U.S. Pledges Food, Medical Aid and $60 Million to Syrian Opposition

ROME — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday that the United States would provide food rations and medical supplies to the Free Syrian Army, the military wing of the opposition that is fighting to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The assistance represents the first time that the United States has publicly committed itself to sending nonlethal support for armed factions that are battling the Assad government in the two-year-old uprising.

But the supplies Mr. Kerry announced fell well short of the weapons and equipment Syrian rebels have requested. And it remained unclear how such modest support might change Mr. Assad’s calculations about his ability to retain power, which Mr. Kerry has repeatedly said is Mr. Assad’s goal.

In addition to the nonlethal aid, the United States is providing $60 million in assistance to help the political wing of the Syrian anti-Assad coalition improve the delivery of basic services like sanitation and education in areas it has already wrested from the government’s control.

Mr. Assad is “out of time and must be out of power,” Mr. Kerry said, after meeting with Moaz al-Khatib, the leader of the Syrian opposition coalition, during a conference in Rome of the so-called “Friends of Syria” countries that support the anti-Assad uprising in Syria.

Defending the limited program of assistance to the Free Syrian Army, Mr. Kerry said that other countries would also provide help and that the “totality” of the effort would make an impression on Mr. Assad.

“We’re doing this, but other countries are doing other things,” Mr. Kerry said. But neither he nor any diplomat here provided details about that effort.

Britain is planning to provide more substantial nonlethal aid, which could include vehicles, bulletproof vests and night vision equipment, according to an American official. British officials have been consulting with their European counterparts about what sort of nonlethal aid might be allowed under the terms of European Union decisions and plans to announce its steps soon.

There has been speculation that the Obama administration might expand its program of support to the Free Syrian Army to include nonlethal equipment if rebel fighters use the initial assistance effectively and do not allow any of it to fall into the hands of extremists.

But Mr. Kerry provided no indication that such a phased expansion of nonlethal support was being planned by the White House.

American officials declined to discuss an ongoing covert program to train rebel fighters or the extent to which it has made a difference on the battlefield.

Some members of the Syria opposition said they were disappointed by the results of the Rome session.

“It is obvious that the real support is absent,” said Dr. Walid al-Bunni, a member of the anti-Assad coalition. What the resistance needed most, he said, was weapons. “What we want is to stop the Scuds launched on Aleppo, to stop the warplanes that are bombing our town and villages.”

Mr. Khatib, for is part, delivered an emotional statement in which he urged that steps be taken to establish a humanitarian corridor to the besieged city of Homs and complained that many in the West were too quick to judge some members of the opposition as Islamic extremists because of “the length of a beard of a fighter.”

“Bashar Assad, for once in your life, behave as a human being,” Mr. Khatib said. “Bashar Assad, you have to make at least one wise decision in your life for the future of your country.”

Facing divisions within the Syrian opposition about the value of the meeting, Mr. Khatib had initially decided to boycott the conference until he was encouraged to attend in phone calls from Mr. Kerry and Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

One aim of the $60 million in assistance is to help the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, the umbrella resistance group that the United States backs and has helped shape, build up its credibility within the country and contest the influence of extremist groups like the Al Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda affiliated organization.

American officials have become increasingly concerned that the Al Nusra Front is making inroads among the Syrian population by dispersing assistance in the areas it controls, replicating a successful strategy used by Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese Shiite organization that is a politically powerful force in Lebanon.

Reporting was contributed by Anne Barnard and Hwaida Saad from Beirut, Lebanon, Mark Landler from Washington and Christine Hauser from New York.

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BP Executive Shares Blame With Contractors

NEW ORLEANS — On the second day of testimony in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill trial, BP’s top executive for North American operations at the time of the disaster insisted that his company was not solely to blame and shared responsibility for the accident with its contractors.

Lamar McKay, the former president of BP America and current chief executive in charge of global upstream operations, faced questioning on Wednesday from lawyers from Transocean, the Deepwater Horizon rig, and Halliburton, the cement provider, who insisted that BP was ultimately responsible for the accident.

“We agreed that we are part of the responsibility for this tragic accident,” Mr. McKay said on the stand. “We were part of the cause of the accident, yes.”

Don Godwin, Halliburton’s lawyer, argued that had tests that BP had misinterpreted shown that the cement that sealed the well was defective, the cement could have been fixed and the accident would not have happened.

