Morning-after pill use rises in US

Use of the morning-after pill in the US is on the rise, a trend driven largely by wider use among younger women, a major government study has found.

Some 11% of sexually active women had used the morning-after pill, up from 4% in 2002, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One in four women aged 20-24 had used the drug, compared with one in nine women overall.

The CDC surveyed more than 12,000 females aged 15-44 from 2006-10.

The research showed that white and better educated women used the drug the most, usually due to worries that another birth control method had failed.

Hispanic and black women were more likely than whites to report using the drug after unprotected sex.

Regular users

Overall, about one in five women who had never been married had taken a morning-after pill, compared with just one in 20 married women.

Of the women who used the pill, 59% said they had done it only once, 24% said twice, and 17% said three or more times.

It was the first government report on the emergency contraceptive since regulators eased access to it seven years ago.

Emergency contraception has been available by prescription in the US since 1999, before regulators approved over-the-counter sales of the drug in 2006.

Also on Thursday, the CDC released a separate study on overall contraceptive use. It found that while the number of women using regular birth control pills had remained steady, the use of patches, intrauterine devices and injections had grown.

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Talking-bird clue led to 'kidnapper' of US girl, five

Philadelphia police have arrested the alleged kidnapper of a five-year-old girl whose report of a talking bird helped lead them to the suspect.

Christina Regusters, 19, who is also charged with rape and other offences, worked at an after-school care programme attended by the victim.

The girl was taken from her school on 14 January by a woman, wearing a Muslim veil, posing as her mother.

Police say the victim was brought to a nearby home where a man was waiting.

The girl was found 18 hours later at a nearby park, shivering and wearing only a t-shirt. She told her rescuer: "I've been stolen."

Police said they took the girl to places around the neighbourhood as they searched for clues.

Tom Kline, a lawyer for the alleged victim's mother, said the girl's report of a talking bird in the house where she was held became a focal point of the investigation.

"This brave, innocent, precious little girl was instrumental in leading police literally to the door of the crime," he said.

Three other people who lived at the address with Ms Regusters were questioned and released.

W Fred Harrison, a lawyer for Ms Regusters, told local media his client had "no involvement" in the crime.

Officials said a woman in a Muslim veil had taken the girl out of class while posing as her mother, who wears the chador and niqab.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told a local NBC broadcaster there was "a very strong possibility" that the woman captured on surveillance video escorting the girl from the school was Ms Regusters.

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US fugitive Christopher Dorner died from single gunshot

Fugitive US ex-police officer, Christopher Dorner, whose remains were found in a burnt-out cabin after a six-day manhunt, died from a single gunshot wound to the head, authorities say.

Police had launched the manhunt for Dorner after he killed three people, apparently in revenge for being fired from the LA police in 2008.

He was cornered near Big Bear Lake and incendiary tear gas was fired in.

Police could not confirm whether the gunshot was self-inflicted.

After a six-hour post-mortem examination, San Bernardino County coroner Kevin Lacy said: "We are not yet able to speak about the manner of death and tell you whether or not it was the result of a self-inflicted wound or another round.

"While we are still assembling the reports and putting it together, the implication seems to be that the wound that took Christopher Dorner's life was self-inflicted."

Incendiary tear gas

Dorner had holed up in a flat in Big Bear Lake, a ski resort 80 miles (130km) east of Los Angeles, for six days after he killed a couple and a policeman.

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon told reporters that officers had knocked on the door of the condominium during the manhunt.

"Our deputy knocked on that door and did not get an answer, and in hindsight it's probably a good thing that he did not answer based on his actions before and after that event," he said.

When owners arrived to clean the building, Dorner tied them up and fled in their car, killing a sheriff's deputy in a shootout and then barricading himself in the remote cabin.

A Swat team fired incendiary tear gas to try to force Dorner out.

A blaze started and a single gunshot was heard.

Police found a cache of weapons in the cabin, including assault rifles.

Dorner started his killing spree on 3 February when he shot dead the daughter of a former police captain and her fiance.

The woman's father, Randal Quan, had represented Dorner at a police disciplinary board.

Dorner was fired in 2008 from the force on a charge of making false statements, after he lodged a complaint against his field training officer, saying she had kicked a suspect during an arrest.

