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Wednesday, April 17, 2013
SoftBank fight for Sprint seen trumping easy gains
By Mari Saito, Tim Kelly and Sinead Carew
TOKYO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Masayoshi Son, billionaire founder of Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank Corp, is expected to stay in the battle for U.S. wireless service provider Sprint Nextel Corp, even though he could profit handsomely by walking away.
While the intentions of Charlie Ergen, the chairman of Dish Network Corp, should be clear - after a bold $25.5 billion counterbid for Sprint - not everyone is convinced the deal will go through.
Son, a rare risk taker in Japan's conservative corporate culture, is likely to put his ambitions to create a global company ahead of quick financial gains, analysts in Asia said on Tuesday. Sprint would give SoftBank a U.S. toehold.
But Ergen's dealmaking history and poker-player past, have led some in the United States to question the intentions of the executive, who in January countered Sprint's bid for control of another U.S. wireless service provider, Clearwire Corp with a higher offer. He said on Monday he would honor Sprint's bid and had not formally withdrawn his bid.
"(Ergen) plays a multi-hand approach to the world," said Chris Gleason, a managing partner at Taran Asset Management, which owns shares in Clearwire and options to buy Dish shares, adding, "it's not 100 percent clear yet what he wants."
Gleason, who still holds out hope for a Clearwire deal with Dish, said Ergen could be making "a play to rattle the Sprint-SoftBank deal."
Macquarie analyst Amy Yong said that while Dish appears to be serious about its offer for Sprint, his pursuit of the No. 3 U.S. carrier could help present Ergen with other options if SoftBank ends up winning the battle.
"It gives him a seat at the table to discuss to discuss his pay-TV business, his spectrum and financial flexibility with a number of companies," Yong said of Ergen.
The Dish offer, Yong said, could lead to talks between Dish and companies ranging from satellite TV rival DirecTV to wireless providers AT&T Inc and a combined T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS, which plan to merge with each other.
One communications industry banker said that while Ergen's offer seems solid, he could change his mind.
"He's always playing options. He changes his mind a lot," said the banker, who is not involved in the Dish deal, but has worked on past deals where Ergen was involved, and asked not to be named due to a lack of authorization to speak to the media.
Another source, this one from the industry who does business with Sprint questioned if Dish would have the expertise to run a mobile network.
"Just because they have the money does not mean that they know how to manage a large carrier, especially when Sprint has a major network upgrade going on," said the person, who asked not to be named.
Dish has made no announcement about the management of the new company, because it is in the early stages of trying to get the deal together, Dish spokesman Bob Toevs said. But Toevs dismissed any suggestion Dish's intentions were other than those publicly stated.
"I don't think you could characterize our proposal as anything but serious given the vision we've outlined and the resources we've marshaled to make that vision a reality," he said.
The Dish bid follows SoftBank's October proposal to buy 70 percent of Sprint for $20.1 billion and is roughly a 13 percent premium to the Softbank bid according to Dish [ID:nL3N0D25WT]
Dish outlined plans to combine its TV service with Sprint's wireless network in an attack on rivals including Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
SoftBank said its proposal would offer Sprint shareholders "superior short and long term benefits to Dish's highly conditional preliminary proposal." Sprint said it had no update on the situation on Tuesday.
But even if Dish does not succeed Yong said of Dish's rivals in telecommunications and pay-TV: "As a defensive move you have to start talking to Dish."
SoftBank appears to have deeper pockets than Dish, the No. 2 U.S. satellite TV provider, but if it engages in a bidding war Guggenheim analyst Shing Yin said it would be hard to estimate "exactly where Dish's limit is."
Dish could end up accepting a network-sharing deal with Sprint if it can buy some spectrum from Clearwire in exchange for backing off from SoftBank's deal, Yin said.
SON WON'T WALK AWAY
SoftBank said it was already in the advanced stages of receiving the necessary approvals for its Sprint deal, and expected to wrap up the deal by July 1.
