Syrian Leader’s Brother Seen as Enforcer of Crackdown

As reports mount of defections in the Syrian military and the government staggers from the killing of soldiers and police officers in a northern city this week, President Bashar al-Assad may turn increasingly to his brother, Maher, whose elite units in a demoralized army could prove decisive to his government’s survival, activists and analysts say.

Maher al-Assad heads the Syrian Army’s elite Fourth Division and Republican Guard, while wielding great influence in Syria’s powerful intelligence services, analysts say. In the nearly three-month uprising, he has emerged as a lightning rod of dissent over his perceived role in the ferocious crackdown that has led to the deaths of 1,300 people, by activists’ count, and the arrests of more than 10,000.

To many, Maher al-Assad’s power has underscored the narrow circle his brother presides over — a circle that relies on connections of clan, family and friendship, and that has proved far less tested by crisis than the ruling elite their father cultivated over three decades.

The president’s brother is so much at the center of that clique that many Syrians fervently believe he is the unidentified man who is shown taking potshots at demonstrators in a sensational video now in wide circulation.

Though neither the video nor the gunman’s identity could be independently verified, the fact that so many Syrians believe it to be he is a telling insight into the power and fear he has cultivated.

According to Bassam Bitar, a former Syrian diplomat who now lives in exile in Virginia, Maher al-Assad’s control of Syria’s security apparatus makes him “first in command, not second in command.”

Since childhood, Bashar al-Assad has had a reputation in his family as the weaker, more hesitant personality, Mr. Bitar said.

“Sometimes I think Bashar means it about reform,” Mr. Bitar said. “But his brother won’t take it.”

In many ways, Mr. Bitar said, the relationship between President Assad and his younger brother mirrors the relationship of their father, Hafez al-Assad, with his younger brother Rifaat, who served as the government enforcer and was the architect of the 1982 Hama massacre, in which at least 10,000 people were killed.

“If you look back at the uprising from ’79 to ’82, Rifaat was the nasty guy, the killer,” Mr. Bitar said. “And now history repeats itself, and Maher is a nasty guy.”

The bloody events this week seemed to have marked a decisive moment in an uprising that has posed the gravest challenge to the family’s 41-year rule.

On Monday, the government claimed that 120 soldiers and police officers had been killed in a town called Jisr al-Shoughour by armed gangs — a common euphemism for protesters. Some residents and opposition activists claimed some of the soldiers had been killed by their colleagues for defecting, though it was impossible to verify either account.

If the residents’ accounts are true, it would mark an extraordinary fissure in a government that has so far maintained the relative unity of the armed forces and the state in the face of the uprising. Though lower-level defections have been reported for weeks, nothing has approached the level of Monday’s bloodshed in Jisr al-Shoughour.

“Now there are clashes between the soldiers on one side and security men and young people on the other,” said Omar, 28, a resident there reached by phone on Monday night. “Tens of soldiers began to stand with civilian protesters and families. The civilians are presenting first aid to some soldiers who get shot by the secret police.”

Saeb Jamil, an organizer from Jisr al-Shoughour, said local people were providing logistical support to defecting army officers, helping them monitor the area, and accompanying them during their patrols. He said doctors and nurses had deserted the hospital on Tuesday, fearing reprisals from government forces. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, had fled the town, he said, many making their way toward the Turkish border.

“I transferred one member of the security forces to the national hospital in Jisr al-Shoughour yesterday after he was wounded during the confrontations,” Mr. Jamil said by phone. “He told us the intelligence officer ordered the forces to open fire at people but two of them refused, and he shot them. Then the defections started.”

'Someone, somewhere' provided support to Osama: Clinton

ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday that Pakistan urgently needed to take decisive steps against militancy and that relations between the two allies, tense since the killing of Osama bin Laden, had reached a turning point.

Clinton, the most senior US official to visit Pakistan since US Navy SEALS killed the al Qaeda leader this month, appeared to be trying to smooth over strains, repeating that there was no evidence that any senior Pakistani officials knew bin Laden's whereabouts.

But she also said she had asked President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani as well as Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani to do more to fight militants.

"This was an especially important visit because we have reached a turning point," Clinton told reporters, after meeting the Pakistani officials with US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen. "We look to Pakistan, to the government of Pakistan to take decisive steps in the days ahead.

"America cannot and should not solve Pakistan's problems. But in solving its problems, Pakistan should understand that anti-Americanism and conspiracy theories will not make problems disappear."

Clinton said Pakistani officials had told her "someone, somewhere" had been providing support for bin Laden in Pakistan, but reiterated there was no evidence of any sort of complicity by senior government officials.

Clinton has emphasised the need to continue working closely with Pakistan.

"This particular relationship with Pakistan is too critical and now is too critical a time to allow whatever differences we may still have with one another impede the progress we must still make together," Mullen told the news conference.

Pakistan fighting US war on terror: Imran

KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan said on Saturday that Pakistan was fighting America's war on terror which had not only claimed the lives of thousands of Pakistanis but also badly affected the country's economy.

"The war on terror is the war of the United States but our rulers have made it a war of Pakistan," he said while addressing a large sit-in staged at the Native Jetty bridge against drone strikes in the tribal areas.