In an online manifesto, Dorner, who was black, suggested that racism was still rife in the Los Angeles Police Department.

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Facebook was targeted by 'sophisticated' hackers

Facebook has revealed it was the target of a "sophisticated attack" by hackers last month, but found no evidence any user data had been compromised.

The US-based social network said that the attack occurred when employees visited a mobile developer website "that was compromised".

Facebook said in a blog post that it was not the only company to have been attacked in this way.

More than one billion people use Facebook worldwide.

"Last month, Facebook security discovered that our systems had been targeted in a sophisticated attack," the California-based company said.

"The attack occurred when a handful of employees visited a mobile developer website that was compromised."

Malware was downloaded on to its employees' laptops, the firm said, adding: "As soon as we discovered the presence of the malware, we remediated all infected machines, informed law enforcement, and began a significant investigation that continues to this day."

"We have no evidence that Facebook user data was compromised in this attack," Facebook said in its blog post.

The firm went on to say that it was "not alone in this attack".

"It is clear that others were attacked and infiltrated recently as well. As one of the first companies to discover this malware, we immediately took steps to start sharing details about the infiltration with the other companies and entities that were affected," Facebook said.

This is the latest attack by apparently sophisticated hackers targeting high-profile sites.

Twitter said earlier this month that the theft of 250,000 users' passwords, as well as usernames, emails and other data, was "not the work of amateurs".

The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal have all accused China of "persistently" hacking into their security systems - accusations China denies.

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Jesse Jackson Jr charged with misusing campaign funds

A former congressman and son of a prominent civil rights leader has been charged with spending campaign funds on personal expenses.

Jesse Jackson Jr of Illinois is accused of misusing $750,000 (£483,000).

He and his wife Sandi Jackson, who is charged with tax fraud in the matter, intend to plead guilty, media report.

Mr Jackson, a 47-year-old Democrat, resigned in November after acknowledging he was being treated for bipolar disorder.

"I offer no excuses for my conduct and I fully accept my responsibility for the improper decisions and mistakes I have made," Mr Jackson said in a statement.

Mr Jackson is charged in federal court in Washington DC with conspiracy, fraud, and making false statements. Prosecutors say Mrs Jackson filed false tax forms that underreported how much tax the couple owed.

Watches and fur capes

Mr Jackson "unlawfully, wilfully and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated and agreed" to commit offences against the US,prosecutors wrote in court documents.

Prosecutors say that between 2007 and 2009 Mr Jackson used funds donated to his re-election campaign to buy a gold-plated Rolex watch worth $43,350, fur capes and parkas worth $5,150, and about $9,588 in children's furniture.

He is also accused of failing to report $28,500 in gifts and loans to the House of Representatives, where he has served since 1995.

Mr Jackson, son of Chicago civil rights leader the Rev Jesse Jackson, faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison; his wife faces up to three years, according to federal sentencing guidelines.

But Mrs Jackson's lawyer said her plea deal "does not contemplate a sentence of that length".

Other penalties against Mr Jackson could include a fine of up to $250,000, US media report. In addition, authorities may try to seize more than $60,000 in memorabilia and furs linked to the alleged fraud.

Mr Jackson has also been under investigation by the House ethics committee over his dealings with imprisoned ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of trying to sell an appointment to President Barack Obama's former US Senate seat and other corruption charges.

Mr Jackson resigned from office on 21 November, just weeks after winning re-election.

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Brazil troops to fight wave of attacks in the south

The Brazilian government has sent military reinforcements to tackle a wave of violence in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

More than 100 vehicles and offices have been attacked in the past month.

The government suspended classes on Friday, a day after bus drivers voted to limit journeys from 0700 to 1900, for fear of attack.

The reason for the attacks is unclear, but police say they could be a reaction to reported abuse in state prisons.

Investigators are trying to find out if the incidents are linked to organised crime gangs.

A video recently emerged showing security officials firing tear gas and rubber bullets at prisoners in a prison in the city of Joinville.

The state government says it is investigating the incident.

'Confidential'

Two military planes loaded with troops, vehicles and equipment landed in Santa Catarina on Friday.

The authorities say they will not give specific details of how they will be deployed, saying the information is "confidential".

