Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.

Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they cheered and sparked up in unison.

A few dozen people gathered on a sidewalk outside the north Seattle headquarters of the annual Hempfest celebration and did the same, offering joints to reporters and blowing smoke into television news cameras.

"I feel like a kid in a candy store!" shouted Hempfest volunteer Darby Hageman. "It's all becoming real now!"

Washington and Colorado became the first states to vote to decriminalize and regulate the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by adults over 21. Both measures call for setting up state licensing schemes for pot growers, processors and retail stores. Colorado's law is set to take effect by Jan. 5.

Technically, Washington's new marijuana law still forbids smoking pot in public, which remains punishable by a fine, like drinking in public. But pot fans wanted a party, and Seattle police weren't about to write them any tickets.

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

The mood was festive in Seattle as dozens of gay and lesbian couples got in line to pick up marriage licenses at the King County auditor's office early Thursday.

King County and Thurston County announced they would open their auditors' offices shortly after midnight Wednesday to accommodate those who wanted to be among the first to get their licenses.

Kelly Middleton and her partner Amanda Dollente got in line at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Hours later, as the line grew, volunteers distributed roses and a group of men and women serenaded the waiting line to the tune of "Chapel of Love."

Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that weddings can take place is Sunday.

In dealing with marijuana, the Seattle Police Department told its 1,300 officers on Wednesday, just before legalization took hold, that until further notice they shall not issue citations for public marijuana use.

Officers will be advising people not to smoke in public, police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee wrote on the SPD Blotter. "The police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a 'Lord of the Rings' marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to."

He offered a catchy new directive referring to the film "The Big Lebowski," popular with many marijuana fans: "The Dude abides, and says 'take it inside!'"

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

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

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

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

"The department's responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," said a statement issued Wednesday by the Seattle U.S. attorney's office. "Neither states nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress."

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

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

Alison Holcomb is the drug policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and served as the campaign manager for New Approach Washington, which led the legalization drive. She said the voters clearly showed they're done with marijuana prohibition.

"New Approach Washington sponsors and the ACLU look forward to working with state and federal officials and to ensure the law is fully and fairly implemented," she said.

___

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

Read More..

Australian DJs Behind Prank Call Under Fire

An outpouring of anger is being directed today at the two Australian radio hosts after the death of a nurse who was caught in the DJs' prank call to hospital where Kate Middleton was treated earlier this week.

Lord Glenarthur, the chairman of King Edward VII's Hospital - the U.K. hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was receiving treatment, condemned the prank in a letter to the Max Moore-Wilton, chairman of Southern Cross Austereo, the Australian radio station's parent company.

Glenarthur said the prank humiliated "two dedicated and caring nurses," and the consequences were "tragic beyond words," The Associated Press reported.

DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, radio shock jocks at Sydney's 2Day FM have been taken off the air, but the company they work for did not fire them or condemn them.

"I think that it's a bit early to be drawing conclusions from what is really a deeply tragic matter," Rhys Holleran, CEO of Southern Cross Austereo told a news conference in Sydney. "I mean, our main concern is for the family. I don't think anyone could have reasonably foreseen that this was going to be a result."

Nurse Jacintha Saldanha was found dead Friday morning after police were called to an address near the hospital to "reports of a woman found unconscious," according to a statement from Scotland Yard.

Circumstances of her death are still being investigated, but are not suspicious at this stage, authorities said Friday.

Following news of Saldanha's death, commentary on social media included posts expressing shock, sadness and anger.

Nurse Duped by 'Queen's' Prank Call Found Dead Watch Video

Jacintha Saldanha, Nurse at Kate Middleton's Hospital, Found Dead Watch Video

A sampling of some of the twitter posts directed at the DJs included: "you scumbag, hope you get what's coming to you" and "I hope you're happy now."

The hospital said that Saldanha worked at the hospital for more than four years. They called her a "first-class nurse" and "a well-respected and popular member of the staff."

The hospital extended their "deepest sympathies" to family and friends, saying that "everyone is shocked" at this "tragic event."

