Storm that killed 600 threatens Philippines again


NEW BATAAN, Philippines (AP) — A typhoon that had left the Philippines after killing nearly 600 people and leaving hundreds missing in the south has made a U-turn and is now threatening the country's northwest, officials said Saturday.


The weather bureau raised storm warnings over parts of the main northern island of Luzon after Typhoon Bopha veered northeast. There was a strong possibility the disastrous storm would make a second landfall Sunday, but it might also make a loop and remain in the South China Sea, forecasters said. In either case, it was moving close to shore and disaster officials warned of heavy rains and winds and possible landslides in the mountainous region.


Another calamity in the north would stretch recovery efforts thin. Most government resources, including army and police, are currently focused on the south, where Bopha hit Tuesday before moving west into the South China Sea.


With many survivors still in shock, soldiers, police and outside volunteers formed most of the teams searching for bodies or signs of life under tons of fallen trees and boulders swept down from steep hills surrounding the worst-hit town of New Bataan, municipal spokesman Marlon Esperanza said.


"We are having a hard time finding guides," he told The Associated Press. "Entire families were killed and the survivors ... appear dazed. They can't move."


He said the rocks, mud, tree trunks and other rubble that litter the town have destroyed landmarks, making it doubly difficult to search places where houses once stood.


On Friday, bodies found jammed under fallen trees that could not be retrieved were marked with makeshift flags made of torn cloth so they could be easily spotted by properly equipped teams.


Authorities decided to bury unidentified bodies in a common grave after forensic officials process them for future identification by relatives, Esperanza said.


The town's damaged public market has been converted into a temporary funeral parlor. A few residents milled around two dozen white wooden coffins, some containing unidentified remains.


One resident, Jing Maniquiz, 37, said she rushed home from Manila for the wake of two of her sisters, but could not bring herself to visit the place where her home once stood in Andap village. Her parents, a brother and nephew are missing.


"I don't want to see it," she said tearfully. "I can't accept that in just an instant I lost my mother, my father, my brother."


She said that at the height of the typhoon, her mother was able to send her a text message saying trees were falling on their house and its roof had been blown away.


Maniquiz said her family sought refuge at a nearby health center, but that was destroyed and they and dozens of others were swept away by the raging waters.


"We are not hopeful that they are still alive. We just want to find their bodies so that we will have closure," she said.


Mary Joy Adlawan, a 14-year-old high school student from the same village, was waiting for authorities to bury her 7-year-old niece.


Her parents, an elder sister, five nieces and a nephew are missing.


"I don't know what to do," she said as she fixed some flowers on the coffin.


Esperanza said heavy equipment, search dogs and chain saws were brought by volunteers from as far away as the capital, Manila, about 950 kilometers (590 miles) to the north.


Nearly 400,000 people, mostly from Compostela Valley and nearby Davao Oriental provinces, have lost their homes and are crowded inside evacuation centers or staying with relatives.


The typhoon plowed through the main southern island of Mindanao, crossed the central Philippines and lingered over the South China Sea for the past two days. It made a U-turn Saturday and is now threatening the northwestern Ilocos region.


President Benigno Aquino III, after visiting the disaster zone, declared a state of national calamity late Friday to speed up rescue and rehabilitation, control prices of basic commodities in typhoon-affected areas and allow the quick release of emergency funds.


In Bangkok, Thailand, U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said the Philippines had appealed for international aid. She said many countries have already provided assistance, but did not specify the amounts.


Officials say 276 people were killed in Compostela Valley, including 155 in New Bataan, and 277 in Davao Oriental. About 40 people died elsewhere and nearly 600 are still missing, 411 from New Bataan alone.


Davao Oriental Gov. Corazon Malanyaon told the AP that clean water and shelter were the biggest problem in three towns facing the Pacific Ocean. She said she imposed a curfew there and ordered police to guard stores and shops to stop looting.


The Philippines is also counting economic losses. Banana growers reported that 14,000 hectares (34,600 acres) of export banana plantations, equal to 18 percent of the total in Mindanao, were destroyed. The Philippines is the world's third-largest banana producer and exporter, supplying international brands such as Dole, Chiquita and Del Monte.


Stephen Antig, executive director of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, said losses were estimated at 12 billion pesos ($300 million), including 8 billion pesos ($200 million) in damaged fruits that had been ready for harvest, and the rest for the cost of rehabilitating farms, which will take about a year.


At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI expressed closeness to the people hit by the typhoon. "I pray for the victims, for their families and for the many homeless," the pontiff said Saturday, addressing pilgrims and tourists from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square.


___


Associated Press writers Oliver Teves and Hrvoje Hranjski in Manila, Francisco Rosario in Bangkok, Thailand, and Frances D'Emilio in Rome contributed to this report.


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Are Online Degrees as Valuable as Traditional College Diplomas?












Millennials are the first generation to grow up with constant technology and personal computers. That might explain why they see such a value in online education.


A recent poll by Northeastern University showed that 18 to 29 year olds had a more negative view about attending college because of the high cost, and a more positive opinion about online classes than their older counterparts. The survey also showed more than half of the millennials had taken an online course.












Online education is attracting hundreds of thousands of students a year. Perhaps this is why more brick-and-mortar universities are searching for an online identity.


This week Wellesley College announced that it will offer free online classes to anyone with an Internet connection as part of the nonprofit project edX. Earlier this year, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology teamed up to fund and launch the online platform.


More: Harvard and MIT Want to Educate You for Free


Online education was even the talk in Washington this week when a group of panelists convened to discuss Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), which is an open source network like edX. These courses are very much like correspondence classes in the early 20th century.


But there are still those universities that only exist in a virtual world and students pay to attend. Are they as beneficial to students as attending a two- or four-year college?


“It depends at what level and what subject,” says Isabelle Frank, dean of Fordham College of Liberal Studies. “In general, fully online degrees are not valued as highly as degrees from brick-and-mortar institutions. This is because online-only universities do not have the faculty quality and interaction that occurs with full-time faculty and secure positions.”


She says that Fordham has online master programs and some online courses, but the model is “that of a small seminar style class with a lot of faculty feedback and involvement.”


Just like a physical college, a quality online education depends on the institution.


For example, students at Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business take online classes and communicate with other students around the world—something students 25 years ago couldn’t have dreamed of doing.


“This affords the opportunity to learn leadership, team-building and managerial skills by solving problems and coordinating efforts for projects through the process of establishing real-time meetings, coordinating time zones and dealing with potential language issues,” Sher Downing, executive director of online academic services at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, said. “This value cannot be mirrored as easily in a traditional classroom, and for many companies with offices located around the world, this is a valuable skill, when the workforce is required to handle these types of situations.”


Downing said that students can save money by taking online classes because they no longer have to commute, live on or near a campus or relocate.


The millennials surveyed by Northeastern University are keen to take online courses. In fact, nine in 10 said online classes should be used as a tool and mixed with other teaching methods. The poll also found that students want flex­i­bility, which is exactly what online colleges offer.


Employers may not yet see an online degree in the same light as a traditional university but that is likely to change in the near future. It may just be that millennials, who don’t want to go in debt for an education like some of their parents did, are just a bit ahead of educators and employers.


