The Hobbit: Richard Armitage Talks Preparations For Playing Thorin Oakenshield

British actor Richard Armitage admitted it wasn’t a walk in the park to play a J.R.R. Tolkien character in Peter Jackson’s reimagining of “The Hobbit,” the first installment of which is on its way into theaters.

Upon touching down in New Zealand, where the trilogy was shot, the cast had a lot of character preparation to do.

PLAY IT NOW: Martin Freeman Discusses The Hobbit’s ‘Good Chemistry’ & Playing Bilbo Baggins

“We arrived in February 2011 and we went straight into a training program, which was called ‘Dwarf Bootcamp,’ which was literally boots — these huge boots. We learned how to walk, we wrestled with each other, we did archery together, we did sword fighting, hammer fighting, horse riding — everything you could possibly think of,” Richard, who plays Thorin Oakenshield in the film told Access Hollywood at the film’s junket.

In addition, the cast, which includes his former “Cold Feet” co-star James Nesbitt as Bofur, found ways to get to know each other better off set.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — New York City Premiere

“We went round to each other’s houses and we cooked food together, we went to the pub and got drunk together, so there was an incredibly great bonding time between the dwarves,” he said.

Richard had plenty of experience sword fighting and horse riding in the BBC America series “Robin Hood,” but it was something else that came in handy during the long days on set.

“I’d done a number of shows where I’d had to use sword fighting and I’d also done horse riding. I’d also pulled guns out of my pocket. That was less useful,” he laughed, likely referring to his recent role in the PBS-import series “MI-5,” where he played a British spy. “But, yeah, you draw on everything. I’d worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company, so the vocal work was really useful to kind of pull that from there. I’d worked in a circus, there were… all sorts of things that were really useful, but the one thing that I do have — for lack of talent — is stamina and that’s the one thing I think everybody needed on this job.”

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Meet ‘The Hobbit’ Cast!

An imagination was useful also, but Richard said what turned out on the big screen was still wilder – and more beautiful – than he dreamed of.

“So many moments… Actually, apart from the eagles — which every single time I’ve seen this film absolutely blows my mind and I can barely keep the tears back and [it has] nothing to do with the pathos of the scene, just that feeling of flight moves me — is the throne of Aragorn, in the beginning of the prologue,” he told Access of the moment that moved him most. “When it got to [filming] that scene, I walked on and… it was just a green cross on the floor with a tiny green chair… [But in the film], they just made this incredible, almost space aged, sort of suspended seat in the middle of this stalagmite. It just blows my mind when I see that.”

VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Brit Pack: Hot Shots Of Stars From The UK!

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” hits theaters on December 14, 2012, followed by “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” on December 13, 2013 and “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” on July 18, 2014.

– Jolie Lash

Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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U.S. federal agency to test RIM’s BlackBerry 10

TORONTO (Reuters) – Research In Motion said a U.S. federal agency, which recently outlined plans to move away from BlackBerry in favor of Apple Inc’s iPhone, is now set to begin testing RIM‘s new BlackBerry 10 platform and devices.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), will early next year begin a pilot program on RIM’s new line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES 10), which allows corporations and government users to run the new devices on their networks, a RIM spokeswoman said late on Wednesday.

The news, which comes just as shares of the embattled company rallied to their highest close in seven months, signals that RIM’s BlackBerry 10 platform is gaining some traction ahead of its official launch next month.

RIM, a one-time pioneer in the smartphone industry, has lost market share in recent years to the iPhone and devices powered by Google Inc’s market-leading Android operating system, even among the business audience who once used BlackBerry devices exclusively.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM is now seeking to persuade both corporations and government users to stick with its smartphones, which have long been valued for their strong security features. It promises that its new line of devices, which will be powered by the BlackBerry 10 operating system, will be both smoother and faster than previous BlackBerry phones.

RIM is betting that these new devices – to be launched on January 30 – will revive its fortunes. But that may well depend to a large extent on the response from enterprise customers, many of whom have recently begun to flee to rival platforms.

