China's disabled face discrimination in finding work






BEIJING: While the plight of the disabled in China has improved significantly over the years, many still face discrimination at work.

The lack of job opportunities and job discrimination are cited as the main challenges faced by the disabled in China.

There is an estimated 83 million disabled yet their unemployment rate in 2010 stood at 8.6 percent, twice as high as the national average.

Twenty-seven-year-old Song Yichuan is paralyzed from the waist down after an accident a few years ago.

A talented singer and songwriter, Song's biggest wish is to write a song that everyone will listen to and fall in love with.

But achieving his dream seems like an uphill battle.

"No matter how good and musically-talented I am, and no matter how the audiences love me, they tell me there are practical considerations of moving me around. It's not convenient for me to fly in a plane or even ride in a bus. They even tell me it would be so much better if my condition is not so bad and if I could walk with a walking stick," said Song.

Thirty-two-year-old Xiong Yan is also familiar with work discrimination.

She lost both her arms after being electrocuted when she was merely two.

She now relies on her feet to get things, whether it's in writing, or picking up a book - moves that often earned uncomfortable looks from her colleagues.

Gao Yanqiu, a communications manager at Handicap International, said: "The disabled faces discrimination at work due to society's lack of understanding and knowledge about them. It's easy for them to be marginalized, and job opportunities are hard to come by."

Given the widespread discrimination faced by the disabled, many have argued that the government should take the lead not just in hiring but also in allocating and even reserving certain jobs for the disabled.

The government has made it mandatory for all government departments and institutions to employ at least 1.5 per cent disabled people among its workforce.

But this has seldom been followed, and the situation is even worst in the private sector.

Even though the disabled can sue employers for discrimination, this has seldom been practiced.

Like most disabled, Xiong Yan's biggest wish is to be accepted for who she is.

"It's very simple. I wish that people won't see me as different. We're all similar. If everyone else is relaxed, I will be relaxed. If I am relaxed you'd also be relaxed," said Xiong.

- CNA/fa



Read More..

India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

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."

Read More..

Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity


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.


Read More..

Dallas Cowboys Player Arrested in Teammate's Death













Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Joshua Price-Brent was arrested on an intoxication manslaughter charge today after a single vehicle roll-over killed his passenger, Jerry Brown Jr., who had been a linebacker on the team's practice squad and his former teammate at the University of Illinois.


Price-Brent, 24, was allegedly speeding "well above" the posted 45 mph speed limit at about 2:21 a.m. when he hit a curb, causing his vehicle to flip at least one time before landing in the middle of a service road, Irving Police Department spokesman John Argumaniz said.


Authorities were alerted to the accident by several 911 callers, Argumaniz said. When police arrived, they found Price-Brent pulling Brown from his 2007 Mercedes, which had caught fire.


Brown, 25, was unresponsive and was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Argumaniz said.


It was not known where the men were coming from or where they were going, but Argumaniz said officers suspected alcohol may have been a factor in the crash and asked Price-Brent to perform field sobriety tests.








Kansas City Chiefs Player Jovan Belcher's Murder-Suicide Watch Video





"Based on the results of the tests, along with the officer's observations and conversations with Price-Brent, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated," Argumaniz said.


This is the second week in a row an NFL player has been accused of being involved in another person's death. Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs killed his girlfriend early Dec. 1, then committed suicide while talking to team officials in the parking lot at Arrowhead Stadium.


Jovan Belcher: Police Release Dash-Cam Videos of NFL Star's Final Hours


Price-Brent was taken to a hospital for a mandatory blood draw where he was treated for minor scrapes, Argumaniz said. He was then booked on an intoxication manslaughter charge after it was learned Brown had died of injuries suffered in the crash.


It is expected that results from the blood draw could take several weeks, the police spokesman said.


Price-Brent is scheduled to be arraigned Sunday at 10 a.m., when bond will be set, police said.


The second-degree felony intoxication manslaughter charge carries a sentence of two to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. It was not yet known whether Price-Brent had retained an attorney.


The 6-foot-2, 320-pound nose tackle left the University of Illinois as a junior for a career in the NFL. He was picked up by the Cowboys during the 2010 NFL supplemental draft and has played three seasons with the team.


The Cowboys are set to take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Ohio on Sunday.



Read More..

US expects oil boom from oil shale extraction






WASHINGTON: The United States is set to become the largest producer of crude oil by 2030, according to a recent forecast by the United Nations (UN).

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts the US will overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia in production amid a boom in unconventional drilling.

In Colorado, and other western US states, oil shale is one of the resources that could help make the US a net energy exporter in the foreseeable future.

According to the oil industry, the rock found in Colorado's Piceance Basin could hold the key to America's energy future.

Glenn Vawker, who heads the National Oil Shale Association, said: "There are estimates by our federal government that we could be producing up to one million barrels a day in twenty to thirty years."

Colorado's oil shale is often described as one of the richest hydrocarbon deposits in the world. The problem is that it takes a lot of money and resources to get the oil out of the rock.

Oil companies have set up multi-million-dollar pilot programs here, trying to figure out how to turn a profit.

To extract the oil, the companies have to cool the rock - a process the latest technologies do deep underground.

Roger Day, who is vice president of operations at American Shale Oil Corporation, said: "We're working on what you call in-situ technology, which would heat the oil in the ground and produce the oil without bringing the rock to the surface. And our project - it will take about another five years to perfect this technology."

China, Brazil and Estonia are also researching technologies to develop oil shale potential.

China is currently the largest producer in the world, with huge resources primarily in Fushun and Maoming but scientists said the US is in a position to take over that top spot.

Jeremy Boak, director at the Centre for Oil Shale Technology and Research, said: "We have the largest single resource in the world here. China has a very large resource and it is moving aggressively. It is currently, as far as I can tell, the largest single producer of oil from oil shale. But the total amount in still very tiny - about 30,000 barrels a day or so. Nevertheless, it's being produced and they are ramping up."

Industry insiders predict a shale boom in Colorado that would be immensely profitable for the state and help the US become energy independent. But some people are worried about the possible environmental impact of such a boom in the industry."

Environmental advocates said the oil shale industry uses water that's in short supply in the drought stricken western US.

David Abelson, who is an oil shale policy advisor at Western Resource Advocates, said: "Large-scale oil shale is predicted to consume vast quantities of water. The high-end estimates would be roughly 45 per cent more than Denver water supplies to its 1.3 million customers every year."

