Ebola: Sierra Leone hit by lack of treatment units

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) - The 7-year-old boy's family and friends are praying over his body when the men in yellow protective suits, face shields and masks arrive. The boy had died at his home in Freetown. This same day, the collection team goes into a house for the body of another Ebola victim. Family members scream in grief as the workers put the corpse into a black body bag and carry it on a stretcher down a dirt path.

These victims, seen in video released by an international charity, died in their homes because Sierra Leone is desperately short of Ebola treatment centers more than five months after the virus came to the impoverished West African country. Of the three countries hardest hit, the epidemic is currently claiming more victims in Sierra Leone, burning like a fire through a dry forest.

In the past 21 days there have been 1,174 new Ebola cases in Sierra Leone, almost triple the 398 new cases in Liberia and more than quadruple the 256 new cases in Guinea, according to figures released Wednesday by the World Health Organization.

The rise of new cases in Sierra Leone is particularly startling because its population of 6 million people is about half the size of Guinea's 12 million. Liberia, with the smallest population of the three countries with 4.2 million people, has been hardest hit, suffering more than half of the estimated 4,800 deaths in the outbreak.

While Sierra Leone accounts for almost two-thirds of new cases, there are only an estimated 400 beds in Ebola treatment units in the whole country. The international community is slowly responding but many more lives will be lost before the level of assistance approaches the need.

"Patients are being turned away from hospitals, reducing their chance of survival and allowing the disease to spread," said Justine Greening, Britain's international development secretary. She spoke as the first of six treatment centers to be built by Britain was opened Wednesday outside Freetown, the capital.

The total capacity of the 80-bed facility, built of framing covered by white material, will be phased in over coming weeks. On the first day, two males and one girl, who all tested positive for Ebola, were admitted, said Helen Mayelle, a spokeswoman for Save the Children which is managing the unit in Kerry Town.

Ebola, for which there is no licensed treatment, is spread through contact with bodily fluids. About 70 percent of people who get Ebola have died in this outbreak.

In September, Doctors Without Borders turned a cassava field near Bo, the country's second-largest city, into a tented treatment center.

Treatment centers have also been erected in hospitals and a police training school run by Sierra Leonean officials, said Dr. Sarian Kamara of the health ministry. One was just completed in Port Loko, Kamara said. That district, in the northwest, has had among the highest number of Ebola cases at 563, the National Ebola Response Center reported Thursday.

Reported cases in two districts in and around Freetown are surging with a total of 1,261.

Video provided by Concern Worldwide, an international humanitarian organization managing 10 burial teams in Freetown and its suburbs, shows the human toll. After a yellow-suited collection team left with a body, some inconsolable family members collapsed in the mud, their screams sounding throughout the tree-studded neighborhood.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, in charge of WHO's Ebola operational response, said that until more Ebola care facilities are built, "there's a basic standard of care which we can try to provide at the community level that will markedly improve the ability of most people to survive, or a substantial portion of people to survive."

That involves providing a minimum amount of protective gear and teaching how to avoid getting infected, he said.

In neighboring Liberia, Doctors Without Borders has distributed more than 50,000 family protection and home disinfection kits and plans to hand out 20,000 more.

More people should have access to treatment centers, but the disinfection kits are needed for now "because of the weak international response to Ebola," the group said. Doctors Without Borders started the campaign in Liberia when the situation was dire in its capital, said group member Sophie-Jane Madden.

USAID and UNICEF have also distributed thousands of kits in Liberia. CARE International has distributed hygiene packs to 1,100 households in Sierra Leone, including soap and buckets fitted with taps.

Justin Forsyth, CEO of Save the Children, was recently in Sierra Leone. He said he is proud that his organization has worked with British organizations and its army to build and run the new center in Kerry Town.

"But we know we need to redouble our efforts if we are to get ahead of this crisis," he said. "We are in a life and death race against time."

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Selsky reported from Johannesburg. AP journalists Maria Cheng in London and Sarah DiLorenzo in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report

Mozambique's government plans ahead for flooding

MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) - As Mozambique's rainy season begins, the government is preparing for the worst in case the country's suffers another of its frequent and deadly floods.

The impoverished country has set aside $32 million of its national budget to deal with the possibility of flooding in an effort to avoid disaster and save lives, the government announced Wednesday.

"We are already in the rainy season," said deputy foreign minister, Enrique Banze. "This is a critical moment and needs a great deal of attention, not only from the government, but from all Mozambicans." Banze said the funds would cover disaster response efforts and the needs of people who may be displaced.

Mozambique's government has drawn up a contingency plan with various possibilities for the country that lies on Africa's southeastern coastline. The worst case scenario imagines strong cyclones and the possibility of earthquakes in the north of the country which is affected by the East Africa Rift faultline. A less severe problem would be localized flooding that could affect 318,000 people during January and February, the wettest months of the year.

Mozambique is frequently hit by floods. In 2000 the country experienced its worst flood, in which more than 800 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were made homeless when waters severely submerged whole towns.

Last year, flooding in the north and central parts of the country killed at least 55 people and displaced nearly 170,000 people.

Flamenco guitarist Manitas de Plata dead at 93

PARIS (AP) - Iconic flamenco guitarist Manitas de Plata, who sold nearly 100 million records worldwide and broke boundaries for Gypsy musicians, has died in southern France. He was 93.

De Plata died in a Montpellier retirement home early Wednesday surrounded by his extended family, his great nephew, Ricao Bissiere, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Bissiere called him a "great guitarist and a beautiful man who opened the doors for Gypsy music."

