Conn. Victim's Father Remembers 'Loving' Daughter

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

Emilie Parker, the little girl with the blond hair and bright blue eyes, would have been one of the first to comfort her classmates at Sandy Hook Elementary School, had a gunman’s bullets not claimed her life, her father said.

“My daughter Emilie would be one of the first ones to be standing and giving support to all the victims because that’s the kind of kid she is,” her father, Robbie Parker said as he fought back tears, telling the world about his “bright, creative and loving” daughter who was one of the 20 young victims in the Newtown, Conn., shooting.

“She always had something kind to say about anybody,” her father said.  ”We find comfort reflecting on the incredible person Emilie was and how many lives she was able to touch.”

Emilie, 6, was helping teach her younger sisters to read and make things, and she was the little girls would go to for comfort, he said.

“They looked up to her,” Parker said.

READ: Complete List of Sandy Hook Victims

Parker moved his wife and three daughters to Newtown eight months ago after accepting a job as  a physician’s assistant at Danbury Hospital. He said Emilie, his oldest daughter, seemed to have adjusted well to her new school, and he was very happy with the school, too.

“I love the people at the school. I love Emilie’s teacher and the classmates we were able to get to know,” he said.

      (Image Credit: Alex von Kleydorff/AP Photo)

The family dealt with another tragic loss in October when Emilie lost her grandfather in an accident.

“[This] has been a topic that has been discussed in our family in the past couple of  months,” Parker said. “[My daughters ages 3 and 4] seem to get the idea that there’s somebody who they will miss very much.”

Emilie, a budding artist who carried her markers and pencils everywhere, paid tribute to her grandfather by slipping a special card she had drawn into his casket, Parker said.  It was something she frequently did to lift the spirits of others.

“I can’t count the number of times Emilie would find someone feeling sad or frustrated and would make people a card,” Parker said. “She was an exceptional artist.”

The girl who was remembered as “always willing to try new things, other than food” was learning Portuguese from her father, who speaks the language.

(Image Credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

On Friday morning, Emilie woke up before her father left for his job and exchanged a few sentences with him in the language.

“She told me good morning and asked how I was doing,” Parker said. “She said she loved me, I gave her a kiss and I was out the door.”

Parker found out about the shooting while on lockdown in Danbury Hospital and found a television for the latest news.

“I didn’t think it was that big of deal at first,” he said. “With the first reports coming in, it didn’t sound like it was going to be as tragic as it was. That’s kind of what it was like for us.”

CLICK HERE for full coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting.

Parker said he knows that God can’t take away free will and would have been unable to stop the Sandy Hook shooting. While gunman Adam Lanza used his free agency to take innocent lives, Parker said he plans to use his in a positive way.

“I’m not mad because I have my  [free] agency to use this event to do whatever I can to make sure my family and my wife and my daughters are taken care [of],” he said. “And if there’s anything I can do to help to anyone at any time at anywhere, I’m free to do that.”

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

Friday night, hours after he learned of his daughter’s death, Parker said he spoke at his church.

“I don’t know how to get through something like this. My wife and I don’t understand how to process all of this,” he said today. “We find strength in our religion and in our faith and in our family. ”

“It’s a horrific tragedy and I want everyone to know our hearts and prayers go out to them. This includes the family of the shooter. I can’t imagine how hard this experience must be for you and I want you to know our family … love and support goes out to you as well.”

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NATO says Syrian Scuds hit "near" Turkey

BEIRUT (Reuters) - NATO accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces of firing Scud missiles that landed near to the Turkish border, in explaining why it was sending anti-missile batteries and troops to the bloc's frontier.

The Syrian government, which finds itself under attack from rebels in the capital Damascus and by a diplomatic alliance of Arab and Western powers, denies firing such long-range, Soviet-built rockets and had no immediate comment on the latest charge.

Admiral James Stavridis, the American who is NATO's military commander, wrote in a blog on Friday: "Over the past few days, a handful of Scud missiles were launched inside Syria, directed by the regime against opposition targets. Several landed fairly close to the Turkish border, which is very worrisome."

