Assad's forces fire Scuds in Syria escalation: U.S. official

WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have fired Scud missiles at rebels trying to overthrow Syria's government, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, a step seen as an escalation in Assad's struggle to retain power.

U.S. officials said they were unaware of any previous instances in which Scuds were used against the rebels since the start of the 20-month-old uprising, which has killed more than 40,000 people.

White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to confirm the reports, saying he was aware of them but could not discuss intelligence matters.

"If true, this would be the latest desperate act from a regime that has shown utter disregard for innocent life," he said. "The idea that the Syrian regime would launch missiles in its borders at its own people is stunning, desperate, a completely disproportionate military escalation."

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Scuds had been used.

In Brussels, a NATO official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said a number of "Scud-type" short-range ballistic missiles had been launched inside Syria in recent days.

"Allied intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets have detected the launch of a number of unguided, short-range ballistic missiles inside Syria this week," the official said.

"Trajectory and distance travelled indicate they were Scud-type missiles," the NATO official said.

Thomas Houlahan, a military analyst at the Center for Security and Science, said the weapons were probably North Korean-made Hwasong-6 missiles, an improved variant of the original Soviet Scuds.

"In terms of the short-range battlefield missiles, they produce a pretty good missile and because of North Korea's constant need for hard currency, they sell them pretty cheap. So they have moved a lot of missiles around and Syria has ended up with a lot of them," Houlahan said.

"MORE ACCURATE"

He said the Hwasong-6 was more accurate than the original Scud, could carry a warhead of about 1,800 pounds (820 kg) and had a range of about 450 miles.

But he said the use of the weapon raised questions as to why the Syrians were not using their air force instead, which was a better alternative.

"If I want to dump 1,800 pounds of explosives on somebody with fairly decent accuracy and I have an air force and they don't, why the hell am I not using a plane?" Houlahan said.

"If you see a country or an army that has much better options not using them, you start to ask yourself why," he added. "Is it the old problem where dictators can't always trust their air forces?"

NATO agreed last week to send Patriot anti-missile systems to alliance member Turkey to reinforce its air defenses and calm its fears of coming under missile attack, possibly with chemical weapons, from neighboring Syria.

The NATO official said the Syrian missiles had landed inside Syria and no missiles had hit Turkish territory. He said the Western alliance had no information about what casualties or damage the missiles had caused.

Asked if there was any evidence of Syrian use of chemical weapons, he said: "We have no information concerning the payload."

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Assad last week not to use chemical weapons against Syrian opposition forces, saying there would be unspecified consequences if he did so.

The United States, Germany and Netherlands have all agreed to send Patriot missiles to protect Turkey, but the missile batteries are not expected to arrive for several more weeks.

The New York Times, which initially reported Syria's use of the missiles, quoted one official as saying more than six had been fired at the rebels. Another official said the missiles had been launched from the Damascus area at targets in northern Syria, the Times said.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters they would not dispute the Times report.

News of Syria's use of Scud missiles broke as Western and Arab nations sympathetic to the uprising against Assad gave full political recognition to the opposition at a meeting in Morroco.

(Reporting by David Alexander in Washington and Adrian Croft in Brussels; Editing by Michael Roddy and David Brunnstrom)

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Asian markets mostly up after Fed move

HONG KONG: Asian stock markets mostly rose Thursday as the US Federal Reserve announced fresh monetary easing and said it would not lift interest rates until unemployment was under control.

However, the gains were capped after the central bank's chief Ben Bernanke said the looming fiscal cliff of huge tax hikes and deep spending cuts was already hitting the economy.

The yen continued its slide ahead of the weekend's general election in Japan that is expected to see a victory for the opposition, whose leader has vowed to press for more aggressive measures to kickstart growth.

Tokyo climbed 1.15 per cent, lifted by the weakening yen, Hong Kong gained 0.22 per cent, Sydney added 0.10 per cent and Seoul was 0.60 per cent higher, but Shanghai lost 0.36 per cent.