“We agreed there were misinterpretations,” Mr. McKay said. “That was one of the causes.” But he added that BP depends on its contractors.

On Tuesday, Mr. McKay acknowledged that a well explosion had been identified as a risk before it happened.

“There was a risk identified for a blowout,” he said. “The blowout was an identified risk, and it was a big risk, yes.”

Robert Cunningham, a lawyer for private plaintiffs, tried to pin down Mr. McKay on BP’s responsibility for the 2010 disaster that killed 11 workers and dumped millions of barrels of oil into the gulf. Mr. Cunningham suggested that the British company’s cost-cutting and risk-taking culture were at the heart of the explosion and spill. He pressed Mr. McKay on the fact that a BP report on the accident held contractors responsible, but did not cite management failures.

Mr. McKay repeatedly responded that BP was responsible for designing the well, but that the rig, cement and other contractors shared responsibility for safety on the drilling operations.

“It’s a team effort,” he said. “It’s a shared responsibility to manage the safety and risk.” There was little, if anything, in his comments that diverged from what BP executives have said in the past.

The Federal District Court trial in New Orleans combines suits brought by the Justice Department, state governments, private businesses and individual claimants against BP and several of its contractors. Decisions on culpability and damages could be a year or more away, but they are likely to have profound effects on environmental law and on the viability of BP as a major oil company with global ambitions.

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Personal Health: Too Many Pills in Pregnancy

The thalidomide disaster of the early 1960s left thousands of babies with deformed limbs because their mothers innocently took a sleeping pill thought to be safe during pregnancy,

In its well-publicized wake, countless pregnant women avoided all medications, fearing that any drug they took could jeopardize their babies’ development.

I was terrified in December 1968 when, during the first weeks of my pregnancy, I developed double pneumonia and was treated with antibiotics and codeine. Before swallowing a single dose, I called my obstetrician, who told me to take what was prescribed, “reassuring” me that if I died of pneumonia I wouldn’t have a baby at all.

In the decades that followed, pregnancy-related hazards were linked to many medicinal substances: prescription and over-the-counter drugs and herbal remedies, as well as abused drugs and even some vitamins.

Now, however, the latest findings about drug use during pregnancy have ignited new concerns among experts who monitor the effects of medications on the developing fetus and pregnancy itself.

During the last 30 years, use of prescription drugs during the first trimester of pregnancy, when fetal organs are forming, has grown by more than 60 percent.

About 90 percent of pregnant women take at least one medication, and 70 percent take at least one prescription drug, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since the late 1970s, the proportion of pregnant women taking four or more medications has more than doubled.

Nearly one woman in 10 takes an herbal remedy during the first trimester.

A growing number of pregnant women, naïvely assuming safety, self-medicate with over-the-counter drugs that were once sold only by prescription.

While many commonly taken medications are considered safe for unborn babies, the Food and Drug Administration estimates that 10 percent or more of birth defects result from medications taken during pregnancy. “We seem to have forgotten as a society that drugs pose risks,” Dr. Allen A. Mitchell, professor of epidemiology and pediatrics at Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine, said in an interview. “Many over-the-counter drugs were grandfathered in with no studies of their possible effects during pregnancy.”

Medical progress has contributed to the rising use of medications during pregnancy, Dr. Mitchell said. Various conditions, like depression, are now recognized as diseases that warrant treatment; drugs have been developed to treat conditions for which no treatment was previously available, and some conditions, like Type 2 diabetes and hypertension, have become more prevalent.

Misled by the Web

Now a new concern has surfaced: Bypassing their doctors, more and more women are using the Internet to determine whether the medication they are taking or are about to take is safe for an unborn baby.

A study, published online last month in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, of so-called “safe lists for medications in pregnancy” found at 25 Web sites revealed glaring inconsistencies and sometimes false reassurances or alarms based on “inadequate evidence.”

The report was prepared by Cheryl S. Broussard of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with co-authors from Emory, Georgia State University, the University of British Columbia and the Food and Drug Administration.

“Among medications approved for use in the U.S.A. from 2000 to 2010, over 79% had no published human data on which to assess teratogenic risk (potential to cause birth defects), and 98% had insufficient published data to characterize such risk,” the authors wrote.

