Editors say attorney general to change investigations

By Susan Heavey and David Ingram

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told media editors on Thursday that he would change the way the Justice Department handles investigations that involve reporters and not repeat searches that have raised concerns about freedom of the press, the editors said.

After a meeting that other media outlets boycotted because of its secrecy, the editors who did attend said they were encouraged by officials' expressions of regret, though one said the Justice Department still has a long way to go to understand how journalists work.

"There was a commitment to change the department's guidelines for handling cases such as these and a renewed commitment to support a federal shield law for journalists," said Gerald Seib, Washington bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal.

Despite the meeting's status as "off the record," meaning its contents could not be recorded or reported, three of the five journalists who attended spoke afterward to reporters outside the Justice Department's headquarters.

The talks followed a decision by President Barack Obama's administration to search the email and phone records of Fox News, and the phone records of the Associated Press, as part of investigations into leaks of secret government information.

The seizure of records without advance notice, and an FBI agent's description of Fox News reporter James Rosen as a potential criminal co-conspirator under an espionage law, led to an outcry from journalists and advocates of free speech and prompted new calls for a federal law protecting reporters' work.

That led to a debate in Washington over how the government is balancing the need for national security with privacy rights.

Along with a separate furor over the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative political groups for extra scrutiny, it has stoked fears of excessive government intrusion under Obama.

At Obama's direction, Holder is taking 45 days to review the Justice Department's investigative rules. Many date from before email was in common use and the review is to include meetings with journalists, lawyers and law enforcement officials.

"There were plenty of indications they are unhappy and regretful that it's gotten to this point," Seib said.

OPENING GAMBIT

James Warren, Washington bureau chief of the New York Daily News, said Holder and his staff seem bound for "an anthropological foray, to find out a little bit more than they seemed to understand about the way we all operate on a daily basis." He called the meeting "an opening gambit."

Others who attended were New Yorker contributor Jane Mayer, Politico Editor-in-Chief John Harris and Martin Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post.

With Holder were Deputy Attorney General James Cole, who authorized the seizure of the Associated Press phone records, and seven staff members, according to a department list.

Several news organizations, including Reuters, CNN, The New York Times and the Associated Press, rejected offers to meet Holder on the "off-the-record" terms.

"We would welcome the opportunity to hear the attorney general's explanation for the Department of Justice's handling of subpoenas to journalists, and his thoughts about improving the protections afforded to media organizations in responding to government investigations, but believe firmly that his comments should be for publication," said Reuters spokeswoman Barb Burg.

Baron said the meeting was a constructive opportunity to share views at the highest levels of the Justice Department.

"We expressed our concerns that reporters felt some fear for doing their jobs - that they were concerned about using their email and concerned about using their office telephones, and that we need to have the freedom to do our jobs," he said.

Representatives of other media companies have been invited to more meetings with Holder on Friday.

NPR executive Kinsey Wilson said a senior news executive and in-house lawyer will go instead of an editor "because we did not feel it was appropriate for our journalists to hold off-the-record discussions with the attorney general on a subject in which we have a direct interest."

Bloomberg News said it would attend. A spokesman for ABC News said it would attend but would "press for that conversation to be put on the record."

Television networks Fox News, CNN, CBS and NBC, as well as online news group The Huffington Post, said they would not attend.

At least two recent leak investigations involved the seizure of media records: one prompted by a Rosen Fox News story that described the thinking of U.S. intelligence officials about North Korea, and one about Associated Press stories that the government said compromised a covert agent helping U.S. forces against al Qaeda in Yemen.

Holder personally authorized the searches of Fox News records, while his deputy, Cole, authorized the search of Associated Press records. Justice Department guidelines allow searches under rare circumstances, usually with notice to the news organization affected.

(Additional reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York and Steve Holland and Laura MacInnis in Washington.; Editing by Howard Goller and Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/media-editors-u-attorney-general-change-investigations-013355826.html

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Assad says Russia will honor weapons deals

By Dominic Evans and Thomas Grove

BEIRUT/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has yet to send advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, a source close to the Russian defense ministry said on Thursday, but President Bashar al-Assad said Moscow was still committed to the contract to deliver them.

A Lebanese newspaper had earlier quoted Assad as saying in an interview that Moscow had already sent a first shipment of S-300 missiles. When the actual interview was broadcast, however, the Syrian leader stopped short of saying the missiles had arrived.

"Everything we have agreed on with Russia will take place, and part of it has already taken place," he said, without giving further details.

The arrival of the missiles would be seen as a major worry for the Western and regional countries that oppose Assad.

The advanced missiles would make it far more dangerous for Western countries to impose any future no-fly zone over Syrian air space, and could even be used to shoot down aircraft deep over the air space of neighbors like Israel or Turkey.

Russia has promised to deliver the missile system despite Western objections, saying the move would help stabilize the regional balance.

Moscow is a staunch ally of Assad and it has appeared to grow more defiant since the European Union let its arms embargo on Syria expire as of June 1, opening up the possibility of EU countries arming the Syrian rebels.

Asked in his interview with Lebanon's Al-Manar television about delivery of Russian S-300 air defense missiles, Assad said: "The contracts with Russia are not linked to the crisis and Russia is committed to implementing these contracts."

A source close to the Russian Defense Ministry said the missile "hardware itself" was not in Syria yet but that "certain measures or parts of the contract may have been fulfilled", without giving further details.

The source said Moscow initially had qualms about delivering on the 2010 contract because of fighting in Syria, but decided to go ahead after NATO moved to deploy its own surface-to-air weapons - Patriot missiles - in Turkey near the Syrian border.

"We put it on hold for a certain period of time, but as we saw there was no good will (from NATO), we decided to fulfill the contract."

The United States, France and Israel have all called on Russia to stop the missile delivery.

More than 80,000 people have been killed in Syria since peaceful protests against four decades of Assad family rule spiraled into a civil war, pitting the president's forces and his ally, Hezbollah, against Syrian rebels and a flow of Sunni Islamist militants who have come to help them from abroad.

Moscow says the expiry of the EU embargo complicates U.S. and Russian-led efforts to set up a peace conference between the Syrian government and its opponents, who demand an immediate end to Assad family rule.

GENEVA 2 CONFERENCE

Assad said his government planned to go to the "Geneva 2" conference, though he was unconvinced of a fruitful outcome and pledged to continue fighting the uprising.

Asked whether Syria had any preconditions for attendance, he said: "The only condition is that anything to be implemented will be submitted to Syrian public opinion and a Syrian referendum."

By taking part in the peace talks, Syria would effectively be negotiating with its international foes backing the opposition, he said.

"When we negotiate with the slave, we are actually negotiating with the master."

