Dorner Not IDed, But Manhunt Considered Over

Though they have not yet identified burned remains found at the scene of Tuesday's fiery, armed standoff, San Bernardino, Calif., officials consider the manhunt over for Christopher Dorner, the fugitive ex-cop accused of going on a killing spree.

"The events that occurred yesterday in the Big Bear area brought to close an extensive manhunt," San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon told reporters this evening.

"I cannot absolutely, positively confirm it was him," he added.

However, he noted the physical description of the suspect authorities pursued to a cabin at the standoff scene, as well as the suspect's behavior during the chase and standoff, matched Dorner, 33.

The charred remains of the body believed to be Dorner were removed from the cabin high in the San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear, Calif., the apparent site of Dorner's last stand. Cornered inside the mountain cabin Tuesday, the suspect shot at cops, killing one deputy and wounding another, before the building was consumed by flames.

"We did not intentionally burn down that cabin to get Mr. Dorner out," McMahon said tonight, though he noted pyrotechnic canisters known as "burners" were fired into the cabin during a tear gas assault in an effort to flush out Dorner. The canisters generate high temperatures, he added.

The deputies wounded in the firefight were airlifted to a nearby hospital, where one died, police said.

Christopher Dorner Believed Dead After Shootout with Police Watch Video

Carjacking Victim Says Christopher Dorner Was Dressed for Damage Watch Video

Christopher Dorner Manhunt: Inside the Shootout Watch Video

The deceased deputy was identified tonight as Det. Jeremiah MacKay, 35, a 15-year veteran and the father of two children -- a daughter, 7, and son, 4 months old.

"Our department is grieving from this event," McMahon said. "It is a terrible deal for all of us."

The Associated Press quoted MacKay on the Dorner dragnet Tuesday, noting that he had been on patrol since 5 a.m. Saturday.

"This one you just never know if the guy's going to pop out, or where he's going to pop out," MacKay said. "We're hoping this comes to a close without more casualties. The best thing would be for him to give up."

The wounded deputy, identified as Alex Collins, was undergoing multiple surgeries for his wounds at a hospital, McMahon said, but was expected to make a full recovery.

Before the final standoff, Dorner was apparently holed up in a snow-covered cabin in the California mountains just steps from where police had set up a command post and held press conferences during a five-day manhunt.

The manhunt for Dorner, one of the biggest in recent memory, led police to follow clues across the West and into Mexico, but it ended just miles from where Dorner's trail went cold last week.

Residents of the area were relieved today that after a week of heightened police presence and fear that Dorner was likely dead.

"I'm glad no one else can get hurt and they caught him. I'm happy they caught the bad guy," said Ashley King, a waitress in the nearby town of Angelus Oaks, Calif.

Hundreds of cops scoured the mountains near Big Bear, a resort area in Southern California, since last Thursday using bloodhounds and thermal-imaging technology mounted to helicopters, in the search for Dorner. The former police officer and Navy marksman was suspected to be the person who killed a cop and cop's daughter and issued a "manifesto" declaring he was bent on revenge and pledging to kill dozens of LAPD cops and their family members.

But it now appears that Dorner never left the area, and may have hid out in an unoccupied cabin just steps from where cops had set up a command center.

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Obama urges a move away from narrow focus on politics of austerity

Just about every argument in Washington since the 2010 midterm elections, which returned control of the House to Republicans, has centered on reducing the federal deficit. On Tuesday night, President Obama leaned into his second term by declaring that a single-minded focus on deficit reduction would jeopardize the nation’s future. And he sounded an urgent call to rebuild.

Reelected by an ascendent coalition, the president spoke from a position of strength in his fourth State of the Union address. The economy is improving. The Republican Party is in disarray. The time has come, Obama indicated, to pivot away from the politics of austerity.

“Most of us agree that a plan to reduce the deficit must be part of the agenda,” he said. “But let’s be clear: Deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan. A growing economy that creates good middle-class jobs — that must be the North Star that guides our efforts.”

The president rejected the fiscal brinkmanship that defined the past two years. Instead, he framed future fiscal debates as opportunities to shape a “smarter government” — one with new investments in science and innovation, with a rising minimum wage, with tax reform that eliminates loopholes and deductions for what the president labeled “the well-off and well-connected.”

Second-term presidents have a narrow window of time to enact significant change before they become lame ducks, and Obama, while echoing campaign themes of reinforcing the middle class, made an urgent case for a more pragmatic version of populism, one that emphasizes economic prosperity as the cornerstone of a fair society.

Over and over, he noted that the time to rebuild is now.

