Israel hits Hamas buildings, shoots down Tel Aviv-bound rocket

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza, and the “Iron Dome” defense system shot down a Tel Aviv-bound rocket on Saturday as Israel geared up for a possible ground invasion.

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, said Israeli missiles wrecked the office building of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh – where he had met on Friday with the Egyptian prime minister – and struck a police headquarters.

Along the Tel Aviv beachfront, volleyball games came to an abrupt halt and people crouched as sirens sounded. Two interceptor rockets streaked into the sky. A flash and an explosion followed as Iron Dome, deployed only hours earlier near the city, destroyed the incoming projectile in mid-air.

With Israeli tanks and artillery positioned along the Gaza border and no end in sight to hostilities now in their fourth day, Tunisia’s foreign minister travelled to the enclave in a show of Arab solidarity.

In Cairo, a presidential source said Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi would hold four-way talks with the Qatari emir, the prime minister of Turkey and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in the Egyptian capital on Saturday to discuss the Gaza crisis.

Egypt has been working to reinstate calm between Israel and Hamas after an informal ceasefire brokered by Cairo unraveled over the past few weeks. Meshaal, who lives in exile, has already held a round of talks with Egyptian security officials.

Officials in Gaza said 43 Palestinians, nearly half of them civilians including eight children, had been killed since Israel began its air strikes. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket on Thursday.

Israel unleashed its massive air campaign on Wednesday with the declared goal of deterring Hamas from launching rockets that have plagued its southern communities for years.

The Israeli army said it had zeroed in on a number of government buildings during the night, including Haniyeh’s office, the Hamas Interior Ministry and a police compound.

Taher al-Nono, a spokesman for the Hamas government, held a news conference near the rubble of the prime minister’s office and pledged: “We will declare victory from here.”

Hamas‘s armed wing claimed responsibility for Saturday’s rocket attack on Tel Aviv, the third against the city since Wednesday. It said it fired an Iranian-designed Fajr-5 at the coastal metropolis, some 70 km (43 miles) north of Gaza.

“Well that wasn’t such a big deal,” said one woman, who had watched the interception while clinging for protection to the trunk of a baby palm tree on a traffic island.

In the Israeli Mediterranean port of Ashdod, a rocket ripped into several balconies. Police said five people were hurt.

Among those killed in airstrikes on Gaza on Saturday were at least four suspected militants riding on motorcycles.

Israel’s operation has drawn Western support for what U.S. and European leaders have called Israel’s right to self-defense, along with appeals to avoid civilian casualties.

Hamas, shunned by the West over its refusal to recognize Israel, says its cross-border attacks have come in response to Israeli strikes against Palestinian fighters in Gaza.

RESERVIST CALL-UP

At a late night session on Friday, Israeli cabinet ministers decided to more than double the current reserve troop quota set for the Gaza offensive to 75,000, political sources said, in a signal Israel was edging closer to an invasion.

Around 16,000 reservists have already been called up.

Asked by reporters whether a ground operation was possible, Major-General Tal Russo, commander of the Israeli forces on the Gaza frontier, said: “Definitely.”

“We have a plan … it will take time. We need to have patience. It won’t be a day or two,” he added.

A possible move into the densely populated Gaza Strip and the risk of major casualties it brings would be a significant gamble for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, favorite to win a January national election.

Hamas fighters are no match for the Israeli military. The last Gaza war, involving a three-week long Israeli air blitz and ground invasion over the New Year period of 2008-09, killed over 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Thirteen Israelis died.

But the Gaza conflagration has stirred the pot of a Middle East already boiling from two years of Arab revolution and a civil war in Syria that threatens to spread beyond its borders.

“Israel should understand that many things have changed and that lots of water has run in the Arab river,” Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdesslem said as he surveyed the wreckage from a bomb-blast site in central Gaza.

One major change has been the election of an Islamist government in Cairo that is allied with Hamas, potentially narrowing Israel’s manoeuvering room in confronting the Palestinian group. Israel and Egypt made peace in 1979.

“DE-ESCALATION”

Netanyahu spoke late on Friday with U.S. President Barack Obama for the second time since the offensive began, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

“(Netanyahu) expressed his deep appreciation for the U.S. position that Israel has a right to defend itself and thanked him for American aid in purchasing Iron Dome batteries,” the statement added.

The two leaders have had a testy relationship and have been at odds over how to curb Iran’s nuclear program.

A White House official said on Saturday Obama called Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to discuss how the two countries could help bring an end to the Gaza conflict.

Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security adviser, told reporters that Washington “wants the same thing as the Israelis want”, an end to rocket attacks from Gaza. He said the United States is emphasizing diplomacy and “de-escalation”.

In Berlin, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had spoken to Netanyahu and Egypt’s Mursi, stressing to the Israeli leader that Israel had a right to self-defense and that a ceasefire must be agreed as soon as possible to avoid more bloodshed.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to visit Israel and Egypt next week to push for an end to the fighting in Gaza, U.N. diplomats said on Friday.

The Israeli military said 492 rockets fired from Gaza have hit Israel since the operation began. Iron Dome intercepted another 245.

In Jerusalem, targeted by a Palestinian rocket on Friday for the first time in 42 years, there was little outward sign on the Jewish Sabbath that the attack had any impact on the usually placid pace of life in the holy city.

Some families in Gaza have abandoned their homes – some of them damaged and others situated near potential Israeli targets – and packed into the houses of friends and relatives.

(Additional reporting by Dan Williams and Douglas Hamilton in Tel Aviv, Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem, Jeff Mason aboard Air Force One, Writing by Jeffrey Heller; editing by Crispian Balmer)

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Google Considering Wireless Network [REPORT]

Google is looking to cut out the middleman for its Android mobile devices and begin offering wireless service itself, according to a report.

The search giant met with reps from Dish Network to partner on a wireless service “that would rival” wireless networks like AT&T and Verizon, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited “people familiar with the discussions.” The talks, however, could amount to nothing, the article notes.

[More from Mashable: Google Updates Blogger Mobile Apps to Version 2.0]

Dish bought wireless spectrum in 2008 that it plans to build out into such a network. The company has met with other, unnamed companies aside from Google, according to the report. In an interview this week, Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen said potential partners include companies “who would like to be in the industry” and don’t offer wireless service. He did not name Google or any other of the companies. Despite the talk, there’s speculation that AT&T might partner with Dish on the spectrum offering.

Google bid on wireless spectrum in 2008, but lost to Verizon and AT&T. Google also took a $ 500 million stake in mobile broadband firm Clearwire, which it sold this year for $ 66.5 million.

[More from Mashable: Google Launches Mobile Game You Play in Real Life]

Despite being shut out of wireless for now, Google is offering wired broadband service in Kansas City. The company also diversified into the wireless handset business last year with its $ 12.5 billion purchase of Motorola.

Bonus Gallery: Hands-On: Verizon’s Droid DNA Wows With High-Def Display

Verizon’s Droid DNA

Click here to view this gallery.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Jon Stewart tells Bill O’Reilly to stop worrying about loss of “traditional America”

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Jon Stewart has a message for Fox News host Bill O’Reilly — chill out about the loss of “traditional America.”

