Three-way talks seek to pull Syria back from brink

DUBLIN: Surprise talks Thursday between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and the UN peace envoy to Syria failed to reach any "sensational decisions" on ending the conflict.

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said all three agreed the situation was "very, very, very bad" in Syria during the 40-minute meeting in Dublin on the sidelines of an international gathering, but "no sensational decisions" were reached.

Amid fears the 21-month conflict may take a gruesome new turn and see the Syrian regime unleash chemical weapons, the three discussed "how we can work out hopefully a process that will get Syria back from the brink," Brahimi said.

The United States has been calling on Russia for some time to use its leverage with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to try to open the way towards a political transition, although Washington has insisted the long-time leader will have to go.

US officials had hoped Lavrov was signalling a new willingness by Moscow, a staunch Damascus ally, to probe ways to bring more pressure to bear on Assad to step down by accepting Brahimi's invitation to the talks.

Brahimi told reporters afterwards that the three agreed to put together a peace process that will be based on the Geneva accord, adopted under the previous joint UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

Moscow initially signed onto the six-point plan crafted by Annan, but then balked in the face of imposing punitive UN action if Syria refused to implement it.

Brahimi vowed "to continue to discuss this with other countries present in Geneva, and also all the countries as I've said with interest or influence in Syria. We haven't taken any sensational decisions".

"But I think we have agreed that the situation is bad and we have agreed that we must continue to work together to see how we can find creative ways of bringing this problem under control and hopefully starting to solve it," he said.

Clinton told reporters shortly before the talks: "We have been trying hard to work with Russia to stop the bloodshed in Syria and start a political transition toward a post-Assad Syrian future."

"And we very much support what Lakhdar Brahimi is trying to do. Events on the ground are accelerating and we see that in many different ways," she added.

The three-way talks took place on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

They come amid growing concern the Assad regime may be preparing to use chemical weapons as it battles opposition rebels seeking to oust the long-time leader.

Clinton on Wednesday renewed Washington's vow to find ways to provide fresh support for the Syrian opposition, which has come together in a new body known as the Syrian National Coalition.

Washington has so far provided humanitarian aid to the rebels, but refused to arm the opposition amid fears of pouring weapons into an already volatile region, where anti-US militant groups are springing up.

Clinton also warned Damascus again that any use of chemical weapons against rebel forces was a clear red line that must not be crossed.

"Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria," she told reporters after a NATO meeting.

But she again pressed the Assad regime to make "the decision to participate in a political transition, ending the violence against its own people."

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Monday for talks which focused on their resolving sharp differences over the conflict.

Last month, Erdogan said Russia held the key to the Syrian conflict, and that if Moscow took a "positive" stance in the UN Security Council it could push another key Damascus ally, Iran, to review its policies.

The Dublin talks come ahead of a key meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People in Marrakesh next week, which Clinton will attend.

It is likely the United States will move towards recognising the Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people at the meeting, after France last month became the first Western nation to do so.

-AFP/ac

Read More..

NH8 stretch on Delhi-Gurgaon border is India’s deadliest road

NEW DELHI: Perhaps, the deadliest stretch in the country falls on the Delhi-Gurgaon border on NH8. Data available with TOI shows that 260 lives were lost on this 40-km stretch last year.

While the Gurgaon section killed 160 people in 2011, another 100 died in road crashes on Kapdiwas border and Daruhera stretch. The high rate of fatalities has exposed how safety of road users has been the lowest priority in comparison to sustained focus on adding lanes to existing highways to ramp up their capacity. In the past 10 months, the Gurgaon portion of the highway has recorded 121 deaths. All stretches, barring the Manesar-Kapdiwas stretch in Gurgaon, recorded high number of fatalities this year in comparison to 2011.

While the 27.7km Delhi-Gurgaon border-Kherki Dhaula stretch has been developed as an expressway, the rest is being expanded to six lanes. Road safety experts have been raising alarm that the safety apparatus have been missing on almost all highway stretches, which are under expansion programme and in the case of already constructed ones there are utter lack of adequate facilities for safe passage of pedestrians and movement of local traffic.

