Royal hoax DJs taken off air amid anger over death

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SYDNEY: Two Australian radio presenters who made a hoax call to the hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Catherine were taken off the air on Saturday after the nurse who took the call was found dead in a suspected suicide.

Jacintha Saldanha answered the phone when presenters from Sydney's 2Day FM called, pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and William's father Prince Charles, before passing it onto a colleague who divulged details of Kate's condition.

Saldanha was found dead on Friday, with police saying her death was not being treated as suspicious. Her employers, London's private King Edward VII hospital, refused to comment on media reports that she had taken her own life.

News of the death prompted a furious outpouring against the radio station and the two presenters involved, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who are said to be "deeply shocked" by the turn of events.

"It's fair to say they are completely shattered," Rhys Holleran, chief executive of Southern Cross Austereo which owns 2Day FM, said of the pair, who had only been presenting together for a couple of weeks.

Holleran said the station and the hosts had decided that their show will not return "until further notice out of respect of what can only be described as a tragedy".

The radio station's Facebook page has been bombarded with thousands of comments on the death, many attacking the presenters and calling for them to be sacked, while at least one major company has withdrawn its advertising.

"Not so darn funny now is it? A British nurse is DEAD for the sake of a couple of cheap laughs. Shame on you!" wrote Kim Wilson.

Police said they had been called to an address close to the hospital on Friday morning following reports that a woman was unconscious, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

"The death is being treated as unexplained," a statement said, while a spokesman said results of a post-mortem were due this weekend.

The family of the nurse, who reportedly had two children, appealed for privacy while they came to terms with her death.

"We as a family are deeply saddened by the loss of our beloved Jacintha," they said in a statement.

More than 13,650 comments had hit the 2Day FM page by Saturday afternoon, some saying Greig and Christian had blood on their hands and calling angrily for them to be dismissed.

For some the incident had echoes of Prince William's mother Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi.

"One would think... the death of Princess Diana would have taught the media a lesson about invasion of privacy of the royal family, but I guess not," said one commentator, posting as Lora LB.

Prince William and Kate have said they were "deeply saddened" by Saldanha's death, while Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it was a "terrible tragedy".

The hoax caused a global media storm, coming barely a day after the palace revealed the 30-year-old royal was pregnant following her admission to hospital on Monday with severe morning sickness where she stayed three nights.

Greig and Christian apologised after an uproar in Britain but the station initially milked the publicity as the "biggest royal prank ever".

In the phone call, in which Greig impersonated Queen Elizabeth II, Saldanha is heard saying, "Oh yes, just hold on, Ma'am", before putting her through to another nurse who revealed that Kate "hasn't had any retching with me since I've been on duty and she has been sleeping on and off".

The royals did not complain about the incident but it sparked intense media coverage and the chief executive of the hospital, John Lofthouse, said staff had been trying to help Saldanha "through this very difficult time".

The Australian presenters had insisted their hoax was lighthearted and even Prince Charles joked about the incident, saying to reporters asking him about Kate's condition on Thursday: "How do you know I'm not a radio station?"

But the joke divided the public in Australia, with some seeing it as "a bit of harmless fun" and others saying a line had been crossed and everyone had a right to privacy.

The widespread shock at the nurse's death is a sharp contrast with the excitement that greeted the announcement of a new royal heir this week. William and Kate's first child will be third in line to the British throne.

- AFP/xq



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India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

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

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

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

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

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

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Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

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

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

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

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

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

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

Root Growth

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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Federal Agencies Brace for Deep Cuts Post-'Cliff'

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Dec 7, 2012 4:22pm







gty barack obama john boehner ll 121206 wblog Federal Agencies Brace for Deep Cuts Post Cliff

Toby Jorrin/AFP/Getty Images


With the “fiscal cliff” quickly approaching, federal agencies are stepping up preparations for deep automatic budget cuts that will kick in Jan. 2 unless the White House and Congress can reach a deal.


The Office of Management and Budget told ABC News that a memo went out to federal agencies earlier this week seeking “additional information and analysis” in order to finalize spending cuts required if we go off the cliff.


The agencies are considering which workers to furlough, projects to put on hold and offices that will have to close.


The request follows the administration’s release of a 400-page report in September that outlined the budget areas to be impacted by the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts and what percentages they would be slashed.


READ MORE: White House Details ‘Doomsday’ Budget Cuts


Billions of dollars could be slashed from defense operations and maintenance programs. Medicare would take a two-percent hit, trimming millions in payouts to health care providers. Scientific research programs would be gutted. Aid for the poor and needy would be sharply curtailed.


The report also detailed operations that would be exempt from any cuts, including active-duty military operations, nuclear watchdogs, homeland security officials, veterans care and other critical areas.


READ: Pentagon Begins Planning for ‘Cliff’ Cuts


Asked about the agency preparations underway, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday that OMB “must take certain steps to ensure the administration is ready to issue such an order should Congress fail to act.”


“Earlier this week, OMB issued a request to federal agencies for additional information to finalize calculations on the spending reductions that would be required,” Carney said.


“This action should not be read … as a change in the administration’s commitment to reach an agreement and avoid sequestration.  OMB is simply ensuring that the administration is prepared, should it become necessary to issue such an order,” he said. “OMB will continue to consult with agencies and will provide additional guidance as needed.  This is just acting responsibly because of the potential for this happening.”


Get more pure politics at ABCNews.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com.


More ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Coverage From Today:




SHOWS: World News







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Survey shows falling satisfaction among federal employees

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When he released a federal worker survey on the afternoon before Thanksgiving, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry forthrightly noted that “continued tight budgets and pay freezes” contributed to many lower ratings.


The report goes a bit further, suggesting “the downward trend of many of the survey items . . . suggest that the continued tight budgets, salary freezes and general public opinion of federal service are beginning to take a toll on even the most committed employees.”

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Fans to get third "A Slice of Life" book

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SINGAPORE: "A Slice of Life Volume 3", the third collection of scripts for the popular "A Slice of Life" self-improvement radio programme on Singapore radio station 938LIVE, will be launched on Sunday, 2pm at the &Made by Bruno Menard bistro.

Written by 938LIVE deejay Eugene Loh, "A Slice of Life Volume 3" contains the uplifting anecdotes about life, love and work, which Loh shares on his radio programme "A Slice of Life".

