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Reaction to the death of retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf:

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"Barbara and I mourn the loss of a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation. A distinguished member of that 'Long Gray Line' hailing from West Point, Gen. Norm Schwarzkopf, to me, epitomized the 'duty, service, country' creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great nation through our most trying international crises. More than that, he was a good and decent man — and a dear friend. Barbara and I send our condolences to his wife, Brenda, and his wonderful family." — former President George H.W. Bush.

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"With the passing of Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, we've lost an American original. From his decorated service in Vietnam to the historic liberation of Kuwait and his leadership of United States Central Command, Gen. Schwarzkopf stood tall for the country and Army he loved. Our prayers are with the Schwarzkopf family, who tonight can know that his legacy will endure in a nation that is more secure because of his patriotic service." — White House press secretary Jay Carney.

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"With the passing of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, America lost a great patriot and a great soldier. Norm served his country with courage and distinction for over 35 years. The highlight of his career was the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm. 'Stormin' Norman' led the coalition forces to victory, ejecting the Iraqi Army from Kuwait and restoring the rightful government. His leadership not only inspired his troops, but also inspired the nation. He was a good friend of mine, a close buddy. I will miss him. My wife, Alma, joins me in extending our deepest condolences to his wife, Brenda, and to her family." — former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

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"The men and women of the Department of Defense join me in mourning the loss of Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, whose 35 years of service in uniform left an indelible imprint on the United States military and on the country. The son of a decorated Army officer, Gen. Schwarzkopf followed his father's legacy of service by enrolling in West Point in the 1950s. His bravery during two tours in Vietnam earned him three Silver Stars, and set him on the path lead our troops into battle in Grenada, and then to take charge of the overall allied effort in the first Gulf War as commander of United States Central Command. Gen. Schwarzkopf's skilled leadership of that campaign liberated the Kuwaiti people and produced a decisive victory for the allied coalition. In the aftermath of that war, Gen. Schwarzkopf was justly recognized as a brilliant strategist and inspiring leader. Today, we recall that enduring legacy and remember him as one of the great military giants of the 20th century. My thoughts and prayers are with the Schwarzkopf family in this time of sadness and grief." — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

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"I was saddened to learn today of the passing of Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, a fellow West Point graduate, former CENTCOM commander and one of the 20th century's finest soldiers and leaders. I join the civilian and military leaders of our country, and servicemen and women, past and present, in mourning his death. Gen. Schwarzkopf embodied the warrior spirit, serving with distinction in three conflicts over his 35 years of dedicated service. The hallmark of his remarkable career was the swift and decisive victory over Saddam Hussein's forces after they invaded Kuwait. The thoughts and prayers of the Joint Chiefs and the Joint Force are with Gen. Schwarzkopf's family and friends." — Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

which represents companies that provide about 85 percent of the bottled milk

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U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers in the House and Senate agriculture committees are working on a short-term extension to the expired U.S. farm bill, and plan to vote on the extension by Monday, the final day of 2012, a Congressional source said on Friday.

The proposed extension to farm legislation that expired in September would be for "some months" but for less than a year, the source said.

If an extension is passed the United States would avoid reverting to 1949 "permanent law" and a potential spike in the retail price of milk to as much as $8 a gallon in 2013.

The Senate passed its new five-year farm bill in June, and the House Agriculture Committee followed with a version in July.

But the House bill, with large cuts in food stamp funding for lower-income Americans, has never been brought to a vote by the full House. The Senate and House remain far apart on the issues of food stamps and crop subsidies.

Many estimate that U.S. retail milk prices could rise sharply in 2013 - to some $6 to $8 per gallon from the current level of about $3.53 - if the government reverts to 1949 statutes that would require USDA to buy and store dairy products at inflated prices.

Pressure has been rising from the Agriculture Department and dairy groups for Congress to take act by year-end - if not on the entire farm bill, then at least on an extension or a specific "patch" to address the dairy program.

The price of milk will not double on January 1 if Congress does not act, but would likely rise gradually as supplies are removed from normal merchandising channels and instead land in USDA storage facilities.

"USDA continues to review a variety of options for administering programs, show permanent law become legally effective on January 1," a spokesman said.

Government buying could quickly produce a glut of milk, butter, cheese and powdered milk that would get stored in warehouses, given to food banks and exported as food aid, said Jay Gordon, a dairy farmer and executive director of the Washington State Dairy Federation, a trade organization.

"We're not going to sit around watching the Super Bowl and eating chunks of butter," said Gordon, who has about 150 cows on his farm in Washington state. "But the government has to keep buying" to keep the price up.

Major milk retailers have been watching the Congressional maneuvers closely, without outlining specific strategies.

"When it comes to milk, competitive price changes do occur all of the time, where allowed. Milk costs are adjusted both up and down monthly. At this point we do not anticipate any changes in the cost of milk as a result of the bill," said Mike Siemienas, spokesman for Supervalu Inc., a major U.S. grocery store operator with chains such as Albertsons and Jewel-Osco.

The International Dairy Foods Association, which represents companies that provide about 85 percent of the bottled milk, ice cream and cheese to U.S. consumers, is hopeful that Congress will succeed in passing a farm bill extension.

But the group this week urged USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to avoid or delay the impact of a return to 1949 law, should an extension or patch not be successful. Vilsack, for his part, has repeatedly urged Congress to act responsibly.

"The worst outcome would be for us to continue to see Congress do nothing, and for permanent law to come into effect," Vilsack said last week.

Some lawmakers have been counting on time being on their side, regardless of the status of legislation.

"Implementation of permanent law will take a considerable amount of time, and to that end, I call on (the USDA Secretary) to carefully consider all relevant factors and to take public comment through a rule making process before proceeding," Frank Lucas, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, told the Tulsa World newspaper this week.

A formal rule making process - which is also advocated by IDFA, absent a farm bill extension - could typically be expected to take up to several months.

The process "will enable stakeholders, not just dairy producers and processors but also food manufacturers, food retailers and others, to voice their concerns prior to the implementation of any new rule," IDFA President Connie Tipton said in a letter to Vilsack dated December 27.

(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer in Washington, Jessica Wohl in Chicago and Al Scott in Seattle, writing by Ros Krasny; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer and David Gregorio)

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ALMA CENTER, Wis. - A Wisconsin couple says fire clucks, not fire trucks, helped them escape a blaze at their home.

Alma Center Fire Chief Jeff Gaede (GAY'-dee) says the couple's pet chicken woke them at about 6:15 a.m. Thursday. He says the smoke alarms didn't go off when the fire started in the attic of their attached garage.

He says the chicken and a cat also escaped, but another cat died.

Neighbor Brad Krueger told WEAU-TV (http://bit.ly/ZGk90z ) that he raised the chicken on his farm until dogs chased it away. The couple then started caring for it.

Gaede says he's heard of dogs and cats alerting people to fires but he was amazed to hear about the chicken.

The fire destroyed the house. The cause is still being investigated.

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Information from: WEAU-TV, http://www.weau.com

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NASA Unveils E-books on Hubble,…

NASA has just released two free e-books about the Hubble Space Telescope and its not-yet-launched successor, with interactive features that let readers watch a galaxy collision or manipulate a telescope model between pages, agency officials say.

The Hubble Space Telescope launched in 1990 and has a mission lifetime through at least 2013. The space-based observatory has supplied some of the most dazzling visible-light images of distant cosmic objects, which are featured in "Hubble Space Telescope: Discoveries."

The James Webb Space Telescope, which will be almost three times the size of Hubble, has been designed to work best at infrared wavelengths in order to study the very distant universe, looking for the first stars and galaxies that ever emerged. The e-book, "Webb Space Telescope: Science Guide," explains the technology behind the mission, which is slated to launch in 2018.

"These new e-books from NASA will allow people to discover Hubble and Webb in a whole new way — both the science and the technology behind building them," Amber Straughn, an astrophysicist on the Webb telescope project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said in a statement. "They collect all of the amazing resources about these two observatories in an excellent product that I think people will really enjoy."

The e-books are available at the Apple iBookstore or can be downloaded as a PDF here: http://hubblesite.org/ibooks/

Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebookand Google+.

Hubble Telescope's Hidden Photo Treasures: 2012 Winners Gallery Building the James Webb Space Telescope: Hubble's Successor (Gallery) Super-Human Sight: James Webb Telescope Will See Invisible Phenomena | Video Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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SPACE.com reader Sergio Estupiñán…

The final full moon of the year rises tonight to cap a year of amazing lunar sky shows. While the bright moon will easily outshine other celestial objects, there is more than meets the eye to Earth's nearest neighbor.

The December full moon is also called the "long-night's moon" since it is the closest full moon to the northern winter solstice (when the nights are longest). And indeed tonight's full moon will be visible for the longest amount of time. 

From New York for instance, moonrise on Thursday (Dec. 27) occurred at 4:17 p.m. EST and the moon sets at 7:12 a.m. this morning. So the full moon will indeed be in the sky for a long time: 14 hours and 55 minutes.

Moon-watching myth

Contrary to popular belief, the full moon not the best time to observe the moon with binoculars or a telescope.

Normally, even with just small optical power we can see a wealth of detail on its surface. But during the full moon phase, the moon appears flat and one-dimensional, as well as dazzlingly bright to the eye.

It is only later in the weekend and into next week that the moon's best features will stand out. As the moon wanes to its gibbous phase, and then to last quarter, those lunar features close to the terminator —the variable line between the sunlit and darkened portions of the moon — will appear to stand out in sharp, clear relief. [Amazing Moon Photos of 2012]

The moon will arrive at last quarter phase on Friday, Jan. 4 at 11:58 p.m. EST, when its disk will be exactly 50 percent illuminated.

