tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64317150561322878592024-03-13T03:13:01.260-07:00News divulgenceRomanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comBlogger368125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-57063601212908665222013-03-02T13:10:00.001-08:002013-03-02T13:10:15.516-08:00U.S. evolves on same-sex marriage<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>The president and the nation have shifted perspectives on same-sex marriage</li><br /><li>Supreme Court ruling on California's same-sex marriage ban a critical test</li><br /><li>Growing public support for gay marriage give proponents hope for change</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p><strong>Washington (CNN)</strong> -- The nation's growing acceptance of same-sex marriage has happened in slow and painstaking moves, eventually building into a momentum that is sweeping even the most unlikely of converts.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">Even though he said in 2008 that he could only support civil unions for same-sex couples, President Barack Obama nonetheless enjoyed strong support among the gay community. He disappointed many with his conspicuously subdued first-term response to the same-sex marriage debate.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Last year, after Vice President Joe Biden announced his support, the president then said his position had evolved and he, too, supported same-sex marriage.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">So it was no small matter when on Thursday the Obama administration formally expressed its support of same-sex marriage in a court brief weighing in on California's Proposition 8, which bans same-sex weddings. The administration's effort was matched by at least 100 high-profile Republicans — some of whom in elections past depended on gay marriage as a wedge issue guaranteed to rally the base — who signed onto a brief supporting gay couples to legally wed.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">Obama on same-sex marriage: Everyone is equal</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Then there are the polls that show that an increasing number of Americans now support same-sex marriage. These polls show that nearly half of the nation's Catholics and white, mainstream Protestants and more than half of the nation's women, liberals and political moderates all support same-sex marriage.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">According to Pew Research Center polling, 48% of Americans support same-sex marriage with 43% opposed. Back in 2001, 57% opposed same-sex marriage while 35% supported it.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">In last year's presidential election, same-sex marriage scarcely raised a ripple. That sea change is not lost on the president.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">"The same evolution I've gone through is the same evolution the country as a whole has gone through," Obama told reporters on Friday.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">Craig Rimmerman, professor of public policy and political science at Hobart and William Smith colleges says there is history at work here and the administration is wise to get on the right side.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">"There is no doubt that President Obama's shifting position on Proposition 8 and same-sex marriage more broadly is due to his desire to situate himself on the right side of history with respect to the fight over same-sex marriage," said Rimmerman, author of "From Identity to Politics: The Lesbian and Gay Movements in the United States."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">"I also think that broader changes in public opinion showing greater support for same-sex marriage, especially among young people, but in the country at large as well, has created a cultural context for Obama to alter his views."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">For years, Obama had frustrated many in the gay community by not offering full-throated support of same-sex marriage. However, the president's revelation last year that conversations with his daughters and friends led him to change his mind gave many in that community hope.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">Last year, the Obama administration criticized a measure in North Carolina that banned same-sex marriage and made civil unions illegal. The president took the same position on a similar Minnesota proposal.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">Obama administration officials point to what they see as the administration's biggest accomplishment in the gay rights cause: repealing "don't ask, don't tell," the military's ban on openly gay and lesbian members serving in the forces.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">Then there was the president's inaugural address which placed the gay community's struggle for equality alongside similar civil rights fights by women and African-Americans.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">"Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal, as well," Obama said in his address after being sworn in.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">In offering its support and asserting in the brief that "prejudice may not be the basis for differential treatment under the law," the Obama administration is setting up a high stakes political and constitutional showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court over a fast-evolving and contentious issue.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19">The justices will hear California's Proposition 8 case in March. That case and another appeal over the federal Defense of Marriage Act will produce blockbuster rulings from the justices in coming months.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">Beyond the legal wranglings there is a strong social and historic component, one that has helped open the way for the administration to push what could prove to be a social issue that defines Obama's second term legacy, Rimmerman said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">The nation is redefining itself on this issue, as well.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">Pew survey: Changing attitudes on gay marriage</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">The changes are due, in part, to generational shifts. Younger people show a higher level of support than their older peers, according to Pew polling "Millennials are almost twice as likely as the Silent Generation to support same-sex marriage."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24">"As people have grown up with people having the right to marry the generational momentum has been very, very strong," said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, a gay rights organization.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">That is not to say that there isn't still opposition.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26">Pew polling found that most Republicans and conservatives remain opposed to same-sex marriage. In 2001, 21% of Republicans were supportive; in 2012 that number nudged slightly to 25%.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">Conservative groups expressed dismay at the administration's same-sex marriage support.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28">"President Obama, who was against same-sex 'marriage' before he was for it, and his administration, which said the Defense of Marriage Act was constitutional before they said it was unconstitutional, has now flip-flopped again on the issue of same-sex 'marriage,' putting allegiance to extreme liberal social policies ahead of constitutional principle," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in a statement.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29">But there are signs of movement even among some high profile Republican leaders</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph30">Top Republicans sign brief supporting same-sex marriage</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31">The Republican-penned friend of the court brief, which is designed to influence conservative justices on the high court, includes a number of top officials from the George W. Bush administration, Mitt Romney's former campaign manager and former GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph32">It is also at odds with the Republican Party's platform, which opposes same-sex marriage and defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33">Still, with White House and high-profile Republican support, legal and legislative victories in a number of states and polls that show an increasing number of Americans support same sex-marriage, proponents feel that the winds of history are with them.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph34">"What we've seen is accelerating and irrefutable momentum as Americans have come to understand who gay people are and why marriage matters," Wolfson said. "We now have a solid national majority and growing support across every demographic. We have leaders across the spectrum, including Republicans, all saying it's time to end marriage discrimination."</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">CNN's Peter Hamby, Ashley Killough and Bill Mears contributed to this report. </p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-22171917956902831712013-03-02T13:08:00.001-08:002013-03-02T13:08:15.874-08:00UN in Syria talks offer, warns against war crimes<br /> <br /> <!-- for social media sharing functions --><!-- END social media sharing functions --><br /> <p id="articlecontent"><br /> <span id="advenueINTEXT" name="advenueINTEXT"><br /> <span>DAMASCUS: The UN chief and his Syria envoy said Saturday they are prepared to broker peace talks between the regime and opposition, as Damascus ally Iran said Bashar al-Assad would stand again for president in 2014.</span></span></p><p>A joint statement by Ban Ki-moon and Lakhdar Brahimi said the UN would "be prepared to facilitate a dialogue between a strong and representative delegation from the opposition and a credible and empowered delegation from the Syrian government."</p><p>They met after both sides in Syria had indicated a "willingness to engage in dialogue," the UN said.</p><p>"Both expressed deep frustration at the failure of the international community to act with unity to end the conflict which has left over 70,000 dead and resulted in a massive human displacement within and outside of the Syrian borders," the statement said.</p><p>They also warned that both the regime and opposition fighters "have become increasingly reckless with human life" and said perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity must be brought to justice.</p><p>In Tehran on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Assad will take part in next year's presidential election and that it is up to the Syrian people to choose their own leader.</p><p>He spoke during a visit by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem for talks on the nearly two-year conflict.</p><p>At a joint news conference, Salehi said "in the next election, President Assad, like others, will take part, and the Syrian people will elect whomever they want."</p><p>The "official position of Iran is that... Assad will remain legitimate president until the next... election" in 2014.</p><p>Assad, who took over as president in 2000 following the death of his father Hafez, has repeatedly rejected opposition, Western and Arab calls to step down.</p><p>A new constitution adopted in February 2012 stipulates that he can run for the presidency twice from 2014, which means he could stay at the helm until 2028 if re-elected.</p><p>Salehi also backed a call by Damascus for talks with the armed opposition, calling the initiative a "positive step," but reiterated that Assad's regime has "no choice" but to keep fighting rebels.</p><p>"We believe that the crisis has no military solution and only a Syrian political one," he said.</p><p>Muallem condemned the announcement by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday that Washington would provide US$60 million in "non-lethal" assistance to support Syria's political opposition.</p><p>"When the US (says it has) allocated US$60 million to the opposition and this opposition is killing people, I don't understand this initiative... Are there any weapons that do not kill people? Who are you kidding?" Muallem asked.</p><p>He repeated calls for pressure to be exerted on Turkey and Qatar, among the main supporters of the rebels alongside Western countries.</p><p>Damascus has repeatedly blamed foreign-backed "terrorists" for the violence, using the term to refer both to rebels and peaceful opponents ever since the outbreak of a popular revolt against Assad in March 2011.</p><p>On the ground, the army said on Saturday it seized control of a key road linking the central province of Hama to Aleppo international airport, the scene of fierce battles since mid-February.</p><p>The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said this was significant because it will allow new troop deployments and supplies to reach the area surrounding the airport and nearby Nayrab military airbase.</p><p>Fierce clashes also raged in the northern city of Raqa between rebels and troops, killing at least 26 fighters -- 16 rebels and 10 soldiers, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.</p><p>The Britain-based Observatory and activists said military helicopters strafed rebels in some parts of Raqa, which Abdel Rahman said was home to about 800,000 people displaced by violence elsewhere in Syria.</p><p>At least 133 people were killed nationwide on Saturday, the Observatory said.</p><p>They included two Palestinians hanged by rebels from trees at Yarmuk refugee camp in Damascus on suspicion of aiding the regime, the Observatory said. The two were suspected of pinpointing rebel targets for regime forces.</p><p>The Israeli military said mortar rounds believed to have been fired from Syria hit the southern Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday without causing damage or casualties.</p><p>The Observatory said there had been clashes in the Quneitra area, with two rebels and an unknown number of soldiers killed.</p><p>- AFP/jc<br /> <br /> <!-- Zone Tag : Channel News Asia In Text <br /> <script type="text/javascript"><br /> innity_pub = "66368270ffd51418ec58bd793f2d9b1b";<br /> innity_zone = "12251";<br /> innity_width = "**";<br /> innity_height = "**";<br /> innity_country = "SG";<br /> </script><br /> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.innity.com/network.js"></script>--><br /> </p><br /> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-88139259112062520062013-03-02T13:06:00.001-08:002013-03-02T13:06:11.565-08:00U.S. to 'rain mice' on tree snakes<br /><div id="cnnTVEBranding" class="cnnTVEoverlaySprite" readability="8"><br /><p><br /><br /><h3>on your computer or on the CNN Apps for iPhone® and iPad®.</h3><br /></p><br /><span id="cnnTVEiOSCopy"><img alt="Apple Inc. Store Logo" src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/css/3.0/video/videxp/images/blank.gif" class="cnnTVEoverlaySprite iosLogo"/>iPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.</span><br /></div><br /><p><br /><span id="cnnTVEFooterCopy">If you get CNN and HLN at home, you can watch them online and on the go for no additional charge</span><span id="cnnTVEButton" class="cnnTVEoverlaySprite cnnTVEButtonClass">Start watching</span><br /></p><br />Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-25369851243734600262013-03-02T13:04:00.001-08:002013-03-02T13:04:16.552-08:00Recovery attempt weighed for man's body in sinkhole <p><span class="loc">SEFFNER, Fla.</span> Engineers worked gingerly Saturday to find out more about a slowly growing sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom, believing the entire house could eventually succumb to the unstable ground.</p> <p>It could be days before officials decide whether they will attempt to recover Jeff Bush's body, and they were still trying Saturday to determine the extent of the sinkhole network and what kind of work might be safe. As the sinkhole grows, it may pose further risk to the subdivision and its homes.</p> <p>Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night in Seffner a suburb of 8,000 people 15 miles east of downtown Tampa when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five others in the house escaped unharmed.</p> <p><!-- context channel = 201 partTag = cbsnews asset id = 50142021 cbsId = 50142021 asset/context node id = 201 --><br /><br /><div class="storyEmbed"><br /><figure class="video"><img src="http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2013/03/02/deadguy_640x480_220x157.jpg" class="image220"/></figure><p class="meta">Play <span>Video</span></p><br /><h3>Man feared dead in sinkhole freak accident</h3><br /></div><br /></p> <p>On "CBS This Morning: Saturday," reporter Grayson Kamm of CBS affiliate WTSP-TV in Tampa, Fla., reported that Bush was not planning to stay in the house for long, just a few months. He was planning to move out Saturday, Kamm reports.