Another US Marine arrested in Okinawa

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese police have arrested a U.S. Marine on suspicion of trespassing on the southern island of Okinawa amid anger over military crimes and demands for stricter regulations for U.S. troops.

Police say 1st Lt. Tomas Chanquet, 24, of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma allegedly sneaked into a room through an unlocked door and slept until spotted by a resident who called police.

An alleged rape by two Navy sailors last month enraged Okinawans and reignited deep-rooted anti-base sentiment on the island, home to more than half the 52,000 U.S. troops in Japan.

The case led to a curfew on all troops in Japan but two weeks later a U.S. airman allegedly assaulted a teenager. Sunday's incident also raises questions over the effectiveness of the curfew and other disciplinary steps.

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Lady Gaga tweets some racy images before concert

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Lady Gaga's tweets were getting a lot of attention ahead of her Buenos Aires concert Friday night.

The Grammy-winning entertainer has more than 30 million followers on Twitter and that's where she shared a link this week to a short video showing her doing a striptease and fooling around in a bathtub with two other women.

She told her followers that it's a "surprise for you, almost ready for you to TASTE."

Then, in between concerts in Brazil and Argentina, she posted a picture Thursday on her Twitter page showing her wallowing in her underwear and impossibly high heels on top of the remains of what appears to be a strawberry shortcake.

"The real CAKE isn't HAVING what you want, it's DOING what you want," she tweeted.

Lady Gaga wore decidedly unglamorous baggy jeans and a blouse outside her Buenos Aires hotel Thursday as three burly bodyguards kept her fans at bay. Another pre-concert media event where she was supposed to be given "guest of honor" status by the city government Friday afternoon was cancelled.

After Argentina, she is scheduled to perform in Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; and Asuncion, Paraguay, before taking her "Born This Way Ball" tour to Africa, Europe and North America.

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Body found near burned Gulf oil rig

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Divers hired by the owner of an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico that caught fire recovered a body near the site Saturday evening, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and the rig's owner.

Coast Guard spokesman Carlos Vega said late Saturday that the unidentified person was found by divers hired by Houston-based Black Elk Energy who were inspecting the platform. Vega said the Coast Guard was turning over the remains to local authorities.

John Hoffman, the president and CEO of Black Elk Energy, said in an email late Saturday that the body is apparently that of one of two crew members missing since an explosion and fire on the oil platform Friday morning. Hoffman said the body was found by a contracted dive vessel at 5:25 p.m. CST.

"Divers will continue to search for the second missing worker," Hoffman wrote. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families."

Hoffman said the body was found close to the leg of the platform, near where the explosion occurred, in about 30 feet of water. He said the missing men were employees of oilfield contractor Grand Isle Shipyard.

"We have notified next of kin of all individuals involved, but in respect for their families and their privacy, we will not be releasing their names," GIS CEO Mark Pregeant said in a statement, according to WWL-TV in New Orleans.

The news came shortly after the Coast Guard suspended a 32-hour-long search for the two missing workers that covered 1,400 square miles (3626 sq. kilometers) near the oil platform, located about 20 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Grand Isle, La.

"We have saturated the search area several times — the 1400-square-foot area," Vega said. "We saw no signs of life. We have suspended the search and it is pending further development. If we receive any credible information that there are signs of life, we can resume the search at any time."

Four other workers who were severely burned remained at Baton Rouge General Medical Center on Saturday night.

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Bobby Nash said the Guard's search was ended early Saturday evening. Helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft had been searching by air, while cutters and boat crews searched the sea.

The blaze erupted Friday morning while workers were using a torch to cut an oil line on the platform, authorities said.

Pregeant stressed in his statement that the cause of the fire and explosion is unknown, and said "initial reports that a welding torch was being used at the time of the incident or that an incorrect line was cut are completely inaccurate."

Four workers were severely burned, though Black Elk Energy spokeswoman Leslie Hoffman said their burns were not as extensive as initially feared.

Officials at Baton Rouge General Medical Center said Saturday that two men remained in critical condition, while two men remained in serious condition. The four, being treated in a burn unit, are also employees of Grand Isle Shipyard and are from the Philippines. The hospital said it and Grand Isle Shipyard are trying to reach the men's families in the Philippines.

Grand Isle Shipyard employed 14 of the 22 workers on the platform at the time of the incident, WWL-TV reported. A man who answered the phone at the company's Galliano, La., office on Saturday said no one was available to comment.

Meanwhile, officials said no oil was leaking from the charred platform, a relief for Gulf Coast residents still weary two years after the BP oil spill illustrated the risk that offshore drilling poses to the region's ecosystem and economy.

Friday's fire sent an ominous black plume of smoke into the air reminiscent of the deadly 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion that transformed the oil industry and life along the U.S. Gulf Coast

James A. Watson, the director of Louisiana's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said in a statement Saturday that his agency had begun "an investigation into the explosion and fire aboard a Black Elk Energy production platform offshore Louisiana."

"BSEE is committed to determining the direct and indirect causes of the explosion and will take appropriate enforcement action," he said.

The Deepwater Horizon blaze killed 11 workers and led to an oil spill that took months to bring under control. Friday's fire came a day after BP PLC agreed to plead guilty to a raft of charges in the 2010 spill and pay a record $4.5 billion in penalties.

There were a few important differences between this latest blaze and the one that touched off the worst offshore spill in U.S. history: Friday's fire was put out within hours, while the Deepwater Horizon burned for more than a day, collapsed and sank.

The Black Elk Energy facility is a production platform in shallow water, rather than an exploratory drilling rig like the Deepwater Horizon looking for new oil on the seafloor almost a mile (1.6 kilometers) deep.

The depth of the 2010 well blow-out proved to be a major challenge in bringing the disaster under control.

The Black Elk Energy platform is in 56 feet (17 meters) of water — a depth much easier for engineers to manage if a spill had happened.

A sheen of oil about a half-mile (800 meters) long and 200 yards (180 meters) wide was reported on the Gulf surface, but officials believe it came from residual oil on the platform.

"It's not going to be an uncontrolled discharge from everything we're getting right now," Coast Guard Capt. Ed Cubanski said.

Leslie Hoffman, the Black Elk Energy spokeswoman, said Saturday that there were still no signs of any leak or spill at the platform site.

BP's blown-out well spewed millions of gallons (liters) of oil into the sea, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River on the east side of the river delta. The crude fouled beaches, marshes and rich seafood grounds.

After Friday's blaze, 11 people were taken by helicopter to area hospitals or for treatment on shore by emergency medical workers.

The production platform is on the western side of the Mississippi River delta. The Coast Guard said more than 20 people were aboard the platform at the time of the fire.

"This platform was not in operation and had been shut in since mid-August," Black Elk officials said in a news release Saturday.

Cubanski said the platform appeared to be structurally sound. He said only about 28 gallons (106 liters) of oil were in the broken line on the platform.

David Smith, a spokesman for the Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement in Washington, said an environmental enforcement team was dispatched from a Gulf Coast base by helicopter soon after the Coast Guard was notified of the emergency. Smith said the team would scan for any evidence of oil spilling and investigate the cause of the explosion.

Black Elk Energy is an independent oil and gas company. The company's website says it holds interests in properties in Texas and Louisiana waters, including 854 wells on 155 platforms.

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Associated Press Writers Kevin McGill in New Orleans and Jeff Amy in Jackson, Miss., contributed to this story.

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Japan set for polls; no clear winner likely

TOKYO (AP) — Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was poised to dissolve Japan's parliament Friday, setting the stage for elections next month that will likely result in a weak coalition government with differing policies on the country's economic woes, territorial disputes and other problems.

Polls show that nearly half of the electorate is undecided on which party to support but it's clear that the ruling Democrats — in power for the last three years — are very likely to lose. That sets the stage for Japan to get its seventh prime minister in seven years.

Media reports say the elections will be held Dec. 16.

Although the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, which led Japan for most of the post-World War II era, would win the most seats in the 480-seat lower house, it would fall far short of a majority if elections were held now, according to the polls.

With no party a clear winner, Japan will end up with a coalition government made up of parties with differing policies and priorities. This could hinder decision-making as Japan wrestles with a two-decade economic slump, cleanup from last year's nuclear disaster, growing national debt and a rapidly aging population — not to mention a festering territorial dispute with China that is hurting business ties with its biggest trading partner.

"It's unlikely that the election will result in a clear mandate for anybody," said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University. "So in that sense, there's still going to be a lot of muddling through."

Japan must also decide whether it will follow through with plans to phase out nuclear power by 2040 — a move many in the LDP oppose.

In a sudden turn of events, Noda abruptly said Wednesday in a one-on-one debate with LDP chief Shinzo Abe that he would dissolve parliament Friday if the opposition would agree to key reforms, including shrinking the size of parliament.

