"I think it's harder, there's no doubt about it," Obama told reporters on Tuesday. "It puts more of a burden on us."

The state-based exchanges, created under the 2010 healthcare law, were designed to offer individuals a centralized place to buy health insurance policies for 2014. But a number of mostly Republican-led states have opted out, pushing individuals to the back-up federally run exchange.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Jackie Frank)

(This story was refiled to add dropped words to quote in the second paragraph.)

But participants fell short in their efforts to require more information and consent among nations trading in a construction material, Chrysotile asbestos, and a formulation of the powerful herbicide, Paraquat, despite support from most of the 169 nations represented at the two-week U.N. summit.

Achim Steiner, executive director of the U.N. Environment Program, said the negotiations by delegates to three major environmental treaties reflected awareness that many of the 100,000 chemicals used by industry or agriculture, or sold in commercial products, still haven't been tested for their effects on people and nature.

"If you just take the fact that 100,000 of these are out there, you can imagine that for many countries, particularly for developing countries and least-developed countries, this presents an enormous problem simply being able to ascertain, to regulate and to manage the inflow of these products. That is why international cooperation is essential," Steiner said.

"Some of these compounds are dangerous, some of them are lethal, whether to human health, to the environment," he added. "Therefore, as evidence becomes available, the conventions have tried to provide the mechanisms for the phasing out of these substances, or for introducing the principle of prior informed consent, so countries are made aware that products they import contain substances that are deemed to be of high risk, or of great danger to environment and human health."

Officials in charge of three key international treaties said delegates agreed by consensus to a gradual phase out of the flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD, which is used in building insulation, furniture, vehicles and electronics. The phase out would begin a little more than a year from now, but there also would be specific exemptions for five years on some construction uses in buildings.

The chemical will be added to the Stockholm Convention, which now regulates 22 toxic substances such as DDT and PCBs. The treaty takes aim at chemicals that can travel long distances in the environment and don't break down easily.

Delegates also agreed to tougher controls on disclosure of information about exports of an insecticide, Azinphos-methyl; two flame retardants, PentaBDE and OctaBDE; and a fabric protector, PFOS.But efforts to include two other substances Chrysotile asbestos and a Paraquat formulation were blocked by a few nations. India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe did not support adding Chrysotile asbestos; Guatemala and India were opposed to adding the Paraquat formulation.

The Paraquat formulation already is banned in more than 40 countries, including Switzerland, the home country of agrochemicals giant Syngenta, the main manufacturer of it.

Those actions fell under the Rotterdam Convention, which regulates information about the export and import of 43 hazardous chemicals.

Some 1,885 delegates and observers participated in the first joint meeting of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions that govern chemicals and hazardous waste and are each headquartered in Geneva. The conference culminated in a high-level meeting among about 80 ministers.

The Basel Convention regulates the export and import of hazardous waste. Participants in that treaty tried to finalize e-waste guidelines, but they were not adopted because some developed countries and the electronics industry would not agree without adding loopholes to allow repairable electronic waste to be exempted, said advocacy group IPEN, a global network of more than 700 public interest non-governmental organizations.

Following his acclaimed debut last year, the pressure has been stacked on the Belgian designer to deliver again in what is only his second ready-to-wear show in one of the most influential jobs in fashion.

At Paris' Hotel des Invalides, fashion editors fought through swelling crowds to take a glimpse into the storied house's future.

They saw Simons live up to their expectations.

Other shows of the day expressed fall fashions through vivid color, like in the strong showings from Issey Miyake and Roland Mouret.

Some like Isabel Marant got into the wintry mood through muted palettes, serving up some great comfy knitwear.

CHRISTIAN DIOR

Raf Simons confidently evolved the angular portions of previous seasons' work into softer, more saleable silhouettes. The new Bar jacket, looser and in trendy wool denim, seemed to point to a man who's finally settled in to his role.

This season was the supplest fusion so far of his minimalism and the house's ultra-femininity and curves.