The authorities have been providing some escort vehicles with armed men to safeguard bus journeys after dusk, but drivers say it's not enough.

On Friday, they agreed to keep the service running until 2300, after the government promised to increase the number of escorts.

Nearly 40 buses have been targeted and burnt in recent weeks.

The attacks have disrupted bus services in a number of cities in Santa Catarina.

More than 90 people have been arrested since the attacks began at the end of January.

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Colombian Farc releases two hostage policemen

Colombia's largest rebel group, the Farc, has released two hostages held captive since 25 January.

The policemen were handed over to an International Committee of the Red Cross mission, and a captive soldier was expected to be freed on Saturday.

In a separate development it emerged shortly after that five of six mine workers held by the second biggest rebel group, ELN, had also been freed.

The six were captured in a raid on a mining company on 18 January.

The Farc operation was originally scheduled for Thursday, but the left-wing rebels delayed it, reportedly complaining of too many reporters in the area.

However, Friday's release was broadcast live by Venezuelan TV station Telesur.

Officers Cristian Yate and Victor Alfonso Gonzalez were freed in the Valle del Cauca department, apparently in good health.

They were taken to the regional capital Cali, and were to be later flown to Bogota.

The rebels and the government have been holding peace talks in Cuba to try to end their almost five-decade-old conflict, but tensions have been rising since the Farc ended a unilateral ceasefire last month.

The release of the policemen is likely to be interpreted as a goodwill gesture from the rebels.

Farc's decision to quickly free the captives suggests the rebels are no longer willing to pay the political price for capturing and holding members of the Colombian security forces for too long, says the BBC's correspondent in Bogota, Arturo Wallace.

Last year, the rebels pledged to stop kidnapping for ransom and released 10 policemen and soldiers they had been holding captive.

In January, however, they said that capturing police and military officers was "part of its right" when they "surrender in battle".

Dawn attack

The five mine workers released by the leftist ELN (National Liberation Army) were also seized in January, in a dawn attack on a mining company in Bolivar province in northern Colombia.

The operation involved a reported 20 rebels.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that three Colombians and two Peruvians, who were working for Geo Explorer, were freed. But there was no mention of the sixth captive, a Canadian.

The ELN had earlier said all six men were to be released.

On Wednesday, at least seven Colombian soldiers were killed and another five injured in clashes with the Farc in Caqueta in another escalation of the violence since the end of the unilateral cease fire.

The Colombian government says it will only end its operations against the Farc once a peace agreement has been signed.

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Venezuela's Hugo Chavez in first post-surgery images

The first images of Venezuela's leader Hugo Chavez seen since he underwent cancer surgery have been broadcast by the government.

The 58-year-old is shown smiling as he lies in bed reading a newspaper, with his two daughters at his side.

Mr Chavez has not been seen in public since he went to Havana for surgery last year, on 11 December.

It was his fourth operation in an 18-month period for cancer first diagnosed in mid-2011.

Mr Chavez is shown looking at Thursday's issue of the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma in some of the photos, broadcast on television by his son-in-law, Science Minister Jorge Arreaza.

The government said the photos were taken on Thursday night.

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said that as the Venezuelan leader was breathing through a tracheal tube, it was difficult for him to speak.

However, he said he was writing down orders.

There has been widespread speculation in Venezuela about Mr Chavez's condition, with some students holding protests outside the Cuban embassy in Caracas, demanding to know his state of health.

Mr Chavez has been at the helm for 14 years and was re-elected for another six-year term in October 2011.

Shortly before making his most recent journey to Havana, Mr Chavez suggested that his supporters should consider naming his Vice President, Nicolas Maduro, as his successor.

Mr Maduro has made frequent visits to Havana to see Mr Chavez.

The Venezuelan leader is reported to have had tumours removed from his pelvic region, and has also undergone prior rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Though there have been few details about the president's exact treatment, Mr Maduro said on Wednesday that they had been "extremely complex and tough".

