Megaupload New Zealand extradition case delayed again






WELLINGTON: A US bid to extradite Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom from New Zealand for alleged online piracy has been delayed for a second time and will not be heard until August next year, his lawyers said on Thursday.

The extradition case, launched after Dotcom's arrest in January for alleged online piracy, was originally due to go to court in August, then pushed back to March next year amid legal wrangling over evidence disclosure.

A spokeswoman for Dotcom's Auckland-based barrister Paul Davison said the court had rescheduled the hearing again to August 2013. She did not provide a reason for the change.

Police are investigating New Zealand's foreign intelligence agency, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), for illegally spying on Dotcom ahead of his arrest in a raid on his Auckland mansion in January.

Prime Minister John Key earlier this year issued a public apology to Dotcom, acknowledging the German national should have been off-limits to the agency because he holds New Zealand residency.

It was the latest in a string of setbacks for the case against Dotcom, who remains free on bail in New Zealand, including a court ruling that the search warrants used in the raid on his mansion were illegal.

The 38-year-old's Megaupload file-sharing empire, which at its peak had 50 million daily visitors and accounted for four percent of all Internet traffic, was shut down after the raid and Dotcom has indicated he will seek damages.

Dotcom denies US allegations the Megaupload sites netted more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and cost copyright owners more than $500 million by offering pirated copies of movies, TV shows and other content.

The US Justice Department and FBI want Dotcom to face charges of racketeering fraud, money laundering and copyright theft in a US court, which could see him jailed for up to 20 years if convicted.

- AFP/de



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Sonia's lunge helps Congress grab promotion quota bill

NEW DELHI: Sonia Gandhi restored the Congress stamp on 'promotion quota' bill just when BSP chief Mayawati had all but cornered the glory, as she took centrestage in the drama triggered by Samajwadi Party to stall the quota bill in Lok Sabha.

SP MP Yashbir Singh snatched the papers from personnel minister V Narayanasamy's hands when the government decided to initiate the discussion in the din. The "deplorable" act triggered a bout of push and shove that brought Congress and protesting SP MPs to blows.

But it was Sonia's desperate lunge at the delinquent Samajwadi MP that dominated the proceedings. Sonia, who sits at the edge of the well in the front row, in a reflex action, went for Singh's arm to retrieve the paper, in the process being caught in the melee caused by sloganeering Samajwadis. Congress MPs told TOI that the party president also seemed annoyed with Narayansamy for not keeping a second copy of the Bill.

The scene brought Congress MPs to the well, with many MPs asking her to come back but in vain. While it all happened in a jiffy, Vilasrao Muttemwar pursued Singh in a rage. It invited vocal allegations that he had punched the Samajwadi Party MP, himself a dalit from the reserved Nagina constituency. Muttemwar denied the charge while adding that he had merely gone to protect his boss. "It is my duty," he told TOI.

The melee postponed the bill for the day as a stunned Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the proceedings, pushing the drama to the last day of the session. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath told reporters the incident was condemnable and asserted the government would take up the bill again on Thursday.

Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav backed his rampaging contingent and played down the outrage over snatching of papers by saying it was "not the first time such a scene had happened".

Inaction on part of Sonia and her troops on Wednesday would have marked a blow for Congress that has already come across as a reluctant player who has been forced to follow Mayawati's lead on the promotion quota bill.

Failure to clinch the bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday- a very strong possibility, considering the reluctance of the BJP to commit its support- will again make it vulnerable to attacks from the BSP chief. Sonia's reflexes may have saved the day for Congress on Wednesday, underlining her cruciality for the party at a time when political parlours remain abuzz with speculation about the elevation of son Rahul. It also helped Congress differentiate itself from the BJP which on Wednesday appeared wracked by upper caste resentment in its ranks against the "promotion quota".

Her presence in the Lok Sabha when the bill was taken up in the post-lunch session after two adjournments forced by the protesting Samajwadis did indicate seriousness. But it was her act of taking on the hostile SP member with screams of "give it back" that underlined the eagerness of the leadership to pass the legislation crafted to restore reservation in promotions for SCs and STs.

Sonia's political smarts may mitigate the loss in the war of credits at the hands of the volatile BSP supremo who put her indelible stamp on 'promotion quota' by taking it up in the monsoon session and then pursuing it right to the end of the winter session.