Fall-winter saw a parade of "memory dresses," some 48 looks that delved into the iconic houndstooth, peplums, and the original '40s designs of Monsieur Dior himself. They hit the catwalk reimagined, sometimes asymmetrically, alongside enormous mirror ball decor.

Like thought bubbles, the silver spheres set the tone for the musing, which included an embroidered tulle bustier A-line dress an archive piece called "Miss Dior 1949" reworked in hip embroidered black leather. Elsewhere, blown-up houndstooth had a surreal quality, in vertical slices down column silhouettes. It was a great re-working of the classic pattern first used by the house in the late '50s.

Apart from one burst of vermillion, the muted palette of black, navy, white and pale pink was further proof of his evolution. After all, while at Jil Sander, it was Simons who started the bright color trend that's now spread across the world.

There was plenty of imagination with silhouettes delving into the fashions of the '50s and even '60s. And prints and embroideries of surreal eyes and tears that resembled ants, gave the show a surrealistic edge, reminiscent of Salvador Dali. However, the show could have done without the motifs by Andy Warhol, such as a sparking stiletto print, which sometimes jarred as overly adolescent, and a tad tacky.

Overall, the show was a success; one step further on in Dior's mission statement for the designer, to "propel its iconic style into the 21st century."

ISSEY MIYAKE

Issey Miyake cast a few minutes of sunshine over a gray Paris sky on Friday with a show brimming with color.

Checkered patterns added to the fun, and it was invigorating to see them on models, who actually smiled as they walked.

The show's inspiration, said designer Yoshiyuke Miyamae, "comes from landscape seen from the sky."

Optical crisscrosses of varying thickness created great dynamic movements on stretch fabric, as he imagined an aerial view of a dense forest.

Not all of the 42 looks worked. Some came across as busy, especially toward the end. But the mastery of tonal color really stole the show.

Tops in rich ultramarine, vivid jade and vermilion saw colors blocked together in changing intensities. And discords such as green with bright turquoise made pockets stand out.

ROLAND MOURET

The most Parisienne of the silver screen icons, Catherine Deneuve, was the inspiration behind Roland Mouret's playful, colorful and womanly show.

But this was not the shy Deneuve of New Wave classic "Belle de Jour," but the actress of the glamorous 1983 film "The Hunger" with sharp '80s shoulders and garish eye makeup.

The bold palette popular of that era with its blue marine, russet, beige, black and dark red worked with panache here in setting off the saleable va-va-voom silhouettes.

As ever, Mouret's derrieres were the most flattering seen this season. But the most interesting feature was his square details and paneling.

Sometimes softly asymmetrical, three-dimensional fabric folds gave the collection the feeling of being slightly off-kilter.

Sublime statement coats hung down from an incredibly strong retro shoulder-frame with the best look in ultramarine.

ISABEL MARANT

"The starting point was that in winter you just don't want to dress up," said Isabel Marant of her relaxed Paris show that played with layers and featured some great cosy knitware in off-white and black.

The loungy attitude was a neat contrast to the show venue: Paris' monumental Place Vendome, which is steeped in grand history.

Gone were the signature Marant motifs; as were the embellishments, apart from the odd set of studs on a belt or a black jacket.

In their place: comfy silhouettes for an uncomplicated fall.

Elongated T-shirts were mixed and matched with vests, truncated sweaters and some menswear pieces.

On-trend peekaboo slits near the bust were a reminder, though, that Marant may have forgotten to get complicated, but she hasn't forgotten to be sexy.

Saturday's shows include Viktor & Rolf, Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier.

_____

Thomas Adamson can be followed at http://Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House announced a new $150 million initiative on Thursday to get uninsured Americans covered under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, as Republicans raised the volume on their calls for "Obamacare" to be repealed.

The enrollment program will funnel money to about 1,200 community health centers to hire and train thousands of workers who will help people obtain coverage through new subsidized online marketplaces and an expanded Medicaid program for the poor.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also announced that she and other officials will travel the country to promote enrollment, as part of a larger public education and media campaign to begin this summer.

