Funds crunch hits war on malaria

NEW DELHI: The amount of funds available for malaria prevention and control globally is less than half what is needed, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said in a report. While it is estimated that $5.1 billion is needed every year between 2011 and 2020 to achieve universal access to malaria interventions, only $2.3 billion was available in 2011. The WHO has blamed this on a slowing down in the efforts to reverse the epidemic.

This was stated in the World Malaria Report released on Monday, which summarised information from 104 malaria-endemic countries, including India. International funding for malaria control has been steadily rising, going up from less than $100 million in 2000 to $1.71 billion in 2010. National government funding for malaria programmes has also been increasing in recent years, touching an estimated $625 million in 2011. Yet the funds are far from adequate as malaria hits the poorest countries with higher proportions of their population living in poverty (less than $1.25 per person per day) have higher mortality rates from malaria.

Projections of both domestic and international resources available between 2013 and 2015 indicate that total funding for malaria control will remain at less than US$ 2.7 billion, substantially below the amount required.

The African continent accounts for the highest incidence of malaria with 219 million cases and 90% of all malarial deaths in the world. In the Southeast Asia region, India has the highest incidence of malaria (24 million cases) followed by Indonesia and Myanmar. According to the latest WHO estimates, worldwide there were about 219 million cases of malaria in 2010 and an estimated 660,000 deaths.

Together, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria are estimated to account for over 40% of all malaria deaths globally. Similarly, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India and Nigeria account for 40% of malaria cases.

The world report claims that 50 countries are on track to reduce their malaria case incidence rates by 75%, in line with World Health Assembly and Roll Back Malaria targets for 2015. However, these 50 countries account for just 3% (7 million) of the total estimated malaria cases. Moreover, malaria surveillance systems detect only around 10% of the estimated global number of cases, with case detection being lowest in the countries with the highest burden of malaria. In the African and Western Pacific Regions, the main constraint is the small proportion of patients attending public facilities who receive a diagnostic test for malaria.

In the Southeast Asia Region, the most important issue is the high proportion of patients who seek treatment in the private sector, as is happening in India where the private sector is not part of the health reporting system. With such constraints, most of the WHO figures are based on estimates and modelling.

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Experts: Kids are resilient in coping with trauma

WASHINGTON (AP) — They might not want to talk about the gunshots or the screams. But their toys might start getting into imaginary shootouts.

Last week's school shooting in Connecticut raises the question: What will be the psychological fallout for the children who survived?

For people of any age, regaining a sense of security after surviving violence can take a long time. They're at risk for lingering anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder.

But after the grief and fear fades, psychiatrists say most of Newtown's young survivors probably will cope without long-term emotional problems.

"Kids do tend to be highly resilient," said Dr. Matthew Biel, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

And one way that younger children try to make sense of trauma is through play. Youngsters may pull out action figures or stuffed animals and re-enact what they witnessed, perhaps multiple times.

"That's the way they gain mastery over a situation that's overwhelming," Biel explained, saying it becomes a concern only if the child is clearly distressed while playing.

Nor is it unusual for children to chase each other playing cops-and-robbers, but now parents might see some also pretending they're dead, added Dr. Melissa Brymer of the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.

Among the challenges will be spotting which children are struggling enough that they may need professional help.

Newtown's tragedy is particularly heart-wrenching because of what such young children grappled with — like the six first-graders who apparently had to run past their teacher's body to escape to safety.

There's little scientific research specifically on PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, in children exposed to a burst of violence, and even less to tell if a younger child will have a harder time healing than an older one.

Overall, scientists say studies of natural disasters and wars suggest most children eventually recover from traumatic experiences while a smaller proportion develop long-term disorders such as PTSD. Brymer says in her studies of school shootings, that fraction can range from 10 percent to a quarter of survivors, depending on what they actually experienced. A broader 2007 study found 13 percent of U.S. children exposed to different types of trauma reported some symptoms of PTSD, although less than 1 percent had enough for an official diagnosis.

Violence isn't all that rare in childhood. In many parts of the world — and in inner-city neighborhoods in the U.S., too — children witness it repeatedly. They don't become inured to it, Biel said, and more exposure means a greater chance of lasting psychological harm.

