Egyptians narrowly back Islamist-shaped constitution, say rival camps


CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians voted narrowly in favor of a constitution shaped by Islamists and which opponents said was a recipe for deepening divisions in the nation, officials in rival camps said on Sunday after the first round of a two-stage referendum.


The result based on unofficial tallies, if confirmed for this round and repeated in Saturday's second stage, may give Islamist President Mohamed Mursi limited cause for celebration as it shows the wide rift in Egypt at a time when he needs to build consensus on tough measures to heal a fragile economy.


Official results are not expected till after the next round.


Mursi and his backers say the constitution is vital to move Egypt's democratic transition forward. Opponents say the basic law is too Islamist and tramples on minority rights, including those of Christians who make up 10 percent of the population.


The build-up to Saturday's vote was marred by deadly protests. Demonstrations erupted last month when Mursi awarded himself sweeping powers and then fast-tracked the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies.


The vote passed off peacefully with long queues forming in Cairo and other cities and towns where this round of voting was held. The vote was staggered because many judges needed to oversee polling staged a boycott to voice their opposition.


But late on Saturday, as polls were closing, Islamists attacked the offices of the liberal opposition Wafd party newspaper, a party that was part of the National Salvation Front coalition that pushed for a "no" vote.


"The referendum was 56.5 percent for the 'yes' vote," a senior official in the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party operations room set up to monitor voting told Reuters.


The Brotherhood and its party, which propelled Mursi to power in a June election, had representatives at almost all polling stations across the 10 areas, including Cairo, where this round of voting was held.


The official, who asked not to be identified, said the tally was based on counts from more than 99 percent of polling stations in this round.


'VERY CLOSE'


One opposition official also said the vote appeared to have gone in favor of Islamists who backed the constitution, after the opposition had previously said late on Saturday when voting ended that their exit polls indicated the "no" camp would win.


Another opposition official had suggested as counting proceeded through the night that the vote would be "very close".


Even a narrow loss could hearten leftists, socialists, Christians and more liberal-minded Muslims who make up the disparate opposition camp, which has been beaten in two elections since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year.


They were drawn together to oppose what they saw as Mursi's power grab and his constitution push. Their National Salvation Front includes prominent figures such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, former Arab League chief Amr Moussa and firebrand leftist Hamdeen Sabahy.


If the constitution is approved, a parliamentary election will follow early next year. Opposition leaders say the Front could help unite the opposition for that poll after their divided ranks have split the vote in previous elections.


But analysts questions whether the group in this form will survive to a parliamentary election. The Islamist-dominated lower house of parliament elected earlier this year was dissolved based on a court order in June.


Violence in Cairo and other cities has plagued the run-up to the referendum. At least eight people were killed when rival camps clashed during demonstrations outside the presidential palace earlier this month.


Several party buildings belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood's party have been burned by angry protesters.


'MOVE ON'


On Friday, a day before the vote, rival factions armed with clubs, knives and swords fought in the streets of Alexandria. Opposition supporters trapped a Muslim preacher inside his mosque after he called for a "yes" vote.


"The sheikhs (preachers) told us to say 'yes' and I have read the constitution and I liked it," said Adel Imam, 53, as he queued to vote in Cairo on Saturday. "The country will move on."


Echoing the views of many Christians, Michael Nour, a 45-year-old Christian teacher in Alexandria, said: "I voted 'no' to the constitution out of patriotic duty. The constitution does not represent all Egyptians."


In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of voters who cast ballots. A little more than half of Egypt's electorate of 51 million were eligible to vote in the first round.


Rights groups reported some abuses, such as polling stations opening late, officials telling people to vote "yes," bribery and intimidation.


But Gamal Eid, head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, which is monitoring the vote, said nothing reported so far was serious enough to invalidate the referendum.


Islamists have been counting on their disciplined ranks of supporters and the many Egyptians desperate for an end to turmoil that has hammered the economy and sent Egypt's pound to eight-year lows against the dollar.


Howaida Abdel Azeem, a post office employee, said: "I said 'yes' because I want the destruction the country is living through to be over and the crisis to pass."


If the constitution is voted down, a new assembly will have to be formed to draft a revised version, a process that could take up to nine months.


The army has deployed about 120,000 troops and 6,000 tanks and armored vehicles to protect polling stations and other government buildings. While the military backed Mubarak and his predecessors, it has not intervened in the present crisis.


(Additional reporting by Tamim Elyan; Writing by Edmund Blair and Giles Elgood; Editing by Eric Walsh)



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Britain looks to Chinese tourists for Christmas cheer






LONDON - With their shelves spilling over with festive goodies, London's department stores are working hard to attract Christmas shoppers -- but Chinese visitors are the particular target of a charm offensive.

Hotels, retailers and the government are stepping up efforts to woo big-spending Chinese visitors in a bid to bounce back from Britain's longest recession in half a century.

Congee and dumplings are on the breakfast menu at enterprising hotels, major London stores have installed Chinese bank card terminals, and Mandarin-speaking staff are on hand to help out with the Christmas shopping.

Britain is courting Chinese travellers not only because they are a rapidly growing market -- they made an estimated 70 million overseas trips in 2011, up 20 percent in just a year -- but because they are serious shoppers.

"My goodness, they spend," said Patricia Yates, director of strategy for the VisitBritain tourism authority.

"The average Chinese visitor spends about three times as much -- 1,600 pounds (US$2,600, 2,000 euros) -- as the average visitor to Britain," she told AFP.

"So they're very welcome by the retail industry at the moment, who have seen domestic demand soften."

Purveyors of luxury goods in particular have welcomed affluent Chinese visitors with open arms.

The renowned Harrods department store, in London's exclusive Knightsbridge district, now has 70 Mandarin-speaking staff and more than 100 China Union Pay terminals allowing direct payment from Chinese bank accounts.

A Harrods spokeswoman said jewellery and watches, fashion and fine wines were top of the shopping list for many Chinese customers.

"They seek out the very latest, limited edition and exclusive products," she told AFP.

Beneath the twinkling Christmas lights on London's central shopping artery Oxford Street, too, Chinese shoppers were on the lookout for designer items.

"We think London is the capital of fashion," said Harry Gao, a fashion student from the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou, who was wrapped up against the drizzle in a fur coat and gold trainers.

"Lots of famous designers are from the UK. It's lots of fun."

A record 149,000 Chinese visitors came to Britain last year, bringing some 240 million pounds to the struggling economy.

But Britain's share of the coveted Chinese market is poor compared to several competitors in mainland Europe including France, which welcomed nearly a million tourists from China last year.

"We know that our European rivals do much better than us," Yates admitted. "We really want to break the Chinese market."

The complex British visa system is frequently blamed for the shortfall.

While Chinese tourists can visit 26 European countries on a single "Schengen" visa, a trip to Britain requires a separate visa involving lengthy forms in English as well as additional costs.

Interior minister Theresa May confirmed Wednesday that the government is looking at expanding online applications and making some visa forms available in Mandarin, as well as introducing an express service for premium travellers.

Meanwhile, the government is throwing 8 million pounds at luring an additional 233,000 Chinese visitors a year by 2020, and VisitBritain sent its biggest-ever delegation to Shanghai last month to drum up business.

Over a Chinese breakfast of congee (rice porridge), steamed buns and warm soya milk at London's Landmark Hotel, marketing manager Yan-Ping Mew said he has had "very good feedback" since the meal became available to guests earlier this year.

The hotel also recommends smartphone apps to help Chinese guests navigate London and allocates them room numbers traditionally seen as lucky, such as those on the third or eighth floor.

"The Chinese tend to be slightly more superstitious," Mew explained.

He added that while many Chinese guests come to London to shop, they also want to see the sights and, in some cases, visit prospective universities for their children.

Yates also insisted that Britain had more to offer than shopping.

"There's the history and tradition of our royal family with palaces that you can go and see, great museums that have world-class treasures," she told AFP, adding that the London Olympics had been "an amazing showcase".

