CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very young or old. The season's first flu case resistant to treatment with Tamiflu was reported Friday.

Eight more children have died from the flu, bringing this season's total pediatric deaths to 37. About 100 children die in an average flu season.

There is still vaccine available although it may be hard to find. The CDC has a website that can help.

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CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

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White House Makeover: McDonough to Chief of Staff

Jan 25, 2013 10:15am

Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images

By ANN COMPTON and MARY BRUCE

President Obama is giving his West Wing team an extreme make-over for the second term, with the departure of top strategist David Plouffe and the naming of Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough to be his next chief of staff.

Once again, the President is keeping a comfort zone around him, promoting from within. He is plucking a favorite aide from his national security team to become the new White House Chief of Staff.  McDonough  has been a popular figure in the Obama inner circle since the Senate days.

McDonough was widely expected to become Obama’s fifth chief of staff as he replaces Jack Lew who has been nominated as Treasury Secretary.

“Welcome to the announcement of one of the worst kept secrets in Washington,” Obama joked as he announced McDonough’s new position in the East Room of the White House.

The president heaped praise on his longtime adviser and close friend, as McDonough stood beaming by his side.

“I have been counting on Denis for nearly a decade — since I first came to Washington, when he helped set up my Senate office,” Obama said. “He was able to show me where the restrooms were and how you passed a bill…  At that time, I relied on his intellect and his good judgment, and that has continued ever since.”

“I cannot imagine the White House without you.  Thank you for signing up for this very, very difficult job,” Obama said.  ”I know you’ll always give it to me straight, as only a friend can — telling me not only what I want to hear, but more importantly what I need to hear to make the best possible decisions on behalf of the American people.”

Plouffe’s departure from the tiny office next to the president’s makes room for strategist Dan Pfeiffer’s promotion to senior adviser.  Pfeiffer is a combative planner who has been orchestrating the administration’s message for the last four years.

“I thought I’d take the occasion to just embarrass somebody.  Some of you may know that today is David Plouffe’s last day in the White House,” Obama said to laughter from the audience comprised largely of White House staff.  ”I had to hide this in the end of my remarks because I knew he wouldn’t want me to bring it up.  So we had some secret squirrel stuff going on here to avoid him thinking that we were going to talk about him.”

“I can’t tell you how lucky I have been to have him manage our campaign back in 2008, then join the White House during these very challenging last two years.  He’s built a well-deserved reputation as being a numbers genius and a pretty tough combatant when it comes to politics,” he said. “Were it not for him, we would not have been as effective a White House and I probably wouldn’t be here.”

Pfeiffer’s deputy, Jennifer Palmieri, a long-time Democratic figure, moves up to communications director. Rob Nabors was a key figure in negotiating with Congress and he’s getting promoted to the top policy job in the West Wing’s chief of staff office.

From the Department of Justice, Lisa Monaco will come in as the new counter-terrorism adviser, taking John Brennan’s chair if he is confirmed as CIA Director.

The only other outsider coming into the West Wing is David Simas who worked on the re-election campaign. Simas will do communications.  There are no announced changes in Jay Carney’s press office.

SHOWS: World News

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Violence flares on anniversary of Egypt uprising

CAIRO/ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Five people were shot dead in the Egyptian city of Suez during nationwide protests against President Mohamed Mursi on Friday, the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

One of the dead was a member of the security forces, medics said. Another 280 civilians and 55 security personnel were injured, officials said, in demonstrations fuelled by anger at the president and his Islamist allies in the Muslim Brotherhood.

Thousands of opponents of Mursi massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square - the cradle of the revolt against Mubarak - to rekindle the demands of a revolution they say has been hijacked by Islamists who have betrayed its goals.

Street battles erupted in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Port Said. Arsonists attacked at least two state-owned buildings as symbols of government were targeted. An office used by the Muslim Brotherhood's political party was also torched.

The January 25 anniversary laid bare the divide between the Islamists and their secular rivals.

This schism is hindering the efforts of Mursi, elected in June, to revive an economy in crisis and reverse a plunge in Egypt's currency by enticing back investors and tourists.

