Gaza Clash Escalates With Deadliest Israeli Strike

Bernat Armangue/Associated Press

Smoke rose over Gaza City on Sunday, as Israel widened its range of targets to include buildings used by the news media.

CAIRO — Emboldened by the rising power of Islamists around the region, the Palestinian militant group Hamas demanded new Israeli concessions to its security and autonomy before it halts its rocket attacks on Israel, even as the conflict took an increasing toll on Sunday.

After five days of punishing Israeli airstrikes on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and no letup in the rocket fire in return, representatives of Israel and Hamas met separately with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Sunday for indirect talks about a truce.

The talks came as an Israeli bomb struck a house in Gaza on Sunday afternoon, killing 11 people, in the deadliest single strike since the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated on Wednesday. The strike, along with several others that killed civilians across the Gaza Strip, signaled that Israel was broadening its range of targets on the fifth day of the campaign.

By the end of the day, Gaza health officials reported that 70 Palestinians had been killed in airstrikes since Wednesday, including 20 children, and that 600 had been wounded. Three Israelis have been killed and at least 79 wounded by unrelenting rocket fire out of Gaza into southern Israel and as far north as Tel Aviv.

Hamas, badly outgunned on the battlefield, appeared to be trying to exploit its increased political clout with its ideological allies in Egypt’s new Islamist-led government. The group’s leaders, rejecting Israel’s call for an immediate end to the rocket attacks, have instead laid down sweeping demands that would put Hamas in a stronger position than when the conflict began: an end to Israel’s five-year-old embargo of the Gaza Strip, a pledge by Israel not to attack again and multinational guarantees that Israel would abide by its commitments.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel stuck to his demand that all rocket fire cease before the air campaign lets up, and Israeli tanks and troops remained lined up outside Gaza on Sunday. Tens of thousands of reserve troops had been called up. “The army is prepared to significantly expand the operation,” Mr. Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting.

Reda Fahmy, a member of Egypt’s upper house of Parliament and of the nation’s dominant Islamist party, who is following the talks, said Hamas’s position was just as unequivocal. “Hamas has one clear and specific demand: for the siege to be completely lifted from Gaza,” he said. “It’s not reasonable that every now and then Israel decides to level Gaza to the ground, and then we decide to sit down and talk about it after it is done. On the Israeli part, they want to stop the missiles from one side. How is that?”

He added: “If they stop the aircraft from shooting, Hamas will then stop its missiles. But violence couldn’t be stopped from one side.”

Hamas’s aggressive stance in the cease-fire talks is the first test of the group’s belief that the Arab Spring and the rise in Islamist influence around the region have strengthened its political hand, both against Israel and against Hamas’s Palestinian rivals, who now control the West Bank with Western backing.

It also puts intense new pressure on President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who was known for his fiery speeches defending Hamas and denouncing Israel. Mr. Morsi must now balance the conflicting demands of an Egyptian public that is deeply sympathetic to Hamas and the Palestinian cause against Western pleadings to help broker a peace and Egypt’s need for regional stability to help revive its moribund economy.

Indeed, the Egyptian-led cease-fire talks illustrate the diverging paths of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, a Palestinian offshoot of the original Egyptian Islamist group. Hamas has evolved into a more militant insurgency and is labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel, while the Brotherhood has effectively become Egypt’s ruling party. Mr. Fahmy said in an interview in March that the Brotherhood’s new responsibilities required a step back from its ideological cousins in Hamas, and even a new push to persuade the group to compromise.

Reporting was contributed by Ethan Bronner, Irit Pazner Garshowitz and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, and Peter Baker from Bangkok.

Read More..

Amazon’s larger Kindle Fire HD ships early

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon has started shipping the larger version of its Kindle Fire HD tablet computer on Thursday, five days ahead of schedule.

Amazon is short on stock, though, so new orders won’t ship until Dec. 3. Amazon.com Inc. had been taking orders for shipment on Nov. 20.

The Kindle Fire is one of several tablets challenging Apple’s iPad.

The tablet, which has an 8.9-inch screen measured diagonally, is available on Amazon’s website for $ 299. The tablet will be available at Best Buy stores beginning Friday and at more retailers in the coming weeks.

A version with cellular access is available for $ 499 and will start shipping next week as planned, though new orders won’t ship until Dec. 3.