This part of Colorado was producing large volumes of oil from shale during the 1970s fuel crisis, but industry was largely shutdown during the early 1980s.

But that earlier exploration involved what is now outdated technology. Figuring out how to tap into the rock in the most efficient AND environmentally-responsible way is the challenge currently facing America's oil shale industry..



Read More..

Maldives must rein in quarters harming bilateral ties, India says

NEW DELHI: Amid a diplomatic row over cancellation of the GMR contract, India on Friday asked Maldives to control any quarters which may be trying to harm bilateral relations saying the issue should not put a "question mark" on the ties between the two sides.

"If they have to take a decision in interest of their society and country and if that decision is taken properly as per laws there, what objections can anyone have there. We would want that whatever is the decision, it should not put any question marks on our friendly relations," external affairs minister Salman Khurshid said. The minister was asked to comment on the developments in the GMR issue outside Parliament house complex.

"If any quarters there (in Maldives) want that our relations should be harmed, then they should be controlled. I think Maldives and its people know this thing properly and I am sure that they will do the same thing," Khurshid said. Asked if the Indian Government would "intervene" in the issue, the minister said, "For commercial enterprises no one intervenes, but we have been assured about the security and safety of our citizens and interests there.

To that extent, it is our right and we have also told them about this right." "On the commercial discussions, we don't have the right and there is no justification for it. Try to understand the issue in right context and I think there is nothing to worry about," he said.

In a surprise move on November 27, Maldives terminated the over $500 million contract awarded to GMR during the previous regime of Mohamed Nasheed to upgrade its Male airport and to build a new terminal. pti

Govt allows Maldives airline to fly via India

This is as ironic as it gets. While Maldives has terminated its contract with Bangalore-based infra major GMR to run the Male airport, its national airline's international plans bank solely on India. Maldivian Airline, the national carrier of Maldives, had recently announced flights to Mumbai and Chennai from mid-November. Not only that, India had allowed it to fly to Bangladesh by extending the India sector of the flight. "It will be the first long haul flight of the airline and will operate (Airbus) A-320 aircraft as Q2-550 (Male-Chennai-Dhaka)," Bandhu Ibrahim Saleem, chairman of island aviation services that owns Maldivian, had recently told TOI. "Saarc members allow their airlines to fly from one country to another (while referring to the Male-Chennai-Dhaka flight)," he said.

Now it remains to be seen if India retaliates by relooking at this permission. The aviation ministry says it will act as per the stand taken by the ministry of external affairs. "The cancellation of the $511-million Male airport contract with Male has come as a setback in our ties. If asked by MEA, we will take the required steps about Maldivian's clearance," said a senior official. The airport company of Maldives is set to take over the Male airport from GMR on Friday midnight.

Read More..

Pictures: Timbuktu Under al Qaeda









































































































');



































































































































































 $'+ doc.ngstore_price_t +'';
html += ' $'+ doc.ngstore_saleprice_t +'';
} else {
html += ' $'+ doc.ngstore_price_t +'';
}
html += '
';

$("#ecom_43331 ul.ecommerce_all_img").append(html);




o.totItems++;

}// end for loop
} // end if data.response.numFound != 0

if(o.totItems != o.maxItems){
if(o.defaultItems.length > 0){
o.getItemByID(o.defaultItems.shift());
} 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();









































































































































































Read More..

Supreme Court to Take Up Gay Marriage Cases












The Supreme Court today decided to take up two major cases regarding gay marriage, one of which could ultimately lead the court to decide whether there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage.


The justices announced that the court would hear a challenge to Proposition 8, the controversial California ballot initiative that passed in 2008 that restricted marriage to opposite-sex couples, as well as a challenge to a federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.


Check Out Same-Sex Marriage Status in the U.S. State By State


A divided three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down "Prop 8" in February, ruling that it "serves no purpose , and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California and to officially reclassify their relationship and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples."


It was a narrow ruling, specific to California and its history with Prop 8. The court did not reach the broader question of whether there was a fundamental right to gay marriage.


Supporters of Prop 8 are asking the Supreme Court to hear an appeal of that ruling. Gay marriages have been put on hold in California until the Supreme Court decides the issue. The cases will likely be argued in March.






David Paul Morris/Getty Images







Opponents of Prop 8 are represented by David Boies and Theodore Olson, two lawyers who argued on opposite sides in the historic Bush v. Gore case that resulted in Bush's election as president.


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


They contend in court briefs that the question about whether the states might discriminate against gay men and lesbians in the provision of marriage licenses could be the "defining civil rights issue of our time."


The court will also hear a challenge to a key section of a federal law, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. At issue in this case is not whether there is a fundamental right to gay marriage, because the same-sex couples are legally married in states that allow gay marriage, but that the gay couples alone are denied federal benefits such as the Social Security survivor assistance.


There were eight DOMA petitions filed with the court. One involved Edith Windsor, who, in 2007, married Thea Spyer, her partner of more than 40 years. The couple were married in Canada, but resided in New York until Spyer died in 2009.


Windsor was forced to pay $363,000 in federal estate taxes. She applied for a refund believing she was entitled to a marital deduction, but she was denied the claim on the grounds that she was not a "spouse" within the meaning of DOMA.


In briefs filed with the court, Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. writes, "Although Section 3 of DOMA does not purport to invalidate same-sex marriages in those States that permit them it excludes marriage from recognition for purposes of more than 1,000 federal statutes and programs whose administration turns in part on individuals' marital status."


Recent ABC News-Washington Post polls say that 51 percent of Americans support gay marriage, which is legal in nine states and the District of Columbia.


ABC News' Sarah Parnass contributed to this report.



Read More..

ECB forecast, rate hints send euro lower






NEW YORK: The euro only barely rebounded against the dollar in late trade Thursday, after plunging on the European Central Bank's sharp cut in its eurozone growth forecast for next year.

The euro lost more than one cent after the ECB forecast that the euro area economy will shrink by 0.3 percent in 2013, instead of growing by 0.5 percent as previously estimated.

Also pressing it lower were hints from the ECB that it might be moving toward cutting its benchmark rate, even as it held firm on Thursday.

"The ECB appears to have the door open for an interest rate cut, and we expect it to step through early in 2013," said Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight.

