15 die in South Africa orphanage fire: police

JOHANNESBURG — Emergency workers pored through the charred debris of a South African orphanage, searching for the remains of young children killed in a fire Tuesday that left 15 dead, officials said.

Dressed in blue plastic gowns with masks over their faces, firefighters and medical workers carefully lifted tiny bodies of children as young as two years old from the Hope in Christ Home in the town of Newcastle.

Photos showed the workers using plastic sheeting to carry the children's bodies into a field nearby as the orphanage smoldered.

Thirteen children died in the blaze, Mandla Ngema, spokesman for the provincial social development department, told AFP.

The shelter in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal was a "home of safety" for orphans and other children in danger, he said.

But a fire erupted around dawn that gutted the building, destroying documents that might have identified the victims, many of them burned beyond recognition, police said.

"Police were called to the scene at 6:00 am (0400GMT) and the house was still alight," spokesman Jay Naicker said.

"Police helped the fire department to put out the fire but it was too late, the house burnt down. Nine people have been taken to the hospital with burn wounds."

The cause of the fire was not immediately known, he added.

Authorities could not say how many people were living at the orphanage when the fire erupted.

"Fire broke out this morning. We have not established the cause. We have employed the services of a Pretoria-based company to investigate," Ngema said.

The dead included the director of the home and her four children, Ngema said. The children killed in the blaze were aged two to 15, he added.

South Africa's crippling AIDS epidemic has left the country with an estimated 1.5 million orphans, in a country of 48 million people.

A study by the Institute of Race Relations predicted that by 2015, one third of all the children in South Africa would have lost one or both parents.

The government currently provides support to about 238,000 AIDS orphans and to more than 20,000 homes where older children care for younger siblings after their parents died from the disease.

Nearly 495,000 AIDS orphans are in foster care, but the government is encouraging more adoptions so orphans can have permanent families.

But only a tiny fraction of the AIDS orphans, about 1,900, were adopted by South Africans in 2008, a drop of nearly 13 percent from the previous year.

Parliament is expected to approve a new child protection act in April, which will create new rules for adoptions while setting out measures to combat trafficking and other abuses against children.

Afghan assault on Taliban to test US strategy

KABUL — A planned assault on a major Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan is the first real test of a new US-led counter-insurgency strategy to re-establish government control and end the war.

Operation Mushtarak is an experiment in combining the military objective of eradicating the Taliban with the need to replace their brand of harsh control with the civilian authority of Kabul, analysts said.

The battle for Marjah, an agricultural plain in the central Helmand River valley, is the proving ground for US General Stanley McChrystal's counter-insurgency theory for winning the hearts and minds of Afghan people.

Married to President Hamid Karzai's programme of encouraging Taliban to quit the fight and return to mainstream society -- and US President Barack Obama's troop surge -- McChrystal's plan is being played out in the poppy fields of Helmand.

"This fight is aimed at showing the Taliban and other anti-government groups the power of the government, to show them there is no place they can relax so they will eventually want to reconcile," said political analyst Ahmad Saedi.

Thousands of US, NATO and Afghan troops have massed around Marjah preparing for a fight that military commanders say will eradicate the Taliban from one of the last places under their sway in Helmand province.

The Taliban too are massing fighters, with their purported spokesmen predicting a fierce battle.

Waheed Mujda, a political analyst and author who served in the Taliban's foreign ministry during its 1996-2001 rule, said the insurgents are unlikely to break cover for hand-to-hand combat.

They are expected to mine the area, home to 80,000 mostly farming people, with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which, along with suicide attacks, have become a staple Taliban weapon as their tactics morph into guerilla warfare.

"The Taliban want to fight but they will not do so directly because they know that would mean high casualties," said Mujda.

"Instead they will bother foreign forces by fighting and fleeing, and the foreigners will also take casualties from the IEDs," he said.

Operation Mushtarak -- meaning "together" -- is expected to begin within days, with thousands of US Marines and NATO troops, along with Afghan security forces massed around Marjah town, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.

The region is one of the world's biggest opium poppy growing regions, where insurgents are exploiting an irrigation system built in the 1950s with US aid aimed at turning the region into Afghanistan's bread basket.

Residents who are leaving the area say the Taliban maintain control through fear and violence.

Western military commanders, including McChrystal who heads the 113,000 US and NATO forces in Afghanistan set to rise to around 150,000 by August, are prepared for high casualties in the battle for Marjah.

They are also prepared for the need to stay until political and civil control has been established, paving the way for development.

