Islamists rally behind Mursi as Egypt's rifts widen

CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 200,000 Islamists demonstrated in Cairo on Saturday in support of President Mohamed Mursi, who is rushing through a constitution to try to defuse opposition fury over his newly expanded powers.

"The people want the implementation of God's law," chanted flag-waving demonstrators, many of them bused in from the countryside, who choked streets leading to Cairo University, where Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood had called the protest.

The numbers swelled through the afternoon, peaking in the early evening at at least 200,000, said Reuters witnesses, basing their estimates on previous Cairo rallies. The authorities declined to give an estimate for the crowd size.

Mursi was expected later in the day to set a date for a referendum on the constitution hastily approved by an Islamist-dominated drafting assembly on Friday after a 19-hour session.

"We will certainly present the constitution to the president tonight," Mohamed al-Beltagy, a Muslim Brotherhood leader and a member of the constituent assembly, told Reuters.

Mursi plunged Egypt into a new crisis last week when he gave himself extensive powers and put his decisions beyond judicial challenge, saying this was a temporary measure to speed Egypt's democratic transition until the new constitution is in place.

His assertion of authority in a decree issued on November 22, a day after he won world praise for brokering a Gaza truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, dismayed his opponents and widened divisions among Egypt's 83 million people.

Two people have been killed and hundreds wounded in protests by disparate opposition forces drawn together and re-energized by a decree they see as a dictatorial power grab.

Tens of thousands of Egyptians had protested against Mursi on Friday. "The people want to bring down the regime," they chanted in Cairo's Tahrir Square, echoing the trademark slogan of the revolts against Hosni Mubarak and Arab leaders elsewhere.

Rival demonstrators threw stones after dark in the northern city of Alexandria and a town in the Nile Delta. Similar clashes erupted again briefly in Alexandria on Saturday, state TV said.

"COMPLETE DEFEAT"

Mohamed Noshi, 23, a pharmacist from Mansoura, north of Cairo, said he had joined the rally in Cairo to support Mursi and his decree. "Those in Tahrir don't represent everyone. Most people support Mursi and aren't against the decree," he said.

Mohamed Ibrahim, a hardline Salafi Islamist scholar and a member of the constituent assembly, said secular-minded Egyptians had been in a losing battle from the start.

"They will be sure of complete popular defeat today in a mass Egyptian protest that says 'no to the conspiratorial minority, no to destructive directions and yes for stability and sharia (Islamic law)'," he told Reuters.

Mursi has alienated many of the judges who must supervise the referendum. His decree nullified the ability of the courts, many of them staffed by Mubarak-era appointees, to strike down his measures, although says he respects judicial independence.

A source at the presidency said Mursi might rely on the minority of judges who support him to supervise the vote.

"Oh Mursi, go ahead and cleanse the judiciary, we are behind you," shouted Islamist demonstrators in Cairo.

Mursi, once a senior Muslim Brotherhood figure, has put his liberal, leftist, Christian and other opponents in a bind. If they boycott the referendum, the constitution would pass anyway.

If they secured a "no" vote to defeat the draft, the president could retain the powers he has unilaterally assumed.

And Egypt's quest to replace the basic law that underpinned Mubarak's 30 years of army-backed one-man rule would also return to square one, creating more uncertainty in a nation in dire economic straits and seeking a $4.8 billion loan from the IMF.

"NO PLACE FOR DICTATORSHIP"

Mursi's well-organized Muslim Brotherhood and its ultra-orthodox Salafi allies, however, are convinced they can win the referendum by mobilizing their own supporters and the millions of Egyptians weary of political turmoil and disruption.

"There is no place for dictatorship," the president said on Thursday while the constituent assembly was still voting on a constitution which Islamists say enshrines Egypt's new freedoms.

Human rights groups have voiced misgivings, especially about articles related to women's rights and freedom of speech.

The text limits the president to two four-year terms, requires him to secure parliamentary approval for his choice of prime minister, and introduces a degree of civilian oversight over the military - though not enough for critics.

The draft constitution also contains vague, Islamist-flavored language that its opponents say could be used to whittle away human rights and stifle criticism.

For example, it forbids blasphemy and "insults to any person", does not explicitly uphold women's rights and demands respect for "religion, traditions and family values".

The draft injects new Islamic references into Egypt's system of government but retains the previous constitution's reference to "the principles of sharia" as the main source of legislation.