Inspired by the popular uprising in Tunisia, Egypt's revolution spurred further revolts across the Arab world. But the sense of common purpose that united Egyptians two years ago has given way to internal strife that had already triggered bloody street battles last month.

"Our revolution is continuing. We reject the domination of any party over this state. We say no to the Brotherhood state," Hamdeen Sabahy, a popular leftist leader, told Reuters.

The Brotherhood decided against mobilizing for the anniversary, wary of the scope for more conflict after December's violence, stoked by Mursi's decision to fast-track an Islamist-tinged constitution rejected by his opponents.

The Brotherhood denies accusations that it is seeking to dominate Egypt, labeling them a smear campaign by its rivals.

DEATH IN SUEZ

There were conflicting accounts of the lethal shooting in Suez. Some witnesses said security forces had opened fire in response to gunfire from masked men.

News of the deaths capped a day of violence which started in the early hours. Before dawn in Cairo, police battled protesters who threw petrol bombs and firecrackers as they approached a wall blocking access to government buildings near Tahrir Square.

Clouds of tear gas filled the air. At one point, riot police used one of the incendiaries thrown at them to set ablaze at least two tents erected by youths, a Reuters witness said.

Skirmishes between stone-throwing youths and the police continued in streets around the square into the day. Ambulances ferried away a steady stream of casualties.

Protesters echoed the chants of 2011's historic 18-day uprising. "The people want to bring down the regime," they chanted. "Leave! Leave! Leave!" chanted others as they marched towards the square.

"We are not here to celebrate but to force those in power to submit to the will of the people. Egypt now must never be like Egypt during Mubarak's rule," said Mohamed Fahmy, an activist.

There were similar scenes in Suez and Alexandria, where protesters and riot police clashed near local government offices. Black smoke billowed from tires set ablaze by youths.

In Cairo, police fired tear gas to disperse a few dozen protesters trying to remove barbed-wire barriers protecting the presidential palace, witnesses said. A few masked men got as far as the gates before they were beaten back.

Tear gas was also fired at protesters who tried to remove metal barriers outside the state television building.

Outside Cairo, protesters broke into the offices of provincial governors in Ismailia and Kafr el-Sheikh in the Nile Delta. A local government building was torched in the Nile Delta city of al-Mahalla al-Kubra.

BADIE CALLS FOR "PRACTICAL, SERIOUS COMPETITION"

With an eye on parliamentary elections likely to begin in April, the Brotherhood marked the anniversary with a charity drive across the nation. It plans to deliver medical aid to one million people and distribute affordable basic foodstuffs.

Writing in Al-Ahram, Egypt's flagship state-run daily, Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie said the country was in need of "practical, serious competition" to reform the corrupt state left by the Mubarak era.

"The differences of opinion and vision that Egypt is passing through is a characteristic at the core of transitions from dictatorship to democracy, and clearly expresses the variety of Egyptian culture," he wrote.

Mursi's opponents say he and his group are seeking to dominate the post-Mubarak order. They accuse him of showing some of the autocratic impulses of the deposed leader by, for example, driving through the new constitution last month.

"I am taking part in today's marches to reject the warped constitution, the 'Brotherhoodisation' of the state, the attack on the rule of law, and the disregard of the president and his government for the demands for social justice," Amr Hamzawy, a prominent liberal politician, wrote on his Twitter feed.

The Brotherhood says its rivals are failing to respect the rules of the new democracy that put the Islamists in the driving seat via free elections.

Six months into office, Mursi is also being held responsible for an economic crisis caused by two years of turmoil. The Egyptian pound has sunk to record lows against the dollar.

The parties that called for Friday's protests list demands including a complete overhaul of the constitution.

Critics say the constitution, which was approved in a referendum, offers inadequate protection for human rights, grants the president too many privileges and fails to curb the power of a military establishment supreme in the Mubarak era.

Mursi's supporters say enacting the constitution quickly was crucial to restoring stability needed for economic recovery.

(Additional reporting by Ahmed el-Shemi, Ashraf Fahim, Marwa Awad, Shaimaa Fayed and Yasmine Saleh in Cairo and Abdel Rahman Youssef in Alexandria; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Robert Woodward)

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Libya PM says 'exaggeration' over Benghazi threat alert

DAVOS: Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said Friday that Western nations had exaggerated by urging their citizens to leave the city of Benghazi due to a specific and imminent threat to Westerners.

