Ex-Cop Sought in Killings Tied to Victim's Father

Police in Southern California say they suspect that a fired cop is behind the shooting death of an assistant woman's basketball coach at Cal State-Fullerton and her fiancé over the weekend in an act of revenge against the LAPD.

Former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who's a U.S. Navy reservist, has been publically named as a suspect in the killings of Monica Quan, 28, and her 27-year-old fiancé, Keith Lawrence, Irvine police Chief David L. Maggard said at a news conference Wednesday night.

Dorner is still being sought.

Lawrence was found slumped behind the wheel of his white Kia in the parking lot of their upscale apartment complex Sunday and Quan was in the passenger seat.

"A particular interest at this point in the investigation is a multi-page manifesto in which the suspect has implicated himself in the slayings," Maggard said.

Police said Dorner's manifesto included threats against members of the LAPD. Police say they are taking extra measures to ensure the safety of officers and their families.

The document, allegedly posted on an Internet message board this week, blames Quan's father, retired LAPD Capt. Randy Quan, for his firing from the department.

AP Photo/Irvine Police Department via The Orange County Register

One passage from the manifesto reads, "I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty."

"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own," Dorner allegedly writes. "I'm terminating yours."

Dorner was with the department from 2005 until 2008, when he was fired for making false statements.

Randy Quan, who became a lawyer in retirement, represented Dorner in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner at the time of his dismissal, LAPD Capt. William Hayes told The Associated Press Wednesday night.

According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dorner was fired from the LAPD after he made a complaint against his field-training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans, saying in the course of an arrest she had kicked a suspect who was a schizophrenic with severe dementia.

After an investigation, Dorner was fired for making false statements.

"We have strong cause to believe Dorner is armed and dangerous," Maggard said.

Police say Dorner is 6-feet tall, and weighs 270 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes.

Meanwhile, Cal State Fullerton is still mourning the loss of their beloved assistant coach.

"There are really no words to convey the sadness that our program feels, that the young women who have had the privilege of working with such a bright and passionate woman," head coach Marcia Foster said earlier this week. "I want to especially send out condolences to Randal and Sylvia Quan, and her brother Ryan."

After college, Quan coached at Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks and has spent the past two years as an assistant coach at Cal State-Fullerton. The university has posted a memorial page on its sports website dedicated to Quan.

Lawrence was a business graduate who recently started working as a public-safety officer at USC.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Tunisian opposition politician shot dead, protests erupt

Tunis (Reuters) - A Tunisian opposition politician was shot dead on Wednesday, sending thousands of protesters onto the streets of the capital and in Sidi Bouzid, the epicenter of uprisings that swept the Arab world and Tunisia's president from power.

Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, who said the identity of the attacker was not known, condemned the killing of Shokri Belaid outside his Tunis home as a political assassination and a strike against the "Arab Spring" revolution.

Tension has been growing between Islamists and secularists such as Belaid, who was a staunch opponent of the moderate Islamist-led government elected in October 2011.

As news of the killing spread, more than 1,000 protesters gathered outside the Interior Ministry, many calling for the fall of the government elected after their uprising chased out veteran ruler Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011.

Protesters also took to the streets in Sidi Bouzid, where jobless university graduate Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in despair after police confiscated his unlicensed fruit cart, triggering protests that toppled the president.

"More than 4,000 are protesting now, burning wheels and throwing stones at the police", Mehdi Horchani a resident from Sidi Bouzid, told Reuters. "There is a great anger."

Tunisia was the first Arab country to oust its leader and hold free elections as uprisings spread around the region two years ago, leading to the ousting of the rulers of Egypt, Yemen and Libya and the civil war in Syria.

Since the revolution the government has faced a string of protests over economic hardship and Tunisia's future path, with many complaining hardline Salafis were hijacking the revolution in a country dominated previously by a secular elite.

Declining trade with the crisis-hit euro zone has left Tunisians struggling to achieve the better living standards many had hoped for following Ben Ali's departure.

President Moncef Marzouki, who last month warned the tension may lead to "civil war", called for calm and cut short a trip to France as well as cancelling a visit to Egypt scheduled for Thursday after the killing.