The smaller version, which has a 7-inch screen, has been available since September.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Justin Bieber & Selena Gomez Reunite at American Music Awards Afterparty

By Maggie Coughlan

11/19/2012 at 10:35 AM EST

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez

CelebrityVibe/Splash News

On-again?

Although she was a no show at the 40th Annual American Music Awards, Selena Gomez made an appearance later in the night – on Justin Bieber's arm at an afterparty.

Despite reports of a rocky attempt at reconciliation on Friday, Bieber, 18, and Gomez, 20, were photographed chatting with Pattie Mallette, Bieber's mother – who accompanied the "Boyfriend" singer to the awards show – at the Marriott Downtown Hotel in Los Angeles on Sunday.

With Gomez clutching Bieber's arm, it looked as if the two were fairly comfortable around each other.

Otherwise, it was a busy night for Bieber, who performed at the awards show and won artist of the year, favorite male artist pop/rock and favorite album.

Read More..

EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

Read More..

Boy, 14, sexually assaults 65-year-old woman at store, authorities say

A 14-year-old California boy was arrested Thursday night in connection with the attempted murder, kidnapping and sexual assault of a 65-year-old woman.

Officers found the woman bound by duct tape in a ditch near Hiddenbrooke Parkway and Interstate Highway 80 around 6 p.m. Thursday, according to the Bay City News Service.

Police said the victim was kidnapped at gunpoint in front of a retail store and was forced to drive to a location five miles away where she was physically and sexually assaulted.

The suspect then fled in the victim's minivan and called one of her family members, demanding money for her safe return.

Detectives located the suspect after he returned to the area. He was found with a replica handgun and the victim's minivan, police said.

The teen has been booked into Solano County Juvenile Hall.

ALSO:

Only 31% of California students are physically fit

Laguna Beach to punish parents for teen drinking

L.A. deputy charged in slaying, faces 75-year term if convicted

-- Wesley Lowery

Follow Wesley Lowery on Twitter and Google+.

Read more

here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/16/4991207/teen-arrested-in-vallejo-elderly.html#storylink=cpy

Read More..

India Ink: Balasaheb K. Thackeray, a Look Back

The rise and influence of Balasaheb K. Thackeray, the founder of Shiv Sena who died Saturday, was closely chronicled in The New York Times.

Below is his obituary, as well as selected excerpts from our archives from the 1990s, when anti-Muslim riots wracked Mumbai:

“Bal Keshav Thackeray was born on Jan. 23, 1926, in the city of Pune, about 100 miles east of Mumbai, and came of age during India’s struggle for freedom from Britain,” Vikas Bajaj wrote in Mr. Thackeray’s obituary, which was published on Saturday. “His father, Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, a journalist and activist, was said to have taken the surname because he admired the English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray.”

The elder Mr. Thackeray became a leader of a movement to establish the State of Maharashtra for speakers of the Marathi language, a group that would become a core constituency. Mumbai, then known as Bombay and to this day the financial hub of India, became the capital of the new state.

The younger Mr. Thackeray gained fame as a cartoonist first at the daily Free Press Journal and later at his own weekly publication, Marmik. He used his cartoons to inveigh against Communists and champion the cause of the Marathi manoos, or the average Marathi citizen, who, he argued, was losing out to South Indians, Muslims and other outsiders. In 1966, he established the Shiv Sena, or the Army of Shiva; its mascot is a snarling tiger.

Read the full obituary.

In November 1993, Edward A. Gargan wrote: “In the last year, Bombay has been racked twice by sectarian violence that claimed hundreds of lives and left tens of thousands homeless.”

“While the city’s elite — its stock brokers and bankers and lawyers, its writers and filmmakers — largely managed to insulate themselves from the destruction, Bombay’s poor paid a heavy price,” he wrote. The slums of Jogeshwari, Beherampada and Dharavi were particularly hard hit.

At the core of the discussions of the sectarian strife, Mr. Gargan wrote, was Bal Thackeray.

A Human Rights Commission investigation into the riots found that: “Bal Thackeray openly claimed that the mobs were under his control. It was he who finally said that, ‘A lesson had been taught’ and that the Shiv Sainiks should now desist from indulging in violence.”

Throughout the violence, Mr. Thackeray’s newspaper, Samna, railed against Muslims, urging Hindu thugs to attack Muslims. “This is a religious crusade,” his paper wrote.