Abe, who said his party would go along with the measures, could get a second stab at being prime minister after his one-year stint in 2006-2007 if the LDP wins the most seats in the election.

A staunch nationalist, Abe has taken a strong stance against China in the dispute over a cluster of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. Abe suddenly quit as prime minister in 2007, citing health problems that he says are no longer an issue.

"The day has finally come. Our battle starts today. Our mission to the people is to win this (election) battle," Abe told reporters earlier Friday.

Noda's Democratic Party of Japan won a landslide victory in 2009 elections amid high hopes for change, ousting the conservative, business-friendly LDP, which had ruled Japan nearly continuously since 1955.

But those hopes have been dashed amid widespread disgust with the DPJ's failure to keep campaign promises and the government's handling of the Fukushima nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.

Voters are also unhappy with Noda's centerpiece achievement during his nearly 15 months in office: passing legislation to double the nation's 5 percent sales tax by 2015. He says the increase is necessary to meet growing social security costs as the country grays.

Recent polls show about 25-30 percent of voters back the LDP, while support for the DPJ is in the low teens. With scattered support for a few other parties, that leaves nearly half of the public undecided, meaning the outcome is still quite unclear.

"I really don't know who to vote for," said 62-year-old taxi driver Tetsuo Suzuki. "I voted for the DPJ in the last election, but they couldn't seem to get things done. I don't really want to go back to the LDP, either."

"Japan doesn't seem as perky as it used to be," he said, ticking off the economy and the territorial dispute with China as the two most pressing issues. "We want a strong leader who won't bend his principles."

Tapping into that voter dismay, outspoken leaders in the two biggest cities in Japan have decided to form their own national political parties, but they may not have enough time to get organized for the election.

The nationalistic governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara — who stirred up the flap with China by saying the Tokyo government would buy and develop the disputed islands called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China — resigned recently to create the Sunrise Party.

Toru Hashimoto, the brash, young mayor of Osaka, is working to draw up candidates for the newly formed Japan Restoration Party, although he said he himself will not run in the elections. Recent polls show his party has support in the 5 percent range.

The two men are in discussions, seeking a possibility to merge their parties and form a so-called "third force" to counter the LDP and DPJ, but it appears they are having difficulty reconciling some of their differing policy views, including on nuclear power.

Japan is going through a messy period of political transition with its merry-go-round of prime ministers and the emergence of various parties to challenge the long-dominant LDP, experts say.

"The era of one-party dominance is clearly over and behind us," said the professor, Nakano. "We know what we are transiting from, but we don't know where we are going."

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AP writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

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Ruckus Wireless prices IPO at high end of range: market source

(Reuters) – WiFi products maker Ruckus Wireless Inc priced its initial public offering at $ 15 per share, the high end of its expected price range, a market source told Reuters.

The company, which is backed by Google Inc‘s Motorola Mobility LLC and venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, raised $ 126 million by selling 8.4 million shares.

Ruckus offered 7 million shares while selling shareholders, including Telus Corp, offered 1.4 million shares.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company, which makes wireless LAN products for both indoor and outdoor use, competes with Meru Networks Inc and Aruba Networks Inc.

The company’s customers include Time Warner Cable Inc, Towerstream Corp, Tikona Digital Networks and Bright House Networks.

Goldman Sachs & Co and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriters to the offering.

The company’s shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday under the ticker symbol “RKUS”.

(This story was fixed to correct description of Sequoia Capital to venture capital firm in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Sharanya Hrishikesh and Ashutosh Pandey in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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4 Latin Grammys to Jesse & Joy, Juanes wins too

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mexican brother-sister duo Jesse & Joy and their pop hit "Corre!" ran away with four awards at the 13th Annual Latin Grammys, but Colombian rockero Juanes danced away with the award for best album for "MTV Unplugged" Thursday night.

"What a great joy. Thank God, and all the fans," Juanes said as he dragged Dominican mereguero Juan Luis Guerra, who produced the album, to the stage to accept the mini-gramaphone for best album at the close of the ceremony.

The winner for best new artist, the Mexican DJ trio 3ball MTY, threw down beats with America Sierra and Sky Blu of LMFAO. Pitbull performed "Don't Stop the Party" with dancers in gold spangled bikinis and hot pants. Juanes jammed with legendary guitarist Carlos Santana.

Hosted by actors Cristian De La Fuente and Lucero, the ceremony attracted super-stars from across the world and from dozens of Latin musical genres to the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Just like at a big family party, new faces shared the spotlight with older generations, and traditional styles mixed with electronica and Vegas dancers on stage.

Traditional Mexico met Las Vegas in a colorful number featuring Oaxaca native Lila Downs, Afro-Colombian singer Toto la Momposina and dancers in regional costumes, Carnival masques and skeleton makeup.

Michel Telo, the Brazilian sertanejo or country music singer, performed his hit, "Ai si eu te pego,"with Blue Man Group. Bachata heartthrob Prince Royce sang with veteran Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian. But the applause was also strong for the 1980s hit, "Yo No Te Pido la Luna," a duet between Spaniard Sergio Dalma and Mexican singer Daniela Romo, sporting a short silver hairdo following her bout with breast cancer.

Jesse & Joy also won for best contemporary pop vocal album for "Con Quien se Queda el Perro" and best short video for "Me vow."

"Thanks to people like Juanes and Juan Luis Guerro who have inspired us. Love and peace," Jesse said.

Guerra, who came into the ceremony as the leading nominee with six bids, won producer of the year for Juanes' album "MTV Unplugged."

Guerra performed "En el Cielo No Hay Hospital," which brought the audience to its feet to dance, and for a standing ovation.

Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Don Omar and Uruguayan alt rockers Cuarteto de Nos won two Latin Grammys each.

Downs won best folkloric album for "Pecados y Milagros." Colombian singer Fonseca won for best tropical fusion album, and Los Tucanes de Tijuana won best norteno album for "365 Dias," the narco-corrido band's 32nd album.

Milly Quezada brought home two statuettes, including best contemporary tropical album for "Aqui estoy yo."

"Long live merengue! Long live the Dominican Republic!" she said as she accepted the award. She also thanked Guerra, who helped produce the album.

Cuban-American jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval won three Latin Grammys, two for "Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You)," but said these awards was just exciting as his first.

"The emotion is the same because one puts the same effort into each recording and the fact that the work is received well and respected by the public is very satisfying," he said.

The Latin Grammy celebration kicked off Wednesday with a tribute to Person of the Year winner, Caetano Veloso, one of the founders of the Tropicalismo movement.

The Brazilian singer, composer and activist sang in Spanish and Portuguese before Pitbull and Sensato closed with "Crazy People."

The event was broadcast live on Univision.

Interactive: http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2012/latin-grammys/

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Diabetes rates rocket in Oklahoma, South

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's diabetes problem is getting worse, and the biggest jump over 15 years was in Oklahoma, according to a new federal report issued Thursday.

The diabetes rate in Oklahoma more than tripled, and Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama also saw dramatic increases since 1995, the study showed.

The South's growing weight problem is the main explanation, said Linda Geiss, lead author of the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

"The rise in diabetes has really gone hand in hand with the rise in obesity," she said.

Bolstering the numbers is the fact that more people with diabetes are living longer because better treatments are available.

The disease exploded in the United States in the last 50 years, with the vast majority from obesity-related Type 2 diabetes. In 1958, fewer than 1 in 100 Americans had been diagnosed with diabetes. In 2010, it was about 1 in 14.

Most of the increase has happened since 1990.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body has trouble processing sugar; it's the nation's seventh leading cause of death. Complications include poor circulation, heart and kidney problems and nerve damage.

The new study is the CDC's first in more than a decade to look at how the nationwide boom has played out in different states.

It's based on telephone surveys of at least 1,000 adults in each state in 1995 and 2010. Participants were asked if a doctor had ever told them they have diabetes.

Not surprisingly, Mississippi — the state with the largest proportion of residents who are obese — has the highest diabetes rate. Nearly 12 percent of Mississippians say they have diabetes, compared to the national average of 7 percent.

But the most dramatic increases in diabetes occurred largely elsewhere in the South and in the Southwest, where rates tripled or more than doubled. Oklahoma's rate rose to about 10 percent, Kentucky went to more than 9 percent, Georgia to 10 percent and Alabama surpassed 11 percent.

An official with Oklahoma State Department of Health said the solution is healthier eating, more exercise and no smoking.

"And that's it in a nutshell," said Rita Reeves, diabetes prevention coordinator.

Several Northern states saw rates more than double, too, including Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Maine.

