Bail hearing set for 2 men in Canada terror plot

Representatives of Toronto's Islamic community attend a news conference in Toronto as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announce the arrest of two men accused of plotting a terror attack on rail target, in Toronto, Monday April 22, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

Representatives of Toronto's Islamic community attend a news conference in Toronto as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announce the arrest of two men accused of plotting a terror attack on rail target, in Toronto, Monday April 22, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Laporte walks with Mohammad Shaied Sheikh of the Masjid el Noor Mosque before attending a news conference in Toronto, Monday, April 22, 2013, as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announce the arrest of two men accused of plotting a terror attack on rail target. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer pats a colleague on the back before a press conference in Toronto as the RCMP announce the arrest of two men accused of plotting a terror attack on rail target on Monday April 22, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

Officers from various law enforcement agencies including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Peel Regional Police, and Surete du Quebec gather at a news conference in Toronto on Monday, April 22, 2013, as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announce the arrest of two men accused of plotting a terror attack on a rail target. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews speaks to reporters regarding arrests that thwarted an alleged terrorist plot in Ottawa on Monday, April 22, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Justin Tang)

TORONTO (AP) ? Two men face a bail hearing Tuesday after their arrest on charges of plotting a terrorist attack against a Canadian passenger train with support from al-Qaida elements in Iran, authorities said. The case has raised questions about Shiite-led Iran's murky relationship with the predominantly Sunni Arab terrorist network.

Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, had "direction and guidance" from al-Qaida members in Iran, though there was no reason to think the planned attacks were state-sponsored, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner James Malizia said Monday. Police said the men did not get financial support from al-Qaida, but declined to provide more details.

"This is the first known al-Qaida planned attack that we've experienced in Canada," Superintendent Doug Best told a news conference. Officials in Washington and Toronto said it had no connections to last week's bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters on Tuesday there is no evidence of any Iranian involvement and groups such as al-Qaida have "no compatibility with Iran in both political and ideological fields."

"We oppose any terrorist and violent action that would jeopardize lives of innocent people," he said.

Mehmanparast called the Canadian claims part of hostile policies against Tehran, and accused Canada of indirectly aiding al-Qaida by joining Western support for Syrian rebels. Some Islamic militant factions, claiming allegiance to al-Qaida, have joined forces seeking to topple the regime of Bashar Assad, one of Iran's main allies in the region.

Charges against the two men include conspiring to carry out an attack and murder people in association with a terrorist group. Police said the men are not Canadian citizens and had been in Canada a "significant amount of time," but declined to say where they were from or why they were in the country.

The arrests in Montreal and Toronto bolstered allegations by some governments and experts of a relationship of convenience between Iran and al-Qaida.

Bruce Riedel, a CIA veteran who is now a Brookings Institution senior fellow, said al-Qaida has had a clandestine presence in Iran since at least 2001 and that neither the terror group nor Tehran speak openly about it.

"The Iranian regime kept some of these elements under house arrest," he said in an email to The Associated Press. "Some probably operate covertly. AQ members often transit Iran traveling between hideouts in Pakistan and Iraq."

U.S. intelligence officials have long tracked limited al-Qaida activity inside Iran. Remnants of al-Qaida's so-called management council are still there, though they are usually kept under virtual house arrest by an Iranian regime suspicious of the Sunni-/Salafi-based militant movement. There are also a small number of financiers and facilitators who help move money, and sometimes weapons and people throughout the region from their base in Iran.

Last fall, the Obama administration offered up to $12 million in rewards for information leading to the capture of two al-Qaida leaders based in Iran. The U.S. State Department described them as key facilitators in sending extremists to Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. Treasury Department also announced financial penalties against one of the men.

The investigation surrounding the planned attack was part of a cross-border operation involving Canadian law enforcement agencies, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The attack "was definitely in the planning stage but not imminent," RCMP chief superintendent Jennifer Strachan said Monday. "We are alleging that these two individuals took steps and conducted activities to initiate a terrorist attack. They watched trains and railways."

Strachan said they were targeting a route, but did not say whether it was a cross border route. Best said the duo had been under investigation since last fall. Their bail hearing was scheduled in Toronto on Tuesday.

