World's oldest person dies at age 115






WASHINGTON: The world's oldest person -- an Iowa woman who scrubbed floors until she turned 90 -- died Monday at age 115, less than two weeks after earning her venerable distinction.

Dina Manfredini, a native of Italy, died at the Bishop Drumm Retirement Center outside Des Moines, Iowa, said its director, Heather Rehmer. She declined to give details.

Manfredini was mainly a mother and homemaker but later in life took up working cleaning people's houses and kept at it until age 90, says the website of the Guinness Book of World Records. The widow lived independently up to the age of 110.

The Guinness people had declared her pinnacle status only on December 5 of this year, a day after the death of an American lady named Besse Cooper, aged 116, in a nursing home nearly Atlanta, Georgia.

Manfredini's family attributed her longevity to hard work and doing everything in moderation, the website said.

The passing of Manfredini apparently leaves a Japanese man, Jiroemon Kimura, as the world's oldest person. He was born just 15 days after Manfredini.

Her birthday was April 4, 1897.

- AFP/fa



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Only Yadavs benefiting in UP: Mayawati

NEW DELHI: Mayawati on Monday raised the pitch on quota battle by saying that only Yadav community was benefiting under the SP government in Uttar Pradesh.

The BSP supremo claimed credit for the passage of 'promotion quota' bill in Rajya Sabha but not without slamming the Samajwadi Party's claim that only one sub-caste of SCs was the beneficiary of reservations. The statement by SP leader in Rajya Sabha Ramgopal Yadav was seen to allude to the Jatav community to which Mayawati belongs.

Mayawati, stepping out of the Rajya Sabha after the vote on the contentious Constitution amendment bill, told reporters, "They should introspect as only Yadavs are benefitting though there are many communities in the backward list."

The personalized attack between SP and BSP, both identified as much with communities that their leaders belong to as with the umbrella groupings of OBCs and SCs, is aimed at denting the other's support base.

If the battle between the arch rivals develops on these lines in UP, Mayawati may think SP is vulnerable on the issue of being the representative of OBCs as a whole.

BSP has the support of 'backward among backwards' called MBCs and it may be looking to consolidate them by playing up the "Yadav domination" under SP.

Mayawati's assault reflects an assurance that rivals cannot wean away non-Jatav dalits from the umbrella entity of SCs by claiming that quotas were being cornered by one sub-group.

Mayawati claimed credit for the victory of 'promotion quota' in the upper House and hoped the bill would be passed in Lok Sabha too.

She said, "If we had not fought hard for it, then perhaps we could not have achieved what we got today. We are feeling good today and our supporters also must be feeling so. I want to thank both the government and the opposition on behalf of my party."

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence


NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.


Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.


"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.


Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.


A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.


High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.


Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.


"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.


"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.


Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.


Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.


"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.


She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.


"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."


After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.


__


AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.


___


Online:


Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5


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Two Adult Shooting Survivors Will Be Key Witnesses













Two adult survivors who were shot and injured in the Newtown, Conn., school massacre will be integral parts of the investigation into the deadly rampage, police said today.


"Investigators will, in fact, speak with them when it's medically appropriate and they will shed a great deal of light on the facts and circumstances of this tragic investigation," Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance said at a news conference today.


Both survivors are women and are now home from the hospital after being shot, police said. Authorities had previously mentioned one adult survivor. The women have not been identified and police did not give details on their injuries.


READ MORE: School nurse hid from gunman.


Both adults, Vance said, were wounded in the "lower extremities," but did not indicate where in the building they were when they were injured.


Moving trucks were seen outside Sandy Hook Elementary School this morning, as school officials prepare to move furniture and supplies to a vacant school in neighboring Monroe.


Sandy Hook itself will remain a secure crime scene "indefinitely," said Vance.


CLICK HERE for complete coverage of the tragedy at Sandy Hook.


Police say Adam Lanza, 20, forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday, spraying bullets on students and faculty. Lanza killed 20 children and six adults before turning the gun on himself.