It was not clear how close they came. NATO member Turkey, once friendly toward Assad but now among the main allies of the rebels, has complained of occasional bullets and artillery fire, some of which has been fatal, for many months. It sought the installation of missile defenses on its border some weeks ago.

"Syria is clearly a chaotic and dangerous situation; but we have an absolute obligation to defend the borders of the alliance from any threat emanating from that troubled state," Stavridis wrote.

Batteries of U.S.-made Patriot missiles, designed to shoot down the likes of the Scuds popularly associated with Iraq's wars under Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, are about to be deployed by the U.S., German and Dutch armies, each of which is sending up to 400 troops to operate and protect the rocket systems.

The Syrian government has accused Western powers of backing what it portrays as a Sunni Islamist "terrorist" attack on it and says Washington and Europe have publicly voiced concerns of late that Assad's forces might resort to chemical weapons solely as a pretext for preparing a possible military intervention.

In contrast to NATO's air campaign in support of Libya's successful revolt last year against Muammar Gaddafi, Western powers have fought shy of intervention in Syria. They have cited the greater size and ethnic and religious complexity of a major Arab state at the heart of the Middle East - but have also lacked U.N. approval due to Russia's support for Assad.

Moscow reacted angrily on Friday to the way U.S. officials seized on comments by a top Kremlin envoy for the Middle East as evidence that Russia was giving up on Assad. Comments by Mikhail Bogdanov on Thursday in which he conceded Assad might be ousted did not reflect a change in policy, the Foreign Ministry said.

Assad's diplomatic isolation remains acute, however, as Arab and Western powers this week recognized a new, united coalition of opposition groups as Syria's legitimate leadership. Large parts of the country are no longer under the government's control and fighting has been raging around Damascus itself.

European Union leaders who met in Brussels on Friday said all options were on the table to support the Syrian opposition, raising the possibility that non-lethal military equipment or even arms could eventually be supplied.

In their strongest statement of support for the Syrian opposition since the uprising began 20 months ago, EU leaders instructed their foreign ministers to assess all possibilities to increase the pressure on Assad.

With rebels edging into the capital, a senior NATO official said that Assad is likely to fall and the Western military alliance should make plans to protect against the threat of his chemical arsenal falling into the wrong hands.

HUNGER SPREADS

Desperation for food is growing in parts of Syria and residents of the northern city of Aleppo say fist fights and dashes across the civil war front lines have become part of the daily struggle to secure a loaf of bread.

"I went out yesterday and could not get any bread. If only the problem was just lack of food - there is also a huge shortage of fuel, which the bakeries need to run," said Ahmed, a resident of the battle-scarred Salaheddine district.

He said people get into fist fights over flour and rebels regularly have to break up fights by firing into the air.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says as many as a million people may go hungry this winter, as worsening security conditions make it harder to reach conflict zones.

Forty thousand people have now been killed in the most enduring and destructive of the Arab revolts. The government severely limits press and humanitarian access to the country.

U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said on Friday the United Nations is committed to maintaining aid operations in Syria.

"NOTHING OFF THE TABLE"

At the EU summit, Britain's David Cameron pushed for an early review of the arms embargo against Syria to possibly open the way to supply equipment to rebels in the coming months. Germany and others were more reluctant and blocked any quick move. But there was widespread agreement that whatever action can be taken under current legislation should be pursued, and the arms embargo would still be reviewed at a later stage.

"I want a very clear message to go to President Assad that nothing is off the table," Cameron told reporters at the end of a two-day summit. "I want us to work with the opposition ... so that we can see the speediest possible transition in Syria.

"There is no single simple answer, but inaction and indifference are not options."

Among factors holding Western powers back from arming the rebels is the presence in their ranks of anti-Western Islamist radicals. Following a U.S. decision this week to blacklist one such group, Jabhat al-Nusra, a "terrorist" group, thousands of Syrians demonstrated on Friday against ostracizing the movement.

The latest, weekly Friday protests in rebel-held areas were held under the slogan: "The only terrorism in Syria is Assad's".