Taking note of the trend, the highways ministry has identified Rajeev Chowk and Hero Honda crossings in Gurgaon as major black spots.

It has also worked out a strategy to rectify the engineering faults, including placing proper signage, to make them safer.

Read More..

Celebrations planned as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — Legal marijuana possession becomes a reality under Washington state law on Thursday, and some people planned to celebrate the new law by breaking it.

Voters in Washington and Colorado last month made those the first states to decriminalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana. Washington's law takes effect Thursday and allows adults to have up to an ounce of pot — but it bans public use of marijuana, which is punishable by a fine, just like drinking in public.

Nevertheless, some people planned to gather at 12:01 a.m. PST Thursday to smoke in public beneath Seattle's Space Needle. Others planned a midnight party outside the Seattle headquarters of Hempfest, the 21-year-old festival that attracts tens of thousands of pot fans every summer.

"This is a big day because all our lives we've been living under the iron curtain of prohibition," said Hempfest director Vivian McPeak. "The whole world sees that prohibition just took a body blow."

In another sweeping change for Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday signed into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage. The state joins several others that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.

That law also takes effect Thursday, when gay and lesbian couples can start picking up their wedding certificates and licenses at county auditors' offices. Those offices in King County, the state's largest and home to Seattle, and Thurston County, home to the state capital of Olympia, planned to open the earliest, at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, to start issuing marriage licenses. Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that weddings can take place is Sunday.

The Seattle Police Department provided this public marijuana use enforcement guidance to its officers via email Wednesday night: "Until further notice, officers shall not take any enforcement action — other than to issue a verbal warning — for a violation of Initiative 502."

Thanks to a 2003 law, marijuana enforcement remains the department's lowest priority. Even before I-502 passed on Nov. 6, police rarely busted people at Hempfest, despite widespread pot use, and the city attorney here doesn't prosecute people for having small amounts of marijuana.

Officers will be advising people to take their weed inside, police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee wrote on the SPD Blotter. "The police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a 'Lord of the Rings' marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to."

Washington's new law decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce for those over 21, but for now selling marijuana remains illegal. I-502 gives the state a year to come up with a system of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores, with the marijuana taxed 25 percent at each stage. Analysts have estimated that a legal pot market could bring Washington hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new tax revenue for schools, health care and basic government functions.

But marijuana remains illegal under federal law. That means federal agents can still arrest people for it, and it's banned from federal properties, including military bases and national parks.

The Justice Department has not said whether it will sue to try to block the regulatory schemes in Washington and Colorado from taking effect.

"The department's responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," said a statement issued Wednesday by the Seattle U.S. attorney's office. "Neither states nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress" — a non-issue, since the measures passed in Washington and Colorado don't "nullify" federal law, which federal agents remain free to enforce.

The legal question is whether the establishment of a regulated marijuana market would "frustrate the purpose" of the federal pot prohibition, and many constitutional law scholars say it very likely would.

That leaves the political question of whether the administration wants to try to block the regulatory system, even though it would remain legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

Colorado's measure, as far as decriminalizing possession goes, is set to take effect by Jan. 5. That state's regulatory scheme is due to be up and running by October 2013.

___(equals)

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

Read More..

NYC Subway Pusher Charged With Murder

A New York City man was charged today with murder for shoving another man onto subway tracks where he was struck and killed by an oncoming train.

Naeem Davis, 30, was charged after being questioned by police since Tuesday about the death of Ki-Suck Han, 58, of Queens, N.Y.

The charges include murder second degree: intentional, as well as murder second degree: depraved indifference.

He is charged with murdering Han "with depraved indifference" not because he intended to kill Han, but because his lack of regard for Han's life resulted in the death. Two sources involved in Davis' arrest and charging say there is a question whether he intended to kill Han or whether his death was an unintended consequence of an altercation.

