Under pressure, fractious Syria opposition tries to unite

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A look back at the violence that has overtaken the country

By NBC News wire services

DOHA -- Syria's fractious opposition, under pressure from the United States and Qatar to unite, may agree Friday to form an inclusive new opposition body that would serve as a unity government if Bashar Assad falls.

Qatar, which has bankrolled the opposition to Assad and played a leading role in Arab diplomacy against him, is hosting an opposition meeting, with senior U.S. diplomats hovering on the sidelines, prodding the opposition to make a deal.

Rebel advances on the ground and increasing economic and social disintegration within Syria have added to the pressure on the opposition to form a body that can rule after Assad.

Fresh clashes
Activists said Friday that Syrian rebels had killed more than 20 soldiers and captured three of the most powerful security compounds in the country: the military, air force and general intelligence directorate. All are located in a northern town near the Turkey border.

The capture of the compounds and the deaths on Friday came during intense clashes in the town of Ras al-Ayn, said the?Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

At least 38,000 people have been killed since the revolt against Assad erupted nearly 20 months ago, according to Observatory data.

Refugee exodus
Meanwhile, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday that about 11,000 Syrian refugees have fled to three neighboring countries in the past 24 hours, the largest exodus in "quite some time."

The latest exodus into Turkey (9,000), Lebanon (1,000) and Jordan (1,000) brings the total number of Syrian refugees registered or being assisted in the region to 408,000, Panos Moumtzis of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said.

The Turkish state-run Anatolian news agency reported Friday that 26 Syrian military officers had also arrived in Turkey with their families overnight, in the biggest mass desertion of senior soldiers from Assad's forces in months.

Efforts to end the bloodshed have been dogged by regional and international rifts, as well as by divisions between civilian and armed opposition factions inside and outside Syria.

Analysis: US loses patience with Syria opposition group

?Sole legitimate representative?
A source inside Doha meetings that lasted into the early hours of Friday morning told Reuters that members of the Syrian National Council (SNC), a group made up mainly of exiled politicians, had shifted views and were coming to accept the need to form a wider body.

"We will not leave today without an agreement," the source told Reuters. "The body will be the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Once they get international recognition, there will be a fund for military support."

Machine guns operated by motorcycle brakes? Get a glimpse at the rebels fighting against Assad's forces in Syria's mountainous Jabal al-Zawiya area.

The new body would mirror the Transitional National Council that united the opposition to Moammar Gadhafi in Libya last year and then took power after he was ousted, the source suggested.

"They will create a 'temporary government', which could take control of embassies around the world and take Syria's seat at the U.N., because the regime would have lost its legitimacy," the source said.

Damascus bomb kills at least 15, groups say

An outline agreement could mean the SNC and other opposition figures agree on a 60-member political assembly, or congress, as well as a military and a judicial council.

The SNC, which has previously been the main opposition group on the international stage, may have about one-third of the seats in the new body, but would otherwise lose much of its influence.

Though it was not yet clear whether the groups meeting in Doha will name members to the new body or broach the thorny issue of its leadership, its creation would mark an advance long sought by the United States and Qatar.

Foreign countries that oppose Assad are determined to push Syrian opposition figures to cooperate, which means bridging gaps between exiles and those working in Syria, and between liberals and increasingly powerful Islamist militants.

The West and its regional allies worry that if Assad were to fall before the opposition unites behind a credible body capable of leading the country, increasingly powerful Islamist militia would quickly take over Syria.

NBC News

People resisting the army of President Bashar Assad in northern Syria cope with loss and prepare for fighting.

New pressure after Obama?s re-election
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for overhauling the opposition amid eroding faith in the SNC, saying there needed to be representation of those "on the frontlines and dying." British Prime Minister David Cameron also signaled international pressure to unite the opposition.

UK PM: Safe exit for Syria's Assad 'could be arranged'

Pressure on the opposition to unite increased further this week after the re-election of President Barack Obama, which removed uncertainty about the U.S. position.

A diplomat familiar with the talks said that throughout the week the SNC had shifted towards taking international pressure more seriously, especially after Obama's victory.

Analysis: Election over, Obama inbox overflows with world crises

"The Americans felt a swagger after the results of the election and Obama's win. No one can dismiss them anymore, because they are staying," he told Reuters, adding that a State Department official sat in on Thursday meetings.

"But reaching a real deal over the initiative will also depend on who joins this assembly from the SNC, which will have no real influence after that," the diplomat said.

