Judge tosses anti-paparazzi counts in Bieber case

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A law aimed at combating reckless driving by paparazzi is overly broad and should not be used against the first photographer charged under its provisions, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Rubinson dismissed counts filed under the law against Paul Raef, who was charged in July with being involved in a high-speed pursuit of Justin Bieber.

The judge cited numerous problems with the 2010 statute, saying it was aimed at newsgathering activities protected by the First Amendment, and lawmakers should have simply increased the penalties for reckless driving rather than targeting celebrity photographers.

Attorneys for Raef argued the law was unconstitutional and wasn’t meant to protect the public.

“It’s about protecting celebrities,” attorney Brad Kasierman said. “This discrimination sets a dangerous precedent.”

Prosecutors argued that the law, which seeks to punish those who drive dangerously in pursuit of photos for commercial gain, could apply to people in other professions, not just the media.

“The focus is not the photo. The focus is on the driving,” Assistant City Attorney Ann Rosenthal argued.

While the media is granted freedom under the First Amendment, its latitude to gather news is not unlimited, Rosenthal argued.

“This activity has been found to be particularly dangerous,” she said of chases involving paparazzi.

Raef still faces traditional reckless driving counts and has not yet entered a plea,

Prosecutors claim he chased Bieber at more than 80 mph and forced other motorists to avoid collisions while trying to get shots of the teen heartthrob on a Los Angeles freeway.

The chase prompted several 911 calls from scared motorists and led to Bieber being pulled over.

Rubinson cited hypothetical examples in which wedding photographers or even those rushing to do a portrait shoot with a celebrity could face additional penalties if charged under the new statute.

Rosenthal also argued that the judge should look at factors specific to Raef’s case, not hypothetical scenarios.

Kaiserman said the ruling only applies to Raef’s case but could lead to the law being struck down if prosecutors appeal.

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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U.S. Congress takes aim at FDA over meningitis outbreak

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Members of a congressional committee investigating the deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak accused the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday of failing to prevent the crisis by moving too slowly against a Massachusetts pharmacy.

Tainted steroids from the pharmacy, New England Compounding Center (NECC), have so far killed 32 people and sickened 461 in 19 states, according to updated figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those numbers are expected to rise with as many as 14,000 people having been exposed to the drugs injected to ease back pain.

“After a tragedy like this, the first question we all ask is: could this have been prevented? After an examination of documents produced by the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the answer here appears to be yes,” Cliff Stearns, Republican chairman of the oversight and investigations panel, said at the hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The panel aims to learn why regulators took no action against the Framingham, Massachusetts-based compounding pharmacy that manufactured the tainted drug – despite repeated problems dating back to 1999, including adverse patient reactions to a sterile steroid treatment from as early as 2002.

In a highly contentious hearing that lasted four hours, committee members repeatedly accused FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg of failing to answer questions about FDA authority and a lack of action against NECC. Hamburg in turn insisted that the FDA lacks clear authority to regulate compounding pharmacies due to conflicting court rulings and other regulatory ambiguities.

She said new laws must be passed that give the FDA clear authority to regulate compounding pharmacies as it does large drug manufacturers.

“This isn’t, sadly, an isolated incident. This is the worst and most tragic. It should be the last wakeup call for us,” Hamburg said of the deadly meningitis outbreak.

“We really need a strong, clear and appropriate legislation. We cannot have a crazy quilt where different parts of the country are subject to different legal frameworks,” she told the committee.

UNREGULATED COMPOUNDING

Drug compounding is a little-known practice in which pharmacists traditionally alter or recombine drugs to meet the special needs of specific patients with a doctor’s prescription. It is overseen primarily by state authorities that are often ill-equipped for the job.

But in some cases, as with NECC, compounding has evolved to include large-scale production that some experts view as drug manufacturing that should be subject to FDA regulation.

FDA and Massachusetts officials inspected the NECC more than 10 years ago after patients were hospitalized with meningitis-like symptoms and identified contamination in the same drug at issue in the current outbreak.

