Suspect Tried to Flee Country Before Cop Shooting

The fired ex-California cop who set off a region-wide manhunt after allegedly shooting three police officers this morning -- one fatally -- had initially gone to a yacht club near San Diego where police say he attempted to steal a boat and flee to Mexico.

Police say that former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who officials believe posted an online manifesto outlining his plan to "terminate" his former colleagues and their families, is armed with a long gun and might have several other guns and high-capacity magazines. He is also believed to have access to military uniforms because he has served in the Navy.

"We are considering him armed and dangerous," Lt. Julia Engen of the Irvine Police Department said.

Police allege that he went to the yacht club Wednesday night at Point Loma, Calif., near San Diego to steal the boat. He aborted the attempted theft when the boat's propeller became entangled in robe, law enforcement officials said. It was at that point he is believed to have headed to Riverside, where he allegedly shot two police officers.

"He pointed a handgun at the victim [at the yacht club] and demanded the boat," Lt. David Rohowits of the San Diego Police Department said.

Police say the rifle marksman shot at four officers in two incidents overnight, hitting three of them: one in Corona, Calif., and the two in Riverside, Calif.

Sgt. Rudy Lopez of the LAPD said two LAPD officers were in Corona and headed out on special detail to check on one of the individuals named in Dorner's manifesto. Dorner allegedly grazed one of them but missed the other.

"[This is an] extremely tense situation," Lopez said. "We call this a manhunt. We approach it cautiously because of the propensity of what has already happened."

The Riverside Police Department said two of its officers were shot before one of them died, KABC-TV reported. The other is in stable condition with two gunshot wounds, police say.

"They were on routine patrol stopped at a stop light when they were ambushed," Lt. Guy Toussant of the Riverside police department said.

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In the manifesto Dorner published online, he threatened at least 12 people by name, along with their families.

"Your lack of ethics and conspiring to wrong a just individual are over. Suppressing the truth will leave to deadly consequences for you and your family," Dorner wrote in his manifesto.

A badge and identification belonging to Dorner have been found in San Diego, according to San Diego police Sgt. Ray Battrick. Dorner's LAPD badge and ID were found by someone near the city's airport, and turned in to police overnight, The Associated Press reported.

Police around Southern California are wearing tactical gear, including helmets and guns across their chests. The light-up signs along California highways show the license plate number of Dorner's car, and say to call 911 if it is seen. The problem, police say, is that they believe Dorner is switching license plates on his car, a 2005 charcoal-gray Nissan Titan pickup truck.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said today that 40 protective details have been deployed to protect officers and their families.

"We are taking all measures possible to ensure safety of our officers and their families," he said.

Dorner is also believed to be responsible for the weekend slayings of an assistant women's college basketball coach and her fiancé in what cops believe are acts of revenge against the LAPD, as suggested in his online manifesto.

Lawrence was found slumped behind the wheel of his white Kia in the parking lot of their upscale apartment complex in Irvine Sunday and Quan was in the passenger seat.

"A particular interest at this point in the investigation is a multi-page manifesto in which the suspect has implicated himself in the slayings," Maggard said.

Police said Dorner's manifesto included threats against members of the LAPD. Police say they are taking extra measures to ensure the safety of officers and their families.

The document, allegedly posted on an Internet message board this week, apparently blames Quan's father, retired LAPD Capt. Randy Quan, for his firing from the department.

One passage from the manifesto reads, "I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty."

"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own," it reads. "I'm terminating yours."

Dorner was with the department from 2005 until 2008, when he was fired for making false statements.

Randy Quan, who became a lawyer in retirement, represented Dorner in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner at the time of his dismissal, LAPD Capt. William Hayes told The Associated Press Wednesday night.

According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dorner was fired from the LAPD after he made a complaint against his field-training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans, saying in the course of an arrest she had kicked a suspect who was a schizophrenic with severe dementia.

After an investigation, Dorner was fired for making false statements.

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Tunisian leader to form new government after activist shot

TUNIS (Reuters) - The killing of an outspoken critic of Tunisia's Islamist-led government on Wednesday sparked street protests by thousands who fear religious radicals are stifling freedoms won two years ago in the first of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Chokri Belaid was shot at close range as he left for work by a gunmen who fled on the back of a motorcycle; crowds poured on to the streets of Tunis and other cities, attacking offices of the main ruling party Ennahda, and by the end of the day the Islamist prime minister promised a national unity government.