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structured settlement payment

Structured Settlements Are you already receiving payments from a Structured Settlement, but need that money sooner? Get a Free Quote Today on selling your Structured Settlement! Simply start by completing the application on this page! Just because you receive payments from a structured settlement doesn’t mean you’re happy about the payment arrangements. Many structured settlement recipients can find they need extra cash before their next structured settlement payment! If you have previously won a lawsuit, and as your award, you are currently receiving a periodic payments over time (also known as a structured settlement), but need that money sooner than later - we can help! We are fast, friendly and will pay you top dollar for your structured settlement payments. If you’ve never been through the process before, our Structured Settlement Specialists can walk you through the simple steps and answer your questions. If you have sold a part of your settlement before, then you’ll appreciate our streamlined approach to get you the money you need? Your money! Fast... often in as little as 45 days! Oasis Legal Finance will present options that are simple and straightforward. If you only need a small amount of cash to meet an immediate need, we can buy just a few of your payments. It’s your choice to sell one payment, three payments, or the entire annuity! It’s the Safe and Less Expensive Way to Get Money Now Sure, you could get a credit card with an extremely high limit and just live off the plastic. However, what’s going to happen when you can’t make a payment? Bad credit follows you for a lifetime! You could try and secure a bank loan, but do you have the collateral? And do you really want another financial institution breathing down your neck? Who needs that hassle? A family member could loan you the money until your next payment comes in, but do they have the resources? And wouldn’t you rather not burden a family member? Why trust anyone else but yourself. You ALREADY have YOUR OWN MONEY!

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Get Cash for Structured Settlement!

Companies that buy structured settlements can purchase your upcoming payments in return for an instant amount of cash. These companies will provide the needed lump sum of cash, instead of settling on the yearly or monthly plan that your structured settlement places onwards. When you have been engaged in a lawsuit for product defects, personal injury, wrongful death of a family member or medical malpractice, you can have resolved a settlement offer. A lot of times, as settlements in personal injury lawsuits are large, the payouts can be set up or structured to be pay off in additions eventually.

This can be paid in more than a few months or years or in some circumstances, it can be payments for a lifetime. These payments will serve as an assured income for the individual who has settled their case for financial compensation. However, sometimes the claimant has a good reason for receiving an immediate large lump sum of cash, instead of the lesser payments. They may want to purchase a house, pay rent, education expenses or future investments or other good reasons for acquiring all or some of their settlement. If you want to get cash for structured settlement, consult reputable companies who buy structured settlements.

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Debt Consolidation

U.S. Bank offers many solutions for your debt consolidation needs. By consolidating other high interest debt you may be able to save money each month. The smart way to finance is to take advantage of the low rates and flexibility that U.S. Bank offers. 

The following options offer low rates and flexible terms by using the available equity in your home or through the convenience of a U.S. Bank credit card.

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'Al-Qaeda fighters' arrested in northern Mali

Malian forces capture eight suspected al-Qaeda-linked fighters, as French jets target fuel depots near Algerian border.

France says it is eager to hand over security in Mali to some 8,000 African troops [AFP]

Malian forces have arrested eight suspected al-Qaeda-linked fighters in northern Mali.

Their capture comes as French fighter jets targeted rebel hideouts and fuel depots in the northeastern desert on Tuesday, near the Algerian border.

The eight suspects captured in Gao are expected to be transferred to Bamako where they will eventually stand trial. They include six Malians, a Nigerian and an Algerian man.

Meanwhile, delegations from the African Union, United Nations, European Union, West African regional body 

ECOWAS, banks and aid groups have been meeting in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss the country's future. 

After a three-week military campaign by French-led forces drove the rebels from most of their strongholds, including the cities of Timbuktu and Gao, dozens of French warplanes on Sunday carried out major air strikes on rebel training and logistics centres in Mali's mountainous northeast, near the Algerian border.
"It is about destroying their rear bases, their depots," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told France Inter radio.
"They have taken refuge in the north and the northeast but they can only stay there long-term if they have ways to replenish their supplies."
Fabius said that the army aimed to stop the rebels from doing so by targeting them in a very "efficient" manner.
The al-Qaeda-linked rebels who controlled northern Mali for 10 months have fled into the Adrar des Ifoghas massif in the Kidal region, a mountainous landscape honeycombed with caves.
They are believed to be holding seven French hostages with them, kidnapped in Mali and Niger in 2011 and 2012.
Algeria on Monday also beefed up its positions on the Malian border to prevent "the infiltration of terrorist groups", Mohamed Baba Ali, a member of parliament from the southern town of Tamanrasset, told the AFP news agency.
French withdrawal
French President Francois Hollande said during a visit to Mali on Saturday that while France had plans to pull out from the country, French troops would not leave until it had driven out all the al-Qaeda-linked rebel groups.
"We want to be rapidly relieved by the AFISMA African forces in the cities that we hold," the French foreign minister said.