ICE is one such example. The agency, in October, announced plans to end a long relationship with RIM, stating that its now aging line-up of BlackBerry devices could “no longer meet the mobile technology needs of the agency.

At the time, ICE outlined intentions to buy iPhones for more than 17,600 employees. It is not immediately clear whether the agency plans to revisit this plan or whether its intends to use RIM’s new BES 10 platform to manage both iPhones and BlackBerry devices. A spokeswoman for the agency was not immediately able to comment on the pilot program or the agency’s plans.

SHARES SURGE

The news comes soon after yet another rally in RIM shares on Wednesday, after Eric Jackson – a long-time bear on RIM’s stock – penned an opinion piece on his now bullish stance on the company.

Jackson, the founder of Ironfire Capital, in his piece, said parallels drawn by some analysts between RIM and its now-defunct rival Palm are flawed, as Palm never had the kind of installed subscriber base that RIM enjoys.

In his article, published on Wednesday on the TheStreet.com, Jackson contends that RIM’s new BlackBerry 10 devices have much better odds of success than Palm’s Pre device, which failed to capture a following despite positive reviews on the device and its operating system.

Jackson, who was short RIM’s stock for an extended period, argues that the positive sentiment building in RIM’s stock ahead of the launch of the make-or-break line of devices is unlikely to dissipate in a hurry, as a large portion of RIM’s 80 million subscribers are likely to upgrade to BB10 when the new devices are launched. Jackson said he now has a long position in RIM.

Shares in the company rose 5.6 percent to close at $ 13.31 on the Nasdaq – their highest close since May 1. Its Toronto-listed shares rose 5.8 percent to close at C$ 13.14.

The stock has more than doubled in price since September 24, when the shares were trading slightly above the $ 6 level in both New York and Toronto. The wave of optimism around BB10 has in recent weeks been bolstered by a number of analyst upgrades on the stock.

(Editing by Dan Grebler and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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McAfee arrives in U.S. from Guatemala

MIAMI (Reuters) – Computer software pioneer John McAfee, who is wanted for questioning in Belize over the murder of a fellow American, arrived in Miami on Wednesday evening after he was deported by Guatemala, according to fellow passengers on an American Airlines flight.

After landing, McAfee, 67, was escorted from the plane by airport security officers, passengers said. Shortly afterward, he tweeted, “I am in South Beach,” referring to the popular tourist area on Miami Beach.

“Some people felt uncomfortable that he was on our flight. … We all knew the story,” said Maria Claridge, 36, a South Florida photographer who was on the Silicon Valley entrepreneur’s flight to Miami.

McAfee, who was seated in the coach section and had a whole row to himself, was wearing a suit and was “very calm” during the flight, she added.

“He looked very tired, he looked like a man who hadn’t slept in days. I’d say he even looked depressed,” said another passenger, Roberto Gilbert, a Guatemalan who lives in Miami.

McAfee had been held for a week in Guatemala, where he surfaced after evading police in Belize for nearly a month following the killing of American Gregory Faull, his neighbor on the Caribbean island of Ambergris Caye.

Police in Belize want to quiz McAfee as a “person of interest” in Faull’s death, although the technology guru’s lawyers blocked an attempt by Guatemala to send him back there.

Authorities in Belize say he is not a prime suspect in the investigation. McAfee has denied any role in Faull’s killing.

The goateed McAfee has led the world’s media on a game of online hide-and-seek in Belize and Guatemala since he fled after Faull’s death, peppering the Internet with pithy quotes and colorful revelations about his unpredictable life.

“I’m happy to be going home,” McAfee, dressed in a black suit, told reporters shortly before his departure from Guatemala City airport on Wednesday afternoon. “I’ve been running through jungles and rivers and oceans and I think I need to rest for a while. And I’ve been in jail for seven days.”

Guatemala’s immigration authorities had been holding McAfee since he was arrested last Wednesday for illegally entering the country with his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend.

The eccentric tech pioneer, who made his fortune from the anti-virus software bearing his name, has been chronicling life on the run in a blog, www.whoismcafee.com.