Loh said his book "gives certain pointers to help guide people towards understanding more about themselves, and what they can do to improve things in their life".

He added that putting his stories and observations on life into print helps people digest them more easily.

"I think people like to have something that they can carry with them," said Loh, who will be on hand to sign copies of his new book during the book launch.

"For this kind of theme as well, where it has to do with introspection, soul searching, people like to take their time, read it at their own pace, maybe digest certain phrases or lines in their own time, or maybe re-read certain chapters."

Over 1,000 copies of the book, which retails at S$16, have been pre-ordered so far.

Loh's radio programme "A Slice of Life", which currently airs every weekday between 2-5pm, has spawned a series of CDs and books, since it went on air some 14 years ago on 938LIVE.

-CNA/ha



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1993 Mumbai serial blasts result of Pak envy: Shinde

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NEW DELHI: In a veiled attack on Pakistan, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday said the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai were the result of a neighbour's envy to India's economic progress and vowed to bring back all terrorists, including Dawood Ibrahim, to face trial here.

He also said that the neighbour is still trying to weaken country's economy by pumping fake Indian currency notes.

"We launched the economic reforms in 1991 and subsequently India had achieved rapid economic progress. But a neighbour became envious of our development. Soon, there were 13 blasts in Mumbai (in 1993)," he said.

Shinde said all fugitive terrorists, including the 1993 Mumbai blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim, would be brought back to India and punished for their crime.

"Not only Dawood but other terrorists sitting in safe havens will be brought back to India to face trial. We are working with some international organisations," he said.

Last month, addressing the Interpol General Assembly in Rome, Shinde had said the masterminds of the heinous serial blasts are sitting in safe havens in Pakistan which has taken no action against them despite being provided with credible evidence.

Referring to circulation of fake Indian currency notes, the home minister said the nefarious design was being carried out by a neighbouring country to destroy India's economy.

"We are taking a number of steps to check the menace as economic security is paramount," he said.

The home minister said Interpol must take certain steps to apprehend those fugitives who are sitting in safe havens and getting official patronage.

Shinde said after 2008 Mumbai terror attack, the government has strengthened its intelligence gathering mechanism and was now in a better position to deal with terrorists in comparison to what it was to a few years ago.

"Due to increased vigil, we have been able to bust 19 terror module in 2012," he said, adding intensified vigilance was also helping security agencies to track down terrorists.

Shinde said so far the central government has spent Rs 12,000 crore for the modernisation of police forces and another Rs 5,000 crore will be spent for the purpose in the next five years.

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Space Pictures This Week: Lunar Gravity, Venusian Volcano

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John McAfee Out of Hospital, Back in Cell

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Software millionaire John McAfee has been returned to an immigration detention cell in Guatemala after being rushed to a Guatemala City hospital via ambulance.


McAfee, 67 -- who soon may be deported back to Belize, where authorities want to question him about the shooting death of his neighbor -- was reportedly found prostrate on the floor of his cell and unresponsive.


He was wheeled into the hospital on a gurney. Photographers followed in pursuit right into the emergency room, but as emergency workers eased McAfee's limp body from the gurney and onto a bed and began to remove his suit, he suddenly spoke up, saying, "Please, not in front of the press."


Earlier today, McAfee had complained of chest pains, raising concerns he might be having a heart attack.


However, that did not appear to be the case. Hours after his emergency, hospital officials sent McAfee back to the detention center, telling ABC News they found no reason to keep him overnight.


In a phone interview overnight, McAfee told ABC News, "I simply passed out, everything went black."


He said he hit his head on the floor when he collapsed. McAfee explained that for the past 48 hours he hasn't eaten and had very little to drink.


McAfee had been scheduled to be deported to Belize, ABC News has learned. But a judge could stay the ruling if it is determined that McAfee's life is threatened by being in Belizean custody, as McAfee has claimed in the past several weeks.


McAfee's attorneys hope to continue delaying the deportation by appealing to the Guatemala's high court on humanitarian grounds.


Raphael Martinez, a spokesman for the Belize government, said that if McAfee is deported to Belize, he would immediately be handed over to police and detained for up to 48 hours unless charges are brought against him.


"There is more that we know about the investigation, but that remains part of the police work," he said, hinting at possible charges.


He added that a handover by Guatemala would be "the neighborly thing to do."


A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Guatemala said that "due to privacy considerations," the embassy would "have no comment on the specifics of this situation," but that, "U.S. citizens are subject to the laws of the countries in which they are traveling or residing, and must work within the host countries' legal framework."






Guatemala's National Police/AP Photo













Software Founder Breaks Silence: McAfee Speaks on Murder Allegations Watch Video









John McAfee Interview: Software Mogul Leaves Belize Watch Video





Just hours before McAfee's arrest, he told ABC News in an exclusive interview Wednesday he would be seeking asylum in Guatemala. McAfee was arrested by the Central American country's immigration police and not the national police, said his attorney, who was confident his client would be released within hours.


"Thank God I am in a place where there is some sanity," said McAfee before his arrest. "I chose Guatemala carefully."


McAfee said that in Guatemala, the locals aren't surprised when he says the Belizean government is out to kill him.


"Instead of going, 'You're crazy,' they go, 'Yeah, of course they are,'" he said. "It's like, finally, I understand people who understand the system here."


But McAfee added he has not ruled out moving back to the United States, where he made his fortune as the inventor of anti-virus software, and that despite losing much of his fortune he still has more money than he could ever spend.


In his interview with ABC News, a jittery, animated but candid McAfee called the media's representation of him a "nightmare that is about to explode," and said he's prepared to prove his sanity.


McAfee has been on the run from police in Belize since the Nov. 10 murder of his neighbor, fellow American expatriate Greg Faull.


During his three-week journey, said McAfee, he disguised himself as handicapped, dyed his hair seven times and hid in many different places during his three-week journey.


He dismissed accounts of erratic behavior and reports that he had been using the synthetic drug bath salts. He said he had never used the drug, and said statements that he had were part of an elaborate prank.


Investigators said that McAfee was not a suspect in the death of the former developer, who was found shot in the head in his house on the resort island of San Pedro, but that they wanted to question him.