Officials in Israel, the main U.S. ally in the region, say the S-300 could reach deep into the Jewish state and threaten flights over its main commercial airport near Tel Aviv.

Assad also stressed the importance of ties between his forces and Lebanon's Shi'ite militia Hezbollah, now openly fighting on the Syrian side of the frontier on his behalf.

"Why is Hezbollah on the border inside Lebanon or Syria? Because the battle is a battle with the Israeli enemy or its agents in Syria and Lebanon," he told Al-Manar, which is Hezbollah's television channel.

He said hundreds of thousands of Syrian troops were battling tens of thousands - possibly 100,000 - "terrorists" across the country, but the balance of power had shifted because rebels were losing sympathy among their own people.

Assad's forces have waged a series of counter-offensives in recent weeks around the capital Damascus, in the southern province of Deraa and in Qusair, close to the Lebanese border.

(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Mariam Karouny and Erika Solomon in Beirut; Editing by Peter Graff)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/assad-says-russia-honor-weapons-deals-201725768.html

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Tweetbot for Mac updated with profile cover photo support, media timelines, and more

Tweetbot for Mac has just been updated with a few new features as well as some minor bug fixed. The most notable additions are media timeline view which lines up now with the iPhone and iPad version, profile cover image support, and some changes to tweet views.

The largest new feature in the 1.3 update is the addition of the new media timeline. This view filters all your tweets to only show those with media attached. To access the media timeline, just open Tweetbot and type cmd + f and you'll see a search bar drop down and to the right of that you'll be able to toggle between media and regular timeline views.

Other changes include a reworked tweet detail screen that now shows information on retweets and favorites. You'll also notice support for profile cover images that wasn't there before. Some other minor enhancements have also been made in regards to how you can interact with profiles and timelines. Mainly how certain click actions will scroll to the top or return you to a different view.

If you've installed the update and notice anything not mentioned in the release notes, let us know in the comments below

• $19.99 - Download Now

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/HWOoJ6lnquo/story01.htm

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Larry King to host a new political talk TV show

NEW YORK (AP) ? Larry King is returning to TV with a political talk show beginning next month.

The new program, "Politics With Larry King," will air on the RT America network, a global, English-language channel based in Russia, the network announced Wednesday. No premiere date or broadcast schedule was specified.

RT said it will also telecast "Larry King Now," which debuted online on Hulu and Ora.TV last summer.

Both programs will originate from Washington and Los Angeles. They will continue to stream on the Hulu and Ora.TV websites and will be available on rt.com. RT America will be the exclusive U.S. broadcaster for both programs.

"I have always been passionate about government and issues that impact the public," said King, adding, "I appreciate the importance of providing a platform with real alternative visions for our country's future."

The suspenders-sporting King, who turns 80 this year, hosted a weeknight talk show on CNN for 25 years before it ended in December 2010.

RT America is carried in the U.S. by cable providers including Time Warner Inc., Cox Cable, Comcast Corp. and Verizon FiOS.

___

Online:

http://rt.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/larry-king-host-political-talk-tv-show-134823967.html

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The Perfect Punch - Breaking Through Limits | Content for Reprint

Author: Andrew Toth | Total views: 18 Comments: 0
Word Count: 1389 Date: Thu, 30 May 2013 9:19 PM

Limits, by and large are self-imposed. Some limits of course are not, like genetic factors, for instance. We have two arms, two legs and we are limited by what two arms and two legs can do.

But there are other kinds of limitations, which are self-imposed - holding back in a fight, for example - and that, like most self-imposed limitations, can be self-defeating. The point is, unlike having only two arms and two legs, self-imposed limits are of our own doing and if we "do" them then we can "un-do" them.

That much is obvious, but it is not quite that simple: just because a limit is self-imposed and just because we can undo it does not mean it is easy to shift. It took Boddhidharma nine years to do that!

The great monk Boddhidharma who taught the Buddhist Monks at the Shaolin Temple how to build up their strength and defend themselves, sat facing a wall for nine years!

There is a tendency to translate this literally, that he never moved and sat in meditation posture continuously for nine years, but apart from the fact that that would be physically impossible, it misses the point.

The Boddhidharma story is a teaching story and the cusp of it is that the great monk faced a great obstacle, which stood in the way of his enlightenment. It took him nine years to break through this "wall" which represented his self-imposed limits.

So let's not underestimate our self-imposed limits. They took a life-time set up, they are deeply embedded in every tissue of the body and they won't take kindly to being pushed aside - even for enlightenment!

It is interesting to note that the teaching story uses the term "wall". Walls tend to be immovable. If you butt your head against one, chances are your head will come off second best. And that is what a self-imposed obstacle is: immovable - unless you are willing to meditate continuously on it for nine years!

And that's not going to be too easy, especially if you have to earn a living at the same time! There has to be a better way, and there is?

Let's take a simple punch, the very simplest punch you can think of. You will be doing it wrong. Don't argue with me on this. Unless you are a child prodigy, or a child virtuoso, you will not be doing it right. If you are not a child, but an adult, you will definitely be doing it wrong because by the time you reach even young adulthood you will have all sorts of self-imposed limitations, both mental and physical, in operation. These will interfere with your punch, even if your teacher is telling you you are doing it right!

Now there are a number of things you should know about self-imposed limitations. First of all, you don't even know what they are. Chances are they were put in place in your formative years and you have lived with them ever since early childhood and they are so much a part of your life that you accept them as "normal" or "natural" and never question them.

Which poses a real problem: how do we get rid of these limitations if we don't even know what they are?

OK. Here is the method, and...please note that it is a very simple method, but no less effective for that. Do not underestimate it: it is powerful!

OK, so let's work with that punch you are working on. Step number one is, try to get it as right as you can. Get it to the point where your teacher is telling you it is right. It won't be, but you must get it to at least that point.

Step number two, practise it until you can do it more or less automatically, that is, with a minimum of fuss and bother.

Step number three, and this is the crucial step?set aside some time, a long period of time, when you are unlikely to be disturbed by outside sources and then do that punch over and over and over, thousands and thousands of times, non-stop. This is it. This is the secret ingredient. Let's take a close look at it?

But first, let's back up for a moment?

If you practice this move ONLY a few hundred times, then it's the same old, same old. Nothing changes. All your self-imposed limitations and blocks are in place but you don't see them as such and in fact you are not even aware of them, but they are interfering with the efficient delivery of your punch.

Now understand this: it takes effort to maintain these blocks and limitations. They are self-imposed, it is true, but that means they are self-maintained - which means effort!