- AFP/ir



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Haryana people prefer khaps over courts: Report

CHANDIGARH: A survey carried out by a sub-committee constituted by Haryana Backward Class Commission (HBCC) to ascertain possibility of reservation for jats and other communities has found out that rustic Haryanvis have more faith in social panchayats than judicial courts and prefer to approach khaps for remedial measures.

During the survey conducted on 49,870 households in rural areas, it was found that 66.6% families from 16 different castes said they preferred approaching khap panchayats than opting for judicial remedies for seeking justice whenever disputes arise. The survey was tasked to ascertain khaps' influence in Haryana and was conducted by a sub-committee headed by K S Sangwan, a former HoD of department of sociology at Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak.

The research was one of the 12 social indicators used by the sub-committee for determining social, educational and economical backwardness of various castes and communities of Haryana. While this part of the report has come as a shot in the arm for khap leaders, who claim khap panchayat to be legitimate dispute disputes platform, they have very conveniently chosen to trash the rest of the report.

"This is the only portion where the commission could not manipulate. We cannot rely on any other recommendations made in the report,'' said Sube Singh Samain, a spokesperson of Sarvjat Khap Panchayat.

Khaps in Haryana have been inviting criticism from various sections of the society as well as Punjab and Haryana High court for their diktats on barring same-village marriages and inter-caste marriages, which has led to incidents of honor killings in the state.

"Bhaichara (brotherhood) concept still exists in rural Haryana. Khaps have played important role in solving common problems. Villagers feel that in courts only one party wins the case. But when it comes to khap panchayats, it is a win-win situation for both the parties,'' said Sangwan.

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence


NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.


Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.


"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.


Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.


A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.


High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.


Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.


"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.


"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.


Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.


Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.


"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.


She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.


"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."


After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.


__


AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.


___


Online:


Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5


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Conn. Victim's Father Remembers 'Loving' Daughter


ht emilie parker wy 121215 wblog Emilie Parker: Sandy Hook Victim Would Have Comforted Classmates, Dad Says

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)


Emilie Parker, the little girl with the blond hair and bright blue eyes, would have been one of the first to comfort her classmates at Sandy Hook Elementary School, had a gunman’s bullets not claimed her life, her father said.


“My daughter Emilie would be one of the first ones to be standing and giving support to all the victims because that’s the kind of kid she is,” her father, Robbie Parker said as he fought back tears, telling the world about his “bright, creative and loving” daughter who was one of the 20 young victims in the Newtown, Conn., shooting.


“She always had something kind to say about anybody,” her father said.  ”We find comfort reflecting on the incredible person Emilie was and how many lives she was able to touch.”


Emilie, 6, was helping teach her younger sisters to read and make things, and she was the little girls would go to for comfort, he said.


“They looked up to her,” Parker said.


READ: Complete List of Sandy Hook Victims


Parker moved his wife and three daughters to Newtown eight months ago after accepting a job as  a physician’s assistant at Danbury Hospital. He said Emilie, his oldest daughter, seemed to have adjusted well to her new school, and he was very happy with the school, too.


“I love the people at the school. I love Emilie’s teacher and the classmates we were able to get to know,” he said.


ap shock newton shooting sandy hook lpl 121214 wblog Emilie Parker: Sandy Hook Victim Would Have Comforted Classmates, Dad Says

      (Image Credit: Alex von Kleydorff/AP Photo)


The family dealt with another tragic loss in October when Emilie lost her grandfather in an accident.


“[This] has been a topic that has been discussed in our family in the past couple of  months,” Parker said. “[My daughters ages 3 and 4] seem to get the idea that there’s somebody who they will miss very much.”


Emilie, a budding artist who carried her markers and pencils everywhere, paid tribute to her grandfather by slipping a special card she had drawn into his casket, Parker said.  It was something she frequently did to lift the spirits of others.


“I can’t count the number of times Emilie would find someone feeling sad or frustrated and would make people a card,” Parker said. “She was an exceptional artist.”


The girl who was remembered as “always willing to try new things, other than food” was learning Portuguese from her father, who speaks the language.


ht emilie parker 2 121215 wblog Emilie Parker: Sandy Hook Victim Would Have Comforted Classmates, Dad Says

(Image Credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)


On Friday morning, Emilie woke up before her father left for his job and exchanged a few sentences with him in the language.


“She told me good morning and asked how I was doing,” Parker said. “She said she loved me, I gave her a kiss and I was out the door.”


Parker found out about the shooting while on lockdown in Danbury Hospital and found a television for the latest news.


“I didn’t think it was that big of deal at first,” he said. “With the first reports coming in, it didn’t sound like it was going to be as tragic as it was. That’s kind of what it was like for us.”


CLICK HERE for full coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting.


Parker said he knows that God can’t take away free will and would have been unable to stop the Sandy Hook shooting. While gunman Adam Lanza used his free agency to take innocent lives, Parker said he plans to use his in a positive way.


“I’m not mad because I have my  [free] agency to use this event to do whatever I can to make sure my family and my wife and my daughters are taken care [of],” he said. “And if there’s anything I can do to help to anyone at any time at anywhere, I’m free to do that.”


ht emilie parker 3 121215 wblog Emilie Parker: Sandy Hook Victim Would Have Comforted Classmates, Dad Says

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)


Friday night, hours after he learned of his daughter’s death, Parker said he spoke at his church.


“I don’t know how to get through something like this. My wife and I don’t understand how to process all of this,” he said today. “We find strength in our religion and in our faith and in our family. ”


“It’s a horrific tragedy and I want everyone to know our hearts and prayers go out to them. This includes the family of the shooter. I can’t imagine how hard this experience must be for you and I want you to know our family … love and support goes out to you as well.”

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NATO says Syrian Scuds hit "near" Turkey


BEIRUT (Reuters) - NATO accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces of firing Scud missiles that landed near to the Turkish border, in explaining why it was sending anti-missile batteries and troops to the bloc's frontier.


The Syrian government, which finds itself under attack from rebels in the capital Damascus and by a diplomatic alliance of Arab and Western powers, denies firing such long-range, Soviet-built rockets and had no immediate comment on the latest charge.


Admiral James Stavridis, the American who is NATO's military commander, wrote in a blog on Friday: "Over the past few days, a handful of Scud missiles were launched inside Syria, directed by the regime against opposition targets. Several landed fairly close to the Turkish border, which is very worrisome."


It was not clear how close they came. NATO member Turkey, once friendly toward Assad but now among the main allies of the rebels, has complained of occasional bullets and artillery fire, some of which has been fatal, for many months. It sought the installation of missile defenses on its border some weeks ago.


"Syria is clearly a chaotic and dangerous situation; but we have an absolute obligation to defend the borders of the alliance from any threat emanating from that troubled state," Stavridis wrote.


Batteries of U.S.-made Patriot missiles, designed to shoot down the likes of the Scuds popularly associated with Iraq's wars under Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, are about to be deployed by the U.S., German and Dutch armies, each of which is sending up to 400 troops to operate and protect the rocket systems.


The Syrian government has accused Western powers of backing what it portrays as a Sunni Islamist "terrorist" attack on it and says Washington and Europe have publicly voiced concerns of late that Assad's forces might resort to chemical weapons solely as a pretext for preparing a possible military intervention.


In contrast to NATO's air campaign in support of Libya's successful revolt last year against Muammar Gaddafi, Western powers have fought shy of intervention in Syria. They have cited the greater size and ethnic and religious complexity of a major Arab state at the heart of the Middle East - but have also lacked U.N. approval due to Russia's support for Assad.


Moscow reacted angrily on Friday to the way U.S. officials seized on comments by a top Kremlin envoy for the Middle East as evidence that Russia was giving up on Assad. Comments by Mikhail Bogdanov on Thursday in which he conceded Assad might be ousted did not reflect a change in policy, the Foreign Ministry said.


Assad's diplomatic isolation remains acute, however, as Arab and Western powers this week recognized a new, united coalition of opposition groups as Syria's legitimate leadership. Large parts of the country are no longer under the government's control and fighting has been raging around Damascus itself.


European Union leaders who met in Brussels on Friday said all options were on the table to support the Syrian opposition, raising the possibility that non-lethal military equipment or even arms could eventually be supplied.


