Machete-wielding gangs kill 15 as Kenyans vote

Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

Five years after more than 1,200 people were killed in election-related violence, Kenyans went to the polls in a nationwide election seen as the most important in the country's 50-year history since independence.

By Joseph Akwiri, Reuters

NAIROBI, Kenya - At least 15 people were killed in attacks by machete-wielding gangs on Monday as Kenyans lined-up to vote in a presidential election they hope will rebuild the nation's image after a disputed 2007 poll unleashed weeks of tribal bloodshed.

Just hours before the start of voting and with long queues across the east African country, at least nine security officers in Kenya's restive coastal region were hacked to death, and six attackers were also killed, regional police chief Aggrey Adoli said. The total toll had earlier been put at 17.

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There were two separate attacks which senior police officers blamed on a separatist movement - which, if confirmed, would suggest different motives to those that caused the post-2007 vote ethnic killings and could limit their impact.

Officials and candidates have made impassioned appeals to avoid a repeat of the tribal rampages that erupted five years ago when disputes over the poll result fuelled clashes between tribal loyalists of rival candidates.

More than 1,200 people were killed, shattering Kenya's reputation as one of Africa's most stable democracies and bringing its economy to a standstill.

As in 2007, the race has come down to a high-stakes duel between two candidates, this time between Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the loser in 2007 to outgoing President Mwai Kibaki. Both contenders will depend heavily on votes from tribal loyalists.

The United States and Western donors are worried about the stability of a nation that is an ally in the fight against militant Islam in the region but are also fretting what to do if the victor is Kenyatta, who faces charges by the International Criminal Court of orchestrating violence five years ago.

Provisional results could emerge hours after polls close at 5 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) although the election commission has seven days to announce the official outcome. Polls suggest the election could go to a run-off, provisionally set for April.

Jan 28, 2008: Ethnic clashes have killed more than 800 people across Kenya, and post-election violence threatens to engulf a country that has long been a model of stability in Africa. NBC's Ned Colt reports.

"If elected, we will be able to discharge our duties," said Kenyatta's running mate, William Ruto who also faces charges of crimes against humanity. "We shall cooperate with the court with a final intention of clearing our names."

'We want our own country'
One of the attacks on Monday took place outside Mombasa and another in Kilifi about 80 miles to the north. Senior police officers blamed them on a separatist movement, the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), which wanted the national vote scrapped and a referendum on secession instead.

At the Kilifi site, Reuters footage showed a piece of paper on the ground with the words: "MRC. Coast is not Kenya. We don't want elections. We want our own country." But there was no formal claim and no independent confirmation of the assailants.

Even before the violence, many Kenyans were wary, notably in flashpoints last time. Some shopkeepers ran down stocks and some people in mixed tribal areas returned to their homelands.

Bernard Otundo, 36, queuing in Nairobi shortly before polls opened at 6 a.m. said he expected a peaceful vote.

Jan. 2, 2008: More than 100,000 people across Kenya have left their homes after riots and violence erupted following a disputed presidential election. NBC's Martin Fletcher reports.

"Some of us have been here as early as 2 a.m. this morning. I got here slightly after 3 a.m.," he said. "There have been a lot of awareness campaigns against violence and I don't think it will happen this time around, whatever the outcome."

Kenya's neighbors are watching nervously, after their economies felt the shockwaves when violence five years ago shut down trade routes running through east Africa's biggest economy. Some landlocked states have stockpiled fuel and other materials.

Adding to tension, the al Shabaab Islamist militant group battling Kenyan peacekeeping troops in Somalia, repeated calls on Nairobi to remove its forces, threatening retaliation.?

Related:

PhotoBlog: Kenya braces for elections

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/04/17179248-machete-wielding-gangs-kill-at-least-15-as-kenyans-vote?lite

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Study: No quick savings from workplace wellness

The Barnes-Jewish Hospital is seen in St. Louis, Monday, March 4, 2013. Your bosses want you to eat your broccoli, hit the treadmill and pledge you?ll never puff on a cigarette. But a new study raises doubts that workplace wellness programs save the company money. In what?s being called the most rigorous look yet inside the wellness trend, independent researchers tracked the program at a major St. Louis hospital system for two years. Employee hospitalizations dropped dramatically, by 41 percent overall for six targeted conditions. But increased outpatient costs erased those savings. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

