(Reuters) – Jean-Claude Mas, the Frenchman who sparked a global health scare by selling substandard breast implants, was released from police custody on Friday and faces a charge of causing bodily harm, his lawyer said.

Mas will not be investigated for the graver charge of manslaughter, as was expected, but does now face criminal charges which carry longer sentences than those he faces in a fraud case expected to go to trial around October.

He was released on bail of 100,000 euros ($131,600), banned from leaving the country and from meeting former executives of his now defunct company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP).

“We are satisfied that Mr Mas could explain himself to a judge,” his lawyer Yves Haddad said on iTele television. “This is a relief for him.”

“On the charge of involuntary homicide, the judge decided that for now there is no link,” Haddad said.

In the first arrests since the two-year-old scandal made headlines worldwide in December, Mas and a second PIP executive were seized at their homes in southern France just after dawn.

Women who have been campaigning against PIP since French authorities banned its products nearly two years ago welcomed the move as giving them a sense that the law was now in action:

“It’s been too long,” said Murielle Ajellio, who heads an association for women with implants. Up to now, she said: “You feel like you’re fighting against the wind.”

French authorities have been criticized for being slow to react to a case that has sown fear among tens of thousands of women who carry PIP implants. French inspectors ordered them off the market in March 2010, due to concerns over their quality.

But only last month did officials in Paris recommend their surgical removal, drawing attention to the problem for patients worldwide who had been fitted with products from the company, which was at one time the third biggest global supplier.

Lawyers for women in France who have filed complaints over PIP implants welcomed the arrests and said there must be no escaping justice for the 72-year-old Mas, who has been quoted as deriding those suing him as being motivated only by money.

“This is a comfort for the victims,” said Laurent Gaudon, whose clients are pursuing PIP and surgeons who used its implants for fraud. “It’s the feeling that justice is advancing and they have not been forgotten. It’s the assurance that the guilty are at last going to be held accountable.”

Philippe Courtois, who represents 1,300 people with PIP implants, said Mas should not be freed pending any trial.

Mas and PIP’s former chief executive Claude Couty were questioned at home, as police conducted searches. They were then moved to police custody in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, under the orders of prosecutor Jacques Dallest.

SUBSTANDARD SILICONE

PIP enjoyed years of success with international sales, but behind the scenes employees, and Mas himself, have admitted to hiding from certification agencies the fact they were using cheap, industrial silicone, not approved for medical use.

Health authorities in France and elsewhere have stressed that PIP’s products carry no proven link to cancer, but surgeons report that they have abnormally high rupture rates. Responses to the problem have varied among different foreign authorities.

Thursday’s arrests follow an investigation opened in Marseille, close to PIP’s former premises, on December 8 after the death from cancer in 2010 of a woman with PIP implants.

Mas and Couty can be held for up to 48 hours while a judge decides whether to open a formal probe and, if so, what bail conditions, if any, to set.

A trial date could be years away, given the extent of inquiry required, but the bodily harm case could make it harder for Mas to avoid appearing in court later this year on other charges of fraud and deception.

That latter case targets half a dozen former PIP executives and could also carry prison terms for them of several years. It has dragged on as investigators have had to quiz up to 2,700 women who have filed complaints over PIP implants.

Mas, who sold some 300,000 implants around the world, has acknowledged that he used unapproved silicone but dismissed fears that it constituted a health risk.

Earlier in January, leaks from a police document showed Mas admitting to lying about the quality of PIP’s implants and describing the women filing complaints against him as just seeking money. The comments sparked public anger against him.

PIP closed down in March 2010 after regulators discovered it was using a non-approved, industrial silicone gel, and pulled its implants off the market.

Last month, the French government advised women with PIP implants to have them removed, and said it would pay for the operations in France, sparking alarm around the world.

Officials in several other countries, including Britain and Brazil, have asked women to visit their doctors for checks.

France has called for tighter European Union regulations on medical devices in wake of the PIP affair, saying suppliers of prosthetics should require the same sort of authorization as manufacturers of prescription medicines.

