Rob Bolden Has 'Minor' Legal Issue (And Terrible Timing ...

Penn State's having a bit of quarterback trouble all of a sudden, according to reports.

Dec 17, 2011 - Penn St. Nittany Lions?sophomore backup quarterback Rob Bolden is dealing with "a 'minor' legal issue,"?according to Fight On State's Mark Brennan. No further word on what the situation might be, other than that it occurred Friday and that Bolden practiced Saturday.

This wouldn't be quite as big a deal had starting quarterback Matt McGloin not just reportedly been knocked out in a post-practice fight with receiver Curtis Drake.?

McGloin and Bolden threw almost all of the passes for the Nittany Lions this year. Behind them, there's sophomore?Garrett Venuto and freshman?Shane McGregor, who combined for two completions on the season, along with some receivers who've taken snaps. For the sake of the TicketCity Bowl against the Houston Cougars, and for the sanity of battered Penn State fans, we'll hope Bolden's not in serious trouble.

For more on the Nittany Lions, visit?Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries.

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Source: http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2011/12/17/2643641/rob-bolden-penn-state-quarterback-legal-issue

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SmackDown results: Impact is imminent

RALEIGH, N.C.?? As Superstars prepare to smash each other using tables, ladders and chairs at WWE TLC on Sunday, they made final efforts to gain valuable momentum for the brutal pay-per-view. Taking the brunt of World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry?s wrath was a hapless WWE cameraman, who was brutally smashed with a steel chair.

1331914920001|06:00Randy Orton & Zack Ryder def. Wade Barrett & United States Champion Dolph Ziggler (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Although they are not competing for a championship at WWE TLC, it?s clear that Randy Orton and Wade Barrett are both eager for a victory on the pay-per-view stage. After a back-and-forth tag team battle, it was The Viper who garnered the win for his team by dropping United States Champion Dolph Ziggler with a stinging RKO. As the ref delivered the three-count, Orton locked eyes with Barrett, who slowly backed away from the ring. (WWE TLC TABLES MATCH PREVIEW)

Sheamus def. Jinder Mahal (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Despite the ruthlessness Jinder Mahal displayed against Ted DiBiase, Mahal could not stop the hard-charging Great White Sheamus, who downed Mahal with a stunning Brogue Kick.

Ted DiBiase def. Heath Slater (WATCH | PHOTOS)1331984792001|04:24
Ted DiBiase had Health Slater singing the blues when he planted him into the canvas for the win. But before the DiBiase Posse Party hero could celebrate, Jinder Mahal charged to the ring and locked him in a Camel Clutch. Taking charge of the situation, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long emerged and declared that Mahal would face Sheamus.?

Mark Henry attacked a WWE cameraman and Jack Swagger (WATCH)
Full of rage, The World?s Strongest Man took out his fury on Swagger by blasting him from behind with a steel chair. Not done yet, Henry demolished an unsuspecting WWE cameraman with a vicious shot from behind with a steel chair. The ugly display was eerily reminiscent of when Henry attacked a WWE audio technician earlier this year (FULL STORY).

1331919939001|05:27Big Show def. Jack Swagger (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Despite being able to lock the massive Big Show in his painful ankle lock, Jack Swagger could not stop The World?s Largest Athlete. With his devastating WMD, Show dropped the former World Heavyweight Champion for the win. Afterward, Show grabbed Swagger by the neck and tossed him from the ring.

Primo & Epico def. The Usos (WATCH | PHOTOS)?
Despite an impressive effort from both teams, it was Primo & Epico who prevailed when Primo capitalized on a distraction from Rosa to pin Jey Uso.

Alicia Fox def. Natalya (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Using her superb athleticism, Alicia Fox managed to roll-up Natalya for a commanding win. In the process, Fox ripped out one of Natalya?s blonde hair extensions. After the bout, Fox added insult to injury by attacking the distraught Diva. ?You?re so synthetic, it?s pathetic,? Fox declared.