France says it is eager to hand over security in Mali to some 8,000 African troops, gradually deploying to the country under a UN-backed plan.

In Paris, US Vice President Joe Biden, after meeting with Hollande, backed that demand and said the UN should make the African mission a formal UN peacekeeping operation, a plan UN officials say they are pushing forward.
The EU thinks it can help quickly by releasing some of the 250m euros ($342m) of development aid it froze after a coup in Mali in March last year.
"When a state falls apart, it takes a while to put it back together again ... Nevertheless, we need to try," said a senior EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The country is also experiencing a crippling food crisis which has put an estimated 18 million people at risk of starvation across the Sahel.
The International Red Cross said despite the retreat of the rebels, residents who had fled fighting, estimated by the UN at over 350,000, were also hesitant to return home, with only 7,000 in central Mali returning so far.

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Boeing requests Dreamliner test flights

All 50 of Boeing's 787s were grounded last month because of an ongoing investigation into battery problem

Boeing Co has asked the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for permission to conduct test flights of its 787 Dreamliner, suggesting the company is making progress in finding a solution to the battery problems that grounded the entire 787 fleet last month. Boeing said it has submitted an application to conduct test flights, confirming a report in the Seattle Times on Monday. The newspaper reported that the FAA might grant permission this week, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. The FAA said it is evaluating Boeing's request. Boeing would test a potential fix for the problem that caused two batteries to burn on 787s last month, the paper said. But passenger flights would still be weeks if not months away, the paper said, citing two sources. Japan's transport safety agency said on Tuesday that a CT scan showed six of the eight cells of the main battery on the All Nippon Airway's Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet that made an emergency landing last month were badly damaged, charred and deformed. The island nation's Civil Aviation Bureau said the FAA had informed the agency that Boeing had sought permission to conduct Dreamliner test flights.

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US expected to sue Standard & Poor's

Lawsuit would mark first major enforcement action against agencies which gave high marks to risky mortgage debt.

US expected to sue Standard & Poor's

The US government is expected to file civil charges against Standard & Poor's over the agency's assessments of the mortgage debt that helped to fuel the 2008 financial crisis. The charges would mark the first enforcement action the government has taken against a major rating agency. S&P said Monday that the Justice Department had informed the rating agency that it intends to file a civil lawsuit focusing on S&P's ratings of mortgage debt in 2007. The action would not involve any criminal allegations, though; critics have long complained about the government's failure to bring criminal charges against any major Wall Street firms involved in the financial crisis. But criminal charges would require a higher burden of proof. If S&P is eventually found to have committed civil violations, it could face fines and limits on how it does business. S&P denies any wrongdoing and says any lawsuit would be without merit. The company said in a statement that a federal lawsuit would "disregard" the fact that S&P reviewed the same data on risky mortgages as US government officials, who said publicly in 2007 that the problems in the subprime mortgage market appeared to be limited. S&P said it "deeply regrets" that some of its ratings "failed to fully anticipate the rapidly deteriorating conditions in the US mortgage market during that tumultuous time." Nanda Chitre, a spokeswoman for the US justice department, declined to comment on the matter. A free speech issue? According to a report in the New York Times, the lawsuit will likely be brought this week after settlement talks between the department and S&P broke down last week. The talks collapsed over federal authorities' insistence that a settlement involve at least $1bn, the Times reported. Judges have previously thrown out claims brought by investors against the rating agencies, on the grounds that their ratings amount to free speech protected by the first amendment of the US constitution. But the ratings in the expected S&P suit were not published widely, as most bond ratings are. As a result, several courts have ruled that those ratings do not enjoy free-speech protection. S&P, Moody's, and Fitch Ratings are the three major ratings agencies, and they have been blamed for helping fuel the financial crisis by assigning AAA ratings to trillions of dollars in risky securities backed by subprime mortgages. The securities collapsed once the housing bubble burst and home-loan delinquencies soared. Major US banks absorbed tens of billions in losses. The rating agencies are important arbiters of the creditworthiness of securities traded around the world. The grades they assign can affect a company's ability to raise or borrow money and how much investors will pay for securities it issues. Critics have long argued that rating agencies have an inherent conflict of interest, because they are paid by the same companies whose products and credit they rate.

