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In the Developing World, Solar Is Cheaper than Fossil Fuels

2012-01-27T23:17:00.000-08:00

The falling cost of LED lighting, batteries, and solar panels, together with innovative business plans, are allowing millions of households in Africa and elsewhere to switch from crude kerosene lamps to cleaner and safer electric lighting. For many, this offers a means to charge their mobile phones, which are becoming ubiquitous in Africa, instead of having to rent a charger.

Technology advances are opening up a huge new market for solar power: the approximately 1.3 billion people around the world who don't have access to grid electricity. Even though they are typically very poor, these people have to pay far more for lighting than people in rich countries because they use inefficient kerosene lamps. While in most parts of the world solar power typically costs far more than electricity from conventional power plants—especially when including battery costs—for some people, solar power makes economic sense because it costs half as much as lighting with kerosene.

Hundreds of companies are swooping in to grab a piece of this market.

"This sector has exploded," says Richenda Van Leeuwen, senior director for the Energy and Climate team at the United Nations Foundation. "There's been a sea change in the last five years."

The sudden interest is fueled by the advent of relatively low-cost LEDs, she says. Not long ago, powering lightbulbs required a solar panel that could generate 20 to 30 watts, since only incandescent lightbulbs were affordable. LEDs are far more efficient. Now people can have bright lighting using a panel that only generates a couple of watts of power, Van Leeuwen says.

But such technological improvements aren't quite enough to open up the market. High-quality LED systems, with a pair of lamps and enough battery storage for several hours of lighting, cost less than $50. The systems can pay for themselves in less than two years, but the upfront cost is still too steep for many people.

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800,000 overseas tourist visit Hainan in this year 2011

2011-12-29T02:07:00.000-08:00

China's southernmost island region of Hainan is estimated to have received more than 800,000 overseas tourists this year, according to a local tourism official.

Meanwhile, with 13 direct round-trip flights between Hainan and Taiwan available each week, the number of tourists from Taiwan exceeds 100,000 this year.

The increase in abroad tourists has been partly attributed to the visa-free entry policy. Travelers from 26 countries, including Russia, Germany, the Republic of Korea and Malaysia, could join tour groups and register with authorities just one day ahead of their planned departure times.

Hainan has recently been building itself into a world-class travel destination, and tourism revenue has been bolstered by the increased number of tourists. Revenues this year are predictable to total around 32 billion yuan (5.06 billion U.S. dollars), according to statistics from the provincial tourism commission.

Five Killed in Latest Baghdad Bombing

2011-12-26T04:29:00.000-08:00

BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives attacked a checkpoint in front of the Iraqi Interior Ministry on Monday morning, killing five, wounding 39 and roiling a country unsettled by a political crisis and a wave of deadly bombings just days ago.

As Baghdad’s rush hour was beginning around 7:30 a.m., the bomber tried to ram the car through one of the few entrances to a compound that houses the ministry, the country’s police academy, several jails and a hospital, according to officials.

Security officers opened fire on the car and the bomber detonated the explosives, killing two of the officers and three civilians, the officials said. Many officers were among the wounded.

“When the explosion happened it was so loud I couldn’t hear anything — I felt like I was in a different world,” said Ahmed Abed, 45, a taxi driver whose car was damaged in the attack. “What am I going to do now? I depend on this car for supporting my family.”

The Ministry of Interior has a symbolic importance in the ongoing political crisis that engulfed the country as the last American troops were withdrawing a little more than a week ago. The crisis began when a spokesman for the ministry, which is controlled by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, publicly accused the country’s Sunni vice-president, Tariq al-Hashimi, of running a death squad.

In a televised news conference, the spokesman waved a warrant for Mr. Hashimi’s arrest in front of the cameras and played videotaped confessions of Mr. Hashimi’s body guards saying he was behind orders they received to kill government officials. The accusations were a tipping point in a widening rift between Mr. Maliki’s Shiite-led government and leaders of the country’s Sunni minority.

On Thursday morning, a series of explosions across Baghdad killed more than 60 people, marking the deadliest day in the capital in more than a year and underscoring the country’s tenuous security.

No group claimed responsibility for that attack or the one on Monday, but they were similar to others conducted by Al Qaeda in Iraq, the insurgent group accused of trying to plunge the country back into a sectarian conflict by pitting Sunnis and Shiites against one another.

The bombing on Monday came hours after the Iraqi government reached a potential breakthrough to relocate 3,400 Iranian dissidents living at a camp inside Iraq’s borders, potentially unwinding a standoff between Iraq and the camp’s residents. The exiles are members a paramilitary group that has tried to topple Iran’s government and is listed as a terrorist group by the United States. They were given refuge by Saddam Hussein during his war with Iran, but the current Iraqi government, with closer ties to Iran, has vowed to dismantle the camp in eastern Iraq.

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US declares Iraq war over

2011-12-16T03:21:00.000-08:00

BAGHDAD (AP) -- After nearly nine years, 4,500 American dead and 100,000 Iraqi dead, U.S. officials formally shut down the war in Iraq -- a conflict that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was worth the American sacrifice, because it set Iraq on a path to democracy.

Panetta stepped off his military plane in Baghdad Thursday as the leader of America's war in Iraq, but will leave as one of many top U.S. and global officials who hope to work with the struggling nation as it tries to find its new place in the Middle East and the broader world.

Bombings and gun battles are still common. And experts are concerned about the Iraqi security force's ability to defend the nation against foreign threats.

In addition to the dead, the war left 32,000 Americans wounded and cost the U.S. more than $800 billion.

Still, Panetta said earlier this week, it "has not been in vain."

Panetta and several other U.S. diplomatic, military and defense leaders participated Thursday in a symbolic ceremony during which the flag of U.S. Forces-Iraq was officially retired, or "cased," according to Army tradition. The U.S. Forces-Iraq flag was furled -- or wrapped -- around a flagpole and covered in camouflage. It will be brought back to the United States.

"You will leave with great pride -- lasting pride," Panetta told the troops. "Secure in knowing that your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people to begin a new chapter in history."

During a stop in Afghanistan this week, Panetta described the mission as "making that country sovereign and independent and able to govern and secure itself."

That, he said, is "a tribute to everybody -- everybody who fought in that war, everybody who spilled blood in that war, everybody who was dedicated to making sure we could achieve that mission."

Iraqi citizens offered a more pessimistic assessment. "The Americans are leaving behind them a destroyed country," said Mariam Khazim of Sadr City. "The Americans did not leave modern schools or big factories behind them. Instead, they left thousands of widows and orphans."

The Iraq Body Count website says more than 100,000 Iraqis have been killed since the U.S. invasion in 2003.

A member of the political coalition loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr saw another message in the U.S. withdrawal. "The American ceremony represents the failure of the U.S. occupation of Iraq due to the great resistance of the Iraqi people," said Sadrist lawmaker Amir al-Kinani.

Panetta echoed President Barack Obama's promise that the U.S. plans to keep a robust diplomatic presence in Iraq, foster a deep and lasting relationship with the nation and maintain a strong military force in the region.

As of Thursday, there were two U.S. bases and about 4,000 U.S. troops in Iraq -- a dramatic drop from the roughly 500 military installations and as many as 170,000 troops during the surge ordered by President George W. Bush in 2007, when violence and raging sectarianism gripped the country. All U.S. troops are slated to be out of Iraq by the end of the year, but officials are likely to meet that goal a bit before then.

The total U.S. departure is a bit earlier than initially planned, and military leaders worry that it is a bit premature for the still maturing Iraqi security forces, who face continuing struggles to develop the logistics, air operations, surveillance and intelligence sharing capabilities they will need in what has long been a difficult neighborhood.

U.S. officials were unable to reach an agreement with the Iraqis on legal issues and troop immunity that would have allowed a small training and counterterrorism force to remain. U.S. defense officials said they expect there will be no movement on that issue until sometime next year.

Still, despite Obama's earlier contention that all American troops would be home for Christmas, at least 4,000 forces will remain in Kuwait for some months. The troops will be able to help finalize the move out of Iraq, but could also be used as a quick reaction force if needed.

Obama met in Washington with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier this week, vowing to remain committed to Iraq as the two countries struggle to define their new relationship. Ending the war was an early goal of the Obama administration, and Thursday's ceremony will allow the president to fulfill a crucial campaign promise during a politically opportune time. The 2012 presidential race is roiling and Republicans are in a ferocious battle to determine who will face off against Obama in the election.

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2011-12-08T22:40:00.000-08:00

When Apple pulls the veil off of its newest store on Friday, New Yorkers will get their first glimpse at the classical architecture-meets-computers retail space inside Grand Central Terminal.

Behind a temporary black facade, which has teased commuters for weeks with "arriving soon" messages, Apple has been negotiating aggressively and stealthily with contractors and government agencies to quickly secure a favorable deal. The Grand Central outlet is just one of several high-profile stores the company has been readying with characteristic covertness.

Interviews with nearly two dozen people involved in the development of upcoming and recently opened U.S. Apple Stores, including the one in Grand Central, provide a look at Apple's unusually furtive way of doing business. These people say Apple sometimes employs uncommon legal tactics, refuses to name itself in public documents and hearings, and has sworn city government officials to secrecy.

Apple's shrewd negotiating tactics are well known in other parts of its business. Nondisclosure agreements are strictly enforced with employees, contractors and partners, and punishment for disloyalty is swift and unforgiving.

For example, employees who leak internal memos may be fired as soon as they are discovered. When prototype iPhones were lost in bars in two consecutive years, police officers searched the homes of people suspected of possessing them.

But retail chains, especially those that sell electronics, aren't typically associated with controversy. And retail industry executives say Apple's demands for absolute secrecy in its store-development process are peculiar and unjustified.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment for this story.

'Apple is not typical'

As buzz grew about work on a Grand Central Apple Store, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which controls the station, spurned many interview requests -- even months after the store was unveiled at a public meeting in July. A New York Times editorial published in August lamented that procuring any details about the project "was like trying to uncover a state secret."

When reached by phone in October, MTA spokeswoman Marjorie Anders told CNN in response to a question about the soon-to-open Apple Store, "We're not talking about that." Why? "Because Apple doesn't want us to."

Is this typical?

"No, but Apple is not typical," Anders said. Further questions, she said, would need to be submitted in a formal Freedom of Information request, a government process that can take months to yield documents.

Grand Central is a historic landmark, meaning each project must go through an approval process. Apple asked for its architects to deal directly with New York's State Historic Preservation Office -- a role that's supposed to be handled by the MTA -- so the process was completed promptly, said Beth Cumming, a director for New York's State Historic Preservation Office.

Similar maneuvers are being used at other stores. Officials in Berkeley, California, referred questions about a new Apple Store to the city's formal public-records division. They offered two brief reports, one of which Apple did not list its name on.

"We generally don't talk about our customers," said Berkeley spokeswoman Mary Kay Clunies-Ross in a phone interview in September. "We're obviously glad that Apple is here and hope they will stay for a long time."

At a shopping mall in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Washington, where Apple already has a store, the computer company is opening a new one on the floor above, where clothing and jewelry stores used to be, according to public documents.

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2011-12-05T03:38:00.000-08:00

APPLE has lost a request in the US for a court order in its attempt to block sales of Samsung's 4G smartphone and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer, according to a ruling that was posted on a court docket and then removed.

The iPad maker, in its lawsuit filed in a federal court in San Jose, California, sought an order blocking Samsung from selling its Galaxy line of mobile devices in the US based on claims they violate Apple patents.

The lawsuit is part of a legal battle between the companies being fought in 10 countries, including Australia, where the High Court on Friday granted Apple a further delay of court orders overturning an earlier ruling which banned the device from sale.

Samsung said in a statement that the US federal court ruling confirmed its long-held view that Apple's arguments lacked merit.

"In particular, the court has recognised that Samsung has raised substantial questions about the validity of certain of Apple's design patents," the statement said.

The two companies have filed at least 30 lawsuits against each other, Samsung said. The conflict began in April, when Apple filed the San Jose lawsuit claiming the South Korean company's Galaxy devices copied the iPhone and iPad.

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Mayan tablet does not predict end of the world in 2012, says expert

2011-12-02T01:46:00.000-08:00

The end is not quite nigh. At least that is the conclusion of a German expert who says his decoding of a Mayan tablet with a reference to a 2012 date denotes a transition to a new era and not a possible end of the world as others have read it.

The interpretation of the hieroglyphs by Sven Gronemeyer of La Trobe University in Australia was presented for the first time on Wednesday at the archaeological site of Palenque in southern Mexico.

His comments came less than a week after Mexico's archaeology institute acknowledged there was a second reference to the 2012 date in Mayan inscriptions, touching off another round of talk about whether it predicts the end of the world.

Gronemeyer has been studying the stone tablet, which was found years ago at the archaeological site of Tortuguero in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Tabasco.

He said the inscription described the return of the mysterious Mayan god Bolon Yokte at the end of a 13th period of 400 years, known as Baktuns, on the equivalent of 21 December 2012. Mayans considered 13 a sacred number. There is nothing apocalyptic in the date, he said.

The text was carved about 1,300 years ago. The stone has cracked, which has made the end of the passage almost illegible.

Gronemeyer said the inscription referred to the end of a cycle of 5,125 years since the beginning of the Mayan Long Count calendar in 3113 BC.

The fragment was a prophecy of the then ruler Bahlam Ajaw, who wanted to plan the passage of the god, Gronemeyer said.

"For the elite of Tortuguero, it was clear they had to prepare the land for the return of the god and for Bahlam Ajaw to be the host of this initiation," he said.

Bolon Yokte, the god of creation and war, was to prevail that day in a sanctuary of Tortuguero.

"The date acquired a symbolic value because it is seen as a reflection of the day of creation," Gronemeyer said. "It is the passage of a god and not necessarily a great leap for humanity."

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Frank Delape Scams – Not So effective

2011-09-13T01:08:00.000-07:00

Frank delape scams are not so effective since it has no worthy points to support it. Frank Delape is a person who has been very success in the philanthropic community and he also engage actively in the philanthropic events throughout the year. He is a very busy scheduled entrepreneur and apart from his hectic schedule, he also engages himself in the philanthropic endeavors. Starting from UNICEF program and continuing more, his faith inspire him to serve others with purpose. Whenever frank delape participate in the fund raising programs it seems to be great fundraising success and he protects even animals which are abused and neglected.

