r4isdhc: December 2012

Saturday, December 29, 2012

a family planning provider that performs abortions.

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(Reuters) - Michigan's Republican governor on Friday signed into law new rules for abortion providers that supporters say will protect the health of pregnant women but critics say will shutter clinics and restrict access.

The law signed by Governor Rick Snyder increases state oversight of abortion clinics and establishes a screening protocol to make sure women are not being forced to get an abortion.

The measure requires health facilities or clinics that perform more than 120 abortions a year to become licensed freestanding surgical outpatient facilities.

It also requires physicians to "properly and respectfully dispose of fetal remains."

"This bill respects a woman's right to choose while helping protect her health and safety, including making sure a pregnant person is not being coerced into a decision," Snyder said.

The Michigan law is the latest flashpoint in the battle between opponents and supporters of abortion, a procedure that is legal in the United States. In the past two years, conservative Republicans in more than a dozen U.S. states have take steps to eliminate state funding for Planned Parenthood, a family planning provider that performs abortions.

Critics of the Michigan law fear its insistence on new, standalone facilities will hurt women in rural and low-income areas as it could force some clinics to close. They say questioning women on whether an abortion is voluntary subjects them to a type of interrogation.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion rights group that opposed the measure, said it could force many existing abortion providers in the state to either tear down their offices and rebuild from the ground up -- or shutter their practices.

The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which also opposed the law, called its passage a setback for reproductive rights and the health of women.

"Safety was never the intention of this law. The only thing this law accomplishes is to make a difficult decision even more difficult," said Rana Elmir, the communications director for the Michigan ACLU.

Snyder vetoed a separate measure on Friday that would have restricted insurance providers and businesses from providing elective abortion coverage in employee health plans.

The bill also would have forced the victims of rape or incest who did not purchase separate abortion coverage to pay for the procedure out of pocket.

"I don't believe it is appropriate to tell a woman who becomes pregnant due to a rape that she needed to select elective insurance coverage," Snyder said in his veto message.

"And as a practical matter, I believe this type of policy is an overreach of government into the private market."

Elmir, at Michigan ACLU, called Snyder's veto of the second measure "encouraging."

(Reporting by James Kelleher; Editing by Greg McCcune and Andrew Hay)

In Aleppo

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ALEPPO PROVINCE, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's opposition leader has rejected an invitation from Russia for peace talks, dealing another blow to international hopes that diplomacy can be resurrected to end a 21-month civil war.

Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's main international protector, said on Friday it had sent an invitation for a visit to Moaz Alkhatib, whose six-week-old National Coalition opposition group has been recognized by most Western and Arab states as the legitimate voice of the Syrian people.

But in an interview on Al Jazeera television, Alkhatib said he had already ruled out such a trip and wanted an apology from Moscow for its support for Assad.

"We have clearly said we will not go to Moscow. We could meet in an Arab country if there was a clear agenda," he said.

"Now we also want an apology from (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov because all this time he said that the people will decide their destiny, without foreign intervention. Russia is intervening and meanwhile all these massacres of the Syrian people have happened, treated as if they were a picnic."

"If we don't represent the Syrian people, why do they invite us?" Alkhatib said. "And if we do represent the Syrian people why doesn't Russia respond and issue a clear condemnation of the barbarity of the regime and make a clear call for Assad to step down? This is the basic condition for any negotiations."

With the rebels advancing steadily over the second half of 2012, diplomats have been searching for months for signs that Moscow's willingness to protect Assad is faltering.

So far Russia has stuck to its position that rebels must negotiate with Assad's government, which has ruled since his father seized power in a coup 42 years ago.

"I think a realistic and detailed assessment of the situation inside Syria will prompt reasonable opposition members to seek ways to start a political dialogue," Lavrov said on Friday.

That was immediately dismissed by the opposition: "The coalition is ready for political talks with anyone ... but it will not negotiate with the Assad regime," spokesman Walid al-Bunni told Reuters. "Everything can happen after the Assad regime and all its foundations have gone. After that we can sit down with all Syrians to set out the future."

BRAHIMI TO MOSCOW

Russia says it is behind the efforts of U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, fresh from a five-day trip to Damascus where he met Assad. Brahimi, due in Moscow for talks on Saturday, is touting a months-old peace plan for a transitional government.

That U.N. plan was long seen as a dead letter, foundering from the outset over the question of whether the transitional body would include Assad or his allies. Brahimi's predecessor, Kofi Annan, quit in frustration shortly after negotiating it.

But with rebels having seized control of large sections of the country in recent months, Russia and the United States have been working with Brahimi to resurrect the plan as the only internationally recognized diplomatic negotiating track.

Russia's Middle East envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who announced the invitation to Alkhatib, said further talks were scheduled between the "three B's" - himself, Brahimi and U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns.

Speaking in Damascus on Thursday, Brahimi called for a transitional government with "all the powers of the state", a phrase interpreted by the opposition as potentially signaling tolerance of Assad remaining in some ceremonial role.

But such a plan is anathema to the surging rebels, who now believe they can drive Assad out with a military victory, despite long being outgunned by his forces.

"We do not agree at all with Brahimi's initiative. We do not agree with anything Brahimi says," Colonel Abdel-Jabbar Oqaidi, who heads the rebels' military council in Aleppo province, told reporters at his headquarters there.

Oqaidi said the rebels want Assad and his allies tried in Syria for crimes. Assad himself says he will stay on and fight to the death if necessary.

In the rebel-held town of Kafranbel, demonstrators held up cartoons showing Brahimi speaking to a news conference with toilet bowls in front of him, in place of microphones. Banners denounced the U.N. envoy with obscenities in English.

DIPLOMATS IMPOTENT

Diplomacy has largely been irrelevant to the conflict so far, with Western states ruling out military intervention like the NATO bombing that helped topple Libya's Muammar Gaddafi last year, and Russia and China blocking U.N. action against Assad.

Meanwhile, the fighting has grown fiercer and more sectarian, with rebels mainly from the Sunni Muslim majority battling Assad's government and allied militia dominated by his Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.

Still, Western diplomats have repeatedly touted signs of a change in policy from Russia, which they hope could prove decisive, much as Moscow's withdrawal of support for Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic heralded his downfall a decade ago.

Bogdanov said earlier this month that Assad's forces were losing ground and rebels might win the war, but Russia has since rowed back, with Lavrov last week reiterating Moscow's position that neither side could win through force.

Still, some Moscow-based analysts see the Kremlin coming to accept it must adapt to the possibility of rebel victory.

"As the situation changes on the battlefield, more incentives emerge for seeking a way to stop the military action and move to a phase of political regulation," said Dmitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center.

Meanwhile, on the ground the bloodshed that has killed some 44,000 people continues unabated. According to the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain, 150 people were killed on Thursday, a typical toll as fighting has escalated in recent months.

Government war planes bombarded the town of Assal al-Ward in the Qalamoun district of Damascus province for the first time, killing one person and wounding dozens, the observatory said.

In Aleppo, Syria's northern commercial hub, clashes took place between rebel fighters and army forces around an air force intelligence building in the Zahra quarter, a neighborhood that has been surrounded by rebels for weeks.

(Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy in Cairo, Dominic Evans in Beirut and Steve Gutterman and Alissa de Carbonnel in Moscow; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Officials in the West African nation of Guinea say they've arrested two suspects in the case of the killing of the country's treasury chief, who was shot to death nearly two months ago.

Authorities paraded the pair in front of journalists Friday. Aissatou Boiro was killed as she was driving home. She had launched an investigation into the loss of 13 million francs ($1.8 million) which went missing from the state coffers.

The government says the suspects were found with Boiro's computer memory stick and mobile telephone.

The men denied any involvement in her slaying and said a friend had given them the items.

Boiro's colleagues say she had zero tolerance for corruption and was intent on putting an end to the mismanagement of state funds.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Michael Crapo, the Idaho Republican arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, doesn't plan to fight the charges when he appears in court in January, a spokesman said Friday.

Meanwhile, results from a secondary blood alcohol test performed at the jail show the conservative three-term senator registered a higher level about an hour after being arrested than when he was first tested by the police officer who stopped him.

Police have said Crapo registered a blood alcohol level of 0.11 percent when he was pulled over early Sunday in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Va., after running a red light. But a secondary test performed after Crapo was brought to the jailhouse — the one that will be used in court — registered at 0.14, nearly twice the legal limit, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the arrest. The official wasn't authorized to release information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

"He does not plan to contest the charges," said Crapo spokesman Lindsay Nothern, adding that Crapo has consulted with a local Virginia attorney ahead of his Jan. 4 court hearing.

Nothern confirmed there had been a discrepancy in the blood alcohol tests, but said he was uncertain why they differed.

