Turkey's defiant PM says police to get more power

People shout anti-government slogans during a rally by the labor unions in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, June 17, 2013. A day earlier, riot police cordoned off streets, set up roadblocks and fired tear gas and water cannons to prevent anti-government protesters from an effort to return to Taksim Square in Istanbul. Labor unions and political foes of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan rallied Monday by the thousands across Turkey, hoping to capitalize on weeks of protest that began as small-scale activism and parlay it into a chance to register broader discontent.(AP Photo)

Riot police use water cannons to chase people during a rally by the labor unions in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, June 17, 2013. A day earlier, riot police cordoned off streets, set up roadblocks and fired tear gas and water cannons to prevent anti-government protesters from an effort to return to Taksim Square in Istanbul. Labor unions and political foes of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan rallied Monday by the thousands across Turkey, hoping to capitalize on weeks of protest that began as small-scale activism and parlay it into a chance to register broader discontent.(AP Photo)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's prime minister on Tuesday brushed aside international criticism over his government's crackdown on widespread demonstrations and vowed to increase the police's powers to deal with the unrest. Meanwhile, more than 90 people were detained in police raids linked to the protests.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's defiant stance appeared aimed at shoring up his conservative base in Turkey, where the rallies have exposed fissures between urban and largely secularist Turks and the more religious classes. But Erdogan's bellicosity has dented his global reputation; EU officials on Tuesday nixed a visit due to some of his comments.

Anti-government demonstrations sprouted across Turkey after May 31, when riot police brutally cracked down on peaceful environmental activists who opposed plans to remove trees and develop Gezi Park, which lies next to Istanbul's famed Taksim Square.

The crackdowns have continued since as protests have spread and attracted a range of groups unhappy with the 10-year rule of Erdogan, whom many believe is trying to gradually impose his religious and conservative views in Turkey, which has long had a secular democracy.

Four protesters and one police officer have been killed, and Turkey's doctors association said an investigation was underway into the death of a fifth person who was exposed to tear gas. More than 7,800 people have been injured; six are in critical condition and 11 lost their eyesight after being hit by flying objects.

Police on Tuesday raided homes and offices in the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul, detaining at least 92 people suspected of involvement in violence. The state-run Anadolu news agency said the suspects were detained for allegedly destroying public property, inciting people to revolt or attacking police.

Addressing lawmakers belonging to his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party, Erdogan declared that riot police had acted with restraint and that their powers would be increased, giving them more leeway in dealing with future demonstrations.

"Our security forces put up a successful and extremely patient struggle against the acts of violence by remaining within the limits set by democracy and the law," Erdogan said.

In response to the ongoing confrontations, some protesters have adopted a special maneuver to get their point across: standing still.

The trend was launched by performance artist Erdem Gunduz, who stood silently for hours in Istanbul's central Taksim Square on Monday night as others joined him and replicated the protest in other cities.

As the numbers swelled to a few hundred, police broke up the demonstration in Taksim late Monday, but by Tuesday evening dozens of protesters could be seen standing motionless in the square.

The United Nations and New York-based Human Rights Watch have both expressed alarm over reports that tear gas canisters and pepper spray were fired directly at demonstrators and into closed spaces, actions that significantly increase the danger posed to the individuals targeted.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said law enforcement bodies must be held accountable, and that "the government must also provide adequate reparation to victims of excessive use of force and other serious human rights violations by security forces."

Erdogan did not mention the reports of tear gas being fired into closed spaces or directly at protesters, but told lawmakers it was police officers' "natural right" to fire tear gas.

Also Tuesday, a United Nations spokesman said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was saddened by the deaths and injuries in Turkey and urged "maximum restraint and the pursuit of constructive dialogue in order to resolve differences and avoid further violent confrontation."

"He believes that stability is best assured through such dialogue and when the rights to peaceful assembly and the freedom of expression are fully respected," said the spokesman, Eduardo del Buey.

Turkey has long aspired to join the European Union, but the events of recent weeks have strained its relations with the bloc.

EU lawmakers said they'd be scrapping a Wednesday visit to Turkey after Erdogan last week issued stinging criticism of an EU resolution that expressed concern over the "disproportionate and excessive use of force" by Turkish police against the demonstrators.

