3 Executed by Militants for Helping U.S. in Yemen

ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) — Islamist militants in southern Yemen said they executed three men on Sunday for giving the United States information used to carry out drone strikes in the area.

Residents of the towns of Jaar and Azzan said two Saudis and one Yemeni were beheaded at dawn by the militant group Ansar al-Sharia.

A spokesman for the group later said none of those executed were Saudi citizens, but all three had been working for the intelligence services of the kingdom, a close ally of the United States.

A number of important figures in Al Qaeda' s wing in Yemen are Saudi militants wanted by the authorities in Riyadh.

The United States has been launching drone strikes against militants in the south. Last month, at least 12 people were killed in one such attack.

Federal prosecutors in the United States said Friday that Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate who was killed in a drone strike last year, had personally directed and approved the 2009 attempt to blow up an airliner over Detroit.

Weakened by months of protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s government has lost control of whole chunks of the country, giving Islamist militants room to tighten their grip in the south.

In Aden late on Saturday, witnesses said, separatists set fire to a tent camp housing about 100 antigovernment protesters, in opposition to an election on Feb. 21 to replace Mr. Saleh. About 10 people were injured.

Last year, southern separatists joined protesters calling for Mr. Saleh to leave, but the two sides have since grown apart.

The separatists want to revive a southern socialist state that was united with the north in 1990. They fear that the election will not serve their goal.

Anti-Saleh demonstrators broadly back the vote as a step toward ending his 33-year rule.

Northern Shiite rebels have said they too will boycott the vote, in which acting leader Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is the sole candidate.

Mr. Saleh is in the United States receiving medical treatment for injuries inflicted during an assassination attempt, but he has said he will return home before the vote, shedding doubt on his commitment to leave office in line with a Persian Gulf-brokered plan to end a year of political upheaval.

http://www.nytimes.com

How Cholesterol is Linked to Dementia and Alzheimer's

Keeping Your Cholesterol Levels in Check Is Good for Your Brain

You probably know the connection between cholesterol and heart health, but you may be surprised to learn that your cholesterol levels can affect your memory, too.

High LDL (bad) and low HDL (good) cholesterol levels cause plaque to build up in your arteries, which slows blood circulation throughout your body -- including your brain. That increases your risk of dementia up to 46%.

That makes managing your cholesterol a key strategy to prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease. A heart-healthy diet, exercise, not smoking, and taking your cholesterol-lowering medication as prescribed will help lower your LDL cholesterol and boost your HDL. The lower your LDL cholesterol, and the higher your HDL (that's the good-guy kind that helps remove plaque from your arteries), the better your chances of dodging dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

www.realage.com

2 Boys With Suicide Vests Are Arrested in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Two boys equipped with suicide vests were arrested here over the weekend, less than a year after one of them had been pardoned by President Hamid Karzai for the same crime, and presented to reporters on Sunday.

The boys, named Nasibullah and Azizullah, were described by officials from the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, as 12-year-olds who had been trained in Pakistani madrasas. The officials refused to give their names for security reasons.

Both boys appeared calm and outspoken at the news conference, and it was unclear if they understood the gravity of what it would mean to carry out suicide bombings.

Azizullah said he went to a madrasa in Quetta. The teachers told him, “ ‘You won’t be hurt; just go and carry out a suicide attack,’ ” he said.

There have been a number of children caught in the last two years with the intention of carrying out suicide attacks. Most have attended madrasas across the border in Pakistan and told to detonate the explosives near foreign soldiers or Afghan government security forces. The indoctrination is intense, with heavy pressure at the schools to engage in a holy war against the foreigners, said the intelligence officials in Kandahar.

Azizullah said that from the school, he was ferried across the border. He was arrested with a suicide vest in Kandahar, he said.

“Now I am requesting the government to forgive me and let me join my family. I won’t go back to the madrasa,” said Azizullah, who is from Gardez in Paktia Province.