In their strongest statement of support for the Syrian opposition since the uprising began 20 months ago, EU leaders instructed their foreign ministers to assess all possibilities to increase the pressure on Assad.


With rebels edging into the capital, a senior NATO official said that Assad is likely to fall and the Western military alliance should make plans to protect against the threat of his chemical arsenal falling into the wrong hands.


HUNGER SPREADS


Desperation for food is growing in parts of Syria and residents of the northern city of Aleppo say fist fights and dashes across the civil war front lines have become part of the daily struggle to secure a loaf of bread.


"I went out yesterday and could not get any bread. If only the problem was just lack of food - there is also a huge shortage of fuel, which the bakeries need to run," said Ahmed, a resident of the battle-scarred Salaheddine district.


He said people get into fist fights over flour and rebels regularly have to break up fights by firing into the air.


The World Food Programme (WFP) says as many as a million people may go hungry this winter, as worsening security conditions make it harder to reach conflict zones.


Forty thousand people have now been killed in the most enduring and destructive of the Arab revolts. The government severely limits press and humanitarian access to the country.


U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said on Friday the United Nations is committed to maintaining aid operations in Syria.


"NOTHING OFF THE TABLE"


At the EU summit, Britain's David Cameron pushed for an early review of the arms embargo against Syria to possibly open the way to supply equipment to rebels in the coming months. Germany and others were more reluctant and blocked any quick move. But there was widespread agreement that whatever action can be taken under current legislation should be pursued, and the arms embargo would still be reviewed at a later stage.


"I want a very clear message to go to President Assad that nothing is off the table," Cameron told reporters at the end of a two-day summit. "I want us to work with the opposition ... so that we can see the speediest possible transition in Syria.


"There is no single simple answer, but inaction and indifference are not options."


Among factors holding Western powers back from arming the rebels is the presence in their ranks of anti-Western Islamist radicals. Following a U.S. decision this week to blacklist one such group, Jabhat al-Nusra, a "terrorist" group, thousands of Syrians demonstrated on Friday against ostracizing the movement.


The latest, weekly Friday protests in rebel-held areas were held under the slogan: "The only terrorism in Syria is Assad's".


Inspired by Arab uprisings across the region, Syrian protesters were met with gunfire by Assad's security forces in March 2011. Armed revolt overtook the movement, which has become increasingly sectarian - waged by majority Sunni Muslims against forces loyal to Assad, who is from the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of the Shi'ite Islam practiced in Assad's ally Iran.


A video posted on the Internet showed dozens of Sunni rebels dressed in camouflage gear congratulating and kissing each other outside a burning Shi'ite shrine.


A fighter holding a rifle said the group was destroying the "dens of the Shi'ites". Reuters could not independently verify the video, which was posted on YouTube on Wednesday and purports to be filmed in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughur.


(Writing by Oliver Holmes and Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Michael Roddy)



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Hundreds hold vigil after US school massacre






NEWTOWN, Connecticut: Hundreds of people attended a mass Friday night at a church in Newtown, Connecticut, paying tribute to the victims of the elementary school massacre that left at least 27 dead.

The church was so packed that dozens of people crowded outside the St. Rose of Lima Catholic church -- just a mile from the Sandy Hook elementary school where the tragedy took place.

"This is a kind of community, when things like that happen, they really pull together," Monsignor Robert Weiss said as he closed the special service he convened after hearing news of the slaughter.

"As so many people don't have extended family, friends become very important. And you see evidence of that tonight," he added.

As Weiss spoke, many outside the church stood in silence, still in shock over the attack by the heavily armed young gunman who killed 26 people, including 20 small children, before dying.

Some lit candles and others joined hands in a large circle and sang Christmas songs.

David Connors, father of triplets, all of whom were at the school during the shooting, brought his children to the Mass.

"It's hard. I've never imagined a thing like that could happen here," he told AFP, though he said the children, two boys and a girl, were doing well.

When the gunshots began, they "heard noises. But they were in a separate part of the building" and were evacuated to a fire station near the school, he explained.

For Ray Horvath, a retiree who volunteers at the Connecticut Department of Education in Newtown, the mass was comforting, even though he is not religious.

"It's nice to see the concern of all these people," he said, fighting tears.

"I wish I was a person of faith because it would sustain me, but I don't have it."

- AFP/lp



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HC allows auction of 25 quarries in Punjab

CHANDIGARH: Around four months after banning all mining activities, the Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday allowed auction of 25 quarries in various districts of Punjab.

While permitting the state to initiate the process of auctioning the mining quarries under a close and strict monitoring mechanism, the court of Justice Rajive Bhalla observed that the system of issuing manual slips for lifting minerals from the quarries was being misused.

The court also issued directions to instal weighing machines at the quarries to keep a tab on each vehicle's weight to prevent contractors from extracting material in addition to the prescribed limit by over-digging and thereby harming the ecology.

In August this year, the HC had imposed complete and immediate ban on mining in the state without environmental clearance in operational quarries of up to five hectares in the state.

The court also directed that environment impact assessment committee would grant permission in each case so that there was no ecological degradation. The HC has also told the trial courts to avoid releasing vehicles and equipment used for illegal mining.

The division bench also made it clear that the HC's endeavour was only to ensure the undertaking of mining after obtaining requisite permission and following the rules, which was not being done.

Justice Bhalla was miffed over the recent statements made by the state governments that rates of building material have reached all time high because of stay on mining by the Punjab and Haryana high court.

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Fewer health care options for illegal immigrants


ALAMO, Texas (AP) — For years, Sonia Limas would drag her daughters to the emergency room whenever they fell sick. As an illegal immigrant, she had no health insurance, and the only place she knew to seek treatment was the hospital — the most expensive setting for those covering the cost.


The family's options improved somewhat a decade ago with the expansion of community health clinics, which offered free or low-cost care with help from the federal government. But President Barack Obama's health care overhaul threatens to roll back some of those services if clinics and hospitals are overwhelmed with newly insured patients and can't afford to care for as many poor families.


To be clear, Obama's law was never intended to help Limas and an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants like her. Instead, it envisions that 32 million uninsured Americans will get access to coverage by 2019. Because that should mean fewer uninsured patients showing up at hospitals, the Obama program slashed the federal reimbursement for uncompensated care.


But in states with large illegal immigrant populations, the math may not work, especially if lawmakers don't expand Medicaid, the joint state-federal health program for the poor and disabled.


When the reform has been fully implemented, illegal immigrants will make up the nation's second-largest population of uninsured, or about 25 percent. The only larger group will be people who qualify for insurance but fail to enroll, according to a 2012 study by the Washington-based Urban Institute.


And since about two-thirds of illegal immigrants live in just eight states, those areas will have a disproportionate share of the uninsured to care for.


In communities "where the number of undocumented immigrants is greatest, the strain has reached the breaking point," Rich Umbdenstock, president of the American Hospital Association, wrote last year in a letter to Obama, asking him to keep in mind the uncompensated care hospitals gave to that group. "In response, many hospitals have had to curtail services, delay implementing services, or close beds."


The federal government has offered to expand Medicaid, but states must decide whether to take the deal. And in some of those eight states — including Texas, Florida and New Jersey — hospitals are scrambling to determine whether they will still have enough money to treat the remaining uninsured.


Without a Medicaid expansion, the influx of new patients and the looming cuts in federal funding could inflict "a double whammy" in Texas, said David Lopez, CEO of the Harris Health System in Houston, which spends 10 to 15 percent of its $1.2 billion annual budget to care for illegal immigrants.


Realistically, taxpayers are already paying for some of the treatment provided to illegal immigrants because hospitals are required by law to stabilize and treat any patients that arrive in an emergency room, regardless of their ability to pay. The money to cover the costs typically comes from federal, state and local taxes.


A solid accounting of money spent treating illegal immigrants is elusive because most hospitals do not ask for immigration status. But some states have tried.


California, which is home to the nation's largest population of illegal immigrants, spent an estimated $1.2 billion last year through Medicaid to care for 822,500 illegal immigrants.


