Bulger trial set to get under way in Mass.

BOSTON (AP) — As the highly anticipated trial of reputed mobster James "Whitey" Bulger gets under way, jurors will hear prosecutors and defense attorneys describe a man who has been a legendary figure in Boston for decades.

The two portraits will have nothing in common.

Prosecutors have said they will present evidence that Bulger, the leader of the violent Winter Hill Gang, participated in 19 killings in the 1970s and '80s. They also plan to show the jury a 700-page file they say shows that Bulger, while committing a long list of crimes, was also working as an FBI informant, providing information on the New England Mob — his gang's main rivals — and corrupting FBI agents who ignored his crimes.

Defense attorneys have made it clear that they plan to attack the credibility of three once-loyal Bulger cohorts who will be star prosecution witnesses: Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, Bulger's former partner; John Martorano, a former hitman who admitted killing 20 people; and Kevin Weeks, a former Bulger lieutenant who led authorities to six bodies.

Opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday morning in federal court.

Bulger, now 83, was one of the nation's most wanted fugitives when he fled Boston in 1994 after receiving a tip from his former FBI handler, John Connolly, that he was about to be indicted. He was finally captured in 2011 in Santa Monica, Calif., where he had been living with his longtime girlfriend in a rent-controlled apartment.

Connolly was convicted of racketeering for warning Bulger and later of second-degree murder for giving information to Bulger that led to the slaying of a Boston businessman in Miami.

Bulger's lawyers have denied that he was ever an FBI informant and have indicated they will argue that Connolly fabricated informant reports in Bulger's lengthy FBI file.

The defense may also present another side of Bulger seen by some residents of South Boston, where he was known for years as a kind of harmless tough guy who gave Thanksgiving dinners to his working-class neighbors.

Prosecutors, however, plan to call one family member of each of the 19 people prosecutors allege were killed by Bulger and his gang. Among the victims were two 26-year-old women who Bulger is accused of strangling.

The trial is expected to last three to four months.

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African free trade zone planning is under way (The Christian Science Monitor)

Freetown, Sierra Leone – Trade officials from across Africa met in Johannesburg this week to announce the formal start of negotiations toward a free trade zone that would stretch the length of the continent, incorporating more than 500 million people, 26 countries, and nearly a trillion dollars of economic output.

The proposed deal, which would eliminate many trade barriers between participating countries, would merge three existing trade blocs in eastern, central, and southern Africa. It would include Africa's two biggest economies (South Africa and Egypt) and its fastest growing (the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Botswana).

The project, which has been dubbed the “African Grand Free Trade Area,” is a bold idea, but not a new one. African leaders first made their plans for a 26-country trading bloc public at a summit in Uganda in October 2008. Since then, they have made little progress toward that goal.

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“We all know that this is a very long process,” says El Hadji Diouf, the executive director of the African Agency for Trade and Development, a Geneva-based think tank. “But an FTA like this would be a very good thing for the African community.”

“If they have strong political leadership, they will get there,” Mr. Diouf added. “I don’t think they have a choice: Development comes about through a better flow of trade.”

Commerce within Africa remains limited. Just 10 percent of the continent’s trade is conducted between African countries, while the rest goes overseas. That low volume is a result of Africa’s weak infrastructure, dense red tape, and corrupt border officials, among other challenges.

“Today, there are 40 to 50 barriers from one African border to another,” the prominent Sudanese businessman Mo Ibrahim told a business conference in Paris in March. “In such a context, it is obvious that if you carry perishable foodstuffs, they will be lost before you reach your destination. We need to break up those barriers and guarantee the free movement of people and goods."

Rob Davies, South Africa’s minister of trade and industry, said in a media briefing on Monday that the first stage of the “Grand FTA” negotiations will focus on eliminating tariffs and other traditional barriers to goods trade, while a second round will tackle more delicate issues such as intellectual property and trade in services.

a€?The timeframe for this is three years,a€

Once finalized, the FTA should be opened up to all of the continenta€™s regions, said Diouf of the African Agency for Trade and Development.

a€?It is important that this process doesna€™t exclude other African countries,a€

African nations are not alone in seeking out a regional approach to freeing up trade. Coalitions like Mercosur, the South American customs union, and ASEAN, the Southeast Asian economic group, are also planning to deepen and broaden their economic integration.

These robust regional forums contrast starkly with the 153-country “Doha Round” trade talks at the World Trade Organization, which are now limping into their second decade and have yet to produce any tangible results.

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Argentine towns suffer under falling volcanic ash (AP)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – The government of one province in Argentina declared an economic emergency on Thursday to aid towns where falling ash from Chile's erupting volcano is endangering livestock and keeping tourists away.

The emergency in Neuquen province follows a similar measure by the national government in other parts of Patagonia where agriculture has been hit by accumulating volcanic ash.

The decree by Gov. Jorge Sapag will mean that those affected can receive tax benefits, among other measures.

Chile's Cordon Caulle volcano began erupting June 4, spewing ash that has disrupted flights in countries ranging from Uruguay to Australia.

The ash has also blanketed towns across the border in Argentina. In the area of Villa La Angostura, located 24 miles (38 kilometers) from the volcano, up to one foot (30 centimeters) of ash has accumulated on the ground.

The ash has made it difficult to drive safely on roads, and the eruption came just as resorts in the mountain towns were preparing for ski season.

