KIEV, Ukraine — In an effort to stabilize Ukraine and extend its authority, the interim government has set a deadline of Friday for turning in the illegal firearms that are now carried openly by so-called self-defense groups in Independence Square, the politically important plaza in the center of the capital.

 The order was seconded on Thursday by the French ambassador to Ukraine, Alain Rémy, who said the disarmament of the militias that helped overthrow the former government is a central requirement for the European Union to begin disbursing financial aid, along with the government fighting corruption.

 Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, who was a staunch supporter of the protesters but never condoned violent tactics, set the deadline for Friday, the day Ukraine is scheduled to sign the political articles of an association agreement with the European Union.

 “For those who want to defend their country with an assault rifle in their hands, welcome to the National Guard or the Army,” Mr. Yatsenyuk said in a speech this week.

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 Members of the self-organized defense groups that formed to defend Independence Square and other protest sites during the uprising have been reluctant to comply. Like gun owners in countries like the United States and Switzerland where ownership of firearms is widespread, they contend that the weapons are needed to defend the country against a possible foreign invasion and to defend their freedoms from potential government abuse.

 “It’s not normal to ask people to hand in their weapons in the situation we have now,” Dmytro Yarosh, the leader of a right-wing paramilitary group, Right Sector, said in an interview this week. His organization opposes the request to surrender its weapons, but will comply with the law, he said.

 Mr. Yarosh said lawyers with his group were drafting a bill for consideration in Parliament that was modeled on Swiss notions of firearms possession, in which an armed population is seen as a quick deterrent against a foreign invasion.

 “Allow people to keep weapons at home,” Mr. Yarosh said, describing the logic of gun ownership in the context of Ukraine. “Then, when the enemy walks down the streets of your country, you can shoot him right from your own window.”

 Members of Right Sector have not just hunting rifles but also military weapons that were seized from an Interior Ministry arsenal in western Ukraine in the final days of the uprising.

 The hunting weapons are legal, if the owner has a permit. In Ukraine, people 21 and older may apply for a license to own a shotgun for hunting, and those 25 and older may apply for a permit to own a rifle.

 Pistols that fire nonlethal plastic or rubber bullets are also legal for citizens who can demonstrate a risk of assault because of their profession, which in Ukraine can include law enforcement officers for off-duty use, civil servants and journalists.

 The self-defense units have been reluctant to describe in detail the seized military weapons, which were from an arsenal outside the city of Lviv. Mr. Yarosh said Right Sector helped move the weapons to the capital in late February. Today, he said of his supporters, “in part they handed in these weapons, in part they keep them.”

 The military weapons reached the capital too late to play a role in the street fighting, protest leaders have said.

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 Most of the opposition street fighters who clashed with the police in Kiev in February carried only baseball bats and other improvised bludgeons, like lead pipes or table legs with nails driven through the ends. But analysts said it was the size of the crowds, rather than weaponry, that was the pivotal political factor.

 The interim government is now seeking to integrate the loosely organized militias into a newly formed national guard, though several hard-line groups, including Right Sector, have declined to join.

 At the group’s headquarters in the Dnipro Hotel here, where men in jeans and military fatigues guarded the hallways this week, some of them with black-and-red bandannas over their faces, a man with a submachine gun stood guard outside the office of Mr. Yarosh.

 “We are ready to become partisans, and are preparing for this role,” Mr. Yarosh said. “Patriots with guns are the best protection.”

 Hryhoriy Nemyria, a Parliament member and a former deputy prime minister who supports the government’s position on collecting firearms, said in an interview that far from discouraging a Russian intervention, the widespread distribution of illegal firearms could just as easily be used to justify one.

 “Arms out of control of the state are of course a factor in instability, and should not be allowed to drift by inertia,” he said. “In the context of Russian agents crossing the border, the guns are a catalyst for disorder. Arming the population is not our policy.” ||||| MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has signed bills making Crimea part of Russia, completing the annexation from Ukraine.

 Members of the State Duma, lower parliament chamber, applaud for their voting during a plenary session in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 20, 2014. The Kremlin-controlled State Duma voted Thursday to... (Associated Press)

 A soldier in an unmarked uniform stands guard at APC outside the Ukrainian Military Prosecutor's Office in Simferopol, Crimea, Thursday, March 20, 2014. The lower house of Russian parliament voted Thursday... (Associated Press)

 Pro-Russian soldiers check the traffic entering the Ukrainian navy headquarters, after taking control Wednesday, in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Thursday, March 20, 2014. Pro-Russian forces seized three Ukrainian... (Associated Press)

 A child gives fruit to a Ukrainian officer at the Ukrainian Military Prosecutor's Office in Simferopol, Crimea, Thursday, March 20, 2014. The lower house of Russian parliament voted Thursday to make Crimea... (Associated Press)

 Putin hailed the incorporation of Crimea into Russia as a "remarkable event" before he signed the bills into law in the Kremlin on Friday.

 Russia rushed the annexation of the strategic Black Sea peninsula after Sunday's hastily called referendum, in which its residents overwhelmingly backed breaking off from Ukraine and joining Russia. Ukraine and the West have rejected the vote, held two weeks after Russian troops had taken over Crimea.

 The U.S. and the European Union have responded by slapping sanctions on Russia. ||||| Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte meet at the start of the second day of a European leaders summit in Brussels March 21, 2104.

 BRUSSELS The European Union and Ukraine signed the core elements of a political association agreement on Friday, committing to the same deal former president Viktor Yanukovich rejected last November, a move which led to his overthrow.

 Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, EU leaders Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso, and the leaders of the bloc's 28 nations signed the core chapters of the Association Agreement on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.

 The deal commits Ukraine and the EU to closer political and economic cooperation, although more substantial parts of the agreement concerning free trade will only be signed after Ukraine has held new presidential elections in May.

 Van Rompuy, the European Council president, said the agreement would bring Ukraine and its 46 million people closer to the heart of Europe and a "European way of life".

 "(This) recognizes the aspirations of the people of Ukraine to live in a country governed by values, by democracy and the rule of law, where all citizens have a stake in national prosperity," he said.

 Two sets of the documents were passed around the table for the EU's leaders and Yatseniuk to sign in a solemn atmosphere. Van Rompuy and Yatseniuk then shook hands and exchanged the documents to applause, witnesses said.

 Coinciding with the signing in Brussels, Russia's upper house of parliament unanimously approved a treaty annexing Ukraine's Crimea region, clearing the way for President Vladimir Putin to sign it into law.

 Yanukovich turned his back on signing the EU agreement last November in favor of closer ties with Moscow, prompting months of street protests that eventually led to his fleeing the country. Soon afterwards, Russian forces occupied Crimea, drawing outrage and sanctions from the United States and EU.

 As well as the closer political ties, the European Commission has agreed to extend nearly 500 million euros worth of trade benefits to Ukraine, removing customs duties on a wide range of agricultural goods, textiles and other imports.

 Once Ukraine has held presidential elections on May 25 and a new administration is in place, the EU plans to move ahead with signing a free-trade agreement with Ukraine, giving the country unfettered access to the EU's market of 500 million consumers.

 That has far more potential to strengthen Ukraine's shattered economy, but also runs the risk of provoking retaliatory steps from Russia, which has already imposed stricter customs checks on trade with Ukraine.

 The other burden for Kiev is meeting the obligations that come with EU political association, including instituting changes to the rule of law and justice, and adopting business and environmental standards that will require hard work and long-term investment to meet.

 (Reporting by Adrian Croft and Luke Baker; editing by Luke Baker) ||||| Vladimir Putin has mocked US sanctions imposed on Russia, saying he will open an account at US-sanctioned Rossiya Bank. During a meeting with the country's senior security officials he added that he won’t introduce a visa regime with Ukraine.

 Putin treated with irony the recent sanctions imposed on certain Russian lawmakers.

 “Yes, these are those so-called ‘polite people in camouflage with guns’,” ironically said Putin hinting at Western accusations that Russian soldiers have taken bases in Crimea.

