Four people were killed, including the gunman, during a hostage standoff this morning at a townhouse in Aurora, Colo., police said.
Police pumped tear gas into the home in an attempt to get the gunman to leave, and then went into the home, ABC News Denver affiliate KMGH-TV reported.
The three people found dead in the home are believed to be relatives of the shooter, Aurora Police Sgt. Cassidee Carlson told KMGH. A fourth person was found unharmed, she said.
Officers responded to the home after the first reports of gunshots came in around 3 a.m.
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The suspected gunman was found dead inside the townhome at 9 a.m., but police were not sure when he had been shot by officers or killed himself, she said.
"We're just getting in there with our crime scene detectives, so obviously we'll have to determine if it was our rounds or his rounds," Carlson said. "This is a big investigation, and a lot is entailed."
Carlson said neighboring residences were evacuated while the SWAT team attempted to resolve the standoff.
"We've evacuated several residences in the neighboring townhomes and in the immediate area where we believed would be the most dangerous," Carlson told KMGH-TV earlier today.
The Colorado town was the site of a movie theater massacre last July. A gunman opened fire during a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises," killing 12 people and injuring 58 others.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan lawmakers re-elected a staunch ally of Hugo Chavez as leader of the National Assembly on Saturday, putting him in line to be caretaker president if the socialist leader does not recover from cancer surgery.
By choosing the incumbent, Diosdado Cabello, the "Chavista"-dominated legislature cemented the combative ex-soldier's position as the third most powerful figure in the government, after Chavez and Vice President Nicolas Maduro.
"As a patriot ... I swear to be supremely loyal in everything I do, to defend the fatherland, its institutions, and this beautiful revolution led by our Comandante Hugo Chavez," Cabello said as he took the oath, his hand on the constitution.
He had earlier warned opposition politicians against attempting to use the National Assembly to conspire against the people, saying they would be "destroyed" if they tried.
Thousands of the president's red-clad supporters gathered outside parliament hours before the vote, many chanting: "We are all Chavez! Our comandante will be well! He will return!"
If Chavez had to step down, or died, Cabello would take over the running of the country as Assembly president and a new election would be organized within 30 days. Chavez's heir apparent, Maduro, would be the ruling Socialist Party candidate.
Chavez, who was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in his pelvic area in mid-2011, has not been seen in public nor heard from in more than three weeks.
Officials say the 58-year-old is in delicate condition and has suffered multiple complications since the December 11 surgery, including unexpected bleeding and severe respiratory problems.
Late on Friday, Maduro gave the clearest indication yet that the government was preparing to delay Chavez's inauguration for a new six-year term, which is scheduled for Thursday.
'RESPECT DEMOCRACY'
Maduro said the ceremony was a formality, and that Chavez could be sworn in by the Supreme Court at a later date. The opposition says that is a "twisted reading" of the constitution.
"The president right now is president," Maduro told state television. "Don't mess with the people. Respect democracy."
The opposition says Chavez's absence would be just the latest sign that he is no longer fit to govern, and that new elections should be held in the South American OPEC nation.
Last year, the president staged what appeared to be a remarkable comeback from his illness to win re-election in October, despite being weakened by radiation therapy. He returned to Cuba for more treatment within weeks of his victory.
Should the president have to step down after 14 years in office, a new vote would probably pit Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver and union leader, against opposition leader Henrique Capriles, the 40-year-old governor of Miranda state.
Capriles lost to Chavez in October's presidential election.
"I don't think Maduro would last many rounds in a presidential race. He's not fit for the responsibility they have given him," Capriles said after the vice president's appearance on state television.
Chavez's condition is being watched closely by leftist allies around Latin American who have benefited from his oil-funded generosity, as well as investors attracted by Venezuela's lucrative and widely traded debt.
The country boasts the world's biggest crude reserves. Despite the huge political upheaval Chavez's exit would cause, the oil industry is not likely to be affected much in the short term, with an extension of "Chavismo" keeping projects on track, while a change in parties could usher in more foreign capital.
(Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Vicki Allen)
SYDNEY: French tennis star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has withdrawn from next week's Sydney International with a hamstring injury, tournament organisers said on Saturday.
The world number eight pulled out of the last major leadup event to this month's Australian Open after suffering the injury playing for France in the mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth on Friday.