In other words, your blocks and limitations stifle your technique in two ways: one, it will mean you are using some part of your body incorrectly, which interferes with the delivery of the punch and two, it takes effort to maintain the blocks and limitations and that means less energy is left over to put into your punch.

Now, back to the "secret" technique? if you practice your punch mercilessly, hour after hour, thousands and thousands of times, non-stop, something will happen.

What?

Let's keep it simple: you, and your arms in particular, will get tired. Which means you will have less and less energy to expend on this exercise - until you get to the point where you have only enough energy to do the punch. And no more!

This is the crucial bit. Read that last sentence again. "You will have only enough energy for the punch and no more!" At this point you have no extra energy to keep "doing" your blocks and resistances and limitations and, temporarily, until you regain your energy later, your blocks and limitations and resistances, not to mention your fears and doubts, will drop away.

At this point you will be doing only the punch. No more. And no less. You will now be doing the punch as perfectly as is possible for your body, because there is nothing left over for all that other stuff that interferes with your punch.

But wait! There is one more step: awareness.

You MUST take special note of how this new-found punch FEELS. If you don't, then tomorrow you will be back to your old habits, and you will have gained nothing.

So take note of how the new punch feels, how your body feels, how you breathe, your state of mind and yes, tomorrow you will be back to your old habits, but you will REMEMBER. You will now understand your self-imposed limitations and you will whittle away at them mercilessly and ceaselessly - until you can reproduce that perfect punch every time!

Addendum: let me draw a parallel. I am a salesman and sometimes I have a "bad" day. So bad that I cannot even give the product away; so bad that most salespeople would quit. But I keep going.

And it gets harder and harder to keep going. And I get tireder and tireder and it becomes more and more difficult to do all those things that a salesman is "supposed" to do?you know: smile, act enthusiastic and so on. And indeed after a certain amount of time I don't smile anymore, and I don't act enthusiastic anymore and I make a sale!

Go figure!

You see, what I'm saying is that as a salesman I often do a lot of things that are not really necessary. They "feel" right (like smiling or acting enthusiastic) and so I keep doing them, but they are not essential for a sale.

Likewise when practising your punch: you will find that you do a lot more than you need to, and this is not only a waste of energy, but it is often counterproductive.

Andrew Toth is the author of Shaolin Temple Kung Fu, arguably one of the finest books on the subject. A must-read for anyone involved in the martial arts. And a recommended read for anyone interested in self-improvment. You can view it HERE

Related to: martial arts - karate - shaolin - tai chi - fighting - discipline - self improvment - Self Development - Motivational - winning

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Source: http://www.content4reprint.com/recreation-and-leisure/sports/the-perfect-punch-breaking-through-limits.htm

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Safety regulators recommend licenses for self-driving cars

DETROIT (Reuters) - Auto safety regulators outlined plans on Thursday to analyze the safety risks and benefits of self-driving cars over the next four years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urged states to bar operation of autonomous cars for purposes other than testing. But if states allow commercial use of these vehicles, drivers should undergo additional training and obtain special licenses, the agency said.

The recommendations were part of NHTSA's preliminary policy on autonomous vehicles. Such cars can be operated without direct driver input to control steering, acceleration and braking, the policy states.

A study by J.D. Power and Associates in late April showed that consumers were warming to the idea of autonomous vehicles, but preferred features like automatic park assistance or emergency braking to a fully autonomous mode.

Most automakers, including General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Toyota Motor Corp, feature vehicles with some form of automation.

The NHTSA policy defined four types of self-driving cars. On the low end are cars with features like adaptive cruise control that allow the car to adjust its speed to maintain a safe distance from the surrounding vehicles.

On the top end of the scale are vehicles designed to perform "all safety-critical" driving functions and monitor roadway conditions during a trip, the policy states.

NHTSA will now research the safety risks of vehicles with higher levels of automation. The agency will study how the driver interacts with such cars as well as ways to make the car's electronic control systems more secure and reliable.

"Self-driving vehicle technology is not yet at the stage of sophistication or demonstrated safety capability that it should be authorized for use by members of the public for general driving purposes," the agency said in its report.

But should a state decide to permit self-driving cars outside of testing, it should require drivers obtain a special license, NHTSA said. Drivers should be able to demonstrate that they have driven a self-driving car for a "certain minimum number of hours."

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Chris Reese)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/safety-regulators-recommend-licenses-self-driving-cars-165725350.html

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House Republicans assail Eric Holder on leak testimony (reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/309133320?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Scientists develop CO2 sequestration technique

Public release date: 28-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Anne Stark
stark8@llnl.gov
925-422-9799
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Lawrence Livermore scientists have discovered and demonstrated a new technique to remove and store atmospheric carbon dioxide while generating carbon-negative hydrogen and producing alkalinity, which can be used to offset ocean acidification.

The team demonstrated, at a laboratory scale, a system that uses the acidity normally produced in saline water electrolysis to accelerate silicate mineral dissolution while producing hydrogen fuel and other gases. The resulting electrolyte solution was shown to be significantly elevated in hydroxide concentration that in turn proved strongly absorptive and retentive of atmospheric CO₂.

Further, the researchers suggest that the carbonate and bicarbonate produced in the process could be used to mitigate ongoing ocean acidification, similar to how an Alka Seltzer neutralizes excess acid in the stomach.

"We not only found a way to remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while producing valuable H2, we also suggest that we can help save marine ecosystems with this new technique," said Greg Rau, an LLNL visiting scientist, senior scientist at UC Santa Cruz and lead author of a paper appearing this week (May 27) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

When carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, a significant fraction is passively taken up by the ocean forming carbonic acid that makes the ocean more acidic. This acidification has been shown to be harmful to many species of marine life, especially corals and shellfish. By the middle of this century, the globe will likely warm by at least 2 degrees Celsius and the oceans will experience a more than 60 percent increase in acidity relative to pre-industrial levels. The alkaline solution generated by the new process could be added to the ocean to help neutralize this acid and help offset its effects on marine biota. However, further research is needed, the authors said.

"When powered by renewable electricity and consuming globally abundant minerals and saline solutions, such systems at scale might provide a relatively efficient, high-capacity means to consume and store excess atmospheric CO₂ as environmentally beneficial seawater bicarbonate or carbonate," Rau said. "But the process also would produce a carbon-negative 'super green' fuel or chemical feedstock in the form of hydrogen."

Most previously described chemical methods of atmospheric carbon dioxide capture and storage are costly, using thermal/mechanical procedures to concentrate molecular CO₂ from the air while recycling reagents, a process that is cumbersome, inefficient and expensive.

"Our process avoids most of these issues by not requiring CO₂ to be concentrated from air and stored in a molecular form, pointing the way to more cost-effective, environmentally beneficial, and safer air CO₂ management with added benefits of renewable hydrogen fuel production and ocean alkalinity addition," Rau said.

