Medvedev: Brazilian visit could be last chance for Tehran

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's visit to Iran this weekend could be the last opportunity to reach an agreement with Tehran and to avoid U.N. Security Council sanctions, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday.

"Given that my friend President Lula is an optimist, I will also be an optimist, and estimate it [the probability of his successful mission to Tehran] at 30 percent," Medvedev said with a chuckle. He spoke in a televised joint press conference with Lula after Russian-Brazilian talks in Moscow.

"I am very much counting on the mission of the Brazilian president to be successful," he added, switching to a serious tone.

"This could be the last chance before the U.N. Security Council makes the already known decisions," Medvedev said, referring to the U.N. decision on imposing sanctions against Iran.

"Yesterday, we discussed this issue on the phone with the United States president, bearing in mind that we need a consolidated position on this issue. And I said that, in my opinion, it is necessary to give the Brazilian president an opportunity to use the entire set of arguments that the international community has at the moment, to persuade Iran to begin cooperating," Medvedev said.

"If there are no changes [in the Iranian position], if attempts to persuade Iran in favor of relevant forms of cooperation fail, then the international community will be compelled to act according to the approaches that are also being discussed by the sextet. I would not like the situation to develop that way. Nevertheless, I can't exclude it."

The sextet refers to the six nations that have been dealing with the Iran nuclear issue - China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Brazilian president, for his part, said: "I am going there realizing that the dialogue that will take place is vital and I will try to use all my power of persuasion in this dialogue," according to the translation on the Kremlin website. "I will try to do my best to arrive at some sort of an agreement. I am flying to Iran convinced that we will find it".

The Brazilian president said that it is his goal to persuade his counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to cooperate with the international community.

"With every day bringing the talks in Iran closer, I am becoming a greater optimist," Lula said. "I was an optimist yesterday, and I am much more of an optimist today. And probably I will be an even greater optimist after meeting President Ahmadinejad".

Medvedev noted that currently there are few differences among the sextet of mediators on the Iranian nuclear problem, calling their approach a "consolidated" one.

"The general approaches are invariable, and virtually all countries adhere to them," he said.

"Firstly, Iran's nuclear program must be peaceful. Secondly, it should be controlled by the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]. Thirdly, Iran must cooperate with the international community and the IAEA, and in the fourth place, Iran must observe the rules concerning the non-proliferation of nuclear technologies," Medvedev said.

The Russian and U.S. presidents discussed various bilateral and international issues in a phone call on Thursday that lasted for more than an hour and a half, according to the Kremlin press office. Medvedev and President Barack Obama discussed Iran's nuclear problem in detail, it said.

CNN

Death sentence over China kindergarten attack

Beijing, China (CNN) -- A court in eastern China sentenced a man to death Saturday for attacking 29 kindergarten students and three teachers with a knife, state-run media said.

The Taixing Intermediate People's Court found Xu Yuyuan, 47, guilty of intentional homicide after a half-day trial, Xinhua news agency said.

Xu told the court that his rage against society motivated him in the April 29 attacks, according to Xinhua. But he appealed the death sentence, arguing that the punishment was too severe since no one died in the attacks, Xinhua said.

Chinese penal code says a person can be convicted of intentional homicide for acting on an intent to kill, the news agency reported.

A police probe found Xu had been unemployed since 2001, when he was fired by a local insurance company. He told police he carried out the attack because he was angry about a series of business and personal humiliations, Xinhua said.

About 300 people attended Saturday's open trial, according to Xinhua.

Xu's sentence was the second death penalty conviction after a recent spate of school attacks that have prompted public outrage across China.

Zheng Minsheng, 42, was sentenced to death and executed on April 28 for attacking students in front of an elementary school in Fujian province, killing eight and wounding several others. Zheng also used a knife in the attacks, Xinhua reported.

Authorities said Zheng carried out the attack because he was frustrated at "failures in his romantic life," the news agency said.

At least four other such attacks on school children in China have been reported since March.

