World leaders step up pressure on Gadhafi

The United States has frozen at least $30 billion in Libyan government assets, a U.S. Treasury official announced Monday -- one of a series of steps being taken by international leaders designed to break strongman Moammar Gadhafi's grip on power.
The $30 billion is the largest amount ever blocked under any sanctions program, according to David Cohen, the acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
American officials slapped the sanctions on Libya last Friday, and the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Libya on Saturday.
President Barack Obama met Monday with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss a variety of measures under consideration. Ban later told reporters that "further action may well be necessary."

Gadhafi "has lost his legitimacy when he declared war on his people," Ban said of the Libyan leader. "This is again a totally unacceptable situation. I sincerely hope and urge him to listen to the peoples' call. That's my message to him."
All options are still on the table, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
"Gadhafi and those around him must be held accountable (for any actions) which violate international legal obligations and common decency," she said. "Through their actions, they have lost the legitimacy to govern."
Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, called Gadhafi "delusional," adding that "when he (Gadhafi) can laugh when talking to American and international journalists while he is slaughtering his own people, it only underscores how unfit he is to lead and how disconnected he is from reality."
The imposition of a no-fly zone over certain portions of the increasingly chaotic country is among the courses of action being contemplated, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.
Carney indicated that exile is "certainly one option" for the Libyan leader. He also said that American officials are "actively reaching out" to Libyan opponents of the ruling regime, Carney said.
But any speculation on U.S. assistance to the Libyan rebels is premature, Rice said, calling it "unclear at this point who will emerge as the critical opposition element. We await to see how the opposition will coalesce."
Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan said the U.S. military is moving Navy ships closer to Libya.
Two U.S. Navy warships -- the carrier USS Enterprise and the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge -- are currently in the Red Sea and available to assist, U.S. military officials told CNN.
Lapan refused to indicate whether any American ground forces have been put on a heightened state of alert.
British PrimeMinister David Cameron echoed Washington's call for Gadhafi to step aside.
"We are taking every step possible to isolate the Gadhafi regime, deprive it of money, shrink its power and ensure that anyone responsible for abuses in Libya will be held to account," Cameron told members of Britain's parliament Monday.
In Brussels, the European Union banned the sale of arms and ammunition to Libya. It also prohibited any trade with Gadhafi's government that could lead to the acquisition of equipment that could be used for the repression of Libyans.
The EU also froze the assets of Gadhafi and five members of his family, while imposing a visa ban on Gadhafi and 15 other people tied to the regime's crackdown.
"The massive violence against peaceful demonstrators shocks our conscience," EU High Representative Catherine Ashton said. "It should also spring us into action."
Over the weekend, Italy suspended a treaty with Libya that includes a non-aggression pact, helping to pave the way for possible military action by U.S. or NATO troops. Italy is home to the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet.
Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, told CNN that Italy's suspension of the pact would not immediately suffice for military actions to be launched from that country.
The question, from the perspective of the Italian government, is "if you're really trying to think about military action, do you have some kind of authorization to do so?" he said in an interview. "You would need a U.N. mandate and possibly a NATO declaration or both, and there isn't anything like that on the table at the moment."
But, Volker said, others in the international community may soon have to decide whether to intervene militarily.
"At some point we have to face the question of are we willing to help them or not," he said.
The situation in Libya differs from that of Egypt, where the United States was trying to balance various interests, Volker noted. "We have no countervailing interests (here). ... (Gadhafi) has been a terrible dictator. He was a terror plotter. He blew up the plane in Lockerbie. So we have no reason not to be helping the people of Libya get rid of this tyrant."
Despite the growing international pressure, Gadhafi stood his ground Monday. Protesters fearful of violence stayed off the streets in Tripoli. Government officials warned that thousands of people could die if the popular uprising continues.
The death toll from the unrest -- now in its 14th day -- has already topped 1,000, according to a U.N. estimate.

Clinton noted Monday that U.S. humanitarian teams have been dispatched to Libya's borders at Tunisia and Egypt. Washington has set aside an additional $10 million for humanitarian aid, including medical supplies, she noted.

Source: CNN

Houston day care owner faces charges in deadly blaze

Texas authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the owner of a day care center, claiming four children died and three were injured in a fire last week after she left them alone with the stove on, authorities said Monday.
Authorities hope to detain 22-year-old Jessica Tata on a felony charge that she caused injury to a child, according to Donna Hawkins, a spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney's office. Other charges could come at a later date.
Tata had been licensed since March 1, 2010, with state authorities to run the residential day care center, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokeswoman Gwen Carter said. The facility was cited once -- and the issue was sufficiently addressed -- for not having a fire extinguisher or carbon monoxide detector before she got her permit, according to Carter.
The arrest affidavit, dated Sunday, claims that Tata "unlawfully and recklessly" caused "serious bodily injury" to at least one of the victims Thursday, after she left that child and six others unsupervised in the home day care and drove off in her car.
The blaze itself likely originated on an electric stove inside, which was on and had a pot on it containing oil, according to Houston Fire Department arson investigator Thomas Wood. A definitive cause for the fire will be announced once the investigation is complete.
Neighbors John Chestnut and Geoffrey Deshano told investigators that they heard Tata screaming soon after she pulled into her driveway and went to the front door, the arrest affidavit said. No other adults or day care employees were at the facility, the men said.
The two told reporters that Tata's car was full of groceries when she returned to the house, adding that they called 911 and tried to help get the children out as smoke seeped from the building.
"I came to the side of the house in the backyard and smashed one of the windows open, and I could see a kid having his hands out," Deshano told reporters. "I tried to grab him, but the smoke got into my face and my mouth and I couldn't breathe or see anything, and so I had to pull back,"
Chestnut added that he crawled into the house in an attempt to rescue the children.
"I can't see anything, it's hot and I'm coughing and can't breathe and all I hear are kids left and right saying, 'Help me, help me!' " he recalled.
There were seven small children, between 15 months and 3 years of age, inside Jackie's Child Care when firefighters came minutes later.
Hawkins said Tata will be charged with at least one count of reckless injury to a child involving serious bodily injury. If convicted on that one count alone, she would face two to 10 years in prison.
Emmanuel Kajoh, whose 19-month-old daughter Elizabeth died in the fire, described Tata as a "very good lady" who "loves kids." He told HLN's Vinnie Politan that he never had problems with the day care, calling the incident "unfortunate."
Still, for all his positive thoughts about Tata prior to this incident, Kajoh said he couldn't defend her actions last week.

"She had options to call people," he said of the day care owner's decision to leave the children unattended. "Even it is one child, not several children, that was a really bad decision. And it cost four lives."

Source: CNN

Egypt's attorney general forbids Mubarak from leaving country

Egypt's attorney general issued an order Monday freezing the assets of former President Hosni Mubarak and his family and prohibiting them from leaving the country.
Attorney General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud ordered the moves after Mustafa Bakri, a member of Egypt's parliament who lost his seat after filing corruption cases against various officials, provided documents indicating Mubarak's family has secret bank accounts totaling more than 200 million Egyptian pounds ($147 million), according to EgyNews.
"I submitted the corruption documents on Sunday night and on Monday morning I was called in by the public prosecutor for investigation, and he asked me to rush to his office." Bakri told CNN. "The attorney general, himself, went over the documents in my possession and then issued his orders to bar Mubarak and his family from travelling and to impound their assets."
Mahmoud ordered the freeze for property owned by Mubarak, his wife Suzanne, his two sons Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, and their wives and children, EgyNews reported. The seizures include "movable properties, real estate, stocks, bonds and various financial assets."
It wasn't immediately clear how the order differed from a similar one reported last week.
Mubarak, through his attorneys and in official filings, has described reports of immense wealth as "fabrications and baseless rumors."
But Bakri said the documents he provided to Mahmoud "are the first solid and concrete evidence on the fortune collected illegally by Mubarak and his family."

