Manti Te'o says he's the victim of "girlfriend" hoax

Updated 10:02 p.m. ET

SOUTH BEND, Ind. Notre Dame said a story that star Manti Te'o's girlfriend had died of leukemia — a loss he said inspired him all season and helped him lead the Irish to the BCS title game — turned out to be a hoax apparently perpetrated against the linebacker.

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Manti Te'o

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick held a press conference late Wednesday about the apparent hoax Wednesday after Deadspin.com said it could find no record that Lennay Kekua ever existed.

"This was a very elaborate, very sophisticated hoax perpetrated for reasons we can't fully understand," Swarbrick said.

CBS News and its morning program, "CBS This Morning," were among the many news outlets that reported on the "hoax" girlfriend's death. "CBS This Morning" will have an update on the report Thursday.

The Notre Dame athletic director insisted "several things" led him to believe Te'o did not create the girlfriend himself after the university's investigation into the situation, led by a private investigative firm.

"Manti was the victim of that hoax. He has to carry that with him for a while. In many ways, Manti was the perfect mark because he's the guy who was so willing to believe in others," Swarbrick said. "The pain was real. The grieving was real. The affection was real."

By Te'o's own account, she was an "online" girlfriend.

"This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her," he said in statement.

"To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating."

"In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was."

The linebacker's father, Brian Te'o, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press in early October that he and his wife had never met Kekua, saying they were hoping to meet her at the Wake Forest game in November. The father said he believed the relationship was just beginning to get serious when she died.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick at a press conference on Jan. 16, 2013.

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CBS News

Swarbrick likened the situation to the 2010 movie "Catfish," in which "young filmmakers document their colleague's budding online friendship" with an allegedly young woman that turns out also to be a hoax.

The university said its coaches were informed by Te'o and his parents on Dec. 26 that Te'o had been the victim of what appeared to be a hoax.

Someone using a fictitious name "apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia," the school said.

Swarbrick said the investigation revealed "several" perpetrators, although the exact number is unclear. He said the university became convinced of the hoax based on "the joy they were taking...referring to what they accomplished and what they had done."

The week before Notre Dame played Michigan State on Sept. 15, coach Brian Kelly told reporters that Te'o's grandmother and a friend had died. Te'o didn't miss the game. He said Kekua had told him not to miss a game if she died. Te'o turned in one of his best performances of the season in the 20-3 victory in East Lansing, and his playing through heartache became a prominent theme during the Irish's undefeated regular season.

Manti Te'o #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts after beating the Michigan State Spartans 20-3 at Spartan Stadium Stadium on September 15, 2012, in East Lansing, Michigan.

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Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

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2013 BCS National Championship

Te'o went on the become a Heisman Trophy finalist, finishing second in the voting, and leading Notre Dame to its first appearance in the BCS championship.

Te'o and the Irish lost the title game to Alabama, 42-14 on Jan. 7. He has graduated and was set to begin preparing for the NFL combine and draft at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., this week.

Four days ago Te'o posted on his Twitter account: "Can't wait to start training with the guys! Workin to be the best! The grind continues! (hash)Future"

Te'o's statement also said: "It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life.

"I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been.

"Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life, and I'm looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft."

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FAA Grounds Boeing 787 Dreamliners

The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered the grounding of Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets until their U.S. operator proves that batteries on the planes are safe.

United is the only U.S. carrier flying the Boeing 787s, which have been touted as the planes of the future. However, several operated by overseas airlines have run into recent trouble, the latest because of a feared battery fire on a 787 today in Japan.

The FAA's so-called emergency airworthiness directive is a blow to Boeing, from the same government agency that only days ago at a news conference touted the Dreamliner as "safe." Even Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood went so far as to say he would have no issue flying on the plane.

Now, United will need to prove to the FAA that there is no battery fire risk on its six Dreamliners. An emergency airworthiness directive is one that requires an operator to fix or address any problem before flying again.