NYC Man Pushed on Subway Tracks, Killed by Train Watch Video

Bystanders Pull Mom, Son From Subway Tracks Watch Video

Davis admitted to police while explaining the incident that he shoved Han in a way that caused him to fall onto the subway tracks, according to multiple sources involved with the investigation.

Han struggled to pull himself up from the shoulder-high track bed and back onto the platform at the 49th Street and Seventh Avenue station around 12:30 p.m. on Monday, but was hit and killed by a Q train when it barrelled into the station.

Davis could be heard arguing with Han before the fatal shove, according to surveillance video from the station. Davis told police that Han was harassing him and would not leave him alone, so he pushed Han.

Detectives are investigating whether the altercation began at the subway station turnstile and whether Han had jumped that turnstile and bumped Davis.

Police are also awaiting toxicology results on Han, who was found with an empty pint bottle of vodka on him when he died, according to sources.

Davis has no currently known mental illness history. He has prior arrests for minor charges, although the search of his arrest record is not complete. Those arrests in New York City appear to be peddler related.

He is expected to be arraigned this evening in New York.

Han death shocked New York City and the moment was frozen in the city's psyche by a photograph that captured Han with his arms and head above the platform staring at the oncoming train.

A doctor who was standing nearby attempted to perform CPR on Han, but he was pronounced dead at Roosevelt Hospital shortly after the accident.

Read More..

Clashes erupt in Egypt despite proposal to end crisis

CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamists fought protesters outside the Egyptian president's palace on Wednesday, while inside the building his deputy proposed a way to end a crisis over a draft constitution that has split the most populous Arab nation.

Stones and petrol bombs flew between opposition protesters and supporters of President Mohamed Mursi, and the Interior Ministry said 32 people had been arrested and three police vehicles destroyed.

Two Islamists were hit in the legs by what their friends said were bullets fired during clashes in streets around the compound in northern Cairo. One of them was bleeding heavily. And a leftist group said Islamists had cut off the ear of one of its members.

Medical sources said 33 people had been wounded, but despite reports of fatalities, the Health Ministry said there had been no deaths.

Riot police were deployed between the two sides in Cairo to try to stop confrontations that flared after dark despite an attempt by Vice President Mahmoud Mekky to ease the crisis.

Mekky said amendments to disputed articles in the draft constitution could be agreed with the opposition. A written agreement could then be submitted to the next parliament, to be elected after a referendum on the constitution on December 15.

"There must be consensus," he told a news conference, saying opposition demands had to be respected to reach a solution.

Prime Minister Hisham Kandil called for calm to "give the opportunity" for efforts underway to start a national dialogue.

Facing the gravest crisis of his six-month-old tenure, Mursi has shown no sign of buckling to the protests, confident that Islamists can win the referendum and a parliamentary election to follow.

Many Egyptians yearn for an end to political upheaval that began with the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 and which has hurt the economy as investors and tourists have fled.

Protests spread to other cities, and offices of the Brotherhood's political party in Ismailia and Suez were torched.

Egypt's opposition coalition blamed Mursi for the violence and said it was ready for dialogue if the Islamist leader scrapped a decree he issued on November 22 that gave him wide powers and shielded his decisions from judicial review.

DIALOGUE

"We hold President Mursi and his government completely responsible for the violence happening in Egypt today," opposition coordinator Mohamed ElBaradei told a news conference.

"We are ready for dialogue if the constitutional decree is cancelled ... and the referendum on this constitution is postponed," he said of the document written by an Islamist-led assembly that the opposition says ignores its concerns.

But liberals, leftists, Christians, ex-Mubarak followers and others opposed to Mursi have yet to generate a mass movement or a grassroots base to challenge the Brotherhood, which has come out on top in two elections since Mubarak's overthrow.

"Today what is happening in the Egyptian street, polarisation and division, is something that could and is actually drawing us to violence and could draw us to something worse," said ElBaradei, the former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Opposition leaders have previously urged Mursi to retract the November 22 decree, defer the referendum and agree to revise the constitution, but have not echoed calls from street protesters for his overthrow and the "downfall of the regime".