"We fundamentally reject the referendum and constituent assembly because the assembly does not represent all sections of society," said Sayed el-Erian, 43, a protester in Tahrir and member of a party set up by opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei.

Several independent newspapers said they would not publish on Tuesday in protest. One of the papers also said three private satellite channels would halt broadcasts on Wednesday.

Egypt cannot hold a new parliamentary election until a new constitution is passed. The country has been without an elected legislature since the Supreme Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the Islamist-dominated lower house in June.

The court is due to meet on Sunday to discuss the legality of parliament's upper house.

"We want stability. Every time, the constitutional court tears down institutions we elect," said Yasser Taha, a 30-year-old demonstrator at the Islamist rally in Cairo.

(Additional reporting by Marwa Awad and Yasmine Saleh; Editing by Myra MacDonald and Jason Webb)

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Football: Defoe double fires Spurs into fourth

LONDON: Jermain Defoe bagged a brace as Tottenham cruised to a 3-0 win against Fulham that lifted the north London club into fourth place in the Premier League on Saturday.

Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas this week claimed Defoe is as good as Colombia star Radamel Falcao, the Atletico Madrid striker regarded as one of the world's best forwards, and the England international repaid that compliment with a clinical display at Craven Cottage.

Defoe, 30, took his goal tally for the season to 12 with a pair of cool finishes in the second half after Brazilian midfielder Sandro broke the deadlock soon after the break.

Tottenham's third successive win means Villas-Boas' team are level with third-placed Chelsea, but injuries to Gareth Bale and Michael Dawson may have taken some of the gloss off the win for the former Chelsea coach.

Steve Sidwell threatened for Fulham in the early stages, but French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris charged off his lane to collect before the midfielder had a chance to shoot.

Ashkan Dejagah set up Kerim Frei as the hosts pressed again, but the opportunity was squandered by a poor finish.

Villas-Boas was forced into an early change when Dawson was injured while clearing a cross, then, not for the first time this season, Wales winger Bale was booked for diving.

Mladen Petric muscled Sandro off the ball and found Sidwell as Fulham pushed for an opener just after the break, but he dragged his shot wide.

After a slow start, Spurs took the lead in the 55th minute when Sandro collected Mousa Dembele's pass and carried the ball forward before unleashing a powerful 30-yard drive that beat Mark Schwarzer via a post.

Bale surged onto Defoe's pass moments later, but Australian goalkeeper Schwarzer saved well.

That proved to be Bale's last contribution as he hobbled off with a hamstring problem. Fortunately for Spurs, Defoe was able to ensure Bale wasn't missed.

In the 72nd minute, he took Gylfi Sigurdsson's pass in stride and he made no mistake with a close range finish.

Five minutes later, former Fulham midfielder Clint Dempsey's defence-splitting pass allowed Defoe to race through and fire beyond Schwarzer to complete the win.

- AFP/fa

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Rajasthan referendum to recall corporator

JAIPUR: For the first time in Rajasthan, an election for recalling an elected chairman of a municipal body will be held in Baran district on December 12 in accordance with the amendment to the Rajasthan Municipalities Act passed by the state assembly in March last year. If more than half the total number of voters in the district's Manglore Nagar Palika (municipality) favours the recall, the elected position of chairman - Ashok Jain -will be nullified. The move has been initiated allegedly due to Jain's highhandedness and non-performance.

When TOI contacted Jain, who was elected as an independent candidate in November 2009, he accused Congress legislator from Anta constituency in Baran district Pramod Jain Bhaya of conspiring to remove him from his elected position.

The voting for the recall is being held after the no-confidence motion that was passed by over three-fourth of the elected members of the municipality board on January 4 got clearance at the levels of district election officer, state's local self government department and state election commission.

The municipality board has 20 elected members of which 17 voted against Jain during the no-confidence motion. Of the 17, 10 members were from Congress, five from BJP and one independent.

Rajasthan's state election commissioner A K Pandey said that as per the amendment carried out by the state assembly to the Rajasthan Municipalities Act in March last year, voting for the recall of Ashok Jain will be held on December 12.

A no confidence motion against Jain had been proposed by the members of the municipality board on January 4.

