WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's chief of staff and two leading U.S. senators said on Friday they were determined to come up with a plan to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which would fulfill Obama's five-year-old campaign promise.

"We continue to believe that it is in our national interest to end detention at Guantanamo with a safe and orderly transition of the detainees to other locations," White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator John McCain said in a joint statement.

"We intend to work, with a plan by Congress and the administration together, to take the steps necessary to make that happen," the group said after a tour of facility, which the United States has used to hold enemy combatants and terrorism suspects since shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The tour included the maximum-security Camp 7, which holds about 15 "high-value captives" sent to Guantanamo in 2006 from former CIA prisons overseas, a source familiar with the trip said. The Pentagon has asked Congress for money to replace the building.

Feinstein, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, and McCain, a top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee who lost the 2008 election to Obama, have long argued that the prison should be closed.

Detainees have complained of abuse and torture - Washington has denied the accusations - and rights activists and international observers have criticized the U.S. government's use of the prison.

But other U.S. lawmakers have blocked the move, arguing that the administration has not offered satisfactory alternatives on what to do with the detainees.

In their joint statement, McDonough, McCain and Feinstein said the prisoners were being held "in a safe and respectful way."

Obama, who promised during the 2008 election campaign to close the facility, last month pledged to lift a ban imposed on transfers of detainees to Yemen from the prison, one of the core obstacles to clearing out the detention camp.

Of the 86 detainees who have been cleared for transfer or release, 56 are from Yemen, where al Qaeda has a dangerous presence. An unknown number of the 80 other prisoners at the camp who are not cleared are Yemeni as well.

More than 100 prisoners in the camp have joined a hunger strike to protest the failure to resolve their fate after more than a decade of detention, and 41 are being force-fed through tubes inserted into their noses and down into their stomachs because they have lost so much weight.

Visiting officials typically start with a briefing by base commander Rear Admiral John Smith, followed by a tour of the primary detention facilities, Camp 5 and Camp 6, where the majority of the detainees live.

They also are shown prisoner health facilities, including the hospital and behavioral health unit, and support facilities such as the barracks where troops live and the kitchen where meals are prepared for both the prisoners and U.S. soldiers.

One of the final stops is the naval base's legal complex, including the courtroom where the military tribunals are held.

(Additional reporting by Jane Sutton in Miami; Editing by Vicki Allen and Paul Simao)

* Erdogan opens venues (Updates with Games organisers' reaction)

By Karolos Grohmann

BERLIN, June 10 (Reuters) - Violent protests across several major Turkish cities since the end of May have raised concerns for the safety of the upcoming Mediterranean Games in the country's coastal city of Mersin.

In a letter obtained by Reuters and addressed to 2013 Mediterranean Games organisers, the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (ICMG) is asking for security assurances and more information regarding the on-going demonstrations.

"I am writing to express, on behalf of my colleagues, our great concern and sympathy for the unfortunate events that have occurred in Turkey," ICMG secretary general Isidoros Kouvelos said in the letter addressed to Ugur Erdener, head of Turkey's Olympic Committee and to Mersin Mediterranean Games organisers.

"As you understand, all the Mediterranean family finds this situation quite worrying, especially as the Opening of the Games of Mersin will be in a few days," he said in the letter dated June 6.

Mersin will host the international multi-sports event between June 20-30, stepping in less than two years ago after the Greek city of Volos, whose bid was led by Kouvelos, had to hand the Games back due to the country's fiscal woes.

The Mediterranean Games organisers said all measures had been taken for safe competitions this month with Erdogan inaugurating new venues on Sunday.

"The Mersin 2013 local organising committee and the National Olympic Committee of Turkey can confirm that the Mediterranean Games is unaffected by the largely peaceful protests that have taken place in the Adana-Mersin area, after an exhaustive review of the current situation with leading experts found that there is no elevated risk to the event participants," organisers said in a statement.

"Turkey has an excellent safety and security record when it comes to major sporting events over the last decade, and athletes, officials and fans can be confident of experiencing those same high standards."

Istanbul, bidding to host the 2020 Olympics, has witnessed tens of thousands of people flooding the central Taksim Square, where protests began nine days ago.

The demonstrations have spread to several major cities, including the capital Ankara, with under-fire Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warning that his patience was running out.

Western countries have held up Erdogan's Turkey as an example of an Islamic democracy that could be emulated elsewhere in the Middle East but violent police action has drawn sharp criticism.