Inspired by Arab uprisings across the region, Syrian protesters were met with gunfire by Assad's security forces in March 2011. Armed revolt overtook the movement, which has become increasingly sectarian - waged by majority Sunni Muslims against forces loyal to Assad, who is from the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of the Shi'ite Islam practiced in Assad's ally Iran.

A video posted on the Internet showed dozens of Sunni rebels dressed in camouflage gear congratulating and kissing each other outside a burning Shi'ite shrine.

A fighter holding a rifle said the group was destroying the "dens of the Shi'ites". Reuters could not independently verify the video, which was posted on YouTube on Wednesday and purports to be filmed in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughur.

(Writing by Oliver Holmes and Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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Hundreds hold vigil after US school massacre

NEWTOWN, Connecticut: Hundreds of people attended a mass Friday night at a church in Newtown, Connecticut, paying tribute to the victims of the elementary school massacre that left at least 27 dead.

The church was so packed that dozens of people crowded outside the St. Rose of Lima Catholic church -- just a mile from the Sandy Hook elementary school where the tragedy took place.

"This is a kind of community, when things like that happen, they really pull together," Monsignor Robert Weiss said as he closed the special service he convened after hearing news of the slaughter.

"As so many people don't have extended family, friends become very important. And you see evidence of that tonight," he added.

As Weiss spoke, many outside the church stood in silence, still in shock over the attack by the heavily armed young gunman who killed 26 people, including 20 small children, before dying.

Some lit candles and others joined hands in a large circle and sang Christmas songs.

David Connors, father of triplets, all of whom were at the school during the shooting, brought his children to the Mass.

"It's hard. I've never imagined a thing like that could happen here," he told AFP, though he said the children, two boys and a girl, were doing well.

When the gunshots began, they "heard noises. But they were in a separate part of the building" and were evacuated to a fire station near the school, he explained.

For Ray Horvath, a retiree who volunteers at the Connecticut Department of Education in Newtown, the mass was comforting, even though he is not religious.

"It's nice to see the concern of all these people," he said, fighting tears.

"I wish I was a person of faith because it would sustain me, but I don't have it."

- AFP/lp

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Put your phone into 'car mode' with these dashboard apps

Sadly, Android's original Car Home app is incompatible with most modern versions of the OS.

(Credit:
Google)

My first
Android phone, the original Motorola Droid, was one of the first phones to debut Google Maps Navigation. Now, Google knew that this feature would get drivers interested in using their Android phones in the car and that the tiny virtual buttons and shortcuts that worked well when the device was handheld wouldn't cut it behind the wheel. So, when users popped their Droids into their
car docks, they were presented with a simplified interface with large shortcut buttons to car-centric apps, designed for safer use while driving.

Smartphones have come a long way since I retired my Droid, but--with the exception of a few devices with customized OSes--the Car Home feature has largely disappeared from newer Android phones. In a time where drivers are more concerned than ever about distraction behind the wheel, this is a shame.

Here's where the third-party steps in to help. We've rounded up a collection of our favorite dashboard apps that closely replicate (and in many cases, exceed) the functionally of that old Car Home app for both Android. We've also included a number of apps for iOS devices, which have never boasted such a car-specific feature.

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Vlingo Virtual Assistant
Android, price: Free

Vlingo Virtual Assistant is one of my favorite apps for in-car use. When placed in its Vlingo InCar mode, the app listens for an activation phrase and responds to your voice commands without your ever having to actually touch your phone. Simply say, "Hey Vlingo, navigate home." or "Hey Vlingo, text Wayne, 'I'm going to be a bit late.'" to interact with your phone in the safest way possible. You can even ask Vlingo trivia like, "What's the capitol of California?" or "How tall is the Empire State Building?"

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CarHome Ultra
Android, price: $3.99 after 30 day free trial

CarHome Ultra hearkens back to the original Car Home mode that debuted as part of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Firing up this app presents the user with large, easy to see and tap shortcuts for functions commonly used while driving, such as Maps, Navigation, or Voice Search. Any of these buttons can be customized, so can add shortcuts to Pandora or MOG, for example, if you're a heavy Internet radio listener. CarHome Ultra also features a Night Mode to reduce glare and can automatically disable your Wi-Fi and enable your Bluetooth when activated.

