Bulletins Live ? JD Power and LMC Automotive Report: January ...

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ?
New-vehicle retail sales performance in January is abating fears of any reversal from the strong close to 2011, according to a monthly sales forecast developed by J.D. Power and Associates Power Information Network? (PIN) and LMC Automotive.

Retail Light-Vehicle Sales

January new-vehicle retail sales are projected to come in at 681,000 units, an increase of 6 percent from January 2011. This represents a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 10.9 million units, which is lower than the selling rate in December 2011 but well above January 2011. Retail transactions are the most accurate measurement of true underlying consumer demand for new vehicles.

?Retail light-vehicle sales in January are showing stability coming off the 2011 high note in December,? said John Humphrey, senior vice president of global automotive operations at J.D. Power and Associates. ?Vehicles are currently remaining on dealer lots for fewer than 50 days on average, which is the lowest level for January for the past several years. This is a good indication that pent-up demand is beginning to return to the market.?

Total Light-Vehicle Sales

Total light-vehicle sales in January are expected to come in at 869,600 units, which is 6 percent higher than in January 2011. Fleet sales are expected to increase by 9 percent compared with January 2011, accounting for 22 percent of total sales.

J.D. Power and LMC Automotive U.S. Sales and SAAR Comparisons
January 2012(1) December 2011 January 2011
New-vehicle retail 681,000 units 1,040,035 units 644,695 units
sales (6% higher than January 2011)
Total vehicle sales 869,600 units 1,240,263 units 817,621 units
(6% higher than January 2011)
Retail SAAR 10.9 million units 11.3 million units 10.3 million units
Total SAAR 13.5 million units 13.5 million units 12.7 million units
(1)Figures cited for January 2012 are forecasted based on the first 16 selling days of the month.

Sales Outlook

January sales are sustaining the momentum gained in December 2011. The traction gained in 2011, which ended on a high note for both retail and total light-vehicle sales, is carrying over into 2012 and building a foundation for strong sales this year.

LMC Automotive is maintaining its forecast for 2012 at 13.8 million units for total light-vehicle sales and 11.3 million units for retail light-vehicle sales.

"The upward movement of auto sales during the second half of 2011 and the stabilization of that trend in January casts a favorable light on 2012, despite the macro-level risks the industry continues to face," said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive. "Coming off the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, a renewed sense of optimism is returning to the industry, as the focus continues to shift from survival to planning for the future."

North American Production

North American light-vehicle production ended nearly 10 percent higher in 2011, compared with 2010, according to LMC Automotive. Volume came in at 13.0 million units, an increase of 1.2 million units from 2010. The Detroit 3 OEMs outperformed the total industry in 2011, with a 15 percent increase in production from 2010. European OEMs also saw significant production increases (up more than 34 percent), supported by increased localization. Production by Japanese OEMs was down more than 5 percent from 2010 due to supply chain challenges resulting from the Japanese earthquake/tsunami and Thailand flooding disasters. Hyundai's North American production increased by 44 percent, as they also increased their manufacturing operations in North America.

Vehicle inventory declined slightly to a 52-day supply at the beginning of January (compared with a 61-day supply at the beginning of December), due to strong December 2011 sales and the holiday production shutdown last month. Car inventory was at a 55-day supply in January, down from 59 days in December, while truck inventory levels fell to a 50-day supply (previously at 63 days).

"As industry-level inventory has returned to a healthy level, the need for a disciplined balance and management of supply and demand will continue to return as well," said Schuster.

LMC Automotive's 2012 North American production forecast is at 13.8 million units, an increase of six percent from 2011.

J.D. Power and LMC Automotive have a strategic alliance to share data and produce a monthly new-vehicle retail sales forecasts based on J.D. Power's real-time transaction data gathered from more than 8,900 retail franchisees throughout the United States, and LMC Automotive's analysis and intelligence.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company providing performance improvement, social media and customer satisfaction insights and solutions. The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

McGraw-Hill announced on September 12, 2011, its intention to separate into two public companies: McGraw-Hill Financial, a leading provider of content and analytics to global financial markets, and McGraw-Hill Education, a leading education company focused on digital learning and education services worldwide. McGraw-Hill Financial's leading brands include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Indices, Platts energy information services and J.D. Power and Associates. With sales of $6.2 billion in 2010, the Corporation has approximately 21,000 employees across more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Additional information is available at
http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/ .