In Newtown, most at risk for longer-term problems are those who saw someone killed, said Dr. Carol North of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who has researched survivors of mass shootings.

Friday's shootings were mostly in two classrooms of Sandy Hook Elementary School, which has about 450 students through fourth-grade.

But those who weren't as close to the danger may be at extra risk, too, if this wasn't their first trauma or they already had problems such as anxiety disorders that increase their vulnerability, she said.

Right after a traumatic event, it's normal to have nightmares or trouble sleeping, to stick close to loved ones, and to be nervous or moody, Biel said.

To help, parents will have to follow their child's lead. Grilling a child about a traumatic experience isn't good, he stressed. Some children will ask a lot of questions, seeking reassurance, he said. Others will be quiet, thinking about the experience and maybe drawing or writing about it, or acting it out at playtime. Younger children may regress, becoming clingy or having tantrums.

Before second grade, their brains also are at a developmental stage some refer to as magical thinking, when it's difficult to distinguish reality and fantasy. Parents may have to help them understand that a friend who died isn't in pain or lonely but also isn't coming back, Brymer said.

When problem behaviors or signs of distress continue for several weeks, Brymer says it's time for an evaluation by a counselor or pediatrician.

Besides a supportive family, what helps? North advises getting children back into routines, together with their friends, and easing them back into a school setting. Studies of survivors of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks found "the power of the support of the people who went through it with you is huge," she said.

Children as young as first-graders can benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapy, Georgetown's Biel said. They can calm themselves with breathing techniques. They also can learn to identify and label their feelings — anger, frustration, worry — and how to balance, say, a worried thought with a brave one.

Finally, avoid watching TV coverage of the shooting, as children may think it's happening all over again, Biel added. He found that children who watched the 9/11 clips of planes hitting the World Trade Center thought they were seeing dozens of separate attacks.

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EDITOR'S NOTE — Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

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Newtown Shooting: Bushmaster Under Fire

When the private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management announced Tuesday it would unload its interest in Bushmaster – the company that built the weapon used in last week's mass murder of 20 Connecticut first graders -- it marked the beginning of what experts say is likely to be a challenging period for the North Carolina-based weapons manufacturer.

"They are looking at a taint on their brand and looking at a marketplace that could change dramatically with respect to their weapon," said Chris Lehane, a crisis public relations expert who worked in the Clinton White House. "To me the fact that Cerberus is pulling out is a pretty significant defining moment."

For years, Bushmaster has been marketing itself to testosterone-fueled male customers, issuing "man cards" to customers who want to be "card carrying men." Now, Lehane and others said the company is facing the prospect of being branded the weapon of choice for mass killers. The Newtown, Connecticut shooting marked the fourth time a Bushmaster has been implicated in a mass shooting since 1999, including the Beltway sniper case that left 10 dead and three more wounded.

Cerberus announced Tuesday it wanted distance from Bushmaster, calling the murder of 20 first grade children at Sandy Hook Elementary School a "watershed event." The investment firm, which is chaired by former Vice President Dan Quayle, noted in its statement that Bushmaster may not be an investment consistent with the interests of its clients. Its investors include the pension plans of firemen, teachers, and policemen.

Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo

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Lehane said the announcement could signal a shift in the way investors view companies that make military style weapons for a civilian market.

"It reminds me of the time when tobacco began to be associated with a negative light, or the divestiture movement surrounding companies in South Africa," he said. "Where financial markets believe they are going to pay a price."

In addition, a spokesman for Cerberus Group confirmed that the father of Stephen Feinberg, the founder of Cerberus Group, lives in Newtown.

Gun control groups have also lined up to criticize the weapons manufacturer, arguing that the company was selling civilian customers a weapon clearly designed for war.

"This thing is just a killing machine," said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "[I]t's a weapon that can easily shoot hundreds of … In fact it's very similar to the weapon that James Holmes used to shoot up the movie theater in Aurora."

The company has not responded to phone calls seeking comment, but gun enthusiasts say the weapon's menacing appearance can appeal to civilians looking for a means to secure their homes, and its ease of use can appeal to those looking for a weapon for target shooting.

"The [assault rifle] platform is the most popular in the country," said Frank Cornwall, a firearms instructor in Connecticut. "Civilians have always bought similar type arms to the military. And this is a very versatile platform. Quite a popular hunting and target shooting gun."

