Japan says three Chinese ships in disputed waters

TOKYO: Japan's coastguard said three Chinese surveillance ships were in the territorial waters of disputed islands in the East China Sea on Thursday.

The three marine surveillance ships entered the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone off Uotsuri, one of the islands, shortly after 7:00 am (2200 GMT Wednesday), the Japan Coast Guard said in a statement.

Beijing claims the Japanese-controlled islands, called the Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyus in China.

The move was the latest in a series by Chinese government ships since Tokyo nationalised three islands in the chain in September, in what it said was merely an administrative change of ownership. The action sparked fierce protests in China.

- AFP/ck

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Breast cancer on the rise in younger women

NEW DELHI: A study has found that the incidence of advanced breast cancer among American women between 25-39 has steadily increased since the mid-1970s. The findings, published in the Journal of American Medical Association, are devastating because breast cancer patients under 40 years are more likely to have an aggressive form of the disease and face lower survival rates. However, doctors here say developing countries like India have more to worry in comparison.

Additional professor in the department of surgical oncology, AIIMS, Dr S V S Deo says, "Breast cancer cases in India have increased by 10-15% in the last decade. These numbers are likely to rise further - 60-70% of the cases would be in developing countries like India in the future." The number of younger patients in the US has increased at just 2% a year in the last three decades, comprising 1.8% of the total breast cancer cases. In comparison, different studies peg the number of young patients in India between 10-16%.

In recent years, breast cancer has emerged as the most common form of cancer among urban Indian women. Dr Geeta K, senior consultant in surgical oncology at Max Cancer Centre, Delhi, adds, "Of the 25-30 new breast cancer cases that we get in a month, five-six are in the under-35 age group. Some are in their 20s."

Just 10% of these cases are said to be of genetic causes - lifestyle is said to be the major culprit in the rest. Dr Anil Dhar, director, medical oncology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, says, "There is no data but personally I feel that exposure to chemicals (in food and the environment) is an important factor in causing breast cancer."

However, doctors say there's no need to panic as survival rates are improving with timely treatment. "Breast cancer is 90% curable in stage 1, and 80% in stage 2. What's required is greater awareness and early treatment. The problem is a majority of the patients here come to us in stage 2 or 3. Even educated women tend to delay treatment for one-two years after detecting a lump," says Dr Deo.

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Why African Rhinos Are Facing a Crisis

The body count for African rhinos killed for their horns is approaching crisis proportions, according to the latest figures released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

To National Geographic reporter Peter Gwin, the dire numbers—a rhinoceros slain every 11 minutes since the beginning of 2013—don't come as a surprise. "The killing will continue as long as criminal gangs know they can expect high profits for selling horns to Asian buyers," said Gwin, who wrote about the violent and illegal trade in rhino horn in the March 2012 issue of the magazine.

The recent surge in poaching has been fueled by a thriving market in Vietnam and China for rhino horn, used as a traditional medicine believed to cure everything from hangovers to cancer. Since 2011, at least 1,700 rhinos, or 7 percent of the total population, have been killed and their horns hacked off, according to the IUCN. More than two-thirds of the casualties occurred in South Africa, home to 73 percent of the world's wild rhinos. In Africa there are currently 5,055 black rhinos, listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, and 20,405 white rhinos. (From our blog: "South African Rhino Poaching Hits New High.")

Trying to snuff out poaching by itself won't work, said Gwin. The South African government is fighting a losing battle on the ground to gangs using helicopters, dart guns, high-powered weapons—and lots of money. (National Geographic pictures: The bloody poaching battle over rhino horn [contains graphic images].)

"Every year they get tougher on poaching, but rhino killings continue to rise astronomically," said Gwin. "Somehow they have to address the demand side in a meaningful way. This means either shutting down the Asian markets for rhino horn, or controversially, finding a way to sustainably harvest rhino horns, control their legal sale, and meet what appears to be a huge demand. Either will be a formidable endeavor."

