Report to detail blaze, deaths of 19 firefighters

PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — A highly anticipated report examining weather conditions, radio traffic and fire behavior, among other things, is expected to help explain how 19 members of an elite firefighting crew died while battling an Arizona wildfire. Officials, however, said it won't assign blame.

The Arizona State Forestry Division was set to present the roughly 120-page report to the men's families ahead of a news conference planned for Saturday morning in Prescott.

All but one member of the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew died June 30 while protecting the small former gold rush town of Yarnell, about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix, from an erratic lightning-sparked wildfire.

Early reports showed the fire caused little immediate concern because of its remote location and small size when it began June 28. But the blaze quickly grew into an inferno, burning swiftly across pine, juniper and scrub oak and through an area that hadn't experienced a significant wildfire in nearly 50 years.

The 20-member Granite Mountain Hotshots team arrived early on the morning of June 30 and headed into the boulder-strewn mountains. About nine hours later, the crew radioed that they were trapped by flames and deploying emergency shelters. Only one crew member who was assigned as the lookout survived.

The fire ended up destroying more than 100 homes and burned 13 square miles before it was fully contained on July 10.

No other wildfire had claimed more firefighters in 80 years, and it was the deadliest single day for fire crews since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Granite Mountain team was unique among the nation's roughly 110 Hotshot crews as the first and only such unit attached to a municipal fire department.

It wasn't clear why the firefighters left the relative safety of a ridge top or if they had received warnings of the erratically changing weather that whipped the blaze into an unpredictable inferno when they dropped down into a bowl surrounded by mountains on three sides.

At one point, officials asked for half of the available western U.S. heavy air tanker fleet — six planes — to try to control the blaze. Five weren't deployed because of the limited number in the nation's aerial firefighting fleet and the dangerous weather conditions at the time. One plane was heading to Arizona from California but engine problems forced it to turn back.

Forestry officials have said that even if the planes had been available, winds were so strong they couldn't have been used to save the firefighters' lives.

Some family members hope the investigation will explain why their loved ones died. Others say it will do nothing to ease their pain.

"No matter what the report says, it won't bring him back," Colleen Turbyfill said of her son, Travis. "I miss him, and it's unbearable pain. It doesn't go away. Sometimes I can't breathe, but this report isn't going to help that one way or another."

Via Yahoo News!

Report: Dozens of Yemeni civilians dead

Yemeni anti-government protesters shout slogans during a rally in Sanaa on July 8.Human Rights Watch says Yemeni forces may have killed dozens of civilians It says witnesses report indiscriminate attacks with no visible fighting nearbyA spokesman for the ruling party calls the report 100% inaccurateHe says "only al-Qaeda targets are killed by the government"

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- Dozens of civilians may have been killed by Yemeni forces since May while fighting an armed Islamist group in Abyan province, the activist group Human Rights Watch said in a report released Saturday. But a spokesman for Yemen's ruling party disputed the findings.

"As Yemeni government forces battle armed militants in Abyan, civilians are paying the price," Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in the report. "Both sides need to be doing much more to protect civilians from harm, and the government should be investigating possible laws-of-war violations by its forces in Abyan."

Human Rights Watch said it did not visit Abyan province because of security concerns but received accounts of attacks from 30 witnesses who fled the clashes. The group cited several reported incidents, including what some described as indiscriminate attacks on civilians with "artillery shrapnel or small arms with no visible fighting or military targets nearby."

But the ruling party in Yemen refuted the report.

"The Yemeni government insists that the Human Rights Watch report is 100(%) inaccurate," said Tareq Shami, spokesman for the ruling General People's Congress party.

"Only al Qaeda targets are killed by the government, and there is no proof of the government being involved in the killing of civilians in Abyan."

He added, "Foreign fighters are also involved killing and attacking civilians in Abyan, not the government. We are defending the people and will continue doing so."

Abdu Ganadi, spokesman for the Yemeni government, said "all wars have casualties."

"Yemen is trying to limit the civilian deaths," Ganadi said. "Our condolence(s) to the families who lost a loved one."

Yemen has been consumed by unrest for months as protesters have demanded an end to the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule. Saleh and other senior officials were wounded June 3 in an attack on the mosque at the presidential palace. Saleh is being treated in Saudi Arabia. Officials have said he will return when he has recovered.

In recent weeks, government troops have battled both tribal forces and Islamic militants, including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report.

CNN

Report: 870 hurt in Egypt protests

Protesters throw stones at riot police during clashes in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, during the early hours of June 29.NEW: Forty-eight arrested, an Egyptian official saysGroup forms fact-finding committee to determine what led to the violenceThe government says the violence had been "planned"Tahrir Square was the heart of the revolt against then-President Hosni Mubarak

(CNN) -- Eight hundred and seventy people were hurt earlier this week when a planned memorial for people killed in Egypt's revolution turned into an angry demonstration against the country's interim military government, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights said Thursday.

Clashes began Tuesday afternoon and continued into Wednesday, with intense confrontations between relatives of victims on one side and security forces on the other.

The human rights group said it has formed a fact-finding committee to interview witnesses and the injured and determine what led to the violence.

Another Cairo-based human rights group, the National Council for Human Rights, issued a statement Thursday condemning the security forces' use of violence against protesters.

For its part, the government said the violence appeared to have been "planned and not organized by the martyr families."

Authorities arrested 48 people in the clashes, said Lt. Col. Yaser Atia with Egypt's National Security.

"There is a conspiracy against Egypt and we will fight it," he said.

An investigation is under way, Atia said.

