PHILADELPHIA — The wife of a Philadelphia abortion doctor

PHILADELPHIA — The wife of a Philadelphia abortion doctor, a cosmetologist who admitted helping him perform very late-term abortions at his corrupt, grimy clinic, said Wednesday that she was sorry for trusting her husband and was sentenced seven to 23 months in prison.
Pearl Gosnell had pleaded guilty to racketeering and performing an illegal abortion past Pennsylvania's 24-week limit. She said her husband, Kermit, told her the abortions were all performed within the legal limit and she believed him. He was convicted this month of first-degree murder in the deaths of three infants born alive.
"I am the wife of Kermit Gosnell, I am not happy about that now and I haven't been for a long time," Pearl Gosnell, 51, told Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner at her sentencing hearing.
She said her husband took the "cowardly" path for not speaking at his trial or apologizing for his crimes.
The judge gave her time credit for nearly three months she spent in jail after her arrest.
Former employees testified that Kermit Gosnell routinely performed illegal abortions past the 24-week limit; delivered babies who were still moving, whimpering or breathing; and dispatched the newborns by "snipping" their spines, as he referred to it.
Gosnell was also convicted in the death of patient Karnamaya Mongar, who was given a fatal overdose of painkillers.
The case became a flashpoint in the nation's polarized abortion debate. Foes said it exposed the true nature of abortion in all its disturbing detail. Abortion rights activists warned that Gosnell's practice foreshadows what women could face if abortion is driven underground with more restrictive laws.
A former clinic employee, who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and other charges, was sentenced Wednesday to time served after being jailed for 28 months.
Adrienne Moton, 36, had pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and other charges. Lerner said he was sending Moton home and she has shown remorse for her crimes.
In an emotionally wrought statement, Moton told the court she thought she was helping women but never thought about the babies at Gosnell's clinic.
The judge rescheduled the sentencing dates for clinic workers Lynda Williams, 43; Sherry West, 53; and Tina Baldwin, 47, because the women still have unresolved federal drug charges.
West and Baldwin are now scheduled to be sentenced June 24. Williams is due in court July 1.

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RICHMOND, Va. -- Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. has agreed to buy Smithfield Foods for approximately $4.72 billion

By MICHAEL FELBERBAUM

RICHMOND, Va. -- Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. has agreed to buy Smithfield Foods for approximately $4.72 billion, the largest acquisition of a U.S. company by a Chinese company.

Hong Kong-based Shuanghui owns a variety of global businesses that include food, logistics and flavoring products and is China's largest meat processing enterprise. Smithfield, the world's biggest pork producer, owns brands such as Armour, Farmland and its namesake label.

Shareholders of Smithfield will receive $34 a share under terms of the deal announced Wednesday -- a 31 percent premium to the Smithfield, Va., company's closing stock price Tuesday of $25.97.

Both companies' boards have unanimously approved the transaction, which still needs approval from Smithfield's shareholders. The transaction may also be subject to review by the U.S.'s Committee on Foreign Investment.
 The companies put the deal's total value at about $7.1 billion, including debt. Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD) has about 138.8 million outstanding shares, according to FactSet. Smithfield's stock will no longer be publicly traded once the deal closes.

Its shares surged $7.23, or 27.8 percent, to $33.20 in premarket trading Wednesday.

Shuanghui has 13 facilities that produce more than 2.7 million tons of meat a year. Under the agreement, there will be no closures at Smithfield's facilities and locations, including its Smithfield, Va., headquarters, the companies said.

Smithfield's existing management team will remain in place and Shuanghui also will honor the collective bargaining agreements in place with Smithfield workers. The company has about 46,000 employees.

"This transaction preserves the same old Smithfield, only with more opportunities and new markets and new frontiers," Smithfield CEO Larry Pope said in a conference call. "This is not a strategy to import Chinese pork into the United States ... this is exporting America to the world."

With China and U.S. being "the most important markets," Zhijun Yang, managing director of Shuanghui, said in a conference call with investors, "together we can be a global leader in animal protein. No other combination has such a great opportunity."

In recent months, Smithfield's second-largest shareholder, Continental Grain Co., has been pushing Smithfield to consider splitting itself up, saying it was time for the company to "get serious about creating shareholder value." Following a March letter from Continental Grain, Smithfield said it would review the suggestions "in due course." Representatives from Continental Grain did not immediate provide comment regarding Wednesday's news.

In its most recent quarter, in March reported its net income rose more than 3 percent, helped by gains in hog production, its international business and its packaged meats such as deli meats, bacon, sausage, and hot dogs -- a large growth area for the company.

Still pork producers like Smithfield have been caught in a tug of war with consumers. The company needs to raise prices to offset rising commodity costs, namely the corn it uses for feed. But consumers are still extremely sensitive to price changes in the current economy. By raising prices, Smithfield risks cutting into its sales should consumers cut back or buy cheaper meats, such as chicken.

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AP business writer Michelle Chapman in New York contributed to this report.

TED Stage Let's Talk About Suicide

My sharing of John's story was my first attempt to spark a conversation about the taboo subject of suicide, and in particular the challenge of coming back from an attempt and choosing life. It worked well enough to bring more than a half million viewers to see it. It's been lovingly translated into 39 languages by volunteers and shown at numerous TEDx events around the world. I said in the talk that I was trying to "start a conversation worth having about an idea worth spreading." That idea is determining how best to support the many people who attempt suicide but fail and seek to return to life.
What I've learned since the privilege of delivering this talk and then having TED put it online has been profound.
1) Breaking the silence is not an event, but a process. Through hundreds of emails and thousands of comments on various websites, it is clear that attempt survivors don't just break the silence one time, but over and over and over again. Or they don't, and live in the silence after once having a bad experience with sharing their secret with another.
2) Tough questions don't have easy answers. I'm a layperson with no training in the healing arts. I attempted to start a conversation, but then could mostly just listen (or rather) read as others were inspired to share about their journey. Where possible I pointed people to the best resources I knew but felt inadequate to do more.
3) Conversations are a crucial, but slow path to change. In my own life I've witnessed the self-inflicted deaths of several people I've loved and known. While I wanted their closest friends and family members to share their stories too, I was powerless to cause that. I simply remained open to the conversation, replied to each email or invitation to chat, and urged strugglers to find or build the network of committed listeners in their own lives to further the conversation.

My TEDTalk may have begun a conversation, but the challenge now is how to continue that dialogue. JD Schramm

My TEDTalk may have begun a conversation, but the challenge now is how to continue that dialogue. The first book I know of that treated this topic directly was Richard Heckler's 1996 Waking Up Alive. Just this month he published a second edition and in the preface he offers encouragement for all of us to continue this conversation:
"Perhaps no other life-threatening condition on the planet can be so positively impacted by honest, forthright and intimate conversations with friends, loved-ones, clients and colleagues. As we do this, we demystify suicide. We render it approachable by creating a net of understanding so strong and a willingness to intervene imbued with such resolve, that people can no longer fall through the cracks."
And yet no conversation, no matter how meaningful and powerful, can bring back the millions we've already lost to suicide. The loved ones of these victims also have a thirst for conversation and our efforts to engage with them may very well prevent the next loss to suicide if we can all continue to break the silence and share our journeys. For it is in the sharing of these journeys that we become vulnerable and open to healing.
In my mind ending the taboo of suicide remains a conversation worth having and an idea worth spreading. Join me in continuing to make that possible for others.
Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TEDWeekends will highlight some of today's most intriguing ideas and allow them to develop in real time through your voice! Tweet #TEDWeekends to share your perspective or email tedweekends@huffingtonpost.com to learn about future weekend's ideas to contribute as a writer.