Hope and Hurdles

The signing in December of a memorandum of understanding between South Africa and Vietnam to deal with rhino poaching and other conservation issues raises hope for some concrete action. Observers say the next step is for the two governments to follow through with tangible crime-stopping efforts such as intelligence sharing and other collaboration. The highest hurdle to stopping criminal trade, though, is cultural, Gwin believes. "In Vietnam and China, a lot of people simply believe that as a traditional cure, rhino horn works." (Related: "Blood Ivory.")

The recent climb in rhino deaths threatens what had been a conservation success story. Since 1995, due to better law enforcement, monitoring, and other actions, the overall rhino numbers have steadily risen. The poaching epidemic, the IUCN warns, could dramatically slow and possibly reverse population gains.

The population growth is also being stymied by South Africa's private game farmers, who breed rhinos for sport hunting and tourism and for many years have helped rebuild rhino numbers. Many of them are getting out of the business due to the high costs of security and other risks associated with the poaching invasions.

Those who still have rhinos on their farms will often pay a veterinarian to cut the horns off—under government supervision—to dissuade poachers, but the process costs more than $2,000 and has to be repeated when the horns grow back every two years. Even then the farmers are stuck with horns that are illegal to sell—and which criminals seek to obtain.

Room for Debate

Rhino killings and the trade in their horns will be a major topic at a high-profile conference, the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which opens in Bangkok March 3. What won't surprise Gwin is if the issue of sustainably harvesting rhino horns from live animals comes up for discussion.

"It's an idea that seems to be gaining traction among some South African politicians and law enforcement circles," he said, noting that the international conservation community strongly opposes any talk of legalizing the trade of rhino horn, sustainably harvested or not. The bottom line for all parties in the discussion is clear, said Gwin: "The slaughter has to stop if rhinos are to survive."

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Arias Prosecutor Too Combative, Experts Say

He has barked, yelled, been sarcastic and demanded answers from accused murderer Jodi Arias this week.

And in doing so, prosecutor Juan Martinez and his aggressive antics may be turning off the jury he is hoping to convince that Arias killed her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander in June 2008, experts told ABCNews.com today.

"Martinez is his own worst enemy," Mel McDonald, a prominent Phoenix defense attorney and former judge, told ABC News. "He takes it to the point where it's ad nauseam. You have difficulty recognizing when he's driving the point home because he's always angry and pushy and pacing around the courtroom. He loses the effectiveness, rather than build it up."

"He's like a rabid dog and believes you've got to go to everybody's throat," he said.

"If they convict her and give her death, they do it in spite of Juan, not because of him," McDonald added.

Martinez's needling style was on display again today as he pestered Arias to admit that she willingly participated in kinky sex with Alexander, though she previously testified that she only succumbed to his erotic fantasies to please him.

Arias, now 32, and Alexander, who was 27 at the time of his death, dated for a year and continued to sleep together for another year following their break-up.

Arias drove to his house in Mesa, Ariz., in June 2008, had sex with him, they took nude photos together and she killed him in his shower. She claims it was in self-defense. If convicted, Arias could face the death penalty.

Jodi Arias, Prosecutor Butt Heads in Cross-Examination Watch Video

Jodi Arias Maintains She 'Felt Like a Prostitute' Watch Video

Jodi Arias Admits to Killing Man, Lying to Police Watch Video

Martinez also attempted to point out inconsistencies in her story of the killing, bickering with her over details about her journey from Yreka, Calif., to Mesa, Ariz., including why she borrowed gas cans from an ex-boyfriend, when she allegedly took naps and got lost while driving, and why she spontaneously decided to visit Alexander at his home in Mesa for a sexual liaison.

"I want to know what you're talking about," Arias said to Martinez at one point.

"No, I'm asking you," he yelled.

Later, he bellowed, "Am I asking you if you're telling the truth?"

"I don't know," Arias said, firing back at him. "Are you?"

During three days of cross examining Arias this week, Martinez has spent hours going back and forth with the defendant over word choice, her memory, and her answers to his questions.

