NATO backs Turkey as PM vents fury at 'heinous' Syria

Turkey's prime minister branded Syria an imminent threat Tuesday, vowing to retaliate over the "heinous" downing of one of its jets, as Russia downplayed the incident and NATO rallied behind Ankara.

Amid reports of fierce clashes between Syrian rebel forces and army units around elite Republican Guard posts in Damascus, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his country had changed its rules of engagement and would now treat any Syrian security threat as a military target.

Friday's downing of a Turkish Phantom F-4 fighter jet has split Moscow and the West, with NATO condemning Syria and voicing its solidarity with member state Turkey while Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, said the incident should not be seen as intentional.

"We believe it is important that the incident is not viewed as a provocation or an intentional action, and that it does not lead to destabilising the situation," the Russian foreign ministry said in its first comment on the incident.

But Erdogan raised the heat on the Assad regime by accusing it of shooting down the jet while it was in international airspace, without warning.

"This is a hostile act... a heinous attack," Erdogan told a parliamentary meeting of his ruling AKP party.

"Turkey will exercise its rights, born out of international law, with determination, and take the necessary steps by determining the time, place and method by itself."

Erdogan, once a close ally of Assad, has become one of the Syrian leader's biggest critics and his reaction to the downing of the jet is his fiercest outburst to date.

The premier admitted the Turkish plane had violated Syrian airspace but said it was only for a short time and "by mistake". He insisted it was not in Syrian airspace when it came under attack.

"The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed given this new development," he said.

Any security or military risk posed by Syria on the Turkish border would be "considered a threat and treated as a military target."

"This latest development shows that the Assad regime has become a clear and imminent threat to the security of Turkey, as well as for its own people," he said.

After a request from Turkey, NATO's secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen hosted talks with ambassadors of the alliance's 28 members in Brussels.

"Allies have expressed their strong support and solidarity with Turkey," he told reporters after the meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes.

"We consider this act to be unacceptable and condemn it in the strongest terms.

"It is another example of the Syrian authorities' disregard for international norms, peace and security, and human life.

"Let me make this clear. The security of the alliance is indivisible. We stand together with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity."

Turkey requested the consultations under Article 4 of NATO's founding treaty, enabling any of the allies to call for talks should they consider their territorial integrity, political independence or security to be under threat.

But NATO has so far been notably reluctant to get sucked into the conflict in Syria.

And Iran, an ally of Turkey and Syria, called on Tuesday for regional countries rather than outside powers to help resolve the row.

Damascus has defended the downing of the jet, saying it was a response to "a gross violation" of its sovereignty.

"The Turkish warplane violated Syrian airspace, and in turn Syrian air defences fired back and the plane crashed inside Syrian territorial waters," foreign ministry spokesman Jihad al-Makdissi said on Monday.

The jet's two-man crew remain missing.

In Syria itself, Syrian armed rebel forces and regime army units were locked in fierce clashes around elite Republican Guard posts in the suburbs of Damascus, according to pro-opposition activists.

"Violent clashes are taking place around positions of the Republican Guard in Qadsaya and Al-Hama," eight kilometres (five miles) from central Damascus, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

"This is the first time that the regime uses artillery in fighting so close to the capital," he said. "This development is important because it's the heaviest fighting in the area and close to the heart of the capital."

"These suburbs are home to barracks of troops which are very important for the regime like the Republican Guard. This is also where the families of (army) officers live," he said.

The Britain-based Observatory said 58 people had been killed across the country on Tuesday: 24 soldiers, 30 civilians and four rebels.

The sustained bloodshed in Syria saw Washington lashing out at the United Nations on Monday.

"The situation in Syria represents a colossal failure by the Security Council to protect civilians," Washington's UN ambassador Susan Rice said as the 15-nation body debated the crisis.

"It is a shame that this Council continues to stand by rather than to stand up," she said giving a withering assessment of the situation in Syria.

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Want to Live Longer? Fit Outweighs Fat | FYI BeHealthy

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Posted 06/25/12 10:23 AM ET


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Family dinner: Can you teach a tradition?

The family dinner ??may be associated with lower rates of underage substance abuse, teen pregnancy, depression, and problems in school. The Family Dinner Project aims to promote and teach the tradition ? from setting the table to having a family conversation ? at schools and among families that may have difficulty starting a dinner tradition of their own.

