Bombs hit Iraq mosque after prayers, killing 8

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A pair of bombs struck in quick succession outside a Sunni mosque north of Baghdad on Friday, killing at least eight people and wounding more than 30.

The attacks in the town of Kanaan, about 75 kilometers (47 miles) northeast of the capital, are likely to increase fears of further violence ahead of provincial elections in much of the country scheduled for next week.

Friday's blasts struck as worshippers were leaving after midday prayers from the town's Omar Bin Abdul-Aziz mosque, said police officials in Diyala province, where Kanaan is located. A hospital official confirmed the casualty figures.

Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but deadly attacks remain common a decade after the U.S.-led invasion.

The nearby city of Baqouba was the site of a large bombing just last week. In that incident, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a lunch hosted by a Sunni candidate in the upcoming provincial elections, killing 20 people.

Minutes after the Kanaan attack, a bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in western Baghdad, wounding eight, according to police and hospital officials.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday's attacks.

Al-Qaida's Iraqi branch, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, frequently carries out coordinated bombings targeting civilian targets such as mosques, markets and restaurants.

It primarily targets Shiites, whom it considers heretics, as well as security forces and other officials tied to Iraq's Shiite-led government.

But it has in the past also struck Sunni targets in an attempt to reignite the sectarian fighting that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in the years following the fall of Baghdad, a decade ago this week.

Iraqi officials believe al-Qaida is growing stronger in Iraq, fuelled in part by rising lawlessness on the Syria-Iraq frontier and what they say is cross-border cooperation with the Syrian militant group Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bombs-hit-iraq-mosque-prayers-killing-8-112633716.html

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Kerry visits S. Korea amid missile fears

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in South Korea on Friday on an unusual diplomatic journey, traveling directly into a region bracing for a possible North Korean missile test and risking that his presence alone could spur Pyongyang into another headline-seeking provocation.

Kerry was kicking off four days of talks in East Asia amid speculation that the North's unpredictable regime would launch a mid-range missile designed to reach as far as the U.S. territory of Guam. Kerry also planned to visit China and Japan.

North Korea often times its provocations to generate maximum attention, and Kerry's presence in Seoul will provide plenty of that, even if the United States is engaged in intense diplomacy with China, the North's benefactor, in an effort to lower tensions. Another dangerous date on the calendar is April 15, the 101st birthday of North Korea's deceased founder, Kim Il Sung.

Kerry's trip coincides with the disclosure of a new U.S. intelligence report that concludes North Korea has advanced its nuclear knowhow to the point that it could arm a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead. The analysis, disclosed Thursday at a congressional hearing in Washington, said the Pentagon's intelligence wing has "moderate confidence" that North Korea has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles but that the weapon would be unreliable.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said afterward that "it would be inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has fully tested, developed or demonstrated the kinds of nuclear capabilities referenced" at the congressional hearing.

James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said he concurred with Little and noted that the report alluded to at the hearing was compiled by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency and was not an assessment by the entire U.S. intelligence community. "Moreover, North Korea has not yet demonstrated the full range of capabilities necessary for a nuclear armed missile," he said.

President Barack Obama on Thursday urged calm, calling on Pyongyang to end its saber-rattling while sternly warning that he would "take all necessary steps" to protect American citizens.

Kerry's trip marks his first foray to the Asia-Pacific as America's top diplomat, spearheading the effort to "pivot" U.S. power away from Europe and the Middle East and toward the world's most populous region and fulcrum of economic growth.

And it comes on the heels of months of provocative action and warlike rhetoric from Pyongyang, including talk of nuclear strikes against the United States ? however outlandish analysts consider such threats. No one is discounting the danger entirely after tests of a nuclear device and ballistic missile technology in recent months.

Kerry's trip was planned well in advance of the latest danger to destabilize the Korean peninsula: North Korea's apparent preparations for another missile test in defiance of United Nations resolutions. The crisis clearly has overtaken the rest of his Asian agenda.

The Obama administration believes North Korea is preparing for another missile test, said a senior State Department official traveling with Kerry on the plane to Seoul. "We will show to our allies that we are prepared and we will defend them," the official said.

To mitigate the threat, however, Kerry is largely depending on China to take a bigger role in pressuring North Korea to live up to previous agreements to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. It's a strategy that has worked poorly for the U.S. for more than two decades.