He said he had no immediate plans after reaching Florida.

“I’m just going to hang in Miami for a while. I like Miami,” he told Reuters by telephone just before his plane left. “There is a great sushi place there and I really like sushi.”

BELIZE STILL WAITING

Residents of the Belizean island of Ambergris Caye, where McAfee has lived for about four years, said McAfee and Faull, 52, had quarreled at times, including over McAfee’s unruly dogs.

McAfee says Belize authorities will kill him if he turns himself in for questioning. He has said he was being persecuted by Belize’s ruling party for refusing to pay some $ 2 million in bribes.

Belize’s prime minister has rejected the allegations, calling McAfee paranoid and “bonkers.

Belize police spokesman Raphael Martinez said the country still wanted to question McAfee about the Faull case.

“He will be just under the goodwill of the United States of America. He is still a person of interest, but a U.S. national has been killed and he has been somewhat implicated in that murder. People want him to answer some questions,” he said.

Martinez noted that Belize’s extradition treaty with the United States extended only to suspected criminals, a designation that did not currently apply to McAfee.

“Right now, we don’t have enough information to change his status from person of interest to suspect,” he said.

Residents and neighbors on Ambergris Caye said McAfee was unusual and at times unstable. He was seen to travel with armed bodyguards, sporting a pistol tucked into his belt.

The predicament of McAfee, a former Lockheed systems consultant, is a far cry from his heyday in the late 1980s, when he started McAfee Associates. McAfee has no relationship now with the company, which was sold to Intel Corp.

McAfee was previously charged in Belize with possession of illegal firearms, and police had raided his property on suspicions that he was running a lab to produce illegal synthetic narcotics. He said he had not taken drugs since 1983.

“I took drugs constantly, 24 hours of the day. I took them for years and years. I was the worst drug abuser on the planet,” he told Reuters before his arrest in Guatemala. “Then I finally went to Alcoholics Anonymous, and that was the end of it.”

(Writing by Dave Graham, Michael O’Boyle and David Adams. Reporting by Sofia Menchu and Mike McDonald.; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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Obama backers turn from re-election to “fiscal cliff” fight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After a year of knocking on doors and working the phones to get President Barack Obama re-elected, Meechie Biggers had gotten over her fear of talking politics with strangers.

So when she came to Washington last week, the small-town real estate agent and a few like-minded Tennesseeans paid a visit to one of their Republican senators, Bob Corker, to try to persuade him to back Obama’s proposal to raise tax rates for the wealthy.

Biggers didn’t think she had much of a chance of changing his mind, and perhaps she didn’t. But four days later, Corker became the latest Republican to say his party should consider Obama’s proposed tax hike as part of a year-end budget deal.

“It’s a testament to knocking on doors and giving people your two cents,” Biggers said.

The election ended more than a month ago, but the campaign continues for many of the 2 million-plus foot soldiers who helped secure Obama’s second term.

Flush with victory, many volunteers and staffers are now mounting a grassroots effort to ensure that any deal that emerges from year-end “fiscal cliff” discussions includes a tax increase on the wealthiest households.

It’s an open question how many will stick with him if he is forced to consider cutting popular programs such as Medicare that enjoy broad support on the left.

But for now, it’s a chance to help Obama fulfill one of his central campaign promises – economic justice – and build on the momentum of his re-election. It also enables them to maintain friendships and a sense of purpose that were forged through the campaign.

“You can only go to so many celebrations, parties and lunches. And then you’re ready to help the president get done what he needs to get done,” said Lenda Sherrell, a retired accountant from Monteagle, Tennessee, who visited Corker along with Biggers.

The effort gives Obama added leverage in Washington at a time when many Republican allies are undergoing a painful re-examination in the wake of last month’s election.

Groups aligned with the conservative Tea Party movement, who pressed successfully for deep spending cuts in earlier budget fights, have been less visible in the fiscal-cliff battle, and business groups have pressed Republican lawmakers to abandon their no-tax-hike stance.

