INCIRLIK AIRBASE, Turkey (AP)-- The U.S. will sendtwo batteries ofPatriot missiles and400 troops toTurkey as part of aNATO force meantto protect Turkishterritory from poten-tial Syrian missileattack, thePentagon saidF r i d a y .

D e f e n s eSecretary LeonPanetta signed adeployment orderen route to Turkeyfrom Afghanistancalling for 400 U.S. soldiers to operate two batteries ofPatriots at undisclosed locations in Turkey, Pentagonpress secretary George Little told reporters flying withPanetta.

Germany and the Netherlands have alreadyagreed to provide two batteries of the U.S.-builtdefense systems and send up to 400 German and360 Dutch troops to man them, bringing the total num-ber of Patriot batteries slated for Turkey to six.

German lawmakers voted 461-86 Friday toapprove the deployment of two Patriot missile batter-ies. The mandate allows Germany to deploy a maxi-mum 400 soldiers through January 2014. NATO for-eign ministers endorsed Turkey's request for thePatriots on Nov. 30.

A number of Syrian shells have landed in Turkishterritory since the conflict in the Arab state began inMarch 2011. Turkey has condemned the Syrianregime of President Bashar Assad, supported Syrianrebels and provided shelter to Syrian refugees. Ankarais particularly worried that Assad may get desperateenough to use chemical weapons.

During a brief stop at Incirlik Air Base, Panetta toldU.S. troops that Turkey might need the Patriots, whichare capable of shooting down shorter-range ballisticmissiles as well as aircraft.

He said he approved the deployment "so that wecan help Turkey have the kind of missile defense itmay very well need to deal with the threats coming outof Syria," he said.

The U.S., Germany and the Netherlands are theonly NATO members who have the upgraded PAC-3missiles, capable of missile interception. Each batteryhas an average of 12 missile launchers, a NATO offi-cial said, speaking on condition of anonymity becausealliance regulations do not allow him to speak on therecord.

In a statement issued Friday NATO spokes-

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woman OanaLungescu said "thedeployment will bedefensive only."

"It will not sup-port a no-fly zone orany offensive oper-ation. Its aim is todeter any threats toTurkey, to defendTurkey's populationand territory and tode-escalate the cri-sis on NATO'ssouth-eastern bor-der," Lungescu said.

Panetta did notmention how soonthe two Patriot bat-

teries will head to Turkey or how long they might stay.

Earlier this week in Berlin, German DeputyForeign Minister Michael Link told lawmakers that cur-rent plans call for the missile sites to be stationed atKahramanmaras, about 60 miles north of Turkey'sborder with Syria. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Ruttesaid Thursday that the Netherlands, Germany and theU.S. are working closely with Turkey "to ensure thatthe Patriots are deployed as soon as possible." But hepredicted they would not become operational beforethe end of January. Turkey joined NATO in 1952, threeyears after the alliance was formed.

At Incirlik Air Base, about 60 miles north of theSyrian border, an Air Force member asked Panettawhat the US would do if Syria used chemical or bio-logical weapons against the rebels. Panetta said hecould not be specific in a public setting, but added, "wehave drawn up plans" that give President BarackObama a set of options in the event that U.S. intelli-gence shows that Syria intends to use such weapons.

Asked by another Air Force member whether hethought Syria would "react negatively" to the Patriotdeployments, Panetta said, "I don't think they have thedamn time to worry" about the Patriots since theregime's leaders are struggling to stay in power.

He indicated that Syria's reaction to the Patriotswas not a major concern to him.

Separately, NATO will deploy its Airborne Warningand Control System aircraft, or AWACS, to Turkey ona training exercise this month, the NATO said.

He said the exercise was not connected to thedeployment of the Patriots.

The aircraft, which can detect launches of ground-to-ground missiles, will exercise command and controlprocedures as well as test the connectivity of variousNATO and Turkish communications and data sharingsystems, the official said.

PENTAGON TO SEND MIS-SILES, 400 TROOPS TO

TURKEYThe U.S. will send two batteries of Patriot mis-siles and 400 troops to Turkey as part of aNATO force meant to protect Turkish territoryfrom potential Syrian missile attack, Page 1

RUSSIA BACKTRACKS ONSTATEMENT ABOUT ASSAD'S

FALL

Russia's attempt to backpedal after a top diplo-mat said Syrian President Bashar Assad is los-ing control of his country. Page 2

POLICE: 27 KILLED ATCONN. SCHOOL; 1 OTHER

DEAD

27 people were killed in the shooting at aConnecticut elementary school, including thegunman, and one person died at another scene.

Page 3

FLORIDA ACCIDENTSTATISTICS

Accident Statistics from Florida Departmentof Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Page 4

FLORIDA ACCIDENTREPORTS

This Weeks Accident Reports from Variouscountys in Florida. Page 5

SYRIAN TROOPS BATTLEREBELS IN DAMASCUS SUB-

URBS

Syrian government forces are carrying out abroad offensive. . Page 6

FACEBOOK REJECTS GER-MAN DEMAND TO ALLOW

FAKE NAMESFacebook will fight a German privacy watch-

dog's. Page 6

UBS TO PAY $1.5 BILLIONOVER RATE-RIGGING

SCANDALTSwitzerland's UBS AG agreed to pay some

$1.5 billion in fines to international regulatorsfollowing a probe into the rigging of a key glob-al interest rate. . Page 7

CALIFORNIA IN FOR MOREUNUSUALLY HIGH 'KING

TIDES'

Other countries are now watching to see if theObama administration will back up Page 8

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, right, walks off of his plane and shakeshands with 10th Tanker Base Commander Brig. Gen Serdar Gulbas, center,Col. Christopher E. Craige, at left, Commander of the 39th Air Base Wing atIncirlik Air Base, Turkey, Friday, Dec. 14, 2012. Panetta stopped to visit troopsin Turkey before heading home after spending three days in Afghanistan.

