4 Firefighters Shot, 2 Killed in NY 'Trap'

Two firefighters were shot and killed and two others hospitalized after a gunman targeted them as they responded to a fire he is believed to have set to a home and a car in Webster, N.Y., police said.

"It does appear that it was a trap that was set for first responders," Police Chief Gerald L. Pickering said.

SWAT team officers used an armored personnel carrier to evacuate 33 residents from homes in the area.

"Upon arrival all [the firefighters] drew fire, all four were shot on the scene," Pickering said. "One was able to flee the scene. The other three were pinned down."

An off-duty police officer responding to the call was also injured by shrapnel and was being treated.

Pickering said the gunman was dead at the scene, but had yet to be identified. The shooter died of a gunshot wound, but police didn't yet know if "it was self inflicted or not."

Firefighters continued to fight the blaze that engulfed three other homes and damaged three more on a sleepy street next to Lake Ontario that police described as a quiet vacation community.

Police had not yet determined the "weapon or weapons" the gunman used and had not fully investigated the scene because the fires continued to rage.

"I know many people are going to be asking if they were assault rifles," Pickering said, following a week-long debate about such weapons after one was used in a tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14.

Among the dead firefighters was Lt. Michael Chiapperini, a 20-year veteran of the Webster Police Department and "lifetime firefighter," according to Pickering. Chiapperini was a spokesman for the police department, ABC News affiliate WHAM reported.

Police identified the other firefighter killed as Tomasz Kaczowka, who WHAM reported also was a 911 dispatcher.

The chief, choking up, called the incident that shattered the quiet before 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning "terrible."

"People get up in the middle of the night to fight fires," he said. "They don't expect to get shot and killed."

Two surviving firefighters were in the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y. Both men were awake and breathing on their own after surgery and were in what doctors are calling "guarded condition."

Joseph Hofsetter was shot once and sustained an injury to his pelvis and has "a long road to recovery," said Dr. Nicole A. Stassen, a trauma physician.

The second firefighter, Theodore Scardino, was shot twice and received injuries to his left shoulder and left lung, as well as a knee.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a statement calling the attack a "senseless act of violence" and the first responders "true heroes."

Read More..

Senators slam movie's torture scenes

In the new film "Zero Dark Thirty," Jessica Chastain plays a CIA analyst who is part of the team hunting Osama bin Laden.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Sens. Feinstein, McCain, Levin send letter calling new film "grossly inaccurate"


• Letter adds to controversy over depiction of torture as a key to finding bin Laden, Bergen says


• Senate committee has approved 6,000-page classified report on CIA interrogations program


• Bergen says as much as possible of that report should be released to the public

Editor's note: Peter Bergen is a CNN national security analyst and author of "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden, from 9/11 to Abbottabad."

(CNN) -- On Wednesday, three senior U.S. senators sent Michael Lynton, the CEO of Sony Pictures, a letter about "Zero Dark Thirty," the much-discussed new movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, which described the film as "grossly inaccurate and misleading."

In the letter, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-California, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Michigan, and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, expressed their "deep disappointment" in the movie's depiction of CIA officers torturing prisoners, which "credits these detainees with providing critical lead information" about the courier who led the CIA to bin Laden's hiding place in northern Pakistan.

The senators point out that the filmmakers of "Zero Dark Thirty" open the movie with the words that it is "based on first-hand accounts of actual events." The film then goes on, the senators say, to give the clear implication "that the CIA's coercive interrogation techniques were effective in eliciting important information related to a courier for Usama Bin Laden."

Review: 'Zero Dark Thirty' is utterly gripping

Peter Bergen

The senators write that this is not supported by the facts: "We have reviewed CIA records and know that this is incorrect."

Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to sign off on the findings of its three-year study of the CIA's detention and interrogation program, during the course of which the committee's staff reviewed more than 6 million pages of records about the program.

Based on the findings of that review, Sens. Feinstein and Levin had released a statement eight months ago that said, "The CIA did not first learn about the existence of the Usama Bin Laden courier from CIA detainees subjected to coercive interrogation techniques. Nor did the CIA discover the courier's identity from detainees subjected to coercive techniques. ... Instead, the CIA learned of the existence of the courier, his true name and location through means unrelated to the CIA detention and interrogation program."

