Extreme-right supporters stage big Athens march

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — More than 5,000 supporters of Greece's extreme-right Golden Dawn party have marched past the U.S. Embassy in Athens, chanting anti-Turkish, anti-U.S. and anti-immigrant slogans to commemorate a 1996 border incident that caused a crisis between Greece and Turkey.

Many of the marchers held burning torches and hundreds of motorcyclists brought up the rear.

Saturday's march ended peacefully.

The 1996 incident involved two uninhabited islets off the Turkish coast whose ownership is disputed by Turkey and Greece.

Nationalists from both countries planted flags on the islets, and a military confrontation between the two nations was only averted after U.S. intervention. Three Greek navy officers died when their helicopter crashed during a reconnaissance mission in the area.

Withdrawal of the Greek flag was seen by nationalists as a shameful capitulation.

NKorea issues guidelines on strengthening military

Associated Press/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service - In this undated photo released by the Korean Central News Agency and distributed Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013 in Tokyo by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea at an undisclosed location of North Korea. Kim issued “important” guidelines on how to bolster the army and protect the nation's sovereignty at the high-level ruling Workers' Party meeting, state media said Sunday, an indication Pyongyang has finalized formal procedural steps and is ready to conduct an atomic test. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service) JAPAN OUT UNTIL 14 DAYS AFTER THE DAY OF TRANSMISSION

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Unissued "important" guidelines on how to bolster the army and protect the nation's sovereignty at a high-level ruling Workers' Party meeting, state media said Sunday, an indication that Pyongyang may be ready to conduct an atomic test anytime.

North Korea said last month that it would conduct its third nuclear test to protest international sanctions toughened over its long-range rocket launch in December. The U.S., South Korea and other countries have urged the North to scrap its nuclear test plans or face grave consequences.

North Korea says U.S. hostility and the threat of American troops in South Korea are important reasons behind its nuclear drive. The country also says it has the sovereign right to launch rockets to send satellites into orbit under a space development program; the U.S. says the December launch was a disguised test of banned missile technology.

Pyongyang's two previous nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009, both occurred after it was slapped with increased sanctions for similar long-range rocket launches.

Recent satellite photos showed North Korea may have been sealing the tunnel into a mountainside where a nuclear device would be exploded.

Kim convened a meeting of the Workers' Party's Central Military Commission and made a "historic" and "important concluding speech" that serves as a guideline for strengthening the military and defending national security and sovereignty, the official Korean Central News Agency said. It did not say when the meeting took place.

Top party and military leaders who attended the meeting "evinced their firm determination to unconditionally and thoroughly implement the militant tasks set forth by him," KCNA said.

Analyst Hong Hyun-ik at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea said he believes Kim's guidelines refer to a nuclear test and suggest that North Korea appears to have completed formal procedural steps and be preparing to conduct a nuclear test soon.

By publicizing the Workers' Party meeting, North Korea also aims to "employ pressure on the West and unite its people" behind Kim, Hong said. Kim took power after the December 2011 death of his father, Kim Jong Il.

U.S. and South Korean troops are to conduct naval drills involving a nuclear-powered American submarine off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula this week. South Korean military officials said the maneuvers are part of regular joint military training that the allies had scheduled before the latest nuclear tensions began. But they still could be used as a show of force against North Korea.

North Korean state media on Saturday described the drills as a joint exercise for a pre-emptive attack on the country. North Korea has said similar things when South Korea and the U.S. conducted other drills, but the allies have repeatedly said they have no intention of attacking the North.

SKorea, US begin drills amid NKorea nuclear threat

Three bodies found at Mexico Pemex blast site, toll reaches 36

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican rescue workers found three more bodies over the weekend amid the rubble of a deadly blast that tore through state oil firm Pemex's main office complex, the government said, as search efforts appeared to near a close.

The death toll from Thursday's explosion stands at 36, Pemex said via Twitter. Rescue workers had been digging through the last sections of the building's basement and could soon call off their search. One person was reported still missing.

Attorney General Jesus Murillo said on Friday that it was too early to say if the explosion was due to an attack, an accident or negligence, but he promised results of an investigation in the coming days.

Murillo toured the site on Sunday, but did not publicly comment on the progress of the investigation. Officials have communicated details through social media about the disaster, which struck just before a long holiday weekend.

The investigation will test confidence in President Enrique Pena Nieto, whose Institutional Revolutionary Party ruled Mexico for most of the last century but lost power in 2000, when it was accused of fostering widespread corruption.

Local media reported the three bodies were maintenance workers. A woman who worked as a secretary was still missing, but she was unlikely to be found so deep in the wreckage.