In fact, the government had appeared happy to hide behind Samajwadi protests to consign the legislation to the deep freeze, until Mayawati's stunning allegation that Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari and the Centre were complicit in the disorder designed to derail the legislation led to its dramatic passage in the upper House. The success of the bill was roundly attributed to her commitment.

The scene appeared changed after Wednesday's drama as Congress surfaced with a triumphant spin to Sonia's march into the well. Personnel minister Narayanasamy said, "It shows the importance she gives to this bill."

In the Congress vs SP faceoff, BJP appeared squeezed out of the action, this time appearing to be hiding behind the Samajwadis. The saffron outfit has been in the throes of a mutiny of sorts, with upper caste members questioning the backing for quota on the ground that it would put off the party's core constituency.

While the BJP is unlikely to revise support for the bill that can have consequences for its pull among dalits and tribals, the party's silence during the drama and the active engagement of senior leaders with Samajwadis crying manhandling, projected it as indifferent, if not hostile.

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Experts: Kids are resilient in coping with trauma


WASHINGTON (AP) — They might not want to talk about the gunshots or the screams. But their toys might start getting into imaginary shootouts.


Last week's school shooting in Connecticut raises the question: What will be the psychological fallout for the children who survived?


For people of any age, regaining a sense of security after surviving violence can take a long time. They're at risk for lingering anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder.


But after the grief and fear fades, psychiatrists say most of Newtown's young survivors probably will cope without long-term emotional problems.


"Kids do tend to be highly resilient," said Dr. Matthew Biel, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.


And one way that younger children try to make sense of trauma is through play. Youngsters may pull out action figures or stuffed animals and re-enact what they witnessed, perhaps multiple times.


"That's the way they gain mastery over a situation that's overwhelming," Biel explained, saying it becomes a concern only if the child is clearly distressed while playing.


Nor is it unusual for children to chase each other playing cops-and-robbers, but now parents might see some also pretending they're dead, added Dr. Melissa Brymer of the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.


Among the challenges will be spotting which children are struggling enough that they may need professional help.


Newtown's tragedy is particularly heart-wrenching because of what such young children grappled with — like the six first-graders who apparently had to run past their teacher's body to escape to safety.


There's little scientific research specifically on PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, in children exposed to a burst of violence, and even less to tell if a younger child will have a harder time healing than an older one.


Overall, scientists say studies of natural disasters and wars suggest most children eventually recover from traumatic experiences while a smaller proportion develop long-term disorders such as PTSD. Brymer says in her studies of school shootings, that fraction can range from 10 percent to a quarter of survivors, depending on what they actually experienced. A broader 2007 study found 13 percent of U.S. children exposed to different types of trauma reported some symptoms of PTSD, although less than 1 percent had enough for an official diagnosis.


Violence isn't all that rare in childhood. In many parts of the world — and in inner-city neighborhoods in the U.S., too — children witness it repeatedly. They don't become inured to it, Biel said, and more exposure means a greater chance of lasting psychological harm.


In Newtown, most at risk for longer-term problems are those who saw someone killed, said Dr. Carol North of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who has researched survivors of mass shootings.


Friday's shootings were mostly in two classrooms of Sandy Hook Elementary School, which has about 450 students through fourth-grade.


But those who weren't as close to the danger may be at extra risk, too, if this wasn't their first trauma or they already had problems such as anxiety disorders that increase their vulnerability, she said.


Right after a traumatic event, it's normal to have nightmares or trouble sleeping, to stick close to loved ones, and to be nervous or moody, Biel said.


To help, parents will have to follow their child's lead. Grilling a child about a traumatic experience isn't good, he stressed. Some children will ask a lot of questions, seeking reassurance, he said. Others will be quiet, thinking about the experience and maybe drawing or writing about it, or acting it out at playtime. Younger children may regress, becoming clingy or having tantrums.


Before second grade, their brains also are at a developmental stage some refer to as magical thinking, when it's difficult to distinguish reality and fantasy. Parents may have to help them understand that a friend who died isn't in pain or lonely but also isn't coming back, Brymer said.


When problem behaviors or signs of distress continue for several weeks, Brymer says it's time for an evaluation by a counselor or pediatrician.


Besides a supportive family, what helps? North advises getting children back into routines, together with their friends, and easing them back into a school setting. Studies of survivors of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks found "the power of the support of the people who went through it with you is huge," she said.


Children as young as first-graders can benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapy, Georgetown's Biel said. They can calm themselves with breathing techniques. They also can learn to identify and label their feelings — anger, frustration, worry — and how to balance, say, a worried thought with a brave one.