In their letter to Sony, the three senators write, "(W)ith the release of Zero Dark Thirty, the filmmakers and your production studio are perpetuating the myth that torture is effective. ... We believe that you have an obligation to state that the role of torture in the hunt for Usama Bin Laden is not based on the facts."

Requests from Sony Pictures for comment on the senators' letter yielded a response referring to a statement that the film's director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal had released last week:

"This was a 10-year intelligence operation brought to the screen in a two-and-a-half-hour film. We depicted a variety of controversial practices and intelligence methods that were used in the name of finding bin Laden. The film shows that no single method was necessarily responsible for solving the manhunt, nor can any single scene taken in isolation fairly capture the totality of efforts the film dramatizes. One thing is clear: the single greatest factor in finding the world's most dangerous man was the hard work and dedication of the intelligence professionals who spent years working on this global effort. We encourage people to see the film before characterizing it."

'Zero Dark Thirty' puts U.S. interrogation back in the spotlight

"Zero Dark Thirty" does indeed show many scenes of the various forms of sleuthing at the CIA that were necessary to track down al Qaeda's leader.

But the statement from the filmmakers does not address the fact that eight months ago, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee had publicly said that based on an exhaustive investigation, there was no evidence that coercive interrogations helped lead to bin Laden's courier -- which is clearly what the film suggests, no matter what retrospective gloss the filmmakers now wish to apply to the issue.

Nor does the statement indicate if Sony plans to put a disclaimer at the beginning of "Zero Dark Thirty" explaining that the role of coercive interrogations in tracking down bin Laden that is shown in the film is not supported by the facts.

As I outlined in a piece on CNN.com 10 days ago assessing the role that coercive interrogations might have played in the hunt for bin Laden, about half an hour of the start of "Zero Dark Thirty" consists of scenes of a bloodied al Qaeda detainee strung to the ceiling with ropes who is beaten; forced to wear a dog collar while crawling around attached to a leash; stripped naked in the presence of a female CIA officer; blasted with heavy metal music so he is deprived of sleep; forced to endure multiple crude waterboardings; and locked into a coffin-like wooden crate.

These are the scenes that will linger with filmgoers, far more than the scene in the movie where two CIA analysts discuss what will prove to be a key lead to bin Laden that surfaces in an old file. Brutal interrogations, of course, make for a better movie than a discussion at the office.

It is only after systematic abuse by his CIA interrogators in "Zero Dark Thirty" that the al Qaeda detainee is tricked into believing that he has already given up key information, and he starts cooperating and tells them about a man known as Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, who ultimately proves to be bin Laden's courier.

Acting CIA director Michael Morell, in a letter to CIA employees on Friday, took strong exception to this portrayal of how bin Laden was found:

"The film creates the strong impression that the enhanced interrogation techniques that were part of our former detention and interrogation program were the key to finding Bin Ladin. That impression is false. As we have said before, the truth is that multiple streams of intelligence led CIA analysts to conclude that Bin Ladin was hiding in Abbottabad. Some came from detainees subjected to enhanced techniques, but there were many other sources as well. "

"Zero Dark Thirty" opened Wednesday in New York and Los Angeles and will open nationwide in the second week in January.

Let's hope that the attention that "Zero Dark Thirty" has directed to the issue of what kind of intelligence was derived from the CIA's coercive interrogations will help to put pressure on the White House and the CIA to release to the public as much as possible of the presently classified 6,000-page report by the Senate Intelligence Committee that examines this issue.

_____________

Full disclosure: Along with other national security experts, as an unpaid adviser I screened an early cut of "Zero Dark Thirty." We advised that al Qaeda detainees held at secret CIA prison sites overseas were certainly abused, but they were not beaten to a pulp, as was presented in this early cut. Screenwriter Mark Boal told CNN as a result of this critique, some of the bloodier scenes were "toned down" in the final cut. I also saw this final cut of the film. Finally, HBO is making a theatrical release documentary which will be out in 2013 based on my book about the hunt for bin Laden entitled "Manhunt."

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter.

Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.

Read More..

Football: Michu on target as Swansea frustrate Man United

SWANSEA: Manchester United's lead over Manchester City is down to four points from six after the Premier Leage leaders were held 1-1 at Swansea City's Liberty Stadium on Sunday.

Patrice Evra struck with a first-half header to put United on their way but a Michu equaliser before half-time was enough to give Swansea a richly deserved point.

Having seen neighbours City cut their lead at the top of the league to three points with Saturday's last-gasp 1-0 victory over Reading, United were keen to restore their healthy advantage going into the busy festive period.