"The issue for Son is that he wants to build a global company, he promised to do that. This is probably the one shot he has of doing that, and I don't think he's going to walk away," said Neil Juggins, Hong Kong-based regional telecoms analyst at JI Asia, an affiliate of Societe Generale.
A Tokyo-based analyst who declined to be named said: "Son isn't going to give up that easily. I expect him to come back with a higher offer," he said.
That should prove straightforward, said a Tokyo-based banking source: "Son won't be short of money, thanks to all the banks. The crucial point is not about how much he can afford, it's about how much return he wants to get."
"If Son did not think of a rival offer like this he was careless, but I don't think he's careless. He is a thoughtful, careful businessman ... and all the lender banks are willing to lend to him," the source said.
SoftBank will go ahead with a dual tranche bond issue in dollars and euros that is worth $2 billion, a company spokesperson told IFR, a Thomson Reuters company. That bond issue is to help fund its Sprint deal.
Even if SoftBank does walk, the Japanese company would stand to make a roughly $3.5 billion profit.
SoftBank said last year that it had hedged its acquisition with a forward exchange rate of 82.2 yen to the U.S. dollar, saving some 200 billion yen ($2.04 billion) in the process. The yen has since weakened 24 percent against the dollar.
SoftBank also stands to make about $1 billion from a $3.1 billion convertible bond it bought from Sprint last year at $5.25 per share and can convert to shares if it abandons the deal. Sprint shares rose 1 percent to $7.16 Tuesday after rising more than 13 percent on Monday to a near 4-1/2-year high.
On top of all that, SoftBank would also be paid a $600 million break-up fee if Dish captures Sprint.
"Short term, yes, there are benefits that they would gain if they walked away, but I think SoftBank shareholders would mark them down quite heavily," said Juggins of JI Asia.
(Additional reporting by Emi Emoto; Editing by Ian Geoghegan, Jeffrey Benkoe and Leslie Gevirtz)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/softbank-could-gain-3-5-billion-walking-away-035729781--sector.html
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Kim Kardashian Among MTV Movie Awards Best Dressed!
Selena Gomez, Kerry Washington and Amanda Seyfried also follow the red carpet's long-sleeve trend.
By Mary H.K. Choi
Kim Kardashian at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards
Photo: Getty Images
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705675/kim-kardashian-best-dressed-movie-awards-2013.jhtml
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Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Gene sequencing project finds new mutations to blame for a majority of brain tumor subtype
Gene sequencing project finds new mutations to blame for a majority of brain tumor subtype
Monday, April 15, 2013The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital ? Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has identified mutations responsible for more than half of a subtype of childhood brain tumor that takes a high toll on patients. Researchers also found evidence the tumors are susceptible to drugs already in development.
The study focused on a family of brain tumors known as low-grade gliomas (LGGs). These slow-growing cancers are found in about 700 children annually in the U.S., making them the most common childhood tumors of the brain and spinal cord. For patients whose tumors cannot be surgically removed, the long-term outlook remains bleak due to complications from the disease and its ongoing treatment. Nationwide, surgery alone cures only about one-third of patients.
Using whole genome sequencing, researchers identified genetic alterations in two genes that occurred almost exclusively in a subtype of LGG termed diffuse LGG. This subtype cannot be cured surgically because the tumor cells invade the healthy brain. Together, the mutations accounted for 53 percent of the diffuse LGG in this study. Researchers also demonstrated that one of the mutations, which had not previously been linked to brain tumors, caused tumors when introduced into the glial brain cells of mice.
The findings appear in the April 14 advance online edition of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
"This subtype of low-grade glioma can be a nasty chronic disease, yet prior to this study we knew almost nothing about its genetic alterations," said David Ellison, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the St. Jude Department of Pathology and the study's corresponding author. The first author is Jinghui Zhang, Ph.D., an associate member of the St. Jude Department of Computational Biology.
The Pediatric Cancer Genome Project is using next-generation whole genome sequencing to determine the complete normal and cancer genomes of children and adolescents with some of the least understood and most difficult to treat cancers. Scientists believe that studying differences in the 3 billion chemical bases that make up the human genome will provide the scientific foundation for the next generation of cancer care.
