President Obama began his first term with a dramatic change of course for the CIA, issuing orders on his second day in office to close the agency’s secret prisons and ban harsh interrogation techniques.
As Obama approaches a second term with an unexpected opening for CIA director, agency officials are watching to see whether the president’s pick signals even a modest adjustment in the main counterterrorism program he kept: the use of armed drones to kill suspected extremists.
MADRID: Spain's armed Basque separatist group ETA said Saturday it was ready to discuss disbanding and to negotiate with France and Spain if certain conditions are met, in a statement published on a Basque news site.
The group, which last year said it had abandoned violence after a four-decade campaign for an independent homeland that claimed more than 800 lives, said one outstanding issue was the transfer of Basque prisoners to jails closer to home.
ETA wanted to discuss "formulas and timetables" to bring home prisoners and Basque political exiles; disarmament and the break-up of its armed structures; and the demobilisation of ETA members.
The statement ran on Naiz.info, the website of the Basque newspaper Gara.
Until Saturday's statement, the group had refused to announce its dissolution and disarmament, as demanded by Spain and France.
But weakened by a series of arrests in France and Spain in recent years, ETA said Saturday it was ready to "listen to and analyse" proposals from Madrid and Paris.
The two governments would have a "precise knowledge" of its positions, it added.
Gara said it would publish the full statement in its Sunday edition.
ETA has been placed on a list of terrorist organisations by the United States and the European Union and has been blamed for the deaths of 829 people. Its last attack on Spanish soil was in August 2009.
It has persistently called for around 700 Basque prisoners incarcerated in jails across Spain to be transferred back to prisons in the Basque region so they can be closer to their families.
-AFP/ac
Criticizing UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for her comment against the CAG and questioning her silence about the scams of the Congress-led UPA government, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said here on Saturday, "BJP condemns the non-stop way the Congress party is out to denigrate institutions. It is surprising, in fact shocking, that even ministers from the Union cabinet come out to question to destabilize and to in a way demoralize institutions..."
She said, "We certainly would want to ask whether the Prime Minister approves of his ministers coming out and speaking in such terms about bodies I'm sure he respects and honours."
Reacting to Sonia's comments on CAG, BJP said that the party hopes that she would comment on how Congress shall handle corruption and that too when her party had committed itself to set up the proposed anti-graft body Lokpal.
"How she is going to have institutions function if this is the way her party's ministers are coming out to undermine them?" Sitharaman asked, adding that BJP would like to hear the Congress chief speak on Coalgate, CWG and Robert Vadra.
"Why has she remained silent all the while and only when there is a constitutional body being questioned, and unfairly at that, we have the comment coming forth? Mrs Gandhi, we expect you to comment on many other things..," Sitharaman demanded.
"Is there a way in destabilizing PAC, the CAG reports that are looking into KG basin or civil aviation...? Is it expected that you bring hindrance for them to carry on with their work? What is the strategy," she asked.
While the PM had volunteered to appear before PAC on 2G spectrum issue, ministers in his Cabinet are out to criticize constitutional bodies and Congress MPs are not allowing them to function, Sitharaman accused.
When corruption has emerged as a major poll issue, be it in states or in general elections, the main issue that is worrying Congress is also corruption, she said. "They are not denying corruption, they are only dithering over the amount," she pointed out.
Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling.
Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group of dwarf planets in 2006. (Related: "Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule.")
Just like the slightly larger Pluto, this icy world circles our sun beyond Neptune. Researchers expected Makemake to also have a global atmosphere—but new evidence reveals that isn't the case.
Staring at a Star
An international team of astronomers was able for the first time to probe Makemake's physical characteristics using the European Southern Observatory's three most powerful telescopes in Chile. The researchers observed the change in light given off by a distant star as the dwarf planet passed in front of it. (Learn how scientists found Makemake.)
"These events are extremely difficult to predict and observe, but they are the only means of obtaining accurate knowledge of important properties of dwarf planets," said Jose Luis Ortiz, lead author of this new study and an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Spain.
It's like trying to study a coin from a distance of 30 miles (48 kilometers) or more, Ortiz added.
Ortiz and his team knew Makemake didn't have an atmosphere when light from the background star abruptly dimmed and brightened as the chilly world drifted across its face.
"The light went off very abruptly from all the sites we observed the event so this means this world cannot have a substantial and global atmosphere like that of its sibling Pluto," Ortiz said.
If Makemake had an atmosphere, light from the star would gradually decrease and increase as the dwarf planet passed in front.
Coming Into Focus
The team's new observations add much more detail to our view of Makemake—not only limiting the possibility of an atmosphere but also determining the planet's size and surface more accurately.
"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices—mainly of methane," said Ortiz.
"But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark," he added.
Why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere remains a big mystery, but Ortiz does have a theory. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice. When the sun heats this volatile material, it turns straight into a gas, creating Pluto's atmosphere.
Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, so there is nothing for the sun to heat into a gas to provide an atmosphere.
The dwarf planet has less mass, and a weaker gravitational field, than Pluto, said Ortiz. This means that over eons of time, Makemake may not have been able to hang on to its nitrogen.
Methane ice will also transform into a gas when heated. But since the dwarf planet is nearly at its furthest distance from the sun, Ortiz believes that Makemake's surface methane is still frozen. (Learn about orbital planes.)
And even if the methane were to transform into a gas, any resulting atmosphere would cover, at most, only ten percent of the planet, said Ortiz.
The new results are detailed today in the journal Nature.
Nov 24, 2012 3:35pm
(Image Credit: Associated Press)
Superstorm Sandy delivered a one-two punch on small businesses, creating millions of dollars in damage and in turn, delivering a debilitating blow to their revenue.
But on Small Business Saturday, when shoppers are encouraged to support local businesses, those mom-and-pop stores are hoping for a rebound.
Donna Scofield and her family have sold toys at their Manhattan shop, called Stationery & Toy World, for the past 25 years. Although the store is located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where the storm did little damage, $500,000 of Scofield’s inventory, which she kept in her home and three Staten Island warehouses, was destroyed.
“Some days are easier than others,” she told ABC New York station WABC-TV last week. “We’re taking each day at a time.”
PHOTOS: Superstorm Sandy’s Wide Swath of Destruction
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today that more than $45 million in loans, grants and financial assistance would be made available to businesses like Scofield’s that were hurt by the storm.
“Getting New York City small businesses back on their feet is key to helping our economy recover from Sandy,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “The capital provided through this program will help businesses purchase supplies, make repairs, and get back up and running.”
Small Business Saturday, which is going on its third year, is being celebrated nationwide.
Andrea Evans, the owner of Pink Boutique in Phoenix, said stores like hers don’t stand a chance with shoppers on Black Friday.
“Everyone’s up so early, and they’re going more for, you know, appliances and TVs and stuff like that, and I think by the time noon hits, they’re done,” she told ABC News Radio.
Over the past two decades, small and new businesses have created two out of every three net new jobs in the United States, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
It is estimated that half of all working Americans either own a small business or are employed by one.
SECAUCUS, New Jersey: Protesters targeted Walmart stores across the United States on Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, accusing the bargain superstore of ripping off its own employees.
The protests were designed to disrupt the Black Friday shopping frenzy after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday, when deep discounts pull in waves of customers.
About 200 activists outside a huge Walmart in Secaucus, New Jersey chanted against what they called the dark side of the biggest US private employer, which has 1.3 million non-unionized workers, or "associates," as they're called. Critics say the average Walmart hourly wage is a meager $8.81, although the company says the figure is closer to $13.
"Walmart pushes wages down!" they chanted.
"I'm here because they should be paid a working wage, they should be able to buy things on Black Friday, not being forced to work on Thanksgiving," said Barry Kushnir, 43, a New Jersey road maintenance worker.
Protesters included unionized workers, street activists from the Occupy movement, a roller-skating woman in a Marie-Antoinette mini-dress, a faux pastor known for his anti-capitalist campaigns, and a lively brass band.
There did not appear to be any employees from the Walmart outlet, where the doors were open to a steady stream of shoppers, many reemerging with shopping carts piled high.
Jaclyn Kessel, one of the organizers of the demonstration, said Walmart employees "are afraid of getting fired" and she didn't expect any to come.