A blood alcohol level of 0.14 means Crapo tested 1/100 of a percentage point below the level that would have mandated jail time under Virginia law. The legal limit in Virginia, which has strict drunken driving laws, is 0.08 percent.

Crapo has apologized and taken responsibility for the incident in a statement, but he hasn't spoken publicly about the arrest. Crapo returned to Washington from Idaho on Wednesday as lawmakers pursue a solution to the looming fiscal cliff, but he wasn't immediately available to comment Friday.

A number of factors could explain the discrepancy between the preliminary breathalyzer test, performed on the street when Crapo was pulled over shortly after midnight, and the jailhouse test, conducted just before 2 a.m. The higher level at the jailhouse could indicate Crapo was drinking shortly before getting behind the wheel and his body was still absorbing the alcohol. But another possible explanation is that blood alcohol testing simply isn't a perfect science, said Michael Hlastala, a breath testing expert and former physiology professor at the University of Washington.

"It could be consistent with rising blood alcohol levels," Hlastala said. "But it just depends on the way the person was breathing, and other factors."

Alexandria police say Crapo was alone in his vehicle when he ran a red light, was pulled over and failed field sobriety tests. He was taken to the Alexandria jail and released on an unsecured $1,000 bond about 5 a.m. Sunday. Crapo is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 4 — the day after the start of the next Congress. Crapo was handily re-elected in 2010 and won't have to run again until 2016.

It's still not clear where Crapo was coming from when he was arrested, and the senator hasn't explained the circumstances of the arrest. Court records show Crapo residing in Southeast Washington, a short drive over the Potomac River from the historic suburb where he was arrested.

The 61-year-old's arrest two days before Christmas stunned colleagues and constituents alike, not only because of his squeaky-clean image but also because the senator, a Mormon, had said previously he abstains from alcohol, in accordance with his church's practices.

Many of Crapo's Republican colleagues, including Sen. Jim Risch, Idaho's junior senator, have come to his defense, suggesting Crapo can overcome the indiscretion and remain a viable leader. Crapo's home-state newspaper, the Idaho Statesman, ran an editorial with the headline: "We can all learn from Sen. Crapo's mistake."

___

Miller reported from Boise, Idaho.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter: http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Reach John Miller on Twitter: http://twitter.com/idahojohn69

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LOS ANGELES, Calif. - A plaintiffs' attorney says a U.S. District Court judge in California has given preliminary approval to a $1 billion-plus settlement with Toyota Motor Corp. in cases involving unintended acceleration problems in its vehicles.

Attorney Steve Berman says Judge James Selna gave swift initial approval Friday.

Toyota has said the deal announced Wednesday will resolve hundreds of lawsuits from Toyota owners who said the value of their cars and trucks plummeted after a series of recalls stemming from claims that Toyota vehicles accelerated unintentionally.

The judge will hold a fairness hearing on June 13 and consider granting final approval to the settlement.

Claims seeking compensation for injury and death due to sudden acceleration are not part of the settlement; the first trial involving those suits is scheduled for February.

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CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois could become the next U.S. state to legalize gay marriage with a bill set to be introduced in the state Senate in early January, even before a new legislature takes office with a super-majority of Democrats in both houses.

Buoyed by November election referendum victories for gay marriage in Maryland, Maine and Washington state, gay marriage supporters in Illinois said they plan to press for approval in the Democrat-majority legislature. If it passes, that would make Illinois the tenth state to approve same sex nuptials.

Approval in President Barack Obama's home state would be a symbolic victory for gay rights activists after the president endorsed same sex marriage in May.

Chicago state Senator Heather Steans will introduce a gay marriage proposal next week, said Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for Illinois Senate President John Cullerton.

"The Senate president and Senator Steans are confident they have the votes to pass a same-sex marriage bill," Phelon said.

Even if Illinois lawmakers fail to approve gay marriage before a newly-elected legislature takes office on January 10, there is a reasonable chance of passage later in the year because Democrats gained seats in the November election and will have super-majorities in both chambers.

No Midwest state has approved gay marriage by a vote of its legislature. Iowa's Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that same sex marriage was legal, a decision some opponents have been trying to overturn ever since.

In June, 2011, Illinois legalized civil unions, which grant some of the rights of marriage to same sex partners. But gay rights activists said that did not go far enough.

All prominent Democrats in Illinois have endorsed gay marriage, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Pat Quinn.

One issue to be resolved is whether Illinois should allow religious groups the option of declining to perform same-sex marriages. New York granted such an exception in 2011 in order to secure the legislative votes to legalize gay marriage there.

A bill introduced in the Illinois House, where support is not as strong as in the state Senate, offers such a religious exemption. Democrats hold a majority in the House too.

Last week, at least 260 Illinois faith leaders including representatives of several Jewish congregations and Protestant denominations, published a letter supporting same sex marriage.

"There can be no justification for the law treating people differently on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity," the letter says.

But the Catholic Conference of Illinois, which represents Catholic bishops in the state, said on its website that marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman.

In addition to the three states which voted in November to legalize gay marriage, six others allow it - Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Connecticut and New Hampshire, plus the District of Columbia.

(Writing by Greg McCune; Editing by Claudia Parsons)

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Obama to Offer 'Mini Deal' on Fiscal…

After conflicting reports Thursday on whether a new offer was coming and in advance of a White House summit Friday afternoon, President Obama has reportedly crafted a "scaled back" proposal that would — temporarily, at least — avoid next week's fiscal cliff. The new "mini-deal" offer (a.k.a. the new "Plan B") would delay or replace the vast majority of spending cuts called for in the automatic sequester, most likely focusing on the sharp cuts in military spending. It would also seek to settle the planned hike in the Alternative Minimum Tax, extend unemployment benefits, and stop planned cuts to Medicare reimbursements. And as one final bonus, the president's latest proposal reportedly includes a "milk fix" that will avoid a dairy market catastrophe created by the failure to renew the farm bill.

RELATED: The Least Humble Brags from the People Obama Answered in Twitter's Town Hall

On the key plank of taxes, the president will continue to demand that Bush-era cuts be extended at all income levels, except for those making more than $250,000 a year. However, Bloomberg also reports that Senate Democrats are willing to raise that to $400,000 a year. That could be the level at which a deal could be struck with House Republicans. So even though the president's offer is mostly unchanged, the seeds of a compromise may be entering their weekend reveal.

RELATED: What Comes After Plan B?

CNBC is also reporting that if agreed to, the deal in the works would not be a permanent fix, but a 60-90 patch that would prevent taxes from going up on most Americans and avoiding the worst consequences of the cliff rules. Of course, in practice it merely sets up yet another deadline and yet another round of political drama, but it pushes the onus for a solution on to the next session of Congress, which might theoretically be more friendly to the Democrats position. Or it might convince the Republicans that the leverage has shifted back toward their plan. There's still no telling how January will play out. For now, the House has been asked to return for a session Sunday night at 6:30 p.m., with the markets set to open Monday, when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the U.S. will hit its debt ceiling.

RELATED: Democrats Are Now Pushing Mitt Romney's Tax Idea

That's all assuming that this deal can even get passed. The president will reportedly present his new offer at a 3:00 p.m. meeting on Friday at the White House with the four top Congressional leaders, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid. The entire deal will hinge on Boehner being willing and able to sell the deal to his House members, or at least being willing to let the members who wish to vote for it go to the other side. We'll just have to wait and see how the afternoon meeting plays out. Stay tuned....

GOP House member: $400K+ mini-deal "very achievable" if Boehner supports as last hope pre-cliff. After Plan B fiasco, would get most GOPers
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) December 28, 2012

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BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The president of Central African Republic on Thursday urgently called on France and other foreign powers to help his government fend off rebels who are quickly seizing territory and approaching the capital, but French officials declined to offer any military assistance.

The developments suggest Central African Republic could be on the brink of another violent change in government, something not new in the history of this resource-rich, yet deeply impoverished country. The current president, Francois Bozize, himself came to power nearly a decade ago in the wake of a rebellion.

Speaking to crowds in Bangui, a city of some 600,000, Bozize pleaded with foreign powers to do what they could. He pointed in particular to France, Central African Republic's former colonial ruler.

About 200 French soldiers are already in the country, providing technical support and helping to train the local army, according to the French defense ministry.

"France has the means to stop (the rebels) but unfortunately they have done nothing for us until now," Bozize said.

French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that France wants to protect its interests in Central African Republic and not Bozize's government. The comments came a day after dozens of protesters, angry about a lack of help against rebel forces, threw rocks at the French Embassy in Bangui and stole a French flag.

Paris is encouraging peace talks between the government and the rebels, with the French Foreign Ministry noting in a statement that negotiations are due to "begin shortly in Libreville (Gabon)." But it was not immediately clear what, if any, dates have been set for those talks.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, meanwhile, spoke via phone with Bozize, asking the president to take responsibility for the safety of French nationals and diplomatic missions in Central African Republic.