United winger Antonio Valancia had an early cross blocked by Ben Davies but it was Swansea who looked the more likely in the early stages, with Nathan Dyer putting in a dangerous cross and Michu spurning a sight of goal.

The Spaniard, who now has 13 goals in the league this season, fired high and wide under pressure from Nemanja Vidic, but the threat was clear.

Wayne Routledge tested David de Gea with a shot on the turn from 18 yards before Michu was caught offside from a delightful through-ball by Routledge.

The danger for United was always there and though Swansea came into the game on the back of successive defeats against Norwich City and Tottenham Hotspur, they were not short on confidence.

Clearly smarting from a sluggish start, United might have taken the lead in the 14th minute when Michel Vorm, back in the Swansea goal after a two-month injury lay-off, beat away Wayne Rooney's 25-yard strike.

Two minutes later, Evra rose to head home Robin van Persie's near-post corner.

It was the signal for United to step on the gas and try to kill off the game before Swansea could respond.

Van Persie and Valencia were the main source of Swansea's problems, though Rooney almost latched onto Ashley Young's crisp centre after van Persie had torn a hole in the home midfield.

Then, as United dropped their guard, Swansea struck.

Routledge sent in Jonathan de Guzman and though his shot was kept out by De Gea, Michu arrived with perfect timing to make it 13 for the season.

Swansea were good value for the goal and though the sides turned around level, De Guzman and Michu both had opportunities to send the hosts in at half-time with a lead.

United were strangely careless in the second half, with Rooney, on too many occasions to remember, giving away the ball in positions of promise.

His free-kick on the hour, after Chico Flores was booked for a poorly timed tackle, was straight at Vorm, as was Dyer's 30-yard shot at the opposite end a minute later.

The introduction of Javier Hernandez gave United a little more bite, with Rooney dropping back into the visitors' four-man midfield.

From that juncture, United began to dominate possession, with Swansea needing all of their resolve to keep the leaders at bay.

Van Persie, who was booked with Ashley Williams after the pair had a spat on the edge of the 18-yard box, struck the crossbar with a volley from Rooney's centre and Vorm pulled off a smart save from Hernandez.

Michael Carrick then forced a great save from Vorm and Swansea twice had to produce desperate blocks as United turned the screw.

Swansea, however, held on to claim a first ever Premier League point against United.

- AFP/jc

Read More..

NRA leader doubles down: New gun laws won't work

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: NRA's LaPierre: If this idea is crazy, "then call me crazy"


• NEW: Sen. Lieberman says NRA is willing to deal with every possible cause "except guns"


• The gun control debate was reignited by the mass shooting at Connecticut elementary school


• Hutchinson tells CNN his panel will give educators instructions on placing guards in schools

(CNN) -- The National Rifle Association made clear Sunday it will not budge on its opposition to any new gun laws, despite heated criticism of the organization's response to the Connecticut school massacre.

"I know this town wants to argue about gun control," the group's CEO, Wayne LaPierre, told NBC's "Meet the Press" in Washington. "I don't think it will work."

LaPierre stood by remarks he made at an event Friday billed as a news conference -- though he took no questions -- in which he argued for armed guards in schools.

"If it's crazy to call for putting police and armed security in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy," he said on Sunday.

He added that in Friday's news conference, "I said what I honestly thought and what millions, and hundreds of millions, of people all over this country believe will actually make a difference."

"We're going to support an immediate appropriation before Congress to put police officers in every school," he vowed.

Legislation being pushed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, to restore an assault weapons ban is not going to make kids any safer, LaPierre insisted.

Read more: Gun owners fear new laws

Pressed on whether high-capacity magazines should be banned, limiting the number of bullets that can be fired from a single weapon without reloading, LaPierre said no. "There are so many different ways" that a "monster" could carry out a massacre, as Adam Lanza did in Newtown, Connecticut, LaPierre argued.

He would not express support for any new gun restrictions, saying most gun laws on the books are currently rarely enforced.

"I know there's a media machine in this country that wants to blame guns every time something happens," he said, adding, "I know there's an anti-Second Amendment industry in this town."

The NRA supports efforts to improve mental health care in the country in hopes of avoiding such nightmare scenarios, LaPierre said.