Mubarak, who resigned February 11 after 18 days of protest against his rule, is believed to be staying at his residence in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Source: CNN

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood seeks political party status

Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood will apply to become a political party, it announced Tuesday.
The Brotherhood "envisions the establishment of a democratic, civil state that draws on universal measures of freedom and justice, with central Islamic values serving all Egyptians regardless of colour, creed, political trend or religion," it said in the statement.
Although officially illegal, the Muslim Brotherhood is regarded as one of the most organized groups in Egypt.

It has said it does not plan to run a candidate for president when elections are held to replace Hosni Mubarak, who resigned on Friday.

Source: CNN

Dalai Lama's nephew dies in traffic accident

A nephew of the Dalai Lama died in northeast Florida Monday evening after he was hit by a car while walking along a highway.
"Yes, it is true unfortunately," said Tempa Tshering, a representative of the Dalai Lama in New Delhi, India.
Jigme Norbu, 45, was walking southbound along A1A in Flagler County when he was hit by a car driven by Keith O'Dell, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Norbu was taking part in a "Walk for Tibet" from St. Augustine to West Palm Beach, according to the Ambassadors for World Peace website.

Source: CNN

Palestinian leaders slam Al-Jazeera over alleged peace process leak

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas lashed out Monday at Al-Jazeera, calling the Arabic TV network's release of alleged secret documents from Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations "shameful."
"The report aired by Al-Jazeera is an intentional mixing between the many Israeli proposals and the Palestinian positions," Abbas said in Cairo, Egypt, in comments published by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
"We do not have anything secret to hide," he added. "All our negotiations and meetings and every issue discussed were presented to Arab countries with documents."
Dozens of Palestinians gathered Monday in central Ramallah, burning banners for Al-Jazeera and holding posters comparing the channel to Israel, Wafa reported.
The documents, which Al-Jazeera has dubbed "The Palestine Papers," suggest that Palestinian negotiators offered to give up large swaths of East Jerusalem to Israel during negotiations dating back to 2008. They suggest Palestinians have been willing to offer much larger concessions in private than previously acknowledged in public.
In one document from 2010, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Eraakat is quoted as telling a U.S. State Department official that the Palestinian offer would give Israel "the biggest (Jerusalem) in Jewish history."
In a statement Monday, Erekat said that "a number of reports have surfaced regarding our positions in our negotiations with Israel, many of which have misrepresented our positions, taking statements and facts out of context. Other allegations circulated in the media have been patently false."
He added, "Our position has been the same for the past 19 years of negotiations: We seek to establish a sovereign and independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and to reach a just solution to the refugee issue based on their international legal rights," and any proposed agreement "would have to gain popular support through a national referendum."
Abed Rabbo, one of Abbas' top advisers, accused Al-Jazeera of a "smear campaign."
"What happened is a manipulation of the documents and a misrepresentation of the facts and a true distortion, just for mockery and defiance," Abed Rabbo told reporters.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a representative for the Middle East Quartet, told CNN he does not believe Abbas would offer as much territory as the documents suggest. The Middle East Quartet -- composed of the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations -- has been trying to broker a peace deal.
"The idea that the Palestinian leadership had been offering concessions fundamentally in disagreement with the international negotiation that's known publicly is absurd," he said, adding that Palestinian leaders have "been sometimes probably too emphatic for the rest of us in their defense of Palestinian interests."
The U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, weighed in as well. "I can personally attest to the commitment of the Palestinian leadership to secure the legitimate rights and interests of the Palestinian people, based on international law and U.N. resolutions," he said, as quoted by Wafa.
While the Palestinian Authority controls the West Bank, the militant group Hamas controls Gaza. Hamas quickly pounced on the Al-Jazeera reporting, condemning the Palestinian Authority team and saying it "does not have credibility to negotiate because it offered essential concessions."
"All the doubts and all the concerns of the Palestinian people and the resistance were true," Oussama Hamdan, head of Hamas foreign relations, said Monday in a CNN interview from Lebanon. "Those negotiators have no credibility and they are not authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians because of the division, because there is no united Palestinian institution and because they don't have cards of power to negotiate with the Israelis."
Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, has carried out numerous terrorist attacks and is branded a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined to comment.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, speaking to Israel radio, pointed out that the alleged negotiations took place under former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a more left-wing government than Netanyahu's. "If the Olmert government was not able to reach an agreement despite the far-reaching concessions, everyone understands that a long-term interim agreement is what is needed," Lieberman said.
Yanki Galanti, a former Olmert spokesman, said an agreement was almost reached during negotiations between Olmert and Abbas from the end of 2006 to September 2008.
"After dozens of meetings ... there was a proposal that was reached. ... This offer was on all the issues we call core issues," Galanti told Israeli Army radio.
The core issues in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are considered to be the status of Jerusalem, borders and refugees.
Rabbo, the Palestinian official, condemned not only Al-Jazeera, but also the leadership of Qatar, where the network is based.
"This is a first-class political smear campaign and the decision comes from the highest level in Qatar," Rabbo said, adding sarcastically, "and we thank the emir of Qatar on his commitment to transparency and to deliver the truth to a wider audience."
Referring to the "transparency" that Al-Jazeera said it was offering with its reporting, Rabbo added, "We hope that they extend this so-called 'transparency' to the greatest degree and address the role of the U.S. base in Qatar in spying on the Arab countries, and talk about Qatari relations with Iran and Israel."
The government of Qatar had no immediate comment.
On its website, Al-Jazeera says it was "given unhindered access to the largest-ever leak of confidential documents related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are nearly 1,700 files, thousands of pages of diplomatic correspondence detailing the inner workings of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. These documents -- memos, e-mails, maps, minutes from private meetings, accounts of high level exchanges, strategy papers and even (PowerPoint) presentations -- date from 1999 to 2010."
The network added, "We believe this material will prove to be of inestimable value to journalists, scholars, historians, policymakers and the general public. We know that some of what is presented here will prove controversial, but it is our intention to inform, not harm, to spark debate and reflection -- not dampen it."
Rabbo, however, accused Al-Jazeera of plotting to weaken the Palestinian Authority and Abbas, Wafa reported.
He called on independent Palestinian organizations to set up a committee to look into the authenticity of the documents, according to Wafa.
He vowed that the Palestinian Authority will not take action against Al-Jazeera staff in the Palestinian territories, the report added.
Al-Jazeera is not disclosing the source of the documents it received "over the last several months."
CNN could not immediately verify the authenticity of the documents.
U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley tweeted Sunday night, "The U.S. government is reviewing the alleged Palestinian documents released by Al-Jazeera. We cannot vouch for their veracity."
"The U.S. remains focused on a two-state solution and will continue to work with the parties to narrow existing differences on core issues," Crowley added.
Al-Jazeera said it will be revealing the documents through Wednesday.
The documents outline meetings among Israeli, Palestinian and U.S. officials in which Palestinian negotiators offered in 2008 to relinquish claims on nearly all of the settlements built in East Jerusalem. The offer was flatly rejected by the Israeli side, according to the posted documents.
Israel seized the eastern half of Jerusalem following war with its Arab neighbors in 1967 and considers it the nation's sovereign capital. The claim is rejected by the international community, which considers Israeli building in East Jerusalem to be illegal. Palestinians want the eastern part of the city as the capital for their future state.
The leaked documents could prove to be politically damaging for Abbas. Officials from the Ramallah-based government have consistently condemned growing Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, and disclosures that Palestinians officials were willing to make offers that would allow Israeli construction to continue were being seized on by critics.
Sami Abu Zhuri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said the leaked internal documents about Palestinian concessions on East Jerusalem illustrate the collaboration between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. He accused the Abbas government of working with Israel to put an end to the notion of a Palestinian state.