"The members passed the no-confidence motion on January 4. The proposal to recall Jain was submitted to the district election officer. On receiving the intimation, a meeting of the board members was convened in presence of the presiding officer appointed by then district election officer Shravan Kumar on January 12. As 17 members voted against Jain, the district election officer referred the proposal to the local self government department," said the district election officer Sumati Lal Bohra over phone

Meanwhile, Jain approached the Rajasthan high court against the proposal saying that as the councilors of Manglore Nagar Palika had brought a no-confidence motion in the absence of any rules, re-voting for the same position was not possible. However, the state government put into enforcement the amendment to the Rajasthan Municipalities Act in September last year.

State election commissioner A K Pandey said, "the counting of votes will take place on December 14. If over 50% of voters favour the recall, the chairman's position will be nullified," said the officer. He added that the provision to recall a mayor or a chairman of a municipal body also exists in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states.

Sources said that Jain had associations with the Congress party, however, he chose to fight as independent candidate when he did not get a Congress ticket.

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Kenya village pairs AIDS orphans with grandparents

NYUMBANI, Kenya (AP) — There are no middle-aged people in Nyumbani. They all died years ago, before this village of hope in Kenya began. Only the young and old live here.

Nyumbani was born of the AIDS crisis. The 938 children here all saw their parents die. The 97 grandparents — eight grandfathers among them — saw their middle-aged children die. But put together, the bookend generations take care of one another.

Saturday is World AIDS Day, but the executive director of the aid group Nyumbani, which oversees the village of the same name, hates the name which is given to the day because for her the word AIDS is so freighted with doom and death. These days, it doesn't necessarily mean a death sentence. Millions live with the virus with the help of anti-retroviral drugs, or ARVs. And the village she runs is an example of that.

"AIDS is not a word that we should be using. At the beginning when we came up against HIV, it was a terminal disease and people were presenting at the last phase, which we call AIDS," said Sister Mary Owens. "There is no known limit to the lifespan now so that word AIDS should not be used. So I hate World AIDS Day, follow? Because we have moved beyond talking about AIDS, the terminal stage. None of our children are in the terminal stage."

In the village, each grandparent is charged with caring for about a dozen "grandchildren," one or two of whom will be biological family. That responsibility has been a life-changer for Janet Kitheka, who lost one daughter to AIDS in 2003. Another daughter died from cancer in 2004. A son died in a tree-cutting accident in 2006 and the 63-year-old lost two grandchildren in 2007, including one from AIDS.

"When I came here I was released from the grief because I am always busy instead of thinking about the dead," said Kitheka. "Now I am thinking about building a new house with 12 children. They are orphans. I said to myself, 'Think about the living ones now.' I'm very happy because of the children."

As she walks around Nyumbani, which is three hours' drive east of Nairobi, 73-year-old Sister Mary is greeted like a rock star by little girls in matching colorful school uniforms. Children run and play, and sleep in bunk beds inside mud-brick homes. High schoolers study carpentry or tailoring. But before 2006, this village did not exist, not until a Catholic charity petitioned the Kenyan government for land on which to house orphans.

Everyone here has been touched by HIV or AIDS. But only 80 children have HIV and thanks to anti-retroviral drugs, none of them has AIDS.

"They can dream their dreams and live a long life," Owens said.

Nyumbani relies heavily on U.S. funds but it is aiming to be self-sustaining.

The kids' bunk beds are made in the technical school's shop. A small aquaponics project is trying to grow edible fish. The mud bricks are made on site. Each grandparent has a plot of land for farming.

The biggest chunk of aid comes from the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has given the village $2.5 million since 2006. A British couple gives $50,000 a year. A tree-growing project in the village begun by an American, John Noel, now stands six years from its first harvest. Some 120,000 trees have already been planted and thousands more were being planted last week.

"My wife and I got married as teenagers and started out being very poor. Lived in a trailer. And we found out what it was like to be in a situation where you can't support yourself," he said. "As an entrepreneur I looked to my enterprise skills to see what we could do to sustain the village forever, because we are in our 60s and we wanted to make sure that the thousand babies and children, all the little ones, were taken care of."

He hopes that after a decade the timber profits from the trees will make the village totally self-sustaining.

But while the future is looking brighter, the losses the orphans' suffered can resurface, particularly when class lessons are about family or medicine, said Winnie Joseph, the deputy headmaster at the village's elementary school. Kitheka says she tries to teach the kids how to love one another and how to cook and clean. But older kids sometimes will threaten to hit her after accusing her of favoring her biological grandchildren, she said.

For the most part, though, the children in Nyumbani appear to know how lucky they are, having landed in a village where they are cared for. An estimated 23.5 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have HIV as of 2011, representing 69 percent of the global HIV population, according to UNAIDS. Eastern and southern Africa are the hardest-hit regions. Millions of people — many of them parents — have died.

