Stop Syria of Baath party members. reported military defections - Los Angeles Times

Syrian families arrive on foot in the region of Wadi Khaled of North of Lebanon, near the Lebanese-Syrian border. Hundreds of children and Syrian women crossed the northern border of the Lebanon, fleeing the violence in Syria. (Omar Ibrahim, Reuters / April 28, 2011)

Cracks appear in the Syrian regime Thursday with the resignation of the members of the Baath party to power and continuous reports of military divisions before another confrontation with demonstrators expected Friday.

About 200 people resigned from the Baath party in the past two days to protest Government's violent response disorders. Most of the resignations came from members of the party in the cities of Dara and Baniyas, points have been hot opposition.

"My resignation was a message and the duty," former party member Mohammad Sheghri said in Baniyas. "Security officials has clearly abused of peaceful demonstrators and unarmed." This ruthless violation and the oppression of citizens has never been something the party Baath represented. ?

He also continued reports of dissension within the armed forces. A resident of Dara said an entire army unit, a division or brigade, had broken and was hidden among the people.

His claim could not be verified. Media of the Syrian State cited Thursday a military employee without name dismissing these reports as a "distortion of the media", confirming the unity of the armed forces in "conspiracies."

Access to the sites of protest was widely denied to foreign journalists.

The pro-democracy movement erupted in Dara six weeks after the arrest and torture of a group of adolescents accused of writing graffiti policy opposition to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. It has quickly spread across the country.

Thursday from Dara resident, reached by telephone satellite, said 42 people had been killed by security forces, in the city since Monday when 4th Division Army, the armoured, directed by his brother Maher Assad, stormed the city. Residents described the military assault as a "massacre" and complained about severe food and fuel shortages.

"They are bombing us from the South," said the resident, who requested anonymity for the sake of security. "We have no milk, no gas, light step, no electricity;" they cut everything. ?

He said the army and the shabiha, pro-Government armed plainclothes men who played a central role in the repression, filled the streets.

A witness, Mohamad al-Homsi, said the pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera that three women who were captured in bringing milk to children in the city were forced to kiss the feet of soldiers until they were allowed to pass.

Homsi "our children have died of hunger," said on air shortly before the station announced that it had suspended operations in Syria in response to "restrictions and attacks on its staff."

Elsewhere in the country, the authorities took measures on the movement and communication as the militants and Government forces prepared for the Friday prayer, often followed by massive protests by anti-Government.

Video posted on the Internet appears to show Government forces open fire on the crowd in the third city of the Syria, Homs, kill several people. The video has been downloaded Thursday but could not be confirmed.

The United Nations Human Rights Council should hold a session of emergency Friday to draft a resolution calling on the Syrian Government and its supporters to stop the use of violence against the demonstrators. Organization of Syrian rights sawasiah reported arrested thousands and more than 500 civilians killed so far, Reuters news.

Even former allies of the Syria Turkey and the Iran appear to be increasingly uncomfortable with repression. Istanbul, Turkey, organized a series of top-level between the Syrian opposition meetings, and a group of prominent poets and writers of autour region Thursday issued a statement here condemning the "massacres committed by the Syrian regime against unarmed civilians."

Another sign that it is less than pleased with his neighbour, the Turkey also sent a delegation headed by the National Intelligence Agency Assistant Hakan Fidan and State Planning Organization under Secretary Kemal Madenoglu in Damascus, the Syrian capital", Thursday to discuss the recent incidents" "The unofficial Turkey Anatolia news agency reported."

The Turkey and the Syria maintains healthy trade and diplomatic relations and the sending of those responsible for security and trade could be considered a warning veiled in Syria.

Lutz and Hajjar are special correspondents.

Personal time writer Borzou Daragahi contributed to this report.

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Bahrain sentences 4 protesters to death - New York Times

Three other activists who were also the trial in the same case received sentences of life in prison.

The of Bahrain human rights activists expressed fears that the verdicts could generate a new wave of protests in the small Kingdom of the Persian Gulf. They also argued that the trial was rendered unfair by a series of legal abuse, including the arrest of one of the lawyers, defendants, Mohammed al-Tajer, one of the most prominent lawyers of the Bahrain. The suspects were also prohibited from meeting with their families, and the media were not allowed to cover the trial.

"These verdicts will have a considerable negative impact on the Bahraini society," said Mohamed Maskati, who leads a group of human rights in the Kingdom. "We fear brutal violence in the coming days." I am not optimistic at all - especially that might be more similar verdicts in the near future. ?

Other activists refused to talk, citing the wave of arrests that swept the country over the past two months.

Amnesty International urged the Bahrain to not make the verdict.

"They must respect the right to a fair trial and that they must step use the death penalty in all circumstances," he said in a statement published Thursday.

The defendants said Bahraini authorities had the right of appeal, although Amnesty International and local human rights groups said that the appeal would be negligible at this stage.

"The defendants received all legal rights under the international laws of human rights", the Bahraini Government said in a statement released Thursday. "The verdict is a clear indication of the absolute condemnation of the barbaric crimes and a deep commitment to the protection of life valuable community."

The Shiite majority of the Bahrain, which has long complained of marginalization by the ruling Sunni elite, the streets the month last in mass demonstrations and sit-ins demanding of reform, equal rights and freedoms. The King declares martial law and requested the assistance of the Saudi troops crackdown on protests and to crush the dissent.

At least 30 people were reported killed since the demonstrations began in March, among them four in custody. Activists of the human rights said that they are dead after that they were brutally tortured. The Bahraini authorities have recognized the death but no have not explained them.

Bahrain events have been inspired by the Tunisian and Egyptian, uprisings in which the Presidents of both countries intervened under popular pressure after only a few weeks.

Seven leaders of the opposition in the Bahrain were accused of the premeditated murder of the employees of the Government. Military prosecutors introduced a video that has been suggested that the demonstrators had crushed the police with a car. Counsel for the accused denied the charges.

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NATO planes strike compound Gaddafi - New York Times

Lincoln ordered a blockade of the South, and the Union forces abandon two arsenals. A room for the forum of debate on which allows to save the endangered species act endangered plants and animals, if cannot.