De Plata sold around 93 million records in a career that spanned over half a century. Despite acquiring a fortune as one of France's best-selling recording artists, he died practically penniless - spending his fortune on "roulette, fancy cars, going out and beautiful women," according to Bissiere.

"He loved life. He was a character," Bissiere added.

Born Ricardo Baliardo in a caravan in southern France in 1921 to a French Gypsy family, De Plata first mastered the guitar at age 9, without even being able to read music.

He went on to wow crowds with his flamenco strumming in French Riviera cafes, watched by artists Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, writer Jean Cocteau and actress Brigitte Bardot.

Picasso once exclaimed "that man is of greater worth than I am!" when he heard him at Arles in 1964 and drew on his guitar.

As his talent became clear, he changed to his recording name, Manitas de Plata, meaning "little hands of silver" in Spanish.

He was a legendary ladies' man and De Plata himself once admitted he didn't know how many children he had fathered in his life, thought to be more than 20.

The guitarist was a strong influence on the Gipsy Kings and strengthened his reputation in the U.S. after playing New York's Carnegie Hall in the 1965.

His funeral will take place on Saturday in Montpellier.

School shelling deaths in Ukraine hurt peace hopes

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) - The shelling of a high school in Ukraine's rebel stronghold of Donetsk has chilled even the battle-hardened in this weary nation.

The killing of two teenagers as they were playing soccer after lunch Wednesday is a stark reminder that the cease-fire agreed upon in September has only really ever existed on paper. Four other students were wounded, according to Dr. Vladimir Voropayev, chief of the children's trauma unit at the regional hospital in Donetsk.

The warring sides - government troops on one side and pro-Russian separatists on the other - now look as far from any lasting settlement as they ever were.

In the soccer field at Donetsk's school No. 63, two bloodied coats still lay out in the open Thursday as relatives and staff gathered at the scene.

Alexander Yeliseyev, the father of one victim, 18-year-old Andrei, walked by in shock as he gathered belongings left behind when his son's body was removed - a dark brown coat and a pair of sneakers.

"They went to play football at about 2 p.m., while I was at work. And then the shelling began. Here you see the result," Yeliseyev said, gulping back sobs.

He said 14-year-old Danya, another student, was also killed.

Authorities in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev said the security services will investigate the shelling of a school, but officials already appear to have made their mind up. Security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said preliminary information indicated the shells flew into the school from a location controlled by separatist forces.

The rebels, however, swiftly blamed Ukrainian forces for the deadly attack, saying government troops often indiscriminately target residential areas in eastern Ukraine.

All that is certain so far is that the school where the shells landed is at least 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the nearest government position but close to rebel posts. That would appear to lend weight to claims of Ukrainian culpability - government troops shelling the rebels - but Lysenko said the shelling was planned in advance by the rebels to discredit government forces.

Government officials have failed to produce cast-iron evidence of such claims in the past, and independent rights groups say there's evidence that government artillery has hit homes in eastern Ukraine. Residents of stricken areas have frequently complained that rebels deploy artillery near homes, invariably drawing return fire.

The UN estimates more than 4,000 people have been killed over six months of fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. That includes several hundred who have died since a much-violated cease-fire was signed in early September.

At school No. 63, which was lavishly refurbished last year with funds provided by local billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, a dozen teachers and sobbing parents huddled by the soccer field Thursday as the roar of outgoing missile fire was heard a few kilometers (miles) away.

Two mortars had landed on the school premises Wednesday: one next to a concrete porch by the school, shattering a few windows. The one that killed the students landed behind a goalpost, scorching the ground and leaving a small crater.

Oksana Safonova's son, 11-year old Kirill, was lucky to sustain only wounds to the shoulder, hip and ribs. Quick thinking may have saved his life.

"He said to me: 'Mom, we got down on the ground and then the mortar landed next to me. I passed out. It hurt so bad. Then I realized that I don't want to die and I came around,'" Safonova said.

At the regional trauma hospital in Donetsk, a pale, frail-looking Kirill asked after his friend, Nikita, who was also being treated for injuries. Later Thursday, Nikita was discharged from the intensive care unit and joined his schoolmate.

Voropayev, the doctor, said his staff has treated 39 other children injured in artillery strikes since June. At the peak of the fighting in summer, they had to evacuate the children into the basement for three days.

Accustomed now to the sounds of shelling and war, Donetsk residents near the front lines have come to ignore some basic safety precautions. Safonova said her perception of what is dangerous has been dulled by living for months in a war zone, but added that parents still strive to instill caution in their children.

"The sense of peril is everywhere, but we are not hiding," she said. "I used to tell him: 'Stay at home, don't go outside.' But you can't tie him down, he's just a boy."

Uganda army suspends 15 for Somalia allegations

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - Uganda's military has suspended 15 soldiers who were peacekeepers in Somalia over various allegations of misconduct, a military spokesman said Thursday.

The suspended soldiers include two generals who were deployed to Somalia as part of the African Union force there.

He said the action was part of what he called "a general performance assessment" of Uganda's peacekeeping duties in Somalia, but did not specify the allegations against the former peacekeepers.

The suspensions follow a Human Rights Watch report last September that cited the sexual abuse and exploitation of Somali women by African Union troops in the Somali capital Mogadishu. The rights group said at the time that African Union troops from Uganda and Burundi, relying on Somali intermediaries, "used a range of tactics, including humanitarian aid, to coerce vulnerable women and girls into sexual activity." Some soldiers had refused to wear condoms, passing on sexually transmitted infections, the group's report said.