"Today we can't anticipate the season's final results, but we can say that this has ruined the start of the winter season in the coming days," said Roberto Alonso, mayor of Villa La Angostura.

Residents in the town have been working to clean up the ash, said Alejandro Curiluck, a business owner in Villa La Angostura. "In 15 days we should be operating. The big problem is that the volcano keeps sending up ashes," he said.

Satellite images on Thursday showed the main ash cloud from the erupting volcano stretching about 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) toward the east-southeast, Chile's National Geology and Mines Service said in a statement.

"The eruption process continues and it's possible that an increase in activity could occur again, with episodes similar or greater in intensity than those that have occurred so far," the agency said.

The ashes are causing problems for Argentine farmers whose sheep herds are now roaming in pastures covered with ash.

According to official figures, there are more than 2 million sheep in Patagonia, of which more than half are affected by the ash.

In response, Argentina's Agriculture Ministry declared an emergency on Wednesday in the provinces of Chubut, Rio Negro y Neuquen.

Regional airports in Patagonia have also been shut down for more than a week due to the cloud of fine grit, which can damage airplane engines.

Buenos Aires' main airports reopened on Wednesday and international flights were operating again.

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Reports: Syrian town under assault

Syrian mourners at a funeral service of an anti-regime protester on the Syrian side of the Syria-Turkey border, on June 11, 2011.NEW: Report: Authorities find decapitated and mutilated bodies in a mass graveNEW: Syrian state television says a soldier is killed in the clashesBritish 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) -- At least three people were killed in clashes as Syrian forces surged into a northwestern city Sunday, state media reported.

Jisr al-Shugur was under heavy shelling as hundreds of military vehicles entered the city and helicopters hovered in the sky, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of human rights activists.

One Syrian soldier was killed and four other soldiers injured 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."

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

In a statement released Sunday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned Syria's 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. In an earlier interview, he 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 U.N. 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.

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

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 punish Jisr al-Shugur after it accused "armed groups" of killing at least 120 security forces there several days ago.

SANA on Sunday also reported that one police officer was killed and another was injured in clashes with "an armed terrorist group" in Idlib province Friday. The government news agency said Syria's army arrested "terrorist groups and snipers" there Saturday.

Police and gunmen also clashed Friday in Homs province, SANA said.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah denied media reports that it had been involved in clashes in Syria, saying such accounts were lies, rumors and "sectarian incitement."

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 official news agency reported Saturday.

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.

"Turkey had welcomed great many numbers of guests in the past in their most dire times of need. We can do that again," Cevik said, according to Anadolu.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 25 people were killed Friday in various locations, including 11 in town of Maaret al-Nouman.

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

Hollywood star Blanchett under fire over carbon tax (AFP)

SYDNEY (AFP) – Hollywood A-lister Cate Blanchett found herself under fire for fronting a campaign promoting the government's planned carbon tax, with critics saying she is out of touch with ordinary Australians.

The wealthy Oscar winner features in a new advert, funded by a coalition of unions and green groups, urging Australians to "Say Yes" to a tax on carbon.

Australians are among the world's worst per capita carbon polluters and Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard has proposed a carbon tax to be levied on major industrial polluters by July 1, 2012.

She then plans a full emissions trading scheme in three to five years.

But the proposals are not popular, with the conservative opposition saying a tax would damage the economy and drive up the cost of living by making energy far more expensive, bumping up electricity bills.

"$53 million Hollywood superstar tells Aussie families to pay up", the Sydney Sunday Telegraph blared on its front page, referring to how much Blanchett is worth.

"Cate Blanchett has proved she is just another morally vain Hollywood star trying to justify her great good fortune by preaching to the rest of us about climate change," the paper said in a comment piece.

The Australian Family Association said she was out of touch.

"It's nice to have a multi-millionaire who won't be impacted by it telling you how great it is. It's easy for her to advocate it, she's one of the people who can afford to pay it," the association said, according to the newspaper.

"There are people who have no comfort zone and no room to move."

Blanchett made no comment but her co-star in the advert, Australian actor Michael Caton, defended his role.

"I'm sure people will criticise me but I thought long and hard and I really believe in this, so I'm speaking up for it," he said.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said Blanchett was being unfairly targeted.

"I admire people who speak their views and Cate Blanchett, along with many others, has a strong view that Australia needs to price carbon," he said.

"It's the responsible thing to do for citizens to speak up."

The Climate Institute, an independent research organisation, also defended the actress.

"There is a serious scare campaign going on," spokesman John Connor told the ABC.

"So I am not surprised by some of the personal attacks. But what we're trying to do is focus on the policies and the issues and that a range of Australians are well behind this campaign."

Earlier this month, a national poll by The Australian newspaper showed 60 percent of voters were opposed to a carbon tax. Only 30 percent of voters supported the plan and 10 percent were undecided.

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Elections in Spain under way after massive protests

Madrid (CNN) -- Spaniards voted in local and regional elections Sunday after a campaign overshadowed by week-long protests in Madrid and other cities over the nation's deep economic crisis.

Despite a court-approved ban on demonstrations the day before the elections, the demonstrations continued on Saturday.

Polls predict the ruling Socialist Party will suffer deep losses to the conservatives in voting for all 8,000 Spanish city and town mayors and for presidents of 13 out of the 17 regional governments. The outcome is viewed as a bellwether for national elections due no later than March 2012.