Public outreach is key to the success of Obama's landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act because Democrats could be at risk in next year's congressional midterm elections if enrollment does not go well later this year and in early 2014.

But with the administration preparing for its summer campaign, Republicans have begun cranking up their opposition message machine.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell sent Obama a letter on Thursday saying they would not participate in picking members of a controversial panel called the Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, which the reform law created to recommend ways to restrain Medicare spending if program cost growth exceeds set targets.

"We believe Congress should repeal IPAB, just as we believe we ought to repeal the entire healthcare law," Boehner and McConnell said in their letter.

House Republicans, who have voted to repeal or cut funding for the law three dozen times, intend to vote again next week on another repeal that is expected to pass the House. As before, that effort will go nowhere in the Democratically controlled Senate.

Both the letter and the vote are largely symbolic but could signal growing Republican determination to get out in front of the administration's public outreach program with a message that could reinforce already widespread public dislike for the law.

BATTLE OVER WOMEN

"Republicans are taking advantage of the timing of uncertainty and a lack of education about the health reform law before the administration has time to tell its positive, popular aspects," said Julie Barnes, a healthcare expert at the consulting group Breakaway Policy Strategies.

The biggest piece of social legislation since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s, the Affordable Care Act is expected to draw 7 million people next year to new state healthcare marketplaces, or exchanges, where low-to-moderate income families will be able to obtain private insurance at subsidized rates. Another 8 million people are expected to gain coverage through Medicaid.

Those figures compare with nearly 49 million Americans who lack health insurance.

Officials said the new $150 million outreach effort is being funded through an $11 billion community health center budget and will channel money to centers that operate 9,000 service delivery sites in all 50 states, serving approximately 21 million patients a year.

Open enrollment is set to begin on October 1, giving the administration barely five months to complete the Herculean task of establishing exchanges in 33 states that are unready or unwilling to create their own. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia plan to operate their own exchanges.

The Department of Health and Human Services has set aside about $1.26 billion for implementation this fiscal year, which ends September 30.

Because the law's main provisions are not set to begin until January 1, 2014, analysts say the administration faces a challenge overcoming public misunderstandings about the law to persuade enough young, healthy people to sign up for coverage to keep costs from soaring.

Healthy consumers are necessary to compensate for the added risks of insuring older or sick people, who use more healthcare services and are expected to sign up in large numbers.

On Friday, Obama will personally host a White House event to promote the law's benefits for women, who will get free coverage for preventive services such as mammograms.

McConnell, citing the event, delivered his own message about the healthcare law and women on Thursday.

"There are many ... small businesswomen who will see their dreams crushed under the weight of Obamacare's nearly 20,000 pages of regulations," he said on the floor of the Senate. (Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro and Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Fred Barbash, Jackie Frank and Philip Barbara)

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A European Union plan to label crude from the Alberta oil sands as dirty is unfair and could damage Canada's bid to find new export markets, the Canadian resources minister said at the start of a mission to lobby against the idea.

As part of a plan to cut greenhouse gases from transport fuel, the EU's executive commission has developed a Fuel Quality Directive that would single out oil from Alberta's tar sands as more polluting than conventional crude.

Canada, whose oil sands are the world's third-largest proven reserves of crude, strongly opposes the move.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, speaking at the start of a week-long trip to Paris, Brussels and London, said the directive should be changed to ensure it does not discriminate against crude from the oil sands.

"We think that's critical as an alternative to what we view as a flawed and ineffective approach that's proposed by the commission," he told Reuters in an interview from Paris.

Extracting crude from the clay-like Alberta oil sands requires more energy than conventional oil production. Environmentalists say that increases greenhouse gas emissions, making the oil sands a top target for the green movement.

Ottawa is unhappy the directive would not penalize Russia, which both burns and releases natural gas while extracting oil. Oliver said this means Russian crude extraction produces at least as many emissions as tar sands oil, if not more.