"Before further flight, operators of U.S.-registered Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that the batteries are safe and in compliance," the FAA said in a statement today. "The FAA will work with the manufacturer and carriers to develop a corrective action plan to allow the U.S. 787 fleet to resume operations as quickly and safely as possible."

United Airlines responded tonight with a statement: "United will immediately comply with the airworthiness directive and will work closely with the FAA and Boeing on the technical review as we work toward restoring 787 service. We will begin reaccommodating customers on alternate aircraft."

787 Dreamliner Grounded, Passengers Forced to Evacuate Watch Video

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Deemed Safe Despite Mishaps Watch Video

Jim McNerney, Boeing's chairman, president and CEO, expressed regret about any scheduling disruptions in a written statement, adding that Boeing was "confident the 787 is safe and we stand behind its overall integrity."

"The safety of passengers and crew members who fly aboard Boeing airplanes is our highest priority," McNerney said. "Boeing is committed to supporting the FAA and finding answers as quickly as possible. The company is working around the clock with its customers and the various regulatory and investigative authorities. We will make available the entire resources of The Boeing Company to assist."

There are some 50 Dreamliners flying in the world, mostly for Japanese airlines, but also for Polish and Chilean carriers.

Overseas operators are not directly affected by the FAA's emergency airworthiness directive -- but Japanese authorities grounded all of their 787s overnight after All Nippon Airways (ANA) said a battery warning light and a burning smell were detected in the cockpit and the cabin, forcing a Dreamliner, on a domestic flight, to land at Takamatsu Airport in Japan.

The plane landed safely about 45 minutes after it took off and all 128 passengers and eight crew members had to evacuate using the emergency chutes. Two people sustained minor injuries on their way down the chute, Osamu Shinobe, ANA senior executive vice president, told a news conference in Tokyo.

ANA and its rival, Japan Airlines (JAL), subsequently grounded their Dreamliner fleets. ANA operates 17 Dreamliner planes, while JAL has seven in service.

Both airlines said the Dreamliner fleet would remain grounded at least through Thursday.

ANA said the battery in question during today's incident was the same lithium-ion type battery that caught fire on board a JAL Dreamliner in Boston last week. Inspectors found liquid leaking from the battery today, and said it was "discolored."

Japan's transport ministry categorized the problem as a "serious incident" that could have led to an accident.

Even more shaken up than the passengers on the Japanese flight may be the reputation of America's largest plane manufacturer, Boeing.

Since the 787 -- with a body mostly made of carbon fiber -- was introduced, it's had one small problem after another. But the nagging battery issue, which caused an onboard fire at Boston's Logan Airport last week, was serious enough for the FAA to ground the plane.

"It's a rough couple weeks for Boeing and ANA," said John Hansman, an MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics. "I think clearly in the short term this type of bad press has been tough for Boeing. I think in the long haul, this is a good airplane. It's in a good market."

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France to stay in Mali until stability restored

BAMAKO/DUBAI (Reuters) - France pledged on Tuesday to keep troops in Mali until stability returned to the West African country, raising the specter of a long campaign against al Qaeda-linked rebels who held their ground despite a fifth day of air strikes.

Paris has poured hundreds of soldiers into Mali and carried out 50 bombing raids since Friday in the Islamist-controlled northern half of the country, which Western and regional states fear could become a base for terrorist attacks in Africa and Europe.

Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that, despite French air support, Malian forces had not been able to dislodge Islamist fighters from the central Malian towns of Konna or Diabaly, just 350 km (220 miles) northeast of Bamako.

A column of French armored vehicles rolled northward from the dusty riverside capital of Bamako towards rebel lines on Tuesday, the first major northward deployment of ground troops. A military official declined to comment on their objective.

Thousands of African soldiers are due to take over the offensive. Regional armies are scrambling to accelerate an operation which was initially not expected until September and has been brought forward by France's surprise bombing campaign aimed at stopping a rebel advance on a strategic town last week.

President Francois Hollande, on a visit to the United Arab Emirates during which he sought Gulf states' financial backing for the African-led mission, suggested France would retain a major role in its former colony for months to come.