Beijing has the most leverage with Pyongyang. It has massively boosted trade with its communist neighbor and maintains close military ties. And the U.S. believes the Chinese could take several specific steps to show North Korea it cannot threaten regional stability with impunity.

These include getting China to cut off support for North Korea's weapons of mass destruction program, said the State Department official and another senior administration official, though they rejected that the U.S. was seeking a commercial embargo against the North.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about Kerry's meetings in advance.

Neither could say, however, whether Pyongyang under its enigmatic young leader, Kim Jong Un, was actually listening at this point. One of them stressed that he "wouldn't say there is no conversation between them," but declined to describe the level and impact of Chinese-North Korean contacts.

Kim's actual control of the country also is unclear, the official added. Now 29 or 30, the basketball devotee and product of a Swiss boarding school inherited power from his late father, Kim Jong Il, some 16 months ago and has seemed to lead his country on an increasingly reckless path toward possible confrontation.

That has led many observers and policymakers abroad to devote increasing time toward analyzing what little information they have on Kim to figure out how he can be mollified without being rewarded.

Pyongyang has conducted three nuclear tests and shown it can launch a three-stage missile. But a senior U.S. military official in South Korea said it was "premature" to believe North Korea can develop a warhead, launch it, have it re-enter the atmosphere and then actually target something.

Putting a miniaturized nuclear weapon on a warhead is a "very difficult task," said the official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-visits-tense-skorea-amid-missile-test-fears-054634320--politics.html

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This is a 'critical time', Kerry tells China president amid North Korea tensions

Secretary of State John Kerry issued a stern warning Friday, telling Kim Jong Un North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

By Arshad Mohammed and Ben Blanchard, Reuters

BEIJING -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met China's top leaders on Saturday in a bid to persuade them to exert pressure on North Korea to scale back its belligerent rhetoric and, eventually, return to nuclear talks.

Traveling to Beijing for the first time as secretary of state, Kerry made no secret of his desire to see China take a more activist stance toward North Korea, which in recent weeks has threatened nuclear war against the United States and South Korea.

As the North's main trading partner, financial backer and the closest thing it has to a diplomatic ally, China has a unique ability to use its leverage against the impoverished, isolated state, Kerry said in the South Korean capital, Seoul, on Friday before leaving for Beijing.

"Mr. President, this is obviously a critical time with some very challenging issues -- issues on the Korean Peninsula, the challenge of Iran and nuclear weapons, Syria and the Middle East, and economies around the world that are in need of a boost," Kerry told Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People.

Kerry said after the meeting that his talks with Xi were "constructive and forward-leaning", though he did not elaborate.

China had a testy relationship with Kerry's predecessor, Hillary Clinton, believing her to be too abrasive in their disagreements over everything from human rights to territorial disputes like the South China Sea.

Pentagon intelligence has assessed that North Korea likely does have the ability to launch nuclear missiles, which raises the stakes for John Kerry, who just landed in South Korea, to find a diplomatic way out of the crisis. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

"Clinton added fuel to the mistrust during her four-year term. We hope Kerry can pull it in the other direction," China's widely read and influential Global Times tabloid said in an editorial.

Kerry's visit to Asia, which will include a stop in Tokyo on Sunday, takes place after weeks of shrill North Korean threats of war since the imposition of new U.N. sanctions in response to its third nuclear test in February.

North Korea has repeatedly said it will not abandon nuclear weapons which it said on Friday were its "treasured" guarantor of security.

No sign of imminent missile launch
North Korean television on Saturday made no mention of Kerry's visit and devoted most of its reports to preparations for Monday's celebrations marking the birth date of state founder Kim Il-Sung.

These included a numerous floral tributes and grandiose flower show, foreign visitors seeing the sights of the capital ahead of the festivities and the unveiling of a monument in a provincial town.

But Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers' Party's newspaper, issued a fresh denunciation of joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, saying: "The outbreak of nuclear war has now become a fait accompli, owing to the U.S. and the South Korean puppet forces.

"If the enemies dare provoke (North Korea) while going reckless, it will immediately blow them up with an annihilating strike with the use of powerful nuclear means."

However, South Korea's Yonhap news agency, quoting a government source, said North Korea had not moved any of its mobile missile launchers for the past two days after media reports that as many as five missiles had been moved into place on the country's east coast.

Yonhap said there had been no signs of any movement by the mobile launchers since Thursday "or that missile launches are imminent".

