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Thursday, December 22, 2011 – Daily News 5A WORLD BRIEFING Obama urges House GOP to extend tax cut for 2 mos WASHINGTON (AP) — Careening toward a politically toxic tax hike, President Barack Obama implored House Speaker John Boehner on Wednes- day to get behind a two- month stopgap until a longer deal could be struck early next year, calling it the only real way out of a mess that is threatening the paychecks of 160 million workers and isolating House Republicans. In a weary Washing- ton, the outreach accom- plished little. All sides seemed to end the day where they began, with heavy political and eco- nomic consequences at stake. Boehner remained insistent on a full-year extension of the existing payroll tax cut before Jan. 1, urging Obama to haul Senate Democrats back to town to talk to his chosen negotiators. ''Let's get this done today,'' Boehner told Obama, according to a speaker's aide, who required anonymity to characterize a private con- versation. But the Capitol was emptying out fast, and the Senate showed no inclina- tion to return, having already passed a biparti- san two-month tax cut it thought had settled the matter. For taxpayers, and for an economy starting to show some life again, the standoff was all holiday gloom. Activists say Syrian troops surrounded residents, killed 100 BEIRUT (AP) — As government troops advanced on a village in northwestern Syria, activists say the terrified residents fled into a valley for fear of being arrested or worse. What happened next, one of the activists said, was ''an organized massacre.'' The troops surrounded the valley and unleashed a barrage of rockets, tank shells, bombs and gunfire in an hours-long assault, according to two human K W I K K U T S Family Hair Salon $200 REGULAR HAIRCUT off with coupon Not good with other offers 1064 South Main St., Red Bluff • 529-3540 Reg. $13.95 Expires 12/31/11 days of violence this week topped 200, includ- ing up to 70 army defec- tors killed near the city of Idlib, the activists said. 8 US soldiers charged in death of comrade NEW YORK (AP) — rights groups and a wit- ness, killing more than 100 people and leaving no survivors in one of the bloodiest days of a crack- down by President Bashar Assad against a nine- month popular uprising. The White House said it was ''deeply disturbed'' by Tuesday's attack, France called it a ''mur- derous spiral,'' and the Arab League reminded the Assad regime of its responsibilities to protect its civilians. The United Nations says more than 5,000 peo- ple have died since March as Syria has sought to put down the uprising — part of the Arab Spring of protests that has toppled long-serving unpopular leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Members of Syria's opposition said the blood- shed outside the village of Kfar Owaid, about 30 miles from the northern border with Turkey in Idlib province, was evi- dence of the authoritarian leader's intent to intensify its crackdown on the uprising before Arab League observers arrive in the country Thursday. The death toll from two FINDERS Even before the Army sent him to Afghanistan, supporters say, Pvt. Daniel Chen was fighting a personal war. Fellow soldiers at a base in Georgia teased him about his Chinese name, crying out ''Chen!'' in an exaggerat- ed Asian accent. They called him ''Jackie Chen,'' a reference to the Hollywood action star Jackie Chan. People would ask him if he was Chinese, even though he was a native New Yorker. At one point Chen wrote in his diary that he was running out of jokes to respond with. Then he was sent over- seas, and the hazing began: Soldiers dragged him across a floor, pelted him with stones and forced him to hold liquid in his mouth while hang- ing upside down, accord- ing to diary entries and other accounts cited by a community activist. On Oct. 3, the 19-year- old Chen was found dead in a guardhouse in Afghanistan with what the Army said was appar- ently a self-inflicted gun- shot wound. As Gingrich falls, Romney strategy seeming more plausible KEENE, N.H. (AP) — The stars may be aligning for Mitt Romney — and at just the right time. Four years after his failed White House bid, the former Massachusetts governor's strategy in the 2012 Republican presi- dential race has long been premised on a respectable finish in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses followed by a decisive New Hampshire victory to drive momen- tum heading into South Carolina, Florida and beyond. 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Still, his preferred sce- nario is looking more plausible now, thanks to Ron Paul's helpful ascent, Newt Gingrich's slide and fractures among conserv- atives who have not ral- lied behind an alternative to Romney. There's a growing sense inside and outside of Romney's cam- paign that his path to the nomination is clearer than it has been in weeks. ''Barring a tornado, things are starting to line up for Romney at the right time,'' said Dave Roeder- er, an unaligned Republi- can who served as Sen. John McCain's Iowa cam- paign chairman in 2008. New rules aim to prevent pilots from flying while fatigued WASHINGTON (AP) — The government told passenger airlines Wednesday they'll have to do more to ensure pilots aren't too tired to fly, nearly three years after the deadly western New York crash of a regional airliner flown by two exhausted pilots. The Federal Aviation Administration's update of airline pilot work rules, some of which dated to the 1960s, reflects a better understanding of the need for rest and how night shifts and traveling through time zones can increase errors. ''This is a big deal,'' Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. ''This is as far as our govern- ment has ever gone'' to protect the traveling pub- lic from pilot fatigue. Carriers have two years to adapt to the new rules. The FAA estimated the cost to industry at $297 million over 10 years, a fraction of the $2 billion a year that an air- line trade association had estimated the draft pro- posal released by FAA over a year ago would cost. The airline industry had opposed the draft rule as too costly for the safety benefits it would achieve. But FAA officials made substantial changes to the final rule to lower the cost. Several expensive reporting and training requirements were elimi- nated. Police believe Ariz. girl was killed, dumped PHOENIX (AP) — Police now believe a 5-year- old Arizona girl missing for more than two months was killed and that her body was dumped in a trash bin across town before her mother reported her missing — the most substantive informa- tion detectives have released about what they think hap- pened to the girl. Police in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale stopped short of saying who they think killed Jhessye Shock- ley, but Glendale police Sgt. Brent Coombs reiterated Wednesday that the girl's mother is the ''No. 1 focus.'' ''We're in what we believed to be the worst- case scenario from the beginning,'' Coombs said. A month ago, detectives arrested Jhessye's mother, Jerice Hunter, on a child abuse charge related to the girl, announcing at the time that they didn't believe they'd find the girl alive. Hunter was released from jail days later, and the charge against her was dropped. Prosecutors said at the time that they wanted further investigation and were worried that Hunter would not be eligible for a potential murder charge if she was convicted of abus- ing Shockley, a situation known as double jeopardy. Ruptured French breast implants may prompt drastic move PARIS (AP) — Emmanuelle Maria's breasts were burning and globules of silicone gel were protruding into her armpits. Her implants had ruptured. Yet her doctors, she says, told her nothing was wrong. Now she and a group of leading plastic surgeons want the French govern- ment to tell 30,000 women to get their implants removed — at the state's expense. Prompted by the calls, French health authorities are considering an unprece- dented move: recommend- ing that all women with the now-banned breast implants undergo surgery to remove them. Investigators say the implants were made with cheap industrial silicone whose medical dangers remain unclear. Governments around Europe are awaiting France's decision Friday. Tens of thousands more women in Britain, Italy, Spain and other European nations are walking around with the same implants, made by the now-defunct French com- pany Poly Implant Prothese, or PIP.