1331914881001|03:11Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes def. Daniel Bryan (WATCH | PHOTOS)
With Booker T banned from interfering in Rhodes? match ? or their TLC match would be off ? the champion got down to business against Daniel Bryan. Looking good for Sunday, Rhodes took Bryan down with Cross Rhodes for the victory.

Booker T vowed to win the Intercontinental Championship (PHOTOS)
If there?s any doubt in Booker T?s mind if he?s ready for a return to the ring, he?s certainly not showing it. The veteran Superstar vowed to give Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes the beat down of his life and win the Intercontinental Championship at WWE TLC (PREVIEW). And, "If I win the title, I will defend it," Booker said during commentary.

MATCHES

?

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2011-12-16/results

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Historic visit to Libya by Pentagon chief Panetta (AP)

TRIPOLI, Libya ? Pentagon chief Leon Panetta made history Saturday as the first American defense secretary to set foot on Libyan soil and said he hoped the post-Moammar Gadhafi government could assemble the country's militias into "one Libya."

Panetta has indicated that the U.S. will give the Libyans some time to gain control of the militias that overthrew Gadhafi during an eight-month civil war before determining how to help the fledgling government.

At a news conference in the capital with Prime Minister Abd al-Raheem al-Keeb, Panetta said that he was confident that the new Libyan government is reaching out to all groups and would bring them together as part of "one Libya."

Panetta, who was joined by Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command, said the United States would provide whatever assistance the Libyans needed.

The prime minister told reporters that he was optimistic that the new government in Tripoli could deal the militias.

Panetta's route into the city took him past lush orange groves, carcasses of bombed buildings and the charred and graffiti-covered compound once occupied by Gadhafi.

Flying from rooftops were the green, black and red flags, adorned with a star and a crescent, belonging to the new government. Amid the Arabic graffiti splashed across the walls of the compound was a short comment in English: "Thanx US/UK."

Panetta also made an emotional visit to what historians believe is the gravesite of 13 U.S. sailors killed in 1804. Those deaths were caused by the explosion of the U.S.S, Intrepid, which was destroyed while slipping into the Tripoli harbor to attack pirate ships that had captured an American frigate.

Panetta walked into the small walled cemetery with more than two dozen gravestones and made his way to a corner where five large but simple white gravestones mark the graves of the American sailors. The stones read, "Here lies an American sailor who gave his life in the explosion of the United States Ship Intrepid in Tripoli Harbour, Sept. 4, 1804."

Panetta placed a wreath at the site and then observed a moment of silence. He also left behind a memento of his visit on top of one of the stones, a U.S. secretary of defense souvenir coin.

While eager to encourage a new democracy that emerged from Libya's Arab Spring revolution, the U.S. is wary of appearing as trying to exert too much influence after an eight-month civil war.

At the same time, however, leaders in the U.S. and elsewhere worry about how well the newly formed National Transitional Council can resolve clashes between militia groups in the North African nation.

Ahead of Panetta's visit, the Obama administration announced it had lifted penalties that were imposed on Libya in February to choke off Gadhafi's financial resources while his government was using violence to suppress peaceful protests.

The U.S. at the time blocked some $37 billion in Libyan assets, and a White House statement said Friday's action "unfreezes all government and central bank funds within U.S. jurisdiction, with limited exceptions."

Recovery of the assets "will allow the Libyan government to access most of its worldwide holdings and will help the new government oversee the country's transition and reconstruction in a responsible manner," the White House said.

But the continuing violence in Libya, including recent skirmishes between revolutionary fighters and national army troops near Tripoli's airport, reflects the difficulties that Libya's leaders face as they try to forge an army, integrating some of the militias and disarming the rest.

Officials acknowledge that process could take months, and that they can't force the militias to go along.

By traveling to Libya, Panetta was highlighting the different approaches that the U.S. and other countries are taking with respect to rebellions in the region against tyrannical leaders.

The U.S. and NATO provided months of military power and assistance to the Libyan rebels, but officials have made it clear they do not intend to do the same in Syria despite the furor over President Bashar Assad's crackdown on pro-reform demonstrators.