But that did not stop the 25 Web sites from characterizing 245 medications as “safe” for use by pregnant women, which “might encourage use of medications during pregnancy even when they are not necessary,” the authors suggested.

Furthermore, the information found online was sometimes contradictory. “Twenty-two of the products listed as safe by one or more sites were stated not to be safe by one or more of the other sites,” the study found.

The question of timing was often ignored. A drug that could interfere with fetal organ development might be safe to take later in pregnancy. Or one (for example, ibuprofen) that is safe early in pregnancy could become a hazard later if it raises the risk of excessive bleeding or premature delivery.

Fewer than half the sites advised taking medication only when necessary, and only 13 sites encouraged pregnant women to consult their doctors before stopping or starting a medication.

Doctors, too, are often poorly informed about pregnancy-related hazards of various medications, the authors noted. One woman I know was advised to wean off an antidepressant before she became pregnant, but another was told to continue taking the same drug throughout her pregnancy.

“In many instances the best bet is for mom to stay on her medication,” said Dr. Siobhan M. Dolan, an obstetrician and geneticist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She said that if a woman is depressed during pregnancy, her risk of postpartum depression is greater and she may have difficulty bonding with her baby.

Dr. Dolan, who is author, with Alice Lesch Kelly, of the March of Dimes’ newest book, “Healthy Mom Healthy Baby,” emphasized the importance of weighing benefits and risks in deciding whether to take medication during pregnancy and which drugs to take.

“In anticipation of pregnancy, a woman taking more than one drug to treat her condition should try to get down to a single agent,” Dr. Dolan said in an interview. “Of the various medications available to treat a condition, is there a best choice — one least likely to cause a problem for either the baby or the mother?”

She cautioned against sharing medications prescribed for someone else and assuming that a remedy labeled “natural” or “herbal” is safe. Virtually none have been tested for safety in pregnancy.

Among medications a woman should be certain to avoid, in some cases starting three months before becoming pregnant, are isotretinoin (Accutane and others) for acne; valproic acid for seizure disorders; lithium for bipolar disorder; tetracycline for infections, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor antagonists for hypertension, Dr. Dolan said.

“Many medications that are not recommended during pregnancy can be replaced with low-risk alternatives,” she wrote.

Dr. Broussard, who did the “safe lists” study, said in an interview, “We’ve heard about women seeing medications on these lists and deciding on their own that it’s O.K. to take them. “Women who are pregnant or even thinking about getting pregnant should talk directly to their doctors before taking anything. They should be sure they’re taking only what’s necessary for their health condition.”

A reliable online resource for both women and their doctors, Dr. Mitchell said, are fact sheets prepared by OTIS, the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists, which are continually updated as new facts become available: http://www.otispregnancy.org.

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Gadgetwise Blog: A Wireless Speaker With a Wi-Fi Connection

When we talk wireless speakers, we still generally mean speakers that connect to players by Bluetooth.

There is nothing wrong with Bluetooth, but Wi-Fi, which can carry a lot more information, can sound a lot better. That is part of the reason we are seeing more Wi-Fi and Apple AirPlay speakers on store shelves.

Among them is the Libratone Zipp, a 10-inch tall canister with a fuzzy cover that makes it look like a small, colorful roll of carpet.

The Zipp’s Wi-Fi connection is supposed to be Apple- and Android-friendly. The connection with the iPhone was easy; in my test I set the iPhone’s Wi-Fi network to Libratone, then went to the music player, hit the AirPlay button, picked Libratone again and was connected through the play direct feature. That feature broadcasts directly from the phone to the speaker without going through your larger Wi-Fi network.

Connecting with a Android phone was did not work so easily, which is to say at all. Even with help from support and a software update, I was unable to get a Motorola RAZR Maxx to connect. Support said the problem seemed to be a faulty speaker.

The Zipp says it also supports DLNA, which should make it work with Windows, but I didn’t test that feature.

The Zipp is portable – it claims four hours of battery life when using Wi-Fi – but it isn’t exactly light weight, tipping the scales at four pounds.

The sound quality is good, thanks partially to a 4-inch woofer and a pair of 1-inch ribbon speakers, although I don’t know if it’s fair to call a monaural speaker “high fidelity,” as Libratone does.

