NAIROBI, kenya Kenyan security forces launched a "major" assault late Sunday on the upscale Nairobi mall where an unknown number of hostages are being held by al Qaeda-linked militants, in an operation officials said would end the two-day standoff that had already killed 68 people.

The assault, which began shortly before sun down, came as two helicopters circled the mall, with one skimming very close to the roof. A loud explosion rang, far larger than any previous grenade blast or gunfire volley.

Kenyan police said on Twitter that a "MAJOR" assault by security forces was ongoing to end the two-day siege.

"This will end tonight. Our forces will prevail. Kenyans are standing firm against aggression, and we will win," Kenya's Disaster Operations Centre said on Twitter.

CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg, currently in Nairobi, said government sources have told him that joint Israeli-Kenyan forces are inside the mall and that the operation to end the siege is underway.

Westgate Mall is at least partially owned by Israelis, and reports circulated that Israeli commandos were on the ground to assist in the response. Four restaurants inside the mall are Israeli-run or owned.

In Israel, a senior defense official said there were no Israeli forces participating in an assault, but the official said it was possible that Israeli advisers were providing assistance. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a classified military issue, would not elaborate.

Israel has close ties to Kenya going back many years. And in recent years, Israel has identified East Africa as an area of strategic interest and stepped up ties with Kenya and other neighboring countries, due to shared threats posed by al Qaeda and other extremist elements.

In 2002, militants bombed an Israeli-owned luxury hotel near Mombasa, killing 13 people, and tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner at the same time. Kenyans and foreigners were among those confirmed dead, including British, French, Canadians, Indians, a Ghanaian, a South African and a Chinese woman.

The assault came about 30 hours after 10 to 15 al-Shabab extremists stormed the mall from two sides, throwing grenades and firing on civilians at will.

Loud exchanges of gunfire emanated from inside the four-story upscale mall, throughout the day Sunday. Kenyan troops were seen carrying in at least two rocket propelled grenades and helicopters hovered throughout the day. Al-Shabab militants reacted angrily to the helicopters on Twitter and said the Kenyan military action was endangering hostages.

Kenyan officials said they would do their utmost to save hostages lives, but no officials could say precisely how many hostages were inside. Kenya's Red Cross said in a statement citing police that 49 people had been reported missing. Officials did not make an explicit link but that number could form the basis of the number of people held captive.

Somalia's al Qaeda-linked rebel group, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack that specifically targeted non-Muslims. The attackers included some women. The Islamic extremist rebels said the attack was retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into neighboring Somalia.

Al-Shabab said on its new Twitter feed — after its previous one was shut down on Saturday — that Kenyan officials were asking the hostage-takers to negotiate and offering incentives.

"We'll not negotiate with the Kenyan govt as long as its forces are invading our country, so reap the bitter fruits of your harvest," al-Shabab said in a tweet.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta reiterated his government's determination to continue fighting al-Shabab.

"We went as a nation into Somalia to help stabilize the country and most importantly to fight terror that had been unleashed on Kenya and the world," said Kenyatta."We shall not relent on the war on terror."

He said although this violent attack had succeeded, the Kenyan security forces had "neutralized" many others.

Earlier in the day Kenyatta said he his nephew and his nephew's fiance were killed in the attack.

Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told reporters at the mall that a number of people were being held hostage on the third floor and the basement area of the mall, which includes stores for Nike, Adidas and Bose stores.

Kenyan security officials sought to reassure the families of hostages inside but implied that hostages could be killed. The security operation is "delicate" because Kenyan forces hoped to ensure the hostages are evacuated safely, said Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku.

"The priority is to save as many lives as possible," Lenku said, adding that more than 1,000 people escaped the attack inside the mall on Saturday.

"We have received a lot of messages from friendly countries, but for now it remains our operation," Lenku said.

More than 175 people were injured in the attack, Lenku said, including many children. Kenyan forces were by Sunday in control of the mall's security cameras, he said.

CBS News' Peter Greenberg described the Westgate as "a very large mall, with more than 80 stores and large grocery stores and banks" that is popular with locals and tourists alike. He said the attacks have been "terrifying."

