France recognizes new Syria opposition, U.S. restrained

BEIRUT (Reuters) - France became the first Western power to recognize a fledgling Syrian opposition coalition fully, stepping out beyond the United States, which said on Wednesday the body must first show its clout inside Syria.

Six Gulf Arab states recognized the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces on Monday and France followed suit the next day, unlike its European partners.

President Francois Hollande's decisive posture on Syria recalled that of his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy on Libya last year, when France led calls for NATO action to protect civilians which effectively helped Libyan rebels topple Muammar Gaddafi.

The European Union bans arms sales to Syria, but Hollande said the question of arming rebels would be examined when the coalition formed a transitional government. Paris had previously ruled this out, fearing arms could reach Islamist militants.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the formation of the coalition, which supersedes the widely discredited Syrian National Council as the face of the Syrian opposition, was an important step, but did not offer it full recognition or arms.

"We have long called for this kind of organization. We want to see that momentum maintained," Clinton told reporters in the Australian city of Perth. "As the Syrian opposition takes these steps and demonstrates its effectiveness in advancing the cause of a unified, democratic, pluralistic Syria, we will be prepared to work with them to deliver assistance to the Syrian people."

Suhair al-Atassi, a vice president of the new coalition, said that once it had proved it represents "revolutionary forces" on the ground, there would be no excuse for Western powers not to provide some form of military backing.

"The ball now is in the international community's court," she told Reuters in an interview in Dubai, blaming Western reticence to arm the rebels for the rise of extremism in Syria.

"There is no more excuse to say we are waiting to see how efficient this new body is. They used to put the opposition to the test. Now we put them to the test," she declared.

AIR STRIKE NEAR TURKEY

Syrian insurgents have few weapons against Assad's air force and artillery, which can pound rebel-held territory at will.

A Syrian warplane bombed the town of Ras al-Ain near the Turkish border again on Wednesday, rocking buildings on the frontier and sending up huge plumes of smoke, in the latest of several attacks since rebels captured the town last week.

After 20 months of a conflict that has killed more than 38,000 people, fragmented Syrian opposition groups struck a deal in Qatar on Sunday to form a coalition led by Damascus preacher Mouaz Alkhatib, who has appealed for international recognition.

Arab League and EU foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Tuesday welcomed the coalition's formation as an important step, but did not recognize it as Syria's sole authority.

France, however, went ahead on its own. Hollande told a news conference in the French capital that Paris recognized the new Syrian national coalition "as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people and as future government of a democratic Syria making it possible to bring an end to Bashar al-Assad's regime".

Clinton announced an extra $30 million in aid to those affected by the war in Syria, to be delivered via the United Nations' World Food Programme, which is supplying food to more than a million people in Syria and to 408,000 Syrian refugees.

The United States says it is providing only humanitarian aid and non-lethal assistance to Assad's opponents, it acknowledges that some of its allies are arming rebels - something which Russia says shows Western powers want to decide Syria's future.

Russia and China have blocked any U.N. Security Council action on Syria, prompting Washington and its allies to say they could move beyond U.N. structures for their next steps.

So far, concerted action on Syria has been thwarted by divisions within the opposition, as well as by big power rivalries and a regional divide between Sunni Muslim foes of Assad and his Shi'ite allies in Iran and Lebanon.

An Iranian revolutionary guard general blamed Western, Turkish and Arab meddling for the bloodshed in Syria.

"They must leave the government and people of Syria alone so they can take the necessary decision about the kind of government in Syria," Brigadier-General Massoud Jazayeri was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

China also said Syrians should determine their own future.

"A political transition process guided by the Syrian people should be initiated and pushed forward as soon as possible, to realize an appropriate peaceful and just resolution," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris, David Brunnstrom in Perth, Australia, Rania El Gamal in Dubai, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Yasmine Saleh in Cairo and Jonathon Burch in Ceylanpinar, Turkey; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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Head of Microsoft’s Windows unit steps down

(Reuters) – Microsoft Corp said the head of its flagship Windows division and the driving force behind Windows 8, Steven Sinofsky, will be leaving the company with immediate effect, days after the software giant launched the Surface tablet.

Sinofsky, who presented at the launch of the Windows 8 operating system in New York City last month, will be succeeded by Julie Larson-Green, who will head the Windows hardware and software division, the company said in a statement.

