Counting under way in Egyptian referendum






CAIRO: Counting was under way early Sunday after a first-round referendum on a divisive new constitution pushed through by President Mohamed Morsi and his Islamist allies despite weeks of opposition protests.

Polling stations in half the country, including the biggest cities of Cairo and Alexandria, were tallying the results from Saturday's voting.

The second round of the referendum is to be held next Saturday, after which the official result is to be given.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and main media outlets said that, based on very early unofficial figures, it appeared that the polling was trending towards 70 percent support for the draft charter.

But the opposition disputed that, saying its preliminary figures suggested that 66 percent of the voters had rejected the proposed constitution. It claimed the Muslim Brotherhood had sought to "rig" the vote.

If those contradictory positions are maintained, Egypt's turmoil of the past three weeks over the draft constitution will not subside.

Violent clashes claimed eight lives on December 5 amid a highly polarised political climate.

Late Saturday, riot police fired tear gas to disperse dozens of hardline Islamists who attacked the central Cairo headquarters of the opposition liberal Wafd Party with fireworks and stones, officers at the scene told AFP.

On Friday, clashes between stone-throwing and sword-wielding Islamists and opposition supporters erupted in Egypt's second city of Alexandria, injuring 23 people according to the official MENA news agency.

To ensure security, 120,000 troops were deployed to reinforce 130,000 police.

Voting was being staggered, with half the country casting their ballots on Saturday and the other half a week later.

The Muslim Brotherhood has thrown its formidable organisational machine behind a campaign in favour of the draft constitution.

The proposed charter "offers rights and stability," said one Cairo voter who backed it, Kassem Abdallah.

It will help Egypt "return to normal", agreed another, Ibrahim Mahmoud, a teacher.

But many opposition voters were especially hostile toward the Brotherhood, which the Front believes wants to usher in strict Islamic sharia laws.

Abbas Abdelaziz, a 57-year-old accountant, said he voted against the charter "because I hate the Muslim Brotherhood. It's very simple. They are liars."

Sally Rafid, a 28-year-old Christian, said: "There are many things in the constitution people don't agree on, and it's not just the articles on religion."

International watchdogs, the UN human rights chief, the United States and the European Union have expressed reservations about the draft because of loopholes that could be used to weaken human rights, including those of women, and the independence of the judiciary.

Analysts said it was likely - but not certain - that the draft constitution would be adopted.

Whatever the outcome, "lasting damage to the civility of Egyptian politics will be the main outcome of the current path Morsi has set Egypt on," one analyst, Issandr El Amrani, wrote for his think tank, the European Council on Foreign Relations.

"If the 'no' vote wins, the Morsi presidency will have been fully discredited and the pressure for his resignation will only increase," he said. "If 'yes' wins, the protest movement is unlikely to die down, (and) may radicalise."

- AFP/de



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Govt plans own channel, real autonomy for DD

NEW DELHI: The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry has asked regulator Trai for a review of the policy which disallows government ownership of television channels. This letter to the regulator is seen as a precursor to the Centre launching a TV channel of its own.

On November 30, I&B secretary Uday Kumar Varma wrote to Trai chairman Rahul Khullar asking him "to kindly provide your recommendations as to whether the following may be allowed" in broadcasting: central and state government ministries and departments, state-owned companies, undertakings and joint ventures.

Varma cited the instances of the governments of Gujarat, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and the Union HRD ministry seeking permission to operate and distribute their TV channels which the I&B ministry has turned down because the current policy doesn't allow government presence in broadcasting.

Sources in the ministry said Doordarshan was allowed because it was ostensibly run by an autonomous body, Prasar Bharati. They also said that it was a question of time before Prasar Bharati is likely to be asked to raise and manage its own finances and that would automatically lead to the public broadcaster asserting its autonomy.

It's in this context that the government's letter seeking Trai's views on government presence in broadcasting acquires significance. Incidentally, Doordarshan enjoys 92% coverage of the country through its terrestrial network with a viewership of about 2.5 crore people.

Not just TV channels, the government is also keen on having a presence in print and radio too. There is urgency to the move in view of elections in 2014 when the government having its own media would be undoubtedly helpful.

While the Punjab government sought permission for its own TV channel, the Gujarat government and HRD ministry sought the I&B ministry's nod to set up educational channels on their own DTH platforms.

90% of I&B funds spent on Prasar Bharati

Sources said that the I&B ministry was looking to recast Prasar Bharati as a financially autonomous public service broadcaster like the BBC with independent sources of funding like licence fees, commercial programming and ads.

At present 90% of the ministry's fund is spent on funding Prasar Bharati's operations. I&B minister Manish Tewari is said to have discussed the issue with senior memeber of the government. "Why should there be a veil of hypocrisy in running one's own channel or paper? If there are 800 TV channels, allowing 30 more will only be a drop in the ocean. If there are 3,000 radio stations, there can be space for 30 more, and the same is true for papers," the sources said.

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

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School Shooting Victims Were Shot Multiple Times













The gunman who massacred 20 children in a Connecticut elementary school riddled them with bullets, shooting some of them as many as 11 times, the medical examiner said today.


"I've been at this for a third of a century so my sensibilities may not be the that of the average man, but it's probably the worst I've ever seen," said Chief Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver II, who has been a medical examiner for 36 years.


A team of 14 medical technicians worked through the night to complete the grisly job of identifying the children killed by Adam Lanza, 20, in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre so their names could be released today.


Several weapons were found in the school, including a semi-automatic rifle.


"All the wounds that I know of at this point were caused by the long weapon," Carver said, and many were shot at close range.


CLICK HERE for full coverage of the tragedy at the elementary school.


"I believe many of them were hit more than once," and he said the wounds were "all over" the children's bodies.


"I only did seven of the autopsies. The victims I had ranged from 3 to 11 wounds a piece," Carver said.


The names of the children slain Friday in the Newtown, Conn., school were released today.


To carry out the identifications, Carver said they "did not bring the families and the bodies into contact." He said the identifications were made through photographs of the children's faces. "It's easier on the families," he said.


Additional work is needed to complete the autopsies and identifications of the seven adults slain in Lanza's killing spree.






Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images











Newtown Teacher Kept 1st Graders Calm During Massacre Watch Video











Newtown School Shooting: What to Tell Your Kids Watch Video





Fresh details of the massacre emerged including the fact that all of the young victims were first graders in two rooms.


Based on the Sandy Hook school directory, all the kids killed were in the first grade and were in two classrooms.


In one class, 15 of the 16 students listed were killed. In the other class, five of the 16 students died along with their teacher Victoria Soto. Also, nine of the deceased students have siblings in the school.


At a nearby firehouse that has become a center for the town a makeshift memorial and vigil has emerged under a sign that reads "Sandy Hook School." People have left flowers, candles, signs that read "Rest in Peace" and "God Bless Sandy Hook Elementary," as well as a cross made of blue flowers and a wreath of teddy bears


With the tally of Lanza's carnage complete, authorities and the grieving people of Newtown, Conn., are left to wonder why he turned the elementary school in this quaint New England town into a slaughter house.


Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance said the investigation "did produce some very good evidence" about motive, but he would not go into further detail.


He indicated the evidence came from the shooting scene at the school as well as at the home where Lanza's mother, Nancy, was slain.


Also key will be the lone person shot by Lanza who wasn't killed. The female teacher has not been publicly identified.


"She is doing fine," Vance said at a news conference today. "She has been treated and she'll be instrumental in this investigation."


Vance said it appears that reports of an altercation involving Lanza at the school in the days before the mass slaying are not checking out.


Vance said that Lanza forced his way into the school, but did not say how.


Evidence emerged today that Lanza's rampage began in the office of school principal Dawn Hochsprung while the school intercom was on. It's not clear whether it was turned on to alert the school or whether it was on for morning announcements, but the principal's screams and the cries of children heard throughout the school gave teachers time to take precautions to protect their children.


Hochsprung was among those killed in the Friday morning killing spree.


READ: Connecticut Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well'


Authorities have fanned out to New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts to interview Lanza's relatives, ABC News has learned.


According to sources, Lanza shot his mother in the face, then left his house armed with at least two semi-automatic handguns, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, and a semi-automatic rifle. He was also wearing a bulletproof vest.