"Unfortunately Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sustained an injury in Perth and has been forced to pull out of the Apia International Sydney with a left hamstring injury," tournament director Craig Watson said.
"We wish him a speedy recovery and all the best for a successful Australian Open."
Tsonga, the 2008 Australian Open finalist, would have been top seed for the Sydney International and compatriot Richard Gasquet, the world number 10, is expected to become the top seed for the men's draw to be made later Saturday.
Teaser photo to be updated with on-site pictures soon.
(Credit: Supertooth)
I gave high marks to the original SuperTooth Disco bookshelf speaker when it dropped into stores last year, but I took issue with its inability to travel and of course, the lack of true stereo sound.
This year, the company will take to CES again to announce a portable listening solution called the Disco Twin that includes two separate speakers, giving you option to perch them wherever you like.
Wireless Bluetooth channels stream music to each device powered by 16 watts of audio juice, and the company's legacy "bass reflex system" in the back keep the low frequencies nice and smooth.
SuperTooth rates the battery life at 3-4 hours if you're playing nonstop at the highest maximum volume music, but who does that? Realistically, you'll probably get about 10 hours of music at a "normal volumes."
SuperTooth will also use the show floor to show off the HD-Voice, a new speakerphone for cars that that clips to the visor and lets you make hands-free calls using the same Bluetooth wireless streaming technology.
Of course, the device cares the most about keeping your hands free to operate the vehicle, so the speakerphone can also dictate text messages, announce incoming callers in 12 languages, and read the battery level and connection status aloud.
The Disco Twin will sell for $199 for both speakers in one box, and the HD-Voice will sell for $89 following the announcement at the show.
NEW DELHI The companion of a woman who was gang-raped aboard a bus in New Delhi recounted in a television interview for the first time Friday how the pair was attacked for 2 1/2 hours before being thrown on the side of the road, where passers-by ignored them and police debated jurisdiction issues before helping them.
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Indian women protest brutality
The Dec. 16 attack has outraged Indians and led to calls for tougher rape laws and reforms of a police culture that often blames rape victims and refuses to file charges against accused attackers. The nation's top law enforcement official said the country needs to crack down on crimes against women with "an iron hand."
The 23-year-old woman died over the weekend from massive internal injuries suffered during the attack. Authorities charged five men with her murder and rape and were holding a sixth suspect believed to be a juvenile. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Saturday.
The woman and her male friend had just finished watching the movie "Life of Pi" at an upscale mall and were looking for a ride home. An autorickshaw driver declined to take them so they boarded the private bus with the six assailants inside, the companion told the Indian TV network Zee TV.
Authorities have not named the man because of the sensitivity of the case. The TV station also declined to give his name, although it did show his face during the interview. The man has a broken leg and was sitting in a wheelchair during the interview.
Play Video
Remembering an Indian gang rape victim
After a while, the men on the bus starting harassing and attacking the pair, he said.
"I gave a tough fight to three of them. I punched them hard. But then two others hit me with an iron rod," he said. The woman tried to call the police using her mobile phone, but the men took it away from her, he said. They then took her to the rear seats of the bus and raped her.
"The attack was so brutal I can't even tell you ... even animals don't behave like that," he said.
Afterward, he overheard some of the attackers saying she was dead, he said.
The men then dumped their bleeding and naked bodies under an overpass. He waved to passers-by on bikes, in autorickshaws and in cars for help.
"They slowed down, looked at our naked bodies and left," he said. After about 20 minutes, three police vans arrived and the officers began arguing over who had jurisdiction over the crime as the man pleaded for clothes and an ambulance, he said.
15 Photos
Gang-rape sparks rage in India
The man said he was given no medical care. Instead, he spent four days at the police station helping them investigate the crime. He said he visited his friend in the hospital, told her the attackers were arrested and promised to fight for her.
"She has awakened us all by her courage," he said. "People should move ahead in the struggle to prevent a similar crime happening again as a tribute to her."
On Friday, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said crimes against women and marginalized sections of society are increasing, and it is the government's responsibility to stop them.
"This needs to be curbed by an iron hand," he told a conference of state officials from across India that was called to discuss how to protect women.
He called for changes in the law and the way police investigate cases so justice can be swiftly delivered. Many rape cases are bogged down in India's overburdened and sluggish court system for years.
"We need a reappraisal of the entire system," he said.