2 Legal Street News Monday December 17, 2012

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R U S S I A B A C K T R A C K S O NS T A T E M E N T A B O U TA S S A D ' S F A L L

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's attempt tobackpedal after a top diplomat said Syrian PresidentBashar Assad is losing control of his countryreflects the dilemma Moscow faces as oppositionfighters gain ground.

Throughout the Syrian crisis, Russia has triedto walk a fine line - eschewing statements of out-right support for Assad while blocking internationalattempts either to pressure him to stop the fightingor to leave power altogether.

Instead, Russia has insisted that negotiationsare the only way to resolve the crisis and has por-trayed itself as a principled opponent of foreignintervention.

The strategy, however, has led some to viewMoscow's stance as a disingenuous attempt to propup a dictator in a country where activists say morethan 40,000 people have been killed since March2011.

As the fighting in Syria intensified over recentmonths, Russian officials have held back from publicassessments of whether Assad's regime would survive.But on Thursday, Deputy Foreign Minister MikhailBogdanov was quoted by major Russian news agencies assaying "there is a trend for the government to progressive-ly lose control over an increasing part of the territory" and"an opposition victory can't be excluded."

On Friday, the Foreign Ministry issued a convoluteddenial, saying its top envoy for Syria was merely charac-terizing the opinion of the Syrian opposition rather thanstating Russia's view.

"In that context, Bogdanov again confirmed Russia'sprincipled stance that a political settlement in Syria has noalternative," ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevichsaid in a statement.

While Bogdanov's statement seemed to signalRussia's attempt to begin positioning itself for Assad's

eventual defeat, the Foreign Ministry's backtracking clear-ly indicated that Moscow has no intention yet of pullingaway from its Mideast ally.

This was reinforced by Syrian Deputy Prime MinisterQadri Jamil, who was in Moscow on Friday to meet withBogdanov and his boss, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"There have been no changes in Russia's position,"Jamil told journalists after the meeting. "Russia stands fordialogue and against foreign interference."

Facing further questions Friday about Bogdanov'sstatement, Lukashevich insisted there had been no shift inthe Russian position on Syria. He said Moscow is contin-uing to call for a political dialogue between the Syriangovernment and the opposition on the basis of the peaceplan agreed upon at an international conference in June.

"Our only goal is to end the violence in Syria asquickly as possible, start a dialogue between the Syrians,between the government and the opposition, and work outa formula for advancing a political process," Lukashevichsaid. "There hasn't been and there won't be any retractionfrom our principled line on the Syrian affairs."

Georgy Mirsky, a leading Mideast expert with theInstitute for World Economy and International Relations,a top foreign policy think tank supported by the Russiangovernment, said Bogdanov may have slipped up.

"Bogdanov went very far, and the question is whetherhe coordinated his statement with Lavrov," the analystsaid. "If he didn't, he may have gotten himself in trouble."

Mirsky said it would be difficult for RussianPresident Vladimir Putin to dump Assad.

"It would amount to a loss of face, look likecaving in to Western pressure. That's not in hischaracter," Mirsky said. "Russia is going to loseSyria anyway. But if it's lost as a result of Assad'souster or killing or a coup by his own men, itwouldn't look like Putin's defeat. But he wouldlook very bad indeed if even he doesn't wait forBashar Assad to go away."

The U.S. quickly commended Russia onThursday for "waking up to the reality" byacknowledging the Syrian regime's impendingfall, but Lukashevich lashed back, saying that "wehaven't fallen asleep."

"We haven't changed our position and wewon't," he said.

Russia maintains a naval base at the Syrianport of Tartus, the only such outpost outside theex-Soviet Union serving Russian navy ships in theMediterranean and hosting an unspecified number

of military personnel. Russia also has an unspecified num-ber of military advisers teaching Syrians how to useRussian weapons, which make up the bulk of Syria's arse-nals.

Syria is Russia's last remaining ally in the MiddleEast and has been a major customer of Soviet and Russianweapons industries for the last four decades, acquiring bil-lions of dollars' worth of combat jets, helicopters, mis-siles, armored vehicles and other military gear.

Russia has joined with China at the U.N. SecurityCouncil to veto three resolutions that would have imposedsanctions on Assad's regime over its bloody crackdown onthe uprising that began in March 2011. Moscow also hascontinued to provide the Syrian government with weaponsdespite strong international protests.

Asked if Beijing also foresees Assad's demise andwhether it plans to evacuate its citizens in Syria, theChinese Foreign Ministry said it would take unspecifiedsteps to protect Chinese nationals and appealed anew for acease-fire and for a negotiated political transition.