In addition to details about concessions made on the issue of East Jerusalem, Al-Jazeera reported that Palestinian officials also offered compromise positions on sensitive issues such as the right of return of Palestinian refugees and control of the Temple Mount, where stands the Al-Aqsa mosque, one of the most important sites in Islam.

Source: CNN

Death toll from flooding in Brazil surpasses 800

Devastating floods in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state have killed more than 800 people, according to new government figures.
State authorities said late Sunday that 809 people were killed after flooding and massive mudslides flattened houses and wiped out entire neighborhoods in hillside towns.
The city of Nova Friburgo was the hardest hit, with at least 391 victims, Rio de Janeiro state government said.
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The flooding, caused by days of torrential rains, has left thousands of people homeless throughout the state, according to the government's tally.

Other states in the South American country have also seen heavy rainfall. Earlier this month, authorities in neighboring Sao Paulo state said flooding had killed 24 people.

Source: CNN

Son of former shah of Iran commits suicide

Alireza Pahlavi, son of the former shah of Iran, died Tuesday morning at his home in Boston, Massachusetts, a family spokesman said. The spokesman said it was a suicide.
Pahlavi, 44, was the son of the former shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in 1979 and died the following year in exile in Cairo, Egypt.
"It is with immense grief that we would like to inform our compatriots of the passing away of Prince Alireza Pahlavi," the family website said.
"Like millions of young Iranians, he too was deeply disturbed by all the ills fallen upon his beloved homeland, as well as carrying the burden of losing a father and a sister in his young life. Although he struggled for years to overcome his sorrow, he finally succumbed."
The family learned of the death Tuesday at 2:30 a.m., said spokesman Ahmad Oveyssi.
Born in Tehran on July 28, 1966, Pahlavi attended schools in Iran before traveling to the United States in 1979 during the Iranian revolution. He obtained a B.A. from Princeton University in 1984 and a masters degree from Columbia University in 1992 and attended Harvard University in pursuit of a Ph. D. in Ancient Iranian Studies.
In June 2001, Pahlavi's sister, Leila Pahlavi, also committed suicide.

He is survived by his mother, Farah Pahlavi, his older brother Reza, his sister Farahnaz and his half-sister Shahnaz.

Source: CNN 

Governor of Pakistan's Punjab province assassinated

The governor of Pakistan's Punjab province was assassinated by his own security guard Tuesday, according to Interior Minister Rehman Malik, apparently because he spoke out against the country's controversial blasphemy law.
The security guard was arrested, Malik said. The shooting occurred at Islamabad's Kohsar Market, which is frequented by foreigners.
The guard, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, confessed to assassinating Taseer because "he did blasphemy of the Prophet Mohammed," said Naeem Iqbal, spokesman for Islamabad police. Qadri told police Taseer had described the blasphemy law as "the black laws."
The blasphemy law makes it a crime punishable by death to insult Islam, the Quran or the Prophet Mohammed.

After the shooting, Qadri immediately surrendered to authorities, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported, citing Malik.
Taseer was leaving the market when he was shot. The APP said he had had lunch with a friend at a cafe in the market. Earlier, Iqbal had said Taseer had gone into the market to make some purchases. He was taken to a hospital following the shooting, but died, apparently from blood loss, officials said.
However, Dr. Sharif Astori, spokesman for Poly Clinic Hospital, told CNN Taseer was "already dead when he was brought into the hospital."
Astori said doctors accounted for 26 bullets in his body. Most of the fatal wounds were to his chest, face, neck and legs, he said. Some of the bullets passed completely through his body.
Taseer knew he was targeted by some because of his stance on the blasphemy law, P.J. Mir, a Pakistani journalist and friend of Taseer's, told CNN. Mir said Taseer told him when the two ate dinner together last week that he had already told his wife to consider herself a widow.
Taseer "really felt for the people, felt for the people of all religions" and was not afraid to stand up for the downtrodden, Mir said. "Today we've lost a very good man."
He said Tuesday was a tragic day for Pakistan.
A spotlight was put on Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law in November when a Christian woman, Asia Bibi of Punjab province, was sentenced to death for blasphemy. A court found the 45-year-old woman guilty of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed during a 2009 argument with fellow Muslim field workers.
An investigation by a Pakistani government ministry found the charges against Bibi stemmed from "religious and personal enmity" and recommended her release. The government also said it would review the law.
In remarks to CNN in November, Taseer said Pakistan's President, Asif Ali Zardari, would pardon Bibi if the courts did not.
"He's a liberal, modern-minded president, and he's not going to see a poor woman like this targeted and executed ... it's just not going to happen," he said.
"The blasphemy law is not a God-made law. It's a man-made law," he said. "... It's a law that gives an excuse to extremists and reactionaries to target weak people and minorities."
No "big, rich, powerful man" runs afoul of the law, he noted. "It's only the poor people who they want to, you know, either grab their property or threaten them or get into local disputes. So the law is actually an unfortunate leftover from a military regime. It has to go in due course or be amended, and I think the pressure is on us, is on the parliamentarians now," he said.
"People have spoken up, I'm very happy to say," he added. "I took the initiative and I think from all sides ... people are coming out and openly condemning the blasphemy law. I think that's encouraging."
Taseer said he would like to see the law "changed in such a way that it just basically says, if you insult any prophet, no matter who he is, that's a criminal offense, but certainly not punishable by death."
Reaction to the assassination from officials in Pakistan and beyond was swift. Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said in a statement he "strongly condemned" the incident. The Pakistan People's Party, the nation's ruling party, said it would observe two weeks of mourning over Taseer's death, according to GEO TV.
"I am shocked to hear of the assassination of Salman Taseer," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement. "His death will be a loss to the leadership of Pakistan."
In the wake of Taseer's death, Pakistan's minority minister pledged to continue pushing for amendments in the law.
"I will continue," Shahbaz Bhatti told CNN. "I will campaign for this... these fanatics cannot stop me from moving any further steps against the misuse of (the) blasphemy law."
Asked if he was in fear of his own life, Bhatti said he was not, but "I am getting threats. I was told by the religious extremists that if you will make any amendments in this law, you will be killed. But I am ready to sacrifice my life for the principled stand I have taken because the people of Pakistan are being victimized under the pretense of blasphemy law."
The English-educated Taseer created "a host of highly successful businesses," according to his official website, and is "the pioneer of cable television in Pakistan." He introduced the first English news channel in Pakistan, Business Plus.
His website describes Taseer as an activist who stood up to Pakistan's previous military leadership, calling it a "brutal and medievalistic dictatorship." He was arrested a total of 16 times, according to the website, placed on house arrest several times and spent time in "jails around the country."
He married twice and had six children, according to his website, which also contained a quote from him: "You live life once, you live it by your principles and you live it courageously -- that's what it's about." He lived in Lahore, Pakistan.
Taseer's official Facebook page lists his favorite books as Niccolo Machiavelli's "The Prince" and biographies "of everyone -- from Napoleon to Richard Branson to Hugh Hefner."

