Royal pregnancy highlights succession issues

LONDON (AP) — The business of monarchy has always been stacked in favor of men. Not any more — or so the British government promises.

The first child of Prince William and his wife Kate will be born a king or a queen in waiting, under changes to succession rules designed to overturn centuries of tradition and give royal daughters the same rights as sons.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg pledged Tuesday that the law on succession would be changed at the "earliest opportunity." He said "whether the baby is a boy or a girl, they will have an equal claim to the throne."

"Born to rule, be it a boy or a girl" proclaimed the Daily Mail, which noted that the baby had "already made royal and constitutional history" even before it is born.

Not so fast, caution others.

A royal saga needs a touch of uncertainty, and experts point out that despite politicians' promises, the law giving males primacy in succession has not yet been changed — and the clock is ticking.

"We know that the wishes of politicians are written in water," said royal historian Robert Lacey. "Law only becomes law when the law is made — and the law has not been made."

Meanwhile, the Duchess of Cambridge — the former Kate Middleton — was "continuing to feel better" Tuesday as she spent a second day in a London hospital being treated for acute morning sickness, St. James's Palace said. Photographers and camera crews from around the world camped outside, eager for news on the royal pregnancy. Officials said earlier the duchess was not yet 12 weeks pregnant.

Congratulations poured in from around the world at the good news, which follows Kate and William's lavish royal wedding in 2011 and Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year.

Officials say Kate and William's baby will displace Prince Harry, William's younger brother, as third in line to the throne — and the child will stay there, even if she is a princess who later acquires a younger brother.

For centuries, preference was given to male heirs, so a first-born princess would be leapfrogged in the succession by a younger brother. As a result, there have been some 40 kings of England since the Norman Conquest in 1066, but only seven queens.

Last year, the leaders of Britain and the 15 former colonies that have the queen as their head of state informally agreed to establish new rules giving female children equal status with males in the order of succession — something that will require legal changes in each country.

"Put simply, if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were to have a little girl, that girl would one day be our queen," Prime Minister David Cameron said at the time.

Months passed with little progress. But the prospect of a royal birth next year seems to have focused political minds, at least somewhat: Clegg announced Tuesday that all 16 nations had now formally agreed to change their laws.

Clegg also said a Succession to the Crown Bill would be introduced in Britain's House of Commons as soon as the parliamentary schedule permits.

"Notwithstanding a few parliamentary turns of the wheel, this is now going to happen," Clegg said, adding that "the old-fashioned rules ... have been swept aside."

In Britain, implementing the new rule means changing bits of several key constitutional documents, including the Bill of Rights and Coronation Oath Act of 1688, the 1701 Act of Settlement and the 1706 Act of Union with Scotland.

Lacey said if it is not done by the time the baby is born, uncertainty is bound to remain. A first-born girl could find her younger brother challenging her for the throne on the grounds that the law had not been changed at the time of her birth.

And what if Kate has twins? Experts say the firstborn will be the heir — but things could get complicated if the succession rules are not changed before the birth.

"Say they have twins and a girl comes out first and 20 years later the boy turns out to be the more attractive character," Lacey said. "People will say that at the time the law meant the boy should have inherited."

Rebecca Probert, a professor at the University of Warwick's school of law, said there are other issues that the law should address to bring the monarchy up to date.

British monarchs are banned from marrying Roman Catholics, but not members of other faiths — something Clegg said the new law would change.

An heir also cannot marry without the monarch's permission, and can't marry in a civil ceremony — even though Prince Charles, William's father, did just that when he wed his second wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, in 2005.

Probert said it's important "to have a clause in there confirming that monarchs are able to marry in the same ways that are open to their subjects."

But she thinks that may prove too complicated for lawmakers in the short term.

"They might decide in the interests of time to stick to the single issue of gender and leave the rest to a more convenient time — which tends to be never," she said.

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Jill Lawless can be reached on http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

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CDC says US flu season starts early, could be bad

NEW YORK (AP) — Flu season in the U.S. is off to its earliest start in nearly a decade — and it could be a bad one.

Health officials on Monday said suspected flu cases have jumped in five Southern states, and the primary strain circulating tends to make people sicker than other types. It is particularly hard on the elderly.

"It looks like it's shaping up to be a bad flu season, but only time will tell," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The good news is that the nation seems fairly well prepared, Frieden said. More than a third of Americans have been vaccinated, and the vaccine formulated for this year is well-matched to the strains of the virus seen so far, CDC officials said.

Higher-than-normal reports of flu have come in from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. An uptick like this usually doesn't happen until after Christmas. Flu-related hospitalizations are also rising earlier than usual, and there have already been two deaths in children.

