Al-Qaeda practises beats body scanners

A body scanner at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport would not necessarily have detected the explosives which the would-be syringe bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had sewn into his underwear. A Dutch military intelligence source told De Telegraaf newspaper that Al Qaeda has its own security scanners and has been practicing ways of concealing explosives.

The terrorist group has even carried out test runs at smuggling explosives through European airports, the paper reports.

On Monday Schiphol's operational manager Ad Rutten said the explosives carried by the 23-year-old Nigerian Abdulmutallab may well have been detected had he been scanned by one of the airport's 15 body scanners. Schiphol was the first airport to run a trial of body scanners, which use sound waves to see through passengers' clothing. At present the scanners are only an optional alternative to the conventional metal detector, as European privacy laws prevent them being made compulsory.

Since the attempted attack on the flight from Schiphol to Detroit, Schiphol has been operating tightened security measures. Around 50 extra security staff have been hired in to carry out the tightened checks on passengers to the United States. All passengers to the US are now being body searched at the gate. The airport says that while the chance of discovering any concealed explosives is still not 100 percent, it is at least much higher than it was.

Airports Slow to Receive Whole-Body Imaging Scanners

Only 19 U.S. airports have received sophisticated imaging machines that can detect explosives hidden in clothing.

Security experts say the scanners may be the best defense in stopping attacks such as an attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound aircraft Christmas Day.

The Transportation Security Administration wants to install more of the devices, known as whole-body imaging scanners, but the agency has met resistance from civil liberties groups, passengers and some members of Congress.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the nation's third busiest, has just two of the machines.

The scanners are able to detect weapons and explosives in places security screeners are not allowed to touch in physical pat-down searches, such as the groin area and even body cavities where items could be concealed.

Government investigators say they believe Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the man accused of attempting to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day, hid the explosives he used inside his underwear.

The Associated Press reported Monday that Abdulmutallab did not pass through a whole-body imaging scanner before boarding the Northwest flight in Amsterdam, Netherlands. European airports are using the imaging machines only in limited cases.

Dallas-based aviation security consultant Clive Miskin said whole-body scanners may be the best technology to prevent the terrorists from personally carrying explosives onto planes.

"That's one piece of technology that can help and it will help apprehend bad people with bad intentions," said Miskin, managing director of International Security Defense Systems LLC.

Miskin's partner, Chaim Koppel, said recent events may push governments to install the machines at more airports.

"Slowly, we're going to see more them in the States, in Europe, in South America," he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union has opposed the imaging machines, arguing that the body images they produce are too revealing. And some members of Congress have supported legislation that would limit their use, allowing passengers to opt out and submit to a pat-down search instead.

In an effort to increase privacy, the TSA screeners who read the images are placed in a separate room so they are not able to see the passenger who is being shown on the imaging screen.

Travelers at DFW Airport were divided.

"It's not like you're taking a picture and posting it on the Internet or selling it in a magazine," said Paul LeBon. "It's just a scan that lasts for 10 seconds.

"I am going to take issue with people being able to look at my children's bodies and my body," said Tamara Haddox, another traveler.

The TSA currently has 150 additional body imaging devices machines on order. But that's not nearly enough to cover all of the nation's airports.

Obama: US intel had info ahead of airliner attack

HONOLULU (AP) - President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the intelligence community had bits of information that should have been pieced together that would have triggered "red flags" and possibly prevented the Christmas Day attempted terror attack on a Detroit-bound airliner.

"There was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security," Obama said.

Senior U.S. officials told The Associated Press that intelligence authorities are now looking at conversations between the suspect in the failed attack and at least one al-Qaida member. They did not say how these communications with the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, took place—by Internet, cell phone or another method.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said the conversations were vague or coded, but the intelligence community believes that, in hindsight, the communications may have been referring to the Detroit attack. One official said a link between the suspect's planning and al-Qaida's goals was becoming more clear.

Intelligence officials would not confirm whether those conversations involved Yemen-based radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, but other U.S. government officials said there were initial indications that he was involved. Al-Awlaki reportedly corresponded by e-mail with Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5.

"Had this critical information been shared, it could have been compiled with other intelligence, and a fuller, clearer picture of the suspect would have emerged," Obama said in a brief statement to the media. "The warning signs would have triggered red flags, and the suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America."

Officials said Obama chose to make a second statement in as many days because a morning briefing offered him new information in the government's possession about the suspect's activities and thinking, along with al-Qaida's plans.

had to backtrack on an assertion that "the system worked" in the Detroit airliner scare. Some have criticized Obama for not addressing the issue publicly sooner.

An angered Obama called the shortcomings "totally unacceptable" and told reporters traveling with him on vacation here that he wanted a preliminary report by Thursday on what went wrong on Christmas Day, when the suspect carried explosives onto a flight from Amsterdam despite the fact the suspect had possible ties to al-Qaida.

It will take weeks for a more comprehensive investigation into what allowed the 23-year-old Nigerian to board the airplane he is accused of trying to blow up with more than 300 people aboard. Law enforcement officials believe the suspect tried to ignite a two-part concoction of the high explosive PETN and possibly a glycol-based liquid explosive, setting off popping, smoke and some fire but no deadly detonation. Abdulmutallab, charged with trying to destroy an aircraft, is being held at the federal prison in Milan, Mich.

Obama, interrupting his vacation to address the airliner attack, said, "It's essential that we diagnose the problems quickly."

"There were bits of information available within the intelligence community that could have—and should have—been pieced together," he said.

Abdulmutallab had been placed in one government advisory system, but never made it onto more restrictive lists that would have caught the attention of U.S. counterterrorist screeners, despite his father's warnings to U.S. Embassy officials in Nigeria last month. Those warnings also did not result in Abdulmutallab's U.S. visa being revoked.

The Central Intelligence Agency said it worked with embassy officials to make sure that Abdulmutallab's name made it into the government's database of suspected terrorists and noted his potential extremist connections in Yemen. The CIA also said it forwarded that information to the National Counterterrorism Center.

Officials in Yemen were investigating whether Abdulmutallab spent time with al-Qaida militants there during the months leading up to the botched bombing attack.

Administrators, teachers and fellow students at the San'a Institute for the Arabic Language, where Abdulmutallab had enrolled to study Arabic, told The Associated Press that he attended school for only the Mulsim holy month of Ramadan, which began in late August. That has raised questions about what he did during the rest of his stay, which continued into December.

They also said he was not openly extremist, though he expressed anger over Israel's actions against Palestinians in Gaza.

Officials also noted Tuesday that Amsterdam, where Abdulmutallab boarded his flight to Detroit, is one of nine locations where U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are stationed to do additional screening on U.S.-bound passengers who have been flagged as a potential risk.

But it is unlikely Abdulmutallab would have been flagged because the Customs and Border Patrol officers do not routinely screen all passengers against the names of individuals on the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database, known as TIDE, which was the only place that Abdulmutallab was listed.

The government put in place enhanced screening procedures for passengers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington to catch potential terrorists. On U.S.-bound flights from overseas, CBP checks passenger names against some lists of potential terrorists, but not against all information the government keeps.

On top of that, airport security equipment did not detect the bomb-making devices and materials Abdulmutallab is accused of carrying on board the Northwest Airlines flight.

Obama said many things went right after the incident, with passengers and the flight crew subduing the man and government officials working quickly to increase security. He singled out Napolitano, backing her much-criticized comments that the attempted terror attack showed the aviation security system worked.

"As Secretary Napolitano has said, once the suspect attempted to take down Flight 253, after his attempt, it's clear that passengers and crew, our homeland security systems, and our aviation security took all appropriate actions," Obama said.

Napolitano received so much criticism for her Sunday talk show remarks that she did another round of interviews the following day to say the system did not work in preventing Abdulmutallab from getting on the plane with a bomb. But, she said, the response system did work after the man was subdued. She contends her remarks were taken out of context.

