Hopes fade for Indonesian tsunami survivors

Hopes are fading for 334 people still registered missing after Monday's tsunami in Indonesia, as the death toll climbs to 370.

Disaster official Ade Edward says the 3m (10ft) surge is likely to have carried many of the missing out to sea, or buried them in the sand.

The first major aid ships reached the worst-hit Mentawai Islands on Thursday.

The government has pledged millions of dollars for the relief effort, but activists say more needs to be done.

Aid agencies said people on the islands still urgently needed to food and shelter, three days after a 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake triggered the tsunami.

Indonesia is also struggling with the devastation caused by this week's eruption of Mount Merapi in central Java, which killed more than 30 people.

BBC News

'Botox Bandit' gets 5 years for burglaries

SANTA ANA, Calif., Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A Southern California woman dubbed the "Botox Bandit" was sentenced to five years in prison for burglary, fraud and identity theft.

Melissa Chesney, 46, who used fraudulent checks to pay for more than $3,000 worth of Botox treatments, pleaded guilty to 21 felony counts, including nine counts of burglary, five counts of identity theft, four counts of forgery, two counts of grand theft and one count of possession of a controlled substance.

Chesney admitted using fake identities and fraudulent checks at six Orange County, Calif., salons and spas between February and May 2009 for Botulinum toxin, or Botox, treatments to smooth frown lines and brow furrows, the district attorney's office said, adding she earned the "Botox Bandit" nickname for "committing fraud in search of a wrinkle-free face".

Chesney also admitted committing burglary and grand theft against a Kohl's Corp. department store in January 2009, and burglary, forgery, possession of a fraudulent California driver's license and possession of the psychoactive stimulant methamphetamine while trying to defraud a software store in February 2009.

UPI

BPA linked to problems with sperm quality

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A chemical used in common products and packaging and known to cause male impotence is linked to a lack of sperm quality and mobility, U.S. researchers say.

Bisphenol-A has been used to make plastic harder in products such as baby bottles, food containers, drink cans, mobile phone casings and tins of infant formula.

In earlier studies, BPA has been found to be an endocrine disrupter that in large amounts can interfere with the release of hormones, contributing to low sex drive, impotence and DNA damage in sperm, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.

Now a five-year study by Kaiser Permanente of 514 male workers in Chinese factories by Kaiser Permanente has found a link between levels of BPA in the blood and male fertility, the British newspaper said.

Researchers found men with higher urine BPA levels were two to four times more at risk of having poor semen quality, including low sperm concentration, low sperm vitality and mobility.

And the amount of BPA in the blood appeared inversely proportional to sperm quality.

UPI

Boy, 7, says he got bullets at school

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A Las Vegas woman says her 7-year-old son was suspended when he and his father turned over ammunition the boy had been given by another child.

Sabrina Palafox told KLAS-TV the other boy, also a student at Ruthe Deskin Elementary School, warned her son not to talk about the ammunition. But she says her son did the right thing, showing her the bullets when he got home from school Monday.

Her son was suspended Tuesday morning for carrying dangerous objects on the school bus.

"He shouldn't have accepted the bullets, but where is the 'good job' at? You did a good job telling your parent," Palafox said. "Now we know, because the school, the principal, the assistant principal, the bus driver, none of them had a clue what was going on".

Officials in the Clark County School District told KLAS it is district policy to suspend students while an incident is under investigation even if they are found not to be at fault. Palafox said there will be a parent-teacher conference next week.

UPI

'Bag of bones' woman dies in Caribbean

WESTON-SUPER-MARE, England, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A divorced British woman who moved to the Dominican Republic in 2006 with $318,000 in savings mysteriously died of starvation this month, her mother said.

Virginia Owen, a 48-year-old former shop manager from Newbury, moved to an apartment in Sosua in the Dominican Republic with her life savings after her 15-year marriage collapsed, The Sun reported Thursday.

Owen's mother, Rosemary Walkley of Weston-Super-Mare, said she became concerned five months ago when e-mails from her daughter became sinister and threatening, and she could hear her daughter crying in pain on the telephone, the British newspaper said.