U.S. 'fanning the flames'?
Beijing has been reluctant to apply pressure on Pyongyang, fearing the instability that could result if the North were to implode and send floods of refugees into China, and has looked askance at U.S. military drills in South Korea.

North Korea is trending online and has been searched on Google more than ever before now that the country's outlandish threats have gotten the world's attention. Kim Jong-un is still expected to launch a missile, and some analysts predict they will then ask for money not to do it again. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

China's official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary that Washington had itself been "fanning the flames" on the Korean peninsula with its shows of force.

"It keeps sending more fighters, bombers and missile-defense ships to the waters of East Asia and carrying out massive military drills with Asian allies in a dramatic display of preemptive power," it said.

However, U.S. officials believe China's rhetoric on North Korea has begun to shift, pointing to a recent speech by China's Xi in which -- without referring explicitly to Pyongyang -- he said no country "should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain".

Kerry told reporters in Seoul that if North Korea's 30-year-old leader went ahead with the launch of a medium-range missile, he would be making "a huge mistake."

At a news conference in Seoul on Friday and in a U.S.-South Korean joint statement issued on Saturday, Kerry signaled the U.S. preference for diplomacy to end the tension, but stressed North Korea must take "meaningful" steps on denuclearization.

The United States and its allies believe the North violated the a 2005 aid-for-denuclearization deal by conducting a nuclear test in 2006 and pursuing a uranium enrichment program that would give it a second path to a nuclear weapon in addition to its plutonium-based program.

David Guttenfelder / AP

As chief Asia photographer for the Associated Press, David Guttenfelder has had unprecedented access to communist North Korea. Here's a rare look at daily life in the secretive country.

Related:

John Kerry in Seoul: North Korea missile launch would be 'huge mistake'

Missile launch is North Korea's exit strategy, experts say

Google+ Hangout featuring NBC News correspondents in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo

Full North Korea coverage from NBC News

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

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NASA selects Explorer investigations for formulation

Apr. 8, 2013 ? NASA's Astrophysics Explorer Program has selected two missions for launch in 2017: a planet-hunting satellite and an International Space Station instrument to observe X-rays from stars.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) were among four concept studies submitted in September 2012. NASA determined these two offer the best scientific value and most feasible development plans.

TESS will use an array of telescopes to perform an all-sky survey to discover transiting exoplanets ranging from Earth-sized to gas giants, in orbit around the nearest and brightest stars in the sky. Its goal is to identify terrestrial planets in the habitable zones of nearby stars. Its principal investigator is George Ricker of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

NICER will be mounted on the space station and measure the variability of cosmic X-ray sources, a process called X-ray timing, to explore the exotic states of matter within neutron stars and reveal their interior and surface compositions. The principal investigator is Keith Gendreau of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

"The Explorer Program has a long and stellar history of deploying truly innovative missions to study some of the most exciting questions in space science," said John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science in Washington. "With these missions we will learn about the most extreme states of matter by studying neutron stars and we will identify many nearby star systems with rocky planets in the habitable zone for further study by telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope."

NASA's Explorer program is the agency's oldest continuous program and is designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space science investigations relevant to the Science Mission Directorate's astrophysics and heliophysics programs. Satellite mission costs are capped at $200 million and space station mission costs are capped at $55 million.

The program has launched more than 90 missions. It began in 1958 with the Explorer 1, which discovered Earth's radiation belts. Another Explorer mission, the Cosmic Background Explorer, led to a Nobel prize. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center manages the program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about the Explorer program, visit: http://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130408055223.htm

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10 Things to Know for Tuesday

Flowers placed by well-wishers surround a portrait of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher outside her home in Belgravia, London, Monday, April 8, 2013. Margaret Thatcher, the combative "Iron Lady" who infuriated European allies, found a fellow believer in Ronald Reagan and transformed her country by a ruthless dedication to free markets in 11 bruising years as prime minister, died Monday. She was 87 years old. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

Flowers placed by well-wishers surround a portrait of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher outside her home in Belgravia, London, Monday, April 8, 2013. Margaret Thatcher, the combative "Iron Lady" who infuriated European allies, found a fellow believer in Ronald Reagan and transformed her country by a ruthless dedication to free markets in 11 bruising years as prime minister, died Monday. She was 87 years old. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