Phillip Stutts, a crisis management consultant who worked for President George W. Bush, said he has been surprised by the silence of the gun manufacturer.

"Bushmaster doesn't have to take responsibility for this tragedy, but they have a responsibility to respond to this tragedy," he said. "And they haven't. They have to get out in front of this. It needs to be corrected ASAP."

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Syrian rebels take control of Damascus Palestinian camp

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels took full control of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on Monday after fighting raged for days in the district on the southern edge of President Bashar al-Assad's Damascus powerbase, rebel and Palestinian sources said.

The battle had pitted rebels, backed by some Palestinians, against Palestinian fighters of the pro-Assad Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). Many PFLP-GC fighters defected to the rebel side and their leader Ahmed Jibril left the camp two days ago, rebel sources said.

"All of the camp is under the control of the (rebel) Free Syrian Army," said a Palestinian activist in Yarmouk. He said clashes had stopped and the remaining PFLP fighters retreated to join Assad's forces massed on the northern edge of the camp.

The battle in Yarmouk is one of a series of conflicts on the southern fringes of Assad's capital, as rebels try to choke the power of the 47-year-old leader after a 21-month-old uprising in which 40,000 people have been killed.

Government forces have used jets and artillery to try to dislodge the fighters but the violence has crept into the heart of the city and activists say rebels overran three army stations in a new offensive in the central province of Hama on Monday.

On the border with Lebanon, hundreds of Palestinian families fled across the frontier following the weekend violence in Yarmouk, a Reuters witness said.

Syria hosts half a million Palestinian refugees, most living in Yarmouk, descendants of those admitted after the creation of Israel in 1948, and has always cast itself as a champion of the Palestinian struggle, sponsoring several guerrilla factions.

Both Assad's government and the mainly Sunni Muslim Syrian rebels have enlisted and armed divided Palestinian factions as the uprising has developed into a civil war.

"NEITHER SIDE CAN WIN"

Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa said in a newspaper interview published on Monday that neither Assad's forces nor rebels seeking to overthrow him can win the war.

Sharaa, a Sunni Muslim in a power structure dominated by Assad's Alawite minority, has rarely been seen since the revolt erupted in March 2011 and is not part of the president's inner circle directing the fight against Sunni rebels. But he is the most prominent figure to say in public that Assad will not win.

Sharaa said the situation in Syria was deteriorating and a "historic settlement" was needed to end the conflict, involving regional powers and the U.N. Security Council and the formation of a national unity government "with broad powers".

"With every passing day the political and military solutions are becoming more distant. We should be in a position defending the existence of Syria. We are not in a battle for an individual or a regime," Sharaa was quoted as telling Al-Akhbar newspaper.

"The opposition cannot decisively settle the battle and what the security forces and army units are doing will not achieve a decisive settlement," he said, adding that insurgents fighting to topple Syria's leadership could plunge it into "anarchy and an unending spiral of violence".

Sources close to the Syrian government say Sharaa had pushed for dialogue with the opposition and objected to the military response to an uprising that began peacefully.

In a veiled criticism of the crackdown, he said there was a difference between the state's duty to provide security to its citizens, and "pursuing a security solution to the crisis".

He said even Assad could not be certain where events in Syria were leading, but that anyone who met him would hear that "this is a long struggle...and he does not hide his desire to settle matters militarily to reach a final solution."

In Hama province, rebels and the army clashed in a new campaign launched on Sunday by rebels to block off the country's north, activists said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked violence monitor, said fighting raged through the provincial towns of Karnaz, Kafar Weeta, Halfayeh and Mahardeh.

It said there were no clashes reported in Hama city, which lies on the main north-south highway connecting the capital with Aleppo, Syria's second city.

Qassem Saadeddine, a member of the newly established rebel military command, said on Sunday fighters had been ordered to surround and attack army positions across the province. He said Assad's forces were given 48 hours to surrender or be killed.

In 1982 Hafez al-Assad, father of the current ruler, crushed an uprising in Hama city, killing up to 30,000 civilians.

Qatiba al-Naasan, a rebel from Hama, said the offensive would bring retaliatory air strikes from the government but that the situation is "already getting miserable".

(Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes, Erika Solomon and Dominic Evans in Beirut, Afif Diab at Masnaa, Lebanon; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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Tarantino film latest to be pulled after US shooting

LOS ANGELES: A Hollywood premiere of notoriously violent director Quentin Tarantino's latest film "Django Unchained" was canceled Monday, the latest such response to the Connecticut school massacre.

A string of movies and TV shows have been pulled or postponed since Friday's shootings, while sporting events have held moments of silence and players have worn black armbands to honor the victims, 20 of whom were young children.

The Weinstein Company said that a premiere scheduled Tuesday in Los Angeles of "Django Unchained" - which is due to open on Christmas Day in US theaters - had been called off.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, and in this time of national mourning we have decided to forgo our scheduled event," said a Weinstein Company spokesperson.

The studio will still hold a screening for cast and crew and their friends and families, industry daily "Variety" reported.

Tarantino is known for screen violence, in movies from 1992's "Reservoir Dogs" to 2009's "Inglorious Basterds."

In his new film, a slave-turned-bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner.

The move came after the weekend premiere of Tom Cruise's latest movie, "Jack Reacher" - about a homicide investigator probing a trained military sniper who shot five random victims - was postponed.

"Our hearts go out to all those who lost loved ones," said studio Paramount, adding that it took the action "out of honor and respect for the families of the victims whose lives were senselessly taken."

Fox canceled a weekend red carpet event and after-party for "Parental Guidance" starring Bette Midler and Billy Crystal "in light of the horrific tragedy."

The studio also replaced planned broadcasts Sunday of episodes of "Family Guy" and "American Dad" to avoid any insensitivities to the massacre.

A moment of silence was observed at National Football League (NFL) games across the country Sunday to remember those killed in the normally peaceful town of Newtown, Connecticut.

While some events were canceled because of content, others did not appear to be.

PG-rated "Parental Guidance" got its parental warning for some rude humor, not for violence, according to the IMDb industry website.

Veteran crooner Barry Manilow postponed a planned Friday night show in Palm Desert, California until Sunday, saying on his website: "Perhaps this small gesture of solidarity will help support these families on this terrible day."

Celebrities were quick to join online expressions of shock and sympathy.

Pop star Justin Bieber tweeted: "My prayers go out to all those suffering in this tragedy. it's just wrong. Everyone please pray for them."

"God have mercy!!!! No one deserves this! Praying for the families of the victims of the Connecticut shooting!! What a Christmas it will be," added singer Rihanna on the micro-blogging site.

- AFP/ha

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Fifth edition of ‘India Spells’ is here

NEW DELHI: 'IE' or 'EI' ? 'A' or 'AE' ? It's time for young spell-cats across the country to sharpen their skills. This will be the fifth season of 'HDFC Life Spell Bee - India Spells 2013', the Indian counterpart of the highly acclaimed Scripps Spelling Bee, USA. With the theme 'Celebrate Words. Save the Language,' the spelling extravaganza will travel to 35 cities and reach out to more than 5,00,000 students. This is an initiative of the Times Group under the patronage of Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The four-phase contest starts at school level. Winners then participate in a city-level final round. This year the contest will include a semifinal round after the city finals. The national finals will be telecast on Discovery. Open to students from Class V to IX, the prelims at the school level will be an MCQ (multiple-choice questions) test of 50 words. Top scorers from about 1000 schools in 33 cities will be selected for the city finals.

Students can also apply online at www.spellbeeindia.in. Top scorers from the online test will also be invited to Phase II of the competition. If a student belongs to a city that is not part of Spell Bee's Phase I, they can participate by taking the online test and choosing their preferred city for participation in the second phase. The city final has three rounds; the final round is a knockout among four finalists. The winner and the runner-up qualify for the semifinals — an online test.

Students with the top 16 scores across the country will qualify for the national finals in Mumbai. The finals will be a two-round process held over three days in 'four episodes'. The 16 finalists will be divided into groups of four each. The winner from each group will move into the second round: the grand finale. The winner among the four will be declared 'Spell Bee - India Spells 2013 National Champion'. The four group winners win Rs 50,000 each and the national winner receives Rs 2,00,000 from HDFC Life. The national champion will be taken to Washington DC along with a parent and the school principal to witness the Scripps National Spelling Bee 2013. The trip will be sponsored by Radio Mirchi.