Many Egyptians are angry at the slow pace of change since President Hosni Mubarak resigned on February 11 after protests.

A group called the January 25 Coalition issued a range of demands Wednesday night, a day after the demonstrations began.

They called for the "speedy trial of snipers and killers of protesters, the removal of Cairo's head of security and the official spokesman of the Ministry of Interior" and "an immediate investigation in the events of last night."

The group, named for the day anti-government protests began this year, also called for the release of detainees held overnight and the "immediate expulsion of security officers who continue to butcher and kill Egyptian people," among other demands.

Protesters burned tires and threw Molotov cocktails, and police responded with tear gas, bullets and pellets in the biggest demonstrations in Cairo in months.

But despite the efforts of police, demonstrators maintained their positions in Cairo's Tahrir Square, increasing their numbers to about 2,000.

Several thousand protesters chanted against Gen. Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces. The council has been running the country since Mubarak was forced to step down.

The human rights group Amnesty International has estimated at least 840 people were killed and more than 6,000 wounded during the 18-day revolution that began in late January.

The military-led government that took over when Mubarak resigned has been prosecuting several former officials accused of ordering security forces to fire on protesters.

A police officer accused of killing 20 protesters during a January 28 demonstration has been sentenced to death.

Former Interior Minister Habib El Adly has been sentenced to 12 years for corruption charges but still awaits the verdict for the charge of killing protesters.

Mubarak is scheduled to face the Cairo Criminal Court on August 3 on charges of corruption and deaths of protesters, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

Egypt's military rulers have set parliamentary elections for September.

Journalist Hamdi Alkhshali contributed to this report.

CNN

Venezuela condemns US human trafficking report (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela has condemned a U.S. State Department report that lists the country among those failing to combat human trafficking.

Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the government will begin an investigation to "determine the responsibility" of U.S. Embassy officials in preparing such reports. It said such work would go beyond the normal diplomatic functions for which U.S. Embassy officials are accredited.

The statement came a day after the U.S. State Department included Venezuela among 23 nations that it said are failing to meet minimum international standards to combat human trafficking.

The State Department said that some Venezuelan women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking and forced prostitution, and that Venezuela is also a transit country for people from other countries who may be subjected to sexual exploitation and forced labor.

The Foreign Ministry said President Hugo Chavez's government "repudiates the hypocritical attitude of the government of the United States."

"That country holds the world record of trafficking in people, especially people from Latin America whose fundamental rights are violated systematically by authorities," the Foreign Ministry said.

Chavez has long been embroiled in tensions with Washington. Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said earlier this month that relations with the U.S. are frozen and that Venezuela sees no possibility of improving them.

Relations have grown particularly strained since the State Department imposed sanctions last month on the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA for shipping fuel to Iran.

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Polish report on 2010 plane crash blames Russia (AP)

WARSAW, Poland – A report by Poland's opposition party says Russian aviation officials bear most responsibility for the crash last year of the Polish government plane in which the president was killed.

The Law and Justice party blamed the Russians for allowing the plane to land under almost no visibility and said the crew was provided with incorrect landing parameters.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of the president who was killed in the crash, is the party head. The report is independent of two state probes into the crash.

President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others were killed in a plane crash in Russia on April 10, 2010. The official Russian report said the blame rested solely with the Polish pilot, whose decision it was to land.

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Libyan officers flee by boat to Tunisia: report (Reuters)

TUNIS (Reuters) – Nineteen police and army officers were among a new group of Libyan refugees who arrived in Tunisia by boat this week, the Tunisian news agency TAP reported on Friday.

The boat carrying a total of 49 refugees arrived on Thursday in the port of El Ketef by the Libyan border, the latest in a string of boat arrivals there since the start of an uprising against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi four months ago.

Dozens of Libyan officials, including the foreign minister and the top energy official, have fled since February when a revolt began against the 41-year rule of Gaddafi.

Earlier this week TAP quoted three senior army officers who arrived at the same port on Wednesday as saying the death toll from the conflict exceeded 15,000. It did not say how the officers obtained that toll.

Gaddafi has repeatedly vowed on state television broadcasts to fight until the end. His government says its military capability has not been seriously undermined by defections.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara in Tunisia; Editing by Mark John and Peter Graff)

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Phone gives clues to bin Laden's Pakistan links: report (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A cell phone found in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan contained contacts to a militant group with ties to Pakistan's intelligence agency, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing senior U.S. officials briefed on the findings.

The discovery indicated that bin Laden used the group, Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen, as part of his support network inside Pakistan, the newspaper said, citing the officials and others sources it did not identify.

The cell phone belonged to bin Laden's courier, who was killed along with the al Qaeda leader in the May 2 raid by U.S. special forces on bin Laden's compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad, the Times said.

"We cannot confirm this account," a U.S. official in Washington said when asked about the report.

The United States kept Islamabad in the dark about the raid by Navy SEALs until after it was completed, humiliating Pakistan's armed forces and putting U.S. military and intelligence ties under serious strain.

In tracing calls on the cell phone, U.S. analysts determined that Harakat commanders had called Pakistani intelligence officials, the Times reported, citing the senior American officials.

The officials added the contacts were not necessarily about bin Laden and his protection and that there was no "smoking gun" showing that Pakistan's spy agency had protected bin Laden, the newspaper said.

The newspaper quoted one of the officials as saying the cell phone analysis was a "serious lead" in the hunt for answers about how bin Laden managed to evade notice by Pakistan's spy agency or military for years in the town, only 30 miles from the capital.