By Meredith Bennett-Smith,?Correspondent / June 24, 2012

Family dinner tradition: That's what The Family Dinner Project aims to promote here at a Lynn, Mass. community dinner where Jack Damas, 10, helped prepare a dessert April 24, 2012. This is part of the cover project on family dinner in the June 25 issue of The Christian Science MonitorWeekly magazine.

Ann Hermes / The Christian Science Monitor

Enlarge

The iconic American family dinner may look very right and natural as portrayed on TV (think Mrs. Cleaver's casserole) and in art (think Norman Rockwell's "Freedom from Want").

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But for some households, a family dinner is an improbable and unrealistic occurrence.

In the Boston area, one organization is trying to change that by modeling the tradition. The Family Dinner Project ? a grass-roots organization that bills itself as a "movement of food, fun and conversation about things that matter" ? aims to promote the benefits of the family dinner and connect families with the resources they need to start a family dinner tradition of their own.

PHOTO GALLERY: The great American family dinner

"We're trying to orient kids to a meal, to interest them in conversation," says executive director John Sarrouf. "We want everyone to come to the table to be together, to communicate, to ask questions of each other, to have fun, and to make memories."

Many researchers say that families who break bread together regularly may have lower rates of underage substance abuse, teen pregnancy, depression, and problems in school. So the project holds outreach programs promoting the dinner concept at local schools.

At one such event ? held recently at the Robert L. Ford School in an impoverished area of Lynn, Mass. ? volunteers set up a half-dozen cafeteria tables, each set with real flatware and plates, and candles. As families trickled in, the kids were invited to make centerpieces using flowers and rocks.

As one little boy in bright plaid manhandled a plate of cracker hors d'oeuvres, Mr. Sarrouf attempted a kindly redirect, explaining the etiquette of touching only the thing you want to eat.

Socioeconomic factors can definitely affect the ability of families to set aside time for dinner together, explained Claire Crane, principal at the school, where most students qualify for free lunches. "Most families here ... work two or three jobs," Dr. Crane said. "[F]or some of the families here, this is the first opportunity they have had to do this. When I was a little girl, we ate at 5. We need to go back to that."

Over aluminum trays of lasagna, children chattered and parents talked. Jennifer Paulino brought her two children and three stepchildren to the event without her husband, who had to work. Ms. Paulino looked tired, but happy to be at the dinner. She said she'd recently found a job and was hoping eventually to go back to school. The biggest challenge to dinner in her family is scheduling a time when neither parent is at work, she said.

At another table, Pam Taylor was waging a losing battle against the stubborn tomato sauce adorning her young grandson's face. The mother of six grown kids who now has custody of her three grandchildren, Ms. Taylor suddenly has a new brood to feed.

"But I'm used to having a lot going on," she said. She makes her grandchildren sit down to dinner now. "We make a point of having them sit with us, say grace. The TV goes off. If the phone rings, I just let it ring.... I'm fortunate because I am home, and they're young enough that they can't say, 'I'm taking off to go hang out with friends.' "

PHOTO GALLERY: The great American family dinner

As the evening wound down, children helped clear the plates and clean the tables. Salvatore, age 4, the youngest of Taylor's grandchildren, finally sat still long enough for her to wipe his face. His favorite part of the dinner? Making whipped cream for dessert.

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Red Sox RHP Buchholz put on 15-day DL

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From the Editor's Desk: Gearing up for Google IO

Phil Nickinson

We're two days away from heading out to the Google IO developer conference in San Francisco. But no rest for the wicked. It's a working weekend. And that means one thing: A notes column!

  • My tl;dr predictions for Google IO (look for a more thoughtful piece on Monday): 7-inch tablet, preview of Jelly Bean (no code drop or anything though), hopefully some news that'll keep Google TV afloat. Plus a bunch of Chrome and other non-Android type stuff.
  • Speaking of Google IO ... Can't wait to meet all the great devs and other attendees. It's cliche, I know, but it really is the coolest part of the week.
  • That and seeing Jerry's beard in person.
  • Here's a good one from CrackBerry Kevin, a couple hours after he bought a $200 Vuvuzela app. "Oh, cool! You can get refunds on apps?" Me: "Oh, right. Yeah. In the first 15 minutes after purchase. I probably should have mentioned that sooner." Whoops.
  • I'm still very much enjoying the Galaxy S III. I'm not crazy about TouchWiz, sure -- the design just doesn't live up to the sophistication of the phone itself, nor does it complement Ice Cream Sandwich all that well. And I'm also not jazzed about Samsung putting a menu button on the phone. (LG's done that as well, as you'll recall.) Should be some interesting discussions on that this week. But the design of the device itself is excellent.
  • If you've yet to listen, we recorded Episode 100 of the Greatest Android Podcast in the World last week. It was epic. Listen now!
  • We're starting to hit our stride with accessories reviews. Some of them you can purchase straight from us at ShopAndroid.com. Some we don't carry, but they're awesome anyway. Point is, we're you're No. 1 source for all things Android -- not just the things our stores sell. And that's pretty cool.
  • The best part about having a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico is ... Wait. Scratch that. It sucks.