The team concluded that further research is needed to determine optimum designs and operating procedures, cost-effectiveness, and the net environmental impact/benefit of electrochemically mediated air CO₂ capture and H2 production using base minerals.

###

Other Livermore researchers include Susan Carroll, William Bourcier, Michael Singleton, Megan Smith and Roger Aines.

Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (http://www.llnl.gov) provides solutions to our nation's most important national security challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 28-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Anne Stark
stark8@llnl.gov
925-422-9799
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Lawrence Livermore scientists have discovered and demonstrated a new technique to remove and store atmospheric carbon dioxide while generating carbon-negative hydrogen and producing alkalinity, which can be used to offset ocean acidification.

The team demonstrated, at a laboratory scale, a system that uses the acidity normally produced in saline water electrolysis to accelerate silicate mineral dissolution while producing hydrogen fuel and other gases. The resulting electrolyte solution was shown to be significantly elevated in hydroxide concentration that in turn proved strongly absorptive and retentive of atmospheric CO₂.

Further, the researchers suggest that the carbonate and bicarbonate produced in the process could be used to mitigate ongoing ocean acidification, similar to how an Alka Seltzer neutralizes excess acid in the stomach.

"We not only found a way to remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while producing valuable H2, we also suggest that we can help save marine ecosystems with this new technique," said Greg Rau, an LLNL visiting scientist, senior scientist at UC Santa Cruz and lead author of a paper appearing this week (May 27) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

When carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, a significant fraction is passively taken up by the ocean forming carbonic acid that makes the ocean more acidic. This acidification has been shown to be harmful to many species of marine life, especially corals and shellfish. By the middle of this century, the globe will likely warm by at least 2 degrees Celsius and the oceans will experience a more than 60 percent increase in acidity relative to pre-industrial levels. The alkaline solution generated by the new process could be added to the ocean to help neutralize this acid and help offset its effects on marine biota. However, further research is needed, the authors said.

"When powered by renewable electricity and consuming globally abundant minerals and saline solutions, such systems at scale might provide a relatively efficient, high-capacity means to consume and store excess atmospheric CO₂ as environmentally beneficial seawater bicarbonate or carbonate," Rau said. "But the process also would produce a carbon-negative 'super green' fuel or chemical feedstock in the form of hydrogen."

Most previously described chemical methods of atmospheric carbon dioxide capture and storage are costly, using thermal/mechanical procedures to concentrate molecular CO₂ from the air while recycling reagents, a process that is cumbersome, inefficient and expensive.

"Our process avoids most of these issues by not requiring CO₂ to be concentrated from air and stored in a molecular form, pointing the way to more cost-effective, environmentally beneficial, and safer air CO₂ management with added benefits of renewable hydrogen fuel production and ocean alkalinity addition," Rau said.

The team concluded that further research is needed to determine optimum designs and operating procedures, cost-effectiveness, and the net environmental impact/benefit of electrochemically mediated air CO₂ capture and H2 production using base minerals.

###

Other Livermore researchers include Susan Carroll, William Bourcier, Michael Singleton, Megan Smith and Roger Aines.

Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (http://www.llnl.gov) provides solutions to our nation's most important national security challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/dlnl-sdc052813.php

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Drug developer Pharmaxis to slash 45 jobs

AAP

Drug developer Pharmaxis will slash 45 jobs and cut costs as the company undertakes a major restructure after encountering regulatory problems.

Pharmaxis chief executive Gary Phillips says all areas of the business have been reviewed and the company aims to mitigate risks associated with drug development after failing to achieve regulatory milestones.

"These decisions have been made in response to recent regulatory and clinical trial setbacks," Mr Phillips said in a statement.

Pharmaxis expects to reduce staff numbers by 30 per cent from 155 to 110 people.

Advertisement

The company also expects to reduce costs by $12 million per year, with around three quarters of the reductions occurring by the end of the third quarter of the 2013 calendar year.

Pharmaxis says it will seek "partnership opportunities" for Bronchitol in the US for cystic fibrosis and globally for bronchiectasis while retaining a direct commercial interest in Bronchitol in Europe and other approved and reimbursed markets.

Bronchitol is an inhaled dry powder designed to hydrate the lung and restore normal lung clearance mechanisms.

Bronchiectasis is a condition in which damage to the airways causes them to dilate, lose their tone and become scarred.

The airways consequently lose their ability to clear mucus, leading to the growth of bacteria and serious lung infections.

Eventually, this can lead to respiratory failure.

At the end of April Pharmaxis had $70.5 million in cash and a further $US20 million available under a financing agreement upon commencement of a US cystic fibrosis clinical trial.

Chairman Malcolm McComas said the reshaping of Pharmaxis could be funded out of existing cash resources.

"Some hard decisions have been made," he said.

He said the company had made 2013 a year of restructure in direct response to its failure to achieve regulatory milestones.

At 1200 Pharmaxis shares were 1.5 cents, or 6.5 per cent, lower at 21.5 cents.

? 2013 AAP
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10 fans injured when TV cable falls on race track

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) ? Charlotte Motor Speedway said 10 fans were injured Sunday at the Coca-Cola 600 and three of them were taken to the hospital after a nylon rope supporting a Fox Sports overhead television camera fell from the grandstands and landed on the track surface.

CMS vice president of communications Scott Cooper said after the race that all three fans were treated and released from the hospital. He said he couldn't discuss the nature of their injuries due to privacy laws.

Cooper said seven other people were treated with minor cuts and scrapes at the track and released.

Fox Sports released a statement Sunday night saying it hasn't determined the cause of the accident and it is suspending use of the camera system indefinitely.

"Our immediate concern is with the injured fans," Fox said in the statement.

Fox said the camera system consists of three ropes ? a drive rope that moves the camera back and forth, and two guide ropes on either side. Fox said it was the drive rope that failed near the first-turn connection and fell to the track.

"The camera itself did not come down because guide ropes acted as designed," Fox said in the statement. "A full investigation is planned, and use of the camera is suspended indefinitely."

Fox said it has used the camera system at the Daytona 500, at last week's NASCAR Sprint All-Star race and other major sporting events.

"We certainly regret that the system failure affected tonight's event, we apologize to the racers whose cars were damaged, and our immediate concern is for the race fans," Fox said in the statement. "We also offer a sincere thank you to the staff at CMS for attending to the injuries and keeping us informed on this developing situation."

The incident occurred on lap 121 of the 400-lap NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

The race was delayed for 27 minutes while crews repaired damage to their cars.