Maria Burnett, a senior researcher in Africa for Human Rights Watch, said Thursday that she hoped there would a full investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse. "We are pleased to see that there are a range of investigations into sexual exploitation and abuse within AMISOM," she said, referring to the African Union mission in Somalia. "We hope investigations ensure the safety of victims and witnesses, and we look forward to a public report with more details of the inquiries and any prosecutions."

This is not the first time Ugandan troops in Somalia face allegations of misconduct. Last year about 40 Ugandan soldiers, including a brigadier-general who held a position near the top of the peacekeeping force, were recalled from Somalia and arrested over allegations they stole from the mission.

Since 2007 Ugandan troops have been deployed to Somalia, where the African Union force helps the country's Western-backed government to fight the Islamic extremist rebels of al-Shabab.

100,000 workers protest Belgian labor reform

BRUSSELS (AP) - One of Belgium's biggest postwar labor demonstrations brought about 100,000 workers to the capital on Thursday to protest government free-market reforms and austerity measures that they claim undermine Belgium's vaunted welfare state.

Protesters and police clashed at the end of the march through central Brussels, leaving at least 14 people injured. A car was overturned, a police motorcycle was set on fire and officers were pelted with cobblestones and fireworks. Police used tear gas and water cannons to break up the disturbances.

The violent end overshadowed a raucous but largely peaceful march for better protection of workers during the economic crisis. The workers were protesting government policies that will raise the pension age, freeze wages and cut into public services.

"They are hitting the workers, the unemployed. They are not looking for money where it is, I mean, people with a lot of money," said Philippe Dubois, who came from the industrial rust belt of Liege.

The unexpectedly big march opens a monthlong campaign by the trade unions against the business-friendly governing coalition and is to be capped with a nationwide strike on Dec. 15.

Despite the opening of government-led talks with employers and unions later Thursday, Socialist trade union leader Rudy De Leeuw vowed to continue the protests for weeks on end.

Belgium has a long postwar tradition of collective bargaining between employers and workers, and successive coalition governments representing a full scale of public opinion often have been able to contain social disagreements. But the current coalition, made up of three pro-business parties and the centrist Christian Democrats, is the first in decades that has been able to set such a clear free-market agenda.

The government says it has been forced to push through stringent austerity measures to keep the budget deficit within European Union constraints and insists that businesses need more lenient tax policies to become more competitive in the global market.

The trade unions object to government policies that promise to raise the pension age from 65 to 67, freeze the automatic link between wages and inflation, and cut public services in a way that would affect the entire population.

China factory whirs overtime to make Ebola suits

ANQUI, China (AP) - Far from the Ebola hot zone, the sewing and gluing machines at a factory in China have been whirring more than usual to produce crucial yellow suits that protect the front-line medics more than 11,000 kilometers (7,000 miles) away in West Africa.

The Weifang Lakeland Safety Products factory in the eastern Shandong province city of Anqui has 100 workers assembling the now-familiar plastic suits at a rate of about 6,000 per day. The factory plans to double its capacity by January.

Each is carefully put together by people and machines so that it is completely sealed, because any gap could allow exposure to a deadly illness. Each seam is sewn and then reinforced with a glue strip.

"The double zipper design allows you to open the suit from the bottom when you need to take something from inside the suit," factory general manager Wang Ximin told a visitor. "We put an adhesive strip along the front flap in order to better seal off the front to make sure contamination is not able to penetrate."

"You can spread your legs and squat down easily in the suit. It feels very comfortable to wear," he said. "Very comfortable."

The ChemMAX and MicroMAX protective suits, made of polyethylene and polypropylene, are produced for the U.S.-based Lakeland Industries, a main supplier of suits in the Ebola outbreak.

Wang said current production already is about 30 to 40 percent above the same period last year, and that the production will double again by January. Demand has soared, not only for use in Africa, but from medical facilities in the United States and Europe.

"We are very proud that the protective suits we manufacture can be used by those who are fighting against Ebola," he said.

Nearly 5,000 people have died of the disease, and an additional 13,676 confirmed, probable or suspected cases of infection had been reported in the three hardest-hit countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Spain's Ebola nurse leaves hospital, mourns dog

MADRID (AP) - A Spanish nursing assistant who recovered from Ebola credited health care workers with saving her life and offered Wednesday to donate blood to help cure others.

Still, Teresa Romero slammed Spanish officials for killing her beloved dog, saying the mixed breed named Excalibur was unnecessarily "executed."

The 44-year-old Romero issued a statement as she was released from Madrid's Carlos III hospital after spending 30 days there, most of it in quarantine.

Her husband, Javier Limon, read Romero's remarks about Excalibur as she listened at his side, saying his wife was too emotional to talk about the dog that was like the childless couple's own child.

Madrid health officials euthanized Excalibur on Oct. 8, saying the dog posed a potential public health risk for Ebola transmission. But the dog of a nurse who got Ebola in Dallas was simply quarantined and then later reunited with its owner.

Killing Excalibur "wasn't necessary," Romero said in her statement. "The worst part of all of this is that our dog was not given a chance."

Romero said she still feels weak but praised her treatment team, hoped her recovery could help doctors figure out a cure for Ebola and offered to donate blood. Plasma from an Ebola survivor was among the treatments she received.

"If my blood works to cure people, I'm ready to give it to the last drop," she said.

Doctors said Romero, who was critically ill for about a week, received various treatments and they were unable to say what ultimately worked.

Romero helped treat two Spanish missionaries who died of Ebola in August and September after they were flown back from West Africa.

Doctors have said Romero told them she might have become infected by touching a protective glove to her face. But Romero said she did not "know what went wrong, or if anything went wrong."