"Everyone who takes witness stand for defense is an enemy," McDonald said. "He prides himself on being able to work by rarely referring to his notes, but what he's giving up in that is that there's so much time he wastes on stupid comments. A lot of what I've heard is utterly objectionable."

Martinez's behavior has spurred frequent objections of "witness badgering" from Arias' attorney Kirk Nurmi, who at one point Tuesday stood up in court and appealed to the judge to have a conference with all of the attorneys before questioning continued. Judge Sherry Stephens at one point admonished Martinez and Arias for speaking over one another.

Andy Hill, a former spokesperson for the Phoenix police department, and Steven Pitt, a forensic psychiatrist who has testified as an expert witness at many trials in the Phoenix area, both said that despite his aggressive style, Martinez would likely succeed in obtaining a guilty verdict.

"When it comes to cross examination, one size does not fit all," said Pitt. "But if you set aside the incessant sparring, what the prosecutor I believe is effectively doing is pointing out the various inconsistencies in the defendant's version of events."

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Federal prison guard slain at Pennsylvania facility

A corrections officer at the Canaan federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania was killed by an inmate late Monday night, according to prison officials, marking the first slaying of a federal prison guard in nearly five years.

Officer Eric Williams, 34, of Nanticoke, Pa., was working in a housing unit at the high-security federal facility in Northeast Pennsylvania when he was beaten and fatally stabbed with a homemade weapon, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Williams had served with the bureau for less than two years, the agency said.

“This is clearly the darkest day in our institution’s short history, and we are in shock over this senseless loss of a colleague and friend,” David Ebbert, Canaan’s warden, said in a statement Tuesday.

The bureau said that an investigation into Williams’s death was underway and that prison staff had restrained an individual after the incident.

Union officials mourned Williams’s death but also seized on the incident to criticize Washington for the government-wide spending cuts that are set to take effect Friday if Congress fails to reach an alternative deficit-reduction deal. They said the threat of staffing reductions could put corrections officers at greater risk.

“With furloughs, I shudder to think of what could happen,” said Dale Deshotel, president of the Council of Prison Locals. “If you start furloughing people, you remove another percentage of the officers, and it’s going to get even more dangerous.”

The bureau did not address the cuts, but the agency said its facilities would benefit from more personnel.

“Staffing has always been an issue,” spokesman Chris Burke said. “It’s safe to say that higher staffing levels do contribute to safer institutions.”

The attack on Monday occurred while Williams was locking prisoners into their cells for the night, according to union officials who had spoken with other guards at the facility. Williams was unarmed and working alone at the time, union officials said.

The bureau generally prohibits corrections officers from carrying weapons at work, although a few exceptions apply: Guards can use batons during emergency situations, and a few prisons have allowed personnel to carry pepper spray as part of a pilot program. Canaan is not one of those facilities.

Another officer who arrived to assist Williams with a routine inmate count discovered the officer’s stabbed and beaten body, union officials said.

They said that corrections officers should not have to work alone and that they have lobbied Congress for several years to provide more personnel funding.

“Staffing levels contributed to this death,” said Darrell Palmer, president of the AFGE Local 3003, of which Williams was a member. “It all comes down to the things we’ve been asking for since José Rivera passed away.”

Rivera was stabbed at the Atwater penitentiary in California in 2008, according to the Council of Prison Locals.

Local 3003 officials wrote to Congress less than nine days before the officer’s death, urging lawmakers to oppose any measure that would reduce pay, retirement or benefits for its members. The message referred to Rivera’s 2008 murder as an example of the dangers prison authorities face.

The Justice Department said the automatic spending cuts set to take place Friday would force the Bureau of Prisons to trim $338 million from its budget, requiring 12 days of furloughs for all employees within the agency.

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Pope readies for final audience on resignation eve

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI will hold the last audience of his pontificate in St Peter's Square on Wednesday on the eve of his historic resignation as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected at the Vatican to bid a final farewell to an 85-year-old pope who abruptly cut short his pontificate by declaring he was too weak in body and mind to keep up with the modern world.