“Ten years later, we are in the midst of an unthinkable, worst-case scenario – the body count is growing by the day – and hundreds, hundreds – have fallen ill. Inexcusable,” said Fred Upton, Republican chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Upton criticized FDA for not providing all the documents related to NECC or a clear timeline of events. He said his committee requested both more than a month ago.

However, U.S. Representative Henry Waxman of California, the committee’s ranking Democrat, defended the FDA and turned his ire toward NECC.

“Let’s not lose sight of the wrongdoers as we go around blaming regulators,” Waxman said.

He noted that the FDA knew 10 years ago that there could be a meningitis outbreak due to practices at NECC “and it wasn’t corrected by the company.”

He said the agency met with “stubborn refusals and a challenge to FDA’s authority” from NECC officials.

Waxman called for bipartisan legislation that gives FDA clear and effective authority to prevent compounders from becoming dangerous drug manufacturers like NECC.

HAMBURG IN HOT SEAT

But Republican committee members repeatedly, and sometimes angrily, challenged Hamburg’s contention that FDA lacked the authority to oversee compounders that had grown into defacto manufacturers.

“We’re just not buying it Ms. Hamburg,” said Representative Michael Burgess of Texas, an obstetrician by profession.

“Go look in the eyes of the victims and try to tell them that,” said Republican Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania.

Nebraska Republican Lee Terry was extremely combative with Hamburg, repeatedly asking for specific statutes that prevented FDA oversight of compounders and cutting off her attempts to respond. Terry went as far as accusing the commissioner of deliberately providing written testimony in the middle of the night so committee members had little time to review it.

“I know that you’re frustrated with my answers and I’m sorry. I can’t just give ‘yes or no’ answers. This is complex,” Hamburg told Murphy at one point.

Murphy shot back that what victims were going through was complex. “Leadership is easy if you’re willing to accept it. You are not.”

Florida Democrat Kathy Castor rose to Hamburg’s defense in describing current laws on regulating compounders as varying from region to region, creating conflicting enforcement issues.

“There is ambiguity. There is great ambiguity,” she said.

Waxman also attempted to rescue Hamburg, accusing Republican counterparts of playing politics. “I have a feeling, Dr. Hamburg, that you’re being picked on by Republicans because you’re with the Obama administration,” he said.

He pointed out that past FDA failures being referred to took place under a different commissioner during the Bush administration.

The panel also heard testimony from the widow of one of the victims, as well as Massachusetts Department of Public Health interim Commissioner Dr. Lauren Smith, to whom congress members were respectful and complimentary, and NECC co-owner Barry Cadden, who refused to answer any questions from the committee.

Cadden, a short, middle-aged man flanked by two attorneys, appeared before the committee with spiky close-cropped hair and wearing a dark gray business suit. He repeatedly cited his right to not incriminate himself under the fifth amendment of the U.S. Constitution when asked to explain breakdowns in sanitary conditions at NECC that led to the meningitis outbreak.

The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy, which does have oversight of NECC, failed to carry out sanctions against the company despite repeated problems that culminated in this year’s outbreak.

Several lawmakers questioned Smith about relations between NECC and the Massachusetts pharmacy board, some saying reports of close ties among individuals could have encouraged state regulators to favor the interests of pharmacies over patients.

Waxman noted that weak sanctions to which NECC previously agreed occurred when Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts.

The committee heard emotional testimony from the 78-year-old widow of a Kentucky judge who was among the first to die in the meningitis outbreak.

“It was such a useless thing that happened to my husband,” Joyce Lovelace said, testifying from a wheelchair.

“I can’t begin to tell you what I have lost,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion. “I’ve come here begging you to do something about it.”

Democrat Edward Markey, whose congressional district includes the town where NECC is located, said Congress would take action.

“I commit to you and all the victims that we will not stop until this industry is safe,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Bill Berkrot in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler, Andrew Hay and Maureen Bavdek)

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Obama warns GOP to lay off Rice attacks

President Barack Obama speaks at his first news conference since his reelection. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)President Barack Obama bluntly told John McCain and other Republicans to lay off their attacks against U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice over the Benghazi assault, telling lawmakers that if they go after her "then you have a problem with me." And Obama, speaking at his first post-election press conference, vowed that Republican opposition would not dissuade him from nominating Rice to replace departing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"I don't think there's any debate in this country that when you have four Americans killed that's a problem," he told reporters in the East Room of the White House. "And we've go to get to the bottom of it, and there needs to be accountability, we've got to bring those who carried it out to justice --they won't get any debate from me on that."