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence

NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.

Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.

"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.

High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.

Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.

"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.

"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.

Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.

Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.

She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.

"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."

After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.

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AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

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Online:

Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5

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Conn. Kids Laid to Rest: 'Our Hearts Are With You'

Visibly shaken attendees exiting the funeral today for 6-year-old Noah Pozner, one of 20 children killed in the Connecticut school massacre last week, said they were touched by a story that summed up the first-grader best.

His mother, Veronique, would often tell him how much she loved him and he'd respond: "Not as much as I [love] you," said a New York man who attended the funeral but was not a member of the family.

Noah's family had been scheduled to greet the public before the funeral service began at 1 p.m. at the Abraham L. Green & Son Funeral Home in Fairfield, Conn. The burial was to follow at the B'nai Israel Cemetery in Monroe, Conn. Those present said they were in awe at the composure of Noah's mother.

Rabbi Edgar Gluck, who attended the service, said the first person to speak was Noah's mother, who told mourners that her son's ambition when he grew up was to be either a director of a plant that makes tacos -- because that was his favorite food -- or to be a doctor.

Outside the funeral home, a small memorial lay with a sign reading: "Our hearts are with you, Noah." A red rose was also left behind along with two teddy bears with white flowers and a blue toy car with a note saying "Noah, rest in peace."

CLICK HERE for complete coverage of the tragedy at Sandy Hook.

Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

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The funeral home was adorned with white balloons as members of the surrounding communities came also to pay their respects, which included a rabbi from Bridgeport. More than a dozen police officers were at the front of the funeral home, and an ambulance was on standby at a gas station at the corner.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. and Sen.-Elect Chris Murphy and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, all of Connecticut, were in attendance, the Connecticut Post reported.

Noah was an inquisitive boy who liked to figure out how things worked mechanically, The Associated Press reported. His twin sister, Arielle, was one of the students who survived when her teacher hid her class in the bathroom during the attack.

CLICK HERE for a tribute to the shooting victims.

The twins celebrated their sixth birthday last month. Noah's uncle Alexis Haller told the AP that he was "smart as a whip," gentle but with a rambunctious streak. He called his twin sister his best friend.

"They were always playing together, they loved to do things together," Haller said.

The funeral for Jack Pinto, 6, was also held today, at the Honan Funeral Home in Newtown. He was to be buried at Newtown Village Cemetery.

Jack's family said he loved football, skiing, wrestling and reading, and he also loved his school. Friends from his wrestling team attended his funeral today in their uniforms. One mourner said the message during the service was: "You're secure now. The worst is over."

Family members say they are not dwelling on his death, but instead on the gift of his life that they will cherish.

The family released a statement, saying, Jack was an "inspiration to all those who knew him."

"He had a wide smile that would simply light up the room and while we are all uncertain as to how we will ever cope without him, we choose to remember and celebrate his life," the statement said. "Not dwelling on the loss but instead on the gift that we were given and will forever cherish in our hearts forever."

Jack and Noah were two of 20 children killed Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., when 20-year-old Adam Lanza sprayed two first-grade classrooms with bullets that also killed six adults.

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Japan's next PM Abe must deliver on economy, cope with China

TOKYO (Reuters) - Conservative ex-premier Shinzo Abe will get a second chance to lead Japan after his Liberal Democratic Party surged back to power in Sunday's election, but he must move swiftly to bolster a sagging economy and manage strained ties with China to avoid the fate of his short-lived predecessors.

Abe, whose party won by a landslide just three years after a crushing defeat, is due to meet the leader of its small ally on Monday to cement their alliance and confirm economic steps to boost an economy now in its fourth recession since 2000.

The victory by the LDP, which had ruled Japan for most of the past 50 years before it was ousted in 2009, will usher in a government pledged to a tough stance in a territorial row with China, a pro-nuclear energy policy despite the 2011 Fukushima disaster and a potentially risky recipe for hyper-easy monetary policy and big fiscal spending to boost growth.

Projections by TV broadcasters showed that the LDP had won at least 294 seats in the 480-member lower house, while its ally the New Komeito party took 31 seats.