The Vatican says 50,000 people have obtained tickets for the event but many more may come and city authorities are preparing for 200,000, installing metal detectors in the area, deploying snipers and setting up field clinics.

No parking has been allowed in the zone since 10:00 pm Tuesday, and cars were to be barred entirely from 7:00 am on Wednesday.

The weekly audience, which is exceptionally being held in St Peter's Square because of the numbers expected, is to begin at around 10:30 am (0930 GMT) and usually lasts around an hour with a mixture of prayers and religious instruction from the pope.

Benedict will be the first pope to step down since the Middle Ages -- a break with Catholic tradition that has worried conservatives but kindled the hopes of Catholics around the world who want a breath of new life in the Church.

Rome has been gripped by speculation over what prompted Benedict to resign and who the leading candidates might be to replace him.

Rumours and counter-rumours in the Italian media suggest cut-throat behind-the-scenes lobbying, prompting the Vatican to condemn what it has called "unacceptable pressure" to influence the papal election.

Campaign groups have also lobbied the Vatican to exclude two cardinals accused of covering up child sex abuse from the upcoming election conclave.

The Vatican has said Benedict will receive the title of "Roman pontiff emeritus" and can still be addressed as "Your Holiness" and wear the white papal cassock after he officially steps down at 1900 GMT on Thursday.

Just before that time, the Vatican said Benedict will be whisked off by helicopter to the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo near Rome where he will begin a life out of the public eye.

Benedict will wave from the residence's balcony one last time before retreating to a private chapel and, as he has said, a life "hidden from the world".

On the hour he formally loses his powers as sovereign pontiff, the liveried Swiss Guard that traditionally protects popes will leave the residence.

The shock of the resignation and its unprecedented nature in the Church's modern history has left the Vatican sometimes struggling to explain the implications and Benedict's future status -- from the banal to the theological.

Some Catholics find it hard to come to terms with the idea that someone who was elected in a supposedly divinely inspired vote could simply resign.

The Vatican has said Benedict will lose his power of divine infallibility -- a sort of supreme authority in doctrinal matters -- as soon as he steps down.

The Vatican has also explained that the personalised gold Fisherman's Ring traditionally used to seal papal documents -- a key symbol of the office -- will be destroyed by a special cardinal, as is customary in Catholic tradition.

Benedict has also chosen to swap his trademark red shoes for a brown pair given to him by artisans in Mexico during a trip last year.

Starting next week, cardinals from around the world will begin a series of meetings to decide what the priorities for the Catholic Church should be, set a start date for the conclave and consider possible candidates for pope.

The conclave -- a centuries-old tradition with an elaborate ritual -- is supposed to be held within 15 to 20 days of the death of the pope, but Benedict has given special dispensation for the cardinals to bring that date forward.

Cardinals have been flying in from around the world including US prelate Roger Mahony, a former archbishop of Los Angeles stripped of all church duties for mishandling and covering up sex abuse claims against dozens of priests.

A total of 115 "cardinal electors" are scheduled to take part after another voter, British cardinal Keith O'Brien said he would not be taking part after allegations emerged that he made unwanted advances towards priests in the 1980s.

- AFP/ck

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Rape victim attempts suicide in courtroom

AHMEDABAD: A rape victim attempted suicide in the courtroom of Gujarat high court on Tuesday by consuming pesticide. She was rushed to the Sola Civil Hospital, where her condition is said to be critical. This is the second such incident since January when a rape victim attempted suicide in a courtroom.

In this case, the 27-year old woman had moved Gujarat HC to appeal against a city sessions court's decision to grant anticipatory bail to the rape accused, Sandeep Panchal. On Tuesday, her lawyer could not attend court due to the demise of his grandmother and Justice Ashish Desai adjourned the hearing.

As soon as the woman heard about the adjournment, she rushed to the courtroom and consumed poison. She was accompanied by her three-year old son. Advocate B M Mangukiya, who was present in the courtroom, took her to the hospital.