Norine MacDonald, president of London-based think tank the International Council on Security and Development, said it is important that troops stay to consolidate their victory with civilian control.

"Then for those who want to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table we have some military leverage," she said, referring to efforts to talk peace with the Taliban leadership.

"The military effort and the 'negotiating' effort have to be coordinated," she said.

Military officials said Mushtarak was planned in close cooperation with the Afghan government and that lessons of past failures had been learned.

The war against the Taliban is now into a ninth year and Obama wants to start bringing American troops home in mid 2011.

"If you push the insurgents off but you don't stay in place then the strategy is worth nothing," said the spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Brigadier General Eric Tremblay.

"The operation has to create an environment in which governance and development can be established.

"It's not supposed to be a show of strength militarily. We have said all along it's not necessarily about killing them (the insurgents) but if they are fighting ISAF and Afghan forces they will be killed.

5 dead, 12 injured in US power plant blast

MIDDLETOWN, Connecticut — At least five people were killed and 12 injured in a massive gas explosion that tore apart an unfinished US power plant and rattled windows miles (kilometers) away.

However officials cautioned that they did not know how many people were in the Kleen Energy plant, which was still being constructed, and therefore they could not immediately account for everyone who may have been present.

"We know that 12 individuals have been injured. Five individuals are known to have lost their lives," Sebastian Giuliano, the mayor of Middletown in Connecticut, told a news conference.

Terrorism had been ruled out, according to the mayor, who said the accident happened during a testing procedure.

Rescue workers helped by search dogs scoured the rubble at the plant where a brief, but fierce fire following the accident sent flames and black smoke billowing skyward.

"There was like a fireball going up and a lot of smoke. The explosion was strong enough to break one of our windows. Our neighbors had also their windows destroyed," said Scott Harmann, 44, whose father lives in a house just across the Connecticut River from the plant.

Nearby resident Mike Woronoff said he heard "a loud boom" at his house some two miles (3.2 kilometers) from the plant.

"I have friends that live 15 miles from here that called me because they could hear it. Then we could see the smoke. It went on for a mile and a half, then stopped," he said.

Amid confusion over the number of casualties local officials immediately warned of the potential for carnage.

"There was a massive explosion, there are multiple injuries and possible fatalities," Middletown police spokesman George Yepes told AFP soon after the blast.

"The reports vary from a few to possibly as many as 50 dead," Brian Albert from the Middlesex hospital, which was treating several of those injured, said in the immediate aftermath.

Uncertainty as to the final toll seemed set to continue until contractors working on the site were able to compile an accurate roster of those present.

A Middletown fire official said it was "initially thought there was approximately 50 employees" there at the time and that "it's unknown how many people are missing."

Giuliano said "there could be anywhere from 100 to 200 people working on the site on any given day. Exactly what's that number, that's the starting point and that's the number they can't nail down today.

"Fortunately what I was told is that most of the people working there were evacuated from the building when they ran the test," he said.

A local resident told the Hartford Courant newspaper that the explosion took place during a test of the plant's power generating systems.

The 620-megawatt Kleen Energy plant, said to be one of the largest power facilities to be planned in New England for many years, was still under construction.

The future gas-fired energy production plant is located on the outskirts of Middletown, close to residential housing.

A company called Energy Investors Funds recently acquired 80 percent of the plant, which had been due to go online sometime in 2010.

The American Red Cross said it had set up a phone number -- (860) 347-2577 -- for "anyone concerned for the well-being of a relative or a friend that was working at the Kleen Energy plant."

Iran reports 'very good' nuclear talks, UN more muted

MUNICH, Germany — Iran's foreign minister said he held "very good" talks Saturday on a possible breakthrough deal on nuclear fuel but the head of the UN atomic watchdog said there were no fresh proposals from Tehran.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, said that Manouchehr Mottaki had made "no new proposals" to him in the talks, held on the sidelines of a major security conference in Munich, Germany.

"Our meeting covered a variety of areas. That included of course in Iran and the Tehran research reactor. We had a very interesting discussion ... There was not a new proposal. We exchanged views," Amano told reporters.

Mottaki was tight-lipped on what exactly was discussed, but insisted that Iran was serious about striking a deal and that he believed an agreement was possible "in the near future."

"We discussed and exchanged views about a wide range of issues ... We also exchanged views about the proposal that is on the table. I tried to explain the views of the Islamic republic of Iran for the director general," he said.

Mottaki said that such a deal, which would be seen as an important breakthrough in Iran's standoff with the West, "would be a way out of the present conditions."

