Iran's Ahmadinejad kissed and scolded in Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was both kissed and scolded on Tuesday when he began the first visit to Egypt by an Iranian president since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

The trip was meant to underline a thaw in relations since Egyptians elected an Islamist head of state, President Mohamed Mursi, last June. But it also highlighted deep theological and geopolitical differences.

Mursi, a member of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, kissed Ahmadinejad after he landed at Cairo airport and gave him a red carpet reception with military honors. Ahmadinejad beamed as he shook hands with waiting dignitaries.

But the Shi'ite Iranian leader received a stiff rebuke when he met Egypt's leading Sunni Muslim scholar later at Cairo's historic al-Azhar mosque and university.

Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, head of the 1,000-year-old seat of religious learning, urged Iran to refrain from interfering in Gulf Arab states, to recognize Bahrain as a "sisterly Arab nation" and rejected the extension of Shi'ite Muslim influence in Sunni countries, a statement from al-Azhar said.

Visiting Cairo to attend an Islamic summit that begins on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad told a news conference he hoped his trip would be "a new starting point in relations between us".

However, a senior cleric from the Egyptian seminary, Hassan al-Shafai, who appeared alongside him, said the meeting had degenerated into an exchange of theological differences.

"There ensued some misunderstandings on certain issues that could have an effect on the cultural, political and social climate of both countries," Shafai said.

"The issues were such that the grand sheikh saw that the meeting ... did not serve the desired purpose."

The visit would have been unthinkable during the rule of Hosni Mubarak, the military-backed autocrat who preserved Egypt's peace treaty with Israel during his 30 years in power and deepened ties between Cairo and the West.

"The political geography of the region will change if Iran and Egypt take a unified position on the Palestinian question," Ahmadinejad said in an interview with Al Mayadeen, a Beirut-based TV station, on the eve of his trip.

He said he wanted to visit the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory which neighbors Egypt to the east and is run by the Islamist movement Hamas. "If they allow it, I would go to Gaza to visit the people," Ahmadinejad said.

Analysts doubt that the historic changes that brought Mursi to power will result in a full restoration of diplomatic ties between states whose relations were broken off after the conclusion of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

OBSTACLES TO FULL TIES

At the airport the two leaders discussed ways of improving relations and resolving the Syrian crisis "without resorting to military intervention", Egyptian state media reported.

Egypt is concerned by Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is trying to crush an uprising inspired by the revolt that swept Mubarak from power two years ago. Egypt's overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim population is broadly supportive of the uprising against Assad's Alawite-led administration.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr sought to reassure Gulf Arab allies - that are supporting Cairo's battered state finances and are deeply suspicious of Iran - that Egypt would not jeopardize their security.

"The security of the Gulf states is the security of Egypt," he said in remarks reported by the official MENA news agency.

Mursi wants to preserve ties with the United States, the source of $1.3 billion in aid each year to the influential Egyptian military.

"The restoration of full relations with Iran in this period is difficult, despite the warmth in ties ... because of many problems including the Syrian crisis and Cairo's links with the Gulf states, Israel and the United States," said one former Egyptian diplomat.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he was optimistic that ties could grow closer.

"We are gradually improving. We have to be a little bit patient. I'm very hopeful about the expansion of the bilateral relationship," he told Reuters. Asked where he saw room for closer ties, he said: "Trade and economics."

Egypt and Iran have taken opposite courses since the late 1970s. Egypt, under Mubarak's predecessor Anwar Sadat, concluded a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and became a close ally of the United States and Europe. Iran from 1979 turned into a center of opposition to Western influence in the Middle East.

Symbolically, Iran named a street in Tehran after the Islamist who led the 1981 assassination of Sadat.

Egypt gave asylum and a state funeral to Iran's exiled Shah Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the 1979 Iranian revolution. He is buried in a mosque beside Cairo's mediaeval Citadel alongside his ex-brother-in-law, Egypt's last king, Farouk.

(Additional reporting by Ayman Samir, Marwa Awad and Alexander Diadosz; Writing by Paul Taylor and Tom Perry; Editing by Andrew Roche and Robin Pomeroy)

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Iran "danger" threatens Israel's existence: Peres

JERUSALEM: Israeli leaders warned Tuesday of threats posed by Iran, Hezbollah and their mutual ally Syria as the new Israeli parliament opened following last month's general election.

President Shimon Peres said the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran was growing under the "terrifying dictatorship" ruling the Islamic republic.

"The Iranian danger has grown," Peres said in a speech to the Knesset, or parliament. "It threatens our existence, the independence of the Arab states, the peace of the whole world."