Britain, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Australia have all urged their citizens to leave the city due to the threat, linked to France's military intervention against Islamist rebels in neighbouring Mali.

"I think that there was exaggeration on behalf of some countries, who took some preventive measures and we can understand that," Zeidan told a panel at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

"But the reality is that these people of foreign nationality live very peacefully in Libya and there are security measures to protect them," he said.

Earlier, officials in Tripoli said the country had not been informed of the evacuation order or given information about the threat.

"There has been no formal notice to us from any other country of its intention to evacuate its citizens from the city of Benghazi," an interior ministry source was quoted as saying by Lana news agency.

"The Libyan deputy interior minister for security, Omar al-Khadrawi, contacted the British embassy in Tripoli to seek clarification on the statement released by the British Foreign Office but no response has been received," ministry spokesman Mejdi al-Arfi said, also quoted by Lana.

Deputy Interior Minister Abdullah Massud expressed "astonishment" at the warnings on Thursday, and said his government would demand an explanation.

"If Britain was afraid of threats to its citizens, it could have pulled them out quietly without causing all the commotion and excitement," Massud was reported to have said on Friday.

"The British Foreign Office statement sparked growing concerns by various diplomatic missions and foreign companies in Benghazi and led them to seriously consider leaving the city," Lana quoted him as saying.

Benghazi was the cradle of the uprising that ousted Moamer Kadhafi in 2011 and also the city where a US ambassador was killed in an attack last September.

The initial alert from London came after British Prime Minister David Cameron warned that last week's deadly attack on a gas complex in Algeria was only one part of what would be a "long struggle against murderous terrorists" around the world.

- AFP/jc

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Should victim of child marriage be debarred from service?

NEW DELHI: If a minor girl was married off by her parents, should she be ostracized from government service on the ground that employing her will mean encouraging the banned ritual?

Ratnarashi, who was married off at 14 years by her parents, suffered years of abuse before divorcing her husband. Studying hard, she qualified for the Madhya Pradesh State Civil Services but found the service rules blocking her from gaining entry into government employment.

She moved the Supreme Court challenging validity of rule 6(5) of MP Civil Services (general condition of service) Rules, 1961, which denied employment to those who married as minors. She had cleared the examination twice, but was denied the job because her parents married her off when she was a minor.

Her counsel Neela Gokhale on Thursday pleaded before a bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana P Desai that all she wanted was a fresh chance to appear in the state civil services examination and a direction to the authorities to accept her form.

But, the bench went a step further and directed the state to submit in sealed cover the marks obtained by her in two previous attempts. It posted the matter for hearing on March 1.

Ratnarashi's marriage, according to her counsel, was marred by physical and mental cruelty. She got a divorce 13 years later. She got no maintenance from her husband and had the unenviable task of bringing up two children. With sheer hard work, she cleared the state civil services exams only to be told that her marriage as minor disqualified her from a state government job. She cleared the examination twice but was rejected because of her marriage as a minor over which she had little control.

Rule 6(5), inserted into the MP law on March 10, 2005, says, "No candidate shall be eligible for appointment to a service or post who has married before the minimum age fixed for marriage. The minimum age of marriage for a boy is 21 years while that for a girl is 18 years." Ratnarashi argued that she was a victim and not an offender.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed her petition and justified the provision saying Rule 6(5) had been introduced to prevent child marriages more effectively as various laws to eradicate the social evil had not yielded results. Her counsel said the HC ignored the object of the legislation, which was to protect minors and not to punish them.

"Rule of law does not contemplate any punishment or disqualification of a child who is a victim of such child marriage practice and in fact, even the Declaration of Human Rights of the Child by United Nations specifically declares that any child in conflict of law shall not suffer any disqualification in his career and shall be supported by the state to reform himself as a law abiding citizen," she said.