Meanwhile, Asa Hutchinson, the man charged with developing the NRA's program to place armed guards in schools, told CNN his "high-level panel of experts" will present educators with safety options and detailed instructions.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, told CNN, "I have found the statements by the NRA over the last couple of days to be really disheartening, because the statements seem to not reflect any understanding about the slaughter of children that happened in Newtown. ...

"The NRA spokespeople have been willing to deal with every possible cause of gun violence, except guns. They're right that there's a problem for our society -- how do you spot a child or a person who is troubled before they become a killer? What's the influence of violence in our entertainment culture on people? But it's obviously also true that the easy availability of guns, including military-style assault weapons, is a contributing factor, and you can't keep that off the table. I had hoped they'd come to the table and say, everything is on the table."

Lanza shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown and killed 20 children -- none of them older than 7 -- and six adults. He used a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle to mow down his victims before killing himself with one of the two handguns he was carrying.

On Friday, a week after the shooting, LaPierre spoke out for the first time on the massacre, blaming video games and the media, while also proposing an armed guard in every U.S. school. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," he said.

Some gun owners and mostly Republican officials rallied around LaPierre, and some -- such as Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- have indicated they support putting armed guards, or even teachers with concealed weapons, in schools.

Read more: NRA breaks silence after shootings

CNN iReporter Jason Asselin applauded the NRA's stance, proposing that U.S. troops returning from war zones could serve as armed guards. "Right now, our schools remain unprotected," he said. "Action is needed. Our children deserve to be protected."

But most of the reaction to LaPierre was negative.

Democratic Sen.-elect and U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, whose district includes Newtown, called LaPierre's words "the most revolting, tone-deaf statement I've ever seen." New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, blasted them as "a shameful evasion of the crisis facing the country." And former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said he found the remarks "very haunting and very disturbing."

This wave of criticism continued into the weekend.

Would your gun fall under the '94 weapons ban?

New York's tabloids, normally political polar opposites, offered the same take: The Daily News' headline called LaPierre the "Craziest Man on Earth," while Rupert Murdoch's New York Post ran with, "Gun Nut! NRA loon in bizarre rant over Newtown."

Rick Huffman, another CNN iReporter and a retired police officer, cut up his NRA membership card in the wake of the mass shooting, which he said changed his views on gun control.

"There's got to be a limit to what they let citizens have at their disposal," the Michigan resident said.

Both sides, at least, appear to agree something needs to be done to prevent more mass shootings like what happened December 14 in the once quiet Connecticut town. President Barack Obama used his speech at a prayer service for the massacre's victims to call for action and subsequently tapped Vice President Joe Biden to lead a group charged with coming up with solutions.

Polls suggest that, after Newtown, the American public is increasingly open to measures such as a ban on assault weapons, which was in effect in the 1990s until it lapsed in 2004.

A CNN/ORC poll conducted after the shooting shows that a slight majority of Americans favor restrictions on guns. Conservative Democrats and some Republicans who have supported gun rights have said they are open to discussing gun control.

In a speech last Sunday night, Obama insisted inaction was not an option, especially when it comes to protecting children.

"We can't tolerate this anymore," the president said, alluding not only to Newtown but three other mass shootings over the past two years. "These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change."

Opinion: Don't let this moment pass without acting on gun control

Read More..

Reliving the holiday favorite "A Christmas Story"

(CBS News) 'Tis the Season for "A Christmas Story," the 1983 film whose memorable story is being re-told on Broadway. Mo Rocca sets the stage:

If "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life" are the frankinscense and myrrh of Christmas movies, then the gold may very well be 1983's "A Christmas Story."

If you haven't seen "A Christmas Story," well, it's the tale of 12-year-old Ralphie Parker. Set in 1940s Indiana, it's something of a cockeyed look at Christmas.

Peter Billingsley, as Ralphie, can't get a break in expressing his Christmas wish for a Red Ryder BB gun - not even from Santa! - in the 1983 movie "A Christmas Story."

/

MGM/UA

Ralphie's dad obsesses over a leg lamp he won in a contest. ("It reminds me of the Fourth of July!") A pack of dogs makes off with Christmas dinner. And Santa is anything but jolly.

"I've read where you've called it the 'Seinfeld' of Christmas movies - what do you mean by that?" asked Rocca.

"Well, in some ways it's the commitment to the mundane," said 41-year-old Peter Billingsley. If he looks familiar, that's because he played Ralphie.