"I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jacintha in tragic circumstances, she will be laid to rest in Shirva, India," Saldanha's husband posted on Facebook.

The duchess spent three days at the hospital undergoing treatment for hyperemesis gravidarum, severe or debilitating nausea and vomiting. She was released from the hospital on Thursday morning.

"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha," a spokesman from St. James Palace said in a statement.

On Friday, Greig and Christian had been gloating about their successful call to the hospital, in which they pretended to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles and were able to obtain personal information about the Duchess's serious condition.

"You know what they were the worst accents ever and when we made that phone call we were sure a hundred people at least before us would have tried the same thing," said Grieg on air. She added with a laugh, "we were expecting to be hung up on we didn't even know what to say [when] we got through."

"We got through and now the entire world is talking, of course," said her co-host Christian.

When the royal impersonators called the hospital, Saldanha put through to a second nurse who told the royal impersonators that Kate was "quite stable" and hadn't "had any retching."

The hospital apologized for the mistake.

"The call was transferred through to a ward, and a short conversation was held with one of the nursing staff," the hospital said in a statement. "King Edward VII's Hospital deeply regrets this incident."

"This was a foolish prank call that we all deplore," John Lofthouse, the hospital's chief executive, said in the statement. "We take patient confidentiality extremely seriously, and we are now reviewing our telephone protocols."

The radio station also apologized for the prank call.

Read More..

Egypt struggle seen costing Mursi, even if he wins

CAIRO (Reuters) - The crisis unleashed by President Mohamed Mursi's bid to wrap up Egypt's transition on his own terms has eroded his nation's faith in their nascent democracy and will complicate the already unenviable task of government.

His effort to drive through a constitution against the wishes of major sections of society, including a Christian minority, has damaged prospects for building consensus needed to tackle challenges ahead, such as fixing a broken economy.

Having promised to be a president for all, Mursi stands accused of putting the interests of his group, the Muslim Brotherhood, ahead of others who say their aspirations are not reflected in the draft to be put to a December 15 referendum.

On the other side, suspicions harbored by Islamists towards their secular-minded opponents have only deepened as a result of the turmoil ignited by Mursi's effort to fast-track the final stage of the transition from Hosni Mubarak's rule.

With the more extreme among them opposed to the very notion of democracy, the Islamists say their rivals are not respecting the rules of the game that put them in the driving seat by winning free and fair elections.

People anxious to see Egypt recover from two years of turbulence fear bad blood could persist and squash hopes for cooperation needed to help Mursi rule smoothly and deliver much-needed reforms.

"If they succeed in the referendum, they will see that as a step forward, but not without cost," said a Western diplomat.

Though Mursi won international praise for mediating a truce in Gaza, the violence on his own streets worries the West and particularly the United States, which has given Cairo billions of dollars in military and other aid since Egypt made peace with Israel in 1979. U.S. President Barack Obama told Mursi on Thursday of his "deep concern" about casualties during protests.

A victim of the polarization could be the Brotherhood's plans to forge electoral alliances with liberals in forthcoming parliamentary polls. The head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party told Reuters this week he saw such alliances as preferable to an ideological tie-up with other Islamists.

The divisions are now playing out in the streets. Seven people were killed and hundreds wounded this week in clashes between Islamists and their rivals. A call by Mursi for dialogue was rebuffed by activists who are to protest again on Friday.

"We said that this state of polarization, if it was not dealt with properly, would reach this point, and it has," said Ayman Al-Sayyad, who quit his post as a Mursi adviser on Wednesday following an eruption of violence.

"This was the scene that we were trying to avoid," he added in an interview with al-Hayat television.

The inclusive image Mursi had tried to build around his administration was one of the first victims of the crisis that mushroomed following a November 22 decree that expanded his powers and protected his decisions from judicial review.

RESIGNATIONS

A Christian and a woman were among the first to resign from his staff, as surprised by the decree as most Egyptians. Despite an early bout of violence, Mursi showed no sign of wavering and appeared to brush off his critics.

"I see things more than they do," he told Time.

With speculation swirling around how he took the decision, Egyptians long suspicious of the Brotherhood have concluded Mursi is running the country at the group's command.

