NATO rejects UN report on death of Afghan children

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The U.S.-led international coalition on Friday rejected a U.N. rights group's concern about reports that U.S. military strikes have killed hundreds of children inAfghanistan during the past four years, saying they are "categorically unfounded."

The statement by the International Security Assistance Force came a day after the Geneva-basedU.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said the casualties were "due notably to reported lack ofprecautionary measures and indiscriminate use of force."

The coalition also dismissed that claim, saying that it takes special care to avoid civilian casualties. The coalition said the number of children who died or were wounded from air operations dropped by nearly 40 percent in 2012 compared with the year before, although it did not give specific figures.

The U.N. was reviewing a range of U.S. policies affecting children for the first time since 2008. The release of the report coincides with an intensifying debate in Washington over U.S. policy on drone targeting and airstrikes.

CIA Director-designate John Brennan faced a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Thursday. His defense of drone strikes to kill terror suspects, including Americans, is causing key lawmakers to consider lifting secrecy from what has become an important weapon in the fight against al-Qaida.

In its report, the U.N. committee told the United States to "take concrete and firm precautionary measures and prevent indiscriminate use of force to ensure that no further killings and maiming of civilians, including children, take place." Human rights and civil liberties groups applauded the findings.

The U.N. committee referred to "hundreds" of children killed since 2008 and expressed alarm that the figure had "doubled from 2010 to 2011."

It didn't provide specific numbers, but a report to the U.N. Security Council last April by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special representative for Children and Armed Conflict said the number of child casualties blamed on airstrikes conducted by international and allied Afghan forces doubled compared with the last reporting period, with 110 children killed and 68 injured in 2011.

The international coalition acknowledged U.S. forces are sometimes responsible for civilian deaths "despite all efforts to avoid them," but said the overall number of civilian casualties declined by 49 percent in 2012 compared with the previous year.

It also cited an August report from the U.N. mission in Afghanistan stating that the vast majority of Afghan civilian deaths are caused by the insurgency.

"The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child's concerns about reports of the death of hundreds of children as a result of attacks and airstrikes by the U.S. military in Afghanistan are categorically unfounded," the coalition statement said.

"Equally unsubstantiated is their assertion that U.S. forces use indiscriminate force during their operations. Finally, the committee's assertion that U.S. troops do not exercise precautionary measures is entirely false."

NASA's GOES-13 satellite snapped this photo of two powerful weather systems merging over the East Coast this morning, potentially bringing blizzard-like weather to the region.

The current weather forecast for the Northeast, updated Friday at 9 a.m. by the National Weather Service.

A dangerous storm could dump more than 2 feet of snow in some parts of the Northeast this weekend, according to weather forecasts.

But what's behind the blizzard that's forecast to be one of thebiggest snowstorms in decades for some cities?

A collision between two powerful weather systems is the snowy culprit.

In the past week, cold Arctic Air from western Canada sailed across the continent along the jet stream, straight for New England. The weather phenomenon is called an Alberta Clipper, for the frigid air that originates in Canada's Alberta province and for the fast clipper ships that once sped across the seas, according toAccuWeather.com.

Moisture for rain and snow arrived with a low-pressure system moving up the Gulf Coast from the South.

When and how the two systems slam into each other determines whether the Northeast is buried by snow or simply gets a light dusting of flakes. Some forecasts show the two systems colliding off the coast of Massachusetts, near Cape Cod, which would bring the extreme snowfall and gusting winds worrying residents across the region. However, other weather models show the storms merging further south, which would push the brunt of the storm's energy out to sea — meaning less snowfall on land.

But the odds of an easy weekend seem are diminishing by the hour, as NASA satellites track the two systems merging over the East Coast.

Heavy snowfall

Forecasters this morning are calling for dangerous blizzard conditions, with hurricane-force winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour (112 kilometers per hour). [What is a Blizzard?]

"The heaviest snow is forecast to fall across parts of eastern Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, where snowfall amounts higher than 2 feet (60 centimeters) are possible," the National Weather Service (NWS) said in a statement. "The storm should reach its peak intensity early Saturday morning just east of Cape Cod."

Boston could get 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) of snow per hour, the same quick-building snowdrifts that paralyzed the city 35 years ago. The "Great Blizzard" of 1978 dumped 27 inches (68 cm) of snow in one day, leaving several people dead. About 29 inches (74 cm) of snow are forecast to fall in Boston during this storm's peak.