The Barnes-Jewish Hospital is seen in St. Louis, Monday, March 4, 2013. Your bosses want you to eat your broccoli, hit the treadmill and pledge you?ll never puff on a cigarette. But a new study raises doubts that workplace wellness programs save the company money. In what?s being called the most rigorous look yet inside the wellness trend, independent researchers tracked the program at a major St. Louis hospital system for two years. Employee hospitalizations dropped dramatically, by 41 percent overall for six targeted conditions. But increased outpatient costs erased those savings. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

The Barnes-Jewish Hospital is seen in St. Louis, Monday, March 4, 2013. Your bosses want you to eat your broccoli, hit the treadmill and pledge you?ll never puff on a cigarette. But a new study raises doubts that workplace wellness programs save the company money. In what?s being called the most rigorous look yet inside the wellness trend, independent researchers tracked the program at a major St. Louis hospital system for two years. Employee hospitalizations dropped dramatically, by 41 percent overall for six targeted conditions. But increased outpatient costs erased those savings. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

The sign for the Barnes-Jewish Hospital is seen in St. Louis, Monday, March 4, 2013. Your bosses want you to eat your broccoli, hit the treadmill and pledge you?ll never puff on a cigarette. But a new study raises doubts that workplace wellness programs save the company money. In what?s being called the most rigorous look yet inside the wellness trend, independent researchers tracked the program at a major St. Louis hospital system for two years. Employee hospitalizations dropped dramatically, by 41 percent overall for six targeted conditions. But increased outpatient costs erased those savings. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Your bosses want you to eat your broccoli, hit the treadmill and pledge you'll never puff on a cigarette. But a new study raises doubts that workplace wellness programs save the company money.

In what's being called the most rigorous look yet inside the wellness trend, independent researchers tracked the program at a major St. Louis hospital system for two years. Hospitalizations for employees and family members dropped dramatically, by 41 percent overall for six major conditions. But increased outpatient costs erased those savings.

The study in Monday's issue of the journal Health Affairs has implications for a debate now taking place at companies around the country: how much pressure can you put on workers to quit smoking, lose weight, and get exercise before it turns into unwelcome meddling, or worse, a slippery slope toward a new kind of health discrimination?

Wellness programs started out offering gym memberships and modest cash rewards for participating in a health assessment focused on changing bad habits. But employers have been upping the ante, linking the programs to insurance discounts or penalties that can add up to hundreds of dollars.

Most major companies now have wellness programs, and smaller firms are signing up. President Barack Obama's health overhaul law allows employers to expand rewards and penalties, provided workers are also given a path to address lifestyle issues that could undermine their health.

"The immediate payback in terms of cost is probably not going to be there," said economist Gautam Gowrisankaran of the University of Arizona at Tucson, lead author of the study. But he noted there could be other benefits not directly measured in the study, such as reduced absenteeism and higher productivity.

And there's also a risk. "It's definitely true that there is a downside," Gowrisankaran said. "You are going to be charging people different rates based on their wellness behavior, and that could limit their ability to buy health insurance."

Obama's law forbids insurers from charging more if you get sick. But wellness incentives could mean you'd be penalized for the questionable choices that might get you sick.

Some previous studies have shown savings from wellness programs, while others found little change or even higher spending.

Steven Noeldner, an expert with the Mercer benefits consulting firm says well-designed programs generally show a positive return of about 2 percent by the third year.

Gary Claxton of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which produces a widely-cited annual survey of workplace health plans, says the financial impact is difficult to measure. "A lot of employers think it's the right thing to do and they're not so much interested in measuring," said Claxton.

The new study provides an in-depth look at the experience of BJC HealthCare, a hospital system that in 2005 started a comprehensive program linked to insurance discounts. BJC currently employs 28,000 people and provides health insurance for about 40,000, including family members. The overwhelming majority participated in the wellness program.

The program focused on six lifestyle-influenced conditions: high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, chronic lung problems, serious respiratory infections, and stroke. Employees had to join the program in order to get the hospital's most generous level of health insurance, called the Gold Plan. For family coverage, for example, the hospital paid nearly $1,650 more of costs in the Gold Plan.

Employees in the wellness program had to complete a health risk assessment that included height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and other measurements. They also signed a pledge to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Smokers had to get help to quit. Spouses were also required to sign the health pledge and, if they smoked, get help.

