Israeli leader under fire for costly lifestyle

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister is under fire again for a costly lifestyle at taxpayers' expense, just as his government is slashing welfare benefits and raising taxes to cope with a huge deficit.

Israeli media took aim Tuesday at reports that the expenses of Benjamin Netanyahu's office have soared nearly 80 percent since he took office in 2009. Netanyahu and his family split their time among three homes, including an official residence. The cost of maintaining them came to roughly $905,000 last year.

The information was released only after a civil liberties group filed a freedom of information request.

The disclosure comes days after a TV station reported that Netanyahu spent $127,000 in public funds for a special sleeping cabin on a recent five-hour flight to London.

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Three under investigation over topless Kate Middleton photos - source

PARIS (Reuters) - The editor of a French celebrity magazine was placed under formal investigation for breach of privacy over the publication of topless pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge, a judicial source said on Wednesday.

The photographer who snapped the pictures of the Duchess, or Kate Middleton, in the summer last year and a regional daily were also put under investigation, the last step in France before being charged, the source said.

Closer magazine, a weekly round-up of celebrity gossip, published in September a series of photos of the Duchess, the wife of Prince William, topless on holidays in southern France, something that incensed much of the British public.

The photos showed Kate slipping off her bikini top, relaxing on a sun lounger and at one point pulling down the back of her bikini bottoms. Buckingham Palace had called the photo spread a "grotesque" invasion of the royal couple's privacy.

The publisher of the magazine - the French branch of Italy's Mondadori - and the paparazzi who snapped the photos from a distance were put under formal investigation earlier this month, said the judicial source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The regional daily La Provence, which published pictures of Prince William and his wife in swimming suits during the same holiday, was put under formal investigation this week, the source said.

An investigation does not necessarily lead to formal charges.

The office of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Nicolas Bertin in Paris and; Sarah Young in London; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Plea deal talks under way for U.S. soldier accused in Iraq killings: lawyer

By Eric M. Johnson

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier charged with killing five fellow servicemen in 2009 at a military counseling center in Iraq is seeking a plea deal with Army prosecutors that would spare him from facing the death penalty, his lawyer told Reuters on Tuesday.

Army Sergeant John Russell, under confinement at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, is accused of going on a shooting frenzy at Camp Liberty, adjacent to the Baghdad airport, in an attack his lawyers have insisted stemmed from combat stress.

Jury selection for his court-martial had been set to begin this week.

But those proceedings were paused while negotiations continued between the two sides on a possible deal in which Russell would plead guilty to murder in return for prosecutors agreeing not to seek the death penalty, his civilian attorney, James Culp said.

"The pretrial agreement that we are working through would have John plead guilty to murder-two, intentional murder, where John takes responsibility for the intentional killing of five people," he told Reuters.

Army prosecutors declined to discuss the status of the case.

The prosecution, which has accused Russell of acting with premeditation, is likely to seek a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, Culp said. He declined to say what punishment he would recommend.

Assuming the talks lead to an agreement, the presiding judge in the case, Army Colonel David Conn, will question Russell next Monday in a proceeding known as a "providence inquiry" to determine whether the circumstances of the shooting support a guilty plea and that Russell believes he is guilty.

DEGREE OF GUILT

Even if the judge accepts the plea bargain, under the military justice system Russell would still face a court-martial - with opening and closing statements, testimony from witnesses and the presentation of evidence - to decide the degree of his guilt.

The choice then would be between a verdict of premeditated murder, or the lesser offense of intentional murder, and his prison term would hinge on that finding.

If no plea bargain is reached, or if the judge rejects such a deal, then Russell would face a lengthier, full-fledged trial in which the determination of his guilt or innocence would be at stake, as well as the question of a death penalty if he were convicted of premeditated murder.

His lawyers would also be free to pursue an acquittal through an insanity defense in that instance.

The state of Russell's mind has been the focus of legal proceedings over the past year and would remain a key factor in deciding whether he acted with malice of forethought or acted on impulse.

Defense attorneys have said Russell, who was attached to the 54th Engineer Battalion based in Bamberg, Germany, suffered a host of mental ailments after several combat tours and was suicidal prior to the attack.

An independent forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Sadoff, has concluded that Russell suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis at the time of the shootings. And Sadoff suggested Russell was provoked to violence by maltreatment at the hands of mental health personnel he sought for treatment at Camp Liberty.