Mursi has said his decree was needed to prevent courts still full of judges appointed by ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak from derailing a constitution vital for Egypt's political transition.

Earlier on Wednesday Islamist supporters of Mursi tore down tents erected outside the presidential palace by leftist foes who had begun a sit-in there.

"They hit us and destroyed our tents. Are you happy, Mursi? Aren't we Egyptians too?" asked protester Haitham Ahmed.

Mohamed Mohy, a pro-Mursi demonstrator who was filming the scene, said: "We are here to support our president and his decisions and save our country from traitors and agents."

Mekky said street mobilisation by both sides posed a "real danger" to Egypt. "If we do not put a stop to this phenomenon right away ... where are we headed? We must calm down."

CALLS FOR RESTRAINT

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighed into Egypt's political debate, saying dialogue was urgently needed on the new constitution, which should "respect the rights of all citizens".

Clinton and Mursi worked together last month to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.

Washington is worried about rising Islamist power in Egypt, a staunch U.S. security partner under Mubarak, who preserved the U.S.-brokered peace treaty Cairo signed with Israel in 1979.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague called for restraint on all sides. He said Egypt's authorities had to make progress on the transition in an "inclusive manner" and urged dialogue.

The Muslim Brotherhood had summoned supporters to an open-ended demonstration at the presidential palace, a day after about 10,000 opposition protesters had encircled it for what organizers dubbed a "last warning" to Mursi.

State institutions, with the partial exception of the judiciary, have mostly fallen in behind Mursi.

The army, the muscle behind all previous Egyptian presidents in the republic's six-decade history, has gone back to barracks, having apparently lost its appetite to intervene in politics.

In August Mursi sacked Mubarak-era army commander and defense minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and removed the sweeping powers that the military council, which took over after Mubarak fell, had grabbed two months earlier.

Investors have seized on hopes that Egypt's turbulent transition, which has buffeted the economy for two years, may soon head for calmer waters, sending stocks 1.6 percent higher after a 3.5 percent rally on Tuesday.

Egypt has turned to the IMF for a $4.8 billion loan after the depletion of its foreign currency reserves. The government said on Wednesday the process was on track and its request would go to the IMF board as expected.

The board is due to review the facility on December 19.

Elijah Zarwan, a fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that if Egypt was to find a compromise solution to its crisis, it would not be through slogans and blows.

"It will be through quiet negotiation, not through dueling press conferences, street brawls, or civil strife," he said.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Tamim Elyan; Writing by Alistair Lyon and Edmund Blair; Editing by Andrew Roche and Will Waterman)

Read More..

Palestinian fury as Israel advances E1 settlement plan

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinians on Wednesday reacted furiously after a controversial Israeli settlement plan passed a first hurdle, warning that the project would end all hopes for peace.

Israel's plan for construction in a strip of West Bank land outside Jerusalem called E1 has sparked a major diplomatic backlash, with experts saying it could wipe out hopes for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Prague ahead of a trip to Berlin the diplomatic pressure intensified with the European Union summoning Israel's ambassador over the plan.

Since Monday, Britain, France, Spain, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Egypt, Italy, Ireland and Finland have all taken similar steps in an unprecedented expression of concern over the E1 project, which experts say would isolate Arab east Jerusalem and cut the West Bank in two.

"If Israel decides to start building in E1 and approves all the settlements in it, we consider it to be an Israeli decision to end the peace process and the two-state solution, which ends any chance of talking about peace in the future," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.

His remarks came shortly after Israel's two main radio stations said a defence ministry planning committee had given its green light for the E1 plan to be deposited for public approval, pushing it forward in the planning process.

In Rome the secretary-general of the foreign ministry, Michele Valensine, told ambassador Naor Gilon the settlement plan and Israel's decision to withhold transferring millions of dollars in tax duties it levies from the Palestinians have "negative consequences for the peace process".