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US Dollar falls as fiscal cliff worries grow






NEW YORK: The US dollar dropped to its lowest level against the euro in three months Friday, the euro going above US$1.31 as politicians in Washington appeared no closer to averting the economy-crunching fiscal cliff.

With just over two weeks to go before the deadline, markets began to show strains from worries that US leaders will not be able to carve out a compromise deal to beat the year-end deadline to skirt the cliff's harsh mandatory budget cuts and tax hikes.

At 2200 GMT, the euro was at US$1.3161, compared to US$1.3073 late Thursday.

The US dollar has slipped steadily for a week amid cliff fears and the Federal Reserve's extension of its bond-buying easy monetary accommodation, aimed at sparking more growth in the sluggish US economy.

The yen was mixed ahead of Sunday's Japanese general election: the euro gained to 109.94 yen from 109.38 yen, while the US dollar slipped to 83.52 yen from 83.64.

"According to most reports out of Japan, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is well ahead in polls and his coalition government should easily take more than 60 per cent of the seats in Parliament, leading to Abe's return to the PM seat," said Neal Gilbert of GFT.

"Abe has made many declarations that he wants to become more aggressive with monetary policy by lowering interest rates to 0 per cent, increasing the inflation target to 3 per cent, and increasing the amount of QE (quantitative easing)."

Gilbert added that if Abe regains the premiership, the yen's weakness "may be much more long lasting."

The US dollar slipped against the Swiss franc to 0.9172 francs, while the British pound edged higher to US$1.6173.

- AFP/jc



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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

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20 Children Killed at Conn. Grade School, 7 Adults













Twenty children died today when a heavily armed man invaded a Newtown, Conn., elementary school and sprayed staff and students with bullets.


The gunman, identified as Adam Lanza, 20, was found dead in the school.


Lt. Paul Vance said 18 children died in the school and two more died later in a hospital. Six adults were also slain, bringing the total to 26.


In addition to the casualties at the school, Lanza's mother Nancy Lanza was killed in her home, federal and state sources told ABC News.


According to sources, Lanza shot his mother in the face, then left his house armed with at least two semi automatic handguns, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, and a semi automatic rifle. He was also wearing a bullet proof vest.


Lanza drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School and continued his rampage, killing 26 people, authorities said. He was found dead at the school. It appears that he died from what is believed to be a self inflicted gunshot wound. The rifle was found in his car.


In the early confusion surrounding the investigation, federal sources initially identified the suspect as Adam's older brother Ryan Lanza, 24. He is being questioned by police.


LIVE UPDATES: Newtown, Conn., School Shooting


"Evil visited this community today," Gov. Dan Malloy said at a news conference this evening.


First grade teacher Kaitlin Roig, 29, locked her 14 students in a class bathroom and listened to "tons of shooting" until police came to help.








Connecticut Elementary School Shooting: 'Several Fatalities' Watch Video









Connecticut Shooting: 27 Dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School Watch Video









Connecticut School Shooting: White House Response Watch Video





"It was horrific," Roig said. "I thought we were going to die."


She said that the terrified kids were saying, "I just want Christmas…I don't want to die. I just want to have Christmas."


A tearful President Obama said there's "not a parent in America who doesn't feel the overwhelming grief that I do."


The president had to pause to compose himself after saying these were "beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10." As he continued with his statement, Obama wiped away tears from each eye.


He has ordered flags flown as half staff.


CLICK HERE for more photos from the scene.


The alert at the school ended when Vance announced, "The shooter is deceased inside the building. The public is not in danger."


The massacre prompted the town of Newtown to lock down all its schools and draw SWAT teams to the school, authorities said today. Authorities initially believed that there were two gunmen and were searching cars around the school, but authorities do not appear to be looking for another gunman.


It is the second worst mass shooting in U.S. history, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 when 32 were killed before the shooter turned the gun on himself. Today's carnage exceeds the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in which 13 died and 24 were injured.


The Newtown shooting comes three days after masked gunman Jacob Roberts opened fire in a busy Oregon mall, killing two before turning the gun on himself.


Today's shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which includes 450 students in grades K-4. The town is located about 12 miles east of Danbury.


State Police received the first 911 call at 9:41 a.m. and immediately began sending emergency units from the western part of the state. Initial 911 calls stated that multiple students were trapped in a classroom, possibly with a gunman, according to a Connecticut State Police source.


Lt. Paul Vance said that on-duty and off-duty officers swarmed to the school and quickly checked "every door, every crack, every crevice" in the building looking for the gunman and evacuating children.


A photo from the scene shows a line of distressed children being led out of the school.


Three patients have been taken to Danbury Hospital, which is also on lockdown, according to the hospital's Facebook page.






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Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s 2012 Christmas card: Fiscal cliff, Gretzky in heaven


Here it is, ladies and gentlemen — your Rep. Loretta Sanchez Christmas card for 2012!






(Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez)
Over the past decade, the California Democrat’s wacky holiday greetings have drawn a cult following. “I’ve seen them being sold on eBay,” the congresswoman told us.





(Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez)
Nice topical theme this year! “The ‘fiscal cliff’ is a very serious situation, so we didn’t want to make light of it,” she said. “But sometimes a chuckle makes things a lot easier.” (Last year’s card tipped a hat to Occupy Wall Street and all that 99 percent talk: “May the joy of the holidays occupy 100 percent of your heart.”)


That’s husband Jack Einwechter dancing with her. Sanchez’s late beloved cat Gretzky, the star of so many cards over the years, is represented inside the card, a halo over his furry head. “Of course — Angel Gretzky,” she said. “We keep Gretzky every year because he has so many followers.”






Earlier:
Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ parody, with summer interns, 7/2/12



Last year:
Rep. Loretta Sanchez carries on holiday card tradition, without beloved cat Gretzky, 12/9/11



Loretta Sanchez’s 2011 Christmas card, 12/16/11




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D.C. power players appear in new video portrait — but is it art?



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EU leaders upbeat on euro future after deal on banks, Greece






BRUSSELS: EU leaders debated the euro's future in a bullish mood Thursday after deals on banks and Greece, despite fears that political uncertainty in Italy could cause new worries for the single currency.

As video showed the bloc's 27 leaders smiling and joking with each other at the beginning of a two-day summit, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said leaders should aim to cap a triumphant week that began with the European Union picking up the Nobel Peace Prize.

"We started the week well in Oslo. Let's finish it well here in Brussels with a further positive outcome," Van Rompuy said.

"The worst is now behind us, but of course much still needs to be done," he added as the leaders began deliberations on how to make the 17-nation eurozone more stable after a crippling three-year crisis.

The hero of the day was Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti, hailed for tough reforms that have brought Italy back from the brink of financial collapse but who announced last weekend he would be stepping down.

"Confidence has been returning in Italy's capacity to solve problems," said European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso. "Let me praise Mario Monti and his government for this."

Jitters over Italy's political situation loomed over the summit, after Monti said he would soon step down and former leader Silvio Berlusconi indicated he might run for a fourth term.

But on the sidelines of the talks, Berlusconi hinted he might not put himself forward, telling Belgian television channel VRT that he had "so much to do" outside politics.

At the talks, leaders will debate a report drawn up by Van Rompuy that proposes steps towards greater economic integration in the eurozone, eventually with a common "fiscal capacity" and binding reform commitments.

Following on the heels of a summit only last month that collapsed over the EU's seven-year budget, the atmosphere was noticeably brighter after ministers sealed much-heralded agreements on supervising big banks and aid to Greece.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras exclaimed that "Grexit is dead", meaning the prospect of Greece leaving the euro currency area was no longer possible after ministers released bailout funds to avert bankruptcy.

After a buy-back programme designed to reduce Greece's debt mountain, Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker said a first payment of 34.3 billion euros ($44.7 billion) would be flowing to Athens "as early as next week."

This instalment would go to help recapitalise Greece's crisis-wracked banks, to be followed by another 14.8 billion euros in the first quarter of next year.

An ecstatic Samaras, who has pushed through painful reforms demanded by creditors often in the face of violent protest, told reporters: "Greece is back on its feet. The sacrifices of the Greek people have not been in vain."

"Today is not only a new day for Greece, it is indeed a new day for Europe," he added.