There was no immediate local reaction to the plan by Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali of Ennahda to dissolve his coalition and bring in a wider range of political groups. After dark, hundreds of demonstrators were still fighting running battles with police in the capital, throwing rocks amid volleys of teargas.

Jebali, whose party has dismissed any suggestion it might be behind the assassination, said he would shortly announce the formation of a new government of non-partisan technocrats.

World powers, alarmed in recent months at the extent of radical Islamist influence and the bitterness of the political stalemate, urged Tunisians to reject violence and see through the move to democracy they began two years ago, when the Jasmine Revolution ended decades of dictatorship and inspired fellow Arabs in Egypt and across North Africa and the Middle East.

As in Egypt, the rise to power of political Islam through the ballot box has prompted a backlash among less organized, more secular minded political movements in Tunisia. Belaid, a 48-year-old left-wing lawyer who made a name challenging the old regime of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, led a party with little electoral support but his vocal opinions had a wide audience.

The day before his death he was publicly lambasting a "climate of systematic violence". He had blamed tolerance shown by Ennahda and its two, smaller secularist allies in the coalition government toward hardline Salafists for allowing the spread of groups hostile to international culture.

(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Writing by Alison Williams and Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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Football: Singapore lose to Jordan in opening 2015 Asian Cup qualifier

SINGAPORE: Singapore's quest to reach the 2015 Asian Cup got off on a disappointing note with a 4-0 defeat against Jordan in Amman on Wednesday.

Two goals from Ahmad Hayel in the 54th and 73rd minutes, and one each from Abdallah Deeb (18th) and Khalil Zaid Baniateyah (52nd) gave Jordan the win over the reigning Southeast Asian champions at the Amman International Stadium.

The win puts Jordan on top of Group A in the qualifiers, with Oman second after beating Syria 1-0 thanks to a 39th minute winner from Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali.

Singapore's next match is against Oman at the Jalan Besar Stadium on August 14.

Sixteen teams will qualify for the 2015 Asian Cup, to be staged in Australia from January 8 to 31 that year.

Group A:
Oman 1 Syria 0
Jordan 4 Singapore 0

Group B:
Iran 5 Lebanon 0
Thailand 1 Kuwait 3

Group C:
Iraq 1 Indonesia 0
Saudi Arabia 2 China 1

Group D:
Yemen 0 Bahrain 2
Qatar 2 Malaysia 0

Group E:
Uzbekistan 0 Hong Kong 0
Vietnam 1 UAE 2

- TODAY

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Narendra Modi pitches for 'vibrant India', positions himself for 2014 polls

NEW DELHI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi made a powerful entry on the national centrestage by aggressively hawking his Gujarat model of development and governance as an alternative to the ruling coalition at the Centre, claiming his way would lift the despair enveloping the country and help it realize its potential.

Modi's forceful performance at the country's top commerce college — Shri Ram College of Commerce — and the response it got from his youthful audience is likely to add to the momentum already building up within the BJP for his formal projection as the party's prime ministerial candidate even at the cost of losing Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar as an ally.

It was Modi's first public appearance in Delhi since his third straight victory in Gujarat and it came amid steadily growing indications about the larger Sangh Parivar tilting towards showcasing him as the BJP's counter to Rahul Gandhi for the 2014 match up.

Modi made full use of the opportunity as he flaunted the impressive growth Gujarat has clocked under his watch. He did not attack the UPA directly, but projected a forward-looking vision to connect with what is loosely referred to as aspirational India — the constituency of youth which is perceived to be up for grabs because of disillusionment with Congress.

He appeared to have pitched it right, with the speech — telecast live by all the networks — receiving repeated applause from the college stadium packed to the rafters. The BJP leader was greeted with cheers when he reached the venue. Outside, though, there was a large group protesting against him and a strong police contingent used lathi charges and water cannon to keep it at bay.

For many, the demonstration was evidence of Modi being a polarizing presence because of the 2002 Gujarat riots: something which is cited by his rivals within the BJP as well as allies like Nitish Kumar to argue that he does not have prime ministerial credentials.

But the cheers that Modi evoked from SRCC students, a group with a predisposition for entrepreneurship and economic growth, reinforced the argument of the faction which feels that only he can bring in the additional votes that BJP needs to overtake Congress decisively. This faction now appears to have gained an upper hand in the leadership debate.

The actual leadership drill is set to start next month when BJP holds meetings of its national executive and national council. The twin exercises will clear the way for Modi's return to the central parliamentary board as a possible prelude to his appointment as the chairman of the party's campaign committee. The decision on whether to project him or not will take longer to resolve but there is no mistaking the trajectory.