"At the very last moment, the extreme despair became rage, and he killed people," Culp said. "He didn't have the mental wherewithal to be planning pre-meditated murder."

Conn will also decide after next Monday's providence inquiry whether Russell will be tried before a judge alone or a jury.

Jury selection, if a panel is to be needed, would begin on April 23, with the two sides slated to begin presenting their case at trial on May 6.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Steve Gorman and Lisa Shumaker)

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Financial hub Luxembourg under increased scrutiny

BRUSSELS (AP) — As the European Union's wealthiest country, Luxembourg could have been forgiven for thinking that it would never find itself on the bloc's financial risk list.

With just half a million people living on a tiny patch of lush land nestled between Belgium, France and Germany, Luxembourg is as tranquil as a buzzing financial center gets. Still, some of Europe's regulators and politicians have started wondering aloud whether its banks might be holding the 17-nation eurozone's next ticking bomb.

Following the chaotic bailout for Cyprus last week, European officials have been drawing worrying comparisons between the two countries' oversized financial industries.

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, cautioned on Thursday that "the recent experience shows that countries where the banking sector is several times bigger than the economy are countries that, on average, have more vulnerabilities."

"Financial shocks hit these countries stronger, simply because of the size of their banking sector."

The increased scrutiny has taken Luxembourg's government by surprise and put it on the defensive. It has rejected calls to shrink its country's main source of wealth to a more manageable size, claiming that its banking industry is much more secure than Cyprus's and any crackdown would not only harm its own economy but that of the wider eurozone.

Cyprus was forced to seek a bailout from its eurozone partners after its once-thriving banking industry collapsed. The country couldn't afford to bail out its financial sector which, thanks to massive deposits of foreigners, had grown to eight times the size of its economy. The 10 billion euro ($13 billion) rescue loan package comes with tough austerity measures attached, as well as a brutal shrinking of the banking industry and significant losses for savers with deposits larger than 100,000 euros.

In comparison, the balance sheets of the banks in Luxembourg have swollen to about 22 times the country's annual economic output of 44 billion euros — making it Europe's richest country per capita. The country is also the world's second-largest center for investment funds, with about 3,800 funds holding assets worth €2.5 trillion ($3.2 trillion) — about 55 times the country's gross domestic product. It has 141 banks based there, with five of them domestic institutions and the remainder being mainly divisions of foreign banks.

"There are no parallels between Cyprus and Luxembourg, and we don't allow any parallels to be forced on us," Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said last week. "Cyprus is a special case; other financial hubs in Europe don't have these problems."

Luxembourg also has relatively little debt, so it could afford to borrow to bail out the odd bank. But if it faced a widespread problem, it might not be able to cope.

"One does not want to imagine what would happen if the whole banking sector were to derail," said lawmaker Joachim Poss, the deputy caucus leader of Germany's Social Democrats, the country's main opposition party.

If things in Luxembourg's financial sector were to go wrong, the country might not get help from its eurozone partners so easily. For one thing, it won't be able to say it wasn't warned.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the plain-spoken chairman of the bloc's 17 finance ministers, warned other countries with outsized banking sectors to "deal with it before you get in trouble."

"Strengthen your banks, fix your balance sheets, and realize that if a bank gets in trouble the response will no longer automatically be we'll come and take away your problems."

Stung by the comparison with Cyprus and concerned for the future of its banking industry, Luxembourg's leaders have begun to fight back. They have accused EU officials, and Germany in particular, of bullying smaller countries and seeking to "strangulate" its financial industry — which represents 27 percent of the country's annual economic output, a third of the tax revenues and employs 20 percent of the workforce.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, representing Europe's biggest economy, openly wondered last month whether a business model relying too heavily on banks can still be seen as viable after the Cyprus debacle. That immediately prompted an outcry in Luxembourg.

"Germany does not have the right to define the business models for other countries in the EU," said Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.

Luxembourg's government says its financial sector "acts as an important gateway for the euro area by attracting investments, thus enhancing the eurozone's competitiveness as a whole while being effectively supervised".

The government rejects the idea of looking at the size of its financial sector only in relation to its GDP.

"What matters are primarily two aspects: while the first aspect touches on the quality and solidity of the financial sector, the second element relates the size of the financial sector not to a national economy but to the euro area or single market as a whole," it said.

