Syria strike justified on humanitarian grounds, Britain's Cameron says

LONDON -- As lawmakers prepared to debate their response to alleged chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian regime, the British government laid out its arguments Thursday for the legality of military intervention "as an exceptional measure on grounds of overwhelming humanitarian necessity."

Prime Minister David Cameron's office said the aim of striking specific targets within Syria would be to deter President Bashar Assad's regime from launching further chemical attacks and to alleviate human suffering. Any military operation would be confined solely to that objective and to a limited amount of time, officials said.

Also Thursday, the British government's Joint Intelligence Committee released a memo calling it "highly likely" that Assad's forces were behind a suspected major chemical attack in eastern Damascus last week. It said evidence from many sources supported that conclusion, but it expressed puzzlement as to "the regime's precise motivation for carrying out an attack of this scale at this time."

The Obama administration is expected to release its own explanation for concluding that Assad gassed rebel-held neighborhoods.

Cameron has been one of the most vocal advocates of punishing the Syrian regime and has introduced a resolution at the U.N. Security Council to authorize it. Chances that the resolution will pass are slim in the face of Russian and Chinese opposition.

He is now confronted with serious reservations at home as well, with the opposition Labor Party and some of his fellow Conservatives demanding that he slow down the pace toward military intervention and wait for a report from U.N. weapons inspectors before making a decision. Many Britons are leery of striking Syria after watching their country go to war in Iraq based on false claims of weapons of mass destruction there.

Under increasing pressure from skeptics, Cameron was forced to pull back Wednesday night from putting forward a motion in Parliament authorizing military intervention.

Instead, British lawmakers are to debate a watered-down government motion Thursday deploring the use of chemical weapons and endorsing military force as a legitimate response in principle. Any actual attack would be subject to another vote.

"I'm determined we learn the lessons of the past, including Iraq," Labor Party leader Ed Miliband said. "And we can't have the House of Commons being asked to write a blank check to the prime minister for military action."

Cameron's government has said that launching an attack on Syria would ideally be done with U.N. backing. But even without the world body's blessing, British officials say, such intervention would comply with international law.

The argument released Thursday identifies the legal basis as allowable "humanitarian intervention" as long as certain conditions are met: that there is convincing evidence of a humanitarian catastrophe requiring immediate relief, that there is "no practicable alternative to the use of force if lives are to be saved," and that any attack is limited in time and scope.

Separately, British defense officials said they were deploying six Typhoon fighter jets to Cyprus to protect Britain's military base there.

ALSO:

Militants in Afghanistan launch attacks against NATO

Iran still progressing on its nuclear program, U.N. says

Russian resistance torpedoes United Nations resolution on Syria

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Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and Nobel winner, dies at 74

LONDON -- Seamus Heaney, the Nobel Prize-winning poet whose crystalline, descriptive verse led many to consider him the best Irish poet since Yeats, died Thursday. He was 74.

His death was confirmed by his publishers, Faber and Faber, which said that it could not "adequately express our profound sorrow at the loss of one of the world's greatest writers. His impact on literary culture is immeasurable."

The publishing house said in a statement issued on behalf of his family that Heaney died in a Dublin hospital after a short illness.

The white-haired writer was praised for evocative poems that frequently reflected his Irish upbringing and addressed the "Troubles," the bloody conflict in his native Northern Ireland. His works were often meditations on the intersection of personal choice and loss with the larger forces of history and politics.

Well-known volumes included "Wintering Out," "Station Island," "The Spirit Level," "District and Circle" and a lyrical translation of the epic poem "Beowulf."

Heaney taught for many years at Harvard. After winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995, he made speaking appearances around the world, delighting audiences with a disarming, gentle wit.

"The platform here feels more like a space station than a stepping stone, so that is why, for once in my life, I am permitting myself the luxury of walking on air," Heaney said in his Nobel acceptance speech in Stockholm. "I credit poetry for making this space-walk possible."

He suffered a stroke several years ago, which he later described as a terrifying experience.

"Yes, I cried. I cried, and I wanted my daddy, funnily enough. I did. I felt babyish," he said.

Among his fans was President Clinton, who visited him during his convalescence and also named his dog Seamus.

Heaney is survived by his wife, Marie, and three children.

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U.N. inspection team reportedly leaves Syria

BEIRUT — A United Nations chemical inspection team reportedly left Syria on Saturday as U.S. officials were said to be preparing a retaliatory strike against the Syrian government for its alleged use of poison gas.

Various news agencies reported that a convoy carrying the U.N. contingent had left  its hotel in Damascus early Saturday and  later crossed the border into neighboring Lebanon.

Reports have suggested that the White House preferred to wait until the U.N. contingent had departed Syria before launching  any assault.

There was no official word early Saturday on any U.S. military action in Syria.

The White House has accused the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad of having unleashed a chemical attack outside Damascus on Aug. 21 that killed hundreds. The Syrian government had denied any role in the incident and blamed it on opposition forces seeking to discredit the government and spur international intervention.

U.S. officials were reported to be considering launching a missile barrage against Syrian targets from warships in the eastern Mediterranean.

 The Syrian government says it is ready to confront any direct U.S. strike.

The U.S. has avoided direct involvement in the Syrian conflict, though it has aided anti-government rebels and said Assad should relinquish power.

The 20-member U.N. team spent two weeks in Syria. The inspectors visited a number of sites in the Damascus suburbs hit in the suspected chemical attacks on Aug. 21. The team is carrying various samples back to Europe for laboratory analysis to determine if chemical agents were indeed employed in Syria.

A civil conflict has raged in Syria for more than two years, costing tens of thousands of lives and leaving vast swaths of the nation in ruins.

U.S.-backed rebels are fighting to oust the government of Assad, who labels the rebels "terrorists" linked to Al Qaeda and funded by the U.S. and its allies, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. Providing aid to Assad are his allies Russia and Iran.

The conflict has had a destabilizing effect on the region and sent more than 2 million refugees into exile, mostly to neighboring Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq. Syria-related violence has often crossed the nation's borders into Lebanon and other neighboring countries. 

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State Senate Democrats propose alternative to Brown's prison plan

SACRAMENTO — Democratic leaders of the state Senate on Wednesday proposed an extra $200 million annually for rehabilitation, drug and mental health treatment as an alternative to Gov. Jerry Brown's plan for reducing prison crowding.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said Wednesday that his Senate Democratic Caucus wants the spending in exchange for a three-year extension of federal judges' Dec. 31 deadline for removing more than 9,600 inmates from state prisons.

Steinberg said the Senate proposal was preferable to Brown's plan to spend $315 million this year and $415 million in each of the following two years on alternate housing for inmates.

"Temporarily expanding California's prison capacity is neither sustainable nor fiscally responsible," Steinberg wrote to Brown and inmates' attorneys Wednesday. Inmate lawsuits led to the judges' ruling that state prisons are unconstitutionally crowded.

Any extension would have to be approved by the judges, who have castigated Brown for stalling on obeying their order to shed more prisoners.

Steinberg, flanked by 16 Democratic senators in a Capitol hallway, said the Senate plan is modeled on a 2009 state program that reduced new prison admissions by nearly 9,600.

The plan won a quick endorsement from the prisoners' attorneys.

"Sen. Steinberg's substantive proposals are acceptable to us and we are open to an extension" if all parties can agree on an approach "that will resolve the chronic overcrowding problem in the state's prisons," the attorneys said in a statement.

The lawyers said they were willing to meet with the governor and discuss ways to end federal court oversight of prison medical care, imposed because the judges said overcrowding led to inadequate healthcare and needless inmate deaths.

The judges are unlikely to extend their Dec. 31 deadline without evidence that the proposal would result in meaningful policy changes, said legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at UC Irvine.

"I think the court wants to be sure this is not another delay," Chemerinsky said.

Steinberg's plan drew sharp criticism from Gov. Brown and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles).

"It would not be responsible to turn over California's criminal justice policy to inmate lawyers who are not accountable to the people," Brown said in a statement.

"My plan avoids early releases of thousands of prisoners and lays the foundation for longer-term changes, and that's why local officials and law enforcement support it," he said.

Pérez said in a separate statement that he was "deeply skeptical about Senator Steinberg's approach." It would give more power to "prisoner plaintiffs who favor mass release of prisoners," Pérez said.

Steinberg countered that his plan would also avoid early releases. But there may be no more money available for rehabilitation if the state spends more than $1 billion on incarceration over the next three years, the senator said.

Steinberg suggested that a middle ground might be found. "Does this lead to conversation that leads to a solution and compromise? I hope," Steinberg said. "You know me. It's not my way or the highway. We are putting down a settlement proposal here."

But time is short. Steinberg called for an agreement by Sept. 13, the Legislature's last meeting day this year. The settlement would provide for a panel of experts to set a new prison population cap.

In addition, an advisory panel would be formed to restructure sentencing laws so fewer offenders would be sent to prison in the long run.

The state "cannot assume that the plaintiffs and their lawyers, and the federal court, will agree to a three-year extension," said Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber).

On the other hand, nobody wants to be responsible for releasing thousands of inmates early because of a stalemate, said Raphael J. Sonenshein, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.

"You'd have to think they are going to find some accommodation," Sonenshein said.

Meanwhile, Steinberg canceled a Senate confirmation hearing for two corrections department directors appointed by the governor.

"We have additional questions about the administration's ongoing corrections policy," said Steinberg spokesman Mark Hedlund. "It makes sense to wait before we consider those two appointments."

