IMF seeks more funds (Reuters)

WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ? The International Monetary Fund is seeking to more than double its war chest by raising $600 billion in new resources to help countries deal with the fallout of the euro zone debt crisis, but the United States and other countries are throwing up roadblocks.

The United States and Canada said on Wednesday Europe must put up more of its own money to solve its sovereign debt crisis, clouding prospects that G20 talks in Mexico this week can lay the ground for a deal on bolstering IMF resources.

"We continue to believe that the IMF can play an important role in Europe, but only as a supplement to Europe's own efforts," a U.S. Treasury spokesperson said. "The IMF cannot substitute for a robust euro area firewall."

Group of 20 deputy officials are set to discuss boosting IMF resources, which will need leaders' signoff, at a meeting in Mexico City on Thursday and Friday ahead of a late February finance ministers' meeting of advanced and development nations.

The IMF currently has a lending capacity of about $380 billion and estimates there are about $1 trillion in "uncovered" financing needs over the next two years.

"Based on staff's estimate of global potential financing needs of about $1 trillion in the coming years, the fund would aim to raise up to $500 billion in additional lending resources. This total includes the recent European commitment of about $200 billion in increased fund resources," an IMF spokesman said.

"At this preliminary stage, we are exploring options on funding and will have no further comment until the necessary consultations," he added.

IMF sources who were present at an IMF board meeting on the issue on Tuesday told Reuters the IMF was seeking to raise up to$600 billion, with $100 billion needed as a "protection buffer."

There would be a $1 trillion global financing gap over the next two years if global economic conditions worsened considerably, the sources added.

The U.S. repeated that it would not contribute more resources to the IMF.

"We have told our international partners that we have no intention to seek additional resources for the IMF," a Treasury spokeswoman said.

With a strained budget at home, some U.S. congressional Republicans have threatened to yank $100 billion in U.S. money to the IMF if the funds are used to bail out euro zone countries. The White House is unlikely to want to take on the issue as President Barack Obama seeks reelection this year.

On foreign exchange markets, the reports of plans for increased IMF lending capacity helped boost the euro.

Euro zone nations have already promised to inject an extra 150 billion euros ($200 billion) into the IMF, which is included in the total estimate. G20 officials in Mexico for the meeting of deputy finance ministers and central bank officials said there was still resistance in some quarters to increase funding.

"Many countries want the Europeans to move ahead with tougher and clearer measures, which at this moment translates to more resources to its stability fund," said a senior Brazilian government source attending the meeting.

Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said it was not clear European governments had done everything necessary to make sure they could fund themselves at sustainable interest rates over the next few years.

"If it makes sense to enhance the resources of the IMF, the principal focus, it would seem, should be on dealing with fallout of the European crisis for innocent bystanders," he told a news briefing in Ottawa.

Another source connected to the process said that as well as Canada and the United States, Japan and Korea were also pressing for discussions first about Europe's contribution to the crisis and for it to agree on additional measures. European nations were arguing that they have done enough and were calling for more IMF resources now.

"If, with the parallel discussion, we can achieve extra measures from the Europeans and afterwards agree on promises of additional resources for the IMF from non-European countries in the G20, I think it would be a good result," the source said.

RESOURCES STRETCHED

The IMF currently has a lending capacity of about $380 billion and estimates demand could be about $ 1 trillion in the medium-term.

"Based on staff's estimate of global potential financing needs of about $1 trillion in the coming years, the fund would aim to raise up to $500 billion in additional lending resources. This total includes the recent European commitment of about $200 billion in increased fund resources," an IMF spokesman said.

"At this preliminary stage, we are exploring options on funding and will have no further comment until the necessary consultations," he added.

Emerging market countries such as China and Brazil have said they are willing to contribute new resources to the Washington-based global lender in exchange for greater voting power. Emerging market powers have repeatedly argued in recent times that their power at the IMF should be increased to reflect their growing clout in the world economy.

The IMF's managing director, Christine Lagarde, said on Tuesday she met with the IMF board to assess whether the global lender needs additional funds to respond effectively to the euro zone crisis. She said IMF management would explore options for increasing the fund's firepower.