Greenberg said many buildings in Nairobi, including the parliament building, have been placed on lockdown.

Britain's prime minister, in confirming the deaths of three British nationals, told the country to "prepare ourselves for further bad news."

Westgate Mall is at least partially owned by Israelis, and reports circulated that Israeli commandos were on the ground to assist in the response. Four restaurants inside the mall are Israeli-run or owned.

Kenyans and foreigners were among those confirmed dead, including British, French, Canadians, Indians, a Ghanaian, a South African and a Chinese woman.

Kofi Awoonor, a Ghanaian poet, professor and former ambassador to Brazil, Cuba and the United Nations, died after being injured in the attack, Ghana's presidential office confirmed. Ghana's ministry of information said Awoonor's son was injured and is responding to treatment.

Kenya's Red Cross said the death toll on Sunday rose to 68 after nine bodies were recovered in a joint rescue mission.

Kenya's presidential office said that one of the attackers was arrested on Saturday and died after suffering from bullet wounds.

Britain's Foreign Office said that Foreign Secretary William Hague has chaired a meeting of Britain's crisis committee and sent a rapid deployment team from London to Nairobi to provide extra consular support.

The United Nations Security Council condemned the attacks and "expressed their solidarity with the people and Government of Kenya" in a statement.

There was some good news on Sunday, as Kenyan media reported that several people in hiding in the mall escaped to safety in the morning, suggesting that not everyone who was inside overnight was being held by al-Shabab.

Cecile Ndwiga said she had been hiding under a car in the basement parking garage.

"I called my husband to ask the soldiers to come and rescue me. Because I couldn't just walk out anyhow. The shootout was all over here — left, right- just gun shots," she said.

Four American citizens were reported injured in the attack. The wife of a foreign service national working for the U.S. Agency for International Development was killed, U.S. officials said. No details about the injured Americans were released by the State Department, which cited privacy concerns. Consular officers were in contact with the injured and were providing appropriate assistance, a State Department official said.

Source: Cbsnews

Peter Lee

Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee says the small business insurance exchange will "give small businesses a way to buy better."

When Covered California opens for business on October 1, the state-run insurance exchange will include a separate marketplace where small business owners can compare and buy "competitively-priced" employee health insurance, according to state officials.

But critics of the federal health law say it's far from certain the venture will succeed in lowering prices for small group plans; there are also questions as to whether the offered plans will provide networks of doctors and hospitals robust enough to satisfy employees.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), small business are not required to provide health insurance to their workers. Only those medium and large businesses, defined by the law as those with more than 50 employees, must do so, starting in 2015 , or pay a penalty.

Still, many small businesses owners consider the ability to provide health coverage essential to attracting and holding on to top-notch workers.

"It's a huge tool in our arsenal in terms of getting good people to come work for us," says Sunder Ramani, general manager for Westwind Media, a Burbank post-production house that has been grappling with double-digit premium increases for the past several years.

But that escalation in health insurance costs has kept employee coverage out of reach for many of California's 500,000 small businesses. High broker fees, fixed marketing and administrative costs and small risk pools result in small businesses paying on average 18 percent more than large firms for the same health insurance policy, according to a 2009 report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA).

"Small businesses are horribly disadvantaged in terms of being able to purchase insurance," says Peter Harbage, president of Harbage Consulting, a health policy consulting firm in Sacramento. "And if they're even able to purchase, they have to pay more and they get less...it's simply unfair."

That's where the state's small business exchange comes in. It's called The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), and it will let small business owners comparison shop and buy insurance plans that may earn them tax credits.

Offered through Covered California, the SHOP marketplace is designed to provide mom and pops with the same purchasing clout as big business, thanks to plans negotiated on their behalf by the state.

The SHOP portal will make it easier for businesses to compare and buy insurance plans by standardizing information that will streamline comparison shopping, says Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California.

"We're going to give small businesses a way to buy better," Lee says.

What's more, small businesses that meet certain criteria will become eligible to receive federal tax credits of up to 50 percent of the premiums they pay for their full time employees, starting in 2014.