Hospitals and urgent care centers in northern Alabama have been bustling. "Fortunately, the cases have been relatively mild," said Dr. Henry Wang, an emergency medicine physician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Parts of Georgia have seen a boom in traffic, too. It's not clear why the flu is showing up so early, or how long it will stay.

"My advice is: Get the vaccine now," said Dr. James Steinberg, an Emory University infectious diseases specialist in Atlanta.

The last time a conventional flu season started this early was the winter of 2003-04, which proved to be one of the most lethal seasons in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths. The dominant type of flu back then was the same one seen this year.

One key difference between then and now: In 2003-04, the vaccine was poorly matched to the predominant flu strain. Also, there's more vaccine now, and vaccination rates have risen for the general public and for key groups such as pregnant women and health care workers.

An estimated 112 million Americans have been vaccinated so far, the CDC said. Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone 6 months or older.

On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.

Flu usually peaks in midwinter. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people also suffer vomiting and diarrhea, and some develop pneumonia or other severe complications.

A strain of swine flu that hit in 2009 caused a wave of cases in the spring and then again in the early fall. But that was considered a unique type of flu, distinct from the conventional strains that circulate every year.

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Online:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly

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Conservatives make Boehner's life difficult

WASHINGTON—Conservatives panned the House Republican proposal released Monday to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, yet again giving House Speaker and lead negotiator John Boehner little room to maneuver as he works toward a deal with the White House.

The proposal includes extending current tax rates for all income levels and raising revenue by closing loopholes in the tax code.

"Rarely in modern American politics have more counterproductive, more foolish words been set to paper," wrote researchers at the Heritage Foundation in response to part of the letter sent to the White House from seven House leaders that outlined the Republican plan. The Heritage analysis, co-written by Alison Acosta Fraser and J.D. Foster, went on to say: "[T]he Republican counteroffer, to the extent it can be interpreted from the hazy details now available, is a dud. It is utterly unacceptable. It is bad policy, bad economics, and, if we may say so, highly questionable as a negotiating tactic."

Heritage's response echoed the sentiment of many conservatives in Washington who are urging House Republicans to avoid cutting a deal with the president if it means raising taxes.

In an open letter signed by more than 100 prominent conservative activists and organized by the advocacy group Let Freedom Ring, House Republicans were warned that they would not receive support in the future if they "cave" during negotiations.

"In the House, the nation elected in 2012 one of the largest Republican majorities in the past 100 years. You have a mandate to fight for conservative principles that is arguably much broader than the one that narrowly re-elected President Barack Obama claims to have for his leftist agenda," the letter read. It was signed by Republican activists like Richard Viguerie, Leadership Institute founder Morton Blackwell, Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell, and Republican donor Foster Friess.

"And if Republicans cave in now, when it really counts," the letter continued, "next time you will be weaker, because your conservative base will be outraged. Many who worked hard to elect you in the past will never lift a finger for you again."

In the Senate on Tuesday, South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, one of the tea party's staunchest allies in the upper chamber, accused House Republicans of promoting a plan that would "destroy American jobs."

DeMint's remarks this week, however, seemed to be somewhat of a departure from his characterization of a possible deal before the election, when he said Republicans who don't want to see the automatic defense spending reductions set to automatically trigger next year go into effect "might as well cut a deal" that includes tax increases.

"You can't get a deal with Obama without raising taxes on the producing class of folks," DeMint said in September, according to a report by Bloomberg News. "We might as well cut a deal. If Republicans want to maintain the defense, we're going to have to give tax increases to Obama."

In a statement to Yahoo News, DeMint's spokesman moved to clarify the remarks, saying that he had "simply stated the obvious" and would never support a plan with more taxes.

"Before the election, he simply stated the obvious, that Obama would try to use a lame-duck session to rush through tax hikes that will hurt the economy," DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton said. "His point then was that if Republican leadership wasn't going to stand strong against tax hikes in the lame-duck, they might as well be honest with voters before the election. Sadly, his predictions have proven correct and his long opposition to tax hikes that destroy jobs hasn't changed."

The conservative backlash, of course, could amount to mere noise as Boehner continues his negotiations with the president in search of a deal. The speaker and his allies in the House have spent two years navigating the thorn-riddled path between his party's conservative base and Obama's demands.

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Gunman severely wounds Swedish woman in Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A gunman on a motorcycle shot and severely wounded an elderly Swedish woman who worked at a church in eastern Pakistan on Monday, officials said.