How bright, the full moon?

How does the moon's brightness compare at that moment with when it's full? Most people may believe the moon is half as bright, but in reality astronomers say that the last quarter moon is only 1/11th as bright as full. This is because the moon is not a smooth sphere, but has a myriad of craters, mountains and valleys which cast long, distinct shadows across the lunar landscape. 

Interestingly, a first quarter moon is actually slightly brighter than a last quarter moon, because at first quarter the illuminated half of the moon displays less of the dark surface features known as the "maria" (pronounced m?r-r?a) popularly referred to as lunar "seas."

And believe or not, it isn’t until just 2.4 days before or after full that the moon actually becomes half as bright as full! 

Lunar cycles

Here are some interesting lunar calendar facts that the famed Belgian astronomical calculator Jean Meeus has compiled concerning the phases of the moon:

All are cyclical, the most noteworthy being the so-called Metonic Cycle that was independently discovered by the Greek astronomer Meton (born about 460 B.C.). This is a 19-year cycle, after which time the phases of the moon are repeated on the same days of the year, or approximately so. 

Take, for instance, Friday’s full moon. Nineteen years from now, in 2031, there’ll be another full moon on Dec.28. 

Another moon cycle fact: After 2 years, the preceding lunar phase occurs on or very nearly the same calendar date. So in 2014, it will be the first quarter moon that occurs on Dec. 28.

After 8 years, the same lunar phases repeat, but occurring one or two days later in the year. Ancient Greek astronomers called this 8-year cycle the "octaeteris." Indeed, in 2020, a full moon occurs on Dec. 29.

Finally, in our Gregorian Calendar, 372 years provides an excellent long period cycle for the recurrence of a particular phase on a given date. Therefore, we know with absolute certainty that the same full moon that shines down on us on Dec. 28 of 2012 will also be shining on Dec. 28 in the year 2384.

So mark your lunar calendars and enjoy tonight's lunar display!

If you snap an amazing photo of the year's final full moon on Friday and would like to share it with SPACE.com for a potential story or gallery, submit photos and comments, including your name and location to managing editor Tariq Malik at: spacephotos@space.com.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New YorkTimes and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+. 

Full Moon: Why Does It Happen? How Does It Affect Us? | Video Earth's Moon Phases, Monthly Lunar Cycles (Infographic) Best Telescopes for Beginners | Telescope Reviews & Buying Guide Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Shooting at New Jersey Police Station…

An inmate in Gloucester Township, New Jersey, managed to shoot three officers at a police station early this morning, according to the Philadelphia affiliate of ABC News. All three officers survived, while the inmate was killed by police. Details are still unclear — the township's police has yet to describe the inmate, or how he was able to procure and use a firearm while in custody — but the incident has already steered the ongoing gun conversation on Twitter today:

Good way to get killed: grab cops' gun off them while you're being arrested and start shooting livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/nj-gunma… via @tomkludt

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 28, 2012

We need an armed guard in every -- oh wait abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?sec…

— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) December 28, 2012

NRA will be calling for an armed guard in every police station now. Oh...

— Martin Fitzgerald (@MartinFitz) December 28, 2012

@davidfrum We should post an armed guard at every police station. livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/nj-gunma…

— Sam Wang (@SamWangPhD) December 28, 2012

Need an armed guard at every police station!RT @ap: 3 officers injured in shooting at New Jersey police station apne.ws/U5BDgP - KM

— S. Thistlethwaite (@YesBiscuit) December 28, 2012

The unnuanced commentary about the NJ Police Station shooting is going to be 'And you think 1 armed guard in a school would mean something?'

— John Eddy (@jaydeflix) December 28, 2012

Whether "unnuanced" or not, the "armed guard/federal agent" meme refuses to go away. It began on Twitter last Friday night when the conservative columnist David Frum went on something of a rant, applying the NRA's new armed-guard-in-every-school proposal to every shooting since Newtown. And if the comparison applies in this case, it's not because it invalidates the idea that stationing armed sentries at every school, or every nail parlor, is a realistic policy for preventing mass shootings. Three officers were injured, yes, but nobody (except the shooter) died at the police station. The shooter was gunned down before he could inflict more injury or death on others. And that's where this morning's top trending topic is turning the conversation.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a sign of evolving U.S. legal tactics in counter-terrorism operations, two Swedish citizens and a former British citizen detained in Africa in August have been charged in a U.S. court with supporting Somali-based Islamist militants.

The charges were filed in Federal Court in Brooklyn, New York, even though court papers and a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office make no specific allegation that the three - all of whom are of Somali extraction - posed threats to Americans or U.S.-related targets.

The three suspects - two Swedish citizens and a former London resident whose British citizenship recently was revoked - were charged with supporting the militant group al-Shabaab, illegal use of high-powered firearms, and participating in what prosecutors called "an elite al-Shabaab suicide-bomber program."

Ephraim Savitt, a former federal prosecutor who represents one of the Swedish defendants, said he was unaware of any secret evidence that the men threatened U.S. interests, and he saw "no prosecutorial hook whatever to the United States."

Savitt said he was unaware of any previous case in which U.S. authorities had taken custody of foreign militants who had no obvious connection, and posed no known threat, to U.S. interests.

However, a U.S. law enforcement source said there had been cases in the past where suspected foreign militants arrested overseas who had not directly threatened the United States had been brought before U.S. courts on terrorism-related charges.

The latest suspects - Swedes Ali Yasin Ahmed and Mohamed Yusuf, and former British resident Madhi Hashi - were detained by local authorities in Africa in early August while on their way to Yemen, the statement from prosecutors said.

The suspects were subsequently indicted in October by a Brooklyn-based federal grand jury, and in mid-November the FBI "took custody" of them and brought them to Brooklyn, where a revised indictment was filed against them, prosecutors said.

No information about the case was made public until just before Christmas, however.

U.S. officials said they were unable to provide further details about where the suspects were originally arrested, who arrested them, what was the legal basis for their initial arrest, and what happened to them between early August and their first known public court appearance in late December.

ARRESTED IN DJIBOUTI

However, Savitt, who represents Yusuf, said the men were arrested in Djibouti on their way to Yemen.

He said that at one point the men had been "fighters" with al-Shabaab, a group the United States has linked to al Qaeda. But at the time of their arrest, Savitt said, the men were trying to get away from the group after an apparent falling out.

Savitt said he did not know why they were heading to Yemen.

Saghir Hussain, a British lawyer who represents the family of Hashi, told the BBC this month the case had the "hallmarks of rendition," a reference to a secret procedure adopted by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency during the administration of former President George W. Bush.

Such renditions involved teams of agency operatives taking custody of suspected militants overseas and handing them over, without legal process, to third countries, where they were sometimes mistreated.

Neither Hussain nor Harry Batchelder, Hashi's American lawyer, responded to messages requesting comment. Susan Kellman, a U.S. lawyer for Ahmed, also could not be reached.

Savitt said Hashi and the other suspects were detained and held in Djibouti by local authorities, who sometimes treated them roughly, but U.S. officials who at one point were allowed to interrogate them were "civil."

U.S. government sources familiar with the case said it could not be considered a "rendition," as in such cases suspects were not brought into the U.S. criminal justice system.

President Barack Obama's administration has declared it has stopped counter-terrorism practices such as "enhanced interrogations" and the use of secret CIA prisons, but it has not completely renounced the use of "rendition."

Hashi's family told the BBC that earlier last summer they received a letter from Britain's internal security department, the Home Office, declaring that his British citizenship had been revoked as he was deemed a threat to the U.K. security.

Under British law, Hashi had a right to appeal the revocation of his citizenship to an immigration court. A spokesperson for the British Embassy in Washington said that, for legal reasons, the government could not comment on whether or not such an appeal had been filed.

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

(This story was corrected to show that the suspects detained in August and clarifies that men of Somali extraction in the first paragraph)

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HAMILTON, Mont. (AP) — An orphaned black bear cub burned in a wildfire last summer is recovering and may be released in June, an Idaho wildlife sanctuary official said.

The 4-month-old bear nicknamed "Boo Boo" was discovered by a fisherman in a tree along the Salmon River in August days after the 312-square-mile Mustang wildfire complex passed through the area.

The cub had second-degree burns on all four paws and was malnourished when U.S. Forest Service and Idaho Fish and Game workers rescued him.

After spending a few weeks at the Idaho Humane Society, the cub has been rehabilitating since September in the Snowdon Wildlife Sanctuary near McCall. He lives in a 2-acre forested enclosure with five other orphaned cubs.

Snowdon board member Diane Evans-Mack said Boo Boo is on the road to a full recovery, according to the Ravalli Republic (http://bit.ly/Tn8OO3).

"You wouldn't even be able to notice that his paws were ever burnt now," she said. "We don't see him every day, but even when we saw him in September, two weeks after the fire, we noticed just looking at the paws that they were much better. They were still a little bit sensitive, but he was climbing trees and running around."

The sanctuary tracks the bears' activity with cameras. Some of the pictures on the sanctuary's website show Boo Boo and another of the bears playfully wrestling with each other at night.

Evans-Mack said the plan is to release Boo Boo into the wild in June, and he may be collared so the sanctuary can keep track of him.

"We are going to end up holding Boo Boo through the winter, and we'll wait until the spring bear hunting season is over because he would be a little too naive to be out there," she said.

The cub's diet consists of fruit, greens and dry dog food.

"Dog food is actually something that helps him put on a lot of weight," Evans-Mack explained. "We have interns that go in and use dry dog food, and that puts a lot of fat on the bears. We get donations from local markets of fruits and some greenery that they would discard anyway. We give them salmon sometimes. We could use donations of dry dog food, though."