The newspaper quoted analysts familiar with Harakat as saying it had deep roots in the area around Abbottabad. Its leaders have strong ties with both al Qaeda and Pakistani intelligence, the Times said.

(Writing by JoAnne Allen; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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Japan PM may set conditions for resignation on Monday: report (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan may announce on Monday that he will resign on condition of key bills passing a divided parliament, Kyodo news agency reported, as the government struggles with a prolonged nuclear crisis.

Kan, already Japan's fifth premier in as many years, survived a no-confidence vote earlier this month after promising critics in his own party he would quit but declined to say when. Opposition parties have declined to cooperate on key bills unless the prime minister keeps his pledge.

Kyodo said that Kan, who has come under fire for his handling of his response to the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years, could announce that he would quit on condition of parliament passing a second extra budget and a bill to issue bonds for this year's budget, Kyodo said.

Hopes have risen that Kan's departure would clear the way for a coalition between the DPJ and its rival Liberal Democratic Party that could break the parliamentary logjam as Japan tries to rebuild from the March 11 quake and tsunami that triggered the nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (Tepco) Fukushima Daiichi plant.

In theory, a coalition could also make it easier to tackle longer-term policies including social security and tax reforms, including a sales tax rise, needed to rein in public debt already twice the size of Japan's $5 trillion economy.

But obstacles to any such coalition remain high, and momentum for the tie-up appears to have diminished of late.

Japanese media have said that Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who backs Kan's calls for fiscal discipline, was a frontrunner to replace Kan in a DPJ leadership race that would be held after the premier steps down.

Other potential contenders include former foreign minister Seiji Maehara, a conservative expert on security issues.

(Reporting by Chisa Fujioka and Linda Sieg; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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Chinese workers flee Myanmar fighting: report (Reuters)

YANGON (Reuters) – More than 200 Chinese workers have returned home from Myanmar after separatist rebels attacked a hydropower plant in the northern border province of Kachin, state media in Myanmar said on Saturday, the first official comment on the recent fighting.

The Chinese ambassador had met Myanmar's foreign and border affairs ministers on Friday, media said, without giving details of the discussion.

An official statement in the daily New Light of Myanmar outlined several threats since April by the Kachin Independence Army against Chinese projects in Kachin State, including the Tarpein Hydropower Project.

"The project, which is equipped with four 60-MHz generators, ceased to operate as from 14 June, causing a great loss to the state and the people," it said.

Altogether, 215 Chinese employees assigned to the project returned to China from June 9 to 14, it said.

Responding to an attack by Myanmar's army, the KIA blew up 25 bridges in the region from June 14 to 16, it added.

Residents in the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, said the region remained tense, but it was not clear if fighting was still going on.

Sources in Kachin have said hundreds of people had fled their homes in the mountainous region to escape eight days of fighting up until Thursday.

An estimated 2,000 people were reported to have sought shelter in a camp run by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the rebels' political arm, and another 7,000 had set up tents and shelters in the jungle along the frontier.

The KIO has battled the central government for decades but agreed to a ceasefire in 1994 under which its fighters were allowed to keep their arms.

However, tension has been rising since last year, largely because the Kachin have resisted government pressure to fold their men into a state-run border security force.

Analysts say Myanmar's 10-week old government, the country's first civilian-led administration in five decades, is intent on seizing control of the rebellious states but is reluctant to engage in conflict with the numerous factions.

Chinese-built dams have been divisive projects in Myanmar, with ethnic minorities seeing construction as expanding military presence into their territory. Some analysts say Kachin rebels may be trying to hold the dams hostage in return for a share of the revenue from the projects.

The risk of fighting spreading in the heavily militarized border region is a worry for China, which is building oil and gas pipelines through its Southeast Asian neighbor to improve energy security.

(Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Writing by Alan Raybould)

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Report: Pollution threat to China's kids

A boy waits to receive treatment for lead poisoning at a hospital in Huaining, Anhui province on January 8, 2011Lead testing is limited and arbitrary in at least four Chinese provinces, report saysThe 75-page report is based on interviews in Henan, Hunan, Shaanxi and Yunnan provincesThe Chinese government announced tougher regulations and penalties this monthDoctors say children are most susceptible to lead poisoning

Beijing (CNN) -- Hundreds of thousands of children in China are being condemned to permanent mental and physical disabilities because of high exposure to lead caused by industrial pollution, according to a report by the watchdog group Human Rights Watch.

"Children with dangerously high levels of lead in their blood are being refused treatment and returned home to contaminated houses in polluted villages," said Joe Amon, the group's health and human rights director.

The 75-page report is based on interviews in Henan, Hunan, Shaanxi and Yunnan provinces, and research in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai between late 2009 and early 2010, according to the group.

Human Rights Watch says testing for lead is limited and arbitrary in these provinces, while parents are unable to access "effective" medical treatment for their children with high levels of lead in their blood.

Doctors say children are most susceptible to lead poisoning because it interferes with the development of the nervous system and can cause learning and behavior disorders.

In severe cases, it can be fatal.

Earlier this month, the Chinese government announced tougher regulations and penalties for related industries.

"We have recently put forward a notice on strengthening the management of lead battery and renewable lead industries where there are strict management and punitive policy measures," said Li Ganjie, vice minister of environmental protection.

"For those enterprises with serious environmental problems, they will be closed down for rectification," he said, adding that local officials will "shoulder the responsibility and be held accountable" for any accidents.

However, the report says these promises fall short of addressing the health consequences of lead poisoning and fulfilling the right to health for children exposed to lead.