Until January, Luxembourg was mostly shielded from criticism and wielded much greater influence in the EU as its tiny size would normally allow, because long-time Prime Minister Juncker chaired the Eurogroup of finance ministers.

Overall, the International Monetary Fund reported last year that Luxembourg's banks were healthy and well-capitalized. The banks registered in the country are mostly subsidiaries of foreign banks. This means that the danger associated with domestic banks making risky bets abroad — which caused havoc in Cyprus — is avoided.

Still, the IMF urged Luxembourg to strengthen financial sector oversight and develop bank resolution plans.

"The banking sector's main risk is its exposure to foreign parent banks," according to the IMF's most recent country report, which added that "further efforts are needed to clarify the roles of its supervisory authority and central bank".

But Luxembourg's Finance Minister Luc Frieden said its financial sector is not in danger, because it would be up to the foreign banks or their governments to bail out their subsidiaries in the country.

"In a case of emergency, it is first of all up to the parent companies and their governments to help, that reduces the burden for Luxembourg," he was quoted as telling German Sunday paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

The success of Luxembourg's financial sector was initially fueled by lax regulation, secrecy and low taxes. This made it a popular tax haven and money-laundering spot. The country later changed many of its laws following pressure by its European partners. But critics say the financial industry still lacks the necessary transparency.

"The name Luxembourg always comes up when companies try to move profits across borders, through the so-called aggressive tax planning, to avoid paying taxes," said the president of the German tax inspectors' association, Thomas Eigenthaler. "It lacks transparency and quite often there's nothing we can do about it."

Luxembourg rejects those charges and says it complies with all relevant laws. But on that front too, the pressure is increasing.

In the wake of the publication of details on wealthy people's offshore bank accounts by several international media this week, some of which included references to shell companies based in Luxembourg, Frieden is now signaling the country's willingness to agree for the first time to automated information exchanges with other countries' tax authorities.

"Unlike in the past, we no longer strictly reject that idea. We want a strengthened cooperation with the foreign tax authorities," he was quoted as telling Germany's FAS newspaper.

The heat could come off Luxembourg once the EU's banking union is up and running. Under that plan, the European Central Bank will have central oversight of all European banks, accompanied by a common bank resolution mechanism and a joint bailout fund. That would reduce the risk on a single country of propping up an outsized banking sector. But the plan won't take effect before next year at the earliest, with many details have yet to be hammered out.

Until then, Luxembourg will have to resign itself to increased scrutiny — as made clear again in the warning issued by ECB chief Draghi.

"I think countries ought to learn from the present experience and should follow this advice, namely run both, the country and the banking system much more conservatively," he said.

"In fact, you realize that a country has a wrong business model only when a crisis arises," Draghi said.

___

Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz

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Pope visits St. Peter's tomb under Vatican

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday took an emotional, close-up look at the tomb of Peter, the church's first pontiff, buried beneath St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said.

By doing so, Francis became the first pontiff to visit the necropolis, where pagans and early Christians were buried, since extensive archaeological excavations were conducted at the ancient site decades ago, the Vatican said.

The 45-minute "visit of devotion to the tomb of St. Peter" was private, the Vatican said, but it later released a video of it.

The basilica was built over the location where early Christians would gather in secret, at a time of persecution in ancient Rome, to pray at an unmarked tomb believed to be that of Peter, the apostle Jesus chose to lead his church.

The Vatican first said Francis would pray at Peter's tomb, but later said he prayed instead in the basilica.

The new pope "paused in silent prayer, in profound and emotional meditation" in the Clementine Chapel in the vast basilica that is "the closest place (in the basilica) to the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles," it said.

During a tour of the necropolis conducted by its director and an Italian cardinal, the pope "climbed up a bit, got closer to the place where the tomb of St. Peter lies, exactly under the central altar and the dome of the basilica," the Vatican said.

Francis walked down the entire main street of the ancient city of the dead, the statement said. The streets of the necropolis are similar to those of ancient Rome, only they are flanked by tombs instead of shops and apartments.

The Vatican said Francis walked to the necropolis entrance from the hotel on the Vatican grounds where he lives, took the tour and later — after paying homage at the tombs of several popes in another underground level known as the grottoes, including Pius XII, Paul VI and John Paul I — strolled back to his residence.