Meanwhile, Napolitano asked to meet with security and counterterrorism experts, including at least two former Bush administration officials, according to a person familiar with the meetings. On Tuesday, she met with former Bush homeland security adviser Fran Townsend and former DHS undersecretary for policy Stewart Baker, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was not on the secretary's public schedule.

Republicans are questioning Napolitano's judgment and a few have called for her resignation. The White House says her job is safe.

However, Obama said: "What's also clear is this: When our government has information on a known extremist and that information is not shared and acted upon as it should have been ... a systemic failure has occurred. And I consider that totally unacceptable."

The two reviews, which Obama said got under way on Sunday, are looking at airport security procedures and the U.S. system of terror watch lists.

"It now appears that weeks ago this information was passed to a component of our intelligence community but was not effectively distributed so as to get the suspect's name on a no-fly list," Obama said.

___

Ancient wall found in Jerusalem

A 3,700-year-old wall has been discovered in east Jerusalem, Israeli archaeologists say.

The structure was built to protect the city's water supply as part of what dig director Ronny Reich described as the region's earliest fortifications.

The 26-ft (8-m) high wall showed the Canaanite people who built it were a sophisticated civilisation, he said.

Critics say Israel uses such projects as a political tool to bolster Jewish claims to occupied Palestinian land.

Excavations at the site, known as the City of David, are in a Palestinian neighbourhood just outside the walls of Jerusalem's old city.

It is partly funded by Elad, a Jewish settler organisation that also works to settle Jews in that area.

Open to the public

The wall dates from a time in the Middle Bronze Age when Jerusalem was a small, fortified enclave controlled by the Canaanites, before they were conquered by the Israelites.

Its discovery demonstrated Jerusalem's inhabitants were sophisticated enough to undertake major building projects, said Mr Reich.

"The wall is enormous, and that it survived 3,700 years - this is, even for us, a long time," said Mr Reich, an archaeology professor at the University of Haifa.

The excavation team said the wall formed part of a structure that protected a passage from a hilltop fortress to a nearby spring - the area's only water source.

Israel's Antiquities Authority said the site would be open to the public on Thursday.

Three dead babies found in house

The remains of three babies have been discovered at a house on Merseyside.

Police found the bodies when they were called to a property in Harlow Close, St Helens, on Sunday morning.

Two women, aged 54 and 38, and a 26-year-old man have been arrested in connection with the investigation and bailed pending further inquiries.

A spokeswoman for Merseyside Police said: "The remains are believed to relate to births that occurred as far back as the mid 1980s."

Merseyside Police said forensic tests were being carried out to determine the age and sex of the children.
Det Supt Steve Naylor, of Merseyside police, said: "Following a call to us, we attended an address in St Helens where human remains were discovered.

"The remains are believed to be that of newborn babies and at this stage of the inquiry it is believed they are the remains of three babies."

Mr Naylor said a number of lines of inquiry were being looked at.

"We cannot speculate as to the cause or circumstances of the deaths and any inappropriate supposition is likely to have a severe impact on the investigation and the family concerned," he said.

"This looks like being a complex investigation, and a lot of hard work needs to be done before we can ascertain what the full circumstances are surrounding this situation."

New protests in western China

There have been fresh protests in western China's Xinjiang region, where almost 200 people were killed in ethnic violence in July.

A witness told the BBC that as many as 2,000 ethnic Han Chinese have been demonstrating in the capital Urumqi.

The protesters are said to be angry at the deteriorating security situation in the wake of the July riots.

A trigger for the protests appears to have been a spate of unexplained stabbings using hypodermic needles.

July's violence was the worst ethnic unrest in China for decades; at least 197 people died and hundreds injured.

The government says most of the dead were Han, but the exile activist group the World Uighur Congress claims many Uighurs were also killed.

Members of the city's Han community last held mass protests shortly after July's violence by ethnic Uighurs.

Safety fears

A businessman in Urumqi told the BBC that members of the Han community were demonstrating to complain about the worsening security situation.

"Han Chinese people have been protesting in the streets since yesterday," he said.

"Nearly everyone in Urumqi is on strike or protesting. Right now in front of me there are at least 2,000 people," he said from the centre of Urumqi.

Another resident said Han Chinese were concerned for their safety in the wake of the reported syringe attacks.

"The local government is not doing enough to protect Han people there... I am really [worried about] my family and relatives there. I urge [the] Chinese government should do more to prevent this," the resident told the BBC.

Xinhua news agency said the stabbing victims came from nine ethnic groups, including Uighurs and Han.
Protesters have accused the provincial government of being "useless", and some even asked for the dismissal of regional Communist Party boss Wang Lequan, who is thought to be an ally of President Hu Jintao.

Large numbers of police were reported to have turned out to block the protesters from reaching People's Square in the city centre.

There has been tension for many years between Xinjiang's Uighur and Han communities.

Some Uighurs complain that Han migration into the province has diluted their culture and influence.

Han currently account for roughly 40% of Xinjiang's population, while about 45% are Uighurs.

The tensions exploded in early July after an initially peaceful protest by Uighur youths, apparently prompted by an earlier riot in a factory in southern China.

Iran backs first woman minister

Iranian MPs have approved the first woman minister in the 30-year history of the Islamic republic.

She was one of 18 nominations for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's new cabinet to be approved. Two other women were among three rejected nominees.

The president's choice for defence minister, Ahmad Vahidi, who is wanted by Argentina over a deadly 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre, won strong backing.

The vote follows months of wrangling after disputed elections in June.

Correspondents say Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, the female health minister-designate, is a hard-line conservative who has in the past proposed introducing segregated health care in Iran, with women treating women and men treating men.

The two women rejected were Fatemeh Ajorlou, as welfare and social security minister, and Susan Keshavarz, as education minister.

The third nominee to be turned down was the president's choice for energy minister, Mohammad Aliabadi.

Mr Ahmadinejad has three months to propose new candidates to replace those voted down.

'Real democracy'

The parliamentary confidence vote followed five days of intense debate.

Before the vote, Mr Ahmadinejad urged MPs to approve his choices, saying the ballot reflected "real democracy". His government would work closely with parliament, he said.

The president's proposed oil minister, Massoud Mirkazemi, was approved, despite questions over his experience.

Meanwhile, Mr Vahidi - a controversial figure internationally - received the highest number of votes in favour of any nominee, with 227 MPs backing him out of 286, Speaker Ali Larijani said.

Interpol has distributed Argentina's warrant for Mr Vahidi's arrest over the attack at the Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association (AMIA) 15 years ago, which killed 85 people.

Israel and Argentina had condemned his nomination, with Buenos Aires calling it "an affront to the victims" of the bombing. Iran has denied any involvement in the blast and says the case against it is politically motivated.

Each nominee had to secure the support of at least 50% of MPs to be confirmed.

The BBC's Peter Biles says the vote was a key test of the president's support and his hold on power, amid continuing opposition following his re-election in a contested presidential ballot in June.

The appointment of the cabinet also comes at a time of increasing pressure on the Iranian government from abroad, our correspondent says.

US President Barack Obama has given Iran until later this month to agree to new talks on its nuclear programme, or face tougher sanctions.

Iran has said it is ready to present a new package of proposals to the international community, although the details have not been published.

An aide to Mr Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that the president would attend a United Nations meeting later this month in New York.

IT'S OFFICIAL: NO PUBLIC OPTION FROM OBAMA

Aides to President Barack Obama are putting the final touches on a new strategy to help Democrats recover from a brutal August recess by specifying what Obama wants to see in a compromise health care deal and directly confronting other trouble spots, West Wing officials tell POLITICO.

Obama is considering detailing his health-care demands in a major speech as soon as next week, when Congress returns from the August recess. And although House leaders have said their members will demand the inclusion of a public insurance option, Obama has no plans to insist on it himself, the officials said.