The other boy, Nasibullah, has already been forgiven once. He said he was pardoned by Mr. Karzai during Ramadan last summer, but then returned to a madrasa in Pakistan where he was persuaded for a second time to carry out a suicide bombing.

Mr. Karzai follows the tradition of pardoning criminals during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, and in 2011 he pardoned a dozen children who had been arrested either for planning or attempting suicide attacks. The children were mostly under the age of 12 and one was only 8, according to Afghan and foreign news reports.

“The last time I was arrested by officials, I was sent to Kabul and I was brought before President Karzai,” Nasibullah said at Sunday’s news conference. “Mr. Karzai asked me what had happened. I explained that the Taliban wanted me to carry out a suicide attack and they put a vest on me and said ‘you can carry out a suicide attack,’ but I was arrested by policemen. Karzai told me, ‘Don’t worry son, we will send you back home,’ and so he pardoned me.”

Nasibullah, who officials from the intelligence directorate said was originally from Pishin in the Baluchistan region of Pakistan, said he was hoping for a second reprieve. “I am again arrested by officials and now again I am requesting from the government to forgive me,” he said. “This time I won’t go back to the madrasa.”

Taimoor Shah reported from Kandahar, and Alissa J. Rubin from Kabul, Afghanistan.

www.nytimes.com

Grammy glory for returning Adele

Singer Adele was the big winner at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, winning six prizes including record, song and album of the year.

She also made her live comeback at the ceremony, performing for the first time since having throat surgery last year.

Rock band Foo Fighters won five prizes, while rapper Kanye West scooped four.

The event saw heartfelt tributes to pop star Whitney Houston, who died on Saturday, while Amy Winehouse received a posthumous award.

Winehouse's parents accepted her prize for best pop duo/group performance for Body and Soul, her duet with Tony Bennett, which was the last recording Winehouse made before she died in July.

Adele won every award she was nominated for, including record of the year, song of the year and best short form music video for Rolling in the Deep. Her second album, 21, was named album of the year.

"This record is inspired by something that is really normal and everyone's been through it, just a rubbish relationship," she said.

"It's gone on to do things I can't tell you how I feel about it, it's been the most life-changing year."

The London singer was forced to cancel all live dates last year but earned a standing ovation after her return to the stage with Rolling in the Deep.

Accepting the trophy for best pop solo performance for her song Someone Like You, she said: "Seeing as it's a vocal performance, I need to thank my doctors, I suppose, who brought my voice back."

Her producer Paul Epworth, who also worked with Foster the People, Florence and the Machine and Cee Lo Green, was named best non-classical producer.

'Special record'

Foo Fighters' awards included best rock album, best rock song, best rock performance and best hard rock/metal performance.

"This is a great honour because this record was a special record for our band," frontman Dave Grohl told the crowd.

"Rather than go to the best studio, we made this one in my garage with some microphones and a tape machine. It shows that the human element of making music is what's most important."

Kanye West's solo album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy earned three awards, including best rap song and best rap album.

The track Otis - from Watch the Throne, his collaboration with Jay-Z - was named best rap performance.

The prize takes West's total Grammy haul to 18. Neither he nor Jay-Z were present to pick up their awards.

Bon Iver, fronted by US singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, were named best new act, five years after their acclaimed debut album was released.

Their self-titled second LP also won best alternative album.

Other British victors included soul singer Corinne Bailey Rae, who scooped best R&B performance for Is This Love.

There was also success for Sir Paul McCartney, whose deluxe reissue of Wings' Band on the Run was named best historial album.

US dance DJ Skrillex won three prizes, while double winners included folk duo The Civil Wars, country star Taylor Swift and gospel singer Kirk Franklin.

Chris Brown - returning to the event for the first time since 2009 - won the trophy for best R&B album for F.A.M.E.

returning to the event for the first time since assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna before the 2009 ceremony.

Rihanna - the ex-girlfriend Brown assaulted before the ceremony three years ago - was also present, taking to the stage with British band Coldplay.