In an interview with a Russian television channel, Syrian President Bashir Assad vowed to live and die in Syria, even as a 19-month old uprising against him rages. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

The SNC is due Friday to complete elections to its executive council and choose a new leader, before continuing talks with Seif, representatives of rebel groups and other political factions on forming the new assembly.

Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com

Assad told Russia Today television on Thursday he would "live and die in Syria," comments that echoed the words of other Arab leaders before they lost power in 2011.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/09/15050022-under-international-pressure-fractious-syria-opposition-tries-to-unite?lite

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Obama's big Hispanic win worries GOP

FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2012, file photo, Spanish language election campaign signs promoting President Barack Obama hang on the windows at Lechonera El Barrio Restaurant in Orlando, Fla. Hispanics supported President Barack Obama over Republican Mitt Romney by almost 3-to-1 and put Republicans on notice they must take real steps to win over the nation?s largest minority group if they want to win the presidency again. Exit polls say that Romney, who has backed hardline immigration measures, won only 27 percent of Hispanics. (AP Photo/Julie Fletcher)

FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2012, file photo, Spanish language election campaign signs promoting President Barack Obama hang on the windows at Lechonera El Barrio Restaurant in Orlando, Fla. Hispanics supported President Barack Obama over Republican Mitt Romney by almost 3-to-1 and put Republicans on notice they must take real steps to win over the nation?s largest minority group if they want to win the presidency again. Exit polls say that Romney, who has backed hardline immigration measures, won only 27 percent of Hispanics. (AP Photo/Julie Fletcher)

In this Oct. 19, 2012 photo, Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who became New Mexico's first Latina elected to Congress after winning the state's open 1st Congressional District race on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, is shown speaking with Hispanic voters at Barelas Coffee House in Albuquerque, N.M. Among many troubling signs for Republicans Tuesday night was the continued drift of Hispanics _ the nation?s fastest-growing ethnic group _ into the blue column. Republican Mitt Romney backed hardline immigration measures during the primary and won only 27 percent of the Hispanic vote Tuesday, less than any presidential candidate in 16 years. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)

DENVER (AP) ? Omayra Vasquez blinks and does a double take when asked why she voted for President Barack Obama. The reason for her was as natural as breathing.

"I feel closer to him," said Vasquez, a 43-year-old Federal Express worker from Denver. "He cares about the Spanish people."

Millions of Hispanic voters seconded that emotion Tuesday with resounding 71 percent support for Obama, tightening Democrats' grip on the White House and putting Republicans on notice that they must seriously court the nation's largest minority group if they want to win the presidency again.

According to initial exit polls, Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who backed hard-line immigration measures, came away with 27 percent Hispanic support, less than any presidential candidate in 16 years and a sharp drop from the 44 percent claimed by President George W. Bush in 2004 after he embraced immigration reform.

"We could have won this election if the party had a better brand name with Hispanics," said Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union. "I don't believe there's a path to the White House in the future that doesn't include 38 percent-40 percent Hispanic support."

Cardenas said Hispanics were only a large part of a worrisome trend in the electorate, which is increasingly comprised of younger and minority voters who traditionally do not back Republicans. If the 1980 electorate looked like the 2012 version, he added, Jimmy Carter would have defeated Ronald Reagan.

Matt Schlapp, who was political director of George W. Bush's 2000 campaign, drew parallels between the GOP's standing with Hispanics and the party's troubles with African-Americans, who now routinely back Democrats by 9-1 margins. "The idea that we would somehow copy that with the Hispanic community is troubling," he said.

Hispanics have long favored Democrats. But they have been trending even more sharply toward that party since Republicans stymied Bush's immigration proposal and favored hard-line immigration measures that critics decried as racially motivated.

Romney tapped an author of Arizona's controversial immigration law to advise him during the GOP primaries and called for "self-deportation" to lower the number of illegal immigrants. Obama, meanwhile, announced in June that immigration authorities would grant work permits to people brought here illegally as children who graduated high school or served in the military. The directive energized a Hispanic electorate that had been disappointed by Obama's inability to pass immigration reforms.

A survey of Hispanic voters by the firm Latino Decisions found that Hispanics gave Obama his winning margin in Colorado, Florida and Nevada, swing states where they turned out in unusually high numbers. Even before the races were called, some Republicans took to the airwaves and social media calling for the party to back off its hard-line stance and embrace certain immigration reforms.

