Syrian Internet largely restored after blackout

In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, Syrian women and children watch a demonstration after Friday prayers in the Bustan Al-Qasr district of Aleppo, Syria. After months of fighting, thousands of residents have returned to the city as they attempt to return to their daily lives while heavy fighting is still taking place along the front lines in the city. Public demonstrations have unfolded after several weeks of silence as residents demand an end to the violence in Aleppo. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras)

In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, Syrian women and children watch a demonstration after Friday prayers in the Bustan Al-Qasr district of Aleppo, Syria. After months of fighting, thousands of residents have returned to the city as they attempt to return to their daily lives while heavy fighting is still taking place along the front lines in the city. Public demonstrations have unfolded after several weeks of silence as residents demand an end to the violence in Aleppo. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras)

In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, a Syrian girl chants slogans during a demonstration after Friday prayers in the Bustan Al-Qasr district of Aleppo, Syria. After months of fighting, thousands of residents have returned to the city as they attempt to return to their daily lives while heavy fighting is still taking place along the front lines in the city. Public demonstrations have unfolded after several weeks of silence as residents demand an end to the violence in Aleppo. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras)

In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, Syrians chant slogans and wave revolutionary flags during a demonstration after Friday prayers in the Bustan Al-Qasr district of Aleppo, Syria. After months of fighting, thousands of residents have returned to the city as they attempt to return to their daily lives while heavy fighting is still taking place along the front lines in the city. Public demonstrations have unfolded after several weeks of silence as residents demand an end to the violence in Aleppo. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras)

In this Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012 photo, night falls on a Syrian rebel-controlled area as destroyed buildings, including Dar Al-Shifa hospital, are seen on Sa'ar street after airstrikes targeted the area last week, killing dozens in Aleppo, Syria. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras)

In this photo taken on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, a Free Syrian Army fighter is in position in front of destroyed buildings in Aleppo, Syria. Syrian rebels battled regime troops south of Damascus on Friday and Internet and most telephone lines were cut for a second day, but the government reopened the road to the capital's airport in a sign the fighting could be calming, activists said. (AP Photo)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Internet and telephone service were restored across much of Syria on Saturday following a two-day, nationwide communications blackout that came during some of the worst fighting to hit the capital since July.

Experts say the shutdown was likely caused by President Bashar Assad's regime, raising fears that the government is taking increasingly bold measures to cut off the country from the outside world as it tries to crush a relentless rebellion.

Renesys, a U.S.-based network monitoring firm that studies Internet disruptions, said in a statement Saturday that service went back up around 4:32 p.m. local time in Syria, describing it as a "largely complete restoration of the Syrian Internet."

Mobile telephone networks also appeared to be mostly back up Saturday. A Britain-based activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said it was receiving dispatches from many parts of the country. Many land lines had remained in working order.

The SANA state news agency said technical teams brought both Internet and telephone services back online Saturday in Damascus and its suburbs ? the flashpoints of recent fighting between government soldiers and rebels.

The communications blackout began Thursday, raising fears of a burst of fighting outside the public eye. The government and rebels have blamed each other for cutting the lines.

Syrian rebels are fighting a 20-month-old revolt against the Assad regime. Activists say some 40,000 people have been killed in the crisis, which began with pro-democracy protests but has morphed into a civil war.

On Saturday, Syrian troops backed by helicopter gunships clashed with rebels as government forces pushed a major offensive on villages and towns near the capital's international airport, activists said.

SANA reported a car bomb exploded in the Damascus neighborhood of Ish Alwarwar. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The fighting over the past few weeks in Damascus is the most serious the capital has seen since July, when rebels captured several neighborhoods before a swift government counteroffensive swept out the opposition fighters.

Activists said forces loyal to Assad were battling rebels in towns just south of the capital, including Aqraba, Beit Saham and Yalda near the airport. The Observatory said many were feared killed in government shelling of Beit Saham.