The IMF has warned it will cut global growth projections for 2012 when it updates its forecast on January 24. Weakening global growth prospects raise fears that more countries will need to be rescued by the IMF, especially if capital markets freeze up completely.

The World Bank warned in its annual growth outlook late on Tuesday that Europe appears to already be in recession and developing countries should brace for a slowdown in their economies, especially Brazil and India, and to a lesser extent Russia, South Africa and Turkey.

With credit downgrades in nine euro zone countries by Standard & Poor's last week, including France, and uncertainty over Greek debt talks that risk pushing the country into default, the IMF board has urged euro zone leaders to take steps to contain the crisis.

The board called for policies that would address the European crisis and for euro zone policymakers to make sure there is enough money available to tackle the bloc's debt problems effectively.

(Additional reporting by Alonso Soto in Brasilia and Louise Egan and Randall Palmer in Ottawa; Editing by W Simon, Leslie Adler and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/bs_nm/us_imf_resources

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Iraq Violence Up Sharply Since U.S. Troops' Exit

Iraq Violence Up Sharply Since U.S. Troops' Exit

BAGHDAD -- Violence appears to have increased sharply since U.S. troops left Iraq a month ago, as insurgents have unleashed a wave of furious bombings targeting Baghdad neighborhoods, Shiite pilgrims and police facilities in Sunni areas.

The deadly attacks have roots not only in the troops' departure but also in a domestic political crisis that erupted in its wake. Shiite and Sunni leaders have squared off in a power struggle, one that analysts say insurgents are trying to exploit into a full-scale civil war. How the politicians handle their own mess, and the attacks, will determine Iraq's ability to hold itself together.

"They are not arbitrary attacks. They are sending messages that security is not under control," said Wathiq al-Hashimi, a political analyst in Baghdad who leads the Iraqi Group for Strategic Studies.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Iraq declined to comment on violence in the wake of the troop withdrawal.

But U.S. Army Col. Doug Crissman, commander of the last combat brigade to leave Iraq, said that many of Iraq's current challenges -- including bombings, sectarian tensions, political posturing and the detention of security contractors -- existed when U.S. troops were there. "Some of the external influences and influencers may now be more willing to assert themselves," he said by e-mail.

Hashimi and others said insurgents are also trying to exploit the political crisis between Shiite and Sunni leaders that has deadlocked the government. With each attack, the insurgents are trying to convince militias from both sects to take up arms and start attacking each other.

Before their departure, U.S. troops had ceded control of the country's security to Iraqi forces. But the Americans' presence remained critical, analysts said, because they shared intelligence capabilities with their Iraqi counterparts and punctuated the idea that the Americans had influence over Iraq's leaders.

After the U.S. exit, "what changed is a mind-set," said Michael Knights, an Iraq expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who has been a consultant to the Defense Department. "The U.S. was now definitely gone. Therefore, all bets are off."

Knights worked for years in Iraq during the war and said commanders always assumed that Sunni extremists would launch at least some attacks after U.S. forces left. What amped everything up, he said, was the eruption of a sectarian political crisis that generated both fear and opportunity among insurgents. "It's like a perfect storm," Knights said.

2,600 deaths in 2011

It's far too soon to say whether the increase in attacks signals a trend. In the past, spikes in violence in Iraq have been followed by calmer periods.

Exact death tolls can be difficult to obtain in Iraq, in part because there are so many incidents throughout the country and the number of attacks often increases during Shiite pilgrimages. An official at the Interior Ministry, which runs Iraq's internal police forces, said 327 Iraqis have been killed in explosions or assassinations since Dec. 18, the day the last U.S. combat forces left the country. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak.

For the full year ending Dec. 31, Iraqi officials recorded about 2,600 deaths, according to totals from the Interior and Health ministries. A nonprofit group, Iraq Body Count, which has monitored civilian deaths since 2003, estimated that 460 civilians died violently after the troops' departure, a 35 percent increase over monthly averages for the last year. That would mark the highest one-month total since August 2010, according to the group's calculations.