The “Fix-It-First” program that Obama outlined to put people to work on “urgent repairs,” such as structurally deficient bridges, bore echoes of President Bill Clinton’s call in his 1999 State of the Union address to “save Social Security first.” Clinton’s was an effective line, one that stopped — at least until President George W. Bush took office two years later — a Republican drive to use the budget surplus to cut taxes.

Although Obama’s speech lacked the conciliatory notes of some of his earlier State of the Union addresses, he did make overtures to Republicans and cited Mitt Romney, his presidential challenger, by name.

He combined tough talk about securing the border, which brought Republicans to their feet, with a pledge to entertain reasonable reforms to Medicare, the federal entitlement program that fellow Democrats are fighting to protect.

“Those of us who care deeply about programs like Medicare must embrace the need for modest reforms,” he said.

Obama also pledged to cut U.S. dependence on energy imports by expanding oil and gas development. And he singled out one area where he and Romney found agreement in last year’s campaign: linking increases in the minimum wage to the cost of living.

Obama set a bipartisan tone at the start of his speech, quoting from President John F. Kennedy’s address to Congress 51 years earlier when he said, “The Constitution makes us not rivals for power, but partners for progress.”

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16 gunmen killed in Thai military base attack: army

NARATHIWAT, Thailand: In one of the most deadly attacks in Thailand's long-running insurgency, scores of heavily-armed gunmen stormed a southern army base on Wednesday, leaving 16 militants dead, authorities said.

In the unusually brazen early-morning assault, 100 militants, dressed in army fatigues and armed with AK47 and M16 assault rifles, attacked the unit in Narathiwat province, unit commander Captain Somkiat Pholprayoon said.

"Sixteen militants were confirmed dead after the attack," he told reporters at the scene, adding that the military and police were in "hot pursuit" of the 60 to 70 militants who fled the base after the attack.

The government expressed sorrow over the deaths, one of the highest single death tolls in some eight years of violence in Thailand's deep south, but praised the military operation, saying the army have had no choice.

"The government has no policy of using violence to deal with southern unrest but in this incident (militants) attacked the military base," Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung told reporters in Bangkok.

A shadowy insurgency has been fighting for greater autonomy for the country's southernmost provinces since 2004, with shootings and bombings occurring on a near-daily basis.

More than 5,500 people have been killed, both Buddhist and Muslim, in the bloody conflict.

Chalerm, who heads the government's special body in charge of the southern unrest, recently proposed imposing a curfew in certain areas of the most affected provinces.

"If we impose a curfew, then militants will find it more difficult to enter the area," he said on Wednesday.

Religious leaders oppose the move, saying it will do nothing to solve the underlying problems. The Thai cabinet is set to discuss the proposal on Friday.

Critics accuse the government of failing to address the grievances of Thailand's Malay Muslim minority, including alleged abuses by the military and a perceived lack of respect for their ethnic identity, language and religion.

Members of Thailand's security forces are frequently targeted in ambushes and roadside bombs, but organised attacks on military bases are relatively rare.

No military casualties were reported in the early hours assault at the base in the Bacho district of Narathiwat province, one of three Muslim-dominated provinces near the border with Malaysia. An army spokesman had earlier put the militants' death toll at 17.

"We learned of the attack in advance from defected militants," Colonel Pramote Promin, southern army spokesman told Thai television.

He added that a key local leader of the fighters, who wore bulletproof vests during the attack, had been killed in the clashes.

Southern army commander Lieutenant General Udomchai Thammasarorat called for local villagers to stay in their homes for 24-hours, for their "safety and to prevent any confusion during the pursuit of militants", he told broadcaster Thai PBS.

A report by the International Crisis Group on the violence in December said insurgents had grown "bolder and stronger" amid political inaction from successive Bangkok governments.

The attack on Wednesday is "part of a trend" towards bigger, bolder attacks by militants showing a new "willingness on the part of militants to engage the security forces head on," said Matthew Wheeler, an ICG South East Asia analyst.

"The fact that so many militants were killed is very unusual," he said, adding the last time there was such a high death toll was in April 2004.

The ICG report recommended a greater push towards decentralisation and closer engagement with local civil society groups and peace negotiations with insurgents.

It added that the deployment of 60,000 security forces and an emergency decree "have not achieved any appreciable decline in casualties".

- AFP/al

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Raman to lead BJP to a hat-trick in Chhattigarh, says Rajnath Singh

RAIPUR: Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh gave Chief minister Raman Singh a pat on the back for introducing the unique Food Security Act and other welfare schemes saying that he would lead the party to score a hat-trick in the upcoming assembly elections.

Talking to newsmen here on his arrival here to attend a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), he said Chhattisgarh has set a milestone with the enactment of a legislation to ensure food security through an efficient public distribution system.

