World News Thread & Breaking News!!

[bd popeye]

Gents..let's stop the gun control discussion before it gets out of hand. Post some news.

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By SUNLEN MILLER (@sunlenmiller)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2012

Sen. Daniel Inouye, the 88-year-old Democrat who has been in office since Hawaii became a state in 1959, has died. His last word was, "Aloha."

He became Hawaii's senator in 1962, three years after the state joined the United States. He was the longest serving sitting Senator and the second-longest serving senator in U.S. history.

Inouye's office confirmed the senator's passing to ABC News.

A decorated war hero who lost his arm in battle, in 2000 Inouye was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in Europe in World War II. He was a champion for veterans and veterans rights.

On Capitol Hill he rose to become Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which controls the purse strings for the nation and is widely considered one of the most powerful positions in government.

He worked hard to bring federal dollars, particularly from the military, to his island state.

As his office put it in the statement announcing his death, "The story of Dan Inouye is the story of modern Hawaii. During his eight decades of public service, Dan Inouye helped build and shape Hawaii."

Inouye also sat on special committees that investigated Watergate in the 1970s and the Iran Contra affair in the 1980s.

The senator had been sick for some time, hospitalized since early December, and was fighting respiratory complications as work was done to stabilize his supplemental oxygen requirements.

When he entered the hospital, the senator's office explained that in the late 1960s, Inouye was misdiagnosed with lung cancer and had a sizeable portion of his left lung removed. After living with this his whole life, his office said, about nine months ago his doctors recommended he begin using an oxygen supplement.

In November, Inouye could be seen using oxygen on the floor of the Senate and has been spotted also using a wheelchair at times.

He was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in November for a minor cut to the back of his head after a fall in his apartment.

Inouye's wife Irene and his son Ken were at his side, according to his office. Last rites were performed by Senate Chaplain Dr. Barry Black.

He is survived by his wife, Irene Hirano Inouye, his son Daniel Ken Inouye Jr., Ken's wife Jessica, and granddaughter Maggie and step-daughter Jennifer Hirano. He was preceded in death his first wife, Maggie Awamura.

 

[ManilaBoy45]

Philippines House Passes Reproductive Health Bill
By CNN Staff
December 18, 2012 -- Updated 0058 GMT (0858 HKT)

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(CNN) -- Lawmakers on Monday approved legislation calling for government-funded contraception and sex education classes in the Philippines, a first in the heavily Catholic nation.

A reconciliation committee must now work out differences in the versions of the legislation passed by each house before it is sent to President Benigno Aquino, who is expected to sign it.

 

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By KEVIN DOLAK (@kdolak)
Dec. 18, 2012

Richard Engel, the chief foreign correspondent at NBC News, and his production team have been released amid gunfire at a Syria checkpoint after they were taken prisoner in the civil war-torn country.

"After being kidnapped and held for five days inside Syria by an unknown group, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and his production crew members have been freed unharmed. We are pleased to report they are safely out of the country," NBC said in a statement.

Engel, 39, and his crew vanished Thursday after crossing into northwest Syria from Turkey, the network said, adding that there had been no contact between the Engel and NBC since last week.

Engel and his crew were abducted, forced into the back of a truck and blindfolded upon entering Syria, according to the network's statement. They were then transported to an unknown location, which is now believed to be near the town of Ma'arrat Misrin, about 30 miles southwest of Alappo.

Although they were blindfolded, no one was harmed while they were held captive, the network said. NBC officials said that they believe their abductors are not loyal to the Assad government.

Engel and his crew were being transported Monday when the vehicle in which they were travelling came upon a checkpoint manned by members of the Syrian rebel group the Ahrar al-Sham brigade. Firefight ensued, and two of the captors were killed, while an unknown number of others escaped, the network said.

Engel and the crew, who were unharmed in the incident, remained in Syria until this morning. They were driven to the Syria-Turkey border by the Ahrar al-Sham brigade, and then they re-entered Turkey.

The network "expressed its gratitude to those who worked to gather information and secure the release of our colleagues."

Engel joined NBC in May 2003 and, after more than a decade of covering the Middle East, was named chief foreign correspondent of NBC News in April 2008.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

By Greg Roumeliotis and Sakthi Prasad
Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:28pm EST
(Reuters) - The company whose AR-15 type Bushmaster rifle was used in the Newtown school massacre in Connecticut will be immediately put up for sale, its private equity owner Cerberus Capital Management LP said on Tuesday in response to investor concerns.

The secretive private equity firm risked the ire of investors, which include some of the largest U.S. public pension funds, after its investment in Freedom Group Inc, owner of Bushmaster Firearms International that makes the rifle, came under public scrutiny.

The pressure on Cerberus to sell the firearms maker comes as it seeks up to $3.5 billion from investors for its latest buyout fund.

Late on Monday, California Treasurer Bill Lockyer asked CalPERS and CalSTRS, the state's public pension funds and the largest in the United States, to account for their investments in gun manufacturers, and proposed that they sell their interest in any company that makes guns that are illegal under California's assault weapons ban.