Imran said that before 9/11 there was not a single Taliban militant in Pakistan but ever since the country joined the war, it had been facing acts of terrorism adding that the rulers have already "fixed the match" with the United States on drone strikes. "Stop drone strikes, or we will block Nato supplies to Afghanistan," the emotionally charged cricketer-turned politician declared from the stage.

He said that the PTI would announce its future line of action on Sunday (today), the last day of the protest. The PTI is against all types of terrorism and it has continuously raised its voice against the military operation in the tribal areas. This was not the way to fight terrorism as it had given birth to more terrorists in the country.

Due to the war on terror, he said, the country faced losses of up to $ 80 billion to the economy whereas it got only $ 20 billion from the US while President Asif Zardari himself admitted that due to the war on terror Pakistan suffered losses of up to $ 68 billions.

About 34,000 citizens have been killed and as many as 5,000 armed forces personnel have died in the war against terrorism.

He urged the government to say no to foreign donations/loans that were offered with serious strings attached to them. He said that about 0.4 million people have migrated from Waziristan due to fear and insecurity.

A dubious anniversary for hydrogen bomb

Friday marks the 55th anniversary of the United States dropping the first airborne hydrogen bomb on the Bikini atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The test was a success and symbolized a huge leap in the nuclear arms race.

According to the History Channel, people who witnessed the test remarked the resulting fireball "measured at least four miles in diameter and was brighter than the light from 500 suns."

In honor of the anniversary, LIFE.com has published a series of bomb-test photos that are both frightening and beautiful (see the full LIFE.com collection on the website). You can check out the images below, and see not just the fireballs and explosions, but also the bomb's impact on "test houses" and mannequins that researchers used to measure the bomb's terrifying power.

Difficult months ahead for U.S. and Israel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly told President Barack Obama on Friday his vision of how to achieve Middle East peace was unrealistic, exposing a deep divide that could doom any U.S. bid to revive peace talks.

In an unusually sharp rebuke to Israel's closest ally, Netanyahu insisted Israel would never pull back to its 1967 borders -- which would mean big concessions of occupied land -- that Obama had said should be the basis for negotiations on creating a Palestinian state.

"Peace based on illusions will crash eventually on the rocks of Middle East reality," an unsmiling Netanyahu said as Obama listened intently beside him in the Oval Office after they met for talks.

Netanyahu insisted that Israel was willing to make compromises for peace, but made clear he had major differences with Washington over how to advance the long-stalled peace process.

Netanyahu's resistance raises the question of how hard Obama will push for concessions he is unlikely to get, and whether the vision the U.S. leader laid out on Thursday to resolve the decades-old conflict will ever get off the ground.

Despite assurances of friendship by both leaders, this week's events also appeared to herald tense months ahead for U.S.-Israeli relations, even as the Arab world goes through political tumult and Palestinians prepare a unilateral bid this fall to seek U.N. General Assembly recognition for statehood.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Obama said he reiterated to Netanyahu the peace "principles" he offered on Thursday in a policy speech on the Middle East upheaval.

The goal, he said, "has to be a secure Israeli state, a Jewish state, living side by side in peace and security with a contiguous, functioning and effective Palestinian state.

Obama on Thursday embraced a long-sought goal by the Palestinians: that the state they seek in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip should largely be drawn along lines that existed before the 1967 war in which Israel captured those territories and East Jerusalem.

Netanyahu, who heads a right-leaning coalition, responded with what amounted to a history lecture about the vulnerability to attack that Israel faced with the old borders. "We can't go back to those indefensible lines," he said.

Picking a fight with Israel could be politically risky for Obama at home as he seeks re-election in 2012.

CRISIS IN RELATIONS

The brewing crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations dimmed even further the prospect for resuming peace talks that collapsed late last year when Palestinians walked away in a dispute over Israeli settlement building in the West Bank.

Obama and Netanyahu, meanwhile, appear to have reached an impasse after two and a half years of rocky relations. The Obama White House was angered when Netanyahu refused a U.S. demand to halt building Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Some Israelis have never felt entirely comfortable with Obama, unnerved by his early attempts to reach out to Iran and his support for popular Arab revolutions that have unsettled Israel.

In a pointed comment clearly aimed at Obama's new approach to the long-running conflict, Netanyahu said: "The only peace that will endure is one that is based on reality, on unshakable facts."

Netanyahu, Israeli officials said, was determined to push back hard because the reference to 1967 borders was a red flag that would attract more international pressure on Israel for concessions. A senior Israeli official said Netanyahu felt he had to speak bluntly so he would be "heard around the world."

"There is a feeling that Washington does not understand the reality, doesn't understand what we face," an official on board the plane taking Netanyahu to Washington told reporters.

Despite that, Obama's first declaration of his stance on the contested issue of borders could help ease doubts in the Arab world about his commitment to acting as an even-handed broker and boost his outreach to the region. Another failed peace effort, however, could fuel further frustration.

In line with Netanyahu's stance, Obama voiced opposition to the Palestinian plan to seek U.N. recognition of statehood in September in the absence of renewed peace talks.

The Democratic president has quickly come under fire from Republican critics, who accuse him of betraying Israel, the closest U.S. ally in the region. Pushing Netanyahu could alienate U.S. supporters of Israel as Obama seeks re-election.