"China is deeply worried about the continuing violentconflict in Syria and always believes that a diplomatic set-tlement to the Syrian issue is the only way out and alsoserves the shared interest of the international community,"Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at adaily media briefing.

On Friday, the Pentagon announced it will send twobatteries of Patriot missiles and 400 troops to Turkey aspart of a NATO force to protect Turkish territory from

from left: Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, Russian Foreign Minister SergeyLavrov and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov meet in Moscow.Russia's deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Thursday, that PresidentBashar Assad is losing control over Syria and his opponents may win, the firstacknowledgement by Assad's main ally that he faces a likely defeat

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in the school and heard twobig bangs. Teachers toldher to get in a corner, hesaid.

"It's alarming, especially inNewtown, Connecticut,which we always thoughtwas the safest place inAmerica," he said. Hisdaughter was fine.

Andrea Rynn, a spokes-woman at the hospital, saidit had three patients fromthe school but she did nothave information on theextent or nature of theirinjuries.

Mergim Bajraliu, 17, heardthe gunshots echo from his

home and ran to check on his 9-year-old sister at theschool. He said his sister, who was fine, heard ascream come over the intercom at one point. He saidteachers were shaking and crying as they came out ofthe building.

"Everyone was just traumatized," he said.

Richard Wilford's 7-year-old son, Richie, is in the sec-ond grade at the school. His son told him that heheard a noise that "sounded like what he described ascans falling."

The boy told him a teacher went out to check on thenoise, came back in, locked the door and had the kidshuddle up in the corner until police arrived.

"There's no words," Wilford said. "It's sheer terror, asense of imminent danger, to get to your child and bethere to protect him."

The White House said Barack Obama was notified ofthe shooting and his spokesman Jay Carney said thepresident had "enormous sympathy for families thatare affected."

P O L I C E : 2 7 K I L L E D A T C O N N .S C H O O L ; 1 O T H E R D E A D

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Street News Monday, December 17,2012 3

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) -- Policesay 27 people were killed in theshooting at a Connecticut elemen-tary school, including the gunman,and one person died at anotherscene.

The dead at the school include 20children.

The gunman opened fire Fridaymorning inside a school where hismother worked. He blasted his waythrough the building as young stu-dents cowered helplessly in class-rooms while their teachers andclassmates were shot.

The gunman killed himself. Gov.Dannel P. Malloy says someonewho lived with him also died.

Young students crying and looking frightened wereescorted by adults through a parking lot in a line afterthe shots rang out in Newtown, 60 miles northeast ofNew York City.

The attack comes less than two weeks beforeChristmas and appears to be the nation's second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by theVirginia Tech massacre in 2007.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check backsoon for further information. AP's earlier story isbelow.

A gunman opened fire inside a Connecticut elemen-tary school where his mother worked Friday, killing atleast 26 people, including 18 children, by blasting hisway through the building as young students coweredhelplessly in classrooms while their teachers andclassmates were shot.

The attack, coming less than two weeks beforeChristmas, appeared to be the nation's second-dead-liest school shooting, exceeded only by the VirginiaTech massacre in 2007.

The death toll - 26 victims plus the gunman - wasgiven to The Associated Press by an official whospoke on condition of anonymity because the investi-gation was still under way.

Panicked parents raced to Sandy Hook ElementarySchool, about 60 miles northeast of New York City,looking for their children in the wake of the shooting.

Students were told to close their eyes by police asthey were led from the building.

Robert Licata said his 6-year-old son was in classwhen the gunman burst in and shot the teacher.

"That's when my son grabbed a bunch of his friendsand ran out the door," he said. "He was very brave.He waited for his friends."

He said the shooter didn't utter a word.

A photo taken by The Newtown Bee newspapershowed a group of young students - some crying, oth-ers looking visibly frightened - being escorted byadults through a parking lot in a line, hands on eachother's shoulders.

The suspect was 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, whosemother, Nancy, works at the school, a law enforce-ment official said. His younger brother was being heldfor questioning as a possible second shooter, the offi-cial said.

Ryan Lanza's girlfriend and another friend were miss-ing in New Jersey, the official also said. The officialspoke on the condition of anonymity because thesource was not authorized to speak on the recordabout the developing criminal investigation.

Students and staff were among the victims, statepolice Lt. Paul Vance said a brief news conference.He also said the gunman was dead inside the school,but he refused to say how people were killed.

Stephen Delgiadice said his 8-year-old daughter was

Connecticut State Police lead children from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., following areported shooting there Friday, Dec. 14,

www.veteransvoice.org

SABER-TOOTHED

C A T F O S S I L S

F O U N D N E A R

L A S V E G A S

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Researchers say a pairof fossils unearthed in the hills north of LasVegas belonged to a saber-toothed cat.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports(HTTP://ON.RGJ.COM/SYEHTN ) a teamfrom California's San Bernardino CountyMuseum identified the fossils dug up in Juneas being front leg bones from the extinctpredator.

Kathleen Springer, the museum's senior cura-tor, says the saber-tooth fossils are thought tobe approximately 15,590 years old.

The discovery marks the first of its kind in thefossil-rich Upper Las Vegas Wash. Springerheads a team that's been studying the washfor a decade and been collecting fossils thereunder a contract with the U.S. Bureau of LandManagement since 2008.

