Top Canada court upholds anti-terrorism law in unanimous ruling

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OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada‘s Supreme Court on Friday upheld an anti-terrorism law enacted after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, ruling unanimously that those who choose to engage in terrorism must “pay a very heavy price.”


The law’s constitutionality was challenged by Mohammad Momin Khawaja, convicted in Canada of terrorism for involvement with a British group that had plotted unsuccessfully to set off bombs in London.






It was also challenged by two men accused of terrorism by the United States for trying to buy missiles or weapons technology for the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers.


The court rejected arguments that the law’s definition of terrorism was overly broad. It upheld Khawaja’s life sentence and confirmed the orders to extradite the other two to the United States.


Khawaja, a Canadian of Pakistani descent, was the first to be convicted under the law. He was sentenced in 2008 to 10-1/2 years in prison, and his sentence was then extended to life after appeal by the government.


The trial judge noted that Khawaja referred to Osama Bin Laden as “the most beloved person to me in the … whole world, after Allah.” He was found to have participated in a terrorism training camp in Pakistan and to have designed a device dubbed the “hi fi digimonster” for detonating bombs.


“The appellant was a willing participant in a terrorist group,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the 7-0 decision, adding that he was “apparently remorseless.”


“He was committed to bringing death on all those opposed to his extremist ideology and took many steps to provide support to the group. The bomb detonators he attempted to build would have killed many civilians had his plans succeeded.”


The law applies to any act committed for a political, religious or ideological purpose with the intention of intimidating the public by causing death or serious bodily harm, or substantial property damage, or causing serious interference with an essential service.


The court also ruled that Canada can proceed to extradite two men the United States has accused of involvement with the Tamil Tigers, which waged a bloody war for independence in Sri Lanka and is considered a terrorist organization by Washington and Ottawa.


The Canadian government declined to comment on when they would be extradited.


Piratheepan Nadarajah was alleged to have tried to purchase surface-to-air missiles and AK-47 assault rifles for the Tamil Tigers from an undercover officer posing as a black-market arms dealer on Long Island, New York.


The other man, Suresh Sriskandarajah, was alleged to have helped Tamil Tigers get electronic equipment, submarine and warship design software and communications equipment.


They surrendered to the government ahead of the court decision, their lawyers said.


BEYOND ‘LEGITIMATE EXPRESSION’


The court disagreed that the federal law’s terrorism provisions had put a chilling effect on Canadians’ freedom of expression and was disproportionately broad.


“Only individuals who go well beyond the legitimate expression of a political, religious or ideological thought, belief or opinion, and instead engage in one of the serious forms of violence – or threaten one of the serious forms of violence – listed (in the law) need fear liability under the terrorism provisions of the Criminal Code,” McLachlin wrote.


She quoted with approval the appeals court decision in the Khawaja case that faulted the Ottawa trial judge’s sentence for failing to send a “clear and unmistakable message that terrorism is reprehensible and those who choose to engage in it will pay a very heavy price.”


The original sentence of 10-1/2 years does “not approach an adequate sentence for such acts,” she concluded.


Khawaja’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, said it was a “terrible day” for his client and said too often people were investigated or prosecuted for their religious or political beliefs.


“It’s a … very unfortunate ruling for minorities in this country, and we’re extremely disappointed with the result,” he told reporters in the foyer of the Supreme Court.


Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said the decision was important as Canada was not immune to the threat of terrorism. “The court sent a strong message that terrorism will not be treated leniently in Canada,” he said.


The cases are Mohammad Momin Khawaja v. Her Majesty the Queen. (Ont) (34103); Suresh Sriskandarajah v. United States of America, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (34009), Piratheepan Nadarajah v. United States of America, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (34013).


(Additional reporting by Louise Egan; Editing by Jackie Frank and Xavier Briand)


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Weight Watchers anniversary cookbook out in May

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NEW YORK (AP) — Weight Watchers is marking its 50th year by shedding its old publisher and hoping to expand its audience for an anniversary cookbook.


“Weight Watchers 50th Anniversary Cookbook: 270 Delicious Recipes for Every Meal,” will come out in May. The release starts a partnership between the diet company and St. Martin’s Press. Weight Watchers had previously released its cookbooks through Wiley.






According to a joint announcement Friday from Weight Watchers and St. Martin’s, the new cookbook will offer new and old recipes and “fun facts” on Weight Watchers history,


Weight Watchers and St. Martin’s plan another cookbook later in 2013 and more publications in 2014.


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Venezuela’s Chavez in satisfactory condition: government

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CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela‘s President Hugo Chavez is recovering “satisfactorily” from his cancer surgery in Cuba although the process remains slow, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said on Friday.


Reading the latest of regular government updates on the socialist leader’s condition, three days after his operation, Villegas said the 58-year-old president had communicated with relatives and sent greetings to all Venezuelans.






“The recovery has been slow but progressive,” he said.


(Reporting by Eyanir Chinea, Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Will Dunham)


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Police, world wonder about Conn. shooting motive

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NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — The massacre of 26 children and adults at a Connecticut elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, a 20-year-old described as brilliant but remote, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims.


Investigators were trying to learn more about the gunman, Adam Lanza, and questioned his older brother, who is not believed to have been involved in the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary. Police shed no light on the motive for the nation's second-deadliest school shooting.


In tight-knit Newtown on Friday night, hundreds of people packed St. Rose of Lima church and stood outside in a vigil for the 28 dead — 20 children and six adults at the school, the gunman's mother at home, and the gunman himself, who committed suicide. People held hands, lit candles and sang "Silent Night."


"These 20 children were just beautiful, beautiful children," Monsignor Robert Weiss said. "These 20 children lit up this community better than all these Christmas lights we have. ... There are a lot brighter stars up there tonight because of these kids."


Lanza is believed to have suffered from a personality disorder and lived with his mother, said a law enforcement official who was briefed on the investigation.


Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, drove to the school in her car with at least three guns, including a high-powered rifle that he apparently left in the back of the vehicle, and shot up two classrooms around 9:30 a.m. Friday, law enforcement officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.


A custodian ran through the halls, warning of a gunman, and someone switched on the intercom, perhaps saving many lives by letting them hear the chaos in the school office, a teacher said. Teachers locked their doors and ordered children to huddle in a corner or hide in closets as shots echoed through the building.


The well-liked principal, Dawn Hochsprung, was believed to be among the dead. A woman who worked at the school was wounded. An update on victims' identities was planned Saturday morning.


A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said investigators believe Lanza attended the school several years ago but appeared to have no recent connection to it.


At least one parent said Lanza's mother was a substitute teacher there. But her name did not appear on a staff list. And the official said investigators were unable to establish any connection so far between her and the school.


Lanza's older brother, 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, of Hoboken, N.J., was questioned, but a law enforcement official said he was not believed to have had a role in the rampage. Investigators were searching his computers and phone records, but he told law enforcement he had not been in touch with his brother since about 2010.


The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation.


At one point, a law enforcement official mistakenly identified the gunman as Ryan Lanza. Brett Wilshe, a friend of Ryan Lanza's, said Lanza told him the gunman may have had his identification. Ryan Lanza apparently posted Facebook page updates Friday afternoon that read, "It wasn't me" and "I was at work."


For about two hours late Friday and early Saturday, clergy members and emergency vehicles moved steadily to and from the school. The state medical examiner's office said bodies of the victims would be taken there eventually for autopsies.


The shooter took three guns into the school — a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both pistols, and a .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle, according to an official who was not authorized to discuss information with reporters and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The weapons were registered to his slain mother.


Adam Lanza and his mother lived in a well-to-do part of prosperous Newtown, about 60 miles northeast of New York City, where neighbors are doctors or hold white-collar positions at companies such as General Electric, Pepsi and IBM.


Lanza's parents filed for divorce in 2008, according to court records. His father, Peter Lanza, lives in Stamford, Conn., and works as a tax director for General Electric.


The gunman's aunt Marsha Lanza, of Crystal Lake, Ill., said her nephew was raised by kind, nurturing parents who would not have hesitated to seek mental help for him if he needed it.


"Nancy wasn't one to deny reality," Marsha Lanza said, adding her husband had seen Adam as recently as June and recalled nothing out of the ordinary.


Catherine Urso, of Newtown, said her college-age son knew the killer and remembered him for his alternative style. "He just said he was very thin, very remote and was one of the goths," she said.