The grassroots pressure from the left could weaken Republicans’ resolve to hold the line against tax hikes, said Chris Arterton, a professor of political management at George Washington University. “It tends to take the wind out of their sails if their citizens are pushing in a direction that is absolutely contradictory to the politician’s views,” he said.

Corker’s office said he appreciates hearing from his constituents but he has not changed his view that increased tax revenue should come from eliminating deductions rather than raising rates.

The post-election effort stands in stark contrast to Obama’s first term, when officials did not keep his massive grassroots organization engaged in battles over spending, health care and climate change. This time around, campaign officials and liberal allies have made a concerted effort to harness the network for inside-the-Beltway policy battles.

ACTIVISTS INVITED TO WHITE HOUSE

One week after the election, Obama thanked 30,000 volunteers in a conference call and asked them to stay involved in the budget fight. Top activists such as Biggers and Sherrell have been invited to the White House for strategy and networking sessions.

Even as he tries to hammer out a deal with House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, Obama has jetted to campaign-style rallies around the country to keep up the pressure. He has encouraged backers to send Twitter messages describing how they would be hurt by the automatic tax increases due to kick in if the fiscal cliff isn’t averted. On Monday, his campaign urged supporters in Republican congressional districts to call their lawmakers to support the tax hike.

Many of the volunteers and staffers who powered the campaign’s massive get-out-the-vote effort are continuing their work under the banner of The Action, a coalition of labor and liberal groups that launched three days after Obama’s November 6 victory.

As Obama’s Tennessee state director, Justin Wilkins steered volunteers in the deeply Republican state to phone banks and door-knocking efforts in more competitive states such as North Carolina. Now he is overseeing many of those same volunteers as part of The Action.

“Nobody had to be called. People literally came running,” he said.

Like both of Obama’s election campaigns, The Action combines cutting-edge digital tools with an emphasis on boots-on-the-ground action. A slick website directs supporters to events in their local area and provides the phone numbers of House lawmakers who have yet to back a legislative maneuver that would force a vote on Obama’s proposed tax hike in the Republican-controlled chamber. Backers can download distinctive yellow-and-black signs to wave at local rallies or post online.

Participants have spent the past month mounting demonstrations outside Republican lawmakers’ local offices and writing letters to local newspapers – a strategy designed to boost local news coverage and build public support for the tax hike.

Republicans have complained that the campaign-style tactics are complicating efforts to reach a deal. “A month after his re-election and weeks before the fiscal cliff, he’d still rather campaign than cooperate,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday.

Public opinion polls show that a majority of Americans support the idea of raising taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of U.S. households.

Volunteers see the fight as central to Obama’s prospects for a successful second term. Obama will have a tough time pursuing priorities like education without additional revenue, they say.

The Action’s narrow focus on raising taxes for the wealthy has allowed the coalition to avoid conflicts over other elements of the fiscal cliff fight that might prove more divisive, such as spending cuts or changes to popular entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security. Participants say they’re not sure whether the coalition will stay intact once the tax-hike battle is resolved.

“It’s relatively easy for the Democrats to coalesce around this, but there won’t be the same united front for the next issue,” said University of Michigan politics professor Michael Traugott.

Whether the coalition survives, many of those involved say they intend to keep up the effort to advance Obama’s agenda in the years to come.

“It was kind of a little bit scary to me to go knock on people’s doors and ask them their political stance, but I did it,” Biggers said.

“For me to go to somebody else and say, this is my opinion, do you want to hear it? That’s not me. But maybe it is now.”

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan. Editing by Fred Barbash, Mary Milliken and Lisa Shumaker.)

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Asian shares rise, yen slips after Fed’s stimulus steps

TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian shares extended gains for a seventh day on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve took new stimulus steps to bolster the economy, pressuring the yen with expectations the Japanese central bank will follow suit with more easing next week.

While stocks gained, oil and gold fell from post-Fed rallies, as investors took profits ahead of the year-end, and concerns over the U.S. budget impasse also weighed on sentiment.