</p> <p>Because of Florida's unique geography, experts say sinkholes are common across the state, with thousands erupting each year. Most are small, though, and deaths rarely occur.</p> <p>"There's hardly a place in Florida that's immune to sinkholes," said Sandy Nettles, a geologist. "There's no way of ever predicting where a sinkhole is going to occur."</p> <p>Florida is prone because it sits on limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water. A layer of clay is on top of the limestone. The clay is thicker in some locations including the area where Bush became a victim making them even more prone to sinkholes.</p> <p>Most are small, like one that was found Saturday morning in Largo, some 35 miles away from where the Seffner sinkhole. The Largo sinkhole, about 10 feet long and several feet wide, was discovered in a mall parking lot. Such discoveries are common throughout the year in Florida, though some factors such as drought and development can exacerbate the development, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.</p> <p><!-- context node id = 201 context channel Id = 201 partTag = cbsnews asset id = 10016006 asset node 205 --><br /><br /><div class="storyEmbed"><br /><figure class="gallery"><img src="http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2013/03/01/sinkhole_107295825_220x157.jpg" class="image220"/></figure><p class="meta">28 <span>Photos</span></p><br /><h3>Sinkholes</h3><br /></div><br /></p> <p>Still, it's unclear what, if anything, caused the Seffner sinkhole.</p> <p>"The condition that caused that sinkhole could have started a million years ago," Nettles said.</p> <p>On Saturday, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesman Ronnie Rivera said one of the homes next door to the Bush house also was compromised by the sinkhole, as determined through testing. The family, which had evacuated Friday, was allowed to go inside for about a half-hour to gathering belongings, Rivera said. The family was outside, crying and organizing boxes.</p> <p>Engineers had been testing since 7 a.m. Saturday. By 10 a.m., officials moved media crews farther away from the Bush house so experts could perform tests on the home across the street.</p> <p>Experts spent the previous day on the property, taking soil samples and running tests while acknowledging that the entire lot where Bush lay entombed was dangerous. On Saturday, officials were still not allowing anyone in the Bush home.</p> <p>Jeremy Bush, who tried to rescue his brother when the earth opened, lay flowers and a stuffed lamb near the house Saturday morning and wept.</p> <p>He said someone came to his home in the Tampa suburb of about 8,000 people a couple of months ago to check for sinkholes and other issues, apparently for insurance purposes, but found nothing wrong. State law requires home insurers to provide coverage against sinkholes.</p> <p>"And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole," Bush said Friday.</p> <p>The sinkhole, estimated at 20 feet across and 20 feet deep, caused the home's concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday as everyone in the Tampa-area house was turning in for the night. It gave way with a loud crash that sounded like a car hitting the house and brought Jeremy Bush running.</p> <p>Engineers said they may have to demolish the small house, even though from the outside there appeared to be nothing wrong with the four-bedroom, concrete-wall structure, built in 1974.</p> <!-- 1 pageNum--> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-2430887851496475492013-03-02T13:02:00.001-08:002013-03-02T13:02:11.525-08:00Abandoned Baby's Tooth Used in Search for Parents<br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <!--18635837~18616531~15220893~14804310--><br /> <br /> <!-- insert date & partner --><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><p><br />Authorities are using the bottom tooth of the week-old infant abandoned in a plastic bag outside an apartment complex in Cypress, Texas, as a clue in the search for her parents.<br /></p><p><br />The newborn's early tooth, seen in just one of 2,000 births, is a unique genetic trait that may prove to be a link to her family history, according to investigators.<br /></p><p><br />The baby, named Chloe by rescuers, weighed just four pounds when she was found by a woman walking her dogs near the apartment complex.<br /></p><p><br />"More than likely her mother didn't have any type of prenatal care," Estella Olguin, spokeswoman for Texas Child Protective Services, told ABC's "Good Morning America."<br /></p><p><br />To aid in their investigation, police commissioned Texas sketch artist Lori Gibson to create a rendering of what her parents might look like by studying the newborn's features.<br /></p><br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_1"><br /> <div class="rel_content" readability="25.5"><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_headline" readability="5.75806451613"><br /> Texas Cops Rely on Sketches in Abandoned Baby Case Watch Video<br /> </div><br /> </div><br /> <br /> </div><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p><br />RELATED: Cops Rely on Sketch to Find Abandoned Baby's Parents<br /></p><p><br />"The people would recognize that smile," Gibson told "Good Morning America," "It's a ready smile, and then all I had to do was put teeth."<br /></p><p><br />Authorities said they are hoping Chloe's mother or other relatives come forward to claim the baby, or officially allow another family to take custody of the newborn. They plan to charge the parents if they can find them, police said.<br /></p><p><br />Texas has an infant safe haven law, which allows mothers to anonymously give up their babies to designated locations where they can receive care until they are placed in a permanent home.<br /></p><p><br />Texas was the first state to enact an infant safe haven law, which was passed in 1999. The laws, now adopted by many other states and known as "Baby Moses laws," are meant to provide mothers with an incentive not to abandon unwanted children, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.<br /></p><p><br />Meanwhile, Harris County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Christina Garza said once custody issues are resolved, "[Chloe] will be placed in a loving home."<br /></p><p><br />"There is no shortage of people who want her," she said. </p><br /> <br /> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-14565688530911115002013-03-01T13:10:00.001-08:002013-03-01T13:10:17.350-08:00Syria war is everybody's problem<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption" readability="8"><p>Syrians search for survivors and bodies after the Syrian regime attacked the city of Aleppo with missiles on February 23.</p></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Frida Ghitis: We are standing by as Syria rips itself apart, thinking it's not our problem</li><br /><li>Beyond the tragedy in human terms, she says, the war damages global stability</li><br /><li>Ghitis: Syria getting more and more radical, jeopardizing forces of democracy</li><br /><li>Ghitis: Peace counts on moderates, whom we must back with diplomacy, training arms</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist for The Miami Herald and World Politics Review. A former CNN producer and correspondent, she is the author of "The End of Revolution: A Changing World in the Age of Live Television." Follow her on Twitter: @FridaGColumns</em></p><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- Last week, a huge explosion rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing more than 50 people and injuring hundreds. The victims of the blast in a busy downtown street were mostly civilians, including schoolchildren. Each side in the Syrian civil war blamed the other.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">In the northern city of Aleppo, about 58 people -- 36 of them children -- died in a missile attack last week. Washington condemned the regime of Bashar al-Assad; the world looked at the awful images and moved on.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">Syria is ripping itself to pieces. The extent of human suffering is beyond comprehension. That alone should be reason enough to encourage a determined effort to bring this conflict to a quick resolution. But if humanitarian reasons were not enough, the international community -- including the U.S. and its allies -- should weigh the potential implications of allowing this calamity to continue.</p><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214"><br /><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/111012033349-frida-ghitis-left-tease.jpg" alt="Frida Ghitis" border="0" class="box-image" height="122" width="214"/><p>Frida Ghitis</p><br /></div></div><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">We've all heard the argument: It's not our problem. We're not the world's policeman. We would only make it worse.</p><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">This is not a plea to send American or European troops to fight in this conflict. Nobody wants that.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">But before we allow this mostly hands-off approach to continue, we would do well to consider the potential toll of continuing with a failed policy, one that has focused in vain over the past two years searching for a diplomatic solution.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry has just announced that the U.S. will provide an additional $60 million in non-lethal assistance to the opposition. He has hinted that President Obama, after rejecting suggestions from the CIA and previous Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to arm Syrian rebels, might be ready to change course. And not a day too soon.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">The war is taking longer than anyone expected. The longer it lasts, the more Syria is radicalized and the region is destabilized.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">If you think the Syrian war is the concern of Syrians alone, think about other countries that have torn themselves apart over a long time. Consider Lebanon, Afghanistan or Somalia; each with unique circumstances, but with one thing in common: Their wars created enormous suffering at home, and the destructiveness eventually spilled beyond their borders. All of those wars triggered lengthy, costly refugee crises. They all spawned international terrorism and eventually direct international -- including U.S. -- intervention.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19">The uprising against al-Assad started two years ago in the spirit of what was then referred to -- without a hint of irony -- as the Arab Spring. Young Syrians marched, chanting for freedom and democracy. The ideals of equality, rule of law and human rights wafted in the air.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">Al-Assad responded to peaceful protests with gunfire. Syrians started dying by the hundreds each day. Gradually the nonviolent protesters started fighting back. Members of the Syrian army started defecting.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">The opposition's Free Syrian Army came together. Factions within the Syrian opposition took up arms and the political contest became a brutal civil war. The death toll has climbed to as many as 90,000, according to Kerry. About 2 million people have left their homes, and the killing continues with no end in sight.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">In fairness to Washington, Europe and the rest of the international community, there were never easy choices in this war. Opposition leaders bickered, and their clashing views scared away would-be supporters. Western nations rejected the idea of arming the opposition, saying Syria already has too many weapons. They were also concerned about who would control the weaponry, including an existing arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, after al-Assad's fall.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">These are all legitimate concerns. But inaction is producing the worst possible outcome.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29">The moderates, whose views most closely align with the West, are losing out to the better-armed Islamists and, especially, to the extremists. Moderates are losing the ideological debate and the battle for the future character of a Syria after al-Assad.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31">Radical Islamist groups have taken the lead. Young people are losing faith in moderation, lured by disciplined, devout extremists. Reporters on the ground have seen young democracy advocates turn into fervent supporters of dangerous groups such as the Nusra Front, which has scored impressive victories.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33">The U.S. State Department recently listed the Nusra Front, which has close ties to al Qaeda in Iraq and a strong anti-Western ideology, as a terrorist organization.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph35">Meantime, countries bordering Syria are experiencing repercussions. And these are likely to become more dangerous.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph37">Jordan, an important American ally, is struggling with a flood of refugees, as many as 10,000 each week since the start of the year. The government estimates 380,000 Syrians are in Jordan, a country whose government is under pressure from its own restive population and still dealing with huge refugee populations from other wars.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph39">Turkey is also burdened with hundreds of thousands of refugees and occasional Syrian fire. Israel has warned about chemical weapons transfers from al-Assad to Hezbollah in Lebanon and may have already fired on a Syrian convoy attempting the move.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph41">Lebanon, always perched precariously on the edge of crisis, lives with growing fears that Syria's war will enter its borders. Despite denials, there is evidence that Lebanon's Hezbollah, a close ally of al-Assad and of Iran, has joined the fighting on the side of the Syrian president. The Free Syrian Army has threatened to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon if it doesn't leave Syria.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph43">The possible outcomes in Syria include the emergence of a failed state, stirring unrest throughout the region. If al-Assad wins, Syria will become an even more repressive country.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph45">Al-Assad's survival would fortify Iran and Hezbollah and other anti-Western forces. If the extremists inside the opposition win, Syria could see factional fighting for many years, followed by anti-democratic, anti-Western policies.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph47">The only good outcome is victory for the opposition's moderate forces. They may not be easy to identify with complete certainty. But to the extent that it is possible, these forces need Western support.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph48">They need training, funding, careful arming and strong political and diplomatic backing. The people of Syria should know that support for human rights, democracy and pluralism will lead toward a peaceful, prosperous future.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph50">Democratic nations should not avert their eyes from the killings in Syria which are, after all, a warning to the world.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph52"><i>Follow us on Twitter </i><i>@CNNOpinion.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph53"><i>Join us on </i><i>Facebook/CNNOpinion.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frida Ghitis.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-80636169272134231662013-03-01T13:08:00.001-08:002013-03-01T13:08:13.718-08:00Al-Qaeda's top leader in Mali killed in fighting<br /> <br /> <!-- for social media sharing functions --><!-- END social media sharing functions --><br /> <p id="articlecontent"><br /> <span id="advenueINTEXT" name="advenueINTEXT"><br /> <span>PARIS: Al-Qaeda's top commander in Mali has been killed, Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno said Friday, in what would be one of the most significant blows to the rebels in the seven-week French-led intervention against Islamist insurgents.</span></span></p><p>Several newspapers in Abou Zeid's native Algeria had reported his death and Washington had described the reports as "very credible".</p><p>Deby said Abou Zeid, the Mali-based operative in Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), was killed in deadly fighting between Chadian troops and Islamist fighters on February 22.</p><p>"On February 22, we lost several soldiers in the Ifogha mountains after destroying the jihadists' base. This was the first time there was a direct confrontation with the jihadists," he said.</p><p>"Our soldiers killed two jihadist chiefs including Abou Zeid," said Deby, whose elite forces are among the best desert troops on the continent and have played a key role in the offensive to liberate northern Mali.