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Information from: Ravalli Republic, http://www.ravallirepublic.com

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Neil Armstrong would always be taking that first step onto the moon, and Dick Clark was forever "the world's oldest teenager." Some of the notables who died in 2012 created images in our minds that remained unchanged over decades.

Sadly, for others an established image was shattered by a fall from grace. Whitney Houston ruled as a queen of pop music, but years of hard living harmed her voice while erratic behavior and a troubled marriage took a toll on her image. And Joe Paterno, Penn State's longtime coach, won more games than anyone in major college football, but was ultimately fired amid a molestation scandal involving an assistant coach that scarred his reputation.

Some whose deaths we noted weren't known by image or even name but by contributions that changed our lives — like Eugene Polley, inventor of the first wireless TV remote control, and Norman Joseph Woodland, co-inventor of the bar code that labels nearly every product in stores. Other scientists who died in 2012 included Lowell Randall, Martin Fleischmann, F. Sherwood Rowland, George Cowan and Bernard Lovell.

Among the political figures who died were George McGovern, Democrat presidential nominee who lost to Richard Nixon in a historic landslide, and ex-Sen. Arlen Specter, the outspoken Pennsylvania centrist. Others from the world of politics: Bill Janklow, Norodom Sihanouk, Charles "Chuck" Colson, Warren B. Rudman, Andrew Breitbart and Miguel de la Madrid.

The year saw the deaths of a number of TV stars including Larry Hagman, who played oil baron J.R. Ewing on "Dallas," and Jack Klugman, often remembered as the messy one of the 1970s roommates in "The Odd Couple"

Others in entertainment and the arts who died included: Etta James, Andy Griffith, Ernest Borgnine, Sherman Hemsley, Maurice Sendak, Donna Summer, Robin Gibb, Doc Watson, Richard Dawson, Nora Ephron, Phyllis Diller, Michael Clarke Duncan, Don Cornelius, Jan Berenstain, Ravi Shankar and Dave Brubeck.

Here is a roll call of some of the people who died in 2012. (Cause of death cited for younger people if available.)

JANUARY:

Kiro Gligorov, 94. First democratically elected president of Macedonia who shepherded his nation through a bloodless secession from the former Yugoslavia and narrowly survived an assassination attempt. Jan. 1.

Bob Anderson, 89. Olympic fencer and movie sword master, he donned Darth Vader's black helmet and fought light saber battles in two "Star Wars" films. Jan. 1.

Keith Little, 87. One of the most recognizable of the remaining Navajo Code Talkers, whose code helped confound the Japanese duirng World War II. Jan. 3.

Lowell Randall, 96. Pioneer rocket scientist who helped launch the U.S. space program and tested intercontinental ballistic missiles. Jan. 3.

Jessica Joy Rees, 12. She became a nationally recognized face of child cancer with a blog that chronicled her fight against brain tumors. Jan. 5. Brain cancer.

Don Carter, 85. Bowling great who flourished as a genuine sports celebrity during the game's golden age on TV. Jan. 5.

Bill Janklow, 72. As South Dakota's attorney general, governor and congressman, he dominated the state's political landscape for more than 25 years. Jan. 12. Brain cancer.

Manuel Fraga Iribarne, 89. Blunt-talking politician who founded Spain's ruling conservative party and was the last surviving minister from Gen. Francisco Franco's right-wing regime. Jan. 15.

Hulett C. Smith, 93. Former West Virginia governor who signed bills in the 1960s that abolished the state's death penalty and implemented its first strip mining laws. Jan. 15.

Edward Derwinski, 85. He represented Chicago's south side and adjoining suburbs in Congress for nearly a quarter-century before becoming the nation's first secretary of veterans affairs. Jan 15.

Jimmy Castor, 71. Funk and soul saxophonist, singer and songwriter whose tune, "It's Just Begun," morphed into an anthem for generations of musical acts. Jan. 16.

Johnny Otis, 90. He wrote and recorded the R&B classic "Willie and the Hand Jive" and for decades evangelized black music to white audiences as a bandleader and radio host. Jan. 17.

Etta James, 73. Blues singer best known for her performance of the enduring classic "At Last." Jan. 20. Complications from leukemia.

Jonathan "Jack" Idema, 55. Former Green Beret convicted of running a private jail in Afghanistan. Jan. 21. AIDS.

Roy J. Britten, 92. Pioneering molecular biologist who discovered the crucial fact that humans and animals have multiple copies of some DNA segments. Jan. 21.

Joe Paterno, 85. Longtime Penn State coach who won more games than anyone in major college football but was fired amid a child sex abuse scandal that scarred his reputation for winning with integrity. Jan. 22.

Theo Angelopoulos, 76. Award-winning Greek filmmaker known for his slow and dreamlike style as a director. Jan. 24. Killed in a road accident.

Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, 91. Heiress to a vast Gilded Age fortune built on tobacco and a member of the family that endowed Duke University. Jan. 25.

Robert Hegyes, 60. Actor best known for playing Jewish Puerto Rican student Juan Epstein on the 1970s TV show "Welcome Back Kotter." Jan. 26.

Kevin H. White, 82. Former Boston mayor who led the city for 16 years including during racially turbulent times in the 1970s and was credited with putting it on a path to prosperity. Jan. 27.

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, 93. Past president of Italy who held the post during the sweeping corruption scandal of the early 1990s that reshaped the country's political landscape. Jan. 29.

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, 88. Retired head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and an uncharged central figure in a child sex-abuse case that involves the alleged shuffling of predator priests to unwitting parishes. Jan. 31.

FEBRUARY:

Don Cornelius, 75. As host of "Soul Train," he helped break down racial barriers and broaden the reach of black culture with funky music, groovy dance steps and cutting edge style. Feb. 1. Self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Angelo Dundee, 90. Trainer who helped groom Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard into world champions. Feb. 1.

Jimmie Begay, 86. Navajo Code Talker who in World War II transmitted messages in a code based on the then-unwritten Navajo language. Feb. 1.

Zalman King, 70. Actor and filmmaker who became known for his erotic work after writing and producing his breakthrough film "9 1/2 Weeks." Feb. 3.

Ben Gazzara, 81. Actor who brought intensity to roles in such iconic productions as the original "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" on Broadway and the film "The Big Lebowski." Feb. 3.

Florence Green, 110. Last known veteran of World War I. Feb. 4.

John Fairfax, 74. First known person to row alone across the Atlantic Ocean. Feb. 8.

Jill Kinmont Boothe, 75. Skiing champion who became a painter and a teacher after she was paralyzed during a race and was the subject of a book and two Hollywood films. Feb. 9.

Whitney Houston, 48. She ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice was ravaged by drug use and her regal image ruined by erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown. Feb. 11. Accidentally drowned in a bathtub.

Mohammed Lamari, 73. General who led Algeria's military during a decade of civil war that crushed Islamic rebel groups. Feb. 13.

Charles Anthony, 82. Character singer who set the record for most appearances at the Metropolitan Opera — 2,928 — during a career that spanned from 1954 to 2010. Feb. 15.

Gary Carter, 57. Star catcher whose single for the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series touched off one of the most improbable rallies in baseball. Feb. 16.

Katie Hall, 73. Former Indiana congresswoman who was a key sponsor of the 1983 legislation that established a national holiday for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Feb. 20.

Remi Ochlik, 28. Photojournalist who covered riots in Haiti and the upheaval sweeping across the Arab world. Feb. 22. Killed in a shelling attack in Syria.

Marie Colvin, 56. Journalist, recognizable for the eye patch that hid a shrapnel injury, who covered conflicts from Sri Lanka to Syria in her quest to bring stories about the world's most troubled places to light. Feb. 22. Killed in a shelling attack in Syria.

Jan Berenstain, 88. With her husband, Stan, she wrote and illustrated the Berenstain Bears books that have charmed preschoolers for 50 years. Feb. 24.

Dennis Gomes, 68. Co-owner of the Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., and a former mob-busting Las Vegas prosecutor whose exploits were chronicled in the movie "Casino." Feb. 24. Complications from kidney dialysis.

Erland Josephson, 88. Swedish actor who collaborated with legendary film director Ingmar Bergman in more than 40 films and plays. Feb. 25.

Lynn D. "Buck" Compton, 90. Veteran whose World War II exploits were depicted in the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers." Feb. 25.

Edna Milton Chadwell, 84. Last madam of the Chicken Ranch brothel, which inspired the movie and Broadway show "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." Feb. 25.

William Hamilton, 87. Theologian who was a member of the Death of God movement of the 1960s that reached its peak with a Time Magazine cover story. Feb. 28.

Davy Jones, 66. Actor turned singer who helped propel the TV rock band The Monkees to the top of the pop charts. Feb. 29. Heart attack.

MARCH:

Andrew Breitbart, 43. Conservative media publisher and activist who was behind investigations that led to the resignation of former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. March 1.

James Q. Wilson, 80. Political scientist whose "broken windows" theory on crime-fighting helped launch a nationwide move toward community policing. March 2.

Ralph McQuarrie, 82. Artist who developed the look of the first "Star Wars" trilogy's signature characters, sets and spaceships. March 3.

William Heirens, 83. Dubbed the "Lipstick Killer" after three murders in Chicago in the 1940s, he became Illinois' longest-serving inmate. March 5.

Robert B. Sherman, 86. Songwriter who wrote "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" in "Mary Poppins" and other songs for Disney classics. March 5.

James T. "Jimmy" Ellis, 74. As frontman for The Trammps, he belted out the refrain "Burn, baby burn!" in the 1970s-era disco hit "Disco Inferno." March 8.