His foray into the Capital on Wednesday showed that Modi was game for the challenge. Coming after his visit to Rajasthan for a wedding and his plan to visit Allahabad for the Maha Kumbh on March 12, the outing at SRCC showed that speculation about a national role may have encouraged the chief minister, so far comfortably ensconced in Gujarat, to venture farther afield.

Modi certainly did not seem fazed by the protesters as he reached out to his audience. "Minimum government, maximum governance is my creed," he said: an apt formulation for a college which has been the recruiting ground for corporate India and where a government with heavy footprint has always been frowned upon.

There was more on similar lines. Modi bandied his 3 'S' — skill, scale and speed - as the means to break out of stagnant growth India is currently experiencing. The extempore speech was peppered with managerial formulations — value addition, skill development, lab-to-land (agriculture), farm-to-fiber-to-factory-to-fashion (textile), and P2G2 (pro-people good governance).

The criticism of vote-bank politics appeared tailor-made for the throng that routinely despairs at the premium placed on identity politics a short shrift to "merit". If the focus on development brought out the eagerness of the man to leave 2002 behind and to be judged on the secular parameters of growth, investment and development, Modi's attempt to tap into the aspiration-driven youth was quite evident. "There are those who consider you the new age voter, but for me, you are the new age power who can help India realize the glory Vivekananda had envisioned," he said.

Modi started off by painting himself as an unrepentant optimist. "For me, the glass is always full," he declared, waving the tumbler kept for him at the lectern. The "we-can-do-it" theme ran through the nearly hour-long speech, with Modi asserting that the 21st century would be India's and declaring that the country can overtake China in manufacturing.

The effort to showcase his pro-growth credentials had him dipping into the nitty-gritty of packaging and benefits of brand building. Modi said 121 countries and business houses accounting for the 50% of India's GDP had gathered under one roof for the Vibrant Gujarat Summit and that too, at just 11 days' notice.

In the same vein, he asserted that it took him just 162 days to build the country's largest convention centre and that takes just 19 months for a company from the drawing board to start manufacturing coaches for the Delhi Metro in Gujarat.

But did not lose sight of his larger message: an optimistic and hopeful future for a youthful country which deserved better than the all-pervasive despair. "India was a land of snake charmers but now it is known for its mouse charmers (referring to India's expertise in software). And this would not have been possible without the young hands that we have. That shows that Swami Vivekanand was right when he declared that India will be the world leader once again. This is the era of knowledge economy and the opportunity for India to take its rightful place at the top," he concluded to a generous applause.

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Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.

With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until there's a ruling on their lawsuit seeking to block it altogether. The measure would bar many eateries from selling high-sugar drinks in cups or containers bigger than 16 ounces.

"It would be a tremendous waste of expense, time, and effort for our members to incur all of the harm and costs associated with the ban if this court decides that the ban is illegal," Chong Sik Le, president of the New York Korean-American Grocers Association, said in court papers filed Friday.

City lawyers are fighting the lawsuit and oppose postponing the restriction, which the city Board of Health approved in September. They said Tuesday they expect to prevail.

"The obesity epidemic kills nearly 6,000 New Yorkers each year. We see no reason to delay the Board of Health's reasonable and legal actions to combat this major, growing problem," Mark Muschenheim, a city attorney, said in a statement.

Another city lawyer, Thomas Merrill, has said officials believe businesses have had enough time to get ready for the new rule. He has noted that the city doesn't plan to seek fines until June.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials see the first-of-its-kind limit as a coup for public health. The city's obesity rate is rising, and studies have linked sugary drinks to weight gain, they note.

"This is the biggest step a city has taken to curb obesity," Bloomberg said when the measure passed.

Soda makers and other critics view the rule as an unwarranted intrusion into people's dietary choices and an unfair, uneven burden on business. The restriction won't apply at supermarkets and many convenience stores because the city doesn't regulate them.

While the dispute plays out in court, "the impacted businesses would like some more certainty on when and how they might need to adjust operations," American Beverage Industry spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger said Tuesday.

Those adjustments are expected to cost the association's members about $600,000 in labeling and other expenses for bottles, Vice President Mike Redman said in court papers. Reconfiguring "16-ounce" cups that are actually made slightly bigger, to leave room at the top, is expected to take cup manufacturers three months to a year and cost them anywhere from more than $100,000 to several millions of dollars, Foodservice Packaging Institute President Lynn Dyer said in court documents.