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Car Widget
Android, price: $0.99 after 10-use free trial

CarWidget is a bit like a simpler, cheaper version of CarHome Ultra. This widget lives on your Android phone's home screen and presents six customizable shortcuts to car-centric apps such as Navigation, Phone, or your favorite music or podcast player. CarWidget can be set to automatically adjust your phone's settings when certain conditions are met--such as pairing with your car's Bluetooth system--to automatically disable Wi-Fi, disable the screen timeout, or adjust the volume levels for calls and media. This 4x4 widget takes up an entire homescreen, which could be problematic for some users.

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Awesome HUD
Apple iOS, price: Free

Awesome HUD transforms your iPhone in a customizable GPS speedometer that also offers easily touchable shortcuts for control of your iPod music app. Put the Awesome HUD app into its HUD mode and place your phone screen up on the dashboard to see a head-up display reflected onto your car's windshield. This way, you can monitor your speed, direction, and drive time without taking your eyes off of the road. The HUD is really only visible at night and, unfortunately, Awesome HUD isn't compatible with the
iPhone 5, but it's not bad for a free app.

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Drive
Apple iOS, price: $1.99

Drive is probably one of the better car-specific dashboard apps for the Apple iPhone and is definitely worth its $1.99 price tag. Fire up the app and you'll be greeted with four large shortcuts for four functions. Music gives quick gesture-based control of the iPod app; Map brings up, well, a Map and enables users to track their trip; quick text fires off predefined text messages to predefined contacts, such as "I'm stuck in traffic and will be late."; and quick call puts your favorite contacts at your fingertips for quick hands-free calling.

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iCarMode
Apple iOS, price: $1.99

iCarMode is another great dashboard app for the iPhone--possibly better even than the aforementioned Drive--that presents a number of large, easy-to-tap shortcuts to music controls, contacts, audio controls, and your favorite GPS navigation and audio streaming apps. Users can also search for destinations from the iCarMode interface and quickly locate their car thanks to the app's ability to save the location of a parked car when exiting the vehicle and be reminded when it's time to feed the meter with the parking meter timer.

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Car Dock Mode
Apple iOS, price: Free with $2.99 in-app premium feature unlock

Car Dock Mode is more of an honorable mention than a bona fide player in this space. It's designed to work with the Dension Car Dock for iPhone, but doesn't require the hardware to be installed on your iPhone. The free app presents large shortcuts to your contacts for hands-free calling, iPod music library playback, and maps. An in-app purchase unlocks the app's premium features, enabling Web Radio streaming of thousands of Internet radio stations, a GPS car finder function, and the ability to customize and re-color the app. iCarMode and Drive are much better apps, but if you're looking for a free alternative, Car Dock Mode will make do.

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iOnRoad Augmented Driving Pro
Android, Apple iOS, price: $4.99

Odds are that you won't be using your phone's camera while you drive, so put it to work enhancing the safety of your car with the iOnRoad Augmented Driving app. This app watches the road ahead of your car for obstructions and other cars. When it detects that you're approaching an obstruction too quickly and there's potential for an collision, it sounds an alarm and flashes the screen. The app can even run in the background, if you want to also use your phone to navigate.

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Hundreds pack Conn. church for vigil after rampage

Updated 11:39 PM ET

NEWTOWN, Conn. Twenty-six candles — one for each of the victims — flickered on the altar Friday as hundreds of grief-stricken residents gathered for a vigil in memory of the children and staff killed in a shooting rampage at a school in this Connecticut town.

With the church filled to capacity, hundreds spilled outside, holding hands in circles in the cold night air and saying prayers. Others sang "Silent Night" or huddled near the windows of St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic church.

"Many of us today and in the coming days will rely on what we have been taught and what we believe, that there is faith for a reason," Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said at the vigil Mass.

The residents were gathered to mourn those whose lives were lost when a 20-year-old man killed his mother at their home, then descended on Sandy Hook Elementary School, opening fire as youngsters cowered in fear amid the sounds of gunshots and screams. Twenty children were among the 26 dead at the school.

The shooter, Adam Lanza, armed with at least two handguns, committed suicide, authorities said.