Minoru Mori, 77. Property tycoon who was one of Japan's most influential developers and built China's tallest building. March 8.

Harry Wendelstedt, 73. Longtime umpire who worked five World Series and made a call involving Don Drysdale that became one of baseball's most disputed plays in the late 1960s. March 9.

Jean Giraud, 73. French comics artist known by fans from Hollywood to Japan as Moebius and the creator of unsettling, eye-opening fantasy worlds in print and on film. March 10.

F. Sherwood Rowland, 84. Nobel prize-winning chemist who sounded the alarm on the thinning of the Earth's ozone layer and crusaded against the use of chemicals that were harming earth's atmospheric blanket. March 10.

Michael Hossack, 65. Longtime Doobie Brothers drummer whose work is heard on the hits "Listen To The Music" and "China Grove." March 12. Cancer.

Censu Tabone, 98. Former Malta president who hosted a U.S.-Soviet summit that declared an end to the Cold War. March 14.

John Demjanjuk, 91. He was convicted of being a low-ranking guard at the Sobibor death camp, but his 35-year fight to clear his name made him one of the best-known faces of Nazi prosecutions. March 17.

Pope Shenouda III, 88. Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church who led Egypt's Christian minority for 40 years during a time of increasing tensions with Muslims. March 17.

Chaleo Yoovidhya, in his 80s. Self-made Thai billionaire who introduced the world to "energy drinks" and co-founded the Red Bull brand. March 17.

King George Tupou V, 63. Tonga's king, who gave up most of his powers to bring a more democratic government to his Pacific island nation. March 18.

Lincoln Hall, 56. Mountaineer who was rescued a day after being given up for dead near the summit of Everest in 2006. March 21. Cancer.

Abdullahi Yusuf, 78. He rose from guerrilla warrior to president of Somalia only to watch his administration crumble under an Islamic insurgency. March 23. Complications from pneumonia.

Bert Sugar, 75. Iconic boxing writer and sports historian who was known for his trademark fedora and ever-present cigar. March 25.

Larry Stevenson, 81. Skateboard maker who helped take the pastime from an early 1960s kids' gimmick to a professional sport. March 25.

Earl Scruggs, 88. Bluegrass legend and banjo pioneer who profoundly influenced country music with Bill Monroe in the 1940s and later with guitarist Lester Flatt. March 28.

APRIL:

Miguel de la Madrid, 77. Former president of Mexico, who led his country from 1982 to 1988 during an economic crisis and a devastating earthquake. April 1.

Giorgio Chinaglia, 65. Italian soccer great and former New York Cosmos star. April 1. Complications from a heart attack.

Neslisah Osmanoglu, 91. Ottoman princess who married an Egyptian prince and was twice forced into exile when both royal households were abolished. April 2.

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, 76. He designed Porsche's classic 911 sports car, the sleek model that evokes power, wealth and envy among aficionados. April 5.

Bingu wa Mutharika, 78. Malawi's president who was hailed as an economic hero and decried as an autocrat.. April 5.

Thomas Kinkade, 54. Artist whose paintings of idyllic landscapes, cottages and churches have been big sellers for dealers across the U.S. April 6.

Mike Wallace, 93. Dogged CBS reporter who took on politicians and celebrities in a 60-year career highlighted by on-air confrontations that helped make "60 Minutes" the most successful prime-time television news program ever. April 7.

Raymond Aubrac, 97. One of the last major figures of the French Resistance who got away from the Nazis' grasp in a now-legendary escape. April 10.

Ahmed Ben Bella, 95. Algeria's first president and a historic leader of its bloody independence struggle from France. April 11.

Julio Aleman, 78. Mexican television and movie actor who starred in the first telenovela ever produced in the country. April 11.

Arnold Maersk Mc-Kinney Moeller, 98. Denmark's richest man who created the country's largest enterprise, a shipping and oil conglomerate. April 16.

Dick Clark, 82. Ever-youthful television entrepreneur who helped bring rock 'n' roll into the mainstream on "American Bandstand," and later produced and hosted game shows and the year-end countdown from Times Square. April 19.

Levon Helm, 71. Key member of the rock group The Band who lent his voice to classics like "The Weight" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." April 19.

George Cowan, 92. Manhattan Project scientist who also helped found the Santa Fe Institute. April 20.

Charles "Chuck" Colson, 80. Special counsel to President Richard Nixon who went to prison for his role in a Watergate-related case and became a Christian evangelical helping inmates. April 21.

George Rathmann, 84. As founding CEO he helped turn Amgen Inc. from a small company with an unclear mission in a strange new field into the world's largest biotech drugmaker. April 22.

George Vujnovich, 96. Intelligence agent who organized a World War II mission to rescue more than 500 U.S. bomber crew members shot down over Nazi-occupied Serbia. April 24.

Patricia Medina, 92. Actress who became a Hollywood leading lady in the 1950s opposite Glenn Ford, Alan Ladd, Karl Malden and Fernando Lamas. April 28.

Thomas Austin "Amarillo Slim" Preston Jr., 83. A poker champion whose brash style, fast talking and love of the spotlight helped broaden the professional game's appeal. April 29.

Tomas Borge Martinez, 81. Last surviving founder of the Sandinista guerrilla movement that overthrew Nicaragua's U.S.-backed right-wing dictatorship in 1979. April 30.

MAY:

Junior Seau, 43. Homegrown superstar who was the fist-pumping, emotional leader of the San Diego Chargers for 13 years. May 2. Apparent suicide.

Lloyd Brevett, 80. Renowned double bassist who helped carry ska music from Jamaica to the world as a founding member of the band The Skatalites. May 3.

Adam Yauch, 47. Also known as MCA, the gravelly voiced rapper helped make the Beastie Boys one of the seminal groups in hip-hop. May 4. Cancer.

George Lindsey, 83. He made a TV career as a grinning service station attendant named Goober on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Hee Haw." May 6.

Dennis Fitch, 69. Airline pilot who helped save 184 people during a plane crash in Sioux City, Iowa. May 7. Brain cancer.

Maurice Sendak, 83. Children's book author and illustrator who saw the sometimes-dark side of childhood in books like "Where the Wild Things Are." May 8.

Vidal Sassoon, 84. Celebrity hairstylist whose 1960s wash-and-wear cuts freed women from endless teasing and hairspray. May 9.

Baby Andrei, 9 months. Romanian baby born with virtually no intestines who confounded doctors by tenaciously clinging to life and captured international attention and offers of medical help. May 10.

Gunnar Soensteby, 94. World War II resistance fighter who earned Norway's highest military decoration for daring raids against the Nazis. May 10.

Evelyn Bryan Johnson, 102. Known as "Mama Bird," she was a pioneering female pilot and Guinness world record holder. May 10.

Carroll Shelby, 89. Legendary car designer and champion auto racer who built the Shelby Cobra sports car and injected testosterone into Ford's Mustang and Chrysler's Viper. May 10.

Donald "Duck" Dunn, 70. Bassist who helped create the gritty Memphis soul sound at Stax Records in the 1960s as part of the legendary group Booker T. and the MGs. May 13.

Jim Abdnor, 89. Former Republican U.S. senator who ousted George McGovern from the Senate only to lose his seat after one term. May 16.

Chuck Brown, 75. Widely acclaimed as the "Godfather of go-go" for styling a unique mix of funk, soul and Latin party sounds. May 16.

Mary Richardson Kennedy, 52. Estranged wife of Robert Kennedy Jr.; her life's highlights and troubled moments played out publicly because of the famous political family she married into. May 16. Apparent suicide.

Doug Dillard, 75. Banjo player who helped shape rock 'n' roll and introduce the nation to bluegrass music during a run on "The Andy Griffith Show." May 16.

Donna Summer, 63. Disco queen whose pulsing anthems such as "Last Dance," ''Love to Love You Baby" and "Bad Girls" became the soundtrack for a glittery age of drugs, dance and flashy clothes. May 17.

Warda, 72. Algerian singer known by just one name whose sultry voice and range helped make her one of the giants of Arab song. May 17.

Frank Edward "Ed" Ray, 91. California school bus driver who was hailed as a hero for helping 26 students escape after three kidnappers buried them underground in 1976. May 17.

Katie Beckett, 34. Her struggles with disease and bureaucracy brought landmark changes to the federal-state Medicaid program allowing children with disabilities to live at home. May 18.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, 60. Libyan intelligence officer who was the only person ever convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. May 20.

Robin Gibb, 62. One of the three Bee Gees whose falsetto harmonies powered such hits as "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever" and defined the flashy disco era. May 20.

Eugene Polley, 96. Inventor of the first wireless TV remote control. May 20.

Eddie Blazonczyk, 70. Grammy Award-winning polka great who earned the nickname "Polka King" after starting his own band and label. May 21.

Wesley Brown, 85. First African-American to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy. May 22.

Klaas Carel Faber, 90. Dutch native who fled to Germany after being convicted in the Netherlands of Nazi war crimes and subsequently lived in freedom despite attempts to try or extradite him. May 24.

Johnny Tapia, 45. Five-time boxing champion whose turbulent career was marked by cocaine addiction, alcohol, depression and run-ins with the law. May 27.

Doc Watson, 89. Grammy-award winning folk musician whose lightning-fast style of flatpicking influenced guitarists around the world. May 29.

JUNE:

Kathryn Joosten, 72. Character actress best known as Karen McCluskey on "Desperate Housewives" and the president's secretary on "The West Wing." June 2.

Adolfo Calero, 80. He led the largest force of U.S.-backed rebels against Nicaragua's Sandinista government in the 1980s and found himself entangled in the Iran-Contra scandal. June 2.