He had been governor of Punjab province since May 2008.

Source: CNN 

Ouattara supporter killed in Abidjan

The government of self-proclaimed President Laurent Gbagbo anounced Tuesday that a supporter of Alassane Ouattara was killed during a pre-dawn raid in Abidjan.
The raid took place around 5 a.m. in the Cocody neighborhood at the party headquarters of a key member of the pro-Ouattara political coalition that backed him for the runoff, the government said on national television.
"Sixty-three persons have been detained, eight injured, including seven police officers," said an Interior Ministry spokesman.
"The supporter died of his wounds... he was armed with a knife and had tried to attack police officers and gendarmes," added the spokesman, who identified the victim as a northern tribesman.
Police seized machetes, knives, daggers and traditional protection amulets associated with armed rebels, the spokesman said.
The raid took place after police received complaints about attacks against local residents carried out by the occupants of the building, said the spokesman.
Residents interviewed on the scene after the raid reported that supporters of Ouattara had been camping in the bulding since the November 28 election runoff, which international observers say was won by Ouattara.
The residents said the group had been involved in violence in the neighborhood, including robbing a bakery and clashing with pro-Gbabgo students from a nearby campus.
Two U.N. vehicles appeared on the scene following the raid, but were ordered to leave by police forces loyal to Gbagbo.
In the afternoon, the building was guarded by police officers who said no more supporters remained inside.
The incident came on the same day that talks between Ivory Coast's political rivals and African mediators failed to break the political impasse that has left Gbagbo clinging to power, despite international pressure for him to step down.
President-elect Ouattara has said he will not meet with Gbagbo until Gbagbo acknowledges electoral defeat.
"Ouattara has always been clear on this issue since the beginning," said Patrick Achi, Ouattara's spokesman.
However, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the envoy for the African Union, urged patience in resolving the crisis through negotiations.
"Military action will cost lives and we want to avoid that," Odinga told CNN.
The Kenyan leader, who visited Abidjan on Monday along with a delegation representing West African states, said Gbagbo agreed to negotiate a peaceful end to the crisis without conditions.
But Ouattara will not negotiate until he is recognized as the legitimate president and Gbagbo lifts a siege on the waterfront Golf Hotel, where Ouattara has been holed up since the runoff, Odinga said.
Gbagbo, who has given no sign that he is retreating from his claim to the presidency, told the African leaders he would pull back his military by noon Tuesday, but Ivorian forces remained at the hotel in the evening.
"The (African Union's) position is that Ouattara is the president," Odinga said. "The option that Laurent Gbagbo has is to negotiate a decent exit with guarantees."
African leaders have urged Ouattara to ensure that Gbagbo and his supporters will not be persecuted if he steps down.
ECOWAS has threatened to use "legitimate force" to remove Gbagbo and called a two-day meeting of its defense chiefs January 17 to plan steps if he has failed to step down by then.
Gbagbo has said he wants an an international committee to recount the vote.

Odinga said Tuesday that a recount was no longer possible because the election documents have been in the custody of Gbagbo's supporters who could have tampered with them.

Source: CNN 

Repealing 'don't ask, don't tell': the next steps

Although Congress has now voted to repeal the military's controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy, it will be at least a few months before the historic change takes effect.
President Barack Obama will sign the repeal on Wednesday morning, the White House says, setting the stage to allow gay people to serve openly in the armed forces. But the Pentagon has an 87-page implementation plan for the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." Over the next several weeks, military officials need to examine and rewrite a series of policies, regulations and directives related to the current law.
Once that potentially lengthy process is complete, Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen will each have to certify that the repeal can move ahead without negatively affecting unit cohesion and military readiness.
After the certification, another 60 days will need to pass before the repeal is officially enacted.
Even after the repeal, gay and lesbian service members will not have every right and privilege accorded to heterosexual members of the military, largely because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
-- all of whom identified themselves as gay but who do not want to be identified -- expressed relief at the congressional decision to repeal "don't ask, don't tell."
One member currently serves in the Air Force, while another serves in the Navy. The third referred to himself only as a military officer.
None of the three said the impending repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" would have a dramatic impact on their day-to-day life. They said they don't plan on revealing their sexual orientation to anyone who isn't already aware of it.
They predicted little drama on the day the repeal takes effect, contending that few people currently hiding their sexual identity would make any sort of public declaration.
All three said that passage of the repeal would make it more likely that they will remain in the military for a longer period of time.

A Pentagon study released this month concluded that allowing openly gay or lesbian troops to serve in the military would have little lasting impact on the U.S. armed forces. Opposition to the change was much higher in Army and Marine combat units than in the military as a whole.

Source: CNN

Severe weather crowds European airports with frustrated passengers

Frustrated passengers crammed Europe's major airports Monday as heavy snowfall forced new cancellations and delays for fliers across the continent.
London's Gatwick Airport was closed until Tuesday morning after 5 cm (2 inches) of snow fell in an hour Monday night, airport officials reported. Airport staff was working to make stranded passengers "as comfortable as possible," but it advised other travelers to check before they left for the airport to make sure their flights were still scheduled.
And London's Heathrow Airport, Britain's busiest, only a third of scheduled flights were likely to operate Monday night, according to Donna O'Brien, head of commercial communications for Heathrow Airport operator BAA. Many of those stranded there may not get their Christmas wish of being home for the holidays, she added.
"Passengers should anticipate further delays and cancellations in the following days and potentially beyond Christmas Day," O'Brien said. Airlines are currently updating which flights have been cancelled and the airport is showing the latest available flight information on its website, she said.
British Airways announced earlier Monday it had canceled all short-haul flights from Heathrow, but an airport official told CNN that other carriers' short-haul flights were still operating. Passengers who use the Heathrow Express to travel to and from the airport on Monday are being offered the service free of charge. Tickets normally cost between 16 and 30 pounds ($25 to $46) for single and return trips.
Only one of Heathrow's runways had been operational earlier Monday, a day after almost all flights at one of the world's busiest international airports were canceled.
Hundreds of thousands of people were left stranded over the weekend, with many sleeping at the airport. Many have sent their stories in to CNN's iReport.
"We're still standing by for someone to tell us what's happening," one frustrated passenger complained after spending several hours at the airport and having at least two flights canceled.
"It's a total disaster," said another stranded passenger. Other passengers voicing their concerns to CNN said they received no offers of assistance from the airport, including food or a hotel room.
Passengers headed to Heathrow from Brussels airport will get there by coach or boat, after a shortage of de-icing liquids at Brussels Airport caused more airline delays, its website said.
Paris Charles de Gaulle airport was set to cancel 30% of flights Monday, as was the city's second airport, Orly, Aeroports de Paris said.
And Frankfurt airport in Germany called off 325 flights out of a scheduled 1,300 to 1,400, spokesman Robert Payne said. Some of that is because of the weather in Germany and some of it is because of flight disruptions at other airports, he added.
The airport, Europe's third busiest, has 450 people working "around the clock, deicing and removing snow," he said.
Lufthansa airline announced it was gradually expanding its schedule after massive cancellations of its flights into and out of Frankfurt, Germany, to European destinations. A statement on its website advised travelers to exchange their air tickets for train tickets.
The company said it expects that "its scheduled services will largely be back to normal by Tuesday evening." Long-haul flights were being flown Monday, it said.
In other travel news:
-- Berlin airport in Germany was open, with some cancellations and delays, a spokesman said.
-- Temperatures hit a record low in Northern Ireland overnight, the Met Office said, with 18 degrees below zero Celsius (zero degrees Fahrenheit) recorded in Castlederg, County Tyrone. There is no sign of a thaw, forecasters say.
-- British Airways advised travelers to check flight status at www.ba2go.com, but people report difficulty accessing the website.
Eurostar will operate a restricted service for the rest of the week, a representative said, because of bad weather, speed restrictions placed on Eurostar's high speed lines, have added up to two hours to journey times.
Lines outside London's St. Pancreas terminal are so long, Eurostar asked passengers not to come to the station, even if they have a booking. They are, however, offering refunds and exchanges to inconvenienced passengers.
Ground travel in France was also snarled by heavy snowfall and cold temperatures. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said Sunday that French authorities reported they are preventing all cargo trucks and buses from using roads in northern France and the greater Paris metropolitan area, and that car travel is "unadvisable." Air and rail services were also affected, the office said.
The adverse weather in France affected pop singer Lady Gaga, who said on her Facebook page that all 28 of her tour trucks had been detained by the government for more than 24 hours.
A Lady Gaga concert set for Sunday night was rescheduled for Tuesday, according to the website of the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, where it was to be held. A Monday concert remains scheduled.
Paris police said that since noon Saturday, more than 1,300 trucks had been barred from entering Paris, and no trucks were being allowed to circulate in the city.
"We've got a few thousand people that have, unfortunately, had to spend the night," said Andrew Teacher, another spokesman for the company at operates Heathrow, on Sunday. "We've been making them as comfortable as possible with blankets, with food and water."
Teacher said ice was the main problem affecting flights.
"We are extremely sorry for the disruption that's been caused to people's journeys today, but the decision has been made simply to avoid any kind of potential risk," Teacher said.
"These are absolutely ... freak weather conditions," he added. "We've not seen a storm like this in 20 years."