McAfee told ABC News that the poisoning death of his dogs and the murder just hours later of Faull, who had complained about his dogs, was a coincidence.


McAfee has been hiding from police ever since Faull's death -- but Telesforo Guerra, McAfee's lawyer in Guatemala, said the tactic was born out of necessity, not guilt.


"You don't have to believe what the police say," Guerra told ABC News. "Even though they say he is not a suspect they were trying to capture him."


Guerra, who is a former attorney general of Guatemala, said it would take two to three weeks to secure asylum for his client.


According to McAfee, Guerra is also the uncle of McAfee's 20-year-old girlfriend, Samantha. McAfee said the government raided his beachfront home and threatened Samantha's family.


"Fifteen armed soldiers come in and personally kidnap my housekeeper, threaten Sam's father with torture and haul away half a million dollars of my s***," claimed McAfee. "If they're not after me, then why all these raids? There've been eight raids!"


Before his arrest, McAfee said he would hold a press conference on Thursday in Guatemala City to announce his asylum bid. He has offered to answer questions from Belizean law enforcement over the phone, and denied any involvement in Faull's death.






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Rubio, Ryan look to the future during award dinner speeches

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Two high-profile Republican members of Congress who stand at the forefront of the effort to rebuild the party after a stinging presidential defeat delivered speeches Tuesday night aimed at turning the page with a fresh emphasis on inclusion and a renewed focus on growing the middle class.


“Nothing represents how special America is more than our middle class. And our challenge and our opportunity now is to create the conditions that allow it not just to survive, but to grow,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), the Leadership Award recipient at a dinner hosted by the Jack Kemp Foundation, a charitable nonprofit organization named for the late congressman and Housing and Urban Development secretary.

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Companies urged to tap on educated, economically inactive women

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SINGAPORE: Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu has urged companies to employ highly-educated women who are economically inactive to meet the current shortages in the labour market.

Speaking at a dialogue on developing an alternative workforce this morning, Ms Fu said this group is an important source of untapped talent.

Currently, there are about 60,000 female university graduates who are not in the workforce.

About 80 corporate leaders and HR practitioners took part in the dialogue.

Among the things discussed were measures on how to promote a family-friendly work culture.

Ms Fu said many women are often caught in a dilemma on whether to stay at home or to continue working.

Ms Fu added: "Given our demographic challenges, the employers, workplaces, should encourage more women to do both -- having a family and having a career together.

"It also benefits employers because they are able to retain their workers better, and they are also able to attract women to return to the workplace, thus, achieving both the objectives of the society and also of the employers."

- CNA/lp



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Supreme Court pulls up Centre on appointment of National Green Tribunal head

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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Centre for its failure in putting on file the present Chief Justice of India's letter relating to the appointment of the chairman of National Green Tribunal (NGT), which is functioning without its head for a year.

"You have placed the record but where is the letter of the present CJI? Why you have not placed it when you knew that the matter will be taken at 10.30 am today? It's not acceptable.. the manner in which the things are going. We don't know what is happening?," a bench comprising justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya said.

The bench made the remark after going through the file relating to the appointment placed before it by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A S Chandhiok.

The bench was upset that the matter was "lingering" despite the NGT being "without head" for the last one year.

"We have our own doubts about the manner in which it is being done. We are not sure when the chairman will be appointed," the bench said and reminded the ASG about its previous order of May 3 when the Centre had assured the court that things will be completed.

"It has not happened and it is very unfortunate," the court said.

On May 3, the Centre had submitted before the court that six expert and four judicial members would be appointed by October 31, however, the court had directed it to complete the process of appointments of the NGT chairman as well as its expert and judicial members by September 15.

The court on Thursday asked the Centre to give an undertaking as to by what time it would come out with the notification on appointment of the chairman and the judicial and expert members for the NGT.

The bench said it would take up the matter on Wednesday and would like the ASG to take instructions also on the issue of making available accommodation to the chairman and the judicial and expert members as per their previous status.

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A 2020 Rover Return to Mars?

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NASA is so delighted with Curiosity's Mars mission that the agency wants to do it all again in 2020, with the possibility of identifying and storing some rocks for a future sample return to Earth.

The formal announcement, made at the American Geophysical Union's annual fall meeting, represents a triumph for the NASA Mars program, which had fallen on hard times due to steep budget cuts. But NASA associate administrator for science John Grunsfeld said that the agency has the funds to build and operate a second Curiosity-style rover, largely because it has a lot of spare parts and an engineering and science team that knows how to develop a follow-on expedition.

"The new science rover builds off the tremendous success from Curiosity and will have new instruments," Grunsfeld said. Curiosity II is projected to cost $1.5 billion—compared with the $2.5 billion price tag for the rover now on Mars—and will require congressional approval.

While the 2020 rover will have the same one-ton chassis as Curiosity—and could use the same sky crane technology involved in the "seven minutes of terror"—it will have different instruments and, many hope, the capacity to cache a Mars rock for later pickup and delivery to researchers on Earth. Curiosity and the other Mars rovers, satellites, and probes have garnered substantial knowledge about the Red Planet in recent decades, but planetary scientists say no Mars-based investigations can be nearly as instructive as studying a sample in person here on Earth.

(Video: Mars Rover's "Seven Minutes of Terror.")

Return to Sender

That's why "sample return" has topped several comprehensive reviews of what NASA should focus on for the next decade regarding Mars.

"There is absolutely no doubt that this rover has the capability to collect and cache a suite of magnificent samples," said astronomer Steven Squyres, with Cornell University in New York, who led a "decadal survey" of what scientists want to see happen in the field of planetary science in the years ahead. "We have a proven system now for landing a substantial payload on Mars, and that's what we need to enable sample return."

The decision about whether the second rover will be able to collect and "cache" a sample will be up to a "science definition team" that will meet in the years ahead to weigh the pros and cons of focusing the rover's activity on that task.  

As currently imagined, bringing a rock sample back to Earth would require three missions: one to select, pick up, and store the sample; a second to pick it up and fly it into a Mars orbit; and a third to take it from Mars back to Earth.

"A sample return would rely on all the Mars missions before it," said Scott Hubbard, formerly NASA's "Mars Czar," who is now at Stanford University. "Finding the right rocks from the right areas, and then being able to get there, involves science and technology we've learned over the decades."