Leak shows scale of Luxembourg's sweet tax deals

BRUSSELS (AP) - Luxembourg, one of the world's wealthiest nations, came under fire Thursday after leaked documents allegedly revealed the extent to which it has attracted multinationals and the super-rich with sweet tax deals, depriving other countries of valuable tax revenue.

The government defended itself saying it had done nothing illegal in its deals with corporations like Pepsi and IKEA. But other European nations, including neighbor France, criticized the tiny country's tax practices - particularly when they have to impose austerity cuts on their citizens to make ends meet.

"Tax 'optimization' - companies that legally find solutions to pay little or no taxes - that is no longer acceptable for any country," said French Finance Minister Michel Sapin. "I wish that in a few years we never have to talk about something like this again."

Luxembourg's other neighbors, Belgium and Germany, and the Netherlands were equally quick to condemn the practice, which gained center stage on Thursday when a group of investigative reporters produced documents allegedly showing that scores of major multinational companies have won such advantageous deals.

The practice can include offering low corporate tax rates to companies that have their European Union headquarters in Luxembourg, a nation of 520,000 that otherwise doesn't have a big economy.

But Luxembourg is not alone in being aggressively competitive in attracting companies. Ireland and the Netherlands itself are being investigated by the European Union executive for their tax practices. The issue has come to the fore since the financial crisis saw governments scrounge for money to refill their coffers - and tolerance for such practices waned.

Luxembourg Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna insisted his country had not broken any law. "What has happened here is totally legal," he said.

He said Luxembourg would cooperate with others to make sure tax standards are better coordinated on a global level as soon as possible. "The moment the rules change globally, it is evident that Luxembourg will apply them quickly," Gramegna said.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said the practice in Luxembourg was widespread after it pored through some 28,000 pages of confidential documents covering some 340 businesses that could be linked to the Grand Duchy for special tax deals.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz said that what was most worrying was that nations could simply come out and say it was all perfectly legal.

"This reality means that we need to urge the (EU) member states to work with us to end systematic tax evasion practices in Europe, be it in Luxemburg or any other country," he said.

The EU has already broadened its crackdown on multinationals' tax avoidance schemes, with a probe against Amazon's practices launched last month. The ICIJ allegations now add many more high-profile names, including FedEx, Pepsi and IKEA.

The European Commission said that it was specifically targeting any deal that would sidestep market conditions and give an unfair edge to one company over others.

At a time of stringent austerity cuts, the tax advantages for multinationals and the wealthy are seen as evidence of an unfair society punishing the poor and rewarding the rich.

At a protest march of 100,000 workers against further austerity in Brussels, the issue of Luxembourg's tax deals was raised time and again.

Socialist trade union leader Rudy De Leeuw said it amounted to "stealing from the common man while at the same time capitalists take their money to Luxembourg. This is unacceptable."

Attacks in Iraq, mainly targeting troops, kill 13

BAGHDAD (AP) - A series of attacks, mainly against Iraqi troops, killed 13 people in Baghdad and in the country's west on Thursday as the government pressed ahead with a draft law meant to establish a community-based national guard force in efforts to mobilize Iraq's Sunni minority in the battle against the Islamic State group.

In one of Thursday's attacks, a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into an army checkpoint near the town of al-Baghdadi, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) northwest of Baghdad, killing five soldiers and wounding 12, police officials said.

In Baghdad, a bomb blast in a commercial street in the western district of Ghazaliyah killed four people and wounded eight, while a bomb near a line of shops killed two people in the city's northwest, the officials said.

Earlier, gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on an army checkpoint in Baghdad's western suburb of Abu Ghraib, killing two soldiers.

Hospital officials confirmed the causalities. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Meanwhile, Iraq's parliament speaker, Salim al-Jubouri said that the draft law to establish a community-driven national guard in each province would be finished and submitted to the parliament within the next two weeks

The move is mainly designed to appease and mobilize Sunni tribes against the extremists form the Islamic State group who made big advances in the Sunni western province of Anbar in recent months. Members of the Sunni minority have been complaining of second-class treatment by the Shiite-led government and abuse by Shiite militias.

Once the law is approved, it could still take months to assemble and equip such a force.

"Obviously the events of Anbar ... led to a popular mobilization of the people to confront the IS group," al-Jubouri told The Associated Press from Irbil in northern Iraq.

Iraq is facing its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops, with the Islamic State group in control of large swaths of land in the country's north and west.

Libya's top court dissolves elected parliament

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) - In a blow to anti-Islamist factions, Libya's highest court on Thursday ruled that general elections held in June were unconstitutional, the country's parliament and government which resulted from that vote should be dissolved.

The development further deepened the rift in the politically divided Libya, which has been mired in months-long bitter clashes and turmoil that have left the country with two rival parliaments and governments, killed hundreds and displaced whole populations of war-torn cities and towns.

The Supreme Constitutional Court issued its ruling from the capital of Tripoli, which is controlled by Islamist-allied militias from the powerful western coastal city of Misrata.

The militias, which took Tripoli in August, revived an earlier parliament that ran the country before the elections. They also forced the recently elected parliament, dominated by anti-Islamists, to convene in the far eastern city of Tobruk.

The fact that Libya's top court ruled from Tripoli raises the question whether it did so under pressure from the militias. The ruling declared illegal a March amendment to the country's transitional constitution that laid out the roadmap to the June elections, hence effectively rendering the parliament and government that followed the vote also illegal.

The Tobruk parliament convened following Thursday's ruling but it was unclear if lawmakers would officially reject it.