Even though there were 26 candles on the altar, Monsignor Robert Weiss said it was important to remember everyone who died, including Lanza and his mother.

"Ours is not to judge or to question," he told reporters after the service. "But we are really holding in our hearts especially the children and the staff of the school."

"These 20 children were just beautiful, beautiful children," Weiss said. "These 20 children lit up this community better than all these Christmas lights we have. ... There are a lot brighter stars up there tonight because of these kids."

Weiss said he spent much of the day trying to console those who had lost a child or other family member, adding that he had no answers for their questions of how something so horrible could happen.

But through their sorrow, some parents found solace in remembering their loved ones, he said. One father whose son was killed recalled how his boy had made his first soccer goal this year.

Some parents said they struggled with mixed emotions after their own children survived the massacre that took so many young lives.

After receiving word of the shooting, Tracy Hoekenga said she was paralyzed with fear for her two boys, fourth-grader C.J. and second-grader Matthew.

"I couldn't breathe. It's indescribable. For a half an hour, 45 minutes, I had no idea if my kids were OK," she said.

Matthew said a teacher ordered him and other students to their cubbies, and a police officer came and told them to line up and close their eyes.

"They said there could be bad stuff. So we closed our eyes and we went out. When we opened our eyes, we saw a lot of broken glass and blood on the ground," he said.

David Connors, whose triplets attend the school, said his children were told to hide in a closet during the lockdown.

"My son said he did hear some gunshots, as many as 10," he said. "The questions are starting to come out: `Are we safe? Is the bad guy gone?"'

At the vigil, Newtown High School freshman Claudia Morris, 14, said students had gathered in the school hallways after the massacre, asking each other, "Are you all right? Are you all right?"

"No one has answers to why this happened," she said. "It just seems so unreal."

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Conn. Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well'

Adam Lanza of Newtown, Connecticut was a child of the suburbs and a child of divorce who at age 20 still lived with his mother.

This morning he appears to have started his day by shooting his mother Nancy in the face, and then drove her car to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School, armed with two handguns and a semi-automatic rifle.

There, before turning his gun on himself, he shot and killed 20 children, who President Obama later described as "beautiful little kids" between five and 10 years of age. Six adults were also killed at the school. Nancy Lanza was found dead in her home.

A relative told ABC News that Adam was "obviously not well."

Family friends in Newtown also described the young man as troubled and described Nancy as rigid. "[Adam] was not connected with the other kids," said Barbara Frey, who also said he was "a little bit different ... Kind of repressed."

State and federal authorities believe his mother may have once worked at the elementary school where Adam went on his deadly rampage, although she was not a teacher, according to relatives, perhaps a volunteer.

Nancy and her husband Peter, Adam's father, divorced in 2009. When they first filed for divorce in 2008, a judge ordered that they participate in a "parenting education program."

Peter Lanza, who drove to northern New Jersey to talk to police and the FBI, is a vice president at GE Capital and had been a partner at global accounting giant Ernst & Young.

Adam's older brother Ryan Lanza, 24, has worked at Ernst & Young for four years, apparently following in his father's footsteps and carving out a solid niche in the tax practice. He too was interviewed by the FBI. Neither he nor his father is under any suspicion.

"[Ryan] is a tax guy and he is clean as a whistle," a source familiar with his work said.

Police had initially identified Ryan as the killer. Ryan sent out a series of Facebook posts saying it wasn't him and that he was at work all day. Video records as well as card swipes at Ernst & Young verified his statement that he had been at the office.

Two federal sources told ABC News that identification belonging to Ryan Lanza was found at the scene of the mass shooting. They say that identification may have led to the confusion by authorities during the first hours after the shooting. Neither Adam nor Ryan has any known criminal history.

A Sig Sauer handgun and a Glock handgun were used in the slaying and .223 shell casings – a round used in a semi-automatic military-style rifle -- were also found at the scene. Nancy Lanza had numerous weapons registered to her, including a Glock and a Sig Sauer. She also owned a Bushmaster rifle -- a semi-automatic carbine chambered for a .223 caliber round. However, federal authorities cannot confirm that the handguns or the rifle were the weapons recovered at the school.

