Top Five EasternMed Ports Of Call On A Rome Cruise To The Eastern Mediterranean

Cruises from Rome to the Eastern Mediterranean ports of call in Greece, Croatia, Greek Islands, Turkey and even Egypt and Israel are popular because of the fabulous ports of call along the cruises from Rome sailings. These ports are full of old Roman history as many of the ports were part of the Roman Empire, which lasted from 300BC to 700AD. Today these ports offer glorious historic sights, culture and food. And many of the Mediterranean port cities are on the sharp edge of contemporary and modern design, all of which offers the Italy cruise traveler from Rome no shortage of history-themed and up to date -themed destinations to go to on a cruise around Italy from Rome.

Western civilization flourished on the shores of the Mediterranean so these ports of call on an Italy cruise itinerary are ports which have been welcoming visitors by sea for thousands of years. It is heaps of fun to arrive in the various city?s ports as it allows a view of the town just like when the earliest mariners sailed the Mediterranean trading spices, wine, herbs, jewlery, olive oil, and more

Below are the Top 5 Eastern Mediterranean ports on a Eastern Mediterranean cruise from Rome.

Italy Cruise Top Port of Call - Athens, Greece

This ancient cty can be feverish and full of traffic congestio and provides too much action for some travelers. Escape it all with a delightful stroll up to the Acropolis, which offers a fabulous view over the city and the Mediterranean. Archaeological remains there include the Parthenon, the Erechtheum and the Church of Athena Nike. Athens is one of the world?s oldest cities, as its known history spans around three thousand four hundred years. Athens is many times referred to as the birthplace of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political accomplishments during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the rest of the then known European continent. Today the area is a cosmopolitan metropolis, modern Athens is central to economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece. Given its history, culture, and good food Athens is a highly sought after port for travelers on a cruise from Rome.

Italy Cruise Top Port of Call - Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul is a metropolis, as well as the cultural, economic, and monetary hub of Turkey. It's the biggest urban center in Turkey and fifth biggest city in the world with a population of 12.8 million, also making it the largest urban center in Europe and the second biggest metro population in Europe. It is situated on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour called the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on both the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the unique metropolis in the world that is situated on 2 continents. During its long history, Istanbul had formerly been the capital city of the Roman Empire (330?c.395), Byzantine Empire (c.395?1204 & 1261?1453), the Latin Empire (1204?1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453?1922). Thereafter, the new Republic of Turkey, moved its capital to Ankara in the Turkish War of Independence. Rome cruises to Istanbul are among the most asked for Rome cruises, and thus this cruise from Rome schedule sells out early.

Italy Cruise Top Port of Call - Alexandria, Egypt

In ancient times, Alexandria was one of the most celebrated towns in the world. It was located around a little pharaonic town c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great. It stayed Egypt?s capital for nearly one thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641, when a new capital was founded at Fustat (Fustat was later absorbed into Cairo). Alexandria was famous for its Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos), one of the 7 Wonders of the Traditional World; its library (the largest library in the traditional world); and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, one of the 7 Wonders of the Middle Ages. Continuing maritime archeology in the harbour of Alexandria, which began in 1994, is revealing details of Alexandria both before the arriving of Alexander, when a city named Rhacotis existed there, and during the Ptolemaic dynasty. Today Holy Land Rome cruises include Alexandria as a port of call.

Italy Cruise Top Cruise Port - Greek Isles

The Greek Islands are a collection of over 6,000 islands and islets that belong to Greece. Only 227 of the islands are inhabited, and only 78 of those have more than a hundred inhabitants. The largest Greek island by area is Crete, found at the southern edge of the Aegean Sea. The second largest island is Euboea, which is separated from the mainland by the 60m-wide Euripus Strait, and is governed as a part of the central Greece periphery. After the third and 4th biggest Greek Islands, Lesbos and Rhodes, the remainder of the islands are two thirds of the area of Rhodes, or smaller. A favored port of call on a cruise from Rome is Santorini and Mykonos, especially in the summertime months. When the nights are long and the beaches welcome Greek Isles cruise from Rome travelers.

Italy Cruise Top Port of Call - Izmir

Izmir is the 3rd biggest city in Turkey, with a population of 3.5 million. The area is one of the oldest cities of the Mediterranean area, dating to 7000 B.C. ?zmir has almost 3,500 years of recorded urban history and perhaps evenolder as an advanced human civilization. The Greek village in Old Smyrna is proved by the presence of ceramics dating to one thousand BC onwards and the most classical ruins preserved to our day date back to 725-700 BC. Lying on an advantageous location at the head of a gulf running down in a deep indentation midway on the western Anatolian coast, the city has been one of the principal mercantile cities of the Mediterranean Sea for most of its history. This port of landing is included on many Eastern Mediterranean cruises from Rome .

Justin Del Sesto is an expert Italy travel guide and the founder, CEO and owner of ItalianTourism.us and ItalyCruise.us, an Italy travel agent focused on Italy vacations and Italy cruises . On his website you will find numerous options for the best priced Rome to Venice cruise and Italy tour. Mr. Del Sesto is also the initiator of WebVisionItaly.com, the only Internet video network about Italy vacations.

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Source: http://www.lagunatravels.com/blog/?p=8141

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World juniors: Canada patiently takes apart Czechs

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Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F260/~3/OyM3ED2s3ws/story.html

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DOD: Reported sexual assaults up at 3 academies (AP)

ANNAPOLIS, Md. ? The number of reported sexual assaults at the nation's three major military academies rose overall in the latest academic year from one year earlier, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pentagon.

The Defense Department's "Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Academies" for academic year 2010-2011 found there were 65 reports of sexual assault involving cadets and midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy. That was up from 41 reports of sexual assaults in the prior academic year.

"This is a leadership issue, first and foremost, so I also expect us to lead with integrity and with energy to eliminate sexual assault and harassment from our culture," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement. "I'm confident the steps we are taking are the right ones, but we must continue to improve."

