Israel rejects US gun lobby claims on its security

Israel's policy on issuing guns is restrictive, and armed guards at its schools are meant to stop terrorists, not crazed or disgruntled gunmen, experts said Monday, rejecting claims by America's top gun lobby that Israel serves as proof for its philosophy that the U.S. needs more weapons, not fewer. Far from the image of a heavily armed population where ordinary people have their own arsenals to repel attackers, Israel allows its people to acquire firearms only if they can prove their professions or places of residence put them in danger. The country relies on its security services, not armed citizens, to prevent terror attacks. Though military service in Israel is compulsory, routine familiarity with weapons does not carry over into civilian life. Israel has far fewer private weapons per capita than the U.S., and while there have been gangster shootouts on the streets from time to time, gun rampages outside the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are unheard of. The National Rifle Association responded to the Dec. 14 killing of 20 first-graders and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school by resisting calls for tighter gun control and calling for armed guards and police at schools. On Sunday, the lobby's chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, invoked his perception of the Israeli school security system to back his proposal. "Israel had a whole lot of school shootings until they did one thing: They said, 'We're going to stop it,' and they put armed security in every school and they have not had a problem since then," LaPierre said on the NBC News show "Meet the Press." Israel never had "a whole lot of school shootings." Authorities could only recall two in the past four decades. In 1974, 22 children and three adults were killed in a Palestinian attack on an elementary school in Maalot, near the border with Lebanon. The attackers' goal was to take the children hostage and trade them for imprisoned militants. In 2008, another Palestinian assailant killed eight young people, most of them teens, at a nighttime study session at a Jewish religious seminary in Jerusalem. An off-duty soldier who happened to be in the area killed the attacker with his personal firearm. Israel didn't mandate armed guards at the entrances to all schools until 1995, the Education Ministry said — more than two decades after the Maalot attack and two years after a Palestinian militant wounded five pupils and their principal in a knifing at a Jerusalem school. Israel's lightly armed school guards are not the first or the last line of defense. They are backed up by special police forces on motorcycles that can be on the scene within minutes — again bringing out the main, but not the only, difference between the two systems. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor spelled it out. "We're fighting terrorism, which comes under very specific geopolitical and military circumstances. This is not something that compares with the situation in the U.S," Palmor said. Because it is aimed at preventing terror attacks, Israel's school security system is part of a multi-layered defense strategy that focuses on prevention and doesn't depend on a guy at a gate with a gun. Intelligence gathering inside Palestinian territories, a large military force inside the West Bank and a barrier of towering concrete slabs and electronic fencing along and inside the West Bank provide the first line of defense. Guards are stationed not just at schools, but at many other public facilities, including bus and train stations, parking lots, malls and restaurants. "There are other measures of prevention of an attack taking place, which are carried out 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all over the country," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Many are not for public knowledge. Gun lobbyists who might think Israel hands out guns freely to keep its citizens safe might be less enamored of Israel's actual gun laws, which are much stricter than those in the U.S. For one thing, notes Yakov Amit, head of the firearms licensing department at the Ministry of Public Security, Israeli law does not guarantee the right to bear arms as the U.S. Constitution does. "The policy in Israel is restrictive," he said. Gun licensing to private citizens is limited largely to people who are deemed to need a firearm because they work or live in dangerous areas, Amit said. West Bank settlers, for instance, can apply for weapons licenses, as can residents of communities on the borders with Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Licensing requires multiple levels of screening, and permits must be renewed every three years. Renewal is not automatic. The policy is designed "to strike a balance between needs and risks," Amit said. "We know that weapons are a dangerous thing, and in the hands of someone who isn't trained or isn't reliable, it causes problems." The gap between Israeli gun ownership and U.S. gun ownership is consequently staggering. A total of 170,000 guns are licensed for private use in Israel, or about one gun for every 30 adults. In addition to the privately held weapons, 130,000 guns are licensed to Israeli security companies, firing ranges, government ministries and companies that operate in areas deemed dangerous. Soldiers who carry assault rifles off base during their regular or reserves service turn them in when they complete their tours of duty. By contrast, U.S. authorities estimate that at least one-third of all American households have firearms — and in many cases, not only one. Americans are also much freer to choose what type of guns they buy. Automatic weapons of the type Lanza used to gun down his victims are banned for private ownership in Israel. It is also rare for a person to be authorized to own more than one firearm, Amit said. Eighty percent of the 10,000 people who apply yearly for licenses are turned down, he said. In the U.S., people can purchase firearms from private dealers without a background check or a license of any kind. In Israel, applicants must undergo police screening and medical exams, in part to determine their mental state, Amit said. Many Israelis receive weapons training in the military. But to be licensed to receive a weapon outside the military, they must undergo at least two hours of additional training, then repeat the training and medical exams every three years before they can renew their licenses. Anybody who possesses a legally acquired gun waives the right to confidentiality, and authorities cross-reference for new information about the gunholder every three months. "The point is not to complicate, but to make sure the system makes things safer," Amit said.