Numerous relatives of the Lanzas in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, as well as multiple friends, are being interviewed by the FBI in an effort to put together a better picture of the gunman and any explanation for today's tragedy.

"I think the most important thing to point out with this kind of individual is that he did not snap this morning and decide to act out violently," said former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole. "These acts involve planning and thoughtfulness and strategizing in order to put the plan together so what may appear to be snap behavior is not that at all."

With reporting by Pierre Thomas, Jim Avila, Santina Leuci, Aaron Katersky, Matthew Mosk, Jason Ryan and Jay Shaylor

MORE: 27 Dead, Mostly Children, at Connecticut Elementary School Shooting

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U.S., rebels urge gloomy Moscow to help oust Assad

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's rebel leadership and the United States seized on Russian pessimism over President Bashar al-Assad's future to urge Moscow to help push its ally into ceding power and end the battles closing in around his capital.

"We want to commend the Russian government for finally waking up to the reality and acknowledging that the regime's days are numbered," the U.S. State Department spokeswoman said after a senior Kremlin envoy conceded publicly on Thursday that Assad's opponents could win the 20-month-old civil war.

"The question now is, will the Russian government join those of us in the international community who are working with the opposition to try to have a smooth democratic transition?" U.S. spokeswoman Victoria Nuland added in Washington.

In Marrakech, where his new coalition won recognition from other international powers as the legitimate leadership of Syria, rebel political leader Mouaz al-Khatib said he believed Russia, ally and arms supplier to the Assad dynasty since Soviet times, was looking for ways out of its support for a lost cause.

"I believe that the Russians have woken up and are sensing that they have implicated themselves with this regime, but they don't know how to get out," al-Khatib told Reuters. He held them "particularly responsible" for helping Assad with arms but said Moscow need not "lose everything" in Syria if it changed tack.

Under President Vladimir Putin, wary since last year's Libyan war of what Russia sees as a Western drive to use the United Nations to overthrow national leaders it dislikes, Russia has blocked U.N. efforts to squeeze Assad, who has also had strong support from his long-time sponsor Iran.

But Mikhail Bogdanov, a deputy foreign minister and the Kremlin's special envoy for Middle East affairs, was quoted as saying in Moscow: "One must look the facts in the face."

"Unfortunately, the victory of the Syrian opposition cannot be ruled out." The Syrian government, he said, was "losing control of more and more territory" and Moscow was preparing to evacuate Russian citizens if necessary.

Nuland said Bogdanov's comments demonstrated that Moscow now "sees the writing on the wall" on Syria and said Russia should now rally behind U.N. efforts to prevent a wider bloodbath.

"They can withdraw any residual support for the Assad regime, whether it is material support (or) financial support," she said. "They can also help us to identify people who might be willing, inside of Syria, to work on a transitional structure."

DIPLOMACY

International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who has met Russian and U.S. officials twice in the past week, is seeking a solution based on an agreement reached in Geneva in June that called for the creation of a transitional government in Syria.

But Russia has repeated warnings that recognition of al-Khatib's coalition, notably by the United States, is undermining diplomacy, and rejected U.S. contentions that the Geneva agreement sent a clear message that Assad should step down.

Nuland said the Brahimi meetings could lay the framework for a political structure to follow Assad:

"We've said all along to the Russians that we are concerned that the longer that this goes on, and the longer it takes us to get to an alternative political path for Syria, the only path is going to be the military one and that is just going to bring more violence.

"We all ought to be working together."

Bogdanov, whose government has suggested that Assad himself should be allowed to see through a transition he has promised, suggested the rebels and their allies were set on a military solution and he gave little hint of detente with Washington.

"The fighting will become even more intense and (Syria) will lose tens of thousands and, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of civilians," Bogdanov was quoted as saying. "If such a price for the removal of the president seems acceptable to you, what can we do? We, of course, consider it absolutely unacceptable."

The head of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said elsewhere: "I think the regime in Damascus is approaching collapse."

A U.S. official said: "Assad probably still believes that Syria is his and illusions can die hard. But Assad and those closest to him have got to be feeling the psychological strain of fighting a long war that is not going their way."