Iran appeared to reject last October a deal proposed by the IAEA for Iran to export low-enriched uranium (LEU) to France and Russia to be further purified into fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suddenly made an apparent about-turn on Tuesday, however, saying on national television that he would have "no problem" sending some LEU abroad.

EU and US officials, wearied by years of fruitless talks to persuade Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and ease concerns about its atomic ambitions, suspect the move is brinkmanship to avert a fourth round of sanctions.

US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates said in Ankara that talks on "some kind of other deal on the research reactor" than that proposed by the IAEA would have to take place within the formal setting of the Vienna-based agency.

"My view is, that's a discussion that the Iranians would better hold with the IAEA than at the Munich conference or in press conferences by president Ahmadenijad if they are prepared to take up the original proposal," he said.

The EU's foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton agreed that Tehran had to talk to the IAEA.

"Iran must now respond to the director general of the IAEA," she said in Munich. "The Tehran research reactor proposals are an attempt to build badly needed confidence."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country, along with fellow UN Security Council member China, is seen as less keen on more sanctions, also urged Iran to work through the UN watchdog.

"What we want from Iran is to verify very specific questions, raised time and again by the IAEA a long time ago, it is not a difficult thing to do," he said in Munich.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said any fresh sanctions must target Tehran's ability to develop nuclear weapons "and not be expanded to cultural, humanitarian, economic parts of Iranian activity."

Russia is building Iran's first nuclear power plant in the city of Bushehr.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said in Friday in Munich that Beijing was sticking to its position that a "mutually acceptable" solution to the spat could "somehow" be found.

"This issue has entered a crucial stage. The parties concerned should, with their overall long-term interests in mind, step up diplomatic efforts, stay patient and adopt a more flexible, pragmatic and proactive policy," he said.

Americans held in Haiti denied conditional release: lawyer

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Ten American Christians charged in Haiti with child kidnapping and conspiracy were denied conditional release Friday and sent to jail to await trial, their lawyer told AFP.

"The judge did not accept the request for conditional release," said Edwin Coq, lawyer for the group that was detained a week ago for trying to smuggle a group of 33 children out of Haiti into the Dominican Republic.

Sitting in the prosecutors office the 10 could be seen looking dejected after having previously been held in a police detention center.

On their departure one of the women, Laura Silsby, was asked what was going on. "We just don't know, we just don't know," she replied.

It later became clear that the 10 had been remanded in custody.

"The judge passed down two detention orders, one for the group of five men, who will be held at the national prison, and another for the five women who will be held at Petionville women's prison."

The national prison in Port-au-Prince held 4,000 inmates before it was badly damaged in the massive earthquake that devastated the city on January 12.

Hearings are planned for next week, said Coq, who had petitioned for the group to be released pending their trial which could take months to prepare.

The group, from an Idaho-based charity, were formally charged with "kidnapping minors and criminal association" on Thursday.

They have denied any ill intentions, saying they were merely trying to help children orphaned and abandoned by the January 12 quake.

If convicted, they face up to nine years in prison on child kidnapping charges and further jail time for conspiracy.

Because of continued chaos in the Haitian capital, questions have been raised about whether the group would face a fair trial.

But with tens of thousands of children still homeless on the streets of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian government is under pressure to clamp down on any potential abuse.

The country's Justice Minister Paul Denis has insisted they should be brought before Haitian courts, instead of being returned to the United States.

"It is Haitian law that has been violated," Justice Minister Paul Denis told AFP. "It is up to the Haitian authorities to hear and judge the case. I don't see any reason why they should be tried in the United States."

Iran tells Gulf states not to buy US missiles

TEHRAN — A senior Iranian military official told Gulf states on Thursday not to squander money on US missiles, boasting that Iran can render them useless, the state news agency IRNA reported.

Tehran had on Wednesday slammed plans by the United States to beef up defences in the Gulf against potential Iranian missile attacks, with the Islamic republic insisting it posed no threat to its neighbours.

"Installing anti-missile Patriot missiles is a new trick to empty the pockets of rich Persian Gulf countries," said General Hassan Firuzabadi, the joint chief of staff of Iran's armed forces.

"Patriot missiles can be rendered ineffective by simple tactics, and I advise the regional countries, especially Islamic states, not to waste their money on these missiles which have not worked anywhere," he said.

US President Barack Obama's administration is reportedly placing ships with missile-targeting capabilities off Iran's coast, and anti-missile systems in at least four Gulf states -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

US ally Bahrain acknowledged on Wednesday that Gulf military defences were being upgraded but urged Iran not to see them as plans for attack.