She says the bones of Las Vegas' only knownsaber-toothed cat are still being studied.There are no immediate plans to displaythem, but Springer expects that to happeneventually.

http://www.worldwildlife.org

4 Legal Street News Monday December 17, 2012

F L O R I D A A C C I D E N T S T A T I S T I C SData From the Official Website of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. www.flhsmv.gov

______________________________________Legal Street News Monday, December 17, 2012 5THIS WEEK

A U T O A C C I D E N T S I N S O U T H F L O R I D A

http://www.worldwildlife.org http://www.aging-research.org

Crashes and incidents being reported on area road-ways by the Florida Highway Patrol and FloridaDepartment of Transportationinclude:

7:37 a.m., disabled vehicle near the 1700 block ofeastbound Cypress Creek Road, blocking a leftlane;

7:24 a.m., disabled vehicle on U.S. 1 at I-595;

7:23 a.m., crash on southbound I-95 afterHallandale Beach Boulevard, blocking a left lane;7:11 a.m., I-595 eastbound crash at the exit ramp tonorthbound I-95, no travel lanes blocked;

7:08 a.m., disabled vehicle on southbound I-95 nearthe exit ramp to Woolbright Road in Boynton Beach.

The incident having the biggest affect on SouthFlorida's roadways early Monday happened innorthwest Miami-Dade where a lunch truck over-turned in the northbound lanes of Interstate 75 nearMiami Gardens Drive (Northwest 186th Street).

Shortly before 7 a.m., the incident had most of thenorthbound lanes closed and was causing signifi-cant delays.

By 7:30 a.m., all travel lanes were reopened butnorthbound travel was extremely slow.

The crash site is just south of the Broward Countyline and was causing some southbound delaysbecause of onlookers.

Additionally, outside Fort Pierce, all the southboundlanes of Interstate 95 were closed because of a trac-tor trailer fire. Southbound I-95 motorists werebeing detoured off the roadway at OkeechobeeRoad.

Northbound I-95 crashthrough Pompano Beach

Crashes and incidents being reported Tuesdaymorning on South Florida's roadways by the FloridaHighway Patrol and Florida Department ofTransportation include:

6:47 a.m., northbound I-95 injury crash near CopansRoad in Pompano Beach, slowdowns through thecrash scene;

6:25 a.m., southbound crash I-95 approachingSheridan Street;

6:14 a.m., northbound I-95 near Hallandale BeachBoulevard, debris reported in the roadway;

5:58 a.m., northbound injury crash on I-95 nearHollywood Boulevard, travel lanes now clear;

Northbound I-95, hit-and-run crash near theentrance ramp to Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

December 11, 2012

December 11, 2012

Motorcycle in I-95 Crash:

December 12, 2012

WEST PALM BEACH — A motorcyclist was struckby a white Toyota Tacoma on the northboundBelvedere Road exit ramp of Interstate 95 this morn-ingAccording to the Florida Highway Patrol, around 9a.m. today, a man in his 20s driving a blackKawasaki motorcycle attempted to make a lanechange when he struck the Toyota and was thrownfrom his motorcycle.The man - whose name has not been released - wastaken to St. Mary's Medical Center and treated forminor injuries.

Fort Pierce motoristaccused in high-speed

chase, accident after roadrage incident

All but one lane reopenson I-95 near Boynton after

crash

Decembr 16, 2012

PORT ST. LUCIE — A Fort Pierce motorist sped upto 120 mph through the city as law enforcement offi-cers pursed him in a road rage case late Thursdaynight, according to arrest affidavits.Michael Hicks, 23, of the 3100 block of NaylorTerrace, finally was apprehended after he ran into apickup truck, spinning it almost 180 degrees.When Hicks was hospitalized for injuries, a deputyquoted him as telling medical staff he had takenXanax.He was arrested by sheriff’s deputies and police onfour felony charges: aggravated battery, aggravatedfleeing from a law enforcement officer and tamper-ing with evidence tampering by allegedly throwing abeer can out of the window of his 2002 Buick. Healso was charged with driving while intoxicated,reports show.The pursuit started when Port St. Lucie police got a911 call from a motorist complaining Hicks was pur-suing him after they talked at a gas station on St.Lucie West Boulevard. The caller said Hicks wasupset about a breakup with a girlfriend. The girlfriendalleged Hicks was holding the caller as a hostage atthe gas station, the report states.However, the caller said he shook hands with Hicksbefore driving off — then Hicks reportedly startedclosely following the car and bumping it, accordingto arrest reports.Hicks is accused of speeding on Airoso Boulevard,St. James Drive and 25th Street until finally strikingthe pickup truck at Oleander Avenue at 11:48 p.m.Along the way, he ran a red light and stop signs inalleged attempts to escape law enforcement,according to the reports.In a report, a deputy wrote that at one point, “Ireached a speed of almost 120 mph ... (and) thedefendant began (pulling) away from me. I estimat-ed his speed to be 120 to 130 mph” on South 25thStreet.

