Mandela undergoes successful gallstone surgery

JOHANNESBURG South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela underwent a successful surgery to remove gallstones Saturday, the nation's presidency said, as the 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon is still recovering from a lung infection.

Doctors treating Mandela waited to perform the endoscopic surgery as they wanted to first attend to his lung ailment, presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement. Mandela has been hospitalized since Dec. 8.

In the procedure, a patient receives sedatives and an anesthetic to allow a surgeon to put an endoscope down their throat, authorities say. The surgeon then can remove the gallstones, which are small, crystal-like masses that can cause a person tremendous pain.

"The procedure was successful and Madiba is recovering," Maharaj said, using Mandela's clan name as many do in South Africa as a sign of affection.

Occasionally, a patient who undergoes the same medical procedure Mandela just had may need to have an additional surgery to have the gallbladder removed, according to medical experts. However, Maharaj's statement offered no other details about what additional care Mandela may require, nor did it suggest when he could be released from the hospital.

Mandela, South Africa's first democratically elected president, was admitted last week to a hospital in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, the government has said. At first, officials said Mandela was undergoing tests and later they acknowledged he had been diagnosed with a lung infection.

The Nobel laureate has a history of lung problems, after falling ill with tuberculosis in 1988 toward the tail-end of his 27 years in prison before his release and subsequent presidency. While doctors said at the time the disease caused no permanent damage to his lungs, medical experts say tuberculosis can cause problems years later for those infected.

South Africa, a nation of 50 million people, reveres Mandela for his magnamity and being able to bridge racial gaps after centuries of white racist rule.

This hospital stay, his longest since undergoing radiation therapy in 2001 for prostate cancer, has sparked increasing concern about a man who represents the aspirations of a country still struggling with race and poverty.

Following the chaos that surrounded Mandela's stay at a public hospital in 2011, the South African military took charge of his care and the government took over control of the information about his health. However, public worries over Mandela have grown as government officials contradicted themselves in recent days about Mandela's location, raising questions about who is actually treating him.

On Saturday, the South African National Editors' Forum issued a statement criticizing the government for not being straightforward with journalists about Mandela's hospitalization. The forum said that journalists had been working with the government to set up guidelines on how to handle covering Mandela in his waning years, though state officials ultimately declined to sign off on the agreement.

"Senior government representatives have sought to justify misleading statements about the circumstances surrounding Mr. Mandela's whereabouts on the basis of irresponsible conduct by print and broadcast news organizations," the statement read. "Nothing could be further from the truth."

The editor's forum includes members from newspapers, television broadcasters and radio stations in South Africa, as well as the Foreign Correspondents Association of Southern Africa.

Mandela largely retired from public life after serving one five-year term. He last made a public appearance when his country hosted the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament. Mandela has also grown more frail in recent years, with his grip on politics in the nation ever slackening.

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Conn. Shooting: Cops Probe Report of Earlier Altercation













Police are investigating reports that Connecticut gunman Adam Lanza had an altercation at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in the days before he carried out a massacre the school's students and staff, sources told ABC News.


Authorities indicated today that they have "some very good evidence" about the motive behind Lanza's shooting spree at the school in Newtown, Conn., and said that the sole person to survive being shot by Lanza will be "instrumental" in the probe.


The grim task of identifying all of Lanza's 27 victims, which included 20 children, was completed today. Families, who already feared the worst, were informed that their loved ones were dead early today.


All of the bodies have now been removed from the school and medical examiners are expected to provide a full list of victims later today.


With the tally of Lanza's carnage complete, authorities and the grieving people of Newtown, Conn., are left to wonder why he turned the elementary school in this quaint New England town into a slaughter house.


CLICK HERE for full coverage of the tragedy at the elementary school.






Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images











Newtown Teacher Kept 1st Graders Calm During Massacre Watch Video











Newtown School Shooting: What to Tell Your Kids Watch Video





Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance, who had compared the investigation to "peeling back the layers of an onion," said the investigation "did produce some very good evidence" about motive, but he would not go into further detail.


He indicated the evidence came from the shooting scene at the school as well as at the home where Lanza's mother, Nancy, was slain.


Also key will be the lone person shot by Lanza who wasn't killed. The female teacher has not been publicly identified.


"She is doing fine," Vance said at a news conference today. "She has been treated and she'll be instrumental in this investigation."


In addition, sources told ABC News authorities are investigating reports that Lanza had an altercation at the school just days before the attack.


Vance said that Lanza forced his way into the school, but did not say how.


Evidence emerged today that Lanza's rampage began in the office of school principal Dawn Hochsprung while the school intercom was on. It's not clear whether it was turned on to alert the school or whether it was on for morning announcements, but the principal's screams and the cries of children heard throughout the school gave teachers time to take precautions to protect their children.


Hochsprung was among those killed in the Friday morning killing spree.


READ: Connecticut Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well'


Authorities have fanned out to New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts to interview Lanza's relatives, ABC News has learned.


According to sources, Lanza shot his mother in the face, then left his house armed with at least two semi-automatic handguns, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, and a semi-automatic rifle. He was also wearing a bulletproof vest.






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Egyptians vote on divisive constitution


CAIRO/ALEXANDRIA (Reuters) - Egyptians queued in long lines on Saturday to vote on a constitution promoted by its Islamist backers as the way out of a political crisis and rejected by opponents as a recipe for further divisions in the Arab world's biggest nation.


Soldiers joined police to secure the referendum after deadly protests during the buildup. Street brawls erupted again on Friday in Alexandria, Egypt's second city, but voting proceeded quietly there, with no reports of violence elsewhere.


President Mohamed Mursi provoked angry demonstrations when he issued a decree last month expanding his powers and then fast-tracked the draft constitution through an assembly dominated by his Muslim Brotherhood group and its allies. At least eight people were killed in clashes last week outside the presidential palace.


His liberal, secular and Christian opponents says the constitution is too Islamist and tramples on minority rights. Mursi's supporters say the charter is needed if progress is to be made towards democracy nearly two years after the fall of military-backed strongman Hosni Mubarak.


"The sheikhs (preachers) told us to say 'yes' and I have read the constitution and I liked it," said Adel Imam, a 53-year-old queuing to vote in a Cairo suburb. "The country will move on."


Opposition politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on Twitter: "Adoption of (a) divisive draft constitution that violates universal values and freedoms is a sure way to institutionalize instability and turmoil."


Official results will not be announced until after a second round of voting next Saturday. But partial results and unofficial tallies are likely to emerge soon after the first round, giving some idea of the outcome.


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 are eligible to vote in the first round in Cairo and other cities.


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.


"Until now, there is no talk of vote rigging," said Eid.


TRANSITION


Christians, making up about 10 percent of Egypt's 83 million people and who have long grumbled of discrimination, were among those waiting at a polling station in Alexandria to oppose the basic law. They fear Islamists, long repressed by Mubarak, will restrict social and other freedoms.


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


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, and then we can fix things later."