Erdogan had declared that he "won't recognize the decision that the European Union Parliament is going to take" and asked them, "Who do you think you are by taking such a decision?"

European parliamentarian Elmar Brok said the Turkish government "should understand how to deal with criticism."

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Edith M. Lederer in New York contributed.

House committee takes up tough immigration bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Challenged by protesters chanting "shame, shame," House Republicans advanced legislation Tuesday to crack down on immigrants living illegally in the United States as theSenate lurched ahead on a dramatically different approach offering the hope of citizenship to the same millions.

Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina said the bill moving through the House Judiciary Committee was part of a "step by step, increment by increment" approach to immigration, an issue that can pit Republican against Republican as much if not more than it divides the two political parties.

California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren predicted there would be "millions of American citizens taking to the street" in protest if Republicans pressed ahead with the bill, which would permits state and local authorities to enforce federal immigration laws and require mandatory detention for anyone in the country illegally who is convicted of drunk driving.

Despite the protests, approval by the committee was a foregone conclusion. The panel's chairman, Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., said future bills would require companies to make sure their employees are living in the United States legally, create a program for foreign farm workers who labor in the United States and enhance the ability of American firms to hire highly skilled workers from overseas.

Those steps and more are already rolled into one sweeping measure in the Senate, a bipartisan bill that President Barack Obama supports and that appears on track for a final Senate vote as early as July 4.

In a series of votes during the day, the Senate rejected a move by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., to require the installation of 350 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border before legalization can begin for anyone currently in the United States illegally.

Similarly, the Senate rejected a proposal by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., to prevent legalization until a biometric system is in place to track people entering or leaving the country through air, sea or land points of departure.

Those proposals were overshadowed by a larger debate over the types of border securityrequirements the legislation should contain. Republicans generally want to toughen the existing measure, particularly since the bill includes a 13-year path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally — a provision that sparks opposition from voters who could be influential in GOP primaries in next year's mid-term elections.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told reporters that he and others want the government to demonstrate an ability to apprehend the vast majority of those attempting to enter the country illegally before anyone already present can take the first step toward possible citizenship.

Democrats have previously been unwilling to consider proposals along those lines, arguing they could postpone legalization for years if not longer. As drafted, the bill gives the government six months to develop a plan to achieve border security, but does not hold up legalization while it is being tested for effectiveness.

It was unclear what, if any, compromise is possible on that point. Agreement would greatly increase the bill's chances for passage with a large bipartisan vote.

The measure was drafted by a bipartisan Gang of Eight and represents a series of political trade-offs among senators as well as outside groups like business and labor, growers and farm workers. In addition to border security and a path to citizenship, it includes an expanded number of visas for highly skilled workers prized by the technology industry and a new program for low-skilled workers. It also features a top-to-bottom overhaul of a decades-old system for parceling out visas to future legal immigrants, reducing the importance of family ties while emphasizing education, job skills and youth.

Broad in its scope, the bill calls for new judges, prosecutors and other officials to handle cases involving immigration law. At the same time, it would require the government to pay for legal representation, if necessary, for unaccompanied children caught up in such cases, as well as for adults determined to be legally incompetent because of a serious mental disability.

Any talk of compromise in the House appeared distant as Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, sought to reassure conservatives who have expressed fears he will allow legislation to come up this summer that they oppose and Democrats support.

One official who attended the closed-door meeting quoted the Ohio Republican as saying he has no intention of allowing a bill to come up that would violate the principles of the GOP majority and split its ranks. The speaker also made clear that legislation must satisfy Republican concerns about border security, according to the official.

At roughly the same time, Goodlatte gaveled the Judiciary Committee to order, and more than a dozen protesters who had been seated in the hearing room stood up and began clapping and chanting, "Shame, shame, shame! More of the same!" They were ushered out but their cries could still be heard in the hallway and committee proceedings were briefly interrupted.

The bill was the first on immigration to move through the committee this year, but hardly the opening salvo from conservatives who hold sway in the House.

Two weeks ago, the House voted to overturn Obama's 2012 election year announcement that he was suspending deportation of many immigrants who came to the country illegally as children.