The Socialist government did not order the police to disband the peaceful demonstrations on Saturday, despite the electoral board's ban that said the day prior to balloting should be a day of reflection, without politicking.

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said earlier that police would not create even more problems than already existed in the streets.

Rubalcaba voted early on Sunday, shortly after polls opened at 9 a.m. Rubalcaba is widely expected to seek the nomination of the Socialist Party as candidate for prime minister in the next general elections.

The current prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, announced last month he would not seek a third term.

His government has been squeezed by Spain's 21% unemployment rate, the highest in Western Europe, and a financial crisis that prompted unpopular austerity measures.

That's what helped start a wave of protests May 15, when Spaniards using social media sites like Facebook convened demonstrations that attracted large crowds.

The protests against the political and financial establishment continued and gained force throughout last week, as demonstrators set up encampments in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol plaza and at emblematic plazas in Barcelona and many other Spanish cities.

Overall, reports indicated that tens of thousands took to the streets across the nation in the past week, and news media attention on the protests quickly overshadowed the campaign.

The sprawling tent city in Madrid's Puerta del Sol plaza includes a kitchen, a painting workshop to churn out protest placards, a communications office to answer media inquiries and even a day care nursery.

Young people dominated the protests on Saturday, but there were also families with young children, senior citizens and many people who have jobs and said they're concerned about the nation's future. Spain has a 42% jobless rate for people ages 16 to 24.

"Everybody here is a volunteer, and everything started very small, but we got organized very fast and it started growing very fast," said Juan Lopez, a protest spokesman and Internet technology manager who is currently unemployed.

"People want to participate," said Sofia de Roa, a spokeswoman for the protesters. "This is a fiesta of democracy."

Protesters decided on Sunday to stay at least another week in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol plaza, said Juan Lopez, a protest spokesman.

"The assembly has just approved that," Lopez told CNN by phone. The protesters have divided themselves into decision-making bodies they call assemblies, which debate and then vote on issues.

Lopez said the decision applies only to the protest in Madrid, which has been the largest in Spain. Barcelona and other cities would make their own decision.

"We are trying to coordinate," but he added that, so far, nationwide collaboration is not in place.

Zapatero, the prime minister, said in an interview with SER radio on Friday that voters ultimately will decide whether and how much change will be made.

"It's just before elections when the Spanish politicians usually hear the voice of the people," Lopez said. "Now on Monday, we have to see how this develops and what the answer is. The best-case scenario, which is the one we would like, is that they will come down here as citizens to hear us, and to make a new and better Spain."

A total of 34 million Spaniards are eligible to vote on Sunday, including 500,000 foreigners, mainly from other European Union nations, who have established residency in Spain.

About 100,000 police officers are on duty to maintain safety. The polls close at 8 p.m., and results are due later Sunday.

Several representatives of the protests told CNN the demonstrations will continue even after the elections. But Spanish media reported that in various cities, the protester assemblies - their decision-making bodies -- had not yet decided how long the protests would continue.

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HBO Documentary 'Burma Soldier' Reveals Life Under Junta (Time.com)

Burma has been rendered in journalism, activism and art as a country of plain dichotomies: good vs. evil, liberty vs. suppression, the saintly Aung San Suu Kyi vs. the brutal monolith of the military junta. By its very premise, Burma Soldier, which airs this evening on HBO, muddies this picture. The documentary's subject, Myo Myint, is a former soldier who gave his adolescent years to the regime but came in adulthood to join the democratic opposition against it. Says Nic Dunlop, writer-photographer and a co-director of the film with Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern: "Myo Myint's story is extraordinary because it incorporates victim and perpetrator in a single narrative." Extraordinary, yes, and yet this project's greatest strength is its willingness to consider that the lowest ranks of the Burmese army are rife with men as petrified and cynical of the regime as the people they terrorize in its name.

Much of Burma Soldier consists of an unsettling monologue, filmed almost entirely at a refugee camp of grassy huts on the Thai-Burma border. From there, Myo Myint waits to be granted asylum, like his siblings were a decade ago, in the U.S. He came to the army, he tells us, as most Burmese soldiers: teenaged, apolitical and looking for employment and esteem. "Then I didn't know the difference between people showing respect and people acting out of fear," he says. He revisits the details of atrocities committed by fellow servicemen and to which he was a reluctant witness - the raping of ethnic-minority women, the torching of their villages - in quiet and deliberate tones. The interviews were shot in the less than two weeks before Myo Myint boarded a plane for America, but his narrative has nothing of this urgency. (Is Burma's strongman really retiring?)

Myo Myint worked as a military engineer, laying and clearing minefields, until an enemy mortar shell set off a mine and blew away a leg, an arm and a few of his fingers. Recalling his subsequent time in hospital, he sheds tears so suddenly that he seems to startle himself. As a crippled civilian, he would retreat first into drink and later, with a yen for peace, into the pro-democracy movement. He established a youth library of banned books, met with democracy leader Suu Kyi and, as protests rocked the country in 1988, addressed a rally of 8,000 antiregime demonstrators from his crutches. More than 200 men in uniform, emboldened by his example, joined the uprising. For defying the dictatorship, Myo Myint was tortured and sentenced to first seven years, then almost immediately after his release, 10 years in prison. He served close to 15.