Richard Dawson, 79. Wisecracking British entertainer who was among the schemers in the 1960s TV comedy "Hogan's Heroes" and later the contestant-kissing host of the game show "Family Feud." June 2.

Herb Reed, 83. Last surviving original member of 1950s vocal group the Platters who sang on hits like "Only You" and "The Great Pretender." June 4.

Ray Bradbury, 91. Science fiction-fantasy master who transformed his childhood dreams and Cold War fears into telepathic Martians, lovesick sea monsters, and the high-tech, book-burning future of "Fahrenheit 451." May 5.

Bob Welch, 65. Former member of Fleetwood Mac who went on to write songs and record several hits during a solo career. June 7. Self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Ann Rutherford, 94. Actress who played the sweetheart in the long-running Andy Hardy series and Scarlett O'Hara's youngest sister in "Gone With the Wind." June 11.

Henry Hill, 69. Associate in New York's Lucchese crime family, a mobster and FBI informant whose life was the basis for the Martin Scorsese film "Goodfellas." June 12.

William S. Knowles, 95. Chemist who shared the Nobel Prize for discoveries that led to a treatment for Parkinson's disease and other medicines. June 13.

Crown Prince Nayef, late 70s. Interior minister who headed Saudi Arabia's fierce crackdown crushing al-Qaida's branch in the country after the 9/11 attacks and rose to become next in line to the throne. June 16.

Rodney King, 47. Black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the spark for one of the most destructive U.S. race riots. June 17. Accidentally drowned.

Richard Adler, 90. Composer-lyricist who won Tony Awards for such Broadway musicals as "The Pajama Game" and "Damn Yankees" and who produced President John F. Kennedy's birthday celebration featuring a breathy Marilyn Monroe. June 21.

Barry Becher, 71. Infomercial pioneer best known for introducing American TV viewers to Ginsu knives, the miracle kitchen tool that sliced through tin cans and chopped wood. June 22.

George Randolph Hearst Jr., 84. Board chairman of Hearst Corp., oldest grandson of media titan William Randolph Hearst. June 25.

Nora Ephron, 71. Essayist, author and filmmaker who thrived in the male-dominated worlds of movies and journalism and was loved, respected and feared for her wit. June 26. Leukemia

Doris Singleton, 92. Actress who played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's neighbor on "I Love Lucy." June 26.

Don Grady, 68. One of television's most beloved big brothers as Robbie Douglas on the 1960s hit "My Three Sons." June 27.

Norman Sas, 87. Mechanical engineer who created electric football, a tabletop game with a vibrating metal field and unpredictable plastic players that captivated children and grown-ups. June 28.

Doris Sams, 85. Pitcher and outfielder from Knoxville who helped inspire the movie "A League of Their Own." June 28.

Yitzhak Shamir, 96. Former Israeli prime minister who maintained that Israel should hold on to territory and never trust an Arab regime. June 30.

MORE

モンクレール アウトレット 51

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BEIJING (Reuters) - China amended its labor law on Friday to ensure that workers hired through contracting agents are offered the same conditions as full employees, a move meant to tighten a loophole used by many employers to maintain flexible staffing.

Contracting agencies have taken off since China implemented the Labor Contract Law in 2008, which stipulates employers must pay workers' health insurance and social security benefits and makes firing very difficult.

"Hiring via labor contracting agents should be arranged only for temporary, supplementary and backup jobs," the amendment reads, according to the Xinhua news agency. It takes effect on July 1, 2013.

Contracted laborers now make up about a third of the workforce at many Chinese and multinational factories, and in some cases account for well over half.

Some foreign representative offices,アウトレット モンクレール, all news bureaus and most embassies are required to hire Chinese staff through employment agencies, rather than directly.

Under the amendment, "temporary" refers to durations of under six months, while supplementary workers would replace staff who are on maternity or vacation leave,モンクレール アウトレット, Kan He, vice chairman of the legislative affairs commission of the National People's Congress standing committee, said at a press conference to introduce the legislation.

The main point is that contracting through agencies should not become the main channel for employment, he said, acknowledging that the definition of backup might differ by industry.

"In order to prevent abuse, the regulations control the total numbers and the proportion of workers that can be contracted through agencies and companies cannot expand either number or proportion at whim," Kan said.

"The majority of workers at a company should be under regular labor contracts."

Although in theory contracted or dispatch workers are paid the same, with benefits supplied by the agencies who are legally their direct employers, in practice many contracted workers, especially in manufacturing industries and state-owned enterprises, do not enjoy benefits and are paid less.

Employment agencies have been set up by local governments and even by companies themselves to keep an arms-length relationship with workers. Workers who are underpaid, fired or suffer injury often find it very difficult to pursue compensation through agencies.

China would increase inspections for violations, Kan said, including the practice of chopping a longer contract into several contracts of shorter duration to maintain the appearance of "temporary" work.

Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co. said in November that it would require its 249 supplier factories in China to cap the number of temporary or contracted workers at 30 percent of regular full-time employees,moncler ダウン.

It announced the corrective measure after Chinese labor activists reported violations of overtime rules and working conditions as well as under-age workers at Samsung suppliers. Samsung says its own audit did not find workers under China's legal working age of 16.

(Reporting by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Convicted New Orleans police see opportunity in officials' errors

Convicted New Orleans police see opportunity in officials' errors

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors scored big victories over the past two years in a quest to pluck bad police officers from the streets of New Orleans. But legal issues and recent stumbles by the U.S. attorney raise questions about whether criminal convictions of officers will stick.

Convicted former police officer David Warren won a new trial last week in the fatal shooting of Henry Glover, whose body turned up in a burned-out car behind a river levee days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said Warren, who fired the shot that killed Glover, should have been tried separately from others charged in the case. The court also granted another of the defendants a re-trial based on new evidence.

The rulings will likely prompt appeals in other cases, including the 2011 convictions of five police officers in connection with a post-Katrina shooting on the city's Danziger Bridge that killed two unarmed civilians and wounded four others.

"Defense lawyers can smell blood in the water," said law professor Dane Ciolino of Loyola University New Orleans. "I wouldn't be surprised to see the Danziger defendants make an argument of improper failure to sever (their cases from others) as their appeals move forward."

Along with such legal issues, the city of New Orleans faces the possibility that more than a dozen post-Katrina convictions won by federal prosecutors and a big public corruption case still in the works may be endangered by revelations of possible misconduct in the U.S. attorney's office.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten resigned on December 6 in the throes of a scandal in which members of his inner circle admitted to posting online comments, under pseudonyms, on a public message board about cases the office was prosecuting. In addition to Letten, three members of his staff who were connected with the comments have left the office.

The Danziger Bridge defendants are already seeking new trials based on negative comments about police that they say prosecutors posted on the message boards.

In an unrelated case, a former high-ranking elected official from a suburban New Orleans jurisdiction who recently pleaded guilty to public corruption charges now is asking a federal judge to reconsider the plea in light of perceived prosecutorial misconduct.

'PUBLIC OFFICIAL A'

Among other cases that could be affected, federal prosecutors appear close to bringing charges against former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on suspicion he accepted bribes from business owners in exchange for funneling city contracts to the businesses.

Several Nagin associates have signed plea deals with the government and submitted affidavits detailing the arrangements they had with a high-ranking city official identified in filings as "Public Official A."

While Nagin is not named in the documents, attorneys for at least two of the businessmen have made it clear that Public Official A is Nagin.

How serious the misconduct issue may become for the government is a question of evidence, said former U.S. Attorney Harry Rosenberg. The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility is scrutinizing the matter and an independent investigation ordered by a judge was under way.

"The results will tell defense counsel whether they have reasonable opportunities to pursue new trials or dismissals of indictments," Rosenberg said.

He pointed to the success in the case of the late U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, whose lawyers contested his 2008 conviction for failing to report gifts from a well-connected business executive by showing that the government failed to disclose evidence. Ultimately, the U.S. attorney general asked that the charges against Stevens be dropped.

Still, Rosenberg said proving that prosecutorial misconduct occurred in New Orleans was a long shot. Defense lawyers in some federal cases were "feeling energized," he said, but the Justice Department's convictions nearly always stick.

"I suspect that the number of motions granted based upon prosecutorial misconduct are a fraction of a fraction of 1 percent," he said.

Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche said it was important to local citizens that the police officer convictions won by federal prosecutors in recent years stick.

"For too long the public has lost faith in the criminal justice system, and they're starting to see that faith restored," he said.

Noting that the civil rights cases brought by the Justice Department generally are too complex and expensive to be handled by local authorities, he said action by federal prosecutors is crucial to building support for local law enforcement.

"People need to see that if you betray the public trust, there will be a consequence," he said.

(Editing by Corrie MacLaggan, Vicki Allen and Xavier Briand)

Catholic Church urges Irish to oppose abortion law

Catholic Church urges Irish to oppose abortion law

DUBLIN (Reuters) - The head of Ireland's Catholic Church urged followers in his Christmas Day message to lobby against government plans to legalize abortion.

Ireland, the only EU member state that currently outlaws the procedure, is preparing legislation that would allow limited access to abortion after the European Court of Human Rights criticized the current regime.

The death last month of an Indian woman who was denied an abortion of her dying foetus and later died of blood poisoning has intensified the debate around abortion, which remains a hugely divisive subject in the predominantly Catholic country.

"I hope that everyone who believes that the right to life is fundamental will make their voice heard in a reasonable, but forthright, way to their representatives," Cardinal Sean Brady said in a Christmas message on Tuesday.

"No government has the right to remove that right from an innocent person."