The group challenged authorities to address the immediate and long-term health care needs of people in contaminated villages, as well as see that polluted areas are cleaned up.

"It's not enough to penalize factory owners and officials after a village is severely contaminated," Amon said. "The government needs to provide treatment and to make sure that children aren't immediately re-exposed to toxic levels of lead."

CNN's Helena Hong contributed to this report.

CNN

China downplays risk to children from lead poisoning: report (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese children suffering lead poisoning from polluting smelters and factories have been denied testing, effective treatment and even basic information by officials who downplayed health threats, a human rights advocacy group said on Wednesday.

The report from Human Rights Watch comes after China's latest lead pollution outbreak, when 103 children and scores of adults were poisoned by tinfoil-making workshops in eastern Zhejiang province.

Beijing has vowed to clean up this chronic pollution, but New York-based Human Rights Watch said those efforts only go so far in addressing the needs of hundreds of thousands of children it says are suffering from lead poisoning in China.

Lead, especially harmful for children, can lead to learning difficulties and behavioral problems, and often parents who work at the plants bring home extra doses on their clothes and skin.

"I want to know how sick my son is, but I can't trust the local test results," one mother from Hunan province in southern China told investigators, according to the report available on the Human Rights Watch website: (http://www.hrw.org).

Citizens who complain about the problem face pressure, the rights watchdog said, citing dozens of interviews with parents in areas afflicted by pollution.

"Parents, journalists, and community activists who dare to speak out about lead are detained, harassed, and ultimately silenced," Joe Amon, health and human rights director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement released with the report

Rapid industrial growth in China has increased citizens' worries about their health, especially where towns and villages located next to poorly regulated factories and workshops have been stricken by pollution problems.

China is the world's biggest consumer of refined lead, and battery making accounts for 70 percent of that consumption, which is likely to grow to 4.1 million tonnes in 2011.

China's environment ministry has promised to tackle heavy metal poisoning as widespread cases have sparked public anger and protests.

Three-quarters of lead-acid battery manufacturing plants in China could be phased out in the next two to three years, an industry body said last month.

MISLEADING INFORMATION

Despite those vows, leaders in Beijing have struggled to rein in local officials who put jobs and economic growth ahead of environmental protection.

Based on 52 interviews, Human Rights Watch found that local governments denied the scope of potential poisoning and issued misleading information about the dangers of living close to polluting factories.

Parents were often told that drinking milk or eating garlic and eggs was adequate treatment for lead poisoning, the advocacy group said.

"The doctor told us all the children in this village have lead poisoning. Then they told us a few months later that all the children are healthy. They wouldn't let us see the results from the tests though," said a parent from Yunnan province quoted in the report.

"The government doesn't want to have to give us anything so they make up the results," another parent from Henan province said.

Lead poisoning can build up through regular exposure to small amounts, damaging the nervous and reproductive systems and kidneys, as well as causing high blood pressure and anemia.

"In villages where lead exposure is highest, a generation of cognitively and physically disabled children will need significant and ongoing support," the report said.

The group compared the corruption and cover-up of nationwide lead poisoning cases to the high-profile AIDS and SARs scandals that shattered international confidence in China's public health administration in the 1990s and early 2000s.

"The response to lead poisoning has so far followed this same road, but it is not too late for the Chinese government to take a different approach," the report said.

(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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Congress hears report on nuclear agency chairman

Report calls Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman manipulativeBut Congress argues over whether his behavior is illegalGregory Jaczko accused of withholding info on Yucca Mountain siteJaczko: "I believe I was forthcoming with my fellow commissioners"

Washington (CNN) -- In the days after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, Gregory Jaczko appeared frequently on television as the calm, steady hand of the U.S. nuclear power industry.

But at a hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill, critics painted a different picture of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman, saying he ruled by intimidation, yelled at his staff, was manipulative and -- in one key case -- withheld information from his fellow commissioners in order to achieve his goal.

And Congress members dickered over whether another word can be used to describe Jaczko's actions: illegal.

Jaczko is under fire for using administrative procedures to kill a controversial plan to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Fellow commissioners say Jaczko misled them about the consequences of his administrative actions or kept them in the dark entirely.

Last week, a report by the agency's inspector general appeared to clear Jaczko of any legal wrongdoing, saying his decision was supported by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission attorney and was within his discretion as chairman.

But at Tuesday's hearing, members of the inspector general's staff were ambiguous and contradictory.

"Did you find that the chairman of the NRC acted illegally?" California Democrat Henry Waxman asked.

"No. No. No, we didn't, sir," Inspector General Hubert Bell said.

But asked by Pennsylvania Republican Tim Murphy whether Jaczko violated a statute requiring the chairmen to keep commissioners informed, Bell's assistant Joseph McMillan responded: "One could draw that conclusion."

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, drew that conclusion.

"He violated the law," Barton said. "He did not uphold his responsibility under the statute. That is clear layman common sense."

The dispute is only the latest in the 25-year history of Yucca Mountain. In 1987, after the Department of Energy conducted studies of nine potential nuclear waste sites, Congress selected Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as the only site for further study for the first national repository.

But the plan faced stiff opposition in Nevada, with Sen. Harry Reid vowing that the site would never open there.

Jaczko, a former top aide to Reid, also opposed Yucca Mountain. After being appointed to the nuclear commission, Jaczko recused himself from matters involving Yucca Mountain for a year, saying at his confirmation hearing that he hoped he could establish his independence during that time.

Later, President Barack Obama appointed him as chairman of the five-member body.

In February 2010, the Obama administration said it would suspend licensing for Yucca Mountain, saying it was "not a workable option."