"But when they go after the U.N. ambassador, apparently because they think she's an easy target, then they've got a problem with me," he warned.

McCain, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and some other Republicans have signaled they will oppose Rice's confirmation if Obama nominates her. Their numbers thus far seem far short of the 40 needed to block it, and some Republican senators have signaled that she should get a fair hearing.

"Let me say specifically about Susan Rice: She has done exemplary work. She has represented the United States and our interests in the United Nations with skill, and professionalism, and toughness, and grace," Obama said.

"And should I choose, if I think that she would be the best person to serve America in the capacity of the State Department, then I will nominate her," he vowed. "That's not a determination that I've made yet."

Rice and Democratic Senator John Kerry, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, are seen as the front-runners in the race to succeed Clinton.

Conservatives have assailed Rice, who is close to Obama, ever since she made the rounds of the Sunday morning talk shows and said that American intelligence believed that the attack on the American compound in Benghazi, which claimed the lives of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, grew out of demonstrations against an Internet video that ridicules Islam.

"As that unfolded, it seems to have been hijacked, let us say, by some individual clusters of extremists who came with heavier weapons, weapons that, as you know, in the wake of the revolution in Libya are quite common and accessible. And it then evolved from there," she told ABC.

White House aides have said that Rice was speaking based on the best available intelligence at the time.

"She made an appearance at the request of the White House in which she gave her best understanding of the intelligence provided to her," Obama said Wednesday. "If Senator McCain and Senator Graham want to go after somebody, they should go after me."

"But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador, who had nothing to do with Benghazi, and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received, and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous," he said.

"We're after an election now," he scolded. "I think it is important for us to find out exactly what happened in Benghazi, and I'm happy to cooperate in any ways that Congress wants. We have provided every bit of information that we have and we will continue to provide information and we've got a full-blown investigation. And all that information will be disgorged to Congress."

McCain and Graham hit back quickly.

"I have always said that the buck stops with the President of the United States," the Arizona senator said in a written statement. McCain accused Obama of "contradictory statements" about the attack, labeling it an "act of terror" the day after it happened then resisting the use of the word "terrorism" for roughly a week afterwards.

"We owe the American people and the families of the murdered Americans a full and complete explanation, which for two months the President has failed to deliver," said McCain, who has called for Congress to create a "select committee" to investigate.

"Mr. President, don't think for one minute I don't hold you ultimately responsible for Benghazi.  I think you failed as commander in chief before, during and after the attack," Graham said in a statement released by his office.

"We owe it to the American people and the victims of this attack to have full, fair hearings and accountability be assigned where appropriate. Given what I know now, I have no intention of promoting anyone who is up to their eyeballs in the Benghazi debacle," Graham said.

Obama opened what was his first press conference in months with a vow to work with both parties in Congress to tackle the so-called fiscal cliff and revive the economy. He also said he had "no evidence" that the scandal that led David Petraeus to resign in disgrace from his job as CIA director had led to breaches in classified national security material.

"Right now our economy is still recovering from a very deep and damaging crisis, so our top priority has to be jobs and growth," Obama said in opening remarks in the East Room of the White House.

"Both parties can work together" to address the fiscal challenges "in a balanced and responsible way," he said, before pushing Republicans to sign on to his call for raising taxes on the richest Americans.

Asked whether the scandal the drove Petraeus from office had led to national security breaches, Obama replied: "I have no evidence at this point, from what I've seen, that classified information was disclosed that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security." And the president praised the retired general, saying "we are safer because of the work Dave Petraeus has done."

Asked for his appraisal of the FBI's work in bringing to light the marital infidelity that Petraeus cited in his resignation message, and why he and the American public learned of the probe only earlier this month, Obama said "I am withholding judgment" on that process but expressed "a lot of confidence generally in the FBI."