Kitheka noted that children just outside the village frequently go to bed hungry. And ARVs are harder to come by outside the village. The World Health Organization says about 61 percent of Kenyans with HIV are covered by ARVs across the country.

Paul Lgina, 14, contrasted the difference between life in Nyumbani, which in Swahili means simply "home," and his earlier life.

"In the village I get support. At my mother's home I did not have enough food, and I had to go to the river to fetch water," said Lina, who, like all the children in the village, has neither a mother or a father.

When Sister Mary first began caring for AIDS orphans in the early 1990s, she said her group was often told not to bother.

"At the beginning nobody knew what to do with them. In 1992 we were told these children are going to die anyway," she said. "But that wasn't our spirit. Today, kids we were told would die have graduated from high school."

___

On the Internet:

http://www.trees4children.org/

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Mo. Couple Wins Half of Powerball Jackpot

The lucky winners of half of the record $587.5 million Powerball jackpot have been identified as Mark and Cindy Hill of Dearborn, Mo., their working-class lives suddenly taking a turn to the financial stratosphere.

Cindy Hill, who with her husband has three adult sons and a 6-year-old daughter adopted from China, purchased the ticket at a Trex Mart gas station in Dearborn.

"I called my husband and told him, 'I think I am having a heart attack,'" Cindy Hill, 51, said, according to the Missouri Lottery. "I think we just won the lottery!"

Cindy, who worked as an office manager but was laid off in 2010, said that when she learned that a winning ticket was sold in Missouri, she dropped her daughter off at school, went to a convenience store for a winning numbers report, and checked her tickets in her car, according to the Missouri State Lottery.

"I was just telling my daughter the night before, 'Honey, that probably never happens (people winning)," Cindy said. "It's really going to be nice to spend time – not have to work – and be able to take trips with our family."

Cindy did mention that her husband has mentioned one extravagance -- a red Camaro, but today he said that he plans on keeping his same old pick-up truck.

The winning ticket was one of five Cindy purchased, for a total of $10. She let the computer quick-pick choose the numbers, according to the Missouri Lottery. As soon as she saw that she had a winning ticket, Cindy had her mother-in-law and husband double check it.

"You know it's the Show Me State, so he said, 'Show me,'" she said.

Appearing at a press conference today in Dearborn along with their three sons, aged 28, 30, 31, and their 6-year-old daughter, the Hills appeared overjoyed.

"We were blessed before we ever won this," Cindy said. "We want to go back to China, Ireland of course -- we're Irish, and wherever the win takes us."

Cindy said that she bought the winning ticket Wednesday at about 4:45 p.m.

"I stuck it in my car, and it stayed there all night," she said. "Now that I know that it was a winner I wouldn't have done that!"

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The Hills will take home $193,750,000 in lump sum payout -- which works out to $396,000 for each person in Dearborn, a town of 496.

The couple say that they will remain in Dearborn, and plan on launching a scholarship at the local high school.

Speculation began running wild in the small town when 52-year-old Hill, a factory worker, updated his Facebook account late Thursday, writing, "We are truly blessed, we are lucky winners of the Powerball."

Within hours, his family began celebrating, telling ABC News Hill is one of the two big winners.

"Just shocked. I mean, I thought we were all going to have heart attacks," Hill's mother, Shirley, said Thursday.

Hill's mother says her son and his wife have been struggling financially. Hill works in a hot dog and deli packaging factory, but it was unclear whether he showed up for work Thursday night.

"I'm very happy for him. He's worked hard in his life; well, not anymore," Hill's son Jason said. "Well, I hope we all stay very grounded, stay humble and don't forget who we are."

Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News Thursday that one of the winning tickets was purchased at a Trex Mart in Dearborn, about 30 miles north of Kansas City.

The winning numbers were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29; Powerball was 6.

Hill did not respond to ABC News' requests for comment.
Meanwhile, employees and customers at Marlboro Village Exxon in Upper Marlboro, Md., said a tall, black, bald man held the winning ticket purchased in Arizona, according to ABC News affiliate WJLA-TV.

Surveillance cameras at the Upper Marlboro gas station captured the apparent winner walking into the store Thursday afternoon, digging into his chest pocket for his lottery tickets. After a few seconds of scanning the wad of tickets, the man began jumping up and down, pumping his arms.