About LMC Automotive

LMC Automotive, formerly J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting, is the premier supplier of automotive forecasts and intelligence to an extensive client base of automotive manufacturer, component suppliers, logistics and distribution companies, as well as financial and government institutions around the world. Its global forecasting services encompass automotive sales, production and powertrain expertise, as well as advisory capability. LMC Automotive has offices in the U.S., the UK, Germany, China and Thailand. It is part of the Oxford, UK-based LMC group, the global leader in economic and business consultancy for the agribusiness sector.

Media Relations Contacts John Tews; J.D. Power and Associates; Troy, Mich.; (248) 680-6218; media.relations@jdpa.com Jeff Schuster; LMC Automotive; Troy, Mich.; (248) 680-6711;jschuster@lmc-auto.com

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates or LMC Automotive.
www.jdpower.com/corporate
www.lmc-auto.com

SOURCE J.D. Power and Associates

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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Guns N' Roses Announce Six U.S. Tour Dates

Axl Rose and company to revisit NYC venue where they performed their 'Live at the Ritz' concerts 24 years ago.
By Andrea Duncan-Mao


Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose
Photo: Evan Agostini/Getty Images

All that's old is new again. Axl Rose and his revamped Guns N' Roses will revisit their beloved New York when they launch their Northeast tour in February.

In 2011, the band completed a sold-out international tour and will kick off 2012 with a series of intimate shows in the States, starting with New York. Beginning February 10, they will perform a three-show series in the city, the cornerstone of which will be at the club Webster Hall, which was originally called the Ritz. This is where GN'R played one of their most famous concerts, "Live at the Ritz," in 1998. For their return, the venue will revert to its original name, complete with new signage and marquee, and fans can wax nostalgic about the days when Guns were the biggest band on the planet.

Additional cities include Chicago; Silver Spring, Maryland; and Atlantic City, New Jersey. No word yet if more dates will be announced.

The stark difference this time around is that the original members of the group — namely Duff McKagan, Slash and Izzy Stradlin — will not be there. Axl remains the only original member in this latest incarnation of GN'R, and the latest crew has yet to release a new album. The last Guns N' Roses release was back in 2008 with Chinese Democracy.

McKagan currently lives in Seattle and has had success with his bands Velvet Revolver and Loaded, while the top-hat-wearing Slash, who was also in Velvet Revolver, has guested on tracks from Michael Jackson and Rihanna and is a major figure in the "Guitar Hero" video games.

Guns N' Roses tour dates, according to a press release:

» 2/10 - New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
» 2/12 - New York, NY @ Terminal 6
» 2/15 - New York, NY @ The Ritz (Webster Hall)
» 2/19 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blue
» 2/23 - Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore
» 2/24 - Atlantic City, NJ @ House of Blues

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678152/guns-roses-us-tour-six-dates.jhtml

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Researchers find cancer in ancient Egyptian mummy (AP)

CAIRO ? A professor from American University in Cairo says discovery of prostate cancer in a 2,200-year-old mummy indicates the disease was caused by genetics, not environment.

The genetics-environment question is key to understanding cancer.

AUC professor Salima Ikram, a member of the team that studied the mummy in Portugal for two years, said Sunday the mummy was of a man who died in his forties.

She said this was the second oldest known case of prostate cancer.

"Living conditions in ancient times were very different; there were no pollutants or modified foods, which leads us to believe that the disease is not necessarily only linked to industrial factors," she said.

A statement from AUC says the oldest known case came from a 2,700 year-old skeleton of a king in Russia.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_sc/ml_egypt_ancient_cancer

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Clashes erupt in Cairo during anti-army protest (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? Hundreds of Egyptian protesters demanding an immediate end to military rule clashed on Sunday with rivals in civilian clothes outside central Cairo's state media building, the same place where 25 people were killed in a demonstration in October.

"Down with military rule," protesters chanted. The sound of gunshots rang through the air but it was unclear who was firing.