Observers say Israeli plans to build in E1 and connect the Maaleh Adumim settlement with east Jerusalem would effectively prevent the future establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state, dooming the two-state solution.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the plan was "a red line that cannot be tolerated" and warned he would take all the legal means available to prevent such a "dangerous" decision.

"We went to all international parties to prevent this settlement decision, and if it goes ahead we will resort to all legitimate and legal methods," he said.

News of Israel's intention to push ahead with the E1 plan emerged on Friday, a day after the Palestinians won UN non-member state observer status, in what was a major diplomatic blow to the Jewish state as it tried to block the move.

With their newly-acquired UN status, the Palestinians now have access to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, sparking fears they could accuse Israel of crimes under the Geneva Convention over its settlement building.

But Netanyahu, who is in the middle of an election campaign, has held firm on the project.

"The root of the conflict is not the settlements; it is the very existence of the state of Israel and the desire to wipe it off the face of the earth," he said Tuesday.

The settlement crisis looked set to play centre stage at Netanyahu's talks in Berlin, which has urged him to withdraw the E1 plans.

"Israel is undermining faith in its willingness to negotiate, and the geographic space for a future Palestinian state -- which must be the basis for a two-state solution -- is disappearing," the German government said.

Tensions between the two allies had flared last week over the UN vote with Berlin abstaining despite Israeli hopes it would vote against the move.

The E1 settlement plan has been on hold since 2005 following heavy US pressure.

Public radio said a defence committee had backed plans for 3,200 homes in E1 and in annexed east Jerusalem, which would now be made available for public objections for 60 days.

An Israeli official told AFP the plan would have to pass another few stages before construction could begin in a process which could take up to a few years.

"Final approval for the plan will have to come from the political level. There won't be any bulldozers going in any time soon. It will take at least several months, if not years," he told AFP.

-AFP/ac

Read More..

Congress ‘rebels’ force Telangana meet

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has convened an all-party meeting in New Delhi on December 28 to discuss the Telangana statehood issue. The move is essentially aimed at placating the seven Congress MPs from the region who were growing increasingly restive over the government's indecision on Telangana and had even threatened to boycott the FDI vote in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday to mark their protest.

The all-party meeting proved a successful trade-off, with all the seven MPs — Ponnam Prabhakar, G Vivekanad, Madhu Yaskhi Goud, S Rajaiah, M Jagannath, Rajgopal Reddy and G Sukhender Reddy — willingly voting with the government.

Encouraged by having got the government to agree to the all-party deliberations — the second in nearly two years, the first being when P Chidambaram met representatives of eight Andhra parties on January 6, 2011 — the MPs demanded that each party be represented by only one leader to present a united and final view.

Incidentally, the seven MPs from Telangana had, over the last couple of days, given the Congress leadership some anxious moments, especially when they put up a no-show at a floor coordination meeting called by the party on Tuesday.

Sensing portents of a rebellion, home minister and Leader of Lok Sabha Shinde as well as parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath had been working over the last couple of days to get the sulking MPs on board for the crucial vote.

The MPs kept up the pressure on the government by initially refusing to take Shinde and Nath's advice, and then failing to turn up for a floor coordination meeting called by the party. Some of the MPs even met TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday, adding to the Congress's worries.

The MPs insisted that the government give them a firm commitment on the all-party meeting before they commit on the FDI vote.At the last all-party meeting, the government had allowed parties to depute two representatives each to speak on the demand for separate Telangana state. This time, the Congress MPs from Andhra are said to have insisted on each party deputing only one leader to articulate the party's views on Telangana issue.

Read More..

Longer tamoxifen use cuts breast cancer deaths

Breast cancer patients taking the drug tamoxifen can cut their chances of having the disease come back or kill them if they stay on the pills for 10 years instead of five years as doctors recommend now, a major study finds.

The results could change treatment, especially for younger women. The findings are a surprise because earlier research suggested that taking the hormone-blocking drug for longer than five years didn't help and might even be harmful.