Walkley said she sent Owen's brother Daniel, 40, to check on her. He arrived Oct. 13 to find his sister emaciated and starving in the filthy apartment that had no food in it.

Daniel rushed Virginia to an American hospice where she died the next day, The Sun reported.

Walkley said she is showing the picture of her "bag of bones" daughter as a cautionary tale to other women.

UPI

U.S. intelligence budget tops $80 billion

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. government said Thursday spending on intelligence-gathering totaled $80.1 billion for the current fiscal year.

The last time the government voluntarily disclosed the intelligence budget was in 1998, when it was $26.7 billion -- indicating a tripling of the budget over 12 years, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"It is clear that the overall spending on intelligence has blossomed to an unacceptable level in the past decade," U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement. Feinstein heads the Senate intelligence committee, which sets the budget and oversees policy.

The intelligence-gathering budget surpassed spending on the Department of Homeland Security ($53 billion) and the Justice Department ($30 billion) this fiscal year and represents 12 percent of the total defense budget of $644 billion, the Times said.

UPI

Obama waives child soldier sanctions

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The Obama administration this week issued waivers of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act to four countries known to employ children in their militaries.

Chad, Sudan, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo were spared the cutoff of U.S. aid that the 2008 law, signed by President W. Bush and taking effect this year, would have provided because President Obama determined the waivers were in "the national interest," The New York Times reported.

Obama sent a memorandum Monday to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offering the "national interest" justification with no further explanation. But White House sources told the Times the law would have punished countries that are crucial in the fight against al-Qaida.

"Our intention is to work with them over the next year to try to solve this problem -- or at least make significant progress on it -- and reassess our posture towards them next year, depending on the progress they have made," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

Human-rights advocates decried the move.

UPI

Expired software license halts N.M. voting

SANTA FE, N.M., Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Early voting in New Mexico was temporarily disrupted when a voter-registration computer system was made inaccessible due to an expired license, officials said.

The secretary of state's office, responsible for maintaining the license, said the Tuesday night problem was fixed within an hour.

But most polls also closed within that same hour and some county clerks expressed frustration and concern that voters had been turned away less than a week before Tuesday's general election.

"We had voters in line that we couldn't process," Santa Fe Deputy County Clerk Denise Lamb told the Albuquerque Journal. "This is just totally unacceptable".

She said the secretary of state's office had been alerted to the licensing issue several months ago. She also said a similar issue occurred two years ago, during the 2008 general election.

Although voting resumed, county officials said the computer problems continued to delay the processing of various election reports.

UPI

Al-Shabaab executes 2 teenage girls

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Residents of a Somali town said they were forced to watch as al-Shabaab militants shot two teenage girls the group claimed were government spies.

A resident of Beledweyne in central Somalia who identified himself only as Ali told The Daily Telegraph the girls were shot in the back as they sat with their arms pinioned behind them in the central square.

"The group informed the population that a punishment was going to be carried out in public on two women they claimed had been found guilty of spying," Ali said. "I didn't know they were planning to shoot them.

"It was shocking. They looked so young. They looked so desperate, but no one could help".

Sheik Yusuf Ali Ugas, the al-Shabaab commander in the town, issued a statement calling the girls "evil" and saying they had admitted espionage, CNN reported.

"My cousin, Ayan Mohamed Jama, was just 16 years old and she was absolutely innocent," a relative told CNN.

He said the other girl was 15 and that the militants did not allow their families to talk to the girls before they were executed.

UPI

Argentines mourn former President Nestor Kirchner

Thousands have converged on Argentina's government palace to pay their respects to ex-President Nestor Kirchner, who died on Wednesday at 60.

His body is lying in state to allow people to file past in honour of the man who was president from 2003 to 2007.

His wife Cristina Fernandez and their children have been attending the wake.

Mr Kirchner, succeeded by his wife as president, was expected to run in the 2011 election.

Relatives, government ministers and politicians have participated in the wake, while a steady stream of Argentines have been filing into the government palace to pay their respects.

Many were carrying candles, flags and flowers. Some applauded, others shouted "Nestor, Nestor" and "Nestor is not dead, he will live on in the people," while walking past the coffin.

