Needles successfully extracted from Brazil boy

BRASILIA, Brazil — Surgeons have successfully removed four sewing needles that were inside the lung and close to the heart of a Brazilian toddler. They were allegedly put there by his stepfather during a series of bizarre rituals.

Hospital spokeswoman Susy Moreno says the surgery lasted about three hours and that the 2-year-old boy is in stable condition. Dozens more needles remain inside the boy, but the four removed were considered life-threatening.

Moreno says doctors at the hospital in the northeastern city of Salvador will evaluate the boy's progress before deciding when to perform at least two more surgeries to remove needles.

The surgery conducted Friday evening did not last as long as the six hours that doctors predicted it would take.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian media say doctors have extracted needles from the heart and lung of a toddler that were allegedly inserted by his stepfather during a series of bizarre rituals.

Brazil's Globo TV and A Tarde newspaper said the needles that posed the greatest threat to the boy were successfully removed. They say the boy was still being operated on to remove two more needles near his heart.

Hospital spokeswoman Susy Moreno did not immediately return a telephone message left on her cell phone seeking comment.

Moreno said earlier Friday that the operation started late Friday afternoon and was expected to last at least six hours. The boy has dozens of needles inside him. More operations are planned if the initial surgery is successful.

Bulgaria could take in a Guantanamo prisoner

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgaria's prime minister says the country could accept one prisoner from Guantanamo following calls from Washington to take in detainees from the U.S. prison in Cuba.

Prime Minister Boiko Borisov has told reporters that taking in an inmate would be a strong gesture of cooperation between Europe and the U.S.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said Saturday in an interview with Bulgarian National Radio that talks between the U.S. and Bulgaria about a possible transfer were under way,

He added that no decision has been made yet and cautioned that Bulgaria's participation would be small, and people who might pose a threat to national security would be not accepted.

Tsvetanov says the issue was due to be discussed before parliament.

In Tuesday speech, Obama to promote new job ideas

WASHINGTON – In his latest job creation effort, President Barack Obama is trying to find practical and politically feasible ways of spurring hiring among skittish employers.

Among the ideas expected in his economic speech Tuesday is an expanded program that gives people cash incentives to fix up their homes with energy-saving materials, senior administration officials have told The Associated Press. Obama is leaning toward new incentives for small businesses that hire new workers and new spending on roads, bridges and other public works, the officials said.

The president also is open to a federal infusion of money to cash-strapped state and local governments, considered among the quickest and most effective — though expensive — ways to stem layoffs.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the package and Obama's speech were being developed. The officials emphasized that Obama probably won't mention in his speech every job idea he will eventually support, and that his address is meant only as one step in a debate that's sure to keep going.

Obama said in his Saturday radio and Internet address that the country is emerging from an "economic storm" and that he's working to put people back on the payroll after a painful recession.

Two years of drastic job cuts all but ended in November, according to the latest figures, and the jobless rate inched down to 10 percent. Putting that in perspective, he said in the address, "For those who were laid off last month and the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession, a good trend isn't good enough."

The White House is not yet commenting publicly on the details of Obama's speech.

Job losses in the U.S. have been the worst since the 1930s, but new statistics out Friday showed a relatively moderate loss of 11,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate dipped from 10.2 percent in October to 10 percent in November, but remains at a troubling double-digit level.

Rising frustration over joblessness threatens the president's agenda. The president must connect with voters to boost the chances of his legislative efforts and for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections and his own in 2012.

Obama held a jobs forum at the White House on Thursday, made a trip Friday to visit business owners, workers and the unemployed in Allentown, Pa., and set the jobs-bill speech for Tuesday at Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

"History tells us this is usually what happens with recessions — even as the economy grows, it takes time for jobs to follow," Obama said in the weekend address. "But the folks who have been looking for work without any luck for months and, in some cases, years, can't wait any longer."

Obama said he has no intention of backing off his administration's efforts to overhaul health care, improve education, invest in a clean energy economy and deal with mounting federal debts. All, he said, are vital to strengthening the economy long term.