Syrian state TV said troops were battling fighters from the al-Qaida-inspired Jabhat al-Nusra group in areas around the airport and that many of the rebels were killed, including two Iraqi citizens.

Syria's Information Ministry said the airport was operating as usual and that the road leading to the facility is "totally secure." The road was closed Thursday because of heavy fighting, but authorities reopened it Friday after troops secured the area, activists said.

The Observatory also reported clashes in the southern Damascus neighborhoods of Tadamon and Hajar Aswad, which have been hit by heavy fighting for weeks as the rebels try to push back into the city.

Government troops were also heavily shelling the Damascus suburb of Douma, local activist Mohammed Saeed said via Skype.

Saeed and other activists bypassed the communications blackout by using satellite telephones to connect to the Internet.

In the past, the regime has cut telephone lines and cellular networks in areas where military operations are under way, but the latest blackout was the first to cover the whole country since Syrian uprising began in March 2011.

In neighboring Lebanon, tensions were running high Saturday in the northern city of Tripoli between supporters and opponents of Assad's regime, which is dominated by the president's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Lebanese troops deployed to potential flashpoints in the city ? home to significant Sunni and Alawite populations and the site of deadly violence in recent months between the two communities ? to prevent possible clashes.

The army dispatched troops to Tripoli as a precautionary measure after an announcement Friday that 20 Lebanese Sunnis had been killed inside Syria while fighting alongside rebels, who are predominantly Sunnis as well. The city was clam Saturday.

It was not clear when the funerals would be held because the bodies of the dead are still in Syria, Lebanese security officials said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Lebanon is particularly vulnerable to getting sucked into the conflict in Syria. The countries share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries that are easily enflamed. Lebanon, a country plagued by decades of strife, has been on edge since the uprising in Syria began, and deadly clashes between pro- and anti-Assad Lebanese groups have erupted on several occasions.

In Turkey, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the Syrian regime has degenerated into an "armed militia" that resorts to brutality in an attempt to stay in power. Davutoglu spoke Saturday at an Istanbul meeting attended by Arab foreign ministers who expressed opposition to the Syrian government.

Davutoglu and other delegates at the one-day conference say the Syrian regime is a threat not only to its people but also to peace and security in the region.

Turkey was an ally of Syria before the crisis began but turned into one of its harshest critics because of Assad's crackdown.

___

AP writers Elizabeth A. Kennedy in Beirut and Peter Svensson in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-01-Syria/id-f2ab3505cfa84b75834bef2213981cda

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North Korea gears up to launch long-range rocket

FILE - In this April 8, 2012 file photo, a group of journalists walk down a road in front of North Korea's Unha-3 rocket at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. April 8, 2012. North Korea said Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 it will launch a long-range rocket between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22. The launch will heighten already strained tensions with South Korean ahead of its presidential election on Dec. 19. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

FILE - In this April 8, 2012 file photo, a group of journalists walk down a road in front of North Korea's Unha-3 rocket at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. April 8, 2012. North Korea said Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 it will launch a long-range rocket between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22. The launch will heighten already strained tensions with South Korean ahead of its presidential election on Dec. 19. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

FILE - This Monday Nov. 26, 2012 file satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe and annotated by 38 North, the website of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, shows the Sohae Satellite Launch Station in Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, North Korea. North Korea said Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 it will launch a long-range rocket between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22, a move likely to heighten already strained tensions with Washington and Seoul ahead of South Korean presidential elections Dec. 19. (AP Photo/DigitalGlobe via 38 North, File)

FILE - In this April 8, 2012 file photo, a North Korean soldier stands in front of the country's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. Rocket sections are apparently being trucked into North Korea's northwest launch site, but some analysts are asking whether it's just a calculated bluff meant to jangle the Obama administration and influence South Korean voters ahead of Dec. 19 presidential elections in three weeks. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

FILE - In this April 8, 2012 file photo, North Korea's Unha-3 rocket stands at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. North Korea said Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 it will launch a long-range rocket between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22. The launch will heighten already strained tensions with South Korean ahead of its presidential election on Dec. 19. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 8, 2012 file photo, North Korea's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, stands at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. North Korea said Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 it will launch a long-range rocket between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22. The launch will heighten already strained tensions with South Korean ahead of its presidential election on Dec. 19. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korea is gearing up to fire a long-range rocket this month in a defiant move expected to raise the stakes of a global standoff over its missile and nuclear programs.