 “Look at them, typical Moskals [pejorative term for Russians – ED.],” he added, pointing at US sanctioned prominent businessmen Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, Gennady Timchenko, head of the Volga Group and Yury Kovalchuk, the owner of Rossiya Bank. “I need to avoid these citizens as they are ‘compromising the country’.”

 On Thursday the US expanded its sanctions list by adding 20 more names. US President Barack Obama announced a new executive order imposing further sanctions on top Russian officials and businessmen.

 Aleksey Gromov, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration; Sergey Ivanov, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office; and Sergey Naryshkin, Speaker of the State Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament, are among those mentioned. Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin is also on the list.

 The order also allows for measures against Russian energy, mining, defense, and engineering sectors.

 Putin also commented on the latest sanction of the US authorities that concerned Russia’s Rossiya Bank, to which international payment systems Visa and MasterCard stopped serving clients on Friday.

 The Russian president said he will get his salary via the sanctioned bank.

 “I’ve already said that I was going to open an account in this bank, more than that I asked for my salary to be transferred to this account,” he said.

 Putin added that Russian authorities should provide any possible support for the clients of the blocked Rossiya Bank, as this “finance establishment has nothing to do with Ukraine crisis.”

 “The clients of the bank must be taken under our protection. We also should make sure that neither clients nor the bank will sustain any negative outcome from this situation,” he added.

 Putin assured that Russia will refrain from retaliatory sanctions against the US and introducing a visa regime with Ukraine.

 Putin believes that millions of innocent Ukrainian would suffer should Russia introduce a visa regime with Ukraine.

 “These people are not rich. They work in Russia to provide for their families. We shouldn’t do this,” he added.

 Putin also said Russia will continue leading a project to repair helicopters in Afghanistan, which is run by NATO and Russia.

 “We should continue this cooperation despite our NATO partners vow to freeze our partnership,” he said.

 The so-called helicopter project, financed by both Russia and Western countries, aims at helping Afghanistan repair helicopter equipment produced in Russia and training special personnel to operate this equipment.

 Putin’s statement about the visa regime came after reports this week that Ukraine might introduce a visa regime for Russians, but Ukraine’s coup-appointed PM, Arseny Yatsenuk, said the authorities are in no hurry to impose it. ||||| Story highlights "Russia needs Europe more than Europe needs Russia," Cameron says

 Russia's President Vladimir Putin signs law allowing joining of Crimea to Russia

 EU leaders and Ukraine's PM sign the political part of a Ukraine-EU trade deal

 Tough U.S. and EU sanctions have been imposed on members of Putin's inner circle

 Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk signed the political elements of a trade pact with the European Union on Friday, even as Russian lawmakers finalized annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

 The signing in Brussels signals Europe's solidarity with Ukraine -- and carries additional symbolic force because it was the decision by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in November to ditch the trade pact in favor of closer ties with Russia that triggered the protests that led to his ouster in February and spiraled into the current crisis.

 It also comes a day after the European Union and the United States slapped sanctions on Russian lawmakers and businessmen; Russia responded with its own list of sanctions against a number of U.S. lawmakers and officials.

 In another sign of defiance, Russian President Vladimir Putin, flanked by the speakers of both houses of Parliament, signed a treaty Friday finalizing the accession to Russia of the Crimea region and its port city of Sevastopol.

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 The upper house unanimously approved ratification of the treaty a day after Russia's lower house of Parliament, the State Duma, passed it by an overwhelming margin.

 The political crisis has been the biggest blow to Russia's relations with the West since the Cold War.

 In a sign that Western sanctions are already weighing on Russian authorities, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Friday in Moscow that the government will have to pay more to borrow money, state news agency ITAR-Tass said.

 Russia "will look at our oil and gas revenues. If the situation is like it is now, we will probably have to give up external borrowings and cut domestic ones," Siluanov said.

 Yatsenyuk: EU speaking in one voice

 Moscow has doggedly pursued its own course even as Western leaders have denounced its actions as violations of Ukraine's sovereignty and a breach of international law.

 Though Russia insists that its actions are legitimate, Ukraine's interim government has said Kiev will never stop fighting for Crimea.

 Human Rights Watch said in a statement Friday that it has concluded that the international law of occupation applies to Russian forces in Crimea. "The occupying party is ultimately responsible for violations of international law committed by local authorities or proxy forces," it said.

 While in Brussels, Yatsenyuk held talks with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.

 He said Russia's ratification of the treaty annexing Crimea is less important than the EU trade pact he has signed with EU leaders.

 "Frankly speaking, I don't care about Russia signing this deal; I care about Ukraine, Ukrainians and our European future," he said. "This deal covers more existential and most important issues, mainly security and defense cooperation."

 Yatsenyuk said the European Union would "speak in one single and strong voice" to protect its values and defend Ukraine's territorial integrity.

 Van Rompuy said the deal "shows our steadfast support for the course the people of Ukraine have courageously pursued."

 EU travel bans, asset freezes

 The European Union confirmed details of the sanctions against 12 Russian officials agreed to late Thursday at the EU Heads of State or Government summit.

 Those targeted with travel bans and asset freezes include Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, as well as the chairwoman of the Russian upper house, Valentina Matvienko, and two Putin advisers.

 "Sanctions are not a question of retaliation; they are a foreign policy tool," Van Rompuy said. "Our goal is to stop Russian action against Ukraine, to restore Ukraine's sovereignty, and to achieve this, we need a negotiated solution."

 He said the European Union expected soon to finalize approval of the remaining parts of the deal, particularly its economic provisions.

 British Prime Minister David Cameron said the European Commission will draw up further sanctions -- in finance, military and energy -- for use if the situation escalates.

 "Europe is, I think, 25% or so reliant on Russian gas," he said. "But if you look at Gazprom's revenues, something like 50% of them come from Europe. So, you know, Russia needs Europe more than Europe needs Russia."

 Cameron said the measures agreed to in Brussels will carry a cost for Crimea, whose goods would face heavy penalties and tariffs in Europe if they are shipped through Russia, not Ukraine.

 EU leaders want to see an international observer mission in Crimea, preferably under the aegis of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe but, if not, sent by the European Union, Cameron said.

 Ban: 'Deeply concerned'

 A day after speaking with Putin in Moscow, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met Friday in Kiev with acting President Oleksandr Turchynov, then told reporters he was "very deeply concerned" by the tensions in parts of Ukraine and between Kiev and Moscow. "These are some of the most traumatic and difficult times in the history of Ukraine," he said.

 Ban urged a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to the crisis and said all parties should refrain from inflammatory actions and rhetoric.

 U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic arrived Friday in Crimea for a two-day visit aimed at laying the groundwork for a U.N. human rights monitoring mission, the United Nations said.

 He and a team were to meet with Crimean leaders, the head of the Crimean Tatar minority and others, including the families of Ukrainian servicemen, the United Nations said.

 The United Nations and other organizations stand ready to assist with the country's elections, slated to be held May 25, Ban said. While in Kiev, he was also planning to meet with Yatsenyuk and other ministers and lawmakers.

 In another sign of solidarity with Ukraine, France is offering to strengthen a NATO air-policing mission in the Baltic area by sending four jets, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday.

 The offer, accepted by the Baltic states, was extended Friday as French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian traveled to Lithuania, Estonia and Poland, said Sacha Mandel, the minister's communication adviser.

 His trip followed a visit to the Baltics this week by Vice President Joe Biden.

 Putin's inner circle

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 The U.S. sanctions announced Thursday target 20 people seen as close to Putin, as well as a bank, Rossiya, believed to serve the President and senior Russian officials.

 Putin rejected the putative link. "I personally didn't have an account there, but I'll definitely open it on Monday," he said Friday, according to the Kremlin.

 The individuals named by the U.S. Treasury include Putin allies in the Kremlin and in business. Among the 16 government officials are Putin's chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov; the speaker of the State Duma, Sergey Naryshkin; and Viktor Ozerov, chairman of the Security and Defense Committee of the Russian Parliament's upper house.

 Four others were named as members of the government's inner circle. They are financier Yuri Kovalchuk, labeled Putin's personal banker by a senior U.S. administration official; magnate Gennady Timchenko, whose activities in the energy sector have been directly linked to Putin, according to the Treasury; and businessmen Arkady and Boris Rotenberg.