Israel's President Shimon Peres, right, meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the President's residence in Jerusalem, Monday, April, 8, 2013. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is looking to breathe new life into dormant Mideast peace talks in meetings Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli and Palestinian officials, amid talk of modifying a decade-old Arab plan that's long been greeted with skepticism by the Jewish state. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, Pool)

FILE - This 1955 file photo provided by Walt Disney Co., shows Annette Funicello, a "Mouseketeer" on Walt Disney's TV series the "Mickey Mouse Club." Walt Disney Co. says, Monday, April 8, 2013, that Funicello, also known for her beach movies with Frankie Avalon, has died at age 70. (AP Photo/Walt Disney Co., File)

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday:

1. HOW THATCHER WILL BE REMEMBERED

During 11 remarkable years, she imposed her will on a fractious, rundown Britain ? leaving behind a leaner government and a more prosperous nation.

2. A BIG WEEK FOR OBAMA

Gun control, immigration and the administration's long-delayed budget plan are in the spotlight on Capitol Hill.

3. WHICH AIRLINE IS FLYING HIGHEST

Virgin America did the best job for its customers among leading U.S. airlines last year, a report says.

4. KERRY: GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

Traveling in the Mideast, the secretary of state pitches a new and ambitious peace plan to Israel and the Palestinians.

5. PITINO MAKES HISTORY IN NCAA TITLE GAME

Louisville defeated Michigan 82-76 led by Luke Hancock's five 3-pointers and Pitino became the first coach to win titles with different schools.

6. TROUBLE AT GUANTANAMO

Lawyers say most of the 166 prisoners there have joined a months-long hunger strike. U.S. officials put the number at 42, with 11 being force-fed.

7. BID TO ARM TEACHERS STALLS

Since the Connecticut massacre, only South Dakota has passed a law allowing school personnel to carry guns.

8. WHERE ASSAD IS DRAWING THE LINE

The regime rejects a U.N. request to investigate alleged chemical weapons attacks by both sides ? not just the opposition ? in Syria's civil war.

9. 'ALARM FATIGUE' CAN BE DEADLY

Caregivers often stop paying attention to the constant beeps from devices that monitor vital signs, a hospital group warns.

10. ANNETTE FUNICELLO DIES AT 70

"The Mickey Mouse Club" child star gained fame in such fun-in-the-sun '60s movies as "Beach Blanket Bingo."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-08-10-Things-to-Know-Tuesday/id-121ebd66fb734f0886dca00382954404

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93% The Sapphires

All Critics (116) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (108) | Rotten (8)

The harmonies they strike in this reality-inspired charmer are sweetly sublime.

You could drive an Abrams tank through the film's plot holes, but you'll likely be too busy enjoying yourself to bother.

"The Sapphires" feels like a movie you've already seen, but it's nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable, like a pop song that's no less infectious when you know every word.

"The Sapphires" sparkles with sass and Motown soul.

Sapphires is hardly a cinematic diamond mine. But this Commitments-style mashup of music and melodrama manages to entertain without demanding too much of its audience.

Doesn't always mix its anti-prejudice message and its feel-good nostalgia with complete smoothness. But despite some ragged edges it provides a reasonably good time.

Director Wayne Blair -- another veteran of the stage show -- finds his footing during the film's many musical numbers.

Despite the prosaic plot and reserved approach taken by Blair, Briggs, and Thompson, it's tough to get cynical about such a warmhearted picture that strives to tell so uplifting a story.

A movie with enough melody and camaraderie to cover up its lack of originality.

Draining most of the blood, sweat and tears from a true story, this music-minded movie capably covers a song we've heard a hundred times before.

"Sapphires," which was inspired by a true story, is propelled by a strong sense of music's power to connect people and change lives.

Fires on all cylinders when it drops all pretense and allows its talented cast to simply belt out a series of pure, unfiltered slices of ear candy.

A rousing soundtrack helps to compensate for some of the historical embellishments in this Australian crowd-pleaser.

