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Wednesday, November 14, 2012 – Daily News WORLD BRIEFING emails WASHINGTON (AP) — The sex scandal that led to CIA Director David Petraeus' downfall widened Tuesday with word the top U.S. com- mander in Afghanistan is under investigation for alleged ''inappropriate communications'' with another woman involved in the case. Some of the material was ''flirta- tious,'' an official said. Even as the FBI pre- pared a timeline for Con- gress about the investiga- tion that brought to light Petraeus' extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta revealed that the Pentagon had begun an internal investigation into emails between Gen. John Allen and a Florida woman involved in the case. Some of the 20,000- plus pages of documents and emails between Allen and Tampa socialite Jill Kelley were ''flirtatious,'' according to a senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to dis- cuss the case publicly. It wasn't immediately clear who wrote the flirtatious notes — Allen, Kelley or both. Petraeus scandal widens to probe of 'flirtatious' Allen succeeded Petraeus as the top Amer- ican commander in Afghanistan in July 2011, and his nomination to become the next com- mander of U.S. European Command and the com- mander of NATO forces in Europe has now been put on hold, as the scandal seemed certain to ensnare another acclaimed mili- tary figure. Police say letters show grandmother, uncle behind murder- and photographs circulat- ing in the media show the dark-haired woman pos- ing for pictures at parties with Petraeus, his wife, and her husband, Scott, a cancer surgeon. She served as a sort of unoffi- cial social ambassador for U.S. Central Command in Tampa, holding gather- ings for the general when he was commander there from 2008 to 2010. She also met Gen. John Allen while he was at Central Command, and now investigators are looking at 20,000-plus pages of documents and emails between Kelley and Allen, some of which have been described as ''flirtatious.'' The general has denied any wrongdo- ing. In a White House state- ment early Tuesday, National Security spokesman Tommy Vietor said President Barack Obama has held Allen's nomination at Panetta's request. Obama, the state- ment said, ''remains focused on fully support- ing our extraordinary troops and coalition part- ners in Afghanistan, who Gen. Allen continues to lead as he has so ably done for over a year.'' Florida socialite is at the center of overlapping taken a low profile since Petraeus' affair with his biographer, Paula Broad- well, became public. The Kelleys have hired Wash- ington lawyer Abbe Low- ell, who has represented corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former presidential candidate John Edwards. Lowell did not immediately return a call. For her part, Kelley has Last 4 US commanders embroiled in scandal or forced out A look at what went wrong for the four U.S. generals who have led U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan since 2008: Gen. David McKier- nan, June 2008 to June 2009 scandals TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — If you were to diagram the increasingly tangled sex scandal surrounding for- mer CIA Director David Petraeus, nearly all lines would lead back to one person: Jill Kelley, a 37- year-old Tampa socialite who hosted parties for the nation's top military brass. Kelley's complaint about anonymous, threat- ening email triggered the FBI investigation that led to Petraeus' downfall. And now she is at the cen- ter of an investigation of the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan over alleged ''inappropriate communications'' between the two. Kelley is a close friend of the Petraeus family, ing disparaging com- ments about their com- mander in chief and other senior administration offi- cials. Obama called McChrystal back to Washington to explain and forced him to resign. group BEIRUT (AP) — France on Tuesday became the first Western country to formally rec- ognize Syria's newly formed opposition coali- tion as the sole legitimate representative of the Syri- an people. France 1st in West to recognize opposition The U.S. also recog- nized the leadership body announced in Qatar Sun- day as a legitimate repre- sentative, but stopped short of describing it as the ''sole'' one, saying the group must first demon- strate its ability to repre- sent Syrians inside the country. -Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked for McKiernan's resignation a year before his term as commander was set to end. The firing was seen as a rejection by newly elected President Barack Obama of McKiernan's conventional warfare approach in favor of the more targeted ''counterin- surgency'' strategy of working to undermine insurgents' pull on the population. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, June 2009 to June 2010 -McChrystal, who had a background in special operations, came in with a mandate to remake the war effort with the help of ''surge'' troops ordered by Obama. A year into that push, an article in Rolling Stone magazine quoted members of McChrystal's team mak- Under intense interna- tional pressure to form an opposition that includes representatives from the country's disparate fac- tions fighting to topple President Bashar Assad, the anti-government groups struck a deal Sun- day in Doha, Qatar, to form a coalition headed by former Muslim preacher Mouaz al-Khat- ib. The two announce- ments could start a trend toward world recognition of the rebels as the legiti- mate government of Syria, undercutting what- ever legitimacy the regime of President Bashar Assad still has after 20 months of a bloody civil war. ''We look forward to supporting the national coalition as it charts a course for the end of Assad's bloody rule, and marks the start, we believe, of a peaceful just and democratic future for the people of Syria,'' said U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner in Washington. suicide TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Letters found after an Ohio murder-suicide that killed three children indi- cate it was orchestrated by their grandmother and uncle, who were