U.S. officials said Thursday the State Department would close its embassy in the country and ordered its diplomatic team to leave. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were unauthorized to discuss the evacuation publicly.

The United Nations Security Council issued a press statement late Thursday reiterating its concern about the situation in the country and condemned the attacks.

"The members of the Security Council reiterate their demand that the armed groups immediately cease hostilities, withdraw from captured cities and cease any further advance towards the city of Bangui," the statement reads.

Bozize's government earlier reached out to longtime ally Chad, which pledged to send 2,000 troops to bolster Central African Republic's own forces. But it was unclear if the Chadian troops had all arrived, and even then, it is far from certain if the combined government forces could withstand rebel attacks.

At least four different rebel groups are involved, though their overall numbers could not immediately be confirmed.

Central African Republic, a landlocked nation of some 4.4 million people, is roughly the size of France. It has suffered decades of army revolts, coups and rebellions since gaining independence in 1960 and remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

The rebels behind the most recent instability signed a 2007 peace accord allowing them to join the regular army, but insurgent leaders say the deal wasn't fully implemented.

Already, the rebel forces have seized at least 10 towns across the sparsely populated north of the country, and residents in the capital now fear the insurgents could attack at any time, despite assurances by rebel leaders that they are willing to engage in dialogue instead of attacking Bangui.

The rebels have claimed that their actions are justified in light of the "thirst for justice, for peace, for security and for economic development of the people of Central African Republic."

Despite Central African Republic's wealth of gold, diamonds, timber and uranium, the government remains perpetually cash-strapped. Filip Hilgert, a researcher with Belgium-based International Peace Information Service, said rebel groups are unhappy because they feel the government doesn't invest in their areas.

"The main thing they say is that the north of the country, and especially in their case the northeast, has always been neglected by the central government in all ways," he said.

But the rebels also are demanding that the government make payments to ex-combatants, suggesting that their motives may also be for personal financial gain.

Bozize, a former military commander, came to power in a 2003 rebel war that ousted his predecessor, Ange-Felix Patasse. In his address Thursday, Bozize said he remained open to dialogue with the rebels, but he also accused them and their allies of financial greed.

Those allies, he implied, are outside Central African Republic.

"For me, there are individuals who are being manipulated by an outside hand, dreaming of exploiting the rich Central African Republic soil," he said. "They want only to stop us from benefiting from our oil, our diamonds, our uranium and our gold."

___

Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris contributed to this report.

moncler 60

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CARACAS,モンクレールダウンベスト, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced Friday night that he was traveling to Cuba to visit President Hugo Chavez, who is recovering from cancer surgery in Havana.

Maduro said during the inauguration of a state governor that he and other government officials would fly to Cuba late Friday. He did not specify how long he would be away but said Energy Minister Hector Navarro would be in charge of government affairs in the meantime.

Maduro's trip comes amid growing uncertainty about Chavez's health.

The Venezuelan leader has not been seen or heard from since undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery Dec. 11, and government officials have said he might not return in time for his scheduled Jan. 10 inauguration for a new six-year term. There have been no updates on Chavez's condition since Maduro announced Monday night that he had received a phone call from the president who was up and walking.

Maduro is the highest ranking Venezuelan official to visit Chavez since the surgery. Bolivian President Evo Morales traveled to Cuba last weekend in a quick trip that only added to the uncertainty surrounding Chavez's condition. Morales has not commented publicly on his visit or even confirmed that he saw Chavez while he was there.

Earlier Friday,moncler, Maduro read a New Year message from Chavez to Venezuelan troops, though it was unclear when the president composed it.

"I have had to battle again for my health,モンクレールダウン," Chavez said in the message. He expressed "complete faith in the commitment and loyalty that the revolutionary armed forces are showing me in this very complicated and difficult moment."

A group of opposition candidates demanded Friday that Maduro provide an official medical report on Chavez's health. Lawmaker Dinorah Figuera said the country needs "a medical report from those who are responsible for the diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of the president."

"The Venezuelan people deserve official and institutional information," Figuera told Venezuelan media.

Before leaving for Cuba, Chavez acknowledged the precariousness of his situation and designated Maduro as his successor, telling supporters they should vote for the vice president if a new presidential election was necessary.

A legal fight is brewing over what should happen if Chavez, who was re-elected in October, cannot return in time for the inauguration before the National Assembly.

National Assembly Diosdado Cabello insisted Monday that Venezuela's constitution allows the president to take the oath before the Supreme Court at any time if he cannot do it before the legislature on Jan. 10.

Opposition leaders argue the constitution requires that new elections be held within 30 days if Chavez cannot take office Jan. 10. They have criticized the confusion over the inauguration as the latest example of the Chavez government's disdain for democratic rule of law and have demanded clarity on whether the president is fit to govern.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Could the US learn from Australia's gun-control laws?

Could the US learn from Australia's gun-control laws?
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Almost two weeks after a shooting spree stunned Australia in 1996, leaving 35 people dead at the Port Arthur tourist spot in Tasmania, the government issued sweeping reforms of the country’s gun laws. There hasn’t been a mass shooting since. Now, after the recent shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, Australia’s National Firearm Agreement (NFA), which saw hundreds of thousands of automatic and semi-automatic weapons bought back then destroyed, is being examined as a possible example for the US, to mixed reaction in Australia.
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Australians have been following the Connecticut tragedy closely, and many say the US solution lies in following Australia’s path, or at least reforming current laws. But a small but vocal number of Australia’s gun supporters are urging caution.
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Just 12 days after the 1996 shooting in Port Arthur, then-Prime Minister John Howard – a conservative who had just been elected with the help of gun owners – pushed through not only new gun control laws, but also the most ambitious gun buyback program Australia had ever seen. Some 650,000 automatic and semi-automatic rifles were handed in and destroyed under the program. Though gun-related deaths did not suddenly end in Australia, gun-related homicides dropped 59 percent between 1995 and 2006, with no corresponding increase in non-firearm-related homicides. Suicides by gun plummeted by 65 percent, and robberies at gunpoint also dropped significantly. Many said there was a close correlation between the sharp declines and the buyback program.
A paper for the American Law and Economics Review by Andrew Leigh of the Australian National University and Christine Neill of the Wilfrid Laurier University reports that the buyback led to a drop in the ﬁrearm suicide rates of almost 80 percent, "with no significant eﬀect on non-ﬁrearm death rates. The eﬀect on ﬁrearm homicides is of similar magnitude but is less precise.”
Perhaps the most convincing statistic for many, though, is that in the decade before the Port Arthur massacre, there were 11 mass shootings in the country. Since the new law, there hasn’t been one shooting spree. In the wake of the shooting, polls indicated that up to 85 percent of Australians supported the measures taken by the government.
In the wake of the Newtown shooting, several Australian politicians are now suggesting that the US adopt Australia’s gun laws. “I implore you to look at our experience,” Labor Member of Parliament Kelvin Thomson wrote in an open letter to US Congress that he also posted on his official website. “As the number of guns in Australia reduced, so too did gun violence. It is simply not true that owning a gun makes you safer.”
MIXED VIEWS
But the nation still has some steps to take before becoming the perfect example, cautions Queensland Member of Parliament Bob Katter.
“I think we are absolutely reprehensible, we have done nothing, not one single overt act, to separate the guns from the people who are mentally unhinged," he told reporters recently. Although the laws imposed strict licensing rules, critics here point out that Australia has yet to actually ban semi-automatic handguns completely – they are still available for police and hunters – and that there are other loopholes. They also note that most of the guns used in violent crimes, both before and after the 1996 law, were unregistered.
“There weren’t that many deaths in the first place,” says President of the Sport Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA) Bob Green, cautioning against taking the causal link many draw between the NFA and a steep drop in gun deaths at face value. “Gun deaths were declining for the past 30 years before they brought the laws in.”
Though many point to declining gun violence statistics as further evidence of the effectiveness of Australia's 1996 law, gun supporters also use it to support their case: In 1979, there were 689 gun related deaths in Australia, or about 4.71 per 100,000 Australians. That rate began to decline in the 1980s and reached 2.82 per 100,000 Australians in 1996, with 516 killed that year. The number of deaths by firearms and the rate per people continued to drop until 2010, when 231 died and the rate was 1.04 per 100,000 people, according to the University of Sydney’s GunPolicy.org.
Still, says Mr. Thomson who was “horrified and disgusted” by the killing of so many small children, an Australian-inspired solution might be workable.
“There have been always been great differences between the number of weapons that Australians and Americans own – that is precisely why there are so many more deaths, on a per capita basis, in the United States. It is also true that there are differences in the way Americans and Australians view weapons – nevertheless … our experience is relevant and potentially informative – we had massacres, we acted, we no longer have massacres.”
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Police shut down roads to stop India rape protests

Police shut down roads to stop India rape protests
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Catholic Church urges Irish to oppose abortion law

Catholic Church urges Irish to oppose abortion law

DUBLIN (Reuters) - The head of Ireland's Catholic Church urged followers in his Christmas Day message to lobby against government plans to legalize abortion.