In the new study, researchers found that women who took tamoxifen for 10 years lowered their risk of a recurrence by 25 percent and of dying of breast cancer by 29 percent compared to those who took the pills for just five years.

In absolute terms, continuing on tamoxifen kept three additional women out of every 100 from dying of breast cancer within five to 14 years from when their disease was diagnosed. When added to the benefit from the first five years of use, a decade of tamoxifen can cut breast cancer mortality in half during the second decade after diagnosis, researchers estimate.

Some women balk at taking a preventive drug for so long, but for those at high risk of a recurrence, "this will be a convincer that they should continue," said Dr. Peter Ravdin, director of the breast cancer program at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio.

He reviewed results of the study, which was being presented Wednesday at a breast cancer conference in San Antonio and published by the British medical journal Lancet.

"The result of this trial will have a major, immediate impact on premenopausal women," Ravdin said.

About 50,000 of the roughly 230,000 new cases of breast cancer in the United States each year occur in women before menopause. Most breast cancers are fueled by estrogen, and hormone blockers are known to cut the risk of recurrence in such cases.

Tamoxifen long was the top choice, but newer drugs called aromatase inhibitors — sold as Arimidex, Femara, Aromasin and in generic form — do the job with less risk of causing uterine cancer and other problems.

But the newer drugs don't work well before menopause. Even some women past menopause choose tamoxifen over the newer drugs, which cost more and have different side effects such as joint pain, bone loss and sexual problems.

The new study aimed to see whether over a very long time, longer treatment with tamoxifen could help.

Dr. Christina Davies of the University of Oxford in England and other researchers assigned 6,846 women who already had taken tamoxifen for five years to either stay on it or take dummy pills for another five years.

Researchers saw little difference in the groups five to nine years after diagnosis. But beyond that time, 15 percent of women who had stopped taking tamoxifen after five years had died of breast cancer versus 12 percent of those who took it for 10 years. Cancer had returned in 25 percent of women on the shorter treatment versus 21 percent of those treated longer.

Tamoxifen had some troubling side effects: Longer use nearly doubled the risk of endometrial cancer. But it rarely proved fatal, and there was no increased risk among premenopausal women in the study — the very group tamoxifen helps most.

"Overall the benefits of extended tamoxifen seemed to outweigh the risks substantially," Dr. Trevor Powles of the Cancer Centre London wrote in an editorial published with the study.

The study was sponsored by cancer research organizations in Britain and Europe, the United States Army, and AstraZeneca PLC, which makes Nolvadex, a brand of tamoxifen, which also is sold as a generic for 10 to 50 cents a day. Brand-name versions of the newer hormone blockers, aromatase inhibitors, are $300 or more per month, but generics are available for much less.

The results pose a quandary for breast cancer patients past menopause and those who become menopausal because of their treatment — the vast majority of cases. Previous studies found that starting on one of the newer hormone blockers led to fewer relapses than initial treatment with tamoxifen did.

Another study found that switching to one of the new drugs after five years of tamoxifen cut the risk of breast cancer recurrence nearly in half — more than what was seen in the new study of 10 years of tamoxifen.

"For postmenopausal women, the data still remain much stronger at this point for a switch to an aromatase inhibitor," said that study's leader, Dr. Paul Goss of Massachusetts General Hospital. He has been a paid speaker for a company that makes one of those drugs.

Women in his study have not been followed long enough to see whether switching cuts deaths from breast cancer, as 10 years of tamoxifen did. Results are expected in about a year.

The cancer conference is sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, Baylor College of Medicine and the UT Health Science Center.

___

Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

Read More..

Obama Sees 'Potential' for Averting the Fiscal Cliff

President Obama says he sees "potential" for averting the "fiscal cliff" in 28 days, but that no deal will get done unless Republicans consent to raise income-tax rates on the top 2 percent of U.S. earners.

