Connecticut gunman 'a brilliant student'

WHEN he was a student at Newtown High, Adam Lanza would sometimes have what a school employee described as "an episode".

No one knew what brought it on. The shy teenager "would just shut down," said Richard Novia, a former adviser to the school tech club.

He said at other times Lanza enjoyed joining other technology-minded students for fantasy role-playing video games and for sleepovers at school.

Lanza, a thin, gangly boy, would sometimes shuffle through the halls, clutching his briefcase to his chest and avoiding eye contact.

At times, he would simply shut down. He'd sit staring at the ground, refusing to talk to anyone.

"It would be total emotional withdrawal," Novia said.

"He wouldn't hurt anyone or yell. He wouldn't speak or talk, he would walk away. Not in a defiant way, but in a scared way. Like, 'Leave me alone.' "

Acquaintances of the family have provided a clearer picture of Lanza, 20, as investigators attempt to retrace his path last week from the spacious home where he shot his mother multiple times to a nearby elementary school. There, he fatally shot 26 students and staff members and then killed himself.

When Lanza would have one of his "episodes," Novia said, he would telephone Nancy Lanza. She was "a great parent," he said, and would often come within minutes, sitting with her son and making him feel better.

"She could pull him back in line," Novia said.

Lanza appears to have left high school early, and at age 16 began taking classes at Western Connecticut State University in nearby Danbury, where he earned a B-plus average.

He dropped out of German as he was about to fail the class but earned an A-minus in American history and a B in macroeconomics. He took his last class at the university in summer 2009, the year before he would have been a senior in high school.

Starting college at 16 would have been jarring, Novia said, especially as Lanza's older brother left for college and later for a job in Manhattan, and their parents separated, leaving Lanza at home with his mother. His parents divorced in 2009.

"If I was to read the situation, he found himself so far disconnected from the world with no possibility of interaction. I'm sure he did not make friends well in a college setting," Novia said.

Lanza, was fond of joining "LAN parties" - short for Local Area Network - in which students would gather at someone's house and hook up their computers into a small network. They played strategy games such as World of Warcraft and Mario Party.

"We were not in favour of first-person shooter games," said one of those who played with Lanza, Joshua Milas.

Lanza's older brother, Ryan Lanza, 24, was also a member of the tech club.

"Ryan was outgoing, energetic, well respected, recognised for his talents," Novia said. Ryan took care of his brother but Novia said he heard they had become estranged in recent years.

"There's obviously dysfunction between the siblings," Novia said.

"I could very easily see Ryan saying, 'Enough is enough. I've been your caregiver when I was supposed to be a teenager. I've got a life to live.' "

Nancy Lanza struggled to take care of her son and live a life of her own, friends said.

John Bergquist, who got to know Nancy Lanza at a neighbourhood bar, described her as a New Hampshire farm girl turned sophisticate.

She was a Red Sox fan with season tickets who travelled to ride hot air balloons, attend jazz concerts in New Orleans, and visit friends in London, New York and San Francisco, sometimes taking her older son Ryan with her, he said.

She drove a silver BMW. She also hunted with falcons.

Lanza had a soft side when it came to her younger son, he said.

"She always spoke very lovingly about him. She was devoted to him, catering to him and his limitations," he said.

"He wasn't troubled or violent in any way - he was a normal kid with a disability ... He had trouble being with people."

Nancy Lanza appeared to have decided to move so that Adam could attend college in another state. She was looking at schools in Washington state and North Carolina.

"She was willing to uproot her life," Bergquist said.

"Nancy pretty much made it clear that she needed to be with him (Adam) because he couldn't handle being on his own."

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China cracks down on doomsday rumours

CHINA has detained dozens of people, some of whom it terms doomsday cult members, as part of a nationwide crackdown on rumours about a supposed forthcoming apocalypse, state media say.

Authorities in five different areas have detained 52 people for spreading predictions of a December 21 "doomsday" linked to the ancient Mayan calendar, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.

The apocalypse predictions have received widespread coverage in China, thanks in part to the success of the Hollywood disaster film 2012, which was partly-inspired by the supposed Mayan prophecy.

Those detained include 34 people in the eastern province of Fujian, and two in the central city of Wuhan who handed out leaflets about the apocalypse at transport facilities, the report said.

"People have fabricated and spread rumours about the 'end of the world', caused trouble by tricking people out of money, and disturbed social order," the report cited police in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing as saying.

A Christian group known as "Almighty God", which state-run media has labelled an "evil cult" - the same description it applies to the banned Falun Gong sect - has also been targeted in the pre-doomsday crackdown, with reports of dozens of arrests last week.