December 13, 2012

A work trailer full of nails and carpentry overturned inthe southbound lanes of Interstate 95 in the BoyntonBeach area this morning, temporarily blocking threelanes of traffic as crews worked to clear the debrisfrom the road, Florida Highway Patrol reports.All but one lane of the interstate is now open, FHPspokesman Lt. Tim Frith said.“It overturned and nails were all over thre or fourlanes,” he said.The crash happened about 7:27 a.m. near BoyntonBeach Boulevard. At one point, three southboundlanes were closed and the traffic backed up to 6thAvenue South in the Lake Worth area.

www.veteransvoice.org

One person taken to trau-ma center after wreck on

U.S. 1

December 14, 2012One person was air lifted to Shands JacksonvilleMedical Center after a two-car accident on U.S. 1South, said St. Johns County Fire Rescuespokesman Lt. Andrew O’Quinn.The accident happened around 5:05 p.m. at U.S. 1South and State Road 206, according to theFlorida Highway Patrol.The crash involved a Nissan and a dump truck,said Ron Cooper, Florida Highway Patrol communi-cations center supervisor.John Begley, 42, was the driver of the Nissan,Cooper said. David Allen Hicks, 33, drove thedump truck.The driver of the Nissan was taken to the hospitalin serious condition, O’Quinn said.Further details about the crash and the drivers’hometowns were not available as of Fridayevening.Part of U.S. 1 South was blocked for more than anhour.

I-95 injury crash throughPompano Beach

Among the crashes and incidents being reportedFriday morning by the Florida Highway Patrol andFlorida Department of Transportation on area road-ways:8:59 a.m., injury crash on I-95 northbound nearSample Road inPompano Beach, no travel lanesblocked;Hit-and-run crash on the I-95 northbound entranceramp to Griffin Road in Dania Beach, no travellanes blocked;8:31 a.m., crash in the northbound lanes of I-95after Hillsboro Boulevard in Deerfield Beach, notravlel lanes blocked.

December 13, 2012

Broward County CrashsJuly 2, I-95

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community in Syria stayed on thesidelines. But as the civil wardeepened, most Palestiniansbacked the rebels, while somegroups - such as the PFLP-GC-have been fighting alongside thetroops. The group is led by AhmedJibril, Assad's longtime ally.

The fighting in the camp hasforced an exodus of Palestinianrefugees and Syrians who cameto the camp in past weeks toescape violence elsewhere in thecity, according to United Nationsofficials.

Palestinian president MahmoudAbbas said in a statement

Wednesday he had asked U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to help in bringing the Palestinian refugeesin Syrian to the Palestinian territories. This couldinclude the West Bank, where Abbas governs, orthe Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The statement said there are 450,000Palestinian refugees living in 10 camps in Syria.Abbas said Yarmouk, which is the biggest camp,"has been through a difficult situation due to theescalating conflict in Syria."

Any movement of refugees into the West Bankwould need the consent of Israel.

Israel's Foreign Ministry had no comment.

6 Legal Street News Monday December 17, 2012________________________________________________________

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BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian government forces arecarrying out a broad offensive against rebels inthe suburbs of Damascus, the state media saidWednesday, while the opposition said it madeadvances in a Palestinian refugee camp nearbywhere its fighters have been battling with a pro-regime faction.

The state-run SANA news agency saidWednesday that troops have killed "scores ofterrorists" - the government term for the rebelsfighting to topple President Bashar Assad.

The suburbs of the Syrian capital have beenopposition strongholds since the uprising startedin March 2011. The rebels have recently madesignificant advances in in the area, capturing airbases and military installation and clashing witha pro-government Palestinian group for control ofthe Yarmouk refugee camp, located in the capi-tal's southern part.

SANA said Wednesday's fighting was takingplace in the capital's southern outskirts ofDaraya, Harasta, Douma and Hajar Aswad, aneighboring area of Yarmouk.

On Tuesday, Syrian fighter jets bombed Yarmoukfor the second time in a week, sending thou-sands fleeing from the camp.

There were no reports on casualties from thosestrikes. Similar airstrikes on Sunday killed atleast eight people in Yarmouk, activists said.

The rebel offensive in the camp, which beganFriday, is aimed at driving out a pro-governmentPalestinian gunmen of the Popular Front for theLiberation of Palestine-General Command.

Most of the fighting on Wednesday was concen-trated on surrounding districts outside the camp,the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for HumanRights said. It said the rebels took control oflarge parts of the camp after resistance from thePFLP-GC gunmen ceased early Wednesday.The group relies on reports from activists on theground.

When the revolt against Assad's rule began 21months ago, the half-million-strong Palestinian

S Y R I A N T R O O P S B A T T L ER E B E L S I N D A M A S C U S S U B U R B S

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In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, a boy runs for cover after a mortar shell hita street killing several people in the Bustan Al-Qasr district of Aleppo, Syria.

F A C E B O O K R E J E C T S G E R M A N

D E M A N D T O A L L O W F A K E N A M E S

BERLIN (AP) -- Facebook will fight aGerman privacy watchdog's demand toallow users to register with fake names,insisting Tuesday that its current prac-tice fully complies with the law.

The California-based social networkingsite has long required users to registerwith their real names - a policy that thedata protection commissioner ofSchleswig-Holstein state says is inbreach of German law and Europeanrules designed to protect free speechonline.

The commissioner, Thilo Weichert,ordered Facebook on Monday to rescindits real name policy immediately.

"We believe the orders are withoutmerit, a waste of German taxpayers'money and we will fight it vigorously,"Facebook said in a statement. The com-pany claims that its real name policy isintended to protect users.