"It's those simple little things that drive you crazy around Christmas. It's not the big ideas. It's, you know, trying to get the tree and trying to get your little brother to eat, trying to cook a turkey, all those things."

Now Billingsley is one of the producers of "A Christmas Story" - the Broadway musical.

Twelve-year-old Johnny Rabe plays Ralphie, and 10-year old Zac Ballard is Ralphie's younger brother Randy - the one who memorably pigged out on mashed potatoes.

"I never want a stunt man to do that," Ballard said.

"What's your motivation?" Rocca asked.

"What do you mean by 'motivation'?"

"I don't even know what I'm asking," he replied. "Whatever you're doing, it's great."

This family favorite was originally a series of stories by radio commentator Jean Shepherd in, of all places, Playboy magazine.

The stories became a book, which then became a movie.

When asked what the number one thing is people say when they come up, Billingsley said, "'That's my family' or 'You were me' or 'That's my mom,' 'That was my dad.' And it seems like that Midwest area is relatable to everyone in the country. It feels kind of like everyone's street."

The movie wasn't a box office hit, but then cable TV turned it into one of the greatest comeback stories ever told. A 24-hour marathon on TBS, watched by almost 50 million people last year, has been playing since 1997 - making it the yule log of Christmas movies.

Fans of the film, known as "Ralphies," include Brian Jones.

In 2004 he found on eBay the Cleveland house used as Ralphie's home. He bought it sight unseen. He did not tell his wife.

The "Christmas Story House & Museum" in Cleveland Ohio, where the 1983 movie was filmed.

/

CBS News

"How long did it take for your wife to forgive you?" Rocca asked.

"The day I opened it" as a museum, Jones said. "When she saw we had a line down the block, like four or five people wide. Then she realized I wasn't as crazy as I seemed."

Open to the public since 2006, the home is a shrine to Ralphie, with pilgrims lining up around the block to visit.

There's a leg lamp in the window, and a kitchen sink visitors can hide under, just like Randy did.

"People will try and squeeze there. I can fit under there. I'm 6'3", about 200 pounds. So I still fit."

That is what you call a super fan.

Jones helped pay for the house by selling - you guessed it - leg lamps.

Of course, the leg lamp also made it into the Broadway musical, along with a show-stopping tap-dance number.

And if the young cast of the musical is any indication, "A Christmas Story" still has legs.

When asked who had seen the movie before they appeared in the musical,many members of the kids' ensemble raised their hands.

Mo Rocca meets members of the cast of "A Christmas Story" on Broadway.

/

CBS News

"Tell the truth - was there anyone here who really wasn't a fan of the movie?" Rocca asked.

Jeremy raised his hand: "I'm Jewish!"

When asked what he thought the message of the movie was, Luke said, "It's one big family that's crazy and then at the end, and they all say it's crazy, but it comes to one thing called love."

Zach offered another take: "It's also a heartwarming story. I think it's the best Christmas story ever!"

For more info:

Read More..

Norquist: Obama, Democrats Using Newtown for 'Political Purposes'

Dec 23, 2012 11:23am

(ABC News)

National Rifle Association board member and president of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist said on Sunday that President Obama and Democrats are politicizing the Newtown tragedy by pushing for gun control.

“We ought to calm down and not take tragedies like this, crimes like this, and use them for political purposes,” Norquist told me on “This Week.” “President Obama has been president for four years. If he thought some gun control could solve this problem, he should have been pushing it years ago.”

“Democrats had a majority in the House and a supermajority in the House and the Senate for the first two years that they were in office. If they thought that this was really an important issue they might have done something then. They didn’t,” he added.

Read a full transcript of this week’s show HERE. 

On Wednesday, Obama announced that Vice President Joe Biden would head a task force of leaders from across the country to evaluate solutions to reduce gun violence.

Norquist endorsed the recommendation made by NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre at a press conference on Friday to place armed guards in schools across the country.

Other members of the political roundtable pushed for what they called “common sense” gun laws.

Like “This Week” on Facebook here. You can also follow the show on Twitter here.

Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker, who is a member of the pro-gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said that there is more agreement than disagreement on measures to stop the mentally ill and criminals from acquiring weapons.

“I don’t think anyone has seen someone shot—I have,” Booker said. “I don’t know if anybody here has had to put their hand in somebody’s chest, and try to stop the bleeding so that person doesn’t die—I have. What frustrates me about this debate is that it is a false debate.”