Burma's generals came to control what had been a newly independent nation in a bloody coup in 1962, one year before Myo Myint was born. In the decades since, the junta has waged an endless civil war against ethnic groups, formed an economic oligarchy, defied international pressure and gunned down pro-democracy demonstrations. "The lower ranks, most of them are illiterate and uneducated," Myo Myint tells TIME, "and they're brainwashed into thinking that all dissidents are enemies of the army, of the state, of the people." In 1990, the regime nullified an election that would have brought Suu Kyi's now banned National League for Democracy party to power. For 15 of the past 21 years they kept her locked up. Last November, Suu Kyi was released from her most recent term of house arrest and in March, a new military-backed government was sworn in, but seemingly little has changed.

Burma Soldier punctuates Myo Myint's grim chronicle with scenes of this junta rule, footage of troops battling protesters or parading in shows of malevolent force. Much of it was smuggled out of the country by dissidents, the rest taken from the BBC, a Burmese humanitarian-service movement, the Web and even a spate of foreigners on gap year. "Begged, borrowed, stolen and in some cases actually paid for," says Dunlop of the images. But for all its impact - there is something uniquely horrifying in watching an army fire on its own people - the material is rarely as effective as Myo Myint's defeated but still handsome face. (See how Burmese activists have launched an antidictatorship Facebook group.)

Months before that face was set to speak to a foreign audience in its HBO debut, the team behind the movie focused their attentions on Myo Myint's countrymen. In an act of what producer Julie LeBrocquy has christened "reverse piracy," Burmese-language copies of the movie are being smuggled back into Burma. Activists are taking great risks to leave DVDs behind in Rangoon's Internet cafEs, to be discovered by future cyberusers. By a recent count, the Burmese-language version had been viewed online close to 33,000 times.

In Fort Wayne, Ind., where he now lives among the largest community of Burmese Americans (and where the film's end captures his fateful reunion with his family), Myo Myint is working still to give Burmese an account of their own history that hasn't been written by the ruling elite. And that includes his current neighbors. While he has gladly found the plentiful and uncensored stacks of an American library, many of the Burmese in Fort Wayne cannot read English. He acts, among other things, as a translator and interpreter for incoming refugees and has his hands in both a local Burmese-language magazine and weekly Burmese-language TV program. "I have no right to directly participate in Burma's politics," says Myo Myint, who took with him to the U.S. a plastic bag of Burmese soil. "So this is my politics: struggling to help my people, my nation." It is a striking patriotism for a man who is not allowed to go home.

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Australia's Dr. Death Lobbies for Euthanasia Down Under (Time.com)

When Jane was diagnosed with a muscle-wasting disease five years ago, she was active, physically healthy and had a full-time job. Today, the 70-year-old, who has asked her real name not be used, weighs just 92 pounds. She had to give up her job last year after her foot slipped between the brake and the accelerator on the drive home from work one day; she didn't notice until the car swerved. "I thought I should stop driving before I kill someone," Jane says, from her home in Australia. "As for killing myself, I wouldn't mind."

Jane's disease, a form of severe peripheral neuropathy, means that most times when she sits or stands, she is in pain. Soon, she'll lose the ability to walk and eventually to speak. Painkillers haven't helped - she is in agony if she so much as bumps against a table leg - and her days go by slowly. Like many who suffer from chronic degenerative diseases, Jane says that if euthanasia were legal in Australia, she would take the opportunity to die. "I think of death as peaceful."

If she was ill in 1996, then her wish may have been granted. That year, the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act came into effect in Australia's Northern Territory, under which four people chose to end their lives with the help of physician Philip Nitschke and his computer-aided consent system dubbed "the deliverance machine." Religious groups were outraged, and demanded the law be repealed. The Australian Medical Association also issued a statement that physician-assisted suicide was unethical. Within less than a year, the act was overridden on a legal technicality based on the Northern Territory not being a state. Nitschke, and his pro-euthanasia organization Exit International have been trying to reverse the decision ever since.

Drafting euthanasia legislation has always been a minefield. Questions over whether the practice itself is ethical, whether it should be exclusively for those that are dying, who should make the decision to grant someone the right to die, and how to ensure that patients aren't pressured by family members into assisted suicide are difficult to cover in any law. It's legal in a number of countries including Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. In Oregon, Washington and Montana, physician aid in dying is allowed, whereby the medication is prescribed by the doctor but must be administered by the patient. The Dignitas clinic in Zurich is the only place in the world where foreign citizens can go to die, and those that do do not have to be terminally ill. In 2009, Daniel James, a British 23-year-old who was paralyzed after a rugby injury, flew to Switzerland to die with the help of his parents. (Read about the euthanasia debate in the U.K.)

This year, Nitschke, who has advocated for euthanasia abroad, might succeed in bringing the practice back to Australia. In March, the Premier of Tasmania Lara Giddings told The Australian that she will be working with the Greens Party on preparing a new bill for voluntary euthanasia. (A bill that was proposed last year by the Tasmanian Greens failed in the state's House of Assembly.) For Nitschke, Giddings' move is historic. "[She is] the first premier to really taken a strong position in supporting euthanasia," he says. In the state of South Australia, another bill put tabled in March by Labor Party MP Stephanie Key would provide a legal defense for doctors that administer medication requested by the patient which could lead to their death. The bill wouldn't make assisting suicide legal per se, but it would provide a legal protection for medical practitioners. A final vote on this is expected later this year.