Via Rail said that "at no time" were passengers or members of the public in imminent danger. Via trains_Canada's equivalent of Amtrak passenger trains in the U.S. ?carry nearly four million passengers annually.

In Washington, Amtrak president Joe Boardman said the Amtrak Police Department would continue to work with Canadian authorities to assist in the investigation. Via Rail and Amtrak jointly operate trains between Canada and the U.S.

Canada's Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the arrests show that terrorism continues to be a real threat to Canada.

"Canada will not tolerate terrorist activity and we will not be used as a safe haven for terrorists or those who support terrorist activity," Toews said in the House of Commons.

U.S. Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican, said in a statement praising Canadian authorities for the arrests, that the attack was intended "to cause significant loss of human life including New Yorkers."

Muhammad Robert Heft, who runs an outreach organization for Islamic converts, and Hussein Hamdani, a lawyer and longtime advocate in the Muslim community, said one of the suspects is Tunisian and the other is from the United Arab Emirates. Heft and Hamdani were part of a group of Muslim community leaders who were briefed by the RCMP ahead of Monday's announcement.

In Abu Dhabi, a UAE source informed about the attack plot said there was "no UAE citizen" with the name Raed Jaser. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.

Authorities were tipped off by members of the Muslim community, Best said.

The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim civil liberties organization, planned to hold a news conference in Toronto on Tuesday to comment on the terror-related arrests.

A spokeswoman for the University of Sherbrooke near Montreal said Esseghaier studied there in 2008-2009. More recently, he has been doing doctoral research at the National Institute of Scientific Research, a spokeswoman at the training university confirmed.

Julie Martineau, a spokeswoman at the research institute, said Esseghaier began working at the center just outside Montreal in 2010 and was pursuing a Ph.D. in nanotechnology.

"We are, of course, very surprised," she said.

A LinkedIn page showing a man with Esseghaier's name and academic background said he helped author a number of biology research papers, including on HIV and cancer detection. The page says he was a student in Tunisia before moving to Canada in the summer of 2008.

The page carries a photo of a black flag inscribed with the Muslim declaration of faith: "There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet." The same flag was used by al-Qaida in Iraq and then started being used by ultraconservative Islamic groups in Egypt, Tunisia, Mali and elsewhere across the region.

In Markham, Ontario, north of Toronto, police tape cordoned off half of a duplex, with officers remaining at the scene well into the night. Sanjay Chaudhary, who lives in the other half of the duplex with his family, said the RCMP questioned him about his neighbor Jaser, asking whether he knew him or spoke to him often.

___

Associated Press writers Charmaine Noronha in Ontario, Benjamin Shingler in Montreal, Peter James Spielmann and Maria Sanminiatelli in New York, Pete Yost and Kimberly Dozier in Washington and Brian Murphy in the United Arab Emirates contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-23-CN-Canada-Terror-Plot/id-ee2e0eafeb8f47ee8e72db2a3da5cbba

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China says new bird flu case found in northeast

BEIJING (Reuters) - A man in the northeastern Chinese province of Shandong has been infected by a new strain of bird flu, the first case found in the province, state news agency Xinhua said on Monday, bringing the total number of cases in China to 105.

The H7N9 virus has killed 21 people in China, according to the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO). Although it is not clear exactly how people are becoming infected, WHO experts say there is no evidence of the most worrying scenario - sustained transmission between people.

"Investigations into the possible sources of infection and reservoirs of the virus are ongoing," the WHO said in an update late on Monday. "Until the source of infection has been identified, it is expected that there will be further cases of human infection with the virus in China."

A 36-year-old man from the city of Zaozhuang in Shandong was being treated in hospital, while two more people were infected in eastern Zhejiang province, Xinhua said.

A total of nine people in close contact with the victim in Shandong were under observation but were showing no signs of infection, Xinhua said.

An international team of experts led by the WHO has carried out field investigations into the response to the virus in Shanghai, where many of the cases have occurred, said Keiji Fukuda, WHO's assistant director-general for health, security and the environment.

"Right now we are in the middle of our work. We have not come up with any final conclusions, and I think it is too early to say," Fukuda told reporters.

Other bird flu strains, such as H5N1, have been circulating for many years and can be transmitted from bird to bird and bird to human, but do not generally pass from human to human.