Abu-Bakr Baeira, a leading lawmaker in the Tobruk parliament, described the court's decision as "politicized" and warned it would only further partition Libya.

"Tripoli is hijacked," Baeira, who is a strong advocate for setting up a semi-autonomous region in eastern Libya, told The Associated Press over the phone from Tobruk. "We don't recognize anything that comes out of it."

The parliament's deputy speaker, however, hailed the ruling as a "victory for the nation." Saleh al-Makhzoum said it had rendered the Tobruk parliament "nonexistent."

In Misrata, rallies were held, complete with fireworks, to celebrate the ruling.

Former lawmaker and historian Faraj Najm said the ruling resets Libya "back to square one" and that the choices now before the Tobruk-based parliament are "between bad and worse."

If lawmakers reject the ruling, "we will end up with two entities, both with questions over their legality," he said.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya, or UNSMIL, said it was studying the ruling and warned rival camps from taking actions that only "escalate the existing polarization or result in a further deterioration of the security situation."

The Tobruk parliament was Libya's second elected legislature since longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown and killed in a 2011 uprising against his rule. Since then, Libya has been gripped by unrest as authorities struggled to reign in regional, ideological and other militias vying for power.

Meanwhile, full-blown war is underway in the eastern city of Benghazi - the birthplace of the uprising - where pro-government forces are battling Islamist militias for control of the city.

Also, another warzone has opened up in western Libya, where the Misrata militias and allied fighters from a handful of western towns are fighting pro-government forces, including the rival Zintan militia in the mountain town of Kikla.

In the past three weeks, at least 400 people have been killed in both areas of fighting, thousands wounded and thousands were displaced.

Omar Homaidan, the spokesman for the Tripoli-based parliament, which is not internationally recognized, suggested that the supreme court's reasoning for the ruling was the fact that the March amendment that put in motion the June elections had passed without a needed majority vote in the assembly.

"We were aware that the session was being held without the quorum but the parliament was under tremendous pressure to pass the amendment," he said.

Houmaidan said a possible way out of the crisis was to wait for a 60-member panel to finish writing Libya's new constitution, then call a referendum on it and hold elections after that.

Libya never had a constitution under Gadhafi's 42-year-rule and the turmoil that engulfed the nation since his ouster has stood in the way of the panel finishing its work.

AC/DC's Phil Rudd accused of murder-for-hire plot

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Australian rock band AC/DC says the arrest of its drummer in an alleged murder-for-hire plot won't affect its upcoming tour or album release.

Phil Rudd, a band member off-and-on for nearly three decades, was accused Thursday of trying to arrange two killings as well as possession of drugs.

AC/DC released a statement through publicist Benny Tarantini on Thursday saying band members had "only become aware of Phil's arrest as the news was breaking."

"We have no further comment. Phil's absence will not affect the release of our new album 'Rock or Bust' and upcoming tour next year."

"Rock or Bust" is due to be released on Dec. 2 and will be the band's first new studio album in six years. The band plans to promote it during a world tour next year.

Rudd, 60, appeared briefly at the Tauranga District Court in his adopted home of New Zealand and was charged with attempting to procure murder, which carries a maximum prison term of 10 years.

Rudd's lawyer Paul Mabey said he was still getting up to speed on the case and had no comment. Mabey was out of town attending a trial when he heard about the charges, he said.

Rudd was released on bail. One of the conditions is that he must not have any contact with anyone involved in the alleged plot.

The Bay of Plenty Times newspaper reported that the Australian-born Rudd was accused of trying to hire a hit man to carry out the two killings. Police raided Rudd's home Thursday morning, according to the paper, and held him in custody until his court appearance.

A judge suppressed the names of the alleged intended victims and would-be hit man, the newspaper said.

The court declined to release further details.

Rudd has also been charged with threatening to kill and possession of methamphetamine and marijuana.

Court staff said Rudd was due to make a second appearance Nov. 27, although that date could change. He has yet to enter a plea.

Rudd and the other members of AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

"Featuring guitarist Angus Young as their visual symbol and musical firebrand, they grew from humble origins in Australia to become an arena-filling phenomenon with worldwide popularity. They did so without gimmickry, except for Angus's schoolboy uniform, which became mandatory stage attire," said the Hall of Fame's biography.

According to the biography, Rudd first joined AC/DC in 1974, the year after it was started. Other reports indicate he left the band in 1983 but rejoined again in 1994. The Bay of Plenty Times reported that Rudd first moved to New Zealand in 1983, during the period when he had left the band, and in 2011 bought a Tauranga restaurant he named Phil's Place.

The restaurant's website says it represents Rudd's long-held vision to "offer you fresh local food at affordable prices delivered by warm and friendly staff."

AC/DC's albums include "Highway to Hell," ''Back in Black," and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap."

The U.S. military has used the band's music for martial purposes. In 2004, U.S. troops blasted AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" and other rock music full volume in Fallujah, Iraq, hoping to grate on the nerves of insurgents.

AC/DC had been one of the few acts that refused to allow its music to be released digitally on iTunes. It relented in late 2012. This year, the band announced that founding member Malcolm Young, brother of Angus, was leaving due to unspecified health reasons.

Remains found of missing Fox movie executive

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The remains of a 20th Century Fox executive who disappeared more than two years ago have been found in a rural desert area of Southern California, authorities said.

Lt. Larry Dietz of the Los Angeles County coroner's office confirmed early Thursday that the remains of Gavin Smith have been positively identified.

Smith, 57, was last seen May 1, 2012, in Ventura County's Oak Park neighborhood after leaving a friend's home, and his disappearance has been investigated as a murder.