</p><p>Algeria's independent Ennahar TV reported earlier this week that Abou Zeid was killed in northern Mali along with 40 other Islamist militants.</p><p>In Washington, a US official speaking on condition of anonymity said reports of his death seemed "very credible" and that if Abou Zeid was indeed slain "it would be a significant blow to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb."</p><p>French officials have so far reacted with caution, with President Francois Hollande saying Friday: "Reports are circulating, it is not up to me to confirm them."</p><p>The killing of Abou Zeid, a ruthless militant linked with kidnappings and executions of Westerners, would be a major success for French forces, who intervened in Mali in mid-January to help oust Islamist rebels then in control of the north.</p><p>Algeria's El Khabar newspaper reported Friday that authorities there had carried out DNA tests to try to confirm Abou Zeid's death.</p><p>"The security services are comparing DNA taken from two close relatives of Abou Zeid with samples taken from the remains of a body supplied by French forces", it said.</p><p>French and west African troops have been hunting down rebels they dislodged from northern Mali's main cities following a lightning advance against the Islamists.</p><p>Abou Zeid, 46, whose real name is Mohamed Ghedir, was often seen in the cities of Timbuktu and Gao after the Islamists took control of northern Mali last year and sparked fears the region could become a haven for extremists.</p><p>An Algerian born near the border with Libya, Abou Zeid was a former smuggler who embraced radical Islam in the 1990s and became one of AQIM's key leaders.</p><p>He was suspected of being behind a series of brutal kidnappings in several countries, including of British national Edwin Dyer, who was abducted in Niger and executed in 2009, and of 78-year-old French aid worker Michel Germaneau, who was executed in 2010.</p><p>Abou Zeid was believed to be holding a number of Western hostages, including four French citizens kidnapped in Niger in 2010.</p><p>He was thought to have about 200 seasoned fighters under his command, mainly Algerians, Mauritanians and Malians, who were well-equipped and highly mobile.</p><p>An Algiers court last year sentenced Abou Zeid in absentia to life in prison for having formed an international armed group involved in the kidnapping of foreigners. Five other members of his family were jailed for 10 years each.</p><p>He was seen as a true religious fanatic and more uncompromising than some other leaders of north African armed Islamist groups, such as Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the mastermind of January's attack on an Algerian natural-gas facility that left 37 foreign hostages dead.</p><p>On the ground in Mali Friday, Malian troops arrested about 50 people near Gao on an island in the Niger river that was used as a hideout by armed Islamists, military sources told AFP.</p><p>-AFP/ac<br /> <br /> <!-- Zone Tag : Channel News Asia In Text <br /> <script type="text/javascript"><br /> innity_pub = "66368270ffd51418ec58bd793f2d9b1b";<br /> innity_zone = "12251";<br /> innity_width = "**";<br /> innity_height = "**";<br /> innity_country = "SG";<br /> </script><br /> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.innity.com/network.js"></script>--><br /> </p><br /> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-72651993195420467972013-03-01T13:06:00.001-08:002013-03-01T13:06:13.629-08:00Man vanishes into bedroom sinkhole<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li><b>NEW:</b> Rescuers have turned to trying to recover man's body, sheriff's office says</li><br /><li>The sinkhole opened under a home's bedroom, swallowing a man inside</li><br /><li>Hole, previously reported as 100 feet across, is about 20 to 30 feet wide, engineer says</li><br /><li>Monitoring equipment failed to detect any sign of life in the sinkhole</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p><strong>Seffner, Florida (CNN)</strong> -- The ground just swallowed him up.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">A Florida man fell into a sinkhole that opened suddenly Thursday night beneath the bedroom of his suburban Tampa home, calling out to his brother for help as he fell, the brother said Friday.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">"I heard a loud crash, like a car coming through the house," Jeremy Bush told CNN affiliate WFTS. "I heard my brother screaming and I ran back there and tried going inside his room, but my old lady turned the light on and all I seen was this big hole, a real big hole, and all I saw was his mattress."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">Bush frantically tried to rescue his brother, Jeff Bush, by standing in the hole and digging at the rubble with a shovel until police arrived and pulled him out, saying the floor was still collapsing.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">"I thought I heard him holler for me to help him," the man tearfully told WFTS.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Jeremy Bush and four other people, including a 2-year-old child, escaped from the blue, one-story 1970s-era home in Seffner, Florida, a Tampa suburb.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">Sinkholes: Common, costly and sometimes deadly</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">What began with hopes of rescue turned into a body recovery operation after monitoring equipment failed to detect any signs that Jeff Bush survived the fall into the hole, according the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">Rescuers still hadn't gone into the hole -- it's too dangerous, Fire Chief Ron Rogers told reporters. Authorities say they worry the hole is still spreading and the house could collapse at any time.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">The sinkhole is about 20 feet to 30 feet across and may be 30 feet deep, said Bill Bracken, president of an engineering company assisting emergency workers. The hole was originally reported to be 100 feet across, but that is the diameter of the safety zone surrounding it, Bracken said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">"It started in the bedroom, and it has been expanding outward and it's taking the house with it as it opens up," he said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">Check out images of the sinkhole house</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">Nearby homes have been evacuated as a precaution, Rogers said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">Damico said about 40 police and firefighters were standing by at the scene Friday morning. Meanwhile, engineers hope to use more sophisticated equipment to get a three-dimensional image of the sinkhole.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">Family members were also on hand, waiting out what they feared would be a devastating day.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">"I know in my heart he's dead," Jeremy Bush said. "But I just want to be here for him, because I love him. He was my brother, man."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">Sinkholes are common in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The state lies on bedrock made of limestone or other carbonate rock that can be eaten away by acidic groundwater, forming voids that collapse when the rock can no longer support the weight of what's above it.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">Hillsborough County is part of an area known as "sinkhole alley" that accounts for two-thirds of the sinkhole-related insurance claims in the state, according to a Florida state Senate Insurance and Banking Committee report.</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">John Zarrella reported from Seffner; Michael Pearson reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Jake Carpenter, Brian Carberry, Elwyn Lopez, Nick Valencia and Tina Burnside also contributed to this report.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-28939942776343491232013-03-01T13:04:00.001-08:002013-03-01T13:04:17.150-08:00Man feared dead in 100-foot sinkhole near Tampa <p><i>Last Updated 1:15 p.m. ET</i></p> <p><span class="loc">SEFFNER, Fla.</span> A man was missing and feared dead early Friday after a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of a house near Tampa. </p> <p>His brother says the man screamed for help before he disappeared.</p> <p>The 36-year-old man's brother, Jeremy Bush, told rescue crews he heard a loud crash around 11 p.m. Thursday, then heard his brother screaming for help.</p> <p>"When he got there, there was no bedroom left," Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokeswoman Jessica Damico said. "There was no furniture. All he saw was a piece of the mattress sticking up."</p> <p>The brother called 911 and frantically tried to help his brother. He said he jumped into the hole and dirt was quickly up to his neck.</p> <p>"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," Jeremy said. "But I just couldn't do nothing."</p> <p>An arriving deputy pulled the brother from the still-collapsing house.</p> <p>"I reached down and was able to actually able to get him by his hand and pull him out of the hole," Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy Douglas Duvall said. "The hole was collapsing. At that time, we left the house."</p> <p>Engineers worked to determine the size of the sinkhole. At the surface, officials estimated it was about 30 feet across. Below the surface, officials believed it was 100 feet wide.</p> <p>"The entire house is on the sinkhole," Damico said.</p> <p>Hillsborough County Fire Chief Ron Rogers told a news briefing that extra-sensitive listening devices and cameras were inserted into the sinkhole. "They did not detect any signs of life," he said. </p> <p>By early Friday, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials determined the home had become too unstable to continue rescue efforts.</p> <p>Neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated.</p> <p>Sinkholes are common in seaside Florida, whose underlying limestone and dolomite can be worn away by water and chemicals, then collapse. </p> <p>Engineers condemned the house, reports CBS Tampa affiliate WTSP.</p> <p>From the outside of the small, sky blue house, nothing appeared wrong. There wear no cracks and the only sign something was amiss was the yellow caution tape circling the house.</p> <p>Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesman Larry McKinnon said authorities asked sinkhole and engineering experts, and they were using equipment to see if the ground can support the weight of heavy machinery needed for the recovery effort.</p> <p>Jeremy Bush stood in a neighbor's yard across the street from the house Friday and recounted the harrowing collapse.</p> <p>"He was screaming my name. I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him," he said of his brother.</p> <p>Jeremy Bush's wife and his 2-year-old daughter were also inside the house. "She keeps asking where her Uncle Jeff is," he said. "I lost everything. I work so hard to support my wife and kid and I lost everything."</p> <p>Janell Wheeler told the Tampa Bay Times newspaper she was inside the house with four other adults and a child when the sinkhole opened.</p> <p>"It sounded like a car hit my house," she said.</p> <p>The rest of the family went to a hotel but she stayed behind, sleeping in her car.</p> <p>"I just want my nephew," she said through tears.</p> <!-- 1 pageNum--> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-63061659362314832652013-03-01T13:02:00.001-08:002013-03-01T13:02:13.322-08:00Obama, Congress Fail to Avert Sequester Cuts<br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <!--18629281~18626788~18626836~18623800--><br /> <br /> <!-- insert date & partner --><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><p><br />President Obama and congressional leaders today failed to reach a breakthrough to avert a sweeping package of automatic spending cuts, setting into motion $85 billion of across-the-board belt-tightening that neither had wanted to see.<br /></p><p><br />Obama met for just over an hour at the White House today with Republican leaders House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Democratic allies, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Vice President Joe Biden.<br /></p><p><br />But the parties emerged from their first face-to-face meeting of the year resigned to see the cuts take hold at midnight.<br /></p><p><br />"This is not a win for anybody," Obama lamented in a statement to reporters after the meeting. "This is a loss for the American people."<br /></p><p><br /><strong>READ MORE: 6 Questions (and Answers) About the Sequester</strong><br /></p><p><br />Officials have said the spending reductions immediately take effect Saturday but that the pain from reduced government services and furloughs of tens of thousands of federal employees would be felt gradually in the weeks ahead.<br /></p><p><br />Federal agencies, including Homeland Security, the Pentagon, Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Education, have all prepared to notify employees that they will have to take one unpaid day off per week through the end of the year.<br /></p><br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_1"><br /> <div class="rel_content" readability="25.3166666667"><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_headline" readability="5.71666666667"><br /> Sequestration Deadline: Obama Meets With Leaders Watch Video<br /> </div><br /> </div><br /> <br /> </div><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_3"><br /> <div class="rel_content" readability="25.2203389831"><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_headline" readability="5.69491525424"><br /> Sequester Countdown: The Reality of Budget Cuts Watch Video<br /> </div><br /> </div><br /> <br /> </div><br /> <p><br />The staffing trims could slow many government services, including airport screenings, air traffic control, and law enforcement investigations and prosecutions. Spending on education programs and health services for low-income families will also get clipped.<br /></p><p><br />"It is absolutely true that this is not going to precipitate the crisis" that would have been caused by the so-called fiscal cliff, Obama said. "But people are going to be hurt. The economy will not grow as quickly as it would have. Unemployment will not go down as quickly as it would have. And there are lives behind that. And it's real."<br /></p><p><br />The sticking point in the debate over the automatic cuts -- known as sequester -- has remained the same between the parties for more than a year since the cuts were first proposed: whether to include more new tax revenue in a broad deficit reduction plan.<br /></p><p><br />The White House insists there must be higher tax revenue, through elimination of tax loopholes and deductions that benefit wealthier Americans and corporations. Republicans seek an approach of spending cuts only, with an emphasis on entitlement programs. It's a deep divide that both sides have proven unable to bridge.<br /></p><p><br />"This discussion about revenue, in my view, is over," Boehner told reporters after the meeting. "It's about taking on the spending problem here in Washington."<br /></p><p><br /><strong>Boehner: No New Taxes to Avert Sequester </strong><br /></p><p><br />Boehner says any elimination of tax loopholes or deductions should be part of a broader tax code overhaul aimed at lowering rates overall, not to offset spending cuts in the sequester.<br /></p><p><br />Obama countered today that he's willing to "take on the problem where it exists, on entitlements, and do some things that my own party doesn't like."<br /></p><p><br />But he says Republicans must be willing to eliminate some tax loopholes as part of a deal.<br /></p><p><br />"They refuse to budge on closing a single wasteful loophole to help reduce the deficit," Obama said. "We can and must replace these cuts with a more balanced approach that asks something from everybody."<br /></p><p><br />Can anything more be done by either side to reach a middle ground?<br /></p><p><br />The president today claimed he's done all he can. "I am not a dictator, I'm the president," Obama said.<br /></p><br /><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-57447751452141822312013-02-28T13:10:00.001-08:002013-02-28T13:10:34.216-08:00Syria war is everybody's problem<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li><b>NEW:</b> France considers sending Syrian rebels night-vision gear and body armor, a source says</li><br /><li>Britain's foreign secretary says the UK will announce new aid soon</li><br /><li>The statements after European Union loosens restrictions to allow nonlethal aid to rebels</li><br /><li>The U.S. will also send non-lethal aid to rebels for first time, plus $60 million in administrative aid</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p><strong>Rome (CNN)</strong> -- The United States stepped further into Syria's civil war Thursday, promising rebel fighters food and medical supplies -- but not weapons -- for the first time in the two-year conflict that has claimed more than 60,000 lives and laid waste to large portions of the country.