Syria steps up offensive in Damascus suburbs

Mourners walk past open graves at a cemetery during the funeral for four people killed in a raid by government forces in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, April 5, 2012. Syrian troops launched a fierce assault Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.(AP Photo)

Mourners walk past open graves at a cemetery during the funeral for four people killed in a raid by government forces in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, April 5, 2012. Syrian troops launched a fierce assault Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.(AP Photo)

The body of a Free Syrian Army fighter arrives for burial at a cemetery during the funeral for four people killed in a raid by government forces in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, April 5, 2012. Syrian troops launched a fierce assault Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.(AP Photo)

A Free Syrian Army fighter sits next to the grave of a comrade during the funeral for four people killed in a raid by government forces in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, April 5, 2012. Syrian troops launched a fierce assault Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.(AP Photo)

A Free Syrian Army fighter stands guard during the funeral for four people killed in a raid by government forces in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, April 5, 2012. Syrian troops launched a fierce assault Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began. The religious flag at right is unreadable.(AP Photo)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian forces broadened an offensive against opposition fighters in three Damascus suburbs Friday in an apparent attempt to crush pockets of rebellion near the capital less than a week before an internationally sponsored cease-fire is to go into effect, activists said.

Troops conducted raids in the suburbs of Saqba and Douma following overnight clashes with army defectors in Saqba and the nearby suburb of Arbeen, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The group said three members of the military were killed.

Plumes of smoke rose above Saqba, and activists said regime forces torched at least one house.

Tanks patrolled deserted streets in the sprawling Douma district, about 8 miles (12 kilometers) outside Damascus, said activist Mohammed Saeed. Snipers set up positions atop a 12-story medical building.

Troops had entered Douma on Thursday in what activists described as one of the most violent raids near the capital since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began more than a year ago.

In other fighting, regime forces struck the rebel-held town of Rastan, just north of the central city of Homs, with heavy machine-guns and mortars, the Observatory said. Ground troops later tried to push their way into the city, clashing with opposition fighters, the group said. Troops have been laying a siege to Rastan since rebels took control of it in late January.

Government troops also shelled three neighborhoods in Homs, according to the Observatory.

A cease-fire is to take hold by 6 a.m. on Thursday, according to a plan brokered by Kofi Annan, the special U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria. However, escalating fighting has dimmed hopes that violence will end soon. The U.N. says the fighting has claimed more than 9,000 lives.

Assad last week accepted the truce deal, which calls for his forces to pull out of towns and cities by Tuesday. However, Western leaders have cast doubt on his intentions, suggesting he is playing for time and is not serious about the Annan plan which is to pave the way for talks between the regime and the opposition on a political solution.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Thursday that the crisis is getting worse.

"Cities, towns and villages have been turned into war zones. The sources of violence are proliferating," Ban told the U.N. General Assembly. "The human rights of the Syrian people continue to be violated. ... Humanitarian needs are growing dramatically."

Opposition activists say they believe Assad's regime is stepping up attacks to gain ground ahead of a truce.

___

AP Writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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Tribune Broadcasting and DirecTV reach 5-year deal

NEW YORK (AP) ? DirecTV subscribers in 19 U.S. markets have regained access to a host of channels that had been blacked out since Sunday because of a contract impasse with Tribune Broadcasting.

The two companies said late Wednesday that they had struck a deal that will allow DirecTV Inc. to carry all of Tribune Broadcasting's local stations and WGN America for the next five years. Terms were not disclosed.

DirecTV Inc. subscribers in the markets lost access to programming ranging from "American Idol" to Major League Baseball after the previous contract with Tribune Broadcasting expired at midnight Saturday. The Tribune Broadcasting channels were restored at about 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday, DirectTV said.

The blackout affected DirecTV subscribers in major markets including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Philadelphia. The blackout also extended to stations in Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Oregon, Texas, Washington state and Washington, D.C. DirectTV said 5 million homes were affected.

In its statement Wednesday, DirecTV accused Tribune of being "willing to hold our customers hostage in an attempt to extract excessive rates." But it described the final agreement as a fair deal at market rates.