The woman, who was identified by Pakistani police as Bargetta Emmi, was getting out of her car in front of her home in the city of Lahore when she was shot in the neck by an unknown assailant. Her servants reported the incident to police, said Pakistani police officer Malik Awais.

She was a director of FGA Church (Full Gospel Assemblies of Pakistan), Awais said.

Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Teo Zetterman confirmed en elderly Swedish woman was shot and severely wounded in Lahore. He said she was a volunteer worker in her 70s, but did not provide her name or where she worked.

The woman is a Swedish citizen but has lived and worked in Pakistan for several years, said Zetterman.

The gunman who shot Emmi escaped, and the motive was unclear.

Also in Lahore, gunmen on Monday desecrated over 100 graves of Ahmadis, members of a persecuted religious sect in Pakistan, said Awais, the police officer. More than a dozen gunmen held the caretakers of the graveyard hostage while they defaced the graves.

"You can't inscribe verses from the holy Quran on the graves. You are Ahmadis. You are not Muslims," one of the attackers told the caretakers, according to Awais.

Parliament amended Pakistan's constitution in 1974 to declare that Ahmadis were not considered Muslims under the law.

Ahmadis believe their spiritual leader, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who died in 1908, was a messiah — a position rejected by the government in response to a mass movement led by Pakistan's major Islamic parties.

The Ahmadis' plight — along with that of Pakistan's other religious minorities, such as Shiite Muslims, Christians and Hindus — has deepened in recent years as hard-line interpretations of Islam have gained ground and militants have stepped up attacks against groups they oppose. Most Pakistanis are Sunni Muslims.

Also Monday, a roadside bomb ripped through a police van as it was patrolling on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing two officers and wounding two others, said senior police officer Javed Khan.

Peshwar is on the edge of Pakistan's tribal region, the main sanctuary for Taliban militants in the country, and has been hit by frequent bombings over the past few years.

In the southern city of Karachi, a gunman riding on a motorcycle killed the leader of an Islamic seminary, sparking a riot by hundreds of seminary students, who stoned shops and set vehicles on fire, said police officer Azhar Iqbal.

Karachi has a long history of political, sectarian and ethnic strife, which has been on the rise this year.

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Associated Press writers Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm, Adil Jawad in Karachi, Pakistan and Sebastian Abbot in Islamabad contributed to this report.

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Palace says Duchess of Cambridge expecting a baby

LONDON (AP) — The most widely anticipated pregnancy since Princess Diana's in 1981 is official: Prince William's wife, Kate, is pregnant.

St. James's Palace announced the pregnancy Monday, saying that the Duchess of Cambridge — formerly known as Kate Middleton — has a severe form of morning sickness and is currently in a London hospital. William is at his wife's side.

News of the pregnancy drew congratulations from across the world, with the hashtag "royalbaby" trending globally on Twitter.

The couple's first child will be third in line to take the throne — leapfrogging the gregarious Prince Harry and possibly setting up the first scenario in which a U.K. female heir could benefit from new gender rules about succession.

The palace would not say how far along the 30-year-old duchess is, only that she has not yet reached the 12-week mark. Palace officials said the duchess was hospitalized with hyperemesis gravidarum, a potentially dangerous type of morning sickness where vomiting is so severe no food or liquid can be kept down. They said she was expected to remain hospitalized for several days and would require a period of rest afterward.

"It's not unusual for pregnant women to get morning sickness, but when it gets to the point where you're dehydrated, losing weight or vomiting so much you begin to build up (toxic) products in your blood, that's a concern," said Dr. Kecia Gaither, director of maternal fetal medicine at Brookdale University and Medical Center in New York.

The condition is thought to affect about one in 50 pregnant women but Gaither said less than one percent of women with the condition need to be hospitalized.

The news came just days after the duchess, on a royal appearance, was playing field hockey with schoolchildren at her former school.

Not only are the attractive young couple popular — with William's easy common touch reminding many of his mother, the late Diana — but their child is expected to play an important role in British national life for decades to come.

William is second in line to the throne after his father, Prince Charles, so the couple's first child would normally become a monarch — eventually.

The confirmation of Kate's pregnancy caps a jam-packed year of highs and lows for the young royals, who were married in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey last year.

They have traveled the world extensively as part of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and weathered the embarrassment of a nude photos scandal, after a tabloid published topless images of the duchess.

Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said the news bookended a year that saw the royal family riding high in popular esteem after celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne.

"We're riding on a royal high at the moment at the end of the Diamond Jubilee year," he said. "People enjoyed the royal romance last year and now there's this. It's just a good news story amid all the doom and gloom."

Speculation about when the couple would start a family has been rife since their wedding.