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Israeli is killed in West Bank - New York Times

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Fears of Taliban Fan of Infiltration into Afghan Forces - New York Times

The Taliban rushed to take responsibility for the attack, stating that the shooter was a sleeper agent planted to kill NATO soldiers. Afghan police and the army scrambled to find ways to eradicate the insurgents in their ranks. Screening of new recruits and soldiers escalated.

But when a joint investigation was completed some time later, Afghan and American investigators concluded that the gunman, a man named Ezzatullah in a small village in the Province of Nangarhar, where the attack occurred, was not a sleeper agent at all, but a good soldier overcome by personal stress, including the insistence of his father that he accepts a contract of marriage with a young girl.

Fears about infiltration of the Taliban in the forces of Afghan national security arose again this week after the insurgents in Afghan military uniforms attacked three locations in highly secure Government. The latest attack came Monday the Ministry of defence headquarters in downtown Kabul and killed two Afghan soldiers.

The attacks have fuelled concerns among Afghan officials, who are uncomfortable about their own safety and the fate of a country whose military and they worry the police forces could be impregnated with enemy insurgents. Some in the Senate on Wednesday called the resignation of the Minister of defence, Abdul Rahim Wardak, calling it unable to defend his own Department, much less the country.

But preliminary investigations show that the authors of at least two of the attacks were not used members of the Afghan army or the police, according to two senior intelligence officers NATO and an advisor to NATO informed on investigations. They are also suspicious that the person in the attack remaining was a member, while the investigation continues.

In fact, responsible intelligence not gathered any evidence suggesting that the infiltration is very widespread, as Taliban claims according to the officers, who spoke the condition of anonymity because of the nature of their positions advising Afghan forces. Nevertheless, officials know that the Taliban claims of infiltration breed distrust and are difficult to refute.

"Their goal is to separate the coalition of the Afghan national army, and is an excellent tool for them, whether they have or not," one police officer said.

Infiltration or not, the recent attacks were exposed other security issues, including the severity of the controls for the identification and research to points of control and input and the easy availability of official-looking uniforms and military equipment in stores and bazaars throughout Kabul and the provinces of the body. Investigators were also examining if any guards took bribes to let the insurgents across.

"At least two of them are very clearly the guys who had already obtained a uniform and had been helped," said NATO's Security Advisor. "This is really what we are concerned about - is the enemy capable of penetrating through this filtering system, or that they are actually able to co-opt or use uniforms and equipment that they could collect out on street weaknesses and exploit them in the physical security of these sites."

Concerns about the sleeper agents still run high among afghans and NATO officials. After the attack of November in Nangarhar, forces Coalition intensified abruptly training Afghan intelligence agents. It is their work to identify possible insurgents between Afghan forces and look for signs of military personnel who, acting either financial or personal stress or threats to their families, might fall under the influence of the Taliban. About 200 officers are now in the field, and this number is expected to more than double by the end of the year.

Since September 2009, when the NATO forces began to intensify the efforts to strengthen the national security forces, all recruits are required to go through a process of screening of eight steps. In it, recruits must undergo a criminal history and testing audit and must submit two letters of the elders of the village to the respondents for their character.

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Explosion of the photojournalists tue Libya Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros - Los Angeles Times

Tim Hetherington, left, is helped in a building by a rebel in Misurata hours, in Libya, before being killed. Chris Hondros, right, Misurata mission this week. (AFP/Getty Images.) (Associated Press) reports of Misurata, Libya and Los Angeles-, barely two months ago combat photographer Tim Hetherington sent a tweet of the Academy Awards, where his Afghanistan war film "restrepo" was for the best documentary trophy.

Non-"to the # Oscars with Josh Fox of @ gaslandmovie and Director of http://ow.ly/i/8Dl6 Wasteland," he asked, referring to two of his fellow nominees in the category. The tweet was accompanied by a photo of Hetherington, beaming in a tuxedo.

On Tuesday, Hetherington has sent a very different report of the shattered and besieged the Libyan city of Misurata: "bombardment by the forces of Qathafi blind." No sign of NATO. ?

These significantly dissimilar dispatches reflect both disparate but complementary Hetherington, 41, who was killed Wednesday in an explosion which seems to have been caused by mortar fire to Misurata. The town held the rebels in the West of the Libya was under siege for several weeks by forces loyal to the Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi.

The mortally wounded even mortar explosion Chris Hondros of Getty Images, a veteran photographer combat whose work appeared on the cover of the edition of the Wednesday of the Los Angeles Times and appears in the edition of today as well.

Hondros, 41, has suffered a serious head injury in the blast and taken to hospital, where he died a few hours later.

Hondros has received several awards, including the highest distinction of photography of the war, Robert Capa 2005 Gold Medal. He was finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his work in Liberia.

Two other photojournalists were injured in the explosion: Michael Brown, Corbis and Guy Martin of Panos Pictures Agency.

Doctors at the Hospital of Misurata Hikma said seven rebel fighters and a Ukrainian doctor also were killed Wednesday in the bombing, and 120 people were injured.

Hondros took photographs in Misurata Wednesday morning under the protection of a rebel militia commanded by a hunter named Salahidin. His photos capture the militia in the action she tried emptying loyal snipers to Kadafi from their hiding places.

After the transmission of images to his employers to Getty Images, he returned to the line of front with Salahidin and his men in the afternoon.

Hetherington and Hondros were part of a group of six photographers who made their way up to a dangerous band of Tripoli Street, a front line where Kadafi snipers hide in buildings of the city held the rebels.

At some point, at some of the photographers has broken with Salahidin for a more secure position, less said Guillermo Cervera, a free-lance photographer who was part of the group. They were hit by shrapnel from a mortar shell.

"We were trying to go to a safe place." It was too quiet. "He considered dangerous," said Cervera, who was a few meters more below at the time of the explosion. "I heard the sound of an explosion, and everyone was on the ground."

Rebels have photographers at the Hikma hospital.

Hetherington was pallid and bleeding from a leg bad injury, and he also was hit in the head, Cervera said.

Through his photographs, which sometimes overlapped the line between journalism and fine art photography, Hetherington has sought the perceptual gap between the chaotic events in developing countries and the most privileged worlds of Western readers. Its projects had included facilities multi-screen and downloads for the portable device.

Born in Liverpool, England, he studied literature at Oxford University and later returned to College to study photography, according to a biography on its website.

A photographer contributing to Vanity Fair, he lived for eight years in West Africa before making his first travels to Afghanistan, a few years ago.