Related Stories on TakePart:


• Top Universities Want You to Take Free Online Classes in Your Pajamas


• Military Gives ‘F’ to Online Diplomas


• 2012 List: The Most Expensive Colleges in America



Suzi Parker is an Arkansas-based political and cultural journalist whose work frequently appears in The Washington Post and The Christian Science Monitor. She is the author of two books. @SuziParker | TakePart.com 


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Rolling Stones hit NY for 50th anniversary gig


NEW YORK (AP) — "Time Waits for No One," the Rolling Stones sang in 1974, but lately it's seemed like that grizzled quartet does indeed have some sort of exemption from the ravages of time.


At an average age of 68-plus years, the British rockers are clearly in fighting form, sounding tight, focused and truly ready for the spotlight at a rapturously received pair of London concerts last month.


On Saturday, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts hit New York for the first of three U.S. shows on their "50 and Counting" mini-tour, marking a mind-boggling half-century since the band first began playing its unique brand of blues-tinged rock.


And the three shows — Saturday's at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, then two in Newark, N.J., on Dec. 13 and 15 — aren't the only big dates on the agenda. Next week the Stones join a veritable who's who of British rock royalty and U.S. superstars at the blockbuster 12-12-12 Sandy benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. Also scheduled to perform: Paul McCartney, the Who, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Eddie Vedder, Billy Joel, Roger Waters and Chris Martin.


The Stones' three U.S. shows promise to have their own special guests, too. Mary J. Blige will be at the Brooklyn gig, as well as guitarist Gary Clark Jr., the band has announced. (Blige performed a searing "Gimme Shelter" with frontman Jagger in London.) Rumors are swirling of huge names at the Dec. 15 show, which also will be on pay-per-view.


In a flurry of anniversary activity, the band also released a hits compilation last month with two new songs, "Doom and Gloom" and "One More Shot," and HBO premiered a new documentary on their formative years, "Crossfire Hurricane."


The Stones formed in London in 1962 to play Chicago blues, led at the time by the late Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart, along with Jagger and Richards, who'd met on a train platform a year earlier. Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts were quick additions.


Wyman, who left the band in 1992, was a guest at the London shows last month, as was Mick Taylor, the celebrated former Stones guitarist who left in 1974 — to be replaced by Wood, the newest Stone and the youngster at 65.


The inevitable questions have been swirling about the next step for the Stones: another huge global tour, on the scale of their last one, "A Bigger Bang," which earned more than $550 million between 2005 and 2007? Something a bit smaller? Or is this mini-tour, in the words of their new song, really "One Last Shot"?


The Stones won't say. But in an interview last month, they made clear they felt the 50th anniversary was something to be marked.


"I thought it would be kind of churlish not to do something," Jagger told The Associated Press. "Otherwise, the BBC would have done a rather dull film about the Rolling Stones."


__


Associated Press writer David Bauder contributed to this report.


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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


___


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


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Egypt terror leader possibly linked to Benghazi attack arrested


Dec 8, 2012 2:16pm







ap benghazi US consulate attack jt 121020 wblog Egypt Terror Leader Possibly Linked to Benghazi Attack Arrested

Mohammad Hannon/AP Photo


The leader of an Egyptian terrorist cell that planned attacks in Egypt and may be linked with the storming of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11 has been arrested by Egyptian intelligence officers, according to an official close to Egypt’s intelligence agency and a senior U.S. official.


Mohammad Jamal Abdo Ahmed had become one of Egypt’s most dangerous terrorists and led a small cell of Egyptians that collected suicide vests, bombs and grenades before their Cairo safe house was raided by intelligence officials in late October, according to the U.S. official.


PHOTOS: Benghazi: US Consulate Attack Aftermath


Most of the cell’s targets were Egyptian, but both the U.S. and Egyptian officials said Ahmed admitted to traveling to Libya and assisting Ansar al Sharia, which U.S. officials suspect organized the attack on the consulate that killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens.


READ: More on the Political Fallout From the Benghazi Attack


Until now, neither the United States nor Egypt has determined exactly what role Ahmed played in the attack in eastern Libya, according to both officials.


Ahmed may have also been planning attacks on U.S. targets in Egypt and neighboring countries, the U.S. official said, and had aspirations to join al Qaeda.


Ahmed, who is Egyptian, was arrested two weeks ago in eastern Egypt in the Sharqiyah province, the Egyptian official said.


Egyptian officials continue to question him and he will remain in custody for another 15 days, according to the Egyptian official.


His arrest was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.


READ: Four Americans Slain in Libya ‘Come Home’



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Coffee from an elephant's gut fills a $50 cup


GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Thailand (AP) — In the lush hills of northern Thailand, a herd of 20 elephants is excreting some of the world's most expensive coffee.


Trumpeted as earthy in flavor and smooth on the palate, the exotic new brew is made from beans eaten by Thai elephants and plucked a day later from their dung. A gut reaction inside the elephant creates what its founder calls the coffee's unique taste.


Stomach turning or oddly alluring, this is not just one of the world's most unusual specialty coffees. At $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound), it's also among the world's priciest.


For now, only the wealthy or well-traveled have access to the cuppa, which is called Black Ivory Coffee. It was launched last month at a few luxury hotels in remote corners of the world — first in northern Thailand, then the Maldives and now Abu Dhabi — with the price tag of about $50 a serving.


The Associated Press traveled to the coffee's production site in the Golden Triangle, an area historically known for producing drugs more potent than coffee, to see the jumbo baristas at work. And to sip the finished product from a dainty demitasse.


In the misty mountains where Thailand meets Laos and Myanmar, the coffee's creator cites biology and scientific research to answer the basic question: Why elephants?


"When an elephant eats coffee, its stomach acid breaks down the protein found in coffee, which is a key factor in bitterness," said Blake Dinkin, who has spent $300,000 developing the coffee. "You end up with a cup that's very smooth without the bitterness of regular coffee."


The result is similar in civet coffee, or kopi luwak, another exorbitantly expensive variety extracted from the excrement of the weasel-like civet. But the elephants' massive stomach provides a bonus.


Think of the elephant as the animal kingdom's equivalent of a slow cooker. It takes between 15-30 hours to digest the beans, which stew together with bananas, sugar cane and other ingredients in the elephant's vegetarian diet to infuse unique earthy and fruity flavors, said the 42-year-old Canadian, who has a background in civet coffee.


"My theory is that a natural fermentation process takes place in the elephant's gut," said Dinkin. "That fermentation imparts flavors you wouldn't get from other coffees."


At the jungle retreat that is home to the herd, conservationists were initially skeptical about the idea.


"My initial thought was about caffeine — won't the elephants get wired on it or addicted to coffee?" said John Roberts, director of elephants at the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, a refuge for rescued elephants. It now earns 8 percent of the coffee's total sales, which go toward the herd's health care. "As far as we can tell there is definitely no harm to the elephants."


Before presenting his proposal to the foundation, Dinkin said he worked with a Canadian-based veterinarian that ran blood tests on zoo elephants showing they don't absorb any caffeine from eating raw coffee cherries.