"In general, small business owners have high hopes that the SHOP exchange will provide some options that will be affordable and accessible to small business owners," says John Kabateck, California executive director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), which represents about 22,000 small firms across the state. "But there are a lot of questions that remain."

Among the uncertainties the NFIB cites:

• Whether insurance companies on the SHOP exchange will offer only narrow provider networks that provide fewer hospital and physician choices to the insured as a way to keep prices down. Fewer providers translate into longer wait times and less access to care for consumers.
• Whether the tax credits will provide much value to businesses. "There are a number of hoops the average small business must jump through" to qualify for them, Kabateck says. And for those who do make it through the regulation gauntlet, the credits will last only until 2016. "Small business owners need some long-term certainty," he says.
• Whether the "essential benefits" required of plans offered in the individual and small group markets -including free preventive services and bans on annual and lifetime payout limits - will drive up premium prices. obamacare contains no mechanisms to contain premium costs.
• Whether the specter of the "employer mandate" will act as a deterrent to small business growth, as the NFIB and other opponents of the law predict. "It's a disincentive to small businesses that want to exceed 50 or 100 or 150 employees," Kabateck says. The "Employer Shared Responsibility" provision, which was to take effect on Jan. 1, but has now been delayed a year, requires medium and large employers to provide health insurance to their workers that's both "affordable" and that meets certain minimum standards. If they don't, they face fines of between $2,000 and $3,000 per employee. (Insurance qualifies as "affordable" if the premium costs no more than 9.5 percent of an employee's income. It meets minimum standards if it provides at least 60 percent of the cost of covered services).

Kabateck says instead of investing and growing their business as the economy accelerates into recovery, many of his members are hunkering down "in maintenance mode" to see how Obamacare plays out.

Ramani is among them.

"I'm waiting...to see what happens," he says, "This is so new, it's almost like the first electric car and I don't know how to plug it in yet."

Confused about how the Affordable Care Act may affect your small business? Here are answers to common questions about the small business exchange:

1. What is SHOP? It's the acronym for "The Small Business Health Options Program," which is a health insurance marketplace for small businesses with 50 or fewer full time or full time equivalent employees.

2. Which of my workers qualify as "full time" or "full time equivalent" employees? While you might consider only those who work a solid 40 hours a week as full time workers, the law casts a wider net and includes anyone who works more than 30 hours a week as a full time employee. Furthermore, it takes into account "full time equivalents." So if you have 20 employees who work 15 hours a week each, that counts as ten full time workers.

3. When can I buy a health insurance plan for my workers through SHOP? Enrollment starts on Oct. 1, 2013 for coverage that takes effect on Jan. 1, 2014. Unlike the health insurance marketplace for individuals, there is no enrollment deadline, as businesses with 50 or fewer workers are not required to purchase health insurance for them.

4. Can I buy insurance through SHOP if I have more than 50 workers? Not yet. But beginning in 2016, SHOP will be open to businesses with up to 100 employees.

5. Which insurance companies will provide coverage through SHOP? Covered California has approved six companies to sell insurance through SHOP. But only three of them -- Blue Shield of California, Health Net of California and Kaiser Permanente --will offer plans to small businesses in the five-county greater Los Angeles region. The other companies participating in the exchange are: Chinese Community Health Plan in the San Francisco Bay area; Sharp Heath Plan in San Diego; and Western Health Advantage in Sacramento and the northern San Francisco Bay area.

6. Will the SHOP plans provide the same coverage and networks as they do in plans they sell outside of SHOP? There is nothing in the federal health law that requires that they do, and in fact - on the individual exchange at least -- insurers are already narrowing their provider networks.

7. Can my insurance broker help me pick my plan? Yes. You can work with your broker or log on to CoveredCA.com to compare and pick a plan on your own. The SHOP website will provide side-by-side comparisons of the plans and the four medal tier levels of coverage, from the least expensive bronze plans to high-end platinum coverage. California's plans include health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs).