The underground excursion was a sharp departure from how popes in past years often spent the day after Easter, known in Italy as "little Easter." Those pontiffs would head to Castel Gandolfo, the Vatican palace in the Alban Hills, a short drive from Rome.

But that oasis of sprawling gardens and strolling paths in the quaint hill town is occupied by the predecessor of Francis, Benedict XVI, who spent the last hours of his papacy there before becoming the first pope in 600 years to retire. Benedict is staying in Castel Gandolfo until a monastery at the Vatican in Rome can be readied for him.

Many Italians spend "little Easter" by having a picnic lunch in the countryside or in city parks, and Francis told Romans and tourists who gathered in St. Peter's Square at noon Monday to see him to "have a good lunch." Francis said he was praying that Easter would inspire the faithful so that "hatred gives way to love, lies to truth," and that it would especially comfort those in "most need of trust and hope."

He spoke to them from the studio window of the apartment in the Apostolic Palace overlooking the square. Benedict and popes before him lived there, but so far Francis, who stresses simplicity, has declined to move into the quarters.

Instead, he has continued to stay at the Vatican hotel, where, as Buenos Aires archbishop, he stayed with fellow cardinals to elect Benedict's successor. They chose him, Jorge Bergoglio, the first pontiff from South America.

St. Peter's mission was to continue to preach the message of Jesus and reach more souls. Francis, as a Jesuit, is steeped in the evangelizing mission of the church, and the necropolis tour brings him back to the origins of the church in its simplest years as a community of Christians professing their faith in defiance of the crackdown by Roman emperors.

Peter himself was among the Christian martyrs during Nero's reign. He is believed to have been crucified, head down, on the Vatican hill.

Constantine, the first Christian emperor, had an early basilica built on the slopes of the Vatican Hill, burying the pagan and Christian cemetery — necropolis means 'city of the dead' — that surrounded Peter's burial site.

The current basilica, named after St. Peter, was constructed over the earlier basilica that was deemed unsafe and demolished in the late 15th century.

The Baroque master architect Bernini designed the bronze canopy over the central altar over the spot of Peter's burial site. The current basilica was planned as an awe-inspiring monument that would project the image of a powerful church.

Under popes of the last century, extensive excavations were carried out of the sprawling necropolis. In 1965, archaeologists said they had found the bones of Peter in an area near an ancient Greek inscription saying "Peter is here."

Part of a nearby necropolis came to light in 2003 during construction of a parking lot.

A few years ago, the Vatican unveiled the largest and most luxurious of the pagan tombs under St. Peter's Basilica, that of a family of former slaves.

Guided tours of the necropolis, upon appointment, have been one of the most sought-after attractions for tourists to the Vatican.

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Knox case puts Italian justice under scrutiny

ROME (AP) — When crooked American financier Bernie Madoff was sentenced in New York, the leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published a front-page cartoon mocking Italy's trial system.

On one side was a U.S. courtroom, where a judge was handing down a 150-year sentence after a six-month trial. On the other, an Italian courtroom with a judge handing down a six-month sentence after a 150-year trial.

That's how the country's No. 1 newspaper summed up Italy's slow-moving, and at times inconclusive, justice system.

The decision by Italy's highest criminal appeals court to overturn the acquittals of American student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, and order a new trial in the 2007 slaying of her British roommate, is once again raising concerns both at home and abroad about how justice works in Italy.

It's a system where people cleared of serious crimes can have the threat of prison hanging over them for years, while powerful politicians such as former premier Silvio Berlusconi can avoid jail sentences almost indefinitely by filing appeal after appeal until the statute of limitations runs out.

"Lots of confusion and contradictions," said restaurant chef Angelo Boccanero, giving his impression of the Knox case as he sipped his morning espresso.

And it's not just the criminal courts that raise eyebrows.

The back log on civil cases is so severe that it hampers desperately sought foreign investment to Italy. Divorces can take years to process, meaning that couples who've had enough remain legally tied. And forget about getting quick compensation in a fraudulent property deal — it can take ages (if ever) before you'll see any money.

Successive governments have pledged to streamline proceedings but have so far failed to do so. That's largely because powerful people in politics, business and the judiciary have repeatedly fended off reform to protect their interests and the people close to them.

One criticism of the system is Italy's high number of lawyers. Milan, for example, has more attorneys than all of France. In civil cases, it takes an average of seven years to reach a verdict.