"It is flying. It is happening"

Hours before the Greece deal, ministers charged the European Central Bank with monitoring banks with assets of more than 30 billion euros, or equal to 20 percent of a state's economic output from March 2014.

The agreement, which German Chancellor Angela Merkel said "cannot be valued highly enough", is the first step on the path towards a banking union and clears the way for EU bailout funds to recapitalise struggling banks directly.

Merkel called the move a "big step towards more reliability and trust in the eurozone."

The new Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) for the eurozone -- which Britain and Sweden will not take part in -- will mean the ECB directly supervising some 200 of the biggest banks out of the estimated 6,000 eurozone lenders.

ECB chief Mario Draghi hailed the accord as "an important step towards a stable economic and monetary union, and towards further European integration".

More excitedly, Barroso said: "You remember, when we spoke about this some time ago, people said it will not fly. It is flying. It is happening."

Merkel voiced some satisfaction as she looked back on a year of seemingly endless crisis summits, damaging market volatility and, at times, near break-up of the eurozone bloc.

"All in all, I want to state at the end of 2012 that we have achieved a lot. It was a very heavy year in terms of work but it was also a year in which we managed to make big progress," said the leader of Europe's biggest economy.

The head of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, however complained that workers' rights had not been taken sufficiently into account.

"As the representatives of the people, we are annoyed that the social pact that we asked for has not been included in the report drawn up by Mr Van Rompuy," Schulz told reporters.

-AFP/ac



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Govt seeks Trai's opinion on cable monopolies

NEW DELHI: The government has sought broadcast regulator Trai's views to prevent monopolistic operations by cable operators and multi-system operators, expressing concern that it might have serious implications in terms of competition, pricing and healthy growth of the cable TV sector in the market.

In a statement, the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry said, "It has been observed that cable TV distribution is virtually monopolized in some states as operation of the entire cable TV network is dominated by a single entity. At present, there are no restrictions on the issue of accumulation of interest in terms of market share in a city, district, state or country by individual MSOs and LCOs in the cable sector."

MSOs and cable operators are free to operate in any area of their choice after obtaining registration from the ministry. "It is felt that such monopolies may not be in the interest of consumers and may have serious implications in terms of competition, pricing and healthy growth of cable TV sector in that market," the ministry said.

The ministry has requested Trai to provide its recommendations on whether "in order to ensure fair competition, improved quality of service, and equity, should any restriction be imposed on MSOs/LCOs to prevent monopolies/accumulation of interest? If yes, what restrictions should be imposed and what should be the form, nature and scope of such restrictions?" The regulator will also explore the necessity of amending the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.

MSOs and cable operators are required to be registered with local post offices to be able to operate in the permitted areas of registration. However, as per recent amendments in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Rules 2012, it has become mandatory for MSOs to register with the I&B ministry to operate.

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Global Checkup: Most People Living Longer, But Sicker


If the world's entire population went in for a collective checkup, would the doctor's prognosis be good or bad? Both, according to new studies published in The Lancet medical journal.

The vast collaborative effort, called the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010, includes papers by nearly 500 authors in 50 countries. Spanning four decades of data, it represents the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of health problems around the world.

It reveals that, globally, we're living longer but coping with more illness as adults. In 1990, "childhood underweight"—a condition associated with malnutrition, measles, malaria, and other infectious diseases—was the world's biggest health problem. Now the top causes of global disease are adult ailments: high blood pressure (associated with 9.4 million deaths in 2010), tobacco smoking (6.2 million), and alcohol use (4.9 million).

First, the good news:

We're living longer. Average life expectancy has risen globally since 1970 and has increased in all but eight of the world's countries within the past decade.

Both men and women are gaining years. From 1970 to 2010, the average lifespan rose from 56.4 years to 67.5 years for men, and from 61.2 years to 73.3 years for women.

Efforts to combat childhood diseases and malnutrition have been very successful. Deaths in children under five years old declined almost 60 percent in the past four decades.

Developing countries have made huge strides in public health. In the Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, and Peru, life expectancy has increased by more than 20 years since 1970. Within the past two decades, gains of 12 to 15 years have occurred in Angola, Ethiopia, Niger, and Rwanda, an indication of successful strategies for curbing HIV, malaria, and nutritional deficiencies.

We're beating many communicable diseases. Thanks to improvements in sanitation and vaccination, the death rate for diarrheal diseases, lower respiratory infections, meningitis, and other common infectious diseases has dropped by 42 percent since 1990.

And the bad:

Non-infectious diseases are on the rise, accounting for two of every three deaths globally in 2010. Heart disease and stroke are the primary culprits.

Young adults aren't doing as well as others. Deaths in the 15 to 49 age bracket have increased globally in the past 20 years. The reasons vary by region, but diabetes, smoking, alcohol, HIV/AIDS, and malaria all play a role.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is taking a toll in sub-Saharan Africa. Life expectancy has declined overall by one to seven years in Zimbabwe and Lesotho, and young adult deaths have surged by more than 500 percent since 1970 in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

We drink too much. Alcohol overconsumption is a growing problem in the developed world, especially in Eastern Europe, where it accounts for almost a quarter of the total disease burden. Worldwide, it has become the top risk factor for people ages 15 to 49.

We eat too much, and not the right things. Deaths attributable to obesity are on the rise, with 3.4 million in 2010 compared to 2 million in 1990. Similarly, deaths attributable to dietary risk factors and physical inactivity have increased by 50 percent (4 million) in the past 20 years. Overall, we're consuming too much sodium, trans fat, processed meat, and sugar-sweetened beverages, and not enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, fiber, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Smoking is a lingering problem. Tobacco smoking, including second-hand smoke, is still the top risk factor for disease in North America and Western Europe, just as it was in 1990. Globally, it's risen in rank from the third to second leading cause of disease.

To find out more and see related charts and graphics, see the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which led the collaboration.


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Rice Withdraws From Sec. of State Consideration


ap susan rice tk 121128 wblog Susan Rice Withdraws From Secretary Of State Consideration; Kerry Emerges As Top Contender

Image Credit: Evan Vucci/AP Photo


UN Ambassador Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from consideration for Secretary of State, saying the criticism surrounding her comments on Benghazi had become an “irresponsible distraction.”


“I am fully confident that I could serve our country ably and effectively in that role,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama today. “However, if nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities.”


Read Susan Rice’s letter to President Obama


“That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country,” she added.


Rice has been criticized by Republicans for her response to questions on the Sunday talk shows shortly after the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi killed four Americans.


“The position of Secretary of State should never be politicized,” Rice wrote. “As someone who grew up in an era of comparative bipartisanship and as a sitting U.S. national security official who has served in two U.S. Administrations, I am saddened that we have reached this point, even before you have decided whom to nominate. We cannot afford such an irresponsible distraction from the most pressing issues facing the American people.”


Sources tell ABC News that even before Rice withdrew her name from consideration to be Secretary of State earlier today, Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., had emerged as the leading contender, with the president convinced he would be the better Secretary of State.


The president is all but certain to nominate Kerry, sources say, though no official decision has been made.


The position of Secretary of Defense is not as far along in the process, but sources say former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., seems to have an edge right now over other possible candidates such as former undersecretary of defense for policy Michelle Flournoy and deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.


The CIA director slot, sources say, will go to either acting director Michael Morrell or White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan.


President Obama, who publicly defended Rice on several occasions, has accepted her decision to remove her name from the running.


“I have every confidence that Susan has limitless capability to serve our country now and in the years to come, and know that I will continue to rely on her as an advisor and friend,” Obama said in a written statement. 


“While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first,” he said. “The American people can be proud to have a public servant of her caliber and character representing our country.”


Two Republican members of Congress who had adamantly opposed Rice’s potential nomination both reacted quickly.


Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., tweeted, “I respect Ambassador Rice’s decision.” And a spokesperson for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wrote, “Senator McCain thanks Ambassador Rice for her service to the country and wishes her well. He will continue to seek all the facts surrounding the attack on our consulate in Benghazi that killed four brave Americans.”


–Jake Tapper and Mary Bruce

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Will there be a by-election in Punggol East?






SINGAPORE: While the by-election in Hougang earlier this year was called under identical circumstances - where an incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) vacated his seat because of an extramarital affair - political analysts TODAY spoke to were split over whether it could be used to gauge if and when a by-election will be held in Punggol East, following the resignation of its MP, Mr Michael Palmer.