That gives them a two-thirds majority needed to overrule parliament's upper house in most matters. Since 2007, successive governments have been hamstrung by a "twisted parliament" where ruling coalitions lacked control over the upper house, which could block most legislation.

While investors have already pushed the yen lower and share prices higher in anticipation of an LDP victory and Abe's economic stimulus, the "super majority" drove the yen to a 20-month low against the U.S. dollar as far as 84.48.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei opened up 1.6 pct on Monday, hitting a high of more than eight months.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was crushed. It was forecast to win 57 seats -- less than a fifth of its showing in 2009, when it swept to power promising to pay more heed to consumers than companies and pry control of policies from bureaucrats.

But voters felt the DPJ failed to live up to those pledges and the party was hit by defections before the vote due to Noda's unpopular plan to raise the sales tax to curb public debt, which is already more than twice the size of the economy.

"This was an overwhelming rejection of the DPJ," said Gerry Curtis, a professor at New York's Columbia University. That sentiment was echoed in Japanese media.

"In a word, rather than a huge victory for the LDP, this election was a massive defeat for the Democrats," the Nikkei business daily said in an editorial.

Analyst Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington agreed, but said it "also reflects an embrace of conservative views" after strained relations with Japan's neighbors in recent years.

"Chinese assertiveness and North Korean provocations nudged the public from its usual post-war complacency toward a new desire to stand up for Japanese sovereignty," he said.

However, that did not mean the Japanese were embracing a return to militarism, added Klingner, a former CIA analyst.

LOW TURNOUT

Abe, expected to be voted in by parliament on December 26, will also have to prove he has learned from the mistakes of his first administration, plagued by scandals and charges of incompetence.

Voter distaste for both major parties has spawned a clutch of new parties, including the Japan Restoration Party founded by popular Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, which took 54 seats according to media projections.

Media estimates also showed turnout at around 59 percent, which could match the previous post-war low.

LDP leader Abe, 58, who quit as premier in 2007 citing ill health, has been talking tough in a row with China over uninhabited isles in the East China Sea, although some experts say he may temper his hard line with pragmatism once in office.

The soft-spoken grandson of a prime minister, who will become Japan's seventh premier in six years, Abe also wants to loosen the limits of a 1947 pacifist constitution on the military so Japan can play a bigger global security role.

President Barack Obama congratulated Abe and underlined U.S. interest in working with the longstanding American ally.

"The U.S-Japan Alliance serves as the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and I look forward to working closely with the next government and the people of Japan," he said in a statement.

Abe, who visited China first during his first term, said he would start off this time by going to Washington.

The LDP, which promoted nuclear energy during its decades-long reign, is expected to be friendly to power utilities, although deep public concerns remain over safety.

Abe has called for "unlimited" monetary easing and big spending on public works to rescue the economy. Such policies, a centerpiece of the LDP's platform for decades, have been criticized by many as wasteful pork-barrel politics.

Jiji news agency said previous LDP Prime Minister Taro Aso, 72, could be tapped as finance minister and deputy premier. He launched massive economic stimulus packages to fight the impact of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis but was dogged by policy flipflops and gaffes.

Many economists say that prescription for "Abenomics" could create temporary growth that would allow the government to proceed with a planned initial sales tax rise in 2014 to help curb public debt.

But it looks unlikely to cure deeper ills or bring sustainable growth to Japan's ageing society, and risks triggering a market backlash if investors decide Japan has lost control of its finances.

(Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Paul Tait)

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Karena Lam pregnant again

HONG KONG: Hong Kong actress Karena Lam revealed Saturday during a publicity event that she is pregnant with her second child, reported Hong Kong media.

The actress, who is married to advertisement director Steve Yuen, gave birth to their first, daughter Kayla, in 2010.

Lam expressed that she has asked actor Ekin Cheng, who was also at the event, to be her unborn child's godfather.

"We are discussing whether I can be the child's godfather, but we'll have to ask her husband first," said Cheng, adding that he hoped it will be a boy, and would teach the child martial arts if it turns out to be a boy.

"If it's a boy, I hope he is not as naughty as you," Lam quipped.

Cheng appeared very happy for his old friend, and posed like a pregnant mother in a goofy photo with her, which she promptly put up on her micro blog.

-CNA/ha

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