found dead with the youngsters in the family garage amid a disagreement over who should care for them, police said Tuesday. Firefighters used a sledgehammer on Mon- day to force open a barri- caded door to the garage, where a truck was running with hoses leading from the exhaust into the car that contained the bodies, police said. Investigators said the Stelle cited statements Bales made after he was apprehended, saying that they demonstrated ''a clear memory of what he had done, and conscious- ness of wrong-doing.'' US bishops won't 3B and domestic programs that kick in after Jan. 1. Those high-stakes nego- tiations could take weeks and the issue may not be resolved by year's end. comply with Obama rule on birth control BALTIMORE (AP) — A top American bish- op said Tuesday the Roman Catholic church will not comply with the Obama administration requirement that most employers provide health insurance cover- ing birth control. New York Cardinal relatives may have died of carbon monoxide poison- ing. Two dogs and a cat also were found dead. The family members were identified as 54- year-old Sandy Ford, her 32-year-old son, Andy Ford, and her grandchil- dren, 10-year-old Paige Hayes, 6-year-old Logan Hayes and 5-year-old Madalyn Hayes. Until last week, the children had lived with Sandy Ford and her hus- band Randy at the house in a residential neighbor- hood close to the Michi- gan state line. Andy Ford also lived at the home. Preliminary hearing in case of US soldier accused of Afghanistan massacre JOINT BASE LEWIS- McCHORD, Wash. (AP) — Army prosecutors on Tuesday asked an inves- tigative officer to recom- mend a death penalty court-martial for a staff sergeant accused of killing 16 Afghan vil- lagers in a predawn ram- page, saying that Staff Sgt. Robert Bales com- mitted ''heinous and despicable crimes.'' Prosecutors made their closing arguments after a week of testimony in the preliminary hearing. Prosecutors say Bales, 39, slipped away from his remote base at Camp Belambay in southern Afghanistan to attack two villages early on March 11. Among the dead were nine children. The slayings drew such angry protests that the U.S. temporarily halted combat operations in Afghanistan, and it was three weeks before Amer- ican investigators could reach the crime scenes. ''Terrible, terrible things happened,'' said prosecutor, Maj. Rob Stelle. ''That is clear.'' Softball Fusion Baseball In the interim, Democrats and Republi- cans are picking up where they left off on several bills while wel- coming the newest members — 12 in the Senate and some 70 in the House — for Con- gress' version of fresh- men orientation. Timothy Dolan, presi- dent of the U.S. Confer- ence of Catholic Bish- ops, said church leaders are open to working toward a resolution with federal officials, but will meanwhile press ahead with challenges to the mandate in legislatures and in court. ''The only thing we're certainly not prepared to do is give in. We're not violating our con- sciences,'' Dolan told reporters at a national bishops' meeting. ''I would say no door is closed except for the door to capitulation.'' The bishops have been fighting the regula- tion since it was announced by President Barack Obama early this year. Houses of worship are exempt, but reli- giously affiliated hospi- tals, charities and col- leges are not. The Senate has scheduled an early evening procedural vote Tuesday for a sports- men's bill that will decide the fate of 41 polar bear carcasses that hunters want to bring home from Canada as big-game trophies. Hunters killed the bears just before a 2008 ban on polar bear trophy imports took effect, but were not able to bring them home before the Fish and Wildlife Ser- vices listed them as a threatened species. The House on Tues- day is expected to pass and send to the presi- dent legislation that would exclude U.S. air- lines from the require- ments on emissions that the European Union has sought to impose on all planes flying to and from the European con- tinent. 'Guru' who swindled French aristocratic family gets Obama promised to change the requirement so that insurance compa- nies, not faith-affiliated employers, would pay for the coverage. But details have not been worked out. And not only the bishops, but Catholic hospitals and some other religious leaders generally sup- portive of Obama's health care overhaul have said the compro- mise proposed so far appears to be unwork- able. Polar bears, farmers and fiscal cliff on returning Congress' to-do list WASHINGTON (AP) — Bears and budgets top the list as Congress returned Tuesday from a seven-week election break to a long list of unfinished business. Looming large in the lame-duck session is the urgent need for Presi- dent Barack Obama and Congress to figure out how to avoid the double economic hit of tax increases and automatic spending cuts to defense prison time PARIS (AP) — He started with the woman who hired him at the secretarial school, befriending her and win- ning her confidence. She introduced him to her elderly mother, her chil- dren. Her grandchildren, nearing adulthood, were next. Soon, Thierry Tilly was almost a member of the family of aristocrats. Then he dropped the bombshell: Someone wanted them dead. Bit by bit, family members saw sinister motives in even ordinary encounters. They retreated to their chateau, where Tilly took away their clocks, their calendars, their sense of time. One by one, they relocated with him to Oxford, England, then returned to their Bordeaux home where, the family lawyer said, they were cut off from friends and relatives. ''There was no day and no night,'' said the lawyer, Daniel Picotin. Protection didn't come cheap: They sold their ancestral home, apartments, jewels, wine collection, luxury watches — more than 4.5 million euros in all — handing over the pro- ceeds to Tilly, a man they saw as their protec- tor, even their ''guru.'' Take your game to the next level with this sport specific training camp! 2 Camps Gain speed, coordination, agility, and power in this 4 week camp! Camp1 Dates: Nov. 27th - Dec. 20th Camp 2 Dates: Jan. 29th-Feb. 22th Days: Tues., Thurs. 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