It's unclear whether the results would change the party's opposition to legalizing some illegal immigrants. In a conversation with the Des Moines Register last month, Obama predicted that GOP opposition could crumble after Hispanics delivered the White House to him. The conversation was initially off the record but later published with the president's consent.

"And since this is off the record, I will just be very blunt," Obama said. "Should I win a second term, a big reason I will win a second term is because the Republican nominee and the Republican Party have so alienated the fastest-growing demographic group in the country, the Latino community."

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed to introduce an immigration reform package next year, saying Republicans would reject it "at their peril."

Opponents of an immigration deal warned that Republicans should not take the Democrats' bait. Steve Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies noted that Hispanics have reliably backed Democrats for decades, even after President Ronald Reagan signed an immigration amnesty in 1986 that gave many of them legal status. Those new American citizens, Camarota said, turned into Democrats.

Camarota and other supporters of immigration restrictions contend that Hispanics lean Democratic because they favor government social programs and higher taxes on the wealthy. "They changed the national electorate and now they have to move with the electorate," Camarota said of the GOP. "For 30 years that we have data, Hispanics have been voting Democratic. There's no reason to think that's going to change unless the Republican Party moves away from its low-tax, low-regulation position."

NumbersUSA President Roy Beck, whose group advocates reductions in immigration levels, argues that Republicans like Romney need to explain to Hispanic voters why immigration restrictions are in their interest. His group advocates reductions in immigration levels. "He should have talked about Hispanic unemployment and how much high immigration hurts Hispanic employment."

Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., an immigration hawk, agreed and said economic issues, not immigration, are key to winning Hispanics. "You should never sacrifice your core beliefs for political reasons," he said.

The debate is nothing new for the GOP.

Mario H. Lopez, president of the conservative Hispanic Leadership Fund, said he's heard arguments like that before ? after every election in which Hispanics lean more Democratic and Republicans suffer. "The clock has been ticking," Lopez said. "Some of us have been talking about it for years. It's up to them if they want to listen or have more nights like Tuesday night."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-11-08-Presidential%20Race-Hispanics/id-8ca08048962841868c8e12b16064eec0

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S.Africa police fire rubber bullets at striking miners

RUSTENBURG, South Africa (Reuters) - South African police fired rubber bullets and teargas on Tuesday at striking Amplats miners who were protesting against a union-brokered deal to end a six-week wildcat walkout at the top platinum producer.

As they moved into a shanty town near the mines, police also deployed water cannons and stun grenades against groups of protesters armed with wooden sticks and stones. Women and children fled as they fanned out through the maze of tin huts.

One protester was dragged away bleeding heavily and unable to walk, and was treated by paramedics, a Reuters witness said.

The strikers at Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) mines near Rustenburg, 120 km (70 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, had been due to return to work following a company offer to reinstate 12,000 men sacked for downing tools six weeks ago.

"We are not giving up, we will soldier on," said striker John Tonsi, who had been shot in the leg by a rubber bullet. "We will fight for our cause until management comes to its senses."

Months of labour unrest in the mines have hit platinum and gold output, threatened growth in Africa's biggest economy and drawn criticism of President Jacob Zuma for his handling of the most damaging strikes since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Amplats said at the weekend it had reached a deal with several unions and would be offering sweeteners, such as a one-off hardship payment of 2,000 rand, to end a strike that has crippled production.

A return to work on Tuesday was one of the conditions attached to the deal.

However, at Amplats' Thembelani mine, hundreds of miners barricaded a road with burning tyres, and police said an electricity sub-station at another mine was set alight.

Amplats said it was still working out attendance numbers at its four strike-hit Rustenburg mines. For the past few weeks, fewer than 20 percent of staff have been turning up.

PAYMENT SWEETENERS

The strikes have shone a harsh spotlight on South Africa's persistent income inequality and the promise by Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) to build "a better life for all" following the end of white-minority rule.

The strikes have also been a major test for Zuma, who faces an ANC leadership election in December.

Even though his handling of the unrest has caused internal party concern, he remains favourite to win re-election, teeing him up for another five years as national president from 2014.

Management threats of mass dismissals, along with pay sweeteners, have ended most of the strikes in the last two weeks, but workers at Thembelani said they were determined to hold out.

Their main demand is for Amplats to match a salary increase of up to 22 percent offered by rival Lonmin after a violent wildcat walkout at its nearby Marikana platinum mine in August.