The Pentagon said it could not conclusively identify the reasons for the increases. However, the department has worked to encourage more victims to report sexual assault and the Pentagon says that could explain the higher number of reports.

The annual report was mandated in the 2007 John Warner National Defense Authorization Act. It directed the Pentagon to evaluate the effectiveness of the sexual harassment and sexual violence related policies on an annual basis.

Aiming to eliminate sexual assault and harassment from military culture, the Pentagon also announced two new policies to support abuse victims as it released the findings Tuesday.

Service members who have been the victim of sexual assault and have filed an unrestricted report now have the option to request an expedited transfer from their unit or installation, the Defense Department said. Under the new policy, the service member must receive a response to the transfer from the unit commander within 72 hours. A service member also will be able to request a review of any denied request and receive that response within 72 hours, the Pentagon added.

Another new policy will standardize retention periods for sexual assault records across the military services. Specified documents will be retained for 50 years in unrestricted cases and for five years in restricted cases to give victims longer access to documents related to sexual assault, the Defense Department said.

While the report found that the U.S. Military Academy at West Point is in partial compliance with the department's policies regarding sexual harassment and assault, it concluded the academy was not in compliance with department policy for providing prevention and response training to all cadets.

The Service Women's Action Network, a national human rights organization founded by women veterans, was critical of the increase in sexual abuse reports. Greg Jacob, policy director for the organization, also underscored the noncompliance with Pentagon policy in the report.

"Ending the widespread issue of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the military starts by ending it at the service academies," Jacob said in a statement.

West Point did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Other academy officials said they believe the increase in reporting indicates a positive step in making cadets and midshipmen feel more comfortable about reporting incidents ? a crucial part of addressing the problem.

"We believe that there's much more trust in our system than maybe we've seen in years past," said Col. Reni Renner, vice commandant culture and climate at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Deborah Goode, a spokeswoman at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., said the school includes training for midshipmen throughout all four years to prevent harassment and encourage reporting.

"We believe there is a better understanding by midshipmen of what constitutes sexual harassment and sexual assault, as well as an increased willingness to report incidents, which may account for increased reports of sexual assault cases," Goode said.

The Air Force Academy had 33 reports in the latest academic year, an increase from 20 in the previous year. However, Renner noted that five of this year's reporters were for incidents that occurred prior to military service. The Naval Academy had 22 reported incidents, compared to 11. West Point reported the same number in both years, 10 in each year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/usmilitary/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_re_us/us_military_academies_sexual_assault

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Can foreign tourists help US economy? (AP)

LAS VEGAS ? Agustina Ocampo is the kind of foreign traveler businesses salivate over.

The 22-year-old Argentine recently dropped more than $5,000 on food, hotels and clothes in Las Vegas during a trip that also took her to Seattle's Space Needle, Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo. But she doubts she will return soon.

"It is a little bit of a headache," said Ocampo, a student who waited months to find out whether her tourist visa application would be approved.

More than a decade after the federal government strengthened travel requirements after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, foreign visitors say getting a temporary visa remains a daunting and sometimes insurmountable hurdle.

The tourism industry hopes to change that with a campaign to persuade Congress to overhaul the State Department's tourist visa application process.

"After 9/11, we were all shaken and there was a real concern for security, and I still think that concern exists," said Jim Evans, a former hotel chain CEO heading a national effort to promote foreign travel to the U.S.

At the same time, he said, the U.S. needs "to be more cognizant of the importance of every single traveler."

Tourism leaders said the decline in foreign visitors over the past decade is costing American businesses and workers $859 billion in untapped revenue and at least half a million potential jobs at a time when the slowly recovering economy needs both.

While the State Department has beefed up tourist services in recent years, reducing wait times significantly for would-be visitors will likely be a challenge as officials try to balance terrorist threats and illegal immigration with tight budgets that limit hiring.

"Security is job one for us," said Edward Ramotowski, managing director of the department's visa services. "The reason we have a visa system is to enforce the immigration laws of the United States."

Anti-immigration proponents argue travel to the U.S. is already too accessible and that allowing more visitors would put the nation at greater risk.

"Everybody would like to find a way to admit as many people as possible to visit here providing that they visit and then go home," said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigration group based in Washington, D.C.

"A lot of consular officers underestimate how much people want to come and live here," she said.

Nearly 7.6 million nonimmigrant visas were issued in 2001, compared with fewer than 6.5 million in 2010. The number of visa applicants also dropped sharply after 2001. Those combined forces pushed the U.S. share of global travelers down to 12 percent last year, from 17 percent before 2001.

The proposed immigration overhaul has largely been driven by the U.S. Travel Association, the tourism industry's lobbying giant, and has been endorsed by business titans such as the National Retail Federation, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Republicans and Democrats in Congress are backing the proposed changes through six bills in the House and Senate.

Geoff Freeman, the travel association's chief operating officer, said the State Department should be required to keep visa interview wait times at a maximum of 10 days.

"Every day a person is waiting for that interview is a day a person cannot be here supporting the American economy," he said.

For most foreigners, taking a last-minute business or leisure trip to New York, Los Angeles, Miami or other U.S. travel hubs would be nearly impossible. The average wait time for a visa interview in Rio de Janeiro, for example, was 87 days, according to the State Department.

The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan agency that audits federal programs, concluded that wait times are likely much longer than reported because some department employees artificially reduce the wait times by not scheduling interviews during high-demand periods.

The vast majority of visitors enter through the country's visa waiver program, which allows travelers from 36 nations with good relationships with the U.S. to temporarily visit without a visa. Travel proponents want to add nations whose residents are unlikely to illegally move to the U.S., including Argentina, Brazil, Poland and Taiwan.

Tourists from the rest of the world, including India, China, Mexico and other nations with affluent travelers looking to use their passports, must obtain a nonimmigrant visa. The process can be expensive and time-consuming.

People living far from a visa processing center must arrange travel to the interview location, not knowing whether they will be approved. Roughly 78 percent of all tourist visas were approved so far in 2011.

Tourism proponents want the department to embrace videoconferencing as a way to interview more people quickly. The department has no plans to implement videoconferencing interviews because of safety and technological concerns, Ramotowski said.