 Washington aid

 In Washington, the House Foreign Affairs Committee introduced a bill Friday that provides aid to Ukraine.

 "The United States must stand with the people of Ukraine in the wake of Russia's attack on and occupation of Crimea," said ranking member Eliot Engel, D-New York, in a statement. "It sends a clear message to President Putin and his corrupt cronies that we will not tolerate Russian aggression."

 The House had passed a loan-guarantee bill and a non-binding resolution calling for sanctions, but Friday's legislation proposes statutory language to put those sanctions into law.

 President Barack Obama is to meet next week with other leaders of the so-called G7 group of industrialized nations, on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in the Netherlands. Russia has been excluded from the talks.

 Obama signed an executive order that authorizes further sanctions on key sectors of the Russian economy if Moscow does not act to deescalate the situation.

 Sanctions affect Russian markets

 Washington had already announced sanctions Monday on 11 individuals; the European Union had imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 21 people.

 Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that the new round of U.S. sanctions would be "significantly more powerful than the first one."

 The latest round "hits significant economic interests that are fairly close to the ruling circles in Moscow," he said. "It will be noticed."

 Markets were down Friday in Moscow, amid uncertainty in the business community.

 The Moscow Interbank Curency Exchange, or MICEX index, fell more than 2% -- bringing its 2014 losses to 14%. The ruble rebounded after falling early in the day; it has lost about 10% since the start of the year.

 In contrast, the markets and ruble had risen Monday, when the first round of sanctions was announced and did not appear to target those in Putin's inner circle.

 The business community now appears to fear that Putin is on a collision course with the West, and that that could undermine its interests.

 Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday that it had asked Putin to draft countermeasures in response to the expanded Western sanctions.

 On Thursday, Moscow imposed measures against nine U.S. officials and lawmakers, including House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sens. John McCain, Robert Menendez, Daniel Coats and Mary Landrieu, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. ||||| SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Ukraine has joined two weeks of multinational military exercises that involve troops from 12 NATO member and partner nations, and demonstrate that cooperation continues between the alliance and the crisis-torn former Soviet republic.

 The drills, dubbed Saber Guardian, began Friday at the Novo Selo training facility in eastern Bulgaria and will include some 700 troops from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States, as well as representatives from NATO.

 The exercise, planned before the current East-West standoff over Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, is aimed at increasing regional flexibility, preserving and enhancing NATO interoperability, and facilitating multinational training, U.S. Army Europe spokesman Jesse Granger said.

 It follows joint exercises by U.S., Romanian and Bulgarian naval forces in the Black Sea.

Summary: – Vladimir Putin officially signed the bills completing Russia's annexation of Crimea today, hailing the move as a "remarkable event," the AP reports. It was one of the day's two auspicious signings; earlier, interim Ukrainian President Arseniy Yatsenyuk signed on to what Reuters refers to as a "landmark" political association agreement with the European Union. It was ousted president Viktor Yanukovich's opposition to the pact—in favor of closer ties to Russia—that started the protests that began the crisis. The deal calls for greater political and economic cooperation, and eventually free trade once a new president is elected in May. Yatsenyuk said the deal indicated that the EU would "speak in one single and strong voice" to support the Ukraine, CNN reports. As for that other signing? "Frankly, I don't care about Russia signing" the annexation bill, Yatsenyuk said. "I care about Ukraine, Ukrainians, and our European future." In other Ukraine news: Ukraine set today as the deadline for the militias patrolling Independence Square in Kiev to turn in the illegal weapons that they openly carry, the New York Times reports. Europe is insisting the groups disarm before any financial aid flows to Ukraine. Ukrainian troops will today join NATO training exercises in Bulgaria, the AP reports. The exercises were planned before the crisis broke, but take on an extra significance now. Vladimir Putin laughed off US sanctions, RT reports. Referring to the targeted lawmakers he derisively said, "Yes, these are those so-called 'polite people in camouflage with guns.' ... I need to avoid these citizens as they are 'compromising the country.'" He also said that he'd open an account at the sanctioned Rossiya bank. But Russia won't issue retaliatory sanctions, he said, and it will keep repairing NATO helicopters in Afghanistan. Apparently retaliatory visa bans are another matter.


An LED fixture, bottom, is displayed next to an older streetlight, top, in Las Vegas, Nev. on Aug. 3, 2011. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

 If people are sleepless in Seattle, it may not be only because they have broken hearts.

 The American Medical Association issued a warning in June that high-intensity LED streetlights — such as those in Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Houston and elsewhere — emit unseen blue light that can disturb sleep rhythms and possibly increase the risk of serious health conditions, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. The AMA also cautioned that those light-emitting-diode lights can impair nighttime driving vision.

 Similar concerns have been raised over the past few years, but the AMA report adds credence to the issue and is likely to prompt cities and states to reevaluate the intensity of LED lights they install.

 Nearly 13 percent of area and roadway lighting is now LED, according to a report prepared last year for the Department of Energy, and many communities that haven’t yet made the switch plan to do so. LEDs are up to 50 percent more energy-efficient than the yellow-orange high-pressure sodium lights they typically replace. They last for 15 to 20 years, instead of two to five. And unlike sodium lights, the LEDs spread illumination evenly.

 [Blue light from electronics disturbs sleep, especially for teenagers]

 The Energy Department released this video in 2012 explaining the difference between various types of lightbulbs and the energy costs associated with each option. (U.S. Department of Energy)

 Some cities say the health concerns are not convincing enough to override the benefits of the first-generation bright LED lights that they installed in the past three to eight years. New York is one of them, although it has responded to resident complaints by replacing the high-intensity, white LED bulbs with a lower-

 intensity bulb that the AMA considers safe.

 Scott Thomsen, a spokesman for Seattle City Lights, which is responsible for the city’s exterior illumination, dismissed the health concerns about bright-white LED lights, noting that they emit less of the problematic blue wavelengths than most computers and televisions.

 After a year and a half of discussion and sampling, Lake Worth, Fla., is replacing its sodium streetlights with about 4,150 LED lights with an amber glow. “We found a color that made sense for the health of our city, and we’re proud of the choice we’ve made,” Michael Bornstein, the city manager, said.

 Mark Hartman, Phoenix’s chief sustainability officer, said the city might go with a mix of the intense lights for major intersections and ballpark areas that need very bright light and a softer light for residential areas. He said the city would consider the health arguments, although he, too, mentioned the glow from computers and televisions. “Nobody says don’t watch television or use your computer after 9 p.m. because of blue lights,” he said.

 The first generation

 Almost as soon as outdoor LEDs were made available, the federal government encouraged states and municipalities to use them, calling LEDs highly efficient for such applications as traffic lights and exit signs. But critics say federal authorities were too quick to endorse LEDs.

 [What you need to know about OLED lighting]

 The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency “put a lot of push into them,” said Michael Siminovitch, director of the California Lighting Technology Center at the University of California at Davis. “I call it a rush.”

 Las Vegas replaced 6,600 existing lights with the new energy-efficient LEDs. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

 Siminovitch said the light from early-generation LEDs “really negatively impacts people’s physiological well-being.”

 Lighting is measured by color temperature, which is expressed in “kelvin,” or “K.” The original LED streetlights had temperatures of at least 4000K, which produces a bright white light with a high content of unseen blue light.

 Now, LEDs are available with lower kelvin ratings and roughly the same energy efficiency as those with higher ratings. They don’t emit as much potentially harmful blue light, and they produce a softer, amber hue.

 When 4000K and 5000K LEDs were installed, they drew mixed responses. Police and traffic-safety officials and many motorists liked them because they created a bright light that sharply illuminated the ground they covered.

 But in many places, including New York City and Seattle, residents complained that the bright white light was harsh, even lurid. People described them as invasive, cold and unflattering.

 Even before the AMA warning, some researchers raised health concerns. Some noted that exposure to the blue-rich LED outdoor lights might decrease people’s secretion of the hormone melatonin. Secreted at night, melatonin helps balance the reproductive, thyroid and adrenal hormones and regulates the body’s circadian rhythm of sleeping and waking.