The upside for equities was also contained despite the Fed‘s fresh dose of liquidity-pumping measures, as investors were worried the United States would miss a year-end deadline to avert the “fiscal cliff,” some $ 600 billion of tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled to start in January.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday “serious differences” remain with President Barack Obama on the budget talks.

Failure to reach a compromise by the end of the year risks pushing the U.S. economy into recession and has stoked fears that a fragile recovery trend emerging in China and some other countries would be stifled.

Against this backdrop, European shares were expected to start narrowly mixed, with financial spreadbetters predicting London’s FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris’s CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt’s DAX <.gdaxi> will open flat to 0.2 percent higher. A 0.1 percent gain in U.S. stock futures hinted at a firm Wall Street open. <.l><.eu><.n></.n></.eu></.l></.gdaxi></.fchi></.ftse>

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> added 0.3 percent to a 16-month peak, having hit successive 16-month highs since December 5. South Korean shares <.ks11> advanced 0.8 percent to a two-month high.</.ks11></.miapj0000pus>

“The Fed’s easing measures met the market’s expectations, while the setting of clear inflation and unemployment targets exceeded hopes and will clear uncertainty on the monetary front,” said Kim Yong-goo, an analyst at Samsung Securities.

The U.S. central bank committed to monthly purchases of $ 45 billion in Treasuries on top of the $ 40 billion per month in mortgage-backed bonds it started buying in September. But it also took the unprecedented step of indicating interest rates would remain near zero until unemployment falls to at least 6.5 percent.

YEN WEAKNESS CONTINUES

The dollar advanced to its loftiest in nearly nine months against the yen, touching a high of 83.635 yen. The slumping yen boosted Japan’s Nikkei share average <.n225> up 1.6 percent and above 9,700 for the first time in eight months. <.t></.t></.n225>

Japan holds an election on Sunday, with opinion surveys showing conservative former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe‘s opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its smaller ally heading for a resounding victory.

Abe wants to step up aggressive monetary easing along with heavy public works spending, policy prescriptions dubbed “Abenomics” by the media, and while he threatens to curtail the Bank of Japan‘s independence, investors reckon the responsibility of power will prevent Abe taking excessive risks that could lead to a bond market meltdown.

“As the Fed sets direction on policy rates for the rest of central banks and equity markets, the Bank of Japan sets the currency vehicle, by stepping up asset purchases and driving down the yen once LDP Chief Abe becomes the likely PM at Sunday’s elections,” Ashraf Laidi, chief global strategist at City Index, said in a note to clients.

At its December 19-20 meeting, the BOJ is widely expected to further ease monetary policy to support its weak economy.

The Fed’s latest move to make the jobless rate a target for its monetary policy could have a longer-term implication on the BOJ.

“While the BOJ’s ultimate goal is to pull Japan out of deflation, the Fed’s latest move could prompt Japanese politicians or the government to urge the BOJ to also commit itself to growth, not just price stability,” said Chotaro Morita, chief fixed income strategist at Barclays.

Morita said that market consensus is for the BOJ to expand its asset-buying and lending program, currently at 91 trillion yen ($ 1.1 trillion), by another 5-10 trillion yen, and put off taking bolder steps until after a new cabinet is formed.

Rising U.S. Treasury bond yields also drew demand for the dollar against the yen, given the stable and low Japanese yields.

BETTER EUROPEAN NEWS

The euro was relatively more robust than the dollar and the yen, inching up 0.1 percent to $ 1.3082 to approach Wednesday’s high of $ 1.3098, as some positive news emerged.

Europe clinched a deal on Thursday to give the European Central Bank new powers to supervise euro zone banks, the first step in a new phase of closer integration to help underpin the single currency.

Greece’s foreign lenders welcomed a bond buyback, paving the way for Athens to get long-delayed aid to avoid bankruptcy.

In Italy, another debt-straddled euro zone country, Silvio Berlusconi offered to stand back and make way for Mario Monti as Italy’s next leader if the outgoing technocrat premier agreed to run as the candidate for a center-right coalition. Monti’s intention to resign has raised concerns that his austerity policies may not be carried out.