Panetta, who met with Turkish officials Friday, said they did not discuss any specific steps to increase pressure on Assad to step down.

But they talked about the need to work together with other nations to "get Assad to do the right thing."

At some point, he said, he believes that the type of uprisings that happened in Libya and elsewhere across the Middle East will take place in Syria.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_us_libya

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?Warrior? DVD release on Tuesday: Greg Jackson helped make it super realistic

?Warrior? DVD release on Tuesday: Greg Jackson helped make it super realisticHe's nicknamed "The Maestro" and "The Professor" for a reason.

Greg Jackson knows his mixed martial arts in and out of the cage. That's why the producers of the movie "Warrior" leaned on the MMA trainer so heavily.

You can check out "Warrior" when it's released this Tuesday Dec. 20 for digital download and on DVD/Blue-ray. It certainly has the stamp of approval from Jackson.

The Albuquerque-based owner of Jackson's MMA was an integral part of making the movie feel realistic. Jackson schooled the actors on the key moves and actions of the fight game, but he was on point in making sure everyone in the film knew how important it was to get across the positive messages of MMA.

"The biggest thing for me was how MMA and combat and martial arts in general can be a tool for good," Jackson told ESPN1100/98.9 FM. "[The producer] wanted to come at it from a more artistic point of view, a more realistic point of view."

Jackson thought "Warrior" was a true reflection of the game.

[...] It's as accurate as any movie can get about MMA. It shows again how martial arts can be a healing thing not just a tool of violence. So there's all these great messages in it that really resonated with me. I was excited to be a part of it," said Jackson.

ProMMA now did a nice review of the film that features brothers who meet in the finale of a $5 million MMA tournament.

The attention to detail for the MMA fight scenes and the training the actors had to undergo to make them look like authentic fighters on screen will be appreciated by MMA fans.

The most difficult thing audiences will have to deal with is their sympathy and alliance between the brothers. They'll find themselves rooting for both guys, but for very different reasons.

Professional fighters Stephan Bonnar, Yves Edwards, Rashad Evans, Nate Marquardt all make appearances in the film. There's even a bow-tied Josh Rosenthal playing the referee role.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/-Warrior-DVD-release-on-Tuesday-Greg-Jackson-h?urn=mma-wp10825

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Pushing racial buttons, a young firebrand stirs up South Africa

The ruling African National Congress party has suspended its youth league leader Julius Malema for hate speech, but his career is far from over.?

For a while, he strode South Africa like a colossus. He was Julius Malema, the ruling African National Congress?s Youth League leader, and if he didn?t like you, he?d tell you to ?jump.?

Skip to next paragraph

But last month, the ANC suspended Mr. Malema from the party for undermining party leadership and for denouncing the Botswanan government of President Ian Khama, in conflict with ANC policies. And Malema had been taken to the ANC?s disciplinary panel before. In May 2010, he was fined 10,000 South African rand (about $1,200) and forced to take anger-management classes after he criticized President Jacob Zuma. (Malema is currently still able to speak at ANC events until the ANC's internal appeal process ends, a fact of some horrified fascination for some South Africans, who thought that perhaps the suspension decision had closed the door on Malema.)

It is this very intemperance in public speaking that explains South Africa?s fascination with this not-so-young youth leader ? he is 30. How in the world, many South Africans wonder, did this young man make it into politics in the first place?

The short answer to that question is that Malema rose to prominence as the ANCYL?s leader. Together with the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the ANCYL endorsed Jacob Zuma to replace President Thabo Mbeki as head of the ANC. Having installed Zuma in power, Malema then set his eyes on changing ANC policy on everything from the ownership of farmland to the nationalization of mines, and anyone who disagreed with him was likely to be branded a traitor, or worse.