In-person interviews weren't the norm before 9/11, when consular officials had the authority to approve travelers based on an application alone. Since then, however, screenings have become more strenuous, with fingerprint checks and facial recognition screening of photographs.

The State Department has made moves to boost its tourist services in recent years, transferring employees from underworked offices to bustling embassies and consular posts. Many visa processing centers are also operating under extended hours.

Other proposed changes include granting more multi-entry visas and charging premium fees to tourists who want a visa right away, similar to the premium passport fee charged to Americans with last-minute passport requests. The tourism industry also wants more visa processing officers and to allow travelers to submit applications in their native language.

"We can't afford to treat them in a way that gives them an impression that maybe they aren't welcome," said Rolf Lundberg, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's top lobbyist.

To help make the U.S. appear more welcoming, Congress approved last year a $200 million annual marketing campaign.

In Las Vegas, where travelers to the Strip have traditionally kept Nevada's economy afloat, tourism and government leaders are desperate to keep businesses open and create jobs in a state with the nation's highest unemployment rate.

"The industries affected by tourism are all behind it," said Republican Rep. Joe Heck of southern Nevada, who has sponsored a bill in the House that would require shorter visa interview delays, among other measures. "We need the jobs."

Ocampo, who spent her vacation shopping at upscale boutiques and visiting family in California, said she would be more eager to come back if she knew her business was wanted.

"Everyone wants to visit the Statue of Liberty and Disneyland," she said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_re_us/us_tourist_visas

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Chicago Baseball Report :: Chicago Cubs: Team Adds Former Tampa Bay Rays Pitcher Andy Sonnanstine

The Chicago Cubs signed relief pitcher Andy Sonnanstine, formerly of the Tampa Rays, to a non-guaranteed split contract yesterday. It was also clarified that last week?s signing of former Colorado Rockies pitcher, Manny Corpas, was for a one-year non-guaranteed split contract. This means both pitchers aren?t guaranteed a major league salary if they are optioned to the minor leagues in 2012.

The Cubs are taking fliers on both pitchers, hoping to reinforce their bullpen after dealing away Sean Marshall to the Cincinnati Reds for starting pitcher Travis Wood, and prospects. Sonnanstine was rarely used last year and carries with him a career ERA that is north of 5. Corpas hasn?t pitched since 2010 after having Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm.

It?s business as usual for team president Theo Epstein and the Cubs during their current overhaul of the team. With one unsexy move after the other, Epstein and GM Jed Howry continue to plug in veterans from baseball?s over-the-hill heap, while trying to reload the organization?s farm system.

Andy Sonnanstine?s career numbers (including minor league appearances):

Year	Tm	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	WHIP	SO/9	SO/BB
2004	TBD-min	5	1	0.78	17	7	57.2	36	5	10	66	0.798	10.3	6.60
2005	TBD-min	14	5	2.99	28	28	180.2	174	60	18	178	1.063	8.9	9.89
2006	TBD-min	15	8	2.67	28	28	185.2	151	55	34	153	0.996	7.4	4.50
2007	TBD-min	6	4	2.66	11	11	71.0	60	21	13	66	1.028	8.4	5.08
2007	TBD	6	10	5.85	22	22	130.2	151	85	26	97	1.355	6.7	3.73
2008	TBR	13	9	4.38	32	32	193.1	212	94	37	124	1.288	5.8	3.35
2009	TBD-min	5	3	4.40	9	9	57.1	68	28	9	36	1.343	5.7	4.00
2009	TBR	6	9	6.77	22	18	99.2	131	75	34	60	1.656	5.4	1.76
2010	TBD-min	0	0	6.75	1	1	1.1	2	1	1	4	2.250	27.0	4.00
2010	TBR	3	1	4.44	41	4	81.0	83	40	27	50	1.358	5.6	1.85
2011	TBD-min	3	6	4.82	10	9	56.0	64	30	15	35	1.411	5.6	2.33
2011	TBR	0	2	5.55	15	4	35.2	40	22	12	12	1.458	3.0	1.00
5 Seasons		28	31	5.26	132	80	540.1	617	316	136	343	1.394	5.7	2.52

The big glaring void at the moment is the Cubs? lack of a major league first baseman. Odds are that they won?t sign Carlos Pena, who despite 28 home runs and an OBP of .357 in 2011 with the Cubs, won?t be returning because he can still demand a salary in the neighborhood of $10 million.

Early trade rumors had Brewers free agent first baseman Prince Fielder possibly coming to Chicago after an offer was reportedly made by the Cubs, but the continued trend of recent moves by the Cubs front office is making that dream not a reality. Fielder has been reportedly looking for a deal similar to Albert Pujols, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels for 10 years, $250 million.

Another possibility is the San Diego Padres? young first baseman, Anthony Rizzo. With the Padres? recent trade involving Mat Latos going to the Cincinnati Reds, the Padres received prospect Yonder Alonso, a top prospect at first base for the Reds. This could make Rizzo expendable, and seeing as Cubs GM Jed Hoyer brought Rizzo to the Padres during his time there, he might be interested in bringing Rizzo to Chicago.

Whatever happens with the Cubs? first baseman search, it will be fascinating to see what transpires in 2012 for the team. With a patchwork lineup blending with current Cubs veterans and their bloated, no-trade-clause-laden contracts in 2012, will fans come out to Wrigley Field? Will the team enjoy more success than during their miserable 2011 campaign.

The plan has been put into motion by Epstein, and with every signing of a replacement-level veteran, it probably doesn?t get any easier for a portion of Cubs fans. Even though rebuilding is obviously required after the Jim Hendry era, fans have to know that rebuilding can sometimes be ugly, and results won?t be immediate.

-James Kries

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Amid bloodshed, Hamas prepares to leave Syria (AP)

RAMALLAH, West Bank ? Alarmed by bloody unrest in Syria, the Hamas militant group has pulled out many of its lower-level cadres from its Damascus headquarters and made contingency plans to move its leadership to locations across the Middle East, senior Hamas members have told The Associated Press.