(Writing by Catherine Bremer and Nicholas Vinocur; Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Louise Ireland)

When a woman first becomes aware that she’s pregnant, she may not be entirely sure what to expect as her pregnancy progresses. This is where a pregnancy week by week guide can be very helpful. A pregnancy week by week guide can show you when to expect possible morning sickness, breast tenderness, food cravings, and other things. Your week by week pregnancy calendar will also show you the stages of fetal development. Some options available in online pregnancy calendars even compare the approximate size of the fetus to a fruit or other familiar object, so the parent can get an idea of how big their baby is each week.

Each week, parents can check their pregnancy week by week guide and search out what size their baby has reached. For instance, at week seven in a woman’s pregnancy, her baby will be about the size of a blueberry, and just five weeks later, at week 12, her baby will have reached a size similar to that of a plum. Having these helpful images in mind can help the mother to visualize the changes that both her body and the body of her baby are going through as her pregnancy progresses.

It’s important to take your pregnancy week by week so that you don’t get overwhelmed by the fact that your baby is going to reach the size of a watermelon before it is born!

Pregnancy can be scary and emotionally trying, so using helpful tools like a week by week online pregnancy guide will help you to focus on what is happening right now to your body and how you can take care of yourself to ensure that your baby develops properly. Making sure that you understand what is happening will help you to be more emotionally and physically healthy during your pregnancy.

(Reuters) – Penn State students and supporters laid flowers and lit candles on Monday as they mourned the death of Joe Paterno, who won more games than any other U.S. major college football coach but saw his legacy tarnished by a child sexual abuse scandal at the school.

Paterno, 85, died of lung cancer on Sunday, two months after being fired after a former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, was charged with serial child sex abuse. University trustees filed Paterno because he failed to tell police what he had been told about the alleged abuse.

“You have no choice. You have to get through it,” Penn State senior Steve Atz, 21, said. He had a friend shave the initials “JP” on the back of his head.

Mourners placed hundreds of flower arrangements and lit candles at a bronze statue of Paterno outside the football stadium.

President Barack Obama reached out to Paterno’s widow, Sue, and his son Jay, to offer his condolences. During the conversation, Obama “recalled fond memories of when he first met Paterno,” the White House said in a statement.

Public viewings were scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, with a private family funeral service set for Wednesday afternoon.

A public memorial service was scheduled for Thursday afternoon at a concert hall on campus.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett ordered flags flown at half staff at state facilities, and Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Sam Smith, a Penn State graduate, asked for a moment of silence at the state House of Representatives.

Paterno won a record 409 games over 46 years with a motto of “Success With Honor,” earning him adoration from fans of the successful and profitable program. Many supporters assailed the university board of trustees for firing him in November.

But critics faulted Paterno for his relative inaction on hearing an accusation that Sandusky sexually abused a young boy in the Penn State football showers in 2002.

Sandusky, 67, who has maintained his innocence, faces 52 criminal counts accusing him of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years, using his position as head of The Second Mile, a charity dedicated to helping troubled children, to find his purported victims. The court placed him under house arrest.

“You can’t let one person define us,” Lauren Hottowe, 20, a junior, said of Sandusky.

(Additional reporting by Mark Shade; Editing by Daniel Trotta, Paul Thomasch and Peter Cooney)

Are you looking to dabble in the stock market but don’t have a lot of money, or aren’t willing to take a huge risk? Penny stocks are an excellent option for those who are just getting started.

Penny Stocks What are penny stocks? Penny stocks are those stocks which sell for under one dollar per share. They are also sometimes referred to as cent stocks. While penny stocks can be a great way to balance a portfolio, or even start one in the first place there are a few things you should be aware of before starting.

Pros Penny Stocks are cheap. That is one of the most impressive things about them. You can buy literately hundreds of stocks for next to nothing. If your stocks go up, you can make quite a bit of money. Penny stocks let even someone who isn’t flush with cash get his hand into the stock market. The other nice thing about the low cost of penny stocks is if you do lose money, you probably didn’t lose that much. Penny stocks allow you to practice picks on the stock market.