Islamists are counting on their disciplined ranks of supporters and the many Egyptians who may fall into line in the hope of ending turmoil that has hammered the economy and sent Egypt's pound to eight-year lows against the dollar.


Mursi was among the early voters after polls opened at 8 a.m. (1:00 a.m. Eastern Time). He was shown on television casting his ballot shielded by a screen and then dipping his finger in ink - a measure to prevent people voting twice.


Turnout was high enough for voting on Saturday to be extended by four hours to 11 p.m. (4 p.m. Eastern Time). One senior official on the committee overseeing the referendum said Saturday's vote could continue on Sunday if crowds were too heavy to allow everyone to cast ballots in one day. Voting for Egyptians abroad that began on Wednesday has been extended to Monday, the state news agency reported.


After weeks of turbulence, there has been limited public campaigning. Opposition politicians and parties, beaten in two elections since Mubarak's overthrow, only announced on Wednesday that they backed a "no" vote instead of a boycott.


TWO DAYS


The second round will be held in other regions on December 22 because there are not enough judges willing to monitor all polling stations after some said they would boycott the vote.


Egyptians are being asked to accept or reject a constitution that must be in place before a parliamentary election can be held next year to replace an Islamist-led parliament dissolved in June. Many hope this will lead Egypt towards stability.


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.


(Writing by Edmund Blair and Giles Elgood; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)



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Swimming: Chinese star Ye wins 200m medley gold






ISTANBUL: Chinese teenager Ye Shiwen added the world shortcourse 200m individual medley title to her two Olympic golds on Saturday when she clinched victory in 2 minutes 4.64 seconds.

Ye, 16, who took Olympic gold in the 200m and 400m medleys in London, finished ahead of Hungary's Katinka Hosszu and Hannah Miley of Great Britain.

"I'm so happy I came in first today. It feels so good," said Ye, after setting a new championship record.

"I competed against Hosszu many times in many events. This time she was stronger than ever. But I thought 'for sure I won't give up'. I had a chance to come back because in the breaststroke she is not so strong."

- AFP/de



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The PC's past and Intel's future



Is the desktop PC on the road to oblivion? Well, let's put it this way: it's hardly an Intel priority anymore.


Yeah, desktops will still be around in 2016, but it's not something Intel -- which makes most PC processors -- thinks about a lot.


Survival in the age of the big-screen smartphone and
tablet is what Intel thinks about.


A recent 75-page study from Goldman Sachs titled "Clash of the Titans" puts it, rather delicately, this way: "We believe the ongoing share shift in consumer computing toward smartphones and tablets and away from traditional PCs will be negative for Intel."


Of course, Intel has no intention of fulfilling analysts' dire prophecies. So, it has a newfound laserlike focus on mobile for its "client," aka PC, business.


And Intel's mobile future can pretty much be reduced to two code names: "Broadwell" and "Bay Trail."

Let's look at Broadwell first.


"With Broadwell there won't be a desktop update. Broadwell is focused on mobile," said a source whose company sells PCs in the U.S. and who gets briefed by Intel on future processor road maps.


That source calls Broadwell -- due in 2014 -- a "half tick," referring to Intel's Tick-Tock model for microarchitectural changes.


The half that's been left out is, basically, the desktop. Of course, a PC vendor could go out and buy a Broadwell circuit board and stick it in a desktop, but Broadwell hasn't been conceived with that in mind.


That's news. Intel has always come out with desktop-specific chips -- some, for example, with a "K" suffix -- but that apparently won't be the case for Broadwell, according to the source.


So, is this the death knell for the desktop chip and, as a consequence, the desktop PC? The latter may survive, but not before being buried under six feet of mobile silicon.


Which brings us to Bay Trail. Intel's most power-efficient chip, likely due in 2013, should get closer to putting laptop-class performance into, let's say, a really thin, light tablet with plenty of battery life to spare.



More specifically, it's a redesign of the Atom processor, which was designed from day one to be slow... er... power efficient. "For Atom, every decision was made to sacrifice performance for power [efficiency]. And they went a bit overboard with that," said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight64.


Bay Trail and its variants aim to fix that.


And Mark Bohr, an Intel Senior Fellow, made it clear last week in a conference call that getting Intel's latest-and-greatest 3D chip technology into the next system-on-a-chip, or SoC (which is how Intel often refers to Atom now), is pretty important. Important enough to be Intel's biggest statement at the International Electron Devices Meeting this week.


I would even go so far as to say that Intel is staking its future on Bay Trail. And it's not just mobile clients either. Small, power-efficient servers are also part of the picture.


Facebook said this week that it wasn't interested in Intel's current Atom chip for its in-house microservers. But it will take a serious look at the next generation of Atom -- for the reasons stated above.


So, what's the fate of the traditional desktop? It will be around in 2016, but it will be pushed to the back burner -- if not teetering on the back edge of the stove -- with the rise of mobile silicon.


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Will Clinton testify on Libya next Thursday?

Updated: 1:42p.m. ET

The State Department assured Congress today that Hillary Clinton will indeed be ready to testify next Thursday on the recent violence in Benghazi, after suggesting yesterday that the report on which her testimony will be based might not be ready in time.

"The committees have announced the secretary will be on the Hill next Thursday, and so that's the plan," said Patrick Ventrell, the State Department's Acting Deputy Spokesperson, in a briefing today. "We've been cooperating with Congress extensively and will continue to do so."

Yesterday, after releases from both the House and Senate announced Clinton's planned testimony, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland suggested to reporters that the timing of her commitment was not set in stone, because the department's Accountability Review Board (ARB) had not yet finished the report surrounding the Libya attacks.

Nuland said Clinton remained committed to "consult with Congress" once the report was complete, but left the door open for Clinton to push the date back. 

"She has made clear that when the work is ready, she will go consult with Congress on it. And that's a commitment she's made, and she intends to keep it," said Nuland. But regarding announcements by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee that Clinton would testify before them next Thursday, she said: "The Hill has talked about a planning date on the calendar. That presumes that the ARB is finished. I don't have any dates - any schedule of the Secretary's to announce here. It's dependent upon events between now and then." 

Asked if the date had been set by Congress without consultation with the secretary, Nuland replied that the committees "obviously planned a date on the calendar" but reiterated "that is dependent on all of the work getting done between now and then."

She declined to say whether or not Clitnon's office had been consulted, but Steve Sutton, a spokesman for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tells CBSNews.com the date was announced "only after State confirmed the time and date for Clinton's appearance with us." Jodi Seth, a spokeswoman for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the committee had "obviously not" scheduled the testimony without consulting with Clinton's office. Seth said Clinton's office had agreed to the date.

Today, Ventrell clarified that "the report will be done by early next week."

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At Least 27, Mostly Kids, Killed at Grade School













A heavily armed man invaded a Newtown, Conn., elementary school today, killing his mother and 26 others, mostly children, federal and state sources tell ABC News.


The gunman, identified as Ryan Lanza, 24, of New Jersey, was killed inside of the school.