Oil prices retreated from overnight gains, with U.S. crude futures down 0.2 percent to $ 86.57 a barrel and Brent falling 0.2 percent to $ 109.24.

Gold tumbled more than 1 percent on stop-loss selling after touching their highest in nearly two weeks on Wednesday. Spot gold dropped as much as 1 percent to $ 1,693.80.

($ 1 = 82.9300 Japanese yen)

(Additional reporting by Somang Yang in Seoul; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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U.N.’s Ban launches bid to stamp out cholera in Haiti

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a $ 2.2 billion initiative on Tuesday to stamp out cholera over the next decade in impoverished Haiti, where an epidemic has killed thousands of people and been blamed on U.N. peacekeepers.

Cholera – an infection causing severe diarrhea that can lead to dehydration and death – has killed some 7,750 Haitians and sickened almost 620,000 since October 2010. It occurs in places with poor sanitation and can be treated with clean fluids.

An independent panel appointed by Ban to study the epidemic issued a May 2011 report that did not determine conclusively how the cholera was introduced to Haiti. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in June 2011 found that evidence strongly suggested U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal were the source.

The World Health Organization projects up to 112,000 cases in Haiti during 2012.

“Haiti has seen a dramatic fall in infection and fatality rates. But this will not be a short-term crisis. Eliminating cholera from Haiti will continue to require the full cooperation and support of the international community,” Ban said.

Ban said Haiti needed $ 500 million to implement the first two years of the initiative, which will also address the spread of the cholera outbreak to neighboring Dominican Republic.

“The main focus is on the extension of clean drinking water and sanitation systems,” Ban said. “But we are also determined to save lives now through the use of an oral cholera vaccine.”

“Because global vaccines are in short supply, we will first target high-risk areas: densely populated urban areas and rural areas far removed from health services,” he said. “As production increases, the vaccine effort will expand its reach.”

Ban announced that $ 215 million in existing funds from donors would be used to support the initiative, while the United Nations would contribute $ 23.5 million on top of $ 118 million the U.N. system has already spent on the cholera outbreak.

“I will use every opportunity in the months ahead to mobilize even more funding,” Ban said.

Haiti’s Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe told Reuters in September that the epidemic was “regrettable” but had been brought under control. {ID:nL1E8KQ8WX]

Haiti is still struggling to lift itself from the rubble left by an earthquake in January 2010 that killed about 300,000 people and left more than 1.5 million homeless. Lamothe said 1.2 million of those had been moved back into homes, while the United Nations said 390,000 were still living in tent camps.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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India factory output surges 8.2%

12 December 2012 Last updated at 01:49 ET

India’s industrial output rose more than expected in October, boosted by increased demand during the festive season in the country.

Factory output rose 8.2% from a year earlier. Most analysts had forecast a rise of 4.5%.

Manufacturing activity, which accounts for almost two-thirds of overall output, rose 9.6% from a year earlier.

Analysts said the data was also helped by a low base and did not indicate a recovery in India’s economy.

Industrial production had dipped 5.1% during the same month last year.

“It’s a positive surprise, but bear in mind the jump is distorted by last year’s low base, and this is going to reverse in November,” said Rajeev Malik, a senior economist with CLSA.

Mr Malik explained that the festival of Diwali, which is traditionally associated with a surge in consumer demand in India, was celebrated in October last year and in November this year.

Factories mostly manufacture and ship their goods ahead of the festival, and as a result, there had been a fluctuation in demand during the respective months.

“The real, credible assessment will be possible only after the November data,” Mr Malik said.

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Egypt army given temporary power to arrest civilians

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Islamist president has given the army temporary power to arrest civilians during a constitutional referendum he is determined to push through despite the risk of bloodshed between his supporters and opponents accusing him of a power grab.

Seven people were killed and hundreds wounded last week in clashes between the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and their critics besieging Mohamed Mursi’s graffiti-daubed presidential palace. Both sides plan mass rallies on Tuesday.