Guns are strictly regulated in China, but until recently large knives were not. Chinese authorities have recently issued a regulation requiring people to register with their national ID cards when they buy knives longer that 15 centimeters.

Other measures have been put in place.

In April, the Ministry of Education ordered kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools to restrict strangers from entering the campuses. The ministry instructed schools across the country to hire security guards, install security facilities and ensure that pupils were escorted home. Schools were also urged to teach pupils to how to protect themselves.

In some schools, security guards have been armed with "forks," long poles with semi-circular prongs that can be used to fight assailants.

CNN

Arson attack on Muhammad artist’s home

Police have launched an investigation into arson after the home in southern Sweden of controversial artist Lars Vilks sustained fire damage on Friday night

Vilks was not at his home in Nyhamnsläge at the time of the attack. An acquaintance of the artist discovered the damage on Saturday morning. Windows had been smashed, there was minor fire damage to the front of the house and plastic bottles filled with petrol were found inside the property, local newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad reports. 

Police said the house was empty and the fire had dissipated of its own accord. A forensic examination was carried out on Saturday morning. 

“We’ve launched a preliminary investigation into arson,” police spokeswoman Sofie Österheim told news agency TT. 

The embattled artist, who was physically attacked at a lecture theatre in Uppsala earlier in the week, said he was now considering moving from his home. 

“I don’t think I can live here full time. It’s obvious this is a high risk area. I guess I’ll just be here at certain times,” Vilks told TT. 

The artist left the house at 10.30pm on Friday and was not aware of the damage until the morning. 

“It wasn't all that bad from a purely material perspective. They’ve broken window panes and set fire to a curtain by sticking a hand through a window,” said Vilks.

“It’s not so pleasant but I’ve become hardened. I get threats all the time but it’s hard to assess what’s behind it”.

In this case, Vilks believed the perpetrators were amateurs. 

"These are the kind of people who drive off with some petrol and try to start a fire. But one thing can lead to another".

Vilks has had a $100,000 bounty on his head from an Al-Qaeda-linked group since the publication of his drawing of the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a dog in 2007.

TT

The Local SE

Care at Warrior Transition Units: a work in progress

By Alexandra Hemmerly-Brown

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 13, 2010) -- Top Army leaders say finding the correct equation to caring for wounded Soldiers is an evolving concept -- one that will continue to change as treatment methods are examined. 

In a visit to the Fort Carson, Colo., Warrior Transition Battalion Monday, Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, vice chief of staff of the Army, said he is proud of what Warrior Transition Units have accomplished so far. 

"Will the Warrior Transition Unit model change over time? There's no doubt about it," said Chiarelli. "But," he continued, "I think we're doing better than we've ever done before ... and it is such a vast improvement".

Chiarelli's visit to Fort Carson was largely in response to a New York Times article that was published last month which berated the WTU process with claims of incompetent care, over-medicating, drug addiction, and harsh treatment by cadre. The article also alleged that the Army was "warehousing" wounded Soldiers. 

While Chiarelli admitted he was hurt by some of the accusations, he said most of the issues addressed were already known concerns, and any shortcomings will be examined. 

"My biggest concern is that this same story could have been told at any of the other 28 WTUs," said Chiarelli. "But every time an article like that is written, we learn something".

Chiarelli defended the units saying that most Soldiers transitioning out of WTUs are happy with the care they received, and that only a small percentage of discontented Soldiers were represented in the story.

"Our own studies that we do monthly show Fort Carson as one of our best WTUs, with over a 90 percent rate of satisfaction with the care that Soldiers are getting there," Chiarelli explained.

Current Soldiers at the Fort Carson WTB got the chance to voice their opinions.

"I was surprised by the article," said 1st Lt. Jason Mazzella, a field artillery officer who was injured in Afghanistan. "I didn't experience any of the negative points that were brought up; I've had a good experience going through the entire process".

Spc. Manuel Rodriguez agreed and said that he thought the criticisms exacerbated the situation.

"In my opinion, I thought it was completely blown out of proportion, and it addressed issues that the command has been aware of over a long period of time," said Rodriguez. "I think it's ridiculous to expect so much from a brand new unit ... if you were to go out and start a corporation, would it be impeccable after two years? Of course not".