Source: CNN

U.N. Security Council extends peacekeepers' time in Ivory Coast

The United Nations Security Council on Monday extended its peacekeepers' mission in Ivory Coast through June 30, despite an expulsion order days earlier by the West African nation's disputed incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo.
The peacekeepers' mission had been scheduled to end December 31.
Head of U.N. peacekeeping Alain Le Roy told reporters Monday that the council's decision was unanimous.
"We consider it's not right for us to leave. We have a mandate to fulfill and we are not going to leave," Le Roy said.
"We are resupplying," he added. "We know it's going to be very delicate and dangerous. That's why it's so important to have unanimous support of the council."
Meanwhile, Gbagbo is considering hiring an objective outside mediator to investigate allegations of election fraud, according to a prominent American attorney hired by him to advise on options for resolving the crisis.
But the U.N. Security Council joined several other world bodies in calling for Gbagbo to step down after a contested election, with many world leaders saying Alassane Ouattara won the November runoff.
On Monday, the Obama administration joined that international chorus.
"The results are clear, and it's time for him to go," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said of Gbagbo.
Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to United Nations, said Monday that she was aware of reports of Gbagbo hiring mercenaries. Le Roy confirmed later Monday that some mercenaries are working with Ivorian forces.
"If they are confirmed, they would be of grave concern not only to the United States but to the entire Security Council," Rice said.
A U.N. spokesman said Monday that "any attack on peacekeepers will be held accountable."
Lanny Davis, who served as special counsel to President Bill Clinton for two years, said Gbagbo is renouncing the violence that has enveloped Ivory Coast since its disputed presidential election.
Davis said he suggested the government hire former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who helped resolve violence in the Ivory Coast in 2005, or some other world leader respected by all parties to seek resolution to the country's presidential election dispute.
Ivory Coast's Independent Electoral Commission declared Gbagbo's main challenger Alassane Ouattara the winner December 2, but the country's Constitutional Council, closely aligned with Gbagbo, threw out some votes from the Ouattara-friendly Northern areas due to what it said were "flagrant irregularities." Gbagbo refuses to step down.
"I've urged the Ivory Coast government to be fully transparent as to all the reasons why the Constitutional Council determined that Gbagbo was the winner," Davis said at a press briefing Monday.
The government said in a statement that it has obtained videotape depicting incidents of voter suppression and intimidation of Gbagbo supporters, along with other evidence of fraud.
Davis, who insisted he is not trying to prove who won the election, said the international community should reserve judgment until all the facts are thoroughly examined.
State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday the United States is continuing to prepare targeted sanctions on Gbagbo, his immediate family, and his inner circle, but that any travel sanctions would not impede his ability to leave the country.
"Nothing that we decide to do would impede his stepping down and making way for the government of President-elect Ouattara," Crowley told reporters.
Davis said he has not personally spoken with Gbagbo.
"Mr. Gbagbo opposes violence and has authorized me to say he wants a mutual renunciation of violence and calls on Mr. Ouattara to join him on putting the arms down and let's sit down and talk," Davis said.
"He's not saying my way or the highway," Davis said.
But in a statement Saturday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "the international community has spoken with one voice regarding Mr. Gbagbo's attempt to hold on to power," noting statements also from the African Union and Economic Community of West African States.
Gbagbo has remained defiant, and earlier Saturday he ordered all U.N. peacekeeping forces out of the country.
Ban responded by saying the peacekeepers will remain to "monitor and document any human rights violations, incitement to hatred and violence, or attacks on U.N. peacekeepers."
Two U.N. military observers were hurt Saturday in an attack by what Ban called "Young Patriots," according to the statement issued by the secretary-general.
On Friday, six armed men wearing military uniforms and traveling in a civilian vehicle opened fire on U.N. peacekeepers in Sebroko, according to a statement Saturday on the peacekeeping operation's website. The U.N. troops returned fire. There were no reports of injuries.
Ban reiterated Saturday that "any attack on U.N. forces will be an attack on the international community and those responsible for these actions will be held accountable."
"There will be consequences for those who have perpetrated or orchestrated any such actions, or (who) do so in the future," Ban said.
The Gbagbo government accuses the U.N. of providing military and logistical support to the former rebels, who are backers of Ouattara's. In a Friday national television appearance, Ivory Coast Army Col. Gohourou Babri accused the United Nations of transporting armed Ouattara supporters to various sites across the country to launch attacks.
Babri said four former rebels were killed Saturday in an attack by government forces on a camp in Trebissou near the cease-fire line. His claims could not be immediately verified.
And at least nine unarmed protesters in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's largest city, were shot and killed by security forces during demonstrations Thursday, witnesses told Amnesty International. The violence erupted as troops loyal to the incumbent president and supporters of his challenger confronted each other.
Ban said Friday that Gbagbo's efforts to stay in power "cannot be allowed to stand," adding that anything other than his removal from office "would make a mockery of democracy."

"The results of the election are known. There was a clear winner. There is no other option," Ban said.

Source: CNN

Kosovo's PM fires back over stolen organs report

Kosovo's prime minster lashed out at critics Monday over a recent report alleging that officials may have stolen organs from prisoners of war and political rivals, calling it "pure fabrication." European authorities charged in a report released last week that executives who control the country may have stolen organs when the Kosovo Liberation Army was fighting Serbian forces in the late 1990s.
"It is a political accusation based on no facts or proof," Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said. "Therefore, it is a pure fabrication."
The report says Thaci, a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, was the "boss" of a prominent faction in the militia that "apparently wrested control" of "illicit criminal enterprises" from rivals across the border in Albania.
"Numerous indications seem to confirm that ... organs were removed from some prisoners ... to be taken abroad for transplantation," read the report.