President Fernandez, dressed in black and wearing dark glasses, was joined at the wake by South American presidents and friends, including former soccer player Diego Maradona.

She placed a hand on her husband's flag-draped coffin, with their son and daughter standing next to her.

It was the leader's first appearance in public since her Mr Kirchner died of a heart attack Wednesday aged 60.

On Wednesday night, thousands took to the streets of Buenos Aires to voice their grief.

Mr Kirchner's supporters gathered in front of the government palace, the Casa Rosada or Pink House, waving Argentina's blue and white flag, lighting candles and leaving flowers.

Mr Kirchner had suffered health problems and had a heart operation last month but nevertheless his death shocked many in Argentina, where three days of national mourning were declared.

His body was flown back to the capital, Buenos Aires, early on Thursday from the southern town of Calafate, where he died in hospital with his wife by his side.

BBC News

Hezbollah's Nasrallah urges Hariri tribunal boycott

The head of the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah has urged his countrymen to boycott the UN tribunal into the 2005 killing of former PM Rafik Hariri.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah accused the investigators of sending information to Israel.

He had previously described the tribunal as part of an Israeli plot against Hezbollah.

The tribunal has not yet said who will be indicted.

"I call on every Lebanese official and every citizen to boycott these investigators and not to co-operate with them," said the Hezbollah chief.

"All the information and data and addresses (they get) is sent to Israel".

"From now on, any co-operation with the international investigators will be (considered as) helping them to attack [Hezbollah]," he added, in a video-linked speech broadcast on Hezbollah's al-Manar television channel.

His comments came a day after two tribunal investigators were attacked by a group of angry women at a gynaecology clinic in a Hezbollah-controlled suburb of Lebanon's capital, Beirut.

BBC News

'Sea turtles' reverse China's brain drain

Beijing, China (CNN) -- One constant challenge China faces as its economy continues to explode is finding talent -- people with the managerial, technical and creative savvy who can adapt to the country's distinct culture and working environment.

They find them at home, but they are not sufficient to meet the growing demand. They also find them among Chinese returning from overseas.

China currently sends more students abroad than any country in the world. Between 1972 and 2009, about 1.39 million Chinese went for further studies, according to official data.

In recent years, more than 400,000 of them returned home, lured by prospects of lucrative jobs and a familiar culture, says David Zweig, a professor of political science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology who is writing a book on this phenomenon. They are known colloquially as "haigui," or "sea turtles," because it sounds the same as the phrase "returned from overseas".

In the past, returning overseas Chinese students were a rarity and were much sought after.

CNN

Sicilian bandit's death re-examined

PALERMO, Italy, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Italian prosecutors hope to determine if the man buried in a Sicilian cemetery is really Salvatore Giuliano, supposedly killed by police in 1950.

Historian Giuseppe Casarrubea says he has found inconsistencies in the official story that suggest the body may not be Giuliano, Italian news agency ANSA reported. Many of his admirers have long believed Giuliano faked his death and began a new life.

The body buried as Giuliano was exhumed Thursday from a grave in Montelepre, near Palermo. Another autopsy is to be performed and investigators hope to obtain DNA to be matched against his relatives.

Palermo assistant chief prosecutor Antonio Ingroia said the body in the grave had already been autopsied and had injuries like those made by gunshots.

While officials have long regarded Giuliano as a criminal, his nephew, Salvatore Sciortino, says he was a leader of the movement to liberate Sicily.

UPI

Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend convicted in drug conspiracy

Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend-lawyer Howard K. Stern and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich were found guilty on two charges of conspiring to provide drugs to a known addict and using false names to obtain them Thursday.

Dr. Sandeep Kapoor was acquitted on all counts against him.

Eroshevich, a psychiatrist who flew to Smith's side in the Bahamas after her son's death in 2006, was also convicted on two other charges relating to a Vicodin prescription given to Smith.

The jury deliberated for 12 days before returned its verdicts in the trial that included two months of testimony,

Stern and the doctors were charged with conspiring to feed the reality TV star and Playboy model's drug addiction, and using false names to obtain the drugs over the last three years of her life.