Adam Lanza attended Newtown High School, and several news clippings from recent years mention his name among the honor roll students.


Joshua Milas, who graduated from Newtown High in 2009 and belonged to the school technology club with him, said Adam Lanza was generally a happy person but that he hadn't seen him in a few years.


"We would hang out, and he was a good kid. He was smart," Joshua Milas said. "He was probably one of the smartest kids I know. He was probably a genius."


An official who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was not clear that Adam Lanza had a job, and there was no indication of law enforcement interviews or search warrants at a place of business.


The mass shooting is one of the deadliest in U.S. history, and among school attacks is second in victims only to the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, which left 33 people dead, including the gunman. Reaction was swift and emotional in Newtown, a picturesque New England community of 27,000 people, as well as across the country and around the world.


"It has to stop, these senseless deaths," said Frank DeAngelis, principal of Colorado's Columbine High School, where a massacre in 1999 killed 15 people.


In Washington, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence organized a vigil at the White House, with some protesters chanting, "Today IS the day" to take steps to curb gun violence. In New York's Times Square, a few dozen people held tea lights in plastic cups, with one woman holding a sign that read: "Take a moment and candle to remember the victims of the Newtown shooting."


President Barack Obama's comments on the tragedy amounted to one of the most outwardly emotional moments of his presidency.


"The majority of those who died were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old," Obama said at a White House news briefing. He paused for several seconds to keep his composure as he teared up and wiped an eye. Nearby, two aides cried and held hands.


Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the attack as a "senseless and incomprehensible act of evil."


"Like President Obama and his fellow Americans, our hearts too are broken," Gillard said in a statement.


In Japan, where guns are severely restricted and there are extremely few gun-related crimes, the attack led the news two days before nationwide parliamentary elections. In China, which has seen several knife rampages at schools in recent years, the attack quickly consumed public discussion.


At the Newtown vigil, Anthony Bloss, whose three daughters survived, said they are doing better than he. "I'm numb. I'm completely numb," he said.


The gunman entered the school through its front door, and authorities are looking into the possibility that he shattered glass next to it to get in, said Newtown Police Lt. George Sinko.


Panicked parents looking for their children raced to Sandy Hook, a kindergarten-through-fourth-grade school where police told youngsters to close their eyes as they were led from the building so that they wouldn't see the blood and broken glass.


Schoolchildren — some crying, many looking frightened — were escorted through a parking lot in a line, hands on one another's shoulders.


Robert Licata said his 6-year-old son was in class when the gunman burst in and shot the teacher. "That's when my son grabbed a bunch of his friends and ran out the door," he said. "He was very brave. He waited for his friends."


He said the shooter didn't utter a word.


Kaitlin Roig, a teacher at the school, said she implored her students to be quiet.


"I told them we had to be absolutely quiet. Because I was just so afraid if he did come in, then he would hear us and just start shooting the door. I said we have to be absolutely quiet. And I said there are bad guys out there now and we need to wait for the good guys to come get us out," Roig told ABC News.


"If they started crying, I would take their face and say it's going to be OK. Show me your smile," she said. "They said, we want to go home for Christmas. Yes, yeah. I just want to hug my mom, things like that, that were just heartbreaking."


___


Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Pat Eaton-Robb and Matt Apuzzo and videographer Robert Ray in Newtown; Bridget Murphy in Boston; Samantha Henry in Newark, N.J.; Pete Yost in Washington; Michael Melia in Hartford; and the AP News Research Center in New York.


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Stars Tweet Over Gun Control Following Elementary School Shootings In Connecticut — Updated

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Celebrities were outraged over the tragic elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. on Friday, and many immediately turned to Twitter, to share their sadness.


And some even urged America’s leaders to address gun control.






PLAY IT NOW: Edward Norton Discusses Tragic Colorado Shootings


“Gun control is our only road to freedom. Freedom from the fear of senselessly losing children. I’m so saddened. WE NEED LAWS NOW,” “Parks and Recreation” actress Rashida Jones Tweeted.


Singer Michelle Branch also touched on the topic in her Tweet, writing, “Gun control people!!! My heart is breaking. As a parent this is my worst nightmare.”


VIEW THE PHOTOS: Stars We Lost In 2012


“Two and a Half Men’s” Holland Taylor wrote, “Just heard re CT shooting coming in from a walk… MY GOD. The “right” to carry concealed weapons … this has become a truly INSANE issue.”


Michael Raymond-James, who plays Neal Cassady on “Once Upon A Time,” also tackled gun control in his Tweet, writing, “Unfortunately, we have more access to assault weapons than we do to quality mental health care. That needs to change. #HowManyMoreTimes.”


Brit Piers Morgan wrote, “Why does any civilian in America need a weapon that can fire 100 rounds of ammunition at rapid speed? Give me ONE good reason?” and added, “#GunControl.”


VIEW THE PHOTOS: General Hospital: Cast Photos & More


Filmmaker Michael Moore Tweeted, “The way to honor these dead children is to demand strict gun control, free mental health care, and an end to violence as public policy.”


“General Hospital” actress Lisa LoCicero also Tweeted about gun control, in the wake of the tragedy, writing, “anyone still not ready for us to err on the side of losing some gun rights at this point, needs to leave the country.”


VIEW THE PHOTOS: ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ Season 5


“Raising Hope” star Martha Plimpton Tweeted, “When can we talk about it? WHEN? Ever? Never? If not now, when we are staring it in the face, then WHEN? #GunControl.”


Motley Crue singer Vince Neil wrote, “Sad day today. Prayers to all the families. Gun Control!!!”


“True Blood” star Denis O’Hare Tweeted, “When do we get to seriously talk about gun control?”


“Malibu Country” actor Jai Rodriguez also Tweeted about gun control, writing, “Sick over what happened in the world this week. We need better gun laws. My heart goes out to all those affected by the horrors.”


Eric Benet Tweeted, “Half of the U.S. will say,”How dare u bring up gun control at a time like this?!” But the sane half will say,”How dare we not!?” pls RT”


Susan Sarandon wrote, “How much more suffering & loss will it take before we better regulate the sale of arms in our country? Let @NRA know how you feel.”


Jaime King wrote, “We do not have time to wait to tighten gun control- we cannot loose anymore innocent lives. I beg the government to stop F-ing around.”


Jason Biggs Tweeted, “Hey-I love guns. I’ve shot, killed, n eaten my own food-n grown cuz of the experience. But clearly, restrictions need to be put into place.”


Hill Harper ‏Tweeted, “Can we please re-institute the assault weapons ban & a ban on selling high load gun clips.”


Ginnifer Goodwin wrote, “I just emailed my representative & it was super easy. http://m.house.gov/ #guncontrol.”


“General Hospital” star Finola Hughes Tweeted, “I believe that ‘other day’ for debating gun laws is now.”


Mehcad Brook, from the USA series “Necessary Roughness” Tweeted, “Why do we go through more scrutiny getting a driver’s license bcuz cars CAN kill than we do obtaining a gun which ONLY kills?”


Other stars shared their deep sadness over the senseless deaths in Connecticut.


“God have mercy!!!! No one deserves this! Praying for the families of the victims of the Connecticut shooting!! What a Christmas it will be,” Rihanna wrote.


“Everyone reading this PLEASE get on your knees and PRAY for the sweet babies, families, and for everyone hurting in Connecticut right now,” Lady Antebellum singer Hillary Scott Tweeted.


“There have been 31 school shootings since Columbine, 14yrs ago. This time, kindergarteners. #NoWords,” Anika Noni Rose wrote.


Jennifer Hudson Tweeted, “Yal, we need to pray! This can’t keep happening . My mama always said ” if u think you’ve seen it all just keep on living.’”


Oprah Winfrey responded to Jennifer’s Tweet, writing, “@IAMJHUD for sure . Pray and take action.. Another WAKE UP for guns.”


Here’s more of what the stars had to say on Twitter:


Katie Couric: Shocked & saddened to hear this morning’s news… My heart goes out to the families of #SandyHook Elementary children, faculty, staff


Joy Behar: My thoughts and prayers are with the families of Sandy Hook Elementary.