After a two-day meeting the policy committee of the US central bank said it would replace its "Operation Twist" bond swapping programme with $45 billion a month in straight bond buys, on an open-ended basis.

That comes on top of the $40 billion a month purchasing announced in September.

The Fed also provided a surprise by saying it would not lift rates as long as the inflation outlook was below 2.5 per cent and the jobless rate, now at 7.7 per cent, stays above 6.5 per cent.

"The Fed's decisions did not really surprise anyone, although its comments about expecting rates to remain very low as long as unemployment remains above 6.5 per cent were somewhat novel," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities.

"The bottom line is that it will continue its aggressive steps to foster economic growth," he told Dow Jones Newswires.

However, the Fed's announcement was followed by a warning by Bernanke that Washington needed to come to an agreement in their talks on avoiding the fiscal cliff, adding that the lack of action was already causing problems.

"Even though we have not even reached the point of the fiscal cliff potentially kicking in, it's already affecting business investment and hiring decisions by creating uncertainty or creating pessimism," he said at a news conference.

On Wall Street the Dow and S&P 500 ended flat, while the Nasdaq fell 0.28 per cent, with earlier gains from the Fed announcement cut back by Bernanke's comments.

On currency markets the yen remained under pressure as Sunday's poll approaches, with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Democratic Party of Japan likely to lose to the Liberal Democratic Party, which is headed by Shinzo Abe.

Abe, a former prime minister, has promised to push a more aggressive monetary easing policy to jumpstart the economy.

The dollar was changing hands at 83.42 yen in early Asian trade, from 83.24 yen in New York late Wednesday, while the euro was at 108.95 yen from 108.85 yen. That compares with 82.67 yen and 107.48 yen earlier on Wednesday in Asia.

The euro bought $1.3063 against $1.3075.

Oil was lower in Asia Thursday, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, falling 19 cents to $86.58 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for January delivery shedding 15 cents to $109.35.

Gold was at $1,699.60 at 0230 GMT compared with $1,713.22 late Wednesday.

- AFP/ck

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U.N. summit rejects U.S., Europe hands-off-the-Internet plea

Delegates from Saudi Arabia at today's summit in Dubai. They opposed efforts by the U.S. and Europe to make the Internet off-limits to summit discussions.

(Credit:
ITU)

Delegates to a United Nations summit agreed today that a U.N. body should take a more "active" role in shaping the future of the Internet, a move that had been opposed by the United States and its allies that had warned of greater government control.

The agreement by delegates from the International Telecommunication Union's 192 member nations, a majority of whom raised their placards in support of the language, took place after 1:30 a.m. local time in Dubai. It came after the head of the ITU, a U.N. agency, had promised not to hold votes on controversial topics, and appeared to take the U.S. and Europe by surprise.

Terry Kramer, head of the U.S. delegation, had said a few minutes earlier that: "We do not believe the focus of this conference should be on the Internet and we did not come to this conference in anticipation of a discussion on the Internet...We oppose this resolution."

The early morning vote seemed to confirm the fears of civil liberty groups, which had warned in advance that many countries participating in the ITU process had less-than-favorable views toward freedom of expression and the traditionally free-wheeling Internet. Two-thirds of the world's nations, for instance, according to Reporters Without Borders' 2011 ratings, have significant "problems" with press freedom.

The Internet Society said in a statement after today's vote that free speech protections "seem to have been largely struck from the treaty text." The global nonprofit group added: "Contrary to assurances that this treaty is not about the Internet, the conference appears to have adopted, by majority, a resolution on the Internet."

Algeria, which has censored Web sites critical of its government, monitored Internet chat rooms, and indefinitely banned public demonstrations, pushed for the Internet-related proposal to be adopted before the summit adjourned for the day.

"I would encourage all of us to adopt the text as it appears here and with no modifications," Algeria's delegate said, a recommendation echoed by Cuba and Saudi Arabia.