The man gave the tickets to store manager Nagassi Ghebre, who says the six Powerball numbers were on the ticket, which the apparent winner said he bought in Arizona.

"And then he said, 'I got to get out of here,'" employee Freddie Lopez told WJLA.

But before leaving, the possible winner felt the need to check again to see whether he really had the ticket that millions of Americans dreamed of having.

"He says, 'Is this the right number? I don't know.' And I said, 'Yeah that's the numbers. You got them all,'" customer Paul Gaug told WJLA.

Employees and customers said the main stuck around for a few more seconds shouting, "I won," before leaving.

"He came back a minute later and said, 'I forgot to get my gas. What am I thinking?'" Lopez said.

The man drove out of the gas station in a black car and on a full tank of gas with a cash payout of $192.5 million coming his way.

"He said he lives in Maryland. I'm pretty sure," Gaug said.

The possible jackpot winner was wearing bright neon clothing and store employees told WJLA that he appeared to be a highway or construction worker.

Arizona lottery officials told WJLA that if the man does have the winning ticket, it needs to be redeemed within 180 days of the drawing in Arizona.

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Palestinians win de facto U.N. recognition of sovereign state

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the world body to issue its long overdue "birth certificate."

The U.N. victory for the Palestinians was a diplomatic setback for the United States and Israel, which were joined by only a handful of countries in voting against the move to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's observer status at the United Nations to "non-member state" from "entity," like the Vatican.

Britain called on the United States to use its influence to help break the long impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Washington also called for a revival of direct negotiations.

There were 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions. Three countries did not take part in the vote, held on the 65th anniversary of the adoption of U.N. resolution 181 that partitioned Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.

Thousands of flag-waving Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip set off fireworks and danced in the streets to celebrate the vote.

The assembly approved the upgrade despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinians by withholding funds for the West Bank government. U.N. envoys said Israel might not retaliate harshly against the Palestinians over the vote as long as they do not seek to join the International Criminal Court.

If the Palestinians were to join the ICC, they could file complaints with the court accusing Israel of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious crimes.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the vote "unfortunate and counterproductive," while the Vatican praised the move and called for an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem, something bound to irritate Israel.

The much-anticipated vote came after Abbas denounced Israel from the U.N. podium for its "aggressive policies and the perpetration of war crimes," remarks that elicited a furious response from the Jewish state.

"Sixty-five years ago on this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 181, which partitioned the land of historic Palestine into two states and became the birth certificate for Israel," Abbas told the assembly after receiving a standing ovation.

"The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded quickly, condemning Abbas' critique of Israel as "hostile and poisonous," and full of "false propaganda.

"These are not the words of a man who wants peace," Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office. He reiterated Israeli calls for direct talks with the Palestinians, dismissing Thursday's resolution as "meaningless."

ICC THREAT

A number of Western delegations noted that Thursday's vote should not be interpreted as formal legal recognition of a Palestinian state. Formal recognition of statehood is something that is done bilaterally, not by the United Nations.

Granting Palestinians the title of "non-member observer state" falls short of full U.N. membership - something the Palestinians failed to achieve last year. But it does have important legal implications - it would allow them access to the ICC and other international bodies, should they choose to join.

Abbas did not mention the ICC in his speech. But Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told reporters after the vote that if Israel continued to build illegal settlements, the Palestinians might pursue the ICC route.

"As long as the Israelis are not committing atrocities, are not building settlements, are not violating international law, then we don't see any reason to go anywhere," he said.

"If the Israelis continue with such policy - aggression, settlements, assassinations, attacks, confiscations, building walls - violating international law, then we have no other remedy but really to knock those to other places," Maliki said.

In Washington, a group of four Republican and Democratic senators announced legislation that would close the Palestinian office in Washington unless the Palestinians enter "meaningful negotiations" with Israel, and eliminate all U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority if it turns to the ICC.

"I fear the Palestinian Authority will now be able to use the United Nations as a political club against Israel," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the sponsors.

Abbas led the campaign to win support for the resolution, which followed an eight-day conflict this month between Israel and Islamists in the Gaza Strip, who are pledged to Israel's destruction and oppose a negotiated peace.

The vote highlighted how deeply divided Europe is on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

At least 17 European nations voted in favor of the Palestinian resolution, including Austria, France, Italy, Norway and Spain. Abbas had focused his lobbying efforts on Europe, which supplies much of the aid the Palestinian Authority relies on. Britain, Germany and many others chose to abstain.