"We were surprised to find that many of these tumors could be traced to a single genetic alteration," said co-author Richard K. Wilson, Ph.D., director of The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "This is a major pathway through which low-grade gliomas develop and it provides new clues to explore as we search for better treatments."
The study involved whole genome sequencing of 39 paired tumor and normal tissue samples from 38 children and adolescents with different subtypes of LGG and related tumors called low-grade glioneuronal tumors (LGGNTs). Although many cancers develop following multiple genetic abnormalities, 62 percent of the 39 tumors in this study stemmed from a single genetic alteration.
Previous studies have linked LGGs to abnormal activation of the MAPK/ERK pathway. The pathway is involved in regulating cell division and other processes that are often disrupted in cancer. Until now, however, the genetic alterations involved in driving this pathway were unknown for some types of LGG and LGGNT.
This study linked activation in the pathway to duplication of a key segment of the FGFR1 gene, which investigators discovered in brain tumors for the first time. The segment is called a tyrosine kinase domain. It functions like an on-off switch for several cell signaling pathways, including the MAPK/ERK pathway. Investigators also demonstrated that experimental drugs designed to block activity along two altered pathways worked in cells with the FGFR1 tyrosine kinase domain duplication. "The finding suggests a potential opportunity for using targeted therapies in patients whose tumors cannot be surgically removed," Ellison said.
Researchers also showed that the FGFR1 abnormality triggered an aggressive brain tumor in glial cells from mice that lacked the tumor suppressor gene Trp53.
Whole-genome sequencing found previously undiscovered rearrangements in the MYB and MYBL1 genes in diffuse LGGs. These newly identified abnormalities were also implicated in switching on the MAPK/ERK pathway.
Researchers checked an additional 100 LGGs and LGGNTs for the same FGFR1, MYB and MYBL1 mutations. Overall, MYB was altered in 25 percent of the diffuse LGGs, and 24 percent had alterations in FGFR1. Researchers also turned up numerous other mutations that occurred in just a few tumors. The affected genes included BRAF, RAF1, H3F3A, ATRX, EP300, WHSC1 and CHD2.
"The Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has provided a remarkable opportunity to look at the genomic landscape of this disease and really put the alterations responsible on the map. We can now account for the genetic errors responsible for more than 90 percent of low-grade gliomas," Ellison said. "The discovery that FGFR1 and MYB play a central role in childhood diffuse LGG also serves to distinguish the pediatric and adult forms of the disease."
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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital: http://www.stjude.org
Thanks to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for this article.
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Kerry hopes next Palestinian PM can work with US
TOKYO (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday he hoped the Palestinians pick a new prime minister who can work with the United States and "establish confidence" so that Mideast peace can advance.
Speaking to journalists in Tokyo, Kerry praised Salaam Fayyad, who until resigning Saturday as prime minister was seen as one of the Palestinians' most moderate and respected figures. Kerry called Fayyad a "good friend" who made a big difference for Palestinians.
Fayyad's resignation comes as Kerry is working to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. An important part of his strategy is developing the Palestinian economy and state institutions so the Palestinians can be a viable partner in any peace deal with Israel.
The United States had expected Fayyad to play a significant role in that effort.
But the 61-year-old political independent and Western-trained economist had clashed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the extent of the prime minister's power.
"We're totally committed to moving forward with the economic thing no matter what," Kerry said, citing U.S. business partners including Coca-Cola. "The West Bank is there, Palestinian aspirations are there, the government is there. And in order to be a viable government, there's got to be more than one person that you can do business with."
"So we will continue to work at this and hope that President Abbas finds the right person to work with him in a transition, and work with us, to establish confidence," he added. "Everybody is going to want somebody who provides confidence."
Kerry said he preferred that Fayyad stay on the job, but that he understood Fayyad's decision.
"He's been sick, he's tired, he's been at this seven years. He has kids in school. He's anxious to carve his own path here and I respect that," Kerry said.