"At its head stands a group of ayatollahs in their religious robes, a terrifying dictatorship, staining Persian history and a nightmare for its people," he told MPs.

Much of the international community fears Iran's nuclear programme includes efforts to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied.

Israel believes Iran must be prevented from reaching military nuclear capabilities at any cost and refuses to rule out military intervention to that end.

It also accuses Iran of sponsoring the Lebanese militia movement Hezbollah, which Bulgaria said Tuesday was behind a bomb attack there in July that killed five Israeli tourists and one Bulgarian.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Bulgarian finding should push the EU to draw the "necessary conclusions" about the Shiite group, a reference to Israel's longstanding demand it be placed on a terror watch list.

"The attack in Burgas was an attack on European soil, against a member state of the European Union," Netanyahu said. "We hope that the Europeans will draw the necessary conclusions about the true nature of Hezbollah."

"This is yet a further corroboration of what we have already known, that Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons are orchestrating a worldwide campaign of terror that is spanning countries and continents," he said.

The bombing on a bus carrying Israelis at Burgas Airport on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, the deadliest attack on Israelis abroad since 2004, also killed the Bulgarian bus driver and the bomber. Some 30 people were wounded.

"The attack in Burgas was just one in a series of terror attacks planned and carried out by Hezbollah and Iran," Netanyahu said. "That is in addition to the support that Hezbollah and Iran give to the murderous... regime in Syria.

Tehran has denied any involvement in the Burgas attack.

Peres said he was confident of US President Barack Obama's intent to thwart Iran's nuclear arms ambitions.

"The United States can put an end to the Iranian threat and I believe that the President of the United States is determined to do it," the Israeli president said.

He called on the United Nations and the Arab League to act urgently to end the turmoil in Syria.

"Iran is a danger and Syria is a tragedy. Its president butchers his people. In my opinion the UN should task the Arab League with the immediate formation of a transitional government in Syria to save it from self-destruction. Assad, who has murdered tens of thousands has also murdered his future," he said.

Syria has blamed Israel for a Wednesday air raid at a military complex near Damascus, which targeted surface-to-air missiles and an adjacent military complex believed to house chemical agents, according to a US official.

Damascus has threatened to retaliate and Syria's close ally Iran warned the attack would have "grave consequences" and that the "Zionist entity" would regret its aggression against Syria.

While Israel has not yet formally confirmed its responsibility, Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday dropped a heavy hint.

"It's another proof that when we say something we mean it," Barak told reporters at a security conference in Germany.

"We say that we don't think that it should be allowable to bring advanced weapon systems into Lebanon, the Hezbollah, from Syria, when Assad falls."

-AFP/ac

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Rahul Gandhi to meet visitors at ‘janata darbar’?

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi has agreed to start holding a 'janata darbar', bowing to strong pleas from Congress leaders who argued that this will help him reach out to common people and instill confidence among the poor that he cares for them.

Rahul agreed to make himself accessible to the public on a more regular basis after an interaction on Monday with party functionaries who reminded that former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi would meet everyone who visited them from across the country for redress of their grievances. Mahila Congress chief Anita Verma and AICC secretary Hanumantha Rao stressed that 'janata darbar' under the earlier generation of Gandhi family sent across the message that the voiceless had a patron in the family.

The individual pitches soon jelled into a forceful plea to recreate the tradition as more leaders joined in during the meeting of office-bearers.

In response, Rahul committed to fix specific morning hours for visitors like 9.30-11 am.

In his remarks, Rahul was seen to advocate a pragmatic approach to implementation of the party constitution. He was elaborating upon his argument on Friday about the justification of framing rules which were hard to implement. He said Congress had a radical constitution prepared on the experiences of Nehru and Gandhi, but its implementation would depend on situations and contexts.

Monday's meeting witnessed excessive focus on improving public access to ministers and party managers in what seemed to be an attempt to create a climate of accessibility and inclusiveness in the party under Rahul as vice-president.

Union sports minister Jitendra Singh said at least one central minister should sit in Congress headquarters every day to show that those in power in Delhi were available to listen to people's problems. He said the visitors would carry the positive message to far-flung villages they belonged to.

A leader lamented that touring Congress leaders visited "influential persons" in districts but avoided going to the local party office. A secretary, sources said, complained that supremacy of the party remained valid only while it was in opposition, implying that once in power, leaders would give short shrift to the organization.

The functionary also lamented that those who sabotaged his election managed to become ministers.