There is one major drawback to using Wi-Fi to connect a player and speaker. Once the Wi-Fi is occupied by the Zipp, you can’t use it to connect to your Pandora, Slacker or other streaming audio account. So no streaming audio. You could get around this by connecting the device using a USB cable, which also doubles the Zipp’s battery life.

The Zipp, which comes in any of eight colors, starts at $400 list price online.

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News Analysis: Now Gathering in Rome, a Conclave of Fallible Cardinals

Dmitry Lovetsky/Associated Press

St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday. Roman Catholic cardinals were gathering at the Vatican amid scandal to choose a new pope.

The sudden resignation of the most senior Roman Catholic cardinal in Britain, who stepped aside on Monday in the face of accusations that he made unwanted sexual advances toward priests years ago, showed that the taint of scandal could force a cardinal from participating in the selection of a new pope.

His exit came as at least a dozen other cardinals tarnished with accusations that they had failed to remove priests accused of sexually abusing minors were among those gathering in Rome to prepare for the conclave to select a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. There was no sign that the church’s promise to confront the sexual abuse scandal had led to direct pressure on those cardinals to exempt themselves from the conclave.

Advocates for abuse victims who were in Rome on Tuesday focused particular ire on Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, the former archbishop of Los Angeles, and called for him to be excluded from the conclave. But Cardinal Mahony, who has vigorously defended his record, was already in Rome, posting on Twitter about the weather.

Even stalwart defenders of the church point out that to disqualify Cardinal Mahony would leave many more cardinals similarly vulnerable. Many of the men who will go into the Sistine Chapel to elect a pope they hope will help the church recover from the bruising scandal of sexual abuse have themselves been blemished by it.

“Among bishops and cardinals, certainly the old guys who have been involved for so long, sure they’re going to have blood on their hands,” said Thomas G. Plante, a professor of psychology at Santa Clara University, who has served on the American bishops’ national abuse advisory board and has written three books on sexual abuse. “So when Cardinal Mahony says he’s being scapegoated, in some respects I think he’s right. All the focus is on him, but what about the other guys?”

Among the many challenges facing the church, addressing the wounds caused by sexual abuse is among the top priorities, church analysts say. When Benedict was elected pope in 2005, many Catholics hoped that his previous experience at the helm of the Vatican office that dealt with abuse cases would result in substantive changes.

Benedict has repeatedly apologized to victims, and listened personally to their testimonies of pain. After the abuse scandal paralyzed the church in Europe in 2010, and began to emerge on other continents, Benedict issued new policies for bishops to follow on handling sexual abuse accusations, and he held a conference at the Vatican on the issue. But despite calls from many Catholics, he never removed prelates who, court cases and documents revealed, put children at risk by failing to report pedophiles or remove them from the priesthood.

It is not that these cardinals behaved so differently from the others, or that they do not have achievements to their names. It is just that they happened to come from pinpoints on the Catholic world map where long-hidden secrets became public because victims organized, government officials investigated, lawyers sued or the news media paid attention.

They include cardinals from Belgium, Chile and Italy. They include the dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, who is accused of taking large monetary gifts from a religious order, the Legion of Christ, and halting an investigation into its founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel — who was later exposed as a pathological abuser and liar.

They also include cardinals reviled by many in their own countries, like Cardinal Sean Brady, the primate of All Ireland, who survived an uproar after government investigations uncovered endemic cover-ups of the sexual and physical abuse of minors.

“There’s so many of them,” said Justice Anne Burke, a judge in Illinois who served on the American bishops’ first advisory board 10 years ago. “They all have participated in one way or another in having actual information about criminal conduct, and not doing anything about it. What are you going to do? They’re all not going to participate in the conclave?”

Even one cardinal frequently mentioned as a leading candidate for pope has been accused of turning a blind eye toward abuse victims. A Canadian, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, issued apologies to the many victims of abuse in church boarding schools in Quebec Province, but left behind widespread resentment when he reportedly refused to meet with them.

Pascale Bonnefoy contributed reporting from Santiago, Chile; Ian Austen from Ottawa; and Gaia Pianigiani from Rome.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 27, 2013

An earlier version of this article misstated part of the address of a Web site that tracks abuse cases. It is BishopAccountability.org, not BishopAccountability.com.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 27, 2013

An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the Roman church over which Cardinal Bernard Law presides. It is a basilica, not a cathedral.