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Violence spreads to the Yemen as foreign diplomats strive to put an end to the crisis - Los Angeles Times

Anti-government demonstrators shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sana'a. (Mohammed Huwais / AFP/Getty Images)Reports of Manama, Bahrain - shooting and funerals were spread across the Yemen as the international negotiators have yet to come up with a plan on Board President Ali Abdullah Saleh of power and prevent protests generalized to switch the impoverished nation into a civil war that could stimulate unrest in all the region.

Main cities of the country explosion almost daily violence as security officials and the thugs loyal to the Government attacked demonstrators anti-Saleh with tear gas and live ammunition. On Wednesday, a man armed motorcycle fired on a crowd in the city of port of Hudaydah West, killing a demonstrator.

As the protest movement approaches its third month, the international community, including the United States and Arab States, forced not Saleh to resign from his reign of 32 years, while the tribes and the Government representatives have abandoned him. Volatile leader, whose popularity has fallen in the midst of corruption and has no economic policy, has for weeks as contradicting the signals which have exasperated his allies and a growing list of enemies.

Saleh was quoted by the news agency saying that he would not be overthrown by "conspiracies or blows...." Those who want power or to gain the seat of power should be towards the ballot box. ?

A day after that of the United Nations Security Council could not agree on a statement on the Yemen, tens of thousands of anti-government protesters Wednesday sweeping the old streets of the capital, Sana'a. The demonstrators have is emboldened in recent days, pushing close to the heavily protected government offices.

The cooperation Council of the Gulf, which is composed of Saudi Arabia and five other Persian Gulf States, is concerned by the prospect of economic chaos and civil war from a Yemen already with a divided army, a secessionist movement, and a growing threat of Al Qaeda. As leader Libyan Muammar al-Gaddafi and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Saleh is in relying on the brutality and veiled hints of compromise to silence dissent.

"We are close to a consensus of the GCC on the significance of departure of this regime," said Sultan Atawani, leader of the opposition of the nasserite Unionist Party, who met this week with senior diplomats from the United Arab Emirates United and other neighbouring countries.

The difficulty centred on the research of a mixture of solicitations will persuade Saleh to resign. One of the elements under discussion proposes the President and his family, including his son and parents who control the military and intelligence units, the immunity from prosecution in the deaths of more than 100 demonstrators. Western countries are calling on Saleh to hand power to his Vice President and for the elections to be held within 60 days after his departure.

"The issue of such guarantees may be used by the President to gain more time and commit new crimes," said Atawani. "We say to our brothers in the Gulf that such an approach can be made to the table of negotiations, but only by a new Government when it comes".

Officials insist on the fact that a post-Saleh scenario emerges. Under proposals supported by the countries of the Gulf, of Yemen, an incongruous collection of Socialist, Islamic and other opposition, would take the Presidency in a transitional Government. Representatives of the Party of the President Tuesday officials GCC in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in what appeared to foreshadow the eventual exit of Saleh met separately.

"The President has to negotiate to ensure a transfer of power now, or he will never have the chance," said Murad Azzani, policy analyst at the University of Sana'a. "What he wants to do now is to avoid the Egyptian scenario the President under arrest and his party dissolved." Saleh wants his party to survive and to exercise power through it. ?

But the General Congress of the people of the Saleh is in danger. Prominent members broke away to form the Justice and development. This political insurgency challenges directly control of near-monopoly of the ruling party of the Government to reach out to hundreds of thousands of young demonstrators angry with poverty and high unemployment.

"Above all, solidarity with the popular claims we represent and see that the Yemeni common interest lies with the immediate resignation of the President," said Abdul Aziz Jabbari, a former member of Parliament and founding member of the new party.

However, many young demonstrators, Don't feel represented by any political group. Slogans of "Not to the parties" and no impartiality glued to the tents of the demonstrators in Sana'a indicate that a new Government will have to deal with a powerful voice, deprived of their rights. It was the demonstrators, opposition groups or other parties, which forced the international community to intervene and put Saleh on the edge.

"Future leaders will have to have some resonance with the people," said Azzani. "These parties go anywhere if they are not anchored in the culture of the movement to the Yemen has been the witness".

Jeffrey.Fleishman@LAtimes.com

A special correspondent of Sana contributed to this report.

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Israel under pressure to offer peace plan - Los Angeles Times

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, talks to Israeli soldiers during a visit to Ashkelon, where an Iron Dome missile defense system is deployed. (Ariel Schalit, Associated Press / April 19, 2011)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under mounting pressure to unveil a new plan for solving the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict or risk having the U.S. and international community move ahead with a strategy of their own.

Israel won some breathing space with the postponement last week of a meeting of international powers in Berlin, but American and European Oxford are continuing to prod Netanyahu to lay out his vision for restarting peace talks and ending the occupation of the West Bank. If he does not, Oxford warned, the so-called Mideast quartet--the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - may attempt to jump-start the process by formally endorsing, for the first time, the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borderswith East Jerusalem as its capital. Netanyahu's government has vehemently opposed such a move.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signaled last week that international patience over the stalled peace process was growing thin and that the recent Arab world unrest made a resolution of the conflict more pressing. She promised "active American leadership" and a reinvigorated U.S. approach that would be announced in coming weeks.

"The status quo between Palestinians and Israelis is no more sustainable than the political systems that have crumbled in recent months," Clinton told an audience at the U.S. - Islamic World Forum in Washington. Some viewed the statement as a signal to Netanyahu to move quickly with his own plan.

"the israelis are facing a bit of pressure with the way things are proceeding," said a Western diplomat in Israel, who did not want to be identified while speaking about the sensitive matter. "People are starting to look to the U.S. for some kind of action."

Netanyahu's conservative government formally endorsed a two - state solution at the start of his term two years ago, but U.S. - brokered peace talks later collapsed when Israel resumed settlement construction in the West Bank and the Palestinians walked away from negotiations in protest.

Netanyahu has been hinting that he plans to announce a bold initiative by May, when he is expected to visit the U.S. and may unveil his proposal during a speech to Congress. But his Cabinet, which includes right-wing parties opposed to ceding land for peace, appears divided.

Last month, Israeli government aid floated the idea of an interim peace plan with temporary borders, but the Palestinians rejected it. Now Netanyahu is considering handing the Palestinian Authority more control over some areas in the West Bank or calling for an international conference aimed at restarting talks.