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">Meanwhile, European nations began to explore ways to strengthen rebel fighters that stop short of arming them after a European Council decision allowing such aid to flow to Syria.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the aid would help fighters in the high-stakes effort to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a conflict that has already spawned an enormous humanitarian crisis as refugees flee the fighting.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">The ongoing fighting also poses the persistent threat of widening into a destabilizing regional crisis,<strong> </strong>including concerns that Hezbollah, Iran or others could gain control in Damascus after al-Assad's government falls.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">"The United States' decision to take further steps now is the result of the continued brutality of a superior armed force propped up by foreign fighters from Iran and Hezbollah, all of which threatens to destroy Syria," Kerry said after meeting opposition leaders in Rome.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Kerry didn't say how much that aid would be worth, but did announce that the United States would separately give $60 million to local groups working with the Syrian National Council to provide political administration and basic services in rebel-controlled areas of Syria.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">READ: U.S. weighing nonlethal aid to Syrian opposition</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">That's on top of $50 million in similar aid the United States has previously pledged to the council, as well as $385 million in humanitarian assistance, Kerry said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">"This funding will allow the opposition to reach out and help the local councils to be able to rebuild in their liberated areas of Syria so that they can provide basic services to people who so often lack access today to medical care, to food, to sanitation," he said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10"><strong>Islamist Influence</strong></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">That aid is partly an effort to hem in radical Islamist groups vying for influence in Syria after the fall of al-Assad, a senior State Department official told CNN.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">"If the Syrian opposition coalition can't touch, improve and heal the lives of Syrians in those places that have been freed, then extremists will step in and do it," the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">Sheikh Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, president of the Syrian National Council, said concerns about Islamist influence had been overstated.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">"We stand against every radical belief that aims to target Syria's diverse social and religious fabric," he said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">READ: Inside Syria: Exclusive look at pro-Assad Christian militia</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">U.S. officials hope the aid will help the coalition show what it can do and encourage al-Assad supporters to "peel away from him" and help end the fighting, the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">The opposition council will decide where the money goes, Kerry said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">But the United States will send technical advisers through its partners to the group's Cairo headquarters to make sure the aid is being used properly, the senior State Department official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19"><strong>Additional aid possible</strong></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">The European Council carved out an exception in its sanctions against Syria on Thursday to allow for the transfer of nonlethal equipment and technical assistance for civilian protection only.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">The council didn't specify what kind of equipment could be involved.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Friday on Twitter that his country would be pledging new aid because "we cannot stand still while the crisis worsens and thousands of lives are at stake."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">A diplomatic official at the French Foreign Ministry told CNN that France is studying the possibility of supplying night-vision equipment or body armor.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24">"It is in the scope of the amendment," the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">In the United States, President Barack Obama is thinking about training rebels and equipping them with defensive gear such as night-vision goggles, body armor and military vehicles, according to sources familiar with the discussions.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26">The training would help rebels decide how to use their resources, strategize and maybe train a police force to take over after al-Assad's fall, one of the sources said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">READ: Syrian army in Homs is showing strains of war</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28">Kerry did not announce that sort of aid Thursday, but said the United States and other countries backing the rebels would "continue to consult with each other on an urgent basis."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29">An official who briefed reporters said the opposition has raised a lot of needs in the Rome meetings and the administration will continue to "keep those under review."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph30">"We will do this with vetted individuals, vetted units, so it has to be done carefully and appropriately," the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31"><strong>Humanitarian crisis</strong></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph32">The conflict began with demands for political reform after the Arab Spring movement that swept the Middle East and Africa, but descended into a brutal civil war when the al-Assad regime began a brutal crackdown on demonstrators.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33">At least 60,000 people have died since the fighting began in March 2011, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in early January.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph34">Another 940,000 had fled the country as of Tuesday, while more than one in 10 of Syria's 20 million residents have been forced to move elsewhere inside the country because of the fighting, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph35">The situation is nearing crisis proportions, with the dramatic influx of refugees threatening to break the ability of host nations to provide for their needs, Assistant High Commissioner Erika Feller told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph36">"The host states, including Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and the North African countries, have been exemplary in their different ways, but we fear the pressure will start to overwhelm their capacities," she told the council, according to a text of her remarks posted on the United Nations website.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph37">Al-Khatib said it's time for the fighting to stop.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph38">"I ask Bashar al-Assad for once, just once, to behave as a human being," he said. "Enough massacres, enough killings. Enough of your bloodshed and enough torture. I urge you to make a rational decision once in your life and end the killings."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph39">READ: Syrian war is everybody's problem</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">Jill Dougherty reported from Rome, and Michael Pearson reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh and Elise Labott also contributed to this report.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-41267962195910569162013-02-28T13:08:00.001-08:002013-02-28T13:08:27.438-08:00Benedict XVI steps down as pope<br /> <br /> <!-- for social media sharing functions --><!-- END social media sharing functions --><br /> <p id="articlecontent"><br /> <span id="advenueINTEXT" name="advenueINTEXT"><br /> <span>VATICAN CITY: Benedict XVI became the first pope to resign in over 700 years on Thursday, waving a last goodbye to a tearful crowd of faithful and telling them he would be "a simple pilgrim" on life's last journey.</span></span></p><p>Swiss Guards wielding halberds shut the giant wooden doors of his new temporary residence, the Castel Gandolfo near Rome, and left their posts after completing their mission to protect the pope.</p><p>The Vatican flag at the palace was lowered in a poignant end to a turbulent eight-year pontificate.</p><p>"Long live the pope!" a crowd outside sang out as a clock chimed 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) -- the hour that Benedict said he would officially resign in an announcement earlier this month that stunned the world.</p><p>"I will no longer be pope but a simple pilgrim who is starting out on the last part of his pilgrimage," the pope told thousands of supporters after arriving at the Castel Gandolfo palace where he will live for the next few weeks.</p><p>"I am happy to be with you surrounded by the beauty of creation. Thank you for your friendship and affection," said the frail but smiling 85-year-old, dressed in his white papal cassock.</p><p>In an emotional final day as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, Benedict left the Vatican in a helicopter emblazoned with the papal insignia as priests and nuns cheered and applauded.</p><p>The bells of St Peter's Basilica rang out as Benedict's helicopter flew over his diocese of Rome for the last time in his pontificate, with city residents watching from their windows.</p><p>On his hand was the "Fisherman's Ring" -- a personalised gold signet ring bearing the image of the first pope, St Peter, a fisherman by trade.</p><p>The ring will be disposed of by the Vatican -- a tradition to prevent the official seal being used to issue false documents in a pope's name.</p><p>Workers put seals on the doors of the Vatican papal apartments and the lift leading up to them, to be broken only by the Church's next pope.</p><p>Church bells tolled to announce the arrival of the soon-to-be former pope in the lakeside mediaeval town of Castel Gandolfo, which has a special bond with the papacy going back to the 16th century.</p><p>"It means a huge amount to us that Benedict has chosen to say his final goodbyes here," said local gift shop saleswoman Patrizia Gasperini, 40.</p><p>In a last tweet sent from his @pontifex Twitter account just as he left the Vatican, the pope said: "Thank you for your love and support."</p><p>"May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives."</p><p>The Twitter account will now be suspended until the election of a new pope in a conclave next month.</p><p>Benedict is only the second pope to resign in the Church's 2,000-year history, and in his final hours as pontiff he took the unprecedented step of pledging allegiance to his successor.</p><p>"Among you there is also the future pope to whom I promise my unconditional obedience and reverence," the pope said earlier on Thursday in final remarks to cardinals in an ornate Vatican hall.</p><p>"Let the Lord reveal the one he has chosen," said the pope, as the 144 cardinals doffed their berettas and lined up to kiss the papal ring.</p><p><b>"We've grown to love him"</b><span></span></p><p>"We have experienced, with faith, beautiful moments of radiant light together, as well as times with a few clouds in the sky," the pope told the cardinals -- who will have to elect the next pope in a conclave in the Sistine Chapel.</p><p>"Let us remain united, dear brothers," he said, after a pontificate often overshadowed by infighting at the Vatican and divisions between reformers and traditionalists in the Church.</p><p>The Vatican has said the former pope will live in Castel Gandolfo for the next two months before taking up permanent residence in an ex-convent on a hilltop in the Vatican grounds overlooking Rome.</p><p>The German pope his decision to step down on February 11, saying he no longer had the "strength of mind and body" required by a fast-changing world.</p><p>The news has captured massive media attention, with the Vatican saying that 3,641 journalists from 61 countries will cover the upcoming conclave -- on top of the regular Vatican press corps.</p><p>The ex-pontiff will now formally carry the new title of "Roman Pontiff Emeritus" or "pope emeritus" for short, although he will still be addressed as "Your Holiness Benedict XVI".</p><p>The only other pope who resigned by choice was Celestine V, a humble hermit who stepped down in 1294 after just a few months in office out of disgust with Vatican corruption and intrigue.</p><p>Once Benedict takes up residence inside the Vatican, the Church will be in the unprecedented situation of having a pope and his predecessor living within a stone's throw of each other.</p><p>Commenting on the new arrangement, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said that Benedict "has no intention of interfering in the positions, decisions or activities of his successor".</p><p>Benedict has said he will live "hidden from the world" but the Vatican indicated he could provide "spiritual guidance" to the next pope.</p><p>Vatican analysts have suggested his sudden exit could set a precedent for ageing popes in the future, and many ordinary Catholics say a more youthful, pastoral figure could breathe new life into a Church struggling on many levels.</p><p>From Catholic reformers calling for women clergy and for an end to priestly celibacy, to growing secularism in the West and ongoing scandals over sexual abuses by paedophile priests going back decades, the next pope will have a tough agenda.</p><p>"It's a very emotional day," said Gasperini, the saleswoman in Castel Gandolfo, who named her eight-year-old daughter Benedetta in the pope's honour.</p><p>"We've been privileged to see a different, more humane side to him over the years, and grown to love him," she said.</p><p>- AFP/ac<br /> <br /> <!-- Zone Tag : Channel News Asia In Text <br /> <script type="text/javascript"><br /> innity_pub = "66368270ffd51418ec58bd793f2d9b1b";<br /> innity_zone = "12251";<br /> innity_width = "**";<br /> innity_height = "**";<br /> innity_country = "SG";<br /> </script><br /> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.innity.com/network.js"></script>--><br /> </p><br /> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-22589428692286414442013-02-28T13:06:00.001-08:002013-02-28T13:06:36.000-08:00House OKs Senate's Violence Against Women Act<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt" readability="6.5"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg300" readability="8"><br /><br /><p>Activist groups rally for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act on Capitol Hill on June 26.</p><br /></div></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li><b>NEW:</b> The measure now goes to President Obama to be signed into law</li><br /><li>House Republicans struggle again with an issue important to women, minorities</li><br /><li>The House rejects the GOP measure before approving the Senate version</li><br /><li> The legislation extends and expands the act that supporters credit with saving lives</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p><strong>Washington (CNN)</strong> -- Struggling again with an issue important to women and minority groups, House Republicans on Thursday failed to pass their version of a new Violence Against Women Act and then split over a Senate version that won approval with unanimous Democratic support.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">The measure now goes to President Barack Obama, who said in a statement that it was "an important step towards making sure no one in America is forced to live in fear."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">"I look forward to signing it into law as soon as it hits my desk," Obama said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">TIME photos: A portrait of domestic violence</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">Thursday's votes reflected an emerging political reality in the GOP-led House, with a minority of Republicans joining Democrats to pass legislation supported by the public, including increasingly influential demographics such as Hispanic Americans.</p><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">By a vote of 166-257, the GOP version of the Violence Against Women Act failed to win a majority after almost 90 minutes of debate. The House then voted 286-138 to pass the Senate version, with 87 Republicans joining all 199 Democrats to provide majority support.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">Originally passed in 1994 and reauthorized since, the act provides support for organizations that serve domestic violence victims. Criminal prosecutions of abusers are generally the responsibility of local authorities, but the act stiffened sentences for stalking under federal law.