See y'all from San Francisco this week!

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N.Z. rugby chiefs to help in S.Africa rape probe

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In suburban America, middle class confronts poverty

America's middle class struggles as family members lose jobs, run out of savings and sink toward poverty. NBC's Lester Holt reports.

By Izhar Harpaz
Dateline NBC?

BOULDER, Colo. ??The small communities that dot the picturesque mountain landscape outside Boulder, Colo., conjure up an image from long before the great recession. Here the manicured lawns and expensive cars are a testament to the achievements of a fiercely independent and educated middle class; a 21st century version of suburban bliss. But often these days, the closed doors of well-kept houses hide a decidedly different reality: hushed conversation about food stamps and Medicaid, depleted bank accounts and 401K?s, kitchen shelves stocked with groceries from food pantries.

Credit: Amelia Holowaty Krales

"It's this dirty little secret,? said Joyce Welch, a stay-at-home mother of three whose husband, a mechanical engineer, lost his job six months ago. ?Everybody is supposed to be able to buy the new car, supposed to buy the new house. And what we don't talk about is people who struggle, and they're struggling more and more."? The Welch family lives in Superior, a Boulder suburb that was listed by Money Magazine as one of the ?Top 20 best places to live in America? in 2011. Neighboring Louisville was ranked number one.

The evidence that times are rough for many suburban middle class families is not merely anecdotal.? For Dateline NBC?s upcoming special ?America Now: Lost in Suburbia,? airing Sunday, June 24th at 8pm/7c, Boulder County's Department of Housing and Human Services provided the number of Louisville and Superior residents that relied on public safety nets to make ends meet.? And while these affluent communities still boast some of the lowest poverty levels in Colorado, the statistics were nonetheless startling: since 2008 the combined number of families on Medicaid more than doubled, as did the number of people utilizing food assistance. ?Lafayette, another well-to-do suburb in East Boulder County experienced similar increases.?

And it isn?t just happening in Boulder County.? A 2011 study by the Brookings Institute revealed that for the first time in United States history there were more poor people living in the suburbs than in cities. The research, based on the most recent United States Census data, showed that a record 15.4 million suburban residents lived below the poverty line last year, up 11.5% from the year before, and? that ?by 2010, suburbs were home to one-third of the nation?s poor population?outranking cities (27.5 percent), small metro areas (20.5 percent), and non-metropolitan communities (18.7 percent)." ?

The Brookings Institute study?examined the percentage change of suburban poor populations between 2000 and 2010 in the 95 largest metro areas in the US. ?It found that in 16 of them the suburban poor population more than doubled during that time. The Denver metro area which includes some Boulder suburbs saw an increase of 96.4%. And while many of the suburban poor are newly arrived immigrants or transplants from the inner cities, a significant number are formerly middle class families who have fallen victim to the most recent recession. ? ?

The need for help may transcend any published statistics. Sarah Nelson, the program director at the Sister Carmen Community Center, a non-profit organization in Lafayette, Colorado, that provides financial assistance to low-income families in East Boulder County, said that Sister Carmen?s share of clients from Louisville and Superior rose from four percent in 2010 to a whopping twenty-two percent by the end of 2011. Many of these formerly middle-class families, Nelson said, have struggled under the radar and have not accessed public assistance programs: ?"Their resources are drained.? They've utilized all of their savings, all of their retirement funds.? Their unemployment's run out.? They've gotten as much help from family and friends as they possibly can.? And we're their last resort.?