In a speech to European Union envoys last week, Netanyahu offered no. clues. "I have not decided what to say, and when to say it," the prime minister reportedly told the group. On Thursday, Netanyahu struck a defiant tone, saying he would not succumb to outside pressure. "we will stand firm against anyone who attempts to dictate conditions to us that will leave us without security and without peace."

Government spokesman Mark Regev said the international community should be holding the Palestinians more responsible for the breakdown in talks.

"In some circles there is an automatic knee-jerk siding with the Palestinian position, and it makes Palestinians think they have a free pass," Regev said. "people are inadvertently hurting the peace process." "If there were a serious message from the international community that the time has come to return to negotiations, there would be a much better chance at negotiations."

Moderate members of Netanyahu's Likud Party are urging the prime minister to sixteen the moment by offering a fresh approach.

"We should take an initiative," said Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor. "time passing is not helping."

President Obama has said he wants to welcome a Palestinian state into the U.N. in September. Not coincidentally, that's also when the Palestinians are promising to take their statehood bid to the U.N. General Assembly, which most predict will approve it.

Though such a step may not change the reality in the Middle East, it would create momentum that many Israelis fear would reduce their leverage at future negotiations over borders and security guarantees.

Palestinian officials expressed disappointment at the delay in this month's quartet meeting. Palestinian official Saeb Erekat called the decision regrettable.

U.N. and EU representatives were hoping to use the meeting to push for a quartet statement endorsing the pre-1967 war borders, with agreed-upon swaps, as a basis for future talks. But U.S. officials argued for a delay, saying they first wanted a guarantee from the Palestinians that if such a statement were released, they would return to the negotiating table. The U.S. also worried that the move might lead to boycott talks Israel.

The Palestinians gave no clear indication that a quartet statement would be enough to persuade them to resume talks, officials said. Some Palestinian leaders are insisting that Israel must also agree to halt all settlement construction on land it seized during the 1967 Middle East War.

"Why should the quartet go out on a limb when there is no hard and fast insurance that the Palestinians would return to the table?" the Western diplomat in Israel said.

Public skepticism about peace talks among Palestinians has only hardened in recent months, with most urging Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to boycott the process unless Israeli settlement construction is halted, according to Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki.

"If he returns to talks, he makes the public very angry," Shikaki said. "my conclusion is he will not."

Palestinian leaders are nonetheless increasingly confidant that their September statehood strategy is gaining steam. At an international donors conference in Brussels last week to aid the Palestinians, a U.N. report was released that praised Palestinian Authority institutions dealing with finance, law, education and infrastructure as being ready for statehood. But U.N. officials worry that progress could stall if a peace deal is not reached soon.

Israel staunchly opposed U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state, saying the Palestinians are trying to avoid the difficult decisions that should be made at the negotiating table.

Israeli analysts say Netanyahu's alternative plan, if he announces one, would need to be ambitious and detailed enough to rival the Palestinians' initiative. U.S. and European officials are pushing Netanyahu to formally embrace using the 1967 borders as a basis for talks, as some of his predecessors have done, and agree to East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

Opposition leaders expressed doubt that Netanyahu's coalition would be able to overcome its differences to propose such a plan.

"I don't see in the current government a political plan for moving forward," said lawmaker Shaul Mofaz of the opposition Kadima party. Yet, he added, "a do-nothing policy is very dangerous for the future of Israel."

Edmund.Sanders@LATimes.com

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Opposition Leader Besigye arrested in Uganda protest - New York Times

KAMPALA, Uganda - figurehead opposition here was arrested Monday and charged with incitement to violence, as a third day of street protests in the capital of Uganda has ended in the shrouds of tear gas and rubber bullets.

"Walk to work" protests are a campaign against the spirals of fuel and food prices led by the former candidate to the Presidency, Kizza Besigye.

Despite the meagre size of protests - rarely numbering more than a few hundred people in a country more $ 30 million - they got an overwhelming response by the security forces Government, sending tear gas through a crowd of spectators and dormitories of the University. Demonstrators were beaten and fired on, raise more political tensions.

Mr. Besigye was dragged on the back of a pickup truck by several police officers Monday, his right hand in a sling after be slaughtered by the military police with a Thursday rubber bullet, and a distribution on the second day of the walk to the work of the demonstrations. Demonstration on Monday was the third at the time where the riots broke out in a number of universities in Kampala.

A spokesman of the police, Judith Nabakooba, said the protests in Kampala had dissipated by the beginning of the afternoon and 98 people, including the leading political figures, have been arrested.

"The situation has been limited," said agent Nabakooba. She also said there were demonstrations in the nearby town of Jinja, on the Nile, but those too had been pacified.

Mr. Besigye, who won just over 20% of the vote in February, vowed earlier this month that he could walk at his home on the outskirts of Kampala from the town centre every Monday and Thursday to raise attention to the high prices of the products that he said are stimulated by the corruption of the Government.

Mr. unexpected cited Besigye a supplementary budget of 250 million just before the February elections, the recent secret fighter acquisition Russian for about $ 750 million, as well as lucrative but oil contracts signed by the Government after the discoveries of oil wells in the West of the country.

Mr. Besigye vowed on Monday that he could walk to work again on Thursday.

On Saturday, President Yoweri Museveni said that Uganda should not complain about the increase in food prices, and that the Government would crush any demonstration, including walking to work the movement.

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In a development of Cuba, many remain skeptical - New York Times

Havana - months, Cubans were treated a blunted maché assessment their future by none other that their President, Raúl Castro.

They do not quite work hard and live too of dole in the State, he said. The economy was based on a math inapplicable in equivalent two more two "to six or eight," as he put it in a speech Saturday. And the Directorate does not have to initiate a younger generation to take over, leaving the upper level of the part dominated by the standard-bearers of the revolution, which is as old as 87.

Is no longer, he promised, pushing a battery change, considerably expand small businesses and for the first time since the revolution of 1959, allowing Cubans to buy and sell private houses, something now only through a lively market underground.

But if the winds of change - and it remains to be seen if they will end up by to Breeze or gust - are emanating from the Convention Hall where the Communist Party held its sixth Congress in the last three days, Cubans seem ambivalent, even skeptics, that the final result will be jostling the island.