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, a regular Mass goer, is bringing in legislation that would allow a woman to have an abortion if her life was at risk from pregnancy.

The country's Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that abortion was permitted when a woman's life was at risk but successive governments have avoided legislating for it because it is so divisive.

The death of Savita Halappanavar, who repeatedly asked for an abortion while she was miscarrying in an Irish hospital, highlighted the lack of clarity in Irish law that leaves doctors in a legally risky position.

Halappanavar's death re-ignited the abortion debate and prompted large protests by groups both in favor of and against abortion.

Kenny and his conservative Fine Gael party have been criticized for tackling the abortion issue and some party members have indicated that they may not be able to back the law.

Relations between the Irish government and the once dominant Catholic Church are at an all-time low in the wake of years of clerical sex abuse scandals.

Kenny told parliament last year that the Vatican's handling of the scandals had been dominated by "elitism and narcissism" and accused it of trying to cover up the abuse. The speech prompted the Vatican to recall its ambassador, or nuncio, to Ireland.

Brady, who has faced calls this year to resign over accusations he failed to warn parents their children were being sexually abused, said in his Christmas message that he wanted relations with government to improve.

"My hope is that the year ahead will see the relationship between faith and public life in our country move beyond the sometimes negative, exaggerated caricatures of the past."

(Reporting by Carmel Crimmins; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Firefighters Shot Dead at Upstate NY Fire

Firefighters Shot Dead at Upstate NY Fire

Two firefighters were shot and killed and two others taken to a nearby hospital after a gunman opened fire on them as they responded to a fire he is believed to have set to a home and a car in Webster, N.Y., police said.

SWAT team officers used an armored personnel carrier to evacuate 33 residents from homes in the area.

"Upon arrival all [the firefighters] drew fire, all four were shot on the scene," said Police Chief Gerald L. Pickering. "One was able to flee the scene, the other three were pinned down."

An off-duty police officer responding to the call was also injured by shrapnel and was being treated.

Pickering said the gunman was dead at the scene, but had yet to be identified. The shooter died of a gunshot wound, but police didn't yet know if "it was self inflicted or not."

Firefighters continued to fight the blaze that engulfed three other homes and damaged three more on a sleepy lakeside street, that police described as a quiet vacation community.

Police had not yet determined the "weapon or weapons" the gunman used and had not fully investigated the scene because the fires continued to rage.

"I know many people are going to be asking if they were assault rifles," Pickering said, following a week-long debate about such weapons after one was used in a tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14.

Among the dead firefighters was Lt. Michael Chiapperini, a 20-year veteran of the Webster Police Department and "lifetime firefighter," according to Pickering. Chiapperini was a spokesman for the police department, ABC News affiliate WHAM reported.

The chief, choking up, called the incident that shattered the quiet before 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning "terrible."

"People get up in the middle of the night to fight fires," he said. "They don't expect to get shot and killed."

Also Read

Obesity declining in young, poorer kids: study

Obesity declining in young, poorer kids: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The number of low-income preschoolers who qualify as obese or "extremely obese" has dropped over the last decade, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.

Although the decline was only "modest" and may not apply to all children, researchers said it was still encouraging.

"It's extremely important to make sure we're monitoring obesity in this low-income group," said the CDC's Heidi Blanck, who worked on the study.

Those kids are known to be at higher risk of obesity than their well-off peers, in part because access to healthy food is often limited in poorer neighborhoods.

The new results can't prove what's behind the progress, Blanck told Reuters Health - but two possible contributors are higher rates of breastfeeding and rising awareness of the importance of physical activity even for very young kids.

Blanck and her colleagues used data on routine clinic visits for about half of all U.S. kids eligible for federal nutrition programs - including 27.5 million children between age two and four.

They found 13 percent of those preschoolers were obese in 1998. That grew to just above 15 percent in 2003, but dropped slightly below 15 percent in 2010, the most recent study year included.

Similarly, the prevalence of extreme obesity increased from nearly 1.8 percent in 1998 to 2.2 percent in 2003, then dropped back to just below 2.1 percent in 2010, the research team reported Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Whether kids are obese is determined by their body mass index (BMI) - a measure of weight in relation to height - and by their age and sex.

For example, a four-year-old girl who is 40 inches tall would be obese if she was 42 pounds or heavier. A two-year-old boy who is 35 inches tall qualifies as obese at 34 pounds or above, according to the CDC's child BMI calculator. (The CDC's BMI calculator for children and teens is available here:.)

The new findings are the first national data to show obesity and extreme obesity may be declining in young children, Blanck said.

"This is very encouraging considering the recent effort made in the field including by several U.S. federal agencies to combat the childhood obesity epidemic," said Dr. Youfa Wang, head of the Johns Hopkins Global Center on Childhood Obesity in Baltimore.

Blanck said between 2003 and 2010 researchers also saw an increase in breastfeeding of low-income infants. Breastfeeding has been tied to a healthier weight in early childhood.

Additionally, states and communities have started working with child care centers to make sure kids have time to run around and that healthy foods are on the lunch menu, she added.

Parents can encourage better eating by having fruits and vegetables available at snack time and allowing their young kids to help with meal preparation, Blanck said.

Her other recommendations include making sure preschoolers get at least one hour of activity every day and keeping television sets out of the bedroom.

"The prevalence of overweight and obesity in many countries including in the U.S. is still very high," Wang, who wasn't involved in the new study, told Reuters Health in an email.

"The recent level off should not be taken as a reason to reduce the effort to fight the obesity epidemic."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/JjFzqx Journal of the American Medical Association, online December, 25, 2012.

Blind dog lost in Alaska snowstorm and -40 degree temps find way back to owners

Blind dog lost in Alaska snowstorm and -40 degree temps find way back to owners

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Blind and alone in Alaska winter temperatures that dipped 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-40 degrees Celsius), a lost 8-year-old Fairbanks dog wasn't given much of a chance to make it home.

But after walking 10 miles (16 kilometres) to the edge of a local musher's dog yard, Abby the brown-and-white mixed breed was found and returned to her owners, a family that includes two boys and one girl under the age of 10.

The dog that the family raised from an animal-shelter puppy went missing during a snowstorm on Dec. 13, and the family never expected to see her again, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.

"It's a miracle, there's no other words to describe it," said McKenzie Grapengeter, emotion choking her voice and tears coming to her eyes. "We never expected to have her to be returned safe and alive."

Musher and veterinarian Mark May said he came across the dog while running his team on Dec. 19, but didn't stop to pick her up.

"It ran with us for about a mile on the way home before she fell off the pace, but I had a big dog team so I couldn't grab it," he said. "I said, 'boy I hope it finds somebody's house.'"

The next day, the dog turned up at May's house.

"Everybody just assumed it was some kind of scaredy-cat, but there it was in front of the door in our dog lot and it was blind," May said. "It was sitting there, all the way from 14 mile on the winter trail down into this neighbourhood, I guess by just sniffing, so I picked it up and brought it in."

To May's surprise, the dog had no signs of frostbite.

"No frozen ears, no frozen toes, she'll probably go back home and it'll (be) business as usual. She's no worse for wear but quite an adventure," he said.

The Grapengeter family hadn't tagged or put a microchip in the dog, but the community used social media to track down Abby's owners.

"We're so, so grateful for all (the community's) hard work," McKenzie Grapengeter said. "They've given us the most amazing Christmas gift we could ever ask for."

Officials: NY gunman set 'trap' for firefighters

Officials: NY gunman set 'trap' for firefighters
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A Monroe County Sheriff's Department…

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Lake Rd. residents are evacuated…

WEBSTER, N.Y. (AP) — A man who set his house on fire then lured firefighters to their deaths in a blaze of flames and bullets had attracted little attention since he got out of prison in the 1990s for killing his grandmother, authorities said.

But two months ago, William Spengler's mother died, leaving the 62-year-old ex-con in a Lake Ontario house with his sister, who he "couldn't stand," a friend said.

Spengler set a car and a house in his neighborhood ablaze early Monday, luring firefighters to the neighborhood and then killed two, wounded two others and injured a police officer while several homes burned around him, police said. Spengler then killed himself. His sister, Cheryl, was missing.

About 100 people attended an impromptu memorial vigil Monday evening in Webster, a suburb of Rochester. Dozens of bouquets were left at the fire station, along with a handwritten sign that said, "Thanks for protecting us. RIP."

Spengler, had been living in the home in Webster, a suburb of Rochester, with his mother and sister since his parole in 1998. He had served 17 years in prison after the beating death of his 92-year-old grandmother in 1980, for which he had originally been charged with murder but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. His mother, Arline, died in October.

On Monday, Spengler fired at the four firefighters when they arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the blaze, town police Chief Gerald Pickering said. The first police officer who arrived chased the gunman and exchanged shots.

Spengler lay in wait outdoors for the firefighters' arrival, then opened fire probably with a rifle and from atop an earthen berm, Pickering said. "It does appear it was a trap," he said.

Authorities used an armored vehicle to help residents flee dozens of homes on the shore of Lake Ontario a day before Christmas. Police restricted access to the neighborhood, and officials said it was unclear whether there were other bodies in the seven houses left to burn.

Authorities said Spengler hadn't done anything to bring himself to their attention since his parole. As a convicted felon, he wasn't allowed to possess weapons. Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley said Spengler led a very quiet life after he got out of prison.

A friend said Spengler hated his sister. Roger Vercruysse lived next door to Spengler and recalled a man who doted on his mother, whose obituary suggested contributions to the West Webster Fire Department.

"He loved his mama to death," said Vercruysse, who last saw his friend about six months ago.