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Wall Street Sheds Morning Gains

Stocks mostly rose on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, defended the Fed’s bond-buying stimulus before Congress, but warned that forced spending cuts that could be set in motion this week represented a headwind for the economy.

Gains in homebuilders and other consumer stocks, following strong economic data, kept the overall market nearly unchanged, while a 5 percent jump in Home Depot lifted the Dow industrials. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange housing sector index rose 2 percent.

Stocks hit session highs shortly after Mr. Bernanke, in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, strongly defended the Fed’s bond-buying stimulus program that has been essential for the stock market’s recovery.

But he also urged lawmakers to avoid sharp spending cuts set to go into effect on Friday, which he warned could combine with earlier tax increases to create a “significant headwind” for the economic recovery.

“He really came down foursquare on the bearish camp with respect to the potential economic impact of these cuts,” said Michael Jones, chief investment officer of Riverfront Investment Group in Richmond, Va. “That’s a surprise, and that’s probably why the market’s a little nervous right now.”

In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 74.64 points or 0.54 percent to 13,858.81. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index gained 1.78 points or 0.12 percent to 1,489.63. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.84 points or 0.19 percent to 3,110.41.

The S.&P. 500 failed to move above 1,500, a closely watched level that was technical support until recently, but could now become a hurdle.

The cable programmer AMC Networks was the Nasdaq’s biggest percentage decliner after AMC, the home of popular shows such as “The Walking Dead” and “Mad Men,” reported a quarterly profit far below analysts’ estimates. Its stock fell 7.4 percent to $53.77.

Equities continued to be weighed by concerns about a stalemate in Italy after a general election failed to give any party a parliamentary majority, posing the threat of prolonged instability and European financial crisis.

The FTSEurofirst-300 index of top European shares unofficially closed down 1.3 percent at 1,150.58. The benchmark Italian index tumbled 4.9 percent.

Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement chain, was the top gainer in both the Dow and the S.&P. 500 after it reported adjusted earnings and sales that beat expectations. Home Depot’s shares jumped 5.5 percent to $67.46.

Macy’s shares climbed 2.8 percent to $39.60 after the department-store chain said it expected full-year earnings to be above analysts’ forecasts because of strong holiday sales.

Economic reports that showed strength in housing and consumer confidence also supported stocks.

United States home prices rose more than expected in December, according to the S.&P./Case-Shiller index. Consumer confidence rebounded in February, rising more than expected, and new-home sales rose to their highest in four and a half years.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 26, 2013

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misidentified the Senate panel before which Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, was testifying Tuesday. It was the Banking Committee, not the Finance Committee.

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Recipes for Health: Roasted Carrots and Scallions — Recipes for Health

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

I bought incredibly sweet, thick red scallions and multicolored bunches of carrots from a farmer at my market and roasted them with fresh thyme. Then I sprinkled on some crushed toasted hazelnuts, which contributed a nice crunchy texture and nutty finish to the dish. If you have a bottle of hazelnut oil or walnut oil on hand, a small drizzle just before serving is a welcome touch.

1 ounce hazelnuts (about 1/4 cup)

1 pound carrots, preferably young small carrots, any color (but a mix is nice)

1 bunch white or purple spring onions or scallions

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Optional: a drizzle of hazelnut oil or walnut oil for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 8 to 10 minutes, until they smell toasty and they are golden all the way through (cut one in half to check). Remove from the oven and turn up the heat to 425 degrees.

2. Immediately wrap the hazelnuts in a clean, dry dish towel. Rub them in the towel to remove the skins. Then place the skinned hazelnuts in a plastic bag or, if you have one, a disposable pastry bag and set on your work table in one layer. Use a rolling pin to crush the nuts by rolling over them with the pin. Set aside.

3. Line a sheet pan with parchment or oil a baking dish large enough to fit all of the vegetables in a single layer. If the carrots are small, just peel and trim the tops and bottoms. If they are medium-sized, peel, cut in half and cut into 4-inch lengths. Quarter large carrots and cut into 4-inch lengths. Trim the root ends and greens from the spring onions or scallions. If they are bulbous, cut them in half. Season with salt and pepper, add the thyme and olive oil and toss well, either directly on the pan or in the dish or in a bowl. Spread in an even layer in the baking dish or on the baking sheet.

4. Roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. The onions may be done after 10 minutes – they should be soft and lightly browned. Remove them from the pan if they are and hold on a plate. When the carrots and onions are tender and browned in places, remove from the oven. Add the onions back into the mix if you removed them and toss together. Sprinkle on the toasted ground hazelnuts, drizzle on the optional nut oil, and serve.

Yield: Serves 4

Advance preparation: The vegetables can hold for a few hours once roasted; cover and reheat in a medium oven.

Nutritional information per serving: 171 calories; 11 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 milligrams cholesterol; 16 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 89 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 2 grams protein

Martha Rose Shulman is the author of “The Very Best of Recipes for Health.”

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Recipes for Health: Roasted Carrots and Scallions — Recipes for Health

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

I bought incredibly sweet, thick red scallions and multicolored bunches of carrots from a farmer at my market and roasted them with fresh thyme. Then I sprinkled on some crushed toasted hazelnuts, which contributed a nice crunchy texture and nutty finish to the dish. If you have a bottle of hazelnut oil or walnut oil on hand, a small drizzle just before serving is a welcome touch.

1 ounce hazelnuts (about 1/4 cup)

1 pound carrots, preferably young small carrots, any color (but a mix is nice)

1 bunch white or purple spring onions or scallions

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Optional: a drizzle of hazelnut oil or walnut oil for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 8 to 10 minutes, until they smell toasty and they are golden all the way through (cut one in half to check). Remove from the oven and turn up the heat to 425 degrees.

2. Immediately wrap the hazelnuts in a clean, dry dish towel. Rub them in the towel to remove the skins. Then place the skinned hazelnuts in a plastic bag or, if you have one, a disposable pastry bag and set on your work table in one layer. Use a rolling pin to crush the nuts by rolling over them with the pin. Set aside.

3. Line a sheet pan with parchment or oil a baking dish large enough to fit all of the vegetables in a single layer. If the carrots are small, just peel and trim the tops and bottoms. If they are medium-sized, peel, cut in half and cut into 4-inch lengths. Quarter large carrots and cut into 4-inch lengths. Trim the root ends and greens from the spring onions or scallions. If they are bulbous, cut them in half. Season with salt and pepper, add the thyme and olive oil and toss well, either directly on the pan or in the dish or in a bowl. Spread in an even layer in the baking dish or on the baking sheet.

4. Roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. The onions may be done after 10 minutes – they should be soft and lightly browned. Remove them from the pan if they are and hold on a plate. When the carrots and onions are tender and browned in places, remove from the oven. Add the onions back into the mix if you removed them and toss together. Sprinkle on the toasted ground hazelnuts, drizzle on the optional nut oil, and serve.

Yield: Serves 4

Advance preparation: The vegetables can hold for a few hours once roasted; cover and reheat in a medium oven.

Nutritional information per serving: 171 calories; 11 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 milligrams cholesterol; 16 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 89 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 2 grams protein

Martha Rose Shulman is the author of “The Very Best of Recipes for Health.”

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Gadgetwise Blog: Q&A: Staying Safe From Java Threats

I hear lots of scary stuff about hackers getting into computers thru Java. What do I need to do to make my Mac and PC safe? Any worries about tablets?

Java is a computing platform with its own programming language that is used in many games, business applications and other utilities. It runs on more than 850 million computers worldwide and is used often by Web browsers. Recent attacks on Apple and Facebook used a flaw in the Java Web browser plug-in to infect computers with malicious software when visiting certain sites, and the Department of Homeland Security even issued a warning about Java back in January.

Computers running Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are most at risk. Tablets running systems like Android and iOS are not generally affected; mobile browsers have a setting for the JavaScript programming language, but JavaScript is basically unrelated to Java and its not subject to the current malware issues.

Disabling Java in your Web browser should protect your computer from the recent types of security threats, although you may not be able to play certain games or use Java-dependent applications. Oracle, which develops Java, has instructions for disabling Java in several browsers on Windows, Mac and Linux systems. Independent security sites, like Krebs on Security and Sophos, have additional information.

Apple released its own Mac OS X update to deal with the Java problem on Feb. 19, and the Macworld site has an article on going beyond the browser plug-in and removing Java altogether. Oracle has instructions for uninstalling Java completely on a Windows system, as well as on a Mac.

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India Ink: Image of the Day: Feb. 26

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