"Next assembly polls, under leadership of chief minister Raman Singh, will see that BJP scoring a hat-trick", he added.

Referring to the UPA government at the centre, the BJP chief said all its economic policies have miserably failed, leading to price rise and putting the country's economy on the down slide.

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Charred Human Remains Found in Burned Cabin

Investigators have located charred human remains in the burned out cabin where they believe suspected cop killer and ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner was holed up as the structure burned to the ground, police said.

The human remains were found within the debris of the burned cabin and identification will be attempted through forensic means, the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department said in a press release early this morning.

Dorner barricaded himself in the cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear Tuesday afternoon after engaging in a gunfight with police, killing one officer and injuring another, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said.

Cindy Bachman, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, which is the lead agency in the action, said Tuesday night investigators would remain at the site all night.

FULL COVERAGE: Christopher Dorner Manhunt

When Bachman was asked if police thought Dorner was in still in the burning cabin, she said, "Right… We believe that the person that barricaded himself inside the cabin engaged in gunfire with our deputies and other law enforcement officers is still inside there, even though the building burned."

Bachman spoke shortly after the Los Angeles Police Department denied earlier reports that a body was found in the cabin, contradicting what law enforcement sources told ABC News and other news organizations.

Christopher Dorner Manhunt: Police Exchange Fire With Possible Suspect Watch Video

Fugitive Ex-Cop Believed Barricaded in Cabin, California Cops Say Watch Video

Police around the cabin told ABC News they saw Dorner enter but never leave the building as it was consumed by flames, creating a billowing column of black smoke seen for miles.

A press conference is scheduled for later today in San Bernardino.

One sheriff's deputy was killed in a shootout with Dorner earlier Tuesday afternoon, believed to be his fourth and victim after killing an LAPD officer and two other people this month, including the daughter of a former police captain, and promising to kill many more in an online manifesto.

PHOTOS: Former LAPD Officer Suspected in Shootings

Cops said they heard a single gunshot go off from inside the cabin just as they began to see smoke and fire. Later they heard the sound of more gunshots, the sound of ammunition being ignited by the heat of the blaze, law enforcement officials said.

Police did not enter the building, but exchanged fire with Dorner and shot tear gas into the building.

One of the largest dragnets in recent history, which led police to follow clues across the West and into Mexico, apparently ended just miles from where Dorner's trail went cold last week.

Police got a break at 12:20 p.m. PT, when they received a 911 call that a suspect resembling Dorner had broken into a home in the Big Bear area, taken two hostages and stolen a car.

The two hostages, who were tied up by Dorner but later escaped, were evaluated by paramedics and were determined to be uninjured.

Rick Heltebrake told ABC News Radio that Dorner had "a big rifle" when he stole his truck.

"[Dorner] said I don't want to hurt you just get out and start walking up the road and take your dog with you. He was calm. I was calm. I would say I was in fear for my life but there was no panic.

Officials say Dorner crashed the stolen vehicle and fled on foot to the cabin where he barricaded himself and exchanged fire with deputies from the San Bernardino Sheriff's Office and state Fish and Game officers.

Two deputies were wounded in the firefight and airlifted to a nearby hospital, where one died, police said. The second deputy was in surgery and was expected to survive, police said.

Police sealed all the roads into the area, preventing cars from entering the area and searching all of those on the way out. Are schools were briefly placed on lockdown.

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Impact of State of Union speeches isn’t very lasting

When President Obama delivers his fourth State of the Union speech Tuesday night, he is guaranteed an audience of millions of viewers, the rapt of attention of Beltway reporters and issues advocates, and for at least an hour, the undivided attention of Congress.

What isn’t guaranteed is any lasting impact.

Rarely have State of the Union addresses moved public opinion, and rarely have they led to the kind of broad legislative accomplishments that presidents propose. For all the ritual and attention surrounding these speeches, the State of the Union is, well, sort of lame.

“Most of the speeches can be summarized in three words: boring, boring, boring,” said Allan Lichtman, author of “The 13 Keys to the Presidency.” “They tend to be laundry lists. But sometimes they rise above that.”

Mandated by the Constitution, the State of the Union, for much of its history, was not a speech at all but a written list of policy recommendations handed to Congress. Now, the addresses are grand political theater and provide a rare chance for a president to make an unfiltered argument and lay out policy ambitions from the biggest bully pulpit he will have all year.

Billed as a coda to his second inauguration, Obama’s speech will focus on the economy and the middle class — he is set to propose spending public money on education, research and infrastructure — as well as touch on immigration and gun control.