Renewed Interest

Clearly, Curiosity's success has changed the thinking about Mars exploration, said Hubbard. He was a vocal critic of the Obama Administration's decision earlier this year to cut back on the Mars program as part of agency belt-tightening but now is "delighted" by this renewed initiative.

(Explore an interactive time line of Mars exploration in National Geographic magazine.)

More than 50 million people watched NASA coverage of Curiosity's landing and cheered the rover's success, Hubbard said. If things had turned out differently with Curiosity, "we'd be having a very different conversation about the Mars program now."

(See "Curiosity Landing on Mars Greeted With Whoops and Tears of Jubilation.")

If Congress gives the green light, the 2020 rover would be the only $1 billion-plus "flagship" mission—NASA's largest and most expensive class of projects—in the agency's planetary division in the next decade. There are many other less ambitious projects to other planets, asteroids, moons, and comets in the works, but none are flagships. That has left some planetary scientists not involved with Mars unhappy with NASA's heavy Martian focus.

Future Plans

While the announcement of the 2020 rover mission set the Mars community abuzz, NASA also outlined a series of smaller missions that will precede it. The MAVEN spacecraft, set to launch next year, will study the Martian atmosphere in unprecedented detail; a lander planned for 2018 will study the Red Planet's crust and interior; and NASA will renew its promise to participate in a European life-detection mission in 2018. NASA had signed an agreement in 2009 to partner with the European Space Agency on that mission but had to back out earlier this year because of budget constraints.

NASA said that a request for proposals would go out soon, soliciting ideas about science instruments that might be on the rover. And as for a sample return system, at this stage all that's required is the ability to identify good samples, collect them, and then store them inside the rover.

"They can wait there on Mars for some time as we figure out how to pick them up," Squyres said. "After all, they're rocks."


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Guatemala Could Deport McAfee to Belize

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Software anti virus pioneer John McAfee is in the process of being deported to Belize after he was arrested in Guatemala for entering the country illegally, his attorney told ABC News early Thursday.


ABC News has learned that John McAfee is scheduled to be deported to Belize later this morning. But a judge could stay the ruling if it is determined McAfee's life is threatened by being in Belizean custody, as McAfee has claimed over the past several weeks.


Just hours before McAfee's arrest, he told ABC News in an exclusive interview Wednesday he would be seeking asylum in Guatemala. McAfee was arrested by the Central American country's immigration police and not the national police, said his attorney, who was confident his client would be released within hours.


"Thank God I am in a place where there is some sanity," said McAfee, 67, before his arrest. "I chose Guatemala carefully."


McAfee said that in Guatemala, the locals aren't surprised when he says the Belizean government is out to kill him.
"Instead of going, 'You're crazy,' they go, 'Yeah, of course they are,'" he said. "It's like, finally, I understand people who understand the system here."


But McAfee added he has not ruled out moving back to the United States, where he made his fortune as the inventor of anti-virus software, and that despite losing much of his fortune he still has more money than he could ever spend.
In his interview with ABC News, a jittery, animated but candid McAfee called the media's representation of him a "nightmare that is about to explode," and said he's prepared to prove his sanity.






Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images











Software Founder Breaks Silence: McAfee Speaks on Murder Allegations Watch Video









John McAfee Interview: Software Mogul Leaves Belize Watch Video









John McAfee Interview: Software Millionaire on the Run Watch Video





McAfee has been on the run from police in Belize since the Nov. 10 murder of his neighbor, fellow American expatriate Greg Faull.


During his three-week journey, said McAfee, he disguised himself as handicapped, dyed his hair seven times and hid in many different places during his three-week journey.


He dismissed accounts of erratic behavior and reports that he had been using the synthetic drug bath salts. He said he had never used the drug, and said statements that he had were part of an elaborate prank.


Investigators said that McAfee was not a suspect in the death of the former developer, who was found shot in the head in his house on the resort island of San Pedro, but that they wanted to question him.


McAfee told ABC News that the poisoning death of his dogs and the murder just hours later of Faull, who had complained about his dogs, was a coincidence.


McAfee has been hiding from police ever since Faull's death -- but Telesforo Guerra, McAfee's lawyer in Guatemala, said the tactic was born out of necessity, not guilt.


"You don't have to believe what the police say," Guerra told ABC News. "Even though they say he is not a suspect they were trying to capture him."


Guerra, who is a former attorney general of Guatemala, said it would take two to three weeks to secure asylum for his client.


According to McAfee, Guerra is also the uncle of McAfee's 20-year-old girlfriend, Samantha. McAfee said the government raided his beachfront home and threatened Samantha's family.


"Fifteen armed soldiers come in and personally kidnap my housekeeper, threaten Sam's father with torture and haul away half a million dollars of my s***," claimed McAfee. "If they're not after me, then why all these raids? There've been eight raids!"


Before his arrest, McAfee said he would hold a press conference on Thursday in Guatemala City to announce his asylum bid. He has offered to answer questions from Belizean law enforcement over the phone, and denied any involvement in Faull's death.






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Rubio, Ryan look to the future during award dinner speeches

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Two high-profile Republican members of Congress who stand at the forefront of the effort to rebuild the party after a stinging presidential defeat delivered speeches Tuesday night aimed at turning the page with a fresh emphasis on inclusion and a renewed focus on growing the middle class.


“Nothing represents how special America is more than our middle class. And our challenge and our opportunity now is to create the conditions that allow it not just to survive, but to grow,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), the Leadership Award recipient at a dinner hosted by the Jack Kemp Foundation, a charitable nonprofit organization named for the late congressman and Housing and Urban Development secretary.

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Woman arrested over 160 dogs living in own waste

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TOKYO: A woman who kept 160 starving dogs in her house among tonnes of their own waste has been arrested by Japanese police, an official said Wednesday.

Ten tonnes of animal waste and other rubbish were removed from Noriko Ishii's house after the dogs were taken away, he said.

One Bernese Mountain Dog kept by Ishii, 43, weighed just seven kilograms (15 pounds) -- a sixth of what it should have, said the official in Osaka, adding all the animals were "very scrawny".