Finally, avoid watching TV coverage of the shooting, as children may think it's happening all over again, Biel added. He found that children who watched the 9/11 clips of planes hitting the World Trade Center thought they were seeing dozens of separate attacks.


___


EDITOR'S NOTE — Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.


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Scammers Could Profit Off Sandy Hook Tragedy













Scammers may be looking to cash in on the public's generosity following the Sandy Hook massacre, the Better Business Bureau warned.


"It is a challenge to be on guard because public sympathy and emotions are running high," said Bennett Weiner, chief operating officer of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, a group that helps charitable donors make informed decisions.


Weiner said it's difficult for scams to be detected in the first week following every national tragedy, however he suspects unscrupulous people are already out there, eager to cash in on the massacre.


How to Help Newtown Families


False websites or phone calls soliciting help for the victims' families are two of the easiest and most common scams Weiner said he sees.


"They're hard to identify because people don't know they've been taken and they're not going to know until down the road," he said.






Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post/Getty Images











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Connecticut School Shooting: Children Among Multiple Fatalities Watch Video





After the Sandy Hook massacre, countless Facebook pages for the victims, listings on crowdfunding sites and community drives have been established to solicit donations.


Timeline: Tragedy At Sandy Hook


While many of them may be legitimate, Weiner warns people to do their research.


"You really have to be watching out for newly created things. There may be some well-intended effort, but you have no way to look at their track record," he said. "I can tell you from experience there are some cautions associated with it."


Any fundraising effort that makes vague statements, such as "we're going to help the victims and families," is another red flag to watch out for, Weiner said.


Whether it's fundraising for the Aurora theater victims or a local terminally ill child, Weiner said the BBB sees these kinds of scams "time and time again" and actively investigates them.


"It is a challenge to be on guard after a tragedy," he said. "But you shouldn't give to any organization without checking them out first."


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Egypt opposition protests against constitution


CAIRO (Reuters) - Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi staged protests in Cairo on Tuesday against an Islamist-backed draft constitution that has divided Egypt but looks set to be approved in the second half of a referendum this weekend.


Several hundred protesters outside the presidential palace chanted "Revolution, revolution, for the sake of the constitution" and called on Mursi to "Leave, leave, you coward!". While the protest was noisy, numbers were down on previous demonstrations.


Mursi obtained a 57 percent "yes" vote for the constitution in the first part of the referendum last weekend, state media said, less than he had hoped for.


The opposition, which says the basic law is too Islamist, will be encouraged by the result but is unlikely to win the second part this Saturday, which is to be held in districts seen as even more sympathetic towards Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.


The National Salvation Front opposition coalition said there were widespread voting violations last Saturday and called for protests to "bring down the invalid draft constitution".


The Ministry of Justice said it was appointing judges to investigate complaints of voting irregularities.


Opposition marchers converged on Tahrir Square, cradle of the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak almost two years ago, and Mursi's presidential palace, still ringed with tanks after earlier protests.


A protester at the presidential palace, Mohamed Adel, 30, said: "I have been camping here for weeks and will continue to do so until the constitution that divided the nation, and for which people died, gets scrapped."


Shortly after midnight, a few hundred protesters who had planned to spend the night in tents set up around the presidential palace were attacked with stones.


"Unknown people threw stones at us from behind the walls the army had built at all entrances to the palace, and some of the protesters were injured in the leg and head," protester Karim el-Shaer told Reuters.


The build-up to the first day of voting saw clashes between supporters and opponents of Mursi in which eight people died. Recent demonstrations in Cairo have been more peaceful, although rival factions clashed on Friday in Alexandria, Egypt's second city.


RESIGNATION


A judges' club urged its members on Tuesday not to supervise Saturday's vote. But the call is not binding and balloting is expected to go ahead.


If the constitution is passed, national elections can take place early next year, something many hope will help end the turmoil that has gripped Egypt since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak almost two years ago.


But the closeness of the first day of voting and the low turnout suggest more difficulties ahead for Mursi as he seeks to rally support for difficult economic reforms.


"This percentage ... will strengthen the hand of the (opposition) National Salvation Front, and the leaders of this Front have declared they are going to continue this fight to discredit the constitution," said Mustapha Kamal Al-Sayyid, a professor of political science at Cairo University.