In April 2010, Malema kicked out a BBC journalist, Jonah Fisher, from a press conference at the ANC?s headquarters. After Malema had railed against rich, selfish people living in Johannesburg?s posh Sandton neighborhood, Mr. Fisher had pointed out that Malema himself lived in Sandton. Malema expelled Fisher, calling him a ?bloody agent.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/EqvpmiSQjyA/Pushing-racial-buttons-a-young-firebrand-stirs-up-South-Africa

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Lohan doing well on probation, judge says

A judge says Lindsay Lohan is doing well under her strict new probation routine of counseling and working at the county morgue.

A progress report hearing lasted less than 10 minutes on Wednesday after the actress successfully completed the benchmarks set by Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner.

Lohan has worked at the morgue for 12 days since her sentencing Nov. 2 and completed five therapy sessions.

Sautner gave Lohan an incentive to work harder, telling the actress she could leave California for personal visits once she completes 12 days of morgue duty a month.

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Lohan returned from a trip to celebrate her sister's birthday in Hawaii hours before her court appearance.

Story: Lindsay Lohan misses flight and 'Ellen' taping

Lohan has been reporting regularly for work at the morgue since being repeatedly threatened with a long jail sentence if she failed to complete the terms of her probation.

The hearing was without the usual drama that precedes Lohan's recent court appearances, which have focused on the actress' shortcomings by missing court-ordered therapy sessions and getting booted from a community service assignment at a women's shelter.

The "Mean Girls" star spent less than five hours at a jail last month as part of a 30-day sentence imposed by Sautner for Lohan's continued misbehavior.

The judge is requiring the starlet to report on her progress monthly and it appears Lohan has been successful in meeting the goals.

"She's been doing fine," Deputy Chief Coroner Ed Winter said Tuesday, saying the actress has been showing up, working and leaving without incident.

He said he did not know how many hours Lohan had completed.

Story: Lindsay Lohan's stolen purse returned ? minus $10K

Lohan remains on probation for a 2007 drunken driving case and a misdemeanor grand theft case filed after she took a $2,500 necklace without permission.

She has consistently struggled with the terms of her various sentences, which have included jail terms, rehab, community service and counseling.

Her appearance Wednesday came days before a Playboy issue featuring Lohan in a mostly nude pictorial hits newsstands. The magazine released the issue online early after photos of the Marilyn Monroe-inspired spread leaked out online.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45668258/ns/today-entertainment/

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Syrians protest against Assad after Russia UN move (Reuters)

BEIRUT (Reuters) ? Syrian forces killed 13 people on Friday during widespread protests against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said, a day after Syria's big power ally Russia sharpened its criticism of Damascus in a draft United Nations resolution.

Most of the deaths were in the city of Homs, they said, a hotbed of resistance to a crackdown on nine months of protests which has killed 5,000 people according to the United Nations and provoked Western and Arab League sanctions on Damascus.

State media said there were no deaths or injuries on Friday, despite what they said were attacks by "armed terrorist groups" on security forces. Syria has barred most independent media, making it hard to verify accounts by activists and authorities.

About 200,000 people marched in separate districts of Homs, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, and footage broadcast by Al Jazeera television showed mock gallows where effigies were hanged, including two of Assad and his father, who seized power in Syria four decades ago.

If confirmed, it would be one the biggest turnouts by demonstrators for several weeks.

Russia presented a new, beefed-up draft resolution on the violence to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, offering a chance for the 15-nation panel to overcome deadlock and deliver its first statement of purpose on Assad's crackdown.

The council has been split, with Western countries harshly critical of Syria pitted against Russia, China and non-aligned countries that have avoided blaming Assad for the violence.

France, which has led Western rebukes of Assad, welcomed what it said was Moscow's recognition of the deteriorating situation in Syria, but said Russia was wrong to equate Assad's crackdown with violence perpetrated by his opponents.

Assad has denied that Syrian forces have been ordered to kill demonstrators, blaming armed groups for the bloodshed. He said 1,100 soldiers and police have been killed since the uprising erupted in March, inspired by other unrest in the Arab world that has toppled three autocratic leaders this year.