After that announcement, critics say, Jaczko took steps to stop the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's consideration of the Yucca Mountain application. According to the inspector general report, Jaczko directed agency staff to stop working on a Yucca Mountain review, saying his actions had been reviewed and agreed to by his fellow commissioners.

But, according to the report, "one commissioner was not informed of the language, two were provided some information but did not recognize the impact ... and one commissioner disagreed with the language because he recognized the impact it would have." Jaczko "was not forthcoming with the other commissioners about his intent" to have staff members stop work on Yucca Mountain, the report states.

"Clearly, the commissioners that we spoke to had no understanding" about the consequences of Jaczko's action and were "somewhat agitated" when they found out, McMillan said.

"It appears that Chairman Jaczko has let politics trump science here, that he's manipulated the process," said Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pennsylvania. "He's misled some of the fellow commissioners about the consequences of the actions that were taken, and I think the credibility of the NRC has been damaged; its reputation has been damaged. There's some real serious questions about the agency's independence and scientific integrity."

Jaczko on Tuesday denied misleading others.

"I believe I was forthcoming with my fellow commissioners," he said in a statement following the hearing. "This was my decision and that has been clear from the start. In leadership positions you have to be prepared to take the heat. I am fully comfortable with the decision because it was entirely within my authority as chairman."

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, said complaints that politics had trumped science were "ironic" given the history of the search for a place to store the nation's nuclear waste. Past congressional leaders had blocked proposals for numerous other sites for political reasons, he said.

"This issue has been nothing but political since the very beginning," Markey said.

CNN

Report: Food prices trigger diet changes

Protests that erupted in December in Tunisia over food prices and unemployment eventually spread around north Africa.54 percent of people are not eating the same kind of food as they did two years ago 39 percent of those who changed their diet blamed the rising price of food The U.N. Food Price Index hit an all-time high in February 2011

(CNN) -- People around the world are changing their diets because of soaring food prices, according to a new study.

The majority of people in most countries surveyed by international aid agency Oxfam said they're no longer eating the same kind of food as they did two years ago, with 39 percent globally blaming rising food costs and another 33 percent citing health reasons.

The poll also shows the effects of globalization on the world diet, with both pasta and pizza ranked among the top three favorite foods in many countries.

The United States, Russia and India were among the 17 countries surveyed.

"Our diets are changing fast and for too many people it is a change for the worst," said Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director of Oxfam. "Huge numbers of people, especially in the world's poorest countries, are cutting back on the quantity or quality of the food they eat because of rising food prices."

High and volatile food prices represent an increasingly large and unpredictable proportion of household income in developing countries, according to Abolreza Abbassian, an economist for the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

"People in poorer countries are already eating once a day, so when prices go up, people spend all their income on food," Abbassian told CNN. "They can't have more income, so the only thing they can do is eat less or more inferior food."

Between now and 2020, the likelihood of prices in real terms declining is very, very little.
--Abdolreza Abbassian, FAO economist

Seventy-six percent of respondents in Kenya told Oxfam that they've changed their diets, with 79 percent blaming food prices. In Mexico, 65 percent of respondents changed diets, with more than half blaming prices as well.

While food costs have hit the developing world the hardest, the West is not immune to the effects of rising prices. In the United States, 55 percent of respondents said they no longer eat the same kinds of food they did two years ago, and 31 percent attribute the change to food prices.

After 30 years of relatively constant prices, the cost of food staples like grains, meats and sugar soared in mid-2008, with experts blaming everything from extreme weather to biofuel production and shortsighted economic policies.

In February of this year, the U.N. Food Price Index -- a number representing the average prices of five main foods including meat, dairy and cereals -- hit an all-time high of 238, nearly 20 percent higher than during the 2008 food crisis.

Another 44 million people worldwide were driven into poverty due to high food prices since June 2010 -- in addition to the 1.2 billion people already living below the poverty line of $1.25 a day, according to the World Bank.

Abbassian said the FAO doesn't expect much in the way of price relief anytime soon.

"Between now and 2020, the likelihood of prices in real terms declining is very, very little" due to the lack of fundamental changes in the global agricultural market, said Abbassian.

Part of the reason for this, said Abbassian, is the five billion people in the world who aren't below the poverty line.

"Prices today, as high as they may seem, may not seem high to people in emerging economies, so they carry on buying, and you're not getting price rationing," said Abbassian, referring to the point where food becomes so expensive that people stop buying it.

"The danger is that these people keep paying regardless of the price, and they are increasing the price of the food for people who can't afford it even more."

According to Abbassian, since the free market food system cannot look after the world's poorest people, one solution would provide targeted aid to subsidize food prices for those under the poverty line.

The agricultural ministers of the G-20 countries are due to meet in Paris next week to discuss food prices -- and while previous meetings have yielded little, Abbassian expressed optimism that this time would be different.

G-20 countries have "realized that food prices are a problem, and that this problem cannot be solved by pledges and empty promises," said Abbassian. "And that is quite a striking difference from the past."

CNN

Pakistani official responds to report on CIA informants' arrest

The five CIA informants were reported to have copied license plates of cars visiting bin Laden's compound before the May raid.NEW: A U.S. official confirms that the CIA director discussed the arrests with Pakistani top brassSuspected CIA informants were arrested after the bin Laden raid, an official saysThe official does not know the exact number of people heldThe arrests could be another blow to the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's intelligence agency has arrested a person who rented a safe house to the CIA before American special forces killed Osama bin Laden, as well as suspected CIA informants, a source familiar with the arrests told CNN Wednesday

A second official confirmed that Pakistan had detained informants who gave information to the CIA before the raid but said he did not know the exact number of people arrested or when it happened.