The traditionally pro-Israel Czech Republic was unique in Europe, joining the United States, Israel, Canada, Panama and the tiny Pacific Island states Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands and Micronesia in voting against the move.

'HOPE SOME REASON WILL PREVAIL'

Peace talks have been stalled for two years, mainly over Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have expanded despite being deemed illegal by most of the world. There are 4.3 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

After the vote, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice called for the immediate resumption of peace talks.

"The Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed save that the prospects of a durable peace have only receded," she said.

She added that both parties should "avoid any further provocative actions in the region, in New York or elsewhere."

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said he hoped all sides would use the vote to push for new breakthroughs in the peace process.

"I hope there will be no punitive measures," Fayyad told Reuters in Washington, where he was attending a conference.

"I hope that some reason will prevail and the opportunity will be taken to take advantage of what happened today in favor of getting a political process moving," he said.

Britain's U.N. ambassador, Mark Lyall Grant, told reporters it was time for recently re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama to make a new push for peace.

"We believe the window for the two-state solution is closing," he said. "That is why we are encouraging the United States and other key international actors to grasp this opportunity and use the next 12 months as a way to really break through this impasse."

(Additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington, Noah Browning in Ramallah, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Robert Mueller in Prague, Gabriela Baczynska and Reuters bureaux in Europe and elsewhere; Editing by Eric Beech and Peter Cooney)

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Football: Del Bosque says Brazil the team to beat

SAO PAULO: The coach of Spain's world champions on Friday insisted hosts Brazil are the team to beat at next year's Confederations Cup, the testbed for a World Cup also on Brazilian soil in 2014.

"They are the team to beat," said Vicente del Bosque, who masterminded Spain's World Cup success in 2010 in South Africa and then led the Furia Roja to glory at Euro 2012, making his star-studded side the first national team to land three straight international tournaments having also won Euro 2008.

"Friendlies or competitive matches - we will always look to perform at the highest level," said former Real Madrid coach del Bosque, who said he would be aiming to field his strongest side in Brazil next June even though the tournament is a chance to blood some new faces before the World Cup.

"This is a big challenge after our World Cup and Euro successes - we find ourselves in a historic period for Spanish football and we want to continue in this vein at the Confederations Cup and also qualifiers thereafter for 2014," said del Bosque at a press conference in Sao Paulo.

Del Bosque said the Spanish recipe was nothing out of the ordinary but rather "a balance between talent, technique and tactics."

The 61-year-old is on a personal mission next June to do better than the 2009 Confederations Cup which saw Spain take a disappointing third place in South Africa before they returned a year later to win the world title.

"That left a bad taste - so we shall come here next year as well prepared as possible."

Brazil's newly-reappointed coach Luiz Felipe Scolari meanwhile said he would use the tournament to "prepare 90 to 100 percent of the squad" for the World Cup.

The 2002 World Cup winner added: "The Confederations Cup will give us a good indication of the tactical changes we need to make, the changes we need to make on the playing side."

Answering fears in the media that the side bequeathed him by the sacked Mano Menezes lacks experience Scolari was sanguine.

"Young players such as Neymar do not have experience of a World Cup but the young players can surmount this lack of (tournament) experience. We shall have more after the Confederations Cup," where Brazil are the defending champions.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said he wants to blood young players at the World Cup dress rehearsal.

But he must take into account the requirements of the Under-21 side.

"We have interesting young players, (and) we must decide who we take with us to the Confederations Cup, given that the Under-21 European Championships are also on next summer," said Prandelli.

Euro 2012 finalists Italy are in the Confederations event as European representatives with Spain also present by dint of their world champion status.

Italy already know they will face the hosts as they cannot face Spain and the Brazilians cannot face South American champions Uruguay.

Also competing are Asian champions Japan and Oceania champions - and ultra minnows - Tahiti, as well as Mexico and whoever wins the January 19-February 10 Africa Cup of Nations.

Japan are coached by Italian Alberto Zaccheroni, who led the Blue Samurai to a fourth Asian Cup title in Qatar last year.

"We have faced off with Asian teams on our continent and we understand where our strengths and weaknesses are. Now we hope to show the power of Asian football," said Zaccheroni, 59.

Japan's best showing at the Confederations Cup in four appearances was when they finished runners-up to France in 2001 at Yokohama.

Tahiti coach Eddy Etaeta says his side will look to acquit themselves respectably.