California's ban includes the Bushmaster rifle.

"The Treasurer's view is that neither fund should be invested in any company that makes guns that are illegal in this state, especially ones that were used to kill 20 innocent children and six innocent adults," Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for Lockyer said.

CalSTRS, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, said on Monday it was reviewing its investment with Cerberus in the wake of Friday's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

"It's an unusual move by Cerberus but it was a terrible event, so they are responding to some of their investors who are teachers' funds. I'm sure they will be selling it at a low price because now would not be a good time to sell the business," said Steven Kaplan, a University of Chicago finance professor.

Cerberus filed for an initial public offering of Freedom Group in October 2009 but withdrew the registration in April 2011, without offering a reason.

In addition to Cerberus, some gun retailers also took steps.

Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS.N) pulled all guns from its store closest to the site of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and suspended the sale of certain kinds of semi-automatic rifles from its chains nationwide.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) took down an informational website about semi-automatic Bushmaster rifles.

Cabela's Inc (CAB.N) continued to advertise AR-15 type Bushmaster rifles on its website, though it said the weapons were not available for sale online or at its Connecticut store location.

FUNDRAISING

Cerberus Institutional Partners V, Cerberus' latest buyout fund, was seeking between $3 billion and $3.5 billion from investors, CalPERS, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, that has committed $400 million to the fund, said in a report earlier this year.

Cerberus is also raising a real estate fund, Cerberus Institutional Real Estate Partners III, according to a filing last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Founded in 1992 by Stephen Feinberg and William Richter, New York-based Cerberus has more than $20 billion under management and shares its name with a mythical three-headed dog which in Greek mythology guards the entrance to the underworld.

Feinberg's father, Martin Feinberg, is a resident of Newtown, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing an interview with him. Public records show a Martin Feinberg residing in a retirement facility in Newtown.

Cerberus said on Tuesday it would hire a financial adviser to sell its interests in Freedom Group and return the proceeds to investors.

The private equity firm expressed shock and grief at the killings in Newtown but added that Freedom Group was not responsible.

"We do not believe that Freedom Group or any single company or individual can prevent senseless violence or the illegal use or procurement of firearms and ammunition," it said.

Cerberus bought firearms maker Bushmaster in 2006 and later merged it with other gun companies to create Freedom Group, which reported net sales of $677 million for the nine months ended September, up from $565 million a year earlier.

Besides Cerberus, a few other private equity firms also have stakes in firearms companies. Sciens Capital Management, for example, jointly owns small arms maker Colt Defense.

In an opinion piece published on Monday in Slate magazine, prior to the announcement by Cerberus, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer said pressure should be stepped up on the owners of gun companies, like Cerberus, to change the way they operate.

"It is time to determine pension fund by pension fund who has invested in Cerberus and bring pressure on those investors either to get out of Cerberus or have Cerberus change the way it runs the gun industry," Spitzer wrote. (link.reuters.com/vuf74t)

GUN CONTROL DEBATE

Cerberus said the Newtown tragedy was a "watershed event" that has raised the national debate on gun control "to an unprecedented level."

However, it added the firm was responsible for only investment decisions it makes on behalf of its clients and does not play the role of "statesmen or policy makers."

"It is not our role to take positions, or attempt to shape or influence the gun control policy debate. That is the job of our federal and state legislators," it said.

U.S. lawmakers have not approved a major new federal gun law since 1994, and a ban on certain semi-automatic rifles known as assault weapons expired in 2004.

The Newtown massacre has led President Barack Obama and some congressional leaders to reconsider what has been a largely hands-off approach to gun control in recent years.

The percentage of Americans favoring tough gun regulations rose significantly after the killings at the Connecticut school, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Monday. <ID: nL1E8NHBRX>

(Additional reporting by Martine Geller in New York, Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles and Dan Burns in Newtown, Connecticut; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters, Mark Potter, John Wallace and Andrew Hay)

No Comment on Firearms ownership. but Freedom group also includes Remington defense who have offering for the Army and Marines