The study was published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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Associated Press writer Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

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Online:

CDC report: http://tinyurl.com/cdcdiabetesreport

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Signs mount of possible Israeli invasion of Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli aircraft targeted rocket launching operations of Gaza militants early Friday as troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers massed near the Palestinian territory, signaling a ground invasion might be growing near.

Fighting between the two sides escalated sharply Thursday with a first-ever militant attack on the Tel Aviv area, menacing Israel's heartland. No casualties were reported there, but three people died in the country's rocket-scarred south when a projectile slammed into an apartment building.

The death toll in the densely populated Palestinian territory climbed to 19, including five children, according to Palestinian health officials, as waves of Israeli fighter planes and drones sent missiles hurtling down on suspected weapons stores and rocket-launching sites.

Early Friday, 85 missiles exploded within 45 minutes in Gaza City, sending black pillars of smoke towering above the coastal strip's largest city. The military said it was targeting underground rocket launching sites.

One missile hit the Interior Ministry, a symbol of Hamas power, and another hit an empty house belonging to a senior Hamas commander. Those strikes, together with an attack on a generator building near the home of Gaza's Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, signaled that Israel was expanding its offensive beyond military targets.

The fighting has already widened the instability gripping a region in the throes of war and regime upheavals. It has straining already frayed relations with Egypt, which was sending its prime minister to Gaza later Friday in a show of solidarity with its militant Hamas rulers.

Israel and Hamas had largely observed an informal truce since Israel's devastating incursion into Gaza four years ago, but rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes on militant operations didn't halt entirely. The latest flare-up exploded into major violence Wednesday when Israel assassinated Hamas' military chief, following up with a punishing air assault meant to cripple the militants' ability to terrorize Israel with rockets.

The Israeli military reported early Friday that its aircraft had struck more than 350 targets since the beginning of its operation against Hamas' rocket operations.

After nightfall Thursday, several explosions shook Gaza City several minutes apart, a sign the strikes were not letting up. The military said the targets were about 70 underground rocket-launching sites.

The Israeli offensive has not deterred the militants from striking back with more than 400 rockets aimed at southern Israel. For the first time, they also unleashed the most powerful weapons in their arsenal — Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets capable of reaching Tel Aviv.

The two rockets that struck closest to Tel Aviv appear to have landed in the Mediterranean Sea, defense officials said, and another hit an open area on Tel Aviv's southern outskirts.

No injuries were reported, but the rocket fire — the first in the area from Gaza — sowed panic in Tel Aviv and made the prospect of a ground incursion more likely. The government later approved the mobilization of up to 30,000 reservists for a possible invasion.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the army was hitting Hamas hard with what he called surgical strikes, and warned of a "significant widening" of the Gaza operation. Israel will "continue to take whatever action is necessary to defend our people," said Netanyahu, who is up for re-election in January.

At least 12 trucks were seen transporting tanks and armored personnel carriers toward Gaza late Thursday, and buses carrying soldiers headed toward the border area. Israeli TV stations said a Gaza operation was expected on Friday, though military officials said no decision had been made.

"We will continue the attacks and we will increase the attacks, and I believe we will obtain our objectives," said Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, Israel's military chief.

An Israeli ground offensive could be costly to both sides. In the last Gaza war, Israel devastated large areas of the territory, setting back Hamas' fighting capabilities but also paying the price of increasing diplomatic isolation because of a civilian death toll numbering in the hundreds.

The current round of fighting is reminiscent of the first days of that three-week offensive against Hamas. Israel also caught Hamas off guard then with a barrage of missile strikes and threatened to follow up with a ground offensive.

Much has changed since then.

Israel has improved its missile defense systems, but it is facing a more heavily armed Hamas. Israel estimates the militants have 12,000 rockets, including more sophisticated weapons from Iran and from Libyan stockpiles plundered after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi's regime there last year.

Also, regional alignments have changed dramatically since the last Gaza war. Hamas has emerged from its political isolation as its parent movement, the region-wide Muslim Brotherhood, has risen to power in several countries in the wake of last year's Arab uprisings, particularly in Egypt.

Egypt recalled its ambassador to protest the Israeli offensive and ordered its prime minister to lead a senior delegation to Gaza on Friday in a show of support for Hamas.

At the same time, while relations with Israel have cooled since the toppling of longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi has not brought a radical change in Egypt's policy toward Israel. He has promised to abide by Egypt's 1979 peace deal with Israel and his government has continued contacts with Israel through its non-Brotherhood members.

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Laub reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.

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US or China? Clinton says Australia needn't choose

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton assured Australians they do not have to choose between the United States, their most important security ally, and China, their primary trading partner, as she ended a visit to the important Pacific ally Thursday.

Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta were attending an annual security summit with their Australian counterparts, Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Defense Minister Stephen Smith, aimed at deepening military links as the United States shifts its might to the Asia-Pacific.

She used her final speech in Australia in the city of Adelaide, the heartland of Australia's military manufacturing industry, to reject criticisms that Australia's enhanced ties with the United States would come at the cost of its burgeoning relationship with China.

"I know there are some who present a false choice: That Australia needs to choose between its longstanding ties to the United States and its emerging links with China," Clinton said.

"Well, that kind of zero-sum thinking only leads to negative-sum results," she added.

Clinton's comments followed a speech on Wednesday by former prime minister Paul Keating, a hero of the ruling Labor Party, in which he said Australia's "former sphere of influence is diminishing."

Keating blamed a lack of foreign policy independence, arguing that Australia had "rolled backed into an easy accommodation with the foreign policy objectives of the United States."

Speaking hours before China's new leadership was announced in Beijing, Clinton said the United States supported Australia's foreign policy objectives in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We support Australia having strong multifaceted ties with every nation in the Asia-Pacific, indeed in the world, including China, just as we seek the same," she said.

"The Pacific is big enough for all of us," she added.

Clinton made one of the longest journeys of her four years as secretary of state to fly for a jading 31 hours from the United States to the Australian west coast city of Perth to attend the security summit on Wednesday.

The summit agreed that Australia will host two U.S. space surveillance systems and to expand the number of U.S. Marines rotating through an Australian training hub from 200 this year to 1,100 by 2014. Up to 2,500 Marines will eventually use the facility.

The U.S. military also plans to make greater use of Australia's Indian Ocean naval base and northern warplane bombing ranges under agreements announced by President Barack Obama a year ago that have riled China.

Carr noted that the agreement reached on Wednesday included "no language of containment," in a reference to accusation that the United States plans to contain China's growth.

Speaking at a shipyard where U.S. contractors are involved in the $8 billion construction of three destroyers for the Australian navy, Clinton emphasized the economic spin-offs for both countries from the U.S.-Australian alliance.

She said the United States was Australia's third-largest trading partner after China and Japan and two-way trade was increasing. The United States was also the biggest investor in Australia with direct investments totaling $136 billion.

She said the security and economic relations between the two countries were both indispensable and must be developed.

"This economic relationship is just as vital to both of our nations' continued strength as our defense partnership because in today's world, power is increasingly measured and exercised in economic terms," she said.

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Erdrich wins National Book Award for fiction

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Book Awards on Wednesday honored both longtime writers and new authors, from Louise Erdrich for "The Round House" to Katherine Boo for her debut work, "Beyond the Beautiful Forevers."

Erdrich, 58, has been a published and highly regarded author for nearly 30 years but had never won a National Book Award until being cited Wednesday for her story, the second of a planned trilogy, about an Ojibwe boy and his quest to avenge his mother's rape. A clearly delighted and surprised Erdrich, who's part Ojibwe, spoke in her tribal tongue and then switched to English as she dedicated her fiction award to "the grace and endurance of native people."

The works of two other winners also centered on young boys — Boo's for nonfiction, and William Alexander's fantasy "Goblin Secrets," for young people's literature. David Ferry won for poetry.

Boo's book, set in a Mumbai slum, is the story of a boy and his harsh and illuminating education in the consequences of crime or perceived crime. The author, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist currently on staff with The New Yorker, said she was grateful for the chance to live in a world she "didn't know" and for the chance to tell the stories of those otherwise ignored. She praised a fellow nominee and fellow Pulitzer-winning reporter, the late Anthony Shadid, for also believing in stories of those without fame or power.

Boo was chosen from one of the strongest lists of nonfiction books in memory, from the fourth volume of Robert Caro's Lyndon Johnson series to Shadid's memoir "House of Stone" and Anne Applebaum's "House of Stone." Finalists in fiction, which in recent years favored lesser known writers, included such established names as Dave Eggers and Junot Diaz. Publishers have been concerned that the National Book Awards have become too insular and are considering changes, including expanding the pool of judges beyond writers.

Winners, chosen by panels of their peers, each will receive $10,000.Judges looked through nearly 1,300 books.