At 2200 GMT, the euro was at $1.2969, compared to $1.3064 late Wednesday. It hit a low of $1.2951 during the day.

There was nothing otherwise to budge the dollar, with trade mostly on hold for Friday's US jobs data for November, expected to be down due to Hurricane Sandy's impact on the economy of the northeast corridor.

If anything, the data will support expectations that the Federal Reserve will further extend its bond purchase stimulus program when it meets next week.

The yen picked up slightly, 10 days before national elections in Japan. It gained to 106.85 yen to the euro from 107.71, and 82.37 yen to the dollar from 82.42.

The dollar rose to 0.9325 Swiss francs, and the British pound slipped to $1.6050.

-AFP/ac



Read More..

'Time for India, Pak to stop blame game'

NEW DELHI: Pakistan senate chairman Syed Hussain Bokhari said here on Thursday that there was a wrong notion in India that relations with the neighbouring country improve only when a dictator is in power there.

Bukhari is leading a delegation of seven Pakistani senators—three of them Hindus—to India at the invitation of vice president Hamid Ansari on a goodwill visit aimed to "create better understanding" of each other.

"There is this misconception that only under a Pakistani dictator or military can relations improve with India," said Bokhari, shortly after his visit to both Houses of Parliament here. "It is under people's representatives accountable and answerable to the people that Pakistan and India have embarked on a reengagement process," he added.

"The democratic constitution of Pakistan had been polluted at times by dictators but the power now lies with Parliament and it shows the commitment of Pakistani leadership to strengthening parliamentary democracy," said Bokhari, adding that the civilian government is keen on having better ties with India.

Bokhari said that despite the "very unfortunate" Mumbai attacks; it was time for the two countries to stop making allegations and counter-allegations against each other to facilitate the ongoing process of reengagement between them.

"Allegations are not going to help; even in our country people talk about what India is doing in Balochistan or Kashmir or alleged violation of the Indus Water Treaty but it is not enough to merely agitate and not find solutions to issues," said Bokhari adding that Parliament in Pakistan had to "play the role of an oversight" in the functioning of the government.

Read More..

High-Voltage DC Breakthrough Could Boost Renewable Energy

Patrick J. Kiger



Thomas Edison championed direct current, or DC, as a better mode for delivering electricity than alternating current, or AC. But the inventor of the light bulb lost the War of the Currents. Despite Edison's sometimes flamboyant efforts—at one point he electrocuted a Coney Island zoo elephant in an attempt to show the technology's hazards—AC is the primary way that electricity flows from power plants to homes and businesses everywhere. (Related Quiz: "What You Don't Know About Electricity")


But now, more than a century after Edison's misguided stunt, DC may be getting a measure of vindication.


An updated, high-voltage version of DC, called HVDC, is being touted as the transmission method of the future because of its ability to transmit current over very long distances with fewer losses than AC. And that trend may be accelerated by a new device called a hybrid HVDC breaker, which may make it possible to use DC on large power grids without the fear of catastrophic breakdown that stymied the technology in the past.  (See related photos: "World's Worst Power Outages.")


Swiss-based power technology and automation giant ABB, which developed the breaker, says it may also prove critical to the 21st century's transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, by tapping the full potential of massive wind farms and solar generating stations to provide electricity to distant cities.


So far, the device has been tested only in laboratories, but ABB's chief executive, Joe Hogan, touts the hybrid HVDC breaker as "a new chapter in the history of electrical engineering," and predicts that it will make possible the development of "the grid of the future"—that is, a massive, super-efficient network for distributing electricity that would interconnect not just nations but multiple continents. Outside experts aren't quite as grandiose, but they still see the breaker as an important breakthrough.


"I'm quite struck by the potential of this invention," says John Kassakian, an electrical engineering and computer science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "If it works on a large scale and is economical to use, it could be a substantial asset."




Going the Distance


The hybrid HVDC breaker may herald a new day for Edison's favored mode of electricity, in which current is transmitted in a constant flow in one direction, rather than in the back-and-forth bursts of AC. In the early 1890s, DC lost the so-called War of the Currents mostly because of the issue of long-distance transmission.


In Edison's time, because of losses due to electrical resistance, there wasn't an economical technology that would enable DC systems to transmit power over long distances. Edison did not see this as a drawback because he envisioned electric power plants in every neighborhood.


But his rivals in the pioneering era of electricity, Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse, instead touted AC, which could be sent long distances with fewer losses. AC's voltage, the amount of potential energy in the current (think of it as analogous to the pressure in a water line), could be stepped up and down easily through the use of transformers. That meant high-voltage AC could be transmitted long distances until it entered neighborhoods, where it would be transformed to safer low-voltage electricity.


Thanks to AC, smoke-belching, coal-burning generating plants could be built miles away from the homes and office buildings they powered. It was the idea that won the day, and became the basis for the proliferation of electric power systems across the United States and around the world.


But advances in transformer technology ultimately made it possible to transmit DC at higher voltages. The advantages of HVDC then became readily apparent. Compared to AC, HVDC is more efficient—a thousand-mile HVDC line carrying thousands of megawatts might lose 6 to 8 percent of its power, compared to 12 to 25 percent for a similar AC line. And HVDC would require fewer lines along a route. That made it better suited to places where electricity must be transmitted extraordinarily long distances from power plants to urban areas. It also is more efficient for underwater electricity transmission.


In recent years, companies such as ABB and Germany's Siemens have built a number of big HVDC transmission projects, like ABB's 940-kilometer (584-mile) line that went into service in 2004 to deliver power from China's massive Three Gorges hydroelectric plant to Guangdong province in the South. In the United States, Siemens for the first time ever installed a 500-kilovolt submarine cable, a 65-mile HVDC line, to take additional power from the Pennsylvania/New Jersey grid to power-hungry Long Island. (Related: "Can Hurricane Sandy Shed Light on Curbing Power Outages?") And the longest electric transmission line in the world, some 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles), is under construction by ABB now in Brazil: The Rio-Madeira HVDC project will link two new hydropower plants in the Amazon with São Paulo, the nation's main economic hub. (Related Pictures: "A River People Await an Amazon Dam")


But these projects all involved point-to-point electricity delivery. Some engineers began to envision the potential of branching out HVDC into "supergrids." Far-flung arrays of wind farms and solar installations could be tied together in giant networks. Because of its stability and low losses, HVDC could balance out the natural fluctuations in renewable energy in a way that AC never could. That could dramatically reduce the need for the constant base-load power of large coal or nuclear power plants.


