The 28-year-old, winner of the Criterium du Dauphine on Sunday, told the Times newspaper that he wanted to be in a position to win the Tour for years to come.

"I've got my goals and personally where I want my career to go is to target the Tour, not just this year but for the next six or seven years, and each time to line up at the Tour ready to try and contend for the yellow jersey," he said.

"I am driven by that goal, not from a fame point of view," added the rider, who finished last year's Tour as runner-up to Wiggins.

This year's race starts on June 29 with Froome the official Sky team leader and one of the favorites in the absence of four-times Olympic champion Wiggins, who has been ruled out by injury and illness.

Froome has been on top form this year, also winning the Tour of Oman, the Criterium International and Tour of Romandie before Sunday's success in France's third biggest stage race.

"I have been a lot more consistent with my numbers this year and I have been able to hit the numbers that last year I thought were exceptional," he told the newspaper.

"And I feel I can still get better. Last year I felt 'I am really flying now'. This year I am hitting that comfortably now."

The rider said Wiggins's absence had not left Sky notably weakened.

"We do have a very strong team and regardless of Bradley there or not, I do feel we have all our bases covered," said Froome.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Herbal supplements aimed at improving men's sexual abilities often contain the active ingredients in erectile dysfunction pills such as Viagra, according to a new study.

Additionally, researchers found that some of these over-the-counter herbal remedies contained more of the ingredient than is allowed in prescription-only pharmaceuticals.

"It's pretty scary stuff," said Neil Campbell, the lead author of the study and a researcher at Pfizer, which sells Viagra. "These products are not herbal at all, they're adulterated."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is in charge of regulating herbal supplements, posted 11 warnings to consumers in 2013 alerting them of unlabeled pharmaceuticals being found in these products.

Campbell and his colleagues analyzed 91 samples from 58 products.

They sent undercover consumers into convenience stores and gas stations in the Atlanta and Baltimore areas, and bought products such as Rize 2 The Occasion, Stiff 4 Hours, and Man King.

Although 57 of the products claimed to be "all natural," 81 percent of them contained the tadalafil or sildenafil (marketed as Cialis and Viagra, respectively) or similar ingredients that are not approved by the FDA.

The products also had labeling problems, indicating poor quality production, according to the authors. In some cases, expiration dates or lot numbers were missing, manufacturers could not be identified, or samples of the same product had different appearances.

"There's so little effort to do something the right way to produce a legitimate product," Campbell told Reuters Health. "This is an all time low."

None of 10 supplement companies contacted by Reuters Health responded to a request for comment, nor did the FDA.

Campbell said given the potential side effects and health risks associated with prescription erectile dysfunction drugs, men are "risking their lives" taking herbal sex enhancement drugs.

"Almost one patient a day says they've tried Mojo or one of these over-the-counter products," said Dr. Gregory Lowe, an assistant professor of urology at Ohio State University who was not part of this study.

"One of the big concerns is that we don't know what the patient's getting," he added.

Seven samples that Campbell's group analyzed contained only unknown substances.

"Commonly, I hear patients say, 'it worked one time and it didn't work other times.' And that fits in well with what they found here" that quality control is lacking, he added.

It's unclear where the ingredients are coming from.

Lowe advises men who are interested in taking these pills to talk to their doctors first.

He says patients often turn to these products because they are cheap - costing between $2.99 and $17.99, according to Campbell's study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

But they are taking a health risk in doing so.

Erectile dysfunction medicines can be unsafe for men taking nitrates for chest pain, but only 14 of the samples in the study included a warning against combining the drugs.

"Unfortunately, to an unwitting patient they think they're taking an herbal product," said Campbell. "It really poses a really scary threat for patient health and safety."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/17KGjiu Journal of Sexual Medicine, online May 1, 2013.

The couple was keeping silent on Sunday in the wake of multiple reports that Kardashian gave birth over the weekend about a month premature.

But Kardashian's sister Khloe appears to have let a rather cryptic cat out of the bag on Twitter.

"I can not even begin 2describe the miracle that is now apart of our family. Mommy/baby are healthy &resting. We appreciate all of the love," she tweeted Sunday.

She quickly followed with a second tweet: "More info will come when the time is right! Thank you all for understanding! We love you all dearly! Overwhelmed with love right now."

Kardashian mom Kris Jenner linked to both tweets on her Twitter account, then wished West a Happy Father's Day.

Asked for comment on the red carpet at the Daytime Emmys, where she was a presenter, Jenner said, "She's in charge," pointing at her publicist who whisked her away from print reporters after doing TV interviews.

The reality TV star's pregnancy was almost as anticipated as the royal pregnancy of Kate Middleton, who is due in mid-July. That's about the time the Kardashian baby had been due.