Lanza also killed his mother Nancy Lanza at the home they shared before going to school.


"There are many, many witnesses that need to be interviewed," Vance said. "We will not stop until we have interviewed every last one of them."








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Vance said the investigation could take weeks or months to complete. "It's not something done in 60 minutes like you see on T.V."


Some of the other key witnesses will be children who survived the shooting spree by playing dead, hiding in closets and bathrooms and being rescued by dedicated teachers.


"Any interviews with any children will be done with professionals...as appropriate," Vance said. "We'll handle that extremely delicately when the time arises."


CLICK HERE for a tribute to the shooting victims.


The first funerals for victims of the shooting are today, beginning with 6-year-olds Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto.


Officials said today that the Sandy Hook Elementary School, where the shooting took place, will be closed "indefinitely."


Both the school and the home where shootings took place are being held by police as crime scenes and Vance predicted authorities would spend "months" investigating the elementary school.


All Newtown schools are closed today to give residents more time to cope. Every school except for Sandy Hook is expected to re-open Tuesday.


The town of Monroe has offered to open to Sandy Hook students the Chalk Hill School, a former middle school that currently houses the town's EMS and recreational departments.


Officials in Monroe, less than 10 miles from Newtown, say the building could be ready for students by the end of the week, but have not yet set a date to resume classes.


Nearly 100 volunteers are working to ensure the building complies with fire and security regulations and are working to retorfit the school with bathroom facilities for young children.


"We're working to make the school safe and secure for students," said Monroe Police Department spokesman Lt. Brian H. McCauley.


The neighboring community's school is expected to be ready to accommodate students in the next few days, though an exact schedule has not yet been published.


While the families grieve, federal and state authorities are working around the clock to answer the question on so many minds: "Why?"


ABC News has learned that investigators have seized computers belonging to Adam Lanza from the home he shared with his mother. Three weapons were found at the school scene and a fourth was recovered from Lanza's car. Lanza had hundreds of rounds and used multiple high-capacity magazines when he went on the rampage, according to Connecticut State Police.


Vance said that every single electronic device, weapon and round will be thoroughly examined and investigated as well as every aspect of Lanza's life going "back to the date of birth."


ABC News has learned that both the shooter and his mother spent time at an area gun range; however it was not yet known whether they had shot there.






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Japan's next PM Abe must deliver on economy, cope with China


TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's hawkish ex-premier Shinzo Abe will get a second chance to run the country after his conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) surged to power in Sunday's election, but must swiftly move to bolster the sagging economy while managing strained ties with China.


Abe, whose party won by a landslide just three years after a crushing defeat, was expected on Monday to meet Natsuo Yamaguchi, the leader of the small New Komeito party, to cement their alliance and confirm economic steps to boost an economy now in its fourth recession since 2000.


The victory by the LDP, which had ruled Japan for most of the past 50 years before it was ousted in 2009, will usher in a government pledged to a tough stance in a territorial row with China, a pro-nuclear energy policy despite the 2011 Fukushima disaster and a potentially risky recipe for hyper-easy monetary policy and big fiscal spending to boost growth.


Projections by TV broadcasters showed that the LDP had won at least 291 seats in the 480-member lower house, while the New Komeito party took at least 29 seats.


That gives the two parties the two-thirds majority needed to overrule parliament's upper house in most matters, where they lack a majority and which can block bills. The "super majority" could help to break a policy deadlock that has plagued the world's third biggest economy since 2007.


Markets have already pushed the yen lower and share prices higher in anticipation of an LDP victory and Abe's economic stimulus. The two-thirds "super majority" could boost share prices and weaken the yen further.


Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was crushed, forecast to win just about 56 seats - less than a fifth of its showing in 2009, when it swept to power promising to pay more heed to consumers than companies and pry control of policies from bureaucrats.


But voters deemed the pledges honored mostly in the breach and the party was hit by defections before the vote due to Noda's unpopular plan to raise the sales tax to curb public debt already more than twice the size of the economy.