The New Jersey Hospital Association in 2010 estimated that it cost between $600 million and $650 million annually to treat 550,000 illegal immigrants.


And in Texas, a 2010 analysis by the Health and Human Services Commission found that the agency had provided $96 million in benefits to illegal immigrants, up from $81 million two years earlier. The state's public hospital districts spent an additional $717 million in uncompensated care to treat that population.


If large states such as Florida and Texas make good on their intention to forgo federal money to expand Medicaid, the decision "basically eviscerates" the effects of the health care overhaul in those areas because of "who lives there and what they're eligible for," said Lisa Clemans-Cope, a senior researcher at the Urban Institute.


Seeking to curb expenses, hospitals might change what qualifies as an emergency or cap the number of uninsured patients they treat. And although it's believed states with the most illegal immigrants will face a smaller cut, they will still lose money.


The potential impacts of reform are a hot topic at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. In addition to offering its own charity care, some MD Anderson oncologists volunteer at a county-funded clinic at Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital that largely treats the uninsured.


"In a sense we've been in the worst-case scenario in Texas for a long time," said Lewis Foxhall, MD Anderson's vice president of health policy in Houston. "The large number of uninsured and the large low-income population creates a very difficult problem for us."


Community clinics are a key part of the reform plan and were supposed to take up some of the slack for hospitals. Clinics received $11 billion in new funding over five years so they could expand to help care for a swell of newly insured who might otherwise overwhelm doctors' offices. But in the first year, $600 million was cut from the centers' usual allocation, leaving many to use the money to fill gaps rather than expand.


There is concern that clinics could themselves be inundated with newly insured patients, forcing many illegal immigrants back to emergency rooms.


Limas, 44, moved to the border town of Alamo 13 years ago with her husband and three daughters. Now single, she supports the family by teaching a citizenship class in Spanish at the local community center and selling cookies and cakes she whips up in her trailer. Soon, she hopes to seek a work permit of her own.


For now, the clinic helps with basic health care needs. If necessary, Limas will return to the emergency room, where the attendants help her fill out paperwork to ensure the government covers the bills she cannot afford.


"They always attended to me," she said, "even though it's slow."


___


Sherman can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/chrisshermanAP .


Plushnick-Masti can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RamitMastiAP .


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Conn. Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well'












Adam Lanza of Newtown, Connecticut was a child of the suburbs and a child of divorce who at age 20 still lived with his mother.


This morning he appears to have started his day by shooting his mother Nancy in the face, and then drove her car to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School, armed with two handguns and a semi-automatic rifle.


There, before turning his gun on himself, he shot and killed 20 children, who President Obama later described as "beautiful little kids" between five and 10 years of age. Six adults were also killed at the school. Nancy Lanza was found dead in her home.


A relative told ABC News that Adam was "obviously not well."


Family friends in Newtown also described the young man as troubled and described Nancy as rigid. "[Adam] was not connected with the other kids," said Barbara Frey, who also said he was "a little bit different ... Kind of repressed."


State and federal authorities believe his mother may have once worked at the elementary school where Adam went on his deadly rampage, although she was not a teacher, according to relatives, perhaps a volunteer.


Nancy and her husband Peter, Adam's father, divorced in 2009. When they first filed for divorce in 2008, a judge ordered that they participate in a "parenting education program."


Peter Lanza, who drove to northern New Jersey to talk to police and the FBI, is a vice president at GE Capital and had been a partner at global accounting giant Ernst & Young.


Adam's older brother Ryan Lanza, 24, has worked at Ernst & Young for four years, apparently following in his father's footsteps and carving out a solid niche in the tax practice. He too was interviewed by the FBI. Neither he nor his father is under any suspicion.




"[Ryan] is a tax guy and he is clean as a whistle," a source familiar with his work said.


Police had initially identified Ryan as the killer. Ryan sent out a series of Facebook posts saying it wasn't him and that he was at work all day. Video records as well as card swipes at Ernst & Young verified his statement that he had been at the office.


Two federal sources told ABC News that identification belonging to Ryan Lanza was found at the scene of the mass shooting. They say that identification may have led to the confusion by authorities during the first hours after the shooting. Neither Adam nor Ryan has any known criminal history.


A Sig Sauer handgun and a Glock handgun were used in the slaying and .223 shell casings – a round used in a semi-automatic military-style rifle -- were also found at the scene. Nancy Lanza had numerous weapons registered to her, including a Glock and a Sig Sauer. She also owned a Bushmaster rifle -- a semi-automatic carbine chambered for a .223 caliber round. However, federal authorities cannot confirm that the handguns or the rifle were the weapons recovered at the school.


Numerous relatives of the Lanzas in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, as well as multiple friends, are being interviewed by the FBI in an effort to put together a better picture of the gunman and any explanation for today's tragedy.


"I think the most important thing to point out with this kind of individual is that he did not snap this morning and decide to act out violently," said former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole. "These acts involve planning and thoughtfulness and strategizing in order to put the plan together so what may appear to be snap behavior is not that at all."


With reporting by Pierre Thomas, Jim Avila, Santina Leuci, Aaron Katersky, Matthew Mosk, Jason Ryan and Jay Shaylor


MORE: 27 Dead, Mostly Children, at Connecticut Elementary School Shooting


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U.S., rebels urge gloomy Moscow to help oust Assad


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's rebel leadership and the United States seized on Russian pessimism over President Bashar al-Assad's future to urge Moscow to help push its ally into ceding power and end the battles closing in around his capital.


"We want to commend the Russian government for finally waking up to the reality and acknowledging that the regime's days are numbered," the U.S. State Department spokeswoman said after a senior Kremlin envoy conceded publicly on Thursday that Assad's opponents could win the 20-month-old civil war.


"The question now is, will the Russian government join those of us in the international community who are working with the opposition to try to have a smooth democratic transition?" U.S. spokeswoman Victoria Nuland added in Washington.


In Marrakech, where his new coalition won recognition from other international powers as the legitimate leadership of Syria, rebel political leader Mouaz al-Khatib said he believed Russia, ally and arms supplier to the Assad dynasty since Soviet times, was looking for ways out of its support for a lost cause.


"I believe that the Russians have woken up and are sensing that they have implicated themselves with this regime, but they don't know how to get out," al-Khatib told Reuters. He held them "particularly responsible" for helping Assad with arms but said Moscow need not "lose everything" in Syria if it changed tack.


Under President Vladimir Putin, wary since last year's Libyan war of what Russia sees as a Western drive to use the United Nations to overthrow national leaders it dislikes, Russia has blocked U.N. efforts to squeeze Assad, who has also had strong support from his long-time sponsor Iran.


But Mikhail Bogdanov, a deputy foreign minister and the Kremlin's special envoy for Middle East affairs, was quoted as saying in Moscow: "One must look the facts in the face."


"Unfortunately, the victory of the Syrian opposition cannot be ruled out." The Syrian government, he said, was "losing control of more and more territory" and Moscow was preparing to evacuate Russian citizens if necessary.


Nuland said Bogdanov's comments demonstrated that Moscow now "sees the writing on the wall" on Syria and said Russia should now rally behind U.N. efforts to prevent a wider bloodbath.


"They can withdraw any residual support for the Assad regime, whether it is material support (or) financial support," she said. "They can also help us to identify people who might be willing, inside of Syria, to work on a transitional structure."


DIPLOMACY


International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who has met Russian and U.S. officials twice in the past week, is seeking a solution based on an agreement reached in Geneva in June that called for the creation of a transitional government in Syria.


But Russia has repeated warnings that recognition of al-Khatib's coalition, notably by the United States, is undermining diplomacy, and rejected U.S. contentions that the Geneva agreement sent a clear message that Assad should step down.


Nuland said the Brahimi meetings could lay the framework for a political structure to follow Assad:


"We've said all along to the Russians that we are concerned that the longer that this goes on, and the longer it takes us to get to an alternative political path for Syria, the only path is going to be the military one and that is just going to bring more violence.


"We all ought to be working together."


Bogdanov, whose government has suggested that Assad himself should be allowed to see through a transition he has promised, suggested the rebels and their allies were set on a military solution and he gave little hint of detente with Washington.