The Need for a Breaker


Until now, however, such renewable energy solutions have faced at least one daunting obstacle. It's much trickier to regulate a DC grid, where current flows continuously, than it is with AC. "When you have a large grid and you have a lightning strike at one location, you need to be able to disconnect that section quickly and isolate the problem, or else bad things can happen to the rest of the grid," such as a catastrophic blackout, explains ABB chief technology officer Prith Banerjee. "But if you can disconnect quickly, the rest of the grid can go on working while you fix the problem." That's where HVDC hybrid breakers—basically, nondescript racks of circuitry inside a power station—could come in. The breaker combines a series of mechanical and electronic circuit-breaking devices, which redirect a surge in current and then shut it off.  ABB says the unit is capable of stopping a surge equivalent to the output of a one-gigawatt power plant, the sort that might provide power to 1 million U.S. homes or 2 million European homes, in significantly less time than the blink of an eye.


While ABB's new breaker still must be tested in actual power plants before it is deemed dependable enough for wide use, independent experts say it seems to represent an advance over previous efforts. (Siemens, an ABB competitor, reportedly also has been working to develop an advanced HVDC breaker.)


"I think this hybrid approach is a very good approach," says Narain Hingorani, a power-transmission researcher and consultant who is a fellow with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. "There are other ways of doing the same thing, but they don't exist right now, and they may be more expensive."


Hingorani thinks the hybrid HVDC breakers could play an important role in building sprawling HVDC grids that could realize the potential of renewable energy sources. HVDC cables could be laid along the ocean floor to transmit electricity from floating wind farms that are dozens of mile offshore, far out of sight of coastal residents. HVDC lines equipped with hybrid breakers also would be much cheaper to bury than AC, because they require less insulation, Hingorani says.


For wind farms and solar installations in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain regions, HVDC cables could be run underground in environmentally sensitive areas, to avoid cluttering the landscape with transmission towers and overhead lines. "So far, we've been going after the low-hanging fruit, building them in places where it's easy to connect to the grid," he explains. "There are other places where you can get a lot of wind, but where it's going to take years to get permits for overhead lines—if you can get them at all—because the public is against it."


In other words, whether due to public preference to keep coal plants out of sight, or a desire to harness the force of remote offshore or mountain wind power, society is still seeking the least obtrusive way to deliver electricity long distances. That means that for the same reason Edison lost the War of the Currents at the end of the 19th century, his DC current may gain its opportunity (thanks to technological advances) to serve as the backbone of a cleaner 21st-century grid. (See related story: "The 21st Century Grid: Can we fix the infrastructure that powers our lives?")


This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.


Read More..

Bodies Believed to Be Missing Iowa Cousins













Authorities believe two bodies found by hunters in Iowa this week are Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins, two young cousins who vanished in July.


"At this time, law enforcement is confident, based upon evidence at the scene and preliminary investigation, that the bodies are those of Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins," Capt. Rick Abben, chief deputy of the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office, said at a news conference in Evansdale, Iowa.


Asked why authorities were so confident that the bodies were those of the two girls, Abben replied, "We have no one else that's missing in this area. We have two bodies that were found. They were smaller in stature so we have nothing else to think, at this time."


Abben noted that the state's medical examiner's office in Ankeny, Iowa, had yet to complete the positive identification of the girls.








Bodies Found in Hunt for Missing Iowa Cousins Watch Video









Missing Iowa Girls Seen Riding Bikes on Surveillance Video Watch Video









Missing Iowa Girls: One Mother Takes 2nd Polygraph Watch Video





Asked if the kidnapping investigation was now turning into a homicide investigation, Abben replied, "We are looking that way at this time."


Lyric, 11, and Elizabeth, 9, went missing on July 13 on a bike ride in the small town of Evansdale, Iowa, near Waterloo, Iowa. After hunters found two bodies in a wooded area in Seven Bridges Conservation Area on Wednesday afternoon, the families of Lyric and Elizabeth were notified and the bodies were sent to Ankeny for positive identification.


The families expressed "their gratitude to the community for their ongoing support," according to a statement released by authorities. Elizabeth's mother, Heather Collins, later posted a message on her Facebook page.


"We knew when our girls went missing that [there] would be two outcomes," she wrote. "Unfortunately this is not the one that we wanted but we know our girls [are] dancing with our savior. We know that he will continue to be with us giving us strength and comfort always."


On Wednesday night, residents of Evansdale, Iowa, gathered at Meyers Lake -- where the girls' bicycles and a purse were found -- for a candlelight vigil.


"It's hard to believe," said Lorissa Wilson, who attended the vigil. "I didn't want it to happen to the girls. They're too young to pass away, I believe."


Mary Carroll, who knew Elizabeth, said, "You don't expect it for somebody so sweet and innocent."


Another participant at the vigil, Holly Timmerman, noted that this was "not the outcome anybody wanted at all."


The Seven Bridges Conservation Area will remain closed until Monday, Abben said.



Read More..

Rubio, Ryan look to the future during award dinner speeches



“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.

Read More..

Three dead, 8 missing in North Sea cargo ship collision






THE HAGUE: Rescuers pulled at least three bodies from the icy waters of the North Sea on Wednesday and were frantically searching for eight missing crew from a cargo ship that sank following a collision in a busy shipping lane off the Dutch coast.

The Dutch coastguard and navy plucked 13 survivors from the water after the Baltic Ace, a 23,000 tonne car carrier, collided with container ship the Corvus J at around 7:15 pm (1815 GMT) about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Rotterdam.

The Baltic Ace sank shortly afterwards, the coastguard said.

"I can confirm we have found three victims. Eight others are still missing," Marcel Oldenburger told AFP.

He said that 13 crew members who were on board the Bahamas-registered Baltic Ace had been rescued.

Four survivors were flown to a hospital in Rotterdam, seven taken by rescue helicopter to a hospital in Belgium and two were being treated on board a ship that found them, Oldenburger said.

"They are all in shock" and are believed to suffer from hypothermia, he said.

Oldenburger said the search for survivors was frantic: "We don't know where they are at the moment, whether they are in life boats, or in the sea."

At least three helicopters -- one of which was fitted out with infrared imaging equipment to search in the darkness -- and a plane have joined the search, Oldenburger said.