Newtown goes back to school; guns pulled from shelves

2:21pm EST
By Edward Krudy and Peter Rudegeair
NEWTOWN, Connecticut (Reuters) - Students returned to school in the shattered Connecticut town of Newtown on Tuesday for the first time since a gunman's rampage killed 26 people in an elementary school, reviving the gun control debate in Washington and prompting a retailer to pull guns from shelves.
Sandy Hook Elementary, where 20-year-old Adam Lanza gunned down a score of 6- and 7-year-olds and six adults on Friday, will remain closed. It was an active crime scene, with police coming and going past a line of 26 Christmas trees, one for each victim, decorated with ornaments, stuffed animals and balloons in the school colors of green and white.
The rest of Newtown's schools reopened with grief counselors and police present.
The massacre of young children shocked Americans who had grown accustomed to mass shootings, prompting some U.S. lawmakers to call for tighter gun restrictions and pressuring one private equity firm to sell its investment in a gunmaker.
In addition, Dick's Sporting Goods pulled all guns from its store closest to Newtown and suspended the sale of certain semi-automatic rifles in its stores nationwide.
"It's going to be awful, doing the things we used to do," said Miguel, 16, who stopped by a doughnut shop on his way to Newtown High School. "There's going to be a lot of tears."
When Sandy Hook students go back to school, it will be at the unused Chalk Hill School in nearby Monroe, where a sign across the street read, "Welcome Sandy Hook Elementary!"
Police have warned it could take months for them to finish their investigation, which was set back because Lanza smashed his computer's hard drive, preventing police from retrieving any data, The New York Times reported, citing a senior law enforcement official.
Investigators have revealed little to nothing about Lanza's motive.
CALLS FOR GUN RESTRICTIONS
President Barack Obama called for action at a Sunday night prayer vigil in Newtown, and Democratic lawmakers have sought a new push for U.S. gun restrictions, including a ban on assault weapons such as the Bushmaster AR-15-style assault rifle used by Lanza.
The gunman carried hundreds of rounds of ammunition in extra clips and shot his victims repeatedly, one of them 11 times. He also shot his mother dead before driving to the school, and then killed himself to end the massacre with a death toll of 28
Some Republicans have shown signs they are willing to at least discuss some gun controls after Newtown.
"You are going to have some people (Republicans) who never, never go there," said Representative Steve LaTourette, an Ohio Republican. "But yes, I think most Republicans are willing to have a very, very serious conversation about what this means and taking a second look at what the Second Amendment means in the 21st century."
The U.S. Conference of Mayors sent an open letter to Obama urging him to act alone by exercising his executive power in addition to working with Congress.
The nation's powerful gun industry lobby, the National Rifle Association, has remained silent on the Newtown shooting.
U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management announced it was selling its investment in gunmaker Freedom Group following pressure from a major investor, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, which said on Monday it was reviewing its investment with Cerberus.
CalSTRS, the second largest pension fund in the United States, had invested $751.4 million with Cerberus by the end of March 2012, according to its website. Cerberus bought firearms maker Bushmaster in 2006 and later merged it with other gun companies to create Freedom Group.
While Dick's pulled some guns from its shelves, Wal-Mart Stores Inc took down an informational website about semi-automatic Bushmaster rifles. Cabela's Inc continued to advertise AR-15 type Bushmaster rifles on its website, though it said the weapons were not available for sale online or at its Connecticut store.
NEWTOWN BURIES ITS CHILDREN
Police and educators in Newtown tried to ease their quiet town back to normal.
A day after the first two children were buried, funerals took place Tuesday for James Mattioli and Jessica Rekos. Each was 6 years old.
"I just feel it's important to be here. I wanted to sit in the back and pay respect. I wanted to cry," said Angela Bergen, who drove 90 minutes from Elizabeth, New Jersey, with her 13-year-old son Jack to attend the Mattioli funeral.
At Newtown High School, a group of three girls hugged each other in the parking lot before starting for the doorway. Counseling was available in the gym for students and staff.
Nanci Wallenta, taking her friend's son to middle school, said she was unworried about security and determined to get back to normal.
"It's an isolated incident," Wallenta said. "You can't go through life being afraid. You can't live in fear. ... We're a strong town."
(Additional reporting by Sakthi Prasad, Greg Roumeliotis, Edith Honan, Dan Burns and Patricia Zengerle; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