 “As a species, we weren’t designed to see light at night,” Siminovitch said.

 Meanwhile, the “dark sky” movement criticizes LEDs as a major contributor to what it calls the “light pollution” that humans cast into the night sky.

 Effect on sleep cycles

 In its warning, the AMA cited the melatonin issue, noting that studies have linked bright LEDs to reduced sleep time, poor sleep quality and impaired daytime functioning.

 It referred to evidence that exposure to high-intensity light at night might increase the risk of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity. And it cautioned that intense LEDs have been associated with “discomfort and disability glare,” which might impair nighttime vision for drivers.

 [Nobel Prize in physics goes to three men who gave us blue LEDs]

 Finally, the AMA cautioned about the harmful effects of bright LEDs on wildlife, particularly nocturnal animals, birds and insects.

 “These lights aren’t just bad for us,” said Mario Motta, one of the authors of the AMA report, “they’re bad for the environment, too.”

 The AMA did commend LEDs for their energy efficiency and effectiveness, but it urged cities to minimize blue-rich outside lighting and recommended the use of LEDs no brighter than 3000K.

 Tony Dorsey, a spokesman with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said that the organization’s environmental committee is studying the AMA’s report but that association members haven’t seemed concerned about the use of 4000K LEDs on roadways.

 The Department of Energy said LEDs should be used with “prudence” but praised their overall performance. It said the AMA had added “another influential voice” to the issue.

 Others, including the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., said the lights pose less risk than the AMA suggests. The research center pointed out that the AMA report is based on extended exposure to high-intensity LEDs and said the blue-light hazard of LEDs “is probably not a concern to the majority of the population in most lighting applications.”

 Motta stood by the AMA’s concerns about high-intensity LEDs and said there is no downside — either in cost or efficiency — to choosing a lower-intensity light.

 Sleeping in Seattle

 Some cities are satisfied with their higher-intensity LED streetlights.

 In Seattle, which has installed about 41,000 new lights since 2010, Thomsen, the spokesman for Seattle Light, attributed the early complaints to residents’ surprise at the sharp difference in brightness between the old sodium lights and the new LEDs.

 [What to order when you’re buying new (and pricey!) eyeglasses]

 Light from the new fixtures is comparable to moonlight and provides excellent visual acuity for drivers, Thomsen said. Police especially like them, he said, because they enable people to distinguish colors at night. “The police say they get much better witness descriptions,” Thomsen said.

 Thomsen also noted that even though the Seattle LEDs are rated at 4100K, that is significantly lower than most computer screens, laptops and televisions.

 But Pete Strasser, technical director at the International Dark-Sky Association, said moonlight contains far less blue light than do high-intensity LED lights.

 A little more than a year ago, Gloucester, Mass., was on its way to replacing its sodium streetlights with 4000K LEDs. But then city planner Matt Coogan began reading about health and environmental warnings. He also had residents sample the 4000K lights against 3000K models.

 Next month, the city is expected to finish installing its LEDs, but they will be 3000K rather than 4000K.

 Coogan knows the debate over the health risks of LEDs rages on. But he doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of history.

 “I didn’t want to get 10 or 15 years down the road and find out we had exposed our people to a health risk,” Coogan said.

 — Stateline

 Read more from health and science:

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 Cities in the United States are likely to reconsider the use of LED streetlights after a health organization's warning in June suggested a link to increased risk for serious medical conditions.

 In June, the American Medical Association (AMA) issued a report saying high-intensity LED streetlights emit invisible blue light that can supposedly interrupt sleep rhythms and up risk for heart disease and cancer.

 The group also warned that such light-emitting devices — which are used in Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, New York and other cities — can damage drivers' nighttime vision.

 Such concerns have been raised in the past, but the AMA report [PDF] will likely prompt more states and cities to reevaluate the intensity of LED lights they install.

 Roadway Lighting

 A report by the Department of Energy revealed that almost 13 percent of roadway lighting in the country works on LED, and many communities that have not made the switch yet will do so in the future.

 LEDs are considered 50 percent more energy-efficient compared to sodium lights they usually replace. Unlike typical sodium lights, LEDs spread illumination evenly and last for 15 up to 20 years instead of just two to five years.

 Effects On Health

 In its June warning, the AMA explained that bright LEDs have been linked to poor sleep quality, impaired daytime functioning and reduced sleep time.

 According to the AMA, evidence suggests that exposure to very bright LED lights at night might increase the risk for diabetes, heart disease, obesity and cancer. Such lights might also be linked to disability and discomfort glare, which can impair nighttime vision for drivers.

 'Not Convincing Enough'

 However, others believe the AMA warning is not convincing enough to override the benefits of bright LED lights installed in cities in the past eight years.

 New York is among them, but it has responded to complaints by replacing high-intensity LED bulbs with lower-intensity lights that AMA considers as safe.

 Scott Thomsen, a spokesperson for Seattle City Lights, dismissed the concerns about high-intensity LED lights, saying that these bulbs emit less of the problematic blue wavelengths than most televisions and computers.

 Still, some experts believe that such LED lights should be regulated the same way "classic" pollutants are controlled.

 "[T] here should also be regulations and rules for the pollution stemming from artificial light at night," said Professor Abraham Haim from University of Haifa. He conducted a study on the effects of "light pollution" on health in 2011.

 Meanwhile, the AMA asserts that authorities should consider the use of moderate-intensity lighting rather than high-intensity LED bulbs.

 Photo: Robert Ashworth | Flickr

 © 2016 Tech Times, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Summary: – Many US cities have been making the move from sodium street lights to LEDs—the bulbs are not only up to 50% more energy efficient than their predecessors, but they last for as many as 20 years and distribute light more evenly. Unfortunately, numerous studies suggest that the levels of blue light in the high-intensity LED bulbs could have health ramifications, including sleep problems and even increased risk for cancer and heart disease. The evidence is apparently strong enough to prompt the American Medical Association to issue a warning in June that LED street lights can impair and even damage nighttime vision, reports Tech Times. Problem is, almost 13% of roadway lighting now uses LEDs, with many places planning a switch, reports the Washington Post. Seattle has been downright dismissive of any health concerns, while New York has gone so far as to switch to lower-intensity LED bulbs the AMA considers safe when residents complain. Lake Worth, Fla., meanwhile, has plans to replace its sodium street lights with more than 4,000 LED lights that have less of the potentially harmful blue light and more of an amber hue, while Gloucester, Mass., has consulted its own residents and decided to play it safe and go with less blue in their LEDs, which they'll finish installing next month. But not everybody's convinced the danger is real: "Nobody says don’t watch television or use your computer after 9pm because of blue lights," grouses one Phoenix official to the Post. (This major company is making the switch to LEDs.)


The Secret Service is currently investigating how fameballs Michaele and Tareq Salahi crashed Obama's first state dinner, Bravo camera crew in tow. We have a theory: Their polo buddy, Indian ambassador Arun K. Singh, got them in on the DL.

 In the photo album Michaele Salahi posted on her Facebook page after the event, one photo stands out among all those of the crashers smiling next to famous media personalities, politicians and Joe Bidens: A picture with one "Ambassador Singh":

 This is Arun K. Singh, Deputy Chief of Mission for the Indian Embassy, and he has chilled with the Salahis before. Here they are drinking wine at a September 9th event hosted by the Indian Embassy to announce America's Polo Cup, a 2010 India Vs. USA polo match organized by Tareq Salahi and co-sponsored by Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar:

 A (terribly reproduced) picture of the three even made October edition of the Indian Embassy's newsletter. Ambassador Singh is quoted in the Indian Express as saying "the polo match between India and the US next year to be played at the National Mall reflects another dimension of the growing relationship between the two countries." In that same article, Michaele Salahi is quoted as saying the match "aspires to bring the love of the game to a wider audience and bring international cultures together..." So, Singh and the Salahis are polo buddies. They go way back.