Vercruysse also said Spengler "couldn't stand his sister" and "stayed on one side of the house and she stayed on the other."

The West Webster Fire District learned of the fire early Monday after a report of a car and house on fire on Lake Road, on a narrow peninsula where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario, Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn said.

The fire appeared from a distance as a pulsating ball of flame glowing against the early morning sky, flames licking into treetops and reflecting on the water, with huge bursts of smoke billowing away in a brisk wind.

Emergency radio communications capture someone saying he "could see the muzzle flash coming at me" as Spengler carried out his ambush. The audio posted on the website RadioReference.com has someone reporting "firefighters are down" and saying "got to be rifle or shotgun - high powered ... semi or fully auto."

Two of the firefighters arrived on a fire engine and two in their own vehicles, Pickering said. After Spengler fired, one of the wounded men fled, but the other three couldn't because of flying gunfire.

The police officer who exchanged gunfire with Spengler "in all likelihood saved many lives," Pickering said.

A police armored vehicle was used to recover two men, and eventually it removed 33 people from nearby homes, the police chief said. The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blazes.

The dead men were identified as police Lt. Michael Chiapperini, 43, the Webster Police Department's public information officer; and 19-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka, also a 911 dispatcher.

Pickering described Chiapperini as a "lifetime firefighter" with nearly 20 years in the department, and he called Kaczowka a "tremendous young man."

Kaczowka's brother, reached at the family home Monday night, said he didn't want to talk.

The two wounded firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, remained in guarded condition Tuesday at Strong Memorial Hospital, authorities said. Both were awake and alert and are expected to recover.

Hofstetter, also a full-timer with the Rochester Fire Department, was hit once in the pelvis, and the bullet lodged in his spine, authorities said. Scardino was hit in the chest and knee.

At West Webster Fire Station 1, there were at least 20 bouquets on a bench in front and a bouquet of roses with three gold-and-white ribbons saying, "May they rest in peace," ''In the line of duty" and "In memory of our fallen brothers."

A handwritten sign says, "Thanks for protecting us, RIP." Two candles were lit to honor the dead.

Grieving firefighters declined to talk to reporters. At an impromptu memorial vigil Monday evening, about 100 people stood in the cold night air, some holding candles. A fire department spokesman made a brief appearance, thanked them all and told them to go home and appreciate their families.

Cathy Bartlett was there with her teenage son, who was good friends with Kaczowka. Bartlett's husband, Mark Bartlett, has been a firefighter there for 25 years but missed the call this morning.

"Thank God my husband slept through the first alarm and didn't get up until the second one went off," she said.

The shooting and fires were in a neighborhood of seasonal and year-round homes set close together across the road from the lakeshore. The area is popular with recreational boaters but is normally quiet this time of year.

"We have very few calls for service in that location," Pickering said. "Webster is a tremendous community. We are a safe community, and to have a tragedy befall us like this is just horrendous."

O'Flynn lamented the violence, which comes on the heels of other shootings including the massacre of 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

"It's sad to see that this is becoming more commonplace in communities across the nation," O'Flynn said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the State Police and Office of Emergency Management were working with local authorities.

"Volunteer firefighters and police officers were injured and two were taken from us as they once again answered the call of duty," Cuomo said in a statement. "We as the community of New York mourn their loss as now two more families must spend the holidays without their loved ones."

Webster, a middle-class suburb, now is the scene of violence linked to house fires for two Decembers in a row.

Last Dec. 7, authorities say, a 15-year-old boy doused his home with gasoline and set it ablaze, killing his father and two brothers, 16 and 12. His mother and 13-year-old sister escaped with injuries. He is being prosecuted as an adult.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Carola, George Walsh and Mary Esch in Albany contributed to this report.

Syrian rebels fully capture town near Turkey

Syrian rebels fully capture town near Turkey
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This Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012 image…

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Free Syrian Army fighters walk…

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels fully captured a northern town near the Turkish border on Tuesday after weeks of siege and heavy fighting, activists said.

The takeover of Harem, a town of 20,000 in northern Idlib province, was the latest in a string of recent rebel successes that include the capture of wide areas along the border with Turkey. Most of those areas have been in northern Aleppo province, where anti-government forces have captured at least three large military bases.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels captured Harem in the early hours of Tuesday. Mohammed Kanaan, an Idlib-based activist, said the last post to be taken was the historic citadel, which overlooked the town. The army had turned the citadel into a military post.

"Harem is fully liberated now," Kanaan he said via Skype. He added that as the rebels pounded army posts and checkpoints in Harem, the troops withdrew to the citadel that later fell in the hands of rebels.

Rami-Abdul-Rahman, who heads to Observatory, said nearly 30 soldiers and pro-government gunmen surrendered late Monday. He added that rebels set free all gunmen at the age of 16 or less and referred others to local tribunals.

"Harem was very important because it is one of the towns that was loyal to the regime," Abdul-Rahman said by telephone about the town that is nearly a mile from the Turkish border.

In his traditional Christmas address, Pope Benedict XVI decried the slaughter of the "defenseless" in Syria, where anti-regime activists estimate more than 40,000 have died in fighting since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's rule began in March 2011.

The pope encouraged Arab spring nations, where long-serving dictators were forced to step down.

In Aleppo province, which neighbors Idlib, local activist Mohammed Saeed said rebels attacked a military base in the town of Mannagh near the border with Turkey. He said it is one of four air bases in the province.

Regime forces have been using helicopters to carry supplies to besieged areas and to attack rebel positions.

The regime has had increasing difficulty sending supplies by land to Aleppo province after rebels captured in October the strategic town Maaret al-Numan. The town is on the highway that links Damascus with Aleppo, Syria's largest city and commercial center and a major battleground in the civil war since July.

"Airplanes and helicopters are the only way to send supplies since the Free Syrian Army controls the land," Saeed said. He added that rebels are also laying a siege to Aleppo's international airport known as Nairab and threatening to shoot down military or civilians planes using it.

In the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, opposition gunmen ambushed the head of military intelligence in the area and seriously wounded him. He later died of his wounds, the Observatory said.

In Israel, top officials said they cannot corroborate Syrian activists' claims that the regime has used chemical weapons against its citizens.

Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon told Army Radio that Israel has "no confirmation or proof" the regime has employed such weapons in the civil war. He says Israel is "monitoring the situation with concern."

Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad told Israel Radio that Syria was closely guarding its chemical weapons stockpiles.

On Monday, the Observatory quoted activists in the central city of Homs as saying that six rebels died in two neighborhoods the day before after inhaling white smoke that came out of shells fired by government troops in the area. Amateur videos released by activists showed men in hospital beds suffering breathing problems as doctors placed oxygen masks over their faces.

New York gunman left note declaring plan to kill people

New York gunman left note declaring plan to kill people

Article: 2 Rochester-area firefighters shot dead in ambush

Mon, Dec 24, 2012

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A gunman who killed two volunteer firefighters and wounded two others in a Christmas Eve ambush in upstate New York left a typewritten note saying he planned to burn down his neighborhood and start "killing people," authorities said on Tuesday.

The gunman, William Spengler, 62, opened fire on volunteer firefighters who responded to a house fire he deliberately set early on Monday morning in Webster, New York, a suburb of Rochester, authorities said.

Spengler shot and killed himself in an ensuing gunfight with police. He had spent 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1981, authorities said.

Police said Spengler set the fire, laying a trap for the firefighters, and began shooting when they arrived.

He left a typewritten note describing his intent, Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering said at a televised news conference.

"I still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down and do what I like doing best, killing people," Pickering read from the gunman's statement.

Investigators had found human remains in Spengler's burned-out house, where he lived with his sister, Cheryl Spengler, 67, Pickering said. The remains are assumed to be the sister's and a medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

"A CLEAR AMBUSH"

Spengler started shooting at the arriving firefighters before they got out of their fire truck, Pickering said. He shot out the truck's windshield as they tried to drive away, he said.

"This was a clear ambush on first responders," Pickering said. Police fired back at the gunman, he said. "It was a combat condition. They were shooting at muzzle flash," Pickering said.

Spengler was in a natural depression in an embankment near a tree when he opened fire, he said.

His motive for attacking firefighters remained unknown, Pickering said. It may have been related to contributions his mother had made to the local fire department, he said.

Pickering said he was not sure what the victims were shot with, but said Spengler had an "arsenal of ammunition" and three weapons - a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver, a pump-action Mossberg shotgun, and a .223 Bushmaster rifle with a flash suppressor.

The same model Bushmaster rifle was used in the killing of 20 students and six teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14.

Authorities with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were checking on the origin of the weapons, he said.

As a convicted felon, Spengler could not legally own guns. Pickering said authorities were examining potential links between the weapons and thefts of guns in the county.

The firefighters killed in the attack were Lieutenant Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka, authorities said.

The injured firefighters were identified as Joseph Hofsetter and Theodore Scardino. Both men were listed in guarded condition at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

An off-duty police officer was wounded by shrapnel as he drove past the scene. The officer was treated at a hospital and released.

Seven homes in the neighborhood were destroyed by the fire, and two were uninhabitable, Pickering said.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Dan Grebler, Steve Orlofsky and Leslie Gevirtz)

Kuwait urges Iran to address worries on nuclear plant

Kuwait urges Iran to address worries on nuclear plant
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Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed…

MANAMA (Reuters) - Kuwait urged neighboring Iran on Monday to cooperate more with the U.N. nuclear watchdog to allay Gulf Arab concerns about the safety of an Iranian nuclear power plant that lies just across the waterway from the emirate.

The emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, said a recent shutdown at the Bushehr plant indicated Tehran had to work with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy (IAEA) to ensure the safety of the facility near the coastal town of Bushehr.