However, discontent at Walmart has become unusually visible this year, with strikes and protests planned in more than 100 cities, according to the United Food & Commercial Workers union, or UFCW, which is campaigning for Walmart employees.
The main force behind the demonstrations, the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart), said it was pressuring for "decent pay, regular hours, affordable healthcare and respect."
The powerful UAW auto-workers union also came on board, saying that because of Walmart's size, the company "has enormous power to set the trends not just for the retail and service industries, but for the economy as a whole."
Another prominent supporter was Robert Reich, labour secretary under president Bill Clinton, who saw the debate over conditions at Walmart, owned by the multi-billionaire Walton family, as reflecting deeper problems in US society.
"The widening inequality reflected in the gap between the pay of Walmart workers and the returns to Walmart investors, including the Walton family, haunts the American economy," Reich wrote in a post to his blog titled, "Why You Shouldn't Shop at Walmart on Friday."
Walmart, which denies there are any widespread complaints, last week filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board to try to block the Black Friday protests.
On Friday, Walmart downplayed the controversy, saying in a statement that "only 26 protests occurred at stores last night and many of them did not include any Walmart associates."
In addition, Walmart US said it had its "best ever Black Friday events," featuring 1.8 million towels, 1.3 million televisions and 1.3 million dolls sold in the first hours.
In Secaucus, shoppers had to negotiate an increasingly thick crowd of protesters in the entrance, many of whom were dancing to the brass band, watched by a half-dozen patient police officers.
Drivers in several passing cars tooted horns in support, but most paid no attention to the disturbance.
Karen Mendoza, 30, expressed sympathy with the protesters as she went into Walmart with her 55-year-old mother, saying that the kind of low-end jobs the store offers are part of an increasingly unforgiving economy.
"With the economy today it's really, really hard to get a job anywhere," she said. "My mother works at a factory, she's been there for 27 years, and they're getting rid of people all the time. Now you're not enjoying work anymore."
The roller skating Marie-Antoinette figure, whose name is Marni Halasa, agreed.
"I'm here to support the low-wage worker. Basically, unless you come from money and have access, there's very little social mobility in America," Halasa, 46, said, before gliding away on her skates.
-AFP/ac
A day after she stood in isolation in national politics, with the Left Front chairman Biman Bose saying the Trinamool Congress chief was still "politically immature", Mamata put up a defiant face and tried to project her cause as one fought on ideals, not numbers. Not that she had too many numbers to play with — the motion could muster the support of just 21 MPs on Thursday, far short of the 50 needed for the motion to be admitted.
"I am not bothered about my defeat. I am happy that I have waged a war based on ideology and values. I will hold on to my principles till my last breath, and go down fighting for them no matter how tough the road ahead is," Mamata told her audience at Ashutosh College auditorium in Kolkata, speaking on the occasion of her alma mater Jogomaya Devi College completing 80 years. She also took refuge in Ramakrishna Paramhansa to explain her warfare of ideals, saying, "Don't forget to hiss once in a while, but don't bite."
The refrain of ideals were similar to those made earlier this year, when Mamata was outmanoeuvered by the Mulayam Singh Yadav when she opposed Pranab Mukherjee's presidential candidature. After a campaign on Facebook, Mamata eventually backed Mukherjee.
But the renewed confidence in Mamata could probably also be attributed to the deadlock in Parliament as the government refused to blink before the Left and BJP's demand for a vote on FDI in multi-brand retail, which both parties preferred over supporting the Trinamool's no-trust motion.
"There is no gurantee that the Manmohan Singh government will allow a discussion in Lok Sabha, followed by voting. They (Left and BJP) wouldn't have to labour so much to initiate a discussion on FDI if they had supported our no-confidence notice," Trinamool Parliamentary Party leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said.
Whatever the consequence, Mamata said she won't budge an inch from her policies — be it FDI or land acquisition.
Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling.
Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group of dwarf planets in 2006. (Related: "Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule.")
Just like the slightly larger Pluto, this icy world circles our sun beyond Neptune. Researchers expected Makemake to also have a global atmosphere—but new evidence reveals that isn't the case.
Staring at a Star
An international team of astronomers was able for the first time to probe Makemake's physical characteristics using the European Southern Observatory's three most powerful telescopes in Chile. The researchers observed the change in light given off by a distant star as the dwarf planet passed in front of it. (Learn how scientists found Makemake.)
"These events are extremely difficult to predict and observe, but they are the only means of obtaining accurate knowledge of important properties of dwarf planets," said Jose Luis Ortiz, lead author of this new study and an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Spain.
It's like trying to study a coin from a distance of 30 miles (48 kilometers) or more, Ortiz added.
Ortiz and his team knew Makemake didn't have an atmosphere when light from the background star abruptly dimmed and brightened as the chilly world drifted across its face.
"The light went off very abruptly from all the sites we observed the event so this means this world cannot have a substantial and global atmosphere like that of its sibling Pluto," Ortiz said.
If Makemake had an atmosphere, light from the star would gradually decrease and increase as the dwarf planet passed in front.
Coming Into Focus
The team's new observations add much more detail to our view of Makemake—not only limiting the possibility of an atmosphere but also determining the planet's size and surface more accurately.
"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices—mainly of methane," said Ortiz.
"But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark," he added.
Why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere remains a big mystery, but Ortiz does have a theory. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice. When the sun heats this volatile material, it turns straight into a gas, creating Pluto's atmosphere.
Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, so there is nothing for the sun to heat into a gas to provide an atmosphere.
The dwarf planet has less mass, and a weaker gravitational field, than Pluto, said Ortiz. This means that over eons of time, Makemake may not have been able to hang on to its nitrogen.
Methane ice will also transform into a gas when heated. But since the dwarf planet is nearly at its furthest distance from the sun, Ortiz believes that Makemake's surface methane is still frozen. (Learn about orbital planes.)
And even if the methane were to transform into a gas, any resulting atmosphere would cover, at most, only ten percent of the planet, said Ortiz.
The new results are detailed today in the journal Nature.
Two people were shot outside a Walmart in Florida today, one of a rash of fights, robberies and other incidents that have cropped up on one of the most ballyhooed shopping days of the year.
The shooting took place at Walmart in Tallahassee about 12:30 p.m., said Dave Northway, public information officer for the Tallahassee Police Department.
He said a scuffle outside the store escalated into gunplay leaving two people shot. The two victims, whose names and genders have not been released, suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Police do not have a suspect at this time.
At a Walmart parking lot on Thanksgiving night in Covington, Wash., two people were run down by a driver police suspected of being intoxicated.
The 71-year-old driver was arrested on a vehicular assault charge after the incident, spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West of the Kings County Sheriff's Office said.
The female victim, whose identity has yet to be released, was pinned beneath the driver's Mercury SUV until being rescued by the fire department. She was flown to Harborview Medical Center, where she was listed in serious condition, West said.
The male victim was also taken to Harborview Medical Center, where, West said, he was listed in good condition.
Shoppers Descend on Black Friday Deals
Tensions were high at the entrances as people lined up outside stores, waiting for the doors to open.
At a San Antonio, Texas, Sears, one man argued with customers and even punched one in order to get to the front of the line, prompting a man with a concealed carry permit to pull a gun, said Matthew Porter, public information officer of the San Antonio Police Department.
"It was a little chaotic. People were exiting the store," Porter said. "Fortunately for us, officers responded quickly and were able to ease the commotion."
The man who allegedly caused the altercation fled the scene and remains at large, Porter said. The shopper who pulled the gun will not face charges, he said, because of his concealed carry permit.
One man was treated at the scene for injuries sustained when people rushed out of the store, Porter said.
PHOTOS: Black Friday Shoppers Hit Stores
The crush of shoppers in the middle of the night were prey once again this year for thieves, who hid out in parking lots.
In Myrtle Beach, S.C., a woman said a man pulled a gun on her just as she exited her car to go inside a Best Buy store. The thief made off with $200, according to a police report.
In Maryland, 14-year-old boy told police he was robbed of his Thanksgiving night purchases by five men in the parking lot of a Bed Bath and Beyond store early this morning, the Baltimore Sun reported.
And in Massachusetts, Kmart employees tried to locate a shopper over the intercom after a 2-year-old was reported to be alone in a car, ABC News affiliate WCVB-TV reported.