Turning to his tax battle with Republicans, Obama stuck by his vow to oppose any legislation that extends the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. The president, asked why he had agreed to extend them in the 2010 lame duck session of Congress, said that "was a one-time proposition" and that "we cannot afford" to do so again.

Obama said he would be willing to look at raising tax revenues by closing loopholes. But he warned that doing so would probably not outweigh an estimated trillion dollars lost by extending tax cuts on income above $250,000. "The math tends not to work," he said.

"I just want to emphasize: I am open to new ideas," Obama underlined. "If the Republican counterparts or some Democrats have a great idea for us to raise revenue, maintain progressivity, make sure the middle class isn't getting hit, reduces our deficit, encourages growth, I'm not going to just slam the door in their face. I want to hear ideas from everybody."

And he reiterated that he does not want just a stopgap agreement with Congress.

"I want a big deal, I want a comprehensive deal," he said. "Fair-minded people can come to an agreement."

Obama, who won the Latino vote by a lopsided margin, also vowed to pursue comprehensive immigration reform in his second term. He said it should include border enforcement, penalties for companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers, while providing "a pathway for legal status" for those who pay their taxes and learn English. He also said it should lock in his presidential determination that undocumented immigrants brought here as children should not be deported but have a potential path to citizenship.

"We need to seize the moment," he said, predicting that "we will have a bill introduced and we begin the process in Congress very soon after my inauguration."

Obama addressed a handful of other issues:

- On the standoff over Iran's suspect nuclear program

Obama pledged to "try to make a push in the coming months to see if we can open up a dialogue between Iran and not just us but the international community, to see if we can get this thing resolved." "I can't promise that Iran will walk through the door that they need to walk though, but that would be very much the preferable option" to military action, he said.

- On the possibility of working with Republican rival Mitt Romney

Obama said that "we haven't scheduled something yet." "I think everybody needs to catch their breath. I'm sure that Governor Romney is spending some time with his family. And my hope is, before the end of the year, though, that we have a chance to sit down and talk," the president said.

- On whether he has a mandate

"I don't presume that because I won an election, that everybody suddenly agrees with me on any — everything. I'm more than familiar with all the literature about presidential overreach in second terms," Obama said. "We are very cautious about that."

"On the other hand, I didn't get re-elected just to bask in re- election. I got elected to do work on behalf of American families and small businesses all across the country who are still recovering from a really bad recession but are hopeful about the future. And I am, too."

- On climate change

Obama said he would embark "over the next several weeks, next several months" in a "wide-ranging discussion" with scientists, engineers, elected officials and others about "short-term" steps in reducing carbon emissions blamed for fueling global warming. But he seemed pessimistic about any broad response.

"I don't know what either Democrats or Republicans are prepared to do," he said. "There's no doubt that for us to take on climate change in a serious way would involve making some tough political choices."

"And you know, understandably, I think the American people right now have been so focused and will continue to be focused on our economy and jobs and growth that, you know, if the message is somehow we're going to ignore jobs and growth simply to address climate change, I don't think anybody's going to go for that. I won't go for that."

- On relations with the media. Bloomberg reporter Hans Nichols shouted out a question about taxes after Obama had indicated that he had already taken his final query.

"That was a great question, but it would be a horrible precedent for me to answer your question just because you yelled it out," he said. "So thank you very much, guys."

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Egypt recalls envoy to Israel after Gaza strike

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt has recalled its ambassador to Israel after an Israeli airstrike killed the military commander of Gaza‘s ruling Hamas.

In a statement read on state TV late Wednesday, spokesman Yasser Ali said that President Mohammed Morsi recalled the ambassador and asked the Arab League‘s Secretary General to convene an emergency ministerial meeting in the wake of the Gaza violence.

Morsi also called for an immediate cease fire between Israel and Hamas, an offshoot of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. Israel says it struck in response to rocket attacks from Gaza.

Hours earlier, Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group denounced the Israeli airstrike as a “crime that requires a quick Arab and international response to stem these massacres.”

Relations between Israel and Egypt have deteriorated since longtime President Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year.

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Facebook jumps on biggest lock-up expiration day

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook‘s stock is up more than 7 percent despite expectations that it would fall because more than 850 million additional shares in the company are being freed up for sale.