"I thought it was well worth a try because we're looking for anything that can help elephants to make a living," said Roberts, who estimates the cost of keeping each elephant is about $1,000 a month.


As for the coffee's inflated price, Dinkin half-joked that elephants are highly inefficient workers. It takes 33 kilograms (72 pounds) of raw coffee cherries to produce 1 kilogram of (2 pounds) Black Ivory coffee. The majority of beans get chewed up, broken or lost in tall grass after being excreted.


And, his artisanal process is labor-intensive. He uses pure Arabica beans hand-picked by hill-tribe women from a small mountain estate. Once the elephants do their business, the wives of elephant mahouts collect the dung, break it open and pick out the coffee. After a thorough washing, the coffee cherries are processed to extract the beans, which are then brought to a gourmet roaster in Bangkok.


Inevitably, the elephant coffee has become the butt of jokes. Dinkin shared his favorites: Crap-accino. Good to the last dropping. Elephant poop coffee.


As far away as Hollywood, even Jay Leno has taken cracks.


"Here's my question," Leno quipped recently. "Who is the first person that saw a bunch of coffee beans and a pile of elephant dung and said, 'You know, if I ground those up and drank it, I'll bet that would be delicious.'"


Jokes aside, people are drinking it. Black Ivory's maiden batch of 70 kilograms (150 pounds) has sold out. Dinkin hopes to crank out six times that amount in 2013, catering to customers he sees as relatively affluent, open-minded and adventurous with a desire to tell a good story.


For now, the only places to get it are a few Anantara luxury resorts, including one at the Golden Triangle beside the elephant foundation.


At sunset one recent evening in the hotel's hilltop bar, an American couple sampled the brew. They said it surpassed their expectations.


"I thought it would be repulsive," said Ryan Nelson, 31, of Tampa, Florida. "But I loved it. It was something different. There's definitely something wild about it that I can't put a name on."


His wife Asleigh, a biologist and coffee lover, called it a "fantastic product for an eco-conscious consumer," since the coffee helps fund elephant conservation.


But how does it taste?


"Very interesting," she said, choosing her words carefully. "Very novel."


"I don't think I could afford it every day on my zookeeper's salary," she said. "But I'm certainly enjoying it sitting here overlooking the elephants, on vacation."


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iPad mini fails to draw crowds for China launch












Either Apple’s (AAPL) reservation-only system works better than anyone could have expected, or consumers in China have little interest in the company’s new iPad mini. Apple’s tiny tablet launched on schedule on Friday but according to IDG News Service, the turnout for Apple’s new slate was minimal. At Apple’s new flagship store in the well-trafficked Wangfujing district in Beijing, for example, turnout was “nearly nonexistent” according to the report, with no lines forming at all on Friday.


We’ve seen Apple rack up big numbers despite small launch-day turnouts in the past, but Apple’s reservation system does not appear to be responsible for the seemingly slow launch — according to IDG, many consumers who did turn up at Apple stores looking to purchase an iPad mini were unable to do so because they weren’t even aware that the reservation-only system existed.












Apple’s iPhone 5, which will presumably draw more of a crowd, launches in China next Friday.


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Long-sealed Notorious B.I.G. autopsy released


LOS ANGELES (AP) — An attorney for the family of Notorious B.I.G. said Friday it's ridiculous that Los Angeles police have not arrested anyone for the rapper's 1997 killing, which has returned to the spotlight after coroner's officials released a long-sealed autopsy report.


The report revealed that injuries cause by a single bullet killed the rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, during a drive-by shooting in March 1997. Wallace was hit by four bullets after leaving a music industry event, but one that hit his heart, left lung and colon caused his death, the 23-page report states.


Perry Sanders Jr. said he was not given any notice that the report would be released, and he criticized police for not closing one of Los Angeles' highest-profile unsolved murders, especially since he had been told that police had identified those responsible.


"I've been advised by the homicide detective that was in charge of the investigation and is no longer with the department that the crime has been solved for several years now," Sanders told The Associated Press. "This was confirmed by at least one other person who is currently on the force, and it is ridiculous that an arrest has not been made for a crime that's allegedly been solved for several years."


A 2011 book by former Los Angeles police detective Greg Kading claimed both murders had been solved, although no arrests have been made and federal prosecutors in 2005 declined to file charges after a lengthy, bi-coastal investigation.


Police spokesman Richard French declined to comment, saying Wallace's killing remained an open investigation.


The coroner's report had been sealed for more than 15 years until police lifted a hold on it last week, Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey said. The report details the trajectory of each of the shots that hit the rapper from Brooklyn, N.Y., and states there were no signs of alcohol or drugs in his system when he died.


Sanders, who dropped a federal civil lawsuit against the city in 2010 in order to give investigators an opportunity to investigate further, said solving the case was more important than any lawsuit.


"In no way shape or form is this about civil litigation," he said. "This is about the criminal justice system and it functioning properly."


The lawsuit Sanders filed on behalf of Wallace's family and widow Faith Evans ended in a mistrial in 2005 after attorneys discovered the city withheld a trove of LAPD documents.


The civil case could be refiled, although that has not yet occurred.


Both Los Angeles police and the FBI investigated Wallace's killing, which came just months after another rap superstar, Tupac Shakur, was gunned down in Las Vegas. The FBI looked into whether any Los Angeles police officers were involved in Wallace's shooting.


The deaths of Wallace and Shakur have been the subject of rampant speculation about the motives. The one-time friends became rivals and instigators in an East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry during the mid-1990s.


In March 2011, the FBI electronically released files on its investigation, which were heavily redacted but shed new light on the efforts that investigators took to try to find those responsible for the rapper's death. Agents conducted surveillance and interviews in Los Angeles, San Diego and New York, the files showed.


The agency did not have an immediate comment Friday on the release of the coroner's report or whether it was still investigating Wallace's death.


___


Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP .


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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


___


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


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High court to hear key gay-marriage cases


A same sex marriage supporter waves a gay pride flag outside the Supreme Court (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)


The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will decide two major gay marriage cases next year that could have a sweeping effect on the rights of same-sex couples to wed. The cases, which likely won't be decided until June, mark the first time the justices will consider arguments for and against same-sex marriage.


The court will review California's gay marriage ban, which passed in a 2008 ballot initiative months after California's high court had legalized same-sex unions and thousands of gay Californians had already tied the knot. Two federal courts have struck down Proposition 8 as discriminatory, leaving the Supreme Court to render a final judgment.


The justices will also hear a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, a law passed under President Bill Clinton that prevents the federal government from recognizing gay marriages. Windsor v. United States was brought by Edith Windsor, a resident of New York who paid $363,000 in estate taxes after her wife died because the federal government did not recognize their marriage. New York is one of nine states (and the District of Columbia) where gay marriage is legal, so Windsor argues that the federal government is discriminating against her by not recognizing her state-sanctioned marriage.


The Obama administration decided last year to no longer defend DOMA, so Congress has hired outside counsel to argue on behalf of the law. Recently, two federal appeals courts had struck down the law as unconstitutional, virtually requiring the Supreme Court to take the case to settle the dispute between the courts and Congress.