"The fighting will become even more intense and (Syria) will lose tens of thousands and, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of civilians," Bogdanov was quoted as saying. "If such a price for the removal of the president seems acceptable to you, what can we do? We, of course, consider it absolutely unacceptable."


The head of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said elsewhere: "I think the regime in Damascus is approaching collapse."


A U.S. official said: "Assad probably still believes that Syria is his and illusions can die hard. But Assad and those closest to him have got to be feeling the psychological strain of fighting a long war that is not going their way."


DAMASCUS BATTLES


But Al-Khatib, who played down Western concerns of sectarian Sunni Islamists in rebel ranks, warned that the fighting was far from over, even as it has begun to rattle the heart of Assad's power in Damascus. On Wednesday, a car bomb killed at least 16 people in a nearby town which is home to many military families.


"The noose is tightening around the regime," al-Khatib said.


"(But) the regime still has power. People think that the regime is finished, but it still has power left, but it is demoralized and however long it lasted its end is clear."


Day and night, Damascenes can hear the thunderous sound of bombardment aimed at rebel-held and contested neighborhoods.


The city's streets have now turned into a labyrinth of checkpoints and road blocks, with several major roads permanently closed off to traffic by concrete barriers.


"We escape from one place and trouble follows," said one grandmother, Um Hassan, as she described to Reuters her family's flight from one neighborhood to another as fighting seeps into the capital. "I don't know where we can keep running to."


Nonetheless, al-Khatib played down demands for their allies to provide heavier weaponry - a request long resisted by governments wary of anti-aircraft missiles and other hardware reaching Islamist rebels who might turn them against the West.


"The Syrian people ... no longer need international forces to protect them," he said, not specifying whether he meant a no-fly zone, arms supplies or other military support.


The opposition chief said he was willing to listen to proposals for Assad to escape with his life - "The best thing is that he steps down and stops drinking the blood of the Syrian people" - and outlined three scenarios for a change of power:


Al-Khatib ruled out the Russian proposal suggesting Assad hand over power to a transitional government while remaining president, saying it was "disgraceful for a slaughtered nation to accept to have a killer and criminal at its head".


The British-based Syrian Observatory said war planes bombed rebel-held eastern suburbs of Damascus on Thursday and artillery was hitting Daraya and Moadamiyeh, southwestern areas near the centre where rebels have been fighting for a foothold.


Syria has relied on war planes and helicopters to bombard rebel districts but Damascus denied accusations by U.S. and NATO officials that it had fired Scud missiles in recent days. The foreign ministry said the long-range missiles were not used against "terrorist groups," a term it uses for the rebels.


At least 40,000 people have been killed in Syria's uprising, which started in March 2011 with street protests which were met with gunfire by Assad's security forces, and which spiraled into the most enduring and destructive of the Arab revolts.


(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Michael Roddy) For an interactive look at the uprising in Syria, please click on http://link.reuters.com/rut37s



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China shares up over 3% on data, policy hopes






SHANGHAI: Chinese shares were up more than three per cent in afternoon trade on Friday on fresh signs of an economic recovery and hopes new policies will emerge from a key government meeting, dealers said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 3.02 per cent, or 62.24 points, to 2,123.72.

British banking giant HSBC said on Friday its preliminary purchasing managers' index (PMI) hit a 14-month high of 50.9 in December, compared with a final reading of 50.5 for November.

"The PMI data confirmed that the domestic economy has turned for the better. The index was also pushed up by expectations for policies from the economic work conference," Zheshang Securities analyst Zhang Yanbing told AFP.

China is expected to hold its annual economic work conference over the weekend to lay out policies for next year, state media reported.

- AFP/xq



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Akhilesh Yadav becomes fourth UP CM to face CBI probe

LUCKNOW: Akhilesh Yadav, the youngest chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, has now also become the fourth sitting chief minister of the state to face CBI inquiry. The other three include his father and Samajwadi Party(SP) president, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) supremo, Mayawati, and former Bhartiya Janta Party(BJP) leader Kalyan Singh.

While Kalyan has been booked for `communal politics', Mulayam is facing probe for assets disproportionate to known sources of income. Mayawati faced the CBI inquiry on charges of corruption and disproportionate assets(DA). After Supreme Court's order on Thursday directing the CBI to go ahead with the probe against Mulayam and his two sons in connection with DA case, Akhilesh will also face the heat of the CBI investigation.

However, what makes Akhilesh's case different from the other three is that he would be facing inquiry for the alleged misuse of `public office' by his father for amassing wealth more than the known sources of earning in the last three decades.

Akhilesh is holding public office(member of parliament) since 2000 before he took over as chief minister in March 15, earlier this year, after SP won the assembly elections. The father-son duo are co-accused in the case.

The CBI inquiry was ordered against several BJP leaders including Kalyan after demolition of Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, by a communal frenzy mob. Kalyan was the chief minister of UP then. He has been charge-sheeted by the CBI for not discharging constitutional duty to protect the Babri mosque and is facing trial. Kalyan's government was sacked after mosque demolition but he became chief minister again in 1997.

The Supreme Court had ordered a CBI inquiry against Mulayam on March 5, 2007, on a public interest litigation accusing him of misusing his position for monetary gains. Mulayam was then chief minister of UP. Similarly, on a public interest litigation, the Supreme Court had ordered the CBI inquiry on July 16, 2003, against Mayawati on charges of embezzlement of Rs 17 crores on a project to develop the area around the Taj Mahal in Agra.

During the course of investigation in Taj corridor case, the CBI also filed the DA case against Mayawati. However, in May 2007, when she came to power in UP again, the then governor TV Rajeswar, appointed by the Congress led UPA government, denied the CBI permission to prosecute her. In July this year, the Supreme Court also quashed the DA case. However, a couple of months later a review petition was filed against the order.

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Study: People worldwide living longer, but sicker


LONDON (AP) — Nearly everywhere around the world, people are living longer and fewer children are dying. But increasingly, people are grappling with the diseases and disabilities of modern life, according to the most expansive global look so far at life expectancy and the biggest health threats.


The last comprehensive study was in 1990 and the top health problem then was the death of children under 5 — more than 10 million each year. Since then, campaigns to vaccinate kids against diseases like polio and measles have reduced the number of children dying to about 7 million.


Malnutrition was once the main health threat for children. Now, everywhere except Africa, they are much more likely to overeat than to starve.


With more children surviving, chronic illnesses and disabilities that strike later in life are taking a bigger toll, the research said. High blood pressure has become the leading health risk worldwide, followed by smoking and alcohol.


"The biggest contributor to the global health burden isn't premature (deaths), but chronic diseases, injuries, mental health conditions and all the bone and joint diseases," said one of the study leaders, Christopher Murray, director of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.


In developed countries, such conditions now account for more than half of the health problems, fueled by an aging population. While life expectancy is climbing nearly everywhere, so too are the number of years people will live with things like vision or hearing loss and mental health issues like depression.


The research appears in seven papers published online Thursday by the journal Lancet. More than 480 researchers in 50 countries gathered data up to 2010 from surveys, censuses and past studies. They used statistical modeling to fill in the gaps for countries with little information. The series was mainly paid for by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.


As in 1990, Japan topped the life expectancy list in 2010, with 79 for men and 86 for women. In the U.S. that year, life expectancy for men was 76 and for women, 81.


The research found wide variations in what's killing people around the world. Some of the most striking findings highlighted by the researchers: — Homicide is the No. 3 killer of men in Latin America; it ranks 20th worldwide. In the U.S., it is the 21st cause of death in men, and in Western Europe, 57th.


— While suicide ranks globally as the 21st leading killer, it is as high as the ninth top cause of death in women across Asia's "suicide belt," from India to China. Suicide ranks 14th in North America and 15th in Western Europe.


— In people aged 15-49, diabetes is a bigger killer in Africa than in Western Europe (8.8 deaths versus 1 death per 100,000).


— Central and Southeast Asia have the highest rates of fatal stroke in young adults at about 15 cases per 100,000 deaths. In North America, the rate is about 3 per 100,000.