Police arrived to break into the car and remove the child. The boy's caretaker, his mother's boyfriend, denied the incident took place, according to the station, and was not arrested.
Ernie Maas could not help choking up as he took his first look around his new home Wednesday afternoon, a simple one-bedroom, federally subsidized apartment on North Glebe Road in Arlington County.
Maas, 61, who served in the Navy for seven years during and after the Vietnam War, has been homeless for about two years, living much of that time under a bridge on Four Mile Run in Arlington.
PARIS: Five-time European champions they may be but Liverpool must wait before they can take their place in the last 32 of the Europa League after allowing Swiss side Young Boys to draw 2-2 at Anfield on Thursday.
A much-changed Liverpool side - coach Brendan Rodgers left Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard on the bench to begin with - let the Swiss off the hook after Jonjo Shelvey and the recalled Joe Cole had scored to sandwich a riposte from Raul Bobadilla.
With just two minutes remaining Elsad Zverotic had the 2,500-strong visiting contingent on their feet as he thrashed a fine strike past Pepe Reina, the Spaniard beating Ray Clemence's European goalkeeping appearances record in Europe in his 81st game.
"Conceding a late goal is disappointing," said Cole.
"It was just game management at the end, to see the game out, which let us down. We've got a lot of young lads on the pitch, but we should have seen the game out."
Rodgers was likewise frustrated.
"We didn't control the game well in the final few minutes. But it's another point and we can still control our own destiny. It makes it harder than we would have liked."
The draw means Liverpool may need to win their final game at Udinese as Young Boys joined the Merseysiders on seven points.
Russia's Anzhi Makhachkala are already through from Group A after Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o scored in a 2-0 success over Udinese.
Tottenham could only draw 0-0 at Lazio - who qualify - meaning they also have to gain a point in their final game at home to Panathinaikos, who trail the Londoners by two points.
Former England star Paul Gascoigne, who played for both clubs with distinction, was close to tears as he received an ovation on attending the game in the Italian capital.
Lazio fans hailed him as a "lionheart" and "still our hero" on his return to the city where he spent three seasons.
Another English Premier League side, Newcastle, did book their passage, however, despite being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Portugal's Maritimo after Fidelis levelled Sylvain Marveaux's opener for the Magpies.
Bordeaux of France join Newcastle in the hat for the last 32 after a 2-1 win at Belgium's Brugge.
Joey Barton finished on the losing side as Marseille of France went down 1-0 at home to Fenerbahce of Turkey, who win Group C while Borussia Moenchengladbach also advanced after seeing of Cypriot side AEL Limassol 2-0.
Holders Atletico Madrid and Viktoria Plzen are through from Group B after a win over Israel's Hapoel Tel Aviv and a draw at Coimbra respectively and Group F is cut and dried with Dnipropetrovsk and Napoli through, PSV Eindhoven losing out.
Group H sees Rubin Kazan advance with former European champions Inter Milan, despite the latter going down 3-0 in Russia.
Other sides through include Metalist Kharkov of Ukraine, Germany's Bayer Leverkusen, Lyon, Genk of Belgium, Hanover of Germany and Spain's Levante.
There is still all to play for in Group E after Stuttgart won 5-1 at leaders Steaua Bucharest, whom they now trail by two points with FC Copenhagen a point further back and in contention after a 2-1 at Norway's Molde.
The 24 group qualifiers will be joined by eight teams who finish third in the Champions League group stages.
-AFP/ac
The boy, Imran, was admitted to Sania hospital in Alwar town on November 10 for circumcision. According to sources, after the operation, some equipment was used to prevent bleeding. However, electric current accidentally passed into his private parts and the boy suffered serious injury. On November 13, the boy was referred to a private hospital in Jaipur. After investigating the case, the doctors in Jaipur advised the boy's relatives to remove his genitals as it was necessary to save his life. The operation was conducted and his genitals were removed. Three days after the operation, the boy was again admitted to Sania hospital in Alwar.
The boy is now fighting for life while his relatives are protesting outside the hospital in Alwar.
Imran's grandfather Ayub Khan said: "The circumcision was carried out by Dr Tayyab Khan, a physician at Sania Hospital. He is not a surgeon. The licence of the hospital should be cancelled for carelessness."
Imran's uncle Fakruddin Khan said that the operation was to be completed in just 30 minutes but the doctors took four hours. "Two days after the circumcision, the doctors advised us to take the boy to Jaipur. When we took the boy to Jaipur, the doctors there immediately informed us that the boy's private parts were completely damaged and his genitals had to be removed. After operation, we tried to admit the boy in different hospitals but no hospital admitted him. The last option for us was Sania hospital. So we brought him here back after his genitals were removed in Jaipur."
However, denying the allegation, Dr Tayyab Khan said the circumcision was carried out by a surgeon Hariram Gupta. He said it was just an accident.
Former minister Nasru Khan also reached the spot to calm down the situation but all his efforts went in vain. Nasru Khan and the protestors were involved in a heated argument at the spot. The protestors alleged that he was taking the side of the hospital.
The hospital administration assured the relatives of the boy that the hospital would bear the expenses of the boy's treatment.
Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling.
Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group of dwarf planets in 2006. (Related: "Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule.")
Just like the slightly larger Pluto, this icy world circles our sun beyond Neptune. Researchers expected Makemake to also have a global atmosphere—but new evidence reveals that isn't the case.
Staring at a Star
An international team of astronomers was able for the first time to probe Makemake's physical characteristics using the European Southern Observatory's three most powerful telescopes in Chile. The researchers observed the change in light given off by a distant star as the dwarf planet passed in front of it. (Learn how scientists found Makemake.)
"These events are extremely difficult to predict and observe, but they are the only means of obtaining accurate knowledge of important properties of dwarf planets," said Jose Luis Ortiz, lead author of this new study and an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Spain.
It's like trying to study a coin from a distance of 30 miles (48 kilometers) or more, Ortiz added.
Ortiz and his team knew Makemake didn't have an atmosphere when light from the background star abruptly dimmed and brightened as the chilly world drifted across its face.
"The light went off very abruptly from all the sites we observed the event so this means this world cannot have a substantial and global atmosphere like that of its sibling Pluto," Ortiz said.
If Makemake had an atmosphere, light from the star would gradually decrease and increase as the dwarf planet passed in front.
Coming Into Focus
The team's new observations add much more detail to our view of Makemake—not only limiting the possibility of an atmosphere but also determining the planet's size and surface more accurately.
"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices—mainly of methane," said Ortiz.
"But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark," he added.
Why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere remains a big mystery, but Ortiz does have a theory. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice. When the sun heats this volatile material, it turns straight into a gas, creating Pluto's atmosphere.
Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, so there is nothing for the sun to heat into a gas to provide an atmosphere.
The dwarf planet has less mass, and a weaker gravitational field, than Pluto, said Ortiz. This means that over eons of time, Makemake may not have been able to hang on to its nitrogen.
Methane ice will also transform into a gas when heated. But since the dwarf planet is nearly at its furthest distance from the sun, Ortiz believes that Makemake's surface methane is still frozen. (Learn about orbital planes.)
And even if the methane were to transform into a gas, any resulting atmosphere would cover, at most, only ten percent of the planet, said Ortiz.
The new results are detailed today in the journal Nature.
At least two people died and more than 80 were injured after a 100-plus car pileup in Texas today, according the Department of Public Safety.
A man and a woman died from their injuries, ABC News affiliate KBMT-TV reported. Their names were not immediately available.
The DPS said it won't know the exact number of cars involved in the pileup until officials finish untangling the wrecks.
At least five people who were taken to the hospital are in critical condition, KBMT reported.
The accident happened in Jefferson County shortly after 8 a.m. Thanksgiving morning on Interstate 10 between Taylor Bayou and Hampshire Road. There was reportedly dense fog in the area at the time of the initial crash.
An 18-wheeler tanker truck began leaking after the chain-reaction accident, KBMT reported.
The eastbound side of the freeway will remain closed for another six hours at least, DPS told ABC News. The westbound lanes opened shortly after noon.
A federal investigation into how David H. Petraeus’s biographer and girlfriend obtained numerous classified records is focusing on whether the retired general’s staff gave her sensitive documents at his instruction, according to federal officials familiar with the probe.