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

Times staff writers Anthony York and Paige St. John contributed to this report.

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China warns U.S. against attack on Syria

BEIJING -- In what has become a predictable refrain from Beijing, the Chinese government Thursday warned the United States against conducting airstrikes against Syria.

All of the major Chinese news organizations railed against military action, saying Syria could turn into another Iraq. The Chinese also said they were not convinced that Syrian President Bashar Assad's government used chemical weapons against its own people, as asserted by the White House.

In a statement posted on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's website, Foreign Minister Wang Yi implied that Beijing would exercise its veto power on a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force. The point is somewhat moot because Russia already has said it would block such a resolution.

"External military intervention is contrary to the U.N. charter aims and the basic norms governing international relations and could exacerbate instability in the Middle East," Wang said.

"Turning Syria into another Libya or even Iraq is the last thing most people around the world want to see," opined the English-language China Daily in a strongly worded editorial on Thursday. "Before the crisis takes a turn for from bad to worse, it is high time the U.S. learned from its past mistakes."

Chinese scholars pointed to the errors of U.S. intelligence in 2003 claiming that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction.

"Who used the chemical weapons in Syria isn't clear,"' said Li Wei, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Security and Arms Control Studies at a briefing for journalists Thursday.

China is Syria's largest trade partner, with exports from China totaling $2.4 billion in 2011. But analysts said economic relations with Syria, which has modest oil reserves, were not a primary factor in Beiking's opposition to military action.

Yin Gang, a widely quoted Middle East expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said airstrikes against Assad's regime would strengthen the hand of Al Qaeda and other Islamic militants.

"A democratic Christian country should not be interfering in an Islamic civil war. It would be a big mistake," Yin said.

ALSO:

Militants in Afghanistan launch attacks against NATO

Iran still progressing on its nuclear program, U.N. says

Russian resistance torpedoes United Nations resolution on Syria

barbara.demick@latimes.com

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Britain's Cameron states the case for hitting Syria

LONDON -- As lawmakers prepared to debate their response to alleged chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian regime, the British government laid out its arguments Thursday for the legality of military intervention "as an exceptional measure on grounds of overwhelming humanitarian necessity."

Prime Minister David Cameron's office said the aim of striking specific targets within Syria would be to deter President Bashar Assad's regime from launching further chemical attacks and to alleviate human suffering. Any military operation would be confined solely to that objective and to a limited amount of time, officials said.

Also Thursday, the British government's Joint Intelligence Committee released a memo calling it "highly likely" that Assad's forces were behind a suspected major chemical attack in eastern Damascus last week. It said evidence from many sources supported that conclusion, but it expressed puzzlement as to "the regime's precise motivation for carrying out an attack of this scale at this time."

The Obama administration is expected to release its own explanation for concluding that Assad gassed rebel-held neighborhoods.

Cameron has been one of the most vocal advocates of punishing the Syrian regime and has introduced a resolution at the U.N. Security Council to authorize it. Chances that the resolution will pass are slim in the face of Russian and Chinese opposition.

He is now confronted with serious reservations at home as well, with the opposition Labor Party and some of his fellow Conservatives demanding that he slow down the pace toward military intervention and wait for a report from U.N. weapons inspectors before making a decision. Many Britons are leery of striking Syria after watching their country go to war in Iraq based on false claims of weapons of mass destruction there.

Under increasing pressure from skeptics, Cameron was forced to pull back Wednesday night from putting forward a motion in Parliament authorizing military intervention.

Instead, British lawmakers are to debate a watered-down government motion Thursday deploring the use of chemical weapons and endorsing military force as a legitimate response in principle. Any actual attack would be subject to another vote.

"I'm determined we learn the lessons of the past, including Iraq," Labor Party leader Ed Miliband said. "And we can't have the House of Commons being asked to write a blank check to the prime minister for military action."

Cameron's government has said that launching an attack on Syria would ideally be done with U.N. backing. But even without the world body's blessing, British officials say, such intervention would comply with international law.

The argument released Thursday identifies the legal basis as allowable "humanitarian intervention" as long as certain conditions are met: that there is convincing evidence of a humanitarian catastrophe requiring immediate relief, that there is "no practicable alternative to the use of force if lives are to be saved," and that any attack is limited in time and scope.

Separately, British defense officials said they were deploying six Typhoon fighter jets to Cyprus to protect Britain's military base there.

ALSO:

Militants in Afghanistan launch attacks against NATO

Iran still progressing on its nuclear program, U.N. says

Russian resistance torpedoes United Nations resolution on Syria

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Study shows men just as likely to be depressed as women

Depression can look very different in men and women. And many of its hallmarks — rage, risk-taking, substance abuse and even workaholism — can hide in plain sight.

Now researchers say that when these symptoms are factored into a diagnosis, the long-standing disparity between depression rates in men and women disappears.

That conclusion overturns long-accepted statistics indicating that, over their lifetimes, women are 70% more likely to have major depression than men. In fact, when its symptoms are properly recognized in men, major depression may be even more common in men than in women, according to a study published Wednesday by the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

The findings help unravel a mystery that has long puzzled mental health authorities: If men are so much less likely than women to be depressed, why are they four times more likely to commit suicide?

"When it comes to depression in men, to some extent we have blinders on," said Dr. Andrew Leuchter, a psychiatrist who studies depression at UCLA. "We have not been asking about and taking into account a range of symptoms that may be gender-specific."

Health policy researchers from the University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University set out to test the feasibility of two new checklists that might diagnose depression in men as well as women with greater accuracy.

In addition to familiar depression symptoms such as sadness, difficulty sleeping, feelings of guilt or worthlessness and loss of interest in pleasurable activities, the researchers expanded the list to include anger attacks, aggression or irritability, substance abuse, risk-taking behavior and hyperactivity. They devised two scales — one designed to be gender-neutral and one tuned toward the way the disease manifests itself in men.

The researchers tested these diagnostic criteria in a group of nearly 5,700 American adults who had been interviewed as part of a long-term study of mental health organized by researchers at Harvard Medical School; 41% of the participants were men.

The results of the analysis were striking.

When assessed using the "gender inclusive depression scale" that included widely recognized depressive symptoms such as sadness and hopelessness as well as symptoms commonly seen in men, 30.6% of men and 33.3% of women were found to have experienced a depressive episode at some point in their lives. In research terms, that gap between men and women was so narrow it may have been a statistical fluke.

And when the subjects were evaluated with the "male symptoms scale," 26.3% of men and 21.9% of women were said to have experienced a major depressive episode in their lifetimes. That difference was large enough that it could not be due to chance, the researchers reported.

"Everything we think we know about depression is a reflection of how we defined it to begin with," Leuchter said.

That bias, he added, may have fostered the perception that depression is predominantly a "woman's disease" — and that men don't need treatment for emotional suffering.

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychiatry, portrayed depression as rage turned inward. But for many men today, depression's rage appears not so much directed at oneself as it is spat outward — at spouses, co-workers and friends.

While women may not feel shame in acknowledging their sadness and sagging self-esteem, mental health experts find that depressed men often respond to such feelings with actions that look like their opposite: They bluster and bully. They throw themselves into harm's way. They numb themselves with sex, drugs and endless workdays.

If the emotional pain of many men is to be understood for what it is, depression's definition should be expanded to include these "externalizing" symptoms — the opposite of "internalizing" symptoms that have long defined depression, some mental health professionals argue.

"These findings could lead to important changes in the way depression is conceptualized and measured," the study authors concluded.

If psychiatrists update their official diagnostic criteria to reflect these gender differences, that would be only a first step, Leuchter said.

Doctors, including primary care physicians who now diagnose most depression, would have to be educated to look for an expanded set of symptoms, he said. Researchers would not only need to understand how seemingly separate diseases such as substance abuse and depression relate to each other, they would also need to assess whether the treatments currently available — antidepressants and talk therapy — would help men with these symptoms, he said.

For men as well as women, the checklists now in wide use to diagnose depression may fail to capture the experience and language of the emotional distress they feel, said study leader Lisa Martin, a health policy studies professor at the University of Michigan.

"Word choice matters," she said.

melissa.healy@latimes.com

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Noncitizens as jurors? It's not a discrimination issue

SACRAMENTO—Bills are cascading out of the Legislature in free-fall as lawmakers race to adjournment for the year, most measures headed for the governor with little debate.

It's the annual sprint to "do something" — to make a mark, regardless of how faint.

Not all the bills, however, are as innocuous as they're treated.

One such measure, granted final passage last week by the state Assembly, would substantially change California's court system by allowing noncitizen legal immigrants to serve on juries.

Nowhere else in America is a noncitizen permitted to be a juror — not in any state, not in any federal court.

The bill, AB 1401, was discussed on the Assembly floor for only seven minutes before being sent to Gov. Jerry Brown on a party-line vote, 48 to 28, with most Democrats in favor, all Republicans opposed.

It often amazes me how issues that really shouldn't have a partisan hue wind up being voted on as if they're either blue or red.

There's no indication how the Democratic governor feels about opening up juries to noncitizens, or even if he has thought about it.

In the Assembly, the presiding Democrat initially called for the vote even before any opponent could speak.

But freshman Assemblyman Rocky Chávez (R-Oceanside) insisted.

"What is the problem that we're trying to solve?" Chávez asked. "Is there a shortage of people offering to serve on juries?"

