy any further.
Optimism about the global economy also helped stem a slide in oil prices. U.S. crude rose 29 cents to $93.85 a barrel, recovering from Friday's 26-cent fall, while Brent crude was little changed at $110.62 a barrel.
Fred Dufour/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Protesters in Paris on Sunday denounced the government’s plans to legalize same-sex marriage.
PARIS — President François Hollande of France has regularly been criticized as indecisive, even complacent. But the events of the last few days will go some way toward changing his image, as Mr. Hollande has moved swiftly to use the French military in Mali and Somalia after pulling off an important compromise with domestic unions over job creation.
The sudden French military intervention in Mali, which took only half a day to set in motion, together with a bold, if failed, hostage rescue mission in Somalia, have displayed Mr. Hollande in a more somber, decisive light that could represent a turning point for his presidency. The French, like the Americans, judge presidents on their ability to make tough decisions, and there are few tougher ones than to send young soldiers into battle.
While the future of the Mali intervention is unclear, it has begun well, with French forces hitting two columns of Islamist rebels with jet fighters and attack helicopters and appearing to halt a rebel march south toward the capital, Bamako. Mr. Hollande’s actions have garnered widespread political support in France and abroad, from African countries, the United States and Britain, all of which have promised to move more quickly to help Mali recover a vast piece of land lost months ago to the rebels.
Even the failure of the raid in Somalia, in which two French commandos died and the hostage is believed to have been killed by his captors, does not seem to have hurt Mr. Hollande. Many of his countrymen do not expect warfare to be risk-free, and France is seized by both worries about the rise of radical Islam and the plight of several French hostages in North Africa believed to be held by religious extremists. “This is the first occasion Hollande had or seized upon to act decisively, without the sort of the waffling that had appeared to be his trademark,” said François Heisbourg, a defense expert at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris. “So in that sense, it changes his image instantaneously.”
Throughout his career in the Socialist Party, Mr. Hollande has been criticized and even ridiculed for being soft and compromising, likened in the early days to a wobbly custard dessert called “Flanby.” But he has always said that his critics underestimate him, and his victory last May over the energetic incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, surprised many.
Now Mr. Hollande has “demonstrated that he can decide on matters of war and peace, which in the French system, as in the U.S., is very important,” Mr. Heisbourg said.
“Until you prove that, you haven’t proved much,” he said, comparing the impact of Mr. Hollande’s actions with that of President Obama’s decision to approve the raid on Osama bin Laden.
A cartoon on Saturday in the centrist newspaper Le Parisien showed Mr. Hollande as commander in chief, with a bystander saying, “Must admit that sometimes he surprises.”
On Sunday, Bruno Jeudy, an editor at the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, wrote: “Finally president! Finished, the hesitant and nonchalant François Hollande of the first months of his mandate.” Like many, Mr. Jeudy noted that once begun, the operation in Mali — to help dismantle a safe haven for radicals linked to terrorist groups — will be long and difficult. (In the same newspaper, Dominique de Villepin, a former foreign minister, warned that the operation in Mali was likely to fail because it had too many ambitious goals.)
“Wars are rarely popular,” Mr. Jeudy said. “But by putting on the uniform of a war leader, he rose to the rank of his predecessors.” He also lowered the domestic pressure on him to back off his proposal to legalize same-sex marriage, turning the national conversation more toward foreign policy.
A week ago, all the talk in France was of the large demonstration called for Sunday against same-sex marriage. The proposed law has created significant opposition because it would allow married gay couples to adopt children. Religious leaders and many ordinary citizens are troubled by the proposal, and opposition parties have tried to make political capital out of opposition to the bill.
Up to 340,000 demonstrators came out in Paris on Sunday to protest the bill, according to the police, while organizers gave a turnout of 800,000.
Emmanuel Bogeat, 35, a lawyer, and his wife, Laetitia, 32, a teacher, came from Nice, upset about a move they believe would add instability to the troubled institution of the family. “This is once again hurting the family’s core,” Ms. Bogeat said.
Mr. Bogeat said he knew the law would pass, “but it’s my duty, since I’m against it, to be here.”
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man has been reunited with his sister 65 years after the siblings were separated in foster care thanks to a 7-year-old friend who searched Facebook.
Sixty-six-year-old Clifford Boyson of Davenport met his 70-year-old sister, Betty Billadeau, in person on Saturday. Billadeau drove up from her home in Florissant, Mo., with her daughter and granddaughter for the reunion.
Boyson and Billadeau both tried to find each other for years without success.
Then 7-year-old Eddie Hanzelin, who is the son of Boyson‘s landlord, got involved.