“Most of us in America including gun owners agree on things that would stop the kind of carnage that is going on in cities all across America,” Booker said, adding that loopholes that allow criminals to buy guns in “secondary markets” should be closed.

Get more pure politics at ABC News.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com.

Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan said that LaPierre’s suggestion that the effect of a violent culture on the mentally ill has contributed to increased gun violence, but she believes that Congress should pursue some gun control measures.

“I am for the banning of the extended magazines and extended clips,” Noonan said.

Editor and Publisher of The Nation Katrina vanden Heuvel said that focusing on the mentally ill is a distraction from the issue of gun violence.

“The mental illness argument has been used to evade action,” vanden Huevel said. “More guns and bullets, more dead children.”

SHOWS: This Week

Read More..

Football: Inter Milan held by Genoa, nine points behind Juve

ROME: Inter Milan fell further behind Serie A leaders Juventus on Saturday after being held 1-1 at home to struggling Genoa.

Inter, nine points behind the defending champions who beat Cagliari 3-1 on Friday, had to rely on a goal from Argentinian veteran Esteban Cambiasso five minutes from time to rescue a point.

Genoa's Ciro Immobile had given the visitors the lead in the 77th minute with an exquisite shot with the outside of his right foot.

Cambiasso headed the leveller after being set up by Italian forward Antonio Cassano.

The hosts should have stolen all three points in the final minute of normal time but for a remarkable miss by 19-year-old Croatian Marko Livaja, who missed an open goal and hit the post.

The point could ease the pressure on Genoa coach Luigi Delneri, though; they remain second from bottom and have taken just five points since he took over on October 22.

Lazio later leapfrogged Inter into second place, eight points behind Juventus, after edging Genoa's city rivals Sampdoria 1-0 with a goal by Brazilian midfielder Hernanes to take their tally to 17 points from their last 21.

Napoli got back to winning ways -- after two defeats to Bologna in four days in Serie A and then the Italian Cup -- beating bottom side Siena 2-0 with late goals from Christian Maggio, who was set up by Slovakian Marek Hamsik, in the 86th minute and Edinson Cavani who scored his 13th of the season from the penalty spot in the 90th minute.

Juventus needed two goals in stoppage time to seal a come-from-behind 3-1 win at Cagliari on Friday.

Cagliari, just a point above the relegation zone, went ahead after 16 minutes through a Mauricio Pinilla penalty awarded after Arturo Vidal had chopped down Marco Sau in the box.

In a contentious game, Cagliari played the last 30 minutes a man short after the sending off of Davide Astori, who had already been booked, for a foul on Sebastian Giovinco.

Alessandro Matri, playing against his old club, levelled for Juventus 10 minutes later and added another in the second minute of injury time.

Mirko Vucinic put away the third in the fifth minute of time added on.

"I have waited for this moment for a long time. My morale had gone down because I wasn't scoring but I always believed in myself," said Matri, who hadn't found the back of the net since September 29.

- AFP/jc

Read More..

Pope pardons ex-butler jailed over leaks

By Laura Smith-Spark and Saskya Vandoorne, CNN

updated 11:46 AM EST, Sat December 22, 2012

Pope Benedict's former butler Paolo Gabriele leaves after the verdict in his trial at the Vatican in October.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Vatican spokesman: Pope Benedict XVI pardons his former butler, Paolo Gabriele


• Gabriele was given an 18-month prison term in October for aggravated theft


• He was convicted after leaking private papers from the pope's apartment


• The papers informed a book that revealed corruption claims within the Church hierarchy

(CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI has pardoned his former butler, Paolo Gabriele, weeks after he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for leaking the pope's private papers, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.

The pope visited Gabriele in prison "in order to confirm his forgiveness and communicate in person his decision to grant Mr. Gabriele's request for pardon, thereby remitting the sentence passed against the latter," said a Vatican statement.

"This constitutes a paternal gesture toward a person with whom the Pope shared a relationship of daily familiarity for many years."

Gabriele was immediately released and has returned home, the statement said.

"Since he cannot resume his previous occupation or continue to live in Vatican City, the Holy See, trusting in his sincere repentance, wishes to offer him the possibility of returning to a serene family life," it said.

Gabriele, one of the pope's closest personal assistants, was convicted in October of aggravated theft for leaking secret papers from the pontiff's personal apartment to an author who included them in a best-selling book.