He will spend the remainder of the week giving repackaged versions of his address, looking to capi­tal­ize on the moment and further underscore his priorities.

“The State of the Union is a Super Bowl-like political event. The key to fully leveraging it is to make sure that it doesn’t become a one-off but contains a big-idea thematic animated by some specific proposals,” said Chris Lehane, a Democratic strategist who worked for President Bill Clinton. “If the speech is not approached like that, it risks becoming a pupu platter moment — lots of tasty dishes, but you won’t be filled up for the long term.”

Although interest groups and lobbyists, inside and outside the administration, spend time trying to get the briefest of mentions of their pet causes in the speech before an audience of about 40 million, there are few legislative payoffs to show for all their efforts.

President George W. Bush used the first State of the Union speech of his second term to call for privatizing Social Security, an effort that hit a brick wall in Congress and nationwide.

In his 2012 speech, Obama proposed that every state require that students stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18, a recommendation that also fell flat.

Obama used that address to make his argument for reelection, touching on themes of fairness and economic equality that would undergird his campaign stump speeches. But there have been few memorable lines or themes from Obama’s addresses on par with Clinton’s 1996 pronouncement that “the era of big government is over” or Bush’s “axis of evil” reference from 2002.

“His speeches have tended to be about half looking back and half looking forward. And that’s a style you can choose in a State of the Union — how much of the speech is going to be devoted to where we are today, how far we’ve come and so forth, versus something more visionary and using your time to look forward,” said Chriss Winston, a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush. “That’s a choice every president has to make.”

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Catholic Church in S'pore surprised by Pope Benedict XVI's sudden resignation

SINGAPORE: The Catholic Church in Singapore is reeling from the news of Pope Benedict XVI's sudden resignation. The 85-year-old pontiff announced on Monday that he will step down on February 28, and cited age as the main factor for his decision.

Pope Benedict XVI is the first pontiff to resign in centuries, and Catholics in Singapore are still trying to come to terms with this break in tradition.

"I'm really surprised because normally Popes, they live and do their duties until God calls them back home," said a local Catholic.

The news also shocked the head of Singapore's Catholic Church, Archbishop Nicholas Chia.

He said: "Well, we're all very surprised by the announcement by Pope Benedict XVI about his resignation. We never expected it. But definitely he has been thinking about it, and with such serious reasons, he is taking the step."

Calling the outgoing Pope a brilliant man and a great academic, Archbishop Chia said he has also made great contributions to the Catholic Church.

"We're all very grateful to him for all he has done during his pontificate since 2005, and contributing so much to the church. We are sorry to lose him. But at the same time, we know that it is for the good of the church, for the future. So we pray for him," added Archbishop Chia.

Church leaders in Singapore said the Pope's resignation shows great humility.

Eugene Vaz, the Vicar-General of the Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore, said: "I think (this is an) encouraging note to all Catholics in Singapore. An inspirational moment also... We've got a leader who's really caring. Not just for himself but for the Church, and ready to take the steps to make sure that the Church would move on, continue being relevant.

"As he himself says, at his age, he finds it difficult to keep pace with the quick changes that are taking place in the world. So you need somebody who would be more adept to that. And he feels his time is over."

Monsignor Vaz added that the Pope will be remembered for his strong leadership and as a champion of Catholic tradition.

-CNA/ac

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Joint Parliamentary Committee questions CBI director on 2G prosecutor's removal

NEW DELHI: CBI director Ranjit Sinha was on Tuesday quizzed by Opposition members about the removal of the prosecutor in the 2G case during a meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the scam.

Sinha is learnt to have told the Committee, chaired by PC Chacko, that the veracity of the purported taped conversations between CBI prosecutor AK Singh and Unitech Managing Director Sanjay Chandra was yet to be established.

CBI had removed Singh from the 2G spectrum case after he was caught in an alleged taped conversation discussing prosecution strategy with Chandra.

As Sinha appeared before the JPC examining the alleged irregularities in allocation of 2G spectrum, questions on the removal of Singh were first put to him by opposition members.

The CBI chief's testimony was slated as one of the last presentations to the JPC along with that of telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar.

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Kumbh Mela: Pictures From the Hindu Holy Festival

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  Holy Bath

  Photograph by Roberto Schmidt, AFP/Getty Images

  The Hindu festival known as Kumbh Mela, often referred to as the world’s largest gathering of humanity, peaked on Sunday at the meeting of the Yamuna, Ganges, and mythical Saraswati rivers. The festival in the northern Indian city of Allahabad sees tens of millions of pilgrims bathe in the Ganges to wash away sins. Pilgrims and saints pray as they soak.