"We have a way to make changes, but while keeping the same," said Johan Rodriguez, 22, who completes his accountant meagre State salary by selling trinkets on the street. "The fundamental problem is that we have no money." I hope that they discuss will change. ?

Mr. Castro has avoided resolutely using something as the capitalism of Word when discussing the new economic platform, lest the United States get the impression a long-lost cousin came into the fold. Indeed, it has tended to avoid describes changes, well, change, preferring to cast as "modernization" socialist model here.

Still, it has proved capable of diagnosing the precarious state of the economy, warning that Cuba can not afford workers of State that little, for their controls and suggesting even eventually get rid of the ration books that provide food and other products of first necessity to heavily subsidizing prices.

"How will allow us food?", said a young another Cuban, a 36-year engineer who did not want his name used for fear that his remarks would be too critical to the Government. "They will have to lower the price of food many people do not die of starvation." All this seems so quickly. ?

Yet, Mr. Castro was not the radical reformer that his speech suggest that it might be. Recently, he intervened in the announcement of plans to lay off 500,000 State workers, defer reductions indefinitely. Last year, he had thrown "inflated work force State" as an unsustainable expense, "is equivalent to" eat up our future and endanger the survival of the revolution.

But instead of rapid economic reform previously established by the Communist leadership, Mr. Castro said a large part of the planned changes would come over the next five years.

And although it suggests senior executives like him step more than two consecutive terms of five years, he has also complained that the younger generation was ill prepared to take on the best jobs.

How, analysts wondered, should be interpreted as he climbs in first place in the part - Fidel Castro, 84, disclosed last month that it was more the leader of the party - and selects a new No. 2, at the feast, the person who might succeed him as President of the nation?

Rafael Hernández, a political scientist who publishes the magazine Temas here, said there are the legions of young members in the substantive ranks which often hit a wall as they ride the party.

"It is a policy change difficult between the generation which has been there for 50 years and the younger generation," he said. "It is a difficult process and one that they wanted to deliberately gradually so it would be not so traumatic.".

"But," he added, "I think that it is not just about more young people." It is young people who think differently. We can have young people who believe as the old ones, or we can have young people who are young and think differently. ?

Read tobacco leaves, as some call it the Kremlinology here, may be foolhardy since streak of dismal and rising stars. It is primarily a matter of relatively young age-matched with the rank of party and the frequency of the television appearances, especially near the Castro brothers.

Much of the attention is Marino Murillo, 50, who has defended the initiatives of President Castro when he was Minister of the economy. It now has a new position as a sort of tsar overseeing changes to push more people into private business.

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Populist advance in Finland could jeopardize the rescue - New York Times

Brussels - Since the crisis of the euro area has obtained by virtue of how truly a year ago, various Cassandra warned that the day would come where voters would rise in revolt against pay for the costly mistakes of others with rescues.

This day came Sunday, when Finnish voters given 19 percent of their ballots to the nationalist and populist true party of Finn, who is very orchestrated for countries such as the Greece, the Ireland and, more pertinentlyPortugal. The rendered results true Finns the former Favorites to become partners in the coalition in a future Government.

"The results of Sunday are clear warning shot to those who had thought that political European would not too affected by the crisis in the periphery," Frank Engels and Fran?ois Cabou, Barclays Capital analysts wrote Monday in a research note."". A rescue plan for as much as 115 billion for the Portugal has been questioned by the vote, since rescue requires the unanimous approval by the 17 members of the euro area.

True Finns raised their share of seats in the Parliament of 200 members in 39 of the 5 they had won the 2007 elections, strongly to change the balance of powers in Finnish politics.

While the Finnish leaders of other parties have begun to discuss ways to mitigate the damage, European politicians reacted with dismay to the results of the elections and has sought to distance itself from the true Finns.

Wilfried Martens, a Belgian politician, who is the President of the largest grouping of centre-right parties in Europe, European people's Party, said it was "discouraging see populist party rise to third place in Finland."

In Berlin, officials downplay fears that the Finland would undermine efforts to help the Portugal, also citing its traditionally pro-European position.

"Finland was still working toward success in Europe, regardless of what the Government was in power," said Christoph Steegmans, Government spokesman Assistant Germany. "Any agreement was always kept, and we are betting that it will continue."

The true Finns ran on a platform which was hostile to the recent financial bailout of the Ireland, the Greece and the agreement reached this month here with Portugal. These rescue plans were designed to put an end to a crisis of sovereign debt which threatened the future of the single currency area and raised questions about whether if the disparate economies in Europe could never be successful to integrate.

"Obviously there must be changes," the leader of true Finns, Timo Soini said Monday on the Portugal package, reported in Reuters.

True Finns were also critical of immigration policy, and their election gains came in the wake of advances by populist parties on the right across the European Union, including in the Netherlands, the France and the Sweden.

In Brussels, officials of the European Union Monday rejected suggestions that was not their strategy for the euro area.

The vote in Finland, protests against the austerity throughout Europe and continues to the volatility in financial markets should not obscure how the union has taken measures that will enable us to get the economy on a sustainable path,"Pia Ahrenkilde Hansena spokesman for the European Commission, said in Brussels.

She also said the commission was "completely confident" that the Finland would continue to honour its commitment to participate by contributing to financial stability, European facility in year place last to provide financial assistance to the members of the eurozone in difficulty.

The pro-European Coalition in Finland, headed by the Minister of finance Jyrki Katainen, strongly supported the efforts to address the problems of the euro area. It could still lead a future Government, while Mr Soini of True Finns can accept a compromise to participate in the rescue in exchange for positions in the next Government.

If the Finland are reluctant to help the Portugal, forcing other countries to do the rest of the loan guarantees, potentially raising birds in Germany and other countries, where the cost of the guarantors also became a source of political tension.

James Kanter Brussels and Matthew saltmarsh of Paris reported.

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With the United States in the role of support, Libya of the NATO mission ' to go in circles - Los Angeles Times

A jet fighter anti-Government traverse Street Tripoli in clashes with forces loyal to Muammar al-Gaddafi in central Misurata, the only city in the West of the Libya which remains in the control of the rebels. (Odd Andersen / AFP/Getty Images)Reports from Washington and Benghazi in Libya - a month ago in Libya, loyal to Muammar al-Gaddafi troops advancing on the opposition-held areas, tens of thousands of civilians feared for their lives, and the rebel forces are appeared in disarray with little chance of driving Kadafi of power.