“The Daily Show” funnyman skewered the right-leaning network on Thursday for treating the re-election of President Barack Obama – a victory aided by minority voters – as a cataclysm for the white men who were once in the driver’s seat in America. Stewart implied that this longing on behalf of some of the network’s commentators for a Grover’s Corners past may not be rooted in reality.

“Yes Bill,” Stewart said. “Obama’s re-election marked the moment that traditional America ended. The moment when the family from the 1950s sitcom ‘Leave it to Beaver’ ceased to be real.”

Moreover, Stewart said that ethnic demographics are constantly shifting in the United States and that such changes can be a little troublesome for the folks who were in control.

“You don’t need to worry so much,” Stewart counseled. “What you are demonstrating is the health and vitality of America’s greatest tradition – a fevered, frightened ruling class lamenting the rise of a new ethnically and religiously diverse new class. One that will destroy all that is virtuous and good and bring the American experiment crashing to the ground.”

He added that those rising ethnic groups work so hard so that their children and grandchildren have the opportunity to be intolerant of new immigrant populations. Thus the circle of life continues.

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Gaza hospitals stretched, need supplies to treat wounded: WHO

GENEVA (Reuters) – Gaza hospitals are overwhelmed with casualties from Israel‘s bombings and face critical shortages of drugs and medical supplies, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday.

The U.N. health agency appealed for $ 10 million from donors to meet the need for drugs and supplies over the next three months.

Officials in Gaza said 43 Palestinians, nearly half of them civilians including eight children, had been killed since Israel began its air strikes. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket fired from the enclave on Thursday.

Israel unleashed its massive air campaign on Wednesday with the declared goal of deterring Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, from launching rockets that have plagued its southern communities for years.

The WHO, quoting Health Ministry officials in Gaza, said 382 people have been injured – 245 adults and 137 children.

“Many of those injured have been admitted to hospitals with severe burns, injuries from collapsing buildings and head injuries,” the WHO said in a statement issued in Geneva.

Health authorities have declared an emergency situation in all hospitals to cope with patients, it said.

“Before the hostilities began, health facilities were severely over stretched mainly as a result of the siege of Gaza,” the WHO said. Israel maintains a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip with the help of neighboring Egypt.

The Gaza Ministry of Health‘s supplies of many life-saving drugs and disposable equipment were at “zero stock”, it said.

“The Ministry of Health has postponed all elective surgeries due to the emergency and shortages in anaesthesia drugs,” it said. Non-urgent cases are being transferred to hospitals run by aid groups and health personnel have been asked to report to the nearest health facility for extended shifts, it said.

“WHO appeals to the international and regional community for urgent financial support to provide essential medicines to cover pre-existing shortages, as well as emergency supplies for treating casualties and the chronically ill,” it said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Israel bombards Gaza Strip, shoots down rocket

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel destroyed the headquarters of Hamas' prime minister and blasted a sprawling network of smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, broadening a blistering four-day-old offensive against the Islamic militant group even as diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire appeared to be gaining steam.

In neighboring Egypt, President Mohammed Morsi hosted leaders from Hamas and two key allies, Qatar and Turkey, to seek a way to end the fighting.

"There are discussions about the ways to bring a cease-fire soon, but there are no guarantees until now," Morsi said at a news conference. He said he was working with Turkey, Arab countries, the U.S., Russia and western European countries to halt the fighting.

Israel launched the operation on Wednesday in what it said was an effort to end months of rocket fire out of the Hamas-ruled territory. It began the offensive with an unexpected airstrike that killed Hamas' powerful military chief, and since then has relentlessly targeted suspected rocket launchers and storage sites.

In all, 46 Palestinians, including 15 civilians, have been killed and more than 400 civilians wounded, according to medical officials. Three Israeli civilians have been killed and more than 50 wounded.

Israeli military officials expressed satisfaction with their progress Saturday, claiming they have inflicted heavy damage to Hamas.

"Most of their capabilities have been destroyed," Maj. Gen. Tal Russo, Israel's southern commander, told reporters. Asked whether Israel is ready to send ground troops into Gaza, he said: "Absolutely."

The White House said President Barack Obama was also in touch with the Egyptian and Turkish leaders. The U.S. has solidly backed Israel so far.

Speaking on Air Force One, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said that the White House believes Israel "has the right to defend itself" against attack and that the Israelis will make their own decisions about their "military tactics and operations."

The White House, which like Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization, also continued to support Israel. "We believe Israel has a right to defend itself, and they'll make their own decisions about the tactics they use in that regard," deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters on Air Force One.

Despite the bruising offensive, Israel has failed to slow the barrages of rockets from Gaza.

The Israeli military said 160 rockets were launched into Israel on Saturday, raising the total number to roughly 500 since this week's fighting began. Eight Israelis, including five civilians, were lightly wounded Saturday, the army said.

Israel carried out at least 300 airstrikes on Saturday, the military said, and it broadened its array of targets. One air raid flattened the three-story office building used by Hamas' prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh. He was not inside the building at the time.

In southern Gaza, aircraft went after the tunnels that militants use to smuggle in weapons and other contraband from neighboring Egypt. Tunnel operators said the intensity of the bombing was unprecedented, and that massive explosions could be heard kilometers (miles) away, both in Gaza and in Egypt.

The operators, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the illicit nature of their business, said they cannot approach the tunnel area to assess the damage, but the blasts appeared to be more powerful than in Israel's last major push to destroy the tunnels during a previous offensive four years ago. The tunnels are a key lifeline for Hamas, bringing in both weapons and supporting a lucrative trade that helps fund the group's activities.

Missiles also smashed into two small security facilities and the massive Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City, setting off a huge blaze that engulfed nearby houses and civilian cars parked outside, the Interior Ministry reported. No one was inside the buildings.

Air attacks knocked out five electricity transformers, cutting off power to more than 400,000 people in southern Gaza, according to the Gaza electricity distribution company. People switched on backup generators for limited electrical supplies.

Hamas has unveiled an arsenal of more powerful, longer-range rockets this week, and for the first time has struck at Israel's two largest cities, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Both cities, more than 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Gaza, had previously been beyond rocket range.

In a psychological boost for Israel, a new rocket-defense system known as "Iron Dome" knocked down a rocket headed toward Tel Aviv, eliciting cheers from relieved residents huddled in fear after air raid sirens sounded in the city.

Associated Press video showed a plume of smoke following an intercepting missile out of a rocket-defense battery deployed near the city, followed by a burst of light overhead as it struck its target.

Police said a second rocket also targeted Tel Aviv. It was not clear where it landed or whether it was shot down. No injuries were reported. It was the third straight day the city was targeted.

Israel says the Iron Dome system has shot down some 250 of 500 rockets fired toward the country this week, most in southern Israel near Gaza.

Saturday's interception was the first time Iron Dome has been deployed in Tel Aviv. The battery was a new upgraded version that was only activated on Saturday, two months ahead of schedule, the Defense Ministry said.

Israel has vowed to stage a ground invasion, a scenario that would bring the scale of fighting closer to that of a war four years ago. Hamas was badly bruised during that conflict but has since restocked its arsenal with more and better weapons. Five years after seizing control of Gaza, it has also come under pressure from smaller, more militant groups to prove its commitment to fighting Israel as it turns its focus to governing the seaside strip.