Jobless Ishii could face a fine of up to 500,000 yen (US$6,000) if convicted under Japan's animal protection laws.

- AFP/ck



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Government deliberately disrupting Rajya Sabha: Arun Jaitley

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NEW DELHI: The government and the parties that support it were intentionally disrupting the Rajya Sabha as it lacked the numbers for a vote on the issue of foreign investment in retail, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday.

"Since the very first day, the government doesn't seem to be serious about conduct of business, specially in Rajya Sabha," the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha told reporters after the house was adjourned for the day.

The opposition, he said, doubted if the ruling party and its supporters would allow the debate on foreign direct investment (FDI) to take place Thursday as scheduled.

"I have the suspicion that the government is unsure which way the Rajya Sabha will vote, so it is not letting the house function. We doubt they will allow the debate on FDI tomorrow (Thursday)," he said.

He said a complaint has been made to the chair of the upper house and an explanation sought from Leader of the House, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"The government is deliberately trying to create an atmosphere that the house cannot function. Even when Lok Sabha is functioning normally, Rajya Sabha is being stalled. The whole nation is watching, not a single opposition member has trooped in the well of the house, it is government members and supporting parties that are stalling the house," he said.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned Wednesday first due to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which took up the issue of a memorial for B.R. Ambedkar in Mumbai. At noon, after BSP members were pacified, it was the turn of Samajwadi Party (SP) members to gather near the chairman's podium, shouting slogans against reservations in promotions.

Both parties prop the UPA government from outside.

The debate on FDI in retail is scheduled to start in the upper house on Thursday.

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Scientific Results From Challenger Deep

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Jane J. Lee


The spotlight is shining once again on the deepest ecosystems in the ocean—Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (map) and the New Britain Trench near Papua New Guinea. At a presentation today at the American Geophysical Union's conference in San Francisco, attendees got a glimpse into these mysterious ecosystems nearly 7 miles (11 kilometers) down, the former visited by filmmaker James Cameron during a historic dive earlier this year.

Microbiologist Douglas Bartlett with the University of California, San Diego described crustaceans called amphipods—oceanic cousins to pill bugs—that were collected from the New Britain Trench and grow to enormous sizes five miles (eight kilometers) down. Normally less than an inch (one to two centimeters) long in other deep-sea areas, the amphipods collected on the expedition measured 7 inches (17 centimeters). (Related: "Deep-Sea, Shrimp-like Creatures Survive by Eating Wood.")

Bartlett also noted that sea cucumbers, some of which may be new species, dominated many of the areas the team sampled in the New Britain Trench. The expedition visited this area before the dive to Challenger Deep.

Marine geologist Patricia Fryer with the University of Hawaii described some of the deepest seeps yet discovered. These seeps, where water heated by chemical reactions in the rocks percolates up through the seafloor and into the ocean, could offer hints of how life originated on Earth.

And astrobiologist Kevin Hand with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, spoke about how life in these stygian ecosystems, powered by chemical reactions, could parallel the evolution of life on other planets.


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Subway Push Murder Suspect Implicated Self: Police

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A suspect believed to be responsible for throwing a man into the path of an oncoming New York City subway train who was taken into custody today has made statements implicating himself, police said.


According to Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Paul Browne, the suspect has been questioned by police since at least early afternoon and while the suspect is in police custody, he has not been officially charged.


Police are continuing to question the suspect and more lineups have been scheduled for tomorrow, Browne said.


Police have not released the suspect's name but began questioning him Tuesday afternoon about the death of Ki-Suck Han, 58, of Queens, N.Y.


Han was tossed onto the subway track at 49th Street and Seventh Avenue around 12:30 p.m. Monday after Han confronted a mumbling man who was alarming other passengers on the train platform. Han tried to scramble back onto the platform, but was crushed by an oncoming train.


The suspect fled the station, prompting a police dragnet for a man described by witnesses and see on surveillance video as a 6-foot-tall, 200-pound black man wearing dreadlocks in his hair.


Witnesses tried to revive the victim after he was hit and provided descriptions of the suspect to police.


Dr. Laura Kaplan, medical resident at Beth Israel Medical Center who was standing on the platform during the incident rushed to give Han aid after he was hit, she said in a statement released by her medical practice today.






New York Police Department













Bystanders Pull Mom, Son From Subway Tracks Watch Video







"A security guard and I performed 3-4 minutes of chest compressions. I hope the family may find some comfort in knowing about the kindness of these good Samaritans, as they endure this terrible loss," Kaplan said.


"I would like the family to know that many people in the station tried to help Mr. Han by alerting the subway personnel," she said.


Kaplan said she wanted to console the family of Han, who she called "a brave man trying to protect other passengers that he did not know."


The suspect had reportedly been mumbling to himself and disturbing other passengers, according to ABC News affiliate WABC. Police told WABC that the suspect could be mentally disturbed.


The suspect could be heard arguing with Han just moments before he hurled Han onto the track bed, according to surveillance video released by the police. The suspect is heard telling the victim to stand in line and "wait for the R train."


A freelance photographer for the New York Post was on the platform and said he ran towards the train flashing his camera hoping to alert the train to stop in time, but the train caught Han against the shoulder deep platform wall.


The photographer, R. Umar Abbasi, caught an eerie photo of Han with his head and arms above the platform and staring at the oncoming train.


Han was treated by EMS workers on the platform for traumatic arrest and rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Fire Department of New York.


"I just heard people yelling. The train came to an abrupt stop about three-quarters into the station and that's when I heard a man was hit by a train," Patrick Gomez told ABC News affiliate WABC.


Police set up a command post outside the train station Monday night searching nearby surveillance cameras to try and get a clear image of the suspect, reports WABC. They said Tuesday that the investigation is ongoing.


Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.



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AARP lobbies against Medicare changes that could hurt its bottom line

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As Washington debates whether to cut federal retirement programs as part of a deal to tackle the nation’s debt, one of the most powerful advocates for preserving them could have millions of dollars riding on the outcome.


AARP, the highly influential lobby for older Americans, is fiercely opposing any Medicare or Social Security cuts and emphasizes that it is fighting for the good of its members. But the proposals for changing Medicare also could affect AARP’s bottom line.