William's mother Diana got pregnant just four months after her wedding in 1981. Diana also reportedly suffered from morning sickness for months and complained of constant media attention.

"The whole world is watching my stomach," Diana once said.

She gave birth to William in 1982 after 16 hours of labor. At his birth, William was given a baby tag marked 'Baby Wales' and a 41-gun salute was fired in Hyde Park and the Tower of London.

In September 1983, roughly a year after the birth of William, Buckingham Palace announced that Diana was pregnant for a second time. However, within a week, Diana suffered a miscarriage when on holiday at Balmoral, Scotland.

In 1984, she became pregnant again and gave birth to Harry.

American tabloid speculation of Kate's pregnancy has been rampant for months. One newspaper even cited anonymous sources talking about Kate's hormone levels. Others have focused on the first signs of the royal bump.

The palace said the royal family was "delighted" by the news. British Prime Minister David Cameron admitted he got a heads-up about the pregnancy, saying he found the news "quite difficult" to keep to himself and expressing his confidence the duo will make "absolutely brilliant parents."

The leaders of Britain and the 15 former colonies that have the monarch as their head of state agreed in 2011 to new rules which give females equal status with males in the order of succession.

Although none of the nations had legislated the change as of September, the British Cabinet Office confirmed that this is now the de-facto rule.

Those changes make Kate's pregnancy all the more significant for the royal family, according to Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine.

"This is the first child who will be an heir to the throne whatever sex they are," she said. "It's a new beginning."

Graham Smith of anti-monarchy group Republic called Kate's pregnancy a "private, personal matter" for her and William, saying the flood of media coverage was disproportionate

"We've heard today that our future head of state is on the way. It's a pretty bizarre way of choosing someone for public office," he said.

On the couple's tour of Malaysia, Singapore, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu in September, William reportedly said he hoped he and Kate would have two children.

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Associated Press writers Jill Lawless, Paisley Dodds and AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng contributed to this report.

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US flu season starts early, could be bad, CDC says

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say flu season is off to its earliest start in nearly 10 years — and it could be a bad one.

The primary strain circulating is one that tends to cause more severe illness, especially in the elderly.

But officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the nation seems to be fairly well prepared. More than a third of Americans have been vaccinated, and the vaccine is well matched to the strains of flu so far.

Officials said Monday that suspected flu cases have jumped in five southern states — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. An uptick in flu reports like this usually doesn't occur until after Christmas.

The last time a typical flu season started this early was the winter of 2003-04.

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Duchess of Cambridge expecting a baby

ABC News' Christina Ng and Carolyn Durand report:

Kate Middleton is pregnant.


The most eagerly awaited pregnancy was announced today by St. James Palace on behalf of Middleton and her husband Prince William.

The child, whether boy or girl, will eventually be heir to the British
throne according to new legislation awaiting final approval.

The duchess was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital today in central
London with hyperemesis gravidarum, an acute morning sickness which
requires supplementary hydration and nutrients, the palace said.

Click here for photos of Kate through the years.

"As the pregnancy is in its very early stages, Her Royal Highness is
expected to stay in hospital for several days and will require a period
of rest thereafter," the statement said.

The royal family was clearly delighted with the news.

"Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very
pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby,"
the palace said in a statement today. "The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh,
The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry and
members of both families are delighted with the news."

The baby will be the queen's third great-grandchild.

Robert Lacey, author of the definitive book "Majesty" said, "The British
public and indeed the whole world will be delighted for the same, it
keeps the monarchy going. The royal wedding brought a magic back to the
monarchy and people are fascinated by William and Catherine."

The announcement follows relentless public and media speculation about
when Prince William and his wife would have an heir. The guessing game
began almost immediately after the couple said, "I do."

VOTE: What Should They Name the Baby?

Tabloids began snapping close-ups of Middleton's stomach for any
indication of a baby bump. Baby rumors abounded when the duchess held a
baby at a press event and when she declined peanut butter at another
event. British physicians are known to warn women against eating peanuts
during pregnancy. When the couple got a dog, Lupo, headlines wondered
if they were practicing for another addition to the family.

The palace, which rarely comments on speculation, took the unusual step
of saying, "We would be the ones to make the announcement, not
Hollywood."

"It is quite strange reading about it, but I try not to let it bother
me," Prince William said in an interview with ABC News' Katie Couric in
May 2012. "I'm just very keen to have a family and both Catherine and I
are looking forward to having a family in the future."

Asked by Couric if there was anything else he wanted to share, he coyly
answered, "You won't get anything out of me. Tight lipped."

Due to a dramatic change in the rules of succession, the royal couple's
first-born will likely be the heir to the throne, regardless of the
baby's gender.