Globally, heart disease and stroke remain the top killers. Reflecting an older population, lung cancer moved to the 5th cause of death globally, while other cancers including those of the liver, stomach and colon are also in the top 20. AIDS jumped from the 35th cause of death in 1990 to the sixth leading cause two decades later.


While chronic diseases are killing more people nearly everywhere, the overall trend is the opposite in Africa, where illnesses like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are still major threats. And experts warn again shifting too much of the focus away from those ailments.


"It's the nature of infectious disease epidemics that if you turn away from them, they will crop right back up," said Jennifer Cohn, a medical coordinator at Doctors Without Borders.


Still, she acknowledged the need to address the surge of other health problems across Africa. Cohn said the agency was considering ways to treat things like heart disease and diabetes. "The way we treat HIV could be a good model for chronic care," she said.


Others said more concrete information is needed before making any big changes to public health policies.


"We have to take this data with some grains of salt," said Sandy Cairncross, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.


He said the information in some of the Lancet research was too thin and didn't fully consider all the relevant health risk factors.


"We're getting a better picture, but it's still incomplete," he said.


___


Online:


www.lancet.com


http://healthmetricsandevaluation.org


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Health-Exchange Deadline Looms













All of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," doesn't go into effect until 2014, but states are required to set up their own health care exchanges or leave it to the federal government to step in by next year. The deadline for the governors' decisions is Friday.


The health insurance exchanges are one of the key stipulations of the new health care law. They will offer consumers an Internet-based marketplace for purchasing private health insurance plans.


But the president's signature health care plan has become so fraught with politics that whether governors agreed to set up the exchanges has fallen mostly along party lines.


Such partisanship is largely symbolic because if a state opts not to set up the exchange, the Department of Health and Human Services will do it for them as part of the federal program. That would not likely be well-received by Republican governors, either, but the law forces each state's chief executive to make a decision one way or the other.


Here's what it looks like in all 50 states and the District of Columbia:



20 states that have opted out -- N.J., S.C., La., Wis., Ohio, Maine, Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ga., Pa., Kan., Neb., N.H., N.D., Okla., S.D., Tenn., Texas and Wyo.






Charles Dharapak/AP Photo











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Several Republican governors have said they will not set up the exchanges, including Chris Christie (N.J.), Nikki Haley (S.C.), Bobby Jindal (La.), Scott Walker (Wis.), John Kasich (Ohio), Paul LePage (Maine), Robert Bentley (Ala.), Sean Parnell (Ark.), Jan Brewer (Ariz.), Nathan Deal (Ga.), Tom Corbett (Pa.), Sam Brownback (Kan.), Dave Heineman (Neb.), John Lynch (N.H.), Jack Dalrymple (N.D.), Mary Fallin (Okla.), Dennis Daugaard (S.D.), Bill Haslam (Tenn.), Rick Perry (Texas), and Matt Mead (Wyo.).


3 States Out, but a Little More Complicated -- Mont., Ind. and Mo.


The Montana outgoing and incoming governors are both Democrats, but the Republican state legislature rejected the Democratic state auditor's request to start setting up a state exchange. So a federal exchange will be set up in Montana as well.


The Indiana outgoing and incoming governors are both Republicans and outgoing Gov. Mitch Daniels deferred the decision to governor-elect and U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, who said his preference is not to set up a state health care exchange, paving the way for the feds to come in too.


In Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon is a Democrat, but Prop E passed on Nov. 6, which barred his administration from creating a state-based exchange without a public vote or the approval of the state legislature. After the election, he sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services saying he would be unable to set up a state-based exchange, meaning the federal government would have to set up its own.


1 State Waiting for the White House -- Utah


Utah already has a state exchange set up, a Web-based tool where small-business employees can shop and compare health insurance with contributions from their employee. In a letter Republican Gov. Gary Herbert sent to the White House Tuesday, he asked for its exchange, called Avenue H, to be approved as a state-based exchange under the Affordable Care Act as long as state officials can open it to individuals and larger businesses.


Norm Thurston, the state's health reform implementation coordinator, says authorities there "haven't received an official response" from the White House, but "we anticipate getting one soon."


There are some sticking points that don't comply with the exchanges envisioned by the Affordable Care Act and Utah would like to keep it that way.






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Assad's forces fire Scuds in Syria escalation: U.S. official


WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have fired Scud missiles at rebels trying to overthrow Syria's government, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, a step seen as an escalation in Assad's struggle to retain power.


U.S. officials said they were unaware of any previous instances in which Scuds were used against the rebels since the start of the 20-month-old uprising, which has killed more than 40,000 people.


White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to confirm the reports, saying he was aware of them but could not discuss intelligence matters.


"If true, this would be the latest desperate act from a regime that has shown utter disregard for innocent life," he said. "The idea that the Syrian regime would launch missiles in its borders at its own people is stunning, desperate, a completely disproportionate military escalation."


A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Scuds had been used.


In Brussels, a NATO official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said a number of "Scud-type" short-range ballistic missiles had been launched inside Syria in recent days.


"Allied intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets have detected the launch of a number of unguided, short-range ballistic missiles inside Syria this week," the official said.


"Trajectory and distance travelled indicate they were Scud-type missiles," the NATO official said.


Thomas Houlahan, a military analyst at the Center for Security and Science, said the weapons were probably North Korean-made Hwasong-6 missiles, an improved variant of the original Soviet Scuds.


"In terms of the short-range battlefield missiles, they produce a pretty good missile and because of North Korea's constant need for hard currency, they sell them pretty cheap. So they have moved a lot of missiles around and Syria has ended up with a lot of them," Houlahan said.


"MORE ACCURATE"


He said the Hwasong-6 was more accurate than the original Scud, could carry a warhead of about 1,800 pounds (820 kg) and had a range of about 450 miles.


But he said the use of the weapon raised questions as to why the Syrians were not using their air force instead, which was a better alternative.


"If I want to dump 1,800 pounds of explosives on somebody with fairly decent accuracy and I have an air force and they don't, why the hell am I not using a plane?" Houlahan said.


"If you see a country or an army that has much better options not using them, you start to ask yourself why," he added. "Is it the old problem where dictators can't always trust their air forces?"


NATO agreed last week to send Patriot anti-missile systems to alliance member Turkey to reinforce its air defenses and calm its fears of coming under missile attack, possibly with chemical weapons, from neighboring Syria.


The NATO official said the Syrian missiles had landed inside Syria and no missiles had hit Turkish territory. He said the Western alliance had no information about what casualties or damage the missiles had caused.


Asked if there was any evidence of Syrian use of chemical weapons, he said: "We have no information concerning the payload."


U.S. President Barack Obama warned Assad last week not to use chemical weapons against Syrian opposition forces, saying there would be unspecified consequences if he did so.


The United States, Germany and Netherlands have all agreed to send Patriot missiles to protect Turkey, but the missile batteries are not expected to arrive for several more weeks.


The New York Times, which initially reported Syria's use of the missiles, quoted one official as saying more than six had been fired at the rebels. Another official said the missiles had been launched from the Damascus area at targets in northern Syria, the Times said.


U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters they would not dispute the Times report.


News of Syria's use of Scud missiles broke as Western and Arab nations sympathetic to the uprising against Assad gave full political recognition to the opposition at a meeting in Morroco.


(Reporting by David Alexander in Washington and Adrian Croft in Brussels; Editing by Michael Roddy and David Brunnstrom)



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China 'lacks leverage' over N. Korea: state media






BEIJING: Beijing lacks leverage over North Korea and will block moves for strong new sanctions for fear of weakening its position further, Chinese state media said Thursday following Pyongyang's rocket launch.

China is the North's sole major ally, considered the nation with the most influence over Pyongyang, and after Wednesday's rocket flight US officials urged it to intervene.

But in an editorial Thursday the state-run Global Times said: "China's ability to influence countries in the region is limited... The real problem is China's strength is not sufficient to influence its neighbour's situation."

"NK move shows China's lack of leverage" read its headline.

China voiced "regret" over the launch but state press said it could not support strong further measures against Pyongyang for fear of weakening its relationship.