Maksim Chmerkovskiy: I hate the “my heart is with” this and “my prayers go out” that… We ALL need to get f***ing angry and DO something more than ‘feel sad’…


Vivica A. Fox: Wow! It seems like we r gonna have to put metal detectors everywhere and armed guards! Seems like u can’t b safe anywhere!! WTH?? icon sad Stars Tweet Over Gun Control Following Elementary School Shootings In Connecticut Updated


Jack Wagner: OMG prayers 4 those affected by the shooting in Connecticut…so sad


Ian Somerhalder: We are sad.Our hearts,thoughts&help are w/you.Im so sorry to all affected by this.So sorry.May all thelove in the world hug you in this time


Ralph Macchio: There are no words… Prayers #Connecticut


Rachel Dratch: Our weekly mass shootings aren’t happening in other countries. And this time, children? WHEN WILL OUR “LEADERS” PUT AN END TO THIS INSANITY?


Teresa Giudice: On days like this, we should hug our children just a little bit tighter.


Steve Levitan: My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the victims. I should have said that first, but I’m tired of these tragedies. #standuptothenra


Marlee Matlin: I am numb as the numbers of the dead – children and adults – keep ticking up. #PrayForNewtown


Christina Applegate: There are just no words. Only sorrow. We are all shedding tears today for those families.


Karina Smirnoff: We need to pray for all the families affected by the Newtown, CT school shooting. Absolutely devastating….


Kim Kardashian: These kids come to school to learn, never expecting this tragedy to happen. They didn’t deserve this. Praying for everyone involved!


Brandi Glanville: I can not believe this school shooting, what is wrong with people!!!! My heart is breakking for the kids and families.


Jackie Collins: My heart breaks for the Newtown community…for these families.


Damon Lindelof: I’m not “politicizing” squat. I’m heartbroken, angry, confused and scared and I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THIS KEEPS HAPPENING.


DJ Pauly D: My Prayers Go Out To Everyone Affected By This Horrible Shooting In Connecticut


Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Top Canada court upholds anti-terrorism law in unanimous ruling

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OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada‘s Supreme Court on Friday upheld an anti-terrorism law enacted after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, ruling unanimously that those who choose to engage in terrorism must “pay a very heavy price.”


The law’s constitutionality was challenged by Mohammad Momin Khawaja, convicted in Canada of terrorism for involvement with a British group that had plotted unsuccessfully to set off bombs in London.






It was also challenged by two men accused of terrorism by the United States for trying to buy missiles or weapons technology for the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers.


The court rejected arguments that the law’s definition of terrorism was overly broad. It upheld Khawaja’s life sentence and confirmed the orders to extradite the other two to the United States.


Khawaja, a Canadian of Pakistani descent, was the first to be convicted under the law. He was sentenced in 2008 to 10-1/2 years in prison, and his sentence was then extended to life after appeal by the government.


The trial judge noted that Khawaja referred to Osama Bin Laden as “the most beloved person to me in the … whole world, after Allah.” He was found to have participated in a terrorism training camp in Pakistan and to have designed a device dubbed the “hi fi digimonster” for detonating bombs.


“The appellant was a willing participant in a terrorist group,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the 7-0 decision, adding that he was “apparently remorseless.”


“He was committed to bringing death on all those opposed to his extremist ideology and took many steps to provide support to the group. The bomb detonators he attempted to build would have killed many civilians had his plans succeeded.”


The law applies to any act committed for a political, religious or ideological purpose with the intention of intimidating the public by causing death or serious bodily harm, or substantial property damage, or causing serious interference with an essential service.


The court also ruled that Canada can proceed to extradite two men the United States has accused of involvement with the Tamil Tigers, which waged a bloody war for independence in Sri Lanka and is considered a terrorist organization by Washington and Ottawa.


The Canadian government declined to comment on when they would be extradited.


Piratheepan Nadarajah was alleged to have tried to purchase surface-to-air missiles and AK-47 assault rifles for the Tamil Tigers from an undercover officer posing as a black-market arms dealer on Long Island, New York.


The other man, Suresh Sriskandarajah, was alleged to have helped Tamil Tigers get electronic equipment, submarine and warship design software and communications equipment.


They surrendered to the government ahead of the court decision, their lawyers said.


BEYOND ‘LEGITIMATE EXPRESSION’


The court disagreed that the federal law’s terrorism provisions had put a chilling effect on Canadians’ freedom of expression and was disproportionately broad.


“Only individuals who go well beyond the legitimate expression of a political, religious or ideological thought, belief or opinion, and instead engage in one of the serious forms of violence – or threaten one of the serious forms of violence – listed (in the law) need fear liability under the terrorism provisions of the Criminal Code,” McLachlin wrote.


She quoted with approval the appeals court decision in the Khawaja case that faulted the Ottawa trial judge’s sentence for failing to send a “clear and unmistakable message that terrorism is reprehensible and those who choose to engage in it will pay a very heavy price.”


The original sentence of 10-1/2 years does “not approach an adequate sentence for such acts,” she concluded.


Khawaja’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, said it was a “terrible day” for his client and said too often people were investigated or prosecuted for their religious or political beliefs.


“It’s a … very unfortunate ruling for minorities in this country, and we’re extremely disappointed with the result,” he told reporters in the foyer of the Supreme Court.


Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said the decision was important as Canada was not immune to the threat of terrorism. “The court sent a strong message that terrorism will not be treated leniently in Canada,” he said.


The cases are Mohammad Momin Khawaja v. Her Majesty the Queen. (Ont) (34103); Suresh Sriskandarajah v. United States of America, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (34009), Piratheepan Nadarajah v. United States of America, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (34013).


(Additional reporting by Louise Egan; Editing by Jackie Frank and Xavier Briand)


Canada News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Venezuela’s Chavez in satisfactory condition: government

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CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela‘s President Hugo Chavez is recovering “satisfactorily” from his cancer surgery in Cuba although the process remains slow, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said on Friday.


Reading the latest of regular government updates on the socialist leader’s condition, three days after his operation, Villegas said the 58-year-old president had communicated with relatives and sent greetings to all Venezuelans.






“The recovery has been slow but progressive,” he said.


(Reporting by Eyanir Chinea, Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Will Dunham)


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Amanda Bynes enters settlement in hit-and-run case

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actress Amanda Bynes has resolved a misdemeanor hit-and-run case after entering into a civil settlement with other drivers.


Court records show Bynes entered a civil compromise to end the case and her attorney informed a Los Angeles court on Thursday. Bynes was charged with leaving the scene of accidents in April and August without providing the proper information.






Defendants in certain California misdemeanor cases are allowed to enter civil settlements to resolve criminal cases.


City Attorney’s spokesman Frank Mateljan (mah-tell-JIN’) says prosecutors objected to the dismissal, noting other instances in which Bynes has been cited for driving without a license and her pending driving under the influence case.


Bynes rose to fame starring in Nickelodeon’s “All That” and has also starred in several films, including 2010′s “Easy A.”


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Police, world wonder about Conn. shooting motive

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NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — The massacre of 26 children and adults at a Connecticut elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, a 20-year-old described as brilliant but remote, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims.


Investigators were trying to learn more about the gunman, Adam Lanza, and questioned his older brother, who is not believed to have been involved in the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary. Police shed no light on the motive for the nation's second-deadliest school shooting.


In tight-knit Newtown on Friday night, hundreds of people packed St. Rose of Lima church and stood outside in a vigil for the 28 dead — 20 children and six adults at the school, the gunman's mother at home, and the gunman himself, who committed suicide. People held hands, lit candles and sang "Silent Night."


"These 20 children were just beautiful, beautiful children," Monsignor Robert Weiss said. "These 20 children lit up this community better than all these Christmas lights we have. ... There are a lot brighter stars up there tonight because of these kids."


Lanza is believed to have suffered from a personality disorder and lived with his mother, said a law enforcement official who was briefed on the investigation.


Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, drove to the school in her car with at least three guns, including a high-powered rifle that he apparently left in the back of the vehicle, and shot up two classrooms around 9:30 a.m. Friday, law enforcement officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.


A custodian ran through the halls, warning of a gunman, and someone switched on the intercom, perhaps saving many lives by letting them hear the chaos in the school office, a teacher said. Teachers locked their doors and ordered children to huddle in a corner or hide in closets as shots echoed through the building.


The well-liked principal, Dawn Hochsprung, was believed to be among the dead. A woman who worked at the school was wounded. An update on victims' identities was planned Saturday morning.


A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said investigators believe Lanza attended the school several years ago but appeared to have no recent connection to it.


At least one parent said Lanza's mother was a substitute teacher there. But her name did not appear on a staff list. And the official said investigators were unable to establish any connection so far between her and the school.