The three defendants were not charged in Smith's February 2007 death in a Florida hotel, which a medical examiner ruled was an accidental overdose of a sleep aid combined with the effects of a viral flu.

The case raised questions about ethical boundaries in a doctor-patient relationship, the prescribing of painkillers and anti-anxiety medicines and the use of fake names when treating celebrities.

The defense called only one witness -- an expert who concluded that Smith suffered from chronic pain, depression and anxiety, not drug addiction.

Her drug dependency was legal since it was for legitimate medical purposes, including for treatment of her pain and anxiety, defense lawyers argued.

The prosecution said the doctors never said no to Smith's drug-seeking because they wanted to be part of her celebrity entourage.

False names were used by Stern and the doctors to hide excessive prescriptions from the state's computer system that monitors drug usage, prosecutors argued. The defense said it is a common practice in Hollywood, used to protect celebrities' privacy from prying tabloid reporters.

CNN

Dalai Lama talks of retirement

Miami, Florida, (CNN) -- The Dalai Lama would like to retire.

"I'm also a human being. ... Retirement is also my right," the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet told CNN's Hala Gorani in Miami, Florida, this week.

Without saying exactly when, he said, "Sooner or later, I have to go. I'm over 75, so next 10 years, next 20 years, one day I will go".

The Dalai Lama also said he supports recent protests in Tibet, where students marched in opposition to government plans to teach university classes in Mandarin Chinese, instead of the traditional Tibetan language.

"My real boss is the Tibetan people inside Tibet. So now, whenever they carry some sort of movement, I have to support," he said. He added that as long as protests are nonviolent, they should be considered lawful and reasonable.

He sees signs of change in Tibet and remains "optimistic" about the region's future, he said.

Also in the interview, the Dalai Lama reiterated his support for recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo, imprisoned in China. He said he joined a group of Nobel laureates, including South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who have called on Chinese authorities to release Liu.

The Dalai Lama said he is not bothered if world leaders do not want to meet with him so as not to anger China.

CNN

Wozniacki clinches year-end No.1 spot

(CNN) -- Caroline Wozniacki recovered from the loss of the opening set to beat French Open champion Francesca Schiavone at the WTA Championships in Doha and seal the year-end No.1 spot.

The Danish top seed prevailed 3-6 6-1 6-1 Thursday to claim her second victory in the Maroon Group round-robin and all but clinch her place in the semifinals of the $4.5 million end of season tournament.

But more importantly, it guarantees she will top the global rankings in 2010, having fluffed a chance to seal the status 24 hours earlier as she slumped to a straight sets defeat to Samantha Stosur of Australia, who has booked her place in the last four.

Wozniacki, who has yet to win a grand slam, has produced a late season run of five tournament wins from seven, to become world number one at the expense of Serena Williams of the United States.

CNN

Ukraine says Russia agrees to lower gas price next year

Ukraine will pay roughly $230-235 for 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas in the first quarter of 2011, less than was predicted, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Thursday.

The statement followed talks between Azarov and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Kiev on Wednesday.

"We made good progress yesterday," Azarov told journalists in Kiev.

Putin said after their meeting that no agreement had been reached, adding that discussions would continue and expressing confidence that a mutually satisfactory solution would be found.

The Ukrainian Energy Ministry predicted in early October that the price for Russian gas supplied to Ukraine would stand at $245-270 for 1,000 cubic meters in the first quarter of 2011.

Gazrpom Deputy Chairman Valery Golubev had said the gas price in the first quarter of 2011 would remain at the level of this year's fourth quarter, which he put at $250.

Ukraine's national energy company Naftogaz was given a 30-percent discount for Russian gas in April when the Ukrainian government agreed to extend Russia's lease on a naval base in Crimea until at least 2042.

Ukraine paid $305 for 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas in the first quarter of 2010, $236 in the second quarter and $248 in the third quarter.

Ukraine has long asked Russia to reconsider the gas pricing formula, saying that the current prices are still too high. Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said in mid-October that Russia was considering Ukraine's proposal.