When considering philanthropic endeavors, frank and Kimberly delape always give back their support and provide the necessary help to the needy. Frank Delape not only care for the needy people, but also care for reducing the carbon footprint of residential resorts and hopes to inspire others with a new approach to development in Panama. These points are there to say that the frank delape scams are not so potent and the main intention behind it is to spoil the reputation of him, but is has been broken up easily with his philanthropic endeavors.

Frank Delape - The Generous Philanthropist

2011-08-24T02:28:00.000-07:00

As goes the quotes by Maxwell “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”The best example for these quotes is MR Frank Delape the CEO of benchmark equity group and he is the real leader for many those who want to excel in their business and also for those who want to help others. He knows his way and goes in it in the right path and showing the best way to other though his great philanthropic endeavors. As said by john Wesley “Let me do all the good I can, to all the people I can, as often as I can, for I shall not pass this way again." Frank Delape goes behind these quotes and he has been doing many good things to many people and made their life shine better.

Frank Delape Philanthropic Diary is full, but still he utilizes even the small space of that page and dedicates his time to help others. He gave proper school supplies to the children’s studying in panama schools and has made this as his yearly initiative work and every year he dresses himself as the Father Christmas and present gifts to the children in the bridge over troubled waters. Frank Delape hosted a Christmas party for the whole San Jose de malambo orphanage and helped the Indians in the archipelago of bocas Del toro by providing proper medical aided facilities. Frank Delape has been so kind and he cares for the animals which are abused and neglected. Through Crisis intervention of Houston he has been serving person in crisis and providing help, hope and inspiration to those who might otherwise be forgotten through tux & tennies foundation. Let his work continue so even the people in other parts of the world can be benefitted.

iPhone 4 still works after 13,500-ft fall from skydiver's pocket!

2011-07-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

London, July 19 (ANI): In what is sure to make Apple proud of its gadgets, one of their i Phone 4 units, which recently slipped out of a skydiver's pocket, survived intact after a 13,500-ft fall to the ground. That's not all, it can still make and receive calls!

Jarrod McKinney said he was in such a rush to "get out the door" of the plane on a recent tandem jump that he forgot to secure his device. As a result, it landed on top of a two-storey building.

McKinney, however, managed to locate using a GPS application. It was then that his friend Joe Johnson, a skydiving instructor, jokingly dialed Mr McKinney's number - and the iPhone rang.

'They were all like, "It works! It works!"' he said.

While the glass exterior was cracked to pieces, the 37-year-old from Minnesota was still able to make a call.

"As unbelievable as it sounds, my phone had fallen 13,500ft, and was still sending out a signal," the Daily Mail quoted him as telling CNN.

The news that an iPhone 4 could survive a 13,500ft fall is especially surprising considering the problems the model had with its antenna reception upon its release last year.

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Man found in suitcase trying to escape from prison by her girl friend.

2011-07-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

CHETUMAL, Mexico (AP) — Police say a woman was caught trying to sneak her common-law-husband out of a Mexican prison in a suitcase following a conjugal visit.

A spokesman for police in the Caribbean state of Quintana Roo says staff at the prison in Chetumal noticed that the woman seemed nervous and was pulling a black, wheeled suitcase that looked bulky.

Spokesman Gerardo Campos said Monday that prison guards checked the bag of 19-year-old Maria del Mar Arjona and found inmate Juan Ramirez Tijerina curled up inside in the fetal position.

Ramirez is serving a 20-year sentence for a 2007 conviction for illegal weapons possession.

Arjona was arrested and charges are pending.

In this photo taken Saturday, July 2, 2011, prison inmate Juan Ramirez Tijerina is curled inside a suitcase after he tried to escape from prison with the help of his girlfriend following a conjugal visit in Chetumal, Mexico. Ramirez is serving a 20-year sentence for a 2007 conviction for illegal weapons possession. His girlfriend was arrested and charges are pending. (AP Photo/SIPSE)

Three blasts in Mumbai

2011-07-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Three near-simultaneous explosions rocked Mumbai at rush-hour on Wednesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring 141 in what the government said appeared to be another terrorist strike in the city hit by a major attack nearly three years ago.

Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the latest attack killed 20 people, and home minister P Chidambaram said the toll was likely to rise.

Television footage showed dozens of police officials, several of them armed, at the sites of the explosion and at least one car with its windows shattered. A photograph showed victims of a blast at the Zaveri Bazaar crowding into the back of a cargo truck to be taken to a hospital.

Because of the close timing of the string of explosions, ``we infer that this was a coordinated attack by terrorists,'' home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said.

One blast hit the crowded neighborhood of Dadar in central Mumbai. The others were at the Zaveri Bazaar, which is a famed jewelry market, and the busy business district of Opera House, both in southern Mumbai and several miles (kilometers) apart, police said.

All three blasts happened from 6:50pm. to 7pm., when all the neighborhoods would have been packed with office workers and commuters.

The 2008 attack killed 166 people and was blamed on Pakistan-based militant groups. Tensions escalated between the countries and peace talks were suspended. The talks recently resumed.

Soon after Wednesday's blasts were reported, Pakistan's government expressed distress on the loss of lives and injuries.

The blasts would mark the first major attack on Mumbai since the November 2008 violence, when 10 terrorists laid siege to the city for 60 hours, targeting two luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a busy train station. There was no immediate indication that Wednesday's blasts were part of a prolonged siege.

Mumbai has been on edge since then. In December, authorities deployed extra police on city streets after receiving intelligence that a Pakistan-based militant group was planning an attack over New Year's weekend. Police conducted house-to-house searches in some neighborhoods for four men who authorities believe entered the city to carry out a terrorist attack, and computer-aided photographs of the four suspects were released.

In March 2010, Mumbai police said they prevented a major terrorist strike after they arrested two Indian men, who, police said, were preparing to hit several targets in the city. Then in September, police issued a terror alert for the city during a popular Hindu festival.

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Infy's own social network

2011-07-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

Infosys Limited may not be your friendliest neighbour or the most employee-friendly IT company around. But they sure are making amends.

'Infy Bubble', their recently launched internal social networking site is supposedly a platform for disgruntled Infoscions to vent on. The site mirrors Facebook and allows employees to connect across borders with colleagues as well as bicker about anything they want, said Nandita Gurjar, Vice President and Group Head, Human Resources, Infosys Limited.

She added that the site doesn't encourage personal attacks but it does welcome negative feedback about their bosses and peers. The site also allows them to share photographs and other stuff just like they do on Facebook, thus giving them a platform to engage themselves with other employees.

This is one of the internal PR exercises Infosys is conscientiously indulging in to salvage their image. The company has been battling severe criticism and high attrition rates lately.

And, despite rising wages hurting the IT bellwhether's profit margins, it isn't stopping its hiring momentum. Infosys that plans to hire 12,000 employees this quarter has already added 9,992 employees this year.

When asked if this would further affect their revenues, the management strongly responded by saying that they are going as per their yearly target of 45,000 new additions. With the improving business sentiment and revival in IT spends , IT firms are stepping up hiring to meet demand for their services.

The company today posted a 15.72 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,722 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2011. During the first quarter, Infosys and its subsidiaries saw over 7,000 employees leaving.

As we know, with increased hiring comes a high rate of attrition. But the company isn't really worried about it. Gurjar says, "This is the quarter when we normally expect employees to go for higher studies. 30% of the employees who have quit cited this reason."

She says, the company can't stop employees from pursuing higher studies. However, they are pondering on how to get them back with acquired skill sets. Gurjar says, "95% of the employees who quit to pursue higher studies actually want to come back. But since we have a structured process they have to undergo the complete interview cycle in the campuses. So may be in the near future we might have a policy where an employee can come back after getting MBA degrees or something else without getting into the complete interview cycle.".

But there is an interesting bit of information that Gurjar revealed. "34% per cent of our total employee workforce is woman. So in this quarter 32% of the woman employees who quit didn't cite any reason for quitting the job. They just wanted to take a break. Now this is something that we want to review."

While they ponder on what's working and what's not, the company is also planning an Infosys radio service through which the management will regularly interact with the employees. Looks like the company is engaging in some serious PR exercises with employees to build a few bridges. But will it curtail attrition? In true Infosys management lingo, "We might have to wait for the next quarter" for an answer.

Maruti stops production of Swift hatchback, to relaunch new version by September

2011-07-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

India’s largest carmaker Maruti has ended the production of its highly selling premium hatchback Swift, to make way for the next generation Swift, which will be launched in late August or early September.

Dealers have started accepting bookings for the new Swift. Maruti has codenamed the new Swift as YP8 and its trial runs are on in the Manesar plant, reports Economic Times.

According to a report in Business Standard, The car will come with 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel variants. It was reported that the new model, built on a slightly longer yet new platform, will be little extra roomy, lighter and return better mileage than the current generation Swift. Besides, engineers have also achieved a substantial reduction in the overall weight of the car by replacing the metal fuel tank with a plastic tank. This will improve its fuel efficiency by a little over 13 per cent. This will be the first major face-lift for the Swift since it was launched six years ago. Pricing details of the new car has not been shared by the company.

It was also reported that the new Swift will be produced at the company’s Manesar facility in Haryana, which has recently seen labour unrest. The petrol variant will return a mileage of around 20 km a litre, as compared to 17.9 km per litre certified by the Automotive Research Association of India. Similarly, the diesel model will deliver around 23.8 km per litre, as against the existing 21 km a litre.

The report stated that for installing the plastic fuel tanks, Maruti Suzuki India has tied up with France’s Plastic Omnium, the world’s largest manufacturer of plastic fuel tanks as it was mentioned that plastic fuel tanks are usually 25-35 per cent lighter than the conventional metal tanks. Besides, these are corrosion-free, durable, non-explosive and easily recyclable. Maruti Suzuki India has entered into a tripartite joint venture with Suzuki Motor Corporation and Plastic Omnium to manufacture fuel tanks at the Manesar facility. The new plastic tank manufacturing facility, Inergy Automotive Systems Manufacturing India Private Ltd, was inaugurated in Manesar on Monday.

According to the report, Maruti may also offer a four-speed automatic transmission option in the petrol version, besides the regular five-speed manual. The Swift which is available now in petrol, diesel and CNG versions and priced between Rs 3.9-5.5 lakh, sells close to 12,000 units every month. It recorded a growth of 21 per cent last year selling over 140,000 units as against 116,000 units sold in the previous year. The Swift accounts for about 25 per cent of the hatchback segment, and competes with Hyundai i20, Volkswagen Polo, Skoda Fabia, Nissan Micra, Fiat Punto and Toyota Liva. It was also mentioned that Maruti is also preparing to launch a new Swift Dzire, which will be cheaper and will probably hit the market by early 2012.

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Facebook and Skype in video chat deal

2011-07-07T02:16:00.001-07:00

Facebook will soon add Skype video chat as a new feature, aiming to add appeal to the world's already most used online social networking service while fending off increased competition from Google.

The agreement between the two companies was announced by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at the company's California headquarters on Wednesday, deepening the company's relationship with Microsoft Corp, which is in the process of buying Skype to build its web presence.

Zuckerberg said Facebook has hit a record 750 million users. The new service could be a huge boost for Skype, which currently has about 145 million regular users.

The partnership comes as competition heats up in online social networking market, with Facebook and Google, as well as fast-growing companies such as Groupon and Twitter, vying for billions of dollars in online advertising revenue.

Facebook's Skype service, initially limited to one-to-one video chat, will be free. Financial details of the deal, if any, were not disclosed.

Tony Bates, Skype's chief executive, said Wednesday's deal with Facebook is only the start of a potentially lucrative partnership.

"For us, this makes a lot of business sense," said Bates. "We get huge reach. In the future we're talking about potentially also having Skype paid products available within the web format we saw here today."

In a phone interview later on Wednesday, Neil Stevens, the general manager of Skype's consumer business, said the company was planning on introducing a for-pay service that would allow users on Facebook to place calls to landline and mobile phones.

Stevens said he could not provide a timeframe for when such a service might be available.

Returning fire

Facebook, which also unveiled a group messaging function is returning fire from Google, which last week announced its newest social netweorking competition, dubbed 'Google+'.

While many of Google+'s social networking features are similar to those already available on Facebook, Google is generating interest with its video-conferencing function, which allows up to 10 people on the service to participate in a video call.

Zuckerberg hinted that video chat for multiple people could eventually be available on Facebook. But he said that most video chats today occur between two people anyway.

"We think this is awesome because we're using the best technology that's out there for doing video chat with the best social infrastructure that's out there to create some really cool new scenarios," said Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg said Wednesday's announcements were the first of several to come in what he described as "launching season 2011".

Facebook's new Skype feature will likely benefit Microsoft, which owns 1.6 per cent of Facebook and announced its $8.5bn purchase of Skype in May.

Tight security for Amarnath yatra

2011-06-29T00:31:00.001-07:00

Jammu: With the first batch of yatris scheduled to leave for the Amarnath cave shrine in Kashmir on Tuesday, over 4,000 pilgrims from all over the country arrived at the base camp in Jammu city on Monday amid tight security.

“Roughly over 4,000 yatris have arrived from various parts of the country. More are on their way,” Deputy Inspector-General of Police Farooq Khan said.

The first batch of pilgrims will leave today from the Yatri Niwas in Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu, base camp for the Amarnath yatra, for their journey to the shrine, which is located at a height of 13,500 feet.

DIG Khan, who welcomed the pilgrims at the newly set-up reception and assistance centre at Kunjwani on the outskirts of Jammu, said adequate security measures have been taken for the yatris' safety.

“We have asked pilgrims and their families to pray for peace to prevail in Jammu & Kashmir when they pay obeisance at the cave shrine,” the DIG said.

The security apparatus in and around the base camp has been operationalised, he said, adding that officers have been asked to remain vigilant and maintain coordination with various agencies to ensure smooth conduct of the yatra.

The Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas was opened on Monday for registration of pilgrims seeking lodging. With a multi-tier security set-up, the Niwas spread across several hectares of land has started community kitchens, assistance booths, a joint control room, a registration centre as well as board and lodging areas.

Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Health and Family Welfare Sham Lal Sharma also visited the Bhagwati Nagar base camp to review the arrangements made for the yatra.

The Minister also asked the Deputy Commissioner, Jammu to personally monitor the yatra on a regular basis and ensure the pilgrims do not face any kind of inconvenience. (PTI)

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar gets Nissan GT-R Supercar

2011-06-24T23:15:00.001-07:00

The master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who already owns the super luxury sports car Ferrari, has now received a new super sports car - Nissan GT-R Supercar. Powered by a 530 HP engine, the Japanese beauty costs $87,000 (Rs 4 crore approx). A red color model of the car was delivered to Tendulkar at his La Mar residence in Bandra, about two weeks back.

The car was brought from Dubai and two top engineers were flown in from there along with the car so that the car could be tuned in to the batting maestro presence.

In a statement given to TOI, a close friend of Cricketing maestro said, "Sachin is delighted with the arrival of his new car." He added that "It was tough for him to ensure that the car maintained its minimum run on Mumbai's roads. Also, he could not get out on the roads because people would easily identify the car. It wasn't used much for the same reason."

Sachin Tendulkar already has 2 BMWs and a Skoda, and the new Nisan GT-R Supercar will take the rally of his luxury cars to 4.

Centre's nod to Rs 919.76-cr highways project in Madhya Pradesh Centre's nod to Rs 919.76-cr highways project in Madhya Pradesh

2011-06-24T01:29:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Centre has given its approval to Rs 919.76-cr highways project in Madhya Pradesh under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP).

According to a government statement, “The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure today approved four laning of Jabalpur-Lakhanadone section on National Highway 7 in Madhya Pradesh under NHDP Phase IV-A on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis in Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) toll mode of delivery.”

The net estimated project cost is Rs 919.76 crore, out of which Rs 143 crore will be used for land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement and pre-construction related works.

The net length of the project is 80.825 km. When the project gets completed, it will bring down the time and also the travel coat for traffic plying between Jabalpur and Lakhanadone. When this project gets completed, then it will surge the employment potential for the local labourers.

A DEVICE INVENTED FOR SAFE DRIVING

2011-06-13T01:42:00.000-07:00

Now a days there is an increasing focus on alcohol related issues in Europe and the rest of the world .In the industrialized part of the world alcohol is the third largest risk factor for illnesses and accidents. So it has led to a greater need for measuring the degree of sobriety.

Our idea revolves around a small portable alcometer and a specially developed software. The system uses the mobile network to communicate results and allows the user to map his/hers alcohol burning rate. By taking advantage of today mobile and web-based services we can provide our clients with exciting opportunities. We create a relaxed relationship between the small portable alcohol sensor and the users that promotes an exchange of information with them.

World's thinnest LAPTOP launched by DELL

2011-06-13T00:15:00.000-07:00

Dell officially launched the Adamo XPS, the highest-end version of its designer ultra portable. Dell says it expects to “begin taking orders and shipping the Adamo XPS in time for the holidays.” The ultra thin luxury laptop starts at $1,799. The system is championed as the thinnest notebook ever and measures just 0.39 inches at its thickest point. Dell accomplishes the feat by tucking most of the computer components into the display section and relying on a unique hinge that opens underneath and acts as a built-in prop .

In spite of its slimness, the notebook still has a removable battery, two USB ports and DisplayPort output but also weighs slightly more than its MacBook Air rival at 3.2 pounds.

When fully opened, the keyboard sits at maybe a 20-degree angle. It’s an unusual setup, but one that provides a more ergonomic typing experience than the average flat laptop keyboard. We also liked the keyboard’s metal keys and the reasonably large touchpad.

ARTIFICIAL LEAF INVENTED TO SOLVE POWER CRISIS AT MIT(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

2011-06-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

Scientists have created the world’s first practical artificial leaf that can turn sunlight and water into energy, which they claim could pave the way for a cheaper source of power.

A team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) says that the artificial leaf from silicon, electronics and various catalysts which spur chemical reactions within the device, can use sunlight to break water into hydrogen and oxygen which can then be used to create electricity in a separate fuel cell.

“A practical artificial leaf has been one of the Holy Grails of science for decades. We believe we have done it. And placed in a gallon of water and left in sun, these artificial leaves could provide a home in the developing world with basic electricity for a day,” Daniel Nocera, who led the team, said.

He added: “Our goal is to make each home its own power station. One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology.”

Both teams produced devices that combine a standard silicon solar cell with a catalyst developed three years ago by professor Daniel Nocera. When submerged in water and exposed to sunlight, the devices cause bubbles of oxygen to separate out of the water.

The next step to producing a full, usable artificial leaf, explains Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy and professor of chemistry, will be to integrate the final ingredient: an additional catalyst to bubble out the water’s hydrogen atoms. In the current devices, hydrogen atoms are simply dissociated into the solution as loose protons and electrons. If a catalyst could produce fully formed hydrogen molecules (H₂), the molecules could be used to generate electricity or to make fuel for vehicles. Realization of that step, Nocera says, will be the subject of a forthcoming paper.

The reports by the two teams were published in the journals Energy & Environmental Science on May 12, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on June 6. Nocera encouraged two different teams to work on the project so that each could bring their special expertise to addressing the problem, and says the fact that both succeeded “speaks to the versatility of the catalyst system.”

Nocera’s ultimate goal is to produce an “artificial leaf” so simple and so inexpensive that it could be made widely available to the billions of people in the world who lack access to adequate, reliable sources of electricity. What’s needed to accomplish that, in addition to stepping up the voltage, is the addition of a second catalyst material to the other side of the silicon cell, Nocera says.

The “leaf” system, by contrast, is “still a science project,” Nocera says. “We haven’t even gotten to what I would call an engineering design.” He hopes, however, that the artificial leaf could become a reality within three years

HP(Hewlett-Packard) TO LAUNCH TOUCH PAD NEXT MONTH

2011-06-10T03:11:00.000-07:00

Hewlett-Packard Co, hoping to tap into the tablet market dominated by Apple Inc'siPad, said it will begin sales of its TouchPadcomputer in July.

The tablet will sell for $499.99 to $599.99 depending on storage capacity, Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard said in a statement today. Sales will begin in the US on July 1, followed by the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Canada.

The first version of the TouchPad will have Wi-Fi technology to connect to the Internet through wireless hotspots. A future version of the device will connect through AT&T Inc (T)'s wireless network, Hewlett-Packard said.

Personal-computer makers are rushing into the tablet market as consumers buy the smaller, touchscreen devices and demand for traditional PCs slacks off. This week, research firm IDC lowered its estimate for growth in PC shipments this year to 4.2 percent from a February estimate of 7.1 percent, citing competition from tablets and smartphones as well as the sluggish economy.

The TouchPad will compete with the iPad, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc's Xoom and the Research In Motion Ltd PlayBook.

TEEN AGE BOY WAS KILLED IN KARRACHI

2011-06-09T23:00:00.000-07:00

Karachi: Pakistani authorities are investigating a video that appears to show paramilitary forces shooting to death an unarmed teenage boy in the southern port city of Karachi, officials said Thursday.

The video aired repeatedly on TV, sparking another controversy for the Pakistani military, which is still reeling from criticism following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden last month.

Pakistani security forces are often accused of using excessive force and abusing ordinary citizens.

A spokesman for the paramilitary Rangers claimed its forces detained 18-year-old Afsar Shah because he was attempting to rob people in a park in Karachi on Wednesday. He said a gun was recovered from Shah and he was shot because he was reaching for a Ranger's rifle.Shah's brother, Salik, a local crime reporter, denied his brother was a robber and accused the Rangers of shooting an innocent person.

"It seems to be a case of routine high-handedness of the Rangers," Salik Shah said. "They misuse their powers by shooting on sight."
"The Rangers have no authority to kill any unarmed individual and they can fire only in self-defence," he said. "On completion of the inquiry, all those found responsible will be given strict punishment."

SOURCE:timesofindia.com

Tornados hit Oklahoma

2011-05-27T02:44:00.000-07:00

At least six people were killed and many were injured by tornados at Oklahoma and Kansas City that began last Tuesday which forced offices and schools to close early. Residents should take tornado warnings and reports very seriously said Mary Fallin Governor of Oklahoma. NWS warned during the storm that it’s an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation.

The citizens of Oklahoma City knew that the tornadoes were coming. About 1,200 people were packed in a shelter in Newcastle, a community near Oklahoma City, during the storm, said Oklahoma City Manager Nick Nazar. The city has been struck by more tornadoes than any other city in the United States. People were expecting for the worst to happen after the disastrous twister outbreak in the South that had a death toll of more than 300 people and last Sunday’s storm that left 122 people dead in Joplin.

The Oklahoma tornadoes were weaker than the other tornadoes but up-to-the-minute reporting of the developing weather system kept the people informed of the danger. Television networks had their helicopters broadcast live footages when the storm approached the city with a population of 1.2 million.

New Technology in iPhone

2011-05-17T23:54:00.000-07:00

EmergInfo has released on iPhone and all Android mobile devices which helps to give information about car accident and DUI. The EmergInfo App is free and is the only application that provides instant emergency information and emergency notifications to family and friends, for those who have been involved in an accident or a DWI / DUI arrest.

EmergInfo was formed by lawyers with the idea of creating a simple and trouble-free way for people to get emergency information for recording accident information and make immediate decisions that could affect a criminal DWI / DUI case. Most importantly, the EmergInfo App notifies loved ones of your situation by the use of email and text message, including your cell number and GPS location so that immediate help can be dispatched or proper local legal help can be contacted.

Tropical storm Aere kills 15 in Philippines

2011-05-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

Fifteen people were killed and nearly 70,000 people were forced from their homes as tropical storm Aere pummelled the Philippines

The death toll from Aere, which hit on Sunday, jumped from nine, with six more people reported killed in floods, landslides and road accidents, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre said. However, after two days of heavy rains across the main island of Luzon, the storm had weakened and was exiting the northern Philippines this morning, according to the national weather bureau.

"The storm is moving away from the country in a north, northeast direction,adding it was expected to move close to Japan's south-west coast by Thursday. It said Aere's maximum sustained winds had fallen to 65km/h, from 85km/h on Sunday. The disaster agency said that nearly 70,000 people had been forced to leave their storm-hit homes on Luzon, and the initial estimate of damages to the farming sector was more than $US2.7 million.

Osama had some sort of support network in Pakistan: Obama

2011-05-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

Osama bin Laden, who lived in a compound in Abbottabad for six years, had "some kind of support" infrastructure inside Pakistan and this aspect needs to be investigated, US President Barack Obama has said. His comments came as his top security advisor said there was no evidence so far that the Pakistan Government knew about the al Qaeda chief`s presence in the country.

"We think that there had to be some sort of support network for bin Laden inside of Pakistan," obama said. The US called on government of Pakistan to conduct an investigation into how Osama was able to live so long in a military cantonment area of Pakistan, in an affluent suburb of Islamabad. We don`t know whether there might have been some people inside of [Pakistan`s] government, people outside of government, and that`s something that we have to investigate and, more importantly, the Pakistani government has to investigate," Obama said.

Al-Qaida aspired to attack US train on 11/9/2011

2011-05-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

Al-Qaida considered attacking U.S. trains on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, according to an initial look at DVDs, computers and other documents seized at the raid on Osama bin Laden's home.

The information about a possible train plot is the first intelligence revealed from the trove of material found in the attack on bin Laden's compound. Officials said they found what they call "aspirational" items — things al-Qaida operatives were interested in trying to make happen. A government advisory obtained by NBC News and sent Tuesday to the rail industry said that as far back as February 2010, al-Qaida was contemplating "an operation against trains at an unspecified location in the United States on the 10th anniversary" of the 9/11 attacks.

One option, the advisory said, was trying to tip a train by tampering with the rails so that the train would fall off the track at either a valley or on a bridge. Such an attempt would probably only work once, the material in bin Laden's house said, because tilting or tampering with the rails would be spotted, the advisory said. Other material mentions a desire to target big mass-transit hubs, an interest long understood because of the history of al-Qaida attacks on rail targets in Spain, the United Kingdom and India.

With bin Laden dead, Obama has to turn to the Mideast

2011-05-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

Nothing will help the American right wing, the Israeli right wing or Fox News now; the assassination of Osama bin Laden has given U.S. President Barack Obama a decided boost.

Now that bin Laden is dead, Obama is seen not as a geek but as a killer, not as a softy but as a fairly tough leader. The young man has successfully completed his coming-of-age ceremony. Combined with the burgeoning recovery of the economy and the president’s movement toward the political center, bin Laden’s death has turned Obama into a strong and authoritative leader. If he doesn’t make any big mistakes in the coming year, chances are good that he’ll continue living in the White House until 2016.

But Obama insists on making big mistakes. His Middle East policy is inconsistent and incoherent. His guiding principles are obtuse and bizarre. He supported the removal of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak from office but grants immunity to Syria’s Bashar Assad. He went to war to avoid a bloodbath in Libya, but won’t raise a finger to stop the massacres in Syria.

Weak leadership and a lack of moral clarity continue to characterize Obama. Instead of leading the Arab world to a good place, he’s being dragged along with it to a bad one.

One problem is Iran. The Arab spring has caused a situation in which no Sunni power except for Saudi Arabia now stands in the way of the ayatollahs. The revolutions in Arab countries have also improved the economic situation in Tehran by pushing up the price of oil. Improved strategic and economic positioning allow Iran to rush toward a nuclear reactor and erode America’s hegemony in the region.

Turkey poses another problem. In mid-June, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to win reelection in a landslide victory. Right after that, the temporary respite he’s granted himself will end. Encouraged by the scope of his mandate to govern, this ambitious Islamist will try to build a neo-Ottoman Empire. He’ll work with the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Iran to undermine the U.S. foothold in the Middle East.