Petraeus aides and other high-ranking military officials were often tasked by Petraeus and other top commanders to provide military records and other documents to Paula Broadwell for her work as Petraeus’s biographer, former staff members and other officials told The Washington Post.
SANTIAGO: A 6.1 magnitude quake rocked central Chile on Wednesday but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, authorities said.
The earthquake occurred at 2136 GMT, 35 kilometres (22 miles) west of Navidad, Chile, in the O'Higgins region south of Santiago, the University of Chile's Seismology Service reported.
The government's National Emergency Office issued a preliminary report saying there were "no reports of injuries to people, or alteration of basic services or infrastructure."
The Chilean navy's hydrographic and oceanographic service said there was no threat of a tsunami to the country's coast.
- AFP/fa
Incidentally, a group of retired military officers and civil activists earlier this year had tried to unsuccessfully use the infamous case to scuttle the appointment of General Bikram Singh as the new Army chief after General V K Singh on May 31.
They had accused Gen Bikram Singh of "command failure" since he was the UN deputy force commander in the Democratic Republic of Congo when the Indian troops deployed in the North Kivu province of the Central African nation were accused of the sexual exploitation of women, including four minors. The government, however, had given Gen Bikram Singh a clean chit.
On Wednesday, Gen Bikram Singh said the CoI into the case had recommended disciplinary action (court martial) against only one jawan, whose DNA sample had matched with one of the children fathered by Indian soldiers in Congo.
The other three indicted by the CoI, including the major and the JCO from the 6 Sikh regiment, will face the much milder administrative action for "command and control failure". The Army had ordered the CoI in May, 2011, only after the UN had communicated to the Indian government that a thorough probe was required in the matter.
Urban grasshoppers are changing their tune.
According to a new paper in Functional Ecology, males that dwell by busy roads boost the bass of their courtship songs to be heard above traffic.
Previous research has shown that human-made sounds affect the calls of birds, whales, and frogs. This study is the first to show that insects aren't immune.
Ecologist Ulrike Lampe and her colleagues at Bielefeld University in Germany rounded up 188 male bow-winged grasshoppers (Chorthippus biguttulus)—half from quiet places, half from roadside spots—and exposed them to a female grasshopper. When the road warriors "sang" their two-second-long courtship song by rubbing their hindlegs against their front wings, they turned up the volume on the lower frequencies.
Their country cousins did not. Lampe says the bass boost helps males be heard over the din of traffic, which could be disturbing the species' call-and-response mating rites. The fact that these males sang loudly in a quiet lab environment, she adds, suggests that the change is "not a spontaneous behavioral adaptation to noise" but a long-term effect.
(See "Suicide Grasshoppers Brainwashed by Parasite Worms.")
Grasshopper Music
Lampe doesn't know if other insect species are evolving similarly. But she suspects that other types of human-made noise—from places like construction sites, airports, and train stations—would have a similar effect on grasshoppers.
Bow-winged grasshoppers are found throughout northern and central Europe. They vary in size (from 1.5 to 2 centimeters) and color (from green and brown to red and purple). Males "sing" by rubbing their hind legs against their front wings, producing a broadband signal. Most of their song occurs in a range the human ear can't hear. (See bug pictures.)
"We can distinguish between the extremes, though," says Lampe. "If we have one grasshopper that produces songs with very high frequencies and one that produces songs with [roughly] 1 kilohertz lower frequencies, we can hear the difference."
The rockets and missiles fell silent over Gaza for the first time in eight days today, but gunfire erupted in the crowded streets of the Palestinian enclave to celebrate the announcement of a ceasefire in the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The two sides fired final salvos at one another up until the final moments before the 2 p.m. ET cease-fire deadline. At least one Israeli missile landed at 1:57 p.m. ET in Gaza, and four rockets were launched toward the Israeli province of Beer Sheva at 1:59 p.m. ET.
After 2 p.m. ET, however, the sky was finally empty of munitions.
The eight days of fighting left 130 Palestinans and five Israelis dead, and badly damaged many of Gaza's buildings. A bomb that exploded on a bus in Tel Aviv earlier today left an additional 10 Israelis wounded.
The fighting came to an end after a meeting between Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"This is a critical moment for the region," Clinton said after the meeting, standing next to Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr to announce the deal.
"The people of this region deserve a chance to live free of fear and violence and today's agreement is a step" in that direction, Clinton said. "Now we have to focus on reaching a durable outcome."
Clinton said that Egypt and the U.S. would help support the peace process going forward.
"Ultimately every step must move us toward a comprehensive peace for people of the region," she said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the cease-fire from Tel Aviv after Clinton's announcement.
"I agree that that it was a good idea to give an opportunity to the cease-fire... in order to enable Israeli citizens to return to their day to day lives," Netanyahu said.
He reiterated that it was vital to Israel's security to "prevent smuggling of arms to terrorist organizations" in the future.
An Israeli official told ABC News that the ceasefire would mean a "quiet for quiet" deal, in which both sides stop shooting and "wait and see what happens."
"Who knows if the ceasefire will even last two minutes," the official said. The official said that any possible agreement on borders and blockades on the Gaza/Israel border would come only after a period of quiet.
Clinton and Morsi met for three hours in Cairo today to discuss an end to the violence. The secretary of state met with Netanyahu Tuesday night for more than two hours, saying she sought to "de-escalate the situation in Gaza."
The fighting dragged on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning despite Hamas officials declaring publicly Tuesday afternoon that they expected a cease-fire would be announced Tuesday night, after Clinton and Netanyahu's talks.
The airstrikes by the Israeli Defense Forces overnight hit government ministries, underground tunnels, a banker's empty villa and a Hamas-linked media office. At least four strikes within seconds of each other pulverized a complex of government ministries the size of a city block, rattling nearby buildings and shattering windows.
Hours later, clouds of acrid dust still hung over the area and smoke still rose from the rubble. Gaza health officials said there were no deaths or injuries.
Ariane Tschumi has spent more than a year in government as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF), taking on challenging assignments at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) designed to develop her leadership skills and give her a window into how government operates.
She has worked alongside health-care experts designing model programs intended to better health care and lower costs, and with attorneys in the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), who are trying to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in the health-care system.
SAN FRANCISCO: Hewlett-Packard's woes deepened Tuesday as the US tech giant reported a massive loss, blaming deliberate financial misstatements from a British software firm it bought last year.
HP called for a probe by US and British authorities of software maker Autonomy, saying "accounting improprieties" before the acquisition led to an "overvalued" acquisition price, which forced HP to take a huge writedown in value.
HP's share price tumbled 11.95 percent to close at $11.71, as the new woes weighed on the US computer giant already struggling with a changing technology landscape.
The bombshell came when HP said it was taking a writedown of $8.8 billion, largely because of the reduced value of the software company acquired just over a year ago.
While writedowns under accounting rules are not unusual for slumping firms, HP said this was a case of deliberately misleading statements by Autonomy that went unnoticed until now.
"HP has referred this matter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission's Enforcement Division and the UK's Serious Fraud Office for civil and criminal investigation," HP said, as it announced a big hit to earnings.
The California firm said it was also "preparing to seek redress against various parties in the appropriate civil courts" over the losses.
HP announced the news as it reported a $6.9 billion quarterly loss. The company was pushed into the red by the writedown, of which $5.5 billion was linked to Autonomy and the rest to the slumping value of HP's own share price.
The announcement triggered stunned reactions from people involved in the Autonomy deal, and sceptical comments from analysts about HP's future.
HP chief executive Meg Whitman, who took over after the acquisition, said "the two people that should have been held responsible are gone" but noted that board members and others were not alerted by financial reviews from well-respected auditors.
"The board relied on audited financials, audited by Deloitte, not brand X accounting firm but Deloitte," she said.
"We hired KPMG to audit Deloitte, and neither of them saw what we now see."
An HP statement said "some former members of Autonomy's management team used accounting improprieties, misrepresentations and disclosure failures to inflate the underlying financial metrics of the company."
"These efforts appear to have been a willful effort to mislead investors and potential buyers."
HP said it launched an internal investigation "after a senior member of Autonomy's leadership team came forward," prompting a fresh review by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
As a result, HP said it "now believes that Autonomy was substantially overvalued at the time of its acquisition."