But Ho Pak-leung, an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, noted in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) that in the two months since it was first detected, the H7N9 flu has already resulted in almost twice as many confirmed infections in China as H5N1 caused there in a decade.

"H7N9 is much more transmissible to humans, and it's much more difficult to track down," he told the BMJ, adding: "We don't understand why it's so difficult to find."

He said he did not believe the difficulties were related to sampling techniques or testing levels, but thought it could be that virus can only be detected in infected animals for a few days, meaning the timing of tests could be important.

"It (also) might be that they are not sampling enough animal species, and they may have to take a look at the less common species of birds being sold in Chinese markets," he said.

The WHO's China representative, Michael O'Leary, issued data on Friday showing that half of the patients analyzed had no known contact with poultry, the most obvious potential source, but he said it appeared human-to-human transmission was rare.

Some bird samples have tested positive and China has culled thousands of birds and shut down some live poultry markets.

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee in Beijing, Kate Kelland in London and Adam Jourdan in Shanghai.; Editing by Nick Macfie and Andrew Heavens)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-says-bird-flu-case-found-northeastern-china-111538848.html

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George's big game leads Pacers past Atlanta 107-90

Indiana Pacers' Tyler Hansbrough, left, goes to the basket against Atlanta Hawks' Ivan Johnson during the first half of Game 1 in the first round of the NBA basketball playoffs on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Indiana Pacers' Tyler Hansbrough, left, goes to the basket against Atlanta Hawks' Ivan Johnson during the first half of Game 1 in the first round of the NBA basketball playoffs on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Atlanta Hawks head coach Larry Drew shouts instructions during the first half of Game 1 in the first round of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Indiana Pacers, Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Atlanta Hawks' Al Horford (15) shoots against Indiana Pacers' David West during the first half of Game 1 in the first round of the NBA basketball playoffs on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Atlanta Hawks' Al Horford, right, goes to the basket against Indiana Pacers' Jeff Pendergraph during the first half of Game 1 in the first round of the NBA basketball playoffs on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Atlanta Hawks' Jeff Teague (0) shoots against Indiana Pacers' David West during the first half of Game 1 in the first round of the NBA basketball playoffs on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Paul George insisted a little rest and a new focus would make change everything for the Indiana Pacers.

His made sure that prediction came true Sunday.

Following the best season of his three-year career, George opened the playoffs by producing the first postseason triple double of his career ? 23 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists ? and led the Pacers out of their late-season funk and past Atlanta 107-90 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Suddenly, all those problems ailing the Pacers have been forgotten.

"I know what the team will expect from me now," George said. "But, again, I like the pressure"

He can expect to be dealing with even more of it in the best-of-seven series.

There were plenty of questions after Indiana coach Frank Vogel gave four of his starters ? George, George Hill, Roy Hibbert and David West ? a three-day break this week. The move meant those four came into the opening game without playing a minute since last Sunday's loss at New York sealed Indiana's fate as the East's No. 3 seed.

Outsiders wondered whether those off-days would rejuvenate the Central Division champs, who looked so good from mid-December through early April, or whether would be rusty after stumbling to five losses in their last seven regular-season games.

Those inside the locker room said that the extra rest would be beneficial. Sunday's performance left no doubt as fans repeatedly waved the gold towels the Pacers handed out before the game.

While George went 3 of 13 from the field, he made his first 17 free throws tying Reggie Miller's single-game playoff mark for best percentage. George missed his 18th and final attempt with 2:35 to go. It was about the only thing that went wrong for the All-Star forward who had Indiana's first triple double in the playoffs since Mark Jackson on May 13, 1998 against New York.

Indiana also has a 1-0 lead for the first time since beating the New Jersey Nets 90-88 in 2006.

"It was huge for our confidence," George said. "We got back to playing our style of basketball."

George had plenty of help, too.

George Hill, who sat out parts of practice Friday and Saturday with an injured left groin, made his first six shots and finished 7 of 10 from the field with three 3-pointers and 18 points. And Roy Hibbert added 16 points and 11 rebounds on a day the Pacers outrebounded Atlanta 48-32 and limited the Hawks to 14 fast-break points.

Vogel couldn't have designed a better script.

"You have to stick to who you are and play your style of play, which I think we did," Vogel said. "We have to play with passion. When we play with passion and energy on both ends of the court we're pretty good. "

Atlanta found out the hard way.