Cons There are certain things to be aware of when purchasing penny stocks. Because of their low cost, they are easy stocks to manipulate and inflated artificially. Because of the low liquidity of penny stocks, most of them are very thinly traded which can sometimes be frustrating when you are trying to sell your shares. Some penny stocks also have false investors and advertisements causing some serious financial scams so it is important that you buy penny stocks from reputable businesses or brokers.

If you are looking to get involved in the stock market, or you want to invest but don’t have a ton of cash, penny stocks are a good way to get started and see what you can do in the stock market.

(Reuters) – Americans honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday with a traditional day of service as well as a new wave of economic injustice protests by Occupy Wall Street.

On the first King holiday since the now-global Occupy movement launched in New York City in September, the reignited debate over inequality drew hundreds of protestors to march in wintry temperatures in Manhattan, stopping at a Bank of America branch to shout, “The banks got bailed out, we got sold out.”

At least two protesters were loaded into a police van at the march, held “because Dr. King dedicated the last months of his life to planning a campaign for the right of all to a decent-paying job,” leaders said in a statement.

King was organizing a Poor People’s Campaign, the next phase in the civil rights movement, before he was murdered in 1968.

“I came here on the one hand to honor (King’s) birthday, but also for the things that he stood for,” said Jim Glaser, a retired teacher from suburban Nyack, New York, at the march.

“We have to have a government that’s responsive to people, … a government that people can have some influence on,” he said.

At New York’s African Burial Grounds, schoolchildren played “We Shall Overcome” on violins before protesters marched to the Federal Reserve in downtown Manhattan.

“What Occupy Wall Street is trying to do is exactly what (King) was trying to — focus on economic injustice and to inform and educate the American public,” said Norman Siegel, former director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“I think (King) would be very pleased because Occupy Wall Street is the children of Dr King’s dream,” Siegel said at the 18th century burial ground, part of the National Park Service.

Protesters in the Occupy movement complain that billions of dollars in bailouts were given to banks while many Americans still suffer with joblessness and housing foreclosures. They say minorities were disproportionately affected by predatory lending practices.

The movement has influenced the national political conversation, with President Barack Obama echoing some of its themes in calling for a “fair shot” and “fair share” for all.

Community and civil rights leaders urged Americans to honor King’s crusade for nonviolence and racial brotherhood by doing volunteer work.

The president, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughter Malia marked the day by helping spruce up the library at a school in a predominantly African-American community in northeast Washington.

“At a time when the country has been going through some difficult economic times, for us to be able to come together as a community, people from all different walks of life, and make sure that we’re giving back, that’s ultimately what makes us the strongest, most extraordinary country on earth,” Obama said.

This year’s King holiday came as officials in more than a dozen states implement new laws requiring voters to present photo identification at the polls. Critics say the restriction violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — one of the key accomplishments of the movement King led.

Across the nation, formal events such as prayer services, performances and parades were staged for King’s birthday, which became a federal holiday in 1986. Post offices, government buildings and most public schools were closed.

King, a Baptist pastor who advocated for nonviolence, racial brotherhood and equal rights and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, was assassinated in 1968 as he stood outside his motel room in Memphis, where he had gone to support striking sanitation workers.

The convicted assassin, a segregationist and drifter named James Earl Ray, confessed to the killing but later recanted. He died in prison in 1998.

(Additional reporting by Lily Kuo, Ellen Wulfhorst and Karen Brooks, editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Barbara Goldberg)

Reverse mortgages are available to United States citizens over the age of 62. These mortgages are a type of home loan. They allow you to convert some of your home equity into cash. Thus, the equity that you built up over years of making mortgage payments is paid to you.

To qualify for a reverse mortgage, you must be 62 years of age or older. You must also live in your home as your primary residence. This doesn’t mean you can’t take vacation, but you can’t leave your residence for longer than 364 consecutive days.