The Hougang by-election was called about three months after former MP Yaw Shin Leong was expelled from the Workers' Party for "indiscretions in personal life", after rumours had emerged about an affair with a fellow party member.

Institute of Policy Studies Senior Research Fellow Gillian Koh said any by-election could follow a timeline and process that is similar to the recent Hougang by-election.

Dr Koh said: "The public and residents in the SMC (Single Member Constituency) may expect the same kind of resolution as the Hougang case even if (the constituency) is supported by the massive PAP machinery and voted the PAP in the majority in the General Election last year."

Former Nominated MP Zulkifli Baharudin felt that a by-election would be called in less than three months.

"(The PAP) would make a quick decision. Looking at the way they have been handling this whole matter, I think they would get on with it as fast as possible, as there is no point in dragging this," he said.

But Assistant Professor Eugene Tan, a law lecturer at the Singapore Management University, disagreed.

It could be much longer - in about six to 12 months - before one might be held, given the packed political calendar in the months ahead, he said.

Asst Prof Tan, who is also a Nominated Member of Parliament, noted that for example, Parliament is set to discuss a White Paper on population and Budget 2013 in the first few months of next year.

He added: "Generally, the longer the time interval is between the vacating of the seat, and the by-election, the better it is (for the party)."

In fact, there is no certainty that a by-election will be called in Punggol East, Asst Prof Tan pointed out.

There is the question of "whether the People's Action Party wants to create a political norm, to call for a by-election whenever a seat is being vacated", he added.

Should a by-election be called in Punggol East, it will be the fourth election held in the country in a short span of time - after the General Election and Presidential Election last year, and the Hougang by-election earlier this year.

- TODAY



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'Robu, surely you've not forgotten...!'

Hoye gelo. Over. But he hasn't gone - Robu shesh hoye jayeni. He is there and he will be there... in all our tomorrows.

Ravi Shankar's sitar taught the world what Indian Classical ragas are all about. Indian music is eternal - saswat. It is universal - world music. Robu, Ananda, (Uday) Shankar, they don't go away. But there are times when I feel like asking God: Why am I still around? I ask God - although I've never met him - because today I have lost a brother, a friend, a colleague in the demise of one person: Ravi Shankar.

In 1930, I was merely 11 when my father Akshay Nandi took me to Paris for an International Colonial Exhibition. Baba used to bring out a magazine named Matri Mandir where writers like Ashapurna Devi, Mankumari Devi, Radharani Devi were all regulars. In the Indian pavilion Baba had mounted an exhibition of our handiwork - the term 'handicraft' had yet to add value to such work. One day we were surprised by the visit of some Indians in suits and trousers who were introduced to us as "Uday Shankar" and "Timir Baran". Now, although I'd heard a lot about Uday Shankar and his work with Indian dance, I was taken aback as I was expecting someone old with snow-white, flowing beard a la Rabindranath.

While leaving he invited us to his house where his mother and brothers were staying. That's where I first met Robu. A year younger to me, he came out of a room, still trying to tuck in the string of his pajamas! From the very first moment I got a brother and a friend. His mother took me under her wings: she draped me in a sari and tied my long hair. I spent the weekend with them and was dropped back on a Monday. Later that week we went to watch Uday Shankar perform with his troupe - and was left speechless.

Long 81 years have passed since that visit to Paris. I did not return to France until this May, when I went to Cannes for the screening of the restored Kalpana. Meanwhile my father, who initially said 'no' to my dancing as I was good at writing, agreed to send me to Almora where Uday Shankar proposed to me, we got married, we made Kalpana, Ananda and Mamata were born....

Through all these years, Robu has remained a brother, friend, companion. We played together, we danced together, we made music together, we read Ramayan together, we would share ideas and thoughts. That's why, every time we met, at whatever age, he'd say, "Boudi, you remember that day...?" or "Boudi, surely you haven't forgotten that time...!"

One day in Almora Shankar was concerned. "Where've you been?" he asked Robu and me. We'd gone out for a walk in the jungles and lost track of time! Sometimes he'd be dushtu, naughty. A photographer wanted to take a photo of us together. He suddenly posed like Krishna with his flute. I responded by becoming Radha. I think this is the best encapsulation of our friendship. I used to challenge him: "Tell me, do you have a more affectionate bond with any other person?" No, he'd agree, no one else was friend and sister rolled into one.

Robu always said, he had two gurus - Uday Shankar and Baba Allauddin Khan. From his elder brother Robu had mastered his showmanship: he knew what, and how much, to play, where. Uday Shankar loved Western music but he gave Robu to Baba's care. When he married Annapurna, I decked her up in bridal finery although I was still not married. Years later, one day Annapurna was complaining that Robu is deviating from Baba's signature music. "That's all!" I said. "You've married the younger brother, I, the elder. If you find five faults in Robu, I can find seven. Instead, why don't you see the qualities that have endeared him to all?"

In Uday Shankar's troupe there were 360 Indian instruments though we toured with only 130! Robu learnt the strength of each of these. That is why he could create Vrinda Gaan (Choral Music) for AIR. In Kalpana, there's a sequence where he used dekchi, handi, pitcher etc to create the robust 'noisy' music of street kids.

Ravi Shankar could understand Uday Shankar's talent, and he understood Robu's. This came out when we staged Samanya Kshati to mark Tagore Centenary in 1961, at Nehru's behest. "Got it!" Shankar had said soon as I recited the poem. But the subject was difficult to translate into a dance drama. When the Queen of Kashi sets afire some jhuggis to warm herself after a bath in the Ganga, the king banished her from the palace until she rebuilds them. But how to show realisation dawning on the repentant queen? How to translate Tagore's introspective lines into movement when Shankar never used words?

That's where Robu's music stepped in. The minute I recited the line Robu, whose sitar was playing the queen's dialogue while Ali Akbar's sarod was speaking for the king, stopped in his track. "Repeat it exactly as you spoke!" he urged. I did so, and he played the bols in his gayaki-ang, giving birth to a masterpiece.

Although in its sunset years, Robu and his brothers were born into a zamindar family where it was routine for them to be served six kinds of meat with 16 bottles of alcohol evening. I came from a rural background where we routinely had milk and flattened rice (chira) for breakfast. But we never had any gulf in our lives because we were knit together by the values and common ideals of eternal India.

That bond will continue beyond our lives.

(As told to Ratnottama Sengupta)

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Gold “Mining” Termites Found, May Lead Humans to Riches


Want to know if you're literally sitting on a gold mine? Get some termites, a new study suggests.

New experiments in West Australia reveal that termites "mine" and stockpile the precious metal while they're collecting subterranean material for their nests.

For the study, entomologist Aaron Stewart, with Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, and colleagues took samples from several termite nests and compared the nest material to nearby soil samples from varying depths.

By using a mass spectrometer—an instrument that measures molecules' chemical makeup—they discovered that the termite nests were richer in gold than termite nests farther away from the metal, Stewart said in an email. (Also see "Battling Termites? Just Add Sugar.")

"That social insect colonies can selectively accumulate metals from their environment has been known for some time," Robert Matthews, a professor emeritus of entomology at the University of Georgia, noted by email.

"Some have even suggested that ant and termite nests could be analyzed productively when searching for potential mining sites for precious metals" such as gold, he said.

Those are Stewart's thoughts exactly. Gold deposits are usually hidden a few meters below the surface, making them tough for people to locate. But insects could essentially act as indicators of this buried treasure, said Stewart, whose study appeared recently in the journal Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis.

"Drilling is expensive. If termites can help narrow down the area that needs to be drilled, then exploration companies could save a lot of money."

Termites Worth Their Waste in Gold?

In a related study published in 2011 in PLoS ONE, Stewart and his colleagues set out to find if termites, like many animals, accumulated metals within their bodies—potentially another way to pinpoint valuable mineral deposits.

Just as mammals accumulate calcium to maintain bones, some insects stockpile zinc and magnesium to harden their exoskeleton, particularly their jaws. Metals such as zinc act to reinforce those body parts.

But insects are also really good at excreting metals they do not need or that are toxic to them, Stewart noted. For example, insects shed metal either during molting or as tiny stones, much like kidney stones in humans. (Also see "Rock-Eating Bacteria 'Mine' Valuable Metals.")