In the wake of the rape, several petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court to take an active role in the issue of women's safety.
On Friday, the court dismissed a petition asking it to suspend Indian lawmakers accused of crimes against women, saying it doesn't have jurisdiction, according to the Press Trust of India. The Association for Democratic Reforms, an organization that tracks officials' criminal records, said six state lawmakers are facing rape prosecutions and two national parliamentarians are facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape.
However, the court did agree to look into the widespread creation of more fast-track courts for accused rapists across the country.
The pharmacy at the heart of the fungal meningitis outbreak says a cleaning company it hired should share the blame for the tainted steroid injections that caused more than 600 illnesses in 19 states, killing 39 people.
Click here to read about the road to recovery for fungal meningitis victims.
The New England Compounding Pharmacy, which made the fungus-tainted drugs, sent a letter to UniFirst Corp., which provided once-a month cleaning services to the Framingham, Mass., lab, “demanding” it indemnify NECC for the meningitis outbreak, according to a UniFirst filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Based on its preliminary review of this matter, the company believes that NECC’s claims are without merit,” UniFirst wrote in its quarterly filing.
The New England Compounding Center recalled 17,000 vials of tainted steroid injections on Sept. 26 before recalling all drugs and shutting down on Oct. 6.
The Food and Drug Administration investigated NECC’s lab and found that a quarter of the steroid injections in one bin contained “greenish black foreign matter,” according to the report. The FDA also identified several cleanrooms that had bacterial or mold overgrowths.
UniFirst’s UniClean business cleaned portions of the NECC cleanrooms to NECC’s specifications and using NECC’s cleansing solutions, UniFirst spokesman Adam Soreoff said in a statement. It provided two technicians once a month for about an hour and a half.
“UniClean was not in any way responsible for NECC’s day-to-day operations, its overall facility cleanliness, or the integrity of the products they produced,” Soreoff said. “Therefore, based on what we know, we believe any NECC claims against UniFirst or UniClean are unfounded and without merit. ”
Click here for our fungal meningitis outbreak timeline, “Anatomy of an Outbreak.”
NECC was not immediately available for comment.
The House of Representatives subpoenaed Barry Cadden, who owns NECC, to a hearing in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 14. He declined to testify when members of Congress pressed him on his role in ensuring that the drugs his company produced were safe and sterile.
“On advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer on the basis of my constitutional rights and privileges including the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States,” he said at the hearing.
Members of Congress also questioned whether the FDA could have prevented the outbreak.
Compounding pharmacies, which are intended to tailor drugs to individuals with a single prescription from a single doctor, are typically overseen by state pharmacy boards rather than the FDA because they are so small. However, in 2006, the FDA issued a warning letter to NECC, accusing it of mass-producing a topical anesthetic cream, and jeopardizing another drug’s sterility by repackaging it.
GAZA (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas predicted the end of a five-year split between the two big Palestinian factions as his Fatah movement staged its first mass rally in Gaza with the blessing of Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave.
"Soon we will regain our unity," Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the 2007 civil war between the two factions, said in a televised address to hundreds of thousands of followers marching in Gaza on Friday, with yellow Fatah flags instead of the green of Hamas.
The hardline Hamas movement, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, expelled secular Fatah from Gaza during the war. It gave permission for the rally after the deadlock in peace talks between Abbas's administration and Israel narrowed the two factions' ideological differences.
The Palestinian rivals have drawn closer since Israel's assault on Gaza assault in November, in which Hamas, though battered, claimed victory.
Egypt has long tried to broker Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, but past efforts have foundered over questions of power-sharing, control of weaponry, and to what extent Israel and other powers would accept a Palestinian administration including Hamas.
An Egyptian official told Reuters Cairo was preparing to invite the factions for new negotiations within two weeks.
Israel fears grassroots support for Hamas could eventually topple Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank.
"Hamas could seize control of the PA any day," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
The demonstration marked 48 years since Fatah's founding as the spearhead of the Palestinians' fight against Israel. Its longtime leader Yasser Arafat signed an interim 1993 peace accord that won Palestinians a measure of self rule.
Hamas, which rejected the 1993 deal, fought and won a Palestinian parliamentary election in 2006. It formed an uneasy coalition with Fatah until their violent split a year later.