"If you're giving a free pass to a high emitter who happens to be one of the biggest exporters into the Union, then how are you achieving your objectives? This is all very logical, it's hard to argue against," he said.

Last year, amid heavy Canadian lobbying, the EU held an inconclusive vote on the directive and then decided to assess the full impact of the plan. That assessment is due in the next few months, paving the way for another vote.

Although Canada sends almost no crude to the EU now, that could change if proposals to create pipeline capacity from Alberta to Canada's East Coast are successful.

"We're not exporting to the EU at the moment but we don't want to see our crude oil stigmatized, which could possibly have implications elsewhere," said Oliver, adding that Canada did not oppose the goals of the fuel quality directive.

"What we want is a scientific fact-based approach that makes its judgment based on the scientific realities and not sort of a preconceived idea ... that our oil should be treated differently," he told Reuters.

Canada sends 99 percent of its oil exports to the United States. But a glut of supply and full pipelines are cutting prices, a problem that underlines the Canadian industry's need to find new markets.

The EU vote on the directive last year ended in stalemate amid misgivings from Britain and the Netherlands. Both nations have stakes in Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which operates in the oil sands, as does France's Total SA.

Oliver is meeting senior executives from both companies during his mission, as well as officials from the European Commission and industry groups. He declined to predict how successful his trip would be.

"I've got this great hand but the final results aren't yet in. We're arguing from logic and we're arguing from equity, in all fairness. You hope that prevails," he said.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Galloway)

In a letter to Dell's board on Thursday night, Icahn and Southeastern proposed that current owners keep their equity position with the option to either receive $12 per share in cash or $12 in additional shares valued at $1.65 per share.

Under the plan, shareholders could hold on to existing stock and have the option of receiving a distribution of $12 a share in cash or $12 a share in stock valued at $1.65 a share.

They said they would finance the proposal from existing cash and about $5.2 billion in new debt.

Both Icahn and Southeastern would take additional shares rather than cash, they said in the letter.

Dell shares rose 0.7 percent to $13.41 in premarket trade on Friday.

Icahn and Southeastern said if Dell's board pursues the go-private offer with a shareholder vote, they will put up a slate of 12 directors to challenge the current board.

Icahn and Southeastern, both outspoken opponents of the go-private deal, said in the letter they together hold about 13 percent of Dell stock.

Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake want to take the company private for $13.65 a share, amounting to a $24.4 billion deal. That would make it the largest private equity-led buyout since the 2008 financial crisis.

A Silver Lake representative declined to comment. Dell was not immediately available for comment.

Icahn and Southeastern have argued that the buyout effort by Michael Dell and Silver Lake significantly undervalues the company.

"We want this board to hear from both Icahn and Southeastern loud and clear that it is insulting to shareholders' intelligence for the board to tell them that this board only has the best interests of shareholders at heart, and then accept Michael Dell's offer to purchase the company he founded," the letter said.

In April, Blackstone LP ended its pursuit of Dell, pulled out a month after it teamed up with Icahn to challenge the take-private attempt.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad and Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Edwina Gibbs, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Should I deny myself as an individual and be pulled along, or is it better to stay quiet and just be who everyone expects you to be? -- INDEPENDENT THINKER IN FLORIDA

DEAR INDEPENDENT THINKER: Independent thinkers are the people who have contributed the most to society. Our most important scientific discoveries were conceived by individuals who chose not to accept conventional thinking. The same is true for religion -- Jesus was an independent thinker.

I'm not sure what kind of conversation you feel the adults in your life are trying to discourage. But people who are deeply committed to their religious faith can feel offended or threatened if their beliefs are challenged. Even though you are an independent thinker, you should be respectful of the beliefs of others.

DEAR ABBY: Around the time of my sister's wedding, she and her fiance, "Greg," tried to get me and their best man, "Bruce," together. They brought him along when they would visit and encouraged us to date. Not long after the wedding we did start dating.

Bruce is a great guy and I enjoy being with him. My problem is, he's my brother-in-law's nephew even though they are close in age. (Bruce's mom is Greg's half sister.)