Hikers discovered the remains near Palmdale in the Antelope Valley on Oct. 26, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office said in a statement.

Results of an autopsy have not been finalized. Sheriff's officials planned to discuss the case further during a news conference Thursday.

Authorities said earlier they had found his Mercedes-Benz at a Simi Valley storage facility, and its condition and witness statements led them to believe Smith was killed.

The storage facility was linked to John Creech, a man who was serving an eight-year prison sentence for sales or transport of narcotics, sheriff's Lt. Dave Dolson said last year. Creech was named a person of interest but has not been charged with Smith's murder.

Dolson said then that Smith had "some kind of relationship" with Creech's wife, Chandrika, after meeting her in rehab several years previously. Dolson declined to provide details.

Smith was with Fox's movie distribution department for nearly 18 years and was a branch manager for several theaters.

Home-cooked pet kibble as easy as click, mix, dish

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Like man, the way to a dog's heart is through its stomach.

No one knows that better than Kris Rotonda and Denise Fernandez, the couple who conceived the Doggy Cooking Network and founded online dating service YouMustLoveDogsDating.com, where pooch-loving singles can connect with potential mates.

Their Doggy Cooking Network on YouTube taps into the popularity of cooking shows like "The Pioneer Woman" and "Barefoot Contessa" to show pet owners how to dish up fresh, homemade alternatives to commercial kibble. It struck a chord as serving safe, wholesome food has become important to people putting more time, money and energy into pet care.

Some animal lovers have emphasized home-cooked canine cuisine following complaints of tainted food sickening and killing pets.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received reports that dog and cat treats made in China have killed 1,000 dogs and sickened more than 4,800 pets since 2007. The agency has not been able to prove the chicken, duck or sweet potato jerky treats are causing the illnesses, but large retailers PetSmart and Petco plan to pull them from shelves.

Worried pet owners can find easy recipes in Rotonda and Fernandez's cooking shows. In their videos, they use simple ingredients like chicken, rice and eggs to make everything from frozen yogurt bars and sweet bean rice to meatloaf birthday cake, and they incorporate food trends like organic and gluten-free snacks.

"The idea is simple. Food brings families together," Fernandez said. "Only people who are really devoted to their dogs are going to cook for them."

She and Rotonda are not professional chefs but display quick ways to please a pet's palate after testing the dishes out on their four dogs.

Viewers mix along with the couple as they joke, banter and show off their finished dishes during the four-minute cooking segments. Shows are being posted once a week on YouTube, but they hope to expand soon.

They started their one-of-a-kind show about three months ago. With the holidays coming up, at least one episode a month will spotlight ideas for pet recipes and gifts, Fernandez said.

Mary Montufar of Mountain View, California, will build on the show's recipes to make her own creations for her 11-year-old Maltese mix, Phoebe. If the Doggy Cooking Network features chicken with carrots and peas, she will try similar alternatives, like turkey and sweet potatoes.

The fresh food helped combat Phoebe's extensive allergies. Montufar tried all kinds of store-bought food, but none of it stopped the dog's scratching and discomfort.

So she decided to give the online cooking shows a try. The ingredients are simple and cheap and the recipes are so easy that she can make a week's worth of food at a time, Montufar said. She can also get it done in the same amount of time it would take her to go shopping, she said.

Best of all, the food has cut way down on Phoebe's allergies.

"It's all fresh food, so there's nothing you would be afraid to eat yourself," Montufar said.

Flamenco guitarist Manitas de Plata dead at 93

PARIS (AP) - Iconic flamenco guitarist Manitas de Plata, who sold nearly 100 million records worldwide and broke boundaries for Gypsy musicians, has died in southern France. He was 93.

De Plata died in a Montpellier retirement home early Wednesday surrounded by his extended family, his great nephew, Ricao Bissiere, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Bissiere called him a "great guitarist and a beautiful man who opened the doors for Gypsy music."

De Plata sold around 93 million records in a career that spanned over half a century. Despite acquiring a fortune as one of France's best-selling recording artists, he died practically penniless - spending his fortune on "roulette, fancy cars, going out and beautiful women," according to Bissiere.

"He loved life. He was a character," Bissiere added.

Born Ricardo Baliardo in a caravan in southern France in 1921 to a French Gypsy family, De Plata first mastered the guitar at age 9, without even being able to read music.

He went on to wow crowds with his flamenco strumming in French Riviera cafes, watched by artists Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, writer Jean Cocteau and actress Brigitte Bardot.

Picasso once exclaimed "that man is of greater worth than I am!" when he heard him at Arles in 1964 and drew on his guitar.

As his talent became clear, he changed to his recording name, Manitas de Plata, meaning "little hands of silver" in Spanish.

He was a legendary ladies' man and De Plata himself once admitted he didn't know how many children he had fathered in his life, thought to be more than 20.

The guitarist was a strong influence on the Gipsy Kings and strengthened his reputation in the U.S. after playing New York's Carnegie Hall in the 1965.

His funeral will take place on Saturday in Montpellier.

Fox's Ablow regularly 'diagnoses' Obama

NEW YORK (AP) - Over the years, psychiatrist Keith Ablow has diagnosed President Barack Obama as a man with abandonment issues dating back to his upbringing, a person with a victim's mentality who secretly identifies more with Africa than America.

There's no evidence that Ablow has actually treated the president. Yet the Fox News Channel analyst freely mixes psychiatric assessments with political criticism, a unique twist in the realm of cable news commentary that some medical colleagues find unethical.

Even some natural political allies object, although Tim Graham of the conservative Media Research Center noted in an interview that Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, was frequently criticized by journalists and political foes who speculated on "daddy issues" with his presidential father.