In addition to the casualties at the school, a dead body was also found in his home, officials said. Sources said Lanza was armed with four weapons and wearing a bullet-proof vest when he opened fire in the elementary school.


Among the dead was the gunman's mother, found in the school, sources told ABC News.


"The shooter is deceased inside the building," Connecticut State Police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said at a news conference. "The public is not in danger."


LIVE UPDATES: Newtown, Conn., School Shooting


Authorities initially believed that there were two gunmen and were searching cars around the school.


First grade teacher Kaitlin Roig, 29, locked her 14 students in a classroom bathroom and listened to "tons of shooting" until police came to help.


"It was horrific," Roig said. "I thought we were going to die."


She said that the terrified kids were saying, "I just want Christmas…I don't want to die. I just want to have Christmas."


The massacre prompted the town of Newtown to lock down all its schools and draw SWAT teams to the school, authorities said today.


President Obama was briefed on the shooting by FBI Director Robert Mueller.


It's unclear how many people have been shot, but 27 people, mostly children, are dead, multiple federal and state sources tell ABC News. That number could rise, officials said.






Shannon Hicks/The Newtown Bee











Connecticut School Shooting: White House Response Watch Video









Conn. Elementary School Shooting: Parent Interview Watch Video









Connecticut School Shooting: 3 Victims Hospitalized Watch Video





CLICK HERE for more photos from the scene.


It is the second worst mass shooting in U.S. history, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 when 32 were killed before the shooter turned the gun on himself. Today's carnage exceeds the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in which 13 died and 24 were injured.


The Newtown shooting comes three days after masked gunman Jacob Roberts opened fire in a busy Oregon mall, killing two before turning the gun on himself.


Today's shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which includes 450 students in grades K-4. The town is located about 12 miles east of Danbury.


State Police received the first 911 call at 9:41 a.m. and immediately began sending emergency units from the western part of the state. Initial 911 calls stated that multiple students were trapped in a classroom, possibly with a gunman, according to a Connecticut State Police source.


Vance said that on-duty and off-duty officers swarmed to the school and quickly checked "every door, every crack, every crevice" in the building looking for the gunman and evacuating children.


A photo from the scene shows a line of distressed children being led out of the school.


Three patients have been taken to Danbury Hospital, which is also on lockdown, according to the hospital's Facebook page.


"Out of abundance of caution and not because of any direct threat Danbury Hospital is under lockdown," the statement said. "This allows us simply to focus on the important work at hand."


Newtown Public School District secretary of superintendent Kathy June said in a statement that the district's schools were locked down because of the report of a shooting. "The district is taking preventive measures by putting all schools in lockdown until we ensure the safety of all students and staff," she said.


State police sent SWAT team units to Newtown.


All public and private schools in the town were on lockdown.


"We have increased our police presence at all Danbury Public Schools due to the events in Newtown. Pray for the victims," Newtown Mayor Boughton tweeted.


State emergency management officials said ambulances and other units were also en route and staging near the school.


A message on the school district website says that all afternoon kindergarten is cancelled today and there will be no midday bus runs.



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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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US concerned by China plane in Japan airspace






WASHINGTON: The United States Friday voiced concern after a Chinese state-owned plane breached Japanese airspace for the first time to overfly islands at the heart of a bitter row between the two nations.

"It's important to avoid actions that raise tensions and to prevent miscalculations that could undermine peace, security and economic growth in the region," State Department Acting Deputy Spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.

Washington had raised its concerns with Beijing, he said, adding that the United States made clear that its "policy and commitments regarding the Senkaku Islands are long-standing and have not changed."

US officials had also talked to the Japanese government, he added.

Japan scrambled eight F-15 fighter jets Thursday after the first incursion by a Chinese state aircraft into Japanese airspace anywhere since Tokyo's military began monitoring in 1958, the Japanese defence ministry said.

Observers suggest the Chinese move was part of a Chinese campaign to create a "new normal" -- where its forces come and go as they please around islands that Beijing calls the Diaoyus, but Tokyo controls as the Senkakus.

The incident appeared to have passed off without any direct confrontation, and in Beijing, China's foreign ministry said the flight had been routine.

"China's maritime surveillance plane flying over the Diaoyu islands is completely normal," said spokesman Hong Lei.

"China requires the Japanese side to stop illegal activities in the waters and airspace of the Diaoyu islands," Hong said, adding they were "China's inherent territory since ancient times."

- AFP/jc



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Police on Apple store tasering: It was 'justified'



Resisting arrest?



(Credit:
WMUR-TV Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)


Being unable to resist buying a lot of iPhones is uncomfortable enough. It's worse coupled with being unable to avoid being handcuffed.


This can be the only conclusion after a full and thorough police investigation into the tasering of a woman outside the Apple store in the Pheasant Lane Mall of Nashua, N.H.


Should you not have had the opportunity of enjoying this footage, I have embedded it again. It appears to show a woman on the ground being subdued and tasered by more than two police officers. They are bigger than she is.


The Union Leader of New Hampshire now reports that the police investigation has revealed that the officers' conduct was "justified and appropriate."


Some might imagine that such a conclusion might include a whiff of self-justification and a slightly inappropriate definition of what is appropriate.


But Nashua Police's Deputy Chief Scott Howe told the Union Leader that the officer in question was using his taser for the very first time and that it is only used in 4.3 percent of his force's arrests.


The taser was used, he said, because the alternative -- pepper spray-- might have affected others who were keen to buy iPhones or other fine items in the mall.


The whole kerfuffle seems to have been triggered by 44-year-old Xiaojie Li's return visit to the store.


Nashau Police Captain Bruce Hansen told the Newton Patch that the store had already told her two days previously not to come back.


This was because the store had a two-phone limit on purchases and Li allegedly wanted to exceed that. She also allegedly filmed other customers who, she said, were buying more than two.



More Technically Incorrect



Hansen explained of this particular Apple store: "They have an issue with groups of people coming in and one person providing the money so they can all get in line separately and each buy multiple items in the store, goods that they then ship overseas and sell for four times more money."


No evidence has yet been presented that Li, from Newton, Mass., was involved in such a scheme, though Hansen explained that she allegedly had $16,000 on her person and that the store "didn't want her business."


This Apple store has such a problem that it regularly hires a police detail at $50 an hour. Deputy Scott declared there had been 204 details at the store this year. Well, Apple is known for its attention to them.


Apple has not replied to my request for comment.


However, Hansen explained to the Newton Patch that Li had allegedly refused to leave the store and the two officers -- a second had arrived to assist the one on detail -- failed to get both Li's wrists into handcuffs because she allegedly wriggled too much and then placed one of her hands beneath her.


This was, according to police vocabulary, "force continuum"-- the reasonable use of additional force when someone is resisting arrest.


Hansen added: "It's not a pleasant experience but it's not designed to be."


Some might find it unpleasantly odd that two policemen needed a taser to unpleasantly subdue a 44-year-old woman.