In New York, 10 to 14 inches (25 to 35 cm) of snow are expected to pile up in the region by Saturday afternoon.

How much snow?

When flakes fall from the sky, employees from the National Weather Service use a decidedly old-fashioned technique to measure snowfall.

The tracking tools? A white "snowboard" and a stainless steel ruler. (The white board is cooler, because it absorbs less heat from the sun.)

An NWS meteorologist takes several measurements on the board and then averages them to come up with a snowfall amount. If strong winds are blowing snow off the board, she will use the local weather office's rain gauge instead. A rain gauge has a tall plastic tube that collects and protects snow from frigid wind.

The National Science Foundation is funding efforts to develop more accurate methods to quickly measure snow accumulation.

Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., have developed an instrument that uses laser pulses to measure 10 feet (3 meters) or more of snow with an accuracy as fine as a half-inch (1.2 cm) or better.

And in 2014, NASA will launch the Global Precipitation Measurement satellite, the first designed to measure falling snow from space. "Snow is notoriously hard to measure as it falls," Walter Petersen, a scientist at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, said in a statement. "Snowflakes contain varying amounts of air and water, and they flutter, wobble and drift as they leave the clouds."

During massive winter storms, the heaviest snowfall can occur in surprisingly narrow bands, on a smaller scale than current weather networks can see, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

Variations in snow depth along streets and within neighborhoods are caused primarily by wind during and after the storm, and by melting after the storm, the NSIDC said. On a larger scale, towns in the middle of a storm track may be buried by snow, while cities along the edge of the storm will see only light flurries.

Israeli forces evacuate Palestinian encampment

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it has driven out some 100 Palestinian activists who had pitched an illegal tent camp near the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank.

Saturday's operation marked the fifth time in the past month Israeli forces broke up a Palestinian encampment.

The Palestinians aim to draw attention to Israel's control of territory they seek for a future state. In particular, they say they are protesting what they describe as a broad Israeli policy to prevent Palestinians from building in West Bank areas controlled by the Jewish state.

The activists seem to be adopting a tactic of Jewish settlers, who establish communities on contested territory hoping it will remain theirs once structures are built.

The military said soldiers used riot control measures to disperse the crowd.

Syrian troops, rebels clash over Damascus highway

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops backed by warplanes battled rebels for control of a key highway in Damascus Saturday, a day after opposition forces cut the strategic artery as part of what they say are efforts to lay the groundwork for an eventual assault on the heavily defended capital.

Rebels have been on the offensive in Damascus since launching a series of attacks on government positions on Wednesday. They brought their fight to within a mile of the heart of the capital on Friday, seizing army checkpoints and cutting a key highway as they pressed their campaign for the city, the seat of President Bashar Assad's power.

The fighting is the heaviest to hit Damascus since July, when a first rebel assault managed to capture several neighborhoods before a punishing government counteroffensive. After that rebel foray, the regime quickly reasserted its control over the city, which has spared Damascus much of the violence and destruction that the civil war has wrought on other major urban centers.

Both the rebels and the government consider the fight for Damascus the most likely endgame in a civil war that has already killed more than 60,000 people. The city is heavily fortified and dotted with armed checkpoints, and activists say it is surrounded with three of the most loyal divisions of the army, including the Republican Guard and the feared 4th Division, commanded by Assad's brother Maher.

The latest Damascus offensive did not appear to be coordinated with rebels on other sides of the capital, and it was unclear whether the opposition fighters would be able to hold their ground.

Activists said the fighting on Saturday focused on a main highway that leads to northern Syria, a key road the regime uses to move troops and supplies. Rebels cut the road on Friday, and still controlled parts of it on Saturday despite government airstrikes and shelling to try to roll them back, said Damascus-based activist Maath al-Shami.

Activists say the fighting is the only beginning of a long battle for the capital.

"The attack was planned for more than 20 days and those responsible for it are army defectors," al-Shami said. "This is one of the stages to enter the capital. .... Storming Damascus is not easy."

He said only one checkpoint still stands in the way before the rebels reach Abbasid Square, a landmark plaza in central Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported intense air raids on several Damascus suburbs on Saturday, including Zamalka and Douma, and near the highway as well. It added that troops shelled the northeastern neighborhoods of Jobar and Qaboun, which have witnessed clashes since Wednesday.