In the 10 months since the pogrom, Mr. Thackeray has defied calls for his arrest and insisted on the transfer of police officials hostile to Shiv Sena.

Read the full article from November of 1993.

Two years later, John F. Burns reported that “not far from a clearing beside the Arabian Sea that older residents remember as the site of some of Mohandas K. Gandhi’s largest rallies, angry youths gathered recently for the kind of political activity that Gandhi condemned.”

“They belonged to the Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena, which rejects Gandhi’s vision of harmony and equality among India’s religious groups: They have a concept of India in which non-Hindus, especially the 110 million Muslims, must accept the primacy of the 700 million Hindus in virtually every sphere of life,” he wrote.

Under orders from Balasaheb K. Thackeray, 68, the Shiv Sena leader, who calls himself the “Hitler of Bombay,” the youths marched on the offices of Outlook, a news magazine. There, enraged by an Outlook poll that showed 75 percent of Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state, favored secession, the youths poured kerosene on bundles of the magazine and set them alight. The action halted sales of Outlook in Bombay.

A month earlier, similar threats prompted the publisher of Salman Rushdie’s latest novel, “The Moor’s Last Sigh,” to withdraw it from the city’s bookstores. Mr. Thackeray, a former newspaper cartoonist, was angered because Mr. Rushdie, born a Muslim in Bombay, included a biting caricature: a former newspaper cartoonist who admires Hitler and hates Muslims becomes boss of the city.

In Mr. Thackeray’s 30-year political career, Mr. Burns wrote, “he has built an organization that provides jobs and a sense of pride for legions of young slum-dwellers, even as he has set his followers against Communists, Christians, Sikhs — and Hindus who belong to ethnic groups from outside Bombay.”

“Still, for the 14 million residents, Bombay under Mr. Thackeray is unmistakably a place of growing violence against those who offend Shiv Sena’s sense of conformity.” Read the full article.

Read More..

So, Here’s That ‘Big Bang Theory’ Flashmob You Wanted

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:

RELATED: Beating Novak Djokovic: Never Forget Three-Fingered Steve

Psychologist Richard Wiseman has an interactive game for you to let you know you’re just predictable. To be fair, a couple of us tried it out and were not as predictable as Wiseman thought we were going to be. But without further ado, here it is (have some screen cleaner ready):

RELATED: A ‘Mad Men’ Rickroll and the Man That Destroys Carnival Games

RELATED: It’s Sort of Fun Watching Pippa Middleton Squirm

We too are very excited for the Disney installments of Star Wars. New movies, Ewoks, whatever count us in. We’re just not this excited: 

RELATED: A Video to Restore Our Faith in Humanity and a Glacier Tsunami

RELATED: Myspace Hopes Its Sexy New Video will Bring You Back

If you don’t know, The Big Bang Theory is basically a show about a bunch of really smart, really nerdy dorks. Now when it comes to the actual cast of The Big Bang Theory, we’re only pretty sure (and happy to be proven wrong) only one of those things apply:

And finally, do you have $ 37? If so, would you mind donating it to The Atlantic Wire robot fish aquarium fund? We promise, it’s totally a great cause. Thanks in advance!

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Which Stars Wore Granny Panties on the Red Carpet?

Stylewatch
Style News Now

11/15/2012 at 05:30 PM ET

Startraks (2); Getty

Whether you’re heading to your high school reunion next week or just going out with your hometown crew, here are two hot trends that’ll up your cool-girl style game. But something we don’t encourage wearing anywhere? Granny panties under a sheer skirt. If you think we’re joking, keep reading …

Down: Flashing your granny panties: We thought this trend was over two months ago, but two stars won’t let it die. Kristen Stewart and Krysten Ritter practically mooned us on the red carpet in sheer dresses that showed off some seriously unattractive undergarments. Ladies, the lining in your designer gowns is there for a reason.

Up: Peplum party outfits: Along with sparkle and shine, expect to spot a lot of festive peplum-accented looks during the holidays. Kicking off the trend was Emma Stone, who looked incredible in a navy peplum top paired with a glittery emerald-green skirt (both by Burberry), and Dakota Fanning, who chose a salmon-pink floral above-the-knee design.