Ratnarashi said although she was a victim of the deplorable practice of child marriage in her society, she was being denied an opportunity to live with dignity and respect by earning her livelihood through an appointment in state civil services for which she is eligible and has cleared requisite screening tests.

dhananjay.mahapatra@timesgroup.com

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Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.

The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies up to 50 percent higher premiums starting next Jan. 1.

For a 55-year-old smoker, the penalty could reach nearly $4,250 a year. A 60-year-old could wind up paying nearly $5,100 on top of premiums.

Younger smokers could be charged lower penalties under rules proposed last fall by the Obama administration. But older smokers could face a heavy hit on their household budgets at a time in life when smoking-related illnesses tend to emerge.

Workers covered on the job would be able to avoid tobacco penalties by joining smoking cessation programs, because employer plans operate under different rules. But experts say that option is not guaranteed to smokers trying to purchase coverage individually.

Nearly one of every five U.S. adults smokes. That share is higher among lower-income people, who also are more likely to work in jobs that don't come with health insurance and would therefore depend on the new federal health care law. Smoking increases the risk of developing heart disease, lung problems and cancer, contributing to nearly 450,000 deaths a year.

Insurers won't be allowed to charge more under the overhaul for people who are overweight, or have a health condition like a bad back or a heart that skips beats — but they can charge more if a person smokes.

Starting next Jan. 1, the federal health care law will make it possible for people who can't get coverage now to buy private policies, providing tax credits to keep the premiums affordable. Although the law prohibits insurance companies from turning away the sick, the penalties for smokers could have the same effect in many cases, keeping out potentially costly patients.

"We don't want to create barriers for people to get health care coverage," said California state Assemblyman Richard Pan, who is working on a law in his state that would limit insurers' ability to charge smokers more. The federal law allows states to limit or change the smoking penalty.

"We want people who are smoking to get smoking cessation treatment," added Pan, a pediatrician who represents the Sacramento area.

Obama administration officials declined to be interviewed for this article, but a former consumer protection regulator for the government is raising questions.

"If you are an insurer and there is a group of smokers you don't want in your pool, the ones you really don't want are the ones who have been smoking for 20 or 30 years," said Karen Pollitz, an expert on individual health insurance markets with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "You would have the flexibility to discourage them."

Several provisions in the federal health care law work together to leave older smokers with a bleak set of financial options, said Pollitz, formerly deputy director of the Office of Consumer Support in the federal Health and Human Services Department.

First, the law allows insurers to charge older adults up to three times as much as their youngest customers.

Second, the law allows insurers to levy the full 50 percent penalty on older smokers while charging less to younger ones.

And finally, government tax credits that will be available to help pay premiums cannot be used to offset the cost of penalties for smokers.

Here's how the math would work:

Take a hypothetical 60-year-old smoker making $35,000 a year. Estimated premiums for coverage in the new private health insurance markets under Obama's law would total $10,172. That person would be eligible for a tax credit that brings the cost down to $3,325.

But the smoking penalty could add $5,086 to the cost. And since federal tax credits can't be used to offset the penalty, the smoker's total cost for health insurance would be $8,411, or 24 percent of income. That's considered unaffordable under the federal law. The numbers were estimated using the online Kaiser Health Reform Subsidy Calculator.

"The effect of the smoking (penalty) allowed under the law would be that lower-income smokers could not afford health insurance," said Richard Curtis, president of the Institute for Health Policy Solutions, a nonpartisan research group that called attention to the issue with a study about the potential impact in California.

In today's world, insurers can simply turn down a smoker. Under Obama's overhaul, would they actually charge the full 50 percent? After all, workplace anti-smoking programs that use penalties usually charge far less, maybe $75 or $100 a month.

Robert Laszewski, a consultant who previously worked in the insurance industry, says there's a good reason to charge the maximum.

"If you don't charge the 50 percent, your competitor is going to do it, and you are going to get a disproportionate share of the less-healthy older smokers," said Laszewski. "They are going to have to play defense."

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Online:

Kaiser Health Reform Subsidy Calculator — http://healthreform.kff.org/subsidycalculator.aspx

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Manti Te'o Doesn't Know Why He Was Hoaxed

Manti Te'o still doesn't know why he was the victim of a hoax that left him scared, confused and the butt of countless jokes, he said in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Katie Couric.

