Brazil: Indigenous squatters resist eviction

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Police in riot gear surrounded a settlement of indigenous people next to Rio de Janeiro's storied Maracana stadium on Saturday, preparing to evict them as soon as an expected court order arrived.
The site commander, police Lt. Alex Melo, explained officers were "waiting for the order, and understand it can come at any time."
But the order still had not arrived after a tense, daylong standoff. Frightened residents wondered why law enforcement came without an order to enter, and federal public defenders who have worked on the protracted legal battle over the space tried to mediate.
"This is absolutely arbitrary. They can't enter without an order," said public defender Daniel Macedo. "If they did, they could be charged with a crime, with abuse of authority. It could be a blood bath, which could look really bad for the government of Brazil and the state."
The indigenous group includes men and women of about 10 ethnicities — mostly Guarani, Pataxo, Kaingangue and Guajajara — who have been squatting for years in 10 homes they built on the site of an old Indian Museum, abandoned since 1977.
The police arrived early in the morning and surrounded the compound. By noon, the residents locked the main gate. As supporters arrived, the Indians lowered a wooden ladder over the brick wall surrounding the complex to let them in, later pulling the ladder back up.
During the nerve-racking wait on Saturday, the squatters painted their faces and bodies and donned elaborate headdresses, at times playing rattles and flutes or whistling bird calls. Some displayed ornamental bows and arrows over the wall and through the gate separating them from the black-clad police in body armor.
The settlement and the remains of the building that lodged the museum are adjacent to the Maracana, which is being refurbished to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics and the final match of the 2014 World Cup.
Blighted streets around the stadium are also to undergo a vast transformation to become a shopping and sports entertainment hub, complete with parking lots. Most of a favela, or shantytown, about 500 meters away has already been demolished to make way for the new development.
The governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, told a news conference in October that the building's razing is necessary for hosting the World Cup.
"The Indian Museum near the Maracana will be demolished," Cabral said then. "It's being demanded by FIFA and the World Cup Organizing Committee. Long live democracy, but the building has no historical value. We're going to tear it down."
However, a letter from FIFA's office in Brazil to the federal public defender's office published in the newspaper Jornal do Brazil said that the soccer authority "never requested the demolition of the old Indian Museum in Rio de Janeiro."
The indigenous have been resisting their possible eviction for months, operating with little or no information from authorities about what to expect, or what alternatives are available to them, said their leader Carlos Tukano.
"I know they are going to come in, and our proposal is to remain firm, but without moral or physical aggression," he said. "We cannot fight them with bows and arrows; they are armed."
Most of the approximately 30 Indians who live there and about 200 sympathizers packaged the compound Saturday to discuss how to peacefully deal with a possible police action. Several men, masking their faces with shirts, climbed high into the upper floors of the tumble-down building and surveyed the scene with professional bows and arrows.
The squatters believe they have history and the law on their side.
The crumbling mansion with soaring ceilings that housed the old museum was donated by a wealthy Brazilian to the government in 1847 to serve as a center for the study of indigenous traditions.
After the museum closed more than three decades ago, Indians of various ethnicities started using it as a safe place to stay when they came to Rio to pursue an education, sell trinkets in the streets or get medical treatment.
"They would come here without money, without knowing anyone, and sleep in the streets," Tukano explained. He himself is from a village deep in the Amazon. "We made this our space."
The head of Rio state legislature's Human Rights Commission, representative Marcelo Freixo, called for the need to stay calm and avoid violence.
"Conflict here is not in anyone's interest," he said before addressing the squatters and supporters inside the compound. "If there is a judicial order, the police will have to enforce it, but we have avoid any injuries with dialogue."
As he spoke, state public defender Eduardo Newton proposed an alternative legal tactic.
Under state law, Newton said, there can't be a mass eviction without proper legal proceedings. With group approval, he began gathering documents that would prove that more than 10 families lived on the grounds so he could try for a rushed stay on the eviction notice.
Police, meanwhile, police continued to stand guard the compound.

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Haiti quietly marks quake's 3rd anniversary

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — President Michel Martelly urged Haitians to recall the tens of thousands of people who lost their lives in a devastating earthquake three years ago, marking the disaster's anniversary Saturday with a simple ceremony.
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton joined Martelly later in the day for a similarly quiet wreath-laying commemoration.
"Haitian people, hand in hand, we remember what has gone," Martelly said in the morning as a gigantic Haitian flag flew at half-staff before him on the front lawn of the former National Palace, a pile of tangled steel reinforcement bars nearby. "Hand in hand, we're remembering, we're remembering Jan. 12."
Martelly thanked other countries and international organizations for their help since the Jan. 12, 2010, disaster.
Clad in black, several dozen senior government officials gathered where the opulent white palace stood before it collapsed in the temblor and was later demolished. Foreign diplomats and Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova, earlier named by Martelly as one of Haiti's goodwill ambassadors, were also there.
In the speech, Martelly announced a government contest seeking designs for a monument to honor those who died in the quake. He also said the government had just released a new construction code aimed at ensuring new buildings are seismically resistant in hopes of preventing the same kind of catastrophic damage in any future earthquake.
In the late morning, Clinton, the U.N. special envoy to Haiti, joined Martelly and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe in placing a wreath at a mass burial site north of the capital of Port-au-Prince. None of the three spoke at the event.
Clinton expressed hope about Haiti's future in brief comments to reporters after the ceremony.
"I think that you will see, particularly in the economic sphere, a lot more in the coming year, where Haiti is projected to have the highest growth rate in the Caribbean," he said. "Well, we hope to speed up some of the infrastructure.  We have to repair the agriculture and ... build a lot more houses. We've got to get those people out of those tents."
Clinton, Martelly and Lamothe met privately in the afternoon.
Haiti's previous presidential administration said 316,000 people were killed but no one really knows how many died. The disaster displaced more than a million others.
Most of the rubble created by the quake has since been carted away but more than 350,000 people still live in grim displacement camps.
Many people had hoped the reconstruction effort would have made more headway by now, but progress has been stymied by political paralysis, the scale of devastation and a trickle of aid.
Jan. 12 was observed as a national holiday the last two years to remember the quake. This year, the government said the day would no longer be a holiday but called for the Haitian flag to be flown at half-staff and for nightclubs and "similar establishments" to close.
The anniversary this year has been used by Haiti observers to criticize the reconstruction process and by foreign aid groups to promote their work and raise money. The European Union announced Saturday it was giving Haiti 30.5 million euros for displaced people still living in camps, as well as victims of a subsequent cholera epidemic and those affected by Hurricane Sandy late last year.
The Clinton Foundation also announced that it was contributing about 40 solar-powered streetlights to a housing community north of Port-au-Prince for deaf families who were relocated there.
But for some Haitians, it was just another day.
"We can't remain focused on January 12th," said Asaie St. Louis, a 56-year-old teacher and devout church-goer, Bible in hand. "It's passed already.