The totals are still far below monthly totals in 2006 and 2007, during the height of sectarian violence, when more than 2,000 Iraqis were killed in some months. And Iraqi officials say they are making progress daily against insurgents as they assume full control over their country.

"We have faith that our security forces have put the terrorist groups on the path to defeat," said Ali Hadi al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

'Iraq will be tested'

U.S. officials never promised the transition would be easy. At a ceremony in Baghdad two days before the last troops left, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta sounded a note of caution.

"Let me be clear, Iraq will be tested in the days ahead -- by terrorism, by those who would seek to divide, by economic and social issues, by the demands of democracy itself," he said.

Even as Panetta was speaking, security forces loyal to Maliki, a Shiite, were moving to arrest Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, on charges that Hashimi used his bodyguards to run a terrorism squad. Hashimi fled to a semiautonomous region of Kurdistan, where leaders provided refuge even as Maliki demanded his return to Baghdad to face trial. At the same time, Sunni leaders walked out of parliament and boycotted cabinet positions to protest what they said was Maliki's move to create a Shiite-controlled dictatorship.

The morning of Dec. 22, starting at 6:30 a.m., insurgents ignited 15 bombs in coordinated attacks around Baghdad over two hours. Among their targets: Shiite neighborhoods, Sunni neighborhoods and a building that housed a government agency charged with rooting out corruption. More than 65 were killed.

An al-Qaeda-affiliated group, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility for the wave of bombs in Baghdad and another blast that followed four days later, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, a monitoring service, and said the attacks were carried out as revenge for the detention of Sunnis in Shiite prisons.

Sunni extremists are effectively taking on two groups, analysts say: The Shiite-controlled government, which they despise, and the Sunni elite. They also hope to persuade the Sunni population to accept that insurgent strikes are its only hope for obtaining power.

"I think Sunni militants are using the vacuum left by departure of U.S. troops to flex their muscles," said Vali Nasr, a Tufts University scholar and Iraq expert. "The message is this: 'While the Sunni political parties are bullied by Maliki, the Sunni insurgents are asserting Sunni claims to power.'"

Starting Jan. 5, insurgents attacked large groups of Shiites, killing more than 100, including pilgrims marching to holy shrines in southern Iraq. In recent days, militants have also attacked a police station and a security checkpoint in Anbar province, a predominantly Sunni area.

Meanwhile, the political stalemate plays along in the background. Leaders talk about a national summit but argue about when to hold it and what would be on the agenda.

"We have a situation which the negotiating table only seems to invent more points of disagreement," said Ramzy Mardini, a research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.

By Dan Morse
Washington Post

Special correspondents Asaad Majeed and Aziz Alwan contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.aina.org/news/20120117193251.htm

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Madonna Almost Rips The Train Off Jessica Biel?s Dress At The Golden Globes

Last night at the Golden Globes, Madonna and Jessica Biel found themselves awkwardly giggling after the pop superstar stomped on the train of the “New Year’s Eve” actress’ long, lace dress and had to be asked to step off it. As Madonna followed Biel down the red carpet press line, Biel felt a tug on [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/madonna-almost-rips-the-train-off-jessica-biels-dress-at-the-golden-globes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=madonna-almost-rips-the-train-off-jessica-biels-dress-at-the-golden-globes

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Target stores plan "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" sneak peek (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 17 (TheWrap.com) ? From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on February 10-11, participating Target stores will celebrate the release of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1" on DVD and Blu-Ray by showing a sneak peek of the final installment in Summit's vampire romance franchise.

This will be the first time footage from "Part 2," due in theaters November 16, will be available for public viewing.

Target is also planning a special "Part 1" set for DVD and Blu-Ray. It will contain "authentic prop flowers from the movie set encased in a collectible keepsake," according to the store's Web site. The price of the package has not been announced.

Tickets to queue up to buy the DVD and Blu-Ray will be distributed at Target stores starting at 9 p.m. The sneak peek starts at 11 p.m., and the stores will close later than usual, at 1 a.m.