Te'o says Ronaiah Tuiasosopo has spoken to him by Twitter and then in a phone call to confess to engineering the elaborate hoax, but gave little explanation for his actions.

"He just basically... explained what he did and why he did it," Te'o told Couric. But he added, "He didn't say why [he did it]. He just explained that he wanted to help people and that was his way of helping people, of being someone that he wasn't..."

The star linebacker for Notre Dame added, "Obviously, it didn't really help me out, but, you know, I didn't really say anything. I was still speechless. I just found out everything that I believed to be my reality wasn't actually reality at all."

Click here for an infographic that breaks down the connections between the key players.

Te'o, 21, has been alternately questioned and lampooned over his role in the hoax that led him and the public to believe that his girlfriend Lennay Kekua died of leukemia as Te'o led the Notre Dame football team to an undefeated season that culminated in the national championship game.

Lorenzo Bevilaqua/Disney-ABC

Manti Te'o Girlfriend Hoax: Katie Couric Interview Watch Video

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Te'o said Tuiasosopo broke the news to him about the prank in a direct message on Twitter on Jan. 16.

An excerpt of the message said, "It's the 16th. I wanted to tell you everything today. I will not say anything to anyone else before I tell you everything. I would and will never say anything bad about you or your family. I completely accept the consequences to the pain I've caused and it's important that you know the entire truth before anyone else."

Te'o has struggled with becoming a national punching bag and the butt of many jokes.

"It's been difficult," he said. "Not only for myself, but to see your last name and just to see it plastered everywhere and to know that I represent so many people and that my family is experiencing the same thing. I think that's what was the most hard for me."

Click here for a who's who in the complex hoax.

In terms of his prior relationship to Tuiasosopo, Te'o said that it is not true that he and Tuiasosopo were family or even family friends.

"Previous to that conversation that he and I had on Jan. 16, I had only talked to Ronaiah twice and he, from my understanding, was Lennay's cousin," Te'o said. "The only time I would talk to Ronaiah was when I couldn't find Lennay."

Te'o said his greatest regret is lying to his father about meeting Lennay.

"I think the biggest lie that I'm sorry for is the lie that I told my dad," he said. "As a child, your biggest thing is to always get the approval of your parents and for me I was so invested in Lennay and getting to know her that when dad asked me, 'Hey, did you meet her?" I said, 'Yeah.'"

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North Korea to target U.S. with nuclear, rocket tests

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "sworn enemy".

The announcement by the country's top military body came a day after the U.N. Security Council agreed to a U.S.-backed resolution to censure and sanction North Korea for a rocket launch in December that breached U.N. rules.

North Korea is not believed to have the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting the continental United States, although its December launch showed it had the capacity to deliver a rocket that could travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles), potentially putting San Francisco in range, according to an intelligence assessment by South Korea.

"We are not disguising the fact that the various satellites and long-range rockets that we will fire and the high-level nuclear test we will carry out are targeted at the United States," North Korea's National Defence Commission said, according to state news agency KCNA.

North Korea is believed by South Korea and other observers to be "technically ready" for a third nuclear test, and the decision to go ahead rests with leader Kim Jong-un, who pressed ahead with the December rocket launch in defiance of the U.N. sanctions.

China, the one major diplomatic ally of the isolated and impoverished North, agreed to the U.S.-backed resolution and it also supported resolutions in 2006 and 2009 after Pyongyang's two earlier nuclear tests.

Thursday's statement by North Korea represents a huge challenge to Beijing as it undergoes a leadership transition, with Xi Jinping due to take office in March.

China's Foreign Ministry called for calm and restraint and a return to six-party talks, but effectively singled out North Korea, urging the "relevant party" not to take any steps that would raise tensions.

"We hope the relevant party can remain calm and act and speak in a cautious and prudent way and not take any steps which may further worsen the situation," ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters at a regular press briefing.

North Korea has rejected proposals to restart the talks aimed at reining in its nuclear capacity. The United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas are the six parties involved.

"After all these years and numerous rounds of six-party talks we can see that China's influence over North Korea is actually very limited. All China can do is try to persuade them not to carry out their threats," said Cai Jian, an expert on Korea at Fudan University in Shanghai.