Am I dating a family member? Are we committing incest? Should we end this relationship? I don't know what is "right." -- WEIRDED OUT IN WISCONSIN

DEAR WEIRDED OUT: Bruce is not a blood relative; he is related to you by marriage. That is not the same as incest. If you care about each other, the right thing to do is continue the relationship and see where it leads. "Great guys" can make great husbands.

DEAR ABBY: My husband fathered a child in high school that was placed for adoption. His mother has become very close with the adoptive family and visits often. My husband does not. However, my mother-in-law constantly asks him to go on vacation with her to visit the child. I also found out that she sends the child gifts and signs my husband's name on the cards.

Abby, I feel this is hugely disrespectful not only to me, but also to my husband. He has chosen not to get involved with this child because he doesn't think it's fair to the adoptive family. He also doesn't wish to become attached. We have already told her she is overstepping her boundaries, but it continues to happen. What can we do? -- FRUSTRATED IN THE SOUTH

DEAR FRUSTRATED: Your mother-in-law may have the best of intentions, but forging your husband's name is dishonest. Sooner or later the child will find out the truth, and the result may be painful. However, there is nothing you can do to control your husband's mother's behavior, so accept it and don't take it personally.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For everything you need to know about wedding planning, order "How to Have a Lovely Wedding." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Wedding Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Yum Brands Inc , the largest foreign fast-food chain in China, is strengthening its media strategy in the country in a bid to win back customer loyalty after a series of food scares that decimated sales this year.

State media and social web sites criticized Yum's response to charges in December that there were too many chemicals in chicken dishes at its KFC restaurants. An avian flu scare earlier this year and reports of false mutton being sold in China have affected both its KFC and Little Sheep chains.

Same store sales in China have dropped sharply since the start of the year and Yum now expects April sales, set to be announced later on Friday, to decline an annual 30 percent.

U.S.-listed Yum, which has over 39,000 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants in more than 130 countries, has launched a campaign called "Operation Thunder" to reverse the loss of confidence in China, its biggest market.

It also appears to have a tie-up with Shanghai-based consultancy CIC, one of the largest social media management firms in China that harvests over 100 million consumer comments online every month from a range of Chinese social media sites.

Sam Flemming, the chief executive CIC, told Reuters he could not comment on Yum's media strategy because of a "client relationship" between his firm and the U.S.-listed chain.

In March, Flemming told trade journal "Ad Age" that after a slow response late last year, KFC has taken on a more active approach to social media.

A U.S.-based spokesman for Yum said he had no knowledge of the relationship with CIC, but said the firm was "in the process of implementing" a cutting-edge social media monitoring and analysis system that should be up and running by early June.

That would support Yum's drive to boost its social media prowess in the region, particularly in china, where industry insiders say word-of-mouth marketing plays an unusually large role in consumer choice.

Yum's chief executive David Novak has also changed tack. In February, he said spending on marketing could mean "wasting a lot of money". More recently, on an earnings call in late April, he revealed Yum had significantly "beefed-up" its social media monitoring systems.

CORPORATE ARROGANCE

Yum's troubles in China began in December when it was accused of selling chicken laced with excessive chemicals. It was cleared of any wrongdoing and publicly apologized over its handling of the affair, but that did not spare it being accused of "arrogance" by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Since then it has suffered from the impact of an avian flu outbreak that hit chicken sales in China, and more recently an official report on fake mutton threatened to embroil Yum's Little Sheep hotpot chain in a fresh scandal.

Yum said there was no truth in the mutton allegations and the Shanghai Municipal Food Safety Committee said on Thursday that while investigations were ongoing, there was currently no evidence that Little Sheep had used fake mutton.

Food safety is high on the agenda in China and consumers make steep demands of foreign brands, meaning they can easily come under attack if there is any suggestion of malpractice.

"When there was an issue with the chickens, it was linked to KFC, now that there's a lamb problem, there are ties with Little Sheep. Yum, what's going on?" wrote one user on China's popular Twitter-like Weibo.