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John McAfee says U.S. has not questioned him

MIAMI BEACH, FloridaAnti-virus software founder John McAfee said U.S. authorities have made no efforts to question him since he arrived in Miami after weeks of evading Belizean authorities who want to question him in the death of his neighbor there.

"Why would they want to question me, about what?" a tired-looking but jauntily dressed McAfee, a 67-year-old British native, said Thursday from the steps of his South Beach hotel.




Play Video


McAfee returns to Miami






19 Photos


Anti-virus guru John McAfee released



McAfee was deported from Guatemala on Wednesday after sneaking in illegally from Belize, where police want to question him in connection with the death of a U.S. expatriate who lived near him on an island off the country's coast. McAfee says he did not kill the neighbor.

U.S officials said there was no active arrest warrant for McAfee that would justify taking him into custody.

McAfee's expulsion from Guatemala marked the last chapter in a strange, monthlong odyssey to avoid police questioning about the November killing of Gregory Viant Faull. McAfee has acknowledged that his dogs were bothersome and that Faull had complained about them days before some of the dogs were poisoned, but he denies killing Faull.

McAfee hid in Belize for weeks after police pronounced him a person of interest in the killing. Belizean authorities have urged him to show up for questioning but have not lodged any formal charges against him. McAfee has said he feared he would be killed if he turned himself in to Belizean authorities.

Belize's prime minister, Dean Barrow, has expressed doubts about McAfee's mental state, saying: "I don't want to be unkind to the gentleman, but I believe he is extremely paranoid, even bonkers."

On Thursday, McAfee said he will stay in Miami until his girlfriend, 20-year-old Belizean Samantha Vanegas, and a friend can join him.

The eccentric millionaire also said he was anxious for a decent breakfast after days of eating terrible Guatemalan prison food.

But he bristled as reporters repeatedly asked him why he won't answer questions from officials in Belize, denying he was under investigation.

He begged the State Department to expedite visas for the friend and Vanegas, who had accompanied him when he was on the run but did not go with him to the U.S.

"Their lives are in danger," he said.

In an interview, McAfee told ABC that he'd been faking illness in Guatemala. Asked if his apparent heart problem in court there was a ruse, he said, "Of course. It kept me from going back to Belize."

He said all his money and assets were still in banks in Belize and he left Guatemala with just his clothes and shoes. He held up a stack of $5 bills and said a stranger had given them to him after he arrived in Miami.

McAfee also said he had made up stories while he was on the run to get news coverage, although it was unclear what parts of the tale he was referring to. "What's a better story (than) millionaire madman on the run?" he told ABC.

In Guatemala on Sunday, McAfee said he wanted to return to the United States and "settle down to whatever normal life" he can. "I simply would like to live comfortably day by day, fish, swim, enjoy my declining years."

He later said he also would be happy to go to England, noting that he has dual citizenship.

McAfee has led an eccentric life since he sold his stake in the software company named after him in the early 1990s and moved to Belize about three years ago to lower his taxes.

He told The New York Times in 2009 that he had lost all but $4 million of his $100 million fortune in the U.S. financial crisis. However, a story on the Gizmodo website quoted him as describing that claim as "not very accurate at all."

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Court: CIA Tortured German in Botched Rendition












Nearly a decade after a German man claimed he was snatched off the street, held in secret and tortured as part of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program -- all due to a case of mistaken identity -- a panel of international judges said today what Khaled El-Masri has been waiting to hear since 2004: We believe you.


The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) handed down a unanimous verdict siding with El-Masri in his case against the government of Macedonia, which he claimed first played an integral role in his illegal detention and then ignored his pleas to investigate the traumatic ordeal. For his troubles, the ECHR ordered the government of Macedonia to pay El-Masri 60,000 Euros in damages, about $80,000.


"There's no question 60,000 Euros does not begin to provide compensation for the harm he has suffered," James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, which is representing El-Masri, told ABC News today. "That said... for Mr. El-Masri, the most important thing that he was hoping for was to have the European court officially acknowledge what he did and say that what he's been claiming is in fact true and it was in fact a breach of the law... It's an extraordinary ruling."






Felix Kaestle/dapd/AP Photo







El-Masri's dramatic story, as detailed in various court and government documents, began in late 2003 when he was snatched off a bus at a border crossing in Macedonia. Plainclothes Macedonian police officers brought him to a hotel in the capital city of Skopje and held him there under guard for 23 days. In the hotel he was interrogated repeatedly and told to admit he was a member of al Qaeda, according to an account provided by the Open Society Justice Initiative.


The German was then blindfolded and taken to an airport where he said he was met by men he believed to be a secret CIA rendition team. In its ruling today, the EHRC recounted how the CIA men allegedly beat and sodomized El-Masri in an airport facility, treatment that the court said "amounted to torture." The CIA declined to comment for this report.


El-Masri was then put on a plane and claims that the next thing he knew, he was in Afghanistan, where he would stay for four months under what his lawyers called "inhuman and degrading" conditions.


According to the Initiative, it wasn't until May 28, 2004 that El-Masri was suddenly removed from his cell, put on another plane and flown to a military base in Albania. "On arrival he was driven in a car for several hours and then let out and told not to look back," the group says on its website. Albanian authorities soon picked El-Masri up and took him to an airport where he flew back to Frankfurt, Germany.


According to El-Masri's lawyers, the CIA had finally realized they accidentally picked up the wrong man.


In their decision today, the ECHR said El-Masri's account was established "beyond reasonable doubt," in part based on the findings of previous investigations into flight logs and forensic evidence.


Before the EHRC, El-Masri and his supporters had tried to bring his case to trial in several courts, including in the U.S. in 2005. There, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit on behalf of El-Masri against George Tenet, then director of the CIA, but the case was dismissed in 2006 after the U.S. government claimed hearing it would jeopardize "state secrets." The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case in 2007.






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Russia says Syrian rebels might win


MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels are gaining ground and might win, Russia's Middle East envoy said on Thursday, in the starkest such admission from a major ally of President Bashar al-Assad in 20 months of conflict.


"One must look the facts in the face," Russia's state-run RIA quoted Mikhail Bogdanov as saying. "Unfortunately, the victory of the Syrian opposition cannot be ruled out."


Bogdanov, a deputy foreign minister and the Kremlin's special envoy for Middle East affairs, said the Syrian government was "losing control of more and more territory" and Moscow was preparing to evacuate Russian citizens if necessary.


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, who now hold an almost continuous arc of territory from the east to the southwest of Damascus.


The head of NATO said he thought Assad's government was nearing collapse and the new leader of Syria's opposition told Reuters the people of Syria no longer needed international forces to protect them.


"The horrific conditions which the Syrian people endured prompted them to call on the international community for military intervention at various times," said Mouaz al-Khatib, a preacher who heads Syria's National Coalition.


"Now the Syrian people have nothing to lose. They handled their problems by themselves. They no longer need international forces to protect them," he added in the interview on Wednesday night, accusing the international community of slumbering while Syrians were killed.