The Hamas members say the group remains appreciative of Syrian leader Bashar Assad and there is no immediate intention to abandon their base in Damascus. But they confirmed that dozens of low and midlevel members have already left Syria as the security situation grows increasingly precarious.

"Most of Hamas has left Damascus. We have a plan B for leaving if things deteriorate," said a senior Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing the inner workings of the secretive group.

Hamas, an Iranian-backed Palestinian group, has been based in Syria for more than a decade. Assad has allowed Hamas, branded a terrorist group by Israel and the West, to use his territory for military training, and provided a valuable headquarters in the heart of the Arab world.

But the uprising in Syria has put Hamas in a difficult place. The U.N. estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed in violence since March, and Hamas is wary of being associated with the government crackdown.

If Hamas does pull out completely, the move could force it to change the way it operates since the leaders would become dispersed across the region and their new hosts may not give them as much freedom. Hamas' supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, for instance, is set to go to Qatar, a Gulf state with close ties to the U.S. Other leaders would go to Egypt, another American ally, while others would end up in Lebanon, Turkey or the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas leader in the group's Gaza stronghold, says Hamas "hopes that Syria will get out of its difficult internal crisis through a political solution ending further bloodshed in the country." He said there has been "no decision" to leave Damascus.

The plan is the latest sign of change in the Islamic group amid the convulsions of the Arab Spring across the Middle East the past year. The uprisings have been a mixed blessing for Hamas. On one hand, allies like Syria are in trouble. On the other hand, Islamic groups have made strong gains through peaceful elections. While Hamas leaders say they haven't abandoned their dream of destroying Israel, they also seem to be realizing that they can advance their agenda through nonviolent means.

In recent days, Mashaal said Hamas would turn focus on nonviolent protests against Israel, though he refused to renounce violence.

He also signaled that Hamas might be willing to accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Hamas has in the past endorsed the 1967 lines as the first stage toward eliminating Israel.

Hamas also last week began the process of joining the Palestine Liberation Organization as it reconciles with the rival Fatah movement. The Fatah-dominated PLO has long sought a political settlement with Israel. Joining the PLO could give Hamas a voice, and possibly veto, in future peace efforts.

Israeli officials dismiss any suggestion that Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israeli civilians in suicide bombings, rocket attacks and other violence, has changed. They cite the hardline speeches delivered at Hamas' 24th anniversary celebrations earlier this month, when speakers proudly called for "armed resistance" and the destruction of Israel.

"Unfortunately there is no evidence that Hamas has in any way moderated its extremist agenda," said government spokesman Mark Regev.

Barhoum said the group has not abandoned its ideology. Instead, he said it has merely changed its tactics as it adjusts to the times.

"There is a new environment around us," he said. "That doesn't mean Hamas is giving up its rights and its clear program as a resistance faction."

Hamas began its transformation into a political movement in 2006, when it defeated Fatah in Palestinian legislative elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

A brief power-sharing arrangement disintegrated into violence the following year, leaving Hamas in control of Gaza and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in charge of the West Bank. The sides are now holding reconciliation talks and hope to hold new elections next year.

In Gaza, Hamas on Tuesday marked the third anniversary of an Israeli military offensive in the seaside strip. The offensive, launched in response to months of intense rocket barrages, killed some 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, and caused widespread damage. Thirteen Israelis also died in the fighting.

At memorial ceremonies, speaker after speaker voiced their support for continued armed confrontation with Israel. After suffering heavy losses in the fighting, Hamas has largely maintained a cease-fire with Israel the past three years. Still, it is believed to have restocked its arsenal with more powerful weapons.

But Raed Nearat, a political science professor in the West Bank who is close to Hamas, said that behind the rhetoric, Hamas is in the midst of a significant change.

He said the revolutions across the Middle East, as well as elections that have voted heavily in favor of Islamic movements in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, have emboldened Hamas.

"The Arab Spring has made Hamas much more confident, pragmatic and open," he said. "It's much more confident now that it can lead."

This week, the prime minister of the Gaza government, Ismail Haniyeh, left the territory for the first time since the 2007 takeover on an official tour of the Muslim world. His first stop was Egypt, with planned visits to Sudan, Qatar, Bahrain, Tunisia and Turkey.

Hamas officials say the goal of the trip is to improve ties with Muslim countries swept up in the uprisings shaking the Arab world. In Egypt, Haniyeh met with the leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest winner in the first parliamentary elections since the Feb. 11 fall of Hosni Mubarak.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_changing_hamas

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Nine shot at Tennessee teenagers' party (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Nine people were shot, though no deaths were reported, after gunfire broke out at a teenagers' party at a nightclub in Chattanooga and another location nearby, Tennessee, a police official said on Sunday.

Police were called to the "teen party" in downtown Chattanooga at around midnight on Saturday following reports of multiple gun shots, the Chattanooga Police Department said in a statement.

Several revelers were struck and wounded by gunfire, including a 17-year-old boy who was hit in the pelvis and underwent surgery at a local hospital, department spokesman Sgt. Jerri Weary said.

An off-duty Chattanooga police officer working at the nightclub where the party was being held, fired at a suspect who pointed a gun at him during the shootings, Weary said. The officer was not hit during the incident.

At the same time, police also responded to a second shooting nearby, although it was not immediately clear if the incidents were related.

"Due to the number of victims and potential number of suspects, details from both incidents are still inconclusive," Weary said.

"We have not had anybody come forward (saying) that they were shot, but people fled the scene ... We are still trying to piece this together," she added.

Weary said no arrests had been made, and that it was unclear if there were one or more suspects involved.

No deaths were reported. All of the victims were taken to local hospitals. Only some were admitted, Weary said.

(Reporting by Eric Johnson; Editing by Tim Gaynor)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111225/us_nm/us_tennessee_shooting

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After Their Very Business-Like Win Over the Rams on Christmas ...