He later said that the victim had audio clips in her mobile phone establishing that the accused was threatening that she would meet the same fate as the Delhi gang-rape victim, Nirbhaya. When Sola police later recorded the victim's statement, she handed over this evidence to them.

After the incident, Justice Desai scheduled hearing on the case on Wednesday.

HC's registrar general R P Dholeria said, "She has grievances against police and her family members, not against the court." In her petition at HC the victim has complained about "ill treatment" by city cops.

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A History of Balloon Crashes

A hot-air balloon exploded in Egypt yesterday as it carried 19 people over ancient ruins near Luxor. The cause is believed to be a torn gas hose. In Egypt as in many other countries, balloon rides are a popular way to sightsee. (Read about unmanned flight in National Geographic magazine.)

The sport of hot-air ballooning dates to 1783, when a French balloon took to the skies with a sheep, a rooster, and a duck. Apparently, they landed safely. But throughout the history of the sport, there have been tragedies like the one in Egypt. (See pictures of personal-flight technology.)

1785: Pioneering balloonist Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and pilot Pierre Romain died when their balloon caught fire, possibly from a stray spark, and crashed during an attempt to cross the English Channel. They were the first to die in a balloon crash.

1923: Five balloonists participating in the Gordon Bennett Cup, a multi-day race that dates to 1906, were killed when lightning struck their balloons.

1924: Meteorologist C. LeRoy Meisinger and U.S. Army balloonist James T. Neely died after a lightning strike. They had set off from Scott Field in Illinois during a storm to study air pressure. Popular Mechanics dubbed them "martyrs of science."

1995: Tragedy strikes the Gordon Bennett Cup again. Belarusian forces shot down one of three balloons that drifted into their airspace from Poland. The two Americans on board died. The other balloonists were detained and fined for entering Belarus without a visa. (Read about modern explorers who take to the skies.)

1989: Two hot air balloons collided during a sightseeing trip near Alice Springs, Australia. One balloon crashed to the ground killing all 13 people on board. The pilot of the other balloon was sentenced to a two-year prison term for "committing a dangerous act." Until today, this was considered the most deadly balloon accident.

2012: A balloon hit a power line and caught fire in New Zealand, killing all 11 on board. Investigators later determined that the pilot was not licensed to fly and had not taken  proper safety measures during the crash, like triggering the balloon's parachute and deflation system.

2012: A sightseeing balloon carrying 32 people crashed and caught fire during a thunderstorm in the Ljubljana Marshes in Slovenia. Six died; many other passengers were injured.

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Arias Liked Some Kinky Sex, She Admits

Though accused murderer Jodi Arias said she sometimes felt "like a prostitute" at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, she admitted today that she often enjoyed their sex life and even suggested sex acts they could try.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez, after a day of aggressive questioning and bickering with Arias, asked her about her own suggestions for her sex life with Alexander, including a phone conversation in which she suggested using sexual lubricant.

Arias, 32, is accused of killing Alexander, but claims it was in self-defense.
Timeline of the Jodi Arias Trial

"You introduced KY Jelly into the relationship to make it more sexually enjoyable, right? When we're talking about the level of experimentation, it looks like both of you were experimenting together sexually. So when we hear things like, 'I felt like a prostitute,' that's not exactly true, is it?" Martinez said.

"It was often mutual," Arias said. "I didn't feel like a prostitute during, just after."

Jodi Arias Admits to Killing Man, Lying to Police Watch Video

Jodi Arias Testimony: Prosecution's Cross-Examination Watch Video

Martinez showed the jury a text message Arias sent offering to perform oral sex on Alexander, comparing it to a statement she made on direct testimony saying that she once felt like a prostitute when Alexander tossed a piece of chocolate at her and walked away without a word after she performed oral sex.

"How is it you can say you 'felt like a prostitute' when you're moving the relationship ahead like this?" Martinez asked. "The act itself is the same thing, and here you're requesting it. The geography is different, but that aside, isn't it the same act? And you're requesting it?"

"When he (ejaculated) and left afterward I felt like a prostitute. When we mutually went through things together I didn't," she said.