"We are just a small country going up against seven world names," said Etaeta, who confessed: "I think our players are now not really quite aware what we face" as they take on the cream of the international game.

The draw for the 2013 competition takes place in Sao Paulo on Saturday.

-AFP/ac

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Govt will miss Tendulkar in retail FDI test

NEW DELHI: As Congress managers do their arithmetic — counting UPA's vote in the Rajya Sabha — they would dearly wish cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar sits out the Kolkata test beginning next week.

Having conceded a floor test on FDI in multi-brand retail, Congress strategists are aware the vote in the Rajya Sabha is set to go down to the wire and the ruling coalition will need to pull off a few surprises to pip the Opposition to the post.

As it banks on 10 nominated MPs to press the button in its favour, the government will eye Tendulkar's seat number 103 wistfully, perhaps hoping the batting maestro scores in the Upper House rather than at Eden Gardens.

The problem for the government is that even if the full complement of nominated MPs, including film star Rekha and businesswoman Anu Aga, vote for the FDI motion, it may still find it difficult to conjure a majority.

Crunching numbers in the Rajya Sabha is hardly a Rubik's cube exercise. UPA with "inside supporters" has 90 MPs. Its "outside" supporters add up to 31. But as of now BSP with 15 and SP with nine are threatening not to vote for the government. So the total adds up to 97.

Now, if we toss the 10 nominated MPs and BJD rebel Pyarimohan Mohapatra into the broth, UPA numbers inch up to 108. This is still short of what the government needs because even if SP and BSP abstain, the half way mark is 111.

Not willing to cut things so fine, the government managers will use the breathing space they gain before the vote comes up later next week to persuade SP and BSP to do the rescue act. It may find the going easier with BSP and this could see UPA through.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav continues to tantalize the Congress, saying politics cannot be foretold and much depends on the evolving situation, though he remains opposed to FDI in retail. In doing so he seems to be over ridding his cousin Ramgopal Yadav's earlier statement that SP will vote against the FDI proposal.

BSP is insistent on the government moving a Bill, providing quotas in promotions for scheduled castes and tribes. The government is hoping to bring BSP chief Mayawati around, pointing out that the Bill has been listed.

The Rajya Sabha is a lot trickier than Lok Sabha where the FDI vote will go its way even without SP and BSP voting in favour of the government. In the Upper House, the Opposition is also expected to work on votes like those of independent MP Rajeev Chandrashekar. Unattached MP Amar Singh may suddenly find both camps wooing him.

A crucial vote always throws up the unexpected and as Congress managers are no rookies in rustling up support, some MPs can go missing or fall ill as was seen when the contentious Lokpal Bill was hotly debated last December.

This time, the government will have to pull out all stops to get some of the committed one-MP parties to switch sides even as the role of its former ally Trinamool Congress can prove to be important. If Trinamool abstains along with SP and BSP, the effective strength of the House becomes 212; the halfway mark is 106.

This can help the Congress, but it will need quite a remarkable alignment of constellations to ensure that BSP, SP and Trinamool act in concert.

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Clinton releases road map for AIDS-free generation

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an ambitious road map for slashing the global spread of AIDS, the Obama administration says treating people sooner and more rapid expansion of other proven tools could help even the hardest-hit countries begin turning the tide of the epidemic over the next three to five years.

"An AIDS-free generation is not just a rallying cry — it is a goal that is within our reach," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who ordered the blueprint, said in the report.

"Make no mistake about it, HIV may well be with us into the future but the disease that it causes need not be," she said at the State Department Thursday.

President Barack Obama echoed that promise.

"We stand at a tipping point in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and working together, we can realize our historic opportunity to bring that fight to an end," Obama said in a proclamation to mark World AIDS Day on Saturday.

Some 34 million people worldwide are living with HIV, and despite a decline in new infections over the last decade, 2.5 million people were infected last year.

Given those staggering figures, what does an AIDS-free generation mean? That virtually no babies are born infected, young people have a much lower risk than today of becoming infected, and that people who already have HIV would receive life-saving treatment.

That last step is key: Treating people early in their infection, before they get sick, not only helps them survive but also dramatically cuts the chances that they'll infect others. Yet only about 8 million HIV patients in developing countries are getting treatment. The United Nations aims to have 15 million treated by 2015.

Other important steps include: Treating more pregnant women, and keeping them on treatment after their babies are born; increasing male circumcision to lower men's risk of heterosexual infection; increasing access to both male and female condoms; and more HIV testing.