"We have one goal. To ensure that when we leave, when we end our intervention, Mali is safe, has legitimate authorities, an electoral process and there are no more terrorists threatening its territory," Hollande told a news conference.

Paris has said it plans to deploy 2,500 soldiers to bolster the Malian army and work with the intervention force provided by West African states.

AFRICAN TROOPS

West African Defense chiefs met in Bamako on Tuesday to approve plans for the swift deployment of 3,300 regional troops, foreseen in a United Nations-backed intervention plan. After failing to reach a final agreement, they adjourned their talks until Wednesday.

Nigeria pledged to deploy soldiers within 24 hours, and Belgium said it was sending transport planes and helicopters to help, but West Africa's armies need time to become operational.

Mali's north, a vast and inhospitable area of desert and rugged mountains the size of Texas, was seized last year by an Islamist alliance combining al Qaeda's north African wing AQIM with splinter group MUJWA and the home-grown Ansar Dine rebels.

Any delay in following up on the French air bombardments of Islamist bases and fuel depots with a ground offensive could allow the insurgents to slip away into the desert and mountains, regroup and counter-attack.

The rebels, who French officials say are mobile and well armed, have shown they can hit back, dislodging government forces from Diabaly on Monday.

Residents said the town was still under Islamist control on Tuesday despite a number of air strikes that shook houses.

An eye witness near Segou, to the south, told Reuters he had seen 20 French Special Forces soldiers driving toward Diabaly.

In Konna, whose seizure on Thursday sparked French involvement, residents said Islamist fighters were camped just outside town. Army troops had also withdrawn after entering the town on Saturday.

Malians have largely welcomed the French intervention, having seen their army suffer a series of defeats by the rebels.

"With the arrival of the French, we have started to see the situation on the front evolve in our favor," said Aba Sanare, a resident of Bamako.

QUESTIONS OVER READINESS

Aboudou Toure Cheaka, a senior regional official in Bamako, said the West African troops would be on the ground in a week.

The original timetable for the 3,300-strong U.N.-sanctioned African force - to be backed by western logistics, money and intelligence services - did not initially foresee full deployment before September due to logistical constraints.

Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Guinea have all offered troops. Col. Mohammed Yerima, spokesman for Nigeria's Defense ministry, said the first 190 soldiers would be dispatched within 24 hours.

But Nigeria, which is due to lead the mission, has already cautioned that even if some troops arrive in Mali soon, their training and equipping will take more time.

Sub-Saharan Africa's top oil producer, which already has peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur and is fighting a bloody and difficult insurgency at home against Islamist sect Boko Haram, could struggle to deliver on its troop commitment of 900 men.

One senior government adviser in Nigeria said the Mali deployment was stretching the country's military.

"The whole thing's a mess. We don't have any troops with experience of those extreme conditions, even of how to keep all that sand from ruining your equipment. And we're facing battle-hardened guys who live in those dunes," said the adviser, who asked not to be named.

FRENCH LINING UP SUPPORT

France, which has repeatedly said it has abandoned its role as policeman of its former African colonies, said on Monday that the U.S., Canada, Denmark and Germany had also offered logistical support.

Fabius has said Gulf Arab states would help the Mali campaign, while Belgium said on Tuesday it would send two C130 transport planes and two medical helicopters following a request from Paris.

A meeting of donors for the operation was expected to be held in Addis Ababa at the end of January.

Security experts have warned that the multinational intervention in Mali, couched in terms of a campaign by governments against "terrorism", could provoke a jihadist backlash against France and the West, and African allies.

U.S. officials have warned of links between AQIM, Boko Haram in Nigeria and al Shabaab Islamic militants fighting in Somalia.

Al Shabaab, which foiled a French effort at the weekend to rescue a French secret agent it was holding hostage, urged Muslims around the world to rise up against what it called "Christian" attacks against Islam.

"Our brothers in Mali, show patience and tolerance and you will win. War planes never liberate a land," Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, al Shabaab's spokesman, said on a rebel-run website.