Couldn't be that, Chávez said, reporting that 6 million Californians showed up for jury duty last year and that 165,000 were chosen.

Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont), chairman of the Judiciary Committee that sponsored the bill, said the measure was about making jury pools more inclusive.

He said that noncitizen legal immigrants already can be judges.

But later I called a staffer, who couldn't tell me how many noncitizen judges there are. I can't imagine a governor appointing a noncitizen to the bench, or one getting elected over any citizen rival.

After all, you must be a citizen to be eligible to serve in the Legislature and write the laws. You have to be a citizen to be a governor who signs the laws. And you have to be a citizen to vote and elect the lawmakers.

It seems incongruous to allow noncitizens to determine whether a defendant has broken a law.

"Immigrants are our friends, immigrants are our neighbors, immigrants are our co-workers, immigrants are our family members," said Wieckowski, whose Bay Area district is half-populated by ethnic Asians, only roughly half of them registered voters, indicating that many are noncitizens.

The assemblyman told me that there are 3.4 million permanent noncitizen immigrants in California. "They are not being included," he said. "We lose their perspectives."

Supporters of the bill — including Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) — have cast it as a discrimination issue. They note that African Americans, Asians and even women were once barred from juries. Opening juries to noncitizens is just the latest reform, they assert.

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State Senate Democrats propose alternative to Brown's prison plan

SACRAMENTO — Democratic leaders of the state Senate on Wednesday proposed an extra $200 million annually for rehabilitation, drug and mental health treatment as an alternative to Gov. Jerry Brown's plan for reducing prison crowding.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said Wednesday that his Senate Democratic Caucus wants the spending in exchange for a three-year extension of federal judges' Dec. 31 deadline for removing more than 9,600 inmates from state prisons.

Steinberg said the Senate proposal was preferable to Brown's plan to spend $315 million this year and $415 million in each of the following two years on alternate housing for inmates.

"Temporarily expanding California's prison capacity is neither sustainable nor fiscally responsible," Steinberg wrote to Brown and inmates' attorneys Wednesday. Inmate lawsuits led to the judges' ruling that state prisons are unconstitutionally crowded.

Any extension would have to be approved by the judges, who have castigated Brown for stalling on obeying their order to shed more prisoners.

Steinberg, flanked by 16 Democratic senators in a Capitol hallway, said the Senate plan is modeled on a 2009 state program that reduced new prison admissions by nearly 9,600.

The plan won a quick endorsement from the prisoners' attorneys.

"Sen. Steinberg's substantive proposals are acceptable to us and we are open to an extension" if all parties can agree on an approach "that will resolve the chronic overcrowding problem in the state's prisons," the attorneys said in a statement.

The lawyers said they were willing to meet with the governor and discuss ways to end federal court oversight of prison medical care, imposed because the judges said overcrowding led to inadequate healthcare and needless inmate deaths.

The judges are unlikely to extend their Dec. 31 deadline without evidence that the proposal would result in meaningful policy changes, said legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at UC Irvine.

"I think the court wants to be sure this is not another delay," Chemerinsky said.

Steinberg's plan drew sharp criticism from Gov. Brown and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles).

"It would not be responsible to turn over California's criminal justice policy to inmate lawyers who are not accountable to the people," Brown said in a statement.

"My plan avoids early releases of thousands of prisoners and lays the foundation for longer-term changes, and that's why local officials and law enforcement support it," he said.

Pérez said in a separate statement that he was "deeply skeptical about Senator Steinberg's approach." It would give more power to "prisoner plaintiffs who favor mass release of prisoners," Pérez said.

Steinberg countered that his plan would also avoid early releases. But there may be no more money available for rehabilitation if the state spends more than $1 billion on incarceration over the next three years, the senator said.

Steinberg suggested that a middle ground might be found. "Does this lead to conversation that leads to a solution and compromise? I hope," Steinberg said. "You know me. It's not my way or the highway. We are putting down a settlement proposal here."

But time is short. Steinberg called for an agreement by Sept. 13, the Legislature's last meeting day this year. The settlement would provide for a panel of experts to set a new prison population cap.

In addition, an advisory panel would be formed to restructure sentencing laws so fewer offenders would be sent to prison in the long run.

The state "cannot assume that the plaintiffs and their lawyers, and the federal court, will agree to a three-year extension," said Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber).

On the other hand, nobody wants to be responsible for releasing thousands of inmates early because of a stalemate, said Raphael J. Sonenshein, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.

"You'd have to think they are going to find some accommodation," Sonenshein said.

Meanwhile, Steinberg canceled a Senate confirmation hearing for two corrections department directors appointed by the governor.

"We have additional questions about the administration's ongoing corrections policy," said Steinberg spokesman Mark Hedlund. "It makes sense to wait before we consider those two appointments."

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

Times staff writers Anthony York and Paige St. John contributed to this report.

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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to step down in next 12 months

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer will step down from the troubled tech giant in the next 12 months, ending the career of a man who helped usher in the modern computing age, only to watch it turn on him and threaten to devour his company.

The software company made the surprising announcement Friday after a tumultuous year in which it radically redesigned nearly all of its major products for a new computing era defined by mobile and touch-screen computing. No successor was named, a signal to analysts that Ballmer, 57, was pressured by the board to go.

"This came very sudden and wasn't of Ballmer's choosing," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy. "Any time there is an extended search announced, it means that it hasn't been planned."

Microsoft felt like an unstoppable force in the 1990s. The Windows operating system became the standard platform for desktop personal computers. But Microsoft couldn't adapt fast enough to the mobile and cloud-computing era.

The Redmond, Wash., company's influence waned. Its stock price stalled. And Ballmer emerged as a divisive figure. Although supporters cheered his push into business markets, critics tarred him for a lack of vision in consumer technology and for his inability to inspire the innovation needed to keep Microsoft as relevant as rivals Google Inc. and Apple Inc.

A large, bombastic presence, Ballmer often seemed as much Microsoft's cheerleader-in-chief as its CEO. He put all his frenetic energy into reinvigorating Microsoft this last year, determined to leave behind the kind of juggernaut he had inherited.

Instead, it appears Microsoft's board nudged him aside, a decision Ballmer accepted even as he hinted at regrets about not being allowed to finish what he started.

"This is an emotional and difficult thing for me to do," Ballmer wrote in a letter to Microsoft employees. "I take this step in the best interests of the company I love; it is the thing outside of my family and closest friends that matters to me most."

Speculation immediately turned to who will succeed Ballmer, a decision tinged with historic importance as the 38-year-old company wrestles with what qualities it wants in its third CEO. For all its stumbles, Microsoft's products still are among the most widely used in the world.

Among the names immediately mentioned by observers: Tami Reller, Microsoft's executive vice president of marketing; Tony Bates, Microsoft's executive vice president who runs business development; Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president for engineering; Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer; Kevin Johnson, former Juniper Networks CEO who came from Microsoft; and Lou Gerstner, former IBM CEO.

The committee created by Microsoft's board to find the next CEO includes co-founder and board Chairman Bill Gates, who stepped down as chief executive in 2000 and left day-to-operations completely in 2008 to pursue his interests in philanthropy.

"As a member of the succession planning committee, I'll work closely with the other members of the board to identify a great new CEO," Gates said in a statement.

Gates dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft with co-founder Paul Allen in 1975, at a time when the idea of personal computers in the home was the stuff of science fiction and the tech industry scoffed at the notion that software could be a business. Gates was later joined by his Harvard classmate, Ballmer, who brought business and marketing savvy.

Together, they formed a partnership that outmaneuvered rivals such as IBM and Steve Jobs at Apple.

By the time Ballmer became CEO, Microsoft had a seemingly invincible lead thanks to the dominance of its Windows operating system and a reputation for steamrolling rivals. With a bruising federal antitrust case winding down, Ballmer began his tenure by trying to soften Microsoft's reputation and settling feuds with Silicon Valley rivals.

Over the course of the next decade, Ballmer and Microsoft had their successes. Annual revenue has grown from $23 billion in 2000 to $77.8 billion for the 2013 fiscal year that ended in June.

"He tripled the revenue for the company in 13 years," Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler said. "That's pretty significant."

The creation of the Xbox made Microsoft a force in gaming. And the introduction of the Kinect, a motion-sensing gaming control device that became one of the fastest-selling consumer electronics devices in history, hinted at the kind of innovation the company could deliver.

But Ballmer's strongest move was to dramatically expand Microsoft's services for businesses, including its cloud-computing platform. His supporters said he never got enough credit for these initiatives.

"What Steve Ballmer achieved at Microsoft is actually amazing," entrepreneur Anil Dash said in a tweet. "It's underrated simply because consumer tech casts an irrationally big shadow."

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L.A., conservationists reach agreement to repair Mono Lake damage

Ending decades of bitter disputes over fragile Mono Lake, Los Angeles and conservationists on Friday announced an agreement to heal the environmental damage caused by diverting the lake's eastern Sierra tributary streams into the city's World War II-era aqueduct.

The controversy over alkaline Mono Lake, which is famous for its bizarre, craggy tufa formations and breeding grounds for sea gulls and migratory birds, is one of California's longest-running environmental disputes.

The settlement resolves all of the issues among weary combatants, including the city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Trout and the Mono Lake Committee.

It calls for construction of a $15-million adjustable gate in Grant Dam, an earthen structure 87 feet high and 700 feet long designed to impound tributary water. The goal is to release pulses of water along a seven-mile stretch of Rush Creek to mimic annual flood cycles, distributing willow seeds and promoting healthy trout populations. The settlement will not affect water levels at Mono Lake.