"We will continue to fight the enemies of the revolution," he told lawmakers at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, to applause.

FRANCE WORRIED BY RISING VIOLENCE

Compounding the political unrest, Tunisia says al Qaeda-linked militants have been accumulating weapons with the aim of creating an Islamic state.

"The murder of Belaid is a political assassination and the assassination of the Tunisian revolution. By killing him they wanted to silence his voice," said Jebali, who heads the government led by the Ennahda party, which won Tunisia's first post-Arab Spring election.

Belaid, who died in hospital, was a leading member of the opposition Popular Front party. A lawyer and human rights activist he had been a constant critic of the government, accusing it of being a puppet of the rulers in Gulf Arab state of Qatar, which Tunisia denies.

"Shokri Belaid was killed today by four bullets to the head and chest ... doctors told us that he has died. This is a sad day for Tunisia," Ziad Lakhader, a leader of the Popular Front, told Reuters.

French President Francois Hollande condemned the shooting, saying he was concerned by the rise of violence in France's former colony.

"This murder deprives Tunisia of one of its most courageous and free voices," Hollande's office said in a statement.

"France is concerned by the mounting political violence in Tunisia and calls for the ideas cherished by the Tunisian people during their revolution to be respected."

TENSION OVER RULE

Marzouki warned last month that the conflict between Islamists and secularists could lead to civil war and called for a national dialogue that included all political shades.

The secular opposition has accused Ennahda of being too close to hardline Salafi groups, while Salafis who complain Ennahda is failing to defend Islamic values. Ennahda rejects the charges from both sides.

Ennahda party won 42 percent of seats in 2011 elections but formed a government in coalition with two secular parties, the president's Congress for the Republic and Ettakatol.

Marzouki's party threatened on Sunday to withdraw from the government unless it dropped two Islamist ministers.

The opposition threatened unspecified retribution for the killing, that Ennahda president Rached Gannouchi condemned as "aimed at the democratic process of democratic transition". ‮‮‮‮‮‮ ‬‬‬‬‬‬ "The opposition will take historic decisions in response to this cowardly act", Maya Jribi secretary-general of the secularist Republican Party.

(Writing by Alison Williams; Editing by Jon Boyle)

(This story was corrected to fix typo in the third paragraph)

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Thousands of Indonesian workers protest for better conditions

JAKARTA : In Indonesia, thousands of workers took to the streets in five major cities including the nation's capital Jakarta on Wednesday.

Those in Jakarta, who were mostly from the Federation of Metal Workers' Union, made several demands including having universal healthcare and their right to protest.

They are demanding that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issue a presidential decree that would lead to universal health insurance for all Indonesians by 2019.

This health insurance programme has been approved and will start as of 2014 but the Presidential decree required has yet to be issued.

Said Iqbal, President, Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers' Union, said: "If a government regulation and Presidential decree, which was supposed to be issued last November, is not introduced then steps for universal healthcare cannot begin. That's why the government is obliged to introduce the necessary regulations by late February, which includes guaranteeing that employers pay for their workers' insurance premium fees and that the poor will be able to receive government's healthcare."

One of the other demands made is a guarantee for a pension fund for labour workers from 2015

The workers are also calling for the provincial government to raise the number of components in the reasonable cost index from around 60 to 80 components.

This index is used as a benchmark to determine minimum wage increases for next year.

The workers are also objecting to two bills on national security and social organisation being deliberated in Parliament

They claim that if these two bills are passed then it will curb their right to protest in the streets citing security reasons.

If their demands are not met, the next major rally will be on 26 February by the Indonesian Labour Workers Association, the biggest labour union in Indonesia.

The union has warned that if its demands are not met by the end of April, then there will be an all out labour rally across the nation on Labour Day, 1st May.

- CNA/ch

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Women don't feel safe in Delhi: Sheila

NEW DELHI: Women do not feel safe in Delhi, chief minister Sheila Dikshit admitted Wednesday.

"Women don't feel safe in Delhi. Fears have risen. I'm shocked to learn about the Lajpat Nagar attempted rape case. It's a big setback for us," she said referring to the rape bid on a 19-year-old woman Tuesday.