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak has authorized the emergency call-up of up to 75,000 reserve troops ahead of a possible ground offensive. Israel has massed thousands of troops and dozens of tanks and armored vehicles along the border in recent days.

Egypt, which is led by Hamas' parent movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, has been spearheading efforts to forge a cease-fire. Morsi has vowed to stand strong with the people of Gaza and this week recalled Cairo's ambassador from Israel to protest the offensive.

Quietly, though, non-Muslim Brotherhood members in Morsi's government are said to be pushing Hamas to end its rocket fire on Israel. Morsi is under pressure not to go too far and risk straining ties with Israel's ally, the United States.

The Hamas website said Saturday that its leader, Khaled Meshaal, met with the head of Egyptian intelligence for two hours Saturday in Cairo, a day after the Egyptian official was in the Gaza Strip trying to work out an end to the escalation in violence.

Hamas has not immediately accepted Egypt's proposal for a cease-fire, but the group's website said it could end its rocket fire if Israel agrees to end "all acts of aggression and assassination" and lift its five-year Israeli blockade on Gaza. Egypt will present the Hamas position to Israeli officials.

Israeli officials say they are not interested in a "timeout," and want firm guarantees that the rocket fire, which has paralyzed life in an area home to 1 million Israelis, finally ends. Past cease-fires have been short lived.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke with the leaders of Britain, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria to press his case. "No government in the world would allow a situation where its population lives under the constant threat of rockets," Netanyahu told them, according to a statement from his office.

The diplomatic activity in Cairo illustrated Hamas' rising influence in a changing Middle East. The Arab Spring has brought Islamists to power and influence across the region, helping Hamas emerge from years of isolation.

Morsi warned that a ground operation by Irael will have "repercussions" across the region. "All must realize the situation is different than before, and the people of the region now are different than before and the leaders are different than before," he said at a joint press conference with Turkey's Islamist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan, like Morsi, leads an Islamist government that has chilly diplomatic ties with Israel.

On Friday, Morsi sent his prime minister to Gaza on a solidarity mission with Hamas. And on Saturday, Tunisia's Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem visited Gaza as well.

___

Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Karin Laub in Gaza City and Aya Batrawy in Cairo contributed reporting.

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Israel moves on reservists after rockets target cities

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli ministers were on Friday asked to endorse the call-up of up to 75,000 reservists after Palestinian militants nearly hit Jerusalem with a rocket for the first time in decades and fired at Tel Aviv for a second day.

The rocket attacks were a challenge to Israel‘s Gaza offensive and came just hours after Egypt‘s prime minister, denouncing what he described as Israeli aggression, visited the enclave and said Cairo was prepared to mediate.

Israel’s armed forces announced that a highway leading to the Gaza Strip and two roads bordering the enclave would be off-limits to civilian traffic until further notice.

Tanks and self-propelled guns were seen near the border area on Friday, and the military said it had already called 16,000 reservists to active duty.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened senior cabinet ministers in Tel Aviv after the rockets struck to decide on widening the Gaza campaign.

Political sources said ministers were asked to approve the mobilization of up to 75,000 reservists, in what could be preparation for a possible ground operation.

No decision was immediately announced and some commentators speculated in the Israeli media the move could be psychological warfare against Gaza’s Hamas rulers. A quota of 30,000 reservists had been set earlier.

Israel began bombing Gaza on Wednesday with an attack that killed the Hamas military chief. It says its campaign is in response to Hamas missiles fired on its territory. Hamas stepped up rocket attacks in response.

Israeli police said a rocket fired from Gaza landed in the Jerusalem area, outside the city, on Friday.

It was the first Palestinian rocket since 1970 to reach the vicinity of the holy city, which Israel claims as its capital, and was likely to spur an escalation in its three-day old air war against militants in Gaza.

Rockets nearly hit Tel Aviv on Thursday for the first time since Saddam Hussein’s Iraq fired them during the 1991 Gulf War. An air raid siren rang out on Friday when the commercial centre was targeted again. Motorists crouched next to cars, many with their hands protecting their heads, while pedestrians scurried for cover in building stairwells.

The Jerusalem and Tel Aviv strikes have so far caused no casualties or damage, but could be political poison for Netanyahu, a conservative favored to win re-election in January on the strength of his ability to guarantee security.

“The Israel Defence Forces will continue to hit Hamas hard and are prepared to broaden the action inside Gaza,” Netanyahu said before the rocket attacks on the two cities.

Asked about Israel massing forces for a possible Gaza invasion, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: “The Israelis should be aware of the grave results of such a raid and they should bring their body bags.”

Officials in Gaza said 28 Palestinians had been killed in the enclave since Israel began the air offensive with the declared aim of stemming surges of rocket strikes that have disrupted life in southern Israeli towns.

The Palestinian dead include 12 militants and 16 civilians, among them eight children and a pregnant woman. Three Israelis were killed by a rocket on Thursday. A Hamas source said the Israeli air force launched an attack on the house of Hamas’s commander for southern Gaza which resulted in the death of two civilians, one a child.

SOLIDARITY VISIT

A solidarity visit to Gaza by Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, whose Islamist government is allied with Hamas but also party to a 1979 peace treaty with Israel, had appeared to open a tiny window to emergency peace diplomacy.

Kandil said: “Egypt will spare no effort … to stop the aggression and to achieve a truce.”

But a three-hour truce that Israel declared for the duration of Kandil’s visit never took hold. Israel said 66 rockets launched from the Gaza Strip hit its territory on Friday and a further 99 were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

Israel denied Palestinian assertions that its aircraft struck while Kandil was in the enclave.

Israel Radio’s military affairs correspondent said the army’s Homefront Command had told municipal officials to make civil defence preparations for the possibility that fighting could drag on for seven weeks. An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.

The Gaza conflagration has stoked the flames of a Middle East already ablaze with two years of Arab revolution and a civil war in Syria that threatens to leap across borders.

It is the biggest test yet for Egypt’s new President Mohamed Mursi, a veteran Islamist politician from the Muslim Brotherhood who was elected this year after last year’s protests ousted military autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood are spiritual mentors of Hamas, yet Mursi has also pledged to respect Cairo’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel, seen in the West as the cornerstone of regional security. Egypt and Israel both receive billions of dollars in U.S. military aid to underwrite their treaty.

Mursi has vocally denounced the Israeli military action while promoting Egypt as a mediator, a mission that his prime minister’s visit was intended to further.

A Palestinian official close to Egypt’s mediators told Reuters Kandil’s visit “was the beginning of a process to explore the possibility of reaching a truce. It is early to speak of any details or of how things will evolve”.

Hamas fighters are no match for the Israeli military. The last Gaza war, involving a three-week long Israeli air blitz and ground invasion over the New Year period of 2008-2009, killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Thirteen Israelis died.

Tunisia’s foreign minister was due to visit Gaza on Saturday “to provide all political support for Gaza” the spokesman for the Tunisian president, Moncef Marzouki, said in a statement.

The United States asked countries that have contact with Hamas to urge the Islamist movement to stop its rocket attacks.

Hamas refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist. By contrast, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who rules in the nearby West Bank, does recognize Israel, but peace talks between the two sides have been frozen since 2010.