Obama may get a chilly reception in a speech to an influential pro-Israel lobbying group on Sunday. Netanyahu is expected to be feted when he addresses the same audience on Monday and then the U.S. Congress on Tuesday.

MARKERS FOR COMPROMISE

Obama, in his speech on Thursday, laid down his clearest markers yet on the compromises he believes Israel and the Palestinians must make to resolve a conflict that has long been seen as a source of Middle East tension.

But he did not present a formal U.S. peace plan or any timetable for a deal he once promised to clinch by September.

In Thursday's speech, Obama said: "We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps" of land. While this has long been the private view in Washington, Obama went further than U.S. officials have in the recent past.

Agreed swaps would allow Israel to keep settlements in the West Bank in return for giving the Palestinians other land.

Popular wrestler Randy Savage dies

The Seminole fire department responded to the scene to provide medical care, and he was transported to Largo Memorial Hospital, where he died at 9:25 a.m. The incident remains under investigation and an autopsy will be performed over the weekend.

Savage’s wife, Barbara Lynn Poffo, who he had known from his days as a minor league baseball player in Florida, long before he met his famous first wife, Elizabeth Hulette, was also in the car. She suffered minor injuries.

Savage was best known in wrestling for a storyline that serves as a fond childhood memory to this day for wrestling fans, both lapsed and current.

It was a one-year plot which started at WrestleMania IV in 1988, in Atlantic City, N.J., when Hogan, who was taking time off wrestling for a movie role in real life, helped Savage “win” the finals of a tournament for the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) championship, beating “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase.

During the postmatch celebration, Savage gave Hogan a glare as Hogan was celebrating too closely with “The Lovely Elizabeth,” Savage’s real-life wife. The WWF teased tension between the two, who remained tag-team partners, throughout 1988 and into the following year.

It climaxed on a live NBC prime time TV special on Feb. 3, 1989, as Savage exploded with jealousy on a live NBC special and blamed Hogan for accidentally “injuring” Elizabeth, leading to the end of the team and a full-on rivalry in which Elizabeth sided with Hogan. The match drew a 9.7 Nielsen rating.

This led to an encounter at WrestleMania V, on April 2, 1989, also in Atlantic City, where Hogan defeated Savage and won the championship. At the time, it was the biggest pay-per-view wrestling event ever, doing more than 760,000 buys, a record that would stand until 2000, with the onset of the “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson era.

While Hulette and Savage had been married since 1984, a year before Savage joined the WWF, in 1991, the WWF promoted a storyline reconciliation between the two moments after Savage had lost a “retirement” match to “The Ultimate Warrior” at WrestleMania VII in Los Angeles. A storyline wedding between the two was held on PPV in Madison Square Garden a few months later.

But shortly after that mock wedding, the couple separated in real life and Elizabeth left the wrestling business for many years. They officially divorced in late 1992.

Hulette died on May 1, 2003, at the age of 42, while living in an Atlanta suburb with wrestling star Larry “Lex Luger” Pfohl, of an accidental overdose from a combination of drugs.

Savage’s other most famous match during wrestling’s 1980s golden era was on March 29, 1987, at WrestleMania III, before a then-pro wrestling record crowd of 78,000 at the Pontiac, Mich., Silverdome. While Hogan vs. Andre the Giant was the main event, Savage’s match with Ricky Steamboat over the Intercontinental title was generally considered the best WWF match of that era, a fast-paced, back-and-forth battle won by Steamboat.

From the late 1970s until the early ’90s, Savage was considered one of the great in-ring workers in the business. In his prime, he was a quick and fearless daredevil known for his intensity, which bordered on scary at times. His unique interviews were among the most recognizable in the industry, imitated by people in and out of wrestling to this day.

However, his national fame didn’t come until 1985 with WWF because his family ran a renegade wrestling promotion based out of Kentucky and were unofficially blacklisted from the mainstream of the industry for several years.

“I remember in 1980 when we were talking about new talent in St. Louis, and [promoter] Pat O’Connor told me, the best young talent in the business is Randy Savage, but we can’t use him,” remembered Larry Matysik, a longtime wrestling announcer and promoter out of St. Louis. Savage and his family sued the then-dominant National Wrestling Alliance at one point, claiming restraint of trade, but the case never went to trial as many of the key witnesses on the Poffo family side were hired away by NWA promoters.

In his early 40s, Savage was being phased out of in-ring competition by WWF promoter Vince McMahon Jr., and in 1994, he signed with rival World Championship Wrestling, following the lead of Hogan, who had signed there a few months earlier.

He was back in the ring as one of the major stars in that organization through 1999, including a period from the spring of 1996 through the spring of 1998 when it was the wrestling business’ leading promotion. By that point Savage had suffered a number of serious injuries from his years of high-flying, physical wrestling style. When his contract expired and the company, bleeding money by that time, didn’t offer him similar money for a new deal, he opted to leave the company.

Savage was intense and driven in everything he did. He played minor league baseball from 1971-74 in the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox farm systems. He wrestled during the offseason, often under a mask to hide his identity from his baseball employers, but sometimes under his real name, as part of a family unit with his father, Angelo, and brother Lanny.