Kyle Busch, going for a sweep at Charlotte Motor Speedway after winning the Nationwide and Truck series races, was leading when he incurred damage to the right front wheel well of his No. 18 Toyota.

Marcos Ambrose and Mark Martin also reported damage.

No drivers were injured.

The cars were initially brought along pit row as workers cleared the ropes from the track.

NASCAR first threw a caution flag before two red flags came out. It eventually allowed the cars to come into the pits, giving crews 15 minutes to work on their cars.

During the break, Busch's crew frantically worked to repair a number of problems to the right front wheel well. After completing repairs to the car, the crew slapped high-fives after getting the car back on the track.

Busch remained competitive and was running in the top five at the midpoint of the race. But his night ended in frustration when his engine blew up on lap 253.

"I commend NASCAR for taking the initiative and letting us repair our damaged cars from the issue we had," Busch said.

Busch said he never saw the nylon rope.

"I just heard a big thunk on the right-front side tire and thought the right-front tire blew out," Busch said. "That's how hard it felt... It did have an effect slowing my car down and I could feel it like, 'Whoa, that's weird.' I don't know that anybody has ever seen that. Maybe now we can get rid of that thing."

It was more bad luck for Busch, who has never won a Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and suffered his share of bad luck.

Kasey Kahne, who wound up finishing second behind Kevin Harvick, said he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when he saw something strange on the track.

"I have never seen anything like it," Kahne said. "I came off turn four and I saw it wrapped around Kyle's car and it hit mine and I thought I had to be seeing things because there's no way there could be a cable on the race track. By the time we got to turn one I saw it again and saw Kyle's fender and saw his car go down a little. That's when I knew I wasn't seeing things."

NASCAR said the camera system in question is from CamCat.

The CamCat camera system is the product of an Austrian company that does work with many outfits around the world, including the Olympics, NBC and others. The company has been handling sporting events since 2000 and hasn't had any prior known incidents with its cameras.

In May of 2000, more than 100 fans were injured outside of the CMS when an 80-foot section of the walkway fell an estimated 25 feet onto a highway below. Fans were crossing the bridge to a parking lot following the completion of the NASCAR All-Star race.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/10-fans-injured-tv-cable-falls-race-track-010102219.html

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Will justices take note of new gay marriage laws?

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Three U.S. states and three countries have approved same-sex unions just in the two months since the Supreme Court heard arguments over gay marriage, raising questions about how the developments might affect the justices' consideration of the issue.

In particular, close observers on both sides of the gay marriage divide are wondering whether Justice Anthony Kennedy's view could be decisive since he often has been the swing vote on the high court.

It is always possible that Justice Kennedy is reading the newspapers and is impressed with the progress," said Michael Klarman, a Harvard University law professor and author of a recent book on the gay marriage fight.

In earlier cases on gay rights and the death penalty, Kennedy has cited the importance of changing practices, both nationally and around the world.

The court is expected to rule by late June in two cases involving same-sex marriage. One is a challenge to California's voter-approved Proposition 8 that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The other seeks to strike down a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that denies to legally married same-sex couples a range of benefits that generally are available to married heterosexuals.

The justices took an initial vote in the days after hearing arguments in the two cases in late March. The senior justice on the winning side and the senior justice in dissent assigned opinions based on those votes. But while that first vote is important, it is not the end of the process; justices' assessments of a case can shift subtly or, in some cases, dramatically.

In 1992, Kennedy initially drew the assignment to write a majority opinion for five justices allowing prayers at public school graduations. In the end, he ended up writing the opinion for a different five-justice majority striking down the graduation prayers. According to several accounts, Kennedy simply changed his mind during the writing process.

Current events also can find their way into opinions. Last year, Justice Antonin Scalia's fiery dissent from a court ruling that watered down Arizona's crackdown on immigration included a reference to comments President Barack Obama made at a news conference that took place between the argument in the case in April and the announcement of the decision in June.

There is no way to know at this point whether anything similar will happen in the gay marriage cases, either of which could be decided on technical legal grounds that would say little about the court's view of the issue. But there has been no shortage of action.

In a 10-day span earlier this month, lawmakers in Delaware, Minnesota and Rhode Island gave final approval to bills to legalize same-sex marriages. Minnesota was the last of the three to act, on May 13, and when Gov. Mark Dayton signed the bill into law the following day, Minnesota became the 12th state, plus the District of Columbia, to approve same-sex unions. The other nine are: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington.

Internationally, French President Francois Hollande signed a law this month making France the 14th country to recognize gay marriages. Uruguay and New Zealand took similar steps in April.

And further change could come soon. The Illinois Senate has approved a gay marriage bill that now is pending in the state House in advance of the May 31 end of the legislative session. Gov. Pat Quinn has said he would sign it.

In Great Britain, a bill to legalize same-sex weddings in England and Wales easily cleared the House of Commons and will be debated in the House of Lords beginning in July.

Both sides in the high court gay marriage debate say the recent events reinforce arguments they made to the court in March.

Defenders of limiting marriage to heterosexuals say the justices need only look at the change in marriage laws to see that there is no reason for them to step in and declare a national rule in favor of gay marriage that would upend constitutional bans in 30 states and laws prohibiting same-sex unions in roughly half a dozen others.

"These developments provide yet further evidence...that the claim that gays and lesbians are politically powerless and that the courts therefore have some special role in subjecting classifications affecting them to strict scrutiny is baseless," said Ed Whelan, an opponent of same-sex marriage who is president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

Jim Campbell, a lawyer for Alliance Defending Freedom, said the court should not short-circuit a vigorous national debate.

"The vast majority of the states have decided to retain the traditional view of marriage that has existed throughout Western civilization. This decision belongs to the people and should be decided by the people," Campbell said.

Mary Bonauto, the director of the Civil Rights Project at Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, said the assessment of the political clout of gays and lesbians is misleading. The number of states allowing same-sex weddings has doubled in less than a year and now represents 18 percent of the U.S. population. If Illinois joins in and the court were to affirm a lower court decision that struck down the California ban, just over a third of the population would live in 14 states and the District of Columbia where gay marriage would be legal.

That's not nearly enough, especially in the context of a decades-long struggle by gays and lesbians to win the right to marry, Bonauto said. "These states moving in the direction of marriage is a far cry from all states doing it," she said.

Klarman said gays and lesbians have made huge political strides in "deep blue" Democratic states.

"It is absolutely true that the political process continues to work and it is working with extraordinary rapidity," he said. By some estimates, in roughly 10 years majorities in all but a handful of Southern states will favor gay marriage.

"The only argument against this position is, what about the gay couple in Mississippi?" Klarman said, pointing to a state where the prohibition on same-sex unions is likely to endure.