Former HP chief Leo Apotheker, who spearheaded the Autonomy deal in 2011 before being forced out, said he was "stunned and disappointed" by the allegations, and claimed there was a "meticulous and thorough" review before the deal closed.
Mike Lynch, founder of Autonomy, told The Wall Street Journal the allegations were "completely and utterly wrong."
The news added to woes at HP, which remains one of the world's biggest PC makers but has been struggling to keep pace with a shift to mobile computing and tablets.
The US computer giant closed its the fiscal year with a $12.65 billion loss.
Revenues fell seven percent to a worse-than-expected $30 billion in the quarter and were down five percent to $120.4 billion for the year.
"We expected bad but got worse," said analyst Peter Misek at Jefferies.
Misek said that even putting aside the Autonomy problems, HP forecasts are "too optimistic."
Chris Whitmore at Deutsche Bank issued a "sell" recommendation for HP, saying the latest write-down "could raise concerns around HP's internal controls... and potential for other negative surprises under the prior CEO's tenure."
Brian White at Topeka Capital Markets said HP would need "heroic improvements" to turn itself around and noted that the stock is down 80 percent from 2010 highs.
"HP remains a 'show me' stock and investors' patience is already running very thin," he said.
"In our view, the solution is simple, make bigger and bolder decisions to right the ship, starting with divesting the PC business and cleaning up the board of directors."
- AFP/fa
CHANDIGARH: Punjab government has asked the Centre to help the state in promoting farm diversification and demanded a technology mission for the same with an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore for green revolution areas in the 12th Five Year Plan.
Batting for the state's case before a high-level delegation of experts from agriculture, animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries led by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal said that the procurement of alternative crops, especially maize, through Food Corporation of India at MSP should be ensured to help the beleaguered farmers to shift from paddy.
He also reiterated that livestock sector could play a major role in improving the income of the small and landless farmers in the rural areas. However, for this purpose, it must be brought at par with agriculture for the purpose of funding, interest on loans as well as income tax exemptions, the CM pointed out.
Demanding a slew of incentives to promote dairying in a big way, Badal urged Pawar to grant exemption from custom duty for import of machinery relating to dairy, poultry, feed and fodder, besides additional allocation under various dairy development schemes.
Punjab government has also asked the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to revise the quality norms with regard to cow milk. In Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, this milk is required to have 4% fat. For all other parts of the country, these standards vary and the requirement of fat was only 3.5%. The milk of high yielding cross bred cows contain about 3.5% fat and there is dire need to rationalize the standards, said the CM.
An unusual high-tech oil-drilling rig that's been at work off the coast of Cuba departed last week, headed for either Africa or Brazil. With it went the island nation's best hope, at least in the short term, for reaping a share of the energy treasure beneath the sea that separates it from its longtime ideological foe.
For many Floridians, especially in the Cuban-American community, it was welcome news this month that Cuba had drilled its third unsuccessful well this year and was suspending deepwater oil exploration. (Related Pictures: "Four Offshore Drilling Frontiers") While some feared an oil spill in the Straits of Florida, some 70 miles (113 kilometers) from the U.S. coast, others were concerned that drilling success would extend the reviled reign of the Castros, long-time dictator Fidel and his brother and hand-picked successor, Raúl.
"The regime's latest efforts to bolster their tyrannical rule through oil revenues was unsuccessful," said U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a written statement.
But Cuba's disappointing foray into deepwater doesn't end its quest for energy. The nation produces domestically only about half the oil it consumes. As with every aspect of its economy, its choices for making up the shortfall are sorely limited by the 50-year-old United States trade embargo.
At what could be a time of transition for Cuba, experts agree that the failure of deepwater exploration increases the Castro regime's dependence on the leftist government of Venezuela, which has been meeting fully half of Cuba's oil needs with steeply subsidized fuel. (Related: "Cuba's New Now") And it means Cuba will continue to seek out a wellspring of energy independence without U.S. technology, greatly increasing both the challenges, and the risks.
Rigged for the Job
There's perhaps no better symbol of the complexity of Cuba's energy chase than the Scarabeo 9, the $750 million rig that spent much of this year plumbing the depths of the Straits of Florida and Gulf of Mexico. It is the only deepwater platform in the world that can drill in Cuban waters without running afoul of U.S. sanctions. It was no easy feat to outfit the rig with fewer than 10 percent U.S. parts, given the dominance of U.S. technology in the ultra-deepwater industry. By some reports, only the Scarabeo 9's blowout preventer was made in the United States.
Owned by the Italian firm Saipem, built in China, and outfitted in Singapore, Scarabeo 9 was shipped to Cuba's coast at great cost. "They had to drag a rig from the other side of the world," said Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, a University of Nebraska professor and expert on Cuba's oil industry. "It made the wells incredibly expensive to drill."
Leasing the semisubmersible platform at an estimated cost of $500,000 a day, three separate companies from three separate nations took their turns at drilling for Cuba. In May, Spanish company Repsol sank a well that turned out to be nonviable. Over the summer, Malaysia's Petronas took its turn, with equally disappointing results. Last up was state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA); on November 2, Granma, the Cuban national Communist Party daily newspaper, reported that effort also was unsuccessful.
It's not unusual to hit dry holes in drilling, but the approach in offshore Cuba was shaped by uniquely political circumstances. Benjamin-Alvarado points out that some of the areas drilled did turn up oil. But rather than shift nearby to find productive—if not hugely lucrative—sites, each new company dragged the rig to an entirely different area off Cuba. It's as if the companies were only going for the "big home runs" to justify the cost of drilling, he said. "The embargo had a profound impact on Cuba's efforts to find oil."
Given its prospects, it's doubtful that Cuba will give up its hunt for oil. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the waters north and west of Cuba contain 4.6 billion barrels of oil. State-owned Cubapetroleo says undiscovered offshore reserves all around the island may be more than 20 billion barrels, which would be double the reserves of Mexico.
But last week, Scarabeo 9 headed away from Cuban shores for new deepwater prospects elsewhere. That leaves Cuba without a platform that can drill in the ultradeepwater that is thought to hold the bulk of its stores. "This rig is the only shovel they have to dig for it," said Jorge Piñon, a former president of Amoco Oil Latin America (now part of BP) and an expert on Cuba's energy sector who is now a research fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.
Many in the Cuban-American community, like Ros-Lehtinen—the daughter of an anti-Castro author and businessman, who emigrated from Cuba with her family as a child—hailed the development. She said it was important to keep up pressure on Cuba, noting that another foreign oil crew is heading for the island; Russian state-owned Zarubezhneft is expected to begin drilling this month in a shallow offshore field. She is sponsoring a bill that would further tighten the U.S. embargo to punish companies helping in Cuba's petroleum exploration. "An oil-rich Castro regime is not in our interests," she said.
Environmental, Political Risks
But an energy-poor Cuba also has its risks. One of the chief concerns has been over the danger of an accident as Cuba pursues its search for oil, so close to Florida's coastline, at times in the brisk currents of the straits, and without U.S. industry expertise on safety. The worries led to a remarkable series of meetings among environmentalists, Cuban officials, and even U.S government officials over several years. Conferences organized by groups like the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and its counterparts in Cuba have taken place in the Bahamas, Mexico City, and elsewhere. The meetings included other countries in the region to diminish political backlash, though observers say the primary goal was to bring together U.S. and Cuban officials.
EDF led a delegation last year to Cuba, where it has worked for more than a decade with Cuban scientists on shared environmental concerns. The visitors included former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator William Reilly, who co-chaired the national commission that investigated BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and spill of nearly 5 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. (Related Quiz: "How Much Do You Know About the Gulf Oil Spill?") They discussed Cuba's exploration plans and shared information on the risks.
"We've found world-class science in all our interactions with the Cubans," said Douglas Rader, EDF's chief oceans scientist. He said, however, that the embargo has left Cubans with insufficient resources and inexperience with high-tech gear.
Although the United States and Cuba have no formal diplomatic relations, sources say government officials have made low-profile efforts to prepare for a potential problem. But the two nations still lack an agreement on how to manage response to a drilling disaster, said Robert Muse, a Washington attorney and expert on licensing under the embargo. That lessens the chance of a coordinated response of the sort that was crucial to containing damage from the Deepwater Horizon spill, he said.
