Clinton Pledges to 'De-Escalate' Gaza Conflict

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

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"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

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Will Richard Cordray stay at consumer bureau?

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.

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Football: O'Brien breaks goal drought to rescue Hammers

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

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30% populace face respiratory disorder

INDORE: With rising pollution and increasing number of people getting hooked to smoking is leading to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD). Nearly 25-30% of city population is afflicted by chest and respiratory disorders.

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.

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Apes Have Midlife Crises, Too—And It May Help Them

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."

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Serial Killer Targeting Middle Eastern Men in NY?

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.

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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.

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WADA proposes tougher doping sanctions

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

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Warring Thackeray cousins unite in grief, but briefly

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.

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Lonesome George Not the Last of His Kind, After All?

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.

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Officials: Israeli Strike Kills 11 Civilians in Gaza

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.

Is Ceasefire Possible for Israel and Hamas? Watch Video

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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