The same argument could have been made, and was, during the court's deliberations over the Brown v. Board of Education case that outlawed segregation in public schools, he said.

Justice Stanley Reed, a Southerner, suggested that the court "let things play themselves out," although he eventually joined in the unanimous opinion in Brown.

During argument in the California case, Kennedy strongly suggested that he was not about to give gay marriage proponents what they are asking for, a decision that would allow same-sex couples to wed everywhere in the United States.

But Klarman wonders whether Kennedy might consider his legacy and the fact that at 76 years old, he might not be on the court for the next big gay marriage case. "He knows that today, he can write the opinion that would be the Brown of the gay rights movement," Klarman said.

___

Follow Mark Sherman on Twitter at www.twitter.com/shermancourt

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/justices-note-gay-marriage-laws-124418742.html

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US, China set the stage for Obama-Xi summit

BEIJING (AP) ? An upcoming summit with President Barack Obama comes at a "critical juncture" in relations between China and the U.S., Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday, underscoring the challenge they face in confronting divisive security issues and overcoming growing distrust.

Xi told U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon ? who was in Beijing to prepare for the June 7-8 meeting ? that he expected positive results from the talks, which will be their first face-to-face meeting since Obama's re-election and Xi's promotion to head of the Communist Party last November.

"The current China-U.S. relationship is at a critical juncture," Xi said. The sides must now "build on past successes and open up new dimensions for the future."

In a sign that both sides want to stem a drift in ties, the summit is taking place months earlier than the two presidents were supposed to meet. The setting ? at the private Sunnylands estate of the late publishing tycoon Walter Annenberg in southern California ? is supposed to be informal, giving Xi and Obama a chance to build a rapport.

Donilon flew to Beijing this week to prepare an agenda and straighten out other technical issues. He told Xi that Obama is "firmly committed to building a relationship defined by higher levels of practical cooperation and greater levels of trust, while managing whatever differences and disagreements might arise between us."

Meeting earlier with State Councilor Yang Jiechi, China's senior foreign policy official, Donilon said the summit is a chance for the two presidents to work through problems. Though they did not identify those challenges in their public remarks, ties are strained across the board, from longstanding differences over the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs to new disputes over cyberattacks and China's more assertive pursuit of territorial claims against U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines.

"The meeting will be an important opportunity for our presidents to have in-depth discussions about U.S.-China relations, and a wide range of global and regional challenges facing both our countries," Donilon said.

That Xi agreed to an informal summit has been seen by Chinese and U.S. experts as positive. His predecessors always preferred formal state visits, splashing images of White House ceremonies and banquets in the Chinese media to bolster their standing as world statesmen.

Good will aside, distrust has deepened in relations in recent years as the U.S. feels its world leadership challenged and China, its power growing, demands greater deference to its interests and a larger say over global rule setting. Chinese officials and state media regularly say Washington is thwarting China's rise, strengthening alliances in Asia to hem in Beijing and discouraging Chinese investment in the U.S. on grounds of national security.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday that ships and submarines from the Chinese navy's three fleets staged drills in the South China Sea late last week. The area is already a flashpoint, with Beijing's aggressive claims to disputed islands having rattled the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

On Sunday, Li Keqiang ? on a visit to Germany in his first trip abroad as China's premier ? pressed China's claim to a cluster of East China Sea islands held by Japan. Traveling to Potsdam, where allied powers declared the terms for Japan's surrender 68 years ago in the waning days of World War II, Li told reporters that Japan must not "deny or glorify the history of fascist aggression."

The aggrieved sense emanating from Beijing goes beyond recent flare-ups in old territorial disputes. The website of the People's Daily, the Communist Party's flagship newspaper, is running a recurring column that takes a critical look at Americans and their institutions. First called "Immoral, dishonest Americans," the title of the column was changed to "The Americans you don't know about."

One item on Donilon's summit plans is the guest list. Xi will stop in California after formal visits to Trinidad and Tobago and Mexico where he will be accompanied by a large group of senior officials. If that entourage descends in full on the Sunnylands estate, U.S. diplomats said the White House might feel the need to bring similarly large numbers, making the summit less intimate.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-china-set-stage-obama-xi-summit-054449855.html

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Syria fighting rages, more chemical attacks reported

By Erika Solomon

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Heavy fighting raged around the strategic Syrian border town of Qusair and the capital Damascus on Monday and further reports surfaced of chemical weapons attacks by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on rebel areas.

The Syrian military pounded eastern suburbs of Damascus with air strikes and artillery and loud explosions echoed around al-Nabak, 80 km (50 miles) north of the capital, where fighting has cut the highway running north to the central city of Homs, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said.

Syrian government offensives in recent weeks are widely seen as a campaign to strengthen Assad's negotiating position before a proposed international peace conference sponsored by the United States and Russia.

Opposition activists said Syrian troops backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters were pressing a sustained assault on Qusair, a town long used by insurgents as a way station for arms and other supplies from Lebanon.

For Assad, Qusair is a crucial link between Damascus and loyalist strongholds on the Mediterranean coast. Recapturing the town, in central Homs province, could also sever connections between rebel-held areas in the north and south of Syria.

Hezbollah's deepening involvement in Qusair has raised fears of renewed civil war in neighboring Lebanon, where two rockets hit the Shi'ite Muslim movement's stronghold in south Beirut on Sunday and one was fired from south Lebanon towards Israel.

The rockets struck hours after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah promised that his anti-Israel guerrillas, fighting alongside Assad's forces, would win whatever the cost.

A Lebanese security source said another 107mm rocket, which did not go off, had been aimed at Beirut airport. The launch sites were near Aitat, in the hills just south of the capital.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced "deep concern" overnight at Hezbollah's admitted combat role and the risk that the Syrian conflict will spill into Lebanon and other neighboring states.

Ban urged all concerned "immediately to cease supporting the violence inside Syria and instead to use their influence to promote a political solution to Syria's tragedy".

"CHEMICAL ATTACK" AFFECTS DOZENS

The diplomacy so far appears only to have intensified the violence, especially around Qusair and Damascus.

In Harasta, an eastern Damascus suburb largely under rebel control, dozens of people were suffering the effects of an apparent overnight chemical attack, according to opposition sources. Video showed victims lying on the floor of a large room, breathing from oxygen masks.

The sides in the conflict, now in its third year, have accused each other of using chemical weapons. France's Le Monde newspaper published first-hand accounts on Monday of apparent chemical attacks by Assad's forces in April.

The newspaper said one of its photographers had suffered blurred vision and respiratory difficulties for four days after an attack on April 13 on the Jobar front, in central Damascus.