I didn't get a chance to see a lot of Saturday's game between the Steelers and Rams because of work (I plan on watching a replay of it tonight), but when it was 13-0 in the 4th quarter, all I could think about was how crappy it must have been to be a Rams fan watching that game. Even the Rams fan from the NFL commercial who painted his face and wore that fright wig must of had a difficult time sitting through that game. Not only were the Rams 2-12 going into Saturday's contest, but there was little to nothing to cheer about during that game. Even a spectacular blow-out loss would have been preferable to the way the Steelers methodically did away with St. Louis on Christmas Eve.

It made me appreciate being a Steelers fan even more, because like Maryrose has said on numerous occasions, the Steelers haven't played a game when they were out of playoff contention since December 31st, 2006. When you think about that, it's pretty remarkable.

It's almost hard to imagine watching a game with nothing really to play for. Even one of those end-of-season games where your team has everything wrapped up and is just resting its key starters for the postseason is at least a little enjoyable to watch because of the playoffs being on the horizon.

Speaking of playoffs on the horizon, the Steelers still have a shot at the AFC North crown and a bye as we head to the finish line.

Heading into this past weekend's action, the Steelers needed losses by the Ravens and Texans in-order to gain the upper hand in both the AFC North and the race to the bye in the first round of the playoffs provided they took care of business against St. Louis. Unfortunately, like the Steelers, the Ravens and Texans were playing two teams that were out of contention a long time ago. Surprisingly, however, the Texans lost to the 1-13 Colts on Thursday night, and even though the Browns couldn't knock off the Ravens on Saturday, at least the Steelers inched a little closer to a possible bye.

If you ask me, the prospects for a bye are looking a lot better today.

The Steelers may not control all of their playoff destiny, but the Cincinnati Bengals certainly do after they defeated the Cardinals on Saturday and the Jets lost at "home" to the Giants.

Before this past weekend, the Bengals and Jets had identical 8-6 records, but the Jets held the tiebreaker over Cincy. Now, at 9-6, Cincinnati only needs to defeat Baltimore at home in-order to clinch the final playoff spot in the AFC.

We'll get to see who is a more desperate football team on Sunday: A Bengals team with their playoff lives on the line or a Ravens team with a chance to earn their first division title since 2006 and the bye that would accompany it. One might automatically assume that the Bengals would be the more desperate of the two, but the Ravens are only 3-4 on the road this year and would fall from the 2nd seed, a bye and at least one home playoff game all the way down to the 5th spot and road games throughout the postseason if they can't win their division. Also, Baltimore went 8-0 at home this year and may have the best homefield advantage in the AFC right now. Besides that, Ray Lewis and Company are a prideful bunch, and the last thing they'd want to see happen is the Steelers celebrating another AFC North crown after losing to the Ravens twice this year.

And I wouldn't put it past the Bengals to choke. The last time the Bengals were in this exact situation, it was that same day the Steelers played their last game out of playoff contention--December 31st, 2006--and Pittsburgh knocked off the Bengals in overtime, and Cincinnatie missed the playoffs.

If the Bengals were to win, it would only help the Steelers if they won their last game in Cleveland.

I'm not too worried about that part of the equation. I know a lot of Steelers fans are going to be concerned with the Browns wanting to cripple Pittsburgh's Super Bowl chances, but the fans were worried about the exact same thing last year when Pittsburgh had to travel to Cleveland for the final week with a division title and bye on the line. But the Browns must have been more interested in their offseason plans than sabotaging the Steelers season, because Pittsburgh made short work of the Brownies, 41-9.

I see the same thing happening this year. Maybe not a 41-9 win (still a question as to whether or not Ben Roethlisberger will play in the final week), but I don't see this veteran Super Bowl team letting the Browns stand in the way of them and a possible better playoff seed.

My brother informed me last night that the NFL moved the Steelers/Browns game to 4:15. I was hoping the Bengals/Ravens game was played at 1pm so Mike Tomlin could know his team's fate before the game and act accordingly, but he won't get that luxury since that game will also be played at 4:15.

In any event, I'd say the Steelers are still very much in the mix for a bye as we head to the regular season finale

Source: http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2011/12/26/2661642/after-their-very-business-like-win-over-the-rams-on-christmas-even

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Anna factor or Muslim reservation? What will weigh more in UP elections? NDTV India 9 pm tonight.

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Longtime Langston University president Ernest Holloway dies

Holloway, who was being treated for stomach cancer in Texas, died Saturday afternoon, said Currie Ballard, former university historian in residence. He was 81.

Holloway worked for 40 years of service to Langston, a historically black university, where he rose from assistant registrar to become the 14th president in 1979.

Before becoming president, Holloway had served as the school's registrar, a professor, vice president of administration and dean of student affairs. Holloway also was a student at Langston.

Holloway was inducted into the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2002 he was presented with the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund Education Leadership Award, which recognized Holloway as a leader in education.

Before he took over as president, the university had five presidents in less than 10 years and during that time there was talk of closing the school. Holloway brought stability to Lang-ston, which was created in 1897 as the Colored Agricultural and Normal University. It was the first and only state college to be designated by race.

"If he had stumbled as president of Langston, there wouldn't be Lang-ston as we know it," Ballard said.

"He's the only person I've ever known in a high position of authority to have an open-door policy. If you were an alumnus, he had the same policy at his home," he said.

"He was just an extraordinary personality and leader," former Gov. David Walters said Saturday. "I really enjoyed working with him while I was in office."

Walters, who served as governor from 1991-95, said he enjoyed Holloway's good-natured lobbying "for all things Langston."

Walters recalled that during one of the commencement speeches he gave at Langston it seemed especially warm inside.

"I couldn't help but think Ernest may have actually turned the heat up in the gymnasium which he was lobbying to try to get us to air condition," Walters said. "We were all sweating so profusely. We found a way to get the gymnasium air-conditioned shortly thereafter. He kidded about the heat, of course, but made his point."

Holloway also worked to improve Oklahoma 33 between Guthrie and Coyle, including a span that runs north of Langston University, which is named the Dr. Ernest L. Holloway Highway.