Roughly 12,000 acre-feet of water will be exported to Los Angeles, which will allow DWP ratepayers to make up half the cost of the improvements at Grant Dam.

The DWP Board of Commissioners on Tuesday is scheduled to vote on the settlement, which will improve the utility's image as it prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the aqueduct that helped transform the city into a metropolis of nearly 4 million people and turned portions of the Owens Valley and Mono Basin into arid wastelands.

DWP general manager Ron Nichols said the agreement "accommodates the concerns of Mono Lake stakeholders in a manner that is respectful of the concerns of LADWP's water customers for reliable and affordable water while providing certainty for all parties in the future."

The settlement will not recreate historic flows, "but it will restore fisheries and riparian habitat that existed before the aqueduct was extended into Mono Basin in 1941," said Geoffrey McQuilkin, executive director of the Mono Lake Committee, a nonprofit group organized to save and protect the bowl-shaped ecosystem roughly half the size of Rhode Island. "Now, the aqueduct can operate as required to protect the ecosystem here even as it delivers water to the city."

The settlement comes about two decades after the city was ordered to reduce the amount of water it had been diverting from Rush, Lee Vining, Parker and Walker creeks.

"This is a big deal," said Mark Drew, eastern Sierra regional manager of Cal Trout. "It was incredibly arduous to reach this agreement, which speaks to the commitment of the parties involved."

The environmental damage in the region just east of Yosemite National Park and about 350 miles north of Los Angeles was apparent by the 1970s. Tributary streams dried up. The lake level had dropped more than 40 vertical feet and the water had doubled in salinity, leaving behind smelly salt flats. The increasingly salty water threatened to kill brine shrimp, a favorite food of the estimated 50,000 California gulls that breed there each year.

The sex life of gulls became a hot topic when a declining water level revealed a land bridge connecting an island rookery to the shore, allowing coyotes to pad across and feast on the birds and their nests.

Formal protests began with a lawsuit filed in Mono County Superior Court in 1979 against the DWP by residents and environmental groups led by the Mono Lake Committee. The lawsuit alleged violations of public trust and creation of a public and private nuisance by the exposing of 14,700 acres of former lake bed.

In 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a California Supreme Court ruling that environmentalists have the right to challenge the amount of water that Los Angeles imports from tributaries of Mono Lake. A decade later, the California State Water Resources Control Board ordered minimum flows restored for the diverted streams and set a minimum water level for Mono Lake while still allowing the utility to divert some water for consumption in Los Angeles.

The city's other major source of water in the region — the Owens River and a battalion of wells pumping aquifers beneath the Owens Valley — is unaffected by the Mono Lake agreement.

New stream-flow regimens are already underway, and structural modifications at Grant Dam could be completed within four years.

"We're expecting a huge leap forward in the recovery of an estimated 19 miles of stream corridors affected by this agreement," McQuilkin said. "We expect to see stream-side forests, more insects, birds and animals — and more and bigger fish."

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

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Slain WWII veteran honored in Spokane

SPOKANE, Wash. — When Glenn Longstorff's mind goes back to that room at the hospital a few nights ago, he hurts for his friend, the man people around here knew as Shorty.

He thinks of the kid drafted to war at 18. The soldier shot in the leg on the beach at Okinawa, who never cared to say too much about it. The fixture around town — at the Sportsman Cafe & Lounge for coffee almost every morning, and at the Eagles Lodge on many nights.

Delbert Belton, 88, was in his car outside the lodge watering hole Wednesday night, waiting for his girlfriend to meet him to shoot some pool, when he was robbed and beaten. Hours later, he died at the hospital. Longstorff was at his friend's side.

"The way they beat him and how they beat him — it's absolutely terrible," said the 62-year-old railroad worker who had rented a room from Belton for five years. "Everybody's just appalled. Man's not supposed to kill man."

The killing of the World War II veteran has struck a nerve in Spokane, close to Washington's eastern edge, where a homegrown memorial has sprouted and grows outside the lodge and where locals gathered Friday for a memorial service.

Feelings of anger and confusion have spread far beyond this neighborhood of faded storefronts and modest homes as people struggle to make sense of the apparently random but stunning act of violence, which police say was perpetrated by two teenagers.

"People keep coming during the day, and laying more stuff," said Roger Chinn, 52, a janitor at the Eagles Lodge.

Authorities here said that Belton was assaulted after 8 p.m. Wednesday. Found by his girlfriend, he was bloodied but still responsive. She ran for help, screaming.

Spokane police confirmed Friday that a 16-year-old boy was taken into custody in the case. Officials have also identified a second suspect, also 16, who remains at large.

"We would encourage [the suspect] to surrender immediately," Spokane Police Chief Francis Staub said in a statement, adding that police would tirelessly hunt the young man down.

On Friday night, scores of people — some friends, others just from around the neighborhood — huddled in the breeze in the parking lot outside the lodge.

They belted out Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American" and a verse of "Amazing Grace." They also swayed along to country music blaring through speakers, because, they said, Shorty loved to dance.

Belton had worked for 30 years at an aluminum-manufacturing plant. He stayed busy in retirement, often stopping by the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic, where he'd chat with patients and joke with staff. According to Longstorff, he enjoyed fixing up old cars and then just giving them away.

It was the company of his friends that helped him cope with the death of his wife, Myrtle, about six years ago, said Barbara Belton, his daughter-in-law.

She has struggled to make sense of Belton's death. For one, he certainly didn't look like a man of means. His car was anything but flashy: a '94 Ford Contour. "He didn't dress fancy," she said. "Why these kids thought he had some money, I don't know."

At the Friday night memorial, people were invited to come stand by the American flag and say a few words about their friend. They stood under the inky sky, holding candles burning in paper cups. They talked about his hobbies, his personality and how much they'd miss him.

"That man did right, he did it for his country and he made an impact on a lot of lives," one man told the crowd. "God bless Shorty!"

rick.rojas@latimes.com

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Rojas reported from Spokane, Hamilton from Los Angeles.

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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to step down in next 12 months

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer will step down from the troubled tech giant in the next 12 months, ending the career of a man who helped usher in the modern computing age, only to watch it turn on him and threaten to devour his company.

The software company made the surprising announcement Friday after a tumultuous year in which it radically redesigned nearly all of its major products for a new computing era defined by mobile and touch-screen computing. No successor was named, a signal to analysts that Ballmer, 57, was pressured by the board to go.

"This came very sudden and wasn't of Ballmer's choosing," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy. "Any time there is an extended search announced, it means that it hasn't been planned."

Microsoft felt like an unstoppable force in the 1990s. The Windows operating system became the standard platform for desktop personal computers. But Microsoft couldn't adapt fast enough to the mobile and cloud-computing era.

The Redmond, Wash., company's influence waned. Its stock price stalled. And Ballmer emerged as a divisive figure. Although supporters cheered his push into business markets, critics tarred him for a lack of vision in consumer technology and for his inability to inspire the innovation needed to keep Microsoft as relevant as rivals Google Inc. and Apple Inc.

A large, bombastic presence, Ballmer often seemed as much Microsoft's cheerleader-in-chief as its CEO. He put all his frenetic energy into reinvigorating Microsoft this last year, determined to leave behind the kind of juggernaut he had inherited.

Instead, it appears Microsoft's board nudged him aside, a decision Ballmer accepted even as he hinted at regrets about not being allowed to finish what he started.

"This is an emotional and difficult thing for me to do," Ballmer wrote in a letter to Microsoft employees. "I take this step in the best interests of the company I love; it is the thing outside of my family and closest friends that matters to me most."

Speculation immediately turned to who will succeed Ballmer, a decision tinged with historic importance as the 38-year-old company wrestles with what qualities it wants in its third CEO. For all its stumbles, Microsoft's products still are among the most widely used in the world.

Among the names immediately mentioned by observers: Tami Reller, Microsoft's executive vice president of marketing; Tony Bates, Microsoft's executive vice president who runs business development; Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president for engineering; Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer; Kevin Johnson, former Juniper Networks CEO who came from Microsoft; and Lou Gerstner, former IBM CEO.

The committee created by Microsoft's board to find the next CEO includes co-founder and board Chairman Bill Gates, who stepped down as chief executive in 2000 and left day-to-operations completely in 2008 to pursue his interests in philanthropy.

"As a member of the succession planning committee, I'll work closely with the other members of the board to identify a great new CEO," Gates said in a statement.

Gates dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft with co-founder Paul Allen in 1975, at a time when the idea of personal computers in the home was the stuff of science fiction and the tech industry scoffed at the notion that software could be a business. Gates was later joined by his Harvard classmate, Ballmer, who brought business and marketing savvy.

Together, they formed a partnership that outmaneuvered rivals such as IBM and Steve Jobs at Apple.

By the time Ballmer became CEO, Microsoft had a seemingly invincible lead thanks to the dominance of its Windows operating system and a reputation for steamrolling rivals. With a bruising federal antitrust case winding down, Ballmer began his tenure by trying to soften Microsoft's reputation and settling feuds with Silicon Valley rivals.

Over the course of the next decade, Ballmer and Microsoft had their successes. Annual revenue has grown from $23 billion in 2000 to $77.8 billion for the 2013 fiscal year that ended in June.