"This was an overwhelming rejection of the DPJ," said Gerry Curtis, a professor at New York's Columbia University.


"Abe was smart to run the campaign saying 'It's the economy, stupid. His hawkish (security) views took second place to fiscal stimulus and getting a dovish Bank of Japan governor and getting the economy going. If he keeps that focus ... he has a chance of improving his standing."


Analyst Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington said the return of Abe and LDP was foremost a rejection of the DPJ, but "also reflects an embrace of conservative views" after recent years of strained relations with Japan's close neighbors.


"Chinese assertiveness and North Korean provocations nudged the public from its usual post-war complacency toward a new desire to stand up for Japanese sovereignty," he said.


The Japanese favor moving toward "a more normal nation status" and are not embracing resurgent militarism, added Klingner, a former CIA analyst.


Abe, expected to be voted in by parliament on December 26, will also have to prove he has learned from the mistakes of his first administration, plagued by scandals and charges of incompetence.


Voter distaste for both major parties has spawned a clutch of new parties including the Japan Restoration Party, founded by popular Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, which took at least 52 seats, according to media projections.


But media estimates showed turnout at around 59 percent, which could match the previous post-war low.


LDP leader Abe, 58, who quit as premier in 2007 citing ill health, has been talking tough in a row with China over uninhabited isles in the East China Sea, although some experts say he may temper his hard line with pragmatism once in office.


The soft-spoken grandson of a prime minister, who will become Japan's seventh premier in six years, Abe also wants to loosen the limits of a 1947 pacifist constitution on the military, so Japan can play a bigger global security role.


The LDP, which promoted atomic energy during its decades-long reign, is expected to be friendly to nuclear utilities, although deep public concerns remain over safety.


Abe has called for "unlimited" monetary easing and big spending on public works to rescue the economy. Such policies, a centerpiece of the LDP's platform for decades, have been criticized by many as wasteful pork-barrel politics.


Many economists say that prescription for "Abenomics" could create temporary growth and enable the government to go ahead with a planned initial sales tax rise in 2014 to help curb a public debt now twice the size of gross domestic product.


But it looks unlikely to cure deeper ills or bring sustainable growth to Japan's ageing society, and risks triggering a market backlash if investors decide Japan has lost control of its finances.


(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert in Washington; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Eric Walsh)



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Football: Dortmund reclaim third, Schalke sack Stevens






BERLIN: Defending champions Borussia Dortmund moved back up to third in the Bundesliga on Sunday with a 3-1 win at strugglers Hoffenheim while neighbours Schalke 04 sacked coach Huub Stevens.

Goals by Mario Goetze, Kevin Grosskreutz and Robert Lewandowski gave Dortmund the three points, but Borussia remain 12 points behind leaders Bayern Munich, who drew 1-1 with Moenchengladbach on Friday.

Germany star Goetze, 20, opened the scoring with a superb strike from the left side of the penalty area on 26 minutes, but a defensive lapse allowed Hoffenheim to equalise when striker Sven Schipplock tapped home nine minutes later.

The champions made sure of the points when Grosskreutz tapped home on 58 minutes after some fine play from Germany's Marco Reus before Lewandowski fired home from a tight angle on 66 minutes.

"That was a spirited performance, we managed to get our heads out of the crap," said coach Jurgen Klopp.

"You could see we were lulled into a false sense of security in the first half."

This was Hoffenheim's sixth straight defeat leaving them 16th in the league, seven points from safety having sacked coach Markus Babbel on December 3.

Earlier, Schalke announced they had parted company with Dutch coach Stevens after Saturday's 3-1 home defeat to Freiburg left the Royal Blues with two points from their last six league games.

Former VfB Stuttgart coach Jens Keller will take over for the rest of the season with his side seventh in the league having been second at the end of November.

Stevens became the third Bundesliga coach sacked his season along with Felix Magath from Wolfsburg and Babbel at Hoffenheim.