Legal experts are skeptical that the court would deliver a sweeping ruling deciding whether all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation, have a fundamental right to marry in the DOMA case. It's more likely they will narrowly decide whether the federal government has a legitimate interest in refusing to recognize same-sex couples who wed in states where gay marriage is legal. (Marriage has traditionally been regulated by the states.)


In the Proposition 8 case, justices may decide whether a ban on gay marriage is legal in the specific case of California, where gay couples were allowed to marry for several months before the ban passed. Such a narrow decision would not necessarily affect gay marriage bans that have passed in dozens of other states where same-sex marriage was never legal in the first place.


But it's possible the justices could make a broader ruling on Prop 8. Ted Olson, a former U.S. solicitor general under President George W. Bush  and one of the lead attorneys in the battle against Proposition 8, told reporters on Friday that he planned to argue that there's a "fundamental constitutional right to marry for all citizens." His co-counsel, David Boies, called same-sex marriage the civil rights issue of this era. If the justices accept this argument, states could no longer ban gay marriage, dealing the anti-gay marriage movement a fatal blow. If they reject the argument, it would shut down legal challenges to state marriage bans and significantly set back the movement to expand same-sex marriage rights.


John Eastman, the chair for the anti-gay marriage National Organization for Marriage, said in a statement that he thinks the Supreme Court will uphold Proposition 8 and DOMA. "We believe the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn this exercise in judicial activism and stop federal judges from legislating from the bench on the definition of marriage," Eastman said.


For both cases, court-watchers will have their eyes trained firmly on swing Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has a record of ruling in favor of gay rights. In 2003, Kennedy wrote the court's opinion in Lawrence v. Texas, a landmark decision that said the government cannot outlaw anal sex between consenting adults, whatever their sexual orientation. ("The liberty protected by the Constitution allows homosexual persons the right to choose to enter upon relationships in the confines of their homes and their own private lives and still retain their dignity as free persons," he wrote.) Kennedy also cast the deciding vote striking down a Colorado law that would have prevented local governments from passing laws specifically protecting gay civil rights.


Because of Kennedy's history on the issue, many legal experts think there's a good chance the court will strike down DOMA, with Kennedy joining the court's four liberals for the decision. But the workings of the Supreme Court are notoriously hard to predict, and it's still a complete mystery what the nine justices will decide in June.



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Safety, need compete in typhoon-hit Philippines


NEW BATAAN, Philippines (AP) — The government's geological hazard maps show why this farming community was largely washed away by a powerful typhoon: "highly susceptible to flooding and landslides." That didn't stop some villagers from rebuilding Thursday, even with bodies still lying under the mud.


Most of the more than 370 people confirmed dead from Typhoon Bopha were killed in the steep mountain valley that includes New Bataan, a town crisscrossed by rivers and cleared from lush hillsides by banana, coconut, cocoa and mango farmers in 1968. Flooding was so widespread here that places people thought were safe, including two emergency shelters, became among the deadliest.


In the impoverished Philippines, where the jobless risk life and limb to feed their families, there is little the government can do once such danger zones spring up.


"It's not only an environmental issue, it's also a poverty issue," said Environment Secretary Ramon Paje. "The people would say, 'We are better off here. At least we have food to eat or money to buy food, even if it is risky.'


"But somehow we would like to protect their lives and if possible give them other sources of livelihood so that we can take them out of these permanent danger zones," Paje said.


More than 400 people remained missing Thursday after the typhoon struck the southern Philippines this week.


After a night of pounding rain, floodwaters started rising around 4 a.m. Tuesday, trapping farmer Joseph Requinto, his wife and two young children in their house near a creek.


"After that I saw some people being swept away," he told The Associated Press. He climbed up a hill, carrying his children, and the family found shelter behind boulders that shielded them from coconut trees rolling down the hill.


"The water was as high as a coconut tree," he said. "All the bamboo trees, even the big ones, were all mowed down."


Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who visited New Bataan on Wednesday, saw the town covered in 15 centimeters (6 inches) of mud. He was told by townspeople that a pond or a small lake atop the mountain collapsed, causing torrents of water to rampage like a waterfall.


"There is hardly any structure that is undamaged in New Bataan town," he said. "Entire families may have been washed away."


New Bataan residents led reporters from Manila's GMA Television to a mound of felled trees that were swept down from the hills. At least five bodies were jammed beneath the rubble, with no sign that anyone had attempted to retrieve them. It was uncertain if there were more bodies at the site.


Dozens of people stared blankly at their devastated town as they waited at a government information center, hoping for word of missing relative. Authorities planned to display about 80 newly washed bodies in coffins at a Roman Catholic church Friday, hoping relatives will identify them.


The military said Thursday that 214 people died in Compostela Valley and 151 in nearby Davao Oriental province, with 31 others killed in other central and southern provinces. The typhoon, which hit the region with winds of 175 kph (109 mph), was over the South China Sea on Thursday and was expected to dissipate by the weekend.


Deadly floods are common on resource-rich Mindanao Island. Last December at the island's opposite end, 1,200 people died as a powerful storm overflowed rivers. Then and now, raging flash floods, logs and large rocks carried people to their deaths.


The Bureau of Mines and Geosciences had issued warnings before the typhoon to people living in flood-prone areas, but in the Compostela Valley, nearly every area is flood-prone.


Bureau Director Leo Jasareno said about 80 percent of the valley is a danger zone due to a combination of factors, including the mountains and rivers, as well as logging that has stripped hills of trees that minimize landslides and absorb rainwater. Logging has been banned since last year's fatal flooding, but it continues illegally.


Nearly 80 villages and soldiers died in the New Bataan village of Andap when a flash flood swamped the two emergency shelters and a military camp. Jasareno said Andap had been an especially dangerous place to be.


"There is the Mayo River there. It's a natural channel way of the water from the upstream," he said. "The water has no other path but Andap village."


People stay because the land is rich in natural resources, including timber and gold, which is dug by small-scale miners.


Compostela Valley Gov. Arturo Uy rejected criticism by scientists and central government officials that his flood-ravaged communities should relocate.


"It's not possible to have no houses there because even the town center was hit. You mean to say the whole town will be abandoned?" Uy told the AP. He doubted the basis for classifying the area as dangerous and said he had urged the central government to review the hazard maps.


Uy said previous floods had been far less damaging, and had never threatened the places where the doomed emergency centers had been set up: the village hall, a health center, a covered court.


"We thought they would be safe there, but the volume of water was so huge," he said.


The deaths came despite efforts by President Benigno Aquino III's government to force residents out of high-risk communities as the typhoon approached. Vice President Jejomar Binay on Thursday directed local executives, police and military officials not to allow those displaced to return to their homes in areas classified as danger zones. However, it wasn't clear how quickly and where substitute homes would be built.


On Thursday, residents armed with hammers began to repair devastated homes and wash their muddy belongings, taking advantage of the sunny weather.


They stopped when a rescuer in orange overalls blew his whistle. He had seen a hand sticking out of a muddy heap of logs, rocks and debris.


Soldiers and volunteers converged on the pile with shovels and crowbars. They pulled four bodies from the muck, including two children.


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Associated Press writers Jim Gomez, Teresa Cerojano, Oliver Teves and Hrvoje Hranjski in Manila contributed to this report.