"He tripled the revenue for the company in 13 years," Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler said. "That's pretty significant."

The creation of the Xbox made Microsoft a force in gaming. And the introduction of the Kinect, a motion-sensing gaming control device that became one of the fastest-selling consumer electronics devices in history, hinted at the kind of innovation the company could deliver.

But Ballmer's strongest move was to dramatically expand Microsoft's services for businesses, including its cloud-computing platform. His supporters said he never got enough credit for these initiatives.

"What Steve Ballmer achieved at Microsoft is actually amazing," entrepreneur Anil Dash said in a tweet. "It's underrated simply because consumer tech casts an irrationally big shadow."

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L.A., conservationists reach agreement to repair Mono Lake damage

Ending decades of bitter disputes over fragile Mono Lake, Los Angeles and conservationists on Friday announced an agreement to heal the environmental damage caused by diverting the lake's eastern Sierra tributary streams into the city's World War II-era aqueduct.

The controversy over alkaline Mono Lake, which is famous for its bizarre, craggy tufa formations and breeding grounds for sea gulls and migratory birds, is one of California's longest-running environmental disputes.

The settlement resolves all of the issues among weary combatants, including the city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Trout and the Mono Lake Committee.

It calls for construction of a $15-million adjustable gate in Grant Dam, an earthen structure 87 feet high and 700 feet long designed to impound tributary water. The goal is to release pulses of water along a seven-mile stretch of Rush Creek to mimic annual flood cycles, distributing willow seeds and promoting healthy trout populations. The settlement will not affect water levels at Mono Lake.

Roughly 12,000 acre-feet of water will be exported to Los Angeles, which will allow DWP ratepayers to make up half the cost of the improvements at Grant Dam.

The DWP Board of Commissioners on Tuesday is scheduled to vote on the settlement, which will improve the utility's image as it prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the aqueduct that helped transform the city into a metropolis of nearly 4 million people and turned portions of the Owens Valley and Mono Basin into arid wastelands.

DWP general manager Ron Nichols said the agreement "accommodates the concerns of Mono Lake stakeholders in a manner that is respectful of the concerns of LADWP's water customers for reliable and affordable water while providing certainty for all parties in the future."

The settlement will not recreate historic flows, "but it will restore fisheries and riparian habitat that existed before the aqueduct was extended into Mono Basin in 1941," said Geoffrey McQuilkin, executive director of the Mono Lake Committee, a nonprofit group organized to save and protect the bowl-shaped ecosystem roughly half the size of Rhode Island. "Now, the aqueduct can operate as required to protect the ecosystem here even as it delivers water to the city."

The settlement comes about two decades after the city was ordered to reduce the amount of water it had been diverting from Rush, Lee Vining, Parker and Walker creeks.

"This is a big deal," said Mark Drew, eastern Sierra regional manager of Cal Trout. "It was incredibly arduous to reach this agreement, which speaks to the commitment of the parties involved."

The environmental damage in the region just east of Yosemite National Park and about 350 miles north of Los Angeles was apparent by the 1970s. Tributary streams dried up. The lake level had dropped more than 40 vertical feet and the water had doubled in salinity, leaving behind smelly salt flats. The increasingly salty water threatened to kill brine shrimp, a favorite food of the estimated 50,000 California gulls that breed there each year.

The sex life of gulls became a hot topic when a declining water level revealed a land bridge connecting an island rookery to the shore, allowing coyotes to pad across and feast on the birds and their nests.

Formal protests began with a lawsuit filed in Mono County Superior Court in 1979 against the DWP by residents and environmental groups led by the Mono Lake Committee. The lawsuit alleged violations of public trust and creation of a public and private nuisance by the exposing of 14,700 acres of former lake bed.

In 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a California Supreme Court ruling that environmentalists have the right to challenge the amount of water that Los Angeles imports from tributaries of Mono Lake. A decade later, the California State Water Resources Control Board ordered minimum flows restored for the diverted streams and set a minimum water level for Mono Lake while still allowing the utility to divert some water for consumption in Los Angeles.

The city's other major source of water in the region — the Owens River and a battalion of wells pumping aquifers beneath the Owens Valley — is unaffected by the Mono Lake agreement.

New stream-flow regimens are already underway, and structural modifications at Grant Dam could be completed within four years.

"We're expecting a huge leap forward in the recovery of an estimated 19 miles of stream corridors affected by this agreement," McQuilkin said. "We expect to see stream-side forests, more insects, birds and animals — and more and bigger fish."

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

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Slain WWII veteran honored in Spokane

SPOKANE, Wash. — When Glenn Longstorff's mind goes back to that room at the hospital a few nights ago, he hurts for his friend, the man people around here knew as Shorty.

He thinks of the kid drafted to war at 18. The soldier shot in the leg on the beach at Okinawa, who never cared to say too much about it. The fixture around town — at the Sportsman Cafe & Lounge for coffee almost every morning, and at the Eagles Lodge on many nights.

Delbert Belton, 88, was in his car outside the lodge watering hole Wednesday night, waiting for his girlfriend to meet him to shoot some pool, when he was robbed and beaten. Hours later, he died at the hospital. Longstorff was at his friend's side.

"The way they beat him and how they beat him — it's absolutely terrible," said the 62-year-old railroad worker who had rented a room from Belton for five years. "Everybody's just appalled. Man's not supposed to kill man."

The killing of the World War II veteran has struck a nerve in Spokane, close to Washington's eastern edge, where a homegrown memorial has sprouted and grows outside the lodge and where locals gathered Friday for a memorial service.

Feelings of anger and confusion have spread far beyond this neighborhood of faded storefronts and modest homes as people struggle to make sense of the apparently random but stunning act of violence, which police say was perpetrated by two teenagers.

"People keep coming during the day, and laying more stuff," said Roger Chinn, 52, a janitor at the Eagles Lodge.

Authorities here said that Belton was assaulted after 8 p.m. Wednesday. Found by his girlfriend, he was bloodied but still responsive. She ran for help, screaming.

Spokane police confirmed Friday that a 16-year-old boy was taken into custody in the case. Officials have also identified a second suspect, also 16, who remains at large.

"We would encourage [the suspect] to surrender immediately," Spokane Police Chief Francis Staub said in a statement, adding that police would tirelessly hunt the young man down.

On Friday night, scores of people — some friends, others just from around the neighborhood — huddled in the breeze in the parking lot outside the lodge.

They belted out Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American" and a verse of "Amazing Grace." They also swayed along to country music blaring through speakers, because, they said, Shorty loved to dance.

Belton had worked for 30 years at an aluminum-manufacturing plant. He stayed busy in retirement, often stopping by the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic, where he'd chat with patients and joke with staff. According to Longstorff, he enjoyed fixing up old cars and then just giving them away.

It was the company of his friends that helped him cope with the death of his wife, Myrtle, about six years ago, said Barbara Belton, his daughter-in-law.

She has struggled to make sense of Belton's death. For one, he certainly didn't look like a man of means. His car was anything but flashy: a '94 Ford Contour. "He didn't dress fancy," she said. "Why these kids thought he had some money, I don't know."

At the Friday night memorial, people were invited to come stand by the American flag and say a few words about their friend. They stood under the inky sky, holding candles burning in paper cups. They talked about his hobbies, his personality and how much they'd miss him.

"That man did right, he did it for his country and he made an impact on a lot of lives," one man told the crowd. "God bless Shorty!"

rick.rojas@latimes.com

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Rojas reported from Spokane, Hamilton from Los Angeles.

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Garcetti, City Council reach deal on DWP labor contract, source says

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council have reached a deal on a four-year package of salaries and benefits with the union representing Department of Water and Power workers, said sources close to the negotiations.

Garcetti called a news conference for Thursday morning to discuss the proposed contract with the Local 18 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He did so hours after he met privately with the union's top official at a Silver Lake restaurant.

"I'm on top of the world," said Council President Herb Wesson, who is set to attend the news conference. "This was a tough process. It was a tough deal. You had to try to educate the public, which I think we did a decent job of trying to do and ... we had a mayor that wanted more. And at the end of the day, we have to give him credit for what we were able to get."

The council is scheduled to vote Friday. Even after that, the deal faces key hurdles. DWP employees still must vote to ratify the agreement, a process expected to take around two weeks. The five-member board that oversees the utility would need to vote on key elements in the pact, including a reduction in the retirement benefits of future workers at the utility.

[Update, 10:37 p.m. Aug. 21:] Garcetti offered no details on what had transpired over the past 24 hours, saying in a brief statement: "I'm pleased that we reached an agreement that pushes forward with DWP reform. I look forward to joining with the council president and the City Council to announce further details tomorrow."

Council members have been trying to lock down an agreement before a 2% pay increase goes into effect Oct. 1. That raise would be postponed for three years under the agreement.

Garcetti met Wednesday evening with IBEW Local 18 business manager Brian D'Arcy at Edendale Grill, a Silver Lake restaurant, shortly before 7:30 p.m. A Garcetti spokesman refused to discuss the meeting. Shortly after a Times reporter entered the restaurant and came into Garcetti's view, both men got up and left.

Backers of the deal contend that it will save $4 billion over 30 years, much of it in retirement savings. Garcetti said earlier this week that he was seeking additional salary concessions and changes that would allow city officials to rework costly or inefficient work rules.