Abbas’s supporters say they will push ahead with a plan to have Palestine declared an “observer state” rather than a mere “entity” at the United Nations later this month.

(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell, Jeffrey Heller and Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem; Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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Pittsburgh airport to offer free ‘cell phone’ lot

IMPERIAL, Pa. (AP) — Pittsburgh International Airport is offering free parking for folks who want to sit in their cars and wait for arriving passengers to call on cell phones to say they’ve arrived.

Allegheny County Airport Authority officials are hoping the plan will prevent motorists from congesting the curb near the airport’s terminal or the access roads around it by driving around in circles waiting for cell phone calls from arrivals.

Drivers can now park free for an hour in the extended term lot farthest from the terminal, and pay only $ 1 for a second hour of parking. After two hours, the spots will cost $ 8.

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Robert Pattinson looks for danger after “Twilight”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Robert Pattinson has set young hearts aflutter as the teen vampire Edward Cullen in the “Twilight Saga” films, but as the sun sets on the franchise that launched his career, the actor is looking for more grown-up and “dangerous” roles.

“Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” released this week, is the fifth and final in the series, and Edward’s character shifts from brooding, tormented lover to a contented husband and father who must protect his family from an ancient vampire clan.

But Pattinson, 26, still has those rakish good looks that drew a screaming fan base and made him a tabloid fixture. While the avid fan excitement around the “Twilight” series overwhelms him, the British actor hopes his audience will follow him as he moves on.

“It’s all about control. Now, I don’t feel like I have any control whatsoever,” he told Reuters with a laugh.

“They’re a very ardent fan base, so to figure out a way to harness that vehement audience, it’s definitely an important thing.”

Pattinson became a pinup as the angst-ridden Edward, but said he wasn’t worried he might be typecast as the perpetual brooding hero. “I’m not particularly brooding in my real life,” he said.

The actor has already been laying the ground for a career beyond “Twilight.” He played a 19th century French gigolo in “Bel Ami” and a billionaire with an existential crisis in David Cronenberg‘s “Cosmopolis,” although both films fared poorly at the box office earlier this year.

Next up is a drama, “Map to the Stars,” again with Cronenberg, and “The Rover,” a Western-style action movie set in the Australian desert.

“Everything I’ve signed up for now is very physical, because I feel like I’ve done quite a few things where I’m quite still. I’m trying to find people that are doing things that feel dangerous,” Pattinson said.

ROMANCE ON AND OFF SCREEN

Away from the series with its apple motif, symbolizing forbidden love, Pattinson’s fame has also been fueled by his off-screen romance with “Twilight” co-star Kristen Stewart, 22, who plays Bella Swan.

Their relationship was thrust into the spotlight in the summer when Stewart publicly admitted she had an affair with her married “Snow White and the Huntsman” director, Rupert Sanders.

The actress apologized in a rare, heartfelt public statement but the affair shocked “Twilight” fans. Pattinson and Stewart have since reconciled, and the paparazzi have spotted them together, but they have stayed mum on their relationship.

“I just try and avoid it,” Pattinson said when asked about the scrutiny of his personal life.

“I don’t think it’s good in terms of a career as an actor. I think being in gossip magazines – I don’t like the whole industry, I think it’s a lazy industry, and it’s a weird media consumer culture,” the actor said.

“(Success) is so much based on luck as an actor. No one knew that the audience would connect to the ‘Twilight’ series the way that they did … it’s just luck, you’ve got to do the things that interest you.”

For now, Pattinson is coming to terms with saying goodbye to the franchise.

“It sounds cheesy, but it’s been such a life-changing experience where you share a bond with people, it’s weird. I remember hearing about ‘Lord of the Rings,’ they all got tattoos … that’d be so funny, maybe we could get a little apple, a ‘tramp stamp’ with an apple,” the actor mused, laughing.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, Editing by Jill Serjeant, Gary Hill)

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Watch: Miss America Contestant to Undergo Double Mastectomy

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France urges Mali to step up talks with rebels

PARIS (AP) — France‘s president called Thursday for stepped-up talks between Mali’s government and any leaders from its breakaway north “who reject terrorism,” even as African nations geared up for a possible military operation against Islamic extremists there.

President Francois Hollande‘s comments suggested a growing openness to dialogue with the extremists, but he remained committed to supporting the military planning effort.

Northern Mali fell to Islamic extremists in April, after coup leaders toppled the government in Bamako, Mali‘s capital. Fearing that northern Mali could become the latest hotbed of terrorism, France has been a driving force in international efforts to bolster Mali’s army to drive the Islamists from power.

Hollande spoke with interim Mali President Dioncounda Traore by phone on Thursday, partly to detail European efforts to help strengthen Mali’s army.

In recent days, representatives from the most moderate of three al-Qaida-linked groups that control northern Mali have been meeting with Burkina Faso‘s president, appointed as a mediator.

“France reiterates its wish that political dialogue will intensify between Malian authorities and representatives of northern populations who reject terrorism,” Hollande’s office said in a statement. “The acceleration of this dialogue must accompany the progress in African military-planning efforts.”

Earlier this week, the African Union approved a plan that calls for 3,300 African troops to be deployed in order to win back Mali’s north. European countries including France and Germany have expressed a willingness to provide military trainers and logistics support, but have stopped short of committing combat troops.

France, like many European countries, fears that the arid, northern Sahel region of Mali could become a breeding ground for terrorism, where al-Qaida and its allies could plot hostage-takings and attacks in Europe or beyond.

France has millions of people whose families hail from former French colonies in north and west Africa. Authorities have long been concerned that French-born militants could travel abroad for terrorism training and return home later to possibly carry out attacks.

French authorities are already investigating two French citizens who were arrested in Mali and neighboring Niger and are suspected of seeking to join up with the al-Qaida-linked extremists, a judicial official told The Associated Press.

Ibrahim Ouattara, a 24-year-old native of the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers who has dual French and Malian nationality, was arrested inside Mali this month and remains in custody there, the official said.

Separately, a 27-year-old Frenchman was arrested in August in Niger and has since been handed over to authorities in France, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss terrorism cases publicly.

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Sina’s profit beats on Weibo; co forecasts weak 4th-quarter revenue

(Reuters) – Chinese internet company Sina Corp eked out a profit in the third quarter that beat analysts’ estimates as strong advertising sales on its microblogging platform offset weaker website advertising but it forecast current-quarter revenue below expectations.

Shares of the company fell 6 percent to $ 49.72 in extended trading. They closed at $ 53.10 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

Sina expects adjusted net revenue to range between $ 132 million and $ 136 million in the fourth quarter, with advertising revenues forecast to increase between 6 percent and 8 percent from a year earlier.

Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $ 151.9 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sina, which makes most of its revenue from online advertising both on its website and through its microblogging platform, Weibo, is facing stiff headwinds this year as firms slash advertising budgets due to a worsening economic outlook.

Analysts said the spat between Japan and China over a few uninhabited islands in the East China Sea may have affected Sina’s website advertising sales as Japanese automakers cut back on advertising in China.

Net profit was $ 9.9 million for the September quarter, compared to a loss of $ 336.3 million a year earlier. The profit beat analysts’ expectations of $ 7.5 million.