“We’re entering a new season,” senior adviser David Axelrod said in a telephone interview. “It’s time to synthesize and harmonize these strands and get this done. We’re confident that we can do that. But obviously it is a different phase. We’re going to approach it in a different way. The president is going to be very active.”

Top officials privately concede the past six weeks have taken their toll on Obama's popularity. But the officials also see the new diminished expectations as an opportunity to prove their critics wrong by signing a health-care law, showing progress in Afghanistan, and using this month's anniversary of the fall of Lehman Brothers to push for a crackdown on Wall Street.

On health care, Obama’s willingness to forgo the public option is sure to anger his party’s liberal base. But some administration officials welcome a showdown with liberal lawmakers if they argue they would rather have no health care law than an incremental one. The confrontation would allow Obama to show he is willing to stare down his own party to get things done.

“We have been saying all along that the most important part of this debate is not the public option, but rather ensuring choice and competition,” an aide said. “There are lots of different ways to get there.”

The timing, format, venue and content of Obama's presentation are still being debated in the West Wing. Aides have discussed whether to stick to broad principles, or to send specific legislative language to Capitol Hill. Some hybrid is likely, the officials said.

“I’m not going to put a date on any of this,” Axelrod said. “But I think it’s fairly obvious that we’re not in the second inning. We’re not in the fourth inning. We’re in the eighth or ninth inning here, and so there’s not a lot of time to waste.”

Obama's specifics will include many of the principles he has spelled out before, and aides did not want to telegraph make-or-break demands. But Axelrod and others are making plain that Obama will assert himself more aggressively — a clear sign that the president will start dictating terms to Congress.

"His goal is to create the best possible situation for consumers, create competition and choice," Axelrod said. "We want to bring a measure of security to people who have health insurance today. We want to help those who don't have coverage today, because they can't afford it, get insurance they can afford. And we want to do it in a way that reduces the overall cost of the system as a whole."

Also this fall, Obama wants to slap new regulations on Wall Street firms, a goal that is now considered a higher priority than cap-and-trade energy legislation in the West Wing. White House officials think the legislation will show voters, especially wavering independents, that he is serious about making the culprits of the economic crisis pay. It also helps that it doesn't carry a big price tag, like other Obama priorities.



The president also plans to send Congress a report on Afghanistan by Sept. 24 that is designed to build patience after two months in a row of the highest U.S. casualties since the invasion eight years ago. Aides say they recognize they need to show progress over the next 12 to 18 months, or risk losing the support of key Democrats in Congress, who already have balked at funding Obama’s 20,000-troop buildup.

But health care remains front-and-center in Obama’s fall strategy. “I understand the governing wisdom here in town as to where this is right now,” Axelrod said. “I feel good about where it is right now. I understand that there’s been a lot of controversy. I understand that there’s been a lot of politics. But the truth is, we’re a lot closer to achieving something than many thought possible. People look to the president for leadership on this and other issues. He feels passionately about this, and you can look for him to provide that leadership.”

Obama has been criticized for deciding to cede much of the debate to Capitol Hill -- or, as Axelrod put it, “allow Congress to consider the whole range of ideas.”

“History will judge whether this was right or it was wrong,” Axelrod said. “We feel strongly that it was right. As a result of it, we have broad consensus on over 80 percent of this stuff, and a lot of good ideas about how to achieve the other 20. Now, people are looking to the president and the president is eager to help lead that process of harmonizing these different elements and completing this process so that we can solve what is a big problem in the lives of the American people, for our businesses and our economy.”

White House officials say they are looking forward to "a break from the August break" -- a chance to take back control of the debate after a grim month where news coverage of the issue was dominated by vocal, emotional opponents at lawmakers’ town meetings, railing against the cost and complexity of the plans being debated.

So Obama and Democrats will return from vacation wounded, divided and uncertain of the best way to turn things around. Many Democrats, especially in the House, were spooked over break by the rowdy town hall meetings and flurry of polls showing independent voters skeptical of their leadership and spending plans.

The mood swing is hitting some top leaders hard: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), for instance, is trailing little-known GOP contenders in his re-election race now. The news swing has been no less brutal. There has been saturation coverage of the town halls and rising casualties in Afghanistan -- the latter leading to a big drop in support for the war.

All of this makes for a tumultuous -- and wildly unpredictable -- fall for Obama and his party.

Axelrod said he isn’t worried. “Part of it is born of long experience,” he said. “In Washington, every day is Election Day. I’d be lying to you if I told you I don’t look at polls -- I do. But I’ve also learned that you have to keep your eye on the horizon here and not get bogged down. I am not Polyannish, but I am also not given to the hysteria that's endemic to this town.”

Obama aides see need for more troops in Afghanistan...

* White House wariness reflects waning public support

* Obama needs to prepare U.S. public for troop increase

* Commanding general calls for fresh strategy

By Adam Entous and Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Many of President Barack Obama's top advisers on Afghanistan agree with military commanders that more troops are needed to reverse Taliban gains in the country's east and south, U.S. officials said on Monday.

But there is wariness within the White House to another large-scale increase at a time when public support for the eight-year-old war against a resurgent Taliban is eroding, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Military commanders and administration and congressional leaders have held preliminary discussions about future troop options, including sending a second 5,000-member Marine Regimental Combat Team to southern Afghanistan, a Taliban stronghold, participants said. This would boost the number of Marines in the country to 15,000-18,000 from just over 10,000.

The debate is expected to intensify after Monday's long-awaited assessment of the war by U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

McChrystal called for the United States and its allies to change strategy, laying the ground for a likely request for more troops later, officials said. [nISL129837]

McChrystal has about 103,000 troops under his command, including 63,000 Americans, half of whom arrived this year as part of an escalation strategy started by former President George W. Bush and ramped up under Obama.

The force is set to rise to 110,000, including 68,000 Americans, by year's end, stretching the U.S. military to its limits, military officials said.

U.S. officials said further troop increases would hinge in part on the pace at which combat brigades could be pulled out of Iraq and redeployed to Afghanistan.

Another key factor, the officials said, was whether Obama would make a concerted effort to overcome growing public opposition to the war, fueled by record U.S. combat deaths.

Pressure from within the president's Democratic party for a withdrawal timeline is expected to increase in the run-up to next year's mid-term U.S. congressional elections.

"There is great awareness over at the White House ... that support in the public is really declining," one official said.

Another U.S. official said Obama had not yet prepared the American people for what many top advisers see as an inevitable need to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan.

"The question is not only can you rotate a sufficient number out of Iraq," he said "What the administration has to do is politically make sure that they prepare the ground for it."

"Half-measures are not going to work," the official added. "They haven't worked in the past."

HARD-SELL

It is unclear how much room Obama has to maneuver. With his popularity dented by a raucous debate over healthcare reform and the electorate still shaken by the recession, Obama may also be loath to push an unpopular policy right now.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday McChrystal should be "forthright" about spelling out what he needs in terms of troops and equipment, but he also made clear that another major troop increase would face hurdles.

"I have expressed some concerns in the past about the size of the American footprint, the size of the foreign military footprint, in Afghanistan, and clearly I want to address those issues," Gates said during a visit to Fort Worth, Texas.

"And we will have to look at the availability of forces, we'll have to look at cost. There are a lot of different things that we'll have to look at once we get his recommendations, before we make any recommendations to the president."

Obama's advisers on Afghanistan are particularly sympathetic to pleas for more resources in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan, where veteran Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani is now seen as the main threat.

A rapid deterioration in the war in the east has taken U.S. officials by surprise. In April, a senior commander said NATO forces were close to achieving "irreversible momentum" there.

Anthony Cordesman, an expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said "strong elements" in the White House, State Department and other agencies were pressing Obama to avoid sending more troops and money.