Schalke, Dortmund and Bayern will all discover their Champions League opponents on Thursday when the last 16 draw is made.

On Saturday, second-placed Leverkusen beat Hamburg 3-0 to trim Bayern's lead at the top to nine points with striker Stefan Kiessling and current Germany forward Andre Schuerrle both netting.

Kiessling opened the scoring on 26 minutes when his close-range shot gave the Hamburg defence no chance and the hosts doubled their lead 10 minutes later when Schuerrle netted as the ball went in off the post.

Kiessling claimed his 12th goal in 17 games this season to make him the Bundesliga's top scorer when he latched onto a clearance from Bayer goalkeeper Bernd Leno and drilled home his second on 66 minutes.

It strengthens his case for a recall to the Germany squad in 2013 having last played in the 2010 World Cup third-place play-off win over Uruguay.

Eintracht Frankfurt are fourth, and level on 30 points with Dortmund, after their 2-0 win over 10-man Wolfsburg.

Mainz moved up to sixth after coming from behind to beat VfB Stuttgart 3-1 with midfielder Nicolai Mueller scoring their second-half goals before Colombia midfielder Elkin Soto grabbed the third in the second minute of injury time.

Duesseldorf's Denmark midfielder Ken Ilso drilled home an 83rd minute free-kick to seal Fortuna's 2-1 win over Hanover 96.

Greuther Fuerth remain rooted to the bottom of the table after they drew 1-1 at Bavarian neighbours Augsburg in a high-tension affair as both sides finished with 10 men.

- AFP/fa



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Shaheen back on Facebook, wants to ‘move around without fear’

MUMBAI: Palghar girl Shaheen Dhada has reactivated the Facebook account she disabled last month following a row over her comment on the region-wide shutdown in the wake of Bal Thackeray's death. The doughty youngster announced her return on the site with a new photo—her face no longer draped in a dupatta—and the words "I am back..!!".

Keeping the promise to restore normalcy in her life, the 21-year-old has reactivated her cellphone number and is readying her two-wheeler to travel through the lanes and bylanes of Palghar. For nearly a month, even these simple freedoms had eluded her.

Shaheen uploaded the photograph on Facebook at around 8am on Saturday. The picture was marked by the absence of the dupatta that veiled her face frequently since her arrest on November 19. "I am back and dying to roam around Palghar's streets. Now I want to move around without any fear," she told TOI.

Her return to Facebook on Saturday elicited several comments.

Within minutes, three friends welcomed her back. One friend, Ankit Upadhyaya, commented, "Back with a bang...Gr8". To this, Shaheen replied: "Yaaah." To others' greetings, Shaheen responded with thank-yous. Within hours of the account's reactivation, six people sent her friend requests. All of them she accepted.

A self-confessed Facebook addict, Shaheen expressed delight at reconnecting with the world after a month. Though she loves commenting on city news, she told TOI that she will be more careful now about what she posts on her account. On Sunday, she did not use the account.

Shaheen and her friend Rinu Srinivasan were arrested on November 19 by police on the complaint of the local Shiv Sena unit after Shaheen lamented on Facebook the region-wide shutdown on the day of Thackeray's cremation and Rinu 'liked' the comment. Police hastily applied the stringent IPC section of 295 (a) against them for hurting religious sentiments, but later changed it to IPC section 505 (2).

The nationwide outrage over the arrests forced police and the state to backtrack. Transfer orders were given to two senior policemen and a Palghar court magistrate too was moved out. Not soon after, as the Supreme Court questioned the legality of the arrests, the state director general of police and the government decided to drop the charges against Shaheen and Rinu.

The continuing support for Shaheen is evidenced by the two-dozen Facebook profiles in her name, like 'Shaheen Dhada Official' and 'Support Shaheen Dhada'. Called to share their experiences with students and faculty, Shaheen and Rinu will travel to Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, on December 21-22.