Holloway and others complained that the former two-lane highway from Guthrie to Coyle was unsafe, putting Langston students and their families at risk. Walters said work on getting money for the improvements started under his administration; funding came during the administration of his successor, Frank Keating.

"That created a new front door for Langston University," Walters said. "It changed the complexion of the campus and made it a lot safer place for the kids to get back and forth to. That was a big deal for Ernest to finally get that done."

Rep. Mike Shelton, a 1996 graduate of Langston, worked for a year in Holloway's office while a student.

"He was the biggest advocate Langston had," said Shelton, D-Oklahoma City. "He truly bled orange and blue. He understands the time to fight and he understands the time for compromise and he would never put Langton second to any university in the state of Oklahoma."

Holloway is survived by sons Ernest Holloway Jr., of Beaumont, Texas, Norman Holloway, of Kansas City, Mo., and Reginald Holloway, of Richmond, Texas, as well as several grandchildren.

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20111225_11_A16_CUTLIN724134&rss_lnk=1

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'Anonymous' hackers target US security think tank

LONDON (AP) ? The loose-knit hacking movement "Anonymous" claimed Sunday to have stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to clients of U.S.-based security think tank Stratfor. One hacker said the goal was to pilfer funds from individuals' accounts to give away as Christmas donations, and some victims confirmed unauthorized transactions linked to their credit cards.

Anonymous boasted of stealing Stratfor's confidential client list, which includes entities ranging from Apple to the U.S. Air Force to the Miami Police Department, and mining it for more than 4,000 credit card numbers, passwords and home addresses.

"Not so private and secret anymore?" the group taunted in a message on Twitter, promising that the attack on Stratfor was just the beginning of a Christmas-inspired assault on a long list of targets.

Anonymous said the client list it posted was a small slice of the 200 gigabytes worth of plunder it stole from Stratfor and promised more leaks. It said it was able to get the credit details in part because Stratfor didn't bother encrypting them ? an easy-to-avoid blunder which, if true, would be a major embarrassment for any security-related company.

Austin, Texas-based Stratfor provides political, economic and military analysis to help clients reduce risk, according to a description on its YouTube page. It charges subscribers for its reports and analysis, delivered through the web, emails and videos.

Lt. Col. John Dorrian, public affairs officer for the Air Force, said that "for obvious reasons" the Air Force doesn't discuss specific vulnerabilities, threats or responses to them.

"The Air Force will continue to monitor the situation and, as always, take appropriate action as necessary to protect Air Force networks and information," he said in an email.

Miami Police Department spokesman Sgt. Freddie Cruz Jr. said that he could not confirm that the agency was a client of Stratfor, and he said he had not received any information about a security breach involving the police department.

It soon became clear that proprietary information about the companies and government agencies that subscribe to Stratfor's newsletters did not appear to be at any significant risk, and that the main threat was posed to individual employees.

Hours after publishing what it claimed was Stratfor's client list, Anonymous tweeted a link to encrypted files online with the names, addresses and account details.

"Not as many as you expected? Worry not, fellow pirates and robin hoods. These are just the "A''s," read a message posted online that encouraged readers to download a file of the hacked information.

It also linked to images online that it suggested were receipts for charitable donations made by the group manipulating the credit card data it stole.

"Thank you! Defense Intelligence Agency," read the text above one image that appeared to show a transaction summary indicating that an agency employee's information was used to donate $250 to a non-profit.

One receipt ? to the American Red Cross ? had Allen Barr's name on it.

Barr, of Austin, Texas, recently retired from the Texas Department of Banking and said he discovered last Friday that a total of $700 had been spent from his account. Barr, who has spent more than a decade dealing with cybercrime at banks, said five transactions were made in total.

"It was all charities, the Red Cross, CARE, Save the Children. So when the credit card company called my wife she wasn't sure whether I was just donating," said Barr, who wasn't aware until a reporter with the AP called that his information had been compromised when Stratfor's computers were hacked.

"It made me feel terrible. It made my wife feel terrible. We had to close the account."

Stratfor said in an email to members that it had suspended its servers and email after learning that its website had been hacked.

"We have reason to believe that the names of our corporate subscribers have been posted on other web sites," said the email, passed on to The Associated Press by subscribers. "We are diligently investigating the extent to which subscriber information may have been obtained."

The email, signed by Stratfor Chief Executive George Friedman, said the company is "working closely with law enforcement to identify who is behind the breach."

"Stratfor's relationship with its members and, in particular, the confidentiality of their subscriber information, are very important to Stratfor and me," Friedman wrote.

Repeated calls to Stratfor went unanswered Sunday and an answering machine thanked callers for contacting the "No. 1 source for global intelligence." Stratfor's website was down, with a banner saying "site is currently undergoing maintenance."

Wishing everyone a "Merry LulzXMas" ? a nod to its spinoff hacking group Lulz Security ? Anonymous also posted a link on Twitter to a site containing the email, phone number and credit number of a U.S. Homeland Security employee.

The employee, Cody Sultenfuss, said he had no warning before his details were posted.

"They took money I did not have," he told the AP in a series of emails, which did not specify the amount taken. "I think 'Why me?' I am not rich."

One member of the hacking group, who uses the handle AnonymousAbu on Twitter, claimed that more than 90,000 credit cards from law enforcement, the intelligence community and journalists ? "corporate/exec accounts of people like Fox" news ? had been hacked and used to "steal a million dollars" and make donations.

It was impossible to verify where credit card details were used. Fox News was not on the excerpted list of Stratfor members posted online, but other media organizations including MSNBC and Al-Jazeera English appeared in the file.

Anonymous warned it has "enough targets lined up to extend the fun fun fun of LulzXmas through the entire next week."

The group has previously claimed responsibility for attacks on companies such as Visa, MasterCard and PayPal, as well as others in the music industry and the Church of Scientology.

____________

Associated Press writers Jennifer Kway in Miami, Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston, Texas and Daniel Wagner in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.