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Mexico dog mutilated by drug traffickers recovers

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A dog reportedly mutilated by Mexican drug traffickers is recovering at a sanctuary for abused and abandoned dogs.
Sanctuary owner Patricia Ruiz says Pay de Limon, or Lemon Pie, was fitted with prosthetic front legs last year. The Belgian shepherd mix now walks, jumps and runs.
Ruiz says the dog was left in a trash can to die after his two fronts legs were cut off. She says people who asked her to help Pay de Limon told her that drug traffickers used the dog to practice for mutilating humans.
Pay de Limon is one of 128 abused dogs living at the Milagros Caninos sanctuary. Dogs on wheelchairs, blind, deaf or ill frolic and run around the huge sanctuary in the southern part of Mexico City.

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Venezuela's Chavez fighting severe lung infection

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan lawmakers will meet Saturday in a session that could shed light on what steps may be taken if President Hugo Chavez is too sick to be sworn in for a new term next week.
Legislators will choose a president, two vice presidents and other leaders of the National Assembly, which is controlled by a pro-Chavez majority. Whoever is elected National Assembly president could end up being the interim president of Venezuela if Chavez is unable to be inaugurated on Thursday as scheduled.
Brewing disagreements over how to handle a possible transition of power also could be aired at the session, coming just five days before the scheduled inauguration day specified in the constitution. Chavez's health crisis has raised contentious questions ahead of the swearing-in, including whether the inauguration could legally be postponed.
The government revealed this week that Chavez is fighting a severe lung infection and receiving treatment for "respiratory deficiency" more than three weeks after undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba. The announcement suggests a deepening crisis for the 58-year-old president and has fed speculation that he likely is not well enough to travel to Caracas for the inauguration.
National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello called on Chavez backers to show up for the legislative session and demonstrate their support.
"This National Assembly is revolutionary and socialist. It will remain beside the people and our commander," Cabello said in one of several messages on his Twitter account. "If the opposition thinks it will find a space in the National Assembly to conspire against the people, it's mistaken once again. It will be defeated."
Opposition leaders have demanded that the government provide more specific information about Chavez's condition, and say a new election should be held within 30 days if the president doesn't return to Venezuela by inauguration day.
Some Chavez allies say the inauguration date is not a hard deadline, and argue that the president should be given more time to recover from his surgery if necessary.
Chavez hasn't spoken publicly or been seen since his Dec. 11 operation in Cuba. In a Thursday night update, the government for the first time described the president's respiratory infection as "severe," the strongest confirmation yet that Chavez is having serious trouble breathing after days of rumors about his condition worsening.
"Chavez has faced complications as a result of a severe respiratory infection. This infection has led to respiratory deficiency that requires Commander Chavez to remain in strict compliance with his medical treatment," Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Thursday night, reading a statement on television.
The government's characterization raised the possibility that Chavez might be breathing with the assistance of a machine. But the government did not address that question and didn't give details of the president's treatment.
Independent medical experts consulted by The Associated Press said the government's account indicated a potentially dangerous turn in Chavez's condition, but said it's unclear whether he is attached to a ventilator.
"It appears he has a very severe pneumonia that he suffered after a respiratory failure. It is not very specific," said Dr. Alejandro Rios-Ramirez, a pulmonary specialist in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Dr. Gustavo Medrano, a lung specialist at the Centro Medico hospital in Caracas, said he has seen similar cases in cancer patients who have undergone surgery, and "in general it's very bad, above all after a surgery like the one they performed on him."
"I don't know the magnitude of the infection he has, how much of his lungs have been compromised, how much other organs are being affected. That's not clear," Medrano said.
"What's most likely is that he's on mechanical ventilation," Medrano added. However, he said, while respiratory deficiency means there is an abnormally low concentration of oxygen in the blood, depending on the severity it can be treated in various ways.
Dr. Michael Pishvaian, an oncologist at Georgetown University's Lombardi Cancer Center in Washington, agreed that such respiratory infections can run the gamut from "a mild infection requiring antibiotics and supplemental oxygen to life-threatening respiratory complications."
"It could be a very ominous sign," Pishvaian said. He said it's possible Chavez could be on "life support," but added it's impossible to be sure without more details.
The government expressed confidence in Chavez's medical team and condemned what it called a "campaign of psychological warfare" in the international media regarding the president's condition. Officials have urged Venezuelans not to heed rumors about Chavez's condition.
Opposition leaders have blamed vague information coming from the government for the rumors, and demanded a full medical report.
The Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional criticized what it called an "information vacuum" in an editorial on Friday, saying Venezuelans are in the dark because "no one speaks clearly from the government." The newspaper called the situation reminiscent of secrecy that surrounded the deaths of Josef Stalin in the former Soviet Union and Mao Zedong in China.
State television repeatedly played video of a song in which rappers encourage Venezuelans to pray, saying of Chavez: "You will live and triumph." A recording of a speech by Chavez appears during the song, saying: "I will be with you always!"
Chavez has undergone four cancer-related surgeries since June 2011 for an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer. He also has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
He was re-elected in October to another six-year term, and two months later announced that the cancer had returned. Chavez said before the operation that if his illness prevented him from remaining president, Vice President Nicolas Maduro should be his party's candidate to replace him in a new election.
This week, Cabello and the president's elder brother Adan joined a parade of visitors who saw Chavez in Havana, and then returned to Caracas on Thursday along with Maduro.
Brazil's state-run Agencia Brasil news agency reported Friday that President Dilma Rousseff's top international adviser, Marco Aurelio Garcia, made a one-day visit to Cuba and spoke with Venezuelan and Cuban officials about Chavez's health. It was unclear if Garcia actually saw Chavez, or what day he visited Cuba.
Telephone calls placed after hours to Brazil's Foreign Ministry and presidential offices were not immediately answered.
The Venezuelan Constitution says the presidential oath should be taken Jan. 10 before the National Assembly. Government officials have raised the possibility that Chavez might not be well enough to do that, without saying what will happen if he can't. The constitution also says that if the president is unable to be sworn in before the National Assembly, he may take the oath office before the Supreme Court.
The constitution says that if a president or president-elect dies or is declared unable to continue in office, presidential powers should be held temporarily by the president of the National Assembly and a new election should be held within 30 days.
On the streets of Caracas, some of Chavez's supporters say they're still holding out hope he can recover.
"He's the only leader of the revolution," said Miriam Bolivar, who belongs to a grassroots pro-Chavez group. "We can't imagine life without him. He's our life. This is one more battle and we have faith that he'll come out it unscathed once again."
Other Chavez supporters say they're unsure what to believe about his condition and express misgivings about the president's lieutenants.
"We hope that what they're telling us is true," said Ricardo Maya, a supporter who was reading a newspaper in a city square. "Chavez has all my confidence. He always speaks the truth. I can't say the same about the people around him.