U.S. officials said Washington was sharing information with French forces in Mali and considering providing logistics, surveillance and airlift capability.

"We have made a commitment that al Qaeda is not going to find any place to hide," U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters as he began a visit to Europe. Panetta later said the U.S. had no plans to send troops to Mali.

One U.S. military source said the haphazard nature of French involvement reminded him of the U.S. entry into Afghanistan.

"I don't know what the French endgame is for this," the source said. "Air strikes are fine, but pretty soon you run out of easy targets. Then what do you do? What do you do when they head up into the mountains?"

(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Raissa Kasolowsky in Abu Dhabi, Felix Onuah in Abuja and Tim Cocks in Lagos, Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu, Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations,; Richard Valdmanis in Dakar, Joe Bavier in Abidjan, Jan Vermeylen in Brussels; Writing by Pascal Fletcher, Daniel Flynn and David Lewis; editing by Richard Valdmanis, Giles Elgood and Will Waterman)

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Foreign direct investment in China falls in 2012

BEIJING: Foreign direct investment in China fell 3.7 percent in 2012 to $111.72 billion, according to the government.

For the month of December FDI also declined, slipping 4.5 percent from the same month in 2011 to $11.7 billion, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday.

Investment from the European Union declined 3.8 percent to $6.11 billion, the ministry said.

But investment from the United States rose 4.5 percent to $3.12 billion, while investment from Japan increased 16.3 percent to $7.38 billion.

"The growth momentum of investment from some developed countries including the United States and Japan was good," the ministry said in a statement.

Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang also said in a statement that in 2012, Chinese directly invested $77.22 billion overseas, an increase of 28.6 percent from the year before.

- AFP/al

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Apple, Amazon ordered to try settlement in 'app store' suit

A judge has ordered Apple and Amazon to meet to try to work out an agreement about whether "app store" is a generic term before the case goes to court.

U.S. Judge Elizabeth Laporte ordered the two companies to meet on March 21 with their attorneys in tow and work to negotiate and settle the lawsuit, according to Bloomberg. It seems that the judge is looking to find other ways for the companies to come to an agreement besides taking the matter to trial.

The battle began in March 2011 when Apple sued Amazon accusing the online retail giant of misappropriating the "App Store" moniker, a name it attempted to trademark in 2008 following the launch of the App Store for iPhone.

The complaint was later amended to include Apple's claims of Amazon's "false advertising." Apple said that Amazon changed its "Amazon Appstore for
Android" naming convention to just "Amazon Appstore" in order to distance ties from Google's Android in ads for its Kindle Fire tablet. Amazon fired back by referring to the term as generic. And, siding with Amazon earlier this month, another California judge ruled that the "false advertising" portion of the complaint must be omitted.

This case is the latest between Apple and another company over the rights to use "App Store" and "Appstore." Apple owns the rights to both marks in Europe but not in the U.S., where its trademark application for App Store is pending approval. An effort by Microsoft, HTC, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson in May 2011 sought to invalidate Apple's trademarks in Europe.

If a settlement is not reached between Apple and Amazon, the case is scheduled to go to trial in August.

CNET contacted Apple and Amazon for comment. We'll update the story when we get more information.

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House passes $50.7 billion Sandy relief bill

FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2012, file photo, a man walks with his dog to a National Guard vehicle after leaving his flooded home at the Metropolitan Trailer Park in Moonachie, N.J., in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The storm drove New York and New Jersey residents from their homes, destroyed belongings and forced them to find shelter for themselves - and for their pets, said owners, who recounted tales of a dog swimming through flooded streets and extra food left behind for a tarantula no one was willing to take in. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File) / Craig Ruttle

The House of Representatives today passed a $50.7 billion bill to provide funds for Hurricane Sandy relief as well as other natural disasters. The vote was 241 to 180, with 179 Republicans and one Democrat voting no.

The bill will now move to the Senate, where it is expected to be passed by lawmakers after the new session begins on January 22, though it's possible it could be passed by voice vote this week. It is then expected to be quickly signed into law by President Obama.