The study tallied up BJC's medical costs before the wellness program and for two years after. It also compared those costs with expenses of two other big local employers that did not have wellness programs. That was done to control for the possible impact of new drugs or medical innovations.

The results were counter-intuitive: A surprisingly large drop in hospitalizations for the six conditions targeted by the wellness program, but increased costs for medications and outpatient visits. When those were added to the cost of the wellness initiative itself, "it is unlikely that the program saved money," the study concluded.

BJC President Steven Lipstein said he doesn't dispute the conclusion, but he remains committed to the wellness program and would invite the researchers to take another look now.

Is the program saving money? "I do not know that," said Lipstein. "I can tell you that our health benefit expenses go up every year."

Lipstein said encouraging employees to make healthy lifestyle decisions and rewarding those who do reflects corporate values, not just the bottom line.

"It's not easy to change human health outcomes in the short term," he added. "When you make an investment in wellness and prevention you shouldn't expect an immediate return."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-03-04-Workplace%20Health/id-e6ae3d2e1af648588aec4fd5bf205d62

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Israel's 'Prisoner X': Death of man with alleged spy agency ties sparks debate

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Media reports describe Prisoner X as a man who hanged himself in a secret Israeli prison
• A new report on the case has sparked widespread debate in Israel over censorship
• The report says the man was an Australian national recruited to join Israel's Mossad spy agency
• For two years, a government gag order stopped local journalists from telling his story

Jerusalem (CNN) -- They call him Prisoner X.

Media reports have described him as a man who hanged himself in an Israeli prison cell. But details about what happened to him -- and why -- have long been hard to come by.

The case -- shrouded in mystery -- sparked a government gag order that for two years stopped local journalists in Israel from telling his story, according to local media reports.

For years, Israeli government officials repeatedly declined to comment on the prisoner's death, which was first reported by the Ynetnews website in 2010.

Now, a new report about the man many media have dubbed "Prisoner X" -- because his name was never been revealed -- is sparking widespread debate in Israel over government censorship, and about the country's prison system.

According to an investigative report this week from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which did not disclose its sources, Prisoner X was a duel citizen of both Australia and Israel and was recruited to join Israel's Mossad spy agency. The report identified him as Ben Zygier, alleging he was detained in 2010.

Details about why he was reportedly held in a high-security prison outside Tel Aviv, and what led to his death, remain unclear, according to the ABC report.

"The case is regarded as one of the most sensitive secrets of Israel's intelligence community, with the government going to extraordinary lengths to stifle media coverage and gag attempts by human rights organizations to expose the situation," ABC Foreign Correspondent Trevor Bormann wrote.

Several prominent Israeli media organizations wrote stories about the Australian report, then were asked to remove stories about it from their website by government censors, according to Israel's Haaretz newspaper and an editor CNN spoke to.

A culture of censorship

All journalists who apply for a government-issued Israeli Press Card must sign a documents agree to the military censorship. According to the agreement, journalists will not publish security information that could benefit Israel's enemies or harm the state.

Breaking the rule could result in card revocation, and foreign journalists could lose their visas to work in the country.

In recent years, the censorship mechanism for checking scripts and pictures has rarely been practiced. Controls over content have faded more and more with the Internet as more freedom of information passes into the public domain.

Israeli lawmakers voice concerns

But word of the Australian report and subsequent Israeli government censorship quickly rang out in the halls of Israel's Knesset, with some lawmakers sharply criticizing the government's handling of the matter.

"We hear, in a state that is supposed to be a proper democracy, that journalists are cooperating with the authorities without the high court ruling that the case is a certain and imminent danger to the security of the state," said Israeli Parliament member Zahava Gal-On, leader of the Meretz Party. "When unknown prisoners commit suicide and nobody knows who he is, how does that fit with a democracy with law which is proper?"

During the Knesset session, another lawmaker asked Israel's justice minister about the case, point blank.

"Do you know about this? Can you verify the fact that an Australian citizen committed suicide in an Israeli prison under a made-up identity and the fact was not published that he was a prisoner in a prison in Israel?" asked Ahmed Tibi, a member of the Knesset.

Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman said the matter should be investigated, but that he could not answer the questions "because the subject is not under the jurisdiction of the Justice Ministry."

On Wednesday, a district court in central Israel lifted part of the gag order and ruled that local media could quote foreign publications' reporting on the case, but also said they could not do their own reporting on the story.