The third problem is Palestine. As everyone knows, another Black September is in the offing. Palestinian Authority President Mohammed Abbas is provoking Obama by his plan to undermine Israeli stability with the expected international recognition of a Palestinian state and his reconciliation with bin Laden’s supporters in Gaza. If a Hamas-Fatah government leads to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s disappearance from the scene, the result will be the collapse of American’s peace policy.

The fourth problem, Egypt, is the most severe of all. Egypt is likely to go bankrupt by the end of the year because of the loss of income from tourism, the strengthening of the army’s monopoly and the new government’s inability to be anything other than populist. Mubarak was bad? The White House will be longing for him way before Christmas. The economic growth he created will contract. Poverty will turn into shortages, shortages into despair, despair into protest. The army will not be able to withstand the disappointment and rage.

Egypt will become a black hole.

There are no simple solutions to these four problems, none of which are Obama’s doing. Perhaps he hasn’t offered a genuine answer to any of these strategic problems because he did not understand that when he opened the Pandora’s box of the Middle East, he became responsible for what emerged from it. While Obama exhibited professional determination in taking care of Osama, he was hesitant and amateurish when it came to the fundamental problems of the Middle East.

Egypt is the most pressing problem. Two years ago Obama gave a very impressive speech in Cairo. Three months go he encouraged the revolution there. But now the U.S. president has disappeared. Where is the American plan to rebuild the Egyptian nation? Where is the international initiative to save the Egyptian economy? Where is the effort to do on the banks of the Nile what is being done in Ramallah?

The summer of 2011 is the summer of Barack Hussein Obama. If he does not stabilize the Middle East this summer, a regional avalanche will take place by summer’s end. Obama will bear personal responsibility if the Arab spring turns into a cold and bleak winter.

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Arunachal CM’s body recovered, Union Cabinet to meet today

2011-05-04T22:44:00.000-07:00

After a five-day long intense search, the Army with the help of locals, recovered the body of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu from a place between Kyela and Lobothang in the mountainous region of the state on Thursday morning.

Confirming the development, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram informed newsmen that Union Cabinet is all set to meet in New Delhi at 11.30 am today to discuss the current political situation in the state and to possibly elect a new leader.

“The body of Arunachal Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four others have been recovered and the government is making all necessary arrangements to bring the bodies to Tawang,”. The meeting is expected to be attended by central ministers – V Narayanaswamy, Mukul Wasnik, and Bijoy Krishna Handique. Two senior All India Congress Committee leaders would also attend the meeting.

Pakistan's president denies harboring bin Laden

2011-05-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

Pakistan's president starved of proposals his country's security forces may have wrapped in cotton wool Osama bin Laden previous to he was killed by American forces, and said their collaboration with the United States helped locate the world's most wanted man.

Asif Ali Zardari said, though, that Monday's operation in opposition to bin Laden was not conducted with Pakistani forces — confirms accounts by U.S. officials that Islamabad was not involved in the raid and did not even know in relation to it until it was over.

His comments in a Washington Post view piece Monday were Pakistan's first official retort to the doubts by U.S. lawmakers and other critics, which could further sour relations stuck between Islamabad and Washington at a crucial point in the war in Afghanistan.

Fascinated by forensics? Learn more at forensicscience.net

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Al Qaeda No.2 Zawahri most likely to succeed bin Laden

2011-05-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

Egyptian born doctor and medical doctor Ayman al-Zawahri is al Qaeda's second-in-command probable to do well Osama bin Laden subsequent his killing in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan. Zawahri has been the brains at the back bin Laden and his al Qaeda network, and at times its most public face, continually disapproving the United States and its allies in video messages.

In the latest monitored by the SITE astuteness Group last month, he urged Muslims to fight NATO and American forces in Libya. "I want to direct the awareness of our Muslim brothers in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and the rest of the Muslim countries, that if the Americans and the NATO forces enter Libya then their neighbors in Egypt and Tunisia and Algeria and the rest of the Muslim countries should rise up and fight both the private army of Gaddafi and the rest of NATO," Zawahri said.

Osama bin Laden, the face of terror, killed in Pakistan

2011-05-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

The most prominent face of terror in America and beyond, Osama Bin Laden, has been killed in Pakistan, U.S. officials said Sunday night. Bin Laden was the leader of al Qaeda, the terrorist network behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. U.S. officials said that their forces have the body of bin Laden.

The enormity of the destruction -- the World Trade Center's towers devastated by two hijacked airplanes, the Pentagon partially destroyed by a third hijacked jetliner, a fourth flight crashed in rural Pennsylvania, and more than 3,000 people killed -- gave bin Laden a global presence.

The Saudi-born zealot commanded an organization run like a rogue multinational firm, experts said, with subsidiaries operating secretly in dozens of countries, plotting terror, raising money and recruiting young Muslim men -- even boys -- from many nations to its training camps in Afghanistan.

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Rescue efforts transition to recovery in hard-hit Alabama

2011-04-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

Hopes of finding trapped survivors dwindled Friday evening in Alabama, the epicenter of storms that obliterated neighborhoods and towns and claimed scores of lives across the South. Gov. Robert Bentley, speaking in Birmingham, said the long road to recovery will now begin. "We've gotten past the rescue stage," Bentley said. "We have begun the recovery stage."

Earlier Friday, President Barack Obama toured rubble-strewn neighborhoods in Tuscaloosa, declaring the devastation brought by a series of powerful storms and tornadoes was beyond anything he had ever seen. The storms killed at least 326 people in six states and left entire neighborhoods in ruins. Obama promised expedited federal aid to states affected by the tornadoes.

U.S. violent storms killed more than 250 lives

2011-04-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

Tornadoes caused huge disaster across the southern U.S and killing more than 250 people. Reports state that this particular tornado is likely to be the deadliest outbreak in the US since 1974 when 307 were killed. Alabama took the heaviest losses in that event as well, with 77 casualties. More than 250 tornadoes touched down across the South between April 25 and 27 which has been reported by weather channel.

The worst- hit areas are Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. States of emergency have been declared in those areas and governors called out the National Guard to help with rescue and cleanup operations. A few days before Northern Arkansas and St. Louis, Missouri, were also affected with southern Missouri also dealing with significant flooding after a breached levee.

The storms also were destructive in the Griffin/Barnesville area. One couple who attended the Griffin First Church of the Nazarene was killed and their family members were injured and hospitalized with some undergoing surgery Thursday morning. In Alabama, the 90,000-strong city of Tuscaloosa was hit hardest, with at least 37 people killed, including some students, authorities said.

A nuclear plant in Alabama lost power because of the severe weather. The agency said in a statement that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is monitoring the situation at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant after the site lost offsite power early Wednesday evening due to severe storms that damaged power lines in the area. The disastrous storms have caused widespread power shortage, with approximately one million customers without electricity.

Indonesia Earthquakes Kill 3, Cause Panic

2011-04-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

A series of powerful earthquakes rattled Indonesia on Wednesday, killing three people, triggering landslides and demolishing dozens of homes. A tsunami warning sent panicked residents fleeing buildings to high ground. The 7.0 magnitude quake was centered 18 miles beneath the ocean floor and 125 miles off the northern coast of Papua province, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was accompanied by a series of strong aftershocks, the highest measuring 6.4.

More than 20 houses collapsed in Serui, a town in Yapen district, sparking fires in at least seven places, said police spokesman Lt. Col. Wachjono, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. Two bodies were pulled from beneath the rubble. "Police and rescuers are still searching for other victims in remote areas," he said. Hundreds of people ran out of their homes, said Yan Pieter Yarangga, a resident from the town of Biak. Fearing a tsunami, people fled beaches and some raced for high ground. "I ran too, I was afraid there would be a second quake," he said.

Japan launches massive search for missing tsunami victims

2011-04-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

Some 25,000 Japanese troops are fanning out on the wreckage-strewn northeastern coast Monday in a massive search for thousands of bodies still missing from last month's earthquake and tsunami. Backed by dozens of boats and aircraft, the soldiers are scouring the region for remains swept to sea or buried under masses of rubble.

The operation is the third intensive military search for bodies since the disaster that killed up to 26,000 people. Some 12,000 remain missing and are believed dead. Monday's search is an all-out effort to recover any remains for their families. The soldiers are combing through the rubble and navy boats and divers are searching the waters up to 12 miles (20 kilometers) off the coast.

Japan approves $45bn quake Budget

2011-04-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

JAPAN says it will extend an evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, while announcing a $A45 billion reconstruction budget for areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. It is the first special Budget approved by Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet since the March 11 twin disasters in northeast Japan.

The Budget, announced today, will cover restoration work such as clearing massive amounts of rubble and building temporary housing for thousands of homeless people. The Government says it is also planning to widen the evacuation zone around the nuclear plant, which has been leaking radiation since being severely damaged by the magnitude 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami.

The Government said today, six weeks after the country's worst post-war disaster, it would extend the evacuation zone to areas beyond the 20-kilometre no-go zone where radiation levels had been rising.

Chopper crashes in Arunachal, 17 feared dead

2011-04-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

Seventeen persons were feared killed when a Pawans Hans helicopter with 23 people on board caught fire and crashed into a gorge while landing in Tawang town in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday. Tawang District Commissioner G Padu said 17 of those on board were 'presumed dead', while six were rescued. The helicopter, which had taken off from Guwahati at 1315 hrs, crashed near the helipad on a hilltop in Tawang town falling from a height of 15 metre into the gorge, Pawan Hans sources said. The helicopter had 18 passengers on board, including two children. The five-member crew included Captain Barun Gupta and Captain Tiwari.

Robots report high radiation levels in damaged reactors

2011-04-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

Remote-controlled robots and workers controlling them have recorded high levels of radiation inside and around two reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, safety officials said Monday.

The U.S.-built robot probes measured radiation doses as high as 57 millisieverts inside the housing for reactor No. 3 and up to 49 millisieverts inside the No. 1 reactor building, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency reported. Levels found between the double doors of the airlocks of the reactor buildings were much higher -- 270 millisieverts in the case of reactor No. 1 and 170 millsieverts in No. 3, the agency said.

By comparison, the average resident of an industrialized country receives a dose of about 3 millisieverts per year. Emergency standards for plant workers battling the month-old nuclear disaster limit their annual exposure to 250 millisieverts, while a CT scan produces just under 7 and a chest X-ray delivers a one-time dose of about .05 millisieverts.

Strong quake shakes buildings in Japan’s capital

2011-04-15T22:59:00.000-07:00

A strong earthquake of magnitude 5.8 hit central Japan on Saturday morning, according to the US Geological Survey. The quake, which shook buildings in Tokyo, struck at 11:19 am (0219 GMT), 83 kilometres (52 miles) north of the capital and at a depth of 20 kilometres, the USGS said.

Operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said the tremor did not disrupt the emergency crews who are working around the clock to cool crippled reactors at a nuclear plant hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami last month. That earthquake - the biggest ever recorded in Japan -- struck on March 11, triggering a huge tsunami and leaving 13,591 people dead, with another 14,497 still unaccounted for.

Tens of thousands of people lost their homes, while many others were forced to evacuate after a series of explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant sent radiation spewing into the air.

Mohandas Pai, Infosys Technologies' HR director resigns from board

2011-04-14T22:58:00.000-07:00

Infosys' director incharge, Human Resource and Administration, Mohandas Pai resigned on Friday from the board of the company with effect from June 11, 2011. Infosys' board of directors will meet on April 30 to finalise plans for the company's leadership as chairman NR Narayan Murthy retires in August 2011.

Former Microsoft India head, Ravi Venkatesan was appointed as additional director on the board. In the middle of its biggest management transition ever since Infosys was founded, the company is aiming for a larger share of revenue from retail, banking and healthcare customers by shifting the roles of leaders handling multiple business units.

Pai had been in a finance role as Chief Financial Officer of Infosys since 1994, and later took responsibility for the critical functions of human resources and education. He is also a well-known public face and has been part of various committees such as the Kelkar committee for reforming direct taxes and is currently on the SEBI board.

Japan nuclear disaster tops scale

2011-04-12T21:56:00.000-07:00

Japan's prime minister vowed to wind down the month-long crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant "at all costs" Tuesday after his government officially designated the situation there a Chernobyl-level nuclear accident.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he wants the plant's owner, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, to produce a timetable for bringing the disaster to an end, "and they will be doing that soon." And a day after his government warned that thousands more people would need to be evacuated from the surrounding region, he pledged to provide jobs, housing and education for those uprooted by the accident.

Fresh nuclear fears hit Asian shares

2011-04-12T02:33:00.000-07:00

Asian shares slid on Tuesday as Japanese stocks were hit by renewed concerns over Japan’s nuclear crisis while an IMF report on the global economy sent commodity prices lower, affecting resource stocks in the region. The MSCI Asia Pacific index fell 0.6 per cent, the most in a week, after Japan raised its assessment of the Fukushima nuclear accident to the most serious level on a seven-step international scale, equivalent to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Tokyo expanded the evacuation zone in the north-eastern part of the country after powerful aftershocks sparked renewed anxiety one month since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami killed more than 13,000 people and caused widespread damage. The Nikkei 225 average was trading 1.1 per cent lower and Tokyo Electric Power, which operates the crippled Fukushima plant, tumbled 6.8 per cent. Sony was off 2.5 per cent and Toyota Motor was down 1.5 per cent. Tohoku Electric Power dropped 2.6 per cent after power was cut in some areas following the magnitude 7.1 aftershock on Monday.

In Sydney, materials and energy producers lost ground amid concerns that higher oil prices might dampen economic growth. The S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.6 per cent. Alumina fell 2.5 per cent and BHP Billiton retreated 1.2 per cent after recent gains while Fortescue Metals lost 1.3 per cent. But Westpac Banking advanced 1 per cent after the Australian Financial Review reported that the bank was planning to bid for British asset manager Henderson Group.

Magnitude 6.6-quake jolts Japan coast

2011-04-11T03:26:00.000-07:00

Fires burned in northeastern Japan Monday evening after a powerful earthquake rattled the region, sending a landslide into Iwaki City, authorities said. A preliminary estimate put the quake's magnitude at 7.1, which was later lowered to 6.6, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A series of smaller quakes continued to shake the region. Residents in Tokyo also felt the jolts. A tsunami warning issued by Japan's Meteorological Agency was later canceled.