Nigeria, where government security forces engage in extrajudicial killings, according to a report released in October by Human Rights Watch, also sided with Algeria.

Because Internet connectivity is "delivered by telecommunication," Nigeria's delegate said, it makes sense to expand the scope of discussions at the summit about telecommunications treaties. "To be candid, we are always disappointed when the issue of Internet has been restricted here in ITU because these two, they go hand-in-hand. One cannot go without the other."

Today's move at the summit, called the World Conference on International Telecommunications, or WCIT, appears to conflict with repeated public pledges by ITU secretary-general Hamadoun Touré, who had said the summit would work through consensus instead of the more divisive process of majority-rules voting.

"In the true tradition of the ITU, we will not vote on any issues," Touré told reporters over the summer. "Voting means winners and losers, and this is not simply acceptable. And we believe that we'll come to an agreement on all of the issues." Touré had said last week that the summit "is not about Internet governance."

After the adoption of the proposal, Spain's delegate raised an objection, saying "had we known that it was a vote, we might very well have acted differently."

Mohamed Nasser al Ghanim, the ITU summit's chairman, had polled the room a moment earlier and declared that: "The majority is with having the resolution in...The majority agreed to adopt the resolution as amended."

But after Spain objected, al Ghanim responded by saying, "no, it was not a vote," and that he had instead been looking for a "feel of the room."

Algeria's delegate interjected that it was time to move on to another topic: "I thought that we had settled the issue of the resolution." Then al Ghanim adjourned the summit for the evening.

The conundrum of a vote that may or may not have been a vote confused some of the summit's attendees and observers, who were left scratching their heads about what had just happened. James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. said on Twitter that the "chair took a vote" and called the ITU process "puzzling shenanigans" that were "perhaps ascribable to desperation and the late hour."

U.N. and ITU meetings often result, of course, in more rhetoric than substance. During a U.N. conference in Tunisia in 2005, for instance, Iran and African governments proclaimed that the Internet permits too much free speech, with Cuba's delegate announcing that Fidel Castro believes it's time to create a new organization "which administers this network of networks."

The difference this time is that the ITU summit, which ends Friday, is designed to rewrite the International Telecommunications Regulations (PDF), a multilateral treaty that governs international communications traffic. The treaty was established in 1988, when home computers used dial-up modems, the Internet was primarily a university network, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was a mere four years old.

In a sharply partisan U.S. election year, skepticism about the U.N. process has emerged as a rare point of bipartisan accord: the House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution last week aimed at sending a strong message to the ITU. It said, in part, that "the consistent and unequivocal policy of the United States [is] to promote a global Internet free from government control."

Google has organized a campaign to draw attention to the summit, saying some governments "are trying to use a closed-door meeting in December to regulate the Internet." Advocacy groups Fight for the Future and AccessNow have launched WhatIsTheITU.org to warn that the ITU poses "a risk to freedom of expression" online. And Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the World Wide Web, warned of an ITU power grab.

A ITU document, called DT/51-E (PDF), leaked yesterday showed shows that the U.N. agency wanted to become more involved in "Internet-related technical, development and public policy issues" -- a broad term designed to sweep in hot-button areas including cybersecurity, spam, surveillance, and censorship. That pits it in conflict with the current way the Internet is managed, through groups including the Internet Engineering Task Force and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN.

Also yesterday, The White House said in a statement from cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel, Internet policy advisor R. David Edelman, and deputy U.S. chief technology officer Tom Power that:

The global consensus for a free and open Internet is overwhelming. Millions in the United States and around the world have already added their voices to this conversation, and their position is clear: they do not want the (ITU summit) to govern the Internet or legitimize more state control over online content. Our Administration could not agree more - and will not support a treaty that sets that kind of precedent.

Similarly, Sweden's delegate to the summit warned yesterday that the scope of the existing telecommunications treaties "should not be expanded and the Internet should not be included." Sweden added that "any debate on these issues, human rights, Internet, freedom of expression" should be "carried out in an open fora with the public and media present."

