U.S. General Picked for Top NATO Military Post Will Retire

WASHINGTON — General John R. Allen, who served until earlier this month as the top United States commander in Afghanistan, will retire from the military to focus on “health issues within his family,” President Obama said Tuesday.

In January, General Allen was officially cleared of misconduct by the Pentagon after an investigation into his exchange of e-mails with a socialite in Tampa, Fla., and Mr. Obama had nominated him to be the supreme commander of NATO.

“I told General Allen that he has my deep, personal appreciation for his extraordinary service over the last 19 months in Afghanistan, as well as his decades of service in the United States Marine Corps,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “John Allen is one of America’s finest military leaders, a true patriot, and a man I have come to respect greatly.”

General Allen, a highly decorated officer, was caught up in the scandal that led to the resignation of David H. Petraeus as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. General Allen had gotten to know the socialite, Jill Kelley, when he was head of the Central Command in Tampa.

General Joseph F. Dunford Jr. succeeded General Allen as commander of both the American and intermational military forces in Afghanistan in a ceremony in Kabul on Feb. 10.

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Jenna Bush Hager Honors Her Grandfather for President's Day

Caught in the Act

02/19/2013 at 01:35 PM EST

Henry Hager and Jenna Bush Hager

Courtesy Sea Island

Both Jenna Bush Hager's father and grandfather served as Presidents of the United States, so it comes as no surprise that President's Day weekend holds special meaning for her.

This year, the NBC news correspondent – who will become a first-time mom this spring – headed to Sea Island, a five-star resort on the coast of Georgia, with her husband of nearly five years, Henry Hager, to honor her grandfather George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara, who honeymooned there in 1945.

George H.W. and Barbara Bush

George Bush Presidential Library and Museum

On Saturday night, the former First Daughter and her husband represented her grandparents at a special President's Day dinner, featuring favorite dishes of U.S. Presidents who have visited Sea Island – and they even cut a cake reminiscent of the one her grandparents served at their wedding.

For the rest of their stay, the Hagers turned the trip into a mini-babymoon: while Jenna relaxed at the spa – and took a prenatal yoga class with a pal – Henry and his friends played golf on the resort grounds.

– Lesley Messer

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UK patient dies from SARS-like coronavirus

LONDON (AP) — A patient being treated for a mysterious SARS-like virus has died, a British hospital said Tuesday.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, said the coronavirus victim was also being treated for "a long-term, complex unrelated health problem" and already had a compromised immune system.

A total of 12 people worldwide have been diagnosed with the disease, six of whom have died.

The virus was first identified last year in the Middle East. Most of those infected had traveled to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Pakistan, but the person who just died is believed to have caught it from a relative in Britain, where there have been four confirmed cases.

The new coronavirus is part of a family of viruses that cause ailments including the common cold and SARS. In 2003, a global outbreak of SARS killed about 800 people worldwide.

Health experts still aren't sure exactly how humans are being infected. The new coronavirus is most closely related to a bat virus and scientists are considering whether bats or other animals like goats or camels are a possible source of infection.

Britain's Health Protection Agency has said while it appears the virus can spread from person to person, "the risk of infection in contacts in most circumstances is still considered to be low."

Officials at the World Health Organization said the new virus has probably already spread between humans in some instances. In Saudi Arabia last year, four members of the same family fell ill and two died. And in a cluster of about a dozen people in Jordan, the virus may have spread at a hospital's intensive care unit.

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Rapes may be tied to Christian dating website, officials say

Police in the San Diego suburb of La Mesa are investigating whether a 37-year-old man charged with raping a woman he met on the ChristianMingle website may have victimized other women he met on the dating website.

Sean Banks of Del Mar is charged with rape, burglary and penetration by force involving a woman in La Mesa, according to court records. He was arrested Feb. 11 and has pleaded not guilty.

Banks, a computer technician, worked in various locations across the United States. Police said they are investigating whether he may have lured other victims through ChristianMingle and other websites, possibly using pseudonyms, including Rylan Butterwood and Rylan Harbough.

In the La Mesa case, he used the name Rarity, police said. The alleged attack occurred in the woman's home the first time the two met in person after carrying on conversations over the Internet, police said.

Beverly Hills-based ChristianMingle is cooperating with the investigation, police said.

Anyone with information about Banks or other possible victims should call the La Mesa Police Department at (619) 667-7538.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Sean Banks. Credit: La Mesa Police Department

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India Ink: Image of the Day: Feb. 18

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Downton Abbey Heartthrob Spoiler Alert - for Next Season

TV Watch

By Stephen M. Silverman

02/18/2013 at 01:20 PM EST

Tom Ellis, with Michelle Dockery (inset)

Bauer-Griffin

No moss grows under Lady Mary, that's for sure. The Merry Widow may already have a new suitor.

British TV heartthrob Tom Ellis reportedly had an impressive audition for the producers of Downton Abbey, to become what is being described as season 4's love interest for Lady Mary, played by Michelle Dockery.