Argentine cash controls bring bargains, headaches

In this June 5, 2013 photo, a shop window displays a sign that reads in Spanish "50% discount" as well as the store's accepted rates of exchange in the informal market for the Argentine peso with the US dollar, the euro, and Brazil's real, along Florida street in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The weakening peso has led to a flood of day-trippers from neighboring countries into Argentina, which imposed severe currency controls in hopes of reducing the flight of dollars and protecting foreign reserves. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The Brazilian visitors gawk in wonder as they stroll past shop windows along touristy Florida street in the Argentine capital. The jackets, the shoes — they're all so cheap when your purse is stuffed with black-market money.

Visitors who turn to the streets rather than the banks to swap their dollars in Argentina are getting a bonanza of extra pesos and can shop much more cheaply than back at home. A leather jacket that costs $250 in Lima, Peru, can be had for about $150 in Buenos Aires.

"We find differences in the food, the perfumes, the shoes ... with almost everything," said 27-year-old Edjane Mendes, who was browsing Florida street with her 19-year-old friend Michele Aline. Both are Brazilians studying in Buenos Aires.

The weakening peso has led to a flood of day-trippers and other visitors from neighboring countries into Argentina, which keeps tightening its currency controls in hopes of protecting foreign reserves and reducing the flight of dollars. Argentines who feel their savings are perpetually at risk tend to save in other currencies, and in other countries, whenever they can.

Inflation now runs at about 25 percent a year, according to independent economists, while the government is trying to gradually devalue the peso by about 20 percent a year against the dollar. So with their buying power rapidly eroding, Argentines are more eager than ever to hedge their losses by swapping pesos for dollars. The government has responded with a series of measures since late 2011 that have made it nearly impossible to legally obtain dollars at the official rate. But that has only made many Argentines more desperate.

As a result, many evade the formal financial system and buy black-market greenbacks that Argentines euphemistically call "blue dollars." Web sites now report the latest prices, giving everyone a common reference to make trades by. That means anyone entering the country with dollars can find willing buyers wherever they go in Argentina, without having to risk shady deals in dark alleys.

This blue-dollar rate briefly topped 10 pesos before the government stepped in to contain the bleeding, in part by using reserves to increase the supply of dollars circulating inside the country. On Monday, it was holding at 8 pesos, still a 50 percent premium over the official rate of 5.34. But central-bank intervention is a tool the government can only use so often: Already this year, its foreign reserves have fallen by 11 percent to $38.6 billion.

On the streets of Argentina, the difference between living at one rate and dealing in another is so great that "it seems like living in two countries; yes, it's like another country, somehow living underground," Italian tourist Mario Clemente marveled as he shopped in Buenos Aires.

The phenomenon also has had a major impact in border towns and in resort areas such as the ski town of Bariloche, where Brazilian tourists are keeping hotels and ski slopes busy, largely displacing Argentines for whom the country's high-end resorts have become more expensive than trips to the U.S. or Europe.

"In these times, it's to their advantage if they come with dollar bills and change them here," said Bariloche's tourist secretary, Fabian Szewczuk.

Unlike its neighbors, Argentina has no access to foreign lending, given its history of refusing to pay all its sovereign debts and international court judgments. And it has spent heavily to stimulate its economy, fueling inflation. The mix puts immense pressure on the government to maintain dollar reserves to sustain faith in Argentine pesos. But the controls and the resulting currency mismatches are causing headaches for nearby governments, which have had to impose tough medicine on some of their own people as a result.

Uruguayan housewife Sara de Ferrere has been going abroad to do her shopping, taking the bridge over the Uruguay River to find cheaper prices in Concordia, Argentina, than can be found in her hometown of Salto.

"Everything's half price," she said, and what's more, Argentine shopkeepers "ask you please to pay with dollars, so in addition to the exchange (rate), they give you a reduction on the price."

So many of de Ferrere's neighbors were joining her that gasoline sales fell "between 20 and 40 percent" on the Uruguayan side, said the local chamber of commerce secretary, Miguel Feris. Uruguay responded with a "Zero Kilos" program, barring its citizens from bringing back Argentine goods if they've been gone for less than a day. Since then, lines of cars at the border have disappeared, and gas sales have stabilized.