"If these elements succeed, President Obama will be as much a failed wartime president as George W. Bush," he wrote in Monday's Washington Post, saying such an approach would condemn the United States to "certain defeat

Wildfire makes menacing advance near Los Angeles...

LOS ANGELES – A deadly wildfire that has blackened a wide swath of tinder-dry forest around Los Angeles made another menacing advance Monday, surging toward thousands of suburban homes and a vital mountaintop broadcasting complex while trapping five people inside a smoky canyon.

Fire crews battling the blaze in the Angeles National Forest tried desperately to beat back the flames and prayed for weather conditions to ease. The fire was the largest of at least eight burning across California after days of triple-digit temperatures and low humidity.

The flames scorched 164 square miles of brush and threatened more than 12,000 homes, but the lack of wind kept them from driving explosively into the hearts of the dense suburbs northeast of Los Angeles.

"It's burning everywhere," U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Dianne Cahir said. "When it gets into canyons that haven't burned in numerous years, it takes off. If you have any insight into the good Lord upstairs, put in a request."

Five people who refused to evacuate threatened areas reported they were trapped at a ranch near Gold Creek, Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said. A sheriff's helicopter was unable to immediately reach them because of intense fire activity, Whitmore said, but would try after the flames passed.

"What this says is, 'Listen, listen, listen,'" Whitmore said. "Those people were told to get out two days ago, and now we are putting our people in danger to get them out."

Over the weekend, three people who refused to evacuate were burned when they were overrun by flames, including a couple who had sought refuge in a hot tub, authorities said.

Columns of smoke billowed high into the air before dispersing into a gauzy white haze that burned eyes and prompted warnings of unhealthy air throughout the Los Angeles area.

Fire crews set backfires and sprayed fire retardant at Mount Wilson, home to at least 20 television transmission towers, radio and cell phone antennas, and the century-old Mount Wilson Observatory. The observatory also houses two giant telescopes and several multimillion-dollar university programs. It is both a landmark for its historic discoveries and a thriving modern center for astronomy.

The fire about a half-mile away was expected to reach the mountaintop sometime Monday night, said Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mark Whaling. If the flames hit the mountain, cell phone service and TV and radio transmissions would be disrupted, but the extent was unclear.

The blaze killed two firefighters, destroyed at least 21 homes and forced thousands of evacuations. The firefighters died when their truck drove off the side of a road with flames all around them.

People who fled returned to find their homes gone.

"It's the worst roller coaster of my life, and I hate roller coasters," said Adi Ellad, who lost his home in Big Tujunga Canyon over the weekend. "One second I'm crying, one second I'm guilty, the next moment I'm angry, and then I just want to drink tequila and forget."

Ellad left behind a family heirloom Persian rug and a photo album he put together after his father died. "I'm going to have to figure out a new philosophy: how to live without loving stuff," he said.

The blaze in the Los Angeles foothills is the biggest but not most destructive of California's wildfires. Northeast of Sacramento, a wind-driven fire destroyed 60 structures over the weekend, many of them homes in the town of Auburn.

The 275-acre blaze was 50 percent contained Monday afternoon and full containment was expected Tuesday. It wiped out an entire cul-de-sac, leaving only smoldering ruins, a handful of chimneys and burned cars.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the Auburn area, where only charred remnants of homes remained on Monday. At some houses, the only things left on the foundation are metal cabinets and washers and dryers.

"It was embers traveling in the wind, landing on the roofs, landing on attics, getting into that home and burning the home on fire," said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Some mandatory evacuation orders were lifted, but most residents are still being told to stay away while crews work to restore electricity and hose down embers.

"We want to get them back as soon as possible," Berlant said. "These people, a lot of them don't know, 'Is their home still here?' We need to be sure it's safe before we let them go back."

In Yosemite National Park, fire officials planned to start a backfire that would slow progress of a blaze that has consumed nearly 5,000 acres, or 7.8 square miles, since Wednesday. The fire near the communities of Foresta and El Portal is 55 percent contained and 50 homes remain evacuated. The fire began when a prescribed burn near Foresta jumped the lines and whipped out of control.

East of Los Angeles, a 1,000-acre fire threatened 2,000 homes and forced the evacuation of a scenic community of apple orchards in an oak-studded area of San Bernardino County. Brush in the area had not burned for a century, fire officials said. Flames burning like huge candles erupted between rocky slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains and the neat farmhouses below.

With highs topping 100 degrees in some areas and humidity remaining low, the National Weather Service extended a weekend warning of extreme fire conditions in the central and Southern California mountains.

Winds were light, which prevented the flames from roaring at furious speed into towns. In 2003, a wind-whipped blaze tore through neighborhoods in San Diego County, killing 15 people and destroying more than 2,400 homes. That fire burned 273,000 acres — or 427 square miles — the largest in state history.

Overall, more than 2,500 firefighters were on the line. More than 20 helicopters and air tankers were preparing to dump water and retardant over the flames. Two Canadian Super Scoopers, giant craft that can pull thousands of gallons of water from lakes and reservoirs, were expected to join the fight later in the day.

In La Crescenta, where the San Gabriel Mountains descend steeply into the bedroom suburb a dozen miles from downtown Los Angeles, 57-year-old Mary Wilson was experiencing her first wildfire after nine years of living in a canyon.

Her family was evacuated twice in the past five days, she said.

"We saw the flames. My daughter got really scared," she said. But she was philosophical: "You have to surrender to the natural forces when you choose to live up here. It's about nature doing its thing."

Also in La Crescenta, dispatchers overnight activated a "reverse 911" system that sent a recorded evacuation warning to people, but it turned out to be a mistake.

Whaling, the L.A. County fire captain, says the message applied to only a small number of residents closest to the fire but instead a large number got the sleep-shattering calls. He said he does not know how many people were involved in the call.

"They pushed the wrong button," he said.

Terry Crews, an actor promoting the new movie "Gamer" on KTLA-TV, talked about being forced to flee two days ago from his home in Altadena, in the foothills above Pasadena. He saw 40-foot flames, grabbed his dog and fled.

"I've never seen anything like it," he said. "I'm from Michigan. I'm used to tornadoes ... but to see this thing, you feel helpless."

"This is like 'The Ten Commandments,'" he said, referring to the movie. "You go, 'holy God, the end of the world.'"

The two Los Angeles County firefighters who were killed Sunday died on the blaze's northwestern front when their truck crashed on Mount Gleason near Acton.

The victims were fire Capt. Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County, and firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 35, of Palmdale. Hall was a 26-year veteran, and Quinones had been a county firefighter for eight years.

An animal sanctuary called the Roar Foundation Shambala Preserve, six miles east of Acton, was in the mandatory evacuation zone, but fire officials decided removing the animals would be "a logistical nightmare," said Chris Gallucci, vice president of operations.

"We have 64 big cats, leopards, lions, tigers, cougars. ... The animals are just walking around, not being affected by this at all," Gallucci said. "But if we panic, they panic. But we are not in panic mode yet."

___

SCHOOLS BAN TOUCHING IN SWINE FLU FIGHT

Glen Cove District Students Urged To Have No Skin-On-Skin Contact With Swine Flu Outbreak Looming
Parents Told To Provide Kids With Tissues, Hand Sanitizer, Ibuprofen
As students across America prepare to head back to school, officials and parents are bracing for a spike in swine flu cases. With the possibility that nearly 2 million people will be hospitalized, and 90,000 people across the country could die, one Long Island school district is taking no chances and has set into place a new "hands-off" approach to fighting the swine flu.

Chest bumps. High fives. Hugs and handshakes. Glen Cove Middle School students Ali Slaughter and Hannah Seltzer say that's what friends do on the first day of school. But when students in the Nassau community return to school next week, the superintendent will be urging abstinence. Everyone from the tiniest tots to the biggest high school football players will be asked to limit skin-on-skin contact in an attempt to prevent the spread of swine flu when it re-emerges this fall.