"Tell me council, who chose you? It's Mubarak's gang that appointed you," the crowd chanted, referring to the army council which has ruled Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted on February 11.

Dozens of protesters clashed with a group of people protesters described as "thugs" brought out to attack them, hurling stones at each other. There was no sign of police or troops intervening or securing the media building.

"We were protesting here peacefully, and all of a sudden a group of around 50 thugs came from side streets surrounding the building and attacked us with stones and glass bottles, and we responded by throwing stones back at them. They tore down our tents," said Mohamed Abdo, 45, an elevator worker.

State radio said residents in a poor area next to Maspero, the site of the demonstration, had challenged the protesters because they were disrupting shops and businesses in the area.

Protesters often say such "thugs," usually youths in plain clothes and sometimes members of the police force, have been hired by the authorities to disrupt demonstrations.

The October violence at Maspero in which 25 people died erupted when troops tried to break up a protest sparked by what Christians said was an attack on a church in southern Egypt.

Egyptians have become increasingly frustrated by military rule, though many still see the army as a vital force for stability after months of political turmoil.

"The country cannot continue like this. Things are getting worse. They have to transfer power now. The country cannot stay like this any longer," said Waleed Kamal, 25.

He was not among the protesters, but lives nearby. "If we get civilian rule, the country will get back on its feet, the economic wheel will turn," he added.

Egyptians on January 25 marked the first anniversary of mass demonstrations against Mubarak in Tahrir Square, near the Maspero site of Sunday's protest.

(Writing by Edmund Blair; editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/wl_nm/us_egypt_protest

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Demi Moore Will "Be Great in Two Seconds," Says Pal Patty Jenkins (omg!)

Demi Moore Will "Be Great in Two Seconds," Says Pal Patty Jenkins

As Demi Moore hides out following her recent hospitalization, the actress' closest pals are rallying around her to offer messages of love and support.

Moore was M.I.A. at the 64th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards in Hollywood Saturday, despite being nominated alongside Jennifer Aniston, 42, Alicia Keys, 31, Patty Jenkins, 40, and Penelope Spheeris, 66, for co-directing Lifetime's Five.

PHOTOS: Demi Moore's shrinking figure

"It would have been nice [to have Demi here], but given circumstances, life goes on and first things first," Spheeris told Us Weekly. "And we all wish Demi the best and I hope we all get together soon."

Jenkins echoed Spheeris' sentiments, saying: "It's terribly sad that she's not here, but she'll be great in two seconds."

AUDIO: Hear Demi Moore's chilling 911 call

While the newly single star recovers, Jenkins told Us the Margin Call actress is "one of my favorite people in the world" and "one of the greatest girls I've met in Los Angeles."

An insider previously confirmed to Us that Moore, 49, suffered a seizure on Monday, prompting her chilling 911 call. (TMZ claims that Moore was doing "whip-its," inhaling nitrous oxide, to get high.)

PHOTOS: Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, the way they were

"She has spiraled," a source explained to Us, "and gotten to a place where she is struggling too much to function."

Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_demi_moore_great_two_seconds_says_pal_patty175541180/44346542/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/demi-moore-great-two-seconds-says-pal-patty-175541180.html

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Peter, Paul and Mary bassist Dick Kniss dies at 74 (AP)

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. ? Dick Kniss, a bassist who performed for five decades with the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary and co-wrote the John Denver hit "Sunshine on My Shoulders," has died. He was 74.

Kniss died Wednesday of pulmonary disease at a hospital near his home in the Hudson Valley town of Saugerties, his wife, Diane Kniss said.

Kniss was born in Portland, Ore., and was an original member of Denver's 1970s band. He also played with jazz greats including Herbie Hancock and Woody Herman.

Active in the 1960s civil rights movement, Kniss performed at benefits for a range of causes and played during the first celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday.

Peter, Paul and Mary's Peter Yarrow said in a statement that Kniss was "our intrepid bass player for almost as long as we performed together.