An outfielder, after he blew out his right shoulder, making him unable to throw with any force, he taught himself to throw left-handed in an attempt to continue his career.

“I saw his tryout with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1971,” remembered Matysik. “Man, he could hit. He was a little squirt, I don’t think he was more than 165 pounds at the time.”

He batted .232 with nine home runs and 66 RBIs in his final season of pro ball, with Tampa of the Class-A Florida State League, before turning his attention full time to wrestling.

Savage also appeared as an actor in a number of television shows, often playing himself. His best known role, of course, was as the legendary Slim Jim pitchman, but he also played the role of wrestler Bonesaw McGraw in the 2002 “Spider-Man” movie.

World Wrestling Entertainment released an official statement on Friday afternoon.

“WWE is saddened to learn of the passing of one of the greatest superstars of his time, Randy Poffo, aka Randy “Macho Man” Savage. Poffo was under contract with WWE from 1985 to 1993 and held both the WWE and Intercontinental championships. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends. We wish a speedy recovery to his wife Lynn. Poffo will be greatly missed by WWE and his fans.”

Family stumbles on small fortune in attic

SALT LAKE CITY – When Josh Ferrin closed on his family's first home, he never thought he'd make the discovery of a lifetime — then give it back.

Ferrin picked up the keys earlier this week and decided to check out the house in the Salt Lake City suburb of Bountiful. He was excited to finally have a place his family could call their own.

As he walked into the garage, a piece of cloth that clung to an attic door caught his eye. He opened the hatch and climbed up the ladder, then pulled out a metal box that looked like a World War II ammunition case.

"I freaked out, locked it my car, and called my wife to tell her she wouldn't believe what I had found," said Ferrin, who works as an artist for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City.

Then he found seven more boxes, all stuffed full with tightly wound rolls of cash bundled together with twine — more than $40,000.

Ferrin quickly took the boxes to his parent's house to count. Along with his wife and children, they spread out thousands of bills on a table, separating the bundles one by one.

They stopped counting at $40,000, but estimated there was at least $5,000 more on the table.

Ferrin thought about how such a large sum of money could go a long way, pay bills, buy things he never thought he could afford.

"I'm not perfect, and I wish I could say there was never any doubt in my mind. We knew we had to give it back, but it doesn't mean I didn't think about our car in need of repairs, how we would love to adopt a child and aren't able to do that right now, or fix up our outdated house that we just bought," Ferrin said. "But the money wasn't ours to keep and I don't believe you get a chance very often to do something radically honest, to do something ridiculously awesome for someone else and that is a lesson I hope to teach to my children."

He thought about the home's previous owner, Arnold Bangerter, who died in November and left the house to his children.

"I could imagine him in his workshop. From time to time, he would carefully bundle up $100 with twine, climb up into his attic and put it into a box to save. And he didn't do that for me," Ferrin said of the man who had worked as a biologist for the Utah Department of Fish and Game.

Bangerter purchased the home in 1966 and lived there with his wife, who died in 2005.

After most of the money was counted, Ferrin called one of Bangerter's sons with the news.

Kay Bangerter said he knew his father hid away money because he once found a bundle of cash taped beneath a drawer in their home, but he never considered his dad had stuffed away so much over the years.

"He grew up in hard times and people that survived that era didn't have anything when they came out of it unless they saved it themselves," Kay Bangerter, the oldest of the six children, told the Deseret News. "He was a saver, not a spender."

Spain protesters defy ban to remain in Madrid square

MADRID: Tens of thousands of Spanish protesters have defied a government ban and camped out overnight in a square in the capital, Madrid.

The protesters are angry with the government's economic policies and have occupied the square for the past week.

The protest began six days ago in Madrid's Puerta del Sol as a spontaneous sit-in by young Spaniards frustrated at 45% youth unemployment and observed silence for a minute.
The crowd has grown to some 25,000 in the capital and has spread to cities across the country. Hundreds have camped out each night in Madrid.

They are demanding jobs, better living standards, a fairer system of democracy and changes to the Socialist government's austerity plans.

As the midnight deadline to disperse approached, many of the protesters wore tape over their mouths to imply they felt they were being prevented from speaking.

Bin Laden's Final Audio Tape Praises Arab Spring

Osama Bin Laden's final voice recording - that we know of - was released in the days following his death at the hands of U.S. Navy SEALS. The audio tape, reportedly about 12 minutes long, addresses the various uprisings that have occurred across the Middle East in recent months.

In the tape, Bin Laden said:

"The sun of the revolution has risen from the Maghreb. The light of the revolution came from Tunisia. It has given the nation tranquility and made the faces of the people happy. To the Muslim nation -- we are watching with you this great historic event and share with you the joy and happiness. Congratulations for your victories and may God grant your martyrs mercy, your injured recovery and your prisoners freedom."

And while the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt were driven primarily because of government corruption and mismanagement along with the people's desire for a more democratic government, Bin Laden didn't really address those aspects. Instead, he simply praised the people who came together to overthrow the "tyrants".