No comment

Egypt opposition protests against constitution

1:37pm EST
By Yasmine Saleh and Shaimaa Fayed
CAIRO (Reuters) - Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi staged protests in Cairo on Tuesday against an Islamist-backed draft constitution that has divided Egypt but looks set to be approved in the second half of a referendum this weekend.
Several hundred protesters outside the presidential palace chanted "Revolution, revolution, for the sake of the constitution" and called on Mursi to "Leave, leave, you coward!". While the protest was noisy, numbers were down on previous demonstrations.
Mursi obtained a 57 percent "yes" vote for the constitution in the first part of the referendum last weekend, state media said, less than he had hoped for.
The opposition, which says the law is too Islamist, will be encouraged by the result but is unlikely to win the second part this Saturday, which is to be held in districts seen as even more sympathetic towards Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.
The National Salvation Front opposition coalition said there were widespread voting violations last Saturday and called for protests to "bring down the invalid draft constitution".
The Ministry of Justice said it was appointing judges to investigate complaints of voting irregularities.
Opposition marchers converged on Tahrir Square, cradle of the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak almost two years ago, and Mursi's presidential palace, still ringed with tanks after earlier protests.
A protester at the presidential palace, Mohamed Adel, 30, said: "I have been camping here for weeks and will continue to do so until the constitution that divided the nation, and for which people died, gets scrapped."
The build up to the first day of voting saw clashes between supporters and opponents of Mursi in which eight people died. Recent demonstrations in Cairo have been more peaceful, although rival factions clashed on Friday in Alexandria, Egypt's second biggest city.
RESIGNATION
Egypt's public prosecutor resigned under pressure from his opponents in the judiciary, dealing a blow to Mursi and drawing an angry response from his supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the Islamist group that propelled Mursi to power in an election in June, said the enforced departure of public prosecutor Talaat Ibrahim was a "crime" and authorities should not accept the resignation.
Further signs of opposition to Mursi emerged when a judges' club urged its members not to supervise Saturday's vote. But the call is not binding and balloting is expected to go ahead.
If the constitution is passed, national elections can take place early next year, something many hope will help end the turmoil that has gripped Egypt since the fall of Mubarak.
The closeness of the first referendum vote and low turnout give Mursi scant comfort as he seeks to assemble support for difficult economic reforms.
"This percentage ... will strengthen the hand of the National Salvation Front and the leaders of this Front have declared they are going to continue this fight to discredit the constitution," said Mustapha Kamal Al-Sayyid, a professor of political science at Cairo University.
Mursi is likely to become more unpopular with the introduction of planned austerity measures, Sayyid told Reuters.
To tackle the budget deficit, the government needs to raise taxes and cut fuel subsidies. Uncertainty surrounding economic reform plans has already forced the postponement of a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. The Egyptian pound has fallen to eight-year lows against the dollar.
Mursi and his backers say the constitution is needed to move Egypt's democratic transition forward. Opponents say the document is too Islamist and ignores the rights of women and of minorities, including Christians who make up 10 percent of the population.
Demonstrations erupted when Mursi awarded himself extra powers on November 22 and then fast-tracked the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies and boycotted by many liberals.
The referendum has had to be held over two days because many of the judges needed to oversee polling staged a boycott in protest. In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of those voting.
(Additional reporting by Tamim Elyan and Edmund Blair; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Alison Williams)

business as Usual

Bank of Japan to mull 2 percent inflation target as Abe turns up heat

7:32am EST
By Leika Kihara and Stanley White
TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan will ease monetary policy this week and consider adopting a 2 percent inflation target no later than in January, sources say, responding to pressure from next Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for stronger efforts to beat deflation.
Turning up the heat, Abe made a rare, direct push for a higher inflation target when BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa visited the headquarters of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Tuesday.
"I told him that during my election campaign, I called for setting a policy accord with the BOJ and a 2 percent inflation target," Abe told reporters. "The governor just listened," he said when asked how Shirakawa responded.
The LDP swept to power in Sunday's lower house election after campaigning for big fiscal spending to revive the economy and "unlimited" monetary easing to achieve higher inflation in a country mired in deflation for the past 15 years.
A day after the election, Abe called on the BOJ to boost its monetary stimulus at a two-day meeting that ends on Thursday and pressed it to adopt a 2 percent inflation target, double its current price goal, as soon as next month.
Under pressure, the central bank will likely ease policy this week amid looming risks to Japan's economic outlook, sources familiar with its thinking have told Reuters, and may also start debating how to meet Abe's calls to set a higher price target.
Abe will form a new cabinet on December 26 and is seen choosing Taro Aso as finance minister, Japanese media said, a former prime minister expected to toe the party's line calling for aggressive easing and public works splurge.
That means the central bank will be under pressure to respond again at its policy-setting meeting on January 21-22, when it is set to cut its economic forecast for the year ending in March 2013 due to the widening pain from slowing global growth.
"Abe's comments have really raised expectations for easing this week," said Norio Miyagawa, senior economist at Mizuho Securities Research & Consulting in Tokyo.
"I think the BOJ will deliver with increased purchases of government debt. Next year could also be a big year for monetary policy easing, because of the inflation target debate and a change in leadership at the BOJ."
Fourteen of 19 economists polled by Reuters last week said they expected the BOJ to ease this week, most likely by increasing its 91 trillion yen ($1 trillion) asset buying and lending program by up to 10 trillion yen.
The BOJ currently has a 1 percent inflation target but has said this is a goal for the time being, and that it considers a range of zero to 2 percent as long-term desirable price growth.
The central bank may thus opt to clarify that after the 1 percent inflation is met, it will aim for 2 percent inflation as a long-term policy goal, to meet demands from Abe for more aggressive monetary stimulus.
The BOJ and the government may issue a joint statement, similar to one crafted in October between the central bank and the outgoing government led by the Democratic Party, pledging to take measures to aim for 2 percent inflation in the long run, the sources said.
SEEK CLOSER TIES WITH U.S.
Shirakawa told reporters he did not discuss monetary policy with Abe, and that he only visited to pay respect. It is rare for a premier or a would-be prime minister to reveal what was discussed at a closed-door meeting with a central bank governor.
The BOJ has eased monetary policy four times so far this year via an increase in its asset-buying and lending program. But politicians like Abe have criticized the central bank for not doing enough to end 15 years of grinding deflation in Japan.
Some central bankers are keen to boost stimulus again, with the world's third-largest economy already in mild recession and unlikely to rebound strongly early next year due to weak exports to China and the potential impact from the U.S. "fiscal cliff."
Any BOJ action on Thursday will likely take the form of a further increase in its asset-buying program. But central bankers, feeling the heat, have been privately pondering options for next year including setting a higher inflation target and buying government bonds more aggressively.
Through such steps, they hope to stave off threats by Abe of revising the BOJ law guaranteeing its independence.
But there is strong resistance within the BOJ on setting a 2 percent inflation target in a country that has barely seen price growth exceed 1 percent in the past two decades. Japan's core consumer inflation was flat in October from a year earlier after five straight months of declines.
BOJ officials close to the conservative Shirakawa are wary of setting a higher price target without having effective means of achieving it. They also fret that pumping too much money into the economy could brew seeds of imbalances, such as sharp rises in asset prices, in the long-term.
But Abe, whose LDP and its small ally New Komeito captured a two-thirds majority in Sunday's landslide victory, has swiftly moved to press his agenda.
On Tuesday, Abe told reporters that he had agreed in a telephone call with U.S. President Barack Obama that the two would try to meet next month, part of a push to strengthen ties with Washington and give Japan a greater global security role.
The choice of Aso, 72, as finance minister suggests Abe is looking to experienced LDP lawmakers to fill key posts to avoid criticism that his ministers lack experience.
While Aso's views on monetary policy are little known, as prime minister he launched massive stimulus packages to combat the global financial crisis in 2008.
The new finance minister, along with the economics minister, can attend or send subordinates to BOJ policy-setting meetings. They cannot vote on policy decisions but can voice opinions and request a delay in a vote.
($1 = 83.7600 Japanese yen)
(Writing by Leika Kihara, additional reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto, Sumio Ito and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