"He was a dear and beloved part of our closest family circle and his bass playing was always a great fourth voice in our music as well as, conceptually, an original and delightfully surprising new statement added to our vocal arrangements," Yarrow said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_en_mu/us_obit_kniss

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Sea Water Could Cause Uranium Pollution From Nuclear Fuel Rods

New submitter Required Snark writes "UC Davis researchers have found a mechanism where the sodium in sea water can cause uranium nano-particles to be released from nuclear reactor fuel rods. Normally the uranium oxide compounds composing the rods are very resistant to leaching into water. This could have serious consequences for the Fukushima disaster, since sea water was used for emergency cooling."

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/wVNl4QU05jI/sea-water-could-cause-uranium-pollution-from-nuclear-fuel-rods

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Killings shock Homs, United Nations to discuss Syria (Reuters)

AMMAN (Reuters) ? Fighting erupted in Homs on Friday, a day after townspeople said Alawite militiamen killed 14 members of a Sunni Muslim family in one of Syria's worst sectarian attacks since a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad flared in March.

The U.N. Security Council was to meet later in the day to discuss Syria before a possible vote next week on a new Western-Arab draft resolution aimed at halting months of bloodshed.

Russia, which joined China in vetoing a previous Western draft resolution in October and which has since promoted its own draft, said the Western-Arab version was unacceptable.

The draft contains "no fundamental consideration for our position" and is missing "key aspects that are fundamental to us," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying.

The text, obtained by Reuters, calls for a "political transition," but not for U.N. sanctions against Assad's government, which Moscow, an old ally of Syria and an important arms supplier to Damascus, opposes.

Arab monitors headed for the Damascus suburb of Douma, where government troops battled rebel fighters the previous day as the struggle to topple Assad edged close to the Syrian capital.

Opposition activists said Syrian security forces killed seven people overnight, including four in Homs, a mostly Sunni city with minority Alawite neighborhoods that has become a fiercely contested battleground in the uprising. Two people were killed in Idlib and one in the Damascus suburb of Saqba.

Residents and activists said "shabbiha" militiamen from Assad's Alawite sect had shot or hacked to death 14 members of the Bahader family in Homs's Karm al-Zaitoun district, including

eight children, aged eight months to nine years old.

They said the slayings followed a hail of mortar rounds on the area which killed 16 people. "We also have 70 wounded," said a doctor treating casualties from the bombardment.

YouTube video footage taken by activists, which could not be independently verified, showed the bodies of five children, three women and a man in a house.

There was no comment from Syrian authorities, which enforce tight restrictions on independent media.

The British-based opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces had killed a total of 43 civilians on Thursday, including 33 in Homs, of whom nine were children.

REVENGE KILLINGS

Hamza, an activist in Homs, said the militiamen were taking revenge for deaths inflicted on their ranks by army defectors loosely grouped in the rebel Free Syrian Army.

Tit-for-tat sectarian killings began in Homs four months ago. Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, has dominated the political and security apparatus in Syria, a mostly Sunni nation of 23 million, for five decades.

At the U.N. Security Council meeting, Morocco was expected to distribute the new draft resolution backing an Arab League call for Assad to step down. An interim unity government would then prepare for elections and enact security reforms.

Syria, which says it is pursuing its own political reforms, has rejected the Arab plan as interference in its affairs.

The 10-month-old revolt against Assad edged closer to Damascus on Thursday as troops battled rebels in a town just north of the capital and a provincial governor spoke of negotiating local ceasefires.

(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon in Beirut and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Writing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/wl_nm/us_syria

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Judge: BP contract shielded Transocean in spill (AP)

NEW ORLEANS ? The rig owner involved in drilling the ill-fated well that blew out in the Gulf of Mexico and spewed more than 200 million gallons of oil will not have to pay many of the pollution claims because it was shielded in a contract with well-owner BP, a federal judge ruled on Thursday. The ruling comes as BP, the states affected by the disaster and the federal government are discussing a settlement over the nation's largest offshore oil spill.

The decision may have spared Transocean from having to pay potentially billions of dollars in damage claims. However, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said the driller still is not exempt from paying punitive damages and civil penalties that arise from the April 20, 2010, blowout 100 miles off the Louisiana coast. Those penalties could amount to billions of dollars.

Law experts were split over who is a clear-cut winner.