ALSO:

Baca faces more challengers in re-election campaign

Final nixon tapes reveal bid to ease tensions with Soviets

Court ruling favors police officers who report on-the-job misconduct

Twitter: @davidzahniser

david.zahniser@latimes.com

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Obama defends cautious tack on Egypt, Syria

AUBURN, N.Y. -- In a televised interview, President Obama defended his cautious approach to situations in Egypt and Syria, citing international law and his concern about over-extending the U.S. military.

"Sometimes what we've seen is that folks will call for immediate action, jumping into stuff that does not turn out well, gets us mired in very difficult situations, can result in us being drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region," Obama said in an interview with CNN that aired Friday morning.

Obama did say he had a shorter timeline for a decision about how to respond to alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

Some members of Congress have called for the U.S. to attack the Syrian regime, perhaps by bombing its airfields, to respond to the alleged attack. U.S. officials have said they are still seeking confirmation of the allegations that Syrian government forces had used a chemical attack against rebels during recent fighting in a suburb of Damascus, the country's capital.

Asked whether the attacks had crossed the "red line" he had described a year ago, Obama said that "there are rules of international law" guiding his response.

"You know, if the U.S. goes in and attacks another country without a U.N. mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it, do we have the coalition to make it work, and, you know, those are considerations that we have to take into account," he said.

He acknowledged criticism from lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who have decried what they see as an inadequate response to the Syrian regime's attacks on its citizens.

"But what I think the American people also expect me to do as president is to think through what we do from the perspective of, what is in our long-term national interests?" he said.

In the interview, conducted Thursday during a bus tour of New York and Pennsylvania, Obama said the same cautious view applies to his policy toward Egypt, where the military recently overthrew the elected, Islamist president. Military forces have killed hundreds of supporters of the former regime in the weeks since the overthrow.

A "full evaluation" of the U.S. relationship was underway, which could include suspending aid to the country, he said.

"The aid itself may not reverse what the interim government does. But I think what most Americans would say is that we have to be very careful about being seen as aiding and abetting actions that we think run contrary to our values and our ideals," he said.

"There's no doubt that we can't return to business as usual, given what's happened."

ALSO:

Egypt frees Mubarak as crackdown on Islamists continues

British judge allows search of devices seized from journalist's partner

Bodies exhumed east of Mexico City; could be missing group from bar

michael.memoli@latimes.com

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Slain WWII veteran honored in Spokane

SPOKANE, Wash. — When Glenn Longstorff's mind goes back to that room at the hospital a few nights ago, he hurts for his friend, the man people around here knew as Shorty.

He thinks of the kid drafted to war at 18. The soldier shot in the leg on the beach at Okinawa, who never cared to say too much about it. The fixture around town — at the Sportsman Cafe & Lounge for coffee almost every morning, and at the Eagles Lodge on many nights.

Delbert Belton, 88, was in his car outside the lodge watering hole Wednesday night, waiting for his girlfriend to meet him to shoot some pool, when he was robbed and beaten. Hours later, he died at the hospital. Longstorff was at his friend's side.

"The way they beat him and how they beat him — it's absolutely terrible," said the 62-year-old railroad worker who had rented a room from Belton for five years. "Everybody's just appalled. Man's not supposed to kill man."

The killing of the World War II veteran has struck a nerve in Spokane, close to Washington's eastern edge, where a homegrown memorial has sprouted and grows outside the lodge and where locals gathered Friday for a memorial service.

Feelings of anger and confusion have spread far beyond this neighborhood of faded storefronts and modest homes as people struggle to make sense of the apparently random but stunning act of violence, which police say was perpetrated by two teenagers.

"People keep coming during the day, and laying more stuff," said Roger Chinn, 52, a janitor at the Eagles Lodge.

Authorities here said that Belton was assaulted after 8 p.m. Wednesday. Found by his girlfriend, he was bloodied but still responsive. She ran for help, screaming.

Spokane police confirmed Friday that a 16-year-old boy was taken into custody in the case. Officials have also identified a second suspect, also 16, who remains at large.

"We would encourage [the suspect] to surrender immediately," Spokane Police Chief Francis Staub said in a statement, adding that police would tirelessly hunt the young man down.

On Friday night, scores of people — some friends, others just from around the neighborhood — huddled in the breeze in the parking lot outside the lodge.

They belted out Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American" and a verse of "Amazing Grace." They also swayed along to country music blaring through speakers, because, they said, Shorty loved to dance.

Belton had worked for 30 years at an aluminum-manufacturing plant. He stayed busy in retirement, often stopping by the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic, where he'd chat with patients and joke with staff. According to Longstorff, he enjoyed fixing up old cars and then just giving them away.

It was the company of his friends that helped him cope with the death of his wife, Myrtle, about six years ago, said Barbara Belton, his daughter-in-law.

She has struggled to make sense of Belton's death. For one, he certainly didn't look like a man of means. His car was anything but flashy: a '94 Ford Contour. "He didn't dress fancy," she said. "Why these kids thought he had some money, I don't know."

At the Friday night memorial, people were invited to come stand by the American flag and say a few words about their friend. They stood under the inky sky, holding candles burning in paper cups. They talked about his hobbies, his personality and how much they'd miss him.

"That man did right, he did it for his country and he made an impact on a lot of lives," one man told the crowd. "God bless Shorty!"

rick.rojas@latimes.com

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Rojas reported from Spokane, Hamilton from Los Angeles.

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Garcetti, City Council reach deal on DWP labor contract, source says

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council have reached a deal on a four-year package of salaries and benefits with the union representing Department of Water and Power workers, said sources close to the negotiations.

Garcetti called a news conference for Thursday morning to discuss the proposed contract with the Local 18 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He did so hours after he met privately with the union's top official at a Silver Lake restaurant.

"I'm on top of the world," said Council President Herb Wesson, who is set to attend the news conference. "This was a tough process. It was a tough deal. You had to try to educate the public, which I think we did a decent job of trying to do and ... we had a mayor that wanted more. And at the end of the day, we have to give him credit for what we were able to get."

The council is scheduled to vote Friday. Even after that, the deal faces key hurdles. DWP employees still must vote to ratify the agreement, a process expected to take around two weeks. The five-member board that oversees the utility would need to vote on key elements in the pact, including a reduction in the retirement benefits of future workers at the utility.

[Update, 10:37 p.m. Aug. 21:] Garcetti offered no details on what had transpired over the past 24 hours, saying in a brief statement: "I'm pleased that we reached an agreement that pushes forward with DWP reform. I look forward to joining with the council president and the City Council to announce further details tomorrow."

Council members have been trying to lock down an agreement before a 2% pay increase goes into effect Oct. 1. That raise would be postponed for three years under the agreement.

Garcetti met Wednesday evening with IBEW Local 18 business manager Brian D'Arcy at Edendale Grill, a Silver Lake restaurant, shortly before 7:30 p.m. A Garcetti spokesman refused to discuss the meeting. Shortly after a Times reporter entered the restaurant and came into Garcetti's view, both men got up and left.

Backers of the deal contend that it will save $4 billion over 30 years, much of it in retirement savings. Garcetti said earlier this week that he was seeking additional salary concessions and changes that would allow city officials to rework costly or inefficient work rules.

ALSO:

Baca faces more challengers in re-election campaign

Final nixon tapes reveal bid to ease tensions with Soviets

Court ruling favors police officers who report on-the-job misconduct

Twitter: @davidzahniser

david.zahniser@latimes.com

16.39 | 0 komentar | Read More

Obama defends cautious tack on Egypt, Syria

AUBURN, N.Y. -- In a televised interview, President Obama defended his cautious approach to situations in Egypt and Syria, citing international law and his concern about over-extending the U.S. military.

"Sometimes what we've seen is that folks will call for immediate action, jumping into stuff that does not turn out well, gets us mired in very difficult situations, can result in us being drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region," Obama said in an interview with CNN that aired Friday morning.

Obama did say he had a shorter timeline for a decision about how to respond to alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

Some members of Congress have called for the U.S. to attack the Syrian regime, perhaps by bombing its airfields, to respond to the alleged attack. U.S. officials have said they are still seeking confirmation of the allegations that Syrian government forces had used a chemical attack against rebels during recent fighting in a suburb of Damascus, the country's capital.

Asked whether the attacks had crossed the "red line" he had described a year ago, Obama said that "there are rules of international law" guiding his response.

"You know, if the U.S. goes in and attacks another country without a U.N. mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it, do we have the coalition to make it work, and, you know, those are considerations that we have to take into account," he said.

He acknowledged criticism from lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who have decried what they see as an inadequate response to the Syrian regime's attacks on its citizens.

"But what I think the American people also expect me to do as president is to think through what we do from the perspective of, what is in our long-term national interests?" he said.

In the interview, conducted Thursday during a bus tour of New York and Pennsylvania, Obama said the same cautious view applies to his policy toward Egypt, where the military recently overthrew the elected, Islamist president. Military forces have killed hundreds of supporters of the former regime in the weeks since the overthrow.

A "full evaluation" of the U.S. relationship was underway, which could include suspending aid to the country, he said.

"The aid itself may not reverse what the interim government does. But I think what most Americans would say is that we have to be very careful about being seen as aiding and abetting actions that we think run contrary to our values and our ideals," he said.

"There's no doubt that we can't return to business as usual, given what's happened."