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Paraguay candidate dies in helicopter crash

Presidential hopeful, Lino Oviedo, was killed in a helicopter crash in the north of the country.

Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Oviedo (C) was on his campaign trial before his fatal accident [Reuters]

Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Oviedo (C) was on his campaign trial before his fatal accident [Reuters]

Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Oviedo, who helped lead the 1989 coup that overthrew dictator Alfredo Stroessner, died in a helicopter crash over the weekend.

A retired general known as a dynamic public speaker, the 69-year-old Oviedo was running in the April presidential election in the landlocked, grains-exporting South American country.

Police rescuers found his body on Sunday in the wreckage of a helicopter crash in northern Paraguay where he was traveling for a campaign event. The day, February 3rd, marked exactly 24 years since the coup that ended Stroessner's 35-year dictatorship.

Oviedo's popularity was based on the story, often repeated by his supporters but never independently verified, of him breaking into Stroessner's bunker with a grenade in his hand to force the dictator to surrender.

Polls showed he was in fourth or fifth place, with eight percent support, going into the April election.

"On behalf of the government, we send our sincere condolences to the family of General Lino Cesar Oviedo," Paraguayan President Federico Franco said in a Tweet.

The government decreed three days of mourning and suspended all official activities.

Oviedo, known for his fluency in the indigenous "Guarani" language spoken in Paraguay's poor neighbourhoods, was accused of plotting to overthrow governments in the 1990s and sentenced to 10 years in jail.

He was pardoned before completing the term and returned to politics as leader of the conservative National Union of Ethical Citizens party.

"He is a person who unquestionably figures in the history of our country, with all its light and shadows," Paraguay's Communications Minister Gustavo Kohn said.

The latest photos on Oviedo's Facebook page show him wearing a straw hat and plaid shirt, speaking on Saturday at a political rally in the northern province of Concepcion.

Interior Minister Carmelo Caballero said the government would investigate the crash, which occurred on Saturday night as Oviedo was flying back to capital Asuncion in adverse weather.

"We cannot rule out any hypothesis," Caballero said.

Paraguay's previous president, Fernando Lugo, was removed from power by Congress in June when lawmakers voted to remove him for failing to keep the peace after 17 police and peasant farmers died in clashes over a land eviction.

The leftist leader was a year from completing a five-year term.

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Colombian forces kill rebel FARC commander

Country's defence minister confirms local commander among six rebels killed in latest violence, as ceasefire ends.

Arango was FARC's commander in a northwestern area straddling Cordoba and Antioquia provinces [EPA]

Government forces in Colombia have killed a FARC brigade commander close to the group's chief negotiator, the country's defence minister said.

Juan Carlos Pinzon, the defence minister, said that Jacobo Arango, a FARC commander in a northwestern area straddling Cordoba and Antioquia provinces, a known drug route, was among six rebels killed in an assault on Thursday.

"It's a strike of great importance," he told reporters on Friday.

Arango was close to chief FARC peace negotiator Ivan Marquez, who was also Arango's direct commander, and he had been a rebel for more than three decades, Pinzon said.

Fighting has intensified since a unilateral FARC ceasefire expired on January 20, with guerrillas taking hostages, killing soldiers and blowing up oil and energy infrastructure.

Government security forces have also stepped up operations. The violence comes even as the two warring sides have been holding peace talks in Havana to try to end a five-decade-long war that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Peace process

Earlier this week, FARC freed three kidnapped oil contractors, but six guerrillas and five government soldiers were killed across the country.

Marquez questioned whether the government was serious about peace - the same doubt Bogota levelled at the guerrillas earlier this week.

"Now there have been many and strident government 'No's' to all our initiatives for peace in Colombia," Marquez told journalists on Friday in Havana.