Tribune also said it was pleased with the deal.

"On behalf of Tribune Broadcasting, I want to thank viewers across all of our markets for their support, understanding and patience during the negotiating process ? we truly regret the service interruptions of the last several days," said Nils Larsen, president of Tribune Broadcasting.

Chicago-based Tribune Co.'s broadcasting group owns or runs 23 television stations, WGN America on national cable and Chicago radio station WGN-AM. Its publishing arm includes daily newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and The Baltimore Sun.

Tribune Co. filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2008 after suffering a financial downturn brought on by a steep slump in newspaper advertising and a debt-laden buyout engineered by real estate mogul Sam Zell.

DirecTV, based in El Segundo, Calif., serves 32 million people in the U.S. and Latin America.

Associated Press

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Pope reaffirms ban on women priests, assails disobedience

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Limited options for US on North Korea rocket

Washington is likely to take the matter to the UN Security Council, analysts say, and could tighten its already tough sanctions.

Despite tough talk from President Barack Obama, the United States and its allies have limited options if North?Korea?goes ahead with its planned long-range rocket launch in mid-April.

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Washington is likely to take the matter to the U.N. Security Council, analysts say, and could tighten its already tough sanctions. Such efforts would struggle without support from China, which can be expected to resist any moves that might threaten the stability of its neighbor.

There also is deep uncertainty about where turning the screw further on North?Korea?would lead. After the Security Council condemned its previous long-range rocket launch in 2009, North?Korea?responded by kicking out U.N. nuclear inspectors, pulling out of aid-for-disarmament negotiations and conducting its second detonation of an atomic device.

"At minimum, there has to be a statement of criticism" at the Security Council, said Gordon Flake, a Washington-based?Korea?analyst. "The question is how North?Korea?will react, and history suggests it won't react well."

The stakes are higher than they were in 2009 as the potential for tensions on the Korean peninsula to escalate into conflict are greater now than they were then.? South?Korea's?government came under heavy domestic criticism for what was seen as a weak response to a North Korean artillery barrage that killed four people on a front-line island in 2010. Earlier that year, North?Korea?was believed to have torpedoed a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors. The North denied responsibility.

North?Korea?says the missile launch is intended to place an observation satellite into orbit. But the U.S. and others view the launch as a cover for a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that one day could carry a nuclear warhead.

Crucially for Washington, if the three-stage Unha-3 rocket works, it could demonstrate that North?Korea?has parts of the United States in its missile range.

The launch would violate both a U.N. ban and an accord the impoverished country reached with Washington on Feb. 29, under which it would freeze nuclear activities and observe a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of food aid.

The launch plans, disclosed a little more than two weeks after the accord was announced, undermined what little faith Washington and Seoul had in North?Korea's?sincerity about talks on its nuclear program. It also all but squashed the fleeting prospect that the nation would change after the December death of longtime ruler Kim Jong Il.

Obama, facing re-election and accused by opposition Republicans of naivete for reaching out to North?Korea, pointedly visited the heavily militarized Korean border last week during a trip to South?Korea?for a nuclear summit. North?Korea's?new leader, Kim Jong Un, previously had made the visit from the northern side.

Obama implored the North's leaders "to have the courage to pursue peace," but warned that unless they changed their ways, the country would face "more isolation." But neither he nor other administration officials have said what steps the U.S. will take should North?Korea?launch the missile.

The U.S. and allies including Japan and South?Korea?could seek to clamp down further on the North's illicit weapons trade and impose additional financial and banking restrictions that have hurt North?Korea?in the past.

"The U.S. is highly likely to unveil another round of sanctions to send a clear political message to NorthKorea," said John Park, a Northeast Asia specialist at Harvard University's Belfer Center.

Fears about the launch have spread farther afield than previously. The Philippines has expressed concern about falling debris. Indonesia says the launch would undermine regional stability. Russia and China, which have long-standing ties with the North ? also have urged Pyongyang to rethink its plans. Vietnam has urged North?Korea?to comply with Security Council resolutions

The breadth of criticism reflects not just recognition that the launch would violate U.N. resolutions, but that this rocket, unlike previous launches, will head not eastward over Japan and into the relatively empty Pacific but toward busier waters off Southeast Asia.