"Activists of all stripes should be able to agree that psychologizing from afar is not a strong suit of the media," Graham said.

The 52-year-old Ablow, who has psychiatric practices in Massachusetts and New York and teaches at Tufts University, wasn't available to talk about his Fox role, his office said. Fox representatives didn't respond to requests for interviews.

He's been a Fox contributor since 2007 after hosting a failed syndicated talk show. Identified as a member of the Fox News Medical A-Team, he hosts a regular segment about behavior titled "Normal or Nuts?" on the "Fox & Friends" morning show. There were published reports this fall that the network had extended his contract.

Rival news networks CNN and MSNBC say they don't have a psychiatrist-commentator under contract. CNN said the closest thing it has to something similar is when profilers come on the air to discuss the mental characteristics of people who commit dramatic crimes, for example. The network said medical experts don't get into politics, but others can have different interpretations. The MRC's Graham said opinion often drifts in when television medical correspondents comment on aspects of Obama's health care plan.

Ablow clearly enjoys being provocative, and his commentaries don't stick to his areas of medical expertise. Within the past two weeks he called for an "American jihad," saying the country should urge all nations to adopt a government form based on the U.S. Constitution. His comment this summer that Michelle Obama "needs to drop a few" pounds was widely noticed.

His armchair analyses of Obama have included:

-Suggesting Obama wasn't doing enough to protect the U.S. from Ebola because "how can you protect a country you don't like?" He attempted to speak from "deep inside the president's psyche" to explain the supposed dislike. Obama's "affinities" were with Africa and "not us," he said last month on John Gibson's Fox radio show.

-Saying in June that Obama wants America to dissolve. "He's not the closer," he said on Fox's "Outnumbered," ''unless the American people want to commit suicide as a nation and he's the guy who will push you off a cliff. Spoken as a psychiatrist."

-Suggesting in a Fox column after Russia's invasion of Crimea that in Obama, Vladimir Putin had found someone as interested in disempowering the United States as he was.

-Saying on "Fox & Friends" that Obama sees himself as the "victim-in-chief," an attitude related to abandonment by his father in childhood and his mother briefly leaving him with his grandparents.

-Saying on Lou Dobbs' Fox Business Channel show that Obama had "severed himself from all core emotions."

Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, chairman of psychiatry at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, said Ablow seems more interested in entertaining than in reflecting well on his profession. Lieberman is past president of the American Psychiatric Association, which discourages members from speculating on psychiatric characteristics of non-patients.

"It is shameful and unfortunate that he is given a platform by Fox News or any other media organization," Lieberman said. "Basically he is a narcissistic self-promoter of limited and dubious expertise."

Ablow isn't an APA member, having resigned in 2011 in a dispute over transgenderism.

It's not unusual for there to be an uncomfortable relationship between the medical community and doctors who get into television. Talk show hosts Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz have their critics. Dr. Drew Pinsky took heat for exposing rehab patients to the pressure of a televised recovery.

While doctors are entitled to political opinions like anyone else, the way Ablow tries to connect his views to medical analysis "is really just irresponsible and it's embarrassing for physicians in general," said Ford Vox, a staff psychiatrist at the Shepherd Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center in Atlanta.

Ablow has occasionally taken heat from Fox colleagues about his commentaries. Greg Gutfeld of "The Five" said that "we should probably avoid blaming people for tragedies," in response to Ablow's criticism of Obama on Ebola. And the four women co-hosts of "Outnumbered" clearly didn't appreciate the attack on the first lady's weight, made in context of her efforts to promote healthy eating.

It's not clear whether Ablow has drawn any blood from his intended target. Jay Carney, former Obama press secretary, said he wasn't even sure who he is.

"I'm confident that no one in the White House spends any time thinking about him," Carney said. "Fox is Fox. It doesn't really matter who the salesman is. The product is always the same."

6th series of 'Downton Abbey' to film next year

LONDON (AP) - There is no end in sight to the upstairs-downstairs drama of "Downton Abbey."

Britain's ITV network says it has commissioned a sixth season of the popular costume drama from co-producers Carnival Films and Masterpiece. It will start filming early next year.

ITV's director of drama commissioning, Steve November, said Thursday that the show continues to be "a phenomenon."

He said the network doesn't know yet what series writer Julian Fellowes has planned for his much-loved characters.

The Emmy Award-winning show follows the fates of the aristocratic Crawley clan and their servants amid the social upheavals of the 1910s and 1920s.

The fifth series of "Downton Abbey" is currently airing in Britain and starts Jan. 4 on PBS in the United States.

Share on printMore Sharing Services 0 Los Angeles museum to announce huge art donation

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Entertainment executive Jerry Perenchio pledged the Los Angeles County Museum of Art what it calls the largest donation of works in its history, 47 pieces by major artists including Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro.

The collection is valued at $500 million, the Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/1u3oto3 ). The museum plans to announce details of the gift Thursday.

"LA is my home, and I wanted to leave it to a museum here," said Perenchio, 83, the former CEO of Univision.

The Times reported that the bequest, which would go into effect after his death, comes with one condition: The museum must first complete construction of a new building, which is planned for 2023.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved a tentative plan for a $600 million redesign of the museum's campus, which would include tearing down and replacing most of its buildings.

The centerpiece of the renovation would be a huge amoeba-shaped building featuring gallery space in the form of a bridge over Wilshire Boulevard.

Museum officials said they will also discuss the building plan at Thursday's news conference.

Perenchio began his career as a talent agent, with a roster of clients including Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor.