The Baltic Ace was under way from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Kotka in Finland and the Corvus J from Grangemouth in Scotland to Antwerp in Belgium, according to shipping tracker website MarineTraffic.com.

"At this stage we don't know what caused the accident," said another coastguard spokesman, Peter Verburg: "Our first priority right now is the safety of the crew."

The shipping lane where the accident happened is one of the busiest in the North Sea and an important passing point for ships sailing into Rotterdam port, Europe's largest and the fifth-largest in the world.

Rotterdam port spokesman Sjaak Poppe told AFP the collision would not affect shipping in and out of the port.

In one of the most serious collisions in Dutch waters in recent years, the Greek crude oil tanker Mindoro in October 2010 collided with the container ship Jork Ranger off the coast of Scheveningen near The Hague, spilling thousands of litres of kerosene (jet fuel) into the sea, the European Maritime Safety Agency said on its website.

-AFP/ac



Read More..

Large, Peanut-Shaped Asteroid Headed Toward Earth


A giant asteroid is set to buzz Earth next week, and astronomers are already keeping their eyes on the skies—but not because 4179 Toutatis poses any danger.

Toutatis, at 2.7 miles (4.46 kilometers) long and 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) wide, is one of the largest asteroids that comes anywhere near Earth. But only an astronomer would consider its closest approach to be "near." When the peanut-shaped rock is at its closest to the Earth on December 12, it'll be more than 4.3 million miles (6.9 million kilometers) away, or more than 18 times the distance from the Earth to the moon.

(See pictures of asteroids.)

So why are astronomers eagerly awaiting Toutatis? By figuring out what the asteroid is made of, they'll have a better picture of the early days of the solar system. And by refining a model of the asteroid's rotation, they'll get a better idea of its composition.

Topsy-Turvy

Michael Busch, a fellow at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, studied radar images of Toutatis' previous passes—the asteroid approaches Earth every four years—to try to figure out how it was moving through space. "It's tumbling," Busch said. "It's spinning around its long axis, while that in turn is precessing around in a circle, like a gyroscope." Busch and his colleagues were hoping to use radar images taken in 2000, 2004, and 2008 to update a 1996 model of Toutatis' spin state. "[But] this became more complicated when we understood that [gravitational] tides were changing the spin," he said.

Every time Toutatis came close to the sun or the Earth, gravity would tug slightly on the asteroid, changing its spin by a tiny fraction. But over the years, those tugs added up. Once Busch and his collaborators were able to account for these changes, they had a much better model of its spin. And that told them how the asteroid's mass was distributed.

Toutatis is shaped sort of like a lumpy peanut, or from some angles, like a poorly built snowman. It's long and narrow, with two distinct lobes, one smaller than the other. Busch's analysis found that the asteroid's shape isn't the only thing that's lumpy; its mass is also distributed in a lumpy fashion rather than evenly spread throughout the asteroid. "It may have a quite complicated internal structure," he said.

Inner Workings

It's possible the asteroid got its internal structure when a smaller body smashed into it, throwing material off. "That can fracture it, just like hitting a surface with a hammer," Busch said.

Toutatis could also have been created when two objects collided and stuck.

Or, it could have been created through the YORP effect, which explains how nothing but sunlight can cause an asteroid to start spinning. "Wind blowing on a propeller makes the propeller spin," said Dan Scheeres, an astrodynamics professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who's been studying Toutatis for almost two decades. And that's similar to what happens when photons hit an uneven body, making that body spin faster, he added. Scheeres thinks that a faster-spinning Toutatis could have eventually spun so fast that it began throwing off material into space, becoming two separate bodies. These bodies would have eventually slowed down and recombined, starting the process over again.

It's still just a theory, Scheeres said, but the model explains how Toutatis and other so-called contact binaries could exist.

Scheeres and Busch will be analyzing their new observations of Toutatis as it gets closer to Earth over the next week; Busch plans to refine his model of the asteroid's spin after seeing the new radar images.

But astronomers aren't the only ones who will be able to see Toutatis on its flyby. Backyard hobbyists can get in on the fun too. At its closest approach, Toutatis will be "too faint to see with the naked eye, but well within the range of a small backyard telescope," Busch said.

(Learn about telescopes.)

And no, it's not going to hit Earth, so doomsday theorists, relax.

(Learn about potentially hazardous asteroids.)

"There may be more nonsense circulating about Toutatis than many other objects, but that's because it's a large object that makes repeated close flybys of Earth and has an interesting shape," he said.

The new Toutatis data on density and spin state was presented at the 45th annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.


Read More..

WH 'Absolutely' Willing to Go Off Fiscal Cliff













President Obama's lead negotiator in the "fiscal cliff" talks said the administration is "absolutely" willing to allow the package of deep automatic spending cuts and across-the-board tax hikes to take effect Jan. 1, unless Republicans drop their opposition to higher income tax rates on the wealthy.


Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in an interview with CNBC that both sides are "making a little bit of progress" toward a deal to avert the "cliff" but remain stuck on Obama's desired rate increase for the top U.S. income-earners.


"There's no prospect for an agreement that doesn't involve those rates going up on the top two percent of the wealthiest," Geithner said.


Most House Republicans, including Speaker John Boehner, remain opposed to any increase in tax rates.


Obama and Boehner spoke by phone this afternoon, their first conversation in exactly one week, an administration official said. Their relations have grown frosty in recent days as both sides have dug in on the issue of higher rates.


In separate appearances earlier today, Obama and Boehner publicly sparred over who's to blame for the standoff and what to do if lawmakers can't reach a broad deficit-reduction agreement in 27 days.






Saul Loeb/AFP/GettyImages











Fiscal Cliff: What Republicans, Democrats Agree on So Far Watch Video









'Fiscal Cliff': John Boehner Makes Counteroffer Watch Video









Washington, D.C., Gridlocked as Fiscal Cliff Approaches Watch Video





Obama, speaking at a meeting of 100 CEOs, warned Republicans that he would not accept a so-called "doomsday" deal that extends tax cuts for middle-income earners before the end of the year but nothing more.


Such an approach, which has been under consideration by top Republicans as a likely scenario, would set the stage for a big battle over spending cuts and top tax rates in early 2013 – all tied to the nation's debt ceiling, which will need to be raised, which only Congress can do.


"That is a bad strategy for America, it's bad strategy for businesses," Obama said. "It's not a game I will play."