"We're going to have to see the rates on the top 2 percent go up and we're not going to be able to get a deal without it," Obama told Bloomberg TV in his first televised interview since the Nov. 6 election.

Obama suggested that Republican opposition to any increase in tax rates has stifled progress in negotiations and at least partly explains why he has not met more regularly with House Speaker John Boehner.

"Speaker Boehner and I speak frequently," he said. "I don't think the issue right now has to do with sitting in a room.

"Unfortunately, the speaker's proposal right now is still out of balance," he added, referring to the GOP plan unveiled Monday that would extend all income tax rates at current levels while imposing changes to Medicare and Social Security.

The GOP proposal would achieve $2.2 trillion in deficit reduction in the next decade, including $800 billion in higher taxes through elimination of loopholes and deductions, slower annual cost-of-living increases for Social Security benefits and a higher eligibility age for Medicare.

Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images

Washington, D.C., Gridlocked as Fiscal Cliff Approaches Watch Video

What Exactly Did Obama Promise Voters on Tax Hikes Watch Video

'Fiscal Cliff' Negotiations: Ball Is in the GOP's Court Watch Video

The plan contrasts sharply with the White House proposal, which calls for $1.6 trillion in new tax revenue -- largely from higher rates on upper-income earners -- modest unspecified savings from Medicare and a new burst of economic stimulus spending.

Both sides have dismissed out of hand the opposing proposal, raising the prospect of continued gridlock as the economy hurdles toward the "cliff."

Income tax rates for the top 2 percent of Americans remain the immediate sticking point. Obama insists that rates must rise at the end of the year as part of any deal; Republicans oppose increasing rates on the wealthy.

Unless Obama and Republicans reach a compromise, a sweeping set of automatic, across-the-board tax hikes and deep spending cuts will take effect, potentially throwing the U.S. economy back into recession.

The "cliff" scenario results from a failure by Congress and the administration at previous intervals to take steps to reduce federal deficits and debt.

In the Bloomberg interview, Obama said he could be flexible on tax rates and entitlement overhaul, but only in broader discussions next year about revamping the tax code and social safety-net programs.

"Let's let [rates on higher-income earners] go up and then let's set up a process with a time certain at the end of 2013, or the fall of 2013, where we work on tax reform, we look at what loopholes and deductions both Democrats and Republicans are willing to close and it's possible that we may be able to lower rates by broadening the base at that point," he said.

The president also said he's "willing to look at anything" that might strengthen entitlements and extend their financial solvency, but did not specify further.

Republicans continued to rebuff the president's proposal Tuesday, claiming the $1.6 trillion package of tax increases could not pass either house of Congress, including the Democrat-controlled Senate.

"With our latest offer we have demonstrated there is a middle ground solution that can cut spending and bring in revenue without hurting American small businesses," Boehner said in a statement.

Read More..

NATO warns Syria not to use chemical weapons

BRUSSELS/BEIRUT (Reuters) - NATO told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday that any use of chemical weapons in his fight against encroaching rebel forces would be met by an immediate international response.

The warning from NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen came as U.S. government sources said Washington had information that Syria was making what could be seen as preparations to use its chemical arsenal.

Syrian forces meanwhile bombarded rebel districts near Damascus in a sustained counter-attack to stem rebel gains around Assad's power base as the insurgency may be entering a decisive phase.

International concern over Syria's intentions has been heightened by reports that its chemical weapons have been moved and could be prepared for use.

"The possible use of chemical weapons would be completely unacceptable for the whole international community and if anybody resorts to these terrible weapons I would expect an immediate reaction from the international community," Rasmussen told reporters at the start of a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Brussels.

The chemical threat made it urgent for the alliance to send Patriot anti-missile missiles to Turkey, Rasmussen said.

The French Foreign Ministry referred to "possible movements on military bases storing chemical weapons in Syria" and said the international community would react if they were used.

Britain has told the Syrian government that any use of chemical weapons would have "serious consequences", Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday told Assad not to use chemical weapons, without saying how the United States might respond. The Foreign Ministry in Damascus said it would never use such weapons against Syrians.