"There's a need to get over yesterday's politics," said Rader. "It's time to make sure we're all in a position to respond to the next event, wherever it is."
In addition to the environmental risks of Cuba going it alone, there are the political risks. Piñon, at the University of Texas, said success in deepwater could have helped Cuba spring free of Venezuela's influence as the time nears for the Castro brothers to give up power. Raúl Castro, who took over in 2008 for ailing brother Fidel, now 86, is himself 81 years old. At a potentially crucial time of transition, the influence of Venezuela's outspoken leftist president Hugo Chávez could thwart moves by Cuba away from its state-dominated economy or toward warmer relations with the United States, said Piñon.
Chávez's reelection to a six-year term last month keeps the Venezuelan oil flowing to Cuba for the foreseeable future. But it was clear in Havana that the nation's energy lifeline hung for a time on the outcome of this year's Venezuelan election. (Chávez's opponent, Henrique Capriles Radonski, complained the deal with Cuba was sapping Venezuela's economy, sending oil worth more than $4 billion a year to the island, while Venezuela was receiving only $800 million per year in medical and social services in return.)
So Cuba is determined to continue exploring. Its latest partner, Russia's Zarubezhneft, is expected to begin drilling this month in perhaps 1,000 feet of water, about 200 miles east of Havana. Piñon said the shallow water holds less promise for a major find. But that doesn't mean Cuba will give up trying.
"This is a book with many chapters," Piñon said. "And we're just done with the first chapter." (Related: "U.S. to Overtake Saudi Arabia, Russia As Top Energy Producer")
This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she would seek to "de-escalate the situation in Gaza" today during a closed-door meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel.
Clinton, who flew to Israel today, appeared with Netanyahu ahead of their 4 p.m. ET meeting to discuss a possible ceasefire to the fighting between Israel and Islamic militants in Gaza.
The meeting came amid statements from Hamas earlier today that a ceasefire would soon be announced.
Netanyahu said he would prefer to use "diplomatic means" to find a solution to the fighting, but that Israel would take "whatever actions necessary" to defend its people.
"One of the things that we are doing is trying to resist and counter a terrorist barrage which is aimed directly at our civilians," Netanyahu said. "No country can tolerate a wanton attack on its civilians."
Clinton relayed a message from President Obama, reinforcing America's commitment to Isarael's security and calling for an end to the rockets coming from "terrorist orgnaizations in Gaza."
The Israel-Gaza Conflict in Pictures
"American's commitment to Israel's security is rock solid and unwavering. That is why we believe it is essential to de-escalate the situation in Gaza," Clinton said.
Clinton also said that she would reiterate her message to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi during a meeting on Wednesday.
Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv/Getty Images
"President Obama has emphasized the same points in his multiple conversations with president Morsi of Egypt and we appreciate President Morsi's personal leadership and Egypt's efforts thus far," she said. "As a regional leader and neighbor, Egypt has the opportunity and responsibility to continue playing a crucial and constructive role in this process. I will carry this message to Cairo tomorrow."
Clinton expressed her condolences for the Palestinian and Israeli civilians who have been killed in the violent outbreak.
The rocket fire between Israel and Hamas, which began six days ago, has claimed 126 Palestinian lives and three Israeli lives. A ceasefire, if reached, would bring a halt to the worst violence between Gaza and Israel in four years.
Israeli officials told ABC News earlier today that a final deal had not been brokered between Israel and Hamas, and that if a pact were reached, it would not be announced until after midnight local time, or 5 p.m. ET.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told ABC News the news would be announced at a press conference in Cairo where Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has been trying to broker an end to the fighting.
An Islamic Jihad website also reported that the ceasefire would go into effect tonight.
Clinton will also meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas about the fighting.
In the meantime, however, Abu Zuhri called on all militant groups to continue firing rockets on Israel "in retaliation for the Israeli massacres."
Israeli missiles also continued to explode in Gaza while sirens sounded in Israel, signalling incoming rocket fire from Gaza.
Hamas said three Palestinian journalists were killed by an Israeli missile today and Israel said one of its soldiers was killed in by a Palestinian rocket today.
Gazans streamed out of northern neighborhoods during the afternoon after the Israel Defense Forces dropped leaflets telling residents to evacuate before dark. Scared Palestinians poured into Gaza City, cars and trucks piled high with belongings, many heading to schools for shelter.
There have been 126 Palestinian deaths in six days of fighting, just under half were civilians. Three Israelis were killed last Thursday when a rocket slammed into their apartment.
ABC News' Matt Gutman contributed to this report
Richard Cordray
(Andrew Harrer - BLOOMBERG)
Buzz at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is that director Richard Cordray is thinking about leaving the agency when his recess appointment expires at the end of next year, rather than go through another contentious confirmation battle.
A spokesperson at the bureau said Cordray, often talked about as a potential Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Ohio, strongly denies any plans to leave his job and the White House isn’t commenting. But his chances of getting confirmed are pretty much nil — and he can’t be re-recessed.
The governorship will be up for grabs in 2014, leading to speculation that Cordray will make a move. He lost earlier bids for the Senate and House.
Loop Fans may recall that Senate Republicans blocked his nomination in 2011, insisting that the administration first agree to have a five-member commission oversee the new consumer watchdog.
The stand-off left the bureau leaderless, unable to write any rules, so President Obama gave Cordray a recess appointment, an end-run that outraged Senate Republicans.
Even so, Cordray and his team forged ahead with rules to govern the financial services industry and enforcement actions to keep companies in line..
Just as the bureau is settling into the role of regulator, it is facing a potential leadership vacuum. Not only is Cordray’s term up in the coming year, but his deputy director Raj Date is stepping down on Jan.y 31.
Date, who helped build the agency from the ground up, would have been acting director in the Cordray left at the end of the year. But now it’s uncertain who would step into the role if Cordray departs.
LONDON: West Ham rescued a 1-1 draw against Stoke at Upton Park on Monday thanks to Joey O'Brien's first ever Premier League goal.
Republic of Ireland right-back O'Brien had never scored in the English top-flight despite a long career at that level with Bolton and now West Ham, but the 26-year-old chose the perfect moment to end his drought.
Sam Allardyce's side trailed to a goal early in the first half from Stoke striker Jonathan Walters until O'Brien slotted home from close-range three minutes after the interval to earn his moment as the unlikely hero.
O'Brien's intervention maintained West Ham's impressive start to the season and they remain seventh in the table, level on points with Arsenal, and above the likes of Tottenham, Liverpool and Newcastle.
Stoke's seventh draw from 12 league matches this season kept Tony Pulis's team clear of the relegation zone, although it also extended their winless run on their travels to 16 matches.
After all the pre-match talk that this would be a bruising battle between two sides who prefer the aggressive route-one approach, it was fitting that Stoke's early opener arrived via a set piece rather than a intricate passing move.
Pulis's side took the lead in the 12th minute when Glenn Whelan's corner was met by Walters, who timed his run perfectly to drive his shot past Hammers goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and beyond Andy Carroll's attempt to clear off the line.
That was Walters' third goal of the season and Stoke could have been further in front before half-time when midfielder Steven Nzonzi lashed a fierce strike against the crossbar from long-range.
Just before that referee Chris Foy had turned down West Ham's penalty appeals after Geoff Cameron's push on Carroll.
But the hosts came out with more energy in the second half and Kevin Nolan should have equalised almost immediately when the midfielder's close-range header from George McCartney's cross was straight at goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.
Nolan didn't have worry for long though as West Ham equalised in the 48th minute when Gary O'Neil crossed from the right for O'Brien to flick home.
Allardyce's men came closest to winning it when Carroll flicked on Mark Noble's corner and Modibo Maiga pounced to fire in a shot that Begovic saved well.
- AFP/fa
To curb this, many city doctors staged a street play at 56 dukan, Transport Nagar and Dewas Naka area on Monday. Doctors said that due to COPD, wind pipe gets shrink and people develop complications like cough and breathlessness. Dr S Z Jafri, chest and asthma specialist, said, "People are unaware of COPD. The number of people afflicted by the disease is on rise. Those above 40 years of age are at risk. The disease is considered to be fifth most fatal disease in the world."
To raise awareness about the diseases in masses, theatre artistes presented a street play and spread steps to avoid contraction of disease. A free breath screening was also done through breathometer and vitalograph equipment.