Sina’s advertising revenue rose 19 percent to $ 120.6 million in the third quarter, while non-advertising revenue rose 9 percent to $ 31.8 million. Overall net revenue was $ 152.4 million, up from $ 130.3 million, a year earlier.

The company started monetizing Weibo by offering special services to business accounts and selling VIP memberships to regular users earlier this year.

Weibo contributed about 10 percent to total advertising revenue in the second quarter and had 368 million registered accounts.

(Reporting By Melanie Lee in Shanghai & Aurindom Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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Drug charges dropped against Jon Bon Jovi’s daughter

(Reuters) – Drug charges against the daughter of rock star Jon Bon Jovi were dropped on Thursday, a day after she suffered a suspected heroin overdose, officials in New York said.

Oneida County District Attorney Scott D. McNamara said in a statement that Stephanie Bongiovi could not be charged because New York law prohibits the prosecution of people who had overdosed and were in possession of small amounts of drugs.

Bongiovi, 19, was found unresponsive in a dormitory room at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, early on Wednesday and was later booked on misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance (heroin), marijuana possession and criminal use of drug paraphernalia, which were found in the room.

A message left with the singer’s representative was not immediately returned.

Heroin and marijuana charges against fellow student Ian S. Grant, 21, in connection with Bongiovi’s case were also dropped as a witness or victim to a drug or alcohol overdose cannot be prosecuted in New York.

Bongiovi is the oldest of four children of Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea Hurley.

(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Andre Grenon)

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Rare Gene Mutation Affecting Immunity Linked to Alzheimer’s

Scientists working on two unrelated studies have reported a link between Alzheimer’s disease and a rare gene that affects a person’s immune system. They add credibility to recent thinking about the role of the immune system in the development of this form of dementia.

According to Medical News Today, research teams from University College London (UCL) and the Iceland-based company deCode Genetics concluded that a rare mutation in the gene known as TREM2 increases the risk of getting Alzheimer’s. This gene helps signal the immune system to mount responses to inflammation.

The Alzheimer’s Association says this disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. Of the top 10 causes, it’s the only one that can’t be prevented, cured, or slowed. One in every eight U.S. seniors lives with the disorder.

There are two forms of the disease. Early-onset Alzheimer’s affects people younger than 60. The late-onset form is far more common, according to PubMed Health.

Scientists from 44 institutions participated in the UCL-led study, which followed 25,000 individuals. They found a set of rare mutations that appeared more frequently in 1,092 Alzheimer’s patients than in the 1,107 healthy control-group subjects. The most common mutation was one called R47H, which the researchers learned significantly increases the chance of developing the illness.

The study led by deCode also noted a strong link between the R47H mutation and the disease. The researchers also discovered that older individuals who had the mutation but not Alzheimer’s had poorer cognitive function than normal. They identified nearly 41 million markers in individuals from the United States, Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands.

Earlier studies suggested that TREM2 is important in clearing cell debris and amyloid protein, a substance linked to Alzheimer’s brain plaques. The gene also helps control the body’s response to inflammation.

The results of these studies suggest that a TREM2 mutation raises the risk for developing Alzheimer’s between three- and four-fold. However, the researchers acknowledge the need for additional studies to clearly establish R47H as the culprit.

Like many individuals with a parent who suffered from Alzheimer’s, my husband has for years worried that each of his own memory lapses signaled the illness. His situation has been complicated by other conditions that cause short-term memory loss.

High-tech methods of studying genes like TREM2 bring with them a dilemma for individuals like him with a family history of certain illnesses. At the extreme, they face a quandary like that of individuals who had a parent with Huntington’s disease.

In the case of Alzheimer’s, knowing that not everyone with a mutation will develop the disease, should the offspring seek genetic testing? While the linking of a rare gene mutation to Alzheimer’s is a step forward, considerably more research is needed before at-risk individuals like my husband feel enthusiastic about the discovery.

Vonda J. Sines has published thousands of print and online health and medical articles. She specializes in diseases and other conditions that affect the quality of life.

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U.S. backs Israeli response to Gaza attacks

Israeli soldiers ride on top of an armored personnel carrier close to the Israel-Gaza border, in southern Israel. …The White House on Thursday threw its full support behind Israel's military response to a barrage of rockets fired by the Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip. Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said it would be "up to the Israeli government" whether to follow up punishing airstrikes with a ground assault.

"Our view is that the Israelis have the right of self-defense when their citizens are faced with the threat of indiscriminate rocket fire from within Gaza," Rhodes told reporters on a conference call.

Asked whether the Obama administration would have any issues with an Israeli ground assault, Rhodes replied that "ultimately, it's up to the Israeli government to make determinations about how they're going to carry out their military objectives."

The Associated Press has reported that Hamas fired more than 200 rockets on Thursday, killing three people, and that Israel seemed to be gearing up for a ground invasion of Gaza. The escalating conflict amounted to President Barack Obama's first major foreign policy test since winning re-election Nov. 6. Rhodes said American officials were in close consultation with their Israeli counterparts "to have an understanding of their plans going forward." The Obama administration has been in discussions with Turkey, Egypt and "some of our European partners," he said, thought to have sway over Hamas in order to get them to urge the militant organization to halt its rocket attacks.

"At the United Nations, where this is being discussed, we've sought to keep the focus where it should be—which is on Hamas's rocket fire as the precipitating cause here," Rhodes explained.

"What we've also said is that the best course of action would be for there to be a general de-escalation of the violence, but that the onus is on Hamas—and those with influence over Hamas—to help bring about that de-escalation, so that we don't see a widening conflict," he told reporters. "So we certainly want to see a de-escalation, we certainly want to see a broader conflict avoided."

The official noted that the White House has urged Israel to take "all steps ... to avoid civilian casualties." He added, "And we deeply regret the loss of life on the Israeli and Palestinian side."

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren briefed key senators on the operation. The lawmakers—Democrats and Republicans—released a joint statement expressing "solidarity" with Israel while warning that "escalation will only lead to further suffering on both sides."

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Egypt recalls envoy to Israel after Gaza strike

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt has recalled its ambassador to Israel after an Israeli airstrike killed the military commander of Gaza‘s ruling Hamas.

In a statement read on state TV late Wednesday, spokesman Yasser Ali said that President Mohammed Morsi recalled the ambassador and asked the Arab League‘s Secretary General to convene an emergency ministerial meeting in the wake of the Gaza violence.

Morsi also called for an immediate cease fire between Israel and Hamas, an offshoot of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. Israel says it struck in response to rocket attacks from Gaza.

Hours earlier, Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group denounced the Israeli airstrike as a “crime that requires a quick Arab and international response to stem these massacres.”

Relations between Israel and Egypt have deteriorated since longtime President Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year.

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Steve Wozniak, Danny Trejo to appear in 8-bit video game

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – When it comes to the iPhone, Steve Jobs created it, but Steve Wozniak got game.

The Apple co-founder will appear as a playable character in an upcoming iOS video game “Danny Trejo‘s Vengeance: Woz with a Coz.”

The game, slated to be released around November 22, puts Wozniak alongside “Machete” star Trejo in an 8-bit mobile game, fighting a city full of enemies with an assortment of weapons.

The plot is simple: “Woz” is forced to save his wife, J-Woz, after she is kidnapped by street thugs. Teaming up with Vengence, Woz tears up Fusion City in his quest to rescue her.