Monday's initial quake was centered about 164 kilometers (101 miles) northeast of Tokyo, or about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Workers at the plant were asked to evacuate for a time, but later returned to resume their efforts to cool the troubled nuclear facility. The Tohoku Electric Power Company said 220,000 households and businesses in Fukushima were without power after Monday's quake, which came a month after a deadly magnitude-9 quake and tsunami devastated the island nation.

Japan set to extend nuclear evacuation zone

2011-04-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

Japan plans to extend the evacuation zone around its crippled nuclear plant because of high radiation levels, local media reported Monday, with engineers no closer to regaining control of six reactors hit by a giant tsunami one month ago. Concern at Japan's inability contain its nuclear crisis, caused by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, is mounting with Prime Minister Naoto Kan's ruling party suffering embarrassing losses in local elections Sunday and neighboring China and South Korea voicing criticism. Engineers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo said Sunday they were no closer to restoring the plant's cooling system which is critical if overheated fuel rods are to be cooled and the six reactors brought under control. They are hoping to stop pumping radioactive water into the ocean Monday, days later than planned.

Four weeks after the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl quarter of a century ago, the government was moving to extend a 20 km evacuation zone due to high levels of radiation, the Asahi newspaper reported. The government has so far refused to widen the zone, despite being urged to by the International Atomic Energy Agency and countries like the United States and Australia advising its citizens to stay 80 kms away from the plant.

South Korea schools shut over radioactive rain

2011-04-06T22:15:00.000-07:00

Many South Korean schools have cancelled classes as officials scrambled to quell fears that rain contained radioactive material from Japan's stricken nuclear plant. More than 130 primary schools and kindergartens in Gyeonggi province surrounding the capital Seoul cancelled or cut classes today after rain began falling on orders from the provincial education office. An office spokesman called it part of "preemptive measures for the safety of students". The office had told schools on Wednesday to cancel or shorten classes due to "growing anxiety among students and parents over conflicting claims on the safety of radiation exposure". Schools in remote areas, where students have a long walk to class, were particularly encouraged to cancel activities. At schools which stayed open, teachers were advised to suspend outdoor activities.

Complaints from parents mounted on the website of Seoul city's education office, which refused to cancel classes and called for a calm response to the fears. "Please order class cancellation. I'm worried to death about my kid and can't sleep," said one posting. Education authorities in North Chungcheong province south of Gyeonggi postponed football, baseball and other sporting events. Concern grew in the nation closest to Japan after the weather agency said on Monday that radioactive material from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant may be carried to the peninsula by south-easterly winds. The amount of radioactive material contained in the rainfall is too tiny to pose any health threat, the prime minister's office said today, calling for education offices to refrain from "making parents nervous".

Air Force to cut 22 general officer jobs

2011-04-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

The Air Force will lose 22 general officer billets and will have eight of its top scientist positions downgraded as part of wide-ranging cuts by the Pentagon aimed at shrinking the size of the military budget. A 48-page memo written by Defense Secretary Robert Gates provides further detail in his drive to free up $178 billion over the next five years.In the memo, dated March 14 but not yet publicly released, Gates lists an array of cost-cutting measures — from reforming the intelligence budget to slashing 1,000 contractors over two years from the Missile Defense Agency. The Air Force issued a statement declaring its support for “efficiency efforts.”

“This review was part of a comprehensive review of Service, [Office of Secretary of Defense], Defense Agencies, and Combatant Command staffs,” Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician said. “It built upon previous initiatives, and demonstrates commitment to proper stewardship of the mission and resources entrusted to the Air Force. A reduction or elimination doesn’t signify less emphasis on the affected organization’s mission or importance to the Air Force.”

U.S. to stop using strike aircraft as fighting in Libya rages on

2011-04-04T02:05:00.000-07:00

The use of U.S. strike aircraft in Libya is set to expire Monday as uncertainty lingers about whether Western allies will arm opposition members trying to oust Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi. Over the weekend, fierce destruction permeated the city of Misrata, which has been choked off by pro-Gadhafi forces surrounding the city. "We need a lot of help in Misrata. There's so much death there," said Mustafa Abdul Hamali, a 46-year-old taxi driver who lost half of a leg. "I was driving in my car with my wife, and my car just blew up. I don't know what happened." Khalid Moteridi, a 32-year-old businessman-turned-rebel fighter, said the situation in Libya's third-largest city has turned dire.

"It¹s a tragedy by all means," he said. "No electricity, no food, no water. We¹re trapped from all sides by the Gadhafi forces." A doctor in Misrata told CNN government forces shelled a clinic, leaving one dead and 15 injured on Sunday. Last week, a hospital official said 398 people have been killed since the Libyan conflict began last month. He feared there were more deaths that his hospital didn't know about. Some rebels from Misrata got a bit of a reprieve Sunday, when a Turkish hospital ship picked up more than 300 of the wounded fighters. Their injuries included amputated limbs, broken bones and shrapnel wounds.

6.7-magnitude quake strikes off Indonesia

2011-04-03T23:26:00.000-07:00

Indonesia-Apr 4: Hundreds of residents fled an Indonesian port town for higher ground today when an earthquake struck south of Java with a magnitude estimated by US seismologists at 6.7. The epicentre in the Indian Ocean was 24 km miles deep, the US Geological Survey said, after initially estimating it at 10 km underground, and 277 kilometres south of the Javanese coast. Indonesian seismologists put the magnitude at 7.1 and issued a tsunami warning, saying the tremor had the potential to cause a killer wave and asking recipients of its public alert SMS to warn others of the danger. The warning was later cancelled. When the quake struck hundreds of residents in the seaport town of Cilacap fled inland and to higher ground by motorbike, car and on foot, an AFP reporter said. "They were all panicking and shouting ''quake, quake''," the reporter said. Suharjono, the technical head of Indonesia''s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said shaking from the tremor had been felt in Pangandaran and Cilacap districts in Java. "This quake roused people from their sleep," he said. "We have not received any reports of damage or casualties so far." The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre had said that there was no risk of a widespread destructive wave, but there was a "very small possibility of a local tsunami". The earthquake epicentre was 241 km from the remote Australian territory of Christmas Island, and seismologists said the tremor was felt there, but no tsunami warning alert was issued for Australia. "We had reports from there that they felt it," Geoscience Australia seismologist David Jepson told AFP, adding that it was described as a "moderate type quake".

Poll shows public support for Brown's budget plan is slipping

2011-03-24T04:09:00.000-07:00

A new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California shows 46% of likely voters backing the governor's proposed five-year extension on some taxes, a drop from 53% two months ago. The treasurer's office says delaying a vote on extensions to November could force the state to issue IOUs.

Public support for Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to solve the budget crisis with a June election is eroding as other officials warn that delaying such a move until late fall, as the governor is considering, could trigger a cash crisis and a fresh round of state-issued IOUs.

A new survey from the independent Public Policy Institute of California shows that 46% of likely California voters back Brown's call for a five-year extension on some sales, income and vehicle taxes to help balance the state's books. Just two months ago, 53% of voters surveyed by PPIC said they would approve of the taxes.

The public appetite for a special election also seems to be on the wane. Fifty-one percent of respondents said they wanted one; in January, two-thirds said they welcomed an opportunity to vote on Brown's proposal. The governor promised voters during his campaign last year that they could sign off on any tax hikes
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Obama to Push Internet Privacy Bill

2011-03-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

It looks like Senate Democrats and Republicans may finally have found something they can agree on -- limiting the data collection abilities of internet marketing firms.

The Obama administration, according to The Wall Street Journal, is expected to announce to Congress today an internet privacy bill that will force some data miners to make major changes. Sen. John McCain (R, Ariz.) was a critical opponent of net neutrality, but he was actually a sponsor of the draft of the privacy bill, along with a fellow Presidential runner-up, Sen. John Kerry (D, Mass.).
The bill looks to expand the powers of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, giving it the ability to enforce the new provisions. The proposal follows a December U.S. Department of Commerce report [PDF], which complained that Facebook, Google, and a host of smaller firms weren't up front with customers about what information they were collecting and sharing with advertisers.

Dubbed an online "Privacy Bill of Rights", the measure would prevent information from being used for any purpose other than collected, unless you give them permission. In other words, if you fill out a registration form for the website, they will no longer legally be able to sell that information to advertisers, unless they ask you if it's okay.

Five Republicans woo Iowa voters ahead of 2012 race

2011-03-07T21:51:00.000-08:00

Five possible Republican White House hopefuls including Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty courted conservative voters on Monday in Iowa, the state that holds a critical early contest on the road to the party's 2012 presidential nomination.

Former House of Representatives Speaker Gingrich, former Minnesota Governor Pawlenty, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer and former Godfathers Pizza CEO Herman Cain took turns bashing President Barack Obama.

Republicans aim to deny Obama a second term as president.

The Iowa caucuses, an important early prize in the race for the Republican nomination, are scheduled for February 6, 2012. No leading Republican, including the five who appeared at the event in Iowa, has yet formally launched a candidacy.

Meanwhile, a top aide to real estate tycoon Donald Trump visited Iowa on Monday to gauge interest in the idea of a Trump bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Trump, a billionaire and the celebrity star of NBC's "The Apprentice," has been flirting with a presidential run, speaking to a conference of conservatives in Washington last month. Many Republicans doubt he is serious.

Obama Tells Panel U.S. Recovery Harmed

2011-02-25T05:21:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama told the first meeting of his panel of outside economic advisers that the U.S. must deal with stubbornly high unemployment even as the recovery from the recession is well under way.

“The biggest challenge that we’re seeing right now is that unemployment is way too high,” Obama told the 23-member President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness yesterday. The advisory group, led by General Electric Co. chief executive officer Jeffrey Immelt, replaces the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, which was headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

In the month since he delivered his State of the Union address, Obama has sought to make the case that investments in education, infrastructure and innovation will help create more jobs. He reiterated that message yesterday, telling members of the panel, “We’re going to have to up our game in this newly competitive world.”

Obama told the group that he wants them to provide “some concrete deliverables” that will help lower the 9 percent unemployment rate.

Today the president is scheduled to meet at the White House with 14 Democratic governors -- including Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Dan Malloy of Connecticut -- to discuss ways Washington can work with states to help spark job creation, according to a White House statement.

Protest and Counter-Protest of King's Muslim

2011-02-23T21:38:00.000-08:00

Two groups of protesters met on Tuesday outside King's office, one to protest the hearings and the other to support them.

According to the Wall Street Journal, about 100 people showed up to represent each side. No arrests were made, but police intervened to set up barricades between the two groups after individual confrontations erupted into shouting matches.

King acknowledged the support shown him. "Al-Qaida is recruiting right under our radar screen," he said in an interview. "We are not going to cave to political correctness. There is a real threat to the country from the Muslim community and the only way to get to the bottom of it is to investigate what is happening."

Inna Arolovich of the American Association of Jews from the Former Soviet Union supports King and the hearings. "I believe that radical Islam is threatening each of us, including peaceful Muslims," she said. "It is a very real threat."

Dr. Shaik Ubaid of the Muslim Peace Coalition USA's New York chapter explained their concerns. "We are worried about the way the hearings are being conducted. It will demonize the Muslim community. He should work with the Muslim community who has been working with the FBI and others and get to the root cause of this."

Pax Christi also protested the hearings, as did several individuals, at least one of whose Muslim son Mohammad Salman Hamdani was an EMT who died during the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York.

"American Muslims also died," Hamdani's mother said. "We sacrificed for this nation, for our nation. We are fighting on the front also. We are contributing members of society. For anybody to accuse the American Muslims of collective guilt is not right. We were attacked by foreign terrorists, criminals without a nation, al-Qaida."

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State of the Union, Barack Obama must turn words into action

2011-01-27T03:26:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union

address Tuesday contained the usual laundry list of initiatives big and small — including many that require bipartisan cooperation for success.

But a POLITICO look at his wish list shows that, at best, he’ll probably be able to check off only a few of his agenda items, and Republicans are only part of the problem.

He put Democrats on the spot with an earmark ban, irked them by renewing his call for a freeze on discretionary spending and challenged them to limit medical malpractice lawsuits.

But heading toward his 2012 reelection, these are fights Obama seems willing — even eager — to have. He might not get everything he wants or even very much of it. But if Republicans balk, Democrats, led by the president, can call them out on it. If Democrats resist, Obama can create distance between himself and his less popular colleagues on the Hill.

POLITICO rates the odds of success for 10 key proposals. Items scoring zero have the least chance of happening. Those scoring 5 have the easiest track.

Five-year freeze on domestic spending

Idea: Obama proposed the cap as a “down payment toward reducing the deficit.”

Pro: The president claims the move would cut the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, giving him a punchy talking point to show he is serious.

Con: It’s barely a dent. The deficit for this fiscal year alone is $1.5 trillion, congressional scorekeepers say.

Barack Obama's energy message failed

2011-01-24T03:39:00.000-08:00

If President Barack Obama is going to sell Congress and the American public on energy legislation, he should forget the words “climate change,” Sen. Richard Lugar said Monday.

Lugar is preparing his own energy measure this year, and while he offered the Clean Economy Summit few specifics, the Indiana Republican said he will keep “social inertia” and marketing in mind – something he said Obama failed to do.

Obama’s energy message was eclipsed by cap-and-trade in the public mind, said Lugar. “The Obama administration’s focus on carbon reductions caused almost any energy security proposal to be viewed through the prism of climate change,” he said.

“The theological adherence to climate orthodoxy among some and absolutist denial by others left little room for serious debate on energy questions,” Lugar added.

Using feedback from the “practical energy plan” he introduced last summer aimed at reducing dependence on foreign oil, Lugar is passing his new energy bill around to newly-elected senators.

President Obama to get a little more personal

2011-01-20T03:32:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama is once again the big draw at this year’s House Democratic Caucus retreat, but instead of giving a big motivational speech to the crowd, he’s planning to get a little more personal this time around.

On Friday evening in Cambridge, Md., according to aides, the president will show up to work the room, glad-handing with Democrats individually and in small groups at the Hyatt Regency, signaling a more hands-on approach to House Democrats who are still getting used to life in the minority.