An armed insurgency has begun to eclipse civilian protests, raising fears Syria could descend into civil war. On Thursday army deserters killed 27 soldiers and security personnel in the southern province of Deraa, an activist group said.

State news agency SANA reported that security forces defused several explosives in Damascus and Hama provinces on Friday.

It is the most serious challenge to the 11-year rule of Assad, 46, whose family is from the minority Alawite sect and has ruled majority Sunni Muslim Syria since 1970.

The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions and called on Assad to step down. Neighboring Turkey has taken similar steps and even the Arab League has declared sanctions against Syria, although it has several times extended a deadline for Syria to approve a formula for ending the crisis.

In the latest sign of the heavy economic price Syria is paying for its repression of dissent, Turkey said on Friday that Damascus would lose more than $100 million a year in transport revenue as Ankara bypasses the turbulent country by opening alternative export routes to the Middle East and Gulf.

"ARAB LEAGUE IS KILLING US"

Arab governments called off a foreign ministers' meeting due to discuss a response on Saturday to Assad's iron fist policy towards unrest, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported.

A source at Arab League headquarters in Cairo gave no reason for the cancellation. A lower-level meeting of its ministerial committee on Syria will go ahead in Qatar on Saturday, the source said. The committee includes the foreign ministers of Egypt, Sudan, Oman, Qatar and Algeria.

Friday's protests were held under the slogan of "The Arab League is Killing us," reflecting demonstrators' frustration at what they see as the organization's ineffective response.

At the U.N. Security Council in October, Russia and China vetoed a European draft resolution that threatened sanctions. Russia has circulated its own draft twice but it was criticized by Western nations for blaming the violence equally on the government and opposition.

The draft floated unexpectedly by Russia on Thursday expands and toughens Moscow's previous text, adding a new reference to "disproportionate use of force by Syrian authorities.

Obtained by Reuters, the draft also "urges the Syrian government to put an end to suppression of those exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association."

Reports by Human Rights Watch and a U.N.-backed independent investigation have concluded that Syrian government forces were given "shoot to kill" orders when confronting demonstrators.

STRONGER TEXT

Russia's U.N. Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, told reporters that the latest draft resolution "considerably strengthens all aspects of the previous text" and that "clearly the Syrian authorities are singled out in a number of instances."

He said Russia did not believe both sides in Syria were equally responsible for violence, but acknowledged the text called on all parties to halt violence and contained no threat of sanctions, which he said Moscow continued to oppose.

Western officials welcomed the move but Paris said the draft "has elements that are not acceptable in their current form."

"For France, it is a positive development that Russia has decided to recognize that the serious deterioration of the situation in Syria merits a Security Council resolution," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told a news briefing.

Calling the council's inaction scandalous, Valero said a resolution should be swiftly adopted to condemn crimes against humanity in Syria and back a credible political solution.

U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters in Ankara that the Russian draft showed the international community was increasingly coming together to "say to Syria and to the Assad regime that we can no longer tolerate the kind of killings that have gone on...(and) that Assad needs to step down."

(Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, Ece Toksabay and Missy Ryan in Ankara, Tom Pfeiffer in Cairo; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/wl_nm/us_syria

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Drugmakers extend cut-price pneumonia vaccine deal (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline are increasing sales of cut-price pneumonia vaccine to developing countries by more than 50 percent, marking the scale-up of an international program to protect millions of children.

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) is buying an additional 180 million doses of Pfizer's pneumococcal vaccine Prevenar 13 and a similar quantity of GSK's Synflorix at a deeply discounted price of $3.50 a shot.

The two companies said on Friday they would supply the extra vaccine through 2023, building on an original commitment last year to supply 300 million doses apiece.

The GAVI Alliance, a public-private partnership set up in 2000 to speed the introduction of vaccines into the world's poorest countries, hopes to avert up to 7 million deaths by 2030 by giving the vaccines to infants and young children.

Pneumococcal disease, which can cause pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis, kills more than half a million children every year, the vast majority of them in poorer countries.