Advocates of euthanasia say the law is long overdue in Australia. "We would be charged with animal cruelty if we treated our pets this way," says Frances Coombe the president of the South Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society (SAVES). "We need legislation that will allow us to at least talk about death and address our end of life options." Coombe's organization does not work with Nitschke, and although she supports the help he provides for those that are desperate she often feels that on occasion he hurts the cause with his headline-grabbing behavoir. On a recent visit to Adelaide, for instance, the media widely reported that Nitschke was publicly scouting locations for euthanasia clinics. "This feeds into the minds of the opposition and encourages hysteria," says Coombe. Her group is not the only one to feel that he goes too far: Nitschke says that the Victoria-based group Dying with Dignity also broke ties with him because he supports euthanasia for those who aren't terminally ill.

Further points of controversy around Nitschke's work have been his "Peaceful Pill Handbook," a guide to euthanasia and assisted suicide which is now banned from Australia. His organization's website also used to feature a video called "Do it yourself with Betty" in which Betty, a retired nurse, demonstrates how to make an 'exit bag,' a large-sized oven bag with a drawstring for suffocation. "If you want to look nice you better go get your hair done, because this does mess your hair up," she jokes after she threaded elastic through the bag. Then there is the barbiturate testing kit, still sold on his website which helps people test that their dose of medicine is lethal enough. "Terminally ill people don't have time to fool around," he explains.

Some legal experts are concerned at the prospect of euthanasia again being legalized down under. Andrew McGee, a law lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, believes it may encourage suicide in those that wouldn't otherwise consider it. "There are people in nursing homes that already feel like a burden. ... They already feel guilty and embarrassed but cannot help themselves because of their distress and acute discomfort. They may be made to feel that they should end their lives so as not to feel a burden." HOPE, an anti-euthanasia network, shares McGee's concerns. "It will end up hurting those that are most vulnerable," says Paul Russell, HOPE's director. And, he adds, "There could be circumstances where it will be applied without the consent of the individual."

Still, Nitschke is not without his supporters. Since 1996, euthanasia has become more accepted in Australia: a 2007 Newspoll found that 80% of Australians now support voluntary euthanasia. When he last gave an Exit International talk in Sydney, the mostly elderly crowd of 130 people cheered at his accomplishments, and laughed at his jokes. When speaking to TIME at a cafe in Sydney's Kings Cross, a young man walked past to congratulate him for his good work. "I just want people to have a choice," Nitschke says. "For all I know, I will want to exhaust every medical intervention possible, no expense spared, to give myself an extra ten minutes. I don't know, but I want the right to decide for myself."

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Trial under way for accused Russian whistleblower (AP)

MOSCOW – A military court in Moscow has opened a trial against a former Russian intelligence officer accused of helping U.S. authorities to arrest a Russian spy ring.

Alexander Poteyev has been charged with high treason and desertion. Prosecutors claim he tipped off American authorities about Anna Chapman and her fellow deep-cover agents. He is being tried in his absence.

Court spokeswoman Lyudmila Klimenko said on Russian television on Monday that a panel of judges had started the trial, which will be closed to public.

Russian media say Poteyev controlled U.S.-based spy operations from Moscow, and fled to America just before Washington announced it had uncovered the 10 spies last summer. They were deported in exchange for four suspected agents who had been incarcerated in Russia.

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LaHood says aborted landing of first lady's plane under investigation

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: The National Transportation Safety Board also will investigateOfficials: A plane carrying the first lady got too close to a military C-17The FAA says the aircraft were never in any dangerThe incident happened Monday at Andrews AFB Washington (CNN) -- An aborted landing by a plane carrying Michelle Obama because it was too close to a military plane ahead of it was a "serious incident," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday.

LaHood confirmed that the Federal Aviation Administration was investigating the incident Monday at Andrews Air Force Base.

The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency, also said it is launching a probe into Monday's incident, according to NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson.

"We consider any incident like this a serious incident," LaHood said. "It's under investigation, we will get to the bottom of what happened and how it happened, and obviously make sure it doesn't happen again."

He emphasized that the first lady was never in any danger and said he had yet to hear from either Michelle Obama or the president about it.

The planes -- which were both trying to land -- were three miles apart, when they are supposed to be five miles apart, a senior administration official told CNN, adding that it was believed to be an air traffic controller mistake.

Asked why the separation rules governing plane landings were not followed, LaHood said: "That's what we'll figure out in the investigation."

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LaHood says aborted landing of first lady's plane under investigation

First lady plane incident 'ridiculous'STORY HIGHLIGHTSFAA increases supervision of flights carrying the vice president, first ladyThe National Transportation Safety Board also will investigateA plane carrying the first lady got too close to a military C-17The FAA says the aircraft were never in any danger Washington (CNN) -- Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the independent National Transportation Safety Board are investigating an aborted landing by a plane carrying first lady Michelle Obama because it was too close to a military plane ahead, officials announced Wednesday.

Neither plane was in danger in the incident Monday at Andrews Air Force Base, according to both agencies.

"We consider any incident like this a serious incident," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in confirming the FAA review. "It's under investigation, we will get to the bottom of what happened and how it happened, and obviously make sure it doesn't happen again."

Later Wednesday, the FAA said in a statement it will now require supervisory oversight in monitoring flights transporting the vice president or first lady. Such supervision is currently required in monitoring flights carrying the president, the FAA said.