Mursi is likely to become more unpopular with the introduction of planned austerity measures, Sayyid told Reuters.


To tackle the budget deficit, the government needs to raise taxes and cut fuel subsidies. Uncertainty surrounding economic reform plans has already prompted the postponement of a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. The Egyptian pound has fallen to eight-year lows against the dollar.


Mursi and his backers say the constitution is needed to move Egypt's democratic transition forward. Opponents say it is too Islamist and ignores the rights of women and of minorities, including 10 percent of Egyptians who are Christian.


Demonstrations erupted when Mursi awarded himself extra powers on November 22 and then fast-tracked the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies and boycotted by many liberals.


The referendum has had to be held over two days because many of the judges needed to oversee polling staged a boycott in protest. In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of those voting.


(Additional reporting by Tamim Elyan and Edmund Blair; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Kevin Liffey)



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Euro continues push against dollar






NEW YORK: The euro pushed higher against the dollar Tuesday, helped by improvements in Greece's financial status and a Spanish debt sale, and as Washington continued to battle over the looming fiscal cliff.

Meanwhile the yen slipped to its lowest level since April 2011 as Japan's incoming prime minister pressed the central bank for more stimulus.

The euro reached its best level since the beginning of May, ending at $1.3225 at 2300 GMT, up from $1.3161 late Monday.

The seven-month high for the euro came "on the back of successful sales of Greek and Spanish bills," said Benjamin Spier of Daily FX.

"Spain sold 3-month and 6-month bills for 3.52 billion euros, better than the maximum target of 3.5 billion euros. Greece sold 13-week treasury bills for 1.3 billion euros at a 4.11 percent yield," he said.

Shortly afterward, Greece's credit rating was upgraded by Standard & Poor's from "selective default" to B-, with a stable outlook, following Athens' debt buyback that earned it fiscal breathing space and new bailout funds releases from the eurozone.

The upgrade "reflects our view of the strong determination of European Economic and Monetary Union (eurozone) member states to preserve Greek membership in the eurozone," S&P said.

Meanwhile, the dollar got no help from Washington politicians, who have not yet reached a deal on a long-term deficit reduction plan that would also help the country avoid crunching tax hikes and spending cuts slated for January 1.

The yen continued to fall, setting 20-month lows against the dollar and euro, two days after the Liberal Democratic Party swept to a general election victory that is returning Shinzo Abe to the premiership.

Abe met with Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa at his party's headquarters Tuesday and told the central banker he wanted to set a two percent inflation target, in the opening salvo of his battle to kickstart the economy.

"I told him I want to reach a policy accord with the BoJ for the two percent inflation target that I promoted throughout the election campaign," Abe told reporters.

The dollar rose to 84.28 yen from 83.87 yen Monday, while the euro hit 111.47 yen from 110.40

In other currencies, the dollar slipped to 0.9134 Swiss francs, while the pound gained to $1.6247.

- AFP/fa



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India lost $123bn in black money in 10 yrs: US think tank report

BEIJING: China is listed as the leading source of global outflows of tainted money with India ranking eighth in the list compiled by a Washington-based think tank, Global Financial Integrity. China lost $2.74 trillion and India $123 billion to international outflows of illicit cash between 2001 and 2010, it said.

Some 150 developing countries lost $5.9 trillion by way of illegal outflows in those 10 years, the Global Financial Integrity said in a report, which showed that the financial crisis has not adversely affected the production and flow of corrupt money.

The report, co-authored by an economist of Indian origin, Dev Kar, said the global outflows rose from $776 billion in 2009 amid the financial crisis to $859 billion in 2010. The all-time high of $871 billion was in 2008.

Malaysia with $64 billion in illegal outflows took the second position followed by Mexico. The bulk of illegal money flows accounting for 61% came from Asia. It is followed by just over 15% from the Western hemisphere and just over 10% from West Asia-Gulf and North Africa.

Illegal money out of China was $420 billion in 2010 and exceeded $2.7 trillion for the decade ending in 2010, which was nearly half that period's total for all developing countries.

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Experts: Kids are resilient in coping with trauma


WASHINGTON (AP) — They might not want to talk about the gunshots or the screams. But their toys might start getting into imaginary shootouts.


Last week's school shooting in Connecticut raises the question: What will be the psychological fallout for the children who survived?


For people of any age, regaining a sense of security after surviving violence can take a long time. They're at risk for lingering anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder.