 Furthermore, Tareq Salahi's only statement to the Washington Post's Reliable Source blog after crashing the state dinner was "India is the challenger in the America's Polo Cup World Championships June 11/12 2010, and they are very excited in this first ever cultural connection being hosted on the DC National Mall since Polo is one of the primary sports in India." This suggests a polo-motivated party crashing.

 Based on this knowledge, here are a couple theories of how Singh helped the Salahis crash the White House.

 1) Singh invited the Salahis to the dinner as a reward for their work on the India Vs. USA polo match, but for some reason their names didn't make it on the official guest list. When they showed up and were turned away (Brian Williams told the Times the couple's car was turned away by the first ring of Secret Service, after which they "hopped out") they called up Arun K. Singh: "Dude, you said we were on the list!" Singh spoke to the Secret Service and got them in.

 2) The Salahis showed up uninvited, confident that they could use their Singh connection to get in the party. After being turned away, they either name-dropped Singh or got him to vouch for them to the Secret Service.

 Either way, the Salahis weren't just some randos who showed up at the White House and schmoozed their way past the Secret Service with their fancy clothes. The Salahis knew somebody; they likely leveraged their connection to Arun K. Singh—the Indian Embassy's polo liaison—to crash the state dinner and successfully roll their way to immortal fameball-dom.

 The Salahis will be appearing on Larry King Live Monday, where they will maybe prove our theory correct. Stay tuned!

 UPDATE: Talking Points Memo has a statement from the Indian Embassy: "Neither the embassy nor anyone from the embassy was involved in any way in their getting into the White House. Nor did we request any invitation for them." ||||| The White House has released a photo showing that the couple who crashed President Barack Obama's first state dinner actually shook hands and talked to him — contradicting earlier Secret Service claims that Obama was never endangered by the security breach.

 As the White House was disclosing that the couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, met Obama in the receiving line, a "deeply concerned and embarrassed" Secret Service on Friday acknowledged that its officers never checked whether the two were on the guest list before letting them onto the White House grounds.

 The White House released a photo showing the Salahis in the receiving line in the Blue Room with Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in whose honor the dinner was held. Obama and reality TV hopeful Michaele Salahi are smiling as she grasps his right hand with both of hers and her husband looks on. Singh is standing to Obama's left.

 The Secret Service had said previously that the president was not in danger because the couple — like others at the dinner — had gone through magnetometers. But in light of their close proximity to the president, no such claim was made Friday.

 "This incident compromised the safety and security of the president and undermined our confidence in the protection we expect of the Secret Service," said Rep. Edolphus Towns, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

 'Embarrassed'

 Disturbed by the agency's failure "to follow basic security procedures," the New York Democrat said in a statement Saturday he wants a review of Secret Service practices and has asked for a briefing next week.

 Video: Charges looming? The Salahis were not on the guest list and should have been barred from entering last Tuesday's dinner on the White House South Lawn for the prime minister of India, said Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan.

 Sullivan said the agency that protects the president is "deeply concerned and embarrassed" that procedures were not followed.

 "As our investigation continues, appropriate measures have been taken to ensure this is not repeated," Sullivan said in a written statement.

 "The preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list," Sullivan said. "Although these individuals went through magnetometers and other levels of screening, they should have been prohibited from entering the event entirely. That failing is ours."

 Agency spokesmen declined comment Saturday on reports that agents had visited the Salahis' vineyard in Hume, Virginia, in search of the couple. Voice mail messages left Saturday at two separate telephone numbers for the Oasis Winery, south of Washington, were not immediately returned.

 Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said officers at the checkpoint had a clipboard with names of the invited guests. Even though the Salahis names weren't on it, they were allowed to proceed. The officers should have called someone on the White House staff or Secret Service personnel before allowing them past the checkpoint, Mackin said.

 Earlier, Mackin said the Secret Service may pursue a criminal investigation of the Salahis.

 Sullivan said it wasn't good enough that his agency screened more than 1.2 million visitors last year to the White House complex and protected more than 10,000 sites for the president, vice president and others.

 60 years of White House state dinners"Even with these successes, we need to be right 100 percent of the time," he said.

 It is unclear what the couple told officers at the checkpoint that allowed them to go through the security screening. Federal law makes it a crime to knowingly and willfully falsify statements on matters within the federal government's jurisdiction.

 "As this moves closer to a criminal investigation there's less that we can say," Mackin said. "We're not leaving any option off the table at this point."

 The Salahis lawyer, Paul Gardner, posted a comment on their Facebook page saying, "My clients were cleared by the White House, to be there." He said more information would be forthcoming. Several messages left at Gardner's law firm on Friday and Saturday were not returned.

 Bravo Media has confirmed that Michaele Salahi is being considered as a participant in the upcoming "The Real Housewives of D.C." program and on the day of the dinner was being filmed by Half Yard Productions, the producer of the program.

Summary: – The state dinner crashers got in on pure chutzpah, conning a Secret Service agent into giving them access without verifying their names in the White House computer even though they weren't on the guest list. A law enforcement official tells MSNBC that rumors an administration official "waved in" Tareq and Michaele Salahi are false. And the Secret Service said it may open a criminal investigation into the incident. The Salahis' lawyer said his "clients were cleared by the White House" to be at the party. Amid rampant speculation that includes reports they penetrated security to improve their chances of being selected for a reality show, "we're being intentionally vague on that," a Secret Service rep told the Washington Post. "All we are saying is that procedures we have in place weren't followed." Gawker posits that the couple used their ties to an Indian diplomat to gain entry.


At least seven loud blasts were heard in Tripoli early Friday morning as bombs fell in the vicinity of Moammar Gadhafi's main compound of Bab al-Aziziya.

 RETRANSMISSION TO ADD BYLINE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011 photo, a Libyan rebel fighter carries a rocket-propelled grenade in Sabratha, 50 miles (75 kilometers) west of Tripoli, Libya. (AP Photo/Giulio... (Associated Press)

 RETRANSMISSION TO ADD BYLINE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011 photo, a Libyan rebel fighter enters an incomplete mosque that has been used as shelter during the shelling from Moammar Gadhafi's forces... (Associated Press)

 An Associated Press correspondent staying in a hotel in the capital said he heard the explosions and saw flames in the air as bombs struck the ground. NATO jets were heard circling the sky above.

 Residents in Tripoli also told The Associated Press that at least three blasts were heard on the road leading to the airport in the capital.

 NATO has been bombarding military targets in Libya since a no-fly zone was instituted in March. That includes areas near and in Gadhafi's sprawling Bab al-Aziziya compound, which is the Libyan leader's main headquarters and acts as a military barracks.

 Just 30 miles (48 kilometers) to the west of the capital, opposition fighters in Libya's western mountains claimed control Thursday of the country's last functioning oil refinery, a blow to Moammar Gadhafi's regime in a week of stunning rebel advances that could turn the tide of the 6-month-old civil war.

 The refinery is located in the strategic city of Zawiya, where rebels have made great strides in battles with government forces since their initial assault on Saturday.

 A rebel victory in Zawiya could leave Gadhafi nearly cornered in his increasingly isolated stronghold of Tripoli, the capital, just 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the east along the Mediterranean coast.

 Rebel fighters are now closing in on the capital from the west and the south, while NATO controls the seas to the north. The opposition is in control of most of the eastern half of the country and has declared Benghazi, 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) east of Tripoli, as its de facto capital.

 Families fleeing their homes to avoid a possible rebel assault on Tripoli described growing tensions and deteriorating living conditions in the capital: Security forces have blanketed the city with checkpoints, gun battles are heard after nightfall and power outages last days.

 ___

 Laub reported from Zintan, Libya. ||||| Moammar Gadhafi is making preparations for a departure from Libya with his family for possible exile in Tunisia, U.S. officials have told NBC News, citing intelligence reports.

 One official suggested it was possible that Gadhafi would leave within days, NBC News reported.

 The information obtained by NBC News follows a series of optimistic statements this week from U.S. officials that Gadhafi would soon give up the five-month-old fight and and leave Libya.

 In an on-camera forum at the National Defense University this week, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, "I think the sense is that Gadhafi's days are numbered."