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Venezuela VP: Chavez could be sworn in by court

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez could be sworn in by the Supreme Court later on if he's not able to take the oath of office before lawmakers next week because of his struggle with cancer, his vice president said Friday.
The stance announced by Vice President Nicolas Maduro conflicts with the argument by some opposition leaders that the president of the National Assembly would have to take over as interim president if Chavez were unable to attend his inauguration as scheduled next Thursday.
Maduro's remarks sent the strongest signal yet that the government may seek to postpone Chavez's inauguration due to his delicate condition after surgery in Cuba. His position appeared likely to generate friction between the government and opposition over the legality of putting off the swearing-in, which the constitution says should occur on Thursday before the National Assembly.
Maduro says Chavez, as a re-elected president, remains in office beyond the inauguration date stipulated in the constitution, and could be sworn in if necessary before the Supreme Court at a later date to be determined.
"The formality of his swearing-in can be resolved before the Supreme Court of Justice, at the time (the court) deems in coordination with the head of state, Commander Hugo Chavez," Maduro said in a televised interview.
As for the opposition, Maduro said, "they should respect our constitution." The vice president held up a small blue copy of the constitution and read aloud passages relating to such procedures.
Opposition leaders have demanded that the government provide more specific information about Chavez's condition, and say that if the president doesn't return to Venezuela by inauguration day, the president of the National Assembly should take over the presidency on an interim basis. But Maduro echoed other Chavez allies in suggesting the inauguration date is not a firm deadline, and that the president should be given more time to recover from his cancer surgery if needed.
"Maduro's comments are not surprising. The government holds all the cards in the current situation, particularly given the compassion for Chavez's serious illness. It has interpreted the constitution loosely, to its own political advantage," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington. "In this way Maduro is able to buy some time, assert his authority, and rally support within Chavismo. He puts the opposition on notice and throws it off balance."
As for Chavez, Maduro reiterated that the president is fighting a "complex" health battle but expressed hope that eventually "we'll see him and we'll hear him."
"He has a right to rest and tranquility, and to recuperate," Maduro said on state television, speaking with Information Minister Ernesto Villegas.
"The president right now is the exercising president. He has his government formed," Maduro said. He read a portion of the constitution detailing procedures for declaring an "absolute absence" of the president, which would trigger a new election within 30 days, and declared that "none of these grounds can be raised by the Venezuelan opposition."
The Venezuelan Constitution says the presidential oath should be taken Jan. 10 before the National Assembly. It also says that if the president is unable to be sworn in before the National Assembly, he may take the oath office before the Supreme Court, and some legal experts have noted that the sentence mentioning the court does not mention a date.
Others disagree. Ruben Ortiz, a lawyer and opposition supporter, argued that Maduro is wrong and that under the constitution the inauguration date can't be postponed.
If Chavez is not in Caracas to be sworn in on Thursday, Ortiz said in a phone interview, "the president of the National Assembly should take charge." He added that "there is a formal separation between one term and the other."
But Shifter said the opposition is on the defensive, with its only tactic being to insist that Jan. 10 is the established date.
"Chavez controls all the key institutions, and it's doubtful that most Venezuelans will get too upset about defying what seems a fairly minor constitutional provision," Shifter said. "Attacking the government because it has no objection to the Supreme Court swearing in Chavez after Jan. 10 is not exactly a winning political strategy for the opposition."
A delay also serves the government's purposes, Shifter said. "The government wants more time, whether to see if Chavez gets better, or to consolidate their ranks and further splinter and demoralize the opposition."
Venezuelan lawmakers will meet Saturday in a session that could shed more light on what steps Chavez's allies plan to take.
Legislators will choose a president, two vice presidents and other leaders of the National Assembly, which is controlled by a pro-Chavez majority. Whoever is elected National Assembly president could eventually end up being the interim president of Venezuela under some circumstances.
Brewing disagreements over how to handle a possible transition of power could also be aired at the session.
"If the opposition thinks it will find a space in the National Assembly to conspire against the people, it's mistaken once again. It will be defeated," National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello said in a message on Twitter, saying the legislature will stand with Chavez.
The government revealed this week that Chavez is fighting a severe lung infection and receiving treatment for "respiratory deficiency" more than three weeks after undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba.
Chavez hasn't spoken publicly or been seen since his Dec. 11 operation in Cuba, and the latest announcement suggests a deepening crisis for the 58-year-old president.
But Maduro criticized rumors surrounding Chavez's condition, saying: "He has a right to his privacy, and to recover."
The government's account of Chavez's complications raised the possibility that he might be breathing with the assistance of a machine. But the government did not address that question and didn't give details of the president's treatment.
Independent medical experts consulted by The Associated Press said the government's account indicated a potentially dangerous turn in Chavez's condition, but said it's unclear whether he is attached to a ventilator.
Dr. Gustavo Medrano, a lung specialist at the Centro Medico hospital in Caracas, said he has seen similar cases in cancer patients who have undergone surgery, and "in general it's very bad, above all after a surgery like the one they performed on him."
"I don't know the magnitude of the infection he has, how much of his lungs have been compromised, how much other organs are being affected. That's not clear," Medrano said.
"What's most likely is that he's on mechanical ventilation," Medrano added. However, he said, while respiratory deficiency means there is an abnormally low concentration of oxygen in the blood, depending on the severity it can be treated in various ways.
Dr. Michael Pishvaian, an oncologist at Georgetown University's Lombardi Cancer Center in Washington, agreed that such respiratory infections can run the gamut from "a mild infection requiring antibiotics and supplemental oxygen to life-threatening respiratory complications."
"It could be a very ominous sign," Pishvaian said. He said it's possible Chavez could be on "life support," but added it's impossible to be sure without more details.
Opposition leaders have blamed vague information coming from the government for persistent rumors about Chavez's condition, and demanded a full medical report.
Chavez has undergone four cancer-related surgeries since June 2011 for an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer. He also has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
He was re-elected in October to another six-year term, and two months later announced that the cancer had returned. Chavez said before the operation that if his illness prevented him from remaining president, Maduro should be his party's candidate to replace him in a new election.
The Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional criticized what it called an "information vacuum" in an editorial on Friday, saying Venezuelans are in the dark because "no one speaks clearly from the government." The newspaper called the situation reminiscent of secrecy that surrounded the deaths of Josef Stalin in the former Soviet Union and Mao Zedong in China.
State television repeatedly played video of a song in which rappers encourage Venezuelans to pray, saying of Chavez: "You will live and triumph." A recording of a speech by Chavez appears during the song, saying: "I will be with you always!