Before today's vote, Finland's delegate added that the treaty language should not encompass the Internet because "we are dealing with the highly political and sensitive issue which does not fit in the context of a treaty which is of technical nature."

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Bruce Springsteen kicks off Sandy benefit

Updated: 8:25 p.m. ET

Music filled New York's Madison Square Garden Wednesday night for the "12-12-12" gig all in the name of helping superstorm Sandy victims.

Bruce Springsteen kicked off the star-studded concert, a fitting start for the benefit, which will aid hard-hit storm areas such as the rocker's native New Jersey. The Boss launched into "Land of Hope and Dreams" as audience members rose to their feet, before singing "Wrecking Ball," a song he wrote about Jersey and Giants Stadium at The Meadowlands. He changed a lyric to "My home is on the Jersey shore."

And it's no surprise Springsteen performed "My City of Ruins," a song that has taken on various meanings through the years, especially having debuted around the 9/11 attacks. But Wednesday night, it meant something different to many people watching.

"This was a song I wrote for my adopted hometown -- Asbury Park, which was struggling through hard times," he said, later adding, "Tonight this is a prayer for all of our struggling people in New York and New Jersey."

After slipping in a few lines of "Jersey Girl," Springsteen brought out his friend Jon Bon Jovi for a New Jersey-rocker musical mash-up of "Born to Run."

"The size of the destruction was shocking," said Springsteen in a taped interview with concert organizers prior to the show. "It took days and days to even understand the level of destruction that occurred along the Jersey shore."

After they left the stage, Billy Crystal took the reins, injecting some humor into the night mixed with touching remarks about the devastation that Sandy brought along with it.

"You can feel the electricity in the building, which means that Long Island power isn't involved," said Crystal, a Long Beach, Long Island native, before rattling off a series of other jokes that included New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Chris Christie.

Roger Waters took the stage next, playing Pink Floyd classics, including "Us and Them," "Another Brick in the Wall" and "Money."

The musical lineup also includes Eric Clapton, Dave Grohl, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Chris Martin, The Rolling Stones, Eddie Vedder, Kanye West, The Who and Paul McCartney.

Producer John Sykes said the fundraiser features "the greatest lineup of legends ever assembled on a stage."

"There have been hurricanes, there have been storms," said Bon Jovi. "But I've never seen anything remotely close to what Hurricane Sandy was."

"When I heard there was going to be a concert, I wanted to be there and I wanted to try to do my bit," said McCartney who has an office in Manhattan and spends time with his wife, Nancy Shevell, in Long Island. "Hopefully try to make a bit of difference and give back."

Also in attendance? Steve Buscemi, Martha Stewart, Blake Lively, Scarlett Johansson, James Gandolfini, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremey Piven, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Chastain, Chelsea Clinton, Jimmy Fallon, Adam Sandler, Sean Combs, Billy Crystal, Leo DiCaprio, Jimmy Fallon, Katie Holmes, Jake Gyllenhaal, Karlie Kloss, Seth Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Susan Sarandon, Jon Stewart, Kristen Stewart and Quentin Tarantino, among others.

The sold-out "12-12-12" concert is being aired on 37 TV stations in the United States and more than 200 others worldwide. Thirty websites, including YouTube, is streaming the show live. All together -- more than two billion people around the world have access to the show, which benefits the Robin Hood Foundation.

The October storm left millions of people in several states without power or heat. It's to blame for at least 125 deaths and damaged 305,000 homes in New York.

Watch live online here.

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Mall Shooter Quit Job, Was Going to Hawaii

In the days before he stole a semiautomatic weapon and stormed into an Oregon shopping mall, killing two people in a shooting spree, Jacob Roberts quit his job, sold his belongings and began to seem "numb" to those closest to him.

Roberts' ex-girlfriend, Hannah Patricia Sansburn, 20, told ABC News today that the man who donned a hockey mask and opened fire on Christmas shoppers was typically happy and liked to joke around, but abruptly changed in the week before the shooting.