Weichert told The Associated Press thatFacebook has two weeks to respond. Ifit fails to comply with the order, his officecan impose a penalty against the com-pany, said Weichert.

The maximum fine would be only(EURO)50,000 ($66,000) - peanuts for amultinational company, but neverthelessa symbolic blow that could also lead toa tougher stance from other Germanand European privacy regulators.

"We have the right to prevent this dataprotection breach," he said."Theoretically we can order the websiteblocked, but that would be dispropor-tionate."

German privacy rules have posed alegal headache for Facebook, Googleand other web giants in recent years.The country has strict laws on data pro-tection that give consumers significantrights to limit the way companies usetheir information.

Weichert has previously warnedinvestors against buying Facebookshares, warning that the company's"business model will implode" becauseFacebook users' private information isused in breach of European law.

Facebook says it has more than 20 mil-lion active users in Germany.

_____________________________________________________Legal Street News Monday, December 17, 2012 7

U B S T O P A Y $ 1 . 5 B I L L I O NO V E R R A T E - R I G G I N G S C A N D A L

The logo of Swiss bank UBS is seen in Zurich, Switzerland, inthis Dec. 18, 2001 picture. UBS reported a first quarter net profitof 2.42 billion Francs ($1.89 billion) in this May 4, 2004 file photo.Swiss bank UBS announced Wednesday Dec. 19, 2012 to pay1.4 billion Swiss francs (US$ 1.53 billion) in fines to resolve inves-tigations that it helped manipulate the benchmark LIBOR interestrate

al systemically important banks" that theBasel, Switzerland-based Bank forInternational Settlements, the central bank forcentral banks, considers too big to fail.

It's not the first time that UBS has fallen afoulof regulators. Notably in 2009, U.S. authoritiesfined UBS $780 million in 2009 for helpingU.S. citizens avoid paying taxes.

The U.S. government has since been pushingSwitzerland to loosen its rules on bankingsecrecy and has been trying to shed its imageas a tax haven, signing deals with the UnitedStates, Germany and Britain to provide greaterassistance to foreign tax authorities seekinginformation on their citizens' accounts.

In April, Ermotti called Switzerland's tax dis-putes with the United States and someEuropean nations "an economic war" puttingthousands of jobs at risk.

And in September 2011 the bank announcedmore than $2 billion in losses and blamed a32-year-old rogue trader, Kweku Adoboli, at itsLondon office for Britain's biggest-ever fraud ata bank.

Britain's financial regulator fined UBS, sayingits internal controls were inadequate to preventAdoboli, a relatively inexperienced trader, frommaking vast and risky bets. Adoboli has beensentenced to seven years in prison.

GENEVA (AP) -- Switzerland's UBS AGagreed Wednesday to pay some $1.5 billion infines to international regulators following aprobe into the rigging of a key global interestrate.

In admitting to fraud, Switzerland's largestbank became the second bank, after Britain'sBarclays PLC, to settle over the rate-riggingscandal. The fine, which will be paid to author-ities in the U.S., Britain and Switzerland, alsocomes just over a week after HSBC PLCagreed to pay nearly $2 billion for allegedmoney laundering.

The settlement caps a tough year for UBS andthe reputation of the global banking industry.As well as being ensnared in the industry-wideinvestigation into alleged manipulations of thebenchmark LIBOR interest rate, short forLondon interbank offered rate, UBS has seenits reputation suffer in a London trial into amultibillion dollar trading scandal and ongoingtax evasion probes.

As a result of the fines, litigation, unwinding ofreal estate investments, restructuring andother costs, UBS said it expects to make afourth quarter net loss of between 2 billion to2.5 billion Swiss francs ($2.2-2.7 billion).Nevertheless, the Zurich-based bank main-tained that it "remains one of the best capital-ized banks in the world."

Despite the fine, investors were cheered thatsome of the uncertainty surrounding the stockhas been lifted. UBS shares were trading up1.6 percent at 15.50 francs around noon onthe Zurich exchange.

Other banks are expected to be fined for theirinvolvement in the LIBOR scandal. LIBOR,which is a self-policing system and relies oninformation that global banks submit to aBritish banking authority, is important becauseit is used to set the interest rates on trillions ofdollars in contracts around the world, includingmortgages and credit cards.

UBS characterized the probes as "industry-wide investigations into the setting of certainbenchmark rates across a range of curren-cies."

The UBS penalty is more than triple the $450million in fines imposed by American andBritish regulators in June on Barclays for sub-mitting false information between 2005 and2009 to manipulate the LIBOR rates. Thosefines exposed a scandal that led to the depar-ture of Chief Executive Bob Diamond and theannouncement that Chairman Marcus Agiuswould step down at the end of the year.

In accepting the fines, UBS said some of itsemployees tried to rig the LIBOR rate in sever-al currencies, but that its Japan unit, wheremuch of the manipulation took place, entereda plea to one count of wire fraud in an agree-ment with the U.S. Justice Department.

UBS said some of its personnel had "engagedin efforts to manipulate submissions for certainbenchmark rates to benefit trading positions"and that some employees had "colluded withemployees at other banks and cash brokers toinfluence certain benchmark rates to benefittheir trading positions."