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Venezuela VP: Chavez can be sworn in by Court

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez can take the oath of office for his next term before the Supreme Court at a later date if the ailing leader isn't fit to be sworn in next week, his vice president said.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro sent the strongest signal yet that the government may seek to postpone Chavez's inauguration as the 58-year-old president fights a severe respiratory infection more than three weeks after undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba.
Maduro's position in a televised interview on Friday night generated new friction between the government and opposition over the swearing-in, which the constitution says should occur Thursday before the National Assembly. Some opposition leaders have argued that if Chavez doesn't make it back to Caracas by that date, the president of the National Assembly should take over as interim president.
Such brewing disagreements were expected to be aired on Saturday as the National Assembly, which is controlled by a pro-Chavez majority, prepared to convene to choose its president and other legislative leaders.
Maduro's comments shed more light on potential scenarios. If the government succeeds in delaying the swearing-in and Chavez's condition improves, the president and his allies could have more time to plan an orderly transition and prepare for a new presidential election. If Chavez dies or is declared incapacitated, the constitution says that a new election should be called and held within 30 days.
The National Assembly president chosen on Saturday could end up being the country's interim president under some circumstances. Anyone elected by the Chavez-dominated legislature is expected to remain loyal to the president.
But Information Minister Ernesto Villegas reiterated on Saturday that Chavez is still in office, saying in comments reported by the state news agency that "Chavez has won a thousand battles and has reappeared when no one expected."
Speaking on television, Maduro held up a small blue copy of the constitution and read aloud passages as he argued that opponents were using erroneous interpretations to try to drive Chavez from power.
"They should respect our constitution," the vice president said. "The formality of his swearing-in can be resolved before the Supreme Court of Justice, at the time (the court) deems, in coordination with the head of state, Commander Hugo Chavez."
Maduro echoed other Chavez allies in suggesting the inauguration date is not a firm deadline, and that the president should be given more time to recover from his cancer surgery if needed.
"Maduro's comments are not surprising. The government holds all the cards in the current situation, particularly given the compassion for Chavez's serious illness. It has interpreted the constitution loosely, to its own political advantage," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington. "In this way Maduro is able to buy some time, assert his authority and rally support within Chavismo. He puts the opposition on notice and throws it off balance."
Chavez was re-elected in October to another six-year term, and two months later announced that his pelvic cancer had returned. Chavez said before the operation that if his illness prevented him from remaining president, Maduro should be his party's candidate to replace him in a new election.
Maduro reiterated on Friday that the president is fighting a "complex" battle for his health but expressed hope that eventually, "we'll see him and we'll hear him."
"He has a right to rest and tranquility, and to recuperate," Maduro said. "The president right now is the exercising president. He has his government formed."
Maduro read a portion of the constitution detailing procedures for declaring an "absolute absence" of the president, which would trigger a new election within 30 days, and declared that "none of these grounds can be raised by the Venezuelan opposition."
The Venezuelan Constitution says the presidential oath should be taken Jan. 10 before the National Assembly. It also says that if the president is unable to be sworn in before the Assembly, he may take the oath before the Supreme Court, and some legal experts have noted that the sentence mentioning the court does not mention a date.
Others disagree. Ruben Ortiz, a lawyer and opposition supporter, argued that the inauguration date can't be postponed.
If Chavez is not in Caracas to be sworn in on Thursday, Ortiz said in a phone interview, "the president of the National Assembly should take charge." He added that "there is a formal separation between one term and the other."
Shifter said the opposition is on the defensive, with its only tactic being to insist that Jan. 10 is the established date.
"Chavez controls all the key institutions, and it's doubtful that most Venezuelans will get too upset about defying what seems a fairly minor constitutional provision," Shifter said. "Attacking the government because it has no objection to the Supreme Court swearing in Chavez after Jan. 10 is not exactly a winning political strategy for the opposition."
A delay also serves the government's purposes, Shifter said. "The government wants more time, whether to see if Chavez gets better, or to consolidate their ranks and further splinter and demoralize the opposition."
Chavez hasn't spoken publicly or been seen since his Dec. 11 operation. The government revealed this week that Chavez is fighting a severe lung infection and receiving treatment for "respiratory deficiency."
That account raised the possibility that he might be breathing with the assistance of a machine. But the government did not address that question or details of the president's treatment, and independent medical experts consulted by The Associated Press said the statements indicated a potentially dangerous turn in Chavez's condition, but said it's unclear whether he is attached to a ventilator.
Chavez has undergone four cancer-related surgeries since June 2011 for an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer. He also has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

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Turkey: Military will keep fighting rebel Kurds

