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Obama takes jobs discussions on road

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Dec. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama travels to Allentown, Pa., Friday for a discussion about job creation and growing the economy.

Obama was to tour Allentown Metal Works, which employs some of the region's last remaining steelworkers, The (Allentown) Morning Call reported. He also was to deliver remarks at Lehigh Carbon Community College in nearby Schnecksville.

Jim Gallagher, Allentown Metal Works chief executive officer, said he'd urge the president to do more for heavy industry -- if asked.

"There's an opportunity right now for the government to bring together some minds from around the country and figure out a plan that puts manufacturing back in the forefront of the American economy," Gallagher said, noting he's had to trim his workforce from 100 last year to about 65 now.

Obama's Allentown visit comes the day after he called a White House jobs forum with business, union, academic and non-profit leaders to discuss ways to cut the nation's jobless rate, now at more than 10 percent.

The Labor Department Friday reported unemployment fell 0.2 point to 10 percent in November.

Several killed in Rawalpindi attacks

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Explosions followed by gunfire Friday near a mosque in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, killed dozens, authorities said.

Dawn newspaper, quoting Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik, reported at least 30 people including worshippers were killed in the city's Qasim market where the mosque is located.

There were explosions after which gunmen began shooting indiscriminately, the report said. Security forces arriving at the scene later exchanged fire with the attackers.

Police sources told Dawn at least four attackers were involved. A military spokesman said at least two of them attacked the Qasim mosque, which is in a residential area for military officials in the heavily guarded city.

Geo TV reported as many as seven gunmen may have been involved in the attack. They tossed hand grenades before opening fire on people including mosque worshippers.

It was not clear whether the attackers also went inside the mosque. Security forces had sealed off the entire area.

Militant violence, especially against Pakistan's security installations, has escalated lately, especially since the military began its offensive in October against the Taliban, al-Qaida and other terror groups in the tribal regions of South Waziristan.

A suicide bomb attack outside Pakistan's navy headquarters in Islamabad Wednesday killed two navy personnel. The complex is near the office of the World Food Program where a similar attack in October killed five U.N. workers.

Also in October, Rawalpindi's army base was hit in an attack that left at least 19 people dead.

Panel seeks probe in climate e-mail row

LONDON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Claims British scientists altered global warming data to support arguments it is man-made should be investigated, the U.N. climate change panel said.

The allegations came to light after e-mails written by members of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, were posted on the Internet, prompting an investigation into whether computers were hacked, the BBC reported Friday.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, said the claims were serious and he wanted them investigated.

"We will certainly go into the whole lot and then we will take a position on it," Pachauri said. "We certainly don't want to brush anything under the carpet. This is a serious issue and we will look into it in detail."

One of the leaked e-mails suggested Climatic Research Unit chief Phil Jones wanted some papers omitted from the United Nation's next major assessment of climate science, the British broadcaster reported. Jones has denied the allegation.

The matter erupted two weeks ago when hundreds of messages between CRU scientists and their counterparts around the world, along with other documents, were posted on the Internet.

Skeptics of climate change claim the e-mails undermine the scientific case for climate change being caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

NATO to send 7,000 troops to Afghanistan

BRUSSELS, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- NATO members will send at least 7,000 more troops to Afghanistan in support of the U.S. surge, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Brussels.

At least 25 countries will send more forces in 2010 and there would be "more (troops) to come," Rasmussen said during the NATO ministers' summit, the BBC reported Friday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also in Brussels, called the response from NATO allies "positive," even though some major countries -- such as Germany and France -- haven't committed to sending additional troops.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. He also called on the 43 nations with a military presence in the country to send additional troops.

"With the right resources, we can succeed," Rasmussen said during a news conference after foreign ministers met with representatives of non-NATO countries with forces in Afghanistan.

Half-brother of copkiller suspect held

TACOMA, Wash., Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The half-brother of Maurice Clemmons has been charged with helping the alleged killer of four Washington state police officers elude capture, authorities say.

Rickey Hinton, 46, was ordered held on $2 million bail after he pleaded not guilty Thursday in Tacoma, Wash., to three counts of first-degree rendering criminal assistance, The Seattle Times reported.

Hinton is one of six relatives and friends of Clemmons who have been charged with helping him escape after the Sunday shootings in Lakewood, Wash.

Investigators said Hinton lived with Clemmons near the Parkland coffee shop where the shootings took place.

Two other suspects were being sought.

Clemmons 37, eluded police for more than two days before he was shot to death by a Seattle police officer early Tuesday. Clemmons had been wounded in an exchange of gunfire during the shootout with the Lakewood officers.