Another video from Harasta overnight showed at least two fighters being put into a van, their eyes watering and struggling to breathe while medics put tubes into their throats.

It was not possible to verify the videos independently, given the difficulties of media access in Syria.

A doctor interviewed in another video said the alleged chemical attack in Harasta was revenge for a rebel raid on nearby military checkpoints. He complained of a severe shortage in staff and medical supplies to treat "dozens of wounded".

Syria, which is not a member of the anti-chemical weapons convention, is believed to have one of the world's last remaining stockpiles of undeclared chemical arms.

As Washington and Moscow seek to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table, European Union foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss calls from Britain and France to ease an EU embargo on arming Syrian rebels.

All EU sanctions on Syria could collapse unless the 27-nation bloc agrees on the fate of the arms embargo before it expires on June 1, but several EU members oppose any change.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague signaled that Britain was prepared to see EU sanctions fall apart rather than retreat from his demand to give more support to rebels. If the EU could not agree, then "each country will have to ensure it has its own sanctions," Hague declared.

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, whose country provides U.N. observers posted between Syrian and Israeli forces on the Golan Heights, opposed any arming of rebels, saying the EU should remain a "peace community".

OPPOSITION DISARRAY

The U.S.-Russian initiative provides the first slim hope in almost a year for a diplomatic end to a conflict that has cost more than 80,000 lives and caused a refugee exodus that the U.N. refugee agency expects to top 3.5 million by the end of 2013.

China, which along with Russia, has three times blocked U.N. Security Council action on Syria, said on Monday it would join the proposed peace conference. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said it would make efforts with all concerned to "push for an early, just, peaceful and appropriate settlement of the Syrian issue".

Damascus has indicated it will take part in the talks, but the fractured opposition, which has previously required Assad's exit to be guaranteed before any negotiations, has yet to lay out its position and remains mired in internal quarrels.

The opposition crisis deepened on Monday when liberals were offered only token representation, undermining international efforts to lend the Islamist-dominated alliance greater support.

To the dismay of envoys of Western and Arab nations monitoring four days of opposition talks in Istanbul, the 60-member Syrian National Coalition thwarted a deal to admit a liberal bloc headed by opposition campaigner Michel Kilo.

The failure to broaden the coalition, in which a Qatari-backed bloc influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood is prominent, could sap Saudi support for the revolt.

The coalition's Western backers had wanted more seats for liberals, an idea backed by Saudi Arabia, which had been uneasy about Qatar's rising influence, coalition insiders said.

France again urged the Syrian opposition to restructure and to clarify its position on the Geneva talks. "We repeat our desire to see the leadership structure of this National Syrian Coalition broadened," the French Foreign Ministry said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were due to meet in Paris on Monday to discuss the conference they want to hold in Geneva in June.

In Geneva, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay appealed for international action to halt the killing and urged the U.N. Security Council to ensure war criminals in Syria faced justice.

"Confronted with the flagrant disregard of international law and human life on every side, I feel utter dismay," she said, as she reeled off the latest atrocities reported to her office.

(Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander and Brian Love in Paris, Costas Pitas in London, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Adrian Croft in Brussels and Tom Miles in Geneva; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-fighting-rages-amid-reports-chemical-attacks-105151844.html

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New Jersey Catholic church official resigns in sex abuse case

The second-highest official in the Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., Monsignor John Doran, resigned Friday. An outside review found "operational failures" in the handling of the Rev. Michael Fugee, who was convicted in 2003 of fondling a boy.

By Staff,?Associated Press / May 25, 2013

Richard Gee II, a 48-year-old man from Newark gets a hug from Beatrice Mondare, of Voice of the Faithful outside the Sacred Heart Cathedral Basilica in Newark, N.J., Wednesday, May 15, 2013. Gee, who says he was sexually abused by his pastor at a Newark Catholic church.

AP Photo/The Record of Bergen County, Carmine Galasso

Enlarge

The second-highest official in the Catholic Archdiocese of Newark is stepping down in the wake of a sex scandal involving a former priest accused of violating an agreement with law enforcement barring him from working with children.

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Roman Catholic church officials say Monsignor John Doran resigned Friday as vicar general and will no longer hold a leadership position with the archdiocese. Doran signed the agreement the former priest had reached with prosecutors in 2007.

The move is among several changes the archdiocese says it's implementing to protect children. The changes are noted in a letter from Archbishop John Myers, which will be read in Catholic parishes across the archdiocese this weekend.

Myers wrote that an outside review found "operational failures" in the handling of the Rev. Michael Fugee, who resigned this month. But he didn't place the blame for lax oversight on Doran, who had been vicar general for six years.

Doran couldn't be reached for comment Saturday.

Myers has faced heavy criticism over his handling of the case, with victims' advocates and some politicians calling for him to resign. But in the letter, Myers said the archdiocese has an "exemplary record of addressing allegations against our clergy."

The 52-year-old Fugee was convicted in 2003 of fondling a boy in Wyckoff. However, that verdict was vacated because of judicial error. Fugee entered a program to avoid retrial and agreed to never again work with children.

However, he attended youth retreats involving a church in Colts Neck and heard children's confessions.

Among the changes the archdiocese plans is transferring responsibility for monitoring cases such as Fugee's to the Office of the Judicial Vicar. Myers also will add a special adviser to the archdiocesan review board and commit more resources to the panel.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Z8STDqfRGDg/New-Jersey-Catholic-church-official-resigns-in-sex-abuse-case

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Kerry presses Egypt on economic reform, says aid depends on it

By Arshad Mohammed

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Egypt to act swiftly on economic reforms to secure a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan, saying the measures were needed to get further aid from the U.S. Congress, an American official said.

Kerry met Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi for about an hour on the sidelines of an African Union summit on Saturday, discussing Syria's civil war, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, human rights in Egypt and the country's faltering economy, the official said.

Egypt's Islamist-led government has been resistant to introducing the austerity measures needed to win the IMF funding, including raising taxes and cutting fuel subsidies, fearing such painful reforms could provoke social unrest.

However, an IMF deal could help shore up investor and donor concerns after two years of political instability since the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak in early 2011. The instability has depressed tourism, a crucial industry for Egypt.

The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Kerry had made the argument that the reforms were necessary to persuade American lawmakers to proceed with further economic support for the country, which borders U.S. ally Israel.

"He urged action on making reforms happen now to move towards requirements to get the IMF package," the official said.

During his first visit to Cairo as secretary of state, on March 3, Kerry told Mursi the United States would provide the first $190 million of $450 million in pledged budget support because of Mursi's commitment to see the IMF process through.

The remainder, however, would depend on the economic reforms, a point Kerry made again in the Ethiopian capital.

