Chiefs' LB mentioned other 'girlfriend' to police

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police say Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher spent some of his final hours sleeping in his car outside the home of another woman whom he described as his "girlfriend."

Police spokesman Darin Snapp said Tuesday that the woman's apartment complex was about 10 miles from the home where Belcher shot and killed the mother of his 3-month-old daughter, 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins. Belcher then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and killed himself in front of team officials.

Snapp says the officers who found Belcher sleeping in his car around 2:50 a.m. Saturday determined that he didn't have any outstanding warrants. He says Belcher made a phone call and that a woman let him into the building a few minutes later.

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Recipes for Health: Carrot Purée — Carrot Purée

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times NYTCREDIT: Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

You can serve the carrot purée on its own on croutons or pita triangles, or as a dip with crudités. You can also accompany it with garlicky yogurt seasoned with mint, as it would be served in Greece or Turkey.

1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground

3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, ground

1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or mild chili powder

Salt to taste

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (to taste)

Salt to taste

For the optional seasoned yogurt:

1/2 cup thick Greek style plain low-fat yogurt or drained plain low-fat yogurt

1 to 3 garlic cloves, mashed to a puree with salt to taste in a mortar and pestle

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon finely chopped mint

1. Steam the carrots above 1 inch of boiling water for 15 minutes or until soft. Remove from the heat and transfer to a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

2. Pulse the carrots in the food processor and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn on the food processor and while the machine is running pour in the olive oil and lemon juice. Process until the carrots are pureed. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the cumin seeds, caraway seeds, Aleppo pepper or chili powder, and salt to taste and process until incorporated. Taste and adjust seasonings. Transfer to a serving bowl or platter.

3. If using the seasoned yogurt, combine all of the ingredients and mix together well. Make a well in the middle of the carrots and spoon in the yogurt.

4. Serve the carrot puree with pita triangles, croutons, or crudités.

Yield: 2 cups

Advance preparation: The carrot puree will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator and can be frozen. The seasoned yogurt should be eaten soon after it is mixed together as the garlic will become even more pungent over time.

Nutritional information per tablespoon (without yogurt): 20 calories; 1 gram fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 milligrams cholesterol; 2 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 15 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 0 grams protein

Martha Rose Shulman is the author of “The Very Best of Recipes for Health.”

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DealBook: Former Goldman Director Gupta to Stay Free Pending His Appeal

A former Goldman Sachs director Rajat K. Gupta can remain free on bail while he challenges his insider-trading conviction, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

In a surprise decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan ruled that Mr. Gupta will not have to report to prison until his appeal his heard, a process that can take as long as a year. He was set to start serving his two-year sentence on Jan. 8.

Mr. Gupta, 64, was found guilty in June of leaking Goldman’s boardroom secrets to his friend, the hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam.

Tuesday’s ruling suggests that Mr. Gupta persuaded the judges that he has legitimate issues to argue on appeal. The same federal appeals court had denied a request by Mr. Rajaratnam to remain free on bail pending his appeal. Mr. Rajaratnam is serving an 11-year prison term.

Mr. Gupta’s lawyers are expected to make several arguments in pushing for his conviction to be overturned. The most significant issue on appeal is expected to be the government’s use of the wiretaps during the trial. Judge Jed S. Rakoff, the trial-court judge, allowed the jury to hear incriminating wiretapped conversations involving Mr. Rajaratnam and his traders that suggested he had a source inside of Goldman.

”I heard yesterday from somebody who’s on the board of Goldman Sachs that they are going to lose $2 per share,” said Mr. Rajaratnam to one of his colleagues, on a wiretapped call, in October 2008.

Multimedia: Insider Trading

Without the wiretaps, prosecutors would have had to rely on circumstantial evidence — telephone bills and trading records — to prove their case.

Mr. Gupta’s lawyers had argued that because the conversations were between Mr. Rajaratnam and his employees, the judge should declare them inadmissible hearsay evidence, meaning that they were too unreliable to be used against Mr. Gupta.

Another issue that Mr. Gupta’s lawyers are expected to raise is that Judge Rakoff erred in curbing testimony by Mr. Gupta’s daughter about her father’s deteriorating relationship with Mr. Rajaratnam.

Mr. Gupta, who lives in Westport, Conn., has been free on $10 million bail since his arrest in October 2011. In addition to a team of lawyers from Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel that have been representing him, Mr. Gupta hired Seth P. Waxman, a noted appellate lawyer, to help handle his appeal. Mr. Waxman, a partner at WilmerHale, is a former United States solicitor general who has argued more than 50 cases before the United States Supreme Court.