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Venezuela's Chavez "improves slightly" after surgery: official

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's condition has "improved slightly" after a cancer operation in Cuba, the information minister said on Monday, amid doubts over whether the former soldier is in good enough health to continue governing. "The patient has shown a slight improvement in his condition," Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said during a terse televised statement, adding the president has maintained contact with family members. Chavez has not been heard from in two weeks following a fourth operation for an unspecified type of cancer in the pelvic region. The government has said he suffered post-operatory complications including unexpected bleeding and a lung infection, but offered few details about his actual condition. His death, or even his resignation for health reasons, would upend the politics of the South American OPEC nation where his personalized brand of oil-financed socialism has made him a hero to the poor but a pariah to critics who call him a dictator. His allies are now openly discussing the possibility that he may not be back in time to be sworn in for his third six-year term on the constitutionally mandated date of January 10. Opposition leaders say a delay to his taking power would be another signal that Chavez is not in condition to govern and that fresh elections should be called to choose his replacement. They believe they have a better shot against Chavez's anointed successor, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, than against the charismatic president who for 14 years has been nearly invincible at the ballot box. But a constitutional dispute over succession could lead to a messy transition toward a post-Chavez era. Maduro has become the government's main figurehead in the president's absence. His speeches have mimicked Chavez's bombastic style that mixes historical references with acid insults of adversaries. Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in the October presidential vote, slammed Maduro in an interview published on Sunday for failing to seek dialogue with the opposition at a time of political uncertainty. "Maduro is not the one that won the elections, nor is he the leader," Capriles told the local El Universal newspaper. "Because Chavez is absent, this is precisely the time that (Maduro) needs help from people (in the opposition camp)." Chavez has vastly expanded presidential powers and built a near-cult following among millions of poor Venezuelans, who love his feisty language and social welfare projects. The opposition is smarting from this month's governors elections in which Chavez allies won 20 of 23 states. They are trying to keep attention focused on day-to-day problems from rampant crime to power outages.

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AP Interview: Egypt liberal objects to charter