Brinksmanship over the a 2011 debt ceiling increase to avoid a U.S. default cost the country its AAA credit rating and rattled markets around the world.


While both sides say publicly that the U.S. will not default on its debt obligations, Republicans believe the issue could give them increased leverage for extracting cuts to entitlement programs and other spending.


Boehner said at a morning news conference that Obama has stifled the "fiscal cliff" negotiations by imposing the precondition that Republicans accept income tax hikes on the top 2 percent of U.S. earners.


"We're ready and eager to talk to the president and to work with him to make sure that the American people aren't disadvantaged by what's happening here in Washington," Boehner said at a morning news conference.


"We need a response from the White House," he said. "We can't sit here and negotiate with ourselves."


Earlier this week, House Republicans presented a $2.2 trillion deficit reduction package, including $800 billion in higher taxes through elimination of loopholes and deductions, slower annual cost-of-living increases for Social Security benefits and a higher eligibility age for Medicare.


The plan contrasts sharply with the White House proposal, which calls for $1.6 trillion in new tax revenue -- largely from higher rates on upper-income earners -- modest unspecified savings from Medicare and a new burst of economic stimulus spending.


Both sides rejected the opposing plan as "unserious."






Read More..

Poll: Fiscal cliff blame would fall heaviest on GOP



The new poll finds little confidence that leaders in Washington will reach a deal before the Dec. 31 deadline, and the level of pessimism remains largely unchanged since a similar poll three weeks ago. By nearly 2 to 1, more respondents said Republicans in Congress would be to blame if there is no deal, a lopsided assessment little changed from the earlier poll.

Read More..

Football: Zenit secure Europa spot






MILAN, Italy: A 35th minute strike from Danny secured a 1-0 away win over seven-time champions AC Milan and a Europa League spot for Russia side Zenit St Petersburg here on Tuesday.

With qualification secured two weeks ago, Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri could afford to rest a number of regulars including top scorer Stephan El Shaarawy, midfielder Riccardo Montolivo and defender Philippe Mexes.

However, Allegri's plan almost backfired, with fans leaving the stadium early as the dominant hosts tried but failed to find a leveller to Danny's superb first-half strike.

Zenit had been condemned to perform as well as Anderlecht did away to Malaga to hold on to third place in Group C and a Europa League last 32 spot.

And despite seeing his side defend for long periods as Milan laid siege to the visitors' area Zenit held on for a win which Spalletti did not seem too overwhelmed with.

"I'm happy with the qualification (for Europa) and how we played tonight, it's good we are still in Europe," said Spalletti, who grew up 70 km away from Allegri in Tuscany.

"Winning is important but maybe a draw would have been a fairer result as we ended up defending a lot."

He added: "We have to come back stronger and qualify for the knockout phase the next time because this club, this team deserves it."

Spalletti sent out his strongest possible side, with Hulk spearheading the attack flanked by Danny and Sergei Semak and Bruno Alves marshalling the defence in front of the experienced Vyacheslav Malafeev.

And on one of their few forays into the Milan area Danny pounced to send a superb curling shot past the outstretched Christian Abbiati to secure victory.

"I'm sorry about the defeat, but only in the sense the team put in a good, solid performance. The guys didn't deserve it," said Allegri.

"Otherwise it was a positive performance, we forced Zenit to defend for most of the match and they scored in what was practically their only chance of the opening half."

Milan should have had several goals, especially in the second half when the Russians seemed happy to sit on their lead.

The Rossoneri's hopes for an early opener, however, were snuffed out by the referee who waved away what appeared to be a valid penalty claim after Alves felled Giampaolo Pazzini from behind in the fourth minute.

When Zenit broke the deadlock, Milan's makeshift defence was caught on the hoof, Danny picking up a backpass from his own through ball to beat Abbiati with a well placed shot at the keeper's far post.

Milan responded immediately but attempts by Bojan and Flamini, the latter with a rasping drive which forced a good block from Malafeev, came to nothing.

Milan came close to levelling minutes after the restart when Urby Emanuelson got his foot to Kevin Prince Boateng's cross from the right after a superb counter-attack orchestrated by defender Francesco Acerbi, only for Malafeev to block superbly.

Pazzini then flashed a header wide from Emanuelson's cross, and when Bojan was allowed space to run down on goal he sent his 20-metre drive wayward.

Allegri replaced left-back Djamel Mesbah with Robinho just after the hour mark, and his through ball allowed Bojan to run through with the goal at his mercy on 74 minutes only for the Spaniard to be dispossessed as he wound up to shoot.

With 10 minutes remaining, El Shaarawy replaced Flamini, although it was Robinho who came closest to beating Malafeev when he curled a sublime shot just wide of Malafeev's far post.

El Shaarawy followed up moments later with a shot on the turn which edged just wide of the upright.

Zenit had enjoyed little time in Milan's area in the second half but almost embarrassed the hosts with a three-on-two scenario which only the alert Abbiati thwarted with a superb block from substitute Maksim Kanunnikov's shot in the closing minutes.

- AFP/fa



Read More..

SC to decide on Sangma’s petition today

NEW DELHI: The SC on Wednesday will pronounce its decision whether or not Purno Sangma's petition challenging election of Pranab Mukherjee as president disclosed such material requiring a trial for determination of their veracity.

A five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices P Sathasivam, S S Nijjar, J Chelameswar and Ranjan Gogoi will pronounce the order on Sangma's plea for a trial on his petition seeking quashing of Mukherjee's election. Sangma's counsel Ram Jethmalani had argued that there were documents to show that Mukherjee was disqualified to contest the presidential poll as he had not quit offices of profit — leader of Congress party in LS and chairman of Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata — before filing nomination.

AG G E Vahanvati and Mukherjee's counsel, senior advocate Harish Salve, had said these posts were not offices of profit even though the former FM had quit these posts well ahead of filing nomination. tnn

Attorney general G E Vahanvati and Mukherjee's counsel, senior advocate Harish Salve, had said these posts were not offices of profit even though the former finance minister had quit these posts well ahead of filing nomination. Both had requested the court to dismiss Sangma's petition at the preliminary scrutiny stage.

Read More..

Oldest Giant Panda Relative Found in Spain


The oldest relative of the giant panda has been discovered in Spain—suggesting that the animals' ancestors originated in Europe, a new study says.