"I didn't run for president simply to manage the crisis of the moment while kicking our most pressing problems down the road," he said.

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On the Net:

Obama address: http://www.whitehouse.gov

Geneva: Police use tear gas on WTO protest

GENEVA — Police with water cannon fired tear gas and rubber bullets Saturday to separate violent demonstrators from a protest opposing a meeting of top world trade officials, but the hooded "black bloc" activists were able to cause damage before 14 were arrested, spokesmen said.

The protesters set fire to at least four cars, broke shop windows and committed other acts of violence Saturday, police spokesman Patrick Puhl said.

Geneva Police Chief Monica Bonfati said officers arrested four looters in addition to the protesters. No injuries to police or protesters were reported, but an 80-year-old women lost her balance and fell, and had to be hospitalized, police said.

The clashes occurred during a march by demonstrators protesting a meeting of the World Trade Organization scheduled to start Monday, in which the United States, China and other commercial powers will spearhead a new attempt to find ways to revive world trade and drag the global economy out of recession.

Bonfati told Swiss television TSR that police were able at the beginning of the demonstration to identify about 200 members of the black bloc — violent elements that join other demonstrations to cause damage. She said they were spread out along the route and police had to separate them from the other protesters.

Eric Grandjean, another police spokesman, said black bloc protesters threw fire bombs at police from the march.

"They also damaged 12 businesses, including a bank at Place Bel-Air and a jewelry shop and a hotel on the Quai des Bergues," he said.

Besides the burned cars, 15 other vehicles, including three buses, were damaged, he said.

Police said the 3,000 protesters included three distinct groups of troublemakers who broke away to attack cars and hotel and shop windows, then rejoined the march, pretending to be peaceful. Organizers claimed there were about 5,000 protesters in total.

The group Anti-WTO Coordination said it "regretted being unable to finish the demonstration and deliver the planned speeches."

It said a few protesters had used the demonstration for their own ends.

Nevertheless, it said, "the international and local mobilization is a success" and it condemned "unreservedly all police repression violating democratic rights."

Much more serious clashes have occurred at previous meetings of trade chiefs, but the coming session lacks the specific goals of previous meetings, when the World Trade Organization tried to conclude a new trade deal. The last so-called ministerial was held in Hong Kong four years ago. Others were in Cancun, Mexico, and Seattle.

WTO opponents claim the agreements produced by the body foster the growth of wealth among corporations at the expense of farmers, workers and others at the low end of the economy.

Swiss officials refused entry at Geneva Airport on Friday evening to three South Koreans who wanted to come into Geneva because Swiss security specialists judged them to be capable of violence, Puhl said, noting that other countries had previously barred the three for the same reason.

The WTO called the meeting of its 153 members to examine major issues at a time when global exports are falling rapidly and the WTO's long-sought Doha liberalization round is limping into its ninth year.

Instead of sensitive tariff and subsidy negotiations, the conference running Monday through Wednesday will focus on the big picture — stabilizing and rejuvenating commerce in the face of increased protectionism, unemployment and exporting of jobs.

The WTO had hoped to avoid the acrimony and the sometimes-violent protests that have plagued previous ministerial conferences. Geneva police have taken a number of steps to ensure the security of the meeting place.

Officials: Pakistani troops kill some 40 militants

KHAR, Pakistan — Pakistani troops killed nearly 40 suspected militants Sunday in a series of operations in northwestern tribal areas near the Afghan border, officials said.

The army launched an offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan in mid-October, but many militants fled north to escape the fighting. Sunday's attacks, which could not immediately be confirmed, appeared to be targeting areas to which they escaped.

The deadliest strike was in Shahukhel, a town in the tribal area of Orakzai, in which at least 12 militants were reported killed and 14 detained in search operations by border forces, according to officials with the Frontier Corps.

An attack helicopter also pounded several areas elsewhere in the region, killing at least four militants, intelligence officials said.