China appoints new top official for export powerhouse Guangdong

12:00pm EST
GUANGZHOU (Reuters) - China announced on Tuesday the appointment of rising star Hu Chunhua as Communist Party boss for the southern export powerhouse of Guangdong, the country's richest and most liberal province.
Hu will take over from reform-minded politician Wang Yang, who worked to reduce Guangdong's reliance on exports and grappled with rising social tensions among migrant workers and villagers fighting land grabs and graft.
The Guangdong Party Secretary post is one of the most prominent provincial leadership roles in China, and has served as a springboard for many politicians towards more senior national posts.
Hu's appointment was announced in a brief statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency. It said Wang Jun would replace Hu as party chief in Inner Mongolia. The article did not say where Wang Yang, seen by many in the West as a beacon of political reform, will be moved to.
Reuters reported last month that Hu, the former Inner Mongolia party chief, was tipped to take over as party chief in Guangdong.
Hu, 49, is part of the so-called "sixth generation" of potential national leaders born in the 1960s, after the generations headed by Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping.
Hu Chunhua spent two decades in restive and remote Tibet, where he learned to speak Tibetan, rare for a Han Chinese official. While there, he came under the wing of Hu Jintao, the outgoing Chinese president.
The two Hus are not related despite sharing a family name.
In Inner Mongolia, Hu Chunhua, also known as "Little Hu", has been referred to as a future president. While there, Hu Chunhua oversaw rapid economic growth and dealt successfully with protests last year by ethnic Mongols.
Guangdong, however, poses a stiff challenge for Hu given its national prominence as a key economic engine, encompassing the "world's factory" of the Pearl River Delta, rapid social and industrial transformation, social unrest and corruption.
"It will be a very big jump for him," said a foreign diplomat in Guangzhou who noted the province's relatively assertive citizenry and closer scrutiny from media outlets in Hong Kong.
Hu Chunhua came to Inner Mongolia following a brief stint in Hebei, the arid province which surrounds Beijing, where he was rapidly moved after a scandal over tainted milk in which at least six children died and thousands became ill.
Hu Chunhua remains something of an enigma, even in China. He has given few clues about his deeper policy beliefs. One of the best known things about him is that he does not appear to dye his hair jet-black like many Chinese politicians.
In meetings with the public, Hu comes across as low-key and self effacing, in line with an image of a loyal, humble Communist Party member. People who have met him describe him as relaxed and easy-going.
Despite having a reputation as a moderate and a reformer, Hu Chunhua sent back to jail Inner Mongolia's most notable Mongol dissident, Hada, almost as soon as he completed a 15-year sentence for separatism in late 2010.
(Reporting by James Pomfret in Guangzhou and Sui-Lee Wee in Beijing; Editing by Ron Popeski)