The 32-year-old has often been photographed since announcing she was pregnant, opting to continue to wear designer clothing. She told The Associated Press in April that she eventually embraced being an expecting mom after getting past "the awkward phases and stages."

The couple had initially kept the baby's gender a secret, but the sex was revealed earlier this month during one of Kardashian's doctor appointments on "Keeping up with the Kardashians."

News of the birth has been swaddled in secrecy. Representatives for West and Kim Kardashian didn't respond to emails and calls from The Associated Press, nor did any representatives for family members, friends and professional associates. And all of the weekend media reports on the birth were attributed to anonymous sources.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, West said he didn't like talking about his family or the arrival of his child.

"Like, this is my baby. This isn't America's baby," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Beth Harris contributed to this story from Beverly Hills, Calif.

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle. []

"'Do what you love' is an important message, but it's unwise to build a career on the notion that we should all be paid for our passions," argues Carl McCoy at .

McCoy says that instead of asking themselves what they love, graduates should identify what they're working toward. "The answer lies in working with a deeper sense of purpose or vocation," he writes, adding, "Does the doctor love going into the hospital to see a patient in the middle of the night? Does the firefighter love entering a burning building? Does the teacher love trying to control a classroom full of disrespectful children? Not likely. But the work is performed with a sense of purpose that 'love' doesn't capture."

Beyond limiting their perspective, telling college grads to do what they love "sets young people up to fail," say sociologists Lisa Wade and Gwen Sharp at . "[I]t's ok to set your sights just a tad below occupational ecstasy. Just find a job that you like. Use that job to help you have a full life with lots of good things and pleasure and helping others and stuff."

Doing what you love for work can actually ruin the fun, says Alison Green in . "You might love to bake, and your friends might regularly swoon over your cakes and tell you to open a bakeshop. But getting up at the crack of dawn every day, baking 100 cakes daily, and dealing with difficult customers and the stress and finances of running your own business might have nothing to do with what you love about baking — and might sap the joy right out of it." She goes on:

"Do what you love" is privileged advice that ignores the fact that the majority of the world's population works to get food and housing, not for emotional or spiritual fulfillment. And even among the most socioeconomically privileged piece of the population — the segment that this advice is usually targeted to — it causes an awful lot of angst and even shame over not loving your career when people are telling you that you should. []

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ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Top producer Ivory Coast will offer a temporary refund on mid-crop cocoa in a bid to stimulate purchasing that has been hampered by small bean size, the country's marketing board, the CCC, announced in a statement posted on its website.

Ivory Coast forward sold the bulk of the anticipated 2012/13 crop in order to fix a minimum guaranteed price for farmers as part of sweeping reforms that ended a decade of sector liberalisation.

However, exporters and local processors have complained that the price set for cocoa harvested during the April-September mid-crop failed to reflect the lower value of the smaller, lower quality beans.

"A refund on quality varying from 58 CFA to 130 CFA francs per kg is granted on all cocoa purchases with a bean count from 116 to 140 beans per 100 grammes," the CCC said in the statement.

The refund will apply to beans purchased during a roughly 40-day period from June 17 through July 31, the CCC said, adding that it would not affect the price paid to farmers which was fixed at 700 CFA francs/kg for the mid-crop.

The CCC set a maximum bean count - the measure of bean size - of 120 beans per 100g for beans exported during the mid-crop, though companies with local processing facilities can buy up to a bean count of 140 beans/100g.

But the CCC said both exporters and grinders had been reluctant to purchase cocoa above a bean count of 115 beans/100g.

While traders and analysts are predicting above-average output from the mid-crop, dry weather in the early months of this year has seen higher levels of undersized beans than in previous seasons.

Exporters said the CCC's decision to offer a refund was a step in the right direction but cautioned that it was probably not enough to pull Ivory Coast out of its current buying slump.

"I agree with what the CCC has done, but it's a drop in the ocean since we're not allowed to export over 120 (beans/100g)," said the director of a San Pedro-based export and processing company.

"Some grinders might buy up to 125 to mix in with the rest, but this isn't going to change my buying policy," he said.

Rather than playing it politically safe, the Kentucky freshman is attacking government surveillance programs that many other Republicans and many American voters in general defend.

It could hurt him if GOP activists, who dominate primary elections, decide Paul over-emphasizes privacy at the expense of secret data-collection programs, which the administration says are essential to detecting potential terrorists.

The strategy suggests Paul hopes to inherit his father's libertarian loyalists even if it might complicate efforts to reach a much wider electorate, capable of nominating him and electing him to the White House.