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Actor Stephen Baldwin charged in NY tax case


WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Actor Stephen Baldwin was charged Thursday with failing to pay New York state taxes for three years, amassing a $350,000 debt.


Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said Baldwin, of Upper Grandview, skipped his taxes in 2008, 2009 and 2010.


The youngest of the four acting Baldwin brothers pleaded not guilty at an arraignment and was freed without bail. His lawyer, Russell Yankwitt, said Baldwin should not have been charged.


"Mr. Baldwin did not commit any crimes, and he's working with the district attorney's office and the New York State Tax Department to resolve any differences," Yankwitt said.


The district attorney said Baldwin could face up to four years in prison if convicted. The actor is due back in court on Feb. 5.


Zugibe said Baldwin owes more than $350,000 in tax and penalties.


"We cannot afford to allow wealthy residents to break the law by cheating on their taxes," the district attorney said. "The defendant's repetitive failure to file returns and pay taxes over a period of several years contributes to the sweeping cutbacks and closures in local government and in our schools."


Thomas Mattox, the state tax commissioner, said, "It is rare and unfortunate for a personal income tax case to require such strong enforcement measures."


Baldwin, 46, starred in 1995's "The Usual Suspects" and appeared in 1989's "Born on the Fourth of July." He is scheduled to appear in March on NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice."


His brothers Alec, William and Daniel are also actors.


A bankruptcy filing in 2009 said Stephen Baldwin owed $1.2 million on two mortgages, $1 million in taxes and $70,000 on credit cards.


In October, Baldwin pleaded guilty in Manhattan to unlicensed driving and was ordered to pay a $75 fine. Earlier this year, he lost a $17 million civil case in New Orleans after claiming that actor Kevin Costner and a business partner duped him in a deal related to the cleanup of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The actors and others had formed a company that marketed devices that separate oil from water.


Baldwin co-hosts a radio show with conservative talk figure Kevin McCullough.


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Celebrations planned as Wash. legalizes marijuana


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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Pelosi slams House GOP for taking break amid debt talks




House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi today ripped House Republicans for scheduling a five-day break amid the " fiscal cliff" debate, asking why the chamber is not in session "trying to build confidence" and "find common ground" with only 26 days left until a mix of steep tax hikes and spending cuts take effect.



"Here we are, Thursday in December. The talk around here is what's going on at the negotiating table. Is anything going on at the negotiating table?" Pelosi, D-Calif., wondered at her weekly news conference. "I can't even explain to my constituents why Congress isn't in session now trying to at least build bridges of understanding and representing."



The GOP-controlled House concluded legislative business Wednesday afternoon after a light floor schedule this week. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor cancelled one day of legislative business previously scheduled for today, and also cut next Friday from the calendar. Cantor, however, announced Wednesday that he has added an unspecified number of days to the legislative calendar the week of Dec. 17.



"I'm really surprised that the Republicans would leave," Pelosi said. "With all that needs to be done, [are House Republicans] avoiding the conversation? Sounds like people don't want to be in town for some reason."



At least one top House Republican, however, stayed at the Capitol: House Speaker John Boehner.



President Obama and Boehner spoke on the phone Wednesday afternoon, but no details were released about the conversation. An aide to the speaker said that "the lines of communication are open" today.



Pelosi, who said she remains in close contact with the president, has repeatedly described a Republican counter-proposal this week as "an assault" on the middle class, seniors and the country's future. She also criticized the proposal for failing to detail how Republicans would specifically achieve savings if they refused to raise tax rates on the wealthiest taxpayers.



"Why are we not here getting information?" Pelosi said. "What are we talking about here? What are we talking about when we say restructure entitlements? What does restructure mean? Destroy? Wither on the vine? Voucherize? Or does it mean let's work together to make these stronger and improve benefits for the beneficiaries?"



But with a stalemate on tax rates, even negotiations between White House and congressional staffs seem to have ground to a halt.



"It's hard to explain to anyone why there's even a mystery in the conversation that we shouldn't be having the upper 2 percent of our population paying its fair share," she said. "How do you start by saying we want to know what you're going to do to seniors before we will do what we know we have to do, which is make the wealthy pay their fair share?"



Pelosi also doubted whether the GOP proposal, which called for $600 billion in health-care savings through changes such as increasing the eligibility age for Medicare, would create adequate savings.



"Show me the money. I don't even know why that is something that people think is going to produce money. What are we going to do with people between 65 and 67?" she said. "It's not even the right thing to do, first and foremost, but is it a trophy that the Republicans want … to raise the rates for the wealthiest people in our country?"



Lawmakers return to the House for legislative business Tuesday, three weeks before the "fiscal cliff" kicks in.



The Senate is in session today.


Also Read

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Death toll from Philippine typhoon nears 300


NEW BATAAN, Philippines (AP) — Stunned parents searching for missing children examined a row of mud-stained bodies covered with banana leaves while survivors dried their soaked belongings on roadsides Wednesday, a day after a powerful typhoon killed nearly 300 people in the southern Philippines.


Officials fear more bodies may be found as rescuers reach hard-hit areas that were isolated by landslides, floods and downed communications.


At least 151 people died in the worst-hit province of Compostela Valley when Typhoon Bopha lashed the region Tuesday, including 78 villagers and soldiers who perished in a flash flood that swamped two emergency shelters and a military camp, provincial spokeswoman Fe Maestre said.


Disaster-response agencies reported 284 dead in the region and 14 fatalities elsewhere from the typhoon, one of the strongest to hit the country this year.


About 80 people survived the deluge in New Bataan with injuries, and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who visited the town, said 319 others remained missing.


"These were whole families among the registered missing," Roxas told the ABS-CBN TV network. "Entire families may have been washed away."


The farming town of 45,000 people was a muddy wasteland of collapsed houses and coconut and banana trees felled by Bopha's ferocious winds.


Bodies of victims were laid on the ground for viewing by people searching for missing relatives. Some were badly mangled after being dragged by raging flood waters over rocks and other debris. A man sprayed insecticide on the remains to keep away swarms of flies.


A father wept when he found the body of his child after lifting a plastic cover. A mother, meanwhile, went away in tears, unable to find her missing children. "I have three children," she said repeatedly, flashing three fingers before a TV cameraman.


Two men carried the mud-caked body of an unidentified girl that was covered with coconut leaves on a makeshift stretcher made from a blanket and wooden poles.


Dionisia Requinto, 43, felt lucky to have survived with her husband and their eight children after swirling flood waters surrounded their home. She said they escaped and made their way up a hill to safety, bracing themselves against boulders and fallen trees as they climbed.


"The water rose so fast," she told AP. "It was horrible. I thought it was going to be our end."


In nearby Davao Oriental, the coastal province first struck by the typhoon as it blew from the Pacific Ocean, at least 115 people perished, mostly in three towns that were so battered that it was hard to find any buildings with roofs remaining, provincial officer Freddie Bendulo and other officials said.


"We had a problem where to take the evacuees. All the evacuation centers have lost their roofs," Davao Oriental Gov. Corazon Malanyaon said.


The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies issued an urgent appeal for $4.8 million to help people directly affected by the typhoon.