"It will [be hard] because you really like your friends and you didn't get to see them," Seltzer tells CBS 2.

Glen Cove high schooler Erica Cohen is on the soccer team, but says she knows even in a game that involves close physical content, she'll have to be as careful as she can be.

"I don't really think it's such a big deal, if you wash your hands after -- I think it's just you really can't avoid it," she says.
Lorena Galo filled out her health form and decided she can't give up hugging. "We're still going to hug either way," she says.

The policy is unorthodox and could be difficult to enforce, but Nassau Health Commissioner Dr. Maria Torroella Carney says it's a good way to educate awareness.

"Many people are trying to think outside of the box, creatively, how to minimize spread of the illness, how to protect others, and I applaud that thinking," she says.

Glen Cove parent Leonard Imperial thinks no touching is an overreaction.

"Unfortunately people get sick with flu and die every year, but I don't think this one is any different or particular that we have to worry about," he says.

But Parent Angela Hamel is already urging her sons follow the new guidelines.

"The high fives, I think just to cut down on transmission, it's probably good idea," she says. "I think it's a good way to prevent."

And many other parents seem to agree.

"Less contact would mean less germs and less illnesses and I think it's a good recommendation," says Donna Sita.

While they fear the spread of swine flu, health officials say they are more concerned about the possibility of widespread anxiety or panic when school begins. Officials are asking families to have tissues, ibuprofen and hand sanitizers on hand for students. School superintendants are gathering Thursday on Long Island to discuss prevention and address other concerns

CBS 2's Dr. Holly Phillips is weighing in on the swine flu preparations in Nassau County. She says she think officials are doing the right thing in pushing H1N1 education, but she says there are many other ways to get the virus besides touching one another.

"Hysteria should be avoided, but it's good that the school district is emphasizing keeping kids safe. Not touching won't prevent transmission. The virus can live on surfaces and be transmitted via coughs and sneezes," she says.

So why is talk of the swine flu cropping up again, and when will it hit its peak?

"It never left, but like the seasonal flu, we're expecting it to pick up in October and hit its peak during the winter months when we're closed inside and the illness is more easily transmitted," Phillips says. "The Center for Disease Control is expecting between 30 and 50 percent of Americans will be affected by it."

As for the swine flu vaccine, Phillips says it should be out by mid-October, but at that time there will not be enough for everyone. She expects by the end of the year there will be 200 million doses available.

In the meantime, there are steps people can take to protect their families.

"Stay home if you're sick. Wash your hands," says Phillips. "Get to the doctor early with symptoms because anti-viral medications can shorten the course of the illness."

Merkel hits back after bitter local election losses...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday brushed aside calls from within her own party to pull off the gloves in her battle for re-election in four weeks after strong setbacks in state polls.

Merkel hit back at critics who said her above-the-fray campaign style bore part of the blame for the conservatives' losses in three regional elections held Sunday, which saw them lose control of two state houses.
She said the races had no bearing on the September 27 poll, insisting that voters saw her conservatives and their favoured coalition partners, the pro-business Free Democrats, as best-placed to lead Germany out of a steep economic downturn.

"We all agree that in light of the crisis, the issues are economic growth and jobs," she told reporters after talks with leaders of her Christian Democrats (CDU) when asked about the internal criticism.

"It is clear that there is no reason to change anything at all about our strategy. We are absolutely on the right course."

Merkel's CDU enjoys a double-digit lead in the polls over the rival Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners in her unwieldy "grand coalition". Most pollsters say she is virtually assured of a second term.

But her chances of ditching the SPD after the general election in favour of the Free Democrats appeared to narrow with Sunday's results.

Although the SPD failed to make major gains, a jubilant Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Merkel's SPD challenger, saw her poor showing as a sign the centre-left still had a shot of snatching the chancellery from her.

"One thing is sure -- this country does not want black-yellow," he said, referring to the party colours for the CDU and the Free Democrats.

The poll reversals so close to the election spooked many conservatives.

Philipp Missfelder, a member of the CDU's board, urged Merkel to abandon her cool campaign style and show a bit more "passion".

"After an until-now sober and unpolitical election campaign, it is time for some more emotion," he said, adding his voice to a chorus of complaints.

Although the Free Democrats boosted their score in Sunday's polls, their general secretary Dirk Niebel also appeared nervous that the centre-right camp's strong lead would fizzle.

"If the Union (Merkel's conservative bloc) does not start making clear what it would like to achieve then there is a great danger that they will blow it again because voters will think they want to continue with the grand coalition," he told public radio.

In the 2005 general election, the CDU squandered a sizeable lead to finish just ahead of the SPD, which forced it to form the current awkward left-right government.

And in the previous election in 2002, the CDU unexpectedly lost outright to the SPD, allowing it to continue its coalition with the Greens.

Those defeats haunt the conservatives, making even Merkel's most ardent supporters skittish.

Political scientist Juergen Falter of the University of Mainz in western Germany said the regional elections pointed to doubts about Merkel's preferred centre-right alliance.

"This option was always in danger and still is in danger," he told the daily Thueringer Allgemeine, predicting a close national race.

As pollsters expected, the CDU held on to power in the eastern state of Saxony but will need to link up with the Free Democrats to form a ruling majority.

And in what the mass-market daily Bild called a "debacle" for the CDU, it appeared to lose control of the legislatures of both neighbouring Thuringia and Saarland on the French border.

However smaller parties profited from the conservatives' losses far more than the SPD, which posted slight gains in Thuringia and Saxony and a steep drop in support in Saarland.

But in Thuringia and Saarland, the SPD will likely be able to form ruling coalitions with the Greens and the far-left Die Linke, a relatively new party made up of disaffected Social Democrats and former East German communists.

Mobile towers threatening honey bees in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 31 (PTI) Mobile towers are posing a threat to honey bees in Kerala withe electromagnetic radiation from mobile towers and cell phones having the potential to kill worker bees that go out to collect nectar from flowers, says a study.

A plunge in beehive population has been reported from different parts of Kerala and if measures are not taken to check mushrooming of mobile powers, bees could be wiped out from Kerala within a decade, environmentalist and Reader in Zoology, Dr Sainudeen Pattazhy says in his study.

In one of his experiments he found that when a mobile phone was kept near a beehive it resulted in collapse of the colony in five to 10 days, with the worker bees failing to return home, leaving the hives with just queens, eggs and hive-bound immature bees.

GM to form China venture, invest $293 million

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - General Motors said on Sunday it has agreed to set up a light commercial vehicle production venture with major Chinese automaker FAW Group, with total investment of 2 billion yuan ($293 million).

The 50-50 joint venture, based in the northeast China city of Changchun in Jilin province, will make light-duty trucks and vans, GM said in a statement.

"For us in China, this is an important complement to the rest of our portfolio," Kevin Wale, president and managing director for GM's China operations, told reporters in a conference call.

"We are well established in passenger vehicles and mini commercial vehicles and we haven't had a presence in the truck segment. Adding a truck portfolio rounds that out."

The venture will use two existing FAW plants in Changchun and the city of Harbin, also in the northeast, with combined annual capacity of roughly 90,000 vehicles, Wale said.

A greenfield plant, currently under construction in Harbin, will add 100,000 units of capacity by the end of next year, he said.

Vehicles made at the venture will carry the FAW brand and will focus on supplying the China market, but they could be exported under a GM brand through the Detroit automaker's global network in the future, Wale said.

GM is making Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac models at its flagship China venture with SAIC Motor Corp. It also makes minivans, pickup trucks and the Spark compact car in a three-way tie-up with SAIC and Liuzhou Wuling Automobile.

SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 87,925 vehicles in July, up 90.7 percent from a year earlier, helped by Beijing's stimulus initiatives to support the industry, including subsidies for buyers in rural areas.