Dubbed Kretzoiarctos beatrix, the 11-million-year-old species was previously named Agriarctos beatrix based on a few fossil teeth found at a paleontological site near Zaragoza, Spain (map). Agriarctos is an extinct genus of European bear and a possible panda ancestor that lived eight to nine million years ago. (Read about the previous research.)

Earlier this year, scientists found a piece of A. beatrix's jaw, allowing them to compare it with that of another ancient Agriarctos bear from Hungary. In doing so, the team determined that A. beatrix is actually its own genus, which they called Kretzoiarctos.

The newly named K. beatrix pushes back the origin of giant pandas by a few million years, making it the oldest recorded giant panda relative, said study leader Juan Abella, a paleobiologist at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid, Spain.

"Therefore, the origin of this group is not located in China, where the [giant panda] species lives, but in the warm and humid regions of [southwestern] Europe," Abella said in May.

(See: "Ancient Bear DNA Mapped—A First for Extinct Species.")

New Bear Was Panda-Like?

K. beatrix likely shared some similarities with today's giant panda.

For one, says Abella, the newfound jaw fragment shows the animal was likely an omnivore that fed on tough plants, like modern-day pandas. Also like them, and like most existing species of small bears, K. beatrix was probably a great climber. According to Abella, it would have had to scramble up trees to escape big predators of the day—such as extinct, doglike carnivores called bear-dogs—in the forests of what's now Spain.

But at 130 pounds (60 kilograms), K. beatrix was smaller than modern pandas and even more petite than the modern-day sun bear or spectacled bear.

(See "Biggest Bear Ever Found-'It Blew My Mind,' Expert Says.")

An Epic Trek?

It's still unclear how panda ancestors made the epic trek from Europe to China.

Previous research suggests bears generally can migrate easily if the climate is mild enough, Abella said. Eleven million years ago, southwestern Europe was warm and humid-good conditions for starting out, he said.

The bears likely migrated mostly on land. One potential barrier—an ancient European sea called Parathetys—was already shrinking during the Middle Miocene, when K. beatrix lived, said Abella.

As for whether K. beatrix made it to China, "We don't really know, but no fossil remains of this species have been found outside Spain."

Whatever its history, the new research shows that K. beatrix was not your average bear.

The oldest panda relative study was published November 14 in the journal PLoS ONE.


Read More..

Obama Sees 'Potential' for Averting the Fiscal Cliff













President Obama says he sees "potential" for averting the "fiscal cliff" in 28 days, but that no deal will get done unless Republicans consent to raise income-tax rates on the top 2 percent of U.S. earners.


"We're going to have to see the rates on the top 2 percent go up and we're not going to be able to get a deal without it," Obama told Bloomberg TV in his first televised interview since the Nov. 6 election.


Obama suggested that Republican opposition to any increase in tax rates has stifled progress in negotiations and at least partly explains why he has not met more regularly with House Speaker John Boehner.


"Speaker Boehner and I speak frequently," he said. "I don't think the issue right now has to do with sitting in a room.


"Unfortunately, the speaker's proposal right now is still out of balance," he added, referring to the GOP plan unveiled Monday that would extend all income tax rates at current levels while imposing changes to Medicare and Social Security.


The GOP proposal would achieve $2.2 trillion in deficit reduction in the next decade, including $800 billion in higher taxes through elimination of loopholes and deductions, slower annual cost-of-living increases for Social Security benefits and a higher eligibility age for Medicare.






Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images











Washington, D.C., Gridlocked as Fiscal Cliff Approaches Watch Video









What Exactly Did Obama Promise Voters on Tax Hikes Watch Video









'Fiscal Cliff' Negotiations: Ball Is in the GOP's Court Watch Video





The plan contrasts sharply with the White House proposal, which calls for $1.6 trillion in new tax revenue -- largely from higher rates on upper-income earners -- modest unspecified savings from Medicare and a new burst of economic stimulus spending.


Both sides have dismissed out of hand the opposing proposal, raising the prospect of continued gridlock as the economy hurdles toward the "cliff."


Income tax rates for the top 2 percent of Americans remain the immediate sticking point. Obama insists that rates must rise at the end of the year as part of any deal; Republicans oppose increasing rates on the wealthy.


Unless Obama and Republicans reach a compromise, a sweeping set of automatic, across-the-board tax hikes and deep spending cuts will take effect, potentially throwing the U.S. economy back into recession.


The "cliff" scenario results from a failure by Congress and the administration at previous intervals to take steps to reduce federal deficits and debt.


In the Bloomberg interview, Obama said he could be flexible on tax rates and entitlement overhaul, but only in broader discussions next year about revamping the tax code and social safety-net programs.


"Let's let [rates on higher-income earners] go up and then let's set up a process with a time certain at the end of 2013, or the fall of 2013, where we work on tax reform, we look at what loopholes and deductions both Democrats and Republicans are willing to close and it's possible that we may be able to lower rates by broadening the base at that point," he said.


The president also said he's "willing to look at anything" that might strengthen entitlements and extend their financial solvency, but did not specify further.


Republicans continued to rebuff the president's proposal Tuesday, claiming the $1.6 trillion package of tax increases could not pass either house of Congress, including the Democrat-controlled Senate.


"Only one person in the country can deliver the members of his party to support a deal that he makes, and that is the president," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.


He praised House Republicans for "trying to move the process forward" with their proposal, but stopped short of endorsing it. Some conservative advocacy groups have been assailing GOP leaders this week for consenting to any tax revenue increases in a deal with Obama.


"With our latest offer we have demonstrated there is a middle ground solution that can cut spending and bring in revenue without hurting American small businesses," Boehner said in a statement today.






Read More..

Presidential campaigns rehash what worked and what did not in race for the White House



The reason: Massive amounts of their own polling — not just nationally and in individual states, but in nightly surveys of 9,000 likely voters across 10 battleground states.

Read More..

Typhoon smashes into Philippines






MANILA: Typhoon Bopha smashed into the southern Philippines early Tuesday as more than 40,000 people crammed into shelters to escape the onslaught of the strongest cyclone to hit the country this year.

The state weather service said Bopha made landfall on Mindanao island's east coast at dawn, raking across the island of 10 million people, packing gusts of up to 210 kilometres (130 miles) an hour and bringing heavy rain.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or serious damage but Mindanao was in lockdown with residents of coastal and flood-prone areas moving into shelters as floods hit some areas.