“Featuring an over-the-top, old school inspired action combined with a retro 8-bit and exciting gritty art style, players will enjoy Woz’s brain power, translator apps, Danny Trejo’s machetes, guns and other crazy upgrades,” a Facebook fan page devoted to the game says.

Other playable characters will include musician Baby Bash and MMA World Champion “Suga” Rashad Evans.

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NBC names new top producer for ‘Today’

NEW YORK (AP) — NBC News is staying in-house in its effort to turn around the “Today” show.

The network on Wednesday appointed a 23-year veteran of the morning news show as its new executive producer. Don Nash began working for “Today” as a production assistant in NBC’s Burbank office in 1989 and will now run the four-hour broadcast.

Nash was most recently senior broadcast producer in the show’s control room. He replaces Jim Bell, who shifted to NBC Sports to run its Olympics broadcasts.

After nearly two decades of dominance, “Today” has slipped behind ABC’s “Good Morning America” in the ratings.

NBC also added another layer of management for the show, appointing Alexandra Wallace as the network’s executive in charge of the program.

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FDA seeks more authority amid meningitis outbreak

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Food and Drug Administration asked Congress Wednesday for more authority to police pharmacies like the one that triggered a deadly meningitis outbreak, even as lawmakers questioned why the agency didn’t do more with its existing powers.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg called for new laws to clarify her agency’s authority to crack down on companies like the New England Compounding Center, which distributed contaminated pain injections that have sickened more than 460 Americans and caused 32 deaths.

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee spent most of the first hearing on the outbreak questioning state and federal regulators about why they didn’t act sooner against the company.

A timeline assembled by the committee’s Republican staff showed that the FDA and the Massachusetts board of pharmacy investigated the pharmacy more than a dozen times in the past decade. In particular, lawmakers pointed to a 2002 FDA inspection that found contamination issues with the same steroid implicated in the latest recall.

“I was stunned and angered to learn that an inspection of the NECC by the FDA and the Massachusetts board of pharmacy over 10 years ago identified contamination in the very same drug at issue in the current outbreak,” said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., who chairs the committee.

Hamburg told lawmakers that the problems uncovered in inspections were “very serious,” but that the agency was obligated to defer to Massachusetts authorities, who have more direct oversight over pharmacies.

Hamburg emphasized repeatedly the difficulty of taking action against compounding pharmacies, which have long operated in a legal gray area between state and federal law.

“The challenge we have today is that there is a patchwork of legal authorities that oversee the regulatory actions we can take,” said Hamburg, who was nominated to head the FDA by President Obama in 2009.

Compounding pharmacies traditionally fill special orders placed by doctors for individual patients, turning out a small number of customized formulas each week. They are typically overseen by state pharmacy boards.

In the last two decades some compounders, like the NECC, have grown into large businesses that ship thousands of doses of drugs to multiple states. Hamburg said that when her agency tries to intervene in those cases they face a “crazy quilt,” of court rulings, which are split on whether the federal government has authority over pharmacies.

Republicans pressed Hamburg to answer simple “yes or no” questions about the agency’s stance, to which she countered with lengthy, nuanced explanations. Lawmakers repeatedly accused the commissioner of evading their questions.

“You’re the grand poobah of the FDA and I’m asking you, ‘could you have prevented this tragedy?’ and you’re saying you couldn’t have because you don’t have jurisdiction,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., in one particularly heated exchange.

“No, I’m saying it’s very hard to know if any one action we might have taken would have stopped this terrible tragedy,” Hamburg said.

Even some Democrats, who normally side with Obama administration officials at such hearings, seemed to lose their patience.

“We have to figure out how to give you the jurisdiction to do what you need to do … and these inconclusive answers are not helping us,” said Rep. Diana DeGette, D- Colo.

In prepared testimony, Hamburg suggested putting in place a two-tier system in which traditional compounding pharmacies continue to be regulated at the state level, but larger pharmacies would be subject to FDA oversight. Hamburg said regulators would have to consider multiple factors, including how much interstate business a pharmacy does, to identify non-traditional compounders.

These non-traditional pharmacies would have to register with the FDA and undergo regular inspections, similar to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Large compounding pharmacies would also have to meet the more stringent manufacturing standards required of pharmaceutical companies.

Earlier in the hearing, the owner and director of the NECC declined to testify, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions in order to avoid self-incrimination.

Despite his silence, lawmakers repeatedly pressed Barry Cadden to account for the problems that led to the outbreak.

“Mr. Cadden, what explanation can you give the families who have lost their loved ones, and those who are gravely ill, for the actions of your company?” asked Stearns, who heads the subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

Flanked by two lawyers, Cadden told lawmakers, “Under advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer under basis of my constitutional rights and privileges, including the Fifth Amendment.”

Federal officials have opened a criminal investigation of Cadden and the NECC.

The Framingham, Mass.-based pharmacy has been closed since early last month, and Massachusetts officials have taken steps to permanently revoke its license.

Inspections last month found a host of potential contaminants at NECC’s facility, including standing water, mold and water droplets. Compounded drugs are supposed to be prepared in temperature-controlled clean rooms to maintain sterility.

Cadden appeared immediately after the widow of a longtime Kentucky judge, who died of fungal meningitis after receiving multiple doses of NECC’s steroid injection. Fungal meningitis causes inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord.

Speaking without notes, Joyce Lovelace told lawmakers of more than 50 years of marriage to 78-year-old Eddie Lovelace, who was a circuit judge before his death on Sept. 17 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“My family is bitter, we are angry, we are heartbroken and devastated. I come here begging you to do something about the matter,” Lovelace said.

Health officials say as many as 14,000 people received the methylprednisolone acetate steroid shots, mostly for back pain. The Centers for Disease Control later showed that at least two lots of the injections distributed to 23 states were contaminated with fungus. The outbreak was first discovered in September, though CDC officials say the earliest deaths connected to the outbreak date back to July.

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Clinton-Lewinsky 'spinners' resurface

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It's a case of déjà vu in D.C.: some of the same high-profile, high-priced handlers who played supporting roles in the scandal over President Bill Clinton's affair with intern Monica Lewinsky have re-emerged in the sex scandal that has toppled one U.S. national security chief and threatens another.

It is unclear what will be the roles of the expensive legal and crisis-management talent drawn into the uproar over the relationships between former CIA director David Petraeus and Marine General John Allen and two female acquaintances. Neither Republicans nor Democrats in Congress appear to have an appetite for another year-long Monica-style media spectacle.

The latest scandal began with an FBI investigation into cyber-harassment, and indications so far are that ultimately the inquiry will produce no criminal charges.

Nonetheless, both women at the center of attention - Petraeus biographer and former mistress Paula Broadwell and Tampa socialite Jill Kelley, the woman to whom Broadwell is alleged to have sent suspected harassing emails - have turned for advice to veteran Washington lawyers and spin doctors with connections to the Lewinsky brouhaha.

On Monday, a source close to the Kelley family said that two Washington-based players in the Lewinsky scandal, trial lawyer Abbe Lowell and public relations adviser Judy Smith, were working for Kelley.