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey will press ahead with military operations against autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels even as Turkish officials hold talks with the rebels' jailed leader to end the 28-year-old conflict, officials said Friday.
Last week, the government confirmed that Turkey's intelligence agency was talking to rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan with the aim of convincing the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, to disarm. Ocalan has been serving a life sentence on a prison island off Istanbul since 1999.
Yet Turkish officials said Turkey had no intention of halting its military drive against the group, which took up arms in 1984 and is fighting for self-rule in southeast Turkey, often from bases in northern Iraq. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since then.
"Operations are continuing," Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin told the state-run Anadolu Agency in an interview. "They will continue until members of the group who bear enmity against our people are no longer in a position to attack or shed blood."
Yalcin Akdogan, chief adviser to the Turkish prime minister, wrote in the Star newspaper Friday: "There is no question of suspending or halting the fight against terrorism."
"Security policies must remain as a complementary factor (to talks)," Akdogan wrote in a column.
Akdogan also warned that groups within the PKK who are opposed to any negotiated settlement to the conflict could "sabotage" the talks by attacking Turkish targets.
Turkey has admitted holding secret discussions with Ocalan and other PKK members, as recently as 2011, although officials later said the talks were abandoned when rebels killed 13 soldiers in southeast Turkey in July of that year.
The latest peace effort comes after hundreds of Kurdish prisoners linked to the PKK heeded a call from Ocalan in November and abandoned a hunger strike pressing for greater Kurdish rights and improved prison conditions for the rebel leader. The incident demonstrated Ocalan still holds sway over the rebels even after 13 years of being in prison.
The negotiations also coincide with efforts by parties in Parliament to draft a new constitution for Turkey, which the government says would safeguard the rights of minority Kurds, who make up some 20 percent of the country's 75 million population.
Turkish officials have not revealed details of the talks with Ocalan or what Turkey is offering the rebels as an incentive to disarm.
Nurettin Canikli, a senior legislator from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, said some progress had been made but would not say if the PKK was any closer to laying down arms.
Akdogan, the adviser, wrote that many PKK fighters were sick of life hidden away in the mountains of southeast Turkey or northern Iraq and suggested that the prospect of "coming down from the mountains" would be an incentive to disarm.

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Britain's top tabloid scolds Argentina over the Falklands

BUENOS AIRES/LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest-selling newspaper had a simple message for Argentina in an editorial published on Friday in the South American country: "HANDS OFF" the Falkland Islands.
The seven-paragraph epistle, penned by the populist Sun tabloid and published in Argentina's main English language newspaper, came in response to fresh demands from President Cristina Fernandez to open talks over the sovereignty of the South Atlantic archipelago.
The two countries fought a 10-week war in 1982 over the remote islands, which are part of Britain's self-governing overseas territories and are known in Argentina as Las Malvinas.
Britain won the war but Argentina started pressing its sovereignty claim anew last year after oil exploration began in waters near the islands.
"British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands dates back to 1765, before the Republic of Argentina even existed," the Sun said in its open letter to Fernandez, published in both Spanish and English in the Buenos Aires Herald.
"In the name of our millions of readers," the Sun said, "HANDS OFF!"
The Sun, part of media mogul Rupert Murdoch's empire, has a long history of publishing fervently patriotic articles. One of its front pages during the 1982 war it marked the news that British forces had sunk the Argentine warship General Belgrano with the banner headline "GOTCHA."
As the extent of Argentine losses began to emerge, the Sun changed its headline in later editions. A total of 323 Argentines lost their lives in the attack on the Belgrano.
While the rhetoric has yet to reach such levels, tensions have flared between London and Buenos Aires against the new backdrop of oil prospects.
Crude was found to the north of the Falklands in 2010 by Rockhopper Exploration, drawing interest from hedge funds and other investors despite threats from Argentina to disrupt the activity.
In an open letter from Fernandez to Prime Minister David Cameron published in British newspapers on Thursday, the fiery two-term Peronist leader accused Britain of breaching United Nations resolutions calling for a negotiated solution.
Cameron rejects negotiations, saying the approximately 3,000 people of the Falkland Islands have chosen to be British.
In its Friday edition, the Sun used less moderate language for its own British readers than in its open letter to Fernandez, labeling her country a "banana republic."
"Stirring up trouble over the Falklands creates a convenient sideshow for Argentina's tin-pot leaders as they battle problems at home," the Sun said in its editorial, referring to economic woes in Argentina punctuated by slow growth and high inflation.
"But they are wasting their breath. And they should remember what happened last time.

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Excavators head to Myanmar to find WWII Spitfires

LONDON (AP) — An airplane-obsessed farmer, a freelance archaeologist, and a team of excavators are heading from Britain to the Myanmar city of Yangon on Saturday to find a nearly forgotten stash of British fighter planes thought to be carefully buried beneath the former capital's airfield.
The venture, backed with a million-dollar guarantee from a Belarusian videogame company, could uncover dozens of Spitfire aircraft locked underground by American engineers at the end of World War II.
"We could easily double the number of Spitfires that are still known to exist," said 63-year-old David Cundall, the farmer and private pilot who has spent nearly two decades pursuing the theory that 36 of the famous fighter planes were buried, still in excellent condition, in wooden crates in a riverbed at the end of an airport runway.
"In the Spitfire world it will be similar to finding Tutankhamen's tomb," he told reporters at a media conference held in a London airport hotel Friday.
Not everyone is as convinced. Even at the conference, freelance archaeologist Andy Brockman acknowledged that it was "entirely possible" that all the team would find was a mass of corroded metal — if it found anything at all.
But Cundall said eyewitness testimony — from British and American veterans as well as elderly local residents of Myanmar — coupled with survey data, aerial pictures, and ground radar soundings left him in no doubt that the planes were down there.

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Pakistani girl shot by Taliban leaves UK hospital