He did not specify whether by intervention he meant a no-fly zone that rebels have been demanding for month, a ground invasion - which the opposition has warned against - or arms.


He said the opposition would consider any proposal from Assad to surrender power and leave the country, but would not give any assurances until it saw a firm proposal.


In the latest blow to the government, a car bomb killed at least 16 men, women and children in Qatana, a town about 25 km (15 miles) southwest of Damascus where many soldiers live, activists and state media said.


The explosion occurred in a residential area for soldiers in Qatana, which is near several army bases, said Rami Abdelrahman, head of the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.


He put the death toll as 17, including seven children and two women. State news agency SANA said 16 people had died.


State television showed soldiers walking by a partly collapsed building, with rubble and twisted metal on the road.


The pro-government Al-Ikhbariya TV said a second car bomb in the Damascus suburb of al-Jadideh killed eight, most of them women and children.


Apart from gaining territory in the outskirts of Damascus in recent weeks, rebels have also made hit-and-run attacks or set off bombs within the capital, often targeting state security buildings or areas seen as loyal to Assad, such as Jaramana, where twin bombs killed 34 people in November.


The Pakistani Foreign Office said security concerns had prompted it to withdraw the ambassador and all Pakistani staff from the embassy in the central suburb of East Mezzeh, a couple miles from the Interior Ministry.


BACK TO THE WALL


With his back to the wall, Assad was reported to be turning ever deadlier weapons on his adversaries.


"I think the regime in Damascus is approaching collapse," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday.


Human Rights Watch said some populated areas had been hit by incendiary bombs, containing flammable materials such as napalm, thermite or white phosphorous, which can set fire to buildings or cause severe burns and respiratory damage.


The British-based Syrian Observatory said war planes were bombing 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.


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.


The United States, European powers and Arab states bestowed their official blessing on Syria's newly-formed opposition coalition on Wednesday, despite increasing signs of Western unease at the rise of militant Islamists in the rebel ranks.


Western nations at "Friends of Syria" talks in Marrakech, Morocco rallied around a new opposition National Coalition formed last month under moderate Islamist cleric al-khatib.


Russia, which along with China has blocked any U.N. Security Council measures against Assad, criticized Washington's decision to grant the coalition formal recognition, saying it appeared to have abandoned any effort to reach a political solution.


Bogdanov's remarks were the clearest sign yet that Russia is preparing for the possible defeat of Assad's government.


"We are dealing with issues of preparations for an evacuation. We have mobilization plans and are clarifying where our citizens are located," Bogdanov said.


A British Foreign Office spokesperson said the Russian position remained largely unchanged but the situation on the ground gave Moscow an interest in finding an agreed solution, even if the chances of such a solution remained slim.


"If Russia's position on Syria had been a brick wall, it is now a brick wall with a crack in it," the spokesperson said.



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Exasperated US lawmakers push for fiscal cliff deal






WASHINGTON: Exasperated US lawmakers warned Thursday they were no closer to a deal with the White House to avert severe tax hikes and austerity measures, as talks threatened their Christmas break.

With the US economy lurching toward the so-called "fiscal cliff," House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican negotiator, again blamed President Barack Obama for the impasse and demanded concessions on spending.

"It's clear that the president is just not serious about cutting spending. But spending is the problem," Boehner told reporters, insisting that tax increases alone will not resolve the US fiscal crisis.

"The president wants to pretend that spending isn't the problem -- that's why we don't have an agreement."

Boehner resorted to visual props to hammer home his point, with a graph chart showing the supposed trajectory of public spending in coming decades if no further cuts are made.

"Here we are at the 11th hour, and the president still isn't serious about dealing with this issue right here," he said, tapping at the chart. "If the president will step up... I think we can do some real good in the days ahead."

Obama has lowered to $1.4 trillion his opening gambit of seeking to raise $1.6 trillion in new tax revenue over 10 years.

Boehner has offered only $800 billion in new tax revenue, but by closing loopholes and ending some deductions, not by hiking actual tax rates.

The White House insists there will be no deal without a rise in tax rates on the wealthiest two percent of Americans.

Boehner conceded that Obama has offered hundreds of billions in spending cuts. "Unfortunately the new stimulus spending they want almost outstrips all of the spending cuts that they've outlined," he said.

Republicans seek deeper debt reductions including cuts to Social Security, but Democrats insist such action should be considered as part of broader reform in the coming year, not as part of a fiscal cliff fix in the coming weeks.

With just 18 days before the year-end deadline, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said time was "the most precious of all commodities" and that both sides need to buckle down in Washington and thrash out a deal.

"We could engineer a path forward to say what can we do in that amount of time," she said. But she accused Boehner of irresponsibly allowing the House to adjourn Thursday just when she felt they should stick around.

"Why are we going home instead of working very hard to forge an agreement to avoid that fiscal cliff?" she asked.

"We really have to come to an agreement in the next couple of days, or the very beginning of next week for us to have engineered our way to a solution."

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told members to prepare "retain flexibility in their travel schedules through the end of the year."

"The House will not adjourn the 112th Congress until action has been taken to avert the fiscal cliff," he said.

-AFP/ac



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Facebook for Android hits 2.0, gets speed boost


Announced today, Facebook for
Android version 2.0 is officially out and apparently, it blows previous versions out of the water, speed-wise. According to Facebook's blog post, the app is twice as fast at displaying photos and Timeline items.


According to Facebook, the app will be rolling out to Google Play sometime later today, where you can easily search for it. Otherwise, you can have a link to the app texted directly to your device through Facebook's Mobile site.


More to come.


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Suspect in Oregon mall shooting ID'd

Updated 1:40 PM ET

PORTLAND, Ore. The gunman who killed two people and himself in a shooting rampage at an Oregon mall was 22 years old and used a stolen rifle from someone he knew, authorities said Wednesday.

Jacob Tyler Roberts had armed himself with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and had several fully loaded magazines when he arrived at a Portland mall on Tuesday, said Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts.

The sheriff said the rifle jammed during the 22-year-old's attack, but he managed to get it working again. He later shot himself. The sheriff said authorities don't yet have a motive.




Play Video


Cell phone video: Ore. mall evacuated after shooting



A law enforcement official has told The Associated Press the shooter did not have a criminal record. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Two people — a 54-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man — were killed, and another, Kristina Shevchenko, whose age could not be confirmed, was wounded and in serious condition on Wednesday.

The shooter, who wore a mask, fired randomly, investigators said. People at the mall were heroic in helping get shoppers out of the building, including off-duty emergency room nurses who rendered aid, Roberts said.

CBS News senior correspondent John Miller, a former deputy director of the FBI, said it was "pretty miraculous" that more people were not shot during the incident.

"He fired 'countless rounds' ... he reloaded," Miller said, before adding, "Given the amount of rounds he fired, he hit a fairly small number of people, so this could have been much worse."

In response to previous mass shootings elsewhere, the first arriving officers were trained to form teams and go inside instead of waiting for SWAT. Employees at the mall also received training to handle such a situation.