Roberts unleashed a murderous volley of gunfire on the second floor of the Clackamas Town Center on Tuesday while wearing the mask and black clothing, and carrying an AR-15 semiautomatic weapon and "several" magazines full of ammunition. He ended his barrage by walking down to the first floor of the mall and committing suicide.

READ: Why Mass Shooters Wear Masks

"I don't understand," Sansburn said. "I was just with him. I just talked to him. I didn't believe it was him at all. Not one part of me believed it."

She said that in recent weeks, Roberts quit his job at a gyro shop in downtown Portland and sold all of his belongings, telling her that he was moving to Hawaii. He had even purchased a ticket.

She now wonders if he was really planning to move.

Oregon Mall Shooting: 2 Dead in Clackamas Town Center Watch Video

Oregon Mall Shooting: 'Killing of Total Strangers' Watch Video

Oregon Mall Shooting: Woman on Macy's Employee's Heroism Watch Video

"He was supposed to catch a flight Saturday and I texted him, and asked how his flight went, and he told me, 'oh, I got drunk and didn't make the flight,'" she said. "And then this happens... It makes me think, was he even planning on going to Hawaii? He quit his job, sold all of his things."

Roberts described himself on his Facebook page as an "adrenaline junkie," and said he is the kind of person who thinks, "I'm going to do what I want."

Roberts, who attended Clackamas Community college, posted a picture of himself on his Facebook page firing a gun at a target. His Facebook photo showed graffiti in which the words "Follow Your Dreams" were painted over with the word "Cancelled."

Sansburn said the pair had dated for nearly a year but had broke up over the summer. Throughout their relationship, she had never seen him act violently or get angry.

"Jake was never the violent type. He didn't go out of his way to try to hurt people or upset people. His main goal was to make you laugh, smile, make you feel comfortable. I never would have guessed him to do anything like this ever," she said.

"You can't reconcile the differences. I hate him for what he did, but I can't hate the person I knew because it was nothing like the person who would go into a mall and go on a rampage. I would never associate the two at all."

The last time she saw him, which was last week, he "seemed numb," and she didn't understand why, she said.

"I just talked to him, stayed the night with him, and he just seemed numb if anything. He's usually very bubbly and happy, and I asked him why, what had changed, and said 'nothing.' He just had so much he had to do before he went to Hawaii that he was trying to distance himself from Portland," Sansburn said.

Sansburn said the last message she sent Roberts was a text, asking him to stay, and saying she didn't want him to leave. He replied "I'm sorry," with a sad face emoticon.

Police are still seeking information about what Roberts was doing in the days leading up to the shooting. They said today they believe Roberts stole the gun he used in the rampage from someone he knew. They have searched his home and his car for other clues into his motive.

Read ABC News' full coverage of the Oregon Mall Shooting

Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said earlier today on "Good Morning America" that he believes Roberts went into the mall with the goal of killing as many people as he could.

"I believe, at least from the information that's been provided to me at this point in time, it really was a killing of total strangers. To my knowledge at this point in time he was really trying, I think, to kill as many people as possible."

Sansburn said she has not talked to police.

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North Korea's new leader burnishes credentials with rocket

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to its opponents.

The rocket, which North Korea says was designed to put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting targets as far as the continental the United States.

"The satellite has entered the planned orbit," North Korea's state news agency KCNA said.

North Korea followed what it said was a similar successful launch in 2009 with a nuclear test that prompted the United Nations Security Council to stiffen sanctions against Pyongyang that it originally imposed in 2006 after the North's first nuclear test.

The state is banned from developing nuclear and missile-related technology under U.N. resolutions, although Kim Jong-un, the youthful head of state who took power a year ago, is believed to have continued the state's "military first" programs put into place by his deceased father Kim Jong-il.

After Wednesday's launch, which saw the second stage of the rocket splash down in seas off the Philippines as planned, Japan's U.N. envoy called for a Security Council meeting. However, diplomats say further tough sanctions are unlikely to be agreed at the body as China, the North's only major ally, will oppose them.