Eddie managed to find Billadeau by searching Facebook with her maiden name. He recognized the family resemblance when he saw her picture.
Near the end of their tearful reunion Boyson and Billadeau presented Eddie with a $ 125 check in appreciation of his detective work.
Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Claire Danes and Julia-Louis Dreyfus
Jason Merritt/Getty; Paul Buck/EPA/Landov
From Claire Danes talking about being a new mom to Julia Louis-Dreyfus to accepting a 52nd birthday present, nothing was off limits.
Danes – who welcomed son Cyrus with husband Hugh Dancy in December – looked flawless in a red Versace gown, but beamed most when speaking about her new addition (upstairs at the Beverly Hilton Hotel with his grandparents). "I've been in baby world," she told Ryan Seacrest. "I'm hoping I don't leak!"
Eric Stonestreet – who's nominated for a Globe for best supporting actor – was all laughs on the red carpet, revealing that host Tina Fey was his level two teacher at Chicago's Second City improv school. "Do you need help?" he asked her co-host Amy Poehler, joking and pretending to shake her as she made her way down the stairs. Then, he told Seacrest, who's been cautioning stars as they leave his platform, "I said, 'Are you going to be okay?' Well, what if I push you, will you still be okay?"
Zooey Deschanel doesn't mess around when it comes to her nails. The New Girl kept things lighthearted with a highly-anticipated gold and white film-themed manicure.
Louis-Dreyfus celebrated her birthday little help from E! News host Giuliana Rancic. "We know that you're specifically a huge dark chocolate fan," Rancic told the Veep star. "I love dark chocolate," Louis-Dreyfus responded. "So happy birthday from E! We got you some chocolate," Rancic said, gifting her with a box of treats.
And finally, it was a battle of the (lack of) bulge between Seacrest and Liev Schreiber when they commiserated about a mutual personal trainer who created some friendly competition between the two. When it comes to push-ups, Schreiber can churn out 426, while Seacrest can manage 430. It's one fit red carpet!
NEW YORK (AP) — Flu is now widespread in all but three states as the nation grapples with an earlier-than-normal season. But there was one bit of good news Friday: The number of hard-hit areas declined.
The flu season in the U.S. got under way a month early, in December, driven by a strain that tends to make people sicker. That led to worries that it might be a bad season, following one of the mildest flu seasons in recent memory.
The latest numbers do show that the flu surpassed an "epidemic" threshold last week. That is based on deaths from pneumonia and influenza in 122 U.S. cities. However, it's not unusual — the epidemic level varies at different times of the year, and it was breached earlier this flu season, in October and November.
And there's a hint that the flu season may already have peaked in some spots, like in the South. Still, officials there and elsewhere are bracing for more sickness
In Ohio, administrators at Miami University are anxious that a bug that hit employees will spread to students when they return to the Oxford campus next week.
"Everybody's been sick. It's miserable," said Ritter Hoy, a spokeswoman for the 17,000-student school.
Despite the early start, health officials say it's not too late to get a flu shot. The vaccine is considered a good — though not perfect — protection against getting really sick from the flu.
Flu was widespread in 47 states last week, up from 41 the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. The only states without widespread flu were California, Mississippi and Hawaii.
The number of hard-hit states fell to 24 from 29, where larger numbers of people were treated for flu-like illness. Now off that list: Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina in the South, the first region hit this flu season.
Recent flu reports included holiday weeks when some doctor's offices were closed, so it will probably take a couple more weeks to get a better picture, CDC officials said Friday. Experts say so far say the season looks moderate.
"Only time will tell how moderate or severe this flu season will be," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said Friday in a teleconference with reporters.
The government doesn't keep a running tally of adult deaths from the flu, but estimates that it kills about 24,000 people in an average year. Nationally, 20 children have died from the flu this season.
Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone 6 months or older. Since the swine flu epidemic in 2009, vaccination rates have increased in the U.S., but more than half of Americans haven't gotten this year's vaccine.
Nearly 130 million doses of flu vaccine were distributed this year, and at least 112 million have been used. Vaccine is still available, but supplies may have run low in some locations, officials said.
To find a shot, "you may have to call a couple places," said Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, who tracks the flu in Iowa.
In midtown Manhattan, Hyrmete Sciuto got a flu shot Friday at a drugstore. She skipped it in recent years, but news reports about the flu this week worried her.
During her commute from Edgewater, N.J., by ferry and bus, "I have people coughing in my face," she said. "I didn't want to risk it this year."