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">Supporters credit the act with sharply reducing the number of lives lost to domestic violence over the past two decades.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">Last year, the House and Senate were unable to compromise on another extension of the act, with Republicans opposing Democratic attempts to specify inclusion of native Americans, undocumented immigrants and lesbian, transgender and bisexual women.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">Opinion: The plague of violence against women</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">However, exit polling showed Obama won strong support among women and Latino voters in the November election that also strengthened the Democratic majority in the Senate and weakened the Republican majority in the House.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">Republicans then changed their stance and agreed to bring up the measure in the new Congress as long as they could offer their own version.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">The Republican proposal deleted provisions from the Senate measure giving tribal authorities jurisdiction to prosecute cases on Indian reservations, specifically against discrimination of LGBT victims, and allowing undocumented immigrant survivors of domestic violence to seek legal status.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">In debate before Thursday's votes, Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota, said the Senate version includes legal precedents of expanded sovereignty that could be subject to court challenge.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">Opinion: Rubio missed the year of the woman</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">"Please consider the damage we have done if a court overturns this act and its protection all because we wanted a good slogan instead of a good law," Cramer said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and others repeatedly questioned why Republicans would seek to weaken a measure that received strong bipartisan support in the Senate.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">A majority of Senate Republicans backed the act, along with every woman senator regardless of party, Pelosi noted.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19">"It's really hard to explain why, what eyes the Republicans are looking through, that they do not see the folly of their ways in the legislation they are proposing," Pelosi said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, herself a rape victim, paraphrased the question of rights activist Sojourner Truth, a 19th century escaped slave and civil rights advocate.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">"Ain't they women?" Moore shouted in reference to native American, undocumented immigrant and LGBT women.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">In response, Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington challenged Democratic claims that the GOP version excluded any women, saying it was all-inclusive.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">A global push to end violence with song and dance</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24">House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia said the goal was to "make sure all women are safe," and he described the Republican version as an attempt to "improve on" what the Senate sent over.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">However, Pelosi noted that hundreds of advocacy groups supported the Senate version as the best way forward.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26">"This is a remarkable day because we have clarity between the two proposals," she said, noting one had support from both parties in the Senate and the president while the other was opposed by "almost everybody who has anything to do with the issue of violence against women."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">The final vote on Thursday followed the same pattern as votes on other legislation at the end of the previous Congress, including the agreement to avoid some impacts of the fiscal cliff at the beginning of the year.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28">A divide between conservative and more moderate Republicans prevented House GOP leaders from being able to pass their proposed legislation.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29">In the end, public pressure ratcheted up by Obama led to approval of a Democratic-inspired proposal that raised taxes on the nation's top income earners, a key campaign theme in the November election.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph30">It passed with backing from most or all Democrats and dozens of Republicans.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31">Such a dynamic signals continuing inability of House Speaker John Boehner to marshal his GOP members on some of the most contentious issues coming up, such as deficit reduction and immigration reform.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph32">Boehner risks his standing as a party leader if he continues conceding on measures that become law without majority support from House Republicans, which also would fuel continuing unrest by conservatives who traditionally comprise the GOP base.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33">Domestic violence bill vote critical test of more inclusive GOP</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph34">According to advocacy groups, the Senate version of the Violence Against Women Act strengthens protections of particular groups of women at particular risk.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph35">For example, one in three native women will be raped in their lifetime, according to the Indian Law Resource Center. Three in five will be physically assaulted, and native women also are killed at a rate 10 times the national average, the center said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph36">The National Congress of American Indians addressed the issue in a December 20 letter to Cantor.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph37">It described situations in which beatings and rapes by non-native men were declined for prosecution at a federal level and returned to a tribal court as a misdemeanor.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph38">Federal law currently prohibits tribal courts from imposing a jail sentence of more than a year, so they generally do not prosecute felonies. In many instances, such cases are dismissed altogether and a defendant can walk free until a grand jury indictment can be obtained.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph39">"The federal criminal justice system is simply not equipped to handle local crimes, and this is the primary reason that tribes seek local control over these crimes that are plaguing our communities," the letter said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph40">On undocumented immigrants, Human Rights Watch has found that immigrant farm workers are especially at risk for domestic abuse and argued provisions in the Senate bill "would go some way toward fixing the problem."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph41">Those in the LGBT community are another high-risk group that will be affected by the Violence Against Women Act.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph42">They experience violence at the same rate as heterosexuals but are less likely to report it. When they do, many are denied services.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph43">About 45% of LGBT victims were turned away when they sought help from a domestic violence shelter and nearly 55% of those who sought protection orders were denied them, according to the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph44">Opinion: GOP House's inaction on VAWA shows bigotry</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">CNN's Moni Basu contributed to this report.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-20420387141243174182013-02-28T13:04:00.001-08:002013-02-28T13:04:33.207-08:00Vatican hints at start date for papal conclave <p><span class="loc">VATICAN CITY</span> Much speculation surrounds the date when leaders of the Roman Catholic Church will begin the process of selecting their new pope. </p><br /><p><!-- context channel = 202 partTag = cbsnews asset id = 50141914 cbsId = 50141914 asset/context node id = 202 --><br /><br /><div class="storyEmbed"><br /><figure class="video"><img src="http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2013/02/28/sr_0228_PopeFarewell_220x157.jpg" class="image220"/></figure><p class="meta">Play <span>Video</span></p><br /><h3>Pope Benedict XVI: "I am no longer Pope"</h3><br /></div><br /></p><br /><p>The date for the conclave of cardinals to begin their deliberations has not yet been set, although one of Pope Benedict XVI's final acts before resigning his office was to amend the rules governing the election of a successor, allowing the cardinals to meet earlier than the usual 15-day transition between pontificates.</p><br /><p>On Thursday, soon after Benedict left the Vatican on his final day as pope, Monsignor Carlo Maria Celli, a papal communications officer, hinted that the date could be March 11. </p><br /><p>That could not be immediately confirmed.</p><br /><p>The date of the conclave's start is important because Holy Week begins March 24, with Easter Sunday March 31. In order to have a new pope in place for the church's most solemn liturgical period, he would need to be installed by Sunday, March 17 -- a tight time frame if a conclave were to start March 15.</p> <br /> <p>Cardinal Francis George, of the Archdiocese of Chicago, told CBS News he hopes the papal conclave will work quickly to name a new pope when it convenes next month -- but he does not know who he will vote for.</p><br /><p>"Not yet, I honestly don't," he said. "I've got four or five names in mind. That's part of the next days' work, to check and see do the others think what I think?"</p><br /><p>Regarding the issues the cardinals will be considering as they choose a new Pope, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, told CBS News that cleaning up the church after a number of scandals most likely will be part of the conclave's goal.</p><br /><p>"Sadly, tragically, we leaders of the church have often given people reasons not to have trust in the church anymore," he said. </p> <!-- 1 pageNum--> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-35189021078790531422013-02-28T13:02:00.001-08:002013-02-28T13:02:40.554-08:00Benedict XVI's Tenure as Pope Ends<br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <!--18619069~18619383~18615663~18614828--><br /> <br /> <!-- insert date & partner --><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><p><br />VATICAN CITY -- Benedict XVI's eight-year tenure as pope ended today, after he bade farewell to the faithful and departed the Vatican as the first pope to resign in six centuries.<br /></p><p><br />"Thank you for your love and support," the pope tweeted from his Pontifex account. "May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives."<br /></p><p><br />With church bells ringing across Rome, the pope was driven to the helipad on the Vatican grounds for the 15-minute flight to Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence where he assumed the title "pope emeritus" after 8 p.m. local time.<br /></p><p><br />When Benedict arrived at the residence just south of Rome, he was greeted by a crowd of supporters waving flags and banners.<br /></p><p><br /><strong>READ MORE: Pope Benedict XVI Delivers Farewell Address</strong><br /></p><p><br />"I am simply a pilgrim beginning the last leg of his pilgrimage on this earth," he told them.<br /></p><br /> <div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_image_feature"><br /> <div class="rel_content" readability="26.3333333333"><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_headline" readability="6.79569892473"><br /> <p>Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images</p><br /> </div><br /> </div><br /> <br /> </div><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_1"><br /> <div class="rel_content" readability="25.8333333333"><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_headline" readability="5.83333333333"><br /> Pope Benedict XVI's Helicopter Ride to Castel Gandolfo Watch Video<br /> </div><br /> </div><br /> <br /> </div><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_2"><br /> <div class="rel_content" readability="24.8"><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_headline" readability="5.6"><br /> Pope Benedict XVI Says Goodbye to Cardinals Watch Video<br /> </div><br /> </div><br /> <br /> </div><br /> <br /> <br /> <p><br />In his final remarks earlier in the day to colleagues in the Roman Catholic Church, Benedict had promised "unconditional reverence and obedience" to his eventual successor. At a morning meeting at the Vatican, Benedict urged the cardinals to act "like an orchestra" to find "harmony" moving forward.<br /></p><p><br />Benedict, 85, spent a quiet final day as pope, bidding farewell to his colleagues and moving on to a secluded life of prayer, far from the grueling demands of the papacy and the scandals that have recently plagued the church.<br /></p><p><br />His first order of business was a morning meeting with the cardinals in the Clementine Hall, a room in the Apostolic Palace.<br /></p><p><br />Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals, thanked Benedict for his service to the church during the eight years he has spent as pontiff.<br /></p><p><br />When Benedict's resignation took effect once and for all at 8 p.m. local time, the Swiss Guards left his side for the last time, their time protecting the pontiff completed.<br /></p><p><br />For some U.S. Catholics in Rome for the historic occasion, Benedict's departure was bittersweet.<br /></p><p><br />Christopher Kerzich, a Chicago resident studying at the Pontifical North American College of Rome, said Wednesday he is sad to see Benedict leave, but excited to see what comes next.<br /></p><p><br />"Many Catholics have come to love this pontiff, this very humble man," Kerzich said. "He is a man who's really fought this and prayed this through and has peace in his heart. I take comfort in that and I think a lot of Catholics should take comfort in that."<br /></p><p><br /><strong>9 Men Who Could Replace Pope Benedict XVI</strong><br /></p><p><br /><strong>Pope Benedict's Last Sunday Prayer Service </strong><br /></p><br /><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-6510957597816015242013-02-27T13:10:00.001-08:002013-02-27T13:10:25.099-08:00Why Italians keep voting for Berlusconi<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><div class="cnnExplainer cnn_html_slideshow"><br /><div class="cnnstrylccimg640"><div class="cnn_stryichgfull" readability="18"><div class="cnn_stryichgflg" readability="31"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Photos: Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /></div></div></div><br /><br /><div><br /><p><span><<</span></p><br /><p><span><</span></p><br /><div class="articleGalleryNavContainer"><br /><p><br /><br /><span>1</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>2</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>3</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>4</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>5</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>6</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>7</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>8</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>9</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>10</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>11</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>12</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>13</span><br /></p><br /></div><br /><p><span>></span></p><br /><p><span>>></span></p><br /><br /></div><br /></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Scandal-plagued three time ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi finished second in Italy's election</li><br /><li>Italians and non-Italians have very different views of Berlusconi, argues journalist Bill Emmott</li><br /><li>For all his faults, Emmott says Berlusconi did better than most at listening to his voters</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Bill Emmott is a British journalist and was the editor of The Economist from 1993 to 2006. His book "Good Italy, Bad Italy" was published in English in 2012, and he is the narrator of "Girlfriend in a Coma," a new documentary about Italy's current crisis.</em></p><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- On the subject of Silvio Berlusconi Italians and non-Italians are, to paraphrase George Bernard-Shaw's famous quip about Britain and America, divided by a common political language.