UBS added that "inappropriate directions" hadbeen submitted that were "in part motivated bya desire to avoid unfair and negative marketand media perceptions during the financial cri-sis."

Britain's financial regulator called the miscon-duct by UBS "extensive and broad" with therate-fixing carried out from UBS offices inLondon and Zurich.

Different desks were responsible for differentrate submissions. At least 2,000 requests forinappropriate submissions were documented -an unquantifiable number of oral requests,which by their nature would not be document-ed, were also made, the U.K.'s FinancialServices Authority said.

"Manipulation was also discussed in internalopen chat forums and group emails, and waswidely known," the FSA said. "At least 45 indi-viduals including traders, managers and seniormanagers were involved in, or aware of, thepractice of attempting to influence submis-sions."

Joe Rundle, head of trading at London-basedETX Capital, said the case exposes "just howbrazen and arrogant" the UBS traders werewhile collaborating with "corrupt external bro-kers."

Sergio Ermotti, who was appointed CEO ofUBS AG in November 2012 in the wake of amajor trading scandal, said the misconductdoes not reflect the bank's values or stan-dards.

"We deeply regret this inappropriate andunethical behavior. No amount of profit is moreimportant than the reputation of the firm, andwe are committed to doing business withintegrity," he said.

With more than 2.2 trillion Swiss francs ($2.4trillion) in invested assets, UBS is one of theworld's largest managers of private wealthassets. At last count, the bank had 63,745employees in 57 countries and said it aims fora headcount of 54,000 in 2015.

Along with Credit Suisse, the second-largestSwiss bank, UBS is on the list of the 29 "glob-

LONDON (AP) -- Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesdayit has withdrawn its requests to have sales of certainApple products banned in Europe, though it is still pursu-ing lawsuits over technology licenses.

The two companies are waging a legal battle on multiplefronts and across the world as they jostle for dominancein the more than $100 billion global smartphone market.

On Monday, a judge in San Francisco rejected AppleInc.'s demands that Samsung cease selling modelswhich a jury recently found illegally used Apple technolo-gy. The ruling allows Samsung to continue selling threeof the older-generation smartphones still on U.S.shelves.

In the European case, Samsung said it was withdrawingthe injunction requests "in the interest of protecting con-sumer choice." It did not specify in what countries it wasdropping the requests, but press reports mentionedGermany, France, Britain, Italy and the Netherlands.

While it dropped the sales ban request, Samsung is stillsuing Apple in Europe over the use of certain technologylicenses.

"Samsung did not withdraw its lawsuits in Europe; thelawsuits are very much in place," said Samsungspokesman Kiyung Nam.

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HUNTINGTON BEACH,Calif. (AP) -- The tide is high, andit's holding on.

Some Californians were in foranother day of ankle-deep seawaterin low-lying coastal communitiesFriday as unusually high "kingtides" pulled the Pacific fartherashore than normal.

The tides, the result of an occa-sional astronomical alignment,caused some damage Thursday butproved mostly just a nuisance.

Water flooded Pacific CoastHighway and side streets in SunsetBeach, a sliver of Huntington Beachbetween the ocean and a yacht har-bor. Down the Southern Californiacoast, Newport Bay was brimming,while just north of San Franciscothe tide swamped a commuter park-ing lot in Marin City and seepedinto dozens of cars.

Bruce DuAmarell, an 18-yearSunset Beach resident, said he got a call at work from analarmed neighbor and came home.

"My garage had flooded. There were four to five inches inmy garage," he said, as he took a break from sweeping wateronto the street. "It came up over the seawall and literally filledup the harbor."

DuAmarell said he lost a vacuum cleaner and someChristmas presents for his children, but otherwise wasunscathed.

Occurring several times a year, king tides happen whenthe Earth, moon and sun align in a way that increases gravita-tional pull on the Earth's oceans, raising water levels severalfeet above normal high tides. The non-scientific term alsorefers to extremely low tides.

Residents of Sunset Beach expect flooding, but that didn't

keep 13-year resident Fred Grether out of trouble.

He tried to drive his 2004 Porsche to a car wash to rinseoff the salt water after the flooding reached the rims and under-carriage. But driving to the car wash did more damage thanstaying put, he said as a tow truck prepared to haul his car tothe shop.

"I didn't realize how deep it was at the intersection and assoon as I got to the intersection, I heard this frizzling noise andmy car alarm started going off and I realized that I had burnedout the electrical system on my car," he said.

"Now I'm off to my local mechanic today about me doingsomething very, very stupid," said Grether, who's seen flood-ing three times.

The tide at Marin City reached 7 feet, slightly higher than

8 Legal Street News Monday, December 17, 2012

C A L I F O R N I A I N F O R M O R EU N U S U A L L Y H I G H ' K I N G T I D E S '

T W I N N A S A S PA C E C R A F T P R E -P A R E T O C R A S H I N T O M O O NLOS ANGELES (AP) -- After nearly a year circling themoon, NASA's Ebb and Flow will meet their demisewhen they crash - on purpose - into the lunar surface.

Just don't expect to see celestial fireworks. Next week'simpact near the moon's north pole by the washingmachine-sized spacecraft won't carve a gaping crater orkick up a lot of debris. And it'll be dark when it happens.

"We are not expecting a big flash or a big explosion" thatwill be visible from Earth, said mission chief scientistMaria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology.