Tami Reller will remain chief financial officer and chief marketing officer and will assume responsibility for the business of Windows.

Both executives will report directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft said.

At the launch event in October, Sinofsky and his team showed off a range of devices running Windows 8 from PC makers such as Lenovo Group Ltd and Acer Inc, but devoted most of their energy to the second half of the presentation and the Surface tablet, the first computer Microsoft has made itself.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad and Nicola Leske; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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See Keira Knightley's Prettiest Anna Karenina Costumes

Stylewatch
Style News Now

11/12/2012 at 05:30 PM ET

Courtesy Focus Features

We’re so excited to see Anna Karenina this weekend, not only because we loved the book, but because we can’t wait to see Keira Knightley‘s costumes.

Designed by Oscar nominee Jacqueline Durran, the elaborate gowns and structured uniforms required lots of blood, sweat and tears — but it was all worth it.

“Period films are absolutely a challenge because you never have enough time,” Durran tells PEOPLE. “You’re always racing to try and catch up.” However, working with Knightley and director Joe Wright — both of whom she collaborated with on Pride & Prejudice and Atonement — made the process much easier.

“It’s very hard work, and very last-minute, but with them, it’s a pleasure,” Durran says. “It’s just much easier to work with people you like and know.”

It’s also easier to work with an actress like Knightley, who looks gorgeous in everything. Durran dressed her in gowns that were “1870s silhouette meets 1950s couture” — and are absolutely stunning. To see some of our favorites, click through these photos. And see all of Durran’s work come to life when Anna Karenina hits theaters Friday. Tell us: Are you planning to see Anna Karenina this weekend? 

–Kate Hogan

PHOTOS: KEIRA IN COSTUME! SEE EXCLUSIVE ‘ANNA KARENINA’ SHOTS

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British medical journal slams Roche on Tamiflu

LONDON (AP) — A leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu.

The drug has been stockpiled by dozens of governments worldwide in case of a global flu outbreak and was widely used during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

On Monday, one of the researchers linked to the BMJ journal called for European governments to sue Roche.

"I suggest we boycott Roche's products until they publish missing Tamiflu data," wrote Peter Gotzsche, leader of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen. He said governments should take legal action against Roche to get the money back that was "needlessly" spent on stockpiling Tamiflu.

Last year, Tamiflu was included in a list of "essential medicines" by the World Health Organization, a list that often prompts governments or donor agencies to buy the drug.

Tamiflu is used to treat both seasonal flu and new flu viruses like bird flu or swine flu. WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said the agency had enough proof to warrant its use for unusual influenza viruses, like bird flu.

"We do have substantive evidence it can stop or hinder progression to severe disease like pneumonia," he said.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Tamiflu as one of two medications for treating regular flu. The other is GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza. The CDC says such antivirals can shorten the duration of symptoms and reduce the risk of complications and hospitalization.

In 2009, the BMJ and researchers at the Nordic Cochrane Centre asked Roche to make all its Tamiflu data available. At the time, Cochrane Centre scientists were commissioned by Britain to evaluate flu drugs. They found no proof that Tamiflu reduced the number of complications in people with influenza.

"Despite a public promise to release (internal company reports) for each (Tamiflu) trial...Roche has stonewalled," BMJ editor Fiona Godlee wrote in an editorial last month.

In a statement, Roche said it had complied with all legal requirements on publishing data and provided Gotzsche and his colleagues with 3,200 pages of information to answer their questions.

"Roche has made full clinical study data ... available to national health authorities according to their various requirements, so they can conduct their own analyses," the company said.

Roche says it doesn't usually release patient-level data available due to legal or confidentiality constraints. It said it did not provide the requested data to the scientists because they refused to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Roche is also being investigated by the European Medicines Agency for not properly reporting side effects, including possible deaths, for 19 drugs including Tamiflu that were used in about 80,000 patients in the U.S.

____

Online:

www.bmj.com.tamiflu/

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Stock futures fall on "fiscal cliff," Home Depot rises

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Syrian opposition faces uphill battle for recognition

CAIRO (Reuters) - Syria's new opposition body sought Arab and European backing on Tuesday, but Britain and France seemed to set new conditions for its recognition as an interim government to take over should President Bashar al-Assad fall.