Obama’s move to give more personalized attention to Democrats is also a reflection of the new political realities. After moving Obama’s ambitious agenda for the past two years, many liberals feel stung now that the president has started to work more closely with Republicans.

Obama’s appearance before House Democrats is slated to be closed to the media. House Democrats also will hear from Vice President Joe Biden, in the only portion of the three-day retreat that is open to the media.

Battles on budget and healthcare loom for Obama

2011-01-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

After a good end to a not-so-good year, President Barack Obama faces even tougher challenges in the months ahead as looming fights over spending and healthcare set the stage for a difficult 2012 re-election campaign.

When a new Congress convenes on Wednesday, Obama will be confronted for the first time by a Republican majority in the House of Representatives and a strengthened Republican minority in the Senate.

Whether he strikes deals with those newly powerful foes and continues the momentum built in December's "lame-duck" Congress or becomes mired in another bout of legislative gridlock could be a critical factor in Obama's prospects for a second term.

"The political climate is about to completely change for Obama, and how those budget and healthcare battles play out will really determine his status for the race in 2012," said Steven Schier, a political analyst at Carleton College in Minnesota.

A burst of accomplishment in Congress during the final days of December produced a tax deal with Republicans, repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in the military and ratification of a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia.

Line of duty deaths among police officers go up

2010-12-29T06:15:00.000-08:00

The shooting death of a Texas police officer late Tuesday adds to a grim toll: A law enforcement officer was killed every 53 hours in the United States this year, according to a new report.

Line-of-duty deaths jumped by 37% in 2010, according to the report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

An officer was killed Monday during a traffic stop in Atlanta. Late Tuesday night, an Arlington police officer was among three people killed in a shooting at an apartment complex.

These incidents are part of an overall trend of increased violence against police officers and law enforcement professionals this year. According to preliminary data compiled by the memorial fund, a total of 160 federal, state and local law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the past 12 months, an alarming increase that follows two years of declining deaths among the nation's policing professionals.

While the sharpest increase has been in gun-related deaths, traffic-related incidents remained the number one cause of death among the nation's law enforcement officers for the 13th consecutive year. Seventy-three officers have been killed in traffic-related incidents this year, compared with 51 in 2009.

"Our law enforcement officers are being asked to do more today with less," said memorial fund Chairman Craig W. Floyd. "And it is putting their lives at risk."

During the past year, 18 officers were killed in Texas, the highest in any state. It was followed by California with 11, Illinois with 10, Florida with nine and Georgia with seven.

Since the first known line-of-duty death in 1792, nearly 19,000 U.S. law enforcement officers have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Air traffic scheduled to resume at NYC airports

2010-12-27T23:08:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK — There's relief ahead for some travelers stranded at the New York-area's three major airports.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says flights are expected to begin arriving at Newark, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International airports Monday evening.

At JFK, some people are being booked on flights to leave this evening. Other flights were listed as arriving on time.

However, some travelers may be delayed a bit longer.

Srinivas Tadakamalla's (SREE'-nee-voss todd-ah-kah-MAHL'-ah) has been stranded at JFK on his way home to St. Louis from India with his 5-year-old daughter and 22-month-old son. He says he's been told he can't get a flight until Thursday.

All flight operations were suspended Sunday night during a storm that dumped 20 inches of snow on the metropolitan area.

Senate vote on nuclear treaty may be defining moment for Obama

2010-12-22T21:48:00.000-08:00

Washington — The upcoming Senate vote on a U.S.-Russia nuclear arms treaty may turn out to be a defining moment for the Obama administration's foreign policy.

If he wins the support of at least two-thirds of the Senate for the New START agreement in a vote that may come as early as Tuesday, President Obama could build on the victory as he turns to a long list of foreign policy challenges — including Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea and his broader plans to limit nuclear weapons.

How to Profit From the Compromise Tax Deal In 2011

2010-12-21T03:52:00.000-08:00

The compromise tax deal was signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, and continues to draw fire from critics on both sides of the political aisle. The $858 billion tax package isn't paid for. In fact, it actually costs more than the controversial Obama stimulus plan that has been criticized for having little measurable impact - even as it caused the budget deficit and the U.S. debt burden to explode.

And yet, investors have been cheered by the deal.

Near term, that's an acceptable perception. But in the long run, some very real problems loom. Investors who ignore those problems will take a real beating - and it will be self-inflicted. But investors who prepare for the inevitable will actually improve their positions: They'll not only protect themselves, they will profit.

US tax chief eyes more banks, possible new amnesty

2010-12-16T01:17:00.000-08:00

The US tax chief said leads from the landmark case against UBS AG, which admitted helping wealthy Americans evade taxes through offshore accounts, point toward other banks and financial advisers in Asia and the Middle East.

Douglas Shulman, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, also said the agency was considering a new amnesty program for tax evaders.

UBS last year admitted helping US clients avoid taxes by stashing money overseas. It paid a fine of USD 780 million to the US government and agreed to hand over the names of thousands of accounts to settle the case.

The IRS has been sifting through information from 18,000 accounts from individuals who came forward under an amnesty program designed to lure the wealthy to declare their assets. That includes 3,000 additional disclosures that came forward after the amnesty ended.

"This information has already proved invaluable in supplementing and corroborating prior leads, as well as developing new leads, involving numerous banks," Shulman said in remarks prepared for delivery to a tax conference.

The winding down of the UBS case has revived speculation about which banks US authorities will target next.

Clients of HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank, received letters in June from the US Justice Department notifying them that they are targets of a criminal probe.

Shulman said the agency is considering a new amnesty program for delinquent taxpayers, but the terms will not be as generous as for the last one.

Lawyers for the wealthy have complained that there is no clarity in terms of penalties for individuals who want to come forward.

How online retailers stay a step ahead of comparison shoppers

2010-12-11T01:21:00.000-08:00

The American consumer is back for the first holiday season since 2007. But while shoppers are hitting the malls, they're also being choosy - and comparison shopping is more easily done online. Web sales will rise 11 percent in November and December, according to ComScore, compared with about 3 percent for sales in bricks-and-mortar stores. Online shoppers can get better prices and perks like free shipping. Online merchants, however, are not exactly defenseless. One way they fight back against picky customers is through "dynamic pricing," also called "discriminatory," "personalized," or "variable" pricing. And, for the most part, customers have no idea it is happening.

In its most brazen form, it works like this: Retailers read the cookies kept on your browser or glean information from your past purchase history when you are logged into a site. That gives them a sense of what you search for and buy, how much you paid for it, and whether you might be willing and able to spend more.

They alter their prices or offers accordingly. Consumers - in the few cases they recognize it is going on, by shopping in two browsers simultaneously, for instance - tend to go apoplectic. But the practice is perfectly legal, and increasingly common - pervasive, even, for some products.

Obama and GOP in Deal on Tax Cuts

2010-12-06T22:07:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON — President Obama announced a tentative deal with Congressional Republicans on Monday to extend the Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels for two years as part of a package that would also keep benefits flowing to the long-term unemployed, cut payroll taxes for all workers for a year and take other steps to bolster the economy.

The deal appeared to resolve the first major standoff since the midterm elections between the White House and newly empowered Republicans on Capitol Hill. But it also highlighted the strains Mr. Obama faces in his own party as he navigates between a desire to get things done and a retreat from his own positions and the principles of many liberals.

Congressional Democrats pointedly noted that they had yet to agree to any deal, even as many Republicans signaled that they would go along.

Mr. Obama said that he did not like some elements of the framework, but that he had agreed to it to avoid having taxes increase for middle class Americans at the end of the year. He said that in return for agreeing to Republican demands that income tax rates not go up on upper-income brackets, he had secured substantial assistance to lower- and middle-income workers as well as the unemployed.

“It’s not perfect, but this compromise is an essential step on the road to recovery,” Mr. Obama said. “It will stop middle-class taxes from going up. It will spur our private sector to create millions of new jobs, and add momentum that our economy badly needs.”

Pentagon study: Gays could serve without harm

2010-12-03T01:11:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON — A Pentagon study on gays in the military has determined that overturning the law known as "don't ask, don't tell" might cause some disruption at first but would not create any widespread or long-lasting problems.

The study provided ammunition to congressional Democrats struggling to overturn the law. Even with the release of Tuesday's study, however, there was no indication they could overcome fierce Republican objections with just a few weeks left in the year-ending session of Congress. Democrats will be in the minority when Congress reconvenes in early January.

"We are both convinced that our military can do this, even during this time of war," wrote the study co-chairs Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson and Army Gen. Carter Ham.

Defence Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said Congress should act quickly because of a recent effort by a federal judge to overturn the law.

Gates said the military needs time to prepare for such a change, even though he said he did not envision any changes to personnel policy that would be needed. He said a sudden court-issued mandate would significantly increase the risk of causing disruption to the force.

"Given the present circumstances, those that choose not to act legislatively are rolling the dice that this policy will not be abruptly overturned by the courts," Gates told reporters.

Obama touts Chrysler return

2010-11-24T04:24:00.000-08:00

A week after General Motors made a showy return to Wall Street, President Obama highlighted the revival of the other bailed-out auto company during a trip to an Indiana transmission factory.

The campaign-style visit to a Chrysler plant here, a city battered by plant closures, was meant to underscore the message that the stimulus, the auto-company bailouts and other federal measures had prevented even worse economic devastation.

The unemployment rate in Kokomo has dropped from 20 percent last year to 12 percent, thanks in part to $400 million in stimulus money and the rescue of General Motors and Chrysler, administration officials said.

"No, we aren't out of the woods yet," Obama said at the plant. "It took a lot of years to get us into this mess. It will take longer than anybody would like to get us out. But I want everybody to be absolutely clear, we are moving in the right direction."

The appearance highlighted the administration's efforts to revive Chrysler, which has four plants in the city, employing nearly 4,500. The smaller of the two bailed-out automakers, Chrysler faced far graver challenges than did General Motors during the downturn.

Although both companies had been staggered by financial burdens, Chrysler also suffered from a nearly empty pipeline of products. Many analysts and some within the administration argued that the company should not be saved.

Bush Recollection Puts Spotlight on Miscarriage

2010-11-10T03:37:00.001-08:00

But the scene, described by former President George W. Bush in his interview with Matt Lauer of NBC News on Monday night, has started a national conversation — both about his mother, Barbara Bush, and about the complex psychological fallout from miscarriage.

Mr. Bush called his mother’s action “straightforward,” and added that it illustrated “how my mom and I developed a relationship.” Some opponents of abortion reacted approvingly. Other commentators called Mrs. Bush’s behavior the action of a depressed and angry person.

But experts say the incident is hard to interpret half a century after the fact. Indeed, it was extraordinary in at least one respect, they add: Mrs. Bush made a point of directly confronting the loss at a time when the subject was largely taboo.

When a middle-class woman miscarried in postwar America, doctors often whisked the fetus away as if there were no loss of life at all, only embarrassment; women whispered about it between themselves but hardly ever discussed it openly.

“It wasn’t thought of as losing a life; it was more like a medical mishap,” said Dr. Randi Hutter Epstein, a physician and the author of “Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth” (Norton, 2010). “And although women felt it privately, they didn’t feel it was worthy of going to see someone, or seeking help.”

Five ways the election will change Washington

2010-10-29T04:06:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — Voters say they want change.Again.

Two years after President Obama was swept into office on a message of hope, he faces what may be a historic rebuke from midterm voters, including millions of independents who supported him last time. Four years after California liberal Nancy Pelosi triumphantly claimed the House speaker's gavel for the Democrats, Ohio conservative John Boehner is poised to take it away for the Republicans.

Those reversals reflect continuing dissatisfaction with the country's course and its politics, especially as the nation struggles to recover from a deep recession. In this election, as in the past two, voters have moved toward whichever party promised to shake things up: Democrats in 2006 and 2008, Republicans in 2010.

This time, if Republicans win control of the House and shave the Democratic majority in the Senate, Obama will be forced to forge new working relationships with the GOP.

MIDTERMS: Jobs, economic security top issues

In Congress, a freshman class of Tea Party members is likely to clash not only with Democrats but also with the establishment Republicans who tried to defeat them in GOP primaries. And the capital's agenda increasingly will focus on what political scientist John Pitney calls "the politics of subtraction" — reducing federal spending.

Chicago is Clinton's latest stop to rally Dems

2010-10-27T00:18:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO -- Former President Bill Clinton rallied voters Tuesday to keep Democrats in control of Illinois, especially in the races for governor and President Barack Obama's old U.S. Senate seat as Republicans gain razor-thin leads.

To rally goers, his swing through a state where every statewide office is held by a Democrat - and Obama's planned visit later this week - were signs the party believes Illinois is still winnable. Chicago was Clinton's latest stop as he crisscrosses the country urging Democrats to turn out in force on Nov. 2.

"If they had said we'll go someplace else, skip Illinois ... that would have been a very bad sign," said Chicago Alderman Danny Solis, who was among the few hundred party faithful who turned out for Clinton's rally at a downtown Chicago hotel.

Calif. gov debate overshadowed by personal jabs

2010-10-13T01:46:00.000-07:00

Coming into their final debate of the California governor's race, Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman had a chance to persuade a statewide audience they could turn around the economically troubled state.

Instead, their third face-to-face exchange resorted to many of the personal attacks that have dominated the last few weeks of the campaign.

Neither candidate presented any new ideas in a contest that is virtually tied just three weeks before Election Day and in which a fifth of voters remain undecided. A poll released two weeks ago found about half the respondents were dissatisfied with both candidates.

Before Brown and Whitman walked on stage, moderator and former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw told the audience at Dominican University that he planned to address not just the critical economic woes facing the nation's most populous state but the tone of the campaign.

The debate followed several weeks of personal attacks that had both candidates on the defensive — Whitman over revelations that her housekeeper was an illegal immigrant and Brown over an audio tape in which a female campaign aide called Whitman a "whore" for pandering to a Los Angeles police union.

While the first few minutes of the debate were civil, with Brown and Whitman touting California's potential and the tough decisions ahead, much of the hour-long face-off was dominated with rehashed verbal jousting on nearly every issue.