Later that day, a statement from an Israeli court appeared to publicly confirm details about the case for the first time.

The statement, released by the court in the partial lifting of the gag order, described a "prisoner who was both an Israeli citizen and a foreign national."

"The inmate was registered under a false identity for security reasons, but his family was notified immediately upon his arrest," the statement said.

The court document also said the prisoner was found dead in his cell two years ago, and that a judge ordered an investigation into his death.

The death was recently ruled a suicide, the statement said, and authorities are investigating whether there was negligence in the case.

Additional details in the case cannot be revealed "for reasons of state security," the document said.

Lawyer: I spoke with the prisoner shortly before his death

Human rights lawyer Avigdor Feldman said he met with the prisoner a day or two before he allegedly committed suicide.

At the time, Feldman said, the prisoner had no been tried or convicted, but was indicted and in pre-trial imprisonment.

"His wife asked me to go and see him and look into some legal questions which he had," Feldman told CNN.

Feldman said he met with the prisoner "as a lawyer who was asked not really to represent him, but to consider his legal options. It's quite common."

Feldman said while he was not aware of the details of the cell, "it is supposed to be suicide proof."

When asked why the prisoner was being held and reports about his dealings with Iran, Feldman answered, "I can't comment unless you want to come and visit me in prison."

Australia also seeks answers

The latest developments prompted Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr to request an internal report on the case.

"I'm advised in the form of an interim report that the Australian government was informed in February 2010, though intelligence channels, that the Israeli authorities had detained a dual Australian-Israeli citizen, and they provided the name of the citizen, in relation to serious offenses under Israeli national security legislation," Carr told a Senate committee Thursday.

He did not mention what the alleged "serious offenses" were.

Carr said Australia sought specific assurances from Israel, such as that the detainee would get legal representation of his choosing and that he would not be mistreated.

"At no stage during his detention did the Australian government receive any requests from the individual or his family to extend consular support," Carr said.

"The Australian government was advised through intelligence channels on December 16, 2010, (of) this individual's death on the previous day, and the deceased's family had been notified by Israeli authorities," Carr said.

The Australian embassy in Tel Aviv assisted in returning the body to Australia, Carr said.

Sharp criticism over secrecy

As authorities stay tight-lipped about details of the man's case, speculation continues to swirl.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said it sent a letter to Israel's attorney general about the case on Wednesday, criticizing the censorship and calling for the gag order to be scaled back further.

"What is far more concerning, of course, is the fact that a man was held in detention under heavy secrecy, and nothing was published about the reason for his arrest or the circumstances surrounding his death," wrote Dan Yakir, the association's chief legal counsel.

The letter argues that there is "considerable public interest" in more information about the investigation into the death of Prisoner X.

"Was it really suicide? Was there negligence in the supervision of the detainee? Has any official body taken responsibility? What steps have been taken to prevent the recurrence of similar events in the future?" Yakir asked.

Israeli government officials have made no further comments on the case.

CNN's Neda Farshbaf contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/14/world/meast/israel-prisoner-x/index.html?eref=rss_latest

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Beyonce: A Look Through the Years

As the diva's HBO documentary airs on Feb. 16th, check out her steady rise to the top -- from Destiny's Child to Blue Ivy's mom!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/beyonce-through-years/1-b-359419?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Abeyonce-through-years-359419

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Marines Were Disarmed for President Obama's Second Inaugural Parade

He's gutted their healthcare, plans to cut their pay and apparently, doesn't trust them either. David Codrea over at Gun Rights Examiner points out that Marines marching in President Obama's second inaugural parade recently were caring rifles without bolts, meaning they were removed.

?Didn't know the Marines had to take the bolts out of their rifles for the Inaugural,? an email forwarded to Gun Rights Examiner from a United States Marine Corps source observed. ?Wonder if someone can explain why [they] would be marching in the inaugural parade with no bolts in their rifles!?

The email linked to a YouTube video of the 57th Presidential Inaugural Parade, embedded in this column, featuring Bravo Company Marines from the Marine Barracks Washington. Sure enough, the observation in the email is confirmed by watching the video, with screen shots provided in the photo and slide show accompanying this article.

This prompted an internet search to see if others had also noticed, and the Blur-Brain blog had.

?The bolts have been removed from the rifles rendering them unable to fire a round,? the post stated. ?Apparently Obama?s Secret Service doesn?t trust the USMC. Simply searching each guy to make sure he didn?t have a live round hidden on him wasn?t enough, they had to make sure the guns were inoperable.