Russia eyes Syria evacuation as rebels take Damascus district

11:27am EST
By Erika Solomon
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia sent warships to the Mediterranean to prepare a potential evacuation of its citizens from Syria, a Russian news agency said on Tuesday, a sign President Bashar al-Assad's key ally is worried about rebel advances now threatening even the capital.
Moscow acted a day after insurgents waging a 21-month-old uprising obtained a possible springboard for a thrust into Damascus by seizing the Yarmouk Palestinian camp, an urban zone just 2 miles from the heart of the city, activists said.
The Syrian opposition has scored significant military and diplomatic gains in recent weeks, capturing several army installations across Syria and securing formal recognition from Western and Arab states for its new coalition.
Despite those rebel successes, bloodshed has been rising with more than 40,000 killed in a movement that began as peaceful street protests but has transformed into civil war.
Assad's pivotal allies have largely stood behind him and Iran, believed to be his main bankroller in the conflict, said there were no signs of Assad was on the verge of being toppled.
"The Syrian army and the state machine are working smoothly," Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in Moscow on Tuesday.
But Russia, Assad's primary arms supplier, has appeared to waver with contradictory statements over the past week stressing opposition to Assad stepping down and airing concerns about a possible rebel victory.
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted unnamed naval sources on Tuesday as saying that two armed landing craft, a tanker and an escort vessel had left a Baltic port for the Mediterranean Sea. Russia has a naval maintenance base in the Syrian port of Tartus, around 250 km (155 miles) northwest of Damascus.
"They are heading to the Syrian coast to assist in a possible evacuation of Russian citizens ... Preparations for the deployment were carried out in a hurry and were heavily classified," the Russian agency quoted the source as saying.
Assad and his minority Alawite sect retain a solid grip on most of the coastal provinces of Tartus and Latakia, where their numbers are high. But the mostly Sunni Muslim rebels now control wide swathes of rural Syria, have seized border zones near Turkey in the north and Iraq to the east, and are pushing hard to advance on Damascus, Assad's fulcrum of power that sits close to the western frontier with Lebanon.
It was not possible to independently verify the Interfax report, which came a day after Russia confirmed that two citizens working in the Latakia province were kidnapped along with an Italian citizen. About 5,3000 Russian citizens are registered with consular authorities in Syria.
YARMOUK A "RED LINE"
In Damascus, activists reported overnight explosions and early morning sniper fire around the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk. The Yarmouk and Palestine refugee "camps" are actually densely populated urban districts home to thousands of impoverished Palestinian refugees and Syrians.
"The rebels control the camp but army forces are gathering in the Palestine camp and snipers can fire in on the southern parts of Yarmouk," rebel spokesman Abu Nidal said by Skype.
"Strategically, this site is very important because it is one of the best doors into central Damascus. The regime normally does not fight to regain areas captured any more because its forces have been drained. But I think they could see Yarmouk as a red line and fight back fiercely."
Syria hosts half a million Palestinian refugees, most living in Yarmouk, descendants of those admitted after the creation of Israel in 1948. Damascus has always cast itself as a champion of the Palestinian struggle, sponsoring several guerrilla factions.
The battle in Yarmouk was one of a series of conflicts on the southern edges of Damascus, as the rebels try to seal off the capital in their campaign to end 42 years of rule over the major Arab state by the Assad family.
Both Assad's government and the rebels have enlisted and armed divided Palestinian factions.
Streams of refugees have fled Yarmouk. Many have headed to central Damascus while hundreds more have crossed into Lebanon.
"We walked out on foot without our belongings until we reached central Damascus. We got in a taxi and drove straight for the border," said 75-year-old Abu Ali, speaking at the Lebanon's Masnaa border crossing.
Abu Ali said around 70 percent of Yarmouk residents had fled and many had slept rough on the streets of Damascus.
MEDICAL SHORTAGES, EXTREME HUNGER
Around 200 people died in Syria on Monday alone, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists across the nation. Violence has risen sharply, and with it humanitarian conditions are deteriorating.
The World Health Organisation said around 100 people were being admitted daily to the main hospital of Damascus and that supplies of medicines and anesthetics were scarce.
It also reported a rise in cases of extreme hunger and malnutrition coming from across Syria, including the insurgent-dominated rural areas outside the capital, where Assad has unleashed warplanes to try to dislodge rebel units.
Aid organizations say fighting has blocked their access into many conflict zones, and residents in rebel-held areas in particular have grappled with severe food and medical shortages.
Fighting raged across Syria on Tuesday, with fighter jets and ground rockets bombarding rebel-controlled eastern suburbs of the capital and army forces shelling a town in Hama province after clashes reignited there over the weekend.
The Syrian government severely restricts media access into the country, making it difficult to report events on the ground.
An news team for the American NBC network who were kidnapped after entering Syria through the rebel-held northern border returned to Turkey on Tuesday after being freed in a gunfight.
NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel said his team was held by an unidentified band for five days, and the men were subjected to psychological torture including mock shootings.
He said he had a "very good idea" who his captors were.
"This was a group known as the shabbiha. This is a government militia. These are people who are loyal to President Bashar Assad," he said on NBC, adding that the kidnappers spoke openly about their allegiance to the Damascus government.
(Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes, Erika Solomon and Dominic Evans in Beirut, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Afif Diab in Masnaa, Lebanon, Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

And finally as We move too the close of 2012
Rewind Youtube style
[video=youtube;iCkYw3cRwLo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCkYw3cRwLo[/video]

 

[AssassinsMace]

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Latin Americans rank as happiest people on planet
By By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN | Associated Press – 10 hrs ago.. .