Shares of Facebook Inc. are up $ 1.48, or 7.5 percent, at $ 21.34. Facebook went public in May at $ 38 in a much-hyped initial public offering of stock that turned out to be a letdown for investors. Its stock price hasn’t hit $ 38 since.

Wednesday marked the expiration of Facebook’s biggest lock-up period, which is a time following an IPO that prevents insiders from selling stock. In all, 773 million shares became eligible for sale, along with 31 million restricted stock units. And about 48 million shares held by former Facebook employees also became eligible for sale, bringing the total to 852 million. These shares would be on top of what’s already been available for trading, increasing the supply and potentially lowering the overall price.

Lock-ups are common after initial public stock offerings and are designed to prevent a stock from experiencing the kind of volatility that might occur if too many shareholders decide to sell all at once.

The previous lock-up expired on Oct. 29, when U.S. stock markets were closed because of Superstorm Sandy. Facebook’s stock fell nearly 4 percent two days later, when the stock market reopened.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Youssef Squali believes a potential increase in the capital gains tax on Jan. 1, when Bush-era tax cuts would expire unless Congress acts, could pressure Facebook’s stock. That said, he called the Menlo Park, Calif.-based social media company a “long-term winner.”

Facebook’s stock saw its biggest one-day gain on Oct. 24, the day after the company reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter results and detailed for the first time how much money it made from mobile ads. The stock, which added 19 percent that day, closed at $ 23.23. Even with Wednesday’s gain, it is still 8 percent below that price.

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Charlie Chaplin’s bowler and cane to hit auction block

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – One of Charlie Chaplin’s iconic bowler hats and canes, the staple of Hollywood silent-era comedy, will go under the hammer in Los Angeles this weekend, auction house Bonhams said on Tuesday.

Chaplin’s hat and cane – synonymous with his trademark “Little Tramp” character in films such as “City Lights” and “Modern Times” – are expected to fetch between $ 40,000 and $ 60,000 in the November 18 auction.

It is unknown how many of Chaplin’s bowlers and canes still exist, said Lucy Carr, a memorabilia specialist at Bonhams. The ones up for auction come from a private collection but have a direct link to Chaplin, Carr said.

The waddling and bumbling Little Tramp character propelled Chaplin to global fame. The character, which Hollywood legend says was created by accident on a rainy day at Keystone Studio, first appeared in 1914′s “Kid Auto Races at Venice” and lastly in 1936′s “Modern Times.”

Chaplin’s hat and cane are the highlights of an auction of popular culture artifacts including a saxophone that belonged to jazz pioneer Charlie Parker ($ 22,000-$ 26,000) and a handwritten letter from John Lennon in which The Beatle sketched himself and wife Yoko Ono nude ($ 18,000-$ 22,000).

Other items hitting the block range from an archive of Marilyn Monroe photographs ($ 15,000-$ 20,000), an early Charles Schulz “Peanuts” comic strip ($ 10,000-$ 15,000) and a wicker chair from Rick’s Cafe in “Casablanca” ($ 5,000-$ 7,000).

(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Head injury, pesticides tied to Parkinson’s disease

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The combination of a past serious head injury and pesticide exposure may be linked to an extra-high risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a new study suggests.

The findings don’t prove being knocked unconscious or exposed to certain chemicals directly causes Parkinson’s, a chronic movement and coordination disorder.

But they are in line with previous studies, which have linked head trauma and certain toxins – along with family history and other environmental exposures – to the disease.

“I think all of us are beginning to realize that there’s not one smoking gun that causes Parkinson’s disease,” said Dr. James Bower, a neurologist from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota who wasn’t involved in the new research.

“There might be many paths to the ultimate development of Parkinson’s disease,” he told Reuters Health.

For example, Bower said, some people who are genetically predisposed might need just one “environmental insult” – such as a blow to the head – to set them up for Parkinson’s. Others who aren’t naturally susceptible to the disorder could still develop it after multiple exposures.

Head trauma and contact with pesticides “may not be directly related, and may be two independent stresses,” Columbia University neurologist David Sulzer, who also wasn’t part of the study team, told Reuters Health in an email.