The court is expected to hear Mr. Gupta’s appeal this spring.

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Ericsson seeks U.S. import ban on Samsung products

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish telecoms gear maker Ericsson has filed a request with the U.S. International Trade Commission to ban U.S. imports of products made by South Korean group Samsung,

The request from Ericsson, which said on Monday the products infringe on its patents, came after it sued Samsung for patent infringement in a U.S. court last week.

“The request for an import ban is a part of the process. An import ban is not our goal. Our goal is that they (Samsung) sign license agreements on reasonable terms,” spokesman Fredrik Hallstan said.

Ericsson said last week it was suing Samsung after talks failed to reach agreement on terms that were fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) over patents.

Samsung said it would defend itself against the lawsuit, adding that Ericsson had asked for “prohibitively higher royalty rates to renew the same patent portfolio”.

(Reporting by Sven Nordenstam; Editing by Dan Lalor)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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5 Nations Summon Israeli Envoys to Protest Settlement Plans

JERUSALEM — Britain, France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark summoned the Israeli ambassadors to their countries on Monday to protest Israel’s plans for increased settlement construction, an unusually sharp diplomatic step that reflected the growing frustration abroad with Israel’s policies on the Palestinian issue.

After the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly last week to upgrade the status of the Palestinians at the United Nations, Israel announced plans for 3,000 more housing units in contested areas east of Jerusalem and around the West Bank.

Israel raised particular alarms with its decision to continue planning and zoning work for the development of a contentious area known as E1, a project vehemently opposed internationally because it would partially separate the northern and southern West Bank, harming the prospects of a contiguous Palestinian state.

The move raised questions in Israel about whether the country’s leaders were putting domestic political interests ahead of its foreign relations, with Israeli elections scheduled for late January.

“Bibi had to do something” in response to the United Nations vote, said Prof. Shmuel Sandler of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan Universiy, referring to the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, by his nickname, “first because he is Bibi and second because of the elections.”

Mr. Sandler said that Mr. Netanyahu, a conservative, was making the mistake of competing against those further to his right, adding, “But I don’t think he expected such a reaction” internationally.

Yet Israel remained defiant. The prime minister’s office issued a statement on Monday, saying, “Israel will continue to stand for its essential interests, even in the face of international pressure, and there will be no change in the decision it has taken.”

A press officer for United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement on Sunday that construction in E1 “would represent an almost fatal blow to remaining chances of securing a two-state solution.”

European countries long opposed to Israeli settlement construction went beyond their usual statements of condemnation.

The countries that called in the Israeli ambassadors “expressed their strong protests about the announced settlement plans,” said Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Mr. Palmor said that the Israeli ambassadors told their hosts that Israel has been warning for months that the Palestinian bid at the United Nations would not go unanswered and would have implications.

Israel has described the bid as a unilateral Palestinian step that violates previous signed agreements. The Palestinians have long refused to negotiate with Israel without a halt in settlement construction.

France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark voted for the Palestinian upgrade, while Britain abstained. Although Israel had expected the resolution to pass, officials here expressed disappointment over the lack of support from several friendly European nations. Israel was particularly surprised by Germany’s decision to abstain in the vote, having expected Germany to go with Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Germany this week. Despite the so-called special relationship between Israel and Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has not minced words about her opposition to Israeli settlement construction in the past.

Philippe Lalliot, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, said in a statement on Monday that “Settlement activity is illegal under international law, hurts the confidence necessary for a return to dialogue and constitutes an obstacle to a just peace founded on the two-state solution.”

The British Foreign Office said it deplored the Israeli settlement plans and that it had called on the Israeli government to reverse the decision.

But Israeli officials denied that the government’s policies were isolating Israel.

“It is well known that Europe and Israel have a different approach on settlements,” said one Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “There is nothing new here. If European countries would have behaved differently in their vote at the United Nations last week,” he continued, “we may have reacted differently.”

Analysts here said that after showing strong support for Israel during its military campaign last month against Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, European countries had felt the need to bolster the more moderate Palestinian wing led by President Mahmoud Abbas in its United Nations bid.

At the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu said, “Today we are building and we will continue to build in Jerusalem and in all areas that are on the map of the strategic interests of the State of Israel.”

But beyond the tit-for-tat measures set off by the United Nations vote, analysts pointed to a trend of deteriorating relations between Israel and Europe in particular.