MEXICO CITY (AP) — The world's happiest people aren't in Qatar, the richest country by most measures. They aren't in Japan, the nation with the highest life expectancy. Canada, with its chart-topping percentage of college graduates, doesn't make the top 10.

A poll released Wednesday of nearly 150,000 people around the world says seven of the world's 10 countries with the most upbeat attitudes are in Latin America.

Many of the seven do poorly in traditional measures of well-being, like Guatemala, a country torn by decades of civil war followed by waves of gang-driven criminality that give it one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Guatemala sits just above Iraq on the United Nations' Human Development Index, a composite of life expectancy, education and per capita income. But it ranks seventh in positive emotions.

"In Guatemala, it's a culture of friendly people who are always smiling," said Luz Castillo, a 30-year-old surfing instructor. "Despite all the problems that we're facing, we're surrounded by natural beauty that lets us get away from it all."

Gallup Inc. asked about 1,000 people in each of 148 countries last year if they were well-rested, had been treated with respect, smiled or laughed a lot, learned or did something interesting and felt feelings of enjoyment the previous day.

In Panama and Paraguay, 85 percent of those polled said yes to all five, putting those countries at the top of the list. They were followed closely by El Salvador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Guatemala, the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

The people least likely to report positive emotions lived in Singapore, the wealthy and orderly city-state that ranks among the most developed in the world. Other wealthy countries also sat surprisingly low on the list. Germany and France tied with the poor African state of Somaliland for 47th place.

Prosperous nations can be deeply unhappy ones. And poverty-stricken ones are often awash in positivity, or at least a close approximation of it.

It's a paradox with serious implications for a relatively new and controversial field called happiness economics that seeks to improve government performance by adding people's perceptions of their satisfaction to traditional metrics such as life expectancy, per capita income and graduation rates.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan famously measures policies by their impact on a concept called Gross National Happiness.

British Prime Minister David Cameron announced a national well-being program in 2010 as part of a pledge to improve Britons' lives in the wake of the global recession. A household survey sent to 200,000 Britons asks questions like "How satisfied are you with your life nowadays?"

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which unites 34 of the world's most advanced countries, recently created a Better Life Index allowing the public to compare countries based on quality of life in addition to material well-being.

Some experts say that's a dangerous path that could allow governments to use positive public perceptions as an excuse to ignore problems. As an example of the risks, some said, the Gallup poll may have been skewed by a Latin American cultural proclivity to avoid negative statements regardless of how one actually feels.

"My immediate reaction is that this influenced by cultural biases," said Eduardo Lora, who studied the statistical measurement of happiness as the former chief economist of the Inter-American Development Bank

"What the empirical literature says is that some cultures tend to respond to any type of question in a more positive way," said Lora, a native of Colombia, the 11th most-positive country.

For the nine least positive countries, some were not surprising, like Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Haiti. For others at the bottom, Armenia at the second lowest spot, Georgia and Lithuania, misery is something a little more ephemeral.

"Feeling unhappy is part of the national mentality here," said Agaron Adibekian, a sociologist in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. "Armenians like being mournful; there have been so many upheavals in the nation's history. The Americans keep their smiles on and avoid sharing their problems with others. And the Armenians feel ashamed about being successful."

The United States was No. 33 in positive outlook. Latin America's biggest economies, Mexico and Brazil, sat more than 20 places further down the list.

Jon Clifton, a partner at Gallup, acknowledged the poll partly measured cultures' overall tendency to express emotions, positive or negative. But he said skeptics shouldn't undervalue the expression of positive emotion as an important phenomenon in and of itself.

"Those expressions are a reality, and that's exactly what we're trying to quantify," he said. "I think there is higher positive emotionality in these countries."

Some Latin Americans said the poll hit something fundamental about their countries: a habit of focusing on posivites such as friends, family and religion despite daily lives that can be grindingly difficult.

Carlos Martinez sat around a table with 11 fellow construction workers in a Panama City restaurant sharing a breakfast of corn empanadas, fried chicken and coffee before heading to work on one of the hundreds of new buildings that have sprouted during a yearslong economic boom driven in large part by the success of the Panama Canal. The boom has sent unemployment plunging, but also increased traffic and crime.

Martinez pronounced himself unhappy with rising crime but "happy about my family."

"Overall, I'm happy because this is a country with many natural resources, a country that plays an important role in the world," he said. "We're Caribbean people, we're people who like to celebrate, to eat well and live as well as we can. There are a lot of possibilities here, you just have to sacrifice a little more."

Singapore sits 32 places higher than Panama on the Human Development Index, but at the opposite end of the happiness list. And things weren't looking good Wednesday to Richard Low, a 33-year-old businessman in the prosperous Asian metropolis.

"We work like dogs and get paid peanuts. There's hardly any time for holidays or just to relax in general because you're always thinking ahead: when the next deadline or meeting is. There is hardly a fair sense of work-life balance here," he said.

In Paraguay, tied with Panama as the most-positive country while doing far worse than Panama by objective measures, street vendor Maria Solis said tough economic conditions were no reason to despair.