The sun was shining brightly for most of the day Wednesday, prompting residents to lay their soaked clothes, books and other belongings out on roadsides to dry and revealing the extent of the damage to farmland. Thousands of banana trees in one Compostela Valley plantation were toppled by the wind, the young bananas still wrapped in blue plastic covers.


But as night fell, however, rain started pouring again over New Bataan, triggering panic among some residents who feared a repeat of the previous day's flash floods. Some carried whatever belongings they could as they hurried to nearby towns or higher ground.


After slamming into Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, Bopha roared quickly across the southern Mindanao and central regions, knocking out power in two entire provinces, triggering landslides and leaving houses and plantations damaged. More than 170,000 fled to evacuation centers.


As of Wednesday evening, the typhoon was over the South China Sea west of Palawan province. It was blowing northwestward and could be headed to Vietnam or southern China, according to government forecasters.


The deaths came despite efforts by President Benigno Aquino III's government to force residents out of high-risk communities as the typhoon approached.


Some 20 typhoons and storms lash the northern and central Philippines each year, but they rarely hit the vast southern Mindanao region where sprawling export banana plantations have been planted over the decades because it seldom experiences strong winds that could blow down the trees.


A rare storm in the south last December killed more than 1,200 people and left many more homeless.


The United States extended its condolences and offered to help its Asian ally deal with the typhoon's devastation. It praised government efforts to minimize the deaths and damage.


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Associated Press writers Jim Gomez, Teresa Cerojano and Oliver Teves in Manila contributed to this report.


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NBR Awards name 'Zero Dark Thirty' best film


NEW YORK (AP) — Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" continued to gather awards momentum as the National Board of Review named the Osama bin Laden hunt docudrama the best film of the year.


The board is the second notable group to name "Zero Dark Thirty" best film, following the New York Film Critics Circle. The two early awards suggest the film may be the Academy Awards frontrunner, four years after Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" triumphed at the Oscars.


The film took three awards Wednesday from the National Board of Review, which also named Bigelow best director and Jessica Chastain, who stars as a CIA agent, best actress.


The group also gave a boost to the "Silver Linings Playbook," David O. Russell's comedic drama about a mentally unstable former teacher (Bradley Cooper) attempting to reorder his life. Cooper was named best actor and Russell was given best adapted screenplay. (Best original screenplay went to Rian Johnson for his script to the thriller "Looper.")


Leonardo DiCaprio won best supporting actor for his performance as a wealthy slave owner in Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained." Best supporting actress went to Ann Dowd for her performance as a fast-food manager terrorized by a prank caller in "Compliance."


The board also cited Ben Affleck, director and star of the Iran hostage crisis drama "Argo," for special achievement in filmmaking. Best ensemble went to the cast of Tom Hooper's musical adaptation of "Les Miserables." The group is also highlighting John Goodman with its "spotlight award," noting the actor's work this year in "Argo," ''Flight," ''Paranorman" and "Trouble With the Curve."


The National Board of Review, a group of film academics, students and professionals founded in 1909, is one of the first groups to announce its picks for the year's best movies. The Los Angeles Film Critics announce their choices on Sunday. The Golden Globe nominations come Dec. 13.


The National Board of Review has some pedigree in picking films that have gone on to win best picture at the Oscars, though not in recent years. Last year, it selected "Hugo," while the academy chose "The Artist." In 2010, it selected "The Social Network" while the academy chose "The King's Speech."


In addition to individual awards, the board also lists its top 10 films, in no particular order: "Zero Dark Thirty," ''Argo," ''Lincoln," ''Beasts of the Southern Wild," ''Django Unchained," ''Looper," ''Les Miserables," ''The Perks of Being a Wallflower," ''Silver Linings Playbook" and "Promised Land."


The awards will be handed out at a gala on Jan. 8 in New York at Cipriani's, to be hosted by Meredith Vieira.


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Online:


http://www.nbrmp.org/


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Follow Jake Coyle on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jake_coyle


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Study could spur wider use of prenatal gene tests


A new study sets the stage for wider use of gene testing in early pregnancy. Scanning the genes of a fetus reveals far more about potential health risks than current prenatal testing does, say researchers who compared both methods in thousands of pregnancies nationwide.


A surprisingly high number — 6 percent — of certain fetuses declared normal by conventional testing were found to have genetic abnormalities by gene scans, the study found. The gene flaws can cause anything from minor defects such as a club foot to more serious ones such as mental retardation, heart problems and fatal diseases.


"This isn't done just so people can terminate pregnancies," because many choose to continue them even if a problem is found, said Dr. Ronald Wapner, reproductive genetics chief at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. "We're better able to give lots and lots of women more information about what's causing the problem and what the prognosis is and what special care their child might need."


He led the federally funded study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.


A second study in the journal found that gene testing could reveal the cause of most stillbirths, many of which remain a mystery now. That gives key information to couples agonizing over whether to try again.


The prenatal study of 4,400 women has long been awaited in the field, and could make gene testing a standard of care in cases where initial screening with an ultrasound exam suggests a structural defect in how the baby is developing, said Dr. Susan Klugman, director of reproductive genetics at New York's Montefiore Medical Center, which enrolled 300 women into the study.


"We can never guarantee the perfect baby but if they want everything done, this is a test that can tell a lot more," she said.


Many pregnant women are offered screening with an ultrasound exam or a blood test that can flag some common abnormalities such as Down syndrome, but these are not conclusive.


The next step is diagnostic testing on cells from the fetus obtained through amniocentesis, which is like a needle biopsy through the belly, or chorionic villus sampling, which snips a bit of the placenta. Doctors look at the sample under a microscope for breaks or extra copies of chromosomes that cause a dozen or so abnormalities.


The new study compared this eyeball method to scanning with gene chips that can spot hundreds of abnormalities and far smaller defects than what can be seen with a microscope. This costs $1,200 to $1,800 versus $600 to $1,000 for the visual exam.


In the study, both methods were used on fetal samples from 4,400 women around the country. Half of the moms were at higher risk because they were over 35. One-fifth had screening tests suggesting Down syndrome. One-fourth had ultrasounds suggesting structural abnormalities. Others sought screening for other reasons.


"Some did it for anxiety — they just wanted more information about their child," Wapner said.


Of women whose ultrasounds showed a possible structural defect but whose fetuses were called normal by the visual chromosome exam, gene testing found problems in 6 percent — one out of 17.


"That's a lot. That's huge," Klugman said.


Gene tests also found abnormalities in nearly 2 percent of cases where the mom was older or ultrasounds suggested a problem other than a structural defect.


Dr. Lorraine Dugoff, a University of Pennsylvania high-risk pregnancy specialist, wrote in an editorial in the journal that gene testing should become the standard of care when a structural problem is suggested by ultrasound. But its value may be incremental in other cases and offset by the 1.5 percent of cases where a gene abnormality of unknown significance is found.


In those cases, "a lot of couples might not be happy that they ordered that test" because it can't give a clear answer, she said.


Ana Zeletz, a former pediatric nurse from Hoboken, N.J., had one of those results during the study. An ultrasound suggested possible Down syndrome; gene testing ruled that out but showed an abnormality that could indicate kidney problems — or nothing.