Launched in 2007, WTUs were formed in response to an influx of Soldiers with physical and psychological injuries and illnesses. At the time, Soldiers needing on-going outpatient medical care were put on medical hold and largely left to navigate appointments and schedules on their own. After hearing complaints, the Army realized something needed to change.

As part of the Warrior Transition Command, more than 9,000 Soldiers in 29 WTUs throughout the country now receive individualized care based on a personally-tailored comprehensive transition plan. Soldiers meeting the criteria of needing six or more months of supervised, continuous medical attention are entered into the program, where the focus is on the future -- either transitioning back to their units, or out of the Army. A team of physicians, case managers, behavioral health specialists and cadre assist the Soldiers in their recovery.

"We're doing things differently than the way we did in past wars," said Brig. Gen. Gary Cheek, commander of the Warrior Transition Command, but he confessed, "We have no illusions that this is a perfect program".

A top challenge that WTU staff face is the treatment of Soldiers with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. Sixty percent of the 483 Soldiers at the Fort Carson WTB suffer from some kind of behavioral health issue.

While the Army has become proficient in "fixing" physical injuries, Chiarelli explained that when dealing with psychological wounds, the arena is completely different.

"When it comes to injuries of the mind, we can't just lob it off and replace it with another one," he said. "There's so much we don't know about the brain".

He added that many of the Soldiers returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have some degree of post-traumatic stress, but the stigma attached with asking for help and recognizing that help is needed is often an obstacle. Chiarelli said he thinks the Army is catching the worst cases of Soldiers with PTS and TBI, but the challenge is getting those who have less traumatic cases help. 

"It is hard for someone to believe that something you can't see is a no-kidding, real injury," Chiarelli said of PTS. "It's really complicated. Seemingly there's nothing wrong with the person from the outside ... these are invisible wounds. And that's why it's so hard for us to change the culture of the Army".

Addressing the allegations of drug addiction and over-medication, Chiarelli explained that drug use is not just a problem in the Army; it's a problem in society. He added that WTUs are alcohol-free zones, chiefly because most prescription medications become dangerous when combined with alcohol.

Even though alcohol isn't allowed, Chiarelli said mixing prescription drugs with alcohol is the leading cause of overdoses in WTUs. He also outlined the electronic medication management system used for high-risk cases which dispenses pills only at prescribed times and doses, used to cut down on any chance for overdose. 

One Fort Carson WTB Soldier and his wife know firsthand the challenges of working toward recovery. 

"We've had our share of problems, but I do see improvement in the WTU," said Teresa Mischke, who has been the primary care-giver for her husband, Sgt. Darren Mischke, a TBI patient. 

"I think the Army has been delivered a huge problem, because TBI and PTS are such a horrible combination," she said. "But WTUs were created to help find solutions". 

Teresa said that at times she worried about speaking up on Darren's behalf, wondering if anyone would listen, and admitted that she stepped on some toes in the process. 

"I think at times we've all felt overwhelmed, not knowing where to go in the system," Teresa said. "I've had to advocate for him when he couldn't".

Teresa said it is important for all Soldiers in the WTU program to speak up when they believe something isn't right in their treatment, because it helps to fix inconsistencies. 

Sgt. Jerrald Jensen, who recently returned to his active-duty unit from the WTB agreed, but said it's key to remember that the concept of the WTU is a pilot. 

"I have a lot of better things to do than sit around and write lists of complaints," he said. Jensen suffered injuries in an IED attack in Iraq, now has a reconstructed jaw, and much of his face is damaged. He is currently helping Soldiers in his unit train for another deployment. 

"Nobody can make someone else get better mentally," Jensen said. 

Sgt. Brandon Daggs, who is being treated for a rare form of cancer, said that as Soldiers, they are being taken care of in more ways that people can imagine. 

"I laid on my back going through cancer treatments for two years, and it was dark, but I get out here [Fort Carson] and I'm up, doing physical training, rock climbing, hanging out with new friends ... I'm here healing," said Daggs. 