Ferry is a year older than one of the night's honorary recipients, Elmore Leonard. Ferry, 88, won for "Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations," a showcase for his versatile style. He fought back tears as he confided that he thought there was a chance for winning because he "was so much older" than the other nominees. Attempting to find poetry in victory, he called the award a "pre-posthumous" honor.

Alexander quoted fellow fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin in highlighting the importance of stories for shaping kids' imaginations and making the world a larger place than the one they live in.

"We have to remember that," Alexander said.

The ceremony was hosted by commentator-performer Faith Salie and went smoothly even though Superstorm Sandy badly damaged the offices of the award's organizer, the National Book Foundation, whose staffers had to work with limited telephone and mail access.

Honorary prizes were given to Leonard and New York Times publisher and chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr.

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Booze calories nearly equal soda's for US adults

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans get too many calories from soda. But what about alcohol? It turns out adults get almost as many empty calories from booze as from soft drinks, a government study found.

Soda and other sweetened drinks — the focus of obesity-fighting public health campaigns — are the source of about 6 percent of the calories adults consume, on average. Alcoholic beverages account for about 5 percent, the new study found.

"We've been focusing on sugar-sweetened beverages. This is something new," said Cynthia Ogden, one of the study's authors. She's an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which released its findings Thursday.

The government researchers say the findings deserve attention because, like soda, alcohol contains few nutrients but plenty of calories.

The study is based on interviews with more than 11,000 U.S. adults from 2007 through 2010. Participants were asked extensive questions about what they ate and drank over the previous 24 hours.

The study found:

—On any given day, about one-third of men and one-fifth of women consumed calories from beer, wine or liquor.

—Averaged out to all adults, the average guy drinks 150 calories from alcohol each day, or the equivalent of a can of Budweiser.

—The average woman drinks about 50 calories, or roughly half a glass of wine.

—Men drink mostly beer. For women, there was no clear favorite among alcoholic beverages.

—There was no racial or ethnic difference in average calories consumed from alcoholic beverages. But there was an age difference, with younger adults putting more of it away.

For reference, a 12-ounce can of regular Coca-Cola has 140 calories, slightly less than a same-sized can of regular Bud. A 5-ounce glass of wine is around 100 calories.

In September, New York City approved an unprecedented measure cracking down on giant sodas, those bigger than 16 ounces, or half a liter. It will take effect in March and bans sales of drinks that large at restaurants, cafeterias and concession stands.

Should New York officials now start cracking down on tall-boy beers and monster margaritas?

There are no plans for that, city health department officials said, adding in a statement that while studies show that sugary drinks are "a key driver of the obesity epidemic," alcohol is not.

Health officials should think about enacting policies to limit alcoholic intake, but New York's focus on sodas is appropriate, said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a public health advocacy group.

Soda and sweetened beverages are the bigger problem, especially when it comes to kids — the No. 1 source of calories in the U.S. diet, she said.

"In New York City, it was smart to start with sugary drinks. Let's see how it goes and then think about next steps," she said.

However, she lamented that the Obama administration is planning to exempt alcoholic beverages from proposed federal regulations requiring calorie labeling on restaurant menus.

It could set up a confusing scenario in which, say, a raspberry iced tea may have a calorie count listed, while an alcohol-laden Long Island Iced Tea — with more than four times as many calories — doesn't. "It could give people the wrong idea," she said.

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Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

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FBI terror expert started Petraeus probe

The FBI agent who investigated harassing emails to a Florida socialite, a probe that set off a chain of events leading to the resignation of CIA director David Petraeus over an extramarital affair, was a veteran investigator who has worked on high-profile terrorism cases.

The agent was identified as Frederick Humphries by a former federal agent, a source familiar with the Petraeus investigation and Humphries' attorney, Lawrence Berger.

Humphries, 47, received the initial complaint from Jill Kelley, 37, a Tampa, Fla., socialite, about "harassing" emails that an investigation traced back to Paula Broadwell, a 40-year-old author who co-wrote a biography of Petraeus, 60.

The investigation ultimately uncovered evidence of an affair between Broadwell and Petraeus, prompting Petraeus to resign last week.

Berger said his client's family "knew the Kelley family socially for several years." Jill Kelley asked Humphries for advice on what she perceived to be threatening e-mails and he "referred the matter to the bureau as appropriate."

Berger said his client has been wrongly characterized as a "whistleblower," but there is "no action pending against him, nor does he anticipate any future action."

Humphries "referred the matter to the FBI in accordance to proper protocol," Berger added, and the FBI investigation is taking its course.

AP Photo/Kevin P. Casey, AP Photo/Christopher Berkey, File

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Berger flatly declined to confirm or provide any details at all regarding Humphries' alleged contacts with the offices of either Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., or House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.

According to the New York Times, Humphries was allegedly concerned the case had been stalled for political reasons, and in late October contacted Reichert, whom he knew from his time working in Washington. The Times reported that Reichert put him in touch with Cantor, who then passed the message to FBI director, Robert Mueller.

An associate of Humphries told ABC News that it was hard to believe that Humphries had contacted elected officials about the case because "everyone knows that's professional suicide" and Humphries is "top notch."

Humphries has worked as a supervisor on Joint Terrorism Task Force in Tampa and has worked on high-profile terrorism cases.

In Seattle, Humphries worked the so-called Millenium terror plot in 1999, which prevented an Algerian al Qaeda member from bombing Los Angeles International Airport.

More recently, he testified in Florida in a terrorism case of Florida student Youssef Megahed and his associates.

In that case, back in 2007, a sheriff's deputy with the Berkeley County Sherriff's Office in South Carolina became suspicious when University of South Florida student Ahmed Mohamed and his companion, fellow USF student Megahed, did not initially stop when they were pulled over for speeding. The officer said he saw Megahed disconnect a power cord from a laptop computer as he approached the car. The deputy searched the vehicle. According to court records, he found safety fuses, several sections of cut PVC piping containing a potassium nitrate explosive mixture and containers filled with gasoline.

The pair was arrested that night for transporting explosives. Following the arrest, the FBI in Tampa and South Carolina began an investigation with the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

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China's Hu clears way for Xi to take party helm

BEIJING (AP) — President Hu Jintao has stepped aside as Communist Party leader to clear the way for Vice President Xi Jinping to take the helm in China, delegates to the party's national congress said Wednesday.

Hu was not re-elected a member of the party's Central Committee on the final day of the gathering, showing that he's no longer in the leadership, said two delegates, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official list of members had not yet been released.

Xi was re-elected along with other leading candidates for seats on the party's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.

Designated as successor five years ago, Xi will take over as party general secretary from Hu on Thursday and as president next spring, in China's second orderly transfer of power since the 1949 communist revolution. Li Keqiang also is due to take over from Wen Jiabao as premier.

The new leaders will face slowing growth, rising unrest among increasing assertive citizens and delicate relations with neighboring countries.

The party's 2,200-plus delegates who gathered at Beijing's Great Hall of the People for the secretive, weeklong meeting also rubber-stamped the report Hu delivered last week committing the party to continuing a pro-economic growth agenda while retaining firm political control. Hu urged stronger measures to rein in corruption and make the government more responsive to public demands, but offered little in the way of specifics.

The next lineup of China's most powerful body, the Politburo Standing Committee, will be announced on Thursday. Though congress and Central Committee delegates have some influence over leadership decisions, most of the lineup is decided among a core group of the most powerful party members and elders.

Wang Qishan, a frontrunner along with Xi and Li for the Standing Committee, was named to the party's disciplinary body in a sign he would likely be named to the party's top body.

The congress votes are "fully democratic" but "there is a degree of inevitability," actor and party delegate Song Guofeng of Liaoning province said as entered the hall Wednesday for the final session of the congress. "We need to have continuity in leadership to carry on. They are already in the leadership core. The stability of the party and of the county is important."

China's leadership transitions are always occasions for fractious backroom bargaining, but this one has been further complicated by scandals that have fed public cynicism that their leaders are more concerned with power and wealth than government.

In recent months, Bo Xilai, a senior politician seen as a rising star, was purged after his aide exposed that his wife murdered a British businessman. An ally of Hu's was sidelined after his son died in the crash of a Ferrari he shouldn't have been able to afford. And foreign media recently reported that relatives of Xi and outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao had amassed vast wealth. The scandals have weakened Hu, on whose watch they occurred.

Hu will remain president until March.

It was unclear whether he would retain his position as chairman of the Central Military Commission — or when the makeup of the new panel would be announced. Many observers have maintained that Hu would seek an additional two years in that post, to maintain leverage over the next leadership as previous retiring leaders have done, including former President Jiang Zemin, who is still believed to wield enormous influence from behind the scenes.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Bodeen, Didi Tang and Charles Hutzler in Beijing contributed to this report.

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Man who accused Elmo puppeteer of teen sex recants

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who accused Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of having sex with him when he was a teenage boy has recanted his story.