The Class IX student fought off the rape bid in her own house by an electricity contractor, who thrust an iron rod into her throat to quell her cries for help. The accused has been arrested.

However, the chief minister promised to do everything possible to provide safety to women.

"My government will do everything possible to provide a conducive atmosphere for the women in the city," Dikshit said.

But CPM leader Brinda Karat criticized Dikshit.

"It is clear that women in Delhi are insecure. The chief minister is speaking the truth. But it is surely not enough. What is her responsibility as chief minister?

"Women's security issues have become political football between central and state government. Chief minister blames Delhi Police; central government defends police. It's a shame."

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Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.

With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until there's a ruling on their lawsuit seeking to block it altogether. The measure would bar many eateries from selling high-sugar drinks in cups or containers bigger than 16 ounces.

"It would be a tremendous waste of expense, time, and effort for our members to incur all of the harm and costs associated with the ban if this court decides that the ban is illegal," Chong Sik Le, president of the New York Korean-American Grocers Association, said in court papers filed Friday.

City lawyers are fighting the lawsuit and oppose postponing the restriction, which the city Board of Health approved in September. They said Tuesday they expect to prevail.

"The obesity epidemic kills nearly 6,000 New Yorkers each year. We see no reason to delay the Board of Health's reasonable and legal actions to combat this major, growing problem," Mark Muschenheim, a city attorney, said in a statement.

Another city lawyer, Thomas Merrill, has said officials believe businesses have had enough time to get ready for the new rule. He has noted that the city doesn't plan to seek fines until June.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials see the first-of-its-kind limit as a coup for public health. The city's obesity rate is rising, and studies have linked sugary drinks to weight gain, they note.

"This is the biggest step a city has taken to curb obesity," Bloomberg said when the measure passed.

Soda makers and other critics view the rule as an unwarranted intrusion into people's dietary choices and an unfair, uneven burden on business. The restriction won't apply at supermarkets and many convenience stores because the city doesn't regulate them.

While the dispute plays out in court, "the impacted businesses would like some more certainty on when and how they might need to adjust operations," American Beverage Industry spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger said Tuesday.

Those adjustments are expected to cost the association's members about $600,000 in labeling and other expenses for bottles, Vice President Mike Redman said in court papers. Reconfiguring "16-ounce" cups that are actually made slightly bigger, to leave room at the top, is expected to take cup manufacturers three months to a year and cost them anywhere from more than $100,000 to several millions of dollars, Foodservice Packaging Institute President Lynn Dyer said in court documents.

Movie theaters, meanwhile, are concerned because beverages account for more than 20 percent of their overall profits and about 98 percent of soda sales are in containers greater than 16 ounces, according to Robert Sunshine, executive director of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York State.

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Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

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Lance Armstrong Under Criminal Investigation

Federal investigators are in the midst of an active criminal investigation of disgraced former Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, ABC News has learned.

The revelation comes in stark contrast to statements made by the U.S. Attorney for Southern California, Andre Birotte, who addressed his own criminal inquiry of Armstrong for the first time publicly on Tuesday. Birotte's office spent nearly two years investigating Armstrong for crimes reportedly including drug distribution, fraud and conspiracy -- only to suddenly drop the case on the Friday before the Super Bowl last year.

Sources at the time said that agents had recommended an indictment and could not understand why the case was suddenly dropped.

Today, a high level source told ABC News, "Birotte does not speak for the federal government as a whole."

According to the source, who agreed to speak on the condition that his name and position were not used because of the sensitivity of the matter, "Agents are actively investigating Armstrong for obstruction, witness tampering and intimidation."

An email to an attorney for Armstrong was not immediately returned.

READ MORE: Lance Armstrong May Have Lied to Winfrey: Investigators

AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski, File

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Earlier Tuesday, during a Department of Justice news conference on another matter, Birotte was confronted with the Armstrong question unexpectedly. The following is a transcript of that exchange:

Q: Mr. Birotte, given the confession of Lance Armstrong to all the things --

Birotte: (Off mic.)

Q: -- to all thethings that you, in the end, decided you couldn't bring a case about, can you give us your thoughts on that case now and whether you might take another look at it?