Too bad chimpanzees can't buy sports cars. New research says it's not just humans who go through midlife crises: Chimps and orangutans also experience a dip in happiness around the middle of their lives.
"There may be different things going on at the surface, but underneath it all, there's something common in all three species that's leading to this," said study leader Alexander Weiss, a primate psychologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
The study team asked longtime caretakers of more than 500 chimpanzees and orangutans at zoos in five countries to fill out a questionnaire about the well-being of each animal they work with, including overall mood, how much the animals seemed to enjoy social interactions, and how successful they were in achieving goals (such as obtaining a desired item or spot within their enclosure).
The survey even asked the humans to imagine themselves as the animal and rate how happy they'd be.
Happiness Curve
When Weiss's team plotted the results on a graph, they saw a familiar curve, bottoming out in the middle of the animals' lives and rising again in old age. It's the same U-shape that has shown up in several studies about age and happiness in people.
"When you look at worldwide data, you see this U-shape," said National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner, author of Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)
"It's different for every country, but it's usually somewhere between age 45 and 55 that you hit the bottom of the curve, and it continues to go up with age. You see centenarians in good health reporting higher well-being than teenagers."
(Take Buettner's True Happiness Test.)
Social and economic hypotheses may partly explain this happiness curve in human lifetimes: Maybe it's tied to adjusting expectations, abandoning regret, or just getting more stuff as we grow older. But Weiss suspects there may be something more primal going on.
"We're saying, take a step back and look at the big picture: Is there any evidence that there's an evolutionary basis underlying this?" said Weiss, whose study was published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Knowing that a similar phenomenon exists in human and nonhuman primates opens up the realm of possible explanations."
Strike While The Iron Is Hot
Although the stereotype of a midlife crisis is generally negative—feelings of depression or discontentment with one's life and where it's headed—Weiss believes such ennui may have an evolutionary upside.
By the middle of one's life, humans and apes often have access to more resources than when they were younger, which could make it easier to achieve goals. Feelings of discontentment may be nature's way of motivating us to "strike while the iron is hot," said Weiss.
"It may feel lousy, but your brain could be tricking you into improving your circumstances and situation, signaling you to get up and really start pushing while you're absolutely at your prime," he said. "And I think that's a really powerful and positive message."
Coping With Midlife Ruts
Knowing that a midlife dip in happiness is a natural—and temporary—part of life could make it easier for humans to cope with the experience, Weiss said. It could also help caretakers improve captive apes' quality of life, by identifying ages at which the animals might benefit from extra attention or enrichment.
(See pictures of places where people are happiest.)
"I don't think this totally subsumes other explanations for age-related changes in happiness, but it adds another layer," Weiss said.
Weiss has previously studied the correlation between personality and happiness in both chimpanzees and humans, and plans to look next at the impact of factors like sex and social groupings.
"I hope this raises awareness of all that we can learn by looking at our closest living animal relatives."
New York detectives are searching for four potential witnesses to the killing of a Brooklyn shop owner, the latest in a trio of murders in which all three victims were of Middle Eastern descent and all appear to have been shot by the same .22 caliber gun.
New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said today that the department will ask the FBI for a profiler to help identify who might have killed these three people.
Rahmatollah Vahidipour, an Iranian Jew, was killed inside the She She boutique in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn on Friday night, sustaining three gunshot wounds to the head and torso. The 78-year-old's body was dragged to the back of the store and covered with merchandise, WABC reported.
Police said that shell casings from the gun match the casings found at two other murder this summer.
In addition, the killings were within a five mile radius of each other, each occurred at a small shop that lacked security cameras and each victim was over 50, police said. It was also not clear whether the victims were robbed.
Vahidipour's body was discovered in his boutique at 7:11 p.m. The four people caught on video in the vicinity of the area between 6 p.m. and 6: 52 p.m. on Friday are not considered suspects in the crime, police said.
"Detectives want to question them about what they may have observed because of the time of day and their proximity to the homicide scene," Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said in a statement.
Police said that two of the potential witnesses, a man and a woman, were captured on video Friday evening running one after the other south on Flatbush Avenue, a half block south of the crime scene. The woman can be seen taking off her green jacket, which police said was later recovered in a nearby garbage can.
Police indicated they have a strong interest in talking to a white male seen carrying a duffle bag in one of several photos and a video they released.
Ballistic tests performed by the NYPD show that the gun used in Friday's homicide was also used in two recent south Brooklyn shooting deaths this summer.
Clothing store owner Mohamed Gebeli, an Egyptian Muslim, was killed inside Valentino Fashion in Bay Ridge on July 6. Gebeli was shot in the neck and was found with several pieces of clothing on top of him. Police said $383 in receipts was missing, but $1,500 was found inside a cabinet.
On Aug. 2, Isaac Kadare, a Jew who was of Egyptian descent, was found dead at the Amazing 99 Cents Deal store that he owned in Bensonhurst. Kadare had been shot in the temple and had three stab wounds to the neck. His face was covered with an aluminum tray and bleach had been splashed on his pants. It wasn't clear if anything had been taken from Kadare's store.
Police said they are not sure if the homicides were racially motivated.
State Sen. Eric Adams, a former New York City police officer, suggested Sunday that the string of homicides could be the work of a serial killer.
"We don't want the city to be engulfed in fear based on the actions of a potential serial killer who appears to be targeting men of Middle Eastern descent," Adams said. "This person must be apprehended."
Police said that no evidence has yet been recovered to indicate bias crime in Vahidipour's murder. Still, personnel from the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force were added Sunday to a group of detectives investigating the three homicides "for their expertise."
Former FBI agent and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett said the common thread between the three homicides could be that as shop owners working alone, they were all vulnerable.
"The question clearly is motive. It's going to be robbery, hate, or revenge," Garrett said. "If the motive is robbery, a lot of violent robbers shoot the people they rob. If this is a hate crime, he went in there to do what he did, to kill the owner and have enough time to get away. If that's the case, I think it's reasonable to think all three of these guys were profiled previously."
Rewards of $22,000 in each of the homicides are being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the crimes.
MONTREAL: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) proposed a draft code Sunday that would usher in stiffer sanctions against cheaters and grant itself investigative powers in cases where national sports bodies refuse to take action.
The WADA draft code, which will be reviewed in December and approved in 2013, calls for a four-year sanction of ineligibility from a sport instead of two years under the current code.
"I think there is a real will in the world of sport to see sanctions that are a little more meaningful," John Fahey, WADA chairman told AFP.
"I believe that the proposals that are in the draft are proportionate. They certainly respond to those who seek to extend the current sanctions from two up to the four years. I think the message is strong here."
Fahey was speaking at a WADA foundation meeting which drew a number of participants, including the president of International Cycling Union (UCI) Pat McQuaid, who sat solemnly and consulted his smart phone for most of the proceedings.
McQuaid has tried to defend himself against charges that he failed to fight against drugtaking in cycling in the wake of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report that revealed rampant doping by Lance Armstrong and the teams the disgraced rider was associated with.
Fahey said USADA's probe was able to show "the most comprehensive, irrefutable outcome of a culture of doping in cycling and certainly the most sophisticated sham in the teams associated with Armstrong. That indicates that we can achieve outcomes. We can bring things through to a point where these cheats are exposed."
Fahey said that while anti-doping advocates were buoyed by USADA's dramatic findings, WADA itself needed extend its jurisdiction in cases where sports governing bodies refuse to investigate allegations of cheating. The draft code proposes more testing and newly-minted powers of investigation.
"The proposal that goes out in December clearly articulates that WADA has the power to investigate. What that tells me is that when a sporting body, an anti-doping organization is given information and they do nothing about it - and we've had many examples of that in the past - that WADA can go in and do something about it with investigative powers."
Fahey, who was in Kenya recently, said he was dismayed to realize that authorities there were not committed to investigating a German media report that performance-enhancing substances were being made available to Kenyan runners by people posing as doctors.
'We asked the Kenyan authorities to investigate that independently. We said to the National Olympic Committee and to Athletics Kenya that you need to establish an independent inquiry to see if it's true."
"Nothing has happened. They haven't done anything. I asked the minister when I was there. I spoke to president of the National Olympic Committee. They talked to me about looking into it. We went around in circles. I've written since and said 'have you got an independent investigation going as to the availability of performance enhancing drugs readily in your country that was a statement from one of your own athletes?' I haven't got any answers from them."