The vaccine is no guarantee, though, that you won't get sick. On Friday, CDC officials said a recent study of more than 1,100 people has concluded the current flu vaccine is 62 percent effective. That means the average vaccinated person is 62 percent less likely to get a case of flu that sends them to the doctor, compared to people who don't get the vaccine. That's in line with other years.
The vaccine is reformulated annually, and this year's is a good match to the viruses going around.
The flu's early arrival coincided with spikes in flu-like illnesses caused by other bugs, including a new norovirus that causes vomiting and diarrhea, or what is commonly known as "stomach flu." Those illnesses likely are part of the heavy traffic in hospital and clinic waiting rooms, CDC officials said.
Europeans also are suffering an early flu season, though a milder strain predominates there. China, Japan, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Algeria and the Republic of Congo have also reported increasing flu.
Flu usually peaks in midwinter. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people also suffer vomiting and diarrhea, and some develop pneumonia or other severe complications.
Most people with flu have a mild illness. But people with severe symptoms should see a doctor. They may be given antiviral drugs or other medications to ease symptoms.
Some shortages have been reported for children's liquid Tamiflu, a prescription medicine used to treat flu. But health officials say adult Tamiflu pills are available, and pharmacists can convert those to doses for children.
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Associated Press writers Dan Sewell in Cincinnati, Catherine Lucey in Des Moines, and Malcolm Ritter in New York contributed to this report.
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Online:
CDC flu: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/index.htm
NEW YORK (Reuters) - After over a month of watching Capitol Hill and Pennsylvania Avenue, Wall Street can get back to what it knows best: Wall Street.
The first full week of earnings season is dominated by the financial sector - big investment banks and commercial banks - just as retail investors, free from the "fiscal cliff" worries, have started to get back into the markets.
Equities have risen in the new year, rallying after the initial resolution of the fiscal cliff in Washington on January 2. The S&P 500 on Friday closed its second straight week of gains, leaving it just fractionally off a five-year closing high hit on Thursday.
An array of financial companies - including Goldman Sachs
"The banks have a read on the economy, on the health of consumers, on the health of demand," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.
"What we're looking for is demand. Demand from small business owners, from consumers."
EARNINGS AND ECONOMIC EXPECTATIONS
Investors were greeted with a slightly better-than-anticipated first week of earnings, but expectations were low and just a few companies reported results.
Fourth quarter earnings and revenues for S&P 500 companies are both expected to have grown by 1.9 percent in the past quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Few large corporations have reported, with Wells Fargo
The KBW bank index <.bkx>, a gauge of U.S. bank stocks, is up about 30 percent from a low hit in June, rising in six of the last eight months, including January.
Investors will continue to watch earnings on Friday, as General Electric
HOUSING, INDUSTRIAL DATA ON TAP
Next week will also feature the release of a wide range of economic data.
Tuesday will see the release of retail sales numbers and the Empire State manufacturing index, followed by CPI data on Wednesday.
Investors and analysts will also focus on the housing starts numbers and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve factory activity index on Thursday. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment numbers are due on Friday.
Jim Paulsen, chief investment officer at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis, said he expected to see housing numbers continue to climb.
"They won't be that surprising if they're good, they'll be rather eye-catching if they're not good," he said. "The underlying drive of the markets, I think, is economic data. That's been the catalyst."
POLITICAL ANXIETY
Worries about the protracted fiscal cliff negotiations drove the markets in the weeks before the ultimate January 2 resolution, but fear of the debt ceiling fight has yet to command investors' attention to the same extent.
The agreement was likely part of the reason for a rebound in flows to stocks. U.S.-based stock mutual funds gained $7.53 billion after the cliff resolution in the week ending January 9, the most in a week since May 2001, according to Thomson Reuters' Lipper.
Markets are unlikely to move on debt ceiling news unless prominent lawmakers signal that they are taking a surprising position in the debate.
The deal in Washington to avert the cliff set up another debt battle, which will play out in coming months alongside spending debates. But this alarm has been sounded before.
"The market will turn the corner on it when the debate heats up," Prudential Financial's Krosby said.
The CBOE Volatility index <.vix> a gauge of traders' anxiety, is off more than 25 percent so far this month and it recently hit its lowest since June 2007, before the recession began.
"The market doesn't react to the same news twice. It will have to be more brutal than the fiscal cliff," Krosby said. "The market has been conditioned that, at the end, they come up with an agreement."
(Reporting by Gabriel Debenedetti; editing by Rodrigo Campos)
PARIS — French airstrikes in Mali appeared to halt an Islamist rebel advance, France said Saturday, as West African nations authorized what they said would be a fast deployment of troops in support of the weak Malian government.