ALSO:

Egypt frees Mubarak as crackdown on Islamists continues

British judge allows search of devices seized from journalist's partner

Bodies exhumed east of Mexico City; could be missing group from bar

michael.memoli@latimes.com

16.39 | 0 komentar | Read More

Slain WWII veteran honored in Spokane

SPOKANE, Wash. — When Glenn Longstorff's mind goes back to that room at the hospital a few nights ago, he hurts for his friend, the man people around here knew as Shorty.

He thinks of the kid drafted to war at 18. The soldier shot in the leg on the beach at Okinawa, who never cared to say too much about it. The fixture around town — at the Sportsman Cafe & Lounge for coffee almost every morning, and at the Eagles Lodge on many nights.

Delbert Belton, 88, was in his car outside the lodge watering hole Wednesday night, waiting for his girlfriend to meet him to shoot some pool, when he was robbed and beaten. Hours later, he died at the hospital. Longstorff was at his friend's side.

"The way they beat him and how they beat him — it's absolutely terrible," said the 62-year-old railroad worker who had rented a room from Belton for five years. "Everybody's just appalled. Man's not supposed to kill man."

The killing of the World War II veteran has struck a nerve in Spokane, close to Washington's eastern edge, where a homegrown memorial has sprouted and grows outside the lodge and where locals gathered Friday for a memorial service.

Feelings of anger and confusion have spread far beyond this neighborhood of faded storefronts and modest homes as people struggle to make sense of the apparently random but stunning act of violence, which police say was perpetrated by two teenagers.

"People keep coming during the day, and laying more stuff," said Roger Chinn, 52, a janitor at the Eagles Lodge.

Authorities here said that Belton was assaulted after 8 p.m. Wednesday. Found by his girlfriend, he was bloodied but still responsive. She ran for help, screaming.

Spokane police confirmed Friday that a 16-year-old boy was taken into custody in the case. Officials have also identified a second suspect, also 16, who remains at large.

"We would encourage [the suspect] to surrender immediately," Spokane Police Chief Francis Staub said in a statement, adding that police would tirelessly hunt the young man down.

On Friday night, scores of people — some friends, others just from around the neighborhood — huddled in the breeze in the parking lot outside the lodge.

They belted out Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American" and a verse of "Amazing Grace." They also swayed along to country music blaring through speakers, because, they said, Shorty loved to dance.

Belton had worked for 30 years at an aluminum-manufacturing plant. He stayed busy in retirement, often stopping by the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic, where he'd chat with patients and joke with staff. According to Longstorff, he enjoyed fixing up old cars and then just giving them away.

It was the company of his friends that helped him cope with the death of his wife, Myrtle, about six years ago, said Barbara Belton, his daughter-in-law.

She has struggled to make sense of Belton's death. For one, he certainly didn't look like a man of means. His car was anything but flashy: a '94 Ford Contour. "He didn't dress fancy," she said. "Why these kids thought he had some money, I don't know."

At the Friday night memorial, people were invited to come stand by the American flag and say a few words about their friend. They stood under the inky sky, holding candles burning in paper cups. They talked about his hobbies, his personality and how much they'd miss him.

"That man did right, he did it for his country and he made an impact on a lot of lives," one man told the crowd. "God bless Shorty!"

rick.rojas@latimes.com

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Rojas reported from Spokane, Hamilton from Los Angeles.

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Garcetti, City Council reach deal on DWP labor contract, source says

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council have reached a deal on a four-year package of salaries and benefits with the union representing Department of Water and Power workers, said sources close to the negotiations.

Garcetti called a news conference for Thursday morning to discuss the proposed contract with the Local 18 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He did so hours after he met privately with the union's top official at a Silver Lake restaurant.

"I'm on top of the world," said Council President Herb Wesson, who is set to attend the news conference. "This was a tough process. It was a tough deal. You had to try to educate the public, which I think we did a decent job of trying to do and ... we had a mayor that wanted more. And at the end of the day, we have to give him credit for what we were able to get."

The council is scheduled to vote Friday. Even after that, the deal faces key hurdles. DWP employees still must vote to ratify the agreement, a process expected to take around two weeks. The five-member board that oversees the utility would need to vote on key elements in the pact, including a reduction in the retirement benefits of future workers at the utility.

[Update, 10:37 p.m. Aug. 21:] Garcetti offered no details on what had transpired over the past 24 hours, saying in a brief statement: "I'm pleased that we reached an agreement that pushes forward with DWP reform. I look forward to joining with the council president and the City Council to announce further details tomorrow."

Council members have been trying to lock down an agreement before a 2% pay increase goes into effect Oct. 1. That raise would be postponed for three years under the agreement.

Garcetti met Wednesday evening with IBEW Local 18 business manager Brian D'Arcy at Edendale Grill, a Silver Lake restaurant, shortly before 7:30 p.m. A Garcetti spokesman refused to discuss the meeting. Shortly after a Times reporter entered the restaurant and came into Garcetti's view, both men got up and left.

Backers of the deal contend that it will save $4 billion over 30 years, much of it in retirement savings. Garcetti said earlier this week that he was seeking additional salary concessions and changes that would allow city officials to rework costly or inefficient work rules.

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Twitter: @davidzahniser

david.zahniser@latimes.com

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Obama defends cautious tack on Egypt, Syria

AUBURN, N.Y. -- In a televised interview, President Obama defended his cautious approach to situations in Egypt and Syria, citing international law and his concern about over-extending the U.S. military.

"Sometimes what we've seen is that folks will call for immediate action, jumping into stuff that does not turn out well, gets us mired in very difficult situations, can result in us being drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region," Obama said in an interview with CNN that aired Friday morning.

Obama did say he had a shorter timeline for a decision about how to respond to alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

Some members of Congress have called for the U.S. to attack the Syrian regime, perhaps by bombing its airfields, to respond to the alleged attack. U.S. officials have said they are still seeking confirmation of the allegations that Syrian government forces had used a chemical attack against rebels during recent fighting in a suburb of Damascus, the country's capital.

Asked whether the attacks had crossed the "red line" he had described a year ago, Obama said that "there are rules of international law" guiding his response.

"You know, if the U.S. goes in and attacks another country without a U.N. mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it, do we have the coalition to make it work, and, you know, those are considerations that we have to take into account," he said.

He acknowledged criticism from lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who have decried what they see as an inadequate response to the Syrian regime's attacks on its citizens.

"But what I think the American people also expect me to do as president is to think through what we do from the perspective of, what is in our long-term national interests?" he said.

In the interview, conducted Thursday during a bus tour of New York and Pennsylvania, Obama said the same cautious view applies to his policy toward Egypt, where the military recently overthrew the elected, Islamist president. Military forces have killed hundreds of supporters of the former regime in the weeks since the overthrow.

A "full evaluation" of the U.S. relationship was underway, which could include suspending aid to the country, he said.

"The aid itself may not reverse what the interim government does. But I think what most Americans would say is that we have to be very careful about being seen as aiding and abetting actions that we think run contrary to our values and our ideals," he said.

"There's no doubt that we can't return to business as usual, given what's happened."

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michael.memoli@latimes.com

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Slain WWII veteran honored in Spokane

SPOKANE, Wash. — When Glenn Longstorff's mind goes back to that room at the hospital a few nights ago, he hurts for his friend, the man people around here knew as Shorty.

He thinks of the kid drafted to war at 18. The soldier shot in the leg on the beach at Okinawa, who never cared to say too much about it. The fixture around town — at the Sportsman Cafe & Lounge for coffee almost every morning, and at the Eagles Lodge on many nights.

Delbert Belton, 88, was in his car outside the lodge watering hole Wednesday night, waiting for his girlfriend to meet him to shoot some pool, when he was robbed and beaten. Hours later, he died at the hospital. Longstorff was at his friend's side.

"The way they beat him and how they beat him — it's absolutely terrible," said the 62-year-old railroad worker who had rented a room from Belton for five years. "Everybody's just appalled. Man's not supposed to kill man."

The killing of the World War II veteran has struck a nerve in Spokane, close to Washington's eastern edge, where a homegrown memorial has sprouted and grows outside the lodge and where locals gathered Friday for a memorial service.

Feelings of anger and confusion have spread far beyond this neighborhood of faded storefronts and modest homes as people struggle to make sense of the apparently random but stunning act of violence, which police say was perpetrated by two teenagers.

"People keep coming during the day, and laying more stuff," said Roger Chinn, 52, a janitor at the Eagles Lodge.

Authorities here said that Belton was assaulted after 8 p.m. Wednesday. Found by his girlfriend, he was bloodied but still responsive. She ran for help, screaming.

Spokane police confirmed Friday that a 16-year-old boy was taken into custody in the case. Officials have also identified a second suspect, also 16, who remains at large.

"We would encourage [the suspect] to surrender immediately," Spokane Police Chief Francis Staub said in a statement, adding that police would tirelessly hunt the young man down.

On Friday night, scores of people — some friends, others just from around the neighborhood — huddled in the breeze in the parking lot outside the lodge.

They belted out Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American" and a verse of "Amazing Grace." They also swayed along to country music blaring through speakers, because, they said, Shorty loved to dance.

Belton had worked for 30 years at an aluminum-manufacturing plant. He stayed busy in retirement, often stopping by the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic, where he'd chat with patients and joke with staff. According to Longstorff, he enjoyed fixing up old cars and then just giving them away.

It was the company of his friends that helped him cope with the death of his wife, Myrtle, about six years ago, said Barbara Belton, his daughter-in-law.

She has struggled to make sense of Belton's death. For one, he certainly didn't look like a man of means. His car was anything but flashy: a '94 Ford Contour. "He didn't dress fancy," she said. "Why these kids thought he had some money, I don't know."