BP has been pursuing agreements with multiple parties to reach settlements that would make an upcoming trial involving hundreds of spill lawsuits in New Orleans unnecessary, or at least resolve as many of the issues as possible.

The Justice Department also is involved, working with the states to create an outline for a settlement that would resolve their potentially multibillion dollar claims against BP and the other companies involved in the disaster, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange told The Associated Press.

Justice led a meeting last week in Washington among the states in an effort to formulate an agreement that would satisfy government and state claims, including penalties and fines, Strange said. He also indicated if there is a settlement that officials are discussing what to do with the $20 billion fund set up by BP to pay victims.

The lead attorneys for individuals and businesses suing BP were not at the meeting.

According to Strange, a federal magistrate judge has been asked to expedite settlement discussions. The Louisiana attorney general's office said in a statement to the AP that it is in settlement discussions with BP, which would not comment on any deals in the works. A first phase of the trial is set for Feb. 27 to determine liability for the spill.

"The closer you get to a trial date, the more pressure builds to reach a settlement," Strange said.

Despite the decision, BP claimed victory and said Barbier's ruling "at a minimum" left Transocean facing "punitive damages, fines and penalties flowing from its own conduct."

Transocean spokesman Lou Colasuonno said in an emailed statement that the company was pleased to see its position affirmed.

"This confirms that BP is responsible for all economic damages caused by the oil that leaked from its Macondo well, and discredits BP's ongoing attempts to evade both its contractual and financial obligations," he said.

Blaine LeCesne, an associate professor at Loyola University law school, however, said Barbier's ruling was a "major victory" for Transocean.

"If anything is going to compel the parties toward settlement, it's going to be this," he said. "I think BP is in a very bad position now, and they don't have a lot of leverage."

A University of Michigan Law School professor who served as chief of the Justice Department's environmental crimes section said the ruling had no clear-cut winner. David Uhlmann said it prevents BP from collecting billions of dollars from Transocean to help cover cleanup costs and pay for claims over economic losses and environmental damage from the spill. But the decision leaves Transocean facing potentially billions of dollars in civil and criminal penalties under the Clean Water Act, he added.

"It's a partial win for each side and a partial loss for each side," Uhlmann said.

BP PLC, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton Co. have been sparring over who was at fault for causing the blowout. The out-of-control well was capped in July, 2010. Federal investigators have said that BP bears ultimate responsibility for the spill, but has faulted all three companies to some degree.

Under a drilling contract, BP and Transocean agreed to indemnify each other in the case of an accident, with BP taking responsibility for pollution originating from the well and Transocean for any pollution or accidents aboard the rig.

However, in court BP argued that the contract did not shield Transocean if the drilling company acted in manner that was grossly negligent.

Barbier said the contract was a "clear and unequivocal agreement" to provide "broad indemnity."

"As we have said from the beginning, Transocean cannot avoid its responsibility for this accident," BP said.

The British oil giant said it had "stepped up" and admitted its role in the spill and paid billions of dollars in claims.

BP also is eager to resolve its disputes with its partners on the doomed rig. The companies have sued and countersued each other for billions of dollars to protect themselves when it comes to paying damages to victims and penalties to the government.

Months ago, BP offered to resolve its dispute with Transocean if Transocean paid BP roughly $4.5 billion, according to a person briefed on the discussions who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the talks are confidential. Transocean rejected the offer, and there have been no substantive discussions between the companies about figures since then, the person said, adding that Thursday's ruling could spur further talks.

Eric Schaeffer, who led the Environmental Protection Agency's civil enforcement office from 1997 to 2002, said Thursday's ruling will put even more pressure on BP.

"If BP is less able to shift some of those costs to Transocean, if they understand they are going to bear Transocean's share of compensatory damages, I'd want to get it settled," Schaeffer said. "That's no longer a wild card."