It left 66-year-old independent voter Tom Callinam of Mill Valley with little insight into the candidates' plans if elected governor.

"I have a hard choice. I haven't decided yet. I don't think that debate helped because of all the canned answers," said Callinam, who attended the debate. "I would have liked them to answer the questions."

Brown, 72, sought to describe Whitman as a billionaire corporate executive who wants to buy herself the state's top job to benefit herself and wealthy friends. Whitman, 54, repeatedly called her rival a career politician beholden to public employee unions who would continue the "same old, same old" failed policies in Sacramento.

Nasdaq drops, S&P dips on worries about tech demand

2010-10-08T00:10:00.000-07:00

Tech shares slumped on Wednesday, hit by worries about demand for semiconductors and data storage.

The Nasdaq bore the brunt of the day's selling, led by data system services provider Citrix Systems (CTXS.O). The stock was down in sympathy with small-cap Equinix Inc (EQIX.O), which plunged 33.1 percent to $70.34 after it issued a revenue warning late Tuesday. Citrix slid 14.1 percent to $60.15.

"You are starting to see a natural rotation and some profit taking in the cloud computing sector that has been red hot in the last few months," said TD Ameritrade chief options strategist Joe Kinahan in Chicago.

"So those investors that currently own Citrix are reconsidering the valuation at these levels."

Obama promotes family-friendly hours at businesses

2010-10-06T02:29:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama promoted flexible hours and other family-friendly workplace policies Tuesday, telling a conference of female business leaders that such arrangements are more than a women's issue.

While addressing Fortune magazine's 2010 "Most Powerful Women Summit," Obama said companies with flexible arrangements can have lower turnover and absenteeism and higher productivity.

Obama said he wants federal agencies to be models with policies like mobile workplaces and flexible schedules. He urged that employees be judged "by the results they get, not the facetime they log."

Obama also supports paid leave programs and child tax credits.

The Fortune event, in its 12th year, brought together hundreds of women who have succeeded in fields from business to education to philanthropy. Obama said their achievements show how much progress women have made in the workplace since his grandmother hit a "glass ceiling" after becoming a bank vice president in Hawaii.

But, the president said in a dinner speech the Carnegie Mellon Auditorium, "we still have a ways to go."

Obama holds 1st summit on community colleges at WH

2010-10-05T05:09:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is turning the education spotlight on community colleges, enlisting career teacher Jill Biden to preside over the first White House summit on the system of schools he's counting on to help produce an additional 8 million graduates by 2020.

While providing millions of students with skills training and a less expensive path to a college degree, these schools are challenged by climbing enrollments, high dropout rates and large numbers of students who come from high school needing significant remedial education before they can tackle college level work, officials say.

What works — and does not work — at community colleges will be topics of discussion at Tuesday's summit.

Obama is scheduled to deliver opening remarks.

The daylong exercise will involve representatives from community colleges, business, philanthropy and government in discussions about how these schools can meet the increased demand for job training and also help fulfill Obama's wish for the U.S. to become the world's top producer of college graduates by 2020.

Ayodhya verdict: disputed site to be split between Hindus and Muslims

2010-09-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

Muslims revere the compound in Ayodhya, north India, as the site of the now-demolished 16th century Babri Mosque, while Hindus say it is the birthplace of the god Rama.

The Allahabad High Court ruled that the site should be split, with the Muslim community getting control of one-third and two Hindu groups splitting the remainder, according to Ravi Shankar Prasad, a lawyer for one of the parties to the suit.

The Hindus will keep the area where a small tent-shrine to Rama has been erected, he said.

"The majority ruled that the location of the makeshift temple is the birthplace of Rama, and this spot cannot be shifted," he said.

The court also ruled that the current status of the site should continue for the next three months to allow for the land to be peacefully measured and divided, he said.

Thousands of paramilitary and riot police have been deployed in India as the country was braced for violence following the ruling.

Ever since the destruction of the mosque 18 years ago the site has been cordoned off with barbed wire and steel fencing and guarded by troops.

A total of 200,000 police and paramilitary forces patrolled the streets of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, with tens of thousands on special duty in other areas around the country that are vulnerable to religious clashes.

The full verdict of the bench hearing the case has not yet been released to the public.

Calls for longer school years face budget reality

2010-09-28T05:46:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK -- President Barack Obama's call for a longer school day and year for America's kids echoes a similar call he made a year ago to little effect, illustrating just how deeply entrenched the traditional school calendar is and how little power the federal government has to change it.

Education reformers have long called for U.S. kids to log more time in the classroom so they can catch up with their peers elsewhere in the world, but resistance from leisure-loving teenagers isn't the only reason there is no mass movement to keep schoolchildren in their seats.

Such a change could cost cash-strapped state governments and local school districts billions of dollars, strip teachers of a time-honored perk of their profession, and irk officials in states that already bridle at federal intrusion into their traditional control over education.

"If you extend the school year for, say, five days, you're paying for another week of salaries, another week of utilities and another week of fuel for, in South Carolina, 5,700 school buses," said Jim Foster, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Education.

The Year End Tax Planning 2010 – Still no Resolution

2010-09-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

With the Bush government’s income tax cuts expiration in 2009, the US government is in a soup about the 2010 year end tax planning. The Congress and the White House are in constant talks to figure whether or not to extend the provision, and if so, for how long. With three months left for the year to end, citizens and the government have limited time to figure out the tax scenario.

Another challenge for the government along with the expired myriad tax break is a whole lot of other provisions that expire at the end of this year. The alternative minimum tax “patch” is yet to be approved for the 2010 tax year and the estate tax is not in play this year.

Though the government has been doing a lot of meeting and talking, a final decision and solution is yet to be found. If a solution and decision is not reached soon, the estate tax for one will come back in 2011 at a low US $1 million exemption.

While the conservative Democrats are all for the extension of the tax break for all American citizens, President Obama is considering the extension only for those who have an annual income of less that US $250,000.

The year end tax planning for this year just gets murkier and more confusing with taxpayers expecting the indecision and confusion passing well into 2011 as well.

Small-business tax breaks clear a hurdle in the Senate

2010-09-14T23:42:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats, bolstered by the support of two retiring Republicans, beat back a filibuster yesterday to clear the way for a bill packed with tax breaks and other benefits for small businesses.

The measure, which was opposed by Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts and 36 of his GOP colleagues, would create a $30 billion government fund to encourage lending and would eliminate capital gains taxes for long-term investors in some small businesses.

President Obama has called it a much-needed salve for small businesses struggling to recover from the recession.

Last week Senator George Voinovich, an Ohio Republican, chided his party’s foot-dragging on the bill and vowed to support it, the first of several economic initiatives the White House has been pushing since Congress returned from its summer recess. George LeMieux of Florida joined Voinovich to support closing debate on the bill, which clears it for final passage this week. Neither man is seeking reelection.

Brown, however, called the bill another bailout.

“This bill includes a provision just like TARP,’’ he said after voting against the bill. “Banks making lending decisions with government funds is not the way to get our economy moving again.’’

His Senate Democratic counterpart, John Kerry, declared the vote a victory. “This bill provides vital aid to the small businesses that can drive growth and create jobs in these tough economic times,’’ Kerry, who previously chaired the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, said in a statement.

Kerry wrote some of the provisions in the bill, including an extension of some Small Business Administration lending programs and fee waivers.

Obama to tout economic strategy in press conference

2010-09-10T02:08:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama will Friday step up his mid-term election campaign and appeal to voters dismayed by the stuttering economy with his first White House press conference since May.

Obama scheduled the appearance at 11:00 am (1500 GMT) to press home the case on his recovery plans, but the event may be overtaken by the fast-moving controversy over a Florida pastor's on-hold threat to torch the Koran.

The president's appearance comes at the end of a week in which Obama has tried to reframe the political climate ahead of November's congressional polls in which his Democrats fear heavy losses.

He admitted in a television interview Wednesday that his party would not do well in the election if it became a judgment on the state of the economy in the wake of the worst financial meltdown in decades.

"If the election is a referendum on are people satisfied about the economy as it currently is, then we're not going to do well," Obama told ABC News.

"I think everybody feels like this economy needs to do better than it's been doing," Obama said.

"My challenge, and the challenge of every Democratic candidate who's out there is just making sure the people understand there's a choice here."

A Quinnipiac University poll published on Thursday made uncomfortable reading for the administration, with voters disapproving of his handling of the economy -- the major election issue -- by 56 to 39 percent.

Obama to back more business tax breaks

2010-09-07T05:42:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will call on Congress to pass new tax breaks that would allow businesses to write off 100 percent of their new capital investments through 2011, the latest in a series of proposals the White House is rolling out in hopes of showing action on the economy ahead of the November elections.

An administration official said the tax breaks would save businesses $200 billion over two years, allowing companies to have more cash on hand. The president will outline the proposal during a speech on the economy in Cleveland Wednesday.

Amid an uptick in unemployment to 9.6 percent, and polls showing that the November election could be dismal for Democrats, Obama has promised to propose new steps to stimulate the economy. In addition to the business investment tax breaks, he will also call for a $50 billion infrastructure investment and a permanent expansion of research and development tax credits for companies.

The proposals would requires congressional approval, which is highly uncertain given Washington's partisan atmosphere. With the public worried about adding to the mounting federal deficits, and Republicans saying spending is out of control, even many Democratic lawmakers are reluctant to approve new spending so close to the midterm elections.

Even if legislators could pass some of the proposals in the short window between their return to Capitol Hill in mid-September and the elections, it's unlikely the efforts would significantly stimulate the economy by November.

Several million people and 1.5 million businesses would benefit from the tax breaks, said the administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the formal announcement has not been made.

The official estimated the ultimate cost to taxpayers over 10 years would be $30 billion, with most of the money lost in tax revenue being recouped as the economy strengthens.

A Celebratory Road Trip for Education Secretary

2010-09-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

No, Education Secretary Arne Duncan is not a candidate for office. But yes, his bus tour through Maine, New Hampshire and other Northeast states had all the trappings of a political campaign.

Mr. Duncan’s tour, coinciding with back-to-school season, was billed as a way to honor teachers. But the road trip also felt like a victory lap after last week’s announcement that nine states and the District of Columbia had won the Race to the Top, the Obama administration’s most prized education initiative.

The competition was the rarest of rarities: a government grant program that became a household phrase, and brought arcane education policy onto morning television shows.

By the Education Department’s count, the competition for $4.3 billion in federal funds at a time of state budget crises prodded 34 states to change laws or policies to align themselves with the administration’s goals for change.

Obama pledges Gulf Coast recovery on anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

2010-08-30T03:15:00.000-07:00

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged yesterday to finish restoring the Gulf Coast area hit by Hurricane Katrina, five years after the storm ravaged the region.

Mr Obama visited New Orleans - the city hardest hit by the disaster - with his family at the end of a week-and-a-half holiday on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.

During the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Mr Obama sharply criticised then-President George W. Bush for his administration's slow response to the flooding and devastation that played out live on television.

Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina left the region submerged, killing 1,800 people. Pictured is a general view of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, eights days after the disaster

Ahead of November's congressional elections, Mr Obama used his speech to highlight his administration's action since taking office, drawing an implicit contrast without naming Republicans or Bush by name.

'It was a natural disaster, but also a man-made catastrophe, a shameful breakdown in government that left countless men and women and children abandoned and alone,' Mr Obama said in a speech at Xavier University.

On the most recent calamity to hit the region, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Mr Obama promised to reverse the damage it caused and hold energy giant BP accountable.

University must release Palin contract

2010-08-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

California State University at Stanislaus and its private foundation violated public records laws and will have to release the speakers contract with Sarah Palin they had tried to keep secret, a judge has ruled.

The details of Palin's contract to speak at a June 25 fundraiser for the foundation became national news last spring after foundation officials refused to tell state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, how much Palin would be paid.

Yee has been trying to change a state law that shields campus foundations from public scrutiny.

The Palin story grew more bizarre in April after students found discarded pieces of the secret contract in a Dumpster on the property of the public university - after university officials told Yee and CalAware, an open-government group, that they didn't have any of Palin-related documents.

CalAware sued, and in May, the foundation released hundreds of pages of Palin-related paperwork - but not the contract. Among them were e-mails showing that Charles Reed, chancellor of the 23-campus CSU system, favored suppressing the contract to avoid news stories about its contents.

That e-mail, and the finding that the university did possess Palin documents, led Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne to order the Turlock campus to release Palin's contract

Candidates fending off reformist challengers

2010-08-23T01:53:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow’s primaries in Arizona and Florida appear likely to deliver a few surprises for anyone who accepted the conventional wisdom of just a few months ago.

At that time, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, was considered in danger of becoming the next victim of a Tea Party movement uprising that was threatening Republican candidates who were viewed as straying from conservative orthodoxy.

In what was taken as a sign of his nervousness, he brought in his 2008 vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, who vouched for his conservative bona fides. Now he enjoys a double-digit lead in the polls over his challenger, former representative J.D. Hayworth.

In Florida’s Democratic primary for US senator, Representative Kendrick Meek was nearly written off earlier this summer as he was being buried under an avalanche of television ads from his wealthy opponent, political novice Jeff Greene. Today, Meek leads Greene in the polls.

The contests offer more evidence that establishment candidates can prosper in this year of the outsider. They also are a reminder that personal wealth cannot overcome personal flaws, particularly among political novices.

Long before Hayworth emerged as a likely challenger, McCain took steps to protect himself, according to advisers. He concluded soon after he lost the 2008 presidential race that his party’s base was rapidly moving into a posture of total opposition to President Obama. McCain quickly became an outspoken opponent of the president on virtually all major issues.

President Obama begins 10-day vacation in Martha's Vineyard

2010-08-19T04:14:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - President Obama on Thursday starts a 10-day vacation in Martha's Vineyard, where he can enjoy watching the sun sink below the horizon - instead of his poll numbers.

The summer playground off the Massachusetts coast is brimming with Secret Service agents and extra state police. A Coast Guard cutter will patrol the waters off the property.

"I do think that just like a lot of American people, the President is taking a little time with his family to recharge his batteries," spokesman Bill Burton said.