Ireland, the only EU member state that currently outlaws the procedure, is preparing legislation that would allow limited access to abortion after the European Court of Human Rights criticized the current regime.

The death last month of an Indian woman who was denied an abortion of her dying foetus and later died of blood poisoning has intensified the debate around abortion, which remains a hugely divisive subject in the predominantly Catholic country.

"I hope that everyone who believes that the right to life is fundamental will make their voice heard in a reasonable, but forthright, way to their representatives," Cardinal Sean Brady said in a Christmas message on Tuesday.

"No government has the right to remove that right from an innocent person."

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, a regular Mass goer, is bringing in legislation that would allow a woman to have an abortion if her life was at risk from pregnancy.

The country's Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that abortion was permitted when a woman's life was at risk but successive governments have avoided legislating for it because it is so divisive.

The death of Savita Halappanavar, who repeatedly asked for an abortion while she was miscarrying in an Irish hospital, highlighted the lack of clarity in Irish law that leaves doctors in a legally risky position.

Halappanavar's death re-ignited the abortion debate and prompted large protests by groups both in favor of and against abortion.

Kenny and his conservative Fine Gael party have been criticized for tackling the abortion issue and some party members have indicated that they may not be able to back the law.

Relations between the Irish government and the once dominant Catholic Church are at an all-time low in the wake of years of clerical sex abuse scandals.

Kenny told parliament last year that the Vatican's handling of the scandals had been dominated by "elitism and narcissism" and accused it of trying to cover up the abuse. The speech prompted the Vatican to recall its ambassador, or nuncio, to Ireland.

Brady, who has faced calls this year to resign over accusations he failed to warn parents their children were being sexually abused, said in his Christmas message that he wanted relations with government to improve.

"My hope is that the year ahead will see the relationship between faith and public life in our country move beyond the sometimes negative, exaggerated caricatures of the past."

(Reporting by Carmel Crimmins; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Egypt's upper house of parliament meets Wednesday

Egypt's upper house of parliament meets Wednesday
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Russia, India sign weapons deals worth billions

Russia, India sign weapons deals worth billions
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NEW DELHI (AP) — Russia and India signed weapons deals worth billions of dollars Monday as President Vladimir Putin sought to further boost ties with an old ally.

Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed cooperation between their countries as officials signed a $1.6 billion deal for 42 Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets that will be license-built in India from Russian components and a $1.3 billion contract for the delivery of 71 Mil Mi-17 military helicopters.

"We agreed to further strengthen the traditions of close cooperation in the military and technical areas," Putin said after the signing.

Singh said the talks included discussions on the security situation in the region, including Afghanistan.

"India and Russia share the objective of a stable, united, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan, free from extremism," Singh told reporters after the talks.

Russia and India have shared close ties since the Cold War, when Moscow was a key ally and the principal arms supplier to New Delhi.

The ties slackened after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but grew stronger again after Putin came to power in 2000, seeking to revive Moscow's global clout and restore ties with old allies.

While the volume of Russian-Indian trade has risen sixfold since 2000 and is expected to reach $10 billion this year, the growth has slowed in recent years. And even though India remains the No. 1 customer for Russia's arms industries, Moscow has recently lost several multibillion-dollar contracts to Western weapons makers.

Russia has maintained its strong positions in the Indian market with $30 billion worth of arms contracts with India signed in 2000-2010 that envisaged supplies of hundreds of fighter jets, missiles, tanks and other weapons, a large part of which were license-produced in India. The countries have cooperated on building an advanced fighter plane and a new transport aircraft, and have jointly developed a supersonic cruise missile for the Indian Navy.

But the military cooperation has hit snags in recent years, as New Delhi shops increasingly for Western weapons. The Indians also haven't been always happy with the quality of Russian weapons and their rising prices.

In one notable example, in 2004 Russia signed a $1 billion contract to refurbish a Soviet-built aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy. While the deal called for the ship to be commissioned in 2008, it is still in a Russian shipyard and the contract price has reportedly soared to $2.3 billion. The target date for the carrier's completion was moved back again this year after it suffered major engine problems in sea trials. Russian officials now promise to hand it over to India in the end of 2013.

India has also demanded that Russia pay fines for failing to meet terms under a 2006 contract for building three frigates for its navy, the third of which is yet to be commissioned.

Russia recently has suffered major defeats in competition with Western rivals in the Indian arms market.

Last year, Russia lost a tender to supply the Indian Air Force with 126 new fighter jets worth nearly $11 billion to France's Dassault Rafale. And last month, Boeing won India's order for a batch of heavy-lift helicopters worth $1.4 billion.

Russia has sought to downplay recent defeats of its arms traders, saying that other weapons deals with India are under preparation.

As part of its cooperation with India, Russia also has built the first reactor at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant and is building a second unit there. The project has been delayed by protests by anti-nuclear groups and local residents.

The head of the Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, told reporters Monday that the reactors in Kudankulam are the safest in the world, adding that studies have shown that they would have withstood a disaster like an earthquake and tsunami that caused multiple meltdowns and radiation leaks at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan last year. Kiriyenko said Rosatom plans to build more reactors in India.

Putin's visit was scheduled for late October, but was delayed as the Russian leader suspended foreign travel for about two months. The Kremlin acknowledged that he was suffering from a muscle pulled during judo training. Putin resumed active travel earlier this month, making several foreign trips.

Iran says defeats cyber attack on industrial sites

Iran says defeats cyber attack on industrial sites

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Internet virus attacked computers at industrial sites in southern Iran, in an apparent extension of a covert cyber war that initially targeted the country's nuclear facilities, an Iranian official said.

Iran, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, has tightened online security since its uranium enrichment centrifuges were hit in 2010 by the Stuxnet computer worm, which Tehran believes was planted by arch-adversaries Israel or the United States.

The unit tasked with fighting cyber attacks, the Passive Defence Organisation, said a virus had infected several sites in Hormozgan province in recent months but was neutralised.

"Enemies are constantly attacking Iran's industrial units through Internet networks in order to create disruptions," Ali Akbar Akhavan, head of the Hormozgan branch of the organisation, was quoted as saying by the Iranian Students' News Agency on Tuesday.

"This virus has even penetrated some manufacturing industries in Hormozgan province, but with timely measures and the cooperation of skilled hackers in the province, the progress of this virus was halted," Akhavan said.

"As an example, the Bandar Abbas Tavanir Co., a producer of electricity in the province and even adjacent provinces, has been the target of Internet attacks in recent months," he said.

Bandar Abbas is the capital of Hormozgan province on Iran's southern coast and home to an oil refinery and container port.

Israeli officials have threatened military action against Iranian nuclear facilities if Western sanctions on Tehran's banking and oil sectors do not persuade the Islamic Republic to shelve its disputed atomic program.

Western powers suspect Iran is trying to develop the means to produce nuclear weapons. Tehran says it is enriching uranium only for civilian energy.

Iranian authorities said in April that a computer virus was detected inside the control systems of Kharg Island - which handles the vast majority of Iran's crude oil exports - but the terminal had remained operational.

Cyber attackers also slowed Iran's Internet and attacked its offshore oil and gas platforms this year, Iranian officials have said.

(Reporting By Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by William Maclean and Pravin Char)

Swedish police alerted after Santa's grey outfit angers foreign guest

Swedish police alerted after Santa's grey outfit angers foreign guest

STOCKHOLM - Police in Sweden had to intervene after a foreign visitor to a spa and conference centre grew angry because a visiting Santa Claus was wearing a grey instead of red costume.

No one was arrested during the incident in Vallsta, some 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of Stockholm, early Tuesday.

But police said in a brief statement that the foreign guest grew agitated over the Santa outfit and argued with the centre's staff. They did not say where the foreigner was from.

Storm brings tornadoes, snow to South; two dead

Storm brings tornadoes, snow to South; two dead
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MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - A major winter storm system swept through the southern United States on Tuesday, spawning tornadoes in several states and killing two people in weather-related road accidents.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said a tornado struck Mobile, Alabama, home to about 200,000 people, at about 5 p.m. local time (2300 GMT). There were reports of damage to trees and widespread power outages, along with some structural damage, but no injuries or fatalities.

Tornadoes also touched down in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana, flattening houses and causing some injuries, according to the NWS.

The wild Christmas weather was expected to continue into early Wednesday - the NWS' Storm Prediction Center forecasted the development of "a few strong tornadoes and thunderstorm wind damage over parts of the southeast" this evening and overnight.