Still, it'll mark a violent end to a successful mission thathas produced the most high-resolution gravity maps ofEarth's closest neighbor. On Friday, engineers will turnoff the science instruments in preparation for Monday'sfinale.

Previous unmanned trips to the moon have studied itslumpy gravitational field, but Ebb and Flow are the firstones dedicated to this goal. Since entering orbit overNew Year's weekend, the formation-flying spacecrafthave peered past the craggy surface into the interior.

Initially, the spacecraft flew about 35 miles above thesurface and later dropped down to 14 miles. About anhour before Monday's impact, they will fire their enginesuntil they run out of fuel and slam at 3,800 mph into apredetermined target - a mountain near the north polethat's far away from the Apollo landing sites.

Ebb will hit first followed by Flow 20 seconds later.Though the drama won't be visible from Earth, the LunarReconnaissance Orbiter will fly over the crash site after-ward and attempt to spot them.

The last time NASA aimed at the moon was in 2009. Theworld watched through telescopes and over the Internetas a spacecraft and its booster rocket smashed into apermanently shadowed crater - a one-two punch that fiz-

zled when spectators saw little more than a fuzzy whiteflash.

The mission's end will also mark the close of a studentcampaign that used cameras aboard the spacecraft toimage lunar targets including on the moon's far side. TheMoonKAM project was spearheaded by a science educa-tion company founded by Sally Ride, the first Americanwoman in space. Ride died of pancreatic cancer in Julyat age 61.

Even after Ebb and Flow complete their mission, scien-tists will continue to pore over the bounty of data theycollected.

Among their findings so far: The moon is more beat upthan previously imagined. The crust is much thinner thanthought. And there's no evidence that Earth once hadtwo moons that collided to form the one we see in thenight sky.

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) -- Lingering radioactive contamina-tion exists at a former rocket test lab outside of Los Angelesthat was the site of a partial nuclear meltdown, federal envi-ronmental regulators said Wednesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency launched a $42 mil-lion study to investigate radioactive pollution at the SantaSusana Field Laboratory, 25 miles northwest of downtownLos Angeles.

Technicians collected 3,735 soil samples from a corner ofthe 2,850-acre hilltop lab where most of the testing wasdone. Of those, they found about 10 percent containedradioactive concentrations exceeding background levels.

Most of the contaminated soil was found in places like thematerials handling facility that were previously cleaned, butit looked like "isolated spots were missed," said MaryAycock, an EPA Superfund remedial project manager.

The pollution occurred in restricted areas of the lab andenvironmental officials said there was no immediate threat tothe community because the site is secure.

The EPA presented its findings at a public meeting in SimiValley, home of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. Itexpects to issue a final report by the end of the month.

The Energy Department conducted nuclear research at thesite from the 1950s through 1998. It was the site of 10 reac-tors, one of which had a partial meltdown, and an open-airpit where workers burned radioactive and chemical waste.

The EPA deals with Superfund sites around the UnitedStates and many former Energy Department facilities in theWest are more contaminated than Santa Susana, saidMichael Montgomery, assistant director of EPA's Superfunddivision.

The Energy Department, NASA and Boeing Co. are respon-sible for a cleanup that is being overseen by the state. Thedeadline for ridding the site of chemical and radioactive pol-lution is 2017.

during last December's king tides,which prompted the CaliforniaHighway Patrol to temporarilyclose a local highway connectorramp due to roadway floodingmidmorning.

The damage could have beenmuch worse if the weather hadbrought big waves along with thehigh tides, National WeatherService forecaster Larry Smithsaid.

"Right now it's just a neatthing.... When we have the lowtide this afternoon you will be seefather out than you normallywould," Smith said. "It kind ofdoes give you a glimpse of whatthe future might be with the sealevel rise."

The tides reached over 10 feetin Redwood City, a bit above pre-dicted levels, the National WeatherService said.

The event provided organizers of the California KingTides Initiative an opportunity to get California residentsthinking about and preparing for the future. The 3-year-old ini-tiative, sponsored by government and nonprofit groups, enlistscamera-toting volunteers to photograph the King Tides as anillustration of what low-lying coastal areas could look like ifpredictions about the Earth's climate come to pass.

As of Thursday afternoon, about 100 new snapshots hadbeen uploaded to the photo-sharing project, coordinator HeidiNuttles said.

"It's definitely very high tides this year, and we justencourage people to use this opportunity to go out, take pic-tures and reflect what this means for our shoreline and the factthat's its constantly changing even today, and how that mightaffect how we think about sea level rise in the future," Nuttlessaid.

Newly moved in resident Juliana Chen steps out of her garage with her daughter into the overflowed street onto PacificCoast Highway in the Sunset Beach area of Huntington Beach, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Astronomical high tideshave caused minor street flooding in some low-lying areas along the Southern California coast.

This undated artist file rendering provided by NASA on Dec. 21,2011, shows the twin Grail spacecraft mapping the lunar gravityfield. Launched from Cape Canaveral on Sept. 10, 2011, thespacecraft began collecting data in March, 2012. After nearly ayear circling the moon, NASA's Ebb and Flow spacecraft willmeet their demise when they are scheduled to crash - on pur-pose - into a lunar mountain Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, ending asuccessful mission.

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