Movie theaters, meanwhile, are concerned because beverages account for more than 20 percent of their overall profits and about 98 percent of soda sales are in containers greater than 16 ounces, according to Robert Sunshine, executive director of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York State.

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FBI Releases Alaska Serial Killer's Handwritten Notes

Serial killer Israel Keyes' blood smeared suicide letter, obtained by ABCNews.com, is a creepy ode to murder in which he clearly enjoys killing his victims and expresses his disgust with peoples' everyday lives.

"You may have been free, you loved loving your lie, fate had its own scheme, crushed like a bug you still die," Keyes wrote.

At another point he writes about the "nervous laugh as it burst like a pulse of blood from your throat. There will be no more laughter here."

The arrest of Keyes, 34, on March 12, 2012 for the murder of Alaskan barista Samantha Koenig ended more than a decade of traveling around the country to find victims to kill or to prepare for future crimes by burying murder kits of weapons, cash and tools to dispose of bodies. Since March he had been slowly telling police about his hidden life and how he operated. But the tale abruptly ended when Keyes committed suicide in his jail cell on Dec. 1.

Police are now left trying to fill in the details of his vicious life. Police believe he killed between 8 and 12 people, including Koenig, but only three victims have been definitively tied to Keyes so far.

The FBI released Keyes' four-page document today describing it as "a combination of pencil and ink on yellow legal pad." The pages were discovered under Keyes' body, "illegible and covered in blood," the FBI said.

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Click here to see the original letter.

The papers were sent to an FBI laboratory in Virginia for processing and the FBI was able to restore the notes to a mostly legible condition for review and analysis.

"The FBI concluded there was no hidden code or message in the writings," the FBI said in a news release today. "Further, it was determined that the writings do not offer any investigative clues or leads as to the identity of other possible victims."

The FBI said it would not offer any commentary as the meaning of the writings, but the chillingly morbid writings speak for themselves.

Keyes seems to refer to his victim as a "pretty captive butterfly." He describes what appears to be the victim's final moments:

"Now that I have you held tight I will tell you a story, speak soft in your ear so you know that it's true. You're my love at first sight and though you're scared to be near me, my words penetrate your thoughts now in an intimate prelude.

"I looked in your eyes, they were so dark, warm and trusting, as though you had not a worry or care. The more guiless the game the better potential to fill up those pools with your fear.

"Your face framed in dark curls like a portrait, the sun shone through highlights of red. What color I wonder, and how straight will it turn plastered back with the sweat of your blood.

"Your wet lips were a promise of a secret unspoken, nervous laugh as it burst like a pulse of blood from your throat. There will be no more laughter here."

Keyes also criticized elements of daily life including waiting to die in retirement homes, watching reality television shows, vanity and going to a mindless job.

"Land of the free, land of the lie, land of scheme Americanize!" he wrote twice as a refrain. "Consume what you don't need, stars you idolize, pursue what you admit is a dream, then it's American die."

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Iran's Ahmadinejad kissed and scolded in Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was both kissed and scolded on Tuesday when he began the first visit to Egypt by an Iranian president since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

The trip was meant to underline a thaw in relations since Egyptians elected an Islamist head of state, President Mohamed Mursi, last June. But it also highlighted deep theological and geopolitical differences.

Mursi, a member of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, kissed Ahmadinejad after he landed at Cairo airport and gave him a red carpet reception with military honors. Ahmadinejad beamed as he shook hands with waiting dignitaries.

But the Shi'ite Iranian leader received a stiff rebuke when he met Egypt's leading Sunni Muslim scholar later at Cairo's historic al-Azhar mosque and university.

Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, head of the 1,000-year-old seat of religious learning, urged Iran to refrain from interfering in Gulf Arab states, to recognize Bahrain as a "sisterly Arab nation" and rejected the extension of Shi'ite Muslim influence in Sunni countries, a statement from al-Azhar said.

Visiting Cairo to attend an Islamic summit that begins on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad told a news conference he hoped his trip would be "a new starting point in relations between us".

However, a senior cleric from the Egyptian seminary, Hassan al-Shafai, who appeared alongside him, said the meeting had degenerated into an exchange of theological differences.

"There ensued some misunderstandings on certain issues that could have an effect on the cultural, political and social climate of both countries," Shafai said.

"The issues were such that the grand sheikh saw that the meeting ... did not serve the desired purpose."

The visit would have been unthinkable during the rule of Hosni Mubarak, the military-backed autocrat who preserved Egypt's peace treaty with Israel during his 30 years in power and deepened ties between Cairo and the West.