The North's announcement Saturday that it would launch the rocket between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22 came as President Barack Obama prepares for his second term and as South Korea holds a presidential election Dec. 19.

It would be North Korea's second launch attempt under leader Kim Jong Un, who took power following his father Kim Jong Il's death nearly a year ago. Some analysts have expressed skepticism that North Korea has corrected whatever caused the embarrassing misfire of its last rocket eight months ago. That launch earned the country widespread international condemnation.

A spokesman for North Korea's Korean Committee for Space Technology, however, said scientists have "analyzed the mistakes" made in the failed April launch and improved the precision of its Unha rocket and Kwangmyongsong satellite, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

The statement said the launch was a request of late leader Kim Jong Il. He died on Dec. 17, 2011, and North Koreans are expected to mark that date this year with some fanfare. The space agency said the rocket would be mounted with a polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite, and maintained its right to develop a peaceful space program.

Washington considers North Korea's rocket launches to be veiled covers for tests of technology for long-range missiles designed to strike the United States, and such tests are banned by the United Nations.

"A North Korean 'satellite' launch would be a highly provocative act," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in Washington, D.C. "Any North Korean launch using ballistic missile technology is in direct violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions."

In 2009, North Korea conducted rocket and nuclear tests within months of Obama taking office.

China, the North's main ally and aid provider, also expressed concerns about the launch. Beijing's Foreign Ministry on Sunday acknowledged North Korea's right to the peaceful use of outer space, but said that had to be harmonized with restrictions including those set by the U.N. Security Council.

North Korea has capable short- and medium-range missiles, but long-range launches in 1998, 2006, 2009 and in April of this year ended in failure. North Korea is not known to have succeeded in mounting an atomic bomb on a missile but is believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least half a dozen bombs, according to U.S. experts. In 2010 it revealed a uranium enrichment program that could provide a second source of material for nuclear weapons.

Six-nation negotiations on dismantling North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for aid fell apart in early 2009.

There has been some skepticism about whether North Korea will succeed.

"Preparing for a launch less than a year after a failure calls into question whether the North could have analyzed and fixed whatever went wrong," David Wright, a physicist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organization's website this week.

North Korea said it chose a safe flight path so debris won't endanger neighboring countries. But there are still concerns over falling debris, and Japan's defense minister issued an order to missile units to prepare to intercept the rocket if it or its fragments threaten to hit Japan.

The first stage of the rocket is expected to fall in the Yellow Sea and the second stage in waters east of the Philippines, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said Sunday. The official said Japanese officials provided the information after intercepting a North Korean-dispatched telex about the launch.

The message said North Korea plans to launch the rocket between 7 a.m. (2200 GMT) and noon (0300 GMT) during its planned launch window, the South Korean official said on condition of anonymity because of department rules.

South Korean officials have accused North Korea of trying to influence the South's presidential election with what they consider provocations meant to put pressure on voters and on the United States as the North seeks concessions. Conservative Park Geun-hye, the daughter of late President Park Chung-hee, is facing liberal Moon Jae-in in the South Korean presidential vote. Polls show the candidates in a close race.

North Korea is "working hard to influence the upcoming election. They may have a preferred candidate," South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in an interview with a small group of foreign reporters in the presidential Blue House. "Even if they test fire a missile, it will not have a big impact on the election," Lee said, speaking through an interpreter.

Lee gave the interview Thursday but his office embargoed the publication of his comments until Sunday.