President Juan Manuel Santos has said he wants to achieve a peace deal within a year, and the FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, have called for a bilateral truce. 

However, Santos has rejected the idea of a ceasefire until a deal is signed.

The area where Arango was killed had historically been a region where right-wing paramilitaries fought guerrillas for control and is near the site where paramilitary leaders agreed with the government to demobilise in the early 2000s.

Arango was FARC's commander in a northwestern area straddling Cordoba and Antioquia provinces [EPA]

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Washington Post accuses Chinese of hacking

US newspaper says it was attacked by Chinese hackers back in 2011, days after other US companies 

made similar claims.

The US newspaper says it was hacked in 2011, days after two other newspapers made claims of ongoing attacks [AP]

The US newspaper says it was hacked in 2011, days after two other newspapers made claims of ongoing attacks [AP]

The Washington Post has revealed that it is among the latest US companies targeted by cyber attacks following similar security breaches with the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Twitter.

The US newspaper confirmed the attack in 2011 in an article published on its website on Friday, which said it suspected Chinese hackers. 

“Like other companies in the news recently, we face cyber security threats,” Post spokeswoman Kris Coratti said in an article published on the Post's website.

“In this case, we worked with [security company] Mandiant to detect, investigate, and remediate the situation promptly at the end of 2011. We have a number of security measures in place to guard against cyber attacks on an ongoing basis.”

The cyber attack comes days after Twitter, the popular micro-blog site and US newspapers the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal revealed their respective websites had been the target of a co-ordinated hacking effort.

The newspapers blamed China for the attack, while Twitter, which is still trying to recover for a breach that affected about 250,000 accounts, did not suggest the same. 

China has been accused of a widespread and aggressive cyber-spying campaign for several years, but the country's foreign ministry has denied the claims. 

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Suspect charged in former US sniper's killing

American veteran of Iraq war accused of murdering decorated ex-Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, famous for his "150-plus kills".

Routh was arrested by police in Texas several hours after the alleged shooting [Reuters]

Routh was arrested by police in Texas several hours after the alleged shooting [Reuters]

An Iraq war veteran has been charged with murdering Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL hailed as the deadliest military sniper in US history, at a shooting range in Texas.

Eddie Ray Routh, from Lancaster, Texas, was arraigned early Sunday on two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield at the shooting range about 80km southwest of Fort Worth.

The shooting comes amid a raging debate in the United States over gun violence, especially that carried out by people with emotional or mental illness. Local news reports have said that Routh was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Routh has not made any comments indicating what his motive may have been, according to police.

Sheriff Tommy Bryant said Routh was unemployed and "may have been suffering from some type of mental illness from being in the military himself," but he didn't know if Routh was on any medication.

The US military confirmed on Sunday that Routh was a corporal in the Marines from 2006 to 2010. He was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and Haiti in 2010. He is currently listed as a reservist.

'He turned the gun on them'

Kyle, a decorated veteran, wrote the best-selling book, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, detailing his 150-plus kills from 1999 to 2009. Kyle said in his book that Iraqi insurgents had put a bounty on his head.

The Dallas Morning News wrote that Kyle was awarded two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars with Valor for his military service.

Bryant said the trio went to the shooting range on Saturday afternoon. A hunting guide came across the bodies several hours later and called police.

After the shootings, Routh left the shooting range in Kyle's black pickup truck, Bryant said, first going to his sister's home in nearby Midlothian, where he told her and her husband what he had done. The couple called local police.

Routh arrived at his home in Lancaster, about 27km southeast of Dallas, later on Saturday evening. Police arrested him after a brief pursuit.

Travis Cox, the director of a nonprofit to help wounded veterans that Kyle helped found, told the Associated Press on Sunday that Kyle and Littlefield had taken Routh to the range. Littlefield was Kyle's neighbor and "workout buddy," Cox said.

"Chad Littlefield... took a veteran out shooting who was struggling with PTSD to try to assist him, try to help him, try to, you know, give him a helping hand and he turned the gun on both of them, killing them," Cox said.

Kyle's nonprofit, FITCO Cares, provides at-home fitness equipment for emotionally and physically wounded veterans.