After four weeks and hundreds of air strikes by the United States and their NATO allies, in many ways little has changed.

Tanks and artillery of the Al-Gaddafi is more threatening the capital of a de facto rebels of Benghazi in eastern Libya, and warplanes Kadafi and combat helicopters are based. But disorganized rebel forces are still out sighted and outnumbered by the Libyan army units, who, with their Chief, showed no sign to surrender.

On the contrary, al-Gaddafi has intensified its counter-offensive these days. Grad mounted on truck rockets to bomb residential areas of Misurata, the only city in the West of the Libya still in the hands of the rebels and rights groups of the military accused man of Kadafi of the use of cluster bombs.

"We precipitate in this without a plan," said David Barno, a former army General who commanded once United States and NATO forces in Afghanistan. "Now, we are in the Middle, go in circles."

The failure of the air campaign to force the expulsion of the Al-Gaddafi, or even to stop his army of bombing of civilians and to recapture the cities held rebel, pose a dilemma Crescent for President Obama and other NATO leaders: what future?

In private, the American authorities acknowledge that some of their assumptions until they intervened in the Libyan conflict may have been defective. Among them was the notion that only air power degrade military of the Al-Gaddafi to the point where it would be obliged to put an end to its attacks, and that the United States could leave the air strikes mainly to Britain combat aircraftFrance and other European countries.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron, who leads the NATO to launch air campaign in Libya, said last week that the alliance had to intensify its attacks to the mandate of the United Nations to protect civilians. But win agreement to back intervention could further divide the alliance already evil split.

The US army moved in a supporting role earlier this month, and Obama gave no indication that it will send U.S. aircraft in combat missions, a fortiori again reconsider his promise not to use troops to the ground in Libya.

His decision to intervene in the Libya was not popular at the Pentagon, where the Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and top uniformed officers showed little interest in taking a major role in the conflict, while they are engaged in the war in Afghanistan. Obama has successfully overcome the objections of his advisors by promising to keep the role of the United States limited.

If the most powerful member of the alliance is not prepared to degenerate, a few other members will be eager to do so.

But the longest Kadafi brandishes under the NATO attacks, the pressure more there will be in the Washington capitals and European deal with the escalation of the military campaign, arming the rebels or ratchet sanctions and other indirect measures, in the hope of forcing the power.

Admiral James Stavridis, the American commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has asked the NATO members for additional attack aircraft - a request that the American authorities have clearly that other members of the alliance will have to meet.

Decision of the Obama to limit the military role of the United States left NATO without A - 10 Thunderbolt II or combat AC - 130 spectrum, we had U.S. designed for accurate and close to the ground troops air support attacks against targets on the ground.

The United States allows A-10 and other aircraft to strike pending in cases of emergency. But bring the aircraft in the fight is not the review, a NATO officer said.

However, the air campaign has clearly weakened army of Kadafi. Allied air strikes have destroyed about 40% of equipment and headquarters military installations Libya, according to a senior U.S. military officer.

With an area of maritime exclusion preventing Kadafi supply sea, there are also signs that his Government is struggling to provide ammunition, transportation and food to the troops on the ground. They include the 32nd Brigade, an elite unit headed by the Al-Gaddafi more young sons, Khamis and the main target of the air strikes, said the U.S. official.

The Al-Gaddafi to stay in power long term prospects are not good, insist the United States authorities. They cite the defection of several assistants top of the page, including its former head of the information and the loss of billions of dollars in oil revenues that he used only once to help ensure the loyalty in a tribal society.

But these gains have not changed the balance of military power.

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Mubarak suffers from heart problems during the interrogation, - according to a report, Los Angeles Times

Mubarak at the Presidential Palace in Cairo. For the last year it was hit by rumours of health, especially after he underwent a surgery of the gallbladder in Germany in March 2010. (Amr Nabil / Associated Press / January 28, 2010)President of the former Egyptian Hosni Mubarak was hospitalized in the Red Sea resort after suffering heart problems during questioning by prosecutors on allegations of corruption and abuse of power arising from its nearly 30 year rulethe News reported State media.

"Hosni Mubarak went into intensive care in hospital International Sharm el Sheik, with heart problems," said the official news agency MENA. The authorities said that Mubarak was accompanied by his sons, Alaa and Gamal, who were also questioned by prosecutors.

The news agency quoting a hospital Manager, reported that the deposed President State is stabilized and that it "may be questioned." State TV said that Mubarak has refused to eat or drink Tuesday morning after being informed that he and his son could be questioned.

Mubarak, 82, ill for more than a year. Media status indicated, however, that the visit to the hospital may have been a ploy to escape his legal problems. The former leader and his son were summoned by the Attorney General of the Egypt for questioning on charges of illicit gains and violence against the protesters in an uprising which began on 25 January and led to the resignation of Mubarak on 11 February.

Mubarak was admitted to the hospital "with the pretext of illness to avoid appearing before the authorities of the interrogation", the journal of State Al Ahram reported. He and his son Gamal, an official of the former ruling party, have been accused by political opponents of enriching themselves through private connections and the Government.

In a speech to the nation broadcast Sunday by Al Arabiya, the elder Mubarak denied that he had bank accounts or property outside the Egypt. New reports on investigations of the family of Mubarak reports have fascinated and angry of a country trying to move beyond its repressive mandate.

Since his eviction and a resumption of Government by a military Council, Mubarak live in his palace private in Sharm el-Sheikh. The Attorney General has frozen its financial assets and forbidden members of his family to leave the country.

Concerns regarding the health of Mubarak has increased after he underwent gall bladder surgery and had a growth removed from his intestine in a German hospital, a year ago.

Jeffrey.Fleishman@LAtimes.com

Hassan is a news assistant in the Office of the Cairo of The Times.

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Die 4 smuggling Tunnel under the Gaza Strip and the border Egypt - New York Times

Adam Serwer of The American Prospect and Eli Lake of The Washington Times debate on the progressive movement. Any business or brand can claim to be socially responsible, but now, there is a way to prove it.