GM, which now holds 34 percent of SAIC-GM-Wuling, has been seeking to raise its stake in the venture.

Domestic media reported earlier this month that GM had secured an initial deal to take over Liuzhou Wuling Auto's 15.9 percent stake for roughly 300 million yuan ($43.9 million).

Wale reiterated the U.S. automaker's interest in raising its stake in the venture but made no further comment on the issue.

($1=6.830 Yuan)

Princess Diana's Death Offers Lessons for Health Care Debate, 12 Years Later

The Mercedes 600 carrying Princess Diana and her companion Dodi Fayed was traveling more than 85 miles per hour when it hit a concrete pillar head-on in the Place D'Alma underpass, crumbling like an accordion.
Both were killed, as well as the driver, Henri Paul -- later proven to have been under the influence of alcohol.

The Paris accident -- just before 12:30 a.m. local time 12 years ago today -- ended the life of one of Britain's most celebrated royals, unleashing a torrent of emotion in that historically stoic culture and catapulting Diana to near sainthood status.

In the days that followed, she was memorialized as the "People's Princess," as those devastated by her loss turned on the nation's out-of-touch monarchy, whom they blamed for her tragedy.

Conspiracy theories, all unsubstantiated, abounded. Had she been assassinated by the royal family so her estranged husband, Prince Charles, could marry his longtime love Camilla Parker-Bowles? Did the British Secret Intelligence Service bump her off because she was pregnant with Egyptian Fayed's Muslim child?

Prisoners have a better diet than Health Service hospital patients, scientists warn

Patients in Health Service hospitals are far more likely to go hungry than criminals in jail, scientists warned yesterday.

They say frail and elderly patients do not get the help they need with meals, and nobody checks whether they get enough to eat.

Despite years of Government promises to tackle poor hospital nutrition, food still arrives cold, and patients often miss out because meal times clash with tests and operations.

Meanwhile, prisoners are enjoying carbohydrate-rich, low-fat foods which in many cases are better than they would have been eating on the outside.

The Daily Mail has been highlighting the scandal of old people not being fed properly in hospital as part of its Dignity for the Elderly campaign.

Hospital meals are often taken away untouched, because they are either unappetising or are placed out of patients' reach.

The latest figures show 242 patients died of malnutrition in NHS hospitals in 2007 - the highest toll in a decade. More than 8,000 left hospital under-nourished - double the figure when Labour came to power.

The NHS throws away 11million meals every year, and many nurses say they are too busy to help the frail eat.

Earlier this year the Mail revealed that some hospitals spend less on meals than the average prison.

Ten hospitals spent less on breakfast, lunch and an evening meal than the £2.12 a day allocated for food by the prison service. One spent just £1.

Although most hospitals do spend more than £2.12, prisoners end up better nourished than patients, say experts from Bournemouth University. After studying the food offered to inmates and across the NHS, they found patients face more barriers in getting good nutrition.

Professor John Edwards said around 40 per cent of patients were already malnourished when they were admitted to hospital, but their condition did not tend to improve while they were there.

'If you are in prison then the diet you get is extremely good in terms of nutritional content,' he said.

'The food that is provided is actually better than most civilians have.

'There's a focus on carbohydrates, then there's the way they prepare the food, it's very healthy. They don't add salt and there's relatively little frying of food - if you have a burger then it goes in the oven. Hospital patients don't consume enough.

'And from the work we've done we know that people who sit round a table eat a lot more, but this doesn't happen in hospitals.'

His colleague, Dr Heather Hartwell, said fruit and vegetables were given out in hospitals 'but this doesn't mean it's eaten'.

While patients suffer due to a loss of appetite as a result of their illness, they often go hungry because there is no one to help them eat.

Dr Hartwell said once food was prepared, it generally hangs around waiting for porters to transport it to patients. Then it may be left on wards until it goes cold.

'Ward staff also don't actually know how much patients are eating because it is domestics who clear the trays away,' she said. 'This is an example of fragmentation in hospitals that does not necessarily happen in prisons.'

The research found temperature and texture are among the most important factors in patients' satisfaction with food.

It concluded lack of appetite due to a medical problem is probably the main reason for under-nutrition, but said hospitals can make improvements.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: 'It's incredible that so many hospitals are failing to serve healthy meals. If prisons can serve good food then so can hospitals.'

The Department of Health said: 'The majority of patients are satisfied with the food they receive in hospitals, and we are working to improve services further.

'The Nutrition Action Plan, Improving Nutritional Care, outlines how nutritional care and hydration can be improved and highlights five key priority areas for NHS and social care staff to work with.

'We have also introduced the concept of "protected mealtimes" where all non-urgent activity on the ward stops, so that patients can enjoy their meals.

Clinton, Gore speak on health care, energy to Tennessee Democrats

NASHVILLE – Former president Bill Clinton and former vice president Al Gore rallied Tennessee Democrats on Saturday night for health care reform and green energy, saying both are good for the economy, the country and the party.

Clinton said the anger that arose this summer against health care was fueled by fear generated by opponents of reform, which he said is hard to win because health care is complicated, personal and the interests that benefit financially from the current system don’t want to give it up.
“I don’t think all these people are coming to these town meetings raising cain with your congressman in bad faith. I think they’ve had the daylights scared out of them. And I get it,” Clinton said.

Clinton and Gore, the former Tennessee senator, were the keynote speakers at the Tennessee Democratic Party’s annual Jackson Day Dinner, a fundraising event that generated a record $600,000 for the party’s war chest heading into the pivotal 2010 elections, according to party chairman Chip Forrester of Nashville.

Both Gore and Clinton urged the party faithful to back their congressmen to get health care reform passed this year.

“We need to pass a bill this year. Doing nothing is not only the worst thing we can do for the economy, it’s the worst thing we can do for the country. It’s also the worst thing we can do for the Democrats,” Clinton said, because Americans expect Democrats to deliver when they elect them.

“Democrats, you stay in there with your congressmen and you get this done,” he said.

Gore also emphasized health care reform.

“We have a lot of talk about liberal and conservative, and left and right, but when there are tens of millions of people in our country who can’t get access to health care, we need to pass health care reform this year. Build support for it. Let's give President Obama the victory our country needs,” he said to a standing ovation.

Clinton said health care costs Americans 16½ percent of income, compared to the 10½ percent residents of other advanced nations pay, and the difference means Americans pay between $800 billion to $900 billion more per year.

“That 800 to 900 billion is going somewhere. And the ‘somewhere’ doesn’t want to give it up,” he said.

He also said reform is difficult to pass because it’s complicated and “anything complicated can be misrepresented. Number two, it’s personal. It’s personal to all of us. Anything personal can be used to inspire fear.”

Both men also spoke in favor of efforts to curb greenhouse emissions and global warming, saying clean energy would create millions of jobs.

Memphis lawyer George T. “Buck” Lewis, who was party chairman from 1988 to 1991, said the attendance was “bigger or better than I’ve seen. We certainly never had one this big when I was party chair.

"Lot of young people you haven’t seen before and a lot of people I would not have expected to see at a dinner like this. I won’t name them but I’ll just say people I haven’t ever seen before – businessmen and moderates.”

Lewis said he believes grass-roots Democrats are aware of the importance of next year’s elections “but as much as anything right now, I think they’re really focused on this health care issue. I think Sen. Kennedy’s death has highlighted that but it was already front burner before Sen. Kennedy’s death. And President Clinton communicates in a way that very few leaders do – so that you can understand it at your kitchen table.”

Earlier Saturday, more of the party’s state luminaries warmed up the crowd at the Nashville Convention Center, including former Memphis congressman Harold Ford Jr. and Gov. Phil Bredesen. Virtually every speaker delivered a tribute to the late senator Edward Kennedy, who was buried Saturday at Arlington National Cemetery following a funeral Mass in Boston.