When Stewart started to investigate insect excretory systems, he made a "fascinating" discovery that certain organs in the termite's excretory system contain varying amounts of metals-hinting at unknown processes going on inside the termite. That's important, he said, because it means that termite waste is a "driving force" for how metals get redistributed in an ecosystem.


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Mall Shooter Quit Job, Was Going to Hawaii













In the days before he stole a semiautomatic weapon and stormed into an Oregon shopping mall, killing two people in a shooting spree, Jacob Roberts quit his job, sold his belongings and began to seem "numb" to those closest to him.


Roberts' ex-girlfriend, Hannah Patricia Sansburn, 20, told ABC News today that the man who donned a hockey mask and opened fire on Christmas shoppers was typically happy and liked to joke around, but abruptly changed in the week before the shooting.


Roberts unleashed a murderous volley of gunfire on the second floor of the Clackamas Town Center on Tuesday while wearing the mask and black clothing, and carrying an AR-15 semiautomatic weapon and "several" magazines full of ammunition. He ended his barrage by walking down to the first floor of the mall and committing suicide.


READ: Why Mass Shooters Wear Masks


"I don't understand," Sansburn said. "I was just with him. I just talked to him. I didn't believe it was him at all. Not one part of me believed it."


She said that in recent weeks, Roberts quit his job at a gyro shop in downtown Portland and sold all of his belongings, telling her that he was moving to Hawaii. He had even purchased a ticket.


She now wonders if he was really planning to move.








Oregon Mall Shooting: 2 Dead in Clackamas Town Center Watch Video









Oregon Mall Shooting: 'Killing of Total Strangers' Watch Video









Oregon Mall Shooting: Woman on Macy's Employee's Heroism Watch Video





"He was supposed to catch a flight Saturday and I texted him, and asked how his flight went, and he told me, 'oh, I got drunk and didn't make the flight,'" she said. "And then this happens... It makes me think, was he even planning on going to Hawaii? He quit his job, sold all of his things."


Roberts described himself on his Facebook page as an "adrenaline junkie," and said he is the kind of person who thinks, "I'm going to do what I want."


Roberts, who attended Clackamas Community college, posted a picture of himself on his Facebook page firing a gun at a target. His Facebook photo showed graffiti in which the words "Follow Your Dreams" were painted over with the word "Cancelled."


Sansburn said the pair had dated for nearly a year but had broke up over the summer. Throughout their relationship, she had never seen him act violently or get angry.


"Jake was never the violent type. He didn't go out of his way to try to hurt people or upset people. His main goal was to make you laugh, smile, make you feel comfortable. I never would have guessed him to do anything like this ever," she said.


"You can't reconcile the differences. I hate him for what he did, but I can't hate the person I knew because it was nothing like the person who would go into a mall and go on a rampage. I would never associate the two at all."


The last time she saw him, which was last week, he "seemed numb," and she didn't understand why, she said.


"I just talked to him, stayed the night with him, and he just seemed numb if anything. He's usually very bubbly and happy, and I asked him why, what had changed, and said 'nothing.' He just had so much he had to do before he went to Hawaii that he was trying to distance himself from Portland," Sansburn said.


Sansburn said the last message she sent Roberts was a text, asking him to stay, and saying she didn't want him to leave. He replied "I'm sorry," with a sad face emoticon.


Police are still seeking information about what Roberts was doing in the days leading up to the shooting. They said today they believe Roberts stole the gun he used in the rampage from someone he knew. They have searched his home and his car for other clues into his motive.


Read ABC News' full coverage of the Oregon Mall Shooting


Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said earlier today on "Good Morning America" that he believes Roberts went into the mall with the goal of killing as many people as he could.


"I believe, at least from the information that's been provided to me at this point in time, it really was a killing of total strangers. To my knowledge at this point in time he was really trying, I think, to kill as many people as possible."


Sansburn said she has not talked to police.






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Obama recognises Syrian opposition






WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the Syrian opposition was now "the legitimate representative" of the Syrian people, in the most significant US intervention yet in the brutal civil war.

"We have made a decision that the Syrian opposition coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population, that we consider them the legitimate representative of the Syrian people," Obama told ABC News in an interview.

France last month became the first Western nation to formally recognise the Syrian National Coalition group as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people, as it fights beleaguered President Bashar al-Assad.

Britain, Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council followed suit, but the coalition did not win immediate universal backing because of doubts about whether it is genuinely representative of all sectors of Syrian society.

Earlier, Washington blacklisted an Al-Qaeda-linked rebel group in Syria, warning extremists could play no role in building the nation's future as the US readied to recognise the new Syrian alliance.

"There is a small element of those that oppose the Assad regime, that in fact are affiliated with Al-Qaeda in Iraq and we have designated them, Al-Nusra, as a terrorist organization," Obama said in the interview.

Though a minority, Al-Nusra has been one of the most effective rebel groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, raising concerns that hardline extremists are hijacking the 21-month-old revolt.

Senior officials however said that despite the move on recognising the opposition, Washington sticks by its policy of not directly arming the rebels.

-AFP/ac



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Apna Ghar case: Contempt petition seeks action against Haryana chief secretary

CHANDIGARH: A contempt of court petition was filed on Tuesday before the Punjab and Haryana high court against the chief secretary (CS), Haryana, following the disappearance of two female inmates of Apna Ghar.

Petitioner Usav Singh Bains, a member of Child Rights Protection Network (CRPN), has sought contempt of court proceedings against the chief secretary for state government's failure to provide safety and security to the sexually-abused children of Rohtak's controversial shelter home - Apna Ghar.

Petitioner has submitted that on October 31, HC had ordered to ensure that none of the accused who have been enlarged on bail should be in a position to either meet or contact the children under any circumstances and if any such instance is brought to the notice of the court, the same shall be viewed with seriousness and taken to be a violation of the order

He alleged that just five days after these orders, a victim of Apna Ghar shelter home, lodged at Panipat, went missing under mysterious circumstances and again on December 10, two more Apna Ghar girls were reported as missing.

Petitioner has also added that it would be in interest of safety and security of the children that all kids in Apna Ghar be immediately shifted from Haryana to "Snehalaya" - a shelter home in Chandigarh, which would not only benefit the safety and security of the children but will also help Chandigarh branch of CBI to meet the children on a regular basis as the case is being tried at the Panchkula special CBI court. The petition would come up for hearing on Wednesday.

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Best Space Pictures of 2012: Editor's Picks

Photograph courtesy Tunç Tezel, APOY/Royal Observatory

This image of the Milky Way's vast star fields hanging over a valley of human-made light was recognized in the 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by the U.K.’s Royal Observatory Greenwich.

To get the shot, photographer Tunç Tezel trekked to Uludag National Park near his hometown of Bursa, Turkey. He intended to watch the moon and evening planets, then take in the Perseids meteor shower.

"We live in a spiral arm of the Milky Way, so when we gaze through the thickness of our galaxy, we see it as a band of dense star fields encircling the sky," said Marek Kukula, the Royal Observatory's public astronomer and a contest judge.

Full story>>

Why We Love It

"I like the way this view of the Milky Way also shows us a compelling foreground landscape. It also hints at the astronomy problems caused by light pollution."—Chris Combs, news photo editor

Published December 11, 2012

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Obama Predicts GOP Will Cave on Taxes













As the clock ticks toward a tax hike on all Americans in 20 days, President Obama predicted Republicans would join Democrats to extend current rates for 98 percent of earners before the end of the year.


"I'm pretty confident that Republicans would not hold middle class taxes hostage to trying to protect tax cuts for high-income individuals," Obama said today in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters.


"I don't think they'll do that," he said of Republicans forcing tax-rate increases for families earning $250,000 a year or less.


The sign of optimism follows weeks of tense negotiations and public posturing to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff," an economically toxic package of $6 trillion in across-the-board tax hikes and $1.2 trillion in deep spending cuts that could begin in early 2013.


The White House and House Speaker John Boehner have exchanged new, competing deficit-reduction plans over the last 24 hours, sources say, but there is little indication of real progress toward a deal.


Obama has taken a hard line against extending current, lower tax rates on income over $250,000, which would affect the top 2 percent of income-earners. Republicans have said those rates should be extended.