Lanza's older brother, 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, of Hoboken, N.J., was questioned, but a law enforcement official said he was not believed to have had a role in the rampage. Investigators were searching his computers and phone records, but he told law enforcement he had not been in touch with his brother since about 2010.


The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation.


At one point, a law enforcement official mistakenly identified the gunman as Ryan Lanza. Brett Wilshe, a friend of Ryan Lanza's, said Lanza told him the gunman may have had his identification. Ryan Lanza apparently posted Facebook page updates Friday afternoon that read, "It wasn't me" and "I was at work."


For about two hours late Friday and early Saturday, clergy members and emergency vehicles moved steadily to and from the school. The state medical examiner's office said bodies of the victims would be taken there eventually for autopsies.


At least three guns were found — a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both pistols, inside the school, and a .223-caliber rifle in the back of a car, authorities said. A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said some of the guns used in the attack may have belonged to Lanza's family. His mother had legally registered four weapons, his father two.


Authorities also recovered three other guns — a Henry repeating rifle, an Enfield rifle and a shotgun. It was not clear exactly where those weapons were found.


Adam Lanza and his mother lived in a well-to-do part of prosperous Newtown, about 60 miles northeast of New York City, where neighbors are doctors or hold white-collar positions at companies such as General Electric, Pepsi and IBM.


Lanza's parents filed for divorce in 2008, according to court records. His father, Peter Lanza, lives in Stamford, Conn., and works as a tax director for General Electric.


The gunman's aunt Marsha Lanza, of Crystal Lake, Ill., said her nephew was raised by kind, nurturing parents who would not have hesitated to seek mental help for him if he needed it.


"Nancy wasn't one to deny reality," Marsha Lanza said, adding her husband had seen Adam as recently as June and recalled nothing out of the ordinary.


Catherine Urso, of Newtown, said her college-age son knew the killer and remembered him for his alternative style. "He just said he was very thin, very remote and was one of the goths," she said.


Adam Lanza attended Newtown High School, and several news clippings from recent years mention his name among the honor roll students.


Joshua Milas, who graduated from Newtown High in 2009 and belonged to the school technology club with him, said Adam Lanza was generally a happy person but that he hadn't seen him in a few years.


"We would hang out, and he was a good kid. He was smart," Joshua Milas said. "He was probably one of the smartest kids I know. He was probably a genius."


An official who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was not clear that Adam Lanza had a job, and there was no indication of law enforcement interviews or search warrants at a place of business.


The mass shooting is one of the deadliest in U.S. history, and among school attacks is second in victims only to the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, which left 33 people dead, including the gunman. Reaction was swift and emotional in Newtown, a picturesque New England community of 27,000 people, as well as across the country and around the world.


"It has to stop, these senseless deaths," said Frank DeAngelis, principal of Colorado's Columbine High School, where a massacre in 1999 killed 15 people.


In Washington, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence organized a vigil at the White House, with some protesters chanting, "Today IS the day" to take steps to curb gun violence. In New York's Times Square, a few dozen people held tea lights in plastic cups, with one woman holding a sign that read: "Take a moment and candle to remember the victims of the Newtown shooting."


President Barack Obama's comments on the tragedy amounted to one of the most outwardly emotional moments of his presidency.


"The majority of those who died were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old," Obama said at a White House news briefing. He paused for several seconds to keep his composure as he teared up and wiped an eye. Nearby, two aides cried and held hands.


Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the attack as a "senseless and incomprehensible act of evil."


"Like President Obama and his fellow Americans, our hearts too are broken," Gillard said in a statement.


In Japan, where guns are severely restricted and there are extremely few gun-related crimes, the attack led the news two days before nationwide parliamentary elections. In China, which has seen several knife rampages at schools in recent years, the attack quickly consumed public discussion.


At the Newtown vigil, Anthony Bloss, whose three daughters survived, said they are doing better than he. "I'm numb. I'm completely numb," he said.


The gunman entered the school through its front door, and authorities are looking into the possibility that he shattered glass next to it to get in, said Newtown Police Lt. George Sinko.


Panicked parents looking for their children raced to Sandy Hook, a kindergarten-through-fourth-grade school where police told youngsters to close their eyes as they were led from the building so that they wouldn't see the blood and broken glass.


Schoolchildren — some crying, many looking frightened — were escorted through a parking lot in a line, hands on one another's shoulders.


Robert Licata said his 6-year-old son was in class when the gunman burst in and shot the teacher. "That's when my son grabbed a bunch of his friends and ran out the door," he said. "He was very brave. He waited for his friends."


He said the shooter didn't utter a word.


Kaitlin Roig, a teacher at the school, said she implored her students to be quiet.


"I told them we had to be absolutely quiet. Because I was just so afraid if he did come in, then he would hear us and just start shooting the door. I said we have to be absolutely quiet. And I said there are bad guys out there now and we need to wait for the good guys to come get us out," Roig told ABC News.


"If they started crying, I would take their face and say it's going to be OK. Show me your smile," she said. "They said, we want to go home for Christmas. Yes, yeah. I just want to hug my mom, things like that, that were just heartbreaking."


___


Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Pat Eaton-Robb and Matt Apuzzo and videographer Robert Ray in Newtown; Bridget Murphy in Boston; Samantha Henry in Newark, N.J.; Pete Yost in Washington; Michael Melia in Hartford; and the AP News Research Center in New York.


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UPDATE 3-Cricket-Hughes shines as Australia reach 299-4

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* Hughes falls just short of century


* Clarke and Hussey combine for 101






* Welegedera takes 3-99 (Adds quotes)


HOBART, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Phil Hughes made a solid 86 on his return to test cricket before Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey took up the running and steered Australia to 299 for four at close of play on the first day of the first test against Sri Lanka on Friday.


Hughes was the only batsmen to fall in the final session, lasting only a couple of overs after lunch before being bowled through the gate by Chanaka Welegedera, giving the Sri Lankan seamer his third wicket of the day.


Clarke, who had made 70 not out, and Hussey, unbeaten on 37, batted through the remainder of the day and if the evidence of their prolific partnerships in the recent series against South Africa is anything to go by, will take some shifting.


“Overall, 299 for four puts the ball in our court,” said Hughes. “I thought we were outstanding today. It really gives us momentum going into tomorrow.”


Sri Lanka’s bowlers, dubbed this week as the worst pace attack ever to tour Australia by former test bowler Rodney Hogg, made life uncomfortable for the batsmen at times but struggled for any real penetration under cloudy skies at Bellerive Oval.


“I think we showed we can put Australia under pressure and hopefully the bowlers will be fresh in the morning and we can get them out for less than 100 additional runs,” said Welegedera, who finished with 3-99 on his return after nine months out injured.


Clarke, who passed 1,400 runs for the year, has now put on 731 runs in partnerships with Hussey in the last four tests and will be looking to plunder a few more on Saturday despite taking a couple of painful knocks to his legs.


Friday, however, belonged to Hughes.


The lefthander was recalled to the side on the back of good domestic form following the retirement of Ricky Ponting at the end of the series against the Proteas.


The 24-year-old reached his fourth test half century with a square drive for three runs and then initially accelerated towards a century, most notably with an ugly but effective slog for six off spinner Rangana Herath.


CALAMITOUS RUNOUT


On the ground where his second spell as a test batsman ended amid questions about his technique after two failures against New Zealand last year, Hughes scored eight fours and one six in his 166-ball knock before Welegedera struck with a superb ball.


“It was nice to get a few,” he said. “It would have been nice to get a few more and get into three figures.”


Australia had lost openers Ed Cowan (four) and David Warner in the opening session, the latter run out for 57 on the stroke of lunch after a calamitous misunderstanding with Hughes.


Shane Watson, dropping down to fourth in the batting order to allow Hughes to come in at number three, followed them to the pavilion for 30 shortly before tea, the victim of an exceptional diving catch in the slips by skipper Mahela Jayawardene.


That was a second wicket for Welegedera and a measure of redemption for the bowler after he had Hughes caught behind for 77 only for the umpire to call a no ball.


Welegedera had also made the early breakthrough for the tourists when Cowan tried to pull a short delivery only for the ball to catch him high on the bat and carry to mid-on where Shaminda Eranga took a simple catch.


It could have been even better for the Sri Lankans, who were only centimetres away from the perfect start to the morning after Clarke had won the toss and elected to bat.