"In order to reassure the Mediterranean family, I think it would be useful if you could give to ICMG and all Mediterranean NOCs (national Olympic committees) more precise information about the situation in the area Adana-Mersin and also the assurance that all the necessary measures have been taken in order to ensure the safety of the Games," the ICMG said.

The Olympics-style event is held once every four years, with some 24 countries from the Mediterranean basin competing in 27 sports including athletics, swimming, gymnastics, football and basketball. (Editing by Ed Osmond)

It will be the second time the Emmy Award-winning performer, who stars in the television series "How I Met Your Mother," will host the live broadcast from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on September 22.

"Four years ago, Neil was an amazing Emmy host and we are excited to have him back," Bruce Rosenblum, the Television Academy chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "Neil is an extremely gifted and inventive performer, and we look forward to seeing what he has in store this year."

Harris, a popular entertainment awards show host, said he "couldn't be more honored and excited" to host the Emmy Awards.

He is also hosting the Tony Awards, which honor the best of Broadway, from Radio City Music Hall in New York next month. It will be his fourth stint at the Tony Awards.

The actor is a three-time Emmy Award winner for his guest roles on "Glee" and as host of the 2009 and 2011 Tony Awards.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Data from a pivotal trial of Amgen Inc's experimental melanoma therapy shows that it improved survival by 21 percent for patients with advanced forms of the deadly skin cancer compared with a standard white blood cell-boosting drug.

Final survival results are not expected until later this year, but Wall Street has been awaiting the interim trial details to help assess the drug's commercial potential within a new market of promising melanoma treatments.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Yee said recently that the Amgen drug - talimogene laherparepvec, or T-Vec - will ultimately need to demonstrate that it improves overall survival by more than 15 percent.

T-Vec is an engineered virus designed to be injected into tumors, where it replicates until membranes of the cancer cells rupture and die. The drug is then expected to activate a systemic immune response to kill tumor cells throughout the body.

Other new drugs in the field include "immunotherapies," such as Yervoy from Bristol-Myers Squibb, which is designed to harness the body's immune system to fight the skin cancer.

Amgen had said in March that the trial met its main goal of showing that T-Vec shrank tumors for at least six months in significantly more patients, 16 percent, than a comparison treatment, where the so-called durable response rate was 2 percent.

Other new details of the trial, presented on Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, included an overall T-Vec response rate, meaning tumor shrinkage without the six-month requirement, of 26 percent. That compares with 6 percent for patients treated with GM-CSF, a type of white blood cell-booster. Eleven percent of T-Vec patients had their tumors eradicated.

The trial also showed that patients with earlier-stage disease had the highest rates of durable response. That rate was 33 percent for stage III patients, compared with 8 percent for patients with the most advanced cancer.

David Chang, head of global oncology development at Amgen, said the company is currently in discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about how to move forward and seek regulatory approval. Melanoma is diagnosed in about 132,000 people worldwide each year.

He also said the company is interested in testing its drug in combination with Yervoy and other new melanoma therapies.

The most common side effects seen in the trial of over 400 patients were mild flu-like symptoms.

Chang said Amgen is still evaluating whether to study T-Vec as a treatment for other types of cancer.

(Reporting by Deena Beasley; editing by Michele Gershberg and Matthew Lewis)

Fugate is a fellow with National Journal's Presentation Center.

It will be his first game since hurting his right wrist in early March while preparing with the U.S. team for the World Baseball Classic.

Manager Joe Girardi watched while the All-Star took part in an extensive simulated game with infielder Kevin Youkilis at the Yankees' minor-league complex on Friday. Youkilis is sidelined with a sore back.

Teixeira may be ready to rejoin the Yankees in early June. Youkilis looks to start a minor-league rehab assignment soon.

Reliever Joba Chamberlain, sidelined by a right oblique strain, says he's scheduled to throw two innings out of the bullpen Saturday in his second extended spring training game.

It will be Pacquiao's first fight since he was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in December, a defeat that prompted many to suggest the 34-year-old should retire after being left unconscious, face down on the canvas by his Mexican rival.

However, Pacquiao, winner of world titles at eight different weight divisions, has ignored the calls to quit and after the lengthy break will fight at the Cotai Arena in The Venetian Macao-Resort and Hotel, Fred Sternburg said.

It will be a first bout outside the United States since 2006 for Pacquiao 54-5-2 (38 knockouts), who also lost to Timothy Bradley in his only other bout last year.

The back-to-back defeats have seemingly ended all hope of a lucrative clash against undefeated American Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Rios 31-1-1 (23 knockouts) is also coming off a loss, Mike Alvarado claiming a unanimous points decision in their March contest in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao's trainer Freddy Roach predicted a swift end to the non-title bout.