The rocket was launched just before 10 a.m. Korea time (9 p.m. ET on Tuesday), according to defense officials in South Korea and Japan, and easily surpassed a failed April launch that flew for less than two minutes.

There was no independent confirmation it had put a satellite into orbit.

Japan's likely next prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who is leading in opinion polls ahead of an election on December 16 and who made his name as a North Korea hawk, called on the United Nations to adopt a resolution "strongly criticizing" Pyongyang.

There was no immediate official reaction from Washington, South Korea's major military backer, or from China.

China had expressed "deep concern" over the launch which was announced a day after a visit by a top politburo member to Pyongyang when he met Kim Jong-un.

On Wednesday, China's state news agency Xinhua said North Korea had the "right to conduct peaceful exploration of outer space."

But it added: "Pyongyang should also abide by relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 1874, which demands (North Korea) not to conduct 'any launch using ballistic missile technology' and urges it to 'suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program.'"

U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican who heads the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, quickly condemned the launch and called for tougher sanctions.

"It is clear that Pyongyang is moving ever closer towards its ultimate goal of producing a nuclear ballistic missile in order to threaten not only our allies in the Asia-Pacific region but the U.S. as well," she said.

A senior adviser to South Korea's president said last week it was unlikely that there would be a meaningful set of sanctions agreed at the United Nations but that Seoul would expect its allies to tighten sanctions unilaterally.

A YEAR ON FOR THE THIRD KIM

Kim Jong-un, believed to be 29 years old, took office after his father died on December 17 last year and experts believe that Wednesday's launch was intended to commemorate the first anniversary of the death.

The April launch was timed for the centennial of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and the grandfather of its current ruler.

"This is a considerable boost in establishing the rule of Kim Jong-un," said Cho Min, an expert at the Korea Institute of National Unification.

There have been few indications the secretive and impoverished state, where the United Nations estimates a third of the population is malnourished, has made any advances in opening up economically over the past year.

North Korea remains reliant on minerals exports to China and remittances from tens of thousands of its people working on labor projects overseas.

The 22 million population often needs handouts from defectors who have escaped to South Korea in order to afford basic medicines.

Given the puny size of its economy - per capita income is less than $2,000 a year - one of the few ways that North Korea can attract world attention is by emphasizing its military threat.

Pyongyang wants the United States to resume aid and to recognize it diplomatically, although the April launch skippered a planned food deal.

It is believed to be some years away from developing a functioning nuclear warhead and to have enough plutonium for around half a dozen nuclear bombs, according to nuclear experts.

The North has also been enriching uranium which would give it a second path to nuclear weapons as it sits on vast natural uranium reserves.

It says that its development is part of a civil nuclear program, but has also boasted of it being a "nuclear weapons power".

(Additional reporting by Jumin Park and Yoo Choonsik in SEOUL; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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Equipment failure could have caused incident that left serviceman critically injured

SINGAPORE: Preliminary findings indicate equipment malfunction could have led to the incident that left a navy serviceman critically injured.

The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) in an update late Tuesday night said Weapon Systems Supervisor Jason Chee Weng Fai remains in critical condition.

He's warded at the Changi General Hospital.

Channel NewsAsia understands that Mr Chee is expected to be in the Intensive Care Unit for a few days.

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) declared a 48-hour safety time-out from 10 Dec for its Frigates, Missile Corvettes and Landing Ship Tanks.

MINDEF said the safety time-out will allow the RSN to review its operating and safety procedures.

The Military Expert was injured on Monday when he got caught between a motorised winch and a rope, on the Landing Ship Tank, RSS Endeavour.

He was checking on a berthing rope that was being tightened when the incident happened.

- CNA/ck

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Software at CES: Second screens take off, developers target TVs

CES is coming in early January, but contrary to popular belief, it isn't just about gadgets. A lot of software vendors make the trek to Las Vegas to show new and updated versions of software for just about every platform.