LaHood emphasized that the first lady was never in any danger and said he had yet to hear from either Michelle Obama or the president about it. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed Wednesday that Jill Biden, the vice president's wife, also was on the plane as she and the first lady returned from a series of media events supporting military families.

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'Gang of Six' Senators Under Pressure to Strike Budget Deal After Credit Rating Warning

AP

Shown here are Sens. Tom Coburn, left, and Kent Conrad.

With partisan squabbling increasing ahead of a vote to raise the nation's borrowing limit, aides to a bipartisan "gang of six" lawmakers in the Senate are working through a holiday recess on a deal to slash the country's skyrocketing debt and deficit. 

Staffers for the group tell Fox News that their goal is to produce an agreement by May 2 to present to Congress when lawmakers return from their Easter break. 

And with Monday's blunt warning from the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's about U.S. debt, and the financial markets' subsequent drop, the pressure is growing more intense. 

"This is one more warning sign that the financial markets are paying close attention to see if we are serious about addressing our budget deficits and long-term debt," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a former governor and lead organizer of the so-called "gang of six," in a statement released by his office. 

S&P, which downgraded its outlook on the U.S. from "stable" to "negative" for the first time since World War II, based its pessimism on doubts that Congress could overcome partisan gridlock to tackle the problem. 

Fox News has learned that aides to the senators are working overtime to have a plan ready when lawmakers return to the Capitol, which will be less than two weeks from when the Obama administration estimates the government will have exhausted its $14.3 trillion debt limit. 

The plan is expected to mirror one put forward by the president's own deficit commission, of which all six lawmakers were a part. The commission plan would cut the debt by roughly $4 trillion over 10 years, touching every area of the budget, including entitlements, taxes, and defense spending. 

"They're working like mad. There's definitely a lot of pressure, but who knows if they'll get to a place that everyone can support. I think there's a growing feeling that they just have to," said one senior staffer close to the talks who requested anonymity, because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. 

With Republicans promising to hold up Obama's request for a debt limit increase without major spending reductions and the White House warning of a "global economic calamity" if the ceiling isn't raised, the pressure on the negotiators is intense. 

"The talks have almost collapsed a few times," according to another source familiar with the negotiations who also asked to remain anonymous in order not to jeopardize the deal. The source said the group is "in a much better place now." 

"All the members are optimistic about getting a deal. It's been rough going at times, but they've stuck with it. It's too big a problem not to try to solve," said the staffer. 

Gang members include Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, number two in his party's leadership, Warner, and Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad of North Dakota. On the Republican side are Sens. Tom Coburn, dubbed "Dr. No" for his fiscal hawk status, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Mike Crapo of Idaho. 

While the other five are well-known figures in the Senate, Crapo has toiled outside the spotlight since he first came to Congress in 1998. In a chamber of headline-seekers, Crapo rarely attends news conferences and is not often seen in gaggles with reporters. But he is, perhaps, one of the most well-liked among his colleagues. 

No one in the gang of six is up for re-election, a factor that no doubt aids in their potential success, though the similarities between the Republicans and Democrats pretty much stops there.

But given the severity of the U.S debt picture, the group appears to have checked partisan hats at the door, imbued with a sense of urgency. And it faces many obstacles, not the least of which is a looming presidential election year, during which little substantive legislation is likely to be achieved. 

It certainly helps that the group, according to firsthand accounts, gets along well behind closed doors. Many meetings take place in Warner's fourth floor Russell Senate Office Building, mostly outside the path of reporters and cameras. The meetings typically switch off between members-only and staff. There usually is some kind of anteroom set up, according to a source, and the members and staff move back and forth conferring between the two. 

One essential ingredient to the group's recipe for success? "They always have a big spread of food," said a source. 

At one morning meeting, one budget expert baked homemade scones for the group. Sometimes, for the evening meetings, lawmakers meet over a glass of wine, according to the source. A little "gentle teasing" goes on between the members (Coburn and Durbin are especially known for this), but the members take the substance "quite seriously," said the source, adding, "There isn't really a single person pushing the talks along, it's a real group effort. You know, they frankly didn't know each other particularly well before this started, and they've grown pretty close over the last five months." 

The good humor will serve the group well when and if they can produce a package. At least 20 senators, Republican and Democrat, are waiting for the finished product, anxious to support some kind of deficit and debt reform package ahead of any debt ceiling increase. 

But there are many others who have cast a gloomy eye on the bipartisan work of the group. With Social Security reform on the table, according to Warner, the group is poised to run headlong into the powerful Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, who told reporters recently, "Social Security has not contributed one penny to the deficit. Leave Social Security alone." 

Then there's Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Reid's GOP counterpart, and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who have said, emphatically, that tax increases are off the table, a position long a part of GOP orthodoxy. But Chambliss, along with Coburn and Crapo, has said that times have changed and that, most definitely, tax hikes will be in the final product, likely in the form of eliminated tax deductions in favor of personal and corporate tax rate reductions. 

"I'm taking arrows from some on the far right," Chambliss told the Rotary Club of Atlanta in a recent appearance with Warner, adding, "Are some people going to pay more in taxes? You bet." 

That will, no doubt, mobilize the influential anti-tax advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform, run by Grover Norquist, who doggedly holds lawmakers to their no-tax-increase pledge. 