Your credit standing or history is not considered when you apply for a reverse mortgage. You must, however, take an FHA approved counseling class. This counseling ensures that borrowers understand exactly what a reverse mortgage is.

If you are approved for a reverse mortgage, your loan size will be determined by five main factors:

• Appraised value of your property, including any health or safety repairs, existing liens
• Interest rate
• Your age
• Whether you choose line of credit, lump sum, or monthly payments
• The value of your property and whether than that value is higher than the limit set by HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development)

The money you are paid from your reverse mortgage can be used any way you see fit. This money is not taxable, giving you even more financial freedom.

Repayment of the loan is not required until the owner dies, the home is sold, the owner ceases to live on the property, or the owner fails to meet the provisions of the loan.

If you’ve recently been looking into starting an emergency food storage supply, there are some basic food storage guidelines that you should be aware of.  There are different types of foodstorage: longterm food storage, emergency food storage, and emergency kits.  Long term food storage is usually about a one year supply of food storage.  Emergency food storage is food storage that will last for several weeks to several months, and emergency kits are typically kits that will last you for about 48-72 hours.

No matter what kind of food storage you’re putting together, there are some food storage emergency essentials guidelines that are great to know.  The most important thing that you will need for your food storage is an adequate amount of water.  Be sure to store enough water for each person because you can live longer with only water than you can with only food.

You should also look into freeze dried food and foods that have a long shelf life.  Especially when you’re working on a long term food storage supply, you can’t always be worrying about how long your food will stay on the shelf.  Look for dense foods that will last for a long time, such as peanut butter.  It is both packed with nutrients and has a very long shelf life.  If you’re going to have a one year supply of food, you’ve got to make sure that the majority will have a shelf life of at least one year.

If your food supply does start to spoil, make sure you watch for the dates on all of your food storage supplies.  Switch food out often that don’t have a long shelf life.  Use those food storage items and spend your grocery money on new food storage supplies.  Don’t let it go to waste.

President Barack Obama unveiled a defense strategy on Thursday that would expand the U.S. military presence in Asia but shrink the overall size of the force as the Pentagon seeks to slash spending by nearly half a trillion dollars after a decade of war.

The strategy, if carried out, would significantly reshape the world’s most powerful military following the buildup that was a key part of President George W. Bush’s “war on terrorism” in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cyberwarfare and unmanned drones would continue to grow in priority, as would countering attempts by China and Iran to block U.S. power projection capabilities in areas like the South China Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.

But the size of the U.S. Army and Marines Corps would shrink. So too might the U.S. nuclear arsenal and the U.S. military footprint in Europe.

Troop- and time-intensive counter-insurgency operations, a staple of U.S. military strategy since the 2007 “surge” of extra troops to Iraq, would be far more limited.

“The tide of war is receding but the question that this strategy answers is what kind of military will we need long after the wars of the last decade are over,” Obama told a Pentagon news conference alongside Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

The strategy drew varied reactions, with Republican Senator John McCain saying the United States could not afford a “budget-driven defense” and independent Senator Joe Lieberman warning it would “greatly increase the risk” that a U.S. adversary would underestimate the U.S. resolve to fight.

“This is a lead-from-behind strategy for a left-behind America,” said Representative Buck McKeon, Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “The president has packaged our retreat from the world in the guise of a new strategy to mask his divestment of our military and national defense.”

SMALLER, LEANER

Panetta said the new strategy would mean the Pentagon would field a “smaller and leaner” military force, but added that the exact number of personnel would not be determined until the Defense Department finishes its proposed 2013 budget in the coming weeks.

Administration officials have said they expect Army and Marine Corp personnel levels to be reduced by 10 percent to 15 percent over the next decade as part of the reductions.

The Army’s current strength is about 565,000 soldiers and there are 201,000 Marines, meaning an eventual loss of between 76,000 and 114,000 troops.

Panetta acknowledged the Pentagon’s financial constraints would mean difficult choices and trade-offs that would require the United States to take on “some level of additional but acceptable risk in the budget plan we release next month.”