The world spent $16.8 billion fighting AIDS in poor countries last year. The U.S. government is the leading donor, spending about $5.6 billion.

Thursday's report from PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, outlines how progress could continue at current spending levels — something far from certain as Congress and Obama struggle to avert looming budget cuts at year's end — or how faster progress is possible with stepped-up commitments from hard-hit countries themselves.

Clinton warned Thursday that the U.S. must continue doing its share: "In the fight against HIV/AIDS, failure to live up to our commitments isn't just disappointing, it's deadly."

The report highlighted Zambia, which already is seeing some declines in new cases of HIV. It will have to treat only about 145,000 more patients over the next four years to meet its share of the U.N. goal, a move that could prevent more than 126,000 new infections in that same time period. But if Zambia could go further and treat nearly 198,000 more people, the benefit would be even greater — 179,000 new infections prevented, the report estimates.

In contrast, if Zambia had to stick with 2011 levels of HIV prevention, new infections could level off or even rise again over the next four years, the report found.

Advocacy groups said the blueprint offers a much-needed set of practical steps to achieve an AIDS-free generation — and makes clear that maintaining momentum is crucial despite economic difficulties here and abroad.

"The blueprint lays out the stark choices we have: To stick with the baseline and see an epidemic flatline or grow, or ramp up" to continue progress, said Chris Collins of amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

His group has estimated that more than 276,000 people would miss out on HIV treatment if U.S. dollars for the global AIDS fight are part of across-the-board spending cuts set to begin in January.

Thursday's report also urges targeting the populations at highest risk, including gay men, injecting drug users and sex workers, especially in countries where stigma and discrimination has denied them access to HIV prevention services.

"We have to go where the virus is," Clinton said.

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Petraeus Tells Friend He 'Screwed Up Royally'

One of David Petraeus' closest friends says the former CIA director admitted that he "screwed up royally" by having an affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell.

Retired Brigadier Gen. James Shelton has been friends with Petraeus for more than three decades and reached to out to him after he resigned from the CIA. Shelton told ABC News that the former four-star general wrote him a letter recently confessing to the affair.

Petraeus, 60, writes in the letter, "Team Petraeus will survive…. though [I] have obviously created enormous difficulty for us," according to Shelton.

A former spokesman for Petraeus told ABC News that fury was an inadequate description for Holly Petraeus after learning her husband of 38 years had an affair.

But in the letter, Petraeus writes that his wife is "…once again demonstrating how incredibly fortunate I was to marry her."

Shelton said he has shocked when news of the affair broke. Shelton says he has never met Broadwell but talked to her on the phone as she worked on the Petraeus biography, "All In." Broadwell thanked Shelton in the book's acknowledgments as "being wonderfully helpful."

Shelton says he found Broadwell engaging.

David Petraeus Affair: Woman Who Blew the Whistle Watch Video

David Petraeus Affair: Paula Broadwell in Hiding Watch Video

"I don't think she wove a web around Dave and dragged him in, I don't think that at all. I think it was mutual," Shelton told ABC News.

The disgraced general also stuck by his decision to step down as head of the CIA, writing, "I paid the price (appropriately) and I sought to do the right thing, at the end of the day."

Neither Broadwell nor Petraeus would comment when ABC News tried to reach them overnight.

However, there are many in Washington who now wonder if Shelton's talking about this letter is the beginning of a carefully choreographed campaign by Petraeus to rehabilitate his image.

Shelton says while he was disappointed in Petraeus' actions, he thinks it was a one-time mistake.

"I believe that Dave Petraeus was that kind of guy. He wasn't looking for it, it happened," he said.

While it is unclear who may have initiated the affair, what is clear is the scope of their relationship. An FBI investigation has uncovered hundreds if not thousands of emails exchanged between the two.

The 40-year-old author was stripped of her military security clearance after a federal probe alleged she was storing classified military material at her home.

The FBI found classified material on a computer voluntarily handed over by Broadwell earlier in the investigation.

Prosecutors will now have to determine how important the classified material is before making a final decision on how to proceed. Authorities could decide to seek disciplinary action against her rather than pursue charges.

Since announcing his resignation from the CIA last month, Petraeus has kept a low profile only appearing in closed door hearings before the House and Senate intelligence committees to testify about what he learned first-hand about the Sept. 11 attack in the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

ABC News' Mosheh Gains contributed to this report.

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