Washington is urging China ? North?Korea's?most important ally and trading partner ? to nudge its neighbor into line, but the prospects appear slim. North?Korea?has promoted the launch as a sign of the nation's strength and progress as it marks the centennial of the birth of its founder, Kim Il Sung. Recent satellite imagery showed preparations under way at the launch site.

The launch also may be an effort to consolidate the authority of Kim's grandson, Kim Jong Un, who is establishing a third generation of dynastic rule.

Park said that while China is doubtlessly frustrated by the North's conduct and has made a stronger public statement than it did before the 2009 launch, its ultimate concern will be to preserve the still-fragile government of Kim Jong Un and prevent a regime collapse on its own frontier.

He also doubted that Washington would risk its own relations with China by taking a new step: penalizing Chinese companies that do business with North?Korea.

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New Marketing Products ? Blog Archive ? Real Estate Marketing ...

The expert ?how-to? real estate marketing predict that the U.S. housing market finally emerge from its slump in 2012. However, if you use a marketing strategy obsolete, the recovery of the property you are leaving in the dust. Read on to discover the list of the most effective marketing assets for the year 2012. Take full advantage of the withdrawal approach, make sure that these methods are in place.

How to: Real Estate Marketing in 2012

First High quality content of goods. Content-based marketing becomes the property assumes that the consumer more of a brand that can be bought already know and respect. By writing blogs and helpful articles that you can attract new customers. The key is useful (not salesy) to produce work. For example, a page of some goods as a basic description of the individual areas are in a city. According to Harris Interactive, 80 percent of home sales begin with some research online. If your online source for real estate knowledge in a Web search is presented, and a potential buyer visits your site for search, the buyer can have a positive image of you have to move. He or she might even go back to other articles as well as browse through your list of available properties.

Second Real estate market via social media. Social media is here to stay. In fact, half of all Americans now have a Facebook account. Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites are now the starting point for many modern consumer transactions. Shoppers in search of their purchases on social media sites, because they rely more willing to their friends on the ads.

Real estate marketing company can take advantage of social media revolution with Facebook, Twitter and other sites that distribute their content. Social media is also an important tool for customized links, new ones that will flourish in future cases. For example, if you are Facebook friends with someone who has become one of your properties purchased, or he could pass it on to your profile, when a friend asks for a recommendation of the estate.

Third Locally. The location is the buzzword in real estate circles, but some agents are not aware of the trends in property in their area. Although the picture is not rosy in Immo total of 2012, each local market will react to its own circumstances. For example, markets with the creation of jobs often enjoy home sales also improved. Demographics are also important, ?young? places like Salt Lake City have a large group of young people shopping for their first home, for example.

4th Marketing of real estate video. Lift the properties for sale, offer jewels of wisdom, real estate, or to discuss how to differentiate your services from those of the competition are, just be sure you do some form of video marketing. Cisco recently reported that by 2015 80 percent of all Internet traffic, video and exchange views. Keep up with this trend by video for your own website and for distribution. (Remember, the larger your distribution reach to potential buyers.)

If you are a complete layman when it comes to vlogging (video blogging)? No problem ? several online services that allow you to create great video content, without even turning on a camera! For example, you can create a profile complete video at home with a photo slideshow, music, charming and attractive animation.

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Al-Qaeda sabotages Yemen pipeline after raids: official

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Stricken cruise ship repaired, heading to Malaysia

FILE - The Maltese registered cruise ship , Azamara Quest, sails through the Suez canal, Egypt, in this April 30, 2010 file photo from the Red sea towards the Mediterranean sea on its way to Athens. The fire on the Azamara Quest started late Friday, March 30, 2012 a day after the ship left Manila for Sandakan, Malaysia, and was immediately put out, said coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente. Five crew members were injured. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - The Maltese registered cruise ship , Azamara Quest, sails through the Suez canal, Egypt, in this April 30, 2010 file photo from the Red sea towards the Mediterranean sea on its way to Athens. The fire on the Azamara Quest started late Friday, March 30, 2012 a day after the ship left Manila for Sandakan, Malaysia, and was immediately put out, said coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente. Five crew members were injured. (AP Photo/File)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? A cruise ship with 1,000 people on board that had drifted for 24 hours after being disabled by a fire was headed toward Malaysia following repairs and was expected to reach shore Sunday, the ship's company said.