"They don't let you bring absolutely anything," de Ferrere said. "I went to Concordia and bought clothing that I wore and two or three other little things in my purse. But if they see you with a bag or packages, they take it from you."

Even so, Argentina-bought clothes and cosmetics can be found in the street fairs of Salto, brought in by small-scale smugglers working across the porous border.

The situation is much the same in Paraguay, where people joke that their currency, the guarani, has so many zeros that everyone is a millionaire. Taking advantage of the guarani's newfound strength, Paraguayans were rolling by the thousands into the Argentine frontier city of Clorinda to do their shopping.

Paraguay's government increased customs inspections after receiving complaints from the country's Industrial Union business chamber, but the flow isn't just one way.

Argentines denied legal dollars back home often cross the border to buy dollars at a better-than-blue rate, and then benefit from the difference. That has offered a profit opportunity for Argentines who can buy dollars for 8.3 pesos in the Paraguayan city of Encarnacion and then sell them for 7 percent more at home. And as the "blue dollar" soared to 10 pesos, Argentines carrying bank cards took the ferry to Uruguay just to pull money from cash machines, waiting for hours in lines for dollars they could trade back home.

Argentina responded by limiting withdrawals using debit and credit cards by its citizens to $50 a month in neighboring countries, but that doesn't stop the cash flowing outside the banking system.

All these distortions pose a threat to the dollar reserves of Argentina's neighbors. Paraguay's Economy Minister, Manuel Ferreira Brusquetti, estimated that some $200 million had left Paraguay for Argentina in May alone.

"We are present at the beginning of the end of the Argentine model, which is not sustainable any more," he said, "and so (Argentina) is taking measures that oblige Argentines to buy dollars in our country and generate a flight" of currency.

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AP writers Pedro Servin in Asuncion, Paraguay; Pablo Fernandez in Montevideo, Uruguay; Marianela Jarroud in Sanitago, Chile; and Lucas Bertellotti and Paul Byrne in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

Autism Linked with Air-Pollution Exposure During Pregnancy

Pregnant women who are exposed to high levels of air pollution may be more likely to give birth tochildren with autism, according to a new study.

The researchers found that the pregnant women in the study who lived in the most-polluted areas were up to two times more likely to have a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), compared with those who lived in the least-polluted areas.

The air pollutants linked to autism included diesel fuel, lead, manganese and mercury. For most pollutants that the researchers studied, associations with autism were stronger in boys than in girls.

The results add to evidence found in previous studies suggesting that air pollution might be a risk factor for autism.

It is not clear how heavy metals or other chemicals found in air pollution may affect a developing fetus, but studies have shown traffic-related pollutants, such as diesel, can induce inflammation of the brain in animals, the researchers said.

"Our results suggest that new studies should begin the process of measuring metals and other pollutants in the blood of pregnant women or newborn children to provide stronger evidence that specific pollutants increase risk of autism," said study researcher Marc Weisskopf, associate professor of environmental and occupational epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.

In the study, the researchers looked at 325 women who had a child with autism and 22,000 women who had a child without autism. Using air-pollution data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the researchers estimated levels of pollutants at the time and place of each child's birth.

The results showed that women living in areas with the highest levels of diesel or mercury in the air were twice as likely to have a child with ASD, compared with those living in the areas with the lowest levels.

Women who were exposed to other types of air pollution — such as lead, manganese and methylene chloride — were about 50 percent more likely to have a child with ASD than women who lived in the areas with the lowest concentrations of these pollutants.

The results held after adjusting for other possible ASD risk factors, such as parents' income, education and smoking during pregnancy. However, the findings show a link — not a cause-and-effect relationship — between autism and pollution, the researchers said. More work is needed to confirm the results.

There were 279 boys and 46 girls with ASD in the study. While the link with pollution seemed stronger for boys compared with girls, the researchers noted there were few girls with autism in the study, and said the finding should be examined further.

Another explanation for the gender difference in the results is that boys may have a generally greater vulnerability to ASD, the researchers said. The toxic effects of air pollutant may impact boys' development more easily or profoundly, resulting in autism, they said.

The study was published today (June 18) in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

New NYC evacuation zones include almost 3M people