Last year, the heads of 16 Commonwealth countries agreed to a change in
the rules of succession so that first-born children of either gender can
take the throne. Queen Elizabeth II was only eligible to be monarch
because her father had no male children. The British Parliament must
still amend existing law to make the succession change official.

"Put simply, if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were to have a little
girl, that girl would one day be our queen," British Prime Minister
David Cameron told reporters in 2011.

Royal babies have typically been born within one year of marriage.
Princess Diana gave birth to William just 11 months after her wedding
and the queen gave birth to Prince Charles six days before her first
wedding anniversary.

PHOTOS: Royal Heirs Around the World

Prince William and Kate were married on April 29, 2011.

Click here for an interactive look at William and Kate's love story.

William, who has long been known for making privacy a priority, will now
be faced with the inevitable fascination with his first child. And the
scrutiny will doubtless be familiar to him.

From his infant trip to Australia with his mother to his graduation from
St. Andrews University, William's life was filled with photo ops.

"We have a paradox here. William loathes the press and exposure to the
publicity. On the other hand, Diana exposed both sons at an early age.
They are immensely assured young men," Lacey said. "While he may want to
keep his children out the limelight, as a modern monarch he knows he
has to deal with the media."


PHOTOS: William and Kate: The College Years

Now, the name guessing game begins.

"They'll stick to traditional names," Lacey predicts. "William has a
great sense of history from working with his grandmother. The queen
would have him over for tea to teach him about history and the workings
of the monarchy."

It's typical for royals to have three or four names. Prince William's full name is William Arthur Philip Louis.

"If it's a girl it's not likely to be called Diana," Lacey said. "But
you're very likely to see Diana in one of the middle names. You might
very likely get Elizabeth Diana something. It shows the bravery with
which he's kept his mother's memory alive, right down to the ring on
Kate's finger."

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Pakistani Hindus protest destruction of temple

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani Hindus Sunday protested the destruction of a Hindu temple in the southern port city of Karachi. The temple was razed, along with some nearby homes, by a builder.

Minority Hindus have complained of increasing harassment and discrimination in Muslim-dominated Pakistan in recent years, including the destruction or desecration of their places of worship.

Residents and members of the Hindu community said Sunday a builder with a police escort razed the small temple in one of the older neighborhoods of Karachi, along with some surrounding buildings.

The outer walls and roof of the temple were demolished, and rubble was strewn about the area. Local residents told an AP reporter on the scene that authorities took statues and artifacts out of the building before it was destroyed.

One of the longtime residents, 75-year-old Kali Das, said he was born in the area and remembers when the temple, called Sri Rama Peer Naval, was built. He said more than a hundred families lived nearby and prayed at the temple.

Residents protested at the Karachi Press Club on Sunday, demanding compensation as well as the return of religious materials they said were taken during the incident.

Ramesh Kumar Vankwani from the Pakistan Hindu Council said there is a long-running legal dispute between the builder and residents over the land, but it belongs to the Hindu residents.

Zeenat Ahmad, who runs the department in charge of military land, said a court order allowed some of the buildings to be razed. A Pakistani police officer, Parvez Iqbal, denied anything was taken.

The military owns vast tracts of land in Karachi and other parts of the country.

Vankwani said the incident was another example of the problems Hindus are facing in Pakistan. Hindus complain that girls are forcibly converted to Islam, there is no legal recognition for Hindu marriages, and Hindus are discriminated against when it comes to access to government jobs or schooling.

"Every month there is an incident, like taking property of Hindu people or forced conversion of Hindu girls," he said.

During partition in 1947, the violent separation of Pakistan and India into separate countries, hundreds of thousands of Hindus decided to migrate to India, where Hinduism is the dominant religion. Those who remained and their descendants now make up a tiny fraction of Pakistan's estimated 190 million citizens. Most live in Sindh province in the southern part of the country.

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Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Islamabad contributed.

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Verizon may soon launch Samsung Galaxy Camera with 4G LTE

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Young down by boardwalk for benefit show

NEW YORK (AP) — Neil Young says he couldn't see performing in the area devastated by Superstorm Sandy without doing something to help people who were affected by it.

Young and his longtime backing band, Crazy Horse, will be in Atlantic City for a benefit concert Thursday. He said he hopes to raise several hundred thousand dollars for the American Red Cross' storm relief effort with the show at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

Young is on tour in the area, playing Monday in Brooklyn and Tuesday in Bridgeport, Conn.

He said in an interview Sunday that fans in the area had been supporting him for 40 years and he wanted to do what he could to help.

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