The package was divided into two parts: A $17 billion bill for immediate recovery from Sandy, and another $33.7 billion amendment for long-term recovery and investment to limit the damage from similar events in the future. The October storm is believed to be responsible for 140 deaths and billions of dollars in damage centered in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses and knocked out transit systems and power grids.

The package provides more than $16 billion for the New York and New Jersey transit systems as well as more $16 billion for Housing and Urban Development funding for recovery from Sandy and other disasters. Other funding goes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief aid fund and to Army Corps of Engineers projects to limit future damage. Funding is also authorized for repairs by the Coast Guard, Federal Highway Administration and Veterans Affairs Department.

Lawmakers from the Northeast criticized southern Republican lawmakers who had sought to reduce the size of the package or require that funding be offset with an across the board cut to discretionary spending. An amendment from Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., that would have offset the funding with spending cuts failed 162 yeas to 258 nays earlier in the day, and the Republican-led House Rules Committee blocked efforts to reduce the size of the package.

"We are asking, we are pleading and we shouldn't have to beg for money for the Northeast, to be able to survive this tragedy that hit us," said Rep. Rosa Delauro, D-Conn., who added: "I might remind my colleague from Louisiana that between Rita, Wilma and Katrina, this institution appropriated $133.9 billion in disaster relief."

Critics of the bill derided it as "an excuse for a grab-bag of spending, having nothing to do with emergency relief," in the words of Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif.

The Senate passed a $60 billion Sandy relief bill before the end of the last Congress, but House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, declined to schedule a House vote on that measure in the wake of the contentious vote on "fiscal cliff" legislation. That decision prompted harsh criticism from northeastern lawmakers, including Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., forcing Boehner to hastily schedule today's vote in addition to $9.7 billion in flood relief that was passed Jan. 4.

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Sandy Aid Clears Huge Hurdle in Congress

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Seventy-nine days after Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Northeast, the House of Representatives voted this evening to approve about $50 billion of additional relief for the region pounded by the storm.

The measure passed 241-180, mostly behind Democratic support, winning 49 votes from Republicans and 192 votes from Democrats. Just one Democrat opposed the legislation, while 179 Republicans voted against it.

The base bill, known as the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Act, included about $17 billion to fund immediate and critical needs for Sandy victims and their communities. An amendment offered by New Jersey Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen to provide an additional $33 billion for disaster relief also passed, bringing the total amount of relief closer to the Obama administration’s emergency supplemental request, which called for $60.4 billion in total relief.

The Senate still must approve the legislation before President Obama can sign it into law.

An amendment offered by South Carolina Republican Rep. Mick Mulvaney to require all funding in the disaster package to be offset fell well short of the votes required to change the bill, 162-258.

Democrats and Republicans from the storm-ravaged region shared a common frustration over members who opposed to the relief package.

“To use this funding as a political pawn in a game over the role of government and budgetary debates is shameful,” New York Democratic Rep. Elliot Engel wrote in a statement shortly after the vote. “The first order of business for the federal government is to protect our citizens, and helping them recover from the tragedy of a natural disaster is one of those times.”

“I am pleased that the House of Representatives has finally passed legislation to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy,” Rep. Jon Runyan, R-N.J., stated after the vote. “I am hopeful that the Senate will quickly debate and pass this bipartisan legislation so that families in New Jersey and New York will not have to continue to wait for the aid they need.”

The governors of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, the three states  hit hardest by the storm, had all angrily criticized Republicans in the House for deciding not to vote on an aid package passed by the Senate in December, but after the measure’s passage tonight issued a joint statement thanking the House.

“We are grateful to those members of Congress who today pulled together in a unified, bipartisan coalition to assist millions of their fellow Americans in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut at their greatest time of need,” Gov. Chris Christie, N.J.; Gov. Andrew Cuomo, N.Y.; and Gov. Dannel Molloy, Conn., wrote in the statement.