The blast occurred two months into Pena Nieto's presidency, just as Congress was preparing to discuss his plans to open up the state-run energy industry to more private investment.

Hobbled by heavy state taxation, Pemex saw production slump in the last decade and its safety record has been stained by a series of deadly accidents, including an explosion that killed about 30 at a gas facility last year.

(Reporting by Michael O'Boyle and Adriana Barrera; Editing by Simon Gardner and Stacey Joyce)

Ex-Navy SEAL died pursuing his passion

This photo provided by the Erath County Sheriff’s Office shows Eddie Ray Routh. He was charged with murder in connection with a shooting at a central Texas gun range that killed former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/ Erath County Sheriff's Office)

Map showns path of texas gunman following a double shooting

STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — The former top Navy SEAL sniper who authorities say was killed at a Texas shooting range was devoted to maintaining camaraderie and helping his fellow veteransfind their way after leaving active duty.

Chris Kyle, author of the best-selling book "American Sniper," and his friend Chad Littlefield apparently were doing just that Saturday when, officials say, they were shot and killed by former Marine Eddie Ray Routh.

Kyle, 38, had left the Navy in 2009 after four tours of duty in Iraq, where he earned a reputation as one of the military's most lethal snipers. But he quickly found a way to maintain contact with his fellow veterans and pass on what had helped him work through his own struggles. By late 2011, he filed the paperwork to establish the nonprofit FITCO Cares, which received its nonprofit status the following spring, said FITCO director Travis Cox.

"Chris struggled with some things," Cox said. "He'd been through a lot and he handled it with grace, but yeah he did struggle with some things. And he found a healthy outlet and was proactive in his approach to deal with those issues and wanted to help spread his healing, what worked for him, to others. And that's what he died doing."

For Kyle that healthy outlet was exercise. At the heart of FITCO was giving in-home fitness equipment to physically and emotionally wounded veterans, as well as families who had lost a veteran, Cox said.

Littlefield, a 35-year-old friend and neighbor, was Kyle's "workout buddy," and also volunteered his time to work with veterans, Cox said. He was married and had children as well.

"He's a very gentle, sweet-hearted man, just a great man, kind of quiet," Cox said of Littlefield. "He just really cared. ... He wanted to do whatever he could to help veterans and help see that vision of serving others that Chris had. He shared that vision with all of us. He was a great man."

Cox said he understood that Kyle and Littlefield were helping Routh work through his own PTSD, but that he did not know how they came into contact. He said it was not a FITCO session.

Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant on Sunday offered a similar description of the situation.

"It's my understanding that the suspect may have been suffering from some type of mental illness from being in the military himself," he said of Routh.

He said Routh's mother may have reached out to Kyle for help with her son.

"We kind of have an idea that maybe that's why they were at the range for some type of therapy that Mr. Kyle assists people with," Bryant said.

Bryant didn't know whether Routh was on any medication or whether he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Authorities say the three men arrived at the Rough Creek Lodge southwest of Fort Worth around 3:15 p.m. Saturday. A hunting guide discovered the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield around 5 p.m. and called 911.

Routh allegedly left in Kyle's pickup and went to his sister's in Midlothian. He told what he had done and left. She called police and Routh was eventually found at his home in Lancaster. After a short pursuit he was arrested.

Routh was being held on $3 million bail in the Erath County Jail. Authorities said they believed he had requested a court-appointed attorney. Calls to his home were not answered Sunday.

Kyle was also president of a security training firm Craft International. Craft had scheduled a $2,950-per-person civilian training event at Rough Creek Lodge called the "Rough Creek Shoot Out!" for March 1-3. The price included lodging, meals and shooting instruction. Kyle was scheduled to teach the first class, called "precision rifle."

But the work with veterans through FITCO was Kyle's passion, Cox said.

FITCO Cares offered life coaching for veterans, a daily support group and weekly group counseling. Sometimes veterans in other states would video conference in to counseling sessions, Cox said.

Kyle was always recognized at events, but would deflect attention to other veterans, quickly introducing and praising those around him.

"That camaraderie is usually missed once the veteran gets out of the military," said Cox, himself a former Marine sniper. "The authentic relationships that you develop in the military, especially overseas and in combat are some of the most meaningful, authentic relationships that one can have and it's missed. And so we tried to create a means through this group of veterans that can gather and talk about things that they're dealing with."

"He (Kyle) didn't have any fear at all as far as working with an extreme case," Cox said. "Just like in combat he would take it on head on and do whatever he could to give these guys assistance. There was no fear in helping anyone that may have an extreme case. He was willing to help anyone in need."

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Christopher Sherman contributed reporting from McAllen, Texas.