Three months after she was shot in the head for daring to say girls should be able to get an education, a 15-year-old Pakistani hugged her nurses and smiled as she walked out of a Birmingham hospital.
Malala Yousufzai waved to a guard and smiled shyly as she cautiously strode down the hospital corridor talking to nurses in images released Friday by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.
"She is quite well and happy on returning home — as we all are," Malala's father, Ziauddin, told The Associated Press.
Malala, who was released Thursday, will live with her parents and two brothers in Britain while she continues to receive treatment. She will be admitted again in the next month for another round of surgery to rebuild her skull.
Experts have been optimistic that Malala, who was airlifted from Pakistan in October to receive specialized medical care, has a good chance of recovery because the brains of teenagers are still growing and can better adapt to trauma.
"Malala is a strong young woman and has worked hard with the people caring for her to make excellent progress in her recovery," said Dr. Dave Rosser, the medical director for University Hospitals Birmingham. "Following discussions with Malala and her medical team, we decided that she would benefit from being at home with her parents and two brothers."
The Taliban targeted Malala because of her relentless objection to the group's regressive interpretation of Islam that limits girls' access to education. She was shot while returning home from school in Pakistan's scenic Swat Valley on Oct. 9.
Her case won worldwide recognition, and the teen became a symbol for the struggle for women's rights in Pakistan. In an indication of her reach, she made the shortlist for Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2012.
The militants have threatened to target Malala again because they say she promotes "Western thinking," but a security assessment in Britain concluded the risk was low in releasing her to her family. British police have provided security for her at the hospital, but West Midlands Police refused to comment on any security precautions for Malala or her family going forward.
Pakistani doctors removed a bullet that entered her head and traveled toward her spine before Malala's family decided to send her to Britain for specialized treatment. Pakistan is paying.
Pakistan also appointed Malala's father as its education attache in Birmingham for at least three years, meaning Malala is likely to remain in Britain for some time.
Hospital authorities say Malala can read and speak, but cited patient confidentiality when asked whether she is well enough to continue her education in Britain.
While little has been made public about Malala's medical condition, younger brains recover more fully from trauma because they are still growing. Dr. Anders Cohen, chief of neurosurgery at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York, estimated she might recover up to 85 percent of the cognitive ability she had before — more than enough to be functional.
"She'd be able to move on with life, maybe even become an activist again," said Cohen, who is not involved in Malala's treatment.
In the Swat Valley, people reacted with joy at the news of her release. Family and friends handed out sweets to neighbors in Malala's hometown of Mingora.
"Obviously we all are jubilant over her rapid recovery, and we hope that she will soon fully recover and would return back to her home town at an appropriate time," said Mahmoodul Hasan, Malala's 35-year-old cousin. Like Malala's father, he runs a private school in Mingora.
But the Swat Valley remains a tense place. Only last month, several hundred students in Mingora protested plans to have their school named after Malala, saying it would make the institution a target for the Taliban.
Malala's father vowed to return to Pakistan with his family once Malala is fully recovered.
"I thank the whole of Pakistan and all other well-wishers for praying for her and our family," he said. "What I am doing here is all temporary, and God willing we all will return to our homeland."

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Christmas updates to shine light on UK retail prospects

The prospects for consumer spending and the broader British economy will be in focus next week when a host of retailers, including Marks & Spencer and Tesco, report Christmas sales figures.
Many store groups found the going tough last year as consumers fretted over job security and a squeeze on incomes.
With wage rises failing to match inflation and another round of government spending cuts slated for 2013, retailers were expected to strike a downbeat tone on the outlook and say growth will be reliant on internal initiatives.
While grocers traditionally cope better in tough times thanks to their focus on essential goods, they are finding growth hard to come by even as they expand their offering into homewares and other non-food offerings.
Analysts think No. 4 grocer Wm Morrison Supermarkets will, on Monday, post the worst of the Christmas figures out of the food retailers reporting next week.
Sales at Morrison stores open over a year, excluding fuel, were seen down about 2 percent. That would follow a fiscal third-quarter fall of 2.1 percent and partly reflect the lack of an online presence and minimal convenience store presence.
Indeed, the retail sector's best Christmas performers - all helped by a strong online presence - may have reported already.
John Lewis - Britain's biggest department store group, and sister company Waitrose - an upmarket grocer, have both reported record Christmas sales, while clothing retailer Next posted a solid outcome and raised profit guidance.
MARKET LEADER
For retail market leader Tesco, which updates on Thursday, analysts forecast like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and VAT sales tax, to grow 0.5-1.5 percent in its home market, having fallen 0.6 percent in its third quarter.
That said, Tesco is up against a weak comparative - a dismal Christmas performance in 2011 resulted in its first profit warning in 20 years and a move to spend 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) on a recovery plan.
While the world's No. 3 retailer may show some progress in its home market, its overseas problems are mounting. Though the group has flagged an exit from the United States, in South Korea - its biggest overseas market, legislation allowing local governments to impose shorter trading hours is hurting. Also, trade in eastern Europe is being hit by euro zone instability.
Sainsbury, Britain's No. 3 grocer, has guided to second-half like-for-like sales growth similar to the 1.7 percent in its first half. For its third-quarter update, expected Wednesday, analysts forecast like-for-like growth of about 0.9 percent.
DISCIPLINED
Though pre-Christmas promotional activity among clothing groups was widespread it appears to have been less severe than in 2011.
"Anecdotally, it was hugely more disciplined than last year," Simon Wolfson, chief executive of Next - Britain's second-biggest clothing retailer, told Reuters on Thursday.
That should bode well for margins at Marks & Spencer, Britain's largest clothing retailer, which updates on Thursday.
Analysts expected M&S to report a 1.5 percent drop in fiscal third-quarter general merchandise sales from British stores open at least a year. That would be a small improvement on a second-quarter decline of 1.8 percent.
However, like-for-like food sales were seen up 0.5 percent, less than the 1.5 percent rise in the previous period.

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Nokia to get payments in patent deal with RIM

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Struggling Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has settled its patent dispute with BlackBerry maker Research in Motion in return for payments, as it tries to exploit its trove of technology patents to boost its finances.
Terms of the agreement were confidential, but Nokia said on Friday it included a one-time payment to be booked in the fourth quarter, as well as ongoing fees, all to be paid by RIM.
Nokia is one of the industry's top patent holders, having invested 45 billion euros ($60 billion) in mobile research and development over the past two decades.
It has been trying to make use of that legacy to ensure its survival, amid a fall in sales as well as cash. The Finnish firm is battling to recover lost ground in the lucrative smartphone market to the likes of Apple and Samsung.
The agreement with RIM settles all existing patent litigation between the two companies, Nokia said, adding similar disputes with HTC Corp and ViewSonic still stood.
"This agreement demonstrates Nokia's industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market," said Paul Melin, Nokia's chief intellectual property officer.
Nokia has earned around 500 million euros a year from patent royalties in key areas of mobile telephony.
Some analysts have said it could earn hundreds of millions more if it can negotiate with more companies successfully.
Analysts estimated its June 2011 settlement with Apple was worth hundreds of millions of euros.

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HTC brushes off Microsoft’s earlier rejection, will reportedly make Windows RT tablets after all

Microsoft (MSFT) may have barred HTC (2498) from participating in the first wave of Windows RT tablets, but that apparently hasn’t stopped the company from gearing up for the next wave. Unnamed sources have told Bloomberg that HTC “is working on a 12-inch device and a 7-inch version” of a Windows RT tablet “that can also make phone calls.” The planned seven-inch tablet, which will be unveiled alongside the 12-inch tablet some time in 2013, will be the first small Windows RT tablet to hit the market and go head-to-head with other popular small tablets such as the Google (GOOG) Nexus 7 and the iPad mini.