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Islamic finance to surpass trillion-dollar mark in 2012: Tharman

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JOHOR BAHRU: Islamic finance is poised to expand over the next 10 to 15 years after surpassing the trillion-dollar mark in 2012, said Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the World Islamic Economic Forum in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Mr Tharman, who is also Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, said that he was optimistic about the potential for the sector after it chalked-up growth of about 19 per cent a year since 2006.

This has lifted total Shariah-compliant assets to nearly US$1.3 trillion in 2012.

However there is considerable scope for development since Islamic finance now forms less than 1 per cent of the global financial industry, said Mr Tharman.

Even in Muslim countries, Islamic finance constitutes less than 5 per cent of their financial sector, he added.

The minister also noted that Islamic financial institutions have mainly escaped significant damage from the global financial crisis.

"They are well-placed to grow at a time when many of the global banks, especially the European banks, are deleveraging or focusing on consolidating their balance sheets," said Mr Tharman.

He adds that Islamic finance has the potential to diversify into new growth areas such as trade and infrastructure financing in Asia and emerging markets.

This will allow Islamic banks to reduce their exposure to the real estate sector and take advantage of the stronger growth potential of the emerging market economies.

Another factor that can boost the growth potential of Islamic finance is its focus on transparency, price certainty and the risk-sharing framework.

Mr Tharman says Islamic finance can ride this wave of demand for simpler and more basic investments.

Yet, he also pointed out several challenges in the industry that need to be overcome to ensure continued growth.

Among them is the need to reduce fragmentation in Islamic finance markets due to differences in accepted standards of Shariah compliance.

"This has hampered the flow of liquidity between jurisdictions and is in part why there are presently no Islamic equivalents to the international monetary and bond markets."

The minister also touched on the need to manage capital flows in Asia and emerging market economies.

Excessive capital inflows can cause volatility, and it would be "wise to strengthen our policy toolkits in Asia, so that we can deal with unpredictable and often excessive capital flows," said Mr Tharman.

One of the policy responses should be included in a policy maker's toolkit is to curtail volatility in the exchange rate in the short term, he said.

Mr Tharman also pointed to macro-prudential policies such as property cooling measures to discourage speculative demand for residential properties.

"These targeted administrative and prudential measures are not conventional macroeconomic tools. But they are likely to remain part of our policy toolkit, at least for the foreseeable future."

The Finance Minister has also called for greater depth in Asia's capital markets, especially the corporate bond market.

"Broader and deeper capital markets will allow investors to invest for the long term while hedging risks," Mr Tharman said.

- CNA/jc



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Terrorist attacks soar, India among most affected nations: Study

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NEW YORK: The number of terrorist attacks each year has more than quadrupled in the decade since September 11, 2001, a study released on Tuesday said, with Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan the most affected.

The number of annual deaths in attacks, however, peaked in 2007 -- the height of the Iraq conflict -- and has been falling ever since. The survey reported 7,473 fatalities in 2011, 25 percent down on 2007. That figure included dead suicide bombers and other attackers.

Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Yemen were the five countries most affected by terrorism in descending order, it said, based on a measure giving weightings to number of attacks, fatalities and injuries and level of property damage.

The Global Terrorism Index - published on Tuesday by the US- and Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace think tank - ranked countries based on data from the Global Terrorism Database run by a consortium based at the University of Maryland, a commonly used reference by security researchers.

The US military interventions pursued as part of the West's anti-al-Qaida "war on terror", the researchers suggested, may have simply made matters worse - while whether they made the US homeland safer was impossible to prove.

Iraqis account for third of terrorism deaths

"After 9/11, terrorist activity fell back to pre-2000 levels until after the Iraq invasion, and has since escalated dramatically," Steve Killelea, founder and executive chairman of the Institute for Economics and Peace, told Reuters in an e-mail interview.

"Iraq accounts for about a third of all terrorist deaths over the last decade, and Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan account for over 50 percent of fatalities."

The study says terrorism incidents numbered 982 in 2002, causing 3,823 deaths, rising to 4,564 terrorist incidents globally in 2011, resulting in 7,473 deaths.

The researchers used the University of Maryland definition of "terrorism": "the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation".

It did not include casualties from government-backed action such as aerial bombing or other killings.

The study said its methodology allowed researchers the scope to exclude actions that could be seen as insurgency, hate crime or organised crime and incidents about which insufficient information was available.

The upswing in attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan only occurred after the Iraq war, the study showed, coming at largely the same time as heightened US-backed military campaigns there by NATO and the Pakistani government respectively.

Syria, Yemen worsening

The findings suggested foreign powers should think twice before intervening militarily, Killelea said, even in countries such as Syria, already seeing widespread bloodshed. Unless the conflict was brought to a swift end, terror attacks might actually increase, he said.

The greatest deterioration in 2011 took place in Syria and Yemen, the report said. Yemen has seen a dramatic upsurge in al Qaeda-linked activity in recent years, while Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad have increasingly turned to suicide attacks and bombings.

Of the 158 countries surveyed, only 31 had not experienced a single event classified as a "terrorist act" since 2001, the report said. Even when the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington were taken into account, North America remained the least-affected region over the period studied.

Western Europeans were 19 times more likely to die in a terrorist attack than North Americans, the report said. Aside from the United States - whose rating improved sharply over the decade as the casualties of 2001 were no longer factored in - the greatest improvements were seen in Algeria and Colombia.

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Mars Rover Detects Simple Organic Compounds

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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has detected several simple carbon-based organic compounds on Mars, but it remains unclear whether they were formed via Earthly contamination or whether they contain only elements indigenous to the planet.

Speaking at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in San Francisco, Curiosity mission leaders also said that the compound perchlorate—identified previously in polar Mars—appeared to also be present in Gale Crater, the site of Curiosity's exploration.

The possible discovery of organics—or carbon-based compounds bonded to hydrogen, also called hydrocarbons—could have major implications for the mission's search for more complex organic material.

It would not necessarily mean that life exists now or ever existed on Mars, but it makes the possibility of Martian life—especially long ago when the planet was wetter and warmer—somewhat greater, since available carbon is considered to be so important to all known biology.

(See "Mars Curiosity Rover Finds Proof of Flowing Water—A First.")