About 50,000 to 60,000 older adults in the U.S. are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease each year, according to the National Parkinson Foundation.

For the new study, researchers led by Pei-Chen Lee from the University of California at Los Angeles compared 357 people with a recent Parkinson’s diagnosis to a representative sample of 754 people without the disease, all living in central California, which is a major agricultural region.

The study team asked all of them to report any past traumatic head injuries – in which people had been unconscious for at least five minutes – and used their home and work addresses to determine their proximity to pesticide sprayings since 1974.

Those surveys showed that close to 12 percent of people with Parkinson’s had been knocked unconscious, and 47 percent had been exposed to an herbicide called paraquat near both their home and workplace.

That’s in comparison to almost seven percent of control-group participants with a history of head injury and 39 percent with pesticide exposure.

On their own, traumatic brain injury as well as living and working near pesticide sprayings were each tied to a moderately increased risk of Parkinson’s disease. Combined, they were linked to a tripling of that risk, the researchers reported Monday in the journal Neurology. That was after taking into account people’s baseline risk based on their age, gender, race, education, smoking history and family history of Parkinson’s.

Lee’s team didn’t know which came first in people who’d had both head trauma and paraquat exposure.

It makes sense, the researchers noted, that a head injury would increase inflammation in the brain and disrupt the barrier that separates circulating blood and brain fluid. Those changes could then make neurons in the brain more vulnerable to the effects of pesticides, ultimately increasing the risk of Parkinson’s.

But that’s just a theory.

“There are all kinds of hypotheses,” Bower said. But the study “is more evidence that traumatic injury to the brain can lead to later problems that are usually neurodegenerative,” he added. “We need to be increasingly careful about preventing these traumatic brain injuries.”

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/TD3OA9 Neurology, online November 12, 2012.

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Congress' choice whether Petraeus testifies on Benghazi attack

Holly Petraeus and Gen. David Petraeus walk past a seated Paula Broadwell (rear right) at his confirmation hearing …The White House said Tuesday that it was "up to Congress" whether to call former CIA Director David Petraeus to testify about the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya.

"Congress [makes] decisions about who is called to testify," press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily briefing.

The Intelligence Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives had been set to hear from Petraeus about the attack on the American compound in separate closed-door hearings on Thursday. But aides to both panels indicated that the retired Army general would be replaced by Mike Morrell, the acting CIA director.

"The president is confident that Acting Director Morrell is fully informed and capable of representing the CIA in a hearing about the incidents in Benghazi," Carney said.

Still, key senators have made it clear that Petraeus, whose shocking resignation came after the public disclosure of an extramarital affair, will ultimately need to be heard. The attack claimed the lives of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, told MSNBC on Monday that her panel "should go ahead with Mike Morell and the way it is now set up."

"But I also think that the community should know that this is not sufficient," she continued. "And I have no doubt now that we will need to talk with David Petraeus. And we will likely do that in closed session, but it will be done one way or the other."

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General investigated for emails to Petraeus friend

PERTH, Australia (AP) — In a new twist to the Gen. David Petraeus sex scandal, the Pentagon said Tuesday that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged “inappropriate communications” with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom Petraeus had an extramarital affair.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a written statement issued to reporters aboard his aircraft, en route from Honolulu to Perth, Australia, that the FBI referred the matter to the Pentagon on Sunday.

Panetta said that he ordered a Pentagon investigation of Allen on Monday.

A senior defense official traveling with Panetta said Allen’s communications were with Jill Kelley, who has been described as an unpaid social liaison at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., which is headquarters to the U.S. Central Command. She is not a U.S. government employee.

Kelley is said to have received threatening emails from Broadwell, who is Petraeus’ biographer and who had an extramarital affair with Petraeus that reportedly began after he became CIA director in September 2011.

Petraeus resigned as CIA director on Friday.

Allen, a four-star Marine general, succeeded Petraeus as the top American commander in Afghanistan in July 2011.

The senior official, who discussed the matter only on condition of anonymity because it is under investigation, said Panetta believed it was prudent to launch a Pentagon investigation, although the official would not explain the nature of Allen’s problematic communications.