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RIM shares fall at the open after earnings

TORONTO (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd fell in early trading on Friday following the BlackBerry maker's Thursday earnings announcement, when the company outlined plans to change the way it charges for services.
RIM, pushing to revive its fortunes with the launch of its new BlackBerry 10 devices next month, surprised investors when it said it plans to alter its service revenue model, a move that could put the high-margin business under pressure.
Shares fell 16.0 percent to $11.86 in early trading on the Nasdaq. Toronto-listed shares fell 15.8 percent to C$11.74.

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Investors shed shares of Blackberry maker

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Blackberry maker Research in Motion slumped more than 16 percent Friday with future revenue coming into question and a declining number of subscribers.
RIM's stock jumped initially Thursday when the Canadian company released better-than-expected third-quarter results and a stronger cash position.
Shares reversed course during a conference call later, when executives said that the company won't generate as much revenue from telecommunications carriers once it releases the new BlackBerry 10.
RIM's stock had been on a three-month rally in which the stock more than doubled from levels not previously seen since 2003.
"Despite a solid quarter, the stock is trading down due to the introduction of a lower enterprise service tier and fears that RIM will not receive monthly services revenues for consumer BB10 subscribers," said Jefferies analyst Peter Misek. He thinks RIM has offered carriers a lower-priced option in exchange for a bigger purchase commitment for the new device. He kept his "Hold" rating.
Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu kept maintained a "Neutral" rating on the stock, but lowered his earnings estimates, saying he continued to be concerned about RIM's ability to compete with Apple and Google.

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Military: US service member killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The U.S. military says one of its service members has been killed in eastern Afghanistan. The U.S. force says in a statement that the service member was killed Sunday but does not provide any further details. The military, which usually gives at least a vague description of how a service member has been killed soon after the death, did not say if the death was related to an attack or if it was outside of combat. The death makes four international service members killed so far this month. At least 385 have been killed so far this year.

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Pakistan: US drone kills senior al-Qaida leader

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A U.S. drone strike has killed a senior al-Qaida leader in Pakistan's tribal region near the Afghan border, Pakistani intelligence officials said, in the latest blow to the Islamic militant network. Sheik Khalid bin Abdel Rehman al-Hussainan, who was also known as Abu Zaid al-Kuwaiti, was killed when missiles slammed into a house Thursday near Mir Ali, one of the main towns in the North Waziristan tribal area, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Al-Kuwaiti appeared in many videos released by al-Qaida's media wing, Al-Sahab, and was presented as a religious scholar for the group. Earlier this year, he replaced Abu Yahya al-Libi, al-Qaida's second in command, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan in June, the intelligence officials said. Al-Libi was a key religious figure within al-Qaida and also a prominent militant commander. Al-Kuwaiti appeared to be a less prominent figure and was not part of the U.S. State Department's list of most wanted terrorist suspects, as al-Libi had been. Covert CIA drone strikes have killed a series of senior al-Qaida and Taliban leaders in Pakistan's tribal region over the past few years. The attacks are controversial because the secret nature of the program makes it difficult to determine how many civilians are being killed. On Sunday, four drone-launched missiles blew apart a house near Miran Shah, another main town in North Waziristan, killing three suspected militants, intelligence officials said. North Waziristan has become the main hub for al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan. Pakistani officials often criticize such strikes as a violation of the country's sovereignty, which has helped make them extremely unpopular in the country. But senior Pakistani officials are known to have cooperated with strikes in the past, and many people believe they still do. Al-Kuwaiti's wife and daughter were wounded in Thursday's drone attack, according to the intelligence officials. His wife died a day later at a hospital in Miran Shah. Al-Kuwaiti was buried in Tappi village near Mir Ali on Friday, the officials said. A Pakistani Taliban commander who frequently visits North Waziristan told the Associated Press by telephone that he met some Arab fighters on Saturday who were "very aggrieved." The Arabs told him they lost a "big leader" in a drone strike, but would not reveal his name or his exact position in al-Qaida. The Taliban commander spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of revealing his identity to the Pakistani government. Al-Qaida's central leadership in Pakistan has been dealt a series of sharp blows in the past few years, including the U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad last year. A significant number of senior al-Qaida leaders have also been killed in U.S. drone attacks in the country. Many analysts believe the biggest threat now comes from al-Qaida franchises in places like Yemen and Somalia.

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Hundreds of fishermen missing in Philippine storm

NEW BATAAN, Philippines (AP) — The number of people missing after a typhoon devastated the Philippines jumped to nearly 900 after families and fishing companies reported losing contact with more than 300 fishermen at sea, officials said. The fishermen from southern General Santos city and nearby Sarangani province left a few days before Typhoon Bopha hit the main southern island of Mindanao on Tuesday, Civil Defense chief Benito Ramos said. The death toll has already surpassed 600, mostly from flash floods that wiped away precarious communities in the southern region unaccustomed to typhoons. Ramos said the fishermen were headed to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and to the Pacific Ocean. Coast guard, navy and fishing vessels are searching for them, and some may have sought shelter on the many small islands in the area. "Maybe they are still alive," Ramos said Sunday. Bopha was dissipating finally in the South China Sea after briefly veering back toward the country's northwest on Saturday, prompting worries of more devastation. Rescuers were searching for bodies or signs of life under tons of fallen trees and boulders in the worst-hit town of New Bataan, where rocks, mud and other rubble destroyed landmarks, making it doubly difficult to search places where houses once stood. Hundreds of refugees, rescuers and aid workers took a break Sunday to watch the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight on a big TV screen, only to be dismayed by their hero's sixth-round knockout. Elementary school teacher Constancio Olivar said people fell silent when Pacquiao, a congressman who comes from the southern Philippines where the storm hit, fell heavily to the canvas and remained motionless for some time. "It was like a double blow for me — this disaster and this defeat," said Olivar, whose house was destroyed in the storm. "We were all crestfallen. Everyone fell silent, stunned. It was like we saw a tsunami." Nearly 400,000 people, mostly from Compostela Valley and nearby Davao Oriental province, have lost their homes and are crowded inside evacuation centers or staying with relatives. President Benigno Aquino III has declared a national calamity, which allows for price controls on basic commodities in typhoon-affected areas and the quick release of emergency funds. Officials said Sunday that 316 people were killed in Compostela Valley, including 165 in New Bataan, and 301 in Davao Oriental. More than 45 people were killed elsewhere. Nearly 900 are missing, including the fishermen and 440 from New Bataan alone. Davao Oriental authorities imposed a curfew there and ordered police to guard stores and shops to prevent looting. The typhoon destroyed about 18 percent of the banana plantations in Mindanao, causing losses estimated at 12 billion pesos ($300 million), according to Stephen Antig, executive director of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association. The Philippines is the world's third-largest banana producer and exporter, supplying international brands such as Dole, Chiquita and Del Monte.