He was speaking in Bahrain at the annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a grouping of six oil-exporting Gulf Arab countries at odds with Tehran over a series of issues and who see the Islamic Republic as a rival for regional influence.

Bushehr, a Russian-built symbol of what Iran calls its peaceful nuclear ambitions, was shut down in October to limit any damage after stray bolts were found beneath its fuel cells, a Russian nuclear industry source said in November.

The explanation for the procedure at the 1,000-megawatt plant contradicted assurances by Iran that nothing unexpected had happened and that removing nuclear fuel from the plant was part of a normal procedure.

Sheikh Sabah said: "The news that was reported recently about the technical failure that hit the Bushehr reactor confirms what we mentioned about the importance of Iranian cooperation with the IAEA, and committing to its criteria and rule, to ensure the safety of the region's states and its people from any effect of radioactivity."

LONG-STANDING DISPUTE

Iran is the only country with an operating nuclear power plant that is not part of the 75-nation Convention on Nuclear Safety, which was negotiated after the 1986 nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

Although the West suspects the Islamic Republic of trying to develop the means to build nuclear arms - a charge it denies - Bushehr is not considered a major proliferation risk by Western states, whose fears are focused on sites where Iran has defied global pressure by enriching uranium beyond levels needed to fuel civilian atomic power plants.

Nevertheless Western officials voiced concern in November about what they described as an unexpected unloading of fuel at Bushehr and said Tehran, which has dismissed it as a normal step, must clarify the issue.

Iran's ambassador to the IAEA said in November that Tehran was determined to make sure safety at Bushehr was guaranteed after the plant is turned over to Iranian operators.

The plant, whose start-up has been delayed for years, was finally plugged into Iran's national grid in September 2011, a move intended to end protracted delays in its construction. The plant's Russian builder was quoted in October as saying Bushehr would be formally "handed over for use" to Iran in March 2013.

Sheikh Sabah also appealed to Iran to resolve separate long-standing disputes with GCC members, who comprise Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait.

"We renew our calls to our brothers in Iran to respond to our invitations to put an end to pending issues between the GCC countries and Iran ... through direct negotiations or by resorting to international arbitration," he said.

Bahrain has repeatedly accused Tehran of meddling in its internal politics. Saudi Arabia has complained about alleged border breaches by Iran, and the UAE has a long-standing dispute with the Shi'ite Muslim power over three Gulf islands. Iran denies seeking subvert Bahrain or any other Gulf Arab state, and says its intentions in the region are purely peaceful.

(Reporting by Asma Alsharif, Writing by William Maclean; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Analysis: Ethnicity and ICC cases heat up Kenya presidential race

Analysis: Ethnicity and ICC cases heat up Kenya presidential race
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Kenya's Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru…

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Kenya's Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru…

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Alliances forged by Kenya's main presidential contenders for elections in March are lining up a repeat of a largely ethnic-based contest for political power which exploded into bloodshed in the 2007 vote.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya's founder president, lead the two main opposing camps for the March 4 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The head-on rivalry between Kenyatta, from the predominant Kikuyu tribe, and Odinga, a Luo, raises the specter of the tribal clashes that followed the 2007 election and killed more than 1,200 people, uprooting thousands more from their homes.

"I don't want to be a pessimist... but, historically, every time the Luo and the Kikuyu have been on different sides there has been violence," said Mzalendo Kibunjia, who heads a national agency formed to reconcile tribes after the violence.

"What do you expect? Our politics are about ethnicity. In Africa, democracy is about ethnic arithmetic not ideology."

Another factor that could lead to post-election instability for East Africa's economic powerhouse is Kenyatta's date a month after the March vote with the International Criminal Court (ICC). The former finance minister faces a trial in the Hague over his alleged role in the election violence five years ago.

Should Kenyatta win the presidency and then travel to the court hearings, a power vacuum could result soon after his inauguration. The ICC accuses him of directing youth from his Kikuyu ethnic community to fight Odinga's Luo kinsmen during the 2007/2008 bloodletting. He denies any wrongdoing.

To win in the March 4 first round, a candidate needs to gain an outright majority from the 14.3 million registered voters. An immediate victory for either contender is not assured, which could then mean a nail-biting run-off in April.

Odinga leads the race according to most opinion polls, but Kenyatta is running close second. The closeness of the political contest is exacerbating the ethnic tensions, and vice-versa.

Kenyan polls since independence from Britain in 1963 have often been marred by tribal violence, typically stemming from long-standing disputes over land. But the bloody feuding after the 2007 vote was by far the worst in Kenya's history.

Luos say Odinga was robbed of victory by the incumbent, President Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu in a bitter and close vote. Many Kikuyus argue Odinga's Luo tribe got off easier than they did in the ICC probe of the 2007 events, and so are determined to have the election go their way this time.

There are those who believe the ICC's pursuit of alleged ringleaders of the 2007 killings could act as a deterrent.

"I doubt there will be violence of the scale we witnessed last time. Kenyans are extremely wary of the ICC and its activities in the country," said Ken Wafula, a rights campaigner who works in Rift Valley, epicenter of the clashes.

"Fear of running foul of the ICC will serve as a restraint."

ICC FACTOR

The charges from the war crimes court against Kenyatta, a deputy prime minister and scion of independence hero Jomo Kenyatta, is undoubtedly a hindrance to his presidential bid.

He has teamed up in the Jubilee alliance with former cabinet minister William Ruto, who was indicted with him by the ICC for inciting youth to fight in 2007.

The other men charged are the head of the civil service, Francis Muthaura, and radio presenter Joshua Arap Sang.

Kenyatta's arch-rival Odinga has formed a competing alliance, the Coalition for Reform and Democracy (Cord) backed by Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, to try to break the traditional Kikuyu dominance over the presidency.

Two of Kenya's three presidents since independence have been Kikuyu, the exception being former president Daniel Arap Moi, a Kalenjin like Ruto.

Although Kenyatta and Ruto have insisted they will cooperate with the ICC, most Kenyans do not believe the two will appear at the Hague should they win the election, according to a survey by pollster Ipsos Synovate released in early December.

In a country where the political elite has long been considered above the law, many believe Kenyatta would see becoming president of the nation as a way of spurning the ICC.

They point to the example of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has defied a 2009 ICC indictment for alleged war crimes committed by his forces in the western Darfur region.

A failure by an elected president of Kenya to cooperate with the ICC would concern foreign investors and Western governments, which have urged Kenyan leaders to be tough against impunity.

"This election is one issue: ICC, nothing else," said anti-corruption campaigner and political commentator John Githongo.

Political commentators said Kenyatta, if elected, could end up being afraid to leave his country like Bashir.

Kenya, East Africa's largest economy, and its assets are at risk of a discount similar to the 'Khartoum' one being given by investors to Sudan, said independent analyst Aly Khan Satchu.

In the past three decades, Kenya has had its lowest growth periods in, or just after, election years, the World Bank says.

The government has forecast growth of around 5 percent this year, up from 4.3 percent last year, but any flare-up could affect tourism and investment and regional trade and transport.

"The Jubilee alliance where two ICC indictees have teamed up is entirely problematic," Satchu said.

"Kenya is more deeply embedded and interconnected with the global economy than most African countries and in some respects that alliance is the equivalent of giving the two finger salute to the international community. There will be consequences and particularly economic ones (sanctions)."

Rights groups have also filed a suit at the Kenyan High Court challenging Ruto and Kenyatta's suitability for elective office, given their ICC cases at the Hague.

"GAME OF NUMBERS"

Odinga faces challenges too after falling out with several of his former allies who helped him in the last vote, including deputy prime minister Musalia Mudavadi. This has somewhat weakened his third attempt to win the presidency.

Analysts say much of the campaigning by Odinga and Kenyatta will focus on swing tribes, including Mudavadi's Luhya ethnic community, Kenya's second-largest, to try to tilt the vote.

"This game is a game of numbers. It does not require magic, this is the strategy," says Ruto.

Odinga and Kenyatta's rivalry mirrors an old feud that goes back to when Odinga's father was vice president to Kenyatta's father. They fell out, and Odinga's father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, became a vocal opposition critic of Jomo Kenyatta.

Odinga and Kenyatta have vowed to focus on issues, such as improving the economy, rather than ethnic differences or the ICC issue, to avoid whipping up emotions during the campaigns.

But Kenya is already hurting from violence this year in the coastal east where hundreds have been killed in tribal clashes over land and water, the most recent this week.

Such battles over resources have occurred for years, but human rights groups blame the latest fighting on politicians seeking to drive away parts of the local population they believe will vote for their rivals in the elections.

This is reinforcing the fears of a repeat of the ethnic mayhem that followed the disputed 2007 vote.

"This kind of violence can engulf the entire nation. It takes incitement by leaders preaching hate," Kibunjia said.

(Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Anna Willard)

Son says 'Odd Couple' actor Jack Klugman dies in US

Son says 'Odd Couple' actor Jack Klugman dies in US

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Jack Klugman, who made an art of gruffness in TV's "The Odd Couple" and "Quincy, M.E.," has died at the age of 90.

The actor's son Adam says his father died Monday afternoon in Los Angeles.

In the 1970s sitcom "The Odd Couple," Klugman played sloppy sports writer Oscar to co-star Tony Randall's Felix, a fussy photographer. In "Quincy, M.E.," which aired from 1976 to 1983, Klugman played an idealistic, tough-minded medical examiner.

Klugman lost his voice to throat cancer in the 1980s but trained himself to speak again. He returned to acting in a 1993 Broadway revival of "Three Men on a Horse."

Klugman split his time between TV, movies and the New York stage.