Analysts said the North could test as early as February as South Korea prepares to install a new, untested president or that it could choose to stage a nuclear explosion to coincide with former ruler Kim Jong-il's Feb 16 birthday.

"North Korea will have felt betrayed by China for agreeing to the latest U.N. resolution and they might be targeting (China) as well (with this statement)," said Lee Seung-yeol, senior research fellow at Ewha Institute of Unification Studies in Seoul.

U.S. URGES NO TEST

Washington urged North Korea not to proceed with a third test just as the North's statement was published on Thursday.

"Whether North Korea tests or not is up to North Korea," Glyn Davies, the top U.S. envoy for North Korean diplomacy, said in the South Korean capital of Seoul.

"We hope they don't do it. We call on them not to do it," Davies said after a meeting with South Korean officials. "This is not a moment to increase tensions on the Korean peninsula."

The North was banned from developing missile and nuclear technology under sanctions dating from its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.

A South Korean military official said the concern now is that Pyongyang could undertake a third nuclear test using highly enriched uranium for the first time, opening a second path to a bomb.

North Korea's 2006 nuclear test using plutonium produced a puny yield equivalent to one kiloton of TNT - compared with 13-18 kilotons for the Hiroshima bomb - and U.S. intelligence estimates put the 2009 test's yield at roughly two kilotons

North Korea is estimated to have enough fissile material for about a dozen plutonium warheads, although estimates vary, and intelligence reports suggest that it has been enriching uranium to supplement that stock and give it a second path to the bomb.

According to estimates from the Institute for Science and International Security from late 2012, North Korea could have enough weapons grade uranium for 21-32 nuclear weapons by 2016 if it used one centrifuge at its Yongbyon nuclear plant to enrich uranium to weapons grade.

North Korea has not yet mastered the technology needed to make a nuclear warhead small enough for an intercontinental missile, most observers say, and needs to develop the capacity to shield any warhead from re-entry into the earth's atmosphere.

North Korea gave no time-frame for the coming test and often employs harsh rhetoric in response to U.N. and U.S. actions that it sees as hostile.

The bellicose statement on Thursday appeared to dent any remaining hopes that Kim Jong-un, believed to be 30 years old, would pursue a different path from his father, Kim Jong-il, who oversaw the country's military and nuclear programs.

The older Kim died in December 2011.

"The UNSC (Security Council) resolution masterminded by the U.S. has brought its hostile policy towards the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) to its most dangerous stage," the commission was quoted as saying.

(Additional reporting by Christine Kim in SEOUL, Ben Blanchard and Sui-Lee Wee in Beijing; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Ron Popeski)

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British PM reaches out to Europe at Davos

DAVOS: British Prime Minister David Cameron insisted Thursday he was not turning his back on Europe as he came face to face with world leaders for the first time since unveiling plans for an EU referendum.

The global elite gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos and discussed issues ranging from the civil war in Syria and the conflict in Mali to the need to counter tax avoidance by multinational corporations.

But the hot topic at the snowy Swiss ski resort was Cameron's relations with his European Union partners one day after he unveiled his controversial proposal to let the British public vote whether to stay in the bloc.

Cameron held talks with German Chancellor and EU powerbroker Angela Merkel and the prime ministers of Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands at the annual forum as he tried to win their backing for his plans.

"This is not about turning our backs on Europe -- quite the opposite," Cameron told the audience of business leaders, top politicians and journalists.

"It's about how we make the case for a more competitive, open and flexible Europe, and secure the UK's place within it."

His announcement on Wednesday that he wants to renegotiate Britain's relationship with Brussels and then hold an "in-or-out" referendum on membership by the end of 2017 has delighted his increasingly anti-EU party at home.

European leaders in Davos called on Britain to stay in the 27-nation group and made encouraging noises in public, but there were signs he has a mountain to climb to convince them of his case.

Dutch premier Mark Rutte warned that without the EU, Britain would be "an island somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere between the United States and Europe".

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said the EU would be "stronger if Britain is part of it."