With the app stores for Apple, Google, and Windows exploding with new offerings over the course of 2012, we think this year's
CES will have more new and updated software on hand than ever before.

As the in-house software editors at CNET, we have put together a list of predictions for this year's CES, from the probable to the vaguely possible. Check back in early January to see if our predictions for software bore any fruit or fell flat.

Apps to control your everything
The Google Glass-wearing daredevils at this year's Google I/O Conference showed us that software can run anywhere and on pretty much anything. You can wear it on your wrist or face, and you can even interact with it in your kitchen appliances. At CES, we fully expect developers to run with this idea, as they blitz conference-goers with newly reinvented household wares, like scales and baby monitors, all with software baked right in.

Voice control will only get better
Upgrades to both Apple's Siri andGoogle's Search app over the past year have made voice recognition technology a larger part of controlling our smartphones.

With Siri spreading beyond iPhones, and Google's Voice Search becoming a major competitor, voice control of your smartphone is clearly here to stay. Don't be surprised if there are new launches and software updates coming out of CES that add or enhance voice control in many third-party apps.

Developers further invade your living room
While it may be improving, thus far, Google TV has not been a runaway hit. The public has been slow to adopt it, and its reviews have been more bad than good. But that doesn't mean that the idea of apps on your TV is dead in the water. In fact, we think CES 2013 will show us just the opposite, with developers showing off apps for Google TV, as well as for other living room platforms like Samsung Smart TV.

One product that gives us a small taste of things to come in the living room is the YouTube app for
Android. With its most recent update, YouTube for Android can now push individual videos and playlists directly to your Google TV box, Airplay-style. But what sets this feature apart from Apple's Airplay is that it allows you to continue browsing and interacting with YouTube while your videos play on your big screen, which means your handheld isn't just mirroring content on your television set. Rather, it's controlling it.

And of course, there are the rumors of Apple developing its own television set, which would certainly come loaded with its own array of software. This, of course, won't be released leading up to or during CES, but the mere fact that the rumors are swirling lend credence to the argument that the living room is the next big domain in developers' crosshairs.

Second Screen apps take off
Speaking of software aimed at your living room, Second Screen apps are already making their way onto people's iPads and
tablets, but there's still a lot of room for improvement, and we expect to see more of these apps at CES.

Zeebox gives you lots more information about the show you're watching.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

This year, AMC's "The Walking Dead" and HBO's "Game of Thrones" (among other shows) both started giving viewers interactive content they could view on a tablet while watching new episodes. But there are also apps like Zeebox that give you more info -- like actor bios and related content -- for just about any show on television.

If people get used to having a tablet in their lap in the living room, these apps are going to become a must-have whether they are for specific shows or try to cover all the content. At this early stage, we think this year's CES will be a launching point for more Second Screen apps as part of the flood of new software.

Broadcast television everywhere
It has to happen at some point, right? We admit this one is a bit of a stretch for CES in January, but as our computers, smartphones, tablets, and television screens share more and more content, we have to think it's only a matter of time before we have TV everywhere.

The stream wasn't perfect, but we can't be too far off when television becomes available on your mobile devices.

(Credit:
Adobe)

We have already seen live streaming video for big events like the 2012 Summer Olympics with NBC's Olympics Live Extra app, though it wasn't ideal. But with Wi-Fi and wireless getting faster than ever, are we really that far from watching television on our devices?

We may not hear more on this at CES, but perhaps some companies will begin hinting at the possibility. It might just be wishful thinking on our part, but you have to admit that TV anywhere would be awesome.

Windows Store apps missing in action
And then we have Windows 8. Be honest: when it showed up, it wasn't exactly love at first sight for you, was it? Well, unfortunately for Microsoft, neither was it for much of the general public. And it's because of this lackluster reception, that we don't expect any big splashes by third-party developers for the platform. And of course, Microsoft will not be in attendance at CES, which means we won't be hearing about any big updates directly from them.