It suggested that illegal organ trafficking continued after the war ended.
And links between "criminal activity" and "certain KLA militia leaders ... has continued, albeit in other forms, until today," the report charges.
Thaci said he is looking into all legal and political possibilities to correct what he sees as the report's inaccuracies. It was not immediately clear what action he planned to take.
"It is a lie for which Dick Marty will be accountable," the prime minister said of the author of the draft report.
Nearly 1,900 people who disappeared during the conflict still have not been found, and another 500 disappeared after NATO troops arrived in June 1999, according to Marty.
The report is based partially on investigations by European Union officials and was written for the Council of Europe's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.
European Union officials in Kosovo have said that anyone with concrete evidence of war crimes or organized crime should step forward.
Kosovo was a province of Serbia but declared independence in 2008. About 70 countries have recognized the declaration, but Serbia does not, and international organizations including the United Nations and European Union continue to have administrators in Kosovo.
The Council of Europe, an organization with 47 member countries, seeks to promote democracy and human rights. The council's parliament plans to debate the report in January.

"This (report) of course is a blow (for Kosovo), but this challenge will be overcome because it has nothing in common with the truth, and the truth is that Kosovo is a story of success," Thaci said.

Source: CNN

Residents of South Korean island fleeing ahead of military drills

Amid South Korean plans to hold live-fire military drills this week and North Korean threats of retaliation, many residents of Yeonpyeong Island are evacuating, afraid of being caught in the middle.
Villagers streamed onto what they believed was the last ferry to Incheon, South Korea, on Sunday, carrying what belongings they could. Some were holding their children as others helped the elderly.
"I'm leaving because they said the drills are tomorrow," said Kim Ok Jin, 66.
Kim said the island was once a good place to live and she does not want to leave.
"Of course I'm angry," she said. "But that's not going to change anything."
Many Yeonpyeong residents are evacuating for a second time. This time, however, they have warning. On November 23, they had none before North Korea began shelling the island. Two civilians and two South Korean Marines died in the attack.
The South Korean military said Thursday that its drills will take place in the seas southwest of Yeonpyeong Island between December 18 and 21, but bad weather forced a delay Saturday. South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported the drills will take place Monday or Tuesday in the Yellow Sea off the island.
As villagers departed, few signs of life remained on the island -- only military trucks patrolling and waiting for possible North Korean retaliation for the drills.
Not everyone on Yeonpyeong, however, was leaving. Song Young Ok said she has not been told to stop selling tickets for the ferry off the island, and doesn't know when the military drills will take place.
Song said she is planning to stay put, holed up along with others in a military bunker.
She said she doesn't know why it has to be this way -- if South Korea carries out the drills, North Korea has threatened to retaliate even more strongly. South Korea's insistence on conducting the drills is picking a fight, she said.
Others were more optimistic. "It's OK," said ferry passenger Lee Chun Nyeo, 83. "The soldiers need to do (the exercises), right?"
Yeonpyeong is located just south of the Northern Limit Line, the line drawn in 1953 by the United Nations just after the Korean War. The U.N. drew the line three nautical miles from the North Korean coast and put five islands close to the coast under South Korean control.
That was supposed to be a temporary arrangement. But in the absence of a full peace agreement, the Northern Limit Line remains in place.
North Korea has suggested an alternative line, but South Korea has resisted, as it would bring the North's maritime boundary close to Incheon, a main port.
Waters in the Yellow Sea are important for fishing and crab. For North Korean fishermen especially, the blue crab season between June and September is an important source of income. Crabs have a habit of migrating south during that time, so the water is sometimes crowded with boats from both countries, as well as vessels from China. However, the Yellow Sea has seen armed clashes in the past few years, the most serious of them in 1999 and 2002.

China and Russia have asked South Korea to reconsider holding the drills. Russia called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sunday.

Source: CNN

U.N.: Thousands flee Ivory Coast amid fears of regional conflict

A political standoff has forced nearly 4,000 citizens of northwest Ivory Coast to flee to neighboring countries, prompting fears of regional insecurity, according to the United Nations.
The disputed presidential election outcome between opposition leader Alassane Ouattara and incumbent Laurent Gbagbo has threatened to derail a fragile peace process in the west African nation.
The renewed refugee flow has also put neighboring Liberia and Guinea on high alert.
"In my village the majority voted massively for President Laurent Gbagbo, and [the New Forces soldiers] threatened us because of that. They came to our houses and started to harass us, to mistreat us," said Jean-Jacques Issignate, 19, from Nyale, an Ivorian village along the Guinea border. "We fled to the forest ... I spent one week in the forest."
Provisional results from a November presidential runoff intended to end more than 10 years of civil war showed Ouattara as the winner with a nearly eight-point margin.
Earlier this month, the nation's highest court, headed by an ally of Gbagbo, canceled thousands of votes from the north -- Ouattara's stronghold -- and declared Gbagbo the winner with 51 percent of the vote.
Both candidates have said they won and set up parallel governments in the city of Abidjan, where violence between their supporters has killed dozens since results were announced.
Britain's Foreign Office Sunday urged British people to leave the country "due to the threat of widespread instability and violence in Abidjan and other major cities."
Ouattara has unanimous international support. He urged his supporters to forcefully "liberate" the country's national television station and parliament building, sparking a standoff with soldiers loyal to Gbagbo.
The U.N. security council and other world bodies called for Gbagbo to step down, with many world leaders saying Ouattara won.
Political intimidation has forced nearly 4,000 Ivorians to flee to neighboring Liberia and Guinea, according to the U.N. High Commission for Refugees.
Red Cross representatives in Guinea say many more have been separated from their families.
"They're spread out all over. There are others who are in the bush, there are others who we haven't seen, there are small children who have come here without their brothers, there are mothers who are still in the bush, there are fathers who fled to Liberia," said Mayoh Bohmimy, who is managing a U.N.-sponsored camp for displaced Ivorians in Bossou, a Guinean village near the Liberian border.
Clutching silver pots and pans, and hoisting plastic buckets filled with clothes and blankets on their heads, Ivorians such as Jean-Jacques fled without food and water for days.
Their new neighbors include wild chimpanzees that inhabit a reserve in Bossou.
Sebastien Gome, 18, is a Ouattara supporter who left town because his parents had voted for Gbagbo.
He said he found many people sleeping in the forest after he split with his parents for safety.
"I arrived by bicycle at the border, but they told me the road was closed and I should turn around. I had to pass by the forest. I saw many people there so I spent the night with them ... they had set up a tarp and we slept underneath it," he said. Eloi Onseu, a farmer from Nyale, sought refuge in Guinea.
"Our village was majority Gbagbo, so the New Forces were not happy with that," he said. "They entered the village around 3 p.m. one day and started to beat people."
Onseu said they beat residents and and shot in the air.
"That was when people started to flee," he said.
Authorities for the New Forces denied any violence or the existence of refugees.
"We heard reports of Ivorian refugees who fled to Guinea, which is surprising because we haven't seen any ... everything is fine here and people are living in harmony," said Lounceny Ouattara, a commander in the New Forces army.
Meanwhile Sunday, Navi Pillay, the United Nations' high commissioner for human rights, warned of "growing evidence of massive violations of human rights," according to a statement.
Pillay said that more than 50 people have been killed in the past three days and more than 200 injured.
"When people are victims of extrajudicial killings there must be an investigation, and there must be accountability," Pillay said. "However, the deteriorating security conditions in the country and the interference with freedom of movement of U.N. personnel have made it difficult to investigate the large number of human rights violations reported."
The tensions in Ivory Coast have spiked fears that refugees could destabilize neighboring states, and armed groups could attack across porous borders.
"There is the risk any time conflict flares up that ex-combatants ... will follow the potential looting and fighting opportunities in neighboring countries, and will thus become active fighters again, setting the process of post-conflict peace-building back to zero," said Mike McGovern, an expert on Ivory Coast at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Astrid Castelein, interim head of UNHCR's operations in southeast Guinea, said that contingency plans have been set up in all countries bordering Ivory Coast amid fears of a conflict.
"We have about 3,500 refugees in Liberia, here we have 227 registered by today, and we are really preparing for an emergency situation especially in Liberia where there is already a big amount and they are facing already hard challenges in housing and foodstuffs," Castelein said.
Guinea has mobilized a special commando force to patrol its borders with Ivory Coast since the start of the Ivorian election process, while Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf recently warned ex-rebels in her country not to get involved in Ivory Coast's problems.
The southeastern forest region in Guinea saw an influx of refugees from civil wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast in the past two decades, and the country's authorities are keen to avoid a similar situation.
Guinean forces are on high alert and have been ordered to patrol the dirt roads, tall grass and thick forest that separate the country from Ivory Coast.
But villagers threatened by political intimidation are concerned about their safety.