It warned that tornadoes at night at this time of year can be particularly dangerous because they are usually fast-moving and obscured by rain and darkness. Areas mostly likely to be hit by strong storms include southern and eastern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and southwest Georgia, the NWS warned.

Tuesday's storms also contributed to a 21-vehicle pile-up that shut down a major highway in Oklahoma City and tens of thousands of power outages.

A Texas man died after an accident involving a tree in the road, and another person died in a weather-related accident on I-44 in Oklahoma, according to local authorities.

The storm was expected to evolve into a blizzard from Arkansas to southern Illinois on Tuesday night, with snowfall of up to a foot in some areas, according to Accuweather.com.

Accuweather.com senior meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski warned on the website that travel will be "extremely treacherous, if not impossible, as the snow clogs roads, such as interstates 24, 55 and 57, and the blowing snow severely lowers visibility."

The Indiana governor's office issued an advisory Tuesday evening that "non-essential employees" who live in areas where snow emergencies have been declared do not have to come to work.

The snowstorm will shift on Wednesday to the eastern Great Lakes and northeastern region, with a blizzard warning in effect for Cleveland starting at 7 a.m. on Wednesday (1200 GMT), forecasters said. Cleveland could get up to a foot of snow, according to the NWS.

Southern Indiana is under a blizzard warning starting early Wednesday morning, according to NWS meteorologist Crystal Pettet. Indianapolis could see its biggest snowfall in four years, with a possibility of 10 to 12 inches of snow.

"Conditions should be pretty bad in time for rush hour," Pettet said.

CHRISTMAS SNOWFALL

In the town of McNeill in southern Mississippi, an apparent tornado destroyed 12 homes and injured eight people, though none of the injuries appear life-threatening, said Danny Manley, director of the Pearl River County Emergency Management Agency.

Manley said the homes could not be rebuilt, as some had lost roofs and their top stories and one was smashed by a tree.

Another apparent tornado hit Centreville, Mississippi, in the southwestern part of the state, injuring one person, destroying a trailer and heavily damaging other homes and buildings, according to Tim Destri, a NWS meteorologist in New Orleans.

A tornado destroyed a building 13 miles southeast of Crockett, Texas, and a bank lost a section of its roof, according to Accuweather.com.

Freezing drizzle overnight led to 10 separate collisions on Interstate 40 in Oklahoma City early on Tuesday, said Betsy Randolph, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. The city also got a rare Christmas snowfall.

The 21-vehicle pile-up included three tractor-trailers and shut down the westbound lanes for about five hours, she said. Twelve people were taken to hospitals, and troopers were checking on the severity of their injuries.

Ahead of the storm's path, parts of eastern West Virginia are under a winter storm warning. Ice accumulations of up to half an inch are expected in higher elevations, the NWS said.

(Reporting by Kaija Wilkinson, Ian Simpson and Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Sandra Maler, Todd Eastham and Paul Simao)

Afghanistan: Woman who killed American is Iranian

Afghanistan: Woman who killed American is Iranian
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The policewoman who killed an American contractor in Kabul is a native Iranian who came to Afghanistan and displayed "unstable behavior" but no known links to militants, an Interior Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

The policewoman, identified as Sgt. Nargas, shot 49-year-old Joseph Griffin, of Mansfield, Georgia, on Monday, in the first such shooting by a woman in a spate of insider attacks by Afghans against their foreign allies. Nargas walked into a heavily-guarded compound in the heart of Kabul, confronted Griffin and gunned him down with a single pistol bullet.

The U.S-based security firm DynCorp International said on its website that Griffin was a U.S. military veteran who earlier worked with law enforcement agencies in the United States. In Kabul, he was under contract to the NATO military command to advise the Afghan police force.

Insider killings have eroded the trust between the foreign contingent and the Afghan government, just a year before most NATO troops are set to withdraw and turn security responsibility over to local forces.

The ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqi, told a news conference that Nargas, who uses one name like many in the country, was born in Tehran, where she married an Afghan. She moved to the country 10 years ago after her husband obtained fake documents enabling her to live and work there.

A mother of four in her early 30s, she joined the police five years ago, held various positions and had a clean record, he said. Sediqi produced an Iranian passport which he said was found at her home.

"Her mental condition is not good," he said, describing her behavior as "unstable." He said that after she attended a recent training course in Egypt a "foreign government" — a clear reference to Egypt — informed Afghan authorities that she did not appear to be "normal."

On Monday, senior Afghan officials said the policewoman was licensed to carry the weapon into the compound and was well known there. On Tuesday, however, the chief investigator, Gen. Mohammad Zahir, told reporters that she was not authorized to carry weapons into the compound but managed to pass through security checks with a hidden pistol. Zahir said the lapse of security was also being investigated, as well as whether she had connections with foreign or local militant groups.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the killing.

Zahir said that during interrogation, the policewoman said she had plans to kill either the Kabul governor, city police chief or Zahir himself, but when she realized that penetrating the last security cordons to reach them would be too difficult, she saw "a foreigner" and turned her weapon on him.

On Monday, NATO said that "some temporary, prudent measures" might be put into place to lessen exposure of NATO personnel to insider attacks, but the training of Afghan police would not be stopped. The NATO command had no additional comment on the case Tuesday.

There have been 60 insider attacks this year against foreign military and civilian personnel, compared to 21 in 2011. This surge presents another looming security issue as NATO prepares to pull out almost all of its forces by 2014, turning the war against the Taliban and other militant groups largely in the hands of the Afghans.

More than 50 Afghan members of the government's security forces also have died this year in attacks by their own colleagues. The Taliban claims such incidents reflect a growing popular opposition to the foreign military presence and the Kabul government.

Man Turns Tragic Paralysis Into Life's Work

Man Turns Tragic Paralysis Into Life's Work

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Young children are often victims of gunfire in US

Young children are often victims of gunfire in US
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Before 20 first-graders were massacred at school by a gunman in Newtown, Conn., first-grader Luke Schuster, 6, was shot to death in New Town, N.D. Six-year-olds John Devine Jr. and Jayden Thompson were similarly killed in Kentucky and Texas.

Veronica Moser-Sullivan, 6, died in a mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., while 6-year-old Kammia Perry was slain by her father outside her Cleveland home, according to an Associated Press review of 2012 media reports.

Yet there was no gunman on the loose when Julio Segura-McIntosh died in Tacoma, Wash. The 3-year-old accidentally shot himself in the head while playing with a gun he found inside a car.

As he mourned with the families of Newtown, President Barack Obama said the nation cannot accept such violent deaths of children as routine. But hundreds of young child deaths by gunfire — whether intentional or accidental — suggest it might already have.

Between 2006 and 2010, 561 children age 12 and under were killed by firearms, according to the FBI's most recent Uniform Crime Reports. The numbers each year are consistent: 120 in 2006; 115 in 2007; 116 in 2008, 114 in 2009 and 96 in 2010. The FBI's count does not include gun-related child deaths that authorities have ruled accidental.

"This happens on way too regular a basis and it affects families and communities — not at once, so we don't see it and we don't understand it as part of our national experience," said Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research.

The true number of small children who died by gunfire in 2012 won't be known for a couple of years, when official reports are collected and dumped into a database and analyzed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to release its 2011 count in the spring.

In response to what happened in Newtown, the National Rifle Association, the nation's largest gun lobby, suggested shielding children from gun violence by putting an armed police officer in every school by the time classes resume in January.

"Politicians pass laws for gun-free school zones ... They post signs advertising them and in doing so they tell every insane killer in America that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk," said NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre.

Webster said children are more likely to die by gunfire at home or in the street. They tend to be safer when they are in school, he said.

None of the 61 deaths reviewed by The Associated Press happened at school.

Children die by many other methods as well: violent stabbings or throat slashings, drowning, beating and strangulation. But the gruesome recounts of gun deaths, sometimes just a few paragraphs in a newspaper or on a website, a few minutes on television or radio, bear witness that firearms too, are cutting short many youngsters' lives.

One week before the Newtown slayings, Alyssa Celaya, 8, bled to death after being shot by her father with a .38-caliber gun at the Tule River Indian Reservation in California. Her grandmother and two brothers also were killed, a younger sister and brother were shot and wounded. The father shot and killed himself amid a hail of gunfire from officers.

Delric Miller's life ended at 9 months and Angel Mauro Cortez Nava's at 14 months.

Delric was in the living room of a home on Detroit's west side Feb. 20 when someone sprayed it with gunfire from an AK-47. Other children in the home at the time were not injured.

Angel was cradled in his father's arms on a sidewalk near their home in Los Angeles when a bicyclist rode by on June 4 and opened fire, killing the infant.

Most media reports don't include information on the type of gun used, sometimes because police withhold it for investigation purposes.

Gun violence and the toll it is taking on children has been an issue raised for years in minority communities.