“The tradition of Congress being there and providing support for Americans during times of crisis, no matter where they live across this great country, lives on in today’s vote in the House of Representatives,” they wrote. “We anticipate smooth passage when this package moves back to the Senate for final approval and for this long-awaited relief to finally make its way to our residents.”

Nevertheless, there were still many lawmakers who opposed the package because they felt it contained non-emergency spending.

“The final version passed here tonight includes billions in pork and unrelated spending that we cannot afford while Americans are struggling to make ends meet,” Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., wrote in a statement. “Hurricane Sandy victims need a simple, responsible aid package, and nothing more.  Our nation is facing a debt crisis: it’s time for Washington to stop using important bills to fund its own political projects.”

Congress has already approved $9.7 billion for flood insurance on Jan. 4. The House also passed a separate bill without opposition Monday evening, the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act, to speed up and streamline federal disaster recovery programs.

After the House voted Jan. 1 on the “fiscal cliff” deal, House Speaker John Boehner decided not to vote on any relief during the 112^th Congress. Republicans and Democrats from the region revolted until Boehner held a private meeting with angry Republican members, during which he promised to make Sandy relief a priority in the 113^th Congress.

The legislation was opposed by numerous leading conservative interest groups, including Heritage Action, Americans for Tax Reform, and the Club for Growth, which all warned Republicans not to support the measure.

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West African army chiefs to approve Mali troops plan

BAMAKO (Reuters) - West African defense chiefs will on Tuesday approve plans to speed up the deployment of African troops against Islamist rebels in northern Mali, with some regional soldiers seen arriving next week.

France has already poured hundreds of troops into Mali and carried out days of air strikes in a vast desert area seized last year by an Islamist alliance that combines al Qaeda's north African wing AQIM with Mali's home-grown MUJWA and Ansar Dine rebel groups.

Western and regional powers are concerned the insurgents will use Mali's north as a launchpad for international attacks.

"On January 15, the committee of Chiefs of Defense Staff will meet in Bamako to approve the contingency plan," the mission head of the ECOWAS grouping of West African states, Aboudou Toure Cheaka, told Reuters.

"I can tell you that in one week, the troops will effectively be on the ground," he said, adding their immediate mission would be to help stop the rebel advance while preparations for a full intervention plan continued.

He did not say how many soldiers would arrive.

The original timetable for the 3,300-strong U.N.-sanctioned African force - backed by western logistics, money and intelligence services - did not initially foresee full deployment before September due to logistical constraints.

Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Guinea have all offered troops. But regional powerhouse Nigeria, which is due to lead the mission, has cautioned that even if some troops arrive in Mali soon, training will take more time.

The plan is being fast-tracked after France rushed to respond to a plea for help by Mali's government after mobile columns of Islamist fighters last week threatened the central garrison towns of Mopti and Sevare, with its key airport.

The French defense ministry said on Monday it aimed to deploy some 2,500 soldiers to Mali to bolster the Malian army and the eventual West African force.

"SAFEGUARD MALI"

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said France's goals were to stop the Islamist rebels, to "safeguard the existence of Mali" and pave the way for the African-led military operation.

U.S. officials said Washington was sharing information with French forces in Mali and considering providing logistics, surveillance and airlift capability.

"We have made a commitment that al Qaeda is not going to find anyplace to hide," U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters as he began a visit to Europe.

As French aircraft bombarded mobile columns of Islamist fighters, other insurgents launched a counter-attack further to the south, dislodging government forces from the town of Diabaly, 350 km (220 miles) from Bamako.

French intervention has raised the threat for eight French hostages held by al Qaeda allies in the Sahara and for 30,000 French expatriates living in neighboring, mostly Muslim states. Concerned about reprisals at home, France has tightened security at public buildings and on public transport.

The U.N. said an estimated 30,000 people had fled the latest fighting in Mali, joining more than 200,000 already displaced.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday welcomed the French-led military intervention in Mali and voiced the hope that it would halt the Islamist assault.