In response, the Islamists complain that many of Mursi's attempts at outreach were rebuffed early on. Their view of the opposition has grown dimmer through the crisis. Brotherhood members have started to dismiss opponents as "feloul", meaning "remnants" - a pejorative implying loyalty to Mubarak.

"The really unfortunate side effect of the last two weeks is the political atmosphere has become really toxic. I fear that could endure long past the current crisis," said Elijah Zarwan, a fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations.

"The next government is going to have to move very quickly to address many problems and it will need cooperation. In the current atmosphere, it is hard to imagine others cooperating."

Such cooperation will be at a premium for introducing policies aimed at reining in a crushing budget deficit and staving off a balance of payments crisis. Egypt's economy has lost $70 billion to $80 billion of economic output since Mubarak was ousted, in one economist's estimate.

Top of the economic to-do list are measures to cut back on fuel subsidies - one of the biggest drains on state finances. Tweaks to such support are bound to be unpopular in a nation where both rich and poor have grown used to cheap petrol.

"He has inherited an economy that is weak and needs serious surgery, so he is going to have to make controversial decisions over the next year or so," said Simon Kitchen, strategist at EFG-Hermes, an Egyptian investment bank.

"Ideally you want to do that in an environment where you have some sort of political consensus," he said.

"THEY BURNED THEIR BRIDGES"

Some subsidy reform and other steps to cut waste are part of a program agreed in principle with the International Monetary Fund for $4.8 billion loan designed to support the budget.

The IMF board meets on December 19 to discuss approval of the loan, which would be seen by investors as a seal of approval for the government's reform program.

Besides the economy, Mursi needs wider backing to tackle other problems including a judiciary which his opponents agree needs overhaul. But even when he sacked the unpopular, Mubarak-era prosecutor general, Mursi was criticized for showing an autocratic streak in the way he went about it.

In the new system of government outlined in the draft constitution, Egypt's next parliament will have a say over the shape of government. A parliamentary election would go ahead some two months later if the constitution is approved in the referendum.

With that in mind, the Freedom and Justice Party is already eyeing alliances to fight the parliamentary election.

FJP leader Saad al-Katatni said in an interview his preference was for an alliance with liberals, not the hardline Islamists whose backing has helped Mursi through the crisis. "Our preferred option is that the alliance not be ideological so that we don't have a split in the nation," he said.

The Brotherhood had kept the nascent hardline Salafi parties at arm's length as they emerged after Mubarak's political demise. That trend has gradually been reversed as the Brotherhood has looked to fellow Islamists for support.

"They burned their bridges with the secular camp and relied heavily on the Salafi camp. We don't feel that is where they naturally want to be right now," said the Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Sentiment from liberal parties suggests the Brotherhood will struggle to convince liberals that it is a trustworthy partner.

"I don't think the man realizes the degree of rebellion and rage the people have," said Ahmed Said, head of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, referring to Mursi. "The country is totally divided and polarized. You have two nations now."

(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Peter Graff)

Read More..

Kate hospital hoax call staffer in found dead

LONDON: A staff member at a hospital which treated Prince William's pregnant wife Catherine was found dead in a suspected suicide Friday, days after being duped by a hoax call from an Australian radio station, reports said.

British police confirmed that they were investigating the "unexplained death" of a woman whose body was discovered at a property near the King Edward VII hospital in central London.

Several British newspapers reported the death of a staff member but there were conflicting reports as to what role the woman had at the hospital.

In what it billed as the "biggest royal prank ever", two presenters from Sydney's 2Day FM station called the hospital on Monday pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and William's father Prince Charles.

They asked to speak to the former Kate Middleton and a hospital receptionist then put them through to a nurse who gave the presenters private details of the Duchess of Cambridge's severe morning sickness.

The Daily Mail newspaper quoted an unidentified source as saying that the woman appeared to have killed herself at an address just metres away from the hospital.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Police were called at 9:25 am this morning to reports of a woman unconscious at an address in Weymouth Street, W1.

"London Ambulance Service attended and a woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Inquiries continue to establish the circumstances of the incident. The death is being treated as unexplained."