Arias also admitted that she sent Alexander a topless photo of herself after he sent her photos of his penis, and that she only did it after she had her breasts enhanced surgically.

Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage

The testimony came as Martinez continued his efforts to discredit Arias' testimony on the stand, including her statements that she often succumbed to Alexander's sexual fantasies so she wouldn't hurt his feelings. Martinez has focused on portraying Arias as a liar for much of his direct examination.

Arias is charged with murder for killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander at his home in Mesa, Ariz., in June 2008. She claims she killed him in self defense and that he had been increasingly violent and sexually demanding in the months before the confrontation. She also claimed he was interested in young boys.

The prosecution claims she killed him in a jealous rage. She could face the death penalty if convicted of first degree murder.

Jodi Arias Trial See Tempers Flare

Earlier in the day,tempers flared between Arias and prosecutor Martinez as the prosecutor tried to detail Arias' history of spying on her boyfriends, but Arias complained that his aggressive style of questioning made her "brain scramble."

Arias and Martinez, who have sparred throughout two prior days of cross-examination, spent more than 10 minutes bickering over Martinez's word choices and his apparent "anger."

The morning's testimony, and Martinez's points about Arias' alleged spying, were largely interrupted by the spats.

"Are you having trouble understanding me?" Martinez yelled.

"Yes because sometimes cause you go in circles," Arias answered.

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In Oklahoma, tiny airport attracts federal money, but few planes

ARDMORE, Okla. — Along a country road in southern Oklahoma, there is a place that doesn’t make sense. It is an airport without passengers.

Or, for that matter, planes.

This is Lake Murray State Park Airport, one of the least busy of the nation’s 3,300-plus public airfields. In an entire week here, there might be one landing and one takeoff — often so pilots can use the bathroom. Or none at all. Visiting pilots are warned to watch out for deer on the runway.

So why is it still open? Mostly, because the U.S. government insists on sending it money.

Every year, Oklahoma is allotted $150,000 in federal funding because of this place, the result of a grant program established 13 years ago, in Congress’s golden age of pork. The same amount goes to hundreds of other tiny airfields across the country — including more than 80 like this one, with no paying customers and no planes based at the field.

Lake Murray, as it turns out, is an ATM shaped like an airport.

It’s also an example of the kind of spending — wide-ranging, constituent-pleasing giveaways — that Washington has struggled to swear off in this time of austerity. Once again, for example, Congress voted to continue giving money to local airports last year. And in Oklahoma, state officials voted to keep the airport open and, therefore, be able to take it.

“This is a direct gift from your congressman and senators,” said Victor Bird, director of the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission, which handles the money the government allots for Lake Murray. “Everybody’s going to get something here, and we’re going to take some.”

For advocates of leaner government, the story of Lake Murray’s airport is particularly galling now, as an $85 billion budget cut nears on Friday. The “sequester,” as the cut is known, is what lawmakers call a “dumb cut,” because it doesn’t try to distinguish muscle from fat.

Within the Federal Aviation Administration, for instance, officials say the sequester could result in the closure of air-traffic control towers and long flight delays. But it would not touch the airport program, which has allotted Lake Murray about $1,500 for each of its takeoffs and landings.

“Why have we not gotten rid of the stupid stuff in the federal government?” said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who highlighted Lake Murray in his annual “Wastebook” last year. “Because every one of these . . . stupid or irresponsible projects has a constituency.”

The story of Lake Murray’s airfield starts in the early 1960s. At that point, Congress was not involved: The airport was intended to function as an airport. The state parks department hoped the field would draw high-rolling visitors with their own planes.

At first, they came. Now, they generally don’t.

“There’s an airplane!” Wesley Chaney, the state park’s head golf pro, said one afternoon this month. At that moment, this was surprising — and worrying — news. Chaney was standing smack in the middle of the runway.

“That’s a bird,” Richard Keithley, another parks employee, told him.

There was no plane coming. In the wide blue Oklahoma sky, in fact, the only things aloft were jumbo jets passing at high altitude and a few circling buzzards.

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