According to the U.K. Mirror, an ITV source said of the 33-year-old, married father of three: "He really showed his versatility, and he's also incredibly popular with the female viewers."

Born in Wales, Ellis, whose wife is former EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite, appears in the comedy series Miranda. Neither show has made it to the U.S.

Sunday night during Downton's season 3 finale, America learned that Mary's husband Matthew Crawley, as played by Dan Stevens – who asked to be released from the series for professional reasons – came to a bloody end by crashing his sports car only minutes after meeting his newborn son and heir.

Apparently, the new mother and widow will not be lonely for long. Series' writer-creator Julian Fellowes drops a strong hint to that effect in Monday's New York Times, telling its TV writer Dave Itzkoff: "We begin Series 4 six months later. We don't have to do funerals and all that stuff. That's all in the past by then."

And since this is a series with a strongly devoted following that does not care for spoilers – which immediately started crossing the Atlantic once episodes started airing in its native country last fall, ahead of America's January 2013 season premiere on PBS – Fellows acknowledges, "I would vastly prefer that we all saw it together. The world is much more global. And so I look forward to the day when it changes, as I'm sure it will."

Good show.

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Study: Better TV might improve kids' behavior

SEATTLE (AP) — Teaching parents to switch channels from violent shows to educational TV can improve preschoolers' behavior, even without getting them to watch less, a study found.

The results were modest and faded over time, but may hold promise for finding ways to help young children avoid aggressive, violent behavior, the study authors and other doctors said.

"It's not just about turning off the television. It's about changing the channel. What children watch is as important as how much they watch," said lead author Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician and researcher at Seattle Children's Research Institute.

The research was to be published online Monday by the journal Pediatrics.

The study involved 565 Seattle parents, who periodically filled out TV-watching diaries and questionnaires measuring their child's behavior.

Half were coached for six months on getting their 3-to-5-year-old kids to watch shows like "Sesame Street" and "Dora the Explorer" rather than more violent programs like "Power Rangers." The results were compared with kids whose parents who got advice on healthy eating instead.

At six months, children in both groups showed improved behavior, but there was a little bit more improvement in the group that was coached on their TV watching.

By one year, there was no meaningful difference between the two groups overall. Low-income boys appeared to get the most short-term benefit.

"That's important because they are at the greatest risk, both for being perpetrators of aggression in real life, but also being victims of aggression," Christakis said.

The study has some flaws. The parents weren't told the purpose of the study, but the authors concede they probably figured it out and that might have affected the results.

Before the study, the children averaged about 1½ hours of TV, video and computer game watching a day, with violent content making up about a quarter of that time. By the end of the study, that increased by up to 10 minutes. Those in the TV coaching group increased their time with positive shows; the healthy eating group watched more violent TV.

Nancy Jensen, who took part with her now 6-year-old daughter, said the study was a wake-up call.

"I didn't realize how much Elizabeth was watching and how much she was watching on her own," she said.

Jensen said her daughter's behavior improved after making changes, and she continues to control what Elizabeth and her 2-year-old brother, Joe, watch. She also decided to replace most of Elizabeth's TV time with games, art and outdoor fun.

During a recent visit to their Seattle home, the children seemed more interested in playing with blocks and running around outside than watching TV.

Another researcher who was not involved in this study but also focuses his work on kids and television commended Christakis for taking a look at the influence of positive TV programs, instead of focusing on the impact of violent TV.

"I think it's fabulous that people are looking on the positive side. Because no one's going to stop watching TV, we have to have viable alternatives for kids," said Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital Boston.

____

Online:

Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org

___

Contact AP Writer Donna Blankinship through Twitter (at)dgblankinship

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Attorney killed wife on Italian cruise for her money, police say

A former Orange County attorney allegedly killed his ex-wife for financial gain in 2006 by strangling her and throwing her overboard while on a cruise along the Italian coast, authorities said.

Lonnie Kocontes, 55, a former Mission Viejo resident, was arrested Friday at his home in Safety Harbor, Fla., in connection with the death of his former wife, Micki Kanesaki, 52, of Ladera Ranch, authorities said. He is charged with one felony count of special circumstances for financial gain.

If convicted, he faces a maximum life sentence in state prison without the possibility of parole and is eligible for the death penalty, authorities said. Kocontes, who is being held without bail, also faces extradition proceedings at a date to be determined.

He is accused of financially benefiting from Kanesaki’s death because he was the beneficiary of several of their bank accounts and property and was receiving the proceeds from the sale of their home, authorities said.

The couple divorced in 2001 and were in the midst of a court battle when they decided to put aside their rancor and take a Mediterranean vacation together.

Kocontes is suspected of killing his wife on the night of May 25, 2006, or the morning of May 26, by strangling her and throwing her body overboard, authorities said.