Cowan edged the second delivery of the day from Nuwan Kulasekara to the slips but Angelo Mathews was just unable to get his hands to it, despite an athletic dive. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)


Australia / Antarctica News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Online gambling companies struggle to clear EU hurdles

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LONDON (Reuters) – A partnership stuck on Friday between bwin.party Digital Entertainment and a Belgian casino group has defused one of many disputes pitting online gambling companies against governments across Europe.


The agreement came a month after bwin.party’s co-CEO was questioned by Belgian authorities in an escalating license dispute the company said was costing it 700,000 euros ($ 916,000) in monthly revenue.






By joining forces with Belcasinos, a unit of local casino owner Group Partouche, bwin.party neatly met a requirement to have a presence in Belgium to win a license for online poker, casino and sports betting.


The agreement is a rare bright spot in a tough regulatory environment for online gambling companies across the continent.


Betting online on sports events or playing poker on the Internet are increasingly popular pastimes in Europe, where operators say they are held back by unfair and discriminatory rules in many European Union countries.


“It is not a European Union in any way, it is a patchwork of different countries who happen to be in the EU,” said Professor Leighton Vaughan Williams, director of the betting research unit at Nottingham Business School in central England.


“Different countries have different vested interests and different ideas they are trying to promote. Are they trying to protect consumers or to maximize their tax take?” he said.


The 27 EU member states retain the right to regulate their gambling sectors as they see fit, but rules must comply with EU law, broadly meaning they must be consistent and proportionate.


Some companies are scaling back activities in European markets where, they say, regulatory risks are too high or tax rates are punitive.


Betting exchange operator Betfair for instance said this week it was halting marketing and investment in unregulated markets, including EU members Cyprus, Germany and Greece.


William Hill, Britain‘s largest bookmaker, has joined Betfair in pulling out of Greece and has also stopped offering sports betting to German residents because of a 5 percent turnover tax.


STAKES RISE


The stakes are high. Online gambling is growing at an annual rate of almost 15 percent in the EU and will be worth an estimated 13 billion euros ($ 17 billion) by 2015, according to EU figures.


The European Commission, the EU’s executive, stepped in to the debate in October when it published a medium-term plan to clarify regulations and promote cooperation between member states, ruling out EU-wide legislation for the time being.


“All citizens must be adequately protected, money laundering and fraud must be prevented, sport must be safeguarded against betting-related match-fixing and national rules must comply with EU law,” Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier said, setting out his approach.


The online operators accuse the European Commission of failing to follow through properly on complaints lodged about regulation in no fewer than 20 or the 27 EU member states.


Barnier has written to member states accused of breaching EU law in the way they handle gambling, seeking an update on the situation by the end of the year.


However, the industry questions whether the EU will go into battle over gambling when it is facing so many other problems.


“They will chip away at some of the most blatant ones,” said Clive Hawkswood, chief executive of trade body the Remote Gambling Association. “What we really need is for them to take some to the European Court and take enforcement action.”


BRITISH TAXES


Gambling companies themselves have taken advantage of different tax regimes where they work in their favor.


This is illustrated in Britain, historically the biggest betting market in Europe and a place with a well-developed gambling culture where bookmakers have operated in town centers for 50 years.


In recent years, most betting companies have moved their British online betting operations to Britain’s overseas territory of Gibraltar. There they are sheltered from a 15 percent tax on gross profit faced by operators based in Britain.


New legislation will close off that loophole after 2014. The shift to a taxation model based on the location of the consumer was expected to cost gambling companies as much as 270 million pounds ($ 435 million) by 2016-17.


Analyst Nick Batram at brokerage Peel Hunt said smaller players would likely be picked off because of the impact of higher tax and regulatory burdens across Europe.


“It is getting more complicated and more expensive. There is more change afoot but it should ultimately play into the hands of the better-capitalized companies.”


In that vein, William Hill has provisionally agreed a 485 million pound takeover of smaller rival Sportingbet, keen to get its hands on the company’s regulated Australian betting business.


“I think there is a lot more M&A activity to come,” said Batram.


(Additional reporting by Rosalba O’Brien; Editing by David Holmes)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Sally Struthers enters not guilty plea for DUI

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YORK, Maine (AP) — Sally Struthers has entered a not guilty plea on charges she drove drunk in Maine, where she was performing in a musical.


The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/XleJBq) reports the 65-year-old Struthers did not appear in York District Court on Thursday, and entered the plea through her lawyer.






Police arrested Struthers on Sept. 12 on U.S. Route 1 in the resort town Ogunquit (oh-GUHNG’-kwit). She was charged with criminal operating under the influence.


Struthers is best known for her role as Gloria Stivic in the 1970s TV sitcom “All in the Family.” She had been performing at the Ogunquit Playhouse in the musical “9 to 5.”


Struthers is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 13 for a bench trial.


___


Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com


Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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US faces task of running dozens of health exchanges

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fourteen U.S. states and the District of Columbia so far have told the federal government they plan to operate healthcare exchanges under President Barack Obama‘s reform law, leaving Washington with the daunting task of creating online marketplaces for at least two-thirds of the country.


On the eve of a federal deadline for states to say whether they will run their own exchanges, a top U.S. healthcare policy official told lawmakers that the exchanges will start enrolling eligible families starting on October 1, 2013.






“I am confident that states and the federal government will be ready in ten months, when consumers in all states can begin to apply,” Gary Cohen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, told a health oversight panel in the U.S. House of Representatives.


Cohen, whose agency is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was among federal officials who testified alongside state health authorities at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.


In written testimony, Cohen said 15 states have told the administration they will operate their own exchanges. He later explained under questioning that the count comprises 14 states and the District of Columbia.


Separately, HHS officials confirmed the count of 14 states but could not immediately explain why Cohen’s written testimony contained a higher number.


Some experts say the number of states planning to operate their own exchanges could reach 18 by the time the deadline arrives Friday. Still, the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, which tracks healthcare issues, says only two states – Utah and Florida – remain undecided.


That would leave at least 30 states in which the administration would be required to run exchanges, a challenge that is raising questions about how successfully U.S. officials can implement a key provision of the healthcare reform law, known to opponents and advocates alike as “Obamacare”.


“I don’t envy them for the job that they have,” said Dennis Smith, a former federal healthcare official who now heads health services in Wisconsin, a state that has decided not to pursue its own exchange.


“At the end of the day, you’re trying to connect a buyer to a seller. And the fundamental things required to do that are not yet in place,” he said.


The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which Obama signed into law more than 2-1/2 years ago, is expected to extend health coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans. Those who enroll starting in October would be covered by insurance from January 1, 2014.


POLITICAL THEATER


About half of those newly insured individuals would purchase private coverage from online exchanges at federally subsidized rates. Ultimately, the number of people finding coverage through exchanges is expected to reach 26 million, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.


The remainder would be covered by expanding the Medicaid program for the poor to cover all adults earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $ 15,000 for individuals and $ 30,600 for a family of four.


Thursday’s hearing provided a political stage for partisan rhetoric about Obama’s health reforms, which have survived repeated Republican repeal efforts, a nail-biting consideration by the Supreme Court and the Presidential election campaign.


Republicans and state officials from Republican-led states complained about compliance costs and accused HHS of delaying the release of vital details and rules needed to move forward on the exchanges and on the planned Medicaid expansion.


“The uncertain regulatory environment and the overall lack of response from HHS are not encouraging the states or the health plans to move forward,” said Representative Michael Burgess, a Texas Republican.


In response, Congressional Democrats and their state allies stressed the law’s benefits for senior citizens, protections for young adults and the sick, and the prospective economic benefits from an expected influx of billions of dollars in federal money.


“The (Republican) move now is to delay implementation under the guise of lack of information,” said Representative Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat.


“The world in fact is not coming to an end,” he added. “The nation will be better because of the Affordable Care Act.”


States that don’t run their own exchanges would opt for one of two alternatives: a federally facilitated exchange that requires minimal state participation, or a federal partnership exchange in which states help by performing certain duties.


Kaiser Family Foundation expects six states to choose the partnership option and two dozen to opt for federally facilitated exchanges. Cohen said the count so far is four partnerships and seven facilitated exchanges.


States have until February 15 to say whether they intend to seek a federal partnership exchange. Four have done so already, Cohen said.


The administration will have to engineer an information technology system capable of processing operations in a way that meet the needs of healthcare consumers in different states.


Experts say the biggest challenge will likely be providing adequate customer service to handle enrollment, as well as fielding a technology system capable of interfacing seamlessly with the system of each state government.