GSK's Synflorix protects against 10 strains of the streptococcus pneumoniae bacterium, while Pfizer's Prevenar 13 shot protects against 13 strains.

In exchange for large orders, GAVI has negotiated a low price with the two drug companies, which get $7 per dose for the first 20 percent and $3.50 for the remainder of their orders under a so-called Advance Market Commitment (AMC) scheme.

A Pfizer spokeswoman said $3.50 was more than a 90 percent reduction from prices charged in some industrialized countries.

The pneumococcal vaccination program was initially started a year ago in Nicaragua and has now been rolled out to 15 other countries in Africa and Latin America.

The latest agreement shows how momentum is building behind the GAVI program, even as experts worry about funding cutbacks in other areas of global health due to austerity measures in donor countries hit by the economic crisis.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the world's largest financial backer of HIV treatment and prevention programs, said last month it was cancelling new grants for countries battling these diseases and would make no new funding available until 2014.

By contrast, GAVI secured a bigger-than-expected $4.3 billion in pledges from its donors last June, reflecting widespread acknowledgement of the value of its immunization work.

Overall, development assistance for health in all forms has continued to grow in 2011, although the rate of growth has slowed, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle said in a report this week.

It estimated that spending increased by 4 percent each year between 2009 and 2011, reaching a total of $27.7 billion, down from 17 percent between 2007 and 2008.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/hl_nm/us_drugmakers_pneumonia

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Samsung Galaxy Note LTE Headed For AT&T Next Year

Samsung-Galaxy-Note-ATTIf you're the type of person who looks at a Galaxy Nexus and wonders why it couldn't be even bigger, then Samsung just might have a treat meant for you. According to PocketNow, Samsung will be bringing an LTE-capable version of Samsung's Galaxy Note to AT&T early next year.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/tzkSWwAOhqM/

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Palm-sized baby among the world's smallest

14-week-old Melinda Star Guido holds her mother's little finger while lying in an incubator at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at only 9 1/2 ounces, a tad less than the weight of two iPhone 4S. Melinda is believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the United States and the third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

14-week-old Melinda Star Guido holds her mother's little finger while lying in an incubator at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at only 9 1/2 ounces, a tad less than the weight of two iPhone 4S. Melinda is believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the United States and the third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Haydee Ibarra, looks at her 14-week-old daughter, Melinda Star Guido, at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at only 9 1/2 ounces, a tad less than the weight of two iPhone 4S. Most babies her size don?t survive, but doctors are preparing to send her home as soon as the end of the month. Melinda is believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the United States and the third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

This undated photo provided by Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center shows shows Melinda Guido shortly after her birth in late August with the hand of Dr. Rangasamy Ramanathan as a comparison. Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks weighing only 9.5 ounces. She's believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the United States and third in the world. (AP Photo/Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center )

This undated photo provided by Melinda Guido?s family shows Melinda, with her mother's fingers in the scene, in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks weighing 9.5 ounces. She?s believed to be the second smallest surviving baby in the United States and third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Haydee Ibarra)

This undated photo provided by Melinda Guido?s family shows Melinda in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks weighing 9.5 ounces. She?s believed to be the second smallest surviving baby in the United States and third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Haydee Ibarra)

(AP) ? At birth, Melinda Star Guido was so tiny she could fit into the palm of her doctor's hand. Weighing just 9 1/2 ounces ? less than a can of soda ? she is among the smallest babies ever born in the world.

Most infants her size don't survive, but doctors are preparing to send her home by New Year's.

Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks in late August and is believed to be the second-smallest baby to survive in the U.S. and third smallest in the world. She spent the early months cocooned in an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit in Los Angeles.

Despite hurdles, Melinda lived to her original Thursday due date. Doctors say it is too early to say how she will fare developmentally and physically when she grows up.

For now, her 22-year-old mother sits at her bedside almost every day and stays overnight whenever she can.