But after the grief and fear fades, psychiatrists say most of Newtown's young survivors probably will cope without long-term emotional problems.


"Kids do tend to be highly resilient," said Dr. Matthew Biel, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.


And one way that younger children try to make sense of trauma is through play. Youngsters may pull out action figures or stuffed animals and re-enact what they witnessed, perhaps multiple times.


"That's the way they gain mastery over a situation that's overwhelming," Biel explained, saying it becomes a concern only if the child is clearly distressed while playing.


Nor is it unusual for children to chase each other playing cops-and-robbers, but now parents might see some also pretending they're dead, added Dr. Melissa Brymer of the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.


Among the challenges will be spotting which children are struggling enough that they may need professional help.


Newtown's tragedy is particularly heart-wrenching because of what such young children grappled with — like the six first-graders who apparently had to run past their teacher's body to escape to safety.


There's little scientific research specifically on PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, in children exposed to a burst of violence, and even less to tell if a younger child will have a harder time healing than an older one.


Overall, scientists say studies of natural disasters and wars suggest most children eventually recover from traumatic experiences while a smaller proportion develop long-term disorders such as PTSD. Brymer says in her studies of school shootings, that fraction can range from 10 percent to a quarter of survivors, depending on what they actually experienced. A broader 2007 study found 13 percent of U.S. children exposed to different types of trauma reported some symptoms of PTSD, although less than 1 percent had enough for an official diagnosis.


Violence isn't all that rare in childhood. In many parts of the world — and in inner-city neighborhoods in the U.S., too — children witness it repeatedly. They don't become inured to it, Biel said, and more exposure means a greater chance of lasting psychological harm.


In Newtown, most at risk for longer-term problems are those who saw someone killed, said Dr. Carol North of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who has researched survivors of mass shootings.


Friday's shootings were mostly in two classrooms of Sandy Hook Elementary School, which has about 450 students through fourth-grade.


But those who weren't as close to the danger may be at extra risk, too, if this wasn't their first trauma or they already had problems such as anxiety disorders that increase their vulnerability, she said.


Right after a traumatic event, it's normal to have nightmares or trouble sleeping, to stick close to loved ones, and to be nervous or moody, Biel said.


To help, parents will have to follow their child's lead. Grilling a child about a traumatic experience isn't good, he stressed. Some children will ask a lot of questions, seeking reassurance, he said. Others will be quiet, thinking about the experience and maybe drawing or writing about it, or acting it out at playtime. Younger children may regress, becoming clingy or having tantrums.


Before second grade, their brains also are at a developmental stage some refer to as magical thinking, when it's difficult to distinguish reality and fantasy. Parents may have to help them understand that a friend who died isn't in pain or lonely but also isn't coming back, Brymer said.


When problem behaviors or signs of distress continue for several weeks, Brymer says it's time for an evaluation by a counselor or pediatrician.


Besides a supportive family, what helps? North advises getting children back into routines, together with their friends, and easing them back into a school setting. Studies of survivors of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks found "the power of the support of the people who went through it with you is huge," she said.


Children as young as first-graders can benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapy, Georgetown's Biel said. They can calm themselves with breathing techniques. They also can learn to identify and label their feelings — anger, frustration, worry — and how to balance, say, a worried thought with a brave one.


Finally, avoid watching TV coverage of the shooting, as children may think it's happening all over again, Biel added. He found that children who watched the 9/11 clips of planes hitting the World Trade Center thought they were seeing dozens of separate attacks.


___


EDITOR'S NOTE — Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.


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Can Cops Read Shooter's Sabotaged Computer?













Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter Adam Lanza may have tried to sabotage his own computer before going on a murderous rampage that claimed the lives of 20 children, but experienced investigators said today that law enforcement forensic experts could still recover critical evidence from the damaged drives.


Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance revealed Monday that a computer crimes unit was working in conjunction with a forensics laboratory to "dissect" any evidence relevant to the case, but he declined to comment further on what type of evidence was involved and in what condition it was in. Later that day, law enforcement officials told ABC News that police recovered a badly damaged computer from Lanza's home that appeared to have been attacked by a hammer or screwdriver.


Sources said if they can still read the computer's hard drive, they hope to find critical clues that may help explain Lanza's motives in the killing.


Former FBI forensic experts told ABC News that in cases similar to this one, damage to the computer does not necessarily mean the computer files cannot be accessed.