"If we had investigative powers I could have said: 'You set up an independent inquiry or we will. If you don't do it, we will."
WADA's draft code, which would be finalized in 2013, would officially take effect in 2015.
- AFP/fa
MUMBAI: Long-simmering differences between the Thackeray cousins came to the fore on Sunday, with Raj leaving his uncle's funeral procession mid-way in a huff after a spat with Uddhav.
A key MNS functionary said his party chief was deliberately kept away from the family rituals. "Rajsaheb was not allowed to be a pallbearer, which is his undeniable right as he is Balasaheb's nephew."That he was not to be one of the pallbearers was conveyed to Raj when he reached Matoshree earlier in the day. "He was told that Shiv Sena leaders and deputy leaders would take turns to carry the casket," the MNS functionary said. "This was Matoshree's way of rebuffing Rajsaheb and reminding him that while he may be a family member, in the Sena, which he quit in 2005, he is still persona non-grata."
As the funeral procession made its way to Shivaji Park, Raj walked ahead, hoping that Uddhav would join him. "The cousins were supposed to walk together, preceding the cortege," the MNS worker said.
However, Uddhav scrambled on to the truck carrying Bal Thackeray's body, leaving Raj to walk alone. A miffed Raj hopped into his vehicle and returned to his residence.
Brothers' spat sign of things to come?
The spat between Uddhav and Raj on Sunday, even as Bal Thackeray's funeral was under way, is a clear indication that the possibility of a thaw between the cousins is bleak, say political observers.
Left to walk alone in the funeral procession, Raj Thackeray abandoned the course mid-way and returned home late afternoon. On reaching his residence, Raj shut himself in his study and watched the funeral procession on TV, it is reliably learned. He told mediapersons who called him to know his whereabouts that he would be at Shivaji Park for the cremation. Raj's wife, Sharmila, though, accompanied the cortege with Uddhav, his wife Rashmi and their children.
Later in the evening, he attended the final rites along with Uddhav and his brother Jaidev at Shivaji Park.
Raj was made aware of the lurking hostility in Matoshree earlier last week when he called on the fast-sinking Sena patriarch. "Things became immensely embarrassing for Rajsaheb. He left Matoshree and sat in his car which was parked nearby for nearly two hours. He politely turned down Smitatai's (Thackeray) suggestion that he should retire to her room in Matoshree," said an MNS corporator.
The tide may be turning for the rare subspecies of giant tortoise thought to have gone extinct when its last known member, the beloved Lonesome George, died in June.
A new study by Yale University researchers reveals that DNA from George's ancestors lives on—and that more of his kind may still be alive in a remote area of Ecuador's Galápagos Islands.
This isn't the first time Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni has been revived: The massive reptiles were last seen in 1906 and considered extinct until the 1972 discovery of Lonesome George, then around 60 years old, on Pinta Island. The population had been wiped out by human settlers, who overharvested the tortoises for meat and introduced goats and pigs that destroyed the tortoises' habitat and much of the island's vegetation.
Now, in an area known as Volcano Wolf—on the secluded northern tip of Isabela, another Galápagos island—the researchers have identified 17 hybrid descendants of C.n. abingdoni within a population of 1,667 tortoises.
Genetic testing identified three males, nine females, and five juveniles (under the age of 20) with DNA from C.n. abingdoni. The presence of juveniles suggests that purebred specimens may exist on the island too, the researchers said.
"Even the parents of some of the older individuals may still be alive today, given that tortoises live for so long and that we detected high levels of ancestry in a few of these hybrids," Yale evolutionary biologist Danielle Edwards said.
(See pictures of Galápagos animals.)
Galápagos Castaways
How did Lonesome George's relatives end up some 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Pinta Island? Edwards said ocean currents, which would have carried the tortoises to other areas, had nothing to do with it. Instead, she thinks humans likely transported the animals.
Crews on 19th-century whaling and naval vessels hunted accessible islands like Pinta for oil and meat, carrying live tortoises back to their ships.
Tortoises can survive up to 12 months without food or water because of their slow metabolisms, making the creatures a useful source of meat to stave off scurvy on long sea voyages. But during naval conflicts, the giant tortoises—which weighed between 200 and 600 pounds (90 and 270 kilograms) each—were often thrown overboard to lighten the ship's load.
That could also explain why one of the Volcano Wolf tortoises contains DNA from the tortoise species Chelonoidis elephantopus, which is native to another island, as a previous study revealed. That species is also extinct in its native habitat, Floreana Island.
(Related: "No Lovin' for Lonesome George.")
Life After Extinction?
Giant tortoises are essential to the Galápagos Island ecosystem, Edwards said. They scatter soil and seeds, and their eating habits help maintain the population balance of woody vegetation and cacti. Now, scientists have another chance to save C.n. abingdoni and C. elephantopus.
With a grant from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration, which also helped fund the current study, the researchers plan to return to Volcano Wolf's rugged countryside to collect hybrid tortoises—and purebreds, if the team can find them—and begin a captive-breeding program. (National Geographic News is part of the Society.)
If all goes well, both C.n. abingdoni and C. elephantopus may someday be restored to their wild homes in the Galápagos. (Learn more about the effort to revive the Floreana Galápagos tortoises.)
"The word 'extinction' signifies the point of no return," senior research scientist Adalgisa Caccone wrote in the team's grant proposal. "Yet new technology can sometimes provide hope in challenging the irrevocable nature of this concept."
More: "Galápagos Expedition Journal: Face to Face With Giant Tortoises" >>
The new Lonesome George study was published by the journal Biological Conservation.
An Israeli missile ripped through a two-story home in a residential area of Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 11 civilians, including four young children and an 81-year-old woman, in the single deadliest attack of Israel's offensive against Islamic militants.
The bloodshed was likely to raise pressure on Israel to end the fighting, even as it pledged to intensify the offensive by striking the homes of wanted militants. High numbers of civilian casualties in an offensive four years ago led to fierce criticism and condemnation of Israel.
In all, 73 Palestinians, including 37 civilians, have been killed in the five-day onslaught. Three Israeli civilians have also died from Palestinian rocket fire.
President Barack Obama said he was in touch with players across the region in hopes of halting the fighting, while also warning of the risks of Israel expanding its air assault into a ground war.
"We're going to have to see what kind of progress we can make in the next 24, 36, 48 hours," Obama said during a visit in Thailand.
On the ground, there were no signs of any letup in the fighting as Israel announced it was widening the offensive to target the military commanders of the ruling Hamas group.
The Israeli military carried out dozens of airstrikes throughout the day, and naval forces bombarded targets along Gaza's Mediterranean coast. Many of the attacks focused on homes where militant leaders or weapons were believed to be hidden.
Palestinian militants continued to barrage Israel with rockets, firing more than 100 on Sunday, and setting off air raid sirens across the southern part of the country. Some 40 rockets were intercepted by Israel's U.S.-financed "Iron Dome" rocket-defense system, including two that targeted the metropolis of Tel Aviv.
Israel's decision to step up its attacks in Gaza marked a new and risky phase of the operation, given the likelihood of civilian casualties in the densely populated territory of 1.6 million Palestinians. Israel launched the offensive Wednesday in what it said was an effort to end months of intensifying rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
In the day's deadliest violence, the Israeli navy fired at a home where it said a top wanted militant was hiding. The missile struck the home of the Daloo family in Gaza City, reducing the structure to rubble.
Frantic rescuers, bolstered by bulldozers, pulled the limp bodies of children from the ruins of the house, including a toddler and a 5-year-old, as survivors and bystanders screamed in grief. Later, the bodies of the children were laid out in the morgue of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital.
Among the 11 dead were four small children and five women, including an 81-year-old, Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said.
More than a dozen homes of Hamas commanders or families linked to Hamas were struck on Sunday. Though most were empty — their inhabitants having fled to shelter — at least three had families in them. Al-Kidra said 20 of 27 people killed Sunday were civilians, mostly women and children.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said that "the Israeli people will pay the price" for the killing of civilians.
Israel sought to place the blame on militants, saying they were intentionally operating in places inhabited by civilians. The military has released videos and images of what it says are militants firing rockets from mosques, schools and public buildings.
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