Bin Laden made specific references to Tunisia and Egypt, but didn't address the ongoing unrest in Libya, Syria and Yemen, among others. It's unclear if Bin Laden envisioned a more welcoming climate for al Qaeda among the yet-to-be-formed new governments, but he was clearly optimistic about the revolutions that had been brought forth by the people.

I will go back to TV, Says Priyanka Chopra

MUMBAI: Former Miss World and Bollywood heartthrob Priyanka Chopra said, “I will go back to TV again," Geo News reported.

In an interview to Indian media she said, “I have no regrets that I couldn't make it this year. I wanted to do something different last year and KKK was presented to me. I had the time and I did it. This year I am very busy with shooting for five diverse films, which I am enjoying thoroughly," she added.

Talking about her failure in hosting Khatron Kay Khilaro, Priyanka said that she wanted to do some other program on TV, but this program kept before her.

Priyanka said that she has five of her films on the sets this year, which has kept her extremely busy and later sometime, she would be able to give time for the TV.

Somebody knew about Osama in Pakistan: Clinton

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that it was not proven that anybody at the top of the government in Pakistan knew bin Ladin's whereabouts, but it seems likely that somebody did know.

In an interview with the American TV, Clinton referring her first visit to Pakistan tells that she said, "It's hard to believe that somebody in your government somewhere - and it could be some very low-level person - doesn't know where he is."

Replying a question, Secretary of State said that Bin Ladin was their primary target, adding that United States had made it clear they would go after those who had attacked them.

She said, "President Barack Obama had made a gutsy decision. We were very pleased that the operation succeeded. And we've made it clear to people around the world that if we locate someone who has been part of the al Qaida leadership, then you get him or we will get him."

Obama to highlight opportunities in post-bin Laden era, Arab spring

In what's being billed as a major address, President Obama will give a foreign policy speech at the State Department Thursday. He is expected to outline his vision of the sweeping changes under way in the Middle East and North Africa and what they mean for the United States. The address will also herald the closing of the tumultuous decade following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as the war in Iraq winds down and war against terrorism recedes from center stage in the wake of Osama bin Laden's killing.

Obama "views the situation in…the Middle East and North Africa as a real moment of opportunity for America and for Americans," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One Wednesday in response to questions about tomorrow's speech.

"In the last decade, our focus in the region was largely on Iraq, which was a military effort, and on the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the fight against al Qaeda," Carney continued.

While the fight against al Qaeda continues, Carney said, "there is an opportunity in that region to focus on advancing our values and enhancing our security, and that's what the president looks forward to discussing tomorrow in his speech."

Even the choice of venue for the speech—the seat of U.S. diplomacy—signals the Obama administration's emphasis on a more diplomatic, less militarized U.S. engagement with the region.

Obama is also supposed to propose significant U.S. and international economic assistance to support fledgling Arab democracies, in particular in Egypt and Tunisia.

The speech is expected to be a forum for the administration "to say, look, this is an opportunity to finally turn the page on the post-9/11 decade," said Marc Lynch, a Middle East expert at George Washington University. "I will be surprised if they don't say something along the lines of—just as we said in Cairo [in Obama's June 2009 speech to the Arab world]—we want a relationship with the people of the Middle East, not just based on terrorism, but on mutual interest and respect."

Lynch also predicted Obama would emphasize that the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring, which displaced repressive regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, while sparking similar pro-democracy protests throughout Arab world—are "being driven by the people of the region. It's not about us."

"The big difference in the DNA of these [Obama] guys and the Bush people is, the Bush people had a U.S.-centric view: that nothing happens in the world if the United States is not at the center of it," Lynch said. The Obama administration "believes the United States has an important role to play, but is not the driver."

In the context of the Arab Spring, "one of the biggest challenges of the speech will be explaining to Americans that this is not primarily about us," agreed Heather Hurlburt, a former Clinton administration speechwriter. "It is about aspirations we recognize," said Hurlburt, who is now executive director of the progressive National Security Network, "but it is not going to happen on our timetable."

Hurlburt suggests that Obama will use his remarks to "connect what is about us—our security and values, and our enduring interests vis a vis Israel, etc. with what is not about us, in terms of the pace, structure and form of change."

Jailed IMF chief resigns amid scandal

WASHINGTON – Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the embattled managing director of International Monetary Fund, has resigned, saying he wanted to devote "all his energy" to battle the sexual assault charges he faces in New York.

The IMF's executive board released a letter from the French executive Wednesday in which he denied the allegations lodged against him but said that with "sadness" he felt he must resign. He said he was thinking of his family and he wanted to protect the IMF.

"It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today to present to the executive board my resignation from my post of managing director of the IMF," the five-paragraph letter said. "I think at this time first of my wife — whom I love more than anything — of my children, of my family, of my friends. I think also of my colleagues at the Fund. Together we have accomplished such great things over the last three years and more.

"To all, I want to say that I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me. I want to protect this institution which I have served with honor and devotion, and especially — especially — I want to devote all my strength, all my time and all my energy to proving my innocence."

Strauss-Kahn, who faced increasing international pressure to quit, announced his decision on the eve of a bail hearing Thursday that could have spelled the end of his leadership of the IMF anyway. He faces charges of assaulting a maid in a New York hotel room.