8. Will I qualify for tax credits? It depends. First: you've got to buy your insurance through the SHOP exchange. Second: the IRS says that you must cover at least half the cost of single (not family) health insurance for each of your employees. Third: you must have fewer than 25 "full time equivalent" employees (with average wages of less than $50,000. Once you meet those rules, you've got to file a Form 8941. The amount of credit you may qualify for will be affected by your size. The smaller the business, the bigger the credit. As with anything involving the IRS, it's probably a good idea to consult your accountant. Meanwhile, you can find a little more detail here.

9. How do my seasonal workers affect my employee count? If your seasonal workforce bumps your full time employee count above 50 for 120 days or fewer during a calendar year, you're exempted from the employer mandate and will not be required to provide insurance to your workers.

10. What if I have 35 full time employees in one business I own, and 45 in another? Because that would put your total number of employees over 50, it's likely you won't qualify as a small business and that you will be subject to the rules for medium and large employers, which have been delayed to Jan. 1, 2015.

Source: Scpr

* New Zealand one win away from taking Cup from Oracle

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Emirates Team New Zealand's america's Cup campaign that a week ago looked all but won has turned into a bitter battle against Oracle Team USA, which has repeatedly denied the Kiwis the final point they need.

After struggling for much of the regatta's final series in San Francisco, the team owned by Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison has gained momentum against Emirates Team New Zealand, refusing since Thursday to let the Kiwis win the one race that would give them the trophy.

Fluky weather conditions on San Francisco Bay have wreaked havoc on the race schedule all week. On Saturday, a southerly wind direction made it likely that one or possibly both scheduled matches would be called off. The race course is set up for the Bay's dependable westerly sea breeze.

"It's raining, light and variable wind, and the little wind that we have is out of the south," said regatta director Iain Murray. "We may not get a race in today or we may get one race, but we probably won't get two races in."

Oracle staved off elimination on Friday, catching a huge break when the day's first race suffered from a lack of wind and was abandoned for exceeding the time limit, with New Zealand far ahead. Oracle then came back to win a second race in stronger breezes.

"Luck is a great thing. Luck beats skill every time," New Zealand's frustrated tactician Ray Davies later told reporters.

That victory trimmed New Zealand's advantage in the best-of-17 series to 8-3. Two more races are scheduled for Sunday, if needed.

Until Friday the regatta had been dogged by winds that often exceeded the limits set by the organizers, which were lowered for safety reasons after a sailor died when one of the 72-foot America's Cup catamarans capsized during practice in May.

The wind limit rule forced five race cancellations since the America's Cup finals began two weeks ago, and the two teams have bickered about raising the threshold.

The Kiwis dominated the early matches of the final series and appeared poised to easily reclaim the trophy they lost in 2003. But Oracle has succeeded in shifting the momentum with boat changes and improved tacking, and the two teams now appear remarkably even.

"We're in a battle now. Honestly, we both want to kill each other, but that's sport," Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill said of rival skipper Dean Barker, the two sitting beside each other at a post-race press conference.

"At match point, it's almost like we get the best out of our boys when they're under pressure," Spithill said.

Following alterations it made to its AC72 catamaran, Oracle is now seen as having a slight advantage over the Kiwi boat in strong winds.

Oracle sent a letter this week to the New Zealand team suggesting the wind limits be increased in order to avoid more delays, a proposal the Kiwis flatly rejected.

Ellison's team won the America's Cup in Valencia, Spain in 2010 and with it the right to set the rules for this year's competition, including choosing to race on the AC72s and to hold the regatta on windy San Francisco Bay.

The Kiwis first won the America's Cup in 1995 and successfully defended it in 2000 before losing the trophy three years later to Swiss biotechnology billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghi in a disastrous campaign that left the team in shambles.

Source: Reuters

joy Covey, the former Amazon.com chief financial officer and a Fresno State graduate, was killed Wednesday afternoon when a van hit the bicycle she was riding on a rural roadway in San Mateo County, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Covey, 50, of Woodside, was biking on Skyline Boulevard at 1:30 p.m. when the collision occurred, the California Highway Patrol said.

The driver, a 22-year-old Fremont man, cooperated with officers and has not been cited in the incident, the newspaper reported.

The CHP said the collision is under investigation, although drugs or alcohol do not appear to be a factor.