(Editing By Zorianna Kit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/film_nm/us_twilight

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Ultra short telomeres linked to osteoarthritis

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Telomeres, the very ends of chromosomes, become shorter as we age. When a cell divides it first duplicates its DNA and, because the DNA replication machinery fails to get all the way to the end, with each successive cell division a little bit more is missed. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy shows that cells from osteoarthritic knees have abnormally shortened telomeres and that the percentage of cells with ultra short telomeres increases the closer to the damaged region within the joint.

While the shortening of telomeres is an unavoidable side effect of getting older, telomeres can also shorten as a result of sudden cell damage, including oxidative damage. Abnormally short telomeres have been found in some types of cancer, possibly because of the rapid cell division the cells are forced to undergo.

There has been some evidence from preliminary work done on cultured cells that the average telomere length is also reduced in osteoarthritis (OA). A team of researchers from Denmark used newly developed technology (Universal single telomere length assay) to look in detail at the telomeres of cells taken from the knees of people who had undergone joint replacement surgery. Their results showed that average telomere length was, as expected, shortened in OA, but that also 'ultra short' telomeres, thought to be due to oxidative stress, were even more strongly associated with OA.

Maria Harbo who led this research explained, "We see both a reduced mean telomere length and an increase in the number of cells with ultra short telomeres associated with increased severity of OA, proximity to the most damaged section of the joint, and with senescence. Senescence can be most simply explained as biological aging and senescent cartilage within joints is unable to repair itself properly."

She continued, "The telomere story shows us that there are, in theory, two processes going on in OA. Age-related shortening of telomeres, which leads to the inability of cells to continue dividing and so to cell senescence, and ultra short telomeres, probably caused by compression stress during use, which lead to senescence and failure of the joint to repair itself. We believe the second situation to be the most important in OA. The damaged cartilage could add to the mechanical stress within the joint and so cause a feedback cycle driving the progression of the disease."

###

BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com

Thanks to BioMed Central for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116741/Ultra_short_telomeres_linked_to_osteoarthritis

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Counterfeit and substandard anti-malaria drugs threaten crisis in Africa, experts warn

Public release date: 17-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Craig Brierley
c.brierley@wellcome.ac.uk
44-207-611-7329
Wellcome Trust

Hopes of at last controlling malaria in Africa could be dashed by the emergence of poor quality and fraudulent anti-malarial medicines, warn experts writing in the Malaria Journal. Unless urgent action is taken both within Africa and internationally, they argue, millions of lives could be put at risk.

In a study published in the journal, an international team of researchers report cases of medicines on sale in Africa that have been deliberately counterfeited by criminals or are of poor quality resulting from factory errors. Both types are not only potentially harmful to the patient, but risk promoting the emergence of drug resistance amongst the parasites that cause the disease.

According to the World Malaria Report 2010, malaria killed an estimated 781,000 people in 2009, mainly young children and pregnant women. It is caused by parasites that are injected into the bloodstream by infected mosquitoes. The most effective anti-malarial drugs are the artemisinin derivatives which have the advantages over other anti-malarial drugs, such as chloroquine and mefloquine, of having few side-effects but the fastest action. Although the drugs have been used on their own as monotherapy, fears over the development of resistance mean that they are recommended for use in conjunction with one or more other drugs as artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), now recommended by the WHO as the first-line treatment for uncomplicated falciparum malaria globally.

There has been a dramatic rise in reports of poor quality and counterfeit anti-malarials in Africa. To find out more about the different types medicines circulating and what they contain, and to look for evidence as to where they may have come from, the researchers examined anti-malarials collected in eleven African countries between 2002 and 2010, which they believed to be either counterfeit or substandard.

Analysis of the medicines showed that some counterfeits contained a mixture of wrong active pharmaceutical ingredients, some of which may initially alleviate malaria symptoms but would not cure malaria. Worse still, these unexpected ingredients could cause potentially serious side effects, particularly if they were to interact with other medication that the patient was currently taking, such as antiretroviral therapies for HIV.