_____________

Cassandra Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-25-EU-Hacker-Christmas/id-bdcc2e1bf2f340299351c06ecc9f1b74

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China to try another dissident for "subversive" online essays (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China will try a veteran dissident, Chen Xi, on charges of "inciting subversion" for pro-democracy essays he published online, his wife said on Sunday, days after another dissident was jailed for nine years on similar charges.

Chen, a human rights campaigner in Guiyang city in Guizhou, southwest China, was arrested last month and will be tried for "inciting subversion of state power," a charge often used against critics of the ruling Communist Party, said his wife Zhang Qunxuan.

"They accused him because of 36 essays he published at home and overseas," Zhang told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"I don't know exactly what the charges are, because the court and prosecutors wouldn't show me the indictment. They said there are rules against showing that to family members," she said, adding that one of Chen's lawyers told her about the subversion accusations.

Chen, 57, is sure to maintain that he is innocent, but is certain to be found guilty and jailed by China's party-controlled judiciary, Zhang said.

"He's definitely going to fight the charges," she said, citing her discussions with his defense lawyers. She was told of the trial date on Friday, she added.

"But it looks certain that he'll be convicted. That's what courts always decide."

Chen was arrested last month after being released from a week-long detention triggered by his campaigning for independent candidates seeking to win places on China's party-controlled People's Congress assemblies, said Zhang.

Police confiscated his computer, she added.

"Then on November 29, the police called him and said he could come and get his computer," she said. "Instead, they lured him to the public security bureau and arrested him."

Calls to the Guiyang People's Intermediate Court were not answered on Sunday, a rest day in China,. Another human rights activist, Lu Yongxiang, told Reuters he also knew of the trial on Monday through Chen Xi's friends and supporters.

The trial will come after a court in Sichuan province, also in southwest China, convicted rights advocate Chen Wei and sentenced him to nine years in jail after a brief trial on Friday -- the stiffest punishment in a crackdown on dissent this year.

Chen in a common family name in China, and the two men are not related.

Chen Wei's wife, Wang Xiaoyan, and lawyers said he was jailed as punishment for essays that he had published on overseas Chinese websites.

China uses a "firewall" of Internet filters and blocks to prevent citizens from reading websites abroad that are deemed to be politically unacceptable or socially unsound.

Chen Wei's sentence was the third-longest term ever handed down for inciting subversion after Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo, who has been serving an 11-year sentence since 2009, and Liu Xianbin, who was jailed for 10 years in March this year.

Earlier this year, Chinese police held hundreds of dissidents, rights activists and protest organizers in a crackdown on dissent this year, when the ruling Communist Party sought to prevent potential protests inspired by anti-authoritarian uprisings across the Arab world.

Many of those detained have been released but remain under police watch. But officials appeared determined to "make an example" of Chen, said Huang Qi, a human rights advocate in Chen's home Sichuan province and a long-time friend of his.

Chen Xi, who faces trial on Monday, is a former soldier and factory worker who was jailed for three years for his support for the 1989 pro-democracy protests across China that ended after troops crushed demonstrations, said his wife.

He was again jailed in 1996, but since his release in 2005 has been an organizer of a citizens' human rights forum in Guiyang.

(Editing by Yoko Nishikawa)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111225/wl_nm/us_china_dissident_trial

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RIM now faces legal challenge on "BBM" trademark (Reuters)

TORONTO (Reuters) ? Research In Motion, still smarting over having to change the name of its yet-to-come operating system, faces a similar trademark challenge to its popular instant-messaging service BlackBerry Messenger.

The service, which allows BlackBerry users to send each other text and multimedia files and see when they are delivered and read, is widely known and even promoted by RIM via the shorthand BBM.

That has proven an encumbrance to BBM Canada, which measures radio and television audience data and expects its day in a Federal Court against RIM by February.

The company's chief executive, Jim MacLeod, said he wants RIM to stop advertising the BBM moniker but would also consider changing his much smaller company's name, for a price.

"We have to be practical, they operate worldwide, we don't. But we're not prepared to just walk from our name," MacLeod said.

RIM seems equally determined to keep using the BBM name and not to pay MacLeod's company anything.

"We believe that BBM Canada is attempting to obtain trademark protection for the BBM acronym that is well beyond the narrow range of the services it provides and well beyond the scope of rights afforded by Canadian trademark law," it said in an emailed statement.

RIM has launched its BBM Music song-sharing service in recent months, and heavily promoted third-party apps that tie into its instant messaging product, which boasts some 50 million active users.

BBM Canada was established in 1944 as the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement. It changed its name to BBM in the 1960s and to BBM Canada in the early 1990s, MacLeod said. The company, owned by a collection of broadcasters and advertisers, has annual revenue of around $50 million. RIM's sales were more than $5 billion last quarter.

"I'm sure to a really big company this looks like relatively small numbers, but to us it's a big deal," said MacLeod. BBM Canada employs around 650 people, compared with RIM's roughly 17,000.

Earlier this month RIM dumped the "BBX" name for its new operating system after being served with an injunction in a trademark fight with U.S.-based Basis International. RIM has renamed the platform as BlackBerry 10.

Industry Canada denied RIM's 2009 request to register the BBM trademark, saying the name was already in use, but has granted RIM until January 5 to respond.

BBM Canada launched its legal action late last year.

MacLeod said his company contacted RIM in July, soon after RIM launched a large-scale BBM advertising campaign. In response to BBM Canada's cease-and-desist letter RIM said there couldn't possibly be any confusion between the two names - a similar tactic was later used in the BBX spat.

RIM repeated that line of argument in Friday's statement.

"The services associated with RIM's BBM offering clearly do not overlap with BBM Canada's services and the two marks are therefore eligible to co-exist under Canadian trademark law. The two companies are in different industries and have never been competitors in any area."

MacLeod sought a meeting to discuss the issue with RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie several months ago, but said he has received no response.

McLeod pointed out that RIM had even taken legal action of its own against software startup Kik Interactive over its instant messaging service that includes claims of trademark infringement.

"It's a trademark they don't even own, it's ours," MacLeod said.