Aviation and shipping were suspended, with 80 flights grounded and thousands of ferry passengers stranded at ports as the coastguard ordered vessels to stay in port, the civil defence office said.

More than 41,000 people had moved into nearly 1,000 government shelters across the island by early Tuesday, it said in its latest bulletin.

The commercial centre of Cagayan de Oro, one of Mindanao's largest cities, was hit by flooding as rivers overflowed following heavy rain.

School holidays were declared in Mindanao and large areas of the central Philippines.

President Benigno Aquino led calls for evacuations on Monday, saying: "(Bopha's) destructive potential is no laughing matter. It is expected to be the strongest typhoon to hit our country in 2012."

The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons a year, some of them destructive. Bopha is the sixteenth so far this year.

In August, nearly 100 people were killed and more than a million were displaced by heavy flooding caused by a series of storms.

Nineteen typhoons struck the country last year, of which 10 were destructive, leading to more than 1,500 deaths and affecting nearly 10 percent of the total population, according to the government.

- AFP/fa



Read More..

Maya gives Congress hope of rescue in RS on FDI vote

NEW DELHI: BSP chief Mayawati on Monday left the Congress hungering for more by strongly indicating that she might not support the Opposition's resolution opposing the decision to let in global supermarket chains. Her hint encouraged the Congress to lobby her to upgrade her support to side with the government during the crucial headcount in the Rajya Sabha.

Sources said the government has clearly told Mayawati that her abstention in a situation where government is found to be short of numbers would equal voting against the government. "In case you don't wish to support the Opposition-sponsored resolution, then you might as well vote against us. What difference will it make whether we lose by eight or 20 votes?" UPA sources quoted a senior UPA functionary telling the BSP chief.

Sources also disclosed that parleys were on with Mayawati to persuade the BSP supremo to turn her indirect assistance into open support for the government in the Rajya Sabha where, unlike in the lower House, mere abstentions by BSP and SP won't be enough for the government to dodge the embarrassment of a defeat.

'BSP won't back BJP in House'

BSP chief Mayawati did not spell out her intent to come to the government's assistance in whichever way on the retail FDI vote in the House, but dropped enough hints to indicate that her party may not vote with the opposition in Parliament despite her professed opposition to the FDI decision. She did articulate reservations about allowing the global retail giants.

But Mayawati appreciated that implementation of the decision has been left for the states: an argument that is also the government's principal defence against the Opposition's campaign. She said that BSP would decide its stance on voting after listening to government's response on safeguards against the dangers that local retailers and farmers could face after the arrival of big global retail chains. Mayawati said the government should order time-bound assessment of effects of FDI in Congress-ruled states that have agreed to implement the policy.

More importantly, she said that BSP, while working out its stance, will have to reckon with whether it should side with "communal parties" (read: BJP-led NDA). "BSP cannot stand with BJP and company and send a message that it was working to strengthen the communal forces," she amplified in what could be melody for Congress's ears.

However, she was resisting government's pitch that BSP vote with the government by citing "political reasons": a reference to the embarrassment in supporting a decision that she vigorously opposed till recently. The absence of BSP and SP will reduce Rajya Sabha's effective strength to 220 on the day of reckoning, leaving the Opposition with a wafer-thin edge.

The anti-FDI column has 110 votes, pushing the government in a situation where absence of even one of its members, for instance, Sachin Tendulkar, who is unlikely to make it because of the Kolkata test with England, can lead to a politically embarrassing defeat.

BSP with 15 members can tilt the scales decisively for the government by aligning itself with UPA on the day of the vote later this week. To nudge her to cast her neutrality, Congress is likely to build up on its argument that a vote against the government would amount to voting with the "communal BJP".

Read More..

Mars Rover Detects Simple Organic Compounds


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.


Read More..

Suspect Allegedly Told Cops He Traveled to Kill













A man charged in the death of a teenage barista in Alaska told police that he traveled the country with the sole purpose to kill strangers because he "liked to do it," prosecutors said today.


Vermont and federal prosecutors detailed the meticulous and cold-blooded murder of Bill and Lorraine Currier in Essex, Vt., last year and said the information came from Israel Keyes before he killed himself in an Alaska jail cell Sunday. Keyes provided details that only the perpetrator would know, police said.


Keyes, 34, the owner of an Anchorage construction company, was in jail charged with the February murder of Samantha Koenig, 18. While in jail he had been confessing to at least seven other killings in Washington, New York and Vermont.


Now that he is dead, investigators are wondering how many more killings Keyes might be responsible for and why he committed the crimes.


"He provided some motivation, but I don't think it's really [possible] to pigeonhole why he did this," Tristram Coffin, U.S. Attorney in Vermont, said at a news conference today. "He described to investigators that this was a volitional act of his. He wasn't compelled by some uncontrollable force, but it was something that he could control and he liked to do it. Why someone likes to act like that, nobody knows."










Missing Alaska Barista Had Past Restraining Order Watch Video







Authorities described the murders of the Curriers in great detail, offering insight into how the twisted killer traveled to murder, his criteria for choosing random victims and his careful planning of of the murders.


"When [Keyes] left Alaska, he left with the specific purpose of kidnapping and murdering someone," Chittenden County State Attorney T. J. Donovan said at the press conference. "He was specifically looking for a house that had an attached garage, no car in the driveway, no children, no dog."


The Curriers, unfortunately, fit all of Keyes' criteria. He spent three days in Vermont before striking. He even took out a three-day fishing license and fished before the slayings.


In June 2011, Keyes went to their house and cut a phone line from outside and made sure they did not have a security system that would alert police. He donned a head lamp and broke into their house with a gun and silencer that he had brought with him.


Keyes found the couple in bed and tied them up with zip ties. He took Lorraine Currier's purse and wallet as well as Bill Currier's gun. He left the man's wallet.


He put the couple in their own car and drove them to an abandoned farmhouse that he had previously scoped out. Keyes tied Bill Currier to a stool in the basement and went back to the car for Lorraine Currier.


"Keyes saw that Lorraine had broken free from the zip ties and observed that she was running towards Main Street," Donovan said. "He tackled her to regain control of her."


Keyes took Lorraine Currier to the second floor of the farmhouse and tied her up. He rushed to the basement when he heard commotion and found that Bill Currier's stool had broken and he was partially free.






Read More..