Defenders say that Italy's legal system is one of the world's most "garantista" — or protective of civil liberties. Defendants are guaranteed three levels of trial before a conviction is considered definitive and both sides are granted the right to appeal — although prosecutors often don't appeal minor acquittals. It's a system that sprang up in the postwar era to prevent the travesties of summary justice seen under fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, but in reality it means that justice can be delayed until it's denied as cases move at a snail's pace through the bloated legal machine.

Italy is also one of the leading voices in the world in campaigns to abolish capital punishment. In 1996, Italy refused to extradite one of its citizens wanted for murder in Florida, saying it did not receive sufficient guarantees he would not risk execution if convicted. He was tried in Italy, convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

For Knox, the system allowed new evidence in the appeals trial that led to her 2011 acquittal. But it also is exposing her to a third trial — which in all likelihood will be followed by another round at the supreme court. Knox is not expected to attend her retrial. If she is convicted — and the conviction is upheld by highest criminal court — Italy could seek her extradition. The United States law allows extradition of its citizens.

Another key aspect of the Knox case: The Italian system does not include U.S. Fifth Amendment protection against a defendant being put in double jeopardy by government prosecution.

"Our judicial system, like all judicial systems, is fallible," said Stelio Mangiameli, a constitutional law expert at Rome's LUISS University, but added: "It's not worse or better than the United States."

He said that, in addition to guarantees for the defense, Italy takes pains to protect the rights of the victim.

"You need to consider when there is a crime, there is also a victim," said Mangiameli. "In the Amanda Knox case, there is a dead girl and someone needs to respond for this death, no matter if American or French or any other nationality."

But the process, which in some cases runs over decades, can leave people like Knox in judicial limbo.

In September, an Italian civil court ordered the government to pay 100 million euros in civil damages to relatives of 81 people killed in a 1980 air disaster whose cause has been attributed alternately to a bomb on board and to being caught in an aerial dogfight. The court held that the transport and defense ministries had concealed the truth, even though a criminal court acquitted two generals for lack of evidence five years earlier.

It would seem natural that after three decades, the September decision meant the case was closed. Instead, appeals are pending.

For two decades, Berlusconi has been moving from trial to trial on charges that include corruption, tax fraud and sex-for-hire. He has described himself as an innocent victim of prosecutors he routinely slams as communists.

The ex-premier has so far never had a conviction upheld by the highest court and never served any time in jail. His lawyers employ vigorous defense techniques that have included laws — one struck down as unconstitutional — blocking top government officials from prosecution. As premier, Berlusconi himself has enacted legislation that is widely seen as tailor-made to shield him from legal difficulties.

Sometimes, however, justice is served.

Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi is serving an eight-year sentence on market rigging related to the stunning 2003 collapse of his dairy empire despite his advanced age. Tanzi, now 74, has been jailed since 2011 for his role in the scandal that defrauded thousands of small-time investors, despite arguments by his lawyer that his health is failing and that he should be granted house arrest under a law allowing it for convicts over age 70.

Tanzi faces even more jail time — nearly another 18 years — on a conviction of fraudulent bankruptcy and criminal association in the 4 billion euro bankruptcy. There is one more appeal on that sentence.

Whether the 25-year-old Knox, who spent four years in prison during the investigation, trial and first appeal, ever returns to Italy to serve more prison time depends on a string of unknowns.

Should she be convicted by an appeals court in Florence court, she could appeal that verdict to the Cassation Court, since Italy's judicial system allows for two levels of appeals — by prosecutors and the defense. Should that appeal fail, Italy could seek her extradition from the United States.

In defending Italy, some experts say the system cuts both ways.

"If she had been wrongly convicted," said criminal lawyer Manrico Colazza, "she would have been happy there was a court to reverse it."

___

AP correspondent Colleen Barry contributed from Milan.

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Mexican extradited to US under new president

SAN DIEGO (AP) — An alleged drug trafficker was extradited from Mexico on Thursday to face charges in San Diego that he oversaw efforts to bring methamphetamine to the U.S., authorities said.

Cesar Alfredo Meza Garcia, 36, is one of the first people to be extradited from Mexico since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office Dec. 1.

Pena Nieto's predecessor, Felipe Calderon, embraced extraditions as he launched an offensive against drug cartels that shaped his presidency. His administration said it extradited 502 people from Dec. 1, 2006, to the end of 2011, including 478 to the United States.