A source in the emergency services told AFP that while the death was being treated as unexplained it was not thought to be suspicious.

Presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian said sorry earlier this week for the call, even as the station was milking the publicity for it.

"We were very surprised that our call was put through. We thought we'd be hung up on as soon as they heard our terrible accents," the presenters said in a statement.

"We're very sorry if we've caused any issues and we're glad to hear that Kate is doing well."

Kate was admitted to hospital on Monday with acute morning sickness and left on Thursday, saying she was feeling much better.

Her admission to hospital was the first the world knew of her pregnancy. It will be the couple's first child and will be third in line to the British throne after Charles and William.

- AFP/jc

Read More..

India asks Nepal to prevent terror groups from using its soil for infiltration

NEW DELHI: With several former militants from Jammu & Kashmir recently using Nepal to enter India from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), New Delhi has asked Kathmandu to strengthen its screening process since intelligence inputs suggest that ISI-backed terror groups are trying to push active terrorists in the guise of ex-ultras.

In the recently concluded meet between the Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Armed Police Force of Nepal (NAPF), India expressed security concerns over more than 100 former militants illegally entering the country via Nepal to avail the government's rehabilitation policy for former militants despite designating four specific routes for their return.

The home ministry has fixed four routes for the ex-militants' return — Poonch-Rawlakote, Uri-Muzaffarabad (both on the LoC), Wagah-Attari border in Amritsar and IGI Airport here. However, the militants from these four routes can return only with Pakistani permission as two LoC routes require permits approved by designated authority of the PoK, while the others need Pakistani passports and visas. The elaborate paperwork encourages touts to help militants — both former and active — sneaking them via Nepal.

Sources said, the SSB brass told its Nepalese counterparts that there were credible inputs about militant outfits such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) trying to push subversive elements in the guise of former militants via Nepal and unless proper screening and scrutiny of those arriving in the Himalayan nation from Pakistan, Dubai or certain other places was done, it could spell trouble for India.

India asked Nepal to step up vigilance on the border and strengthen intelligence network particularly at Barhwa-Sunauli and Birgunj-Raxaul borders.

The Nepalese delegation was also given details of how ISI and terror groups backed by it had established significant network on its soil, HuM, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) were using it to launch terror modules in India. Sources said that HuM had even started forging Indian passports to push militants into the country.

In 2010, the Omar Abdullah government in J&K launched a "return-and-rehabilitation scheme" for former Kashmiri militants who crossed over to PoK for undergoing terror training at the peak of insurgency in late 1980s and early 1990s. Over 200 former militants have returned to the Valley since then, but mostly via Nepal. After sneaking in they surrender to local authorities and claim rehabilitation. Sources said chances are high that active militants use the same route, and then disappear.

A senior official from the security establishment said, "There are still over 30 terror camps aimed at India active in Pakistan. Infiltration on the J&K border is down. This means the groups are trying to push militants through other routes like Nepal's porous borders."

It is estimated that around 3,000 Kashmiri militants are still stationed in various terror camps in PoK.

Read More..

Celebrations planned as Wash. legalizes marijuana

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___(equals)

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

Read More..

Missing Woman Survived on Tomatoes and Snow

The woman who was stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains survived for six days by eating tomatoes and snow until she was found by her brother, who was part of a team searching for her and her boyfriend.

Paula Lane, 46, was rescued Wednesday. Her boyfriend, Roderick Clifton, died.

He had left her to find help after their Jeep got stuck in the snow as they drove from Clifton's mother's home in Citrus Heights, Calif., to their own home in Gardnerville, Nev., Nov. 29.

They were reported missing the following day after Lane failed to meet her mother for a planned dinner and wasn't reachable by cellphone, according to KXTV, an ABC TV affiliate in Sacramento.

The couple are believed to have taken their Jeep Cherokee off-roading when they became stuck off Highways 88-89 in Alpine County.

The area where they got stuck was so remote that cellphone service was limited. The couple were unable to call for help, and police couldn't locate them using their cellphones.