Indy native Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 21 points and seven assists, while Josh Smith had 15 points and eight rebounds. The only other Atlanta player to reach double figures was Al Horford with 14 points.

Most of the Hawks' players were upset about the wide free-throw discrepancy.

Indiana was nearly flawless from the line (30 of 34), while the Hawks spent most of the second half in foul trouble and made 7 of the 14 free throws they got.

"I felt we like earned the opportunity to shoot a little bit more free throws than what we did, but it is what it is," Smith said. "We have to make sure next game that just one player on the opposing team doesn't shoot more than the whole entire team."

Coach Larry Drew had bigger concerns.

He was disappointed with how the team responded to the calls and with the effort, too. He hopes both will be fixed when the series resumes Wednesday in Indy.

"We didn't come up with the big plays, we didn't come up with the hustle plays, the energy plays. I thought right when we were, I believe it was a nine-point game, them shooting a free throw, they come up with the offensive rebound off the free throw, kick it out, swing it around, they get a 3. That's just getting outworked. They just clearly outworked us."

It wasn't a perfect game for Indiana.

Again, the Pacers got off to another rocky start by giving up the first six points. But unlike the previous six games when they dug themselves into 20-point deficits in each game, Indiana wasted no time charging back.

The Pacers used a 9-0 first-quarter run to take a 19-13 lead, extended it to 34-26 after one and never trailed again.

While the Hawks tried valiantly to rally, cutting the deficit to four late in the second quarter and trimming Indiana's 15-point lead to eight with 7:23 to go, Indiana never let the Hawks get any closer and eventually pulled away.

Just like they were doing in the middle of the season.

"We got back to playing our style of basketball," George said. "They came out and hit shots, but what we did a great job of was not letting them string some of those baskets together. We kind of ended their momentum and that's what it's going to take."

NOTES: The Hawks dropped to 0-3 this season at Indiana but have won 11 straight in Atlanta over the Pacers. ... This is only the fourth time these teams have met in the playoffs. Atlanta holds a 2-1 advantage and won the last postseason matchup 3-2 in 1996. ... Hibbert played with the phrase "B Strong" written on his white shoe Sunday, a message to the people of Boston from the bombings earlier this week. ... The Hawks went home after the game and will practice there Monday and Tuesday before returning to Indy on Wednesday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-21-BKN-Hawks-Pacers/id-68092dcd7ba044e39b7672ea2e7b246c

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Afghanistan, Pakistan, U.S. to meet for talks in Brussels: Afghan official

April 22 (Reuters) - Pep Guardiola is not the only connection between Bayern Munich and Barcelona, who meet in their Champions League semi-final, first leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. Both teams are dominating their leagues to an almost embarrassing extent, have won the Champions League four times apiece, share an acrimonious rivalry with Real Madrid, and owe part of their success to the flamboyant Dutchman Louis van Gaal. Both have also been in two Champions League finals in the last four years, though the Catalans won both of theirs and the Bavarians came out losers on each occasion. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-pakistan-u-meet-talks-brussels-afghan-official-122815893.html

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Philips sales, earnings fall in Q1

AMSTERDAM (AP) ? Royal Philips NV, the maker of lights, home appliances and health-care equipment, has reported lower first quarter earnings due to weak sales and one-time gains in the same period a year ago. The company said its underlying margins have improved due to cutting costs.

Net profit was 162 million euros ($212 million), from 183 million euros in the first quarter of 2012, when the company had 172 million in one-time gains, notably from the sale of its Senseo coffee maker brand. Companywide sales fell by 1 percent to 5.26 billion euros.

"We reiterate our view of a slow first half to 2013, due to adverse market trends, especially in Europe and the U.S.," said chief executive Frans van Houten in a statement.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/philips-sales-earnings-fall-q1-063520474--finance.html

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The Dark History Behind Earth Day's Murderous, Girlfriend-Composting Co-Founder

As you step outside today to breathe in the fresh air and note our planet's lush, life-giving fauna, take a minute to appreciate the fact that this whole day exists thanks to the hard efforts of Earth Day's environmentally conscious, murderous conspirators. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ikvsVO7UiGQ/the-dark-history-behind-earth-days-murderous-girlfriend+composting-co+founder

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Fallout for states rejecting Medicaid expansion

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Rejecting the Medicaid expansion in the federal health care law could have unexpected consequences for states where Republican lawmakers remain steadfastly opposed to what they scorn as "Obamacare."