During the high-profile trial, Gabriele declared himself not guilty, but said he had abused the pope's trust. He asked forgiveness of the pontiff for his actions, which he said were intended to expose wrongdoing.

The Holy See media office had previously indicated that Gabriele could be pardoned. He has been held in a cell in Vatican City since October.

Gabriele was arrested in May, following a Vatican investigation into how the pope's private documents appeared in the book "Sua Santita" ("His Holiness"), by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.

The book, based on the papers, revealed claims of corruption in the church's hierarchy.

At his trial, police told how they found more than 1,000 important documents among a stash of hundreds of thousands of papers in Gabriele's apartments in Vatican City and Castel Gondolfo, a town near Rome.

Among them were original papers signed by Pope Benedict XVI, some of them stamped with an order for destruction, according to the journalists allowed to attend the trial.

Also found in his possession were a gold nugget belonging to the pope, a signed check made out to Pope Benedict XVI for 100,000 euros and an original version of Virgil's Aeneid from 1581.

Computer expert sentenced over Vatican leaks

CNN's Mitra Mobasherat contributed to this report.

Part of complete coverage on

updated 10:01 AM EST, Fri December 21, 2012

Some believe the world will end Friday, the last day of ancient Mayan calendar. Mayans, or at least those living in Merida, Mexico, don't buy it.

If the world's about to end, what would be your last meal on Earth? Feast your eyes on the most popular choices.

updated 10:26 AM EST, Fri December 21, 2012

People in a tiny French village are hoping to profit from the end of the world predicted for later this month. Jim Bittermann reports.

Bushmaster corporation: If you buy one of their semi-automatic rifles -- like the kind Adam Lanza used -- "Consider your Man Card reissued."

updated 4:49 PM EST, Thu December 20, 2012

The evolving face and story of Aesha, disfigured by the Taliban and featured on the Time magazine's August 2010 cover, captivated the world.

updated 5:51 AM EST, Fri December 21, 2012

ITN's Alex Thomson gains rare access to accompany the Syrian army in Daraya.

updated 7:18 AM EST, Thu December 20, 2012

India's rape cases, one every 22 minutes, betray what's wrong with society where millions believe women invite trouble by being careless.

updated 11:08 AM EST, Fri December 21, 2012

A recent Gallup report shows that Singapore's wealthy population is the unhappiest -- less happy than the populations of Syria and Haiti.

updated 6:59 AM EST, Fri December 21, 2012

Sudanese government has been bombing and spreading terror in the South Kordofan state, surgically cleansing the land of the Nuba people.

updated 5:16 AM EST, Fri December 21, 2012

CNN's Fred Pleitgen on the first museum exhibit on the biblical ruler of Judea.

updated 9:39 AM EST, Sat December 22, 2012

Crazy golf on an insane scale -- a putting green swimming in a giant bowl of noodles and chopsticks and the Great Wall of China for a hazard.

2012 is a big year in horse racing as 6 million people head to the track. The rise of celebrity horses Frankel and Black Caviar creates a buzz.

Share a message of hope for the victims, your thoughts about gun control, or sound off on another related topic.

updated 10:49 AM EST, Wed December 19, 2012

With a death-defying leap, a hot novel and the U.S. election -- 2012 has been an incredible year. Watch the highlights in CNN's video mash-up.

Read More..

Rebels threaten to storm 2 Syrian Christian towns

BEIRUT Rebels have threatened to storm two predominantly Christian towns in central Syria, saying regime forces are using them to attack nearby areas, an activist group said Saturday. It says such an attack could force thousands of Christians from their homes.

Russia's foreign minister, meanwhile, said that Damascus has consolidated its chemical weapons into one or two locations to protect them from a rebel onslaught.

Concerns over Syria's chemical arsenal have escalated as the regime of President Bashar Assad suffers losses on the battlefield. U.S. intelligence officials have said the regime may be readying chemical weapons and could be desperate enough to use them, while both Israel and the U.S. have also expressed concerns they could fall into militant hands if the regime crumbles.

Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia, which has military advisers training Syria's military, has kept close watch over Damascus's chemical arsenal. He said the Syrian government has moved them from many arsenals to just "one or two centers" to properly safeguard them.

Lavrov also told reporters on a flight from an EU summit late Friday that countries in the region had asked Russia to convey an offer of safe passage to Assad.