"They give you this list of all the things that could possibly be wrong," Zeletz said. Her daughter, Jillian, now 2, had some urinary and kidney abnormalities that seem to have resolved, and has low muscle tone that caused her to start walking later than usual.


"I am very glad about it," she said of the testing, because she knows to watch her daughter for possible complications like gout. Without the testing, "we wouldn't know anything, we wouldn't know to watch for things that might come up," she said.


The other study involved 532 stillbirths — deaths of a fetus in the womb before delivery. Gene testing revealed the cause in 87 percent of cases versus 70 percent of cases analyzed by the visual chromosome inspection method. It also gave more information on specific genetic abnormalities that couples could use to estimate the odds that future pregnancies would bring those risks.


The study was led by Dr. Uma Reddy of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.


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Online:


Medical journal: http://www.nejm.org


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Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP


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White House preps Plan B if debt talks fail


White House press secretary Jay Carney (Charles Dharapak/AP)President Barack Obama's budget office is preparing for the possibility that "fiscal cliff" talks will fail, triggering painful automatic cuts to domestic and defense programs that he and his Republican foes officially want to avoid. White House press secretary Jay Carney described the planning as an abundance of caution, not pessimism about the seemingly stalled negotiations.


The White House's Office of Management and Budget this week "issued a request to federal agencies" for information needed to finalize calculations on the spending cuts required under what is technically known as "sequestration," Carney told reporters at his daily briefing. OMB is "acting responsibly," he added.


"The administration remains focused on reaching agreement, as we've been discussing, on a balanced deficit-reduction plan that avoids sequestration" he said. "This action should not be read … as a change in the administration's commitment to reach an agreement and avoid sequestration."Leaders of both parties have pledged to work together in the coming weeks, and we are confident, as I just said, that we can reach an agreement. However, with less than one month left before a potential sequestration order would have to be issued, the Office of Management and Budget must take certain steps to ensure the administration is ready to issue such an order should Congress fail to act."


Carney's comments came as talks on the fiscal cliff—a series of tax hikes and government spending cuts that could plunge the economy into a new recession—seemed to be making no headway. Obama and congressional Republicans have each put a proposal on the table but do not appear to be actively involved in negotiating a compromise. The president and Republican House Speaker John Boehner spoke by telephone, a House Republican aide said. They spoke "this afternoon—no other information," the aide said.


"If our offer is not acceptable to the president, then he has an obligation to show leadership by presenting a credible plan of his own that can pass both houses of Congress," Boehner said earlier. He accused Obama of snubbing spending cuts he accepted in the past (notably in failed 2011 negotiations) and failing to lay out "serious spending cuts."


"This is preventing us from reaching an agreement," Boehner continued. "With the American economy on the brink of the fiscal cliff, we don't have time for the president to continue shifting the goal posts. We need to solve this problem."


Obama, meanwhile, flatly dismissed the idea that Republicans might use next year's vote on raising the country's debt limit as leverage in current fiscal cliff negotiations, saying it won't be entertained by the White House.


While talks between Obama and Boehner appeared to be in a deep freeze, the president and congressional leaders met separately with top executives of the Business Roundtable association in Washington. A BRT official said the group met with Republican House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, then Democratic Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Republican Sen. John Thune, who sits on the Finance and Budget committees.


BRT Chairman Jim McNerney, president and CEO of Boeing, described the discussion with Obama as "candid and constructive" and the chat with congressional leaders as "constructive."


He noted that "we encourage both sides to work around the clock, if necessary, to avoid the severe repercussions that inaction would have on U.S. economic growth and job creation."



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Powerful typhoon kills at least 74 in Philippines


MANILA, Philippines (AP) — At least 43 villagers and soldiers drowned in a southern Philippine town Tuesday when torrents of water dumped by a powerful typhoon cascaded down a mountain, engulfing emergency shelters and an army truck, officials said. The deaths raised the toll from one of the strongest storms to hit the country this year to at least 74.


Gov. Arturo Uy said rain from Typhoon Bopha accumulated atop a mountain and then burst down on Andap village in New Bataan town in hard-hit Compostela Valley province. The victims included villagers who had fled from their homes to a school and village hall, which were then swamped by the flash flood. An army truck carrying soldiers and villagers was washed away, according to Uy and army officials.


"They thought that they were already secure in a safe area, but they didn't know the torrents of water would go their way," Uy told DZBB radio.


He said the confirmed death toll in the town was likely to rise because several other bodies could not immediately be retrieved from floodwaters strewn with huge logs and debris.


Bopha slammed into Davao Oriental province region at dawn, its ferocious winds ripping roofs from homes and its 500-kilometer (310-mile) -wide rain band flooding low-lying farmland.


The storm, packing winds of 140 kilometers (87 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 170 kph (106 mph), toppled trees, triggered landslides and sent flash floods surging across the region's mountains and valleys.


Two entire provinces lost power and more than 100 domestic flights were canceled. About 60,000 people fled to emergency shelters.


Twenty-three people drowned or were pinned by fallen trees or collapsed houses in Davao Oriental province's coastal town of Cateel, which had the most deaths after New Bataan, Davao Oriental Gov. Corazon Malanyaon told the ABS-CBN TV network, citing police reports.


Some towns in the province were so battered that no roofs remained on buildings, Malanyaon said.


The other deaths included three children who were buried by a wall of mud and boulders that plunged down a mountain in Marapat village, also in Compostela Valley. Their bodies were wrapped in blankets by their grieving relatives and placed on a stage in a basketball court.


"The only thing we could do was to save ourselves. It was too late for us to rescue them," said Valentin Pabilana, who survived the landslide.


In Davao Oriental, a poor agricultural and gold-mining province about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) southeast of Manila, an elderly woman was killed when her house was struck by a falling tree, said Benito Ramos, who heads the government's disaster-response agency.


The other victims either drowned or were hit by trees, he said, adding that the death toll was expected to rise.


While some 20 typhoons and storms normally lash the archipelago nation annually, the southern provinces battered by Bopha are unaccustomed to fierce typhoons, which normally hit the northern and central Philippines.


A rare storm last December killed more than 1,200 people and left many more homeless and traumatized, including in Cagayan de Oro city, where church bells pealed relentlessly on Tuesday to warn residents to scramble to safety as a major river started to swell.


Officials were taking no chances this year, and President Benigno Aquino III appealed on national TV on Monday for people in Bopha's path to move to safety and take storm warnings seriously.


In Compostela Valley, authorities halted mining operations and ordered villagers to evacuate to prevent a repeat of deadly losses from landslides and the collapse of mine tunnels in previous storms.


Bopha, a Cambodian word for flower or a girl, is the 16th weather disturbance to hit the Philippines this year. Forecasters say at least one more storm may strike the country before Christmas.


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Associated Press writer Teresa Cerojano contributed to this report.


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Google updates Gmail for iOS to support multiple accounts, deliver autocomplete suggestions












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Huston's "Infrared" wins Bad Sex fiction prize


LONDON (AP) — It's the prize no author wants to win.


Award-winning novelist Nancy Huston won Britain's Bad Sex in Fiction award Tuesday for her novel "Infrared," whose tale of a photographer who takes pictures of her lovers during sex proved too revealing for the judges.