Up: The cutout spectrum: Skin-baring dresses are still big, only now the styles range from peek-a-boo to look-at-me. Both Alessandra Ambrósio and Allison Williams wore subtle versions this week, while Diane Kruger and Christina Ricci went for way more revealing designs that caused our jaws to hit the floor. Kruger showed off about, oh, 80 percent of her upper body in cutout white gown, while Ricci flaunted her belly in a jewel toned Richard Chai Love mini.

Tell us: Which trend are you most excited to try? Vote below!

Want more Trend Report? Click to hear what we think about turtlenecks, yellow dresses and leather.

–Jennifer Cress

GET ALL THE LATEST RED CARPET NEWS AND PHOTOS HERE!

Read More..

EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

Read More..

Californians feel a bit more upbeat about the state's direction

SACRAMENTO — Californians are growing more optimistic about the direction of the state and its finances even as they continue to struggle with a sour economy, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll shows.

The recent passage of Gov. Jerry Brown's tax increases on the ballot, averting a fresh round of bruising cuts to public education, appears to account for some of the shift in attitude.

Fifty-four percent of registered state voters said California is moving in the right direction on its budget, and Brown's approval rating has ticked up a few points to 49% — the highest since his 2010 election.

The number of respondents saying the state is on the right track has more than doubled since they were asked in August 2011. Still, amid persistent double-digit unemployment and other underlying economic problems, that remains the view of a minority, only 38%.

Similarly, the number who say the state economy is finally beginning to improve has almost doubled since July 2011, but those voters are also in the minority, just 43%.

Job losses, salary cuts and other financial troubles continue to affect Californians and their families at roughly the same levels as a year ago, the poll found.

"We started in an unbelievable hole. It's been a tough road back to where we are now," said Stan Greenberg, of the Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. The company conducted the poll with American Viewpoint, a Republican firm.

The USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences/Los Angeles Times poll canvassed 1,520 registered voters by telephone from Nov. 7-12. The margin of error is 2.9 percentage points.

The polling ended two days before the Legislature's top financial advisor delivered upbeat news on the state budget, saying California could see surpluses in a few years even though it still has long-term fiscal problems to resolve.

The increase in voter optimism comes after a wave of Democratic victories on election day. In addition to President Obama's reelection and the governor's win on tax hikes, Democrats are poised for supermajorities in both houses of the California Legislature. A two-thirds vote in each chamber is needed to raise taxes.

Noam Meppen, 37, a San Diego sales manager, praised Brown for taking a "pragmatic and balanced approach" to the budget.

A Democrat, he voted for the taxes because "it's important to have a strong education system." If the tax increases had been rejected, nearly $6 billion would have been cut from the budget, mostly from public schools.

Among voters who cast ballots in favor of Proposition 30, the desire to protect schools from more spending cuts was the primary motivation, the poll showed.

Others remain steadfastly opposed to higher taxes. Eric Willis, a 35-year-old investor who lives in Los Angeles, said California is headed in a direction that makes him "sick."

"I can't remember a time the state was doing anything right," said Willis, a Republican. "Our taxes never go down, they only go up."

David Kanevsky of American Viewpoint noted that pervasive dissatisfaction could help Republicans, who suffered steep losses on election day, make a comeback if things don't go well in Sacramento. Since Democrats are expected to control the Capitol unilaterally, they'll shoulder all of the blame if the state's finances don't continue to improve.

"Republicans need to hold Democrats accountable," he said. "That's the start of a path to relevancy."

He noted that voters still want Brown to toe a tough line on spending.

Unemployment in California has remained among the highest in the country, even though it dropped to 10.1% last month. Thirty-four percent of poll respondents said the loss of a job had affected them or their families in the past year.

Forty percent said they or someone in their family had been hit with salary cuts or a reduction in work hours.

Mike Cashara, 52, of Calaveras County goes door-to-door helping mortgage companies keep tabs on foreclosed houses.

"I've seen a lot of people struggling," said Cashara, a Republican. "I've had friends who lost houses."

Overall, he has little faith in his political leaders.

"I love the state, and I love the weather," he said. "It just seems like the taxation is pushing people out."

On the other hand, Marilyn Ponseggi, 56, of San Diego County said things are getting back to normal. A Democrat, she works as a city planner in Chula Vista.

"Our office is a lot busier and has a lot more activity," she said. "When we get busier, it's a good sign."

chris.megerian@latimes.com

Read More..