The maid, a 32-year-old immigrant from the West African nation of Guinea, told police that the 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn came out of the bathroom naked, chased her down, forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear before she broke free and fled the room.

Strauss-Kahn is jailed in New York City.

REUTERS/New York State/Handout

The IMF's statement late Wednesday said the process of choosing a new leader would begin, but in the meantime John Lipsky would remain acting managing director.

The dividing lines are sharpening in a dispute over whether someone from a rich or an emerging economy should lead the IMF.

Europe is aggressively staking its traditional claim to the top position. But fast-growing nations such as China, Brazil and South Africa are trying to break Europe's grip on an organization empowered to direct billions of dollars to stabilize the global economy.

Europeans have led the IMF since its inception after World War II. Americans have occupied both the No. 2 position at the IMF and the top post at its sister institution, the World Bank. The World Bank funds projects in developing countries.

Europe has "an abundance of highly qualified candidates" to lead the IMF, German government spokesman Christoph Steegmans declared Wednesday. He also noted the relevance of having a European at the helm, to deal with the debt problems that have racked the eurozone.

France's European affairs minister signaled backing for Steegmans' position on Wednesday.

"The big question now is: what role for Europe at the IMF, and the (German) chancellor has expressed that very clearly," Laurent Wauquiez told Germany's ZDF television. "Who is the biggest contributor? Europe. So we should still play an important role."

Steegmans didn't name any potential candidates or say whether Germany might propose one. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel, along with the finance ministers of Sweden and the Netherlands, have pressed Europe's case for the IMF leadership.

Still, developing nations see Europe's stranglehold on the position as increasingly out of touch with the world economy. China's is now the world's second largest economy. India's and Brazil's have cracked the top 10. Many emerging economies are sitting on stockpiles of cash and have become forces of financial stability, while rich countries have become weighed down by debt.

"We must establish meritocracy, so that the person leading the IMF is selected for their merits and not for being European," Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said, calling for a "new criteria" for leadership. "You can have a competent European ... but you can have a representative from an emerging nation who is competent as well."

China suggested it was time to shake things up at the IMF, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu saying the leadership "should be based on fairness, transparency and merit."

It remains unclear which way the United States is leaning. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had said Tuesday that Strauss-Kahn is "obviously not in a position" to run the IMF, escalating pressure on the 62-year-old economist.

The United States has a major say in determining who will head the fund, in part because it holds the largest number of votes. The prevailing view among analysts and former Treasury officials appears to be that Washington would back a strong European candidate who could be approved in a smooth process.

"It's kind of not our fight," said Phillip Swagel, a Treasury official in the George W. Bush administration. "There are very good reasons to have a forceful, prominent European head of IMF."

On May 21, the world will end!

NEW YORK: It's raining in New York, and everyone tries to get out of the rain. Not Manny. The 56-year old Dominican, unflappable, stands on a corner with his umbrella, warning people that on Saturday, May 21, the world will end.

All over New York, preachers armed with T-shirts, brochures, books and posters are preaching the end of the world. Using a complex numerical calculation from the Bible, there are even advertisements on the New York city subway warning of the "great earthquake" that accompanies the advent of Judgement Day.

"According to the Bible, in the Book of Revelations there will be a worldwide earthquake," Manny told said. "We're not sure if it will happen at the same time everywhere, because times are different. But it is supposed to happen simultaneously around the world," he said.

The date of May 21, 2011 may seem random, but it is based on a numerical analysis by the American, Harold Camping, the president of Family Radio, a religious broadcaster based in California.

"According to Genesis, when the flood occurred in the year 4990, God told Noah that in seven days he would destroy the earth," Manny explained. "And he destroyed it in seven days.

"But Peter said: 'I know that one day for me is like a thousand years.' So 4990 plus 7001 years (the equivalent of seven days) equals 2011," he explained.

Not only that, May 21 coincides with the 17th day of the second month of the calendar used during the Biblical flood, according to Camping.

Nearby the corner where Manny is prophesying, Borce, 43, is handing out leaflets and explaining to anyone who will listen that they have a few hours left to find salvation.

"Right now there is still salvation, but when May 21st gonna come, the salvation program is finished, God gonna shut the door, and after that only five months remain for the unsaved of the world, and they're gonna be suffering and on the 21st October, God gonna destroy this world with fire," Borce said.

If Manny and Borce are out on the noisy New York City streets everyday spreading the word, they are planning to be in a quieter place when the fateful moment arrives.

"Until Friday, I gonna still pray for God for mercy. Saturday I'll be at home, just watching the news, because the doors will be shut," said Borce, who is American.

"I will kneel and ask God's mercy to see if he can save me, because God wants salvation for everyone," said Manny, who was at his side.

Study urges three-year gap in cervical cancer test

WASHINGTON: Healthy women over 30 who test negative for human papilloma viruses (HPV) may be able to safely extend the period between gynecological exams from every year to three years, said a US study Wednesday.

"Our results are a formal confirmation that the three-year follow-up is appropriate and safe for women who have a negative HPV and normal test result," said lead study author Hormuzd Katki.

The study followed 331,818 women who enrolled in a northern California testing program by Kaiser Permanente between 2003 and 2005, and followed them for five years.