Also playing live were Bruce Springsteen, McCartney, the Beach Boys and Kelly Clarkson.

Jennifer Hudson gave a rendition of Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You in a tribute to the late singer.

The ceremony also saw Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt sang a duet of A Sunday Kind of Love in tribute to Etta James, who died last month.

http://www.bbc.co.uk

Greece MPs pass austerity plan amid violent protests

Greek MPs have approved a controversial package of austerity measures, demanded by the eurozone and IMF in return for a 130bn euro ($170bn; £110bn) bailout.

The vote was carried by 199 in favour to 74 against.

Coalition parties expelled more than 40 deputies for failing to back the bill.

Tens of thousands protested in Athens, where there were widespread clashes and buildings were set on fire. Violent protests were reported in cities across the country.

Protesters outside parliament threw stones and petrol bombs, and police responded with tear gas. Scores of police and protesters were injured.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos urged calm, insisting that the austerity package would "set the foundations for the reform and recovery of the economy".

"Vandalism, violence and destruction have no place in a democratic country and won't be tolerated," he said in a speech in parliament before the vote.

The bill passed parliament easily as the two largest parties in the coalition - Pasok and New Democracy - account for more than two-thirds of the deputies.

The austerity measures include:

• 15,000 public-sector job cuts
• liberalisation of labour laws
• lowering the minimum wage by 20% from 751 euros a month to 600 euros

Eurozone ministers must now ratify the measures at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday before bailout funds can be released.

The ministers rejected proposals put forward by the Greeks last week, which they said fell 325m euros short of the cuts needed.

The BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens says the public are increasingly angry with the austerity measures and feel that the impact is beyond the value of the bailout.

At least 80,000 people were reported to have joined demonstrations in Athens, with another 20,000 protesting in Thessaloniki.

Running battles with police continued in the capital until late on Sunday, although no new clashes were reported after the vote.

Protesters hurled flares and chunks of marble torn up from the square. Some had tried to break through a cordon of riot police around the parliament.

Several historic buildings, including cafes and cinemas, were set alight.

Ioannis Simantiras, 34, said the protesters were boxed in by police.

"Nobody could get away from the gas," he told the BBC.

"When it engulfed everybody, and everybody was choking the police drew back and opened up a corridor for us away from the parliament - that's when everybody made a run for it."

Violent protests also spread to other Greek towns and cities, including the islands of Corfu and Crete, according to state TV.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the question was not "whether some salaries and pensions will be curtailed, but whether we will be able to pay even these reduced wages and pensions".

"When you have to choose between bad and worse, you will pick what is bad to avoid what is worse," he said.

Greece needs the bailout the make its next repayment on its huge sovereign debt.

If it cannot make the payment, it will default and in effect become bankrupt.

Analysts say such a "chaotic default" could endanger Europe's financial stability and possibly even leading to a break-up of the eurozone.

As part of the deal with international lenders, Greece will also be able to write off 100bn euros of privately held debt.

Earlier this week several ministers from the coalition government, including two from Pasok, quit in protest at the measures.

The leader of the far-right Laos party, the junior coalition member, announced his 15 deputies would not back the austerity measures.

George Karatzaferis complained that the measures amounted to Greeks being "humiliated" by Germany.

The eurozone bloc has demanded "strong political assurances" that the packages will be implemented regardless of which party wins a general election due in April.

http://www.bbc.co.uk

Pop queen Whitney Houston dies at 48

American singer and actress Whitney Houston has died in Los Angeles at the age of 48.

Police said she died in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she had been staying as a guest.

Houston was one of the most celebrated female singers of all time, with hits including I Will Always Love You and Saving All My Love For You.

But her later career was overshadowed by substance abuse and her turbulent marriage to singer Bobby Brown.

Ms Houston died on the eve of the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. She had been due to attend a pre-awards party in the Beverly Hilton Hotel organised by her long-time mentor and record industry executive Clive Davis on Saturday evening.