Syria refuses to confirm or deny if it has chemical weapons but Damascus is believed to have nerve agents as well as mustard gas. It also possesses Scud missiles capable of delivering them.

Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that one rebel group has issued an ultimatum to the towns of Mahrada and Sqailbiyeh in the province of Hama.

A video released by rebels showed Rashid Abul-Fidaa, who identified himself as the Hama commander of the Ansar Brigade, calls on residents to "evict" regime forces or be attacked.

"Assad's gangs in the cities are shelling our villages with mortars and rockets destroying our homes, killing our children and displacing our people," said Abdul-Fidaa, who wore an Islamic headband and was surrounded by gunmen. "You should perform your duty by evicting Assad's gangs," he said. "Otherwise our warriors will storm the hideouts of the Assad gangs."

He accused regime forces of taking positions in the two towns in order to "incite sectarian strife" between Christians and the predominantly Sunni opposition. Assad belongs to the Alawite minority sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam.

Mahrada was the hometown of Ignatius Hazim, the former Patriarch of the Damascus-based Eastern Orthodox Church who passed away on Dec. 5 at the age of 92.

Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population, say they are particularly vulnerable to the violence sweeping the country of 22 million people. They are fearful that Syria will become another Iraq, with Christians caught in the crossfire between rival Islamic groups.

1/2

Read More..

'Fiscal Cliff' Leaves Boehner a Wounded Speaker

John Boehner is a bloodied House speaker following the startling setback that his own fractious Republican troops dealt him in their "fiscal cliff" struggle against President Barack Obama.

There's plenty of internal grumbling about the Ohio Republican, especially among conservatives, and lots of buzzing about whether his leadership post is in jeopardy. But it's uncertain whether any other House Republican has the broad appeal to seize the job from Boehner or whether his embarrassing inability to pass his own bill preventing tax increases on everyone but millionaires is enough to topple him.

"No one will be challenging John Boehner as speaker," predicted John Feehery, a consultant and former aide to House GOP leaders. "No one else can right now do the job of bringing everyone together" and unifying House Republicans.

The morning after he yanked the tax-cutting bill from the House floor to prevent certain defeat, Boehner told reporters he wasn't worried about losing his job when the new Congress convenes Jan. 3.

"They weren't taking that out on me," he said Friday of rank-and-file GOP lawmakers, who despite pleading from Boehner and his lieutenants were shy of providing the 217 votes needed for passage. "They were dealing with the perception that somebody might accuse them of raising taxes."

Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo

Cliffhanger: Congress Heads Home after 'Plan B' Vote Pulled from House Floor Watch Video

President Obama on Fiscal Cliff: 'Nobody Gets 100 Percent of What They Want' Watch Video

Next Steps for Fiscal Cliff? 'God Only Knows,' Says Boehner Watch Video

That "somebody" was a number of outside conservative groups such as the Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America, which openly pressured lawmakers to reject Boehner's bill. Such organizations often oppose GOP lawmakers they consider too moderate and have been headaches for Boehner in the past.

This time, his retreat on the tax measure was an unmistakable blow to the clout of the 22-year House veteran known for an amiable style, a willingness to make deals and a perpetual tan.

Congressional leaders amass power partly by their ability to command votes, especially in showdowns. His failure to do so Thursday stands to weaken his muscle with Obama and among House Republicans.

"It's very hard for him to negotiate now," said Sarah Binder, a George Washington University political scientist, adding that it's premature to judge if Boehner's hold on the speakership is in peril. "No one can trust him because it's very hard for him to produce votes."

She said the loss weakens his ability to summon support in the future because "you know the last time he came to you like this, others didn't step in line."

Boehner, 63, faces unvarnished hostility from some conservatives.

"We clearly can't have a speaker operate well outside" what Republicans want to do, said freshman Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan.

Huelskamp is one of four GOP lawmakers who lost prized committee assignments following previous clashes with party leaders. That punishment was an anomaly for Boehner, who is known more for friendly persuasion than arm-twisting.

He said Boehner's job would depend on whether the speaker is "willing to sit and listen to Republicans first, or march off" and negotiate with Obama.

Conservative Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said one of the tea party's lasting impacts would be if Boehner struggled to retain his speakership due to the fight over the fiscal cliff, which is the combination of deep tax increases and spending cuts that start in early January without a bipartisan deal to avert them.

"If there's a major defeat delivered here, it could make it tough on him," King said. "He's in a tough spot."

Read More..