The moves come as Iran remains locked in a standoff with the West over its nuclear programme, which many world powers believe is masking a weapons drive. Iran has vehemently denied this.

Iran has carried out frequent war games in the Gulf and paraded an array of home-grown missiles over the past years.

It has threatened to hit Western targets if Iranian nuclear sites come under attack by the United States or Israel -- its two arch-foes which have never ruled out the military option to thwart the atomic drive.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards official also said on Wednesday that Iran had developed anti-armor weapons which can combat US Apache helicopters and armored tanks.

"The enemy should not think their Apache helicopters can have the same power that they have in Iraq and Afghanistan in Iran," Naser Arab-beigi, who heads the self-sufficiency organization of the Revolutionary Guards, told Fars news agency.

"We will end Apache power by our measures. Their armored tanks will be met with the firm response of our weapons," he said.

Judge in Vegas finds Jackson MD in default on debt

LAS VEGAS – A judge in Las Vegas has found Michael Jackson's former doctor in default on a nearly $132,000 debt related to office medical equipment and services.

Dr. Conrad Murray failed to appear in Clark County District Court on Wednesday before Judge Michael Villani found him in default and awarded a judgment to Digirad Imaging Solutions.

Murray had no lawyer in the case. He has long-standing personal and professional debts, and faced near foreclosure last summer on his Las Vegas country club home.

Murray spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik says Murray was in Los Angeles on Wednesday, meeting with defense lawyers in case he is charged in Jackson's death.

Digirad attorney Nathan Gibbs told the judge that Murray has never appeared in the case. He'll tally interest since 2006 and submit a written final judgment for the judge's signature.

N.Korea designates new 'firing zones' near sea border

SEOUL — North Korea has designated another two "firing zones" near its disputed Yellow Sea border with South Korea, raising the prospect of more artillery fire, Seoul officials said Wednesday.

A Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman told AFP the two new "maritime firing zones" would be effective for four days from Friday.

The spokesman said the South's military is closely watching for possible artillery fire off Baengnyeong and Daecheong islands near the Northern Limit Line sea border.

After declaring two "no sail" zones, the communist state last week fired 370 shells into the sea near the border over three days, heightening tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The North said it was staging a routine exercise but South Korea and the United States described the firing as provocative.

The Yellow Sea border was the scene of deadly naval battles in 1999 and 2002 and of a firefight last November which left a North Korean patrol boat in flames.

Lionsgate, Crest Animation heading "North"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Lionsgate Films and Crest Animation Studios are throwing on the snow shoes in search of "Norm of the North."

Written by Steven and Daniel Altiere, the 3D animated family film tells the story of the titular polar bear and his three Arctic lemming buddies, who are forced out into the world once their icy home begins melting and breaking apart. Landing in New York, Norm begins life anew as a performing corporate mascot, only to discover that his new employers are directly responsible for the destruction of his polar home.

Scheduled for release in early 2012, "Norm" will be distributed by Lionsgate in North America as the second movie in its three-picture deal with Crest. The companies' first collaboration, the wolves-on-the-run adventure "Alpha and Omega," is scheduled for release in October.

The CG-animated "Alpha and Omega" features the voices of Justin Long, Hayden Panetierre, Christina Ricci, Danny Glover, Dennis Hopper and Larry Miller. It was directed by Anthony Bell and Ben Gluck.

Libya strikes billion-dollar Russian arms deal

MOSCOW — Libya has struck a deal to buy Russian arms worth almost two billion dollars, Russian news agencies quoted Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as saying Saturday.

"Yesterday (Friday), a contract worth 1.3 billion euros (1.8 billion dollars) was signed. It does not only involve firearms", Putin was quoted as saying by Ria Novosti and Interfax.

Putin was speaking following a meeting with the head of the Izhmash factory, which manufactures Kalashnikov rifles.

Russian officials said early this week that negotiations were underway with the Libyan Defence Minister Younes Jaber in Moscow over the sale of Russian weapons.

The Russian prime minister did not specify the type of arms or military equipment involved in the deal.

But a Russian diplomatic source told Interfax Tuesday however that Libya wanted to acquire 20 fighter planes, at least two S-300 air defence systems, several dozen T-90C tanks and other arms.

Moscow and the North African state enjoyed close ties during the Cold War, and much of Libya's arsenal was purchased from the Soviet Union in its last years.

Moscow and Tripoli have stepped up their contacts in recent years. In 2008 Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi visited the Russian capital in his first visit to Moscow since the 1980s.