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">We think we share the view that in a political world dominated by mass communications, there is little room for forgiveness about scandals, or other personal failures, or a poor record in office. Yet on those grounds, Berlusconi should have died a political death long ago, rather than coming a very close second in this week's Italian elections.</p><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214"><br /><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130218132738-bill-emmott-left-tease.jpg" alt="Bill Emmott" border="0" class="box-image" height="122" width="214"/><p>Bill Emmott</p><br /></div></div><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Foreigners, perhaps, will always remain baffled by Berlusconi's success in continuing to attract voters. But Italians, horrified by him though plenty of them are, tend to be a lot less surprised. That is because they think of him in context, rather than in isolation. In Italian politics, the context is all.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">What this means, and what it meant for Berlusconi's remarkable feat in nearly doubling his share of the vote between his opinion poll ratings in November 2012 and the election itself, can be laid out in the following evidently misleading indicators:</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5"><strong>He makes unbelievable promises.</strong> In part this is true: one of Berlusconi's traits is his willingness to say one thing today and the opposite tomorrow, to attract attention from different groups or on different occasions, totally without shame. Italians know this, and those who support him tend to see it as an endearing part of his character, part of his desire to entertain and to please. But also it is misleading: the key promise he made during the 2013 election campaign was entirely believable -- that he would cut or even abolish a dreaded property tax, known by its Italian initials as IMU.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6"><strong>His record makes him untrustworthy.</strong> Yes, on overall economic policy. But not on taxes. He has promised to cut them before, and has delivered on at least some of those promises. The promise to cut IMU was made in an incredibly artful way, as he wrote to voters saying he would pay them back for the tax from his own pocket, which very few will have believed. But that did not matter: it drew attention to the proposal in an eye-catching way, and reinforced the only important point -- that he would cut the tax.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">Opinion: Italy's election leaves country, and eurozone, on financial high-wire</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8"><strong>He is irresponsible. </strong>Yes, but so is almost everyone to the cynical Italian political mind. His plan for how to finance this tax cut had as many holes in it as a sieve, but that did not really matter. It would have to be financed by taxes on other people, or cuts in spending on other things. Fine, said his voters: at least this awful tax will go. In offering a relentless focus on that tax, he showed that he was listening to the pain of his voters and taking them seriously, rather than talking down to them like most other parties.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9"><strong>His trials and sex scandals make him a national shame.</strong> Not really, though at times his behavior has stretched even the Italian tolerance. But the context is important: plenty of people think the justice system works disastrously badly in Italy, so if Berlusconi is caught up in it -- like so many others -- then so what? And his sex scandals are really part of his own marketing plan: he cavorts with scantily clad young women in order to make himself look glamorous, young, entertaining and happy. Moreover, his antics with women act as a distraction from his other weaknesses, like a kind of tranquillizer for those who might otherwise get angry with him. A lot of Italians, especially young women, hate him for this. But enough either don't care or are sympathetic enough to him to mean that this does not harm him fatally in political terms.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10"><strong>His opponents are more statesmanlike and responsible.</strong> Yes, that is true of Mario Monti, the caretaker prime minister for the past year who then decided to run in the elections with a centrist list of candidates. But it is not particularly true of his big opponents -- including the left-wing Democratic Party, which has its own scandals, its own selfish interests and, during the election campaign, its own evidence of the abuse of political power in the case of Italy's third-largest (and oldest) bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, whose business was allegedly run and distorted in the interests of local Democratic Party politicians in that area. So the PD (by its Italian initials) is also viewed as selfish by the public, neutralizing Berlusconi's disadvantage on that measure. Since both the PD leader, Pier Luigi Bersani, and Monti are dull, leaden communicators who failed to offer any positive, hopeful message for their voters, the way was opened for Berlusconi.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">News: Italy seeks way out of political chaos</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12"><strong>Only one party in the election really stood for change: the Five Star Movement of Beppe Grillo.</strong> This meant that Berlusconi's old-fashioned, tax-cutting message, geared towards preserving his own political power, had plenty of space in which to operate. And although Berlusconi did not stand for change, he was at least cheerful, smiling and entertaining.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13"><strong>Politics is now all about personalities, as was shown by the rise of Grillo, but he and Berlusconi are opposites in this regard. </strong>It is true that the discrediting of traditional political parties, combined with the preeminence of television, has given personalities a huge advantage in Italian politics, even if neither the PD nor Monti seemed able to grasp this. Personalities and even personal stories breed attention and loyalty, even if from different groups. One of the last Italian politicians to understand and exploit this was, unfortunately, Benito Mussolini.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14"><strong>Oh, and did I forget to mention that Berlusconi owns Italy's three main commercial TV channels and its biggest advertising sales agency, and has billions of euros in cash to hand around to supporters and allies?</strong> Well, that isn't a misleading indicator. But it is a reason, perhaps too obvious to dwell upon, for Berlusconi's continuing success at the ripe old age of 76.</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">The opinions expressed in this commentary are strictly those of Bill Emmott.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-30533924765641914622013-02-27T13:08:00.001-08:002013-02-27T13:08:17.602-08:00Football: Drogba gets Euro clearance, Lazio fined<br /> <br /> <!-- for social media sharing functions --><!-- END social media sharing functions --><br /> <p id="articlecontent"><br /> <span id="advenueINTEXT" name="advenueINTEXT"><br /> <span>NYON, Switzerland: Didier Drogba will be allowed to play in Galatasaray's Champions League clash against Schalke after the German club had their objections over his eligibility thrown out by UEFA on Wednesday.</span></span></p><p>Schalke, who came away from Istanbul with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their last 16 clash, believed that the transfer of the former Chelsea striker from Shanghai Shenhua to the Turkish side was completed after the registration deadline.</p><p>But the European governing body said that the deal was completed according to the rules.</p><p>"Having examined all the documents of the case, the Control and Disciplinary Body decided to reject the protest lodged by Schalke," said a UEFA statement.</p><p>The second leg of the tie takes place in Germany on March 12.</p><p>Lazio were fined 40,000 euros and ordered to play their next two home games in Europe behind closed doors after their fans were accused of throwing fireworks and displaying racist behaviour in their Europa League against Borussia Moenchengladbach on February 21.</p><p>The Italians will play Stuttgart on March 14 behind closed doors as well as their next home tie.</p><p>Lazio were fined 140,000 euros in January after their Europa League group clashes against Tottenham and Maribor were marred by racist chanting.</p><p>Lazio were slapped with a 90,000-euro sanction after some sections of the Rome club's fans brandished a banner reading "Free Palestine" at the November 22 game against Tottenham in Rome which finished 0-0.</p><p>Others sang "Juden Tottenham" ("Tottenham Jews" in German) at the visiting fans, whose club has a historical Jewish connection.</p><p>Lazio had previously been fined 40,200 euros after monkey chants were directed at Tottenham players during the reverse fixture in London in September.</p><p>The Italians also received a suspended one-match stadium ban and a 50,000-euro fine for their supporters' racist conduct in the group stage game against Maribor in Slovenia in December.</p><p>Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was banned for two European matches after being sent off in the dying moments his team's Champions League 2-1 win at Valencia.</p><p>The big Swede will miss the second leg on March 6 as well as the first leg of the quarter-final should PSG qualify.</p><p>Turkish side Fenerbahce must play their next Europa League home clash against Victoria Plzen on March 14 behind closed doors after their fans were charged with setting off and throwing fireworks in the match against Bate Borisov.</p><p>"The Turkish team are also excluded from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which they would qualify -- this sanction is deferred for a probationary period of two years. Fenerbahce have also been fined 60,000 euros," said UEFA.</p><p>-AFP/ac<br /> <br /> <!-- Zone Tag : Channel News Asia In Text <br /> <script type="text/javascript"><br /> innity_pub = "66368270ffd51418ec58bd793f2d9b1b";<br /> innity_zone = "12251";<br /> innity_width = "**";<br /> innity_height = "**";<br /> innity_country = "SG";<br /> </script><br /> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.innity.com/network.js"></script>--><br /> </p><br /> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-37572573188779126472013-02-27T13:04:00.001-08:002013-02-27T13:04:14.110-08:00Newtown father's emotional plea to Congress <p>During emotional testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, the father of a first grader slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School fought back tears as he stressed the need to ban weapons like the assault rifle that a gunman used to kill his son, 19 other children, and 6 educators in Newtown, Conn.</p> <p>Neil Heslin described how his son Jesse "was brutally murdered at Sandy Hook school on December 14, 20 minutes after I dropped him off."</p> <p>"He said 'It's all going to be OK'," Heslin recalled his son saying as he was dropped off at school. "And it wasn't OK."</p> <p>"Jesse was the love of my life. He was the only family I have left. It's hard for me to be here today, talking about my deceased son," Heslin said. But he added, "I have to. I'm his voice. I'm not here for the sympathy...I'm here to speak up for my son."</p> <p>"There's many changes that have to happen to make a change effective," he continued. "Mental health issues, better background checks, bans on these weapons, bans on high capacity magazines - they all have to come together and they all have to work effectively...common sense tells you that."</p> <p>The hearing was convened to discuss a bill from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., which would ban military style semiautomatic weapons like the Bushmaster rifle that was used to commit the massacre at Sandy Hook. The bill would also ban the manufacture and sale of ammunition magazines in excess of 10 bullets.</p><br /><p>Feinstein, who sponsored the original assault weapons ban that passed Congress in 1994 and lapsed in 2004, said that "The need for a federal ban" on these assault weapons "has never been greater."</p> <p>The committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, extended his condolences to the victims of gun violence in the audience but voiced skepticism about the prospect of enacting new gun laws when, in his view, existing gun laws are not even being properly enforced.</p> <p>The assault weapons ban is perhaps the most controversial among a raft of proposals to reduce gun violence floated by President Obama in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook. Another key propsoal would strengthen and expand the background check system for gun purchasers.</p> <p>Opponents of gun control argue that many of the proposals would be an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment's guarantee of a right to bear arms. Many also argue that the proposals would be an ineffective deterrent of gun violence.</p> <p>Supporters of gun control argue that the right to bear arms is not absolute and has previously been legally abridged in a variety of ways. They further point to the dramatically decreased incidence of gun violence in countries whose firearm restrictions are more stringent than our own.</p> <!-- 1 pageNum--> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-46290552299741124132013-02-27T13:02:00.001-08:002013-02-27T13:02:14.787-08:00Newtown Dad's Tearful Plea at Senate Gun Hearing<br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <!--18610285~18421211~18438632~18467735--><br /> <br /> <!-- insert date & partner --><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><p><br />A father who lost his son in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School sobbed as he testified at a Senate hearing today in favor of an assault weapons ban.<br /></p><p><br />Across town Vice President Biden alluded to untold horror of the Newtown tragedy in an appeal for help from the nation's attorneys general.<br /></p><p><br />Despite their emotional appeals, the push for gun reforms championed by the White House and many Democrats faces an uncertain future.<br /></p><p><br />"Jesse was the love of my life," said Neil Heslin, sobbing as he described his 6-year-old son before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "He was the only family I had left. It's hard for me to be here today to talk about my deceased son. I have to. I'm his voice."<br /></p><p><br />Heslin's son, Jesse Lewis, was among the 20 children and six teachers and school administrators murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. last December. Heslin recounted his last moments with his son when he took him to pick up his favorite, sausage egg and cheese sandwich and hot chocolate before dropping him off at school on the morning of Dec. 14.<br /></p><p><br />"It was 9:04 when I dropped Jesse off. Jesse gave me a hug and a kiss and at that time said goodbye and love you. He stopped and said, I loved mom too." Heslin and his wife are separated.<br /></p><p><br />"That was the last I saw of Jesse as he ducked around the corner. Prior to that when he was getting out of the truck he hugged me and held me and I could still feel that hug and pat on the back and he said everything's going to be ok dad. It's all going to be ok," Heslin said breaking down in tears a second time. "It wasn't ok. I have to go home at night to an empty house without my son."<br /></p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_3"><br /> <div class="rel_content" readability="25.671875"><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_headline" readability="5.796875"><br /> Army Vet Awarded Medal of Honor for Afghan Firefight Watch Video<br /> </div><br /> </div><br /> <br /> </div><br /> <p><br />Heslin was one of eight witnesses testifying at a hearing to back a proposed assault weapons ban. Another witness was Dr. William Begg, a physician who made it to the emergency room the day of the Newtown shooting.<br /></p><p><br />"People say that the overall number of assault weapon deaths is small but you know what? Please don't tell that to the people of Tucson or Aurora or Columbine or Virginia Tech, and don't tell that to the people in Newtown," Begg said as he choked up and people in the crowd clapped. "Don't tell that to the people in Newtown. This is a tipping point. This is a tipping point and this is a public health issue. Please make the right decision."<br /></p><p><br /><strong>Related: Read More About Heslin's Testimony</strong><br /></p><p><br />The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to consider four gun safety measures, including the assault weapons ban, on Thursday. The three other bills aim to stop illegal gun trafficking, enhance safety in schools, and enact universal background checks.<br /></p><p><br />As the hearing unfolded on Capitol Hill, Biden tapped into the stories that Newtown's first responders have shared with him as he urged attorneys general to help the administration push their gun proposals.