Hanumantha Rao sought to soften the hostility among the youth of Telangana about the Congress brass, urging Rahul to find out why they were committing suicide and to assure them that there was no need to take such extreme action. Rao said Congress should create multiple leaders in states, accommodating all social groups to obviate the dependence on alliances to win over specific constituencies like OBCs, SCs or minorities.

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APNewsBreak: Catholic hospital acknowledges error

DENVER (AP) — A Catholic hospital on Monday acknowledged it was "morally wrong" for its attorneys to argue in court that a fetus is not a human being under Colorado law.

The admission comes after executives of Catholic Healthcare Initiatives met with Colorado's Roman Catholic bishops to discuss its defense in a wrongful death lawsuit filed after a mother and her unborn twins died in the emergency room of St Thomas More Medical Center in Canon City in 2006.

Disclosure of the hospital's successful legal arguments last month drew sharp criticism because they appeared to contradict church doctrine that life begins at conception. Colorado's bishops vowed to review the case. Catholic Healthcare Initiatives operates Thomas More and dozens of other Catholic hospitals.

In joint statements released Monday morning, the Bishops and CHI said the operation was "unaware" of the lawyers' legal arguments. They said that CHI executives acknowledged "it was morally wrong" to make that contention because it "directly contradicts the moral teachings of the Church."

The statements also noted that, while the legal status of the fetus was key to getting the case dismissed before trial, the hospital also won on appeal by arguing there was no proof that medical error caused the fetuses' deaths. The father of the unborn children is asking the Colorado Supreme Court to hear the case.

The Bishops and CHI extended their condolences to the family. They also pledged to pursue stronger legal protections for unborn children.

"Catholic healthcare institutions are, and should, be held to the high standard of Jesus Christ himself, who is our divine and eternal healer," said the Bishops' statement.

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North Korea nuclear test would face "firm" U.N. action: South Korea

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is united on North Korea's nuclear arms program and will undoubtedly approve tough measures against Pyongyang if it carries out a new atomic test as expected, South Korean U.N. Ambassador Kim Sook said on Monday.

"The North Korean nuclear test seems to be imminent," Kim, who is president of the Security Council this month, told reporters. "Obviously there are very busy activities going on at the (North Korean) nuclear test site, and everybody's watching."

"Everybody is unified and they are firm and resolute," he said. "I would expect very firm and strong measures to be taken ... once they go ahead with such provocation."

(Reporting By Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Syria opposition chief urges Assad to hold talks

DAMASCUS: Syria's opposition chief on Monday urged President Bashar al-Assad's regime to respond positively to his call for talks to end almost two years of violence which has left more than 60,000 people dead.

"The ball is now in the regime's court. They will either say yes or no," Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib told pan-Arab channel Al-Jazeera, following up on his surprise announcement last week that he was ready for dialogue with the Damascus regime -- subject to conditions, including the release of 160,000 detainees.

Later he told Al-Arabiya news channel that he was ready to talk to Assad's deputy, Vice President Faruq al-Sharaa.

"Since the start of the crisis, Mr Sharaa has seen that things are not going in the right direction," said Khatib. "If the regime accepts the idea (of dialogue), I ask it to delegate Faruq al-Sharaa for us to hold discussions with him."

Assad last month announced he was ready for talks with the opposition but ruled out meeting groups -- such as Khatib's National Coalition -- which back armed rebels seeking to overthrow the Damascus regime.

For their part, opposition groups, including the National Coalition, have in the past demanded Assad step down before peace talks can begin.

"Doctor Bashar, this country is in grave danger, come out of your bubble, if only for a moment. Look into the eyes of your children and you will recover some of your humanity," Khatib said, addressing Assad by the term adopted by state media and his supporters.

"We can help each other in the interest" of the people, Khatib said.

"The regime needs to take a clear position. We will extend our hands for the sake of the people, and in order to help the regime leave in peace," he said.

Khatib's statement last week on negotiations with conditions attached was backed by the Coalition, a grouping of externally-based opposition groups, but only if they led to the fall of the regime.

While some opposition figures immediately denounced Khatib's proposal as traitorous, he said on Monday he "rejected" the label.

"Our people are dying, and we will not allow that," Khatib said.

His comments came as Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in Berlin that Tehran would continue talks with Khatib following a preliminary meeting Sunday on the sidelines of a security conference in the southern German city of Munich.

"We had 45 (minutes) to an hour discussion which was very fruitful... and we committed ourselves to continuing this discussion," Salehi told a foreign-policy think-tank in Berlin of his meeting.

Khatib also held a meeting in Munich on Sunday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who while expressing an interest in "maintaining regular contact" with the opposition, also said the dissidents' insistence on Assad going was "the main reason for the continuation of the Syrian tragedy."