Birotte: We made a decision on that case, I believe, a little over a year ago. Obviously we've been well-aware of the statements that have been made by Mr. Armstrong and other media reports. That has not changed my view at this time. Obviously, we'll consider, we'll continue to look at the situation, but that hasn't changed our view as I stand here today.

The source said that Birotte is not in the loop on the current criminal inquiry, which is being run out of another office.

Armstrong confessed to lying and using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

READ MORE: Armstrong Admits to Doping

WATCH: Armstrong's Many Denials Caught on Tape

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Investigators are not concerned with the drug use, but Armstrong's behavior in trying to maintain his secret by allegedly threatening and interfering with potential witnesses.

Armstrong is currently serving a lifetime ban in sport handed down by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. He has been given a Feb. 6 deadline to tell all under oath to investigators or lose his last chance at a possible break on the lifetime ban.

PHOTOS: Olympic Doping Scandals: Past and Present

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Iran's Ahmadinejad in Egypt on historic visit

CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Egypt on Tuesday on the first trip by an Iranian president since the 1979 revolution, underlining a thaw in relations since Egyptians elected an Islamist head of state.

President Mohamed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood politician elected in June, kissed Ahmadinejad as he disembarked from his plane at Cairo airport. The leaders walked down a red carpet, Ahmadinejad smiling as he shook hands with waiting dignitaries.

Visiting Cairo to attend an Islamic summit that begins on Wednesday, the president of the Shi'ite Islamist republic is due to meet later on Tuesday with the grand sheikh of al-Azhar, one of the oldest seats of learning in the Sunni world.

Such a 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 visit.

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 in Egypt will result in a full restoration of diplomatic ties between states whose relations were broken off after the Iranian revolution and the conclusion of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

OBSTACLES TO FULL TIES

At the airport the two leaders discussed ways of boosting relations between their countries 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.

The Mursi administration also wants to safeguard relations with Gulf Arab states that are supporting Cairo's battered state finances and are deeply suspicious of Iran.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr reassured Gulf Arab allies that Egypt would not jeopardize their security.

"The security of the Gulf states is the security of Egypt," he told the official MENA news agency, in response to questions about Cairo's opening to Iran and its impact on other states in the region.

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

His government has established close ties with Hamas, a movement backed by Iran and shunned by the West because of its hostility to Israel, but its priority is addressing Egypt's deep economic problems.

"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.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of preparatory meetings for the two-day Islamic summit, 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 said. Asked where he saw room for closer ties, he said: "Trade and economics."

Ahmadinejad's visit to Egypt follows Mursi's visit to Iran in August for a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, head of the 1,000-year-old al-Azhar mosque and university, will meet Ahmadinejad at his offices in mediaeval Islamic Cairo, al-Azhar's media office said.

Salehi, the Iranian foreign Minister, stressed the importance of Muslim unity when he met Sheikh al-Tayeb at al-Azhar last month.

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 by the 1979 Iranian revolution. He is buried in a medieval Cairo mosque alongside his ex-brother-in-law, Egypt's last king, Farouk.

(Additional reporting by Ayman Samir and Alexander Diadosz; Editing by Andrew Roche and Paul Taylor)

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Ahmadinejad starts historic Egypt visit

CAIRO: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Cairo on Tuesday, marking the first visit to Egypt by an Iranian president since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Egyptian television footage showed.

Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi welcomed Ahmadinejad at Cairo airport as he disembarked from the plane, the footage showed.

Ahmadinejad, who is on a three-day visit, will attend an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation conference in Cairo and will hold talks with Egyptian officials, Iranian media said ahead of the trip.

Before leaving Tehran, Ahmadinejad told reporters that during his visit he would work towards strengthening bilateral ties with Cairo.

"I will try to pave the ground for developing cooperation between Iran and Egypt," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Without elaborating, he said the visit would "definitely influence the bilateral ties" between Tehran and Cairo.

Tehran severed ties with Cairo in 1980 in protest at a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel by then Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.

But Egypt has responded cautiously to Iranian efforts to revive ties since Morsi took power in 2012, with the two nations adopting opposing positions on the Syrian conflict.

Iran supports the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Egypt has been a leading voice in urging his departure -- along with regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.