<br /></p><p><br /><strong>Related: The Tragedy at Sandy Hook</strong><br /></p><p><br />"With the press not here, I can tell you what is not public yet about how gruesome it was," Biden said of the massacre's gruesome aftermath at a Washington luncheon. "I met with the state troopers who were on the scene this last week. And the impact on them has been profound. Some of them, understandably, needing some help."<br /></p><p><br />A spokeswoman for Biden could not clarify the non-public information to which he referred. The vice president suggested that what he heard in private conversations should spur lawmakers to enact some measures aimed at curbing gun violence.<br /></p><p><br /><strong>Related: President Obama's Campaign Organization Turns to Gun Control</strong><br /></p><br /><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-79182106017393881172013-02-26T13:10:00.001-08:002013-02-26T13:10:14.301-08:00Benedict: Pope aware of his flaws?<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption" readability="8"><p>Pope Benedict XVI delivers his last Angelus Blessing to thousands of pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square on February 24.</p></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Sister Mary Ann Walsh: Pope Benedict acknowledged that he made mistakes</li><br /><li>Walsh: In firestorm over scholarly quotes about Islam, he went to great lengths to atone</li><br /><li>Walsh: Similarly, he quickly reversed a decision that had angered Jews and repaired ties</li><br /><li>Even his stepping down is a nod to his humanity and his love of the church, she says</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Sister Mary Ann Walsh is director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Northeast Regional Community. She is a former foreign correspondent at Catholic News Service (CNS) in Rome and the editor of "John Paul II: A Light for the World," "Benedict XVI: Essays and Reflections on his Papacy," and "From Pope John Paul II to Benedict XVI." </em></p><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- One of the Bible's paradoxical statements comes from St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians: "Power is made perfect in infirmity."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">The poetic statement proclaims that when we are weak, we are strong. Pope Benedict XVI's stepping down from what many consider one of the most powerful positions in the world proves it. In a position associated with infallibility -- though that refers to formal proclamations on faith and morals -- the pope declares his weakness.</p><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214"><br /><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130225155656-sister-mary-ann-walsh-left-tease.jpg" alt="Sister Mary Ann Walsh" border="0" class="box-image" height="122" width="214"/><p>Sister Mary Ann Walsh</p><br /></div></div><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">His acceptance of frailty speaks realistically about humanity: We grow old, weaken, and eventually die. A job, even one guided by the Holy Spirit, as we Roman Catholics believe, can become too much for us.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">Acceptance of human frailty has marked this papacy. We all make mistakes, but the pope makes them on a huge stage.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">He was barely into his papacy, for example, when he visited Regensburg, Germany, where he once taught theology. Like many a professor, he offered a provocative statement to get the conversation going. To introduce the theme of his lecture, the pope quoted from an account of a dialogue between the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an unnamed Muslim scholar, sometime near the end of the 14th century -- a quote that was misinterpreted by some as a condemnation of Mohammed and Islam.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Opinion: 'Gay lobby' behind pope's resignation? Not likely</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">Twice, the pope emphasized that he was quoting someone else's words. Unfortunately, the statement about Islam was taken as insult, not a discussion opener, and sparked rage throughout the Muslim world.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">The startled pope had to explain himself. He apologized and traveled two months later to Istanbul's Blue Mosque, where he stood shoeless in prayer beside the Grand Mufti of Istanbul. Later he hosted Muslim leaders at the Vatican at the start of a Catholic-Muslim forum for dialogue. It was a human moment -- a mistake, an apology and atonement -- all round.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">A similar controversy erupted when he tried to bring the schismatic Society of St. Pius X back into the Roman Catholic fold.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">In a grand gesture toward reconciliation, he lifted the excommunication of four of its bishops, unaware that one, Richard Williamson, was a Holocaust denier. This outraged many Jews. Subsequently the Vatican said the bishop had not been vetted, and in a bow to modernity said officials at least should have looked him up on the Internet.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">In humble response, Benedict reiterated his condemnation of anti-Semitism and told Williamson that he must recant his Holocaust views to be fully reinstated. Again, his admission of a mistake and an effort to mend fences.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">News: Scandal threatens to overshadow pope's final days</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">Pope Benedict XVI came from a Catholic Bavarian town. Childhood family jaunts included trips to the shrine of the Black Madonna, Our Lady of Altotting. He entered the seminary at the age of 13. He became a priest, scholar and theologian. He lived his life in service to the church. Even in resigning from the papacy, he embraces the monastic life to pray for a church he has ever loved.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">With hindsight, his visit to the tomb of 13th century Pope Celestine V, a Benedictine monk who resigned from the papacy eight centuries before, becomes poignant.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">In 2009, on a visit to Aquila, Italy, Benedict left at Celestine's tomb the pallium, a stole-like vestment that signifies episcopal authority, that Benedict had worn for his installation as pope. The gesture takes on more meaning as the monkish Benedict steps down.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">We expect the pope to be perfect. Catholics hold him to be the vicar of Christ on earth. He stands as a spiritual leader for much of the world. Statesmen visit him from around the globe. He lives among splendid architecture, in the shadow of the domed St. Peter's Basilica. All testify to an almost surreal omnipotence.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">Complete coverage of the pope's resignation</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">In this world, however, walked a vulnerable, human person. And in a paradox of life, his most human moment -- giving up the power of office -- may prove to be his most potent, delivering a message that, as St. Paul noted many centuries ago, "Power is made perfect in infirmity."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20"><i>Follow </i><i>@CNNOpinion on Twitter.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21"><i>Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mary Ann Walsh.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-15933070798591715312013-02-26T13:08:00.001-08:002013-02-26T13:08:17.711-08:00Football: Security tight as Lippi's Guangzhou beat Reds<br /> <br /> <!-- for social media sharing functions --><!-- END social media sharing functions --><br /> <p id="articlecontent"><br /> <span id="advenueINTEXT" name="advenueINTEXT"><br /> <span>GUANGZHOU, China: Marcello Lippi's Guangzhou Evergrande swept aside Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 in an AFC Champions League opener crackling with political tensions and played under heavy security on Tuesday.</span></span></p><p>As the Asian competition got underway with goals and an outlandish "Panenka" penalty, the Chinese double-holders began their campaign in ominous style as they dispatched the 2007 winners at home.</p><p>Chinese media said 11,000 police and security were deployed to prevent any flare-up in nationalist violence. Leading website sports.163.com called it China's highest ever ratio of guards to fans, who numbered about 40,000.</p><p>But Lucas Barrios's 16th-minute opener helped calm the atmosphere and Muriqui weighed in with a second goal after half-time. At the death, Keita Suzuki put the ball into his own net to make it an emphatic start for Guangzhou.</p><p>The big-spenders, led by their World Cup-winning coach, are aiming to become China's first Asian champions in 23 years, a result which would help mend the country's image after a major corruption scandal which left top officials in jail.</p><p>Ambitious China's reputation has also suffered after high-profile imports Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka abruptly quit the country after just one season with Shanghai Shenhua.</p><p>Fellow Chinese team Jiangsu Sainty had a rude introduction to the competition when they were hammered 5-1 in their debut outing by K-League champions FC Seoul, who will have their own claims on the Asian title.</p><p>Buriram United, rocked last week by claims that their Thai FA Cup final win against Army United was targeted by match-fixers, started positively when they came back from a goal down to draw Japan's Vegalta Sendai 1-1 away.</p><p>"We may have to feel content that we haven't lost our opening match," said Sendai coach Makoto Teguramori. "We tried to gain a little flexiblity in our tactics by changing our pace from the first to the second half."</p><p>At Nonthaburi's Thunderdome Stadium, fellow Thai team Muangthong United also earned a priceless draw when they twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, the 2006 winners and 2011 runners-up.</p><p>Muangthong went 1-0 down to an early Lee Dong-Gook penalty but they equalised on the stroke of half-time courtesy of Mario Djurovski's sublime "Panenka", chipped-down-the-middle spot-kick.</p><p>Belgian forward Kevin Oris looked to have stolen the points for the visitors on 77 minutes but Muangthong's South Korean import Kim Yoo-Jin had the last word when his header found the net via a Jeonbuk defender with just two minutes to go.</p><p>Two west Asian groups also got underway on Tuesday.</p><p>In Group A, Spanish coach Luis Milla took charge of Al Jazira for the first time, just days after he replaced Brazilian Paulo Bonamigo, but his new UAE side fell 3-1 at Iran's Tractorsazi Tabriz.</p><p>Saudi hosts Al Shabab beat Qatari visitors El Jaish 2-0.</p><p>In Group B, Qatari champions Lekhwiya came away 2-1 victors over play-off winners Al Shabab Al Arabi of the UAE.</p><p>And in Tashkent, Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor, the only side to qualify for all 11 editions, saw off Saudi side Al Ettifaq 1-0.</p><p>The remaining games are on Wednesday.</p><p>-AFP/ac<br /> <br /> <!-- Zone Tag : Channel News Asia In Text <br /> <script type="text/javascript"><br /> innity_pub = "66368270ffd51418ec58bd793f2d9b1b";<br /> innity_zone = "12251";<br /> innity_width = "**";<br /> innity_height = "**";<br /> innity_country = "SG";<br /> </script><br /> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.innity.com/network.js"></script>--><br /> </p><br /> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-55174288698406617682013-02-26T13:06:00.001-08:002013-02-26T13:06:16.888-08:00More spin than solutions as cuts near<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li><b>NEW:</b> Cuts will mean release to less costly monitoring of certain immigration detainees</li><br /><li>Military leaders say readiness will be compromised if the cuts take full effect</li><br /><li>Republicans seek to blame Obama and Democrats for the situation</li><br /><li>The two sides remain divided over taxes as part of the solution</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p><strong>Washington (CNN)</strong> -- Three days before forced spending cuts portrayed by most as an economic body blow, President Barack Obama and Republican rivals relied on spin versus substance Tuesday in trying to prod a deeply divided Congress into action to avert the harshest impacts.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">Government officials and military leaders continued warning of serious consequences if Congress fails to agree on an alternative to the mandatory $85 billion in cuts for the rest of fiscal year 2013, which ends on September 30.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday the automatic cuts will slow the already sluggish economy, harming the still-moderate recovery from recession.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">Meanwhile, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it will release "several hundred" immigration detainees to "less costly" forms of supervision because of the imminent cuts, known in Washington jargon as sequestration.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">Republican leaders have criticized Obama administration warnings as scare tactics, but also said the cuts would be bad policy and should be changed. Only rigid fiscal conservatives have backed the concept of mandatory deep spending cuts as a painful first step of deficit reduction.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Obama headed to military country in Virginia, where local residents will bear the brunt of cuts to defense spending, to urge Newport News shipyard workers to pressure Congress for a solution.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">Insisting he wasn't interested in political spin, Obama acknowledged the cuts set to take effect Friday "won't be felt overnight, but it will be real," adding it means lost jobs and weakened national security.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">He called the situation "a self-inflicted wound that doesn't have to happen," saying the goal of reducing the federal deficit can be achieved in a smarter way if Republicans will compromise on including additional tax revenue as part of the solution.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">"I need you to keep up the fight. If you do, Congress will listen," said Obama, who spoke with a huge ship propeller as a backdrop.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">Talk Back: Who do you believe when it comes to forced budget cuts?</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner expressed continuing frustration over what he called a lack of leadership by Obama and Senate Democrats.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">The House passed two bills in the last Congress that would have replaced the mandatory cuts of sequestration with other reductions that avoid harming the military, a concept rejected by Democrats as shifting the impact of deficit reduction to the middle class and needy Americans.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">"We should not have to move a third bill before the Senate gets off their ass and begins to do something," Boehner told reporters on Tuesday.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">In response, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said bills passed by the previous Congress no longer matter, and that the Constitution requires legislation involving appropriations and revenue to originate in the House.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">"There's not much that is being accomplished by what they are doing," Pelosi said of House GOP leaders, calling their refusal to act on the matter "irresponsible" and "mindless."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">The forced cuts were written into law in 2011 to be intentionally indiscriminate so that legislators would compromise on an alternative instead of allowing them to take effect.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">However, election year politics in 2012 prevented an agreement, and the continuing partisan divide over how to reduce or at least control chronic federal deficits and debt caused the widely opposed spending cuts to become imminent.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">Conflicting messages in the increasingly heated debate raised confusion about exactly what will happen if the spending cuts go into effect.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19">At a House subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, the heads of the nation's military services warned of serious problems if the full effect of cuts are allowed to happen.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">Opinion: If spending is cut, GOP will get the blame</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, said the pending cuts would hollow out the military and were "not in the best interest of our national security."