In a quick turnabout, the man on Tuesday described his sexual relationship with Clash as adult and consensual.

Clash responded with a statement of his own, saying he is "relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest." He had no further comment.

The man, who has not identified himself, released his statement through the Harrisburg, Pa., law firm Andreozzi & Associates.

Sesame Workshop, which produces "Sesame Street" in New York, soon followed by saying, "We are happy that Kevin can move on from this unfortunate episode."

The whirlwind episode began Monday morning, when Sesame Workshop startled the world by announcing that Clash had taken a leave of absence from "Sesame Street" in the wake of allegations that he had had a relationship with a 16-year-old.

Clash, a 52-year-old divorced father of a grown daughter, swiftly denied the charges of his accuser, who is in his early 20s. In that statement Clash acknowledged that he is gay but said the relationship had been between two consenting adults.

Though it remained unclear where the relationship took place, sex with a person under 17 is a felony in New York if the perpetrator is at least 21.

Sesame Workshop, which said it was first contacted by the accuser in June, had launched an investigation that included meeting with the accuser twice and meeting with Clash. Its investigation found the charge of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated.

Clash said on Monday he would take a break from Sesame Workshop "to deal with this false and defamatory allegation."

Neither Clash nor Sesame Workshop indicated on Tuesday when he might return to the show, on which he has performed as Elmo since 1984.

Elmo had previously been a marginal character, but Clash, supplying the fuzzy red puppet with a high-pitched voice and a carefree, child-like personality, launched the character into major stardom. Elmo soon rivaled Big Bird as the face of "Sesame Street."

Though usually behind the scenes, Clash meanwhile achieved his own measure of fame. In 2006, he published an autobiography, "My Life as a Furry Red Monster," and he was the subject of the 2011 documentary "Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey."

He has won 23 daytime Emmy awards and one prime-time Emmy.

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Online:

http://www.sesamestreet.org

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Report: FDA wanted to close Mass pharmacy in 2003

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly a decade ago, federal health inspectors wanted to shut down the pharmacy linked to a recent deadly meningitis outbreak until it cleaned up its operations, according to congressional investigators.

About 440 people have been sickened by contaminated steroid shots distributed by New England Compounding Center, and more than 32 deaths have been reported since the outbreak began in September, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That has put the Framingham, Mass.-based pharmacy at the center of congressional scrutiny and calls for greater regulation of compounding pharmacies, which make individualized medications for patients and have long operated in a legal gray area between state and federal laws.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee released a detailed history of NECC's regulatory troubles on Monday, ahead of a meeting Wednesday meeting to examine how the outbreak could have been prevented. The 25-page report summarizes and quotes from FDA and state inspection memos, though the committee declined to release the original documents.

The report shows that after several problematic incidents, Food and Drug Administration officials in 2003 suggested that the compounding pharmacy be "prohibited from manufacturing" until it improved its operations. But FDA regulators deferred to their counterparts in Massachusetts, who ultimately reached an agreement with the pharmacy to settle concerns about the quality of its prescription injections.

The congressional report also shows that in 2003 the FDA considered the company a pharmacy. That's significant because in recent weeks public health officials have charged that NECC was operating more as a manufacturer than a pharmacy, shipping thousands of doses of drugs to all 50 states instead of small batches of drugs to individual patients. Manufacturers are regulated by the FDA and are subject to stricter quality standards than pharmacies.

The report offers the most detailed account yet of the numerous regulatory complaints against the pharmacy, which nearly date back to its founding in 1998. Less than a year later, the company was cited by the state pharmacy board for providing doctors with blank prescription pads with NECC's information. Such promotional items are illegal in Massachusetts and the pharmacy's owner and director, Barry Cadden, received an informal reprimand, according to documents summarized by the committee.

Cadden was subject to several other complaints involving unprofessional conduct in coming years, but first came to the FDA's attention in 2002. Here are some key events from the report highlighting the company's early troubles with state and federal authorities:

__ In March of 2002 the FDA began investigating reports that five patients had become dizzy and short of breath after receiving NECC's compounded betamethasone repository injection, a steroid used to treat joint pain and arthritis that's different from the one linked to the current meningitis outbreak.

FDA inspectors visited NECC on April 9 and said Cadden was initially cooperative in turning over records about production of the drug. But during a second day of inspections, Cadden told officials "that he was no longer willing to provide us with any additional records," according to an FDA report cited by congressional investigators. The inspectors ultimately issued a report citing NECC for poor sterility and record-keeping practices but said that "this FDA investigation could not proceed to any definitive resolution," because of "problems/barriers that were encountered throughout the inspection."

__ In October of 2002, the FDA received new reports that two patients at a Rochester, N.Y., hospital came down with symptoms of bacterial meningitis after receiving a different NECC injection. The steroid, methylprednisolone acetate, is the same injectable linked to the current outbreak and is typically is used to treat back pain. Both patients were treated with antibiotics and eventually recovered, according to FDA documents cited by the committee.

When officials from the FDA and Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy visited NECC later in the month, Cadden said vials of the steroid returned by the hospital had tested negative for bacterial contamination. But when FDA scientists tested samples of the drug collected in New York they found bacterial contamination in four out of 14 vials sampled. It is not entirely clear whether FDA tested the same lot shipped to the Rochester hospital.

__ At a February 2003 meeting between state and federal officials, FDA staff emphasized "the potential for serious public consequences if NECC's compounding practices, in particular those relating to sterile products, are not improved." The agency issued a list of problems uncovered in its inspection to NECC, including a failure to verify if sterile drugs met safety standards.

But the agency decided to let Massachusetts officials take the lead in regulating the company, since pharmacies are typically regulated at the state level. It was decided that "the state would be in a better position to gain compliance or take regulatory action against NECC as necessary," according to a summary of the meeting quoted by investigators.

The FDA recommended the state subject NECC to a consent agreement, which would require the company to pass certain quality tests to continue operating. But congressional investigators say Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy did not take any action until "well over a year later."

__ In October 2004, the board sent a proposed consent agreement to Cadden, which would have included a formal reprimand and a three-year probationary period for the company's registration. The case ended without disciplinary action in 2006, when NECC agreed to a less severe consent decree with the state.

Massachusetts officials indicated Tuesday they are still investigating why NECC escaped the more severe penalty.

"I will not be satisfied until we know the full story behind this decision," the state's interim health commissioner Lauren Smith said in a transcript of her prepared testimony released a day ahead of delivery. Smith is one of several witnesses scheduled to testify Wednesday, including FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.

The committee will also hear from the widow of 78-year-old Eddie C. Lovelace, a longtime circuit court judge in southern Kentucky. Autopsy results confirmed Lovelace received fungus-contaminated steroid injections that led to his death Sept. 17.

Joyce Lovelace will urge lawmakers to work together on legislation to stop future outbreaks caused by compounded drugs, according to a draft of her testimony.

"We now know that New England Compounding Pharmacy, Inc. killed Eddie. I have lost my soulmate and life's partner with whom I worked side by side, day after day for more than fifty years," Lovelace states.

Barry Cadden is also scheduled to appear at the hearing, after lawmakers issued a subpoena to compel him to attend.

The NECC has been closed since early last month, and Massachusetts officials have taken steps to permanently revoke its license. The pharmacy has recalled all the products it makes, including 17,700 single-dose vials of a steroid that tested positive for the fungus tied to the outbreak.

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Who's who in the Petraeus scandal

What started out as a leisurely stroll through the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Nov. 11 with his girlfriend, quickly turned into quite a surreal experience for Max Galuppo, 20, of Bloomsbury, N.J. Galuppo, a Temple University student, found his doppelganger in a 16th century...

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Afghan killings case testing military system

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. (AP) — The U.S. military has been criticized for its spotty record on convicting troops of killing civilians, but a hearing against Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales involving a massacre in Afghanistan has shown that it isn't like most cases.

Government prosecutors have built a strong eyewitness case against the veteran soldier, with troops recounting how they saw Bales return to the base covered in blood. And in unusual testimony in a military court, Afghan civilians questioned via a video link described the horror of seeing 16 people killed, mostly children, in their villages.

Law experts say the case could test whether the military, aided by technology, is able to embark on a new era of accountability.

Bales faces 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder. The preliminary hearing, which began Nov. 5 and is scheduled to end with closing arguments Tuesday, will determine whether he faces a court-martial. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

The U.S. military system's record has shown it is slow to convict service members of alleged war crimes.

A range of factors make prosecuting troops for civilian deaths in foreign lands difficult, including gathering eyewitness testimony and collecting evidence at a crime scene in the midst of a war.