"If Tehran and Cairo see more eye to eye on regional and international issues, many (issues) will change," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

- AFP/fa

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Police organize wedding of ex-Maoists

GADCHIROLI: For a change, police put aside their guns and batons and put up a grand wedding for two former Maoists who had surrendered, an official said here on Tuesday.

The wedding - with over 500 villagers, top police, security and civil officials in attendance - was performed with traditional pomp and decor at a private marriage hall here Monday, police spokesperson Dharmendra Joshi said.

"We organised the sumptuous wedding lunch, the 'mangalsutra' for the bride, the decorations, a wedding band and the traditional wedding gift of utensils to enable the newly-married couple set up their home," Joshi told IANS as the celebrations continued till the early hours of Tuesday.

He said the newly-married couple Santosh Kola, 24, and his bride Shanta Kudiyami, 23, were former Maoists from Nayanaguda and Yechali of Gadchiroli district.

After they surrendered, the duo said that they were in love and wanted to get married.

Santosh, a deputy commander of a Maoist outfit (Platoon 3), said in his post-surrender statement that marriages were not allowed in the extremist organisation and that men and women were made sterile.

Shanta was a member of the outfit Perimili Dalam.

The marriage preparations started a few days ago with many police and security personnel lending a helping hand to both families.

Security forces maintained a tight vigil to ward off any "unexpected guests" from the nearby forests, which are notorious for Maoist activities in Gadchiroli district.

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Bullying study: It does get better for gay teens

CHICAGO (AP) — It really does get better for gay and bisexual teens when it comes to being bullied, although young gay men have it worse than their lesbian peers, according to the first long-term scientific evidence on how the problem changes over time.

The seven-year study involved more than 4,000 teens in England who were questioned yearly through 2010, until they were 19 and 20 years old. At the start, just over half of the 187 gay, lesbian and bisexual teens said they had been bullied; by 2010 that dropped to 9 percent of gay and bisexual boys and 6 percent of lesbian and bisexual girls.

The researchers said the same results likely would be found in the United States.

In both countries, a "sea change" in cultural acceptance of gays and growing intolerance for bullying occurred during the study years, which partly explains the results, said study co-author Ian Rivers, a psychologist and professor of human development at Brunel University in London.

That includes a government mandate in England that schools work to prevent bullying, and changes in the United States permitting same-sex marriage in several states.

In 2010, syndicated columnist Dan Savage launched the "It Gets Better" video project to encourage bullied gay teens. It was prompted by widely publicized suicides of young gays, and includes videos from politicians and celebrities.

"Bullying tends to decline with age regardless of sexual orientation and gender," and the study confirms that, said co-author Joseph Robinson, a researcher and assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. "In absolute terms, this would suggest that yes, it gets better."

The study appears online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, said the results mirror surveys by her anti-bullying advocacy group that show bullying is more common in U.S. middle schools than in high schools.

But the researchers said their results show the situation is more nuanced for young gay men.

In the first years of the study, gay boys and girls were almost twice as likely to be bullied as their straight peers. By the last year, bullying dropped overall and was at about the same level for lesbians and straight girls. But the difference between men got worse by ages 19 and 20, with gay young men almost four times more likely than their straight peers to be bullied.

The mixed results for young gay men may reflect the fact that masculine tendencies in girls and women are more culturally acceptable than femininity in boys and men, Robinson said.

Savage, who was not involved in the study, agreed.

"A lot of the disgust that people feel when you bring up homosexuality ... centers around gay male sexuality," Savage said. "There's more of a comfort level" around gay women, he said.

Kendall Johnson, 21, a junior theater major at the University of Illinois, said he was bullied for being gay in high school, mostly when he brought boyfriends to school dances or football games.

"One year at prom, I had a guy tell us that we were disgusting and he didn't want to see us dancing anymore," Johnson said. A football player and the president of the drama club intervened on his behalf, he recalled.

Johnson hasn't been bullied in college, but he said that's partly because he hangs out with the theater crowd and avoids the fraternity scene. Still, he agreed, that it generally gets better for gays as they mature.

"As you grow older, you become more accepting of yourself," Johnson said.

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Online:

Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org

It Gets Better: http://www.itgetsbetter.org

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AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

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