A bellicose Western reaction risked driving North Korea into a corner with potentially devastating results, editorials said.

"That is why China should not take a cooperative stance with the US, Japan and South Korea in imposing sanctions on North Korea," the Global Times said.

"China will veto radical resolutions made by the three countries. At the same time North Korea should pay for its actions."

It acknowledged fears in the region should North Korea eventually be able to arm a ballistic missile with a nuclear weapon.

The reaction to the launch "is almost the same as that of North Korea's nuclear test", the paper said, and "a vicious circle" of escalation could lead to Japan abandoning its pacifist constitution and threaten peace in Northeast Asia.

The situation was "subtle, complex and dangerous", said the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, urging calm and a return to the six-party talks on North Korea hosted by China and including Russia, the United States, South Korea and Japan.

"The reaction by the Security Council should be prudent and measured," the paper added.

One columnist in Global Times, which often takes a nationalist stance, suggested that China should seize the opportunity to establish a regional security framework.

The country is embroiled in territorial disputes with Japan over islands in the East China Sea, and several littoral states over the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.

"Now it's high time to establish a political and security mechanism," wrote Ding Gang. "China is a big power in the region.

"China itself will certainly be confined by the mechanism, but the credibility it acquires will be more important. "The mechanism will not only regulate North Korea, but also the Philippines and Vietnam."

- AFP/ck



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DA case: SC orders CBI to continue probe against Mulayam, Akhilesh

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has asked the CBI to continue with its probe into the disproportionate assets case against Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav.

The court also ordered investigations to continue against Mulayam's other son Prateek. However, the apex court dropped DA charges against Akhilesh's wife Dimple Yadav.

The Supreme Court had ordered the DA probe agianst Mulayam's family on March 1, 2007.

The court modified its 2007 order which had asked CBI to submit preliminary probe report to the Centre for further action.

The judges said it was an error to ask CBI to submit report to the Centre.

The court ordered CBI to proceed with the DA investigations against the Yadavs independently and take steps in accordance with the law.

The court had on February 17, 2011 reserved its verdict on Mulayam's plea for annulment of the order.

Mulayam in his plea had said he could not be made to suffer a CBI probe when he and his family members had regularly filed income tax returns. He had also said that the court had adopted a different stand -- "Supreme Court cannot be the ground for settling political battles" -- when it came to investigating identical charges against RJD leader Lalu Prasad.

On a petition filed by Vishwanath Chaturvedi, whom Mulayam accuses to be associated with rival Congress party, the court had on March 1, 2007 ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary probe and surprisingly asked the agency to submit a probe report to the government for further action.

The probe was ordered against Mulayam, his sons Akhilesh and Prateek and his daughter-in-law Dimple. The Centre, after initially supporting the petitioner and taking a stand against Mulayam 's review petition, backed the SP leader's plea last year.

A bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and H L Dattu had reserved orders on the review petitions filed by Mulayam and his kin after hearing Chaturvedi's counsel and senior advocate K T S Tulsi, who criticized the Centre for its double standards and quoted the Centre's November 13, 2006 affidavit supporting the probe into the alleged illegal wealth of the Yadavs.

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Congress examines science behind HGH test for NFL


WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional committee has opened a hearing to examine the science behind a human growth hormone test the NFL wants to start using on its players.


Nearly two full seasons have passed since the league and the players' union signed a labor deal that set the stage for HGH testing.


The NFL Players Association won't concede the validity of a test that's used by Olympic sports and Major League Baseball, and the sides haven't been able to agree on a scientist to help resolve that impasse.


Among the witnesses before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday is Pro Football Hall of Fame member Dick Butkus. In his prepared statement, Butkus writes: "Now, let's get on with it. The HGH testing process is proven to be reliable."


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McAfee Lands in Miami: I'm Free













Software mogul John McAfee has been released from detention in Guatemala City and has landed in Miami.


Immediately upon landing, according to passengers on the plane, McAfee's name was called and he was whisked off the aircraft. Federal officials escorted the 67-year-old Internet antivirus pioneer through customs spirit him out a side door, out of the view of reporters, according to Miami International Airport's communication director, Greg Chin.


It was not clear whether officials intended to help McAfee avoid the inevitable media circus or wanted to question him. However, he has not been charged with committing a crime in Guatemala or Belize, where the authorities have sought to question him about the murder of his neighbor.


McAfee's departure from Guatemala came earlier today.


"They took me out of my cell and put me on a freaking airplane," he told ABC News. "I had no choice in the matter."


McAfee said, however, that Guatemalan authorities had been "nice" and that his exit from the Central American country was "not at all" unpleasant.


"It was the most gracious expulsion I've ever experienced," he said. "Compared to my past two wives that expelled me this isn't a terrible trip."


McAfee said he would not be accompanied by his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend, but is seeking a visa for her. He also said he had retained a lawyer in the U.S.






Guatemala's National Police/AP Photo











John McAfee Arrested in Guatemala Overnight Watch Video











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When he was released earlier today, McAfee told the Associated Press, "I'm free. ... I'm going to America."


McAfee, who had been living in a beachfront house in Belize, went on the run after the Nov. 10 murder of his neighbor, fellow American expatriate Greg Faull. Belize police said they wanted to question McAfee about the murder, but McAfee said he feared for his life in Belizean custody.


He entered Guatemala last week seeking asylum, but was arrested and taken to an immigration detention center. He was taken to the hospital after suffering a nervous collapse and then returned to the detention center. The U.S. State Department has visited McAfee, who is a dual U.S.-British citizen, several times during his stay in Guatemala.


During his three-week journey, said McAfee, he disguised himself as handicapped, dyed his hair seven times and hid in many different places during his three-week journey.


He dismissed accounts of erratic behavior and reports that he had been using the synthetic drug bath salts. He said he had never used the drug, and said statements that he had were part of an elaborate prank.


Investigators in Belize said that McAfee was not a suspect in the death of Faull, a former developer who was found shot in the head in his house.


McAfee told ABC News that the poisoning death of his dogs and the murder just hours later of Faull, who had complained about his dogs, was a coincidence.


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North Korea's new leader burnishes credentials with rocket


SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to its opponents.


The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting targets as far as the continental United States.


"The satellite has entered the planned orbit," a North Korean television news-reader clad in traditional Korean garb triumphantly announced, after which the station played patriotic songs with the lyrics "Chosun (Korea) does what it says".


The rocket was launched just before 10 a.m. Korea time (9 p.m. ET on Tuesday), according to defense officials in South Korea and Japan, and easily surpassed a failed April launch that flew for less than two minutes.


The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said that it "deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit", the first time an independent body has verified North Korean claims.


North Korea followed what it said was a similar successful launch in 2009 with a nuclear test that prompted the United Nations Security Council to stiffen sanctions that it originally imposed in 2006 after the North's first nuclear test.


The state is banned from developing nuclear and missile-related technology under U.N. resolutions, although Kim Jong-un, the youthful head of state who took power a year ago, is believed to have continued the state's "military first" programs put into place by his deceased father Kim Jong-il.


Washington condemned Wednesday's launch as a "provocative action" and breach of U.N. rules, while Japan's U.N. envoy called for a Security Council meeting. However, diplomats say further tough sanctions are unlikely to be agreed at the body as China, the North's only major ally, will oppose them.


"The international community must work in a concerted fashion to send North Korea a clear message that its violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions have consequences," the White House said in a statement.


Japan's likely next prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who is leading in opinion polls ahead of an election on December 16 and who is known as a North Korea hawk, called on the United Nations to adopt a resolution "strongly criticizing" Pyongyang.


There was no immediate official reaction from the Chinese government, which is North Korea's only major ally.


China had expressed "deep concern" over the launch which was announced a day after a top politburo member, representing new Chinese leader Xi Xinping, met Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang.


STUMBLING BLOCK


On Wednesday, China's state news agency Xinhua said North Korea had the "right to conduct peaceful exploration of outer space" but also called on it to abide by U.N. resolutions.


"China has been the stumbling block to firmer U.N. action and we'll have to see if the new leadership is any different than its predecessors," Bruce Klingner, a Korea expert at the Heritage Foundation, a U.S. thinktank told a conference call.