Some of the counterfeits also contained small amounts of artemisinin derivatives, perhaps to try to ensure that the drug would pass simple authenticity tests. Taken at such low levels, the drug is unlikely to rid the body of malaria parasites, leading to the emergence of strains of the parasite resistant to artemisinin.

The researchers also identified pollen found in some of the tablets, indicating that the counterfeit medicines originated in eastern Asia. Indeed, in 2001, police in Guangzhou, China, arrested Nigerian and Chinese men for production of counterfeits of the anti-malarial halofantrine. No evidence was found from the pollen analysis of counterfeit pharmaceutical production in Africa; however, production facilities for packaging materials for counterfeit anti-malarials have been seized in Nigeria.

Dr Paul Newton from the Wellcome Trust-Mahosot Hospital-Oxford University Tropical Medicine Research Collaboration in Laos, who led the research, says: "Public health organisations must take urgent, coordinated action to prevent the circulation of counterfeit and substandard medicines and improve the quality of the medicines that patients receive. We must move finally away from the use of single drugs and towards the exclusive use of combination therapies. The enormous investment in the development, evaluation and deployment of anti-malarials is wasted if the medicines that patients actually take are, due to criminality or carelessness, of poor quality and do not cure.

"Malaria can be readily treated with the right drugs of good quality, but poor quality medicines, as well as increasing mortality and morbidity, risk exacerbating the economic and social impact of malaria on societies that are already poor. Worse still, they encourage drug resistance, potentially resulting in the failure of artemisinin treatments, with profound consequences for public health in Africa. Failure to take action will put at risk the lives of millions of people, particularly children and pregnant women."

Dr Newton and colleagues argue that multiple parallel strategies are needed to tackle this problem. Amongst their recommendations is increased investment in national medicine regulatory authorities in Africa to regulate the quality of the medications and to improve access to good quality, affordable artemisinin combination therapies.

Commenting on the research, Dr Jimmy Whitworth, Head of International Activities at the Wellcome Trust, said: "This research is very worrying and should act as an early warning. We have already begun to see the emergence of drug-resistant malaria parasites in south east Asia; substandard and counterfeit anti-malarials and the availability of artemisinin monotherapies threaten to lead to the spread of drug resistance in Africa. If this happens, the effect could be devastating on efforts to control malaria in Africa."

Combating infectious diseases is one the strategic priorities of the Wellcome Trust. Much of this work is carried out at a local level in regions where disease is endemic. This includes several major overseas programmes, including the Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme unit in Laos, headed by Dr Newton.

###

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 17-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Craig Brierley
c.brierley@wellcome.ac.uk
44-207-611-7329
Wellcome Trust

Hopes of at last controlling malaria in Africa could be dashed by the emergence of poor quality and fraudulent anti-malarial medicines, warn experts writing in the Malaria Journal. Unless urgent action is taken both within Africa and internationally, they argue, millions of lives could be put at risk.

In a study published in the journal, an international team of researchers report cases of medicines on sale in Africa that have been deliberately counterfeited by criminals or are of poor quality resulting from factory errors. Both types are not only potentially harmful to the patient, but risk promoting the emergence of drug resistance amongst the parasites that cause the disease.

According to the World Malaria Report 2010, malaria killed an estimated 781,000 people in 2009, mainly young children and pregnant women. It is caused by parasites that are injected into the bloodstream by infected mosquitoes. The most effective anti-malarial drugs are the artemisinin derivatives which have the advantages over other anti-malarial drugs, such as chloroquine and mefloquine, of having few side-effects but the fastest action. Although the drugs have been used on their own as monotherapy, fears over the development of resistance mean that they are recommended for use in conjunction with one or more other drugs as artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), now recommended by the WHO as the first-line treatment for uncomplicated falciparum malaria globally.

There has been a dramatic rise in reports of poor quality and counterfeit anti-malarials in Africa. To find out more about the different types medicines circulating and what they contain, and to look for evidence as to where they may have come from, the researchers examined anti-malarials collected in eleven African countries between 2002 and 2010, which they believed to be either counterfeit or substandard.