Rebels also captured a housing compound for army officers in the Damascus suburb of Adra, the Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees activist group reported.

Al-Shami said the housing unit is close to Adra Prison, one of the country's largest jails, where thousands of detainees are held.

In northern Syria, the Observatory said rebels entered parts of the Mannagh air base near the border with Turkey, and opposition fighters also attacked the Kwaires military base in Aleppo province.

Earlier in the day, President Bashar appointed seven new ministers in a move that appeared aimed at trying to shore up an economy that has been ravaged by the country's 2-year-old revolt, state media said.

State TV said Assad replaced the heads of the oil, finance, social affairs, labor, housing, public works and agriculture ministries. Key security ministries such as defense and interior, which are on the front lines of the civil war, remained unchanged.

The civil war has devastated the Syrian economy, leaving major cities and key infrastructure in ruins and nation's industries gutted. Power outages are common and Syrians in some areas must stand in hours-long lines for bread and gasoline.

Syria's crisis began in March 2011 with largely peaceful protests inspired by the Arab Spring revolts elsewhere in the region that toppled longtime Arab dictators. It evolved into a civil war as the opposition took up arms to fight a government crackdown on dissent.

The fighting has settled into a bloody stalemate and shows no signs of stopping, despite several tentative proposals from both sides to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi floated the latest proposal late Friday, saying Damascus is ready for dialogue with the opposition so long as the rebels lay down their weapons. He said anyone who responds will not be harmed.

The offer is unlikely to gain any traction among the Syrian opposition. The rebel movement is highly decentralized and deeply distrusts the regime, and most groups are unlikely to stop fighting so long as Assad remains president.

The opposition in January rejected a proposal that Assad put forward for ending the conflict, although it would have kept him in power. He offered a national reconciliation conference, elections and a new constitution. He also dismissed any chance of dialogue with the armed opposition and called on Syrians to fight what he called "murderous criminals."

Late last month, the head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Mouaz al-Khatib, changed course and said he is willing to talk to the regime if that would help end bloodshed. He suggested that Assad release tens of thousands of political prisoners as a first step.

Members of the opposition criticized al-Khatib's offer to talk to the regime, and the government flatly rejected it.

Also Saturday, Cardinal Bechara al-Rai, head of the Maronite Catholic church, began the first visit to Damascus by the leader of the church in decades. Rai will attend a ceremony Sunday marking the enthronement of John Yazigi as the new patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church.

The Maronite Church was an outspoken critic of Syria's three-decade domination and military presence in Lebanon.

Hundreds mourn at funeral of South Africa gang rape victim

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Hundreds of grieving South Africans attended the funeral on Saturday of a 17-year-old girl whose brutal gang-rape and murder stirred national outrage.

The killing of Anene Booysen, who was mutilated and left to die in a small town in the Western Cape, echoed the gang rape of a student on a New Delhi bus last year, and has focused attention on South Africa's high rates of sex crime.

Hundreds of mourners, including politicians, packed a church in the town of Bredasdorp, while a tent was set up to accommodate those who couldn't fit inside.

Booysen was found by security guards lying a short distance from her house after partying at a bar last Friday evening. Her stomach was slit open down to her genitals and she died from her injuries in hospital.

She managed to identify one of her attackers before her death. Three men have been arrested and are due to appear in court on Tuesday. Booysen's brother told local media he knew one of the suspects.

"He was a friend of mine, we went to school together, stayed in one house, we were like brothers,"Ryno Booysen said.

On Friday, hundreds of people marched through Bredasdorp, chanting "enough is enough".

President Jacob Zuma expressed shock and outrage, calling for the harshest possible sentences for the killers and a concerted campaign "to end this scourge in our society".

South Africa has the highest number of reported rapes per head of population of any Interpol member country, with more than 64,500 reported in 2011/2012.

Even when suspects are caught, only 12 percent of cases end in conviction and sex crimes seldom cause much public concern.

The Women's League of the ruling African National Congress is trying to mobilize the public into similar action to the protests against anti-female violence that took place in India after the New Delhi attack.

On Saturday, South African media reported police had arrested a Johannesburg pastor for luring a woman into his church and raping her.

(Reporting by Xola Potelwa; Editing by Rosalind Russell)