The NAACP failed in its attempt to hold gun makers accountable through a lawsuit filed in 1999. Some in the community raised the issue during the campaign and asked Obama after he was re-elected to make reducing gun violence, particularly as a cause of death for young children, part of his second-term agenda.

"Now that it's clear that no community in this country is invulnerable from gun violence, from its children being stolen ... we can finally have the national conversation we all need to have," said Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP.

This year's gun deaths reviewed by the AP show the problem is not confined to the inner city or is simply the result of gang or drug violence, as often is the perception.

Faith Ehlen, 22 months, Autumn Cochran, 10, and Alyssa Cochran, 11, all died Sept. 6. Their mother killed them with the shotgun before turning it on herself. Police said she had written a goodbye email to her boyfriend before killing the children in DeSoto, Mo., a community of about 6,300.

In Dundee, Ore., Randall Engels used a gun to kill his estranged wife Amy Engels and son Jackson, 11, as they ate pizza on the Fourth of July. An older sibling of Jackson's also was killed. Engels then committed suicide. The town of more than 5,000 people boasts on its website that it is a semirural town with "the cultural panache of a big city."

Many of the children who died in 2012 were shot with guns that belonged to their parents, relatives or baby sitters, or were simply in the home. Webster said children's accidental deaths by guns have fallen since states passed laws requiring that guns be locked away from youths or have safeties to keep them from firing.

But even people trained in gun use slip up — and the mistakes are costly.

A Springville, Utah, police officer had a non-service gun in his home that officials said did not have external safeties. His 2-year-old son found the gun and shot himself on Sept. 11. The names of the father and son were not released at the time of the shooting.

Obama has tapped Vice President Joe Biden to shape the administration's response to the Newtown massacre. The administration will push to tighten gun laws, many that have faced resistance in Congress for years. The solutions may include reinstating a ban on assault-style rifles, closing gun buying background check loopholes and restricting high-capacity magazines.

Those may have limited effect for children like Amari Markel-Purrel Perkins, of Clinton, Md. He shot himself in the chest on April 9 with a gun that an adult had stashed inside a Spiderman backpack.

Like most of the child victims at Newtown, Amari was 6.

___

Follow Suzanne Gamboa at http://www.twitter.com/APsgamboa

Follow Monika Mathur at http://www.twiter.com/@monikamathur

Idaho Sen. Crapo arrested in Va., charged with DUI

Idaho Sen. Crapo arrested in Va., charged with DUI

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Idaho Sen. Michael Crapo was arrested early Sunday morning and charged with driving under the influence in a Washington, D.C., suburb, authorities said.

Police in Alexandria, Va., said Sunday that the three-term Republican was pulled over after his vehicle ran a red light. Police spokesman Jody Donaldson said Crapo failed field sobriety tests and was arrested at about 12:45 a.m. He was transported to the Alexandria jail and released on an unsecured $1,000 bond at about 5 a.m.

"There was no refusal (to take blood alcohol tests), no accident, no injuries," Donaldson said. "Just a traffic stop that resulted in a DUI."

Police said Crapo, who was alone in his vehicle, registered a blood alcohol level of .11 percent. The legal limit in Virginia, which has strict drunken driving laws, is .08 percent.

The 61-year-old Crapo (KRAY'-poh) has a Jan. 4 court date.

"I am deeply sorry for the actions that resulted in this circumstance," Crapo said in a statement Sunday night. "I made a mistake for which I apologize to my family, my Idaho constituents and any others who have put their trust in me. I accept total responsibility and will deal with whatever penalty comes my way in this matter. I will also undertake measures to ensure that this circumstance is never repeated."

In Virginia, the driver's license of anyone who registers a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or higher is automatically suspended for seven days. A first-time conviction for DUI carries a mandatory, minimum $250 fine and license revocation for one year, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

A Crapo spokesman declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding the senator's arrest.

Elected in 1998, Crapo is in his third U.S. Senate term; he served for six years in the U.S. House of Representatives before that. He was easily re-elected in 2010 with more than 70 percent of the vote, and won't have to run again until 2016.

In Congress, Crapo has built a reputation as a staunch social and fiscal conservative. It was expected he would take over the top Republican spot next year on the Senate Banking Committee. He also serves on the Senate's budget and finance panels. Crapo was a member of the so-called "Gang of Six" senators that worked in 2011 toward a deficit-reduction deal that was never adopted by Congress.

A Mormon who grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Crapo was named a bishop in the church at age 31. He is an attorney who graduated from Brigham Young University and Harvard Law School. He has five children with his wife, Susan, and three grandchildren.

The Mormon church prohibits the use of alcohol, as well as coffee, tea and other substances. About one-quarter of Idaho residents are Mormon.

Crapo has told The Associated Press in past interviews that he abstains from drinking alcohol.

___

Associated Press writers Norman Gomlak in Atlanta and Josh Lederman in Washington contributed to this report.

Russia investigates protest leader for theft of party funds

Russia investigates protest leader for theft of party funds

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian authorities have opened a third criminal investigation into opposition leader Alexei Navalny, saying on Monday that the critic of President Vladimir Putin is suspected of stealing millions of dollars from a political party in 2007.

Navalny, 36, the most prominent leader of large street protests that erupted last December against Putin's nearly 13-year rule, already faces up to 10 years in jail if convicted on existing charges of theft from a state timber company.

Earlier this month, investigators also charged Navalny and his brother of cheating a mail-transport company out of $1.79 million. That move followed a December15 opposition rally at a memorial to victims of Soviet-era repressions outside the headquarters of the FSB security service, formerly the KGB.

Navalny, a lawyer and anti-corruption blogger, denies any wrongdoing and says the accusations aired by the Investigative Committee, a federal agency that answers to Putin, are intended to persuade him to stop his opposition activities.

"Aie, aie, aie, yet another case against me. Investigative Committee, what are you doing? ... That's enough," Navalny tweeted minutes after the new investigation was announced.

The Interfax news agency quoted him as saying the charge was "absolutely absurd".

On its website, the Investigative Committee said it suspects an advertising company headed by Navalny stole up to 100 million roubles ($3.24 million) paid it by the liberal, pro-business Union of Right Forces Party (SPS) for campaign advertising.

It said there was evidence Navalny's company, Allekt, siphoned the money off into bank accounts of shell companies.

A former SPS party leader, Leonid Gozman, dismissed the charges as nonsense and said the party had no accusations or complaints against Navalny, Interfax reported.

Navalny said the fact that investigators had initiated the case without a complaint from the party showed that it was politically motivated, and he vowed not to give up his activism, Interfax reported.

The Investigative Committee said it had encountered the evidence related to SPS while investigating its case against Navalny on the timber theft charge.

Navalny is a key leader of an opposition council, elected in an online vote in October, that is trying maintain the momentum of a protest movement that drew crowds of up to 100,000 people onto Moscow's streets at its peak last winter, but failed to prevent Putin winning a six-year third term as president.

Since then, pro-Kremlin lawmakers have passed a series of laws that the opposition say are intended to stifle dissent. Several opposition leaders and dozens of activists are facing criminal charges or investigation.

(Reporting By Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Steve Gutterman and Jon Boyle)

Parents Of High School Stars Miss Being In The Limelight

Parents Of High School Stars Miss Being In The Limelight

DEAR ABBY: For the last eight years I have been the mother of a star in our local high school. When one of my boys would graduate, the next would take over and be even more athletic or musically talented -- and in my youngest son's case, both.

Now that they are gone I can't stand hearing other parents talk about their children's accomplishments. I also can't stop myself from making some comment about how my sons were better. I know it's wrong, but I still do it.

Sporting events make me sad and my husband depressed. Is this empty nest? We can't seem to figure out how to move on. Have you any suggestions? More children are out of the question. -- SPOTLIGHTS DIMMED IN OHIO

DEAR S.D.: When people peer too long into a spotlight -- whether directly or the reflected glare of someone nearby -- it diminishes their vision for a period of time after the light is extinguished. What you may fail to see is that all parents are proud of their kids, and if you continue to compare other people's children unfavorably with your own, you will soon be as welcome as a polecat at a garden party.

This is why I urge you and your husband to take a little time, refocus your attention to children less fortunate than your own, and invest some of your energy in other youths who need the encouragement and support you can give. If you do, you will be rewarded many times over.

DEAR ABBY: My ex-husband -- who had an affair -- and I have been divorced for three years, but have been forced into a roommate situation due to health issues on my part and financial issues on his. We have two kids together that I have needed his help with. However, there is a potential "new guy" in my life who is uncomfortable that my ex still lives here.