The official said 20,000 to 30,000 pages of emails and other documents from Allen’s communications with Kelley between 2010 and 2012 are under review. He would not say whether they involved sexual matters or whether they are thought to include unauthorized disclosures of classified information. He said he did not know whether Petraeus is mentioned in the emails.

“Gen. Allen disputes that he has engaged in any wrongdoing in this matter,” the official said. He said Allen currently is in Washington.

Panetta said that while the matter is being investigated by the Defense Department Inspector General, Allen will remain in his post as commander of the International Security Assistance Force, based in Kabul. He praised Allen as having been instrumental in making progress in the war.

The FBI’s decision to refer the Allen matter to the Pentagon rather than keep it itself, combined with Panetta’s decision to allow Allen to continue as Afghanistan commander without a suspension, suggested strongly that officials viewed whatever happened as a possible infraction of military rules rather than a violation of federal criminal law.

Allen was Deputy Commander of Central Command, based in Tampa, prior to taking over in Afghanistan. He also is a veteran of the Iraq war.

In the meantime, Panetta said, Allen’s nomination to be the next commander of U.S. European Command and the commander of NATO forces in Europe has been put on hold “until the relevant facts are determined.” He had been expected to take that new post in early 2013, if confirmed by the Senate, as had been widely expected.

Panetta said President Barack Obama was consulted and agreed that Allen’s nomination should be put on hold. Allen was to testify at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. Panetta said he asked committee leaders to delay that hearing.

NATO officials had no comment about the delay in Allen’s appointment.

“We have seen Secretary Panetta‘s statement,” NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said in Brussels. “It is a U.S. investigation.”

Panetta also said he wants the Senate Armed Services Committee to act promptly on Obama’s nomination of Gen. Joseph Dunford to succeed Allen as commander in Afghanistan. That nomination was made several weeks ago. Dunford’s hearing is also scheduled for Thursday.

___

Associated Press writer Slobodan Lekic in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

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Verizon and HTC’s latest twist: The $199 Droid DNA

Verizon and HTC unveiled a new device that the two hope will appeal to customers during the holiday season, while helping to reverse HTC’s floundering fortunes.

The phone, the Droid DNA, sports a 5-inch screen, putting it more in the “phablet” category with Samsung‘s Galaxy Note. It runs on Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean and includes a boatload of powerful features, including a Super LCD 3 display with 440 pixels per inch, capable of playing 1080p HD video.

HTC noted the screen rivals traditional HDTVs, while the pixel density is among the highest available on any smartphone. The iPhone 5′s Retina display, for example, is 326 pixels per inch.

The device runs on a quad-core, 1.5Ghz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, with 4G LTE integrated on the same piece of silicon as the application processor. Having one chip instead of two improves battery life.

The phone is also capable of wireless charging and full HD video chat. The device has an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2.1-megapixel camera in the front. HTC noted its phone features HTC ImageSense and HTC ImageChip to create faster image processing and better quality photos, as well as a quick-launch camera option.

The Droid DNA also has Beats audio and two amplifiers, one for headphone and one for speaker. And it’s equipped with near-field communications technology to share music and other content by tapping other NFC-enabled devices.

Droid DNA goes on sale on November 21 for $ 199.99 with a two-year contract. Pre-sales begin today. The phone is available exclusively through Verizon.

The hefty specs should appeal to customers looking for alternatives to the latest gadgets from Samsung and Apple during the holiday season. For HTC, it’s pretty important that they do.

The Taiwanese handset maker really needs a hit phone. Previously the darling of the smartphone world, HTC has been having a tough time lately. Samsung and Apple are dominating the industry’s profits and market share, leaving little for HTC, Motorola, Nokia, and other handset vendors. HTC also has faced litigation, though it reached a settlement with Apple a few days ago.

The company has said it plans to go bolder with its messaging to consumers and the media, relying less on joint marketing campaigns with the carriers and standing more independently to tell the HTC story. It also has said it would try to generate buzz through social media and by seeing out influential celebrities and “superfans” for endorsements. So far, it’s unclear whether such steps are paying off.

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