Thirty-seven Almighty God members were detained in the northwestern province of Qinghai, the state-run Global Times daily said, adding that the group predicts three days of darkness will begin on December 21.

The group has called on its members to overthrow China's ruling Communist Party, which it refers to as "the big red dragon", and tells believers that a new era, presided over by a "female Jesus", has arrived.

"A big eye was found in the sun on December 9 in Beijing, and female Jesus manifested herself with her name. Great Tsunamis and earthquakes are about to happen around the world," the Global Times reported a text message sent by Almighty God members as saying.

The ruling communist party does not tolerate challenges to its authority and has brutally cracked down on religious groups including the Buddhist-inspired Falun Gong, which was banned in the late 1990s.

China has a long history of religiously-inspired anti-government movements, most notably the 19th century Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, led by a Christian convert who gathered hundreds of thousands of followers in an attempt to overthrow the emperor.

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Strong 6.1 quake off eastern Indonesia

AN earthquake of 6.1 magnitude has been detected off the eastern Indonesian island of Sulawesi. There have been no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The US Geological Survey said the quake was centred 119 kilometres northeast of Luwuk, in Central Sulawesi province, at a depth of 18.5 kilometres. No tsunami warning was issued.

The largest archipelagic Indonesia is prone to earthquake because of its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

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Family of slain principal rue her courage

THE husband of the principal killed as she tried to stop a gunman from mowing down children at her US elementary school has told CNN he was angry at first that his wife put herself in danger.

Dawn Hochsprung was in a meeting on Friday morning when gunshots rang out in the hallway of Sandy Hook Elementary School, in picturesque Newtown, Connecticut.

The shooter ultimately slaughtered 20 young children and six teachers and staff, including Hochsprung as she lunged at him trying to stop the slaughter, before turning a gun on himself.

Hochsprung's husband, George, told CNN on Monday two of the teachers who were in the meeting with his wife told him what they remembered.

"There were gunshots. Somebody shot the window. Somebody came in, into the - not into the office, but into the building, the foyer of the building. And Dawn told us to go hide," George said the teachers told him.

Hochsprung "and at least one other teacher went out and actually tried to subdue the killer. I don't know where that comes from. Dawn was 5'2," he continued, sitting surrounded by his three daughters from a previous marriage and one of Dawn's two daughters from her previous marriage.

"Dawn put herself in jeopardy. And I have been angry about that. Angry. Until just now, when I met two women that she told to go under shelter while she actually confronted the gunman," George recounted.

"She could have avoided that. And she didn't. I knew she wouldn't. So, I'm not angry anymore. I'm not angry. I'm not angry at anyone. I'm not angry," he repeated as if hoping she would hear him, adding in a small voice, "I'm just very sad."

George said he never expected to outlive his wife, who was much younger than he was.

The surviving family members held hands and sobbed as they remembered their lives with Hochsprung.

Hochsprung's daughter, Erica, spoke about her mother's support.

"Every game, she was there. Every cheerleading stuff, she was there. Every dance competition. She was doing homework on the bleachers. But she was there. And she was my rock. My rock," she said.

Asked what she would say to her mother now, Erica forced out: "Come back. Just come back."

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Croc bites boy at NT billabong

A TEENAGE boy has been airlifted to hospital after he was attacked by a crocodile in a remote part of the Northern Territory.

The 16-year-old boy was bitten on the leg by the one-metre-long croc while hunting at a billabong in the remote community of Ramingining in Arnhem Land on Sunday.

Careflight said the boy was treated at a local clinic before being flown to Royal Darwin Hospital where he remains in a stable condition.

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Grassfire near Young now under control

FIREFIGHTERS have controlled a grassfire burning near properties in southwestern NSW.

The fire, covering 4600 hectares, is burning at Geegullalong Road, about eight kilometres east of Murringo, near Young.

In a statement, police said the fire was under control and advised it was safe for locals to return to their homes.

They told motorists intending to travel between Boorowa and Cowra that the Lachlan Valley Way would remain closed overnight due to smoke and fallen trees.

Earlier on Sunday night, a NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) spokesman said 140 firefighters, 43 fire trucks and six aircraft were battling the blaze.

The RFS is establishing containment lines around the fire overnight.

A watch and act alert has been issued by the RFS for the affected area.

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US shooting shocks world leaders

WORLD leaders have expressed shock and horror after a gunman massacred 20 small children and six staff in the US state of Connecticut, one of the worst school shootings in history.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has sent Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy his "deepest condolences at the shocking murders," a statement said.

"The targeting of children is heinous and unthinkable," he added.

Pope Benedict XVI also sent a letter of condolence to the community, which was read aloud at a vigil in Newtown on Friday evening.

