Iraq's Political Crisis May Have Broader Mideast Reach

In the wake of the U.S. military pullout from Iraq, a political crisis threatens to ignite a fresh sectarian conflict. Regional tension between Shi'ite powerhouse Iran and Sunni archrival Saudi Arabia also threatens to worsen the sectarian divide in the Middle East.

In a region hit by multiple crises and growing instability, the latest Iraqi political divide comes as Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has attempted to arrest his Sunni vice president and dismiss a Sunni deputy prime minister.

That has led to an outpouring of warnings from Iraq's rival Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders.  Iyad Allawi, the leader of the main, Sunni-backed Iraqiya party demanded that Mr. Maliki be replaced:

"Democracy is now falling apart in the country, and as the political process is facing a lot of hurdles, as we can see, then we need to have somebody who would interact with others, who would manage the country until the next elections, and we want to suggest to the national alliance to find an alternative for Mr. Maliki," Allawi said.

New Year fitness plan 2012

At school, I was made to do cross-country running. For years I was haunted by the panting breathlessness and retching of those frosty mornings. It was an exercise in futile ghastliness that I would do almost anything to avoid.

So what, in the name of all that is holy, am I now doing running marathons? In my youth only mad people ran. Scary guys with glints in their eyes, sweaty vests and worn-out plimsolls. Well, not any more.

Now people routinely take up running to look good and lose weight. And it’s a good way to clear the mind. I started running for all those reasons but, mostly, I started running because I do not want to die.

I have seen too many people, men mostly, keeling over in their fifties, forties or even thirties of heart problems and I was keen not to join their ranks. Apart from smoking (which I managed to quit some years ago), being fat and unfit is the most dangerous lifestyle choice you can make. And in terms of increasing cardiovascular fitness and burning calories in the minimum time, nothing beats running.

Two Abortion Doctors Charged With Murder, Authorities Say

Authorities say two out-of-state doctors who traveled to Maryland to perform late-term abortions have been arrested and charged with multiple counts of murder, an unusual use of a law that allows for murder charges in the death of a viable fetus.

Dr. Steven Brigham, of Voorhees, N.J., was taken into custody Wednesday night and is being held in the Camden County jail, according to police in Elkton, Md. Authorities also arrested Dr. Nicola Riley in Salt Lake City and she is in jail in Utah. Each is awaiting an extradition hearing.

A grand jury indicted the two doctors after a 16-month investigation, police said.

The investigation began in August 2010 after what authorities say was a botched procedure at Brigham's clinic in Elkton, located near the border of Maryland and Delaware.

An 18-year-old woman who was 21 weeks pregnant suffered a ruptured uterus and an injured bowel, according to documents filed in a previous investigation by medical regulators. Rather than call 911, Riley drove her to a nearby hospital, where both she and Brigham were uncooperative and Brigham refused to give his name, documents show.

Egypt Agrees to Stop Raids on Democracy Groups

The U.S. State Department said Egypt has agreed to halt raids against non-governmental pro-democracy groups and return property seized in the crackdown.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson spoke Friday with senior Egyptian officials to underscore Washington's concern about the raids on the organizations, including three groups funded by Washington. 

Egyptian security forces stormed 17 offices of human rights groups Thursday as part of an investigation military rulers say will reveal how foreign funding has fomented the country's ongoing unrest.

But a group of Egyptian human rights organizations has accused the country's ruling military council of attempting to "take revenge" against pro-democracy groups by raiding their offices.

A statement signed by 28 Egyptian civil society groups said the raids were part of a wider campaign to discredit activists who criticize the country's interim military rulers.

The group called the raids "unprecedented," saying that not even under former president Hosni Mubarak's repressive government did such raids occur.

Two iPad 3s next month? Not likely

Asian news service Digitimes, a source of plenty of rumours about Apple these days, had claimed that two new iPads were scheduled for launch at the Macworld Expo conference in San Francisco on January 23.

The news service said the two iPad 3 models would have 9.7-inch screens, like the iPad and iPad 2, but would have high resolution, 1536 x 2048 pixel display. Digitimes said the only difference between the two models would be that the high-end version would have an 8-megapixel camera, while the second model would have a 5-MP camera.

However, Jim Dalrymple, writing for The Loop, dismissed the report. "I checked with a number of my sources today and an iPad 3 is not planned for release at Macworld," he wrote.