Adding to the latest flurry of diplomatic activity, another Iranian official, Saeed Jalili, the head of his country's Supreme National Security Council, was in Damascus on Monday where he renewed Tehran's support for Assad.

Jalili also issued a warning to Israel after the Jewish state confirmed an air strike near Damascus, saying it will regret its latest "aggression against Syria".

"Just as it has regretted all its wars... the Zionist entity will regret its aggression against Syria," Jalili said.

"Syria is at the forefront of the Muslim world's confrontation with the Zionist entity," he added.

Also in Munich on Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak implicitly confirmed that the Jewish state had staged the air strike on Syria, following reports of an air raid which Damascus said targeted a military complex near the capital.

Last Wednesday's air strike targeted surface-to-air missiles and an adjacent military complex believed to house chemical agents, according to a US official.

Meanwhile, Russian authorities announced the release of two Russians and an Italian citizen kidnapped by "extremists" last year in Syria. They were "released in exchange for militants," Russia's foreign ministry said.

On the ground in Syria, at least 40 people were killed in violence on Monday, including six children who died when regime warplanes raided the outskirts of the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

At least 13 insurgents were also killed in fierce battles that raged in other areas of Damascus province, said the watchdog which relies on a broad network of doctors, activists and lawyers to compile its reports.

- AFP/jc

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Nepali businessman murdered in India, protests in native town

KATHMANDU: A bandh was observed today in Nepal's southeastern city of Biratnagar to protest the killing of a prominent Nepalese businessman who was found murdered in India after being kidnapped for ransom.

Gangabisan Rathi, a 69-year-old businessman from Nepal's Biratnagar, was abducted for ransom by Chandra Kumar Chudal, chief of Shiva Sena Nepal, and two other accomplices Surendra Kumar Mishra and Abhijit Basu from West Bengal.

Highly decomposed bodies of Rathi, who had gone missing since January 11, and Chudal were found yesterday in a gorge at Rung Tung near Sukna in the Kurseong sub-division, three weeks after the abduction.

Rathi had gone to Siliguri on January 10 with Chudal and had been missing from the next day.

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has expressed concern over the murder of Rathi, a Morang district chairman of Nepal-India Friendship Association.

In a press statement, the apex body of the business community condoled the death of Rathi.

The federation also called on the concerned authorities to take necessary steps to guarantee security of Nepali citizens in the border areas. It said that Nepali and Indian security forces need to increase cooperation to check increase in criminal activities along the porous Nepal-India border.

Businesses in Biratnagar closed down their shutters to protest businessman Rathi's murder today. The closure of the businesses was called by Morang Commerce Association.

According to Rathi's family members, they had paid Rs 5 million to the abductors for the release of Rathi against Rs 20 million asked by them.

They could not get Rathi alive despite paying the ransom amount, the family sources said.

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New rules aim to get rid of junk foods in schools

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most candy, high-calorie drinks and greasy meals could soon be on a food blacklist in the nation's schools.

For the first time, the government is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful.

Under the new rules the Agriculture Department proposed Friday, foods like fatty chips, snack cakes, nachos and mozzarella sticks would be taken out of lunch lines and vending machines. In their place would be foods like baked chips, trail mix, diet sodas, lower-calorie sports drinks and low-fat hamburgers.

The rules, required under a child nutrition law passed by Congress in 2010, are part of the government's effort to combat childhood obesity. While many schools already have improved their lunch menus and vending machine choices, others still are selling high-fat, high-calorie foods.

Under the proposal, the Agriculture Department would set fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits on almost all foods sold in schools. Current standards already regulate the nutritional content of school breakfasts and lunches that are subsidized by the federal government, but most lunchrooms also have "a la carte" lines that sell other foods. Food sold through vending machines and in other ways outside the lunchroom has never before been federally regulated.

"Parents and teachers work hard to instill healthy eating habits in our kids, and these efforts should be supported when kids walk through the schoolhouse door," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

Most snacks sold in school would have to have less than 200 calories. Elementary and middle schools could sell only water, low-fat milk or 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice. High schools could sell some sports drinks, diet sodas and iced teas, but the calories would be limited. Drinks would be limited to 12-ounce portions in middle schools and to 8-ounce portions in elementary schools.

The standards will cover vending machines, the "a la carte" lunch lines, snack bars and any other foods regularly sold around school. They would not apply to in-school fundraisers or bake sales, though states have the power to regulate them. The new guidelines also would not apply to after-school concessions at school games or theater events, goodies brought from home for classroom celebrations, or anything students bring for their own personal consumption.