Among women who had a normal Pap smear and tested negative for HPV, which can cause cervical cancer, the five-year cancer risk was "very low: 2.3 per 100,000 women per year," it said.

During a Pap smear, which all women should get annually, a doctor collects a sample of tissue from the woman's cervix and sends it to a lab for examination and to check for any abnormal cells.

A separate test for HPV is also done during a woman's annual gynecological appointment. It often uses the same cell sample but looks specifically for signs of the virus.

HPV is sexually transmitted and most of the time the body can clear it on its own.

However, in some cases the infection remains and can eventually lead to cervical cancer.

Women over 30 who test positive for HPV are usually retested in six months to see if the infection has cleared.

The researchers said that when comparing the two tests, the HPV test alone "identified more women at high risk for cervical cancer than Pap tests."

"These results also suggest that an HPV-negative test result alone could be enough to give a high level of security for extending the testing interval to every three years," said Katki.

Pak-China trade volume to reach $15bn: PM Gilani

BEIJING: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday highlighted the importance of closer Pak-China economic integration and aimed at increasing the bilateral trade volume up to 15 billion dollars.

"Our bilateral trade touched dollars 9 billion last year. However, the scope of further growth is immense. Our two countries have set a target of attaining 15 billion dollar trade in the coming years", he said.

"The idea is not only to develop mutually-beneficial bilateral economic cooperation but also to jointly promote intra-regional and trans-regional development partnerships", Gilani told the corporate leaders and CEOs of the large business and industrial houses in China while speaking at the China-Pakistan Entrepreneurs Forum here.

While addressing the forum, the Prime Minister also said Pakistan and China have touched several important landmarks in the development of bilateral economic and trade relationship.

He termed Pakistan-China Free Trade Agreement as a comprehensive arrangement that covered goods, services and investments.

The Forum was co-hosted by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing.

The Prime Minister, who is in China on a four-day official visit during which he also held talks with Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday, welcomed the establishment of China-Pakistan Entrepreneurs Forum and said this will further strengthen and facilitate exchanges between both countries business communities.

He said closer economic integration between Pakistan and China was not only "a strategic imperative but accords fully with the dictates of geography; the concept of shared prosperity; and, above all, the ethos of our peoples."

The Prime Minister said Pakistan and China are good friends and close neighbours, adding, "our all-weather friendship is deeply imprinted on the hearts and minds of our people."

He said celebrating the "Pakistan-China Friendship Year' and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations depicted the spirit of brotherhood and renewed resolve to taking our friendship and strategic cooperative partnership to ever new heights.

"The bonds that tie our two peoples together have withstood the test of time. While strong winds of political change have swept across our region and beyond, Pakistan-China friendship has stood steady as a rock", he remarked.

Gilani said Pakistan-China friendship continues to strengthen with every passing day, adding, "Our partnership has assumed a regional and international dimension. We consult, cooperate and coordinate our respective endeavours for the cause of global peace and prosperity."

He said Pakistan and China rightly take pride in how far they have come together. "The enthusiasm on display in both countries, as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, is genuinely felt and expressed by our two peoples", he added.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan takes inspiration from China's economic transformation that is unparalleled in human history. It has been brought about by the genius and hard work of the talented Chinese people under their wise and sagacious leadership, he added.

He said it is a matter of great satisfaction that economy, technology and trade cooperation between Pakistan and China has witnessed new dynamism, adding, "These are the three most important drivers in the robust growth of our friendship and all-dimensional cooperative partnership."

Gilani recalled and termed Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Pakistan in December last as another landmark in the long and glorious history of Pakistan-China friendship during which the two sides took important decisions and set out a shared economic and trade agenda.

"It was agreed that corporate sector must play a leading role and the two governments must provide a facilitative framework for the flourishing of a mutually - beneficial economic partnership", he added.

Gilani said the establishment of Pakistan-China Trans-border Economic Zone; upgrading avenues for trade, overland across shared mountains and rivers; steps being taken towards integrated border management; and other related measures, including customs harmonization would enable both Pakistan and China to bring to play and optimally utilize the natural economic complementarities of the two countries.

In the domain of finance and banking, he mentioned the establishment of Pakistan-China Investment Company.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is beginning its operations in Pakistan and has opened branches in Islamabad and Karachi, he said and added the Central Banks of Pakistan and China are now discussing concepts such as the Currency Swap Arrangement.

"This and other related measures will not only facilitate economic interaction but also provide the requisite incentives for the corporate leaders to enter into mutually-beneficial joint ventures", he added.

Prime Minister Gilani said as China diversifies its economy, with special emphasis on the development of its Western regions as well as shifts to high technology, the economic factors would make it attractive for the Chinese industry to relocate and establish their manufacturing base in Pakistan.

He said Pakistan is a developing country and its strategic priority is development, adding, Pakistan is developing its infrastructure that includes not only upgrading our rail and road links but also building new cities, airports and expressways.

"We are rich in natural resources, which we ought to explore and develop for our economic growth. Our economic fundamentals and growth potential are enormous", he remarked.

Gilani said hundreds of Chinese corporations and thousands of Chinese friends are already working in Pakistan, adding, "We highly appreciate their endeavours and hard work that is contributing immensely to Pakistan's economic development."