One of Egypt's leading opposition figures on Monday pledged continued resistance to his country's Islamist-oriented constitution even if it is declared to have passed, contending that the process was fundamentally illegitimate. Unofficial tallies say nearly two-thirds voted in favor of the draft constitution, but turnout was so low that opponents are arguing that the vote should be discounted. Hamdeen Sabahi, who placed third in the nation's first free presidential race over the summer, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the majority of Egypt's people are not Islamists. He argued that the string of election triumphs by President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group are the result of unfair electoral practices and key mistakes by the liberal opposition, particularly a lack of unity and organization. "The Muslim Brotherhood is a minority — this is for sure. They get majority votes because of division within the opposition," he said. "If there is transparency (in voting) and unity among civil groups, then surely the majority will turn from the Brotherhood." Sabahi said the Islamist groups in the country "for sure have tried to steal" the revolution that toppled authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak neat two years ago — "but we will prevent them." Sabahi said the National Salvation Front — a union of key opposition forces that coalesced in the fight against the draft constitution — is not calling for civil disobedience in rejection of the Islamist-drafted constitution, but for a new constitution through peaceful means. The path toward such an outcome appears uncertain at best — especially as Sabahi rejected the notion, somewhat plausible in Egypt, of the military stepping in to undo the inconvenient outcomes of politics. In a sign of the opposition leadership's efforts to coalesce, Sabahi said the grouping would be led in the interim by Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the Vienna-based United Nations nuclear agency. No confirmation of that was immediately available from ElBaradei. In the interview, the silver-maned, charismatic former journalist seemed to embody the frustrations of liberal Egyptians today: While championing the democracy and lauding the 2011 revolution that felled Mubarak, they reject the outcome of that revolution, yet seem at something of a loss to cause a change of course. Tens of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets weeks before the referendum to demand a new assembly with greater diversity write the charter. Instead, an Islamist-dominated assembly hurriedly passed it before a court could rule on the body's legitimacy, and Morsi himself issued decrees, later rescinded, that gave him near absolute powers to push the constitution to a referendum. Backers of the Brotherhood and others Islamist parties also rallied in support of the charter, leaving the country split and leading to violent clashes between the two camps that killed 10 outside the presidential palace in Cairo this month. That created the impression that street protests can be conjured up to support either side in the current divide. But only around 30 percent of eligible voters participated in the referendum on the divisive charter. Of that number, unofficial figures estimate that 64 percent voted in support of it. Sabahi said the low voter turnout shows people were not convinced by the Brotherhood's slogans — nor with the opposition's. "This means that the battle for politics is concentrated on survival, food, jobs and prices — daily struggles that are the priority of all Egyptians," he said. Under such circumstances, he said, it was illogical to enshrine the document as a constitution that can be amended only by supermajorities in parliament. Critics say the new constitution seeks to entrench Islamic rule in Egypt and that the charter does not sufficiently protect the rights of women and minority groups. Morsi and his supporters say the constitution is needed to restore stability in the country, install an elected parliament, build state institutions and renew investor confidence in the economy. In a reflection of the complex nuances at play, Sabahi refused to describe the current conflict roiling Egypt as a clash between secularism and theocracy, saying that in the Arab world, religion and public life could never be distinct in accordance with the Western model. Rather, he said, the issue was preventing the Brotherhood from establishing a "tyranny" as a political movement not unlike that of the previous authoritarian regime. He likened Morsi to the ousted leader, Mubarak, saying the Brotherhood is after absolute power. "He (Morsi) reached power democratically, but is not exercising power democratically," he said, adding that the Brotherhood "wants to establish a system of tyranny in their benefit." Regarding the fears of theocracy, Sabahi said, "We are against separation of religion and state ... The intellect of the Arab region, and Egypt, is built essentially on religion and specifically the Islamic religion." Nonetheless, Sabahi said the opposition would continue to fight the constitution, arguing that the low turnout made it illegitimate. "From the beginning the National Salvation Front said this constitution does not represent the people," he said. "This constitution is not one of national consensus, but of national division." He said the NSF would now try to remain united in preparation for possible participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections. He said the front has no immediate plans to unite under one party, but that as a coalition they could win a majority of seats if electoral laws mandated an end to political proselytizing in mosques and placed a limit on the funds used for political campaigns. Another key issue for the opposition has been enabling people to vote outside their home district. The absence of this has aided the Islamists, who have the money to bus supporters back home to vote. The opposition, though, has also warned that rigging could be made easier if people vote from any location and point to the current use of Brotherhood-manned buses to transport poor voters. "I am sure that the non-Islamists are the real majority in Egypt. But the Muslim Brotherhood enjoys strong organization, and the forces that oppose them do not have the same organization or finances," he said. The Brotherhood emerged as the country's strongest political force after the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak nearly two years ago. They won the most seats in parliament, before it was dissolved by the courts, and won the presidency. Liberal and secular groups have consistently failed to beat the Brotherhood at the polls since. That was until Sabahi, a charismatic populist, appeared as a surprise presidential contender against Morsi and his rival, Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister, an ex-military man who lured voters with promises of stability. Sabahi had a last-minute surge after campaigning on promises to help the poor and harkening back to the nationalist, socialist ideology of Gamel Abdel-Nasser, Egypt's president from 1956 to 1970. Would Sabahi — known as a fervent opponent of Israel — cancel the landmark 1979 peace treaty if he one day ascended to power? No, he said. The main issues facing Egypt today are resolving internal problems, especially endemic poverty — and he would not risk that priority issue by courting war with a neighbor. In contrast to the Brotherhood, which has several offices in every Egyptian governorate, Sabahi spoke from the office of a famous Egyptian movie director, who lent him the space. "The Brotherhood is losing every day. Mohammed Morsi is losing every day," Sabahi insisted, sitting among black and white pictures of Egyptian cinema actors emblematic of the 1960s — a time of resurgent Arab nationalism less complicated by the politics of religion.