He also touched on the allegations of drug addictions within WTUs. Daggs gave the example of a 20-year-old Soldier who has gone through something traumatic in a war zone, and is sent back home without properly adjusting. 

"It's hard to get a 20-year-old kid to really look down inside and put a flashlight on his deep-dark demons and want to put a band aid on that," he said. 

Daggs said that often young Soldiers come back from combat physically in one piece, but are suffering inside. 

"If you aren't willing to fix the problem, then you are just going to look for ways to cover it up," he said, referring to drug use. 

Against the claims of harsh treatment by the unit noncommissioned officers, Chiarelli explained that cadre are specially screened for the job and put thorough a specific training program on how to look after WTU Soldiers. 

He said there may be some noncommissioned officers who have a hard time making the transition from running a platoon in combat to leading people who are all suffering from issues that require special care. 

"No one came into the Army to do this job," explained Chiarelli. But he maintained that any NCOs found not right for the task are reassigned.

"I know in my heart of hearts that we are doing the best we can," he said.

Chiarelli stressed that every case in each WTU is unique and comes with its own challenges, so it is impossible to assign a broad treatment, leadership or transition method to all Soldiers.

"In a lot of units, things are black and white. That's not the case here".

U.S. Army

Teen fatally stabbed in Hamburg S-Bahn station

A 19-year-old man has died after he was stabbed during a conflict with a group of five teenagers at an S-Bahn train station in Hamburg, the police said on Saturday

The young man was waiting for the S-Bahn at the Jungfernstieg station with a friend, aged 17, when he was approached by one member of the group on Friday evening. 

“The four other youths followed, and a short, verbal fight broke out,” Hamburg police said in a statement. 

According to police, video footage shows the five-person group then set off for the U2 metro train platform, where they were involved in an altercation with another man wearing blue jeans and a white shirt. Police are urgently looking to contact him as a potential witness. 

Following the dispute, the group returned to the S-Bahn platform, where they encountered the 19-year-old man and his friend. A fight broke out and the victim was stabbed in his torso. 

Police said the mortally wounded young man and his friend escaped toward the U-Bahn train platform, where the victim collapsed. 

“Attempts at resuscitation by paramedics called [to the scene] were unsuccessful,” the police statement read. 

Police are searching for five teenagers between the ages of 17 and 18, between 170 and 178 centimetres in height, or between 5’7” and 5’10”, and of slender body type. A police spokesman said extensive high-quality video footage of the incident was available.

DDP/DPA

The Local DE

Kagan's abortion stance has both sides guessing

The Supreme Court nominee sounded like a staunch liberal in a 1980 essay, but pushed for compromise on a 1997 ban on late-term abortions

By Christi Parsons and James Oliphant, Tribune Washington Bureau

Reporting from Washington and Little Rock, Ark.

In college Elena Kagan wrote an essay lamenting Republican gains in the 1980 election and referring to candidates backed by the Moral Majority as "avengers of 'innocent life' and the B-1 bomber".

Now that Kagan stands as a nominee to join the Supreme Court, some conservatives believe the 30-year-old remark may reveal a personal animosity toward their side of the abortion rights cause.

But liberal activists also wonder about Kagan's position. They point to memos she wrote as a policy staffer in the Clinton White House urging President Clinton to take a compromise position on some late-term abortions.

President Obama's advisors say he has no doubt that Kagan is a legal progressive who will maintain the current balance of the court if confirmed to replace the retiring liberal John Paul Stevens. But with the constitutional right to an abortion apparently hanging by just one vote on the court, Kagan's record is giving pause to both sides.

The essay Kagan wrote after the 1980 election for the Daily Princetonian, her college newspaper, indicates that on the brink of her career she was a committed liberal.

She wrote of her immediate reaction to Ronald Reagan's election that "the world had gone mad, that liberalism was dead and that there was no longer any place for the ideals we held or the beliefs we espoused," according to a copy of the essay republished this week by the Princeton newspaper.