Merkel meanwhile sidestepped the topic but reached out to Cameron by vowing more action on one of the key reforms he wants for Europe -- boosting competitiveness.

"I say this expressly to my colleague David Cameron. You too have addressed competitiveness, see this as a central issue to ensure Europe's prosperity for the future," she said.

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger told the forum that the "idea of European unity needs to be resolved" for the continent to fully recover from the three-year eurozone debt crisis.

But Cameron rejected any idea of a European superstate or of Britain ever adopting the euro and added that he did not agree that "there should be a country called Europe".

Cameron said in his speech that Britain's presidency of the Group of Eight leading world economies -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- would focus on tackling tax avoidance.

He said multinational corporations must "pay their fair share" of taxes and that too many businesses were abusing tax schemes.

Looking farther afield, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged members of the Security Council to "overcome the deadlock" and find a solution to the bloodshed in Syria, where 60,000 people have died in the past 22 months.

Russia and China have blocked three previous resolutions threatening sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but Ban said letting the conflict go on was an "abdication of our collective responsibility to protect."

Ban also called for the world to help end the crisis in Mali, where a French-led military offensive against Islamist militants is under way.

Davos lived up to its reputation as a venue where deals are sewn up on the sidelines as Ukraine and global oil giant Royal Dutch Shell signed a US$10-billion shale gas deal.

The invitation-only meeting is also known for its lavish cocktail parties -- but with the glitzy guest list comes tight security, with around 5,000 police and military guarding the venue and helicopters buzzing overhead.

- AFP/jc

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Why is CBI hesitating to file coal scam probe status report? SC asks

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday made it clear that CBI cannot evade periodic scrutiny of its probe into Coalgate, querying the agency's reluctance to file a status report and voicing doubts about the legal sanctity of coal block allocations.

The court's remarks on the central bureau of investigation's ongoing probe into massive irregularities in coal block allocations highlighted by the federal auditor came in the wake of one of the petitioners, NGO Common Cause, questioning efficacy of the investigations.

Counsel Prashant Bhushan said although CBI registered preliminary Enquiry (PEs) nearly seven months ago, there was no means to ascertain if the probe is proceeding to its logical end especially as the suspects include high-profile persons such as MPs.

A bench of Justices R M Lodha and J Chelameswar found substance in the contention and tossed the ball to CBI for a response. But, the agency expressed its reservation in submitting a sealed cover status report before the court, as it has been doing periodically for nearly two years in the court-monitored investigation into 2G spectrum allocation scam of 2008.

CBI's hesitation surprised the bench. "This is very strange. You don't want to share your investigation details and only want us to know only the final conclusion. This is not the first case nor is it going to be the last case where we are asking for status report in a sealed cover."

In a bid to limit damage to the cause of the investigators, additional solicitor general Harin Raval explained the technical reason behind the CBI's stance on a sealed cover status report. He said the agency is not averse to submitting such reports but remains wary that this would amount to conceding the petitioner's prayer for a court-monitored probe.

"We will faithfully carry out the instructions by the Court. We are willing to share all details. But providing status reports will amount to grant of the prayer in the petitioner (for court-monitored probe)," Raval said agreeing to file an affidavit indicating progress in the investigations and arrests made in connection with the three PEs registered in coal scam.

The bench then said: "If you are willing to say it on affidavit then nothing like it." It asked CBI to file its affidavit before March 12, the next date of hearing.

Indicating the tough hurdles the Centre needs to cross, the bench wanted to know the legal sanctity behind its powers to allocate coal blocks in states. It also sought to examine Rules of Business as well the source of power for an inter-ministerial screening committee to make the allocations.

After going through the affidavit filed by coal secretary S K Srivastava, the bench observed that "Allocation of the coal blocks does not prima facie seem to get sanction from any law." Drawing Attorney General G E Vahanvati's attention, the court said, "This question strikes at the root of the problem."

"In your affidavit you admit you have not acquired coal as a mineral, which continues to be held by the state. But the question is the power which Centre has under MMDR Act 1957. Does it extend to allocation of coal block on its own overriding the entire statutory mechanism provided under the Act?" it asked.

dhananjay.mahapatra@timesgroup.com

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