Joyce Welch?s financial stress was exacerbated by the medical bills for one of her children, who suffers from a debilitating chromosomal disorder; the out-of-pocket costs of almost $30,000 a year had left the family with no savings. ?So she saw no choice but to turn to Sister Carmen for assistance. ?It was, she said, one of the most difficult things she has had to do in her life. ?To have to actually vocalize, ?I can't do the basics.? I have to have help.?? That is something that is just hard? I want to be able to do it on my own. I want to be the one to help others, not the one who has to ask for help.? ?But with her husband?s unemployment check as the family?s only source of income, Joyce has joined the at least three and half million suburbanites who have fallen below the U.S. poverty line since 2007. She did what she felt she had to do for her three children; sign up for Medicaid and Food Stamps. Sister Carmen offered to supplement her food shopping with monthly visits to their food pantry, so that Joyce could shift some money she would have otherwise spent on food to other important bills. Reluctantly, Joyce agreed.?

Boulder County?s Department of Housing and Human Services?has tried to reach out to struggling formerly middle class families like the Welches before they hit rock bottom. "Safety nets are historically built to try to catch people right before they hit the pavement,? said HHS director Frank Alexander, "if we can get people before they fall we can serve a lot more people in a lot better way and we don't have to just clean up the mess on the street."

According to Alexander, helping a family in need with their mortgage or rent payments may cost the county in excess of $10,000 in temporary ?front end? assistance, but if that money prevents homelessness and all its associated economic and social ills it can save the county much more than that. "We know that if a senior who's trying to live independently in the community ends up in a nursing home, that that shifts cost to $75-85,000 a year. We know that if a family's in a home and they get foreclosed upon, it costs us almost $80,000 as a community with that home being foreclosed upon.? And the interventions that we can do as a human service system with our community partners are much less costly.? The time duration is much more limited.? And the outcomes for the families and individuals are much better.?

Boulder County has signed up non-profit organizations like the Sister Carmen Community Center to be conduits for some of its front-end services. With the center?s help Joyce Welch and her family qualified for county rent assistance until August 2012, enough time, Joyce hoped, for her husband to find a job that will get the family back on their financial feet. ?But for now, she has begrudgingly accepted that she has become a new and different statistic of poverty in America.

?People like me are on food stamps. It?s people who want to go to work and can?t find work and don?t have an alternative,? she said, drawing an invisible square around her face, ?I am the face of food stamps in 2012.? I'm the face of Medicaid in 2012. I don?t like it, you know, I don't sit there and wanna scream it from the mountaintop.? But this is reality.? This is my reality.? This is the reality for more and more people in America."

...

Watch the full Dateline report 'America Now: Lost in Suburbia' airing Sunday, June 24th, at 8pm/7c.

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Spain beats France 2-0 to reach semifinals

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) ? Even if Spain failed to live up to expectations, Xabi Alonso exceeded them.

The defending champions, who are trying to win a third straight major title, advanced to the European Championship semifinals with a not-so-commanding 2-0 win over France on Saturday. In the next round, Portugal and star player Cristiano Ronaldo could provide a much sterner test.

"These types of games, in this type of competition, are always very tense," Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said of Saturday's win, "and you need to have the know-how to win them."

Alonso provided that.

The Real Madrid midfielder celebrated his 100th international appearance with an early header and a late penalty, a pair of rare goals from a player more accustomed to anchoring the back of the six-man midfield rather than pushing forward with the rest.

"I could never have imagined to reach my 100th cap, to go to the semis and score two goals," Alonso said. "Hopefully the 101st will be better."

Spain's next match will come on Wednesday against Portugal, again at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk. And with Ronaldo improving as the tournament progresses, Spain will likely have to improve as well to earn a chance to defend its title.

Saturday's opening goal was the result of excellent one-touch soccer ? the hallmark of Spain's game. Andres Iniesta prodded the ball through for Jordi Alba, who whipped a perfect cross from the left. Alonso timed his run so well that no France defender picked him up.

Spain wrapped things up after France right back Anthony Reveillere barged into substitute forward Pedro Rodriguez in injury time. Alonso coolly sent goalkeeper Hugo Lloris the wrong way from the spot, looking right but clipping the ball firmly to the left.

"He knows how to sacrifice himself, help the team and where to play," Del Bosque said of Alonso. "He is one of the attacking strengths of ours. He knows how to create and finish."

The win was Spain's first ever over France in a competitive match in seven attempts. But France wasn't that competitive Saturday, managing only one shot on target.

"When you lose a game there's always something missing, I'm not sure if it's possession or technical ability," France coach Laurent Blanc said. "The lads gave everything and it's very hard to play against Spain. We blocked their left flank, which is their strong point."