Cohen told the panel the administration is building a website with interactive capabilities and a call center and has begun testing a data services hub to determine eligibility.


(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Ros Krasny, Jilian Mincer, Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio)


Seniors/Aging News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Marijuana not a high priority, Obama says

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President Obama says recreational users of marijuana in states that have legalized the substance should not be a "top priority" of federal law enforcement officials prosecuting the war on drugs.


"We've got bigger fish to fry," Obama said of pot users in Colorado and Washington during an exclusive interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters.


"It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal," he said, invoking the same approach taken toward users of medicinal marijuana in 18 states where it's legal.


More of Barbara Walters' exclusive first joint, post-election interview with President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama airs tonight on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET on ABC stations.


Obama's comments on marijuana are his first following Colorado and Washington voters' approval of Nov. 7 ballot measures that legalize the recreational use and sale of pot in defiance of federal law.


Marijuana, or cannabis, remains classified under the Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule I narcotic whose cultivation, distribution, possession and use are criminal acts. It's in the same category as heroin, LSD and "Ecstasy," all deemed to have high potential for abuse.






Official White House Photo by Pete Souza











Barbara Walters' 2012 "Most Fascinating People" Watch Video









President Obama: 'Taxes Going Up One Way or Another' Watch Video









Barbara Walters' 10 Most-Fascinating People: Ben Affleck and More Watch Video





Obama told Walters he does not – "at this point" – support widespread legalization of marijuana. But he cited shifting public opinion and limited government resources as reasons to find a middle ground on punishing use of the drug.


"This is a tough problem, because Congress has not yet changed the law," Obama said. "I head up the executive branch; we're supposed to be carrying out laws. And so what we're going to need to have is a conversation about, How do you reconcile a federal law that still says marijuana is a federal offense and state laws that say that it's legal?"


The president said he has asked Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department to examine the legal questions surrounding conflicting state and federal laws on drugs.


"There are a number of issues that have to be considered, among them the impact that drug usage has on young people, [and] we have treaty obligations with nations outside the United States," Holder said Wednesday of the review underway.


As a politician, Obama has always opposed legalizing marijuana and downplayed his personal history with the substance.


Obama wrote in his 1995 memoir, "Dreams from My Father," that he would smoke pot regularly with his high school buddies who formed a "club of disaffection." The group was known as the "Choom Gang," says Obama biographer David Maraniss.


"There are a bunch of things I did that I regret when I was a kid," Obama told Walters. "My attitude is, substance abuse generally is not good for our kids, not good for our society.


"I want to discourage drug use," he added.


While the administration has not prioritized prosecutions of marijuana users and small-scale distributors in states where it's legal, it has not ceased prosecutions altogether. The Justice Department has continued raids on pot providers – including in states where they are legal – in an approach that experts say is more aggressive than Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.


"I never made a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana – and the reason is, because it's against federal law," Obama told "Rolling Stone" in an interview earlier this year.






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Online gambling companies struggle to clear EU hurdles

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LONDON (Reuters) – A partnership stuck on Friday between bwin.party Digital Entertainment and a Belgian casino group has defused one of many disputes pitting online gambling companies against governments across Europe.


The agreement came a month after bwin.party’s co-CEO was questioned by Belgian authorities in an escalating license dispute the company said was costing it 700,000 euros ($ 916,000) in monthly revenue.






By joining forces with Belcasinos, a unit of local casino owner Group Partouche, bwin.party neatly met a requirement to have a presence in Belgium to win a license for online poker, casino and sports betting.


The agreement is a rare bright spot in a tough regulatory environment for online gambling companies across the continent.


Betting online on sports events or playing poker on the Internet are increasingly popular pastimes in Europe, where operators say they are held back by unfair and discriminatory rules in many European Union countries.


“It is not a European Union in any way, it is a patchwork of different countries who happen to be in the EU,” said Professor Leighton Vaughan Williams, director of the betting research unit at Nottingham Business School in central England.


“Different countries have different vested interests and different ideas they are trying to promote. Are they trying to protect consumers or to maximize their tax take?” he said.


The 27 EU member states retain the right to regulate their gambling sectors as they see fit, but rules must comply with EU law, broadly meaning they must be consistent and proportionate.


Some companies are scaling back activities in European markets where, they say, regulatory risks are too high or tax rates are punitive.


Betting exchange operator Betfair for instance said this week it was halting marketing and investment in unregulated markets, including EU members Cyprus, Germany and Greece.


William Hill, Britain‘s largest bookmaker, has joined Betfair in pulling out of Greece and has also stopped offering sports betting to German residents because of a 5 percent turnover tax.


STAKES RISE


The stakes are high. Online gambling is growing at an annual rate of almost 15 percent in the EU and will be worth an estimated 13 billion euros ($ 17 billion) by 2015, according to EU figures.


The European Commission, the EU’s executive, stepped in to the debate in October when it published a medium-term plan to clarify regulations and promote cooperation between member states, ruling out EU-wide legislation for the time being.


“All citizens must be adequately protected, money laundering and fraud must be prevented, sport must be safeguarded against betting-related match-fixing and national rules must comply with EU law,” Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier said, setting out his approach.


The online operators accuse the European Commission of failing to follow through properly on complaints lodged about regulation in no fewer than 20 or the 27 EU member states.


Barnier has written to member states accused of breaching EU law in the way they handle gambling, seeking an update on the situation by the end of the year.


However, the industry questions whether the EU will go into battle over gambling when it is facing so many other problems.


“They will chip away at some of the most blatant ones,” said Clive Hawkswood, chief executive of trade body the Remote Gambling Association. “What we really need is for them to take some to the European Court and take enforcement action.”


BRITISH TAXES


Gambling companies themselves have taken advantage of different tax regimes where they work in their favor.


This is illustrated in Britain, historically the biggest betting market in Europe and a place with a well-developed gambling culture where bookmakers have operated in town centers for 50 years.


In recent years, most betting companies have moved their British online betting operations to Britain’s overseas territory of Gibraltar. There they are sheltered from a 15 percent tax on gross profit faced by operators based in Britain.


New legislation will close off that loophole after 2014. The shift to a taxation model based on the location of the consumer was expected to cost gambling companies as much as 270 million pounds ($ 435 million) by 2016-17.


Analyst Nick Batram at brokerage Peel Hunt said smaller players would likely be picked off because of the impact of higher tax and regulatory burdens across Europe.


“It is getting more complicated and more expensive. There is more change afoot but it should ultimately play into the hands of the better-capitalized companies.”


In that vein, William Hill has provisionally agreed a 485 million pound takeover of smaller rival Sportingbet, keen to get its hands on the company’s regulated Australian betting business.


“I think there is a lot more M&A activity to come,” said Batram.


(Additional reporting by Rosalba O’Brien; Editing by David Holmes)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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UPDATE 3-Cricket-Hughes shines as Australia reach 299-4

Label:





* Hughes falls just short of century


* Clarke and Hussey combine for 101






* Welegedera takes 3-99 (Adds quotes)


HOBART, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Phil Hughes made a solid 86 on his return to test cricket before Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey took up the running and steered Australia to 299 for four at close of play on the first day of the first test against Sri Lanka on Friday.


Hughes was the only batsmen to fall in the final session, lasting only a couple of overs after lunch before being bowled through the gate by Chanaka Welegedera, giving the Sri Lankan seamer his third wicket of the day.


Clarke, who had made 70 not out, and Hussey, unbeaten on 37, batted through the remainder of the day and if the evidence of their prolific partnerships in the recent series against South Africa is anything to go by, will take some shifting.


“Overall, 299 for four puts the ball in our court,” said Hughes. “I thought we were outstanding today. It really gives us momentum going into tomorrow.”


Sri Lanka’s bowlers, dubbed this week as the worst pace attack ever to tour Australia by former test bowler Rodney Hogg, made life uncomfortable for the batsmen at times but struggled for any real penetration under cloudy skies at Bellerive Oval.


“I think we showed we can put Australia under pressure and hopefully the bowlers will be fresh in the morning and we can get them out for less than 100 additional runs,” said Welegedera, who finished with 3-99 on his return after nine months out injured.


Clarke, who passed 1,400 runs for the year, has now put on 731 runs in partnerships with Hussey in the last four tests and will be looking to plunder a few more on Saturday despite taking a couple of painful knocks to his legs.


Friday, however, belonged to Hughes.