At Bales' preliminary hearing, the prosecution accommodated the Afghan witnesses, including children, by providing the video link and holding the sessions at night. The military said it intends to fly the witnesses from Afghanistan to Joint Base Lewis-McChord if there is a court martial.

"I think it shows they're going to prosecute this case no matter what it takes," said Greg Rinckey, a former Army lawyer from 1999-2004 who is now in private practice. "This was an atrocity. This is not the fog of war. It's not like we were calling in artillery and an artillery shell landed in a village."

Prosecutors say Bales, 39, slipped away from remote Camp Belambay to attack two villages early on March 11, killing 16 civilians, including nine children. The slayings drew such angry protests that the U.S. temporarily halted combat operations in Afghanistan, and it was three weeks before American investigators could reach the crime scenes.

Through a video monitor in a military courtroom near Seattle, Bales saw young Afghan girls smile beneath bright head coverings before they described the bloodbath he's accused of committing. He saw boys fidget as they remembered how they hid behind curtains when a gunman killed people in their village and one other.

And he saw dignified, thick-bearded men who spoke of unspeakable carnage — the piled, burned bodies of children and parents alike.

From the other side of that video link, in Afghanistan, one of the men saw something else — signs that justice will be done.

"I saw the person who killed my brother sitting there, head down with guilt," Haji Mullah Baraan said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press. "He didn't look up toward the camera."

Baraan was one of many Afghan witnesses who testified in Bales' case by live video link over the weekend.

"We got great hope from this and we are sure that we will get justice," Baraan said.

Throughout history, troops have been accused of heinous crimes involving civilians in countries where wars are waged. But rarely have villagers who witnessed the horror testified in a U.S. military court — often because of the costs and logistics of bringing them to the United States.

Villagers may be leery to leave their homeland to go to a foreign country and confront members of one of the mightiest militaries in the world. And as foreign nationals, they cannot be subpoenaed.

While there have been cases of troops being sentenced to life in prison for committing atrocities, the vast majority of those convicted for extrajudicial killings have been let off with little to no jail time for crimes that in civilian courts could carry hefty sentences, legal experts say.

Former U.N. Special Rapporteur Philip Alston — who was invited by the United States to examine extrajudicial killings in Iraq and Afghanistan — pointed out the January 2006 sentencing of Chief Warrant Officer Lewis E. Welshofer Jr.

He was given two months confinement to his base, a fine of $6,000, and a letter of reprimand after being found guilty of negligent homicide and negligent dereliction of duty for the death of an Iraqi general who had turned himself in to military authorities.

"Military records released in Freedom of Information Act litigation make clear that the Welshofer sentence is not an anomaly," Alston wrote in a 2010 report.

The military hasn't executed a service member since 1961, when an Army ammunition handler was hanged for raping an 11-year-old girl in Austria.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the death penalty is possible if Bales is found guilty.

Afghan witnesses recounted the villagers who lived in the attacked compounds and listed the names of those killed. The bodies were buried quickly under Islamic custom, and no forensic evidence was available to prove the number of victims.

The witnesses included Zardana, 8, who sipped from a pink juice box before she testified. She suffered a gunshot wound to the top of her head, but after two months at a military hospital in Afghanistan and three more at a Navy hospital in San Diego, she can walk and talk again.

None of the Afghan witnesses were able to identify Bales as the shooter, but other evidence, including tests of the blood on his clothes, implicated him, according to testimony from a DNA expert.

Several soldiers testified that Bales returned to the base alone just before dawn the morning of the attacks, covered in blood, and that he made incriminating statements such as, "I thought I was doing the right thing."

Prosecutors say he also made a mid-massacre confession, returning to the base to wake another soldier and report his activities before heading out to the other village. The soldier testified that he didn't believe Bales and went back to sleep.

Bales, an Ohio native and father of two from Lake Tapps, Wash., has not entered a plea and was not expected to testify at the preliminary hearing. His attorneys say he has post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered a concussive head injury while serving in Iraq.

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Watson contributed from San Diego. Associated Press Writer Mirwais Khan in Kandahar also contributed to this report.

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Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

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Lockheed says cyber attacks up sharply, suppliers targeted

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon‘s No. 1 supplier, Lockheed Martin Corp, on Monday cited dramatic growth in the number and sophistication of international cyber attacks on its networks and said it was contacting suppliers to help them shore up their security.

Chandra McMahon, Lockheed vice president and chief information security officer, said about 20 percent of the threats directed at Lockheed networks were considered “advanced persistent threats,” prolonged and targeted attacks by a nation state or other group trying to steal data or harm operations.

“The number of campaigns has increased dramatically over the last several years,” McMahon told a news conference. “The pace has picked up.”

She said the tactics and techniques were becoming increasingly sophisticated, and attackers were clearly targeting Lockheed suppliers to gain access to information since the company had fortified its own networks.

U.S. officials have stepped up their warnings about cyber attacks on U.S. banks and other institutions in recent months, warning that attackers are developing the ability to strike U.S. power grids and government systems.

Lockheed officials declined to say if any of the attacks they had seen originated in Iran, which has been linked to recent denial-of-service attacks against U.S. financial institutions.

Rohan Amin, Lockheed program director for the Pentagon’s Cyber Crime Center (DC3), said internal analysis showed that the number of campaigns had clearly grown, and multiple campaigns were often linked.

Lockheed recently wrested a $ 450 million contract to run the military cyber center away from long-time holder General Dynamics Corp.

“HUGE PROBLEM”

As the top information technology provider to the U.S. government, Lockheed has long worked to secure data on computer networks run by a range of civilian and military agencies. The company is also trying to expand sales of cybersecurity technology and services to commercial firms, including its suppliers, and foreign governments, Lockheed executives said.

“Suppliers are still a huge problem,” said Charlie Croom, Lockheed’s vice president of cybersecurity solutions, noting the large number of companies that provide products and components for Lockheed, which has annual sales of just under $ 47 billion.

Croom, the former head of the Pentagon’s Defense Information Systems Agency, said cybersecurity was a crucial area for Lockheed, but said it was difficult to pinpoint exactly how much business it generates because network security is part of nearly everything the company sells and does for the government.

He estimated that 5 to 8 percent of Lockheed’s revenues in the information systems sector were related to cybersecurity. Lockheed generated $ 9.4 billion sales in that division in 2011.

McMahon said Lockheed had seen “very successful” attacks against a number of the company’s suppliers, and was focusing heavily on helping those companies improve their security.

She said a well-publicized cyber attack on Lockheed’s networks in May 2011 came after the computer systems of two of its suppliers — RSA, the security division of EMC Corp and another unidentified company — were compromised.

“The adversary was able to get information from RSA and then they were also able to steal information from another supplier of ours, and they were able to put those two pieces of information together and launch an attack on us,” McMahon said.

She said Lockheed had been tracking the adversary for years before that attack, and was able to prevent any loss of data by using its in-house detection and monitoring capabilities.

One of the lessons the company learned was the importance of sharing data with other companies in the defense sector, and suppliers, to avert similar attacks, McMahon said.

“It’s just one example of how the adversary has been very significant and tenacious and has really been targeting the defense industrial base,” she said.

Social media, websites and malware introduced by emails remain major areas of concern, Lockheed executives said.

(Reporting By Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Paul Tait)

Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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'Skyfall' brings record Bond debut of $88.4M

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Bond is cashing in at the box office.

"Skyfall," the 23rd film featuring the British super-spy, pulled in a franchise-record $88.4 million in its U.S. debut, bringing its worldwide total to more than $500 million since it began rolling out overseas in late October.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Skyfall," Sony, $88,364,714, 3,505 locations, $25,211 average, $90,564,714, one week.

2. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $33,012,796, 3,752 locations, $8,799 average, $93,647,405, two weeks.

3. "Flight," Paramount, $14,785,097, 2,047 locations, $7,223 average, $47,455,396, two weeks.

4. "Argo," Warner Bros., $6,617,229, 2,763 locations, $2,395 average, $85,583,187, five weeks.

5. "Taken 2," Fox, $4,012,829, 2,487 locations, $1,614 average, $131,300,000, six weeks.

6. "Cloud Atlas," Warner Bros., $2,658,250, 2,023 locations, $1,314 average, $22,844,956, three weeks.

7. "The Man With the Iron Fists," Universal, $2,592,705, 1,872 locations, $1,385 average, $12,821,030, two weeks.

8. "Pitch Perfect," Universal, $2,573,350, 1,391 locations, $1,850 average, $59,099,993, seven weeks.

9. "Here Comes the Boom," Sony, $2,522,790, 2,044 locations, $1,234 average, $39,033,885, five weeks.

10. "Hotel Transylvania," Sony, $2,400,226, 2,566 locations, $935 average, $140,954,208, seven weeks.

11. "Paranormal Activity 4," Paramount, $1,980,033, 2,348 locations, $843 average, $52,600,612, four weeks.