  Published February 11, 2013

  
  











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  New Initiates

  Photograph by Sheeraz Rizvi, Hindustan Times/Getty Images

  Newly initiated Hindu ascetics perform rituals during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. The festival happens every three years in one of four Indian cities, with the event in Allahabad considered the holiest. It’s also the biggest.

  Published February 11, 2013

  
  











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  Sacred Fire

  Photograph by Daniel Berehulak, Getty Images

  Hindu priests perform a ceremony beside the Ganges River during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. The festival lasts 55 days.

  Published February 11, 2013

  
  











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  River Sitting

  Photograph by Baciu Cristian, Demotix/Corbis

  A Hindu ascetic performs a ritual last month during the 2013 Kumbh Mela.

  Published February 11, 2013

  
  











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  Bridge Crossings

  Photograph by Manish Swarup, AP

  Believers walk on pontoon bridges to take a dip at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati Rivers, a site known as Sangam. The processions are led by heads of monasteries and by naked ascetics smeared with ash.

  Published February 11, 2013

  
  











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  Stampede Victim

  Photograph by Manan Vatsyayana, AFP/Getty Images

  A woman injured in a Sunday stampede that left 36 dead in Allahabad lies in a hospital bed in the city. There are conflicting accounts of what provoked the stampede.

  Published February 11, 2013

  
  











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  Train Rush

  Photograph by Daniel Berehulak, Getty Images

  Hindu devotees at the Allahabad train station press toward an arriving train.

  Published February 11, 2013

  
  











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  Train Station Prayer

  Photograph by Daniel Berehulak, Getty Images

  A Hindu believer waits for a train at the Allahabad train station, the site of Sunday’s stampede.

  Published February 11, 2013

  
  

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Great Energy Challenge Blog

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North Korea Says it Has Conducted a Nuclear Test

North Korea says it has successfully tested a miniaturized nuclear device Tuesday, according to state media.

A large tremor measured at magnitude 4.9 was detected in North Korea and governments in the region scrambled to determine whether it was a nuclear test that the North Korean regime has vowed to carry out despite international protests.

Official state media said the test was conducted in a safe manner and is aimed at coping with "outrageous" U.S. hostility that "violently" undermines the North's peaceful, sovereign rights to launch satellites. Unlike previous tests, North Korea used a powerful explosive nuclear bomb that is smaller and lighter, state media reported.

President Obama called the test "a highly provocative act" in a statement Tuesday morning.

"The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community. The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies,"Obama said.

"The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and steadfast in our defense commitments to allies in the region," he added.

The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on North Korea's nuclear test later this morning.

Suspicions were aroused when the U.S. Geological Survey said it had detected a magnitude 4.9 earthquake Tuesday in North Korea.

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization told ABC News, "We confirm that a suspicious seismic event has taken place in North Korea."

North Korea Threatens More Nuclear Tests, Warns U.S. Watch Video

"The event shows clear explosion-like characteristics and its location is roughly congruent with the 2006 and 2009 DPRK (North Korea) nuclear tests," said Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the organization.

"If confirmed as a nuclear test, this act would constitute a clear threat to international peace and security, and challenges efforts made to strengthen global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation," Toth said in a statement on the organization's web site.

Kim Min-seok, a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman, told reporters that North Korea informed United States and China that it intended to carry out another nuclear test, according to the AP. But U.S. officials did not respond to calls from ABC News Monday night.

The seismic force measured 6 to 7 kilotons, according to South Korea.

"Now that's an absolutely huge explosion by conventional terms. It's a smallish, but not tiny explosion by nuclear terms. It's about two-thirds the size of the bomb that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima," James Acton, a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told ABC News.

North Korea threatened in January to carry out a "higher-level" test following the successful Dec. 12 launch of a long range rocket. At the time, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un said his country's weapons tests were specifically targeting the United States.

The suspicious tremor comes just hours before President Obama is to give the State of the Union address, and it marks the first diplomatic test in the region for new Secretary of State John Kerry.

Also, South Korea's new president, Park Geun-hye, is scheduled to be sworn in on Feb. 25. One of North Korea's biggest holidays, Kim Jong-il's birthday, falls on Feb. 16.

China, North Korea's main ally in the region, has warned North Korea it would cut back severely needed food assistance if it carried out a test. Each year China donates approximately half of the food North Korea lacks to feed its people and half of all oil the country consumes.

Both of North Korea's previous tests used a plutonium-based method for making bomb fuel. The first was deemed a failure, the second only slightly less so. If the most recent test used HEU (highly enriched uranium), a far more difficult-to-detect method of producing bomb fuel, it would be a significant and worrisome step forward for North Korea's weapons program.

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