The Lonmin offer came in the wake of the police killing of 34 miners on August 16, the bloodiest security incident since apartheid. Lonmin said on Tuesday it wanted to raise $800 million via a rights issue to help it recover from the strikes .

MacDonald Motsaathebe, who has been with Amplats for 12 years, said workers did not agree to the deal struck at the weekend between Amplats and unions including the National Union of Mineworkers.

"We didn't agree to the offer. We want 16,000 rand. Lonmin miners got it, and we want it," said the 35-year-old, whose salary supports nine people. "We earn peanuts."

Strikers at gold firms including AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields returned to work last week after threats of mass dismissals and an offer of a small pay increase.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/africa-amplats-strikers-defy-return-deadline-073534440--sector.html

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Healthcare ? Digital Health Companies Feeling Robust - Literacy 2.0

International CES, the annual gathering of consumer electronics manufacturers, distributors and retailers, is a reliable barometer for technology trends. What you see at CES in January is predictive of what will be on the shelves in the coming months or even years. So, the trade association?s announcement this week that digital health and fitness technology has become one of the show?s fastest growing segments can be taken as a signpost pointing toward the future. More than 215 digital health and fitness technology vendors will be exhibiting their wares at CES in January, a nearly 25 percent jump from 2012.

The FitnessTech and Digital Health Summit TechZones will feature products for diagnosing, monitoring and treating illnesses as well as products that promote and reinforce healthy behavior. Many will be mobile and many will be designed as games.

The category is moving fast and moving past the glut of unimaginative products for exercise tracking and calorie counting. Next-gen health and fitness devices and apps will give users anytime/anywhere access to their medical history as well as remote access to medical professionals. Products on display will include tele-health systems, robotic aids, electronic medical records, therapeutic and diagnostic medical devices and monitoring devices for the home.

The new tools will enable the capture and compilation of biometric data that can be parsed, charted and shared. Individuals will soon have access to the kind of health telemetry NASA gathers from astronauts in space. By some estimates, within five years there will be as many as 170 million wearable devices for sports and fitness in use.

Prominent digital healthcare vendors scheduled to?exhibit at CES include HealthSpot, Body Media, Life Technologies, Omron Healthcare, Scosche Industries and United Health Group.

?Health and fitness technology is booming, and will continue its dominance on the CES show floor,? said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA.

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Ed. Note:

Now you?ve heard it straight from the loudspeakers of the?$206 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry: The convergence of health, wellness and technology is upon us.

The 200+?exhibiting?digital health and fitness companies are only a drop in the bucket compared to the 3,000 technology companies that?in January?will attract what might well be the largest gathering of techno-geeks on the planet.?Even so, there is no doubting that digital health tech is in our future. Few things interest people more than their own health and few things have captured our imaginations and bank cards like digital tech.

Therefore, it?s all good news, right? The Digital Age will usher in a new era of health and fitness. We will be linked in and buffed up. Disease, illness and wellness inertia will be no match for our silicon?arsenal?of medical gadgets.

Not likely.

The technologies will have the potential to assist people with staying fit and healthy, but only if the users of said technology have a healthy attitude and a willingness to do what it takes to be well.

Will the technologies be physically and?psychologically?motivational? Will they be able to overcome sedentary tendencies, gluttony and various forms of addictions? If we make our bodies into digital input/output devices will we be able to muster willpower and step onto paths of moderation? Or will all those sensors and readouts, games and doohickeys just give us the bad news in greater detail?

Having access to affordable gene sequencing, a doctor in your pocket, real-time medicine monitoring, smart bandages and all the other digital health marvels on the horizon won?t mean much and may actually do more harm than good unless accompanied by a well-developed sense of personal responsibility for our own well-being and, of equal importance, a healthy dose of digital health literacy.

That?s the real promise of digital health technology. What better time to bring kids, adults and seniors up to speed on digital health than when it is just coming online. It happened with the Internet and education. The Web is no longer an adjunct to education, it is endemic to it. In a very short time, the same will happen with health technology. The merging of health education and digital literacy training could be an opportunity to put people who have fallen off the health wagon back on track. Digital health tech could make?good health trendy.?

When it comes to quality of life, digital health literacy just might become the single most critical digital literacy of them all.

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu called health our greatest possession. Yeah, that and an iPhone.

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Source: http://www.literacy20.com/2012/10/digital-health-devices-on-the-rise/

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