Ron Paul was never a strong contender for the GOP nomination. Many people dismissed him as a fringe candidate with nonmainstream ideas, such as returning to the gold standard and ending the "war on drugs."

His son can't afford that label if he hopes to go further politically.

At a Washington news conference Thursday, Rand Paul urged Americans to sign a petition supporting an eventual class-action lawsuit. It will contend that the surveillance programs violate constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, he said.

"Americans are rightly concerned about having all of their phone records collected and monitored all of the time," Paul said. Joining him were several tea party-leaning House members and officials from the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups.

The on-line petition also seeks donations to Paul's political action committee.

Recent news reports described two far-reaching programs run by the National Security Agency. One gathers hundreds of millions of U.S. phone records to search for possible links to terrorists abroad. The other lets the government tap into nine U.S. Internet companies and gather all communications to detect suspicious behavior that begins overseas.

The NSA's director, Army Gen. Keith Alexander, told Congress the programs have helped thwart dozens of terrorist acts.

Paul's activism contrasts with more cautious reactions by other possible 2016 presidential contenders, including some with strong tea party support.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., largely defends the surveillance programs. "We're trying to stop really bad people from doing really bad things," he told reporters this week.

"These programs are effective in that regard," Rubio said. "But if they are not properly managed, you can foresee how they could be abused."

Another tea party-backed senator weighing a presidential run Ted Cruz of Texas said of the surveillance programs, "What we have seen so far is troubling." However, Cruz said, "at this point we don't have a clear picture of what their policy is."

Some GOP leaders, including House Speaker John Boehner, forcefully defend the surveillance programs.

Depending on how they're worded, polls show varying degrees of public support for the NSA techniques. A Gallup poll it described government collection of phone and Internet records as part of "efforts to investigate terrorism" found most Americans disapproved.

Disapproval was strongest among Republicans, a sentiment that Paul might wisely be tapping, analysts said.

Paul "has his finger on the pulse of conservatives," said veteran GOP strategist Terry Holt. However, he said, it's too early to determine how the surveillance issue will play out in Republican primaries three years from now.

Kyle Downey, who worked for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, agreed. The privacy rights issue "has potential to become a populist front," Downey said. "Paul could use an issue like this to rally support with both his and his father's fundraising network."

Paul said he hopes millions of Americans will join a class-action lawsuit challenging the NSA programs. "There is a large groundswell of people who are upset about their privacy," he said.

If true, it may help Paul's legal ambitions this year. And it may fuel his political ambitions in 2016.

___

Follow Charles Babington on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbabington .

The 36-year-old, who has signed a two-year deal with the Belgian club, had established himself as a leading player for Nuremberg since joining in 2010 from PSV Eindhoven.

"Timmy Simons is a player with a strong personality and experience who enjoyed great respect at the club," said Nuremberg sports director Martin Bader in a statement, adding it was the defender who had asked to leave the club.

"We very much regret his early return to Belgium."

Simons, who played for Bruges from 2000 to 2005, featured in 110 games in all competitions for Nuremberg and scored 14 goals during his three seasons in Germany.

"I had three great and successful years here with a sixth place and two 10th place finishes. I'm very thankful for Nueremberg also because they gave me the chance to move," said Simons. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)

The fight over Gov. Jan Brewer's Medicaid plan was expected to trickle into Thursday morning as a newly formed coalition of Democrats and GOP moderates maneuvered their budget through the House and Senate amid opposition from conservatives who have traditionally controlled state government.

During the floor debate, Brewer's allies largely refused to answer questions or discuss provisions in the proposed budget, drawing rebukes from conservatives who warned of unchecked government.

"How are you not embarrassed for yourself?" said Republican Rep. J. D. Mesnard of Chandler, an opponent of the expansion. "Is anyone going to stand up and give a defense?"

Senate President Andy Biggs, who has fought the Medicaid expansion for months, implored Democrats and moderate Republicans to allow for debate after he was sidelined by Brewer's supporters.

"Some don't want to have discussion and think I am trying to embarrass them. I am not trying to embarrass them. This is a massive bill," he said on the floor.

Brewer shocked many by announcing she was embracing a signature part of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul in January after years battling against it. She drew support from the business community, hospitals, health care workers and patients, but many of her former Republican allies quickly labeled her a traitor.

With little notice, Brewer called lawmakers into a special session late Tuesday, allowing moderates to take over both chambers by voting to suspend normal rules and to limit debate on the budget.

The Medicaid plan would add about 300,000 people to the state's coverage, called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. It would cover people making between 100 percent and 138 percent of the federal poverty level and restore coverage to more than 100,000 childless adults who lost Medicaid coverage because of a state budget crunch. About 1.3 million Arizonans already are covered by the state's plan.