CLASSIFIED INTELLIGENCE

The U.S. has collected what has been described as highly classified intelligence information demonstrating that Syria is making what could be construed as preparations to use elements of its extensive chemical weapons arsenal, two U.S. government sources briefed on the issue said.

One of the sources said that there was no question that the US "Intelligence community" had received information pointing to "preparations" under way in Syria related to chemical weapons. The source declined to specify what kind of preparations had been reported, or how close the intelligence indicated the Syrians were to deploying or even using the weapons.

Western military experts say Syria has four suspected chemical weapons sites, and it can produce chemical weapons agents including mustard gas and sarin, and possibly also VX nerve agent. The CIA has estimated that Syria possesses several hundred liters of chemical weapons and produces hundreds of tonnes of agents annually.

The fighting around Damascus has led foreign airlines to suspend flights and prompted the United Nations and European Union to reduce their presence in the capital, adding to a sense that the fight is closing in.

The army fightback came a day after the Syrian foreign ministry spokesman was reported to have defected in a potentially embarrassing blow to the government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 200 people were killed across Syria on Monday, more than 60 of them around Damascus. Assad's forces bombarded districts to the south-east of the capital on Tuesday, near to the international airport, and in the rebel bastion of Daraya to the south-west.

Opposition footage posted on the Internet showed a multiple rocket launcher fire 20 rockets, which activists said was filmed at the Mezze military airport in Damascus.

Reuters could not independently verify the footage due to the government's severe reporting restrictions.

In central Damascus, shielded for many months from the full force of a civil war in which 40,000 people have been killed, one resident reported hearing several loud explosions.

"I have heard four or five thunderous blows. It could be barrel bombs," she said, referring to makeshift bombs which activists say Assad's forces have dropped from helicopters on rebel-dominated areas.

MORTAR ATTACK

The state news agency said that 28 students and a teacher were killed near the capital when rebels fired a mortar bomb on a school. Rebels have targeted government-held residential districts of the capital.

The mainly Sunni Muslim rebel forces have made advances in recent weeks, seizing military bases, including some close to Damascus, from forces loyal to Assad, who is from Syria's Alawite minority linked to Shi'ite Islam.

Faced with creeping rebel gains across the north and east of the country, and the growing challenge around the capital, Assad has increasingly resorted to air strikes against the insurgents.

A diplomat in the Middle East said Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi had left the country and defected, while the British-based Observatory said it had information that he flew from Beirut on Monday afternoon heading for London.

In Beirut, a diplomat said Lebanese officials had confirmed that Makdissi spent several days in Beirut before leaving on Monday, but could not confirm his destination.

"We're aware of reports that he has defected and may be coming to the UK. We're seeking clarification," a Foreign Office spokeswoman in London said.

Makdissi was the public face to the outside world of Assad's government as it battled the 20-month-old uprising. But he had barely appeared in public for several weeks before Monday's report of his defection.

He had little influence in a system largely run by the security apparatus and the military. But Assad's opponents will see the loss of such a high profile figure, if confirmed, as further evidence of a system crumbling from within.

The United Nations and European Union both said they were reducing their presence in Syria in response to the escalated violence around the capital.

A spokesman for U.N. humanitarian operations said the move would not stop aid deliveries to areas which remained accessible to relief convoys.

"U.N.-funded aid supplies delivered through SARC (Syrian Arab Red Crescent) and other charities are still moving daily where the roads are open," Jens Laerke told Reuters in Geneva.

"We have not suspended our operation, we are reducing the non-essential international staff."

Three remaining international staff at the European Union delegation, who stayed on in Damascus after the departure of most Western envoys, crossed the border into Lebanon on Tuesday after pulling out of the Syrian capital.

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Cairo, Erika Solomon, Oliver Holmes and Ayat Basma in Beirut, Mark Hosenball, Mohammed Abbas and David Cutler in London, and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Read More..