The standoff threatens higher rates for everyone unless a broad "cliff" deal is reached, or the middle-income rates are extended on their own.


"I remain optimistic," Obama told Walters. "I'd like to see a big package. But the most important thing we can do is make sure that middle class taxes do not go up on Jan. 1."






Official White House Photo by Pete Souza











Nancy Pelosi Takes to House Floor to 'Set the Record Straight' on Fiscal Cliff Watch Video









Speaker Boehner: Where Are the President's Spending Cuts? Watch Video









Fiscal Cliff Negotiations: Obama, Boehner Meet Watch Video





More of Barbara Walters' exclusive first joint, post-election interview with President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama airs Friday, Dec. 14, on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET on ABC stations.


Related: In the interview Obama also recognized the Syrian opposition movement


Obama met privately with Boehner at the White House on Sunday for their second face-to-face session on the fiscal negotiations, signaling potential progress toward an agreement. But neither side presented specific details about the outcome of the meeting.


"I think the tone was good," Obama told Walters. "I believe that both Speaker Boehner and myself and the other leaders want to see a deal happen. And the question now is can we get it done. The outlines, the framework of what a deal should look like are pretty straightforward."


While the administration has emphasized tax increases on the wealthy, Republicans insist they need specific commitments from the White House on cuts to entitlement program spending, which are the primary drivers of federal deficits and debt.


"It was a nice meeting, it was cordial," Boehner said today of his Sunday meeting. "But we're still waiting for the White House to identify what spending cuts the president is willing to make as part of the 'balanced approach' that he promised the American people."


Boehner and House Republicans have proposed curbing the rate of increase for Social Security payments and raising the eligibility age for Medicare, among other changes, which are non-starters for many Obama supporters.


In his interview with Walters, the president hinted at new flexibility on entitlement spending cuts, but only once Republicans concede on top tax rates.


"If the Republicans can move on that [taxes] then we are prepared to do some tough things on the spending side," Obama said. "Taxes are going to go up one way or another. And I think the key is that taxes go up on high-end individuals."





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Losing points in Yemen



Alas, that’s about to end, our colleague Ernesto Londoño reports. The hotel chain is expected to yank the Sheraton logo from the heavily fortified property — home to the diplos since political unrest broke out in Sanaa last year — by Jan. 1.

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Sembawang, Nee Soon retailers hit by fee hike






SINGAPORE: Already facing dwindling profits because of the shopping malls that have sprung up nearby, hundreds of heartland retailers in the Sembawang and Nee Soon Group Representation Constituencies will be hit by higher fees - the increase is up to four-fold - for using the demarcated areas outside their shops.

The fee hike, the first in 17 years for shopkeepers in the constituencies, will be implemented in April and some 630 businesses will be affected, according to the Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council.

A visit by TODAY found that most shops use these Outdoor Display Areas - usually demarcated by yellow or red lines - to showcase their wares or to rent out to other businesses.

Responding to this newspaper's queries, a Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council spokesperson said that fees for the outdoor advertising areas in neighbourhood or town centres will go up four-fold for Outdoor Display Areas that are between 1 and 8 sq m, from S$30 to S$120.

Similarly, the fees will increase from S$50 to S$240 for areas that are between 8.01 and 16 sq m.

For areas that are above 16 sq m, the retailers will have to pay S$20 per sq m, instead of the current S$100 flat fee.

The new fees in other parts of the estate are half that in the neighbourhood or town centres. Previously, the town council charged the same fees for all outdoor advertising areas, regardless of location.

Even though operating costs have increased substantially, the fees charged by the Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council have "lagged substantially behind" other town councils, its spokesperson said. "After the review, the (fees) will range from S$2 to S$8 a day, still amongst the lowest in Singapore," she said.

Mr Lee Aik Chin, 60, who runs an IT services business at Woodlands Centre, said he will stop using the Outdoor Display Area outside his shop because of the hike. He said he was unhappy that the town council did not explain the rationale of the fee increase to the retailers.

Mr Edmund Wong, who owns Guan Chuan Chan Medical Hall, currently pays S$600 a year for about 9.3 sq m of outdoor advertising area.

With the fee hike, he will have to pay about S$3,000 a year. He will continue to pay for the space as it is "a way to attract customers".

"Business has been bad ... with the current circumstances, it makes it harder for us," said Mr Wong.

The fee hike by Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council comes after Tampines Town Council raised its fees in September by 150 per cent for shops in the neighbourhood and town centres, and doubled the fees for shops in other parts of the estate.

- TODAY



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SC refers Zakia Jafri's plea to larger bench

NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court bench on Monday referred to a larger bench the plea of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri's widow seeking documents on the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the Gulberg Housing Society riot case in Ahmedabad in 2002.

A two-judge bench of Justices D K Jain and Madan B Lokur said it cannot go into the issue as the SIT probe and related issues concerning the Godhra and other riot cases of 2002 in Gujarat was dealt by a three-member special bench, which on September 12, 2011 had passed the order relating to supply of documents to Jafri's widow, Zakia Jafri.

"We are of the view that the said order was passed by another bench and so it would be appropriate that the matter be heard by the same bench. Let the matter be placed before that larger bench as expeditiously as possible," it said.

The bench said that it would not be proper for it to pass the order and propriety also demands that the matter be referred to the larger bench which had passed the order. The SC on September 12, 2011 had directed the SIT to forward its final report regarding the Gulberg Society riots to the local court. The SIT had probed the riot cases including the Ahmedabad Gulberg Society massacre case.

An Ahmedabad trial court had on November 27 accepted the SIT closure report filed on March 13, 2012 in the case. Zakia Jafri has filed the SLP challenging the trial court's order rejecting her plea for supply of some documents relating to the investigation in the case.

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U.K. Dash for Shale Gas a Test for Global Fracking

Thomas K. Grose in London


The starting gun has sounded for the United Kingdom's "dash for gas," as the media here have dubbed it.

As early as this week, a moratorium on shale gas production is expected to be lifted. And plans to streamline and speed the regulatory process through a new Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil were unveiled last week in the annual autumn budget statement by the chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne.

In the U.K., where all underground mineral rights concerning fossil fuels belong to the crown, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, could unlock a new stream of government revenue as well as fuel. But it also means that there is no natural constituency of fracking supporters as there is in the United States, birthplace of the technology. In the U.S., concerns over land and water impact have held back fracking in some places, like New York, but production has advanced rapidly in shale basins from Texas to Pennsylvania, with support of private landowners who earn royalties from leasing to gas companies. (Related: "Natural Gas Stirs Hope and Fear in Pennsylvania")

A taste of the fight ahead in the U.K. came ahead of Osborne's speech last weekend, when several hundred protesters gathered outside of Parliament with a mock 23-foot (7-meter) drilling rig. In a letter they delivered to Prime Minister David Cameron, they called fracking "an unpredictable, unregulatable process" that was potentially toxic to the environment.

Giving shale gas a green light "would be a costly mistake," said Andy Atkins, executive director of the U.K.'s Friends of the Earth, in a statement. "People up and down the U.K. will be rightly alarmed about being guinea pigs in Osborne's fracking experiment. It's unnecessary, unwanted and unsafe."

The government has countered that natural gas-fired power plants would produce half the carbon dioxide emissions of the coal plants that still provide about 30 percent of the U.K.'s electricity. London Mayor Boris Johnson, viewed as a potential future prime minister, weighed in Monday with a blistering cry for Britain to "get fracking" to boost cleaner, cheaper energy and jobs. "In their mad denunciations of fracking, the Greens and the eco-warriors betray the mindset of people who cannot bear a piece of unadulterated good news," he wrote in the Daily Telegraph. (Related Quiz: "What You Don't Know About Natural Gas")

Energy Secretary Edward Davey, who is expected this week to lift the U.K.'s year-and-a-half-old moratorium on shale gas exploration, said gas "will ensure we can keep the lights on as increasing amounts of wind and nuclear come online through the 2020s."