"Bullets don't have bias toward supporters of Ouattara or Gbagbo," Onseu said. "I want peace in my country so that my family and I can return home."

Source: CNN

Protests erupt after Lukashenko appears to win Belarus election

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, once called "the last dictator in Europe" by a U.S. official, easily won re-election in voting Sunday, according to exit polls reported by several media outlets.
Meanwhile, opposition candidates were protesting in the capital city of Minsk and clashing with police. Two opposition candidates were injured, one reportedly seriously.
Several hundred protesters were arrested and taken away by riot police, according to journalist Alexander Lukashuk. They were herded into about 20 trucks and driven off, he said.
The square outside government headquarters in Minsk was cleared of protesters as of about 11:50 p.m. (4:50 p.m. ET), he said, although a few hundred stragglers could still be seen waving flags in groups. Streets were closed and police cordoned off the area.
One demonstration was in support of presidential candidate Vladimir Neklyayev, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
Neklyayev was hurt in clashes with riot police, another candidate, Nikolay Statkevich, told Interfax, and was taken away unconscious to his office. His spokeswoman, Yulia Ymashevskaya, told Interfax he had been badly beaten. Statkevich and Neklyayev's attorney were also injured, she said.
Lukashuk told CNN Neklyayev was attacked by people in civilian clothes.
Neklyayev was treated by paramedics, Ymashevskaya told Interfax. State-run Russian news agency RIA-Novosti later reported he was hospitalized with a head injury.
"I was beaten and Neklyayev was beaten and he lost consciousness," Statkevich told RIA-Novosti. He said the special forces used noise grenades and batons.
Authorities used stun grenades on the demonstrators as they headed toward the square, Interfax reported. However, several thousand people gathered in the square, chanting "For Belarus!" Some of them were waving flags with the symbol of the Christians Democratic Party, led by candidate Vitaly Rymashevskuy.
Police were using force to push the protesters back and disperse them, Lukashuk said. He said no shots were fired, but beatings were taking place.
Police turned the downtown square into a skating rink to head off the protests, RIA-Novosti said. Organizers told supporters to bring salt and sand to throw on the ice.
Lukashenko, who has been in office since 1994, was running against nine other candidates, according to the Central Election Commission. National polls showed he enjoys wide support of the electorate.
Belarus' official news agency, the Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTa), estimated voter turnout at 84%. Lukashenko garnered some 76.4% of the vote, it reported, citing exit polls. Interfax said Lukashenko got 79.1% of the vote, citing another exit poll. State-run Russian news agency RIA-Novosti gave 76.4% of the vote to Lukashenko.
Four of Lukashenko's nine rivals received a vote share of a little more than 3% each, BelTa reported.
Andrei Sannikov, a former diplomat who wants to see Belarus as a member of the European Union, was one of the main opposition leaders. The two others are Yaroslav Romanchuk and Neklyayev.
Economist Romanchuk, a candidate from the United Civil Party, has been prolific in publicizing his views on economic reforms. Meanwhile, Neklyayev ran a social campaign, "Tell the Truth!" He was arrested for participating in public protests earlier this year and later released.
Preliminary results show that at least 10% of eligible voters cast their votes early, as voting was held earlier this week for those unable to make it to the polls Sunday.
On December 4, state television broadcast live pre-election debates for the first time since the 1994 presidential race. Lukashenko and Neklyayev chose not to participate.
The contestants were also allowed two half-hour slots on primetime national television to address the Belarusians, according to a news release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. All candidates except for Lukashenko used this opportunity during the campaign.
In 2006, security forces cracked down on protesters in the aftermath of the elections, fearing the replication of a Color Revolution in Belarus. In neighboring Ukraine, the Orange Revolution deposed the regime of Leonid Kuchma two years earlier and the 2005 Tulip Revolution in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan brought down President Askar Akayev and his government.
The Central Electoral Commission issued a statement Wednesday saying that it had accredited 1,015 international observers.
Many remained skeptical despite the unprecedented number of contestants and international observers invited to participate in the elections.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has repeatedly expressed concerns over the status of civil and political rights in Belarus. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice once called Lukashenko "the last dictator in Europe."