The Syrian leader has vowed to fight to the death in a conflict that has already killed an estimated 38,000 people and risks sucking in other countries in the volatile Middle East.

Arab and European officials met leaders of the new Syrian National Coalition in Cairo in Tuesday as Assad's warplanes again struck homes in the northern, rebel-held town of Ras al-Ain. Civilians fled over the border dividing it from the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar and thick plumes of smoke billowed upwards.

Syrian jets and artillery hit the town of Albu Kamal on the frontier with Iraq, where rebels have seized some areas, according to the mayor of the Iraqi border town of Qaim.

Tension also remained high on the Golan Heights, where Israeli gunners have retaliated against stray Syrian mortar fire landing on the occupied plateau in the previous two days.

Twenty months of conflict have created a vast humanitarian crisis, with more than 408,000 Syrians fleeing to neighboring countries and up to four million expected to need aid by early next year, according to the United Nations.

Fighting has also displaced 2.5 million civilians inside Syria, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent estimates.

"If anything, they believe it could be more; this is a very conservative estimate," Melissa Fleming, chief spokeswoman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said in Geneva.

"So people are moving, really on the run, hiding," she told a news briefing. "They are difficult to count and access."

FRAGMENTED RESPONSE

Until now, concerted action on Syria has been thwarted by divisions within the opposition, as well as by big power rivalries and a regional divide between Sunni Muslim foes of Assad and his Shi'ite allies in Iran and Lebanon.

Cajoled by Qatar and the United States, the ineffectual Syrian National Council, previously the main opposition body based abroad, agreed to join a wider coalition on Sunday.

But France's defense minister said it was premature to give the new body full recognition, saying it needed to unite armed rebel factions within Syria under its umbrella.

"What happened in Doha is a step forward," Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters in Paris. "It is still not sufficient to constitute a provisional government that can be recognized internationally. But it's on the right track."

Britain's foreign minister, William Hague, also said more needed to be done to rally support inside the country before London would recognize the coalition led by moderate Muslim cleric Mouaz Alkhatib as the rightful government of Syria.

"It is a very important milestone," Hague told reporters at a meeting of Arab and European ministers at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo.

"We want to see the Syrian opposition be inclusive ... and have support inside Syria and if they have this, yes, we will then recognize them as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people."

The opposition had hoped its new-found unity would clear the way for outside powers to arm the rebels, but Western nations fear such weapons could reach the hands of Islamist militants.

Western concern has also been heightened by documented reports of atrocities by ill-disciplined insurgents.

"Syria's newly created opposition front should send a clear message to opposition fighters that they must adhere to the laws of war and human rights law, and that violators will be held accountable," New York-based Human Rights Watch said.

The French defense minister called for "a unification of military action to avoid haphazard military operations" and also urged rebels to rein in radical Islamist "Salafist elements".

TOUGH QUEST

European caution, and an Arab League endorsement that stops well short of full recognition, indicate that the coalition forged with such difficulty in Qatar two days ago may face a tough quest for wholehearted backing, even from its allies.

Russia and China, which have lent Assad diplomatic support since the uprising erupted in March last year, have shown no sign of warming towards his Western- and Arab-backed opponents.

Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby threw his weight behind the new body at the Arab-European meeting in Cairo.

"We hope that the remaining opposition factions join the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces and we urge the countries of the world to recognize it and give it all the support," he said.

But although six Gulf Arab nations recognized the coalition as Syria's only legitimate representative on Monday, Iraq, Algeria and Lebanon prevented the League from following suit. Iraq and Lebanon, with influential Shi'ite populations, have generally maintained better relations with Iran and with Assad.

In other scattered violence reported by opposition activists inside Syria, the governor Raqqa province in the northeast wounded in an attack on his convoy, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. In the same province, a bomb near a church killed a woman, state news agency SANA said, blaming rebels.

Near Damascus, the rebel unit the Armored Ghouta Brigade said in an online video posting showing smoke and damage at a military installation that its fighters had stormed an air defense base and "killed many officers".

None of the reports of violence in Syria could be independently confirmed.

(Additional reporting by Shaimaa Fayed in Cairo, Jonathon Burch in Ceylanpinar, Turkey and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

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