 The officials could provide no further details as to conditions or precise timing for Gadhafi's departure, NBC said, and the news report emphasized that there was no guarantee that Gadhafi would follow through on any plans to flee.

 Gadhafi is becoming more isolated in the capital, Tripoli.

 Rebel fighters are closing in from the west and the south while NATO controls the seas to the north. The opposition is in control of most of the eastern half of the country and has declared Benghazi, 620 miles east of Tripoli, as its de facto capital.

 Rebel forces have managed to surround Tripoli and appear to be attempting to cut off supplies and fuel to trigger a collapse, NBC News reported. Families were seen driving away from the city.

 Refinery taken

 The intelligence reports were revealed as opposition fighters in Libya's western mountains claimed control Thursday of the country's last functioning oil refinery, a blow to Gadhafi's regime in a week of stunning rebel advances.

 The refinery is located in the strategic city of Zawiya, where rebels have made great strides in battles with government forces since their initial assault on Saturday.

 "We have full control over the Zawiya oil refinery and we have liberated the whole city except two main streets," Col. Ali Ahrash told The Associated Press.

 The capture of the 120,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Zawiya is not expected to have a major impact on Gadhafi's ability to secure fuel.

 The flow of crude to the refinery from fields in the southwest of Libya had largely been halted since midsummer. The refinery was believed to be running at about one-third of its normal capacity, drawing mainly on crude oil that was in its storage tanks. Zawiya mostly produced fuel oil, not gasoline.

 The BBC reported that one of its news crews were taken around the refinery by rebels and that there was no sign of pro-Gadhafi troops.

 Zawiyais is just 30 miles to the east of Tripoli, along the Mediterranean coast.

 A Libyan rebel fighter carries a rocket-propelled grenade in Sabratha, 50 miles west of Tripoli, on Wednesday.

 Ahrash, who was in Benghazi, said rebels have control of the cities of Surman, Sabratha and Zwara, as well as the road to Tunisia from Tripoli.

 Families fleeing their homes to avoid a possible rebel assault on Tripoli described growing tensions and deteriorating living conditions in the capital: Security forces have blanketed the city with checkpoints, gun battles are heard after nightfall and power outages last days.

 Explosions in Tripoli

 Early Friday morning explosions rocked Gadhafi's main compound of Bab al-Aziziyah.

 Seven thunderous blasts could be felt at a Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists stay.

 An Associated Press correspondent watched flames from the bombs fall from the sky as NATO jets circled over the compound.

 Five loud explosions also shook the center of Tripoli on Thursday afternoon, possibly striking near Gadhafi's compound. NATO jets flew overhead minutes after the blasts. It wasn't immediately clear what was hit or if there were civilian casualties. NATO has bombarded military targets all over Libya since March when a no-fly zone was instituted.

 Besides the seizure of the refinery, Ahrash told the AP that rebels were making progress in taking Zawiya, a city of 200,000 people.

 He said Gadhafi troops were still in control of Gamal Abdel-Nasser Street and were hiding in the hospital there. Ahrash said Omar Mokhtar Street was still under Gadhafi forces control and that a few more troops were patrolling in eastern Zawiya.

 Since the rebels entered Zawiya last week — their most dramatic advance yet after months of stalemate — Gadhafi's troops have been pounding homes, mosques and streets with rockets and mortar fire.

 "In the past three days we have lost 70 fighters and more than 55 were injured," he said.

Summary: – Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule may be entering its final days, US officials tell NBC, citing intelligence reports. The dictator has made preparations to flee with his family to exile in Tunisia, according to the sources. The rebels seeking to end his rule have made dramatic advances in recent days, leaving Tripoli increasingly isolated. At least seven blasts were heard near Gadhafi's compound this morning as NATO jets pounded Tripoli, according to an AP reporter staying in a hotel in the city. Residents fleeing the city to avoid the expected rebel attack say living conditions have been deteriorating rapidly, with power outages lasting days and gun battles heard after nightfall.


JERUSALEM — Three Israeli teenagers were missing in the West Bank and were presumed to have been kidnapped, Israeli military officials said on Friday. The episode added a new layer of tensions to Israel’s already strained relations with the Palestinians after the collapse this year of American-brokered peace talks and Israel’s rejection of the newly formed Palestinian government.

 Although occasional violence in the West Bank has continued to claim victims on both sides, the successful abduction of Israelis has been rare in recent years. But the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, said it had foiled more than 60 planned abductions in the West Bank since the beginning of 2013, arresting suspected Palestinian perpetrators before they could carry out their plans.

 The Israeli military was conducting intensive searches in the West Bank, focused on the Hebron area. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was consulting with the defense minister and other top security officials, according to a statement from his office. It added that Israel considers the Palestinian Authority responsible for the safety of the missing youths.

 After hours of rumors and a news blackout of the episode imposed by Israeli security services, the chief military spokesman announced shortly after 5 p.m. that Israeli forces had been searching for the three boys since before dawn. Brig. Gen. Motti Almoz gave few details, citing security concerns.

 According to initial reports the three teenagers were last heard of on Thursday night as they made their way to a hitchhiking station at Alon Shvut in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc south of Jerusalem.

 This episode comes at a delicate time, less than two weeks after the establishment of the new Palestinian government that resulted from a reconciliation pact between the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is dominated by the mainstream Fatah movement, and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that dominates Gaza. Israel refuses to negotiate with the government, which is made up of politically independent ministers, on the grounds that it is backed by Hamas. The militant group, which also has a presence in the West Bank, refuses to recognize Israel and is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and Europe.

 Israel has said it would maintain contact with the Palestinian Authority on security issues and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has pledged to continue security coordination with Israel. It was not immediately clear whether the sides were working together on the case of the missing youths.

 Palestinian militant leaders have called for the abduction of Israeli soldiers as hostages to be traded for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israel’s Army Radio routinely broadcasts announcements warning soldiers against hitchhiking.

 Last September an Israeli soldier, Sgt. Tomer Hazan, 20, was killed by a Palestinian man with whom the sergeant worked at a restaurant in Israel. Security officials said the Palestinian man had lured the sergeant to the West Bank and killed him in the hope of trading his body for a brother imprisoned in Israel. ||||| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that the three teenage yeshiva students missing since Thursday night were kidnapped by terrorists.

 In his first on-camera statement since Eyal Yifrah, 19, from Elad, Gilad Shaar, 16, from Talmon and Naftali Fraenkel, 16, from Nof Ayalon went missing, Netanyahu said he could not elaborate on the search, but that the kidnapping shows the real results of the Hamas-Fatah unity government, and held the Palestinian government responsible for their fates.

 Earlier, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said that the security forces' working assumption is that the three are still alive. The IDF thinks the kidnappers may be attempting to leave Israeli territory, via Jordan. Security forces are investigating whether a stolen Israeli vehicle, which was found burnt near the West Bank city of Hebron, is linked to the kidnapping. Palestinian firefighters were alerted about the burning car at 3 A.M. on Friday.

 Two of the teens, students at the Makor Chaim yeshiva in the religious kibbutz of Kfar Etzion, were thought to be hitchhiking to Modi'in, a city halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. When they did not arrive home or make contact with their families, the yeshiva informed the authorities. The third was a student at the Shavey Hevron yeshiva in Hebron. Naftali Fraenkel is an American citizen, according to Channel 10.

 Live updates:

 11:12 P.M. IDF strikes Gaza targets in response to rockets Saturday evening.

 10:42 P.M. Prayer rally for the safety of the kidnapped teens to be held overnight Saturday at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

 10:40 P.M. Mohammad Madani, a member of Fatah's Central Committee and the chairman of the Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society, denounced what he called Netanyahu's cynical attempt to place responsibility for the abduction on the PA and Abbas. Madani emphasized that the kidnapping took place in Area C, which is under exclusive Israeli control and completely out of the jurisdiction of the PA security forces. "Netanyahu is trying to pass the trouble of the government in Israel to the Palestinian Authority, crying crocodile tears over the peace process that he himself suspended," Madani said.

 10:37 P.M. Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau sends message to Pope Francis, asking him to urge Palestinian Authority leaders to help release the missing teens.