"If he took a hammer to the outside, smashed the screen, dented the box, it's more than likely the hard drive is still intact," said Al Johnson, a retired FBI special agent who now works privately examining digital evidence and computer data. "And even if the hard drive itself is damaged, there are still steps that can be taken to recover everything."








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Brett Harrison, a former FBI computer forensics expert who now works with a D.C. consulting firm, said that authorities have a great deal of technology at their disposal to retrieve that data. How much is recovered, he said, will depend entirely on how much damage was done to the well-insulated "platters" -- discs lodged deep inside the machine -- where Lanza's every digital footstep was recorded.


It is likely, he said, that Lanza's computer has been moved to a "clean room" where, if the discs are intact, they could be removed and then carefully re-inserted in a fresh hard drive. If the calibrations are done correctly, investigators would still be able to unlock the clues on the discs.


If the discs aren't in perfect condition, Harrison said, "There is equipment they can use to read the data off a record even if a portion of it is damaged."


Johnson said it is tedious work done in a clean environment because the tolerances of the discs is so precise – even a particle of dust could destroy crucial evidence.


"We're talking about a tolerance of less than a human hair," said Johnson, who now does computer forensics for a South Carolina-based investigative firm.


Police have not said exactly what they expect to find on the computer's hard drive, but the former FBI experts said typically there could be record of visits to violent web sites, or to online stores that sell ammunition, or to email that might reveal if Lanza shared any hints of his plans with others.


"I'm not big on speculation," Harrison said, "but you're talking about potentially finding all the normal things that people do with their computer – Facebook pages, internet activity, email, you name it."


For now, the FBI is keeping mum on what kind of computer forensic help it could be offering in the case.


"At this time, in deference to the ongoing investigation being conducted by the CSP, the FBI is not releasing information regarding operational or forensic assistance provided in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting," an FBI spokesperson said.


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Clinton gets accountability report on Benghazi attacks


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday received an official review of the September attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, setting the stage for testimony on an incident that prompted a political furor and sharp questions about security at U.S. diplomatic facilities overseas.


The State Department said Clinton - who is convalescing after suffering a concussion last week - received the report from the Accountability Review Board formed to probe the attack which killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.


"The ARB has completed its work. Its report has gone to the secretary this morning. She now has it," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.


The committee has been meeting in private and State Department officials have declined to discuss almost all specifics of the Benghazi attack pending its reports.


The findings are expected to cover questions on whether enough attention was given to potential threats and how Washington responded to security requests from U.S. diplomats in Libya.


A determination that top State Department officials turned down those requests, as Republican congressional investigators allege, could refuel criticism of the officials - and possibly even end the careers of some of them.


Clinton had been expected to testify to Congress on December 20 on the report's results, but is under doctors' orders to remain at home this week.


Deputy Secretary William Burns and Deputy Secretary Thomas Nides will testify in her stead at Thursday's open hearings of the Senate and House foreign affairs committees, Nuland said.


Prior to that, the Accountability Review Board's two leaders - retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering and retired chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen - will testify in closed door hearings of the two committees on Wednesday, she said.


POLITICAL FALLOUT


The political uproar over the September 11 Benghazi attack has already claimed one victim.


U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, widely tipped as a front-runner to replace Clinton when she steps down as secretary of state early next year, last week withdrew her name from consideration, saying she wished to avoid a potentially disruptive Senate confirmation process.


Republican lawmakers had blasted Rice for televised comments she made in the aftermath of the attack in which she said preliminary information suggested the assault was the result of protests over an anti-Muslim video made in California rather than a premeditated strike.


Rice has said she was relying on talking points drawn up by U.S. intelligence officials.


Nuland said the final report could contain both classified and unclassified sections, and that only the latter would be made publicly available.


Central questions raised include why the ambassador was in such an unstable part of Libya on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon.


The five-person independent board usually includes retired ambassadors, a former CIA officer and a member of the private sector. It has the power to issue subpoenas, and members are required to have appropriate security clearances to review classified information.


Nuland said that Clinton - who intends to step down toward the end of January when President Barack Obama is sworn in for his second term - was "on the mend" following her concussion, which occurred when she fell as a result of dehydration due to a stomach virus.


She added that Clinton remained open to discussing the attack with lawmakers herself next month.


"She looks forward to continuing to engage with them in January and she will be open to whatever they consider appropriate in that regard," Nuland said. (Editing by Warren Strobel and Mohammad Zargham)



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