At the time, Kocontes reported his wife missing. He told authorities that the couple had retired to bed when about 1 a.m. Kanesaki stepped out to get a cup of tea to help her relax and never returned.

Her body was found on the morning of May 27 by the Italian coast guard, floating in the sea near Reggio di Calabria.

"I wish I knew what happened," Kocontes was quoted as saying at the time. He told authorities that his former wife had previously talked of suicide.

But an autopsy revealed Kanesaki had been strangled, authorities said.

In 2008, Kocontes is accused of attempting to transfer $1 million between various banks accounts with his new wife, Katherine, authorities said. The FBI began investigating the money transfers for possible illegal activity and the U.S. attorney’s office ultimately seized the money from Kocontes’ bank account.

The Orange County district attorney’s office was contacted and subsequently the Sheriff’s Department relaunched its investigation, authorities said.

On Wednesday, the district attorney filed its murder case against Kocontes.      

The FBI and the Orange County Sheriff's Department are continuing the investigation.

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-- Andrew Blankstein

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Israel Ex-Official Avigdor Lieberman’s Trial Starts

JERUSALEM — Israel’s tough-talking former foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, pleaded not guilty on Sunday to charges of fraud and breach of trust in a criminal case that leaves his political future hanging in the balance.

An outspoken hard-liner and senior political partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Lieberman made his plea, through a lawyer, in a short court appearance that was mainly procedural as his trial opened. He is accused of having promoted Israel’s former ambassador to Belarus for another post after the ambassador had provided the foreign minister with classified information relating to a police investigation into Mr. Lieberman’s financial affairs.

As the trial opens, Mr. Netanyahu is engaged in delicate negotiations to form a new governing coalition after the January elections in which Mr. Lieberman ran as Mr. Netanyahu’s No. 2 on a joint rightist ticket.

“We are very pleased; we’ve passed the preliminaries,” one of Mr. Lieberman’s lawyers, Jacob Weinroth, told reporters after Sunday’s session, adding, “We want this to end quickly and we want it to end well.” The next four court sessions were set for late April and early May.

Mr. Lieberman will not be eligible for a ministerial post unless he is acquitted, but he has indicated that he intends to clear his name and return to the cabinet, preferably as foreign minister. Earlier this month he told Israeli television that the foreign affairs portfolio would remain with Mr. Netanyahu pending the conclusion of the trial.

Mr. Lieberman, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union who rose to prominence as the leader of the ultranationalist party Yisrael Beiteinu, is currently serving as a member of Parliament and as temporary chairman of Parliament’s prestigious Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. But if he is convicted of offenses that include a finding of moral turpitude or receives a prison sentence of three months or more, he is likely to be forced to quit political life for several years.

Critics of the former foreign minister are asking how employees of the Foreign Ministry who may be called as witnesses by the prosecution can be expected to testify against Mr. Lieberman given the possibility that he may return to the ministry as their boss.

Israelis have almost gotten used to the spectacle of seeing senior public figures on the witness stand. A former prime minister, Ehud Olmert, was acquitted last year of corruption charges in two major matters but was convicted of breach of trust in a third episode. He remains embroiled in another corruption case having to do with the construction of a huge residential complex while he was the mayor of Jerusalem. Moshe Katsav, a former president, is serving a seven-year prison term after being convicted of rape.

A highlight of the Lieberman trial is likely to be the testimony of the prosecution’s central witness — Danny Ayalon, who served as deputy foreign minister under Mr. Lieberman. Mr. Lieberman then dumped Mr. Ayalon from the party’s ticket shortly before the elections, for reasons that were not publicly specified.

Mr. Lieberman’s case is expected to rest partly on the argument that he did not intervene to promote the diplomat to the post of ambassador to Latvia but that the diplomat was the best candidate for the job.

According to the prosecution, Mr. Lieberman instructed Mr. Ayalon, who led the Foreign Ministry’s Appointments Committee, to advance the appointment of the diplomat to the post in Latvia and Mr. Ayalon did as he was asked.

Since his unexpected exclusion from the new Parliament Mr. Ayalon has become critical of Mr. Lieberman and his policies as foreign minister. On Saturday, Mr. Ayalon said in speech at a regional forum that Mr. Lieberman had tried to push through inappropriate diplomatic appointments that Mr. Ayalon said he had resisted, according to the newspaper Haaretz. He also said that Mr. Lieberman had failed to win the trust of foreign governments and should not serve another term as foreign minister.

“Anyone who wants to hear the testimony of outgoing Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon against Lieberman is going to have to order tickets,” Shalom Yerushalmi, a commentator, wrote Sunday in the newspaper Maariv. He added, “Ayalon is brimming with revenge.”

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Kennedy on Auction

Fifty years after JFK's death, a cache of rare mementos from his closest aide goes on sale Feb. 17 at John McInnis Auctioneers

Credit: David F. Powers Estate/John Mcinnis Auctioneers

Updated: Saturday Feb 16, 2013 | 06:00 AM EST

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