12. "Sinister," Summit, $1,524,448, 1,554 locations, $981 average, $46,578,686, five weeks.

13. "Silent Hill: Revelation," Open Road Films, $1,300,137, 1,902 locations, $684 average, $16,383,406, three weeks.

14. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," Summit, $1,132,924, 607 locations, $1,866 average, $14,614,770, eight weeks.

15. "Lincoln," Disney, $944,308, 11 locations, $85,846 average, $944,308, one week.

16. "Alex Cross," Summit, $911,973, 1,090 locations, $837 average, $24,603,042, four weeks.

17. "Fun Size," Paramount, $757,223, 1,301 locations, $582 average, $8,800,336, three weeks.

18. "Looper," Sony, $582,150, 491 locations, $1,186 average, $64,669,383, seven weeks.

19. "The Sessions," Fox, $545,550, 128 locations, $4,262 average, $1,655,222, four weeks.

20. "Seven Psychopaths," CBS Films, $404,812, 356 locations, $1,137 average, $14,098,469, five weeks.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

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British medical journal slams Roche on Tamiflu

LONDON (AP) — A leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu.

The drug has been stockpiled by dozens of governments worldwide in case of a global flu outbreak and was widely used during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

On Monday, one of the researchers linked to the BMJ journal called for European governments to sue Roche.

"I suggest we boycott Roche's products until they publish missing Tamiflu data," wrote Peter Gotzsche, leader of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen. He said governments should take legal action against Roche to get the money back that was "needlessly" spent on stockpiling Tamiflu.

Last year, Tamiflu was included in a list of "essential medicines" by the World Health Organization, a list that often prompts governments or donor agencies to buy the drug.

Tamiflu is used to treat both seasonal flu and new flu viruses like bird flu or swine flu. WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said the agency had enough proof to warrant its use for unusual influenza viruses, like bird flu.

"We do have substantive evidence it can stop or hinder progression to severe disease like pneumonia," he said.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Tamiflu as one of two medications for treating regular flu. The other is GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza. The CDC says such antivirals can shorten the duration of symptoms and reduce the risk of complications and hospitalization.

In 2009, the BMJ and researchers at the Nordic Cochrane Centre asked Roche to make all its Tamiflu data available. At the time, Cochrane Centre scientists were commissioned by Britain to evaluate flu drugs. They found no proof that Tamiflu reduced the number of complications in people with influenza.

"Despite a public promise to release (internal company reports) for each (Tamiflu) trial...Roche has stonewalled," BMJ editor Fiona Godlee wrote in an editorial last month.

In a statement, Roche said it had complied with all legal requirements on publishing data and provided Gotzsche and his colleagues with 3,200 pages of information to answer their questions.

"Roche has made full clinical study data ... available to national health authorities according to their various requirements, so they can conduct their own analyses," the company said.

Roche says it doesn't usually release patient-level data available due to legal or confidentiality constraints. It said it did not provide the requested data to the scientists because they refused to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Roche is also being investigated by the European Medicines Agency for not properly reporting side effects, including possible deaths, for 19 drugs including Tamiflu that were used in about 80,000 patients in the U.S.

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Online:

www.bmj.com.tamiflu/

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Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan under investigation as scandal widens

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, is under investigation for allegedly inappropriate communication with a woman at the center of the scandal involving former CIA Director David Petraeus, a senior U.S. defense official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The shocking revelation threatens to fell another one of the U.S. military's biggest names and suggests that the scandal involving Petraeus - a former four-star general who had Allen's job in Afghanistan before moving to the CIA last year - could expand much further than previously imagined.

The U.S. official said the FBI uncovered between 20,000 and 30,000 pages of communications - mostly emails and spanning from 2010 to 2012 - between Allen and Jill Kelley, who has been identified as a long-time friend of the Petraeus family and a Tampa, Florida, volunteer social liaison with military families at MacDill Air Force Base.

It was Kelley's complaints about harassing emails from the woman with whom Petraeus had had an affair, Paula Broadwell, that prompted an FBI investigation, ultimately alerting authorities to Petraeus' involvement with Broadwell. Petraeus resigned from his job on Friday.

Asked whether there was concern about the disclosure of classified information, the official said: "We are concerned about inappropriate communications. We are not going to speculate as to what is contained in these documents."

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement given to reporters flying with him to Australia that he asked that Allen's nomination to be Commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe be delayed "and the president has agreed."

Allen, who is now in Washington, was due to face a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, as was his slated successor in Afghanistan, General Joseph Dunford.

The FBI referred the case to the Pentagon on Sunday and Panetta directed the Defense Department's Inspector General to handle the investigation. Panetta informed the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee during the flight to Australia. The House Armed Services Committee was also notified.

The U.S. defense official said that Allen denied any wrongdoing and that Panetta had opted to keep him in his job while the matter was under review, and until Dunford can be confirmed to replace him - a process that gains urgency given the potentially lengthy review process and the cloud it could cast over the mission in Afghanistan.

"While the matter is under investigation and before the facts are determined, General Allen will remain commander of ISAF," Panetta said, referring to the NATO—led force in Afghanistan.

Only hours earlier, Panetta had said he was reviewing Allen's recommendations on the future U.S. presence in Afghanistan after most troops withdraw by the end of 2014.

Commending Allen's leadership in Afghanistan, Panetta said in his statement: "He is entitled to due process in this matter."

At the same time, he noted that wanted the Senate to act "promptly" on Dunford's nomination.

The U.S. official said Panetta was informed of the matter involving Allen on Sunday, as he flew to Hawaii, after the Pentagon's top lawyer called Panetta's chief of staff. The White House was informed next.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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Highlights of testimony about Afghan massacre

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. (AP) — For the past week, an investigating officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord has heard testimony during a preliminary hearing for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is accused of killing 16 civilians and wounding six others during a nighttime rampage at two villages early March 11. Among the highlights:

MONDAY:

—Lead prosecutor Lt. Col. Jay Morse details Bales' actions the night of the massacre: He watched a movie about a former CIA agent on a revenge killing spree, with two fellow soldiers, while drinking contraband whiskey from a plastic water bottle. He says Bales first attacked one village, Alkozai; returned to the base at Camp Belambay, woke another soldier and reported his actions; then headed out again to attack a second village, Najiban. Bales returned to the base covered in blood, Morse says, and his incriminating statements indicate he was "deliberate and methodical." Morse airs a night-vision video taken by a surveillance blimp, showing a caped, silhouetted figure stalking through the fields near the base, ultimately surrendering when confronted by three other soldiers.

—Defense lawyers decline to give an opening statement.

—Cpl. Dave Godwin, described as one of Bales' closest friends at Camp Belambay, recounts watching the movie with Bales and Sgt. Jason McLaughlin. Bales spoke of his anxiety over possibility of an upcoming promotion, and they talked of an attack a week earlier that claimed a colleague's leg. Godwin says he was one of the soldiers who confronted Bales as he returned.

—Sgt. 1st Class Clayton Blackshear says he was drowsing late on March 10 when Bales came into his room and sat down. Bales said he was upset that the soldiers hadn't retaliated for the attack a week earlier, Blackshear testifies. Bales said he wants Blackshear's job in Special Forces, and he complained about his wife. Later, Blackshear is woken up by a report that Bales is missing from the base. When Bales returned, "I had never seen anyone with that much blood on him," Blackshear says.

—McLaughlin testifies that he was asleep when Bales came in and turned on the light, and Bales said he'd just been to Alkozai and "shot up some people." McLaughlin says that when he expressed disbelief, Bales told him to smell his gun; McLaughlin couldn't tell whether it had been fired. Later, McLaughlin was on duty when two Afghan National Army guards reported there had been gunshots, and that an American soldier had been seeing coming and going from the base. When Bales returned, McLaughlin testifies, he was one of the soldiers to confront him and tell him to surrender his weapons: "The first words out of his mouth were, 'Are you (expletive) kidding me?'"

TUESDAY:

—Two soldiers assigned to guard Bales after he was taken into custody testify that he smashed his laptop computer after being allowed to gather his things.

—Sgt. 1st Class James Stillwell, a medic who reported seeing Bales after he returned to Belambay, remembered asking Bales where he had been. Bales' response, he said, was: "If I tell you, you guys will have to testify against me."

—Two American guards at the base recalled hearing gunshots in the distance. They shot flares, but could not see what was happening.

WEDNESDAY:

—Called by the defense, 1st Sgt. Vernon Bigham, who also served with Bales in Iraq, describes him as "very capable."