"But he's going to be there for a while. I had a long conversation with him. He's resigned and he accepted his resignation. But there's going to be a caretaker process for some period of time and he's not going to go away from Palestinian politics completely ? if at all."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-hopes-next-palestinian-pm-us-122925998--politics.html
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Monday, April 15, 2013
Margaret Paul, Ph.D.: I'm So in Love -- Or Am I? 10 Experiences That ...
"How do I know when I'm really in love?"
"What does it mean to be in love?"
"I think I'm in love, but then I have doubts. If I have doubts, does that mean I'm not in love?"
"I feel in love, but why is this sometimes so hard?"
"I feel in love, but I've felt this way before and it didn't work out. How do I know?
Such a big question! And we all wish there was an easy answer -- a formula we could follow to determine if we are in love.
I don't exactly have a formula for you, but I do have a list of things to watch for that may be of help to you.
Before I get into what determines whether or not you are in love, let's differentiate between being in love and being infatuated.
Infatuation
Being infatuated comes from a completely different place within than being in love. Being infatuated comes from the same place as other addictions -- from the ego-wounded self. The ego-wounded self is needy and empty within, and wants to get filled externally by another through sex, attention and approval. When infatuated, you experience the kind of euphoria that you might experience with a recreational drug. There is an intensity of sexual lust and a sense of urgency to be with the other person. Unless love enters the experience, it is short-lived.
You are in your wounded self, feeling needy and empty, when you are rejecting and abandoning yourself -- looking for another to care for you. Your self-rejection/self-abandonment is what creates the inner neediness and emptiness that leads to the urgency -- and sometimes desperation -- of infatuation.
In Love
1. You are operating as a loving adult, not as your ego-wounded self.
Being in love comes from a full, secure, inwardly-connected place within -- a loving, adult place. In order to feel full, secure and inwardly connected, you need to be taking responsibility for your own feelings rather than rejecting and abandoning yourself. You cannot truly love another when you don't accept and love yourself. Not loving yourself leads to neediness rather than security, which then leads to infatuation, not love. If your sense of security is dependent on the other person, then you are in need rather than in love.
2. You see, value and deeply connect with the essence of the other person.
Being in love is about deeply valuing and connecting with who the other person really is -- not just how they look or what they do for you. In order to see, value and connect with the true essence of another, you need to be able to see, value and connect with your own true essence. In order for you to do this, you will have had to do your own inner work to learn to love and value your own true self.
3. Your physical attraction to them is more than skin deep.
Sexual chemistry is a mysterious thing. While it may start based on how a person looks or from your feelings of lust for the person, over time it evolves into a deeper valuing of who the person is and a desire to share your love with them in a loving and passionate physical way. You love to be next to them. Their energy feels great to you, as does their touch. Making love with your beloved is not just a satisfying physical experience. It is also a deeply satisfying emotional and spiritual experience.
4. You receive deep joy in giving to your beloved.
You have allowed your beloved to matter to you, so your beloved's happiness is important to you. Rather than feeling put upon when your partner needs something from you, you receive joy in being able to give to and support your partner in many ways. You receive joy from their joy and pain from their pain, while not making them responsible for your pain and joy. You are empathic and compassionate with them without losing your sense of self. You deeply desire to support both your own highest good and your partner's highest good. You want the very best for both of you.
5. Along with the physical spark, connection and flow, there is an emotional spark, connection and flow.
You love spending time with your beloved, just being together, talking and sharing yourselves with each other. Conversation flows easily between you, and you are also very comfortable being silent with each other. There is a warm flow of energy between you even when you are doing different things in the same room. You can feel connected with each other even from a distance.
6. You are committed to working through conflict in loving ways.
Rather than seeing conflict as a deal-breaker or as something to be avoided, you see conflict as an opportunity to learn and grow together. Rather than fearing losing yourself in a conflict -- or feeling that you have to be right and win -- you feel open and curious to learning about your beloved's way of seeing things. You feel a deep commitment to working through the hard times. You have no desire to give up on the relationship.
7. You laugh and have fun with each other.
You and your beloved enjoy playing together. Laughter flows easily between you. At times, you find each other fun and funny. You appreciate your beloved's sense of humor and you feel on the same page regarding what tickles you.