___

Associated Press writer Michael Kunzelman contributed to this report. Weber reported from Atlanta.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_litigation

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French breast implant firm's former execs arrested

This is an image made available on Thursday Jan. 26, 2012 by Interpol of Jean-Claude Mas, when he was arrested in Costa Rica on a drink driving offence in 2010 . Mas, who ran the now-defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese, was detained at his residence in the Mediterranean coastal town of Six Fours Les Plages shortly before dawn, Thursday a police official said. A police search of the residence was under way, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is officially in the hands of judicial investigators. (AP Photo/ Interpol)

This is an image made available on Thursday Jan. 26, 2012 by Interpol of Jean-Claude Mas, when he was arrested in Costa Rica on a drink driving offence in 2010 . Mas, who ran the now-defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese, was detained at his residence in the Mediterranean coastal town of Six Fours Les Plages shortly before dawn, Thursday a police official said. A police search of the residence was under way, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is officially in the hands of judicial investigators. (AP Photo/ Interpol)

(AP) ? Police in pre-dawn sweeps Thursday arrested two top former executives of the now-defunct French company at the center of a breast implant scandal affecting tens of thousands of women worldwide.

Jean-Claude Mas, who founded and ran implant-maker Poly Implant Prothese, was detained as part of a judicial probe in the southeastern city of Marseille into manslaughter and involuntary injuries, an official said. A regional official said former No. 2 executive Claude Couty also was detained.

The suspect PIP implants have been pulled from the market in several countries in and beyond Europe amid fears that they could rupture and leak silicone into the body. The suspect implants are made with industrial-grade silicone instead of medical-grade gel.

Mas' arrest before dawn at a family residence in the Mediterranean resort town of Six Fours Les Plages culminates weeks of speculation about whether judicial investigators would be able to assemble enough evidence to detain him on legal grounds.

"Everything's fine. This conforms to procedure. There's nothing extraordinary," Mas' defense lawyer, Yves Haddad, told reporters outside the home. "Stop looking for the scoop."

Mas, 72, had been believed to be residing in the home. Haddad earlier this month denounced the "numerous un-truths, nonsense and aberrations" in the case, but said Mas would speak only with authorities.

So far no specific defendant has been named, but an official with knowledge of the probe said Mas was expected to face preliminary charges after appearing before an investigating judge in Marseille later Thursday. He was being held in resort town ahead of that anticipated transfer.

The three officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is in the hands of judicial investigators.

Investigating judge Annaick Le Goff opened the probe after a woman in the southwestern Gers region filed a lawsuit in the wake of the 2010 death from cancer of her daughter who had received a suspect implant.

Since then, a complaint by the sister of Marseille resident Edwige Ligoneches, a breast implant recipient who died in November of complications from lymphoma, has been included in the case file ? along with as many as 3,000 other complaints by other alleged victims.

Le Goff also spoke with the head of a victims' association, Muriel Ajello, on Thursday, the regional official said.

A secretary at the Toulon office of Haddad told The Associated Press that the defense lawyer was with Mas during police questioning, and was not immediately available for comment.

Mas had run PIP until the company was closed in March 2010. Mas is also on Interpol's most-wanted list, but the international police agency said its "red notice" was issued in June at the request of Costa Rica, where he faces a drunken driving charge.

Authorities worldwide have been scrambling to strike a proper public response to the scandal, notably concerning who will pay to remove the implants or if the implants need to invariably come out.

European governments have taken different positions: German, Czech and French authorities say they should be removed, while Britain says there is not enough evidence of health risks to suggest removal in all cases.

On Wednesday, health authorities in Brazil said the government will fine private health plans that refuse to pay for the removal and replacement of faulty breast implants sold by PIP and a Dutch company.

The scandal has put pressure on French health authorities for allegedly not doing enough to vet the quality of a product used by so many women in France and abroad.

France's Health Safety Agency has said the suspect implants ? just one type of implants made by PIP ? appear to be more rupture-prone than other types. Investigators say PIP sought to save money by using industrial silicone, whose potential health risks are not yet clear.

PIP's website said the company had exported to more than 60 countries and was one of the world's leading implant makers. The silicone-gel implants in question are not sold in the United States.

According to estimates by national authorities, over 42,000 women in Britain received the implants, more than 30,000 in France, 9,000 in Australia and 4,000 in Italy. Nearly 25,000 of the implants were sold in Brazil.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-01-26-EU-France-Breast-Implants/id-4344e149d5be453e8a8356cc15374362

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