My friends tell me I'm too nice to have let him stay here for so long. I feel it's the charitable thing to do because he has nowhere to go. I'm also afraid my kids will think I'm being hateful if I kick their father out. Oh my God, Abby, what do I do? -- IN TRANSITION IN TENNESSEE

DEAR IN TRANSITION: If you want to stay "stuck" in your predicament, allow your former husband to continue living there. If you would like to go on with your life, then recognize that very few men would want to date a woman who has another man living with her.

By allowing your ex to stay with you, you have allowed your children to think your marriage could be repaired. If that is not the case -- and search your heart before answering that question -- then set a time limit for him to leave.

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I went to a restaurant last night. We were enjoying our meal when a couple came in and sat at a table close to ours. Soon, a bad body odor wafted over to where we were sitting. It was so strong I couldn't finish my dinner.

When we got up to pay our bill, we told the manager about it and asked what could be done. He said that was a tough question and he didn't know the answer. I told him I was going to write to Dear Abby and ask. He said if I got an answer to be sure to let him know. What would you suggest? -- CHOKING IN IOWA

DEAR CHOKING: It was not the responsibility of the restaurant staff to "do" anything about your problem. The thing to do was change to a table in another section. If you were questioned about it -- which I doubt you would be -- the polite response would be that you preferred a table in a different location.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Good advice for everyone -- teens to seniors -- is in "The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

Afghan policewoman kills US adviser in Kabul

Afghan policewoman kills US adviser in Kabul
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan policewoman walked into a high-security compound in Kabul Monday and killed an American contractor with a single bullet to the chest, the first such shooting by a woman in a spate of insider attacks by Afghans against their foreign allies.

Afghan officials who provided details identified the attacker as police Sgt. Nargas, a mother of four with a clean record. The shooting was outside the police headquarters in a walled compound which houses the governor's office, courts and a prison in the heart of the capital.

A police official said she was able to enter the compound armed because she was licensed to carry a weapon as a police officer.

The American, whose identity was not released, was a civilian adviser who worked with the NATO command. He was shot as he came out of a small shop, Kabul Governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa told The Associated Press. The woman refused to explain her motive for her attack, he said.

The fact that a woman was behind the assault shocked some Afghans.

"I was very shaken when I heard the news," said Nasrullah Sadeqizada, an independent member of Parliament. "This is the first female to carry out such an attack. It is very surprising and sad," he added, calling for more careful screening of all candidates, male and female, for the police force.

According to NATO, some 1,400 women were serving in the Afghan police force mid-year with 350 in the army -- still a very small proportion of the 350,000 in both services. Such professions are still generally frowned upon in this conservative society but women have made significant gains in recent years, with most jobs and education opportunities open to them, at least by law if not always in practice.

This is in stark contrast to the repression they suffered under the former Taliban regime, which forced women to be virtual prisoners in their homes, and severely punished them for even small infractions of the draconian codes.

The NATO command said that while the investigation continued, there might be "some temporary, prudent measures put into place to reduce the exposure of our people." But a NATO spokesman, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Lester T. Carroll, said the vital mission of training the Afghan police "remained unchanged."

There have been more than 60 insider attacks this year against foreign military and civilian personnel. They represent another looming security issue as President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai prepare to meet early next year to discuss the pullout of NATO troops from Afghanistan by 2014 and the size and nature of a residual force the United States will keep in the country.

Insider attacks by Afghan soldiers or police have accelerated this year as NATO forces, due to mostly withdraw from the country by 2014, have speeded up efforts to train and advise Afghan security before the pullout.

The surge in such attacks is throwing doubt on the capability of the Afghan security forces to take over from international troops and has further undermined public support for the war in NATO countries.

It has also stoked suspicion among some NATO units of their Afghan counterparts, although others enjoy close working relations with Afghan military and police.

As such attacks mounted this year, U.S. officials in Kabul and Washington insisted they were "isolated incidents" and withheld details.

An AP investigation earlier this month showed that at least 63 coalition troops — mostly Americans — had been killed and more than 85 wounded in at least 46 insider attacks. That's an average of nearly one attack a week. In 2011, 21 insider attacks killed 35 coalition troops.

There have also been incidents of Taliban and other militants dressing in Afghan army and police uniforms to infiltrate NATO installations and attack foreigners.

In February, two U.S. soldiers died from an attack by an Afghan policeman at the Interior Ministry in Kabul. The incident forced NATO to temporarily pull out their advisers from a number of ministries and police units and revise procedures in dealing with Afghan counterparts.

More than 50 Afghan members of the government's security forces also have died this year in attacks by their own colleagues. Taliban militants claim such attacks reflect a growing popular opposition to both foreign military presence and the Kabul government.

In the latest attack, the governor said Nargas, who like many Afghans goes by one name, had asked bystanders where the governor's office was located before confronting the American.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said she fired only one shot that struck the American in the chest. He died either on the way or just upon arrival at a hospital, the spokesman added, describing her act as a "huge crime." He said the woman attempted to run away, pistol still in hand, after the shooting. But she was subdued by police.

She was taken into Afghan custody and Sediqi said she refused to answer questions after hours of interrogation aimed at determining her motives.

Nargas had worked with a human rights department of the police for two years and had earlier been a refugee in Pakistan and Iran, Kabul Deputy Police Chief Mohammad Daoud Amin said.

She could enter the compound armed because as a police officer, she was licensed to carry a pistol, Amin said. He said he did not know whether the killer and victim were acquainted.

"Her background is very clean. We don't see that she had any connection with armed insurgent groups," Sediqi said. He added that she aroused no suspicion because she frequently went back and forth on business between the compound and the Interior Ministry where she worked.

Canadian Brig. Gen. John C. Madower, another NATO command spokesman in Kabul, called the incident "a very sad occasion" and said his "prayers are with the loved ones of the deceased."

The killing came just hours after an Afghan policeman shot five of his colleagues at a checkpoint in northern Afghanistan late Monday. The attacker then stole his colleague's weapons and fled to join the Taliban, said deputy provincial governor in Jawzjan province, Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani.

Separately, U.S. military officials were investigating the apparent suicide of a Navy SEAL commander in Afghanistan. A U.S. military official in Washington said Cmdr. Job W. Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pa., died Saturday of a noncombat-related injury in Uruzgan province. The official said the death "appears to be the result of a suicide."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the death is still being investigated.

Associated Press reporters Rahim Faiez and Amir Shah in Kabul contributed to this report.

Victims of the ambush shooting in upstate NY

Victims of the ambush shooting in upstate NY

WEBSTER, N.Y. (AP) — One of the victims of an ambush in upstate New York was a 20-year veteran volunteer firefighter with the West Webster Fire Department. The other was his son's best friend, who was just entering the fire service. Here's a look at the two men killed Monday when William Spengler set a fire to lure firefighters to his house and then opened fire on them when they arrived:

— Lt. Michael Chiapperini, 43, had been named Firefighter of the Year just two weeks ago, and he led the fire department's Explorer program for young people interested in becoming firefighters. He had recently taken vacation time to help recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported. He also was the public information officer for the Webster Police Department. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son, who also worked with the fire department

— Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, was a 911 dispatcher for Monroe County. He also was a member of the Explorers group that Chiapperini advised, had worked at a fast-food restaurant and had been a member of the fire department for about a year. One of three brothers, he was studying at Monroe County Community College. On his Facebook page, he said he could speak Polish and German.

Lawmakers see 'fiscal cliff' deal as elusive

Lawmakers see 'fiscal cliff' deal as elusive

WASHINGTON (AP) — With anxiety rising as the country lurches towards a "fiscal cliff," lawmakers are increasingly skeptical about a possible deal and some predict the best possibility would be a small-scale patch because time is running out before the yearend deadline.

Sen. Joe Lieberman predicted Sunday: "We're going to spend New Year's Eve here, I believe."

Even those who see the possibility of a deal don't expect a lot.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said she expects "it is going to be a patch because in four days we can't solve everything."

With the collapse Thursday of House Speaker John Boehner's plan to allow tax rates to rise on million-dollar-plus incomes, Lieberman said: "It's the first time that I feel it's more likely we'll go over the cliff than not," meaning that higher taxes for most Americans and painful federal agency budget cuts would be in line to go ahead.

"If we allow that to happen it will be the most colossal consequential act of congressional irresponsibility in a long time, maybe ever in American history because of the impact it'll have on almost every American," said Lieberman, a Connecticut independent.

Wyoming Sen. Jon Barrasso, a member of the GOP leadership, predicted the new year would come without an agreement, and he faulted the White House.

"I believe the president is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes. He senses a victory at the bottom of the cliff," he said.

Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, was incredulous at Barrasso's assertion that 'there is only one person that can provide the leadership" on such a matter vital to the nation's interests.

"There are 535 of us that can provide leadership. There are 435 in the House, 100 in the Senate and there is the president, all of us have a responsibility here," he said. "And, you know what is happening? What is happening is the same old tired blame game. He said/she said. I think the American people are tired of it. What they want to hear is 'What is the solution?'"