8. You feel safe to share your deepest self with your beloved.
You are not walking on eggshells, trying to avoid your partner's judgment. You know you can mess up without losing your partner's love and caring. You feel safe to share your fears and hurts with your partner -- even when they are about your partner -- and you are empathically and compassionately available to be there for your partner's fears and hurts, even when they are about you. You feel accepting of your beloved's challenges. Opening to each other on ever-deeper levels creates a deep level of physical and emotional intimacy.
9. You don't expect to be on cloud nine all the time.
You know you love your partner, even when you don't feel "in love." In fact, you don't expect to feel in love all the time. You know that in loving relationships, you move close and then move away, and then move close and then away, like the tide. You accept that this is the natural rhythm of a loving relationship and don't doubt your love during the more distant times.
10. You don't keep thinking that there is someone better out there.
Because you feel a deep soul connection with your partner, you have no desire to wander. You know that while there may be many wonderful people out there, this is the person you want to be with. This is the person you want to journey with toward learning to love yourself and love him or her on ever-deeper levels.
Some of you may have other ideas of what lets you know you are in love. I'd love to hear them.
Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is a relationship expert, best-selling author, and co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding? self-healing process, recommended by actress Lindsay Wagner and singer Alanis Morissette, and featured on Oprah. To begin learning how to love and connect with yourself so that you can connect with others, take advantage of our free Inner Bonding eCourse, receive Free Help, and take our 12-Week eCourse, "The Intimate Relationship Toolbox" - the first two weeks are free! Discover SelfQuest?, a transformational self-healing/conflict resolution computer program. Phone or Skype sessions with Dr. Margaret Paul.
Connect with Margaret on Facebook: Inner Bonding, and Facebook: SelfQuest.
For more by Margaret Paul, Ph.D., click here.
For more on love, click here.
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/margaret-paul-phd/love-advice_b_3057453.html
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Syrian government airstrikes kill at least 25
FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 file photo, a Syrian woman stands amid the ruins of her house which was destroyed in an airstrike by government warplanes a few days earlier, killing 11 members of her family, in the neighborhood of Ansari, Aleppo, Syria. President Bashar Assad has exploited his greatest advantage on the battlefield _ his air power _ to push back rebel advances and prevent the opposition from setting up a rival government in its northern stronghold. Along the way, fighter jets and helicopters bombed bakeries, makeshift hospitals and residential areas, according to a new report by a U.S.-based rights group released Thursday, April 11, 2013 accusing the regime of committing war crimes with indiscriminate airstrikes that have killed more than 4000 since summer. (AP Photo/Abdullah al-Yassin, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 file photo, a Syrian woman stands amid the ruins of her house which was destroyed in an airstrike by government warplanes a few days earlier, killing 11 members of her family, in the neighborhood of Ansari, Aleppo, Syria. President Bashar Assad has exploited his greatest advantage on the battlefield _ his air power _ to push back rebel advances and prevent the opposition from setting up a rival government in its northern stronghold. Along the way, fighter jets and helicopters bombed bakeries, makeshift hospitals and residential areas, according to a new report by a U.S.-based rights group released Thursday, April 11, 2013 accusing the regime of committing war crimes with indiscriminate airstrikes that have killed more than 4000 since summer. (AP Photo/Abdullah al-Yassin, File)
This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows destroyed homes in a government airstrike and shelling, in the neighborhood of Marjeh in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Thursday, April. 11, 2013. A U.S.-based rights group on Thursday accused Syria of war crimes by indiscriminate and sometimes deliberate airstrikes against civilians, killing at least 4,300 people since last summer. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)
This citizen journalism image taken on Sunday, April 7, 2013 provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian citizens searching for bodies in the rubble of damaged buildings that were attacked by Syrian forces airstrikes, in the al-Ansari neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria. More than 70,000 people have died since Syria's crisis erupted in March 2011. The Syria-based Violations Documentation Center says nearly 9,000 government troops have been killed in two years of fighting between President Bashar Assad's forces and rebels trying to topple him. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012 file photo, an elderly Syrian man smokes a cigarette as he stands next to a residential building destroyed in a government airstrike, in Maaret Misreen, near Idlib, Syria. A U.S.-based rights group on Thursday accused Syria of war crimes by indiscriminate and sometimes deliberate airstrikes against civilians, killing at least 4,300 people since last summer. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian government warplanes carried out airstrikes on a rebellious neighborhood of the capital as well as a village in the country's northeast Sunday, killing at least 25 people, including 12 children, activists said.