“That is because the top-level people making decisions here in recent years are completely insular and out of touch with the rest of the world, especially regarding the Palestinians and the settlements,” said Mark Heller, a foreign-policy analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. “Self-righteousness may be good for domestic politics,” he said, but it is not a policy.”

At the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, 138 nations voted in favor of upgrading the status of the Palestinians and 41 abstained. The nine that voted against it were Israel, the United States, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Panama and Palau.

Scott Sayare contributed reporting from Paris.

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A-Rod needs hip surgery, will miss season's start

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Alex Rodriguez will have surgery on his left hip and will miss the start of the season and possibly the entire first half.

Rodriguez has a torn labrum, bone impingement and a cyst, the Yankees said Monday. The third baseman will need to follow a pre-surgery program over the next four-to-six weeks, and the team anticipates he will be sidelined four-to-six months after the operation. That timetable projects to a return between the start of May and mid-July.

A-Rod had right hip surgery on March 9, 2009, and returned that May 8. The Yankees said this operation will be "similar but not identical."

Rodriguez, who turns 38 in July, complained of pain in his right hip the night Raul Ibanez pinch hit for him — and hit a tying ninth-inning home run — against Baltimore during the AL division series in October. He went to a hospital and was checked out then.

His left hip injury was detected last month during an exam by Dr. Marc Philippon, who operated on Rodriguez three years ago. A-Rod then got a second opinion from Dr. Bryan Kelly, who will repair the latest injury at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

"Both doctors believe that there is a very strong possibility that Rodriguez's hip condition may have had a negative effect on his performance during the latter stages of the season and the playoffs," the Yankees said.

Rodriguez was benched in three of nine postseason games and pinch hit for in three others. He hit .120 (3 for 25) with no RBIs in the playoffs, including 0 for 18 with 12 strikeouts against right-handed pitchers.

A-Rod broke his left hand when he was hit by a pitch from Seattle's Felix Hernandez on July 24. He returned Sept. 3 and hit .195 with two homers and six RBIs over the final month of the regular season.

This will be Rodriguez's sixth trip to the disabled list in six seasons. He had a strained quadriceps in 2008, the hip surgery in 2009, a strained calf in 2010, knee surgery in 2011 and the broken hand this year.

Signed to a record $275 million, 10-year contract after the 2007 season, Rodriguez is owed $114 million by New York over the next five years.

Fifth on the career list with 647 home runs, he had just 34 the last two seasons.

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Small Employers Weigh Impact of Providing Health Insurance

Erich Schlegel for The New York Times

Robert Mayfield, who owns Dairy Queen franchises in Texas, says he is “scared to death” of the new health care law.

Like many franchisees, Robert U. Mayfield, who owns five Dairy Queens in and around Austin, Tex., is always eager to expand and — no surprise — has had his eyes on opening a sixth DQ. But he said concerns about the new federal health care law had persuaded him to hold off.

“I’m scared to death of it,” he said. “I’m one of the ones sitting on the sidelines to see what’s really going to happen.”

Mr. Mayfield, who has 99 employees, said he was worried he would face penalties of $40,000 or more because he did not offer health insurance to many of his full-time workers — generally defined as those working an average of 30 hours a week or more. Ever since the law was enacted in 2010, opponents have argued that employers who were forced to offer health insurance would lay off workers or shift more people to part-time status to compensate for the additional cost. Those claims have drawn considerable attention — and considerable anger in response — in recent weeks.

John H. Schnatter, the chief executive of Papa John’s, the pizza chain, said some franchisees were likely to reduce their employees’ hours to avoid having to provide coverage. And an unhappy Denny’s franchise owner in Florida warned that he would raise prices 5 percent as a “surcharge,” adding that disgruntled customers could offset that by reducing their tips.

Some health care experts said comments like those came from outliers and sometimes resulted from confusion about a highly complicated new law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Many of the provisions do not go into effect until 2014. Federal officials are still tweaking the fine print, like defining exactly what constitutes a 30-hour workweek. Even so, restaurants and hotels are among the industries likely to be squeezed the hardest by the law because they are low-wage industries that do not offer coverage to most of their workers.

Most employers, even small businesses, already offer health insurance, and the federal law is not expected to have a significant impact on what they do over the next year or so. But businesses that rely heavily on low-income workers, many of whom do not make enough to afford their share of the cost of the insurance premiums, are being forced to rethink their business models.

Almost half of retail and hospitality employers do not offer coverage to all their full-time employees, according to a recent survey by Mercer, a benefits consultant.

“They’re all developing their strategies,” said Debra Gold, a senior partner with Mercer who advises several major retailers.