DAMASCUS BATTLES

But Al-Khatib, who played down Western concerns of sectarian Sunni Islamists in rebel ranks, warned that the fighting was far from over, even as it has begun to rattle the heart of Assad's power in Damascus. On Wednesday, a car bomb killed at least 16 people in a nearby town which is home to many military families.

"The noose is tightening around the regime," al-Khatib said.

"(But) the regime still has power. People think that the regime is finished, but it still has power left, but it is demoralized and however long it lasted its end is clear."

Day and night, Damascenes can hear the thunderous sound of bombardment aimed at rebel-held and contested neighborhoods.

The city's streets have now turned into a labyrinth of checkpoints and road blocks, with several major roads permanently closed off to traffic by concrete barriers.

"We escape from one place and trouble follows," said one grandmother, Um Hassan, as she described to Reuters her family's flight from one neighborhood to another as fighting seeps into the capital. "I don't know where we can keep running to."

Nonetheless, al-Khatib played down demands for their allies to provide heavier weaponry - a request long resisted by governments wary of anti-aircraft missiles and other hardware reaching Islamist rebels who might turn them against the West.

"The Syrian people ... no longer need international forces to protect them," he said, not specifying whether he meant a no-fly zone, arms supplies or other military support.

The opposition chief said he was willing to listen to proposals for Assad to escape with his life - "The best thing is that he steps down and stops drinking the blood of the Syrian people" - and outlined three scenarios for a change of power:

Al-Khatib ruled out the Russian proposal suggesting Assad hand over power to a transitional government while remaining president, saying it was "disgraceful for a slaughtered nation to accept to have a killer and criminal at its head".

The British-based Syrian Observatory said war planes bombed rebel-held eastern suburbs of Damascus on Thursday and artillery was hitting Daraya and Moadamiyeh, southwestern areas near the centre where rebels have been fighting for a foothold.

Syria has relied on war planes and helicopters to bombard rebel districts but Damascus denied accusations by U.S. and NATO officials that it had fired Scud missiles in recent days. The foreign ministry said the long-range missiles were not used against "terrorist groups," a term it uses for the rebels.

At least 40,000 people have been killed in Syria's uprising, which started in March 2011 with street protests which were met with gunfire by Assad's security forces, and which spiraled into the most enduring and destructive of the Arab revolts.

(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Michael Roddy) For an interactive look at the uprising in Syria, please click on http://link.reuters.com/rut37s

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China shares up over 3% on data, policy hopes

SHANGHAI: Chinese shares were up more than three per cent in afternoon trade on Friday on fresh signs of an economic recovery and hopes new policies will emerge from a key government meeting, dealers said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 3.02 per cent, or 62.24 points, to 2,123.72.

British banking giant HSBC said on Friday its preliminary purchasing managers' index (PMI) hit a 14-month high of 50.9 in December, compared with a final reading of 50.5 for November.

"The PMI data confirmed that the domestic economy has turned for the better. The index was also pushed up by expectations for policies from the economic work conference," Zheshang Securities analyst Zhang Yanbing told AFP.

China is expected to hold its annual economic work conference over the weekend to lay out policies for next year, state media reported.

- AFP/xq

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Chinese arbitrators rule against brain-damaged Foxconn worker

This is the gate of the Fosconn factories in Shenzhen.

(Credit:
Jay Greene/CNET)

Chinese labor arbitrators have ruled against the father of a Foxconn worker severely injured in a factory explosion last year, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

Zhang Guangde -- Zhang Tingzhen's father -- took Foxconn to court in October, a year after his sone was hit with a massive electrical shock while repairing a spotlight in Foxconn's Shenzhen factory. Zhang suffered major brain damage after falling 12 feet to the ground, an injury that required doctors to remove half of his brain to keep him alive.

Since the accident, Foxconn had been paying for Zhang's medical bills. However, earlier this year, the company text-messaged his family, saying that his payments would be cut off unless he moves from the more-expensive Shenzhen area to Huizhou, which is 43 miles away.