"We're hoping (Pena Nieto) will continue what President Calderon started," said Tim Durst, assistant special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit in San Diego. "It's wait-and-see. This is a good sign."

U.S. authorities seized more than 200 pounds of methamphetamine and 100 pounds of cocaine during a 20-month investigation that ended in May, ICE said. The drugs were mostly hidden in cars and trucks and strapped to bodies at San Diego border crossings.

The investigation began when authorities stopped a car with 48 pounds of methamphetamine that crossed the border in San Diego and was headed to Los Angeles, Durst said.

U.S. authorities described Meza Garcia as a top figure in the Tijuana cartel, made of the remnants of the once-powerful Arellano Felix family. Secretly recorded phone conversations featured repeated references to "The Engineer," as cartel leader Fernando Sanchez Arellano is known.

Meza Garcia was arrested by Mexican authorities in Tijuana in September and is the highest-ranking target in an investigation that has led to federal charges against nearly three dozen people in San Diego. So far, 21 have been sentenced to prison.

The extradition comes amid a spike in methamphetamine seizures at U.S. border crossings. In California, border inspectors confiscated 9,735 pounds of the drug during the 2012 fiscal year, up 33 percent from a year earlier and nearly five times the amount seized in 2008.

Meza Garcia was scheduled to make an initial court appearance Friday on a charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

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First Mexican extradited to US under new president

SAN DIEGO (AP) — An alleged drug trafficker was extradited from Mexico on Thursday to face charges in San Diego that he oversaw efforts to bring methamphetamine to the U.S.

Cesar Alfredo Meza Garcia, 36, is the first person to be extradited from Mexico since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office Dec. 1, said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy.

Pena Nieto's predecessor, Felipe Calderon, embraced extraditions as he launched an offensive against drug cartels that shaped his presidency. His administration said it extradited 502 people from Dec. 1, 2006, to the end of 2011, including 478 to the United States.

"We're hoping (Pena Nieto) will continue what President Calderon started," said Tim Durst, assistant special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit in San Diego. "It's wait-and-see. This is a good sign."

U.S. authorities seized more than 200 pounds of methamphetamine and 100 pounds of cocaine during a 20-month investigation that ended in May, ICE said. The drugs were mostly hidden in cars and trucks and strapped to bodies at San Diego border crossings.

The investigation began when authorities stopped a car with 48 pounds of methamphetamine that crossed the border in San Diego and was headed to Los Angeles, Durst said.

U.S. authorities described Meza Garcia as a top figure in the Tijuana cartel, made of the remnants of the once-powerful Arellano Felix family. Secretly recorded phone conversations featured repeated references to "The Engineer," as cartel leader Fernando Sanchez Arellano is known.

Meza Garcia was arrested by Mexican authorities in Tijuana in September and is the highest-ranking target in an investigation that has led to federal charges against nearly three dozen people in San Diego. So far, 21 have been sentenced to prison.

The extradition comes amid a spike in methamphetamine seizures at U.S. border crossings. In California, border inspectors confiscated 9,735 pounds of the drug during the 2012 fiscal year, up 33 percent from a year earlier and nearly five times the amount seized in 2008.

Meza Garcia was scheduled to make an initial court appearance Friday on a charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

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Battling a scandal, Britain's deputy PM under pressure in vote

LONDON (Reuters) - Fewer than 100,000 residents of an English town that hardly anyone outside Britain has heard of will vote on Thursday in an election that could help determine the political fate of the country's deputy prime minister and, ultimately, its government.

The poll to choose a member of parliament for Eastleigh may prove make-or-break for Nick Clegg's leadership of the Liberal Democrats, the junior member of Britain's two-party coalition.

"Most by-elections are events of only fleeting interest. Some are sufficiently dramatic to linger a while in the memory. Only a few truly matter. Eastleigh could be one of these," Peter Kellner, the president of YouGov, the pollster, said.

On Wednesday, during last-minute campaigning in Eastleigh, Clegg predicted his party was "on the cusp of a great victory".

If he is right, the pressure he is facing, from the media and from within his own party, may ease. But if his Conservative coalition partners pip the Liberal Democrats, or the UK Independence Party pulls off a surprise victory, his leadership may be challenged ahead of a party conference next week.