Forrester said the party’s goals in next year’s elections are to retake the majority of the state House lost to Republicans last November and to keep the governor’s office.

“The Tennessee Democratic party is strong, vibrant and ready to go,” he said. “It’s no secret that we took a punch last November but they didn’t know us down and they didn’t knock us out. Across the state, Democrats have rallied and are excited to take back the House and elect a Democratic governor.”

Earlier in the day, Tennessee Republican Party chairman Chris Devaney issued a statement saying that, "As Democrats gather in Nashville tonight to pat themselves on the back, the honest truth is their party, led by an ever increasingly failing president, stands for policies and principles that do not represent the views of most Tennesseans. Republicans look forward to continuing the debate of how best to move our state and country forward. We believe it is through our core principles of less government, individual freedom, and free enterprise that our nation advances. Standing by our principles brought Republicans great success last year in Tennessee and that is why we are planning on big success in 2010."

Fortune helped fuel Kennedy family legacy, agenda

BOSTON – Sen. Edward Kennedy's family fortune not only fueled his brothers' presidential campaigns and his eight terms in the U.S. Senate, it also helped drive the family's liberal legacy and forge Kennedy's lifelong crusade for universal health care.

Just how wealthy was Kennedy when he died Tuesday at the age of 77 after a yearlong battle with brain cancer?

Untangling a family fortune that reaches back to the early days of the past century is murky business, but the annual federal financial disclosure reports Kennedy was required to file provide at least a' partial glimpse into his personal capital.

As a U.S. senator, Kennedy earned a base salary of $165,200 a year, but that just skimmed the surface of his net worth.

On the most recent report in 2008, which includes his own assets and those of his wife and any dependents, Kennedy listed a string of publicly and non-publicly traded trusts and assets. Under the filing rules, Kennedy was only required to place the value of those assets within a range, rather than give an exact dollar amount.

The report placed the net worth of his publicly traded assets somewhere between a low of $15 million and high of $72.6 million.

Just a year earlier, Kennedy reported somewhat rosier totals that placed his publicly traded assets somewhere between a low of $46.9 million and a high of $157 million.

Kennedy has other sources of income, including $1,995,833 in royalties he received from Grand Central Publishing a division of Hachette Group Book, publishers of his memoir True Compass scheduled for release in mid-September. Part of the proceeds will go to charity, including the John F. Kennedy Library.

Separate from his personal wealth was Kennedy's federal campaign account. As of the end of June, Kennedy reported more than $4.5 million in the account.

The main source of Kennedy's wealth was his father and family patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy who amassed a fortune in banking, real estate, liquor, films and Wall Street holdings that eventually grew to an estimated $500 million by the 1980s.

A significant portion of that came from Joseph P. Kennedy's decision to buy Chicago's famed Merchandise Mart in 1945 for $12.5 million. Spanning two city blocks and rising 25 stories, the sprawling limestone and terra-cotta mart is so large it has its own zip code and only lost its title as the world's largest building after the Pentagon was built in the 1940s.

The elder Kennedy helped transformed it into a national center for the home furnishings and design industries.

The family retained ownership of the building until 1998 when it was sold — along with other properties including Chicago's Apparel Center which covers about a million square feet — to Vornado Realty Trust of Saddle Brook, N.J. for $625 million in 1998 to take advantage of the then-booming real estate market.

The deal allowed Kennedy heirs to receive a stake in one of the nation's largest real estate investment trusts.

"One of my cousins reminded me of a quote from my grandfather: 'Only a fool waits for top dollar,'" Christopher Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy told The Wall Street Journal at the time.

The late John F. Kennedy Jr. also joked about his family's real estate holdings when he visited Chicago in 1996 to mark the launch of George magazine.

"In the 1940s, my family bought the Merchandise Mart. In the 1970s, we bought the Apparel Center. And in the 1960 election, my family bought 20,000 votes," he said, referring to his father's narrow presidential victory.

For Sen. Kennedy, the family fortune only reinforced his determination to expand access to health care.

It was a lesson he learned through his own painful experience.

In a Newsweek column he wrote a month before his death, Kennedy recalled the grueling treatment his son Teddy Jr. had to undergo in 1973 for bone cancer that eventually required the amputation of his right leg.

The experimental clinical trial, which included massive doses of chemotherapy, was free at first, but was deemed a success before some patients had completed their treatments. That forced some families to rely on insurance or pay out of pocket to cover the rest.

While Kennedy had the needed resources, not everyone was so lucky.

"Heartbroken parents pleaded with the doctors: What chance does my child have if I can only afford half of the prescribed treatments? Or two thirds? I've sold everything. I've mortgaged as much as possible," Kennedy wrote. "No parent should suffer that torment. Not in this country."

Colombia says president has swine flu

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has contracted the H1N1 swine flu virus and is being treated by doctors while continuing to work from his residence, government spokesman Cesar Velasquez said on Sunday.

"He is working by telephone and Internet," the spokesman told Reuters.

A popular conservative and Washington's key ally in South America, Uribe attended a summit with other regional leaders on Friday in Argentina. He started suffering from fever, headaches and backaches after the meeting, Velasquez said.

The leaders who met with the 57-year-old Uribe at the summit have been advised of his infection, Velasquez added.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias was the first known head of government to have caught swine flu. He recovered earlier this month from a mild case of the virus and returned to his normal routine after working from home for about a week while being treated.

Colombia has reported 621 confirmed cases of swine flu with 34 deaths, according to its social protection ministry.

The H1N1 swine flu virus spread widely after emerging in April in Mexico and the United States. The WHO declared a pandemic in June and warned that the new strain could infect hundreds of millions of people.

New flu hit estimated 10 percent of New Yorkers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new H1N1 swine flu is estimated to have infected about 800,000 people in New York City in the spring, a top U.S. health official said on Sunday, citing a study due to be released later this week.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, who heads the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said surveys suggested the virus was widely spread around the city. Frieden was New York City's health commissioner before taking the top CDC job in June.

"In New York City where we had a lot of H1N1 this last spring the estimate is about 800,000 people, about 10 percent of New York City residents, got infected with the flu," Frieden said in an interview with C-SPAN television aired on Sunday.

"That's a lot of people."

New York City health department officials say the full study is being finished and will be released within days.

Frieden said there had been a twenty-fold variation in influenza infections around the country. "We expect that some places will have more flu. Some places will have less," he said.

Swine flu has infected well over 1 million people in the United States, and is now the CDC's No. 1 priority. Other research also shows that older children and young adults are by far the most likely to be infected with the new virus.

The World Health Organization predicts a third of the world's population will eventually be infected.

The virus is still circulating and most health experts expect a resurgence in the northern hemisphere's autumn as temperatures cool and schools, traditional breeding grounds for infection, reopen after summer holidays.

Detailed reports on outbreaks can help health officials prepare for epidemics in their communities.

Every year, seasonal flu infects between 5 percent and 20 percent of a given population and kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people globally. Because hardly anyone has immunity to the new H1N1 virus, experts believe it will infect far more people than usual, as much as a third of the population.

It also disproportionately affects younger people, unlike seasonal flu which mainly burdens the elderly, and as a result may cause more severe illness and deaths among young adults and children than seasonal flu.

Chicago health authorities said last week that the pandemic H1N1 flu infected 14 times as many children as adults over 60 there, and also disproportionately affected blacks and Hispanics.

WHO said pregnant women and people with asthma, diabetes and heart diseases are at special risk of severe complications of death from H1N1 flu.

Some countries are reporting that as many as 15 percent of patients hospitalized with the new H1N1 pandemic virus have needed intensive care, further straining already overburdened healthcare systems, WHO said on Friday.
Companies are preparing vaccines against H1N1, which will be given in addition to the regular seasonal influenza immunization.