Already, Coburn has been at loggerheads with Norquist merely for voicing support for a compromise on revenue measures, and the senator's spokesman now labels Norquist the "chief cleric of sharia tax law." And the arrows have continued in GOP circles, with one conservative blogger, Erick Erickson of Redstate.com, recently asking in a recent post, "Is Saxby Chambliss Becoming a Democrat?" 

Still, even in the face of so much bipartisan opposition, gang members are increasingly signaling that a deal is near. 

"I think there's a good chance that we'll be able to come up with a bipartisan agreement that people can swallow," Coburn predicted on "Fox News Sunday." 

"Nobody is going to like what we come up with," Coburn added, "The left isn't going to like it, and the right isn't going to like it. And that's one thing that would be an indicator that is probably the best compromise we're going to be able to get. So, I think there's a good likelihood that we can get there. It's not a sure thing." 

And Warner warned, "If we fail to take this seriously, and if our deficit and debt discussions turn into just another game of political brinksmanship, this could result in the most predictable economic crisis in our history."

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Colt 45 makers under fire over new flavored booze

Rapper Snoop Dogg has been asked to withdraw his endorsement of the controversial Blast beverage. STORY HIGHLIGHTSBlast is a fruity new blend boasting twice the alcohol The drink resembles a soda, but has 12% alcoholRapper Snoop Dogg is endorsing the fruity drink The drink's marketing outrages some politicians and advocacy groups RELATED TOPICSPabst Blue RibbonAlcohol ConsumptionSnoop Dogg New York (CNN) -- The makers of Colt 45 malt liquor have stirred up a controversy with their new beverage that some fear will encourage kids to drink.

Blast is a fruity new blend boasting twice the alcohol as Pabst Brewing Co.'s original malt liquor.

The drink in a colorful 23.5-ounce can resembles soda pop but has an alcohol content of 12%, more potent than a typical can of beer.

"Colt 45 makers are raising the alcohol level from the already high 6% to the even higher 12%, and enticing young people with hip hop themes and lollipop flavors," said Paul Porter of Industry Ears, a think tank that promotes justice in the media.

Porter said the company is "expanding its market with our children."

Blast joins the ranks of some high octane drinks such as Four Loko, Joose and Tilt that came under fire late last year for advertising to underage consumers.

Popular rapper Snoop Dogg is the front man endorsing Blast who -- according to a distributor marketing video -- "has the ability to take Colt 45 brands to a whole new level."

But the brand's marketing tactics have outraged some politicians and advocacy groups who question whom the company is really targeting.

"It's disappointing to see him and the utilization of hip hop music to promote an alcoholic beverage that is so dangerous to youth today," said Jorge Castillo, Advocacy and Outreach manager at Marin Institute.

In a letter, New York City Councilman Robert Jackson asked Snoop Dogg to withdraw his endorsement and look at this from a father's perspective.

"I'm sure that you don't want people marketing to your children to have them drink this alcohol pop," Jackson said in a letter. He said he has not received a reply, but plans to follow up with the rapper.

Blast is gaining momentum.

"Last weekend I sold about 12 cans; they're becoming really popular," said Gurcharn Singh, who owns a deli near New York University campus.

Singh recalled a few cases where underage youth tried to buy the alcoholic beverage.

"Blast is only meant to be consumed by those above legal drinking age," Jon Sayer, chief marketing officer of Pabst Brewing Co., said in a statement.

"As with all Pabst products, our marketing efforts for Blast are focused on conveying the message of drinking responsibly. To that end, the alcohol content of Blast is clearly marked on its packaging."

Students around NYU say the drink's attractive design and low price could potentially be dangerous for a young consumer.

"It's bigger than a normal can size, people don't take that into account when they're drinking it," said student Ashima Talwar.

Student Sadik Uddin said it does not look like an alcoholic drink.

"They dressed it up to look like a soda drink. I think the design is pretty cool. I would probably assume it's a sports drink and gone for it," the 21-year-old said.

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TVA to upgrade coal plants in 3 states under settlement

By the CNN Wire Staff STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe 11 plants are in Alabama, Kentucky and TennesseeTVA will also invest $350 million in clean energy projectsThe EPA says the upgrades will save lives and protect public health (CNN) -- The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said it had reached a settlement with the Tennessee Valley Authority to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at 11 of its coal-fired power plants in three states.

Under the settlement, TVA will be required to invest $3 billion to $5 billion, by its own estimate, to install new and upgraded pollution controls. The controls "will prevent approximately 1,200 to 3,000 premature deaths, 2,000 heart attacks and 21,000 cases of asthma attacks each year, resulting in $27 billion in annual health benefits," the EPA said in a statement.

The plants are in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee.

In addition, TVA will invest $350 million on clean energy projects aiming to reduce pollution, save energy and protect public health and the environment, the EPA said. Those will include retrofitting low-income housing with the more cost-effective energy efficiency technology aimed at reducing pollution, energy use and saving residents money, according to the agency.

"This agreement will save lives and prevent billions of dollars in health costs," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson in the statement. "Investments in pollution control will keep hundreds of thousands of tons of harmful pollutants out of the air we breathe, and help create green job opportunities that will reduce pollution and improve energy efficiency."

Asked by reporters whether the settlement will drive up power bills, Jackson said, "TVA has made estimates and says they do not expect this settlement to impact rate payers in their service district."