But for now, Shaheen is waiting for the closure report in her case and for the police security outside her house to be lifted. "It feels like ages since I left home."

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence


NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.


Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.


"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.


Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.


A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.


High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.


Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.


"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.


"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.


Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.


Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.


"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.


She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.


"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."


After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.


__


AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.


___


Online:


Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5


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Threat Forces Evacuation of Conn. Church













Members of the shattered community of Newtown, Conn., struggling to come to grips with the loss of 20 children and six adults massacred by Adam Lanza, faced a new shock today when a threat was made against a church that many of the victims and their families attend.


The St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church was evacuated during a noon service as armed police officers swarmed around the area, after a church official became aware of a credible threat and alerted parishioners mid-service to exit the building.


About 1,000 people were gathered inside the church at the time observing one of four memorial services being held there.


Witnesses said police entered the church and told parishioners that a threat had been made against the church and the surrounding area and that everyone had to leave immediately.


More than a dozen state troopers armed with assault rifles entered the church's education center next to the church, but after a short time it was determined that threat was over.


Brian Wallace, director of communications for the Diocese of Bridgeport, said that after massacre on Friday, he felt evacuation was a vital precaution to take.


"I don't think any of us could be surprised about anything after what has happened," Wallace said.


Meanwhile, police are working to understand what set Lanza off on his rampage.


ABC News has learned that investigators have seized computers belonging to the 20-year-old from the home he shared with his mother Nancy, the same place he killed her before going to the Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he slaughtered students in two first-grade classes and teachers and staff.


CLICK HERE for full coverage of the tragedy at the elementary school.


Authorities are forensically investigating those computers and are also examining devices owned by Ryan Lanza, the gunman's older brother, to see if they can learn anything more about Adam and what caused him to snap.










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Members of the community gathered today at churches across the small town, seeking comfort, clarity or just a cry.


With intermittent freezing rain falling, the bells tolled at St. Rose of Lima as parishioners came for the morning service.


Little more than a week before Christmas when congregants celebrate the birth of the savior, they instead were mourning the deaths of people they knew.


Many of the victims attended the church and the clergy is preparing for the funerals of eight of the children.


As parishioners arrived at the church, many stopped at a makeshift memorial with flowers, teddy bears and candles. On large white boards, people wrote notes that express condolences, hope, and even forgiveness.


One says "Rest in Peace Sweet Angels."


After a man and woman knelt down at the memorial -- the woman overcome by grief crying into her husband's arms -- two police officers opened their cars with a delivery: bouquets of flowers and teddy bears stacked in the back of their vehicles. They delicately placed each one down and then both knelt down at the vigil.


The female officer began crying and her male partner put his arm around her to comfort her. She quickly got up, walking to her car while wiping away tears, and then they pulled away.


READ: Complete List of Sandy Hook Victims


A mother and two young daughters came next. She gripped one while she also wiped away tears. A father and his young daughter also came up, the father kneeling and talking to the girl before they slowly walked into the church.


A state police trooper was also among those dropping flowers at the memorial comprised of candles, stuffed toys and a sign that says "Sleep in heavenly peace."


Police Tracing Guns Used in Shooting


Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance said there are many pieces missing in the investigation and investigators continue to work inside Sandy Hook Elementary School to collect evidence.


Key to the investigation will also be the four firearms found at or near the crime scene, he said.


"We are tracing them historically, all the way back to when they were on the workbench being assembled," Vance said.


Authorities are wrapping up their processing of the exterior crime scene, which included vehicles parked in the school's lot at the time of the shooting, Vance said, and have began to release the cars back to their owners.


Vance declined to say what evidence has or has not been collected.


"We can't take segments of an investigation and discuss that publicly because something taken out of context could be misinterpreted," he said, adding that in the end, the "goal is to answer every single question.






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Egyptians vote on divisive constitution


CAIRO/ALEXANDRIA (Reuters) - Egyptians queued in long lines on Saturday to vote on a constitution promoted by its Islamist backers as the way out of a political crisis and rejected by opponents as a recipe for further divisions in the Arab world's biggest nation.