The revelations, first reported by The New York Times, are likely to further strain what has become a rocky relationship between the two countries.

CIA Director Leon Panetta discussed the arrests Friday with Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani and Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, Pakistan's head of military intelligence, the official said. A United States official confirmed that the discussion had taken place but would not give details about the arrests.

The first Pakistani official did not say whether the owner of the safe house was suspected of being a CIA informant. He asked not to be named discussing sensitive internal matters.

The second Pakistani official asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Panetta visited Pakistan last week, just over a month after Navy SEALs entered Pakistan secretly and killed bin Laden, further heightening tensions between Washington and Islamabad.

A Pakistani military spokesman confirmed that there were "a number of people arrested in Abbottabad after the raid on the Osama bin Laden compound," but said he could not say if the people were CIA officers.

Some were seized at "a house in Abbottabad that was used to monitor the bin Laden compound activities," said Syed Azmat Ali, the military spokesman. "They could have been Pakistanis who were informants to the CIA."

Ali said those arrests were made by Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency, the ISI, "immediately after the raid, so this is not a new piece of information."

He and the intelligence official who asked not to be named were responding to reports in the New York Times that Pakistan had arrested five CIA informants who gave information to the United States before the raid on bin Laden's hideout.

The newspaper attributed the report to "American officials" without naming them.

It said one of those arrested was a Pakistani army major who kept records of license plate numbers on cars that visited the bin Laden hideout. Ali, the Pakistani military spokesman said that was "categorically" not true.

It also cited a damning assessment of Pakistan's cooperation with American counter-terror efforts by a top CIA official.

Deputy CIA director Michael J. Morell rated Pakistan's help at a three on a scale of one to 10, the Times said, quoting "officials familiar with the exchange."

Asked Wednesday by CNN to rate the Pakistani spy agency's relationship with the CIA from a scale of one to 10, military spokesman Ali said four.

Panetta, who has been nominated to be secretary of defense, told Congress in confirmation hearings last week that, "The relationship with Pakistan is at the same time one of the most critical and yet one of the most complicated and frustrating relationships that we have."

The relationship between the two countries has been in a downward spiral over disputes about how to pursue counterterrorism efforts.

The United States believes Pakistan is not doing enough to go after al Qaeda and other extremists, while the Pakistanis are upset with what they consider to be unilateral steps taken by the United States within their borders.

The United States is suspected of carrying out regular strikes by unmanned aircraft targeting suspected terrorists in Pakistan -- a suspected strike on Wednesday, killing 10 suspected militants, two Pakistani officials said.

Pakistani officials believe there were more than 100 American drone strikes in their country in 2010, a record, according to CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. They think most of the casualties were foot soldiers or civilians, not high-value terror targets, he said.

The New America Foundation in Washington, which maintains an independent count of reported drone strikes, says there were 118 in 2010, killing between 600 and 1,000 people.

Public opinion polling shows that nine out of 10 Pakistanis have an unfavorable view of the drone strikes.

Pakistanis were also angered by the case of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who was charged with killing two Pakistani men, then released after compensation was paid to their families.

Davis described the two men as attackers and said he shot them in self-defense. Lahore Police Chief Aslam Tareen, however, said the case was "clear-cut murder."

According to Davis, the shooting occurred January 27 after two men attacked him as he drove through a busy Lahore neighborhood, the U.S. Embassy has said.

U.S. officials originally said Davis was a diplomat and tried to claim diplomatic immunity, then later revealed that he was a CIA contractor.

CIA chief Panetta's unannounced visit last week was the latest in a series by U.S. officials -- including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and Sen. John Kerry -- in efforts to smooth things over after bin Laden was killed in the SEALs raid.

CNN's Nasir Habib, Aliza Kassim and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

CNN

Report: Syria military controls town

Mourners at the funeral service of an anti-regime protester on the Syrian side of the Syria-Turkey border, on June 11, 2011.NEW: Opposition members question government report of "mass grave" Syrian military controls northwestern city, human rights network saysBritish foreign secretary: Many have fled the Syrian "military offensive" in Jisr al-ShugurU.N. chief: "The use of military force against civilians is unacceptable"

(CNN) -- The Syrian military is in complete control of Jisr al-Shugur after entering the northwestern city over the weekend, a network of human rights activists said Monday.

The network -- the Local Coordination Committees of Syria -- reported no new explosions, casualties or detentions in the community since Sunday evening, although it did say that Syrian soldiers were searching house-to-house.

At least three people were killed in clashes Sunday, state media reported. One Syrian soldier was killed and four other soldiers injured in the fighting, Syrian state television reported Sunday. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said two gunmen were killed and "many others" were arrested.

State television said Sunday that military units had entered Jisr al-Shugur to "cleanse the national hospital from the elements of the armed gangs after disabling the explosives and the various TNT devices that these gangs planted on the bridges and roads."

Accounts from the Syrian government have sharply contrasted with reports from residents, who say there are no "armed gangs" in Jisr al-Shugur.

State TV also said Sunday that authorities in the town had found a "mass grave" containing decapitated and mutilated bodies of members of security forces killed by "armed gangs." SANA said there were 12 bodies.

Video on state-run TV showed bodies at the site. It was not fully clear what state the bodies were in.

SANA reported Monday that state TV "broadcast the confession of the terrorist, Anwar Nafe al-Dosh, a member of armed terrorist groups in Jisr al-Shugur, who narrated the details of the massacre committed against the police and security forces."