CBS News launches digital streaming news network

NEW YORK (AP) - CBS News has expanded its reach to a digital streaming network that features live, anchored coverage 15 hours each weekday.

The ad-supported network, called CBSN, launched Thursday. It is available around the clock on Internet-connected TVs, mobile phones and other devices, CBS News and CBS Interactive said in a joint announcement. Live coverage will initially span from 9 a.m. to midnight Eastern time in a 60-minute format enabling viewers to switch between earlier segments on a video-on-demand basis and the network's live programming.

"We're not just taking television and putting it on the Web, and we're not just stacking up a bunch of VOD elements," said CBS News President David Rhodes. "We think what people want from streaming is something in between."

The result with CBSN, he said, is "a mix of live, anchored coverage which you can sit back and watch, and active VOD-style elements, which, if you like, you can use to personalize your experience."

Though official word of CBSN wasn't released until moments after it debuted ("We try to announce things when people can see them," Rhodes explained), he said the new venture had been actively in the works for about a year.

CBSN will carry simulcasts of CBS News special reports for breaking news and offer additional content from CBS resources ranging from affiliate stations and CBSSports.com to CNET and "Entertainment Tonight."

On-camera talent will chiefly be familiar CBS News correspondents, Rhodes said. "We want viewers to know CBSN is at the same level of quality" as more traditional CBS News outlets.

The new network will be available on CBSNews.com, its mobile website and the CBS News app, as well as key-connected TV devices including Amazon Fire TV and Roku players.

Miranda Lambert makes history at 2014 CMAs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Miranda Lambert has reached new heights as a female country performer: The fiery singer is the most decorated female artist in the history of the Country Music Association Awards.

Lambert's four wins Wednesday night give the 30-year-old a total of 11 CMA trophies throughout her career, putting her ahead of any other female act. Lambert's fifth consecutive win for female vocalist of the year Wednesday beat a record set by herself, Reba McEntire and Martina McBride.

Lambert also took home album of the year for "Platinum," single of the year for "Automatic" and music event of the year for "We Were Us" with Keith Urban.

"It's really unbelievable," she said backstage. "I felt like this whole night was about really celebrating music."

Lambert lost the night's top award to Luke Bryan, giving the 38-year-old his first CMA. The win for entertainer of the year marked a shift in the genre, which has shunned the party-boy singer who is the leader of the contemporary pack of bro-country performers, which includes acts like Florida Georgia Line.

"I have longed and sought after to get one of these in my hands. ... To get the respect of the CMA board ... is a ginormous deal," a happy Bryan said backstage. "I am really humbled. I think about the hard work it took to get here. I am so blessed this is from the CMAs and I will never take it for granted."

Bryan beat out George Strait, Blake Shelton and Urban for entertainer of the year, and his successful year included the top-selling album "Crash My Party," a string of hit songs and a top-grossing tour.

Bryan also was named last year's entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards. He was snubbed when the Grammy Awards revealed their nominees last year, but his CMA win could help him earn some love from the Recording Academy when it announces its nominations next month.

Lambert, too, could be bringing home some Grammy gold since she was the reigning queen of Wednesday's awards show. She stole the night with fashion choices that were winners, too, and performances. She sang twice onstage, including a country-tinged version of "All About That Bass" with breakthrough singer Meghan Trainor, where Shelton looked up and bopped his head.

Shelton, like his wife, made CMA history: He tied Strait and Vince Gill for five wins for male vocalist of the year.

"For me and my family, this may be the biggest night of our lives as far as music goes," Shelton said backstage.

"I told my wife when we were walking off the stage, I go, 'Miranda, I'm sorry, you only won four CMAs tonight. I mean, I'm really sorry," he said as reporters laughed.

The theme of the CMAs seemed to be paired performances: Shelton sang with Ashley Monroe; the Doobie Brothers performed with Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott, Jennifer Nettles and Hunter Hayes; Strait and Eric Church performed "Cowboys Like Us"; and pop diva Ariana Grande sported a mini top and skirt as she sang the hit "Bang Bang" alongside Little Big Town, who won vocal group of the year.

But the night's best collaboration was Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley. The white-hot duo, hosting the CMAs for a seventh time, earned laugh after laugh for jokes that ranged from Ebola to Taylor Swift to Underwood's baby bump.

Swift's switch to pop from country was referred to as "Postpartum Taylor Swift Disorder," or PPTSD.

"President Barack Obama doesn't care about PPTSD!" Paisley yelled. Underwood followed with: "I'm pretty sure it's why the Democrats lost the Senate."

Underwood and Paisley sang a version of Dolly Parton's "Jolene," calling it "Quarantine." Paisley also earned roaring laughter when he noted that the ABC series "Black-ish," which airs Wednesdays, would not be airing because of the CMAs.

"If you were expecting to see the show 'Black-ish,' this ain't it ... I hope you're enjoying 'White-ish,'" he said.

Kacey Musgraves, who won two Grammy Awards earlier this year, won song of the year for "Follow Your Arrow," which she co-wrote with Brandy Clark, who is openly gay and was among the contenders for new artist of the year. "Follow Your Arrow" features the lyrics, "So make lots of noise, kiss lots of boys, or kiss lots of girls, if that's something you're into."

"For a song that I was told could never, and would never, be a single, it just blows my mind," Musgraves said. "It's just an anthem for all kinds of people so I could not be more proud."

Musgraves switched gears backstage, closing with a story about a malfunction before her performance Wednesday night.

"Just so y'all know, my panties totally came off," she said as reporters laughed. "They were the stick-on kind. Look at this dress, there's not much to work with."