RIA Novosti

Khodorkovsky to appeal any guilty verdict in Strasbourg - lawyer

Former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights if he is found guilty in the ongoing second case against him and his partner, the businessmen's lawyer said on Thursday.

A verdict in the case is expected soon. Last week, prosecutors demanded a 14-year sentence for Khodorkovsky and business partner Platon Lebedev on charges of stealing 218 million tons of oil from a Yukos subsidiary between 1998 and 2003. The prosecution initially said 350 million tons were stolen but reduced the figure late in the trial.

"In the course of the court process there have already been violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, and in a case of the conviction, we will have every reason to raise the issue of a breach of Article 6 [the right to a fair trial] in the Strasbourg court," Yelena Liptser said.

She said Judge Victor Danilkin had breached the rights of the defendants throughout the 19-month trial. The court refused to hear testimony from witnesses and experts suggested by the defense, Liptser added.

Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, who are already serving the eight-year sentences for fraud and tax evasion convictions, could be hit with a third criminal case, another lawyer for the businessmen said on Thursday.

RIA Novosti

Russia, Poland urge EU to abolish visas for Kaliningrad residents

A Russian-Polish agreement introducing visa-free travel for residents of Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad is ready, but the EU is not eager to approve it, Poland's foreign minister said on Thursday.

"We have persuaded EU foreign ministries that we are right, but we have still to persuade interior ministries, which is much more complicated. But both Russia and Poland will try their best to change this [EU] rule," Radoslaw Sikorski said at a joint news conference in Warsaw with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

The European Parliament's resolution 1931/2006 allows states party to the Schengen agreement to establish a simplified visa regime for people living in a 30-kilometer zone on both sides of an external border.

In April, Poland and Russia filed a request to the European Commission seeking to extend the resolution to all Kaliningrad Region residents.

Lavrov said it was "obvious to everyone" that the European Union should make an "exception" by approving the Russian-Polish proposal, which he said was in the interest of both Russian and Polish citizens.

"I hope that common sense will prevail," the Russian foreign minister said.

Russia is also in talks with Lithuania on the easing of EU visa requirements for Kaliningrad region residents.

To travel by land from Kaliningrad to the rest of Russia a person must pass through either Lithuania or Poland.

RIA Novosti

Russia wants NGOs to justify country's low press freedom ratings

Russia's Public Chamber is set to ask global nongovernmental organizations dealing with press freedom to explain why Russia ranks so low in their freedom of speech tables, an senior member said on Thursday.

"I am personally offended by the situation," said Moskovsky Komsomolets editor-in-chief Pavel Gusev, who serves as the chairman of the Public Chamber's commission on communications, information policy and freedom of speech in the mass media.

Russia occupies 140th place out of 178 in the latest rating by Reporters Without Borders. It is up 13 places on last year, but organization said the situation with press freedom in the country has not changed.

"The BRICs - Brazil, Russia, India and China - may all be at a roughly similar stage of economic development but the 2010 index highlights major differences in the press freedom situation in these countries," the annual Reporters Without Borders report said. "Russia, which had a particularly deadly preceding year, is still poorly placed at 140th".

Freedom House also said the situation with violation of press freedoms in Russia has not changed significantly and most of nongovernmental organizations, independent media and opposition still experience pressure from Russian authorities. According to the Freedom House's report Russia remains one of the most dangerous countries for journalists.

RIA Novosti

Medvedev stresses need for financial incentives to boost military reform

Higher salaries are key to the successful reform of the Russian military, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

"We will not be able to make our Armed Forces modern and effective, more battle-ready and better equipped if officers receive compensation that does not motivate them to work efficiently," he said.

Personal motivation was critical to national defense, Medvedev said during a visit to a training center outside Moscow.

The military is reforming itself and "although these changes are difficult, they are vital," he said.

A number of good decisions were made to tackle existing problems, the president said without elaborating.

"I am keeping an eye on this as supreme commander-in-chief," he said.

Under a bill pending in the Russian parliament, salaries in the Russian military are to increase considerably. For example, a battalion commander is to make over 100,000 rubles ($3,000) a month.

RIA Novosti