Clifton, 44, never returned to Lane. His body was found Wednesday, several miles from the highway. Police have not yet confirmed how he died, but they don't believe foul play was involved.

Citrus Heights Police Dept.

Missing Nevada Couple Found, Boyfriend Dead Watch Video

Lane had set out to find help after her boyfriend failed to return.

Lane's family is happy she is alive.

"It's been a rough haul, waiting all those days, trying to know if she'd made it or not," Lane's older sister, Linda Hathaway, said at a news conference Thursday at Carson Tahoe Regional Hospital, the Carson City, Nev., facility to which Lane was taken and treated for first-degree frostbite and malnourishment.

Police had launched a manhunt for the missing couple, but bad weather at times prevented authorities from sending up planes or helicopters.

Hathaway had given up hope, and said she had prepared her sister's 11-year-old twin sons for the worst.
"We sat them down to tell them that their mother may not come back," she said.

But the women's brother kept searching along the route that Lane would have taken home. Lane and Clifton routinely made the drive from Citrus Heights to Gardnerville.

Hathaway said her brother eventually found Lane crawling along Highway 88.

"I took the call and to hear him say, 'I found her, I found her,'" Hathaway said.

When she was reunited with her sister, Hathaway recalled: "I gave her the biggest kiss that I could without hurting her."

Hathaway described her sister as tenacious.

"I tell you, my sister may be little, but she is mighty and she's a survivor and loves life," she added.

Dr. Vijay Maiya, Lane's physician, said his patient had apparently found shelter by "hiding out in a hollow tree," in addition to eating the tomatoes they had with them.

"She is medically stable. She's recovering nicely," Maiya said at the news conference, adding that 25 percent of Lane's recovery would be physical and 75 percent would be "emotional."

Maiya expects to keep Lane in the hospital through the weekend to monitor her recovery.

ABC News' Russell Goldman contributed to this report.

Read More..

Military halts clashes as political crisis grips Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Republican Guard restored order around the presidential palace on Thursday after fierce overnight clashes killed seven people, but passions ran high in a struggle over the country's future.

The Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, criticized by his opponents for his silence in the last few days, was due to address the nation later in the day, state television said.

Hundreds of his supporters who had camped out near the palace overnight withdrew before a mid-afternoon deadline set by the Republican Guard. Dozens of Mursi's foes remained, but were kept away by a barbed wire barricade guarded by tanks.

The military played a big role in removing President Hosni Mubarak during last year's popular revolt, taking over to manage a transitional period, but had stayed out of the latest crisis.

Mursi's Islamist partisans fought opposition protesters well into the early hours during dueling demonstrations over the president's decree on November 22 to expand his powers to help him push through a mostly Islamist-drafted constitution.

Officials said seven people had been killed and 350 wounded in the violence, for which each side blamed the other. Six of the dead were Mursi supporters, the Muslim Brotherhood said.

The street clashes reflected a deep political divide in the most populous Arab nation, where contrasting visions of Islamists and their liberal rivals have complicated a struggle to embed democracy after Mubarak's 30-year autocracy.

The United States, worried about the stability of an Arab partner which has a peace deal with Israel and which receives $1.3 billion a year in U.S. military aid, has urged dialogue.

The commander of the Republican Guard said deployment of tanks and troop carriers around the presidential palace was intended to separate the adversaries, not to repress them.

"The armed forces, and at the forefront of them the Republican Guard, will not be used as a tool to oppress the demonstrators," General Mohamed Zaki told the state news agency.

Hussein Abdel Ghani, spokesman of the opposition National Salvation Front, said more protests were planned, but not necessarily at the palace in Cairo's Heliopolis district.

"Our youth are leading us today and we decided to agree to whatever they want to do," he told Reuters.

UNITY APPEAL

Egypt plunged into renewed turmoil after Mursi issued his November 22 decree and an Islamist-dominated assembly hastily approved a new constitution to go to a referendum on December 15.

The Supreme Guide of the Brotherhood, to which Mursi belonged before he was narrowly elected president in June, appealed for unity. Divisions among Egyptians "only serve the nation's enemies", Mohamed Badie said in a statement.