Wondering if this may be an inauguration policy of long standing that transcends administrations, Gun Rights Examiner made a cursory search and found something even more curious. In the 2009 Inaugural Parade, the United States Navy marched with rifles that had not been so disabled (see 1:24 into that video plus the final slide).

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepa...arade-n1509511

Source: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?404636-Marines-Were-Disarmed-for-President-Obama-s-Second-Inaugural-Parade&goto=newpost

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St. Cloud State President Attends State of the Union

St. Cloud State University President Earl H. Potter III was one of the attendees of Tuesday night?s State of the Union Address.

According to the university, Potter is a supporter of easing work-visa restrictions for international students. He has supported the proposed Immigration Innovation Act of 2013 (I-Squared) along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

The university says Klobuchar invited Potter to attend President Barack Obama?s address at the United States Capitol.

St. Cloud State had 1,025 international students enrolled in the fall semester, according to the university.

To see Klobuchar?s news release about the I-Squared Act, click here.

To view the Center for International Studies chart, click here.

To view the video of Klobuchar introducing the bill, click here.

Source: http://stcloudarea.kstp.com/news/politics/185119-st-cloud-state-president-attends-state-union

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Remains found in California cabin after standoff with fugitive

ANGELUS OAKS, California (Reuters) - A massive California manhunt for a fugitive former cop looked to have ended on Wednesday after authorities found human remains in the charred ruins of a cabin where he was thought to have holed up.

The cabin in the mountains above Los Angeles went up in flames after the gunman, suspected of a killing spree that has targeted police and their families, took refuge following a car chase with police, officials said.

Police were awaiting forensic analysis to confirm the body was that of Christopher Dorner, the subject of the six-day manhunt that has ranged across southern California.

But San Bernardino County Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman told reporters the man who barricaded himself inside the cabin and exchanged gunfire with officers was thought to be Dorner, 33.

"We believe he was still inside," she said.

A sheriff's deputy was killed in the shootout in the snow-covered, wooded hills of the San Bernardino National Forest, northeast of Los Angeles, bringing to four the number of killings Dorner is suspected of committing. A second sheriff's deputy was wounded in Tuesday's gunfight.

An angry manifesto posted last week on Dorner's Facebook page claimed he had been wrongly terminated from the Los Angeles Police Department in 2008. He vowed to seek revenge by unleashing "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" on officers and their families.

Tuesday's climax to the saga unfolded after police learned that a gunman they believed was Dorner had broken into a home near the ski resort community of Big Bear Lake, tied up a couple and stolen their vehicle.

State game wardens later spotted the vehicle and gave chase. The suspect crashed the car, then commandeered a pickup truck at gunpoint from another motorist, said Lieutenant Patrick Foy of the state Fish and Wildlife Department.

EXCHANGE OF FIRE

As game wardens pursued him, the suspect fired at them from the window of the truck, and one of the game officers stopped his truck and fired back with a high-powered rifle, Foy said, adding that he did not know whether the man was hit.

Officers got close enough at one point during the chase to recognize the driver as Dorner, Foy said, before he abandoned the pickup and fled on foot into the woods to a cabin believed to be vacant, where he holed up inside and exchanged fire with sheriff's deputies.

After a lull in the gunfire, the cabin suddenly caught fire, with smoke and flames seen engulfing the structure. Loud popping sounds could be heard from inside.

Dorner's last confirmed encounter with authorities came last Thursday, when police said he ambushed two policemen at a traffic light in Riverside, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. One officer was killed and the other wounded.

The former U.S. Navy officer is also suspected of exchanging gunfire on Thursday with police and wounding one officer in nearby Corona.

Dorner first came to public notice last Wednesday when police identified him as a suspect in the slayings of a campus security officer and his fiancee, the daughter of a retired Los Angeles police captain. In the manifesto posted on his Facebook page, Dorner blamed the captain for his dismissal from the LAPD.

Authorities posted a $1 million reward for information leading to Dorner's capture, an amount they said was the largest ever offered in a Southern California criminal investigation.

(Reporting by Brandon Lowrey, Dana Feldman, Steve Gorman and Dan Whitcomb; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; editing by Cynthia Johnston and Patrick Graham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/deputy-killed-shootout-suspected-fugitive-los-angeles-ex-004943799.html

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