The elite Republican Guard has yet to use force to keep protesters away from the palace, which it ringed with tanks, barbed wire and concrete barricades after last week’s violence.

Mursi, bruised by calls for his downfall, has rescinded a November 22 decree giving him wide powers but is going ahead with a referendum on Saturday on a constitution seen by his supporters as a triumph for democracy and by many liberals as a betrayal.

A decree issued by Mursi late on Sunday gives the armed forces the power to arrest civilians and refer them to prosecutors until the announcement of the results of the referendum, which the protesters want cancelled.

Despite its limited nature, the edict will revive memories of Hosni Mubarak’s emergency law, also introduced as a temporary expedient, under which military or state security courts tried thousands of political dissidents and Islamist militants.

But a military source stressed that the measure introduced by a civilian government would have a short shelf-life.

“The latest law giving the armed forces the right to arrest anyone involved in illegal actions such as burning buildings or damaging public sites is to ensure security during the referendum only,” the military source said.

Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said the committee overseeing the vote had requested the army’s assistance.

“The armed forces will work within a legal framework to secure the referendum and will return (to barracks) as soon as the referendum is over,” Ali said.

Protests and violence have racked Egypt since Mursi decreed himself extraordinary powers he said were needed to speed up a troubled transition since Mubarak’s fall 22 months ago.

The Muslim Brotherhood has voiced anger at the Interior Ministry’s failure to prevent protesters setting fire to its headquarters in Cairo and 28 of its offices elsewhere.

Critics say the draft law puts Egypt in a religious straitjacket. Whatever the outcome of the referendum, the crisis has polarized the country and presages more instability at a time when Mursi is trying to steady a fragile economy.

On Monday, he suspended planned tax increases only hours after the measures had been formally decreed, casting doubts on the government’s ability to push through tough economic reforms that form part of a proposed $ 4.8 billion IMF loan agreement.

“VIOLENT CONFRONTATION”

Rejecting the referendum plan, opposition groups have called for mass protests on Tuesday, saying Mursi’s eagerness to push the constitution through could lead to “violent confrontation”.

Islamists have urged their followers to turn out “in millions” the same day in a show of support for the president and for a referendum they feel sure of winning with their loyal base and perhaps with the votes of Egyptians weary of turmoil.

The opposition National Salvation Front, led by liberals such as Mohamed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa, as well as leftist firebrand Hamdeen Sabahy, has yet to call directly for a boycott of the referendum or to urge their supporters to vote “no”.

Instead it is contesting the legitimacy of the vote and of the whole process by which the constitution was drafted in an Islamist-led assembly from which their representatives withdrew.

The opposition says the document fails to embrace the diversity of 83 million Egyptians, a tenth of whom are Christians, and invites Muslim clerics to influence lawmaking.

But debate over the details has largely given way to noisy street protests and megaphone politics, keeping Egypt off balance and ill-equipped to deal with a looming economic crisis.

“Inevitability of referendum deepens divisions,” was the headline in Al-Gomhuriya newspaper on Monday. Al Ahram daily wrote: “Political forces split over referendum and new decree.”

Mursi issued another decree on Saturday to supersede his November 22 measure putting his own decisions beyond legal challenge until a new constitution and parliament are in place.

While he gave up extra powers as a sop to his opponents, the decisions already taken under them, such as the dismissal of a prosecutor-general appointed by Mubarak, remain intact.

“UNWELCOME” CHOICE

Lamia Kamel, a spokeswoman for former Arab League chief Moussa, said the opposition factions were still discussing whether to boycott the referendum or call for a “no” vote.

“Both paths are unwelcome because they really don’t want the referendum at all,” she said, but predicted a clearer opposition line if the plebiscite went ahead as planned.

A spokeswoman for ElBaradei, former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said: “We do not acknowledge the referendum. The aim is to change the decision and postpone it.”

Mahmoud Ghozlan, the Muslim Brotherhood’s spokesman, said the opposition could stage protests, but should keep the peace.