The announcements came after several weeks of frenzied speculation about a "major discovery" by Curiosity on Mars. But project scientist John Grotzinger said that it remains too early to know whether Martian organics have been definitely discovered or if they're byproducts of contamination brought from Earth.

"When this data first came in, and then was confirmed in a second sample, we did have a hooting and hollering moment," he said.

"The enthusiasm we had was perhaps misunderstood. We're doing science at the pace of science, but news travels at a different speed."

Organics Detected Before on Mars

The organic compounds discovered—different combinations of carbon, hydrogen, and chlorine—are the same or similar to chlorinated organics detected in the mid-1970s by the Viking landers.

(Related: "Life on Mars Found by NASA's Viking Mission?")

At the time, the substances were written off as contamination brought from Earth, but now scientists know more about how the compounds could be formed on Mars. The big question remains whether the carbon found in the compounds is of Martian or Earthly origin.

Paul Mahaffy, the principal investigator of the instrument that may have found the simple organics—the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)—said that while the findings were not "definitive," they were significant and would require a great deal of further study.

Mahaffy also said the discovery came as a surprise, since the soil sample involved was hardly a prime target in the organics search. In fact, the soil was scooped primarily to clean out the rover's mobile laboratory and soil-delivery systems.

Called Rocknest, the site is a collection of rocks with rippled sand around them—an environment not considered particularly promising for discovery. The Curiosity team has always thought it had a much better chance of finding the organics in clays and sulfate minerals known to be present at the base of Mount Sharp, located in the Gale Crater, where the rover will head early next year.

(See the Mars rover Curiosity's first color pictures.)

The rover has been at Rocknest for a month and has scooped sand and soil five times. It was the first site where virtually all the instruments on Curiosity were used, Grotzinger said, and all of them proved to be working well.

They also worked well in unison—with one instrument giving the surprising signal that the minerals in the soil were not all crystalline, which led to the intensive examination of the non-crystalline portion to see if it contained any organics.

Rover Team "Very Confident"

The simple organics detected by SAM were in the chloromethane family, which contains compounds that are sometimes used to clean electronic equipment. Because it was plausible that Viking could have brought the compounds to Mars as contamination, that conclusion was broadly accepted.

But in 2010, Chris McKay of NASA's Ames Research Center and Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez of the National Autonomous University of Mexico published an influential paper describing how dichloromethane can be a byproduct of the heating of other organic material in the presence of the compound perchlorate.

They conducted the experiment because NASA's Phoenix mission had discovered large amounts of perchlorate in the northern polar soil of Mars, and it seems plausible that it would exist elsewhere on the planet.

"In terms of the SAM results, there are two important conclusions," said McKay, a scientist on the SAM team.

"The first is confirming the perchlorate story—that it's most likely there and seems to react at high temperatures with organic material to form the dichloromethane and other simple organics."

"The second is that we'll have to either find organics without perchlorates nearby, or find a way to get around that perchlorate wall that keeps us from identifying organics," he said.

Another SAM researcher, Danny Glavin of Goddard, said his team is "very confident" about the reported detection of the hydrocarbons, and that they were produced in the rover's ovens. He said it is clear that the chlorine in the compounds is from Mars, but less clear about the carbon.

"We will figure out what's going on here," he said. "We have the instruments and we have the people. And whatever the final conclusions, we will have learned important things about Mars that we can use in the months ahead."

Author of the National Geographic e-book Mars Landing 2012, Marc Kaufman has been a journalist for more than 35 years, including the past 12 as a science and space writer, foreign correspondent, and editor for the Washington Post. He is also author of First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth, published in 2011, and has spoken extensively to crowds across the United States and abroad about astrobiology. He lives outside Washington, D.C., with his wife, Lynn Litterine.


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Kate's Illness Sometimes Linked to Twins

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Hyperemesis gravidarum, the reason newly pregnant Kate Middleton is in the hospital, is a rare but acute morning sickness that results in weight loss and accounts for about 2 percent of all morning sickness, doctors say.


The condition is sometimes associated with women having twins, experts said.


Women diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum have lost 5 percent of their pre-pregnancy weight, or 10 pounds, said Dr. Ashley Roman, a professor and OB/GYN at New York University Langone Medical Center.


It poses little danger to the tiny heir, doctors said.


"It's traditionally thought that nausea and vomiting is a sign of a healthy pregnancy," Roman said


Dr. Nancy Cossler, an OB/GYN at University Hospitals in Ohio said the condition does not cause loss of pregnancy or birth defects, but it can be a torture to endure.


"The biggest problem with this is how it interferes with your life," Cossler said. "Constantly feeling sick and puking is difficult."


Click here to read about other women with hyperemesis gravidarum.


Hyperemesis gravidarum is thought to be caused by higher levels of the pregnancy hormone, hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, Cossler said. Extra hCG can often be brought on by carrying more than one fetus, she said.






Chris Jackson/AFP/Getty Images











Kate Middleton Pregnant, Admitted to Hospital Watch Video









Kate Middleton, Prince William Expecting Their First Child Watch Video









Prince William and Kate Middleton's Big News Watch Video





In other words, it could be a sign that Middleton is carrying twins. Although there's very little data on twins and hyperemesis gravidarum, one study showed that women carrying twins had a 7.5 percent higher risk of experiencing the acute morning sickness, Roman said.


The extreme morning sickness is usually diagnosed about nine weeks into the pregnancy, and in most cases resolves itself by 16 or 20 weeks, Roman said. In rare cases, it can last the whole pregnancy.


"As the pregnancy is in its very early stages, Her Royal Highness is expected to stay in hospital for several days and will require a period of rest thereafter," a statement from St. James Palace said. Prince William is at the hospital with Middleton, according to the Britain's Press Association.


Click here for photos of Kate through the years.


Roman said doctors prescribe vitamins and ginger capsules at first. If that doesn't stop the vomiting, they will prescribe antihistamines and stronger anti-nausea medications.


Women with hyperemesis gravidarum are also treated with fluids, said Dr. Jessica Young, an OB/GYN at Vanderbilt University. But if left untreated, a pregnant woman who is severely dehydrated for a long period of time could die, "just like any person," Young said.


In extreme cases in which the woman is losing weight and unable to eat, doctors will treat her with intravenous nutrition, Young said.