Many Liberal Democrat supporters have become disenchanted with their party's alliance with the Conservatives, arguing it has betrayed core values on the altar of political expediency. Much of that criticism has been directed at Clegg.

"If the Tories do win, then we may well look back in years to come as the contest that marked the beginning of the end of the current coalition," said YouGov's Kellner.

NOT REFLECTIVE OF NATIONAL TREND

The Eastleigh vote does not reflect national sentiment - the opposition Labour party leads in the polls nationally with the Liberal Democrats trailing in third or fourth place.

Most opinion polls show Clegg's party the narrow favorite to win, with the Conservatives running a close second and UKIP third. But its lead in the polls - 5 percent - is within the margin of error and a last-minute swing in favor of the Conservatives could rob it of victory.

The election comes at a time when Clegg's leadership of his leftist party, without whom the rightist Conservatives cannot govern or pass legislation, also faces specific pressures.

A sex scandal that has ensnared Chris Rennard, his party's former chief executive, has raised difficult questions for Clegg about what he knew about the imbroglio and when and how he dealt with it, amid accusations of a cover-up.

Rennard strongly denies the accusations, which center on allegations of sexual misconduct towards female party workers, while Clegg says he was only previously aware of "non-specific" and "anonymous" allegations which could not be acted upon.

The circumstances surrounding the Eastleigh vote, which comes almost two and a half years before a general election, are embarrassing for Clegg's party.

The seat, one of 650 in Britain's lower house of parliament, was won by the Liberal Democrats in 2010. But the victor, Chris Huhne, who went on to become energy minister, had to resign on February 4 after a lawsuit over a speeding offence.

Huhne pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and now faces jail.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)

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Battling a scandal, Britain's deputy PM under pressure in vote

LONDON (Reuters) - Fewer than 100,000 residents of an English town that hardly anyone outside Britain has heard of will vote on Thursday in an election that could help determine the political fate of the country's deputy prime minister and, ultimately, its government.

The poll to choose a member of parliament for Eastleigh may prove make-or-break for Nick Clegg's leadership of the Liberal Democrats, the junior member of Britain's two-party coalition.

"Most by-elections are events of only fleeting interest. Some are sufficiently dramatic to linger a while in the memory. Only a few truly matter. Eastleigh could be one of these," Peter Kellner, the president of YouGov, the pollster, said.

On Wednesday, during last-minute campaigning in Eastleigh, Clegg predicted his party was "on the cusp of a great victory".

If he is right, the pressure he is facing, from the media and from within his own party, may ease. But if his Conservative coalition partners pip the Liberal Democrats, or the UK Independence Party pulls off a surprise victory, his leadership may be challenged ahead of a party conference next week.

Many Liberal Democrat supporters have become disenchanted with their party's alliance with the Conservatives, arguing it has betrayed core values on the altar of political expediency. Much of that criticism has been directed at Clegg.

"If the Tories do win, then we may well look back in years to come as the contest that marked the beginning of the end of the current coalition," said YouGov's Kellner.

NOT REFLECTIVE OF NATIONAL TREND

The Eastleigh vote does not reflect national sentiment - the opposition Labour party leads in the polls nationally with the Liberal Democrats trailing in third or fourth place.

Most opinion polls show Clegg's party the narrow favorite to win, with the Conservatives running a close second and UKIP third. But its lead in the polls - 5 percent - is within the margin of error and a last-minute swing in favor of the Conservatives could rob it of victory.

The election comes at a time when Clegg's leadership of his leftist party, without whom the rightist Conservatives cannot govern or pass legislation, also faces specific pressures.

A sex scandal that has ensnared Chris Rennard, his party's former chief executive, has raised difficult questions for Clegg about what he knew about the imbroglio and when and how he dealt with it, amid accusations of a cover-up.

Rennard strongly denies the accusations, which center on allegations of sexual misconduct towards female party workers, while Clegg says he was only previously aware of "non-specific" and "anonymous" allegations which could not be acted upon.

The circumstances surrounding the Eastleigh vote, which comes almost two and a half years before a general election, are embarrassing for Clegg's party.

The seat, one of 650 in Britain's lower house of parliament, was won by the Liberal Democrats in 2010. But the victor, Chris Huhne, who went on to become energy minister, had to resign on February 4 after a lawsuit over a speeding offence.

Huhne pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and now faces jail.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)

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