Source: CNN

Assange granted bail, but Sweden appeals

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was granted bail Tuesday after a hearing at Westminster Magistrate's Court in London, but a lawyer representing Swedish prosecutors immediately filed an appeal.
That means Assange will remain in jail until the next hearing, which should be before the High Court within 48 hours, lawyers said.
The 39-year-old Australian handed himself over to London police last week to answer a European arrest warrant over alleged sex crimes in Sweden.
Assange is facing accusations of rape, sexual molestation and illegal use of force in separate incidents in August in Stockholm. He could be sentenced to two years in prison if convicted. His lawyers deny the allegations and have vowed to fight any attempts at extradition.
The magistrate agreed to grant bail Tuesday after Vaughan Smith, a former British army officer who founded London's Frontline Club, testified that Assange could stay at his mansion in Suffolk.
Smith will keep Assange "if not under house arrest, at least under mansion arrest," said defense attorney Geoffrey Robertson. At that, Assange, dressed in a white shirt and a blue jacket and sitting in a glassed-in corner of the court with three security guards, smiled wryly.
The magistrate set bail at 200,000 pounds (about $315,000) plus two sureties of 20,000 pounds each (about $31,500). Assange's passport must remain with police, and he will be monitored by a location tag.
Assange must be at Smith's mansion, about two hours outside of London, for at least four hours overnight and four hours during the day. He will be required to report to police daily between 6 and 8 p.m. The next court hearing was scheduled for January 11.
After the conditions were set, Assange stood and said, "I understand," with a neutral expression.
His mother Christine told reporters after the hearing that she was "very, very happy" and thanked "the media for all your support of my son."
But several hours later, Sweden filed its appeal.
Outside the court, about 100 people demonstrated in support of Assange, holding signs saying "Julian Assange is a political prisoner" and "Why are you shooting the messenger?" and "This is not 1984."
During the hearing, Assange's team of attorneys argued that since he is only wanted for questioning and has not been formally charged, he is presumed innocent. The magistrate agreed.
But, said Gemma Lindfield, the attorney representing the Swedish prosecution, "The court has already found that Mr. Assange is a flight risk. Nothing has changed in this regard."
She said if the alleged offenses had occurred in Britain, "it undoubtedly would have been a charge of rape in this jurisdiction."
Robertson disputed that.
Celebrity supporters of Assange at the hearing included Bianca Jagger, who sat next to Fatima Bhutto, niece of the late Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto and current Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, and prominent left-wing journalist John Pilger.
Socialite Jemima Khan came to court but it is not clear she got into the very crowded hearing room. Many were turned away for lack of space.
Judge Howard Riddle denied Assange's first request for bail at a hearing on December 7 on the grounds that there was a risk he would fail to surrender.
On Tuesday, he cited four reasons for his insistence a week earlier on keeping Assange in jail: his lack of fixed residence, confusion over when and how he last entered the United Kingdom, the evidence against him in Sweden, and a dispute over whether Assange is wanted only for questioning or for prosecution.
Smith's offer of his mansion satisfied Riddle on the question of an address, and testimony from someone who arrived in the U.K. with Assange from Switzerland answered that question, he said.
He said he was not taking a position on the Swedish evidence against Assange, and that a future hearing would have to determine whether Assange was wanted for questioning or prosecution.
WikiLeaks' release of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic and military documents is under criminal review in the United States.
Almost half of Britons believe that the sex charges against Assange are "an excuse" to keep him in custody so that the U.S. government can prosecute him for releasing secret diplomatic cables, a new poll for CNN shows.
The ComRes poll of British opinion, released Monday on the eve of Assange's bail hearing, finds that 44% of respondents in Great Britain believe that Sweden's sex charges are just a pretext, while only 13% flatly disagree.
The remaining 43% say they don't know.
Last week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he had authorized "significant" actions related to a criminal investigation into WikiLeaks' publication of the materials but has declined to elaborate.
WikiLeaks inflamed U.S. authorities last month by publishing the first of a large group of confidential U.S. diplomatic cables.
Only a small fraction of the 250,000 U.S. State Department documents have been released and more are being published daily.
U.S. authorities and other Western leaders say the documents' publication threatens lives and national security.

WikiLeaks and its supporters say that the public has a right to know what is going on behind diplomatic doors.

Source: CNN

Researchers report possible HIV infection cure; others cite dangers

Researchers in Germany are reporting that they may have cured a man of HIV infection. If true, that would represent a scientific advance, but not necessarily a treatment advance, said researchers familiar with the work.
In the study, published last week online in the journal Blood, researchers at Charite-University Medicine Berlin treated an HIV-infected man who also had acute myeloid leukemia -- a cancer of the immune system -- by wiping out his own immune system with high-dose chemotherapy and radiation and giving him a stem-cell transplant. Stem cells are immature cells that can mature into blood cells.
At the time of the transplant, which occurred in February 2007, he stopped taking anti-HIV medications.
Thirteen months later, after a relapse of the leukemia, he underwent a second round of treatment followed by another stem-cell transplant from the same donor.
The donor's stem cells contained a rare, inherited gene mutation that made them naturally resistant to infection with HIV, according to the authors, led by Kristina Allers, who hypothesized that HIV would nevertheless rebound over time. But that has not happened.
After three-and-a-half years off of anti-HIV drugs, the patient shows no sign of either leukemia or HIV replication and his immune system has been restored to normal health, the researchers reported, concluding, "our results strongly suggest that cure of HIV has been achieved in this patient."
But AIDS researchers predicted the report will have little impact on practice.
"This probably is a cure, but it comes at a bit of a price," said Dr. Michael Saag, professor of medicine and director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham AIDS Center.
"For him to receive the donor cells, his body had to have all of his immune system wiped out" and then receive a bone marrow transplant, Saag noted. "The Catch-22 here is that the best candidates for a cure, ideally, are people who are healthy" and don't have leukemia.
The treatment associated with wiping out the immune system "is very hazardous," he said in a telephone interview.
"Even if somebody doesn't die from a transplant, there are complications that make it very unpleasant for people to live with," he said, citing graft-versus-host disease, where the infused donor cells attack the body. In a number of cases, the transplant proves fatal.
The study is a proof of the concept "that our understanding of HIV biology is correct, and that if you eliminate -- not just in theory but in practice -- all of the cells in the body that are producing HIV and replace them with uninfected cells, you have a cure," Saag said.
But remaining infected with HIV is not always associated with the same grim outcome that was the norm prior to the mid-1990s, when more effective anti-HIV drugs were developed, he said.
"We can keep people alive for a normal life span," he said. "That means a 25-year-old diagnosed today with HIV has a reasonably good chance of living to 80, 85, 90."
Further limiting the treatment's potential appeal is the fact that it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for each patient who gets it, he said.
"It's not going to be applicable unless they develop leukemia or lymphoma and need a bone-marrow transplant,"Saag said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, called it impractical. "It's hard enough to get a good compatible match for a transplant like this," he said in a statement. "But you also have to find (a) compatible donor that has this genetic defect, and this defect is only found in 1% of the Caucasian population and 0% of the black population. This is very rare."

But HIV itself is not. According to the World Health Organization, 33.4 million people worldwide have the virus that causes AIDS.

Source: CNN

Dozens killed in northern Israel forest fire

As many as 40 people were killed Thursday in a massive wildfire that erupted Thursday near Haifa in northern Israel and showed no sign of being controlled, the Israel Defense Forces said.
A bus carrying up to 50 people overturned "allegedly after the driver lost control of the vehicle because of the fire and surrounding smoke" as it was traveling between kibbutz Beit Oren and Damon Prison, the IDF website said.
It was not clear from the IDF website how many of the deaths attributed to fire occurred in the bus accident, but the newspaper Haaretz reported that all 40 of the dead were on the bus.
Inmates of the prison were evacuated to temporary jails nearby.
Earlier, authorities had said that 22 people were dead, another 25 were seriously hurt and more were missing in the blaze, which had scorched more than 750 acres in the Carmel Forest near Haifa.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office called it one of the worst fires in Israel's history and ordered the military to assist rescue and firefighting efforts.
He urged people, including the news media, to stay away from the blaze, which he called "a fire on an international scale."
Several nations, including Turkey, were sending firefighting planes, Israel's Foreign Ministry said. Relations between Turkey and Israel have been tense since last spring, when Israeli commandoes boarded a Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza, killing nine people.
In addition to Turkey's sending two planes, Greece was sending four, France two, Cyprus two, and one each from Croatia, Russia and Azebaijan, the ministry said.
Spain was sending four aircraft, Netanyahu said. "The necessary means are not currently in the field but they are on the way here," he said, adding that he planned to request more planes from Russia.
He predicted that the fire would take time to douse and called for calm. "I think that together, we will surmount this."
In Washington, President Barack Obama said the U.S. government had launched an effort to identify the firefighting assistance that the United States could offer and to provide it to Israel "as quickly as possible."
Friday morning, the Israeli Cabinet was to meet in Tel Aviv to formulate a response.
Micky Rosenfield, an Israeli police spokesman, told CNN that more than 1,500 people had been evacuated from their homes and that the fire was within approximately 5 kilometers of Haifa, Israel's second-largest city.
"We must achieve two goals -- saving lives and putting out the fire, " Netanyahu said Thursday night at the forward command center, according to his media adviser.
Firefighters were continuing to fight the blaze as authorities evacuated nearby communities.
The fire, bolstered by strong winds, blanketed Haifa in smoke.

It was not clear how the fire started, but police were investigating if the blaze started in an illegal dumping ground. 

Source: CNN