However, chatter on the miroblog has dimmed since a peak in December, with mentions of "KFC" falling to a year-low in April.

Market watchers, critical of Yum's initial response to setbacks in China, said the chain needs to revamp strategy for it to return to the rapid growth it once enjoyed in the region.

"If the response was more orchestrated, sustained and structured, they would absolutely have been able to deal with this crisis a lot better," said U.S.-based Ragy Thomas, CEO of social media management firm Sprinklr.

"Companies can actually mitigate and be prepared for these events and deal with it before it becomes a fire."

(Additional reporting by Lisa Baertlein in LOS ANGELES and Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

[More from BGR: ]

Verizon and Nokia have never clicked as partners. In recent years, Verizon has given strong support to Motorola, HTC and, since 2011, to Apples iPhone. But in Q1 2013, something surprising happened: Windows smartphone share at Verizon jumped to 5.1% from 0.2% in Q1 2012. This happened while the iPhones share slumped to 46% from 52% and BlackBerrys share crashed to 0.4% from 2.2%. In June, Verizon will launch the Lumia 928 flagship phone. Its a make-or-break moment for Nokia in North America because AT&T simply isnt going to work as the main partner. Verizons share of the US smartphone market is rising close to 40% roughly ten points above AT&T. Like Robb Stark, Nokia is compelled to court the House Frey, the owners of the bridge that spans the Trident.

[More from BGR: ]

Despite heavy promotional support for the Lumia 920 launch in November, the Windows smartphone market share at AT&T grew by only a baby step, to 5.3% in Q1 2013 from 4.7% in Q1 2012. The iPhone is diabolically powerful at AT&T, still grabbing 63% of its smartphone sales in an atypically weak quarter for Apple. Nokia cannot make a real impact in North America without a big hit at Verizon. AT&Ts strong dependence on the iPhone makes it barren ground for Windows phones. The new tactic ofcould help Nokia to build budget phone market share. But to get into double digit national smartphone share, it needs Verizon.

It is fascinating that Windows market share at Verizon during the last quarter bounced to precisely the same level as at AT&T even though Verizon sales were limited to rather boring budget Lumias. Verizon subscribers seem far more adventurous when it comes to OS switching. And now that HTC, BlackBerry and Apple are all stumbling simultaneously, Nokia is never going to get a better shot at strong carrier support. Of course, both HTC and BlackBerry are rolling out new models simultaneously with the Lumia 928. But both have lost the big store footprint they had built by having multiple hot models out at Verizon back in 2011.

The Verizon-Nokia relationship has been rocky for more than a decade, starting from the late 90s when Nokia would debut its hottest models at GSM carriers like Voicestream and Omnipoint. As a result, Verizon never promoted Nokia models strongly or gave them flagship treatment. In order to get strong support for the Lumia 928, Nokia will have to convince Verizon to break a 15 year habit of type casting Nokia models as grandma phones. The marketing and sales support for Lumia 928 will be of crucial importance, particularly compared with how strongly Verizon opts to push the new HTC and BlackBerry models.

This article was

Launches of Triumph's concept bras in Tokyo have become a regular event over the past quarter of a century and are an important publicity tool for 127-year-old, Swiss-headquartered company.

The latest "Branomics Bra" follows earlier solar-powered, recycled and "husband-hunting" models but, like its predecessors, will not go on sale.

The "Branomics Bra" is a playful take on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "three-arrow" economic revival plan that combines monetary strategy aiming to reach 2 percent inflation in two years and pro-growth reforms.

It features a rising trendline and arrows as motifs and promises a 2 percent increase in volume with extra padding.

"We hope that, as the Japanese economy grows, we can also help bust sizes to get bigger," said Triumph spokeswoman Keiko Masuda.

Its benefits for Japan's policymakers were less clear.

(Reporting by Ruairidh Villar; Writing by Tomasz Janowski; Editing by Elaine Lies and Paul Tait)