The lefthander was recalled to the side on the back of good domestic form following the retirement of Ricky Ponting at the end of the series against the Proteas.


The 24-year-old reached his fourth test half century with a square drive for three runs and then initially accelerated towards a century, most notably with an ugly but effective slog for six off spinner Rangana Herath.


CALAMITOUS RUNOUT


On the ground where his second spell as a test batsman ended amid questions about his technique after two failures against New Zealand last year, Hughes scored eight fours and one six in his 166-ball knock before Welegedera struck with a superb ball.


“It was nice to get a few,” he said. “It would have been nice to get a few more and get into three figures.”


Australia had lost openers Ed Cowan (four) and David Warner in the opening session, the latter run out for 57 on the stroke of lunch after a calamitous misunderstanding with Hughes.


Shane Watson, dropping down to fourth in the batting order to allow Hughes to come in at number three, followed them to the pavilion for 30 shortly before tea, the victim of an exceptional diving catch in the slips by skipper Mahela Jayawardene.


That was a second wicket for Welegedera and a measure of redemption for the bowler after he had Hughes caught behind for 77 only for the umpire to call a no ball.


Welegedera had also made the early breakthrough for the tourists when Cowan tried to pull a short delivery only for the ball to catch him high on the bat and carry to mid-on where Shaminda Eranga took a simple catch.


It could have been even better for the Sri Lankans, who were only centimetres away from the perfect start to the morning after Clarke had won the toss and elected to bat.


Cowan edged the second delivery of the day from Nuwan Kulasekara to the slips but Angelo Mathews was just unable to get his hands to it, despite an athletic dive. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)


Australia / Antarctica News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Fewer health care options for illegal immigrants

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ALAMO, Texas (AP) — For years, Sonia Limas would drag her daughters to the emergency room whenever they fell sick. As an illegal immigrant, she had no health insurance, and the only place she knew to seek treatment was the hospital — the most expensive setting for those covering the cost.


The family’s options improved somewhat a decade ago with the expansion of community health clinics, which offered free or low-cost care with help from the federal government. But President Barack Obama‘s health care overhaul threatens to roll back some of those services if clinics and hospitals are overwhelmed with newly insured patients and can’t afford to care for as many poor families.






To be clear, Obama’s law was never intended to help Limas and an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants like her. Instead, it envisions that 32 million uninsured Americans will get access to coverage by 2019. Because that should mean fewer uninsured patients showing up at hospitals, the Obama program slashed the federal reimbursement for uncompensated care.


But in states with large illegal immigrant populations, the math may not work, especially if lawmakers don’t expand Medicaid, the joint state-federal health program for the poor and disabled.


When the reform has been fully implemented, illegal immigrants will make up the nation’s second-largest population of uninsured, or about 25 percent. The only larger group will be people who qualify for insurance but fail to enroll, according to a 2012 study by the Washington-based Urban Institute.


And since about two-thirds of illegal immigrants live in just eight states, those areas will have a disproportionate share of the uninsured to care for.


In communities “where the number of undocumented immigrants is greatest, the strain has reached the breaking point,” Rich Umbdenstock, president of the American Hospital Association, wrote last year in a letter to Obama, asking him to keep in mind the uncompensated care hospitals gave to that group. “In response, many hospitals have had to curtail services, delay implementing services, or close beds.”


The federal government has offered to expand Medicaid, but states must decide whether to take the deal. And in some of those eight states — including Texas, Florida and New Jersey — hospitals are scrambling to determine whether they will still have enough money to treat the remaining uninsured.


Without a Medicaid expansion, the influx of new patients and the looming cuts in federal funding could inflict “a double whammy” in Texas, said David Lopez, CEO of the Harris Health System in Houston, which spends 10 to 15 percent of its $ 1.2 billion annual budget to care for illegal immigrants.


Realistically, taxpayers are already paying for some of the treatment provided to illegal immigrants because hospitals are required by law to stabilize and treat any patients that arrive in an emergency room, regardless of their ability to pay. The money to cover the costs typically comes from federal, state and local taxes.


A solid accounting of money spent treating illegal immigrants is elusive because most hospitals do not ask for immigration status. But some states have tried.


California, which is home to the nation’s largest population of illegal immigrants, spent an estimated $ 1.2 billion last year through Medicaid to care for 822,500 illegal immigrants.


The New Jersey Hospital Association in 2010 estimated that it cost between $ 600 million and $ 650 million annually to treat 550,000 illegal immigrants.


And in Texas, a 2010 analysis by the Health and Human Services Commission found that the agency had provided $ 96 million in benefits to illegal immigrants, up from $ 81 million two years earlier. The state’s public hospital districts spent an additional $ 717 million in uncompensated care to treat that population.


If large states such as Florida and Texas make good on their intention to forgo federal money to expand Medicaid, the decision “basically eviscerates” the effects of the health care overhaul in those areas because of “who lives there and what they’re eligible for,” said Lisa Clemans-Cope, a senior researcher at the Urban Institute.


Seeking to curb expenses, hospitals might change what qualifies as an emergency or cap the number of uninsured patients they treat. And although it’s believed states with the most illegal immigrants will face a smaller cut, they will still lose money.


The potential impacts of reform are a hot topic at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. In addition to offering its own charity care, some MD Anderson oncologists volunteer at a county-funded clinic at Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital that largely treats the uninsured.


“In a sense we’ve been in the worst-case scenario in Texas for a long time,” said Lewis Foxhall, MD Anderson’s vice president of health policy in Houston. “The large number of uninsured and the large low-income population creates a very difficult problem for us.”


Community clinics are a key part of the reform plan and were supposed to take up some of the slack for hospitals. Clinics received $ 11 billion in new funding over five years so they could expand to help care for a swell of newly insured who might otherwise overwhelm doctors’ offices. But in the first year, $ 600 million was cut from the centers’ usual allocation, leaving many to use the money to fill gaps rather than expand.


There is concern that clinics could themselves be inundated with newly insured patients, forcing many illegal immigrants back to emergency rooms.


Limas, 44, moved to the border town of Alamo 13 years ago with her husband and three daughters. Now single, she supports the family by teaching a citizenship class in Spanish at the local community center and selling cookies and cakes she whips up in her trailer. Soon, she hopes to seek a work permit of her own.


For now, the clinic helps with basic health care needs. If necessary, Limas will return to the emergency room, where the attendants help her fill out paperwork to ensure the government covers the bills she cannot afford.


“They always attended to me,” she said, “even though it’s slow.”


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Sherman can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/chrisshermanAP .


Plushnick-Masti can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RamitMastiAP .


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Tolkien class at Wis. university proves popular

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — The vast collection of J.R.R. Tolkien manuscripts initially sold senior Joe Kirchoff on Marquette University, so when the school offered its first course devoted exclusively to the English author, Kirchoff wanted in. The only problem: It was full and he wasn’t on the literature track.


Undaunted, the 22-year-old political science and history major lobbied the English department and others starting last spring and through the summer and “kind of just made myself a problem,” he said. His persistence paid off.






“It’s a fantastic course,” said Kirchoff, a Chicago native. “It’s a great way to look at something that’s such a creative work of genius in such a way you really come to understand the man behind it.”


He and the 31 other students can now boast of their authority about the author who influenced much of today’s high fantasy writing. The course was taught for the first time this fall as part of the university’s celebration of the 75th anniversary of “The Hobbit” being published. And class wrapped up just before the film, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” was released Friday.


The class, which filled up fast with mostly seniors who had first dibs, looked at Tolkien as a whole, not just the popular “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit.” Students took their final exam this week, and the course was so well received, Marquette is considering more in the future.


“It’s the best class I’ve had in 27 years here … for student preparation, interest and enthusiasm,” said English professor Tim Machan. “And I can throw out any topic and they will have read the material and they want to talk about the material.”


Marquette is one of the main repositories of Tolkien’s drafts, drawings and other writings — more than 11,000 pages. It has the manuscripts for “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit,” as well as his lesser-known “Farmer Giles of Ham” and his children’s book “Mr. Bliss.” Marquette was the first institution to ask Tolkien for the manuscripts in 1956 and paid him about $ 5,000. He died in 1973.


Other significant collections are at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University in England and Wheaton College in Illinois.


Though Tolkien classes aren’t unusual nationwide, Marquette students had the added bonus of being able to visit Tolkien’s revisions, notes, detailed calendars, maps and watercolors on site at the school’s archive. And they got a lesson from the school’s archivist Bill Fliss.


