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U.N. resolution on Syria vetoed

DAMASCUS, Syria, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Russia and China Tuesday vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would have condemned Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

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The proposed resolution included a call for an immediate end to alleged human rights abuses by the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad, the United Nations said in a release.

In Syria, activists said four people were killed Tuesday in clashes between government security forces and military defectors in Talbiseh, near Homs, Voice of America reported. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, said at least one those killed was a civilian.

The fighting Tuesday followed days of security operations in Rastan, during which activists say government forces arrested as many as 3,000 people to track down dissident soldiers.

It's estimated 2,700 people have died in anti-government protests in Syria since mid-March.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, France, Gabon, Germany, Nigeria, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States voted in favor of the draft Security Council resolution. Brazil, India, Lebanon and South Africa abstained.

A veto by any one of the council's five permanent members -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- is enough to block any resolution.

The proposed wording condemned "the continued grave and systematic human rights violations and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities." It called for all sides to reject violence and extremism and for the creation of "an inclusive Syrian-led political process conducted in an environment free from violence, fear, intimidation and extremism, and aimed at effectively addressing the legitimate aspirations and concerns of Syria's population."

After the veto, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said his country does not support Assad's regime but that the draft resolution was not the way to achieve a peaceful resolution of the crisis. He said most Syrians desire a gradual political change, not an abrupt overthrow of the current government, and the resolution failed to adequately factor in the impact of extremists organizations in the country.

Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong said his country was greatly concerned about the violence in Syria but the resolution would only complicate matters. He said the threat of sanctions would not resolve the conflict in Syria.

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French Ambassador Gerard Araud said he was disappointed in the vote, which he said came after repeated attempts by the co-sponsors to work out acceptable wording.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the countries that did not back the resolution would have to answer to the Syrian people. She said it was a "ruse" to suggest passing the resolution would lead to military intervention in Syria.

Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari of Syria said the resolution revealed some Western countries' desire to undermine his country's authorities.

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Obama signs stop-gap spending bill

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama signed the stop-gap funding bill Wednesday, ending the specter of a U.S. government shutdown by keeping government open through Nov. 18.

The legislation is part of a package to provide $2.65 billion in disaster relief the Federal Emergency Management Agency needed to replenish accounts drained by the federal response to Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, tornadoes and wildfires, CNN reported.

Democrats objected to a Republican demand to cut spending elsewhere to offset the increase in disaster relief funding for the just ended fiscal year. The showdown ended when FEMA officials said the agency had enough money to get through the end of the fiscal year that ended Friday.

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If Congress didn't reach a new, albeit temporary, spending agreement, a partial government shutdown would have occurred when the new fiscal year began Saturday. Government shutdowns also loomed during budget talks in the spring and the debt ceiling debate in the summer.

The continuing resolution of short-term funding was necessary because Congress hasn't completed the budget appropriations process due to deep differences about government spending issues.

The latest extension is meant to give lawmakers time to debate and pass appropriations bills for the remainder of fiscal year 2012.


Israeli chemist wins Nobel Chemistry award

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of quasicrystals, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

The configuration found in quasicrystals was considered impossible and Shechtman fought fiercely against established science about how atoms were packed inside crystals, the academy said Wednesday in a release.

"The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2011 has fundamentally altered how chemists conceive of solid matter," the release said.

Shechtman's discovery in 1982 that atoms in a crystal could be packed in so they cannot be repeated challenged the belief that atoms were packed inside crystals in symmetrical patterns that could repeat.

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"His discovery was extremely controversial. In the course of defending his findings, he was asked to leave his research group," the release said. "However, his battle eventually forced scientists to reconsider their conception of the very nature of matter."

Describing Shechtman's quasicrystals includes the golden ratio, a concept from mathematics and art, the academy said. In quasicrystals, the ratio of various distances between atoms is related to the golden mean.

Shechtman, born in Tel Aviv, is a distinguished professor in the Philip Tobias Chair at Technion -- the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.


Tomblin elected governor in W.Va.

CHARLESTON, W.Va., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Acting West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin won the office in a special election Tuesday, defeating Republican Bill Maloney, returns showed.

With 81 percent of precincts reporting, Tomblin was ahead of Maloney 49 percent to 47 percent, Politico reported.

Tomblin succeeded Joe Manchin, who went from the statehouse to the U.S. Senate in 2010, following the death of longtime West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd. He will serve the remainder of Manchin's original term as governor through 2012.

Maloney, a Morgantown businessman making his first venture into elective politics, won the Republican primary in May, upsetting former West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland.

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The Republican Governors Association ran TV ads claiming Tomblin was implementing the Affordable Healthcare Act, rather than challenging its legality, CNN reported.

"A majority of America's governors are fighting in court to stop Obamacare, but Earl Ray Tomblin is implementing Obamacare in West Virginia," the ad said.

Polls indicated Maloney gained ground on Tomblin after those ads ran, and Nathan Gonzalez, political editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, told CNN connecting Tomblin to Obama made Tomblin's "life more difficult."

"National Democrats shouldn't take much comfort in a Tomblin victory," Gonzalez said, prior to the election. "Tomblin pulled together a coalition of the Chamber of Commerce, unions and the NRA in order to survive. There aren't many other Democrats that will be able to do that in 2012."


U.S. veterans proud of military service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A majority of U.S. military veterans say they're proud of their military service but only a third say the benefits of war outweigh the costs, a poll suggests.

The Pew Research Center study found 96 percent of veterans who have served in the military since Sept. 11 are proud of their military service, although 44 percent say they've had difficulties readjusting to civilian life and 37 percent say they have suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

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When taking the cost and benefits to the United States into consideration, only 34 percent of veterans said the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have both been worth fighting, Pew said Wednesday.

More than 84 percent of the veterans said the American public has little or no understanding of the problems that those in the military face. The general public appears to agree, researchers said, with 71 percent of respondents acknowledging the military and their families have made more sacrifices than the public at large.

The findings were based on a study conducted between July 28 and Sept. 15. A total of 1,853 veterans were surveyed, including 712 who served in the military after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The general population survey included 2,003 people.

The margin of sampling error for results based on the entire sample of veterans is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. For the general public, the margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

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