Not that the burdens of the presidency may not interrupt him. Obama has a knack for scheduling his break when big events intrude.

Last summer, Sen. Ted Kennedy passed away while the Obamas were on the Vineyard, and Obama went to Boston to speak at his funeral.

During their Christmas holidays in Hawaii, the underwear bomber tried to blow up a plane bound for Detroit, leaving people asking at the time who was in charge when the terrorist nearly struck.

The White House is taking steps to make sure Obama keeps plugged in, even while he's on one of the island's members-only golf courses.

"Whenever you talk about a presidential vacation, you ought to put the word 'vacation' in quotes because you can bet that there will still be work that he's doing every day," Burton said.

"He'll continue to get his daily intelligence brief from [deputy national security adviser] John Brennan, who will be there. He'll be getting constant updates on what's happening in the economy and other issues," Burton explained.

Stocks down slightly in thin trading after rally

2010-08-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK -- Stocks were mostly lower Wednesday as investors find little incentive to extend the previous day's rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 30 points and all the other major indexes fell.

There was little news to motivate investors to continue the rally that sent the Dow up 103 points Tuesday. Target Corp. missed analysts' forecasts for its second-quarter revenue.

Target's report came a day after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Home Depot Inc. helped feed the stock rally with upbeat numbers. So investors were again presented with numbers that appeared contradictory, and that spelled more uncertainty about the economy.

Wednesday's trading was muted however, and that was to be expected after investors on Tuesday showed their first real enthusiasm for stocks in weeks and sent the Dow up 103 points. There were no big economic reports planned Wednesday. And any big gains were likely to be given back simply because investors don't trust stocks to put together a solid advance.

California gay marriage on hold as case appealed

2010-08-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday that same-sex couples could not marry in California while the court considers the constitutionality of the state's ban on gay marriage.

But the panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals set an aggressive schedule for the case, with briefings in the fall and a hearing the week of December 6.

California's ban on same-sex marriage, known as Proposition 8, passed in November 2008, setting off emotional reactions among both opponents and supporters of the ban.

Liberals questioned how trend-setting California could fall in line with roughly 40 other states that ban same-sex unions, while social conservatives boasted that their cause had national backing.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ruled earlier this month that the ban was unconstitutional.

Last week he said gay marriages could resume while higher courts considered the matter. But the brief ruling by the three-judge appellate panel reverses that, prohibiting gay marriage during the appeal.

Obama to visit Milwaukee, Los Angeles on Monday

2010-08-16T02:44:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — Back from his whirlwind Florida getaway, President Barack Obama returns to the road for a trip to the Milwaukee area — and Los Angeles.

The president travels to Menomonee Falls, Wis., on Monday, where he will tour ZBB Energy Corp., which makes batteries and fuel cells for renewable-energy products. Then he'll headline a $250-a-plate fundraiser for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who is in a competitive race for governor. Barrett was one of the earliest supporters of Obama when he ran for president in 2008.

Then it's off to Los Angeles, where Obama will deliver remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee finance event. The president will spend the night in Los Angeles.

Obama's press secretary slams professional left

2010-08-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has taken aim at the "professional left" for being unnecessarily harsh on U.S. President Barack Obama and pushing for a Canadian-style health-care system.

"They will be satisfied when we have Canadian health care and we've eliminated the Pentagon," the normally affable Gibbs says in an explosive interview published Tuesday in the congressional newspaper The Hill. "That's not reality."

Those on the left who claim Obama as president isn't much different than George W. Bush, he added, "ought to be drug-tested."

The remarks sent immediate shockwaves through Washington, particularly among the very liberals who have expressed disappointment with the president since his historic election in November 2008 on a message of hope and change.

By mid-day Tuesday, Gibbs was expressing remorse about his comments in a statement aimed at attempting to explain his frustration at the criticism confronting his boss.

Primary winners highlight political inexperience

2010-08-11T04:38:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — All hail inexperience the less familiarity with politics the better, no matter the party or state.

"This election is the first time my name has ever been on a ballot," appointed Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said Tuesday night, hours after dispatching his rival in a bitter Democratic primary.

Two major mountain ranges away, first-time Republican candidate Linda McMahon said it slightly differently.

"The support of the voters of Connecticut isn't bestowed by the establishment or the pundits or the media. It isn't a birthright," the former World Wrestling Entertainment executive said after winning the GOP senatorial nomination in her first run for office.

Bennet and McMahon were two of the most distinctive winners on a busy primary night, one an incumbent who proved able to handle the type of primary challenge that has claimed lawmakers elsewhere, the other the epitome of the conservative outsider who will carry the GOP banner into the fall campaign, with control of Congress and 37 governorships at stake.

Obama attacks Bush policies in Bush's home state

2010-08-10T02:07:00.000-07:00

President Barack Obama attacked the economic policies of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush in Bush's home state on Monday as evidence of the way Republicans would operate if given power in November 2 U.S. congressional elections.

At a fund-raising event for Democrats in Dallas, where Bush now lives, Obama said the former president's "disastrous" policies had driven the U.S. economy into the ground and turned budget surpluses into deficits.

Obama defended his repeated references to Bush's policies, saying they were necessary to remind Americans of the weak economy he inherited from Bush in January 2009.

"The policies that crashed the economy, that undercut the middle class, that mortgaged our future, do we really want to go back to that, or do we keep moving our country forward?" Obama said at another fund-raising event in Austin, referring to Bush's eight years as president.

In reminding voters about the policies of the unpopular Bush, Obama is trying to protect his fellow Democrats' majorities in Congress and limit anticipated Republican gains.

On November 2, voters will choose all 435 members of the House of Representatives and 37 members of the 100-seat Senate.

Republicans say they doubt Obama's effort to cite Bush as a reason to vote against them in November will work because Americans are more concerned about getting or keeping a job.

"When we talk about this 'going back' thing, I notice that some Republicans say, 'Well, he just wants to bash the previous administration, he's looking backwards.' ... No, no, no. The reason we're focused on it is because the other side isn't offering anything new," Obama said in Austin.

First woman to head major US intelligence agency

2010-08-09T02:45:00.000-07:00

The United States has had three female secretaries of state _ but until now has never had a woman lead one of its 16 major intelligence agencies.

Letitia A. Long is being elevated Monday to director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in a ceremony at the agency's half-built, high-tech campus in Springfield, Va.

The "Jetsons"-style rounded wedge of buildings is rising from a vast construction site near Fort Belvoir. The NGA's staff, now spread across the Washington metropolitan area, is slated to relocate there by fall 2011.

Long's 32-year career has led to a series of senior management positions: deputy director of Naval Intelligence, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and, most recently, second in command at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Long represents the vanguard of women in the intelligence community.

Women represent 38 percent of total intelligence work force, according to Wendy Morigi, spokeswoman for the Director of National Intelligence. In six most prominent agencies, 27 percent of senior intelligence positions are held by women.

Long has taken over one of the "top computer geek shops" in the national security world. The NGA synthesizes satellite imagery, using everything from the number of electric lines a city has to the density of the soil, to create three-dimensional, interactive maps of every spot on the planet. They're used by everyone from invading troops gauging whether a country's roads or deserts can handle tank tracks, to oil spill cleanup crews trying to decide where to deploy resources.

Gay Marriage Ruling a Challenge for Both Parties

2010-08-06T04:44:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge’s decision on Wednesday overturning Proposition 8 California’s ban on same-sex marriage has tossed a largely unwanted issue into the middle of the November midterm elections.

The decision, which ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional, has complicated the political tasks before President Obama, whose aides had to explain in the wake of the decision that the president supported equal gay rights but opposed marriage rights for gay men and lesbians.

Meanwhile, Republicans said that dwelling on the issue could become a distraction in the effort to win back the House or Senate from Democrats this fall. At a meeting of the Republican National Committee in Kansas City, Mo., several party leaders and strategists said it would be a mistake for the midterm election campaign to suddenly become focused on gay marriage, immigration or other hot-button issues. The only path to winning control of Congress, they said, rested on making an economic argument.

President Obama celebrates birthday in Chicago

2010-08-04T05:55:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO – It wasn’t much of a party, just President Barack Obama catching up with some close friends and Oprah Winfrey over dinner in his adopted hometown. His wife and kids were away, but they called to wish him a “Happy Birthday.” His dog, Bo, made the trip, along with an aide to take him for walks. He played cards on the flight from Washington. He got to sleep in his own home.

And that’s how the president celebrated turning 49 on Wednesday, with a relatively low-key overnight stay in Chicago.

That might seem a bit ordinary for the commander in chief, but Obama has only been back to visit Chicago a handful of times since moving to Washington 20 months ago. And while he may have spent the night there without his family, he had plenty of company throughout his big day.

Obama got “Happy Birthday” wishes from AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka when he spoke to the labor group’s executive council Wednesday morning. The audience in the East Room ceremony for 2010 recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal serenaded him. A little girl in his Chicago neighborhood held a sign that was almost as big as her just to say, "Happy 49th Birthday President Barack Obama.”

McCain Coburn Spotlight Failing Stimulus Projects

2010-08-04T02:36:00.000-07:00

Republican Sens. John released a report today profiling 100 stimulus projeMcCain (Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) cts they say represent the failings of the stimulus package.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act "passed with assurances that it would stem the loss of American jobs and keep the economy from floundering," reads the introduction of the report, Summer Time Blues: 100 Stimulus Projects that Give Taxpayers the Blues during the Summer of Recovery." "As most can see, it hasn't."

The projects spotlighted represent just a tiny percentage of the more than 70,000 stimulus projects underway. Coburn said at a press conference, however, that the point of the report is to show that the stimulus is not getting Americans the "best bang for our buck." The program, he said, has raised the national debt while funding inappropriate projects.

"There is no question that this stimulus bill has had a positive effect on the economy to a certain degree, and what our criticism is, it could have had far greater effect," Coburn said.

The report highlights projects funded by the stimulus such as a water park in New York, research into whether yoga can reduce hot flashes, and a sidewalk in Boynton, Oklahoma that leads into a ditch.

US combat mission in Iraq to end

2010-08-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama said the US strategy in Iraq will shift "from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats" by the end of this month, in the first of a series of speeches trumpeting the success of his administration's policy.

After a seven-year conflict costing US taxpayers some $700bn and the lives of more than 4,000 American troops, Obama proclaimed that the withdrawal of US forces was happening "as promised, on schedule," fulfilling his pledge as a presidential candidate to bring the conflict in Iraq to a "responsible end".

"As we mark the end of America's combat mission in Iraq, a grateful America must pay tribute to all who served there," Obama told the Disabled Veterans of America conference in Atlanta today, using a phrase that recalls George Bush's ill-fated claim on 1 May 2003 that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".

In an attempt to avoid the premature triumphalism that damaged Bush's presidency, Obama also warned: "The hard truth is we have not seen the end of American sacrifice in Iraq."

Today's speech comes after a year in which Obama's administration has been concentrating on the conflict in Afghanistan and on US domestic policy, as the economy has remained the public's top concern and Democrats have wrestled with passing landmark healthcare and financial regulation reform

The withdrawal of American troops and the shift to a "civilian effort" will, however, likely include a build-up in contractors working for the US State Department, driving armored vehicles, flying aircraft and disposing of explosive devices, according to a report by McClatchy Newspapers.

Economy erodes election hope for Democrats

2010-07-28T03:03:00.000-07:00

President Obama makes remarks on the Senate campaign finance reform vote in the Rose Garden at the White House.

Americans by a large majority believe President Barack Obama has not focused enough on job creation, as economic fears threaten Democrats ahead of November 2 congressional elections, a Reuters-Ipsos poll found on Tuesday.

In a sign of trouble ahead for the Democrats, the poll found evidence of a sizable enthusiasm gap with Republicans more energized about voting in the elections.

Americans expressed deep unhappiness with the direction of the economy, which in the poll they identified overwhelmingly as the country's top problem.

The U.S. unemployment rate is at a stubbornly high 9.5 percent and Obama has spent much of the year on issues like Wall Street reform and healthcare in addition to jobs.

People were more negative about Obama's performance on the economy than on any other question surveyed. Satisfaction was dropping more sharply on the issue than on any other question.

Only 34 percent approved of Obama's handling of the economy and jobs compared to 46 percent who deemed it unsatisfactory. This is a sharp decline from early 2009, shortly after he took office, when more than half of those surveyed approved of Obama's handling of the worst financial crisis in decades.

President Obama to defend education plan

2010-07-27T03:30:00.000-07:00

President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan will deliver major speeches this week on their $4.35 billion Race to the Top school reform program, pushing back against complaints that it promotes unproven methods and ignores long-standing inequities in public education.

Speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Duncan is expected to name a list of state finalists for the controversial grant program’s second round of funding and to explain why Race to the Top — the crown jewel of the administration’s education agenda — must continue. And on Thursday, Obama will talk about education at the annual gathering of the National Urban League, one of seven civil rights organizations that blasted Race to the Top in a report made public Monday.

The highly competitive initiatives “distribute resources by competition in the midst of a severe recession,” effectively reducing standard, formula-based federal education funding, according to the report. “Such an approach reinstates the antiquated and highly politicized frame for distributing federal support to states that civil rights organizations fought to remove in 1965.”

Obama holds up a document of Republican solutions

2010-07-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama who rocketed to the White House promising "change you can believe in," is now telling voters they shouldn't change a thing.

His message for the fall elections, which are looking ominous for his Democrats, is that Republicans caused the nation's economic troubles, but he and the Democrats are starting to fix them. So stick with the Democrats and don't go back to the GOP.

"This is a choice between the policies that led us into the mess or the policies that are leading out of the mess," Obama said recently in Las Vegas.

Trouble is, it's a tough sell to voters who've seen little progress.

Unemployment is stuck near double digits and polls show many voters have decided Obama's policies are to blame, not his predecessor's.

Obama often frames the argument by saying that Republicans had their chance to drive, then drove the car into a ditch and shouldn't get the keys back. But voters may be concluding that Democrats, who control the White House and both chambers of Congress, have had their chance at the wheel, too, and haven't gotten very far.