“One of the things we wanted to impress upon the students was the fact that Tolkien was a fanatical reviser,” said Fliss said. “He never really did anything once and was finished with it.”


Chrissy Wabiszewski, a senior English major, described Tolkien’s manuscripts as art.


“When you get down and look at just his script and his artwork in general, it all kind of flows together in this really beautiful, like, cumulative form,” Wabiszewski said. “It’s cool. It is just really cool to have it here.”


The class also looked at Tolkien’s poetry, academic articles and translations of medieval poems; talked about the importance of his writers’ group, the Inklings; and explored what it meant to be a writer at that time.


“We’ve … tried to think about continuities that ran through everything he did,” Machan said. His students were also required to go to three lectures that were part of Marquette’s commemoration.


“The Hobbit,” a tale of homebody Bilbo Baggins’ journey, is set in Tolkien’s fictional realm of Middle-earth and takes place 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings.” The movie released Friday is the first of the trilogy, with “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” set for release on Dec. 13, 2013, and a third film to come out in the summer of 2014.


Most of the students were just finishing elementary school when the first “Lord of the Rings” film was released 11 years ago.


Kirchoff said he started reading “The Hobbit” and the “Lord of the Rings” when he was in fourth grade, before the movies came out. He said the movies have introduced others to Tolkien’s ideas, making his love for Tolkien’s fantasy worlds more socially acceptable.


“The movies were fantastic enough and engaging enough to coexist in my mind with the literature I really do love,” he said.


Wabiszewski said it’s clear her classmates weren’t just taking the class as a filler.


“I definitely expected the enthusiasm from everybody but just the knowledge that everybody brought into the class, it’s cool,” she said. “We really have a smart group of people in that class who have a lot to offer.”


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U.S. to send missiles, troops to Turkey

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INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed an order on Friday to send two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey with 400 American personnel to operate them, in a move by NATO members to bolster Turkey's defenses against the threat of Syrian missiles.


The order was signed shortly before Panetta arrived on an unannounced visit to Turkey to meet American troops stationed at the Incirlik Air Base, the last stop on a week-long trip that took him to Afghanistan and Kuwait.


"The purpose of this deployment is to signal very strongly that the United States, working closely with our NATO allies, is going to support the defense of Turkey, especially with potential threats emanating from Syria," spokesman George Little said.


NATO-member Turkey has repeatedly scrambled jets along the countries' joint frontier and responded in kind when shells from the Syrian conflict came down inside its borders, fanning fears that the civil war could spread to destabilize the region.


The widely expected U.S. move follows similar steps by Germany and the Netherlands, which also said they will send two Patriot batteries. The three countries are the only NATO nations with the most modern type of Patriots.


Little declined to say where the U.S. batteries would be located and said the systems would be deployed to Turkey for an unspecified amount of time.


"We expect them to be deployed in the coming weeks," Little said.


NATO approved Turkey's request for air defense batteries on December 4, in a move meant to calm its fears of coming under missile attack, possibly with chemical weapons, from Syria.


The Patriot system is designed to intercept aircraft or missiles. NATO says the measure is purely defensive, but Russia, Syria and Iran have criticized the decision, saying it increases regional instability.


(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Janet Lawrence)



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Aides: Chavez in tough fight, may miss swearing-in

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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Somber confidants of President Hugo Chavez say he is going through a difficult recovery after cancer surgery in Cuba, and one close ally is warning Venezuelans that their leader may not make it back for his swearing-in next month.


Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Wednesday night that Chavez was in “stable condition” and was with close relatives in Havana. Reading a statement, he said the government invites people to “accompany President Chavez in this new test with their prayers.”






Villegas expressed hope about the president returning home for his Jan. 10 swearing-in for a new six-year term, but said in a written message on a government website that if Chavez doesn’t make it, “our people should be prepared to understand it.”


Villegas said it would be irresponsible to hide news about the “delicateness of the current moment and the days to come.” He asked Venezuelans to see Chavez’s condition as “when we have a sick father, in a delicate situation after four surgeries in a year and a half.”


Moving to prepare the public for the possibility of more bad news, Vice President Nicolas Maduro looked grim when he acknowledged that Chavez faced a “complex and hard” process after his latest surgery.


At the same time, officials sought to show a united front amid the growing worries about Chavez’s health and Venezuela’s future. Key leaders of Chavez’s party and military officers appeared together on television as Maduro gave updates on Chavez’s condition.


“We’re more united than ever,” said Maduro, who was flanked by National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, both key members of Chavez’s inner circle. “We’re united in loyalty to Chavez.”


Analysts say Maduro could eventually face challenges in trying to hold together the president’s diverse “Chavismo” movement, which includes groups from radical leftists to moderates, as well as military factions.


Tapped by the 58-year-old president over the weekend as his chosen political heir, Maduro is considered to be a member of radical left wing of Chavez’s movement that is closely aligned with Cuba’s communist government.


Cabello, a former military officer who also wields power within Chavez’s movement, shared the spotlight with Maduro by speaking at a Mass for Chavez’s health at a military base.


Just returned from being with Chavez for the operation, Cabello called the president “invincible” but said “that man who is in Havana … is fighting a battle for his life.”


After Chavez’s six-hour operation Tuesday, Venezuelan television broadcast religious services where people prayed for Chavez, interspersed with campaign rallies for upcoming gubernatorial elections.


On the streets of Caracas, people on both sides of the country’s deep political divide voiced concerns about Chavez’s condition and what might happen if he died.


At campaign rallies ahead of Sunday’s gubernatorial elections, Chavez’s candidates urged Venezuelans to vote for pro-government candidates while they also called for the president to get well.


“Onward, Commander!” gubernatorial candidate Elias Jaua shouted to a crowd of supporters at a rally Wednesday. Many observers said it was likely Chavez’s candidates could get a boost from their supporters’ outpouring of sympathy for Chavez.


Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in the October presidential election and is running against Jaua, complained Wednesday that Chavez’s allies are taking advantage of the president’s health problems to try to rally support. He took issue with Jaua’s statement to supporters that “we have to vote so that the president recovers.”


Maduro looked sad as he spoke on television, his voice hoarse and cracked at times after meeting in the pre-dawn hours with Cabello and Ramirez. The pair returned to Venezuela about 3 a.m. after accompanying Chavez to Cuba for his surgery.


“It was a complex, difficult, delicate operation,” Maduro said. “The post-operative process is also going to be a complex and hard process.”


Without giving details, Maduro reiterated Chavez’s recent remarks that the surgery presented risks and that people should be prepared for any “difficult scenarios.”


The constitution says presidents should be sworn in before the National Assembly, and if that’s not possible then before the Supreme Court.


Former Supreme Court magistrate Roman Duque Corredor said a president cannot delegate the swearing-in to anyone else and cannot take the oath of office outside Venezuela. A president could still be sworn in even if temporarily incapacitated, but would need to be conscious and in Venezuela, Duque told The Associated Press.


If a president-elect is declared incapacitated by lawmakers and is unable to be sworn in, the National Assembly president would temporarily take charge of the government and a new presidential vote must be held within 30 days, Duque said.


Chavez said Saturday that if an election had to be held, Maduro should be elected president.


The dramatic events of this week, with Chavez suddenly taking a turn for the worse, had some Venezuelans wondering whether they were being told the truth because just a few months ago the president was running for his fourth presidential term and had said he was free of cancer.


Lawyer Maria Alicia Altuve, who was out in bustling crowds in a shopping district of downtown Caracas, said it seemed odd how Maduro wept at a political rally while talking about Chavez.


“He cries on television to set up a drama, so that people go vote for poor Chavez,” Altuve said. “So we don’t know if this illness is for that, or if it’s that this man is truly sick.”


Some Chavez supporters said they found it hard to think about losing the president and worried about the future. His admirers held prayer vigils in Caracas and other cities this week, holding pictures and singing hymns.


Chavez has undergone four cancer-related surgeries since June 2011. He has also undergone months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Throughout his treatments, Chavez has kept secret some details of his illness, including the exact location and type of the tumors.


Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa wished his close ally the best, while also acknowledging the possibility that cancer might end his presidency. “Chavez is very important for Latin America, but if he can’t continue at the head of Venezuela, the processes of change have to continue,” Correa said at a news conference in Quito.


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Associated Press writer Christopher Toothaker contributed to this report.


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