The Prime Minister said there is great potential for the participation of Chinese corporations in the development of the energy sector in Pakistan, which includes hydel, thermal and renewable.

"Joint ventures, with equity participation of Chinese corporations and financial institutions, can transform Pakistan's economic landscape and would certainly prove to be a win-win scenario", he remarked.

Gilani said Pakistan and China have renewed the joint Five Year Economic and Trade Programme, adding, projects, which are commercially feasible, would qualify for easy credits and such facilitation, as may be required, by both governments.

"I would strongly urge that the whole range of facilitative frameworks already agreed between our two governments, may be studied closely by the Chinese and Pakistani entrepreneurs so that they could avail themselves of the immense possibilities of cooperation that is mutually advantageous", he added.

Pakistan's Ambassador in China Masood Khan, Chairman Trade evelopment Authority of Pakistan Tariq Puri and the Vice Chairman CCPIT also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the need and importance of increased business to business interaction between the two friendly countries.

How to retire without retirement savings

No way! You'll just have to be resourceful, and make the best use of the assets you have. Let me offer an example of how you can be creative to have a good retirement.

Suppose you're part of a married couple, both age 60, you're earning about $75,000 per year, and you've earned a similar amount throughout your career, adjusted for average growth in wages. Also suppose your spouse had sporadic earnings and will be relying on the Social Security spouse's benefit based on your earnings record.

In this case, your Social Security income at age 66, which is your Full Retirement Age (FRA), will be roughly $2,000 per month. Your spouse would receive an additional $1,000 per month at his or her FRA for a combined income of $3,000 per month, or $36,000 per year. Now consider a move that may sound radical, but is also quite practical: consider hooking up with another like-minded couple in a similar situation, finding a nice three-bedroom house, and living together. Your combined income will be $72,000 per year.

Beating the Averages

This $72,000 income amount is higher than the national average annual income of $62,857 for household units in 2009, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, or the median household income for all American family units of $50,221, as reported for 2009 by the U.S. Census Bureau. It's also higher than the average annual expenditures of $49,067 as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2009 for all U.S. household units.

So if an average American family can live on less than $72,000 per year, I'm betting that two resourceful married couples can do the same. And remember that all this Social Security income will be increased for inflation, and that retirees pay less income taxes on Social Security income than taxes paid on wages earned by working Americans.

And there are a number of ways your situation can get better. First, if you delay taking your Social Security income until age 70, your monthly income would increase to $2,640 per month. There's no reason for your spouse to delay taking benefits beyond age 66, since there's no delayed retirement credit that increases the spouse's income. In this case, you'd want to file and suspend your Social Security income at age 66, so your spouse can start the $1,000 monthly spousal benefit income at age 66. When you reach age 70 and you begin taking your Social Security benefits, your combined income will be $3,640 per month, or $43,680 per year. If both married couples did this, their combined income would be $87,360 per year.

It can get even better if both couples start saving like crazy now, and between them save $2,000 per month. If they do that for 10 years, they will have accumulated a little over $150,000 (assuming they earn 5 percent annually on their savings). If they decide to start drawing on that savings for additional income, it could generate $6,000 per year if they withdraw just 4 percent of their savings, and $7,500 per year if they withdraw 5 percent.

Don't Spend it All in One Place

However, I'd suggest they keep this savings invested for the inevitable day when one or more of them die and they lose the resulting Social Security income. In the example above, if either the wage earner or the spouse dies, then the spousal benefit of $1,000 per month stops, and the wage-earner's income continues for the remaining life of the surviving spouse. This amount was $2,000 per month if the wage-earner started benefits at age 66 and $2,640 per month if the benefit started at age 70.

I'd also suggest that this pair of couples make every attempt to spend less than their combined Social Security income and save as much as possible, because it's inevitable that one or more of them will need some form of long-term care. They may be able to take care of the first person needing care, but eventually they won't be able to do this on their own and they'll need to pay for additional help of some kind.

I also recommend they make a pact to be as healthy as possible, to reduce the money they'll spend on medical and long-term care bills. All of them can encourage each other to get daily exercise, such as walking together after dinner. They can share meal responsibilities, making healthy food they can all share. They might band together to grow their own food in a vegetable garden. They could share resources, such as appliances, cars, furniture, etc. They could start their retirement with a giant yard sale to get rid of the furniture and appliances they don't need -- that would garner even more savings. In short, they've formed a commune!

Finally, if one or both of the couples own homes that can be rented, they should do so in order to generate additional income. And the home equity could be tapped if and when one or more of these retirees needs long-term care.

Man who ate human liver with potatoes

MOSCOW: Russian police said they had detained a man who was caught eating an acquaintance's liver.

Police tracked down the suspect after a trail of severed body parts including limbs and a head were found across Moscow.

"When the police came to arrest the suspect, he was eating a human liver with potatoes," a police spokeswoman for the Moscow's western district said by telephone.

The rest of the human liver was found in a refrigerator in the suspect's flat. The police spokeswoman said the cause of the acquaintance's death was not clear.

The suspect "admitted his crime and that he had eaten part of his acquaintance's liver," the prosecutor general's main investigative unit said in a statement. (Reuters)