Rival factions used rocks, petrol bombs and guns in the clashes around the presidential palace.

"We came here to support President Mursi and his decisions. He is the elected president of Egypt," said demonstrator Emad Abou Salem, 40. "He has legitimacy and nobody else does."

Opposition protester Ehab Nasser el-Din, 21, his head bandaged after being hit by a rock the day before, decried the Muslim Brotherhood's "grip on the country", which he said would only tighten if the new constitution is passed.

Another protester, Ahmed Abdel-Hakim, 23, accused the Brotherhood of "igniting the country in the name of religion".

Mursi's opponents accuse him of seeking to create a new "dictatorship". The president says his actions were necessary to prevent courts still full of judges appointed by Mubarak from derailing a constitution vital for Egypt's political transition.

Mursi has shown no sign of buckling under pressure from protesters, confident that the Islamists, who have dominated both elections since Mubarak was overthrown, can win the referendum and the parliamentary election to follow.

Mahmoud Hussein, the Brotherhood's secretary-general, said holding the plebiscite was the only way out of the crisis, dismissing the opposition as "remnants of the (Mubarak) regime, thugs and people working for foreign agendas".

As well as relying on his Brotherhood power base, Mursi may also tap into a popular yearning for stability and economic revival after almost two years of political turmoil.

The Egyptian pound sank on Thursday to its lowest level in eight years, after previously firming on hopes that a $4.8 billion IMF loan would stabilize the economy. The Egyptian stock market fell 4.4 percent after it opened.

Foreign exchange reserves fell by nearly $450 million to $15 billion in November, indicating that the Central Bank was still spending heavily to bolster the pound. The reserves stood at about $36 billion before the anti-Mubarak uprising.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Yasmine Saleh; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Read More..

All 13 Singaporeans on board stranded Indonesian ferry safe

SINGAPORE: All 13 Singaporeans on board a Singapore-Tanjong Pinang ferry which ran aground off Lobam island on Wednesday night are safe.

Ferry operator Sindo Ferry and Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency, BASARNAS, gave this update in response to queries from Channel NewsAsia.

Of the 97 passengers, one Indonesian lady is still in hospital for medical attention.

The ferry, MV Sindo 31, left Singapore from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal at 6.20pm on Wednesday.

At about 8pm, Sindo Ferry (formerly known as Penguin Ferry) received a call from the captain of the vessel that the ferry had ran aground off Lobam island.

The passengers and crew were stranded for around two hours.

Before help arrived, an Indonesian woman, accompanied by two family members were sent to a nearby hospital by local maritime police for urgent medical attention.

At about 10pm, two smaller local ferries, each with a capacity of 40 people, arrived to pick up the stranded passengers.

With combined efforts by the Tanjung Uban Sea and Coast Guards and BASARNAS, the passengers were ferried to Tanjung Uban, where they boarded a standby vessel , MV Penguin 7, and arrived at Tanjong Pinang near midnight.

The stranded ferry was not damaged and is currently moored at Tanjong Uban for further investigations.

Sindo Ferry says the stranded ferry is seaworthy and it is investigating the cause of the accident.

Weather conditions and low-tide are believed to have caused the accident.

- CNA/de

Read More..

Dhindsa’ election as IOA vice president hailed

SANGRUR: The controversies surrounding the elections of Indian Olympic association(IOA) in the wake of International Olympic committee(IOC) directing against it, the election of Punjab finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa as IOA vice president is being hailed in Punjab.

Dhindsa was elected as vice president in the election meeting held at New Delhi on Wednesday. Parminder' father and former union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa had remained associated with IOA and is president of Punjab Olympic association since many years. Interestingly neighbouring Haryana has got the presidentship of IOA with Chautala Jr. bagging the post unopposed. Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal greeted Dhindsa on his election.

Parminder on his part as IOA vice president said "my first priority will be to get Kabaddi introduced in the national games and then make efforts to introduce the sport in Asian and Olympic Games".

Punjab Kabaddi association president Sikandar Singh Maluka expressed hope that now Kabaddi could easily be elevated at the national and the international platform.

Read More..