The bottom line is, if users aren't excited about the platform, then the developers probably won't be either, which means we probably won't be getting a deluge of game-changing Windows Store apps at CES.

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At least 1 dead after gunman fires in suburban Ore. mall

The scene outside the Clackamas Town Center in suburban Portland, Ore., on Dec. 11, 2012. / KOIN-TV

Updated 8:04 p.m. ET

PORTLAND, Ore. Emergency dispatchers in Portland, Ore., are receiving reports that a man with a rifle reportedly fired as many as 20 shots inside a shopping mall, killing at least one person. The shooter has now been "neutralized," according to reports.

The Oregonian reported at least three people were shot by a man brandishing a semiautomatic rifle. Dispatchers received reports that a shooting may have occurred near Macy's inside the Clackamas Town Center and that a man was seen with a rifle near the mall's food court.

A dispatch worker confirmed to CBS affiliate KOIN that multiple people were shot. Witnesses tell KOIN the town center was evacuated and placed on lockdown.

Clackamas County sheriff's deputies are responding. Deputies have not been able to confirm that a shooting has occurred.

Entrances to the mall have been blocked off.

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Obama Recognizes Syrian Opposition Group

In a diplomatic shift, President Obama said today his administration now formally recognizes the newly-formed, leading coalition of Syrian rebels who are fighting to topple Syria's embattled President Bashar Assad.

"We've made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad regime," Obama said.

The announcement, made during an exclusive interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters, grants new legitimacy to the rebel group and marks a new phase in U.S. efforts to isolate the Assad regime.

"It's a big step," Obama said of the decision. The United States follows Britain and the European Union, both of which last month recognized the Syrian opposition group.

More of Barbara Walters' exclusive first joint, post-election interview with President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama airs Friday, Dec. 14, on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET on ABC stations.

The diplomatic designation will allow the United States to more closely support rebel efforts, including the organization of a future post-Assad government, administration officials said.

"Obviously, with that recognition comes responsibilities," Obama said of the young coalition. "To make sure that they organize themselves effectively, that they are representative of all the parties, [and] that they commit themselves to a political transition that respects women's rights and minority rights."

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

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The move does not include the provision of weapons, but it opens the door for that possibility in the future.

"Providing arms has to be done in a way that helps promote a political solution," one senior Obama administration official said today. "And until we understand how these arms promote a political solution, we do not see how provision of arms is a good idea."

But the official added, "the president has never ruled out in the future providing arms."

Obama expressed caution today about some Syrian factions involved with the coalition, warning that the United States will not support extremist elements.

"Not everybody who's participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people who we are comfortable with," Obama told Walters. "There are some who, I think, have adopted an extremist agenda, an anti-U.S. agenda, and we are going to make clear to distinguish between those elements."

The president specifically singled out the group Jabhat al-Nusrah for its alleged affiliation with Al Qaeda in Iraq. The State Department says the jihadist group is responsible for nearly 600 violent attacks in major Syrian cities in the past year.

"Through these attacks, al-Nusrah has sought to portray itself as part of the legitimate Syrian opposition while it is, in fact, an attempt by [Al Qaeda in Iraq] to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people for its own malign purposes," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The Obama administration blacklisted al-Nusrah earlier this week, imposing economic sanctions and branding it a terrorist organization.

Recognition of the Syrian rebel group has been expected. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to formally announce the new relations with the United States during a meeting of international allies supporting Syria's rebels in Marrakech, Morocco, on Wednesday.

She has since cancelled her trip because of an illness. Her deputy, Bill Burns, will attend in her place.

President Obama also discussed the looming "fiscal cliff" and suggested a new flexibility on cuts to entitlement spending. Read that report here.

ABC News' Martha Raddatz contributed to this report.

More of Barbara Walters' exclusive first joint, post-election interview with President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama airs Friday, Dec. 14, on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET on ABC stations.

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