The Azamara Quest, which had embarked on a 17-day Southeast Asian cruise, was left drifting in southern Philippine waters after a fire broke out Friday night. The flames engulfed one of the ship's engine rooms but were quickly extinguished, the ship's operator said. Five crew members suffered smoke inhalation, including one who was seriously injured and needed hospital care.

The ship informed the Philippine coast guard late Saturday that its power and propulsion had been restored and that it was moving slowly toward Sandakan, Malaysia, its next destination after it left Manila on Thursday, spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente said.

Azamara Club Cruises, the ship's operator, said in a statement Sunday that the ship was sailing at a top speed of only 6 knots (11 kilometers or 6.9 miles per hour) and was expected to reach Sandakan at 10 p.m. (1400 GMT).

"Unfortunately, the ship has not been able to restore power to the air conditioning compressors. While this is a very difficult undertaking, the onboard team is diligently working to resolve this issue. The guest sentiment onboard continues to be calm and upbeat," the statement said.

It said company president Larry Pimentel would meet personally with the passengers and crew in Sandakan.

The company said the rest of the cruise would be canceled. It said it would fully refund the passengers and provide each guest with a future cruise certificate for the amount paid for the aborted voyage.

It was the latest in a series of accidents hitting luxury cruise liners since January, when the Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people.

The Azamara Quest is carrying 590 passengers and 411 crew members. Operator Azamara Club Cruises is part of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

More than one third, or 201, of the passengers on board are American, and nearly a third, or 119, of the crew are Filipinos, according to lists of passenger and crew nationalities provided by the ship captain to the coast guard.

The passengers are from 25 countries and include 98 from Britain, 89 from Australia, 45 from Canada, 39 from Germany, 32 from Austria, 16 from Belgium, 14 from New Zealand and 14 from Switzerland.

The other crew members include 58 Indians and 50 Indonesians.

The vessel had left Hong Kong on Monday. The ship made a port call in Manila and left for Sandakan on Thursday. It was scheduled to make several stops in Indonesia before arriving in Singapore on April 12.

But instead, the stricken ship drifted Saturday in the Sulu Sea about 130 kilometers (70 nautical miles) south of the Philippines' Tubbataha Reef, Ricafrente said. The area lies between the Philippines and the island of Borneo, which is divided between Malaysia and Indonesia.

A woman from Kailua-Kuna, Hawaii, who said she is one of the passengers, posted an entry on Azamara's Facebook page after Internet service was restored on the ship, praising the crew's handling of the situation.

"No A/C yet but everyone is fine," she wrote. "Cannot say enough about this Captain and the crew. They have been absolutely wonderful keeping us updated constantly with the good or the bad. ... Sorry that we cannot finish our cruise, but we will back ASAP."

She said the crew worked with very little rest "to keep us all in good spirits, well fed and comfortable."

There was a jar where passengers could place donations to help the injured crewman who was in serious condition, she said.

Ricafrente said that no distress call was received and that there would be an investigation.

A Philippine coast guard vessel approached the Azamara Quest, but the ship's captain sent an email to the coast guard saying that it needed no assistance and that everything was "under control."

Engineers on Saturday morning restored electricity in the ship to re-establish air conditioning, running water, plumbing, refrigeration and food preparation, the company said.

The ship's senior physician, Oliver Gilles, said the crew member who was in serious condition had suffered "prolonged heat and smoke exposure."

A month after 32 people died when the Costa Concordia ran aground and capsized off the western coast of Italy, a fire on the Costra Allegra left that ship without power and adrift in waters known to be prowled by pirates in the Indian Ocean for three days.

Both Costa ships are part of Costa Crociere, SpA, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator.

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Online: http://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/about-azamara/travel-alerts

Associated Press

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