North Korea under its young leader has pledged to bolster its nuclear arsenal unless Washington scraps what the North calls a "hostile" policy. North Korea maintains that it is building bombs to defend itself against what it sees as a U.S. nuclear threat in the region.

This year is the centennial of the birth of national founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of Kim Jong Un. According to North Korean propaganda, 2012 is meant to put the North on a path toward a "strong, prosperous and great nation."

"North Korea appears to be under pressure to redeem its April launch failure before the year of the 'strong, prosperous and great nation' ends," said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Dongguk University in Seoul.

He added that a successful rocket launch would raise North Korea's bargaining power with South Korea and the United States "because it means the country is closer to developing missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads."

Before its last two rocket launches, North Korea notified the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization about its intentions to launch. IMO spokeswoman Natasha Brown said that as of Friday the organization had not been notified by North Korea.

The North's announcement on Saturday comes two days after South Korea canceled what would have been the launch of its first satellite from its own territory. Scientists in Seoul cited technical difficulties. South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the North's planned launch is "a grave provocation and a head-on challenge to the international community."

North Korea's missile and nuclear programs will be a challenge for Obama in his second term and for the incoming South Korean leader. Washington's most recent attempt to negotiate a freeze of the North's nuclear program and a test moratorium in exchange for food aid collapsed with the April launch.

In Japan, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said he would coordinate with the U.S., South Korea, China and Russia in strongly urging the North to refrain from the rocket launch. Kyodo News agency said Japan also postponed high-level talks with North Korea scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned North Korea's launch plan, saying a failure by North Korea to cancel the firing will lead to a further response by the international community.

The Korean Peninsula remains in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Washington stations nearly 30,000 troops in South Korea as a buttress against any North Korean aggression. Tens of thousands more are in nearby Japan.

___

Associated Press writers Jean H. Lee, Hyung-jin Kim and Sam Kim in Seoul, Jill Lawless in London, Thomas Strong in Washington, D.C., and Elaine Kurtenbach in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-02-AS-NKorea-Rocket-Launch/id-7cb0f5bc572b4b11900ae7801ec66d5b

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Chiefs fans tailgate, mourn player murder-suicide

Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, left, and coach Romeo Crennel stand together before an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, left, and coach Romeo Crennel stand together before an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) ? Fans grilled, played catch and enjoyed beverages on an unseasonably warm and sunny day outside Arrowhead Stadium, a little more than 24 hours after a Chiefs player killed himself nearby after shooting his girlfriend.

The festive atmosphere masked some of the pain Chiefs fans felt after hearing that linebacker Jovan Belcher had killed 22-year-old Kasandra M. Perkins then driven to the team practice facility and turned the gun on himself, orphaning the couple's infant daughter.

Coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli tried to stop Belcher, but instead watched as he shot himself in the head.

Before kickoff, the crowd was asked to observe a moment of silence for victims of domestic violence and their families. There was no mention of Belcher.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-02-Chiefs-Scene/id-a702047e3ad34411a36d75ea8b0a10d1

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Astronomy and Space Sticker Book | Education & Reference

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Lawyer: Lohan not drinking, on drugs at arrest

Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

By Mark Malkin, E! Online

Despite what many may be assuming about Lindsay Lohan's state of mind when was arrested on assault charges early this morning at a New York City lounge, her lawyer insists she wasn't under the influence.?

"I can tell you when I was with her (Thursday) morning; she was in great condition," attorney Mark Heller tells E! News. "She was certainly not intoxicated, certainly not under the influence of drugs. She was clear (and) lucid, her eyes were clear. No alcohol involvement whatsoever on this occasion."

However, Heller said he didn't ask LiLo if she had been drinking or doing drugs at any point during the evening. "It wasn't even brought up," he said, adding, "She was perfectly appropriate. And the police made note of that."