A Big Role for Gas

If the fracking plan advances, it will not be the first "dash for gas" in the U.K. In the 1980s, while Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher battled with mining unions, she undercut their clout by moving the nation toward generating a greater share of its electricity from natural gas and less from coal. So natural gas already is the largest electricity fuel in Britain, providing 40 percent of electricity. (Related Interactive: "World Electricity Mix")

The United Kingdom gets about 10 percent of its electricity from renewable energy, and has plans to expand its role. But Davey has stressed the usefulness of gas-fired plants long-term as a flexible backup source to the intermittent electricity generated from wind and solar power. Johnson, on the other hand, offered an acerbic critique of renewables, including the "satanic white mills" he said were popping up on Britain's landscape. "Wave power, solar power, biomass—their collective oomph wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding," he wrote.

As recently as 2000, Great Britain was self-sufficient in natural gas because of conventional gas production in the North Sea. But that source is quickly drying up. North Sea production peaked in 2000 at 1,260 terawatt-hours (TWH); last year it totaled just 526 TWh.

Because of the North Sea, the U.K. is still one of the world's top 20 producers of gas, accounting for 1.5 percent of total global production. But Britain has been a net importer of gas since 2004. Last year, gas imports—mainly from Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands—accounted for more than 40 percent of domestic demand.

The government hopes to revive domestic natural gas production with the technology that has transformed the energy picture in the United States—horizontal drilling into deep underground shale, and high-pressure injection of water, sand, and chemicals to create fissures in the rock to release the gas. (Related Interactive: "Breaking Fuel From the Rock")

A Tougher Road

But for a number of reasons, the political landscape is far different in the United Kingdom. Britain made a foray into shale gas early last year, with a will drilled near Blackpool in northwest England. The operator, Cuadrilla, said that that area alone could contain 200 trillion cubic feet of gas, which is more than the known reserves of Iraq. But the project was halted after drilling, by the company's own admission, caused two small earthquakes. (Related: "Tracing Links Between Fracking and Earthquakes" and "Report Links Energy Activities To Higher Quake Risk") The April 2011 incident triggered the moratorium that government now appears to be ready to lift. Cuadrilla has argued that modifications to its procedures would mitigate the seismic risk, including lower injection rates and lesser fluid and sand volumes. The company said it will abandon the U.K. unless the moratorium is soon lifted.

A few days ahead of Osborne's speech, the Independent newspaper reported that maps created for Britain's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showed that 32,000 square miles, or 64 percent of the U.K. countryside, could hold shale gas reserves and thus be open for exploration. But a DECC spokeswoman said "things are not quite what it [the Independent story] suggests." Theoretically, she said, those gas deposits do exist, but "it is too soon to predict the scale of exploration here." She said many other issues, ranging from local planning permission to environmental impact, would mean that some tracts would be off limits, no matter how much reserve they held. DECC has commissioned the British Geological Survey to map the extent of Britain's reserves.

Professor Paul Stevens, a fellow of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, said the U.K. is clearly interested in trying to replicate America's shale gas revolution. "That's an important part of the story," he said, but trying to use the American playbook won't be easy. "It's a totally different ballgame." In addition to the fact that mineral rights belong to the crown, large expanses of private land that are commonplace in America don't exist in England. Just as important, there is no oil- and gas-service industry in place in Britain to quickly begin shale gas operations here. "We don't have the infrastructure set up," said Richard Davies, director of the Durham Energy Institute at Durham University, adding that it would take years to build it.

Shale gas production would also likely ignite bigger and louder protests in the U.K. and Europe. "It's much more of a big deal in Europe," Stevens said. "There are more green [nongovernmental organizations] opposed to it, and a lot more local opposition."

In any case, the U.K. government plans to move ahead. Osborne said he'll soon begin consultations on possible tax breaks for the shale gas industry. He also announced that Britain would build up to 30 new natural gas-fired power plants with 26 gigawatts (GW) of capacity. The new gas plants would largely replace decommissioned coal and nuclear power plants, though they would ultimately add 5GW of additional power to the U.K. grid. The coalition government's plan, however, leaves open the possibility of increasing the amount of gas-generated electricity to 37GW, or around half of total U.K. demand.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that Europe may have as much as 600 trillion cubic feet of shale gas that could be recovered. But Stevens said no European country is ready to emulate the United States in producing massive amounts of unconventional gas. They all lack the necessary service industry, he said, and geological differences will require different technologies. And governments aren't funding the research and development needed to develop them.

Globally, the track record for efforts to produce shale gas is mixed:

  • In France, the EIA's estimate is that shale gas reserves total 5 trillion cubic meters, or enough to fuel the country for 90 years. But in September, President Francois Hollande pledged to continue a ban on fracking imposed last year by his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.
  • Poland was also thought to have rich shale gas resources, but initial explorations have determined that original estimates of the country's reserves were overstated by 80 percent to 90 percent. After drilling two exploratory wells there, Exxon Mobil stopped operations. But because of its dependence on Russian gas, Poland is still keen to begin shale gas production.
  • South Africa removed a ban on fracking earlier this year. Developers are eyeing large shale gas reserves believed to underlie the semidesert Karoo between Johannesburg and Cape Town.
  • Canada's Quebec Province has had a moratorium on shale gas exploration and production, but a U.S. drilling company last month filed a notice of intent to sue to overturn the ban as a violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
  • Germany's Environment Ministry has backed a call to ban fracking near drinking water reservoirs.
  • China drilled its initial shale gas wells this year; by 2020, the nation's goal is for shale gas to provide 6 percent of its massive energy needs. The U.S. government's preliminary assessment is that China has the world's largest "technically recoverable" shale resources, about 50 percent larger than stores in the United States. (Related: "China Drills Into Shale Gas, Targeting Huge Reserves")

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.


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Syrian Ex-General: Assad Will Use Chemical Weapons












A former top general in Syria's chemical weapons program says he doesn't doubt for a moment that President Bashar al-Assad will deploy his chemical weapons arsenal as he tries to hold onto power and crush the uprising that started almost two years ago.


"The regime started to fall and deteriorate. It's coming to its end," said retired Major General Adnan Sillou in an interview in a hotel near Antakya, on Turkey's southern border with Syria. "It's highly possible that he'll start using [chemical weapons] to kill his own people because this regime is a killer."


Sillou told ABC News that until September 2008, he was chief of staff on the defensive side of the chemical weapons program. He said he was in charge of training soldiers against attacks and contact with the weapons, as well as procuring safety equipment to guard against them.






Courtesy Major-General Adnan Sillou







He listed mustard gas along with the sarin, VX and tabun nerve agents as the main elements in Syria's chemical arsenal, whose existence Syria doesn't even acknowledge. Foreign intelligence officials and analysts have focused on the first three as the main threats, and last week U.S. officials said there was evidence sarin had not only been moved, but its binary components, usually stored separately, had been combined and placed into bombs for use.


Sillou accuses Assad's forces of already spraying pesticides and dropping white phosphorous, claims also made by opposition activists.


"They're idiots, crazy. Simply they are killers," he said.


Sillou believes the regime could step it up to more serious chemical weapons if Aleppo, Syria's most populous city where fighting has raged for months, falls to the rebels.


In July, Sillou left Syria for Turkey almost four years after he said he retired from the military. Sillou told ABC News that in his last post, which he held for six years, he was second in command behind a man named Said Ali Khalil, a member of Assad's ruling Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.


After defecting, Sillou said he was debriefed by an Arabic-speaking agent from the Central Intelligence Agency in Turkey's capital, Ankara. The meeting lasted three hours and was the last contact he said he had with them or any other intelligence agency.


Fighting is raging around the capital, Damascus, notably on the airport road where rebels are trying to take the airport to hamper outside support and deal a highly symbolic blow to the regime. The uptick in violence near the seat of Assad's power has raised American fears that he could resort to using his chemical weapons.






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Case reviews could test Obama’s ‘evolution’ on same-sex marriage



But the court may have made it more difficult for President Obama to avoid taking a stand on whether it is unconstitutional to exclude same-sex couples from the fundamental right to marry no matter where they live.

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Obama meets with top Republican on fiscal cliff






WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama and House of Representatives speaker John Boehner met Sunday to discuss the so-called impending fiscal cliff of steep tax hikes and spending cuts.

No details of the talks were given, but a statement from Boehner's office said "the lines of communication remain open."

That sounded relatively upbeat compared to Boehner's statement on Friday, when he reported "no progress" in deficit talks. He accused the White House of recklessly pushing the country to the fiscal brink over tax hikes.