The tech executive served as treasurer and a director at The Natural Resources Defense Council.

Covey, a 1982 Fresno State graduate in business administration, received Fresno State's 2003 Distinguished Alumna Award -- the highest honor given by the university's Alumni Association. She went on to receive her law degree from Harvard Law School and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990.

She served as president of the Beagle Foundation, a private environmental group, and as a board member of JetBlue Airways and a trustee of the Santa Fe Institute, a private, nonprofit research and education center.

Covey joined Amazon.com in December 1996 as CFO and vice president of finance and administration. She became chief strategy officer in September 1999, and served until the end of that year.

Covey was born in Boston (her father was a doctor) and grew up in San Mateo. In a 2002 interview with the Harvard Law Bulletin, she said she didn't finish high school, moving away from home at age 15 and working as a grocery clerk in Fresno.

She told the Wall Street Journal in a 1999 interview that she began her career as an accountant at Arthur Young LLP, working for clients including Denny's restaurants. She graduated from Harvard Law School's joint J.D.-MBA program in 1989.

Check fresnobee.com for breaking news.

Source: Fresnobee

Titans will kick-start their CLT20 campaign against the Chennai Super Kings amidst a crowd that would be thronging the stadium to see their local hero MS Dhoni. Not surprisingly, the Dhoni-led side is bound to get all the cheers, but Titan's left handed batsman Jacques Rudolph feels that his team should learn to cope with such situations and enjoy the experience of playing in front of packed crowds.

"The crowd is something we have spoken about. A few guys in our team have not played in front of massive crowds. Sometimes, you can stand and govern your friends at extra cover, you can try and speak to him but you cannot hear him. I think it comes down to awareness point, where the fielder's got to keep watching the captain at all times, make use of hand signals. It is also important not to get swept up by the emotions of a noisy crowd. Just enjoy it. Sometimes people come here and they get nervous, but I think it is a great experience for any cricket player to come out here and we have just got to enjoy it as much as possible."

And when asked about strategies for MS Dhoni who will be playing his first T20 game in front of his home crowd, Rudolph said, "He is in his own town, and he will have a lot of confidence walking out here on Sunday. But as Titans, one of our strengths is that we can focus on our games. We cannot be too worried about other individuals. It is going to be a good, competitive game against CSK."

Competitive it will be and the Titans cannot be taken lightly, especially with the likes of world-class players like AB De Villers and Morne Morkel in the side. "I think we have a very good team, a very well balanced side." Rudolph said. "Unfortunately, we are missing Albie Morkel and Faf du Plessis, but on the other side, we have gained Morne Morkel and AB de Villiers, who have a lot of experience in these conditions. We have trained exceptionally well over the last couple of months, so we've just got to concentrate on our own games and see where it takes us."

It has rained over the last few days and the conditions should suit the Titans fast bowlers, Morne Morkel and Merchant de Lange. "From a conditions point of view, there has been a lot of rain around and the wickets have not been that dry. It seamed a little bit. With the likes of Morne Morkel, who bowls 90-miles plus, and Marchant de Lange, we can strike early against Chennai. This morning, when Morne and the others were bowling, the new ball was going around a bit, which for us, coming to India, it suits us. It is the kind of wicket we play in South Africa. It's the second game (8 pm IST) for us tomorrow, so the first game will give us a good indication to see what the wicket does. We can assess our strategies from maybe just watching the first game."

The Chennai Super Kings have a long batting line up and Rudolph believes that making early inroads in the innings would be crucial. "If we can strike early, we can put them on the back foot. If we get early movement, and we can strike against Chennai early and put them under pressure, we can try and restrict them to a competitive total." Rudolph said.

Source: Clt20

Gary Nova threw touchdown passes of 33 and 4 yards to Leonte Carroo in the final 10 minutes, capping Rutgers's rally from a 17-point second-half deficit to defeat Arkansas, 28-24, on Saturday.

Janarion Grant began the comeback for the host Scarlet Knights (3-1) with a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the third quarter, cutting the Razorbacks' lead to 24-14.