 10:04 P.M. One of the missing teenagers, Gilad, called his parents on Thursday night and told them that he was on his way home. The family says that after he failed to get home, they thought that his phone probably run out of battery and assumed that he is staying with his grandparents. When they realized that no one had knowledge of his whereabouts, they tried looking for him and eventually notified the authorities at about 3 A.M.

 9:50 P.M. Netanyahu is blaming Palestinian President Abbas for the suspected kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, but the fact remains, writes Haaretz analyst Zvi Bar'el, that Abbas is Israel's only strategic asset.

 9:00 P.M. In his first on-camera statement, Netanyahu says Israel will do everything in its power to locate the three missing teens. Due to the nature of the situation, the prime minister says he cannot elaborate on the search, but adds that he "can only say that our boys were kidnapped by a terrorist organization."

 Netanyahu says he expects the Palestinian Authority to do whatever it can to help locate them. "This is the PA's responsibility. We hold the PA responsible for any attack coming from its territory, either the West Bank or Gaza… the terrorists originated from Palestinian territory and the PA is responsible."

 The prime minister says that this incident demonstrates what he was saying in recent months, "that the deal with Hamas brings about serious consequences." He also says that contrary to what some in the international community are saying, "the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and the PA will not bring peace. "

 In face of the regional turmoil, Netanyahu adds: "Time and time again we find that we can only rely on ourselves."

 Defense Minister Ya'alon says, "We won't accept a kidnapping attempt." He also says he wants to strengthen the families of the kidnapped teens, and added that Israel will "use any means as we do in order to prevent terror attacks."

 IDF chief Benny Gantz says the military will do everything to bring the three youths back, while also keeping an eye of Israel's other fronts, whether in Gaza or Lebanon and Syria.

 8:36 P.M. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird issues a statement condemning the suspected kidnapping. “Canada is deeply concerned by reports that three Israeli teenagers may have been kidnapped in the West Bank, and condemns those aiming to instigate conflict. We urge the Palestinian security authorities, who have been trained through Canadian and U.S. leadership, to make every effort to investigate this incident and work diligently to ensure the safe return of these children to their families. We call for the immediate release of the three Israeli teenagers. Whoever has taken this action must be found and brought to justice.”

 8:33 P.M. "Once we realized that Gilad was nowhere to be found, the mood became heavy… We held a prayer, adults and children, and laid tefillin (hoping) for the situation to end well," Gilad's uncle, from Talmon, told Channel 10.

 7:32 P.M. Osama Hamdan, a member of Hamas' politburo, says that if in fact the three Israelis were kidnapped, the Palestinians should make it a national issue in order to get the best result, and not let just a small faction negotiate the release of Palestinian prisoners on its own. Hamdan is the highest-ranking Hamas official to speak about the suspected kidnapping. Haaretz correspondent Jack Khoury stresses that most of those in Hamas to speak on the matter are political figures based outside of Gaza.

 7:01 P.M. Former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin said in a Facebook post that Israel's policy of trading abducted soldiers for terrorists only encourages more hostage-taking. In an implied criticism of Minister Naftali Bennett and his Habayit Hayehudi party, the former top security service official says Israel is better off freezing construction in the settlements than freeing Palestinian prisoners convicted of terrorism.

 6:30 P.M. A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in Hof Ashkelon Regional Council's jurisdiction, no injuries or damage reported.

 5:29 P.M. GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon issues an order declaring the Beit Guvrin area, located west of Hebron, a closed military zone.

 5:01 P.M. Netanyahu will visit the Shin Bet security service's situation room and the Kiryah, the IDF's Tel Aviv headquarters, for a security briefing. Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ya'alon and IDF chief Benny Gantz will then give an on-camera statement about the suspected kidnapping. The statement is scheduled for Saturday at 8:45 P.M.

 4:55 P.M. Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the Government coordinator in the territories, notified the Palestinian Authority that Palestinian residents of Hebron between the ages of 20 and 50 will not be allowed to enter Jordan through the Allenby Bridge crossing.

 3:35 P.M.: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene the security cabinet tonight to discuss the three missing teens.

 3:05 P.M.: IDF releases the names of the teens. They are Eyal Yifrah, 19, Naftali Fraenkel, 16, and Gilad Shaar, 16.

 1:50 P.M.: The working assumption is that the kidnapped boys are alive, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon tells reporters. "The occurrence of kidnapping attempts is not new. We managed to prevent over 30 such efforts in 2013, and 14 to date in 2014. This incident managed to slip through our radars. But we will not rest until we get our hands on the terrorists behind this." Ya'alon did not take any questions.

 1:10 P.M.: Top IDF brass end meeting in Hebron, decide to call in entire Paratroopers brigade, along with several other units, to area being sweeped.

 11:27 A.M. IDF strikes south Gaza strip in response to morning's firing of rocket toward Israel.

 11:36 A.M.: There is no indication of whether the teens who are thought to be kidnapped are alive or dead, a senior IDF officer says. Speaking to reporters, the officer adds,"We are heading toward a lengthy event, not an event that will last hours." The officer confirms that several arrests were made overnight in the Hebron area. "There are several leads being investigated following the arrests, but it is still very early."

 11 A.M.: PM Netanyahu will shortly hold a meeting with Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, Shin Bet security service head Yoram Cohen, and other top security officials, sources in the PM's office say.

 10 A.M.: The IDF is reinforcing its presence in the Hebron region. Battalions from the paratroopers and Kfir divisions have been transferred to the area. IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, head of operations directorate Yoav Har Even, and GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon are conferring in Hebron.

 8:30 A.M.: Palestinian civilians report that IDF forces have been conducting intensive sweeps throughout the Hebron region overnight, including several neighborhoods in the city of Hebron and in the villages of Tufah, Bnei Naim, Yata, Halhul, Beit Ayoun, and Doura. According to Palestinian sources, several arrests have been made in connection to the supposed kidnapping.

 Several locations named by the Shin Bet security services as places the boys might be kept at have been discounted by the military overnight.

 "Everything we are doing now, and in the coming hours, is an attempt to go back and retrace what happened there in that area, and understand where they are now and what happened to them," says a senior IDF official.

 IDF Spokesman Moti Almoz said during a press briefing that forces have been searching for the teens since Friday morning, and cautioned against speculation and rumors that have been circulating all day on Israeli social media.

 'PA responsible for well-being of the kidnapped'

 Prime Minister Netanyahu held an emergency meeting Friday afternoon at the Kirya, the IDF's Tel Aviv headquarters. Among the officials taking part in the meeting were Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharanovich, Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz.

 According to an official statement from the Prime Minister's Office, "Israel sees the PA as responsible for the well-being of the kidnapped," adding that Netanyahu spoke with the families of the three missing teens and pledged he would do all in his power to locate them.

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 "I know you are suffering," Netanyahu told the families. "Be strong, the State of Israel will make every effort for your sons, and I promise to remain in contact with you."

 Netanyahu orders government ministers not to give interviews on the matter.

 The Palestinian Authority responds to Netanyahu's statement, saying the PA "is not responsible for the security of settlers."

 Adnan Dmeiri, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority security services, notes that the three are believed to have been kidnapped from Gush Etzion, an area "under Israeli security control," the Palestinian news agency Maan reports.

 A senior Fatah official tells Haaretz the Palestinian security services will do everything they can to help find the missing Israelis.

 "The three were kidnapped in Area C, which is under full Israeli security control. The Palestinian Authority returned in recent years dozens of Israeli citizens who entered Authority territory by accident or deliberately to prove the principle of the sanctity of life," said Mohamed Almadani, and adds: "I wish the Israeli government would show responsibility and commitment to human rights on the issue of the hunger-striking detainees."

 Yeshiva forbids hitchhiking

 Students at Mekor Chaim told Haaretz that the yeshiva has a clear policy forbidding hitchhiking. "The administration is very strict on this topic, it's a red line that every student knows. Students are forbidden from leaving without permission, and it is absolutely not allowed to catch rides outside of the Kibbutz's gate." Pupils caught hitching rides risk expulsion from the yeshiva, they said.