"The political geography of the region will change if Iran and Egypt take a unified position on the Palestinian question," Ahmadinejad said in an interview with Al Mayadeen, a Beirut-based TV station, on the eve of his trip.

He said he wanted to visit the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory which neighbors Egypt to the east and is run by the Islamist movement Hamas. "If they allow it, I would go to Gaza to visit the people," Ahmadinejad said.

Analysts doubt that the historic changes that brought Mursi to power will result in a full restoration of diplomatic ties between states whose relations were broken off after the conclusion of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

OBSTACLES TO FULL TIES

At the airport the two leaders discussed ways of improving relations and resolving the Syrian crisis "without resorting to military intervention", Egyptian state media reported.

Egypt is concerned by Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is trying to crush an uprising inspired by the revolt that swept Mubarak from power two years ago. Egypt's overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim population is broadly supportive of the uprising against Assad's Alawite-led administration.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr sought to reassure Gulf Arab allies - that are supporting Cairo's battered state finances and are deeply suspicious of Iran - that Egypt would not jeopardize their security.

"The security of the Gulf states is the security of Egypt," he said in remarks reported by the official MENA news agency.

Mursi wants to preserve ties with the United States, the source of $1.3 billion in aid each year to the influential Egyptian military.

"The restoration of full relations with Iran in this period is difficult, despite the warmth in ties ... because of many problems including the Syrian crisis and Cairo's links with the Gulf states, Israel and the United States," said one former Egyptian diplomat.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he was optimistic that ties could grow closer.

"We are gradually improving. We have to be a little bit patient. I'm very hopeful about the expansion of the bilateral relationship," he told Reuters. Asked where he saw room for closer ties, he said: "Trade and economics."

Egypt and Iran have taken opposite courses since the late 1970s. Egypt, under Mubarak's predecessor Anwar Sadat, concluded a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and became a close ally of the United States and Europe. Iran from 1979 turned into a center of opposition to Western influence in the Middle East.

Symbolically, Iran named a street in Tehran after the Islamist who led the 1981 assassination of Sadat.

Egypt gave asylum and a state funeral to Iran's exiled Shah Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the 1979 Iranian revolution. He is buried in a mosque beside Cairo's mediaeval Citadel alongside his ex-brother-in-law, Egypt's last king, Farouk.

(Additional reporting by Ayman Samir, Marwa Awad and Alexander Diadosz; Writing by Paul Taylor and Tom Perry; Editing by Andrew Roche and Robin Pomeroy)

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Obama unveils plans to avert budget cuts

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama Tuesday called for a balanced program of stop gap spending reductions and tax reforms to avert punishing multi-billion dollar automatic budget cuts due to kick in on March 1.

Obama said the fragile US economy could not afford the hit from huge cuts to defense and other government programs, known as the sequester, and the jobs of Americans should not be held hostage to partisan wrangling in Washington.

The president said if Congress could not act on a bigger deficit cutting package by March 1, lawmakers should pass a smaller plan of spending cuts and tax reforms to delay the economically damaging impact of the sequester.

"There is no reason that the jobs of thousands of Americans who work in national security or education or clean energy, not to mention the growth of the entire economy, should be put in jeopardy," Obama told reporters.

"Let me repeat, our economy right now is headed in the right direction. It will stay that way as long as there aren't any more self-inflicted wounds coming out of Washington."

The Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday that if the sequester is put through, the US budget deficit will shrink sharply this year but that also economic growth will be crunched from 2012's 1.9 percent to just 1.4 percent.

"If all of the fiscal tightening still embodied in current law for 2013 was removed, growth in real GDP would be about 1.5 percentage points higher this year than CBO currently projects," the study said.

Obama said his short-term spending would allow the White House and Congress more time to come up with a plan to cut the deficit, which he insists, despite Republican opposition, must include new revenue from higher taxes.

The sequester was agreed by the president and Congress last year to be so punishing that it would force Washington's warring political factions to forge an agreement on deficit cuts.

But no agreement is in sight, and the cuts have already been put off once, by a short-term deal agreed between Obama and Republicans late last year.

House Republican Speaker John Boehner Tuesday blamed Obama for the sequester, which many observers now believe will come into force, despite its punitive impact on defense and social programs and the fragile US economy.

"We believe there is a better way to reduce the deficit, but Americans do not support sacrificing real spending cuts for more tax hikes," Boehner said in a statement.

"The president's sequester should be replaced with spending cuts and reforms that will start us on the path to balancing the budget in 10 years."