Analysis of the medicines showed that some counterfeits contained a mixture of wrong active pharmaceutical ingredients, some of which may initially alleviate malaria symptoms but would not cure malaria. Worse still, these unexpected ingredients could cause potentially serious side effects, particularly if they were to interact with other medication that the patient was currently taking, such as antiretroviral therapies for HIV.

Some of the counterfeits also contained small amounts of artemisinin derivatives, perhaps to try to ensure that the drug would pass simple authenticity tests. Taken at such low levels, the drug is unlikely to rid the body of malaria parasites, leading to the emergence of strains of the parasite resistant to artemisinin.

The researchers also identified pollen found in some of the tablets, indicating that the counterfeit medicines originated in eastern Asia. Indeed, in 2001, police in Guangzhou, China, arrested Nigerian and Chinese men for production of counterfeits of the anti-malarial halofantrine. No evidence was found from the pollen analysis of counterfeit pharmaceutical production in Africa; however, production facilities for packaging materials for counterfeit anti-malarials have been seized in Nigeria.

Dr Paul Newton from the Wellcome Trust-Mahosot Hospital-Oxford University Tropical Medicine Research Collaboration in Laos, who led the research, says: "Public health organisations must take urgent, coordinated action to prevent the circulation of counterfeit and substandard medicines and improve the quality of the medicines that patients receive. We must move finally away from the use of single drugs and towards the exclusive use of combination therapies. The enormous investment in the development, evaluation and deployment of anti-malarials is wasted if the medicines that patients actually take are, due to criminality or carelessness, of poor quality and do not cure.

"Malaria can be readily treated with the right drugs of good quality, but poor quality medicines, as well as increasing mortality and morbidity, risk exacerbating the economic and social impact of malaria on societies that are already poor. Worse still, they encourage drug resistance, potentially resulting in the failure of artemisinin treatments, with profound consequences for public health in Africa. Failure to take action will put at risk the lives of millions of people, particularly children and pregnant women."

Dr Newton and colleagues argue that multiple parallel strategies are needed to tackle this problem. Amongst their recommendations is increased investment in national medicine regulatory authorities in Africa to regulate the quality of the medications and to improve access to good quality, affordable artemisinin combination therapies.

Commenting on the research, Dr Jimmy Whitworth, Head of International Activities at the Wellcome Trust, said: "This research is very worrying and should act as an early warning. We have already begun to see the emergence of drug-resistant malaria parasites in south east Asia; substandard and counterfeit anti-malarials and the availability of artemisinin monotherapies threaten to lead to the spread of drug resistance in Africa. If this happens, the effect could be devastating on efforts to control malaria in Africa."

Combating infectious diseases is one the strategic priorities of the Wellcome Trust. Much of this work is carried out at a local level in regions where disease is endemic. This includes several major overseas programmes, including the Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme unit in Laos, headed by Dr Newton.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/wt-cas011712.php

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FX Boss Believes in Charlie Sheen, Redemption

Charlie Sheen is on his way back into our living room: his FX sitcom premieres in June.

What made that network take a chance on the troubled actor? President and general manager John Landgraf was asked this question by reporters yesterday at the Television Critics Association press tour and said he was "as skeptical as you might imagine" when he first walked in to a pitch meeting with Sheen. But then...

"I saw [a very different Charlie Sheen] in the room, and what I heard was a really good pitch for a comedy series - funny, complicated, and I think the character that Charlie ought to be playing at this point."

Sheen claims he's no longer a crazy person, and Landgraf is banking on the public being as forgiving of the star's crazy actions as he's trying to be.

"I believe in redemption," the executive said. "If the project that came in was one that took no notice or made no reference to or had no consciousness of everything that went before it, and Charlie seemed to have no consciousness of it, that would have been a different matter from my standpoint, because that would have been supporting the perpetuation of something. But, in my view, that's precisely not what Charlie and [executive producer] Bruce Helford want to do, and I'm all for giving them the opportunity to turn things around."

[Photo: Pacific Coast News]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/fx-boss-believes-in-charlie-sheen-redemption/

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