At the Friday night memorial, people were invited to come stand by the American flag and say a few words about their friend. They stood under the inky sky, holding candles burning in paper cups. They talked about his hobbies, his personality and how much they'd miss him.

"That man did right, he did it for his country and he made an impact on a lot of lives," one man told the crowd. "God bless Shorty!"

rick.rojas@latimes.com

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Rojas reported from Spokane, Hamilton from Los Angeles.

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Bradley Manning gets 35-year sentence in WikiLeaks case

FT. MEADE, Md. — Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, the junior intelligence analyst who came to signify a new era of massive security breaches in the Internet age, was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison for leaking a vast trove of military and diplomatic secrets to WikiLeaks. He could be eligible for release in seven years.

So ended a high-profile case that sparked a heated debate about whether the Obama administration is prosecuting whistle-blowers rather than protecting them, a dispute fueled by a flood of recent disclosures documenting the secret surveillance of Americans' telephone and Internet data.

In his crisp Army dress uniform and wire-rim glasses, Manning stood rigidly at attention and showed no emotion as the judge, Army Col. Denise Lind, read the sentence in a brief hearing.

"We'll keep fighting for you, Bradley!" half a dozen supporters shouted as guards whisked the 25-year-old soldier from the courtroom. "You're our hero!"

Manning, who said he leaked the documents to protest U.S. foreign policy, had faced up to 90 years in prison. The far lighter sentence appeared to be a rebuke to the government. Prosecutors had urged Lind to imprison him for at least 60 years for orchestrating the largest unauthorized disclosure of classified material in U.S. history and to serve as a warning to others.

It also appeared to be a relief for Manning, who last week apologized in court for having "hurt the United States" and nervously asked the judge for a chance to someday rebuild his life. The sentence enthused many of his supporters, who have contributed $1.4 million for his defense and pledged more to support his legal appeals.

Lind did not explain the sentence. She also demoted Manning to private, took away his Army pay and ordered him dishonorably discharged. He will receive a credit of 1,294 days of confinement so far, including 112 days for the harsh treatment he received at the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va.

His lawyers said that with good behavior and the time served, he could apply for parole in less than seven years, although his release that soon is far from assured.

After the hearing, Manning's lead defense attorney, David Coombs, told reporters that the defense team met briefly in a holding area with Manning after he was sentenced. Coombs said some of the lawyers were in tears.

But Manning appeared hopeful, he said, and comforted them.

"He said, 'It's OK. It's all right. Don't worry about it,'" Coombs said. "'It's going to be OK. I'm going to be OK. I'm going to get through this.'"

Coombs said he planned to file a petition next week to seek a commutation of Manning's sentence or a pardon from the White House.

In a statement that Manning wrote to accompany the petition, he said he decided to divulge government secrets "out of love for my country." Manning also compares post-Sept. 11 abuses in the United States to other historical incidents, such as the Trail of Tears forced removal of the Cherokee people in the 1830s, the Supreme Court's Dred Scott case decision in 1857 that African Americans had no standing to sue in U.S. courts, and the forced internment of more than 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

Asked about a possible pardon, a White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, said any appeal for clemency by Manning or his lawyers would be considered "like any other application."

Supporters vowed to rally outside the White House to protest the sentence and to call for a presidential pardon. Other rallies on Manning's behalf were planned as far away as Los Angeles.

Manning is expected to serve his term at the military prison at Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas.

Prosecutors, led by Army Maj. Ashden Fein, declined to comment Wednesday.

Manning was a 22-year-old junior intelligence analyst at a forward operating base outside Baghdad in early 2010 when he began to illegally copy military field reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, detainee assessments from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and an enormous cache of diplomatic cables from classified computer accounts. He transmitted more than 700,000 documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

Documents later posted on the Internet by WikiLeaks identified informants who had helped the U.S. military, potentially putting their lives at risk. The leaks also revealed the often negative way U.S. diplomats view America's foreign allies, embarrassing the Obama administration.

Manning chose to be tried and sentenced by a military judge, not a jury. Last month, Lind convicted Manning of 20 of 22 charges, including six counts of espionage. But she acquitted him of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy, which might have sent him to prison for life.

During a pretrial hearing in February, Manning read a lengthy statement in court. He said he grew angry and disillusioned when he read the secret files, and came to believe that U.S. officials were untruthful in their claims about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other foreign affairs.

"I began to become depressed with the situation we had become mired in year after year," he said.

But last week, he read an apology to the judge, saying there was no excuse for his behavior. "I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States," he said.

His lawyers said he also wrestled with a "gender identity disorder" and struggled with psychological and emotional problems that should have barred his deployment to a war zone, especially as an intelligence analyst. At one point, he emailed his superior officer a photo that showed him wearing a blond wig and lipstick.

Manning's advocates and detractors both compared him to Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked highly classified documents that revealed the government's collection of telephone and Internet data at home and abroad.

Snowden, who is wanted on suspicion of espionage and other charges, has been granted temporary asylum in Russia. But President Obama and senior members of Congress have conceded that public unease about the flood of disclosures of long-secret surveillance systems has increased the need to improve oversight to curb potential abuses.

richard.serrano@latimes.com

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Syrian rebels allege new gas attack by government

BEIRUT — In what the opposition called the worst atrocity of Syria's civil war, antigovernment activists accused the government of killing hundreds of civilians, including many women and children, in a poison-gas attack targeting pro-rebel Damascus suburbs.

The Syrian government called reports of a massacre untrue, but the scale of the alleged carnage and the graphic videos of the dead and injured that surfaced Wednesday left many officials across the globe demanding action.

If verified, such a massive gas attack could alter the international response to the war that has raged since March 2011. Last year, President Obama called the potential use of chemical weapons in Syria a "red line" that could prompt U.S. intervention.

The U.S. has provided humanitarian and nonlethal aid to the rebels but has been reluctant to get more deeply involved. Despite a declaration in June that it would start providing military assistance, rebels say they have yet to receive any such aid, nor have they been told what to expect or when they will get it.

The opposition said rockets tipped with some kind of apparent nerve agent rained down overnight on areas to the east and south of the Syrian capital, all strongholds of rebels fighting to overthrow the government of President Bashar Assad.

Video uploaded onto YouTube showed rows of bodies, some arrayed on the floors of makeshift clinics. Many were children in underwear and pajamas, purported victims of a barrage that allegedly occurred about 3 a.m. Other footage showed people choking, flailing their arms uncontrollably, rolling their eyes, foaming at the mouth and exhibiting other signs of what could be the effects of chemical poisoning. Most showed no indication of wounds or bleeding.

In one clip, a distraught man cradled what was described as the corpse of his daughter, asking why it had happened.

Each side in the conflict has accused the other of using chemical weapons, and both sides deny the charges. The U.S. and its allies have said that evidence indicates the Syrian military has used small amounts of sarin, a nerve agent, on several occasions.

Experts who had been skeptical of previous claims said the new images showed more convincing signs of a chemical attack. But they raised a number of questions that could not immediately be answered. Some suggested the pictures suggested use of a low-grade agent.

The United States and other nations urged that a United Nations team that arrived in Damascus over the weekend to investigate previous charges of chemical weapons use be ordered to look into this incident as well.

The U.N. Security Council convened a two-hour emergency session. But afterward, the U.N., which long has been deeply divided on Syria, issued a statement condemning any use of chemical weapons as a "violation of international law," calling for a "thorough and prompt investigation" and renewing calls for a cease-fire in Syria.

The major U.S.-backed Syrian opposition group said more than 1,300 people were killed, while other antigovernment groups put the number in the hundreds. Such numbers would seem to represent the largest single-day death toll in a conflict that the U.N. says has already cost more than 100,000 lives.

One activist who lives near the town of Arbeen said rockets began hitting the area about 2:30 a.m. Residents who had been sleeping in their basements to protect themselves from shelling could not escape the chemicals, he said.

Another, reached by Skype in Zamalka, said he was awake when the first rocket hit his area. He and his friends, who are part of a volunteer ambulance team, rushed to the scene. Families stumbled out of their homes and into the street, still dressed in their pajamas, choking and out of breath, he said.

By early morning, drugs at three makeshift hospitals had run out, and victims were being treated with water, he said, adding that medical personnel were attempting to wash out people's eyes and mouths with soda.

"These reports are uncorroborated and we are urgently seeking more information," British Foreign Minister William Hague said in a statement in London. "But it is clear that if they are verified, it would mark a shocking escalation in the use of chemical weapons in Syria."

The official Syrian news agency called the reports untrue and designed to derail the ongoing U.N. inquiry.

A Syrian military official appeared on state television denouncing the reports as a desperate opposition attempt to make up for rebel defeats on the ground. After months in which rebels were making steady gains against the government, pro-Assad forces have held the momentum for much of this year, regaining territory around Damascus and in several other parts of the country.

Russia, a close ally of Assad, labeled the accusation a "premeditated provocation." Moscow has backed the Syrian government's contention that it is antigovernment rebels, not the military, who have previously used toxic gas. A Russian investigation indicated that rebels had produced chemical arms using a "cottage industry" approach, Moscow said.

Any expanded U.N. inquiry would require approval of the Syrian government. Some kind of safe passage would have to be arranged for U.N. inspectors to enter what are heavily contested war zones. The U.S. and other governments called on Damascus to agree to a new inquiry.

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