"Manny is definitely going to get his mojo back with this fight," Roach told ESPN.com.

"I think it'll be an exciting fight but that Manny is going to land ... and knock this guy out somewhere along the way. Rios likes to exchange and his style is not really difficult to figure out, so Manny's gonna hit him." (Reporting by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers introduced fresh legislation on Thursday seeking to address the problem of sexual assault in the military and summoned the nation's top commanders to testify about the crisis, which has become an embarrassment to the armed forces.

The White House and Congress have demanded changes since seeing a damning report of a steep rise in the number of assaults on members of the military and a spate of high-profile sex-related incidents.

Most recently, a military official said on Wednesday that an Army sergeant was accused of videotaping female cadets in the showers at the Military Academy at West Point. The revelation came just hours after military leaders told a Senate panel they were making prevention of sexual harassment and sexual assault a top priority.

"This is a crime. It is a violent and vicious crime and the military needs to treat it as such," said Representative Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican and co-chairman of the House Military Sexual Assault Prevention Caucus, a co-sponsor of the new bill.

The measure introduced by Democratic and Republican lawmakers in both the Senate and House of Representatives would mandate, at minimum, a dishonorable discharge for anyone found guilty of sexual assault or attempted assault. It would make it impossible for a commander to change a guilty conviction.

MILITARY CHIEFS TO TESTIFY

With several bills making their way through Congress, the Senate Armed Services Committee announced that it would hold a rare full-committee hearing on the legislation on June 4, with witnesses including General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the heads of all four service branches.

Most of the panel's hearings on legislation involve only subcommittees, not the full membership. Another exception was the consideration of legislation - now law - that allowed homosexuals to serve openly in the military.

The Pentagon reported that complaints of unwanted sexual conduct shot up by more than a third to 26,000 in 2012. The steep rise in cases comes just as the military moves ahead with plans to integrate women into front-line combat roles.

The bill introduced on Thursday is not as sweeping as one introduced last week by Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand that would take responsibility for prosecution sexual assault cases away from the chain of command, making it easier for victims to seek justice.

The latest measure is more in line with the preferences of the military chiefs. Dempsey and other commanders have warned of a crisis of confidence in the growing ranks of women soldiers, but Pentagon leaders say that Gillibrand's approach risks weakening commanders' authority.

Senate aides said next month's Armed Services hearing would play a large part in determining the scope of a final legislation, adding that the flurry of bills - there have been several others introduced in both chambers - is a strong sign that something will be done to address the issue this year.

"I don't think anyone's absolutely confident of what is going to be the most effective reform that we can implement and so that's why I see it as productive to have more than one," said Republican Senator Susan Collins.

Karen Faye is testifying for Jackson's mother in a lawsuit against AEG Live LLC, the promoter of his planned series of comeback concerts.

She says Jackson trusted the advice of doctors to help him sleep and deal with pain from injuries and performances.

Faye says during the "Dangerous" tour, promoters asked that she give Jackson injections of pain medications, but she refused. She says a tour manager who later became a top AEG executive then enlisted a doctor to treat Jackson.

Jackson's mother is suing AEG claiming it didn't properly investigate the doctor convicted of causing Jackson's death. AEG denies wrongdoing.

Habibullah Khan was killed along with two bodyguards and a civilian bystander in the afternoon attack in Ghazni province's Moqur district, police said. At least 14 civilians were wounded, most of them shoppers and merchants.

Deputy Provincial Police Chief Asadullah Insafi said Khan led an uprising last year against the Taliban's shadow government in his district, driving the insurgents out.

Taliban insurgents have pushed a campaign of assassinations of pro-government figures to try to weaken confidence in Afghan government ahead of the withdrawal of most international forces by the end of next year.

In the past week alone, a provincial council chief along with 13 others were killed in a suicide bombing at the council headquarters, and twin blasts killed nine people in an elite gated community for government officials and business owners outside of the southern city of Kandahar.

The Taliban seek to re-establish the strict interpretation of Islamic law they imposed for five years before being ousted in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion over its sheltering of al-Qaida's leadership.

Another common insurgent tactic is planting makeshift land mines on roads. A suspected bomb maker in Ghazni died Wednesday when explosives he was carrying on a bicycle went off without warning. Two bystanders were wounded, police said.

A motorcycle hit a roadside bomb in the southern province of Helmand on Wednesday. The driver was killed and three bystanders were wounded, said Deputy Provincial Police Chief Ghulam Rabbani Bahawi.