Many who oppose the requirement say the cost of providing health insurance could mean hiring fewer workers. “Any dollar that gets diverted, whether it’s through Obamacare or increased tax rates, puts franchisees one dollar further away from being able to expand their businesses,” said Don Fox, chief executive of Firehouse Subs, a fast-growing chain of 559 restaurants based in Jacksonville, Fla. At the 30 stores the corporation owns, only full-time managers are offered coverage. Mr. Fox is wrestling with whether to absorb the considerable cost of covering 100 more employees or pay the penalties — which would probably cost him less — but risk losing valued employees to competitors who choose to offer coverage.

Employee health coverage now averages nearly $6,000 for an individual plan. That is considerable for businesses like restaurants in which the majority of workers make $24,000 a year or less, according to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The foundation found that only 28 percent of companies that employ large numbers of low-income workers offer health benefits. “This is where the biggest set of hurdles is,” said Gary Claxton, an executive with Kaiser.

By 2014, businesses with 50 or more full-time employees will be expected to offer as yet undefined affordable coverage, based on an employee’s income. For employers that fail to offer such coverage, the law typically calls for a penalty of $2,000 a worker, excluding the first 30 employees. As evidence of how sensitive the issue is, Mr. Schnatter of Papa John’s took some heat for his initial statements about the possibility that franchisees would cut employees’ hours to avoid penalties or having to provide coverage. His comments, made during a public appearance, were reported by a local newspaper in Florida, The Naples News. After facing a storm of criticism, he wrote an opinion piece for The Huffington Post, in which he said he had only been speculating about the law’s potential impact on franchisees.

“Papa John’s, like most businesses, is still researching what the Affordable Care Act means to our operations,” he wrote. “Regardless of the conclusion of our analysis, we will honor this law, as we do all laws, and continue to offer 100 percent of Papa John’s corporate employees and workers in company-owned stores health insurance as we have since the company was founded in 1984.” Through a spokesman, Mr. Schnatter declined to comment further.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 30, 2012

An earlier version of this article misspelled the first name of an executive with the Kaiser Family Foundation. He is Gary Claxton, not Glary.

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Pullback in Manufacturing

WASHINGTON — Manufacturing in the United States shrank in November to its weakest level since July 2009, one month after the recession ended, the Institute for Supply Management said Monday.

The institute’s index of manufacturing conditions fell to a reading of 49.5 points last month, down from 51.7 in October.

Readings above 50 signal growth, while readings below indicate contraction. Manufacturing grew in October for only the second time since May. The institute is a trade group of purchasing managers.

A gauge of new orders dropped to its lowest level since August, a sign that production could slow in the coming months. Manufacturers also sharply reduced their stockpiles, indicating companies expected weaker demand.

“Today’s report suggests that the manufacturing sector is likely to remain a weak point in the recovery for a few months yet,” Jeremy Lawson, an economist at BNP Paribas, said in a note to clients.

The weak manufacturing survey overshadowed other positive economic reports. Greater home building in the United States bolstered construction spending in October by the most in five months. Manufacturing activity in China grew in November for the second straight month. And auto sales in the United States rebounded last month after Hurricane Sandy held sales back in October.

The institute said manufacturers are concerned about the sharp tax increases and government spending cuts that will take effect in January if Congress and the Obama administration fail to strike a budget deal before then.

These worries have led many companies to pull back this year on purchases of machinery and equipment, which signal investment plans. The decline could slow economic growth and hold back hiring in the October-December quarter.

A measure of hiring in the institute’s survey fell to 48.4 points, the lowest reading since September 2009.

Companies “are just backing off and not making any moves until things clear up a bit,” Bradley Holcomb, chairman of the Institute for Supply Management’s survey committee, said.

Consumers also appear nervous about higher taxes. Economists cited the prospect of higher tax rates in 2013 as a main reason consumer spending fell in October by the most since May.

When consumers cut back on spending, businesses typically reduce their pace of restocking. Both trends are expected to slow economic growth at the end of the year.

The economy grew from July through September at an annual rate of 2.7 percent, largely because of strong growth in inventories. Most economists predict growth is slowing in the current October-December quarter to a rate below 2 percent.

Hurricane Sandy had little impact on factory activity last month, according to the institute’s survey. The storm hit the East Coast on Oct. 29 and affected businesses in 24 states.

A gauge of production in the survey rose in November for the third straight month. That’s a sign that the hurricane didn’t force many factory shutdowns.