"Life is short and there are no reasons to be sad because even if we were rich, there would still be problems," she said while selling herbs used for making tea. "We have to laugh at ourselves."

___

Source: Gallup Inc.,

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___

Associated Press writers Romina Ruiz-Goiriena in Guatemala City; Juan Zamarano in Panama City; Sylvia Hui in London; Angela Charlton in Paris; Heather Tan in Singapore; Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia; and Pedro Servin in Asuncion, Paraguay, contributed to this report.

I think this study makes happiness overrated.

 

[bd popeye]

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[/h]

MOSCOW (AP) — Kazakhstan's acting border service chief was among 27 people killed in a military plane crash Tuesday near a southern city, another blow to the agency after he was appointed in June to deal with the aftermath of a mass killing involving a conscript.

The Russian-made An-72 crashed at 1255 GMT (7:55 a.m. EST) about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the city of Shymkent near the border with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan's Committee for National Security said in a statement.

The fatalities included a crew of seven and 20 border guards, including the acting head of the ex-Soviet nation's border protection service, Col. Turganbek Stambekov, the statement said.

Without specifying further details, authorities said an investigation was opened into the crash. No cause was given, but southern Kazakhstan over recent weeks has been buffeted by winds, heavy snows and low temperatures, causing widespread flight delays.

Stambekov was appointed acting head of the border service in June, after a mass killing of 14 frontier troops in a remote Kazakh outpost near China the month before. Vladislav Chelakh, a 20-year-old conscript, was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison after being found solely responsible for the killings.

The border service has come under close scrutiny in Kazakhstan since the killings, which many argued showed the lack of readiness and professionalism among serving troops. Legislation approved Thursday by the upper house of parliament and supported by Stambekov was designed to improve the process for selecting conscripts for the service.

The Kazakh-Uzbek border stretches 2,200 kilometers (1,350 miles) of Central Asian steppes and deserts.

 

[Quickie]

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English.news.cn 2012-12-28 18:58:59

• Vice FM: China will neither create nor fear any troubles concerning the Diaoyu Islands.
• Vice FM Zhang said the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets are inherent parts of China's territory.
• China believes the two sides should manage the issue through talks and consultations.



Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun answers questions from the press at the Eighth Lanting Forum in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 28, 2012. The Eighth Lanting Forum, with the theme "China's Diplomacy in a Changing World", was held Friday in Beijing. Initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in December 2010, the Lanting Forum is a platform for communication and exchanges between government, the business community, academia, media and the public. It aims to create a new channel to facilitate discussions on foreign policy and issues of common interest by concerned parties. (Xinhua/Li Xin)


BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said Friday that China will neither create nor fear any troubles concerning the Diaoyu Islands.

He made the remarks in response to a question concerning China-Japan relations at the eighth Lanting Forum.

Zhang said the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets are inherent parts of China's territory, and Chinese government and its people's determination to safeguard the country's territorial sovereignty is firm.

"We hope for a stable and peaceful surrounding environment, we will not create troubles, but we definitely not fear any trouble," Zhang said.

China believes the two sides should manage the issue through talks and consultations to avoid escalation, he said.

"We hope the Japanese side can face history and reality and make correct decisions in order to properly handle the issue," he said, adding that stable and healthy bilateral relations are in the interests of the two countries and the region.

Zhang added that China has recognized that some officials in Japan's newly established cabinet have shown willingness to boost bilateral ties, adding that China hopes Japan's new government can improve ties and properly handle differences.

Zhang said China has paid great attention to the development of Japan's domestic politics and hopes Japan will follow a path of peaceful development, which he described as the premise of Japan's constructive role in maintaining regional peace and stability.

 

[PhageHunter]

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Sunando Sen, 46, was pushed off a subway platform to his death in Sunnyside, Queens on Thursday night. Police are searching for his killer.

The unsuspecting victim shoved to his death beneath an oncoming Queens subway was an Indian immigrant who only recently grabbed his small piece of the American dream.

Sunando Sen, killed in a gruesome Thursday night attack, lived in Queens after coming to New York and co-owned a Manhattan printing business, police sources said Friday.

“He was a a nice and quiet and very good person,” said his roommate Ar Suman, 33. “Seven days a week he worked. He wanted to be his own boss.”

Six months ago, the 46-year-old Sen — who immigrated from Calcutta about 20 years ago — realized his dream by opening the New Amsterdam Printing Co. in Manhattan.

“He was very excited to have his own business,” said Suman, a cab driver. “His goal was to have his own business.”

Sen’s business partner was trying to reach relatives in India with word of the stunning death — the second subway shove fatality of the month, police sources said. Friends said both of his parents were dead.

Another poor soul.

Too many crazies out there.

 

[AssassinsMace]

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CNN is making a big deal about this but I believe those spent launchers are non-reuseable so whoever turned them in probably made $400 for something that is essentially a plastic tube. And you know the police have to know it so they're using it for publicity.