"This could have been much, much worse," Roberts said.

The first 911 call came at 3:29 p.m. Tuesday. The first officers arrived a minute later. By 3:51 p.m., all the victims and the gunman and rifle had been found. Four SWAT teams spent hours clearing the 1.4 million square-foot mall, leaving shoppers and workers to hide in fear.

The mall Santa, Brance Wilson, was waiting for the next child's Christmas wish when shots rang out, causing the mall to erupt into chaos.

About to invite a child to hop onto his lap, Wilson instead dove for the floor and kept his head down as he heard shots being fired upstairs in the mall.

"I heard two shots and got out of the chair. I thought a red suit was a pretty good target," said Wilson, 68. Families waiting for Santa scattered. More shots followed, and Wilson crept away for better cover.

Witnesses said the gunman fired several times near the mall food court until the rifle jammed and he dropped a magazine onto the floor, then ran into the Macy's store.

Witnesses heard the gunman saying, "I am the shooter," as he fired rounds from a semi-automatic rifle inside the Clackamas Town Center, a popular suburban mall several miles from downtown Portland.

Some were close enough to the shooter to feel the percussion of his gun.


Police and medics work the scene of a multiple shooting at Clackamas Town Center Mall in Clackamas, Ore., Tuesday Dec. 11, 2012. A gunman is dead after opening fire in the Portland, Ore., area shopping mall Tuesday, killing two people and wounding another, sheriff's deputies said.

Police and medics work the scene of a multiple shooting at Clackamas Town Center Mall in Clackamas, Ore., Tuesday Dec. 11, 2012.


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AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens

Police rapid-response teams came into the mall with guns drawn, telling everyone to leave. Shoppers and mall employees who were hiding stayed in touch with loved ones with cellphones and texting.

Kayla Sprint, 18, was interviewing for a job at a clothing store when she heard shots.

"We heard people running back here screaming, yelling `911,"' she told The Associated Press.

Sprint barricaded herself in the store's back room until the coast was clear.

Jason DeCosta, a manager of a window-tinting company that has a display on the mall's ground floor, said when he arrived to relieve his co-worker, he heard shots ring out upstairs.

DeCosta ran up an escalator, past people who had dropped for cover and glass littering the floor.

"I figure if he's shooting a gun, he's gonna run out of bullets," DeCosta said, "and I'm gonna take him."

DeCosta said when he got to the food court, "I saw a gentleman face down, obviously shot in the head."

"A lot of blood," DeCosta said. "You could tell there was nothing you could do for him."

He said he also saw a woman on the floor who had been shot in the chest.


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Mall Gunman Identified as Jacob Tyler Roberts













The masked gunman who killed two people in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., was identified today as Jacob Tyler Roberts.


Roberts, 22, was armed with a stolen AR-15 semi-automatic weapon, Sheriff Craig Roberts told a news conference today. He was not wearing a bullet-proof vest as previously reported.


Earlier today the sheriff told "Good Morning America" the gunman was intent on killing "as many people as possible."


"At this time we do not understand the motive of this attack except to say no apparent relationship between suspect and victims," the sheriff said at the news conference.


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


"We have been able to identify the shooter over this last night," Roberts said. "I believe, at least from the information that's been provided to me at this point in time, it really was a killing of total strangers. To my knowledge at this point in time he was really trying, I think, to kill as many people as possible."


Police said today that Roberts had stolen the gun from someone he knew, and was equipped with a load bearing vest and "several" fully loaded magazines. Police are still trying to determine how many shots were fired.


Roberts described himself on his Facebook page as an "adrenaline junkie," and said he is the kind of person who thinks, "I'm going to do what I want."


Roberts, who attended Clackamas Community college, said on his Facebook page that he worked in a gyro shop in downtown Portland and posted a picture of himself firing a gun at a target. His Facebook photo showed graffiti in which the words "Follow Your Dreams" were painted over with the word "Cancelled."


School officials at Milwaukie High School, where Roberts attended from 2004 to 2007, describe him as an "average student with average grades." He had no disciplinary record at the school, but transferred his senior year to Oregon City High School, according to Joe Krumm, an administrator at the North Clackamas School District. Krumm did not know why he transferred, and said that in all, Roberts did not stand out in memory for anything in particular.


His shooting victims were identified as Cindy Ann Yuille, 54, and Steven Mathew Forsyth, 45.






Craig Mitchelldyer/Getty Images











Oregon Mall Shooting: 2 Dead in Clackamas Town Center Watch Video









Oregon Mall Shooting: 'Killing of Total Strangers' Watch Video









Oregon Mall Shooting: Woman on Macy's Employee's Heroism Watch Video





Yuille's family released a statement today calling Yuille a "wonderful person."


"Cindy was everybody's friend, she was a wonderful person, she was very caring and put others first," the family said, noting that they needed time to grieve their loss.


Forsyth, who owned a business at the mall, was described as a married father of two.


"Steve was one of most passionate people, with an entrepenurial spirit that led him to start his business," the family said in a statement. They said he had a "zest for life, a vision and belief in others that brought great joy.."


A third shooting victim, Kristina Shevchenko, 15, was taken to a hospital and has undergone an initial surgery, according to a Facebook page set up by her family members. Family members said a bullet bruised her lung but avoided piercing any major organs.


PHOTOS: Oregon Mall Shooting


Police said today that Roberts parked his car outside of the Macy's department store, entered the mall on the second floor, and then "moved quickly" toward the food court, firing shots. Yuille and Forsyth were hit by bullets near the food court, police said. Other shoppers provided medical aid to the victims.


Roberts' gun jammed briefly while shooting at the food court, but he was quickly able to resume shooting, police said.


Roberts then ran down a hallway and a flight of stairs to the first floor of the mall, near an REI store, where he apparently shot himself, police said.


Shevchenko was hit on the second floor but made it outside to the first floor, where she met police and was taken to the hospital, police said.


Investigators searched Roberts' home and car in the wake of the shooting, but did not disclose what they found. They confirmed that his fingerprints matched prints in a law enforcement database, though they did not find any crimes he was convicted of.


Sheriff Craig Roberts said that he believed that the gun jamming, in addition to the quick response of mall employees to enact lockdown procedures, prevented more individuals from being shot and killed during the spree.


The sheriff said that the first calls of gunshots came in at 3:29 p.m. and the first police officers to respond arrived a minute later at 3:30 p.m.


"Officers initiated an active shooter protocol, a technique we train with, and equipped each of our officers to move to immediately engage the threat wherever it might be. We were well prepared for this incident. We had practiced active shooter techniques at Clackamas Town Center earlier this year. We had practiced for just this type of situation," the sheriff said.


Witnesses from the shooting rampage said that the gunman ran through the upper level of Macy's to the mall food court, firing multiple shots, one right after the other.


By 4:40 p.m., police reported finding a group of people hiding in a storeroom. In a surreal moment, even the mall Santa was seen running for his life.


