US, Afghan forces prepare to seize Taliban stronghold

US, Afghan forces prepare to seize Taliban stronghold

NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan — U.S. and Afghan forces pushed Tuesday to the edge of the southern Afghan town of Marjah, poised to seize the major Taliban supply and drug-smuggling stronghold in hopes of building public support by providing aid and services once the insurgents are gone.

Instead of keeping the offensive secret, Americans have been talking about it for weeks, expecting the Taliban would flee. But the militants appear to be digging in, apparently believing that even a losing fight would rally supporters and sabotage U.S. plans if the battle proves destructive.

No date for the main attack has been announced but all signs indicate it will come soon.

Target to pull bears from shelves over lead concerns

OAKLAND, Calif. — Target Corp. said Tuesday it was pulling its Valentine’s Day “Message Bears” from store shelves after California’s attorney general raised concerns that the toys have illegal levels of lead.

The response comes a day after a letter sent by Attorney General Jerry Brown said testing of the holiday toys revealed lead levels that violate federal law.

The products, which were made in China for Target’s in-house brand, were identified as the retailer’s two “Message Bears” — one a pink stuffed bear with “XOXO” across the chest and the other a brown stuffed bear with “I Love U” across the chest, with “love” represented by a heart.

Man who held hostages at Clinton office is fugitive

CONCORD, N.H. — The man who took hostages at a Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign office in 2007 cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet Tuesday, then fled, and he is considered dangerous, authorities said.

Leeland Eisenberg cut off his monitor just after 10 a.m., one day after being given a “last chance” at freedom by a judge who released him despite multiple probation violations, Strafford County Attorney Thomas Velardi said.

Velardi cautioned the public not to approach or attempt to apprehend Eisenberg if he is spotted.

Eisenberg spent about two years behind bars for the November 2007 siege at Clinton’s Rochester campaign office in which he claimed to have a bomb. No one was hurt in a five-hour standoff and the bomb turned out to be road flares.

He was released on probation last November.

Psychiatrists revising diagnostic manual

After years of research, professional infighting and maneuvering from various interest groups, the nation’s psychiatrists on Tuesday unveiled proposed changes to the manual used to diagnose and treat mental disorders around the world.

The draft document, released by the American Psychiatric Association, for the first time calls for binge eating and gambling to be considered disorders, opening the way for insurance coverage of these problems. But it refrains from suggesting a formal diagnosis for obesity, Internet addiction or sex addiction, as some professionals had proposed.

The document also recommends a single category for autism- spectrum disorders, unifying what has been a multifaceted and complicated diagnostic scale.

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders will be published in 2013. The book, which serves mental-health professionals, is also used by insurance companies making decisions on treatment coverage and in courtrooms and schools. It was last revised in 1994.

Russian military chief of staff warns of US plans

MOSCOW — U.S. missile-defense plans are a threat to Russian national security and have slowed down progress on a new arms-control treaty with Washington, Russia’s top military officer said Tuesday.

Gen. Nikolai Makarov said that a revised U.S. plan to place missiles in Europe undermines Russia’s national defense, rejecting Obama administration promises that the plan is not directed at his country.

“We view it very negatively, because it could weaken our missile forces,” Makarov, the chief of the Russian military’s General Staff, said in televised remarks.

Makarov’s comments are the strongest yet on the revamped U.S. missile effort and signal potential new obstacles to an agreement on a new nuclear-arms reduction treaty to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that expired Dec. 5.

Combined dispatches