 Some 300 pupils study at the yeshiva, which is a leading educational institution for Israel's national-religious public. Several rabbis and public figures send their boys there.

 U.S. citizenship

 U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro has also been briefed that one of the missing teens reportedly holds U.S. citizenship.

 An official from the U.S. State Department said, "We hope the three teens will be returned to their families safely."

 Deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that the U.S. is working with Israel and the Palestinian Authority to help resolve the crisis. Earlier on Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on the phone with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

 On Friday evening, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni informally met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. At the meeting, Livni asked Kerry to approach Abbas and the Palestinian Authority in order to bring about the release of the teens.

 Livni is in London for the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, an international conference on war crimes and violence against women in conflict areas.

 Netanyahu additionally spoke with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday, and told him that Abbas is responsible for the well-being of the missing teens.

 "What has happened on the ground since the inclusion of Hamas in the Palestinian government is detrimental. This is the result of letting in a murderous terror organization," Netanyahu said.

 Shin Bet warnings

 The Shin Bet security service has warned in recent weeks of increasingly frequent attempts to kidnap Israeli soldiers and citizens in the West Bank. According to Shin Bet data, in the past nine months there have been 11 cases of Palestinians incarcerated in Israel making contact with operatives in the West Bank in an attempt to carry out kidnappings.

 In September, Israeli soldier Tomer Hazan was kidnapped and killed by two Palestinians who had invited him to the West Bank. Prosecutors say the kidnapping was part a plan to bring about the release of the killers' brother, in prison in Israel. |||||

 A Palestinian Authority spokesman denounced Israel for

 Adnan Dmeiri said the PA was not responsible for the safety of settlers and had no way to prevent the possible kidnapping of the teenagers.

 The PA “is used to accusations from [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu’s arbitrary government, which does not want to commit to any agreement and wants to damage all relations with Palestinians,” he was quoted as saying.

 Earlier on Friday, Israeli government officials said they were holding Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas

 Israeli soldiers patrol the West Bank City of Hebron June 13, 2014. (photo credit: REUTERS) An Israeli soldier (R) stands guard next to Palestinians near the West Bank city of Hebron June 13, 2014.. (photo credit: REUTERS) Palestinians hurl stones at Israeli troops near the West Bank City of Hebron June 13, 2014. (photo credit: REUTERS) An Israeli security officer walks next to a truck carrying a burnt car in the West Bank City of Hebron June 13, 2014.. (photo credit: REUTERS) Israeli forces searching for three Jewish teenagers who went missing. (photo credit: REUTERS) Israeli forces searching for three Jewish teenagers who went missing. (photo credit: REUTERS) Israeli forces searching for three Jewish teenagers who went missing. (photo credit: REUTERS) A Palestinian Authority spokesman denounced Israel for blaming the new Fatah-Hamas unity government for the disappearance of three settlers in the West Bank, Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported Friday night.Adnan Dmeiri said the PA was not responsible for the safety of settlers and had no way to prevent the possible kidnapping of the teenagers.The PA “is used to accusations from [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu’s arbitrary government, which does not want to commit to any agreement and wants to damage all relations with Palestinians,” he was quoted as saying.Earlier on Friday, Israeli government officials said they were holding Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas responsible for the fate of the three students. They also said they were holding the unity government responsible for the students' well-being. Dmeiri was quoted as saying that the PA had no information about the missing settlers, noting that Gush Etzion, the settlement from which the teenagers are believed to have disappeared, “is under Israeli security control.”

 He added that, "the PA is not responsible for the security of settlers.”

 Dmeiri also told Ma'an he was unaware of any cooperation with Israel in the search for the settlers.

 Netanyahu convened senior defense officials for a second meeting late Friday hours after authorities launched a frantic search for three yeshiva students who went missing in the West Bank on Thursday.

 Israeli defense officials probing the disappearance of three Jewish teens in the West Bank are operating under the working assumption that Palestinian militants kidnapped the youths in order to trade them for terrorists incarcerated in Israeli prisons, Channel 2 reported on Friday.

 According to the report, defense officials are waiting for intelligence leads or indications from the alleged captors in order to determine the next steps.

 An extremist Salafist organization in the West Bank claimed responsibility for kidnapping three missing Israeli youths, Channel 10 is reporting.

 The organization, Dawlat al-Islam, released a statement saying that the abductions were aimed at taking revenge against Israel for the killing of three of their operatives in the West Bank months ago. There has been no official confirmation of the claim's veracity.

 Security forces fear that three teenage yeshiva boys, all 16 years of age, were kidnapped in the West Bank after they went missing from a hitchhiking spot in the Gush Etzion area Thursday night.

 The youths went missing during the course of Thursday night and security forces are conducting sweeping searches of the area.

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 Israel says it holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the well-being of the missing youths.The Jerusalem Post has learned that one of the three is an American citizen. US Ambassador Dan Shapiro has been briefed on the situation.The army said on Friday that it was seeking intelligence leads that could shed light on the fate of the missing youths. The IDF said that it was holding routine situational assessments with other security arms in order to ascertain the whereabouts of the missing yeshiva students.While they do strongly fear the boys were kidnapped, security forces have not yet been able to rule out all other possibilities police said.Meanwhile, security forces have also placed roadblocks on roadways leading to the border with Egypt and the Gaza Strip for fear that this event is a kidnapping by Islamist extremists who may seek to transfer the three Israelis to Gaza.According to reports, the IDF and the Shin Bet security service are in touch with their counterparts in the Palestinian Authority security apparatus in an effort to advance the search.A torched car that was found alongside a highway in the vicinity of the search. Investigators towed away the car and will begin examining the remains in an effort to determine whether there is any connection to the missing students search.Police were in touch with the families and said that they have no reason to believe that the teenagers decided to go missing on their own, or run away from home or their yeshiva.A spokesman for one of the families, said that the missing teen was with a friend when he disappeared. He was making his normal trek home for Shabbat from his high-school yeshiva, Makor Chaim in Kfar Etzion, as he does every week.He called his father around from the hitching post and said he had already left school. Initially his father did not worry, because his son often took his time coming home and sometimes did not arrive until late at night.But after midnight, the father called his son's phone. When he could not reach him by 2 a.m. he personally went to the police station. Until morning, the father held out hope, that his son had gone to a friend's home to sleep. A series of SMS message in the morning, revealed that this was not the case.Palestinian media on Friday reported that a large number of Israeli forces had been deployed to the Hebron vicinity in search of the boys who went missing earlier in the morning.Palestinian news agency Ma'an cited sources in the vicinity as saying Israeli forces had raided various home in the city of Dura, located southwest of Hebron, in search of the missing boys.

Summary: – Israeli forces are conducting an intense search in the West Bank for three male teenagers they think were kidnapped by Palestinian militants, reports the Jerusalem Post. One of the teens is a US citizen, but not much else is known about him. Two of the teens are age 16 and the third is 19, and they were reportedly hitchhiking home last night when snatched near Hebron, reports Haaretz. The best guess is that militants will try to use them in a swap for prisoners held in Israeli jails. Israeli police got a cell phone call from one of the youths about 10pm yesterday, and though he didn't speak, the noise in the background suggested they were in trouble, reports the New York Times. The only lead is the discovery of stolen, burnt car in the area. Benjamin Netanyahu, who has met with his senior leaders on the case, says he holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the boys' safety. The development comes less than two weeks after Palestinians formed a new government, though Israel thinks it's controlled by Hamas and refuses to negotiate on anything beyond security issues.


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Summary: – Charles Manson is back behind bars, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesperson confirmed to the Los Angeles Times on Friday. "He is at the prison," Terry Thornton says. "I don't know how much plainer it can be." Manson, currently serving a life sentence, was transported from Corcoran State Prison to a hospital in Bakersfield on Tuesday for a serious medical issue. Officials aren't giving out details, but the New York Daily News reports the 82-year-old Manson had gastrointestinal bleeding but was too weak for surgery. His current condition is unclear. Hospital visits are likely the only time Manson will get beyond prison walls; he's already been denied parole 12 times.