The new rules are the latest in a long list of changes designed to make foods served in schools more healthful and accessible. Nutritional guidelines for the subsidized lunches were revised last year and put in place last fall. The 2010 child nutrition law also provided more money for schools to serve free and reduced-cost lunches and required more meals to be served to hungry kids.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has been working for two decades to take junk foods out of schools. He calls the availability of unhealthful foods around campus a "loophole" that undermines the taxpayer money that helps pay for the healthier subsidized lunches.

"USDA's proposed nutrition standards are a critical step in closing that loophole and in ensuring that our schools are places that nurture not just the minds of American children but their bodies as well," Harkin said.

Last year's rules faced criticism from some conservatives, including some Republicans in Congress, who said the government shouldn't be telling kids what to eat. Mindful of that backlash, the Agriculture Department exempted in-school fundraisers from federal regulation and proposed different options for some parts of the rule, including the calorie limits for drinks in high schools, which would be limited to either 60 calories or 75 calories in a 12-ounce portion.

The department also has shown a willingness to work with schools to resolve complaints that some new requirements are hard to meet. Last year, for example, the government relaxed some limits on meats and grains in subsidized lunches after school nutritionists said they weren't working.

Schools, the food industry, interest groups and other critics or supporters of the new proposal will have 60 days to comment and suggest changes. A final rule could be in place as soon as the 2014 school year.

Margo Wootan, a nutrition lobbyist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said surveys by her organization show that most parents want changes in the lunchroom.

"Parents aren't going to have to worry that kids are using their lunch money to buy candy bars and a Gatorade instead of a healthy school lunch," she said.

The food industry has been onboard with many of the changes, and several companies worked with Congress on the child nutrition law two years ago. Major beverage companies have already agreed to take the most caloric sodas out of schools. But those same companies, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, also sell many of the non-soda options, like sports drinks, and have lobbied to keep them in vending machines.

A spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association, which represents the soda companies, says they already have greatly reduced the number of calories that kids are consuming at school by pulling out the high-calorie sodas.

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Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick

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Former SEAL Killed at Gun Range; Suspect Arrested

A former Marine has been charged with three counts of murder in the killing of former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle, the most deadly sniper in U.S. history, and another man at an Erath County, Texas, gun range, police said.

"We have lost more than we can replace. Chris was a patriot, a great father, and a true supporter of this country and its ideals. This is a tragedy for all of us. I send my deepest prayers and thoughts to his wife and two children," Scott McEwen, co-author of "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History," said in a statement to ABC News.

Remembering Kyle for the number of Iraqi insurgents he killed misstates his legacy, McEwen said.

"His legacy is not one of being the most lethal sniper in United States history," McEwen said. In my opinion, his legacy is one of saving lives in a very difficult situation where Americans where going to be killed if he was not able to do his job."

Kyle and a neighbor of his were shot at a gun range in Glen Rose while helping a former Marine who was recovering from post traumatic stress syndrome, ABC affiliate WFAA-TV in Dallas reported.

AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley

The suspect, identified as Eddie Ray Routh, 25, was arrested in Lancaster, Texas, after a brief police chase, a Lancaster Police Department dispatcher told ABC News. Routh was driving Kyle's truck at the time of his arrest, police said.

Routh was arraigned Saturday evening on one count of capital murder and two counts of murder. He was brought to the Erath County Jail this morning and was being held there today on a combined $3 million bond, Officer Kyle Roberts said.

Investigators told WFAA that Routh is a former Marine said to suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Kyle helped found a nonprofit that provides at-home fitness equipment for emotionally and physically wounded veterans, but the director of the foundation said Kyle and Routh had not met through the organization.

"Chris was literally the type of guy if you were a veteran and needed help he'd help you," Travis Cox, the director of FITCO Cares, told The Associated Press. "And from my understanding that's what happened here. I don't know how he came in contact with this gentleman, but I do know that it was not through the foundation."

Authorities identified the other man who was killed with Kyle as 35-year-old Chad Littlefield, who Cox said was Kyle's neighbor and friend.

PHOTOS: Notable Deaths in 2013

Kyle, 38, served four tours in Iraq and was awarded two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars with Valor, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and one Navy and Marine Corps Commendation.

From 1999 to 2009, Kyle recorded more than 150 sniper kills, the most in U.S. military history.

After leaving combat duty, Kyle became chief instructor training Naval Special Warfare Sniper and Counter-Sniper teams, and he authored the Naval Special Warfare Sniper Doctrine, the first Navy SEAL sniper manual. He left the Navy in 2009.

"American Sniper," which was published last year by William Morrow, became a New York Times best seller.

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