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">In particular, he said reduced spending for this year would reduce training, diminish the special operations command and result in layoffs and furloughs of civilian staff that will delay medical care for soldiers and their families.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">Rep. Harold Rogers of Kentucky, the GOP chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, told the panel that the spending cuts were "both terrible politics and terrible policy" that would impair the nation's overall military readiness.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24">That contrasted with conservative Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who said Monday that the cuts won't be as harmful as the Obama administration warns.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">The veteran senator conceded that he initially agreed with dire predictions from the administration and top Republicans of major harm to the nation's military. After looking into the situation, Cornyn said he now argues that the Pentagon will still see its budget go up despite the forced cuts.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26">Senate Republicans are considering a proposal this week that could alleviate some impacts of the cuts by giving the president flexibility to decide where they would occur.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">The proposal is the GOP counter to a Democratic plan to replace the sequester with more tax revenue collected from millionaires, as well as eliminating agriculture subsidies and reducing defense spending after the end of combat operations in Afghanistan next year.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28">Top Senate Republican doubts damage from defense cuts</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29">Under the law that created the forced spending cuts, neither the Pentagon or government agencies can shift money to protect some programs or operations from reduced funding.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph30">While Republicans are divided over how much flexibility Obama should get to avoid the worst impacts of the cuts, they appear unified in opposing any increase in tax revenue to partially offset them.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31">A January agreement that raised tax rates on top income earners while putting off the forced cuts for two months provided all tax revenue Republicans were willing to consider, party leaders say.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph32">"We can either secure these reductions more intelligently or we can do it the president's way with across the board cuts," Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. "But one thing Americans simply will not accept is another tax increase to replace spending reductions we already agreed to."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33">Obama addressed that viewpoint in his remarks in Virginia, saying there were "too many Republicans in Congress right now who refuse to compromise even an inch when it comes to closing tax loopholes and special interest tax breaks."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph34">"That's what's holding things up right now," the president said. "Keep in mind, nobody's asking them to raise income tax rates. All we're asking is to consider closing tax loopholes and deductions that (Boehner) said he was willing to do just a few months ago."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph35">The full impact of the cuts won't be felt for at least a month, until after a March 27 deadline for Congress to agree on extending funding for the government for the rest of the fiscal year.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph36">An agreement on the overall government funding could soften or eliminate the cuts and much of the hyperbole this week involved posturing for the broader debate of coming weeks.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph37">Where you'll feel forced spending cuts</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">CNN's Carol Cratty, Dana Bash, Alan Silverleib, Ted Barrett, Kevin Liptak and Ashley Killough contributed to this report.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-57980063724924191662013-02-26T13:04:00.001-08:002013-02-26T13:04:14.793-08:00Dozens of prominent Republicans sign brief backing gay marriage<div id="storyMediaBox" readability="15"> <p class="imgText">Matthew Wiltse, right, places a wedding ring on the finger of Jonathon Bashford as they took their wedding vows before Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham at the Thurston County Courthouse just after midnight on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Olympia, Wash. <span class="greySplitter">/</span> <span class="creditImg">AP Photo/Rachel La Corte</span></p> </div><div readability="75.6738962045"> <p>More than 80 "conservative voices" have signed onto a legal brief supporting the notion that same-sex couples should have a fundamental right to marriage. </p> <p>The brief is in support of the plaintiffs in the <i>Hollingsworth v. Perry</i> case now before the Supreme Court, which challenges California's Proposition 8 barring same-sex marriage. The case, which will be argued starting in late March, could result in the invalidation of statewide bans on same-sex marriage across the country. It is one of two same-sex marriage cases being considered this term by the Supreme Court; the other challenges the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage. </p> <p>Among the signatories to the letter are former Republican Governors Christie Todd Whitman and Bill Weld; Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.; former Republican Reps. Deborah Pryce and Mary Bono Mack; 2012 presidential candidates and former governors Gary Johnson and Jon Huntsman; and former Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman, the onetime George W. Bush campaign manager who has since come out as gay. </p> <p>Notably not among the signatories are some Republicans who have expressed support for same-sex marriage in the past, including Dick Cheney and Laura Bush. </p> <p>The American Foundation for Equal Rights, which organized the effort, said more names will be added before the brief is filed. The brief was first reported by the New York Times, which reported that it made the case that same-sex marriage reflects conservative values of "limited government and maximizing individual freedom."</p> <p>Among those working to legalize same-sex marriage are conservative lawyer and former Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson, who was among the first prominent conservatives to express support for same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage supporters hope the fact that numerous well-known conservatives and Republicans are signatories to the brief will help sway conservative justices.</p> <p>"The conservative movement toward the freedom to marry is what we like to call the 'Ted Olson effect,'" said AFER executive director Adam Umhoefer. "We value the support of our conservative colleagues and welcome their voices to the growing majority of Americans who stand for marriage equality."</p> <p>CBS News polling has found that a majority of Americans believe same-sex marriage should be legal, though more than six in ten said it should be left to the states to decide. House Speaker John Boehner and most Republicans in Congress oppose both federal recognition of same-sex marriage and a mandate that it be recognized by the states. </p> <!-- 1 pageNum--> </div>Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-39761640530139151632013-02-26T13:02:00.001-08:002013-02-26T13:02:11.580-08:00Tempers Flare at Jodi Arias Murder Trial<br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <!--18598135~18565072~18565165~18561232--><br /> <br /> <!-- insert date & partner --><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><p><br />Tempers flared between accused murderer Jodi Arias and prosecutor Juan Martinez today as Martinez tried to detail Arias' history of spying on her boyfriends, but Arias complained that his aggressive style of questioning made her "brain scramble."<br /></p><p><br />Arias and Martinez, who have sparred throughout two prior days of cross-examination in Arias' murder case, spent more than 10 minutes bickering over Martinez's word choices and his apparent "anger."<br /></p><p><br />The morning's testimony, and Martinez's points about Arias' alleged spying, were largely interrupted by the spats. Arias is accused of killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.<br /></p><p><br />"Are you having trouble understanding me?" Martinez yelled.<br /></p><p><br />"Yes because sometimes cause you go in circles," Arias answered.<br /></p><p><br /><strong>Timeline of the Jodi Arias Trial</strong><br /></p><p><br />"You said you were offended by Mr. Alexander's behavior, do you remember that? This just happened. How is that you are not remembering?" he asked.<br /></p><p><br />"Because you are making my brain scramble,"she said.<br /></p><p><br />Martinez, becoming agitated, barked back, "I'm again making your brain scramble. The problem is not you, it's the prosecutor, right?"<br /></p><p><br />Martinez paced the courtroom in front of Arias asking her whether she had trouble with her memory or trouble answering truthfully.<br /></p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_2"><br /> <div class="rel_content" readability="25.7538461538"><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_headline" readability="5.81538461538"><br /> Jodi Arias Testimony: Prosecution's Cross-Examination Watch Video<br /> </div><br /> </div><br /> <br /> </div><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_3"><br /> <div class="rel_content" readability="25.2203389831"><br /> <br /> <div class="rel_headline" readability="5.69491525424"><br /> Jodi Arias Remains Calm Under Cross-Examination Watch Video<br /> </div><br /> </div><br /> <br /> </div><br /> <p><br />"You don't know? You don't know what you just said? Didn't it just happen? You can't even remember what you just said?"<br /></p><p><br />"I think I'm more focused on your posture, your tone, and your anger," Arias said, causing Martinez to become even angrier.<br /></p><p><br />"So it's the prosecutor's fault because he is angry? You are having problems on the witness stand because of the way the prosecutor is asking the questions? So the answers depend on the style of the prosecutor? You're saying you're having trouble telling us the truth because of the way the questions are being posed," he said, gesturing with his hands.<br /></p><p><br /><strong>Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage</strong><br /></p><p><br />Eventually, Arias's attorney Kirk Nurmi, who had been objecting sporadically to Martinez's questions, stood in the courtroom and told Judge Sherry Stephens that they should all approach the bench before Martinez continued. When they returned, Martinez briefly stood in different parts of the courtroom, asking Arias if she was more comfortable depending on where he stood, before moving on.<br /></p><p><br />Arias, 32, is charged with murder for killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander at his home in Mesa, Ariz., in June 2008. She claims she killed him in self defense and that he had been increasingly violent and sexually demanding in the months before the confrontation. She also claimed he was interested in young boys.<br /></p><p><br />The prosecution claims she killed him in a jealous rage. She could face the death penalty if convicted of first degree murder.<br /></p><p><br />Martinez finally began to make his points that Arias snooped on Alexander's phone messages and Myspace messages, and had gone through an ex-boyfriend's email messages to see if they were cheating. Arias admitted that her behavior was "dishonest."<br /></p><p><br /><strong><br />See the Evidence in the Jodi Arias Murder Trial<br /></strong><br /></p><p><br />Martinez also showed that after Arias went through the messages and found evidence of cheating, she acted quickly to end the relationships with Alexander and two former boyfriends, suggesting that Arias was not under as much of Alexander's influence as she had previously testified.<br /></p><p><br />"So you seem to be very assertive. You were very assertive even at age 17 or 18, you didn't waste any time when you'd been cheated on," Martinez said. "You have the ability to make the decisions necessary for yourself and even from the time you were younger, it appears you were assertive."<br /></p><p><br />"It depends on how comfortable I am with the person," Arias replied.<br /></p><br /><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6431715056132287859.post-32111534442736468632013-02-25T13:10:00.001-08:002013-02-25T13:10:20.451-08:00Iran plans own response to 'Argo'<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption" readability="7"><p>(File photo) Argo tells the story of a rescue of U.S. diplomats from revolutionary Iran.</p></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Ben Affleck's "Argo" tells the story of a dramatic rescue of U.S. diplomats from revolutionary Iran</li><br /><li>Iranian state media criticize the movie as "replete with historical inaccuracies and distortions"</li><br /><li>Iran's Art Bureau says it will fund its own film about the handing over of 20 U.S. hostages</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- Ben Affleck has more than just a couple of Golden Globes to add to his resume.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">His movie "Argo," about the suspenseful rescue of U.S. diplomats during the Iran hostage crisis, has also achieved the unusual honor of prompting Tehran to produce its own cinematic response.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Opinion: Latino should have played lead in 'Argo'</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">"Argo" was named best drama movie during the Golden Globes ceremony on Sunday night in Los Angeles, and Affleck won the award for best director, a category for which he was passed over in the recent Oscar nominations.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">But his efforts to recreate on screen the drama of the secret operation by the CIA and Canada to extract six U.S. embassy workers from revolutionary Iran in 1980 haven't been overlooked by Tehran's Art Bureau.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">'Argo' recognizes forgotten heroes of Iran hostage saga</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">It plans to fund a movie entitled "The General Staff," about 20 American hostages who were handed over to the United States by Iranian revolutionaries, according to a report last week by Mehr News, the official Iranian agency.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">"This film, which will be a big production, should be an appropriate response to the ahistoric film 'Argo,'" said Ataollah Salmanian, the director of the Iranian film, according to Mehr.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">"Argo" claims to be based on a true story rather than to constitute a scrupulous retelling of exactly what took place, and its deviations from reality have been documented.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">But Iranian authorities have taken offense at the film's portrayal of the country and its people. "Argo" was officially viewed as "anti-Iranian" following its U.S. release last year, Mehr reported.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">Iran's state-run broadcaster Press TV detailed its objections to the film in an online article on Sunday.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">"The Iranophobic American movie attempts to describe Iranians as overemotional, irrational, insane, and diabolical while at the same, the CIA agents are represented as heroically patriotic," it complained.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">In the movie, in which Affleck plays the lead role, the CIA operation is shown outwitting Iranian authorities through an elaborate plan based on pretending that the U.S. diplomats fleeing the country were part of team scouting locations for an outlandish science-fiction film.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">But according to Press TV, the film is "a far cry from a balanced narration" and is "replete with historical inaccuracies and distortions."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">On the other hand, "The General Staff," set to begin shooting next year, will be based on eyewitness accounts, Salmanian said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">The Art Bureau, which is to provide the financing, is affiliated with the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization, according to Mehr.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">Press TV cited Salmanian as saying that his film would depict "the historical event unlike the American version which lacks a proper view of the story."</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">CNN's Samira Said contributed to this report.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Romanaahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17944676689899380107noreply@blogger.com