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At Christmas Eve Mass, pope urges space for God

Pope Benedict XVI marked Christmas Eve with Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and a pressing question: Will people find room in their hectic, technology-driven lives for children, the poor and God? The pontiff also prayed that Israelis and Palestinians live in peace and freedom, and asked the faithful to pray for strife-torn Syria as well as Lebanon and Iraq. The ceremony began at 10 p.m. local time Monday with the blare of trumpets, meant to symbolize Christian joy over the news of Christ's birth in Bethlehem. As midnight neared, chuch bells tolled throughout Rome, while inside the basilica, the sweet voices of the Vatican's boys' choir resounded joyously. Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican traditionally began at midnight, but the start time was moved up years ago so as to give the 85-year-old pontiff more time to rest before his Christmas Day speech. That address is to be delivered at midday Tuesday from the basilica's central balcony. A smiling Benedict, dressed in gold-colored vestments, waved to photo-snapping pilgrims and applauding church-goers as he glided up the center aisle toward the ornate main altar of the cavernous basilica on a wheeled platform guided by white-gloved aides. The platform saves him energy. In his homily, Benedict cited the Gospel account of Mary and Joseph finding no room at an inn and ending up in a stable which sheltered the baby Jesus. He urged people to reflect upon what they find time for in their busy, technology-driven lives. "The great moral question of our attitude toward the homeless, toward refugees and migrants takes on a deeper dimension: Do we really have room for God when he seeks to enter under our roof? Do we have time and space for him?" the pope said. "The faster we can move, the more efficient our time-saving appliances become, the less time we have. And God? The question of God never seems urgent," Benedict lamented. The pope worried that "we are so 'full' of ourselves that there is no room left for God." He added, "that means there is no room for others either — for children, for the poor, for the stranger." With his voice a bit hoarse, and looking somewhat tired as the two-hour ceremony neared its end, Benedict decried that history has suffered through "misuse of religion," when belief in one God became a pretext for intolerance and violence. Still, he insisted that where God is "forgotten or even denied, there is no peace either." "Let us pray that Israelis and Palestinians be able to live their lives in the peace of the one God and in freedom," the pope said. Benedict also mentioned his hope for progress in Syria, which is mired in civil war, as well as Lebanon and Iraq. Reflecting the Vatican's concern about the exodus of many fearful Christians from the Muslim-dominated Middle East, Benedict expressed hope that "Christians in those lands where our faith was born maybe be able to continue living there" and that Christians and Muslims "build up their countries side by side in God's peace." Hours before the basilica Mass, Benedict lit a Christmas peace candle on the windowsill of his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square.

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Marilyn Monroe subway grate photo on view in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — A famous image of Marilyn Monroe with her skirt billowing atop a New York City subway grate is on display in a picture-perfect spot: outside the Times Square subway station. The supersized version of Sam Shaw's well-known picture is part of an exhibit. The exhibit also features eight of Shaw's other Monroe pictures, on view inside the 42nd Street-Bryant Park station on the B, D, F, M and 7 lines. The show opened Thursday. It'll be up for a year. Shaw shot the subway grate photo for the 1955 film "The Seven Year Itch." He took the other pictures in 1957. The exhibit is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Arts for Transit program. Manager Lester Burg says matching a mass transit setting with a popular figure from mass culture seemed a good fit.

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Country singer Tate Stevens wins Fox's 'X Factor'

NEW YORK (AP) — Tate Stevens, who was mentored by music exec L.A. Reid on the second season of "The X Factor," has won the Fox singing competition. The 37-year-old country singer from Belton, Mo., beat runner-up Carly Rose Sonenclar, a 13-year-old schoolgirl from Westchester, N.Y., and teenage girl group Fifth Harmony on the finale that aired live Thursday night. Stevens wins a $5 million recording contract. More than 35 million votes were cast by viewers after Wednesday's performance show. Besides Reid, judges this season included Demi Lovato, Britney Spears and series creator Simon Cowell. Thursday's show was also the grand finale for Reid. Earlier this month, he said he wouldn't be returning to "The X Factor" next year. No replacement has been announced.

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Hot spots draw believers, but not doomsday