The pope "has asked me to convey his heartfelt grief and the assurance of his closeness in prayer to the victims and their families, and to all affected by the shocking event," Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he "was shocked and deeply saddened" by the incident."

"My thoughts are with the injured and those who have lost loved ones. It is heartbreaking to think of those who have had their children robbed from them at such a young age, when they had so much life ahead of them."

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II sent a message to President Barack Obama in which she said she was "deeply shocked and saddened" to hear of the shootings.

"The thoughts and prayers of everyone in the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth are with the families and friends of those killed and with all those who have been affected."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the massacre had brought "indescribable grief to many families just before Christmas".

There were almost no non-fatal injuries, indicating that once targeted there was little chance of escape, and that the gunman, believed to be 20-year-old Adam Lanza, was unusually accurate or methodical in his fire.

"The news is just awful. The thoughts and prayers of Canadians are with the students and families in CT affected by this senseless violence," Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wrote on Twitter.

Even longtime foe Iran offered its condolences to the victims and families.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast drew parallels between the school shooting and the "children and teenagers who fall victim to armed actions... inside Gaza, the US, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran or Syria," calling on Americans to mobilise against "warmongering and the massacre of innocent people anywhere."

Closer to home, Mexico's newly inaugurated president, Enrique Pena Nieto, expressed his support to the US after the deadly shooting.

"My solidarity with the American people and President @BarackObama after the tragedy this morning in Connecticut," he wrote on Twitter.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou voiced "shock and grief" in a letter sent to Obama, saying that Taiwan will "staunchly support President Obama in taking meaningful action to prevent the recurrence of such tragedy".

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China to focus on domestic demand in 2013

EXPANDING domestic consumption will drive China's economic development next year, according to a statement issued at a key annual leadership meeting.

With export growth falling in November to 2.9 per cent year-on-year, down from 11.6 per cent in October, China's new leaders are pinning their hopes for the world's second-largest economy on fostering demand at home.

Sunday's statement was issued at the two-day Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing.

But unlike after previous meetings, state media did not immediately report China's much-anticipated target for gross domestic product.

China is expected to retain its 2012 growth target of 7.5 per cent for 2013.

Succeeding Hu Jintao last month, Communist Party leader Xi Jinping chose Shenzhen, the cradle of China's economic reforms and opening-up policy, as the venue for his first official trip, in which he stressed the need for comprehensive and systemic economic reform.

The weekend meeting granted Xi his first official opportunity to make his mark on the mapping-out of key economic plans for 2013, including not just the target for economic growth, but also a range of measures involving the deficit, tax policy and urbanisation.

The Chinese economy relies on exports, government expenditure and investment, with leaders vowing to protect foreign investors' rights, including intellectual property rights, according to the Xinhua news agency.

China also wants to encourage both private and public investment next year, including through increased investments in infrastructure projects.

China will also promote urbanisation, while retaining control of the property market, and will continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy.

Convened by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the State Council, the annual end-of-year conference usually takes three days to lay out the national agenda for the economy.

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Gunmen kill Nigeria politician: police

Gunmen on a motorcycle have shot dead a prominent lawmaker in northern Nigeria, police say. Source: AAP

GUNMEN on a motorcycle have shot dead a prominent lawmaker in northern Nigeria, police say, in the latest in a series of such attacks in a region hit hard by a radical Islamist group.

It was not clear who carried out the shooting in Kano, Nigeria's second city, on Friday, but Boko Haram Islamists have repeatedly targeted politicians in the north as part of an insurgency that has killed hundreds since 2009.

"I can confirm that Danladi Isa Kademi, a lawmaker at the Kano state house of assembly was shot dead by two gunmen around 6pm (local time) today," said Kano state police spokesman Magaji Majia.

"The gunmen came on a motorcycle and fired several shots into the lawmaker," who was serving as the minority leader in the state assembly.

Kademi was shot outside a guesthouse he owned, Majia said.

Another state politician was killed in similar circumstances last month in Kano, weeks after a prominent retired general, Mohammed Shuwa, was shot dead at his home in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

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S Africa's ANC party set to choose leader

SOUTH Africa's governing African National Congress political party is set to return to where it first formed a century ago to pick its next leader.

The occasion comes at a time some believe the movement is fighting to regain its moral high ground.

Some 4000 delegates will gather on Sunday at its Mangaung conference, being held in the city also known as Bloemfontein, to choose whether President Jacob Zuma or his quiet, unionist deputy Kgalema Motlanthe should lead the party.

Whoever the party picks will likely be the next president of this country of 50 million people, leading Africa's top economy into an uncertain future where all now have a right to vote, but don't have access to the country's wealth.

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