A slowdown in global growth has weighed on American manufacturers. New export orders slipped in November for the second straight month.

Surveys show consumers remain upbeat about the economy, despite the looming taxes and spending cuts. A measure of consumer confidence reached a five-year high in November.

If lawmakers and President Obama can work out a budget deal that averts the tax increases, most economists predict a good year for the economy.

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Angry Birds Star Wars updated with 20 additional levels, Princess Leia cameo

Rovio on Thursday updated its immensely popular Angry Birds Star Wars game to include 20 additional levels. The latest game in the bird-slinging franchise was released earlier this month and was an instant hit, topping the iTunes App Store in less than three hours. In the most recent update, gamers must help the birds escape from the AT-ATs and Pigtroopers on the remote ice world of Hoth. Luckily, the rebel birds have a secret weapon — Princess Leia.

“It is a dark time for the Rebellion,” Rovio wrote on its website. ”Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters has established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth. Unfortunately the evil Lord Vader discovers their hideout, and the desperate Rebel birds must escape the AT-ATs and Pigtroopers hot on their trail. But the Rebels have an ace up their sleeve with the debut of PRINCESS LEIA and her attractive new power!”

Angry Birds Star Wars is available for Android, iOS, Macs and PCs. The Hoth trailer follows below.

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Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Egyptian Court Postpones Ruling on Charter

Wissam Nassar

Egyptian police officers stood guard outside Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court on Sunday, while supporters of President Mohamed Morsi protested near the entrance of the building.

CAIRO — Egypt’s highest court on Sunday postponed its much-awaited ruling on the legitimacy of the legislative assembly that drafted a new charter last week, accusing a crowd of Islamists of blocking judges from entering their building on what it called “a dark black day in the history of the Egyptian judiciary.”

Although hundreds of security officers were on hand to ensure that judges of the Supreme Constitutional Court could get into the court, and civilians came and went without any problems, the accusations intensified a standoff between the judges appointed under former President Hosni Mubarak and Egypt’s new Islamist leaders that has thrown the political transition into a new crisis 22 months after Mr. Mubarak’s ouster.

Upon approaching the court on Sunday morning, the judges said in a statement that they saw crowds “closing the entrances of the roads to the gates, climbing the fences, chanting slogans denouncing its judges and inciting the people against them.”

The judges were prevented from entering “because of the threat of harm and danger to their safety,” the statement said, calling it “an abhorrent scene of shame and disgrace.”

As a result, the judges announced that they were “suspending the court’s sessions” until they could resume their work without “psychological and physical pressures.”

Anticipation of the court’s decision on the new constitution had set off the latest political crisis. Fear that the court would dissolve the assembly and undo months of work led President Mohamed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party, to announce 10 days ago that his edicts were not be subject to judicial review until the completion of the constitution.

Despite Mr. Morsi’s attempt, the same anticipation of dissolution drove the Islamist-dominated assembly to rush out a hurried constitution before the court could act and against the objections of Egypt’s secular parties and the Coptic Christian Church. Judges appointed by Mr. Mubarak have previously dissolved the elected Parliament and the first constitutional assembly.

The sudden effort by the president and his Islamist allies to push through a constitution over any objections from their secular factions or the courts has unified the opposition, prompted hundreds of thousands of protesters to take to the streets and set off a wave of attacks on a dozen offices of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party. A judicial trade association has urged judges across the country to go on strike, and some of the highest courts have joined it.

Over the weekend, Mr. Morsi continued to push his plans for the new constitution, setting a national referendum on it for Dec. 15.

“I pray to God and hope that it will be a new day of democracy in Egypt,” he said in a nationally televised speech, calling for a “national dialogue.”

But his recent tone and actions reminded critics of the autocratic ways of his predecessor, and have aroused a new debate here about his commitment to democracy and pluralism at a time when he and his Islamist allies dominate political life.

Mr. Morsi’s advisers call the tactics a regrettable but necessary response to genuine threats to the political transition from what they call the deep state — the vestiges of the autocracy of former President Mubarak, especially in the news media and the judiciary.

But his critics say they hear a familiar paranoia in Mr. Morsi’s new tone that reminds them of talk of the “hidden hands” and foreign plots that Mr. Mubarak once used to justify his authoritarianism.

“I have sent warnings to many people who know who they are, who may be committing crimes against the homeland,” Mr. Morsi declared in an interview with state television on Thursday night, referring repeatedly to secret information about a “conspiracy” and “real and imminent threats” that he would not disclose. “If anybody tries to derail the transition, I will not allow them.”

Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting.

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