Amnesty International said at least six civilians were killed in recent fighting in the town of Konna, where French aircraft had earlier bombarded rebel positions, and called on both sides to spare non-combatants.

France, which has repeatedly said it has abandoned its role as the policeman of its former African colonies, is among the toughest proponents of a speedier deployment of the African troops, and convened a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday to discuss the crisis.

French U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud told reporters after the meeting that the U.S., Canada, Belgium, Denmark and Germany had also offered logistical support for France's Mali operation.

"I felt that all the members of the Security Council were expressing their support (for) and understanding of the French decision," Araud told reporters.

No Europeans or other African Union members will be allowed in the defense chiefs meeting in Bamako on Tuesday, a western diplomat told Reuters, requesting not to be named.

"They don't want any French pressure at the meeting," the diplomat said.

(Reporting by Bate Felix; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations Richard Valdmanis in Dakar, Brian Love in Paris and David Alexander in Lisbon; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Giles Elgood)

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Asian stocks rise after Fed comments

HONG KONG: Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday after US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke reassured markets that easing measures were set to stay in place, with Tokyo leading regional bourses higher.

Traders also mulled a warning from US President Barack Obama to Republican rivals not to delay raising the debt ceiling, as the next budget fight took shape in Washington following the battle to avert the "fiscal cliff".

Tokyo put on 1.25 per cent in early trade boosted by the weak yen, which makes exporters' products cheaper, and as dealers hoped for more aggressive easing from the Bank of Japan to lift the world's third-biggest economy.

"The declining yen continues to pull investors off the fence, while earnings expectations from US companies, as well as for a broader global economic rebound, remain relatively firm," said SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi.

Hong Kong was up 0.15 per cent and Shanghai rose 0.39 per cent, adding to strong gains on Monday. Sydney put on 0.16 per cent but Seoul slipped 0.52 per cent.

There was no clear lead from Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.14 per cent, but the broad-based S&P 500 falling 0.09 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite shedding 0.26 per cent.

Bernanke indicated on Monday, after Asian markets had closed, that the Fed's latest round of quantitative easing would continue.

He told an audience at the University of Michigan that "while we've made some progress there is still quite a ways to go", in comments reported by Dow Jones Newswires.

His comments were a relief to markets, dealers said, after minutes from the December meeting of Fed policymakers showed they were divided over how long the central bank should continue its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying programme.

In Washington, the next stage of a drawn-out fiscal battle was taking shape as Obama warned Republican lawmakers against using the debt ceiling as a "bargaining chip".

He said a failure to raise the borrowing limit by late February would sow financial chaos and send markets into a tailspin, adding that: "Investors around the world will ask if the United States of America is in fact a safe bet."

Investors are also optimistic ahead of the release of fourth-quarter growth figures for China on Friday, which it is hoped will confirm that the world's number two economy has picked up following a slowdown, analysts said.

On foreign exchange markets, the dollar remained firm against the yen in early Asian trade, at 89.48 yen against 89.45 yen in New York Monday afternoon.

The euro fetched 119.72 yen and $1.3379, slightly up from 119.65 yen and $1.3376 in US trade.

Oil prices fell. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, shed nine cents to $94.05 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for February delivery dipped nine cents to $111.79.

Gold was at $1,671.86 at 0300 GMT compared with $1,668.39 late Monday.

- AFP/ck

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Predicting the next big thing up Mark Zuckerberg's sleeve

Mark Zuckerberg on stage at f8 in 2010.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg won't be phoning it in tomorrow when he shows off something rumored to be quite grand.

Will he unveil a Facebook phone, a search engine, a reimagined version of the mobile News Feed, a measly Messenger app for
iPad, or all of the above? Anything seems possible at this point. Perhaps, the only thing we know for certain is what he will be wearing: jeans, his characteristic tee, and maybe even that famous hoodie.

CNET will be live-blogging the news as it happens at 10 a.m. PT. Until then, we've rounded up the rumors and included our educated guesses as to what you can expect to see tomorrow.