“They are free to boycott, participate or say no, they can do what they want. The important thing is that it remains in a peaceful context to preserve the country’s safety and security.”

The army stepped into the conflict on Saturday, telling all sides to resolve their disputes via dialogue and warning that it would not allow Egypt to enter a “dark tunnel”.

A military source said the declaration read on state media did not herald a move by the army to retake control of Egypt, which it relinquished in June after managing the transition from Mubarak’s 30 years of military-backed one-man rule.

The draft constitution sets up a national defense council, in which generals will form a majority, and gives civilians some scrutiny over the army – although not enough for critics.

In August Mursi stripped the generals of sweeping powers they had grabbed when he was elected two months earlier, but has since repeatedly paid tribute to the military in public.

So far the army and police have taken a relatively passive role in the protests roiling the most populous Arab nation.

(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair and Yasmine Saleh; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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“Homeland” creator: Stop using animals in military training

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Homeland” executive producer Gideon Raff is urging a cease-fire between the U.S. military and the animal kingdom.

Joining with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Raff has sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, asking him to halt the use of animals in medical training exercises in favor of high-tech human simulators.

In his letter, Raff – a former paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Forces – claims that research by the IDF Medical Corps indicates that military personnel are better prepared for battlefield medical procedures when they’re trained with human stimulators and given real-life experience with patients than when they utilize “crude animal laboratories.”

“Having served as a paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), I have the utmost concern for the health and security of the heroic service members – like those portrayed on my shows ‘Homeland’ and ‘Prisoners of War’ – who risk their lives to protect our safety and freedom,” Raff wrote in his letter to Panetta. (“Homeland” is a U.S. adaptation of his Israeli series, “Prisoners of War.”)

“But the U.S. Department of Defense is not saving soldiers’ lives by shooting, dismembering, blowing up, and killing thousands of animals each year for crude medical training drills,” he added. “I am troubled that this violence still goes on when more humane and effective ways of training medics and doctors are available, so I have joined PETA’s campaign to end this cruel practice.”

The letter concludes, “Caring for the well-being of animals and preparing the troops serving our countries are not mutually exclusive. In this case, sparing animals pain and death in training drills means that military personnel receive better medical training and ultimately better care if they are wounded on the battlefield.”

Raff, a vegan whose pro-animal crusade includes lobbying against monkey experiments in Israel, isn’t the only famous former military personnel to protest the U.S. government’s use of animals in allegedly cruel capacities. Oliver Stone and Bob Barker have also condemned the practice.

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FDA expands approval of J&J prostate cancer drug

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Monday expanded approval of Johnson & Johnson‘s prostate cancer pill Zytiga for men with an earlier stage of the disease.

The agency says Zytiga is now approved for late-stage prostate cancer patients who have not yet received chemotherapy, based on study results showing it can extend life by up to five months when taken by men in that group.

The FDA previously approved the drug in April 2011 for men with prostate cancer who have already taken the chemotherapy drug docetaxel.

Zytiga works by decreasing the male hormone testosterone. Testosterone stimulates the growth of prostate tumors, and treatment often includes drugs aimed at cutting the body’s testosterone production. While older drugs can block about 90 percent of the hormone, scientists say Zytiga blocks virtually all of it, which can help slow the disease.

The FDA approved the new indication based on a J&J study of 1,088 men with late-stage prostate cancer who had not already received chemotherapy.

The typical patient taking Zytiga survived five months longer than the typical patient taking a fake pill, or placebo.

When the study was stopped, the median time until cancer worsened in the group getting dummy pills was about eight months. Those on Zytiga were faring much better, so researchers could not yet report how long it would take their cancers to worsen.

FDA cancer drugs chief Dr. Richard Pazdur said the FDA’s approval “provides patients and health care providers the option of using Zytiga earlier in the course of treatment.”

Common side effects with the drug include fatigue, joint swelling, diarrhea, vomiting, cough and shortness of breath.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson rose 10 cents to $ 70.55 in afternoon trading Monday.

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