Midway through the fourth, Grant returned a punt 47 yards to the Arkansas 33, setting up the winning drive for Rutgers. On the punt return, however, the officials did not call what appeared to be a block in the back.

Nova, who left Rutgers's previous game with a concussion, also threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Kroft. Nova finished 22 of 43 for 346 yards.

Tevin Mitchel scored on a 26-yard interception return for Arkansas (3-1), which was seeking its first 4-0 start since 2003. Quarterback A. J. Derby was 14 of 26 for 137 yards and a touchdown.

SYRACUSE 52, TULANE 7 Terrel Hunt, making his first start for Syracuse, threw for four touchdowns and ran for another to help the Orange (2-2) rout Tulane (2-2) at the Carrier Dome. The victory was the 700th for the Syracuse program.

Hunt completed 16 of 21 passes for 175 yards, and the Orange blocked two punts and a field-goal attempt. Green Wave quarterback Nick Montana, playing in front of his father, the former N.F.L. great Joe Montana, was 22 of 38 for 213 yards and a touchdown.

PENN STATE 34, KENT STATE 0 Running back Zack Zwinak scored three times for the second consecutive week, leading Penn State (3-1) to a home win over Kent State (1-3).

HARVARD 42, SAN DIEGO 20 Conner Hempel threw for 345 yards and 4 touchdowns as Harvard (1-0) pulled away from host San Diego (1-2).

YALE 39, COLGATE 22 Tyler Varga had 39 carries for 236 yards and a touchdown, helping Yale (1-0) win at Colgate. Bulldogs quarterback Henry Furman ran for 60 yards and 3 touchdowns, but he limped off the field early in the third quarter and did not return.

The Raiders are 0-4 for the first time in 17 years.

FORDHAM 52, COLUMBIA 7 Michael Nebrich threw for 347 yards and 3 touchdowns, leading host Fordham (4-0) past Columbia (0-1). Carlton Koonce carried 27 times for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Rams.

CORNELL 45, BUCKNELL 13 Jeff Mathews threw for 285 yards and 3 touchdowns as host Cornell (1-0) overcame a 10-0 deficit to rout Bucknell (1-1). It was the first victory for David Archer, 30, the youngest head coach in N.C.A.A. Division I.

BROWN 45, GEORGETOWN 7 John Spooney had two touchdowns rushing and one receiving, leading host Brown (1-0) to a blowout of Georgetown (1-3).

WAKE FOREST 25, ARMY 11 Josh Harris rushed for 96 yards and 2 second-half touchdowns, Michael Campanaro had a 66-yard scoring catch, and visiting Wake Forest (2-2) defeated Army (1-3) for the seventh straight time.

VANDERBILT 24, UMASS 7 Austyn Carta-Samuels threw for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Vanderbilt (2-2) pulled away at Massachusetts (0-4).

VILLANOVA 35, STONY BROOK 6 Quarterback John Robertson had 259 total yards and accounted for 2 touchdowns, and Villanova (1-2, 1-0 Colonial Athletic Association) pounded visiting Stony Brook (1-2, 1-1).

Source: Nytimes

iBeta Quality Assurance has received two new scope expansions to its current accreditations from National voluntary Accreditation Program.

Specifically, iBeta can now certify biometrics products to the ISO graded performance standards and ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2011 Data format for the interchange of fingerprint, facial and other biometric data.

Graded performance testing will be conducted in accordance with ISO/IEC 19795-5, and this testing is designed to understand and predict the deployed biometric system error rates and transaction times. These particular error rates include the false accept rate, false reject rate, failure to enroll and failure to acquire rates based on a defined test population.

As the biometrics market is flooded with new competition, certification and quality assurance is increasingly important. Standards and certifications vary by industry and use-case, but this is a large focus for the core community - particularly for government and military purchasing in which data exchange is an important consideration.

Reported previously, iBeta recently completed its first task order of conformance testing for mobile biometric devices, under a contract from Sandia National Laboratories for the Department of Homeland Security.

Last year, the U.S DEA approved iBeta's certification process for a biometrics subsystem for electronic prescriptions for controlled substances.

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Source: Biometricupdate