When fully implemented, the actions will address 92% of TVA's coal-fired plant capacity, reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide by 69% and sulfur dioxide by 67% from TVA's 2008 emissions levels, the EPA said. "Uncontrolled releases of harmful air pollution like sulfur dioxide from power plants can affect breathing and aggravate respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, especially in sensitive populations like children and the elderly," the agency said in its statement.

TVA also will provide $1 million to the National Park Service and the National Forest Service to "improve, protect or rehabilitate forest and park lands that have been impacted by emissions from TVA's plants, including Mammoth Cave National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park," according to the EPA.

"I think one thing to emphasize here is that what TVA has done is look ... across their entire fleet, (and) made a business decision that they want to move to cleaner, more efficient, newer technology and in doing that, save lives and make people healthier," Jackson told reporters.

TVA operates 59 coal-fired boilers at the 11 plants, and provides wholesale power to 155 municipal and cooperative power distributors and direct service to 56 large industrial and government customers, who supply power to about 9 million people in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and small portions of Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia, the EPA said.

"The message here," Jackson told reporters, "is that we don't have anything against coal, but we have to reduce the pollution that comes from coal to our air, to our water and on our land."

The settlement also requires TVA to pay a $10 million civil penalty, with Alabama and Kentucky receiving $500,000 each and Tennessee receiving $1 million.

As part of the settlement, a consent decree will be filed in federal court, the EPA said. The states of Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina, along with the National Parks Conservation Association, the Sierra Club and Our Children's Earth Foundation were involved in developing the settlement and are signatories to the consent decree.

CNN Radio's Shelby Erdman contributed to this report.

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Obama Above the Fray, Hill Dems Under the Bus

-- President Obama at a late-night press briefing lamenting the politicization of spending negotiations by accusing Republicans of jeopardizing the future of a Kentucky family awaiting a tax refund profiled by ABC News

President Obama is working hard to stay outside of the blast radius if House Republicans and Senate Democrats are unable to cut a deal to keep the government open when current emergency funding expires at midnight Friday.

Congressional Democrats have noticed that in his efforts to avoid blame for what is shaping up as a procedural pileup, the president has increasingly been highlighting their failure to pass, or even put forward, a budget last year.

This week, Obama has mentioned multiple times that the current debate was over an issue that should have been resolved

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Disparity in border security under review

By LM Otero, AP

A Customs and Border Protection officer and a local sheriff's deputy check the trunk of a car heading southbound from the United States to Mexico.

EnlargeCloseBy LM Otero, AP

A Customs and Border Protection officer and a local sheriff's deputy check the trunk of a car heading southbound from the United States to Mexico.

Some, such as an interest group on the border and some members of Congress, are questioning whether those efforts to stop illegal immigrants from entering the country have come at the expense of the U.S.'s ability to stop the drugs, guns and cash that also flow across the border.

Up to 90% of the cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and heroin that cross from Mexico to the U.S. goes through the dozens of land ports of entry along the border, according to the Texas Border Coalition, a group of mayors, judges and city officials from the border region.

From 2006 to 2010, the number of Customs and Border Protection officers who inspect people and cargo crossing through the ports of entry along the southwest border increased by 15%, while the number of CBP Border Patrol agents who patrol the rugged terrain between those ports increased by 59%, according to CBP figures.

Some believe that focus on the regions between the ports — where human smuggling is the biggest concern — has been a knee-jerk reaction to the loud calls in recent years to stem the tide of illegal immigration.

"The emphasis has been because it's kind of sexy," says Nelson Balido, president of the Border Trade Alliance, which represents companies and government agencies all along the U.S.-Mexico border. "It's sexy to say you're the crime fighter, that you're going to go out there and secure the border and we're going to get them."

That disparity will now be reviewed by Congress.

Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., will use her House Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security on Tuesday to study the distribution of manpower along the border. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, sent a letter Friday to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee asking for a hearing on the issue.

Miller says she wants to determine whether there is a shortage of funding and manpower at the ports of entry.

"It is a concern that we've all recognized," Miller says. "We'll focus on some issues that perhaps the agencies are not reacting to appropriately."

Customs officials refused requests to comment for this story.

The increase in the number of agents who patrol the mountain ranges, rivers and deserts — combined with a weakened economy that has dried up many jobs — has helped reduce the number of illegal immigrants crossing into the country. After reaching a high of 12 million in 2007, the number of illegal immigrants in the United States in 2010 was 11.2 million, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

At the land ports of entry, understaffing makes proper screening of incoming cars and trucks difficult.

"We are so understaffed that our inspectors routinely put in 16-hour days, several times a week," says William Moore, a consultant for the Texas Border Coalition.

He says drug runners in Mexico closely monitor U.S. ports of entry and understand the weaknesses. He says they rush drug shipments through during shift changes. Or they'll send a car with a small amount of drugs to get captured and then, once Customs officials pull that car out of line for further inspection, the drug runners push through several cars with larger shipments.

Some also worry about the delays that the understaffed ports of entry are having on legitimate commerce trying to get through the ports. "We have heard from southern border officials and advocates about the negative impact on border economies when delays occur at U.S. ports of entry," Cornyn wrote in his letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Janice Kephart, director of national security policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that wants to restrict immigration, says Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has done a better job than her predecessors to balance the number of agents and officers working along the border. Kephart says more bodies alone won't solve the problems of human or drug smuggling.

Napolitano "is putting more bodies out there because Congress has told her to, but it is without an overall operational strategy for the border," Kephart says.

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