UPDATE 2-Los Angeles wildfire forces thousands from homes

* About 2,000 homes under mandatory evacuation orders

* Governor Schwarzenegger says fire "out of control"

* Fire 5 percent contained, 10,000 homes threatened

* Fire threatens major communications facilities (Updates with quotes from residents, new numbers)

By Mary Milliken

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif., Aug 30 (Reuters) - A wildfire in the heavily populated Los Angeles foothills threatened 10,000 homes on Sunday, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger warned residents to heed evacuation orders for the "out of control" and "very dangerous" blaze.

The heat-driven fire nearly doubled in size overnight and has now burned 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares) of thick, bone-dry brush in the mountains above five towns, a 12-mile (19 km) stretch from La Crescenta to La Canada Flintridge, the California Fire Department said.

Authorities have ordered residents to evacuate about 2,000 homes threatened by the fire about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

"These fires are still totally out of control," Schwarzenegger told reporters at the firefighters' command post in Lake View Terrace, California. "This is a huge and is a very dangerous fire. The fire is moving very close to homes and to structures... this is why it's important to pay close attention to the evacuation."

In La Crescenta, the streets were deserted on Sunday afternoon except for a few residents fleeing with their suitcases and other belongings on foot.

Bob Sebesta, 47, sat watching the burning ridge from his in-laws' house, which everyone evacuated last night with pictures, paperwork and "stuff you can't replace."

"I keep thinking I should go water the backyard," Sebesta said.

Three remote homes have been destroyed so far and some 10,000 others and 2,500 other buildings are in danger, as is Mount Wilson, the nexus for key telecommunications facilities.

"That site is the nerve center for most of communication in the Los Angeles area," Station Fire Commander Mike Dietrich said. "It is not out of danger as we speak."

Fire commanders said at a news briefing that more than three homes were lost in the Big Tujunga canyon, though they did not know the exact number.

"We have eyewitness reports that our house is gone and as many as 30 may be lost," said Beth Halaas, who lives year-round in the canyon, where most homes are for weekend use.
The fire that started on Wednesday above the exclusive community of La Canada Flintridge is only 5 percent contained and officials expected that, with hot temperatures and low humidity, it would grow larger. The cause of the fire is being investigated.

HEALTH WARNINGS

Dense smoke filled the skies over the foothills and authorities issued health warnings for the Los Angeles basin.

The flames appeared to wane on Saturday evening in the area near NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory but raged at the other end and moved through the mountains toward the inland community of Acton, where evacuations were ordered on Sunday.

A wooded neighborhood on the slopes of La Crescenta got the evacuation order in the middle of the night, but only around half the neighborhood left.

On Sunday afternoon, brothers Vince and John Bollier looked out onto the mountains in front of their parents' house, where the fire had left only gray ash on the slopes.

"Last night was an inferno," said Vince Bollier. "It was close but it wasn't life threatening, although a lot of people would have characterized it as dangerous."

Sheriff's deputies spent Sunday afternoon urging residents to leave, and it appeared that most had.

Helicopters have been flying over the neighborhood for days now, filling up with water to drop along the area where homes meet the bone dry wilderness.

The saving grace in the Station fire has been the absence of high winds, but much of the brush in the area has not burned in 60 years, terrain is difficult to access and humidity is low. Winds were picking up on Sunday afternoon.

Four firefighters have been injured and three civilians have suffered burns, including two who were badly burned on Saturday after they tried to ride out the fire by sitting in a hot tub.

More than 2,000 firefighters and other personnel are on the ground but it is the aerial assault with water and retardant that has best kept the fire from moving into homes, many of them worth millions of dollars.

The relative lack of high winds has made fighting the fires from the air difficult because thick smoke hanging over them made them hard to see, Schwarzenegger said, adding that many of the flames are up to 80 to 100 feet high (24 to 30 metres).

Utility Southern California Edison (EIX.N) said the blaze has cut power to about 250 customers.

The mayor of La Canada Flintridge, Laura Olhasso, said the situation was looking better for residents after firefighters beat back flames from backyards overnight, and evacuation orders were lifted for some residents on Sunday afternoon.

Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles County last week in response to four fires in the area.

On Sunday, he said, there were eight "huge" fires burning statewide. In total, 55,000 acres (22,000 hectares) have burned, he said. (Additional reporting by Nichola Groom in Los Angeles

Japan opposition crushes LDP in historic election

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's opposition was headed for a historic victory in an election Sunday, exit polls showed, a win that would oust the long-ruling conservative party and give the untested Democrats the job of reviving a weak economy.

Exit polls by private broadcasters showed the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) could win two thirds of seats in parliament's powerful 480-member lower house.

That matched opinion polls that had forecast a huge loss for Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). A senior LDP official acknowledged the extent of the drubbing, saying the party was headed for a "historic defeat."

"The predictions by the media were shocking. We had doubts, but now I think they are becoming a reality," said Yoshihide Suga, deputy chairman of the LDP's Election Strategy Council.

A Democratic Party win would end a half-century of almost unbroken rule by the LDP and break a deadlock in parliament, ushering in a government pledging cash for consumers, a cut in wasteful spending and less power for bureaucrats.

It would unravel a three-way partnership between the LDP, big business and bureaucrats that turned Japan into an economic juggernaut after the country's defeat in World War Two. That strategy foundered when Japan's "bubble" economy burst in the late 1980s and growth has stagnated since.

"This is about the end of the post-war political system in Japan," said Gerry Curtis, a Japanese expert at Columbia University.

"It is the only time any party other than the LDP has won a majority in the lower house of the Diet (parliament). It marks the end of one long era, and the beginning of another one about which there is a lot of uncertainty."

Financial markets have sought an end to the stalemate in parliament, where the Democrats and their allies control the less powerful upper chamber and can delay bills, but bond yields may rise if a new government increases spending.

LDP EMASCULATED

Most exit polls showed the LDP wining just over 100 seats, down from 300. Its partner, the New Komeito Party, was expected to win around 20 seats. The Democratic Party had just 115 seats in the last lower house.

"I'm happy, but at the same time I'm feeling a sense of big responsibility," Yoshihiko Noda, the Democrats' deputy secretary- general, told TBS television.

Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama, 62, the wealthy grandson of a former prime minister, spoke in sweeping terms on Saturday when he said the election would change Japanese history.

He often invoked the word change during the campaign, a theme that came up time and again in interviews with voters Sunday. Many were prepared to give the Democrats a chance even if they were unsure the party would pull Japan out of its worst recession in 60 years.

"I don't like what's going on now in this country. Things have to change," said Kazuya Tsuda, a 78-year-old retired doctor in Tokyo who voted for the Democratic Party.
The Democrats have pledged to refocus spending on households with child allowances and aid for farmers while taking control of policy from bureaucrats, often blamed for Japan's failure to tackle problems such as a creaking pension system.

The party wants to forge a diplomatic stance more independent of the United States and build better ties with Asia, often strained by bitter wartime memories.

"(The Democrats) are saying that they will escape from bureaucratic dominance of politics, but they must also skillfully use bureaucrats to implement their policies," said Norihiko Narita, a professor at Surugadai University near Tokyo. "How to cooperate with bureaucrats will be a very important point."

Analysts worry spending plans by the Democrats, a mix of former LDP members, ex-Socialists and younger conservatives founded in 1998, will inflate Japan's massive public debt and push up government bond yields.

The party has vowed not to raise the 5 percent sales tax for four years while it focuses on cutting wasteful spending and tackling problems such as a shrinking and greying population.

Japan is aging more quickly than any other rich country, inflating social security costs. More than a quarter of Japanese will be 65 or older by 2015.

The economy returned to growth in the second quarter, mostly because of short-term stimulus around the world, but the jobless rate rose to a record 5.7 percent in July..