A day later, a Washington law firm which represented Lewinsky herself confirmed that one of its partners, Robert F. Muse, was representing Broadwell. The three advisors either were unavailable for comment or declined to comment.

It is not known whether Petraeus or Allen, who is the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, have retained attorneys.

 

A complaint by Kelley to the FBI about the harassing emails sparked an investigation that implicated Petraeus in a career-ending affair with Broadwell.

It also embroiled Kelley herself in the uproar over her still-murky relationship with Allen.

Kelley's lawyer, Lowell, who an insider said she had known for years, served as pro-Clinton Democratic Party chief counsel on a House impeachment inquiry. Recently he won a partial acquittal and partial mistrial for John Edwards, a former Democratic U.S. senator and vice presidential candidate who had been indicted for misusing undeclared campaign funds to support his mistress.

During the Clinton sex scandal, Smith, a one-time press aide to President George H.W. Bush, served as Lewinsky's spokeswoman. Smith also represented NFL quarterback Michael Vick, who was charged and convicted in a dogfighting cruelty case.

Smith also is a model for the main character in the ABC-TV drama "Scandal," a prime-time series in which ace spin-doctor Olivia Pope, along with a team of spies and ex-convicts, not only manages to sort out or cover up sex and spy scandals but also carries on a secret affair with a fictional U.S. president.

Muse's senior partner, Jacob Stein, and another prominent criminal lawyer from a different firm, Plato Cacheris, represented Lewinsky personally in a criminal investigation of Clinton by special prosecutor Kenneth Starr and a congressional inquiry which led to Clinton's impeachment by the House of Representatives but subsequent acquittal by the Senate. Muse himself did not represent Lewinsky, according to Cacheris.

Starr and a substantial special prosecution team pursued Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal. Starr turned his evidence over to the Republican-controlled House, which in a nationally televised broadcast impeached Clinton for high crimes and misdemeanors.

But Republicans could not muster the two-thirds majority in the Senate needed to remove Clinton from office. Republicans later were punished at the polls for what many of them conceded was a perceived overzealousness in pursuing Clinton.

CONGRESS WARY OF SPECTACLE

Lewinsky's lawyers were critical in helping her negotiate a legal thicket that included dealing with Starr's criminal investigators and the impeachment inquiry launched by Congress; she testified in both investigations. Lewinsky was also besieged for months by the media; eventually her team arranged decorous interviews with U.S. and British television networks.

Mindful of how the Lewinsky scandal played out, officials familiar with the views of both senior Democrats and Republicans in Congress say that congressional leaders are keen to avoid turning the scandal into a public extravaganza, even though there remain many unanswered questions.

If there are no public congressional hearings or a criminal prosecution, it is unclear what Broadwell's and Kelley's legal and public relations teams would do, apart from trying to manage news coverage and the hordes of paparazzi and TV cameramen now outside their clients' homes.

Lewinsky's lawyer, Cacheris, told Reuters that from what he could see, at this point Broadwell and Kelley do not know if there will be any charges against them. "These people are getting lawyers to ensure there is no criminal case," he added.

But Eric Dezenhall, a Washington crisis management expert, said some clients did not understand that there was a limit to how much even the most skilled lawyer and public relations specialist could do.

"You have to be very selective in the cases you take because you're going to end up with some very disgruntled clients," Dezenhall said.

(Editing by Warren Strobel and Paul Simao)

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General investigated for emails to Petraeus friend

PERTH, Australia (AP) — In a new twist to the Gen. David Petraeus sex scandal, the Pentagon said Tuesday that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged “inappropriate communications” with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom Petraeus had an extramarital affair.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a written statement issued to reporters aboard his aircraft, en route from Honolulu to Perth, Australia, that the FBI referred the matter to the Pentagon on Sunday.

Panetta said that he ordered a Pentagon investigation of Allen on Monday.

A senior defense official traveling with Panetta said Allen’s communications were with Jill Kelley, who has been described as an unpaid social liaison at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., which is headquarters to the U.S. Central Command. She is not a U.S. government employee.

Kelley is said to have received threatening emails from Broadwell, who is Petraeus’ biographer and who had an extramarital affair with Petraeus that reportedly began after he became CIA director in September 2011.

Petraeus resigned as CIA director on Friday.

Allen, a four-star Marine general, succeeded Petraeus as the top American commander in Afghanistan in July 2011.

The senior official, who discussed the matter only on condition of anonymity because it is under investigation, said Panetta believed it was prudent to launch a Pentagon investigation, although the official would not explain the nature of Allen’s problematic communications.

The official said 20,000 to 30,000 pages of emails and other documents from Allen’s communications with Kelley between 2010 and 2012 are under review. He would not say whether they involved sexual matters or whether they are thought to include unauthorized disclosures of classified information. He said he did not know whether Petraeus is mentioned in the emails.

“Gen. Allen disputes that he has engaged in any wrongdoing in this matter,” the official said. He said Allen currently is in Washington.

Panetta said that while the matter is being investigated by the Defense Department Inspector General, Allen will remain in his post as commander of the International Security Assistance Force, based in Kabul. He praised Allen as having been instrumental in making progress in the war.

The FBI’s decision to refer the Allen matter to the Pentagon rather than keep it itself, combined with Panetta’s decision to allow Allen to continue as Afghanistan commander without a suspension, suggested strongly that officials viewed whatever happened as a possible infraction of military rules rather than a violation of federal criminal law.

Allen was Deputy Commander of Central Command, based in Tampa, prior to taking over in Afghanistan. He also is a veteran of the Iraq war.

In the meantime, Panetta said, Allen’s nomination to be the next commander of U.S. European Command and the commander of NATO forces in Europe has been put on hold “until the relevant facts are determined.” He had been expected to take that new post in early 2013, if confirmed by the Senate, as had been widely expected.

Panetta said President Barack Obama was consulted and agreed that Allen’s nomination should be put on hold. Allen was to testify at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. Panetta said he asked committee leaders to delay that hearing.

NATO officials had no comment about the delay in Allen’s appointment.

“We have seen Secretary Panetta‘s statement,” NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said in Brussels. “It is a U.S. investigation.”

Panetta also said he wants the Senate Armed Services Committee to act promptly on Obama’s nomination of Gen. Joseph Dunford to succeed Allen as commander in Afghanistan. That nomination was made several weeks ago. Dunford’s hearing is also scheduled for Thursday.

___

Associated Press writer Slobodan Lekic in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

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RIM sees BB10 devices in stores soon after launch

WATERLOO, Ontario (Reuters) – Research In Motion is confident its new BlackBerry 10 devices will be 100 percent ready for the January 30 launch and available in stores “not too long after” that, Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear said on Tuesday.

“We’re working hard right now to make sure all the bits and pieces and all the details are in place for the date, when the devices will be available for consumers and enterprises,” Tear told Reuters in an interview.

RIM, which virtually invented the concept of mobile email with its first line of BlackBerry devices more than a decade ago, was roundly criticized for the botched 2011 launch of its PlayBook tablet computer, which RIM had hoped would compete with Apple’s blockbuster iPad.

The PlayBook looked pretty and had top-of-the-line hardware. But its software was far from complete at the launch and needed multiple updates.

The device also lacked the library of apps available on the iPad and on devices that run on Google Inc’s competing Android operating system.