With its ground forces stretched thin, President Bashar Assad's regime has relied heavily on its fighter jets and helicopters to try to stem rebel advances in the country's civil war. The air raids also frequently hit civilian areas, drawing criticism from the international community.
A Human Rights Watch report last week accused the Syrian government of committing war crimes by using indiscriminate and sometimes deliberate airstrikes against civilians, killing at least 4,300 people since the summer.
On Sunday, government jets bombed rebel-held areas in the predominantly Kurdish village of Hadad in the northeastern province of Hassaka, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said at least 16 people were killed, including two women and three children.
A Hassaka-based activist who was in Hadad when the planes struck said the bombs sent huge plumes of black smoke billowing over the town. He spoke on condition that he be identified only by his nickname of Abu Qasem ? by which he is widely known among his comrades ? out of fear of reprisals.
Another airstrike on the Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun killed at least nine children, the Observatory said.
The government frequently targets Qaboun, where rebels pushed in early this year. The district has been ravaged by heavy street clashes and shelling since then as the military tries to expel the anti-Assad fighters.
The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, also reported that four civilians died after being tortured in a jail in the town of Zakyeh. It did not provide any further details.
In the southern city of Daraa, the Syrian army shot and killed a man, the Observatory said.
Rebels have made significant gains in the surrounding province of Daraa in recent weeks, capturing military bases and territory that could provide anti-Assad fighters with a staging ground for an eventual assault on Damascus.
The push in the south has coincided with what Western and Arab official say are U.S.-backed training of opposition fighters in Jordan and an influx of foreign-funded weapons into the south. The rebel advances have given the opposition momentum and put the government on the defensive in the two-year civil war that the U.N. estimates has killed more than 70,000 people.
The fighting has spilled over on several occasions into neighboring states, including Lebanon, Turkey and Israel, stoking fears that those countries could be dragged into the conflict.
On Sunday, two rockets fired from Syria exploded in the Lebanese border village of al-Qasr, killing one person and wounding two, a Lebanese security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.
Two more rockets landed a nearby village of Hawsh, but there were no reports of casualties.
There has been heavy fighting near the frontier in recent days as Syrian government troops try to regain control of the strategic area from rebels.
Also Sunday, the main Western-backed opposition bloc expressed concern about the Islamic extremist rebel faction Jabhat al-Nusra's pledge of allegiance to al-Qaida last week.
In a statement, the Syrian National Coalition urged Jabhat al-Nusra, one of the most powerful and effective rebel groups, "to stay within the ranks of nationalistic Syrians, to continue its efforts in fighting the Assad regime, and in supporting and protecting the freedom of all Syrian sects."
Jabhat al-Nusra's pledge of fealty sparked concern that the allegiance to al-Qaida means the group will be beholden to non-Syrian interests.
But the broader rebellion desperately needs the extremist group's fighting skills in its battle to oust Assad. Jabhat al-Nusra itself has sought to ease concerns by saying it remains dedicated to the Syrian uprising's cause of toppling the Assad regime.
In the northern province of Aleppo, three journalists working for state TV were wounded in a car bombing Sunday, the SANA state news agency said. Correspondent Shadi Helweh and two cameramen, Yehia Mosseli and Ahmed Suleiman, were hospitalized with shrapnel wounds, the agency said.
The journalists were reporting on Syrian soldiers who were trying to stop two suicide attackers attempting to detonate a car bomb near a security headquarters in the province. SANA said the two attackers were killed, and the journalists and several other civilians were wounded.
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AP writers Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
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