At least 11 other suspects, including an insurgent commander, were killed in fighting when the army repulsed an attack in the Bajur region, which was the site of a major operation earlier this year, officials said.

The battle broke out after an army base came under rocket fire. The military had been tipped off to the attack and opened fire on the militant positions, they said.

Officials said 10 other militants were killed in military action elsewhere in Bajur. The military campaign against the Taliban there ended with a declaration of victory in March and continued activity underscores the resilience of the militants who are routed only to return to affected areas.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information. Journalists have little access to Pakistan's volatile tribal regions, which makes it virtually impossible to verify the casualty figures.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Azhar Abbas said there were air strikes in tribal areas but he provided no details.

The Pakistani military said in a statement Sunday that five insurgents were killed and one soldier wounded in operations in South Waziristan.

The United States has welcomed the Pakistani offensive, but wants the army to do more against the insurgents blamed for violence across the border in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's army has retaken many towns in South Waziristan but many militants fled and have retaliated with a series of clashes and bombings.

Associated Press writer Riaz Khan in Peshawar contributed to this report.

Netanyahu warns of Iran threat from Israeli missile ship

ON BOARD THE INS EILAT — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured a naval vessel on Tuesday, using the backdrop of his country's military power to warn of the threat posed by the nuclear ambitions of arch-foe Iran.

"The threat that Iran poses is very grave for the state of Israel, for peace in the Middle East and the whole world," Netanyahu said aboard the INS Eilat, a missile ship used recently to intercept a weapons-laden cargo vessel Israel said was ferrying arms from Iran to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

"Without any doubt, we are the first target but not the last," Netanyahu said on the ship anchored off the Mediterranean port city of Haifa.

Netanyahu also toured one of Israel's three German-made, Dolphin-class submarines, the country's most expensive weapons platform.

According to specialist newsletter Jane's Defence Weekly, the submarines, known as U212s, are designed for a crew of 35, have a range of 4,500 kilometres (2,810 miles) and can launch cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads.

However, when it confirmed the sale in 2006, the German government said the two vessels were not equipped to carry nuclear weapons.

Israeli media have reported that the Dolphin submarine could be key to any attack on Iranian nuclear facilities aimed at depriving it of any possibility of developing a weapons capability like Israel's own.

An Israeli submarine passed through the Suez Canal for the first time in June, escorted by Egyptian navy vessels, in what Israeli media said was intended as a message to Iran.

The Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, Israel suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons of its own, a charge Iranian officials strongly deny.

Airline flight returns to Halifax after pilot loses consciousness

HALIFAX, N.S. — A Porter Airlines flight out of Halifax was forced to turn back Saturday after the pilot began losing consciousness and the co-pilot quickly took control of the aircraft.

The airline reported that the co-pilot of Flight 243, which was en route to St. John's, N.L., brought the aircraft back to Halifax without incident and landed safely at 11:44 a.m.

The plane, a Q400 with a capacity of 70 passengers, left Halifax at 10:30 a.m. and the pilot's problem was reported at around 11:16 a.m.

"We received a call that the pilot was needing assistance, he was losing consciousness," said Ashley Barnes, a spokeswoman for the Halifax airport.

"We had ambulances standing by."

Barnes said the pilot was able to walk off the plane and into a waiting ambulance, although there was no word on his condition or on what caused his health problem.

He was later taken to a Halifax hospital for assessment.

Porter Airlines president and CEO Robert Deluce said the pilot is a 39-year-old with 7,000 hours of total flying time.

"The first officer who took charge was a 29-year-old pilot and has almost 4,000 hours of total flying time so they are both fairly experienced guys," said Deluce.

Deluce, who confirmed the pilot did briefly lose consciousness on the return to Halifax, said he didn't know the exact nature of the pilot's health problem.

"It is an unknown condition at this point," he said.

The airline brought in a replacement crew and the flight departed for St. John's at 1:18 p.m.