RIM says its the new devices will be faster and smoother than its existing phones and have a large catalog of applications that are crucial to the success of any smartphone.

The company hopes the new devices will allow it to claw back some of the market share it has lost to Android and Apple phones.

Tear said RIM has used input from current BlackBerry users to influence the design of the new devices, The new phones both build on the strengths of RIM’s existing operating system and improve on its weak points, he said.

RIM last month began carrier testing on the new devices, with an initial rollout to more than 50 carriers. Tear, who joined RIM a few months ago from Sony Mobile Communications, said RIM was expanding that to a wider group of carriers across the globe.

“We submitted to 50 carriers to begin with, and obviously that number is increasing as we move forward,” he said. “Our ambition is to make this a global launch, everything will not happen at the same time, but it will be a global launch.”

RIM has said it initially plans to roll out a high-end touchscreen version of the device. Phones with the mini QWERTY keyboards that many long-time BlackBerry users adore will come a few weeks later, while lower-end versions of both devices will be launched later in the year.

The company has yet to say exactly when the devices will be available in stores worldwide or how much they will cost.

“We have to agree with carriers as well on what they want to announce when, so it’s not absolutely to our own discretion,” Tear said.

COST CUTTING

RIM, whose share price has fallen more than 90 percent from a 2008 peak around $ 148, is part way through a major restructuring, as it seeks to trim costs in the run-up to the launch of the new devices.

The company, which has also said it is examining its strategic options, is lowering operating costs by about $ 1 billion and cutting about 5,000 jobs, or about 30 percent of its workforce, by the time its fiscal year ends in early March.

“We are on track to deliver on that,” said Tear. “It is an ongoing process, when it comes to efficiencies and costs.”

RIM’s Chief Legal Officer Steve Zipperstein said the company is pushing ahead with its strategic review.

“The process is ongoing and it continues to be a focus on RIM’s senior management, but we have nothing to report at this moment,” said Zipperstein.

RIM shares, which have risen slightly over the last couple of months in the run-up to the launch of BB10 devices, closed 4.7 percent lower at $ 8.40 on Nasdaq. RIM’s Toronto-listed shares fell by a similar margin to C$ 8.40.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Janet Guttsman, Leslie Adler and Tim Dobbyn)

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Twilight cast bids farewell at final premiere

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Thousands of screaming fans lined the black carpet late on Monday for the final “Twilight” film premiere as the cast of “Breaking Dawn – Part 2″ bid farewell to the franchise and its loyal followers.

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and other cast members greeted fans known as “Twi-hards,” many of whom had camped out for days in downtown Los Angeles to catch a glimpse of their favorite actors and see the film before it is released in theaters on Friday.

Breaking Dawn – Part 2 will see the love story of human Bella Swan (Stewart), vampire Edward Cullen (Pattinson) and werewolf Jacob Black (Lautner) come to a tantalizing end, when Bella and Edward are forced to protect their child from an ancient vampire coven.

Stewart, who was finally able to embrace her wild side by playing Bella as a vampire, hoped people would enjoy the ultimate transformation of her character in the film.

“Bella has worked pretty hard to get to the point where they can have it all, and it’s fun to be there. She’s always been human, but now that she’s not, you’re just in full blown vampire land and it feels funny in a great way,” Stewart told Reuters.

More than 2,200 fans from all over the world came to camp out on a concrete plaza in downtown Los Angeles last week, where Twilight movie studio Summit laid out activities and marathon screenings of the previous movies.

All of the film’s main actors spent time signing autographs and posing for photographs with the loyal fans who had camped out in chilly November weather over five days.

Pattinson, who plays vampire Edward Cullen, said he hoped the fans would like the franchise’s swan song.

“I hope they feel it kind of respects them, because I think in a lot of ways that’s what we were thinking when we were making it,” the actor said.

Lautner, who plays werewolf Jacob, said he’d be sad to say goodbye to the films and his character and hoped fans would be happy with the conclusion of the final film.

“I’m feeling fantastic, sad, emotional, there’s a lot of things going on inside of me right now but I’m just trying to soak up every moment because this means the world to me,” Lautner said.

The three lead stars were joined by fellow cast members including Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Jackson Rathbone, Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning, as well as director Bill Condon and author Stephenie Meyer, whose Twilight novels kicked off the franchise and phenomenon.

Meyer said she would miss watching the three lead cast members evolve as actors and characters in the films.

“It’s really been great to watch them grow up, particularly Kristen because her character gets to evolve so much in this film, and to watch her be all powerful and really get to where the character was always meant to go, to be the fiercest of the fierce, was really rewarding for me,” the author said.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Study suggests timing may be key in fish-asthma link

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Among thousands of Dutch children included in a new study, those who first ate fish between the ages of six months and one year had a lower risk of developing asthma-like symptoms later on than babies introduced to fish before six months of age or after their first birthdays.

According to lead author Jessica Kiefte-de Jong, of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, and her colleagues, one theory supported by the findings is that that early exposure to certain fatty acids in fish protects against the development of asthma.

The new results, based on more than 7,000 kids in The Netherlands, cannot prove that eating fish during a particular period in infancy prevented wheezing later on, but they add to other research that suggests a connection.

“The bottom line was that there is mixed evidence of whether the introduction of a seafood diet reduced the risk of asthma,” said Dr. T. Bernard Kinane, chief of the pediatric pulmonary unit for MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston, who was not involved in the new study.

Concern over seafood allergies prompts some parents and doctors to delay introducing fish into babies’ diets. However, some research has found that a mother’s fish consumption during pregnancy, or the baby’s consumption of it early on, may lower asthma risk.

To see whether the timing of a baby’s first encounter with fish was linked to differences in asthma rates later in childhood, Kiefte-de Jong’s team built on previous studies.

Using health and diet information from a group of 7,210 children born between 2002 and 2006 in Rotterdam, they found that 1,281 children ate fish in their first six months of life, 5,498 first ate fish in the next six months and 431 did not eat fish until after age one.

The researchers then looked at health records for when the children were about four years old, and how many parents reported that their kids were wheezing or short of breath.

Between 40 percent and 45 percent of parents of children who did not eat fish until after their first birthday said their kids wheezed, compared to 30 percent of kids who first ate fish when they were between six and 12 months old.

That, according to the researchers, works out to be about a 36 percent decreased risk of wheezing for the kids who first had fish between ages six months and one year.

Kids who first had fish before six months of age were at similar risk to those who were introduced to it after their first birthdays.

There was no significant association between the timing of fish introduction and shortness of breath.

“They found it was only protective between six and 12 months. That would make reasonable sense because that’s when the immune system is getting educated,” Kinane said.

He added that he was relieved the researchers also found no association between the amount of fish kids ate and their risk for asthma symptoms, which means that even a small amount of fish seems to be helpful.

“The reason I like that is that it reduces the risk of kids getting too much mercury,” said Kinane.

Although Kinane said introducing children to fish between six and 12 months of age may be worth doing, he noted the possibility that there could be other explanations for the finding.

For instance, families who feed their children fish earlier and more often may be different in a variety of ways from those who do not.

“I thought it was an OK study, but I think it needs to be validated again,” Kinane said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/X4kl8E Pediatrics, online November 12, 2012.

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