A Facebook Phone
Ring-a-ding-ding, could it be? Will we finally get to feast our eyes on the mythical Facebook Phone, a years-old legend that probably isn't an actual phone made by Facebook, just one optimized to run the social network to an extreme degree. MG Siegler said as much over the weekend, and we've heard a few credible whispers ourselves, though we can't confirm the existence of said phone just yet.

Should Zuckerberg show off a phone tomorrow, it will probably be a piece of hardware manufactured by a partner like HTC running a forked version of
Android with Facebook at the core of the experience, a.k.a. a Facebook mobile operating system. Now that would be some interesting news that would continue to move the needle on the company's stock onward and upward. Shares have already been bolstered by phone-related reports in recent days.

Verdict: Likely. Our friends at Facebook have led us to believe that this announcement is a big deal, which means we'd be sadly disappointed if all we got was some silly Messenger application for iPad. Here's another hint: Facebook is also participating in the Open Compute Project on Wednesday. Wouldn't it make sense that company executives used the summit to talk more about how to build around or optimize for a Facebook OS? Yes, yes it would.

Messenger for iPad
Speaking of Facebook Messenger for iPad, Alexia Tsotsis at TechCrunch said sources are pointing to the release of an iPad application that emulates the features of Messenger for iPhone and Android.

Verdict: Very likely. Dry as it may be, this one seems like a no-brainer. Facebook has been regularly improving and expanding on Messenger, so an iPad app would round out the company's alternative to traditional texting and email. But did Facebook invite the media elite to Menlo Park just to see this app? Heck no, they didn't.

A visual redo of the mobile News Feed
Boy, wouldn't it be great if Facebook didn't merely replicate the Web experience for News Feed on mobile devices? Josh Constine at TechCrunch has apparently laid his eyes on an experimental version of Facebook for mobile devices that parses out the News Feed into sections based on content type such as news and photos. The reworked News Feed experience on mobile is entirely image-based with text overlaid on top of full-screen photos, he said.

Verdict: Possible for tomorrow but more likely for a later date. Facebook's mobile application users are still adjusting to and enjoying the faster, more native experiences the social network recently gave them on iOS and Android. It seems like a stretch of the imagination for Facebook to risk pissing people off (so soon after pleasing them) with such a dramatic redo, unless it's a separate application like Poke or Camera.

Video ads that auto play in News Feed
Just a few weeks ago, rumors were swirling that Facebook was preparing to launch a video ad unit that would auto play in members' News Feeds.

Verdict: Not happening. If Facebook was planning to unveil a new ad unit, the company would arrange to do so in New York in front of a media-buying audience. Plus, we believe the focus of tomorrow's press event will be mobile, and the video ads sound like they're hitting the desktop app first.

A Facebook search engine
"Facebook is pretty uniquely positioned to answer a lot of questions people have," Zuckerberg said in September in regards to creating a search engine. "At some point we will do it."

The admissions are fueling speculation that the social network could launch a much improved search experience tomorrow. The company has already taken baby steps in this area. A December update to the Nearby section of Facebook's iOS and Android apps gave members access to a list of places sorted by an algorithm that factors in friends' activities and preferences. The release highlights how Facebook is capable of mining pals' data to provide people with recommendations for unspoken queries.

Verdict: Maybe. There's no real evidence to suggest that a bonafide search engine is coming soon, but any improvement to the status quo would be welcome and good for Facebook's bottom line.

A cool new campus
Tuesday's press invite clearly states "come and see what we're building," which one could easily read as a literal clue suggesting the unveil of a funky second campus just for engineers.

In August, Facebook talked up plans to break ground on an engineering campus designed by celebrated architect Frank Gehry in "early 2013." That space is a single room, warehouse-style office with cafes, break-away spaces, a rooftop garden, and an underground tunnel to 1601 Willow Road.

Verdict: No way, Jose. Yes, it's early 2013, and the word "building" in the invite is more than a little suggestive, but this would be so anti-climatic that it would send Facebook's stock spiraling in the wrong direction. Facebook is too smart to set itself up for failure.

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