(Reporting by Alastair Sharp; editing by Rob Wilson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111223/wr_nm/us_rim_bbm

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Iraq PM tells Kurds to hand over Sunni VP

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden look at each other as they participate in a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011, marking the return of the United States Forces-Iraq Colors and the end of the war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden look at each other as they participate in a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011, marking the return of the United States Forces-Iraq Colors and the end of the war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, file photo, Iraq's vice President Tariq al-Hashemi speaks to reporters during a news conference in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq's Shiite-led government has issued an arrest warrant Monday Dec. 19, 2011, for Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, the country's highest ranking Sunni official, on alleged terrorism charges. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009, file photo, Iraq's vice President Tariq al-Hashemi speaks during a news conference in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq's Shiite-led government issued an arrest warrant Monday Dec. 19, 2011, for Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, the country's highest ranking Sunni official, on alleged terrorism charges. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim, File)

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraq's Shiite prime minister told Kurdish authorities Wednesday to hand over the Sunni vice president, who fled to the semiautonomous region to escape an arrest warrant on charges he ran hit squads targeting government officials.

Then a Kurdish presidential spokesman ruled out handing Tariq al-Hashemi over to Baghdad, turning up the heat under what has become the worst Iraqi political crisis in years.

The charges, leveled a day after the last American troops left Iraq, have opened up a new round of the Shiite-Sunni sectarian tensions of the type that pushed the country to the brink of civil war just a few years ago.

Al-Hashemi, the country's highest ranking Sunni political figure, said Tuesday the allegations by his longtime rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, are fabricated and politically motivated. He accused al-Maliki of concentrating power in his hands and torpedoing national reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites.

"I do not allow myself and others to bargain over Iraqi blood," al-Maliki said in his first public comments on the warrant. He said Iraq is a unified county, and the Kurdish authorities should hand over al-Hashemi to the Iraqi justice system. "If they will not hand him over or let him flee or escape, this will lead to problems," the premier said.

There has been speculation that al-Hashemi may try to flee the country to Turkey, which shares a border with the northern Kurdish region.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu offered his country's help in resolving the Iraqi political crisis, but he was cool to the idea of hosting al-Hashemi. "As an Iraqi statesman it would be more correct for him to remain in Iraq," he said.

The Sunni minority dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein until he was ousted by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The Shiites have held power ever since, and many Sunnis feel the Shiite-led government is determined to keep the them from ever regaining positions of power.

The charges raised suspicions that al-Maliki ordered the arrest of al-Hashemi as part of a campaign to consolidate his hold on power out of fear that Sunnis inside and outside of Iraq are plotting against him. The conflict has sharpened the divisions in what is shaping up to be one of the most serious political confrontations in Iraq in years.

Al-Hashemi denied charges he paid his bodyguards to kill government officials during the heyday of Iraq's Sunni insurgency. Most of the accusations date back to the height of the internal war in 2006 and 2007, when neighbors turned on neighbors and whole sections of Baghdad were expunged of one Muslim sect or the other.

Al-Hashemi fled to the Kurdish region on Sunday, before the arrest warrant was announced and before purported confessions from his bodyguards aired on Iraqi television Monday evening. On Sunday he was barred from leaving the country.

Al-Maliki effectively runs the Interior Ministry, where the charges originated. Al-Hashemi's Sunni-backed party, Iraqiya, which shares power in al-Maliki's government, has repeatedly accused the prime minister of hoarding power and last weekend boycotted parliament because al-Maliki refused to give up control over key posts such as the defense and interior ministries. The prime minister has not appointed permanent ministers of defense or interior since he came to office a year ago.

Al-Hashemi has taken refuge in the Kurdish region, which is part of Iraq but has its own security forces. The Iraqi army and national police do not operate there.

As long as the Kurdish officials allow him to stay there, he is effectively immune from prosecution in Baghdad. The Kurds, who have been trying to work out a solution to the crisis, are also wary of al-Maliki's perceived authoritarian streak. But they have also clashed with Sunni politicians from Iraqiya over the future of disputed areas in northern Iraq claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurds.

For now at least, the Kurds appear to be siding with al-Hashemi in the increasing cycle of accusations and counter-accusations that has become a daily spectacle in Iraq.

Fuad Hussain, a spokesman for Massoud Barzani, the president of the three provinces that make up the Kurdish region, said al-Hashemi is a guest of the president, and handing him over to Baghdad is "not possible."

The charges have thrown Iraq into crisis just days after the last U.S. troops left the country and ended a nearly nine-year war.

Vice President Joe Biden called both al-Maliki and Osama al-Nujaifi, the speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, late Tuesday. He stressed to al-Maliki the "urgent need" for him to meet with leaders of other political blocs to help resolve the crisis.

Al-Maliki is also pushing for a vote of no confidence against the Sunni Deputy Prime Minister, Saleh al-Mutlaq, also a member of Iraqiya.

Al-Hashemi addressed the charges against him at a news conference in the northern city of Irbil on Tuesday. He said the case was "fabricated" to embarrass him and Iraqiya.

When asked whether al-Hashemi could get a fair trial in Iraq considering that the confessions have already aired on television, al-Maliki defended the treatment of the vice president.

"We gave the dictator Saddam a fair trial, and we will guarantee a fair trial for al-Hashemi," he said.

Al-Maliki also threatened to appoint new Cabinet ministers if the ministers from Iraqiya do not attend Cabinet sessions. He said that Iraqiya would be able to keep those positions and nominate new people from within their ranks.

Iraqiya has not indicated whether it will pull out of the government, but al-Maliki seemed prepared for that eventuality. He did not address Iraqiya directly, but during his opening remarks raised the possibility of having a simple majority government.

Now Iraq has a unity government that includes all the major factions, including Iraqiya and al-Maliki's State of Law alliance. The unwieldy government makes it difficult to make decisions, but supporters say it lessens the risk of violence that could result if large segments of the population are cut out of power.

___

Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin and Rebecca Santana in Baghdad and Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-21-ML-Iraq/id-d5d2b8ee5e4147e180497c5a56795a82

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