Zhang Guangde argued that his son is incapable of traveling and said Foxconn, which has come under fire by the Fair Labor Association for its treatment of employees, should continue to pay for his son's medical bills. The company, however, had said that it would not pay for his bills in Shenzhen any longer because he wasn't hired there -- another claim Zhang's father rejected.

Chinese companies have been accused of hiring workers in low-wage areas to work in higher-priced cities to reduce expenses -- a practice Foxconn has denied following in Zhang's case.

The Shenzhen labor dispute arbitration committee ruled against the elder Zhang after the company produced a contract from August 2011 that showed his son was hired to work at Foxconn's Huizhou facility, according to documents reviewed Friday by Reuters.

Zhang's attorney said an appeal is planned.

In a statement to CNET, Foxconn asserted that the travel requirement is part of a government-mandated assessment process for a government-funded insurance policy. The company has since informed Zhang's family it would make up any difference in cost of care based on where he receives his care and where he was hired that the government covered. However, a Foxconn representative would not confirm that that offer would still apply if Zhang was unable to travel for the evaluation.

The company also promised that his place of employment would have no bearing on the level of support Foxconn offers to Zhang.

"Our company is providing financial and medical support that is above what is required by Chinese labor law because we believe it is the right thing to do and we want to ensure the well-being of Mr. Zhang and his family during this challenging time. We are also working with the family and medical experts to determine the long-term care and support that Mr. Zhang will need in order to ensure his medical and other needs are met," the company said in a statement to CNET.

Foxconn, which produces consumer electronics for companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Sony, has come under scrutiny in the past few years amid reports of employees committing suicide at company facilities. The company has also been accused of employing underage laborers, providing poor living conditions at its dormitory housing, and overworking employees.

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Donation-based hospital rescues Afghanistan's wounded

(CBS News) KABUL - In Afghanistan, an American soldier and two Afghans were killed by a car bomb Thursday.

It happened near the U.S. airbase in Kandahar, a few hours after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta left there to meet with Afghan President Karzai.

Taliban attacks have grown more frequent, causing a sharp rise in civilian casualties. There's one place where many of those lives are saved or lost.

The non-profit trauma hospital goes by one name: Emergency. It offers free treatment to the bruised and bloodied victims of this conflict. Every patient who arrives there is a casualty of war.

Dr. Gino Strada

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CBS News

Dr. Gino Strada is the chain-smoking Italian cardiologist who founded emergency in 1999. He told CBS News that he'll take in patients, regardless of whether they're Taliban or whatever their political affiliations may be.

"Otherwise, you're not a doctor anymore," he said, "then you're a judge."

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Strada said he's seen a dramatic shift in the types of injuries he treats: Fewer bullet wounds and more from roadside bombs and heavy weapons.

"The weapons which are now used are much more powerful and destructive than those that were available ten or fifteen years ago," Strada said.

This year, the hospital has treated nearly two thousand patients -- an all time high. The vast majority are civilians.

Five-year-old Shayr Mohammed's wrist was fractured and his arm burned when he was hit by shrapnel.

His injuries have healed well. But not all children are so lucky.

Another young boy had picked up what he thought was a toy and it exploded in his pocket. By the time he arrived at Emergency, there was nothing the doctors could do.

"We live in a place where insurgents and police are shooting at each other all the time," his uncle said.

Strada said the fighting is coming closer to the capital and the fighting is becoming more intense.

"This is very worrying because it's very difficult to predict what's going to happen in the near future," he said.

As NATO troops prepare to pull out in 2014, there are fears that the security situation could deteriorate further and that Afghanistan's healthcare system will be overwhelmed.

A patient at the Emergency hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.

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CBS News

The U.S. has spent nearly a billion dollars on health care in Afghanistan the last ten years. But Strada said there is little to show for it.

"What worries me is particularly is corruption in the health sector. When you look at the amount of international aid that has come to Afghanistan for health, you would expect to find fantastic hospitals everywhere. And you don't see one," Strada said.

But there's no shortage of patients, and the war outside Emergency's walls rages on.

Donations to Emergency are accepted at the links below:

www.emergencyusa.org
www.emergency.it/en-index.html

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