The report quoted al-Dosh as naming the "masterminds" of the "massacre" and saying they had beheaded 10 members of the security forces in what they called a "bloodbath for freedom."

President Bashar al-Assad's regime has consistently blamed armed gangs for the bloodshed in Syria. But activists and protesters say security forces have caused the violence.

Some members of the opposition question the government's report on the purported mass grave.

Fadi, an activist from Jisr al-Shugur who has been traveling between the city and a makeshift camp near the Syrian border, said that two weeks ago, the Syrian army dug a hole in an area outside Jisr al-Shugur and dumped bodies into it the next day. The bodies were those of prisoners, he said.

Wissam Tarif, head of the human rights group INSAN, said there are questions to be answered about the government's report. He said he had information that two army units clashed, leading to numerous deaths.

But an activist based outside of Syria who has an extensive network inside the country said he believed state TV's version of events.

CNN has been unable to independently confirm accounts of the unrest in Syria, because it has not been granted access to the country by the Syrian government.

World leaders, meanwhile, have been mounting pressure on Syria to halt the violence against protesters seeking government reform.

In a statement released Sunday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned Syria's use of force against civilians and expressed particular concern about violence in Jisr al-Shugur.

"The Syrian authorities have an obligation to protect their people and respect their rights. The use of military force against civilians is unacceptable," the U.N. statement said.

Many have fled "the Syrian government's military offensive" in Jisr al-Shugur, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement condemning the violence Sunday. He also called on the U.N. Security Council to take a stand.

"I do believe it is time for the Security Council to make a clear statement of the kind that we're advocating calling on the Syrian Government to respond to legitimate grievances, to release prisoners of conscience, to open up access to the Internet and to cooperate with the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights," he told Sky News Sunday.

He said he had been trying to garner support from countries represented on the council, but noted that the prospects of passing a resolution were "on a knife edge" -- particularly since Security Council member Lebanon is a close ally of Syria.

"Close interconnections between the Lebanese government and the Syrian government have made it impossible for Lebanon to take a clear position on this," he told Sky News.

On Friday, Syrian troops came to the entrances of Jisr al-Shugur in an operation "to restore security and tranquility to the area which was being terrorized by armed terrorist groups," SANA reported.

The Syrian government announced it would push into Jisr al-Shugur after it accused "armed groups" of killing at least 120 security forces there several days ago.

Syrian refugees who fled to Turkey have said some Syrian soldiers rebelled after being ordered to fire on unarmed protesters and instead started fighting among themselves.

The number of Syrians escaping to Turkey has escalated to 4,300, a Turkish semi-official news agency reported over the weekend.

A fourth refugee camp was set up Sunday in Hamza Cisligi, about 100 meters (109 yards) from the Syrian border in Turkey, to take in Syrians who have fled the regime's crackdown.

Halit Cevik, the Turkish Foreign Ministry's deputy-undersecretary for the Middle East, told the Anadolu news agency Saturday that Turkey has made preparations for more refugees.

Amnesty International said last week it believes more than 1,100 people -- including 82 children -- have been killed in Syria since the crackdown started in mid-March.

CNN's Arwa Damon, Salma Abdelaziz and Saad Abedine contributed to this report.

CNN

Syrian army begins operation in Jisr al-Shughour: report (Reuters)

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Syrian army began a military operation in a restive town near the Turkish border, Syrian television said on Friday, after events this week in which state media say over 120 security personnel were killed.

"Our correspondent in Jisr al-Shughour told us now that in response to people's calls, units from the Syrian Arabic Army started its duties in Jisr al-Shughour ... to arrest armed members," the television said.

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Senate report: Rethink U.S. aid to Afghanistan

Washington (CNN) -- The United States' nation-building projects in Afghanistan can claim only limited success and the troubled nation risks sinking into deeper crisis after a U.S. troop withdrawal, according to a congressional report issued Wednesday.

The two-year investigation found that, despite the roughly $18.8 billion spent in aid to Afghanistan over the past decade, more than to any other country, the United States should "have no illusions" about the value of its programs aimed at stabilization.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee report details the use of aid dollars in areas of Afghanistan cleared of the Taliban and urges the administration to reconsider how the money is being spent.

The Senate panel's report said the Obama administration is pursuing an aid strategy in line with counterinsurgency theories that "deserve careful, ongoing scrutiny to see if they yield intended results."

"Foreign aid, when misspent, can fuel corruption, distort labor and goods markets, undermine the host government's ability to exert control over resources, and contribute to insecurity," it said.

The sobering document comes as debate rages over the extent of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and President Barack Obama considers the size of an initial U.S. troop drawdown and how best to hand over responsibilities now under military control.

Obama discussed transition with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an hourlong video teleconference Wednesday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said. Obama has not made any decisions yet regarding a drawdown, Carney said.

"We welcome the report, even though we do not endorse all of the conclusions of it," he said. "It's important to note that Afghanistan has made significant progress, and the presumption that our assistance has contributed little and that Afghanistan has made no progress is just simply wrong and we disagree with that."

He cited the training of Afghan forces as an example.

Also Wednesday, the Senate committee grilled Ryan Crocker, tapped by Obama to be the next U.S. ambassador in Kabul, at confirmation hearings. Crocker, the former ambassador to Iraq, acknowledged that problems like corruption stand as impediments to success in Afghanistan.

"We wrestled with the same thing in Iraq and you don't get positive change overnight," he told the senators.

"I am under no illusions of the difficulty of the challenge," Crocker said. "If Iraq was hard -- and it was hard -- Afghanistan in many respects is harder."