The choice was announced by "Downton Abbey" actress Samantha Bond during a ceremony at the Naval & Military Club in London.


Judges of the tongue-in-cheek prize — which is run by the Literary Review magazine — said they were struck by a description of "flesh, that archaic kingdom that brings forth tears and terrors, nightmares, babies and bedazzlements," and by a long passage that builds to a climax of "undulating space."


Huston, who lives in Paris, was not on hand to collect her prize. In a statement read by her publicist, the 59-year-old author said she hoped her victory would "incite thousands of British women to take close-up photos of their lovers' bodies in all states of array and disarray."


The Canada-born Huston, who writes in both French and English, is the author of more than a dozen novels, including "Plainsong" and "Fault Lines." She has previously won France's Prix Goncourt prize and was a finalist for Britain's Orange Prize for fiction by women.


She is only the third woman to win the annual Bad Sex prize, founded in 1993 to name and shame authors of "crude, tasteless and ... redundant passages of sexual description in contemporary novels."


Some critics, however, have praised the sexual passages in "Infrared." Shirley Whiteside in the Independent on Sunday newspaper said there were "none of the lazy cliches of pornography or the purple prose of modern romantic fiction" — though she conceded the book's sex scenes were "more perfunctory than erotic."


Huston beat finalists including previous winner Tom Wolfe — for his passage in "Back to Blood" describing "his big generative jockey" — and Booker Prize-nominated Nicola Barker, whose novel "The Yips" compares a woman to "a plump Bakewell pudding."


Previous recipients of the dubious honor, usually accepted with good grace, include Sebastian Faulks, the late Norman Mailer and the late John Updike, who was awarded a Bad Sex lifetime achievement award in 2008.


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Online: http://www.literaryreview.co.uk


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Study: Drug coverage to vary under health law


WASHINGTON (AP) — A new study says basic prescription drug coverage could vary dramatically from state to state under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.


That's because states get to set benefits for private health plans that will be offered starting in 2014 through new insurance exchanges.


The study out Tuesday from the market analysis firm Avalere Health found that some states will require coverage of virtually all FDA-approved drugs, while others will only require coverage of about half of medications.


Consumers will still have access to essential medications, but some may not have as much choice.


Connecticut, Virginia and Arizona will be among the states with the most generous coverage, while California, Minnesota and North Carolina will be among states with the most limited.


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Online:


Avalere Health: http://tinyurl.com/d3b3hfv


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Conservative Republicans booted from House budget panel


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two of the most conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives have been kicked off the House Budget Committee, a rare move that could make it easier for the panel to advance a deal with Democrats to cut fiscal deficits.


Representatives Tim Huelskamp of Kansas and Justin Amash of Michigan - both favorites of the anti-tax Tea Party movement - are among those Republicans voting most often against House Speaker John Boehner.


Huelskamp and Amash, who both will begin second terms in the House next month, voted against last year's deal to raise the federal debt limit and staunchly oppose any tax increases. Boehner has now included new revenue in his latest offer to avert the "fiscal cliff" of year-end tax hikes and automatic spending cuts. Given their voting records, winning support from Huelskamp and Amash for such a compromise seemed an uphill battle.


Huelskamp released a statement saying the Republican leadership "might think they have silenced conservatives but removing me and others from key committees only confirms our conservative convictions.


"This is clearly a vindictive move and a sure sign that the GOP establishment cannot handle disagreement," he said.


Huelskamp and Amash had said that despite sweeping changes to the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs, committee chairman Paul Ryan's budget did not make deep enough cuts to entitlement programs and military spending.


Boehner spokesman Michael Steel declined to be specific on the reasons for their ouster by the House Republican Steering Committee, which occurred Monday in a closed-door meeting.


"The Steering Committee makes decisions based on a range of factors," Steel said.


Huelskamp said he was given "limited explanation" for his removal from the Budget Committee, a move he called "vindictive." A spokesman for Amash could not be immediately reached for comment.


Huelskamp and Amash cast the only House Budget Committee votes against Ryan's budget plan earlier this year.


While there is often wrangling over committee chairmanships just before a new Congress takes office, it is rare for rank-and-file committee members to be stripped of their assignments.


The 34-member Republican steering committee is headed by Boehner and includes members of House leadership, committee chairs and other lawmakers representing different regions of the country.


The same group last week recommended that Ryan, the conservative former Republican vice presidential candidate, be renewed as Budget Committee chairman.


(Editing by Bill Trott)



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SKorea to reroute flights on NKorean rocket path

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea said Monday that it plans to reroute passenger flights over the Yellow Sea to avoid possible collisions with debris from a long-range rocket that North Korea plans to launch this month.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said it made the decision after learning that North Korea had informed China and Singapore of the flight path and other details of the launch.

North Korea told those nations the rocket would be launched in the morning and its debris would fall into the Yellow Sea and in waters east of the Philippines.

The International Maritime Organization said Monday that North Korea had informed it that it planned to launch a satellite between Dec. 10-22 during the hours of 7 a.m and noon. The North provided a list of dangerous coordinates where debris could fall.

South Korean officials said they will reroute six Korean Air flights. They also are considering whether to reroute or change the departure times of several Korean Air and Asiana Airlines flights to Manila.

In a defiant move expected to raise the stakes of a global standoff over its missile and nuclear programs, the North announced Saturday that it would launch a rocket mounted with a polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite this month.

The United States considers North Korea's rocket launches to be veiled covers for tests of technology for long-range missiles designed to strike the United States. Such tests are banned by the U.N. Security Council which has imposed two rounds of sanctions on the North following its nuclear tests.

It would be North Korea's second launch attempt under leader Kim Jong Un, who took power following his father Kim Jong Il's death nearly a year ago. The embarrassing misfire of its last rocket eight months ago earned the country widespread international condemnation.

The Korean Committee for Space Technology said the launch was a request of late leader Kim Jong Il. He died on Dec. 17, 2011, and North Koreans are expected to mark that date this year with some fanfare.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged North Korea "not to take any further provocative actions that will heighten tension in the region" after the failed launch in April, and U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Monday "his view has not changed on the matter."

Ban called the failed launch "deplorable" because it defied international opinion, violated a U.N. Security Council ban, "and was a threat to international stability," Nesirky told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.

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'Bully,' 'Chasing Ice' are among Oscar contenders

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The anti-bullying film "Bully," the climate-change study "Chasing Ice" and the AIDS chronicle "How to Survive a Plague" are among 15 features on the short list for the Academy Award for best documentary.

Other contenders announced Monday are the Ethel Kennedy documentary "Ethel," the health care exploration "The Waiting Room" and the music portrait "Searching for Sugar Man," tracing the fate of acclaimed but obscure 1970s singer-songwriter Rodriguez.

The other documentaries are "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry," ''Detropia," ''5 Broken Cameras," ''The Gatekeepers," ''The House I Live In," ''The Imposter," ''The Invisible War," ''Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God" and "This Is Not a Film."

Members of the academy's documentary branch will narrow the list to five nominees. Nominations come out Jan. 10, with the Oscar show following on Feb. 24.

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