"I didn't know where the gunman was, so I decided to kind of eased my way out," said the mall Santa, who the AP identified as 68-year-old Brance Wilson.


Cell phone video shot at the scene shows the chaos soon after the shooting. When police arrived they were met head on by terrified shoppers, children and employees streaming out. Customers, even a little girl, were being lead out with their hands up.






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North Korea rocket launch raises nuclear stakes


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 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 away as the continental United States.


"The satellite has entered the planned orbit," a North Korean television news reader clad in traditional Korean garb 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. (0100 GMT), according to defense officials in South Korea and Japan, and was more successful than a rocket launched in April that flew for less than two minutes.


The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint U.S.-Canadian military organization, said that the missile had "deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit".


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


North Korea 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 in place by his late father, Kim Jong-il.


North Korea hailed the launch as celebrating the prowess of all three members of the Kim family to rule since it was founded in 1948.


"At a time when great yearnings and reverence for Kim Jong-il pervade the whole country, its scientists and technicians brilliantly carried out his behests to launch a scientific and technological satellite in 2012, the year marking the 100th birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung," its KCNA news agency said. Kim Il Sung, the current leader's grandfather, was North Korea's first leader.


The United States condemned the launch as "provocative" and a 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 from the Security Council 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.


U.S. intelligence has linked North Korea with missile shipments to Iran. Newspapers in Japan and South Korea have reported that Iranian observers were in the North for the launch, something Iran has denied.


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


A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterated that the rocket was a "peaceful project".


"The attempt to see our satellite launch as a long-range missile launch for military purposes comes from hostile perception that tries to designate us a cause for security tension," KCNA cited the spokesman as saying.


"STUMBLING BLOCK"


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


On Wednesday, its tone was measured, regretting the launch but calling for restraint on any counter-measures, in line with a policy of effectively vetoing tougher sanctions.


"China believes the Security Council's response should be cautious and moderate, protect the overall peaceful and stable situation on the Korean peninsula, and avoid an escalation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told journalists.


Bruce Klingner, a Korea expert at the Heritage Foundation, said: "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."


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


Kim Jong-un, believed to be 29 years old, took power when his father died on December 17 last year and experts believe the launch was intended to commemorate the first anniversary of his death. The April launch was timed for the centennial of the birth of Kim Il Sung.


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 people are 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 workers overseas.


Many of its 22 million people need handouts from defectors, who have escaped to South Korea, for 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.


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


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


It has also been enriching uranium, which would give it a second path to nuclear weapons as it sits on big 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."


The North says its work is part of a civil nuclear program although it has also boasted of it being a "nuclear weapons power".


(This story has been refiled to clarify reference to NORAD in paragraph five)


(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 and michael Martina in BEIJING,; Rosmarie Francisco in MANILA; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Robert Birsel)



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Egypt goes towards referendum even more divided






CAIRO: A controversial referendum on a new constitution in Egypt due to start Saturday looks set to further split the country after the opposition called for a 'no' vote and imposed conditions that could yet result in its boycott.

Egypt's powerful army called off a national "unity" meeting between President Mohamed Morsi and opposition leaders that was supposed to happen Wednesday because responses from both sides "were not at the level wished for."

The dialogue has been pushed back to an unspecified "later date," according to a statement on the military's official Facebook page.

Morsi has brushed aside all opposition demands to halt the referendum on the constitution, which was drafted by a panel dominated by his Islamist allies and rushed through under near-absolute powers he gave up only last weekend after big protests.

But many judges are refusing to oversee the vote, forcing Morsi to order the plebiscite to be split over two days, on Saturday and a week later, on December 22, to meet voting rules.

Saturday will see voters in 10 governorates called to polling stations, including in the two biggest cities of Cairo and Alexandria. On December 22 it will be the turn of Giza, Port Said, Luxor and 14 other regions.

Egyptians abroad started early voting Wednesday in embassies abroad, the official MENA news agency reported.

The president has ordered the army to secure state institutions, giving them police powers up to the results of the referendum.

Three weeks of protests -- including violent clashes between Morsi's supporters and opponents last week that killed eight people and wounded hundreds -- have failed to sway Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood from holding the referendum.

The opposition National Salvation Front on Wednesday finally responded by urging its supporters to vote 'no' -- but also warning it could call a last-minute boycott if Morsi's government failed to meet tough conditions.

"We call to Egyptians to go to polling stations to refuse the proposed constitution and to vote no," the Front said in a statement read by a spokesman at a news conference.

It demanded, though, that the referendum take place on a single day, and that judges and independent foreign monitors watch over it.

Those conditions appeared nearly impossible for Morsi to meet, and made Saturday's vote unpredictable.

Egyptian citizens were divided over the referendum.

"I'm voting yes," said Mohammed Hassan, a 28-year-old Cairo resident.

"The Muslim Brotherhood is good. No one has given them a chance. They've been in power for five months compared to 30 years for Mubarak," he said, referring to toppled leader Hosni Mubarak.

Mohammed Ibrahim Sayyid, in his 40s and sipping coffee in a cafe, felt differently.

"We don't like what's happening. We don't want another Afghanistan because of the Muslim Brotherhood. We are a big, diverse country of 80 million people. There shouldn't be one party ruling," he said.

Hamdi Imam, a street bookseller in his 50s, said: "I'm not going to vote because the constitution has blood on it... The Muslim Brotherhood will destroy the country."

Michael Wahid Hanna, a political analyst at US think-tank The Century Foundation, told AFP that, given the Muslim Brotherhood's proven ability to mobilise grassroots support, the odds were good that the referendum would pass, although it was not "an absolute certainty."

If it did pass, "it would be problematic for the future" because it would ensnare all of Morsi's future decisions in political polarisation.

"If you overreach in this fashion, it will provoke a reaction and extend instability," Hanna said, warning of "the spectre of violence".

The military has already said it fears the Arab world's most populous country is headed for a disastrous "dark tunnel" unless the two sides talk.

It has warned it will not allow the situation to worsen. Troops and tanks are already deployed outside Morsi's palace in Cairo.

The United States said there were "real and legitimate questions" about the referendum process and urged Egypt's army, which it gives $1.3 billion in aid each year, "to exercise restraint, to respect the right of peaceful protest."

-AFP/ac



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Visteon e-Bee shows how we will drive in 2020



Visteon e-Bee

Visteon used a Nissan Leaf as the basis for its e-Bee concept, completely redesigning the cabin with its high-tech solutions.



(Credit:
Visteon)



In the year 2020, your
car may recognize you when you get in, and immediately adjust the seat and mirrors to your preferences. At the same time, it could bring up your calendar on a screen, and automatically program your destination based on your next appointment. As passengers get in, each would have access to their own audio zone and be able to connect their smartphones and
tablets to the car's own wifi hotspot.


Those are some of the technology promises built into automotive supplier Visteon's e-Bee concept car. The car, based on a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle, features a custom-built cabin showcasing Visteon's broad array of electronics and materials technologies.