—Army Criminal Investigations Command special agent Matthew Hoffman testifies that he flew to Belambay at midday after the massacre, having been delayed by bad weather. Hundreds of villagers were protesting, and "every time an American soldier showed himself they became enraged." Afghan investigators went to the crime scenes to collect evidence and take photos, but it was three weeks before the Americans could reach the villages, less than a mile away. Bloodstains remained on the compound floors. Bales tested positive for steroids three days after the killings, he says.

—Maj. Travis Hawks, a doctor at the nearby base at Zengabad, recounts treating five injured villagers that morning.

THURSDAY:

—Christine Trapolsi, a DNA examiner at the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Laboratory, testifies that the DNA profiles of four people were discovered on samples of the blood stains on Bales' clothing and guns the morning he surrendered. Additional testing of Bales clothing might turn up more profiles, she says. Swabs of blood stains taken from the compounds turned up several other profiles. One female victim's blood appeared both on Bales' clothing and in a sample taken from one of the attacked compounds.

FRIDAY:

—The first Afghan witnesses testify by live video link from Kandahar. The session is held overnight at Lewis-McChord to accommodate the time difference.

—An Afghan National Army guard on duty that night reports seeing one American returning to Belambay at 1:30 a.m. The American ignored commands to stop and continued into the base. Another Afghan guard who relieved the first one testifies that a lone U.S. soldier left the base at 2:30 a.m., laughing as he passed.

—One Afghan man, Khamal, testifies that he went to his cousin's compound at Najiban the next morning. He found his cousin's mother dead in the doorway and the bodies of other relatives, including six of his cousin's seven children, piled inside and burned.

—Other witnesses and victims describe the shootings at Alkozai. Haji Naim says he woke to find a soldier climbing over his compound wall. Naim asked what the man was doing; the man shot him in the neck and torso.

—One of Naim's sons, Sadiquallah, who is about 13, testifies that he and his friend Rafiullah were shot and wounded as they cowered behind a curtain. Sadiquallah's older brother, Quadratullah, recalls scrambling with other children and yelling, "We are children! We are children!"

SATURDAY

—Sadiquallah's sister, Zardana, age 8, sits down before her testimony and smiles at the interpreter as she sips from a pink juice box. She was shot in the head and spent five months recovering at a military hospital in Kandahar as well as at a U.S. naval hospital in San Diego, but now can walk and talk again. Called by the defense, she is asked few questions, and recalls that the shooter had a dark T-shirt.

—Zardana's friend Robina, age 7, takes the witness stand wearing a deep-red head covering and a nervous smile. She recounts hiding behind her father as he was shot to death. She was wounded in the leg. Like other witnesses, she saw only one shooter.

—Criminal Investigation Command special agent Leona Mansapit testifies that months after the killings, she was able to interview the wife of one of the victims. The woman clearly recounted having seen two U.S. soldiers in her room, and said one took her husband from the room and shot him as the other held her back, Mansapit recalls. Later, however, the woman's brother-in-law, Mullah Baraan, who was not present at the shootings, testifies that the woman says there was only one shooter. The woman herself has not testified.

SUNDAY

—The only witness to testify is an Afghan police official called by the defense. Citing the distance between the villages, among other things, he speculates that a single shooter could not have carried out the killings. However, he offers no evidence to support his opinion.

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10 things you need to know today: November 11, 2012

Emails from Petraeus‘ mistress triggered investigation, the BBC’s chief resigns, and more in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion

1. BIOGRAPHER’S EMAILS LED FBI TO PETRAEUS AFFAIR
Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom CIA Director David Petraeus had an extramarital affair, leading to his sudden resignation on Friday, had allegedly sent harassing emails to a woman in Florida, leading the FBI to investigate the claim — and eventually uncovering the affair. Broadwell, who was Petraeus‘ official biographer, reportedly sent emails to the Florida woman inquiring about the nature of her relationship with Petraeus, prompting the unidentified woman to lodge a complaint with the FBI. The FBI began its investigation in the spring, and interviewed Petraeus in the past two weeks. During the interview, Petraeus admitted to the affair with Broadwell, who is also married. [Wall Street Journal]
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2. BBC CHIEF RESIGNS OVER GROWING SCANDAL
BBC’s director general George Entwistle resigned his post Saturday night amid growing criticism as the broadcaster deals with an alleged sex abuse scandal that implicated longtime BBC host Jimmy Savile. Savile, who died last year, was suspected of sexually abusing hundreds of young people over the decades, sometimes on BBC premises. Entwistle had most recently come under fire for allowing a false report on the BBC program Newsnight to air on Nov. 2. During the broadcast, a former Conservative Party politician was wrongly implicated in a pedophile scandal involving a children’s home in Wales. Entwistle said the report reflected “unacceptable journalistic standards” and never should have been broadcast. [New York Times]
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SEE ALSO: 10 things you need to know today: November 2, 2012

3. ISRAEL FIRES WARNING SHOT AT SYRIA
Israel fired a warning shot into Syria on Sunday after a stray mortar from Syria hit a military post in the Golan Heights. No injuries or damage were reported in Israel. Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and subsequently annexed it. The incident was the first time Israel has been drawn into the fighting in the neighboring country. Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition, holding critical meetings in Qatar agreed Saturday to a new coalition to oppose President Bashar al-Assad. One Islamist opposition delegate said a new leader and deputy would be chosen on Sunday evening. [Associated Press, BBC]
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4. REP. ALLEN WEST WON’T CONCEDE
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) was defeated by Democratic opponent Patrick Murphy, according to Florida’s vote count on Saturday, but the incumbent refuses to concede. The state issued complete but unofficial results showing Murphy with a lead of 2,442 votes, or 50.4 percent. That’s beyond the half-percent margin needed to trigger an automatic recount. West’s campaign alleges that in St. Lucie County, the only one of the three counties in the district that Murphy won, votes may have been counted twice and have asked to review sign-in books from the polls. West’s only path forward is through the courts. Under state law, he still could contest the election if misconduct or fraud might have changed its result. [Politico]
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SEE ALSO: The woman who named her newborn twins Barack and Mitt

5. IRAQ CANCELS ARMS DEAL WITH RUSSIA
Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, has canceled a recently signed $ 4.2 billion arms deal with Russia after suspicions of corruption surfaced. The prime minister’s adviser Ali al-Moussawi did not give any details or context. “We informed Russia about our decision, but we hope to sign a new weapons deal between Iraq and Russia,” al-Moussawi said. [CNN]
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6. BOEHNER TELLS HOUSE GOP TO FALL IN LINE
After the Republican Party’s electoral battering last week, House Speaker John Boehner insisted to House Republicans in a conference call that while they “would continue to staunchly oppose tax rate increases as Congress grapples with the impending fiscal battle, they had to avoid the nasty showdowns that marked so much of the last two years,” writes The New York Times. Many members offered subdued words of support, in contrast to a similar call last year when Boehner tried to persuade members to compromise with Democrats on a deal to extend temporary payroll tax cuts, “only to have them loudly revolt.” Both Boehner and President Obama seem to be keeping open the avenue of negotiation to address the looming fiscal cliff set to hit Jan. 1. [New York Times]
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SEE ALSO: The highest skyscraper climb with a bionic leg

7. APPLE AND HTC SETTLE PATENT DISPUTES
Apple and Taiwanese phonemaker HTC have settled all their outstanding disputes over patents, ending a fight that began in March 2010. The two companies signed a 10-year license agreement that will extend to current and future patents held by one another. HTC’s have been in decline since the second half of 2011, despite having become a major global phone company by aligning itself with Google’s Android platform. [BBC]
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8. STRONG EARTHQUAKE HITS MYANMAR
After a 6.-magnitude earthquake hit northern Myanmar on Sunday, at least 12 people were feared dead. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit near the city of Mandalay, at a depth of just 6.2 miles. The shallow quake was felt in Bangkok, the capital of neighboring Thailand, and several aftershocks followed. [Voice of America]
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SEE ALSO: 10 things you need to know today: November 3, 2012

9. CHINA TO LAUNCH NEXT MANNED CRAFT IN JUNE
A spokesperson for the Chinese space program announced Saturday that China’s next space mission will launch in June 2013. The operation is the second manned mission for the country, which completed its first manned mission — Shenzhou-9 — in June of this year. “They will stay in space for 15 days, operating both automated and manual space dockings with the target orbiter Tiangong-1, conducting scientific experiments in the lab module and giving science lectures to spectators on the Earth,” Niu Hongguang of the Chinese space program said. [Forbes]
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10. JUSTIN BIEBER AND SELENA GOMEZ SPLIT
Singer Justin Bieber, 18, and girlfriend, singer-actor Selena Gomez, 20, have gone their separate ways, a source confirms to the Associated Press. The split happened last week, and the two young stars cite distance and their busy schedules as contributing factors. The two had been dating for a year. [Associated Press] 

SEE ALSO: 10 things you need to know today: October 31, 2012

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