Brewer's supporters introduced Tuesday an $8.8 billion budget similar to the plan approved by the Senate last month. It will not include a big "economic development" tax-cut plan backed by House Speaker Andy Tobin.

"We have a huge economic incentive in this budget it's called Medicaid," Democratic Minority Leader Chad Campbell said. "That's a $2 billion economic incentive program right there."

As Republicans grew increasingly irate Wednesday, Brewer's office released a statement that sought to distance her from the federal health care law that allows for the Medicaid expansion.

"Arizona's Medicaid program, known as AHCCCS, has existed for three decades . going back to President Obama's college days," wrote spokesman Matthew Benson in an email. "AHCCCS is not the Affordable Care Act. It is not ObamaCare. It is the nation's gold standard in terms of cost-effective Medicaid programs."

Biggs and Tobin both argue that the federal government is likely to go back on its promise to fund the Medicaid expansion and point to Washington's huge debt.

After adjournment Tuesday, Biggs and Tobin released an angry statement rife with insults toward Brewer: "We are frustrated and bewildered by her overt hostility and disregard for the budgetary process which was already well under way."

A calmer Tobin on Wednesday took some of the blame, saying he let his efforts to change Brewer's Medicaid proposal linger too long before dumping them.

"I probably should have reached a conclusion that my option for Medicaid was not really being taken seriously a lot earlier," Tobin said. "My mistake was I probably overestimated that there was a chance to really come to an agreement on the Medicaid that was more acceptable."

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Though the leaders are smiling in the above photo, there's reason to believe that there's plenty of tension between them. While Obama is staying at Sunnylands during the summit ("presumably in the canary yellow master bedroom where speakers pipe in the songs of the birds outdoors," The New York Times ), Xi decided to stay at a nearby Hyatt, where he was . While housing the Chinese delegation of over 200 people is great for the hotel, it seems a bit odd that Xi is giving Sunnylands the cold shoulder. Surely there's plenty of room for him in the 25,000 square foot home with 22 guest bedrooms? 

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Or maybe he's afraid of being spied on:

President Xi wont be staying at luxurious Sunnylands retreat because of eavesdropping worries instead he and his wife at nearby Hyatt

After , I can't really blame him.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of the new film "The Great Gatsby," and his foundation have teamed up with Christie's for a charity auction next week to benefit environmental causes.

Thirty-three works, many created for and donated to the auction by some of the world's top artists, will go under the hammer on Monday in New York at The 11th Hour Auction, which aims to raise as much as $18 million to protect the last wild places on Earth and their endangered species.

"A lot of the works of this quality have never been at auction. We have what we believe are conservative estimates," Loic Gouzer, international specialist at Christie's and the head of the sale, said in an interview.

"It is going to be the biggest one-time environmental fundraiser ever," he added.

Zeng Fanzhi's "The Tiger," an oil on canvas, Bharti Kher's "The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own," a work on fiberglass, and Mark Grotjahn's "Untitled (Standard Lotus No. II, Bird of Paradise, Tiger Mouth Face 44.01), an oil on cardboard mounted on canvas, are expected to be among the highlights of the sale.

Each of the three works has a pre-sale estimate of $1.5 million to $2.5 million.

Other artists whose work will be auctioned include Peter Beard, Banksy, Robert Longo, Richard Prince, Rob Pruitt, Ed Ruscha, Julian Schnabel and Elizabeth Peyton.

DiCaprio has donated "Ocean V" by Andreas Gursky to the auction.

"The roster of donations reads like a who's who of the most important contemporary artists of our time," said Brett Gorvy, chairman and international head of post-war and contemporary art at Christie's. "And the impact will be felt for generations."

A panel of environmental experts and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation will decide which innovative conservations projects will benefit from the proceeds of the sale.

Gouzer said he and DiCaprio, whose foundation has worked on environmental issues since 1998, approached the artists and explained what they hoped to accomplish with the auction, which they have been planning for a year.

"We explained that we wanted great works and they were very reactive because of the cause. The artists are very sensitive to the fact that we are destroying our planet," Gouzer said.

DiCaprio, who grew up in Los Angeles, has been a vocal supporter of the environment and preserving the planet's natural resources. The actor produced and narrated the 2007 documentary "The 11th Hour" a documentary about the state of the natural environment.

"Nature is abundant and it is resilient, but we have to take action now to protect our planet before it is too late," DiCaprio said in a statement.

"Given that less than 2 percent of philanthropic giving goes to environmental conservation projects, we are grateful that Christie's and the participating artists are providing this incredible opportunity."

"The Great Gatsby" opens in U.S. theaters on Friday.

(Editing by Paul Simao)