"Even after the returns came in, I found it hard to conceive of the victories of these anonymous but Moral Majority-backed opponents," she wrote, "these avengers of 'innocent life' and the B-1 bomber, these beneficiaries of a general turn to the right and a profound disorganization on the left".

In those words, and in their punctuation, conservatives detect a personal dislike.

"Did she mean to express such contempt, or did she have something else in mind?" asked Douglas Johnson, the longtime legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee. "Does she still hold the same attitude? And can she set it aside when viewing legislative enactments, not only in the area of abortion, but others as well?"

Liberal activists wonder whether Kagan may in fact be too good at setting aside the personal conviction she held as a 20-year-old student. Their questions arise from advice she gave as a domestic policy advisor to Clinton in 1997, when he was considering a Democratic version of a ban on some late-term abortions as a way to kill a stronger measure that was picking up steam in the Senate at the time.

According to files at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Ark., Kagan and her supervisor sent Clinton a memo urging him to get behind the ban sponsored by Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota. They suggested the move would give Democratic senators something to vote for and thus provide them with political cover to stand with the president when he vetoed the stricter Republican measure.

Clinton followed the advice, the strategy worked and his veto survived.

Today, liberal activists hope senators push Kagan on the topic during her confirmation hearings. NARAL Pro-Choice America, for example, has reserved its endorsement until its leaders learn more.

Kagan has a lifelong record of looking for common ground among opponents, such as the compromise she suggested to Clinton. The 30-year-old Princetonian essay offers a hint that she already harbored a pragmatic streak.

Though her column ultimately predicts the next few years would be "marked by American disillusionment with conservative programs and solutions," the ambitious young liberal still had cause for sadness.

"Self-pity still sneaks up," she wrote, "and I wonder how all this could possibly have happened and where on earth I'll be able to get a job next year".

Los Angeles Times

On the scene: Bangkok at boiling point

By Sara Sidner, CNN

Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- We arrive with camera in tow on the back on motorcycles -- the fastest way into the protest zone.

There is no traffic but the street named for a Thai King, Rama 4, isn't empty. Several piles of tires have been strewn about and set on fire. We watch thick black smoke billowing upwards.

At one end of the street protesters stand behind barricades made built from barbed wire, tires and sharpened bamboo sticks. At the other end Thai troops stand underneath an overpass. In the middle a few young men wheel huge tires into the road.

'Live fire zone' declared amid Bangkok bloodshed

There are also regular folks standing along some of the side-streets eating, talking, but mostly watching what is going on in their neighborhood.

We can see the flash of small firecrackers in the air and hear their sharp crack. We can also hear the sound of gunshots mixing with loud blasts.

Suddenly the neighborhood crowds start to run. A man is down. There is yelling. Men crowd around a body on the ground. Someone has been shot. We run towards the area most are running away from. The man is clearly unconscious, clotted blood oozing from his abdomen area. People are trying to help him. They are lifting him. He is heavy and they drop him.

Within seconds an ambulance screeches up. He is picked up on an orange stretcher, put into the back of the ambulance and whisked away.

iReport: Are you there? Send your images, video

People tap us and start pointing to Lumpini Tower a high-rise building in front of us on Rama 4 road where all this is happening. "Snipers, snipers get down," they tell us in Thai.

If snipers are there, we can't see them. Then another crack from somewhere. Another person hit. This time it's a woman. She is bleeding but conscious. Her foot has been injured. The ambulance arrives in a flash. She is taken away. The numbers of injured steadily increase throughout the day.

The Thai government promised to step up security measures in the area taken over by the "Red Shirt" protesters. It appears the government has kept its promise.

The military said it would increase the pressure on the protesters but that it had no intention of harming anyone. The protesters clearly blame the army for the deadly force. There is no way to know for sure who exactly is doing the shooting but neither of the people we saw injured were armed.

The sun is quickly going down on Bangkok but the situation in the commercial district is at boiling point yet again. This is no place to be. We jump on our motorcycle taxis and move out. But as we leave the question lingers: When will all this end?

CNN