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Pentagon chief says torture not needed

Leon Panetta, who as CIA director oversaw the US operation that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, said the job could have been done without resorting to torture.

The outgoing defence secretary, in remarks aired Sunday on the NBC program "Meet the Press," said there had been many pieces to the "puzzle" solved to find bin Laden, who was held responsible for the September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

"Yes, some of it came from some of the tactics that were used at that time - interrogation tactics that were used," said Panetta, who headed the CIA from 2009 until he became defence secretary in 2011.

"I think we could have gotten Bin Laden without that," Panetta added in response to a question about what the interviewer called "enhanced interrogation," or torture.

Panetta did not elaborate on how this might have been done, but said most of the intelligence used to find bin Laden had been stitched together without resort to torture.

He was commenting on the 2012 film "Zero Dark Thirty," which portrayed the hunt that led to the successful 2011 raid on the al-Qaeda leader's hideout in Pakistan.

Some CIA veterans have defended the use of harsh techniques such as sleep deprivation, hypothermia, stress positions, slapping and waterboarding, to obtain information that helped get bin Laden.

Jose Rodriguez, who played a key role in setting up and administering the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" program, recently traced an early break in the bin Laden hunt to a detainee subjected to what Rodriguez called enhanced interrogation short of waterboarding.

From this detainee came, in 2004, the first substantive information about bin Laden's courier, according to Rodriguez, author of "Hard Measures: How Aggressive CIA actions after 9/11 Saved American Lives."

"After obtaining this essential lead on the courier, years of meticulous intelligence work followed," he wrote in an essay last month in the Washington Post.

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Fidel Castro votes in Cuba election

About 8.5 million Cubans took part in the polls that featured no opposition candidates [AFP]

About 8.5 million Cubans took part in the polls that featured no opposition candidates [AFP]

Ailing Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has made a surprise appearance in Havana to vote in parliamentary polls, expressing confidence in the revolution despite a decades-long US trade embargo.

Castro's visit to the voting precinct in Havana's El Vedado neighbourhood was the main event in Sunday's elections, during which Cubans chose 612 members of the National Assembly as well as deputies of local legislatures.

The 86-year-old is said to have spent up to an hour talking to other voters and the media after casting his vote.

About 8.5 million Cubans took part in the polls that featured no opposition candidates.

"What strange elections, in which there is no choice and all the candidates think the same" - Yoani Sanchez, Dissident blogger

Authorities billed the event as a celebration of Cuban democracy, "which is different" from those in other countries.

Cuban dissidents dismissed the vote as a farce, however.

"What strange elections, in which there is no choice and all the candidates think the same," Yoani Sanchez, the dissident blogger, commented.

"It's an electoral farce."

Before Sunday's appearance in Havana, Castro had not been seen in public since October 21, when he accompanied Elias Jaua, the current Venezuelan foreign minister, to the Hotel Nacional.

"I am convinced that Cubans are really a revolutionary people," Castro told reporters who surrounded him at the polling station.

"I don't have to prove it. History has already proven it. And 50 years of the US blockade have not been - nor will it be - able to defeat us."

Long-running embargo

The US issued a commercial, economic, and financial embargo against Cuba in October 1960 after Castro's revolutionary government nationalised the properties of US citizens and corporations.

It was broadened to become a near-total embargo in 1962 as Cuba's alliance with the Soviet block became apparent.

All candidates for elections
have been selected by ruling Communist Party
 or its affiliated associations

In his comments, Castro also praised the creation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), whose presidency Cuba formally assumed last week at a summit in Santiago, Chile.

Set up in Caracas in December 2011 at the behest of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, CELAC groups all nations from across the Americas except the US and Canada.

The Cuban chairmanship of the group marked the country's full regional reintegration and was seen as a major diplomatic coup for Havana.

"This was a step forward which we owe to the efforts of many people, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez," Castro said.

Chavez has not been seen or heard from since his last cancer operation on December 11 in Havana.

But Diosdado Cabello, the Venezuelan National Assembly president, said on Sunday that Chavez was now making steady progress in his recovery.

Castro, who rose to power after the 1959 revolution, ceded the presidency to his younger brother Raul, 81, in July 2006 for health reasons.

His long absences from public view have led to rumours that his health has worsened.

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