Hospital stays can vary, and women will often have to be admitted more than once before the condition passes, doctors said.


Hyperemesis gravidarum is somewhat mysterious because some expectant mothers have acute morning sickness during only one of their pregnancies, but have no morning sickness for subsequent pregnancies.


There is a chance that higher levels of hCG, which likely caused Middleton's nausea, could be a sign of a molar pregnancy instead of twins, Cossler said. This would mean Middleton is carrying only a benign growth in her uterus instead of a fetus, or she is carrying a fetus with abnormal DNA and a benign growth. Neither is considered a viable pregnancy.


However, Cossler said molar pregnancies become apparent early on, and doctors would already know whether Middleton had one.


"They would not have released this information," Cossler said of the birth announcement. "I'm certain that they have already eliminated both of those [types of molar pregnancies]."



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Retired military officers’ letter seeks to amend gun law to help battle suicides

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A group of senior retired generals and admirals are calling for Congress to amend a recent law that they say “dangerously interferes” with the ability of commanders to battle the epidemic of suicides among members of the military.


Legislation added to the 2011 defense authorization bill at the urging of gun-rights advocates prohibits commanders from collecting any information about weapons privately owned by troops.

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Asian markets mixed China data offset by US worries

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HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed on Monday, after data showing Chinese manufacturing activity had picked up pace in November were tempered by concerns over US talks to avert the fiscal cliff.

Tokyo closed 0.13 per cent, or 12.17 points, higher at 9,458.18, Seoul ended up 0.37 per cent, or 7.12 points, to 1,940.02 and Sydney gained 0.57 per cent, or 25.5 points, to 4,531.5.

However, Hong Kong tumbled 1.19 per cent, or 262.54 points, to 21,767.85, while Shanghai closed down 1.03 per cent, or 20.35 points, at 1,959.77.

Beijing said Saturday that factory activity grew for the second month in a row in November, the latest figures showing the world's number two economy is emerging from its recent slowdown.

The country's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) reached 50.6, up from 50.2 in October and 49.8 in September and the highest since hitting 53.3 in April. Anything above 50 indicates expansion.

In a separate survey, HSBC said its PMI hit a 13-month high of 50.5 in November from 49.5 in October. The bank's PMI had been in negative territory for 12 months.

Chinese manufacturing has been hit by weaker demand in Europe and the United States, with economic growth hitting a more than three-year low of 7.4 per cent in the July-September quarter.

A more upbeat outlook for China filtered through to currency markets, where the euro continued its recent rise.

The single currency gained to US$1.3035 and 107.29 yen in late afternoon trade, from US$1.2982 and 107.07 yen in New York late Friday.

The US dollar eased to 82.30 yen from 82.48 yen in US trade.

The yen has weakened over the past few weeks as investors expect a win in December 16 polls for Shinzo Abe, the opposition leader who has pledged to carry out more aggressive monetary easing measures to jumpstart Japan's limp economy.

However, there are worries over the lack of progress US lawmakers are making in agreeing a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1 and which could tip the economy into recession.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner told the Fox News Sunday TV show that talks were going "nowhere".

He said he was "flabbergasted" when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, President Barack Obama's point man for the talks, presented the White House's proposal, which included huge tax increases for the rich.

"I looked (at) him and said, 'You can't be serious,'" Boehner recounted, saying three of the seven weeks available had "been wasted with this nonsense".

"Right now, I would say -- we're nowhere, period. We're nowhere" towards reaching a compromise.

Oil prices were higher. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, gained 10 cents to US$89.01 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for January delivery added 19 cents to US$111.42.

Gold was at US$1,718.77 at 0810 GMT compared with US$1,728.37 late Friday.

Taipei rose 0.26 per cent, or 19.74 points, to 7,599.91. Hon Hai Precision gained 1.61 per cent to TW$94.7 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.81 per cent down at TW$97.9.

Manila rose 0.57 per cent, or 32.25 points, to 5,672.70.

Wellington was flat, falling 1.00 point to 4,049.09. Broadband provider Chorus slumped 14.4 per cent to NZ$2.91 after regulators flagged a cut to wholesale pricing, while Telecom was up 0.43 per cent at NZ$2.32.

- AFP/jc



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FDI in retail to safeguard international market mafias' interest: BJP

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ANI Dec 1, 2012, 03.28PM IST

NEW DELHI: India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said retail reform is a step taken by the Congress led-federal government to safeguard the interests of the international market mafias at the cost of national interest.

BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Saturday that voting inside the parliament would decide as to who is in favour of national interest and who is working for international interests.

"The government feels that their responsibility is to safeguard the interest of international market mafias instead of national interest and for saving the interest of international market mafias, the government is ready to compromise with national interests. Now, the parliament will decide as to who is in support of international market mafias and who are supporting national interests," said Naqvi.

The government's decision to allow foreign supermarket chains such as Wal-Mart had triggered protest not only from opposition parties but also from some of its allies.

BJP had sought debate on the issue of allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail sector, under the rule that entails voting after discussions.

Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister Office (PMO), V Narayanaswamy said the government would answer all the queries raised by the opposition parties in the parliament and will explain the benefits of allowing FDI in retail sector.

The lower house of parliament has set December 04 and 05 as the date to vote and debate on FDI. The dates for the upper house are yet to be decided.

Narayanaswamy said the government is confident of becoming victorious in the debate.

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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

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} else if(o.isSearchPage && !o.searchComplete){
o.doSearchPage();
} else if(!o.searchComplete) {
o.byID = false;
o.doSearch();
}
}// end if
}// end parseResults function

o.trim = function(str) {
return str.replace(/^\s\s*/, '').replace(/\s\s*$/, '');
}

o.doSearchPage = function(){
o.byID = false;

var tempSearch = window.location.search;
var searchTerms ="default";
var temp;

if( tempSearch.substr(0,7) == "?search"){
temp = tempSearch.substr(7).split("&");
searchTerms = temp[0];
} else {
temp = tempSearch.split("&");
for(var j=0;j 0){
o.getItemByID(o.defaultItems.shift());
} else if(o.isSearchPage){
o.doSearchPage();
} else {
o.doSearch();
}

}// end init function

}// end ecommerce object

var store_43331 = new ecommerce_43331();





store_43331.init();









































































































































































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