Cuts due to come into force in March will slash defense spending by $55 billion and non defense discretionary spending by $27 billion this year, and will have a painful impact on the economy.

The Bipartisan Policy Center has warned that a million jobs will be lost by the end of next year caused by a slowdown brought on by the cuts.

-AFP/ac

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President to visit Bangladesh next month

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee will travel to Bangladesh next month in what is going to be his first visit abroad after taking over as president last year. Confirming the visit by Mukherjee, government sources said that foreign minister Salman Khurshid will visit Dhaka for the second joint consultative commission meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni later this month.

During his visit to Dhaka on February 16 and 17, Khushid will also complete the groundwork for the president's tour. It is not a surprise that Mukherjee, who wants to cut down on his foreign travel otherwise, has chosen Bangladesh for his first visit abroad. He is not just the most well respected Indian leader in Bangladesh but also a close family friend of Bangladeshi PM and Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina. Dhaka will also honour Mukherjee for his support in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.

Hasina had invited Mukherjee to visit Bangladesh after he took over as the president. Mukherjee's trip will also be the culmination of heightened diplomatic activities and exchanges between the two countries, including a visit to Dhaka by the Union home minister Sushil Shinde last month. India and Bangladesh finally signed the much-awaited extradition treaty and a liberalized visa agreement during his visit.

The first joint consultative commission meeting between the two countries was held last May. Sources said that the second meeting later this month will see Khurshid and Moni discussing all bilateral issues. They will also review implementation of projects which are being financed by India's $1 billion line of credit to Bangladesh. Mukherjee's last visit to Bangladesh was as finance minister in May, 2012, on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore. During this visit, he had announced conversion of $200 million of the $1 billion line of credit into a grant for projects high on Bangladesh's priority list. These projects include improvement of railway infrastructure, dredging and supply of locomotives, passenger coaches and buses.

Sources here said Khurshid will look at speedy implementation of the 2011 joint statement signed on the occasion of PM Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka. During the visit, the two sides had concluded a Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Development which outlined the ``shared vision for durable and long-term cooperation to achieve mutual peace, prosperity and stability''. The visit also saw conclusion of the protocol to the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement paving the way for settlement of the long pending land boundary issues, including areas not demarcated, territories under adverse possession and exchange of enclaves. This is still awaiting ratification from Indian Parliament since it requires a constitutional amendment.

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Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.

With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until there's a ruling on their lawsuit seeking to block it altogether. The measure would bar many eateries from selling high-sugar drinks in cups or containers bigger than 16 ounces.

"It would be a tremendous waste of expense, time, and effort for our members to incur all of the harm and costs associated with the ban if this court decides that the ban is illegal," Chong Sik Le, president of the New York Korean-American Grocers Association, said in court papers filed Friday.

City lawyers are fighting the lawsuit and oppose postponing the restriction, which the city Board of Health approved in September. They said Tuesday they expect to prevail.

"The obesity epidemic kills nearly 6,000 New Yorkers each year. We see no reason to delay the Board of Health's reasonable and legal actions to combat this major, growing problem," Mark Muschenheim, a city attorney, said in a statement.

Another city lawyer, Thomas Merrill, has said officials believe businesses have had enough time to get ready for the new rule. He has noted that the city doesn't plan to seek fines until June.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials see the first-of-its-kind limit as a coup for public health. The city's obesity rate is rising, and studies have linked sugary drinks to weight gain, they note.

"This is the biggest step a city has taken to curb obesity," Bloomberg said when the measure passed.

Soda makers and other critics view the rule as an unwarranted intrusion into people's dietary choices and an unfair, uneven burden on business. The restriction won't apply at supermarkets and many convenience stores because the city doesn't regulate them.

While the dispute plays out in court, "the impacted businesses would like some more certainty on when and how they might need to adjust operations," American Beverage Industry spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger said Tuesday.

Those adjustments are expected to cost the association's members about $600,000 in labeling and other expenses for bottles, Vice President Mike Redman said in court papers. Reconfiguring "16-ounce" cups that are actually made slightly bigger, to leave room at the top, is expected to take cup manufacturers three months to a year and cost them anywhere from more than $100,000 to several millions of dollars, Foodservice Packaging Institute President Lynn Dyer said in court documents.

Movie theaters, meanwhile, are concerned because beverages account for more than 20 percent of their overall profits and about 98 percent of soda sales are in containers greater than 16 ounces, according to Robert Sunshine, executive director of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York State.

___

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