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Israel, Palestinians reached the truce spike of killings - Times of India

Jerusalem: Israeli officials and Palestinian floating a ceasefire Sunday to end a resurgence of violence in the Gaza Strip, as Israel has warned a stronger response if the firing of rockets from the coastal strip continues.

In Cairo, the Arab League said that he would call on the United Nations to impose a no-fly on Gaza, zone after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the firing of rockets by militants from Gaza would be harshly treated. "If the criminal attacks against the Israeli army and civilians continue, Israel respond with even greater force,"he told journalists at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.""

But Palestinians expressed support for a potential cease-fire, and Israeli officials after the fire rocket from Gaza and reprisals-day Israeli air raids that killed at least 18 Palestinians.

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Four killed in Syria cut the city - New York Times

The army had sealed off the city that hundreds of demonstrators gathered, undaunted by use of the Government of the force for more than three weeks of unrest, witnesses said. Television reported State that nine soldiers were killed in an ambush near the town.

Because telephone lines, electricity and Internet access were apparently cut to most of the regions of Banias details were incomplete. Soldiers and tanks from the army surrounded the city, prevent people from entering to the.

But a witness, reached by telephone, said hundreds of protesters had gathered near the al-Rahman Mosque, when forces of security with men in open civilian clothing fire armed. The names of the dead were read on the loudspeakers of the mosque.

Dozens of people were injured, the witness said, but most of them have asked to be treated at a small clinic instead of the main hospital of the city, which was under the control of the security forces.

As most people who were interviewed, the witness requested anonymity for fear of reprisals from the Government. Several human rights activists, also citing witnesses, reported the shootings Sunday, Banias is 185 kilometres northwest of Damascus, the capital.

"There are demonstrations throughout the city, and people are chanting against the regime, said Haitham al-Maleh, 80, a lawyer and activist for the rights of the man who has spent years as a political prisoner in Syria."

The accounts could not be confirmed independently. The Government imposed severe restrictions on the coverage of news and many journalists, including Associated Press, were ordered to leave the country.

Demonstrations broke out in Syria, more than three weeks ago and have experienced steady growth, with tens of thousands of people calling for major reforms in a Government authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad.

More than 170 people were killed, human rights groups function.

The Government accuses the bands armed violence and pledged to crush any further unrest. Sunday, rogue reported State television were behind the killing of nine soldiers in an ambush near Banias.

The television report said armed men hiding among the trees along a road fired at the soldiers, and it broadcasts images of an ambulance and other civilian vehicles coming under fire along the road.

Sunday, Assad said that the country was "" to go forward on the road to comprehensive reforms", reported the State News Agency, Sana." In recent weeks, Mr. Assad responded to the protesters with force and limited concessions which have failed to appease the.

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China holds the worshippers to pray in Public - New York Times

BEIJING--The police arrested more than 100 members of an underground Protestant Church Sunday after the Congregation tried to pray in a public square in the North of the capital.

The raid on the Church, which sought to pray outside after he was expelled from its building under pressure from the Government, was part of a broad crackdown on dissent in the past seven weeks. The campaign led to the imprisonment of scores of lawyers, writers and rights activists, and the repression of unauthorized worship.

Authorities also have a less obvious threats, cancellation of events also various the Saint Patrick's day parades and debate this weekend collegiate tournament.

The Protestant Church, Shouwang, was expelled last week from space that he rented after the landlord do step to renew pressure on the Government lease. The Congregation, whose 1,000 members are one of the largest churches not registered in China, sought legal recognition since 2006.

According to members of the Church, the pastor, the Reverend Jin Tianming, the leaders of the Church and scores of other parishioners were blocked by police to leave their homes Sunday. Others were seized as they emerged from the Metro station Zhongguangcun Plaza, a popular shopping area where the services were to take place.

By 8 o'clock in the morning, hundreds of police officers, two police officers in uniform and dress, invading the region. They interviewed the bystanders and grouping members of the Church on the bus.

At one point given, a group of police kicked and beat a group of four young people. As one of the buses is identified, the Congregation withdrew a prayer sheet and begins to sing.

A man who answered the phone at the Haidian police station, several blocks from the site of the planned service of prayer, declined to answer questions about the detentions. Those detained Sunday were brought to a nearby primary school, where they were briefly questioned and photographed. most have been released later in the day. Among those detained was a photographer from the New York Times, which came out later.

After years of tolerance by the religious authorities churches not registered, called House Churches, have faced pressure to dissolve or to accede to the system of State-controlled congregations. First of all, the Government is out of his rented 2008 Shouwang. In 2009, the church paid 4.1 million for a floor, in an office building but the owner, under pressure from the authorities, has refused to hand over the keys. Until last week, the Church had gathered in a restaurant.

The Church has not hidden its plans to gather outside, announcing the service on the Internet. In his last sermon last week, Mr. Jin warned his flock that they would probably meet resistance. "At this time, the challenges are enormous," he said. "For all that we met, we offer our thanks to God." "Compared to what you face on the cross, that we face today is really negligible."

Cancelled debate tournament was to have drawn students from 16 universities at the Institute of technology in Beijing, where they were to have ropin' on the theme of the Chinese revolution of 1911. The revolution against the Qing dynasty, a reputation that helped cement Sun Yatsen as the founding father of modern China, may not seem controversial at first glance.

But organizers can courted disorder by urging students to recognize, as the site Web of the tournament, only "" victory revolutionary source of inspiration, but what is hidden more deep below: the awakening of the consciousness of the people of the country and to the dissemination of the system of democracy. ""

Web site also encourages students to "think more deep of nationalism, democracy and livelihood, to continue to open new trails in a pioneering spirit, will keep fighting for the renovation and development of the nation".

Zhang Ming, a judge for the competition and a Professor of political science at the Renmin University in Beijing, said the municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League ordered the organizers to cancel the event Friday night, a day before the opening debate.

"Everyone was very disappointed", Mr Zhang said in a telephone interview Sunday. "It's really hate for them to do so." Organizers said they were trying to negotiate with the Committee, but they could not interfere with the decision. ?

Xiyun Yang and Mia Li contribute research.

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Kadhafi urges rebel Forces with an attack on a key City - New York Times

AJDABIYA, the Libya - Military Forces loyal to colonel Muammar el-Gaddafi attack the outer door of Ajdabiya Saturday, bringing the front line of the battle with the forces of Libyan opposition at the door of this strategically critical rebel city.