'Sapphires' got heart and soul

It might not possess the exuberant innocent fun of 'That Thing You Do!' or the overall brilliance of 'The Commitments' but 'The Sapphires' shines enough in its own right. (Complete Content Details for Parents also available)

If you love the music of Motown and enjoy a feel good success flick, then "The Sapphires" fits the bill.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_sapphires_2012/

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WHO talks with China on sending bird flu team

A worker cleans empty cages used for transporting chickens, to prevent an outbreak of H7N9 infections at a wholesale poultry market in Hong Kong Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has sickened at least 21 people, killing six of them. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A worker cleans empty cages used for transporting chickens, to prevent an outbreak of H7N9 infections at a wholesale poultry market in Hong Kong Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has sickened at least 21 people, killing six of them. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A photographer takes a photo of a joint press conference by Chinese health officials and World Health Organization representatives, from left, Deng Haihua, spokesman for China's Commission of Health and Family Planning, Feng Zhijian, head of the emergency office of China's Disease Control and Prevention Center or CDC, Liang Wannian head of a Chinese government office in charge of H7N9 bird flu prevention control, Michael O'Leary, head of the WHO's office in China, and Sirenda Vong, the WHO's Emerging Infectious Diseases expert, in Beijing, China, Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has killed six. Most of the 21 people stricken so far got severely ill. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Liang Wannian, head of a Chinese government office in charge of H7N9 bird flu prevention control, left, and Michael O'Leary, head of the World Health Organization's office in China, attend a joint press conference in Beijing, China, Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has killed six. Most of the 21 people stricken so far got severely ill. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Shu Yuelong, a virologist with China's Disease Control and Prevention Center or CDC, right, answers a question from a journalist during a joint press conference between Chinese health officials and World Health Organization representatives, in Beijing, China, Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has killed six. Most of the 21 people stricken so far got severely ill. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Chinese health workers, wearing masks, walk past a group of security guards blocking a petitioner outside China's Health Ministry where a joint press conference between Chinese health officials and World Health Organization representatives was held in Beijing, China, Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has killed six. Most of the 21 people stricken so far got severely ill. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

BEIJING (AP) ? The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has sickened at least 24 people, killing seven of them.

A 64-year-old retired man in Shanghai became the latest victim of the H7N9 bird flu virus that had previously not been known to infect humans, the city government said Monday.

The Shanghai government said the man died Sunday night, a week after first experiencing chills. He sought medical treatment last Wednesday for pneumonia-like conditions. By Sunday morning, his condition worsened, he was out of breath and was admitted to a ward for in-patient treatment. He died hours later.

Michael O'Leary, head of WHO's office in China, told reporters in Beijing on Monday that the international health organization had confidence in China's efforts to track and control the outbreak of H7N9 infections, but that growing interest in the virus globally has prompted WHO to consider sending a team.

The cases are of "great interest not only in the scientific community but in the world at large," O'Leary said at a joint press conference with China's national health agency. "WHO's responsibility in part is to make sure that we serve as liaison and linkage between China and the rest of the world."

The team would likely include epidemiological, laboratory and communications experts, but the matter was still being discussed by the two sides and it remained unclear if and when such a group would arrive, O'Leary said.

Aside from the latest fatality in Shanghai, China reported two more cases of human infection of the H7N9 bird flu virus on Monday, raising the total number of cases to 24 ? all in the eastern part of the country. Most of the patients have become severely ill, and seven of them have died, however milder infections may be going undetected.

There could be additional infections, both among animals and humans, in other regions and authorities have stepped up measures to monitor cases of pneumonia with unexplained causes, said Liang Wannian, director of the Chinese health agency's H7N9 flu prevention and control office.

Liang said Chinese experts also were in the early stages of researching a possible vaccine for the virus, though it might not be needed if the virus remains only sporadically reported and if it does not spread easily among people.

The H7N9 strain previously was known only to infect birds, and officials say they do not know why the virus is infecting humans now. The virus has been detected in live poultry in several food markets where human cases have been found, leading officials to think people are most likely contracting the virus through direct contact with infected fowl.

Authorities have halted live poultry trade in cities where cases have been reported, and slaughtered fowl in markets where the virus has been detected.

Further investigations are underway and, for now, there's no evidence the virus is spreading easily between people. However, scientists are watching closely to see if the flu poses a substantial risk to public health or could potentially spark a global pandemic.

In 2003, China allowed WHO to send a five-member team to help investigate an outbreak of the fatal flu-like illness, SARS, after its own experts could not trace the source of the disease.

China's response at the time was slow. The government stayed silent for months after the first cases of an unidentified disease were reported, a cover-up that contributed to the spread of the virus to many parts of China and to two dozen other countries, killing hundreds of people.

International observers say that over the past decade, China's public health agencies have become increasingly forthcoming with information.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-04-08-China-Bird%20Flu/id-7b9c879ede7e42cb8a4fd2610e0f89dc

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