A senior adviser to South Korea's president said last week it was unlikely there would be action from the U.N. and that Seoul would expect its allies to tighten sanctions unilaterally.


Kim Jong-un, believed to be 29 years old, took office after his father died on December 17 last year and experts believe that Wednesday's launch was intended to commemorate the first anniversary of the death.


The April launch was timed for the centennial of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and the grandfather of its current ruler.


Wednesday's success puts the North ahead of the South which has not managed to get a rocket off the ground.


"This is a considerable boost in establishing the rule of Kim Jong-un," said Cho Min, an expert at the Korea Institute of National Unification.


There have been few indications the secretive and impoverished state, where the United Nations estimates a third of the population is malnourished, has made any advances in opening up economically over the past year.


North Korea remains reliant on minerals exports to China and remittances from tens of thousands of its people working on labor projects overseas.


The 22 million population often needs handouts from defectors who have escaped to South Korea in order to afford basic medicines.


Given the puny size of its economy - per capita income is less than $2,000 a year - one of the few ways the North can attract world attention is by emphasizing its military threat.


Pyongyang wants the United States to resume aid and to recognize it diplomatically, although the April launch scuppered a planned food deal.


It is believed to be some years away from developing a functioning nuclear warhead although it may have enough plutonium for around half a dozen nuclear bombs, according to nuclear experts.


The North has also been enriching uranium which would give it a second path to nuclear weapons as it sits on vast natural uranium reserves.


"A successful launch puts North Korea closer to the capability to deploy a weaponized missile," said Denny Roy a senior fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii.


"But this would still require fitting a weapon to the missile and ensuring a reasonable degree of accuracy. The North Koreans probably do not yet have a nuclear weapon small enough for a missile to carry."


Pyongyang says that its development is part of a civil nuclear program, but has also boasted of it being a "nuclear weapons power".


(Additional reporting by Jumin Park and Yoo Choonsik in SEOUL; David Alexander, Matt Spetalnick and Paul Eckert in WASHINGTON; Linda Sieg in TOKYO; Sui-Lee Wee in BEIJING; Rosmarie Francisco in MANILA; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)



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China raps N. Korea over rocket launch






BEIJING: China on Wednesday rapped North Korea over its long-range rocket launch, demanding North Korea comply with UN resolutions against using ballistic missiles, the official news agency Xinhua said.

"Pyongyang should... abide by relevant UN Security Council resolutions... which demands the DPRK not to conduct 'any launch using ballistic missile technology' and urges it to 'suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile programme'," Xinhua said in a commentary.

China, North Korea's sole major ally and its biggest trading partner and aid provider, is seen as one of the few nations with any influence over the regime in Pyongyang and had previously expressed concerns over the launch.

Over the past decade, Beijing has repeatedly called for calm as North Korea tested nuclear weapons and carried out ballistic missile tests, despite wide condemnation from the international community, including the United States.

Following Wednesday's launch, Xinhua again urged all sides to exercise restraint.

"All parties concerned should stay cool-headed and refrain from stoking the flames so as to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control," Xinhua said.

"In place of bellicose rhetoric and gestures, they need to take concrete actions to foster a conducive milieu for dialogue and return to the negotiating table as soon as possible."

Xinhua also called for the resumption of long-stalled six-party talks over the North's nuclear programme, which are chaired by China and take in both Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia.

"For years, the situation on the peninsula seems to have entered a reinforcing loop of misunderstanding, mistrust and animosity. The only viable way begins with trust-building," the agency added.

However, it said that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- the North's official name -- had "the right to conduct peaceful exploration of the outer space".

North Korea insisted the mission was not a banned intercontinental missile test but was designed to place a scientific satellite in orbit, and said it had achieved all its objectives.

"In international relations, as in life, the best way to make an enemy of a country is to treat it like one," Xinhua said. "This rule of thumb is also true with making friends."

- AFP/ck



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Join BJP-led NDA and you can become PM: Shiv Sena leader to Sharad Pawar

PUNE: Senior Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi on Tuesday invited NCP president Sharad Pawar to join NDA, saying "he would be able to end quarrels within the BJP-led alliance and could also become Prime Minister".

Hailing the Maratha strongman's political skills, Joshi, who attended a function organised here on the eve of Pawar's birthday tomorrow, told reporters "Pawar should join NDA to end quarrels within the alliance and bring together all factions. If he joins NDA, he can also become the Prime Minister."

Asked whether other NDA constituents would accept such a proposal, the former Lok Sabha Speaker quipped "Pawar can get it done."

Earlier, the former Maharashtra chief minister, addressing the gathering, showered praise on Pawar and said the NCP leader has the capability to become Prime Minister.

To a question, Joshi maintained the temporary structure built at Mumbai's Shivaji Park, where the last rites of Sena chief Bal Thackeray were performed, was linked with "sentiments" of the party.

There would not be any compromise on the stand taken by the party on keeping the structure intact, he said.

When pointed out that Sena stand could precipitate a showdown with the Congress-NCP government in the state, Joshi said "we will persist with our stand in the matter".

On the talk about constructing Thackeray's memorial in the premises of Mumbai's Kohinoor Mill owned by him, the Sena leader said there was no place there for such a project.

"There are already three buildings standing there and there is no vacant space," he said.

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Gunman 'Tentatively' Identified in Oregon Shooting













A masked gunman who opened fire in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two individuals before killing himself, has been "tentatively" identified by police, though they have not yet released his name.


The shooter, wearing a white hockey mask, black clothing, and a bullet proof vest, tore through the mall around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, entering through a Macy's store and proceeding to the food court and public areas spraying bullets, according to witness reports.


Police have not released the names of the deceased. Clackamas County Sheriff's Department Lt. James Rhodes said authorities are in the process of notifying victims' families.


The injured victim has been transported to a local hospital, where she is "fighting for her life," according to Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts.


PHOTOS: Oregon Mall Shooting


Nadia Telguz, who said she was a friend of the injured victim, told ABC News affiliate KATU-TV in Portland that the woman was expected to recover.


"My friend's sister got shot," Teleguz told KATU. "She's on her way to (Oregon Health and Science University hospital). They're saying she got shot in her side and so it's not life-threatening, so she'll be OK."






Christopher Onstott/Pamplen Media Group/Portland Tribune













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Witnesses from the shooting rampage said that a young man who appeared to be a teenager ran through the upper level of Macy's to the mall food court, firing multiple shots, one right after the other, with what is believed to be a black, semi-automatic rifle.


More than 10,000 shoppers were at the mall during the day, police said. Roberts said that officers responded to the scene of the shooting within minutes, and four SWAT teams swept the 1.4 million-square-foot building searching for the shooter. He was eventually found dead, an apparent suicide.


"I can confirm the shooter is dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," Rhodes said. "By all accounts there were no rounds fired by law enforcement today in the mall."


Roberts said more than 100 law enforcement officers responded to the shooting, and at least four local agencies were working on the investigation, including the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which is working to trace the shooter's weapon.


READ: Guns in America: A Statistical Look


Roberts also said that shoppers, including two emergency room nurses and one physician who happened to be at the mall, provided medical assistance to victims who had been shot. Other shoppers helped escort individuals out of the mall and out of harm's way, he said.


"There were a huge amount of people running in different directions, and it was chaos for a lot of citizens, but true heroes were stepping up in this time of high stress," Roberts said. "E.R. nurses on the scene were providing medical care to those injured, a physician on the scene was helping provide care to the wounded."


Mall shopper Daniel Martinez told KATU that he had just sat down at a Jamba Juice inside the mall when he heard rapid gunfire. He turned and saw the masked gunman, dressed in all black, about 10 feet away from him.


"I just saw him (the gunman) and thought, 'I need to go somewhere,'" Martinez said. "It was so fast, and at that time, everyone was moving around."


Martinez said he ran to the nearest clothing store. As he ran, he motioned for another woman to follow; several others ran to the store as well, hiding in a fitting room. They stayed there for an hour and a half until SWAT teams told them it was safe to leave the mall.






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