"He said ... we need to be able to show Congress that you have taken the necessary reforms," said the official. "I have been a strong advocate of support for Egypt. I continue to support aid for Egypt, but ... we need to see reforms in place that will encourage my former colleagues back at home to act."

Kerry served in the U.S. Senate for nearly 30 years before becoming the country's top diplomat on February 1.

Egypt has in recent years received about $1.3 billion in military aid from Washington, support that dates back to its signing of a peace treaty with Israel more than 30 years ago. That assistance, however, is not seen as contingent on Egyptian economic reform.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-presses-egypt-economic-reform-says-aid-depends-072720733.html

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Rockets in Lebanon capital signal Syrian spillover

BEIRUT (AP) ? Two rockets hit Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut on Sunday, tearing through an apartment and peppering cars with shrapnel, a day after the Lebanese group's leader pledged to lift President Bashar Assad to victory in Syria's civil war.

The strikes illustrated the potential backlash against Hezbollah at home for linking its fate to the survival of the Assad regime. It's a gambit that also threatens to pull fragile Lebanon deeper into Syria's bloody conflict.

Despite such risks, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah made it clear there is no turning back. In a televised speech Saturday, he said Hezbollah will keep fighting alongside Assad's forces until victory, regardless of the costs.

For Hezbollah, it may well be an existential battle. If Assad falls, Hezbollah's supply line of Iranian weapons through Syrian territory would dry up and it could become increasingly isolated in the region.

At the same time, Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim group, is raising the sectarian stakes in Lebanon by declaring war on Syria's rebels, most of them Sunni Muslims.

Lebanon and Syria share the same uneasy mix of Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and Alawites, or followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam. In trying to defeat the rebels, Assad relies on support from minority Shiites, Christians and his fellow Alawites.

On Beirut's beach promenade, opinions about Hezbollah's new strategy seemed to fall along religious lines.

Mahmoud Masoud, a Sunni, said he fears Lebanon will become more unstable. "I don't want to see everything I've worked for and my country fall apart of because of a certain group's interests," he said of Hezbollah.

Tamam Alameh, a Shiite, sided with Hezbollah. "The Syrians helped Lebanon a lot. We should help them and rid them of the conflict in their country," he said.

The rockets struck early Sunday in south Beirut, an unusual type of attack. In occasional sectarian flare-ups since the end of Lebanon's 15-year civil war in 1990, rival groups have mostly fought in the streets.

One rocket hit a car dealership in the Mar Mikhael district, wounding four Syrian workers, badly damaging two cars, and spraying others with shrapnel. Part of the rocket's main body was embedded in the ground, where a Lebanese soldier measured its diameter.

The second rocket tore through a second-floor apartment in the Chiyah district, about two kilometers (one mile) away. It damaged a living room, but no one was hurt.

Rocket launchers were later found in the woods in a predominantly Christian and Druse area southeast of Beirut, security officials said.

There was no claim of responsibility, but the attack was widely portrayed as retaliation for Nasrallah's defiant speech and Hezbollah's participation in a regime offensive in the past week on the rebel-held Syrian town of Qusair, near Lebanon. The regime has pushed back the rebels in Qusair, but has so far failed to dislodge them.

In an amateur video posted online a few days ago, a rebel commander threatened to hit Hezbollah targets in south Beirut in retaliation for the militia's part in the fight for Qusair.

Some said the rockets are just one sign that Lebanon is becoming a battleground.

"Nasrallah declared that he is part of the Syrian civil war," said Nadim Koteich, a TV talk show host and frequent Hezbollah critic. "He did not tell the Lebanese people why he thinks this civil war will not come to Lebanon."

In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, Sunni opponents and Alawite supporters of the Assad regime have repeatedly fought with mortar shells, machine guns and grenades since the start of the Syria conflict.

The latest round in the past week, apparently sparked by the Qusair offensive, was the longest and deadliest so far, with more than two dozen killed and more than 200 hurt.

Lebanese Sunnis have also entered the Syria battle, joining rebel units, though in a less-organized way than Hezbollah.

Hezbollah remains the most powerful group in Lebanon, backed by a military wing armed with tens of thousands of Iranian missiles.

Despite the risk of a backlash over the involvement in Syria, Hezbollah appears to be banking on continued support from Lebanon's Shiites, for whom it provides an extensive social support system.

Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, Hezbollah's commander in south Lebanon, signaled a tough line Sunday. "If the rockets were meant to terrorize us and pressure us into changing our position (on Syria), they have failed to do that," he told a Hezbollah function.

The Arab world's Sunni leaders were predictably harsh on Nasrallah.

In Bahrain, Foreign Minister Sheik Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa described the Hezbollah chief as a "terrorist" and said it was Lebanon's "national and religious duty" to remove him from his influential position, according to the official Bahrain News Agency.

In Cairo, Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby condemned Sunday's rocket attack but also urged Hezbollah to stop interfering in the Syrian civil war.

It is not known how many men Hezbollah has sent to Syria, but the militia's trained fighters fill a dire need for Assad's army.

Regime troops have been stretched thin, both because of defections at the start of the conflict and because only the most politically loyal have been sent into battle.

It is unclear how Hezbollah's new strategy will play out, said Peter Harling of the International Crisis Group think tank.

"They do see this as something that can redefine the rules of the game region-wide, and they are mustering all the strength they have to win this," he said of Hezbollah. "But it is doubtful strength alone can achieve this, as the regime itself has shown."

The Assad government, meanwhile, confirmed Sunday that it has agreed in principle to attend U.N.-sponsored talks with opposition representatives in Geneva next month on ending the civil war.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said during a visit to Iraq that such talks present a "good opportunity for a political solution for the crisis in Syria." He did not say under what terms Assad would dispatch representatives.

The date, agenda and list of participants for the conference remain unclear, and wide gaps persist about its objectives.

Syrian opposition leaders have said they are willing to attend the Geneva talks, but that Assad's departure from power must top the agenda. Assad said this month that his future won't be determined by international talks and that he will only step down after elections are held.

Al-Moallem's statement puts more pressure on Syria's fractured political opposition to signal acceptance as well. The main bloc, the Syrian National Coalition, met in Istanbul for a fourth day Sunday to come up with a unified position on the proposed peace talks, elect new leaders and expand membership.

Louay Safi, a senior member of the coalition, said participants were bogged down in talks about the expansion and won't be able to issue a statement on the Geneva talks until membership issues are settled.

___

Associated Press writers Zeina Karam and Yasmine Saker in Beirut, Brian Murphy in Dubai and Aya Batrawy in Cairo contributed reporting.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rockets-lebanon-capital-signal-syrian-spillover-191405302.html

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