Soldiers joined police to secure the referendum after deadly protests during the buildup. Street brawls erupted again on Friday in Alexandria, Egypt's second city, but voting proceeded quietly there, with no reports of violence elsewhere.


President Mohamed Mursi provoked angry demonstrations when he issued a decree last month expanding his powers and then fast-tracked the draft constitution through an assembly dominated by his Muslim Brotherhood group and its allies. At least eight people were killed in clashes last week outside the presidential palace.


His liberal, secular and Christian opponents says the constitution is too Islamist and tramples on minority rights. Mursi's supporters say the charter is needed if progress is to be made towards democracy nearly two years after the fall of military-backed strongman Hosni Mubarak.


"The sheikhs (preachers) told us to say 'yes' and I have read the constitution and I liked it," said Adel Imam, a 53-year-old queuing to vote in a Cairo suburb. "The country will move on."


Opposition politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on Twitter: "Adoption of (a) divisive draft constitution that violates universal values and freedoms is a sure way to institutionalize instability and turmoil."


Official results will not be announced until after a second round of voting next Saturday. But partial results and unofficial tallies are likely to emerge soon after the first round, giving some idea of the outcome.


In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of voters who cast ballots. A little more than half of Egypt's electorate of 51 million are eligible to vote in the first round in Cairo and other cities.


Rights groups reported some abuses, such as polling stations opening late, officials telling people to vote "yes", bribery and intimidation.


But Gamal Eid, head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, which is monitoring the vote, said nothing reported so far was serious enough to invalidate the referendum.


"Until now, there is no talk of vote rigging," said Eid.


TRANSITION


Christians, making up about 10 percent of Egypt's 83 million people and who have long grumbled of discrimination, were among those waiting at a polling station in Alexandria to oppose the basic law. They fear Islamists, long repressed by Mubarak, will restrict social and other freedoms.


"I voted 'no' to the constitution out of patriotic duty," said Michael Nour, a 45-year-old Christian teacher in Alexandria. "The constitution does not represent all Egyptians."


Howaida Abdel Azeem, a post office employee, said: "I said 'yes' because I want the destruction the country is living through to be over and the crisis to pass, and then we can fix things later."


Islamists are counting on their disciplined ranks of supporters and the many Egyptians who may fall into line in the hope of ending turmoil that has hammered the economy and sent Egypt's pound to eight-year lows against the dollar.


Mursi was among the early voters after polls opened at 8 a.m. (1:00 a.m. Eastern Time). He was shown on television casting his ballot shielded by a screen and then dipping his finger in ink - a measure to prevent people voting twice.


Turnout was high enough for voting on Saturday to be extended by four hours to 11 p.m. (4 p.m. Eastern Time). One senior official on the committee overseeing the referendum said Saturday's vote could continue on Sunday if crowds were too heavy to allow everyone to cast ballots in one day. Voting for Egyptians abroad that began on Wednesday has been extended to Monday, the state news agency reported.


After weeks of turbulence, there has been limited public campaigning. Opposition politicians and parties, beaten in two elections since Mubarak's overthrow, only announced on Wednesday that they backed a "no" vote instead of a boycott.


TWO DAYS


The second round will be held in other regions on December 22 because there are not enough judges willing to monitor all polling stations after some said they would boycott the vote.


Egyptians are being asked to accept or reject a constitution that must be in place before a parliamentary election can be held next year to replace an Islamist-led parliament dissolved in June. Many hope this will lead Egypt towards stability.


If the constitution is voted down, a new assembly will have to be formed to draft a revised version, a process that could take up to nine months.


The army has deployed about 120,000 troops and 6,000 tanks and armored vehicles to protect polling stations and other government buildings. While the military backed Mubarak and his predecessors, it has not intervened in the present crisis.


(Writing by Edmund Blair and Giles Elgood; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)



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