As the sun rose from time zone to time zone across the world on Friday, there was still no sign of the world's end — but that didn't stop those convinced that a 5,125-year Mayan calendar predicts the apocalypse from gathering at some of the world's purported survival hot spots. Many of the esoterically inclined expected a new age of consciousness — others wanted a party. But, in some places said to offer salvation from the end, fewer people showed up than officials had predicted — much to the disappointment of vendors hoping to sell souvenirs. Here are some key places being marked by the fascination over doomsday rumors: MEXICO In an area of Mexico that was once the ancient Mayan heartland, spiritualists gathered in the darkness before dawn on Friday to prepare white clothes, drums, conch shells and incense. They believed the sunrise would herald the birth of a new and better age as a vast cycle in the Mayan calendar comes to an end. Many people who came to Yucatan for the occasion were already calling it "a new sun" and "a new era." FRANCE According to one rumor, a rocky mountain in the French Pyrenees will be the sole place on Earth to escape destruction. A giant UFO and aliens are said to be waiting under the mountain, ready to burst through and spirit those nearby to safety. But there is bad news for those seeking salvation: French gendarmes, some on horseback, blocked outsiders from reaching the Bugarach peak and its village of some 200 people. Eric Freysselinard, head of local government, said the security forces had "partially stopped the new age enthusiasts as well as curious people from coming to the area." Meanwhile, some Bugarach residents dressed up like aliens, with tinfoil costumes and funnels and fake antenna on their heads, strolling around their village Friday to make light of the rumored UFO prophecy. RUSSIA Doomsday rumors have prompted some people across Russia to stock up on candles, water, canned foods and other non-perishable foods. The apocalypse has proven a good business, with some shops selling survival aid packages that include soap and vodka. In Moscow, salvation has also been promised in the underground bunker for the former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin — with a 50 percent refund if nothing happens. An underground stay was originally priced at 50,000 rubles ($1,625) but dropped to 15,000 ($490) a week ahead of the feared end. The bunker, located 65 meters (210 feet) below ground, was designed to withstand a nuclear attack. Now home to a small museum, it has an independent electricity supply, water and food — but no more room, because the museum has already sold out all 1,000 tickets. BRITAIN Hundreds of people have converged on Stonehenge for an "End of the World" party that coincides with the Winter Solstice. Arthur Uther Pendragon, Britain's best-known druid, said he was anticipating a much larger crowd than usual at Stonehenge this year. But he doesn't agree that the world is ending, noting that he and fellow druids believe that things happen in cycles. "We're looking at it more as a new beginning than an end," he said. "We're looking at new hope." Meanwhile, end-of-days parties will be held across London on Friday. One event billed as a "last supper club" is offering a three-course meal served inside an "ark." SERBIA Some Serbs are saying to forget that sacred mountain in the French Pyrenees. The place to be Friday is Mount Rtanj, a pyramid-shaped peak in Serbia already drawing cultists. According to legend, the mountain once swallowed an evil sorcerer who will be released on doomsday in a ball of fire that will hit the mountain top. The inside of the mountain will then open up, becoming a safe place to hide as the sorcerer goes on to destroy the rest of the world. In the meantime, some old coal mine shafts have been opened up as safe rooms. On Friday a New Age group called "The Spirit of Rtanj" was holding a conference there. Participants, however, said they expect not the end of time but the start of a new time cycle. Locals turned out to sell brandy and herbs. "There will be no tragedy, no doomsday," said resident Dalibor Jovic. "It was supposed to happen at 12:12 and I think that time has passed. So, we can now go on with our lives and be happy to be alive." TURKEY A small Turkish village known for its wines, Sirince, has also been touted as the only place after Bugarach that would escape the world's end. But on Friday journalists and security officials outnumbered cultists. This outcome disappointed local business people who had prepared a range of doomsday products to sell, including a specially labeled Doomsday wine and Turkish delight candy whose "best before" date was Dec. 21, 2012. One restaurant prepared a special "last meal" menu that included a "heaven kebab" and "forbidden fruit dessert." ITALY Another spot said to be spared: Cisternino, a beautiful small town in southern Italy in an area of trulli, traditional dry stone huts with conical roofs. The notion that Cisternino could be a safe haven at world's end derives from an Indian guru, Babaji, who said "Cisternino will become an island" at world's end. His followers built a community in Cisternino centered on an ashram built in 1979. Hotel bookings are up this weekend. Mayor Donato Baccaro told the AP that the beauty of the place has inspired many foreigners to live there. "This confirms that this place has a special energy," he said. CHINA A fringe Christian group has been spreading rumors about the world's impending end, prompting Chinese authorities to detain more than 500 people this week and seize leaflets, video discs, books and other material. Those detained are reported to be members of the group Almighty God, also called Eastern Lightning, which preaches that Jesus has reappeared as a woman in central China. Authorities in the province of Qinghai say they are waging a "severe crackdown" on the group, accusing it of attacking the Communist Party and the government. U.S. Dozens of Michigan schools canceled classes for thousands of students to cool off rumored threats of violence and problems related to doomsday. The fears were exacerbated by the recent shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, which "changed all of us," the school system in Genesee County said. "Canceling school is the right thing to do."

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