The last time the two leaders had spoken was Wednesday, by telephone.

The so-called fiscal cliff refers to a combination of severe tax increases and spending cuts due to kick in automatically in January if the president and Congress don't find a compromise plan to cut the deficit first.

Economists warn that careening over the fiscal cliff would throw the country back into a recession.

Obama sent Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to Capitol Hill last week with an opening gambit, proposing $1.6 trillion in new tax revenues over the next decade, mainly from higher tax rates on the wealthiest two percent of Americans.

A Republican counter-offer included a plan for $800 billion in tax revenue raised through closing loopholes and ending some deductions. Both plans have been rejected.

In his weekly address Saturday, Obama said he was willing to find ways to reduce health costs and make more entitlement spending cuts as sought by the Republicans.

But he said asking "the wealthiest Americans to pay higher tax rates -- that's one principle I won't compromise on."

-AFP/ac



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India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

Shreya Roy Chowdhury, TNN Dec 8, 2012, 06.12AM IST

MUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the debate—that the Indian attitude to China was influenced by a mix of ignorance, cautious optimism about partnerships and a whole lot of misguided paranoia. "Don't demonise the Chinese, please," Guha finally said in response to a question.

"China has existed in our imaginations," observed Sunil Khilnani, professor of politics and author of The Idea Of India. "There's been very little sustained engagement with the reality of China and very little of our own produced knowledge about China." It was after the events of 1962 ('war' in the popular imagination, 'skirmish' to the scholars participating in the discussion), explained Khilnani, that a miffed India "withdrew". It's the 50th anniversary of that exchange this year, and "what we haven't been able to do is learn from the defeat", observed Khilnani. Both could have benefited from greater engagement. "China has had a very clear focus on primary education and achieved high levels of literacy before its economic rise. It has also addressed the issue of land reform," said Khilnani. Guha added that China could learn from the "religious, cultural and linguistic pluralism" in India.

But China and India weren't always so out of sync with each other. Srinath Raghavan, a scholar of military history, got both Guha and Khilnani to talk about pre-1962 relations between the two when the picture was rosier. Tagore was interested in China and so was Gandhi. Both were very large countries with large populations and shared what Guha calls a "lack of cultural inferiority". "They were both," he continued, "also heavily dependent on peasant communities." Nehru was appreciative of China's will to modernize and industrialize and its adoption of technology to achieve those ends. In turn, Chinese politicians argued for Indian independence.

Things soured more, feel both Khilnani and Guha, after the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959. "He was welcomed here as a spiritual leader but the intensification of the conflict dates to the Dalai Lama's flight," said Guha. Both Guha and Khilnani argued that Nehru's decision to not react aggressively to China's occupation of Tibet was, in the long run, the right one and prevented further "militarization" of the region. An audience member wondered if that didn't make India "China's puppet". Guha disagreed. "If there's a Tibetan culture alive today," he said, "it's not because of Richard Gere. Don't believe in the hypocrisy of the Western countries. Will they give them land, employment, dignified refuge? The Tibetans is one of the few cases in which our record is honorable."

But the difference in levels of development and the lopsided trade relations between the two countries have only fuelled the suspicions many Indians seem to harbour about China. People were worried, said Guha, even about cricket balls made in China. Audience questions reflected those worries. A member asked about China's "strategy to conquer the world" and its likely impact on India. Guha cautioned against stereotypes; Khilnani explained, "History is littered with the debris of states that have tried to dominate the world. What we're doing may be more long-lasting."

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Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity


When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.

Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't need it to flourish. The research team from the University of Florida in Gainesville thinks this ability is related to a plant's inherent ability to orient itself as it grows. Seeds germinated on the International Space Station sprouted roots that behaved like they would on Earth—growing away from the seed to seek nutrients and water in exactly the same pattern observed with gravity. (Related: "Beyond Gravity.")

Since the flowers were orbiting some 220 miles (350 kilometers) above the Earth at the time, the NASA-funded experiment suggests that plants still retain an earthy instinct when they don't have gravity as a guide.

"The role of gravity in plant growth and development in terrestrial environments is well understood," said plant geneticist and study co-author Anna-Lisa Paul, with the University of Florida in Gainesville. "What is less well understood is how plants respond when you remove gravity." (See a video about plant growth.)

The new study revealed that "features of plant growth we thought were a result of gravity acting on plant cells and organs do not actually require gravity," she added.

Paul and her collaborator Robert Ferl, a plant biologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, monitored their plants from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida using images sent from the space station every six hours.

Root Growth

Grown on a nutrient-rich gel in clear petri plates, the space flowers showed familiar root growth patterns such as "skewing," where roots slant progressively as they branch out.

"When we saw the first pictures come back from orbit and saw that we had most of the skewing phenomenon we were quite surprised," Paul said.

Researchers have always thought that skewing was the result of gravity's effects on how the root tip interacts with the surfaces it encounters as it grows, she added. But Paul and Ferl suspect that in the absence of gravity, other cues take over that enable the plant to direct its roots away from the seed and light-seeking shoot. Those cues could include moisture, nutrients, and light avoidance.

"Bottom line is that although plants 'know' that they are in a novel environment, they ultimately do just fine," Paul said.

The finding further boosts the prospect of cultivating food plants in space and, eventually, on other planets.

"There's really no impediment to growing plants in microgravity, such as on a long-term mission to Mars, or in reduced-gravity environments such as in specialized greenhouses on Mars or the moon," Paul said. (Related: "Alien Trees Would Bloom Black on Worlds With Double Stars.")

The study findings appear in the latest issue of the journal BMC Plant Biology.


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Remains of Banda Superstar Jenni Rivera's Jet Reported Found












UPDATED: Multiple reports, including one from Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Mexico's Secretary of Communications and Transports, claim that the remains of the private jet carrying Jenni Rivera have been found, with no survivors. Rivera, 43, was one of 7 passengers.


Rivera's parents are believed to be en route to Mexico. Her brother, fellow singer Lupillo Rivera, and eldest daughter Chiquis have still not made any statements.


Celebrity reactions on Twitter have poured in since news of the disappearance of Rivera's jet, including Paulina Rubio (who was set to co-host the Mexican edition of The Voice with Rivera) William Levy, Joan Sebastian, Ricky Martin, and others.


Mexican officials have confirmed the disappearance of a private jet carrying regional Mexican music superstar Jenni Rivera that took off from the northern Mexican city of Monterrey at 3:15 a.m. local time on Sunday and fell off the radar 10 minutes (or 62 miles) after take-off.




The Learjet 25 jet is believed to have been carrying seven people – five passengers and two pilots. It was headed for Toluca International Aiport, located outside of Mexico City, where it was meant to arrive at 4:40 a.m. An official search for the jet was initiated at sunrise.


Rivera's publicist Arturo Rivera and her make-up artist Jacob Yebale are believed to have been on that flight. Their most recent tweets are of photos from Rivera's concert in Monterrey on Saturday night.


The Mexican American singer's most recent tweet is a re-tweet of what appears to be a fan's message.


Rivera was due in Toluca this evening for the taping of a Mexican TV show, La Voz. Televisa has canceled tonight's show given Rivera's disappearance.


Known as La Diva de la Banda and beloved by fans on both sides of the border, Rivera, 43, has had a groundbreaking career in regional Mexican music, selling some 15 million records. Among her many feats in a male-dominated genre, she made history in September 2011 when she sold out the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the first female regional Mexican artist to do so. Her reality show on mun2, I Love Jenni, is one of the network's highest rated shows. Rivera made her film debut at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in the indie family drama Filly Brown, due in theaters in January 2013.


See Also: 'Filly Brown Gives Jenni Rivera a Chance to Grow and Gina Rodriguez a Chance to Shine


The Long Beach, Calif.-born singer's personal life has often called for as much attention as her career. A mother of five, Rivera had filed for divorce from baseball player Esteban Loaiza in October after two years of marriage, citing "irreconcilable differences." Soon after, rumors of an affair between Loaiza and Rivera's own daughter Chiquis surfaced, which Chiquis addressed on Twitter in October by saying, "I would NEVER do that, Ever! That's a horrible accusation."


The search for Rivera's jet continues. This is a developing story.



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