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Chinese police accuse monk of inciting immolations

BEIJING (AP) — Police detained a monk and his nephew in China's Sichuan province and accused them of instigating the self-immolations of eight ethnic Tibetans on the instructions of the Dalai Lama and his followers, state media said. The report in the official Xinhua News Agency did not detail what evidence police had of the exiled Buddhist spiritual leader's involvement — which was denied by the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile in northern India. The report Sunday cited a police statement as saying that confessions and an investigation showed that the detained monk, Lorang Konchok , 40, from Kirti Monastery in Sichuan's Aba county, kept in frequent contact with supporters of the Dalai Lama overseas and had recruited eight volunteers for self-immolations since 2009, telling them they would be "heroes." Three of the protesters died, the report said. It said Lorang Konchok collected photos and personal information of volunteers who agreed to go ahead with the protests. "He also promised to spread their 'deeds' abroad so they and their families would be acknowledged and honored," the police statement said, according to Xinhua. The monk's nephew, Lorang Tsering, 31, helped recruit volunteers and also was arrested, the report said. Activists say more than 90 ethnic Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 in dramatic protests against authoritarian Chinese rule. Chinese officials have called the protests "cruel and inhuman" and sought to blame them on the Dalai Lama and other instigators, while activists call them home-grown expressions of desperation over oppression. The Dalai Lama has said he opposes all violence. The Tibetan government-in-exile, based in Dharmsala, India, said it "strongly denied" any accusations of involvement by its representatives or the Dalai Lama. "We believe that (the suspects) have been forced to make these confessions," spokesman Lobsang Choedak said. "We would welcome the Chinese government investigating whether we are instigating these immolations." Police in Sichuan declined to comment on the case. Tibet and surrounding ethnically Tibetan regions have been closed off to most outsiders, and firsthand information from the areas is extremely difficult to obtain. The Chinese government says it has improved the well-being of Tibetan areas through rapid economic development over the past 30 years, but Tibetan activists complain that their culture, language and Buddhist religion are under threat. The United States last week accused Beijing of responding to the self-immolations by tightening controls over freedom of religion, expression and assembly in Tibetan areas, drawing an angry response from Beijing, which said those freedoms were guaranteed under the Chinese Constitution.

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North Korean rocket launch window opens

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A near two-week launch window for a North Korean long-range rocket began Monday, a day after Pyongyang said it may delay liftoff. North Korea has faced mounting international pressure to abandon what critics call a cover for a banned missile test. North Korean scientists had been pushing forward with final preparations for the launch from a west coast site but are considering "readjusting" the timing for unspecified reasons, an unidentified spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology said in a dispatch released by North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency early Sunday. It was unclear whether diplomatic intervention or technical glitches were behind the potential delay. The brief KCNA dispatch said scientists and technicians were discussing whether to set new launch dates but did not elaborate. There were no signs of an imminent launch Monday, and North Korea's state media has yet to follow up on Sunday's announcement. North Korea earlier said it would launch a three-stage rocket mounted with a satellite from the Sohae station on its northwest coast sometime between Monday and Dec. 22. Pyongyang calls it a peaceful bid to send an observation satellite into space, its second attempt this year. An April launch failed seconds after liftoff. Word of a possible delay came just days after satellite photos indicated that snow may have slowed launch preparations, and as officials in Washington, Seoul, Tokyo, Moscow and elsewhere urged North Korea to cancel a liftoff widely seen as a violation of bans against missile and nuclear activity because the rocket shares the same technology used for firing a long-range missile. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Monday that his government will maintain vigilance. Japan's military has been ordered to intercept a North Korean rocket if it falls on Japanese territory. "At this moment, we are keeping our guard up," Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto told reporters. "We have not seen any objective indication that would cause us to make any change to our preparedness." Commercial satellite imagery taken by GeoEye on Dec. 4 and shared Friday with The Associated Press by the 38 North and North Korea Tech websites showed the Sohae site northwest of Pyongyang covered with snow. The road from the main assembly building to the launch pad showed no fresh tracks, indicating that the snowfall may have stalled the preparations. However, analysts believed rocket preparations would have been completed on time for liftoff as early as Monday. Some South Korean media, citing unidentified government sources in Seoul, speculated Monday that North Korea was facing unspecified technical problems. The Korean Peninsula has seen a string of snowstorms and frigid days. A rocket can be launched during a snowfall, but lightning, strong wind and freezing temperatures could stall a liftoff, said Lee Chang-jin, an aerospace professor at Seoul's Konkuk University. The launch announcement captured global headlines because of its timing: South Korea and Japan hold key elections this month, President Barack Obama begins his second term next month and China has just formed a new leadership. North Koreans also have begun a mourning period for late leader Kim Jong Il, who died on Dec. 17, 2011. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Washington was deeply concerned about the launch, and urged foreign ministers from NATO and Russia to demand that Pyongyang cancel its plans. North Korea has unveiled missiles designed to target U.S. soil and has tested two atomic bombs in recent years, but has not shown yet that it has mastered the technology for mounting a nuclear warhead to a long-range missile. Six-nation negotiations to offer North Korea much-needed aid in exchange for nuclear disarmament have been stalled since early 2009. China, the North's main ally and aid provider, noted its concern after North Korea declared its latest launch plans. It acknowledged North Korea's right to develop its space program but said that had to be harmonized with restrictions including those set by the U.N. Security Council. In Seoul, officials at the Defense Ministry, Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Foreign Ministry said they couldn't immediately determine what might be behind the possible delay. North Korea may hold off if Washington actively engages Pyongyang in dialogue and promises to ship stalled food assistance to the country, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Seoul's Dongguk University. In February, Washington agreed to provide 240,000 metric tons of food aid to North Korea in exchange for a freeze in nuclear and missile activities. The deal collapsed after North Korea attempted its April launch. Analyst Baek Seung-joo of the South Korean state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul said China must have sent a "very strong" message calling for the North to cancel the launch plans. A successful launch means North Korea could develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland within two to three years, though the country would need many more years to acquire the technology to arm the missile with a nuclear warhead, said Chong Chol-Ho, a weapons of mass destruction expert at the private Sejong Institute near Seoul.

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