About 97% of Afghanistan's gross domestic product is related to international military and donor community spending, the report said, citing the World Bank.

"Afghanistan could suffer a severe economic depression when foreign troops leave in 2014 unless the proper planning begins now," the report said.

"The administration is understandably anxious for immediate results to demonstrate to Afghans and Americans alike that we are making progress," it said. "However, insecurity, abject poverty, weak indigenous capacity, and widespread corruption create challenges for spending money. High staff turnover, pressure from the military, imbalances between military and civilian resources, unpredictable funding levels from Congress, and changing political timelines have further complicated efforts."

Among the problems cited by the senators was the use of U.S. contractors.

It said the United States relies heavily on such contractors but noted a lack of robust oversight. Much of U.S. aid goes not to the Afghan government but into the hands of international companies.

"This practice can weaken the ability of the Afghan state to execute its budget, lead to redundant and unsustainable donor projects, and fuel corruption," the report said.

But Carney defended the use of contractors. "Civilian assistance is important but it represents a small proportion of the overall cost of our mission in Afghanistan," he said. "But it is an essential component of our critical national security strategy in Afghanistan."

CNN

Kate Middleton's phone hacked - report

Rupert Murdoch's News International media group is again being accused of illegally obtaining information on people.A British lawmaker accuses News International of more hacking of royals and politiciansRupert Murdoch's media group rejects the allegationsBritish media name Tony Blair and Kate Middleton as possible victimsLondon's Metropolitan Police confirm they are considering allegations they have received

London (CNN) -- A powerful British media group is fighting new accusations that it illegally got information on members of the royal family and top politicians, after a lawmaker accused it of hacking.

Police have information that "strongly suggests" that a private investigator targeted royals, lawmakers and high-level terrorist informers on behalf of Rupert Murdoch's News International, Labour lawmaker Tom Watson said in Parliament Wednesday.

British media said the targets included former Prime Minister Tony Blair and Kate Middleton when she was dating Prince William, the second in line to the throne. They married in April.

Buckingham Palace and Prince William's office at Clarence House both declined to comment.

But London's Metropolitan Police told CNN Thursday it "has received a number of allegations regarding breach of privacy.... These allegations are currently being considered."

News International rejected the accusation.

"With regards to Tom Watson's specific allegations, we believe these are wholly inaccurate," the company told CNN Thursday, adding that it was cooperating with ongoing police investigations into phone hacking and had not been asked about the work of the private investigator Watson named in Parliament.

But it said it was "well documented" that the investigator "worked for a whole variety of newspaper groups."

Murdoch's media group, which owns the Sunday tabloid News of the World, has already apologized to a number of celebrities and offered them compensation after admitting it had their phones hacked.

Actress Sienna Miller was among the victims, a British court ruling in June confirmed.

A News of the World royal correspondent and a private investigator were sent to prison in 2007 for hacking into the voice mails of members of the royal staff.

But Watson named a different investigator Wednesday, undercutting the long-standing News International claim that the practice of phone hacking was not widespread.

The Metropolitan Police are conducting an investigation called Operating Weeting into the accusations of hacking by British media.

They said Thursday the allegations they have received this year are "outside the remit of Operation Weeting."

But Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday that a "police inquiry does not need terms of reference" and that police are "free to investigate the evidence and take that wherever it leads them."

Murdoch's media empire encompasses the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Fox News and Harper Collins publishers, as well as the Times and the Sun newspapers in London.

CNN's Richard Allen Greene, Carol Jordan and Bharati Naik contributed to this report.

CNN

Report: N. Korea test-fires missiles

Missiles are prominently displayed during a Workers Party parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, in October 2010. Short-range missile fired last week, news agency saysSouth Korea won't comment on it

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea test-fired a short-range missile off its western coast in the middle of last week, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Quoting an intelligence source, Yonhap says Pyongyang launched a KN-06 short-range missile in an attempt to improve it and increase its range.

This launch would be the North's first test of a short-range missile in 19 months. In July 2009, North Korea fired a series of short-range missiles off its east coast, a move criticized by the international community.

The South Korean Ministry of Defense tells CNN they cannot comment on the report.

Tensions have been high between the two Koreas since two attacks last year killed 50 South Koreans.

North Korea also announced last week it will cut all ties with the South and threatened to strike with military force. It is not the first time Pyongyang has threatened to attack Seoul.

CNN's Jiyeon Lee contributed to this report.

CNN

Iran sends submarines to Red Sea: report (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran has sent submarines to the Red Sea, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified source, in a move that could anger Israel.

"Iranian military submarines entered the Red Sea waters with the goal of collecting information and identifying other countries' combat vessels," Fars said.

It did not specify the number or type of vessels involved but said they were sailing alongside warships of the Navy's 14th fleet.

State-run Press TV said in May the 14th fleet, comprised of two vessels, the Bandar Abbas warship and Shahid Naqdi destroyer, had been sent to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

"The fleet entered the Gulf of Aden region in May and has now entered the Red Sea in the continuation of its mission," Fars said.

Two Iranian warships passed through the Suez Canal in February, the first such move since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, en route to Syria. Tehran said the mission was one of "peace and friendship" but Israel called it a "provocation."

Iran announced last August it had expanded its fleet of domestically built 120-tonne Ghadir-class submarines to 11 which it said would be used to patrol the Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

It has deployed warships further afield, as far as the Red Sea, to combat Somali pirates but has not previously said it sent submarines to those waters.

(Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; editing by Elizabeth Piper)

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