Though shunned by the West, Hamas feels bolstered by electoral gains for Islamist movements in neighboring Egypt and elsewhere in the region - a confidence reflected in the fact Friday's Fatah demonstration was allowed to take place.
"The success of the rally is a success for Fatah, and for Hamas too," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. "The positive atmosphere is a step on the way to regain national unity."
Fatah, meanwhile, has been riven by dissent about the credibility of Abbas's statesmanship, especially given Israel's continued settlement-building on West Bank land. The Israelis quit Gaza unilaterally in 2005 after 38 years of occupation.
"The message today is that Fatah cannot be wiped out," said Amal Hamad, a member of the group's ruling body, referring to the demonstration attended by several Abbas advisers. "Fatah lives, no one can exclude it and it seeks to end the division."
In his speech, Abbas promised to return to Gaza soon and said Palestinian unification would be "a step on the way to ending the (Israeli) occupation".
(Editing by Dan Williams, Alistair Lyon and Jason Webb)
GENEVA: The World Economic Forum will focus on global health issues when it holds its annual winter meeting in Davos, Switzerland from January 23-27, Forum organisers said on Thursday.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and World Bank president Jim Yong Kim are to be joined by several health ministers and more than 25 heads of healthcare companies under the theme of "Resilient Dynamism," a Forum statement said.
"The health community will focus on the future of sustainable national health systems, workplace wellness and individual health," it added.
According to the Forum's organisers, global consideration of health-care issues often is held back by short-term thinking and entrenched positions, and they urged countries to "break from the status quo to embark on courageous transformation to sustainably deliver access to high-quality health services."
The Forum plans to launch a report on sustainable health systems and health in the workplace as the meeting gets under way.
The report is based on a study of more than two million workers in 125 countries.
From left: Colin Crawford (Pure), Ian Drew (ARM) and Ambarish Mitra (Blippar)
I am the Editor of CNET UK and I have been going to CES for over a decade now, but there's one country's tech that I almost never see reported on at the show -- my own. I've always wondered why that is.
Brits have been involved in so many important tech inventions over the years, from television to the World Wide Web -- are our best discoveries behind us, or do we still have something left to give?
On Tuesday at 2pm Pacific time (10pm UK time) I'll be trying to find the answer to that question and more by talking to three people at the coalface of the UK tech industry, to find out what they are up to. From the gadget side, I'll have Colin Crawford of Pure, a company dedicated to streaming audio and radio products, which is launching a wireless speaker to rival Sonos into the US.
Representing British inventors will be Ian Drew from ARM, probably the UK's biggest tech success story. ARM's technology dominates the mobile industry, featuring in most smart phone and tablet chips.
Finally, as a young successful company that won a place at the 2012 CES in a competition, Blippar has a thing or two to say about what it's like to start and run a company from the UK. Ambarish Mitra, Founder & CEO, will be at the stage to tell us about that.
We'll discuss what each of them is launching at the show and get into subjects such as what it's like to run companies in these fields from Britain -- the advantages and disadvantages. We'll chat about the tech scene in the UK, whether it's thriving or shrinking and how it compares to the big daddy, Silicon Valley.
So please do join us at 2pm on Tuesday - it'll either be live-streamed at ces.cnet.com or live.cnet.com (once I find out for sure, I'll update this post). Toodle-pip for now.
Google hasn't violated any antitrust laws, the Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday, but it has agreed to make some changes in how it treats its rivals as part of a settlement to end the 19-month investigation into its business practices.
The FTC's investigation focused on allegations that Google has been abusing its dominance in Internet search. Google's rivals say the company has been highlighting its own services on its influential results page while burying the links to competing sites.
Google Inc. has fiercely defended its right to recommend the websites that it believes are the most relevant.
The FTC said it voted unanimously to close the investigation on whether Google's algorithm unfairly favored itself because there was no evidence that Google violated antitrust laws.
"Although some evidence suggested that Google was trying to eliminate competition, Google's primary reason for changing the look and feel of its search results to highlight its own products was to improve the user experience," FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said to reporters Thursday.
Google was also investigated for abusing patent protection against competitors like Apple. As part of the settlement, Google is agreeing to license patents deemed to be "essential" for rival mobile devices such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPad, regulators said.
Regulators say Google is also promising that upon request, it will exclude snippets copied from other websites in its summaries of key information, even though the company had insisted the practice is legal under the fair-use provisions of U.S. copyright law.