It could mean exposing businesses to Internal Revenue Service penalties and leaving low-income citizens unable to afford coverage even as legal immigrants get financial aid for their premiums. For the poorest people, it could virtually guarantee that they will remain uninsured and dependent on the emergency room at local hospitals that already face federal cutbacks.

Concern about such consequences helped forge a deal in Arkansas last week. The Republican-controlled Legislature endorsed a plan by Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe to accept additional Medicaid money under the federal law, but to use the new dollars to buy private insurance for eligible residents.

One of the main arguments for the private option was that it would help businesses avoid tax penalties.

The Obama administration hasn't signed off on the Arkansas deal, and it's unclear how many other states will use it as a model. But it reflects a pragmatic streak in American politics that's still the exception in the polarized health care debate.

"The biggest lesson out of Arkansas is not so much the exact structure of what they are doing," said Alan Weil, executive director of the nonpartisan National Academy for State Health Policy. "Part of it is just a message of creativity, that they can look at it and say, 'How can we do this in a way that works for us?'"

About half the nearly 30 million uninsured people expected to gain coverage under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul would do so through Medicaid. Its expansion would cover low-income people making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, about $15,860 for an individual.

Middle-class people who don't have coverage at their jobs will be able to purchase private insurance in new state markets, helped by new federal tax credits. The big push to sign up the uninsured starts this fall, and coverage takes effect Jan. 1.

As originally written, the Affordable Care Act required states to accept the Medicaid expansion as a condition of staying in the program. Last summer's Supreme Court decision gave each state the right to decide. While that pleased many governors, it also created complications by opening the door to unintended consequences.

So far, 20 mostly blue states, plus the District of Columbia, have accepted the expansion.

Thirteen GOP-led states have declined. They say Medicaid already is too costly, and they don't trust Washington to keep its promise of generous funding for the expansion, which mainly helps low-income adults with no children at home.

The remaining states are still weighing options. Concerns about the unintended consequences could make the most difference in those states.

A look at some potential side effects:

?The Employer Glitch

States that don't expand Medicaid leave more businesses exposed to tax penalties, according to a recent study by Brian Haile, Jackson Hewitt's senior vice president for tax policy. He estimates the fines could top $1 billion a year in states refusing.

Under the law, employers with 50 or more workers that don't offer coverage face penalties if just one of their workers gets subsidized private insurance through the new state markets. But employers generally do not face fines under the law for workers who enroll in Medicaid.

In states that don't expand Medicaid, some low-income workers who would otherwise have been eligible have a fallback option. They can instead get subsidized private insurance in the law's new markets. But that would trigger a penalty for their employer.

"It highlights how complicated the Affordable Care Act is," said Haile. "We wanted to make sure the business community understood."

?The Immigrant Quirk

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, called attention this year to this politically awkward problem when she proposed that her state accept the Medicaid expansion.

Under the health law, U.S. citizens below the poverty line ? $11,490 for an individual, $23,550 for a family of four ? can only get coverage through the Medicaid expansion. But lawfully present immigrants who are also below the poverty level are eligible for subsidized private insurance.

Congress wrote the legislation that way to avoid the controversy associated with trying to change previous laws that require legal immigrants to wait five years before they can qualify for Medicaid. Instead of dragging immigration politics into the health care debate, lawmakers devised a detour.

Before the Supreme Court ruling, it was a legislative patch.

Now it could turn into an issue in states with lots of immigrants, such as Texas and Florida. It could create the perception that citizens are being disadvantaged versus immigrants.

?The Fairness Argument

Under the law, U.S. citizens below the poverty line can only get taxpayer-subsidized coverage by going into Medicaid. But other low-income people making just enough to put them over the poverty line can get subsidized private insurance through the new state markets.

An individual making $11,700 a year would be able to get a policy. But someone making $300 less would be out of luck, dependent on charity care at the emergency room.

"Americans have very strong feelings about fairness," said Weil. "The notion of 'Gee, that's just not fair' is definitely a factor in the discussion."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fallout-states-rejecting-medicaid-expansion-072613081.html

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