Visteon e-Bee

The driver controls are designed for quick, non-distracting access.



(Credit:
Visteon)



One goal of the concept was to maximize interior space through smart packaging of vehicle components. Visteon created a new single climate control component, combining heating and air conditioning into one module. As the electric e-Bee does not have an engine, the component runs entirely on electricity. Using a heat pump, Visteon says its technology would increase the range of electric vehicles in cold climates, as it would use less electricity for cabin heating. This module lives under the hood in the e-Bee, freeing up space in the cabin previously dedicated to climate control systems.


In the e-Bee concept, the driver gets three screens. One, taking the place of the instrument cluster in current cars, shows not only vehicle information such as speed, but also navigation. Visteon points out that this screen makes it easier for automakers to see the same car in different regions of the world, as it is easier to localize software than to swap out analog gauges.



Two capacitive touchscreens off to either side of the steering wheel focus on the driver, and eliminate the need for any switchgear mounted on the dashboard. In this concept, the left screen controls headlights, climate control, and parking sensors, while the right screen offers infotainment features. The e-Bee also employs a screen in place of a rear view mirror, displaying a 180 degree rear view.


Visteon calls the interior electronics package its Mid-Range Infotainment Platform. Based on open-source software, the system is designed to be upgraded during the vehicle's life cycle. Along with features found in current cars, such as Bluetooth, navigation, and digital audio, the system includes wifi compatibility and Near Field Communications (NFC) for easy handshaking with devices brought into the car.


Interior surfaces are covered in recycled polypropylene, manufactured and decorated using Visteon processes. The company says this surface material reduces weight over current materials.


The e-Bee concept is designed to work as a personal or shared vehicle, anticipating future transportation scenarios. As such, it would support sharing services and multiple drivers, automatically configuring itself for each driver.


Visteon will display the e-Bee concept at
CES 2013 the week of January 7, where CNET will get a close-up look at the car.


Visteon e-Bee

Visteon uses a modular approach to the cabin so it can be configured on the fly for passenger needs.



(Credit:
Visteon)

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Right-to-work poised to become law in Michigan

Against a backdrop of raucous protests in the Michigan capitol, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder is poised to sign controversial right-to-work legislation after it neared final passage in the GOP-led state legislature.




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Tens of thousands protest right-to-work in Mich.



The Michigan house passed two right-to-work laws today - one focused on public sector workers, and one focused on private-sector workers - as protesters supporting unions chanted "shame on you" and "union busting is disgusting." The bills passed the Republican-led Michigan Senate last week, and will be sent to Snyder following procedural actions.

Right-to-work legislation, which is currently in place in 23 states, prevents agreements in which employees are required to pay union dues. American workers can't be forced to join unions, but many unions and companies have agreements in which all employees must pay union dues.

Right-to-work laws make such agreements illegal. Proponents say they give workers more freedom and are good for business; opponents say they are designed to shrink unions so they have less leverage in fighting for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

President Obama on Monday called the Michigan legislation "right to work for less money" and said lawmakers shouldn't be trying "to take away your right to bargain for better wages."




22 Photos


Right-to-work protest in Mich.



But Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who long maintained that right-to-work was not on his agenda, has been adamant in his support for the legislation, which he says will create jobs. "It's about being pro-worker, it's about giving freedom of choice to workers," Snyder told MSNBC. Snyder is expected to sign the legislation as early as Wednesday.

MLive reported Tuesday that an estimated 10,000 protesters descended on the Capitol Thursday morning, with state police limiting access to the Capitol building after it reached its 2,000 person capacity.

Though most protesters opposed right-to-work, there were some supporters present as well, many affiliated with the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity. The Michigan branch of that group said in a statement that the legislation reflected "a pro-growth policy that can and will help to turn Michigan's economy around." The tent erected by Americans for Prosperity at the protests was torn down by opponents of the legislation.

Michigan state Rep. Douglas Geiss said Tuesday that "there will be blood" if the bill goes into law.

"We are going to undo 100 years of labor relations," Geiss said.




Play Video


Obama takes on union fight in Michigan



The Michigan House Speaker, Republican Jase Bolger, said the legislation was about helping workers, not hurting them.

"This is not about Republicans versus Democrats," he said, according to MLive. "This is not about management versus labor. ... This is not about the past. This is about the future. ... Today is a game-changer - for Michigan, for its workers, and for our future."

The legislation is particularly significant in Michigan because it is considered the symbolic heart of the labor movement. "Sit down" strikes in Flint in the 1930s launched the United Auto Workers as a major power and led to the unionization of the U.S. auto industry.

Right-to-work opponents fear that passage in Michigan will spur moves to pass such laws in states like Wisconsin and Ohio that will further weaken an already sputtering labor movement. Over the past half-century, the percentage of American workers in a union has declined from 30 percent to less than 12 percent.

Rev. Jesse Jackson was among the protesters who sat on the floor of the Capitol during the votes. After the bill passed, protesters reportedly changed "veto" and "the people united will never be defeated" as state troopers guarded entrances to the House and Senate chambers. Outside, protesters held signs reading "union strength is a family value," while inside they sang "solidarity." The Detroit Free Press reported that a trooper used pepper spray on one protester outside the Capitol.

Unions are vowing to consider pursuing recall bids against lawmakers who voted for the bill as well as Snyder - similar to the push that took place after Wisconsin passed controversial anti-union measures last year - though the first-term governor already faces reelection in 2014.

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Video of Columbus Circle Killer Released













The hunt for New York's Columbus Circle killer took on a new impetus today as police released surveillance video showing the killer moments before he calmly walked up to Brandon Lincoln Woodard and put one bullet from a silver colored handgun into the back of the Los Angeles man's head in full view of holiday shoppers.


The video confirms the details of the hit man's calculated wait for his victim as first reported on ABCNews.com on Monday.


"In the video, the gunman wanted in the shooting death yesterday of Brandon Lincoln Woodard, 31, of Los Angeles, is seen 10 minutes before the shooting," Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Paul Browne said in a statement today.










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Woodard, who is described by police as linked to the hip hop part of the Los Angeles entertainment industry, was strolling down 58th Street near the southern end of Central Park when he was gunned down.


"The shooter, who appears to be bald and may have a beard, exited a late model Lincoln sedan, initially bare-headed, but soon pulled the hood of his jacket over his head. Ten minutes later, at approximately 2 p.m., the shooter walked up behind Woodard and fired," Browne said.


In a grainy still image also released, the gunman is seen behind Woodard a moment before the shooting, pulling the weapon from his jacket.


Just before he was shot, Woodard turned "instinctively almost," then turned back to his portable electronic device, police told ABC News.


Sources tell ABC News that Woodard was arrested in 2009 in connection with a robbery in California.


Woodard was raised in Los Angeles' Ladera Heights neighborhood and attended the private Campbell Hall High School, they said. He attended college and law school at Loyola Marymount College in Los Angeles, law enforcement sources and friends said.



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