President Barack Obama and Congress are on a short holiday break. Congress is expected to be back at work Thursday and Obama will be back in the White House after a few days in Hawaii.

"It is time to get back to the table," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., "And I hope if anyone sees these representatives from the House in line shopping or getting their Christmas turkey, they wish them a merry Christmas, they're civil, and then say 'go back to the table, not your own table, the table in Washington.'"

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said he expects something will be passed, but nothing that will solve the nation's growing financial problems.

"I think there's unfortunately only going to be a small deal," he said, but added "it's critical we get to the big deal."

Obama already has scaled back his ambitions for a sweeping budget bargain. Before leaving the capital on Friday, he called for a limited measure that extends George W. Bush-era tax cuts for most people and stave off federal spending cuts. The president also urged Congress to extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed that would otherwise be cut off for 2 million people at the end of the year.

The failure of Boehner's option in the House has shifted the focus.

"The ball is now clearly with the Senate," said Lieberman.

He said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky "have the ability to put this together again and pass something. It won't be a big, grand bargain to take care of the total debt, but they can do some things that will avoid the worst consequences going over the fiscal cliff."

It was only a week ago when news emerged that Obama and Boehner had significantly narrowed their differences. Both were offering a cut in taxes for most Americans, an increase for a relative few and cuts of roughly $1 trillion in spending over a year. Also included was a scaling back of future cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients — a concession on the president's part as much as agreeing to higher tax rates was for the speaker.

Lieberman was on CNN's "State of the Union," while Barrasso, Klobuchar and Conrad appeared on "Fox News Sunday." Hutchison and Warner were on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Student food banks fight hunger on campus

Student food banks fight hunger on campus

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — University of Missouri junior Simone McGautha works three campus jobs and has accumulated $11,000 in student loans as she seeks to become the first in her family with a college degree. So when McGautha learned about a new campus food pantry for needy students, the 19-year-old was happy to have the help.

"I use every bit of money I have for basic needs," the Kansas City native said. "I don't have family putting money in my bank account. If somebody wants to help, why not?"

The student-run Tiger Pantry is among a growing number of programs at university campuses. Organizers say it's both a response to a weak economy and a sign of the latest trend in student activism.

The pantry, which opened in early October, is within easy walking distance of the University of Missouri's campus in Columbia. It has given free food to nearly 150 people and their families, and an additional 100 people have expressed an interest. Food recipients include nearly three dozen graduate students and a similar number of university employees, as well as a handful of professors.

Student organizers modeled the program on a similar effort at the University of Arkansas known as the Full Circle Food Pantry. As a sanctioned organization, the Tiger Pantry receives some money from student fees but primarily relies on donated food. Students can drop off donations in large bins around campus, and the local food pantry provided 2,500 pounds of food to help the Tiger Pantry get started.

The University of Mississippi and Auburn University are also starting campus food pantries, joining schools such as Central Florida, Georgia, Iowa State, Oregon State and West Virginia. The University of California Los Angeles deploys "economic crisis response" teams that assist students struggling to pay bills and rent or who live on the streets.

Campus organizers estimate at least 20 schools have similar programs, with even more interested in joining the effort.

At the Tiger Pantry, users are limited to monthly visits, and the amount of their bounty depends on family size. But they don't have to prove that they're struggling financially.

The Auburn food pantry is part of a broader anti-hunger campaign that includes an international hunger research institute that is a collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme, an international hunger research institute. A student-driven "War on Hunger" campaign launched in 2004 has spread to more than 200 universities worldwide, the school says.

"It's a moral imperative of a land-grant institution to improve the quality of life," said Harriett Giles, the hunger institute's managing director. "That's our mission."

Precise statistics measuring the extent of student and staff hunger are elusive, Giles and other supporters of such efforts acknowledge. Campus administrators also are cautious that the food bank projects embraced by a current crop of do-gooders don't become dormant if the next generation of student leaders fails to share those passions.

"The university wants us to prove the need of the pantry first," said Missouri's food bank director Paul Haluszczak, a St. Peters junior.

Peggy Kirkpatrick, executive director of the Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri, said more people are using food pantries generally. She said her regional group serves nearly 13,000 people each month, compared with fewer than 8,000 just four years ago — a 63 percent increase.

Kilpatrick was among the early skeptics of the student effort, though now she's an ally, with the regional group providing help to the Tiger Pantry

"I didn't want it to be a novelty, then when these students graduate, who carries it on?" she said. "I was putting up roadblocks, making sure it was legit."

Kaitlyn Kelly, a senior animal science major from Blue Springs, has used the Tiger Pantry from the start. So does her boyfriend. Kelly has cashed childhood savings bonds and other investments to help pay for college. She also has wheat allergies, making her food choices more difficult and more costly.

"I can't just go out and buy a box of ramen noodles," she said. "Eating for me is pretty hard, and expensive."

Kelly said she isn't ashamed or embarrassed about seeking help, but she realizes some of her peers might consider relying on the pantry a stigma. That's why the Tiger Pantry, like its counterparts on other campuses, is located off-the-beaten track and provides its groceries in generic, unlabeled shopping bags.

"I need help. So I'm not going to refuse it," she said. "There are plenty of students who could use this. This whole program is a godsend."

___

Online:

Tiger Pantry, www.tigerpantry.missouri.edu

Auburn University War on Hunger: www.auburn.edu/hunger

___

Alan Scher Zagier can be reached at http://twitter.com/azagier

Budokon, made in America, mixes yoga with martial arts

Budokon, made in America, mixes yoga with martial arts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Budokon, a workout program developed in 21st century America, blends the ancient mind-body practices of yoga and martial arts into a program that aims to reward followers with conditioning, mindful meditation and progressively colored karate-type belts.

"Budokon is a yoga, martial arts and meditation trifecta," said Mimi Rieger, who teaches the not-so-ancient practice in gyms, studios and workshops in the Washington, DC area.

An instructor in the 3,000-year-old practice of yoga since 2003, Rieger, founder of Pure Fitness DC, is one of approximately 400 teachers worldwide who are trained in Budokon, which did not exist before 2002.

Although mainly done in the United States, Rieger said she will teach Budokon in Turkey, Denmark and Sweden next year and workshops are also scheduled in London, Germany, Korea and Japan.

She says the hybrid offers the student an intense, full-body workout as it blends the integrity of the martial arts movement with the fluidity of yoga.

"It's like a beautiful symphony of the two," said Rieger, who is among the first women to get a brown belt in the Budokon sequence of six belts: white, red, blue, purple, brown and black.

Budokon, which is Japanese for "the way of the warrior spirit," began in 2000 as the brainchild of Cameron Shayne, a martial arts expert and yoga enthusiast originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, looking to solve a dilemma faced in his own practice.

"Through martial arts I experienced meditation; both yoga and martial arts share self-reflection, but both suffered from the same disease of being stripped down to a westernized workout," said Shayne, founder of Budokon University in Miami, Florida.

A typical Budokon session begins with 20 minutes of yoga sun salutations to, as Shayne says, "lighten and open the body," followed by a martial arts segment of explosive, dance-like movement. The end is a guided meditation.

"There is no breath count; we don't stop," said Shayne, who describes the movements as snakelike. Observers will note echoes of Tai Chi.

"Modern yoga can be very angular. Our primary series is a circular, continuous transition practice," he explained.

Adam Sedlack, senior vice president of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) Gym, a national chain of family fitness centers specializing in mixed martial arts training, believes the novice should begin with a specific practice before tackling hybrids like Budokon.

"It's more efficient to take a karate class, then a yoga class, and then a tai chi class than it is to combine them," Sedlack said, "so the individual can focus on individual skill sets. The beautiful thing about mixed martial arts is that you're learning a skill while you're working out and burning calories."

He notes that martial arts is as much about the confidence of walking down the street with your head up high as it is about learning to kick and hit.

Richard Cotton, of the American College of Sports Medicine, said Budokon can offer a challenging change for people with more advanced levels of fitness.

"If you're a yoga or tai chi purist, it (Budokon) is not that, but it is variety, and variety is rarely a problem," he said.

He points out that one needn't do Budokon, or yoga or Pilates to have a so-called mind-body experience.

"Running strength training, and certainly golf, can be a mind-body experience if you're staying in touch with your body," he said. "You can have a mind-body walk."

A few years ago Shayne began offering a separate Budokon yoga practice because some people found the martial arts aspect of his practice intimidating or confrontational.

"It became a necessity to give that audience what it was asking for," he explained.

People either love Budokon, he added, or they hate it and that's fine with him.

"I don't need a million people doing Budokon. I don't need someone who walks into class looking for a quick fix," he said. "I need people who feel it as an art."

(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Andrew Hay)