Everything we know about Lindsay's latest arrest

Lohan is set to face formal charges at a Jan. 7 arraignment, but Heller believes he'll prove her innocence before then.

"We are going to be working very earnestly to establish that no charges should even be lodged," he said. "(The police) have already made arrangements to get the video from the ... club, which hopefully will reveal some exonerating information. After that, they could just walk away from the case and decline to even prosecute."

See all of LiLo's many mug shots here

Asked how the "Liz & Dick" star is doing right now, Heller said, "She's sleeping. She was up all night long and went through a very rough ordeal."

Related content:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2012/11/30/15568270-lindsay-lohan-not-under-the-influence-when-arrested-says-lawyer?lite

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Health officials: Athens has spiraling HIV crisis

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Athens is seeing an alarming increase in new HIV infections, particularly among intravenous drug users, health officials warned Friday, as Greece struggles through a protracted financial crisis in which funding for health care and drug treatment programs has been slashed.

While there were about 10-14 new HIV infections per year among Athens drug users from 2008 to 2010, that number shot up to 206 new cases last year and 487 new cases by October this year ? a 15-fold and 35-fold increase, respectively, officials said.

"There is no doubt we have a big and rapidly developing epidemic in Athens," Athens University epidemiology and preventive medicine professor Angelos Hatzakis said.

A total of 1,049 new cases of HIV infection were recorded in Greece in the first 10 months of this year, including the 487 drug users. Of the others, 256 were gay men, while 108 caught the virus through heterosexual intercourse, the figures showed.

"One of the reasons is the financial crisis," European Center for Disease Prevention and Control director Marc Sprenger said. "There are more people who are vulnerable, marginalized" and who use drugs.

They turn to cheaper drugs and turn to injecting instead of smoking in order to get the same high from a smaller quantity, officials said.

"We are very concerned," Sprenger said. "What we see now is this increase, and if you don't really pay attention to this, it will become in the future a really huge burden."

Greece has been hammered by a financial crisis since late 2009 that has left the country facing a sixth year of a deep recession and with a quarter of the workforce unemployed. The country relies on international rescue loans from other European countries that also use the euro and the International Monetary Fund to stay solvent.

But in return, the Greek government has imposed several rounds of spending cuts and tax hikes in an effort to reform its economy and reduce its mountainous debt. The cuts have affected health care spending, with many hospitals reporting shortages of basic material, while charities dealing with drug users and HIV sufferers have also struggled to find funds.

One of the main methods of prevention for the spread of the virus among drug users is the distribution of free, clean needles, officials said, and Greek programs have managed to increase the number of needles they hand out from 40 to about 50-60 per addict per year. But the actual number needed in order for the programs to be effective, ECDC officials said, is about 200 for each drug user per year.

"The cost of prevention to avoid HIV infection is significantly lower than that of treating those who become infected," Sprenger said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-11-30-Greece-HIV/id-d8e7ff6fbbce4a62a18d73f1206b04db

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Marvel Testing Actors for Guardians of the Galaxy

With the movie scheduled to come out on August 1, 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy is starting to cast up. First up is the role of Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, a half-human-half-alien space policeman who leads a rag-tagged group of super-powered beings against threats to the galaxy.

According to Deadline, Marvel has a shortlist of actors who the studio wants to test out for the role. Confirmed on the list are Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, Jim Sturgess, Lee Pace, and Eddie Redmayne. The site also heard there may be interest from/in Garrett Hedlund, James Marsden, and Sullivan Stapleton among others.

In the comics, there are over ten members belonging to the Guardians of the Galaxy, but Marvel may want to limit that number in the movie adaptation. If the concept art released by studio is any indication, the movie may focus on just five of the members: Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot.

If you've wondered which movie Thanos, the character seen in the ending credits of The Avengers, will show up, Guardians of the Galaxy seems to be the likely one.

James Gunn wrote the latest draft of the screenplay and is attached to direct the movie for Disney/Marvel.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1926352/news/1926352/

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