Critics charged that the cuts were driven by budget woes rather than U.S. defense needs.

“The Pentagon is trying to put on a brave face that this is a pure strategy that has informed the 2013 defense budget,” said Mackenzie Eaglen, a national security expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.

“Everyone knows that the cart was before the horse on this and that Congress and the president picked a budget and this is a strategy to chase down those numbers,” she said.

“This is a classic resource-driven strategy document,” said Gordon Adams, an American University professor who worked on defense budgets in the Clinton administration White House.

“That’s not a criticism, that’s just a reality. It’s inevitable. Strategy always wears a dollar sign,” he said.

Obama and Panetta insisted that the reverse was true and that strategy would inform the spending decisions. But they did not divulge details of spending and cuts, which will be released as part of Obama’s upcoming federal budget for fiscal year 2013.

The president emphasized that even after enactment of the $487 billion in reductions over 10 years that was agreed with Congress in August, the defense budget would still be larger than it was toward the end of Bush’s administration.

“Over the past 10 years, since 9/11, our defense budget grew at an extraordinary pace,” Obama said. “Over the next 10 years, the growth in the defense budget will slow but the fact of the matter is this – it will still grow because we have global responsibilities that demand our leadership.”

The shift in focus to Asia comes amid increasing concern at the Pentagon over China’s strategic goals as it begins to field a new generation of weapons that American officials fear are designed to prevent U.S. naval and air forces from projecting power into the Far East.

The new strategy also calls for increased investment in cyber capabilities and suggests the United States may be able to shrink its nuclear arsenal further without jeopardizing security, a statement welcomed by arms control groups and some lawmakers.

ONE WAR, TWO WARS

The strategy says the United States should maintain a force that can win one major war while still being able to deter an aggressor in a second conflict. In the past the Pentagon has tried to field a force that could fight and win two major wars at once.

Panetta played down the differences, saying the earlier strategy dealt with large conflicts of the past while the current strategy was considering the conflicts the United States is likely to face in the 21st century.

“Make no mistake – we will have the capability to confront and defeat more than one adversary at a time,” he said.

But Representative Mike Coffman, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, expressed alarm over the shift in U.S. posture, saying, “I believe we can make cuts that don’t reduce capability,” a concern that was echoed by Lieberman.

The strategy underscores the United States’ “enduring interests” in Europe and the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization but says the force posture in Europe must “evolve” with the changing times, opening the door for troop reductions.

Administration officials have said the United States is likely to further reduce the number of ground forces in Europe by another combat brigade, a unit of 3,000 to 4,000 people depending on its composition.

The strategy also highlights the U.S. interest in maintaining stability in the Middle East while responding to the aspirations of the people as expressed in the “Arab spring” last year. It also says the United States will continue working to halt nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.

The new defense strategy can be found at: here

(Additional reporting by Laura MacInnis and Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Florida officials have arrested an Alabama man in connection with the New Year’s Day torching of a Pensacola abortion clinic that was the site of the 1994 murder of a doctor who performed abortions.

Authorities announced the arrest on Thursday, suspecting Bobby Joe Rogers, 41, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, set fire to the American Family Planning Clinic, causing approximately $300,000 in damage. No one was injured.

State Fire Marshal Jeff Atwater thanked people in Pensacola for coming forward with information that led to Rogers’ arrest on Wednesday.

The Pensacola clinic provides abortions and family planning services and has been the focal point of repeated violence over the years. In 1994, Dr. John Britton and his bodyguard were shot dead outside the clinic by anti-abortion activist Paul Jennings Hill, who was later executed for the crime.

Officials said arson was immediately suspected in the latest case at the clinic, and local, state and federal authorities assisted in the investigation.

Rogers is being held in the Escambia County Jail without bond pending a federal indictment on charges involving the use of explosive materials and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, officials said.

Authorities did not cite any motive for Rogers in their statement. Calls to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and fire officials were not immediately returned.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Daniel Trotta)