On Wednesday, Haydee Ibarra caressed Melinda through the portholes of the incubator where nurses pinned up a homemade sign bearing her name. Now 3 ? months old and weighing 4 pounds, Melinda gripped Ibarra's pinky finger and yawned.

"Melinda, Melinda," she cooed at her daughter dressed in a polka dot onesie. "You're awake today."

During her pregnancy, Ibarra suffered from high blood pressure, which can be dangerous for mother and fetus. She was transferred from a hospital near her San Fernando Valley home to the county's flagship hospital, which was better equipped to handle high-risk pregnancies.

There was a problem with the placenta, the organ that nourishes the developing fetus. The fetus, however, was not getting proper nutrition, blood and oxygen. Doctors knew Melinda would weigh less than a pound, but they were surprised at how small and fragile she was.

"The first few weeks, it was touch and go. None of us thought the baby was going to make it," said Dr. Rangasamy Ramanathan, who oversees premature infants at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

Even if she survived, doctors told Ibarra and her husband Yovani Guido, children born this extremely premature can have developmental delays and impairments such as blindness, deafness or cerebral palsy.

Ibarra, who previously had a stillborn, told doctors to do whatever necessary to help her baby.

"They said, 'We'll take the chance. Please try.' So we said. 'OK we'll try,'" Ramanathan recalled.

Melinda was delivered by cesarean section at 24 weeks and was immediately transferred to the NICU where a team of doctors and nurses kept watch around the clock. Infants born before 37 weeks are considered premature.

Melinda was kept insulated in an incubator and was hooked up to a machine to aid her breathing. She got nutrition through a feeding tube. Her mother said her skin felt like plastic because it was so thin.

"It takes a lot of good care and a lot of good luck. Most of them don't survive," said pediatrician Dr. Edward Bell of the University of Iowa who keeps an online database of the world's smallest surviving babies who were less than a pound at birth.

The list currently contains 126 babies dating back to 1936. Since submission is voluntary, it does not represent all survivors.

Ten babies weighing less than a pound were born last year and survived. Melinda joins three other tiny survivors delivered this year in Berkeley; Seoul, South Korea; and Iowa City, Iowa. All are bigger than Melinda, who is not eligible to be listed until she gets discharged.

Most tiny babies who survive tend to be female. That's because female fetuses mature faster than males of the same gestational age. Having more developed lungs and other vital organs increases odds of survival.

Bell published a study last year that found many survivors struggle with health and learning problems. For those for whom growth data are available, many are short and underweight for their age.

There are some success stories.

The smallest surviving baby born weighing 9.2 ounces is now a healthy 7-year-old and another who weighed 9.9 ounces at birth is an honors college student studying psychology. Their progress was detailed in a study published this week in the journal Pediatrics by doctors at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois where the girls were born.

In the past three years, Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center cared for two other babies with extremely low birth weight who survived, but Melinda holds the record at the hospital.

Prematurity comes with high costs. Ramanathan estimates it costs $3,000 to $5,000 a day to care for a premature infant.

A month after birth, Melinda was treated for an eye disorder that's common in premature babies. She faced her biggest test last month when she underwent surgery to close an artery that usually seals after birth.

Ybarra held her daughter for the first time after the surgery. Before that, she could only touch her through the incubator.

The next challenge is learning to bottle feed before discharge. Ramanathan predicted at least another two-week stay, dashing her parents' hopes of taking her home by Christmas.

Ramanathan said doctors don't know how Melinda will fare when she's older. Since she did not have major complications such as bleeding in the brain, he held out hope.

Melinda can breathe by herself, but still uses an oxygen tube as a precaution. On Wednesday, an ophthalmologist checked out her eyes and said everything looked good.

After the checkup, Ibarra lifted Melinda out of the incubator and sat in a rocking chair, cradling her.

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Follow Alicia Chang's coverage at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

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Online:

Tiniest Babies Registry: http://bit.ly/rvglZQ

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2011-12-15-Tiny%20Baby/id-cc7037860a1a448b926f669ee98a55dc

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