The forces of colonel Gaddafi began the attack Saturday morning with the dams of rockets and artillery fire in the city, in a more determined than the battles attack course of these last days. Smoke could be seen from central parts of Ajdabiya, and at noon, physicians began to evacuate the hospital room, said rebel fighters.

In early afternoon, the vehicles of the rebels have been seen leaving the city, North to Highway around Benghazi, horns honking. A rebel shouted vehicles on their passage: "the forces of Qathafi arrive!" Go! Go! Go!

Another rebel said that veterans of the colonel took the outer door and a small group of their vehicles was roaming the city, although soldiers seem unable to enter in force in the city.

Rebel vehicles brings together approximately 10 miles to the rear of the Ajdabiya and by evening were flowing back into the city, where they seem to be able to maintain control.

Yet once, NATO air strikes is entered into the battle game - at least a large mushroom cloud rose from the area where the pro-Qathafi forces were barraging the city. But once the air campaign of the allies could not prevent military colonel supporting the rebels, as was the case during a week of fighting that saw the ragged opposition forces losing bought key on the main coastal roadincluding the city of Brega.

Although the air strikes were private forces pro-Qathafi of much of their heavy armoured vehicles, the rebels do not have to match the same level of small units. In testimony before Congress a week ago, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates described rebel leaders as "disparate, disaggregated" and noted that poorly trained fighters were in a State to be able to take advantage of the effects of the air campaign allies.

The air strikes have worked against the rebels sometimes, also, as Thursday when the forces of NATO, apparently not aware that the rebels were operating heavy armoured personnel carriers in the region, hit one of their convoys, killing at least four people. NATO officials expressed regret on the whole.

Benghazi, international diplomats have been meeting in private with rebel leaders, including General Abdul Fattah Younes, the Commander of the rebel army, who appeared tired and downbeat it left meetings early in the afternoon.

Kareem Fahim contributed reports from Benghazi in Libya.

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The ocean of the Japan radiation strikes 7.5 million times legal limit - Los Angeles Times

A broker walks between fish market fish Hirakata in Kitaibaraki, the Japan, trade for the first time since the disaster of earthquake and tsunami on March 11. (Toru Yamanaka / AFP/Getty Images / April 5, 2011)The operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster of the Japan said Tuesday that he had found radioactive iodine to 7.5 million times the legal limit, in a sea water sample taken near the facility and officials imposed a new limit of radioactivity in fish health.

The reading of iodine-131 was registered Saturday, said Tokyo Electric Power Co.. Another sample taken Monday found at level 5 million times the legal limit. Monday samples were also found to contain radioactive cesium to 1.1 million times the legal limit.

The exact source of the radiation was not immediately clear, although Tepco said that highly contaminated water was leaking a pit near the No. 2 reactor. The utility initially believed that the leak was from a crack, but several attempts to seal the crack failed.

Tuesday, the company said that the leak instead could come from a defective joint, where the sky meets a duct, allowing the water to seep into a layer of gravel below radioactive. The utility said that it might inject "liquid glass" gravel to stop more than leak.

In the meantime, Tepco continued releasing what he described as water contaminated with low levels of radiation in the sea to make space in the storage tanks on-site for more highly contaminated water. In all, the company said it expected release 11 500 tonnes of water, but by Tuesday morning, he had left less than 25% of this amount.

Although the Government has authorized the publication of the 11 500 tonnes and said that any radiation could be quickly diluted and dispersed in the ocean, fish with high readings of iodine are located.

Monday, officials detected more than 4 000 becquerels of iodine 131 per kilogram in a type of fish called a lance took less than three miles off the coast of the city of Kita-Ibaraki. Young fish contained also 447 becquerels of cesium-137, which is considered as more problematic than iodine-131, because it has a much longer half-life.

Tuesday the Secretary to the cabinet Chief Yukio Edano said that the Government impose a standard of 2 000 becquerels of iodine per kilogram of fish, the same level it enables in vegetables. Previously, the Government lacks a specific level for fish. Another route of Lance with 526 becquerels of cesium was detected Tuesday, more than the standard of 500 becquerels per kilogram.

Fishing for sand lances has been suspended. Local fishermen called Tepco to stop the release of radioactive water into the sea and demanded that the company compensate them for their losses.

Fishing was banned near the plant, and the vast majority of the fishing activities in the region was interrupted because of damage to the boats and ports by the tsunami on March 11 and the earthquake. Yet, some fishermen are to catch, to see the lack of interested buyers because of fears of radiation.

It was not clear that Tepco may provide fishermen, but the company said Tuesday that he had offered "condolence payments", for a total of 180 million yen ($2 million) for the residents who had to evacuate their homes due to the radiation of the Fukushima plant. A city, however, refused payment.

The company has yet to decide how it will compensate residents near the plant in damages, although analysts say that the claims could be tens of billions of dollars. Executive Vice President of TEPCO said Takashi Fujimoto on damages company's decision hinges on how much of the burden the Government will do share.

Edano urged the company to accelerate its decisions on compensation.

For now, the company has offered to give 20 million yen ($ 240,000) each of the 10 villages and towns within 12 miles of the plant, Fujimoto said.

"We hope they will find of some use for the moment," he said.

Namie, a city of would be, located approximately 6 miles north of the plant, refused to lend money. Official city Kosei Negishi said that he and other officials working out of an Office of fortune in the city of Nihonmatsu in Fukushima Prefecture and had more pressing.

"The coastal areas of Namie have been hit by the earthquake of Earth and the tsunami, but due to radiation and the evacuation order, we did not have the opportunity to search for 200 people missing," said Negishi. "Why would we use our resources below 1,000 yen ($12) each resident?

Tokyo Electric Power Fujimoto acknowledged that he had a "divide" in the views of the company and officials Namie.

TEPCO shares dropped to a record, passing down Tuesday by the maximum daily commercial - about 18% - to 362 yen, below the previous record low of 393 yen reached in December 1951. The company has lost 80% of its value - almost 1.1 billion yen - since the earthquake and tsunami, according to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

"We take very seriously the decline in the price of the shares," Fujimoto told journalists.

Annual earnings report said Fujimoto of the company, which was originally scheduled for April 28, would be postponed, but he declined to give other details.

Julie.MAKINEN@LAtimes.com

Hall special correspondent is.

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