He went ahead with the party, holding a minute's silence and telling the audience he was "personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me for so many years".

The hotel was already teeming with reporters and celebrities when police received an emergency call from hotel security at 15.43 local time (23:43 GMT), Beverly Hills police spokesman Mark Rosen told the BBC.

Police were despatched, but paramedics who were already at the hotel because of the party attempted to resuscitate her, without success. She was pronounced dead at 15:55.

Mr Rosen said Ms Houston's entourage - comprising family members, friends and co-workers - had taken over much of the fourth floor of the hotel.

At the scene

"There were a number of people on scene who were able to positively identify Ms Houston for us," he said, adding that her next of kin have been informed of her death.

Police investigators inspected the scene before Ms Houston's body was moved from the hotel to the coroner's office for an autopsy.

While the cause of death is unclear, Mr Rosen said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent".

The US celebrity website TMZ.com reported that Ms Houston had been partying heavily on both Thursday and Friday nights.

She briefly took the microphone and performed a song while out in Hollywood on Thursday, and was seen drinking and chatting loudly with friends in the hotel bar on Friday, according to TMZ.

'Finest voice'

Houston's background was steeped in soul and gospel music.

Her mother was gospel singer Cissy Houston, she was cousin to singer Dionne Warwick and goddaughter to Aretha Franklin.

"I just can't talk about it now," Ms Franklin said in a short statement. "It's so stunning and unbelievable. I couldn't believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen."

Having grown up in New Jersey, Houston began singing in church and then in the night clubs of New York, and was a model before being signed by Arista Records.

At the height of her career in the 1980s and 90s she won many awards and enjoyed several number one singles and albums.

Artists from Mariah Carey to Christina Aguilera have tried to emulate her bravura performances, but none of them were as good as the original, music critic Paul Gambaccini told the BBC.

Houston also enjoyed success acting in blockbuster films such as The Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale.

In recent years drug use took its toll on the star and her voice - once acknowledged as one of the finest in pop music - was badly damaged.

"She did have it all, but the record is there of the decline into drug use and the damage done from drug use," said Gambaccini.

Her marriage to Brown, with whom she had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, ended in divorce in 2007. The marriage had been a tempestuous one, with allegations of domestic abuse as well as drug addiction.

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy,'' Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in a 2002 interview.

Ms Houston was strongly linked to the Grammys - having won six awards herself over the years. Organisers of Sunday's ceremony said she would be remembered in a special tribute by singer Jennifer Hudson.

Civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton said that on the morning of the Grammys, "the world should pause and pray for the memory of a gifted songbird".

Country singer Dolly Parton - who wrote one one of her most memorable hits, I Will Always Love You - said in a statement: "Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston."

"I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song, and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed'."

http://www.bbc.co.uk

US Jobs Gap Between Young and Old Is Widest Ever

Squeezed by a tight job market, young Americans are especially struggling. They have suffered bigger income losses than other age groups and are less likely to be employed than at any time since World War II.

An analysis by the Pew Research Center, released Thursday, details the impact of the recent recession on the attitudes of a generation of mostly 20- and 30-somethings.

9 Easy Ways to Stress Less

Stress is bad for your overall well-being, including your cholesterol, but small changes to your everyday routine can help reduce stress. From aromatherapy to chewing gum (really!) to walking, here are 9 speedy tension-relievers.

Nokia to Cut 4,000 Jobs at 3 Factories

BERLIN — Nokia, the biggest maker of cellphones by volume, said Wednesday that it would cut 4,000 manufacturing jobs, or 7 percent of its global workforce, as it moved to streamline and save money from its production of smartphones. 

The company said the cuts would be made at three Nokia factories — in Komarom,

Suburban man wanted in Wisconsin nabbed near Countryside

A Riverside man sought for escaping from a Wisconsin work release camp was apprehended at a motel in an unincorporated area near Countryside, authorities said Tuesday.