Britain also announced late Saturday that it would help to transport foreign troops and equipment to Mali, though would not send its own soldiers.
France first intervened Friday, dropping bombs and firing rockets from helicopter gunships and jet fighters after the Islamists, who already control the north of Mali, pressed southward and overran the village of Konna, which had been the de facto line of government control. French officials said the attacks had pushed the rebels back from Konna and destroyed a rebel command center, though it was unclear if Malian forces controlled the village.
The French, who had earlier said they would not intervene militarily but only help African troops, responded to an appeal by the Malian president amid fears that the rebels would try to press on to the capital. French officials said military operations were continuing, but a spokesman for the Malian Army said Konna was “very calm” on Saturday.
The spokesman, Lt. Col. Diarran Kone, said that some civilians and Malian soldiers had died in the fighting in recent days. “Zero deaths is not possible,” he said. He said the rebels, who he called “terrorists,” suffered heavy casualties, and French officials said one French pilot had died from small-arms fire.
France, the United States and other Western nations have been increasingly anxious about the Islamists’ tightening grip on the north of the country, which they said had become a haven for militants, including those with links to Al Qaeda, who threaten not only their neighbors, but also the West. On Saturday, Adm. Édouard Guillaud, the chief of staff of the French armed forces, said that France had no plans to extend operations to those northern areas, but would expect to help African troops do the job when they arrive.
“The quicker the African mission is on the ground, the less we will need to help the Malian army,” Admiral Guillaud said. He said that more military planes had been sent to Africa for possible use in Mali, and that Rafale fighter jets could strike from France. The French defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, also said that special forces had been sent before the airstrikes to Mopti, a city near Konna the Mali government feels it cannot lose.
The French president, François Hollande, said that the current French mission — named “Serval,” after an African wildcat — would last “as long as necessary,” but stressed that it was limited to “preparing for the deployment of an African intervention force.”
The statements appeared to indicate that once Malian and other African troops were in position to carry the fight to the north, France would like to return to its pledge not to use direct military force in the country. It remains unclear when such an offensive would begin.
France and the United States aim to assist African and Malian troops to restore government authority in the north by providing surveillance and intelligence, including the use of spy planes and drones, as well as helping with logistics and the transport of troops and equipment.
French officials said they had asked Washington to speed up its contribution by sending drones to improve surveillance over the vast area held by the rebels. The French have only two such drones. The Pentagon is reported to be studying the French request.
On Saturday, Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said the United States was “monitoring the situation closely.” The United Nations Security Council had earlier agreed that troops from the 15-nation regional bloc known as Ecowas, the Economic Community of West African States, and European Union trainers for the Malian army would help the fragile government in Bamako win back the north of the country, where the Islamists have set up harsh rule under Shariah law in the nine months since the army fled the area. But both groups had been slow to deploy.
With the sudden movement of the Islamist fighters south, the Ecowas commission president, Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo, said Saturday that the group had authorized an immediate deployment of troops “in light of the urgency of the situation,” according to news reports. He did not specify how many troops would be sent to Mali. Most of the Ecowas troops are expected to come from Nigeria, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
“By Monday by the latest, the troops will be there or will have started to arrive,” said Ali Coulibaly, Ivory Coast’s African integration minister.
On Saturday, Gen. Carter F. Ham, the head of the Pentagon’s Africa Command who has been visiting neighboring Niger, said “My sense is that both AQIM and the Malian armed forces are evaluating next steps right now.” He was referring to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the terrorist organization’s North African arm.
An official in the city of Gao, one of the principal cities held by the Islamists, appeared to support the Malian Army statements about rebel casualties. “The hospital at Gao is overflowing,” said the official, who does not support the rebels. “Both morgues in the city are filled with bodies.”
Reuters quoted a resident of Gao saying scores of rebel fighters were retreating northward in pickup trucks on Saturday.
A spokesman for Ansar Dine, an Islamist group, told The Associated Press that he could not confirm if the group’s fighters were still in Konna, as he had been unable to phone them. The spokesman, Sanda Ould Boumama, told Reuters that French intervention in Mali will have “consequences, not only for French hostages, but also for all French citizens wherever they find themselves in the Muslim world.”
Fear of those consequences, at least for several French hostages held in North Africa, may have been a motivation for a failed French rescue mission early on Saturday in Somalia in which Mr. Hollande said the hostage died. He also said that he had asked for increased security at government buildings and public spaces in France to thwart terrorists.
Mr. Le Drian said that France needed to act in Mali to forestall the collapse of the government. “The threat is the establishment of a terrorist state within range of Europe and of France,” he said. Hundreds of French troops have been moved into Bamako to protect French citizens there.
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