France's best moment came in the 32nd minute when Yohan Cabaye's free kick was tipped over by Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

"They were there for the taking," Blanc said. "We knew we would get some chances, and the only thing I regret is that they scored off their first good chance. If we had gone in level at 0-0 at halftime, then I think we would have had more room in the second half."

Although the French made it out of the group stage for the first time since the 2006 World Cup, the manner of Saturday's loss will be disappointing for a team touted as one of the tournament's dangerous outsiders.

France formed a deep defensive line and watched awe-struck as Spain flicked the ball around like a training session. The Spanish made dummy runs everywhere early on, and had a penalty claim waved away in the sixth minute when Cesc Fabregas tumbled under a challenge from left back Gael Clichy.

Fabregas also started against Italy in Spain's opening 1-1 draw, sparking criticism against Del Bosque for not picking a recognized striker. But against France, it worked.

Spain pulled a compact France team out of position in the 10th minute as Iniesta curled a ball behind center half Adil Rami but it was too far for Fabregas to reach.

Karim Benzema, looking for his first goal at a major tournament, looked sharp and made some good runs, but the Real Madrid striker rarely got any service. He was fouled in the 32nd after running onto Florent Malouda's pass, and Cabaye's free kick was sailing into the top left corner before Casillas shuffled across quickly to save it.

While the French averted a repeat of the 2010 World Cup crisis ? when the entire squad went on strike at training ? the buildup to Saturday's game was marred by tensions in the camp following a heated dressing room bust-up after the 2-0 loss to Sweden.

"The big teams have all showed up at this Euro, and they will be in the semifinals," Blanc said. "Unfortunately, France won't be."

___

Lineups:

Spain: Iker Casillas, Alvaro Arbeloa, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, David Silva (Pedro Rodriguez, 65), Andres Iniesta (Santi Cazorla, 84), Cesc Fabregas (Fernando Torres, 67).

France: Hugo Lloris, Anthony Reveillere, Adil Rami, Laurent Koscielny, Gael Clichy, Mathieu Debuchy (Jeremy Menez, 65), Yohan Cabaye, Yann M'Vila (Olivier Giroud, 79), Florent Malouda (Samir Nasri, 65), Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema.

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Chino Valley school district fears $16.9 million debt

CHINO - Chino Valley Unified School District officials fret they will be staring at a debt of $16.9 million in three years if Gov. Jerry's Brown's tax-hike initiative doesn't pass in November.

School districts officials expressed their concerns at a Thursday night budget study session that addressed budget projections through the 2014-15 school year.

Chino Valley Unified officials have already cut $20 million out of the district's 2012-13 and 2013-14 school year budgets.

A lot rides on the tax initiative that will be on the November ballot, school officials said.

"If the initiative passes, then we don't get cut, but at the same time, we don't get any more money," Chino Valley Unified spokeswoman Julie Gobin said.

Brown's initiative would raise state sales tax as well as income taxes on California's highest money-makers. If it fails, the district could be dealing with ongoing cuts, a loss of state revenue and a reduction to the school year.

"We're hoping for the tax initiative to pass to remain constant, not even to get more money," Superintendent Wayne Joseph said.

The school district's budget is set for $215.7 million in 2012-13, $210.8 million in 2013-14 and 211.76 million in 2014-15.

Revenue declines are expected to result in an ending balance for the 2014-15 school of $16.9 million in the red if the tax initiative doesn't pass.

The district's multi-year budget must be adopted and sent to the San

Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Office by July 1.

Board members are expected to approve the budget at their next meeting on June 28.

A budget with a third-year deficit requires the board to adopt a resolution identifying ongoing reductions and when they will be implemented.

The Superintendent of Schools Office will notify the district by Aug. 15 of whether its budget has been approved, conditionally approved or disapproved, said Sandra Chen, district assistant superintendent of business services.

Earlier this week, Chino Valley Unified and its teachers union, Associated Chino Teachers, reached a tentative agreement that could help the district's finances.

The agreement would reduce the district's next school year by five-and-a-half-days and increases class sizes, but allows for 15 school nurses, 22 high school counselors, four elementary music teachers and some adult school teachers to return to the classroom after receiving pink slips.

The agreement needs to be voted on by Associated Chino Teacher union members.

Even with the tentative agreement, the district had to reduce staffing and eliminate many programs.


Reach Canan via email, call her at 909-987-6397 ext. 425, or find her on Twitter @ChinoValleyNow.

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